It was a rather standard day in the city of Manehattan, whereupon Celestia’s sun shone on the crowded streets while the multitudes of ponies moved about like ants in a colony. Everypony had a job and a place to be, except for one. His name was Tumbleweed, and he was significant in the fact that he was one of the few ponies that was not actually doing much at all during the midmorning hustle.
The rather nondescript stallion was sitting at a local café, drinking his coffee while simply watching the world pass by with little care for what he was going to do next. His chocolate brown mane was ratty and slightly dusted from being on the road for so long, while his tan coat was partly covered by a well-worn cloak that he used to keep the worst of the weather off him during his travels.
The serving filly had just filled his cup for the second time when something caught his notice out of the corner of his eye, a flash of color or a slight movement he could not really be sure. What did catch his attention was when he turned his head and beheld just who had walked through the front door of the café.
Standing in the opening, his serpentine body bent slightly to avoid puncturing the ceiling with his mismatched horns, was none other than the Spirit of Disharmony himself, Discord. The chimera was lazily looking about the room, and it was in that instant that Tumbleweed realized that none of the other ponies in the café seemed to be aware of the chaotic being. The serving fillies trotted around him without seeming to even realize it, while the patrons continued their casual conversations like nothing was wrong.
Tumbleweed’s body began to shake slightly, and his breathing increased in speed as Discord’s mismatched eyes locked onto him, and he contemplated running for the hills as the larger creature began walking over to him at a relaxed pace. Had it not been for the fact that everything he was doing was so normal, Tumbleweed would most likely have already been out the door, or passed out in his booth, he was not quite sure.
Discord sat down across from the trembling stallion, placing an elbow on the tabletop and resting his chin upon the aforementioned limb. His gaze travelled out the adjacent window, and after a moment he began to speak.
“You know, I find it strange how you ponies are so caught up in your own little worlds.” He stated as if he were talking about the weather, “The fact that you can go about your insignificant little lives and never truly grasp how amazing and yet infinitesimal you really are in the grand scheme of things. My cousin likes to say that the balance of this world is important, but only if the lives of the mortals that live upon it can prosper to the utmost of what they can be.” He shrugged, “I simply throw things into the mix to keep things interesting, wherever possible. The last thing we all want is for my brother or my other cousin to get involved with this little ball of dirt in a direct manner.” He cast his gaze upon the frozen stallion across from him, “I guess I should explain a bit more, to help your mortal understanding comprehend at least a part of what I’m talking about.”
“The universe as you know it is ruled by eight great Gods, that’s with a big ‘G’ mind you, who rule over the very forces of reality in a way that make my manipulations seem like simple parlor tricks.” He snapped his fingers and a newspony cap appeared upon his head with his horns sticking out of the top, “The powers of Life, Death, Order, Chaos, Space, Time, all that Is and all that Is Not. Those are my father, aunts and uncles. Beneath the true Gods of Chaos and Order, are my cousins, my brother, and yours truly, forever tasked with keeping the balance across the vastness of the universe. Stability, who you ponies often refer to as Harmony, is the only other being of our kind that has any true influence in this world, at least in a direct manner. Yet the others are here too. My brother, Entropy, is here. He’s above us, eating away at the sun, beneath the dirt under your hooves, slowly grinding away at the core of the very planet. He’s even inside you, gnawing on your bones as you age into dust with the endless passing of Time. Yet even with all of that, Stagnation is what I am truly trying to prevent from coming, with my little tricks and pranks to keep things interesting. The children of my Uncle Form are here too, in their own ways. Fire is what gave life to the star that Celestia holds so dear to her little heart, while Water, Earth and Air created all that you can see around you, from the smallest speck of sand to the mightiest ocean. Every aspect of this world was in part a creation of one of my family members in some small way.”
The Spirit of Chaos sighed, “You ponies don’t really get it on the grand scheme of things, but I guess that is to be expected. We operate on a scale that is so far beyond your understanding that you could never possibly understand it. I guess my Uncle Form might have something to say about that, or maybe my Aunt Formless, given she’s the one who has dominion over souls and all of that nonsense. Ha, listen to me, talking about making sense of all things. Maybe my cousin Fire would have a joke or two about how Celestia thinks she controls the sun. Oh, you didn’t know that? I guess that’s not really surprising, given your perception of power from a mortal perspective. Celestia likes to think she controls the sun, but I’m willing to bet she doesn’t even know the full extent of what the sun really is. Such as, did you know it has a name? Not anything you could possibly pronounce with your mortal body, but I know its name. My cousin was the one who gave your sun its name when it first sparked into being all those billions of years ago.”
“Yet even with all of my extended family and the grand powers that we control. The vast cosmos that we could shape and form on a whim, there is one thing that you mortals have that even we, with our endless wisdom and understanding, can never truly comprehend. At least, not really. It is the power to choose, the power to shape your own destiny in whatever manner you see fit. The reason you mortals are so important, is because even though you are so small as to be less than a grain of sand on the cosmic shores, you still have more agency over your own lives than we Gods ever will. The greatest paradox of them all, is that the more power you hold, the less choice you truly have. Did you know that this encounter, this little chat, was the first actual choice I’ve made, since before your star began to burn?”
“It was by some random roll of the dice, perhaps even beyond my Father’s understanding, that led me here to you, in this meaningless café, where I was given something very precious. Something that I never thought could exist. Here, talking to you, is a situation that I can interfere with, mess with as much as I want, even outright remove you from reality itself, and nothing would change. A truly consequence-free interaction where I can finally do whatever I want without having to think about the endless ripples in the pond, the attention it might bring and the damage I might cause.”
“So, I wanted to thank you, for listening, and for being my sounding board after all these untold millennia. And if you’re wondering why I would tell the secrets of the universe to you, a random pony in some random café, well, it’s because no one, no creature on this planet, is as uniquely nondescript as you. Like I said, you are an extra, a side show in the cosmic dance. No one will ever believe you if you tell them what has transpired here today. Which is why I was finally able to tell the truth, instead of having to filter everything I say and do to prevent untold disaster from befalling this little ball of dirt.”
Discord checked his wrist, where a watch had appeared out of nowhere with its hands spinning in opposite directions, “Well would you look at the time. I really do need to go. It’s been a pleasant time chatting with you, but I have things to see, ponies to discombobulate, the usual.”
Discord stood up, dusted himself off with a claw, and walked towards the door, never once turning, or looking back at Tumbleweed before exiting the café. As soon as the Spirit of Chaos left, it was like a seal had been broken, and life returned to the café, leaving the shell-shocked stallion sitting off to the side as his mind ran a million miles an hour. His shaking hoof slowly lifted his coffee to his lips, barely realizing that it was still as hot as when the serving filly had poured it, as he pondered what Discord had told him. Was he telling the truth, and if so, what could he possibly do with the knowledge that he had been given?
It was only when the serving filly from before shook him out of his stupor that Tumbleweed realized that the sun was nearing the horizon and that he had to leave. The café was closing for the night, and he had been sitting in that one spot, drinking the same cup of coffee, for the better part of a day. Yet he knew one thing as he left the building and began trotting down the street, he would prove Discord wrong, no matter the cost. He would find somepony, somecreature that would believe him, even if he had to scour the most far-flung reaches of the world itself to find the proof he needed to make it so.
Author's Note
Well here we are, my first commissioned piece, and boy was it a brain-bender to write. My friend has always been very interested in mythos and lore, so when we got to talking one night about the true Gods and Goddesses of the MLP universe, well, this is the result.
Hope to hear from you all in the comments section below, and I will be happy to go over the details for any new commissions that you all would like to start up with me if you so desire.
Other than that, I'll see you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.
