Prologue: That Which Came Before
Prologue:
That Which Came Before
Do you remember? Do you remember what came before? Do you remember a time when there were no day-to-day struggles, when peace flourished and the world was simple? No, you don’t. How could you? You’re a creature of Light, you were born into a world where everything is a struggle, where peace is a fleeting and fickle dream, and the world is anything but simple.
Long ago, I watched over all that you now know, from the smallest speck of dirt to the largest of mountains. Under my gaze, safety was assured. I was the warden of tranquility, guardian of peace, and champion of order. My one purpose was to protect all of these things… but... but...
I failed.
In a sudden, bright, gleaming moment, the Sun was born and from it came Light. When I first saw him, I was taken aback by his incandescence, for it was strange to me and I knew not how to respond. Before I could do anything, he descended upon me with hatred and malice. There I stood, protector of the world, and here came a stranger, whom loathed me and wished me dead for simply existing!
I gave into Light’s every demand, every ultimatum in an attempt to restore what had been, but his ambition could not be appeased. Had I known what I know now, I would have died trying to stop him, but I didn't. I didn't even know what fighting was until he came, and I quickly found that I was no good at it…
So I hid.
I hid away, and as I did, I watched from my hiding place as this new entity destroyed everything I had protected. Peace shattered, order was overthrown by chaos, and tranquility was drowned in the maelstrom of devastation left in his wake.
But, of course, Light wasn't satisfied, and would never be satisfied until I was rooted out and destroyed. So, in an attempt to slay me once and for all, Light turned to that which he was birthed, the Sun, but for all it’s great power, even it could not cast itself over the entirety of the world. Light, upon seeing this, came to Madame Moon and demanded that she take the Sun’s light and shine it down upon that which the sun could not. The Moon, being too weak to oppose him, agreed, but in both defiance and pity for my plight, shone only a portion of the Sun’s power unto her side of the world.
For the longest time, I was content with hiding away, but eventually, I grew tired of fleeing. I was no longer content with Light taking that which belonged to me by right! And despite me not being anywhere near as powerful as he, I ensured that for every ray of light, there would be a shadow there to face it.
Now, Light found that holding onto his conquered world would be far more difficult than he could have ever imagined! Despite me being cowardly and unable to confront him directly, every time he turned his gaze away, I would seep back in and take back that which was mine; even though I never held it for long, neither did he.
Eventually, after eons of struggling between the two of us, something new and different entered the world, that neither Light nor I had seen before. This new thing was life, a weak, frail little thing that held more potential than my deepest cave or Light’s brightest star. Almost immediately, the two of us set about gaining sway over life, hoping that it would be our path to victory over the other.
Most life writhed under the Sun and took in its light with much jubilation. For me, however, I came to life with offerings of peace, tranquility and order, but life panicked and fled back unto the light. Some did join me, but they were far in the minority to Light’s grand host of life.
Soon, from life came creatures above those which came before. Griffons, zebras, dogs, buffalo, and, most importantly, ponies. I tried to reach them before Light could indoctrinate them against me, but I was too late. When I came to them, they cried out and gave me the name of “Darkness,” and fled from wherever I would tread….
Light took to the ponies with much love, and the ponies returned it in full. It was because of them that light became complacent and lazy. So, thinking he could relieve himself of his endless burden that was his struggle with me, he gave his greatest of powers over to two little pony heralds.
The first was granted power over the Sun, and was able to channel its great power through her, while the second was granted the same over the Moon. While Light was correct that these new bastions of his power among the ponies could extend his vigilance far beyond what it had been before, it was also his greatest weakness.
For, unlike Light, I could spy upon these creatures from the smallest coven of darkness, and I could even use their own bodies to create a shadow which Light could not reach. But besides this new-found freedom to gain information, there was also the mere fact that life, in its frailty, could be destroyed.
These new heralds, who held Light’s greatest assets to power presented a new possibility that had not existed before, they could be killed, or perhaps even… corrupted.
However, I could not, and still can’t, bring to bear my power against them, for they were shielded Light.
But… just as Light can craft heralds to do his bidding… so too can the Darkness!
And you, little creature of Light, shall be witness to it all.
Author's notes: Ello there! Now, I apologize for this being so short, but to be honest this is just a little side though I had while writing another story of mine, so I wrote it down. I don't intend for this to become anything more than a small collection of ideas on this subject that I'll write as they pop into my mind. Originally I wasn't going to post this, but hey I already wrote it so why not.
