Little time

“Are you sure about this?” Regina asked, not for the first time.
“Y…yes.” Ruki answered, getting nervous now.
Her grandmother looked so regal, sitting on the large throne. Ruki felt very small indeed. She had claimed she knew where the fifth and last stone was, and she did not doubt that it was somewhere deep within the breach, but that hardly solved any of their problems.

First of all, the breach was unbelievably long. It stretched all over the continent from the ocean in the south all the way up to the cold and frozen north. The second problem was of course that no one had ever travelled to the depths of the breach and lived to tell the tale. Ruki’s discovery appeared to put them even further away from finding the stone, not bring them closer to it.
Of course, the first problem Ruki could probably counter slightly. The pull had been strongest in the north when she had crossed the breach there, so it was likely the stone was somewhere close to that area. She could probably locate it by the strength of its pull, but she had no idea how precise that was. And even if she located it, there was no way they could get down into the breach and get it up.

Regina sighed deeply. Everyone else was silent. Ruki did not know if her aunt Hikary’s expression was hopeful or disappointed. The large throne room felt so dark and empty, so haunting and cold.
“We need to get it.” Taira said at last.
“Of course we do.” Hikary added.
That was obvious to everyone; they needed the last stone. If they didn’t, all their hard work had been in vain and the world would come to an end.

“I know we do.” Regina said. “But we can’t just walk there now and see how things go like we did on the trip to ZoroAster. If Ruki is correct and the stone is in the north somewhere, we will have to wait for winter to pass before we can even attempt to go there. The northern areas that border the breach are harsh and uninhabited. We can not just go there and expect to find shelter; we will freeze to death before we find a trace of the stone.”

“So you suggest we wait until spring is upon us before we travel to the north?” Hikary asked. Regina nodded. “We can rest in Kin on our journey, I am sure.” Yuuro pointed out.
“Kin is not north enough. The bridge I crossed was way more north than Kin.” Ruki added.
“That may be so, but Kin might still be a nice place to rest for a few days. Very well; Yuuro, could you prepare a letter to send to your mother to ask if we can stay there for a very short while?” Regina asked.

“Of course, my lady.” Yuuro bowed, and trotted off. Ruki was jealous of him; she wanted to go outside too. Her circle had never been more appealing.
“So… when will we leave? And what will we do in the meantime?” Taira asked after the door was closed once more.
“I suggest we leave very early in spring, or maybe even late in winter. It will still be a long journey so we must leave in time.” Hikary proposed.

“That sounds fine. You shall leave as soon as the weather allows us to.” Regina agreed.
“Will you not come, mother?” Hikary asked, realizing what her mother had just said.
“No. My body is too old for such a journey, Hikary. Maybe even for any journey. Lately, I’ve begun to feel that in my bones. I am not as young as I would like. I will stay here and watch over the country.” Looking at her grandmother closely, Ruki noticed she was speaking the truth. Silver hair was coming through her grandmother’s once bright pink mane, and her wrinkles were growing visible.

“We should visit Batafurai straight after.” Hikary sighed. Ruki jerked her head up, instantly realizing what her aunt meant by that.
“Do we have to? Can we not wait a bit longer?” her mother asked desperately.
“I’m afraid not. If we had to go home first after visiting the north… it would take us too much time. The breach lies far west of here. It could save us a lot of time if we travelled south along the breach and cross the bridge from there.”

Ruki could see the reason in this argument, but she liked it even less than her mother did. It would mean so much more than just getting a stone… it would mean the destruction of her old homeland. It was inevitable, she knew that… now that she had heard the stones in her head she was absolutely convinced that what Hikary said was the truth. But that didn’t mean she liked it.

“I guess that is true… and we do not have a lot of time left.” Taira sighed.
“And we didn’t even find the winged one.” Hikary pointed out.
“Ah yes. Did you find anything new?” Regina asked, just remembering this part of the story.
“Nothing. There’s nothing there like winged ponies.”
That’s not true. Ruki thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell everyone. The pony she had seen that day… would it really help them if she mentioned it now? That encounter was years ago…

It was already evening when Ruki knocked on her mother’s study room door.  The entire day, the winged pony spooked through her thoughts like a melody she could not erase. She had heard about the tale of the stone of course. The moment she heard the part about the last winged one, she was reminded of the winged pony she had seen and her old quest to find out more about those ponies. But in the light of all the events at ZoroAster, she had decided not to bring it up.

On the journey, they had not spoken of it. And once they had arrived here, her days had been filled with practicing and meeting new ponies and seeing new places in the country. She had not exactly forgotten, but it had been pushed to the back of her mind. But now after all of this had come up and they had most likely located the last stone, she felt she no longer could keep it to herself.

Still, speaking up about it in the throne room that afternoon had not felt right to Ruki. Not that she did not want everyone to know; in fact, it might ease everyone’s mind if they knew that at least a winged pony existed somewhere. But they would probably dash off in all directions looking for her, if she knew her family a little bit, and she did not think that might be the smartest thing to do. There was no way that pony was still there.

So she decided she would tell her mother. Out of everyone, her mother was the most rational when it came to the stones. Aunt Hikary was too obsessive about it and her grandmother would instantly call the entire family together. She knocked on the door, and her mother’s voice allowed her to enter the room.

Her mother’s study was lit my two large oil lamps. One of the walls was covered by book cases, while the other only had a large painting hanging on it. Her mother’s desk was not as large and dark as her grandmothers’, but more cluttered with papers and books and scrolls. Her mother sat on her large chair, bend over some old scroll which pictured the breach, Ruki saw.

“Good evening mother.” She greeted her mother as she closed the door.
“Good evening, Ruki.” Her mother greeted her. “What can I help you with? Do you want some tea? I have some green tea, do you want a cup?”
“Oh, that would be lovely.” Ruki loved her mother’s green tea; the leaves were especially imported from the south, where they grew in the warm areas.

As her mother poured the tea in a cup, Ruki sat down at the chair on the other side of her mothers’ desk.
“There is… something I want to talk to you about. But you have to promise me you won’t instantly run to aunt Hikary or grandmother.” Ruki whispered as she got comfortable in the too-big chair.
 “I promise. You know I won’t tell anything to anyone if you don’t want me to.” Taira smiled.

“I know.” Ruki said as she sipped a bit of her tea.
“Do you… remember what we talked about today in the throne room?” She asked, unsure how to begin her story.
“Yes, of course. We talked about the last stone and how we are going to find it.”
“No, I mean, after that.”
“Do you mean… the winged pony? The last winged one that we have not found yet?” Taira asked.
“Yes.” Ruki confirmed.
”What about it?”
“Well… I once met a pony with wings.”
“You did?” Her mothers’ eyes grew wide in shock.
“Yea. But it’s such a long time ago.” Ruki added.
“Don’t worry. Tell me everything you remember.” Taira said, recovering.
“Well… it was some months after… our encounter in the mountains. I was just wandering aimlessly, following a dried up river.

Then one day, I left my bag behind to look for food. As I got back, I found someone looking through my bags. I was shocked to see she had… a pair of magnificent wings on her back. I had never seen such a thing before. I was scared, and the pony left me quickly after I asked her about those wings. I never saw her again after. I set myself on a quest to find more about the winged ponies, but after a while I met Takato and everything changed so much, I completely forgot about it.”

“That pony… what did she look like?” Her mother asked calmly.
“She was… pink. Her coat was pure pink and her mane and tail were just so very long! They were bright pink also. Her wings seemed to sparkle… Otherwise, I do not remember. It’s so long ago.” Ruki admitted. When she glanced at her mother, she was surprised to see her mother was smiling.

“So… I am not the only one who could see them. Interesting.” Taira whispered.
“What do you mean, mother?” Ruki asked.
“That pony you met… I am pretty sure you either met your aunt Twinkle Star… or your grandmothers’ older sisters’ daughter, Illuvia.”
“Ah!” Ruki exclaimed, remembering. “Twinkle Star! She said her name was Twinkle Star!”

“I see.” Her mother smiled, drinking her tea.
“But…” Ruki hesitated. “You said she was my aunt. But you never mentioned her before.”
“No. It is… a complicated story. Twinkle Star was taking care of a girl who had been found guilty of treason and who was banished from the country. Twinkle Star went with the girl, and we have not seen her since. It is a really sensitive subject for grandmother, so we try to not mention it. I’m sorry we never told you about her sooner.”

“So… Twinkle Star… has wings? How come everyone is searching for a winged one if there is one in this family?” Ruki asked, confused now.
“Because no one can see her wings. No one, except apparently you and me.”
“Huh?” Ruki said, but she remembered the surprise Twinkle Star had shown when she had confronted her with her wings. Maybe she really did not expect anyone to be able to see them…

“How come we can see them?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking on that a lot. I never directly confronted Twinkle Star with her wings. I never told anyone. But I think it has to do with how strong your royal powers are. Maybe… only the true heirs to the throne can see them. Mother can’t, but she is not the true born heir to the throne. She was her mother’s third child. The girl Twinkle Star was protecting… she had wings, too. And Illuvia… a pony I only remember from my time with Aras also had. She looked remarkably like Twinkle Star, by the way. But she passed away.”

“Ah… do you think Twinkle Star is the last winged one?” Ruki asked her mother.
“I think so. Who knows? The little girl had wings, too. But hers were… different. Their color and radiance… were not so much weaker, but maybe darker is the best way to describe it. And there are no others as far as I know of.” “Then why did you never mention it to anyone?” Ruki asked.

“To protect Twinkle Star. I want you to do the same, Ruki. One day, we will have to tell everyone. But if we do that now… they will find Twinkle Star and drag her back here. I don’t want that. I know Twinkle Star is living a wonderful life now, with a man she loves and two children. For as long as she can… I want her to enjoy that. I want her to live that wonderful life as long as possible… because I don’t know what will happen once she summons the guardians.”