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A Pony's Sympathy

by Ckat_Myla

Chapter 3: Memory

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Twilight was able to sleep that night, if only a little. That tiny bit of rest though was enough to clear her mind, and help her come to at least one conclusion. It was something that the more she thought of, the more important it seemed. She needed to talk with the princess.

She’d only had a small amount of correspondence from Princess Celestia throughout all of this. She had sent word about finding Discord in the forest, and while that was of great importance all ponies involved knew they couldn’t do much without knowing where he had gone. Both of the princesses were also busy with many other pressing matters, and they had grown to trust Twilight and her friends to be able to handle themselves.

Twilight realized that - as she had pondered Discord’s words for the umpteenth time - she had only his account of what had happened between him, Celestia, and Luna so long ago – and only a brief mention at that. What had really happened then, when they had tried to talk to him as she had? What did they say, and how could she do things differently?

Being the logical pony she was, Twilight needed to hear other sides of the story, it was the only way to make an informed decision. She couldn’t rely solely on her own thoughts or feelings – those she knew could be subjective – she needed facts as well. From her experience, facts never lied and had never let her down.

After asking Spike to send a letter ahead for her, she boarded the train to Canterlot, hoping to be able to find something with which she could piece together the truth.


The princess met her in the tower where the elements were usually kept. Twilight didn’t know why she wanted to meet there, but when she arrived she was given instructions to go to Canterlot Tower and await Celestia.

Her mentor greeted her with her usual warmth, and didn’t seem surprised by Twilight’s stilted, awkward demeanor.

“So Twilight, you sought out Discord on your own?” Her mentor’s question held the expected reprimand that Twilight had anticipated. She had expected the princess to say how dangerous or reckless that had been, but perhaps she assumed that Twilight already knew that, because she didn’t.

“Yes, and I know that might not have been my best plan, only it was so odd – well odd for Discord – that he had been there so close to us hiding out for so long and he didn’t make a move against us.”

“I can understand your curiosity. As for his behavior, it should go without saying that Discord’s motives are often hard to determine,” Celestia said. “But you mentioned that you took this opportunity to attempt to reason with him?”

They had almost absent-mindedly begun to stroll down the long, long hallway of Canterlot Tower, making their way at a snail’s pace past the many stained-glass windows depicting the prominent moments in Equestria’s history.

“Yes Princess, and I-I don’t know, maybe I thought that if he really wanted to be left alone, than he would leave us alone, that we could come to some sort of…agreement.” She finished lamely.

Twilight looked awkwardly up at her teacher, wondering if she would be commended for trying to find a better way, or chastised for showing possibly-undeserved compassion when every pony might be at risk.

The indulgent smile Celestia gave her seemed to be a combination of the two.

“That was an admirable sign of diplomacy, Twilight. Although I’m not quite certain whether or not your kindness was a wasted effort on some pony like him.” Though she said it warmly, Twilight did not miss the slight edge in Celestia’s voice at the words ‘some pony like him’.

“But, he mentioned that you had actually tried that as well, a very long time ago,” Twilight said. If the princess thought he was so beyond reasoning with, why had she tried it first? This was why she had come, Twilight needed to know the princess’s account.

“Please Princess, if you could tell me anything more about that - when you had tried to talk to him as I did – I think it would help me…for when he reappears and we have to face him again, I mean,” she had slipped up there, almost revealing how important this was to her personally, and not merely for the sake of their eventual mission.

“Your curious mind never ceases, does it, my dear student?” Celestia said with a hint of a sigh. It wasn’t a completely happy sigh, though she tried to keep it light. Twilight could sense though that this was a story the princess would tell her, but only with reluctance.

“I think I can show you better than I could tell you, but perhaps a brief preface to the night in question is in order. How much of my own history can you recall?”

Twilight knew about as much as what had been recorded, or exactly what had been recorded in the Canterlot library. The history of her mentor was one of the first things she had researched upon beginning her lessons at the school for gifted unicorns. Of course in all their time together, the princess had almost never spoken about her past with Twilight, which Twilight had understood – she’d been taught not to pry – but hearing those same facts about her teacher from her teacher was an opportunity that she could not afford to pass up, so she answered, “I…could use a refresher.”

Celestia only smiled, apparently expecting this answer. “Then I will show you.” The alicorn placed her slender white horn onto Twilight’s small purple one, and almost instantly images began to form, and the princess’s voice echoed within Twilight’s mind as she narrated the scenes – the memories – beginning to play.

Long ago, not too long after the founding of Equestria, Harmony began to fade. She was the great spirit of order and peace, and ruled over the ponies and other creatures of the land without their knowledge. She was proud of the pony folk when they came together in friendship, but even with their new-found peace, she knew they could descend into their old ways.

Twilight stood beside Celestia, and before them they saw – as if in a dream – a vast expanse of land filled with ponies. As Celestia told the story, they moved over the Equestria of the past, moving up into the sky and through a layer of mist, revealing a shining alicorn. Her fur seemed to be made of light, and her red mane flowed in an eternal breeze as Celestia’s and Luna’s did. This matched perfectly with the artist ponies’ depictions of Harmony throughout the ages.


As with any growing foal, they needed to be overseen, watched more closely, in a way that Harmony could not provide. She wanted to remain above, for history had shown that too much of her influence in their lives would leave them complacent, and too little would leave them lost. What she felt they required was gentle guidance from a source they could interact with, without affecting the ponies’ free will.


This led her to the creation of my sister and me. You see, Harmony was also getting on in age – yes, even spirits can age and fade with time – and perhaps she knew her time was short, so she created Luna and myself to live on the same plane as her ponies, and lead them to achieve the potential she knew they were capable of.

Sadly however, in creating us our mother used the last of her life. She faded away not long after Luna was born. Our mother told us of our duties – to raise the sun and the moon, and to retain balance for the pony folk as well as the other creatures of Equestria. We were to rule them in a warm, parental way.

Twilight continued to listen in silence as she witnessed the Great Spirit Harmony create her daughters – forming them from the love she felt for all ponies – then gradually wilt as her children grew. She saw the two young alicorns play together, always close to their mother, and their mother always with a sad sort of smile on her face.

The images changed before they could witness Harmony’s true death. Twilight looked up to her teacher for an explanation, but she had paused. A similarly pained smile was visible on Celestia’s face, and the unicorn understood. That was a private part of the story, something for only Harmony’s children to hold in their memories.

When she continued her monologue, it was to see a now adolescent Celestia – with a pink mane and tail – and a filly-age Luna – stubby wings and a tiny horn barely visible through her pale blue mane.

She also told us of her reluctant partner in her eons of creating and maintaining harmony – Discord – Once Harmony was gone, he must have seen it as his opportunity to take over, and with no order to balance the chaos the ponies soon fell into a dark age.

The land they had overlooked earlier was now a crazy mishmash of random objects, colors, and noises. The ponies that once were so happy now all seemed to be arguing and complaining as they slipped on the soapy roads and tried to sleep when the sun kept going up and down.


The two princesses approached what Twilight recognized as the ruins where she and her friends had battled Nightmare Moon, although they weren’t ruins yet. The castle was whole and would probably have been magnificent, but it didn’t look quite right in this recollection. Perhaps this was due to Discord’s magic or Celestia’s point of view.

I had never met the spirit of chaos until that day. We knew that he had retained a begrudging alliance with our mother – both needing each other but neither very happy about it – so we first approached Discord to appeal to him by bringing up that bargain. As Harmony’s offspring, we could now take over her side of the balancing act they had kept up for so long.

Twilight had to admire her mentor’s courage at this point as she saw the small figures that were she and Luna approaching the comparatively huge figure that was Discord. He was lounging – something Twilight was quite used to seeing by now – and even he appeared younger in this memory. She noticed the absence of a goatee, slightly shorter horns, and an overall less scraggly appearance.

Still though, he had his same air of unsettling unpredictability, and even though she had faced him alone before, this was still Discord at the height of his power, and however powerful Celestia and Luna might be they were still even younger (or at least appeared younger) than Twilight had been.

Balance was important to the pony folk of our world to keep them safe and happy. Discord though seemed to have no interest in taking care of the ponies, and seemed only interested in his own amusement. We tried to get him to relinquish the throne since we were the rightful princesses, and he also appeared to have and want nothing to do with actually ruling over our subjects.

They watched the young Celestia make her case to Discord, with filly Luna beginning to show her fear and hide behind her sister. Discord sat up in his throne, but only laughed at her mention of stepping down.

“You know that balance needs to be maintained, our mother tasked us with keeping up the spirit of harmony and order. Do you not see the sadness that your antics have been bringing to the ponies of this world?” The young Celestia asked of the past Discord.

“And what makes you think I care about the ponies of this world?” Discord asked her flippantly. “What have they ever done for me, besides fear and hate me. What’s wrong with shaking things up a bit?”

“You’re causing strife between them! They can no longer trust each other!” Celestia shouted in a surprisingly authoritative manner. Even then it seems she was the strong leader she was now.

“Well, is that really my fault? Perhaps you merely overestimate the strength of your little ponies so-called ‘bonds’. Maybe you should keep a closer watch on them if you care for them so much,” Discord said, smirking at the now smoldering gaze of the young princess.

“Their bonds are so shaken because of the stress you have caused them, and I do care for the welfare of the ponies my mother loved so. You however, have nothing you care about besides yourself. You must see why we need to be the ones to reign over them.”

Discord seemed to actually think about this, but still retained his dismissive manner.
“I suppose I see your point, perhaps I didn’t think this whole ‘takeover’ thing through…the actual ruling of a country is terribly dull. But you’re not exactly winning me over, Princess. If I gave up my control, what would be in it for me?”

It was quite obvious to Twilight that young Celestia did not know nor did she particularly care. She seemed to be trying to calm herself though, because she probably realized that Discord was actually right, shouting at him wasn’t going to convince him.

“You can return to whence you came. I may not know where that is, perhaps on the same plane as our mother. Even if you do not wish to return there, you have said yourself that you have no care for these ponies and creatures that have fallen victim to your want for entertainment. Please, even if you feel no sense of responsibility towards them, you must have some semblance of compassion…to see that your relinquishing control can restore the balance, and benefit every pony.”

At this, Discord chuckled. “Oh my dear little Celestia, I have quite a good grasp on my responsibilities. I’ve been doing my job longer than you’ve been alive, longer than many ponies have ever lived. I’ve had so much time to learn my place and understand my part in all that balance stuff you keep blathering about. I know why I cause the chaos that the order must fix and why Harmony would make sense of my nonsense. You want to talk to some pony that doesn’t get all of that? Perhaps you should speak with the creatures you defend, then.”

A look of surprise and confusion broke through the pink-maned Celestia’s stone expression only for a second, but Twilight saw it. Apparently Discord did as well.

“For centuries this has been my existence, but never to this scale. From up in that ‘other plane’ or whatever it’s called, it was much more of a hands-off approach. Your mother was the one who instituted that rule at the beginning, and I suppose it was easier to maintain balance that way, but it was always within limits, slightly removed from the world and the affects we had on it. It got old pretty quickly.

But now that I’ve gotten to see how my work affects these ponies here, it’s just so much more rewarding! They don’t seem to appreciate it, but after meeting them I find that it’s just too difficult to care what they think. I’ll still do my part, keep the balance and all that…but from now on I want to do it my way, for no pony but me.”

“So, you have no intention of stepping down or stopping your manipulation of these ponies, and the randomization of their home?” The older alicorn princess asked. Her words carried a feel of finality in them, as if she knew the answer, and was already contemplating her next move.

Twilight knew what came next.

It was deemed he could not be reasoned with. So we sought out the final defense our mother had forged, to help all of ponydom in times of trouble, the Elements of Harmony.

She now watched the conclusion of Celestia’s tale, even though Twilight had already heard the fate of the draconequus.

Young Celestia and Luna spend years seeking out the elements, and finally find them all. They then return to the castle where Discord is still holed-up. Twilight did notice a drop in the amount of crazy chaos décor along the countryside – perhaps Discord was running out of ideas, falling into a rut – and amazingly he had been truthful about the sneak-attack as well. They burst in as he was singing karaoke.

Then the sisters – Element crowns atop their heads – trap him in a swirl of magic and light, leaving him encased in stone still posed for his show-stopping musical number.


The images faded before Twilight’s eyes, and once again she and the Celestia of the present were in Canterlot Tower, now standing directly in front of the stained-glass version of the scene they had just witnessed.

“I do hope that helped you understand, Twilight.” The princess said. “I saw no other way to keep every pony safe. If he had shown some semblance of compassion or remorse, I may have found another way of doing things. Although had he held any traces of those qualities, than our reasoning might have been all he needed and force would not have been necessary.”

Twilight nodded, for she did understand – or at least, she thought she did. She could see things from her teacher’s point of view. Her mother Harmony had taught her to care for and keep the ponies safe and happy, and when she found them being mistreated by Discord, it must have been hard to try and talk to him instead of just stopping him the first chance she got.

Strangely though, she could also see Discord’s view in a way. She still felt the manipulation of the ponies was too far, but he seemed to see it as a better way for him to keep the balance. Plus from what she knew now of Discord, he didn’t understand the bond those ponies had.

They both appeared to be doing what they believed they were here for, what they were supposed to do.

“But Princess…did you ever ask---“ Twilight’s question was cut off by the echoing slam of doors as they flew open on the opposite end of the hall.

The sound reverberated as one of the princesses’ royal guards flew up to them, stirring up a gust of wind as he tried to brake with his wings.

“Apologies your Highness,” the guard said with a low bow. “but there’s been a sighting.”

“A sign of Discord?” Celestia asked, the surprise of his entrance had ebbed, but the sudden sense of dread Twilight felt only intensified as he nodded.

“Yes, your Highness. Sources noticed some strange goings on somewhere outside of Appleoosa, and the pegasi settlement of Hurricane as well, on the far side of the Mohoove desert.”

“So he must be located somewhere in the desert itself,” the princess concluded. She looked back down to her student, who did her best to mask any trepidation behind an all-business expression. Twilight nodded, knowing what Celestia would say next.

“Well Twilight, looks like you and your friends have some traveling to do.”

Evidently the mask wasn’t working so well on her, or perhaps after all their time together, Princess Celestia could just tell, but as the guard went off to make the preparations for Twilight’s journey she placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder.

“I have every confidence in you. There’s no need to worry, when the time comes you’ll be able to do what needs to be done.”

Twilight smiled, these words were meant to reassure her, and she wanted them to be true. She wanted to believe that she’d be able to do the right thing. What that was though, she still wasn’t sure…or perhaps she was and was merely trying to avoid it.

Next Chapter: Journey Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
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