Sisters of Willowbrook

by Starscribe


Chapter 47: For Bad Mistakes

The colt stared back at her, making the same bewildered face she had seen more and more often. Now maybe she was starting to realize what it meant, however much she might not want to admit it. "You've been a mare, all this time? And an... important one."

"Yeah, well... maybe." She shuffled, backing slowly away from him. "It doesn't matter. Just keep calling me Lux. I'm just trying to help you. Don't go into the gross public shower, you can use mine. Then you can pass your inspection with flying colors! More golds, right?"

She laughed nervously, and he echoed the sound. "Y-yeah. More golds." He strode past her into the open bathroom. It wasn't big, not with the space constraints of shipboard life. It could've fit inside the fancy tub back at Vale Manor. Even so, it had still been built for fancy ponies and high officers. There was a fine porcelain tub, with a dozen different soaps and huge, fluffy towels.

Lilac wouldn't admit that she enjoyed using it, not to anypony who mattered.

Copper slid nervously past her, into the cramped space. He stared in amazement at the expensive-looking setup, then touched one hoof up against the faucet. But he didn't seem to know what he was doing, because nothing happened.

"Go ahead and take as long as you need. I've never seen it limit me on water before."

She took a few steps back out the door the way she'd come, but that still drew his attention. "Wait! You're just going to go?"

She shrugged. "You should go first. I'm not sure I should be at the inspection anyway. Captain Aurum knows who I am. I think he'll see through this to how I really look."

He sighed. "At least show me how this works? My family never had anything this nice back home. Just because I've got a horn doesn't mean I'm as fancy as you, Lux. Unicorns have all kinds, just like the other tribes."

"Fine." Her face got warmer as she made her way over. He didn't get out of the way, forcing her to squeeze in close to reach the faucet. She clogged it, then twisted the hot water on. Steam began billowing through the room. It couldn't hide his powerful scent, or her embarrassment. She really needed to think these things through.

It's okay to lie so long as I remember what I told ponies! I can't bring him back here like I'm not actually—

"Thanks, Lux," he said. He glanced nervously towards the door, then met her eyes again. "I knew there was something about you. This last week—I knew it was something. Guess this was it."

She needed to leave. Lilac should be anywhere but in this bathroom right now. Her hooves didn't move. "I didn't mean for it to get weird," she said. "I was just trying to be helpful, honest. Being up here is awful. Fine baths are one thing, but my tutor... she's the worst pony I've ever met. Forcing me to put on fancy dresses and prance around. Makeup, performance, singing." She stuck her tongue out. "I hate all of it, Copper."

His weight shifted beside her. The fog kept billowing around them, turning the mirror into an unreflective mess. But she could still see the one thing that interested her right now.

The pony she'd been following around for a week. He might not be as clever as Risk, or as magically powerful. But he was willing to get his hooves dirty. He was brave, taking her on even when it might get him punished with the ship.

"You'd rather be working on the engines?" he finished. “You'd rather be down there with me? Even if it means getting a little dirty? Not worry about... chipping your hooves, or whatever noble ladies care about?"

She shoved him with a shoulder. Not hard, but the impact still made him stumble. He wasn't expecting it. "Don't you call me that, Copper. I'm a mare, that was forced on me. But I'm not a lady. There's not enough makeup in the world to make me one of those."

The tub was already half full. How long had they been in here? "Sorry, Lux. I think you're a good—you did good work. I've never known anypony with magic like yours. It's so strong, I can feel it even when my eyes are closed. Like a princess, almost. Guess I shouldn't call you that either."

She glowered at him. "No, you shouldn't. Princesses are... the fanciest ponies there are. Gold and castles and palaces where they're locked inside forever. They probably have the most amazing magical libraries at their disposal. They could design incredible spellcraft, but... never leave to cast any of it."

He nodded absently. When had he gotten so close? They were both so covered in slime, it should've disgusted her—it didn't. It just reminded her of a week of adventures together, of escaping Keen Focus's captivity, crawling through the engines, walking along the outside of the Magna Vale, and generally not wearing a dress.

"I won't call you those things," he whispered. "Just, uh... tell me if I'm doing this wrong, okay? The Magna Vale doesn't have other mares like you."

"Doing w—"

He kissed her. For a second she was so shocked that she couldn't move, just stared back into his eyes, unblinking. She should be overwhelmed with disgust. She shouldn't be interested in guys! 

The expectation never manifested. She could easily force him off of her—let a unicorn try and force an earth pony to do anything! She didn't push him off.

She wasn't sure exactly how long it lasted. Long enough that she felt the first splash of water from the edge of the tub. She squealed in surprise, then broke away, slamming the faucet shut. 

She whimpered, yanking one of her towels off the rack, and hastily stomping up the mess. "That was... not how I expected my time in engineering to go," she finally said.

He grinned. "Didn't expect some mare to descend from the heavens and save my first tour, but here you were."

"Yeah, well..." She forced the unfriendliest expression she could. It wasn't terribly convincing, all things considered. "You say that like I'm somepony special. I'm not, no matter what this room makes you think. You wouldn't even believe where I come from, or the things I've done." 

He shrugged one shoulder. "I don't really care about all that, Lux. Whoever you used to be isn't on the ship with me." 

He glanced nervously at the water. "I, uh... do think I should get ready for that inspection now."

"Yeah." She blushed, retreating towards the door. "Get that grease off. Gotta look your best for the captain, right?"

He nodded. "Are you doing any better, Lux? Looks like there's room for two."

As it turned out, there was. 

It wasn't quite the most awkward thing she'd ever done, though she couldn't remember anything quite like it in Equestria.

They did get cleaned off, eventually. Whether in time for his inspection or not, Lilac wasn't quite sure. She found herself suddenly very distracted.

Eventually he was gone, back out the way he'd come. She lay relaxed beside her bed, surrounded by damp towels. The window was open, airing out the powerful smell of her guest as best she could. There was still enough mess that she should deal with it, but she just couldn't muster the energy to try... not yet, anyway.

"Your friend is gone," said a little voice, from the windowsill. She looked up, and found Saffron returned. He perched there beside the pot, looking stern. "Are you certain that was a wise decision?"

She shrugged one shoulder, not meeting his eyes. "I think something's wrong with me, Saffron. My last few months have been one bad decision after another. I've barely known Copper for a week."

He buzzed over to her, floating just off the edge of her bed. "The same predictable bad decisions as members of your kind have made since time immemorial. But if you expect this to change your responsibilities, you're mistaken. When we return to Willowbrook tomorrow, you have nearly two months of missed commitments in the grove. The others would riot, if you hadn't been taken against your will."

Her incomplete work back home. Of course her relationship as a student worked in both directions. Sometimes that just meant moving around heavy objects for the breezies, or giving her opinion about the position of unique plants. Other times it meant using her earth pony magic in specific ways, to benefit the health of the grove.

None of it bothered her. But there was something else buried in his words, so subtle she almost missed it. And maybe would have, if she hadn't studied under him for years. "Tomorrow? We're still months away!"

He shook his head sharply. "I think time aboard the Magna Vale is getting to you, student of mine. It's forgivable—you have no seasons here, no sunrise, no rain. You're completely disconnected from nature. You spend all that time crawling through machines, and you imagine that you belong here. But could you be happy on a hunk of flying wood and steel, never touching the loam with your own hooves?"

She opened her mouth to argue in the affirmative, but came up short. There were parts of this life that she could fall in love with. Fixing machines wasn't her talent, but it was a predictable way to spend her days. Clean, sweat, work... and maybe something else, now.

"You're kidding me," she argued. "I just..." Her ears tucked flat to her head. She made a frustrated whimpering sound, burying her face in her pillow. "Please tell me you're lying, Saffron."

"That would be a lie too," he chastised. He floated towards her, alongside the pillow. "You know what we say about lies. They bind us far tighter than any truth could do. Know them, and speak them wisely."

She whimpered, shoving her head deeper into the covers. "He works on the Magna Vale," she muttered. "I can't believe I let that happen."

"Because you're so much better than the other mares your age, Lilac? Why should you be? You're no less responsible than all the others who jump into reckless action. Did you count on your normal cycle of fertility to keep you from the consequences? You should know, that is not a guarantee. You're young and powerful, which makes this dangerous. I would not make it a habit, unless you want to offer your firstborn to the forest as well as yourself."

She shuddered. That quiet, all-body contentment was starting to fade, replaced with a dozen different flavors of nervous fear. Could that really happen the first time? She'd never imagined she would ever get this far—so why bother learning? 

Lilac wasn't staying in this world, after all. When she got home, she wouldn't be interested in a male partner anymore. I didn't think I wanted one before, either. 

But it wasn't what had just happened that filled her with regret—it was knowing that she couldn't see him again. "I have to tell him," she whispered. She rolled out of bed, making her swift way to the writing-desk. She ignored the mess they'd made, far too focused on this singular goal. He deserved to know.

"There's nothing you can put on that page that won't fill him with pain. You too, by the way. This is good—magic takes passion, student. To love and not know heartbreak is to paint with greens and blues, but forget the yellows and reds. Without it, you cannot form every color."

She whimpered, taking the quill in her mouth. "You want me to just... disappear? I could step off the ship tomorrow, and he'll never know what happened."

The bug landed beside her blank paper, watching. "Oh, I did not say that. I speak for the flowers and the weeds, Lilac. I do not speak for love."

Love. Was that really what she felt? It was all so sudden, she barely even realized what she was doing. Passion, maybe. But those weren't the same. 

She took the quill in her mouth, and scribbled as fast as she could.