The story of Campestre

“You fool. You incredible, unbelievable fool.” Of course, the pale figure on the other side of the mirror did not respond. She couldn’t believe it. She simply refused to believe it. She had talked with Stelline all night, not that she was sure which was day and which was night these days, and she simply refused to accept that there was nothing they could do. She would never be able to use her guiding powers again… how could she become a steward now?

Of course, Stelline had assured her it would not pass on to her children, especially since Togli, who had the same thing done to her, had a baby now who definitely had a good amount of royal powers which she would be able to use without any problems. But Ivy needed her own powers, too. And Stelline simply said there was nothing to do about it, that Crystal and Twinkle Star had even been to Madash to find information, but had found nothing…

But they had not known what had caused the seal on Togli. Besides, Togli had a great part of her memory sealed away, too, something that had not happened to her, Stelline had said so. Things were different now, and they should be able to find a solution. The one who had done this to her… she should be able to undo it, too. Only problem was how to convince the pony to do it.

But Stelline had said it was not so easy, and besides, that pony was definitely not on their side. The only way to make her do things was to force her and as of now they did not have the recourses to do that. But, Stelline had promised, she would talk about it with their mother. Ivy had neglected to tell Stelline that her mother did not know anything yet, not even about her search for the leaves. Would her mother punish her? After all, the leaves were working. Tsuyo had already told them that Aline’s bleedings had stopped and that she expected Aline to recover now.

Which inevitably meant that they had to explain to her that even though she was saved, her child and Junai were not. And she would never see them again… Ivy slipped off her chair and walked to her window. Aline was too young to find out what true loss meant… She deserved to be happy. But that, Ivy felt, was something that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. The protective bubble was still out there, hovering strongly above them in the sky. The attacks came rarely, now… But if Stelline was really stronger than the one attacking them, why couldn’t she overcome them?

“Ivy, are you in there?” A voice said from the other side of her bedroom door.
“Yes, Fleur, come in.” replied Ivy. She heard her door open and a moment later her younger sister was standing in her room.
“Hey… How are you feeling?” So, Fleur had heard as well.
“Just fine.” Ivy snapped.
“O…Okay. Well, mother and Stelline requested if you could visit them in the throne room, right now.” Said Fleur carefully, trying not to upset her sister more.

“Okay. I will.” Ivy said and without even thanking her sister she rushed out of her room. Oh, she knew her sister could not help it, either, but she felt so upset, and at the same time she knew she shouldn’t be. She had decided to go out against her mother’s order. It was her own fault, after all, and it could have been worse. She could have been killed, and then Aline wouldn’t be save now, either. But it didn’t lift her mood in any way. She wasn’t sad, only… angry at herself.

She entered the throne room without knocking. Well, they had requested her, right? Her mother was sitting on the throne wile Stelline was lying down on one of the couches, but she sat up as soon as Ivy had entered. “Honey, where is Fleur?” Her mother asked.
“I dunno, she said you needed me here and…”
“Here I am, mom.” Fleur’s voice interrupted her. I
vy glanced at her sister who only smiled at her. Why hadn’t she told her she was requested here, too?

“What do you need all of us for?” Ivy asked, annoyed now that her mother probably would not come with a resolution for her problem. “Ivy… First of all, I want you to know that I am very proud of you. I’m sure you thought that I was going to be mad that you broke my orders, but you did what you thought was right, and in the end… well, it was. I should not have forbidden it. Aline’s life… I should have valued it more. But I see my order was not uncalled for. What that pony did to you… No ordinary person can pull something like that off. I certainly can’t do it, and neither can Stelline.

Which makes both of us think these ponies are much stronger than they have shown until now. We believe they want to draw us out, they want to make us panic so we will leave the castle. I have to admit I do not understand why they do not simply break the shield, because both Stelline and I agree that it is definitely within their capacity to do so. However, they are not doing it, so there must be a reason for them to be content with us being in here, for now.”

“But what could that be? I mean, do you think they are trying to take over the country without us knowing it?” asked Fleur.
“No… I don’t think so. I really think we would have known if that was the case. But we have to figure out what they want to. And this all… it’s just a little too familiar to me.” Said Regina while she walked out of her throne to stare into the endless darkness outside.

“What do you mean, familiar? Do you mean with Illuvia, does it remind you of that situation?” asked Ivy, though she did not really see the resemblance herself.
“No… no, not that.” Answered her mother.
“Do you remember, Ivy, all of you, when I told you about my oldest sister Reine?” Of course Ivy remembered. She had been at the tree where Regina had told them only hours before to fetch the leaves.

“Yes… I remember.” She replied, and the others agreed as well.
“Well, back then, Crystal asked what happened to my older sister Campestre. I did not want to tell you back then, for my mother… and I’m afriad through her, myself as well, were even more embarrassed by Campestre than Reine. Not because of what she did, because she would never harm anyone like Reine had… do you want me to tell you now?”

All of Regina’s daughters said “yes” at the same time, all eager to find out what happened to their other aunt they had never even met.

“Well, you know…” started Regina,
“Campestre… when Reine was banished, she was of course the next in line. And for years, all went well. I was raised to be the second in line with all the duties that came with that position and she was taught how to be a queen. She was a sweet girl… Silent, often lost in her own dreams, but she was definitely capable of becoming a good queen.

I grew up, and I met my husband… your father. Campestre had not yet married when I married your father. My mother wanted to make a good marriage, with someone who would strengthen the family and who would bring a good alliance. I believe she was thinking of finding someone in the western kingdoms. You know we do not have much contact with those regions anymore, and my mother wished to strengthen those bonds.

Well, anyway, as I said, I got married, but soon… I really don’t know what happened exactly, but one day Campestre just… she screamed, she kept screaming. All day long intil her voice wore out and refused to make any sound. Nobody could get any sense in her or understand what was going on. She calmed down, eventually… but she never became the same person. Until one day it all started again… But she did not recover.

She did not respond to anything anyone said, nor was she able to talk. My mother decided to send her away to a small house at the foot of the mountain. It was a quite and silent place and she hoped that Campestre would recover there. I think my mother always knew that it would not happen, because she had only left for a few days before she began to teach me in the values of a queen. My mother was sad, in those days… She felt like she had lost two of her children and I think in essence, she did.

Indeed, Campestre did not recover. In those days when she had just left, I tried to visit her often. I simply refused to believe she had suddenly gone mad. I believed there was a reason but until this day I do not know what happened, what caused her to behave this way. So after a year my mother made a statement on Campestre’s behalf that she had abdicated for private reasons. Of course rumours on the reason why ran through the country and it almost became a huge scandal. That the two oldest daughters of a queen would resign… Well, needless to say it shamed my mother. Something like this had not happened for generations.”

Ivy did not know what to say, nor did any of her sisters. So her other aunt… she had gone crazy? Just like that, for no apparent reason? Ivy had t agree with her mother that it was hard to believe. But her older sisters had said that they had never heard much about Campestre…
“So what happened to her?” she asked.

“Well… She continued to live in the house at the foot of the mountain. I used to visit her quite often, but… I felt ashamed of her, too. She was my sister, and she was behaving like this. I had a lot to live up to those days. Many believed I would not be a suitable queen for I was only my mother’s third daughter. Only in time they began to accept that I would become queen and that because my mother had faith in me, so should the others.

Campestre simply lived on in that house. She could not even take care of herself anymore, so she lived there with a few servants who took care of her. She never recovered. That house… it was so close to the largest volcano… She has not survived. Maybe that was one of the things… she was locked up there, hidden away because of the shame of my mother and me. And she had no way to escape because of that.”
“Oh mother… It is not your fault.” Whispered Stelline as she gave their mother a comforting hug.

Her poor aunt indeed… but there was still something that bothered Ivy. None of this seemed to have anything to do with what was happening now, or what they had just discussed.
“Mother…” she began, but her mother already seemed to understand.
“I know, Ivy, I know. You wonder, what does this have to do with whatever is happening around us now?”
“Yes… something like that.” Ivy admitted.

“Well… Campestre never recovered, but at some point… she began to say words. Fear… the only emotion ever visible on her face. And when I visited her the first time with my first daughter… You, Stelline, when you were but a few months old… she panicked. She saw you, and I told her you were my oldest daughter, the new heir, all she did was scream. Then, she began to say ‘no’… she kept repeating it. I ordered one of the servants to take you out of the room because it clearly upset you.

When you were gone she seemed to calm down a bit. But right when I thought she would go back to her usual state, her eyes suddenly… got back their former wisdom. She just stared at me for a few moments, looking almost angry at me.
‘Do not forget…’ She whispered, and I was almost happy that she was talking normally again. ‘Do not forget, Regina… about the darkness, the sun and the rain, gold and silver. Do not forget, for if you will they will come back for you in a way you can not even imagine now. Do not forget… For the sake of the future heir.’
Then, she returned to her madness, never to speak another word again.”