Chapter VIII
Not So Light Reading
Crying. The sound of crying filled the man’s ears as he walked through a snow storm. The sound wasn’t coming from the red haired man who was freezing with every step in the snowbank. As he stumbled forward he could hear the cries getting louder. He could make out the shape of a girl with white hair sitting in the middle of the storm sobbing as she buried her head in her knees.
“Hello?” He called out. No response came from the girl. A sudden gust of ice filled wind struck the man. The shards of ice felt like he was being impaled by thousands of spears. He pressed forward and fought through the pain. As he forced his way against the wind. He could see the girl’s figure. She looked only a year younger than him and her eyes were icy blue.
“It...hurts.” She said as she held her head. “The voice.” She said with tears streaming down her face. Crimson felt the wind increase and the shards form giant icicles.
“Take it easy.” He said as he gulped. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Lies!” She yelled as she sent an icicle hurtling towards the man.
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Crimson’s eyes snapped open and woke up covered in a cold sweat. He walked over to his bathroom and splashed cold water in his face. He ran a wet hand through his hair and panted heavily. As he looked up in the mirror he grunted at the reflection. The reflection showed the same face only with snow white skin and the whites of it’s eyes were pitch black. Crimson grunted and slammed his hand into the mirror causing it to shatter.
He grunted as he looked at his bleeding hand which started to heal rapidly. He sat back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. What’s happening to me? His thoughts were put aside as he heard a knock on the door. Crimson quickly made his way downstairs. He opened the door to see Twilight with a smile on her face.
“Morning.” He said with a nod. Twilight was about to respond, but found that her brain functions had stopped as she looked at the man’s well toned upper body. A few scars, as expected by the young scholar were scattered across his chest. Twilight felt her face flare up and gulped. The man also blushed at his predicament.
“Um, hang on a sec.” Crimson quickly closed the door, grabbed a nearby shirt and threw it on his body. The man put a hand to his mouth and checked his breath. Crimson stopped what he was doing and had a confused look on his face. Why am I checking my breath? He shrugged off the thought and returned to the student who smiled. “Sorry about that. I just woke up.”
“I didn’t wake you did I?” She said in a panic filled tone. Dear Celestia, why am I so nervous?
“No, I was just dozing.” He said with a yawn. “So what’s up?”
“I was just wondering if I could ask you about the Academy.” She said with a smile.
“Sure, I need some breakfast anyway.” He said as he grabbed his coat and closed the door behind him. The two walked through the town’s dirt road and walked into Sugar Cube Corner. The two sat down in a booth across from one another and looked at their menu’s. “So what do you want to know?”
“How big is the library there?”
“You know the Canterlot Royal Library?” The girl nodded. “About twice as big as that.” Twilight’s eyes widened and a large smile spread across her face. The two were then approached by a woman with light pink hair and wearing a cyan apron.
“Morning Mrs. Cake.” Twilight said.
“Oh good morning to you too dear. What can I get you today?” She asked as she removed the pencil from behind her ear and a pad from her pocket.
“I’ll have two sunny side up eggs with a cup of hot tea.” The woman finished writing the order down and faced Crimson.
“I’ll have two scrambled eggs with a cup of coffee.” He said as he handed the woman the menu.
“Alright I’ll have those out in just a few minutes.” She said as she walked away with a smile on her face. Twilight then turned her attention back to the red haired man.
“Do you have any books on Star Swirl the Bearded?”
“Hundreds.” He said with a shrug. “He was the first Headmaster of the Academy.” Twilight’s jaw dropped.
“I never heard of that.” She said in a surprised tone.
“Not surprising.” He said as their drinks arrived. “I think that he was Headmaster for only five years before he died.” He said as he sipped his drink.
“Why did he start the Academy anyway?” She asked as their food arrived.
“After the whole Nightmare moon fiasco a thousand years ago,” He said after swallowing a fork full of eggs. “Starswirl and Celestia knew that they would need something to handle problems so the royal guard can focus on securing Equestria’s borders and the capital city. An ace in the hole if you will.” Crimson said before taking another mouthful.
“Have you had to deal with anything like that since Nightmare Moon?” Crimson thought for a moment. The man gritted his teeth as he thought back to the ‘incident.’
“No, Nightmare moon was a once in millennium ordeal.” He said in a flat tone. “Hopefully something like that won’t happen again.” He said as the other girls walked into the shop and sat down next to them.
“Hey girls.” Twilight said with a smile.
“What are you two up to?” Rarity asked.
“Crimson was just telling me about the formation of the Academy.” Twilight said with smile.
“That sounds interesting.” The designer said with a smile. Dash then perked up.
“Hey I was chatting with my folks about you Academy guys and they said something about an attack fifteen years ago.” The flyer said as she snapped her fingers. Crimson gulped and sipped his coffee.
“Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing about some sort of incident that occurred there.” Rarity said in a refined tone. “I think it had something to do with a monster.” She said as she put her finger to her lips.
“Eh doesn’t sound so bad.” Dash said with a shrug. Crimson gripped his coffee mug in frustration. “It was only one monster and-”
“Just shut up Dash!” Crimson yelled as the cup shattered under the pressure from the man’s palm. The group of girls looked at him in shock. The man grabbed a few napkins and cleaned up the spilt coffee. Afterwards he threw some bits on the table and made his way out the door. As they went after him Pinkie’s hair started to twitch.
“Twitchy hair!” She yelled. Crimson looked back at the girls who all dove for cover.
“Why are you-” He was cut off as bright green blur slammed into the red haired man. Crimson felt the impact and made a crater where he landed. The group of girls looked in shock. Crimson groaned and looked up to see a familiar green haired flyer shaking her head.
“Ugh, sorry about...Crimson!” She yelled as she picked him up by the collar and gave him a bone crushing hug. Crimson felt his bones creaking.
“If I were anyone else, my spine would be dust Ivy.” He said as she let him go. Crimson brushed himself off and looked at the green girl with a cocked eyebrow. “Crow?” He asked as he cocked an eyebrow.
“Yup. Figured you could use some backup.” She said with a smile.
“What is going on here?” Twilight said as she and the other girls hurried up to him. The girls looked in surprise as their eyes fell upon a stunningly beautiful girl with light green hair, eyes and wings. Her lean physique could match Rainbow Dash’s, combined with the upper body strength of Applejack, Rarity’s looks and Pinkie’s happy attitude.
“Ladies,” He said as he gestured to the flyer. “This is Ivy Evergreen, one of my squad mates.” He said as she smiled and gave them a wave.
“Hi, nice to meet ya.” She said in a happy tone. The girls gave her a smile.
“Ivy, this is Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.” She looked at the group of friend with a raised eyebrow.
“Aren’t they-”
“Yup.” Rarity then stepped forward.
“Um, pardon me.” She said with a weak grin. “I know you just got here, but why is your hair green?” Ivy then narrowed her eyes and Crimson gulped.
“Why?” She asked in a challenging tone.
“Well, it’s just that green is the wor-” She was cut off as Crimson stepped beside her and covered her mouth with his hand.
“She was just wondering if it was natural or not.” He said in a nervous tone. “Rarity here is quite the designer and she probably wants to make you a dress so that it matches your natural appearance.” Ivy’s expression then shifted back to her usual happy self.
“Oh, well that’s very kind of you and yes it is natural.” She said with a smile. Crimson let out a sigh of relief. “So where are you held up anyways?” Crimson pointed to the clock tower. “Figured. See ya later.” She said before taking off.
“Mph!” The dress maker said through the man’s fingers.
“Sorry Rarity.” He said as he let her go.
“Why in the name of Celestia did you just do that?” She asked with a frown.
“Look, Ivy is one of the nicest girls you’ll ever meet. She’d give you the shirt off her back even if she didn’t know you.” He said with a sigh. “However, if there’s one thing you never make a comment about, it’s her hair.”
“How bad could it be?” Dash asked.
“Dash, she will literally snap you over her knee like a dry twig.” Crimson said in a flat tone. “The last person that dissed her hair ended up in a full body cast for nine months.” The girls all gulped at the man’s words. “So long as you don’t get her angry then everything will be fine.” He said with a nod. “I gotta go get Ivy settled. I’ll see you all later.” He said before running off after the green flyer. Dash walked up next to the young scholar and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Tough break Twi.”
“What are you talking about?” She asked in a nervous tone.
“Did you not see his roommate? Even I have to say that she looked good.” Dash said with a shrug. Twilight gulped and felt a blush creep over her.
“Wh-why should I-”
“Oh don’t be coy dear, we know that you like him.” Rarity said with a smirk. Twilight tried to hide her blush, but found it futile.
“I do not!” She yelled as she blushed brightly. The girls had a smug grin on their faces. As the group dispersed Twilight spied a piece of folded paper on the ground. She flattened it out and saw that it was a picture of a woman with dark red hair, a man with jet black hair and red eyes. She then saw that the woman was holding a small child with short red hair. She folded the picture back up and headed back towards town.
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Crimson opened the door to his temporary home and showed the green flyer in. The girl immediately started to look around the home and smiled.
“Awesome! It’s gonna be just like old times!” She said with a wide grin. Crimson closed the door and glared at the flyer.
“Okay Ivy, out with it.” He said in a serious tone. “Why did Crow send you?”
“I told you as-”
“Backup? Yeah right.” Crimson groaned. “He just happens to send you when ‘it’ is only a few days away?” Ivy lowered her head and let out a sigh.
“Fine.” She said in a defeated tone. “Crow knows that you used Cliff to deal with an Ursa Minor.”
“So he sends you to babysit me?” He yelled.
“He’s worried about you! I’m worried, hell everyone is worried!” She yelled. “I know what happened last year and-”
“Enough!” He yelled. “It’s my burden and I’ll deal with it however I damn well want to!”
“Do you even hear yourself?” She argued back. “We both know that the seal is weakening and that your anger is only making it easier to come lose!” Crimson groaned and sat down on the couch. Ivy held her head and sat down next to him. The flyer put a wing around him and rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry Crimson, I-”
“No, you’re right.” He said with a sigh. “I can feel him, cawing to get out and it’s getting harder and harder to block him out.” He said as he held his head in his palms.
“Crow also sent Cobalt and Rouge a message.”
“Looks like the gang’s getting back together.” He said with a chuckle. The man then reached into his cloak and started feeling around. Crimson’e eye shrank as he checked his pockets. “Oh no.”
“What?”
“No no, no!” He yelled.
“What’s wrong?”
“The photo, it’s gone!” The flyer gulped and got to her feet.
“Did you leave it here?” Crimson looked at her with an, ‘are you kidding me’ expression on his face. “Sorry, had to ask.”
“Maybe when you crashed into me it knocked it out.”
“That is,” She started out in an accusing tone. “possible.” She said in a low tone. The two immediately bolted towards the door.
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Twilight walked into her library with the photo in hand. “Spike? Spike?” She called out.
“What?” He asked as he came down stairs.
“I need you to get the identification spell book.” She asked as she pulled out the photo she had found. The child quickly ran over to book shelf and removed a book with a brown leather cover.
“Here it is.” He said as he put it on the book on the table. “What do you need it for?”
“I need to identify some people from a photo.” She said as she opened the book and found the spell. Spike shrugged and went back upstairs to his room. Twilight’s hands glowed and waved them over the photo. The photo glowed and a small box over the dark haired man showed up with some lettering beside the picture.
Orion Comet
Status: Deceased.
Age of Death: Twenty-nine
Former Occupation: Professor of Magical History at The Academy.
Awarded Celestial Cross posthumously.
Twilight gulped at the information. She then scanned the woman.
Rosario Vermillion
Status: Deceased
Age of Death: Twenty-eight.
Former Occupation: Professor of Demonology at The Academy.
Awarded Celestial Cross posthumously.
The scholar then ran her hand over the small child.
Crimson Storm.
Status: Alive.
Age: Twenty-Three.
All intelligence: Classified.
Twilight looked at the information and cocked her head in confusion.
“Doing some light reading?” The young woman snapped her head up to see the red haired man standing in the doorway with a blank look on his face. Twilight was frozen as she looked down at the photo and back to the man. Crimson gently took it off the table and put it back in his coat pocket without saying a word.
As the man turned to leave he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull him into a tight hug. Crimson felt the woman’s head lean against the back of his neck. He felt the tears come from the scholar.
“I’m so sorry.” She said with a sniffle. “You were only eight when you lost them.”
“Yeah.” He said in a flat tone.
“What happened?”
“They went out on a mission. Didn’t come back.” He said in a flat tone. Twilight let him go and looked into his dark red eyes.
“How-..No, I shouldn’t ask.” She said with a gulp.
“The demon attack fifteen years ago.” He said with a sigh. “We lost a lot of good people that day.” He said with shrug.
“I remember hearing reports from my brother. It was one of his first assignments.” She said with a gulp.
“Did he-”
“No, he’s fine.” She tried to say in a cheery tone.
“You don’t have to feel bad for me Twilight. It happened a long time ago. I’m over it.” Crimson said in a flat tone. As he turned to leave Twilight rushed forward again. This time she tripped over her own foot and fell into the man. As she yelped Crimson turned and was pushed down to the ground.
Crimson opened his eyes to see a pair of purple pupils looking at him. Twilight’s face turned bright red. Crimson could feel the scholar’s breath on his face. Crimson gulped and felt his face turn as red as his hair. The two looked up to see the door open to see the cyan flyer.
“Hey Twi, I-” Dash was cut off as she saw her friend on top of the red warrior. Rainbow snickered before bursting out in pure laughter. “Wow, Twilight and people say that I move fast.” She said as she rolled on the ground in a fit of laughter. Twilight grunted and bore holed through the rainbow haired comedian.
“This isn’t what it looks like!” Twilight yelled.
“Sorry Twilight, but I can’t take your word for it with you like that.” She said as she looked at their position. Twilight’s blush grew redder and quickly got off the man, who pulled his hood up to hide his blush.
“It was an accident. I just tripped and fell on him.” Twilight protested.
“Sure, I totally believe you.” She said in a sarcastic tone. The young scholar had had enough and her hands glowed. A bright purple beam made a dark storm cloud appeared behind the girl. A large lightning bolt then discharged from the cloud and shocked the flyer. “Ow! Jeez Twi, lighten up.” She said as she rubbed the sore spot.
“Did you need something Dash?” Crimson asked as he looked at he flyer.
“Pinkie’s planning a party for Ivy. You two coming?”
“Yeah, we’ll be right there.” Crimson said as he walked passed Dash and ventured out into the town. Dash threw a smug grin as she looked at the scholar who put the book away.
“So, what were you two doing before I walked in?”
“I was using an identification spell on a photo I found.” She said with a sigh. “Turns out that the photo belongs to Crimson.”
“Really? What was it of?” She asked.
“It was a photo of himself and his late parents.” She said in a low tone. Dash gulped. “Apparently they both died in that demon attack you labeled as ‘not such a big deal.’” Twilight said as the flyer hung her head in shame.
“Awe man.” She said before taking flight and charged out of the door.
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A few hours later Crimson and Ivy were walking through the evening street streets of the small town in silence. Ivy let out a sigh and looked at the red haired man.
“Hey, did you find the photo?”
“Yeah, Twilight found it and ran an identification spell on it.” He said in a flat tone.
“How much does she know?”
“Only that they’re dead and were apart of the Academy.” He sighed. “Apparently, I’m ‘classified.’”
“Can you blame them?”
“Of course not.” Crimson said as he looked at his friend. “They don’t want just anyone knowing about my....condition.”
“Where are we going anyway?” She asked as she looked at the passing buildings.
“Just going to duck into the bakery for some coffee.” He said with a shrug. The green haired flyer followed him inside. The interior was pitch black. The lights suddenly turned on revealing several people with smiles on their faces.
“Surprise!” The group yelled.
“What is this?” Ivy asked as she looked at Crimson.
“Pinkie has this thing where she throws a party for every new person that comes to town.” He said with a shrug.
“Oh, that’s cool.” She said with a smile. The two were then approached by a familiar pink haired girl.
“Were ya surprised?”
“Yeah, looks awesome!” The flyer said with a smile. The party was in full swing when the green flyer sat down next to her friend. The other six girls then made their way over to the pair of warriors. “Sup?”
“Not much. How are you liking the party?” Dash asked.
“It’s great. Feels nice to unwind after clearing out a Hobbe cave.” The girls looked at her in shock.
“How’d that go by the way?” Crimson asked.
“Alright, only took me about twelve hours. The I had to deal with some monster hobbe.” She said with a shrug.
“Monster hobbe?” Dash asked.
“Yeah. It was as big a s a small troll.”
“So like twelve feet tall?”
“Yeah, never knew they got that tall.”
“They don’t.” Fluttershy said. “The biggest Hobbe I’ve ever seen was almost three feet tall.” The group looked at one another in surprise.
“So what could make a hobbe grow that big?” Dash asked.
“I don’t know could have something to do with-” Ivy was cut off as Crimson shot her a stern look. “Possibly the strange animal activity.” She said with a whistle. Applejack glared at the flyer and cocked an eyebrow. “Well, it’s been a long day and I’m bushed.”
“Right, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” Crimson said as he got up and followed the green haired girl out of the bakery. Applejack watched them leave and turned back to the group of girls.
“Those two are up to something.” The farmer said.
“What are you talking about?” Dash asked.
“They know something and they’re not telling us what it is.” She said in a hushed tone.
“Yeah, those two are a bit mysterious.” Rarity said.
“Look guys, I know they seem a little odd.” Twilight interjected. “But they’re here to help.”
“Easy for you to say Twilight, since you have the hot’s for Red.” Dash said. The scholar’s face turned bright red.
“I told you that I’m not into him!” She said in a flustered tone.
“That scene at the library that I walked in on begs to differ.” Dash said with a smug grin. The rest of the girls looked at the scholar in confusion.
“That was total accident!” She yelled as her hair started to smolder. Rarity gulped and put a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down. The girl let out a sigh and vanished in a flash of purple light. The librarian appeared back in her home and made her way over to her kitchen. As she opened one of the cabinets she groaned.
Ugh, out of herbal tea. Looks like I need to pay a visit to Zecora tomorrow. She thought to herself. Her mind drifted back to the exchange she had with the red haired warrior. She blushed at the memory and shook her head. He’s a warrior and won’t be here forever.
All the more reason to make a move.
Shut up. She argued. I don’t know anything about him.
Only one way to find out.
He’s probably in a relationship with Ivy. What do I do then?
Fight her for him?
Be serious.
I’ll think of something.
You are me.
Exactly my point. The librarian groaned and decided to go up to her room and lie down.
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Across town, Crimson laid in his bed and stared up at the ceiling. His gaze then drifted towards the window. He looked at the sky and sighed.
“It’s gonna rain tomorrow.” He said to himself. “Seems appropriate.” The man got back into his bed and laid down to sleep. Ivy woke up on the couch she was lying on and made her way upstairs into the living quarters. She saw the red haired man grunting in his sleep and saw a single tear form in his closed eye.
The flyer felt pity for the man. Despite his rough exterior, Ivy still saw the same frightened child she had seen curled up in the corner of their room, shaking in fear. Ivy laid down beside the man and wrapped him in a comforting hug.