//------------------------------// // Ch. 8 AU (What Might Have Been) // Story: A Pony's Guide to Gunpla // by Mystic Sunrise //------------------------------// “OH man, this was the best weekend ever!” P. Pearl excitedly did a small spin as the trio walked into the deserted courtyard of Canterlot High. All of her kits had been sent through already, Sunset making sure everything came out alright in Equestria the day before with special permission from Vice Principal Luna. “I kinda wish we had some of this tech in Equestria. Then I can just borrow the, what did you call them again? DVD’s?” “Yeah me and my counterpart have been trying to figure out how to set up human tech in the pony world but so far there’s been no luck.” Twilight sighed as she stopped at the gate and looked about before frowning. “What’s wrong?” H. Pearl placed a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder as she stopped next to her. “My friends aren’t here. They said they were going to help see her off.” Twilight frowned. Her friends were rarely if ever late. And hardly ever broke a Pinkie Promise. “That’s odd. I know we’re not early.” H. Pearl let her eyes scan over the whole of the courtyard. “Well, maybe your friends…” P. Pearl cheerfully started before the three of them quickly turned to the statue. “They aren’t coming.” A stern voice spoke out. By the statue was Kazumi, wearing designer jeans and a low-cut shirt. Her arms were crossed and her high-heeled shoe was tapping irritably on the ground. Twilight and H.Pearl both gulped loudly taking a slow step backward as P. Pearl took even more steps back, her eyes wide in fear. It had not been much, but she had seen enough to know just what she had seen that night. “Just. Make this quick if you’re here for my head.” Twilight and H. Pearl gave her confused looks. “What are you talking about, Pearl?” Twilight asked. P. Pearl gave a surprised look. “You don’t know what she is? Probably the whole family as well if Kohaku was anything to go by.” H. Pearl tried to cut her off, but a look from Twilight stopped her. “All I know is that all of that dog hair in my Pearl’s room is much worse after Kohaku has visited. She still refuses to tell me why,” Twilight grumbled. “Well first off it’s fur not hair,” Kazumi pinched the bridge of her nose shaking her head from side to side. “And secondly it’s fox, not dog. But I can understand how you could be confused. But I’ll deal with that later.” Waking forward the tall woman moved closer to P.Pearl like a storm slowly creeping towards the shores. “So little one, care to explain why a pony such as yourself is doing here?” Kazumi slowly bent forward forcing P.Pearl to lean back. Her eyes widened. “Twilight there I can understand, she is after all a princess. And we have been notified about her. And have taken steps to prevent catastrophe with two of her about.”  Taking a moment Kazumi walked around P.Pearl. Her keen eye examined everything about her. “But you, however, we’ve been told nothing about.” Her eyes glanced up at Twilight and H.Pearl. “Care to explain yourselves, ladies? As to why yet another pony has been brought to these shores?” Lightning flashed along the edges of Kazumi’s eyes. P. Pearl smiled sheepishly. “Spike gave me a book to read from this world. I sure as hell wasn’t learning anything from unicorn magic books. The princess caught me red-hoofed. Hell, I was ready to be kicked out as her student after that. But she showed me the portal to this world. Took a lot of begging and pleading just to get even one visit out of her.” She gestured to her counterpart. “Then other me stumbled through by accident, and then I heard stories about a three-tailed kitsune running around Ponyville that same day. I couldn’t resist coming back.” Kazumi quirked an eyebrow and looked up at H.Pearl whose face had just lost all color. “My brother…. You seemed to have left out that little tale Pearl.” Sighing she looked back at the young Pony. “please do continue. Just, how often have you been visiting us?” P. Pearl sighed. “This is my second visit. Probably my last one too. I didn’t know this world had such a cool hobby like Gunpla. I’ll at least have a decent backlog to work through.” Kneeling down Kazumi just shook her head and sighed. Her head was down for a moment before standing up and placing a hand on P. Pearl's head. “You're lucky you're not a unicorn, this would have ended much differently had you been one.” Stepping away she stood in front of the lovebirds. “But being a Pegasus, your magic can’t even light a match let alone cause any unforeseen damage. I guess I can look the other way.” Turning back she looked at P.Pearl again. “But next time please be sure to visit our manor.” turning back to Twilight and H.Pearl the vixen grinned. “As for you two, we’ll discuss this in length this weekend.” P. Pearl nodded slowly. She wasn’t sure, but it sounded like she was off the hook. She was tempted to ask what the woman meant had she been a unicorn. But she felt her luck would run out if she did, so she kept it to herself. Walking away Kazumi gave a soft wave. “Till then, have fun ladies.” P. Pearl watched as Kazumi left after straddling a beautiful motorbike and then turned to her counterpart. “I haven't felt this relieved since the passing of the last hurricane in Baltimare. Did I just dodge a bullet?” H. Pearl nodded. “You have no idea. Kazumi is the portal’s keeper in this world. I don’t know all the specifics, but unicorn magic wrecks all kinds of havoc, and she makes sure any magical disruptions don’t unbalance things.” Twilight blanched, remembering the worst day of her life. “But what about during the Friendship Games?” H. Pearl shrugged. “Sunset beat her to it. Drunk on magic as you and Midnight were, you still wouldn’t have won that fight if you had to face her. You girls have also made sure most of the magical crap going on is usually contained, so Kazumi hasn’t said anything.” Twilight gulped, while P. Pearl rolled her eyes. “Is the whole family like her? I don’t know any kitsunes. Or at least in their normal form.” H. Pearl giggled. “Yep. Only her mother and her sister Riko make you feel like you’ll live through meeting them. Even when they’re in a good mood. Kohaku is just an all-around pest and a pain in everyone’s backside. Especially mine for some reason.” Twilight smirked. “And yet you love him anyway, Rosey.” H. Pearl grumbled as she looked away, earning giggles from both girls. “That’s probably my cue to go home before something else goes wrong,” P. Pearl snorted. “Hopefully next time, I won’t have to go through that again.” Twilight and H. Pearl nodded as the pony-turned-human entered the portal and was gone from sight. The princess was waiting for her as Pearl came out on the other side. “I see you have been taking lessons, Pearl.” The filly nodded as she landed back on all four hooves. “Yeah. Not doing that first time again if I can help it.” Pearl was also doing her best to push the feeling of utter powerlessness and hopelessness she had felt when first meeting Kazumi. Better ending or not, the whole thing had left her shaken. Twilight giggled as she looked at the rather sizable amount of things that had already come through the portal. “Everything is intact, and I have already put the spell on all of your kits, Pearl.” Pearl sighed with relief. That was a weight off of her shoulders at least. “Sweet. Now I just need to figure out where I’ll put them all.” Twilight’s eye twitching became worse by the second as Pearl pulled more and more kits out, finished and still unopened. “This is more than I ever expected, my faithful student.” Pearl nodded happily as she set the HG Aile Strike on an unused shelf. “What can I say? I love Gunpla now! Probably won’t be doing this every weekend. But I can’t help it!” Twilight sighed, but she could not deny the joy she heard in her student’s voice. Something she had only ever really heard when Spike talked about comic books. As Pearl pulled out her Master Grade Ginn, she paused for a moment. She did not have enough room for all of her kits, let alone the ones she still wanted. Crap. Twilight seemed to catch on after a moment. “Do you not have enough room, Pearl?” Pearl shook her head. “Not like this I don’t. Forget my backlog. I can keep them in my closet. I’m not sure if I have enough room for the kits I’ve already built.” Twilight frowned. That was a problem. Unless her student wanted to mix and match different universes, there was not enough shelf space at the moment. Pearl looked over her current shelf. There was still enough room for one or two more Seed kits, and she wanted to display her Master Grade Strike with the Ginn. Having it attached to the Archangel’s catapult would help with that thankfully. That wasn’t even counting what she had in mind if she ever got the Freedom and Justice. Oh, so many possibilities, she giggled, glad she had started young and not when she was older. There was no way she could get them all if she had it felt like. Twilight saw the slightly crazy gleam in Pearl’s eyes and smiled, for she well understood the love of a new hobby. So she hated what she was about to say even more. “I am sorry to burst your bubble, Pearl. But something has come up.” Pearl blinked, before groaning. “Okay. What did Pinkie, Rainbow, and or Discord do this time?” Twilight frowned at the accusation, no matter that she couldn’t argue it, before shaking her head. “Nothing in fact. This is simply something I forgot. I will be leaving Ponyville soon, and I am not sure for how long.” Pearl’s ears dropped in horror. “What! Why?” Twilight shook her head quickly before pulling Pearl into a hug, one that was happily returned. “Not for anything bad, my faithful student. This is simply a meeting I cannot miss.” Pearl hiccuped, fighting back her tears. “Start with that next time, Twilight. Sheesh. Who are you meeting anyway? And why can’t you do it here in Ponyville? Way easier than going somewhere else. Hell, even the Crystal Empire is a long-ass trip." Twilight chuckled. “I would, and you are right. But Lady Tsunami has moved up my visit to the Dragon Lands while you were away. I cannot put this off as well it seems." For a split second, Pearl felt a tug on her soul at the mention of Lord Everfree's mate, but it was quickly gone as began smiling widely, her whole body vibrating excitedly. “You’re going to the Dragon Lands, and you've met the Lady of Dragons? Why did nobody tell me that?” Twilight was taken aback by Pearl’s reaction, wondering just what the Pegasus was so excited about something like this.