Decision
Discord shows up before Princess Celestia some time before the surrender. He offers her one final ultimatum.
The thundering of artillery upon the waning shield over Canterlot had ceased an hour ago, yet the shaking could still be felt in the bones of every unfortunate citizen within the city.
Twenty four hours.
Twenty four Goddess forsaken hours of nonstop shelling and bombing had grinded what little hope the pony populace had left at the thoughts of surviving the war into complete and utter nothingness.
Many had already killed themselves out of despair, with the number of suicides steadily mounting by the hour. Soldiers who couldn't take the pressure anymore were slitting their throats or eating their guns out of cowardice. Whole families whispered tearful prayers amongst themselves before consuming poison, dying as they lived: together. The rest were prepared to be wiped along with everything else, either zealously awaiting their end through glorious combat or with quiet apathy.
The shield wasn't going to hold, everypony could see that. Cracks had already begun to appear and each successive strike upon it caused those same cracks to web outwards like a massive spiderweb hanging overhead.
Princess Celestia rarely made any public appearances anymore, hiding away in her ruined castle like some decrepit hermit. Riveting speeches and hollow gestures of reassurance were carried out by Princess Twilight in her stead, though they didn't inspire much confidence.
And as if to add insult to injury, Discord had appeared out of the blue in a flash of bright light and confetti shortly after. He had on a blonde hippie hair wig and was dressed in a tie dye shirt, rose tinted glasses and loose fitting khakis. Gripped in his claw was a sign with the peace symbol painted on it.
"Good afternoon, Canterlot!" Discord beamed. He surveyed his surroundings and cringed at the devastation all around him. "Yeesh, this place has turned into a real dump. What, was the tourism board out on vacation or something?"
The capricious draconequus's sudden appearance was met with scorn from everypony in the vicinity, yet they could do little against him.
Spears and swords went flaccid upon touching his hide, bending like taffy to an extreme degree. Bullets were very much the same. The trajectory of the shots would come to a screeching halt when nearing him before turning and flying away into the distance, never to be seen again. In the end the crowd resorted to spewing vitriol in his direction, stoning him with loose bricks and hurling whatever insult they could come up with.
Their attempts at harming the draconequus, be it physically or mentally, fell flat at every turn.
Eventually, the royal guard arrived. With them was the venerable Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight, both looking like they haven't slept in weeks.
In the case of Celestia, she likely hadn't caught a wink of sleep since the siege began, what with keeping the barrier up at all times. Messy mane and matted fur aside, her horn was constantly aglow with a dim golden hue that occasionally flickered and gave off sparks like a faulty neon sign. There were dark rings around her eyes, giving the impression that they were sunken into her skull. Adding to all that was her bizarre trot. She walked with a strange gait that straddled the line between a hobble and a limp.
She was a living reflection of Canterlot itself. A pony hanging on by a thread.
"Sup, you two," Discord flashed the peace symbol with his pawed hand. "It's groovy today, wouldn't you say?"
"Discord!" Twilight seethed, crouching into an attack position. "You've got some nerve showing you traitorous mug in Canterlot!" Her horn flared up with magic, preparing to blast the mismatched menace right in his stupid face. "Have you come to taunt us in our darkest hour?!" She scowled.
"On the contrary, dear princess. I've come to talk," Discord replied coolly as his lips curled into a mischievous smile. "On behalf of the Resistance and all of humanity, I come seeking peace through Equestria's surrender.
"Surrender? SURRENDER?!" Twilight snapped, her horn growing brighter. "We will do no such thing! You're a fool for appearing in Canterlot thinking you won't pay for all you've done!" Before she could unleash her magic upon Discord, however, Princess Celestia brought a hoof up before her, signaling her to stand down. "P-Princess Celestia?"
"Stay thy hoof, Twilight. I want to hear what he has to say," Celestia replied tiredly, her voice low and hoarse.
"Bu-" Twilight attempted to protest, but a faint glare from Celestia stopped any more words from leaving her throat.
“Just humor me,” Celestia muttered.
"I-If that's what you believe is best," Twilight mumbled, bowing her head as her horn dimmed.
Nodding approvingly, Princess Celestia turned to face Discord. In spite of their grudge, she displayed no immediate signs of hatred nor aggression towards him. Rather, her expression was one of weariness.
"...Discord," Celestia greeted.
"Celly, Celly, Celly," Discord tutted, "girl, you look terrible. The years have not been kind to you."
"No... No, they haven't," Celestia looked away. Sighing heavily, she continued. "Whatever you wish to discuss, we can discuss it in the privacy of the castle."
"Ever the hospitable one, Celly," Discord smirked. "By all means, lead the way."
Castle Canterlot, once the shining wonder of the city with its pristine white walls and golden decor, was now little more than a crumbling shell of what it used to be.
It's high walls had been brought low. The expertly maintained gardens had been ravaged and was picked clean, twigs and all, by those seeking what little food there was left in the city. It's radiant nobility was lost, replaced with a depressing atmosphere that clung to the fur like hot tar and reeked of death.
This was no longer a castle, it was a fancy tomb.
It didn't look any better on the inside than it did on the outside. Like the city proper, it was a broken mess of home. Ruined and desolate. Windows had been shattered, drapes and other fineries were torn to shreds and the help was nowhere to be seen. Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight and their personal retinue of guards may be the only ponies left inhabiting this sad place.
Discord was led to Celestia's private chamber where he would be alone with her for the duration of their meeting. She had dismissed the others much to their vocal protests, citing some cockamamie wisdom guiding her choice for doing so. They reluctantly complied and left without a word, fearful of what may transpire behind closed doors.
Once alone, the two relaxed themselves and settled in like old friends meeting again after so long. Celestia even had he courtesy to drape the room in a silencing spell to ensure nopony would eaves drop in their conversation.
The atmosphere was almost cozy, if Celestia's room didn't look like it had been struck by an earthquake. Clothes and jewelry were strewn all over the place, the vanity table and armoire had been smashed into splintery junk and there was a disconcerting amount of empty wine bottles piling up in one corner of the room.
As Discord seated himself with a chaise chair in midair, Celestia began rummaging through the pile of bottles. She pulled out one from the bottom that was still full and held it up to read the label. This wasn't the cheap stuff, it was from Celestia's private reserve in the castle's wine cellar. Her personal stash gathered over several centuries of ruling. A single bottle was worth as much as a small mansion, a whole case’s worth could buy you a castle and some land to go with it.
With Equestria in flames there probably wasn't a better time to get break into it than now.
"Hmm... Good year," she muttered as she uncorked it by hoof and began imbibing it like some ruffian down at the local pub. It was clear that she had completely given up on any semblance of proper etiquette.
The taste was exquisite. It was fruity and robust, only she couldn't tell at all anymore. The burning and the numbness the drink provided was all she desired. It took the edge off of maintaining the shield around the clock, if only for a short period. Alicorns didn't get drunk that easily compared to the average pony, and when they did the reprieve of inebriation usually didn't last that long. It was both a blessing and a curse at the same time.
Celestia pulled her lips from the bottle. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me." She held the bottle towards Discord. "Did you want a drink?"
Discord raised his claw. "No, thank you. I usually provide my own." With a snap of his paw, a pitcher of ice tea appeared in front of him. He poured it into a highball glass and with another snap of his paw, made the pitcher vanish and a tiny yellow umbrella to appear on the rim of the glass. He took a sip of the drink, savoring the light tang of flavor and smacking his lips in satisfaction. "Ah, that's the good stuff... How long has it been since we’ve last spoken like this, Celly? This little heart to heart, if you will.”
“A few centuries,” Celestia sighed, “but’s who’s counting?”
“Ah, where did the time go,” Discord whispered wistfully, playing with the umbrella in his glass. “Now, I’d love to shoot the shit with you and all but how about we get down to brass tacks?”
"Yes. Lets," Celestia slurred, dragging herself over to the lounging sofa and throwing herself atop it. Lazily she turned her gaze over to Discord, taking another sip of her wine before speaking. "So, welcome back to the shining jewel of Equestria, Discord" she muttered sarcastically. "Or rather, what's left of it."
"Joking? At a time like this? You flatter me," Discord chuckled lowly. "Normally, I'd beat around the bush for a while, strike up some small talk and then go off on a tangent about oranges for a few hours," he sighed, "but seeing you in this state has made me reconsider my usual schtick. Simply put, I'm here with an ultimatum."
Celestia rolled her eyes. "Of course you are. Why else would you show up in the middle of a bombed out wasteland constantly under fire from all sides?"
"What? I can't pop in and say 'hi' to an old friend?" he quipped.
"Friend, huh..." Celestia muttered, taking another swig from the bottle. "So, what's this ultimatum? What do your human masters want from me that they haven't already taken, destroyed or corrupted with their sin?"
"Well, there's not much to say that hasn't already been said." Discord shrugged nonchalantly. "But, you've got two choices: agree to the terms of the unconditional surrender... or Canterlot will be destroyed. With everyone in it. I probably should've made that part clear."
A pregnant silence filled the room as Discord concluded. Celestia had already expected as much from the UN, seeing as this wasn’t the first time they’d tried to resolve things peacefully. Humanity and their traitor pony allies held all he cards, there was no room for negotiations on her end and they know that.
It was funny.
So funny, in fact, that Celestia began to descend into hysterics at the thought of it all.
It was a strange juxtaposition. The usually crass and tactless Discord had a stern expression on his face the whole time as the generally composed and focused Princess Celestia gave into the cloying hands of madness, breaking down into genuine gut bursting laughter that transitioned into inconsolable weeping and back again like a revolving door of emotions. Before long the sounds became intertwined into an disturbing cacophony that made it difficult to determine which was which. The sound she made as she lost control was like a cross between grinding gears and a wheezy air horn.
Eventually the madness gave way to anger, which itself turned into hate. Turning on her hooves she threw the half drank wine bottle at Discord with all the strength she could muster. It shattered into small pieces, staining the carpets with wine as the glass shards morphed into shimmering soap bubbles after touching imperceptible veil that protected him from harm.
Sighing, Discord lazily raised his claw and pressed down on one of the bubbles, flattening it into an impossibly thin disc that in defiance of the laws of physics had mass and molecular density equivalent to wood. Setting his drink down on his ‘coaster,’ Discord’s lips curled into another one of his trademark grins.
“Sheesh. No need to be so overdramatic, Celly,” he quipped.
“I. Will. Not. Surrender!” Celestia enunciated, sobering up. She assumed a dominant stance, standing tall and proud, carrying herself with conduct befitting of a title. “I have made my position clear before: Equestria stands! Now, and forever more!”
Discord casually glanced over to the window, watching the red sun set against the horizon above a city long past the precipice of destruction. He could hear the audible despair of Canterlot’s citizens faintly in the distance; the screaming, the mourning, the cries of misguided fanaticism over the howling of the winds. If ponies weren’t killing themselves they were rioting, and if they weren’t rioting they were killing themselves. The picture couldn’t be anymore clearer, yet to Celestia it would appear she viewed the whole world through a piece of smoked glass.
Discord raised an eyebrow In a slow dramatic fashion. “Oh, yes, Celestia. Please, tell me all about wonderful and magnificent Equestria," He spoke in a sarcastic fashion. "Equestria with its green hills and blue sky. Equestria with its clear waters and clean air. Equestria with its proud and enlightened ponies. Because, frankly, I just can’t see it.”
“Hmph!” Celestia huffed, turning her nose. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. After all, you sided with the humans. It makes sense, both you and the human race are wild and unpredictable, impetuous to the point of destruction. You don’t just live in chaos, you thrive on it!”
“That is true,” replied Discord.
“And that makes them all dangerous!” Celestia snapped, stamping her hoof.
“That is also true,” Discord nodded along. “Yet throughout it all, humanity have somehow made it work. Recklessness and stupidity is their brand, and like any good brand they know how to diversify their portfolio. For every mistake they make, they manage to pull a success out of a hat. Over and over again like the world’s longest test of trial and error. It’s utterly ridiculous, and that’s why I love them so much. They remind me of, well, me,” he laughed, growing another head for double the fun. “In an ironic twist of fate, that same admiration of the insane was also one of the reasons why so many of your enlightened citizens decided to jump ship three years ago.”
“They left because they were faithless heretics!” Celestia argued. "Lyra, Fluttershy, Moondancer and the rest of their ilk, they were all weak willed ponies who couldn't see the righteousness of our great purpose for what it truly was! Why else would they abandon their homeland to run off with our enemies in foreign lands?!"
"They left because they understood the true horror behind your endeavor, Celestia, and what it was doing to Equestria. I mean, look at this place. It's like a nicer version of Detroit," Discord retorted dryly, taking a drink from his tea. "Furthermore, the Resistance left because they caught a glimpse of something special in humanity. Their time mingling with them before and during this foolish war had changed their worldviews forever. Looking past the bad that you seem to point out at every turn, Fluttershy and the others discovered a hidden potential the likes of which they’ve never seen before."
"Potential? In humanity?!" Celestia scoffed. "Ha! Don't make me laugh."
"Oh, yes. It's true. But I wasn't referring to humanity's potential, I was referring to pony potential." He twirled his claw in the air and wisps of smoke formed from the tip of his talon. The smoke took shape of a pony. It stood on its hind legs and flexed its muscles before dissipating into the air.
"Pony potential?" Celestia raised an eyebrow and flared her wings "What more could we possibly achieve? We are the very zenith of what is possible in life!"
"Evidently, that isn't the case," remarked Discord. "Because the ponies who fled Equestria grew to be more than they ever thought possible. Lyra became a diplomat maintaining Equestrian relations by proxy who is adored by the human populace. Moondancer's now an esteemed scientist working on projects that could only be described as history in the making. And Fluttershy, meek little Fluttershy became a combat medic. A combat medic, could you believe that? Once upon a time that girl would jump in the air at the sound of a slamming door, now she's on the battlefield performing triage and amputating limbs like it's going out of style."
"Hmph, a fluke. That's all that is. Brought on by desperation in times of uncertainty," Celestia snarled.
"Au contraire," Discord grinned. "They claimed it to be like a fog lifting from their minds or chains falling off their person. All of a sudden new avenues were opened and the Resistance began envisioning an Equestria just lik-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Celestia yelled, getting up in Discord's face. "Such thoughts are blasphemous! Only traitors would believe in that nonsense! Traitors and heretics! Equestria must remain pure! I will never allow our way of life to be tainted by humanity’s wretched beliefs!”
“...Ah, I missed that about you, Celestia,” Discord laughed a throaty chuckle. “The moral grandstanding, that air of superiority that always seems to surround you, the lies... Especially the lies,” he sighed, playing with the little umbrella in his glass. “But you know, this whole narcissist bit, it doesn’t suit you all... You’re afraid, aren’t you? Always have been. Everypony in the resistance can see it now. This was never about helping the humanity or even about spreading friendship and harmony. This war is little more than a sad attempt to save face spurred on by your bruised ego, that’s all it is. That’s all it’s ever been.”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Celestia whispered darkly, narrowing her eyes. "This all began as a righteous crusade. The humans were the ones who turned it into a bloody war!"
“Oh, so that's how it's going to be?” Discord rolled one of his eyes. With a snap of his paw he changed out of his clothes and erased the chair and drink from existence. Now, he wore on an old fashion headmaster’s uniform, hat, glasses and all, and brought with him a chalk board. “Alright, guess I’m gonna have to do this in way you’ll understand: through amateur chalk art.”
Discord began scribbling some crude animated imagery on the board. There were two sets of characters, one side were humans and the side were ponies
“Let’s start from the beginning, when Equestria first appeared on Earth.” The little drawings did a happy dance. “Things were rocky during year one, first contact always is, but lo and behold everyone managed to pull through in spite of the interdimensional jet lag. That being said, most of our major troubles didn’t occur until a little further down the line.” There was a small quarrel between the humans and the ponies that resulted in a big ball of cartoon violence.
“Remember, Twilight’s friendship tour?” He drew a childish representation of Twilight with a big crown standing on an oversized float. The picture of Twilight traveled around the world talking about friendship and harmony with her friends, only to get pelted by nondescript tomato shaped produce at almost every turn. There were only a handful of instances where they weren't met with skepticism or outright hostility. “Oof, talk about a train wreck. Turns out humans don’t like being preached to by walking talking technicolor carousel rides. And don’t even get me started on the conversion bureaus. What a disaster.”
“Is there a point to this asinine history lesson, or do you just simply find delight in hearing the sound of your own voice?” Celestia growled.
“Oh, don’t get your mane in a bunch, Princess Sunbutt. I’m getting there,” Discord grumbled. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes. While ponies couldn't get humans to act more like them, the opposite was very much true." He scribbled an image of pony and humans living together. "Ahem. As it turns out, pony human integration was proceeding rather splendidly, regardless of the previous debacles. You might even say that it was... natural," he paused, feeling the hole burning in the back of his head from Celestia's glare.
"And then the most amazing thing happened!" Discord continued unabated. "Humanity shared us their gifts! Wonderful creations born from the minds of mad geniuses and self loathing artists! Music, books, television shows, video games, the internet! It was a smorgasbord of brand new experiences that many Equestrian's couldn't help but cut their teeth on. All this information came flooding in like a tsunami, and there was more to discovered each and every day, they couldn’t get enough of it. Everyone loved it!" He stopped, turning an uncharacteristically serious gaze upon Celestia. "...Everyone but you."
"...I did what I had to," Celestia spoke resolutely. "The bans were necessary."
"And the book burnings? The crackdowns on so called contraband? The destruction of my copy of the complete series of Seinfeld?" Discord questioned as she shook his head in disappointment. "So much wasted."
"They were necessary!" Celestia repeated as two maintained their hard gaze upon one another.
“Oh, I’m sure they were,” Discord let out an exaggerated sigh. “After all, benevolent wise Celestia knows what’s best for her little ponies. And if she and her gaggle of alicorn associates deem something to be bad, then by golly they must be inherently bad in some way, shape or form. After all, our omnipotent and infallible goddesses must know something that we don’t,” he crowed mockingly. But as quickly as his face contorted itself into an indignant sneer, his expression softened into one of wistfulness.
"...I remember hearing ponies chat amongst themselves about philosophy by Sugarcube Corner back then," Discord whispered back. "They were questioning their own existence, their lot in life and more. They were asking so many questions that they didn't have answers to, that you didn't have answers to. Yet they were willing to risk something, anything, in order to find out. The more ponies talked, the more others listened, and the more they listened, the more you felt your carefully curated sense of order crumble from it's already flimsy foundation... You had to nip this in the bud the moment you realized there wasn't some convenient excuse for this and that, who and what, how and why."
"...Shut up," Celestia scowled.
"The bans were only the beginning. Because despite all your best efforts to steer your flock away from this information as long as humans existed there was always gonna be that one curious individual who wants to know the truth. The threat of destabilization was never going to go away so long as there were two sentient species on the planet."
"Shut up."
"And that when it all came together, didn't it? You didn't like humans to begin with. You hated that they spurned your self proclaimed kindness, you despised them for turning the tables on cultural assimilation, you abhorred them for undoing centuries of backbreaking work simply by existing. That's when you realized the only way to solve things was to wipe the slate clean once and for all."
"Shut up!"
"War was just a way for you to keep things squeaky clean! That whole turning humans in ponies bit, so that they could live happier lives? It was full of crap! Your potion was a bust! It's a friggin miracle so many still believed that snake oil to be a magical panacea from the Heavens"
"I said, shut up! You don't know what you talking about!"
"You can lie to yourself all you like, Celestia! The fact of the matter is this six year farce of conflict is nothing more than little white lie that grew out of control and set the world ablaze!"
Discord then changed his form, switching from a headmaster to a shirtless shell shocked veteran wearing a red bandana.
“You drew first blood!” He accused.
“NO, I DID NOT!” Celestia screamed back, her mane flaring up into white hot flames that scorched the ceiling black. “THEY KILLED HER!” She roared, flames growing blindingly bright. “SHE WAS YOUNG AND FULL OF LIFE, YET THEY ROBBED HER OF HER FUTURE! DEVOURED HER LIKE THE ANIMALS THEY WERE! I WANTED TO FORGIVE THEM! I TRIED TO SAVE THEM! THE POTION, THE BUREAUS, THEY WERE MY WAY OF REDEMPTION! BUT IN THE END MY HOOF WAS FORCED, THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY! DO NOT BLAME ME FOR THE FAULTS OF OTHERS!” She concluded, panting heavily as her flames subsided.
There was a jagged black ring burned around her, like a dark sun. Smoke rose from the floor, shrouding her in a thick haze barely concealed the flurry of emotion present on her trembling visage. Anguish, sorrow, rage, remorse. They all fought for dominance within her heart. Yet throughout the tirade, Discord was unfazed. He held his ground, scanning her with judging eyes before opening his mouth to speak.
“...Who is ‘her?’” Discord asked, causing a brief bout of panic to flash across Celestia’s eyes.
“N-no one,” Celestia replied lamely, turning away in shame.
“And just like that, all the air was let out of your impassioned speech. Bravo, Celestia. Bravo,” he deadpanned, forming a pair of white gloves that clapped derisively beside him. “I guess there’s no changing your mind, then?” He asked.
“...I cannot, will not, surrender,” Celestia muttered, exhaustion having set in.
"I see..." Discord looked irritated, returning to his normal form and getting rid of his slapstick props. "You know what. You win, Celestia. I concede. You hear me, you've won. Because it's clear to me that you're set to commit this overly complex method of suicide regardless of how hard I try to change your mind. At this point, I don't care."
"I don't care what your motive is, or whatever sob story you're holding back that no one, not me, not your circle of confidants or even the whole dang populace knows about. I don't care if you're doing this because of revenge, justice, racial superiority or some warped combination of three. I don't care that you've decided to stomp and scream about in your room like some snot nosed brat throwing a tantrum after being told no, she can't have candy for dinner. I. Don't. Care."
He paused, his irritated expression fading into a crestfallen frown. "...But what I do care about is the fact that you're willing to take everypony with you, all over some misguided attempt at... whatever the heck any of this is. None of them have to die. Just surrender."
"They've already made their choice," Celestia mumbled. "My subjects are prepared to die in the name of the Equestrian ideal."
"Only because they don't know any better," Discord countered.
"This is the only way."
"It doesn't have to be."
"You don't get to decide that."
"But you do?"
"I know what's best."
"For them, or for you?" Discord subconscious clenched his paw into a fist before releasing it after feeling his anger drain out of his body. It was pointless to go on any longer than he did. "Tsk, I already gotten your answer. I'm only annoying myself by talking in circles, but never let it be said that I didn't try my best to help you. Even now as the world prepares to turn Canterlot into your grave, I wanted to give you the chance to make things right. You turned me down, so have it your way, Celestia. Like you've always had... I think it's time for me to leave."
"Yes, I believe it is,' said Celestia.
"Just..." Discord paused, looking contemplatively for a moment. He sighed heavily before opening his mouth to speak. "I've never told this to anyone, not even to Fluttershy. But learning about friendship made my life more than just one game after the next. Ever since that day, I've been happier than I've ever been on my own..." He flashed an inquisitive gaze towards Celestia. "Your ceaseless lecturing about friendship and harmony... was it all a lie?"
"..." Celestia didn't speak.
"I see," Discord frowned. "Well, then. Goodbye, Celestia. There's nothing more to say."
Discord snapped his talons and disappeared in a burst of confetti, leaving Celestia all by her lonesome. Turning on her hooves Celestia proceeded to join up with her retinue. She will announce to all of Canterlot her decision.
She will not surrender.
Equestria will not surrender.
Equestria Stands. Now, and forever more.
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There are bullets with less penetrating power than Discord's last question. Shit.
And her student opened her eyes and Equestria strives in co existence.. and all it had to do is her death.
You know the irony would be? hours from her execution, Discord paid one last visit and show her the future of what the new world will be without her. Or maybe better yet next part would be the afterlife where Faust denied her access to Eden showing her the future , saying "i'm disappointed in you my Sun.. for your sins you can never see Luna again"
Discord MVP, everybody. Great references, by the way.
No it doesn't
...until it doesn’t.
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
...Wow. Just...wow. You know, considering what I read in Truth, I'm not surprised that Sunset's demise was partially or fully the reason for Celly's madness. Partially, because I think Discord is right about her ego and grandstanding. And fully, because of the grief and trauma of Sunset's death. And what's worse is, she adamantly uses friendship and harmony as cover for her to secretly genocide humanity. I mean, the fact that Twilight, Spike, and the others aren't seeing this sooner is laughable. Celly casts the blame wherever it should, except to herself. She was the one who sent Sunset, a mortal pony instead of a powerful alicorn like herself, to the other world only to get killed. Makes me wonder if the elements will bring these secrets to light in the AU story. But you know what they say, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Clearly, Celly learned nothing from 1000 years ago.
I love when Celestias actions are driven by fear, while she boasts superiority, the truth is she’s a scared emotionally scarred filly playing a mare. It wouldn’t surprise me if she blamed herself for what happened to her previous student and just projecting her guilt on humanity. That’s not even taking into account the fear of losing her ponies to a cultural tsunami. On earth fears of losing ones cultural identity is a common issue with various responses to it. From Canada limiting the amount of American programming shown on their radio and tv sets... to the more extreme and violent rejection by terrorist organizations in the Middle East. Humans caused ponies to ask questions... questions Celestia couldn’t answer, it also doesn’t help that despite the rough edges humans had achieved more then she and her ponies ever did. Whereas ponies seemed to have largely stagnated from what we have seen in the comics and show, for gods sakes the record player was invented before Starswirl vanished! They should be eons ahead... but they aren’t... it’s like the last bit of ingenuity and curiosity was squashed by Celestia back then... Maybe that was what drew some ponies to humans... the record player was invented centuries if not more then 1,000 years ago in Equestria... meanwhile we’ve invented it and made it obsolete several times over within 200 years! Along with countless other discoveries and inventions. Now? She’s United the world against her... imagine what those big scary humans can achieve now? There’s no stoping them... they will grow stronger, while she and her passion project grows weaker until it’s nothing. All she has left is to take as many of her precious ponies with her as she can to whatever afterlife she believes in.
Well Discord, you certainly tried your best here. If only your words would reach their hopeful goal beyond that thick, deeb rooted wall of now obselete zealous belief in a stagnant way of life/cultture she never allowed/gave permission to grow past her.
It’s always frightening when someone who’s insane uses logic against you and makes sense. The latter being so ironic for Discord, it’s poetic.
Damn, this entire chapter needs to be on the Awesome page.
While I enjoyed the exchange, I still miss Celestia and Discord acknowkedging the irony of how they have switched their former roles: the hero bringing change and a more hopeful era, and the selfish tyrant refusing to give up control.
Excellent chapter, Zelkova. I would have had Discord try to be more reasonable, annoyed at trying to make sense with Celestia but failing, but this actually works a lot better overall; using his skills as a gadfly to rip apart her flimsy argument and punch holes in her pathetic reasoning was masterclass.
10780563
"Bullets"?
Dude, he was dropping more bunker busters than the US did in the Gulf War. And every one of them on point.
10780617
Problem is, she can't send herself. You don't send a general to do reconnaissance, or a princess to scout a world. It was just Sunset's horrible, horrible luck, something which was ultimately fate.
What I can fault her for is not notifying the humans about what happened, telling them what happened to her prize student, and demanding her beloved student's remains (or some compensation thereof) as an apology.
Of course, it might have tipped the humans off as to her true intentions, so she skipped that and went straight for the genocide.
To be fair, it was a winning trade. The humans killed 40% of her ponies, she killed over 2 billion humans, and effectively avenged Sunset Shimmer. All it cost her was her pride, her kingdom, the love and respect of her ponies, and her life.
10780690
Oh he's not insane. He just has a different worldview than Celestia's. He just favors chaos. And you know what? In some situations, chaos works. It's messy, hard to work with, and unsightly, but sometimes you just need to change your worldview to survive, and sometimes you need to burn down a rotting existing order to make way for a better tomorrow (though it's often a dangerous argument to make). And you know what else is chaotic? Freedom. You have to make your own decisions, adapt to a changing world, balance a whole lot of things to make your liberties work, which is why many people favor an orderly tyranny.
But I think we can both agree freedom is ultimately worth it.
I mean it's Celestia fault that Sunset died, Celestia from what we know watched humanity for decades/centuries if I recall correctly and her first contact plan was to send Sunset alone to one of the less civilized parts of our world with no backup or way to return no shit she died, it's like those idiots priests who try to civilize savage humans despite all warning and past violence.
10780870
Notifying whom?
As far we know the culprits were a primitive lost tribe in the middle of nowhere who thought eating the weird magical horse which made funny noises would grant them inmortality, superpowers, or at least a big penis.
10780970
She could tell the UN, or the local African government in that area.
"I lost a pupil of mine in X location, where she got eaten by a bunch of tribals. I want her remains sent back to me, if possible."
Admittedly, this would ring quite a few alarm bells to the humans (and ponies). Like why was this pony in Africa over a century ago when this is supposed to be the first contact between Equestria and Earth. Or what was she doing there when she got killed.
It would, of course, depend on Celestia being honest with her intentions and putting the slightest bit of faith in the humans (or in the goodness of their hearts) and not going ahead with the conversion bureaus, so it would be more canon!Celestia's thing, not this version of her.
Still, while Celestia's not to blame for putting Sunset in harm's way (she can't really send herself, she's a monarch for crying out loud), she is to blame for taking the loss personally and making it a question of vengeance, or as she put it here "redeeming" humans on her rules - rules neither asked for nor reasonable in any way.
10780894
I thought she sent Shimmer first before fully exploring Earth... though admittedly that doesn't make it any less irresponsible, come to think of it.
Oh crap, I forgot about Sunset in this universe.
You know, I should write that, one fic where Sunset actually lives in NegotiationsVerse and tells Celestia off
10782167
Bear in mind, Sunset would be very old by then. According to Truth, Celestia sent Sunset to Earth about 100 years before Equestria's arrival on Earth, so that would (according to the timeline) put her in Africa in around the 1930s or 1940s. She's somehow have had to survive and hide among humans for a century at least.
But why stop there? Why not bend the timeline a bit? Have Sunset arrive on earth in the 1920s, just in time to experience the Second World War. Or in 1900 so she would be there for both. Have her somehow become human when Celestia mistakenly thought she died, and somehow unaging (magic artefact on her person, perhaps?), or aging very slowly. She keeps changing identities to avoid suspicion, allowing her to have different occupations and be at different places during historic events. Along the way, she experiences humanity's mountains and valleys; from the horrors of Cambodia and the Holocaust to the breaking of the Berlin Wall and the first man on the moon, and everything in between. For every heart-breaking horror she endures, she knows humanity can be capable of an equally grand triumph.
So when Celestia shows up on Earth, Sunset would probably be a person of importance. A congressman or politician? Or possibly even an important diplomat within the United Nations? And when student and teacher meet again, Sunset will find she's greatly outgrown Celestia - and she'll have some very sharp words about Celestia's misguided crusade.
10782316
Sweet, thanks for the info.
I had always thought to putting her through the second, but not the first world war. That being if she fought in the first, 7/10 she'd get shell-shocked and would be screwed for life.
Yeah, that was what I was planning. I'd try and write a way where Sunset could stay alive without Celestia knowing. I was planning for her to escape using a convoluted plan calling for a apple and a duck, but turning her into a human would make more sense. And yeah, she would have to change her identity ever so often, either due to magic regression or because she ages slowly. Maybe I could write her backpacking through Europe and being at different battles. Though, I imagine it wouldn't help that she wouldn't age and be a high-ranking official in the UN, so she'd have to just regress her age in her initial escape.
10782316
Except we don't know enough about this Sunset to assume she would want to escape Celestia. In fact, it's pretty clear the later considered Shimmer her own daughter. Pretending to be devoured by natives while your mom watches is beyond cruel.
Furthermore, Sunset knew how important was her mission regarding the survival of ponykind. Quiting and deflecting to Earth sounds pretty irresponsible give the stakes.
10782334
Women didn't fight in WW1. They were nurses and support staff, so there'd still be a lot of reason to be exposed to the horrors of war, plus the Red Cross was a thing back then (est. 1863), so she could have joined that.
10782349
That is true. Also, Sunset (as we've seen in Equestria Girls) is a vain, egotistical and manipulative person. She'd basically try fit into any society she finds, all the while working on her agenda.
Of course, there's two points I should bring up. Did Celestia tell her about the oncoming death of the sun? Does she know the reason for her mission? Celestia was very secretive about it even to Luna and Twilight, her supposed closest. And you have to bear in mind that 100+ years changes a person, especially if you're talking about the ever-changing Earth in the 20th and early 21st centuries. Celestia spent a thousand years unchanging because Equestria became a static place she could control; Earth is definitely a much more dynamic place, and Sunset isn't in a position to halt its changes, and has to adapt to it instead.
And about "deserting" her mission; maybe it wasn't intentional. Maybe she got stranded on Earth, her human form not allowing her to use magic, so she's trapped with no way to contact Celestia and has to make the best of a bad situation.
Also, you clearly misunderstood me. She didn't desert, she didn't "pretend" to get eaten. She transformed into a human to escape the hunters in the heat of the moment, and Celestia lost track of her and assumed the worst. With the link broken, the now-human Sunset now has to adapt to the human world.
10782349
I don't think Sunset ever knew that her mission was for the sake of ponykind. Remember, Celestia didn't even tell Twilight the sun was dying until hours before her execution out of fear that it would get leaked.
Also, going off of what shadowsaint007 said, he never said she intentionally pretended to die and get devoured. Our hypothetical scenario had her unintentionally cut off from her magic through some bizzare mutation that made her into a human.
10782365
Well, when I said 'fight', I should have cleared up that she'd be a medic, seeing as how women weren't allowed to actually fight in the war back then. Though, being in the back lines didn't mean she wouldn't be exposed to the effects of war, such as dismemberment, shell shocked patients, and her first brush with death probably.
I still would put her in WW2 though, it would be hella fun to write her as a MI6 Agent or a Resistance member in France, but would be hella confusing since if she was in WW1, she would have been bound to have at least some records about her existence somewhere, which can be stolen or found by other agents or resistance members
10782373
It would be interesting to see how Sunset manages to keep her secret from coming out, but the idea is, she'd have to keep switching identities or coming up with "my daughter who lives in Europe/America/Australia/etc..." excuses as to why multiple women look almost exactly alike in a 100-150 year period. It would be much easier in the 19th century and up to the 1930s, but afterwards it gets a bit harder as you have more organized bureaucracies and paperwork. Of course, by the 1950s, you can assume she's set up a network to keep her supplied with identities and covers on the go. That in itself would raise suspicion, admittedly, but by then she'd have gotten the hang of it.
The idea is, essentially, Sunset becomes so "infected" by humanity that a return to Equestria, a society contained within a perfect little snowglobe by the immortal Princess Celestia, would be seen as stifling and bland, something she could not adapt to anymore. That is, assuming Celestia recognizes her as her long-lost student and doesn't just stuff a ponification potion down her throat.
10782379
She probably would have some sort of system set up by the 1950's. Barring the fact that she's Sunset Shimmer and has the balls to do so, she would need to in order to keep up with the every growing democracy of the world.
Also, Celestia could possibly recognize her. Think about it. For the simple fact of there are so many frigging possibilities, every human has a differing voice. You can meet 100 humans, and still be able to differentiate them by their voice. The same can easily be said about ponies, so it stands to reason that because of the near infinite possibilities of vocal patterns in the world, Celestia still might recognize Sunset's voice, and be able to tell it's her
(Though, following the trope of Celestia's ignorance and blind devotion, she would probably think she's hallucinating or that someone cloned Sunset, rather then accept that Sunset is in fact a human)
10782386
Or maybe Sunset already passed out, but has a daughter and/or granddaughter around. Maybe there is a convenient diary about her life experiences in Earth and reflexions about humanity.
10782576
Yeah, but it wouldn't be the same chewing-out if it was Sunset's descendant instead of Sunset herself
10782590
But Celestia's meltdown after finding out Sunset married and birthed human children would be glorious.
10782595
What if we do *both*?
10782595
10782605
So basically an old, centegenarian Sunset with grandchildren?
Ah, Sir Terry, your witticisms enlighten us from the grave. Godspeed, Good Sir Terry.
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10782605
10782595
You three are geniuses. Can I get in on this writer action too?
10791078
Bet. I find writers with the same base Idea can accomplish so much if they start on it, so what do you think you can add that would help this Sunset chewing out Celestia scenario?
10791102
If I had to wager my bets, I'd argue she wouldn't lose magic and become a sort of African folk legend.
Something that, for example, you use to scare your kids into behaving or else "the red lady will take you away at night".
Not that she is violent or confrontational, but certainly a story of legend and impact to locals of the area. A sort of cryptid, I suppose.
Perhaps, over time, Twilight or some other character can slowly piece together than this legend is more fact than myth.
10791112
Well, it honestly depends on if you want her to keep her magic. In the fanfic I'm writing *Sellout time go check it out，it's called 'Unknown'* I didn't let her keep her magic, but I can see her becoming a sort of folk legend.
Although, Twilight might not be the one to spot it. Remember, her existence as Celestia's student, in canon, was about a couple years before Twilight would even enroll in Celestia's School. The only ones who could tell Twilight about Sunset would be the maids and guards who worked before she left, but it seems Celestia told them not to tell anyone, otherwise Twilight would have heard about her predecessor.
10791125
That's a fair point.
10791078
Hey, I'm not writing that fic, though I have thought about it. Ask TwinAttorney.
Though I would have had her get to Europe or America (somehow) so she could have a bigger role in the events of the 20th and 21st centuries.
10761592
10791236
Something which has bothering me: even with her disminished power, Luna's talent to enter (and maybe altering) the minds of others should have been a literal nightmare for both human governments and pony defectors. Any insight about that?
Celestia, I strongly doubt that (even at her worst) Sunset Shimmer would've wanted ANY of this.
Who is "her"?
10797901
Sunset Shimmer
I’m curious, how long do you plan on continuing this story? Will there be a specific end or will end when you just run out of ideas?
10798115
Ill end it when ive either come to consider it over or when theres no more ideas
Wow. This story is excellent. You are filling up the empty spaces of this universe with a firehose! (ok, it's a sucky analogy, but I think you get the point.)
If you're looking for ideas, I'm curious about Spike during all this. What's it like to be him during all of this?
10794753
It seems that, due to their lost connection to their respective celestial bodies (ie: the sun and moon) they lost their powers. All they are are just buffed-up unicorns with access to the most dangerous spells. If so, Celestia would have probably used her powers of the sun to force Humanity into submission
10802190
The problem with that is moving the sun closer to the planet would probably kill everyone not just humans so I doubt that would be an option. I doubt she'd be able to direct the sun's heat into a beam or something considering that would bring up the question of why she never did that before so we can probably assume that's not an option.
10794753
This seems way more likely as an outcome if they had full power on earth and quite frankly it would potentially be more effective depending on how far this ability goes. Just entering people's minds would be a combination of an unstoppable spy and would make defecting basically impossible so the war would likely be won if luna could do that. If she could straight up alter people's minds that would equal one successful genocide.
They effectively brainwashed their own people I doubt brainwashing humanity would be out of the question. Especially considering that's what the potion does anyway
10805819
Both are great weapons that are simple in engineering, easy to use, maintain, mass produce and more, and while the ak edges out the grease gun and is the far superior weapon, it's simply not feasible to arm the wonderbolts with them. A grease gun is far lighter and the lower recoil and rate of fire would make airborne shots a lot easier, plus a .45 caliber still hurts in terms of pistol cartridges. It might not punch through a metal plate like a 5.56 will but it's better than nothing. Also, loading down swift flyers with heavy gear would make them clay pigeons.
Everything the ak can do better, the grease gun can an adequately similar job done for a whole lot less.
Also, this was Equestria's very first time using guns as a whole. I highly doubt anypony knew which ones to use, which one was better, and which one would be the most advantageous given certain positions at a very precarious time in their current history without plenty of humanity's trial and error. Twilight would most likely, in the six months she had, pick the ones that would work best without taking a big dent in their limited supply of resources.
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10808921
I'm with zelkova on this. The grease gun is an SMG (submachine gun), technology essentially possible with late WW1 tech (the Tommy gun, AKA the Chicago Typewriter, missed the war by several months). It's smaller, cheaper, and lighter than the AK-47, and as pointed out, Equestria's first contact with automatic weaponry was when the humans start shooting them in their direction, so they're not going to have that good a tech base for weapons and need something quick and easy to make.
By contrast, the AK-47 is a refinement of the first true assault rifle, the German StG-44, which was introduced in 1944, with the Kalashnikov requiring several years of peacetime to develop. Assault rifles are a combination of automatic rifles and carbine technology, and would require more time to properly research, time the Equestrians don't have. I'd imagine they have semiautomatic M1 Garands and Browning Automatic Rifles (essentially light machine guns), which are copies of what the USA had in WW2. Hell, they had the bazooka and recoilless rifle in Warfare, as opposed to the lighter Panzerfaust or the more refined RPG-7.
At this point, Twilight is effectively rushing up the tech tree with very limited resources, and researching more advanced or refined weaponry is effectively out of reach for her.
Though I'd hardly call an AK-47 and a handful of ammo magazines "heavy". They're light enough and easy to use that children can - and quite sadly often do - use them. It's just a grease gun is lighter.
We going to see a new chapter soon? Im invested in celestia's reaction when she wakes up in U.N custody.
10826521
I’ve been preoccupied lately, haven’t had time to write properly