"WELL, THAT'S JUST PERFECT. ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO FROM CENTURIES AGO AND I CAN'T EVEN HAVE THAT IN THIS DAY AND AGE!"
"You know, I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around that sort of thing," Flash mused.
"What sort of thing?" Luna asked with genuine curiosity.
Flash looked to her. "With respect, your ages. I mean, most ponies like me would be lucky to make it to ninety or so, and here you three are, having been around for centuries or millennia. It just...kinda makes a pony feel small sometimes, I guess."
"I THOUGHT YOU MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR TO ME BEFORE THAT YOU WERE HAPPY WITH A MORTAL LIFE?"
"Oh, I am, make no mistake about that, Sir," Flash clarified. "But even so..."
His open-ended remark earned him a nod from Discord. "If you think that's difficult to get your head around, I can only imagine how hard it would be for you to consider what we are."
Flash raised an eyebrow. "And what are you, exactly? Alicorns and a draconequus?"
Discord waved him off. "Pfft! Mere trifling things, lad. We go far beyond what your little brain can understand."
"Yeah, that's not insulting in the slightest," Flash remarked with understandable sarcasm.
Discord, annoyed at the fact that the stallion wasn't in awe yet, just got down to it. "We, Flash Sentry, are the greater powers of the world! The forces that shape it, given form and flesh! The highest of the high!"
Flash blinked to him, still struggling somewhat. "So...you're gods?"
"NO," Solaris declared firmly.
"Yes!" Discord countered.
"NO!!!" Solaris repeated.
"Yes!" Discord spat back.
Luna, giving herself an expected facehoof, walked over to Flash and began to explain. "It's complicated. But it's a compromise situation. These two and others are not gods in the way you're likely thinking. They did not make the world or its people. But they are, nevertheless, the embodiment of many of the integral parts of life."
Flash, seeing Luna as clearly a better pony to speak to about this, turned to face her and her alone. "Integral parts? Such as?"
Luna nodded to him. "Consider Harmony. Perhaps the most well-known of these forces. She was a guiding light, growing stronger with every bond of love and friendship formed in our world. And as she grew, so too did her ability to aid mortal peoples in forming new bonds."
Flash's ears drooped slightly. "So...does that mean...?"
Luna smiled to him, shaking her head. "No. Despite appearances, despite the shattering of her tree, Harmony is still very much with us. In fact, I know of six young heroes who could tell you themselves that she is alive in the world even as we speak, even if we can no longer touch her. Some things...will simply always be here."
"ORDER AMONG THEM." Solaris waited until Flash was looking to him before elaborating. "THAT IS WHAT I REPRESENT. STABILITY. THE NEED AND DESIRE FOR THINGS TO HAVE CONTINUITY. TO WAKE UP AND KNOW WHAT THE DAY WILL BRING. YOU HAVE DOUBTLESS EXPERIENCED TIMES WHEN ALL SEEMS TOPSY-TURTVY, OUT OF CONTROL. I AM THE CONTROL. THE SOLID GROUND BENEATH YOUR HOOVES THAT WILL NOT GIVE WAY, GIVING A FOUNDATION UPON WHICH ALL THINGS CAN BE BUILT, AND BY EXTENSION RISE HIGH TO GREATER AND GREATER THINGS."
Discord mimicked a yawn. "The boring stuff, he means to say. He's basically the slice of toast of world forces. Yeah, sure, it's not bad exactly, but it's hardly exciting either."
Flash frowned at him. "And you? You're just chaos, I'm assuming? Hard to see how that is a vital, important thing to have."
Rubbing his hands together, Discord started to look like he'd been waiting for this exact question. "Oh, my dear lad. Not merely chaos. Ever hear the phrase, variety is the spice of life? Well, that's me. I am that delicious spice, making your dull, dismal lives so much tastier."
Instantly, he was rewarded for this display of smugness by a psychically-produced hoof to the back of his head by Solaris. "STOP MAKING YOURSELF SOUND BETTER THAN YOU ARE AND GET TO THE POINT!"
After rubbing the back of his head, as well as casting a dark look to the skeleton, Discord folded his arms and explained himself. "Look, stability is all well and good. But at the end of the day, people want, no, need things to go wrong in their lives here and there. Because to be perfectly frank, those unplanned, unexpected things can be of great benefit to you all."
Flash arched an eyebrow. "How?"
Discord looked to the side. "Take your precious Princess Twilight. Loves her preparations, her checklists and so on. She enters, say, a recent quiz contest, expects it all to go smoothly and according to plan. But then, enter Pinkie Pie. A little touch of the unexpected that eventually leads to Twilight learning a valuable lesson, growing as a person." He smiled again as he regarded Flash. "And that, Sentry, is what I bring to the table. Old Solaris here may indeed be the solid foundation, but chaos? Like what I bring? It's something life needs if it's ever to grow and develop beyond just cookie-cutter stuff day in and day out."
"AS MUCH AS IT PAINS ME TO ADMIT TO THIS, HE IS CORRECT. HE USUALLY GOES WAY, WAY TOO FAR WITH HIS CHAOS, BUT I CANNOT DENY THAT HE REPRESENTS A VITAL PART OF LIFE."
Luna stepped forward, looking to Flash while gesturing to both of them. "And as you can probably guess, this is why the two of them are so often at odds. They are the literal antithesis of one another. Order and chaos, preparation and going with the flow."
"Insufferableness and fun," Discord added, regaining his smugness.
Before Solaris had the chance to counter him on that one, Flash spoke up, this time to Luna. "And you? And your sister?"
Luna shook her head. "We are not greater powers, as they are. We are perhaps a cut above the average pony, hence our magical prowess and longer lives, but not enough that we could, say, best Discord without the help of the Elements."
Flash stared at her, taking all of this in. "Well...this has been quite the eye-opener."
Luna smiled to him. "If you think this was a revelation, try living it."