The Light Killed My Children
It is the way of society for the few extraordinary to bow down to the many ordinary. And so the few that walk in the dark are cast down by those limited by the reach of the sun.
I lie imprisoned as the perfect paradigm, frozen and yet burning with hate, a shadow in the dark and yet lit by my hate’s fire. I lie alone and call to the dark that flees from me, curse the light that consumes me, and mourn the children I have lost.
Several centuries ago, I was born into this world. My foalhood was surrounded by love, but I cared not for it, for it brought me no wonder. I set out to learn the mysteries of the world, and I delved into study, searching for miracles to explore.
And in my studies, I discovered places no one would go into. They said these places were dark, and that I should not venture inside, lest I lose myself in the darkness. But peering into the darkness, I saw wonder, and decided that losing myself in it was exactly what I wanted. And when I entered it, along with wonder I saw clarity. I saw science and infinity. For the dark stretched on forever, while light could only go so far.
And then I looked back, and saw no one behind me. They were all too scared to follow, for they were born in the light, and would not leave it. So I came back, and looked at the light, and saw that it was love. So I set out to put an end to love, so that I could be followed into the dark, so that all the ponies might be free.
As my studies took me further and further into the dark, the ponies of the crystal city were filled with fear, and sought to stop me. But I would not hear their pleas, for they were ordinary, and I was extraordinary, and only I could bring their world into darkness. Their anger at my deafness was great, and they took me from my home and banished me from the city. But their princess, the Goddess of Love, saw my plight and sought to love me as she did the rest of the ponies of the city. She brought me back to my home, and told me not to venture into the dark again. And I agreed, but in secret continued my studies as before.
The dark gave me great knowledge, and this knowledge gave me power. And the power brought me into the service of the Princess of Love, and I helped her rule her crystal empire. As I stood by her side, I looked at the light inside her and was saddened, for it was bright and blinded her. Seeking to let her see again, I revealed how I had continued to explore the dark, and sought to share its wonders with her. But she was only saddened by my deception, and she rejected my shadows and turned away from me. I saw then that she could not be saved, and sought out other ponies to bring darkness to.
And then a day came, when the Princess was needed elsewhere. The Lord of Chaos had brought disorder to the south, and he had been defeated. The Goddesses of the Sun and Moon required her to restore the land. And when she left, and put me in charge, I set out to purge the light from her kingdom.
I took the children of her land, and looked within them, and again saw love. I took the love from them, but love is energy, and energy cannot be destroyed. So I reluctantly put their love inside me, so that they might see into the dark, even if I had to stay in the light alone forever. Their love was extinguished, and they saw the dark, and their eyes were filled with wonder. And they went into the dark, and they played, and explored, and were happy. Truly happy, for there was no light to blind them with its fake joy. But I wept, for I was alone and filled with love, and my love had made the ponies my children, and I could not follow my children into the dark. And my sadness turned my love to craving, and my sanity began to burn away.
Then the Princess of Love returned, and her fury was great, for she saw her subjects walking with their heads down. But they were not walking with their heads down because they were slaves, but to ignore the world and stare into the darkness beyond. She could not see that they were free, for the light inside her blinded her once again. And so she took my children and brought them back into the light.
I saw my children become the slaves of light once more, and I was filled with rage, for the love of my children had poisoned my mind and soul. And I fought the Princess of Love and smote her, and she took her love to the world beyond death.
And then my hooves were covered in her blood, and I mourned her and cursed the poisoned light of my soul. And my children mourned and grew terrified of me, for the light had taken them and they could not see how their love had poisoned me. They thought me a monster, and they fled my darkness. I could not bear to see them go, and so I put them in shackles so that I might push them back into the darkness, so that they might once again be free.
Word of my crime reached the south, and brought great fury to the sisters of the Sun and Moon, and they sought to overthrow me and banish me. And they came to my crystal city, and I looked upon them. The Sun Goddess was great and proud, for she was drunk from the love of her subjects. But her sister had much grief and jealousy in her heart, for the ponies did not love her as they did her sister. I offered her the wonders of the dark, and she was deeply entranced, for she had seen the beauty of the shadows in her night.
But the sister of the Sun was too proud to look into the dark, and with great rage she pulled her sister back into the light. I pleaded that she leave my children, and let them play in the dark, but she would not hear, and tried to take my children away.
I called upon my children to not go with her, to remember how I had sacrificed myself so that they might venture into the dark. But they were blinded by the light of the Sun Goddess, and followed her, abandoning my darkness forever. And then my soul was broken by despair, and within me the poison of love became the poison of hatred. And my children were my children no more, and were dead to me. And in my rage I cursed them, and sent them and their crystal city out of that time, so that the light of the Sun Goddess could not have them.
And the sisters were dismayed, and they took my body away, and I became shadow. And I was locked away in the ice of the north, so that I and my darkness might be purged from the world forever. But inside the ice I could not go into the darkness, for my soul was burning with hatred for those I had once called my children, and this fire chased the darkness away. And the light of the fire consumed my mind, slowly robbing me of the ability to think and see the truth. And thus the gifts darkness had bestowed upon me waned.
Centuries have passed, and now the light has all but driven me insane. My memories pass in front of my eyes again and again, like a broken record. And every time they play, a part of them gets chipped away by the light within me, like a cliff under the eternal onslaught of the waves.
From within my prison I cannot see outside, but I know that the light of love shines brightly beyond the ice, trapping the ponies in the narrow circles of their darkless lives. And from the line of the Princess of Love I have murdered, I know that another will have risen, to shine brightly over her subjects, and chase away the dark.
I await the day the crystal city will return, when my hatred will burn strong enough to break me out of the ice. And the ponies of the city will be my children no more, and I will make them slaves of the darkness, so that they might channel it all over Equestria.
For the false light of love is the true darkness, and the wonders of darkness the true light.
May the world rise into shadow.
So be it, verily.
