Hello to a new future

“I mean it, this is just stupid Twinkle. And we’re doing this to avoid drawing attention?” Aline said with an annoyed voice while she was walking around Stelline.
 “Yeah. You dress up like a unicorn and enter that village of yours, you see what happens. Really, this is the best solution.” Twinkle Star answered while she straightened the blanked to cover Stelline.
“Now we’ll just have to take the shortest road to your home and we’re all set.”
“Yeah, right.” Aline said sarcastically.

Twinkle Star had to admit it looked funny. They had covered Stelline completely under their two blankets so it wouldn’t be too obvious she was a unicorn, however they were bound to draw a lot of attention like this as well. A rather large pony, under a blue and a pink blanket that were, well, not really what one could call clean. Oh well, it had to be done if they wanted to get through that village without being surrounded by every pony in the vicinity on it’s knees. Of course, Stelline hadn’t objected. In fact, she hadn’t said anything at all about it, as usual. It was five days ago now, that they had convinced Stelline to come with them and left the Friendship Lands. And in those five days Stelline had said maybe five things. Usually she had been walking just a bit behind Aline and Twinkle Star with her head down, staring at the ever-brown ground. Of course Aline had tried to get Stelline to join their conversations but it really didn’t work and it kind of had annoyed Stelline as well, so Twinkle Star had asked Aline to stop it. Even though Twinkle Star understood Stelline didn’t feel very comfortable around others, she too thought Stelline said very, very little. But Stelline had lived on her own for sixteen years and she obviously still wasn’t in complete peace with herself. Twinkle Star had seen her staring at the sky every night without moving, without saying anything. Twinkle Star knew Stelline was still blaming herself for Joker’s death, but she really didn’t want to bring up the subject. She knew Stelline had to fight this part of her battle alone and she could only help her when Stelline wanted her to help. Besides, Twinkle Star had enough on her mind. She was still a bit upset herself with Joker’s death, and she had a constantly rambling Aline to listen to, who somehow only talked more every step they got closer to her own village.

Twinkle Star was relieved they had left the old Friendship Lands behind them. She was glad she had been there, even though they hadn’t gone much further than the borders. It somehow made her feel a little more calm about everything that had happened and it made her feel like she was indeed able to move on, go on with her life without feeling guilty. But she was glad she could see the lights of Aline’s village in the distance now. It was great to see something, well, alive. It was midnight now and everything was dark around them. The stars and the moon in the sky were covered by a thin layer of clouds which sometimes revealed there still was a moon to them. The road leading towards the village was deserted except maybe a single lost pony and Twinkle Star hoped the village would be like that, too. They had waited on purpose until after dark, to make sure there were as less people on the streets as possible. Twinkle Star and Aline really didn’t want to wait much longer now, though, as they ran out of food yesterday morning and they were starving.
 “You ready, Stelline?” Twinkle Star asked, but Stelline didn’t respond. Twinkle Star figured that meant yes.

Slowly they walked into the village, making sure the blankets stayed in their place as Stelline walked. Thankfully not many ponies were still on the street. In fact, the only real problem they encountered was a drunk old pony who was determined to see what was under the blankets, but before he could succeed he fell asleep in the middle of the street. Twinkle Star was really happy to be here again and she noticed Aline was, too. They hadn’t encountered anything alive for so long, so even the light behind a window cheered them up. They took a longer road than they actually had to, so that they could avoid the main road which was still a bit busy, even at times like this, because all the major inns and other facilities were located on the main road.. When Aline saw her hair-accessories store she actually jumped with joy which made Twinkle Star wonder if Aline had been afraid that it would have walked away with her out of  town. Not much later they stood in the deserted little street in front of the vegetables store of Aline’s parents. Of course, the light in the store was closed, but Aline was sure her parents were still up as the curtains in her parent’s bedroom were still open. For a while they just stood there, saying nothing, doing nothing. Twinkle Star wondered if Aline had a hard time being here again, as she had rushed of so suddenly. Was she afraid to face her parents again?

“Well, here we go.” Aline said.
Slowly she opened the door of the building and entered the little store. Without making a sound Aline, Twinkle Star and Stelline walked through the dark little store and into the hallway of the house towards the living room. Slowly Aline opened the door and a warm, bright light greeted them.
“Eh… hello? Mom? Dad?” Aline said softly and immediately after that Twinkle Star heard a woman’s voice yell “Aline!”. 
When Twinkle Star entered the room a few seconds later she saw Aline hugging her parents.
“I missed you mom, I really did.” She heard Aline say, while tears were rolling down her face.
Twinkle Star smiled. She was happy to see Aline like this. Of course Aline had missed her parents and Twinkle Star realised she was missing her own mother a little, too. She looked behind her to see Stelline, still covered by blankets. She wondered what Stelline was thinking now. Wouldn’t she be a little upset, seeing a happy family like this? But Stelline didn’t really appear to be upset and Twinkle Star walked towards Aline’s parents.

“Mom, you remember Twinkle Star, right? She’s ok too! And over there… well, under there, that’s her sister Stelline.”
Apparently Aline had forgotten what this would mean to her parents. To them Stelline wasn’t just Twinkle Star’s older sister as she had been to Aline for the most part, but the heir to the throne, someone they had great respect for, someone you couldn’t bow low enough for. So when Twinkle Star helped her sister to take off the blankets both Aline’s parents bowed as deep as they could. Twinkle Star noticed Stelline really had no idea how to handle this, even less than Twinkle Star had done.
“Really, I… you don’t have to do this, I mean…” Stelline said softly.
“My lady… it is such an honor and relief to see you alive and well. We hope you will have a comfortable…”
“Oh come on mom get real. She’ll be just fine, right, Stelline?” Aline interrupted her mother and Stelline nodded softly.
“Aline! How dare you talk like that!” Her father protested, but Twinkle Star told Aline’s father that it really was ok. She didn’t want Aline’s parents to make Stelline feel uncomfortable, which they were doing now with behaving like this.
“But Aline, you’re only a pony and they are, well…” Aline’s father tried, but Twinkle Star interrupted him again.
“Really, mister Daiya, we see Aline as our friend, not as just a pony. She helped me out many times and I am grateful for that. Please, treat us as you would treat any friend of your daughter, as that is the only thing we want to be.”
Aline’s mother sighed and nodded slowly. “It is ok, my lady. We are sorry. We are just… honoured that you are here and glad that our daughter has been of such a help to you.” Twinkle Star smiled at the older pony.  
“Mom, dad… I know this may sound a bit rude, but do you have food or something? We kind of ran out of it yesterday morning…” Aline said a little bit ashamed and without saying anything Aline’s parents nodded and left for the kitchen, leaving the three young ponies alone in the living room.
Aline and Twinkle Star sat down on a couch and Stelline followed them, sitting down on a large chair. “Aaah… this feels so great! It’s so much better than those horrible rocks and everything!” Aline said relieved and Twinkle Star agreed. She probably was a lot more used to nature as Aline was, but she too enjoyed the feeling of the soft couch and the warmth of the house. The house felt warm and comfortable, and safe in a way. Twinkle Star felt as if she didn’t have to worry about her problems for a while. All she had to do was relax and have fun with her friend and her sister.

“I’m so gonna get my hair dyed tomorrow and I’m gonna kick my hairdresser’s ass for not dyeing it right last time!” Aline said suddenly with a surprisingly angry voice and Twinkle Star laughed.
“I’ve been waiting all day for you to say that! I can’t believe it took you so long to start about your hair today!”
“Well… it’s true though, I mean it’s horrible like this! How, how could he do that to me! And it was bad enough in a place where nobody could see me, but now that we’re here, I have to look at least a little bit presentable, right?  And I don’t suppose we’re gonna stay here long, right? So I have to go there as soon as I can.” Aline asked while she laid down comfortably on the couch and stretched her legs and burying her head in a pillow.

 “I don’t know, Aline. I guess it depends on you, how long do you want to stay here? When are you going to tell your parents you’re not going to stay here and you’re coming with us actually?” Twinkle Star asked and Aline didn’t respond immediately.
She just lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling, breathing softly. Twinkle Star couldn’t hear anything but a few soft sounds coming out of the kitchen from Aline’s parents who were preparing some food and Aline’s soft breath. Twinkle Star could have fallen asleep right there at that very moment. She somehow felt very safe and happy  and, well, a little hungry too, especially when she heard her belly rumble.

“I’ll tell them tomorrow, I guess.” Aline continued after a while, “and I want to stay here a little longer after that actually. Relax a bit, you know, get some rest. It would be good for the both of you as well. I guess we’re all really tired. How about we depart five days from now?” She proposed and Twinkle Star agreed.
“Sounds fine to me. Unless you have some objections, Stelline.”
Stelline just shook her head to show she didn’t. Aline once again turned around on the couch and stretched her legs.
“That’s settled then! We’re going to have fun the following days, you know Twinkle! I’m gonna introduce you to my hairdresser! Maybe he can fix that strawy stuff that’s growing on your head as well.”
To the surprise of both of them Stelline laughed. It was a soft laugh, a sweet laugh, something Aline definitely hadn’t expected from her, though Twinkle Star remembered how Stelline used to laugh, soft, sweet, not really like her.
Twinkle Star stared at Stelline in surprise. “What?”
“Well, it’s true, you know. It is a mess.” Stelline said with the same soft, sweet voice and Twinkle Star laughed as well.
“Yeah, you are right. I haven’t done anything with it in ages and it has been in this knot for like a week now. I don’t even want to know what it looks like, there are probably all kinds of bugs and creatures in it, eating it.” She teased.
She knew Aline wouldn’t be able to handle things like this at all and she was right. “Oh Twinkle, stop that! You’re going to have me throw up!” Aline said with a high voice which made Twinkle Star and Stelline laugh again.
“But what about Stelline? I mean, with all the trouble we went through to get you here… it won’t be possible for you to walk around here.” Twinkle Star thought out loud suddenly.
“Oh that’s ok, I have a nice hat and I’m sure I have a nice blanket or something she can put over her back, so no-one will notice it. Really, you can come with us, Stelline.” Aline assured the unicorn and Twinkle Star smiled.
She was glad her sister could go with them outside. It would definitely be good for Stelline to go out and meet some ponies. Twinkle Star now stretched her legs as well while Aline’s parents re-entered the room with two plates full of nice looking vegetables.