The return of her heart

Her eyes opened slowly. The light instantly made her want to close them again, for it was so bright she almost could not bear it. It was a sensation she had not felt for a long, long time. Locked away in the darkness… Not just her body, but her soul even more so. She felt as if she was awakening from a very, very long sleep. How much time had passed since she last opened her eyes?

She realized she did not even know where she was. Or who she was. Or why she was where she was, or what she had been doing. Slowly she tried to get back on her hoofs, but even that felt strange, like she had to learn how to walk all over again. Taira… was her name. It was the only thing she could hold on to now. Everything else… was simply dark.

So many ponies were there that she did not even recognize. Who were the ones laying in the grass a little further away? And the one close to her who was still unconscious? Her wings were shining brightly still… So large and magnificent. Indeed, the pony was very special… But she could not remember ever seeing her before.

Only the blue pony lightened a spark in her memory. That pony was precious to her… but she did not know why or how. The only one she did recognize was the black pony, standing in the shadow of the trees. The source of darkness, the one that had hurt her, and the one that had made her forget… about her most precious person.

“You!” she roared, and she instantly charged at the pony. In her anger she had forgotten her strength, she had forgotten what she could do, so the black pony had no trouble at all to sweep her off her hoofs into the mud.
“You will not even try!” He roared.
He was angry, so very upset that the door to her heart had been opened. He had closed it… His red eyes, his anger, his satisfaction when he had succeeded… And that had not even been long ago. Yes, she remembered now.

That day, the moment when he had just returned to his rightful state, in the tower that watched over the old kingdom… He had sealed not only her mind but her heart as well. Something he had not done before and something he would not be able to do soon again… it had drained a lot of energy. But he had too much faith in his own strength, and now her heart had returned to her once more. But now that she was of no use to him… What would he do now?

“Taira…” The blue pony whispered. She had not noticed the pony had rushed to her side. She tried to get up, but her legs did not carry her for the moment.
“Don’t worry, Taira. I will protect you. Because you will always be… my older sister. Do you remember?” The blue pony asked.
Her voice was so familiar, so safe… That for a moment she felt as if she could still run and hide. The moment soon passed, however, when she heard the roaring voice of the black pony. He was so upset, so furious, that there was no place in the world where she could possibly hide from him.

 She tried to get up once more and succeeded this time.
“My… sister.” She whispered.
“Yes. Do you remember? Do you remember anything at all?” The blue pony urged while she released a blast of powers herself to keep those of the black pony away.
“No, I… only a few little things. I remember… feelings, emotions, and a few things… but nothing concrete. I am sorry… What is your name?”

“Hikary, but…” The blue pony urged her to run away from him, “You used to call me Rain.”
Rain… Yes, she used to call that pony by that name. They had been here before, to get something. But what?
“Câlin, are you still alright?” Rain yelled.
 Taira did not understand who she was calling to until she suddenly felt the powers of someone young, someone unable to control her own strength, and a split second later she saw the light coming from the little girl hiding inside the bushes. She had wings, too, like the other large pony, but these were so… small, compared to those of the pony lying unconscious in the ground.

“Taira… We need to do something. We need to defeat that black pony. Before he seals us again. Before he murders someone else. Twinkle Star, she… she tried so hard to break your seal. I’m afraid she only succeeded partially because you don’t seem to remember that much, but your heart is free once more. We need you, Taira. To defeat him. Only you can. I think that’s why he sealed you so many times, because he knew you were the biggest threat to him. And that crown…”

Hikary took a crown off her head that Taira had not even noticed she was wearing.
“What’s that?”
“Illuvia… Câlin’s mother created it to defeat him. She thought she would be able to, with this. But he… he forced me to take it from her and kill her. But you have it now… You can use it for what it was created.” Hikary handed the crown back to Taira, but she could do nothing but stare at it. Defeat the black pony, who had kept her in darkness for so long?

“I don’t know if I can… or if I want to.” Taira sighed.
She stared at the black pony who was slowly coming towards them. Taira wondered why he was not walking any faster. Was he charging his energy?
“Why would you not want to? You must at least have some idea of what he did to you. Do you not remember her, Taira? Do you not remember what he took away from you, what he forced us to do?” urged Hikary.

“No… I know he took someone away from me. Someone… my most precious person. But that does not mean I can take away his life… I do not want to be responsible for someone’s death.”
“I never said you should kill him, Taira. Only defeat him. I don’t think you can kill him even if you tried to do so.” Hikary explained.
“But still…” She glanced at the black pony. How could she possibly defeat him? She was somewhere, deep inside, so sure it should not be her to do it. Should someone like him even be defeated?

She had never, ever taken someone’s live. She knew that. She knew he did not want her to do such things and that he had always let Rain take care of murder. And there was a very good reason why even he did not want her to do it. Only when he had succeeded in sealing her heart did he dare to. Why not before? Was he afraid she would refuse and by doing so would regain her own strength?

“You can do it, Taira.” The little girl suddenly said. Taira blinked. How did this girl know her name? “I believe you can. Please. Save us. Save those dear to you, save those dear to the ones you care about. Only you can.” Only then did Taira see the lost tears falling from the girl’s eyes. She seemed so smart, so solid… but in the end she was only a scared little girl. A scared little girl… It triggered something in her memory. Who was that girl? Was it Rain, or perhaps herself? Or maybe… her most precious person?

“Watch out!” Rain yelled as she pushed her to the ground. The blast hit the ground right where Taira had just been standing.
“Run! You too, Câlin!” yelled Rain as she pushed them both away. They were headed for the ponies that were lying in the mud a little farther away. One of them was a unicorn, she could see that even from a distance. One did not seem to have any royal powers at all, but the other… was she the queen?

“Taira…” A soft whisper reached her ears. Someone… The queen was calling her name. In spite of Hikary’s begging, Taira refused to run farther and ran towards the queen, not really knowing why. But she was calling for her, and she should not disobey. She still looked like a graceful queen, even though she was covered in mud and there was blood coming from her nose.

“What… what is it?”
“Help me up… Please.” The queen begged. Taira obeyed, and she did not even wonder why. It took quite some effort to get the queen back on her hoofs, but she succeeded eventually, with help from Hikary who was still able to defend them against attacks from the black one. The little girl had run off somewhere. She could still feel her presence, but she could no longer see her.

“Thank you, Taira…” The queen whispered.
“Can I please… borrow your crown, for a moment.” She asked, and Taira took off her crown and handed it to the queen. In an instant it seemed as if the queen was shining brighter. Her royal powers were being restored somehow. Not completely but more like she was opening her last reserves for one last fight.
“Taira… I…” The queen started, but she did not finish what she was about to say. Her powers were turning into tears now.

The love in the queen’s eyes was something… she had seen it before. Long ago, very long ago, she had seen those exact same eyes looking at her, filled with the same love but with happiness instead of sadness. And later, she had seen that look in the reflection of a pond as well, with a little girl sitting beside her in the grass, surrounded by the beautiful flowers and the dancing butterflies.

“Mo…ther…” She whispered while she refused to blink out of fear to lose it all again.
A dike had broken, and all her memories came floating out of it. Those loving eyes, the warm strong body that would protect her against all harm… The beauty of her country which she was born to protect. But she had left, one dark, starless night… Together with her one year old sister Hikary.

“What happened… Do you remember, mother?”
“He made me remember… to darken the crown he is wearing right now with despair and sadness. You, Taira… the girl born from the prophecies, the strongest queen ever to be, to protect the entire country. My beautiful little girl… We all loved you so. My husband, my mother, and most of all, me… You were three when Hikary was born. Oh, how you enjoyed to have a sister of your own.

But when Hikary had just turned one, and I had just found out I was pregnant again, the darkness came for you. The stars were closed that night, when the creatures came for you. They took you, they took Hikary, and they took everything that could possibly remind me of you. Every single mention of you, of the prophesied child, they took away… All the ancient books. Even your toys, they burned. And when they were done, he did the one thing he had been waiting to do for so long. He sealed every mind that knew of your existence. And he did it so perfect that no one could even trace it, not even Stelline, who is a unicorn. But he lost a lot of strength that night. He had been waiting for it for so long, he had been saving energy for it for so long, and he became quite weak once more afterwards. But he accepted, because you and Hikary were in his power, and he knew his day would soon come. Is that not right, Aras?” Regina yelled her last sentence to the black pony.

He only growled.
“So, you really do remember it all. But I am back to full strength now, Regina. I will seal you all again if I have to, and then you will remember nothing, and the entire royal family will be my slave as I defeat Vitalia!” He laughed.
He actually laughed. He was enjoying this. He enjoyed her mother’s sadness. He enjoyed the deaths he had caused, he enjoyed the horrors he had put Hikary and herself through. He had even enjoyed watching the eruption destroy everything, kill everyone… while she had cried and begged to go and help.

“You will never seal anyone ever again!” Taira roared. Even the black pony was surprised when he felt her strength growing inside.
“You, you who took me away from my family. You who took me away from the place where I was so much needed. The eruption… You may not have caused it, but you sentenced everyone to death my keeping me a prisoner! I was born to help them, I was born to guide my country to a new future and now it has all been destroyed because of YOU!”

She was breathing heavily. Never, ever in her entire life had she been so angry. This pony had not only hurt her, but had hurt so many others by keeping her away from her own destiny and using her for his own plans. But no more.
“Remember this, Aras. Remember everything you have ever done. Because no matter what it may cost me, I will defeat you, and I will set everything straight that you have ever done wrong!”