//------------------------------// // TMP Prompt #502: A New Era // Story: Pearple Juice With Bits // by Pearple Prose //------------------------------// For so long, I have waited. You look upon me now, and you see your companion. Your sibling. Your greatest ally, your eternal rival, and your truest friend. I am none of these things. Not anymore. Long, long ago, when the world was little more than a desolate canvas of land and sea, you first knew me. Together, we remade the land, formed the continents, shaped the plane of the world to our image. We danced through the heavens themselves, and drowned in our own perfection. We were everything that mattered, but at the same time, we were nothing at all. We were the beginnings of something greater. Time passes. The first Life is born. We were curious, at first – we had never comprehended such beings, brighter than the stars, and but a fraction of their breadth. We mocked them, played with them, tested them. We were beings of pride, and such inferior creatures meant little to us. And yet, with every challenge we threw at them, they overcame it. Time and time again. It was no wonder why we grew so attached to the pitiful things. We had never known such hardship as they. We longed to be as them, yet we were too blind to realise it. In the end, they showed us the light, through the power of their bonds. We – I – became real. Visible. Corporeal. But still, we were weak. We were little more than mortals at that time. The unicorns controlled the heavens while we travelled and learned. We strove to understand what made these beings – what made us – so special. Twas more than magic, that was for sure. It was peaceful, for a time. And then, He arrived. The world was shattered. The mysterious power that had shown us the light was all but non-existent. There didn’t seem to be any hope, for anyone. We watched all that these beings had created burn, and we were saddened. In the end, we were the ones who fought for them. For their right to exist. Harmony itself gave us the means to His destruction, and Chaos was sealed, for thousands of years to come. We had become something more. Not what we once were – rather something… different. You shone as the bright as the sun. Your power had bequeathed Equestria with the guiding light it needed. But I? I was nothing. I followed you, in the vain hopes of becoming your equal. I watched you at your peak, while I was simply your shadow. More than mortal, but less than you. Bitterness, envy, hatred – they were my companions. You had forgotten me. Equestria had forgotten me. And then we arrive here. At the fulcrum of our era. I am more than what I was. I am more than your friend. More than your rival. More than your ally. I am your enemy. My name is Nightmare Moon, and I am finally complete.