Crimson Dance

by Nightmares Madness

Ponyville

The cold seemed to have eased as Twilight remained against the stone wall, wrapped in Cleviks cloak. She could not help drifting in the small comfort, the sounds of the storm outside slowly fading to a dull sound. It was a light sleep, yet Twilight still could not help but to be startled as she was shaken. Looking up, she could see Clevik leaning down looking at her, his features softened slightly noticing he had roused her less gently than she thought.

He tilted his head to the cave entrance. Looking, Twilight could see the storm had halted, though the trees and brush outside seemed to still be wet. She stood and worked to remove the cloak from around her and handed it back to Clevik, he took it and set it aside before moving over and lifting up her own that he had at some point taken and spread out to dry. Handing it over, Twilight took it and noticed it was now mostly dry, there were still a few patches where it had remained wet.

She threw it over her arm and moved to the entrance to look out. The clouds were still heavy and thick, but she could tell now it was close to evening. Turning, she could see Clevik lifting his pack up onto his shoulders before wrapping his cloak around him. He refrained from lifting the hood up over his head, leaving his features exposed.

Once they were ready, the two left the cave and worked their way back to the road and continued on following the wide path.

(^-(*,_,*)-^)

The view of Ponyville was obscured by a large wooden wall made of split logs from trees. They were tall, just shy of the size of a full tree. Twilight was always aware the dangers of her world, as it teemed with unruly beasts and hostile creatures. No doubt, the populace here was more than aware of the fact since they took to protecting themselves.

As she drew close, she could see the proof on the surfaces of the wall. Much of it was marred around shoulder height, made by claws from the looks of them. Some long and thin, too shallow to do much more than set a mark, others were shorter and deeper. Some, she could even see as she stopped before the gate in the wall, showed wear worse than the rest as if the majority of the damage had been wrought here over time.

There on the gate, was an inch gap from the base all the way to the top, one log having been replaced by a well cut and treated log, the faint scent of it being worked still hung in the air. On the older log on the opposite side of the gap were deep markings and splinters, as if this part had been savagely worn down over a period of time and in desperation was replaced.

“Who’s there?” Demanded a voice. The near shout and appearance of a shadow blocking part of the crack surprised Twilight. Quickly, she jumped back before she could respond.

“I-I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She replied, once she was able to think. She was grateful, at least, her mind calmed faster than her body.

After a few seconds of silence, there came a sound of something large and heavy scrapping over the wood of the gate.

Once more, Twilight was startled as several stallions burst through the gate as it opened just enough for them to get through. A few pointed rather dangerous looking spears at her, while many more fanned out behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she could see them carefully scanning the road and trees nearby, but made no move to distance themselves from the gate any more than they already had.

“I’ve never seen you before. Where did you come from?” Came the voice of a female.

Turning back, Twilight made note of the only two new additions who were not pointed a weapon at her. The mare stood about as tall as herself, had a butter cream colored coat, and a two tone mane and tail of blue and pink. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she noticed the fact these Equines were wearing a strange stiff looking armor that resembled scales over their torsos.

The one behind her, was a large stallion with very wide shoulders. Twilight gulped audibly as she looked up at the massive red stallion with short wavy locks of corn yellow mane. The mares and most of the stallions barely came up to his chest. Despite his fearsome strong looks, his eyes seemed filled with sorrow, yet also kindness and caring.

“Watch the drool.” The mare in front of her commented seeing her eyes take in the stallion behind her.

“Uh. Sorry,” Twilight said, coming to her senses. “I, uh, there is a human town to the North East. Where they have an arcane college. I was there until recently.” She explained, not sure if they would understand if she told them of her dream.

The mare nodded, then turned toward the gate, leaning slightly to call around the red stallion. “Rarity, we need you now.”

“On my way, Darling.” Came an almost sing song response. A mare of the softest white fur and a deep dark purple mane and tail, both clipped short came strutting out in a dress. She held the hem up in one hand, a calm and delighted look on her face. “Don’t worry, dear. This won’t take but a moment.” The mare explained with a smile.

Twilight gasped seeing the horn, that was not hidden. “You’re a unicorn. Oh, after so many years of not... Oh, I can’t believe it.” Twilight began to speak almost incoherently in excitement.

The mare, Rarity, raised an eyebrow at Twilight, before her eyes widened. Twilight raised a hand, and removed the hidden spell, allowing her horn to appear.

“Oh, Darling, I wish you hadn’t done that.” Rarity commented, her voice low and a sorrowful look on her face as she took a step back.

“Seize her!” The cream colored mare called out. Faster than Twilight could respond, much less even think, she was shoved to the ground, the three stallions that had been pointing spears at her still, now laid hover her. They kept her arms and hooves pinned down. They did not take it easy on her, even with her crying out in pain.

“Rarity, please continue.” The cream colored mare spoke again.

“Bonbon, is this really necessary? I told you before, many Unicorns such as we had to hide our horns. She even explained she came from a human-”

“Not a chance.” Bonbon responded, her voice taking on a hard edge.

Rarity frowned slightly and looked to the ground, before nodding. She did not want to continue and upset the mare. A second later, Rarity kneeleed down, muttering something about ruining her dress as she did so.

“I am so sorry,” she whispered as she leaned close. She closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow slightly, a nice soft blue, before Twilight felt something pass over her. The tingling in her body clued her in to the use of magic, her eyes going wide.

With a kind smile, Rarity stood and turned to Bonbon. “She is clear. I checked and she is full Equine, no sign of changeling blood of any sort, nor any other creature with the ability to alter their appearance.”

“What about homunculi, or doppleganger? Maybe she is a were creature? Is she wearing anything that can alter her appearance, or trick the spell?”

With a patient look, as if they had gone through this many times before, Rarity shook her head. “Bonbon, I know you want to be absolutely certain. But she did finish the spell to its perfected form.” She halted as Bonbon shot her a glare.

With a grunt, she gave the order for the guards to get off of Twilight. Rarity offered a hand, and Twilight gratefully accepted the gesture. The two stood before making their way through the gate following Bonbon and the still unnamed stallion. As they entered the town, the rest of the guards slowly made their way in, before closing the gate.

The sound of grinding could be heard once again, and Twilight turned to see what it was. She gawked as she watched three Earth pony easing a rope tied to a thick log down over the door and into a pair of metal bars bent slightly up to hold the wooden barricade over the door.

Twilight turned as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She followed Rarity once more at a tilt of the other mares head. The two walked over to a small over hang made of stone, covered with a roof made of what appeared to be sticks, hay and mud. Underneath was laid a table and a chair. This was where they found Bonbon as she sat, the silent red stallion leaning against a stone wall, his ears brushing against the poorly made roof.

Bonbon was staring down at a map with crude sketches of the town and the surrounding area. It seemed to Twilight as if the mare were trying to will the map to catch on fire.

“Bonbon, dear, don’t you think you owe our guest an apology?” Rarity asked, straight to the point.

The mare in question glanced up offering a slight frown. Before shaking her head and muttering a quick, seemingly unfeeling apology.

“Now, Darling, I-”

“No, no. It’s okay, thank you Rarity, and you as well, Bonbon. I ... I don’t know what you all have been through. It took me a full week of traveling to get here. I am on an urgent mission. I have to go into the woods called the Wilds. Can any of you help me?”

“Why in Celestia’s name would you want to go into a place as dreadful as the Everfree forest?” Rarity asked seemingly appalled.

“The what?” Twilight asked.

Rarity blinked for a second, “You... You really don’t know do you? How long have you been in that town of humans?”

“Nearly my whole life. I was raised by the mages there, and trained in the art of magic. Speaking of which,” Twilight added, thinking about something, “how did you cast a spell without using an incantation, or any ingredients for a base?”

Rarity and Bonbon shared a look before Bonbon shook her head. “Sorry, I can claim no knowledge, Rarity. I’m not a unicorn, this one is all yours.” She said, sounding all too pleased for the fact.

With a sigh, Rarity turned to Twilight and then motioned her to follow her. At length they came to a strange large tent. Twilight raised an eyebrow, to Rarities amusement.

“Looks can be deceiving darling.” Was all she said as she opened a door and stepped in. She moved to the side and invited Twilight and bade her to take a seat. “Well, I had thought I sensed a strange aura about you when I used that spell. I never knew a Unicorn could be taught human magic.” She explained as she moved through the large room, that appeared to be some sort of store for garments and such.

Twilight watched as Rarity disappeared behind a large screen, her voice calling out slightly louder to be heard. “Tell me, how did you come to be raised in a town of humans?”

Twilight fidgeted a little, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. She did not want to go into details, not because it was anything bad. She just couldn’t remember much about her parents and never knew where they had gone, or why they had left her. The mages never spoke about it, as they claimed to not know. The only person she could never meet was the arcane master, a rank among the school as to be the head of the college.

Rarity stepped out from behind the screen now wearing a slightly different dress than the one she had before. The only real difference was the line of gem stones at the neckline of the dress. The gems were set up in a slight pattern. The top and bottom line were sapphires, while the center line of gems was made of diamond. It made Twilight think of Rarities fur, mane, and tail. Rarity saw the look on Twilights face, and apologized quickly, realizing how difficult some things could be.

“At any rate, I truly do apologize for Bonbons actions. We, well, we have had some issues with many types of creatures. Most notably a species known as changelings.”

“You mean the breed of creature that resembles a pony bug hybrid of some sort?” Twilight asked.

Rarity nodded, a frown coming to her face as she made her way over and carefully sat down next to Twilight. She shifted her legs as she did, carefully setting herself down in a very dignified fashion.

“Bonbon, is,” Rarity halted, trying to think of the right words, her ears splaying back as she thought things through, “a special case. The spell I used was created by a very unique unicorn. She and Bonbon were very close, and one day while checking some defenses further out in the woods there came a noise from the front gate. The unicorns name was Lyra, and she was stationed at the gate testing the spell on a few different things and volunteers. When they heard the noise, they opened the gate and spotted Bonbon being attacked by a pack of wolves. Out of concern for a loved one, Lyra pulled a few guards together and chased off the wolves. We brought Bonbon in for medical attention, only to find that she wasn’t Bonbon. A changeling had taken her form and quickly laid waste to those who were around them.”

“Including Lyra?” Twilight ventured a guess.

“She was the first to fall, as Lyra had known Bonbon to be a stickler for rules. When she began casting the spell, she revealed the changeling for what it was. In a fit it attacked Lyra first, it did not take long for more help to arrive when others noticed the commotion. We were only able to keep Lyra alive for a short time before she passed. Bonbon had made it back and her love had literally died in her arms. The poor dear has been, well, you saw her today. Please, don’t hold it against her, she hasn’t forgiven herself for what happened that day. As well, I fear I don’t have the full word on the exact details. I was brought in shortly after the incident to learn the spell she made. It is literally Lyra’s living legacy, and something that keeps everypony here safe.”

Twilight nodded, she did not understand completely, but she had been witness to the pain left by such loss. She sat there in silence for a moment before Rarity interrupted.

“Twilight, I think it may be beneficial if you take some time to rest here and study some of our history and magic, it may better prepare you for life among your own kind.”

“Do you have an arcane school with teachers and books?” Twilight asked eagerly.

Rarity looked at Twilight for a second, “No, the only thing we have a local library.”

“Library?” Twilight exclaimed jumping up to her hooves.

Rarity smiled and nodded before standing, though she stopped with a look at Twilight. “How about we go, after I help that wardrobe issues you have.”

“Wardrobe issue?” Twilight asked looking down at her robes.

“Hmm, I’ve worked with worse.” She said as she grabbed Twilights hand and pulled her to the back of the store.

Author's Note:

Well, I apologize for the wait on this chapter.

Comments

[Moongaze14]

This version of Ponyville is quite interesting.

[Nightmares Madness]

6210596 I wouldn't blame anyone for disliking how different many of the ponies are in this story, as well as many of the familiar settings. This is an alternate Universe with some serious differences in characters, and settings. As you most likely have already noted.