Regina, Damina and Regala! Three sisters together

“Dear fellow inhabitants of the Friendship Lands,

Hereby I, Regina, Queen of the Friendship Lands, announce that my daughter, Princess Crystal, stepped down from her position as heir to the throne, in favour of her older sister, Princess Stelline, who recently has returned with us. During the following weeks I will introduce Princess Stelline to our country, and everyone will have a chance to meet her. Dates of these events are to be announced.

Sincerely, Queen Regina”

“Sounds good to me.” Aline stated after Tsuyo had finished reading the statement, and Twinkle Star nodded.
“Sure, it sounds great. I’d say rewrite it and send it out in the country, Tsuyo.”
The three of them were sitting in a small room across the hall to the throne room, where the light of the morning sun was shining inside through the thin white curtains that covered the large windows. Regina had asked them to write an official statement for Stelline’s return, without giving away too many details. She had recovered completely from the shocking day when she found her oldest daughter back, but she wanted to spend more time with her sisters and oldest daughter, so she had asked Twinkle Star to prepare the statement, which was fine by her. Twinkle Star had asked Aline to help her and Tsuyo. After all, this too was part of her job and it was a good thing that she got more experience.

Twinkle Star jumped off the green sofa and walked to the door.
“Will you two be fine from now on?” She asked the other two, and they both nodded.
“Good. I’ll be going now… I got some things to do. I’ll see you two at dinner!” Twinkle Star walked out of the door and through the hall. Stelline… It was two days ago now, that Stelline told her mother that she wanted to take her position as heir to the throne. Regina had been really concerned whether Stelline could handle it, but Stelline insisted she was fine and that she wanted to take on her duty. Twinkle Star had been surprised at Stelline’s determination, but she was happy with it, because she knew it was pure. Stelline had been thinking about this subject a lot during their journey back, and she had simply made up her mind. It was her destiny, she had explained to her mother, and she wanted to fulfil it. If this country was indeed the new Friendship Lands, then it would be wrong for her not to take her place. Twinkle Star had doubts about this, but if that was how Stelline felt, than she gladly accepted it.

While Twinkle Star was lost in her thoughts, she almost bumped into Stelline.
“Hey! Watch it, sis!” Stelline said, trying to sound serious but having a hard time trying not to laugh of her sisters clumsiness.
“What are you heading to?” Stelline asked.
“I wanted to see mom, actually. Wanted to tell her our statement about you is ready. Aline and Tsuyo are copying it, actually. You can read it too of course, if you want.”
 Stelline shook her head. “Nah, don’t have to. I trust the lot of you. But I don’t think you can see mom. She’s off with her sisters, you know.”
 Twinkle Star smiled. “That’s good. I guess they got quite a bit of catching up to do, right?”
Stelline nodded. “Yeah. They were so much closer than we were, you know. They grew up together, they had children together. They knew each other much better than we did. Before we could get a bond like that, we were separated by the eruption. I guess that’s why we don’t need time like that.”
Twinkle Star agreed with this. “You’re definitely right. I really hope maybe their other sisters have survived as well, you know. Pristina and… their two older sisters.”

Stelline didn’t reply to this for a while. She stared at the ground for a while, before she answered.
“I hope so to for them. Twinkle, actually, now we’re on the subject…”
“Yes?”
“Have you never wondered why our mother became queen? I can’t help but thinking about it lately. Ever since I talked with you about me taking my place here, actually.” Twinkle Star looked at her sister confused.
“I… What do you mean? She was queen because she was the oldest capable daughter of medina, you know that.”
Stelline nodded, and slowly walked into the throne room, which was completely deserted at this point of the day. Twinkle Star followed her sister into the royal, but quite sober room.
“I know Twinkle Star, I know. But what happened to her two older two sisters?” Stelline asked, while she sat down on one of the couches that stood to the walls.
“It happened before I was born, I know that much.” She continued, when it was obvious Twinkle Star had no idea what she was meaning to say. “But I never met their older two sisters. Now that I think of it… I can’t even remember their names.” Twinkle Star realised her older sister was right. She couldn’t remember the names of her older aunts either. In fact, she wondered if they were ever mentioned to her. The only thing she knew was that there had been in fact two older sisters, because her grandmother had told her and Stelline that their mother was the third child. But that was all. She sat down next to her sister on the large couch and stared at the throne. Why was it her mother’s?

“I… I can’t remember either, you know. In fact, I’m pretty sure we were never told anything that had to do with them.”
“Don’t you want to know?” Stelline asked, and Twinkle Star sighed.
“I do. Of course I do, but I am more interested in why we were never told about them.”
Stelline nodded. “You’re right. If they had died of a disease or something, they would’ve told us wouldn’t they? They would have been honoured and we had to respect them. But nobody ever mentioned them to us.”

Twinkle Star got up. “I know. And believe me, I want to know, Stelline. But if they don’t want to tell us, and I’m sure they don’t, I’m not going to beg for it. I got to go now, okay. Let it go. You’ll find out, when you’re meant to.”
Stelline shook her head, but Twinkle Star resumed walking to the door. She was kind of surprised by her sister at this moment. Why did she bring this topic up all of  sudden? Of course Twinkle Star had wondered why her mother became queen and not her older sister a few times, but it never meant a lot to her. Her mother was the heir, and now the queen, and that was it. But now that Stelline had mentioned it, questions kept popping up in her head. What exactly had happened that made Medina’s oldest child unable to follow her mother one day? And even so, what on earth could have happened to the second child?

Slowly Twinkle Star walked through the little door in the garden, and she followed the little path to the doors of the castle walls. She looked around to see if anybody was watching her, but all was quiet. She opened the doors and sneaked out of the castle. She really wanted to be outside for a while. She didn’t like to be locked up behind the walls all the time, and though her mother understood, she had asked her children to tell her when they left the castle, so she knew where they were in case she needed them. She actually wanted to keep them inside the most of the time, at least before the country was familiar with her and Stelline, Twinkle Star was sure of this.

When she looked around, she noticed her mother and her sisters were sitting below the large tree, where she and Stelline had talked tow days ago. They were talking probably. Reliving old memories. They had been through a lot together. In fact, they had been really close, just the three of them. Twinkle Star didn’t know about the other two of course, and Pristina was a lot younger than they were. In fact, she was only a few years older than Stelline, so she never really go to bond with her older sisters. Twinkle Star knew royal ponies could get children until they were really old. In fact, she was pretty sure her mother could get pregnant at this very moment, but she really didn’t want to think of that, and she was sure her mother wouldn’t want that. But Medina definitely had done so, as Pristina was at least twenty years younger than Regala.

Slowly Twinkle star walked through the field to her mother and her aunts. She wasn’t really sure what she was doing, but she felt as if she wanted to talk to them. Besides, she liked to see her mother so happy. Het mother really looked relieved now that she not only had five of her daughters back alive, but also her dear sisters. Twinkle Star wondered how this was for Damina, and especially Regala. Both of them would never see their children again, but still they couldn’t be anything else but jealous for their sister. It had to hurt, Twinkle Star was sure. Especially for Regala, she had lost Togli not in the eruption, but from something else. Twinkle Star wondered if she was going to ask Stelline about it, but she was quite sure she hadn’t done it so far.

“Hello there, mom, aunties!” She said happily when she reached the ponies and they looked up and greeted her.
“Hello there, Twinkle Star! What brings you here?” Damina asked.
“Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to get out for a bit. What were you three talking about?” Twinkle Star asked her mother.
“Oh, just talking about old times, the old lands, you know, old lady talk.” Twinkle Star laughed.
“I’m sure you were. You galls are getting old, after all.” She said and the three sisters laughed.

“To be honest, we just discussed when Damina was going back home.” Regina said.
“And?” Twinkle Star asked curiously, and Regina answered: “Well, she decided to leave when we go to Kin. There’s not much to do for her here when we go there, and she doesn’t really has to come. Besides, she can travel with us for the first two or three days.”
Twinkle Star nodded. “Sounds fair. When are we going to Kin again?”
“In about two weeks. I already agreed with Stelline and Crystal, they are coming along. What about you, Twinkle?” Regina asked her daughter, who nodded in agreement.
“I’ll come along. I assume Ivy and Fleur are going to stay home now?”
“Yes. I haven’t told them yet. I’m sure they’ll be delighted. Oh, Regala is coming along too. She wanted to see other countries and all, right sis?” Regina said, and Regala confirmed it. “Yeah. I like to see others countries and meet new ponies. I lived in solitude long enough, don’t you agree Twinkle Star?”

Twinkle Star didn’t know what to say, but she smiled at her aunt. “Well, I guess I’ll be going now. I’ll leave you old ladies alone. Should I tell Ivy and Fleur that they don’t have to come along?” She asked her mother, who agreed.
“Sure, the pleasure is yours.” Twinkle Star almost turned around, when she remembered why she actually was here.
“Oh, mom… we finished the statement about Stelline. It’s just fine. Aline and Tsuyo are copying it right now. Should be able to go out in a few hours.”
“That’s great to hear honey. I’m sure it’s just fine. I’m curious how the ponies will react.”
“I’m sure they’ll be happy mom. After all, the oldest daughter is heir to the throne again.” Twinkle Star said this on purpose. She wanted to know how her aunts and mother would react to this. As she expected, the three ladies gave each other short looks, and they didn’t look as happy as a few second before somehow. And they didn’t know what to say, either.

“Eh, sure honey. Why don’t you go find your younger sisters now and tell them the good news? We want to be alone a bit.”
Twinkle Star nodded, and she resumed walking back to the castle. She wasn’t really sure why she aid what she said, but she knew she wanted to say it. She wanted to know how her aunts reacted. She hated to admit it, but her sister’s story earlier had made her curious to the truth as well. What on earth happened with those two older sisters, and why were they keeping this away from her, or any of them for that matter? What kind of horrible thing had happened, that they had to be protected from?