//------------------------------//
// 5 
// Story: ... Of Two Evils 
// by Ponycletian 
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	Concord ‘awoke’ to a sensation that was both unfamiliar and decidedly unpleasant, pain. Concord couldn’t remember if he had ever felt actual physical pain, much less when he may have done so, and he was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he did not like it. He had missed many things while in stone, but pain, he concluded, was not one of them.

Pushing aside such trivial thoughts for later consideration, he tried to recall exactly how he had come to be in such physical pain, and what he was going to do about it. 

He remembered flying slowly towards the gardens and the ponies assembled therein, and then, from nowhere, an overwhelming sense of loss, of isolation, of powerlessness, and then nothing. He had actually blacked out, he realized with chagrin.

The question now, he thought, is what exactly is my current condition. Normally, my magic would have repaired such trivial injuries as I may have sustained, so why then am I still in pain?

Concord, with great difficulty, managed to suppress the pain coming from almost every part of his body, forcing it to the back of his mind. Once he had done so, and could think somewhat clearly, he realized why he was still in pain, why he had fallen, why, even now after an unknown amount of time had passed, he was still mostly incapacitated.

Concord couldn’t feel his magic.

This wasn’t entirely true, for he could feel it, like a pony standing atop a dam, he could ‘see’ the vast reservoir of power, pent up behind a wall of shimmering, shifting, rainbow colored light. And he could feel a trickle of power flowing through the metaphorical dam, but compared to what he had lost, he might as well be completely powerless.

So, that is what happened. It appears that the Elements remember me, and their opinion of me does not seem to have improved with time. Once an enemy of Harmony, always an enemy of Harmony, I suppose, he thought wearily, but lying here, I assume I am lying, helps nopony, least of all me.

Calling on that small trickle of power left him, he used it to start repairing his eyes. Progress was painfully slow, and Concord would have sighed at the terrible pun if he had been able. Progress was slow, not because he was too weak to make the repairs, but because he couldn’t use more than a fraction of the magic left him to do it. Most of his magic was focused on simply maintaining bodily functions necessary for survival, for he sensed that with the damage done to his spine, neither his heart nor his lungs would be functioning without magical assistance.

To be fair, he thought, I really should, by all reason, be dead, but death would mean little enough to a being such as myself, for that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.

Deciding, after several  minutes had passed and his eyes hadn’t yet been rendered operable, that trying to repair the damage in his present state was pointless, he decided that he would simply have to use magic to replace his senses, for the moment. Reaching out with the newly freed magic, he could see dozens of ponies scrambling around him. Surgeons, nurses, guards, both Princesses, and the element bearers were all in attendance. Deciding that some theatrics were in order, he created a small glowing ball of light that hovered above the assembled ponies. This sudden disturbance immediately gathered the attention of everypony present, and Concord was pleased by the speed with which everypony stopped to watch.

In a clear, yet ethereal sounding voice that, to the ponies in the gardens, seemed to issue from all sides at once, Concord said, “I would like to thank you, the ponies of Canterlot who through either duty or kindness have come to render me aid. However, there is little enough that may be done by such mundane means, and it would be best, therefore, if you were to allow myself, the Princesses, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, some privacy. Know that, thanks to your diligent ministrations, I have survived my grievous injury, and owe you a debt that I may not ever be able to repay.”

The ponies in the garden had stopped looking around for the source of the voice, and turned, as one, to face the Princesses, seeking confirmation of the voices assertion. Celestia just stood, for once indecisive, so it was Princess Luna who, having regained her grown alicorn’s stature, nodded, dismissing the the confused ponies. It was not long before the gardens were empty once more, save for the Princesses, the element bearers, and the still unmoving form of Concord.

Concord, realizing that none of them had even the faintest idea about how to proceed, decided to take charge of the situation, metaphorically speaking. He relocated the glowing ball of light from the sky above to a position directly in front of Princess Luna and said in a firm, clear voice, “Princess, it is a pleasure to see that you have been restored to your former glory. I hope that my having been cut off from my powers so soon after restoring yours has not caused any negative side effects.”

The ball bobbed expectantly, and Luna said, “none whatsoever, I am fully myself again, but Concord, what exactly happened, and is there anything we can do to help?”

Celestia looked concerned by Luna’s final words and said contentiously, “are you sure that we should be helping? This could be some stunt to garner sympathy and convince somepony to open themselves to his manipulations. Just watch, he will say that in order to help, one of the element bearers will have to remove their Element, or somepony will have to channel magic to him directly. Either choice would leave us exposed, unable to resist his magic. At least this way, we need not fear any reprisals either physical or magical, and now that we know that he can communicate magically, I see no reason to alter this current, safe, arrangement.”

Luna snorted unhappily, but did nothing to contradict her sister, so everypony present, Concord included, was surprised when a quiet, uncertain voice said, “I think that we should help, after all, it is our fault that he fell and got hurt.” Fluttershy said this, but realizing as she finished that she had just disagreed with Princess Celestia, stammered out an apologetic, “if you don’t mind my saying so, your majesty.” And having concluded, looked shamefacedly at her hooves, awaiting a rebuke.

The ball of light that was speaking for Concord said calmly, in a voice devoid of criticism, despite the harshness of his message, “I do find it interesting that despite the fact that I seem to be the repeated victim of your actions, Celestia, I am the one who is not to be trusted. You make me King to fight your war, then because you fear that I may not step down when it is won, you imprison me in stone for 1500 years, without waiting to find out how I would react. Then I return, and without harming anypony, wait peacefully for you to come to me and ask that I be allowed to talk. This is refused because you fear that I will do order knows what, so I go so far as to summon the element bearers and allow you to arm them, despite the fact that they alone can defeat me. And now that, as a result of my generosity and forbearance, my body lies utterly broken and lifeless save for my constant magical exertions to keep my heart beating and lungs working, I can not be trusted for long enough to repair the damage caused by your actions.”

Everypony, even Celestia, was stunned by Concord’s description of events, and were chilled when Concord concluded in a brutally emotionless tone, “Celestia, if I had, at any point since my return, wanted you dead, then you would be, and there would be nothing that anypony could do to stop it.”

For minutes, nopony spoke, nopony moved, there was no sound, save for the quiet breathing of the assembled ponies, and even that was strangely muted. Finally, Celestia said uncertainly, fear evident in her normally even voice, “Twilight, would you please take off your element.” 

Twilight, still in a kind of shock from having heard Celestia spoken of so harshly, could do nothing more than obey silently, her mind refusing to formulate words. The moment that the tiara left her head, surrounded by a purple aura, several things began to happen at once. The first thing to happen was that the small ball of light disappeared, simply vanished into nothingness. The second thing she noticed was that the light inside Concord’s horn changed. Ever since he had landed, the light inside had been different. It had gone from a pure, even grey light to a roiling maelstrom of shimmering rainbow light encapsulating a small speck of grey, as his magic had been bottled up. Now, the rainbow light had dissipated, leaving only the strong grey light to illuminate his strange crystal horn.

Soon though, changes became more obvious. Concord’s limbs started to move as bones mended, muscles and tendons reconnected, and the bruises and other discoloration disappeared. In under a minute, the lifeless husk that had been Concord had been completely repaired, reinvigorated, and almost shone with power. Twilight wondered whether or not Concord was causing that last part intentionally, or if perhaps the rapid use of so much magic simply showed.

Concord, hale and hearty once more, looked around, using his restored eyes, and realized that it was morning now. He must have been unconscious for several hours, a testament to the severity of his injuries. The second thing he realized was that he still had his magic. Perhaps Twilight was simply surprised by his rapid recovery, or was just waiting for Celestia’s orders, but regardless of the reason, for this moment, he was himself.

Walking with measured, dignified strides, he approached Celestia who looked relieved and frightened in equal measure. Sure, nothing had gone wrong so far, but now Concord was walking towards her in a way that she found menacing.

Concord smiled inwardly at Celestia’s discomfort. Perhaps now she will realize that she is being paranoid, but I must not overdo it. Stopping before her, he looked at her impassively and she stared back defiantly.

Then, he hugged her, and whispered, “thank you, ‘tia, for trusting me this once.”

Celestia, to her credit, received the hug and did not falter, remaining stoic and calm despite the unanticipated display of affection. Concord withdrew shortly, and, in a voice of cheery indifference, as if he hadn’t been dead mere minutes before, said, “well, I do believe that some introductions are in order. The Princesses and myself are rather well acquainted, and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with Twilight Sparkle,” at this he inclined his head towards the lavender mare, “ but, as to the rest of you, please allow me to Introduce myself. I am Concord, Lord of Order, Knight of the Order of Equestria, Protector of the Realm, King-Regent of Equestria, and the Founder and former Emperor of the Holy Romane Empire, at your service.” He again swept into a low bow, directing it towards the five unfamiliar element bearers. 

Rising, he said, “and as I hope you have been informed, I have requested, and Celestia agreed, that we spend today acquainting ourselves with each other so that you may determine on the morrow whether or not to return me to stone.” With a flick of his horn, and a slight flash, nine plush, comfortable cushions appeared, colored for their intended occupants. Two alicorn sized ones and six pony sized ones appeared in a semicircle, at the focus of which appeared Concord, seated comfortably on a grey cushion of his own.

Smiling disarmingly he said, “please, be seated, there is no need for formality. We should be, if not friends, per se, at least not enemies. Oh, and Celestia, I have a little letter here for you. I hope that you can forgive the delay, since I have been rather indisposed for the last 1500 years. But, as the saying goes, better late than never, right.” 

At this, a scroll appeared, neatly furled on the Cushion intended for Princess Celestia. Concord smiled serenely as she levitated to her, delicately broke the seal of the Kingdom of Equestria, and read the short proclamation it contained.

I, Prince Concord of Equestria,  on this, the 28th day of the sixth month of the 2013th year of the Equestrian Era, do hereby abdicate the throne of Equestria. The war with Discord which caused my elevation has concluded satisfactorily, and my duty has been fulfilled. Therefore, it is with greatest pleasure that I announce and formally  proclaim the end of my reign and renounce any claim to the Crown of Equestria. May the Kingdom continue to prosper under the stewardship of its true and rightful rulers, Princesses Celestia and Luna of Equestria.


Concord’s smile widened further as Celestia, having reread the letter, sighed gratefully, and with careful poise, lowered herself delicately onto her cushion.