Advance Warning

by Jordan179

Chapter 2: The Sisters Have An Entirely Reasonable Discussion Regarding Celestia's Proposed Course of Action

"Hast thou taken leave of thy senses?" Luna cried, her wings flaring. "Sister -- Discord is no friend! He is one of our worst foes! We barely did contain him the last time he got free!"

"I know," said Celestia, "but --"

"Thou didst see it in the Mirror Pool!" continued Luna. "I was with thee! The Dark World -- a thousand years of pain and suffering -- made worse because the monster drove our dear Twilight to madness!"

"I sense a certain bias in that presentation of events," Celestia commented drily. "But yes, I am well aware of what might have happened had not Twilight Sparkle defeated Discord when first he broke loose."

"Then how canst thou --?" Luna gasped.

"That is what might have happened had Discord won when he broke loose," Celestia pointed out. "On his own accord, against our will, and ourselves unprepared. To set him free of our will, with him fully-aware that we chose to release him, and ourselves prepared to deal with him should he betray us --"

"Should he?" asked Luna. She got up from her seat and paced rapidly back and forth in the room. "Sister, art thou even listening to thine own words? We are talking about Discord here. The destroyer of Paradise Estate, the wrecker of the world --" she leaned forward and glared into Celestia's eyes intently. "The slayer of our Most Beloved Teacher! The murderer of our mother!"

Celestia visibly winced at that.

"I know what he did," Celestia replied, her voice strained, eyes briefly downcast. "I was there too -- I can forget it no more than can you, Sister. But --" she raised her eyes and stared back into Luna's own. "-- to remember does not mean to hate forever. Sister, Discord was new-come into his own true Self. He was angry, confused, torn between the emotions he had learned as Dissy, and those he had inherited from his Cosmic Self in full spate of madness. He did not behave that badly before -- nor, in truth, after."

"He terrorized the world for a thousand years!" shouted Luna. "He destroyed libraries, sacked cities, toppled ancient and noble civilizations! What do you mean, 'did not behave that badly?'"

Celestia turned aside for a moment reinforced the scryshield and silence barrier on her suite, then returned her full attention to Luna.

"I mean that -- despite his many and objectionable misdeeds -- he defended Ponykind."

Luna opened her mouth again -- paused -- and thought for a moment. To an extent, her Sister was right.

Celestia pressed her advantage. "What would Tirek had done if he had achieved such a complete victory? Or any of a number of other foes, though few of them got so close to final success. Discord actually did conquer the world -- or most of it, in any case, and what did he do with it?"

"Tortured Ponies," replied Luna flatly.

"To some extent, yes," allowed Celestia. "For the most part, though, he simply prevented the formation of any kingdoms larger than a city-state and its hinterland, and harassed even those at random. This created chaos, and opportunities for enemies of Ponykind -- whom he promptly destroyed when ever they attacked. He plainly throught of himself as the protector of Ponykind, Sister, not its enemy. He as much told us so, more than once, during his thousand-year reign."

Luna considered the point. "What of the Sea Ponies, Sister? What of the Flutter Ponies? He destroyed all the Sea Ponies who did not take refuge in very distant waters or with other Cosmic beings; and the Flutter Ponies he outright Twisted, then hunted and slew them until the survivors were so terrified that they have hidden and renounced the rest of Ponykind. Were they not Ponies, as well?"

"Yes," said Celestia. "They were Ponies as well. I do not deny his crimes, though I think he harmed the Sea Ponies less out of malice than carelessness. As for the Flutter Ponies -- they were always inherently very Lawful, being linked to the organization of the ecosystem itself. They are even more Lawful now, though it is a Law that has turned in on itself and for the benefit of its practicioners alone, and acknowledges no responsibility to any society larger than its own Hives. I do not think he could bear the presence of their Law ..."

"Could not bear?" asked Luna, her vioce rising. "Could not bear? He committed genocide against an entire Kind because he found their existence annoying, and thou dost suddenly find this meet and proper? Is annoyance to now exculpate the most terrible crimes?"

She began pacing again. "Well, Sister, I am annoyed by rather a lot of Ponies -- I never did abide fools and knaves well, as well thou knowest. May I then go forth and smite them with my gravity lances, or twist them into terrible forms, at mine own whim? Shall I now become a monster more destructive than ever was Nightmare Moon, and do so with thine own approval, because I am annoyed?"

She glared at Celestia, and for all that her eyes were her own, free of any hint of the Nightmare, Celestia nonetheless briefly flinched at the expression in them.

But Celestia quickly recovered her composure.

"No," she said, "Obviously not. That would be insanity."

"And letting Discord loose is not?" asked Luna. "Should he not be punished for his fell deeds?"

"Sister," said Celestia. "We have left him encased in stone for more than a millennium and a half. That's not exactly just a gentle slap to the cannon."

"True," allowed Luna. "But why should we be eager to release him just now? I am far from finished with my military reforms. The very same Flutter Ponies about which we spoke have attacked Equestria, and are a clear and present danger to the Realm. I am far from convinced that we have seen the last of Crimson Quartz, or rather what he has become. Beyond both of these threats the Shadows lurk, gathering to pounce upon us. These are perilous times, Sister."

"All times are perilous," Celestia answered. "And -- consider this. If we can persuade Discord to become our friend once again, we will face the perils you have mentioned, and many more beside, with a powerful ally at our sides. If he uses his magic for good rather than evil, all Equestria -- all Ponykind -- may yet benefit from his birth."

"Thou doth --" Luna's tone gentled. "You want to give him a chance at redemption."

"Is that so wrong?" asked Celestia softly.

"Nay," replied Luna. "But -- do not take this ill -- are you sure that you want to do this for the good of the Realm? Because you feel Discord should in justice be given another chance? Or -- is it because you once loved ..."

"Sister," said Celestia, and her eyes were full of pain. "Please don't."

"I am sorry," said Luna. "But you did love him."

Celestia looked down at the richly-carpeted floor. "So," she said, in a tone almost too low to be heard, "did you."

Luna felt a twinge of long-buried pain. "Yes," she admitted. "But he was your lover."

"I am sorry ..." Celestia began, then stopped. "Was that so wrong?"

"No," said Luna. "I was very selfish, back then. He had always been my best friend. I imagined he might become my mate -- my Consort. I did not ask him his intent, at any point. I simply wanted." She looked up at Celestia. "I am sorry."

"I should have talked to you about it," countered Celestia. "I simply acted. I suspected your pain, but I did not want to talk to you about it, for it made me feel guilty."

"We broke Dissy between us," Luna said sadly. "Like spoiled foals, fighting over a favorite toy."

"You blame yourself too harshly," said Celestia, stretching forth her muzzle to gently caress her Sister's cheek. "He would have fallen in any case, overwhelmed by the incubus his Cosmic Self placed within him. And it was my fault Discord was Incarnated in the first place. Ever did I run, and ever did Discord run after, even on the Cosmic Level."

"Had I been gentler with him," Luna said, "I might have been able to cushion the blow. I had begun Dream-walking ..."

"I know," said Celestia. "But consider. You were young, and inexperienced in the use of your powers. That which was within him was Dissonance. Not the full power, but the personality, and new-maddened by consuming his brother. And Dissy ... poor dear Dissy was no match for his greater Self, even the reduced version of it that took him."

"I was not a true and perfect friend to him, at the end," Luna said. "I was angry, I felt myself scorned."

"You were but a maiden," Celestia said consolingly. "As was I, in everything but the precise physical sense of the word, and that only for the last few days before he went mad. We were scarcely more than fillies, back then. And neither of us has ever been perfect."

"I was wrong, though," said Luna. Her eyes were filling with tears. "He did not scorn me. He did not even know how I felt! In his innnocence, he imagined that I would be happy that we would all become one family, with you his mate. And ... I should have been happy! But I was not."

"We cannot control our own feelings," said Celestia. "Only how we act on them."

"I acted wrongly," said Luna "I failed Dissy. I can never make that right. Not now -- not that he is gone." She looked at Celestia directly. "There are times," she said thickly, "when I still miss him."

"Then let me try to save him!" said Celestia, urgently. "There is still hope --"

"No!" replied Luna in alarm. "Sister, this is wishful thinking on thy -- on your part. Dissy was destroyed when the incubus took control. What rules now within him is not Dissy, not our old friend! Not your old love ..."

"That is not entirely true," said Celestia. "Do you remember how Discord was whe he first awakened? Entirely hostile, utterly cruel. A casual killer."

"Yes," replied Luna. "Which is why I know Dissy was subsumed. For Dissy was none of those things. He was kind ... loving ... compassionate ... our friend. That is why we loved him."

"Luna --" said Celestia, fixing her in the gaze of those great purple eyes. "Was he like that at the end?"

Luna thought on it a while.

"No --" replied Luna at last. "No ... he changed over the millennium of his Age. He grew ... I do not know how to describe it. Nicer? More reasonable?"

"More like the old Dissy?" suggested Celestia.

Luna thought on that for a while.

"No --" she said. "Not exactly. More like a different person. Someone in between Dissy and Discord." She thought a bit longer. "I always thought that he was just adapting to Incarnation -- things are never as simple down here as they are on the Cosmic Level."

"What," asked Celestia, an obvious light of hope in her eyes, "what if, when Discord absorbed Dissy, he didn't completely destroy him? Instead, he absorbed large elements of his personality intact? And those remnants of Dissy have been, very slowly, transforming Discord into someone more like our old friend?"

Luna considered the theory.

"I suppose it is possible," Luna admitted. "Though I still think that your thoughts are colored by your wishes. You want to have Dissy back. We both would very much like that."

"Three of us were born that year at Paradise Estate," said Celestia solemnly. "You, I and Dissy. In our youth, we were us three inseperable." Her mouth tightened. "First I lost Dissy. Then, fifteen hundred years later, I lost you. And over the next thousand years, I nearly lost myself -- more than once, I drifted toward Lone-Madness. It was a near-run thing." She looked directly at Luna. "Then, thanks to Twilight Sparkle, I got you back. And then, thanks to you and Twilight Sparkle, we were able to meet Discord's first mad spree when he broke loose, and imprison him again -- which gives us another chance.

"Luna," continued Celestia, "I want both of you back. You -- and Dissy. All us three, friends again. That is my purpose."

Luna felt a sinking feeling, and a certain rare pity for Celestia.

"Sister," Luna said, "I would like that too. Who would not? But Dissy is gone, far beyond any hope of winning back. This new Discord -- perhaps he is not as evil as the old, but he is not as good as was Dissy. He is not our friend as was Dissy. And --" she continued, very gently, "he doesn't love you. That was obvious, from his rampage two years ago. If he is loosed again, he will simply wreak more harm, until -- if we are lucky -- we are able to turn him back to stone again.

"Our sweet Dissy is gone for ever and ever," Luna concluded sadly. "You hope in vain, because you love him. 'Tis a good motive, but 'tis still not rational."

Celestia thought about that for a moment. Then she asked. "Was Wind Whistler rational?"

"What?" asked Luna. "Yes, of course Wind Whistler was rational. She was the most rational Pony that ever was born!"

"She had hope for Dissy," Celestia said softly. "Even after the fall of Paradise Estate, the breaking of the Rainbow. She knew that she was doomed now, that the Undying would now age and perish like any other Ponies. But she told me once that she thought that Dissy was not entirely gone, that Discord was not wholly evil. That, in time, the good within him might triumph over the evil. She ... she did not hate him for what he had done. She said he was simply being ... naughty. That he would see sense in time."

"She was the strongest and the best Pony I ever knew," commented Luna. "Her will ... her mind ... her heart ... I have never seen her like."

"And may never again," agreed Celestia. "Luna -- if she had hope -- cannot we likewise?"

"But she was wrong," Luna said bitterly. "She was brilliant, and rational, but even the brilliant and rational can err, and she did err then. And do not forget that in the end she fell to Discord."

"I shall never forget," said Celestia. "I wish I could, but I cannot. Nor that our mother fell as well. And all our old friends are now dead because of his deeds. Sister, do you imagine my heart stone? Or worse, so gone in silly lust that I forget every hurt he did us? I may come to forgive, but that is not the same. Not at all the same."

"Then ..." Luna was at a complete loss. "Then how can you even consider releasing him and somehow persuading him by kind words on your part that we should all again be friends?"

"I do not consider that," replied Celestia. She stood up, walked to the window, looked southwestward to the end of the Vale of Avalon, where Ponyville sat spanning the river. "I shall not be the one to persuade him by kindness. I am, after all, not Kindness any more."

"Wait ..." said Luna, "What do you mean to do, then?"

And Celestia told her.

Author's Note:

The Dark World is a reference to Alex Warlorn's dual-threaded long novel about the Second Age of Discord and the adventures of Shining Armor and Cadance on the World Tour -- Dark World/Shining Armor. The version of the origin of Discord I'm using comes from his shorter novel, Generation Transitions and Origins.

Lest you imagine that this is all about Celestia and her superior wisdom teaching her more naive younger sister in the way things really are, you should keep in mind that each of the Royal Alicorn Sisters has her own bias here. Celestia has reasons to love, and Luna to hate, Discord that the other Sister does not -- but neither set of reasons are entirely rational ones. That's the peril of living at the Incarnate Level -- one can't entirely avoid getting mixed up in the messy business of the mortal world.

Comments

[Alex Warlorn]

It was a near-run thing."

The she CREATED a savior from herself... and then she lost her child.

And dude, THANK YOU for including my work. Thank you. I very very very very much appreciate it. And if you've been keeping up with the pony pov series, you know that what you've written here is either rather fitting or ironic!

[Walabio]

This chapter brings up the issue of headcanon:

I have a friend hating the redemption of Discord because Discord is a monster. Mine headcanon sees preredemption Discord as an entity trying to have a good time without malice, unaware of the misery he causes, seeing the Princesses as joykills; thus, Fluttershy teaching Discord empathy and reforming Discord makes sense. ¡Everypony has a different Discord in headcanon!

[Ardashir]

I do like this chapter quite a bit.. The back and forth between Celestia and Luna reminds me of some of the Batman-Superman arguments I've read over the years, the well-done ones where both characters are written properly and acting intelligently. I can certainly see why Celestia is going to do what she does, though I have to admit I myself would be on Luna's side. Setting a carelessly cruel reality warper loose with next to no way to control his behavior still strikes me as a very bad idea. Even if it did go the best way possible in the end.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Ah, Celestia... you ****ing IDIOT! You naive, arrogant piece of trash.