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Pony POV Series- Following The Other Path

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Pony POV Series Recursive Fanfiction

Recursive Fanfiction

Following The Other Path


We had lost all hope, several times. It is a difficult thing to maintain your hope in the pit of despair, when a tyrant rules over all for a millennium. When the weapon that could vanquish him lay shattered to pieces. When those who had experience saving the world time and again die one by one now that the source of their immortality is gone. When your aunt and mother were murdered before your very eyes. All one can do is their best to restore it each time it falters.

I tried to restore the Rainbow Of Darkness, but alas, it was nothing but wisps, devoured by the Rainbow of Light. I even tried to reassemble the Element of Trust from the dust Discord reduced it too. I am uncertain that it was even possible, but desperate times will drive a pony to the most desperate of measures. Thankfully, Celestia had found another way. I must say, my student, that Celestia has always been good at thinking outside the box. I've merely become more skilled at it over the years…I've had to.

Luna! I've got it!"

"You found the missing piece?"

We ARE the missing piece!"


My sister had a stroke of brilliance, that which centuries ago had vanquished the Windigo, the essence of the bond between ponies that called down Our Mother's might, was forged into the very essence of the new Rainbow of Light! I could not believe it myself, but it was true. She said she'd been inspired by an event that had transpired in the Lost Third Age involving a holiday known as Christmas. My student, I would suggest asking your friend Pinkie Pie about it, it is much easier to tell a story in all it's proper detail when you were present for it, as opposed to seeing it from the outside and having no connection to it.

We first tested it to supercharge the self-sustaining spell one of the Princess Ponies had used on her garden in order to make it take care of itself. The result was a forest around the castle that operated the same manner that the Rainbow of Light and Darkness do, protect it and its occupants from harm in the most effective, vicious way possible. Even Discord himself could not penetrate it, because it was infused with both the power of the Rainbow of Light and the essence of Our Mother, two things which Discord can never touch. Yes, we created a forest that was forever free.

Discord's eldritch citadel was a place of unspeakable horror. It was not a palace as you know it. It was like some twisted piece of modern art were all ecosystems were twisted together in a mind bending 'masterpiece of chaos'. There was no epic quest to find its location, he was a megalomaniac and put posters up advertising its location all over his kingdom. I am not certain rather he liked to have ponies see his handiwork or knew he was so invincible, inviting assassins to his doorstep was a fun diversion.

That is likely the same reason there were no defenses in place. Pity, I had been looking forwards to venting one thousand years of anger tearing through them.

My sister harbored feelings for Discord once upon a time, and while I cared for Dissy, I never liked Discord and…Dissy was long gone by that point. All I felt for the monster who remained was hate. And I allowed my pet, who I'd named Ithaqua, to feed on it to be strong enough for his role in our plan. Do not forget, it is not a sin to hate that which is evil.

"Are you ready for this?" my sister asked as we approached the neon sign above his throne room door that flashed so brightly it hurt my eyes.

"…I'm scared." I will not lie, I was frightened. The most frightened I had ever been in my extremely long life. Discord was at worst the fifth most powerful being in all existence, only the Elders' power exceeded his. He'd murdered my own aunt right in front of me and my sister…

"Just stay close to me, our only chance is to stay together."

And we entered his throne room. Celestia restrained me before I blew the door down, reminding me that Shady was likely in there somewhere. I had always had trouble controlling my temper…It's something that time and events has forced me to watch more closely.

"Celly! Lulu! It's been forever! Mother just made biscuits! Want some?" He waved like we were still his old friends. Like his murder of Mimic and Galaxia had never happened at all. Like the Pony Hell he'd plunged the world into had never happened.

The outside was horrible, the inside far more so. To say it was a place of nightmares does not even begin to describe it. I have seen billions of nightmares, my student, but never have I seen something as horrific as that horrible place.

It was filled with his 'broken toys', broken ponies and other hooved creatures. Broken is the only word that could describe them, broken in body, mind, the worst in both.

"Hello Celestia. Hello Luna," Shady said passively. She didn't appear a day older, but I could see in her eyes that she had still aged more than one thousand years.  

"Hello Shady," I replied, thankful as I've ever been for my acting abilities to conceal the pain looking upon her caused me.

"It's nice to see you again." Celestia said, I could tell she was hiding her emotions as best she could, but acting was always one of my talents, not hers.

"How are the others?" Shady asked. Perhaps Discord had not told her his destruction of one part of the Rainbow of Light had broken it's spell of immortality on them.

"I'm sorry Shady, they died of old age a while ago. But Twilight The Thirteenth and Fourteenth are with us back home. So is Spike! I'm sure they'd love to hear what you have to say about their ancestor."

My sister always spoke of how it felt to watch her mother grow old and die as Star Catcher in the forgotten Third Age. The first time I felt the same was watching Twilight the First and her descendants age and die…But I did not learn how she felt in full for many years.

"I see." Shady sighed.

"Is there a reason for your visit ladies or did you just drop by to say hi?" Discord said not having even rising from his position. He was disgusting. To say he had let himself go would be too polite. I had previously not known that gods could become overweight.

"We are here to end your reign," Celestia told him. "Leave Equestria now Dissey. And it can just end."

Celestia, despite what many believe, was always the merciful one between the two of us. While I would've preferred sneaking into his castle and ambushing him with the Elements from the shadows, Celly decided to give him a last chance. To say we argued that point furiously would be the understatement of the millennium.

He laughed so loud he burped. "Oh come on Celly! That joke wasn't even funny! Do I need to teach you how to have fun all over again?"

"No. I'm just sorry you've forgotten how to be happy."

Yes, I was surprised by that statement as much as you are…But I honestly believe she was right. Believe me when I say, having what you want does not always make you happy if you have no bonds with anyone to share it with. He may have had Shady, but if he could not see how much his 'games' hurt her, he could not have had a bond with her like anyone else could have.

He yawned. Discord had a shorter attention span than his brother Anarchy. "I'd say I'm plenty happy. Now do you you please have something interesting to say or am I just missing chaos for nothing?" He waved us off without a second thought and prepared to take a nap.

"Discord. This is the ending. No grand battles. No more deaths. Just the end." I announced! "Your reign is over."

In retrospect, perhaps it would have been a better idea to let him fall asleep and then vanquish him in his sleep, but my love for theatrics and a thousand years of rage got the better of me.

And the combined six lights on us shined. Laughter awakened first on my sister. Honesty awakened first in me. The rest awoke in turn. Their light surrounding us.

Discord with some effort got off his throne. "Huh? What's this now?"

We had worked long and hard to forge the Elements, to forge our Mother's power deep into their core along with the bond we shared.

To my displeasure, Discord did not have a conveniently debilitating breakdown at the sight of the only magic capable of defeating him powering up right in front of him.  

"Well. Let's see what you little ponies can do."

He cracked his knuckles and restored himself to his normal appearance. I never thought that appearance would be an improvement.

Ithaqua and Philomenia sprung from our shadows, Philomenia scorching Discord from above with flames to keep him occupied while Ithaqua surged along the ground and struck from below, engulfing him and his throne area in the coldest ice he could create. And as powerful as he was, Discord was still a Draconequus whose powers could not affect something born from nothing.

A part of me was tempted to give a theatrical send off, but the truth? My sister and I had already decided if we had our way, this story would be forgotten. That Discord's entire reign join the predating era as an era that time forgot. Being forgotten is the worst thing one can do to one who believes the entire world should know who they are.

Suddenly, my sister and I were slammed into the wall by a wave of pure despair. In capturing the king, we had forgotten his knight.

"Bad fillies. You shouldn't be so rough with him." Shady said in an empty tone.

"Shady what you're defending is NOT your son!" Celestia screamed.

Discord's prison began to crack, so we demanded our pets to hide.

"Incorrect." Shady said evenly. Unfortunately, our pets' loyalty overrode our orders, and they tried to strike her in our defense. All they accomplished was being trapped in a prison of solid despair.

Discord freed himself in an explosion of fire and light from a miniature supernova. It was probably the only genuinely spectacular thing he'd ever done in his life "T-thank you, mother, I knew you wouldn't let your baby boy get turned into a statue again."

He snapped his fingers. "I play 'A Winner Is Me', I win."

Next thing I knew, our Elements were slammed together, our horns imbedding themselves in one another's skulls. No, it did not hurt as much as one would think.

I felt my bones being crushed as we were floated towards the tyrant's throne.

"Mother, will you do the honors?" Discord said, giving a small smirk. And why not? He was about to play one of his favorite games.

Shady tilted her head indifferently. "Are you sure? They were your best friends before they tried to kill you. Maybe you could fix them."

"Not anymore," said Discord, his voice dripping with callousness. "Alas, they see me as an enemy now, so it's the only thing to be done," he stated, then in a flash is infant self stood in his place, looking up at her with big, teary eyes. I shall admit, he is a better actor than I give him credit for. "Please get rid of the bad ponies momma, they're trying to hurt me!"

"Shady! You don't need to do this!" Celestia shouted over the sound of our own bones shattering.

Shady's face remained expressionless as ever. "They're your friends son, not mine." I saw a single tear run down her snout and hit the floor. "If you really want to do this then make your own choice."

"Well mommy dearest if you insist." Discord reverted back to his adult self, his head turned away from Shady and puppy dog eyes were replaced by a smirk of sadistic glee.

I closed my eyes as he reached for us. I heard a slashing sound and something hitting the floor that was surprisingly not part of my own anatomy. We fell to the ground a second later, finally allowing us to breathe.

"Mother what are you doing?"

I opened my eyes and saw Discord's paw and claw laying on the ground, a scythe of despair in Shady's possession. We took the brief respite to regenerate our wounds and pull our horns from each others heads.

"How long do you need?" Shady asked, finally turning to us.

"About one minute."

She said, "You'll get it."

Yes, I will admit, this was a twist of fate that none of us saw coming, but one I cannot be more grateful for.

"Oh mother please. What has possessed you for this kind of nonsense? Oh never mind! Nonsense is always fun! But maybe you should spend time as an old maid." He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. Discord snapped his fingers again...nothing.

"Despair is the void that's left when hope is gone. You can not alter or erase a void. How can you son, a draconequus, not know this? This despair is my own. You merely helped me give it shape, remember, son? My own despair feeds the Element of Chaos you gave me."

Discord had fallen into a trap that many of his old 'toys' had fallen victim to in ages past; forgotten the power of his own weapon.

"Mo-ther!" Discord hissed in rage. He grew his hands to giant size and assaulted her with every imaginable tactic he could manage. They tried to smash, grab, or pummel her, he even began firing missiles from his finger tips like the boss in some video game.

But Shady was too quick, leaving a trailing image as she flickered between existence and nonexistence to dodge his assault. She bond Discord's limbs with chains forged from the void itself. Half her body was scorched by a gout of flame from Discord's maul. Not batting an eye, Shady bisected Discord with one stroke, and apologized to someone who may or may not remain with him.

As Discord reconstituted himself, he brought his palace to life, sending his broken victims against her, tattered cloak billowing with every motion. But she swiftly struck down all that stood in her path, freeing Philomena and Ithaqua who assisted her in her struggle.

But that struggle was already won, for she'd bought us all the time we needed.

"How could you do this to me! You're different from the Old Lady! How dare you do this! You can't do this! How can you-?!" Discord howled in fury unseen since our mortal mother had informed him of the pathway to the human world being put forever out of his reach. "MOTHER!!!"

"Because I do love you. You're ill son. You have been for a thousand years. I don't know if you can ever be cured. But I won't let my family harm anypony else, anymore."

Philomena and my pet took attack positions, taking Discord's eyes off of Shady for the split second she needed to drive her weapon through his tail and pin it to the ground. As he yelped in pain, she flew around his back and hugged him tightly, chains forged from her own despair encircling both and holding them both in place. But it was not simply holding him in place for us, but holding onto the part of him she'd loved. And I could see in her face that she wanted it all to finally be over, including her status as Nightmare Shadow.

The one among the stars. The one of Paradise Estate. And the one now waiting for us back at our castle. And I'm sure my sister thought of the one she had in the time that never was. The families who's love helped my sister and I support one another and power the Elements for the final blow!

Surprise made us laugh when we were hurt.

Spike's undying loyalty.

Posey's unending kindness.

Wind Whistle's honesty.

Mother's generosity so great she gave her life for ours.

And Twilight's magic she shared with us for her entire life.

And the Power of the Elements began to restore that which had always been.

"Mother, Galaxia...Seaponies, Flutterponies...and everyone else whose lives Discord has ruined...this is for you," I head my sister whisper. I silently agreed.

We flew around Discord and Nightmare Shadow, forming a vortex of rainbow light as the Element's power washed over them both, freezing Discord as a statue from the waist up.

I shall admit, it was not the grand climatic battle you may have thought my student. But it was a glorious one. Because we were not the true heroes of it. That title belongs to the one who'd gone through one thousand years of watching her son ruin the world, and finally did an act no mother should ever have to commit to save the world. And not out of hate, but out of the love she refused to let die despite everything he had done.

Discord saw his castle begin crumbling around him, letting his head fall in disbelief…then broke out in laughter. "So that's how it is eh Celly? Lulu?"

"That's Princess Celestia and Princess Luna Discord."

"Princess eh? Well, have you've really done a good job of protecting your subjects, haven't you, Celly?"

Celestia startled at this.

"Surely you knew, Celly, that protecting their subjects is the rulers number one responsibility. And thus far, who have you been able to protect? Your family and mine who were devastated by war? Your dear auntie who got reduced to atoms at my claws? Your little friends who are all dead because the trinket keeping them alive was broken? Your future subjects who lived for a millennium under yours truly?"

If Discord was as mad as I know he likely was, he was an even better actor than I ever was.

"PRINCESS Celestia, you're too soft to stop what hurts your little ponies!"

"Don't listen to a word he says, Celly!" I cried.

"I've helped stop you, Discord! I won't let anything happen to them!"

"We'll see about that, lovely Celly. Who is going to protect them from the monsters that hide in the dark? From the predators who like to sneak up on them in the middle of the night and make a meal of them? From when they can't see in the dark and slip and bust their little heads open on a stone? PRINCESS Celestia, you're too soft for the title you wear if you can't do something about all that like any good ruler would."

"You're wrong!"

Half his body was frozen.

"Oh really, Celly? Answer me this, Celestia, who has been responsible for everything that's hurt your little ponies for all this time?"

Why was it taking so long?!

"YOU!" Celestia yelled.

"Oh now Celly, you're being too simple. Sure, I've had a lot of fun these thousand years, but what about before I came to this lovely little rock and the eras to come from this moment on? Who is responsible for those sweet little ponies stumbling in the dark and off a cliff? Who is responsible for all the deadly predators being able to roam the night, looking for a pony to make a meal of? Who makes them waste half a day hiding in the dark from the monsters lurking just out of sight? Who makes them scared of the things that go bump in the night? Celestia, you've bested me, we can all see that. But do you have what it takes to stop the one who has made you ponies suffer for far longer than I and will continue to do so for a long time coming? Blaming me for all the world's troubles is the easy answer, PRINCESS Celestia. And since when? Has the easy answer? EVER been right? And do you want to risk yours being the wrong one?"

"Discord, in the words of a friend of ours, go back to Pony Hell!" I yelled before he could say another word.

And he was frozen as stone, the world made sense again…but my sister looked frozen like a deer in the headlights.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Princess…What Discord said to Celestia…" Twilight said, looking up at me in confusion.

I give a sad sigh. "You know the answer she came up with to his question, two thousand years later. I was feeling jealous that our little ponies slept through my night and loved her day so much…But she saw me wanting them to love my night as suspicious thanks to Discord's words…She wanted to protect our little ponies from all harm…and she saw my night as one of the things that caused it to them the most. She wanted her sun to shine for eternity, so her ponies would never again hide in the dark…And she became Nightmare Flare…Twilight, for the longest time I'd wanted to chance to be as loved as my sister was by our followers…and I got my wish when I had to imprison her in the sun for one thousand years…"

I look down, remembering the events of one thousand years ago in sorrow. Over this thousand years, I've had to grow, become a better ruler while my sister was gone. Bear the weight of it all, and my own mistake. I am loved by our little ponies…but it wasn't worth losing my twin for a millennium. "…Twilight…Thank you for fixing that mistake that I made."

She hugged me. After everything I've told her, after telling her I helped my sister make a mistake that threw her world into a near apocalyptic winter…that I had been so apathetic towards mortals that I tried to murder two innocent ponies, not because it was my job but because they'd bruised my ego…she hugged me.

"You'd have done it if you could have, Princess."

I give a small smile. "Yes…I suppose I would have…"

"…Shall we continue with the story, teacher?"

"Of course we can. Now where was I…"
An alternate take on the Final Battle of Origins, with a twist.

And yes, I know there was no Rainbow fired, I did it like that because that's how the Stained Glass window showed Discord being defeated.

Thanks to :iconitsfrompeople: for Beta Reading this for me, and giving me some good suggestions!

MLP: FiM: Copyright Hasbro

Pony POV Series belongs to :iconalexwarlorn:! I'm just the recursive fanwriter!

EDIT: Fixed a flaw Alexwarlorn pointed out, and added the name of Luna's Windigo in more places. Thanks, Alex!
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MysticSunrise87's avatar
Very important question: how much would this have changed the series had this been the Prime Timeline? Besides the obvious switch of Celestia going crazy instead of Luna?

We need more where that happens. Twilight becomes Luna's student in a world where the roles of the sisters were reversed. Every one I've seen has kicked that idea to the curb.

Do I need to mention how the Lunaverse handled it.

"I tried to murder two innocent ponies."

Was this a reflection back on the Lost Age? It's been awhile (and it was SO damn depressing) that I've forgotten.

Though I do guess that Transitions and Origins, or at least their history, doesn't change.