“How many rooms does this castle have?” Luster huffed, as she and Starlight climbed up another flight of stairs. They had to be near the top by now.
Starlight sighed. “More than any of us can count. And Twilight’s tried as well. There seem to be new ones every week. I think Harmony is just trolling us now.”
Luster wondered who that was, as she tried one of the doors at random. To her surprise, it was locked. “Why is it locked? None of the other rooms are locked.”
Starlight blinked, before smiling, remembering just where they were. “This is Pearl’s old room,” she said, unlocking the door before pushing it open.
Looking inside, Luster was surprised to see how clean the room was. Opposite her was a bed and nightstand. Alongside a wall was a bookshelf crammed with various books plus odds and ends.
Starlight smiled as she remembered years gone by. “Pearl’s parents are away on business quite a lot. So Twilight gave her a room of her own to stay in as long as she wanted.”
Luster’s ears fell. “She really does care about Miss Rose, doesn’t she? They’ve been spending a lot of time together recently. Ponies are starting to talk.”
Starlight’s ears fell as she placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “She cares about all of us, Luster. Never think Twilight doesn’t. Pearl does as well. Once she cools off.” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “And ponies can talk all they want. What Twilight does is none of their business.”
Luster sniffed. “Why should she care about me after all of this though? I used her. I never tried to be friends with her, no matter how hard she tried. She hates me.”
Starlight shook her head. “Pearl doesn’t hate you, Luster. The last pony she hated ended up in Ponyville General Hospital, and still hasn’t recovered. This is her peeved. Believe me.”
Luster giggled a little at the thought, before sniffing again. “I wanted to go the Dragon Lands for so long. But now? All I ever dreamed of. Broken and shattered.”
Starlight didn’t respond for a moment as Luster sniffed again. “Pearl wants to be the world’s foremost Dragon Scholar. Did you know that?” Starlight finally said.
Luster looked up in surprise, shaking her head.
Starlight smiled. “It was the only thing she could talk about some days, talking the ears off Spike and Smolder, even Ember when she could. But there’s only so much they can say.”
Luster tapped her chin. “She wanted to go to the Dragon Lands too?”
Starlight nodded. “It took Pearl months to work up the courage to even ask Twilight if she could ask Lady Tsunami if Pearl could go. She fully expected to be denied as well.”
Looking out a nearby window, Luster shook her head. “But that didn’t happen. She’s seen more than most ponies I believe.”
Starlight nodded, as she joined her, looking out toward the Everfree Forest. Both wondered where the pair were now and if they were safe. “Yes, but it wasn’t easy. Pearl can tell you all the hoops she had to jump through to get as much as she has.”
Luster sighed. “Something I’ll never have. And why should I? I knew it was wrong what I was doing. But I didn’t care.”
Starlight nodded. “A good first step is to admit what you did was wrong. You still have a friend waiting for you in Pearl. You just have to want it. Apologize to her when they get back, and be sincere. Pearl will see right through it if you don’t.”
Luster sniffed. “And what if she still says no?”
Starlight shook her head. “That is a risk of friendship. No matter how hard you try, someponies will never be your friend. But it is still worth trying, and she will know you mean it. And do not even think to ask that question again any time soon. Unless something happens with their meeting, Pearl won’t even bring up what happened.”
Luster sighed, as she watched the trees wave in the breeze. “We were right by the Rose River. I understand that Lady Tsunami is the spirit of the river. Could she have heard us?”
Starlight shrugged. “Most likely. If I understand how the connection between a spirit and certain things work. But I’m not sure any of us made a good impression on her to change things.”
Luster sighed. Just her luck.
Pearl had never felt so small and utterly insignificant in her entire life. Not even meeting Princess Twilight for the first time had made her feel this small before. “Meep,” was all she could squeak.
A low squealing noise came from the thrones. Both Pearl and Twilight looked at the dragoness who looked like she was about to jump out of her scales. In a second her body leaped upward, her body shimmering like a wave of water as she turned into one.
This is how I die… Pearl whimpered internally as she watched the wave make a beeline right for her. The sound of waves on cliff rocks thundered throughout the throne room as the wave struck the area directly in front of her.
As the water vanished the dragoness was far smaller than she had been before. Now standing equal in height to Pearl but only three times as long as her. Moving about Lady Rose examined Pearl from various angles and looked over her shoulder.
“Oh she looks sooooo delicious!!!” a toothy grin went from ear to ear. “Better than you described.” Twilight saw the lady of the forest jump trot in place in the same way Pearl did when super excited.
“I certainly wouldn’t disappoint you, my love.” Lord Everfree chuckled waving a paw lightly. “I know how important this is for you. After all, it’s so rare to have a pony of her quality amongst us. I’m fairly certain she’ll fill your appetite.”
Pearl shot Twilight a pleading look. “Help,” she mouthed.
Twilight shook her head. “My lady. Forgive my impudence, but isn’t it rude to eat your guests?” She smirked. “Besides. Pearl is nothing but skin and bones. Hardly what I’d call a meal.”
Pearl shot her a glare. “Gee, thanks, princess. See if I do anything nice for you from now on if I live through this.” She dragged Twilight in front of her. “Here. Eat Twilight instead. Much better.”
In the span of a second, the whole room erupted in laughter. Lady Rose literally rolled on the ground holding her chest as tears fell down her face.
Pearl blinked as she found Twilight was chuckling as she too could no longer keep a straight face. “Will someone tell me what the buck is going on here!!!”
“Okay my love, I think the ice has been broken well enough.” Lord Everfree smiled from his chair. A paw holding a small bag of popcorn as he was thoroughly enjoying the show being played out in front of him.
“Oh, Pearl. Did you really think anyone here was going to eat you?” Twilight looked over her shoulder. A light laugh still emanated from her lips. “It was a joke to lighten the mood.”
“I heard you were a bit uptight, but I certainly didn’t think you were this gullible.” Rolling over, Lady Rose sat upright on the ground. “And I certainly didn’t think you’d throw Twilight under the trolly so quickly. From all the reports I’ve read about you over the years, that’s the last thing I would have expected.” The dragoness’s eye quirked a bit, chuckles still being heard throughout the room. With a wave of her claw, they silenced and every guard and attendant swiftly left.
“That even surprised me,” Twilight smirked at Pearl who only grumbled and crossed her front legs across her chest with a huff.
“Well anyway. Welcome Pearl. Honestly, I’m very excited to finally meet you in person.” Lady Rose moved up as swift as a river and placed a claw on Pearl’s shoulder. “Twilight’s been saying so many good things about you over the years.”
“She has?” Pearl looked over at Twilight who nodded. “Like what?”
“OH, nothing too bad. In fact, she’s mentioned how your so much improved since your time in Baltimare.” Leaning in the dragoness grinned. “But I loved reading everything you did back then so much more.”
“You’ve been reading about me since I lived in Baltimare?” Pearl looked to Twilight who just shrugged.
“Um, My lady. How is it you’ve been reading about her sense Baltimare?” Twilight blinked a few times scratching her head with a wing. “I’ve only known Pearl since a year before she moved, so unless you have been talking about that. But I can’t remember writing anything since my reports to you never started until she moved to Ponyville.”
“Did you honestly think you alone were sending us reports about her?” Lord Everfree chimed in. “My mate has been receiving reports since Pearl was a filly, barely out of her training horseshoes.”
“What?!” Pearl stepped back and gasped. “How… Who?”
“I wonder, now who could have been doing that?” Pearl felt herself shiver as the familiar voice echoed in the room.
Twilight too blinked as she recognized the voice. Pearl’s oldest and dearest friend. Second in command of the old gang Pearl used to be in charge of back in Baltimare.
Both mares turned around and saw a bright emerald mare step out of the shadows behind Lord Everfree. Her amber-colored mane flowed down her shoulders and back. “Long time no see Pearly,” the mare smiled wide.
“Amber Orchid!!” Twilight and Pearl both yelled out in unison.
Pearl was quick to hug her old friend. “How? I didn’t even know you were close to Ponyville, let alone all the way out here. And how and why are you sending reports to them? Better yet. How the hay do you know them?”
Amber chuckled aloud and shook her head. Twilight’s hair slightly popped out as she noticed Lord Everfree’s grin matched Amber’s perfectly. “Well. That’s a rather long and boring story.” Amber hugged her friend tightly. “But Tsumi here wanted to know all about you. And I was happy to accommodate her. I’ve known her for a very long time Pearl. Longer than even you know.”
“Huh?” Pearl blinked looking over to Lady Rose who was just rolling her eyes at her mate.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Twilight blurted out as her eye started to twitch.
“What’s gotten you all out of sorts?” Pearl quirked an eyebrow at Twilight.
“Pearl you can’t seriously say you don’t see it.” Twilight placed a hoof on Pearl’s shoulder.
“See what?” Pearl looked at her friend and back at Twilight.
“It’s no good Princess. It’s part of who I am.” Turning Pearl back around Amber looked into her friend’s eyes. “I’m sorry I hid all this from you, but I promise you’ll be told everything.”
“Amber. You sound like you’re saying goodbye all over again.” Pearl didn’t like what was happening. She stepped back and bit her lip as she watched her friend nod slowly.
“I’m sorry Pearl. But you don’t need ME anymore. But I’ll still be around for you.”
“What the hay does that mean?” Pearl stomped her hoof, ready to tackle her friend just to keep her from running away. But watched as she just turned and looked at Lord Everfree.
“I’m ready now.”
“Ready for what!! What is going on!” Pearl shouted aloud. She tried to move but found she was rooted in place by something she couldn’t see or feel. A cold sweat ran down her spine as she watched as Lord Everfree step down and stand before Amber. With a grin, he just swiped his massive paw across her body, in a flash the emerald mare was gone. Vanished in a flurry of autumn leaves.
Pearl growled. “What did you do? Bring her back!”
Twilight shook her head. “There is nothing to bring back, Pearl.”
Pearl rounded on her former teacher and poked her. “Like hell, there isn’t! I’ve had enough of this crap today. First Luster, and now this. If this is someone’s idea of a joke, they’re dead meat.”
“She was never meant to be a joke Pearl,” Lord Everfree’s stepped forward, his voice soft. “Only a means to an end that has taken its first step past infancy. And like Twilight said, there is nothing to bring back. Since she never truly existed in the first place.” Placing a paw on Pearl’s shoulder he gave her a smile only Amber Orchid made. “And if I’m guessing right, you’re about to blow your top and start pounding somepony. I think that’s what got you in trouble with Professor Protractor. After you sent, Thunder I think his name was, crashing into the classroom. Through the window.”
Pearl’s breath hitched. Only her closest and dearest friends knew about that, and Amber was never one to blab to anyone, no matter who they were. It's what kept their group together fo so long. Unless… “Why? Why do all of that? I’m no one.”
Narrowing his eyes he produced a full-sized mirror and sat behind Pearl. One paw on her chin made her look at herself. “That’s not what I see Pearly. I have never wasted my time on anypony who wasn’t worth it. And you’ve always been. Now look into that mirror and tell me what you see.” His voice was as stern as Amber’s was on the many times' Pearl doubted herself back in the day.
Pearl looked. It was identical to the mirror she’d had as a filly before they moved to Ponyville. She smiled after a moment. “I see someone about to pound the living hell out of you, you oversized rug! Damn, the consequences. I’ve had too long of a day.”
“Now that’s the Pearl I know.” Lord Everfree smiled and stepped aside and sat next to his mate. “That’s the fire I always knew you had inside of you.” With a sigh he relaxed a bit and rubbed his shoulder. “I know you have a billion and one questions. But I’ll answer the first and foremost. By telling you my name. Ponies have known me as Lord Everfree or Forestsong. But to those closest to me I go by Kohaku. Which in Ponish. Means, Amber.”
Pearl stood there looking as if a beam had landed atop her head.
“And I’m sorry about the deceptions. I couldn’t very well show myself as I am. Especially not to a filly of five years old. But everything she was came from me. Most of the time I let her run on autopilot, but there were important moments I took control. Guiding you through life, preparing you for a world bigger than any pony could hope to see. And all for the express purpose of bringing you. To her.” His paw gestured to his beloved mate. “Tsunami Rose. or as many know her. The spirit of the Summer Rose River.”
Pearl looked at the dragoness. Again, there was that tug on her soul, but now it was even worse than before. “Okay, but why? I’m over the moon of course. But why me?”
Tsunami looked at her mate and nodded as she stood up and walked over, taking Pearl’s hooves into her claws and looking the mare in the eyes. “Because Pearl, you’re my little sister. Our souls are identical twins. I’ve waited for you for so long now.” tears slowly streaked down the dragoness’s cheeks.
Twilight’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. Pearl, though, was even more confused now. “What? How? Did Mom and Dad have another kid I didn’t know about? I don’t think either one is a dragon in disguise.”
Tsunami just giggled and shook her head. “Oh no. I was hatched over twenty-five thousand years ago. We have different parents. Born to different eras. But our souls were born together. For so long I’ve not felt complete. Then you were born. I could feel you even then. But I couldn’t just rush to you.” Tsunami sighed deeply. “Imagine the panic and mayhem that would have caused. No. Even if I waited till you had grown it would have been disastrous. You had to be prepared to meet with me. Through your own choices and actions. Being what I am forced me to remain here, so I had to wait for you to come to me.”
“And I help to guide you to that path. I know you’re angry with me, and please feel free to hit me as much as you like. You were never shy about doing it before so why stop now.” Kohaku chuckled happily as he saw that little sparkle in Pearl’s eyes. “And I hope we can continue our old friendship. Now that you know who I am.”
Pearl thought for a moment. That last part was gonna be so hard, now knowing what she did. She finally smirked. “Oh man, the girls are gonna flip when they hear this. And maybe now I can get more hooves on. Do you know how hard it is to find an eastern dragon in Ponyville? All I have is what Spike and Smolder can tell me.”
“Ugh. Don’t get me started on mountain dragons. Those Gem-eating brutes have no real class.” Tsunami scoffed slightly. “Granted Spike has his merits but most of them I just can’t stand.” Looking at Pearl’s confused face made her giggle. “Sorry, Dragons of my kind and Theirs don’t often get along too well. But we have a bit of mutual respect as fellow dragons.”
“Speaking of dragons. I have a gift I wanted to give you.” Kohaku flipped his paw up revealing an old journal. The old leather was dark from age but the thick paper inside was as crisp as it was the day it was written. “This was something my father, his father, and his father before him all wrote. Even I put my own studies in it. Personal experiences mostly.” Setting the book down before Pearl and Twilight, he pulled a thin crystal from the spine. “I have no real use for it any longer. So consider it a gift, from us. To you.”
Pearl blinked as she opened the book and scrunched up her face in annoyance. “And just HOW do you read this thing?”
“Place the crystal on the page, over the line of text, and say ‘Hon'yaku’” Tsunami instructed.
Pearl did so, and her jaw dropped as a wall of thousands upon thousands of scrolls appeared before her. Pulling one out she suddenly found could read every word inside and it was all about one subject in particular. Her smile would have made Pinkie Pie proud, as she also saw Twilight reading along.
Maybe it was the excitement of all she had just learned, or maybe the weeks they had spent together recently finally broke down the last barriers, but Pearl couldn’t take it any longer. “Twilight. Would you be my study date? I know how much you love this. Maybe this is a bad idea, but I don’t care anymore.”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. It was something she’d been wanting for weeks now. She finally smiled. “Pearl. I would be honored to.”
Pearl squeed. Before she could stop herself, she leaned in and pressed her lips against Twilight’s, who jolted in surprise, before leaning into the kiss in full. “And keep Luster out of this,” Pearl growled as they pulled apart. “I don’t care if she’s staying in the castle now.”
Twilight sighed. “Pearl. You cannot avoid her forever.”
“Like hell, I can’t,” Pearl snorted. “You were lucky I stormed off earlier before I did something even you couldn’t forgive me for.”
“Was that what that little tussle was about? Someone wants to come with you to the Dragon Lands?” Tsunami asked with a grin.
Pearl pinched her snout. Of course, she knew all about that. They’d been right beside the river before entering the Everfree. “Luster’s been pestering me for months about going with me. I told her to give me a good reason, and I’d think about it. It’s been worse since your letter though.”
Twilight nodded with a smirk as she lay a wing around Pearl. “I seem to remember a certain Pegasus filly who once took months to ask me if she could go as well.”
Pearl smiled. “Yeah, but I was upfront about why I wanted to. And I fully thought I’d be denied as well.” Her smile turned sheepish. “Not knowing what I do now, why should I’ve been different?”
“Then what changed?” Tsunami asked, though she obviously knew by her growing smile.
Pearl growled. “Nopony uses me. All I ever was was a stepping stone for what Luster wanted. She finally admitted it as well. That was all I could take. I refused to even think about it.”
Twilight nodded sadly. “I knew Luster viewed friendship as a waste of time. But I had hoped I had been wrong. For once in my life, I wanted to be wrong.”
Pearl nodded. “So she can sit there and think of everything she threw away. I tried so hard to be friends with Luster. I knew she needed a friend. Badly. Now? I don’t care anymore.”
Twilight sighed. She wasn’t sure how she could fix this. Both mares were too stubborn for their own good sometimes. It was part of why she loved Pearl and Luster both, but still.
Tsunami, though, only grinned. “Well then. I say Luster Dawn should come with you, the next time you visit, sis.”
Pearl blinked. “Wait. Wha-”
A claw on her mouth stopped her. “Ah, ah, ah. She only needs my permission, does she not?” The dragoness smirked. “I see that you care about her. Why else would you try to be her friend?”
Pearl sniffed. “And she never cared about me! Why should I reward that?”
Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulders. “Then tell Luster if and when she’s truly embraced friendship. I know she will. Whatever you say, Pearl Rose, I know she has a good heart.”
Pearl wilted under the glare. Part of her wanted to try again with the unicorn. If any place could change Luster’s views on friendship, it was Ponyville. Oh, why did she have to have a big heart?
Twilight saw the hesitation and played her last card, one she had never wanted to. “If you cannot accept that, then you can read the journal on your own, and I was wrong about you, Pearl Rose. I’ve seen how you look at me. I’ve suspected your crush on me for some time now.” Her glare melted into a worried look. “Do you want to throw away everything you’ve ever wanted over something so stupid as this?”
Pearl winced. Damn it, why did Twilight have to go there? She knew she was being stupid about this. Did she want to throw away everything she’d ever dreamed of? The mare of her dreams. She finally shook her head and leaned her head against Twilight’s neck. “No. Damn it, I’ve wanted this for so long. I don’t want to lose this. Us,” she sniffed. “I’ll tell Luster. But not now. Let her earn it. Prove me wrong. Let her jump through the same hoops I did.”
“I’ll provide the flaming hoops,” Kohaku chuckled.
Pearl stuck her tongue out at him. “Oh. Shut it, you useless furball.”