//------------------------------// // Ch. 6 // Story: A Twilight Rose Love // by Mystic Sunrise //------------------------------// Pearl awoke to the sound of pages fluttering all around. Groaning, she opened her eyes and looked about. The morning sun shone through an open window. “What time is it?” She grumbled. “Half-past noon,” Twilight’s voice came from somewhere off to the side. “I let you sleep in. After yesterday you looked like you needed it.” Pearl rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked about. She was in Twilight’s Private Chambers, laid out on the massive bed Twilight usually slept alone. Her face flushed red. She hadn’t slept like this since she had been a filly. Twilight giggled as she appeared from behind a curtain of pages. “And no, you didn’t miss anything. Spike is keeping the court away for the day so we can focus on this.” Pearl gave her a look. “Yeah? And what’s that? What are you looking for anyway?” Twilight sighed. “Burial practices. Kitsunes supposedly had the same ones as Eastern Dragons. But there are so many scrolls in this! Goddess above knows how many.” Pearl giggled as she stretched. “But I thought you liked reading new things?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I do. But this is ridiculous. Even if I spent all my time on this alone, it could take me several lifetimes to go through it all. And there’s nofox I can ask for help on this.” Pearl leaned into Twilight and closed her eyes half groaning. “You okay there?” Pearl nodded slowly. “Yes, I’m fine.” Lifting a hoof up to rub the side of her temple Pearl closed her eyes. “There’s a fox we can ask, or rather I can ask. I’m just not sure if he’ll talk to me after how I treated him  yesterday.” “You're talking about Forestsong aren't you?” Twilight smiled as she pulled Pearl in closer. Her large purple wings folded around the smaller pony. Pearl only nodded and closed her eyes, pushing her head up under Twilights.  “He’s been pulling a lot of strings lately. And pushing all my buttons. He completely manipulated both of us, orchestrated our little trip to the water park. And even tripped us into kissing.” “Then I have a lot to thank him for.” Twilight caressed along Pearl’s wing with her own. “I can see how you might think he was manipulating us. But no more than my friends would have done. I think he was being a good friend to us both.” “I appreciate your friendship skills hun, but he could have done it without being such a pain.” Twilight started to chuckle slightly which got Pearl to feel lighter and laugh as well.  “And if he is in that timberwolf. He made one amazing dinner for us. And hasn’t so much as shown himself to interrupt our time together.” “You're right, I have an idea of where he is. I’m just worried I might have to have a two-course brunch of crow.” Pearl took a deep breath and slowly got up. Instantly regretting leaving the warmth of Twilight’s wings. “I’ll see if he knows anything about this journal.” Pearl pushed it a little with her hoof. “I’ll be back later, it’s best I do it now.”  Twilight nodded as she just watched as Pearl left the room. Turning back to the journal she flipped through a few pages, once she got past the first few sections the writing seemed sharper. As if some other fox had written it. Quirking an eyebrow she turned to the pages that seemed newer than the others. Holding the crystal over a few scripts she spoke the translation spell. ‘To my son Akahiko, to follow along in our pawsteps. Let our knowledge guide your way.’ ~ Keisuki Sunrunner “A generational journal. Wow.” Twilight whispered as she started to read through the newest section of scrolls. Pearl pushed open the door to her house. She blinked and looked about, she found it strange that it was unlocked. She was positive that it had been locked. Taking precautions she silently walked through her home and widened her eyes at seeing the state of it. “I know I'm not the best at keeping house, but I have never seen my home look so clean before,” Pearl whispered to herself. Everything almost sparkled from her china to the floors. Moving upstairs she found her room cleaned to within an inch of its life. Even her Gunpla was dusted and in place. Moving from her room to her living room she halted. There in front of her sofa was a pony-sized Timberwolf cub with nine tails made of leaves.  “Welcome home, did you enjoy dinner?” Forestsong said as he opened his eyes and lifted his head up. “Did I wake you?” Forestsong just shook his head slowly. “Nope, still can’t sleep. But I do enjoy laying about with my eyes closed.” “Well, I’m sorry regardless. And yes I did enjoy the dinner.” Pearl smiled and sat down in front of him. “Okay, so we aren't going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Pearl giggled at his comment. “I thought it might be a bit rude, but since you brought it up you seem to have put on a bit of flesh since last I saw you.” Forestsong chuckled as he sat up. “Well, these things are basically plants, just animated via chaos magic. Most of which had dissipated so I was able to slip inside.” “Well you gave half of Ponyville a fright they won’t soon forget.” Chuckling Forestsong grinned wide. “I know, that was the best part. Of course, the guard was fun, he didn’t know what the buck was going on.” “Well Twilight and I had to do a lot to pacify everypony.” Pearl sat up and crossed both front legs in front of her chest. “But more on that later. I want to ask you something. You by chance wouldn’t happen to know anything about that journal Twilight got. Would you?” “You mean the one that belonged to my Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather?” Pearl nodded slowly. “Not a thing, I never even opened it. Dragons aren’t my favorite subject.” “Well there goes that idea,” Pearl grumbled. “Which Idea is that?” Forestsong stretched, trying hard to loosen up all the stiff wooden limbs.  “Finding out about eastern burial rites,” Pearl replied, her eyes focusing on Forestsong who looked rather impassive. “Hmmm, well I know Grandfather talked a lot about burial rites, But then again he was always the dark sheep of our clan.” Forestsong shrugged.  “And what were you? The clown?” Pearl brought her hooves up to her lips, her mouth speaking before her brain had processed. “I…” her words were caught in her throat as she found Forestsong doubled over laughing.  “I’ve been called a lot, but never a clown. That’s a good one.” Once his laughter died down he laid out on his side. “But back to what you want.  You could have just asked directly. If you're looking for burial rites, anything my grandfather wrote in his research journals would have a section on death. Look for the Shi symbol on the scrolls. Every scroll has a symbol on it that can’t be translated. It tells what is inside that particular scroll. And if the symbol has a number, then it’s part of a series.”  “Shi symbol? What does it look like?” Pearl’s eyebrows raised. “And I thought you didn’t look into the journal.” Drawing with a wooden claw, he etched a mark on her wooden floor. “It looks like that. It’ll be black or red. And I didn’t have to look. It’s how my family marks our scrolls. I even used it in my own journals.” “Great, that will help Twilight out a lot, and…” Pearl blinked and looked almost excited. “You know the magic that makes that journal possible.” She felt her heartbeat faster as Pearl watched Forestsong nod. “You have to teach us. Think of everything ponies can do with that magic.” “Not possible. No pony can cast the spells that need to be cast.” Forestsong watched as Pearl looked skeptical. “The magic requires many different spells to be cast at the same time. You need to be fully aware of what space needs to be filled, how to transfer physical items into magical transcripts as well as writing the spell down in only one symbol that must be drawn perfectly. Any mistake, no matter how small, can be catastrophic.” “I find that hard to believe,” Pearl huffed. “Nopony is greater at magic than Twilight Sparkle. And Starlight Glimmer can make any spell work.” “Tell that to the last archmage of the alicorns. He convinced my father to teach him that spell. Let's just say it didn’t go well. For him or his daughter.” “What happened to his daughter?” Pearl half shook feeling uncomfortable.  “We were never really sure, but it took both my father and grandfather a week to pull her out of that book. She seemed okay, but she never spoke again and couldn’t stand to look at anything related to books, scrolls. Even a flyer on a wall sent her into hysterics.” Forestsong looked back to Pearl who was sitting there, her mouth opening and closing several times with a blank look. Pearl managed to get her mouth to finally stop after a moment as she bit her lip. While Twilight probably wouldn't mind getting stuck in a book for a week, there would be no way to get her out. And even if they somehow could, would it be worth the price she might pay? She sighed sadly, her ears drooping. No. No, it wouldn’t. “Damn it all.” Forestsong gave her a concerned look. “Why are you so interested in burial rites? You will come to them eventually as it is. Yet you seem to want to get to them now. Why?” Pearl hesitated, but this was the only one who might be able to help them. “Because, supposedly, Eastern Dragons and Kitsunes share similar burial rites. I can’t ask a dragon about it. Nopony’s seen one in centuries. So I’m asking you.” Forestsong smiled. “That doesn’t explain why though. As I said, you will come to them in time anyway. What’s the rush?” Pearl’s eye twitched. Was he being a pain on purpose? Or was it just her? “Because there’s something in the castle that shouldn’t be there. Twilight says we have to put it back where it belongs, and I’m inclined to believe her. And you’re the only fox we can turn to for help in doing that.” His smile dropped. “And why is that? There are plenty of foxes around.” Pearl growled. He was managing to push all of her buttons even more now. “Because it’s a Kitsune skull, you pain! There’s no one else we can ask. So you tell me. Would they ever leave out in the open like that? Your kind died out millennia ago, and yet we’ve never once found a body. That skull, though, looks brand new. Like its owner just died.” She marched over and poked him in the chest. “We’ll never know everything about your kind. But even a newbie like me can tell you that isn’t right. So I’ll ask again, Forestsong. Help us. If not for us, then your own kind. Otherwise, that skull will never find its way back to where it belongs.” For a moment, Forestsong didn’t say anything. Eventually, he sighed. “That skull is mine. And you will never find where I’m buried. Not unless I lead you there myself.” Pearl’s frown fell away. “Can’t you return it then? If it’s yours.” “That’s why I can’t. It’s mine. Could you return your own skull?” Pearl rolled her eyes. “No. But if you won’t take us there, then it’s going to stay in the castle forever. Twilight won’t be happy about this, and neither am I.”  Forestsong sighed as he turned and sat in front of Pearl’s ficus tree. His paw lightly brushed along the leaves. “The place you're asking me to take you is sacred to my family. Only members of my clan are allowed and know the secrets to finding it.” “So you just won’t help us.” Pearl stomped her hoof down. “it’s not that I won’t, it’s that I can’t.” “I don’t understand, what do you mean you can’t?” Pearl inched closer. “Do you think I like being here in this pony-filled town? I want to be at home, surrounded by the living forest I helped create at the very heart.” Forestsong grumbled. “I’ve tried to leave, many times. But I can’t move past the borders of this town. And something just feels broken.” Turning around Forestsong stared Pearl directly in the eyes. “If you want to find my home, then you need to find its heart, it's beginning. That’s all I can tell you.” Turning back around he stared lovingly at the Everfree Forest. Pearl didn’t miss that look. “The Everfree Forest. You want us to find the heart of the Everfree. Ponies have tried for years, and most of those didn’t come back out. I don’t think even Zecora has been there, and she lives in it.” All she got was a nod. She sighed as she turned back to the front door. “Look. I can’t promise we can do any of this. But damn it all if we won’t try. If nothing else, so you aren’t a constant pain in my flank.” That at least got a chuckle out of him. “But I rather enjoy being that pain in your flank.” Pearl fought back a grin but didn’t reply as she left her house and returned to the castle. Forestsong watched her leave from her living room window and smiled. “I’ve given you all I can, Pearl. I know you’ll find the answers.” Moving to her sofa he laid out on it and turned on her television, flipping through the channels he came to the Gardening channel and smiled. Twilight looked up as Pearl returned. The look on her face didn’t fill her with confidence. “Any luck?” She asked. Pearl sighed. “Well. I’ve got good news and bad. The good news is that I did get an answer as to what to look for in the journal. Do you have some ink?” Twilight nodded and floated a bottle and quill over to the Pegasus, who sketched out the Shi symbol. “We need to look for that symbol. It’ll be black or red. Those should be the death rituals.” Twilight looked at the symbol, committing it to memory. “And the bad news?” Pearl sighed. “That skull belongs to Forestsong. It’s his own. And it’s why he can’t help us more. He’s stuck in Ponyville for some reason, and the only way we can find his grave is if he leads us there himself. But he refuses to tell me how we could find it on our own. Says it’s sacred to his family, and only members of his clan know the secrets to finding it.” Twilight groaned. “Darn it. Can’t we ever catch a break? I refuse to keep a part of him here. Did he say anything else? Do we even know where this place might be?” Pearl nodded. “Yeah. He said to find his home, we need to find its heart. It's beginning. And you might not like where that might be, Twily.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I doubt it could be that bad, Pearl. Where should we start looking then?” Pearl sighed. “The Everfree Forest.” Twilight blinked, waiting for the punchline. When Pearl didn’t add anything else, her ears drooped. “The Everfree Forest. He wants us to find the heart of the Everfree? Doesn’t he know how dangerous it is?” Pearl nodded. “I think he knows it even better than we do, Twilight. You didn’t see the way he looked at it, though. Whatever it is for us. To him, it’s his home. Something he helped create. He deserves that. To be home and with his family.” Twilight’s ears fell even more. “Pearl. You know how many ponies have tried to find the Everfree’s heart. None ever have. Or lived long enough to tell the story if they did.” Pearl nodded. It wasn’t something she liked to think about. “What about Starswirl? He seems crazy enough to have tried and lived through it.” Twilight giggle snorted. It was true though. “You know how crotchety he gets about his past before joining the Unicorn Royal Family as their Court Mage. If Celestia and Luna couldn’t get him to open up, I don’t think we would have better luck. And you know how much he hates talking about the Everfree in particular.” Pearl rolled her eyes. It was true though. “So what? Do we do nothing? No thanks. I’d rather not have a possessed Timberwolf as a houseguest, thank you very much. Though Forestsong did clean my house to a crazy degree earlier, so I’ll give him that.” Twilight sighed as she wrapped a wing around her marefriend. “No. You’re right. It’s not fair to Forestsong to keep him stuck here. We will find a way to get him home. I don’t know how long it will take. But I promise him that we will. And damn anything that tries to stop us!” Pearl giggled as she leaned into the embrace. “That’s the spirit. Here I thought I loved a desk pony. So where do we start?” Twilight smiled as she picked up the journal. “Here is a good place. Now that we know what to look for, it should help considerably. You might like this, Pearl. But this is a generational journal. More than one Kitsune wrote this, passing it from father to son if I read it correctly.” Pearl tapped her chin. “Well. Forestong said his grandfather talked about burial rites a lot. Something about being the black sheep of the family.” Twilight giggled as she opened the journal and began flipping the pages, careful to make sure the magic in them wasn’t activated just yet. “It’s a start. I have seen a change in style, right after you left. So now, we just need to find the first style change.” Pearl sighed, leaning her head on Twilight’s shoulders, and prepared herself for a long search, doubting this would be that easy.