Scarlet

by Skijarama

Recovery

The next few hours passed in something of a blur for Scarlet. She had held tightly onto Primrose for quite some time before Lens finally coerced her into backing off so the Apples could have their reunion uninterrupted. He had taken her outside to get some fresh air for a while, occasionally talking at her about something or other.

She hadn’t really been listening, though. A fact she looked back on with a small measure of guilt. But she had just been so wrapped up in her relief over Primrose finally being awake, and her own rapidly swelling impatience at having to be away from her. She had to remind herself time and again that, as much as she cared about Primrose, the Apples here had officially adopted her long before Scarlet had ever met her.

They weren’t the first, of course, and there had been plenty after if Scarlet had to guess. But that did nothing to change the fact that, to them, their adopted little girl was home and awake after being gone for years.

She’d hogged Prim to herself for over a month. She could wait her turn.

Eventually, the two had been called back inside as the sun started to set. Apple Juice had started an early and very large dinner to celebrate Prim’s recovery. Scarlet suspected that the generous size of every serving was also meant to help counteract the filly’s still-rather-scrawny form; to ‘put some meat on her bones’ and all that.

Scarlet had elected to keep quiet for most of the meal, only speaking when spoken to directly, usually to answer questions levied at her by the Apples about her time with Primrose. For the most part, as before, she allowed the reunion to proceed without interruption. She did listen, though, and she watched.

It was heartwarming in the extreme, seeing Primrose look so happy for once. Scarlet had only seen her really be a foal a few times since they had met, and those had been fleeting occurrences. But here, at this dinner table, talking eagerly with ponies she dearly loved and missed greatly… the smile on her face and the shine in her eyes was enough to melt away even more of the frost that had clung to Scarlet’s heart.

Eventually, though, the meal had to come to an end. The plates of food, all practically polished, were carried away by Apple Juice to be cleaned while Windrain rose from her seat and trotted over to Primrose. “Okay, Prim, I think you should be going back to bed, now,” she said in a soft voice.

Primrose pouted at that. “What? But I just got up a few hours ago!” she complained, her ears drooping. “I wanna stay up with you guys!”

“I know, dear,” Wind countered, giving Prim a tender smile. “We want that, too. But more than that, we want you to heal. You’re still hurt, and it’s going to be another few days at least before I’ll feel comfortable letting you be up and active for more than a couple hours at a time.”

Primrose opened her mouth to protest, but the words caught in her throat. Scarlet watched with a raised eyebrow as the filly looked down, her hoof drifting up to the bandages that were still bound around her barrel. She winced and nodded. “Okay… I understand,” she mumbled out, clearly disappointed.

Wind reached out and gently ruffled Primrose’s mane. “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, you get to share a room with Scarlet.”

To Scarlet’s amusement, that did seem to cheer Primrose up. A little bit, at least. Her ears lifted back up, and the disappointment in her eyes abated somewhat. She glanced over at the unicorn and offered up a timid smile. “Yeah… that does make me feel better.”

Scarlet smiled and reached a hoof over to grasp the filly’s other hoof. “I’ll be right there. And we can keep talking if you like, just so long as you remain in bed and resting.”

Primrose’s hoof curled tightly around Scarlet’s, her smile growing. Scarlet’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second when she felt the small tremble in the filly’s hoof, though. Something was scaring her…

Nevertheless, Prim answered. “I’d like that,” she said before looking to Lens. “Can Lens talk with us, too?”

The stallion adjusted his glasses with a warm smile of his own. “I don’t see why not, but I’ve been sleeping in the shed. Not enough beds in this house and you two need rest and recovery more than I do.”

Primrose’s smile grew. The shaking in her hoof decreased somewhat.

Apple Star perked up from hiss eat, throwing his hoof into the air. “Oh, oh, can Ah stay up with you guys, too?!” he asked eagerly, waving his hoof around frantically.

Before Scarlet could gently explain that she would rather he not, Apple Juice was on his son like a hawk on a field mouse. “Oh, no, none of that, kiddo,” he scolded with a playful smirk. “Yer not gettin’ outta bedtime that easy!”

“But papa!” Star protested indignantly, facing his father with puffed up cheeks and a scrunched muzzle. “Ah wanna keep talkin’ to Primrose! She’s awake fer once!”

“Primrose needs her rest,” Wind pointed out, leaning over to him. “And so do you. Growing boy like you needs his sleep if he wants to grow up big and strong.”

“But Prim…”

Apple Juice chuckled. “Boy, do ya wanna learn how to go apple buckin’ or not?”

“Ah do…”

“Then get some sleep,” he ruffled Star’s mane with a cheeky grin. “Can’t go buckin’ trees if yer all plum tuckered out from bein’ up all night talkin’ to Prim, now can ya?”

“...No,” Star eventually relented with a childish huff. He hopped down from his chair and quickly ran over to Primrose as she was getting down, giving her a hug. “Ah’ll see ya in the mornin’ Primrose!”

Primrose visibly cringed in pain, her face twisting up from the sudden pressure put on her wounds. “Ack! Y-yeah, I’ll see you… don’t squeeze me so hard, please,” she said between clenched teeth.

Star immediately released her and stepped back, his face going pale. “Wha- oh, Ah, Ah am so-”

“So going to bed is what you are,” Windrain interrupted him, reaching out and ensnaring him in her wings. He let out a startled cry as she held him to her chest but otherwise did not say anything as she swiftly took him away to his room.

Apple Juice chuckled in amusement before turning back to Scarlet. “Alright, Ah’ll be up fer a little while mahself. Still got a few chores ’n stuff to do. If y’all need me, holler.”

Scarlet nodded. “Of course. Thank you,” she said. She then turned to Primrose and gently lifted the filly onto her back with magic. “Come on, let’s get you tucked in.”

Primrose hummed quietly, her hooves curling around Scarlet’s neck and holding on. Her grip was tight. Not enough to make it hard to breathe, but enough to make it clear that she was looking for something to give her a sense of security.

Scarlet’s ears drooped as she stepped back into the room she shared with Primrose. Lens followed close behind them. He lit his horn and sparked a few candles on the end table into life before shutting the door behind them, giving them some privacy.

Scarlet sat down on her haunches by Primrose’s bed and set the filly down on the mattress. The room fell into silence for a short time, Scarlet and Prim staring at each other while Lens watched from the sidelines.

“...How are you feeling?” Scarlet finally asked, reached out to brush some of Primrose’s long, unkempt mane out of her face.

Primrose was quiet for several seconds. Her ears drooped, and her hoof once more wandered up her bandages. “...I’m okay,” she mumbled out, her voice low and quiet. “It still hurts, but… I’m okay.”

“That’s good,” Lens said quietly, coming forward and sitting down by Scarlet’s side. “With any luck, you’ll be back to full strength in no time.”

“Hmm…” Primrose hummed quietly, her hoof curling up over her injury. She was quiet for several seconds.

Scarlet watched her, her ears drooping, and her heart wilting at the sight. The signs of fear that she had noticed before were becoming more apparent the longer she looked. For a brief second, Scarlet recalled the blood-curdling scream that Primrose had let out that night just before Silent had stabbed her.

“...Hey,” Scarlet whispered, reaching out and lifting Primrose’s chin, so they were eye-to-eye. “It’s okay. I’m going to protect you. I promise you.”

Primrose was quiet for several seconds, her free hoof curling tightly around Scarlet’s. Her demeanor grew brighter at first, but then her eyes wandered down to Scarlet’s own bandages, and her expression soured. “...You can’t promise me that,” she whispered quietly. “A lot of ponies have, and most of them are dead. Silent almost killed you, too…”

“None of them were battlemages,” Lens pointed out, putting a hoof on Scarlet’s back for emphasis. “And none of them had quite the same drive that Scarlet does.”

Primrose did not answer for a while, seemingly lost in thought. She eventually looked up and locked gazes with Scarlet, then looked to Lens. “So… where are we gonna go when Scarlet and I are all healed up?” she asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

Scarlet felt the need to press the matter of Primrose’s safety but was quick to rein herself in. As much as it hurt, Primrose did have a point, and they did need to figure out what their plan was. She withdrew her hoof and let out a quiet sigh. “We’ve been discussing that off and on while you were out… We have one or two ideas, though neither is exactly all that great.”

“I want us to go to Newcanter,” Lens began to recite his plan. “I know ponies at the academy there. I can call in a few favors, and they can let us use their tools to study this lamp of yours some more. And it’s a big city. We could probably touch up our looks a little and blend right in with the crowd.”

Scarlet shot him a look. “Yes, that is… Lens’ idea,” she said slowly, allowing her dissatisfaction with that plan to be clear in her tone. “I have a different one.”

Primrose leaned forward slightly. “What?”

Scarlet looked to her. “I mentioned before that my mother was a migrant from the capital Violsta, Lover’s Shade, right? That she came to New Equestria when she realized just how horrible and tyrannical the king of Talonreach was becoming?”

Primrose nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

Scarlet closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “...I say we go to Lover’s Shade. My mother isn’t there, but my grandmother is. We could seek shelter with her, get word to my mother back in Swanrun about what’s happening, and have a degree of safety from Silent and the Lunar Council. We’d be far safer to study the lamp once we got there.”

“But it’s a really long journey,” Lens observed with a frown. “We’d have to trek across well over half of New Equestria just to cross into Talonreach, and we wouldn’t be safe there for a totally different range of reasons.”

Primrose tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

Scarlet and Lens cringed. The latter spoke first. “Well… after the war, Talonreach fell into something of a cultural and economic depression. Things are bad for griffons outside of Talonreach due to lingering resentment for the war in the first place, but they’re bad inside because of ongoing efforts to rebuild in the aftermath. A lotta griffons were displaced and left without homes, the homes that still stand are overflowing with refugees, and there’s just not a lot of money to go around. All of it’s being swallowed up by repair and relief efforts.”

“And because New Equestria, with aid from Freewind, Eris, and Violsta are the ones who won the war and put them in that situation,” Scarlet went on, her ears lowering and guilt swelling in her heart. “They would blame us in large part for their currently miserable lifestyle. Bandits on the roads would be bountiful, and we’d be accosted frequently.”

Primrose looked down at her hooves, her face twisting with concern. “...That doesn’t sound fun…” she mumbled, clearly not a fan of either option.

Lens sighed. “It wouldn’t be… it’s a long journey, and we would not be safe until we actually got out of Talonreach and into Violsta.”

Scarlet sighed, recognizing that neither option was particularly brilliant. She lifted her gaze to look at Primrose. The bandages on the filly’s barrel stood out far brighter than usual in her mind, drawing her attention to them. The image of Silent plunging his blades into that small body bubbled up in her mind, making her blood go cold. She couldn’t let that happen, no matter what.

But how could she make sure that didn’t happen? Silent had already slipped past her once before, and those griffon bandits on the road near Twinwood Canopy had almost overwhelmed her with numbers. If Primrose hadn’t intervened, Scarlet would have died, and that would have left the poor filly at the mercy of those bandits. And she had no doubt that they would have killed her for the lamp, figuring to sell it off for bits.

Suddenly, an idea came into her mind. It made her heart skip a beat and rage at her in defiance, but her mind quickly deduced a simple truth. If she wanted Primrose to stay safe and alive, then...

“...There is a third option, I suppose,” she eventually began, the words fleeing her lips before she could catch them.

Lens and Primrose both looked to her, curious and expectant.

She swallowed heavily, focusing on Primrose. “Prim… Silent stabbed you in the chest and the gut. It’s frankly a miracle that you’re still alive… Silent probably believes that you’re dead. That means, if he has no reason to suspect you, then… he won’t be following you any further. You could stay right here with these ponies and be completely safe. You could start living a normal life…”

Primrose’s eyes widened at the idea, but she appeared quick to snap herself out of it. Her eyes wandered over to the end table, where her lamp rested. It caught the firelight from the candles on its polished surface, glimmering in the otherwise dark room. Primrose frowned. “But… the lamp. Silent will still be looking for the lamp. And you.”

Scarlet nodded along. “I know… and that’s why Lens and I would take your lamp with us and go. You would be without the very thing Silent uses to find you, and he would believe you to be dead. He doesn’t know about this place or the Apples. We could take the lamp and go somewhere with the tools Lens needs to study it, figure out what it is, and go from there.”

Primrose’s eyes shot wide open again, and she turned back to Scarlet. “What!? No, no, I can’t let you do that! It’s my lamp, it’s the only thing my mom left me! It’s all I have left of her, and I swore I would protect it with my life!” she protested, standing up. “It was the last thing I ever promised her!”

Scarlet frowned, leaning back from the outburst. “Yes, Primrose, I know. But right now, I’m more concerned with your safety than the lamp. I don’t want you getting hurt again, and this would be the best way to make sure you don’t,” she tried to refute.

Primrose shook her head. “No! It’s my lamp, Scarlet! I’ve kept it with me ever since my family died! No matter what, I am not getting rid of it! If you take it away, I’m going to follow you!”

Scarlet’s expression hardened. “Primrose, please! Just- just think about this for a second,” she stressed, her voice growing firm. “You cannot protect the lamp if Silent kills you.”

“I don’t care,” Primrose snapped, her eyes starting to water. “M-my mom gave it to me so I could keep it safe. It’s been in my family for generations. I am not going to get rid of it. I swore to protect it with my life, and I will! I’m not breaking my promise!”

Scarlet went to try and counter, but she felt Lens’ hoof on her shoulder. She hesitated and looked back at him. He frowned and slowly shook his head. “She’s made up her mind, Scarlet. Let it go,” he said quietly.

“But I…” Scarlet choked out, trying to find the words. She turned back to Primrose and saw her sitting back down with her head hung low. A tense, heavy atmosphere fell over the room, and finally, Scarlet let out a heavy sigh and relented. “Alright. Very well. Forgive me, Primrose. I did not mean to upset you. I just…” she closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I do not wish to watch another filly under my care die.”

She expected Primrose to be confused. She expected her to ask her what she meant. Instead, there was a short silence before she felt the filly draping her forelegs around her neck in a tender embrace. Confused, Scarlet opened her eyes. “Huh?”

Prim gave her a squeeze, the filly burying her face in Scarlet’s shoulder. “I know about Crystal Clear,” she whispered, making Scarlet tense up.

“Wha… how…”

“I overheard you and Lens talking about her back in his house,” she elaborated. She pulled back after a few seconds and looked into Scarlet’s face. “I never said anything because I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Prim,” Lens whispered quietly, his hoof on Scarlet’s shoulder, giving her a squeeze of its own.

Scarlet’s lip was trembling, her eyes starting to mist over. She sniffled and took a deep breath, trying desperately to reign in her emotions. “I… I don’t want you to die like she did,” she finally choked out, her voice shaking. “I failed her… I can’t fail you, too…”

Primrose looked down, her ears folding back. “I know… and I don’t wanna die. Even just thinking about it scares me to death. But…” her eyes wandered back to her lamp, and the fear on her face was slowly replaced with determination. “But if I do die, I wanna do it keeping my promise to my mom. I promised I would, and I won’t die a liar.”

Scarlet was quiet, her chest trembling and convulsing uncontrollably as a war of emotions raged inside of her. Slowly, a trembling smile appeared on her face. She let out a shaky laugh before pulling Primrose back in, returning the hug. “Oh, Prim… you really are a brave little filly, aren’t you?” she asked, a tear sliding down her cheek.

Prim didn’t say anything. She simply buried her face in Scarlet’s neck again, taking comfort in the mare’s presence and trying to offer what comfort she could in turn. The two remained locked that way for a solid minute before Lens finally cleared his throat, pulling the two out of their moment.

“That was very well-spoken, Primrose, and very admirable of you. I’m sure your mother would be proud,” he said gingerly, craning his neck down to look at the two from the side. “But that leaves us with one less option on what we’re gonna do when you and Scarlet are healed up.”

Primrose kept a hold on Scarlet, but turned her head to the side to look at Lens.

The stallion eyed her curiously before adjusting his glasses on his muzzle. “...Primrose, tell us. Did you ever find the Sanctuary, or learn where it is?”

Primrose went rigid in Scarlet’s hooves. She pushed herself back and out of the mare’s grasp to level a worried look in Lens’ direction. “What? The Sanctuary? How do you know about that!?” she asked, her voice suddenly shaking. She looked scared, all of a sudden. “I never told you about it!”

“It was Apple Star,” Scarlet quickly assured her, putting a hoof on Prim’s back. “He told us about it, and that you had been looking for it for a while.”

Primrose looked back and forth between them for several seconds before slowly relaxing. “Oh… okay, alright. That makes sense… Star did like to talk a lot, I remember.” she breathed out in relief before shaking her head. “No, I never found it. I dunno where to look. I stopped looking for it maybe a year ago. Asking around for anything about it never got me anywhere and just gave Silent another way to follow me.”

Scarlet sighed. She should have figured as much if she were being honest with herself. Such a place sounded far too good to be true, and somepony would have found it by now. And if Primrose had found it already or even knew where it was, she probably would have gone there no matter what, meaning she likely never would have met Scarlet, to begin with.

“Alright,” Scarlet eventually said, pulling her hoof back. “Lens and I have already debated our two options at length… But what do you think?”

Primrose was quiet for a few seconds, a thoughtful frown on her face. “Uhm… could we do both?” she eventually asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like, go find Scarlet’s grandma, but stop in Newcanter on the way for a few days? If we can find out more about my lamp, I wanna do it. I wanna know for sure what my family died for, and what I’m trying to protect.”

“That,” Lens opened up, sounding like he was about ready to point out flaws in the plan. He stopped himself, though, a thoughtful look mirroring Prim’s own coming across his face. “...Is actually not a bad idea.”

Scarlet glanced at him. “How so?”

Lens adjusted his glasses again. “Well, see, we’d probably have to pass through Newcanter on the way out of New Equestria anyways. I mean, I’m assuming that we would be taking the main highway, which cuts right through Newcanter and leads over to Talonreach and Old Equestria. If so, we’d need to pass through anyway. So we stop in, spend a little bit of time looking that lamp over, and then return to the road before the local authorities have a chance to catch wind of us.”

Scarlet mulled the idea over in her head. There was still a significant risk of getting discovered by Silent or any other Nightblades that called that city home if they stayed overnight. She had planned to just cut right through Newcanter. Maybe stop somewhere for a meal and any word from up the road, but that had been the extent of it. Staying any longer than that was an invitation for disaster.

But at the same time, Primrose had a really good reason for wanting to stay there for longer…

She eventually nodded. “I still don’t like it, but… if we make sure we’re only there for a couple days and keep a low profile, maybe we could make it work,” she eventually agreed.

Lens smiled and pat Scarlet on the back. “Thanks, Scarlet. I won’t let you down, I promise you.”

She brushed his hoof away. “You’d better not,” she told him, giving him a hard look.

Lens nodded slowly, his smile fading away. “Alright… Now then,” he stood up and dusted himself off. “I, uh, I need to go get back to the shed. Prim, do you mind if I borrow your lamp for the night? I’ve been studying it while you were out, and I’d like to make as much progress as I can before we head for Newcanter.”

The filly hesitated for a few seconds before nodding her head. “Okay, Lens. Just… be careful with it, please,” she said, nodding for him to take it.

“I will, don’t worry,” he assured her, taking the lamp in his magic and bringing it into his hoof. He looked down at Scarlet. “You should probably get some rest yourself.”

Scarlet snorted dismissively. “More rest. Of course,” she grumbled irritably before forcing herself to her hooves. “Ugh. Why does healing have to be so damned boring?”

“Hey, better boring than dead,” Leans reasoned with a playful smirk.

“Yeah yeah,” Scarlet rolled her eyes at him before smacking him on the shoulder. “Just go. Leave the girls in peace.”

Lens chuckled, heading for the door. “Well, I dunno if peace is the right word… ever since I started traveling with you, it’s been nothing but chaos and stress,” he stated. He paused with his hoof on the handle and shot Scarlet a knowing look. “In fact, explosions just followed you wherever you went since the day I met you.”

Scarlet’s eye twitched, her horn lighting up. “Would you like me to make one right now? I can make one right now.”

Lens chuckled and shook his head. “Ha! Ah, no thanks. I can’t exactly think right if my brains are all over the place,” he retaliated before giving her a far more sincere smile. “...Goodnight, Scarlet. Get some rest.”

Scarlet allowed the light on her horn to wink out, returning the smile. “You, too, Lens. Goodnight.”

The door swung closed.

Scarlet took a deep breath before turning back to Primrose. “That goes for you, too. You need more rest than I do, so you get some sleep.”

She expected Primrose to nod and go to bed, albeit perhaps begrudgingly. That was how it normally happened when they had been on the road. However, this time, Primrose had a distinctly different reaction. Her ears folded back, and her hooves instinctually curled around her barrel as if to protect it. “I… I don’t wanna go to sleep,” she said, her eyes darting back and forth.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “Prim, you need to sleep. You’re only going to cause yourself a lot of discomfort if you stay up.”

Primrose looked at her, and any further arguments Scarlet had died in her throat. The look on the filly’s face was one of dread. She shuddered uncontrollably, her ears folding back entirely. “I… I don’t wanna sleep… last time I did, Silent snuck up on me…” she choked out, her face starting to turn pale.

Scarlet’s eyes widened. She stared, slack-jawed at the quivering foal for a long while, her mind racing and her heart twisting in her chest. After a few seconds, though, she closed her mouth and out on a small smile. She walked towards the bed. “He did… but he won’t this time. He doesn’t know where we are.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Scarlet cut her off gently, hopping up onto the bed with Primrose and pulling the blankets back with her magic. “Here, I’ll hold you and keep you safe. How does that sound?”

Primrose blinked in surprise but did not say or do anything in protest. Scarlet reached out and pulled Prim up to her chest before laying down. She pulled the blankets over them, enveloping them in warmth.

“Scarlet…?” Primrose asked after a second, shifting in the mare’s hooves to look up at her. “I’m scared.”

Scarlet nodded. “I know, Prim. So am I,’ She whispered. She lifted a hoof and gently began to stroke the back of Primrose’s head. “But it’s okay. I got you. I’ll take care of you. I swear…”

Primrose hummed at that, closing her eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to relax, the tremors in her small body starting to fade away. Scarlet smiled at that. And then, in a soft, low voice, she began to hum. It was a slow, meandering melody, gentle and serene. The relaxing sound filled the room, and soon, Scarlet felt the tell-tale rise and fall of Primrose’s chest in her hooves as they fell asleep.

Satisfied, Scarlet lit her horn just long enough to snuff out the candles, plunging the room into darkness. All that was left was her, the foal in her hooves, and the quiet song that sang them both to quiet, peaceful slumber.

Comments

[JMP]

“...Hey,” Scarlet whispered, reaching out and lifting Primrose’s chin, so they were eye-to-eye. “It’s okay. I’m going to protect you. I promise you.”

Primrose was quiet for several seconds, her free hoof curling tightly around Scarlet’s. Her demeanor grew brighter at first, but then her eyes wandered down to Scarlet’s own bandages, and her expression soured. “...You can’t promise me that,” she whispered quietly. “A lot of ponies have, and most of them are dead. Silent almost killed you, too…”

Smart girl. I said basically the same thing last chapter but yeah....not a good thing to promise.

Prim gave her a squeeze, the filly burying her face in Scarlet’s shoulder. “I know about Crystal Clear,” she whispered, making Scarlet tens up.

Small typo there.

Primrose’s eyes shot wide open again, and she turned back to Scarlet. “What!? No, no, I can’t let you do that! It’s my lamp, it’s the only thing my mom left me! It’s all I have left of her, and I swore I would protect it with my life!” she protested, standing up. “It was the last thing I ever promised her!”

The mystery of the lamp is killing me. What is sealed inside there that Prim is so willing to die for it? That she'd rather die protecting it than give it up for a chance at life?

[Skijarama]

9918046

What is sealed inside there that Prim is so willing to die for it? That she'd rather die protecting it than give it up for a chance at life?

Remember, she doesn't know what's inside it, if anything, either. Her devotion to it is born largely out of a sense of duty to her family, as well as not wanting to break the promise she made to her mother, since having Prim guard the lamp was essentially her dying wish.

[Workable Goblin]

9918046
I already bet that it's holding either one of the Princesses or Chrysalis. Still seems like the most probable answer to me.

[The Voice in the Water]

Oh, Primrose, you sweet, brave little filly.

[tom117z]

the Apples here had officially adopted her long before Scarlet had ever met her.

They weren’t the first, of course, and there had been plenty after if Scarlet had to guess.

Putting it that way sounds almost insidious.

[MixMassBasher]

What a lovely reunion.

[mustangdrew4]

That last scene was what I was quietly hoping for. It's nice to see Scarlet and Prim bonding and growing closer. Maybe one day Prim will call Scarlet mom. I bet that'll be a heartwarming moment.

[Pensive]

I feel like I may have accidentally spoiled the future for myself. You see I saw this story had a sequel and decided to check it out.

But then, I saw it had a Twilight tag and thought, what? No way that shouldn't be possible. I had my suspicions, since she was dead here but when I found out the lamp was a seal, I just thought one thing... Twilight? Is that how's shes slive in the sequel? Well crap.

EDIT: I found out why you don;t spoil the story for yourself. The anticipation has been killing me the entire time until I found out.