A new dream

Twinkle Star and the others followed Crystal through the large doors of the castle walls into the little garden. Aline looked amazed when she saw all the different kinds of flowers in the garden, which indeed were beautiful. Twinkle Star looked at the little door of the castle and she felt happy to be here again, even though she was still a little unsure about meeting with her mother later that day. But somehow that felt as if it was ages ahead in the future and she was just enjoying the moment. The sound of a chirping bird drifted into her mind and Twinkle Star suddenly realised what a peaceful country this was. Even though she had not encountered things as wars, fights or battles, she felt as if her last journey had been a battle. But now that she was here, she felt as if her mind could rest, because everybody else could rest here too. This place was the home to those who had been through so much more than others, and all they wanted was a quiet life, far away from the busy and disturbing world out there.

And all this was portrayed I this little garden. The flowers weren’t forced into places, they were allowed to grow as they wished, but still they grew as they were expected to. They simply agreed. Twinkle Star felt she was home.

“Twinkle Star.” A voice said which woke her up from her thoughts and when Twinkle Star looked to her right she saw her aunt Regala standing between a few red roses. Twinkle Star was amazed when she saw her aunt. She didn’t look anything like the Regala she had met in the little village close to Fiume. Her eyes didn’t look as sad, her coat was clean, and her pendant was much lighter purple. It was obvious her aunt was feeling much better. She looked so much more calm and peaceful now. It indeed was a good thing for her aunt to come here.
Twinkle Star gave her aunt a smile and said: “Aunt Regala. It’s good to see that you have made it.”
Regala walked towards Twinkle Star and the others, avoiding all the beautiful flowers while walking on the narrow path.

“It’s good to see you again, Twinkle Star.” Regala said when she reached Twinkle Star and the others.
“I see you have accomplished your mission.” Regala nodded towards Stelline, who vaguely smiled at her aunt.
“I guess I did.” Twinkle Star wondered if Regala would question Stelline about Togli, but this didn’t happen as both ponies remained silence.
“I found someone else as well you know.” Twinkle Star said when it was obvious none of them would say something and Damina stepped forward. Regala, who hadn’t noticed her sister yet as she had been too occupied with looking at Stelline, gasped and almost fell over when she saw her.
“S… sis…” She stammered and Damina smiled.
“Hello there, little sister.”
 “You… I mean, you were out there too… You… I mean, how…” Regala said while tears rolled over her cheeks.
Damina shook her head. “I don’t think anyone really knows how anymore. But I am here now, right, that’s all that matters.”

Twinkle Star noticed Stelline looked at the ground and sighed when Damine said this. It had to be really hard for her, Twinkle Star thought, to be here and see the others. Twinkle Star knew for sure she still felt horrible guilty and she wondered if anyone out there could make her see that it truly was not her fault that Joker had died. But Twinkle Star couldn’t help Stelline now.

“Aunt Regala, shall I show Twinkle star and the others their rooms? So you and aunt Damina have some time alone.” Crystal asked her aunt softly, knowing it would be best if her two aunts had some time alone.
Regala slowly nodded. Crystal told Aline, Twinkle Star and Stelline to follow her. They walked behind Crystal through the small path of little pinkish stones that led them through the garden to the castle door. The castle door was small and it was just that, a door, nothing fancy like a double door, a bow above it, nice locks, locks that had to be opened by pendants… No, it was just a door, which definitely didn’t have anything magical.

When they stepped inside the castle they came in the little hallway that Twinkle Star remembered well. On the purple walls were several paintings of ponies, though they were not any royal ponies Twinkle Star remembered. Maybe they were just made up to fancy the place up. Right across them was a nice door, but Twinkle Star couldn’t remember ever going through it. She didn’t really have time to think about it though, as they turned left and soon the hallway itself bended to the left. They walked pass the kitchen door on their left which had a plate and a bowl drawn on it. The door was just a little wooden door, but it somehow didn’t look weird in this Royal Hallway.

A little further was another door to the right, but it was a lot different than the kitchen door. The top of the door wasn’t straight but it was half a circle which was painted in a golden colour. The door itself was dark yellow and on the door was an logo painted in dark green paint. Twinkle Star wished she could stop to look at it better, but she noticed the logo looked a lot like the Royal Symbol Twinkle Star had last seen on the doorway near the old lands, but there were significant differences. The crown on top looked a lot smaller, and there were less swirls and dots. It was as if they was weakened the symbol down, simplified it. Was this the Symbol of the Royal Family of the new Friendship Lands? Twinkle Star wondered why they hadn’t made a complete new symbol up, when Crystal said that this room was in fact Regina’s bedroom. She explained to Stelline and Aline that the throne room was on the other side of the castle, so the normal ponies didn’t have to walk through their private rooms to visit the queen. There were some other doors in this part of the hallway, but none of them looked significant. Crystal pointed at one door at their left which was her own room.

They followed Crystal up some stairs at the end of the hallway, which simply led them into another hallway on the first floor.

This hallway was painted in a turquoise color, or at least the walls were, as the floor was a boring grey color. They walked through the hallway which had two doors on the left and two on the right side. Crystal explained the two rooms on the right were Ivy and Fleur’s rooms. They walked on and followed the hallway as it bended back to the right. The hallway was shaped the same way as the other one was, but the rooms appeared to be in different order and of different sizes. Crystal pointed at a door in the corner and said that it led to a staircase which let to the first tower, where Regala was living at the moment. She explained the second tower would probably go to Damina, for as long as she was here, but that door was on the other side of this corridor. Crystal stopped halfway where two doors on their right were next to each other, and she opened the left one.  The room they entered as quite large and had four beds in it. The beds were simple and made of wood, but the sheets had beautiful curly designs of them in green and yellow tints. Next to each bed was a little cupboard and there were two mirrors,  one between the beds on the left and one between the ones on the right. Some nice curtains hung closed next to the oval shaped window.

“I know it’s not much, but well, they are nice beds you know. The castle has quite a lot bedrooms. Most ponies that come to live in this country stay here their first few nights, before they have decided where to settle down and all. It used to be a chaos all the time, with ponies coming and going here, but things have settled down as you can see and all these bedrooms aren’t really necessary. I’m sure mother will give you your own rooms, but for now, I think this will do.”

“They’ll do just fine Crystal, I’m sure. Everything is better then a rocky ground, and we’re pretty used to that by now.” Twinkle Star stated and Aline nodded, while she was inspecting her hair in one of the mirrors.
“Why don’t you three settle down here and refresh a bit. The door right across this one is a bathroom. I’ll go ask Tsuyo to prepare some food.” Crystal said and they all agreed with this.

When Crystal had left the room Aline groaned.
“Look at this! My hair’s all dry and I can see pink again! You think I can wash it before we go eat? I really need to take care of it.”
“Sure, why not. I’m sure it’ll take a while before it’s ready. We’ll wait here for you.”
“thanks Twinkle!” Aline said and she opened the door and almost ran to the bathroom across the hall.
“Don’t take to long though!” Twinkle Star yelled at Aline, but she was pretty sure Aline didn’t hear this.

When she heard the door of the bathroom close, Twinkle Star said: “Are you okay, Stelline?” Stelline nodded slowly.
“I’m fine.” She said, while she stared out of the window.
“It’s really nice, you know. This country, and the castle as well.”
Twinkle Star nodded, which Stelline didn’t see. “It is. In fact, I didn’t even remember it to be this nice.”
A silence fell. Twinkle Star didn’t really know what to say. She really wanted to ask her sister if she really was okay, because she was pretty sure she was not, but she didn’t really dare to ask.

“Do you think mother will be home soon?” Stelline suddenly asked, while she continued to watch out of the window.
“I don’t know. Crystal said they would be home before dinner, but it’s just been noon. It can take a while.” Twinkle Star answered.
“Oh, okay. That’s just fine I guess.”
“Are you afraid to meet her?”
Stelline shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I’m not afraid to meet my own mother, nor am I afraid to meet my two youngest sisters.”
“Then what is it you fear?” Twinkle Star asked, and Stelline finally turned around. Twinkle Star could see fear in her eyes. She could see she was sad and afraid of the future.
“To tell her, Twinkle Star. To tell her Joker died that day.”
Twinkle Star sighed when she heard this. She had really hoped that Stelline would have accepted it all by now, but she realised this was not the case.
“Stelline look, it’s not your fault. You know it, right?”
But Stelline shook her head.
“It’s not that Twinkle Star. I know it’s not my fault, though I probably will keep this feeling of guilt forever. But… mother has always lived not knowing if we had survived. She probably was convinced all her children were dead, but you know, there was always some hope deep inside. Didn’t you have it too? We all did, we all hoped that someone we loved had survived, even though we knew better. But now I have to take that last bit of hope away from her. I have to tell her there is no chance that Joker will ever come back.”

Twinkle Star didn’t know what to say. Stelline was right, and she knew it. All the time she had wondered how Stelline would feel, if she still would feel guilty, but she didn’t realise this was something completely different. Whether she would feel guilty or not, Stelline was the only one who could confirm Joker really died, and therefore the only one who could tell their mother. Even if Twinkle Star would tell the story, only Stelline could confirm it. Maybe this was a burden more heavy than anything Twinkle Star bore at that time.
“I… I’m sorry, Stelline. I guess I never looked at it that way.” Twinkle Star said, while she looked at her sister. “But, you know, even though Joker died… you lived. And you are just as important to mother. And you’re not alone. I am here for you, and so is Aline. We’ll help you wherever we can. You know that.”
 Stelline smiled at her younger sister.
“I do. Thanks Twinkle Star. You’re a wonderful sister to have.”  

Right when Stelline said this, they heard the door of the bathroom open and not much later Aline walked in with a towel around her mane and a smile on her face.
“I totally love this place! You have to see that bathroom! They have, like, the best herbs and oils for your hair! Now I only have to find a place where I can get hair dye, and I’m all set!”
Twinkle Star and Stelline couldn’t help but laugh at the extraordinary happy Aline. When Aline had brushed her hair and Stelline and Twinkle Star had been refreshed as well, they all went to the kitchen where Crystal, Regala and Damina were already waiting for them with lots of food which looked better than anything they’d had the past few weeks.