//------------------------------// // I - Once Upon a Time... // Story: The Eternal Problem // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were four Princesses. One raised the moon, one lowered the sun, one watched over the love of ponies… and the fourth, young, intelligent princess watched over their bonds as the Princess of Friendship. Together, they brought peace and prosperity not only to Equestria but to all the neighboring nations as well. However, as always when the powers of Harmony prevail, enemies are made. Three dark entities whose reigns of terror had been ended by the Princesses banded together to bring ruin to Harmony itself. The Princesses fought valiantly, but they were not prepared for a multi-faced foe that used their own power against them. The three allies of darkness turned ponykind against itself, plunging the land into an era of snow and hunger at the hooves of the windigos. All hope is not lost, though, for one bastion of harmony remains… “The Crystal Empire,” Luster Dawn said, reading aloud from the book. “Where creatures of all sorts live in harmony, protected by the love within the Crystal Heart.” The pink mare furrowed her brow, looking out the window at the Crystal Palace. “...I don’t think that’s the whole story…” ~~~ The sky over the Crystal Empire was white. It was almost always white. Even if the snow rarely fell all the way to the ground ponies trotted upon, the sky was a constant reminder that the outside world was cold and bleak. It was a rare day that the ponies banded together to break the shroud and reveal the sun or moon to the ponies. Such days were usually cause for celebration, marking festivals of the world that once was. There was no such festival today. Only the endless white. Luster Dawn trotted through the brisk air, noting that it felt a little warm today. It wasn’t summer, so this was odd—temperature was controlled very specifically in the Empire and rarely varied more than a few degrees unless something was going wrong. Seeing as the weather ponies weren’t panicking and screaming in the streets as they tended to do when things broke down, Luster decided she was just imagining the warmth. Or she just missed the sun. Even though she hadn’t even been born when the windigos came, she somehow knew to long for the sun. Her cutie mark reflected that: a sun rising over the calm waves. A sight she herself had never seen. She’d never even seen the ocean outside of books. Her life was the Crystal Empire and that one time she’d left its confines. As it turned out, there were ice monsters out there in the snow. That had been a bad idea. Pushing those thoughts out of her head, Luster trotted up to the Crystal Palace, nodding to Gallus as she passed. “How’re things going on the front, Gruff?” “Luster, there’s no war,” Gallus grunted, raising an eyebrow. “You know what I mean. C’mon, Gruff. Any sneaky suspicious things at the palace? Hmmm?” “No. There never is, Luster. You want horror stories, go talk to the border watch.” He allowed himself to smirk a bit. “Maybe you’ll see another one.” “Ahaha, thanks, but no thanks. I like to keep my sanity, thank you.” Gallus rolled his eyes. Luster took that to mean she was free to enter the palace, so with a happy hum she trotted right in. The main hall was large, as most royal halls were, but it was also empty. Gallus was the only guard at the moment. This made sense—there was little need for palace guards when the border patrol kept the real watch. Not that Gallus had a cush job, but… well, it was no secret the Princesses favored him. Speaking of… Princess Flurry Heart was falling down the stairs again. “Flurry!” Luster called, exasperated. “Shut—OW—up!” Flurry shouted as she tumbled head over heels down the smooth, sleek, and quite hard steps of the Crystal Palace. She slid to a stop at Luster’s feet, tapping the mare’s hooves with her horn. The arcane appendage was currently surrounded by a silver ring of magic limitation, making it cold to the touch. “This is the third day this has happened. Your mom’s right, you really do need to learn how to stop levitating yourself everywhere.” Flurry grunted. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, but… I’m supposed to be the hope of the Empire! I can’t do that if I’m constantly falling down stairs!” “You’ll get Silverstream,” Luster pointed out. “Silverstream’s been gone for weeks, so I might as well have an audience of zero! Zero!” “Well… you do have me.” “Yaaay…” Flurry said, groaning as she stood up and spread her oversized wings. “So, what brings you to the palace today besides judging every little thing I do?” “I hardly think mocking you for falling down the stairs qualifies as every little thing. In fact, I think it can be argued that I wasn’t even mocking you directly, nor judging, simply offering friendly advice!” “Ugh, why do you have to be so brainy?” “I’m Twilight’s student, what do you expect?” “I dunno. Somepony friendlier?” Luster frowned. “I’m working on that.” Flurry sighed. “You don’t really talk to anypony besides me and auntie’s friends.” “I have friends in high places!” Luster winked. “It’s great!” “I mean, I guess our generation is a bunch of hopeless, depressed, downtrodde—” “Okaaaay, enough of that!” Luster coughed, dropping the book she found on the starway. “...Don’t we need a table?” “What did we just say about judging?” Flurry automatically tried to conjure a table with magic. Naturally, she failed, and this infuriated her. “I swear I’m going to smash this thing before I learn anything…” “They’ll just put it back on.” “Yes. But it’ll be enjoyable.” Luster returned to the book: A Modern History. “Anyway, I found this. It looks new, and it tells the story of how we got to where we are. Though, from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t tell the… whole thing.” She flipped through the pages. “Even beyond the summary at the start, this doesn’t mention any details about Cozy, or Discord’s involvement, or…” “Oh. That.” Flurry groaned. “That’s politics.” “Politics?” “We don’t want ponies chasing Discord out and since Cozy is currently allied with us as the Princess of Thought in Subquestria we can’t just go around slandering her.” “Oh.” Luster frowned. “...We’re lying to ponies?” “Not… lying, just… not saying everything.” Flurry grinned awkwardly. Luster raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Ugh, look, auntie Twi can explain it better than I can. She’s free right now, we can just go talk to her.” “Sure. Let’s do that.” Luster was completely confident that she wanted to do this. She was also sweating and her stomach was turning into a million knots. “Confront… Twilight…” “You really need to loosen up. I confront them all the time. Worst consequence is… okay so the magic ring around my horn is a bit of a downer, but I’m living.” She tripped and fell on her face. “Ow.” “What if she locks my magic!?” “For asking a question? Auntie Twi?” Flurry laughed. “You know, we have a word for that.” “Don’t.” “Twiiiiilighting…” Luster whimpered. Every time she heard that it just felt dirty. Who would turn their ruler’s name into a word? “Twiiiiliiighting…” “Okay, let’s go see her!” Luster trotted up the stairs. “Anything to end this.” “Yes! You go, Luster! Show her who’s da mare! Who’s da mare!” “...You really don’t act like a Princess that much.” “And don’t you forget it!” With a soft chuckle, Luster pushed open the doors to the throne room. Four thrones sat in the back, all of which were currently occupied. In the far back sat Cadence, Flurry’s mother and technically the ruler of all the Crystal Empire. She looked young, but tired—which made sense. It was her job to keep the Crystal Heart healthy and active, which was a difficult, draining chore these days. Her husband was absent, likely due to operations at the border. The two side-thrones were occupied by the Elder Princesses, the mares of the sun and moon. Unlike Cadence, who was tired but otherwise healthy and magical, these two looked terrible. Wrinkles lined their faces and their once-legendary sparkling manes lay still. Crystals in their chest regalia provided them with some magic, but nothing compared to the glory they once held as movers of the celestial objects. Only the bottom, frontmost throne held a true, regal alicorn. The amethyst glory that was Twilight Sparkle with her intimidating figure, gold regalia, sparking mane of arcane power, and soft, understanding eyes. Every time Luster saw her she wanted to squee at her magnificence. She was just so perfect. “Ah, Luster!” Twilight said, brightening considerably. The other Princesses did too, but not as much. “You brought a book?” “Yep!” Luster said, handing it over. “And I have a… question.” “Oh, the Modern History…” Twilight smiled sadly. “Questions about our past?” “Actually I was wondering more about what… wasn’t in there.” Luster frowned. “Such as?” Twilight asked. “Well, uh…” “She doesn’t like that we’re lying about Discord and Cozy,” Flurry finished for her. “Flurry!” “You weren't gonna say it, I was getting bored…” “I was going to put it nicer than that…” “It’s still a valid question,” Twilight said, nodding slowly. “And I’m glad you came to me with it.” “Though, Flurry…” Cadence raised an eyebrow. “You could have used this moment to practice proper manners.” “Moooom, that takes time!” “Flurry Heart…” Luna coughed. “While I absolutely adore watching the two of you go at each other, perhaps we should respond to Luster’s inquiry without devolving into the next episode of ‘But Mom!’ hmm?” Celestia let out a chuckle that was barely audible over Flurry’s groan. Stifling a chuckle of her own, Twilight turned to Luster. “Why don’t you ask your question the way you want to?” “Well… it seems like we’re lying to ponies about what happened. How Discord brought the three of them back to help you, which backfired horribly. How Cozy is one of the reasons we’re in this mess. The book doesn’t mention anything about her or Discord’s involvement. Don’t they deserve… to know? I can’t believe Applejack would be on board with this and… Sorry, I’m being judgy, I should go back, think about this and…” “Those are valid concerns,” Twilight said. “And we did not come to those decisions lightly.” With a sigh, Twilight stood up from her throne. “I think it’s time for us to go on a little trip.” “A trip? Where?” “To Subquestria.” “WHAT!?” Luster and Flurry shouted at the same time. Twilight laughed. “Not right now, of course. It’ll take a week, at least, to push out the proper paperwork for that and establish a safe passage.” “I’ve never been outside the Empire!” Luster stammered. “I can’t just…” “Any prior arrangements you have can be put on hold by my order. Plus…” A big grin came across her face .”I bet you really would like to see the outside world.” “I… well, yes, but, actually, er…” “Consider it done. In a week, we will go to Subquestria to answer your Cozy question. But I don’t like to leave hungry minds waiting. We can go talk to Discord right now.” “Uhhhhhhhh…” Luster’s expression flattened. “Can we… not?” “He would be the best source for answers,” Twilight explained. “And come on, he’s not that bad.” “No. He’s not. But… well, I don’t like having frosting stuck in my mane for weeks on end.” “I always have frosting in my hair,” Flurry deadpanned. Everyone stared at her. She winked. “All right, now that I’ve run you all speechless, let’s go visit Discord!” Luna glanced at Celestia. “I swear she’s just like you when you were young.” Celestia smiled weakly. “It’s good to see somepony who knows how to have fun.” “Too much fun,” Cadence tutted. “I am going to invent a new genre of music just to prove how much fun can be had!” Flurry called. “I’ll call it… FLURRYWAVE.” Luster facehooved, already thinking going to Discord might be preferable to watching this trainwreck. ~~~ “Visualize the apples,” Sweetie Belle said, pointing at Discord with a baton. Discord snapped his fingers. In response, the pink-crystal necklace he wore flashed, channeling magic to his hands and producing a dozen apples. One of them had a mouth and was singing opera. Sweetie raised an eyebrow. “Discord, I need these to be normal apples.” “Then you should have gone to someone else, we have chaos magic here.” “Discord…. Please…?” Even as a grown mare, those eyes. Nobody could say no to Sweetie’s eyes. “Okay fine,” Discord tapped into the necklace’s pink power again, turning the apple into a regular one. “I hope your magic students get a kick out of those.” “Starlight says her pumpkins are getting too easy, I’m hoping this will be a good surprise!” “Using pumpkins for target practice. Humph.” “What? We need something to hit to learn all the fancy spells!” “She’s just using my idea and not giving me any credit!” “...Sure…” Sweetie rolled her eyes. “Thanks anyway! Oh, and goodbye Fluttershy!” Fluttershy looked up from the brown rabbit. “Oh, bye Sweetie! Thanks for visiting!” With Sweetie gone, Fluttershy and Discord were left alone in their little house—one of the few trees in the Crystal Empire large enough to be carved into a proper cottage. It was a small image of what Fluttershy’s old cottage had been in Ponyville, and it was nothing compared to the beauty of the Sanctuary, but it was something to give the poor animals rest from the cold, uncaring world. Discord sat down, glancing at his necklace. “There goes my chaos for the next hour.” Fluttershy smiled sadly. “Pinkie’s magic can only do so much, you know.” “I know. I just… I miss it. Just when I think I’m over the whole powerless thing, I make a bunch of apples and feel tired. Some Lord of Chaos I am.” Fluttershy flew up to him and tilted his chin up. “I think you’re an excellent Lord of Chaos, magic or not. Don’t forget that.” Discord smiled. “Well, if you say so, it must be true. My little butte—” “DISCORD!” Flurry shouted, slamming in through the door. “I need to make a new kind of music. An entire genre. We’re calling it Flurrywave. STAT!” Discord dropped Fluttershy—not that she minded. Given her expression, she found the whole exchange delightful. Discord stretched his face into Flurry’s. “This is relevant to my interests.” “I know right? Come on, you and me, tour of the Empire!” “Best idea ever! I’ll store up some delicious chaos over the next few weeks for the show… we’ll need to raid Vinyl’s loft…” “Before you go and create the next cultural craze,” Twilight said, stepping in. “I’ve got somepony here to see you, Discord.” Luster poked her head out from behind Twilight. “Uh… hi, Discord.” “You’re lucky I’m low on magic right now,” Discord said, smirking. “I really was looking forward to a repeat of the icing incident.” “Oh dear snowfall, please no.” “Not now. But later. When you least expect it.” “It really will be when you least expect it,” Fluttershy said. “Can confirm,” Flurry added. Luster whinnied dejectedly. Discord cracked his knuckles. “But I suppose this is better for us to actually have a chat as opposed to, oh, a game of chance and foodstuffs.” He put an arm around Luster. “Pray tell, what do you wish to know, little unicorn?” Luster took a deep breath. “W-well, I found that you weren’t, um, well, in any of the, book, things…” Fluttershy put a calming wing on Luster. “Discord’s not going to bite you or do anything to you for talking to him. He may look wild, but he’s really just a big teddy bear—Discord I swear to the Tree if you waste magic to transform into a bear right now—and won’t hurt you.” “Much,” Flurry added. Fluttershy shot a glare at Flurry. The alicorn’s only response was to whistle innocently. Luster took a breath. I’m probably not leaving here without getting it out so… here goes. “Discord? I was reading the history books about what happened… you know. You aren’t mentioned in any of them. I was wondering… why?” Discord’s silly grin vanished. “Oh. That.” He slumped into his chair, deflating like a leaky balloon. “That…” “I-I’m sorry…” Discord put a claw to the bridge of his nose. “No, no, it’s fine. Just…” “He’s been going through a rough patch,” Fluttershy offered. “And it’s not exactly a pleasant memory.” “We can come back later…” Luster shuffled. Fluttershy shook her head. “You had the courage to ask directly. That means…” “...Yeah, yeah, I know.” Discord frowned. “Look, after the whole windigo fiasco happened, we told everypony what happened. Who had destroyed Equestria, what had broken them apart. And what I had done. And guess what?” “What?” “They tried to destroy me.” Discord picked at his nails, avoiding eye contact with Luster. “Enough of the unicorns were angry enough, and I was the one they could easily blame.” “That book probably talks about the Crystal Schism, right?” Fluttershy asked. Luster nodded. “That’s what started it. The last place of harmony in the land… almost broken because ponies decided to take out their anger on Discord.” Fluttershy put a wing around him. “And that’s why we don’t tell the story,” Discord grunted. “I like, you know, being here.” “I don’t think ponies would…” Luster frowned. “You know…” “Today? Probably not,” Fluttershy admitted. “But they still might drive him out.” “And we don’t want that,” Twilight said. “So… when ponies ask ‘why didn’t Discord do anything’ we say he was the first victim of Grogar’s Bell. Bad luck for us. Which is… true, but keeps it all hidden away.” Luster nodded. “I think I understand. But… isn’t being deceptive still… lying?” “Applejack said that,” Twilight said with a nod. “But even she understood that someone’s life is more important than the truth.” “There aren’t many things that are,” Fluttershy added quickly. “Don’t lie just because you don’t want to hurt somepony’s feelings…” “...Or because you want to build them up with a hair-brained villain scheme,” Discord grunted. “Life isn’t easy, or simple.” Twilight put a wing around Luster. “It’s complicated, and the rules aren’t as set in stone as we would like. But… even in hardship, they still matter. Just… in new ways.” She turned her gaze to the window. “...And I think it’s time I took you out there to see it.” “I’m coming too,” Flurry said. “I have no problems with that,” Twilight said. “But you need to talk to your mother first.” “Meeeeh… ...Discord, let’s go create that music. I think we both need a pick me up.” “Absolutely!” Discord jumped up. “Fluttershy, get your tambourine, we’re going to rock. Or… do something more than rocking…” “...I call electric guitar if there is one,” Fluttershy said. “Sold!” Turning back to Luster, Twilight smiled. “So… Luster, do you think you’re ready to see the world beyond the Heart’s reach?” Luster swallowed hard. “Nope. But, hey, if I waited until I felt ready I’d never get anything done, right?” “Did I say that in class?” “Yep. Philosophy.” “Huh.” Twilight chuckled. “Well, it’s true.” She took Luster’s hoof in her own. “Sometimes you just have to jump in.” ~~~ “I’m late I’m late I’m laaaate!” Starlight whined, running through the Crystal Empire at high speed. “LAAAAATE!” “Just teleport, we see you do it all the time!” a random mare Starlight had never met shouted. Either she was a changeling she knew, or Starlight’s erratic behavior really was obvious to the average citizen of the Crystal Empire. Starlight liked to think the former was true. Deep down she suspected the latter was the truth, but she didn’t like to dwell on her eccentric image that much. Lighting her horn, Starlight tried to jump to the combat magic training session she was supposed to be teaching. Instead, she ended up outside the Crystal Empire. In the snow. Right in front of an ice monster. It stood before her, six legs and hexagonal body caked in snow and frost. A soft blue glow within the crystals pulsed as it recognized her presence, preparing for an attack. Starlight shattered it into a million pieces before it could attack. “Right, miscalculated the jump coordinates… Just need to reel back about five meters and…” Her hoof touched something. Something soft. Fuzzy. Immediately, she used her magic to clear all the snow away, revealing what was under the frigid fluff. Or, rather, who was under it. “Scootaloo!?”