The Killer of Ideas

In that place, under the warm light of a golden sun during the day, and the beautiful silver shine of the moon at night, they lived, they played. Delighting themselves with the juicy fruits of the trees, swimming in the clear waters of the lake and lying down in the emerald grass, engulfed with the sweet scent of the flowers. In that happy paradise, they lived, they played, they loved and they dreamed.

They were the Ideas.

But one day, a new Idea appeared. No one knew from where It had came, but its presence sickened the land, bringing coldness and death to that paradise. It was much stronger than the other Ideas, and It was accompanied by a terrible aura of despair, a gigantic shadow of pure black that slowly swallowed everything on its path, like a tsunami.

It was the Idea of Darkness.

Without hesitation, without a warning, this entity waged war on the other Ideas. It was going to consume the paradise, that was its goal: to bring the Absolute Void, where not even the light could survive.

Because light was a lie, and so was love, and life... They had to be eradicated. Only Darkness could exist... there... forever...

***

The Idea of Valor, a fierce and powerful warrior, was the first one to confront the invader. His war scream shook the entire land, but the wave of shadows didn’t even tremble. The Idea of Darkness killed him, quickly, without much effort.

Then, in the path of the Destroyer stood the Idea of Goodness, a virtuous knight in shining armor, shield on one hand and sword on another. The Idea of Darkness doubted a bit, It didn’t want to kill that one. But It couldn’t fight its destiny, its mission. And so, the Idea of Goodness was also swallowed by the Oblivion.

On the shore of the lake, the Idea of Darkness met the Idea of Love. She didn’t stood up, she wasn’t a warrior. The beautiful lady was peacefully looking at the clear water. It killed her right away, because It was afraid of her, since It couldn’t understand love.

Not too far from there, the young Idea of Friendship was playing, ignoring the disaster that was happening around her, maybe willfully. The Idea of Darkness waited until the little girl had finished, and when she, tired, curled up on the grass to sleep, It finished her. Quickly, mercifully.

The Idea of Happiness didn’t fight, either. She went with a smile, hugging the Idea of Darkness while its shadowy aura was consuming her. It didn’t understand.

The paradise was no more. Along with the Ideas, the tidal wave of shadows had swallowed the trees, and the lake, and the land itself. The Idea of Darkness flew to the sky, where It met its polar opposite: The Idea of Light.

She was alone now, on her heavenly throne of gold and silver, the last bastion of life, a weak and tired lighthouse in the middle of the increasing Void. The luminous queen looked at her genderless counterpart, directly at its faceless head. She said nothing.

The light banished, and Darkness reigned supreme. But its job was still unfinished.

***

The Idea of Darkness walked trough its empty kingdom, until he met a cloaked figure. It had been searching for him, he was one of the few who were still alive. He was the Idea of Mystery.

But the Destroyer didn’t kill him right away. It liked him, they were kinda similar to each other. They walked together in the blackness, talking, like if they were old friends. But, eventually, the Idea of Mystery got tired of the cold and the shadows, and asked for his turn to embrace Oblivion. He knelt, and began to pray.

The Idea of Darkness killed him too.

The dark executioner saw a tiny figure moving in the distance. That was its next objective: the Idea of Dreams. The colourful imp was jumping trough the black emptyness, without worries. He looked happy, even in the middle of that cold realm of nothing.

Why do you smile?, inquired the Idea of Darkness. Can’t you see that despair and silence are the only things left?

I don’t care., said the Idea of Dreams. I’ve just been in an incredible place. A beautiful land of laughs, where dreams can become true. I’m so happy to have known that realm, that I don’t mind dying. Do what you have to do, executioner.

He was usually an elusive imp, hard to find and even harder to catch. However, at that moment, he knelt, like the Idea of Mystery had done before him, and did nothing to avoid his dark destiny. The Idea of Darkness killed again.

Done. No more Ideas, no more paradise. No more light, no more life, no more of those shiny lies. Only Darkness.

The Idea, the one who had killed them all, was wandering through its new domain. Walking the empty eternity would be its reward and punishment, its destiny and choice.

Because it had killed them all. It didn’t want to, but It did. It didn’t have to, but that was its mission.

Alone, the Idea of Darkness was walking the path that would lead It to nowhere.

***

Light.

The Idea looked. That shouldn’t be possible, It had killed everyone and destroyed everything, what was the meaning of that light that It could see in the black distance?

The dark executioner approached. Unknown, all It saw were unknown elements. They were laughing, they were playing... they were living, apparenlty unaware of the outer darkness. It approached more, they didn’t look like anything It had seen before. They were like horses, small and colourful. Normal horses, unicorns and pegasi, all of them living in that light. Watching over them, motherly, there was a mixture of the three, a white winged unicorn with red mane and tail.

The Idea of Darkness raised its claw. Light was a lie, it wasn't allowed to exist. The Destroyer tried to eliminate those ponies... but It couldn’t. They weren’t Ideas, they were a Force. It couldn’t do anything against a Force.

Would be that oasis the beautiful place the imp had told It about?

And so, the Idea of Darkness retreated, wanting to hide from that hideous light. However, they noticed It.

Hi., they said. The dark executioner called the shadows to cover its pressence, but that was futile.

That place looks cold and lonely., they said. Would you like to come with us? We will share our light with you.

But the Idea of Darkness ran away, returning to its empty domain, scared.

The time passed slowly in the infinite sea of shadows. Eventually, It didn’t know why, the Idea of Darkness went back to that world of light and colours.

Hi again., said the creatures.

This time, It didn’t hide. However, It didn’t say a word, either. It remained silent, watching the colours, trying to not disturb the little ponies.

Oh, well., they smiled. We will be here all the time. You can still come, if you want.

The Idea of Darkness remained on the frontier between the light and the shadows, waiting, observing... thinking. He wasn’t alone all the time. Occasionally, the ponies went to visit It, treating It like a friend. They told It some stories, they tried to make It laugh. Some of them even gave It flowers, although the beautiful plants weren’t able to survive in the darkness, and always died at the instant the Idea grab them with its claws.

After several days, the dark executioner started to feel... different. There was something inside It, something new, something It had never felt before. The Idea of Darkness had the urge to cross the frontier and go to that new world, but the light burned It.

Pain...

Of course. It was the Destroyer, a messenger of the Absolute Void. It was the Idea of Darkness, light and colours were not for It. The faceless entity turned back and looked to its domain. Silent... empty... dark.

That had been its mission, to terminate everything, because everything was a lie, and Darkness had to be established.

But even Darkness had to end... someday...

***

The Idea dived into the depths of its shadowy realm. There, beyond the whirlwinds of nothingness, buried under the weight of Oblivion, it was It. The last of his kind, the only surviving Idea, the one that the dark executioner hadn’t wanted to take, maybe because It was afraid of It.

The Idea of Rage.

It was sleeping, like a dormant beast. Even in the absolute darkness, its body, red like blood, was perfectly visible. The Idea of Darkness approached It, and the presence of the dark executioner was more than enough to awake the crimsom monster. No words were spoken, no prayers were prayed. The Idea of Darkness wasn’t going to defend itself.

Everything had to end.

The red Idea of Rage attacked as brutally as It could, tearing the Destroyer apart and scattering its remains in the shadowy infinite. When the carnage was done, It found something inside the ruined dark corpse: a tiny sphere of yellow light. The Idea of Rage tried to destroy that too, but it was impossible. Not interested in a victim that could not be killed, the monster threw the sphere away. Then, It looked around. There was nothing else, even the Idea of Darkness had been killed.

The Absolute Void was, now, truly complete.

No... it was beyond that, it had become... the Overwhelming Nothingness.

And so, since not even rage could exist in a place like that, It vanished.

***

The new world of light had expanded its frontiers. The outer darkness had started to shrink, for some reason. Now there were forests, mountains and rivers where, a few instanst before, there had been a scary and silent void.

The ponies explored the new lands, moved by their natural curiosity. Eventually, they reached a lake of clear waters. In the distance, the last clouds of shadows were retreating.

On the shore, the ponies found a tiny sphere of light, shinning shyly. When they approached it, the yellow glow became stronger.

What are you?, they asked.

I am the Idea created by all of you., explained the sphere. I am the Idea of Hope.

THE END