Ruki and Twinkle Star

“You are... Your name was Jaze, wasn't it?” Twinkle Star guessed. Jaze... yes, that was the silly name she had come up with, that day in the far east close to the dead river. Why had that been again? It wasn't even a real name, Ruki thought.
“It's the name I offered you, but it's not my real name. I'm sorry I lied.” Ruki confessed.
“Her name is Ruki. She is my eldest daughter.” Taira explained for her.

“I see.” Twinkle Star stepped closer to them.
Did she also remember Ruki had told her she had seen wings on her back? Twinkle Star had been so surprised back then, as if she couldn't even see them herself. As she got closer, she could see Twinkle Star had changed from that day in the west. When she had met her that day, she had seemed like a girl still, a young woman older than Ruki but definitely not mature yet. But here stood a woman grown, a mother of two children. Somehow it only made her more beautiful.

“Why have you come, Taira? Is something wrong with my mother?” Twinkle star asked.
“Oh, no, Regina is fine. She still rules the Friendship Lands.”
“Then why are you here?” Twinkle Star asked suspiciously.
“We have... a favor to ask you.” Taira admitted without going into detail.
Twinkle Star pondered, almost as if she had been expecting this. Had she known they would come? She couldn't have. Twinkle Star didn't know anything about the stones, right?

“Well, we will discuss that later. You two must be weary from your journey. Why don't you come in? Our house is not very large, I'm afraid, and with two small children... well.” Twinkle Star smiled, pointing at the little red house in front of the forest.
“We would love to.” Taira said gratefully.

They followed Twinkle Star as she opened the door of the house. The first thing Ruki noticed was the smell; it smelled so natural, like the trees of a forest in early spring, mixed with the flavors of a herbal field. Ruki spotted Câlin rubbing Meran ferociously with a towel, trying to get the paint off, without much success and much to Meran's dismay.

The house was indeed small, but Ruki liked it nonetheless. On the top right corner there was a little kitchen with white cupboards. In front of it stood a dark wooden dining table and behind that was a small living area with two black couches and a table. On their left Ruki saw the stairs that led to the first floor, where no doubt the bedrooms were. In front of the stair was a low ebony cupboard, and there was some storage space below the stairs. There was a door next to the kitchen, but Ruki couldn't see where it lead. The walls of the house had the color of dark wood, reminding Ruki of a dense forest.

“Please, sit down. I will boil some tea.” Twinkle Star said as she lit a fire under the kettle.
Ruki put her large bag in a corner and sat down on one of the couches which were extremely comfortable, though weary from use by young children and they smelled rather old. Twinkle Star's youngest daughter stared at them while she was being cleaned.
“Who are they mom?” She asked.
“Now Meran, don't be rude. This is mom's eldest sister, Taira.” Twinkle Star pointed at Ruki's mother, who was also sitting now. “And this is her daughter, Ruki. She's your niece.”

That's right, Ruki realized. These girls were her nieces. Her family, just like Yoyeux and Éclat were. Yet this felt even more unreal. And the winged pony was her aunt, just like aunt Hikary or aunt Stelline. It was hard to imagine.
“My name is Meran.” The child introduced herself while Câlin rubbed her hooves.
“It's very nice to meet you, Meran.” Ruki greeted her little niece. The yellow stripe in the girls' mane were as golden as Taira's, Ruki realized.

“Will you join us for dinner?” Kiyoi asked as he helped his wife boil water for tea so that she could prepare the herbs.
“Oh, if it is not too much trouble.” Taira answered.
“No, no, of course not! You are my wife's family. You are always welcome here.” Kiyoi said.
“Then we'd love to.” Ruki watched Câlin try to clean her little sister, which didn't seem to have much effect, so Kiyoi dragged the girl in the bathroom once he was sure the water was heating up nicely, which apparently lay behind the kitchen. Meran didn't like it, but by the time the tea was done the girl was clean, though soaked and wrapped in a towel.

Twinkle Star served them raspberry tea, made from raspberries that grew in the forest, and cookies with dried strawberry also from the forest, which were the most delicious cookies Ruki had ever tasted. During tea, they told of their travels to the west. Câlin was especially interested in all the different plants that grew in the west, making Ruki wish she had paid more attention to them while she was there. They must truly be special to someone who had never seen the west, she realized, but she had barely ever noticed them. There were so many of them it was hard for any to stand out. They didn't explain about the stones, though. Ruki realized her mother wanted to tell Twinkle Star this in private first, before explaining it to the entire family. And Ruki wasn't altogether sure if it was a tale for small children.

When everyone had finished their second cup of tea, and to Ruki's delight their third cookie, Twinkle Star announced it was time to go cook. She was going to make a soup with a salad and some bread to accompany it.
“I'll help, if you want.” Ruki offered, remembering she had made that specific recipe a few times with the Asana Bond. Twinkle Star looked at her as if it was the most outrageous thing that a princess knew how to cook.
“I can cook. I learned.”

“It's true. She's a very good cook; Regina often said Ruki was a better cook than the one we hired in the castle.” Her mother added, referring to the two times Ruki had been allowed to cook in the outrageously large kitchen in the castle.

“You hired a special cook now?” Twinkle Star grinned. “I see things are going really well for you then, in the Friendship Lands.”
Had they not had a cook before? Ruki could scarcely imagine, remembering how used everyone there seemed to be to having so many servants.
“Yes... things have really changed there.” Taira reflected.
“Anyway, I'd be delighted if you want to help me. Will you join me in washing the vegetables in the river?”

The girl Ruki followed Twinkle Star out of the house, carrying a basket of vegetables still covered in dirt. “Why do you wash them in the river?” She asked.
“The water is clear, and I have more space there, and I'm not stuck with a bucket full of dirty water. Of course, it's not like it used to be, but... it's still the best option I have.” Twinkle Star explained, remembering how lovely the vegetables used to taste, washed and cooked in the clear and pure water of Fiume. Not that it tasted bad now. The river was still the most clean river she had ever seen. But it was different.

“Twinkle Star... I'm sorry.” Ruki said when they reached the river.
“Sorry? For what?”
“For lying to you on that day. About my name.”
Twinkle Star chuckled. “That's okay. I lied about my name too, when I was younger. I never wanted people to know who I really was. I even lied to Kiyoi about it when I first met him. I told him my name was Hishi.”

“You did, uh.” Ruki smiled.
They both took a cabbage from the basked and began to was them in the river.
“I never saw a purple cabbage before here in the east. I thought they only grew in the west. You know, due to the prana.” Ruki said.
“Prana?” She had never heard that word before.
“Oh, right. You probably don't know anything about it. It is... or at least, it was the power of the west, much like how our royal powers were the powers of the east. But that doesn't matter anymore, now with the Breach and all...”

Twinkle Star understood there was still much she didn't know. What had her family been up to while she had been here raising her children? She wouldn't trade it for anything, but that didn't stop her from being mildly curious about it. Ruki didn't continue however, so she trusted Taira and her would explain it later.

“Ruki... There is something I would like to ask you.”
“Sure, anything.” Twinkle Star took out a leek from the basket to wash before she continued.
“When we first met.... that day in the west. You mentioned wings.”
Of course, when she had first seen Ruki appear next to Taira that afternoon, that was the first thing that had crossed her mind. The girl who could see her wings even when she had hidden them.

“I can see them. Even now. And so does my mother. She's always been able to see them too. On Câlin too, by the way.”
“Your mother too?” Twinkle Star gasped. Taira had never mentioned anything like that to her. Why had she kept silent? Twinkle Star didn't know Taira that well, of course, but she found it hard to believe that Taira had just assumed that it was normal.

“Yea. She never mentioned anything, because she quickly sensed she was the only one able to see them. No one else can... just us two. Mother theorized that maybe only ponies with very strong royal powers could see them. Or maybe only true heirs to the throne... which your mother was not.”
Well, that might make sense. But why couldn't she see her own wings while they were hidden, while this girl obviously could?

Twinkle Star summoned her wings, wanting to see if they looked the same as the wings Ruki apparently saw on her.
“Are they the same now?” Ruki stared at her back as the wings materialized. She could tell the girl could see them changing.
“No. They are... smaller. Less radiant. But still, their feel is the same. It is... hard to explain. It's the same set of wings for sure, but they just look different.”
Twinkle Star could see the girl had difficulty explaining the difference between the two different pairs of wings. She made her wings disappear again, her back empty as it always was. She didn't see anything.

What was the reason Ruki could see them? Was it because she was a first born, a heir, like Taira? But that didn't make much sense. They might have been Regina's children, but Regina was only third in line. Only Chifre the unicorn, Reine's daughter, should be able to see them then... and Twinkle Star realized that Chifre probably could.

Then again, Chifre had not been born an heir, and Taira had, which made her daughter an heir too, even if she hadn't known that at the time. So then Chifre had never been an heir, so why would she be able to see them? Or was there another reason altogether? Twinkle Star shook her head. She wouldn't dwell on this more now; it would only give her a headache.

“Shall we get back?” Twinkle Star proposed when she saw all the vegetables were clean.
“Yes, sure.”
They both picked up their basket and walked back to the house. They found Taira engaged in conversation with Câlin about some plants in her picture book, making Twinkle Star realize her girl was the one who knew more about the subject now.

“Will you cut the cabbages? I will prepare the other food.” She proposed.
“Yea, sure, okay.” Ruki agreed.
Twinkle Star handed the girl a knife and watched how Ruki skillfully cut the cabbages in small pieces, taking away the non-edible parts without any problems. The girl sure did know how to cook, Twinkle Star noticed- she wasn't that good herself when she came living here.

“You're a rather good cook, aren't you?” She asked the girl who was already almost done cutting.
“Yea, I guess I am.”
“Where did you learn? When I was your age all I knew about cooking was that it was done in the kitchens- which I was generally not allowed to enter.”
“Well... I was never raised a princess. Back on the island where I came from, we didn't have servants, we did everything ourselves. And later... I guess I just taught myself.”

Twinkle Star admired the girl. She had only learned how to cook properly because she had someone to take care of now- she had never bothered before except for the true basics.
“So, do you like the Friendship Lands? It sounds as if the world you're coming from was indeed quite different from your new home.”

Ruki grinned.
“Yes... it is quite different. But it's not bad. It's a lovely country. Everything is so green and natural, and our family is nice enough. I like the castle and my new room... But I wish I had a bit more freedom. Maybe I am too used to roaming around, I don't know. But that's how I like it best, you know?”

Twinkle Star smiled. She understood perfectly well.
“I know. I was once like that, you know? It's how you met me first time around, after all. Sitting still in one place for too long just made me restless.”
“So what happened?” Ruki asked.
“I met Câlin. I came back here, and I got married. I got Meran. There is absolutely no reason left for me to wander around... I found my place, and it's right here with them.”