Death. She had seen it- Hototo giving his life for the good of Helovia, saving the murder sleuths that had found the perpetrator in this all. Gaucho, an innocent, life ruined at the whims of the goddess who ruled her land. So who was more to blame- the Wildfire or the Lady Moon? Or, at that, perhaps the Sunshower herself was to blame, for letting her herd live under the guidance and protection of a conniving woman. Of course, the queen had never found the Lady Moon’s advice to be bad until this moment. Hadn’t the Lady Moon guided Kahlua out of her depression, brought her into the light through her shadowy words, helped pick her head up when the Sunshower only wanted to bury it in the sand?

But, at the same time… hadn’t Kahlua only ever wanted peace for Helovia? No death, no mysteries, no murders, no fear around every corner? She had wanted friendship and happiness. Under the reign of the Lady Moon, it seemed that they could never have that. For not the first time in her life, the queen wanted to run away from the Edge, run south to the Throat where goodness and light prevailed, where warm sands would rise up around her hooves and calm her, leeching the sadness out of her.

She could not. She had to head home. She had to tell Resplendence. She did not want to break her friend’s heart, but the Edge had to know. They had to keep themselves safe, for Kahlua had seen the shadowy woman be banished to the corners of the Edge. She had to keep her herd safe, even though she was afraid.

Slowly, her hooves took her in the direction of her homeland.

Outside of her homeland, the queen stopped, shifting and swaying back and forth, the shattered glass of the wall many yards ahead, the queen not daring to get nearer. Did walking the woods, knowing what the Lady Moon had done, mean that she endorsed such activity? And what… what if the Lady Moon appeared to her? How would the queen respond? She did not want to know the answers to these questions. “Resplendence!” she called out, hoping the pretty woman would hear her. She had many, many friends in the woods, but in times such as these, Kahlua really wanted and needed family- her sister. Dear Resplendence, whom she had befriended so easily and loved so deeply. Perhaps she would know what to do when Kahlua did not. And if not, at least they could mourn together.

There must be something she was missing… The darkness in this lands, the evil the Lady Moon had caused- was there a reason?

@[Resplendence]