Scarlet

by Skijarama

Stories

The next week passed in a paranoid blur for Scarlet. She barely said a word the entire time, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed, and bringing the group to a halt whenever she heard anything out of the ordinary. She didn’t want to run the risk of letting Edge catch up to them again. She and Primrose had been far too relaxed in their previous pace, and it allowed the Nightblade to be right on their tail.

Thankfully, her fears seemed to be unfounded, as no sign of the assassin or any of his lackeys was ever discovered. They seemed to be in the clear. That wasn’t enough to make her completely drop her guard, but it was enough to allow her to start getting some actual sleep when night rolled around.

They passed back onto the main highway after the first three days and made pretty good time after that. The familiar mountain passes they had gone through came and went, and now they were situated in a small campsite a few days of travel north of New Lapiz. It was night, the sky overhead clear with a bright full moon casting its glow over the world.

Scarlet was presently situated with her front half outside of her tent, her eyes on the starry sky, distant and unfocused while her mind wandered. Primrose was sleeping soundly against her side, the blue fabric of her cloak draped over the filly and providing her with warmth and security. Every so often, she would shiver and snuggle closer to the unicorn, making anxious little whimpers. She was probably having nightmares.

Lastly, there was Lens. He was resting on his belly in his own tent, Scarlet’s map unfurled at his hooves. His eyes wandered over the details intently, his lips drawn into a thin line. He would quietly hum or mutter to himself every once in a while, reminding Scarlet that he was there.

The two hadn’t said much to each other for the last week, and Scarlet imagined it wasn’t just because of how much she was focusing on keeping the group moving. Her heart withered in her chest as the notion occurred to her that he was still angry with her. She couldn’t blame him, if so. She had uprooted his entire life much like she had her own, the difference being he had not had any say in the matter.

Scarlet chose this path. He didn’t.

She lowered her eyes from the sky to gaze at the stallion in question. He was still focusing on the map, whispering to himself about something or another. The flickering orange glow of the fireplace danced in his eyes and along the frames of his glasses, lending to the intensity of his face.

Eventually, though, her prolonged stare drew his attention. Lens looked up at her and adjusted his glasses with a hoof. “What is it?” he asked quietly, careful not to rouse the sleeping filly.

Scarlet looked down, her ears drooping. “It’s nothing. I’m just thinking, that’s all,” she told him, not explicitly telling a lie.

Lens didn’t seem satisfied by her response, though, given the incredulous frown that washed over his muzzle. “What about?”

“...About how I completely ruined your life, for one,” Scarlet pointed out regretfully before heaving a sigh. “I know I said it already, but I am so sorry for getting you mixed up in all of this. I never planned on it.”

Lens was quiet for a moment, his own eyes lowering. He heaved a quiet sigh and nodded his head. “I know you are… but why are you telling me again?”

“Because I can tell you’re still upset with me. This whole situation is a giant mess, and I would not be surprised if you never forgave me.”

Lens blinked and looked at Scarlet directly. “Scarlet… I’m not upset at you for uprooting my life or anything,” he suddenly stated.

Scarlet blinked, a wave of confusion flooding her system. She looked up at Lens and tilted her head. He wasn’t upset at her for that? Then what was it?

He shifted on his belly before nudging the map off to one side. He folded his hooves in front of him and took off his glasses with his magic, a solemn look on his face. “I’m not even really upset at you, specifically… just… in general. Yeah, this is a big mess, but it wasn’t really your fault. If anything, I’m happy to just be with you again,” he began slowly, looking down at the grass.

“Then… what is bothering you?” Scarlet ventured, although the small worm of trepidation in her gut immediately made her regret asking that question.

Lens was quiet for a minute before looking directly into Scarlet’s eyes. “I… was thinking about what you told me that night in my dining room. I was thinking about… about our daughter.”

Scarlet’s breath hitched in her throat, and her heart skipped a beat. She looked away guiltily, her ears folding back. She opened her mouth to speak, to say something, to apologize, anything. But nothing came out. There wasn’t really anything she could say that would ease the pain she had no doubt caused him with that revelation. She should have just kept her damn mouth shut.

“I never got to meet her,” Lens went on slowly, his voice gentle and cautious. “And more than anything… that’s what’s bothering me the most about all of this. I never got to see her face, hear her voice, watch her play. Anything. All I have is a name…”

Scarlet swallowed heavily, her chest starting to clench involuntarily as the memories resurfaced. She felt Primrose whimper and cuddle closer to her again, and she instinctively draped a hoof over her to pull her closer. “Right… I suppose you’ll want to know more about her, won’t you?” she asked, barely able to keep her voice steady.

“If it’s not too much to ask, then yes,” Lens acknowledged tentatively. “But if it’s too painful for you to talk about right now, I can wait. We’re gonna be together for a while, I think. If you need more time to grieve-”

“I don’t need more time,” Scarlet hissed, cutting him off. She caught herself before she could say anything else and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes for a moment to clear her thoughts. When she opened them again, she was met by the sight of Lens waiting patiently, no frustration or disappointment on his face at all.

Scarlet let out a breath and spoke again, far more calmly this time. “Forgive me, Lens… but I grew very weary of listening to everypony offer me their condolences after the incident,” she explained in a low voice. “I appreciated the sentiment at first, but the words eventually began to blur together. They began to sound hollow, empty, and insincere. I couldn’t stand it… I didn’t want ponies feeling sorry for me, pitying me like that. Especially since I didn’t see a single one of them lift a hoof to do a damn thing about it. Not one tried to save her, not one tried to help. Save for the city watch, they all ran and cowered with their tails tucked between their legs...”

“Well, if nothing else, you know that it’s sincere coming from me,” Lens offered. “She was my daughter, too… and I’d give anything to meet her just one time. You got to know her for years, and then you had to lose her… I can only imagine how horrible that must have been for you.”

Scarlet didn’t say anything for several seconds, her ears drooping. He was right about one thing, at least. She knew he meant it when he gave her his sympathies. She took another deep breath to force herself to calm down before looking at him again. “It was… terrible, yes. The worst day of my life, without question…”

“And I already heard about that. Tell me a different story about her,” Lens redirected gingerly, a reassuring smile on his face. “I can never meet her, but maybe through you, I can know her.”

Scarlet was quiet again, running through her memories of her daughter. Eventually, one came to mind, and a small smile spread across her face. “Crystal Clear was… a beautiful little filly. She had your eyes, my mane, and silver fur that gleamed in the sunlight. I think she got that from your side of the family.”

“My late grandfather, probably,” Lens mused quietly.

Scarlet hummed before continuing on, steadily losing herself in the memory. “She was so sweet. She saw the good in absolutely everypony around her. She was kind, she was playful, she was friendly… I can only think of only one or two ponies who actually disliked her, and they just disliked foals in general. She was smart, clever, creative… curious about everything… She was always asking questions… I think she took after you in that sense.”

“She sounds like she was a wonderful foal,” Lens whispered, his eyes gazing into the fire as he allowed himself to get lost in Scarlet’s recounting.

“She was,” Scarlet confirmed with a nod of her head. “Such a wonderful, precious little thing… and somehow, against all logic, that little ball of purity and light came from me. Me.” She laughed humorlessly and shook her head as if in disbelief. “Me, the hardass, jaded, cynical battlemage who left a trail of corpses in her wake when she served in the war… it didn’t make any sense to me. How could something so good come from something like me?”

Scarlet was quiet for a moment, allowing that question to hang in the air. She lowered her head towards the ground before she continued. “Eventually, I stopped caring about the how or the why of it. What mattered to me was that I had given birth to a foal so beautiful and wonderful that she melted my long-frozen heart… and I saw a chance to finally begin to make amends for all of the death and destruction I wrought on the battlefield. I saw a chance to bring something wonderful into the world and make it a better place, instead of taking away and destroying.”

She closed her eyes and gave a slow, wistful sigh. “She was my one shot at redeeming myself. My way of making up for everything I had done wrong… she was everything to me… and… and I’d give a-anything to have her back…” she choked out, her voice starting to tremble again.

Primrose again whimpered by her side, and Scarlet’s hold on her once again tightened. The camp fell into silence for a while, save for the crackling of the fireplace. A full minute passed, and Scarlet was able to reign in her emotions and get a hold of herself. She opened her eyes, wiped away a few stray tears that had formed, and looked over at Lens.

He was smiling at her, although the dark streaks running down from his eyes made it clear he had only just reigned in his emotions as well. He took a shaking breath and nodded at her. “Well… I’m glad you got to know her… and I know that she had a wonderful life while it lasted,” he said, his words strained as he fought through his own feelings of longing and regret. His gaze then drifted down and settled on Primrose, and his smile grew. “...And what about her? I think It’s about time I learned her story in detail.”

Scarlet glanced down at Primrose and only then realized just how close she was holding her. She laughed quietly to herself before looking up at Lens and nodding. “I suppose it is, yes…” she agreed.

“I’m listening,” Lens said, perking up his ears and paying attention.

Scarlet took a breath, cleared her thoughts, and launched into the story. She started off slow, her mind still wanting to cling to the memory of her deceased daughter, but she was able to force herself to focus soon enough. She told Lens about what she knew of the foal’s past, of how Silent Edge slaughtered her family, how he has been chasing her ever since, and how it all seemed to stem from that strange lamp.

She then told him about everything they had been through so far since they met. From their flight from Swanrun to their battle with the bandits on the road, to their shared meal by the riverside to their run-in with the pack of changelings. She recounted everything she could in detail.

Eventually, after almost an hour, her retelling of events came to a close, and she fell silent to allow Lens to process everything he had heard. His brow was furrowed in thought, and a thoughtful frown had spread across his muzzle. “So… that lamp is really important, isn’t it?” he eventually asked, his eyes settling on the small saddlebags it was kept in.

Scarlet followed his gaze to the mysterious artifact, her own eyes narrowing. “So it would seem. The question remains, why?”

“No idea… and I left my notes on it behind in Shimmervale,” Lens lamented, burying his face in his hooves. “Guh…”

“It all happened far too quickly,” Scarlet consoled him. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, I know,” he acknowledged before his mouth opened wide in a large, unattractive yawn.

Scarlet’s smile turned just a little mischievous. “Getting tired there, soldier?”

“I haven’t traveled like this in ages, gimme a break,” Lens shot back before shaking his head in dismay. He pulled the map back over to him and gave it a quick look over. “Ugh… we’re still a couple of days away from Hoofrest Shire.”

Scarlet nodded and slowly rose to her hooves, careful not to wake Primrose. “Then get some rest, we’re getting up early in the morning. I’ll take the first watch and wake you in a few hours. Sound fair?”

“It does,” Lens agreed, rolling up the map and returning it to Scarlet’s saddlebags next to her tent. He yawned again before retreating back into his tent for some rest. “Okay, goodnight, Scarlet…”

“Sleep well, Lens,” Scarlet called after him. She stood there for a few seconds, unmoving, then turned to look at the still-sleeping form of Primrose. A chilly breeze washed over them, and she shivered, her little hooves curling up to her chest.

Scarlet smiled before using her magic to lift her cloak off of her body and draping the thick blue fabric over Primrose’s form. The filly immediately grabbed onto it, snuggled deep into the cloak as her shivering began to subside.

Scarlet smiled at her, and her words from earlier came rushing back into her mind.

“She was my one shot at redeeming myself. My way of making up for everything I had done wrong…”

Scarlet turned away from Primrose, her eyes scanning the darkness of the night around them for any potential threats, her determination to keep the foal safe burning stronger than ever. She was not going to waste this second chance.

She couldn’t.

Comments

[tom117z]

Lens blinked and looked at Scarlet directly. “Scarlet… I’m not upset at you for uprooting my life or anything,” he suddenly stated.

I mean, ruined life, blown up house and a dead kid... if he wasn't upset, he'd be a sociopath.

[The Voice in the Water]

Nice little bit of exposition and re-establishing bonds between Scarlet and Lens. I have a feeling this is going to be a calm before the storm sort of thing before Silent comes knocking.

[JMP]

Scarlet turned away from Primrose, her eyes scanning the darkness of the night around them for any potential threats, her determination to keep the foal safe burning stronger than ever. She was not going to waste this second chance.

She couldn’t.

...this is why Scarlet decided to help Primrose to begin with, isn't it.

[Skijarama]

9865183
It definitely played a part, yes.

[My Little Epona]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!!!! That's all I can say about this chapter.