The Perfect Rose

by tom117z

13 - Griffon N' Pals

Perfect Rose liked being royalty!

“Avast ye!” the griffon proclaimed, an imaginary crown on her head as the park around her spontaneously became a grand keep. “Bring me yer treasure!”

“You’re meant to be the old king, not a pirate!” Sundance protested.

“He could have been a pirate king!”

“Not according to this, no,” she denied, sifting through the book they’d borrowed from the library before placing it back in her saddlebag. “He was not a pirate king.”

“Aw. But that would be so cool!”

“There is nothing ‘cool’ about being a pirate, young madame,” Time Catcher replied from his position on a nearby bench. “And I was under the impression you sought out the female monarchs of the old Empire.”

“I was. But this guy knew Princess Celestia!” Perfect Rose replied. “What was it the book said? A da- dali- daliant?”

“Dalliance,” Sundance replied factually. “I think it means they ‘liked’ each other.”

“A rumour circulating among some historical societies,” Time pointed out. “Only her Highness would know if there is any truth to the matter.”

“Pfft. Perfect Rose likes girls,” Bright Spark taunted.

Rose’s cheeks puffed up. “Ew! That’s gross! All love-dovey kissy-face stuff is gross!”

“I know right,” he agreed. “When Mum and Dad get all smoochy it’s so bleh.”

“I think it’s nice,” Sundance remarked.

“Of course you would.”

“Hey!”

“Such things are beyond your years,” Time Catcher pointed out. “I would advise returning to your little re-enactment. As inaccurate as it is.”

“But it’s cooool!” Perfect Rose insisted with a drawn-out whine.

The children continued to bicker amongst themselves as to whether the portrayal of the king should be that of a pirate or not, their accompanying adult just watching with intense bemusement at their display. At least they were taking an interest in such things, having spent a good while in the library picking out certain tomes with the information they required. So absorbed were they that they had insisted on playing them in such a manner, and they certainly seemed to be having fun pretending they were back in the middling years of Celestia’s reign. A time before King Grover lost his prized possession, during a period where Equestria and the Griffon Empire had more cordial relations.

But it had been during their library trip that his ward had sighted a book on piracy, so that’s likely where the mixed obsession came from.

“Fine, I won’t be the pirate griffon king. Spoilsport,” Rose finally conceded to Sundance. “I’ll be Queen Grizelda instead.”

“Aw,” Bright Spark complained. “I thought pirate kings were cool too.”

“Shush!” Sundance shot him down. “Besides, the book says that Grizelda was plenty cool too. She fought a tribe of Diamond Dogs that tried to steal their treasure and stuff. Apparently, she was a super awesome fighter, and has a statue and everything in one city!”

“Then I am Queen Grizelda!” Rose announced, turning towards Bright Spark with a smirk. “Look out, Diamond Dog! You are a meanie and I will beat you up!”

“Hey! Why am I the bad guy!?” he protested heavily.

“Yes, and as the General of your armies, I will lead the charge and defeat the bully!” Sundance agreed, scuffing the ground as if to charge. “Surrender, or you will fall to the Griffon Empire!”

“This is dumb! Why should I be the Diamond Dogs and not one of you!?”

“Because you’re a boy,” Perfect Rose replied as if it were obvious. “And we outnumber you.”

“Huh!? Gah. Well, I’m not going down easy! I have magic!”

“Diamond Dogs don’t have magic!”

“They do now!” he proclaimed, jumping forward and poking Perfect Rose right in her fluffy red-striped front. “And you’re it now bye!”

He then ran away.

Perfect Rose’s eye twitched. “You-! Get back here, dummy!”

“By Queen Grizelda’s order, after him!” Sundance declared before giggling with glee. “Acting is fun!”

“Then after the criminal, General!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Then bolted off after him, Time Catcher raising an eyebrow while continuing to watch them curiously.

Since Bright was ahead of them, he slowed down ever so slightly as if to taunt them. He turned, sticking out his tongue at his friends before turning and bolting off again. Neither girl liked his attitude, glancing at one another with their eyes fiery and filled with determination to put the jerk in his place!

“You go left, I go right!” Rose commanded.

“On it!”

Bright Spark rounded a tree, spotting the other two split up in an attempt to catch him from both sides. He saw Sundance closing in, not stopping as his horn lit up and he was greeted to a surprised yelp behind him.

“No fair!” Sundance groaned, now flat on her stomach with her tail rooted in place in the colt’s magic aura. “Cheater!”

“Hah! You can’t catch me!” he bragged.

And then a shadow fell upon him, the pony only having the briefest of moments to look up before realising he had made a mistake. One crucial mistake. Or perhaps it was two? The first would be picking a fight where he was outnumbered, because while he’d focused on Sundance the other had closed in.

And the big major second mistake?

The other one could fly.

“Got you!”

“Oof!” Bright Spark had the wind knocked clean out of him as the griffon landed on his back, sending him down in a crumbled and highly indignant heap.

Perfect Rose bounced off, a spring in her step as she rounded the downed colt and bobbed him on the nose with a talon. “You’re it!”

“Double it!” Sundance declared as she trotted up and roughly nudged him on the shoulder. “Because that tail thing was not okay!”

Bright Spark looked between them, his head then hitting the floor in defeat. “Ugh…”

“I do hope you’re being careful,” the watchful butler shouted over to them. “The last thing we need is a bruise and scrape, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Time Catcher,” Perfect Rose replied in a practised drone. “I think that means we should stop.”

“And there goes my revenge,” Bright noted with dissatisfaction. “I’ll get you two later.”

“Bring it,” Sundance replied with a smirk. “Oh, but now what do we do? I liked playing that. Acting like somepony else was awesome.”

“You sounded really convincing as the General as well!” her griffon friend complimented.

“Scarily so,” Bright agreed. “Since when were you good at performing and stuff?”

Sundance blushed. “I just think it’s cool, that’s all…”

“Well, we still need to figure out a new game,” Rose stated. “Queen griffon needs to take her faithful subjects on adventures!”

“Still going with the royalty stuff, eh?” Bright asked with amusement.

“Yush!” she replied cheerfully. “And Fluffy is Captain of the Guard!”

She pointed towards the manticore doll, which sat lifelessly on the table in a sagged heap.

“See! He’s so happy to help!”

“Right…” Sundance muttered with a frown. “I still get to be important though, right?”

“You’re both important,” she replied to her two friends. “But we still need an adventure…”

“You know, I heard that there is a dungeon in the castle,” Bright Spark mused. “Dad said bad ponies used to go there. But it’s all empty and stuff now.”

“Where do they send bad ponies then?” Sundance asked.

“I dunno. Some prison or something. But we’re good, so we don’t have to worry,” he answered. “And since it’s empty, why don’t we go check it out?”

Perfect Rose tilted her head. “That’s your idea? Wander into an abandoned dungeon in Princess Celestia’s castle?”

“Yup!”

“That… is… a great idea!” she announced with her wings happily fluttering on her back. “Like exploring a lost tomb, perfect for a queen griffon and her friends!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sundance said with clear doubt in her voice. “The adults might get mad at us.”

“Yeah, we’d have to sneak away. He won’t notice if he doesn’t see us, and we can get back before he does, right?” Perfect Rose asked with a glance at Time Catcher.

“I’m not sure…”

“Come on, adventure!”

“But-“

“Adventure!”

“…Fine.”

“Yay!”

But how to do that without getting caught…

And then it was as if the universe itself saw fit to assist in their ill-advised endeavour.

A mare was wandering down the pathway that cut through the park, holding several bags in her magic while balancing two others on her back. It looked like she was struggling a bit, exerting her limited magical strength just to carry that many things at once and likewise needing to balance the rest of her cargo not caught in the levitation spell.

And, as any who might have seen her could easily have imagined, it was too much.

The mare yelped as she tripped on one particularly large stone, stumbling only slightly, but it was enough for the bags on her back to go tumbling forth and scatter the entirety of their contents to the ground.

“Blast it,” Time Catcher cursed, shooting up from his seat and, being the gentlestallion he was, rushed to the mare’s aid.

Taking his eyes off the foals as a result.

“Great!” Perfect Rose spoke out, feeling quite grateful to the oddly convenient timing. “Let’s go! Let me just grab Fluff!”

“No, he might spot us!” Bright pointed out, pulling Rose forward with his magic. “Now!”

“But…”

“She’s the Captain, right? She can hold the kingdom in our stead.”

That made sense, she guessed… But…

She glanced back at Fluffy as she went, giving a sigh and figuring Time would keep an eye on her. Still, it wouldn’t be as fun without her…

And as they went, Time Catcher finished gathering up the stray contents of the mare’s bags and placing them back in their containers.

“Oh, that was most kind of you,” the mare thanked profusely. “I’m sorry about this, such a mess…”

“Not at all,” he replied. “It happens to the best of us. Quite the load you seem to carry.”

“Yes, I work as a maid for the Illustrious household. I was sent for a resupply; the pantry was looking rather bare.”

“Ah, the life of a servant,” he noted sympathetically. “I know it well.”

“So I see. But thanks again and have a great day!”

“As with you, ma’am,” he replied brightly, watching her go before we made to turn back to the kids.

The thing is, the whole exchange occurred for less than a minute. Thirty seconds, perhaps. Maybe even less. Mere moments to turn his back and help a pony in need. But more the fool was he, he figured, for believing that wasn’t enough time for a foal to do what a foal does best.

Cause trouble.

“Blast it all…” he repeated at the sight of a playground that was unfortunately empty…

Beyond that playground’s confines, meanwhile, those three troublesome foals trudged along, laughing amongst themselves without much knowledge of the panic they had left behind. A few ponies they passed did glance at them curiously, but seeing as they were quite happily walking together, most figured they were simply allowed by their parents to roam as they wished. It was a safe district, after all, and many likewise decided they were likely older than they truly were.

Which served the three just fine.

“What do you think we’ll find there?” Bright Spark wondered aloud. “Maybe ghosts?”

“Oh please, ghosts don’t exist.,” Sundance dismissed.

“How do you know?”

“I… I just know! Okay…”

“But they could be waiting for a filly to come along and gobble them up!”

She shrunk back. “S-shut up, stupid…”

“Pfft, I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!” Perfect Rose dismissed. “I am Queen Grizelda, after all! She wouldn’t be afraid!”

“Yeah!” Bright Spark enthusiastically agreed. “Ghosts can’t handle my magic!”

“Sure…” Sundance said with continued nervousness. “Um, but how do we get there? The guards will probably not let us in.”

Rose hummed. “I… don’t really know. We could fly?”

“We don’t have wings.”

“Oh. Yeah… Fluffy would know. We shoulda brought Fluffy.”

Sundance rolled her eyes. “Well, doesn’t Princess Celestia let ponies in to see her during the day? Maybe we could sneak in with a crowd?”

“You are a sneaky pony and I am okay with this.”

The three friends laughed amongst themselves, continuing their march up the street and towards the castle at the height of Canterlot. None of them had been inside those legendary halls before, so it was something to look forward to. Even Sundance’s mind was now racing with thoughts of what they might find, hoping their small frames would allow them to escape notice in a crowd of adults.

And so they went, eager for their self-proclaimed adventure, all unaware of a simple fact. At least in active consciousness, but perhaps deep down they did know, choosing to ignore the niggling feeling their brains attempted to inform them of.

But it was too late.

And they had no idea how grounded they were.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is it just me, or does the baby griffon look a lot like Gabby?

[JMP]

Clever kids...using Time Catcher's kind nature as a means to escape...

[The Voice in the Water]

The kids continue to be so dang cute.

[dzamie]

Oh, someone in the crowd is gonna recognize them.

[Hades Shadow 92]

I sense some grounding and trouble ahead for our three adventurers XD