As Twilight followed Crimson out of the ruined castle, which was apparently going to be remade into a home for him and his mysterious cousin, her mind began to wander. Crimson seemed like a decent stallion half the time, but when he let his rage and anger take over he almost seemed like a bright flame whose sole purpose was to destroy. To Twilight it almost looked like there were two personalities to him, but she knew that most ponies had a single personality, until something or somepony broke them in some way. As they walked he continued to smoke on his stick, something that Twilight found annoying since he never seemed to remove the stick unless it was used up.
The anger towards Princess Celestia, Twilight continued to come back to that and it made her wonder exactly what she had planned for Crimson that had set him off. Being a Prince of Equestria was unlikely, as he had already been one in the ancient days and clearly had no trouble putting his royal jewelry back on. She knew what a strategist was, but every time she looked at him she couldn't see what had made him so special for that role back during the early days of Equestria. There was something about him that she couldn't quite place her hoof on, but she also knew where the answers about him and his cousin laid.
After all, it was Crimson who had told her where the book should be located and she intended to get as many answers as possible out of it when she got to Canterlot.
"So, where is this Canterlot you mentioned earlier?" Crimson commented, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts, "All I know about it was that my mother and aunt were going to build another city on the side of a mountain. Whether or not they actually did that I never cared to find out until now."
"To the east of course," Twilight replied, really wishing that they could see the city over the trees, "built into the side of a mountain and accessed by either flying or taking the train."
"Ah, I see my mother stuck to her original plans," Crimson said, releasing another puff into the air, "I think its time that I head to this 'Canterlot' and see if it matches the rest of the plans that she and Aunt Luna made together."
Twilight sighed and realized that she was never going to get away from him, which gave her plenty of time to study his habits and learn more than what a book could tell her. She tapped him on his side and beckoned for him to follow her, taking off into the skies and heading for the few clouds that happened to be floating around the forest. He stared at her like she had lost her mind, but once they were in the air she pointed towards Canterlot and began the flight towards the city, knowing that he would follow. Sure enough she caught him in her sights as they went, but at least he'd get to see the city Celestia and Luna had planned to make a long time ago.
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"So, this is Canterlot." Crimson commented, sounding neutral as they landed near what he assumed was the train station, "Its...not really living up to what my mother and aunt had planned over a thousand years ago."
"We've been here all of one minute and you already hate it," Twilight moaned, realizing how hard it was to impress the alicorn, "Just let me show you around the city and then make your decision when we're done."
There was also something strange happening with the Sigil of Fire, Twilight could no longer feel the magical power that had been radiating from it when Crimson had uncovered it. She wasn't sure how he had pulled it off, but she was sure that Crimson had activated one of the ancient spells he must have placed on his chest piece. A spell that she was sure was designed to restrict the magic of the Sigil and prevent any unicorns or alicorns from feeling the power it contained. It was the perfect way for him to carry the Sigil without somepony questioning him as to why he had something that radiated so much power.
"As you wish," Crimson said, blowing a puff of smoke into the air as he followed her into the city, "I'd like to see what has become of my mother's grand city she had designed."
Another thing Twilight noticed about Crimson was that he spoke about Princess Luna with praise and respect, though when he spoke of Princess Celestia he made her out to be the villain of some epic story. She knew Princess Celestia had fought with many ponies a thousand years ago, she had even met a lot of them, but she knew that there was no way that the Princess would ever do anything like that to her own child. She needed the facts before she made any decisions about Crimson, facts that she was about to acquire once she got her hooves on that book.
As they walked through the crowds ponies stopped and stared at them, some of them pointing at Crimson and whispering amongst each other. News had traveled fast through Canterlot, telling of Crimson's presence to all of Equestria, and it seemed like everypony who had read the notice didn't know what to make of it. Now that they could see who Princess Celestia had mentioned they were shocked and surprised to see him walking amongst them, in their capital no less. They also appeared to be shocked to see Twilight walking beside him, but some figured that she was just showing him the city and left it at that.
"So," Twilight said, walking past the park as they got closer to the castle, "did you or your cousin have a pet or an assistant?"
"Not me," Crimson replied, blowing yet another puff out, "as for my cousin I know she didn't have a pet, but an assistant could be another matter. She never mentioned one to me, but there is a chance she found something, like your dragon for instance, to help her out."
"His name is Spike," Twilight told him, not really sure if she ever told Crimson his name or not, "and when I was just a filly I hatched him from his egg. We have literally been together most of the time since that day. In fact, he even helped save the Crystal Empire from Sombra when he returned some time ago."
There was more that she could have said, but then they crossed paths with Prince Blueblood, one of the worst nobles in the entire city in Twilight's opinion. His mane, tail, and coat were perfect as always, but the moment he noticed who was standing next to Twilight his face turned sour and angry. The last time Twilight had seen him angry was during the Grand Galloping Gala, which was the only time she ever had any reason to interact with him. He wasn't exactly friendly towards Rarity, but she had no idea what was setting him off this time.
"So, your the Prince that everypony is all worked up about," Blueblood spat, glaring right at Crimson like he was going to attack him, "the Prince that Princess Celestia cares sooooo much about. You come out of exile for one day and suddenly your a Prince of Equestria with your own blasted Kingdom in the middle of the blasted Everfree Forest. What makes you so damn special?"
"Besides the fact that she's my mother?" Crimson stated, releasing a puff of smoke into the air, "She's been planning this since the day my cousin and I left, so I wouldn't get your tail in a bunch about all of this."
"By Celestia's mane," Blueblood said, staring at the stick in his mouth, "what are you doing?"
"Smoking," Crimson replied, pulling the stick out and spinning it around the noble before returning it to its rightful place, "I know most ponies these days don't smoke at all, but I've been doing it for a long time and nopony will prevent me from doing what I want. Don't bother trying to talk me down from it, my mother tried for years to make me quit smoking and I've brushed her off every single time she tried."
"You would dare disobey Princess Celestia?" Blueblood exclaimed, a hoof going to his mouth.
"I'm her son and we fight all the time," Crimson said, moving past the noble that he really didn't care about, "Now leave me in peace or I'll show you why I am called the Prince of Fire."
Twilight followed Crimson further down the street, leaving a frightened Blueblood standing alone in the middle of the street, knowing that it would be some time before he overcame his nerves. She had felt the power in Crimson's voice, similar to Princess Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice, that had somehow installed fear into Blueblood. The more she stayed around Crimson the more she learned about him, though she was beginning to think that he truly didn't care about anypony else. One thing was clear in her mind, she needed to get that book and learn all about Crimson.
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Twilight was kind enough to lead Crimson right to the Royal Library, a large structure that had a few guards to make sure that somepony didn't walk out with something that wasn't theirs. Crimson made a note of how many guards there were, what patters he could tell by just a glance, and how many wards there were around the building. If he was correct and his mother had placed the other two Sigils in the library, where ponies would pass them everyday without realizing what they actually were. Though if it were him hiding the Sigil of Earth and Sigil of Water he would have separated them, hiding one in a library and the other in the castle itself.
He spotted several more guards as they entered the hallway that would lead them to the Starswirl Wing, each of them saluting them as they passed and moving on with their routines. The moment that they passed into the actual library Crimson could literally feel the magical energy of one Sigil resting somewhere near them. That was when he spotted the giant hourglass resting in the middle of the chamber and could feel his own Sigil reacting to it, watching as an emerald color phased into existence inside the sands.
"So, she did separate them," Crimson said to himself, silently wondering where the other was located, "The Sigil of Earth, transformed from its natural state to look like normal sand in an ever turning hourglass. Very clever mother, taking my own suggestion for this particular Sigil and using it to hide it. Makes me wonder if you followed through with the other Sigil."
Twilight looked around just in case Princess Celestia came into the room while she wasn't looking, but found that they were still alone for the moment. While Crimson stared at the hourglass, and she guessed the Sigil of Earth, she turned towards the side of the wing that he had mentioned during her questioning. She turned to the right side of the library and made her way down to the last row of shelves, turning right yet again and staring up at the rows of books. Her magic rolled up the shelves, though her eyes fell right on a book, ironically located on the middle shelf and in the middle of the the row, that she didn't recognize.
The book, she noticed, was titled The Tale of Crimson Flare and Nightfury.
She had found it, the book that would tell her everything she needed to know about Crimson and his mysterious cousin, who she now knew was named Nightfury. With this one book she could learn exactly why Crimson hated Princess Celestia so much, why he had run away to the Everfree Forest, and how he had come into possession of the Sigil of Fire. All the answers she could ask for were resting right before her eyes, now all she needed to do was check the book out, which should be easy considering everypony that wasn't a alicorn thought it was a different book, and she'd be home free.
All of Crimson's secrets were hers now.