Celestia sat alone in the throne room. Things had calmed down enough to resume having court sessions as normal. She hosted the night court in her sister's stead. They were hardly visited before, but now… this was likely to be the final night court for a long while. The final night court's silence was broken by an outsider. Strolling to the base of the throne while telling a tale.

It opened with understanding, as one must steel themselves for an unpleasant necessity. “Action must be taken and the action is known. Knowing what must be done for the good of the land.”

It flowed into sympathy for having no time to prepare and no others to confer. “Knowing what must be done for the good of the land. Time is not on your side, and there are no others.”

It stood at the base of the throne, clarifying what brought him here. “Time is not on your side and there are no others, and there will be no others. Action must be taken.”

It gestured to the lone throne in the room, and continued somberly. “You walk alone, those beside you are now gone. Their path strayed and they left you behind.”

Now gesturing to the court, acknowledging the remembrance. “Their path strayed and they left you behind. You do what you can to honor their spirit.”

It stood at the base of the throne, clarifying what brought him here. “You do what you can to honor their spirit. Vanguard to a bright future, you walk alone.”

He should have only met Luna twice and that was nearly a century ago, “You might be the only other who will mourn Luna. My little ponies will not see past Nightmare Moon as easily.” He got here fairly quickly, “You didn’t seem to like ponies. Have you been in Equestria all this time?”

Being caught lying would be unwise and the truth is no better, “My relations with ponies was going to end with you sisters, but you sisters age better than I would have thought.”

Aside from a lightened patch on his chest, he didn’t really show signs of aging either, “Your kind certainly didn’t seem like one to be long-lived.”

Meeting like this, things did not play out as they should have, “The three of us were supposed to be fertilizer by now, leaving the memory of Discord to history’s records, leaving descendants to decide if it was embellished fact or pure fiction.”

He included himself, a gambit for revenge, then, “You sound disappointed.”

What an understatement, “I failed a Nat so spectacularly that I became corruptible. I can’t face my kin, not like this. I lived peacefully and waited patiently, but time mocks me.”

Waited for what? It is true, he did nothing in retaliation all this time, but there is a fine line between accomplice of the guilty and guilt by association. “Luna told me of your beliefs. You still hold Discord in high regard?”

It was passive from failure, and had slipped into an orderly routine, “I could have forgotten about you two, nearly did. Recent events reminded me of something Luna told me a lifetime ago: ‘the future can be whatever you make it to be.’ The future and you are all that remains of my life. I plan on making Equestria into a utopia to atone for my failure.” It was time to be active and move forward.

Being cut off from magic was tied to aging? His wound that will not heal, that he blames us for, extends his life? “Shannon, I don’t understand. Were we not villains in your eyes?”

Is it so hard to understand that she speaks to that which is other? The lack of understanding no doubt lies in projecting a ponies mindset onto it, “You act in accordance with your beliefs, while the masses rejoice that one you care deeply for is gone. You can understand why, but it hurts, none the less.”

Empathy? Truly? “The scope of our misdeed according to your beliefs should not be easily put aside.”

Fighting off frustration, “It is not easy holding onto a grudge this long.” Without being candid misunderstanding stems from the speaker, “Let me be clear, my kind can expect to live between 20-30 years. I have outlived my grandchildren and likely a few great grandchildren as well. I am not so strong that I could go back a stranger and failure. You however know me and see my failure as a good thing.”

Silence fell upon the throne room. Celestia was unsure how to respond to Shannon’s earnestness. Shannon hadn’t really done anything to aide Discord, despite wanting to and he did nothing in retaliation for all this time. He came to her with goodwill and was met with doubt. “Utopia is not such a simple thing.”

No task is impossible given enough time, “There’s no rush. I’ve got time.”

Many before have tried, “Even with time, what steps could you take?”

“Baby steps.” That’s the beauty of it, “What is tolerated by one generation can be embraced by the next. One day there will be no need to tolerate differences since they will be embraced.” There is little active action that will be needed. “As long as the populace faces no fear to themselves and their families it can be done. A famine or war would do heavy damage both short term and long.”

Celestia let herself smile, “And while you are busy ruling Equestria to make sure those steps are followed, what shall I be doing?”

Smiling back in rapport, “The main burden will fall to you, as the ruler of Equestria. I will roam the land and see things as ponies cannot and do things that a pony could not. Hopefully your neighbors know ponies well enough to see my actions as independent keeping needed actions from having a political blow back.”

What started as a time to mourn ended on quite the high note, “Well we both know what each of us needs to do going forward it seems. For me that is raising the sun.”

This is not goodbye, “See you in a generation.”

Shannon stood alone in the throne room. Luna’s dissent ended, order restored and court sessions resume as normal. She had hosted the night court in her sister's stead. This was to be the final night court, a chance to lament the fallen. The final night court's silence was broken by an outsider. Strolling to the exit while telling a tale.

The ponies must be ended along with their quest for order. “Action must be taken and the action is known. Knowing what must be done for the good of the land.”

Those that will not live to see such times can not be troubled to prevent them. “Knowing what must be done for the good of the land. Time is not on your side, and there are no others.”

Such short sightedness, these selfish beings hardly care for their young. “Time is not on your side and there are no others, and there will be no others. Action must be taken.”

The nat felt above resisting order’s agents. “You walk alone, those beside you are now gone. Their path strayed and they left you behind.”

Shannon must act in accordance to nat. “Their path strayed and they left you behind. You do what you can to honor their spirit.”

Shannon shall act in the stead of nat. “You do what you can to honor their spirit. Vanguard to a bright future, you walk alone.”

Don’t complain and call the future of ponies a grave, after all it's the future you chose.

Author's Note

I planned on building a backlog for steady release but it wasn't meant to be, these first two chapters were finished back early June. I know the major points of the story but not how we will get there. Here's to hoping that posting this encourages me to get on with it already.