“Wha… what? No, no, that can’t be, you two… mom told me you, no…” Crystal smiled. “Ssh, Ivy, it’s ok. We were just as shocked as you were, when we found out there was a chance mom and others of the family were still alive. When we heard that news… it was as if our only wish came true.” That moment Fleur came back with the towels. When she saw Ivy’s scared face she immediately knew something was going on. “What… what is it Ivy? What is going on? What’s with that look on your face? Who are these ponies?” “Fleur… you won’t believe this but… but… this are our sisters. Crystal and Twinkle Star.” In her surprise Fleur dropped the towels on the floor. “No, they… they’re dead, right? Mom told us they were dead…” Crystal shook her head. “Well, we’re not dead… but you are our sister too? I thought Ivy was the youngest?” “No, I… I was born after the eruption. My name is Fleur. Eh… nice to meet you.” Fleur blushed. Crystal smiled. She looks like a nice pony, Ivy thought. She felt Crystal was a bit uncomfortable, but this didn’t surprise her; she was here with two sisters, one of whom she didn’t even knew she existed, she was back with her family, probably for the first time since the eruption in a castle again… Ivy turned her head. Twinkle Star still had her cloak on. Her face was hidden in her hood. Crystal probably noticed Ivy’s thoughts, for she asked her sister to take her cloak off. Twinkle Star took of her cloak. Her long hair fell down, which glittered in the light of the candles. She was a pink pony with beautiful long pink hair. Her eyes were a bit dreamy, her smile was like it wasn’t visible… “like an invisible cloud around her…” Ivy whispered to herself. “Ivy? You ok?” Crystal asked. Ivy nodded. “Eh… well, I think you two want to meet mom, right?” Crystal nodded. “It’s like a dream that comes true, Ivy. You got no idea…” Ivy noticed a single tear rolling down her cheek. Ivy smiled and turned around, asking the others to follow her. She was finally calming down a bit. Two of her sisters alive, two of the ponies. She didn’t even knew they existed until a few days ago. What on earth was going on? Her life really was changing, but this was a little more then she expected.

“You guys wait here for a sec. I want to prepare mom first, or she’ll die from a heart attack.” Ivy said when they arrived at the throne room. She gave her sisters a little smile, and then walked in the throne room. “Hey Ivy! How are you? You talked with your sister yet?” Ivy nodded. “mom, there is someone here for you.” “What? No, I told you, after dark, don’t let ponies in! I want some little privacy, you know that!” “Mom, trust me, if I had send these two away, I would’ve regret it forever, and so would you. I’ll let them in, ok?” Regina gave her daughter a puzzled look. She has no idea, Ivy thought, no idea at all what is going to happen. “Fleur, you can let them in now.” She yelled towards the door. Slowly the door opened and Fleur entered the room, and shortly after crystal and Twinkle Star followed. “no…” Ivy heard her mom whisper. “mom…” Ivy looked at Crystal. It wasn’t just one single tear now. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. “Mom!” she yelled. “Crystal! Twinkle Star!” Regina jumped off her throne and galloped towards her daughters. Even Ivy got tears in her eyes now. It was like her dream actually came true. She wanted her mom to be happy, and now, even though her mom was crying, she could see this was the happiest she had been in a very, very long time. Ivy looked at Fleur. She knew in an instant Fleur felt the same as she did. It was as if something that was broken a long time ago was finally fixed, as if a puzzle was finally a bit more complete because some lost pieces had been found again. Ivy stared at Twinkle Star. She was such a mystery. She looked happy alright, but it was as if she wasn’t really there, as if she was a bit of a dream, a fantasy, something Ivy had made up.

“Mom, I can’t believe it, after the eruption, I never thought I would see you again, I thought you had died!” Ivy heard Crystal say. “I know sweetie, I know, I felt the same, I can’t believe you two are actually here, my precious little girls… Fleur honey, could you get all of us something to drink? Oh, and bring the chocolate cake! We got something to celebrate!” “Oh no! My hot chocolate! Completely forgot!” Fleur ran out of the room immediately. “Oh you girls,” Regina continued, “I still can’t believe it… let me look at you, you became so pretty, both of you! Come with me, let’s sit at the table and I want to hear everything about you two. Where have you been all these years? Have you always been together?” Crystal shook her head. “I got separated from Regala, just as the others were. Stones were flying trough the sky and we couldn’t stick together or we would have been hit. I stayed with Regala for the longest but I lost her too, in the end. I kept running as soon as I left the country. I didn’t even dare to look back. I was exhausted. I must have lost consciousness somewhere, because when I woke up I was in a bed. I had no idea what had happened, but I was rescued by two ponies, Ani and Ane. They were brother and sister and worked on a little farm. They had travelled and found me. They never asked me where I came from, but I guess they always knew I was from a royal family. They said if I ever wanted to talk I could, but they would never force me. I didn’t want to talk, I thought all of you had died. So I lived there, happily. But Ani and Ane were old, and one day they knew their end had come. I talked with them for a long time that day. They loved me so much, and I loved them. I told them everything I could remember, about you, about the country, about the eruption. They cried for me, and I cried with them, the first time in my life I cried about all that I had lost. They left me that day. I never saw them again. I dwelt at the farm for a few days, alone. But I didn’t wanted to stay. I wanted to see the world, and find out ponies of my country. I couldn’t believe I was the only one that had survived. So I took off. Went to see the world. I have been in quite a few places, and one day I heard about a rumour. A rumour about a small country that was just new. The lost queen rules there, they said. But I wasn’t the only one who heard it. The girl next to me heard it as well. I knew her the very moment I looked in her eyes. She was my sister, Twinkle Star.” Everybody looked at Twinkle Star now. Fleur had entered the throne room again and had joined the other ponies at the table. She had hot chocolate and the cake, but it was too hard to give anyone a piece now. “Hey Twinkle, why don’t you tell them about your story yourself?” “There is nothing, Crystal.” Her voice is just as dreamy, Ivy thought. Like it’s not there, but you can’t escape it’s presence either. “Oh Twinkle, come on. You can’t blame mom for being curious about our past!” “No… well, I travelled. A lot. I spend some time with ponies sometimes, and sometimes I was just alone. I found it hard to be in one place for a long time. The eruption haunted me. If I was in a new place, I could forget about it, focus on the new things around me. But it never lasted long. The horrible fire… I saw them die. Ponies died in front of me. A little girl, I couldn’t safe her, she was burning in front of my eyes, she was crying, but didn’t make a sound. Her parents were dead already, they lay behind her. Her eyes were just looking at me. They were so sad. So pure. But the flames were consuming her. And there was nothing I could do. “thank you…” she said, and then she died. Her eyes have always haunted me. I don’t remember how I got away from there. How I escaped. But the next thing I remember was that I was walking alone, in some place I didn’t know. I couldn’t remember, I didn’t want to remember, but it all came back to me. I thought I had lost everything that was precious to me. Mom, I… I’m so sorry I left you, that I didn’t look for you, but I thought I had lost it all. Until I met Crystal that day in that village. I had no idea… she helped me so much, finding myself back again. Becoming who I really was. And now there’s you mom, and Ivy, and Fleur I didn’t even knew anything about, I…” She couldn’t talk anymore. Her eyes were red from the tears now. While Twinkle Star was talking, it was as if the cloud had disappeared, as if Twinkle Star was there. But the invisible cloud had returned now, Ivy thought. Who was she? Twinkle Star was a pony like she had never met before. Meanwhile Regina had gotten up and was hugging her daughter.

“Crystal, could you, could you tell the story from here? I can’t, I…” Crystal nodded. “after we met we decided we would go looking for that country. We weren’t sure and it was a bit too good to believe others had survived, but we wanted to find this country anyway. So we went looking, and on the road we had gotten more and more confirmation that it was actually about our family. ‘The lost queen’, they said, ‘the dead country has been reborn’, ‘the true powers have survived’. It hardly could be about anything else. So we arrived here, after a long journey. Well, you know the rest.”

“Wow… you two have been through so much. I… you two are… I have two of the most amazing sisters, don’t I?” Fleur said. Ivy agreed. She got a lot of respect for her sisters in a very short time. Their memories… it was beyond anything what Ivy could remember. She remembered a burning castle, Twinkle Star was haunted by the image of a burning child. How they managed to live with that… Ivy didn’t know. It must have been so hard, so hard… “we never heard of others though.” Crystal said suddenly. “Others? What do you mean?” Ivy asked. “others of our family. We asked, of course. But nobody knew something. I don’t think anyone else has… I’m sorry.” “Oh honey, don’t be sorry! I having a hard time believing I actually have you two here. I never expected to see you again.” Regina smiled. A true smile, Ivy thought. A true smile, for the first time in 16 years.

“Did you show them the room?” Ivy asked Fleur. It was past midnight already. They had talked for so long, and hugged, cried. It must have been the weirdest day ever in Ivy’s life. Her sisters showing up, only such a short time after she heard of their existence. “Yeah, I did. They thought it was just fine. Mom was a little embarrassed though, she was even offering them our rooms, but they didn’t want that, they didn’t want to turn our lives upside down. They’re great, aren’t they?” Ivy agreed. “They are. I can’t wait to get to know them better. Only 24 hours ago I was actually crying, because I would never get to know my sisters. And now they are here! We are very lucky, Fleur.” “Not as lucky as mom. She has her two daughters back. Did you see? She was actually smiling, really smiling. I’m so happy, just because she is.” “Fleur that was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever said.” Ivy and Fleur looked up. Their mother was in the hall, but they hadn’t even heard her coming up the stairs. “Mom! We didn’t even knew you were there!” “I know. I just wanted to thank you two. You have been so great tonight. You two truly are the best daughters anyone can wish for. I guess I just wanted to say, I love you two.” Ivy smiled. “Thanks mom. We love you too!” Regina smiled back and wished her daughters good night. Ivy wished her mother and Fleur good night too, and she went inside her room. It was chilly, she had forgotten to close the door to her balcony. When Ivy lay in her bed she couldn’t help but crying. She was so happy, and still she was a little sad. It was all going to change now. It would never be the same again, even if she wanted it. She had known this. Ever since she heard what had happened she knew it, but with her sisters showing up, it was all changing so fast. She wasn’t sure if she wanted it to change so fast… And who knows what was going to happen in the future? She turned off the light, and only then she realized how tired she was. Soon she fell in a dreamless, dark sleep.