//------------------------------// // Prologue: Arise // Story: Beneath a Discordant Sun // by hauntu4ever //------------------------------// Princess Celestia sighed as she signed the paper before her and added it to her pile of ‘accepted’ proposals. She had been at it for two hours, and the sheer monotony of the task was beginning to get to her. It wasn’t that the proposals and reports she was reading were necessarily bad. In fact, many of them were superb ideas. Some were impractical, or overlooked a fact or two, but at the core of each was a pony with a desire to make Equestria a better place. It had been that way for, near as she could tell, five hundred years. Celestia looked at the next paper in the stack, a proposal intended to fix some of the problems in Manehatten’s new power grid. The city had opted to pioneer the newer developments in the field. So far, it had been going less than well. Manehatten hadn’t been fully operational since they had set up the new grid. Fortunately, this proposal looked like it would have a good shot at addressing most of the problems, and Celestia was willing to give it a shot. She signed the paper and sorted it accordingly. Then she frowned. Celestia had been, and still was, a big supporter of this project. The newest developments in science never ceased to amaze her. Ponies nowadays were doing things every day that Celestia hadn’t even considered possible a thousand years ago. Because of this, she always took special interest in the largest developments. She had expected that she would feel happy, even excited, about signing off on these changes. So why did she feel so . . . unenthusiastic? Maybe I just need a break, Celestia thought, standing up. She exited her study a moment later, joining the two guards who had been standing outside. “I will be taking a walk in the hedge maze,” she told them. “I should be back in an hour or so.” The guards saluted. This was not the first time she had taken an hour off at this point in the day. In fact. . . . I take these breaks every other day, after two hours of reading proposals, and I'm back in time for court every time. Frowning, she made her way down the hall to the staircase at the other end. Everything I do, I did yesterday, or the day before that. Usually both. The staircase took her to the ground level, where she turned right, heading for a door that would take her out to the gardens. Get up and raise the sun. Go to the small dining room and meet Luna for breakfast – or dinner, in her case. Go to my study and read proposals. Two guards moved to open the doors for her, but she did it herself, with more force than was strictly necessary. Then maybe a break. That's probably the most variation my schedule gets. She passed the rose garden without looking in. Then I come back, and it's time for court. Her frown deepened at that. Six hours of listening to the aristocracy is enough to drive anypony insane, and I do it daily. Lost in her thoughts, she hardly even noticed the sculpture garden as she passed through it. At least I have whatever is left of the day for free time, she acknowledged. Provided, of course, there are no other pressing matters to attend to. And when was the last time that happened? By the time she reached the hedge maze, Celestia’s mood had soured greatly. The guards at the entrance saluted her, but she neither acknowledged them nor slowed down, instead going straight into the maze, hoping to lose herself in its passages. My time with Luna: breakfast, dinner, dawn, and twilight. That never changes, either. Once a week, on Sundays, I go to my spa for two hours. I do that at exactly the same time I would have otherwise taken my break. And business follows me there, too, in some way or another. It's always the same thing, over and over again. I haven't had a disruption in my schedule for four months now. Before that, a year, and before that, who knows how long? And in between, nothing changes. It's always the same thing. She didn't realize she was galloping until she almost crashed into a couple of nobles who were also wandering the maze. “Oh!” Celestia skidded to a halt, flapping her wings, as the couple reared back in surprise. “I'm sorry! I seem to have lost track of myself.” The couple slid smoothly into bows. “No need to apologize, your Majesty,” the stallion, a silver earth pony with a pale green mane, said. Celestia recognized him as Whistle Wind, a racing pony whose family owned a glass business of moderate size. A low-ranking noble, he was surprisingly sober for his enviably exciting life. “It was most definitely our fault. We should have been more careful of where we walked.” Celestia gave a small smile. “Oh, don't be so modest. It was my fault; I shouldn't have been going so fast.” Realizing they were both still bowing, she added, “please, stand.”As they did, Celestia turned to the other pony, an orange mare - also an earth pony - who she didn't know. Her cutie mark was a pair of crossed needles. “And who might you be?” “This is Hearth, a friend of mine,” Whistle Wind said before she could answer. “She's not a noble, but I wanted to give her the opportunity to see the castle.” “And what a castle it is!” Hearth said, practically squealing. “I've never seen such majesty!” She blinked then, remembering who she was talking to. “Er . . . your Majesty. . . .” Celestia chuckled at that. “I'm glad you like it, my little pony,” she said with a smile. Hearth blushed in response. “Your Majesty,” Whistle Wind said, “we appear to have gotten lost. Would you be so kind as to allow us to tag along until you decide to leave?” Hearth emphasized the suggestion with an “ooh, yes!”, her expression one of sheer delight. Celestia smiled in response, but inside her mind raced, trying to come up with a way to escape. Not the aristocracy. Not right now. . . . Thankfully she found one. “Thank you for the offer, Whistle Wind, but I couldn't possibly impose myself on you two. You're just too cute together!” She grinned at their matching blushes. “No, I won't walk with you. But, if I can find you on my way out, I would be happy to join you then.” She winked at them before continuing down the path she was already in. Well, that was fun, Celestia thought with a smile. * * * Well, that was . . . strange, Whistle Wind thought, watching the Princess walking away, a spring in her step. He had been a part, if relatively minor, of the nobility for years now, and had seen the Princess on many an occasion. She had presented him the awards herself the couple times he had won the Equestrian Cup. He had even run into her a couple times outside of formal proceedings – in this maze, as a matter of fact. It was why Whistle Wind was here now – Hearth had wanted to meet the Princess. She had certainly done so. Glancing at the mare now, Whistle Wind found her completely spaced out and still blushing. What is she thinking about, I wonder? He quickly answered his own question: likely how Princess Celestia noticed our relationship. Hay, I'm still a little flustered by that. . . . of course, she could just be watching the Princess's flank. Luna knows it's not the worst in the castle. Suppressing his own blush, Whistle Wind nudged his marefriend, bringing her out of her stupor. “Come on,” he said, and they started walking again, taking a different direction than the Princess had gone. They walked in silence for several minutes until finally, Hearth spoke. “Is she normally that . . . carefree?” “If she is, she doesn't show it,” Whistle Wind replied. Every time he had met the Princess of the Sun, she had seemed perfectly formal and in complete control. He had begun to think her personality was that of perfect formality and control, even knowing the mask he himself hid behind. Yet, as he thought about it, he realized that the control was almost too perfect, the formality too precise. Even further, he suddenly recognized a few extremely subtle pranks she had played on other nobles, and a couple on himself, that he had never recognized in part because the prankster had been his ruler and goddess. Also because they were so unbelievably subtle. She has the element of surprise and a thousand years of practice, he thought with a slight smile. A mighty opponent indeed. “Oh. Why now, then?” Hearth asked. Whistle Wind looked over at her. A very cute thoughtful expression lay on her face as she tried to dissect the motives behind Princess Celestia's actions. That was why, he thought, he had fallen in love with the apprentice dressmaker. She wasn't as quick-witted as the nobility Whistle Wind was used to spending time with, but she thought about things that actually mattered, and that easily made up for anything else. And she was honest, too – no noble would have asked that question, knowing that Whistle Wind could take offense at it. For that, he gave the mare an affectionate nuzzle, making her giggle. She had a point, though. Whistle Wind and Princess Celestia were by no means close. They had met a few times, but that was it. And those were mostly formal occasions. Whistle Wind wasn't about to pretend he knew the Princess well enough to warrant any affectionate treatment. And, considering the political ramifications of even such a small action as this, it was . . . surprising, to say the least, that the Princess would even consider it. She has a thousand years of practice. Why throw it away now? She couldn't be going mad . . . could she? * * * Celestia continued at a more sedate pace after leaving Whistle Wind and his marefriend behind. Though she kept her speed in check, however, her bad mood returned almost immediately. Had she really promised to meet up with them again before leaving the maze? You'll be going back anyways, she reminded herself. She had to hold court after this walk. Staying forever wouldn't do, and would almost certainly be more boring than court, however dull the aristocracy tended to be. But . . . heavens were they dull! And annoying, too. Celestia was sure she had heard a group of them discussing nothing more than a single mare's dress – for an hour. And she spent all day with those ponies. It was amazing she hadn't become one of them. Celestia turned another corner and stopped. She had come across a clearing in the maze. It was paved, like the rest of the maze, except for the flowerbeds on the sides and the setup in the center. This she began to walk towards. It was a single statue, one which, up until recently, had been in the sculpture garden with the rest. One could say it had been moved for its fearsome design. It depicted a twisted, serpentine form, each part mismatched. Eagle's talon, lion's paw, dragon's tail, pony's head. Even the two horns on its head were different. It lacked symmetry and consistency. It was unnatural. Such was the form of a draconequus. Celestia looked up at the towering statue of Discord. His expression was completely different from the first time. Originally, he had posed, pretending to be singing as the Elements of Harmony had turned him to stone. Celestia had always found that fitting. It was just like Discord to not even take his own petrification seriously. The second time, however, he had been caught with an expression of shock and fear upon his mismatched features. Celestia wondered about that. She knew he had been caught off-guard by the Elements, but it was uncharacteristic of him to forget himself so much that he didn't make a joke out of the situation. Then again, what was characteristic of the embodiment of chaos? Perhaps it was better not to worry about this particular mystery. The subject matter was far too unpredictable to make a study reasonable. Unpredictability. She could use some of that in her life. When was the last time her schedule had been interrupted? Well . . . come to think of it, it was Discord, three months ago. She had spent all her time during that crisis attempting to subvert his power, sending back Twilight Sparkle's friendship reports, and restoring order where she could. She had been so worried at the time, afraid of Discord's reign beginning again. Now she realized: it had been the most interesting thing to happen in centuries. The return of Nightmare Moon had had nothing on that. Celestia thought back to Discord's first reign, before the day she and Luna had used the Elements to turn him to stone. It had been a time of fear and confusion, when no pony could so much as be certain where they would wake up the next day. Or even if it would be day; Discord had liked to make the day-night cycle completely random. You could fall asleep one night and wake up the next morning, or you could wake up several mornings later, without having slept a second more. Yes, fear and confusion had reigned during that time. But not all chaos was bad. Oftentimes, one of Discord's works brought a pony to laugh. Ice cream cones randomly appeared to ponies. Groups of dancing oxen cheered up the most miserable. Sometimes, a filly would disappear, only to turn up again with a collection of lost family treasures. Celestia herself had come across a trinket or two during that time which had provided her no end of amusement. Wouldn't it be nice to have that again? Celestia blinked. Did I really just think that? Bringing back Discord's reign would in no way be a good thing, and she knew that. Sure, the era had been fun but the suffering far outweighed the enjoyment. She glared at the statue as if it had somehow caused the wayward wish. And maybe it had; who knew with Discord? Sighing, she turned her back on the draconequus statue. As a side effect of being able to move the sun, she knew what time it was off-hoof. She would have to leave very soon if she was going to make it to . . . court. The thought of spending another three hours with the aristocracy made her shudder. And petitions, too. While they weren't nearly as bad as listening to the nobility talk, they did tend to get tiresome. Celestia wondered if she would be able to survive another day of the monotony. In an effort to procrastinate, she turned back to the statue, meeting its lifeless eyes. It seemed like such an impossible state for such a lively creature. Boring had always been Discord's least favorite adjective, and he had often gone out of his way to try things in a way that hadn't been done before. Back when it was still possible to do such a thing. Celestia had always admired Discord's ability to laugh, and to make others laugh. It had made him tolerable beyond his unpredictability. Whatever he did in the name of chaos, he always found a way to make it funny. He would make whole orchards uproot themselves and leave, but they would be tap-dancing the whole way. Or he would start a war, and leave the participants with weapons no more lethal, though generally more refreshing, than a cheese sword. Celestia still laughed at the time he had turned a mountain into a pile of whipped cream. It had taken the Discord-equivalent of weeks to get rid of it. Yes, there had never been a dull moment with Discord in charge. One day seeing in shades of pink, the next doing battle with hordes of clumsy peacocks. Maybe we could have that again, she thought idly – and then she realized what she had just considered. With a shocked gasp, she shook herself, trying to clear away whatever had made her think that. Because she could not have thought that herself. Discord is a force of chaos, opposed to all harmony. His very shape is a symbol of the turmoil he causes! He must remain in stone forever. She turned and began to walk away. It must be the statue. I need to get away from it before I do something I regret. She opened her wings to escape – and remembered what awaited her. It gave her just enough pause to lose the urgency of escape. Folding her wings again, she wondered if she really wanted to go back. Back to court. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. At that, she shook herself again. What is wrong with me? This isn't even an argument! I can handle a few hours' discomfort for the sake of Equestria! I've done it for over a thousand years! But she still couldn't make herself leave. Now that it was out in the open, the concept seemed easier to think about. Freeing Discord. She still shuddered to think that, but thought it she had. It felt . . . strange in her mind, like it didn't belong there. Perhaps it didn't. She had, after all, been guarding this prison for the past millennium. What reason did she have to change her mind now? And yet it seemed that she had done just that. Freeing Discord. The act could bring the unpredictable lifestyle Celestia envied among ponies who performed or competed in tournaments for a living. It could give her a lifestyle not unlike that of Whistle Wind. Except, of course, without his sober mannerisms. Speaking of sobriety, it had been months – neigh, years – since Celestia had gotten truly drunk. Perhaps Discord's return would give her a chance to change that. It shouldn't be too much for her to ask – especially since there'd be nopony she'd have to ask. Ahh, wouldn't that be nice. Freeing Discord. It was a bad idea. A terrible idea. Far too many ponies during his reign had woken up miles away from all they knew. Livelihoods were ruined before they had even started. Ponykind had had no hope of advancing to a civilization as powerful as they were now while chaos had reigned. Hadn't Celestia, just an hour ago, signed a proposal to fix some of the problems in Manehatten's new power grid? That would have been impossible under Discord. And yet, hadn't she been bored as she had signed that sheet of paper? Was a livelihood better than having fun and being provided for all day, every day? Hadn't those ponies really just been given a chance to meet more ponies and make more friends? In the end, wasn't it all good? Freeing Discord. Doesn't seem like such a bad thing after all, Celestia thought, pointing her horn at the statue. It began to glow, and the stone began to turn back to living flesh. * * * Luna bolted upright, listening to the ringing in her head. One of her guardian spells had been broken. Abruptly, it stopped, and she frowned. Had the perpetrator changed their mind and reversed their progress? Luna only placed her guardian spells on the most important things in the capital – the Elements of Harmony for instance – and they were designed to get more insistent as the crime went on. Few things could cause them to stop like that. Perhaps Tia was already on the scene. It was the middle of the day, after all. No reason for the Princess of the Moon to interrupt her sleep when her sister already had the problem under control. She lay back down, intending to slip back into her interrupted dream. It had been a good one. She had been in her Night Court, and it had been full. Such a thing had not happened in reality since . . . well, she didn't think it had happened in reality. Not enough ponies were actually awake for her court. Which meant she couldn't waste this opportunity! The ringing echoed in her head, reminding her that one of her guardian spells had been broken, if only momentarily. Perhaps we should check them before we go back to sleep. Closing her eyes, Luna counted out her spells. Tia's room? Safe. The Elements of Harmony? Untouched. Which left. . . . Luna gasped, sitting upright again. Her spell on the statue of Discord was gone! Without a second thought, she leaped off her bed and ran for her balcony, throwing the doors open with her magic. The brightness of the sun only threw her off for a moment before she ran to the railing and launched herself into the open air, spreading her wings. Then she was off towards the hedge maze, hoping that she wasn't too late. * * * That was close, Celestia thought as she cut off the enchantment. She had forgotten about Luna's guardian spells. Hopefully, though, with the spell cut off, she would believe that Celestia had gotten it under control. Which, in a way, she did. “Haha! Celestia, that tickles!” It almost didn't surprise the Sun Princess that those were the first words out of Discord's mouth once it had been depetrified. She looked up at the half-freed draconequus. The spell had started breaking at the top of his head and had moved down from there. His mouth had, therefore, been one of the first things freed. It had been put to immediate use. Celestia smiled as the laughter rolled over her. Her worries that this had been the wrong choice were washed away with it. She had forgotten his laugh. Sure, she had heard it when he had escaped three months ago, but she hadn't been listening. Now, freed from her anger, she could happily revel in the pure joy emanating from the mouth of the spirit of chaos. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hooves hitting the ground, followed by a shocked “Tia?” The word cut through Celestia, and she turned to face the midnight blue alicorn who stood there. “Luna,” she said, sounding almost surprised. Her younger sister had yet to put away her wings, and her expression was becoming one of shock and worry. “How did you-” “Tia, you're turning gray!” Luna interrupted. Celestia was surprised enough at the comment that she stopped casting her spell as she turned to look, leaving Discord still encased in stone from somewhere above his waist down. “Tease,” the draconequus pouted. Indeed, Celestia was turning gray. Her tail was already completely drained of color, and her cutie mark was in the process of losing it. Watching it creep further up her body, she realized that she had, in fact, made the wrong choice. She should not have released Discord. Perhaps he had had something to do with her choice. . . . Unfortunately, she also realized that it was too late. She couldn't stop herself if she tried. Which she wasn't about to do. Which left only one other pony. “Luna, it is probably best if you stop me now,” Celestia said. Her voice was strangely calm, given the situation. “Before I turn completely gray, if possible.” The silence left by her words was broken by Discord bursting out laughing. “Come now, Celestia,” he said in between bouts of giggles. “We all know you don't mean that. You don't want to go back to your boring old routine, do you? Every day, always the same thing?” His laughter was infectious, and Celestia soon found herself laughing along with him. “No, of course not,” she said with a wide grin. She turned back to the draconequus, remembering that he was still partly stone. “Here, let me get that for you.” Her spell started again – only to stop as Luna used the age-old method of breaking a spell in progress. She tackled Celestia. “Luna, get off me!” Celestia grunted, trying to push her off. The darker alicorn had her effectively pinned, though. She's always been the stronger one, Celestia thought in annoyance. “We cannot let thee free Discord, Tia!” Luna said. “Thou wert there for his first reign; thou must know how terrible it was! There cannot be a repeat of that time!” “That time was good, Luna!” Celestia heard her sister gasp above her. “How could you have forgotten all the fun we had? All the laughs we shared? How could you not want that back?” “Thou art lost, Tia,” Luna said after a pause. “Let us find thee a way back.” Her horn began to glow, and she pointed it at the graying alicorn beneath her. What she had been about to cast, however, Celestia would never know, for suddenly Luna disappeared. Pulling herself to her feet, Celestia found the other alicorn glaring at her from the side of the garden, behind a wall of jelly. “Ah ah ah,” Discord said, wagging a claw. “We can't have you raining on our parade, now can we? Here-” he waved his hand, and a slice of cake appeared in front of Luna. “Have a seat, enjoy the show. We're on to the main attraction.” He spread his arms toward Celestia, gesturing for her to continue. The white alicorn didn't argue. This was what she wanted, after all. As Celestia resumed her spell, prompting another barely controlled giggle fit from Discord, Luna unfolded her wings. “Fine. Unleash chaos upon Equestria if you wish, sister. We will not be privy to thy mistakes.” With that, she took flight. Celestia watched her sister's fading form until Discord's voice got her attention. “Oh, let her go. We can find her later.” Celestia looked up at his still-laughing face, and felt the words wash away her doubts once more. She’ll be fine. Besides, why should she be around for all the chaos that’s about to occur? She’ll just spoil it anyways. Carefree, she continued to break the stone holding Discord down, oblivious to the gray creeping up her own body at the same time.