The holy stone of flowers

Ivy stared over the flower fields. The sun was setting… Taira and Fjaril were still talking in the garden. They must have so much to talk about… Ivy was curious what had happened to meet her. She had not realized it, but she had been looking forward to finally meeting her. It was the reason she had gone on this ridiculous journey after all. Had it all been in vain? Or was Ruki simply somewhere else, so they had to travel even longer?

Daiyin had already given her a wonderful meal of the most delicious and exotic fruits Ivy had ever tasted, but she was still waiting. Daiyin had told her a lot about the west, about the high king and his daughter who had died, about Batafurai and other small countries… And about her own family. Her husband had been the king of Batafurai, and they had had two sons. One of them was of course Fjaril, and the other one, Mares, had left the country to seek his fortune elsewhere after both his young wife and baby boy died in childbirth. Apart from Ruki, she had no other grandchildren.

Ivy had already been given a room. Daiyin had apologized that it was so small, but to Ivy it was beautiful, and surprisingly larger than her room at home. The open windows filled the room with the fragrance of the flower field, and the light yellow walls gave the room a very cozy feeling. She was sure she would be comfortable there, and she wondered how long they would stay now that Ruki was not here. She had brought her bag to her room after she had given Daiyin her dirty blanket. Her bed here had been so soft and her blankets so warm… she could hardly wait to go to bed, but she didn’t want to yet. It was still to early, and she hoped she would have a chance to speak with Taira yet, though she doubted it.

Without anything better to do, Ivy decided to leave the mansion and enjoy the setting sun in the flower fields. She left the mansion and followed the path off the hill, towards the valley. She wondered if she was allowed to leave the path, but she decided not to bother because she did not want to hurt the flowers. She could see they were already closing for the night. They were all so beautiful… Now that Ivy had time to look closer, she realized these were not flowers she had ever seen before, and that prana surrounded not only the trees but the flowers also.

Well, it was only natural, Ivy assumed, after all, they were all living things that grew out of the earth. Maybe there was a little prana in every living thing in the west… even inside ponies and other living animals. Would there be something living inside her, too? And what about the east… Daiyin had explained there was only prana in the west, but if prana was the essence of all living things, what was it in the east, then?

As she wandered through the valley, she realized this was truly a place like no other. This had to be taken care of, Ivy thought. They could not allow this to ever get harmed. What Fjaril and his family did was truly amazing, sacrificing their entire lives to live in solitude and protect this island. She wondered if any of them had ever left this island, at all. Could the island even survive if any of them left?

“You know, you haven’t even asked my name yet, nor introduced yourself properly.” Ivy almost jumped up when she heard the voice.
She saw no one, but she soon realized it was one of the butterflies that had escorted her and Taira that morning that was talking to her. She soon located the colorful butterfly, who was sitting next to her on a flower, and apologized.
“I am sorry. I… my name is Ivy, daughter of Queen Regina of the Friendship Lands.” Ivy introduced herself. “May I ask your name?”
“Sindo.” The butterfly said shortly.

“Sindo… a pleasure to meet you.” Ivy said with a smile, but the butterfly did not reply. He must still be upset because I did not know about butterflies like him, Ivy thought.
“Your island… it is truly wonderful. I do not think I have ever seen a place like this.” She said to break the silence.
“Yes… it really is special. I do not think a place like this exists anymore apart from this island. And I wonder how long it will last.” Sindo said.
Talking about the island took away some of the anger, but worry and sadness had taken it’s place. Ivy observed the butterfly, who sat on one of the many pink flowers in the field. He looked troubled… Now that Ivy thought about it, Sindo had looked troubled ever since the moment she met him earlier that day.

“What do you mean? It seems this place is well protected.” Ivy replied. Sindo sighed while he flew off his flower and began to fly in front of Ivy.
“At the moment? Yes, it certainly is. But the defense is weak, and relies on a male from Fjaril’s bloodline to work properly. Without one from his family, there is no one to channel the prana correctly so that this place remains hidden from the outside world, except for those we desire here. And as you already may have heard, there is no current heir to Fjaril. He has Ruki, but she’s a girl, and she cannot wield prana the way we need. His brother had a baby boy, who was our last hope, but he died while being born along with his mother.”

Ivy did not know what to say. Would this island die off so soon? She had barely gotten to know it, and now she felt as if she already had to say goodbye.
“You have not seen the island apart from the road yet, have you Ivy?” Sindo asked.
Ivy shook her head. "I was afraid to leave the road; I did not want to hurt any of the flowers.” Sindo smiled. Ivy suddenly noticed the vibrant colors on his wings. The yellow was as deep as that of the sun and the pink shone brighter than that of the pink trees. He was definitely a beautiful creature.

“Then let me give you a tour, if you like.” Sindo proposed, and Ivy happily accepted.
For the next hour, Sindo led her through the flower field, showing her every single type of flower, told her its name and told her what was so special about them. He showed her the trees and showed her that their leaves were definitely green underneath the glow of prana. He also showed her the special yellow trees. Well, they were green like the others, but something about them made the prana glow yellow instead of pink.

After an hour, the sun was almost gone.
“You know Sindo…” Ivy started, when they were almost back to where they had begun, “We’ve been walking around here for an hour now, and you showed me almost the entire island, but I haven’t seen any other butterfly except you.”
Sindo sighed. The sad face that had disappeared during their walk instantly returned.

“No, I know we haven’t. But there aren’t many of us left, Ivy.” Sindo said with a soft voice while he slowly flew around her in circles.
“How many, if I may be so bold to ask?” Ivy asked.
“Five.” Sindo said.
Ivy was shocked. Only five? Only five of the butterflies were still alive?
Sindo must have noticed Ivy’s shocked face, for he said: “Yes, I know. Only five of us still live. The others… over the past few years, they all died, one by one. I still remember that there were over a hundred of us, but now, I am afraid soon my entire race will cease to exist. Only three women still live, and we do not have a lot of babies… I often wonder how long it will take before protecting this island will be a futile thing to do.”

Ivy stared at the mansion on the hill ahead of her. This gorgeous place… no matter how special and valuable the butterflies were, she could not agree with the idea that it was futile to protect the island if the butterflies were gone. The trees, the flowers, the prana glow that was stronger then anywhere else… was that not reason enough to protect this island? And five butterflies still remained, and Sindo looked young… they would surely not become extinct very soon, would they?

“I’m sure it will be all right, won’t it? Your race has lived on here for so long…” Ivy whispered.
Sindo forced a smile on his face. “I don’t know. I hope so. One of our women has recently become pregnant, so there is hope for us yet. We strive to remain positive and optimistic, but it is a hard thing to do these days, at least for me. But I have to keep focusing on the positive aspects. The five of us still live and we’re healthy, and we will soon have a new baby in our lives. For us, at least, I hope it will all turn out okay.”

Ivy felt sorry for the little butterfly. She could not imagine how his live must me like, wondering if your race would survive beyond your generation. He has to feel lonely… Even this beautiful island could probably still feel like a prison if you would never be able to leave to search for others.

“There is one thing I still like to show you while the light still remains. I have saved it for last on purpose. I wanted you to see the beauty of this island first, so you can fully appreciate that which I am about to show you.” Sindo said.
Even though she was rather tired and her soft bed was calling her from within the mansion, she agreed to come with Sindo, because she was very curious about what it is he wanted to show her.

She followed him as he flew over the path to the center of the field. Ivy noticed the large pond in the centre and realized she had indeed not seen it up close yet. Now that the light of the sun was already so far gone, she got the idea the water of the pond was shining as well, but she could not be sure. It might as well be the flowers that radiated their prana over the water.

“Are you taking me to the pond?” She asked curiously.
“Well… technically, but it is what rests within the pond that I wish to show you.” The pond’s water was very clear, Ivy could see even from a distance, and it flowed in five directions away in little streams. As she got closer, she realized the pink glow she had thought came from the water wasn’t coming from the water itself, but from within the water. There was something within the water that gave a pink glow… was it a water plant?

“Please, Ivy… look inside the water.” Ivy walked up to the pond and looked down.
Through the crystal clear water she could see a pink, round stone, giving off a strong pink glow. It rested inside an open shell that held it like a cradle would hold a baby. The stone was shining brightly, like a lamp was turned on inside it. Ivy had never seen such a thing before… Or had she? She suddenly remembered the weird stone that had been stolen from the castle. Somehow, the pink stone she was looking at now reminded her of that stone, but she could not really tell why apart from the fact that the two stones were like no other she had ever seen  before.

“What is it?” Ivy asked after a while.
 “We call it our holy stone… it is the reason this island still exists in the way it does. It does not create the prana you see flowing out of it, but it draws it from the earth and channels it through the water. All of the flowers, trees and plants on this island live on that water, so it is really through this stone that the flowers and the trees can still survive. What’s more, because this stone concentrates the prana, Fjaril is able to use it to create the barrier that keeps this island hidden. He would not be able to do it without this stone.” Sindo explained.

“Wow… it must be really important.” Ivy said, amazed.
“Yes, it really is… The essence of this island.  If this stone should ever be taken away from here, for whatever reason, this island, the flowers, the trees, and us the butterflies, will surely cease to exist.”