//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Accepting Harmony // by Flim Skim the Spinner //------------------------------// Canterlot Gardens truly was one of the most beautiful sights in all of Equestria. At least, that’s what everypony always said as they strolled the gardens, snapping photos and admiring the famous landmarks. They had been coming and going, taking in the apparent majesty of the place, since it was made public nearly two hundred years ago. Personally, Discord was still struggling to understand what made the Royal Gardens so spectacular. He supposed it was how orderly it all was, the way each hedge was perfectly trimmed and in line with all the rest, and how the stone paths were carefully laid out to cross each other at constant intervals, that made it to appealing to the eyes of ponies. Or perhaps it was the symbolism of the countless stone statues that inhabited the garden which drew everypony’s attention. He had witnessed the ponies’ dedication to their ideologies first-hand over the years: they would come, dozens flocked together in tour groups or on field trips, and ogle over the stories of adventure and heroism that accompanied each granite effigy. When they beheld his frozen form, they would inevitably be intrigued and amused by his striking appearance, only to turn their noses up and scoff when informed of the ‘sinister’ nature represented by his hodgepodge body. As a whole, he supposed the Gardens themselves were meant to represent the order and unity that bound Equestria - and being forced to gaze upon them incessantly had become maddening to Discord over the centuries. Every day he had amused himself by imagining the careful harmony of his surroundings thrown up in a blaze of chaos. For years he had considered how best to remodel his new palace once he finally broke free of his stone prison and dethroned the mares who had abruptly ended his reign so long ago. Now, he sat, alone, upon the pedestal which had once been his jail cell, in the quiet nighttime of the Gardens. For the first time in his considerable life, he attempted to see the familiar sight through a fresh pair of eyes. Very recently, he’d had a sort of epiphany, which had put him in a position he’d never dreamed of. He’d been taught, as unlikely as it had seemed, about the beauty that was friendship, and after eons of entertaining himself by causing disharmony and malice, he had discovered something that was truly meaningful. It had been a shock to his system at first. He’d never realized, until that exact moment, how empty his life of solitude had felt. Being a creature of mischief, he’d always assumed that friends were something that simply weren’t compatible with him. After all, he had thought, why in the world would anypony ever dream of having a creature like Discord be a part of their life? “I would have assumed that you’d grown tired of this view.” Discord couldn’t help jumping at the sound of her voice. His cheeks almost began to redden as he turned to face Luna. She was smiling at him, which prompted him to return with what must have been a rather awkward grin. After his recent release by Celestia, most ponies had reacted… badly to Discord’s presence, sometimes going as far as to start running immediately upon catching a glimpse of him. Even Celestia herself was visibly tense whenever he was around, which was understandable, but still made Discord feel a bit wounded (desiring Celestia’s acceptance was another thing he had never expected to happen). Luna, however, seemed to warm up towards him almost immediately upon his return from Ponyville. He remembered being confronted, on the night of his return, by a junior member of the Royal Guard while wandering the palace grounds. The unicorn was obviously startled to see the fabled Draconequus free from his statue form, having likely not been informed of his recent release. He had immediately begun shouting and, with his horn thrust out like a lance, charged at Discord, who was forced to quickly decide the limits of his newfound freedom. Just as he had overpowered his instinctual reaction of hexing the poor colt in favor of teleporting away from the scene, a swirl of blue descended in front of him and magically halted the stallion’s charge. He would always remember the image of that exact moment; Luna’s wings were outstretched in a protective stance, horn lowered and hooves firmly planted in Discord’s defense. After berating the guard for his recklessness, then giving him a small commendation for his bravery and sending him away, Luna had fervently apologized to Discord. He remembered mumbling what had probably been the first sincere “thanks” of his life, before the princess gave him a sheepish grin and took flight back to her tower. That had been almost a week ago today, and since then he hadn’t had any real contact with her, though of course he caught glances of her around the castle as he accompanied Celestia during her daily duties (part of the reformation process she had assigned him). “I was just thinking,” he said, as Luna came to stand by his side. “For so long, thinking was all I could do… I guess it comes more naturally to me while I’m here. Just a familiar spot to gather my feelings.” Luna seated herself on the stone circle surrounding the base of the pedestal; sitting like that, with her head turned up to look up at him, Discord thought she seemed incredibly innocent. In fact, she looked more at-ease at this particular moment than he had ever seen her on the rare occasions she was with others. She had allowed the muscles in her shoulders and haunches to relax, and she wasn’t staring daggers at everything, as she usually did. “It seems strange, doesn’t it?” she said, and he was pleased to hear her speak in her calm, soothing tone of voice rather than the commanding boom she adopted for formal events. (Discord supposed that in the life of a princess, every event was formal.) “This place, which was once your prison… it holds a peculiarly calming atmosphere, knowing that you can now come and go as you please. You’re so familiar with these surroundings, they seem like home to you… isn’t that right?” Discord picked up on her allusion immediately, suddenly realizing that had at least one thing in common with the princess. “When you’re up there,” he said, jerking his head in the direction of the full moon, “you don’t feel any sort of anger, or resentment?” For a moment, she didn’t answer, and Discord was briefly afraid that he had said something offensive; peaceful conversation was something he was still getting used to. Finally, she turned her warm gaze upon him and responded with, “Yes, I do, every day and night… but not towards my sister. My jealousy and resentment were to blame for the exile I endured, and even now I berate myself over the foolishness I displayed back then.” As she said this, an unintended burst of anger flared up within Discord. Was this whole meeting Celestia’s doing? Another of her incessant attempts to hammer her lessons into his skull? As if she hadn’t been lecturing him on and on every single day of the past week! She was probably watching them right now, through that stupid telescope on her stupid tower with a stupid, smug look on her stupid face… Discord quickly halted this train of thought, reminding himself that trust was one of the many aspects of his new life that would take some getting used to. After all, if Luna was attempting to lecture him, he was sure it would be incredibly obvious; based on what he had seen of her so far, she wasn’t exactly an amazing actor. He was actually very touched that Luna was attempting to connect to him, something only one pony had ever cared enough to do before, and decided he may as well try to extend the same courtesy to her. “You know,” he said, “I never really hated you, or Celestia, back when we first met.” Luna was surprised that he was bringing up their first meeting from over a thousand years ago; they hadn’t exactly been on friendly terms in those days. “I actually thought you two were pretty interesting… two young princesses, trying to put an end to a mischievous spirit’s reign of chaos.” There was no bitterness in Discord’s voice. He almost sounded nostalgic as he said, “I never really took either of you as a threat… I actually planned on keeping you around after I defeated you, as my companions… it was the first thing I’d looked forward to in a long time, even if I knew it would’ve been a lie.” Luna’s attention was fixed squarely upon him. She had come to see him in the hopes of erasing any ill feelings between them, but hadn’t expected him to be so forthcoming with his emotions. In a lighter tone, he said, “If I had been taking you more seriously at the time, I might not have been frozen into such a ridiculous position. You have no idea how embarrassing it was having those tourists rubberneck me every day while I looked like I was performing a solo shower-opera.” Luna giggled a bit at this; she could still remember, even after all these years, how she and Celestia had taken advantage of Discord’s overconfidence by blasting him with the Elements of Harmony while he was in the midst of a sarcastic tirade, where he pretended to congradulate the sisters over their triumph. Looking back, it may have been a bit unchivalrous of them to do so, but that certainly hadn’t been the correct time to excersize proper social graces. If they had hesitated for even a moment, they might have been the ones serving as his lawn decorations. Thinking about the past, Luna was reminded of the immense power that Discord commanded. Given the reality-warping nature of his magic, he had nearly limitless possibilities when it came to the things he could do with the force of his will alone. It was frightening to think about, even now. Luna knew, for example, that Discord possessed the ability to raise and lower both the Sun and the Moon easily; before they had cast him from his chaotic throne, it had been he who had set the days and nights in motion, though of course there had been no rhyme or reason to it. He would simply initiate sunshine or moonlight whenever he was in the mood. The biggest reason Luna had been so quick to put her trust in Discord upon his release was that she seemed to be the only one who was already convinced that he wasn’t truly evil to begin with. If her sister agreed with her on this, she certainly didn’t show it, but Luna believed that if Discord had ever truly wanted to make people suffer, he would have done so very thoroughly, but none of his past actions were, under close examination, necessarily villainous. For one thing, Discord had never physically hurt anybody, though he was certainly capable of it. Even when faced with direct opposition he usually seemed to prefer to mislead his enemies, rather than fight them directly. More than anything else, he appeared to believe strongly in preserving individual freedom, which she guessed was the reason why he never made any effort to restrain or imprison those who had defied him in the past. To Discord, who, like herself, possessed the gift of an immensely long life, every day must seem like a game, which he tried to make as interesting as possible. When she considered how much older than even herself he was, she almost understood his motivation; in a world where things have a tenency to stagnate, it must have seemed a shame not to mix things up when he had every ability to do so. That wasn’t to say she believed what he had done was right or fair in any way. He deserved every year of his imprisonment, just as she had deserved hers, and now that he had begun learning to control the excessive use of his powers, she was sure he could be taught to use them for the benefit of Equestria, rather than to throw it into disarray for his amusement. The inclusion of friendship into his life was sure to have an impact, and based on what she had seen of him so far, it truly appeared that he derived more pleasure from being accepted by others than he did by toying with their lives. She only hoped that it would stay that way. “So, Discord,” she said, as a way of breaking the silence she hadn’t realized had been growing between them, “How do you plan to spend your days, now that you have the freedom to go where you please?” “Go where I please?” he repeated, giving her a questioning look. “Do you have any idea the kind of chokehold Celestia has me in? I wander off for five minutes and she calls out those winged hounds of yours to come looking for me.” He was obviously referring to the Royal Guards, though Luna laughed inwardly as she thought of her pet Pollon which she kept in her tower. It occurred to her, then, that Discord wouldn’t be making any sort of social or emotional progress if her sister was forcing him to remained cooped up in the castle. Knowing Celestia, it would likely be a while before she deemed him stable enough to be released into the public… unless she could find a way to change her mind. “I may be able to arrange for my sister to allow you some leeway,” she said, “but in return, you must promise to keep me informed on your personal discoveries outside of the castle walls.” A puzzled look flashed across Discord’s face, quickly replaced by one of mild annoyance. “Eugh, great, you must be getting jealous of your sister. Now you’re expecting me to be personal Twilight Sparkle.” Getting up from his pedestal, he made an exaggeratedly feminine pose and said, in a mockingly high-pitched voice, “Dear Princess Luna, today I learned that there’s no problem you can’t solve by sprinkling it with a little sugar and rainbows!” With a snap of his fingers, he created a shower of shimmering sparklets that fell daintily around him. “Your faithful student, Discord!” Luna couldn’t resist laughing audibly at Discord’s little display, and even the Draconequus himself was grinning at his own joke. “Well, as long as you’re not expecting any flattery or adoration on my part, that sounds fair to me. It would be nice to get out and see the world again.” Satisfied, Luna prepared to depart, to give her sister the news. As she spread her wings, Luna said, “The matter is settled, then. Come sunrise, you shall be free to roam the lands of Equestria at your leisure.” Ascending into the night sky, she added, “But do not forget our correspondence, Discord. I will not hesitate to send the guards out if you should suddenly vanish.” He watched her rise to the top of her tower, at which point the lost sight of her, though he supposed she was on the balcony, watching over Equestria through her enchanted telescope, as he had seen her doing on previous nights. With a sigh and a snap, he instantly transported himself into his own bedroom, which occupied the room opposite Celestia’s. This was the one space in all of Equestria where the Princess had given him permission to use his magic as he saw fit to make himself comfortable, and as a result, the interior was a warped display of bedlam that defied all common logic. The walls and ceiling twisted and met it ways that made no physical sense, and were adorned with all manner of out-of-place furnishings, including a bed which was absurdly stretched out, lying vertically along the wall opposite the door. A mass of small silver cubes tossed themselves from corner to corner on the ceiling, occasionally colliding with the grotesquely wrought chandelier, the chain of which was inexplicably curved into the shape of a J. It had no candles, and the room actually seemed to be more dim around it. Flopping himself against his bed, Discord pondered where he would go first with his newfound freedom. As he did so, he unconsciously began twirling in front of him the only item in the room which held any emotional significance: the remains of Fluttershy’s lamp, fashioned into his likeness, which he had taken from her cottage as a memento, after she insisted as politely as possible that she’d really prefer to just buy a new one. This would be his chance to begin proving his newfound benevolence, and show that uptight Celestia that he wasn’t any threat to Equestria anymore. If she even agreed to let him go, that is… but, he was fairly convinced that she would listen to her sister, whom he thought she was secretly still tring to be extra-polite to following the Nightmare Moon debacle. No, Celestia wouldn’t be the problem… what could prove difficult was getting past the stigma he carried with the rest of Equestria. The news of his release hadn’t been public information, which meant that most of the world still thought of him as a monster sealed away into a statue, provided they even knew of him to begin with. He’d most likely be forced to endure a fair amount of pointing and screaming… not that it particularly bothered him, but it would get in the way of creating a positive personal image. So, first he would need to work on making more ponies into his friends. And if there was anypony who claimed to know about making friends, it was… Discord’s smile spread across his face as he decided exactly what the first stop would be on his little journey. He could practically hear the laughter already.