//------------------------------// // Crystal // Story: Scarlet // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Scarlet found Lens sitting at the table in his dining room, his tired eyes wandering over the pages of an old, thick, leather-bound book. A glass of wine was on the table by his hoof, looking to have only just been started on. A few candles were scattered along the counters and a few shelves on the walls, casting an omnidirectional, gently flickering light across the whole room. Scarlet leaned against the doorframe, her tired eyes settling on the stallion. She didn’t say anything or move for a long while. She just looked at him, taking in the details, noting any differences. And the longer she looked, the more she realized that, unlike her, he hadn’t really changed all that much in the eight years since the war. He had a few new wrinkles, to be sure, but other than that?  His eyes were still the same bright blue, a spark of energy and light practically visible within. His face was still just as Scarlet had remembered it, especially twisted into that stubborn and determined frown he would always get when reading a particularly interesting book. It was an expression that screamed ‘five more minutes.’ “...Lucky stallion,” Scarlet thought to herself, her face falling somewhat when she internally compared herself to him. The silence was suddenly disturbed by a soft exclamation, followed by Lens speaking in hushed surprise. “Huh? Scarlet? I thought you were going to bed.”  Scarlet jumped in her skin, jarred out of her reverie. She looked up and saw Lens staring back at her with surprise written on his face, alongside a tentative smile. She cleared her throat and looked away sheepishly. “Oh, er… My apologies, but I am not as ready to sleep as I thought,” she said quietly, her ears drooping. “I’m tired, yes, but… you’re not wrong. It’s been a very long time, and…”  She sighed quietly and met his gaze. “I have missed you. Very, very much. And as long as we’re here…” she took a few tentative steps forward. “I might as well catch up with you.” In an instant, Lens’ book thumped closed and drifted off to rest on the nearby kitchen counter. The unicorn grinned and gestured at the seat across from him like a foal pointing at a piece of candy he wanted. “Well, go on and get comfy, then!” he encouraged, energy and enthusiasm wiping away his tiredness. Scarlet rolled her eyes and strode forwards, taking her place across from him. She had just gotten comfortable when a wine glass and the bottle itself levitated in front of her in a pale blue aura. She could see Lens’ expectant face on the other side, his smile eager and infectious even when distorted and ballooned out by the glass. “Wine? I know you like wine.” Scarlet chuckled and nodded, taking the glass in her magic and allowing her host to pour her a drink. “It is my preferred beverage when it comes to alcohol, yes,” she acknowledged, watching as the red liquid filled her glass. Once it was filled, she took a curious sip and found it was a particularly fruity wine. Sweet and potent, just how she liked it. She hummed to herself in contentment before lowering the glass down to the table and smiling at Lens. “So, how have you been since we made our grand exit?” Lens took a sip of his own wine before speaking. ”Oh, uh, I’ve been doing very well, thank you! I went back to Newcanter for a couple of years after the war ended and finished up my studies, and I’ve been on a few expeditions since then. You know, exploring old ruins, researching historical sites, that kind of thing.” “That so?” Scarlet asked, glancing briefly towards the living room, thinking back on all of the old scribblings and books he had laying around in there. “I’m not surprised. You always did love anything and everything old enough to be coated in a thick layer of dust.” “What can I say? I like knowing about the world around me,” Lens explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “And actually, I’ve been invited to lead another expedition here in a few months.” Scarlet’s ears perked up, her eyes focusing on Lens again. “You’re leading an expedition?” she asked, not sure if she should be skeptical or impressed. Lens’ grin grew in size and enthusiasm. “Yeah! There are some ruins up to the north of Newcanter, and the Solar Council wants them explored and their historical significance cataloged. Supposedly, they date all the way back to the Three Tribes era!” he exclaimed eagerly. “It’s up in the mountains, and they want me to lead it not just because of my experience in archeology and navigation, but because I served in the war.” Scarlet frowned, idly tilting her glass so the wine inside swirled around. “Because you served in the war? What does that have to do with digging up some ancient ruins?” she asked before taking a sip. “I mean, I remember the trenches, we’re all too familiar with dirt and mud, but it’s not quite the same.” Lens’ expression darkened for a moment before he replied. “Well, if the reports are anything to go by, there’s a giant dragon in those mountains,” he pointed out, making Scarlet pause. A dragon in the mountains north of Newcanter? This was news to her. “Is that so? Is there any intel on it?” “Nope. Just a big dragon that a few ponies spotted not long after they found the ruins. They only saw it’s silhouette flying around in the sky. We dunno if its a male or a female, if it’s all grown up or if it succumbed to greed, or if it has anything to do with the dragon lands' political structure,” Lens explained before leaning back in his seat. “So the council wants me and my military experience up there to help get around it and avoid any unwanted conflicts.” Scarlet smiled at Lens before looking down at her reflection in her wine. He had really come a long way, hadn’t he? An established career, the respect of his peers, and enough of a reputation that the Solar Council itself was calling on him to lead expeditions to discover the past. She had to admit, she was a little jealous. She’d held down a job as a librarian, but that wasn’t exactly anything special compared to what he was doing. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel that way for long, though, and her smile grew, albeit with some strain. “I’m happy for you. It sounds like you’ve gone up in the world,” she whispered before meeting his gaze again. “You deserve it.” Lens chuckled and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. “Eheh, thank you, Scarlet. I had to work up to it, but I’m pretty happy with how things are going,” he said before giving her a more curious look. “What about you? How have you been? I can only imagine what career you went into once you were hauled back to Swanrun.” Scarlet’s smile twitched, her ears drooping just a little bit. “Oh, uh… I struggled to find work for a while, but I was eventually able to find stable employment at the academy as a librarian,” she explained before taking a sip of her wine. “Sorting books, answering questions, and in my spare time, a lot of reading.” Lens blinked, a bewildered frown appearing on his face. “You? Working in a library? Reading? I’m surprised, Scarlet. I never took you for the studious type,” he noted quizzically. Scarlet chuckled and shook her head. “Well, I have you to thank for that,” she told him with a quick wink. “You were always regaling our squad with trivia and obscure facts about everything we walked past. Eventually, I started to get interested in what you had to say. And the more I saw of war and how… mindless it is, I decided I wanted to learn more about history as a whole. Once my job was stable, I took every chance I could to read up on Old Equestria and the rest of the world before The Fall. It got to the point that some students actually started asking me about the period instead of their instructors. I became something of a local expert on the subject.” Lens whistled, his eyebrows flying up and disappearing beneath his mane. “Wow. That's, uh… that’s pretty impressive in its own right, Scarlet,” he complimented before his expression hardened a bit. “As long as you enjoy the work, at least.” Scarlet hesitated for a moment, biting down on her tongue to keep herself from telling him that her time in Swanrun was over, probably forever. So instead, she simply smiled and nodded while taking another sip of her wine. Lens did the same, and for a moment, the two were quiet, basking in the silence of the night and the company of the other. Eventually, though, Lens leaned back in his seat, his eyes drifting up to the ceiling and a thoughtful look on his face. “So… do you mind if I ask what the deal is with Primrose and that lamp? How do you two know each other?” Scarlet’s smile faded entirely, replaced with a hard frown. “Lens… please, don’t ruin this by asking me about that,” she implored him, looking down into her reflection again. “I do not want to speak of her, and I meant it when I said you would be better off not knowing.” Lens blinked, clearly taken aback by her tone. “I… I’m sorry, Scarlet, but…. It’s just that you never wrote to me once since we were discharged. You never came by, never sent word, never visited, despite us promising to see each other. It was like you dropped off the radar, and I had all but conceded that I’d never see you again,” he explained, slumping back in his seat and taking a bigger swig of wine.  “But then, suddenly, you show up with a foal and a really bizarre magical item, asking me to identify it. I guess I just wanna know what changed...” Scarlet was quiet for several seconds before heaving a soft sigh. “What changed…” she mumbled under her breath, her expression going distant. “The better question would be, what didn’t?” Lens’ muzzle twisted with confusion, one of his ears lowering down to one side, making him look a little off-center. “Scarlet?” Suddenly, with no warning, Scarlet swallowed the rest of her wine in a series of rapid and unrestrained gulps, uncaring about how it burned on the way down, or the sudden kick her senses took from the rush of alcohol. As soon as there was no more wine left to swallow, she set the glass down with a thunk and heaved a long, heavy sigh. “Lens… tell me. Do you remember that night, by the pond in the woods? Where we decided we were sick of fighting, sick of killing?” she asked slowly, her voice devoid of any and all emotion. “Where… where we made love?” Lens’ eyes widened, a slight red tint coming to his cheeks. “Er…  er, wha, y-yeah, of course, I remember. It was the best night of my life, and the best decision we ever made as a team,” he eventually stammered out, clearly flustered by the sudden shift in the subject matter.  Scarlet was quiet for a few seconds, her eyes narrowing and her lips drawing into a thin line. “...After we were discharged and I was put under house arrest in Swanrun, I… I began to notice symptoms. Nausea, headaches, cravings, irritability,” she listed off slowly, refusing to look at Lens. “It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened. I… I was pregnant… I was carrying your foal inside me.” Sharp Lens audibly gasped on the other side of the table, and Scarlet heard the legs scraping on the floor. “Wait, what? You were pregnant?” he asked in a shocked voice, sounding unsure if he really believed it. “Wha… b-but… Scarlet, why didn’t you ever say anything? Why didn’t you come and see me or, or, uh, or even send me a letter?” Scarlet closed her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. “...I never came to see you, Lens, first because I was under house arrest until the war ended for having sex with a member of my squad. Then, when the war ended, there was no way I could travel such a distance while carrying a growing foal in my belly. The journey would have only caused harm to the baby. And when she was born…” Scarlet shook her head, her eyes closed so tight they began to hurt. “When she was born, taking care of her was more difficult than I ever imagined it could be. She needed me all the time, and… and she was so small. So fragile… I couldn’t come and find you with her when she was so little. The journey would have k-killed her.” A long silence fell over the two for a minute before a gentle rustling noise told Scarlet that Lens had sat back down. “Okay, I get that, then… and we never exchanged addresses before, so a letter would have been hard to send, I suppose…” he admitted quietly.  “I’m sorry,” Scarlet whispered, struggling to keep her voice calm and even. Lens was quiet for a few more seconds before leaning forward, placing one of his hooves on Scarlet’s. This finally drew her gaze up to see his tenderly smiling face. “So, uh… where is she? What’s she like? Can I see her someday?” Scarlet’s breath hitched in her throat. Somewhere deep inside of her, a dam that had stood, teetering on the brink of total collapse, got a new hole in it. Emotions and memories she wanted to bury and smother began to leak through the gaps, making her chest constrict involuntarily. The reaction did not go unnoticed by Lens, whose eyes widened in surprise before his whole face morphed into one of concern. “Scarlet? Are you okay?” No. No, she wasn’t okay. She took in a shuddering breath before pulling her hoof away from his as if it burned. “L-Lens,” she stammered out, more holes starting to form in the dam at the display of concern and affection. “Lens, I… I d-don’t… I can’t… you can’t...” For a long while, Scarlet tried and failed to formulate a coherent sentence. Her jaw hung open uselessly while her eyes bored into his, pleading for him to let it go, to stop looking at her like that so she could patch up the damage and be done with it. But, alas, fate conspired against her, and Lens’ worried features only became more so. “Scarlet, what’s wrong?” he asked in barely even a whisper, rising from his seat and circling around towards her. “It’s okay, you can talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. If there’s some kind of problem, maybe I can help.” That was the last straw. The dam broke. Scarlet screwed her eyes shut and held out a hoof to keep Lens away. Not that she needed it, because the barely stifled sob of grief that tore past her lips without her consent was more than enough to halt the stallion in his tracks. He stared at her, eyes wide in disbelief as she began to cry openly, tears spilling down her cheeks and her entire body starting to shake like mad. For almost a full minute did this carry on, Lens completely at a loss for what to do. Finally, Scarlet managed to compose herself enough to speak, her voice hoarse, and her eyes still watering. She sniffled, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Lens again. “C-crystal… her name w-was Crystal Clear… a-and she’s dead,” she choked out, uttering the name for the first time in four months. The look on Lens’ face only made her pain worse. He took a step back, his entire demeanor withering with dread. “Wha… what?” he asked slowly, his voice carrying barely any strength behind it. Scarlet looked down at her hooves folded on the table and nodded. “She… she was murdered… by a changeling,” she started, closing her eyes and trying to think of something else. Her first battle against the griffins, the night she’d made love with the stallion right next to her, anything. But none of those memories were powerful enough to erase the images now flooding into her mind. Scarlet choked down another sob before finally finding her words. “It happened ab-bout three m-months ago. W-we were making plans to leave Swanrun a-and come see y-you. Sh-she was almost eight years old… I thought she was old enough to make the journey with me there to guide her…” The image of the Swanrun market place flashed into her mind, and she could practically hear the hustle and bustle of a thousand ponies milling through the streets while merchants peddled their wares, calling out to be heard over the competition. She could feel the claustrophobia of it all, and the stone beneath her hooves. And, of course, the small hoof curled around her own. “What happened…?” Lens asked in a whisper, slowly lowering himself onto his haunches. Scarlet shuddered involuntarily, another sob escaping her. “B-but we got separated in the crowd… there were s-so many ponies. We lost track of each other, and I looked everywhere for h-her…” she explained, her body trembling more and more with every word she spoke. “Th-then… everything broke into a panic. Ponies started r-running and screaming, and… and… it had her...” Lens’ face went ashen, and he swallowed heavily. “It… had her?” He echoed, his own voice starting to shake. Scarlet nodded. “Mhmm… I-it was hiding in an alleyway somewhere, and C-crystal stumbled on it… when she screamed for help, it g-grabbed her, held her hostage… it was trying to use her so it could get away…” she winced, her ears drooping and more tears spilling down her cheeks. “I felt so powerless. There was nothing I c-could do… if I attacked, it would kill her. If I let it go, it would kill her…” “The city watch didn’t try to save her?” Lens probed, sounding as if he didn’t really want to know the answer. Scarlet scoffed. “Save her? No… as far as they were concerned, there w-was a changeling in Swanrun. Leaving it alive would mean the death of even more ponies… killing it was all they cared about. Nothing else mattered… not even my little girl… and w-when it r-realized they weren’t going to b-back down, it… it...” She could say no more. Scarlet let her face fall forward, burying it in her hooves on the table and emitting a storm of sobs. Violent tremors ravaged her whole body as grief-stricken wails long-buried were finally released. As she screamed, images and memories she had wanted to never see again began to flare inside her mind. The body in her trembling hooves felt far heavier than it should have. She was barely able to find her breath as the terrible sight stared back up at her. “Please, no! No, no, no! Say something! Stay with me! Look at me! PLEASE!” Scarlet begged, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding from the chunk of missing flesh from Crystal’s throat. The filly’s blue eyes stared back up at her, wide with shock and terror and starting to glaze over. Her mouth hung open in an eternally silent scream of agony, a trickle of yet more blood leaking out the corner and adding to the stains on Scarlet’s hooves.  Somewhere, far off in the distance, a crack of thunder rolled across the world. For a long while, Scarlet’s uncontrollable sobbing was all that could be heard in that dining room. After a short time, she felt Lens’ hoof rest on her shoulder and give a firm squeeze, trying to comfort her. But she was inconsolable, her hooves curling closer together as the long-buried desire to just hold her little girl one more time made itself known. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she lifted her head and looked at him, their eyes meeting. His expression was broken much like hers, but for the moment, at least, he seemed to be keeping himself under control. He closed his eyes and gave her a gentle nuzzle. “I’m so sorry…” he whispered to her. “I am so, so sorry…” Scarlet screwed her eyes shut again and looked away, another series of agonized sobs ravaging her system. “I f-failed her… I l-let her down…” she choked out between her grieving wails. “I s-shouldn’t have lost t-track of her… I should have protected her… I should have… I should have…” Her words trailed off, and she once again broke down entirely. Lens didn’t say anything, simply keeping his hoof on Scarlet’s shoulder. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Scarlet’s wails died down, and she was able to lift her head and blink the remaining tears from her eyes. She took a long, shaky breath, and turned to look at Lens. “Are you going to be alright?” he asked slowly, his eyes never once straying from hers. Scarlet hiccuped and looked down, a few more tears spilling free. “I… I don’t know, Lens… I haven’t been alright since I lost her…” Lens was quiet for a few seconds, his expression solemn. Finally, he heaved a soft sigh and withdrew his hoof from her shoulder. “Scarlet… go on and get some sleep, okay? I…” he slowly turned for the door, his posture sagging. “I’m gonna get an early start on that lamp. I… I think better when I’m working, and I need some time to think.” Scarlet nodded and rose from her seat, too drained to argue about it even if she wanted to. She wobbled slightly on her hooves, but quickly found her balance. She stared into the back of Lens’ head, her heart constricting with guilt. “...I’m sorry,” she whispered before dragging herself out of the room. She was passing through the door frame when she just made out Lens saying something under his breath. “Yeah… me, too.” Scarlet hesitated for a moment, wondering if perhaps she should tell him he had nothing to be sorry for. But in the end, she just couldn’t bring herself to stay in the room any longer. With a sigh, she dragged herself out and back up the stairs for the bedroom. Primrose appeared to be sound asleep when the exhausted mare trudged in. The foal was curled up under the blankets, her long and wild tail held in her hooves like an additional blanket. Scarlet stared at her for several moments, her eyes distant. “I failed one filly…” she thought to herself as she slumped onto the bed, her magic sluggishly pulling the blankets over her. “I won’t fail this one, too.” Her eyes fluttered closed, and she felt herself drifting off to sleep within seconds. But before she succumbed entirely to its alluring embrace, she was numbly aware of a small body shimmying up to her, and a pair of skinny forelegs wrapping around her in a tender embrace.  With her mind falling away, she didn’t even realize it when she returned the embrace, holding the small foal close to her heart.