//------------------------------//
// New Worries 
// Story: My Own Wings 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

Sunset and Tricky focused on playing tag and play fighting for the most part within the Walled City, running about here and there and enjoying themselves...though always within sight of the adults.  At first the King and Queen both watched closely, their gazes shifting between Krystal and the children.  However, that ended with Bookface's return.

"<I brought medicine!>" he declared loudly, holding up the bottle.  "<Look at it sparkle!>"

The King moved to guide the guard away to the 'Long Speaker' while the Queen moved up to watch the children beside Krystal.  Krystal stiffened slightly, feeling nervous in the presence of a world's sovereign.  The Queen smiled warmly at her.  "<No need to be so tense,>" she offered warmly.  "<If it helps, don't think of me as a Queen.  Just think of me as another mother, enjoying watching our children play.>"

Krystal managed a shaky smile.  "<That doesn't exactly make me any more comfortable,>" she admitted ruefully.  "<I was recommended to come to see you about Sunset playing with Tricky because social workers came to investigate whether or not Fox and I were fit to be her parents.  Being judged by another mother is more terrifying right now than being judged by a Queen.>"

"<Ah, so that's what you meant by she chose you,>" the Queen murmured thoughtfully.  "<I admit, I had wondered.  I presume it was this Fox who took her in, and you were his mate?>"

Krystal quickly shook her head.  "<No, it wasn't like that.  Fox took her in, yes, but neither he nor his friends knew how to handle her abilities.  They sent out a call asking for help from someone who did know, and I answered.  I taught them how to deal with her power, and stuck around to teach her how to control it...>"

"<And when she called you Mom, you couldn't leave?>" the Queen deduced.  "<You have a good heart,> Krystal."  The Queen made the effort to pronounce Krystal's name in the Cornerian Standard, though it was with a noticeable accent due to the shape of her jaw.  "<But you and Fox are mates now?>"

"<No...>" Krystal admitted ruefully, shooting a glare Sunset's way.  "<Though not for lack of trying...>"

"<I take it your Star Rider has little room for privacy from an inquisitive child?>" the Queen mused in an amused tone.  "<If you like, I or one of the guards can watch the children while you and this Fox find a quiet, romantic spot somewhere?>"

Krystal smiled widely.  "<I would like that...>"  She let her voice trail off as she noticed Sunset paying very close attention.  "Sunset Shimmer..." she began in a chiding tone.

"<Ah, is that what her name is?>" the Queen asked in relief.  "<Well, that is a weight off...>"

"Hmm?" Krystal asked curiously.

"<We try to avoid translating names into different dialects,>" the Queen explained gently.  "<Some meanings are different with different cultures, and with the different tribes of the planet finding different things sacred...it's just asking for trouble.  As such, we use the equivalent from Corner Talk when referring to someone by name, once we know the equivalent...to avoid giving offense.>"

Krystal quickly realized that 'Corner Talk' meant 'Cornerian Standard'.  They barely had words to describe a starship, it would be surprising if they could rationalize another planet to their language.  "<I see...>" she allowed worriedly.  "<And...?>"  She gestured towards Sunset.

"<Hmm...let me see if I can break up the words in your tongue...>" the Queen began carefully.  "Last...Light...Dying...Sun."  She tilted her head thoughtfully.  "<Yes, that sounds about right.>"

Krystal's eyes went wide, as she had been staring right at a relief of a sun carving as the Queen spoke, reminding her that the Earthwalkers were Sun and Moon worshippers.  "<Oh goodness,>" she murmured worriedly.  "<Then you must have thought->"

"<No, no thoughts of armageddon,>" the Queen reassured her.  "<We know by now that the sun does not die when it leaves the sky, but that doesn't change the origin of the word.  Truthfully...it's more that there is a prophecy that speaks of 'The Last Light of a Dying Sun'.>"

"<A prophecy?>" Krystal asked in surprise.  "<Can you tell me?>"

The Queen shook her head back and forth in a wriggling motion, another way they showed amusement.  "<Oh, you don't want to hear about the old superstitions of an ancient culture,>" she offered banally.  "<The only reason we even act like we think it's important is because the more superstitious of our people might latch onto it, and we need to dispute them.  Who ever heard of a vertical lake, and how could one dive out of it anyway?>"

Krystal felt herself tense up.  "<...by any chance, is that because the prophecy speaks of leaping out of a reflection?>"

The Queen turned slowly to meet Krystal's gaze.  "<...there are such vertical lakes?>" she asked worriedly.  "<And she arrived from one?>"

"<They're called> mirrors," Krystal explained, knowing there wasn't a word for it yet.  "<Sunset entered the world by flying out of one and hitting> Fox <in the head.>"

The Queen frowned.  "<This is...troubling.>"  She tilted her head back.  "<Bookface!  Take> Tricky <and> Sunset Shimmer <down to Thorntail Hollow, and let them play in the river and grass, and maybe chase those scarabs The Trader likes so much.  I have something to discuss in private with> Krystal."

"<I'm taking the kids to the Hollow!>" Bookface declared happily.  He gently picked both of them up and set them on his brow, bracing them on his 'eye' horns.  "<Aren't they adorable?>" he asked no one in particular as he marched off on the path to Thorntail Hollow.

Sunset's eyes lit up eagerly with this new experience, clinging to the horn as she gazed around and took everything in.

Krystal watched nervously as Sunset was led away.  "<Do not worry,>" the Queen hastened to assure her.  "<They are safe with Bookface, and the Thorntails are most gentle and are our staunch allies.  She will no more come to harm than would> Tricky."  She turned towards one of the structures off the central island of the Walled City.  "<Come.  There is something I must show you.>"