The gateway to her heart

Twinkle Star stared at the stars. Somehow they appeared to be extremely bright tonight. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and there was a full moon which made Twinkle Star able to see everything around her. Aline had fallen asleep at least two hours ago, but somehow Twinkle Star couldn’t get asleep herself. She couldn’t stop thinking about Stelline. It was all so unreal. Her own sister… did she really wished for the rest of her family to drop dead? Just like that, without any reason? Twinkle Star couldn’t believe this. There had to be a reason for Stelline to act like this. But even if Twinkle Star knew why, would it change anything? Stelline had known about the new lands, about her mother, for so long, and still she hadn’t done anything. She didn’t even tell her mother she was alive. So how would she be able to change this?

Twinkle Star yawned. Maybe she was getting a little tired after all. They were at the front gate again, sleeping on the same spot as they had been the night before. She and Aline hadn’t really done anything the rest of the day. They had just talked about Stelline, and what they were going to do next. They had decided to go back to Aline’s village first to get some rest, and then they would probably head for the new Friendship Lands. Twinkle Star really didn’t want to go back like this, she didn’t want to face her mother in this way, but she felt as if she didn’t really have much of a choice. She couldn’t force Stelline to come with her, and besides, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted Stelline to come with her, acting like this. Twinkle Star turned to lay down on her other side, and she saw Aline still sleeping peacefully. She probably had a pleasant dream, Twinkle Star thought, as she was smiling in her sleep. Aline had been upset all day because of the fight. Twinkle Star hadn’t realised how shocking something like this could be. It had been so long since she had a major fight with another royal pony, and the last few fights she had had, weren’t attended by normal ponies. She never wanted to scare Aline like that. She cared for Aline and she didn’t want to hurt anyone she really cared for.

Twinkle Star turned around again and looked at the stars once more, while she had to yawn again. She had to think about the painting of Daiya, the brightest star in the night… She looked like such a strong and beautiful pony in the picture. Could a pony really be like that? Twinkle Star felt as if there were some secrets forgotten, secrets that once made the Friendship Lands strong, peaceful, safe and powerful. Stelline wasn’t anything like Daiya. Not even half as strong, not even half as beautiful, but still Twinkle Star couldn’t help but thinking that there was something more to Stelline than she knew. Something she hadn’t told anyone, something she was trying to hide from the world… Slowly Twinkle Star felt her eyes grow tired. She wanted to keep them open and think some more, but she felt she had to give in to her sleep. She felt as if somebody was pulling her down, pulling her in a sleep in which she rather wouldn’t go…

The next thing she knew was that she was walking through a hallway. Not like the one where she and Aline had met Stelline. It was dark, she couldn’t see anything around her, everything was black. All she could do was walk on, even though she felt as if it became harder to breathe as if someone was trying to strangle her. It became hard for her to go on, but she knew she couldn’t stay here either. She just had to go on without stopping. She couldn’t wait, she couldn’t rest… it would just strangle her more.

Suddenly she saw someone walking in front of her. She tried to get closer to the pony by walking faster, but the pony began to walk faster as well. “Mom!” Twinkle Star yelled instinctly, “Mom! please wait!” The pony in front of her stopped walking upon hearing Twinkle Star’s voice and all of a sudden the pony was standing next to Twinkle Star. It was indeed her mother, but she looked older, lonelier, tired. “Twinkle Star… you, you…” Her mother said, while being out of breath. It appeared her mother was growing older every second. “It’s ok mother, I am here, I…” Twinkle Star began, but her mother interrupted her. “It’s not okay… you failed me, Twinkle Star.” “Failed?” Twinkle Star asked, confused. “What do you mean failed? Mom?” But her mother didn’t answer her. She was fading, just like the blackness, the darkness around her was fading. The world was becoming more clear around her, the darkness was fading into solid things around her. Trees and rocks appeared. She was standing in some sort of meadow now, with trees here and there, and there was a road in front of her. It was still dark, it was night, even though she couldn’t see the stars or the moon. The sky was still black. She looked around to see where she was. First she thought she was back in her home country, the old Friendship Lands, but when she saw the castle she realised this wasn’t the case. She wasn’t in the old Friendship Lands, this was the New Friendship Lands. Was her mother maybe inside? She galloped towards the castle, but when she reached it she found out it was completely deserted. The front gate had been broken, the garden was a mess as there were weeds all over the place and there wasn’t a flower to be seen, and the castle’s door was open and the door looked old and rotten. The paint was half off the door and even in the hall it was a mess. Lamps had fallen off the walls, paintings had been torn. It was as if there hadn’t been a pony in there for years. Suddenly she saw her sister Ivy coming out of a room. She stopped walking, looked at Twinkle Star, shook her head and walked on. She as well looked a lot older, too old, just as her mother has done. Twinkle Star yelled Ivy’s name, but she didn’t respond. When Twinkle Star entered the room in which Ivy had disappeared she noticed it was the throne room. This room was a mess too and it wasn’t as light and colourful as it had been before. She saw her sister Crystal sitting on the throne, with her mother’s crown on her head. She looked sad and was staring out of the window. She, too, looked old, but she looked more weary than her mother had done, as if she was wearing a burden that was actually too heavy for her.
“Crystal?” Twinkle Star whispered, as she walked towards the throne.
Crystal looked up and looked at Twinkle Star.
“Twinkle Star… Why have you failed us? Why have you broken your promise?” Crystal said with an old, hoarse voice.
“I… what are you talking about Crystal! I didn’t…”
“No, you didn’t.” Twinkle star heard a voice say from behind her and she quickly turned around. Her aunt Regala stood there. She didn’t look old, in fact, she looked just the same as she had done when Twinkle Star had last seen her.
“Have you forgotten already, Twinkle Star? The reason why you left me?” She said.
Twinkle Star felt she began to breath harder and her heart was beating faster as she was trying to answer her aunt. Everything around her began to spin. She felt as if she was turning around really fast but she knew she was standing still, but even so she couldn’t escape it. She could hear a voice coming from… from where? It came from everywhere. She knew this voice, she had heard it before… 
 “I will go...”
Where did she knew this voice from? Who was it? Meanwhile she felt as if she was getting more sick every second. She wanted to escape the spinning, but she couldn’t move, and everything around her had become one big swirl, everywhere she looked..
“Even if she is no longer my mother’s heir…”  
Who was it? Twinkle Star tried to think, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything except for not getting sick.
“even if she is nothing but my older sister…”
Stelline?
“I still will look for her!”

Twinkle Star jumped up. She was breathing hard and she was shaking, but everything was in it’s place now. It was still dark, and Aline was still sleeping quietly beside her. The stars were back in the sky. It was just a dream… But the voice had been real. She remembered the voice now. She knew who it was. It wasn’t Stelline. It was her own voice, she had said it not too long ago to her aunt Regala when she had decided to go look for Stelline. She tried to breath more calmly and to stop shaking, but she felt this was really hard for now to do. She was right… The voice had been right. She wasn’t looking for Stelline to find her mothers heir, nor was she looking for her own destiny by finding Stelline. All she wanted to find was her own sister. The pony she met earlier that day… It was her sister, her sister with a deep secret, something that stopped her from being herself and realising who she really was. Stelline hadn’t meant what she had said, Twinkle Star was sure of it. She got up on her feet. She had decided what she had to do.

“Aline, wake up!” She said softly.
“Hrrrmmmm…” Aline muttered.
“Come on, wake up!” Twinkle Star said again.
“What?” Aline said annoyed.
“We’re going back in there! Come on, get up and pack your stuff!” Slowly Aline got on her feet.
“What?” She said surprised and still a bit dizzy.
“Yes! I know it sounds weird, but I have to talk to Stelline. Some things aren’t right with her, and I’m going to find out what! I can’t leave my sister alone like this!” Twinkle Star said to Aline.
 “Twinkle, She told you to drop dead! I honestly don’t think that means ‘ey, why don’t you come visit me again later?’, do you?” Aline said annoyed.
“Of course it doesn’t. But I don’t think she meant it, Aline. I gotta go back and find her, I want to know what is going on with her. If you don’t want to come with me it’s fine, really. I understand and you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But could you please help me to open the door so I can go and look for her?” Twinkle Star said with a soft voice. Aline smiled.
“Twinkle, I’m not gonna let you go in there alone. We’re in this together, right? We’ve always been and I’m not gonna let you finish it on your own.”
When Twinkle Star looked at Aline with a surprised face, Aline said: “Let’s go.” Twinkle Star nodded and she began to pack her stuff as fast as she could.

When they were both done packing Aline once again put her hoof on the stone and Twinkle Star opened the door with her pendant. This time, they didn’t walk slowly through the hallway. They galloped as fast as they could and when they reached Daiya’s painting they turned left. They slowed down now, as they didn’t know this part yet and it was quite dark over there. After a while they saw a small light coming from the distance. Twinkle Star recognised the light immediately; this was the light of a lock, just like the one that was on the front gate. It was a peculiar kind of light, it was a bit greenish, but it also didn’t really have a color.

Not much later they indeed stood in front of a door which Twinkle Star had to open with her pendant, which went as easy as it could go. The doors obviously had been used shortly before as they moved a lot smoother than the front gate doors. When the doors opened they could see little points of light in the distance. “Stars. I think this will lead us outside.” Twinkle Star said softly and after they had walked on for about 2 minutes they suddenly were outside again. “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, Aline. Look at those walls. They are broken. It’s not supposed to end here, this place is ruined.”  Twinkle star said while she looked at the hole behind her. In front of them was a field with rocks all over the place. It was messy and probably very hard to walk on. Twinkle Star knew it was like this because of the eruption. She didn’t know what had been here before the eruption, but she figured the unicorn hallway probably used to be a lot bigger with lots of rooms and everything, but nothing of that survived the eruption, maybe only the old hallway was the only thing that had survived from some kind of castle or hiding place.

“Are these the old Friendship Lands?” Aline asked, a bit unsure.
“No, they’re not. You see those mountains over there? I think those are the inner borders, but I’m not even sure of that. I have no idea where we are, to be honest.” Twinkle Star answered.
“You think Stelline’s over there?”
“No, she’s not. She’s much closer.” Twinkle Star said softly. She sensed Stelline’s powers were really close. She knew Stelline’s powers now. She could sense them. Stelline was somewhere on this field..
“She’s somewhere out here…” Twinkle Star said softly.