> Chasing Shadows > by Reading4HalfMyLife > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chasing Shadows > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the beginning there was darkness. It spread through the universe, blanketing every corner of the world and all that existed. The darkness wasn't lonely, as it didn't have heart, not yet at least. And into the darkness came the the light. They started off as nothing more than sparks, but in the encompassing folds of darkness, they may as well of have been flares. The darkness watched, curious as the sparks grew into something more. Eventually the sparks became light, and the light moved-so fast! It traveled the universe, and the darkness, unused to sharing, followed. The light moved faster than the dark, but the dark always followed. The dark did not love the light as it did not have a heart, but it followed the light and it was so. Other things popped into existence around them - Space, Time, Chaos, Harmony, but the dark and the light were the first and they were together. And, when Space and Time and Chaos and Harmony fragmented themselves and used those fragments to solidify into strange creatures, Light and Darkness followed suit. But, even as Light and Dark, or Ray and Ebony, as they called themselves, settled in with the other Gods, the other pieces of light and dark kept moving, kept chasing. One day, week, month, year, the light and dark decided to try their hands at solidifying themselves like Ray and Kronos, both of whom were happy to help. First there were stars, pieces of light suspended in darkness, even as light burned through helium, racing away while still managing to stay still. The dark surrounded it, watching from a safe distance. But some pieces were unhappy with that, so they left. Then they became planets. The light burned, a ball of fire in the sky that caught everyone's attention and shone down, making every day special. The darkness was a rock, pure white and watching over everything from a safe distance, especially it's special light. The light is confused when Ebony turns on Ray and almost kills him- why would you do that? They ask, and the darkness has no response, just as confused as they are. For one day, light stops and mourns, and the darkness is left confused by this new game. No longer liking the moon and sun, they tie them to Harmonia's children to raise and maintain, and go down to the planet of creatures that look like their solidified form. They danced in the water together, tumbled through forests together and explored caves. Dark and light magic was created as the two spun in a celestial symphony. But still the darkness did not love the light, as it had no heart. Then the dark and the light turned into living breathing creatures; he with red eyes and dark magic, she with pale coat and golden mane. She ran and he chased, and they were born again; she with claws and a beak and him with batwings and fangs; she with green gold eyes and she with eyes of obsidian black. The darkness had a heart now, and learned to love the light. The were reborn, as kings and queens, as peasants and bakers, as Gods, as ponies, as griffins, as dragons, as Changelings. Only a quarter of the time do they remember each other, and they have learned to treasure those precious few lifetimes, to keep them close to heart and never let them go. Did the light understand just how much the darkness loved it? Perhaps not. It ran and it danced and it laughed and it sang, and the darkness crept up behind, enraptured by it's opposites beauty. Maybe the light did understand. It had known the dark since the beginning after all, the light had come into the dark's care from the moment it first appeared. The light runs and the darkness followed and that is how things were. They try something new. The light searches and searches, and, upon finding the perfect pony, with stripes and a huge smile and a bright laugh, buries itself into her mind. Across the earth, the dark does the same thing with a unicorn. They introduce themselves as imaginary friends, and the two mortals take it in stride. Both are careful not to show the foals their true forms, they do not want their keepers bodies to be ripped apart. Instead, they exist in the corner of their eyes, never really revealing themselves. The keepers show them their daydreams, and the light and the dark are happy to sit back and watch them play out. They meet up again, as they always do, but this time the light follows it's striped keeper, and the dark follows the little unicorn. They find eachother, as they always have. Then the dark-and it's keeper- vanishes. The light and the lights keeper waits as long as they can, but she is the light and the light runs. So together the light and the light's keeper run. Together they run through the world that the light has run through so many times that there is no longer a number for it, a world it will never grow weary of. But still the dark does not chase the light. The light and the lights keeper seeks out the dark's keeper, sure if they found the unicorn, they would find the dark. They scrutinizing every creature carefully, the creatures the dark's keeper loves so much, but none of them are him. They search high and low, but they cannot find the dark or his keeper. They seek and follow everything they can find to hunt down the dark. The light's keeper knows that her friend loves animals, so she hunts down every single animal sanctuary, to no avail. She knows her friend loves music, so she chases down every single concert in Equestria, desperately searching for her best friend. They finds themselves at the edge of a forest with the dark's animals. They finds a pony who has hurt the dark. Her dark. Hurt, and hunted and trapped their dark. The darkness's keeper is hiding, frightened, scared. The light's keeper does not know about the light or the dark, does not know who her imaginary friend is. But she knows who her best friend is, and this pony hurt him. And the darkness loved the light and loves the light, but the light is too impulsive, too skittish, and always runs away. The darkness cares, with all it's heart, while the light leads the way. And, deep within her, the light screams at the injustice of hurting her dark. She doesn't do anything, instead the light burns the stallion, and she takes off, running through the forest with the speed of a zebra a star a planet light, crossing the distance almost instantly. Later, she will realize there is something wrong about that, but for now- "There you are" Grace says when she finds Dewdrop. "I was looking for you."