The river twinkled in the light of the pale full moon. The lands that lay behind it looked beautiful. Dark, mysterious, but beautiful. It was hard to imagine what they would look like in daylight, now that everything was so dark. Even the moon had a hard time to shine through the darkness.
“It is as if a shadow is covering these lands… something evil, that won’t allow the light to reach it. A curse…” a voice whispered.
A scared bird flew away from the tree where it had been sleeping short before.

“A curse…” repeated the voice. “Oh come on!” A second voice yelled.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You always make up crap like this. There is nothing wrong here. Besides, you’ve been here before a few days ago, haven’t you? You saw the castle and the land, you told me it was a nice place to stay. Now, let’s go find a place to cross the river, because it’s no good trying it over here.”
A shadow came out of the bushes, quickly followed by another one.
“Come now! Maybe the stories were right, and we can stay here. Who knows! A lot of people from the Friendship Lands have found a home here, or so they said at the inn, remember? Come on!”
The first shadow said. The other nodded, and followed the first one slowly. While she looked up to the sky she saw the clouds moving towards the moon.
“It’s not going to last…”

“Ivy? There you are. I… you haven’t talked to me in days, Ivy. Are you ok?” Slowly Ivy turned her head. She had hoped her short visit to the kitchen once again remained unnoticed, but she had no luck this time. Her sister stood in the hall.
“Oh Fleur, don’t scare me like that!”
“Well, I’m sorry, I just wanted to talk to you. You have been ignoring us for days now. I know it’s hard for you, but it is hard for me and mom too, and we… well, we need you Ivy. And we want to make sure you are ok. Mom has been really worried.”

“Oh, right, how can I be ok? How can you be ok, after all we’ve heard?”
“I’m not ok, I never said I was! But you can’t ignore mom like this. You are hurting her, Ivy!” Fleur yelled. Ivy stood still.
“Hurt mom? Oh Fleur, you know I don’t mean that, you know I don’t want that! I love mom and you know it, I would never…” “Then go tell her.” With this, Fleur turned around and walked away from Ivy.

Ivy sighed. She didn’t really want to face her mom, or face anyone for that matter. She felt so horrible… Now that she knew everything… images kept flashing before her eyes. She didn’t really remember, but she felt it, just as she had felt the panic sixteen years ago. She cried so much the last few days. She just wanted to be alone and to be left alone.
“But maybe I have been selfish…” she sighed. She decided not to go upstairs to her room, but instead she turned left an walked into the throne room. Her mother was sitting on her throne, reading something.

“Eh, mom… mom, is it ok if I talk with you for a while?” She asked softly.
Regina looked up. “Oh, Ivy! Ivy! I’m so glad you came! I have been thinking of visiting you but I assumed you just wanted to be alone for a while. Are you ok sweetheart? Come over here, I have all the time in the world for you!”
 Ivy smiled. “Thanks mom.”
 Ivy walked over to her mother. “I’m so sorry mom, for ignoring you like this. But… I just had to be alone for a while. You know… let all the information kind of sink into me.”

“Oh sweetie, I understand. Really, I do. Don’t you worry about it.”
A silence fell. The silence comforted Ivy a little, it was good not to say anything for the moment.
After a while, she asked: “Mom, I don’t know if this is too hard for you, or anything, but could you please tell me something about my sisters? I have been thinking an awful lot about them the last few days… and I really want to know what they are like.”

Regina smiled. “Sure, Ivy. I don’t mind at all, in fact, it would be good for me to talk about them to you. Well… I will begin with Crystal. She was four years older then you are. She was a girl who didn’t doubt much, if she wanted something she just went for it, without even hesitating or thinking it over. That annoyed her sisters sometimes, but they loved her. She was by far the youngest, the older three were 5 years or more older. She was kind of annoyed when I told her I was going to have another baby, really, and was afraid we wouldn’t love her anymore because she wasn’t the youngest anymore. But she liked you, Ivy, she really did.

She got along the best with Joker. Joker loved little kids and especially her baby sister Crystal. She was a really funny girl, said she wanted to entertain ponies for a living when she was old enough. She just loved to goof around. And it was never annoying; she made jokes everybody could appreciate. She too loved you, and I’m sure she would have loved playing around with Fleur.

And Stelline… She was a unicorn.”
Ivy gasped. “A unicorn? But you told me they only existed in fairy tales and such! You said there was no such thing in real life!”
Regina smiled. “I know, I am sorry. But after Stelline died… it is something that was inherited in the line of the daughters from the queens… and I didn't think it would ever appear anymore. And it skips several generations before it appears again. But when Stelline died, I think it has died with her. So I told you it didn’t exist. I never heard of it appearing in a family other then ours.”

“oh…” Ivy sighed. Her own sister, a unicorn? As a little pony she used to love to listen to stories about them, them and their magic powers…
“Mom, did she have magic powers?” She asked.
 “We didn’t know yet, sweetie. She never showed any. But I heard a unicorns powers only show themselves when the pony is of age. Stelline was only 16 when the eruption… well, you know. She was a very timid pony; very quiet and shy as a child. This changed during the years, but she remained a little quiet. She was always very serious about becoming queen. She liked it; it was something she could hold on to. Her future was sure. She didn’t like new or unexpected things.”

Regina paused. Wow, Ivy thought, my sisters really were nothing alike… mischievous, funny, quiet… None of them actually sounds like me. What was Twinkle Star like, then?
“Mom? Wasn’t there a fourth one?” She asked.
“Yeah. Twinkle Star… I was thinking of a way to describe her. She was the outsider. Beautiful, oh yes. With long hair, much longer than yours, or Fleur’s for that matter. But she… It was as if I never got through to her. Like there was some kind of invisible cloud around her. She was dreamy. A little girl once asked her if she was an angel. She just smiled. It was as if she could connect with nature. Animals understood her words, trees felt her presence. I never understood what was going on with her, or why. She could walk alone in the woods for hours. The others just ignored her for a little bit, and she loved that. It was all fine by her. But she loved other ponies and cared for them. I don’t think I have ever seen her unreasonable or angry. She was some kind of a mystery to all of us.”

“Ooh… I wish I could remember them… remember their faces, remember how they looked like… But I can’t. It is too long ago. I don’t remember anything, except for the castle, and the fire…”
Regina smiled. “I know sweetie, I know. But maybe it’s best that you don’t. I see their faces every day. I hear their voices in my sleep. Don’t worry too much about it. There is nothing you can do. Besides, we have Fleur, don’t we? She’s just as great as the others, and so are you. Why don’t you go talk with her for a little bit. You know she doesn’t like the rain, and it looks like it’s going to rain any minute now, if you take a look at those clouds. She could use you, we’re not the only ones who are having a hard time. I think it did more to her than she is telling us.”
Ivy nodded. “I guess you’re right, mom. I’ll go find her, right now.”

“No, you’ve got to be kidding me! It’s raining! Oh well, just as I predicted, right? Still want to go to the castle?” A voice said.
It was dark again. The two shadows had crossed the country all day now. They came close to the castle. They got some weird looks from ponies that lived in the country. Not really surprising though. They didn’t see cloaked ponies every day.
“Yeah, we still go to the castle. You know what the lady told us. You need permission from the queen to stay. Besides, I want to go. I want to find out what is going on here.”
“Oooh, you still going on about that? Honestly, there is nothing wrong here! Did anything look wrong to you? No? That’s what I thought. Now, let’s get moving, I’m getting soaked in this way. Come on now, the castle is close.”
“I know it is… I feel it.” The second shadow whispered, and they galloped out of sight.

“I’m glad you came to me to talk, Ivy. I really felt bad. I’m sorry I talked to you like that this morning, but I was so annoyed. I felt like you deserted me and mom.”
“I know you do, Fleur. I’m so sorry about it. But we’re friends again, right?”
Fleur laughed. “Of course we are!”
 It was late in the evening now. It was pouring rain outside and everything was dark, there was no moon, no stars, only a curtain of rain. Ivy didn’t mind the rain, but Fleur hated it, she always got sad and a little depressed from rain.

“Ivy… I’m glad you told us about our sisters. I miss them in a way, even though I’ve never met them. It’s like a hole that will never be filled again. But I got you Ivy, and I’m glad I do.”
Ivy smiled. “you’re the best sister anyone could wish for Fleur!”
Ivy got up and walked to the cupboard.
“Let’s see… ooh, Tsuyo made chocolate cake again! I know we’re not supposed to, but I really feel like eating some…”
Fleur grinned. “Go on then! But if Tsuyo gets angry, I’m not responsible for the consequences!”

Ivy picked up the cake and put it on the table.
“Now, the cake.. you want a…”
A bang.
“What was that?” Fleur asked.
“Sounds like someone’s at the gate.”
A second bang.
“Yeah, that’s it. Let’s go, I want to see who it is.” Fleur and Ivy got up.

When they opened the castle door it was still pouring rain. They galloped through the garden to the gate. “Hello? Who is there?” Ivy yelled.
“We are travellers. We wish to talk to the queen… and to find a place for the night.” Ivy sighed.
“couldn’t they pick a… dryer day?” Ivy opened the gate. Two ponies were on the other side. She couldn’t see them well. It was dark, the rain was blurring her sight, and the ponies were… dark. When they came closer, Ivy noticed they were wearing cloaks. Smart move, she thought, in this weather.

“Ivy, are you sure this is ok?” Fleur whispered to her sister, “I mean, letting strangers in and all? They look kind of scary to me.”
“Oh come on Fleur, you don’t leave people outside in weather like this!” Ivy closed the gate and told the cloaked ponies to follow her. They galloped back to the castle.
“Come in… you must be so cold and wet. Fleur, will you get Tsuyo and tell her we have guests? Ask her to bring some towels and make some hot drinks.” Fleur took of at once. Now, why don’t you two give me your cloaks, I’ll hang them by the fire in the living room, so they’ll get nice and dry.” One of the ponies took of her cloak and Ivy couldn’t help gasping.

It was a very pretty pony, Purple with pink an yellow hair, tinsel in her hair… and she wore the royal pendant, that only belonged to the members of the royal house of the Friendship Lands, as a sign of their royalty.
“Whe… where did you get that pendant? What’s your name? Tell me!”
the pony smiled. “This pendant was given to me the day I was born as a token of my royalty. My name is Crystal, and this is my sister Twinkle Star. You sure have grown up a lot, Ivy. I can’t believe you are actually alive.”