Memories of the golden past

Ruki stared out of the open window in her bedroom. Sakurako, who she shared her room with, was not here, but Ruki couldn’t be bothered to wonder where her friend was. Her mother was downstairs; she could hear Takato talk. She finally understood why the blue pony had recognized her. But why here? Why now? And why… why was her mother talking to the one person in the world she wanted to keep for herself?

Ruki hear someone exclaim her name downstairs. So… the secret was out. Only a second later she heard someone rushing up the stairs. Slowly, she turned her head and stared at the face she had longed for for so very long. Her mother’s eyes revealed a mix of surprise and happiness. Finally, after all these years, Ruki saw what she had desired for so long.
“Ruki…” Her mother whispered.

Ruki couldn’t do anything. Her entire body went numb; her voice went silent and her eyes became clouded. So many years… but there was only a grey darkness that embraced her now.
“I… Ruki… There is so much I have to explain… what happened in those mountains, I… That wasn’t me, I mean, it was me, but I was… Oh Ruki, it is so hard to explain… but everything I said there… I didn’t mean it, but I had to keep you away from me… to protect you, for he surely, definitely would take you too…”

Ruki heard her mother talk, but the words did not register. Was she making excuses? Ruki had been travelling the world, lost and alone, for years, all because her mother was sending her away, telling her every day to run and hide. What was she expecting now? Was she expecting Ruki to jump into her arms like a little girl who had found her mother after losing her in the woods?
“Ruki… I know you must be upset with me but… Ever since we defeated Aras… the one who kept me under control, I’ve been looking for you… all over the east, and now I finally find you here… you have no idea what this means to me, I…”

“This means nothing.” Ruki said, scared by the emptiness in her voice, a mirror of the darkness that swirled inside her. So long had she been waiting for this… But it meant nothing now. It was too late. Without looking at her mother, Ruki grabbed her cloak from her bed and dashed out of the room, down the stairs, into the darkness of the night.

Later, Ruki would remember nothing of that night. She was sure she had been wandering around until she finally fell asleep in the park, where she woke up the next morning, but they weren’t actual memories. She just constructed it from what was likely to have happened. She woke up because the sunlight got reflected on the water of the small lake. At first, she wondered why she was outside, and not safe in her bed. Hadn’t she fulfilled her mission properly? But then her mother’s face doomed up in her mind, ripping her heart out.

Ruki got up and noticed she was sweating. It would be a hot day. She picked up her cloak from the ground and realized it was all she had. Thinking of the mansion that had been her home, thinking of Takato… All she felt was rejection. She had done what Takato had asked, but she couldn’t go back now.
“You, child who were born in the west. Go, run, and hide. The future of the world should not involve you.” She could not return there now.

Her mother’s gaze burned inside her soul, and Ruki began to wander around. Every time she thought of her mother, those words ran into her mind. No matter what excuse her mother came up with now, Ruki would do exactly as she said. She could chase her to the end of the world, but Ruki would always run and hide. She would not forget what her mother had told her.

Ruki wandered through the streets, empty inside like a river without water. She had to get out… away, into the open, into the woods… Ruki tried to find the way to the city exit. Wandering through the dozens of little streets and broader roads, she got more and more determined to leave the city. Away from her mother, away from Takato, away from the High King…

“I’ll never see her again. I had a chance and I blew it.”
“No, no Taira. Don’t think like that. She will get back. Obviously she got surprised and upset. She’ll turn around, and Takato’s friends are looking for her as we speak.” Hikary tried to comfort her sister.
“No, no, but that’s all wrong! I should be the one looking for her, finding her!” Taira screamed.
“Yes, but you can’t. It’s too dangerous and you can’t risk it. Ruki knows that too.”

“But…” Once again, tears welled up inside Taira’s already red eyes. “My little girl…” Hikary’s sister sobbed, and Hikary could do nothing more than just hold her.
“She looked just like when I left her behind…” Taira whispered. “When I left her with Fjaril… That look has been haunting me ever since I began to remember. Her eyes… back then they were happy to see me and yet sad… but now they were sad to see me and yet happy…”

Ever since Ruki had run off, Taira had been crying. She had wanted to chase her daughter, and it had taken all of Yuuro and Takato’s strength to stop her. Shanjahen’s guards would be out there looking for them, and it was simply too risky. They could not lose Taira. At some point, Taira had realized it too, but this only made everything more painful. Knowing her daughter was so close, and yet she was so far out of reach, was almost unbearable to Taira.

“Taira dear… I really do think you should try to get some sleep.” Hikary whispered.
“No, no… not until she is found…”
“What good will it do to Ruki if you are the mess you are now? We have been in that cellar for days without proper food, and we did not sleep at all last night. And now this with Ruki. You’re exhausted, and you need your strength. Especially now, for Ruki.”

“Yes… Maybe you’re right… but…”
 “No buts. You’re going to bed now and I’ll stay with you until you are asleep.” Hikary promised her sister. Taira agreed, realizing there was nothing she could do, nothing Hikary and the others would let her do. They had been given beds by Takato, in the attic, and Yuuro was already asleep. The poor boy had been exhausted, and there was no reason for him to stay awake.

Hikary escorted her sister to the attic and sat down on a chair while Taira crawled into one of the beds. “Sleep well.” Hikary whispered, but her sister did not reply. It did not take long before the sobs changed into steady breathing. The emotions had wrecked Taira, who had already been so very tired. Hikary knew that her body was tired too and needed rest, but her mind was wide awake. Besides, she did not dare to sleep as long as there was no one around to look after her sister.

After about thirty minutes, Takato entered the attic. He had been sleeping a bit as well that morning, because he appeared to have had no sleep over the past few days.
“Hello, Hikary.” He whispered, realizing the other two were still asleep. “Could you not sleep?”
“No… I’m sure I could if I wanted to, but I want to watch over my sister. Someone needs to be there for her when she wakes up or who knows what she might end up doing.” Hikary explained to the prince.

“Yes, I understand. However, I would very much like to talk to you for a bit. I feel there are a lot of important things that need to be cleared up, not in the least place your sister who is still in the High King’s clutches.” Takato said, while he looked at Taira sleeping.
 “Yes. You are right; we must attend to that right away. If what Ruki had told you is true…” Hikary shivered at the thought of her younger sister, chained and hurt in the cold cellar of the castle.

“Would it be okay for you if my fiancée Flora watched over your sister? She will tell you when she wakes up right away.”
Another pony entered the room this time, a purple girl. Ruki had not seen her before but she could not help but think the girl was very pretty and had an exceptional cute face.
“Yes, I suppose that’s fine.” Hikary said, having no reason not to trust this girl.

As Flora took over her place, Hikary followed the blue prince down the stairs to what appeared to be a study room; the walls were covered with rows of books and at the window stood a large dark wooden desk, covered with maps and other paperwork Hikary could not identify. Takato closed the door.
“So… please tell me, who are you ponies?”
 For a moment, Hikary thought she was talking to the High King again. The tone of his voice and the expression of his face matched that of Shanjahen completely. But Takato was not his father, Hikary had to remind herself. She had to trust him, because there was very little other choice.

“We are… Taira, Stelline and me, we are daughters of Regina, queen of the Friendship Lands. Taira is her oldest daughter and will one day inherit the throne. Yuuro is the youngest son of queen Katine of Kin.” Hikary explained briefly.
“The Friendship Lands?” Takato asked. “I could be wrong but… wasn’t that the country where the High Queens of the East once resided, much like Asterian is the country of the High King?”

Hikary smiled. “Yes. My family… we once were that, a long time ago. High Queens. But over the years, our powers weakened, and we no longer could claim to be High Queens. And finally, bout twenty years ago now, the Crown of the Earth, our beautiful country, was ruined by the eruption of a volcano we had believed to have died off long ago. We established a new country, more to the north in the mountains.”

“High Queens… and Ruki is…”
“Ruki is Taira’s oldest daughter, and therefore the rightful heir to the throne after her mother.” Hikary completed for him. Takato gazed out of the window, looking at his father’s castle.
“So that explains…” he muttered.
“I’m sorry?” Hikary asked. Takato shook his head.
“No. Never mind that. But tell me, princess Hikary. You came here looking for a guardian stone? What made you think it might be here?”

“Well… to be honest we didn’t think there would be one here at all. My family and I have been looking all over the east, but we only managed to locate three stones so far. Our time is running out, so we decided to come here to ask the help of the High King. Obviously, we were not granted that. But assuming Ruki understood Stelline correctly, the chances of the High King actually possessing a stone are rather large. We need it, prince Takato. I have been given a message… a few years ago, from the guardian spirit that belongs to the first stone we found. We need to gather all five stones and summon the guardians back to the earth or all will be lost. Not in the east, but here in the west too. It was a task given to my family, and only we can complete it. I do not understand why your father would want to force out the guardians, but no good can come of it.”

“No. I understand. I trust your story to be true, Hikary, because I too have noticed the events you mentioned. The stars in the sky are fading. Every night it becomes a little bit darker. The prana itself becomes restless at night; even though this is not something I have shared with anyone yet. It becomes… unstable, unreliable, as if it is worried by the dark sky above. And together with Ruki, I investigated the breach that divides our two parts of this world. Its powers are weakening. Prana is slipping away from the earth and as we can see in the sky so are your powers. The Asana bond… I created it once to avenge my sister. My father… he murdered her, but I will explain this to you later. However, now we exist to overthrow my father and stop his scheme. We need to do whatever we can to save the planet.” Takato explained.

“We need to get the stone. And my sister Stelline. We can not wait any longer.” Hikary said.
“Yes. Once Yuuro and your sister are awake, we will discuss the plans. It is time for action… and for the fall of the High King.”
While Takato said this, Hikary could see a fire burn inside his eyes. Takato truly opposed his father. He would help them, she was sure of that, but he was determined to fulfil his own goals more than anything.

Oblivious to the ponies around her, Ruki walked through the gate of the city of ZoroAster. She did not notice the stares; all she saw was her mother in that room, sending her away. She did not hear the guards yell “Hey! You!” When one of them grabbed her, for a moment she thought it was Takato. When they chained her, she only wondered if she would be granted a dark cell that hid her from her mothers gaze.