We are getting married! Togli’s wish

It had been five days since the incident which made Katine change her mind, and Twinkle Star was amazed how a court could change in such short notice. Everyone was put to work to prepare the wedding, which was now only eight days away. And everyone did not just mean all the servants, but the members of the royal family too. Even Twinkle Star’s family had offered to help out. Invitations had to be written and send, the castle had to be decorated, an official notice had to go out to the inhabitants of the castle, the city had to be cleaned… And all in 13 days. They were well on their way now, though. All the invitations were gone, and responses were already coming in. The castle looked pretty clean now, only the decorations had to be put in place. The throne room, where the ceremony would take place, was getting a complete make over.

And in all this, Twinkle Star had completely lost track of Togli and Stanno. Twinkle Star heard daily reports of Togli, as Aline was assigned as her official dresser and hairdresser, so she had to make sure Togli would look absolutely stunning on her special day, which, Twinkle Star was sure, was something you could trust to Aline. Stanno himself was busy preparing the wedding, or so Twinkle Star heard, however she had only seen him once or twice in five days.

Regala and Togli had talked a lot the last few days, or so she heard. She hadn’t been there of course, nor did she know what they had talked about, though of course it wasn’t easy to figure out what a long separated mother and daughter had to talk about. But she didn’t really want to know, anyway. It was none of her business, anyway. Katine had changed drastically. She had even forced her two daughters to work for the wedding, which in fact was the first time those two had worked in their entire life, which was something they had protested heavily against. Katine had become a lot nicer, though she sometimes had trouble to figure out what to say or what to do, which wasn’t that weird, giving she had become a completely different person.

Twinkle Star hadn’t had that much time to think about her special powers because of all the work she had given herself, but she was fine with it. There was nothing she could do with it now anyway, and besides, the wedding was more important right now. But even so, it was still something that remained in the back of her mind all the time. But right now, she was only tired. It was late already, and dark outside. Twinkle Star slowly walked through the candle-lit corridor on her way to her now familiar bedroom, where Aline probably was sleeping already. Twinkle Star had helped with cleaning the throne room all day, and they didn’t want to quit until they were finished, which took a lot longer than she and the others who helped had originally thought.

“Hey, Twinkle Star.” A voice suddenly said behind her and Twinkle Star slowly turned around.
“Oh hi, Yuuro. What’s up?” She answered the young boy, who was standing behind her.
“I… I just wanted to thank you. I heard you were the one that opened up my mother’s heart, and, well, she changed so much! I don’t know how you did it, but thank you!” He said to her, with an emotional look on his face. Katine had changed, even towards Yuuro. She finally saw him as her son, instead of someone who brought shame on the family, and Twinkle Star knew this.
“No problem, Yuuro, really. I guess I did what I had to do.” Even though I don’t know what on earth I did, she thought, but she decided not to tell Yuuro that. He should be happy like this, she didn’t want to other him with her own problems. “well… I guess I’m off to bed. I’m sorry, Yuuro, I guess I’m just really tired.” 
“Yeah, okay, me, too. Maybe we’ll work together tomorrow! Bye!” Yuuro said, and he took off. Cute kid, Twinkle Star thought. He had to be so relieved that his mother had changed so much. Twinkle Star once again followed her way in the candle-lit corridor and softly entered her room, where Aline indeed was already sleeping. Without doing anything, she fell down on her bed and she fell asleep rather quickly.

“Where are you going?” Was the first thing Twinkle Star said the next morning. She saw Aline walking around with a towel on her back and she was holding a bunch of bottles with shampoo and all that stuff.
“Oh, Didn’t I tell you? Togli gave me the morning off, and Katine allowed me to use the royal bath. Have you seen the size of that thing? It’s huge! It’s almost a swimming pool!” Togli said exited while she picked up yet another bottle.
“No, I haven’t seen it. I would love to use it some time though… Can’t you get me in there too?”
Aline began to laugh. “Sure, I’ll ask Katine. She adores you now, you know, you’d get the whole day in there if you asked. Well, I’m off! See you later, Twinkle!” Twinkle Star once again fell on her bed when Aline had closed the door behind her. So much excitement so early in the morning! Twinkle Star wanted to sleep for another hour before she got back to her work, however only five minutes after Aline was gone there was a knock on the door.

“Who is there?” Twinkle star yelled.
“It’s me, Togli. Can I talk to you for a while, Twinkle Star?” Togli yelled back from the other side of the door. Twinkle Star jumped up.
“I’ll be right there!” She opened the windows, arranged her sheets, quickly brushed her hair and opened the door for Togli.
“Hi, sorry you had to wait.” She said.
“Oh, it’s okay. It’s early, I know that. Can I come in?” Togli asked, and Twinkle Star opened the door wider so Togli could enter the room.
“What is it you want to talk about?” Twinkle Star asked. “Something wrong with the wedding?”
“Oh no, not at all. It’s all going perfectly, really. The castle is looking great, and so does the city from what I’ve heard. And Aline is great, she already helped me out with the wedding veil and all. It’ll be great, really.” Togli answered, and Twinkle Star noticed by her voice that she truly meant it. She really was looking forward to her wedding.

“That’s good to hear. I’ll go down later to help out as well. But then what do you want to talk about?”
“Well, do you remember you told me Stelline could, I don’t know, enter my mind or something, so she could see where my memories are?”
“Yeah, of course I do. She’s still willing to do it.”
“I… good. I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I really want it. I talked a lot with my mother last few days, and she told me all these amazing things of my childhood and all, and, well, I want to remember them again, Twinkle Star. And there is nothing I have to hide anymore. I didn’t want to do it first, because I was afraid she would find out about Stanno and the baby, but it’s no longer a secret anymore, is it.” Twinkle Star nodded.
“That’s fine, Togli. I’m sure Stelline will be able and willing to help you. Why don’t you come to my mother’s room in two hours? I’ll go look for Stelline and my mother, okay?”
Togli agreed with this. She thanked Twinkle star and left the room again. Twinkle Star sighed. So far with the one hour extra sleep. She brushed her hair a little better, and left the room, in search of her sister and her mother.

Two hours later all of them were in Regina and Regala’s room. Togli was there too, and Stelline had told her to sit down on the bed.
“Okay, Togli, before I start, I want to explain to you what exactly I am about to do, so you can understand. I think it is really important that you know.” Stelline stated, and Togli, who actually was quite nervous, agreed.
“Okay. I will use my royal powers to connect our minds, to say it simply. This way, I am able to read all your thoughts, memories, feelings, basically everything. Of course I definitely won’t do that. All I will do is look for the memories which you have lost. I want to see if they are still there, and if they are, I may be able to find out how you can reach them. To do that, you will have to alow me in your mind. You won’t probably know I am there, but unconsciously, you mind will resist against it, which is of course natural. So please, relax, an try to think of the little things you do remember. Imagine your mother’s face, so I can see if it is linked deep inside with the past. That way, it is easier for me to find it. Is anything unclear to you?”
Togli shook her head. “No, everything is clear. I’ll try to relax.”
Stelline nodded. “Okay. Than I will start now.”

Twinkle Star stood next to her mother, probably just as anxious as her to find out the truth of Togli’s memories. But Regina was also interested in these powers of Stelline. She had never seen her daughter use them before, and Twinkle Star was sure Regina was proud of her. After all, Stelline had mastered it all on her own.

Stelline closed her eyes, and so did Togli. Twinkle Star could almost see Stelline’s horn light up. It was once again amazing how Stelline could focus her powers. It was something no one else could do, you simply had to be a unicorn for that. Twinkle Star hardly felt the powers, because they were so compact. But she knew they were there. She could almost see them. It took almost five minutes before Stelline opened her eyes again. She looked a bit confused. Togli also opened her eyes again, when she noticed Stelline was moving.
“And? Did you find anything?” Regina asked.
“This cannot be…” Stelline said softly.
“What? What’s wrong?” Togli asked, a bit panicking by Stelline’s reaction.
“Are they still there? Her memories?” Twinkle Star asked.
Stelline nodded. “Oh yes, they’re there. I found them almost immediately.”
“Then what’s wrong, Stelline?” Regina asked, more pressing now.
“Togli’s memories… and her royal powers as well… They haven’t gone anywhere. They’re exactly where they are supposed to be. She never lost her memories, nor did she push them away herself. They’re sealed, mother.”

Regina looked at her daughter in shock.
“Sealed… do you mean…”
“Yes, I mean exactly that. Someone else has entered her mind, and locked away her powers and her memories.”
Locked away? Who would do such a thing? And, why?
“Who can do such a thing?” Togli asked, and Stelline shrugged.
“A rather powerful person. I myself wouldn’t be able to do it. It is a powerful spell, though it looked like it was done with haste. I am sure, that if anyone can seal someone’s memories, he or she can also lock them away, so that no one would ever find them. But that didn’t happen. They’re right where they should be, but sealed. Togli can’t access them.”
“Do you know how to break the seal?” Twinkle Star asked hopefully. Unfortunately, Stelline shook her head.
“No, I do not. I don’t know anyone who can perform such a spell, let alone break the seal.”
“So I’ll never be able to remember anything?” Togli asked. Stelline sighed in response.
“Maybe. Like I said, the seal hasn’t been performed that well. Maybe, as time goes by, you will be able to remember little things. But I do not think you can break the seal on your own. But even so, I think it is important that we find out how to break it. Because, after all, if you can enter your memories, you will also remember who performed the seal on you. And I think it is crucial that we find that person. Someone like that… I do not think he can mean any good.”

“Are there no ponies at all that know anything about seals like this?” Togli asked, hoping there would be a way. Regina softly nodded.
“Yes there are. Well, I’m not sure if they know anything about this particular seal, but… the ponies of Madash know a lot about seals. In the past, their country has been attacked by a sea monster that sealed the minds of ponies, and used them as his own soldiers. It was a horrible war, and the old Friendship Lands had to jump in to destroy the sea monster. Since then, Madash keeps a lot of records on mind seals.” Madash… so to know the answer of Togli’s mind seal, they had to go to Madash, the country of Daryia and Matoe, and the country of Taishi.
“But I do not think it is something to worry about soon. Don’t we have a wedding coming up within a week? I think it is more important right now that we prepare for that, don’t we all agree?” Regina said, and all of them agreed. Because no matter how pressing the past was, no one should forget about the future, and all the happy things it held for Togli and her soon to be family. Twinkle Star decided she would think about the seal and Madash later. First, the wedding.