//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 - Crimson and the Morning After 
// Story: Fire and Brimstone, Book 2 
// by BluePhoenyx 
//------------------------------//

The night rolled on as each pony went into their respective rooms, sleeping in their well deserved high-class comfortable beds.  Rarity didn’t even have time to remark on the beds before falling asleep - her mane still wrapped in a bun.  Fluttershy, happy to see her animal friend again, fell asleep with the puppy next to her.  Twilight fell asleep with a book from the library.  Crimson stood, staring out the window at the moon waiting.  Eventually, he too would finally get some well needed rest.


* * *


Time passed before a high pitched scream was heard.  Twilight quickly sat up - the book that was once on her chest flying off the bed and onto the floor.  She jumped out of bed and ran to the door.  She ran down the hallway to the filly’s room to find Crimson standing in the doorway watching Sara hug and console her daughter.  Ellena panted heavily, shaking from fear.  Sara looked back angrily to the doorway.  “Are you happy now?”
Crimson remained silent as Fluttershy ran to the doorway.  Twilight walked passedCrimson and into the room.  “No, I’m not.  Is she okay?”
Sara put her attention back to her daughter as she started to slowly calm down.  Crimson walked into the room and stood at the foot of the bed.  “What did you see?”
Sara looked angrily once again at Crimson.  “You heartless-”
Ellena, panting and trying to catch her breath, started to recall her dream.  “I saw six stars…”  Sara stopped mid-sentence and looked at her daughter as she continued.  “They were dark.  They weren’t dark before.  The scary mare wasn’t there, but the big bad pony was.”  She started to shiver again as Sara hugged her.  
“It’s okay, sweetheart.  Mommy is here.”  
Twilight looked at Crimson.  “What do you think that means?”
Ellena continued.  “The bad pony didn’t put me on fire this time.  This time, he chased after me.  He’s coming to get me.  He’s coming to get me!”  She started to cry and continued to be consoled by her mother.  
Crimson looked at the strange bonding of the two as Twilight looks at him.  “Well..?”  Twilight asked Crimson.
“It is difficult to say…”  
“Wait a minute…”  Twilight thought to herself for a moment then shook her head.  “Princess Luna and Princess Celestia would never let this happen.”
Rarity stood in the doorway, her mane brushed and her face clean and pristine.  “You’re right, darling.  The princesses would never allow such an atrocious act to happen.”
“Were they at all depicted in the vision?”
Twilight looked at Crimson, then to the frightened filly.  “Ellena, did you see Princess Celestia or Princess Luna?”  The filly shook her head.
“Do they have symbolic references?”  Crimson asked.
Twilight looked at Crimson.  “Princess Celestia is the sun and Princess Luna is the moon.”
Ellena talked in a hysterical tone.  “The sun and moon…  They vanished.”  Her head peeked out from under her mother’s arms.  “Does that mean they die?”
Crimson looked at the filly.  “What else can you remember?  Try to recall every detail.”
Sara turned her head and looks at the heartless pony.  Ellena thought for a moment.  “The mare wasn’t there.  Shes always there...  The big bad pony was there.  He didn’t catch me on fire this time.  Instead, he said ‘I’ll find you’ and started chasing me.  I ran through a town that was on fire trying to get away…  The sun and the moon vanished in the dream.  The stars were dark…  I think there was something else…  I don’t remember...”
Sara hugged her daughter again.  “That’s enough!  She’s helped you enough.  Now leave us alone.”
Twilight recoiled, her eyes widened, then turned around.  “Come on, let’s leave them be.”  She starts to guide everyone out the door to give the two their privacy.
Crimson, with his back turned, looked at the mare and filly.  “Your visions are what may come, not what will come.”  He looked forward and leaves the room.
Sara went back to consoling her daughter after they left the room.  “Shh, it’s okay.  I’m here.  I’m here.” 
The group gathered in the study to discuss what happened.  The books have been cleaned and reorganized on the shelves from the butler while the others rested.  The group sat in a circle around a table.  
Rarity, sitting to the right of Crimson, looked lavish and flawless, thanks to her royalty grade grooming.  “What could it all mean?”
Twilight, sitting on the right hand side of Rarity, looked at Crimson.  “I think it’s pretty straight forward.  The elements and the princesses are gone.”
Fluttershy, sitting to the right of Twilight and the left of Crimson, started to recoil in fear.  “Oh my.  Does that mean Ponyville…”
Twilight shook her head.  “I don’t know.  She didn’t see the mare, who I think is Crimson’s sister Demi.  But the ‘big bad pony’ was there.  Is that Scorch?”
Crimson shook his head.  “No, Scorch does not possess the gift of sight.”  Crimson paused and thought to himself for a brief moment.  “Temethyst, on the other hoof…”
“What do you mean by that?”  Twilight asked.
“I think…”  The girls stared at Crimson as he pausedin thought.  “I am not sure.  The spiritual presence of him in the filly’s vision only comes to that conclusion.”
“What conclusion?”
“Temethyst may be able to ponyback on Demi’s last vision.”
“I don’t get it, dear.”  Rarity said confused.
“I agree.”  Twilight added.  “Are you saying Temethyst can see too?”
“I do not think so.”  He looked up to the girls.  “Not on his own, at least.  Otherwise, why would he capture the filly instead of slay her like before?”
Fluttershy looked beyond the group toward the wall where the filly rested.  “Poor girl.”
Twilight lifted her hooves.  “Wait wait, how is that possible?”
“As mentioned earlier, Temethyst has unnatural raw power.  Being born a colt, he could not have been born with the gift.  Therefore, he has done the next best thing.”
The group remained quiet for a moment before Twilight speaks up.  “So tell us what you think about the filly’s visions.”
Crimson looked over the group.  “You have told me that there are six elements.  The six stars may represent your relics.”  The girled look frightened as he continued.  “However, from what I understand of your relics, you yourselves use them.  The six starts could represent you.”
A cold and frightening chill ran down each of the girl’s backs.  Twilight lightly shivered in fear.  “I never thought about that.”  She shook it off and stood up.  “Let’s get some rest and talk about it in the morning.”


* * *


A knock on the door woke Twilight Sparkle the following morning.  The butler spoke through the door.  “Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Duchess requests your presence for breakfast.”  She blinked her eyes a few times then slowly sat up.  Her muscles felt more relaxed then they have in weeks, and her uncooperative mane was silky smooth from the spa treatments her and Rarity had the night before.  She stood up and made her way to the dining room for breakfast.  When she opened the door to the hallway, she saw the mare and the filly pause and looked at her in front of the door.
Twilight smiled.  “Good morning.”
“Princess.”  The mare nudged the filly to quickly move down the hallway.
Twilight just watched them as they walk away.
“I shall never understand this world.”  Crimson said.
Twilight turned to look at Crimson, who stood watching from the end of the hall.  “Good morning.”
Crimson walked up to Twilight.  “Such disrespect to royalty should never go unpunished.”
“It’s alright.”  Twilight turned her head to stare down the hall.  
“No it is not.  For your authority to be undermined by lowly peasants shall breed chaos and anarchy.”
“Wouldn’t it also breed abuse and oppression?”  
“Fear would breed obedience.”
“But wouldn’t fear also breed betrayal?”  Twilight looked at Crimson.  “This isn’t the world you lived in, Crimson.  Things are different up here.  Princess Celestia rules with love and she gets all of the respect any pony would ever dream of.”  Crimson stood speechless.  Twilight nudged her head toward the hall.  “Come on, breakfast is waiting for us.”
The two started to walk down the hall when Crimson looked at Twilight.  “I still do not understand your title system here.  Why is Princess Celestia not Queen Celestia?”  Twilight smiled and shook her head as they make their way to the dining room.

The Duchess stood at the entrance of the princess.  “Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle.  Good morning.  I hope you found my lowly accommodations suitable for you and your friends.”  
“Are you kidding?”  Twilight stretched, extending her wings almost hitting Crimson in the face.  “I haven’t slept that good in a long time.”
Rarity lifted her hoof and bounced her mane.  “I agree, darling.  Your beds were to die for.”
The Duchess smiled.  “Good.  Good.”  She extended a hoof to the empty chairs.  “Please sit down.”
Twilight went to a chair as the butler stopped her from sitting down.  “Princess Twilight Sparkle, the guest of the hour always sits to the Duchess right hoof.”
Twilight looked up at the butler.  “Oh, of course.”  She slowly started to make her way to the other side of the table.  
When everyone was finally settled in, the butler started to hand out trays with various breakfast foods and large pitchers full of apple juice.  At the head of the table was the Duchess, with Twilight sitting at her right side.  Beside her was Rarity.  On the Duchess’s left was Fluttershy, then Crimson with two seats open between the mare and her daughter staying as far away from the group as possible.
The filly nudged her mother.  “Mommy, when can we go home?”
Sara glared up toward the red coated pony.  “I don’t think we have a home left to go to.”
“But what about my brother?  Where is he?”
She looked at her daughter.  “Don’t worry about him.  He’s staying with your uncle.  When this is over, you can see him again.”
The butler started to pour everyone applejuice as everyone went quiet.
Rarity took a sip of the applejuice.  “Oh my, this tastes just like Applejack’s.”
From that reply, Twilight took a sip as well.  “You’re right.”
“That’s because it IS Applejack’s.”  Fluttershy answered.  
The Duchess added, “is that the farm you showed me while I was in Ponyville?”
Fluttershy nodded.  “Yes.”
“Such a fun place.  Very down-to-earth.  I almost bought out their entire stock when I tasted their apples.  I’m used to some bars brothers or some flim flam.”
“Wait, you don’t mean the Flim Flam Brothers, do you?”
“That’s them.  And their super what’chyea’ma’jiggy 3000.”  The girls chuckled.  “They had a big song and dance and a big, fancy machine.  They were very captivating.  It seemed impressive at first, but it really just sucked the quality out of the cider.”
“Yeah, they came to Ponyville too and tried to run out our friend’s farm.”
The Duchess nodded in agreement after taking a sip of her drink.  “Quality over quantity.  I can’t get rid of the 10 barrels of cider those brothers sold me.”
After a short round of silence, the Duchess lifted her hoof.  “On another hoof, I heard about my gates outside.”
Twilight suddenly gulped and looked at the Duchess.  “Oh, um, about that…”
The Duchess smiled.  “I agree.  Those gates needed to be replaced.  I was bored of that design.”
Again, a brief silence ensued as everyone continued to eat their breakfast before Twilight looked at the mare.  “So, how did your daughter sleep? Er, after the nightmare, I mean.”
The mare hardly looked at Twilight.  “She didn’t go back to sleep, thanks for asking.”
“Oh…”  Twilight looked down in guilt and continued to eat.  Crimson stared at the mare, then to Twilight with confusion.
The Duchess looked over to the mare.  “Is that any way to treat your princess?”  The mare looked up at the hostess.  “Call it a hunch, but I bet you’d all be worse off if the princess and her friends didn’t come when they did.”
“Well-”  The mare stumbled with her words.
“And I bet your daughter would still have the nightmares even if you never met them.”
Again, the mare was speechless.
Twilight cleared her throat to try to change the subject and relieve some of the tension.  “Uh, so… What’s our next move?”  No one spoke up.  “Okay, we think we know what their next move is.  Now we need to plan ours.”
“And what is their next move, princess?”  The mare asked.
“Well, we think they’ll be coming after your daughter again, but I think you’ll be safe here.  Without the ‘scary mare’ in her dreams around, they shouldn’t be able to find you in a big place like this.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because,”  Crimson chimed.  “Their only means of tracking your daughter drown in your oceans.”  He lightly looked down in sorrow.
Fluttershy gasped.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to kill your sister.”
Everyone looked at Crimson.  “You need not apologize for-”
“Your sister?!”  The mare looked at Crimson in surprise and anger.  “You never told me you were one of the ponies who wants to get my family!”
Crimson looked at the mare.  “I-”
“Now hold on a minute.”  Twilight stood up with the chair screeching against the hard wood floors.  “Just because they’re his family doesn’t mean he’s one of them.  Can’t you imagine what he’s going through right now?”  She looked at Crimson.  “He just fought off his family for you - a filly and a mare he doesn’t even know.  And you treat him like garbage.”
Rarity stood up and put her hoof on Twilight shoulder.  “Come now, dear.”
“No.  I’m tired of every pony being rude and angry at Crimson for things he didn’t do, or for things he paid for in full with interest for the things he’s done.  He didn’t have nearly this many scars or injuries when he came to live with us.  Now look at him!  He can’t even fly anymore because he put himself in harm’s way just to save Equestria - a place he hardly knew anything about - much less a place that accepted him.”
Again, Rarity put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder as the table went quiet.  
Twilight looked around the table and noticed everyone was looking up at her.  “I-I’m sorry.  I-”
The Duchess lifted a hoof for Twilight to sit down.  “It’s okay.  These halls haven’t seen any real drama in many years.  I think it’s good to let things out instead of keeping them bottled in.”
Twilight, feeling like crap, sat down and looked at her half-eaten plate.  “Yeah, I guess.”
“But let’s just enjoy the rest of this beautiful morning in peace, shall we?”  
The rest of the meal went in a relieved yet still awkward silence.