Forgiiiive myyy wandering eye; I cannot explain it, I cannot contain it...

[notquitedracula]

Who: Soma and very much open to anyone and anything
What: A certain bat pony starts poking his muzzle around; hijinks may ensue
Where: Ponyville, aaaall over the place
When: A couple days after this
Warnings: None yet, depends on who joins in and stuff. Also I have no idea how this place is actually laid out, so... yeah, please take that into account. XD

Soma was really enjoying this world, which was something he'd never expected. From weather-making lessons with one of its rulers, to soaring among the clouds without worrying about being attacked (okay, mostly without worrying), to being able to put all the soul-searching crap on a back burner and just be himself for a while, it was all very relaxing.

It was also, to some extent, a lie.

This world, like the others, was not real; that much was evident from the way it looped around on itself. They were, beyond a shadow of a doubt, still in the dream world. Which meant, if the previous iterations were anything to judge by, there was a keyhole hidden around here somewhere.

Problem was, he didn't even know where to start looking, so he had to look everywhere, and even a small world has a lot of everywheres.

[Feel free to pick your own location, guys. Like I said, I know nothing about this world other than PONIES.]

Comments

[wavesinherheart]

The mention of letting a friend die hit a good deal closer than Aqua had been expecting. True, Terra hadn't actually died, but she'd been more than willing to sacrifice herself in order to give him a second chance, even if that second chance had somehow managed to not exactly work out as expected. So she nodded at the comment, even as she let Soma continue on.

The mention of using darkness to protect on the other hand, was something that Aqua wasn't entirely certain of, and after a moment of silence she spoke up again.

"I've always been told darkness is something that should be avoided. But it's true that you don't have to follow anyone else's path either, so I suppose as long as you know what you're doing it's okay?"

[notquitedracula]

Her reaction didn't go unnoticed, but there wasn't enough there for Soma to comment on it. Her next reaction, on the other hand...

"The way I see it, there are two types of darkness. One is simply power that comes from the shadows instead of the light. It's chaotic, and it will overrun those who cannot master it - but it is not, in and of itself, evil, just as light is not always good; those who stare too long into the sun are forever blinded. Then there's the type that comes from emotions - hate, anger, fear, jealousy. That type of darkness has power all its own, and it's the very root of evil. On the other side, you have positive emotions - joy, love, courage, and their ilk. All the good in the world. Two types of light, two types of darkness, and a whole world full of shades of gray between them. Reality is never black and white."

[wavesinherheart]

There was a longer moment of silence from Aqua that time. Given that she'd spent most of her life being taught that there was only a strict dichotomy of light and darkness, the idea that things weren't quite so cut and dried was not the easiest to hear.

Still, she figures that she ought to at least give Soma some sort of answer, even if she's not certain she certain she can immediately agree with it.

"Where I'm from, most of the shadows are Darkness. The kind that doesn't do anyone any good. It's the same power that Xehanort uses."

[notquitedracula]

That, in turn, gave Soma a moment of pause. He had to consider his words carefully, now, or his whole argument was going to fall apart. "I suppose it could be different in other worlds - but from what I've heard, the Darkness you're talking about is, at its core, what we call Evil. Take this Xehanort, for example. You say he uses Darkness - what's he like, as a person? May I hazard a guess? He's intensely self-centered, has some grand scheme, and is willing to use whatever he can get his hands on to accomplish it. Up to and including people who once thought he was a friend, or at least someone worthy of respect. Am I close?"

No, he didn't know anything about Xehanort - but he did know Dracula, and that's how he started. War on God? Kidnapping his best friend's fiance in an effort to make said friend join him? Yeah. Drac's not had such a good track record.

[wavesinherheart]

Xehanort's track record is not really the greatest either. It's only a shame that it's taken her this long to see it. But that's not quite so important at the moment, and she offers a hesitant sort of nod at Soma's comment.

"I'm not sure he really has friends. But yes, he will."

His is a deep and all-consuming darkness, and she's seen its true depths in far more detail than she would really like.

[notquitedracula]

"It's not whether he has friends, it's the fact that other people considered him a friend, or at least someone worthy of respect. People like that don't have friends - they have targets and victims. That's what evil is."

He wasn't making his point very well, and he knew it, but it was hard to explain to someone who had quite obviously never even considered that there might be shades of grey. "Think of it this way - you have the traditional elements, fire, water, wind and such. It doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to add some more. When I say my power comes from darkness, that's what I mean - elemental darkness as opposed to emotional. The two have an affinity for one another, but they aren't absolutely inclusive. A good person can use elemental darkness; an evil one can use elemental light."

He rustled his wings a bit, a minor tell that he was out of his depth. "I can't really explain it all that well; it's kind of one of those things you have to experience for yourself."

[wavesinherheart]

To be entirely honest, Aqua isn't even sure he has that much, although she know that he and her late master trained together at least. Beyond that, however? She can't say and doesn't much care to speculate on any of the details. She's had far too experience with Xehanort's tricks and schemes to dwell on the idea too long without turning to a slow burning anger, and Soma doesn't deserve that much.

Instead, she turns her thoughts to the idea of elemental darkness. She's seen darkness used in combat, yes, but only ever when Xehanort was involved - or the boy in the mask who had shown up more than once. Certainly, neither are individuals she would actually expect to be using the sort of darkness Soma is trying to explain as being the source of his power.

"I know there are spells that inflict Blind, but I don't think that's really what you're talking about."

[notquitedracula]

Soma grimaced - quite the trick for a pony - and shook his head. "Not really, no. The best way to describe this is probably going to be to demonstrate it - which I can't do here, at least not right now. Something about this body is keeping me from using most of my abilities. One of the other worlds, maybe - preferably somewhere open and without a lot of things that people tend to tally under 'collateral damage'."

[wavesinherheart]

"Alright," Aqua answered with a nod. She wasn't terribly certain she much liked the idea of darkness and collateral damage being in the same general conversation but she could at least understand the differences in forms making things awkward, given that she still had yet to figure out how to actually use her Keyblade like this.

But she can wait well enough, for the time being.