//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Dire News 
// Story: Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain 
// by Halira 
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Several days past by without much event. I healed up physically to where I was almost back to normal by the end of the week. Psychologically I was still struggling, panic attacks were still common. My ability to be touched by Biblo was improving, but I still couldn't be caught by surprise by her without an episode. Other ponies I could barely tolerate standing near me, much less touching me.

I was in my usual position of the day. Out in the courtyard, smoking my pipe, and watching Biblo train. It was midafternoon. It had taken her three days to get where she could successfully run the obstacle course. It was rather surprising how quickly she managed to master it, considering her first night left her bruised and defeated. But she showed a lot of adaptability. Now she was starting to practice with the guards themselves. Specifically, right now she was getting her flank beat with a wooden practice blade. I had faith she would get it down though.

Eventually they broke for a meal, and Biblo made her way to me. I was able to acquire some fish on request, claiming I needed protein to heal. I had plenty of sardines to share with Biblo, who had a fondness for the little fish since our first date. It never did upset her stomach either.

Biblo winced as she sat down. "I swear that mare is trying to make my flank fall off. I don't know how many times I can get hit on it with a wooden practice blade and still have it attached." She noticed the sardines and quickly grabbed one and swallowed it in one gulp. Biblo was the pony scourge of small fish.

"Your flank might be a little red right now," I said as I visually inspected her flank, "but it is looking pretty good. You may not be as pleasantly plump down there as you were, but you are much more toned and muscled. That muscle developed pretty fast. Are you sure you aren't a changeling and can shift shape?"

She blew a raspberry at me. "I am a Crystal Pony. Though who knows, maybe my changeling ancestry helps me adjust faster. It doesn't feel fast. Each day is filled with new ways of giving me pain."

"But you are doing well," I pointed out. "Two days or so after starting anything out there and you are able to do it without trouble. I don't think I could beat you in a hoof wrestling competition anymore. And if I didn't have fangs I doubt I could take you in unarmed combat if I couldn't fly. I'm proud of you."

"I appreciate your support," she said with a blush and a smile. "I hadn't realized there seemed to be a regular rate for me to get good at things," then she grimaced, "though that does mean I have to deal with another day or two of that meanie mare giving me welts on my flank."

"If you keep learning developing at the rate you are she will be the one worried about her flank a week from now," I chuckled as I spoke. "I'll keep cheering you on."

"You know," she put on a thoughtful expression, "I always thought my cutie mark just meant I soaked in magic and emotions like a sponge. Maybe it means I can do the same thing with skills and knowledge. I never really took trying to learn new things too seriously, so it didn't come up. Do you think it's possible?"

"I don't know," I replied with a shrug. "Seems like it could be. You certainly are getting better with this stuff at an astonishing rate. I'm no expert, but it is obvious you are learning really fast."

She gave the mark on her flank a considering look and touched it, which caused her to wince in pain. 

"It certainly soaks in pain," she said with a hiss. "Touching it right now wasn't really smart. I need a good long soak in a bath and some ice on this. Can I get a kiss?"

She didn't just kiss or hug me anymore. She either waited for me to do it myself or she asked for it. She still walked on eggshells with me. I didn't think she needed to as much, at least not her, but she still took care. I gave her a light kiss on the muzzle, eliciting a fresh smile and giggle.

She stopped giggling and looked down with a bit of embarrassment. Prepping herself to say something.

"Um, Pearl?" She took a breath and let the rest out rapidly, "Do you think it might be possible to start sharing a bed again? Not to do anything! Well, to sleep, but that isn't a thing. Well, it is, but it isn't the thing! I know it might take a long time for you to be ready for the thing, but I don't mind. Well, I do, but I understand the circumstances. And I am just running my mouth and embarrassing myself now. So I will just ask again if we can share a bed again, because I miss having you next to me as I sleep. So can we sleep together?" She was bright red as she finished saying that.

"Um, can I take a moment to process all that?" I asked. "I don't soak things in as fast as you do."

She gave an even more embarrassed nod. She seemed to be just processing some of what she said as well.

Breaking it down in my head I started thinking about it.

First off the request itself. She wanted to get back to sleeping next to me. That was understandable. I missed sleeping next to her too. I was worried about lashing out at her in my sleep or when I woke up. I had nightmares I didn't ever remember, just recalling I was terrified. They made me wake up in the middle of a panic attack. If she was touching me as it was happening I didn't know what would happen.

Next thing I realized is she said she knew I wasn't ready to do things. Things being sex. That was going to take a while, if it happened at all. My first experience with that was something I still refused to think about.

It also occurred to me, suddenly, that she had specified I wasn't ready. She had left herself out of that part, she was ready, and she was just being considerate of me. That made me go a little red. She noticed my blush and turned a deeper shade of red.

"I am worried I would end up hurting you," I said, starting to address my concerns. "You know how I get. I don't want to hurt you by accident."

She snorted in response.

"I would pick up on what was coming before it happened. Empath remember?" She raised a hoof to her head and tapped it. "I would know if you had an attack coming on, and be there to help you through it. Plus, you said it yourself, I am stronger than you now. I don't think you can hurt me easily, at least not blindly lashing out. I take a lot of beatings out here training, so I think I can take what you might do. It hurts me already, emotionally, to see you having those attacks. I want to be close by to help you. If you fall asleep with me touching you, maybe you will get better with getting touched. Make it more normal for you, safer."

I could see her logic. Biblo was not a stupid pony. Didn't stop me from worrying. I didn't want to deny her either.

"We'll try sleeping together again tonight and see how it goes. If I end up hurting you, we wait some more though."

She got back to her hooves and smiled. "You won't, trust me. We are going to get you better."

"I trust you Biblo," I said. Her ears dropped slightly in response.

"You don't trust me all the way yet. You don't trust any pony," her ears then picked back up, "but we are going to get that fixed. It will take time, but I know we can do it. You are going to feel completely safe with me, and I will be able to protect you from that ever happening again."

I initiated a hug which she gladly accepted. "I want that. Looks like break time is over though. You need to get back to getting more welts on your flank."

She blew another raspberry at me and hopped back down to get back to training.

"It might not be such a bad idea," I heard a voice from behind, causing me to jump with a start.

"Hot Sticks!" I scolded as I turned to face him. "You really deserve to get a buck to the side sometimes. Stop sneaking up on ponies!"

He walked up beside me, and I scooted over a bit to give a little more space between us. He didn't raise an eyebrow at it. He knew that I didn't feel comfortable being too close to any pony, minus Biblo.

"Unfortunately," he continued, "your continued recovery isn't what I came to talk to you about. I likely should have spoken up when Biblo was still up here, but we will have to tell her when she is done."

Were we finally getting an update on Starlight's Folly? They said it would only be a few days. They had been gone over a week.

"What's the news?" I asked with anticipation. He looked very distressed, not a good sign. 

"Stygian and Fluttershy have returned. There is no living creature in Starlight's Folly," he stared down at the ground as he said it.

My heart dropped in my chest and I had to breath slowly to hold off the panic attack that was fighting to start. 

"So, they...purged it?" I managed to say. "They didn't even wait to see if there was something they could learn from me and Biblo to help?"

"You misunderstand me," he said while shaking his head. "They found the town empty. No ponies, no cocoons, no other creature, no guard, no sign of Tulip."

"Did the northern gate get breached?" I asked, grasping for meaning. "Undead or ice golems break into town?"

He shook his head to the negative again before continuing his explanation. "The northern gate was still secure. No sign of wendigos. Nothing for them to feed on, so no need for them to be there. No signs of the cocoons either, intact or remains. The town was just empty."

"So where did they all go? Were there signs of struggle?" I asked. This didn't make sense.

Hot Sticks gave a frustrated snort. "No signs of struggle. Nothing to give any clues. Stygian and Fluttershy took as long as they did because they went checking around the wastes, and the nearby mining encampments, for any sign of where the townsfolk went. There was nothing. They checked Yazyakistan to see if there had been any clue there. The residents didn't have any clue that Starlight's Folly had up and vanished!"

I tried to wrap my head around this. It took me a moment to even figure out what to ask next. "So, what happens now? What are the Alicorns going to do? Did they find nothing else of note?"

Hot Sticks sighed, his ears and face lowered. He looked lost. "They will have council on it, soon. The fact that they were already calling all the Alicorns back to Harmony, for that trial, will help speed that happening. The town still had all its supplies. The only object that seemed to be missing was the rod that Marble Shine had found. I can't be sure, and the Alicorns will make determination, but there seems to be an intelligence at work here."

"So what does that mean for us?" I asked.

"For now, nothing," he said. "They will want to do interviews with each of us to find more clues. See if there is anything we missed. They will want to study all of us, me included, for any additional clues. They likely won't start that until they have held council. We won't be going anywhere for the duration. If they learn nothing more from us, then we will be left to ourselves to decide what we will do, but returning to Starlight's Folly is likely not an option."

I didn't know what to say. I felt like crying. There was no panic attack involved. I just wanted to cry. I don't know why I wasn't.

"Do you think Tulip might have gotten away to someplace else?" I didn't get to know Tulip well, but he seemed a decent enough stallion. Called me batty which was a mild slur, but he never really got nasty with me.

"Doubtful," Hot Sticks responded. "They would have found him in one of the mining encampments. Yazyakistan was on guard for any pony coming down from Starlight's Folly. The mountain passes were searched thoroughly. He could have gone out in the wastes, but we both know ponies can't survive more than a day or two out there."

I did start crying now. Tulip was the final drop. I buried my muzzle in Hot Sticks mane and I sobbed. Hot Sticks didn't stop me, nor did he raise a hoof to comfort me. I don't know if it was to prevent a panic attack or because he had no comfort. It was likely both.

After a few moments I heard Biblo's voice, filled with concern and a dangerous edge. "What's going on?"

I glanced up at her. She was giving Hot Sticks an accusatory stare. Her muscles were tense. She seemed prepare to unleash her fury on the unicorn. She was being fully protective, and all she knew was I was crying. A quick glance at the training grounds showed all the Medical Guard was watching hesitantly. A few of them stood close, waiting to see if they would be needed to restrain the Crystal Pony.

"Hot Sticks didn't do anything wrong," I said. "We have word from Starlight's Folly. Biblo, it isn't good."

Her continence changed immediately. She sat down and spread her forelegs in offer of a hug. I removed myself from Hot Sticks' mane and went into her embrace and continued my crying. Feeling my emotions, she wept on my shoulder as she smoothed my mane.

Hot Sticks stood up and let out a tired breath as he started to walk away.

"I will let Pearl give you the details," he said as he departed. "Not much is going to happen for the next few days. Meadowbrook arrived back in the temple just minutes ago, and was made aware of what has transpired at the same time I found out. She will likely want to see both of you. Take what time you two need to dry your tears. I will be speaking with my former mistress to try to catch her up to date in the meantime."

We gave no response as Hot Sticks left. The Medical Guard went back to training with the exception of the captain, who likely went to attend his Alicorn's needs. Biblo and I just sat in shared sorrow.

It took a long time to begin telling Biblo the details I knew. By the time I had, we were able to glance up to the balcony of my room to see a blue Alicorn, with an orange-red mane, gazing down at us silently. It was time to meet Meadowbrook.


***


Biblo and I  entered my room to meet Meadowbrook. Upon entering Biblo immediately prostrated herself. Apparently, she had regained her need to show reverence to Alicorns since she assaulted Pinkie Pie. Maybe she was trying to show she was on good behavior. I did not make any sort of gesture. My little talk from before gave me the impression that Alicorns really weren't that interested in it.

She was sitting patiently on the balcony, back turned to us, looking out over the courtyard. She surprisingly wore a green dress over her flank, and had a large amount of jewelry about her shoulders and neck, making her the most thoroughly clothed Alicorn I had yet met. Her orange-red mane hung loosely about her neck and back. Though it didn't have the ethereal quality of Luna's mane, it still was of equally impressive size as she was.

Also surprising was the presence of three Crystal Pony mares that were in her room. Acolytes perhaps? One yellow, one white, and one orange furred. The had extremely similar cutie marks, a tri colored shield, differing only in the mark in the center. Something seemed extra odd about them. You could feel the power of an Alicorn in an Alicorn's presence no matter how magically skilled or unskilled you happened to be. These three weren't Alicorns but they gave off the same type of presence. They seemed giddy with excitement and that made me nervous. I had an image in my head of them laughingly dissecting me.

"It is good to meet you little ones," Meadowbrook spoke to us in a motherly tone as she turned to face us. "I have heard a good deal about you Pearlwort and Bibulous Bottom. I spoke to Hot Sticks about you, and he spoke highly of you both. I have always found him a unicorn with a good judge of character, and was saddened when he choose to leave my direct service. If he calls you friend I welcome you to my temple, though you both seem to have been freeloading here for some time."

Biblo, still prostrate on the ground, let out a whimper. Perhaps wondering if she was going to get in trouble for said freeloading. Meadowbrook noticed it and gave a soft chuckle.

"Bibulous Bottom, please rise and get your muzzle off the floor, it is unsanitary to have your nose where every pony has been walking." Meadowbrook laughed.

"Yes you Holiness," Biblo straightened herself to attention quickly.

"I noticed that you were training with the Medical Guard," Meadowbrook continued, trying to not laugh at Biblo's eagerness to obey. "Were you intending to join my guard?"

"No your Holiness. I just wanted to learn how to better defend myself and Pearl," Biblo turned a deeper shade of pink as she answered.

"Well, that is commendable. I don't typically sanction violence, but having ponies eager to defend others is worthwhile," Meadowbrook turned to me to continue questioning. "Pearlwort, I noticed Bibulous Bottom called you Pearl. Do you prefer Pearl?"

"Yes, your Holiness." I answered as respectfully as I could.

"And you, Bibulous Bottom?" Meadowbrook asked Biblo while continuing to smile.

"I prefer Pearl too!" Biblo replied quickly. Then had her eyes go wide as she brought both forehooves up to her muzzle to cover her ridiculously timed admission of affection.

The three Crystal Ponies who had been sitting silently, couldn't hold back their laughter.

"Yes Bibulous Bottom," Meadowbrook smiled as she spoke. "I guessed that already. I meant do you prefer to be addressed a different way?"

"Biblo, your Holiness," Biblo replied, red faced. "I like being called Biblo. Bibulous Bottom takes too long to say, and there is a lot to say sometimes."

"It is a rather fun name to say in my opinion," Meadowbrook said. "But I will address you as Biblo. Now that I am addressing you both more personally, please drop the your Holiness. If you aren't directly in my employment, and not worshipers of mine, then just address me as Meadowbrook. Don't worry about any formalities, you wouldn't believe how tiring they get."

Biblo let out a sigh. I told her about meeting Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, and Luna. She shouldn't have been so high strung. I walked over to her, and gave her a hug to comfort her. I might be the more high anxiety one as of late, but I still could comfort her when anxiety got the best of her. The three Crystal Ponies let off a collective "aww," which made the two of us blush.

"Now that introductions have been made," she paused and glanced at the three Crystal Ponies, before resuming, "for the moment. I wanted to look you both over with my magic. I promise it will only be a moment, and that it won't hurt."

Biblo and I looked at each other. This is why we came along on this trip. We were here to be studied. It was finally time for us to be useful. We nodded and stood at attention.

Meadowbrook horn lit up with a blue light and enveloped Biblo. "It tickles!" Biblo giggled.

Meadowbrook seemed focused and waves of different shades of blue rippled through the aura that had enveloped my marefriend. They increased in intensity for a few moments before Meadowbrook let the spell dissipate.

"Well, there is good news and bad news," Meadowbrook told Biblo. "The good news is I found no trace of anything that could possibly be the affliction that was described. You have a clean bill of health, minus a few welts on your flank which I assume came from your training.

"And the bad news?" Biblo asked worriedly.

"There is no trace of any of the affliction that was described to me," Meadowbrook sighed. "Which means I can't study it any further from you."

"It is your turn now. I will be checking for possible infection," Meadowbrook said as she turned to me. "As well as trying to get a feel for the passive magic I am told you possess." I nodded and stood ready.

Again, her horn lit up and a blue aura enveloped me now. It did tickle a bit.

Meadowbrook had a slightly puzzled look on her face as she focused her magic. The spell started doing the same ripples of magic as what she had done with Biblo. Meadowbrook started looking more and more confused. I started getting more and more nervous likewise.

Meadowbrook's horn grew brighter and the ripples intensified. It was starting to get uncomfortable now, like being deep underwater. Meadowbrook did not let up. She just kept channeling greater and greater amounts of magic.

The pressure kept building and I felt panic setting in. This was worse than claustrophobia, I really was getting crushed. I found it harder and harder to breath. It went from being merely uncomfortable to hurting and within seconds after that painful. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't get away. I was trapped, and I was in pain. I screamed.

"Meadowbrook stop! You are hurting her!" Some pony yelled. I didn't know who it was, I just wanted to get away. I was screaming and struggling. I couldn't escape.

Suddenly there was a loud smashing sound and it the spell ended. I was released.

I just lay where I was trying to breath. Trying to calm myself. The normal things weren't helping. Nothing was helping. I was crying. I was choking because I couldn't breathe.

"Pearl! Listen to my voice. It's Biblo. You are okay. It is over. No pony is going to hurt you anymore. I am right here. I am going to protect you. I am sorry that happened, but I stopped it. Please listen to my voice. Try to look at me."

I looked up from my forehooves. Biblo was right there. Her face coated in worry. I crawled over to her and wrapped my forehooves around her. I could feel her very carefully brush my mane with her hoof.

I don't know how long I kept crying, but I was able to get control of my breathing. My lungs and throat hurt from the lack of air and all the crying. Biblo kept soothing me.

Eventually I looked around the room. Meadowbrook was crumpled up on the floor, out like a light. The three strange Crystal Ponies seemed to be dividing their attention between looks of concern in my direction, and glares of animosity at Meadowbrook. Biblo kept all her attention focused on me.

"What happened?" I said after I could finally manage to speak.

"What happened?!" The orange Crystal Pony of the trio yelled. "Meadowbrook kept putting more and more power into her spell and it was literally crushing you is what happened! We told her to stop, but she was so caught up in it she wasn't aware of anything else, including the fact she was possibly killing you! Biblo acted first though. Gave Meadowbrook a solid blow to her horn. Great right hook by the way."

"I couldn't let her hurt you," Biblo said with pained voice. "I promised to keep you safe. I don't care if she is an Alicorn. She was hurting you."

"Why?" Was all that I could respond.

"She wasn't even aware of what she was doing," the yellow one said. "It wasn't her being cruel on purpose. She was just so caught up in her spell that she couldn't think of anything else any more. It happens sometimes when you push yourself to your limits. You forget everything else but the need to continue pushing. She is going to be out cold for a little bit. A blow from a normal pony normally wouldn't impact her at all, but it made that spell end abruptly and the push-back from that knocked her out."

"But why was she throwing so much power into that spell to begin with?" Asked Biblo in frustration.

"We were watching what she was doing carefully," said the last of the trio. "We had heard that Pearl's cutie mark was able to counter Starlight's magic. That is why we came here to start with, before we heard that we were going to be needed in Harmony for full council. We don't typically come here much, we keep a low profile. But anyway, Pearl's cutie mark was doing the same to Meadowbrook's magic, and the dummy kept trying to push through it!"

My thoughts were getting clearer. I still felt weak and didn't have the energy to talk. Biblo's brushing of my mane felt so good. But I did wonder who these three really were. They may be Crystal Ponies, but they felt like Alicorns, and they acted like they could see what magic was doing. Plus, did they say something about being summoned to full council? I was too tired to ask.

"We are going to take Meadowbrook to her chambers and see about getting her awake again," the yellow one said. "She is going to have a doozy of a headache, but she deserves it for being so careless. Biblo, take care of your marefriend. We unfortunately are not done with her. The three of us will be needing to examine her as well. Meadowbrook should have let us take over examining as soon as she realized she was having trouble. We are going to going to chew her out for that."

"Who are you three?" Biblo asked, she might have been reading my mind. She was an empath.

"We will give proper introductions later," the white one answered while looking at her compatriots. "We are lesser Alicorns. We aren't really lesser in terms of less powerful, lesser Alicorns have about the same power as the other Alicorns. We just don't involve ourselves with ruling, worshipers, temples, or any of that. We like to keep a low profile, keeping ourselves disguised as normal ponies, so we won't draw attention to ourselves. We will talk more later, just take care of your marefriend for now."

And with that the orange one grabbed up Meadowbrook in her magic, even though she had no visible horn. The three of them, plus Meadowbrook, just popped out of existence with a quick flash and a sound of magic.

Biblo kept petting me. I just snuggled into her and relaxed. After a while the world went dark again as I drifted off to sleep in Biblo's lap.