//------------------------------//
// Chapter 75: Alicorn Tempers 
// Story: Rosa 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

Again Rosa hesitated in front of the correct tent. It still felt wrong to simply barge in on people without even knocking, except that she couldn't really knock on fabric. In the end she just shrugged and pushed the flap aside. Similar to the medical one, this tent was also divided into two sections by a fabric wall. The Princesses Rosa was looking for were in the inner section and the small 'antechamber' was completely empty. Rosa walked forward to enter the other room, but paused when she caught Luna's voice, rising in anger in the middle of a sentence.

"-can't go on like this!"

Rosa's hoof fell back down and she started backing away, but then Cadence shouted back and Rosa froze.

"Well, excuse me, Luna, but you weren't here! You don't know what it was like!"

Maybe she should have said something, or went in there to make them realize they had an audience, but the cold fury Rosa felt in Cadence's tone rooted her to the spot. Her ears flattened, but she couldn't keep from listening.

"If my sister found out-"

"Celestia isn't here! She wasn't there, either! You've no right to use her name to try and change my mind!" Cadence snapped back even before Luna could finish her sentence. "I've had to make some pretty bad decisions, Luna!"

The other Princess groaned and Rosa heard a hoofstep. "Still, Cadence, this is beyond the pale! It's so far outside the pale you can't even see the fence anymore!"

"It's nothing they wouldn't do! You've seen what happened! Don't tell me it doesn't make you angry!"

Rosa didn't know what 'them' Cadence was talking about, but she seemed to hate 'them' very much. Rosa could but hope that 'them' didn't include her as her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

Luna took a deep breath, but her voice was still tense with distaste. "Yes, it does! But what you're doing is wrong, Cadence! The only reason you were allowed to come here is to save ponies-"

"I am saving ponies," the pink alicorn snapped, again interrupting. "I'm saving ponies from ever having to deal with all this crap! Don't think it isn't costing me!"

There was a silence and Rosa relaxed a bit, thinking the shouting match might be over. Just as she was about to quietly leave, Luna raised her voice again: "Is it? Is it really?! The way I'm seeing things, it all just looks like revenge, Cadence."

"It's nothing they don't deserve," came the sullen, muttered reply.

Again Luna sighed and there was another hoofstep - Rosa guessed she had stepped closer to Cadence. "Maybe so, but we don't deal in revenge, Cadence!"

Cadence barked a laugh, but there was no joy in it. "Tell that to the families who've lost-"

"Revenge isn't the way!" This time it had been Luna who had interrupted. She went on: "We are not them, Cadence. We! Are! Not! Them!"

"Well, I'm me and I'll do this the way I see fit! Celestia put me in charge, remember?!"

Luna also raised her voice some more and Rosa considered putting her hooves over her ears. "Only because she was afraid I'd lose my cool and take it too far! If she saw you now, knew what you were planning-"

"Buck. Off!" Cadence said back, slowly and deliberately. "We're doing this my way. If you don't like it, you can run back to your precious sister!"

There was no reply for a while, then Cadence kept going: "Seriously, Luna, stop living in your bucking sister's bucking shadow! Think for yourself for once!"

It would be the perfect time to sneak away, but Rosa's legs felt rooted to the ground and she couldn't move. She was scared for her life that she'd make a sound and the two would find her spying.

"I still don't like this," says Luna in a defeated tone of voice. Rosa guessed that comment about her sister's shadow had really hit home. "Don't hurt civilians, Cadence."

"They stopped being civilians when they took jobs to supply the military!"

Luna gave an exasperated groan and Rosa could clearly imagine her rolling her eyes. "That's the condition, Cadence! One civilian injury and I'm dragging your rump back to Celestia and we're letting her deal with saving ponies on Earth any way she sees fit!"

There was more silence and then finally Cadence said: "Okay! Fine! We're just trying to keep them from resupplying so they move out of the area! It shouldn't be that hard."

"Then what do we do? We need to go back to the original plan, Cadence."

More silence, until Cadence answered: "I'll have Ethan look around. What about this School you told me about? They're experimenting with cutie marks?"

They were talking about her! Rosa barely suppressed a squeak of surprise, but now her ears were focused on the conversation. It was getting harder to hear as the mares stopped yelling.

Luna said: "I'm able to get back into Dreamscape. I'll try to find more of their dreams and see what is really happening there."

"You still can't enter human dreams?"

"No," Luna answered, her voice low and defeated. "I think our minds work differently in some way. I can't feel the dreams even of sympathetic humans. Even the ones in this very camp."

There was a rustle of feathers and Rosa imagined Cadence had gone to hug the other Princess. Her next words confirmed it: "Don't beat yourself up, Luna. See if you can get anything from the ponies at that School and we'll try to find a way to help them all."

"After that we're leaving," Luna said. "I don't like what this place is doing to you, Cadence. You've changed, and I don't think it's for the better."

It was the wrong thing to say because hooves clattered as Cadence presumably jumped away and her voice was angry again: "Of course I've changed! How could I not change after-"

Her voice choked off and Rosa felt a sense of dread over what she had almost said. Something bad had happened to her, maybe?

"You should go back, Cadence. Flurry Heart needs you. She can't be raised by her aunt alone, the young mare needs her mother. Now more than ever, when she's coming into her own as an alicorn."

"I know, I know," Cadence said with a sigh. "I want to go back, Luna, I really do."

They were quiet for a bit, then Cadence spoke up again, even as she started walking away. "Let's save those ponies at this School and then we'll leave, okay? I promise."

"You promised before," Luna pointed out and the hoofsteps stopped.

There was an angry stomp and Cadence raised her voice again: "I know I did! This is different!"

There was no further reply and the hoofsteps continued. Rosa remembered that she had been eavesdropping and jumped a little as the flap pulled aside. Contrary to what she'd thought, it was Princess Luna who was leaving and she froze when she spotted her. "Rosa?" the mare said.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to- I just wanted to ask- and then I was here and you were- and Cadence- I'M SORRY!"

What did alicorns do to spies? The two had sounded pretty angry and Rosa was very worried that they might toss her in prison for spying on them. Or worse.

"Relax, it is okay," Luna assured her. She gave her a small smile, but Rosa saw Cadence frowning at them from behind Luna's back. That stare made Rosa shrink back a little. "Walk with me," Luna said and held the front entrance open with a wing. Rosa was only too glad to duck outside.

After a few steps, where she had to hurry to keep up with Luna, the Princess spoke: "What did you want to ask?"

It felt like ages ago and Rosa had to work to bring it to mind. It seemed so trivial after the fight she'd heard. She still did her best to answer the Princess: "I wanted to ask if t-there was something I c-could do to help," she explained. "A-Around the camp, I m-mean."

"Commendable," Luna praised. "What sort of work can you do?"

Rosa thought fast over her past experiences and managed to make her voice steadier than she felt. "I'm good with, um, problematic children. Well, it's what I trained for. My cutie mark is in gardening, but I can do anything, really, if someone shows me! I helped with dishes in the kitchen." Maybe if she made herself useful, Luna would protect Rosa from Cadence's certain wrath.

The Princess took this in and thought it over, while Rosa plodded after her in silence. She kept glancing back, expecting to see pink horned-and-winged revenge bearing down on her.

"For now I will take you to the quartermaster. He often needs help with cataloguing and bookkeeping. I'll make enquiries as to what you can do after that."

"T-Thank you, Princess."

Rosa was relieved. Cadence scared her a lot, especially after what she'd just heard, but Rosa had complete faith in Luna. She really was the older and wiser of the two.

"Tomorrow I will ask you to tell me what you can of your School, Rosa."

"Of c-course!" she hurriedly promised.

"Have you decided whether you wish to find a place for yourself on Earth, or whether you would like to go to Equestria?"

This time her ears folded down in shame. "I h-haven't," Rosa answered truthfully. She'd like to go, but she wouldn't abandon Sky Light. Maybe if all the ponies in this resistance went home, she would want to go with captain Zephyr.

"There still is no hurry, but please do think about it. I feel we might not be on Earth much longer. After that, it will not be easy to travel from one place to the other."

"Okay, P-Princess."

"Good. We're here. Tell Caramel Walnut, the quartermaster, that I sent you to help her."

"Okay."

Again the Princess lifted up the tent flap with her wing and Rosa slipped inside, much relieved that there hadn't been more of a retribution for her eavesdropping. It might still come from Cadence later, but Rosa felt safer now that Luna was looking after her. Her thoughts that barging into places without knocking was a bad idea, was very much confirmed. The only problem now was how to knock? Maybe if she stomped her hooves loudly, she'd alert the ponies inside tents that she was outside?

Alternatively, she should call out before she entered. Rosa decided to think about it later, and perhaps see what other people did. For now she could hide out in the quartermaster's tent so that Princess Cadence didn't find her. Hopefully she'd stop being angry or forget about Rosa by the next day.





Working was a good cure for excessive hunger, Rosa found. By the time Walnut told her to stop for the day, it was already dark out and he'd nearly missed dinner. Rosa flashed the quartermaster mare a grateful smile, then made a dash for the mess hall, hoping she could even get anything this late. There might be nothing left.

As Rosa ran, she kept an eye out for familiar faces, on the off chance to find some company for dinner. There was no sign of her new friends, Snow Dove and Almond Hooves, nor could she spot Sky or her captain anywhere. Hopefully they were done with whatever they were doing in the tent by now. As soon as Rosa got some food she wanted to use that tent for sleeping. The day had been better, but she was still feeling the effects of their crazy escape from the human facility. Starlight had assured her that this pony camp was a long distance away from there and the humans had zero chance of finding them. It was all in the magic of these 'Bores', Rosa guessed. If they could move ponies to Equestria and back, halfway across the country wasn't a problem.

She made it to the mess tent, where Rosa spotted the human, Lin Lei, gathering trays from the empty tables. "Oh! Hi! Am I too late to get something?!" she asked in a worried voice.

The girl, who couldn't be more than twenty, gave Rosa a quick wave as she balanced her stack of trays in one hand. "Hi Rosa. Just go in the back, I think there's some mushroom stroganoff left."

That sounded amazing and Rosa dashed onward, ducking and weaving around the tables until she pushed through the tent flap into the kitchen area. This place had a more solid-looking wooden floor so the appliances didn't sink into the ground. Rosa wondered briefly how they moved all of it when they broke camp, but the thought was driven from her mind as she took in the smell.

One of the pony cooks gave Rosa a wave and she squeaked a hurried greeting, before fetching a bowl and filling it to the brim. She'd done a lot of work, so she deserved a hearty meal! No one could say otherwise!

Even before she went out to eat, Rosa stuck a spoonful in her mouth. It made her moan a little in delight. "I'll come back to, mmhmm," she mumbled around her mouthful, "to... um, help with the dishes!"

"Mighty nice of you," the cream-colored mare replied, but Rosa was already on her way out. She took the nearest empty table, plopped her metal bowl down and started... well, 'shoveling' was the best word here. Rosa hardly had time to chew before she stuck yet another spoonful in her mouth. It was pure luck that she hadn't actually met Sky Light on the way, or she might have some choice words to say. On second thought, she'd probably just laugh. The pegasus had found Rosa's eating habits quite funny at times.

All too soon the bowl was empty. Rosa could go and fetch another one, she thought wistfully, but that'd be greedy and she'd feel sorry for herself the whole night as she nursed her overfull stomach. It'd have to be enough, but Rosa still dropped the spoon, shoved her muzzle in the bowl and gave it a thorough licking. It'd make it easier to wash later, she told herself even as she blushed a little.

Rosa hardly noticed that Lin Lei had sat down opposite her. "So, had a good day?" she asked conversationally.

"Mhm! Well, except when I walked in on Princess Luna and Cadence's argument..."

The woman looked sad for a moment. "Yeah, I was afraid that'd happen now that Luna is back. They were... tense even before Luna got kidnapped."

"How did that happen, by the way? She has magic and all, I can't imagine how some humans can just kidnap her."

Lin looked around to see if there was anyone from the military part of the camp nearby, but the mess tent was deserted. It was getting late, but Rosa didn't mind sitting for a few minutes. "I only heard rumors, but apparently Luna and some ponies were sitting under one of those cellphone towers so Ethan could tap into some government records, but they got found out."

Rosa remembered the name. Starlight Glimmer had said he was their 'hacker', which sounded very useful and only slightly like something from a movie. Maybe she would get to meet this mysterious computer-wizard one of these days.

"Anyway, Luna stayed behind to let the others escape and they shot her with tranquilizer darts. That's what some of the Crystal ponies said who were with her. She ordered them all to leave. Cadence was furious."

"Why?"

Lin shrugged a bit, "I guess cause a Princess of Equestria is more important than some soldiers?"

That would make a strategic kind of sense, but something told Rosa, that Luna hadn't seen it that way. "Is that why Princess Cadence was so angry?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I think that started before. Some of the Crystal Ponies said she was a very good ruler back then. Princess of Love, too. Not that you'd know it now."

"Ooooh! So that's why- Sky Light- and her cutie mark!" Suddenly the things Rosa had seen that night Cadence had brought them to the camp with a Bore made sense. She had seen already that Sky Light and Zephyr Gale were matching up and she was happy for them.
It was still hard to reconcile the harsh, angry mare from today with a title like 'Princess of Love'. "What happened to her?"

Lin considered how to answer that question, then gave up with a sigh. "The war, probably."

That immediately brought another topic to Rosa's mind. "How did it all start?"

Again the girl had no answer. "Sorry, you'll have to ask some of the older ponies. Good luck, though. I never got a straight answer."

That was a shame, but it had still been worth a shot. Rosa slid from the bench and picked up the bowl in her mouth. She didn't have to tell Lin Lei what she was doing - she understood.

"Well, I guess I'll turn in. See you tomorrow, Rosa."

"Mmphmh!" Unable to really say it, Rosa instead gave the girl a wave with her hoof before ducking into the kitchen area.

The cook, Cheery Roll, just gave her an approving nod as Rosa took her dish to the stack already waiting in a large, metal sink. It looked like a good half-hour job and then Rosa would maybe get some reward again. Possibly a piece of fruit or two, or maybe a bit of chocolate. That sounded good and she went at her task with a smile on her muzzle, humming her little song.