The Great War

Hearth’s Warming Eve, year 1012

The annual pageant was a success. The students from Ponyville’s school all did a splendid job playing their parts, all the parents were proud, and the crowd was moved. Afterwards, Princess Twilight stood up and gave an encouraging speech.

“Thank you for coming to our yearly pageant. Seeing you all here is a wonderful reminder that even in worrying times we can all gather and find peace together. Let this story of our history be a reminder that the most powerful magic is not defense or offense, but friendship. Through friendship, we will keep the fires burning in our hearts, and in our communities. Let us not lose hope, or lose sight of our core values: family, community, dedication, perseverance, and above all, harmony.”

The crowd stomped their hooves and cheered, but it wasn’t as bright or optimistic as other years. News about Konlya was merely the tip of the iceberg of the war worries, and as ponies filed out of the town hall, Twilight knew that her words did little to comfort them. Of course, she kept on her princess smile of hope, and waved her hoof peacefully.

“Hey, Twilight,” Applejack’s voice cut into her thoughts, “You doin' all right?”

She turned around and relaxed a bit, asking, “Yes, thank you. I’m all right. What did you think? It wasn’t much of a speech, but I hope it helped.”

“Of course it did. It wasn’t all high-falutin' nonsense, just honest words spoken from one of us who’s tryin' to keep calm and carry on,” Applejack said with a warm smile and a nod. In another moment, her smile faded and she sighed heavily, “But not everypony’s feelin so chipper. I overheard some of them sayin' how friendship can’t possibly solve a war. Of course, I don’t blame 'em.”

Twilight’s smile melted away too, and she adjusted her tiara with her magic for a moment to gather her thoughts. Walking away from the stage, she whispered, “Applejack, I’m not so sure either. Wars aren’t really about friendship or anger. It’s all politics, schemes and things beyond magic or feelings. Still, we’ve seen how friendship and harmony CAN stop major things, right? Like how we helped the Changelings see how to give love instead of steal it, or how our bonds saved us all from Tirek, or how the power of love saved Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding.”

“Yeah! But in comparison to a war across all nations…” Applejack lowered her ears and looked away, feeling guilty, “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t be so negative.”

“No, you’re right. Something not isolated to one area is… different,” Twilight admitted with a grim look, “But that doesn’t mean friendship is weak. No… maybe… maybe we CAN still find a peaceful solution, SOMEHOW.”

“If anypony can do it, I know it’s you, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere with a grin, “Don’t give up! I won’t let you give up! It may look gloomy, but we’re still alive, together, and full of ideas!”

Her words warmed their hearts, and made the other two laugh for a brief moment.
“You’re right! We just have to keep calm and carry on, like Applejack said! We’ll find a way to peace, one day!”

“Yeah!”

“Oh?” Fluttershy asked as she neared the others, “What did I miss?”

“Twilight and AJ were being all moody and worried about the war, and I reminded them to not give up!”

“Oh… the war…”

“Not you too, Fluttershy! C’mon, we just stopped bein’ all moody,” Applejack sighed, nudging Fluttershy with a hoof, “Like Pinkie said, we gotta keep up our chins.”

“I know. Even if we can’t do much here in Ponyville, we can still encourage the citizens and spread kindness,” Fluttershy added, standing up a little straighter.

Twilight nodded and found her smile again.
No matter what, they would spread the light of Harmony.
Ponies filed out of the town hall and slowly returned to their homes, trotting in the freshly-fallen snow in their boots, hats, and scarves. Though it was cold, they were covered, and still had a thick layer of fur to help keep them cozy.
...of course, not everyone was a furry creature.
Queen --Ex-Queen-- Chrysalis was shivering, even with a heavy coat, scarf, hat and boots to protect her skinny, chitinous frame.

“Here, Chryssie, let me try--”

“No, Discord, don’t set me on fire!”

“I won’t set you on fire!” Discord pouted, folding his arms as he hovered next to her, “You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“You did one time!” She snarled, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Oh come now, that was a Tiny, itty-bitty, little--”

“It was still fire,” She snorted, rolling her eyes, “But yes, I am freezing. Help me if you can--but do not call me "Chryssie", please.”

Discord snapped his lion fingers, and light flashed around Chrysalis. On top of her heavy coat was another coat that covered all her limbs, and even the base of her wings. This one had a heating element, and within moments it warmed up, sending very minor heat waves through her other clothes. Chrysalis stiffened, expecting something to blow up, but… no, it was… all right. She sighed in relief.

“Thank you. This is… actually quite nice,” She said, closing her eyes for a brief moment, only to open one and glare at him with, “This isn’t a prank is it? You aren’t trying to get me back for the mothballs are you?”

“What? Me? Oh no, you know I love a good prank war, but no, reeeeeeeeally, I’m trying to help!” Discord insisted, folding his hands in a praying manner and making a halo appear above him, “Out of the kindness of my heart and the goodness of my spirit.”

Chrysalis smirked. “Really now? The 'goodness of your spirit'? Hmph.”

“Of course… this blanket is rather dull, isn’t it?” Discord said, leaning over and looking at the blank, brown blanket he made.

“So? It keeps me warm.”

A lightbulb appeared above Discord’s head and he snapped his talon fingers. In another flash of light, the sides of the blanket became covered in a picture of Discord with a crown and a scepter, in flowing, regal robes. Across Chrysalis' broad sides were colorful, whimsical letters saying DISCORD IS BEST PRINCESS, just to top it all off.

“Really? Made me into a sandwich sign?” Chrysalis glared at him. However, the sandwich-blanket was funny, and even she giggled, then tried to cover up her laughter with a cough, “Seriously?”

“Am I ever really serious?” Discord pointed out with a smirk, “Shh, don’t say anything, just casually walk around and see how many ponies even notice.”

Though she tried to keep her glare up, she found herself smiling again and glancing around at the passing crowds. Most Ponies walked past without noticing, but plenty did do double-takes and stare at the sign in confusion. A few laughed while others rolled their eyes and walked on by. The two pranksters chuckled together and walked down main street, enjoying their dumb joke. Of course, life got in the way of a good joke.

“A NEW WAR REPORT IS ON THE RADIO!”

Instantly, the atmosphere changed. Many Ponies shook their heads and returned to their homes, but many others gathered around the nearest radios, listening to the news once again.
Discord deflated a little, landing on the ground and pouting again. Chrysalis groaned.

“I’m sick of hearing about this war. What is it even for? I don’t think anypony remembers. At least when I tried to take over Canterlot I had my reasons,” she grumbled, hanging her head lower and stomping forward down the road.

Discord plodded beside her and commented, “War isn’t my thing. I tried it once, don’t want it ever again. Got too repetitive.”

Chrysalis halted and looked up at him with a blink. “Wait, YOU were in a war?”

“Yes, with Celestia, aaaaaaaaaages ago.”

“Oh, right. I thought she just turned you to stone right away.”

“Nope. Was a whole war for about a century,” Discord recalled, stroking his beard with his lion hand, “I do admit we had some epic battles, and I even managed to mess with the sun and moon and make day-night cycles totally random, buuuuuuuuut in the end, it all became the same.”

With that, a chessboard appeared between them, sitting on nothing, and the pieces looked like Discord, Celestia, Luna, and their armies. Discord’s side was just random pieces, including balloons and evil trees, but Celestia and Luna had Ponies all lined up in armor.

“See, we’d meet on a field like this, she’d move like this, I’d do something like this, make it rain random objects, acid, or ice cream, or even fluffy bunnies, and in the end we’d be at a stalemate and leave. Boring, boring, boring. Same old thing all the time,” He moved the pieces around to illustrate, and they became alive and fought. In fact, it rained on the chessboard different things he named, too. With a bored sigh, he waved it away with his tail and it poofed out of existence as he finished, “War. War never changes. Honestly, I just gave up, sat on my throne, and waited for her to do something interesting. I was almost glad she put me in stone just so something NEW happened.”

“I see.” Was all Chrysalis said as she studied the chessboard. She couldn't help but ponder how much of this story Discord made up on the spot.

“Yes, indeed you do. Of course, then getting in stone was boring too, but I couldn’t escape on my own. I do admit I’m grateful to Cae-cae for my freedom,” He said as he leaned back on an invisible chair, “But, again, war is soooooo overrated. I mean really, the whole point of war is to just win an argument, isn’t it? There’s better ways to do that. Besides, if everyone dies, there’s nobody left to have fun with. There’s nobody left to rule. There’s nobody left at all. I like chaos, but war… is not my kind of chaos.”

Chrysalis looked away, rolling those words around in her mind. “True… very true. I wouldn’t have agreed with you years ago, but… maybe I’m finally getting soft, or maybe… I’m finally seeing things for what they are. “

“You know, you sound a lot like me. Sticking around Fluttershy and the girls for so long has made me really re-evaluate my whole perspective on everything,” Discord admitted, taking out a kaleidoscope and looking through it. He handed it to Chrysalis, who took it in her magic and stared through it, seeing all the shapes and colors move while Discord continued, “Everything has a different angle to look at, does it not? Admitting you need to re-think things isn’t so bad. Of course, there’s things about me I’ll never change. After all, chaos is still my thing--and chaos isn’t really bad, either. Sometimes you need something to shake things up and get rid of the boring routine.”

“You do have a point,” Chrysalis confirmed, though she was too prideful to admit that Discord, of all beasts, had many good points about perspective. With her lime-green magic she gave him back the kaleidoscope and said, “Perhaps it’s best we both ignore this war. It’s not really for either of us--not that I can do much without a hive of my own, anyway.”

Snow began to fall again, landing on her nose, making her sneeze. Looking up, she groaned and her ears folded down in annoyance. Again, Discord snapped his fingers, making a wide umbrella for them both. With a bow, he said, “Then enough of war. How about I escort you home, Your Highness, Queen Mothball the Great?”

With a roll of her eyes, she tried to be regal and snooty, but a grateful smile did slip onto her face. “Thank you… Princess Discord the Ridiculous.”

The two chuckled again and continued walking down the road.
The pageant was a success… but the war was still on… but… friendship was still strong.
Other things were still strong, too.