Reborn

by shadowsythe22

(sequel to "dream machine"). After the tragic incident with queen chrysalis Crimson is brought into the world in a new body with no memories of who he is or was. he becomes reborn as a new pony in more ways than one and to save his wife he must fully realize what he has become and tap into his hidden power to take down his toughest foe yet. (Rated M for clop)

38. Chapter 38: Reunited, Ascension 5

-This chapter is shown through the eyes of TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

We sat in that cave for a while catching our breath and preparing for the trek ahead of us. I guess we have to get going at some point though, so I started packing up all of crimsons stuff and put it all back in the bag. I threw the bag over my back and strapped it on tight. Thunder rush and Nightflame took this as a sign that we're leaving now. They let out a simultaneous sigh and stood up as well. I walked over to the side of them and looked out over the ridge. Luckily there was a clear path, but it was full of cave like holes that ran all the up the walls and spikes of earth jetted out from all kinds of places. There were a lot of spikes that branched out over the top of the ridge, it acted as a sort of partial roof and slivers of the suns light shone through on the ground.

" well... We better get going..." I said. " we can't stay in here forever."

" right..." Agreed thunder stretching out his back. " let's go." So we started to press forward into the ride and we moved cautiously. I still couldn't shake the feeling of us being watched. As we slowly made our way through the cave I became more and more paranoid with every step, feeling like that at any moment something would jump out of the darkness and stick me with a sword. I walked in between thunder and Nightflame keeping my head down in fear. They could see I was a bit scared by the way they looked at me. They seemed to certain, especially thunder rush who is used to this kind of thing, but they must be a little nervous at the least.

" are you alright twilight?" Asked Nightflame. " you seem nervous..."

" I... I am, I'm a bit scared... I'm not used to this kind of stuff." I admitted hoping they might comfort me.

" hey don't worry about it twi." Chimed thunder rush smiling. " you're a tough mare and great with magic... I'm sure you'll be able to face this, besides you've gone on an adventure with crimson before, haven't you?"

" not a real adventure... Sure I do a bunch of stuff around Equestria... Like bringing Cerberus back to the gates of Tartarus... Or fighting off discord... But that was different, those weren't like this... I've had crazy adventures before, but I've never felt so alone through them."

" well we're here twilight... We're your friends." Said Nightflame.

" I know, you and thunder, you're great friends, and its not that kind of loneliness." I admitted. " I just feel like something is missing."

" is it crimson?" Asked thunder.

" huh?"

" is it crimson?" He repeated.

" I... Yes. I miss him, I know he's only been gone for a day and that he has been away longer... But this time was different... This time I feel like he left not because he needed to... But he just left out of pure frustration and anger... Like he had just abandoned us."

" twilight..." Said a strange voice from nowhere. I quickly snapped my head back to look behind me but there was nothing, nopony else around, it wasn't the other two.

" what?... What is it?" Asked thunder.

" I... You didn't hear it?" I asked.

" hear what?" Asked Nightflame.

" that voice... It said my name... You didn't hear it?" I said again even more confused now.

" n-no... We didn't." Said thunder. " I think it's just the pressure getting to you... C'mon lets get going." He said gesturing that we move onward. I let my head down and started walking again. I picked it up at a faint sound someplace in the back of my head. I looked around the ridge but I saw nothing.

" twilight..." Said the strange voice again. I decided not to make a public announcement of it this time and just listened scared and confused. " I would never leave you... You must press on... I'll be waiting for you twilight... Just look for the light at the end of the dark tunnel, and you'll find me..." Said the voice, it was familiar could it be... It can't though. Can it really be him, but, it sounds nothing like him... Maybe to tone of voice is somewhat similar, but there's so much more to the voice now... Like had had completely changed. Even just through hearing his voice I could feel the immense power he had now... It was so much more than I had ever felt on him.

Suddenly at the very end of the long and twisted path through razor sharp rocks there was a light blue gleam on light. Then in the air a beam of pure white energy shot up into the air and soon faded, leaving the light at the end of the ridge. The others looked at it in confusion and shock, I saw something else... Hope. I knew that if we could get to that light we would meet crimson again. I would be so happy to see him. And slowly a fierce gust of wind picked up behind us and blew towards the light. It soon stopped and we looked back at the strange gust of wind.

" follow the light..." Said a voice in my head, at least I thought it was in my head. When I saw thunder and Nightflame looking around confused and nervous I knew they could hear it too. " follow the light at the end of the dark tunnel... Follow the light." It said.

" what the hell?" Exclaimed thunder.

" could that be...?"

" I think it's crimson." I said smiling now and feeling much more confident. It didn't take us long to realize that running towards the light right now was probably the best thing for all of us to do. We looked at each other for a brief moment then began to sprint towards the light. We ran and ran and weaved in and out of the rocky spikes poking up from the ground. Every time I took a step I felt... Well, better. Like everything I ever worried about was now gone and put behind me. We kept running and running and the light was so close now. I could feel its warmth. And right as we reached the light, everything went wrong. Suddenly and instantly huge spikes of earth fired up form all angles and cut off the very path we had to our last hope. The light shone through the cracks, mocking us of our failure.

" no... NO!" Exclaimed thunder.

" dammit..." I said furiously. " you can't do this..." I said like I had been cheated of my own life, I might as well have. Soon there was a strange noise from behind us. We looked back in fright to see the true reason why this path is dangerous. From the holes and dark caves in the wal crawled out something terrifying... They were ponies, or well... The skeletons of ponies. Their bones were raw and yellowed out form age and their eyes glowed faint blue. Some kind of dark smoke swirled around inside of their rib cages and seemed to carry them onward. The crawled out from every hole somehow sticking to the walls. They seemed very angry.

" what the fuck... Dammit." Said thunder. " get back..." He said charging his horn and firing off a blast of devastating magic they blew up on impacts in a haze of blue smoke and shattered the skeletons of several ponies. I did the same, but I didn't know great attack magic. I fired of a blast at a time at each individual skeleton and they shattered from the force. Thunders attacks were powerful but they took him awhile to fire off, I could fire mine of very fast. Nightflame very hastily took the bow from his back. He lines it up pulled it back and a blue arrow of light started to glow brightly on the bow.

He let the arrow loose and it flew through the air and hit the first skeleton in the head with the armor. The force caused the skeleton to burst be stroking the others around it, and the arrow continued through that skeleton and hit the next one and the one after that, so on and so on until it hit was wall and shattered. He looked at the bow with surprise and smiled. He pulled it back again and let another one fire off. It did the same thing and he smiled. He pulled one more back, but this time strangely it started glowing red, and so was his horn. He didn't notice his horn was glowing at the time and when he did he saw that it must have been some kind of magical connection between him and the weapon. He smiled and let the arrow loose.

It whirled through the air in a spiral of fire whirling behind it as it cleaved a path of fire in its trail. It hit the first skeleton and it burst into flames and caused a large explosion that cleared a large hole in the horde of skeletons. That whole was filled up quickly though soon after. I did my best at blasting away as many skeletons as I could but it wasn't merely as effective as the others spells and attacks. Thunder fired off another spell, this time he launched a ball of lit into the air and It shot straight up. It peaked and started falling. As I grew closer it burst into a flurry of smaller bolts of magic. Each one hit the ground in a devastating blast that rained from the air. These skeletons were weak but there were so many of them.

" there has to be an end to them." I said blasting away a few more skeletons rapidly.

" it's not looking like that..." Said thunder who was resting from his last attack. He charged his horn again and fire a few rapid but less powerful blasts of blue light just like mine.

" take that you bag of bones..." Said Nightflame who pulled another arrow back that glowed red. He fired it off and it blew the horde of skeletons back a few feet. This wasn't enough, we couldn't keep this up forever.

" where is crimson when you need him." I said getting worried for my own life. Poor little sprite was terrified and hiding in my mane now.

" ask and you shall be heard..." Said a powerful voice from right behind us. We stopped everything and looked back to the wall of spikes. The light behind it started glowing brighter and started shining through the cracks even more. The spikes began to crack and break. And soon the whole wall burst sending chunks of rock flying everywhere. We covered ourselves from the blast and looked back at the light. The horde of skeletons seemed to stop in their tracks... They seemed afraid now. From the light a figure emerged. It glowed brightly and wore large metal and glowing armor with spikes and chains for decoration. He was huge, at least seven feet tall and much larger than celestia even.

His hoofsteps cracked the very ground and light shone through them... But, it couldn't be crimson. The stallion had grey fur that was scared and damages with light glowing symbols running through them. He had a long white mane and tail with a short white beard. He hid under his hood but I could see his face. One eye was scarred and damaged, it looked like he was blind in that one eye. The left ear was torn and he had scar running across his face. The figure was not only tall and scary looking, but he was incredibly muscular, you could somehow see it through his armor... You can just tell. He walked forward and walked past us. We watched in confusion and awe, he kept his eyes set on the horde of skeletons.

" begone evil... Crawl back into the darkness with which you foolishly hide." He said in a deep and powerful voice. It was full of energy and very caring, it made me feel safe. It reminded me of crimsons voice, but this one was different. The skeletal horde looked at the largely and let out a fierce roar. They began to run at him, but he quickly stopped them. Without flinching or moving or ever saying a word, the whole entire area in front of him soon erupted into a wall of pure white light. The cracking of rock and the breaking of bones filled the air along with the boom and rumble of his blast. The blinding light forced our eyes away from it, and when it faded we looked back.

The ridge was no gone. Just a giant and long crater cunt through the mountains. There were no more skeletons or even any remains to prove they existed in the first place. The entire razor ridge was destroyed completely in the blast and it no longer exists anymore... It was over. I stared at the large pony as did thunder and Nightflame. He kept staring off at the wreckage he had created for a moment before looking back in surprise to see us. He smiled and took a few steps over. He walked over smiling, I felt safe and scared at the same time, it was confusing. He stood before us and I felt greatly inferior to him, like he could accidentally step on me and I would be dead. Then... He started laughing, this confused me the most. He had a very friendly and hearty laugh but it was awkward for us.

" HAHAHA... I thought I would never see you guys again." He said smiling and looking over the three of us. His very figure blocked out the sun from my angle and made it hard to see him now.

" wh- what?" Stuttered thunder. " who... Who are you.".

" c'mon you guys... It's me..." He said. " crimson." ... What, but, how can this be. He looks, totally different from crimson. It can't be him, it must be some kind of joke, but... He looks and sounds so much like crimson. His face and those eyes... Those deep hazel eyes and his sarcastic, witty but loving and kind voice matched up. But nothing else did... But if feels like it should be crimson.

" c-crimson... Is that really you?" I asked cautiously.

" twilight it's so good to see you... I haven't seen you three in a thousand years." I guess he I-... Wait... WHAT? One thousand years, how the hell is that possible. He left yesterday. It hasn't even been twenty four hours and he said he's been gone for one thousand years. It has to be some kind of joke, a spell of something. Is he from the future or something... I'm so confused right now, and I can tell he could see it on my face. He gave me a strange look like I was acting weird, which I may have been.

" wait wait wait... Hold on... One thousand years. How do you expect us to believe that bullshit." Said thunder getting somewhat angry at him. " I haven't even existed for a thousand years, and if you really are crimson then you would know that you left yesterday... Not one thousand years ago."

" perhaps I should explain." He said. " it's been just a day or less for you guys... But it's been a thousand years for me... That explains why I'm so different now. I traveled to a dimension outside of time... there i learned and trained for a thousand years... and, well... it paid off... but there are some downsides to it."

"like... like what?" asked thunder.

"first of all i remember you two... but not you're names... uh, wait. i think yours is... thunder... thunder something i think."

"thunder rush..." he said.

"yeah... that's it." i said. "and... well i'm drawing a total blank on you." he said pointing to nightflame.

"thanks..." he replied in a sarcastic tone.

"i know about my life before this, i know all the faces of every one of my friends... but i only know two other names other than you two." he said pointing to me and thunder rush. "Rainbow dash... and... uh... c-celestia, that's it. princess celestia."

"so you've completely forgotten us." i said in a sullen voice.

"not at all twilight..." he said sparking me up. "i remember the day we first met in the forest. all the others, but i can't remember their names. i remember all the magical tests you would perform on me... like the time you fused a suit to my skin... i still have all the good memories in me." he said.

"crimson... it is you." i said once more being filled with incredible hope.

"i remember going on fun adventures with you thunder. the mermaids lake, and that cave. i also remember the crystal palace in the sea of sand with that evil elf." said crimson lifting thunders spirits too. "and i remember you too... though not you're name. i remember when i chased you all over that one town. then you got hit in the leg by a knife and tried to fly away, when you got tired you whited out and fell on another familiar pony... she was rather shy."

"my god... it is you crimson." said thunder smiling. nightflame was smiling too. i rushed over quickly and grabbed hold of crimson. just as i grew close to him all of his heavy armor and light seemed to vanish and he was just a normal pony again, but still giant. i barely got my head up to his chest. i hugged him tight and i felt tears rolling down my cheek. he held me back and thunder and nightflame walked over and joined us.

"i've missed you all these thousand years..." said crimson.

"but... why didn't you tell us what you were...?" i asked looking up to him. his smile faded and he let out a deep sigh and smirked at me quickly.

"i should have told you... but i was afraid." he said. "afraid that you wouldn't be able to handle it, that something bad would happen... i've been suffering for as long as i can remember now that i look back. i've held so much from you, so many secrets... i still have a few secrets kept away, but i did it so that nopony would be hurt... i'm sorry, i should have told everypony earlier." he said.

"i forgive you crimson." i said hugging him again. he sat down on the ground so i could get closer to him. we held our hug for a moment, all of us. but after a little bit thunder and nightflame pulled away smiling and so did i. crimson looked down at us with a smile and stood back up. he looked at us but then grew a bit curious. he looked past us and behind him like he was searching for something. "is... is something wrong?" i asked becoming confused.

"i know my memory is bad right now..." he said. "but i'm certain that we had supplies... like a cart or something."

"yeah about that..." said nightflame.

"i didn't blow them up did i?" said crimson with a curious but worried face.

"no no... we uh... lost everything back in the opening of the ridge. sharp spikes kept flying up from the ground and they got the cart and all our supplies... the only thing we have now is you're bag..." said thunder rush.

"here crimson... this is yours, you should have it back." said nightflame walking over with the bow in his hooves. crimson looked at it strangely and grabbed it. he spun it around looking at it with a curious face, but then he smiled.

"oh, i remember this thing now..." he said. "if i'm correct then..." he pushed a small sapphire at the bottom of the bow and it glowed and straightened out into a large staff. "hah... that did it..." he changed it into a sword next and then back into a bow. he held it back out towards nightflame. "here keep it." he said nightflame looked at crimson suspiciously then grabbed the bow. "i don't need it, plus it seemed to commune to you're magical signal... you take it, you need it more."

"do you... uh, want you bags back?" i asked bringing my hoof over to undo the straps of the bag. i was about to loosen them until he smiled and shook his head. i stopped and looked at him.

"i don't have a need for worldly possessions anymore..." he said. "that bag is probably full of memories and interesting things."

"yeah... we know." thunder added.

"keep them... i don't need them anymore, they can remind you of me if i ever leave again." he said. i smiled and he stood back up from his sitting position. "so... if i remember correctly we're supposed to be rescuing my wife, aren't we." he said walking forward a little with his long white mane and tail hanging raggedly from his body. he walked past us and thunder rush seemed set on some other detail.

"wait..." he said catching everyponies attention, even crimsons. crimson turned around and looked at thunder.

"what?" he asked.

"if you're an all powerful god now, can't you just teleport us to our destination?" he asked raising a good point.

"ah yes... i was wondering when this would come up." he said. "technically i can... but i can't. the place we are looking for is a transdimensional portal... it has no magical signal and is impossible to locate. i also cannot teleport us to the general location of it because energy it gives off distorts time and space within its general region, so it would just reflect my teleportation spell and we would end up in some other new place."

"but, can you teleport us to the dock or bay where we are supposed to take the boat to stallasia?" i asked.

"yes..." he said. we all smiled. "but i won't..." we all lost our smiles. he started walking now and we had little choice but to follow him. we walked out of the cavern and walked onto a large dirt road cutting through an evergreen forest. it was warmer, we were leaving the cold mountain region and heading towards oasis.

"so why can't you teleport us to the dock?" asked thunder.

"because... i want to see oasis." he said. what kind of reasoning was that. i'm sure me must be very smart now, probably knows more than me at this point, which honestly, bothers me a little... but i just don't get his reasoning. "it's very lovely during the winter..." he said. "at night the forest lights up like day and the leaves of the trees glow and fall to the ground like snow... its a really beautiful place." he said. he flapped his wings a bit to stretch them out and stuck one wing out and started preening it. he bit and fixed his feathers with his teeth.

"so... who cares..." said nightflame. "i'm sorry for being rude, but we can go there any other winter... and you're immortal so you've got forever to see that winter there.

"true... but that's not really why." he said. "there are a few things i want to take care of, plus if we rush this then we won't be able to help along the way." he said.

"what do you mean... help along the way?" i asked.

"well if we just teleport all the way there and skip over everything, what does that really accomplish?" he asked smiling as we kept pushing through the forest trail to oasis. it would probably take us some time to get there.

"well first of all we would rescue you're wife..." said thunder.

"yes... and?" asked crimson.

"well... uh... that's it." he said rather certain in his answer.

"exactly... that's it." he said.

"huh?" moaned nightflame.

"if we rush there then we save my wife... all good. but if we walk there and visit all the places then get to help anypony there as well. so in the end we didn't just save my wife, but also have saved countless other lives or nations... like we just did." he said. i... that, makes sense. "if we had just skipped over the sapphire empire then we never would have helped out the king, and everything that happened never would have happened. his kingdom would still be losing the war and he wouldn't have the staff, and also the little fire pony hiding in twilight's mane wouldn't exist, and i wouldn't be what i am now." he said. just then sprite popped out of my mane and looked over to crimson with curiosity and quickly smiled, good to know she recognized him.

"that makes sense..." said nightflame.

"in rushing ahead we miss all the opportunities to help out others, and without our help they could be ruined. such as the sapphire empire again, if i hadn't helped then they could have been taken over and ruined, but now they have the war on their side... just because we decided to walk there." he said. "the same can be said for oasis and any other place we venture to... see what i mean?" he asked looking back smiling.

"i... yeah. i do." i said.

"me too... but what about rainbow dash?" asked thunder.

"trust me... she isn't going to be hurt." he said. " if shal-grahkan wanted to kill her he would have done it in front of me. no... he needs her alive, as bait... i can sense her... she's still alive." he said.

"how do you know?" asked nightflame.

"during my thousand years of training mirella the god of light showed me a vision of his lair... a twisted world full of chaos and evil.. nothing but pain and suffering. rainbow dash was left untouched by it all... trapped in a bubble of frozen time... to her, not even a day has passed her by." said crimson looking up the the sky in remembrance. " he's afraid that if he kills her i would have no reason to venture onward and face him... that's why he needs her to be alive."

"are you certain?" i asked. he stopped for a second and so did we. he looked up to the sky which was now turning a beautiful shade of orange and bright red. it was getting close to night and it would be dark soon.

"i'm very certain twilight sparkle." he said. he looked back down and started walking again. the air was filled with tension as an awkward silence passed over us. then, out of nowhere crimson spoke up again. "it's getting late..." he said. "we should stop here and set up some kind of camp."

"but we lost our supplies..." said nightflame. "how are we sup-" he was cut off when crimson raised his hooves and smashed them on the ground. in the forest next to us walls of stone and earth rose up from the ground and forced the tree's away. they shot up all around and collided with each other. once they stopped he had made a sort of open hut with a roof and wall in the back. he used more magic to levitate one of the fallen tree's and use blades of light to chop it into a few logs. he levitated the logs over into the middle of the stone tent and with a flash there was a spark and the logs burst into bright and beautiful flames. "or... or you could do that." nightflame muttered changing his sentence.

"there... this should work well." said crimson. "it is supposed to rain tonight anyway... so this will serve just fine. i looked over to the stone tent and we all walked in. it was somehow very cozy. the fire was unlike regular or magical fire... it seemed pure. it didn't give off any smoke or even burn the logs. it didn't die down or perk up... it remained constant and burning. i looked over to crimson who sat on the outside of the tent close to the fire. he smiled at us then he became a bit curious again. once more he looked around like he was searching for something.

"is there something wrong?" asked thunder.

"yeah... i remember a wolf... with wings, shouldn't he be with you guys?" asked crimson.

"you mean shadow tail?" i asked even though the answer was obvious since we only know of one winged wolf.

"yeah..." said crimson. "where is he?"

"we don't know..." i said. "he just kind of left when nopony was looking, we thought he would be out looking for you." crimson closed his eyes and stuck his head up into the air gently. he looked calm. soon a light came from the from of his chest. it was a small cross symbol on his chest it glowed fain white. soon a wave of light moved down crimson from head to hoof and the different parts of his symbols lit up like a wave of light. once on was gone another one appeared and over and over again. it was after the fourth one that he stopped glowing all together. he opened his eyes and smiled.

"he's coming..." he said. "give him a day or two, he's on his way."

"did... did you just call him?" asked thunder.

"no... but i found him. i managed to track is magical aura, he's in the woods now far away... but he knows we are here and he's coming this way."

"magical aura... i didn't know wolves had a magical aura." said nightflame.

"everything has a magical aura... some aren't as powerful or large as others, but everything has one. all ponies no matter the race, animals big and small, even the plants. everything from the tallest tree to the smallest blade of grass... all of it has an aura... and i can find that aura." he said. this was honestly something new for him... he really has changed.

"can you do anything else with that aura?... can you drain it? or... or add to it?" i asked getting rather excited on this new subject. i think it would be a neat trick and i'm always eager to learn more about magic.

"somepony's aura can be drained and added to." he said. "but a ponies magical aura cannot be drained past what it is supposed to be." he said, i was confused so i expressed that confusion with an expression, hoping he would elaborate. "if you add to a ponies magical aura then you can only drain that magical aura... since it isn't truly part of them. if a ponies aura has not been added to then you cannot take away from it... a ponies original aura is part of their soul. that's why i can grow in power from absorbing the souls of ponies."

" that's pretty amazing." i said smiling. "so what is the aura of a pony?" i asked becoming interested in the subject now. thunder and nightflame listened too, but i don't think they were as interested as i was.

"well a ponies aura is their identity... all magic comes from the soul, and that's what the aura is... a ponies magical ability. an aura works a lot like muscle, you can train and strengthen it and it will grow and become more powerful, which is what unicorns do when they practice and study magic. this doesn't classify as adding to the aura. if a pony strengthens their aura then it becomes bigger and stronger."

"like actual muscle becomes larger and more dense." added nightflame.

"yes... and the more powerful a being is the easier it is for me to pick up on their identity and aura. normal ponies and animals can do this as well. have you guys ever felt a strange presence before... near anything magical or powerful?" he asked. "i hate to use myself as an example but... when i well up my energy can you feel it?"

"well... yes sort of." i said. it was true, crimson always had this feeling lingering about him. it was a comforting feeling.

"yeah, i've noticed it a few times too." said thunder.

"this happens when that ponies, or things, aura connects with yours, you get a sense for it. and a ponies aura reflects their actions and personality. somepony who is kind and loving will have a very welcoming and peaceful aura... but somepony who is wicked and cruel will have a dark aura, an aura that will cause you to feel cold and afraid. this applies to ponies who don't have large aura's either. when to ponies in love grow close to each other they might feel safe in each others hooves or could grow a connection to each other."

"i... that's amazing." i said. "that just... i mean... it makes so much sense... is that also why magic has a glow to it, and each pony has different colors of magic?" i asked. "is that glow our aura?"

"yes... it is." said crimson smiling. " a ponies aura becomes visible when casting magic because they are concentrating it into a physical form. when you levitate something, or somepony for a better example, they grow aware of you, because you're stretching out you're aura and surrounding a pony with it." he said.

"alright... i think i get the gist of it now." i said.

"you've learned a lot." said thunder.

"i've learned more than a lot... i've learned almost everything that is true and revealed." he said... revealed.

"what do you mean by revealed?" asked nightflame.

"basically everything there is to know that isn't confined by secrets." said crimson. "if there was a lost civilization buried under us right now and only one other pony knew it then i wouldn't know. i only know current information and everything there is to know at this moment." said crimson. "i don't know what happened in the past other than what history tells us... and i cannot know into the future."

"alright..." said thunder. "that makes sense i guess. i was about to speak when there was a bright flash and then a loud crack... it was lightning. i hadn't noticed, but the sky is almost black now and cloudy as it is probably very late now. and suddenly a small drop of water fell down from the sky and landed right on crimsons head. he looked up the the sky and smiled.

"ah... right on time." he said as suddenly the rain seemed to pick up in an instant and now it was absolutely pouring out. the ground was already getting soaked, but not the ground in the tent. there was a perfect line between wet and dry at the edge of our tent. crimson must be using a spell to keep the water from spreading any further and soaking the ground inside the tent.

"crimson... come in here, get out of the rain." i said moving over and making some room so that crimson could crawl in and maybe fit in here somewhere, he was huge after all.

"no thanks..." he said.

"wait... no thanks?" i questioned.

"yeah... no thanks." he said.

"crimson, it's pouring out." yelled thunder. it was turning into a real storm now and the winds were blowing and the rain was falling heavily, he had to shout to get his words out. another flash ran across the sky and crimson waited for the boom of the lightning before talking again. when it came he smiled and opened his mouth.

"i know that..." he said smiling. the rain was now blowing into his back and towards us... but it never entered our stone tent. like the water the wind just blew back off of some kind of barrier in the tent and the rain that should have blown in just moved to the side and hit the ground. the wind didn't even touch or blow on the fire inside the tent which still burned intensely. the outside must be bitter, cold, and miserable... this was one hell of a storm, but inside the tent it was warm, dry and peaceful. this one stone tent seemed to remain completely indifferent from the entire storm.

"crimson you aren't going to just sit out there are you?" i asked.

"yes, actually... i am." he said still smiling, how could he be smiling. the water didn't seem to bother him at all. i reached my hoof out and placed it into the open world. the air was freezing cold, the winds were harsh, and the rain was falling so fast that it was stinging me. i quickly pulled my hoof back in. there was another flash and a boom and in the flash, the crimson in front of us changed... he... he looked like himself again. his smile grew even bigger and his coat turned back into a pure white and his mane turned a velvet black with blue stripes. not his very original colors, but he looked like this for a while, so it was a familiar look. me, thunder and nightflame where all taken back by this, but we got used to it. "here... this is a more familiar form... but not my true look." he said... he was still several feet tall.

" so you're going to stay out there all night?" i asked.

"i think so... yes." he said pondering for a second then going right back to a smile.

"why?" asked nightflame.

"it's calming... helps me think." he said. this... this is calming... this helps him think? "i don't need to sleep, and i'm perfectly in tune with all the elements... this can't hurt me... it only makes me aware of the elements... helps me to meditate on them." he said. "i think that's what i'll do tonight... meditate."

"you're not going to sleep?" asked thunder.

"i haven't slept in one thousand years... i haven't eaten, drank, slept, or took a break in a thousand years... no, i'm not going to sleep... i don't need it." he said. "but you three need to sleep... so go ahead... i'll stay right here and watch over the road." i wanted to protest that he should come in and get some rest, but he turned around and sat up straight looking over the road. i looked at thunder rush and nightflame but they just shrugged at me. i guess he is right, we do need sleep... but i'm still worried about him. me and the others took spots on the soft dry grass and laid down. i was exhausted from today and i found no trouble in falling asleep.

i laid my head down with my back turned to the fire and crimson so the light wouldn't keep me up. after a few minutes the noise of the storm outside had slowly began to fade as i faded off into my own world of dreams. it wasn't long until i was out cold. i can't remember what i was dreaming about, i never really do remember any of my dreams except for a select few that i usually only remember distinct details about. i ,however, suddenly found myself wide awake. i was just enjoying my dream but i've already forgotten everything about it. i looked around still confused but when i realized i was awake everything seemed to make sense now.

the only noise i could hear was the crackling of the fire behind me and i felt its warmth too. i could feel the grass tickling my side and my fur. the storm outside wasn't making any sound now. the thunder and lightning had passed over and the sound of rain pounding on the ground and the wind whistling past the trees was no more. i slowly raised my head and sat up. i turned over to see crimson sitting there outside the tent. the sky outside was somewhat clearer now and faintly brighter. it must be close to sunrise now. i just sat there and stared at crimson who was still facing away from the tent and had not moved a muscle since.

he fur and mane were soaking wet and still dripping with water. the ground was soaked and patted down by rain. the path was muddy and glistening with water, it was also covered in varying puddles. crimson had beads of water still dripping down him and his fur was all matted down from the rain. his tail laid on the ground as a moist clump of black and blue hair and his mane stuck to the shape of his head. his ears were perked up at his side. his left ear twitched slightly and his head darted to the left. for a second i though he was going to snap his head back and look at me, but it stopped just short, he was looking at something else. just then something rustled in the bushes across the road and soon hopped out.

it was a rabbit. the rabbit was all wet from the rain and was just hopping around. crimson kept his eyes on it as it hopped over across the muddy road getting its undersides all dirty. it hopped over and stopped in front of crimson. he towered over the rabbit like a monster... but somehow the rabbit approached him and looked up to see his face. crimson looked down and they just looked at each other for a while. soon the rabbit took off to the right and crimson kept his gaze on it as the rabbit moved past my field of view since the tent walls where now blocking my sight. after a second or two he slowly brought his head back forward and sat there. the sky began to grow lighter now and had a slightly grey-ish blue hue. crimson looked up to the sky for a few seconds then looked forward again.

"good morning twilight..." he said. i almost yelled out in surprise right then and there. i did gaps a little at the shock and embarrassment of him knowing i was awake and watching him. i was also a bit taken by the fact that not once did i make a sound or did he ever see me. even now he wasn't looking at me. i did settle down again and regained composure. i guess i shouldn't be so surprised considering. "did you have a good night?" he asked in a friendly yet strangely distant voice. he seemed distracted by something, not just because he wasn't looking at me but because of his tone of voice... it was off.

"uhm... yes... i did, thank you." i replied. " but... how did you-" i said.

" i could hear you're breathing pattern change and the grass shifting under you." he said answering my question. that's a bit scary. "give thunder and the other one a few more minutes... they'll be up soon." he said. 'the other one'?... does he mean nightflame. i guess we never really did remind him of nighflames name

" did... Did you sit there in the rain all night?" I asked looking at him, he still kept his gaze set forward.

" yes... I told you I would." Said crimson.

" your fur and mane are all wet and muddy..." I said. " don't you think you should dry off."

" no, I'll be fine." He said

" well uh..." I stammered. " you still had some food and water in your bags... Would you like some?" I asked.

" no thank you. " he said. " I don't need to eat or drink to survive any longer."

" what... Next you'll tell me you don't need to breathe either."

" I don't..." He said. " but I do anyway, I've been breathing for so long I find it hard to subconsciously stop... So I just inhale and exhale anyway... But trust me when I tell you that I can hold my breath for a long time."

" great... Well... Uh, I give up." I said not thinking of anything else. No matter what I said he seemed to keep distancing himself from me. I'm overjoyed he's back, but scared of how much he has changed overnight. He said he had been gone for one thousand years... I find that hard to believe... I really do, I know there's something he isn't telling us, but I can't figure it out, and I don't want to ask him just yet. We sat there in silence and he continued to look off away from us, but the silence was broken when two soft moans broke through the air, short after one slightly softer and quieter moan traveled through the air.

It was thunder rush and Nightflame waking up from their sleep. The softer moan was sprite who had been sleeping inside of crimsons fire. I never saw her jump in it, but she is a fire pony... So it makes sense. Thunder let out a sharp yawn and stretched out along with Nightflame. Sprite did a cute little stretch too and flapped her wings as she took up into the air. She flew up and flew over to me and landed on my snout. She smiled and hugged my snout making me smile.

" heeheehee... Good morning sprite." I said giggling.

" uhhh... Wha-... Urgh, good morning twilight." Said thunder.

" morning."

" ugh... Morning twilight."

" morning." I replied again.

" good morning all..." Said crimson catching everyponies attention.

" oh, uh... Good morning crimson." Said thunder rush. " did you-

" stay out here all night." He said cutting him off and jumping to the question. " twilight..." Crimson said looking over slightly to my direction expecting me to answer the question for him.

" yes... He did." I replied answering the question for crimson.

" oh uh... Okay then." Said thunder. " do... Uh, do you-"

" I don't want anything to eat... I'm fine." Crimson said cutting him off again and jumping to the question. " you four three eat up, I'm going to go for a short walk... i'll be back in a few minutes." he said.

"wait... where are you going?" i asked in curiosity.

"nowhere special..." he said walking off into the thick forest and soon fading with the dark forest. i let out a deep sigh and stood up. thunder and nightflame did the same and we started to pack up our stuff.

"so where do you think crimson is really going?" asked thunder.

"i'm sure he isn't going into the forest to clear his head." replied nightflame.

"i don't think i like the way he's changed." i said. "he feels like a completely different pony now... he's not himself."

"i know, it doesn't feel like its really him." added nightflame. "i don't like the new him very much either..."

"it doesn't matter..." said thunder rush with his back turned and standing on the road. he looked back at us with a sullen face. we were both taken back by his comment. "theres nothing we can do about it now... and he's still our friend. so lets stop arguing about it and get moving."

"but... he isn't back from his walk yet." i said.

"he's a freaking god... he'll find us..." said thunder. "now lets go."

" alright... I guess you're right, lets go." I said walking out of the tent along with Nightflame. We started making our way down the path and followed thunder. I looked around at the forest and it was becoming much nicer now. The evergreen trees started thinning out and regular forest trees started taking their places. The air was much warmer and the mountains behind us were ever slowly disappearing behind us. The ground was wet and muddy still from the rain last night and the forest glittered with the sparkling drops of fresh rainwater stuck to the trees and grass.

I kept eyeing around the forest for maybe some hint that crimson would walk out and join us again but now that the sun was higher in the sky and everything was brighter I could see deeper into the forest, but I couldn't find crimson. I'm not sure what has changed about him... But I know that he has certainly changed... And I don't like it. I liked it better when he was regular old crimson, not this all powerful know-it-all god. How he manages to do the things he does is beyond me. I let out a deep sigh and soon that sigh was accompanied by the rustling of bushes and the cracking of sticks on the ground. We all heard it and looked over to the source of the sound.

To our surprise it was crimson walking out from the bushes still soaking wet and smiling... But he was different. He was shorter now, not as huge as he was before. His coat was white and his hair was black. He had a smile on his face and he wasn't glowing now. He was... Normal now. Like the rest of us. His presence had changed too, he felt like the old crimson. I almost felt like crying but I kept it inside. He walked out of the bushes and smiled at us like he was just meeting us for the first time. I smiled too and so did thunder and Nightflame. I could tell they knew he had changed now. He didn't seem like he was so different now, he felt like one of us.

" hey guys." He said smiling. He was using a normal tone of voice and it sounded friendly and assuring, like it always used to sound.

" hey crimson." I said. " you're back from your walk... But... You uh, changed a bit." I said pointing out that he is different now. I couldn't help but wonder, I am curious as to why he did change.

" oh yeah..." He said. " well I knew that you guys didn't like the new me... So I went back to the old me."

" you... Uh you can do that?" Stuttered Nightflame.

" well it's complicated. I was always the old me... It's just that the knowledge and power gets to my head and I can't help it. I've repressed it though." He said.

" re-repressed it?" Stammered thunder rush as well.

" yeah... That doesn't mean all of it is gone... Just... Not at the surface yet. In a moment of trouble or sudden danger then It probably will boil back up and I'll... You know, turn into a god again... But I can just come back to this form."

" you make it seem like its no big deal." I said as he joined the group and we started walking.

" it's not really... But I know that you guys don't really like the new me... I don't like the new me either." He said.

" and how do you know that we don't like the new you?" I asked in a friendly tone as we kept walking down the muddy road.

" because you said so." He said glaring at me as a little smirk spread across his face.

" you heard me." I said with the same expression.

" I can hear for miles... See for miles, and smell the faintest scent with great accuracy. My heightened senses can't be repressed... But that's not really a bad thing. I've always had good senses." He said.

" well it's good to finally have you back crimson... The real you." I said.

" yeah, welcome back buddy." Said thunder.

" good to see ya again." Said Nightflame.

" thank you twilight, thunder rush... And... Uhh." He said pausing at nightflames name. " uhh... What's your face." He said. I giggled a bit and rolled my eyes while nigntflame did the same.

" c'mon... Still?" He said.

" sorry." Said crimson. " still working on patching up my fragmented memory... I think your name... Uhh... It has something to do with fire I think."

" well... Yeah, that's one step closer." Said Nightflame.

" begins with an 'N'..." I said giving crimson a hint.

" hey no hints." Said thunder smiling.

" starts with an 'N' huh... Hmm..." Murmured crimson as he was soon deep in thought. " is it... Nightfire?" He asked.

" ooh, so close... Try again." Said Nightflame.

" uhh... AHH." Said crimson lighting up, figuratively. " it's Nightflame, your name is Nightflame."

" we have a winner." Said Derek smiling. I started laying and Nightflame smiled.

" yes... My name is Nightflame." He said. " nice to meet you."

" hahaha." Laughed crimson. His laugh seemed to warm me up inside and I kept laughing too. His laugh was hearty and strong, unlike before. Before his laughter was always a bit sarcastic but heartfelt... This time it's strong and hearty. I can still feel a bit of change on him... But I like this change however. " nice to meet you too Nightflame... Now, I don't know about you guys...cut I'm starving." He said.

" what happened to not having to eat." I said glaring at him with a smirk.

" I don't... But that doesn't mean I don't want to eat... Or that I'm not hungry."

" alright... I guess we should eat..." I said. I opened crimsons bags and looked inside for food. I found some food...cut there were only three sandwiches left in there. " uhh..." I stammered feeling bad.

" what is it twilight?" Asked thunder rush. " don't tell me we ran out of food." He said seeming distressed.

" well, no... Not yet. But this is going to be our last meal." I said.

" crap." Said Nightflame.

" there's only three sandwiches in here." I said.

" perfect... Enough for each of you." Said crimson.

" but... You have to eat something too, your stomach is the one that's growling." I said.

" I'll be fine." He argued but I wasn't going to stand for it. He needs to eat something too.

" but... You-" is all I said before he cut me off by placing his hoof on my snout and silencing me.

" twilight... I haven't eaten, drank, slept, or used a bathroom in one thousand years... And I'm fine. I can hold out a while longer until we get to oasis tomorrow."

" you haven't... Haven't gone to the bathroom, in one thousand years," said thunder looking back with a stupefied look on his face.

" I haven't eaten in years... There's no waste to produce. Plus my blood is absolutely pure and void of by products. There's nothing to filter out... So I'm pretty much set." He said.

" well... You should still eat something." I said.

" twilight, you've lost five pounds ever since we started this journey..." He said. " you don't seem like one of those mares who's into starving themselves into losing weight, you need to eat more." He said... How... How does he know if I lost five pounds, I don't even know that. But he is right, partially. I haven't eaten much on this journey. I don't normally eat much food anyway, but I've never lost weight from it or gone hungry.

" alright... I'll eat." I said giving up.

" here I'll take the daffodil sandwich." Said thunder. He grabbed that one and we each took our own sandwich. We ate as we walked and I tore off some bread and a few of the daisies and leaves in my sandwich to give to sprite whose stomach was growling too. She flew over from the tip of my ear and grabbed the sandwich. She ate it happily and when she was done just flew around us glowing. She glowed beautifully in the shady forest. The large trees covered the opening above us and blocked out most of the light, but it was still easy enough to see the sky.

We continued walking down the path and I had just finished my food. I passed out water to everypony. Crimson said he didn't want any, but seeing as there was more than enough to go around I forced him to drink some water. He gave in and took it. He pretty much downed the whole thing of water and freaked out about it being so refreshing and 'the most refreshing thing I've experienced in one thousand years' he said. He smiled and I just laughed and rolled my eyes. We continued to walk as sprite buzzed around us railing a line of light as she flew. And as we started to walk I noticed that the trees in the forest became more exotic as we went on.

" oh gosh..." I said noticing a huge bright flower prodding out from the ground. It was bright orange and red. The petals intertwined and looked like a blur of fiery colors. There were purple stem like stored poking out of it with yellow tips that held the pollen of the flower. Crimson looked over to my exclamation and when he followed my eyes to the flower he smiled. He stopped just as I had and started walking over to me. " this flower is beautiful." I said, I'm not entirely sure why but I was just so taken away by this flower. Something about it just seemed so...so... Perfect.

" ah... I was wondering how you would react if you saw one of these." Said crimson walking over.

" what... What is it?" I asked. Thunder and Nightflame stopped too to watch.

" if you like it so much just pick it and take it with you." Thunder said walking over to the flower.

" stop..." Said crimson causing thunder to stop abruptly and look at crimson curiously as he backed away. " this is an ember daisy." He said. " it's a very rare and magic imbued flower... It's also very dangerous."

" dangerous... How?" Asked Nightflame.

" there's a certain way to harvest the flower... If you just pluck it from the ground then it busts and suddenly the whole forest is up in flames." He said. " here let me." Said crimson. He walked over and stood by the flower. He used some kind of magic to dig the ground out along the flower. And the flower gently began to rise. At the bottom of the stem was a clump of dirt and roots. " you have to slowly trim off the bulb starting with the roots." He said.

" why?" Asked thunder.

" the way it works is that when the stem is detached from the bulb of the flower the roots pull in all surrounding energy from the ear which is what causes the fiery explosion." Said crimson as he slowly started to scratch the dirt away from the roots. Then he started to twist the roots off the bulb. " so with no roots then the bulb can't pull in matter... Then it's safe to detach."

" alright... I guess." Said thunder. Crimson picked away all the roots and cleaned the bulb off. The flower looked like it was dead now. Instead of beautiful red and orange fiery petals they were dull black and blue now, like a dead fire. It was sort of disappointing but crimson didn't seem taken away. " I think you killed it." Said thunder.

" you know these flowers go by a certain nickname around most parts." He said.

" what's that?" I asked. Crimson walked over and held the flower up to me with the bulb still in it.

" you pick it... It's the most magical part." He said. I smiled.

" alright... But you never told us the nickname." I said grabbing the base of the stem which was now a dark and dying blue. I plucked the flower and the bulb was torn from the flower stem.

" it's called a Phoenix rose." He said. And just like magic the flower burst in a torrent of flames. I was scared that maybe it didn't get picked right and that it was going to kill us all... Bt it didn't. I looked at the flower... And it was on fire. The petals were there and they seemed to be part of the fire. In the middle a bright blue and purple flame flared and it let off sparks, Sort of like glittering trails of magical fire that whirled around us. It was beautiful... I couldn't even believe my eyes.

" oh my gosh... It's beautiful." I said.

" the flower when harvested correctly, will never die or whither. Once at the end of every month it will wilt and turn black for one day... Then the next day, at the exact time the sun rises it burst back to life and burns furiously for the whole day... The fire is magic and doesn't hurt... You can touch it." He said. Curious I brought my hoof over the flower and the little fires danced and licked my hoof, but didn't burn.

" that's awesome..." Said Nightflame.

" here..." Said crimson using his magic to levitate the flower out of my hoof. He lifted it up and tucked it behind my ear and it stayed there burning intently but not setting me on fire. " it has magical enhancing abilities... It's one of few and very rare natural, magical enhancements... It also channels fire type magic, better than that staff you had... Plus it makes you look beautiful." He said staring into my eyes. I looked back taken away from the moment until thunder broke the moment.

" AHEM" he said clearing his throat. " very touching... Now c'mon, we'll never make it to oasis at this rate. Crimson got distracted again and looked back to the path.

" oh yes... C'mon lets go. I can explain more as we walk." He said. He turned sprung and we started walking. Sprite seemed very taken by the flower burning and resting on my ear now and flew over and looked at the flower. She sat down on my ear next to the flower and seemed to enjoy its company, I guess that still makes sense.

" so how rare exactly is that flower?" Asked thunder.

" they only grow in certain areas once every hundred or so years on the hottest day of the longest summer." He said. That seemed very... Complicated. " if left undisturbed then they only live for an approximate three days before whit herring and dying... But when harvested they live forever." He said.

" thank you again crimson... This is a very kind gift from you." I said sincerely.

" your welcome... Took me awhile to hunt that thing down." He said.

" wait... What." Said thunder.

" it took YOU awhile to hunt this down?" I said confused. " did... Did you put this flower there?" I asked.

" well yes..." He said. " that's why I didn't get any sleep last night. I was up all night keeping a shield around that flower so the rain couldn't get to it... Unlike most flowers, this one withers when it is watered... I knew it was around and I kept a shield on it. So that the next day I could go out find it and place it near the road just so you could find it..." He said.

" that's... That's very kind of you crimson... Thank you." I said rushing over and giving him a hug. He smiled and we walked onward.

" so where did you find that?" Asked thunder.

" well it wasn't close by... I did actually have to teleport to it while I was gone." Said crimson. " it was glowing on some obsidian surrounded by a lake of lava all the way at the burning scar."

" the burning scar?" Asked Nightflame.

" here... Look at this." Siam crimson. His eyes glowed faintly and a line of solid light appeared in front of him. It soon rolled out and topped glowing to reveal a map. He held it up for all of us to see and we walked. " right here...nth is black line is the burning scar and were right here." He said. The burning scar seemed close but not close enough to walk to in the time he was gone. It was a black scar riding across the green forest just outside of oasis.

" why is that there?" I asked.

" well see how it connects to this mountain here." He said pointing to a large mountain further down on the mountain range that we had just crossed through.

" yeah..." Said thunder.

" thats an active volcano." He said. " it erupts once at least every month and its the reason for this... It started a great forest fire in its first eruption. Most of the lava empties out into these two opening here and cools instantly when it hits the shorelines." He said pointing to two paths leading to the ocean. " the rest goes down the scar... It doesn't make it far before it cools and there's no threat of there being another forest fire... Something that oasis is very happy about."

" huh... I guess you learn something new every day." Said Nightflame.

" well it was very kind of you to get this flower for me... Thank you again crimson." I said hugging him one last time as we kept going down the muddy road through the forest.

" I find it hard to believe that it was raining there though." Said thunder. Crimson put his map down and it burst into a cloud of light and vanished.

" well it was once part of the forest... Plus that was a large storm." He argued. " and even then the lava cooling so often in the oceans creates a lot of steam which makes rain clouds a very common occurrence in that area. They have episodes of scalding rain which is what it sounds like... Scalding rain. Since the steam rises and accumulates so quickly it doesn't have time to cool and it falls to the ground as almost boiling water."

" glad we don't have that in Equestria." Said thunder.

" just be glad you don't have most of this crazy stuff in Equestria." I said. We laughed a bit and kept walking. I kept a wide smile on my face as we kept walking and so did crimson. We continued down the muddy path which had started to dry as we kept going. The sun was right above our heads and it must be about noon.

" so when did you say we are going to get to oasis?" Asked thunder.

" well, if we keep walking we can get there by tomorrow." Said crimson. " but if we fly we can make it there in a few hours."

" but didn't you say shadow tail was going to find us in a few days yesterday?" Asked Nightflame.

" yeah... He is." Said crimson. " but he's going to find us no matter where we are, he's been tracking my scent, I can tell... Plus he has wings too, he can get to any place we can."

" oh yeah I forgot about that." Said Nightflame. " but wait... How can we fly when twilight and thunder don't have wings.

" simple..." Said thunder. " you can carry me and crimson can carry twilight."

" haha... Very funny." Said Nightflame.

" actually... That's exactly what I was going to suggest." Said crimson. " you can easily carry thunder, he can just ride on your back, and I can carry twilight... We'll be there before the day ends so maybe we can find an inn to stay at... And maybe something more to eat."

"it makes sense..." i said looking over to nightflame.

"yeah but... i... ugh... fine." he said reluctantly. he bent down to let thunder on his back. thunder walked over climbed on and nightflame stretched out his wings. "no funny business back there." said nightflame as thunder smiled and chuckled to himself. "remember i'm the one who can fly, not u... so if you don't want to fall to you're death then don't go fucking around back there."

"alright twilight." said crimson interrupting my laughter at nightflame and thunder. "climb on."

"alright..." i said walking over to crimson who was bent down low so i could climb on. i smiled and walked over and i clumsily climbed onto crimsons back and held on tight as his large white wings flashed out from both sides.

"is everypony ready?" he asked

"ready..." said nightflame.

"yep." said thunder.

"lets get going." i said in reply to the others.

"great... just follow me nightflame and we'll be there in a few hours." said crimson. "lets go." and with that he flexed his large muscular wings and we both shot straight up into the air. the force pushed me up against his back as we took high up into the sky. nightflame was under us and as we reached the layer above the forest we started to move forward. off in the distance i could faintly make out a large green stretch of land. it seemed to raise up higher than the trees we were above right now. crimson flapped his large wings and we started to move faster and faster as we pressed forward.

the feeling of flying was amazing. being a unicorn and not a pegasus, this felt great. it was a whole new experience. i've flown before on a chariot or a pirate ship that one time, which i won't speak of. flying like this was much more intense. it felt like i was actually flying and not being supported by a vehicle despite crimson under me holding me up. we launched forward through the sky as crimson was trailing a path of light and sparkling dust. the wind blew furiously against my face and i found it hard to keep my eyes open for long moments at a time. little sprite was holding onto my ear and smiling and the ember daisy didn't seem to fly from between my ear despite the speed we were going at.

we rocketed through the air for at least an hour and the large green veranda that i saw previously was now much larger and wider than it was before. it was like there was larger platform of green on top of the already high up forest canopy. it was still a faint sight but it was slowly becoming more and more distinguishable. i was curious as to what it was. i looked down to ask crimson when i seemed to stop at the look of his face. he was smiling... a very large smile to be exact, but it was more than that. he had fire in his eye, i could see it, not feel it... but see it. the fire glared in his eyes. he blinked and it was gone. it wasn't a normal facial combination. usually when somepony has fire in their eyes they're determined, but when somepony is determined i wouldn't expect them to be smiling like crimson was. with this realization i soon became aware of many other things.

for one... his coat. it wasn't soaking wet anymore. it was warm, dry, and soft. he was giving off some king of great heat from his body. it was warming me up inside and making me want to just fall asleep on his back. i could feel his heartbeat through his back. it was scary. i never thought a ponies heart could beat so strongly. now that i think of it i could feel a pulse coursing through his entire body. it was calming and and the same time threatening. it made him seem like a ticking time bomb of power... which is pretty much what he has become now. i found the will to pull myself away from my strange trance and forgot what i was going to ask him. when i looked up and saw the green veranda again i remembered my question.

"crimson..." i said. he looked up at me smiling waiting for me to answer. "what is that green verge over there?" i asked.

"i was thinking the same thing." said nightflame behind us.

"thats oasis..." said crimson. "how much do you know about the oasis forest?" he asked us all.

"i think the only thing we know is the stuff about it glowing at night... nothing else." said thunder.

"here... i'll tell you all about it." said crimson. "for one, the whole country of oasis is really one large city." he said. "it's broken up into five section, north, south, east, and west. then of course there's the middle which is the main part of the city and the most beautiful. i've only been to the west part. we're going to cut through the south side, then through the center, then leave through the north passage. once there we'll go east to the port and then off to stallasia."

"alright... still doesn't answer what that large green verge is." said nightflame.

"i just told you... that's oasis..." said crimson.

"i know... but what is oasis." said nightflame.

"its a forest... the whole place is a forest with trees taller than the highest point of canterlot palace."

"holy shit." said thunder.

"thats what i said my first time there." said crimson. "it's a beautiful place with wonderful and kind ponies. it's a great place for basking in the night life. the forest glows at night. but in the winter the leaves fall from the trees and glow like snow." we all just looked forward at the green verge which was growing closer and becoming more clearer. i just rested my head on crimson and looked forward to the city. once again i became aware of his warm touch, his soft fur, and the rhythmic beat of his heart. and before i knew it i had slowly drifted off to sleep. i didn't worry about maybe sliding off crimson and falling or if something else happened to harm any of us. i know that crimson will never let anything bad happen to me. i always feel same with him.

so i slowly drifted off into my own world of dreams and started thinking about this whole adventure. also i couldn't help but dream about crimson as well. all my senses had faded and i became unaware of everything. the sharp wind, the moist air outside, and the gentle flapping of crimsons wings. i wasn't sure how long i was out really. all through my dreams the only pony that ever really stuck out was crimson. he was always smiling and laughing. we would walk together, and i dreamt that he had protected me. in my dream i saw scar... he jumped out from nowhere and tried to take me. it was that day when he had foalnapped me and try to take me hostage. but then crimson came out of nowhere glowing brightly in large metal armor and he killed scar. he took his sword and slashed off scars head, despite that evil mask he wore which made him untouchable. then he came over to me and held me i called out his mane and he did mine.

"twilight..." he said grinning with half open eyes. "twilight... twilight... twilight wake up." he said. soon everything i knew was fading away to black and then to white as i opened my eyes from my dream. "hey... c'mon, wake up sleepy head." said crimson, the real crimson. "have a nice nap?" he asked.

"what... uh, yeah." i said still drowsy from my sleep. i noticed we weren't flying anymore, and then i noticed were we were. the site of this new place woke me right up. we were in a tree... but not just a tree... a towering tree house. we were standing on wooden planks fastened to the side of this tree in use of a road. these were everywhere. each tree had them, and they would spiral down to different levels. the trees were hollowed out and had doors put in them, much like my house in ponyville. as far as i could see there were branches, leaves and plants everywhere. i kept looking around and saw thunder and nightflame standing on the wood platform. i figured we must be in oasis. "oh my... how long was i asleep?" i asked wondering if i had missed anything important.

"about two or three hours." said crimson. "we just arrived in oasis."

"you missed it twi..." said thunder. "you should have seen the huge gates this place had, and then crimson told us how the whole south section of the forest is in the tree canopy... this place is freaking awesome."

"welcome to oasis twilight." said crimson helping me off his back. i climbed off and stepped onto the wooden walkway. i was nervous, i thought that it might break under my hooves and i would fall. but i sucked down my nerves and got off crimsons back. i looked at the ground and then back up smiling. then i looked all around. there were large trees everywhere and even higher levels above us. some trees had spiraling paths to switch between levels. some of those paths flattened out as they go up or down and there would be a door there. that must be a house or something.

"wow..." i exclaimed. "this place is beautiful."

"yeah..." replied crimson. "it is isn't it?"

"so now that we're here..." butted in thunder. "... and its almost night... where are we going to stay?" he asked raising a very good question. we made it to oasis now there's only the matter of finding a place to stay.

"well... we could probably find a place." he said. "theres usually a sign hanging up outside of every shop and inn... lets just keep going north until we find one. remember though, in oasis, night isn't a problem."

"alright... i think that's a good idea." i stated in agreement with crimson. "lets get going." i said walking over to crimson. he smiled and pointed us in the right direction. we started following him without question and we looked back and forth between signs hanging up above doors. i made sure to check above and below us just to make sure if there were any inns on the other levels. i couldn't find much. most of the places we passed through were just shops. i managed to tell the signs apart though. a bag is a general store, an anvil with a hammer is a blacksmith, a needle with a thread in a tailor. there were some other ones that were kind of obvious even though those ones were pretty easy. a red plus sign was a clinic or hospital, i saw one that was a stack of books which might be a school or a library. but it was soon starting to get late and the sky and world around us was darkening.

"so didn't you say the forest lights up at night?" asked thunder rush as we walked on. crimson was facing forward still smiling.

"yeah..." he said.

"well it's getting dark and nothings happening." argued thunder. the night was approaching very quickly and it was becoming harder to see by the second. nopony else walking around seemed worried either. they just walked past us on the huge wooden bridges and paths.

"nothing's happening because it's not night yet." said crimson. he looked up to the sky and then turned his head to look at us as he stopped walking. he turned and faced us smiling. it was getting very dark and i was becoming nervous, but his smile seemed to give me some kind of confidence.

"why did we stop?" asked nightflame.

"so we don't accidentally walk off the edge of the paths." said crimson.

"what?" replied thunder. but before he could continue to question crimson the whole world seemed to become shrouded in darkness. there was just the faint light being given off by the flower between my ear and also sprite who was glowing barely in the dark. it wasn't enough to even see an inch in front of my own face. everything seemed to go silent. but then like a miracle there was a small light above us. just one small speck of light... like a star. then another appeared, and one by one more and more stars spread across the sky. then suddenly there was a pulse of light and everything around us seemed to glow violently for a second and settle down. my heart almost stopped from the amazement of it all.

the tree's the leaves, all the other plants and even the wood roads and platforms started to glow brightly and illuminated the whole forest. all of a sudden everything was clearer now. and then those bright stars above us seemed to fall towards us. they soon became clear and i noticed they were leaves. they slowly fluttered down and hit the ground below us and just seemed to vanish as they hit the ground. the forest was glowing an array of wonderful colors. the trees glowed blue along the bark and the leaved glowed green. the plants seemed to glow their own respective colors except for the tree trunks which glowed blue. flowers sprouting up on the trees glowed blue, red, white, yellow, purple... any color you could think of. even the moss and mushrooms on the trees glowed. i looked over to crimson and smiled as he looked up and smiled too. the leaves above fell down like snow. they were green but as they fell they faded to white.

"so... any other questions?" asked crimson.

"oh my god..." said thunder.

"yes..." crimson replied jokingly. i just smiled and rolled my eyes.

"it's absolutely beautiful." i said walking over to crimson. thunder and nightflame stood there staring at the trees with their jaws on the ground. "are you two coming?" i asked snapping them out of their trance.

"what uh yeah... lets go." said thunder rushing over to join me and crimson as we started walking off.

"hey... wait up." said nightflame joining us last. he caught up and we started walking again. crimson kept his eyes forward and looked around for an inn while me, thunder, and nightflame looked all around taking in the sight of the forest.

"Hey look... There's an inn right over there." Said crimson suddenly catching all of our attention. As much as I would love to stay out in the beautiful forest, I was still pretty tired.

" finally." Said thunder. We walked over to the inn... Or what looked like an inn. This building actually wasn't built into a tree. It was just sitting on a huge platform. While that is different its not too different. There are a few houses and buildings around like that. But if you think of it, these trees aren't thick enough to fit an inn inside.

" wait..." I said. " how are we going to pay for an inn... We lost everything in the razor ridge."

" hmm..." Said crimson pondering. " twilight, can you pass me my bags please." He said looking back to me. I didn't know what this would do, but I guess they are his, so I should give them to him.

" uhh... Sure." I said I strapping the saddle bags and passing them over to crimson.

" thank you." He said as he strapped them on and turned around. " alright, lets get going." He said walking forward. Thunder and Nightflame looked at each other with a confused look and I just stared forward blankly. I wanted to say something but I didn't, I figure there must be some reason for his actions...cohere usually is. So I followed him and so did thunder and Nightflame. We walked behind him without question and we all walked into the inn. It was a cozy little inn. There was a staircase going to the rooms, a bar, tables to eat, and a large fire pit in the middle of the inn. There was one pony with a lute and he was playing for everypony in the building.

" hello there... Can I help you?" Asked an old grey stallion form behind the counter. We walked over and crimson smiled as he approached the bar.

" yes, can we get four rooms please?" He asked.

" sorry sir, we only have two rooms left." he said gesturing to the two keys hanging up near some bottles of wine and alcohol.

" that's fine..." said crimson. " we can work with what we've got... plus this is the only inn we've seen so far." he added.

"yes, i can understand what you mean." said the innkeeper. "the southern part of oasis is mainly residential... we don't get much visitors here... there nothing to go to from this point on, just bitter cold and large mountains."

"actually we just came from there." i added, i'm not sure why i said that... but i felt like i needed to say something.

"oh really... you lot must be adventurers... you certainly have the feel about it." said the innkeeper. he looked back at me and then he seemed lost or confused. he was staring at me, not in my eyes but like i had something on my face. it was making me feel uncomfortable so i asked him.

"uhmm... what is it... why are you staring at me?" i asked.

"ohh... oh my apologies ma'am." he said feeling bad about staring at me. "i was just admiring that flower on you're ear... it's amazing, i've never seen one like it."

"oh, thank you." i said blushing a little taking into the fact that he was admiring me for my looks and not just staring at me. little sprite was hiding behind my ear and seemed to blend in with the ember daisy. i forget that she's there sometimes.

"oh thank you... it's a rare flower called an ember daisy." i said.

"you might know it as a phoenix rose." added crimson.

"my word... a phoenix rose... how did you ever manage to harvest it?" he asked. "the last pony i knew to ever find one of those and pick it was completely burnt to ashes... his ashes were burnt to ashes."

"actually he harvested it... mostly." i said still blushing slightly and nodding towards crimson. "i just plucked it from the bulb."

"huh... that's incredible..." said the innkeeper. " even with the few adventurers i get in here i find myself to be lucky enough to have heard of such a thing let alone see one." he said still staring at it.

"so do inns around here receive a lot of business?" asked crimson.

"no... not actually... so you will have to excuse the high prices, it's the only way i can make a living. but adventurers such as yourselves shouldn't have a problem with money... besides, i don't charge as much as other ponies do." he said pulling himself away from the sight of the ember daisy.

"so if inns don't receive so much business then why do you only have two rooms left?" asked crimson. "this is certainly a large inn, you must have plenty of rooms."

"yes... we have twelve rooms. but you see lots of adventurers who come in from the east or west have been avoiding the main center of the city... i'm not sure why." said the innkeeper. "i asked a few and all they could tell me was that there were rumors of it being haunted or something... a bunch of baloney if you ask me... ghosts aren't real... just like what happened in that damn gypsy camp a while back outside of the west exit." crimson seemed to raise an eyebrow at the mentioning of the gypsy camp. i'm sure it was the same place that he was at last time he left.

"well i guess fair is fair..." said crimson. "i too don't personally believe in ghosts and hauntings, despite all the strange things i've seen." crimson reached one hoof into his pouch and shuffled around inside. "so how much for the two rooms?" he asked still searching around in his bag.

"it'll be 20 silver for the both rooms." said the innkeeper.

"sheesh... you weren't kidding about the prices." said crimson.

"tell me about it... there's some chap down the way with shitty rooms and he charges one gold per night... can you believe that?" said the innkeeper rolling his eyes.

"just as much as i believe in ghosts." said crimson. he and the innkeeper both laughed hysterically as crimson pulled out a bunch of silver coins and placed them on the table. the innkeeper grabbed the two keys and counted the silver coins.

"18...19...20." counted the innkeeper. "alright... here you go, good night, and come again." he said smiling as crimson grabbed the keys and turned. he waved bye to the innkeeper and went to go upstairs. we followed him as he walked to the stairs and then walked up the steps. we got to the top floor and it was a long corridor with rooms on each side. crimson looked at the keys in his hoof.

"11 and 12." he said looking at the keys. "nice... last two rooms, lets go... i'm tired." he's tired? just the other day he talked about not having to eat or sleep and just today he's commented about being tired and hungry? i'm not sure what he's playing... but he is acting like normal, so i guess that's his plan. we followed crimson and we walked all the way down to the end of the hall. rooms eleven and twelve were across the hall from each other.

"alright... i guess me and thunder will be sharing a room." muttered nightflame.

"well if you want to... but one of you is going to sleep by yourselves." said crimson.

"by ourselves?" i asked curiously.

"yeah two can share a bed and one can sleep alone..." said crimson. "so if you really want to sleep with thunder, well go for it... i won't judge."

"uhh... never mind, i'll sleep alone." said nightflame.

"i guess i'll share a bed with twilight then." thunder said blushing a little. i was a bit flustered too, but i was more confused than nervous.

"wait wait wait..." i said. "crimson, i thought you said you were tired?" i said confronting him. he just stared down at me with an innocent look.

"yeah... i am." he replied.

"so where are you sleeping?" i asked.

"oh... no, i'm not going to be sleeping tonight." he said.

"but... you said you were tired." i said repeating myself.

"yes... i know." said crimson. "but i'm not going to sleep tonight."

"why not?" asked thunder.

"because... i don't want to... i have something else to do." he said.

"what...?" i asked.

"i'm just going to sit in a tree and meditate probably." crimson said. i honestly couldn't believe what i was hearing... is he for real?

"you're just going to sit in a tree and meditate?" i asked repeating his statement.

"yes..." he said bluntly.

"why?" i asked.

"are you ever going to run out of questions?" he asked. " i promised i would be as normal as i possibly can... but this is something i have to do, just trust me." he said. i wanted to continue, but at this point it was pointless, he can be really stubborn sometimes... well, okay, a lot of times.

"alright... fine." i said giving up. "goodnight crimson."

"goodnight twilight... i'll see you tomorrow morning." he said smiling. "i'll be at the bar when you wake up." he added before disappearing in a large puff of heavy black smoke. the smoke cleared and we decided to head to our rooms. i went into room twelve with thunder and nightflame walked into room eleven. we closed the door behind us and jumped into bed. the bed was big enough for two ponies... but it was still awkward. i slept facing the right side of the room and thunder slept facing the left, we slept back to back. the room was dark enough despite the lights of the glowing forest outside.

it wasn't long until i started feeling my eyes start to get heavy. i couldn't help but close them soon after. i was still awake , but i probably wouldn't be for long. i could feel thunders back up against mine and i felt the gentle push of his breathing. for a second he almost felt like crimson, and soon in my tired daze i couldn't feel the difference. somehow just thinking that thunder rush was crimson was enough to put my mind at ease and i slowly started to drift off into a world of dreams and fantasy.

crimson was waiting for me there...