//------------------------------// // Ch. 9 // Story: A Twilight Rose Love // by Mystic Sunrise //------------------------------// Pearl yawned as she flipped down another scroll. “I don’t think I’ll ever get to read all of this. Your family makes Twilight’s note-taking look normal by comparison. And she’s basically the Empress of Note Taking.” Forestong chuckled, as he lay off to the side. “Great grandfather and grandfather would have made your scholars look like newborns. It took a great deal of back and forth before Tiamat would even consider letting them learn anything about Western Dragons.” Pearl gave him a look. “Have you ever met her? If your family had some dealings with her.” He nodded, smiling at a long-ago memory. “I did once. With my father. I honked her nose and called her a big rainbow lizard straight to her faces.” Pearl’s jaw dropped in horror. “You what?!” Forestsong laughed. “Oh yes. I was three and didn’t know any better. Don’t tell me you never said anything like that when you were young?” Pearl blushed and looked away, not dining to respond, which told Forestsong all he needed to know which made him laugh harder. Pearl’s cheeks puffed out in indignation. “So how come she didn’t have you as a light snack?” He shrugged. “Mother was one of the few the Chromatic Dragon ever truly respected, and to be honest I think Tiamat was slightly afraid of her. And being as young as I was, she let it slide.” Pearl rolled her eyes as she looked back at a scroll. “Remind me to not get on your mom’s bad side, then. I think I’m on thin ice as it is with your sister.” “Yeah, even father was terrified of mom,” Forestsong rolled over onto his back and slowly examined the small bits of plastic in his paws before shaving the sides smooth and connecting them. “Say thanks for letting me do this lil puzzle, it’s been ages since I had any kind of puzzle game.” “Meh, I had three of those.” Pearl eyed him assembling a Master Grade Barbatos. “Personally I’m still waiting for Virtue and Nadleeh in a few months. About time we get all the Season 1 00 Celestial Being Gundams.” Pearl looked at Forestsong who was staring at her with a blank expression on his face. His mouth agape and upside down. “Oh, right. There is so much I need to explain about the series these are all based on. I don’t even know where to start.” “Is this one of those things that would take a long time to explain properly?” He asked. Pearl sighed. She could hear the unasked question behind that. “Yes. Even longer to watch all that there is for the franchise. I’m sorry. It’s just that whenever I get going on Gunpla or Gundam, I forget that not everyone will know what I’m talking about.” “Not even Twilight?” Forestsong smiled. Pearl giggled. “Especially Twilight. She’s been there since I started, and she still doesn’t get all of it. And I’ve tried explaining it to her. We can start from the very beginning. But…” Forestsong’s smile grew slightly. “But you don’t know how long I will be here? How long it will take before I can go home?” Pearl nodded. Darn it. He was good.  Forestsong chuckled. “You don’t need to hide it. I know you and Twilight will do everything possible to get me home. I trust you. You’re my friends. You proved that when I was at my worst.” “It could go faster if you helped us. I’m sure you know the rituals and rites that need to be performed.” Pearl smiled and leaned in a bit. “Pearl, we’ve been through this before. Yes, I know them but I can’t tell you.” Forestsong just laid there on his back. “Any knowledge that deals with magic and death have to be earned. It can’t just be handed out on a whim to a race that’s not prepared for it.” Pearled huffed and sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Her front legs crossed over her chest. It was the same response over and over. He had explained it to Twilight. How such magics can devastate a race if used improperly. “Are you really that eager to get rid of me Pearl?”  Pearl opened her eyes and looked into his amber ones. She let out a soft sigh and shook her head. “No, I’m just worried about you. It’s not right that you should be separated from your family.” “I’m not worried, as I said. You and Twilight will do everything you can to get me home.” Leaning in, he kissed her cheek. “Until then, I can spend time with my two new big sisters.”  That got a smile out of her. She had always wanted to be a big sister. This hadn’t been quite what she had in mind. But Pearl would take it, For however long it might be. “Fine. You’re less of a pain in my backside now, so I guess I can learn to live with it.” He chuckled. “Do you always need to be the tough girl?” Pearl grinned. “It’s just how I am. It’s how I survived for years on the docks of Baltimare. You were either tough, or they would chew you up and spit you out. Mom and dad didn’t want that to be my life, so we moved to Ponyville.  “And you never outgrew it completely,” Forestsong added with a smirk. One that Pearl returned. “I don’t know. Did you ever completely grow up? Or were you even worse than you are now?” She asked.  Chuckling he slipped down onto the ground and leaned back against the chair. “Oh, I was a lot worse. My sisters always said I was both the greatest joy, and bane, of their existence.” Letting out a sigh he looked out the overhead window. “Of course they were always like father, stern. Unyielding. But caring. And myself, well I am my mother's child. She and I always balanced them out.” Pearl smiled. “I never had that. My friends were just as bad as me. We never hung around with the worst kids. But I can’t count the number of stupid things we did and got in trouble for.”  “I never had a lot of friends growing up.” Forestsong set down the semi-completed Barbatos and crossed his front legs together. “Our clan was large, there were plenty of others my age. But being part of the ruling cast I never had the time to spend with them. I was constantly with father and my sisters. Meeting with other races, overseeing the pony tribes. Keeping the land from erupting into chaos. I had to learn all of that.” Pearl gagged. “Glad I never had to learn any of that. I’d think I’d go crazy. Some days, I wonder how Twilight does it and doesn’t go insane.” “Well, it’s a lot nicer now than it was back then,” Forestsong chuckled. “If things got out of hand. Groups had two choices. You either get with the program, or you end up under the ground. And while father hated to rule with fear. Sometimes it was necessary to show them who was in charge of these lands.” “Maybe Twilight can take some lessons then. She will never admit it, but there have been so many threats on her life since she came to the throne, that she finally had to have the Royal Guard posted to her castle. Friendship might be magic. But that won’t stop the knife of an assassin if somepony is dumb enough to try,” Pearl shivered. “Sounds like you would enjoy it if she dropped being a princess and became a true empress,” he grinned up at her. “But, after learning a bit about today’s world, ruling the way we used to wouldn’t be right.” Pearl shook her head. “A little fear never hurts. Ponies feared Celestia and Luna as much as they loved them. The same goes with Twilight, Cadence, and Flurry Heart.”  “Yeah but it’s not in her nature.” Getting up, Forestsong looked over his shoulder. “But it is in yours. Everyone needs someone to be the yin to their yang. If she can’t show them the fear they need to see, somepony else has to.” Walking to the door he opened it. “I’m going to get a snack.  I’ll be back.” with that the door swung behind him. Pearl sighed. He was right of course. But darn it all if she would ever let him hear her say that. Her pride wouldn’t allow it. And he was also right about something else. Twilight needed that balance. Yin to her yang. In her heart, Pearl knew what she wanted to do about that. But she wasn’t sure if she was ready to take that step or not. It could ruin everything if she did, and she didn’t want that. Her ear perked up and turned around and looked at Forestsong walking in, munching on a few baked goods. “I have to ask, did you have a yin to your yang?”  Sitting back amongst the scattered parts of the model Forestsong sighed and nodded. “I did. She was a beauty like no other. Alabaster fur. Flaming red mane. Not everyone in our clans approved of us of course. Thinking that what we were doing was unnatural. Even father voiced his concerns. Thankfully mother shut him up quick enough.” Pearl blinked at the description and looked at herself before looking at the back of his head. “Was she a pony?” His head shook side to side which let out a sigh of relief from Pearl. “No, She wasn’t a pony. But she wasn’t a fox either. Her clan had moved to these lands for the same reason ours did.  To remove ourselves from the endless wars in the east.” Leaning back on his front legs, Forestsong looked at the sun as he popped another brownie into his mouth. “I still miss her, my darling Snow Rose.” Pearl almost choked on air hearing the second part of that name. “So, if she wasn’t a fox, what was she?” Smiling, he turned his head toward her. “A river spirit dragon.” Pearl’s eyes widened. For a split second, she felt something inside of her respond to the words as if an old flame had reignited at an unseen spark. The next it was gone, and she shook her head. “Is that why you seem so attached to me? Because I look like her?” Forestsong didn’t respond for a moment. “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t part of the reason at first. But you’re not her. I won’t act like you are, or treat you as I did her. It wouldn’t be fair to you or to her memory.” Pearl sighed in relief. “Thank you. Maybe it’s just dumb luck that I look like her. She must have been worth it. I don’t understand how all of it worked, but I can’t see that being normal. No matter what the other might be.” With a quick chuckle, he nodded. “Oh, she was worth it. But despite most of the clan’s reservations, not to mention the council of elders. My sisters and mother said as long as I was happy. They approved of her.” “And I take it she did make you happy,” Pearl smirked at him.  “Yeah, she did.” Closing his eyes he folded his front legs behind his head and laid out on his back again. “But her being limber enough to make a slinky jealous was kinda odd at times. Enjoyable but odd.”  Pearl heaved. “Oh. Eww. Don’t think I needed to know that.” “Then you might want to skip the sections on dragon mating. Some of it is rather descriptive. Thankfully she wasn’t a western dragon. Now I'm daring, but I still can’t see how any creature can be in the mood when you're dropping to the earth at terminal velocity.” Forestsong did catch her heaving motion but chuckled. Glad he was fulfilling his brotherly duty to gross out a sister at least once a day. Pearl shot him a glare. “Now I can see why your sisters called you a bane for them. Damn it all. This love of dragons is going to drive me crazy one of these days.   “Just be grateful you're getting the water down version of how I was a bane to them.” Forestsong opened one eye and grinned up at her. “If I did half of the stuff I did to them to you, the next place Twilight would see you is in the psych ward of Ponyville General.” Pearl could well believe it. “I know I almost put her in it when I first asked to go with her to see Tiamat. I hadn’t been her student that long. Call it being young and brash.” “Father always called it fun. He said if your student doesn’t drive you crazy. Then the teacher is doing something wrong. He drove his father crazy. And Starswirl… well let’s just say he didn’t help put unicorns in a good light as my father’s apprentice. Four hooves, all thumbs.” spreading his paw out he looked at it softly. “Which is quite the accomplishment, since ponies don’t have fingers. It was twenty years before he actually got his act together as a spellcaster. I think sis helped him out a lot though.” Rolling over onto his belly he stood up. “Kinda hard to imagine he’s one of your greatest living sorcerers. Considering father always said he didn’t have the mind to boil water”. Moving over across the library he looked up at the portrait of Starswirl. “I think Father would be proud overall. At seeing the skinny unicorn grow into something as great as he is. I know I am.” Looking over his shoulder, Forestsong looked at Pearl. “Sorry, I tend to ramble on at times. Of course, the only things that used to listen to me were the squirrels in the trees. I miss my forest and everything in it. You know before I showed up here, there was this lovely maiden who always came into my forest and sang with the birds. I never learned who she was. But it always reminded me of my mother when she sang. I would sit there in the shadows unseen and listen for hours.” “She had this amazing yellow coat and brilliant pink hair.” Sighing softly, Forestsong closed his eyes and bowed his head. Pearl smiled. “Well. You’re in luck. I happen to know the Pegasus in question. That sounds like Fluttershy to anyone who knows her.” She smiled sheepishly. “If we can keep her from freaking out when she meets you anyway. I get the feeling you two would get along great.” Nodding softly, Forestsong took a long deep breath. “Yeah. Shame it won’t happen though. Not that I don’t want to meet her. It's just I know how skittish this Fluttershy is. From observing her in my forest. And I don’t want her to be scared to ever enter it again. It’s enough to know she cares about my woods, and as a thankyou, I keep her cottage safe from the dark things that roam around. And I’m not just talking about Timberwolves.” Pearl almost asked what those could be. But a part of her knew she was better off never knowing. Ponies still feared the dark for a reason.  “You can still tell her about me if you like. I am after all the embodiment of that forest. Both the good and the bad. And sadly you and Twilight have seen both, and I'm deeply sorry for it. When I'm back home, I’ll do my best to repay you somehow.” Forestsong kept his eyes closed. “We spirits aren't meant to mingle with ponies, but we can do little things.” Pearl smiled. “Thanks. I don’t blame you for what happened. Discord deserved what he got. For everything he’s done, and then some. Maybe this time he’ll learn his lesson. Probably not. But I’ll be long gone by the time he comes back.” Turning his head he looked at Pearl and smiled. Leaning in he sniffed her a bit and smirked. “Maybe. I’m getting tired. I’m going to go lay down.” Walking past Pearl he left the library feeling as if the weight of the forest was bearing down on his shoulders.