When New Was New

by Squeak-anon

When New Was New

In the beginning when there was nothing, the Universe was alone. There was darkness in every direction, and this left her with no one to talk to. There was no sky, or ground or cups of tea, or in fact even a planet on which to have any of those things, just the emptiness of the void.

The Universe was lonely.

“Why, this is such a dark and depressing place...” She said to the darkness

The darkness failed to reply.

“I am alone...I do not think I like being alone.” She continued.

The darkness failed to reply.

She let out a sigh in a great whoosh of nothingness. “You are terrible company.”

The darkness failed to defend itself.

“Fine,” the Universe huffed. “I shall amuse myself.”

And so She did.

The Universe took some of the nothing between her hooves, with it, She mixed her happiness and crafted a star, thus the first light was born. It made the darkness draw up and retreat.

“Serves you right.” She said, frowning at it. She turned back to her little star with a smile. “Hello little one, you are new.” She paused. “And new is new for that matter.” With a little chuckle She watched as her star twinkled in response. “You will be better company.”

And for a while the Universe was happy. She played with her star and made the darkness quite jealous. They jumped and they pranced through the nothingness of the void, and had great fun.

The Universe was no longer alone.

But soon, in the darkness, She noticed her little star did not shine as brightly as it once had. She looked with concern at her creation, wondering what could be the matter.

It blinked and twinkled dimly and She understood.

Her star was lonely. For, if being new was new, then it was new alone

“Well little one. We shall simply have to fix that.”

Using her great hooves She brought forth more of the nothing and with her curiosity, She crafted the stone. It’s pale gentle light shining in the void, chasing away a little more of the dark. her star twinkled happily and ruShed to meet it’s new sister. She smiled at the two, watching as they spun around one another.

“Hello little one, you are new, just as your sister was. And together you shall be happy.”

And with that the three of them played, the Universe with the Star and the Star with the stone. They chased the darkness, though they never caught it and they rolled and tumbled through the emptiness and inventing games like tag and hide and seek.

But, in time, their games grew boring. What fun was tag when you could run across forever? How could one play hide and seek if there were no places to hide? But this was not all, the star and the stone once again grew lonely, for it is perfectly possible to be lonely together. The Universe cared for them, but what had they to care for? Neither could seem to come to terms with which of them would be cared for, nor who would do the caring.

They squabbled and they argued for the longest time. The darkness enjoyed that, but the Universe grew concerned. She paced and She fretted and She looked through the whole of the void for an answer to her conundrum. She even asked the darkness, but it offered no help.

She looked down at her creations as they fought. The stone and the star, both shining in the void, so similar yet so different. She tilted her great head. They really couldn’t help themselves; it was the nature of things. It was a new nature, but nature nonetheless. Sisters, no matter how new, will always argue.

The universe sighed, the great winds of the void stretching across eternity. Then She had an idea.

A third time, She stretched her hooves into the nothing. She collected great swaths of it and took her heart, the embodiment of her love, the universe split it into six pieces and tossed them in. This was not all She used, for this was a complex working and even the universe needs help sometimes. The Star and the stone gave a bit of themselves, her happiness and her curiosity fell into the nothing and finally...She mixed in the final piece. A touch of darkness, given all too willingly.

With a burst of light, and for the third time, a new thing became new. It did not shine or twinkle like the star or the stone but basked in their light. It was small, green and blue and beautiful.

The sisters spun around their new charge, looking upon it. In some ways it was smaller than them, in others quite larger. The mixture settled as the ingredients came together. The universe warned the star and the stone not to touch it until it had cooled.

From happiness, sprang trees and grass and greenery, a sky of blue and a land of color. From curiosity flowed oceans deep, cool and mysterious and winds, ever changing and fickle. From darkness came shadow and secret, nestling into every crack and crevice the stone and the star cared not to touch.

From love...came something else fresh and new. A little bump in the land, under the grass, quite unlike any other bump, or hill or dale. It rose and it wiggled and, eventually, it opened.

From inside, came this new thing, the newest thing of all infact. It rolled over sleepily, for waking up for the first time is a laborious task even when waking up has never happened before. It had four hooves, for the time being they were weak and unsteady, a mane and tail flowing and green like the grass that covered the world and a coat of the deepest brown like the bark of the oldest trees.

It was a she, not a big, booming, deserves a capital letter ‘She’,like the universe, but a small, tiny she, hardly a speck on the surface the land that seemed altogether too big.

She spoke, in a voice so tiny the Star, the Stone and the universe had to lean down just to hear. It was timid, as one should be when speaking for the first time, it’s the kind of thing that normally takes a lot more practice.

“Hello?...” she said.

The universe paused.

“HELLO” She answered.

The new thing with four hooves a tail and a mane covered it’s ears, the universe’s great voice threatening to blow her away. It took her a moment to answer.

“Um....what am I?...” she asked.

The universal paused again. She was not used to answering questions.

“You are you,” she said, more gently this time.

The new thing tilted its head and considered this.

“What are you?”

“I am the universe” The universe replied.

“I am the universe.” The new thing repeated.

The universe paused a third time.

“No...that is not right...you are...new.”

The New thing tilted its head further.

The universe gave a great sigh.

“You are the product of my heart, of happiness and love, curiosity and darkness...you are new...and therefore you may name yourself.”

And with that the universe leaned back into the sky. The Star and the Stone stayed above the New thing, the Stone drifting away to watch the rest of the world while the Star warmed the land.

The New thing looked at her hooves, her mane and her tail, and smiled. She decided she would be a Pony.

For a time the Pony was happy, she found that there were many places to explore on the world. She played in the forests, prancing about the trees, and hiding hiding in holes only she could find, for the Star and the Stone were far too big to notice them. She swam in the seas, finding beautiful shells and looking for treasure, though she was not quite sure what treasure was.

She named everything. She named the land earth, and the blue water, she looked up at the star and the stone and called them Sun and Moon. She roamed far and wide across the land, she found she could till the soil and hear the steady heartbeat of the trees. She danced and swayed to it, but eventually...she grew lonely.

As it had been with the star and the stone, they could care for her, warming the earth and lighting the night, but who had she to care for? At night she had no one to rest with except the darkness, and it was cold. In the day she had no one to run with in the light, though it was warm.

She began to grow sad.

The universe took notice and one day leaned down out of the sky to ask what was the matter.

The Pony replied in her small voice.

“I am lonely” She said.

The universe shook her great head.

“I am sorry, but I have given most of myself...to the sun and the moon...and to you. I fear I don’t have else to give.”

The Pony nodded sadly.

“I see...”

The universe saw her plight and let out a great sigh, sending the wind spinning across the planes of the world.

“There is perhaps one gift I have left to give...” she said. “For I know the burden of loneliness, and that it lies heavy on a heart. It is my love that gives you life, and now I shall give you more. Though remember what I have given, and what you want, it will take more than this to cure your loneliness. We shall not speak again.”

The universe leaned up into the sky, grabbing a bit of nothing on her way and with it, she mixed herself, the only thing she had left. And with a final breath it fell to the earth in front of the pony.

“But...what do I do with it?” she asked.

The universe was silent.

The Pony took the ball in her hooves. It was small, the darkest blue she had ever seen, darker than the deepest see, or the pale night sky. Inside were little points of light, more than she could ever hope to count.

The pony spent many days trying to figure out just what the gift was, to no avail. She tried tossing it into the sky, but it simply fell back to the earth. She tried tossing it into the sea, but that just left it floating, she even tried eating it, but it would not fit in her mouth.

After several cycles of the moon and the sun, she lay on the grass, discouraged and unsure what to do. She thought about the universe’s advice. “Remember what I have given and what you want...”

She thought about it, and thought, and thought. But nothing came to her. She looked out at the world, empty besides her, she was still New, and she was alone. At that, she began to cry.

The tears flowed down her face as she wept. The sun and the moon leaned in close to hear, but they did not know what was the matter, and could not help. She cried and cried for a day, and a night, until she could not cry any longer. She did not like being new, she missed the universe and desperately wanted something to talk to.

When she looked down at the little ball between her hooves, she noticed it twinkling. She dried her eyes with a hoof, and looked down at it. The points of light shined brilliantly, as though calling to her, and suddenly she understood.

“If...I don’t want to be lonely....I must give some of myself.”

So she reached out into the air, as she had seen the universe do. It took her a few tries, but eventually, she grabbed some nothing. She thought for a moment, and, being the first Pony, and still new, she gave something new. She gave, her friendship.

The ball shook and rattled with a great noise, like the cracking of the earth and the roaring of thunder. She cowered under the great din, watching from under her hooves as the gift of the universe shot into the sky, much higher than she could’ve ever hoped to throw it. It burst forth with a great flash of light, and all the little speckles that colored the inside spread across the sky like glowing grains of sand. Each twinkled and shined, glittering like the brightest gold.

Below her, the earth shook. She closed her eyes and curled into a ball, afraid as it seemed a great cataclysm had befallen the earth. She lay there, huddled on the grass, until it stopped.

And then. She felt something. A gentle nosing at her side.

She looked up and saw another pony. This one was different, it was taller, broader. He smiled.

The pony paused for a moment, and looked around, all around her, just as varied, and in some ways as bright,as those lights in the sky, ponies stood all around.

That night, there were so many new things, that many became old, there was much naming and creating, the gift of friendship was given like water, and all around the spinning green world, there was no loneliness.

For who could be lonely when friendship was new?

End.

Author's Note:

Comments dearly appreciated.

Comments

[Cloudhammer]

Total winning. I heartily approve of this little tale

[Sigma EXE]

Hmm... I like this story. An interesting portrayal of the ponyverse and it's origins.

[Jade Mer]

That was really good. Gives a bit of insight through creative liberties.

But with all creation stories, there's usually the simple fact that everyone is related.

But that's a existential conundrum and this is just a simple, yet great, story. Have a moustache

[f1r3w4rr10r]

It is simply beautiful. You honestly got me to shed a few tears to how wonderfull it was.

[Jordipien]

Squeak, you never fail to amaze!

[codemasterc]

Hey Squeak! It's me Codemasterc.
As always you have exceeded my expectations. You really married the significance of friendship to the creation of the world of Equestria. I can totally see this tale being told by a mother to her young filly. It flows nicely, explains well, and every new element is given significance (Even NOTHING has significance) as any good creation story should. Also it gives an interesting perspective on what loneliness is and the what one thinks when it comes to old and new. A very good short story indeed.

[The-Pony-Librarian]

Hmmm....
From her description, the first pony seems very similar to Flower, from Gaia.
*Strokes invisible beard*
Interesting.

[Themaskedferret]

*Grins and applauds* Truly beautiful and sweet. I love the universe and the star and the stone as well as the mention that she was only a little tiny she. You have such an incredible way with words. I wish I could borrow it so I could express how wonderful I find it to be.

Since I can't however, my own simple words will hopefully suffice.

[Damer76]

Not a fan of 'How everything came to be' stories, but still gave it a read.
First off, I'll point out a few mistakes:

She crafted the stone. It’s pale gentle light shining in the void, chasing away a little more of the dark. her star twinkled happily and ruShed to meet it’s new sister.

Double space, and two missed capitals. The apostrophes should go away too, they're ruining the meaning (and my experience)

It was a she, not a big, booming, deserves a capital letter ‘She’,like the universe, but a small, tiny she, hardly a speck on the surface the land that seemed altogether too big.

The pony paused for a moment, and looked around, all around her, just as varied, and in some ways as bright,as those lights in the sky, ponies stood all around.

Missed a few spaces. And you might've forgot an 'of' there

It was small, the darkest blue she had ever seen, darker than the deepest see, or the pale night sky.

Never knew the best insight was blue

She gave, her friendship.

I doubt that comma deserves existence

I should also add that the capitalized She/Pony thing was pretty confusing: to me, at least, it seemed like you got a bit lost there yourself. And I still find the way you format paragraphs to be awkward and unnerving, but whatever.

Everything else aside this fic is not something I've enjoyed all that much, the main reason being that creation stories always leave more questions, namely how Celestia and Luna came to be - even if their presence was obvious, how they actually became alicorns remains unknown. Also, the story overall felt like a myth - something serious, even if mystical; yet there were a few slips into fairytale (the children ones) territory - I could mention the way the Universe played with Sun and Stone - all the games they played during the brief mention stood out quite a bit. The good things are still there - I like how to make anything, even the Universe has to give something of herself. I also like how everything began because of the lack of friendship, but went on because friendship was made.

All in all, pretty good, but it felt lacking. Something. I don't know, but one of the main reasons I dislike creation stories is because they're all very vague - everything coming to be is an event of universal magnitude, and trying to describe it all in a few pages of text feels really redundant and steal-the-feel like. I guess it applies here as well.
3/5

[Squeak-anon]

2068425

Thanks for pointing out all those little errors I shall fix them post haste. As for the nature of creation stories and myths, quite generally they're either stories for children or a story to explain away the unexplained. This one being the former in the vein of Just So Stories and other mythic tales. In general looking for actual answers to the questions of the universe or their magnitude within those kinds of stories just kinda robs them of their fun. I find a lot of people think way to hard about these kinds of things and also find it a general problem with the fandom. It's kinda like taking a toy truck and instead of pushing it along the carpet making 'Vroom' sounds you put it in a glass case and go over it with a magnifier. It always kinda struck me as missing the point. Though while I have no issue with examining something you like critically, I do find a lot of people take it a touch too far and miss just having fun with the thing they're examining. In anycase, that tangent done, thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed some bits.

[Damer76]

2068527 Some just like the examining part the most. You're pretty much right about the creation stories - that's exactly why I prefer to take just one issue and read a universe-sized explanation of it, instead of just loading up a toy truck with the explanations for the universe and play around with it. Any sort of criticism, if it can be called such, goes towards the genre, not your writing

[Streamtouched]

Beautiful Truly Beautiful. You really are an master of the brush you use.

[ghostcrab311]

that was so touching. when the universe gave herself entirely, tears were shed. just beautiful.