These Flowers Never Bloom

by Cerulean Voice

Prologue

I am everything and nothing all in one, suspended in time. I become one with the darkness. Lord of Woe.

In the beginning, there was nothing. I was never conscious of my existence, until the moment I realised I possessed sentience. This remarkable self-revelation awoke in me the desire to be, to exist outside the world of oblivion that I lay sheltered in. As I opened my eyes, the world burst into life around me. Trees, shrubs and grass grew rapidly out of what I came to understand was solid ground beneath my hooves. Hooves? I then realised that I possessed a body. I could feel the firm ground and hear the rustling of plants. I could smell the scents of already-blossoming flowers and fruits. My sight filled my brain with images and colours: greens, browns, golds, reds.

I remained rooted to the spot, as much as the new plants that continued to grow rapidly around me. This was all so new, so sudden. Why was this all happening at once? What powers were at play here? Then I realised I was thinking, questioning. Who or what ever taught me to do either of those things? What had decided to bring me the gift of sentience? I felt a tumultuous wave of nausea and collapsed. With realisation after realisation crashing in waves upon my previously unused—but now heavily assaulted—brain, I lost consciousness.

I awoke to the feeling of being rather unceremoniously prodded. At first I did not respond, for I failed to immediately grasp the idea that there was some other being touching me. As my eyes shot open, I took in the sight of a being with its own appendages and body parts, just like my own. It seemed just as confused as I was at the sight and feel of me. Upon noticing the signs of my renewed consciousness, it furiously retreated. This act introduced me to a new feeling: curiosity.

As I rose unsteadily to my hooves, the other being warily watched my every action. I regarded it with my newfound sense of wonder. I could only assume it was the same age as me, a newborn in every sense. It was somehow... different from me, though. Its mane and tail were longer, its stature shorter. It had longer eyelashes, fuller lips and appeared less muscly and bony.

"What are you?"

This was a new sound to me. It was like the being had the power to harness the very wind around us and control it to form a sound of its own choosing. Which, shockingly, I was able to regard with a clear understanding: That was speech. It just spoke to me. And I understood it! Thinking to try it myself, I manufactured a response:

"I am Ilias."

Ilias. That was what I had chosen to call myself. I had no idea why or how the thought came to my head, or how it had manifested itself into speech. Somehow, I knew it to be right. But was it the whole truth? Was I simply Ilias, or something more? "What are you?" I asked the other. "Are you the same as I?"

It shook its head and formulated a response. "Not exactly the same as you. I am Rose. But you certainly appear similar. Perhaps we are the same, in a way?" The being now known as Rose answered my question with one of its own. As it did, it tossed its mane back and forth and reared up onto its hind legs.

I could not yet fathom why exactly, but this generated yet another new feeling in me: desire. I felt an attraction to this being, something I was incapable of understanding or controlling at that point. Was it because it looked the same, save for the little differences? Did I long unknowingly for similar company?

Oblivious to our presence, nature continued to grow. The trees sprouted rapidly, emerging in various shapes and colours. The shrubbery and bush life grew miniature fruits, their scents reaching my nostrils and compelling me to partake in their offshoots. With Rose momentarily forgotten, I approached a bush with small, sweet-smelling dark growths and—somewhat recklessly—sampled its bounty. As I chewed, I regarded my newly discovered sense of taste. My eyes widened. It was delicious! I moved with great enthusiasm to consume the first growth's nearby partners. As I lost myself to the new sense overriding the others, I failed to notice Rose sidling up next to me and joining in.

Realising that I had company after a short time, I ceased my indulgence and regarded it close up. It was certainly glorious to behold. For all of our similarities, this one seemed to hold a great beauty that I felt certain I possessed in fewer quantities. I stared as it ate, sampling the fruits I had so appeared to relish. It too, however, awoke from the taste-trance and fixed its own gaze upon me. The eyes were a deep green. Not unlike the shrubbery whose bounty we had consumed together. As we observed each other, I was overcome with a sudden bout of shyness. I backed away, a new question arising:

"What happens now?"

I could never have been prepared for it. The wind increased in strength from a barely discernible background noise to a roaring tornado. The two of us found ourselves huddling against each other, united in another new emotion: fear. As we watched, something stirred within the confines of the swirling winds. A light began to grow, spread and take shape. It sprouted legs, just like ours. A tail appeared on the end of the mutating form, deep auburn staining its otherwise perfectly white pigment. A pair of blue eyes formed inside a portion of white mass that soon became a face. A long horn extended from its head, even as it grew its own mane to match the tail. A pair of fluffy appendages grew from the back of the newly formed body. Within a moment, Rose and I found ourselves regarding another being similar to us. Yet it towered over us, easily twice our size.

The newer, larger being finished growing as the winds ceased their violent dance. It observed us with a smile on its face, the expression filling me with fear, hope and reverence simultaneously. Even as I was still deciding whether I should run or lower myself to the ground, it spoke:

"Greetings, Ilias and Rose; my little ponies. You may call me Dimiourgia."

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, welcome to my first fanfic! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I had fun writing it!

Just a quick note to let you know that (as you can probably tell) the music featured alongside this story is not for the faint of heart or frail of ear. It's heavy. Really heavy. On that, you can totally choose to forego it if you wish, but know that the major source of inspiration for this fic came from these songs. This is a first-person (pony) view story, and it's very heavy on the narration. This may seem a bit jarring, but it's written as if it's a diary (the Chronicles of Woe), and one would not normally include too much "spoken dialogue" in one's own diary. Well, at least I wouldn't.

Bah, I've taken up enough of your time already, you may proceed at your own peril into the unknown...

Comments

[FamousLastWords]

Man, this chapter itself gave me chills. Loving it

[Aruzo Night]

On Chapter 1. FAVORING IT.

[erockertorres]

I could somewhat relate this to the biblical story of Adam and Eve.

Liking it so far!

[Talia_Hoemke]

3558977 oh my goodness I know right.

[PonySwa3]

Ugh why did I wait so long to read this masterpiece....

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

A creationist story. I can smell the Christianity, not that I am judging. I may be agnostic, but the story of Adam and Eve is and always will be interesting.

And I see you already added in a few sins. XD Lust and indulgence, probably the two worst ones besides hubris. Either way, great writing so far. This is proving to be a very entertaining tale indeed.

[The Princess Rarity]

Like others said, I am getting a bit of a religious vibe from this story. Let's see where it takes me...

[PaulAsaran]

Dimiourgia. Recreate, if I'm not mistaken.

...so what came before?

I am intrigued, but I must ask: is this story about the 'creation and history of the world', or is it about the 'creation and history of the Everfree Forest and how it affected the world'? It's established that what happens here affects the rest of the world, but did the rest of the world already exist prior to these events?

And if it didn't, I have to wonder where Dimiourgia came from...

[Ice Star]

"I am everything and nothing all in one, suspended in time. I become one with the darkness. Lord of Woe."

You know when you call yourself the Lord of Woe things are serious.