The beach country

“Wait. No, one more step. Theeeeere you are. May I welcome the both of you to Madash, the beach country?”
“Well, thank you!” Crystal said, exited, and she laughed.
Twinkle Star on the other hand, didn’t feel the need to respond. She looked over the beach in front of her eyes, and the endless ocean behind it. The blue sky was reflected on the waving surface, and she enjoyed the rolling sound of the water reaching the shore. The end of the continent, eh… She had never been at a sea shore before. She had heard of them, of course. But it was not like she had imagined it. She had realised there would be a huge amount of water, of course. But somehow she had never been able to grasp the fact that there was no end to it, and no beginning either. It was just, there… the end of her world. Suddenly her continent felt so small, even though it stretched on to the west further than she knew. She hadn’t even heard of the west shore.

“Do you live close?” Crystal asked Jiro, and Twinkle Star was sure Crystal was hoping he didn’t. She really liked Jiro, even though she had accepted from the beginning they would only be together for a short while. But Crystal was young and, well, she was allowed feelings like this.
“Yes, I do. In fact, it’s only half an hour walking to my little home. Will you two join me there? You can stay for the night, have a little rest, so you can travel to the capital tomorrow.”
Both Twinkle Star and Crystal nodded at the same time. Twinkle Star was happy to rest a bit before they travelled on, even though they were really close to their destination now. But it would be good to arrive in the capital refreshed and not so tired as she was right now. She followed Jiro and crystal, who were once again talking and laughing. She suddenly felt so bad that her sister couldn’t stay with Jiro, that she had made her promise to follow her to the capital. But Crystal had chosen it herself, and, well, if she wanted to return to him after they were done there, she could do as she wished.

The landscape didn’t change much as they walked along the beach. The dunes were still on their right, the endless ocean on their left, and nothing in front of them but more sand. The last part of their journey hadn’t taken that long; since her encounter with the strange pony in the weird forest, it had only been five days, of which two lead them through the dunes. Yesterday evening, they had reached the beach, and the place where Fiume used to meet the ocean. Now, for some weird reason, the bank was still there ,and even though by all logic it should have, the ocean water did not enter it. Maybe the river banks were still too pure to allow the filthy salt sea water to enter. Whatever the reason was, it was a weird sight, such a sudden hole in the beach that sea water couldn’t fill.

Like it had done a lot of times the last few days, Twinkle Star’s memories wandered back to the weird pony. She had gone back the next morning, after she had calmed down. She wanted to ask the pony what it was exactly that she had seen, and she wanted to talk to her without either of them being scared. But the pony had left, in fact, Twinkle Star was sure she hadn’t even slept there at all that night. She must have fled as soon as Twinkle Star had left, and for some weird reason she felt horribly guilty about upsetting the pony, even though there was nothing she had been able to do about it. The pony had seen her wings, even though they were concealed as always. She couldn’t help that, but she was curious as to why the pony could see them. What was so different about her that she could? Did she maybe have wings, too? No, that couldn’t be. If that was the case, that the pony could see her wings because she had them herself, wouldn’t she be able to see the pony’s wings, too?

“Hey Twinkle Star, hurry up!” she heard a voice call. She looked up and she realised the others were far ahead of her. She had been so deep in her thoughts, she had once again forgotten to enjoy the beautiful and new environment she was in now. That, too, was something that had happened regularly the last few days. She smiled to herself, once again telling she shouldn’t wander off this much. There was so much new, she had to enjoy it. Besides, she wasn’t here to do whatever she wished. She was here to find out about the mind seal, to help her cousin Togli. She trotted towards her sister and Jiro, and when she had arrived, Jiro pointed across the beach. “There, do you see it?” he asked, and Twinkle Star watched in the distance. She saw the vague shape of a little house in the distance, but it was all she could see. It was so far away, and it actually amazed her how far she could look.
“Is it your house?”
“Yes, it is! I know it looks small, but trust me, It’s large enough for the three of us. I used to live there with my entire family, but my parents moved a bit closer to the capital. I simply remained here to take care of the place. It’s been my family’s home for generations, you know.”
Jiro resumed walking, and Crystal and Twinkle star followed.
“Do you plan to stay there, the rest of your life?” Crystal asked Jiro curiously.
“No, not really. My oldest sister moved up north as you know, but my parents want my younger sister to inherit everything here. But she still lives with them, so I’m like a caretaker.”
“Why don’t they want you to inherit it, then?”
“Well, it’s rather unusual for boys to become the heir to their family’s possessions. Girls get everything, and the boys, when they marry, may share in the wealth of their new wife.”

So the excluding from boys wasn’t just in the Royal House, over here. For some reason, it didn’t really surprise Twinkle Star. If girls were seen as the stronger and more powerful of both sexes in the Royal House, it was only natural for the country’s subjects to judge their family by those standards, too. After all, what other example did they have? Still, it was not something Twinkle Star liked. Boys may have lesser powers, but they had strengths of their own. Why could not everything be divided equally among both daughters and sons?
“Why exactly is that?” Crystal asked Jiro, and Twinkle Star was about to declare her sister more foolish than she had ever thought, when Jiro answered her.
“Because of something that happened long ago. A creature from the ocean, a sea monster, attacked the shores, and with that about all of our country. He was able to seal the minds of ponies, and use them as soldiers of his own. It was horrible, as those who were not sealed had to fight those of their own kin, because they had become nothing but heartless warriors. Anyway, our queen of that day had found a way to repel the mind seal, if you were prepared. As she was teaching it to her subjects, it turned out, only girls were able to master it effectively. Boys simply couldn’t, so the women had to protect all the men. Since then, family fortunes and other possessions remain in the hand of women.”

The mind seal… So there was in fact a way to fight it! Twinkle Star’s heart almost jumped as she realised it.
“do you know more about that story? It sounds… horrible, yet fascinating.” Crystal said carefully. Twinkle Star was grateful for her sister’s question, as she wasn’t sure if she had dared to ask it herself.
“Not really.” Jiro shook his head. “It’s all I know. It happened long ago, and none now know how to fight a mind seal anymore. I am sure it’s in the library in the capital though, but it’s not common for regular ponies to know things like that anymore. It’s just the reason for the way things are right now, even though there’s not really a reason for it anymore. The sea monster was defeated with the help of other countries, and there never has been another able to use the skill of mind seal.”
 “I see…” Crystal’s voice faded with the soft breeze that was toying with the air around them. No other able… then where did Togli’s seal come from? Maybe no one had been able to do it, until now. Someone had discovered that secret, and he or she was obviously using it. But why, and for what purpose, was something Twinkle Star couldn’t even begin to understand.

During the remaining walk across the beach, Crystal and Jiro had talked about other stories of the history of Madash. It turned out most of the fairy tales told here, were about heroic females risking all to save the country from someother monster. Nothing Twinkle Star could be too excited off. She preferred stories like that if they were based of actual facts, and Jiro had to admit most of them had been made up anyway. Twinkle Star still wasn’t used to the smell of the salt sea water, and she didn’t really mind it. It was all so new to her, she couldn’t help but enjoy it. The sound of the waves that clashed with the shore were like voices to her, even though she couldn’t understand anything. When she commented on it, Jiro had smiled.
“It is said the first queen of this country could understand the Voice of the Sea. It could tell her if a storm was coming, or if someone was in danger. Of course, it’s probably just another myth. This country is full of them.”

Myth or not, Twinkle Star couldn’t help but be convinced the sea had a voice of it’s own. Had there really be someone able to understand it? And wasn’t it lonely, alone, having no one to truly understand? She had to laugh at her own foolish thoughts. No, the sea did not have a voice. It was like a lake, only much larger. It had no such thing as a voice. Did it? But even before Twinkle Star could begin to think about it, they had reached Jiro’s house. It turned out to be a wooden pile-dwelling. It was on the part of the beach the sea usually didn’t reach, a bit inside the dunes even, but it was still lifted from the ground by the pile’s. There was a stair leading up to it. The house appeared to have two floors, indeed big enough for a medium sized family. It looked really nice, and the wood looked just fine, which surprised Twinkle Star considering it’s location.
“It’s awesome, Jiro.” She said to the boy.
“It is, isn’t it?” He said, with pride in his voice.
“How come the wood is so clean? I thought wood would rot, being so close to water and all.”
“Yes, most think that, and usually, wood does. However, this is wood which has been put in the later Fiume river. If it remained in there for a month, it would be so much stronger, and almost immune to the forces of the sea. We can’t do that now anymore, of course. Some say the king and queen are getting worried; new houses build in the last fifteen years are already showing signs of decay, while this house is over seventy years old and still standing strong.”
“Seventy years? Oh my!” Crystal said amazed.
“Why don’t we go in?” Jiro proposed, and they followed gratefully.

Inside, everything was clean and cosy. There was a large table, a large carpet on the floor, a neat kitchen. The wood sure held well. Twinkle Star was amazed at Fiume’s powers. She had never known it was able to make wood strong, she even wondered if such a thing was known in her old country. She would enjoy staying here for a while, even though she was sure she had to leave the next day. Yet, the nice house was welcoming her, and it felt so much like a home, a feeling she had missed for over a month now.
“Shall I show you your bedroom? So you two can relax a bit and refresh, while I go make something to eat. That is, if you are hungry.”
Both she and Crystal nodded heavily at this proposal. A nice warm bed, a place to refresh, and she didn’t have to share it with strangers.

When she walked up the stairs, she suddenly realised she was t the destination of her journey. The beach kingdom of Madash. The country of the mind seals. The country of Daryia and Matoe. The country of Taishi. Would she meet any of them? Would she find the answers she was looking for? Or was it all in vain, had she been making this journey for no reason because she would never be able to find the answers to her questions? She wondered so many things, and yet, she felt as if they mattered only a little less than usual. For now, all she wanted was a nice warm shower of some sort, and a nice bed with clean sheets. All else, she would face with the first light next morning.