auroraexpress | Purifying A Dark Heart

Who: Solar Flare, Someone Else, and those who would help
When: Sometime in the near future
Where: Trial Area

[The day was probably a bit worrying for those who wandered in the lounge. Because there was a couch turned completely to ash in front of the television. Considering the fiery Solar Flare whose also been missing, perhaps something of concern.]

[And then there is a call for another trial.]

[When people arrive, a memory plays]

[And when it fades away, everyone will find themselves in what looks to be an underground castle, with cavernous ceilings, but pillars and ornate statues of ponies, and a dias at the other end of the area. Despite the ominous feel of such structures, there is also light. There are crystals, in a rainbow of colors, all littered around the place, growing from the ceiling to the floor, radiating a gentle warmth.]

[On the dias seems to be what looks like a throne, except stretched out like a couch, leaving plenty of room for where Solar Flare is, still in her demon glory, but she isn't awake. And she's looking a little worse for wear, with dark shard piercing through her body, veins of dark energy seeping out of them, but strangest of all is the dark shards floating around her necklace. The one she always wears with her Cutie Mark, held back by the glowing light radiating from it, seeming to hold the dark energy in stasis.]

[Solar Flare is not alone on the throne though. There is what seems to be Twilight Sparkle. Except she's partially transparent, sparkling, and slightly glowing. She has Solar Flare's head in her lap, stroking her hair with concern.]

[She looks up at those who arrive.]

I require assistance to save Sunset Shimmer. Solar Flare.

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And who are you? Part of her, or another being within her? [He has to ask. Even if it probably won't change his decision.]

If she is in such danger, we must balance haste with proper preparation. You know what must be done to save her from Malice?

['Twilight' tilts her head, humming thoughtfully. The sound is harmonious, pretty, and far more than a simple hum should be.] Sunset Shimmer is a part of me. So are her friends, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia. More. I can hear many voices, voices that I can make louder for Sunset Shimmer. I've made your voice louder for her. But not all voices can call to me like Sunset Shimmer can. And they do not hear mine like she can, when she allows herself to listen.

Yes. Solar Flare was rejecting what was her. [At her feet, black flowers begin to grow.] I help Solar Flare with what is her. Solar Flare is meant to hear the voices, to ease pain and discord, that is who she is meant to be, but if she runs from that, if she tries to choose to be something else....

[The flowers begin to wither and die.]

I cannot take the help I give her. So the help becomes something else. It pulls away from the voices that make me, and it twists and corrupts her.

Solar Flare, my Sunset Shimmer, needs to accept the core of herself again. And I believe in doing that, Malice will be purged from her as well. It doesn't like me.

So. You would be... an avatar of Harmony Magic? [Loki has a lot of questions. And some ideas to exploit. But saving Solar, or Sunset, comes first. He can find out more about Harmony Magic later; especially if helping her now helps strengthen Solar's connection to Harmony Magic.]

You do not think I might make her worse, deepen the corruption of Malice and drive her farther from her purpose?

[Another thoughtful, musical hum.] That may be the case. I am not immune to the memory loss. I know what I am, but knowing what I am is different from having the knowledge to put it into words for those who understand the world in a different way than I do.

You wished to save Solar Flare. That is why you endured the trial before, listening to what hints we could offer?

It is. But- [He hesitates before going on.] Brushes with my mind have brought out a momentary darkness in her in the past. I do not wish to harm her any further.

[There is a loooong moment where 'Twilight' stares at him. It may be disquieting, especially for someone like Loki, because it's a look that sees deep, a look like someone can't be deceived.]

What do you think is the core of Sunset Shimmer?

[He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.]

I think she is a helper of all, who specializes in understanding what others feel.

[He opens his eyes again and stares at "Twilight".]

And I strongly suspect that she has fallen from her ideal, her "core", in the past, though she cannot remember it, but she has seen some of the consequences in the memories she has regained.

["Twilight" nods, stroking Solar's hair again.] Few can hear me. Fewer still are ones whose core is what connects them. Most, it is only a part of their personal destiny. [She gestures to her necklace with her Cutie Mark.] Twilight Sparkle. Sunset Shimmer. Both of them, their destiny meant they would always hear me. What they are would be lacking without it.

Sunset Shimmer knew the pain the young one would feel if that cart was not stopped. She wished for that pain to not exist and put her life on the line to make it so. When she did, she had guaranteed her destiny would always be greater then a simple sorcerer of a noble court. She guaranteed she would be one to hear me.

[She looks at Solar with a saddened look.] But she did not fear some vague notions of pain in face of tragedy. She knew the pain herself. Being one who hears me, it means dealing with things bigger than the mundane. Things like Malice, things that would cause great harm.

The path she had taken to me, it meant she would have to understand those who would destroy everything. The power I have granted her is proof of that. It is what she is meant to have. But ponies are soft hearted by nature. [She looks up at Loki.] I do not know what Sunset Shimmer has gone through. I just know it is something that allows her to look at darkness and capable of coming out kind.

Purifying A Dark Heart

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