//------------------------------// // Ch. 18 // Story: A Twilight Rose Love // by Mystic Sunrise //------------------------------// Pearl sighed as Ponyville came into sight. The sight of the small town always improved her mood, and at the moment she needed it as she looked again at the letter in her bags. “Why? Oh, why did I have to be the one to do this? I’d love to meet them. But I don’t know a damn thing about their language and customs. Not enough to do this right,” she grumbled. Maybe she could ask Forestsong for help. Reading the journal was one thing, but learning the language was another thing. Twily was the one learning all of this. Not her. Thinking of the alicorn brought a smile to her face. Her talk with Summer Rose had done a lot of good for Pearl’s mood, and raising absolute hell in the Dragon Lands also helped. How she was going to explain her meeting the dragon she was still working out. But that was beside the point. Right now, Pearl just wanted to snuggle her princess, feel those soft feathers hold her close, and caress her. She had overreacted when she had left. No more. She was going to be Twilight’s support, no matter what that meant. If she had to physically drag the alicorn to bed, she would. She loved her too much. Loved her enough that a new thought had begun to creep into her mind. Something that would take their love to a new level. The question was, was she ready for that kind of commitment? And how the hay would she do it and not have all of Ponyville know about it? Nothing stayed hidden for long in the town. Especially from Pinkie Pie. New mother or not, she had only barely slowed down. Pearl envied the mare somedays in that regard.  “I’m glad to see you're a little more relaxed than when you were heading out.”  Pearl sighed and nodded as the melodic tone of water over river rocks filled her ears.  “That’s always a beautiful sight, coming home I mean.” Pearl blinked as she quickly turned her head and came face to face with the Summer Rose in her mare form. “Oh great you again.” Pearl sighed and leaned back and rubbed her temples.  “Hello Pearl, so how is the ol’ uzai doing?" After a moment Pearl opened her eyes and looked at the familiar mare again. “She’s good. Remembers you fondly enough.” Pearl watched as Summer just nodded slowly.  “And I'm hardly relaxed. I’m stressed over a lot. But I have decided to take the advice you gave me.” Pearl looked at Summer as she nodded as if she already knew. The Pegasus wondered just how her and Forestsong knew these things. Pushing that aside Pearl slumped back into her seat. “I’m also worried about meeting with a delegate of your kind coming to Equestria.”  Summer raised an eyebrow but kept silent. “Tiamat wants me of all ponies to welcome them here. I know nothing of their customs and language.” Pearl groaned and leaned forward when she felt a soft paw on her shoulder. Looking up the whole train was gone and everything around her had a watery shimmer. Looking to Summer the mare had taken on her true form. Her serpentine form coiled about Pearl several times while leaving the mare adequate space to move. Her front limbs crossed about what Pearl assumed was her chest. Summer’s whole body was covered in thin silk fur-covered scales the size of teacup saucers. Looking up, Pearl gazed at the dragoness’s face which wasn’t unlike that of a she wolf. Twin short antlers grew up just beside her ears. And a coral pink tuft of fur ran from her crown all the way down the dragoness’s spine to her tail tip.  “Wow, just wow. Tiamat showed me images of eastern dragons but nothing like you.” Pearl blinked and ran her paw over the dragoness’s long body. Stopping only when the mare heard her giggle. “Careful, I’m ticklish.” Summer grinned as Pearl blushed. “And don’t be too worried about meeting my kind. I can teach you all you need to know.” “You will? I was just going to ask Forestsong.” Pearl leaned back into Summers coils. “HA. I love him but he is his father’s son when it comes to teaching others.” Summer laughed aloud. “I’m a little more paws on, when is this meeting of yours?” “About a year from now.” “Plenty of time. I can’t promise you’ll be fluent, but I can make you good enough to earn a pass from even the harshest of eastern critics.” Summer watched as Pearl grinned.  “That’s good. I’ve been worried because I’ve seen how hard it’s been for Twilight to learn it.” “Well to be fair she’s learning the more magical side. You’ll just be striking conversation.” Stretching a bit, Summer smiled. “Just come down to the river by a set of stones, you’ll know which ones. But be sure to tell the hedge you’ll be taking lessons with the river before you do. I’d hate to have you walk in on us unannounced. Not that Haku would mind but even from a distance our time together is precious.” Pearl blinked and stared at her. “With all the oddity my last few months have been with him and now you. The idea of telling a plant I'm going to take lessons from a river sounds normal.” “Great. And if you can bring some teacakes with you that would be wonderful.”  Pearl double blinked as she heard the train whistle as she sat up and looked about.  “Next stop Ponyville!” the conductor called out as he strolled down the aisle. Summer had vanished, leaving Pearl to wonder if she could learn to do the same. It might’ve helped in the past a few times. Shaking her head, she grabbed her saddlebags and stretched as the train began to slow. Looking out the window, she didn’t notice anypony there to greet her. Granted, she hadn’t said exactly when she would come back, so it didn’t surprise her too much. “Good. Maybe I can surprise her for once.” Giggling as the train finally came to a stop and passengers began to disembark, Pearl step out onto the platform. She almost expected to see Forestsong there to greet her, seeing as how Summer kept popping up as she did, but there was no one there. She rolled her eyes as she made her way into Ponyville. “Maybe that would’ve been a bit much. He sticks out like a sore wing. No way he could blend in that easily.” “Pearl!!” a highly excited familiar voice called out.  Pearl turned around and saw Twilight galloping as hard as she could toward the station. The pegasus smiled as her princess sid to a stop and hung her head down panting heavily. “Twilight?” Panting and breathing heavily, Twilight smiled and looked up “Oh thank heavens I’m not that late. I almost forgot you were arriving.” “Oh.” Pearl smiled and blushed before blinking. “Um, Twilight. I never told you what day I was coming back. How did you know?” “Well, I’m not sure I thought I forgot it. So I checked my planner and found this small river stone on today’s date at this time.” Twilight sat down and stretched a bit, her breathing coming a little easier. “After lifting it I found your name with a heart on it. I put two and two together and here we are.” Pearl blinked again.  “The thing is I can't explain it. It wasn’t my writing, so I thought you might have jotted it down before you left.” Pearl’s eyes twitched. Oh, she would be having words with a certain dragon about this. “I didn’t because I wasn’t really sure when I’d get back. But I think I know who did, and she’s going to be hearing about this.” Twilight tilted her head. “Who? It wasn’t a secret you were leaving for a while. But no one that I know of has touched my planner aside from me.” Pearl nodded. “Summer Rose. She’s a river dragon spirit from around here. I’ve met her. Or more accurately, she found me. She’s also Forestsong’s mate. She seems really interested in me. More so than just because I’m friends with him.” “I’ve seen her.” Twilight smiled and sat up. “Well not so much in the way that one would see a dragon. It’s hard to explain. Not a physical dragon but more like a set of river rocks and flowing water in the shape of a dragon.” On seeing Pearl’s confused gaze Twilight smiled. “I’ll show you. You have to see it to believe it. Her and Forestsong have been sitting gazing at each other for weeks now.” Pearl sighed. “Well considering they can’t do it the way they used to, I don’t blame them. Please tell me you’ve got something from the scroll?” “OH yeah, and almost blew myself up in the process.” Twilight wrapped her wing around Pearl. “I’ll tell you all about it as we head back to the castle.” Pearl all but melted into the embrace. “Sounds good. Because I’ve got something I need to tell you about too. I just hope I don’t screw this up.” Twilight gave her a concerned look. “Screw what up, Pearl?” The Pegasus sighed as she pulled the letter out of her bag. “This,” she grumbled as Twilight took it in her magic and began to read. As she did, her eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped, before finally giving her marefriend a shocked look. “Tiamat wants you to do what?!” Pearl nodded. “She wants me to meet a delegation of eastern dragons. Here in Equestria. They want to form a colony here. Open trade with us even.” Twilight had been afraid of that as she groaned. “Pearl. No offense, but you are not a diplomat. Nor are you actually qualified to do something like this.” Pearl threw her hooves up in exasperation. “That’s what I told Tiamat! I would love to meet them. They’ve been in hiding since the end of the wars. But not like this. This is something for you, Cadence, and Flurry Heart. Hell. Throw in Celestia and Luna too.” Twilight nodded. This did feel like something they all needed to be here for. “So what do you plan to do? Tiamat doesn’t take no for an answer very often.” Pearl nodded, resting her head on Twilight’s shoulders. “You know me. Of course, I said yes. And I don’t think she expects me to do everything. Probably just help to smooth the start. I have a year to learn their language and customs so I don’t ruin everything.” Twilight tapped her chin. That made more sense. “How are you going to learn all of this though? I’ve had enough trouble as it is learning the language, and I don’t know how much Forestsong can teach you before we send him home.” Pearl nodded. “I know. Summer said that she’ll teach me. Something about I’ll be learning the easier stuff compared to you. Magical doodads compared to just customs and conversation.” Twilight pouted a bit at that, earning a giggle from her marefriend. “So what’s this about something blowing up in your face?” Pearl asked. “You haven’t done that in years.” Twilight’s pout morphed into a wide smile at this. “We found the spell. To restore Forestsong’s shrine. And it blew up in my face.” Pearl blinked, waiting for the punchline, but as the seconds passed and nothing else was said, her smile grew wider and wider. “You found it?! How? When? And how are you still here?” Twilight giggled. “I found it by accident several weeks ago. As for why I’m still here? Our best guess is that it’s because I wasn’t attempting to use it on the shrine itself. I know I mispronounced it at some point, hence the explosion.” Pearl all but bounced in place in glee. “Does he know yet?” Twilight giggled. “I’m not sure. He’s been down by the river this whole time. Knowing who is there, I don’t blame him. I don’t want to interrupt their time together.” Pearl couldn’t blame Forestsong, as she saw the kitsune-shaped hedgerow by the castle and the dragon shape that it faced. She could almost feel their love from here. “Is Luster still using the same room?” Twilight nodded, confused by this. “Yes. Though she has been talking about getting a dorm room at the School recently. Why?” Pearl just smirked. “You’ll see. She’s been waiting for this for months now.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something. “Do you mean?” Pearl just tickled her princess’s nose with a wing with a knowing look. “That’s for me to know and everypony else to find out. I won’t pull her out of class. Even for this.” Twilight pouted. But the look in the Pegasus’s eyes told her she wasn’t going to get any answers at the moment. So for now she could only wait. Luster Dawn all but pranced into the Dining Room, earning a chuckle from the ponies already there. “Sompony’s in a good mood,” Pearl giggled. Luster nodded happily, before finally seeing who had spoken. “Miss Rose! You’re back.” Pearl nodded. “Yep. Got back earlier today.” Her smile grew. “And I’ve got good news and bad news.” Luster’s ears fell. She had an idea of what it might be about and tried to prepare for the worst. Maybe it had been hoping too much that she could go with Miss Rose. Pearl, though, laid a wing around her with a grin. “I talked with Tiamat. She said that you can come with me next time I go to the Dragon Lands. Lord Ember isn’t happy about it. But no one argues with the Chromatic Dragon on this.” Luster almost stopped herself from bouncing in place and squeeing in delight. Almost, as she hugged Pearl as tight as she could. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Pearl chuckled as she returned the hug. “You’re welcome. And from what Twily’s told me about what you’ve been doing at the School of Friendship, you’ve earned it. There’s a catch though.” Luster blinked, as did everypony else. “What do you mean?” Pearl sighed. “You’re under my protection while we’re there, but that only goes so far. If you want to see what I’ve seen, then you have to earn it. I didn’t see it all my first time.” Twilight nodded gravely. “It is true. Only after several visits, and going through a lot of hoops, did Pearl earn as much as she has.” Pearl nodded. “Which means you do exactly what I tell you and when I tell you. Tiamat made this a one-time thing. Don’t give her a reason to not consider letting you visit more often.” Luster nodded firmly. She had expected as much. “You can count on me.” Pearl nodded, as Forestsong entered the room, giving Pearl a knowing look, one the Pegasus returned. “Well look what the kit drug in. Summer finally let you go?” He chuckled. “What can I say? It’s hard being apart like this. I see the two of you got along.” Pearl rolled her eyes. “No thanks to you, methinks. The only reason I can think of how she knew where I was.” Forestsong only smiled wider, while everypony else was confused by what they were talking about. “Who is Summer?” Starlight asked. Pearl shook her head as she took a sip of her drink. “She’s the spirit of the river. I finally met her. Or more likely, she came looking for me. I don’t know why, but she seems really interested in me.” Forestsong nodded, “And no, it has nothing to do with me if any of you are thinking this. The two of you share something. Far more than you know, Pearl. But I will not say more.” “Why not?” Twilight asked, as confused as everyone else was. Forestsong just shook his head. “Rosie will tan my hide if I say too much. That is all I can say.” He smiled up at Twilight. “And I see you have found the spell?” Twilight nodded, smiling sheepishly. “Yes, and almost blew myself up in the process. All of Ponyville heard it I think.” Luster shook her head. “Princess. It’s the only thing some of the students talk about at the School. Your friends seemed to know. But they haven’t said anything about it.” Twilight sighed. “They do know what happened and why. I didn’t want this to get out.” Pearl wrapped a wing around her princess’s shoulders. “So why didn’t it do anything then? You had to screw something up for that to happen. How come it wasn’t worse?” Forestsong shook his head. “The spell must be used on my shrine for it to have that kind of effect. From what was released, you mispronounced several words. But I also felt the swell of magic several moments later. It means you have discovered it. What happens when you finally cast it remains to be seen.” Twilight nodded a weight off of her shoulders at last. “Thank you. I believe I can find the way back to the graves. I hope.” Forestsong just smiled. “That you and your friends found them at all speaks to your integrity. Only one other pony knows where they are, and he knows better than to speak of all of this too much. You will find them, though they will be different this time.” Pearl gave him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He just shook his head, smirking. “You will know when you see it. Do not rush into this, Princess Twilight. You will do something wrong if you do. Take some time, relax, and focus. It will help when the time comes.” Twilight wanted to argue this, but a part of her knew he was right. He gave the couple a knowing smile. “And if the two of you are as close as I know you are, then you will do this together.” He looked directly at Pearl. “Be there for her. Especially now. The Everfree is still dangerous for ponies. And be sure to watch out for the Wild Storms. They can come up unexpectedly and without warning.” Twilight and Pearl shared a confused look. Why did it sound like there was more to it than he was saying? But he was right, as Pearl leaned on Twilight. “Damn right, Twily. You’re not doing this without me. Not after everything we’ve done. Good and bad.” Twilight kissed her. “I wouldn’t dream of it, honey.” Starlight and Luster dry heaved off to the side, earning an eye roll from the couple, while Forestsong only chuckled. “I hope you know what you are doing, Rosie,” he thought.