Cold and Empty
Cold. So very, very cold.
It had been cold for what seemed like eternity, and there was absolutely no chance of that fact changing any time soon. Or ever, for that matter. Some things just could not be reversed by any means, and this was one of them.
Now she simply hovered in the black abyss that had once been a thriving universe.
Cold. So very, very cold.
The slightly rambling mantra had been repeated for millennia on end, never ceasing for even a moment. Somewhere, deep in her mind, she remarked that maybe if she stopped mumbling that little repetitive ditty of hers she would probably go completely insane, as opposed to slightly. Maybe, somewhere hidden inside that brain of hers, there was a semblance of the pony that had once existed. The proud alicorn and co-ruler of a prosperous nation known as Equestria.
It had been a truly great time. She had been seated in the highest spot of power on the planet. That was to be expected, of course. One does not simply see two alicorns that control the very cycle of the days by themselves and not put them in power. She had even been worshipped as a god at one point, despite her refusal to accept sacrifices of all things...
But the people of the planet of Equus did not know just how true they were with their assumptions. She and her sister had existed for far longer than any of them could have fathomed.
The first thing the pony once known as Luna could remember was a bright orb of light.
That had been the first time she had seen what was to become her sister and her most trusted companion.
Back in that era, the universe had been a wild and violent place, still calming slightly from the rough forces of the archaic and primeval birth of the universe that had happened billions of years earlier. She couldn’t remember being truly conscious at that time, as if everything prior to that moment was just a fuzzy dream. She could almost make out memories from it, memories of bright light and happiness, but it was like trying to catch water in a sieve. She had simply moved about, glowing wings of energy that could span galaxies lazily propelling her through the abyss.
And then the first true memory. It was of a bright light, one of the many nuclear furnaces that fueled the growing might of the universe.
A sun.
It seemed different from the others, however. She could actually see something inside of it. It was incredibly difficult to make out, and just how long it had been there was unclear, but there was a shape inside it.
A thought had drifted through Luna’s head at the time, a murmur that said, Celestia… But it was tiny, and easily forgotten.
Luna had drifted inside the sun, ignoring the scorching heat that threatened to eat her completely, and touched the figure. It looked almost identical to herself, but a pure white. Of course, at the time she had been unknowing of such things like colour, but she had had a long time to figure those things out afterwards.
So she had touched the figure, and it suddenly moved, its eyes snapping open. Luna had watched it curiously, something inside of her flickering. A knowledge that this other being would be a part of her existence for a long time to come.
She had dragged the white pony out of the enormous ball of fire, beating her huge ephemeral wings - huge, glowing waving things that spanned many millions of times her body length, comprised of shimmering rays - and propelled herself and her new charge out of the heart of the star.
Millions of years soon passed in the blink of an eye. She and her ‘sibling’ had stayed at each others side throughout almost every single one. To have such a thing as company was a welcome change. Luna had tried to communicate at some point, but with the lack of simple things like a medium to transmit sound, words were out. Regardless, they shared in the knowledge that there was someone by their side.
Even so, the idea of communication burned away at Luna. She wanted so desperately to share the ideas that boiled in her mind.
And thus came magic.
The discovery that she could use her horn to alter the very fabric of the universe itself was startling, and new. Suddenly she was moving enough power to completely eradicate a whole solar system in the blink of an eye, while the next moment she could be crafting a spell that would delve into the far reaches of the mind with the utmost delicacy.
And then a true relationship between herself and her sister had formed. But they hadn’t stopped there. No. Luna had imparted the knowledge of the ability to change the universe to her sister, and together they had put events in motion.
Together, they found the rubble of smashed planets and ruined asteroids, a tedious thing that took many years, and started to crush it together, harder and harder, until it stuck.
Now they were on a barren planet with nary a single unique thing in sight. And so Luna had started experimenting with changing other things. She had grasped the very building blocks of the universe and started altered them. Small things at first, but gradually bigger. Instead of just using forces and changing things that already existed, she was making things that she had never seen before.
Soon, the planet was full of colour, and water, and unique landforms. Someone could possibly liken it to an art project of some sort. After all, to a pony that with a single sweep of their horn could send an entire planet into oblivion, what would a single lesser pony look like? Would they even show up as anything different to a lump of rock? Were they nothing else than a project to be ‘worked’ on?
But Luna hadn’t stopped there. The thought had rooted itself in her and her sister’s mind that maybe there could be others. Other beings that were like them. After all, having only two sentient things in an entire universe could get rather boring.
She started by forming strange and wondrous things. Ideas for creatures came spilling out of her head, and she made them a reality. She used the universe to make them, and used the power inside her to impart life, and they went off into her planet.
She then had the idea to make them look like her, just so that maybe she and her sister would truly have company.
So Luna had started changing the other things. She had taken clay and made it solid, whilst also giving it form. She had taken the power that she had found in the huge collisions of planets and asteroids, and imparted that into the clay. Thus, the first earth pony came into life, heavy and sturdy, with all the raw force they could ever need.
Then she had taken the streams of mellifluous energy that streamed through galaxies. She shaped the energy, and made it come alive. And so the first pegasus was made, light as a feather and quick as can be.
And then she had taken the stuff of stars, made it solid and gave it form. From this, the first unicorn was made, a creature of magic that was irrevocably linked to the powers of the universe in more ways than one.
Each one had a portion of power, but they were not as Luna and Celestia were. Luna had tried to combine them many a time, but to no use. No matter what she tried only she and her sister had the unique combination of both horns and wings, whilst also having the raw power to create and unmake in an instant.
But she hadn’t stopped there. She had made many, many more of these new creatures. At first, they didn’t think, but very soon the first ideas came, and these creatures would do things that she hadn’t expected.
They lived.
It wasn’t simple interaction and crafting like she and her sister had partaken in, but true culture. Some creatures ventured into the far north and started to change, mirroring the cold climates that they had to endure. Some went east, their coats changing, along with their basic languages. Some stayed where they were, and they settled.
Long before this sort of evolution had come to pass, however, death had come into the universe. These creatures would not last forever, and would soon crumble and turn to dust. Luna and her sister had been filled with an indescribable sadness, but there was nothing they could do that would change the fact that their creations had been flawed somehow. And yet, even armed with the knowledge of their mistakes, they still couldn’t make lasting creatures.
At the same time they had created life, they had created death.
But the world did not care for such weaknesses like death. Minuscule creatures living their lives would not alter it. So the world had continued spinning, and had fallen into orbit around a sun. The creatures had adapted, and life had continued. The shape of the world, also, started to change. The miniature furnace at the heart of the stony ball was keeping the system in a constant state of flux, causing land masses to rise high into the sky, while at other points they were as if a knife has sliced into its skin.
This basis for existence had stayed unchanged for countless years. The creatures, that now called themselves ponies, were starting to learn. Things like farming, the wheel, and the written word were now in their lives. The Sisters also changed, turning from baser beings into learned creatures, enlightened by the collective knowledge of an entire species.
It was only understandable that upon realising just what the Sisters were that the ponies started to worship them, claiming that they were higher beings. That was true to an extent, but they were not all-knowing as the ponies claimed. They were just as naive and fickle as anyone else.
And they hadn’t been alone in the universe. Soon, other beings arrived. These… others had drifted the eternal space for millennia uncounted, searching for something. What exactly, they did not know, but they had the urge to seek.
The first of these was Discord. He saw the planet and the delicate system that was in place and was amused. Years passed, and this amusement turned to boredom, and the need for something to change. He had seen the universe at large, and knew just how constant the state of flux was, and he wanted that back.
However, the Sisters were not about to let their creation, their treasured ponies, be uprooted and irrevocably changed by an unfeeling beast. And so it came to pass that they used their powers to trap Discord in a prison made entirely of stone.
And they realised something. Their powers… the ability to alter the universe as they saw fit…
What if they were to become as Discord was? If one of them wanted to tear the planet apart, destroying life in the process. They couldn’t have that happen, ever. So they had uprooted their powers, placing them in vessels that they crafted with the utmost care just for the purpose of storing the forces that could change a universe. Only a creature of pure heart and mind would have access to these tools, and only then for certain uses. To create and prosper, never to destroy.
Soon after, more beings came to their planet. Some stayed, some did not. They were all curious. The ones that stayed adapted to their new purposes. Some would watch over the ponies, using their powers to guide and care for them. Some grew hungry for the admiration of the ‘lesser’ creatures and bent them to their wills. For such occasions, the Sisters would harness the powers stored in their gems and use them to vanquish the evils.
One evil had not been stopped quickly enough. It had slipped into Luna’s mind and changed it, driving her mad. Her sister had been forced to unleash her own powers against her in order to stop her. A short thousand years had passed, but the world had changed as if it had been a million. Suddenly she no longer recognised the ponies, and barely her own sister.
Luna had tried her utmost to reconnect with her own creations, and with her beloved sister, the only companion for her life. She had failed, and slowly, as generations passed, she left to roam the world.
Taking the form of a lesser pony, she would commute and simply observe, no longer taking a part in the system she had created with her own mind. More time passed, and she noticed that there was a lessening in the amount of ponies.
Then, there were none, and the world was silent. She had known that the world was truly dying. The sun above her head, the same one that she had found her sister in, the same one that had been burning for billions of years with the aid of her power, was dying. The heat had risen dramatically, and its size was rapidly increasing.
Luna had searched for her sister desperately, trying to find her in the ruins of a society that had died thousands of years ago, but which she had missed in the blink of an eye. Where there was once proud buildings was now desolate desert, imprints in the ground that might have been bone. The seas were drying up, more time passing even as she roamed the earth.
In a final, desperate attempt, she looked up. She could see a figure in the heart of the sun. Luna knew that it was her sister, and so spread her wings, a blue glow that had been unused since her first nascent thought. The result of her first beat, her wings many times the size of the planet, shattered the rocky globe into a million pieces. The second, turning them into dust. The third, dispersing all evidence of a once prosperous civilisation into oblivion.
Such fickle things no longer mattered. She had found her sister. Her sister would live on with her.
Except she didn’t.
Luna had beat her wings furiously, accelerating to merely a string of light, deforming space and time as she stretched a hoof towards her target. Her sister merely hovered inside her sun, her own hoof outstretched as if reaching towards Luna.
Celestia looked so old. So very, very old. Wrinkles deformed every spare space on her body. She had a look in her eyes that spoke of regret, and love, and sadness, and acceptance.
Luna had stretched and blurred into nothing, her own hoof almost touching the surface of the sun, body outstretched, wings flared into huge blue wing-shaped streaks that reached from one side of the galaxy to the other, when her sister closed her eyes for the last time, a single tear dripping down her muzzle.
Then she exploded.
The resulting detonation had blown Luna far away, but she made no effort to slow herself. She knew instinctively that her sister was gone. She had seen, nay, felt as the particles that comprised her only true companion in life were dispersed on the solar winds. Even the powers that had been locked away were broken free as half of the total power, as well as the enchantments keeping them in place, was destroyed.
Luna flew. She beat her wings as hard as she could, just to get away from all evidence of what had happened. The universe changed, as millions of years ticked away like the sands in an hourglass.
Soon Luna found that she was having to wait longer and longer to pass each star, and that the universe was becoming more and more cold. She was starting to have trouble using her magic to manipulate the state of existence, as it was becoming so stretched out and thin that there wasn’t really that much to manipulate any more.
Then the light started to fade as each sun, one by one, winked out in a depressing explosion that accomplished nothing. There was no longer enough pressure to create more suns, and the nebulae that had once made spectacular displays in the sky had long since dispersed into nothingness. The fires of the universe were dying.
Eventually, inevitably, the last sun had gone out, and Luna was truly alone.
More time passed, or maybe none. There was little else to tell the ticking of the imaginary clock by other than the temperature, and the energy of the universe. It seemed that even the top intellectuals had been wrong about energy, because there sure seemed to be a lot less of it now. or maybe it was still there, but had disappeared into the far reaches of the unknown.
Cold. So very, very cold.
How long had it been since she last said that? Probably not long. It was never long before she found herself repeating those words.
Oh, so it was getting close now. It was only getting colder, and she could actually feel the energy of the universe stopping, as each particle began to cease its eternal vibration.
The vacuum around her grew still, as even the rays that had always beat upon her shiny coat came to a standstill. Slowly. Ever so slowly.
It only grew colder, and the universe became more and more dead to her.
And then it stopped altogether.
And nothing happened.
Luna wasn’t sure what to expect now. The universe, in the very sense of the term, was dead. There was nothing. No movement at all. She simply hovered in…
Nothing. That was what she was feeling right now. All of the feelings she could have felt had long since exhausted themselves. She was as old as the universe, and now she was older. Maybe this could count as her birthday. Well, what to do now?
Nothing. There was literally nothing. There was no evidence of life ever having existed, or that it ever will. She was alone in the husk of nothing. The universe had just grown so big that there was eventually nothing left.
Something. She remembered. She remembered the lives of countless ponies, and the other beings that had traversed the void with her. She remembered living, and learning, and creating crafting the universe with…
She remembered her sister, whom she had never truly forgotten. The being that she had met in the early stages of the universe, and had lived alongside her for almost all of the rest.
She wanted her back.
A single tear dripped down Luna’s face. It glowed as it fell slowly, filled with the love that Luna held for life itself, the desire to create. The love that she held for her sister. The longing that she felt for the warm caress of her only true companion.
That tear reached her muzzle, and trickled down her neck, following her body until it reached her heart.
It instantly disappeared, and an enormous surge of glowing power shot down Luna’s wings, which grew to an unfathomable size.
And then they pulsed, releasing all of the energy needed to create a new universe. The single pulse collided upon itself, and from that collision exploded forth creation.
Then…
Then…
Then…
Events passed. The universe was a wild and violent place, still calming slightly from the rough forces of the archaic and primeval birth of the universe that had happened billions of years ago. She wasn’t truly conscious, as if everything was just a fuzzy dream. She could almost make out memories, memories of bright light and happiness, but it was like trying to catch water in a sieve. She simply moved about, glowing wings of energy that could span galaxies lazily propelling her through the abyss.
And then the first true thoughts. There was a bright light, one of the many nuclear furnaces that fueled the growing might of the universe. It seemed different from the others, however. She could actually see something inside of it. It was incredibly difficult to make out, and just how long it had been there was unclear, but there was a shape inside it.
A thought had drifted through Luna’s head at the time, a murmur that said, Celestia… But it was tiny, and easily forgotten.
Luna drifted inside it, ignoring the scorching heat that threatened to eat her completely, and touched the figure. It looked almost identical to herself, but a pure white. Of course, at the time she had been unknowing of such things like colour, but she had had a long time to figure those things out afterwards.
So she had touched the figure, and it suddenly moved, its eyes snapping open. Luna had watched it curiously, something inside of her flickering. A knowledge that this other being would be a part of her existence for a long time to come. It looked back into her own eyes, its mouth slowly curving into a smile.
Sister.
It’s been a long time.
I've missed you.
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In the beginning, there was darkness, and it was without form or shape. And in addition to the darkness, there was also me. And I moved on the face of the darkness, and I saw that I was alone, and I wept.
…
…
…
And then, there was light.
Dear god That was amazing
Wow...just...wow...
Interesting. Since my impression is that this fic aims at being a bit more unconventional in its imagery, I think there are a few places where the writing is unnecessarily explicit. Here's an example:
The buildup to this moment, not to mention the content of the sentences themselves is enough to tell us what is happening. There is no need to then go ahead and say: "we're creating a new universe here, got it?" for good measure.
Other than that, it was a good read. Have a like!
Also, this:
Wow.
I really liked it.
Very deep, very philosophical... creationist and evolutionary at the same time.
The fate of the universe is warm, fuzzy, and useless. With a chance of Luna.
Wait, so Luna is the elder one?
Mind. Blown.
Awesome work!
So heart.
Such feels.
Wow.
Wow, that was kind of beautiful. I'm glad I read it.
An interesting take on the whole idea of the immortal sisters. Reminds me of a story called "The Last Question", by Isaac Asimov, where a computer is asked if entropy can be reversed with ultimately similar effects.
4281581 I actually read that one not too long ago. It was pretty awesome, and more than a bit creepy...
how beautiful and hopeful
thank you author
I LOOOOOVE IT! Oh, I love stories where the End of the Universe gets its ass kicked. I also like Luna being the more primordial of the two sisters.
3997391 The darkness was there first, so if you regard the princesses as the primordial spirits of light and dark, it makes sense for Luna to be the elder.
Great story
4281768
I don't think it's a coincidence Isaac Asimov considered it his favorite short story among all the ones he wrote
*slow clapping*
This is my vision of how the universe will be in the end. Endless, eternal, and empty.
Damn dude.
4281581 Ditto
So...
They are C'tans.
By the way, "Hello, Sedna" goes so well as prequel to this story, same feeling of loneliness and void.
Bro, I'm happy for you and all, but... you might want to be a little less in your face with the whole "featured on EqD" thing. Writing it in all caps in the short description is a little bit much, at least in my opinion.
Well well well. This story was quite interesting.
Why did Celestia-Sun explode? She wasn't a supergiant!
(Science nerds ruin everything!)
Interesting attributions. Reminds me of Padomay and Anuiel.
4285513 @Alondro: Because if she became a black hole, we more juvenile bronies wouldn't be able to stop giggling immaturely.
Really depressing at first and then happy. Best version of Celestia & Luna made ponies I've seen.
4285821 If she became a black hole, we could joke that (The PC Police have deemed this joke offensive and have taken Alondro out and shot him a thousand times... but they used bows and arrows cuz guns are bad, m-kay?)
4283767 Sadly enough, we're probably going out in more of a fizzle than a bang.
4282646 Awww shucks, making me blush...
4282724 I loooove the fics where Luna is the eldest. I personally find the whole power struggle that most fics have annoying as all hell, and even in canon Luna is the smaller and younger sister.
4285513 You say that, and yet you are unaware of the amount of cake that she liked to eat. Actually, I think I heard some of the castle staff giving her that nickname...
4284806 I don't even Warhammer. Sorry man.
4286361 Damn, that's a pretty awesome compliment!
4284835 Read that story, it was pretty awesome. Then again, it WAS featured so it was kinda hard to miss. >.>
Sorry for the late replies, got a bit sidetracked by multiple things. Thanks for the support guys!
4287806 Celestia: JUST MORE O' ME TA LOVE!!! *she does the Fat Bastard thing* Ooooo, AHM SEH SEXXEH!! LOOK ET MAH TITTIES!!
*everypony vomits*
4289148 "I ATE A BABEH! OOOH AY!"
...yep, that is rather scarring to imagine good ol' Celly like that. o.o
4290739 Especially considering where on a horse the mammaries... are... OH GOD I IMAGINED IT!! *projectile vomit!*
now, this wasn't really my kind of story - nothing personal, but i didn't really enjoy it. just not my style. But! It was well-written, and I'm the one who decided to click on it anyway, so there will be no downvote from me. Good job on a good fic
Damn. I'm really not sure how to put into words what this story made me feel.
Pretty good.
This is a really fantastic piece. It stands head and shoulders above any creation story on this site.
As soon as I saw the title and the synopsis I just knew I was going to do a reading of this. This is such a fantastic story.
Thanks for writing it.
See ya on the next one...
4349019 ...Possible Bastion reference there? If so, I think this whole story just took on a whole different meaning...
4357501
Yep!
It appears this universe is exactly identical to the old one.
A less-than-flat universe, presumably with less dark energy than ours (or, none at all). Perhaps a nearly-flat universe like ours is the result of a universe where the magic has been used up? Dark energy is the decay product of magic? Luna gave up one cycle, and blew up all the magic, leaving a universe that is nearly flat and without magic, that will not collapse again.
Or, you know, it's an alternate universe or something.
This was quite enjoyable to read.
All my love.
So, how is it explained that Luna is the younger sister?
Now this just became my favorite Celestia and Luna story.
I hate to be pedantic and dodge out of a discussion of a story's higher merits, but the writing here was a huge impediment for me. Over and over, this story drifts into repetitious descriptors—far more than I can accept as being a quirk of author style. What could have been an interesting story turns boring because of the word chaff. Let me pull out a few examples from the first 1000 words.
"What seemed like" is weakening this. "Absolutely" is weakening this. Bridging the idea across two sentences—instead of just punching us in the face with it—is weakening this.
"Slightly" is weakening this. "On end" is weakening this. "Even" is weakening this. The doubled description ("had been repeated", "never ceasing") could work, but at this point it's just exacerbating the story's refusal to make strong choices.
"Wild and violent". "Slightly". "Archaic and primeval". How is the last bit relevant to the thought here?
I did read the whole thing through. I do feel the same cognitive dissonance on Luna being the driving force that other readers have felt as well, and I think the lack of an attempt to reconcile this with canon does hurt the story. Why do ponies overwhelmingly credit Celestia when Luna did most of the work? I can buy this choice, but it leaves a big question unanswered.
Other than that, there are some interesting ideas here. I'd love it if they had more punch, though, because the weak writing killed the story's ability to move me.
5536010 ..............................How much does that sharpened log hurt?
So, Luna is essentially the universe, and she will continue this cycle of rebirth forever? Interesting.