As she worked aboard the Endeavor, Arsha kept thinking about what Keshnakh said. It was late during the night after she got ready for bed that her mind raced about her non royal lovers. Falnii, Lardeth, and Foresna left the bathroom in their nightwear and spotted Arsha. “…Foxy?” asked Lardeth. Arsha snapped out of her thoughts.
“Yes?” she asked.
“Arsha, you got that look again,” remarked Foresna.
“…That look?”
“The look you get when you have something on your mind,” explained Falnii. Arsha sighed.
“I need to ask you all something,” she explained. “Not just you three, but Malnar and Gorfanth too.” She headed over to the comms. “Bridge, get me the Belsnath Citadel, preferably the Under-Queen herself.”
“Will do,” answered the night Communications Officer. She had to wait a few minutes before a response came through.
“…llo?” mumbled Malnar’s voice.
“Hey, Bonfire,” said Arsha.
“Foxy!” cheered Malnar, waking up almost instantly. It then sounded like she shouted away from the comms. “Hey! Hooves! Get over here! Arsha’s calling!”
“Arsha?!” called Gorfanth’s distant voice. His hooves could be heard getting closer. “Hey! Foxy!” he said when he was near the comms. “How are things?!”
“Gorfanth, Foresna, Falnii,” said Arsha, “I need to ask you three something. Do you feel overshadowed?” Though she couldn’t see Malnar and Gorfanth’s faces, she could tell that everyone was goggling at her.
“What brought this on?” asked Gorfanth.
“I think I can provide the context,” remarked Falnii. “The four of us attended a masquerade ball with a bit of a play in the middle of it.”
“Wait, even Foresna?!” chuckled Malnar. “Was this the Fae’s Adventure Masquerade? He must have spent the whole night complaining how he couldn’t find you three!
“Actually, I found them right off the bat,” replied Foresna.
“I was the hero fighting against two villains,” continued Falnii, “and Keshnakh mentioned that Foresna, Gorfanth, and I weren’t as talked about as you, Arsha, and Lardeth.”
“So, I need to know, do you feel like the three of us are overshadowing you?” asked Arsha. “I mean, you fought as hard as us.”
“Arsha, we’re remembered where it matters,” replied Falnii.
“Our friends, you, Lardeth, Malnar, our families, our homes,” said Foresna, “you’ve been singing our praises.”
“And our immediate social circles are making sure,” continued Gorfanth, “that we’re immortalized in some fashion, and it doesn’t need to be as grand as yours. I mean, the most extravagant immortalization I got was my portrait. …Speaking of which, you should be getting a print of it and Malnar’s portrait, as well as closeups of us soon.”
“Arsha, we care that you, Lardeth, and Malnar care about us, not a few high class mucky-mucks,” assured Foresna.
“We still want to spend the rest of our lives with you three,” said Falnii. Arsha smiled.
“Thanks, you guys,” she said. “I guess that part of me hasn’t changed.”
“Nor would we want it to,” replied Malnar. “That’s one of the reasons we all love you.” The conversation then went to more pleasant topics as everyone decided to update one another on what was going on. It lasted a good hour before they all had to go to bed. Once the call ended, Arsha went to sleep feeling much better about all her lovers.
A few days later, Arsha and Lardeth were asked to join Galnyar in seeing Rellmeer and her harem off. They were on a thick branch that was connected to another in a fashion that seemed familiar to Arsha, but she couldn’t place it. “It’s gonna be weird not calling you an Empress,” Arsha muttered to Rellmeer.
“I’m sure you can adapt to it,” assured Rellmeer. “I must thank you for joining me in seeing me off.”
“It’s our pleasure, Lady Rellmeer,” replied Lardeth. “I wish you and your girls well in your retirement and-” His wishes were interrupted by a noise. “…Arsha, do you…?”
“I think I do,” replied Arsha. “What is that? An engine puffing?” A whistle then blew. “That’s an engines whistle!”
“Where is it…over there!” Lardeth pointed at the branch connected to theirs. A steam engine Mechanica man was coming! It looked proportional to a Standard Gauge one!
“A train?!” yelped Arsha. “When did you guys make a train?!”
“About a month ago,” explained Rellmeer. “When I was running the Republic, I had commissioned a train to be built for my family. Right now, the only line built runs from the Capital Tree to my private palace.”
“And after the ball,” continued Galnyar, “I proposed that we create our own railways. Right now, we have one gauge of train, Fae Standard, but we’ve got two smaller gauges and two larger ones being planned, ready to connect all areas of the Drelda Forest. That’s the other reason why Realmfleet’s here.”
“We need the techniques and training to construct our railways,” Felfar went on. “Stations, rolling stock, engines, giving some of said engines life, rail lines, we need to learn. I understand you’re quite the railfan.”
“Oh, I am, indeed!” replied Arsha. “And if there’s anything I don’t know, I know who to ask!” The new Fae Standard engine then stopped in front of them.
“Ready to go, Lady Rellmeer?” he asked.
“I am, indeed,” replied Rellmeer.
“We’ll help with the bags,” offered Lardeth.
“There’s a lot,” warned Felfar.
“We can handle it!” assured Arsha. The conductor and porter stepped out of the coaches and attended to the bags with Arsha, Galnyar, and Lardeth helping them. As the engine went around to the other end of his train, Rellmeer and her harem boarded the coaches with Rellmeer and Felfar sitting next to one another at the coach behind the engine. The porters went back inside the coaches and the conductor blew his whistle and waved his flag. The engine blew his whistle and the train set off with Rellmeer and her harem waving goodbye to Arsha, Lardeth, and Galnyar.
“I can see why you’re a railfan,” chuckled Galnyar once everyone stopped waving. “There’s a certain magic about them, one that can’t be fully accessed unless you see one for yourself.”
“Or ride one,” chuckled Arsha. “Now, whatever help you need, I’m your gal!”
“I knew I could count on your help!” said Galnyar. “It’s time to bring the Fae Republic into a new era of transportation!”
