And that’s being Generous (Hinoiri Kirara)
| And that’s being Generous (Hinoiri Kirara) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 30 November 2023 |
| Location: | Dusk zone |
| Synopsis: | Memory's of Hinoiri's fourth 'special' lesson flash through her mind after she makes a few... unwise... decisions in her quest for power. Leaving her with an important question... How much is enough? And helping her come up with a new plan, Project Eclipse. That's right, Eclipse is HER word and how DARE someone else use it! |
| Cast of Characters: | Hinoiri Kirara |
== Another world, long ago ==
Almost done. Hinoiri licked her lips as she, finally, finished the last lines on her report. She’d stayed up late for the last four nights, but her research was perfect. The report was nearly fifteen pages thick, single spaced, both pages. For a three page minimum. Heh. That would teach her.
‘Don’t you think mixing pyromancy and geomancy is a little… advanced for someone of your age? Shouldn’t you do something a little… easier?’
Easier? EASIER? Easier was for OTHER ponies. She was the student of the princess. She didn’t GET to take the easy route. Besides, she knew the only reason the teacher was at all saying that because she messed up ONE little arcane circle. ONE!
So stupid stupid STUPID. Rookie mistake. Right angles NEVER went after dual lines like that EXCEPT when done for HYDROMANCY. She could handle this. She just… needed…
Now that the report was done, Hinoiri was aware of how tired she was. Her bed never looked so inviting. Slowly she got to her hooves and--
Knock knock.
“Go away,” Hinoiri said.
“Hinoiri?” Sora’s voice came from the other side of the door.
Hinoiri froze in place. SORA?! HERE?! Sora NEVER came to her room. EVER! Why? Had her accomplishments finally earned the acknowledgement of her mentor? Was it her recent report on the many uses of diamond powder in hydromancy? Oh, she didn’t know, she didn’t CARE! Her mentor had come to see her, personally, the one who lifted the heavens to the skies and ruled all of Kirakirafantastica that mattered was HERE, to see HER! The drowsiness faded and she galloped to the door, yanking it open. “Sovereign Sora?”
“May I come in?” Sora asked.
And there she was. The alicorn. Standing in the doorway. Waiting for permission to enter the room as if this school wasn’t hers.
“Yes, please!” Hinoiri said, almost preening. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Well…” Sora said softly. “You haven’t been reading your book.”
“My… book?” Hinoiri asked before glancing around. There it was. Resting on the bookcase. But it wasn’t vibrating or anything. So it wasn’t like there were any new messages from--
Oh! Shoot, she’d turned that off the other day, when she’d been doing a cram session. She dashed over to it, pulling it open before cringing. Ohhhh, there were a lot of messages written in it, messages sent by her teacher. “I-I’m so sorry, your highness. I didn’t mean to--”
“It’s quite alright,” Sora said. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You never came to your special lessons.”
“O-oh! That was tonight, wasn’t it?” Hinoiri asked sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I just got so caught up in schoolwork.”
Sora gave a soft sigh. “No, Hinoiri. It was two days ago.”
Hinoiri went entirely still for a moment. She’d… missed their meeting? Oh. Oh dear. It… well. No. It’d be fine. Because she was ALWAYS prepared. More importantly, she already knew everything she was going to be taught. She rifled through her reports before pulling out a small stack of papers and offering them to the alicorn, a prideful smile on her lips. “Here!”
“What’s… this?” Sora asked, slowly taking the papers. “Wait…”
“I read ahead,” Hinoiri said with a smirk. “Generosity, correct? Then comes laughter.”
“You read ahead?” Sora asked.
Hinoiri felt that small niggling of doubt, but shoved it aside. She’d expected her mentor to seem more excited by this. “Exactly! I mean, loyalty, honesty, kindness. It didn’t take me long to figure out the next two were going to generosity and laughter. The most difficult part and extrapolating what the sixth was supposed to be. Since there’s a lot of different theories on it, but since apparently it bonds the others in some way I’m guessing it’s understanding them, right? So empathy. Am I right?”
“Right? No, it’s not empathy,” Sora said, staring at the papers for a few moments. She began to rifle through them and, slowly, her eyes narrowed. “What is this? You think… generosity is a waste?”
“I mean, yes,” Hinoiri said. “Frankly, kindness and generosity are way too similar. Kindness is about helping others, even when they don’t deserve it. Isn’t that what generosity is, too?”
“Well, there is admittedly some overlap, but--”
“And frankly, loyalty also seems like a terrible one in the group,” Hinoiri said. “So, what, you’re supposed to be kind to people. But isn’t loyalty just being kind to the people who are kind to you? It’s a bit transactional and THAT’S being generous.”
“Transactional?!” Sora asked, her eyes going wide.
“Exactly, you’ll find it all on my report,” Hinoiri said. “Now there is no more reason for either of us to waste our time on those boring friendship lessons. I’m just grateful I figured this all out before we got to laughter. Talk about a stupid element.”
“Stupid?!” Sora asked.
“I mean, what good does laughter do anypony?” Hinoiri asked. “I’ve never even heard you laugh, let alone make a joke. I think you’ll find, once you read my report, I am ready.”
Sora went entirely still, taking a slow, deep breath. “Ready? For?”
“The next lesson,” Hinoiri said. “Obviously. I mean, you’ve been training me for something, right? Now we can skip these friendship lessons and move onto something worth our time.”
“Worth our time?” Sora asked. “Hinoiri, friendship is ALWAYS worth your time.”
“The concepts are fine,” Hinoiri said, rolling her eyes. “But they aren’t really good. I won’t ever need anypony else, I can handle it all on my own. I’m ready to continue on.”
Sora took a slow, deep breath before looking at the report. Her eyes narrowed on the papers…
Finally, she threw them in the trash. “Hinoiri, I think you were right about one thing. The sixth is that spark, that willingness and desire to do all of them. It’s magic, in a sense. But I do need to move you onto a different lesson. I think it’s time you learn about being humble.”
Hinoiri groaned, but gave a nod. Even if she did yawn a little bit.
When the door finally shut, Hinoiri wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to sleep again. The lesson had been soooooo boring. It was only by asking a few, rather pointed, questions that she had remained awake at the time. She knew they’d annoyed Sora, but she’d had to find entertainment in some way. These lessons weren’t important, she wanted to move onto whatever came next.
But the response she had gotten near the end echoed through her mind. Over and over and over.
“Every time you speak of deserving something without putting in the effort it just proves to me how far away you are from being ready,” Sora had said.
That one sentence had shut down any words Hinoiri could have said. She’d wanted to yell, to scream, to argue, to fight. But…
… But it wasn’t enough.
Now that her mentor was gone, she glanced towards the report in the garbage. Why… wasn’t… she… enough? How much did she need to do? How many more sacrifices did she have to make? She was top of her grade by leaps and bounds. She didn’t just get perfect scores, she shattered the limits. She threw off every curve, ruined every average, had managed to give students twice her age breakdowns when they tried to keep up.
… How much more effort did she need to put in? Did… even Sora think she was lazy? Her horn glowed and she picked up the paper from earlier that she had been so proud of. She’d finished it nearly two weeks in advance…
…
But it wasn’t enough. This would get her an A. But an A wasn’t good enough. She couldn’t just be perfect. She had to be so, so, so much more than perfect. She crawled out of her bed and made her way towards the desk, sitting at it before tossing the paper in the trash.
Hinoiri would show effort. She’d show Sora that she WAS worthy. She WAS ready.
== Later, Riventon’s lab ==
Hinoiri laid on her stomach, hands clutching her head. Why. Why did she think it was a good idea? “Y-you better have g-gotten records of… ugh… t-that,” she said to the empty lab.
Absorb a witch’s familiar. Yes, it was impressive that she could do it. But it wasn’t wise. It hurt. Every moment she was like that had been miserable…
…
But she had been so, so powerful for a moment. She had seen all of reality. All of existence. She had known the cereal of the cosmos and devoured it freely.
It tasted purple.
Imagine if she had managed to devour not just a familiar, but a witch entirely. What power would she have been granted? Would it be enough? Could she…
…
Just the mere thought of such a thing made her whimper and curl up a little more. It hurrrrrrrt. She could feel colors and taste sound and hear emotions. She’d thrown up a box of cheerios earlier. Not cheerios the cereal, but a full, unaltered box. It wasn’t even wet.
Maybe trying to absorb a witch was a bad idea. It--
…
But… if… she had to…
No cost was too high. Even if she shouldn’t do it… if it was the only way… she couldn’t block off any avenue. No matter how miserable it made her, she WOULD become the ruler she was always meant to be. No matter how much she had to suffer. No matter how miserable it made her. Even if everybody hated her for it. She didn’t care if everyone remembered her as the bad guy here. She’d become who she was meant to be. Destined to be.
…
But she was going to call plan ‘Absorb a witch’ the LAST plan.
== Even later, the Dusk Zone ==
Sunbreaker collapsed in the dusk zone. She didn’t have to look strong anymore, she didn’t have to seem unstoppable. Hematite wasn’t here. He wouldn’t see. Neither would that little gremlin of his.
It hurt. It hurt it hurt ithurtithurtithurt--
Sunbreaker tried to control it, to contain it. She was strong enough. She had the power. She was a future alicorn. She WAS NOT weak. She was strong. She was powerful. She was worthy. She--
She released the dark energy she had taken from Himeko. Expelling it in an explosive blast that flattened the terrain around her, before she collapsed to her side, rolling onto her back. She panted with exertion, body drenched in sweat. “I-I’m sorry… I’m so… so sorry…” Sunbreaker said through her sobs, tears going down her face.
Sora would have been so disappointed in her, seeing her so weak. Sunbreaker knew it. What did she have to do? All she did was whine? All she did was COMPLAIN? Hematite knew nothing. He knew NOTHING! If he knew just how hard she was fighting, how much she was holding back, he’d keep his stupid comments to himself.
But she was better than them. She was stronger than all of them. They lashed out and hurt because, unlike her, they couldn’t control themselves. If they wielded her flames they would have caused so much destruction. THAT was why she was so special. Because she didn’t just have power, she had power enough to control the flames. She destroyed only what she wanted. Only what she needed.
Strong. She was strong. She had to be strong. She would always be strong. Strong strong strong strong strong strong.
So what if she was boring? She didn’t care what he thought. So what if they hurt her and saw her as dangerous? She’d survive. So what if everybody hated her and thought she was useless? Valueless? In the end, none of it would matter. She knew the truth.
She wielded her fires when no others could. She held the darkness within her and didn’t let it take from her. She…
Sunbreaker followed her rules. So long as she followed her rules, so long as she kept her eyes on those, so long as she made herself truly unbendable in that, it wouldn’t matter what she did. She would wield the darkness. She would CONTROL it. She was powerful. She was strong.
“I’m sorry…” Sunbreaker whispered again.
… Had turning that child, an employee, into a youma broken her rules? Had it…
No. No. It was a mistake. An accident. It wasn’t her fault. If Himeko had been wearing an Obsidian jacket or something, her familiar would never have targeted her. If this was anyone’s fault, it was Hematite’s. He could have made sure she was safe. Besides, one of them had shot out Sunbreaker’s heart when she was a civilian, she never got mad about it.
Her pure heart. She slowly lifted a hand to her chest before looking up at the dusk zone’s moon, high overhead.
Yes. She had a pure heart. She had a dedicated heart. One that would never, could never, be broken. No matter what they said about her, thought about her. No matter what they did to her… she would know the truth. So long as she did, so long as she kept to what she knew to be real, to be the truth, it wouldn’t matter. If this entire world hated her, well… oh well.
One day she’d return home. She’d sacrifice as much of herself as she had to to meet her destiny. Endure any pain. Endure any suffering. And…
And…
Once more there was that gnawing doubt in her mind. She still had a debt to repay. Sailor Moon… she… owed Sailor Moon for saving her. She had to make that right, before she could…
…
Sunbreaker stared up at the moon above.
There was a Sailor Moon. Was there a Sailor Sun?
Sunbreaker began to cackle.
It wouldn’t be easy, but if anyone could do it, she could. How had she missed it for so long? The moon was just a reflection of the sun, after all. She was more powerful than any of them… she just had to be ready. But she’d need power, first. She’d need knowledge.
She’d need to know about earth’s leylines. And she knew just how to get that information…
She snapped her fingers and forms from Obsidian’s offices formed in front of her. She’d need a name. Something… flashy. Something ominous. Something to get… attention.
Slowly a smile formed on her lips. It was petty, but it was a much better use for that name than anything that utter HACK Hawkmoth used it for.
She emblazoned the top of the forms with two words.
Project Eclipse.
