On her way back from the Veins of the Gods, the queen had been given ample time to consider her quest. Find two unicorns- one racist, one not. Find two horses- same requirements. On the outside, the task given to her seemed simple. All she had to do was find some horses and speak to them, but the queen knew it would not be so simple. The quest played to her very real fears. Face a racist unicorn and speak about their beliefs with them? She shuddered to her very bones to think of it. How would she be able to speak to one without getting her very throat pierced?

No, the unicorns would not be easy. Nor the racist equine. She didn't even know where to find one. The non-racist equine on the other hand... she lived with plenty. Peace-seeking friends, those who she could speak to about their philosophy, those who would agree with her and nod their heads, those who would tell her she was right. Why? Because she was queen now, because she led them and they were expected to agree with her? She sighed. Even simple, daft Kahlua could imagine that such a conversation would not be sufficient for the gods. So who then? She shuddered again as she thought the name, but she knew which of her flock she had to speak to.

As she crossed the crumbled remains of the glass wall, still to be removed from the borders of their land, the queen took a deep breath and looked around. Why was she afraid of her own herd member? Was it because Eva was not afraid to stand up to her, to tell her she was being terrible, to make her feel small when she was acting her worst? All of her best friends were exactly the opposite. And that was why Kahlua was afraid. Because she could not trust Eva to build her up and make her feel good about herself, because she could trust Eva to say the very honest truth when telling the truth was hard to do. She could trust Eva to speak her mind despite any consequences, and that was frightening to the queen. But the queen needed this magic even more than she needed to avoid her fears. Without this magic she could not save Helovia.

So the Sunshower did what she had to do- she took a deep breath, and then she whinnied. “Eva!” All she had left to do then was to wait. Watch and wait and hope that she would know how to talk philosophy when the time came.

@[Evangeline]