Regina and Reine

It was once again a fine morning, Twinkle Star decided, when she walked into the kitchen and she saw the sun entering the little room through the small window above the sink. It had rained a bit last night, she was sure, but there was nothing to be seen of that now. She really liked the weather here, in the New Lands, and it reminded her of the weather in her birth country. There was rain there during the night mostly as well, and sun during the day. It probably had to do with the mountains, she decided. He was reminded of something Ivy had told her a few days ago, that in fall it wouldn’t stop raining, because then the wind would come out of the west and the mountains wouldn’t stop the clouds.

She hadn’t seen anyone yet this morning, except for Aline who was in the bathroom experimenting with some hair dye she got at the lady at the farm two days ago. It turned out the lady made hair dye from plants she grew herself on her farm, and Aline was a total fan from this lady since then. The dye was a little darker yellow than she was used to, but she had been anxious to try it out, but she couldn’t do it yesterday as she had to help out Tsuyo the entire day. Of course, she had to do this today as well. Aline didn’t seem to mind that she had to work hard sometimes. Twinkle Star was sure she was enjoying her new life and her new friends.

Two days ago… It had also been the day that her mother told her something about her older sisters. Something had happened. Something… one of them, or both, had used their powers the wrong way. But what exactly happened, Twinkle Star still didn’t know. She hadn’t seen her mother since that evening. She knew her mother had been thinking about it. Of course she had. But so far, she hadn’t made a decision whether she would tell her family about it. Twinkle Star really was curious, and she knew Stelline was as well. She wasn’t sure if her younger sisters cared that much, though.

Twinkle Star grabbed an apple from a silver plate that lay on the table, filled with all kinds of fruit. While she was chewing on it, she left the kitchen, in search of others to talk with. She didn’t really know what everyone’s plans were for today. Yesterday Ivy, Fleur and Crystal had been to the Ima river to take a bath, while she and Stelline read some books her mother had written about the new lands; the new laws, what had happened so far, all that stuff. Of course, it was only relevant to Stelline as she was supposed to know the history as she was supposed to rule the future, but Twinkle tar thought it was quite interesting so she decided to keep her older sister company.

This also gave them a nice opportunity to talk about the thing that kept them both busy the last few days. Twinkle Star didn’t dare to tell her older sister her theory of the true heir to the throne, the one about one of the older sisters being alive and her child the heir to the throne. She wanted to verify it first, before she would discuss it with others. And she wanted to hear her mothers story first. What if the two older sisters had died? Then her theory would be complete nonsense.

Twinkle Star walked down the hall towards the throne room. Somebody had to be there. She looked at the paintings on the walls, and once again wondered who those ponies were. They looked kind of royal, but none of them looked familiar to her. They probably were made up anyway. She took another bite of her apple when she entered the throne room, only to discover nobody was there.
“This is odd…” She thought out loud. There always was someone in the throne room in the mornings. The mornings were there for the inhabitants of the country to seek council with the royal family about problems. Why was nobody here? She walked further inside but she didn’t discover anything that might give her a clue about the whereabouts of her family. She looked at the small throne, and sighed. Who would one day inherit that place from her mother? Would it really be Stelline? Somehow, it felt so hard to believe to her.

“Twinkle? Twinkle! There you are!” A voice said and Twinkle star turned around. Her sister Crystal was standing in the doorway, looking happy that she had found her sister.
“Hi Crystal. Where is everybody? I haven’t seen anyone till now.” Twinkle Star said, before she took the last bite of her apple.
“Didn’t you know? Mother asked us all to gather by the large tree in the field! Didn’t you see the notice?”
Twinkle Star shook her head. “What notice?”
“The one on the doors of the castle walls, that there are no meetings this morning because of family business!”
“I haven’t been outside.” Twinkle Star explained to her younger sister.
“Well, why don’t you come along? I’ve been looking all over for you! Come on, we don’t want to wait any longer!” Crystal said exited, and turned around to lead her sister the way.

“Why did mom wanted to gather us?” Twinkle Star asked while they were walking towards the door of the castle, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
“Mother made a decision about the thing of two nights ago. You know, the stuff about the royal powers and her sister and all. I think she is ready to tell us.” Crystal explained while she opened the door.
“Why did we have to gather at the large tree? Why not inside?”
“I don’t know. Mother said to gather by the large tree in thirty minutes, so I’m doing what I’m told.”
“Who else is there?” Twinkle Star asked, following her sister through the garden with a quick pace.
“Everybody of the family, I guess. Regala, Damina, Ivy and Fleur, Stelline, and you and me. No Aline or Tsuyo though, I guess mother thinks this doesn’t concerns them.”

Though Twinkle Star was sad her friend couldn’t be there to hear the story, she understood that her mother only wanted to keep this between family members. It was a family story after all. Maybe she would tell Aline later. While they walked through the field towards the big tree, Twinkle Star noticed most of her family was already there. Her mother was sitting exactly below the tree, in the shade, and her sisters sat on each side of her. Twinkle Star’s sisters sad in half a circle around them, with two empty spots for Crystal and her. Twinkle Star felt her heart beating faster. What story was she about to hear? Would she get answers to her questions?

“Hey, we’re here!” Crystal yelled when they approached the tree.
“Good.” Regina said, and she pointed at the two empty places. Twinkle Star sat down between Stelline and Ivy, while Crystal took her place between Fleur and Damina. When they all sat down, Regina took a deep breath, and she began to speak.
“Okay, now we’re all here, there is no reason to further delay this story. I first want to say, that this story is quite emotional for me, and for Damina and Regala. It is a horrible part of our lives, one we tried to forget, one we almost did forget because more horrible things happened afterwards, with the eruption and all. I thought a long time whether we should share this story with you. It has never been told in it’s full version to anybody, and it has never been told without lies. But I attempt to do so today, because this story can tell you how wrong things can go. Regala and Damina will help me here and there, because after all, three memories know more than one.”

Twinkle Star noticed her mothers voice sounded sadder than usual, more nervous too, perhaps. The story indeed was something she had tried to forget for so long, but obviously she had been unable to do so. It probably was good for her that she could share it now, so other could help her realise it is in the past. That it doesn’t have to bother her anymore. Twinkle Star looked at her sisters and she realised all were really curious to what the story might held. It was probably a long story, Twinkle Star thought, so she sat down comfortably. She looked anxious at her mother, waiting for her to continue.

“This story begins a very long time ago,” Regina finally continued, when she was sure she had everyone’s attention, “in a time where I was just as old as you,  Fleur. I had just turned fifteen years old and my life looked so much different back then. I was the third child of my mother Medina, who had just became queen of the Friendship Lands, less than a year ago. My oldest sister Reine thus had become the heir to the throne. Reine was six years older than me, and my other sister who was older than me, Campestre, four years. Damina here was only ten, and Regala was five, so Regala doesn’t remember much of this story. Pristina, bless her, hadn’t even been born yet.

I was young and cheerful back then, and my future was so much different. I didn’t have to worry about things as responsibility, royal powers, reigning over a kingdom… I was the third child. The chances of me ever becoming queen looked so slim back then. I would grow up at the castle, probably get married with some low royal boy, and my children would never have to worry about things me and my sisters had to worry about. They would grow up in peace in a nice house in the country, marry somebody nice one day, go to a normal school, get lots of friends, have the freedom to do whatever they want whenever they want… Of course, none of this happened, but back then, that was going to be my future, I believed in that, my mother did, everybody did.

My older sister Reine was the one who’s future was predicted. She would follow my mother one day, take her place, and her children would have the same fate. Reine was quite strong. Her powers weren’t huge, I ‘d say as much as my mothers, but she knew how to use them well. She could create magical stones with ease, she could cure little wounds, she could make ponies smile when they were sad… I looked up to her. She was my older sister and she was what I was trying to become. She had a calm character, she was friendly, loved to help out weaker ponies, she loved to go with my mother on Royal occasions, to learn for the future that still was very far away. My mother respected Reine and loved her.

My second sister Campestre doesn’t really feature in this story. She was weak, or at least her powers were. My powers were twice as big as hers. Nobody really knew why she was so weak, but her mind was clear. She was really smart and could think a lot. She probably was smarter than Reine and me together, but nonetheless my mother was disappointed with her. She told her more than once she wished I was the second child so that I had to support Reine in the future. But this wasn’t the case and it didn’t happen. But this is enough about her; this story does not concern her.

So back in those days, everything seemed normal. My mother was a good queen, and her mother, or my grandmother, was proud of her. My grandmother, she was called Hana, was a really friendly person. My mother was much stricter than she was and she preferred to let us be raised by people of the court, instead of by her. We didn’t see her that often, except Reine of course, as she had to learn from my mother, even though my mother wanted my grandmother to do it. But my grandmother insisted that my mother would spend as much time with Reine herself as possible.

So back in those days, I spend my days quietly at the royal palace. I was educated by personal teachers who thought me all the things I had to know as the third child of the queen. I was quite happy there, I loved life. I loved my mother, though I often wondered why she would not spend time with us, and I loved my sisters. I tried everything to make Reine notice me more, but she didn’t feel like spending time with her younger sisters, except maybe Campestre. So naturally, I bonded more and more with my two younger sisters, and this bond only grew stronger while the years passed.

Now you know how me and my sisters lived back then. I will now tell you about Medava, my mother’s twin sister, and her children Anrui and Matoe, and of our visitors from the country of Madash, as this for the most part is their story, in which my sister unfortunately got involved, which meant the end of her place as heir to the throne of the mightiest kingdom of the continent.”