Just Like Clockwork

by INFUSCATE

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Sad
Length: 2108

Ponies say that there's always tomorrow, but what does that mean to beings like Discord and Celestia? Who have lived for thousands of tomorrows, and will live to see thousands more?

There's never enough time. Never enough hours in a day, never enough days in a week. Everypony knows that. Yet there are a few who know that more than most. How does Discord; a being able to change the laws of physics at will, and Celestia; the pony who controls how many hours there are in a day, feel about Time? About the inevitable? About Death? What about Luna or Grogar? The pony who raises the moon, and the being that has almost became the personification of death?

How do these immortals view the one true constant fact of life? One which they'll never have to face? View what seems like a simple conversation between Discord and them and find out.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-31 05:10:01 UTC

Celestia

I sigh impatiently, my hoof tapping a staccato rhythm against the grass. Discord has never been on time to our meetings, always a little early, or a little late. I don't hold it against him of course. I know it's just in his nature, but being 23 minutes late is ridiculous! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad I don't need to deal with all the nobles in day court, but some of what they talk about is actually important... sometimes. I consider just getting up and leaving the picnic spot, (and taking the hamper of sandwiches and cake with me of course) but just as I'm about to do so, the aforementioned draconequus appears. I sigh inwardly, 'of course Discord would appear just when I was about to leave, he probably did it just to annoy m-'

"Hi Celly, how are you?" Discord interrupts my thoughts, scattering them like bowling pins. His tone is clipped, yet frantic. He's upset about something, but doesn't want it to be obvious. His eyes have bags under them, which is almost unheard of for him. The last time I saw him like this was when he was ill from the Tatzlwurm and couldn't use his magic. How do I know this? Living for a few thousand years tends to enable you to read ponies exceptionally well, Discord is no exception.

"I'm fine Discord, I feel even better now that you're here." I respond, making sure my tone is light and carefree. Discord preens at the compliment, which puts me in the perfect position to strike. "Discord, is something wrong? You look rather sad. And as your friend, I want to make sure you're happy."

As I expected, Discord forces a comical smile on his face, he conjures up a glass of green lemonade and takes a bite out of it, while drinking one of the cucumber sandwiches in the picnic hamper. "Me? Sad? Have you finally cracked, 'Tia?" The spirit says, while holding up a hand mirror with a large crack down the middle. On one side of the mirror, everything is fine... but on the other side, all the colours are distorted,  and the world seems twisted beyond recognition. Discord throws the mirror away carelessly, which screeches like a cat when it hits the ground, only for it to vanish with a snap of Discord's talons. "Oh no, I'm fine, I'm as right as upside down lemonade rain, so I am!" he exclaims with another garish smile. The smile still doesn't reach his eyes.

"Discord..." I say, my voice taking on a warning tone. I make sure to smile though, to let him know I'm joking. Discord responds by reaching over and lazily pinching my cheek, before flinching away before I nip at him with my teeth. "Discord, I'm your friend. And I'm also smarter than you give me credit for. You don't have to tell me, but it might help. Please?" My face contorts into the perfect pout, one learned from a thousand years of trial and error. I always got whatever I wanted when I was younger, part of it was because I was a princess, but most of it was because of this one facial expression. Discord had no chance.

Discords eyes met mine, and I saw the will to resist fade from them. He was slowly succumbing to the power of the 'Perfect Pony Princess Pout' as Discord would probably say. He deflates like a balloon, for once, doing something non - literally, He opens his mouth, and mumbles something unintelligible.  Intrigued, I lean closer and rest my hoof upon his shoulder, "What was that?" I say.

"behfshfes" Discord mumbles something again, seemingly even quieter.  I arch my right eyebrow. Discord sighs and then repeats himself, "Fluttershy got sick this morning. That's why I was so late." He says with a light grimace on his face, he reminds me of a foal that's been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.

My brow draws together, 'this is bad. Discord cares a lot for young Fluttershy, I need to be careful.' I smile at him. "I'm happy to hear that, Discord. it seems that you really care about her."

Discord just scowls and folds his arms. "She's my best friend Celestia! And I just let her get sick! What kind of 'best friend' would do that?" He contorts himself into a ball even further, by now he could be mistaken for a beach ball. A furry, miscoloured, beach ball that is.

"Discord, you can't possibly blame yourself for this! You couldn't have prevented it!" Discord just sighs heavily in response. "Could you have prevented it?" I ask, my voice unsure. Nopony really knew the limits of chaos magic, nor the limits of draconequus magic.

"If I had found out earlier then definitely, it is just a cold after all."  he admits, somehow looking even sadder after saying this. "The past is set in stone, when something's happened, I can't change it. Well, unless I do some time travelling, but then you go into paradoxes and alternate timelines and bleh. Bottom line is, time travel is just crazy." He says, while contorting his face into such a perfect expression of ludicrousness  that I almost laugh. Almost. "But, if I know it's about to happen, I can change it." He says, looking justifiably proud of his own abilities.

"How does that work?" I blurt out, before I can stop myself. I timidly check Discords face to see if I made him angry, thankfully he just looks even more happy that I showed interest in his powers.

"Well, part of being a draconequus is being able to sense things before they happen. It's rather complicated... but imagine the universe as a spider web, and me as the spider. I can feel every tiny vibration of the strands." He states, while conjuring a blackboard and pointer, no doubt becoming Dr. Oscid or something like that. "Now, this is where my chaos magic comes into play. The universe simply says: "Fluttershy will get a cold tomorrow", what my magic does, is change it to: "Fluttershy will get a puppy tomorrow." He exclaims. I must admit, I'm a tad shocked, I thought that there were no limits to what Discord could do, yet now it seems like his magic has rules to follow, just like everything else.

"Hang on," I said, coming out of my reverie, "What about when you made things appear out of nowhere when you last ruled? How does that work?" 'I really wish I had a notepad, I should be taking notes. Oh Gods, I am such a Twilight.'

Discord looks at me, with one bushy, white eyebrow raised. He thinks I'm up to something, I suddenly realise. He thinks I'm showing false interest in his powers so that I can get his mind off of Fluttershy. Thinking quickly, I decide that the best course of action is to stop the conversation and return it to Fluttershy. "Anyway Discord, what were you saying about poor miss Fluttershy?"

Discord sighed and ran his eagle talon through his mane. "It's not about Fluttershy, Celestia." The draconequus drew in a breath, steeling himself. "It's about them."

"Them?" I asked, my face showing my lack of understanding.

"Them." Discord confirmed, "The mortals, the flies caught in fate's sticky web. They struggle all they can, but almost never manage to get free." He looks down, a somber expression on his face. "How can you stand it, Celestia? You control an entire country... Full of ponies who love and adore you. And you love them back. How can you stand seeing them die?" He gulped. "It was easy for me in the past, I didn't care about anypony, and I didn't let them die anyway, but now... I care about them, Celestia. I can't just let them fade away..." He looks at me for the first time during his tear filled rant.

'He wants an answer' I realise. But what could I tell him? Discord and I were very different beings after all. What comforts me might not work for him. Could I tell him I took a 'favourite' from each generation? First Blurred Image, then Shattered Steel, then Blazing Valkryie, then Sand Castle, and more... all the way up to Twilight? No. That wouldn't help him. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye and see he's starting to look rather awkward. 'He want's an answer Celestia.' I chide myself.

"Well Discord... I can tell you that we all have different ways of... dealing with it, so to speak." I shuffle my thoughts in my head, deciding what order to speak them in. "Luna for one, has always been unusually stoic about losses. But when she thinks I can't see her, she throws herself into combat. I can tell you in confidence that at least three wars have been started by her rash actions." I let out a ghost of a chuckle, which quickly gives up the ghost when I realise the situation I'm in. "As for myself, I am prone to locking myself in my room and bawling my eyes out. And eating cake, you can't forget the cake."

I dart my eyes towards his face to see if I got so much as a chuckle out of him. Sadly I didn't, his expression remains as depressed as usual. 'Think, think, think!' I scolded myself, I needed to fix this. Discord was a great friend, one that often proved to be invaluable I could fix this. I had given numerous speeches throughout my lifetime, and I remembered them all perfectly, but none of them would work in this situation. Discord stood up and dusted himself off.  "Well, thanks for the tear jerking admissions of how you and your sister deal with death, but none of those seem to fit me.  Thanks for trying and failing to help me though." he said snarkily, as he raised hs paw to snap himself away. "But I have to look after Fluttershy and make sure she's still taking her medicine, I only really came here because I thought you could tell me something interesting that might help me. But I see now that your advice is just as boring as you are. Good - bye Celestia." Says Discord, with a dark intent and venomous edge to his voice.

Before he can leave, I quickly wrap his paw in my magical aura, forcing it down to his side. "Discord, listen to me." I plead, my face showing my sincerity. I stand up as well and face him, before wrapping him in a tight hug that almost makes his eyes pop out of their sockets. "I can't claim to know how you think. I can't claim to know what's best for you, I can't even claim to know how much you care about Fluttershy." I say, my voice muffled by his coarse fur. I step away from him, and look him in the eyes. "But I can claim to know what you need to do. You need to keep living, Discord." I tell him, my voice taking on an almost reverent quality. "We are the titans of this world, holding up the hopes and dreams of the mortals on our backs, sometimes these hopes and expectations are too strong, sometimes we crumble and fall to the ground in defeat. But we always rise again." I feel a strange calm overtake me, 'I know what I need to do' "So yes, eventually the ponies will pass away, like candle flames exposed to the chill winds of fate. Yes, you will scream, and cry, and probably never be the same again. With your power you'll probably destroy a couple dimensions or even universes. But, Discord, you will keep living. Whether it takes ten years or ten thousand, you will survive. And you will be stronger because of it. Because after all Discord, the death is carried on the winds of  fate. And no being in any dimension can stop fate."

Discord looks down at the ground, he doesn't look happy, or sad... just.. accepting. He looks at me, his eyes seemingly burning with a strange golden fire, they pierce right through me, and for the first time since I've met him, his eyes look completely, utterly sane. Those same eyes meet mine, and I see such an expression of conflict cross his face. "Thanks for the advice Celestia, but I think I need to ask somepony else." Is the last thing he says before he disappears in a flash of golden smoke.

I don't think I'll be seeing him for some time.