When Ivy woke up, she almost forgot what had happened in the last few days. It had been a few days now, since her sisters returned. They spend a lot time with their mother, but Ivy and Fleur had talked with them a few times, too. Ivy liked her sisters, ther were both nice and even Twinkle Star looked a bit normal now that she got to know her a little better. Ivy stretched herself.

She got up as usual, brushed her hair and opened her door to her balcony. When she enjoyed the fresh smell of a morning that just had a rain shower, it was very hard to imagine anything had changed. It was so quiet, so beautiful, so peaceful. From her room she just looked over the gate into the country. It was all a nice spring green colour, with the road lingering through the green fields, with a few houses here and there facing towards the road.

“This is home.” Ivy said to herself softly.
And it was home, she had never known any other place to live. Well, at least not that she could remember. Because even though she has had the nightmares about the burning castle, even though she heard her mother’s stories about what happened, no matter how horrible, it didn’t feel to her as if it had happened to her home, to the place where she belonged. She belonged here.
“But what if something like that ever happens here? What if I lose my home?”

Ivy sighed. That would never happen. There was no volcano here, and what else could make something like that happen? Her view turned from the land into the walls of the castle’s garden. The flowers were blooming, and everything was quiet. Ivy smiled.
“Maybe there has changed less then I thought there has.”
But when she saw her mother walking through the garden, she knew it wasn’t true. Her mother was almost never in the garden, and definitely not like this; she was walking, and just enjoying the flowers, the plants, the silence around her. That’s not like mom, Ivy thought, mom is usually very busy, and if she is in the garden it’s because she is looking for someone. But it was not so this morning, her mom was looking happy, enjoying the world.

Ivy heard the doors of the castle open, and not that much later they closed again. Someone had left the castle. It didn’t take long before the pony appeared. It was Twinkle Star. She stopped in front of her mother and they hugged.
 “Did you have a good night?” Ivy heard her mother ask.
“Yeah, yeah it was just fine.”
“That’s good. I’m happy you had a good night.”
Silence. Ivy noticed it was an awkward silence. Both her mother and her sister had no clear idea of what they should say which resulted in this painful silence.

“What made you come out here this early?” Her mother asked at last.
“Well… I just wanted to see the castle for a bit, and the gardens. I also wanted to think a little… This place I beautiful. You all did a great job.”
Regina smiled. “Well, we all worked very hard on it. It was the first thing we build. When it was finished we all moved in here and from here we build the other houses, the villages, the farms. But in the beginning everybody that survived with me lived in the castle. It weren’t many ponies; not even half of what lives here now. The others all came later.”

“So many survived, huh?” Ivy saw her mother shake her head.
“No. I came here with ten other ponies, and now there are twenty or twenty five ponies from the old lands living here, and a handful of others form other countries. It’s still small, but we are going somewhere.”
“But it won’t be the way it was, will it? How many ponies lived there, a hundred thousand? Even more. I like this place mom, I really do. But the shadow is still here. We all live in the shadows of that what we have lost. It will be a while before that is over, before ponies will be really happy here. You need a whole new generation for that.”

Twinkle Star turned her back on her mother and walked away from her. First Regina didn’t look like she was going after her daughter, but in the end she did.
“Twinkle Star… why are you so negative? We have all been through the same, but we are trying to build up our life here. And I know those memories will never be gone, but… well, what can I do? I did all I can to make sure they can live the rest of their lives in peace. And new generations are being born!” Regina said.
“Yeah… well, I am sorry mother. It’s just… I can’t forget it all that easily. But you did a great job and everybody appears to be as happy as they can be. I am glad you did. And I’m glad to be here. With you, and my sisters.”

“Twinkle Star… I know this is hard for you, and I am sorry to ask you this right now but… Are you sure you have heard nothing of Joker and Stelline?”
Twinkle Star shook her head. “No mother, I am sorry. We heard nothing, and for a long time we thought they might be here with you. We didn’t know. But we haven’t heard anything of the others. I think they are…”
A silence fell. Twinkle Star was still watching them from her balcony. She noticed how difficult the conversation was for both her mother and Twinkle Star. They hadn’t seen each other in sixteen years.

“Twinkle Star, I… I am happy you became such a strong girl. And you have become so beautiful. And you have no idea what it does to me, t know you are alive… to know Crystal is alive. It’s so unreal. But I have to talk to you. I have had a problem the last sixteen years that no-one could help me with, but you can. You are the only one who can.”
Though Ivy couldn’t see it, she knew Twinkle Star was puzzled. So was she. A problem the last 16 years and only Twinkle Star could help? What could that be?
“Sure mother, I mean, if I can help you, I will, what is it?”

It took a while before Regina answered.
“Well… Stelline, she was my heir. The only one who should become queen. But she is not here anymore. For sixteen years I believed my oldest surviving daughter was Ivy. I didn’t knew if she survived. I didn’t know if any of you survived. But I knew I had to go on. I knew I had to and I knew I had to make sure the ponies could go on after I left this world. So I trained Ivy the best as I could. I trained her like I trained Stelline. It was hard. I became queen and I had to teach my own daughter, even though I didn’t really know how to myself. You remember? Those days with Stelline. Those days when I used to take her with me through the country, when your grandmother taught her all she had to know, when we used to go, all three of us?”

Ivy could see Twinkle Star nodding.
“Yeah, I remember that mom. I remember all of it, you three, or when you took all of us with you. It was so much fun. Stelline was great, she remembered everything and used to tell us everything she had learned that day.”
“Yeah. Stelline definitely was the future queen. She had the grace and dignity she was supposed to have, she was wise, she knew… But it is no good talking about her anymore. She isn’t with us And she probably will never be. So I trained Ivy. I tried to train her like I trained Stelline, but… it wasn’t right. Ivy is a great girl and I love her. I love her more then she knows, more then anyone knows. But she isn’t my heir Twinkle Star. She doesn’t have what it takes to be a queen. She is too emotional, to sweet for everyone, she doesn’t understand what it is to lead. And I don’t blame her, I never have, I never will. She was never born to be a queen. You know how these things go right? I told you, long ago.”

“Yeah. You told me. The first born is best suited to be a queen, but the royal blood weakens by each child the queen has. It doesn’t mean they are worth less, or less smart, less sweet, or anything of that, but the powers that the queen holds, they cannot be divided over many children. And it are those powers that makes someone a good queen, someone who is capable to rule. Right?”
“right. But the blood has weakened already. I am not the one who received the strongest blood, and sometimes I felt even Stelline didn’t have the strong powers my mother used to have. But Ivy… she doesn’t hold the. Fleur even less; she doesn’t hold them at all, but even Ivy’s isn’t enough. You can see it in her pendant, it doesn’t shine the way it does like those of a real heir to the throne.

When she holds the crown… it doesn’t seem to acknowledge her. I feel so sorry for her, and I felt there was no other way. If she would be queen, that was what it was supposed to be. The powers would return in her children. But things have changed now, Twinkle Star. It has all changed. You are here now, and Crystal is. I have noticed it in an instant; the royal blood is so much stronger in you, and even in Crystal it is so much stronger then it is in Ivy. You know, you have noticed it too, I know you have. I feel sorry for Ivy, but it is not her future to be the queen. I know her future is beautiful, bright, and she will be strong and happy. But to rule this country, she can’t, and it wouldn’t make her happy. But you, Twinkle Star… you are so much more capable of doing it. I can feel it, and so can you.”

Twinkle Star closed her eyes. Had she been afraid to hear this? She didn’t look to happy.
“Mom… I… I know you’re right. You are right about Ivy. I knew it the moment I saw her. But I can’t do it mom. I like this country and I can begin to love it maybe, in time. But I cannot rule it. I have been through to much.” Silence. Tears filled Regina’s eyes.
“Twinkle Star, I know it is hard and maybe I shouldn’t have asked you this so soon after you came here. But I have no other choice. I have worked so hard to build this all up and I can’t leave it. I won’t leave it, and I need someone capable of ruling it, and you are the one that is most capable of it.”

“Mother! I know I am, I will never deny it. Without Stelline and Joker, I am the rightful heir. Do you think that thought has ever left my mind? I always knew, if there were any survivors, they would come to me, look for aid in me. But I am not born for that mother! I am no ruler, I am not good for a queen. I cannot do it. Please ask Crystal instead. She is much more capable of doing it then I am, even though I might hold stronger powers.”
Regina stood motionless. Was her daughter really saying this? How could she talk like this? She knows she holds the stronger powers. How could she say her sister, who holds less, is more capable of ruling the country?
“Twinkle Star. That is something I cannot do. You know it is not true. As long as you are here, I cannot turn to Crystal, or Ivy, or Fleur. You are the one and you know it.”

“Well, if that is so… if you think the laws of the family are more important then my own wish, then my own will, if that is truly what you feel mother, then I am sorry. I do not think that way and I do not believe that it is right. But there is no denying it. You are the queen and if you will not respect my wish as long as I live here, then there is only one thing I can do. I am glad that I have found you and my sisters alive and in good health, but this is not my place. Tell Crystal I am sorry.” Said Twinkle Star angrily.

Tears were in her eyes, but she was determined. She could not grant her mother’s wish. She turned around, opened the gate of the castle wall, and left the castle.
“Twinkle Star! Twinkle star come back!” Regina yelled. She ran towards the gate, but stopped as soon as she could she the road. There was no sign of her daughter on the road.
“Twinkle Star!” she yelled again. But it was obvious. Twinkle Star was gone.
“No, Twinkle Star, no! I am sorry! Please, please don’t slip away from me again! Don’t leave me, not again, please!”
But nothing happened. For the second time in her life, Regina lost her daughter Twinkle Star.

Meanwhile Ivy still stood on her balcony. Her heart was beating fast, she was sweating, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t think, she could hardly speak.
The only thing she could was whispering: “Why mom, why did you betray me like this? Why have you no confidence in me? Why did you have to hurt Twinkle Star, why didn’t you listen to her, and why did you have to hurt me so?”