“... You really expect us to simply turn the Kingdom over to you, just like that?” Celestia was furious, and Concord could understand her reasons.
“No, I expect nothing ‘Tia,” he said calmly. “I was merely answering your question.”
“That wasn’t an answer! That was an ultimatum!” Her voice was rising dangerously. “Make me King, or I let Discord do whatever he wants!”
“To be fair, ‘Tia, that isn’t what he said,” Luna interjected soothingly. “I didn’t understand all of his explanation, but what I got was that unless we made him ruler, he could do no more than pick up after Discord, not stop him.”
At least she still pays attention. He nodded his agreement. “Thank you Luna, yes. Without being given freedom to significantly shift the balance between order and chaos, I can do nothing more than fix Discord’s messes after the fact.”
“But why can’t we do this ourselves?” Celestia almost growled. “If you need to create more order, then let us do it. Help us to help you.”
“I can’t, Celly.” She bridled at the use of her pet name. “If it were something that you could manage, then I would gladly let you handle it. But if this conflict were something you could handle, then we wouldn’t be here discussing it.”
Luna interrupted before Celestia had a chance to shout at him. “Concord, maybe there is something we just aren’t seeing. Could you maybe go over it again, and explain what exactly you mean by shifting the balance between order and chaos?”
Celestia was fuming visibly, but she seemed willing to let him explain. “As you wish,” he said politely.
“Discord and I aren’t beings of pure order or pure chaos for such concepts are unthinking. They simply exist as ideas, with or without creatures to recognize them. What we represent are the conscious interpretations of those concepts, as viewed by ponies, griffons, dragons, and all other thinking beings.”
Luna nodded and added, “so that is why you and Discord only appeared after the creation of Equestria. That was when everypony started to have definite ideas about what order and chaos meant to them.”
“Close. That was when thinking creatures started to think of order and chaos as something other than natural forces. As things that could be created and destroyed by conscious effort. I appeared as an alicorn because our parents were responsible for trying to build an orderly society, and to spread peace and stability throughout. Discord is an amalgam of creatures who would oppose such an ordering of society. The tribal griffons, the isolationist dragons, and so on. The chimerical appearance also reflects his chaotic tendencies.”
“As interesting as this may be, it isn’t really germane to the topic at hoof,” Celestia said abruptly.
“Not exactly, ‘Tia, for to understand what I need to do, you must understand what Discord and I actually represent,” he said evenly.
Celestia snorted angrily, drawing an anxious glance from Luna, but remained otherwise quiet. He was starting to suspect that Celestia was acting this way, not because of anything he had actually said, but because she felt that he and Luna were both against her. She has always had Discord to rely on, to balance my voice, he realized suddenly. Could she really think that Luna is any happier about this state of affairs because it is me who might take over?
Luna seemed to be thinking along similar lines because she addressed Celestia sympathetically. “‘Tia, I don’t like this any more that you do, please believe that.” Celestia looked skeptically back at her. “But, now that our parents are gone, isn’t it our duty to make the best decisions we can for Equestria?”
“Of course,” Celestia retorted brusquely, “but you seem too willing to consider putting him,” she said scornfully, “in charge. Something our parents were adamant should never happen!”
“But I’m not, ‘Tia,” Luna replied in pleading voice. “I’m not making any decisions yet. All I think is that we need to actually know what we’re up against if we’re to make the best decisions.” She paused, as if to muster her courage for her final remark. “And if that means listening to Concord then so be it. We would be terrible rulers if we didn’t learn everything we could about such a momentous decisions as we are likely going to have to make with great regularity.”
Celestia looked stunned by Luna’s implication that she didn’t want what was best for Equestria. “But our parents-” she began.
Not this again. “-Are dead!” He said in a tone of absolute finality. Both of his sister’s stared at him, shock clear on their faces. “They had a plan, yes, but one that did not involve their deaths at the claw of Discord. Celestia,” he said turning his full attention to his belligerent sister. “Our parents refused to allow either Discord or myself to take the throne because they knew that we would be too extreme in our management. Discord would likely ignore his duties, if he somehow managed to avoid causing outright harm, while I am viewed as being too oppressive and intrusive to keep the ponies happy. Whether they were right or not can be debated, but what you have to accept is that Discord has seized a throne. It may not be the throne of Equestria, but he has declared himself King of Chaos, and if you believe that he is any less dangerous in that role than he would be as King of Equestria, then you are deluding yourself.”
He turned now to Luna. When he saw the look of concern, verging on fear, he almost lost his resolve. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is tell somepony the truth, even if they don’t want to hear it. Despite himself, his voice softened involuntarily. “And Luna... in some ways Celestia is right. You have been very understanding, and have stood up for me many times since this whole ordeal began, and that means so much to me that I doubt my ability to either express or repay it. But the fact remains that circumstances have changed dramatically in the last two days, and that our plans must change accordingly. In my capacity as a Prince of Equestria, it is my duty to make sure that the Kingdom is taken care of, and at this moment, that means ensuring that both of you understand the choices that confront you. So please, allow me to finish explaining what is going on.”
Celestia still looked shocked, while Luna looked hurt, but they both nodded slowly and said nothing.
His voice returned to its normal, even tone, as he continued his explanation. “Our parents, when they found us, through some means they never saw fit to reveal to me, divined our natures, and formulated the plan that had guided us until so recently. They realized that although we represented these concepts, that we were both living beings, capable of independent thought, emotion, and change. This realization is what prompted them to adopt us, for it gave them hope that we could be molded into less extreme versions of our respective ideas. While Discord and I may have changed to reflect their efforts, those ideas that we represented are largely unchanged, and exist in the world in a kind of balance.”
“Every pony, and indeed, every other sentient creature, has a personal belief about just how much order and how much chaos they want in their lives. Some ponies like to sleep in, others adhere to a strict schedule. Some keep their homes neat and organized, others just don’t care. But most ponies, I think you will agree, fall somewhere in the middle. Too much regimentation and they feel strangled, too little and they become overwhelmed, and this is what I must try and change.”
Celestia was calmer now, but her displeasure at being lectured to like an ignorant foal was clear. “You skipped over the reason why you need to shift that balance. What will shifting this balance actually achieve, other than making a vast majority of our little ponies miserable?”
“It will strengthen me while weakening Discord. I might, given a large enough shift, be able to overpower him, capture him and remove his powers, or bind him somehow. The problem right now is that we are too evenly matched, so if I was to go and fight him, I might be able to win by causing him to exhaust his power, or I might possibly succumb to him. But what happens to each of us would matter little since the chances of anypony surviving our battle would be very low.”
“But if the two of you are so evenly balanced, then wouldn’t it only require a moderate shift to give one of you the advantage,” Luna asked thoughtfully.
He sighed and continued carefully, “Not quite. So far, I have, for the sake of simplicity, been speaking as if all of our power was dependant upon how strongly thinking creatures adhere to our concepts, but that is not the case.”
Following up her question, Luna asked, “how much of your magic does it grant, and where does the rest of it come from. Could we possibly target the other sources of his power and leave our ponies out of it?”
“To answer your questions sequentially, maybe two percent of our power is subject to shifts in behavior. The rest of our strength is derived from the ambient order and chaos of the world, and to target that would require that I fundamentally alter reality, so I recommend against it.”
Celestia smiled wryly, “you only recommend against altering the fundamentals of reality.”
What is so amusing about that? “Yes, I think it would be unwise to make any large changes to the fundamental workings of the world.”
In a bemused voice, she said, “Discord makes objects materialize from nothing, turns inanimate objects into living creatures, and creates sentient clouds that perform physical impossibilities.”
“Yes, all of which are already possible through magic. The type of change that I am talking about would be, for example, increasing the force that causes you to fall to the ground throughout the entire universe. Magically, I could use a spell to simulate that effect, locally, but to actually change the balance of our power, it would have to change everywhere. That is what I meant.”
Her bemused expression was gone, replaced by one of confused alarm. “And what would changing that actually do?”
“I have no idea, which is why I do not recommend doing it.”
“Fine then,” Celestia said with an annoyed frown, “so your plan is for us to put you into power so that you can create an ‘orderly’ society that will grant you enough of an advantage over Discord that you can restrain him somehow?”
“Yes.”
Celestia sighed resignedly and asked, “and you can think of no other possibilities?”
“No. there is one other possibility, but I don’t think you will find it practical.”
Both looked at him with interest and Celestia said hopefully, “what is it?”
“Since Discord and I are manifestations of conscious thought, if every thinking creature died, we would cease to exist.”
He almost smiled at the looks of horror on their faces. I said they wouldn’t find it practical. It wasn’t long before they recovered, at which point Luna took the lead and said, “thank you, Concord. If you don’t mind, I think that ‘Tia and I need some time to discuss what we’re going to do.”
He bowed low and said, “of course, Princess. Shall I wait outside?”
The two exchanged a quick glance before Celestia said, “I think not, Concord. Should we have need you, you will be sent for.”
“I understand. Thank you, your Highness.” he raised himself slowly and walked from the room. A pair of guards closed the door behind him, and he found himself alone for the first time since the morning of the murder.
He found himself suddenly with nothing to do. Before his parents’ deaths, everything he had done had been done by the four of them together. They had attended policy meetings, been tutored, practiced flying and magic, read and discussed various topics, among other things, but always as a group. Sometimes they would break into pairs, him with Luna, Discord with Celestia, and since Luna loved flying, that was usually what they had done.
Now, without either Luna or any responsibilities to guide him, he started to wonder what he actually wanted to do. I know what I want to do, but I’m just not supposed to do it, he realized glumly. He wanted the same thing that Discord had wanted. To spread his vision of Order throughout the world, but to do so would cost him any trust and affection that existed between himself and Luna, and that price was, he felt, too high.
Unable to think of anything he both wanted, and was allowed, to do, he teleported into his bed, and put himself into a dreamless sleep.