//------------------------------//
// In the Everfree 
// Story: Crimson Chaos 
// by Phobetor_Necros 
//------------------------------//

"It'll be fine, Sugar," said Little Cheese, escaping from Big Sugar's grip, "after all, friends are just strangers we haven't met yet, right?"

"I guess so..." replied Sugar.

"Then let's go say 'hi'," said Cheese as she bounced out into the clearing with Sugar trailing behind, "Hi!"

The creature looked over at them, removed the headphones that were covering his ears, and said, "Konbanwa, Little Cheese! Big Sugar!"

"How does it know our names?!" panicked Sugar.

"Well, we are relatives of the former Elements of Harmony. Maybe he's heard of us," Cheese replied bouncing up toward the campfire and sitting down. Sugar cautiously came up and sat with her. The creature smiled at them, then continued to focus on his cooking, which smelled nauseating to the kids. While Sugar looked genuinely sick at the scent, Cheese fought through her stomach turning to ask, "What's your name?"

"Crimson Al," the creature replied, using levitation to check the state of his food.

Cheese squealed with glee at the thought of meeting a new friend before saying, "I have so many questions to ask you!"

Sugar, who had settled his stomach by now, told Cheese, "Remember to ask the important ones first..."

"Right," replied Cheese before clearing her throat. "Do you know the way back to Ponyville?" Al shakes his head. "Do you live in the forest like Granny Zecora?" He nods his head. "Could we stay the night with you?" He pauses before nodding his head again. "See, Sugar? I told you it was gonna be alright."

Sugar eyed the meat suspiciously and asked, "What are you cooking, there?"

Then, Cheese added, "And on top of that, why are you covered in blood? How did you get those nasty gashes on your chest? Where do you live? Also, your headphones are adorable."

Al just held up one finger before checking the meat again and deeming it cooked to satisfaction. He then levitated it into his mouth, chomping down on it and letting it hang out while he withdraws the sword, sticks it into the ground, and casts a spell over the fire. The fire then morphs to forms images, the first shows a humanoid, with sword in hand and cat ears, in front of a castle going into a forest, it then morphs into an image of that humanoid fighting a dragon and getting slashed by its claws. The next image shows the humanoid hobbling away before being confronted by two manticores and as they lunge, the image cuts to the end of the fight, where the humanoid stand triumphant over the manticores before bringing his blade down upon them as the final image shows the humanoid cooking.

"So, it's manticore?" asked Sugar, to which Al nodded as he levitated the log his sword was previously resting on over the fire to his side.

"Wow," Cheese said in awe, "can you do anything else with the fire?" Al pondered for a bit before snapping his fingers & raising both his hands around the fire, pouring magic into it while idly chewing on the meat hanging from his mouth. The flames roared to life before splitting in the middle, forming a circle. Inside the circle, they could see a section of the Canterlot throne room with Princess Twilight and Friendship Ambassador Spike sitting in their respective thrones.

"So, what are you gonna do about him?" asked Spike.

"Simple, Spike," Twilight responded, "I'll just visit him in his dreams tonight and-" she stops with a concerned look on her face and starts looking around.

"Something wrong?"

"I just felt some unusual magic enter the room," Twilight responds and at that moment, Crimson Al stops the magic, shutting off the image and the fire dies down to its original state.