Innavedr

by Imploding Colon


The Jaded Hues

With a groan, Crimson sat up. From a thin crack in the window above his bed, a beam of light was glimmering across the cabin bedroom. However, there was another light, one far more intense, and it emanated from a place just beyond the bedroom door.

"Unngh... h-hello...?" Crimson winced. He kicked some of the covers off him, overwhelmed by a great dizziness. However, the growling in his belly was even stronger, and he found himself stumbling forward across the room. "Mmmfff... hello? Somepony? How long have I been out?—Gaah!"

He stumbled, nearly pratfalling onto his muzzle when he reached for a right hoof that wasn't there. He dangled halfway out of the bed, glaring at the space at the end of his foreward right stub. With a sigh, he glanced across the room and found a broom. Squeezing it under the pit of his right limb, he formed a temporary crutch and hobbled towards the brightly-lit door.

The door swung open with a squeak. Eyes narrow, Crimson peered immediately into a dining room. Four ponies were gathered at a table: two adults and two children. They had plates full of corn, potatoes, and broccoli. As they ate from the healthy bounty, their crystal bodies lit up from energy that churned deeply within.

"It's simply until he is healthy enough to move around on his own," Tweak said.

"Move around?! Pa, he's only got three legs!"

"He's a strong stallion, Nexx. I can tell. He won't stay down for long."

"Where's he gonna go? Are the Ledo ponies gonna come pick him up?"

"Somehow, I don't think the Ledomaritans are the ponies he wants to contact, Roque."

"Is he in trouble? Do we have a criminal in our house?"

"Oh wow, that's awesome!"

Crimson opened his mouth. "I... uhm..."

Plates and silverware clattered. The glow dimmed slightly as all four members of the family turned and gazed across the cabin.

Crimson winced. "I... w-would definitely feel criminal..." He gulped. "For not showing my gratitude for you kind hospitality." He tried bowing, but he nearly fell on the broom he was using to hold himself up with. "Unnngh... seriously, though. I thank you..."

The mare immediately got up from the table. "Now, now... careful there. You may feel better, but the resonance can still have an effect on you."

"R-resonance?" Crimson remarked as she rushed over to help him over to a chair at the end of the table.

Tweak gazed calmly over at the two young colts. "Roque. Nexx. Stop eating for a second."

"Awwww... but we're hungry!"

"Just for a minute."

The colts took a deep breath, as if meditating. Soon, the glow inside their bodies dwindled. In perfect timing, Tweak and his spouse also glowed with less brilliance.

Crimson found the fog in his vision clearing. When he finally sat down at the table, he could sit upright. "Wow... uhm... that was... that..."

"You've not been in the company of crystal ponies, have you, sir?" the mare asked with a gentle smile.

Crimson slowly shook his head. "I... uh... I can't say that I have."

"We're of the sapphire variety," she said. "Ponies of our strain have a... uh... certain effect on creatures sensitive to leylines. Like unicorns or diamond dogs with metallurgic nerves. It's why most soldiers who have ever flown here from the north don't say long." She gasped. "Oh! I'm sorry! We haven't met, have we? My name is Stasia."

Crimson nodded his head towards her. "Greetings, Stasia. Thank you for your hospitality." His eyes darted towards Tweak, then back to her. "Are you... uh...?"

"Twelve years, peacefully in charge of this property together," Tweak said in between sips of water. "We intend to keep it that way."

"Tweak, darling, don't start with that," Stasia said with a frown. "You know as well as I do that he's likely starving. Besides, haven't you interoggated him enough?"

Tweak glanced at Crimson. "I'm not sure, have I?"

Crimson bit his lip.

"Was it a dragon that bit it off?" Nexx asked. Roque slapped him upside the glossy head. "Ow!"

"Boys..." Tweak droned.

Crimson didn't hesitate. "No. It was a Prime Enforcer," he grumbled. "A very cruel one at that. He made off with the ponies closest to me." With a shudder, he added, "All things considered, I should be dead."

Stasia leaned forward, her jaw dropped. "You battled a Ledomaritan Prime Enforcer... and lived?"

Tweak glanced from her to Crimson.

Crimson caught his gaze and nodded. "But... uhm..." His eyes fell towards the table. "I don't need to... burden you with the tales of my woe. I know the road that lies ahead of me. Once I have gotten my bearings again, I will leave you be."

"Not without getting something to fill that stomach of yours!" Stasia remarked. "Please..." She gestured towards the food. "I do hope you're capable of digesting crystal pony food."

Crimson gazed calmly at the potatoes and corn and smiled. "Oh... I'm sure I'll have no problem. It looks an awful lot like unicorn food."

"Where will you go?" Nexx asked, almost summoning another swat from his older brother.

Crimson merely blinked at him.

"You're so banged up. Why are you in a hurry?" Nexx further asked.

"Now boys..." Stasia grumbled.

"It's a sound question, Ma," Tweak remarked from across the table. His glossy eyes narrowed. "We live out on the fringes of the Confederacy. You may be far from patrolling enforcers, but there are diamond dogs and bounty hunters at every turn. It's not a safe landscape to traverse alone, much less without a terrible injury."

Crimson gazed curiously at him. "I was aware of diamond dog populations in the southeast... but the Searonese?" He blinked. "I thought they always flew past the Sapphire Plains."

Tweak shook his head. "I wish that were so. Aurum is running rampant with them. When you arrived I thought..." His voice trailed. He turned and gazed aside at Stasia.

Stasia hung her head.

Crimson squinted. "You thought what?"

Tweak sighed. "Never mind. It is not the business of unicorns. You have enough problems as it is."

"No. I am curious." Crimson remarked, leaning forward. "What business do metal mares have with simple crystal farmers?"

Tweak said nothing, merely busying himself with another drink of water.

Crimson gazed past Stasia's limbs as she prepared him a healthy plate of food. He caught the gaze of Roque staring at him.

The older colt smiled as he said, "I think the way you flew in on that glider was spectacular!"

Crimson raised an eyebrow. "You mean how I plummeted it to the earth and just barely missed smashing into your cabin?"

"I've never seen a ship like that up close!'

"I hope you never have to."

"Huh?"

Crimson tilted his head aside. Suddenly, with a soft smirk, he leaned towards the colts' side of the table. "You're not scared of anything, are you... uhh..."

"It's Roque! And nope! When I grow up, I'm gonna hunt metal mares!"

"Over my fractured body!" Stasia exclaimed.

"I wanna hunt metal mares too!" Nexx added.

"Nuh uh! You're running the farm!"

"Awwwwww shucks...."

Roque beamed once more. "They're always sticking their helmets into everypony's business! Being bullies! Some stallion's gotta teach them! We crystal ponies—we're not defenseless! We can zap timberwolves from one hundred miles just by shooting light at them! KaPOW!"

"Enough with the theatrics, boy," Tweak grumbled.

Roque instantly hung his head. "Yes, Pa..."

"You know..." Crimson brushed his bangs back with his remaining hoof. "I knew a colt like you." He gulped. "Much, much younger, granted. He too wasn't afraid of anything."

Roque glanced up with a devilish smirk. "I bet he wasn't as fearless as me!"

"Heh... sometimes I wonder." Crimson's smile was a fragile thing; he appeared to be looking through the family table at this point, his gaze caught up in the brown shadows of the rustic abode. "I remember three times he had to be saved from attacking a Franzington glowsnake in one week. He seemed so desperate... so determined to prove that he could fight off evil things." He bit his lips as his brow furrowed. "I wonder how big he's gotten now. I wonder if... he can even pick up a blade, if he's maybe even hurt himself trying to do things that isn't right for his age." The muscular stallion slowly spun the plate of food around with lethargy. "I'd give anything just for one chance to see him and tell him... th-that the fight is not worth it for the fight alone, that he could do the good battle at home. That's where he has everything he'll ever need. He should just leave the fighting... and the p-pain to ponies who are broken already." His voice trailed off as he bit at the air. After a few seconds of drifting, his eyes darted back up towards his present company, and he blinked as if waking up for a second time.

Stasia had a soft expression on her face. She glanced over at Tweak.

Tweak saw the hurt in her eyes. The father grumbled, but stifled it long enough to glare at Crimson. "You've faced metal mares before?"

Crimson's ears perked up. He sat straight. "Ahem. Yes. Yes, I have..."

Tweak twirled his glass of water around a few times. His nostrils flared in thought, and ultimately he blurted, "Let us talk after dinner."