The air was fresh and warm later that morning as Lena walked down the path that led to the stable with Ivy at her side. Lena had been so busy and overwhelmed with all the changes in her life that she had hardly had a spare moment to visit Mystery, and Ivy had yet to meet her.

"You'll love Myst!" Lena exclaimed excitedly as she practically skipped down the path.

"I'm sure I will," Ivy chuckled. Soon the wooden walls of the stable came into view. Lena took Ivy by the hand and ran the short distance to the stable, and in her excitement she nearly ran into a young woman as she came around the side of the stable, carrying a wooden crate of hay.

"I'm so sorry!" Lena exclaimed as the woman was startled and dropped the crate, its contents cascading over the ground. Lena quickly bent to help her pick it up.

"Don't worry. It's alright," the girl replied. Her straight brown hair was pulled back in several sets of tiny braids that were twisted to tie the rest of her hair back into a ponytail, and her eyes were the rich color of warm honey.

"Ashryn! What's taking you?" Another female voice shouted from inside the stable. As Lena and the brown-haired girl, presumably, Ashryn finished picking up the hay and stood, another woman appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were a pale blue and her hair hung in blonde ringlets around her face and shoulders. She looked between Ashryn and Lena with a raised eyebrow. The blonde girl grabbed the crate from Ashryn and quickly walked back inside.

"Come on! Let's get this over with!"

Ashryn sighed and followed the other girl into the stable. Lena and Ivy followed, and Lena immediately led her mom to Mystery's stall. Several of the pegasi and unicorns came over to watch them as they passed, and Lena smiled at Ivy's amazed expression.

"Myst is the only alicorn here!" Lena said proudly, arriving at the stall and opening the wooden gate. Almost immediately Myst trotted out, nuzzling against Lena. Lena grinned and produced an apple from a bag at her hip, holding it out as Mystery eagerly took it and began chomping on it.

"Huh," The blonde girl tutted from behind Lena. "She is never that friendly to people."

"Yes," Ashryn agreed, joining the other girl. "As far as I've heard she only gets excited to see Lady Enigma, Princess Lena, and Queen Katya."

"I'm Lena," Lena said, gently stroking Myst's neck. Ivy stood beside her gently running a hand through Myst's silky mane. At Lena's statement, Ashryn and the other girl dropped into low bows.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Princess!" Ashryn said, still in a bow.

"An honor, your highness," the other girl intoned.

"Please, stand up. You really don't need to bow to me," Lena said. Even after being in Erinaea for several weeks, people suddenly becoming extremely formal, and bowing to her still seemed extremely foreign. "What are your names?"

"I'm Ashryn. You can call me Ash if you'd like," The brunette replied.

"Jeanette." The blonde girl said, her eyes traveling from Lena to Ivy and narrowing slightly. "Who are you?"

"This is Ivy. She's my mom. Other than Katya. It's complicated..." Lena explained.

"Nice to meet you," Ashryn said, extending a hand to Ivy. Jeanette merely nodded in acknowledgment before returning to distributing hay to the animals.

"If you don't mind my asking, what is it like in the human world?" Ashryn asked after several moments of silence.

"It's different. Worse than Erinaea," Jeanette blurted out, then quickly looked ashamed at her outburst and stammered, "I-I mean... that's what I've heard at least..."

"Well," Lena started, not really sure how to answer. "There are more humans... there are big cities and vehicles and technology. There aren't any unicorns or alicorns, they're just considered mythological creatures there. I'm not a princess there, so coming here has been really strange to get used to. But there are lakes and forests and some of the people there are really kind..." Lena glanced at Ivy as she said this. "There are definitely some parts that are bad, but not all of it."

As she said this, the memory of Aleta and her murder flashed back to her like a knife to the heart and she quickly turned to Myst, blinking away the rain of sadness threatening to show. Ivy took Lena's hand and squeezed gently, her eyes meeting Lena's in a wordless message of understanding. Lena squeezed back.

Ashryn seemed impressed by Lena's description, but an annoyed shout from Jeanette called Ashryn back to her work. Lena grabbed a wooden comb and she and Ivy gently groomed Myst, brushing her mane and tail and brushing dust and dirt from her flanks. Myst closed her eyes as they worked as if relaxing into a massage.

By the time the sun was at its highest point, Lena and Ivy had finished and as they were about to leave the stables, Lena suddenly stopped and turned back to the other two elves.

"Hey, um... if you want to, it's my birthday today. Katya is setting up a celebration at the castle if you want to come? It's okay if you don't want to or you have other things to do. I don't know many people here yet, so I just thought I'd offer..." Lena trailed off awkwardly. Inwardly she sighed. Katya was always so poised and eloquent. She was the perfect example of a queen. Lena dreaded having to address her court when the day came. She never knew what to say or how to say it.

"A party at the palace?" Jeanette asked incredulously.

"We would love to. Happy birthday, Princess!" Ashryn said, elbowing Jeanette in the ribs.

"Yes, of course. The honor would be ours," Jeanette said.

"I guess I'll see you tonight then," Lena replied, waving and turning to walk back to the palace with Ivy.

Lena always knew a lot would change once she turned eighteen. She would never have imagined things would change so much. The shadow of a bird passed over them and Lena looked up to see a black bird soar overhead. For a moment she thought she saw something small and white clutched in its talons, but it flew to the sun and became nothing but a silhouette before it disappeared into the distance.

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your patience with this story! I just finished my first year of college and it has been an insanely crazy semester, definitely not what I had planned or hoped for. I intend to update more regularly now, and I hope you continue to support my writing. I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you think of the new characters? Thank you so much for reading Black Armor, it means a lot!