Wings

"There you are!" A voice said from behind Mariposa, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned and saw Talayla flying towards her. "I thought I lost another visitor on tour! I'll never live that down." Talayla added the last part under her breath. "Anywho... Let's show you to your room!"

Talayla flew off towards a different part of the palace. Mariposa started to follow her but slowed down after she didn't see Zee with her. "Zee! Come on!"

Zee looked at her, then back at the window, hesitated for a second, then followed Mariposa and Talayla.

Talayla didn't say anything to Mariposa, and she was okay with that. Her mind was drifting back to Catania.

And the moment it did was the moment the butterflies came back.

Mariposa gripped her bag tighter, a light blush dusting her cheeks. She didn't understand why she was feeling this way. After all, she did meet the girl a moment ago. But at the same time, she felt like she had known Catania for a long time. Lifetimes, even.

Maybe it was her dazzling smile or her bright blue eyes that looked like a piece of the sky-

Mariposa cut herself off, shaking her head to dismiss the thought. She shouldn't be thinking like that. Catania might not even be her soulmate. And to add on top of it, she was a crystal fairy. Although she was friendly to Mariposa, Catania probably wouldn't want to be with a butterfly fairy. Mariposa was reading too much into her kindness.

Talayla and Mariposa flew down and into a building, presumably where Mariposa was going to be staying. They continued down a hall, then landed outside of a door at the very end, with Zee making faces in almost every crystal that they passed.

Talayla out her hands on the door handles. "And now..." She opened them with a flourish. "Ta-Da!"

Mariposa's jaw and bag dropped as she looked at her room. "Uh... Wow!" She said, trying to fake joy at seeing her room.

It looked like the darkest parts of Fairytopia were combined into one room. With twisty, thorny plants everywhere, very poisonous looking flowers, tall, scraggly trees, and even a few wooden creatures set up to look like predators.

Zee started to rant about how disgusting and scary it looked while flying around. 

"I decorated it myself!" Talayla stated, seemingly happy at Mariposa's reaction. 

"Really... Interesting." Mariposa replied a bit nervously as she ducked under a spikey wooden creature.

"I based it on everything that we crystal fairies know about butterfly fairies."

"That was," Mariposa pricked her finger on one of the thorns. "Thoughtful..."

"Do the trees in Flutterfield really come alive, snatch the fairies from mid-air, and devour them?" Talayla asked, clasping her hands together in excitement.

Mariposa turned around in shock, her eyes going wide. "What?! No!" She leaned away from the trees and eyed them wearily. "These don't do that, do they?"

Talayla put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Nah, I couldn't figure out how to make it work."

Zee sighed in relief from above them, settling down on a branch in between the more massive thorns. Only to fly up when something sharp poked her.

"I did put in hidden thorns, though!" Talayla said with a giggle and a big smile on her face.

Mariposa gave her a nervous laugh in return. "Just like home!" Zee growled at the plants around her, but then yelped and quickly followed them once she realized that they moved away.

Talayla cleared her throat. "And now, it is my extreme pleasure to invite you to meet his royal highness King Regellius and the royal Princess Catania!" She declared with exaggerated poses. Mariposa tried to hide the fact that she perked up at Catania's name. Talayla then looked at Mariposa directly. "Unless you want to stay here and freshen up. You know, where it's familiar." 

"No! Uh-" Mariposa stammered for a response, not wanting to be in her room longer than necessary. "We would be honored to meet the King and Princess." Zee laughed anxiously and nodded in agreement.

Talayla nodded and led her out of the room and towards the throne room, flying once they were entirely into the hallway.

Mariposa got lost in her thoughts again as they flew. Catania. She had heard the name before but didn't dare hope that Princess Catania was the same Catania that she had met before. What if she was visiting and just so happened to have the same name as the Princess? Or, even worse, she was the Princess, and she only talked to Mariposa as some sort of test to see if she know who the royal family of Shimmervale was and she failed?

Before her thoughts could spiral anymore, they arrived at two, big, regal-looking doors.

Talayla landed and looked at Mariposa. "Ready to meet the king?"

"I think so," Mariposa replied. She wasn't ready in the slightest, but it was now or never.

Talayla pushed open the doors, and they flew in. "Please welcome, Mariposa, royal Ambassador from Flutterfield!" She announced.

As they neared the two people sitting on the thrones, Mariposa kept her gaze focused on the King.

"I introduce King Regellius and Princess Catania of Shimmervale!" Talayla said as they landed in front of the royal family.

Mariposa bowed to them and finally looked over at the Princess, and had to do a double-take. 

It was the same girl from before, complete with the blue puffball and pegasus next to her.

Mariposa perked up when she saw Catania, a wide grin taking over her face, and all other thoughts instantly left her head, being replaced instead by sky blue eyes.

So, she said and did the first thing that came to her mind. She smiled, waved, and said, "Hey!"

Catania waved back and smiled at her, and Mariposa felt her heart swell. But before Catania could say anything, the King beat her to it. 

"Hey? Is that how you address the Princess of Shimmervale?" He asked, offense clear in his voice. 

Mariposa's smile disappeared, being replaced by fear. She shook her head quickly. "No, I- Uh-" She looked around, desperately trying to think of something to say. 

"I believe in Flutterfield, it's a term of deep respect," Catania said quickly, saving Mariposa from an embarrassing response. Catania smiled at Mariposa again. "Isn't that right?"

"uh- Yes." Mariposa gave Catania a thankful look, before turning back to the King. "Yes, it is." Mariposa cleared her throat and bowed away, waving at the King. "Hey, your Majesties."

Catania was still smiling at her. "Hey." She said, waving. Mariposa felt her face growing warm, and she had to look away from Catania to conceal her blush. 

King Regellius coughed, then awkwardly said, "Hey," back with a small wave. 

Zee flew up to the King. "Hey." She said. But when Anu growled at her, she turned to him and growled back.

The King leaned back slightly. "Is that thing growling at me?" He asked, a bit nervously.

Catania, once again, came to the rescue. "A beastly 'How are you' in Flutterfield."

The King nodded, "I see." He said, turning back to Zee, and growling back at her. Zee looked shocked at first, then giggled, made a coo-coo sound, and flew back to Mariposa.

"Clearly, I have much to learn about butterfly fairy customs." The King said, addressing Mariposa again. 

Mariposa didn't reply; she just smiled sheepishly. 

"Let's repair to the terrace for tea." The King said, getting off of his throne, and helping Catania up off of hers. He walked her over to the pegasus, where she sat down in the saddle. He then walked over to Mariposa and held out his arm to take. "Madame Ambassador." 

Mariposa stood his arm, and they flew out towards the terrace. 

Catania smiled at them. "Come on, Sophie." She said. Sophie whinnied and took off after them.

Mariposa glanced back at them out of the corner of her eye, smiling again when Catania waved at her. 

Mariposa looked straight ahead quickly, hoping quietly to herself that she wasn't blushing again. She felt the butterflies return, but this time, she didn't mind as much. 

She just hoped that tea went as well as meeting the royal family did.

She also hoped that she could get to know Catania better, for, you know, Ambassador reasons.