"Who was that human?" Twilight asked Reginald.
"That 'human,' as you call it, introduced himself as 'Crimson Al,'" Reginald responded.
"When did he get here?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know how long he's been in the Everfree, if that's what you're asking, but he came into my cave and woke me up about an hour ago."
"What for?" Applejack followed up.
Reginald scoffed, "That fool had the gall to demand all the diamonds from my hoard. After I denied him, he stayed and proceeded to ask again every 9 minutes. After an hour of his persistent pestering, I decided to force him out and I would've done it if you ponies hadn't interferred!"
"Now, don't you lie to me! That Al feller was burning and blistering you up a storm and he was bloodied to all heck. It was obvious that you weren't trying to force him out, you were trying to kill him!" Applejack reprimanded.
Reginald glared daggers at Applejack. "If that's what it takes to get intruders out of my cave, then so be it."
The stare down lasted a good 10 seconds before Rarity decided to end it. "Okay, let's get back on subject, darlings," she said, "Why did Mr. Al need diamonds?"
Reginald backed down and answered, "I don't know. When I asked him, all he said was that he needed them for 'an important project.'"
"Do you know where he went?" Fluttershy asked.
"How should I know?" Reginald retorted, "But if he ever comes back, I will kill him. Anything else?"
"Do you know what his favorite kind of cake is?" Pinkie responded.
After a few seconds of confusion, Reginald deadpanned, "Get out," and went back to his hoard and curled up on top of it.
The girls promptly exited the cave and Applejack asked, "What now, Twi?"
Twilight thought. They had learned a couple of things about this "Crimson Al," but the most troubling was the fact that his magical fire could burn through dragon scales. Baby dragon scales could be singed black, but that was the farthest extent normal fire could do, as the scales could stand up to the heat of lava.
The more pressing matter was finding Crimson Al. They had no leads and he didn't even leave a trail behind. What could they do?