Clouds over the castle

“Are you sure you can do this, Stelline?” Regina asked concerned. It wasn’t little what she was asking of her oldest daughter. Ivy silently wondered if Stelline was able to do it, but she kept her doubts for herself. Stelline however was looking confident.
“Leave it to me, mother.” Stelline closed her eyes and a moment later a force field was created around her that slowly expanded itself. After a few moments it surrounded Ivy, Fleur and Regina. It was clearly visible, like a large soap-bubble. Of course the black pony would see it… and he was probably able to break it. But it was better than nothing.

After they had arrived Ivy had given her mother a brief account of everything that had happened on their road to the castle, and Regina had listened with horror. Her face had turned white as snow when Ivy told her about the mysterious black pony. After they were done explaining Regina had fallen silent for a long while. She explained Aline was asleep and she should stay asleep until she woke up on her own. Ivy and Fleur would have to tell her themselves, for they were the ones there, something Ivy dreaded horribly. Regina had said she would be there, of course, and then she had rushed out of the throne room to fetch Stelline.

When Regina had first proposed the shield Ivy had thought that it was one of the unicorn’s special powers. But Regina had explained that it was not, and that anyone with strong powers was able to make one, only a unicorn was able to focus her powers so much more that it was a lot easier for them. Stelline had mastered this at the age of ten, anyway.

“So… what does this force field do?” Fleur asked hesitantly.
“It should keep everyone out. You can always go out, but if you want to get back in Stelline has to open it for you.” Answered Regina.
“So does she have to stay like this all the time?”
Regina laughed. “No, of course not. Only until it is in place. Then she can just walk around and even sleep while keeping it intact. But, of course, it will take quite some energy, so I want you all to help out to make her chores as easy as possible. So help out with the children.”
“That’ll be no problem!” Fleur’s mood seemed to be lifted for a small moment.

“So, mother… do you have any idea who this dark pony is?” Ivy asked while Stelline continued to expand the bubble.
 “No… I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of a black pony with huge wings and horrible powers before. To be honest, I’ve never even seen a black pony. And the only pony I’ve ever heard of who had wings was Illuvia, but her wings looked totally different, as far as I am told. They were transparent, glittering… not like this, right?”
“No, I guess you’re right… this looks so much different from what we were told.” Ivy agreed.

“So what will we do now?” asked Fleur.
“Well, for now, we will stay here and see how the field works. And we have to find out what that black pony wants. It is obvious he will not hold back any way that will make him achieve his goal. But what that is, we don’t know. For now, we’re not even sure whether he is coming this way or not. So for the next few hours, we will just wait.” Explained Regina.
Ivy didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to sit around and wait for that pony to arrive, but she didn’t really know what else to do, either.

“It’s done.” Stelline announced a moment later.
Ivy didn’t notice anything different anymore, but when she looked out of the window she could see the bubble hovering above the castle walls. So, they were protected for now… But how long until Stelline’s energy would run out? They didn’t have much food in the castle to last that long with so many ponies, especially since the weird weather had destroyed so many crops and fruits.

They heard a sound coming from the hallway and a moment later Ivy’s heard skipped when she saw Aline running into the throne room, smiling.
“Hello, Ivy, Fleur! I heard you two had returned already, that’s so quick! Did you bring Junai with you?” She said excited, not knowing what had happened. Fleur and Ivy exchanged glances. How were they ever going to tell her what happened? It would break her heart, her soul, and Ivy did not want to be the one to do that.

“No… I mean, yes, but… you’d better sit down for this, Aline.” Ivy said.
She looked at her mother who nodded in agreement. This wasn’t going to be easy, but she’d better do it right away. Delaying it wouldn’t make it easier.
 “Why? Didn’t he want to come?” Aline asked concerned, but it only hurt Ivy. If such a small thing made her worry already…

“Yes, he did.” Ivy said while Aline sat down on one of the couches.
“So why isn’t he here?” asked Aline.
“Well, along the way, we met… Câlin.”
“Câlin!” Aline exclaimed.
“But Twinkle Star just left to find her! And now she’s here?”
“Yes… well, she is, but she is… with others. A… mysterious black pony. He has humongous black feathered wings and his eyes were red as if they were constantly on fire. And he had two companions… A yellow pony, and a blue one.”

“So why were they with Câlin? Had they kidnapped her?” Asked Aline concerned.
“Well, no, not exactly… Apparently Câlin had joined them of her own free will. But this black pony… he told one of his companions to kill us.”
“What!” Aline’s eyes filled with terror. Could she already see where this was going?
“Yes… only Junai stepped in. He told us to run, that he would defend us. So we ran. But we soon realized we didn’t want to leave Junai behind…. We went back, and hid in the shadows of the trees and the bushes. And we saw Junai lying on the ground, obviously hurt. And then Câlin… She began to scream, and a moment later Junai… he…”

“No… Don’t say it… Please, don’t…” Aline shook her head furiously. Her voice was trembling and tears were already forming in her eyes. But Ivy could no longer answer her request, no matter how much she wanted to do so. Aline had to know the truth.
“I’m so sorry Aline. You have no idea how sorry I am. I should never have run…. But Junai, he died… Câlin took his life away before our very eyes.”

The entire room went silent as if nobody wanted to hear the truth, hoping that the silence would steal it away. It was just too horrible to be true.
“No…” Aline said softly. The tears in her eyes had made place for disbelief and denial. It was scary, somehow. Ivy had guessed she would cry, but she was so silent now, so white in her face…
“I’m sorry, Aline… I’m so sorry…” She whispered, which broke something in Aline.
“No!” She screamed, jumping up from the couch. “NOO! Tell me it’s not true! Please, please…” She charged at Regina, but when she had reached the queen all her energy seemed to fail her and she almost collapsed.
“No… Please, no…”

“What’s that?” Câlin asked, pointing at the castle. She almost wanted to say, the castle of course, but she changed her mind as soon as she saw what Câlin meant. The entire castle seemed to be surrounded by a soap bubble.
“Looks like Regina has heeded her daughter’s warning.” He said.
They were standing on the hill now, looking out over the valley in front of them. The bubble was a strange sight in the dark valley. Night was falling now, which combined with her dark clouds created a total darkness none could escape.

“It’s a force field.” She explained to the girl, but she immediately realized that would not be enough. “You can keep someone either out or in the bubble. I assume they are doing this to keep us out.”
The girl didn’t reply, but she knew what she was thinking. Why didn’t want Twinkle Star her anymore? Was she not allowed to go home?

“My Lord… what will we do now?” The other one asked. Her powers were still roaming around freely. When she got too close Rain felt like she froze right to her bones as if she brought nothing but everlasting darkness.
“Will be break the field? I can do it in a few minutes.”
“I know you can. But it is not what I want. I want you to attack the field, so they know we are after them. But do not break it. Whatever you do, do not break it. I want them to know that when they step out of the force field their lives will be forfeit.  I want them to be afraid. I want them to cry. I want them to despair. Only then will they be of any use to me. Because their sadness and despair… It will pollute the crown and make its strongest features rise. And then, you will strike, and bring me the connection to the heavens.”

Ivy fell down on the couch. Poor, poor Aline. She had cried, she had screamed… but there was nothing anyone could do to help her now. They couldn’t bring back Junai. The body was probably still there in the mud, but they could not go out now. They had to wait until the danger of the black pony was gone, and who knew how long that would take. Aline was upstairs now, in her bed, and Tsuyo was taking care of her. She had cried for so long she had to be exhausted, but Ivy knew sleep would not come to her tonight. Well, she had promised herself she would support Aline in any way possible.

Her mother was in the throne room too, silently sitting on the throne staring ahead of her. She was so worried… A loud bang awoke them both from their thoughts.
“What was that?” Ivy asked, panicking. Regina walked to the window.
 “Like I thought… They’re attacking the field.”
“Will they get through?” Ivy’s heart was beating faster and faster.
“I don’t know… I don’t know how strong they are.” Another bang made Ivy almost jump.

“I must find Stelline. She will need support now.” Regina said and she rushed out of the room, leaving Ivy all alone. It made her feel so vulnerable, being all alone. Another bang came to her from the sky. It was like the roaring of thunder, only it was so close… She walked to the window, trying to see what her mother had seen. Shortly before she heard the next bang she could see a flash of light on the surface of the bubble. Yes, someone was indeed attacking it, but she did not see anyone. They probably attacked it by using some special power.

“I don’t want to stay here alone…” She whispered to herself. Well, she shouldn’t be alone. If the field would break… It was better if they were all together. She decided to go look for Fleur and then ask her mother what they would do. Another bang sounded as she turned towards the door, but this time it was followed by another bang as someone slammed the door open. Her heart skipped a beat but she relaxed when she saw it was only Tsuyo.
“What’s up? Why aren’t you with Aline?”

“I… I need help, right now.” Said Tsuyo, looking bewildered.
“Why? Is it the bangs? Mother is already taking care o…”
“No, no, no, not the bangs.” Tsuyo interrupted her. “It’s Aline… she’s losing her baby.”