Harmony
Celestia watched as her student ascended into the heavens, her ponies breaking out in song all around her.
Twilight had surpassed all expectations, solved the mystery of Starswirl's last spell, and fulfilled her destiny all in one fell swoop. Even the nobles, who were always so resistant to disruption of the status quo, welcomed her with open arms. She was sure that Harmony would reign over the land for generations to come.
It was absolutely perfect.
It was absolutely wrong.
There was a lord of darkness. Sombra was his name, and King was his title. He ruled over the Northern Wastes with an iron hoof, claiming the Crystal Empire as his territory and its ponies as his subjects. When he attempted to extend his reach into the nation of Equestria, though, he faced two unstoppable forces.
Celestia, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, was the first.
The second was Luna, Deimos Selene, the Nightmare Moon.
For years, war raged on Equestria's northern borders. Thousands of ponies, crystal and otherwise, fell in battle. Such was the way of war. But in the end, after one last assault on the heart of the Crystal Empire, led by the Sun and Moon themselves, Sombra finally fell, and was banished into the freezing wastes. His Empire was wiped from the landscape, and the soldiers of Equestria returned home, leaving one outpost in the area to prevent any uprising.
Over a millennium later, as Harmony spread across the land, when a guard finally announced the return of King Sombra and the appearance of a Crystal Empire, Celestia was extremely surprised. But she knew exactly what to do.
Nothing.
She instead sent her student, the illustrious Twilight Sparkle, and her small band of friends to face the dark lord. To anypony that asked, she said that this was to serve as a test... the greatest test of the young student's life.
It was meant to be an exercise in futility, a chance for Equestria to relearn the importance of standing strong in the face of adversity. But Twilight returned, victorious, mere days after she had left.
Sombra was not the warlord he once was. He was, quite literally, a shadow of himself, driven back and destroyed by a device called the Crystal Heart, powered by love and happiness of all things.
As the delighted young student pronked out of the throne room, all decorum forgotten, Celestia drove a hoof into the ground, leaving cracks in the impeccable marble surface.
"Behold, behold!" The populace cheered their new princess, even as its current ones watched from the Canterlot spires.
The Solar Princess shaped her face into a carefully crafted smile, the one that always fooled everypony around her. But then, there wasn't such a thing as deception, was there? In the magical land of Equestria, ruled by Harmony and presided over by its immortal princesses, there was no need for such a thing.
Celestia was no stranger to deception. Subterfuge and misinformation were part and partial to the political machine in the early days of Equestria.
Now, perhaps, not so much.
So when she had felt its undercurrents once again, Celestia was thrilled. It had come as a rude shock, obviously, when she learned that the fae queen, Chrysalis, had kidnapped and replaced her beloved niece, Cadenza, in an attempt to stage a coup.
Chrysalis has cut her, deeply. But Celestia had no choice.
She let Chrysalis continue to work her magic, digging deep into the roots of the political system. Anyone who could have seen through the ruse was conveniently shunted out of the way. And the stalwart Captain of the Guard was reduced to a simpering puppet, even as Celestia gave him the order to erect his shield over the entire city.
Twilight Sparkle, of course, attuned to the magic of Harmony around her as she was, noticed the lies immediately. But the deception ran so deeply and thoroughly that everyone else was convinced otherwise. Such simple minds her ponies had!
Celestia bore only the smallest amount of guilt over having to tell her faithful student that she was wrong.
In what can only be called coincidence, Twilight found the true Princess Cadance, returned to the surface world, and exposed Chrysalis for all that she was. Celestia rose, knowing what she had to do to restore normalcy to Equestria...
She had to lose.
She had to let Chrysalis win, even while she possessed the power to destroy her and turn her to ash. Chrysalis was sure to prevail now.
But Harmony, once again, eked out a victory. Twilight restored sense to her fallen brother, and together, he and his new wife drove the changeling threat away with a single stroke.
The day had been just perfect.
"Everything's changing, Celly."
Celestia flinched at the unorthodox nickname, but relaxed at the sight of a brown unicorn stallion with a short gray mane and tail, dressed in a smart blue sport jacket over a starched white dress shirt.
"I suppose it is," she replied.
"Can you handle it?" Upon Celestia's wordless insistence, he continued, wiggling an eyebrow at her. "Can you handle an eternity with Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Know-It-All-dom?" The stallion put a hoof to his goatee, stroking it gently. "I think I'm going to run that one by her, see what she thinks of it."
"Twilight Sparkle has done well," Celestia replied, successfully telling the truth and completely failing to answer the question all at once.
"You know, she really has, hasn't she?" He ribbed her in the side, pointing down at the parade below. "I mean, look. Their magic of friendship turned mean old Mr. Discord into a nice guy! Who'd have thunk it?"
Celestia nodded, without smiling. "Who, indeed?"
Celestia was, perhaps, the only one left who remembered what Discord had truly been; he was a demon... a lord of chaos, who threatened to tear the universe asunder for the sake of entropy.
For Equestria's warrior princesses, the Unconquered Sun and the Nightmare Moon, it was an adequate challenge. Only after years of fighting did they manage to seal him away. But his corruption lingered, a slow-acting poison that incrementally chipped away at the bond between the Sisters until it failed entirely.
When he returned, Celestia knew the course of action she needed to take... and again, the Elements of Harmony were called into action. For a time, it looked as if they, too, would fall under the influence of Chaos.
But Harmony was absolute.
Discord was no demon, not anymore. He was little more than an imp, content to disrupt the lives of a single town before being swept away by the magic of Harmony.
Celestia could not let this stand.
On her order, he was freed once again. Perhaps, given a second opportunity...
But Harmony had already exacted its toll on the trickster god. Given a second opportunity, Harmony dulled him further, altered his very nature... and turned him into just another slave to its will.
Not even Chaos itself could undo what Harmony had done.
"Brava, Twilight!"
The noise returned Celestia to the present time. To her right, her sister stomped wildly, cheering Twilight on as she soared through the sky.
When Celestia cleared her throat, she flinched, looking back at her with embarrassment. "I apologize, sister. But truly, look at the fruits your labor has wrought!" Luna announced, pointing at the graceful flying lavender streak in the Canterlot sky. "All that you planned for her has come to pass! Aren't you happy for her?"
Celestia grimaced. "Of course I am. I couldn't be happier."
One thousand years of peace.
Three hundred sixty five thousand, two hundred and forty two days of tranquility.
Eight million, seven hundred sixty five thousand, eight hundred and eight hours without major incident.
Five hundred twenty five million, nine hundred forty eight thousand, four hundred and eighty minutes where, no matter what happened, Equestria prospered.
Celestia was glad that her sister was returning from the Moon. Now somepony could share her madness... or better yet, end it entirely.
Luna, all elegant black and radiating power, alighted on the balcony atop Canterlot's tallest spire. Celestia, in regal white, with a rainbow-hued mane billowing in the magical breeze, was already waiting for her.
"Sister... what have you done?"
"I... I am sorry, Luna..."
"Can't you see? Harmony... it's smothering the land. It's killing it."
"All I wanted was... I didn't want to fail again. Not after losing you... I wanted... I needed to keep Equestria safe, and peaceful, and perfect... just for you."
"This is not Equestria, sister. It's a pale imitation. It's a tale out of a picture book. It's a filly's fantasy world!"
"But..."
"The world needs conflict! It needs adversity in order to grow! Without it, it will atrophy, shrivel up and blow away in the next strong breeze."
Luna and Celestia shared a long, meaningful look.
"Equestria needs a villain." Luna heaved a great sigh. "It is fortuitous, then, that I should finally return."
Celestia looked with love on her younger sister, her equal in every way. "Can it be done? Can you reverse this curse?"
"I cannot be sure," the black alicorn said. With a flash of cerulean, her old armor appeared on her body. She looked every bit the warrior princess she was a millennium ago. "But I'll be damned if I don't try."
So it was that the Nightmare Moon took wing again, threatening to destroy the world as everyone knew it to be. And from her tower, hidden from the world, the Unconquered Sun prayed that she would succeed.
But... Harmony... prevailed... and the world refused to change.
"Life in Equestria shimmers, life in Equestria shines!"
Celestia was alone. Sombra, Chrysalis, Discord... even her own sister, reduced to a pale imitation of herself... nothing could wrench Equestria from the iron grip of the curse of Harmony.
Her wish was coming true.
"I know for absolute certain, that everything is certainly fine!"
Nothing bad would ever happen to Equestria, ever again.
"Everything... yes, everything... yes, everything is certainly fine! It's fine!"
And it was all her fault.
"Yes! Everything's going to be just fine!"
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Very nice!
Definitely explores the darker side of the matter that "Infallible" examined the lighter side of.
I'll send you the more in-depth critique you asked for in private message.
If you truely need evil to once again stalk the land, just remember that you are the Princess, after all.
Send out some tax collectors...
2431009
Except everypony is perfectly taxed according to their means, and the money is perfectly utilized in programs that support everypony's needs.
Celly tried to upset the economy in year 643 after Luna's banishment. They used the extra bits to throw her a thank you party.
The past tense of think is not thunk it is thank
2431086
"Thunk" is colloquial. Besides, do you think a being of chaos is going to conform to rules of grammar?
I fucking love this fic.
they have conflict. You don't have to lose to have conflict. If fact if you lose that may be the only conflict you ever have
Obligatory:
2431086>>2431089
It's "thought", but "who'd have thunk it" is idiomatic and in character.
Oh my god, I love this idea!
Please tell me you're going to make more.
so FEW people understand things that this story underscores, perfection is death! a SLOW, PAINFUL, ETERNAL death that you will not die from, you will just endure until the end which perfection will alway keep at bay
2432212
that comment is totally contradictory and illogical.
The biggest thing this story underscores is Celestia doesn't understand change. She calls her ponies simple minded because they don't react the way ponies would in her youth. Well things were different in her youth.
Shunt you or me or any person reading this back to the dawn of humanity and we wouldn't be able to deal with the problems then either. Does that mean we're simple?
You don't like this place? The answer is simple: get something not from this place. A creature that hasn't been exposed to Harmony for very long. A true beast, an uncontrollable, evil, disgusting creature from the deepest depths of- not Tartarus, that's at the border of Equestria, Harmony can leak in- Hell. THE Hell. Better yet, pull in the Kishin from Soul Eater, Asura:
images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090218225509/souleater/images/3/30/Asuraface.JPG
He literally CREATES Madness and instability... just by BREATHING. There, problem solved. Can I have a cookie now? Ooh, that's a good idea... MINE!
Let humans
in-that'll disrupt things.
2432633 Got it in one. I'd offer you a prize... well...
2432754 Pinkie would end up teaching Asura to face his fears by laughing at them. Problem solved.
2434299 The humans arrive, form their own town, and live in Harmony just like every other race.
>One-shot
>Incomplete
2432212
This type of reasoning always makes me smile... people sometimes tell me perfection is boring, bland, dangerous, staling progress... it can't be!
Perfection does not = an unchanging state, if what is perfect now would be dangerous later then it either stops being perfect or changes to remain so, if perfection would become boring then it will adapt. Perfection can't be anything less than itself, stating the opposite is a logical impossibility, you might as well be squaring circles or ascending down... whatever.
2434430 Heh heh... thanks for catching that.
There's some good food for thought in this story...I like that
Nice, made me think a lot.
Just strange that Celestia wouldn't tell Twilight about this. Trust issues? I guess perfection doesn't reign after all
Oh dear Monolith. This is the most disturbing thing ever.
2434353He was an example of any possible solution. Something that's not of this dimension, because apparently it's protected by a thick, glossy coat of Harmony, limiting anyone's levels of killing intent. Doesn't even have to be a crossover, maybe an OC evil demon-beast or whatever. Do what you'd like, I'm just giving examples.
2437004
You know what? I borrowed this idea from PRB, why don't you borrow the idea from me?
It's a fairly decent start for a fic - the standard "extradimensional visitor visits Equestria" fiction, with the twist that he's there to break the world instead of adjust himself to it.
I'm a tad busy with Dusk. If you (or anyone really) feels up to the task, go ahead.
2437965
thanks!
'The world refused to change'? That sounds like Chrono Trigger, just a little.
Well, it seems the world has passed Celestia by. She could always try to steal a MIRV from another universe and destroy a good part of equestria. That would deharmonize things pretty quickly.
2441338
The resultant destruction would band the nation together in a global relief effort. Heroes would be born. Legends would be created. And more than ever, the world would come to appreciate the power of Harmony.
lol harmony wins forever etc etc.
2431086 Thank!? Thank you, but even though thunk might not be a word pertaining to thought, neither is thank.
Hmmm . . . some interesting ideas you've proposed here regarding the seeming perfection of Equestria, and how said perfection can be representative of stagnation, eventual decay, and death. I'm reminded of Frank Herbert's Dune, where the hero actively tries to avoid the "safe course" that Celestia (seemingly) unwittingly took, for "that path leads ever down into stagnation" (not that the path that Paul Muad'Dib actually went down was all that much better, just not stagnant). Consider other fictional civilizations that have attained a level of perfection--Krypton, Cybertron, Gallifrey--only to grow complacent and eventually face obliteration because so many of its citizens simply could not change.
A very well done and thought-provoking one-shot. Keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Mares Guyver
Very interesting take on it. Ultimately it boils down to boredom and paranoia an old war goddess experiences in piece - though with Twilight in Place, Celly and Luna could go on an interstellar adventure instead.
This reminds me of a Batman crossover fic by Onomonopia "Dark Knight for Equestria", where the Mane Six and Batman had to face their ultimate fear.
In short, the Mane Six's sessions doesn't involve death or blood or even the color black. So when it's Batman's turn, well let's say it's insta-nightmare of life-scarring quantity.
The worst part about everlasting peace is you will lose the idea of what "un-peace" is like, and your mental strength with it. Atrophy, indeed.
2531106 APATHY IS DEATH!! LOL!!
2441473
2441338
Welp..........the world has ended.........till death decides enough is enough that is!! MUAHAHAHA!! no seriously!!
Well, SpookTober is coming so might as well read some of the Darker sides of ponies, and every single day until finally nightmare night will arrive and I will Read Smiles or Cupcakes to revisit the good old stories that will give me nightmares.
Hmm, am I forcing my self to get nightmares... Nah
Still, this pretty good story when it was released in 2013 and if I was 16 back then I would enjoy every moment of my life being a brony oof I was born to late for that now
Now I'm reviewing the past, well that's a blast. (hay that rhymes)
10/15/2019 by Roy
(although im just a grain of salt in the community. Might as well enjoy it while it last because im going to fallow the heard until were gone)