Dawn's Candor

by Clarke Otterton


Preface

The pony of life upright,
Whose cheerful mind is free
From weight of impious deeds,
And yoke of vanity,

The pony whose silent days
In harmless joys are spent:
Whom hopes cannot delude,
Nor sorrows discontent,

That pony needs neither towers,
Nor armor for defense:
Nor vaults her guilt to shroud
From thunders violence;

She only can behold
With unaffrighted eyes
The horrors of the deep,
And terrors of the Skies.

Thus, scorning all the cares
That fate or fortune brings,
Her Book the Heavens she makes,
Her wisdom heavenly things.

Good thoughts her surest friends,
Her wealth a well-spent age,
The earth her sober Inn,
And quiet pilgrimage.


War. You have heard it said that war never changes, that at its essence it retains the same virtue – the virtue of violence.

Except war does change. In its simplest form it renders itself like the defensive pet of its parent institution, awaiting its master’s command to continue his wish by the means for which it is trained. In this regard, the pet is of great service to the master, for it protects him and deters his foes. Yet the beast which is today easily tamed may tomorrow be easily untamed, its undoing the assault of its master’s virtue. This change in war from a docile instrument into a destructive storm is surprising, yet it should not be. Consider that the same musical notes which are used to construct harmony may, in simple rearrangement or progression, become dissonant to the ear. An artist, likewise, possesses all of the pigments necessary to capture beauty and meaning through her art, yet also has the same colors to render something which likens itself to neither. War, therefore, changes in the sense that the composition of elements that drive it change. But the elements themselves, which reside in everypony, never change – they are the foundation of the pony condition, a product of the choices made in the search for virtue.

The power of choice introduces the greatest change in war, which is not in itself, but in the ponies who find themselves in it. Violence as a virtue seldom exists alone; it is disguised as attachment to other virtues and reached for when the end requires it. The virtue of greed, for instance, abuses violence to acquire for itself further wealth, whereas the virtue of sacrifice submits to violence to attain a goal for others. Such a choice, however, is neither clear nor easy, for just as the colors of paint may mix and run together, so too does the influence of virtues on the heart of a pony. Often the virtue chosen goes by another name or proves to be a corruption of the true virtue desired; thus, the nature of the choosing is marred by the ambiguous results of an otherwise clear intention. The progression of war with its attachment of violence, however, requires choices to be made regardless. And each choice leads somewhere, a journey that each pony must make for themselves.

Two hundred years ago, the ponies of Equestria made choices that took them, whether they knew it or not, to the horrid yet familiar wasteland which we now consider inevitable. Except it was not, nor did it have to be. Change is, after all, a product of choice, and choice is controlled by the free will of each pony in their search for virtue. The importance, therefore, is not that their actions plunged Equestria into darkness, but rather that it was their choices which led them there and ultimately our choices which kept us there. But by simply choosing something different, we eventually led ourselves back into light.

The stories I am about to tell are about those choices, or rather the ponies who made them. They are not true, yet there is truth in them. The characters may be fictional, but the ponies they represent and the challenges they faced are not. They, like me, had to grow to overcome them. They laughed, they cried, they built relationships, they lost friends. And they all had to make a choice in their search for virtue. A choice between good and bad, harmony and discord, light and darkness.

So just as I have shared my story with you, so too do I now share these that you may glean that bit of wisdom which many seek, yet more ignore, and seldom find.

- Littlepip, Bringer of Light