Enter Crimson

by milestails16

Chapter 10: Through Pain-Filled Eyes

Everyone was enjoying themselves and having a blast. Unfortunately, it could not go on forever. Once the music had stopped and everyone had their fill of snacks, they all had left and gone home; well, almost everyone. The ones who didn’t leave were Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Crimson. They stayed behind to help clean up the mess left by everyone who attended the party.

“So...?” said Rainbow Dash, who was sweeping up some trash. “What did you and Twilight talk about?” She took a few steps towards Crimson, who was currently washing one of the snack tables that was away from the others, to talk to him without the others hearing them.

“Why do you ask?” said Crimson, turning his head towards Rainbow Dash to see her better. “Am I acting suspiciously to you? Do you think I have something to hide?”

“W-What?” Rainbow said, confused at the sudden questions. “No no no! I just want to know what you two talked about!” After she said this, Crimson had now started glaring at Rainbow. Rainbow was now stepping back away from Crimson out of fear. But as soon as she took a step back, he took a step forward. One step back, one step forward. By the time they stopped Rainbow Dash was just a foot away from the wall.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she screamed as she started shaking. The next thing that happened surprised her. Instead of Crimson attacking her he was...laughing?

“Rainbow Dash, I’m kidding!” he said after he had caught his breath. “She was just asking me some questions and I answered them” Rainbow Dash smiled when she heard this. She was taken aback however by the words that suddenly came out of Crimson’s mouth.

“Don’t worry, Dash” he said as he slowly smiled, “I’m not going to take her away from you. She’s all yours” With those last words he headed towards the front entrance of Sugarcube Corner, leaving behind a very happy Rainbow Dash.

“Oh wait!” said Pinkie Pie from behind the counter, “I almost forgot!” She hopped over the counter and ran towards Crimson as fast as she could; stopping immediately right in front of him.

“What are those?” she said, pointing towards the flat steel bracelet cuffs that were around each of Crimson’s wrists. They were black and were 2 inches long.

“Oh, these?” Crimson said, “They’re nothing special” Pinkie Pie, who was just being Pinkie Pie, reached out to touch the bracelets. But, just as her hand was mere centimeters away from touching it, Crimson grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the bracelet.

“Do. Not. Touch”

Pinkie Pie was beginning to get scared at Crimson’s sudden change of behavior. He went from calm and happy to serious and angry! Crimson looked down at the terror filled Pinkie Pie as he continued to hold her hand. Realizing what he was doing he quickly calmed down and let go of her hand.

“Sorry Pinkie,” he said as he talked in a now calming voice, “I didn’t mean to startle you” Once Pinkie Pie relaxed a little, Crimson started explaining why he acted like that. He explained that the bracelets were actually a gift from his grandmother who died because of a terminal illness when he was nine years old. Also, the reason he always wears them is because it feels like she’s always there with him. After he finished his story, Pinkie Pie started to cry...unnaturally. When she cried, her tears came out like a spring waterfall.

“That’s so...sad!” she said, talking in between each sob. Crimson took a napkin from one of the tables and handed it to Pinkie before taking a step out of the bakery. But, before he left her alone, he took a quick step back and looked into her eyes.

“Those eyes…” he said to her, “I thought so. Pinkie Pie could you come with me? Please?” Pinkie Pie was confused by this sudden request of Crimson. She still didn’t know much about Crimson; his request could be either good or bad. But, he has done Ponyville a big favor by saving everyone from that big attack. So if a good guy stopped a bad guy or creature, surely nothing bad will happen to her. Right?

“Sure!” she said excitedly, “Where to?” As the two left, he explained to her that he left something at Fluttershy’s house and that he needs Pinkie Pie’s help to get it. Little did they know that Miss Suspicious was following right behind them. When they were halfway there Crimson caught something out of the corner of his left eye; a green bush with poorly hidden eye holes on the front of it.

“Hey, Pinkie Pie?” he said as he pulled out his cell phone, “Could you go on ahead and wait for me? I need to make a quick call” She nodded happily as she skipped the rest of the way to Fluttershy’s house. Crimson, after dialing up the number, waited for the other person to answer. He waited and waited, listening to that annoying dial tone until finally, the other person answered. He put his phone up to his ear and mouth to answer.

“Hello?”

“Twilight, I know that’s you hiding behind that bush”

“W-What? No, that’s crazy! What bush? I have no idea what yo-” she suddenly stopped talking as she noticed that Crimson was towering above her, holding the green bush above the ground in between them. Twilight had a pencil and notepad on the ground next to her on her left, with a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck.

“Explain. Now” Crimson said as he tossed the green bush aside. Beads of sweat started dripping from Twilight’s forehead as she got more nervous. She looked left and right, looking for a chance to escape.

“E-Explain?” she said, doing her best to think of a plausible excuse. “I was...um...bird watching? Yeah! Bird watching!” Crimson stared at her in disbelief. That was best she could come up with?

“Bird watching, really?” he said, still staring at Twilight in disbelief. “I don’t think me and Pinkie Pie are birds” While he was looking down at Twilight, he spotted the pencil and notepad next to her. He quickly grabbed it and started looking through her notes.

“Oh, what have we here?” he said as he looked through her notepad, “Looks like someone’s been writing notes abo- Oh hey! Nice Rainbow Dash sketch you got here!” After hearing that last part, Twilight yanked the notepad out of his hands; her cheeks turning bright red.

“I won’t tell anyone, I swear,” Crimson said as he did his best to avoid eye contact with her. “Listen I gotta get going before Pinkie Pie rushes over here. But…” Crimson kneeled down next to Twilight and whispered something into her before rushing off. When he finally caught up with Pinkie, he found her just outside the door of Fluttershy’s house. Crimson walked up to her house and knocked on her door. After waiting for a while the door opened showing, not Fluttershy, but Discord behind it with a big smile on his face.

“Crimson, my dear boy,” he said, “And Pinkie Pie! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Crimson looked over towards Pinkie Pie, who was off in her own little world, and then towards Discord. He leaned in close towards Discord and whispered something into his ear; Discord’s expression went from happy and cheery to serious and grave.

“Oh…” he said, in a grim voice. “I see. Come on in” He stepped aside as both Crimson and Pinkie Pie stepped through the doorway and into Fluttershy’s house. As soon as the two were in, Discord closed and locked the front door. The clicking of the lock seemed to snap Pinkie out of her little daydream.

“What’s going on?” she said as she watched Discord start closing the curtains. “Crimson, I thought you came here to get something!” Her words, however, seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. As she talked, Crimson to continued to walk towards the couch; not even bothering to give her a response. As soon as he got to the couch he slowly sat down on the left side of it.

“I did,” Crimson said as a smile slowly formed on his face, “Sit down and I’ll tell you what it is” Pinkie Pie slowly walked towards the couch and sat down on it, sitting on Crimson’s left side.

“So” she started, “What is it that you forgo-”

“Always smiling, always laughing, but those eyes…” Crimson said as he continued, “Through them, I can see that you’re in pain” After Crimson said this he looked over at Pinkie Pie, who was looking at him shocked, which slowly turned into a saddened expression.

“I-I…” she said, with an obvious bit of sadness in her voice. “I don’t know what you’re talking abo-” “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Pinkamena Diane Pie”

“I-I’m Pinkie Pie...” she said, “The happiest person the-” Without warning Crimson hugged Pinkie Pie. As soon as he hugged her, Pinkie Pie...she cried tears she’s been wanting to cry for years. About five minutes passed before Pinkie Pie finally stopped crying. Her hair had lost its bouncy shape and was now straight with a few strands hanging off her shoulders.

“Pinkie Pie” he started as he slowly placed his left hand on her left shoulder. “I’m not going to ask you what happened, but I will ask you this” Looking up slowly at Crimson, Pinkie Pie smiled; knowing she found someone she can trust with her pain. After hearing Crimson whisper "Close your eyes" , she did as told and closed her eyes.

‘I’m sorry for this, Pinkie Pie. But I can’t stand seeing you like this’

Crimson’s right hand started glowing red before he placed two fingers against Pinkie’s forehead. Slowly it was only the fingers on Pinkie Pie’s forehead that were glowing red. After his fingers had stopped glowing, Crimson was panting softly and had beads of sweat sliding down his forehead. What he did took more out of him than he thought it would.

“Crimson?” Said Discord, coming down the stairs of Fluttershy’s house. “What’s wrong?” After he had said that, Crimson fell off the couch, almost landing on the floor if Discord had not rushed over and caught him.

“Oh hey…” said Crimson, still a bit exhausted. “How’s it going?” They both turned their head as they heard a sudden yawn coming from the couch. On the couch was Pinkie Pie yawning and stretching, with her hair back to its usually bouncy shape.

“That was a good nap!” She said, in her usual energetic voice. When he saw Pinkie Pie, Crimson couldn’t help but smile. Even though what he did wasn’t right, he still feels like he did a good thing. After he got back up on his feet, he joined Pinkie Pie on the couch.

“Glad you enjoyed your nap, Pinkie!” He started, “Also, we can go now. I got what I came here for” After hearing that, the smiling Pinkie Pie hopped off the couch and dashed out of the house through the front doorway. It was Crimson’s turn to leave. But, unlike Pinkie Pie, he walked out of the house through the doorway. He continued to walk down the pathway in front of the house until he came to a stop at the front gate. Across from where he stood, he could see Sugarcube Corner. As he looked at it, Crimson let out a depressed sigh.

“It’s scary what a smile can hide”

Wow! To be honest, I didn’t think I would ever write a dark chapter. Or even a dark fanfic. So anyways, back to the story. What’s with Pinkie Pie’s sudden change? What did Crimson do? Why did he almost pass out? Find out in Chapter 11: Origin of Pinkamena!