The Birth of Harmony, Part 1

More My Little Pony fanfic:

I'm afraid, and this one, well, this one gets down into the weeds, as they say.

It extrapolates upon information given in the two-part, second season opening episode, "The Return of Harmony" as well as the historical play the ponies put on during the episode entitled "Hearth's Warming Eve." Add in a strange revelation from a Hasbro toy display that there's apparently a third winged unicorn princess named Cadence who hasn't actually appeared in the cartoon, and the stewpot I call my head threw together the following.

This is Part 1. Part 2 is soon to follow!

Trying her best to look like nopony at all, Clover trudged 

through the backstreets and forced herself not to sigh when the 

sun reversed course with a screech and plunged back below the 

horizon.  A sound like glass shattering, and the full moon shot 

into the sky like a stone from a sling, the drifting cotton 

candy clouds bursting to pink mist.

     How long had it been like this?  Weeks, maybe?  Months?  

Years?

     Her whole life, it seemed sometimes....

     She shrugged the cloak closer around her shoulders, winced 

at a gust of chocolate milk rain spattering into her face, at 

the cobblestones below her hoofs suddenly going squishy, 

squeaking like rubber toys with each step she took.  She could 

still remember the time before, though, could remember Princess 

Platinum standing on this very hill and proclaiming it the site 

of Canterlot, the city the unicorns would build in accordance 

with the agreement Clover had put together with Smart Cookie and 

Pansy: "A shining jewel," the princess had said that day, "and a 

symbol of this partnership we unicorns have forged with our 

neighbors, the earth ponies and the pegasi!  Together, 

therefore, let us create our land, our dream, our Equestria!"

     That had only been a year ago, she was sure, two years at 

the longest, the construction going so quickly with the pegasi 

and earth ponies helping.  And she would never forget standing 

with Cookie and Pansy at the party the princess had called the 

Grand Galloping Gala, the purple flare of the princess's horn 

wielding the scissors, Commander Hurricane and Chancellor 

Puddinghead on either side of her as they cut the ceremonial 

ribbon across the city gates--

     Just as that first drop of chocolate splashed against her 

snout...

     Something popped like a balloon behind her, but Clover 

didn't look, didn't want to know.  She couldn't afford to get 

distracted, not now, not with so much riding on--

     Don't think about it.  Don't think his name, don't think 

about what you're doing, don't give him any reason to cast his 

foul, bilious gaze in your direction.  And while Clover didn't 

believe as some ponies did that His Capriciousness could truly 

read thoughts, well, her mentor Star Swirl the Bearded had 

always said, 'Misdirection is the center about which all magic 

spins.'  Not that Clover had ever been any good at lying, but 

she'd discovered lately the vital difference between speaking a 

lie and simply keeping silent about the truth.

     She rounded the corner, the stones becoming solid again 

under her, and ducked into the third building on the left.  

Seeing the familiar hallway, she puffed a sigh of relief: last 

week, His Capriciousness had switched this whole block of the 

city for a different one from across town.

     Hurrying down the hall, heart racing, Clover tapped twice 

against the last bare wooden door and pushed it open, hoping to 

see--

     Pansy staring back, her eyes and wings as usual spread wide 

with surprise, Smart Cookie on the other side of the shabby 

table, the only piece of furniture in the tiny square room, the 

dun-colored earth pony's cheeks thinner than when Clover had 

first met her during the hard times.  Cookie's face lit up, 

though, when Clover met her gaze, her smile making her look 

almost like her old self.

     They rushed into an embrace, Clover murmuring, "Thank the 

sun you're both still all right."

     "Us?"  Pansy's breath ruffled Clover's mane.  "This 

nightmare's been worst of all for you!"

     Cookie gave a little laugh, her voice rough.  "Time to wake 

us all up from that nightmare, then.  Everything set?"

     "Yes."  Clover stepped back, tried to keep herself from 

shaking, looked back and forth between the two.  "The others are 

meeting all around the city right now!  There's no way--"

     A jagged flap fell open in the wall behind Pansy, Clover 

choking on her words, that long sallow face leering an all too 

familiar snaggle-toothed grin at her.  "I'm spying on you!" 

Discord announced.

     Wrapping her thoughts as thickly in fear and panic as she 

could--pretty easy to do, actually--she stammered, "Lord 

Discord!  I didn't--!  We weren't--!  This isn't--!"

     "Oh, now, really, Clover!"  Discord slithered 

through the hole and into the room, a smell of burnt toast 

wafting up from him.  "How many times must I tell you: there's 

no need to be so formal!  We're all friends here!"  The grayish-

yellowish- brownish stretch of him filled the room like water in 

a sink of dirty dishes, his grin sharpening, his mismatched eyes 

narrowing.  "All the very best of friends."

     Smart Cookie's grin got just as sharp.  "Could be that word 

don't mean what you think it means."

     "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie!"  Twisting like he didn't have a 

bone in his body, Discord tapped Cookie's snout with a talon of 

his eagle claw.  "Of course we're friends!  You wouldn't 

have invited me here otherwise, would you?"

     Clover couldn't stop her jaw from dropping.  "Invited?  How 

could you possibly think--??"

     "What?"  Discord wheeled, his look of mock surprise always 

making Clover want to grind her teeth.  "How could you possibly 

forget??  After all, it was the three of you who did so!"  

He snapped the stubby fingers of his lion paw, and the room 

crumpled like a sheet of used paper, an ice-filled cavern taking 

its place.

     A gasp beside her.  "It's us!" Pansy said, and Clover 

blinked to see the scene exactly as she always remembered it: 

the princess, the commander, and the chancellor standing frozen, 

a younger version of herself singing an old ballad with her new 

friends, both looking just as they had that fateful night all 

those years ago.

     "Why, it is you!"  Discord spun in the air above the 

group.  "And don't you all look so sweet, a tiny island of 

warmth and peace and friendship!"  He somehow managed to turn 

that last word into a sneer.  "A fragile little spark glowing 

and growing amidst all the lovely chaos and misery!"  His wings 

swept the scene aside, Clover's drab rented apartment snapping 

into place again.  "How could I ignore as open an invitation as 

that?"

     Clover blinked at him.  "But...we...you...I...I don't--"

     A puff of licorice-scented breath from his nostrils into 

her face, and Discord turned a bored expression at Smart Cookie.  

"Perhaps you could explain things to your associate?"

     Cookie shrugged.  "Near as I can figure, you're the sorta 

fella who loves a challenge.  Us ponies weren't anything like 

that to you when we was squabbling, but soon as we started 

getting along, we got real interesting, didn't we?"  She 

grinned.  "So you just had to come popping in and pay us a 

visit, see how we ticked and tocked and made other assorted 

noises."

     "Oh, well done!"  Discord pulled a bruised and half-eaten 

apple from thin air and held it out to Cookie.  "Go to the head 

of the class, my dear!"

     "That's OK."  She wrinkled her nose at the thing.  "Looks 

like somepony's already staked a claim on that one..."

     "Then--"  Clover shook, thoughts sparking like lightning 

bugs through her head.  "We summoned you?"

     Discord sniffed.  "Let's say instead that you created a 

spot I felt inclined to turn my attention toward."  He slipped 

sideways onto the floor, his body flowing all the way around the 

walls of the room till his tail came to rest just below his 

chin.  "But that's enough about me.  Let's talk about you girls 

and what you're up to."

     Clover couldn't answer, Discord's words so completely 

unexpected, they took her breath away.  Dimly, though, she heard 

Cookie ask, "What, you don't like surprises?"

     His laugh sounded like wind through winter-bare branches.  

"On the contrary.  But while I firmly believe that any ruler who 

doesn't have at least a dozen rebellions brewing against him 

isn't worth talking about, I suppose I find it a bit incongruous 

to imagine you little ponies rising up in any way against my 

enlightened despotism."  He interlaced his various front claws 

and batted his eyes.  "You're all just so gosh darn cute!"

     A sigh that Clover recognized as Pansy's.  "We might as 

well come clean, Cookie.  Discord, we're planning a birthday 

party for you."

     The silence that followed smelled of hot mustard, then 

Discord's whooping laugh smacked Clover as cold as a bucket of 

water on a frozen morning.  "Oh, Pansy!  And here I thought 

Cookie was the comedienne in your little trio!"

     Blinking, forcing herself to focus on the here and now, 

Clover looked up into Discord's peculiar eyes, a glint there 

that she rarely saw in her day-to-day dealings with him.  "I'll 

give your team five points for that answer, however, which moves 

you into first place!"  He swiped his lion paw at the wall 

behind him, left five jagged slash marks in the wood, then 

cocked his head, a barbed smile curling his snout, a talon 

touching Clover's chin.  "I've always had such hopes for you, 

Clover the Clever, and you've always been such a disappointment.  

I can only imagine Star Swirl shaking his head and turning away 

in disgust as he watches his greatest student flail about so 

ineffectively."  

     He straightened, snapped his lion paw, and vanished with a 

flash--except for his mouth, floating and still speaking above 

her.  "Once I check in with the other groups I've noticed 

gathering around the city, I'll come back and let you know how 

you're faring in our little contest.  But remember: it's not 

whether you win or lose.  You can't win, after all!"  A 

wet pop, and Discord's ragged grin disappeared.

     In the unscented silence that followed, Clover inhaled for 

what felt like the first time in minutes.  He didn't know!  For 

all his unmistakable power, he didn't--!

     "He knows!" Pansy squeaked, cowering on the floor, her 

front legs covering her face.  "He knows, he knows, he knows!"

     Cookie stroked a hoof over Pansy's back.  "Whether he does 

or he don't, we got no choice.  We hafta--"

     "He doesn't!"  Clover kept her voice down, and as much as 

she wanted to grab her friends and start dancing, they just 

didn't have the time.  "In fact, what he said proves we can do 

this!  We can stop him!"

     Pansy's eyes wavered, peering out from beneath her hoofs.  

"You...you mean it, Clover?"

     "Then--"  Cookie took a step toward her.  "Your research?  

You found what you was looking for?"

     "Well, no," Clover had to admit.  She fumbled to pull her 

cloak off.  "Sneaking into the archives every night this past 

week, I didn't find any mention of the magic the three of us 

summoned in the cave.  That means it's nothing Star Swirl knew 

anything about."  Her hoofs were shaking so badly, she couldn't 

hook the laces tying her cloak on.  "Could you guys maybe help 

me with--?"

     The other two sprang forward, caught the ties in their 

teeth, and Clover felt the knot go loose at her throat.  "But 

Discord said it himself just a minute ago!" she went on, still 

amazed to have found confirmation of her theory from such an 

unlikely source.  "All of ponydom took a step forward that 

night, moved past any threat the windigoes could pose to us, but 

in doing so, we entered into a larger realm, became a target for 

a larger threat!  We need to take another step forward, summon a 

greater good, create a power of truth and light and peace like 

we did before, but it's gotta be bigger this time!"  Grabbing 

her cloak, she flipped it off, slapped it flat onto the little 

table.  "We need to create them!"

     An indrawn breath from Pansy on her left.  "Ummm, Clover?  

This is just that flag Thimble Spinner put together, and, well, 

it's already been created.  In fact, they were all over 

Equestria till Discord turned each and every one into a flying 

ice cream cone.  So I don't see how're they supposed to--"

     "Not the flag!"  Clover reared back and planted her front 

hoofs beneath the two figures circling the central sun and moon.  

"These!  Larger than the strongest earth pony, swifter 

than the fastest pegasus, mightier than the most powerful 

unicorn!  The symbol of everything Equestria stands for, our 

three peoples coming together in harmony and becoming more than 

any one of us could ever be on our own!"  She let her eyes rest 

on the simple, beautiful images.  "We need to make these 

creatures real..."

     The silence this time felt more than a little 

uncomfortable, and the "Ummm" came from Cookie this time.  "Any 

idea how we go 'bout doing that?"

     "Not a one."  Clover lowered herself onto all fours, looked 

from Cookie to Pansy and back again.  "But do you trust me?"

     "Always," Pansy answered immediately.

     With a chuckle, Cookie nodded.  "Well, you gets points for 

honesty, anyway, Clover."

     A warmth washed over Clover.  "And do you love me?"

     "Always," Pansy said.

     For a second, Cookie looked more serious than Clover had 

ever seen her; then she smiled, stepped forward, and poked her 

nose against Clover's.  "A goof like you, you makes it easy."

     The air itself vibrating, Clover wrapped her right foreleg 

around Cookie's left, reached out her own left to Pansy.  "And 

do you believe in me?"

     Pansy took her hoof, her face pure happiness.  "Always," 

she said.

     The simple power of the word made Clover feel too big for 

her skin, and when she felt Cookie press her flank against her, 

heard her say, "And forever"--

     Power burst from her like nothing she'd ever imagined: as 

clean and clear as that night in the cave, that night she'd 

first known what friendship could mean, had first realized how 

she and these two other ponies were the same despite their 

differences, how they were each wonderfully unique despite their 

similarities, how together, they added up to much more than 

three, much more than three thousand, so much more, they were 

able to warm the hearts of every pony in the world.  

     But this, this right here and right now, flooding from 

Smart Cookie and Pansy into her and from her out into the hearts 

and minds of every pony gathered in Canterlot, every pony 

hovering in Cloudsdale, every pony huddled in Manehattan or on a 

farm somewhere across all of bruised and battered Equestria, 

this power, it swooped through the clouds of Discord's chaos 

like a rainbow after the actual rainstorms Clover remembered 

washing through the sky not that long ago, touched every pony's 

wishes, dreams, and desires, and rebounded to her, came back to 

her to shape, to build upon, to form into--

     A blast of wind, light exploding beyond her clenched 

eyelids, thunder shaking her from mane to fetlocks, Clover 

opened her mouth to cry out--

     But stillness closed over her, a scent of simple flowing 

water in the air she sucked in.  Opening her eyes, she heard 

Pansy gasp, felt Smart Cookie's shiver where she still stood 

pressed against her.  But all she could see, all she ever wanted 

to see for the rest of her life, on the other side of the 

rickety wooden table with Thimble's flag stretched over it, 

filling the room with light and electricity and an excitement 

that crackled like static over Clover's skin--

     Three mares, long-limbed, tall, and perfect, their wings 

huge and unfurled, their horns sparkling with colors Clover 

didn't know names for.  The white one in the center, her cutie 

mark a sunburst, looked back at Clover with a slight smile, her 

pink mane flowing down to cover one eye.  To Clover's left and 

directly across the table from Pansy stood a black and dark blue 

mare nearly as large as the first, her cutie mark a crescent 

moon, while on the sun mare's other side in front of Smart 

Cookie, a pink mare a bit smaller than the others blinked, her 

mane and tail striped with yellow, red, and purple, her cutie 

mark a cloud with a rainbow behind it.

     The silence around them fairly hummed, but before Clover 

could ask any of the questions rattling through her brain like 

popcorn, the sun mare exchanged nods with the moon mare, turned 

and did the same with the cloud mare, then looked back at Clover 

and said as confidently as anypony Clover had ever heard: "Thank 

you.  Now, we haven't much time, so--"

     "Who--?" Pansy began, her voice as quivery as always, but 

Clover heard amazement dominating any fear there.

     "--are you?"  Smart Cookie took half a step forward, 

something Clover wasn't sure she could do just yet.

     How were these creatures even fitting into this dingy 

little room, Clover wanted to ask, but when the three all 

smiled, the sight so warmed her and filled her with hope, Clover 

let her every question blow away.

     "We are you," the sun mare said.

     The moon mare gave a little shrug.  "Well, your hopes and 

dreams made manifest, at any rate."

    "So," the cloud mare added, her smile moving sideways into a 

grin, "if you'd be so kind, you should tell us who 

we are."

     "Celestia," Clover said, the name coming to her as 

naturally as a breath, and the white mare bowed her head.

     "Luna."  Pansy was looking at the black mare.

     "Cadence," from Smart Cookie, and she gave a grin that 

matched the pink mare's.

     Celestia's eyes twinkled.  "And we're very pleased to make 

your acquaintance.  But right now--"

    "What's this??" thundered from outside, and the walls of the 

room exploded into a million sharp, spinning pieces; Clover 

spread her hoofs and activated her horn, calling up a shield 

spell, but the three winged unicorns were faster, Celestia 

flashing fire from her horn to burn every shred of wood, Luna 

wafting shadow from her wings to extinguish each fire 

immediately after it had done its job, Cadence whooshing beneath 

Clover and her friends, lifting them through the ashy air, and 

setting them safely onto the ground--

    The ground?  Glancing around, Clover saw the entire 

neighborhood--buildings, streets, lampposts, everything--had 

vanished, the whole area for hundreds of yards in a circle 

around her nothing but bare dirt dampened by the chocolate rain, 

the rest of Canterlot standing just outside the radius.  "Where--?" 

she started, but a familiar voice interrupted her.

     "Well, well, well!"  A part of the sky shimmered and 

cracked, Discord oozing out to float above the hole in the city.  

"Forgive me for doubting you, Pansy!  You are throwing me 

a birthday party!"  His face curdled into a leer that made 

Clover want to start running.  "And three such wonderfully sweet 

presents you've brought me!"

It concludes with Part 2!