Twinkle Star and Crystal’s journey to the beach

Twinkle Star didn’t know where to look. Paper lanterns were hanging above each door, flower decorations were cheering up the lanterns, ponies wearing make up, having nice hairstyles, young girls dancing with boys, older ponies sitting and talking, children chasing each other. Of course they had seen the sign at the entrance of the little town. ‘End of Summer festival’.  Twinkle Star first didn’t really realise why this was something to celebrate, until she realised the last of the harvest was in, and winter wasn’t nearly as bad here as up in lands like Kin or the New Friendship Lands. They had decided to go to this town to see if they could get a place to sleep in an inn, as they had been sleeping outside for a few nights now. However, Twinkle Star was pretty sure by now that it wasn’t going to happen. There were so many ponies here ,and every inn they passed looked crowded.

But for some reason, it didn’t even really bother them. They really enjoyed the lively scene of the festival. After their short stay at the crossroads, they had travelled on a deserted road for two days, on which they had only passed two other ponies heading in the opposite direction. After two days, they had come to another crossroad, this one a bit more lively. One of the roads went to Tarem as well, one was going in to the north, where some more villages were and a few duchies, and a third road was going southeast, which was the one they had to take to get to Madash. They had been glad to notice this road was a bit more used than the previous one, and they had been able to sleep in an inn twice. They had passed a village once, but they hadn’t stayed there long, only to get some extra food and water. But now they were here, in this cute little village with it’s festival.

“We can try this one.” Crystal pointed out, as they passed yet another inn. Twinkle Star peeked inside through the window, and she noticed a few ponies, but it didn’t look as busy as the previous ones.
“Sure.” She said to her sister, and they went inside. It turned out there were two beds available, but not in a private room but in a room with six beds. This suited them just fine, because everything was better than to sleep outside for yet another night. The servant guided them to the room on the first floor. Like Twinkle Star had expected, the room was rather dark. The walls were made of dark wood, as were the beds. The blankets on top of them were either white or light blue. There was a window on the other side of the room, while each side had three beds. That was abut all there was to it; there were no chairs, no tables, to closets.

Twinkle Star and Crystal took two beds next to each other in the right side of the room, when Twinkle Star noticed the pony by the bed on the left, closest to the window.
“Hello there.” She said to the pony, who was going through his bag, or something like that, Twinkle Star wasn’t sure. The pony looked up, and Twinkle Star was surprised to see it was a boy of about Crystal’s age. He was obviously younger than she was, and suddenly Twinkle star realised the age difference between her and her younger sister. Five years. It didn’t feel like it.
“Oh, hello!” The pony answered, and Twinkle Star realised his voice sounded extremely high for a boy.
“Nice to see other ponies. The other beds are empty now. There were ponies there last night, but they left.”
“You been here long, then?” Twinkle Star asked casually.
“Two days. I’m resting a bit before I travel on to the north.” He explained.
“Where are you from, then?”
“Me? Oh, I’m from Madash. I’m just returning home from a visit to my sister, who lives north in the Chara duchy.”

“You’re from Madash?” Crystal asked surprised, and Twinkle Star wondered why her sister was only joining the conversation now.
“Yes, I am. Why?” The other pony asked Crystal.
“Because that’s where we’re going! My name is Crystal, and this is my sister, Twinkle Star.” Crystal introduced them. Twinkle Star was surprised to see another pony going to Madash, but she wasn’t sure if she liked it. Would he want to travel with them, now?
“Hi, nice to meet you two. My name is Jiro. What are your plans for tonight, you going to enjoy the festival?" He asked. Twinkle Star though he was being a bit too bold, but Crystal didn't seem to mind.
"We want to, but we've only just arrived. we don't know where to go." She said.
"Why don’t you two come with me? I know this nice place where they serve the best drinks. We can talk there for a bit more, if you want.”
Crystal turned out to be eager to talk to the guy, and Twinkle Star didn’t mind it herself. She liked to find out a bit more about Madash before they would arrive, and this was a great opportunity. So they followed Jiro out of the little inn, through the crowded streets, to a place close to the entrance of the town. The place he was leading them to was located on a side street of the main street of the country. It was a bit more quiet there than on the main street, but there were still enough ponies to have a great mood. The bar served lots and lots of drinks, according to the list, all of which sounded very foreign to both Twinkle Star and crystal. It was obvious they had come further south than they had expected to be by now. Jiro helped them to pick out two nice drinks, and it didn’t long before they were served.

“So, what is Madash like?” Crystal asked curiously, after she had a sip of her drink.
Jiro smiled. “Well… What exactly do you want to know? The customs of the ponies, the history, the climate and landscape, the royal family?”
“Tell about the country itself first. You know, the weather and stuff.” Crystal said determined. Twinkle Star wondered once again why her sister was so curious, but she decided to ask it later.
“Well… As you know, Madash is a long stretched country, which doesn’t go too far inlands. So most of our country is beach and dunes, and other kinds of shores. The wind almost always comes from the sea, so though it is hardly ever really cold, we can have quite a bit of rain. Some ponies live on the catching of sea weed, which we eat. To you it might be a special thing, but for us it’s really normal to eat it. We don’t have much farms otherwise, and other food like bread we get only by trading. We do have exotic fruits, though, like oranges and mango’s.” Jiro explained, while he drank his own quite pink drink.

“So what about the ponies? How do they live?” Crystal asked impatiently, as she noticed Jiro had finished telling about the land.
“Well… Unlike the inland kingdoms, we don’t really live in villages. In fact, only the area around the royal palace can be called a village or town. The other ponies live scattered across the shore, some living close and working together, others only working with their families. Family bonds are rather important to us, and because of that, marriages and status are. One does not shame the family. My sister was only allowed to marry outside of the country because she had two older brothers and an older sister.”

Twinkle Star was just thinking how she had heard of family being important in Madash, when she realised she hadn’t had a sip of her drink yet. She slowly tasted it, and it was a bit sour, but nice. It was a good thing Aline wasn’t here, though. She would have been drunk after one glass full.
“Why are you two going to Madash, actually?” Jiro asked. Twinkle Star answered before Crystal could open her mouth.
“We’re visiting some old friends in the capital town.” She didn’t want to tell Jiro they were on their way to the royal palace and the royal libraries to find out about mind seals. Not that she didn’t trust Jiro, but she felt it was better that nobody knew. If they didn’t know, at least they couldn’t ask questions on why they wanted to know. She was grateful to find out Crystal was agreeing with her.

“What can you tell us about the royal family?” Twinkle Star asked Jiro, to change the subject a little.
“Well, our queen is called Daryia, and she is married to someone who came from the old Friendship Lands. Matoe is his name. They have a few children, of whom the oldest daughter is the heir, her name is Lenna. She will probably become queen within a few years, when she is married. She is rather young, still, as she has two older brothers, but they can’t inherit the throne now that she exist. She has two younger brothers as well.”
“What do you mean, they can’t inherit the throne?”
“Well, boy’s cannot become an heir when they have a sister. Girls go first, and only if there is no female heir, a male child can become the future king. But it doesn’t happen often.” Jiro explained. Twinkle Star sighed. Even more countries that forced males out of the line to become the king or queen. Kin didn’t do it, but it was obvious nobody was really happy with Stanno being a boy. Girls were a sign of power, yes, but that doesn’t mean boys are weak. They may not be able to possess many royal powers themselves, but they can pass them on onto their daughters. It was rather likely the daughters of the first born son had more power than Jenna’s daughters would have. But if those were the customs of the country, she was not the one to doubt them. Suddenly she realised Taishi was of Madash too. Her mother had never known what had happened to them after Anrui… she almost wanted to ask Jiro, but she decided not to. She didn’t want to raise any suspicions. She would find out when they had arrived in Madash.

“So, when will you two depart?” Jiro asked.
“Tomorrow morning, right, Twinkle?” Crystal said, a little unsure. Twinkle Star nodded at her sister.
“Right. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning. We don’t want to be delayed, no matter how much we enjoy a festival like this.”
Jiro sighed to her answer. “It’s a bit earlier than I planned, but… can I travel with you to Madash? I know it’s a bit sudden and all, but the journey to Madash from here is rather lonely. Most ponies take another road, that leads to the capital and goes west across the shore.”
“Where does this road lead to, then?” Twinkle Star asked, suddenly wondering if they had decided on the right road all those days ago after all.
“To the northern border of Madash. You know, where the Fiume river used to lead into the sea. Now it’s just a weird gap in the earth, of course, as no sea water dares to enter the old river Fiume’s way.”

Jiro said it with so much confidence, Twinkle Star knew better than to ask. And she could figure it out herself anyway. Where Fiume entered the ocean, was no water anymore now, of course. So sea water could have entered the remains of the river, and by all natural laws it should have, but the pureness of the river is driving the spoiled sea water away. It simply couldn’t enter lands that had been touched by pureness so long. She wondered if anything could, she even began to wonder if she would be able to enter the scar Fiume had left on the surface of the earth. She suddenly wondered if she should have tried earlier.
“But…. Can I join you on your travels? It would only be for little more than a week of travelling.” Jiro interrupted her thoughts. Twinkle Star glanced at Crystal, trying to find out what her thoughts were on the matter, but all she found were some eyes begging her to allow Jiro to come. With a flash she realised Crystal fancied Jiro. It had to be. Why would she want him to come along so badly otherwise? And sure, Jiro was a fine boy. He looked nice, with bright red mane and a dark blue coat, and he was nice enough. What harm could it do?
“Sure, it’s fine by me. But we have to go to the capital alone, Crystal. Our friends aren’t counting on more visitors.”
She didn’t want anyone to stick their noses in her research, but that of course wasn’t something Jiro should know. To her relief, Crystal nodded, though not too happily.
“I understand, Twinkle Star. Now, where do we go for the night?” she asked, and once again Jiro was the one proposing a nice place he knew, where they had some good food. They were a bit reluctant, as they didn’t really have any money for fancy food, but when Jiro proposed he would pay, they were both glad to accept.

During the evening, Twinkle Star began to realised she liked Jiro. Probably not as Crystal did, but as a guy she could travel with for a while. It would be good for them, to have someone new to talk about. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about bad things, and talk about a depressing past. Somewhere in the evening she had realised she hadn’t thought about the mysterious pony she had seen at the crossroads, who’s memory had haunted her since. And she was happy she finally didn’t have to anymore, and for the remainder of the evening she enjoyed the fun at the festival and the talking with her sister and Jiro.