The heart of the aurora

“T…Takato…” Ruki stammered, staring at the blue pony in front of her. He couldn’t be here. She was in the dark tunnel, with her mother… why was Takato here? And why was everything so light.
“You’re afraid.” Takato said with a soothing voice. “Don’t be.” Ruki blinked, wondering if she had heard correctly. His voice… it wasn’t that long ago that just hearing that would send her into full obedience.

The centre of the breach… is this what it looked like? The large steep walls around her were covered in a rainbow of colors. The floor, which by all means should be nothing but rock, was covered by flowers and grass which slowly moved along with the colors of the Aurora. Looking up, Ruki couldn’t even see the sky, that’s how deep in the earth she was and how bright and blinding the aurora was around her. The only solid thing around her was Takato, so she fixed her eyes on him to avoid getting too overwhelmed.

“Why are you here? This is… this place, where ARE we?” Ruki demanded. This was too insane for words.
“I am here for you, Ruki. After you left… began thinking of you more often than I thought possible.” Takato whispered as he took a step closer to her.
“So… you left?” Ruki whispered. That couldn’t be. After everything they had gone through in ZoroAster, after everything she said…

“I did. I confessed everything to Flora. Well, maybe… maybe it is more correct to say she left me. After she realized my heart no longer belonged to her, she began to question me. In the end, I saw no other option than to tell her the truth… confess everything that had happened between us. Needless to say, she ran off. I can’t even blame her… It’s horrible what we did to her… What I did to her.”

Ruki was speechless. After everything they had talked about and decided… he had done this?
“But why? I don’t understand… why would you do something like this?” Ruki stammered.
“At first I thought it was just a crush and it would pass. But it never passed… and now it’s like you’re the fire and I’m the fly, like I am ever drawn to you and yet coming too close would surely kill me.” Takato confessed, unable to take his eyes off her.

Ruki’s head was spinning. The words she had once longed to hear were finally coming to her. Once, when she still lived in the woods with the Asana Bond, she had wanted to hear him say this so much. So very often she dreamed of him coming to her, admitting he loved her. So often she had dreamed of how he would say it, where, when… but it never happened. And now, here at the end of the world he was telling her.

“I went out to look for you.” Takato continued.
“I sneaked off, only telling my mother that I would go so she could take over from me. I realized I could not take the normal bridge over the breach, so I wandered and ended up at the bridge in the north that collapsed when we crossed it so many years ago. I wandered more north… and here I am.” Takato whispered.

He was close to her now. A few steps closer and Ruki could begin to smell that familiar smell, feel that familiar warmth. The touch she had desired to be hers alone was so close to her… She only had to close her eyes and fall into the dream and it all would come true… but she refused to look away. Her gaze was fixed upon Takato, unable to look anywhere else but at the blue pony in front of her.

“Will you come with me, Ruki?” Takato asked.
“Come with you?” Ruki wondered out loud.
“Come with me. We’ll go back to where we spend our first time together. We’ll go back to the cabin in the forest, if you want. We can stay there. It is mine, after all. It would be like the old days… just you and me.” Takato’s sweet voice filled her ears like music. A dream come true… to go back to those wonderful days.

“You… you’d do that for me?” Ruki asked. “You’d give up everything we worked so hard for, just so you can be with me?”
 The Asana Bond, the battle of the castle, overthrowing Shanjahen… they had worked so hard for that for years. No, not they, everyone had worked hard for that. If she’d agree to Takato’s proposal… Would all of that have been for nothing? Would it all be wasted because Takato would give up his crown only to run away and hide from the world together with her?

“It wouldn’t be wasted, Ruki. Our goal was to expose my father’s crimes to the world. We achieved that, didn’t we? And if it would be me or my younger brothers ruling from now on… well, I don’t think that matters much. They will do a fine job. I just want to be with you… because without you I am lost and I would not be able to rule anyway.” Takato confessed.

Ruki couldn’t deny that was true. Shanjahen was defeated after all… Could it really be true? A life with Takato in the forest, away from everything… it was so tempting, and so close now. She only had to stretch out her leg and she could feel him… touch Takato, go with him and never return, vanish from the face of the earth, leaving all the hardships behind, no longer having to choose right from wrong…

“…Here, things are softer, sweeter… more beautiful.” A voice whispered.
It wasn’t coming from the outside, but rather from some place deep within her. “Ruki, what is wrong?” Takato asked, stopping right in front of her. So close, he was so very close… She only had to take one step and give in and let the dream come true…

“Come with me Ruki. Come with me and leave everything behind. You’ll be happier that way… it’ll be easier.” Takato whispered.
“I guess… I guess that’s true.” Ruki had to admit. It would be easier… hiding in the forest, she would not have to worry about the rest of the world. No more worrying about the stones and the Last Winged One… Just her and Takato, forever.

“…What can it offer you what I can not?” The voice was back, stronger this time. It was so familiar, but Ruki could not remember who it belonged to. The colors of the aurora swirled around her, filling her eyes and clouding up her mind. Only Takato was solid enough to make out from the rest of the Breach. Only him…

“I wish I understood why it made you feel so safe.” The voice… the beautiful light in the dark winter night without a single star… Ruki forced herself to close her eyes, even if it was just for a single moment. And then she saw it. Deep inside her… that wonderful moment where she had wanted to show the beauty of her world to the one person who cared more for her than anyone else had ever done…

“N…No.” Ruki stammered as she opened her eyes again. Takato was still there, right in front of her.
“No? What no, my sweet Ruki? Why do you hesitate?” His voice whispered, sweet and strong and so addicting.
“No… you’re lying.” Ruki said, unable to utter more than a soft whisper.

“Lying? Why? Why would I be lying to you, Ruki?” Takato asked, looking slightly taken aback.
“Because… because…  I don’t know why you are!” Ruki said, firmer and louder this time. It wasn’t true. Whatever Takato was saying to her, whatever he was trying to make her do… it wasn’t true.

“But why?” Takato asked again.
“Because… because… maybe, once, long ago, that was indeed my dream. Maybe once, all I wanted from this world was to run away and hide. Maybe once all I wanted was for you to hold me and keep me safe. Maybe once I used you to run away from the things I did not dare to face. All you said… yes, maybe once they were true… but not anymore.”

Ruki glared at Takato, who was taking a step back. “Ruki, I don’t understand. Wasn’t that once our dream together? To be alone without anyone else?”
“No! My dream was once to be with you, but not to hide it from the world! That was just you, who were a coward and used me while I was so young and innocent and unable to say no! Back then I never realized, but what we had was no such thing as love!”

And then she knew. The voice she heard… it was the voice of truth. The voice of someone who had told her things she had never thought she’d hear… and meant them as well. Someone who had never lied to her and never would; not even to protect her. Someone who, unlike Takato, wanted her to be herself and show the world who she was instead of hiding away behind lies and deceit.

“But Ruki, I…” Takato started, but Ruki would not let him finish.
“No. No more buts. No more lies. No more fake promises and painful memories. I told you in ZoroAster Takato… to forget what had happened between us. But that was wrong. I told you I would also forget, but I promise you now, I will never do that… Because forgetting like that is nothing else but running away again.

No, Takato… I will make you a new promise right here, right now.” Ruki took a step forward, finally finding her strength. Takato cowered back, unsure of what to think or do now.
“I promise you, Takato, that I will not forget what you did to me. Do not worry; I will never tell anyone how you cheated on Flora and how you attempted to steal my heart without giving anything in return.

But I won’t forget. I won’t forget how you so easily found my weakness and exploited it to fulfill your own selfish desires. I won’t forget how you never managed to say no, or how I was unable to resist you. Next time we meet, though, you will meet a new Ruki. I am no longer a little girl lost and running away… I am a princess of the Friendship Lands and I will face my future!”

A familiar feeling took over Ruki’s body. She had felt this before… once before, when she had been so angry at the entire world that it had taken over control and Ruki had not even been aware of what she had been doing. But this time it was different. The powers she felt were familiar now… the strength of her mind which enabled her to control prana in a way not even Takato could.

Takato started shivering, or so Ruki first thought. Only a few moments later did she realize he was shaking… disappearing. The solid form he had held here was dissolving into the light of the Aurora. He didn’t say anything… he didn’t even scream. His solid form… the body she had thought was so real and which she had only a moment ago desired to touch and feel was fading away into the shimmering light of the aurora.

“An illusion…” Ruki gasped as she watched Takato fade away. She trotted forwards, wanting to make sure that he had really not been there, but once she reached the place where Takato had been standing, there was nothing there. No Takato, no fading vision, not even a hoofprint in the grass she was standing on. An illusion… and nothing else. Takato had never been there…. It had all been in her mind. Or had it?

“Hello!” Ruki yelled, unwilling to believe she was all alone. This vision… it had not been a product of her own mind. Why on earth would she suddenly come up with a vision of Takato that had felt so… real? “Hey! I don’t know who you are, or what on earth you are planning to do, but you better show yourself right now!” Ruki was furious. Who dared to play tricks on her mind like this?

In response, the unlikely happened. The grass and flowers beneath her hooves disappeared, getting absorbed by the Aurora just like the vision of Takato had been. Then the colors themselves seemed to fade slightly, allowing her to see the bare stone walls of the breach… and the dark, starless sky so very far above her.

“No one but the True Heir to the High Throne or the Great Goddess Vitalia commands me.” A voice said to her, both inside her mind and echoing off the walls of the breach. The voice was so strong, Ruki took a step backwards. “Very well, Ruki, princess of the Friendship Lands and True Heir to the High Throne… Come and claim what is rightfully yours, so you and your family can give this world a second chance.”