Before the Beginning

"Tis done, Tia. We have conquered." The two alicorns looked at their former enemy, now their most dangerous lawn gnome.

"I understand this, Luna. Yet, one thing escapes my grasp. The Tree said that she created Discord. So how was he so terrible?"

Luna smiled. "Is it possible that I have knowledge which thou dost not possess?'

"Please, Luna, not tonight. We have much work to do, and thou knowest that I do not do well with riddles."

"Very well. Dost thou not remember the Tree's exact words? She created Discord, yes, but she did so with the intruder's magic. Discord has within him the same corrupting influence that nearly destroyed Equestria."

"Yet because of his mother, he could only create, so he did so as destructively as possible. Is that it, Luna?"

Luna nodded. "I believe you have read it aright. I wonder if he could be taught to work for the good of others?"

"No," Celestia said. "There can be no redemption for one as far gone as he. Now come. We must begin to rebuild."

As they turned away, a sparrow came and perched on Discord's lower jaw. Within the statue, he growled, waiting for the day of his release.

Under the earth, a dark force twisted and turned. He was not conscious as Discord was, but he sensed in his troubled dreams that his work had again been interrupted.

And far away, in another world entirely, screams of rage echoed throughout the nothingness of Void, as the dark prisoner wrestled against his chains. One day, the ponies would have to face him, and not a servant of a servant. They would not be rejoicing so greatly then.

And on the lower jaw of that statue, the sparrow opened its mouth, and began to sing.