Our arrival; Queen Katine

“It won’t be long now, it won’t be long.” Regina said, as Crystal asked for the 10^th time when they would be able to see the castle. It was early afternoon now, their first day in Kin. They were climbing on the mountains now, or what was left of them anyway. They weren’t more than an few hills covered with rocks and grass. No trees anywhere; of course, they didn’t grow on rocks. Twinkle Star could see the top of the hill and she couldn’t help but wondering how the castle looked like. The only castles she had ever seen were her own two; the one in the old and the one in the new lands. How would this one be like?

“Can we see it from the top of the hill?” Aline asked, and Regina answered that they could. Aline began to gallop towards the top of the hill, and Twinkle Star began to follow her, and she soon noticed the others followed them, too. She was faster than Aline, so she passed her and reached the top of the hill first, but the others soon caught up. Twinkle Star’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the castle, or rather, the city. Because the castle wasn’t standing somewhere alone, like the one in the Friendship Lands, but it was standing on top of a small hill, surrounded by houses and streets made of the same stones as the little village where they had slept last night. The castle was rather large, and standing quite proudly on the top of the hill. It was made of some sort of yellow stone, which set it quite apart from the darker colored houses. The castle had three towers, two in the front and one in the back, meaning the castle was actually triangle shaped. On top of the towers some banners fluttered in the wind. The banners probably carried the symbol of Kin, but it was still too far away to identify what it looked like. The city stood on probably the last bump of the once so gracious mountains, as behind it there was nothing but flat land with the yellowed grass as far as the eye could see. Twinkle Star didn’t even see a farm or a village anywhere close.

“The stone city, or Kise, is the capital city of Kin.” Regina began to tell, as they slowly walked down the hill, towards the city. “In fact, it is one of the few cities that exist in this continent. I know there is one more far to the east, and one in the far south touching the ocean, but that is about all. A lot of ponies live in the city, and it is known as the end of the trade route. A lot of skilled ponies live in Kise, making all kinds of things they trade for foreign products. They basically make items out of stone, like plates, cups, all that stuff, and it’s completely beautiful. You all will probably see what I mean when we are in the castle, as it holds some of the prettiest craftwork. There are food taxes for the farmers, so the ponies living in Kise are able to get food cheap. The main road in Kise is a truly wonderful road, all the houses that are on it are very well done and in great condition. In fact, only the richer ponies live there. This road leads to the castle, and is about the only road members of the royal family ever use. Most of the other roads are in a lot worse condition, and the poorer ponies live there. Oh yes, there is a big difference between rich and poor in Kin. The queen cares for the rich, not the poor. She encourages the poor to work hard, and become rich themselves, but she would never invest money in them.

Queen Katine isn’t really unpopular, though. She did some great things for the country and she has promoted Kise in foreign places. Most ponies have gotten a better life since she became queen. Her mother was lazy and wouldn’t do anything, so Katine was a major improvement for the country. This doesn’t mean that Katine isn’t selfish; she likes to be rich, especially richer and better than others. The truth is, that she is probably ashamed by the fact that two of her four children are boys, especially her oldest child, Stanno. After all, boys are considered a sign of weak powers. That is why she wants him to marry someone of high royalty. Her other children are Chuva, her second child and oldest daughter, Pérola, her second daughter, and her youngest child and second son, Yuuro. She didn’t have any children after that, out of fear for another boy, as the rumors say.”

They were close to the city now. It was enclosed by a moat, but the gates to the city were open and the bridge was too, so they could enter with no problem. A guard asked them who they were and why they were visiting the city, but he soon backed off when Regina told them who they were. Soon another pony appeared, who declared to be there on behalf of queen Katine, and was supposed to lead them to the castle, so Regina and the others followed her. The pony picked up a banner which it held high the entire way. The banner held the symbol of the royal family of Kin. Twinkle star could see it clearly now. It was a green outline of a heart with a simple crown on top. In the centre of the heart was a green stone drawn.

Twinkle star didn’t know where to look while they walked through the city. There were so many ponies, and there was so much to see. They had stores for almost everything; glass cups and glasses, stone cups, stone tables, stones-to-build-your-house-with, wooden chairs and tables, and everything appeared to be very high quality. There were jewelry shops as well, little bakery’s and vegetable shops, and when she heard Aline whisper “Oh yeah” Twinkle Star was sure there was a hair- store of some sort as well.

The road was made of yellow bricks, not unlike the ones used for the castle that Twinkle Star could now see in the distance. The houses on this road were made of light grey stones. All the houses matched and it all looked really neat and well put together, though Twinkle Star was sure it would be different in other parts of the city. Twinkle Star noticed there was absolutely no green in the city; no trees, no bushes, no grass. There were no natural things at all; everything was made to be the way the ponies wanted it to be. She wasn’t sure if she liked it, but Twinkle Star had to admit it was quite the achievement. The ponies of the city looked at them curiously. They probably knew Twinkle Star and the others were guests to the queen because of the pony with the banner in front of them, and the ponies were wondering who these visitors were, and why they were invited at the queen’s palace. Of course, they were most curious to see Stelline. Nobody here had ever seen a unicorn, and to see one walking in your own streets was of course extremely interesting.

After a few twists and turns, they suddenly stood before a large yellow wall with a large dark green door in the middle. On both sides of the door stood a guard in the same white and green colors as the symbol on the banner. The pony that had led them to the castle nodded to the guards, and they opened the large dark green door. They followed the pony with the banner inside, and Twinkle Star felt as if she walked into a completely different world. The garden of the castle was neatly organized in squares with flowers and plants, and a straight path to the double doors that probably were the main entrance to the castle. Twinkle Star now noticed the castle wasn’t that big. Sure, it was a lot larger than the little castle in the new Friendship Lands, but it was still nothing compared to the castle in which she was born. It was maybe twice as big as the new castle, but it was shaped differently so it was hard to tell. At least the two towers in the front were pretty tall. The castle had two floors, and the towers were at least twice as tall as the building itself.

They stopped a few meters in front of the doors, and Regina nodded that they had to get in line. Regina stood in front of them, and behind her stood Regala, Stelline, Twinkle Star, Crystal and Aline lined up horizontally. They waited for a few minutes, and then the doors of the yellow castle opened, and a pony walked out, and Twinkle Star immediately recognized the pony from the painting she had seen in the inn the night before. This was Queen Katine all right, her salmon pink hair tied together in a knot, and around her neck she wore a necklace with on it a pendant. The pendant had two rearing ponies facing each other, on top of a heart. It probably was the pendant the members of the royal family of Kin had, Twinkle Star realized. Queen Katine also wore a golden ring around her hoof, also with a dark green stone inside.

“Welcome, welcome, my friends.” The queen said, and Twinkle Star thought the queen’s voice was static, made up, not natural, but not mean or evil either. “I am glad to see you have all arrived safe and well. I thrust you had a good journey?” She asked Regina.
“Oh, we had, thank you, Katine. Our journey was pleasant enough, and it is wonderful to be here again. May I introduce you to my daughters?” Regina pointed at Stelline. “This is my oldest daughter, Stelline. Next to her is my third daughter, Twinkle Star, and that is Crystal. The pony next to her is Aline, our helper and a girl of old nobility. On the other side is my dear sister, Regala.”
Twinkle Star was surprised to hear her mother’s official voice again. She didn’t hear her using it often these days. When she was in her role as queen at home, she was usually still her own friendly self. After all, she knew most, if not all, ponies from the country personally, so why pretend to be official? But she couldn’t do it here, so Regina had to act like a real queen now, and Twinkle Star realized she had to be a princess as well.

“I am very pleased to meet all of you, and I look forward to getting to know all of you better. But why should we remain here outside? Let us go inside. My waitresses will show you all your rooms, I thrust you will find them all quite comfortable. Please, take some time to refresh and rest yourself. We will talk during dinner this evening, if that suits you.” Katine said to Regina, and she agreed.
“That suits us just fine.”
“good,” Katine replied, “Then follow me inside. My waitresses will tell you about the time and location of dinner. You will all have a chance to meet my children as well this evening.”

They followed Katine inside, and Twinkle Star was amazed with the size of the hall. On the high ceiling hung a crystal candleholder, which could hold over twenty candles. In front of them was an archway leading to the next floor made of dark wood and covered with a dark green carpet. Under the archway was a large door with the royal symbol painted on it, and Twinkle Star figured that was where the throne room was. There were some more doors to the left and the right, but they were significantly smaller and probably less important. An old looking waitress appeared out of one of them, wearing an white apron with the royal symbol on it. “If you will please follow my waitress Vanha, she will lead you all to your rooms. If you have any questions, you can ask her or any of the other waitresses walking around the castle. If you will excuse me now, I will retreat to my room.” Katine said. When Regina nodded, she turned around and she walked inside the door underneath the archway.

They followed Vanha up the stairs, and walked into a hallway that was right above the throne room. She showed Regina and Regala a room first, which was pretty large and had two beds. Then she led Twinkle Star and the others to two rooms near the back of the castle, right across the hall from each other. The rooms were pretty small, due to the triangle shape of the castle, and next to the end of the hallway, which held a door to the stairs of the third tower. It was all a bit oddly shaped, but there were two beds in each room and they had enough space for everything. Twinkle Star shared a room with Aline, and Stelline shared one with Crystal. Aline of course immediately stood in front of the mirror, to check her hair.
“You like it here, Twinkle?” She asked, while she grabbed her brush out of her bag.
“Yeah, sure. It’s a beautiful castle, you have to admit that.”
“Yeah, definitely. Queen Katine is okay, too, I guess. I don’t see what the fuss was about actually. Ivy and Fleur were highly overreacting.” Aline answered.
“Yes, I guess. I’m not going to judge her now. Let’s wait until dinner at least for that. Besides, I’m curious at her children. I wonder what they’re like.”
“I hope Ivy and Fleur weren’t overreacting with that, you know. I can use a good looking prince to look at.” Aline said, and Twinkle Star laughed. Twinkle Star was happy she could relax with her friend now for a while. Who knows what the rest of their stay here was going to bring.