Plans for the new castle

Taira literally crawled out of bed. The small room which she had been sleeping in the past few weeks had been everything but comfortable. Still, she would not complain. There simply was no big room left for her and she would not want any of her sisters to give up their room simply for her sake. She would live, until her mother would come up with a solution.

When she opened the curtains and looked through the small window, she saw that it was once again a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the flowers were blossoming and the field had a beautiful green color. She saw some ponies on the road, leaving the castle. Was her mother’s visiting hour over already? She looked at the sun and noticed it was indeed rather late. I slept in, Taira realized. Ashamed, she quickly brushed her golden mane, and rushed out of her room.

She first went to the kitchen to get herself something to drink. She noticed a half-empty bowl of freshly made orange juice on the table, and poured some in one of the glasses. While she enjoyed the sweet taste of the juice, Stelline entered the kitchen.
“Good morning, Stelline.” Taira said to her unicorn sister.
“Good morning, Taira. How are you this morning? You are up late.”

“I know, I am afraid I kind of overslept this morning. I did not have any lessons with mother this morning, so I allowed myself to sleep a little longer. I guess I just did not wake up at all until it was a little too late.” Taira admitted.
Her sister laughed. “Don’t worry about it, you deserved it. The last few weeks you’ve been working so hard every day. Lessons with mother, visiting the ponies, and you did an amazing job at the summer fair. Most ponies loved what you did. The way you solved that quarrel was really nice. You earned a lot of respect that day. So really… it’s okay for you to rest once in a while.”

“Thank you, Stelline.” Taira smiled.
The summer fair was a week ago now. Everything had gone well and all of the ponies had been so happy. There had been dancing, a play, and of course lots of trading. There had been only one quarrel between two ponies, when one of the goods one of them had bought from the other turned out to be broken. The seller had insisted it had been in good shape when he sold it, while the other was sure he had been sold a defective product. The seller however refused to give a refund, so Taira suggested he took it back to fix it, and the buyer only had to pay for the goods needed to fix the item, and not for the time the seller would have to spend. Both parties had agreed in the end, and for some other reason all the ponies had been happy with the simple solution she had offered.

“How are your children doing, Stelline? I haven’t seen them in a few days.” Taira asked while giving herself some more juice.
“Oh, they are fine. They are growing up so fast… They are at Aline’s mansion for a few days. They can play in the forest there. Aline promised to watch over them, so I would have some days to myself.”
“That’s really sweet of her. Can she handle it, though? I haven’t seen her since I left for Batafurai… but by then she seemed really upset for losing her child and husband.”
“Yes… in a way, she still is. She visits their grave every week still. But she also realized at some point, she has to go on with her life. She studies hard, and she is slowly becoming a good steward. I think taking care of my kids for a while is a way for her to... get on with that part of her life too, you know?”

“Yes… I see. It must be hard for her, though. She’s a strong girl.”
“She really is.” Stelline agreed.
While Taira slowly finished her juice, Stelline made a sandwich for herself.
Just when Taira was about to leave the kitchen to go outside and get some fresh air, Stelline said: “Oh, Taira… mother asked for you. Not for any lessons today but… I think she had something to discuss with you. Her visits are all gone now, so just see when you feel like it.”
“Thank you, Stelline… I will do so right away.” Taira answered.
“Okay, see you later, then.” Stelline said.
Taira said goodbye to her younger sister and left the kitchen. She walked through the hallway to her mother’s throne room.

“Good morning, mother.” She said as she entered the throne room.
The sun was shining through the windows, its rays softly resting on the flowers that stood on the table in a nice vase. A gift from the ponies that had organized the summer fair.
 “Good morning? Good afternoon rather, Taira. I take it you slept well.” Her mother said with a smile.
“Yes, I did. I’m sorry I’m so late, mother.” Taira apologized.
“Don’t worry about it. We all need a good night rest some days.”

Her mother got off the throne she was sitting on, and sat down on one of the couches that stood at the side. “Here, Taira… I have a few things I’d like to discuss with you.” She said as she picked up a letter that was on the table.
“This is a letter I got from Twinkle Star.”
“Twinkle Star?” Taira said, surprised, remembering her sister with the large wings who left because her adopted daughter got banished. “What did the letter say?”

“Well…” Regina hesitated. Taira could see her mother still felt bad about her daughter leaving. “She is doing fine. So is Câlin. Apparently… She went to live with some guy she once met on her journeys. They are going to get married. And she just gave birth to a baby girl… Her name is Meran.”
“A baby?” Taira asked, surprised. It had not even been eleven months since Twinkle Star and Câlin had left…
“Yes. Apparently it was born too early, but it is doing fine.”

A baby… Taira silently wondered if this baby girl would have wings, too, like her mother and stepsister. She did not ask her mother, though. She did not even know if her mother was able to see the wings. For some other reason she doubted anyone had been able to, for nobody ever mentioned them.
“Well, if she is happy now… that is good, I guess. It’s nice of her to let us know. Will you ever go visit her?” Taira asked.
“I… don’t know. She nowhere mentioned where she lives now, and there is no return address, either. I don’t think that at this point, she wants us to visit her. I don’t think she has ever, or will ever, forgive us for exiling her Câlin. And she has a right to. If she wants us to visit, she will let us now. For now… I am content hearing that she and her family are okay. I am curious about Meran, of course, but… it is my own fault that I am not able to see her.”

As Taira expected, Regina felt bad about exiling Câlin. It was the wise thing to do, at that moment, but in retrospect… It was not the wisest thing. Still, there was nothing to do about now. Twinkle Star lived happily somewhere, with someone she loved, a child of her own… She would be fine.
“I know, mother, but… don’t blame yourself. You did what was right at that moment. Twinkle Star will be fine.” Regina smiled.

“What else do you want to talk about, mother?”  Taira asked, remembering that her mother said there were several things she wanted to discuss with her.
“Ah, yes… there is one more thing. Taira, I guess you, more than anyone, have noticed that this castle is… a little too small for our entire family at the moment.”
“Well, yes… A little, yes.” Taira admitted, thinking of her own small room.

“This castle was built for me and Ivy and Fleur. We never thought… this many ponies would come to live here. Sure, I knew that one day, Ivy might get married and have children, and so we had built a few more rooms. But now… I live here, you live here, Hikary lives here and I think that means Vin will also live here one day, Stelline and her children live here, and those do not even have their own room. And then there’s Tsuyo, Ivy, Fleur and me. What can I say? It’s just getting too small. Not just for our personal needs, but also for the country. Everything we do here has to take place in this small throne room. Lately, it sometimes doesn’t even fit. And we use this room as a living room too, but it’s not meant for that.”

“So… what do you want to do about this?” Taira asked her mother.
“I am thinking of… building a new castle. A large castle, one which not only suits our needs but one that also reflects our position in this world.” Regina said.
Taira knew her mother was referring to their duty to collect the five stones.

“The fact that we are burdened with saving the world… that’s not something we should be happy about. Or proud.” Taira said.
Did her mother not understand this? Why would she want to show this off to the world by building a big castle?
“You are right… Maybe it is more a curse than a blessing.” Regina answered. “But even so… it is our task, and we cannot turn our back on it. And if we want the world to know, if we want them to listen to our words and have them cooperate, we need to show that we are serious.”

“By building a large castle?” Taira asked bewildered.
“You do not think it is a good idea?” Regina asked in return.
“I… no, that’s not what I meant. I don’t think it is a bad idea to build a larger castle, especially if we want the entire family to live together. But where? And what to do with this one? And, well… I do not think we have a right to show off, even if it is because we need others to cooperate. We should not force them into cooperation by impressing them.”

“Yes… you are right. We should not. But I do think that if we are going to do this… then we should do it right once and for all. I don’t want it to turn out to small once again in a few years. As for your earlier questions… There is a large, stable field in the new, western part of our country. It’s a bit on top of a hill. It would be a perfect location for a castle. And as for this castle… I was thinking of giving it to Ivy, so she can live here once she becomes a real steward.”

Taira pondered over her mother’s words. Of course she was right in saying they shouldn’t build it too small, but Taira really did not feel like showing off. There was nothing to show off, anyway. To give this castle to Ivy was a good idea, it would save them from building another mansion. And the location sounded good, too. If the place her mother was talking about was the place she had in mind, it would be a perfect spot. On a hill, overlooking the area around it, but backed by the mountains. It would look beautiful, Taira had to admit it.

“I think… that would be a nice place. And to give it to Ivy is also a good idea.” She told her mother.
“I thought so. I will discuss it with the other girls, then, and if they agree I will have a meeting about it with the village heads. If they agree… I will assemble the crew that worked on Aline’s house. It is almost completed now, and it looks gorgeous. They did an awesome job. I’m sure they are willing to work on the castle.”

Taira nodded. She had not seen Aline’s mansion completed yet, but she was sure it looked good and was well build. Taira left the throne room with mixed feelings. She was excited about building a new castle. But somehow… what was the point if they failed their quest? What if they did not find the stones? It would all be in vain… Taira shook her head furiously. She should not think like that. A new castle… They may be cursed by a quest to save the world, but a new castle might be a sign of hope that they will succeed.