Scarlet Tears

by Silent Quill

Hidden Truths

Crimsondrop sat in the sauna at the New Ewe spa in Trottingham, taken there by Silent Quill. She’d been in the massage parlour, and she had never felt more relaxed. She’d almost fallen asleep on the massage table, kept awake only when the masseuse had accidentally brushed her left thigh.

The Pegasus had apologised profusely, but Crimsondrop had only brushed it off and thanked her for at least keeping her from drifting to sleep. Saddleblaze, conversely, had already drifted to sleep and needed to be roused from her slumber before the two could leave.

Crimsondrop had been pleasantly surprised by Saddleblaze’s voice. She spoke so smoothly, and her voice was like chocolate to hear. How she managed to make fire fighting sound so… sultry and alluring, romantic in its own special way. The mare was charming, and when Crimsondrop asked why she had been so quiet before, she simply said that the ability to listen well is a key quality in any fire fighter. She could talk the others’ ears off if she were to be given the opportunity, but usually that was being done by Holly Seams.

Silent Quill, conversely, was true to his namesake. He sat in thoughtful silence, apparently not doing anything aside from enjoying the heat of the sauna. Every now and then she’d catch him looking in her direction curiously, but he would divert his attention forward the second she looked over at him. It gave her the unnerving feeling of being studied.

She could feel his eyes on her, and she could only take so much.

“What?” She groaned, turning her attention on him.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, nothin’; sure.” She grumbled. “Pull th’ other one, it has bells on.”

“Well that’s a colourful phrase.” Silent Quill grumbled.

“Don’t change th’ subject.” She hissed. “Y’ keep lookin’ at me but say nothin’; there somethin’ in my fur or somethin’?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No, no; nothing like that, I assure you.” He said. “It’s just… well, you’re surely aware of how… unique you are in Equestria, you can hardly blame my curiosity.”

Crimsondrop sighed. She could surely think of a dozen things to rebut this argument, but she really didn’t have the heart to, he was right after all. She was such an oddity in this world that she must stick out like a sandwich in a soufflé.

“You’ve certainly got a nice coat.” He said sidelong, grabbing her attention. “Aside from the Zebras, who rarely come to our neck of Equestria, I’ve not met anypony who has stripes.”

She looked back over herself at her coat, eyeing the stripes on her side and back; stripes which cut her tail into coloured strips except for the long white fur which plumed from the top and bottom and made a point far beyond the end of her actual tail. She was pleased, in a small sense, that the change to her fur hadn’t concealed her stripes, instead making them a darker hue than the red of the rest of her fur.

“I used tae be white.” She said faintly. “My horns and hooves were purple, but… I guess magic is ae funny thing.”

“Well, at least you kept some of your white, even if it’s only on your mane and tail.” Silent Quill said. “It looks… good.”

She giggled faintly at his nervousness to say so.

“Thank you.”

Another twenty minutes in the sauna saw her growing used to the heat, and when she’d finally grown tired of the room, the air outside felt frigid and made her cuts ache in a somewhat pleasant way. She didn’t want to return to the water for long, but she did take a quick dip to clean her sweat off before she shook faintly and found a spot to one side to lay and rest, looking up at the glass roof.

The heavens had opened, and rain pounded against the glass, though it didn’t make much noise because of the thickness of it. She sighed and lay on her side, resting her head against the tiles as she drifted to sleep.

******

The grass beneath her hooves was thick and lush, and the sky above her was the familiar and welcoming mists and beautiful swirls of Outland’s sky. She smiled wider than she’d smiled in years, her heart racing as she hurried to her trip, wanting to join her mother and tell her she loved her, even if it was only by nuzzling and being close to the elder Nanny.

When she arrived, her trip was all there, her brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. Her mother stood near the back, chewing peacefully on some grass. She drew nearer and gave a faint bleat, only for the trip to look up at her in fear and back away.

She halted her movements. They… they were afraid of her? Her own family? Why?

She moved forward and bleated again, this time her tone of worry, of fright. Her trip only redoubled their efforts to back up, some fleeing to the far side of the village. Only one remained in her place, her mother, and she looked on with her eyes wide in fright at her as she approached.

She bleated a third time, and her mother gave one of her own, one of warning and threat. This caused her to stop moving altogether. Her mother was… threatening her? She backed up confusedly, a second questioning bleat leaving her throat, one that quivered on her lips.

Her mother only nodded at her and snorted angrily, and she looked down. Her coat was red and dripping blood and her body looked like she’d starved to death long ago. She whipped her head to where a metal tool, a plough, rested against a fence and looked at herself. She was atrophied and frail-looking, her mane grimy and dirty, her horns were stained and gave off little glow. The feature that frightened her the most was her eyes. Instead of her natural, purple eyes, she saw only a ghostly blue. It was something she’d seen before.

They were the eyes of the undead under the Lich King’s control.

She looked behind her, where she had come from, to find the villages’ population massacred, laying in pools of their own blood, hoof marks and deep gouges littering their bodies. She looked back to her mother, fear lacing her mind and soul and she bleated.

Her mother backed up, and she took a step forth, repeating her frightened sound. Her mother turned and fled, and she hurried after her, bleating out her fright and desperation, tears running down her cheeks as the world blurred and vanished.

*****

She jolted awake, the last echoes of her voice reverberating about the bath, the others all standing nearby watching her worriedly.

‘Mother..!’

Her breathing came in fast and erratic pants, and she could feel the blood pulse through her veins and the heavy beat of her heart. Her face was, once again, streaked with tears and she looked about at the ponies standing around her.

“I… I..!”

It was all she could say before her dream replayed in her head and she broke down into terrified crying, putting her forehead against the cold tiles as she cried.

She’d had nightmares before, but they had never been so… vivid and bleak. They’d managed to jostle her awake in shock, but never had she been so terrified. Everypony she loved everypony she treasured... She’d been chased and attacked by the Lich King’s minions in her nightmares before, but never had she been the monster. Never had she instilled fear in others. Her mother had always been her one beacon in her nightmares, the one thing she would sacrifice herself for, or see watching in terror from a distance, but this time her mother had feared her.

She felt somepony lie at her side and carefully nuzzle her neck, and her eyes flicked open to see that it was Whiterobe.

“Shh, it’s alright Crimson.” She breathed into her ear. “We’re here, you’re safe.”

She huffed and tried to catch up with her own heart as it raced away, pounding blood and adrenaline through her.

“I’m sorry..! I’m sorry!”

“You’re sorry? Sorry for what? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

She shook her head; how could she possibly explain what troubled her so? How could she forgive herself for imagining something so… so revolting? How could she forgive herself for breaking down so pitifully? Here she was, lying on the floor crying over a nightmare like a little kid.

No, explaining what terrified her would only lead to more questions and answers she wasn’t ready to give, that she might never be ready to give. She couldn’t do that to them, it wouldn’t be fair.

“I… I’m ruinin’ yer day by being such a…”

Whiterobe sighed. “No, stop that.” She scolded gently. “Our day has been too good to be ruined over something like this; we’re worried about you, Crimson, why else would we be here?”

“I… I don’t want tae ruin your day and cut short your relaxation…”

Whiterobe sighed and Saddleblaze giggled. “Crimson, we’ve been waiting for you to wake for an hour; we figured we’d let you sleep, but none of us wanted to risk waking you to get you home.”

Crimsondrop nodded. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled, trying to stand. Her legs were wobbly from fight now fading.

“Don’t be, Crimson; you need your rest to heal.” Whiterobe said. “We’re just pleased that you were comfortable enough around us to let yourself fall asleep.”

With a sigh Crimsondrop nodded and started to dawdle from the room, the others following her close behind. She’d been so deep into her dream that she was sleep talking? All she remembered was bleating in her dreams, but… in Equestria her bleats would have been translated into the language she now spoke, and she’d been calling out for her mother. Her mood drooped lower than it already had; now the others had something to ridicule her with.

Part of her brain berated her for showing such a weakness.

When the group reached the foyer, Desert Rose met them and dipped her head.

“I have spoken with the other management and as an apology for Scribbly Note’s earlier behaviour-” she shot him a dirty look from the corner of her eye, making him cringe, “we are going to give each of you a hamper full of our finer range of bathing salts, soaps and facial cream.” She motioned to a row of hampers sat neatly in a row on a counter by the door. “We thank you for your patronage and hope to see you again soon.”

The group thanked her and retrieved their baskets. As they headed outside, Crimsondrop was stopped by Desert Rose.

“You have a good friend in Whiterobe.” She said. “You look after her, alright Hon?”

Crimsondrop nodded nervously in response, and Desert Rose smiled cheerfully.

“Look after yourself too; next time you come here I want to give you my speciality massage.” She added. “It’s full body, so you get better okay?”

She looked at the mare curiously, but Desert Rose only smiled back cheerfully. With the smile infectiously creeping across her face, she nodded.

It was a short walk home, and being able to keep a faster pace now they made it to Whiterobe and Clank Clop’s home in only a few minutes. Again she was looking about the town as she walked, enjoying the sights and sounds of Trottingham. The sun warmed her coat and skin, Pegasus flew overhead delivering mail or handling the clouds from their recent downpour, Unicorns and everyday Earth Ponies moved about on the ground cheerfully handling the day-to-day business that kept Trottingham on the map.

They almost dawdled past the hospital, but a commotion by the door got their attention.

Three colts, each larger than Clank Clop in size, were trying to budge a large rock at the door.

Whiterobe hurried over.

“What’s going on?”

The colts looked over at her and huffed exhaustedly. “White, sorry, a Unicorn got a mite upset at being brought here and dragged this thing with her. We’ve been trying for ten minutes.”

Whiterobe sighed, it was a somewhat common occurrence; a unicorn had hurt herself and didn’t want to be taken to hospital for one reason or another and had tried to hold onto something solid. She eyed the rock wearily; it had to weigh at least a tonne. Crimsondrop looked the boulder over.

“Got any rope?” She asked.

The colts nodded and pointed to the rope they had tied around the rock, indicating that at least one of them had been pulling. She poked Whiterobe with a hoof.

“Could you tie it around my waist?”

Whiterobe blinked at her incredulously before nodding, her magic lifting the rope and tying it neatly in a loop around Crimsondrop’s waist. Crimsondrop grinned and waved the ponies away. Their faces all shared the same look at Whiterobe’s.

There was no way…

Crimsondrop gritted her teeth and strained against the rope.

It’s impossible…

Slowly but surely she took another step.

That’s impossible.

She grinned as she dragged the rock from the doorway and to one side, the sound of heavy stone grinding against the paving stones echoing around their section of the street. She’d kept grinning as she dragged it another four meters before she yelped and stopped, freezing in her steps with her eyes closed as she shivered. Whiterobe’s magic untied the rope from her middle and she hurried over.

“Crimson, are you alright?”

Crimsondrop nodded. “I’m fine, Whiterobe;” She huffed, “I just… pulled on a muscle in m’ thigh‘s all.” She motioned to the cut on her flank. “This ground’s unrelentin’, but this is hardly th’ heaviest I’ve pulled.”

“You’ve just pulled a rock that three stallions couldn’t budge.” Clank Clop reminded. “And you’re saying you’ve pulled heavier loads?”

Crimsondrop nodded. “Only slightly though.”

Whiterobe and Clank Clop gave one another nervous glances before motioning for Crimsondrop to continue home with them.

*****

Whiterobe’s thoughts hadn’t been this conflicted about another pony in years, not since before marrying her Clanky… She’d been the spitting image of a nervous bride, but the moment that she’d walked up beside him at the Alter and looked into his eyes, her fears had simply melted away to give way for the love she felt for him.

No, this time she was conflicted about the Nanny she was guiding home.

She’d just done something that three fully grown stallions had failed to do together. Something she was uncertain that Paige would be able to do. Crimsondrop had frightened her before with her sudden entry into her life, and her appearance worried her too, but… She was still unsure of the Nanny’s motivations and intentions, she was still afraid that she would turn on them. The strength she had just demonstrated only added to that fear, if she did turn on Whiterobe and her friends, she could do a lot of damage in a very small amount of time, and it was doubtful that they could reliably contain her before guards showed up.

No, no, she had to assume that Crimsondrop meant well, stress would not be good for her unborn foal.

They reached their home to find Paige waiting on the front doorstep patiently, watching the other ponies move about the street in their daily lives. She seemed content to continue this activity for some time, but the moment that Whiterobe noticed her, she noticed them and stood up with a smile. While Clank Clop got the mail in from the letterbox, Whiterobe unlocked the front door and let everyone in.

“I’ll just put these in the kitchen.” Clank Clop said, moving through the house with the mail. “There’s one here for you from the hospital, by the way White.”

“Thank you Clanky.” She replied, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Crimson, I’ll be with you in a moment to bandage your stitches, alright?”

“Okay.”

“Crimson, let’s get a couple of drinks and let the mares talk.” Clank Clop offered.

“Okay.”

Whiterobe waited for her husband and guest to be out of the room before sitting at a couch.

“So…”

Paige sighed. “Whiterobe, last night you came to me distressed…”

*****

Crimsondrop and Clank Clop strolled into the kitchen. The room was clean, dishes thankfully done from the morning’s breakfast and the counters clear and wiped clean. Disinterestedly Clank Clop deposited the mail on the open countertop before opening the fridge and retrieving a bottle of juice and two glasses.

“Oh!” Crimsondrop exclaimed suddenly before turning back around. “I’ll go ask Whiterobe ‘nd Phony Paige if they want a glass!”

“Oh, thanks Crimson.”

She limped back through the house to where Whiterobe and Phony Paige were sitting and chatting, her ears catching a little of the conversation, specifically her name. She stopped and listened worriedly.

“-she’s certainly an interesting creature, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like her.” Phony Paige’s voice said.

“She’s nice, but…”

“But…?”

“She… I’m still afraid, Paige; she managed to learn levitation magic in a matter of minutes; I’ve never seen anypony manage that. Even I took weeks to master it when I was little.”

“And yet I’m certain that Princess Celestia’s protégée, Twilight Sparkle, did not take long to master it.” Phony Paige pointed out.

“That’s beside the point!” Whiterobe snapped. “On our way home she volunteered to help move a boulder from the front door of the hospital, three Earth Pony stallions failed to move it together, but she managed to pull it alone!”

‘They’re talking… about me..? Wh-why’re they talking about me? And why does Whiterobe sound so… worried?’

“I understand your worry, Whiterobe, but I assure you that you have nothing to fear.”

“But she’s shown that she’s apt at magic, and she’s very strong..!” Whiterobe snapped worriedly, the distinct tone of her choking up cutting into her voice. “She… she came from a world full of violence, how am I supposed to… how am I supposed to trust her?”

Crimsondrop’s heart skipped a beat or two. ‘She doesn’t… trust me..?’

“She could be dangerous, Paige! She could be dangerous and I allowed her into my home, into my life!” Now the sound of Whiterobe crying was evident and audible, even in the hall where Crimsondrop hid to listen, though her own face had begun to streak. “She scares me!”

Crimsondrop blinked and gasped, unable to stay hidden or hold herself back as she swayed into the doorway. She realized she’d been noticed, the two ponies watching her worriedly as she stared at Whiterobe in tearful disbelief. Unable to hold herself in place anymore and ignoring the searing pain from her leg, she bolted through the house and up to her room where she slammed the door shut and huddled on the bed, her heart broken once again.

*****

Clank Clop entered the lounge to find his wife and Paige staring at the stairs. He’d heard the door slam, but he didn’t quite know the cause.

“So… did either of you want drinks?”

Whiterobe’s head snapped in his direction. “What?”

“Crimson headed back here to ask if you wanted drinks.”

His wife blinked at him before she looked at Paige. “She… she wasn’t spying on us intentionally?”

“It would seem that way.”

“H…how much did she hear? Oh dear Celestia, what did she hear?!”

“Whoa, whoa, hold it up; what’s going on?” Clank asked. “All she said she was going to do was ask if you two wanted some juice.”

“We were… talking about her.” Whiterobe admitted.

“Oh?” Clank pushed, sitting down next to his wife. “Please do elaborate honey.”

“I… She scares me, Clanky.” Whiterobe admitted. “She came from nowhere; we know nothing about her… She could be dangerous.”

“Honey…”

“No!” Whiterobe snapped. “Even Nightmare Moon, that evil, heartless witch was once Princess Luna, and we’ve seen how lovely she is in person. She… she could be…”

A sigh cut through the conversation, the sound coming from Paige and catching their attention to her.

“White, you asked me to observe her.” She said. “And I promised you I would. I did observe her, I used my experiences to analyse her body language when you first arrived at the spa. Though, initially I was uncertain, I did come to several conclusions.

“My first conclusion was that she was evidently more torn up about her current predicament than I would have guessed for somepony who has had so much torn from her only a day ago. In the usual model for grieving, there are five stages; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Just observing her I could tell that she was forced through denial, skipped anger and was forced through bargaining right to depression. Psychologically, this would be a huge blow. If you’ve not noticed, she has barely smiled since this morning; it’s as if all happiness has simply drained from her life. She’s emotionally drained and exhausted.”

“Paige, those stages can happen in any order.” Whiterobe pointed out. “And if she becomes depressed like this, if she switches to anger she could…”

“She won’t.” Paige argued. “As I said, she was… negotiated past it, possibly by a third party.”

“Princess Celestia came to talk with her last night, just before Whiterobe came home.” Clank informed them.

“That would probably be the cause then.” Paige mumbled. “She cannot be angry at anypony, it was an accident and nopony is to blame. In any case, I can confidently tell you, White, that she is safe.”

“How can you just-”

“As I said, I observed her; and through all of the contributing factors to her emotional and physical state, one thing shone through enough for me to ignore them all and come to my conclusion that she will not be dangerous.”

“And that was..?”

Paige smiled faintly. “Fear.”

“What?”

“She was afraid of us. All of us. I could see it in her eyes, the way she held her body and cringed from us slightly… Most importantly, I could see what, or rather who, she clung to for what little comfort she could gather from her fright… you.”

Whiterobe blinked in momentary astonishment. “Wh…what?”

“You took her in and cared for her. You helped her to the bathroom and to where she could find food…”

“You cried alongside her last night during her emergency deep-tissue stitching.” Clank added.

“You’re her saviour, her one beacon of hope in this otherwise bleak world of unknown strangers and threats. She feels safe when she’s with you. Or, at least, she did; I don’t know how she feels now. I may have an encyclopaedic knowledge on pony behaviour, but if there is anything I have learned it’s that everypony behaves differently to things, even her; she could be emotionally ruined.”

Clank Clop sighed.

“I think, Paige, it’s my turn to fix things. And this time you’re going to help me.”

*****

This was a stupid idea. Paige knew this was a stupid idea. Why was she going along with this? Oh, right, because Clank Clop told her to, and that if she didn’t then Crimson might break down into an inconsolable mess.

‘And for White, we’re doing this for White too.’

Quiet you; this is bad enough without your input.

She sighed and knocked on the bedroom door nervously, but didn’t receive a response. With a second sigh she worriedly opened the door and looked in.

“Crimson? It’s me, Paige, I want to talk.”

Crimsondrop shifted, but didn’t respond.

Paige stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, eyeing the Nanny currently curled up pitifully on her bed. She could hear her crying, oh Tartarus she could hear her crying from out in the hall.

“Crimson..?”

Crimsondrop shifted in the bed before getting up and moving over to her, her face streaked with tears and her eyes furious. She stepped right up to Paige and spun, pulling in her hind legs.

‘She’s going to kick me and send herself sprawling. It’d take a team of stallions to move me.’ Paige thought, before another thought moved through her head.

‘You mean like the team of three she out-muscled to move a boulder?’

Oh… buck.

The Nanny yelled in furious exertion as her legs sprang back, managing to push Paige into the wall where she slid to the ground. The walls and floor shook while the windows rattled when she struck the thankfully strong wall.

She sighed and watched Crimsondrop as she rose over her, bringing her forelegs up high to crash them down onto her. She thanked that she was made of sturdy stuff; this would probably kill any other pony. She stuck harder than Paige thought anypony of Crimsondrop’s size could manage but merely waited for her to wear herself out, enduring blow after blow from the furious and frustrated Nanny.

Eventually Crimsondrop relented, slamming her head into Paige’s side wearily as she wept out apology after apology.

“Are you finished, Crimson?” Paige asked, making her jolt.

“Y-you’re… not dead..?”

“I have endured worse than you can dish out, I assure you.”

Crimsondrop looked away sadly. “Why’re you here, what do you want?”

“I want to explain,” Paige replied calmly. “That is all.”

Crimsondrop nodded and moved back to her bed, dropping onto the ground next to the mattress on her right side and looking across at Paige. Paige, in turn, grabbed the tissue box from the bedroom bookshelf and put them next to the still crying Nanny, taking a tissue and putting it onto her thigh, where a small streak of blood had moved down her skin after she exerted herself to kick her.

“I want to start by saying that we are sorry.” She began, lying down in front of her. “We did not even consider that you might have heard us talking, and we’re sorry for talking about you without your knowledge. We understand that it was meant to be a private matter, but… you should have been privy to it, and we apologize; but considering what Whiterobe was talking with me about you, you can understand why we were concerned about not including you.

“However, we need to elaborate why Whiterobe said what she did. I know that you cling to her for comfort, Crimson. I’m not blind or stupid, but I’m also not heartless, and I would never say you should leave her be, but… A few years ago, a great and terrible pony returned from being imprisoned magically in the moon for a thousand years. Her name was Nightmare Moon. She intended to plunge Equestria into eternal night, to force us to look upon the stars forevermore. After about a day of endless night, she was defeated and the sun was returned to the sky.

“She had her power stripped from her, and her mind returned to the pony she used to be, a pony we all address as Princess Luna. She is Princess Celestia’s younger sister. Whiterobe is afraid of you because Princess Luna is a charming and wonderful mare, but she turned quite easily into something dark and dangerous the likes of which Equestria rarely sees. Whiterobe is frightened that you, also, could become as dangerous as that wicked and dastardly mare.

“I have known since we first met that it would not be the case, but I needed to reassure Whiterobe of this; unfortunately you happened to hear her voice her worries before I could manage to say anything.” She smiled faintly and put a hoof gently on Crimsondrop’s shoulder. “We’re sorry, Crimson, but… we did not mean to hurt you.”

Crimsondrop nodded faintly, though she still seemed somewhat depressed.

“There’s one other thing we need to show you.” Paige said slowly and deliberately. And for that, I need something sharp.”

“I would offer m’ horns, but they were filed down, remember?” Crimsondrop mumbled sadly.

Paige sighed and headed to the door, opening it long enough for Clank Clop to hand her a small knife before closing it and turning to her.

“Remember… remember how you’re alone, as the only one of your kind in Equestria?” Paige asked, to which Crimsondrop nodded nervously. “You’re not the only one.”

She dragged the knife across her shoulder, cutting a gash clean through her skin before dropping the knife and showing Crimsondrop the cut, or rather the shiny metal beneath.

“Wh-what?!”

“I am a machine, Crimson.” She stated flatly. “I was made to be as close to real as possible, and I do like to think of myself as a success. After an… incident, I became known as a machine to the whole town, and the project which created me was scrapped. I have no brothers or sisters, nor mother or father; all I have are my friends, who are the closest things I have to family.

“I… I would like to add you to that small and somewhat dysfunctional in the case of Holly Seams, family if you want...”

Crimsondrop looked up into Paige’s eyes, her own face pasted with astonishment, before she gingerly rose to her hooves and moved across the room, throwing her head over Paige’s undamaged shoulder and hugging her. Paige was taken aback for a moment, but gently returned the hug when she felt a tear tap onto her skin and heard Crimsondrop sniffle.

“Thank you!”

Comments

[Birivalos]

Why is this on Hiatus? I want more!