... Of Two Evils

by Ponycletian

7, Part 1

Concord decided, after a tense half minute spent waiting for somepony to speak up, that he would deal with them from right to left, just as he had the introductions. This had the added benefit of allowing him to answer the question he thought most important, Twilight’s, last.

Having settled this dilemma, he turned his head to face Rainbow Dash and said, “I suppose that we will start over here again. You wanted to know why I left my soldiers to fight the griffons after I had killed their King. Several reasons, but mostly, I was no longer needed. With their leadership dead, and many of the individual tribal leaders had been with their King, the griffons were incapable of organizing to handle the legion, whose morale and confidence were bolstered to incredible heights by having received a visit from the Emperor. Especially since I was known to leave the capital approximately once every 30 years, so for me to show up was a singular honor. You may think of that as cowardice, but understand that I left not because of fear or concern for my own safety, but so that I could get back to essentially filling out paperwork. If you think that there was anything that the entire griffon army could have done to harm me personally, then you are mistaken.”

Noticing that there were several ponies standing patiently just outside of earshot. Rainbow Dash did not look pleased about what he had said, but didn’t seem to be able to come up with a rebuttal. Celestia nodded to the serving ponies, and they approached to take their orders.

Concord had not been exaggerating when he said he had not eaten in ages, but this meant that he did not know what he wanted to eat. Thinking of the time he had spent surveying the gardens, he realized that there was something that he wanted. When a nervous server approached him and asked what he wanted, he replied quietly ,so as not to inform the others, “I would like a cake prepared, if possible.” The server nodded, not knowing what else to say to this unusual breakfast order. Concord said, rather self-consciously, “I have had nothing to eat in 1500 years, but I have been forced to watch countless weddings, banquets, and gala’s, so for my one day of freedom, I do not believe that a cake is too unusual a request.” Although delivered quietly, the server bowed hastily, eager to remove himself from the unfamiliar alicorn’s presence.

Once everypony had placed their orders and the servants had withdrawn, all attention returned to Concord once more, who cleared his throat and addressed Fluttershy.

“You are correct that my actions did not prevent the battle even though I could have either ended it, or avoided it altogether had I wanted too.” Each element bearer looked unnerved by this statement, by the idea that he would have allowed those ponies and griffons to die if it was within his power to save them. Celestia looked faintly triumphant, this admission doing much to undo what progress he had made with the six young mares. Concord was inwardly amused by Luna’s confused expression. He knew that she was wondering why he would be so tactless as to come out and basically confess to what the elements would think of as murder.

“I would like to provide you with a few of the possible alternatives to handling the conflict the way I did. I could have invaded the minds of every single griffon there, crushing their will to resist.” This elicited looks of revulsion and horror from the elements, as he had expected.

“Another possibility was that I simply disintegrated them. It would have been quick, painless, and posed no risk to my own little ponies.” This cheery alternative did nothing to brighten the ponies’ disgusted expressions.

“You suggested that I could have teleported my own forces away, and while this is true, it would have done nothing but delayed the conflict. I hope that you will, for the moment accept that this war was necessary, as I will explain when I reach Twilight’s question, and that battle was, therefore inevitable. So if I had teleported my own forces away, then the conflict would have been delayed, but there is no guarantee that the griffons, fully informed of the danger of my intervention, might not have been so foalish as to amass all their troops for a pitched battle. The next conflict might have been a well laid ambush that I would be unable to prevent. As it was, the outcome was relatively bloodless since the griffons panicked and scattered before the legion could inflict any serious casualties.”

Nopony seemed to have anything to say to this, but Fluttershy seemed particularly upset by his suggested alternatives to handling the battle. Concord, not wishing to dwell on that particular point, not feeling that there was anything to be gained by discussing it further, deliberately moved on before they had time to recover.

He decided to not just move on, but to completely ignore the question of the disturbing Pink Pony, whose mane was strangely limp, like a deflated balloon. Turning therefore to Applejack, he said, “I understand that you may feel that what I did was unfair, but I would just like to point out that I waited until after they had given the order to attack. We were the defenders, and they could have at any point until then decided against antagonising a being such as myself. They brought that battle upon themselves, and from the descriptions of what I could have done to them, I think you will agree that I was kind in only targeting their leader.”

Concord finished in the same even tone as he had begun, but as he finished, Fluttershy said angrily, “NO, do not say that! Do not insult my Element by calling what you did kindness! A kind pony wouldn’t go to war to subjugate creatures weaker than himself! A kind pony wouldn’t launch fireballs at or send legions to attack creatures that couldn’t defend themselves! A kind pony wouldn’t sit in a garden talking calmly, evenly, comfortably about forcibly crushing another living creatures will, or describing how painless it would be to disintegrate thousands of living, thinking, beings! If this is what you are like Concord, then you are many things, but kind is not one of them!”

Fluttershy broke down when she finished, sobbing quietly to herself as she buried her face in her hooves. Nopony else breathed for a second, surprised by the vehemence and certainty clear in Fluttershy’s voice as the Element of Kindness rebuked the Lord of Order. Then, each of the elements glared en masse at Concord for the time it took to rise and make their way over to their disconsolate friend. Celestia, feeling truly jubilant at hearing her own thoughts expressed so clearly by Fluttershy, forced the smile that had appeared on her face into a look of considerate concern. She rose hurriedly, and made her way to the spot where the five mares were trying to console the still sobbing Fluttershy.

Concord himself remained motionless, face impassive, even as Luna cast him a nervous glance before rising to join Celestia and the others. Concord had miscalculated, and he knew it. The intended effect of his words was to make him sound moderate, restrained, and reasonable. To portray his decision to use less than his full power as a sign that he was not a power mad tyrant without restraint, but rather a calm and careful ruler intent on protecting his own soldiers while minimizing the harm to the enemy as well. He had underestimated the amount of compassion that the yellow pegasus could feel, even towards the griffons in the hypothetical situations he put forward. So instead of looking calm and reasonable, he looked cruel, heartless, and manipulative for having even imagined those alternatives, and he was at a loss for how to recover from this miscalculation.

Such was the state of affairs that persisted until breakfast arrived. Fluttershy sobbed, the other elements consoled, the Princesses reassured them that it would all be fine, and Concord calculated. No, Fluttershy, I suppose I am not a kind pony.

Author's Note:

Hello again everyone. I am sorry about this, posting twice in the same day like this, I really am sorry. But enough about that. Chapter 7 is supposed to deal with Concord's answering those questions from chapter six about his handling of the battle with the griffons, but I found myself struggling to properly respond to Dash's question. I almost regretted having put it in there after having rewritten Concord's response more than ten times, and even though I still have my doubts, I can't stand to rework it again.

Another personal concern I wished to address was my feeling that I have been making Concord too pleasant, too likable, so I felt that it was time that he be taken down a notch, to see his plan falter, even if just a little. Enter Fluttershy, stage right. Hope you enjoy, and the rest of chapter 7 will address the reasons for the griffon conflict, for Concord's quest to conquer the world, and how he, Discord, Celestia, and Luna, are related.

P.P.S. concord's cake is a lie, I think.