The rains did come, as did warmer temperatures brought from the south in their wake, though they wouldn’t last long.

Rosewater’s fears about the dam being overwhelmed, or the river valley itself flooding proved groundless. The banks of the Merrie did overtop briefly, and a little detritus made its way onto the riverwalk in Merrie during the height of the storm that blew through, but both cities fared well, and Damme with its higher embankment didn’t even see the river crest the top of its stonework half of the bank, though the docks and dock district did see some localized flooding.

She knew all of that from listening to the reports Petal received from the traders and common ponies that kept an eye for her on how things were going in their sister city.

Collar, she knew, had returned to the palace long before under cover of night again. She’d not dared to venture to the campsite before it was time, but stars it was hard to keep her mind off what might, could, happen there… in just a few days.

So much had happened, so much to confirm her dreams and allay her fears, that she could almost feel them blooming around her. She was so close now, to the dream she now knew her father and mother, her real mother, had worked to prepare her for. Blue Star’s journal had gone from that turbulent night to talking about how Carnation was already in talks with the young rulers of Damme, to bring her daughter together with their son.

And so much had gone wrong. Her father’s illness had meant Carnation had missed days of talking in secret to care for him, lest he pass away while Rosewater was alone with him. They hadn’t wanted her to see his final moments, terrified that it would scar her for life.

In the end…

Rosewater shook her head slowly and pushed away the melancholy that settled in over her every time she thought about her father. It came more often in the wake of storms, when the scent on the air reminded her so much of the day her father had been buried.

Today was the Commoner’s Gala, and she would be one of the hostesses making sure the event ran smoothly. It was a huge step up from the antisocial behavior she’d forced herself into, and she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit she was more than a little nervous about the spotlight she would find herself in.

But… it also excited her. It would be the first time in six years that she’d participated in a major social event as more than a wary sideline watcher, and the Commoner’s Gala was usually only something she heard about from Rosemary after returning from the main event. It would be her first time actually participating in her memory.

Not that it was an old tradition. It had only really started years after it became clear that the Lace Reformations were standing up to the test of suits and time, when it was more feasible to hold a multi-city festival for the common pony on ground that Roseate had no direct control over.

It was also, for a lot of Merriers and Dammers, the only time that the normal inhibitions about visiting the other city fell away, and the merchant class and even a good portion of the common class ventured across the Rosewine.

“Today’s the day,” Dazzle announced as he strode in without even a knock, then stopped, staring at her. “Stars. I love the braid, Rosewater, but…” he stepped closer and lifted one of the loose ribbons she’d woven into her mane at even intervals. “Dammer blue?”

“I want the war to end, Dazzle. Pink and blue in my mane, I hope, will show my interest in all things Damme.” She flicked her tail, showing the same work she’d done. “It’s also practice for what I want to have a stylist do with my mane for the gala.”

Dazzle swallowed and nodded. “It says that much, at least. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. My mother will hear about it, yes, but showing interest in Damme isn’t treason, Dazzle. It would be treason only if I started working for them against her. And I’m not. I’m working for myself, for the end of the war, and for unity between ponies. That has always been something the treaty has always promoted.”

It took him a moment, but he tipped his head to the side and nodded. “You’ve been following in the spirit of the treaty for a few weeks, haven’t you? Trying to embody what it was hoped to accomplish.”

“It didn’t start out that way,” Rosewater admitted, her ears flattening as she did, and stood up from her vanity to give him a quick kiss and nuzzle. “But as I got to know Cloudy and Collar better, and Lace and Dapper, I realized that they were already living what the treaty wanted. They’re both mixed-city couples born and come together in times of turmoil in Merrie. Dapper and Lace from the time that the last Rosethorn the Red purged political dissidents, and Lace’s father not much better. And…”

“And Roseate,” Dazzle finished for her, sighing. “They’re good ponies, all of them, and I don’t think I’d have felt as safe making the decision to try out the Merrier life if Lace hadn’t been in power, honestly. It would have been a complete severing of ties under her father’s reign, and… I can’t do that. I still love my family, even if they don’t approve of my choice of life and love.”

“Do they know about us?” Rosewater didn’t wait for him to answer before she opened her door and glanced down the hallway towards the kitchens. Breakfast had been an hour ago, but she was still feeling peckish.

“Are you kidding? They’d stage a rescue mission if they had more than inklings that I was sleeping with you.” Dazzle’s chuckle was darker, and he nipped her neck. “Besides. They don’t understand how… transient Merrier relationships can be.”

“Is ours transient?” Rosewater asked, stopping halfway down the hallway. “Do we want it to be transient?”

Dazzle concentrated, silencing the hallway and grinning at her at how easily he’d managed it this time. “I mean, it would have to be if you marry Collar, right?”

“We… talked about that. Frosty’s Law would need to be torn down first. That would open the way for us, with my spouses’ blessing of course, to continue.” Rosewater nipped his ear when he started to protest. “Even if they don’t, I’m still free to have the friends I wish. But he did give his blessing, Dazzle.”

Dazzle dropped the silence and followed her out to the main chamber of the villa, where Petal was already organizing her workers into the pre-arranged details and giving out last-minute reminders. She caught sight of Rosewater, continued talking for half a breath, and stopped to stare at her.

“Rosewater?” she asked in an incredulous voice.

“Yes?” Rosewater replied, standing tall and proudly letting the blue in her mane and tail stand out. Ponies turned to stare at her, some of them missing the importance right away, but enough whispering answers to their soft questions that all knew it before long. “I made my choice, Petal. With intent. I know what I’m doing.”

She didn’t quite grimace, but she nodded. “Then, small change of plans, everypony. There’s not a Dammer who visits who won’t miss the meaning of that color.” She pointed at White Rose. “I know you wanted the foal area anyway, so you’ll get that instead of concessions.” Another point at Roselyn and Bliss. “You two, you’ll be heading concessions with Dazzle, and no—”

“Excuse me,” Dazzle said, clearing his throat before she could go on. “Before you set that in stone, I’d like to stay with Rosewater. I presume you’re putting her on ambassadorial duties?”

Petal, already with her hoof pointing elsewhere, grimaced and looked over the rest of the ponies gathered. “Very well. That will work better, I admit. Prism, concessions with Bliss and Roselyn. Tremor, you’ll be taking over main tent co-hosting with me.”

“And me?” Seed asked from the back.

“Dear, you’re our salespony for wine and flowers. Do us well.” She flashed her husband a brilliant smile.

Seed yawned at her, theatrically and very obviously fake.

“That’s it everypony. You all know where you’re supposed to be now. Let’s work on making this the best Commoner’s Gala we’ve ever hosted.” She tapped her hooves on the table in a rapid staccato. “Hurrah!”

A rumbling answer came from every throat, even Rosewater’s, before she left with Dazzle, Petal following close behind.

“That was not very nice,” Petal grumbled to her. “Not warning me about what you were going to wear.”

“It was meant to be a surprise to everypony,” Rosewater murmured under her breath. “You have no idea how hard it was to source this color without drawing attention.”

“You’re just lucky I didn’t stick you in the tent anyway.”

“I wasn’t, honestly, expecting you to take me out of it.”

“My dear.” Petal crossed her path and stopped, looking up at her. “You’re openly declaring that your interests are aligned with Damme’s. Are you sure you’ve thought through what this will mean to you? From… certain ponies.”

“I have. She will focus even more on me. Not you, Petal. She can’t ignore me flaunting the romance I’m trying to foment across the river.”

Petal laughed harshly and nipped her chin. “Stars, mare. I’m not worried about us. We can handle us. I’m worried about you. Stars, you doing this will show that you’re more interested in fostering relationships with Damme, and that, regardless of how you think your reputation is tarnished, is going to change hearts, and not just in Damme. By the Mare, some of my best customer relations are from ponies who wish there was better commerce travel between our cities.”

Rosewater stared at the mare, her mouth working to form whatever sentences her brain was trying to send it, but… nothing came.

“Calm down,” Dazzle murmured in her ear. “She’s worried you’re going to get hurt and leave again. Or get exiled.”

“Damn right.”

“I’m not.” Rosewater straightened and stared down at the smaller pony. “I am not going to leave again, Petal. I’ve set my course, and I will stay on it come ruination or the Mare in the Moon coming down to bless my choice herself.”

“Good.” Petal snorted. “You have no idea what Seed went through when both of his favorite aunts left him at the same time. Stars, he was barely out of colthood, Rosewater, and he as good as lost two second mothers.”

“I know.” Rosewater ducked her head. “I know, and I realized my mistake in my grief only after I was free of it. I’m not doing that to anypony again.”

Petal kept her eyes locked on Rosewater’s for a long breath, then let it out in a low sigh. “I know. I’m sorry. For hitting you like that. It… made me think you were setting yourself up to have what happened to Carnation happen to you.”

“No. I’m not setting that up.” Rosewater bent to nuzzle her ear lightly. “I’m going to keep fighting until I’ve won, Petal, in every way I can without breaking the law.”

“Then we’ll be right there with you. You’re family, Rosewater, and what you’re doing, and setting up, is the best chance we’ve had in centuries to finally see the end of endless conflict.” Petal’s jaw trembled, clenched, and she swallowed. “I want to see Carnation back, Rosewater. I want to see Seed’s eyes light up again, just like they did when you appeared on our doorstep. I want that for him, and for me.”

Dazzle nudged Rosewater’s cheek. “Let’s make this the most memorable Commoner’s Gala yet. In a good way. Let’s not have any exploding pies this time.”

Petal laughed, sniffled, and thwapped him lightly with a hoof. “That was your fault, you know, and why I was going to pair you with Bliss.”

“I presumed that was why you didn’t assign me to concessions alone this time.” He grinned at her, winked, and nudged her on. “There’s ponies who’re going to be looking for you, Pet. Best get going. We’ll head to the entrance tables to start greeting the first arrivals.”

“Good luck, and the mare watch over you,” Petal murmured.

“And you,” Rosewater replied, and headed off towards the gathering crowd waiting for the barricades to come down and let the festivities start.

Crown held her breath as Rosewater stepped onto the stage overlooking the entrance to the Commoner’s gala, and knew that something big was happening, and she’d had no idea that it had been. This moment was Rosewater all but announcing to the world that she considered herself of two cities.

What that meant for Crown depended on what she said, and she edged through the crowd of mostly Merriers to get close enough to hear without her spells. She wasn’t in disguise today, but she was also the least striking of Roseate’s daughters. She could pass for a common pony at the drop of a hat.

She had her father to thank for that, a common-born pony long-since migrated to Damme to get away from Roseate’s constant pestering. It made her a pony of two cities, too, however superficially, and Roseate often forgot that fact. Her full sister, Vine, had the same look as her, albeit stockier and not as tall.

“Good morning! Merriers, Dammers, foals, colts, fillies, mares, and stallions.” Rosewater’s voice was clear, without the husky quality it usually had when she wasn’t raising her voice. Today, she sounded like a regent. A duchess, even. “Today, we of the Garden of Love, welcome you to our humble slice of land between the Rosewine and the sea in openness, with the blessing of Her Highness Celestia of the Dawning Sun, Ruler of Equestria, and her treaty that allows us all to come together today without fear of reprisal, without fear of animosity, and with the hope that our two cities will be one.”

Stars, mare, leave a little outrage for later. Crown couldn’t help but check around her and make sure Roseate wasn’t close to her in the crowd. She might pop, even if the words were nothing but the truth.

“In that spirit, Budding Rosethorn started the Commoner’s Gala to coincide with the Treaty Galas that happen at the turning of each season, to bring us closer together, to foster understanding, togetherness, and even love between our two beautiful cities. And in that spirit, I, Rosewater Rosethorn, welcome you all to participate in the thirteenth annual Fall Commoner’s Gala. Come, celebrate with us. Warm food, hot beverages, and hearty fires wait for those needing them. We have a place to watch over foals towards the main tent, and plenty of delicacies from across both cities ready to sample in our concessions area, and guides will be everywhere, ready to help you find where you want to go. And so will I.”

An unfamiliar sense of sisterly pride welled up in her at listening to Rosewater. She was putting herself into a position she had to know meant trouble, but she was doing it willingly, and doing it for, as far as Crown could tell, exactly what she’d said. For the fostering of unity, understanding, and, most tellingly, love.

She was telling the world, or at least foreshadowing it, if she didn’t know it herself yet, that she was in love with Damme. Or a part of it. Maybe even a very small part of it. Stallion-sized small.

I wouldn’t hedge a bet against her that she doesn’t already know.

Then the rope barricades were untied, the poles holding them suspended moved, and Rosewater stepped down from what would be a dancing stage later in the night to greet the first arrivals.

I would be remiss if I didn’t greet her… Roseate would throw a fit if she didn’t get close enough to hear the first ponies that’d come to greet her and, as far as she could tell from a distance, compliment her choice of hair decoration from the way Rosewater showed off the intricate braid.

She laughed as another thought came to her.

At least I won’t have to play at being an accountant.

Surprising her, more than two dozen ponies waited in line to talk to her where she stood with Dazzle beside the raised platform, and not all of them Merriers, and not even many of them she knew. Some were business ponies whom she knew peripherally from her association with the guild of shop owners that she supposed she still was a member of, even if she never attended their monthly meetings.

Others, the Dammers, were regular folk, and she thought she saw a face that she’d come across on her passage through Damme more than once.

“Good morning, Lady Rosethorn,” the first one of the Dammers said, his smile little more than a queasy imitation. “I must say, it was surprising to see you giving the speech Petal usually gives.”

“I gave it once before with Budding Rose and Carnation, some seven years ago, Mr…”

“Wright. Prim Wright. My company supplies much of the wood Petal uses in her casks, and we supply the Prim Dockyards with a good portion of their decorative wood needs as well.” He gave Rosewater a closer look, obviously lingering on the ribbons in her mane, then stuck out his hoof. “I don’t suppose a perfumier has much use for wood, do you?”

Rosewater laughed and took the hoof. “Stars bless me, I do, actually. For some of my most decorative gifts. Wooden boxes for the bottles to fit in with hinges so they can be presented like a wedding gift.”

“Ahah!” His moustache bristled with his smile. “Well, do let yourself wander on down to my office sometime and we can dicker about details. My cousin is a carpenter, you know, if you need somepony to design.”

“I will see if I can, good sir,” Rosewater replied, still chuckling, and shook his hoof once more. “But please, enjoy yourself, I know Petal will look forward to meeting you today.”

When he left, the next pony seemed less ambivalent, sharper, and actually presented her hoof first. “Prim Seam. Seamstress and cloth supplier.”

“I do believe I have one of your shawls, Mrs. Seam,” Rosewater replied, taking the offered hoof. “And I recall that Petal bought quite a bit of cloth from you for tenting material. It was very luxurious, and I haven’t had the chance to properly thank you for supplying it to us on such short notice.”

“You do not seem to follow your reputation, Lady Rosethorn,” the gray-maned seamstress said with a critical eye on her before withdrawing her hoof. “And I do believe…” Her eyes widened, and Rosewater had to cover her own lips with a hoof and winked at her. “Ah.”

“I protect those who source for me, Mrs. Seam. I would ask that you not give their name away.”

“But of course. You wear the color well. We keep a large stock on hoof for occasions the palace needs it. It was quite surprising to have a Merrier buy so much.” She gave a sharp nod. “A pleasure to meet you, my lady.”

“The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Seam.”

The next, surprise and not a surprise, was Crown Rosethorn, her second youngest sister.

“Dear Crown,” Rosewater said with as much warmth as she could muster. “I didn’t know you attended the commoner’s gala.”

“I normally have no occasion to, just as you do not,” Crown said in a clipped tone. “You and I are usually at the treaty Galas.”

“That we are,” Rosewater murmured with a sigh. “But… this is so much more open, wouldn’t you agree?” She offered a hoof to the younger mare. “It’s so rare that I get to see you without some disguise hiding your heritage, Crown. You really ought to let yourself be seen more.”

Crown stiffened at the words.

Yes, I know you’re mother’s spy. Rosewater bobbed her head to the side. “Wait for me, and we can have a talk after I’ve had a chance to greet the rest of our guests.”

Her sister started to mouth an objection, flattened her ears, then let them fall limp, and nodded. “Very well. Don’t be too long about it, I wanted to see if there were any booksellers from Damme here.”

“There are,” Dazzle said, stepping up beside Rosewater from his own greeting line and offering his hoof to Crown. “A pleasure to meet more of dear Rosewater’s family, Crown.”

The look Crown gave him, in an unguarded bit of panicked wonderment, said as clear as day, ‘do you even know our family?’ “A… pleasure. Primrazzle Dazzle, isn’t it? Son of Primrazzle Bolt.”

“Ah! I see you’ve heard of my father.”

“His exploits,” Crown all but growled.

“Mmm. Well.” Dazzle shrugged. “That’s behind me, my lady. I don’t follow my father’s hatred of Merrie or your ways of love.” At the last, he bumped against Rosewater and winked. “In fact… I’m rather enamoured of both.”

“Dear ones,” Rosewater murmured, nipping Dazzle’s cheek and leaning forward to bump noses with Crown. “Please, this is a festival of peace and unity. Dazzle is my lover, and I do love him dearly. Just as I love you, Crown.”

“Not in the same way,” Dazzle quipped, winking.

Crown rolled her eyes at him and huffed. “You’re not your father. I can accept that, and I’ll be genteel.” She fixed Rosewater with a look. “Fifteen minutes, and I wander, and you’ll need to find me. Books are more on my mind right now.”

Rosewater glanced over the small, dispersing line, with only two or three left who might be said to be in line to meet her, the rest having lost interest once it became clear the line would be long… and the smells of food and sound of instruments being tuned called them all deeper into the festival grounds.

“It won’t be three, my dear.”

While Crown leaned against the platform, studying the remaining two ponies, the third having been waiting for a friend, Dazzle leaned against Rosewater. “My line was quick. Just hello, how are you, welcome to the gala. You got all the interesting ones.”

The next mare, with a filly in a cradle on her back, clearly asleep, or half asleep, was more hesitant, and it took only a moment for the face to register in her memory.

“Welcome to the commoner’s gala,” Rosewater said softly, tipping her head to the side to look pointedly at the younger pony. “I’m surprised to see you, and I’m afraid that Cloudy and I never did stop to get you or your daughter’s name.”

“I-I know,” the mare said, sidling forward and glancing at Dazzle. “She wouldn’t stop talking for days about Princess Celestia. I… didn’t know what to think when I saw you first, my lady, but when you spoke just now…” She glanced at Dazzle again.

“I meant every word,” Rosewater said softly. “I wish to see an end to this war of secrets and intrigue, so your daughter, and you, don’t have to worry what might happen tomorrow to change your fates.”

“A-and you? I remember you, Sir Dazzle.”

“Just Lieutenant, ma’am. I was never a knight.”

“I remember when you crossed over the bridge, and all the gossip said you’d been stolen away. But… that’s not true, is it? You, and her…” She raised her nose to Rosewater. “You’re together, and you’re joking with each other.”

“I’m here of my own will, ma’am. I assure you. I want to be here, and I want to be at her side.” He leaned up and kissed Rosewater on the cheek. “What they say about her, not all of it’s true. Not the worst of it. She’s a soldier, like me, and were our positions reversed, were Merrie the proponent of peace… I would be in her hooves right now. She’s kind, ma’am.”

“Paint. Prim Paint. I’m a decorator.” She glanced behind her at her daughter, still asleep on her back. “I come every year because my daughter has friends in Merrie, and I want to learn, so I can help her if she…” Her attention turned to Dazzle again, and she nodded. “Chooses. Like you did.”

“Mrs. Paint.”

“Just Paint.” The mare gave Rosewater a wan smile. “I’m half a pariah, my lady. Brush was born out of wedlock. My family still supports me, but…”

“You’d be welcomed in Merrie, Paint,” Dazzle said softly.

“Except her other friends in Damme…”

“I understand.” Dazzle gave Rosewater a pained look, but nodded. “Welcome to the gala, Paint. I know Petal’s been looking to repaint some of our honeymoon suites if you’re needing work.”

“That’s… how it starts, isn’t it?” Paint murmured. “It’s not like they say. You don’t coerce. You open your homes to us.”

“It’s exactly like that, ma’am,” Dazzle replied. “Exactly. That’s all it needs. Petal should be in the main tent, but there’s a concession area if either of you are hungry, and if you get lost, look for a pony with the wine bottle and rose tabard. They’re our guides.”

“Thank you. So much, again, both of you.”

Crown still lounged against the platform, but no longer affecting a bored look, but a curious, hungry glint in her eyes. Rosewater and Dazzle had dangled knowledge in front of a poet, author, and spy. Nothing could be more interesting to either of her younger sister’s three professions.

“That was quite the show,” Crown said as she pushed off, affecting nonchalance again despite the eager tension in her shoulder and the way her tail twitched. “Was it true?”

“Every word,” Rosewater replied immediately. “I’m not acting today, Crown. I haven’t been for weeks, or haven’t you been paying attention.”

That struck a blow, and Crown flinched. “I have. I still don’t believe you.”

“Then watch. Listen, and learn.” Rosewater swept a hoof over the crowd spreading throughout the tents, then back at the trickle of ponies still arriving, and who would be arriving throughout the event, and leaving. “You’re here for knowledge, aren’t you, not books. I’m offering you a ring-side seat, Crown. Watch what I do. Tell mother, or don’t. But I implore you to believe that I’m not acting. Neither is Dazzle. Today, I wanted to be free of lies.”

Crown studied her, eyes flicking from eyes to mane to tail, then to Dazzle and back, her expression a careful mask. The same kind of mask Rosewater often had to wear in the Rose Palace. A flickering light surrounded Crown’s horn, and the sounds of the world around them distorted oddly, but didn’t cut off. Words lost their meaning and became gibberish.

It was as sophisticated an aural shield as Rosewater had ever seen, and she doubted she could even come close to duplicating it. Privacy without silence. It was a reminder why Crown’s cutie mark was a sideways alto clef done in gold, with roses laying at its base. She was a master at sound manipulation.

“Suppose I believe you. Suppose I don’t run to mother and tell her everything that she’ll hear anyway.” The realization seemed to hit her at the same moment she said it, and her mouth fell open, and her voice came soft and weak. “Stars. You really do mean it, don’t you?”

“I do. She can’t hurt me anymore, Crown. I won’t let her, and neither will I give her the leverage to strike at me legally.” Rosewater raised a hoof, hesitated as Crown flinched away from it, and reached out to touch her sister. “Silk and Vine told me you were a kind pony, Crown. That you’re doing only what you needed to. Just as I did. Just as they are. It doesn’t have to be that way, my sister. We don’t have to be strangers.”

“I-it…” Crown’s voice cracked, and she sucked in a breath. “It has to be that way.”

“Not forever.”

Crown raised a hoof as if to brush Rosewater’s off her shoulder, but settled it over top of her ankle for a second before she did. “Maybe not. But I can’t be your friend right now. I can’t be seen to be friendly to you. Or to them. I’m a spy, sister, and you’re my target.”

“I know. You were the logical replacement to Glory.”

Crown pulled away to leave, stopped, and asked the air, “How is she?”

“Bored.”

“And her lover?” Crown looked back, a small smile on her lips. “The lover I knew about and never told mother of.”

“They’re… together more,” Rosewater murmured, sharing a look with Dazzle, and he looked even more perplexed, but she wasn’t sure what the source of the confusion came from. “How much do you know?”

“He’s a Dammeguard. I know that much. He’s not much of a sneak, or very good at chasing or fighting off scents.” Crown turned away again, stopped again. “I know it’s Poppy, Rosewater. Glory told me. But you can’t trust me, Rosewater. Glory was nothing compared to you in mother’s eyes. You are what’s standing in her way. She’ll stop at nothing.”

“I know.”

“Nothing.” Crown rounded on her. “Don’t you get it? She’s rutting evil! She’ll destroy me, you, the city. If she can’t have it—”

“She can’t have it, Crown. I’m not letting her win.” Rosewater closed Crown’s mouth gently as she wound up to shout more. “I was where you were, Crown. I know the depths she’ll sink to. She’d take my daughter from me. She tried to. She’s still trying to. I know how horrible she is, and I don’t need to be reminded just how far she will go. I have seen it, Crown. I’ve been the subject of it. You were too young to see me fight her and defeat her in the arena. You have seen the depths to which I will sink to stop her. What you haven’t seen the allies I have. The friends who will make sure I don’t have to go that far down a path I swore to my daughter I would never take again.”

Crown was silent, and the sounds of the crowd faded even further as she stared at Rosewater. “Y-you’re not a mother. Stars, if you were, you wouldn’t need to posture and prevaricate.” Something clicked behind her eyes, visibly shifting as she glanced to Dazzle, shook her head, and focused on Rosewater again. “Adopted? Rosemary?”

“Yes.”

“Stars above.” Crown licked her lips. “You realize what you’ve given me, don’t you?”

“A playing card.” Rosewater sniffed. “A playing card some of my allies have told me I can’t keep close to my breast for much longer. Telling her won’t do anything to harm me except force me to move up certain plans. But if telling her will save you, Crown, use it. I gave it to Silk and Vine, too. Don’t hold onto it for my sake, but use it for yours.”

“Why?”

“Because, Crown. Silk and Vine… they want, and I want…” She stopped and met Crown’s eyes. “We’d like to find sisters again, not strangers, when we meet like this, and for us to remember that we’re family again.” Rosewater edged closer and risked resting her chin on her younger sister’s forehead. “Because I remember looking after you when your dad managed to drag you away from the palace to the garden. I remember how you would read all the picture books in the nursery room, then stand in the library and try to read the big pony books. I remember helping you learn to read.”

“Wasn’t that… my dad?” She looked and sounded incredulous, but more confused. She squinted at Rosewater. “I remember him making sure I had access to the palace library when I was older.”

“He did that, and he was there sometimes, when he wasn’t working the gardens at the palace.” Rosewater tipped her head to the side. “Rose Farrow. I asked about him when I first knew you were Glory’s replacement. He owns a farmhouse outside of Damme now, and he has a wife, a filly, and a colt.”

“I have… siblings? More siblings? Here?” The idea seemed to stun her, though she must have known he’d resettled in Damme.

She didn’t want to know. It would have tempted her to leave. Rosewater could see it in her eyes, the temptation to shout ‘Rut it all!’ and run away to the parent she knew had loved her unequivocally. A temptation that she quickly shoved back into its box.

She, like Rosewater, like Vine and Silk, like Hip, had too much in Merrie holding them back, and too much that could go wrong if they tried to flee their mother’s wrath.

“Most of you do, though not so conveniently close, for some. Hip’s father left for Saddle Arabia, and Rosetail’s…”

“Nopony even knows who he is,” Crown finished for her.

“But you know who your father is,” Rosewater replied in as gentle a voice as she could. “I can get a letter to him, if you like. I’ve already smuggled one for Vine, and he sent back a cutting from a flower bush he and his filly have been tending to.”

“I’ll have one for you in a day,” Crown promised, her voice eager again, then breaking, and sinking into distrust again. “How will you get it to him?”

“The same way I got Vine’s to him. I gave it to him when Collar invited him to the palace for tea and to discuss the harvest.” Rosewater winked. “That it happened to be a day that I was also visiting my daughter for negotiations was a happy accident.”

“Tomorrow.” Crown fixed her with an intense stare for another beat, closed her eyes, and nodded. “We should go. We look suspicious.”

“I’ll be ready.” Rosewater turned to Dazzle and nuzzled his ears. “Thank you for your patience, love. Now. Let’s get to our duties.”

Behind them, Crown hesitated, then slunk off in another direction as the silence faded.

Author's Note

We've not really seen Crown and Rosewater interact before together, so this was good. We've also not seen Rosewater acting in an official capacity as a member of the ruling family if Merrie, so this is an important look at what she was trained to do.

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