“Remember when you asked where all the ponies actually came from, when they move in here, Ivy? Well, they come from the land where I was born. Where the entire family is born. I will tell you all about it.

Our family had ruled that land for ages. The Friendship Lands, indeed. But it was not like our lands are. It was a huge valley, and it was beautiful. The small rivers that flowed out of the mountains, the green fields, the little villages… I’ll never forget. It was surrounded by mountains that kept us safe from intruders. We were in peace, the ponies, the family…

We were powerful, too. My mother, she was the queen, everybody respected her, all loved her. Not only inside the country, but other countries, too. They respected her, and the family. We had an ancient history, you know. As long as ponies could remember, we were there, ruled the country in peace, defended it when necessary, helped others if they needed us. We loved our live, and we never even thought of leaving it. If someone had warned us for that what was to come, we probably wouldn’t even believe them.

But so we lived our lives, in peace and health. We, and my sisters. Oh yes, I had sisters, and a lot of them, too. Five. Reine, Campestre, Regala, Damina and Pristina. My mother and father loved us. My mother was lovely, a beautiful queen. Medina was her name. She loved us, all of us. She loved to take me through the country, just as I take you, Ivy. She made me meet your father. He was such a great man. Came from an old family. They were not kings and queens of a country, but they were loved and respected. Daifu was his name. I loved him so much.

We were a happy family. I feel so bad that he never met you, Fleur. He didn’t even know I was pregnant of you. But he loved his other children so much… Oh yes, children. I am so sorry that I lied to you two about this, but it hurt me too much to talk about. You two had four older sisters. Crystal, Twinkle Star, Joker and Stelline. Stelline was the heir to the throne, she was my oldest daughter. But they all died back then. Trying to save others.”

 Silence. It was too hard for Regina to continue to tell the story for a moment. Ivy walked up to her mother and nuzzled her for a bit.
“Mom, its ok… You can go on later, if you want...”
“No, Ivy, I… I have to tell you this. I will never get over it if I can’t even tell my own daughters, now can I? What happened one day… We woke up in the middle of the night. It felt as an earthquake. Now we were used to those, and we weren’t really shocked or surprised.

But this one kept going. It was as if there was no end to it. And then there was the first bang. Everything was shaking even more. We went outside to see where it came from, but it was dark. It was as if an enormous shadow had fallen over us. It was hard to breath. There was dust everywhere. I still hear Twinkle Star’s words… ‘This isn’t good, we have to get out of here… NOW!’ So we went inside and woke everybody up. We grabbed the younger children.

Then the fire came. Stones that were on fire. They hit the castle, hit everything, destroyed it. The castle was set on fire. I grabbed you, Ivy, I yelled at everyone to run for it, and ran out of the castle. Outside Stelline, Joker and my sisters left me at once, to warn everybody in the country. My sister Regala took Twinkle Star and Crystal together with the other younger children. It was the last I ever saw of them. Outside the castle… It was horrible. There was nothing that wasn’t on fire, houses were burning, ponies were screaming.

Still nobody knew what was going on. I ran with my husband and my mother, but she left us soon, to help others. We ran to the edge of the mountain and told me to climb the stairs that led out of the land. Together with some ponies that had joined us we left, me, you Ivy, and your father. Once we were up we saw what was going on. The mountain that marked the north of our land had erupted. We knew it had been a volcano long ago, but when us ponies settled down it had died out for some 1000 years.

It had been sleeping for thousands of years and we never knew. And now it was erupting. Lava had destroyed the northern part of our country. There probably was no-one who survived there. Your father told me to leave the mountain and to go as far away from the lands as we could. He would go down to save our other daughters and return to us as soon as possible. That was the last thing I ever saw of him. ‘I will see you again!’. Those were the last words he ever said to me. I looked upon my lands, one last time. It was so horrible. It was as if the world had come to an end. Then I led the ponies that came with me away from the mountain, into the wide desert that bordered upon our lands in that way.

We waited there, in the desert. All we heard was the volcano erupting. All we saw was the red sky. There was no-one who didn’t miss someone. But it was no use going back. It was so horrible. I wanted to go back, to search for my other children, but I couldn’t leave you Ivy, and the ponies that were with me. I knew they needed me. But al I could think of was your father, and my family, everyone that was lost. They were out there still. They probably had died. Like the rest of the ponies.

Like I said, the valley was bordered with mountains. There were only a few ways out. There was one small gap in the mountain and there were a few smaller stairs then the one I used. But those ways were way to small to evacuate all the ponies on such short notice. They were trapped. If only we had known… but we didn’t. When the sun rose the sky was still red, smoke was still rising from the valley, bu the volcano appeared to have calmed down. One of the ponies went back to the mountain, and would report to us what he had seen. He came back with one survivor, who was burned all over.

The look on their faces… I cannot describe it. He said there was nothing left. It was a valley filled with rock and lava. They couldn’t even see the highest tower of the castle, it was buried. There were no other survivors. I felt as if I was broken in two. My children, my sisters, my family, they were all gone. There was nothing left for me. I don’t think I would have had the strength to move on, if it wasn’t for you, Ivy. You practically saved my life. I wanted you to have a future. I didn’t even know I was pregnant then.

We set out the next day. We had to, we had hardly any food, and the river was defiled with the dust. It was hard to leave my old lands, my old home. There were only 20 of us I think. The one that was saved the day before by our scout died the second evening. It was so horrible. Almost everybody broke down and cried. I gave everything to get them to move. We journeyed for months. We journeyed through other countries. We were asked to stay, but neither me nor the ponies wanted to do that.

We all felt very strongly we wanted our own country. The family of the Tokowa lands, who had been close to us for a long time, offered us this land. It is quite far away from their own country, but they got it once as a gift. I gave birth to Fleur shortly after we arrived in the Tokowa lands. We were happy with you Fleur, you were the firstborn outside the old lands. But we were sad, also. You would never get to see the glory of the old lands. But you were like a little light in the dark. So we set out to the new land. Ivy and Fleur, you two were left here with some other youngsters, like Tsuyo. Yes, this is also where Tsuyo lost her parents.

Anyway, we came here, and we build the castle, with help from the ponies of Tokowa. We build a village, some farms. During this time we met a pony who was from the old friendship lands. We couldn’t be more surprised. Someone actually survived! When the castle was finished we got the young ponies and thanked the people of Tokowa. We couldn’t be more grateful to them but they said it was no problem. Even they were horrified by what happened, they had to do it, they said.

Their country came to be with help from us, so it was like paying their dues. Well, we expanded it over the years, this land. It’s twice as big as it was when we first came here. During the years more ponies showed up. Most were indeed from the old friendship lands. Rumours of this land have spread over the world now. But we preferred to be left alone, to heal our wounds. I miss the old lands, but I like the way this country has turned out. We are doing fine. I have you two, my beautiful daughters.

Yes, I miss my family everyday. It hurts, everyday. But time heals, as they say. But in spring… it happened around this time, sixteen years ago. You two have no idea… and I’m so glad you don’t. That’s why I wanted you two to grow up in peace. I didn’t want to burden you with this story. It isn’t your problem and I wanted you to have fun like I had, like your sisters had…”

Silence. Ivy didn’t know what to say. It was true though. Why didn’t I see it? But it was too hard to be seen, to unbelievable. Her sisters, her family…
“Mom… I… I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry it happened, I’m so sorry for everything…” She cried.
“Oh sweety, don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault! You saved me, you probably saved everyone who came with me. You gave me the strength to go on.” Regina got off her throne and walked towards the window.

“We are here now…” She continued, “and I’m not going to let anyone take this away from me. Now… Now you two know. Please, don’t force yourself into anything. Let it sink for a while. Maybe you two should go to bed. Sleep over it. It will be ok, I promise.”
Ivy gave her mother a quick smile and left the room. She was happy to be out of the throne room. During her mothers story it seemed to shrink around her, closing her in, as if there was no escape.

Instead of going out her bedroom Ivy walked out of the castle. There were a few birds and the gentle breeze that was blowing that morning was still there. Ivy climbed the walls that were surrounding the castle. While looking over the country she felt the soft wind stroke her skin and mane. It was so quiet… the story her mother just told her was still spooking in her head. The volcano… her family, her sisters even… The images of the burning castle, they had been there all the time.

So she was there… she had been so close to death without knowing it. But it all felt so unreal. It was so big… and everything around her seemed so small. Even the stars… for tonight, they were just little dots in a blue sky. “Heh… So I’m not even supposed to be queen, right?” She asked.
“Are you guys up there? You know me, right? I’m your little sister… You saw me once, right? I don’t really remember about you… But I miss you. Even now, I miss you. Not for myself, but for mom. I finally understand what her sad face was for. She is missing you. All of you.

If there was only one wish I could fulfil… It would be to get you ponies back. My sisters… no, my family, all of you. Not for me, but for mom. I love her, and I don’t even can begin to imagine what she has been through. She has been so strong all those years. I don’t know how she did it. She… she must be wondering how you all would have been if you were here. How you would have grown up. Stelline, what kind of queen would you have been? Why aren’t you here? And grandma, Medina… where are you?

Mom is missing you! She needed you but you weren’t there! Where were you! And… dad… I wanted to know you, dad. I’ve wondered for so long where you were. You died to save your children, didn’t you? But you did not succeed, did you?” Tears rolled down Ivy’s cheeks. She felt so bad… not for herself, but for everyone who had lost someone.

“Y…you know, if you guys are up there… Anyone… If I had one wish… I want my sisters back… Crystal, and Twinkle Star, and Joker… and you, Stelline… Please… it’s all I am asking… I know I can’t, I know it can’t be done, but I…” Ivy blinked.
What was that just now? A falling star? No, no, it didn’t look like one. It was too slow, and it didn’t even go straight, it was curling through the air. Was it… an angel? Do those really exist? But Ivy blinked again, and it was gone.