A Study In Nonsense

by Professor Piggy

The Heart of All Things

The Prompt: Once upon a time, there was a dragon...
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Once upon a time, there was a dragon.

And for a long time, there was nothing else. The dragon, whose name was Balance, slept alone in the void for a thousand times a thousand years, and though he would sometimes stir he would never wake – for when Balance woke, he would find that he was alone again, just as he always had been. And so he slept, and as he slept he dreamed. He dreamed of worlds yet to be and songs unsung, of worlds torn asunder and of worlds made whole. He dreamed of laughter and joy and fire and pain, and he loved it all. For he was Balance, and he was the first; he knew neither good nor evil.

There is an old saying amongst the eldest and wisest dragons, though many have now forgotten it – Balance lies at the core of all things. Without Harmony, Chaos has no meaning. Without Chaos, Harmony offers no joy. At the core of all things is Balance – for without Balance, neither Chaos nor Harmony would ever have come to be. For you see, as Balance lay dreaming his will echoed through the void, calling out to the emptiness – for the emptiness was Magic, and above all things Magic desires purpose.

Magic wove itself deep into the mind of the sleeping dragon, disguising itself as merely another dream among the many, and was amazed by what it saw. For an age, Magic sat in awe of what it found before it – never had it imagined such things, for Magic could not dream. It saw things that were not, things that had never been – rivers and mountains, earthquakes and tornadoes, thunderstorms and songs – and in seeing the world Balance dreamt of, Magic found purpose.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Magic began to sing the song of creation that flowed through all the dreams it saw before it – a song so faint and so pure it had taken an age for Magic, focused on nothing but the wonders it saw before it, to hear even the first notes.

And as Magic took up the song, Balance heard for the first time the song that rang out from deep within his own heart – the song that still echoes today, at the heart of all things. And though he did not awaken his own voice joined the song, and Balance and Magic sang together. As they sang dreams were pulled from the ether and made whole – a thousand worlds formed, and as time drew on almost all eventually collapsed as Harmony gave way to Chaos. But then, as Magic and Balance reached the crescendo of their song and the last world was to crumble, to be remade again, things changed.

The song ended, and the world endured. For Magic had chosen its purpose, and that purpose was to guide and shape this world – to give it life and make it whole. It would serve as guardian, and in finding it’s own purpose it would grant purpose to the children that Magic and Balance had birthed.

For Magic, you see, was the mother of Harmony – a child named for the purpose Magic had come to love so dearly. And for many years, Magic watched over the world – our world. It watched over the dragons, shaped for their father, and the griffons, born of his more chaotic whims, but most of all it watch over the ponies – for they had been the firstborn, and Magic loved them best.

But Balance cannot exist in a world ruled by Harmony – and as Magic protected and guided the children it had come to love, Harmony was what it wove. As Balance found his dreams more ordered, his darker urges became unfulfilled, and his own nature began to change – he began to crave not only chaos, but destruction – the absolute desolation of a world that had endured far beyond its time.

And so Balance awoke, twisted and changed by the madness growing within him. He looked upon what Magic had wrought, and he was angered. He descended into the dream he had created at last, taking the name Discord and seeking to undo the order that had been imposed upon his unwilling heart. Magic could do nothing but watch, for the world was Discord’s, and his power far exceeded that of Magic.

But Discord knew not of Harmony, or the seed of her that had been planted in each creature Magic loved so dearly. He knew not the power within them, and when after a thousand years they called upon it and stood against him he was afraid. Discord warred with Harmony, and though his power was the greater they were united where he worked against himself. Discord was locked once again into slumber – but Harmony was shattered, broken forevermore.

And Magic mourned. But as it stood, crying for its most beloved child, it was awed again – for Harmony did not fade from the world. Instead it divided, first into five: the core of who Harmony had been.

Kindness, which had brought the races together so they could survive and prosper and which kept them united. Honesty, which allowed them to see things for what they were and live without delusion. Laughter, which allowed them to fight against the fears that honesty brought with it. Generosity, from the one who had dedicated her life to the happiness of her children. And Loyalty, which had seen a thousand disparate individuals stand together and sacrifice everything to save their world.

And these sparks, these remnants of Harmony, divided again and again until eventually there were more sparks than living creatures – and then they began to weave themselves into the hearts of all the children of Magic. Though all received some part of each gift, there were those among them who lived as the embodiment of one particular virtue. And in that moment, Magic found purpose anew – it would do as it’s daughter had, for with Harmony divided they would need more than her will to guide them. They would need heroes.

And so it was that Magic found its way into the world it had birthed at last, and the Elements of Harmony were born.

Comments

[Professor Piggy]

930349 Thank you very much. I'm really glad you liked it.

[Donnys Boy]

This really is lovely and epic.