The painted queen, finally freed from her depression by the help of Kaj, Evangeline and the Lady Moon, decided that she needed to return to the goddess' shrine to give her thanks for the wise words that the Moon had bestowed upon her. Doing a final round of the Edge, to be certain she was not needed for the moment, the queen broke past the border of her home and headed off at a canter towards the shrines she knew so well. It was nearing sunset by the time she arrived, only to find her hooves swallowed up by clouds and her body rising from the ground. The queen suddenly whinnied out in a panic, momentarily trying to fight magic that had enclosed her, but the queen had faith in the gods and in time her heart slowed and her eyes widened as she realized where the magic clouds were taking her. And while she was an equine, not necessarily meant for the skies, the queen began to enjoy the feeling of the wind in her mane and the ground growing small beneath her.

The clouds finally rose the queen to the edge of a floating island, stopping near a collection of colorful tents that sent the queen gasping with joy. She did not know what this place was, but she trusted it implicitly and bounded from her cloud carrier onto the island with joy. Adding to her joy, it seemed that the gods had timed this meeting. A very familiar voice called out, seemingly from within one of the tents. “Nasreen!” the queen cried out joyously, quickly approaching the black tent. Though the dark fabric was ominous in the setting sun, the beautiful glass spires gave the queen peace and she entered the tent without hesitation. Besides, if Nasreen was in there, it had to be safe.

“What is this place!?” she called out as she burst through the entrance, trotting up to her friend and attempting to throw her neck around Nasreen's own, as she had several times before. Backing up, she shared a knowing smile with Nasreen, wondering what new sort of magic had fallen upon the pair. Would every meeting of theirs be wrought with strange circumstances and unknown magic? The queen did not know, but she found the mystery entrancing. In the back of her head, she thought of her herd and wondered if any of the rest of them knew of this place. She would have to return to the Edge soon, to divulge the information.

Kahlua