Stanno’s doubts and Yuuro’s pride

“P…preg…nant?” Twinkle Star muttered, not really believing what Togli just told her. But Togli softly nodded, and Stanno did the same.
“Yes, Twinkle Star. Togli knew it from the beginning. We didn’t know what to do at first. I mean, she would get her child in eleven months. How would she explain that? Especially because the children probably would have signs of royal powers. My mother wouldn’t need long to figure it all out. She’ll throw Anda… Togli out with her child without any mercy.”
 Oh my oh my, Twinkle Star thought, what a mess these two got themselves in! How would they ever solve this? But even so… the situation had changed drastically now. After all, Togli was no longer just a waitress, and her children wouldn’t be bastards, but children born out of two royal houses. Surely Katine would see that? She would not send children like that away?

“Listen… We have to go to dinner now. They’ll be waiting. You should go, too, Stanno. We’ll solve this, but we can’t have anyone suspicious until we find out what to do, right?” Twinkle Star proposed, and they all agreed.
Stanno said a long goodbye to Togli and asked her to take care, and they left the room. They didn’t say anything to each other while walking to the dining room, and even dinner had never felt so awkward to Twinkle Star. Except for her, Aline and Stanno, nobody knew what was going on. When she looked at Katine, Twinkle Star couldn’t help but wonder if she would really do such a thing as throwing a pony with a newborn child out. Katine hadn’t been that bad since Twinkle Star had met her… Was she really such a horrible person? She wondered if her mother had already told Katine Togli was in fact Regala’s daughter. If she had, Katine definitely didn’t act like she had just heard something shocking. She was laughing, talking and eating like nothing was going on. And, who knows, maybe to her nothing actually had changed. Sure, her waitress turned out to be a royal girl, but that didn’t affect her that much, right? It was all a big understanding, she couldn’t know Togli was royal. Togli didn’t even know it herself. But if she found out Togli was Stanno’s girl, and she was carrying a child, in fact, she was carrying the child that would one day become king or queen of Kin, what if she found out about that?

Twinkle Star hardly talked with anyone during dinner, because she simply didn’t have much to talk about. She wanted to talk about the situation with Aline, but with all the other ponies in the room, it was simply not possible. Because of this, she was relieved dinner was finally over, as in her eyes it seemed to take like an eternity. As soon as they were free to go, with a note that there was another drink that night because of the success of yesterday’s, which was something Aline didn’t quite agree with, Twinkle Star winked Aline that they had to leave. They walked out of the room and into the castle garden, as they had just heard they were free to walk around there. The garden was a neat place; The flowers and plants were arranged in perfect squares and circles, and the perfectly maintained little paths lead straight through them. You were almost afraid to walk, wondering if you would make anything go out of order. But it was quiet outside, and it was just what Twinkle Star wanted. Even though the air wasn’t really that fresh out there, probably because of the lack of trees and too much ponies in such a small place, it was still nice to be outside the enclosing walls of the castle. It was so hard to believe they had only been there for two days. So much had happened already since then. Twinkle star had completely lost track of time, and it was nice to realise the sun was setting and it was evening now, even though they didn’t exactly had a view of the environment because of the large walls surrounding the castle.

“It’s quite a mess, isn’t it.” She said to Aline, who agreed.
“Yeah. How could they let her get pregnant? They knew they had to be careful. How could they let it happen?”
“Well… I guess when you’re in love, you forget about things like that. You think the world is yours, and you forget about the rest until something takes you back down.” Twinkle Star said, while looking at a round field of white and yellow tulips.
“Wow Twinkle, you sound like you know what you’re talking about. Got experience in the field?” Aline asked, while she grinned and poked her friend. Twinkle Star simply smiled back. “Not really.” She said, while her thoughts wandered off. Kiyoi… it had been a while since she last thought of him. How would he be? Would he still remember her? It suddenly all floated back to her. His kindness, his words… Pretty… She wondered if anyone would ever call her that again.

“Anyway, Twinkle, what do we do about it? I mean, we are going to help them, right? They can’t do this alone. Look at the mess they created, one of these days they’re gonna mess it up even bigger and there will be no way out, I tell you.” Aline said, awaking her from her thoughts.
“What? Oh, yeah… you’re right. We’ll help them out. If only I knew how… The only way I see is to tell and explain it to Katine. Would it really be that bad? Surely she will understand. Didn’t she want Stanno to marry a royal girl? Well, Togli is, right?”
 “Yes she is, but… like you said, she has no royal powers, and she’s not exactly what Katine had in mind. Have you not noticed how interested she is in Stelline? She keeps asking about her and looking at her. I’m sure she want Stelline to marry Stanno, and nobody less. My guess is that she wants Stanno to marry Stelline, so Stanno will go with her and he’ll give up the throne of Kin, so one of those snobby girls can become queen.” Aline explained.
“Wow, you gave this some thought, didn’t you?” Twinkle Star said amazed. Aline was about to respond, when they head a pony approach. They both looked to where the sound came from, and they saw Stanno approaching.

“Hi there, Twinkle Star, Aline.” He said, when he was with them.
“Hi Stanno. What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be with Togli?” Twinkle Star asked. He shook his head.
“Nah, I’ve been with her, but she fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake her. She needs her rest, especially now.”
Twinkle Star noticed the concerned look in his eyes again, and she was happy to notice he truly loved Togli. He would never do anything to harm her, Twinkle Star was sure of that.
“It’s good to know she’s asleep. You’re right, she needs it.” She said to him, and they began to walk a bit further into the garden.
“So,” Aline asked while they were walking, “Have you already thought of something yet? I mean, how to solve the whole baby-problem.”
Stanno didn’t answer first. It was when Twinkle Star looked at him, wondering why he didn’t answer, hen he began to speak.

“I… maybe I have, but I’m not sure, it’s…”
“What, what is it?” Twinkle Star asked.
“Well… I think Togli should leave. I think she has to go home with the lot of you. She belongs with you and your family. She can raise our child in peace there, without my mother around, without him or her having the pressure of the future of Kin. I will miss her, but, you know, she’ll be save and so will my child. I don’t want to put her in all that trouble.”
“I think you already have.” Aline said sarcastically.
“Yes, I know, but… It is the best way. We will avoid any trouble and she has a bright future with you ponies.” He answered her.
Twinkle Star looked at the sky, admiring the soft and easy clouds floating up there, far away from these earthly problems. If only she could be one of them right now… But no, she had to focus. Stanno’s plan… Sure he was right. It would avoid all trouble. Katine would never know of the child, Togli would continue to live with them, Stanno would grow up and become king and marry someone else… Not with Togli. The only flaw, though, was that Stanno and Togli wouldn’t be together, and their child would grow up to be not with both his or her parents. And wasn’t that what counted the most?

“Would you really do that, Stanno?” She asked. “Giving the entire future you might have with her up for something like safety?”
He sighed. Twinkle Star saw the sadness in his eyes. He didn’t want to, she was sure, but…
“I guess I’ll have to. I’d do anything for her, and if that means leaving my life without her…”
“You Coward!” A voice suddenly said, and they all looked up in fear. Had somebody heard them? They looked around, and it was Aline who spotted him first, up on the wall.
“Yuuro!” Stanno yelled, when he noticed his little brother eavesdropping.
“What are you doing there? Get down here!” He said, both angry and shocked that his brother had heard this story. To their surprise, Yuuro ran to the stairs, down and towards them, where he began to yell again.
“Stanno you coward! How could you? How can you leave her like that?!”
“Sssst, be quiet Yuuro!” He sissed, and Twinkle Star thought that would be really wise, too. What if somebody heard him yelling? They’d be bound to ask questions. “Why Stanno, why?” He now cried, with tears in his eyes. What was this?
“Look, Yuuro, what do you know about all this?” Stanno asked, obviously concerned what he knew and who else knew.
“I… I know you and Anda are in love, and… and you want to be together, right? And I don’t know about this whole baby thing, but, you have to fight for her!” He said, determined, strong.
Twinkle Star was amazed how powerful the little guy sounded. She didn’t expect this from him, when she talked with him the day before. He was so timid and polite, and now he was full with emotions.

“But I… Yuuro, I don’t know how you know and all that, but you don’t understand. Anda… or Togli as her real name is, she… she has to be safe. You know what mother would do if she…”
“NO! No, I don’t know, and I don’t care! You can’t run away from her! You love her, right? Then stick with her to the end! Love her, protect her, stay with her! Stand up to mother. Somebody has to do it, and what better reason than pure love is there? If you don’t do it, who will?” Yuuro said, still crying. Why did this bother him so much? Why did he care so much about this? Twinkle Star wondered. But she was too caught up in the situation to give it a long thought. And she knew Yuuro was right. Maybe her mind said that yes, taking Togli and run to the new Friendship Lands was a wise idea, but her heart told her they had to be together. This child had to grow up as the true heir of Kin. Running away would only lead to broken hearts and a lot of trouble.

“Yuuro…” Stanno said softly. He didn’t know what to answer.
“You know I’m right, Stanno. Listen to your heart. You know it tells you exactly the same.” Yuuro said, sobbing now.
“You… You’re right… Yuuro, I know you’re right. But I don’t know how to, I mean, Togli, she’s weak now, she’s been through so much…” But Yuuro shook his head firmly.
“This is something for you to do. Prove her what you’d do for her, Stanno. Mother will understand. She can’t deny love, for it is something deep in her heart even she knows.”
With this, Stanno didn’t hesitate anymore. He nodded at his little brother, looked at Twinkle Star, and then turned around and ran back towards the castle. Twinkle Star and Aline remained behind, stunned.
“Yuuro… How did you know about those two? Why did you…” Twinkle Star said. “I just knew. I saw it in their faces. I followed them around a few times, but it didn’t take long for me to be sure.” Yuuro answered, much more peaceful now he knew that his brother was on his way to tell his mother the truth and force her to accept his decision.
“Then why did you care so much? I mean, you were rather upset about it.” “Because… I don’t know why. Love is just… It’s important to me, you know. I can’t deny such a thing as love. It’s necessary to my life, and I can’t let my brother let fear take it away from him. It would destroy him.” Yuuro answered.

Twinkle Star smiled. He was a good boy, full of love, though Twinkle Star wondered where he got that from.
“Do you got someone you love, Yuuro?” She asked him, smiling. She noticed Aline was finally calming down, too.
Yuuro sighed. “She’s out there somewhere.” He said.
“Who is?”
“The girl I love.”
“Did you meet her once, then?”
“No… No, I haven’t. Not in real life, anyway. But I know she is out there, and I know she needs my love to survive. It’s a strong feeling, you know. Love will be forever important to me, until I find her, until I am able to protect her and love her.” Twinkle Star sighed. Another weird love story is not what she was looking for at this moment, but she thought it was cute. Little Yuuro, in love with a girl in his dreams… She wondered if he would ever meet that special person, but for now, she was simply glad his outburst was enough to convince Stanno to face his mother, and she truly hoped she would listen to him and accept the situation.