My dear cousin,

Your letter has found me well, though quite bored. Being Queen is far more boring than people think.

I was quite schooled to hear about the disturbance, as the ruling Council had promised to tell of anything wrong that could affect Eldoria.

I searched the castle, and I think I found the answer to why the monster awoke. Apparently, if left alone, Faire magic can morph into Foule.

And the only Faire magic left was-

"Aunties book," Katherine whispered as she read.

My mother's book. I also looked up this monster of which you spoke and it seems there is a way to defeat it, though we need alicorns. We're in luck since we have access to them.

I am traveling to help you, I should arrive soon.

Your highness,
Queen Sunny of Eldoria

Katherine stared at the letter, feeling guilty that they had false hope. How were they to defeat the monster without the alicorns? She'd lost the only contact point to them.

And they couldn't defeat it like they had Lord Tamish, as Dewdrop had been the one to channel the magic outward.

But maybe...

An idea started forming in Katherine's head, and she rushed outside to try to shape it.

•••

Meanwhile, Sunny quickly postponed her meeting and saddled a horse, packing a few belongings, though not much so as to travel faster. She was going to ride like the wind across the border, a far better alternative to her original walking and running escape.

She pressed her heels to the horses sides and rode off.

"Goodbye!" She called back, waving one hand behind her.

Then she turned away and pushed the horse to a marching pace that it could keep up for a while, hopefully arriving in Neolan soon.

Three days passed as Sunny rode, only stopping to eat or to rest her horse. Finally, she pulled the reigns as her horse rounded a bend, revealing the village where Katherine lived.

•••

Katherine heard the approaching hoofbeats and jumped up, stumbling towards them as the ground shook again.

"Sunny!" She called, breaking into a run.

"Hello cousin!" Sunny called, dismounting once she got closer. "I see what you mean, this is a big proble-"

The ground lurched again, throwing them off balance. Sunny caught Katherine and the both fell against the horse, who managed to keep them upright.

"Sunny, I know how to put the beast back to sleep!" Katherine said excitedly, whipping out a small stick.

"Katherine, I don't think that's gonna-" Sunny started.

"Watch!" Katherine interrupted. She held the stick up, muttering something under her breath, and the tip of the stick began to shine.

Sunny sighed. "A bit of light isn't gonna help stop it."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Not the light bit! Can't you see!? I'm working Faire magic! That means we can put it to sleep!"

With that, Sunny's weary brain grasped the gravity of the news, and she squealed in a most unroyal way. "Yes! We must go soon though-" the ground shook again, "it seems we don't have much time!"

"Follow me!" Katherine shouted, taking off towards the village stables. "Your horse looks tired, and it's a long walk, so we might as well ride!"

Sunny followed, leading her tired horse and swapping it for a short chestnut.

Katherine and Sunny mounted with supplies from various close buildings in hand and rode off towards the chasm, trusting their horses to keep their footing.

They reached the chasm and dismounted, their horses panting slightly.

"Well," Katherine said with a gulp. "This is it I guess."

"Yep," Sunny said breathlessly, staring at the gaping hole in the ground. "I see why they call it 'great'"

Katherine grabbed Sunny's arm, and without telling her anything flung them both over the edge of the chasm.

"Please work," she muttered, as Sunny screamed.

She muttered something and just as they were about to hit the bottom, they screeched to a halt. Quite literally, as Sunny screeched as they stopped.

"Never..." she said breathlessly. "Do that again."

Katherine nodded wordlessly, then held up the stick and lit it up, casting a bright glow that caused them to shield their eyes.

"Let's go," she whispered, creeping forward with Sunny following.

And so they advanced, the ground shaking more frequently and harder as they progressed, until eventually they made it to the point where Thunder and Katherine had had their showdown.

And on cue, a large and slimy appendage reached out, a ferocious roar following. The light cast by Katherine's magic was larger than Thunder's horn light, and they seemed to be dealing with a large creature with six legs, all very slimy.

They screeched in terror, and Sunny scrambled backwards while Katherine reached within herself like the last few times she'd done magic.

"Dormir!" She shouted. "Dormir dormir dormir! Sunny, help me!"

And si they shouted together, but to no avail. The monster was nowhere near sleepy, and was just getting more mad with every word.

"It's not working!" Sunny shouted as she dodged an arm.

"I don't know why!" Katherine shouted back. "Unless..." she muttered. "Cover me!"

Katherine dove behind a rock as Sunny led the beast away, shouting, "Come on you great- um- hairy monster! Come and get me!"

Meanwhile, Katherine closed her eyes and imagined herself reaching out into the rock around them, searching for something.

Finally, she found it, and jumping up, she threw herself at the beast as she screamed, "DORMIR!!!"

Time seemed to freeze as the beast slumped, then fell. Sunny dove out of the way just in time as a leg came crashing down where she'd been standing.

"We did it," she whispered, then again, louder. "We did it! Katherine, we did it! You did it! But how?"

"I..." Katherine began, but the words got clogged in her throat. "I'll tell you when we get back up."

And with that, she grabbed Sunny's hand and said, "gravité inversée", willing them upwards and out of the chasm to their horses.

"So, how did you do it?" Sunny pressed once they'd ridden back to the village and Sunny was preparing to leave.

"I..." Katherine began, then pressed onward. "I used Foule Magic!" She said in a rush. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Sunny held Katherine's gaze. "No. It means you did the right thing. I think the only way to put the monster to sleep was to use what woke it up. You'll never be a bad person."

Katherine sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Sunny bent down and kissed Katherine on the forehead before swinging up and over the saddle. "Goodbye! I suspect I'll see you soon!"

And she rode off, Katherine waving after her.

"Goodbye," she whispered, then turned to go inside to where her mother and brother were waiting.

•~<| The End |>~•