Celestia's Finest (Side Story): Rose's Hot Tub Talk

[DigoDragon]

Night had fallen without fanfare at the castle. Security changed shifts without incident and dinner was eaten in relative peace. It was a strange feeling to witness everything go so... smoothly? There was still one last rough patch that could break the otherwise pleasant streak. It had been some time since that incident in the basement where Love and Sniper had professed feelings for Rose. For several hours Rose had avoided everyone, but she returned to her usual self in time, as if it didn't happen. Was Rose over it, or was she hiding behind a mask?

Rose had recently retired for the evening, but not for bed. She had mentioned she was going to read for a bit in her room. If ever there was a good time to catch her for a private conversation, it was now.


The door was not locked when Sniper arrived. If he knocked, he would hear Rose simply say "Come in." Inside the room, Rose's gear was stacked with care by her bed as she would in any military barracks. Weapons were locked in their holsters, her uniform and armor folded into tight little bundled on the dresser and in her duffel bag. Her comm sat on top of her clothes. Rose herself sat inside the hot tub, soaking. Her head was thrown back with a pair of cucumber slices over her eyes and a towel wrapped around her head.

"Water's warm if you're interested," she said, not looking up at who entered.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper was firmly in the 'don't want to do this' camp. His recent time away from the squad has left him uneasy about discussing the love nest mess and further. But duty compelled him to go. A failure to straighten this mess out now could cost a pony its life in the future.

Be that as it may, Sniper was in no hurry to broach the subject. He entered the room, at Rose's invitation, intentionally distracted by a book on emergency, field medical care. He had a carefully laid plan to work his way into the awkward subject.

"I'm sorry to bother you." Sniper said. "But, I was hoping you could clarify--

He was several paces into the room before he looked up from the manual to find Rose taking a soak. The back of his mind had just enough time to register the fact that Rose looked really good before everything short-circuited. How thoughts went blank and his tongue knotted.

"I didn't-- But you-- I'm--"

Heat rose in his cheeks. Sniper found just enough mental presence to drop his gaze to the floor.

Unbeknownst to either of them, one of the Love Bugs from the tunnel excavation had become trapped in Sniper's armor. The bug, malfunctioning from being so far removed from its ordered point, began transmitting to Love.

[DigoDragon]

Rose's ears shot up. She used her ponykinesis to pick up the cucumber slices off her eyes and she looked at who just entered the room. "Oh gosh, Sniper! So sorry about this!" In her haste, she shoved the cucumber slices into her mouth and ate them. She pulled the towel off her head. This led to her wavy, damp mane falling down around her shoulders. Rose got half out of the hot tub and dried herself off. Just her hindlegs remained dipped into the water.

"Sorry, I thought you... um, nevermind. I'm not sure what I thought," she said with a touch of hesitation. "I was just relaxing a bit before bed. Um, so w-what brings you here?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper shook some of the embarrassment from his mind. It wasn't easy, and it did nothing for the awkwardness of the situation, but it loosened his tongue just a bit. He swallowed, nervously.

"There's, er, no reason for you to apologize. I should have been more aware. I should be apologizing to you for interrupting while you were, well, indisposed." He pawed at the dropped medical journal to retrieve it. It gave Sniper something else to study besides a damp Rose. "I was hoping that we could discuss that... debacle with Love... but if this is a bad time..."

Sniper the broken pony strikes again. It seemed like he'd never learn his lesson.

[DigoDragon]

"No, no, it's not a bad time. I shouldn't find out if cybernetics can prune in the water, you know?" Rose always turned to some self-pointed humor to relieve tension. Didn't always work, but at least it wasn't self-depreciating this time.

She completely removed herself from the water and dried herself with the towel. Rose remained seated near the tub however. "Yeah, I talked with Love earlier about it. Well, a little. I guess she's more... what's the word? Free with her relationships? Like, she has no problems dating more than one pony at a time. Which is something I'm not sure I'd handle well. I'm kind of a jealous type. Anyway, I think you were more meaning to talk about your feelings here, not Love's, right?"

[D.KnightSpider]

"More or less." Sniper admitted. Talking about Love wasn't going to do any good.

It was a fine mess into which he'd gotten. He took a deep breath, working up his courage. Sniper brought his eyes up to meet Rose's and then decided to just plunge right into the topic.

"The mess was... just that, a mess. I made Love a promise that if it would help a situation, I would open up about my feelings and my past. That promise, er, worked against us when Love walked in during our... private moment, I guess." It was more of a lapse on his part, but he left that unsaid. "There were too many secrets and too many hidden feelings for us to function properly as a unit. Trying to handle the situation without discussing those feelings wasn't going to work, that quickly became obvious. But because of my promise, though, I couldn't reveal Love's attraction to you without first revealing my own. I'm sorry that you were caught unawares in the middle of this soap opera... I need to apologize for that."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, I'm flattered that you both have those kind of feelings for me, so it wasn't all bad." Rose wrapped her towel a little tighter for warmth. "I'm surprised if anyone does. These days there's a lot of debate on natural flesh beauty versus those of us with cybernetics, but when half of you has been replaced with metal, it... well, that's off topic."

Rose patted the dry ground next to her for Sniper to sit. "Obviously I forgive you both. Awkward? Yeah. It was. But again, I'm flattered. If anything, it felt nice to know how much you care about me. That you'd invest that much more for me. And I still care and respect you as a close friend and squadmate. Would I like there to be something more between us? Well, sure. I mean, I wouldn't mind a date sometime. See if there's a spark between us. But I know you're still working out things with yourself, and I'm still fixing what broke up here after my accident, so for now I'm going to be what you need. And I'm okay with that." Rose tapped the side of her head to mean her mind.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper's mouth quirked in an attempt at a smile. "You're not the only one with cybernetics."

However, since Sniper had given up his flesh limbs so as to better kill things, now wasn't the time to bring up that particular discussion. He joined Rose by the tub, but he was still visibly uncomfortable. Whether that was proximity to Rose or the subject matter of their conversation was up for debate.

"That's... what makes this difficult." Sniper admitted. "You gave me acceptance and friendship. That's something that I haven't had in a long time. I care for you. I want to be there for you like I said I would. What's hard is that your acceptance-- and a few other things-- have awakened some desires for love and family that I, er, thought I'd overcome."

He paused to rub the back of his mane. This entire situation was intolerable.

"I was telling the truth when I said that I was attracted to you. I have been since Luna put us both in that same dream. At the same time, I've tried to suppress that attraction because I've been down that road previously. I know where this leads and I can't put you in that position. I can't put you in a position where you'll be hurt-- where I'll hurt you. If this becomes anything more, that's what will happen. It always does."

[DigoDragon]

Rose pulled her legs closer together and listened to Sniper. When he finished, she replied with a slow nod, followed by a stare at the ceiling. "I've never hurt someone I loved like that, so... don't know how it feels. I imagine it stings a lot. Maybe like... a kick in the gut?" Rose noticed she sat partly on her tail and moved it.

"If you don't want to act on those feelings for me, then that's your decision. Own that. I mean, we're not the last two ponies in Equestria, so... there's others out there for us. Hey, if you wanna have one of my secrets to call it even, I had a crush on Star chaser for a time. Never acted on it though. But serious talk, please teach yourself that you do deserve to be happy. If not with another pony, then maybe with a pet. Or a place you find solace in. Something tangible."

Rose's eyes started to water with tears. She wiped them off with her towel. "Sorry, sorry. I'm an emotional pony. Not crying because of us. Just ask my sister. I've cried watching every Walt Whinny movie." She calmed herself with deep slow breaths. "So, it sounds like you had a bad ending to a previous relationship? Do you want to talk about that?"

[Elbeyon]

Love wiped her tears too. It wasn't her fault! She was only checking a frequency that shouldn't exist.

She puts her hooves to her mouth in anticipation. She never did care too much for dramas, but the realness of this one was absolutely biting!

Will Scope say yes? Will he say no? Maybe? It was too much! Love shook her the helmet on her desk. Tell me your secrets, oh, helm of telepathy.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper's foreleg shifted slightly. The protective side of him wanted to comfort Rose with a physical touch. He couldn't quite bring himself to do it, however, since the rest of his psyche resisted the idea.

He let the idea of happiness go without comment. That was a discussion for another time and place. Sniper turned his face skyward. He didn't want to look at Rose while he explained himself.

"Her name was Stylish Cut. She chased me the better part of a year before I fell for her. I feel hard. This was way, way back in my upper school years. It was serious enough that I actually abandoned my plans to go military after graduation on favor of chasing her dream of operating a cosmetology studio.

"She actually got me out of my shell enough to go to a dance. I know, hard to believe. It was... a fiasco. No sooner did I show up than did she unload on me right there in front of every pony. Everything I'd ever told her was thrown out in the open for all to see. She dumped me publicly and hard.

"That's when... it happened." Sniper stopped his head to the floor. He paused for a long moment before continuing. "I snapped. Lost control. Let the real me out. Whatever you want to call it. I got so angry that I assaulted her. Might have killed her if a few others didn't pull me off of her. Try living that down the rest of your school life.

"I learned how low I could go that day, and how little I could trust myself. That's why I don't drink. When I get drunk, I lose control. All the anger and rage comes out and I rampage until some pony stops me or I kill some pony.

"Nickel Sheen isn't the first mare I've harmed. I can't put any pony else at risk like that-- I can't put you at risk for that."

Sniper closed his eyes and steadied his emotions. They were actually starting to get the better of him for a moment.

"You deserve better."

[DigoDragon]

"Wow..."

Rose had no idea what to say to that. That was pretty heavy, and quite the tale. She leaned forward a bit, the towel loose around her again. "Well, I don't know what kind of 'better' I deserve, but Stylish sounds like a complete witch. She was asking to get her snout kicked. And Nickel, well she really had no idea what she was doing. If a kid came up to me with a loaded gun I might be liable to shoot too. We're trained to react that way. It could have been me in your position."

"As for hurting me... well, you know I wouldn't make the mistakes they did. I won't betray your confidence or raise a gun against you. Hell, I'll drink for two next time we go out." She leans a little closer to Sniper too, to get a closer look at his eyes. There's a warm friendliness behind her own eyes. "And remember this--I'm not a high school floozy or fragile fashionista. I'm a twice Purple Heart recipient trained in hoof-to-hoof combat, Horn Gauche, and several types of firearms. I'm also stronger than I look because of my cybernetics. So keep in mind, and I mean this as just an open fact and not any kind of threat, unless you plan on finding a grassy knoll to shoot me from, I will kick your ass if you raise a hoof to me."

She leans back to a relaxed posture and smiles. "That said, if you ever find the courage to ask me out and I'm not already spoken for, don't hesitate."

[Elbeyon]

Love's heart is beating away. Rose is so hot! Love wouldn't mind if Rose got a little rough with her.

Come on Scope! You like Rose. She's willing to give you a shot. What will you do!? Why go through all this pain for nothing to come from it? Super Scope wears a cape, not a white flag! Fly, you fool!

[D.KnightSpider]

"Well... Alright, then..."

Sniper's eyes clouded over with worry while his lips managed a hesitant smile. A thousand thoughts crashed through his head. This was as far from a good idea as one could possibly get. But Rose appeared determined, and she held too much of his esteem for an easy dismissal.

"Do you like Prench?"

Stars above, help him...

[Elbeyon]

Love gasps. A true redemption story played out in front of her. She flops back in her chair as the tension seemed to have peeked. Rose dared him to ask, and he did. The deal is done, right? A rough start, but it was a start to something nonetheless. Her ears perked up to hear what came next. Surely, Rose would come to some type of date, outing, or whatever.

Tears start to pool up in her eyes as her heart starts to twist. Yin and yang, swirling around each other. Happiness for Scope. Her own pain. As long as Rose and Scope are happy what does it matter? Love would find her happiness elsewhere. It's not like Love had to look that hard to find it.

[DigoDragon]

"Do you like Prench?"

"I do! I'm not a connoisseur, though. Couldn't tell what's authentic Prench cuisine. Dunno if that's a crime. I think there's Prench in my ancestry?" Rose answers. She fiddles with her towel again to keep it on. She's nearly dry now, though her mane is an uncombed tangled mess.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper stood and turned so that he was facing Rose. His teeth dug into his lip as his heart began working overtime. Every part of him that wasn't machine began twisting and knotting with unease.

"I highly doubt it's a crime. But since you do, well--" Sniper looked at Rose's eyes. There were changes, yes, but they were still the same nice ones he'd noticed so long ago.
"Rosalina Marie Croix, will you go on a date with me?"

[DigoDragon]

"Rosalina Marie Croix, will you go on a date with me?"

Rose is somewhere between impressed and surprised. Maybe leaning toward surprise. Was she pushing him too hard? Stars an moon, she hoped not. Rose doesn't get up, she remains seated and nods. "If you feel I'm pushing you too hard, you come out and say so... but yeah, I'd like to go out with you. I accept."

The little logic center in her left brain lobe started writing a checklist of everything complicated with this idea. Fraternizing with a coworker, holding off on acting upon this until the mission is done, being careful around certain others that might embarrass them over this. Oh boy, there goes all that confidence she was riding just a moment ago. Hellooo insecurities. Well, at least for once one of those wasn't self-hate over her own body.

Yay for improvement?

[D.KnightSpider]

A bolt of fear worked its way through him. Was he misreading the situation? Making a fool of him-- no. No, no, no. He wasn't going to fall into that pit again. He wasn't going to pull back now. Sniper steadied his mind and emotions. Take the situation for what it was. Don't read into it.

A moment passed. Then another. Sniper tried to figure out how to navigate this new terrain. Affection and relationships were entirely new to him. How to proceed? A thought came to him. Sniper seized on it and acted before he lost his nerve.

He opened up and dug into his medical kit. He selected a band-aid from his supply. Sniper brought the bandage to his lips and then, with a trembling hoof, reached out to place it on Rose's cheek.

"Then, when this mission is over, it's a date." Sniper bit his lip again. He managed to produce the ghost of a smile.

[DigoDragon]

He opened up and dug into his medical kit. He selected a band-aid from his supply. Sniper brought the bandage to his lips and then, with a trembling hoof, reached out to place it on Rose's cheek.

"Then, when this mission is over, it's a date." Sniper bit his lip again. He managed to produce the ghost of a smile.

There was a hint of pink blushing on Rose's cheeks as she accepted the band-aid. Her smile grew three sizes that moment. She touched the band-aid with her right hoof, a gentle caress as if she wanted to make sure it existed. "Aww, well now you're going to make me cry for being so sweet. I look forward to that date. Just try and stop me, cause Polaris ain't going to."

She stood up and beamed with joy. "And I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you either, come the festival. You know me, I don't watch from the sidelines."

[Elbeyon]

Suspension replaced with warm gooey feelings. There was a lot of pausing going on, but everything being said was certainly positive. She chuckles to herself. Maybe, they were making out? She rolls her eyes at the thought. Nah, that's impossible for Scope now.

Good for them. Scope may not see much in himself, but I always knew the good was there. The last couple days really proved that to her. Mostly, starting with that confession. If she didn't believe in Scope she never would have let them become a couple. If she thought Scope was a bad apple she would have fought him, even Rose, on them being together. But, he's nice and sweet. They have a chance at making each other happy. Love bursts into overly dramatic cartoon tears.

[D.KnightSpider]

"I know you like to get in the thick of the fight. I'm not going to ask you to change that. All I ask is you, please, be careful. Brazen's armor can take a hit and Love is, well, Love. But there's only one you."

Sniper took a very deep breath and then slowly released it. Things might have gone as far as they possibly could for the moment. He could tell they would both need time to process this turn of events.

"I'll watch your back and you watch mine, same as always and we'll get through this fight intact. In the meantime... I should probably step out before we both start crying." Sniper gave Rose another hint of a smile. "Because I don't know how we'd explain that."

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah, this is probably the longest I've had a conversation go in this room without anyone walking in on it. Let's not jinx that," Rose agrees.

She folds the towel and puts it down by the hot tub so she can walk Sniper to her door. "Well, you certainly know how to surprise a lady, Sniper. Hmm, the wait will be a bit tough, but worth it. In a few days we'll be getting commendations for saving the festival and then we can further explore us. Until then, sleep well and pleasant dreams."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I'm surprising myself, so the feeling is, most assuredly, mutual." Sniper said.

He then stepped through the door and turned back to Rose one final time.

"Be well, Lady Rose, until tomorrow."

Sniper slipped away and made his way down hallway. He had a lot of thinking to do and nerves to steady. But, strangely, he was alright with that.

[Elbeyon]

Love waited a good long while before she decided to disturb Rose. Five minutes. She knocks on the door, but doesn't say anything. Her eyes are still aggravated so she gives them a rub.

[DigoDragon]

Rose watched Sniper walk down the hallway until he disappeared. She then closed the door and walked back to the hot tub. "He actually asked me... wow."

She slipped back into the hot tub and laid back against the sidewall. Did that actually happen? Hopefully that wasn't a changeling playing on Rose's emotions, because if it were, she would break the bug's face with her hooves.

The sudden knock broke her out of it. "Come in?" she called.

[Elbeyon]

Love cracks the door and says, "It's Love," before coming in and closing the door behind her.

Ah good. Rose is still relaxing in the tub. She smiles. "Mind if I join you? Wanna talk?" She brings out a bottle of red wine and two glasses from behind her. "I could use a bit of relaxing in the hot tub."

Love's eyes are still red from crying. A bit hard to notice from across the room.

[DigoDragon]

Rose eyes the two glasses suspiciously. "Relaxing. With a bottle and two glasses?" Curious to see this play out, though she has her reservations on where it will go, Rose leans against the got tub with one leg over the edge.

"Alright, hop on in."

[Elbeyon]

Love nods in acceptance and starts walking over.

Chuckling, "Being polite is all. If you don't want to drink, I can handle the bottle myself."

She slides into the hot water with an overly dramatic, stress releasing, "Aah."

"This is where it's at. Twilight missed the mark on this one. I would have loved a hot tub in my room."

She chuckles again, then pauses to think. "I wouldn't have minded the extra guests either."

[DigoDragon]

Rose smirked. "I'm sure you and Star would of made good use of it. I think this is the first time I actually sat down to really relax in here." She picked up one of the empty glasses with her ponykinesis.

[Elbeyon]

"Ah! Anti-gravity and water mix in strange ways. Have you ever cried in zero-g?"

Love will pour Rose and herself a glass.

Love puts a hoof near her eye. "It balls up and sticks. Without gravity surface tension keeps it attached to your face. It's very unsettling the first time. Water is grabbing to your face, eyes, nose, mouth without wanting to let go. Water acts like a slime without really feeling like it. The ways in which it interacts change without it's properties changing at all. Gravity is what changed."

She takes her first sip of the night.

"Half a week and you haven't been able to relax at all? I'd say that's work for you, but I don't think it was work that kept interrupting your tub time."

Love lays back and starts letting herself sink.

"Zero-g is a new, exciting, stressful too. It's been fun learning how to live differently. Ponies don't like change, though. I've had to fight the urge to go back to normal gravity. Things aren't always for the better. For example: You're expected to swallow your toothpaste. You can't really spit..."

[DigoDragon]

The main reason Rose took a glass was so Love wouldn't drink the whole thing herself. One glass probably wouldn't hurt. Rose just had to sip slow. "I can't say I had any zero-g crying experience. Just that station mission and freefall when I go skydiving."

She sips. "Not the same, I know. The wind whips through your mane when you're falling. Quite fun though."

[Elbeyon]

Loves ears flick. "You go skydiving? Wait, have you told me that before? I'd love to go skydiving. The wind must feel nice. heh."

"Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I lower my windows when I'm driving super fast." Super fast being half of the super sonic speed - 190+ meters per second in her car.

Love remembers something about Rose's past. "Oh, yeah. You like to fly? If so, you must love the Firebird."

[DigoDragon]

"Oh yeah, I love to fly. It's why I joined the Equestrian air force. Ships like the Firebird are a sweet ride. Didn't fly much in those kind of ships though. Was stationed on older airships and put on patrols. Not that glamorous." She takes another slip and examines her cybernetic hoof. "My love of flying might be why I don't fear heights after my accident. Don't fly much anymore though. For for it's own sake anyway."

[Elbeyon]

"There has to be a story about that. How'd you even learn that you loved to fly?"

"It's not like you have wings coming out of your back." She holds her glass closer to Rose gesturing.

"Fast is good. A sweet patrol boat though? Now, that must have been the dream." She sits back up so she can drink. "You say older airships. So, do you mean powered by magic or science? The science ones are truly a sight to behold, but the magic ones are something real special. A big old air balloon is romanticism 101. You know me and magic. Even those old ships get a rise out of me. Oh, yeah."

"I'm one hundred percent going on an air cruise after this mission. That sounds perfectly inspirational."

[DigoDragon]

Rose chuckles. "I think I learned that I loved flying after a few trips overseas. Flying to visit family in Prance was always nice."

"There was something... kind of romantic about serving on an airship. We were like a family onboard."

[Elbeyon]

Love pours herself another glass, and smiles at the apparent warm memories.

Taking a sip, "What is your family like?" Rose said was. "Do you not visit them very often anymore?"

[DigoDragon]

"Well you've met my sister. The rest of my family is similar to her and myself I think. Nice ponies, generally quiet though. Dad maybe less so then others."

She takes another sip. "I didn't expect twenty questions about me though. Why so curious?"

[Elbeyon]

Love laughs. "I'm a curious pony is all. My father always encouraged me to question everything. Especially, things I thought I knew." She waves her hoof, and mimics a males voice. "A pony should never run out of questions or stop learning. A curious mind is an alive one. Education never stops. An old pony is only truly their age once they've become stuck in their own time." She smiles as she finishes and sips.

"And, you're my best friend. It'd be nice to know you a little better. Here, you can ask questions about me if you want? What about Love makes you curious? Anything! Nothing is off-limits."

[DigoDragon]

"Any question? Huh, new I have to think of something good to not waste this moment." Rose takes a sip of the wine. "Okay, so, when did you first learn how to do... that mind jumping thing you do with your lovebots? That, ah, possession ability?"

[Elbeyon]

"Boo! Boring." Love starts downing her second glass, but doesn't finish it. "I gave you a chance to ask my deepest, darkest secret, and you gave me a pass. You could have asked me this any day of the week, and I would have told you. This question doesn't count."

She sighs and swishes her alcohol around. "I don't know when I learned it. Maybe, it was inherent in me. My earliest memory about it is a blur at this age. I was a punk kid, and some outsider rolled into town on two glorious wheels. Nobody cares how much of a bad ass you think you are there. If you leave your bike alone and you don't have a deadly reputation someone is going to snatch it. I was that lucky individual. I plugged into her and took her for a joy ride. Eventually, the old geezer caught up to me. Ripped me straight out of my jack and put me to the ground. Smashed me up real good." She points a hoof at her foreleg. "My original body has the x-rays to show for my arm being all smashed up. I felt that connection, though. I controlled her like it was my body. It was fun. It made me feel alive like nothing before that." She puts her hoof to her chin.

"I haven't really used my ablity for a while." She motions to herself. "This is so boring. Nothing exciting about being in a pony body." She smirks. "I should abuse my talents a little more." She laughs. "I run everything else at max; why hold back? I could be a mailbox in a hot tub now." she laughs.

[DigoDragon]

"Mailboxes can't drink wine," Rose counters, with another sip. She swirls the liquid in the glass. "I find the ability interesting, unique. Almost... magical even. Forgive me if magic catches my attention like socks. Fine. You want me to ask for your deep secrets? Okay, I'll play along."

She moves closer to Love and looks at her serious-faced. "Why did you pick Star over me?"

[Elbeyon]

Love smirks. "I don't know that yet." The picture of a mailbox flapping open and close as it drinks with cartoonist arms and hands enters her mind. She chuckles at the idea.

"Magical? Maybe. I've never found out. It's not like what I do is impossible to replicate with technology. Give a person a neural Interface, and you're already half way there to what I can do. Sure, the number of bots I can control is impressive, but with enough mods someone could probably do that too. The only thing really special about what I do is it being natural. Is natural the right word for something unnatural? Magic isn't a bad comprehension. A unicorn doing magic isn't anything unique. Now, you give that ability to an earth pony and you have something unique."

"Socks?" She asks.

The question is like a punch to the gut. Love downs the rest of glass number two. "I'm not drunk enough for a question like that. Are you sure you want that answered? I'll give you an answer, but the truth is a harsh mistress."

[DigoDragon]

The question is like a punch to the gut. Love downs the rest of glass number two. "I'm not drunk enough for a question like that. Are you sure you want that answered? I'll give you an answer, but the truth is a harsh mistress."

"My first question is too boring and my next too deep? You sure have a specific range of questioning you want me to ask." Rose doesn't sip this time. "What do you want to ask Love? What kind of personal question do you want me to ask so you can tell me the deep dark answers. I don't read minds. Is there something you want to tell me but rather have this back and forth for it? Help me out here."

[Elbeyon]

Love puts her hoofs up in a defensive posture. "Alright, alright. I gave you a free question."

"Scope already knows this. I told him after I broke into his house the night of the party. So, you can talk to him about what I'm about to say if you ever desired." Love takes a big breath and prepares herself before she continues onward.

"Why did I pick Star over you?" She plays with the question like a toy in her mind.

"I've had feelings for Star a long time. Heck, I probably developed a crush on her the first day I saw her, and that eventually turned into proper feelings outside of curiosity, lust. The most basic stuff. I'm a bit of a flirt, some ponies say, so it can be hard to tell when I'm serious. I've flirted with her since day number one and nothing ever came from it. That's the whole story up until now. During our last mission, you caught my eye. My meaningless, harmless flirts somehow became something different. It was a crush. Any pony gets them from time to time. Only, you got really hurt. I wanted; I tried my best to make sure that your hospital stay wasn't a living hell. I know what that's like, and I wasn't going to let that happen to my friend without me trying to prevent it."

"We had some good times. I got to know you. Your sister. It wasn't all fun, and games. You hurt. And, I hurt too. I hurt too much. I realized. It was there I fell in love with you. I enjoyed living with you. I liked seeing you wake up. I liked putting you to bed. Every little thing about you filled me up with warm fuzzy feelings. Every misstep I wanted to catch you and put you back on your hooves so you could try again. I was head over heels in love with you. My every thought; all eleven brains."

"The night of the party. My confession to Star was the death throes of my crush. I was shouting into the void. Clearing my plate and mind for the future. For my next step. Only, she said yes. She said yes to my horror." Love puts her glass down besides her. "I didn't even intend to confess to her that night. I got drunk, and it just happened. It wasn't suppose to happen. I was going to confess to you. Why did I pick Star over you? I got drunk and she said yes."

You don't need to roll detect lies. Love is telling the truth! Yay!

[DigoDragon]

Rose looked... concerned. She took a sip of wine and leaned back in the hot tub. "Well... that's an interesting pickle. Yeah you were drunk. No one sober cuts out their heart to present to their lover. But you know, when we're drunk, we're a lot more honest. You sure it isn't Star Chaser you pined for more than me? Because it would have been easy for you to come find me to ask me out. Yet, you went to her first."

"Maybe... maybe you felt scared because she was the more lofty prize. You and I have some common traits, right? We're both cybernetic, we work on the same squad, flirt and tell jokes to each other. I'm like a good friend. It's easy to have a friend turn lover. But Star? Star is something bigger. She's the rare catch. There's things about her you don't even know. I'm the familiar movie you like to watch, but Star is that rare movie that you're afraid if it's worse, but at the same time it could be even better! Maybe that's what the trouble was. I'm the safe choice, but Star is the risky chance that could bust or pay out like... a hundred times better!"

She studies her cybernetic legs. "And you know that she loves you. I mean, come on, if it were biologically possible, she'd totally have your babies. Me? I don't know if we even have that spark. No clue. I'm the real unknown."

[Elbeyon]

Love weakly smiles at the question for whom she pinned. She kept telling herself to shut up, that she said enough. Everything Rose said Love countered with her own words. "Yes, I'm sure about my feelings. I wasn't thinking straight. In my own weird way I was trying to finish things off between the non-existent us. I thought she had no interest in me, and I'd get a "No." The tale would have ended there in a nice bow tie."

"No, I got the second place prize. I like my favorite movie, and I watch it more than any other movie. A new movie is a passing interest to my main stay. I played it safe. I didn't risk enough. I risked things I didn't even mean to risk."

"I know that she loves me now." She takes a drink. "I feel a spark."

"It's biologically possible. The X chromosome carries enough information to produce a baby. The Y chromosome is a light weight in compassion. Two females can have a baby together much easier than two males."

Speaking up, Love says, "That's history." She takes a purposefully long sip to give Rose an excuse to say something.

[DigoDragon]

"Love..." She continued to swirl the wine in her glass. "I don't want you to feel that Star is only the second place prize. That's not fair to her. She's a pony with real feelings. You love her, but you're saying you love me more? Can you really quantify that? I mean... okay I've never truly fallen in love with anyone in my life. But I guess... what I'm asking is why are you still with her if you aren't happy with her? Or... um, well are you happy with her and not me?"

[Elbeyon]

Love uses her hooves to stand, "You make me happy," and stops half way and lowers back down.

Her mane raises up . "It's cold out of the water. Chilly." She smiles amused at the obviousness of her statement.

"She makes me happy. I had to explain that to Scope too. That's what makes this so easy and so hard. I do like her a lot. I know what I'm doing isn't fair to her, me, or you." She sighs. "I'm a rather crappy pony. I do like her... I can make her happy."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, it's not just her to make happy," Rose says, taking a swig. "You have to be happy with her. Together. As long as that is true, then you're at least doing it right I think. Keep at it, Love. you two are probably still in that honeymoon phase. I'm rooting for you though. You and Star? You two have something special. Real love isn't where an angel chorus sounds at the sight of your soul mate, or that perfect someone. It's about two ponies who find something in each other that brings them joy that they can't get alone."

She looks into her glass and frowns. "Maybe i'm being too preachy. Sorry if I am. I just.... you two are a beautiful couple. I honestly believe that... that you would be happier with Star than with me. And.... no, that's not a dis on myself. I just feel that maybe you and Star have a stronger bond. The spark that holds you two together."

[Elbeyon]

"I'm already happy with her."

Love waves her hoof back and forth to dismiss her concerns. "No, no. You're not being too preachy."

Love lowers her head. "I think you are underestimating how much I care for you."

A sip puts her back at eye level. "Do you feel anything for me? You said that some ponies in this room could be more."

[DigoDragon]

"Could be, potentially. But I don't know for sure. There's just the possibility." Rose leans back further in the hot tub. All this business about love and relationships counter-productive to having a clear mind for relaxing.

"You are someone I do care a lot about. I want you to be safe, to be happy. Healthy."

[Elbeyon]

There is silence as Love thinks and takes another sip.

"This isn't what I wanted to talk about. I didn't even have anything planned besides hanging out with you, but not this. You ask a mean question. I'll have to give you more in the future" She chuckles.

"I'm joking by the way." She takes another sip. "You're welcome to ask me anything anytime."

"You said a lot of nice stuff about Star and me. You don't need to worry about us. About her. Liking her was the easy part in all of this!"

"New topic?" She asks.

[DigoDragon]

"New topic? Hmm, I dunno." Rose yawns as she thinks of something. "There's lots to plan out for the coming festival. Security measures and logistics so we can fight off any agents that Lars sends at us."

[Elbeyon]

"I'm mostly worried about keeping civilian casualties to a minimum. They're already brave enough to enter the forest, and now they'll probably get attacked by some villain."

Love chuckles. "Do you think the princesses are aliens? That they came out of a little UFO thousands of years ago, and said:" She puts on an old fashion alien voice, "Take me to your leader."

"I don't know. If Lars sends a delement dressed up as an alien with a ray gun, I might collapse in laughter before they can even shoot me!"

[DigoDragon]

"I dunno, Love. Celestia, an alien? Why did Lars bring this up now? It's obvious that he has been working for decades on a plot to create negative-emotion element bearers. That is a lot of work here for someone who touts that he has an empire of worlds with huge resources to bring against us. You know?"

Rose finishes her glass. Her cheeks are looking pink. "It's like if during our war with the corvids we went into their settlements and built a weapon to destroy them with using their own resources. Why would we when we had the military resources to crush them ourselves. and we did! Something isn't adding up with his story."

[Elbeyon]

Love thinks. "You know what? Maybe, I was wrong. Maybe, that knowledge was for A.I Trixie, and not us or anyone else. He flipped her, corrupted her to cause chaos on Twilight's computer. It's very unlikely Trixie would have ever gotten what she wanted and escaped. He might have just wanted her as unreasonable as possible, a little unhinged to prevent us talking her down. If you hadn't discovered her so quickly how hard would it have been to talk things out after she gained complete control over the system?"

Love grabs the bottle and offers to pour Rose another glass.

[DigoDragon]

Love grabs the bottle and offers to pour Rose another glass.

Rose studies the bottle for a moment, but then shakes her head. "Thank you, but I shouldn't have a second. I'm buzzed as is. Don't let me get drunk. I don't need to wake up hung over in someone else's bed."

She puts the glass down on the edge of the hot tub and looks at the ceiling again. "I think you have it right. Lars fed Trixie misinformation to make her unstable. Those books were like a virus, right? Yeah... he knows about Twilight's AI. But how... how does her know? Did Ruby Red get that information to him? How did she find out if so?"

[Elbeyon]

"Alright. I'm cutting you off for the night."

Love smirks. "Do tell. Who's bed would you wake up in?" Scope's she figures.

Love sets the bottle and her glass off to the side too.

"Something like a virus, yeah. He was spying on twilight and found out that way. We weren't suppose to know either, but we found out. It helps when they call you up. I should tell the girls I haven't blocked their number so they know they can call me. Heck, half the team ended up bugging Twilight and others during this mission. Information is key."

Love grumbles. "It doesn't help that everything is classified. Emotions, classified!"

[DigoDragon]

"Who's bed? Pshaw, I dunno. Whoever around that likes to take advantage of a drunk mare."

Rose yawned again. "Yeah, we need info to operate. I don't like all the classified bits of the mission, the AI... all that stuff. Emotions though... eh, that's a bit more personal, Love. Don't push it too hard. A time and place for everything, you know? Speaking of the time, I think I should turn in. I want to be up in time for your breakfast team briefing idea."

[Elbeyon]

Love raises an eyebrow. "So, no one?"

She admits at the warning, "I'm trying... And, failing." Love yawns herself and starts getting out of the hot tub. "Friendship hug?"

"I think I'm going to go wrap myself up in a nice feathered pillow. Snuggle it to sleep." She yawns again.

[DigoDragon]

"I dunno, you want a list of who I wouldn't mind waking up in bed with?" Rose teases. She giggles. Being tired makes everything seem just a bit more amusing. She leans over and gives Love a firm friendship hug. "You do that, snuggle that feather pillow. Stay warm, castles are drafty."

[Elbeyon]

Love snorts a laugh. "I wouldn't mind. Maybe, next time."

She returns the hug. The glasses and bottle in hoof, she readies to leave.

"I'll do more than that." She laughs and loses her balance a little. "Eh, maybe not tonight. As a friend, I love you. I love Scope too. I love Brazen. Star, my love! I love you too. I gosh darn love everyone on the squad. Even, the commander! Maybe, not the commander." She starts to leave. "Heck, no. I love everyone!"

[DigoDragon]

Rose gets up and wraps herself with a towel, then helps Love to the door. "Alright, you get some sleep. I think we both had enough this night."

[DigoDragon]

Once Love was on her way, Rose closes her door. She dries off, cleans up the tub area and preps for bed. She looked over bed sheets and sighs. After all that talk about love, dating, and all... Rose feels lonely. She curls up in ed and goes to sleep for the night.