Chapters From a Painful Past to Solace in Ponyville
Author's Note
This is my first ever story. i hope you like it.
Prologue
Crimson Moon has been living in an underground bunker in the edge of Everfree Forest for 9 years. He built the bunker by himself at the age of 3 and has been remodeling and expanding it for the past 9 years. At this moment he is in the middle of main den meditating over how far he has come to survive the horrid situation he was put in all those years ago.
He hates thinking about how he got his cutie marks and the scar through his right eye. He keeps his right eye covered with a homemade eyepatch. His cutie marks are are similar but different on each flank. His left flank has a moon covered by the elements of water, fire, lightning, and air. His right flank is a moon covered by bow, sword, axe and dagger crossed. His coat is half black and half red. His mane is crimson medium length.
He got his cutie marks by fighting his way through a home invasion when he was 2 years. His parents who he doesn’t remember the names of died during it. The group who invaded his home killed his parents while he watched scaring him for life. When the intruders tried to kill him; he somehow managed to summon daggers surrounded by lightning and fire to fight back and kill the intruders. On this night he learned that can command the elements and summon weapons outta thin air even though he is a young pegasus who didn’t know hot to fly yet.
Since the night of his parents’ murder, he has been on his own. No knows that he is still alive. Since his house was set fire, everyone assumed there were no survivors. He changed his name, mane color and coat color from when he was born so he could start over.
Crimson promised himself that he would never return to Manehatten. He doesn’t wanna relive that night ever again. He is shy around other ponies. He has no friends due to not knowing if he can trust anyone. He is scared that if he is discovered he will be sent to the orphanage in Manehatten where he doesn’t wanna go.
When he meditates, he asks himself the same questions every time. Why did my parents have to die? Will I ever have a family again? Can he find someone to trust? Will he ever find friendship?
No matter how many times these questions go through his mind he can’t find the answers he seeks.
He has taught himself how to cook and make simple clothing for himself. He wears a navy-blue hoodie, black cargo pants and combat boots. His hoodies have slits, so his wings are not obstructed. He taught himself how to fly the same night of the home invasion. It took him 5 days to get to his current home and has managed to survive throughout this ordeal. He questions how he has survived for the past 10 years. He has been able to live off the bits his parents had saved for him. He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, but he knows that he is going to take things one step at a time.
From a Painful Past to Solace in Ponyville
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After leaving Crimson at his home, Scootaloo gingerly walks down the path to Ponyville. She was lost in her thoughts until a searing pain in her ribs reminded her of the timberwolf attack from earlier. She decides that before she goes to her friends, she is going to go see Nurse Redheart to get her ribs checked out. A few minutes later she arrives at Ponyville General.
Nurse Redheart sees her enter the door and asks, “Hello Scootaloo, its nice to see you. What can I do for you today?”
“I need my ribs checked please.”, she says while lifting her shirt.
“Come to the back sweetie.” Nurse Redheart says while leading to the back. “How did this happen and who dressed the wound? They did a great job making sure it wouldn’t be infected.”
Scootaloo thought for a second on what to say then responded with, “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I ended up accidently walking into everfree and was attacked by a timberwolf.” Nurse Redheart stopped what she was doing for a second wide eyed. “You need to watch where you are going sweetie. You could’ve died you know.”
“Yeah, I know, I will be more careful.” Scoots said while her ears dropped with guilt. “I don’t know who found me and patched but I’m glad they did.”
“Well, I redressed the wounds and as long as you take things easy you won’t reopen them. Please stay away from the forest from now on Scootaloo.” Redheart says with a smile. “Have a nice day sweetie.”
“Thank you, I will be careful Nurse Redheart.” Scoots says and heads off to her friends.
Scootaloo goes to Sugarcube corner so she can have a cupcake to snack on. The moment she enters the bakery she sees Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. “Hey Sweetie! Hey Applebloom!” she yells out getting their attention. “How are you guys doing?”
Applebloom looks up and says, “We are good. We were wondering where you were. You missed class today. Sweetie took notes for you, but Ms. Cherilee wants to see you tomorrow after school.”
“I’m not surprised. I’ve never missed a day of school. Anyways I’m gonna go get a cupcake.”
Before she can get out the booth to get her cupcake of choice. “Heyascootshereisthestrawberrycupcakewithchoocolateicingandrainbowspinklesyouwanteddontworryaboutpayingforititsonthehousetoday!” Pinkie said while handing the cupcake over within one second and disappearing back to the kitchen.
“Uuh thanks Pinkie. So what’s the plan for this afternoon girls.”
Sweetie shook her head after Pinkie’s randomness and states, “I have to go help Rarity with some orders sadly even though I know I will just be in the way of her work, but she insisted.”
Applebloom says, “Granny Smith wants me to help with some chores and making dinner tonight so I can’t play today either. Sorry Scoots.”
“No worries girls I can figure out something to do. I will see you 2 tomorrow at school.” Scootaloo finishes her cupcake and heads out to the park. When she gets to the park, she finds a lone tree to sit under and starts to think about the day before seeing the girls. Before her mind starts to wonder she hears someone call to her.
“Hey squirt! What are you doing all by yourself over here kiddo?” Rainbow Dash asks.
“I’m a lil bit tired and felt like resting up against this tree for a bit. How are you Rainbow?” Scootaloo replies.
“I’m awesome like usual. I’ve been practicing my stunts for the Wonderbolts. I was about to go take a nap on a cloud before I saw you down here.” Rainbow said patting Scootaloo on the head.
“Well, I think I’m going to head home and sleep Rainbow. I will see you tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash flew off to find a cloud and Scootaloo headed back to the bunker to see what Crimson was up to.
When she got back to the bunker, she heard what sounded like a target dummy being hit. Her curiosity got the better of her, so she went downstairs to see what was going on. When she got to the room downstairs, she was very interested in what she saw. Crimson was practicing multipony combat. He had one dummy set in front of him, one behind him, 2 at a distance to his left and 2 to his right. The test dummies in front and behind him were mechanical ones that engaged in hand-to-hand combat with him. While simultaneously blocking and striking at a rapid pace, he threw 2 daggers and fired 2 arrows at the dummies to the left and right of him. Then he suplexed the dummy in front of him, swiftly dodged the attack from behind and put the dummy in a sleeper-like hold and tossed it to the ground.
Once he felt satisfied with his training for the day, Crimson put the mechanical dummies next to a table by the wall so he could tune them up. He removed the daggers and arrows from the other dummies and laid them on a separate smaller table for him to analyze for any unusual striations on his blades and arrow tips. He sensed a presence behind him and knew who it was due to only knowing 1 pony so he didn’t spring into a fighting stance.
“Hey Scoot, how was your day? Did you enjoy watching me train?” Crimson said smiling without turning around.
“I didn’t really do anything today. Talked with my friends, sat under a tree at the park in the middle of town, then came back here to see what you were up to. Where did you learn to fight like that? Where did those arrows and daggers come from? You had nothing on you when you started.” Scootaloo asked.
Crimson knew she was going to ask about the weapons. He knew he was going to have to tell someone his story. He felt like he could trust enough her for him to share what has plagued his mind for the past 10 years. He needed to get this weight off his back. He needed to figure out how to word things for her. He sighed and said, “For me to tell you where I learned to fight and about the weapons, I need to tell you about my past. It’s a sad story that I’ve kept too myself for years, but I’m ready to tell if you want to know.” Scootaloo nodded. “Okay lets go the foyer and sit on the couch. I will make us some tea to drink this is going to take a while for me to explain.”
About 10 minutes later they were in the foyer on the couch with lemon jasmine tea on the homemade coffee table next to them. “I was born in Manehatten. My parents, I don’t remember much about them. One night when I was 2 years old, I was playing with building blocks when I heard my mother screaming. I scurried to where she was to a group of masked men stabbing my father while mother watched screaming and crying for help before they gagged her. I was shocked in place trying to process what I just saw. Before my brain could catch up with the scene in front of me, they turned mother in my direction and slit her throat slowly making me watch. After they threw her body to the side, they all tried to kill me as well. I learned to fight that night to survive. I also learned that I can somehow summon weapons out of thin air as you saw earlier. Not only can I summon weapons, but I also learned I can summon water, fire, lightning and other elements as well. That is unsafe for me to show you, so I won’t do that. It was also that night that I got my cutie marks. During my fight to survive that night, one of the intruders set fire to my home. I was barely able to survive the fire. Once I got out of the house I ran as far as I could from my home. I passed out a few miles away. When I woke up, I was outside of Manehatten and I decided that day I would never go back. No one there knows I’m still alive. In all records I’m presumed dead by being burned alive. With that knowledge, I’ve started a new life for myself. I taught myself how to fly a few days after leaving Manehatten. It took me about a week to find this spot where my bunker is today. When I got here, I was starving to death wearing just the diaper I was in the night before. I found some wild berries for me to eat then I dug a small hole in the ground to protect me while I slept. Since that night I’ve built this bunker, taught myself how to cook and I’ve made all the clothing I own. I also taught myself first aid. I got this scar over my left eye I needed to clean and dress it up so it didn’t get infected. I usually where and eyepatch over that eye when I’m not home.” He cried while he was telling his story. He was grateful for Scootaloo being there for him to tell his life story. While she was listening to everything he said, Scootaloo cried to herself and slowly scooted over to Crimson giving him the biggest hug she could muster up. She couldn’t fathom that someone could go through such tragedy at such a young age.
Scootaloo’s mind was going wild at what she heard. This colt was the strongest willed pony she had ever met. He could’ve easily let himself die after what he went through, but he persevered. He didn’t have to tell her any of this, but he felt he could trust her. Just from what she heard she had now got a lot of respect for what he had been able to build for himself. All this started from a small hole he dug in the ground at the age of 2, and now he has turned into an underground house that a family could live in comfortably. “You’ve done so much for yourself as a young colt and all of it is self-taught. I’m glad you have been able to make a life for yourself. I have a question for you Crimson.”
“Yes?”
“Can I see your cutie marks, please?” Crimson was shocked by the question. No one has ever seen his marks before and he was curious of the reaction to them. “Sure why not.” When Scootaloo saws his marks, she was confused and asked, “Why are your cutie marks different I’ve never seen that before?”
Crimson shrugged and said, “I don’t know it confuses me as well. I’ve always wondered how that happened, but my research into it went nowhere. I gave up on finding out, but I still I want to know.”
Crimson’ stomach growled making him realize he hasn’t been eating most of the day, “Imma make dinner if you’re hungry.”, he says and walks to the kitchen to cook spaghetti and a small salad for both. He set the table and yelled, “Dinner is ready Scoots.” “Coming!” She was excited to see what he made tonight. In the time she has been with him, she has had two of the best meals she’s ever eaten in her life.
Scootaloo looks at Crimson in awe of how content he is with his life despite the turmoil and tragedy he went through. She has never met somepony who could build a life without a good foundation set for them. Crimson has managed to build a quite simple life for himself from one of the worst possible events she could think of. She smiled at the fact that he was willing to have her be a part of his life even though they had just met not too long ago.
“I should be done with your room by the end of the week Scoots. I’ve been working hard on it when I’m not training.” That comment broke Scootaloo out of her thoughts enough for her to process what he said. “Thanks. I’m going to go to bed see you in the morning, good night.” With a gentle smile Crimson responded, “Good night Scoots, sleep well.”
Crimson went to the training room to make sure he was able to fix and correct any problems with his mechanical dummies, worked on some more advanced dummies for challenging training regimen he was planning on doing soon, and finally he worked on a section of the training room that was specifically for his elemental training. He knew Scootaloo would want to watch him do his elemental training at some point, so he was making an area she could safely watch from when the time came for her to spectate.
From a Painful Past to Solace in Ponyville
Crimson didn’t go to bed, instead he opted for meditation. He meditated for a couple hours then went back to the training room to fix a few tweaks with one of the dummies. The main function of this dummy is to find counters to his elemental attacks. He has been trying to perfect his elemental combat for the past couple years but hasn’t been able to get the test dummy to do what he wants countering wise.
After doing some maintenance on the dummy, he went for a walk outside the bunker. He walked over to the tallest tree he could find and flew on top of it, so he could watch the sunrise. Watching the sunrise was one of his favorite things to do. The beauty in the colors of the sky while it transitions from night to day was always a beautiful scene to watch. He took moments like this to just reflect how things were going for him and try to figure out what is next for him.
Thinking about the past few days he started to give a genuine smile for the first time in his life. Until a few days ago, he never interacted with others. He has never ventured into Ponyville. Scoots was the only pony who knew he was even alive. According to the census in Manehatten, he was deceased. As far as he knew, he had no family anywhere. Being on his own for so many years has made him way more mature than any colt or filly his age. Sometimes he hopes he has some extended family living somewhere, but at the same time he doesn’t want to be forced away from his home he has spent years building.
His smile didn’t waver as he started to think about Scootaloo and how much it meant to him to have somepony to talk to. He has kept so much bottled up inside over the years and finally being able to tell somepony about his past finally took the weight off his shoulders he was carrying. He made a friend for the first time in his life without even realizing it. A part of him felt content with things.
He was abruptly brought out of his thoughts by hearing his name being called out from below. “Crimson where are you?” Scoots yelled out. He didn’t realize so much time had passed since he flew on top of the tree. “Up here Scoot” She looked up at the tree and saw him somehow perfectly balanced on the top branch. “What are you doing up there? I woke up and got worried when I didn’t see you for breakfast.” Scoots says with a frown. “Aww Scooty” he said softly while gently hoping off the tree and gave her a hug, “I’m sorry for worrying you. I was watching the sunrise and doing some thinking. Watching the sunrise is one of my favorite things to do.” He didn’t notice the huge blush on Scootaloo’s face from being called Scooty.
“Well, I got to go to school so I will see you this evening. Bye Moony!” she said as she turned and ran to Ponyville hoping the blush she had would go away before she caught up with her friends.
Crimson blushed when she said Moony. He didn’t know how he felt about being called Moony, but he just let it go for now. A thought crossed his mind making him wonder if Scootaloo would like to learn to fight, but he was going to wait a bit before he felt she was ready for that. He decided to go for a walk since he was already outside, and it was a beautiful morning. He has been wanting to explore the area around the bunker for a while, so he went a little bit deeper into Everfree. Hopping from tree to tree instead of walking some of the paths felt more fun to him. It gave him practice on keeping his balance when landing and he treated each jump like he was evading strikes in combat.
Crimson found a clearing in the forest and stopped to rest a bit. He has been so busy with training and building Scootaloo’s room that he has been giving no time to himself to relax. He picked a spot in the clearing that was next to a small pond and rested against a tree. A small fox that was watching him with high intrigue slowly walked over to him and nudged his leg to get his attention. He looked down and smiled, “Hey little guy.” Giving the fox a gentle pat on the head. The fox trotted into his lap and curled up snuggling into him. He decided to spend a while relaxing with the fox in the clearing cause he didn’t have the heart to make it get off him.
About an hour later he started to get hungry, so he softly nuzzled the fox to wake it up. “I need to go home and eat little buddy. Can you move please?” The fox nodded and got out of his lap. Crimson stretched his body with some very satisfying pops and started to walk home. He didn’t know what he was going to eat, but a couple of things came to mind. While he was trying to decide on what his breakfast is going the fox trotted beside him. The little fox didn’t want to be alone and followed him.
When they got to the bunker Crimson went to the kitchen to start making himself breakfast. He ended up deciding to make a couple of daisy sandwiches and eggs. While he was making the eggs he noticed the fox had followed him home and curled up on the couch. After he finished making his breakfast, he went to the fridge to get some berries and pears he could give to the fox. Once he was done feeding the little fox and eating breakfast, Crimson went to put the finishing touches on Scootaloo’s new room. In Scoots room he made her a bed that was similar to his topped with a purple blanket and pillows. A desk in the corner of the room for her to do schoolwork on. He built a nice sturdy oak desk and a matching chair with a red cushion for her to sit on. Once her room was ready, he went to the main den of the bunker to check on the fox.
While Crimson was finishing up Scootaloo’s room, the fox moved from the couch to curl up in a corner of room and sleep. Crimson smiled at the fox sleep and went to make a spot in his room for the fox to sleep comfortably. He decided he was gonna build a spruce frame to hold a medium sized cushion for the fox to sleep on. Once he finished making it, he put it at the foot of his bed then went to the training room. Today he is going to focus on intense hand to hand combat and for a challenge he is going to go against 3 of his dummies that have different fighting styles. The first dummy is programed to use quick strikes, the second is programed for powerful kicks and strikes, the third one is programed to switch up the fighting style every 5 minutes. In this combat session Crimson wants to refine is counter attacking and refrain from using any elemental magic.
When the session began the quick striking dummy wasted no time in attacking. Crimson blocked the first 4 punches and, on the 5th punch he caught the fist, kneed the dummy’s head, and threw the dummy into the wall. The second dummy tried a roundhouse kick and a straight haymaker. Crimson ducked under the kick and sidestepped the haymaker to land a powerful spinning elbow to the side of the head.
Meanwhile Scootaloo just arrived home from school and noticed the sleeping fox in the corner. She was wondering why a fox was in the bunker then decided to find Crimson. Since it’s the main spot she usually finds him, she went to his training room. As she got to the door of the room, she heard him yell out,” Be careful Scoots! I don’t want you to get injured. I built a viewing box for you to your left when you wanna watch me train.” She found the small room he was talking about and sat down in the chair to watch him finish his session. Crimson was finishing his training session by doing intense close combat while dodging projectiles. After hitting the final blow to the dummy he was sparing with, he switched focus to catching all projectiles. There were 7 daggers flying at him, all coming at different heights and speeds. He did a corkscrew backflip to catch the first 4 daggers and threw them at randomly placed target to free up his hands. The last 3 daggers were coming from all directions, so he ducked and caught 2 of the 3 by the handle. The thirdone he miscalculated the speed of and caught it by the blade.
Once the session ended Scootaloo ran over to him, “Are you okay?!” she said, heavily concerned because the cut looked bad and deep. “I’m good. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and it won’t be the last time. Honestly, I’ve cut myself so much while training that my hand is numb to the pain. I just clean and dress the wound and move on. When things like this happen, it tells me that my weapons are sharp and I only have to clean them. That was the end of my training session anyways. I have something to show you.” With a small smile he led Scootaloo to her new room. “I finished your room while you were at school Scoots. If you need something built just ask me and I will add it to my list of projects. I know you probably saw the little fox in the living room. The little guy followed me home this morning. I’m gonna get dinner started for us.” For dinner tonight he made onion soup and daisy sandwiches. After dinner Scootaloo went to her new room to work on some homework. Crimson was pretty drained from the day, so he went to his room to sleep. The fox followed him to his room, hopped onto his bed and curled into a ball and slept.
From a Painful Past to Solace in Ponyville
The next morning Crimson woke up super to go for a walk and knew he wasn’t going to be back for most of the day. He left a note for Scootaloo so she wouldn’t get worried and look for him. He ate a small breakfast, fed the fox and they went out for a walk. They went to the clearing they were at yesterday and played around for a bit. Crimson wanted to spend time having fun for once in his life. He has always spent his days building his bunker, growing his food, and training. He smiled with content and laughed while he and the fox ran around the clearing. After about an hour both the fox and Crimson got tired. He laid against a tree and the fox hopped into his lap. They sat there resting for a while.
About 20 minutes later Crimson barely heard a voice calling out, “Um hello, are you lost?” A cream-colored pony with pink hair walked up to them.
He quietly responded “No I’m good. I’m resting along with my little friend here.”
“Why are you alone in the forest. It is not safe here.” She said.
His calm retort surprised her. “I walk through the forest everyday. I know that most of the animals living here won’t hurt me unless I engage first. The only ones who will attack no matter what are the extremely wild and aggressive ones. This is nothing new for me. I know I will survive and be unharmed. Now then I don’t mean to be rude miss, but I do not have the slightest idea of who you are. What is your name miss?”
“Eep…I’m sorry sweetie. My name is Fluttershy. Who are you? Are you from Ponyville?” Fluttershy squeaked hiding her face behind her hair.
“My name is Crimson. No I am not from Ponyville. I’m from Manehatten, but I haven’t lived there for years.” He stated while petting the fox. Fox smiled and purred.
“Do you need help walking home?” She asked.
“Nope I’m fine thank you for asking. I got something to do before I head home. It was nice to meet you, but I got to go.” He says as the fox hops on his shoulders. “Hang tight little guy.” He told the fox as his wings shot out and he flew into the air so fast that Fluttershy didn’t see him leave. Crimson sensed that something bad was about to happen to Scootaloo and he needed to be there to stop it.
On the other side of Ponyville Scootaloo and her friends were walking down the fence of Sweet Apple Acres next to Everfree Forest. “Scoots you seem in great spirits the past few days. What have you been up to?” Sweetie Belle asked with high curiosity.
“Huh? What are you talking about Sweetie?” Scootaloo dismissingly responds.
Applebloom chimes in, “What she talkin bout is you seem happier than usual the past few days Scoots.” Before Scootaloo can answer they hear a loud manticore roar that frightens them. “We have to run before it find us!” Sweetie yells getting its attention by accident.
The manticore turned towards her voice and started running towards them. Right as the manticore was about to connect with a swing at them, they heard a loud cling .
Before the cling was heard Crimson was flying somehow instinctively toward Scootaloo. He didn’t know how, but he knew where she was. The fox somehow managed to fall asleep on his shoulders and not fall off. When he saw the manticore about to attack the girls he picked up the pace and made a sword with his magic to block the manticore hit.
When the dust went away the three fillies saw him blocking the manticore. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were confused, but happy. Scootaloo was happy her friends were too busy watching Crimson to notice her small blush. She shook her head and wondered how he knew they were about to be attacked by a manticore. She was going to ask him about it later but for now she sat on the ground and watched. The fox had woken up, hopped off Crimson’s back, and trotted over to Scootaloo’s lap to watch Crimson. The fox is usually terrified of the manticore, but this time it was calm because it knew it was safe.
After blocking the attempt by the manticore, Crimson made his sword disappear, surrounded his fist with flames and threw a very hard haymaker at it. He wasted no time running to it while it was stunned by his punch. He grabbed the tail and tossed in into the air. He summoned 2 falcatas, short swords that can cut through armor, and flew into the air to slice the manticore into pieces. His first cuts were to its back then he finished off with its head. It wasn’t the first time he had to kill a manticore. He hated it so much. Killing animals was the last thing he wanted to do, but saving the lives of the girls was worth going against his own moral. He landed on a tree near the manticore’s body and sighed.
“Hey!” Crimson looked down when he heard the voice. “We want to thank you for saving us. I also have some questions.” It was Sweetie Belle who was doing all the talking. He jumped off the tree next to the girls. The fox left Scootaloo’s lap and hopped back on his shoulders. “Before I answer your questions which I’m sure I already have an idea of what they are, what are your names?” He asked. During this exchange Scootaloo hasn’t moved from the ground or said a thing. She just watch off in her own thoughts mostly not paying attention.
“Oh right I didn’t think about that. I’m Sweetie Belle!”
“Howdy I’m Applebloom! Thank ya for savin us! I was wondering how you found us when the manticore appeared?” she said.
“My name is Crimson, and I live in the forest. I found you because I heard the manticore roar. I know what two of your questions are before you ask me. You want to know how I was able to light my hand on fire and how I was using swords, right?” Appleboom and Sweetie Belle nodded and shocked that he figured out what they wanted to know.
“It’s my special talent. I can create and wield any weapon as well as the ability to create and control the elements. Before you ask, I will not tell you the story of how even though I know you want to know. It is not a story I want to share. I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to go now. It was nice meeting you have a good day and stay safe.” With that said he flew into the forest back home. Scootaloo spent the entire time staring off at the sky and didn’t hear anything.
“I wonder how a pegasus can manipulate magic like that. He is so kind and where did that fox come from, I’m confused by that. Did you see it at all Appleboom?” Sweetie asked.
She responded back, “No ah didn’t see it. What bout you Scoots? Do you know where that fox came from?”
“Oh, that fox was in my lap while he was fighting. It was sleeping on his shoulders when the fight started. I’m gonna head home girls see ya later!” Scootaloo scurried off leaving them so confused. She had never rushed home like that before and they also didn’t know where she lived. They decided to leave it for today because of what happened earlier. The girls went to the clubhouse to play. Meanwhile Scootaloo was trying to get home as fast as she could because she knew there was more to why Crimson was at the manticore attack than what was told her friends.
When Scootaloo got home she could smell dinner being cooked and is smelt really good. “Hey Moony what you cooking?” Trying to ignore the blush on his face being called Moony he stated, “Tonight I’m making daisy onion soup and grilled cheese. I’m happy I got there in time to save you and your friends. I’m guessing you want to know how I knew you were in trouble right Scooty?”
Scoot’s blush was almost as bad, “Well yeah. I knew you were nowhere near me when that manticore showed up. I’m happy you got there in time. That would’ve been very bad if you didn’t so thank you.”
He smiled and said, “No problem. I was relaxing in a clearing in the heart of the forest when I met Miss Fluttershy. While I was talking to her, I sensed that something bad was coming to you and I needed to be there before it could do anything. After I left Fluttershy I flew into the air and heard it roar so I could figure out what direction to go. After that I trusted my instincts to get to you and got there just in the nick of time. It’s been a long time since I covered my hand in fire. I usually don’t do that, but I was happy I was able to defend you three. Dinner is ready. How hungry are you? How big a bowl do you want?”
“I’m pretty hungry can you give me a medium sized bowl please?” Once her bowl was filled they ate silently enjoying each other’s company. Crimson put two bowls on the ground for the fox. He filled one with water and the other with nuts and berries. Tonight, Crimson decided he wasn’t going to train or work on the dummies. The opted for relaxing with Scootaloo and the fox. Scootaloo spent the evening asking questions about his special talent which he was happy to answer. He was still trying to figure something out regarding his ability to create and the elements. There are weapons he knows he wants to make but doesn’t know if he has enough magic in him to do that. The current amount of weapons he can create is good enough for now in his eyes and he is thinking about making an armory as a lower level of their home. They talked until middle of the night and then they both went to sleep. They both fell asleep wondering why they felt so comfortable being around each like some kind of familiarity was between even though they were complete strangers. Unknown to the both of them was the fact that they are actually fraternal twins who were separated that night all those years ago. Crimson had suppressed the memory of that night that he forgot she was his sister and her real name. Scootaloo didn’t know this because she was kidnapped by the people who killed their parents and locked her memories away of that night. That night her name was changed, and she was put at the orphanage in Manehatten. A year later in she ran away due to the horrendous living conditions there and never wanted to return there. Currently slowly but surely that magical spell that locked away her memory of that night was breaking. The ones who put that spell on her knew it was weakening and hoped they could find her and recast it before she found out who she really was.
From a Painful Past to Solace in Ponyville
In the middle of the night Scootaloo woke up extremely confused. She was having some strange dreams that were just big blurs in her mind and didn’t understand why. She wanted to go back to sleep, but those dreams bothered her too much. When she gets out of bed in the morning, her plan is to go ask Twilight if she knows anything about it. Since Twilight knows a lot about almost everything, she should be able to help. Scootaloo tried to go back asleep after making her morning plans. Since it’s the weekend, she doesn’t have school, and she has no plans with her friends. For the next few hours, she decided to draw while she waited for Crimson to wake up. She wants to ask him if he knows anything about her problem.
Crimson also woke up due to the memory of that night. The vision of that night all those years ago made him remember something about his family that he long forgot. His twin sister, but he doesn’t know if she survived night or not. If she survived, he has no clue where she is. He hopes that if she is alive, she is at least safe and is adopted by a nice family. If that’s the case, he hopes to be able to see her again. He doesn’t remember what her coat or mane colors are, so he wouldn’t be able to recognize her. He looked at his clock and saw that it was 5 am so he got out of bed checked on the fox. The fox was still asleep and snoring. He didn’t want to disturb his friend, so he left the room to go check on Scootaloo.
He knocked on her door and heard her invite him in. “Hey, Crimson I didn’t think you would be up this early. Are you okay?” She spoke. “I’m always up this early, but I’ve been awake for a long time. I remembered something about my family, but I don’t know how to feel about it.” His statement had an obvious tone of sadness with it. Scootaloo was worried so she walked over to him to give him a hug, “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Well, when I went to sleep last night, the memory of that night came to my mind. The memory of what happened isn’t what kept me up. What kept me up was that the memory reminded me that there was one more member of my family in the house that night. I don’t know if they survived the night or not. She was my twin sister. She was asleep when everything happened. If she is alive, I want to find her and make sure she knows I’m alive and safe. The only thing is I can’t remember what color her coat and mane are. Then by this point she could easily have a different mane color by now.” Crimson did his best not to cry when he was explaining everything to Scootaloo.
Scootaloo hugged him tighter then told him, “Well I hope she is alive, and you can reunite with her one day. I’ve been up for most of the night myself because something was bothering me. It was dream I had but is was the weirdest thing I’ve ever had for a dream. I couldn’t tell what was happening due to the fact that the entire dream was a complete fuzzy blur literally.” Crimson gasped as his eyes went wide when she said that. All of the research he had done over the course of his life, he knew exactly what her problem was, but he didn’t know why somepony would do that to a child. The gasp made Scootaloo jump, “Do you know what is going on with me? Why did you gasp like that?”
“To answer your first question, I know what is going on with you. The reason I gasped is I don’t understand why anyone would do such a thing to a child. The reason it was a blur is that it isn’t a dream. What you saw is a memory from your past that was magically locked. I don’t understand why one would do that to a child. That locked memory could be a nice memory from your early childhood, or it could be a traumatic event that happened, and you will never know. However, the fact that is it a blurry memory means that spell is slowly wearing off and whatever is locked away will soon be revealed to you. You either have to wait for that to happen or find a powerful unicorn to break what is left of that spell to find out what was locked away.” He watched for her reaction to his explanation.
“I have to go now! I think I know a unicorn who could break this spell. I want to what the memory is. I need to know if this memory is about my family or whatever it is. Don’t worry about making breakfast for me. I will get some food while I’m out.” Before Scootaloo could leave Crimson grabbed her hand to stop her. “Wait Scootaloo I’m coming with you. In case you breakdown emotionally from the memory I want to make sure you have me to lean on and our little friend is coming with us. I know he won’t want to be alone here at home.” Scootaloo smiled and said “Thank you, lets go.” The 3 of them left to go to the castle to talk to Twilight. “Hey Scootaloo, I noticed you never use your wings. Do you have issues with flying?”
“I was never taught how to fly. I normally use a scooter to get around.” She spoke.
Crimson crouched down for the fox to hop on his head and said “Here get on my back I will take us where you want to go. Don’t worry about me losing my balance carrying you and our little friend here. Lets go see if we can remove that ridiculous spell. Where are we going?”
She climbed on his back and said, ”The Castle of Friendship to see Princess Twilight Sparkle. Yes, we can just walk in. I’m friends with her don’t worry about disturbing her. Knowing her she probably reading a book in her library anyways.” Crimson had seen a castle when was flying to save Scootaloo and her friends, so he knew where to go. “Roger that time to fly.” That being said Crimson shot into at a speed Scootaloo hasn’t see from anyone other than Rainbow Dash. She did her best to stay calm even though she was super giddy about the speed he was flying at. They got to the castle within 1 minute. “I didn’t know you could go that fast, that was awesome!!! Lets see it twilight is home.” She turned around and opened the doors to see Spike chilling with a comic book. “Hey Spike is twilight home?” Spike looked up, “Hey Scoots, she in the library like usual with her nose stuck in a book. Nothing new there.” Scootaloo lead Crimson to the library and saw that Twilight wasn’t paying any attention the conversation. A mischievous smirk appeared on Scootaloo’s face as she snuck up behind Twilight to yell, “HEY TWILIGHT!”
As expected, Twilight screeched and jumped so high she almost hit her head on the ceiling. “Scootaloo really? Ugh Rainbow is rubbing off on you too much. Its nice to see you. Who is your friend here? What have you come here for? Where are the girls? You never come by.”
“Slow your roll with questions. You’re making my brain hurt. I haven’t seen the girls today. We didn’t make plans to hang out today. As for the colt behind he I will let him introduce himself.” She replied.
“Hello Princess Twilight, my name is Crimson. Its very nice to meet you. I will tell why we have come here. We have a question for you, but before that I need to give context for the quest so you can better understand. Last night Scootaloo couldn’t sleep due to what she thought was a weird dream. However, when she told me about it I knew it wasn’t a dream. She couldn’t tell what happened in it and said the entire scene was a complete blur. In reality what she was going to see was an old memory. The reason it was a big blur was that when she was younger someone cast a spell on her that locks the memory from ever being seen. The blurry version of the memory shows that the spell is losing its strength. We can here to ask you if you could possibly remove what is left of the spell. She really wants to know what the memory is. Whether or not it’s a traumatic event in her life, it could tell her some very important information about herself. If you can’t remove the spell we understand and will have to wait until it goes away on its own.” Twilight sat there processing everything she was just told. It took a few minutes for her mind to catch up and she gasped, “That’s horrible! Who would do such a thing to a child? Scootaloo please stand in front of me. I’m going to scan you so I can if I can break the spell.”
Twilight did a thorough scan of Scootaloo. Within her scan she tried to figure out the magic signature to see if she recognized it or not. Her plan is to write to Princess Celestia about it. She didn’t recognize the magic signature, but she was able to find out when the spell was placed on Scootaloo. “I figured a couple things out about the spell, and I can remove it. First thing is that the spell was placed on you when you were 2 years old. I don’t recognize the magical signature so I can’t say who placed it on you. However, I do know the spell and how to use it. I can reverse it for you. Gimme a few minutes.” Crimson sat on the floor petting the fox and feeding it nuts he brought with them. He was paying no attention to his surroundings. Scootaloo sat still waiting patiently for Twilight to finish. After 5 minutes twilight shattered the spell and laid down on a couple cushions next to her. Removing the spell was complex and took a lot out of her. “I’m done. The spell is gone. Whatever memory was locked away in your mind is now available for you see.” Twilight stated “I’m going to go take a nap you two have a good day. It was nice to meet you Crimson.” Twilight went to her room to sleep leaving Scootaloo and Crimson in the library alone.
Crimson was lost in his thoughts wondering what memory she was forced to forget because it made no sense to him. He also wondered when the memory was going to pop up in her mind and how she would react to it. “Let’s go home. We don’t know when that memory is going to pop up in your mind Scoots. Hop on my back and I fly us home.” She nodded and climbed on his back and held on. They flew through an open window and went home. “Hey, would you like for me to teach you how to fly?” Crimson asked. Scootaloo looked at him really excited and nodded her head. “Alright we will start your training in a couple days. Lets relax and enjoy the rest of the day.
From a Painful Past to Solace in Ponyville
A couple days have passed since visiting Twilight and removing the spell. That memory hasn’t show back up yet both Crimson and Scootaloo completely forgot about it. Crimson has been busy working on a training regimen for Scootaloo’s flight training. Scootaloo has been spending all her time with her friends trying to get their cutie marks. Crimson decided to give the fox a name since he was living with them now. He named the fox Vesper. Vesper was laying in his bed taking a nap. Crimson is reading some books enjoying not doing anything for the moment. He is working on what he plans on making for dinner tonight. His decision is to make a tomato basil soup with grilled cheese and cinnamon apples. He was too tired to do something more but didn’t want to make just simple sandwiches. He started making dinner so that by the time Scootaloo came home it would be ready to eat.
Scootaloo go home about 30 minutes later and saw dinner already on the table. She sat down and started eating, “How was your day Crimson?” He looked up and smiled, “Relaxing. I gave myself a short day. I barely take time to relax, so giving myself a day off felt right.” Vesper was eating his dinner next to Crimson. “How was your day?” Scootaloo finished eating and said, “I had a really fun day with my friends. Now it is time to relax.”
“Don’t forget that we start your flight training tomorrow.” Crimson didn’t need to look up to know how big her smile was when he said that. “We are going to take things nice and slow. I want to make sure you can fly without issues, and I want to help you strengthen your core as well. The amount you do each day will depend on how your body feels. I’m not going to work you into the ground. If you need anything I’m going to be in my room.” Crimson went to his bed to meditate while Vesper sat in his lap.
Scootaloo went to her room to think. The way her life has turned around in just a couple weeks astounded her. She had a home now. She felt more beloved than ever before. Talking to Crimson felt more natural to her than talking with her best friends. She felt like she could tell him absolutely anything and everything. She enjoyed watching him do his training. She felt safe and that as long as he was around nothing would happen to her. She went to bed with a smile on her face.
Crimson wasn’t tired at all. He needed something to pass the time. He went for a walk through Ponyville. He wanted to see the town he had been living next to for most of his life. It also gave him the chance to clear his mind as well. He has been thinking about the different ways he could use the elements in combat. Earlier when he used fire like a glove unintentionally, it got him thinking about what other things he could do with fire and lightning specifically. He walked past Sugarcube Corner first since it was the closest place to his home. Inside was a sleeping Pinkie Pie whose body started shaking in a way that normally tells her that a new person had arrived in Ponyville, but she was too sleep to act on that sense. Continuing his walk, he passed by the market area and Golden Oaks Library.
From what he has seen so far, this is a small quiet town that he would enjoy being around. When he got to Ponyville Park he sensed something coming behind him. He turned around just in time to catch a knife flying his way. “Dammit I thought I had the jump on you kid. After all these years we finally found the one that got away.” Hearing that made him turn around in pure rage. The ones that killed his family knew he was alive and were searching for him for the past decade. “So you are the guys that ruined my life? I’m going to end you to send a message to your superiors. I don’t care how may come after me the result will stay the same. With you in a body bag or burned beyond recognition!” Crimson lunged that the assassin and the brawl ensued. He blocked every punch and kick this guy was throwing at him. He returned with his own punches, each one harder than the last. He struck too fast for the assassin to block all the punches. The first 2 were blocked easily, but the other 2 hit him in the gut and face respectively. “You little brat! How the hell are you countering my attacks!?! I’m going to gut you where you stand!” he took out 2 daggers and swung wildly at Crimson. Crimson just rolled his eyes annoyed.
Crimson blocked all his swings and caught both his hands. “You are such an impulsive idiot. You don’t realize that you are outclassed by a child your adversaries could even kill almost 10 years ago. You won’t make it back home. Your life ends here.” After saying his peace Crimson flipped the guys hands around and stabbed him in the heart with his own blades. “This was great training for what is to come for me. I thank you even though you can’t hear me anyways. You’ve lost too much blood and your body has shut down. Such a waste of talent. You could’ve become a good fighter if you were properly trained and could control your rage.”
Crimson took the lifeless body to a remote part of the outskirts of Ponyville and burned it beyond recognition. He now knew that he was still being by the same group who killed his family. He needed to train even harder now to make sure they couldn’t get a jump on him. He felt some pain in his left arm. When he looked at it he saw a long gash that was bleeding profusely. He tore a part of his t-shirt to make a tourniquet to subside the bleeding until he can clean it at home. He sprung into the air and zipped home to clean up before Scootaloo could worry about his whereabouts. When he got home, he went to the bathroom dressed his wound and took a shower to clean off all the blood that was on him from the fight. He knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep after that interaction. He put on some workout shorts and went downstairs to train. He didn’t turn on his mechanical dummies. He opted for a straw dummy mostly so the could punch and kick his frustrations out until he was calm again.
Scootaloo has been sleeping peacefully then she saw something in her dream. She was a baby in a crib looking around her room hearing a lot of noise that woke her up. She was wondering what was going on but was too scared to go check. She just stared at the door. A stranger flew through the window and grabbed her. As they flew off she saw the house explode into flames. Scootaloo abruptly woke up after that. She mumbled, “That was the memory that was lock away. But, but of all things why did it have to be that? Wait I was kidnapped while my family died!?!” Then realization settled in as she recounted what Crimson told her about his family and what happened to them. He had told her that he didn’t know if his sister was alive or not. After processing everything Scootaloo gasped and bolted out of bed. She noticed his bedroom door was open, but he wasn’t there. The first place she went to check was the training room. She was him swinging at a dummy so hard she was shocked that he didn’t break it. She saw how hurt he was emotionally and the dam broke. The combination of the memory and seeing his mental state caused her to cry harder than she has ever cried before in her life.
The sound of Scootaloo crying got his attention. He switched from pure anger to wide concern for her and ran over to her and gave her a big hug, “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked her. She looked up at him and said, “I remember everything. I know who I am now. My past has finally been revealed to me. I’m happy and I’m sad. I’m sad I will never be able to see my parents, however the past few weeks I’ve never been happier. I always thought Scootaloo was such a unusual name that I was given. The one’s who kidnapped me changed my name and my looks. I may not be able to get my old colors but I can feel that in the coming days my mane color will change. The memory made me realize I had a living family member.”
“You do? That’s great we need to find them soon.” He was about to let go of her when he felt he squeeze him making him stop. “We don’t need to. I already found them.” Her smile was big and it slowly turned into a grin. “Crimson, my only living relative is you brother. That memory was of the attack on our home. I saw our home blow up and everything. I was taken from my crib while mom and dad were being killed in front of you. The kidnapper forced me to stay quiet then tossed on the doorstep of the orphanage. I ran away a couple years later and found Ponyville after a few days. I’ve been here ever sense.”
Crimson started crying tears of joy. His sister has been alive all these years. Now he finds out that he has been taking care of her this whole time. To him this is the best day he ever had. “Do you remember your real name sis?”
“No, I don’t remember my birth name Moony.” She said not really caring about her real name at the moment even though she wanted to know it. She had her brother back and that was all that mattered to her right now. “You real name Scarlet Night. I now remember what your old colors were. Your coat was half red, half white and your mane was dark red. I will say that that spell they used on you to change your appearance was a side effect of the memory lock spell. Since the memory spell is gone, there is a good chance your body could revert to what it was when you were born Nighty.” Scootaloo blushed. “Don’t call me nighty around others Moony.” Crimson blushed. “I won’t if you don’t call me Moony around others.” she nodded “Deal.”
“Do you want me to call you Scarlet or Scootaloo. I would prefer to call you Scarlet since its your name, but I will do whatever you’re comfortable with Nighty.” She stood still thinking about it. “Hmm, well call me Scootaloo until more people know my real name is Scarlet. Crimson can you come with me to school in the morning so we can tell me teach about everything? Outside of my friends she needs to know. She will help with letting everyone at school know about my name.” He nodded with a small smile on his face. “We’ll go there early so you got time to get settled in. I know your teacher is going to try to make me enroll in your class due to my age and me being your brother. At the moment me being enrolled isn’t going to be a good idea. I’m sure you saw my anger being unleashed earlier when you ran in, right?” She gave a slight nod for him to continue. “I went for a walk because I couldn’t sleep. When I got to Ponyville park I was ambushed by a random guy. I had no intention on fighting, but he revealed himself as a member of the group who killed our parents and I ended up killing him. I was angry cause apparently, they were hunting me because somehow knew I survive and escaped. I don’t know when they plan on attacking me again, but I’m going to train hard to make sure I am prepared for it. I promise you that I will keep you safe Scarlet. I just found you after all these years. I am not going to lode you again. Would you like to spend the rest of the night in my room with me and Vesper we got to get up early.” Once again, she nodded. They went to his room to sleep. Scarlet and Vesper snuggled up next to Crimson and they all fell asleep with smiles on their faces. They are a family once again and they couldn’t be happier.
They woke up early the next morning like planned, ate breakfast and were about to head to the school to talk to Miss Cheerilee when Crimson noticed something. “Hey sis, look in the mirror. Your mane is different its looks cool.” She went to her room to see that her mane had changed to its original color. Now it’s red with purple highlights. She loved it. “Lets go before it’s too late to talk to Ms. Cheerilee.”
Vesper and Scarlet climbed onto Crimson’s back and they flew to the school. Upon landing, Scarlet saw Ms. Cheerilee, “Ms. Cheerilee good morning!” Cheerilee turned around supirsed at the voice she heard, “Scootaloo what a surprise. You are never this early to school and who is this young colt with you? I’ve never seen him around before.”
“Can we go inside we have something to tell you. Its important.” Cheerilee lead them to her office in the school. “What can I do for you and your friend Scootaloo?”
Crimson spoke up first. He could tell how nervous she was to say anything at this moment “Good morning Ms. Cheerilee it is nice to meet you. My name is Crimson. I am not here to enroll in school today. We are here for a different reason. I am Scootaloo’s twin brother. The reason no one knows about me is we were separated when we were 2 years old. She didn’t know I was still alive as well as me not knowing she was alive. I know you are wondering why you haven’t met any family as well. Our parents were killed the night we were separated. She was kidnapped and a spell was put on her to lock the memory of that night away. A side effect of that spell changed her appearance to what you see today outside of her mane which I can see confused you when you saw her. Her mane is slowly reverting to its original color from birth. I think she is going to keep it the way it is right now. She lives with me, so you don’t have to worry about her being homeless. I doubt the color of her coat is going to revert back to its original colors. The fact that her mane is has surprised me. Also her birth name isn’t Scootaloo, her real name is Scarlet Night. It is her decision if she plans on using her birth name or the name the orphanage gave her. I know this is a lot to process this early, but we really needed to tell you.”
Ms. Cheerilee had heard their story is made her sad to hear what they had went through, but she was happy everything was cleared up at least to a point. “I’m sorry you went through all that kids. In regard to your mane, I think its cute and suits you really well. As for your name do you want to go by Scarlet or Scootaloo?”
“I’m so used to going by Scootaloo that changing to my birth name would take a long time for me to get use to everyone calling me that. I need to get used to it as some point. I want to use my birth name, but I want to wait until I get my friends used to it. I will tell you when we can use Scarlet instead of Scootaloo.” They agreed on this plan of action for the time being. Scootaloo and Crimson walked outside, so she can wait for her friends. Vesper has been curled on Crimson’s shoulders. Vesper followed them to school. He didn’t want to be alone, so he tries to be with Crimson all the time when he leaves home. Crimson and Scarlet sat on the bench talking about training.
“Well look what we have here, this cute guy is sitting with the blank flank. Such a waste of time right there why not come be with us.” Scarlet sighed and rolled her eyes, “What do you want Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Do you really have to waste your energy bothering me?”
“We were just wondering why anypony would bother sitting with outside of your worthless friend.” Diamond said.
“Why I’m here with Scootaloo is none of your business. You are just a pompous brat who acts all high and mighty to compensate for your own insecurities. Spending any energy to even deal with your obvious attempt at making Scootaloo mad is just a waste of my time. I got some errands to take of so I will see you later Scoots.” He gave her a hug and walked away leaving Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shocked to the point that both of their mouths almost touched the ground. Other students who were arriving to school themselves heard everything and didn’t know what to do. It was so quiet outside the school that you could hear a pen drop. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom got to school and were confused by the scene in front of them. Scootaloo casually got out off the bench and walked into school like nothing happened with a smirk on her face.
School was uneventful to say the least. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon left Scootaloo and her friends alone which confused Sweetie and Applebloom. After school the crusaders ran to the orchard to play. They didn’t feel like crusading today. Sweetie kept glancing at Scootaloo noticing how oddly quiet she has been all day and she was getting worried. “Scoots you are never this quiet are you okay?”
“Hmm?” Scootaloo answered nonchalantly.
“Ya haven’t said word all day scoots. Is everythin okay?” Applebloom chimed in wondering the same thing.
“I’m doing great. I don’t really have much to say.” She responded.
“I got a question for you Scootaloo. Do you know why Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon ignored us all day? They never miss the opportunity to make our lives miserable.” Sweetie asked. That has been plaguing her mind all day.
Scootaloo grinned and said “This morning Crimson walked me to school, and they tried to bully me. He told them off with all other students hearing every word he said then walked off like it was nothing.”
Sweetie and Applebloom smirked at each other, “Sooooooo you were with him this morning huh? Does somepony have a crush?”
“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked looking stoic.
“You’ve been talking about him a lot and you have more pep in your step Scoots. Are you sure you don’t have a crush on him after he saved our lives?” Sweetie inquired.
“Really girls? I’m not interested in dating. Haven’t put any thought into that. My life has changed I will say that.” Scootaloo stated “He is a big reason why my life has changed, but it is not what you think.”
“Then why ya said your has changed due ta him?” Applebloom asked curiously.
“Well, I recently learned something about my past and my family. Crimson helped me find out things I didn’t know about myself. Until a couple days ago, there was a memory locking spell placed on me. With his and twilight’s help, we were able to get that spell removed. One of the side effects of the spell was a change in my appearance. The effects of the spell are wearing off which is why my mane is the way it right now. What you are seeing is mostly my original mane color from birth. I like the way it looks right now so I think I’m going to keep the purple highlights. Anyways before I tell you the details of the memory that was locked away there is something you need to know first. Haven’t you been wondering why you haven’t met my family?” They nodded, “I’m an orphan. That memory that was locked away was the night my parents died. I was 2 when it happened and I only survived because I was kidnapped and thrown in an orphanage. I was given a new name and new appearance to go with it. Crimson has been helping for longer than the day you guys met him. He saved my life from a timberwolf a few weeks ago. The reason I’m around him and that fox that is always on his shoulders or head is because I’ve been living with them since that day. Also Crimson is my twin brother who somehow managed to survive that night. He didn’t know I was his sister due to the name and appearance change.”
“Hold on he is your twin brother who you didn’t know was alive all these years?” Sweetie asked having trouble holding in her tears from the story “Since Scootaloo isn’t your real name, what is it?”
“Yes, he is my brother. My real name is Scarlet Night. In case you are wondering I would like for you to call me Scarlet from now on. I know it will take a bit for you guys to get use to it so I’m not going to get made when you call me Scoots instead. I’m trying to get use to Scarlet as well.” She smiled and hugged her friends. “I’m going to head out. I need to talk to Twilight by girls.” She trotted away to the castle.
Crimson was sitting on the fence to the orchard waiting for her, “Hey sis ready to head to the castle?” She nodded and Vesper hopped onto her shoulder and nuzzled her. “Twilight knows we’re coming. I sent her a letter to expect us.”
“Hey squirt!” They heard a voice yell out from above. “Who’s your friend here? He new to Ponyville?”
“Hey Rainbow Dash! This is Crimson, yes he is new to Ponyville, and we are on our way to see Twilight. We got something important to tell her.” She responded with a hug.
“I got nothing to do, so I will tag along.” Rainbow said.
Crimson smirked and said, “How about a race to the castle Rainbow Dash? I bet I could beat you.”
“Haha no one is faster than me, but I like your spunk kid. I accept.” She said getting ready to pounce into the air.
“Hop on Scoots this is going to be fun.” Crimson said his grin getting bigger by the second.
“Try not to bore me kiddo. Ready. Set Go!” They shot into the air and sped off like they were shot out of a cannon. Crimson kept pace with Rainbow as they approached the castle. Scarlet was giggling with excitement as they were racing surprised that he was keeping up with Rainbow. Crimson started his decent sooner than Rainbow did, so his landing wouldn’t be rough. He got to the doors of the castle before Rainbow did and noticed that she was about to crash into the doors. Thinking fast he put Scarlet and Vesper down and created a wind current that was powerful enough to slow her down and help her correct herself, so she didn’t crash. As upset as she was that she lost the race, she was more confused that she didn’t crash with how fast she was going.
“That was fun Rainbow. Thanks for the race.” Crimson said before heading inside the castle. Both Rainbow and Scarlet looked at each other confused, but followed behind him. Twilight was in the library like usual nose in a book. “Good afternoon Twilight. How are you today?”
Twilight looked up with a smile “Hello Crimson, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash. I was expecting you Rainbow. Crimson I have a question for you. How where you able to send me a letter today with having our mailmare deliver it?” Rainbow added, “And how did you help me land without crashing at the end of our race?”
“To answer your question first Rainbow, I created a wind current that was strong enough to counter your speed so you could land gently on the ground. For you Twilight, I know a spell that send any object to anywhere as long as I know who it is going too. Before either of you ask how I can do that without a horn. I know the complex ways of using pegusus magic and creating wind currents is a part of my special talent.” He responded casually.
“What exactly is your special talent Crimson?” Twilight asked.
“I can create, summon and utilize weapons and the elements.” His response was a little bit weary not knowing what kind of reaction to expect from them. “Can we please get to why me and Scoots came to talk to you Twilight?”
“Oh yeah we should. Your talent is very impressive and I would like to know more about it later. Why did you want to come by today?” She said.
Scootaloo spoke up so Crimson didn’t have to explain it again, “The memory just came back last night. I now know what is was about. That memory is about the death of my parents when I was 2 years old. My home was destroyed during the attack and I only survived because I was kidnapped. Crimson here is my twin brother who managed to get away before he was killed or kidnapped himself. My appearance has slightly changed as you can see. My mane is now red with purple highlights instead of all purple. I was born with red hair, but the kidnappers changed my appearance and my name when they threw me at the orphanage in Manehatten. My real is Scarlet Night. If Princess Celestia were to look at census of Manehatten is would both me and Crimson as deceased along with our parents. I’m happy to have my brother back in my life again and we’ve been living very well together of the past few weeks along with Vesper, the fox on his shoulders.” Upon hearing his name Vesper hoped off Crimson over to Scarlet and nuzzled her. “Where do you live Crimson, we’ve never seen you around till recently?" Rainbow asked.
“An underground bunker I built myself, that I’m still expanding. I’ve been living there for 9 years. No one has known about me because I home make everything myself. I also have an underground garden where all my food is grown, I don’t have to leave my home to buy anything. I even made the clothes I wear. Before Rainbow asks me yes, I was born half red half black and the cut through my right eye is from the night our parents died. Does that answer all the questions both of you have about me?” He stated. Both Twilight and Rainbow nodded. Before anyone could say anything else, a random arrow flew through the window zipping towards Crimson. Without looking towards it, he caught the arrow, set his fist a blaze, and disintegrated it after sensing where it came from. Twilight and Rainbow stood shocked at what they just saw.
Crismon had an annoyed look on his face because he was being hunted while with Scarlet. His wings sprung out and he flew through the window, where the arrow came from, somehow not managing to break it. He wet straight to the location he tracked the arrow from. “So my hunch was right, come down here you little brat.” Crimson saw a random brown earth pony wielding a bow n arrow. “You got to be joking. Your arrows are scrap. I will give you props on your aim considering you somehow managed to arc it at just the right angle. If you had a little bit more power to your shot, you might have been able to hit me in the head with your shot. Unless you have any close combat training, you have no chance at injuring me let alone killing me which is your intent. Spare me this waste of an interaction and leave before you get embarrassed. Tell your boss that he needs better henchman or to do his own dirty work instead of sending useless lackies.” Crimson’s adversary got extremely angry when he said that and lunged him. He sighed and thought, ‘Here we go again. This won’t take long.’
Scarlet, Vesper, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were running towards the direction they saw Crimson fly to. Rainbow and Twilight were worried about him. Scarlet knew why he looked so annoyed. When they found him he was being attacked by somepony they had never seen before. Crimson sensed the 4 of them, but didn’t acknowledge their arrival. He easily sidestepped the attempt at an attack and elbowed him in the back. The attacker is slowly getting more and more frustrated as time went on. He noticed Scarlet spectating and smirked. He threw a dagger at her. Twilight and Rainbow were too shocked that their reaction to the dagger was heavily delayed and Scarlet froze. Crimson kecked the attacker in the face to stun him then he dashed to the dagger, caught it with his mouth by the handle somehow, then went back to fighting the pony trying to kill him. Crimson caught and countered every punch and kick that was thrown at him. The fighting had been going on for maybe 15 minutes. A huge crowd had emerged during this time watching everything. Adults were shocked that somepony was attacking a child. Kids were thinking how cool this colt looked fighting an adult. The main 6 were stunned that Crimson hasn’t been hit once by this pony, and didn’t feel that they needed to intervene. Scarlet just sat on the ground and pet Vesper while she watched. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle sat with her also petting him while watching everything. Twilight used her magic to send a note to Spike to for Shining Armor and a couple guards. Crimson continued to dodge and counter strikes know that this pony would get so angry that he would try something very stupid. It about 5 more minutes of missing for the attacker to take out 2 more daggers to try to stab Crimson. Crimson knew this was coming, so right as the strike with the daggers was coming Crimson put up both his fists and a loud cling was heard. Crimson had summoned 2 of own bowie knives and blocked the attack. The crowds’ jaws dropped seeing this. Crimson never once looked at the crowd, but he knew they were there. He decided on not killing the pony in front of everyone, but trying to incapacitate him. Crimson went back to blocking strikes until he found the perfect shot at a crippling blow. During one of his blocks he kicked the attacker in his right shin, then kneed him in the chin. The knee to the chin caused some teeth to fly out. Crimson waited no time in going behind him and locking him in a sleeper hold and held it long enough to make him pass out but not kill him.
Shining Armor and a couple guards arrived as the fight ended. “Hey Twiley what’s going on? I got a letter from Spike saying you needed me.” The main 6 all pointed towards Crimson and the now unconscious attacker and she said, “Over there.” Shining looked over to where they were pointing and sighed. Shining Armor and the two guards walked over to Crimson, “I already know what you want to ask me. My name is Crimson Moon. This is an assassin who was sent to kill me, but failed immensely at even hitting me. He is too impulsive and untrained. I did not kill him; he is unconscious. I do not know who this pony is or who sent him to kill me, but if they try again, which I am confident that they will, they really need to send a more experienced fighter. Yes I am 12 year old child who is being targeted and no I don’t know why. You can go ahead an arrest this pony. I’m going to go home and eat. You have a nice day, and these are his weapons he attempted to kill me with as well.” He handed over the 3 daggers, bow and arrow to the confused guards. Once finished explaining everything to Shining Armor, Crimson started walking home. Vesper and Scarlet ran to him before he got too far from the scene. “Hey sis, you doing alright?”
She nodded, “Thank you for stopping that knife from hitting me. How did you catch it in your mouth?”
“I’ve trained myself to do that. I know it scared you when I did that, but I was thinking 3 moves ahead of him and I needed to have my hands free to block him.” They walked in silence for a couple of minutes. They heard behind them “Crimson hold on.” They turned around to see the main 6 and the rest of the CMC followed them. “Need something?” he asked. “We wanted to talk to you and make sure you are okay.” Rainbow said.
“Sure we can talk. I’m perfectly fine. He wasn’t able to lay a single hit on me. He was very untrained, and his temper was high. His distraction by throwing the dagger at her would’ve worked better if he knew how to capitalize off it. Anyways, follow us and we can continue this conversation elsewhere.” Crimson nonchalantly stated.
Everyone followed Crimson, Scarlet and Vesper to their home. “I’m going to go make some food for everyone. You can sit and chat while you wait for me.” Crimson walked into the kitchen to make some potato leek soup for everyone. He was happy he had enough bowls for everyone. Making way more than enough supplies for him to live paid off. Everyone could smell something delicious and were excited to see what he made. After about 15 minutes Crimson came out with all the bowls of soup. “Eat up everyone. I know you have questions for me. I will answer what I can for you.”
Rainbow was the first one to say something, “I only have 2 questons for you. What did you make? This is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had. Second, how long did it take for you to make your home?” He smirked, figuring that Rainbow would negate the obvious questions everyone else had. “What I made is called potato leek soup. Before she asks.” He said pointing at Applejack, “I grow all my food myself and I will show where I grow it. For the second question, I’ve been building my home since I was 3 years old and its still a work in progress.” Everyone gasped.
“Well I’m impressed with what your able to build for yourself. Thank you very much for the food. It was very delicious.” Rarity said. “My name is Rarity. You are a very kind young colt darling. Since Rainbow decided not to ask the question we are all wondering, why was that pony trying to kill you?”
“For me to answer that question I need to tell you about our past.” He responed. Applejack asks, “Our past?”
Scarlet stood up and walked over to him, “He is talking about me AJ.”
Crimson began the story they told Twilight and Rainbow, “We are from Manehatten. I’m her twin brother Crimson Moon and her name is actually Scarlet Night. When we were 2, we became orphans. One night while she was asleep, I was downstairs with mom and dad when a group of ponies attacked our home. I watched them kill our parents in cold blood. Scarlet was in her crib when everything happened. She will tell you her side of things from that night. That was the same I night my cutie marks as well. I’m sure you all saw the knives I held in my hands when I was blocking his attacks.” They nodded all wondering where the knives came from. “I can do 2 things with my special talent. I can summon any weapon.” To demonstrate he summoned the daggers he used in the fight. “From close to long range, I can summon them all. The second part of my special talent I can show you, but not in this room its unsafe. Follow me everyone, it’s easier for me to show you instead of explain it.” He led everyone to his training room. “I need you all to go to that small room in the corner please. It will protect you from what I’m about to do.” They all went to the safe room and shut the door. Crimson placed 3 targets across the room from where he stood. First thing he did was manipulate the moisture in the air to create a spear made of water and threw it at the first target. At second target, he threw a 4 fireballs one blue, one red, one green, and one purple. He used his wings to shoot a high voltage electrical charge at the final target setting it on fire with the lightening. To finish the demonstration, he summoned a sword and slashed releasing a light-blue colored air whip to extinguished the fires. Once that was done, he motioned everyone to follow him back upstairs. When they got upstairs everyone sat down while Crimson took all the dishes into the kitchen. “Back to the story. Our home was blown to bits, and I fled from Manehatten. I taught myself how to fly while I was running away. Now it’s your turn Scarlet to tell our side of things.”
She got up and said, “On that night, I heard the commotion downstairs, but I couldn’t leave my crib to see what was going on. Somepony came in threw the window and kidnapped me. I wasn’t able to scream because they covered my mouth. I saw the house blow up as I was carried off. The ponies who kidnapped me used a memory locking spell and changed my appearance to what you’ve been seeing since the day you met me. Crimson and I got Twilight to remove the spell from me, so I could get my memory back. My mane has already changed back to its original color and I’m keeping the purple highlights. The kidnappers changed my name to Scootaloo. According to the records in Manehatten, Crimson and I are considered deceased. I just found out that Crimson is my brother a couple days ago went I got my memory back. I’ve been living with him for a few weeks now. I want to be called Scarlet from now on please. I don’t want the reminder from that night anymore with Scootaloo.”
Crimson took over the conversation from there, “That pony that tried to kill me earlier was sent from the leader of whatever group he works for. I don’t know why they are hunting me. Whatever their reason is won’t matter. I’m prepared for whatever they try to send my way. They are uncoordinated and untrained in any form or useful combat. I’m not worried about it. My only focus is living my life with Scarlet and our little buddy Vesper here.” Vesper nuzzled him hearing his name. “That is our story. I know both Applebloom and her sister are wondering about where I get my ingredients from so come this way, please.” He led everyone down the hallway next to the kitchen. The hallway led to his very large underground garden. The amount of crops he was growing stunned everyone and Applejack was overly impressed with it.
“Well I gotta hand it ya kid. I’m very impressed with what you got here. I’ve never seen this many different crops in one area. My name is Applejack by tha way.” She said.
“Thank you miss. This took me 2 years to get together.” Crimson said to her. “Now that you know everything. Did that answer your questions ladies?” They nodded satisfied with what they got from him and Scarlet. “Hey sis I going to go for a walk wanna come along?” She nodded and they led everyone out of their home. “You have a good day girls.” Everyone went home. Crimson, Vesper and Scarlet went for a quiet evening walk.
“Today was an eventful day.” Scarlet said “That soup was really good Crimson.”
“I’m glad you liked it. I’m too tired to train you today sis. We will start training tomorrow after school.” He smiled and hugged her.
“Copy that. Will you pick me up from school bro?” She asked.
“Absolutely. Let’s head home and get some sleep.” They home to recharge for the next day. They hugged, Crimson kissed her forehead, and they went to their rooms. Vesper curled next to Crimson, and everyone slept with peaceful dreams. The next day was going to be a busy one for them.