A hard decision

“You will go there… won’t you?” Regina asked her oldest daughter. Taira sighed. Of course she would go there. She knew it was the only way.
“Yes… I will. I just don’t think I should go alone… nor do I know when to leave.” She admitted. She had just told her mother all about her daughter, Ruki, and her love, Fjaril… and the fading dream she had lived for only such a short time.

Of course, her mother had understood. She had expected no less. The night sky hovered above them, gloomily as the stars were fading every moment just a little bit more. Her mother of all ponies knew what it was to lose a child, to find that you have a child that is still alive… It only now hit Taira that her mother had gone through almost the same thing with her and Rain.

“No… you should not go alone. After all… you will have to cross the breach. The guards there… they will be suspicious of a female pony travelling all by herself.”
Yes… Taira had already thought of that too. She now only remembered it too clearly, the day she had first crossed the breach. She had had to answer a lot of questions before they finaly, though reluctantly, let her through. Not many ponies crossed the breach these days, Taira knew. Only some merchants, but hardly any ordinary travellers, let alone ponies that planned to move. And visiting family… nobody had relatives on the other side of the breach, no matter which side they lived on.

“Then I guess… I will have to wait for Rain to return.” Taira sighed. That could still take weeks. Her mother sipped her tea before she replied.
“Maybe you should not take Rain. Do you know, Taira… in the west, they do not like the powers our family possesses. I do not think they will let you through if they detect any powers with you. And I know for sure you have the capacity to close your powers completely, but I am just as sure that no one else can do that. We can all close them for normal eyes, but those guards are trained to see. Rain will not be able to close her powers.”

Well… that made sense, even though Taira did not really grasp why the west would not allow them in if they had royal powers. Were they afraid they would hurt her? She would never even think of doing such a thing… but that of course could not take away their fears. And it was also true that she could close her powers… and that Rain would not be able to do it so drastically. After all, Rain was Regina’s second child. Her powers were less, no matter how strong she was.

“But then who will I take? I do not know anyone without royal powers here yet… except for some commoners, but I doubt it is a good idea to take one of them with me.” Taira sighed. “How about Ivy?” Regina suggested.
“Ivy?” Her younger sister, Ivy… why would she be a good choice? She had powers… or not?  “
Yes. Even though she has her royal powers… they are sealed for now. Maybe Hikary will one day find a solution, but for now, not even Ivy herself can detect her powers. I am sure those guards cannot, either.”

Yes… that made sense. Ivy was sealed indeed. It was really sad… but for this single situation, it was actually an advantage. And it would be a good thing too, that she would get to know her young sister a little better. She had already spend quite some time with Stelline, and also with Fleur as Fleur was almost constantly around the children. But Ivy… she was spending more time alone, or out of the castle. And she was supposed to become the future steward… It would be good if they would bond a little bit more.

“Right… You are correct, mother. It would be good if she would join me. But… I don’t know if she would want to come. I mean… I get the feeling she is not really interested in getting to know me better. She seems to live her own life. Why would she want to abandon that al of a sudden to go away for a few months with me?” Taira asked. Regina smiled.
“I know my daughter, Taira. I think I know her better than any of my other children, including Fleur. Ever since Ivy found out she had more sisters, that she was not the heir as she had thought for so long… she became stronger, but also more lonely. She was fighting for the things she cherished, she embraced the new friends she made but at the same time everything that was once secure to her fell more and more apart.

And no matter how much I would like to restore her safe world, it is never going to happen. She needs to move on, and for a part she is doing that, but I think it would be really good for her to see more of the world. I am sure she will understands this, and I think she will really like it. I will ask her. Don’t you worry about it.” Regina replied honestly.

Taira sighed. She sincerely hoped her mother would not force or talk Ivy into coming. She would like to bond with her sister, it would be fun if she came along, and Taira had to admit it was also comforting that she would not have to face everything alone, but she only wanted Ivy to come if she really wanted to. Deep in her heart she hoped Rain would be back in time, but she knew that was probably not going to happen. Besides, if she was to become the future queen, she’d better start trusting her other sisters, too.

The snow crunched under Ivy’s hoofs. Searching for dry wood for the fireplace was not something she usually did, especially not in the snow, but since Tsuyo and everyone else was so busy, she was glad to help out. Besides, it was a nice distraction. For weeks all she could think of were the horrible things that had happened. And everyone had seemed to forget. She would never have access to her powers again… and nobody even asked how she felt.

Of course, everyone wanted to know about her two oldest sisters. It wasn’t surprising, after all that had happened. And Taira… it wasn’t announced anywhere officially, but everyone knew she would be queen some day. Ivy wasn’t deaf, she heard the rumours. So many ponies wondered why Regina trusted Taira and Rain so much. Even though most did believe they were in fact Regina’s daughters, as a lot of the older ponies actually remembered them being born, they were still unsure if Taira and Rain were on their side now. How could the queen be so sure that Aras was gone?

No… the ponies in the country did not fully understand Regina’s reasons. Nor did they understand her. They knew… she did not know why, but they knew her powers were gone. Even Aline had more powers now. And even though she did not hear them say it, she could feel it… the ponies were doubting whether she would make a good steward still. Ivy sighed as she put another pair of twigs in her basket. She even began to doubt that herself, recently…

She looked up as she heard another pair of hoofs walking through the snow. She was surprised to see it was her mother, wearing her purple cloak. Why her mother would be outside in the middle of the day instead of arranging things for food in her throne room was beyond her. Her mother always said she was so busy… why would she suddenly be out here?

“Good afternoon, mom.” She greeted her mother.
“Good afternoon, Ivy. Tsuyo told me you were looking for wood for the fire.”
“Yes, I am… Tsuyo was so busy, and the other girl too… what’s her name again? Anyway… I proposed to help out. I didn’t have anything else to do.” Ivy explained.
“That was very sweet of you, Ivy.” Regina smiled, appreciating her daughter’s effort.

“Thanks, mom. May I ask why you are out here? I thought you were so busy with the trades and all.” Ivy asked.
“I was, but… last night I had a long talk with Taira. She remembered something… very important. And because of that, I am here to ask your help.” Regina said. So, her sister remembered something… Ivy could not help but be curious about what it was. “My help?” She asked.

“Yes. She… regained her memory about her most precious person… you remember her talking about that, right? It turns out… Taira has a daughter. And a boyfriend… or husband, I don’t really know about that. I don’t think they are married, but… anyway, Aras forced her to forget everything. And she only remembered just now. So, it is only natural she wants to go find them.” Her mother explained.

Wow… Ivy had not seen that coming. Taira had a daughter…
“So, somewhere out there the future queen is already alive?” She whispered, more to herself than to her mother.
“Yes… I guess she is. But what’s more important Ivy, your sister’s daughter is alive somewhere. And Taira will go look for her. She is pretty sure where to go. Apparently… Her daughter Ruki was born on the other side of the breach.” Regina said.

“The other side of the breach… the west? She’s out there?” Ivy asked, surprised. The west… her mother had not told her much about that place, only that it was so much different from the east, in so many ways.
“Yes, in the west. And Taira is planning to go there very soon. However, she does not want to go alone, and that would not be wise, either. It would be good if someone went with her.”

“Someone? You mean me, don’t you?” Ivy asked. Her mother’s eyes showed her she was right.
“Yes, Ivy… but only if you want to. I know… you have been through a lot as well, even though you try your best to hide it. I thought maybe you would like it to come along with her. That way… you’d be able to see a lot of new things, and you’d be able to get your mind off things. Just waiting around here for things to happen… it won’t do you any good. Not anymore.”

Ivy sighed. Was her mother sending her away on some weird quest to find a girl? The daughter of a woman she did not even know existed until a month ago? But then again… the idea of being away from the castle for a while was rather appealing. To have no rumours surrounding her for a little while… and, she had to admit, she was rather curious of the world outside. She had never been further away from her country than Kin, and that hadn’t been exiting at all.

“Okay… I guess I’ll go. I’ll keep an eye on Taira… to make sure she will be okay, whatever happens. And you’re right. It would be good for me to be out of here for a while.” She smiled. Her mother smiled back, understanding. So… she would go to the west with her sister. It was weird… she did not know anything about the west, nor about her sister if she was honest with herself. Yet she found herself looking immensely forward to it.

“When will we leave?” She asked her mother.
“I don’t know. But if you’re sure… I don’t think Taira will want to wait much longer. She longs for her child… for her lover. She will want to go as soon as possible.” Regina said. Ivy nodded.
“I will be ready. Don’t worry, mother… I will look after her. I will make sure we’ll be home safe.” Yet somehow Ivy thought this would not be this easy as she would hope.