A Twilight Rose Love

by Mystic Sunrise

Ch. 13

“How did we get stuck with this again?” Luster grumbled as Pearl showed her around the castle, making a point to show all the rooms she knew had plants in them.

Pearl shook her head. “I think we laughed at Twilight one too many times. Or maybe Forestsong got to her more than he meant to. He has that effect sometimes.”

Luster gave her a look. “What exactly is he? No fox has nine tails. And the only ones who ever did were kitsunes, and they’re extinct.”

Pearl nodded. “He is a kitsune. An ascended one, if I understand it right. His family was the only ones who survived the end of their race. And he’s stuck here in Ponyville until Twilight and I can properly restore his shrine. Cut off from his home and family? I don’t blame his attitude.”

Luster’s ears fell. That was so sad. As much as she wasn’t into friendship yet, even she felt her heart ache for him. That was something she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Pearl whirled on the unicorn, all traces of good humor gone from her expression. “Now, I think we’ve put this off for long enough. We need to talk.”

Luster gulped. “About what?”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “What do you think? Twilight can give you the proper lecture on friendship, but that’s not the problem. What did I ever do to you? You never talk about Starlight like you do me.”

Luster wilted under her gaze. She couldn’t run from this forever it seemed. “You’re taking her away from me. The princess spends more time with you than she has with me for months now. What does she see in you?”

Pearl’s own ears wilted. And there it was. “I’ve asked myself that same question for ten years, Luster. What made me so special? Why pick me?”

Luster blinked in surprise. “What? But you two always seemed so close. Even before all of this.”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “No matter what it looks like, I bumbled my way through being her student. I was ready to just quit altogether within the first month. But Twilight helped me see it through. For good and bad. Looking at you? I’m kinda jealous.”

Luster’s eyes widened in shock. “Jealous. Of me? Why?”

Pearl’s smile softened as she wrapped a wing around the unicorn. “Because you two share a bond that me and her will never have. Your love of magic. I don’t have that. Not like you do.”

Luster couldn’t believe it. “But you’ve been to the Dragon Lands. You’ve met Tiamat face to face. She’s probably taught you things I’ll never be able to know.”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “To tell you the truth, Luster. I was scared half to death the first time I met her. Quaking in my feathers the whole time. I was lucky she didn’t eat me.”

Luster’s jaw dropped. “What?! She wouldn’t have done that. Would she?”

Pearl nodded glumly. “I wasn’t really supposed to be there that first time. I basically drove Twilight up a wall by begging her to let me go with her until she said yes. So I had nothing protecting me. Lucky, Tiamat seemed to like me, and let me live.”

Luster tapped her chin. “Is that why you won’t let me go with you?”

Pearl nodded. “I just can’t take anypony with me. Not even Lotus, Cloud, or Red, have gone with me. And they’ve wanted to so many times. I don’t have anything to protect you with. The best I can do is hope Tiamat doesn’t feel I’m overstepping my boundaries if I ever do. I won’t take that risk.”

Luster’s ears fell. She had been afraid of that.

Pearl saw the look of disappointment, and her heart sank as she sighed. “Look. I’ll ask if you can come the next time I go. But I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Well, you can always say she’s a friend of mine who wanted to meet her.” Forestsong’s voice hovered over the pair. As Pearl and Lotus looked up they saw the fox hanging upside down from a chandelier. “Rainbow Lizard was always more bark than bite some days.”

Pearl’s eyes twitched. She would never get used to that, or that he got away with it. “That might work. I’m supposed to go there in a few months. No one’s said why, but it must be important. Even Twilight is more high strung than usual.”

Luster couldn’t help but giggle at this. Her mentor had seemed more high-strung even before the storm, and she didn’t think it had anything to do with Forestsong.

“OH and while you're there, can you thank her for the seeds she gave me when I was five.” Forestsong’s tails let go of the chandelier and he backflipped down to the ground, landing as elegantly as a feline. “My forest really benefited from them.”

Pearl nodded. Show off. “I will. Not sure how she’ll react to me knowing you. But I’ll remember to.

“Oh just tell her what Discord did to me. She’ll be pissed as hell.” Forestsong lightly scratched behind his ear with his right hind leg. “Like I said before, she was rather fond of me when I was younger. Partly because I was cute. And greatly because of mom. How else would she have given me the thousand years to grow and eventually ascend.”

Pearl and Luster shared a look. Cute was hardly the word that came to mind with him. But maybe things had been different then. “This town is weird,” Luster muttered.

Pearl giggled as she pulled the unicorn close. “Tell me about it. I’m still trying to make sense of this place. Easier said than done. But with friends, it’s totally worth it.”

Luster’s ears fell. “But I don’t have any friends. I don’t even know where to start. For so long, I’ve thought friendship was a waste of time. I flat out insulted you, miss Rose. Why are you being so nice to me?”

Pearl’s smile grew. “Because I know you don’t mean it, Luster. If I meant even a quarter of the stuff I’ve said over the years, I wouldn’t have been Twilight’s student very long. Let alone her marefriend.”

Forestsong chuckled at the thought, earning a glare from the Pegasus. “And don’t say you don’t have any friends. You already have one in Twilight. Don’t always see her as your teacher. She already sees you as a friend, not just her student. I know she does.”

Luster found that hard to believe. But the sincerity in Pearl’s words was hard to miss.

Pearl’s smile softened as she tightened her hug. “And you have me. I know we don’t always get along. But that doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you the same thing Starlight told me once.”

“What’s that?” Luster asked.

“Us students of Twilight need to stick together. She never had that when she was Celestia’s student, and I think she suffered for it. I won't let you go through the same thing she did."

“And until I’m reunited with my forest. You can consider me a friend too,” Forestsong smiled and wrapped his front legs around the shoulders of both girls. “And you won’t have to have everypony thinking you're crazy. So bonus,” he chuckled with a wide grin.

Pearl just shook her head and with a swift jab backward, pushed her elbow into his midsection. “Go play with your plants. Us girls have work to do.”

As Pearl and Luster walked away from the now bent-over fox, Luster leaned in. “What was he talking about ponies and being crazy?”

Pearl groaned. “That’s a long story involving flowers, talking bushes, and a timberwolf.”

Luster’s eyes twitched. “Everypony in this town is crazy. I swear it.”

Pearl giggled. “Welcome to Ponyville. You have just learned your friendship lesson. Everyone in this town is crazy or being driven crazy.”

Luster was starting to miss her bed in Canterlot. At least there, she could ignore the crazy. Now she was stuck in it.

---

As Pearl walked into the bedroom she set her saddlebag down and looked over at Twilight. Asleep at her writing desk. Spread out across the room was an unrolled scroll, most of it translated but several parts were still written in kanji. Quirking an eyebrow she moved over and slowly lifted Twilight’s head off the scroll, wiping off a bit of drool in the process.

You are too adorable like this. Pearl thought to herself before slipping on an empty ink bottle and falling onto her back. “Gah!”

“Huh?” Twilight mumbled as her head hit the desk. Sitting up she looked down. “OH, you're done? What time is it?”

“A little after sunset,” Pearl groaned as she pushed herself up and rotated her shoulder to loosen it. “I’m surprised, you never nap like this. Or if you do, you never miss lowering the sun.” Pearl saw Twilight’s eyes widen but Pearl just held up a hoof. “Don’t worry, between me and Luster we got that sorted out. We had to use that device of yours. But we figured it out. So what has you so entranced that you skip a sunset.”

“I found it,” Twilight sighed deeply. Leaning back in her chair and closed her eyes. “I found the grave shrine restoration spell.”

“That’s wonderful!. Now we can get Forestsong home.” Pearl practically jumped up and down with glee. But the look on Twilight’s face wasn’t of joy, but defeat. “What’s wrong?”

“Pearl, The spell is written in kanji. Not even the crystal is translating it. And if everything I’ve been reading is right, and I know it is, this spell is very advanced. The most advanced pony spell doesn’t even come close to this. Just now I'm beginning to truly understand the consequences of screwing this up.”

“So where does that leave us?” Pearl looked at the scroll.

“Well, the hill we were climbing to find this spell is nothing compared to the mountain I have to scale just to prepare for climbing it. To say nothing of actually casting it.” Twilight looked at and pressed her hoof against her love’s lips. “And before you say it, I’ve already asked Forestsong. He’s agreed to school me in the basics of Kanji and his language, but nothing else. I’ll have to master both basic scrolls prior to casting this spell.”

“Well, how hard can that be?” Pearl lightly chuckled as Twilight pointed out a scroll almost as large as her barrel. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“And that’s just the beginner’s scroll,” Twilight sighed out, dropping her head to the desk again.

Pearl tried to put a brave face on as she wrapped a wing around her princess’s sides. “Well. It’s a good thing you’ve always liked learning new things.”

Twilight smiled ruefully. “True. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to learn all of this. Even if I only ever use it once. But I have the feeling that it will not be as pleasant as my lessons with Celestia.”

Pearl smirked. “Good thing then I don’t have to learn this. I hope. I’m already going to be busy keeping the garden outside healthy. Thanks for that by the way.”

Twilight only smiled as she kissed her. “That’s what you get for laughing at me one too many times. Forestsong is right. I really do need to learn to delegate better. It’s much more fun this way.”

Pearl groaned. “You’re horrible, you know that? Luster was right. Everyone in this town is too crazy. And that was her first friendship lesson I think.”

Twilight nodded proudly. “A very important lesson to learn. I take it the two of you are friends then?”

Pearl’s smile slipped a little. “Maybe. I’ll look out for her. But she’s still having trouble. There’s only so much I can help her with.”

Twilight pulled her close. “Then she’s got the best pony for the job. I can’t be there for her all of the time. I won’t ask you to take my place. But she might start coming to you now.”

Pearl sighed. “Well. I lent her some of my Conan books. Luster needs something other than stuffy old magic books. Remember what happened to me?”

Twilight giggled. “I remember you got a brand new hobby out of it. But I hope you have a good way to explain where those come from. The World Mirror is kept hidden for a reason.”

Pearl smiled sheepishly. “I’ll think of something. I always do.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “And how many of those ideas didn’t blow up in your face? I seem to remember a few.”

Pearl stuck her tongue out. “You’re just jealous that I can think of anything on the fly, Twily. Even if they don’t always work out.”

“So you think I can’t just come up with a plan on the spot like you can?” Twilight smirked.

“Nope, you take an hour and four checklists just for simple ones,” Pearl playfully poked at Twilight’s chest with her wing.

“Really. I know one plan I can think of on the fly.”

“And what might that be?” Pearl matched Twilight’s smirk only seconds before she was tackled head-on. After a playful roll, Pearl found herself under and lip-locked with the princess.

After a moment's kiss Twilight leaned up. “See. One foolproof plan that worked.”

Pearl laughed along with Twilight as she just relaxed there on the floor. “Okay, one plan. And it only works because I love you.”

“I love you too Pearl.” Closing her eyes she pulled the blankets from off the bed and snuggled up with Pearl on the plush carpet.

Author's Note:

Just a bit of playful teasing between two ponies in love. Never enough of it. Plus I feel the Romance has been lagging behind a bit for the last few chapters. Felt it was time that was changed.

Comments

[PonyofEntropy]

Nice. Added to my read list.