Origins of the Shadow

It’s cold.

It’s cold and dark and I’m afraid.

All I have to do is open my eyes, but I’m afraid to do so. I don’t know what I’ll see. A warm sight? Possibly, but I don’t want to take the risk if not.

I feel like I’m floating. I can move around partially, but then I’m stopped by something hard. I run my hoof over it and it’s smooth. I try to punch it, to break it, but I’m too weak.

I think I’m alone.

No, wait… I hear voices. They are small and muffled though, so I can’t make out what they are saying. I try to scream and yell for help, but no sound exits my mouth. As I attempt it though, the voices increase, and although I can’t tell what they are saying, they seem… excited. But what would they be excited about?

I don’t know what this is, but I want out of it. It just… doesn’t feel right.

Hopefully those voices will find me and rescue me.

~*~*~*~

Is it possible to feel alone, even if you know you’re surrounded by other ponies? I don’t know if it is, but it probably is, since I feel alone right now.

It’s weird. The voices continue on for hours, then die down for a while, then start again. No matter whether the voices are there or not though, I still feel alone. Something about this whole situation doesn’t seem right…

Speaking of the voices, I can slightly hear what they are saying now! I only catch bits and pieces, like “It” or “Try this” or “It’s moving”. I don’t know what they mean by that. I constantly wonder what they mean by “It”. Is it possible they mean me? I hope not. I don’t like the idea of being called an “It”.

I still haven’t opened my eyes. I’m still afraid to, even more afraid then before. I feel different at times, like something is being injected into my body. Nothing is though, right?

I really hope nothing is.

~*~*~*~

I want to go home.

I want to go home to my mommy and daddy. I do have parents, right? I don’t know.

More words can be made out now. I hear “This experiment is turning out—” but I don’t hear anything more after that.

A part of me is telling me to open my eyes, that if I open my eyes, I will learn the truth, but frankly I don’t know if I want to know the truth.

I’ll open my eyes someday. Just not today, or tomorrow, or maybe even the day after that.

The voices are fading away, and I feel myself slipping into another world… At least, I think that’s what this feeling is.

I wonder where I’m going.

~*~*~*~

My feeling was right! I’m in this… Other World (that’s what I call it) now. I opened my eyes because I wasn’t afraid anymore. And I’m having a blast here. I’m glad I opened my eyes.

I made a friend. She’s really kind and plays with me! I don’t feel alone anymore, and it’s because of her. I think if I stay in the Other World forever, I won’t feel afraid at all.

When we first met, she asked for my name. I didn’t have a name, so I just shrugged. She decided on the name Sombra. After that, she told me her name was Crystal.

I like the name. No, scratch that. I love the name. It’s so pretty, isn’t it?

I love it when we play together. Sometimes we play a game where one of us hides and the other has to find them. She told me that was called “Hide and Seek”. I like the name.

We also play a game she told me was called “Tag”. In that game, one pony is “It”. The “It” pony has to chase the other pony around until they touch them. Then the other pony is it.

I admit that when I first heard the pony was called “It”, I was frightened. But then I remembered the voices can’t reach me here. Not while I’m with Crystal. And I plan on us staying friends forever!

And it will work out. I’m sure of it.

~*~*~*~

Crystal has looked sad lately, and that makes me sad. She’s my best friend and I want her to smile! I ask her what’s wrong, but she won’t tell me. She tells me I can’t help, and that makes me even sadder.

I know I could help if she were to tell me what’s wrong.

About the smiling thing, she still smiles, but I can tell it’s a sad smile. Her eyes hold pain, and it gets worse whenever her eyes lock with mine.

I’m confused, but this won’t last forever, right?

She’ll be truly happy again. I’ll make sure of that!

~*~*~*~

Crystal won’t play with me anymore. She doesn’t even move anymore. Not because she can’t, but she always sits in the same spot with her head down.

I try so hard to make her laugh or smile, but nothing works. She just looks at me sadder whenever I do so. I don’t get it. I didn’t do something wrong… did I?

I hope not. I would hate it if Crystal was this sad because of me.

I apologized just a few minutes ago, but she gave me a questioning look and asked me why I said that. I told her why, and that just saddened her expression even more. She told me it wasn’t my fault.

“You can cry if you want,” I say to her. “I’m here for you.” After I said that, her eyes fill with tears, and she pulls me into a tight hug.

I’m confused by this action, but I wrap my hooves around her nonetheless. She buries her face into my neck and sobs. I just rub her back.

“It’s okay,” I say. “I’ll always be here for you. I’ll never leave your side!” She cries more.

Please stop being sad, Crystal. It kills me to see you this way.

~*~*~*~

Crystal told me terrible news. She said she has to go soon. I don’t understand. What does she mean by “go”?

I ask her, but I regret it as her answer comes out.

“I’m leaving,” she says as tears roll down her cheeks. “I’m going to a different place.” My eyes go wide and fill with tears. I bite my lip to try and hold them in, but it’s no use. They fall continuously.

“W-why?” I stutter. “Why can’t you stay here? I-I…” I pause. “I love you!”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I can’t stay. I have to go.”

“No! You can’t! I don’t want you to leave…” My voice is so unstable and shaky, probably due to all the tears.

She walks over to me and puts her arms around my neck. “I’ll miss you,” she says. I can hardly speak. I’m crying too much. Why does it have to hurt so badly? I don’t understand.

She pulls away and puts one hoof on the ground. Then she puts the other on my cheek. “Don’t be so sad about this, Sombra. Please. I don’t like seeing you sad.” I still say nothing. She gives a soft smile. “I’m happy you were in my life. I will never forget you. And don’t forget, I’ll always be with you, right in here.” As she speaks, she puts the hoof that was once on my cheek onto my chest, right where my heart it.

“I-I’ll miss you,” I say as more tears flow. Light orbs have started coming out of her body. And she’s disappearing. Slowly, but she is.

“I’ll miss you, too, Sombra,” she says. “I’ll miss the times we smiled together and laughed together. I’ll miss the time we played together. I’ll miss the times we spent under the stars together. But most of all, I’ll miss you.” Half of her legs are gone now.

I nod. “So I guess this is goodbye, huh?” I say.

She shakes her head. “No, it’s not goodbye. We’ll see each other again someday. I promise!” All of her legs are gone now. “So, let’s not say goodbye. Let’s just say, ‘see you later’.”

I give a soft smile. I don’t want her last memory of me to be of me not smiling. “See you later, Crystal.”

She smiles at those words. Then she leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I, of course, blush at this. “See you later, Sombra. I love you.” She fades away completely.

My smile fades with her and I begin to sob uncontrollably. Then the world around me shatters and nothing is left but a world that is completely black. I look around for a few seconds, but then I feel like I’m being ripped apart, limb by limb. It’s an awful pain—a pain that’s worse than anypony could imagine.

Then my eyes shoot open. There are other ponies in front of me. And they are in lab coats.

I can’t make out their voices because all of them are shouting at once. These weird machines they have are beeping loudly and fast.

Inside me, something snaps. That something releases a lot of power. So much that I break out of my prison. All of those ponies stop dead in their tracks and look at me with their mouths agape.

I realize now I was nothing but an experiment; a toy for these ponies.

I release a lot of power from my body. It destroys everything. The machines, the lab, even some of the ponies are killed.

It’s a mess. A big mess. Once I’m done though, all I do is walk away, letting the remainder of the ponies burn in the fire.

I feel like I have to find something. I don’t know what. I don’t remember how I got this feeling, why I have this feeling, or what that something is. All I remember is the word “crystal”.

I feel empty and thinking of “crystal” makes my heart hurt, enough to the point where I want to just cry because of the pain.

I’ve decided on something.

I will get every crystal in this land, no matter what it takes.

Surely that will take away the pain?