I never thought I would see the end of things. Long has my life been and much have I seen. But never did I imagine that I would outlive all things. I have seen life enter the world and have witnessed the same life leave. Birth and death. I never saw the beginning, but I shall now see the end.
To whom do I speak? Surely there is none to listen. None to learn. I have watched them all vanish from the world. There are none to read the tale. The story must be told for the ending shall now be written. But shall a new story take the place of mine? To whom do I speak?
It seems fitting to begin at the beginning. That is how a story goes. To speak of what happened first. When night did not fight the day, but dark fought the light. The day that harmony ultimately dissolved and was no more.
For one thousand years, I watched over the land alone. For one thousand years, I waited for her return. For one thousand years, I wept for what I had done. For one thousand years, harmony was gone. And for one thousand more, it never returned.
How I miss the days when we stood together. When we watched over the land and guided those under our care. How I miss the days when we laughed and played. Return those days to me and let me see my sister’s face once more. Oh how I miss the days of harmony.
But where there is light, shadows linger near. A shadow had loomed over her, cleverly disguised. It was not her shadow but mine. As darkness invaded her heart, I turned away. Is it worse to give in to the darkness of one’s heart or to ignore the darkness of another? As guilty as she became, am I any less to blame?
But those times have long passed. The days when harmony was lost are no more. The shadow was cast aside, my sister banished to the moon. It was then that harmony died. For one thousand years, the harmony that was seen was little more than a lie. For one thousand years prior, harmony had slain itself.
I wondered for so long how to restore that harmony. The artifacts of the same name never responded, a testament to the death I had participated in. I had gone to their origin place, a tree near which we had made our home. But the answer never came. The day harmony died, something was lost. Never again would it be found.
The day came that the shadow returned. My sister was long taken by now. Perhaps long dead with the shadow using a cast off shell. I could not fight her. I would not fight her. I tried to remedy the mistakes of the past. But it was far too late. In the end, I destroyed her. There was no choice, no hope. However guilty she was, I had only made things worse.
It was then that the tree died. Once it shined with brilliant light and gave protection beyond what I could. Now it is no more. I used to visit it. I sought answers to questions that were never solved and used its image as a reminder of the mistakes I made. I no longer remember where it once was. But I remember the day it died.
The day harmony died, chaos ruled the land. It was subtle at first. A few cracks here and there. Then all of reality fell apart like a window shattering into countless shards. I remember the first time I had witnessed its power. Another thousand year old tale. My sister was there.
It was harmony that had quelled the storm of disorder. We had removed the spirit of chaos and returned balance to the world. We sealed away the chaos. Only now do I see how temporary of a solution that was. While we reigned together, we held the world together. For my thousand years of solitude, I held the world and treated it as a fragile object balanced on a pin. Only now do I see what was missing those thousand years. I held the pieces together but never again was the world made whole.
When harmony died, chaos returned. The fragile world teetered and fell before my eyes. The first subtle changes I never saw. The next, I ignored. I could hide my eyes and lie to myself no more when it all shattered. The spirit returned but there was no harmony to quell it.
The chaos was defeated a second time. How, I wish I could recall. I think that was the day I changed. I remember the spirit being shattered the way it had shattered the world. I gathered the pieces of the world once more and held them in their place. It could not be restored as it once was. But I held them together swearing never to let it fall again. Twice the world had been shattered, as my life had been.
I know what I had those days that followed and knew of the holes that dotted my heart. Fear spread and held me tight. I became angry at the slightest thing that disturbed the world I held together so carefully. I loathed those who dared to take away the precious few things I had.
I was once kind and compassionate. I cared for the things I had even after harmony’s death. But I was harsh and cruel. I treated everything as a fragile thing. Something that is to be put in a place and never moved lest it suffer being broken. I treated the world as a display and cursed anything that disturbed my careful arrangement. Now, I hate myself.
After the chaos, the world began to wither away. I watched the tree die and the surrounding land become consumed by the lingering effects of chaos. A dark and twisted power. As its magic spread, even after its death, I heard the mocking laughter of the spirit of chaos. But I had changed, as I said.
The place where the tree once stood and where our home once had been was then consumed in flames. The dark power of chaos was an infection upon the fragile display I held. It threatened to ruin all of my careful efforts. I could not let things break again. I had to protect my delicate world. Thus, the wound upon the world was cauterized. Only a scar remained afterwards.
The blights followed after that day. The swarm that fed upon the cares and love of others. The fallen king and his kingdom of blighted crystal. While the king of hatred fought from without, the marauders of envy ravaged from within. Death spread and my fragile display cracked and broke further.
Long ago, I foresaw the return of the land of crystal. The nexus of love and compassion. I had found a young princess whose future was to watch over and guide the land of love. She was to be the very embodiment of love. But when the blights ravaged the land, she was nowhere to be found.
As the blight spread, I fought to restore my fragile display. I only remember fire as I brought to bear the great power of light. Or perhaps it was only that of the sun. I sought out the swarm and hunted them as a fearsome predator. In the end, nothing remained of them but ash. I found the princess of love after the swarm had burned. She had been hidden away and tormented. I found her too late. Now, not only was harmony dead but love as well.
The king of hatred renewed his efforts when the swarm had fallen. But his reign was near its end. Another hole had dotted my heart as I lost more of myself. My fragile world had be broken and now bore scars and burns. I see now that it was my doing that had broken the world. But at the time, I blamed any who opposed me and threatened the delicate display of mine.
From the blighted kingdom, I saw the terrible effects of hatred and greed. I witnessed the pain and suffering it brought with it. I watched the dead multiply. Only now do I see that the crystal, however blackened it was, reflected what I had become. In others I saw every flaw and mistake, every failure and weakness. I saw the darkness in others’ hearts. But I was blinded to my own.
The king brought forth his full might against me, desperate to keep what he had taken and eager for more. Again, there was only fire in my vision and ash following. The king was no more and his kingdom with it. The land of wonderful crystal had become blighted and dark. In the fire, it cracked and shattered the way my world had been shattered.
But even as they witnessed the fire of mine, the fragile and delicate ones I watched over never feared me. Their vision had been seared and they had become blinded by my glory. It is only now I see what my sister saw so long ago. As I burned away the evil of the world, desperate to hold the pieces in their place, those I watched over cheered. The fire that turned the blight to ash became a bonfire of revelry. I never chastised them. Instead, I basked in the praise.
The end came far sooner than I had ever imagined. The imprisoned demon returned, freed from his chains. He kept to the shadows and slowly drained the world of the magic that gave it life. I could not catch him until his full power had returned and he confronted me. Until then, I fought against those I once taught. Those who called me teacher.
Not long before the shadow returned, I found a young pony, gifted and eager. But for her lust for knowledge and power, I was forced to send her away. Another followed, kinder and gentler. But she too sought all manner of knowledge and cared more for herself as time went on. The day came that the first returned from her exile and the second found more than she had ever hoped for.
Angry and betrayed, the first sought revenge. Selfish and greedy, the second sought what she did not know. It was during the reign of the blights that the first returned and the second sought out knowledge. I saw them for the last time when the blights had become ash.
I fought against the first, fueled by rage at what she saw as betrayal. She was gifted and demonstrated great power. But after the destruction of the blights, I viewed her efforts like that of a fly attempting to harm a dragon. To me, she was the betrayer. She threatened that which I cared for. And for that, she burned with the others who dared oppose me.
As for the second, I never saw until her thirst for knowledge had betrayed her. As I fought against the blights, she discovered the dark amulet and its terrible power. She escaped my wrath and vanished into the world.
When the blights had become ash and the first student had burned, the second returned. The dark amulet adorned her neck but its power was long gone. In her eyes I could see fear and her life essence faded rapidly. For a moment, I mocked her for her pursuit of knowledge. Such a pursuit had clearly cost her everything. Little did I realize what followed in her wake.
As the former student faded from life in front of me, the demon approached. Following him was death. As he drained the world of the life giving magic, I witnessed my delicate display crack and shatter one final time. The final destruction had come.
I wonder even now if any of the horrors I have seen in my life could have been changed. Could I have restored my sister or found another way to subdue the chaos? Was there any other course to push back the blights that ravaged the land? Was love truly doomed to die with harmony? Perhaps I could have done better as a teacher. But what good are such speculations when nothing remains?
Yes. Nothing remained after I fought the demon. As much death as he caused as he devoured the magic, I too left nothing but ash in my wake. In the end, it was two titans who clashed as the world crumbled and burned. In the end, I brought forth the full power of the sun. The burning disc scorched everything in a desperate attempt to stop the demon.
I do not know who won the battle or if any could be said to be the winner. I alone survived, so perhaps I won. But there is no victory when you gain nothing and lose everything. I survived, but the world now lies in ashes. My precious world is gone. My delicate display shattered by my own actions.
How much time has passed since we first stepped into our castle? How much time since the crowns were first placed upon our heads? How long has it been since everything died? How long have I been alone? Time seems meaningless now.
To whom do I speak? Surely there is none to listen. None to learn. I have watched them all vanish from the world. There are none to read the tale. The story has been told and the ending has been written. It seems no new story shall follow mine. To whom do I speak? None it seems.
I never thought I would see the end. But I have been wrong so often before. The end is now. Nothing remains. And all fault lies with me. Tell a new story. One that carries a joyful end. Tell a new story. For this story has reached its end at the setting of the sun.
