What became of Taishi

The large wooden door of the cold, stone basement slowly opened, and Twinkle Star almost jumped up. It was the first time anyone had come down here since Lenna had shown them the place, and Crystal was right here with her. Yet, it was only Lenna who entered the room, so it was nothing to be surprised about. Still Twinkle Star felt curious was Lenna was doing down here.
“Hi there you two! How are things going?” Lenna asked cheerfully.
“As usual.” Crystal answered dryly, as she was reading one of the most boring books the library contained.
“Oh… still no progress, right?”
“Not really, no. I’m afraid we’ve been wasting our time here after all, Lenna. We can’t find anything that might help us or Togli.” Twinkle Star sighed.
“Well… in that case, why don’t you two join me and my uncle for some tea? He invited you two to come. He brought some great tea leaves from abroad, or so he claims.”

Twinkle Star’s heart skipped a beat. She had been wondering about this the entire morning now. She had known since last evening that Taishi was in the castle. The castle wasn’t that big, and she knew she had to meet him some day. But now she was actually invited by him. Taishi… the one person causing her aunt to kill her mother’s cousin. Jealousy… Still, she couldn’t help but being curious about him. After all, it wasn’t his fault that her aunt had made mistakes, and her mother had said he was a nice and sweet person…

“Sure, why not?” Crystal said before Twinkle Star could even think of what to respond.
“Okay, great! I’ll see you two in fifteen minutes in the living room, okay?” Lenna walked back up the stairs, she didn’t even close the door on her way out.
“You seem eager to meet the guy.” Twinkle Star said to her sister.
“I’m eager to put this darn book behind me. And yes, I would like to meet Taishi. Don’t you?”
“Well, of course, but… it’s weird, you know. All that mother has told us…” Crystal got off her chair and walked towards the open door.
“Oh, Twinkle Star. You worry too much, sometimes! Come on, we’re just going to meet Lenna’s uncle and we’ll have some nice tea. That’s all. Are you coming?” Twinkle Star knew Crystal was right. Of course she worried too much, she always did. But Crystal had a point… they were just going to have tea.

So she, too, got off her chair, and followed her sister out of the basement. She softly closed the wooden door behind her, and walked up the stairs into the daylight. It was yet another nice sunny day, and Twinkle Star still wasn’t used to the salt sea air. Daryia had said that they would get used to it soon, but Twinkle Star could still smell the salt in the air. Not that it really bothered her, it just reminded her of the fact that she was rather far away from home now. She walked out of the hallway onto the open space, crossed it and entered the castle again on the other side, where she entered the living room. Lenna and Crystal were already there, but there was no sign of Taishi yet.

“Don’t worry, my uncle said he would be here soon.” Lenna answered, as if reading Twinkle Star’s thoughts.
“He’s only bringing his herbs to the cook, so they can prepare the tea.” She added. She pointed at the couches, and Twinkle Star got the hint. She sat down on one of the free couches, as Crystal was already sitting next to Lenna.
“So… still no progress, uh?” lenna asked curiously, while they were waiting.
“No, none at all… there’s so much information and yet nothing that can help us. I don’t think we are going to continue our search much longer, to be honest.” Twinkle Star told her.
“Then what are you going to do?”
“We don’t know yet… As there’s nothing else for us to do, we’re probably going to return home. I hate to go home empty-handed, but there is no clue whatsoever on where else to look. And we kind of promised to come home in 3 months, and if we want to be home in time… well, we have to get going soon. We’ve been gone for over two months now.”

Lenna looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn’t when they heard hoofsteps in the hall. Not much later, an older male pony appeared in the doorway. He looked much older than Matoe and Daryia, while Twinkle Star was sure Taishi was actually a couple years younger than both of them. His face was wrinkled, and there was lots of grey in his mane. Yet, his eyes were still deep blue, and it was still obvious that once his mane had been pretty dark green. His light yellow coat still hadn’t lost any of it’s color. Taishi smiled at his niece, a smile still pure and honest. In a weird way, Twinkle Star could totally understand why once so many ponies had a crush on him.
“Here I am, Lenna, dear.”
“Hi there, uncle Taishi. These are the princesses from the Friendship Lands, Twinkle Star and Crystal.” Lenna introduced them.
“It is a pleasure to…” Tiashi began, but he did not finish his sentence. Instead he stared just at Twinkle Star. Slowly, his mouth fell open, his eyes grew wide and he almost began trembling.
“Uncle? Are you okay?” Lenna jumped up and supported her uncle.
“I… I…” He muttered, but it was all he was able to say.

Lenna helped her uncle to sit down, while he kept staring at Twinkle Star. She didn’t know where to look or what to do. Why was he staring at her like that? Was he able to see her wings as well, as Jaze had?
“Uncle? Are you okay? Uncle!” Lenna shouted, a bit panicking now.
“Take it easy, Lenna!” Crystal said, as she approached the two of them.
“Take it easy. Shouting won’t make things better. I think you’re uncle is in a shock. I’ll go get some water for him in the kitchen, okay?” She proposed, and before any of them could answer she had left the room. Twinkle Star felt horrible; what had she done that had made Taishi react like this? He was still looking at her, even though his breathing was beginning to calm down a little. Lenna was whispering something that Twinkle Star couldn’t understand. Was she comforting him?

Crystal returned soon with a cup full of water. She gave it to Taishi, who only now was beginning to awake from his shock. Slowly, he turned towards Crystal, and accepted the cup. He took a few sips from the fresh water, and softly smiled while staring at the floor.
“Uncle, are you okay?” Lenna asked again, and this time Taishi softly nodded.
“Yes, yes, thank you, dear… it’s just…” He looked up at Twinkle Star again, and once again the surprise appeared in his eyes.
“I never thought I would see you here.”
“What?” Twinkle Star managed to say. What on earth was Taishi talking about? She had never met him before!
“Well… I know it’s highly unlikely you would remember me, s we never spoke, but I cannot easily forget you. After all your companion, the unicorn… you two are quite the couple.”

“My sister? Stelline… she is a unicorn, but… I still have no idea where you know us from.”
“Well… It’s been a few months ago now, my lady.” Taishi continued. “I was in the west, sleeping in a remote inn in the middle of a forest. I went out one night, trying to find inspiration for my story. I wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, when I suddenly got lost. It was just too dark, and everything looked the same. I wandered endlessly, until I saw a light appearing through the trees. I approached it, thinking I had found my way back to the inn. But I found a little house, with you, my lady, and the unicorn, outside, staring at a light blue stone, which was the source of the light. If I am correct, it was you, my lady, that noticed me first. You approached me, and after that, your sister came towards me, and produced a light, which floated back to were I came from. ‘Follow it.’ Was all she said, and I did. Only an hour later did I found my inn back. I searched for you two by daylight, but I have never been able to find the little house again.”

Was he mad? Twinkle Star and Stelline in a house in a forest studying a shining light blue stone?
“That wasn’t me.” Twinkle Star stated.
“But, my lady, I am positive. I could never forget such a fair face as yours.”
“It wasn’t me.” Twinkle Star repeated. “I have never been deep into a forest in the west, nor have I ever travelled alone with my sister. Nor have I ever seen a light blue stone that shone.”
Taishi obviously hesitated. He didn’t believe her yet, that was for sure. Yet, she was obviously not the person he was talking about. She had never been in such a place, let alone ever been alone with Stelline.
“But, my lady… I am sorry. If you say it is not you who I saw, I guess I have no choice but to accept that. Yet, my heart tells me otherwise. It is you that I met that night. It is not possible for two ponies to look so alike, not even twins resemble each other that much. And your sister, the unicorn… how could I forget such a large orange horn?”

There, there it was! Proof that he was not talking about her!
“I am sorry, my lord Taishi, but the pony you saw was not me, not was the unicorn my sister. My sister does not have a large orange horn, but a rather small, silver one.”
Everyone was silent after Twinkle Star was finished talking. It was obvious now, that she was telling the truth. Yet, the weird story of Taishi still hung in the air. A pony who was exactly like Twinkle Star, and a unicorn, somewhere in a forest studying a stone? Even if he would have only met a unicorn, the story would already be amazing. Twinkle Star had never even heard of the existence of another unicorn. As far as she knew, Stelline was the only born unicorn in quite a while, and she had never heard of a unicorn born from ponies not coming from the Friendship Lands. Unicorns were simply… something that did not exist outside the Friendship Lands. And a blue shining stone? Sure, it could have been a unicorn trick, but Twinkle Star did not believe that. Why else would they have been studying it? It reminded her too much of the store her aunt Damina had found. It had shone, too, especially when she had been alone with it.

And how could a pony exist that was exactly like her? She had seen twins before, and even they had some differences. But maybe Taishi’s memory was deluded, and did he only think they were exactly the same, while they actually only had some similar appearances?
“Uncle… are you sure about this? I mean, it’s such a strange story after all… how could you have met someone who looks so much like Twinkle Star? She doesn’t exactly look like your average pony, and neither do you see a unicorn every day. Are you sure it was not a dream?” Lenna asked concerned, but Taishi shook his head fiercely.
“No. I am absolutely positive I met those two ponies. It was not a dream, Lenna.” Once again, nobody knew what to say. For what felt like an hour they just sat there, staring to the walls or the floor, thinking about what Taishi had said. How could there be another unicorn? Twinkle Star had never been so relieved when the maid entered the room with a tray full of cups and a teapot. Slowly, the conversation turned towards the tea, and the place where Taishi had found the leaves. Still, Twinkle Star found it hard to concentrate on such topics. Somewhere in her mind she couldn’t help but thinking about this pony that looked so much like her and was connected to a unicorn. There had to be something about that pony, something that somehow had to do with her. But how?

“Right, Twinkle Star?” Crystal awoke her from her thoughts.
“Eh, what?” Twinkle Star said, and she felt she had to blush. She had completely lost the conversation.
“I was saying Lenna and Taishi were of course welcome to visit the new Friendship Lands!” Crystal repeated annoyed.
“Oh, yes, of course! I’m sure mother would love to have some visitors. And I’m positive you will like all my other sisters as well.” She said with a fake smile on her face.
“I am sure we will, too. It would be a pleasure to visit the new Friendship Lands again. And I would be honoured to meet your mother again. When I met her all those years ago, she was such a sweet and wise girl. I’m sure she is a just and wise queen.” Taishi said, with an honest face.
“That she is, my lord Taishi, that she is.” Twinkle Star agreed.