After the disappearance of Sunset Shimmer, Celestia finds a new protégé, Starlight Glimmer.
This one won't be a mistake… will it?
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Harmony doesn't suppress free will. Done. Not much faith with the thousand-year-old's philosophic ability in this one, eh?
Celestia is over a thousand years old, she should know how to answer questions like that.
If I were Celestia, I'd say something like:
"The purpose of harmony is to maximize good, not to minimize harm. If we wanted to ensure that no one would ever suffer, we could just destroy the world. Then everything would be neutral. Neutral is not the ideal state. The best possible world is one where people are happy and able to grow and learn, and for that, some conflict is unavoidable. Suppressing free will does not allow for growth."
Anyway, good story.
Ironically, Glimmer is correct. Prefect, absolute harmony requires a Borg style group mind. The thing about Celestia's philosophy is that harmony, friendship, and individuality are all equity important to society. If this story were cannon, I would say that Celestia failed to show the importance of the other two ideals. In the meantime, here's hoping that Glimmer comes back to attack Twilight in revenge and announces her assault with:
(Though to be fair, the Borg are at least reasonable, while Glimmer isn't. Glimmer would force her views on everyone. The Borg only take what is an asset to them, and distroy what is a threat to them, their policy is not absolute.)
The question implies the suppression of free will is part of harmony.
The suppression of free will is the suppression of free will is the suppression of free will.
Harmony as a general concept does not necessarily involve individuals.
When individuals are not involved, free will is not involved.
If free will is not involved, its suppression can't be involved, either.
Therefore, the suppression of free will is generally not part of harmony.
Therefore, the question is faulty. It does not possess a meaningful answer.
Please restate it.
Alternately, an answer will be provided if you can tell how many numbers the sky has.
In the meantime, your specimen has been processed and all variables have been accounted for. Do not feed the elephant. Do not read this sentence. Do not follow these instructions. All enemies of the daleks will be exterminated. Do not remember reading this. Do not do. Do not not do. Please submit your application form to Discord. The exit is blue and on the left. Thanks for all the fish. Bye.
Too bad Starlight didn't have a glass jar. She could have stole Tia's cutie mark, put it in the jar and teleported away. Ok, I'll admit, I probably like Starlight a lot more than most people in the fandom do so I would hope for a scenario where she would win.
Without free will, harmony cannot exist.
Without free will, there is no individuality.
Without individuality, there are no differences between ponies.
Harmony is the beautiful sound that forms when different notes come together to form something greater.
Uniformity, now... that is what Starlight Glimmer desires. Not peace from individuals coming together in spite of--or even because of!--their differences, but by making every pony a mirror of everypony else. Make them all the same--there's really only one pony, in that case.
And a single note cannot be harmonious. It might produce a sweet sound, but it is not harmony.
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Two things may not have the freedom to choose to be different from each other, but that doesn't make them suddenly the same if they're weren't already.
5858948 Without free will, there is no such thing as the ability to make decisions--your thoughts and actions are corralled into a cell by the one who has dictated what you will think. We are our thoughts, although a great many things influence what we think.
If everyone has the same thought, they are the same person.
Well awesome, to be honest i didnt enjo the season premiere, it was good, but i found it extremely predictable, however, your work is actually more scary, i imagine Celestia with the Squirell sitting, dying, like her mind die, she confronting starligth, with her smile, her room wiouth colors and the sign, my sir you are better tha te writers of the show, thanks for sharing
I believe that the only proper response to this question is "Mu". Harmony is the balanced interplay between Chaos (Read: Change) and Order (Read: Structure). The suppression of Free Will has nothing to do with Harmony. It doesn't even have anything to do with Order. What it is, however, is a suppression of Chaos and Change, which will eventually lead to the Heat Death of the Universe.
...so yes, unmaking the question, and probably the pony that posed that question, is the only proper response.
Starlight's question can be answered in several ways (Pascal did the best job, I think), but this story is not about a philosophical debate. It's about Starlight failing to see how harmony can come from individuality and relationships (two things she seems to have no use for), and Celestia being unable to answer the question herself. A very good story.
Love this story, and I've also been toying with the theory that Starlight was a student of Celestia's at some point!
...just like Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and Trixie (word of Faust)...
I can't wait to see what Twilight's NEXT rival will be named! Moonlight Twinkle? Starlight Sprinkler? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?
5855992
Wrong. That's Absolute Order, not Harmony. Harmony is the ability for differing denominations to mesh together well and work with one another as best as they can. Absolute Order is machine-like, everything made to or forced to work perfectly like it'd been tooled on a bench for that purpose, no free will, no independent thought. It's as bad as Total Chaos. Harmony is the happy medium between the two, absorbing traits from both.
This was poorly done. The Royal Sisters are thousands of years old, and Celestia has ruled alone for a thousand, keeping all of Equestria safe, prosperous, friendly, and most importantly - making a priority for freedom of choice. For instance, Rarity's special talent is finding gems. Yet she's a dressmaker. It'd be so easy to force all the ponies to only do as their cutie mark suggests, fulfilling some role in a harsh and totalitarian society. Instead, most ponies seem to be happy, have jobs they like, and in general there seems to be no poor factor. Everyone is by and large shown to be healthy and happy.
So you're telling me Celestia can't properly answer this question? She can't just, gesture to an Equestria history book, or tell Glimmer to look outside, at all the free will going on? Or try to explain the difference between free will and anarchy, and the evils that anarchy brings with it? Or the virtues of an ordered, happy society, where people are free to pursue their dreams and have no fear of starving to death or just randomly getting killed in the street?
I'm sorry, but this is a little ridiculous and unbelievable, and doesn't even fit what we know from show canon. This deserves an AU tag.
5908813 Common misconception! The Borg DO have individuality. They simply are communicating with one another at a speed of a billion conversation a second. They resolve discord in nanoseconds amongst all their members and then proceed. Prefect harmony. Everyone debars on and most agrees on every action they take.
5908828
You're trying to apply a technological hivemind to a societal structure in a completely different universe.
5908941 Yeah. Because you know you want to see what would happen if the Borg assimilated a pony. "You're culture will adapt to hug things. Resistance is ok, if you feel like that."
5908945
... That'd be pretty fuckin' adorable. No lie.
I also am moved by Celestia's inner grief at failing with another student before Twilight, and Starlight's response to the squirrel question is textbook sociopathy; very chilling.
5908945 Inb4 the Borg make a horrible mistake in assimilating Equestria and become the biggest hippie movement the galaxy has ever seen!
To Celestia:
Hm. Thought provoking, but I believe Starlight is interpreting Harmony as being Order. As for Celestia inability to answer her question, the way Starlight looks at her may why she can't. It is possible to unnerve a person to that point and Celestia, no matter how old or powerful, is no exception.
6468275
I write stories were Celestia is either very strong or very weak, with little inbetween. :p
A complement to a musicals melody
Though in all seriousness Harmony is an array of different attributes and abilities collaborating to build and improve others and reach a common goal.
You can has review!
Ugh.