C.Discord's Spirits & Primordial Beings of the MLP:FiM World

[NavelColt 22,878]

What do we know about Discord?

• He's obscenely powerful (possibly the most potent being in the show thus far), capable of warping reality itself, and all sorts of other magic.
• He's very old, most likely immortal.
• He's been referred to as a 'Spirit', 'of Chaos and Disharmony'.

It's my personal head canon that Discord is the embodiment of chaos, and is thus not only a primordial being that's been around since the near start of time, but whom also represents a fundamental law of nature, and cannot be destroyed. I've mentioned this head canon all over the place, and it's certainly nothing new.

 

However, branching off of that head canon, I can only find fascination in other possible spirits or beings that play a key role in the nature of Equestria, the world its' in, and the universe of MLP:FiM as a whole. Here, you may post ideas you may have regarding beings or deities or other spirits you picture in the world of ponies.

 

Note: I'm also going to list Discord, to make the list feel more complete, and to give people a contrast reference point. At this point, other than Discord I only have one idea that I've flushed out in full, but I have other ideas in the process of being thought out, of which any of you are welcome to contemplate and post about in your own ideas as well:

 

Death/Endings

Life/Beginnings

Magic (Source of power for all magic in the universe?)

Destiny (Maybe it's a spirit or divine entity/magical presence that gives fillies' their cutie marks.)

 

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Discord

Ageless

Primordial Being

Embodiment/'Spirit' of Chaos

 

One of the oldest creatures in existence, Discord is the physical manifestation of chaos, something many believe to be one of the driving forces in the original creation of the universe, and perhaps, even predating the universe itself. All other beings in nature know that he's a very big player, bringing much to the table in way of influence of what he can do to reality if he so wishes. Thusly, many outright avoid him or even fear him for both his power and humor, both of which hinder other creatures. After all, most beings, even evil beings, don't care for absolute chaos and nonsense.

 

While in modern times Discord has learned the value of friendship, and in a broader sense the emotional connections one makes with others, he is still nevertheless a powerful being and a prankster.

 

Seasonal Quadruplets: Harvest, Hibernal, Heartfelt & Heatwave

Many thousands of years old

Manifestations of Nature

Spirits of the Four Seasons

 

As societies of creatures first began to develop and shape the world into what it is known as today, many spirits and other powerful beings were born into existence, to aid in the guidance of the world. The four sisters of the seasons, Harvest (Autumn), Hibernal (Winter), Heartfelt (Spring) and Heatwave (Summer) were the original keepers of the seasons of the world, and to a large extent, its' weather patterns as a whole. Hibernal and Heatwave kept their seasons longer than their younger sisters, as they were both competitive and stubborn.

 

When Discord took over the region that would be later known as Equestria, the sisters were forced to flee; their relatively peaceful weather-based powers were no match for his reality-warping abilities. When peace and order was restored to Equestria by Celestia and her sister Luna later on, they sought out the four sisters and persuaded them to return. However, as centuries went by, Equestria's localized flying species, the pegasi, took over the weather pattern responsibilities, and thus, the control of the seasons. While the Seasonal Sisters continue their work in many places across the globe, Equestria is no longer one of them due to this reason.

 

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I'll add to my list as time goes on

[SCS 7,511]

One of my favorite aspects of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is how love and light, and not weapons, are, in the end, victorious against darkness and evil.
 
In A Canterlot Wedding, the changelings were driven away by love. Princess Cadence's love strengthened Shining Armor, which enabled him to cast his spell to drive away the changelings. However, I think there was far more going on here than only moral support. 
 
If you look closely during that scene, you would see that a very powerful energy blasted out of both Shining Armor and Princess Cadence that pushed their bodies that, together, formed the shape of a heart, while turning them both into shining white light. This is more than any spell could ever do. 

 
What drove away the changelings was pure love, channeled through the union of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.
 
In the Crystal Empire episodes, King Sombra, arguably the most evil character by far ever to appear in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic so far, was markedly anti-love. The Crystal Empire seems to be a sort of hub of love and light in Equestria, where its inhabitants spread those emotions around universally. If King Sombra chose to enslave them as opposed to any other habitation in Equestria, then that, to me, implies that he wanted to deliberately crush all love and light in the entirety of Equestria. If he enslaved the crystal ponies, they would be unable to power up the crystal heart, that reflects love and light throughout all of Equestria. I argue that free will could overcome this, but it could still be a heavy blow to all of Equestria, just as the mane six having their destinies changed did. It would upset the balance, the harmony, which could lead to darkness. 
 
However, King Sombra was not only stopped, but destroyed easily. I viewed the events in this episode as an extension of what occurred in A Canterlot Wedding. In A Canterlot Wedding, the love that, specifically, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had for one another drove away Queen Chrysalis and her changelings, who were also patently anti-love and anti-light. In The Crystal Empire, the love that all of the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire had for not only one another, but all of Equestria, drove away King Sombra in a united meditation. This meditation channeled the light and love within them, through their free will, into the crystal heart. The crystal heart then radiated this light, this love over all of Equestria. It operated in two stages. Firstly, it let out a finite, extremely powerful burst of energy that easily destroyed King Sombra and his evil crystals. Secondly, it launched the love and light energy into the sky, resulting in a phenomena that looks visually similar to a sonic rainboom, sending an aurora over the entirety of Equestria, representing the feelings of love and goodwill that were reflected. 
 
In Magical Mystery Cure, I noticed a curious new visual element: rainbow light. It looked like a flat rainbow consisting of several straight lines radiating as if it were a heat wave. I had never noticed this visual element in the show before. After watching Magical Mystery Cure several times, I noticed that this appeared more than once in the episode, and that it also reminded me of the aurora of light and love that radiates from the Crystal Tower whenever the crystal ponies perform their united meditation to spread those feelings throughout all of Equestria. 
 
Now, we know that this energy is love. But, all of this brings me to my question: what exactly does that mean? The beauty of this is that it does not have to have a specific meaning. Being art, it is open to interpretation, and can mean different things to different people, none of the meanings being necessarily right or wrong, but different ways of looking at the same thing. 
 
One possibility is that this energy is something from Gnosticism known as the Absolute. I read on the MLP Wiki that, allegedly, The Crystal Empire contains allusions to the concept of the Absolute in what the crystal ponies did to defeat King Sombra. 
 
According to Wikipedia, this is what the Absolute is:

The Absolute is the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes used as an alternate term for "God" or "the Divine"[1] especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to anthropomorphic presumptions. The concept of The Absolute may or may not (depending on one's specific doctrine) possess discrete will, intelligence, awareness, or a personal nature. It is sometimes conceived of as the source through which all being emanates. It contrasts with finite things, considered individually, and known collectively as the relative. This is reflected in its Latin origin absolūtus which means "loosened from" or "unattached."

 
So, it is possible that this energy of love is God, in a more abstract, spiritual sense. This actually comports with my spiritual beliefs. In my spiritual beliefs, God is not necessarily a being, but is truly all that is. Perhaps a similar concept is at work here in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, where, as one put it in terms of the spirituality I believe in:
 
Life is love is God. If you add anymore to this definition then you are not making it any better.
—Chuck Griswold
 
So, it is possible that this Absolute, this all that is, life, love, God, are all different names for the same fundamental energy behind all that is in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In other words, the Absolute could be the foundational energy from which the Elements of Harmony, love defeating Queen Chrysalis, united meditation of love and light destroying King Sombra, are drawn. The Absolute would not really be a being, but it would be everything. All of the love, all of the thoughts, all of the actions ever made.
 
In fact, the Absolute could not only be the source, the foundation of all goodness in Equestria, but it could be the foundation of all that is bad as well. It could be the foundation of everything, the very source from which magic in the show is drawn. This universal energy, the Absolute, God, could be what is tapped into whenever anyone in the show uses magic. Whether or not this power would serve good would be determined by the free will of he or she who was performing the magic. However, in order for life to exist in happiness, in order for life to last, some form of harmony must be present. Through love, kindness, and acceptance of others one can find peace, and therefore harmony, so when the Absolute would be channeled for that which is good, its true power would be unleashed, due to the very reason that the one who would be using it would have no interest in its power, but would be using it for an unselfish reason to defend life. This could be why King Sombra was so easily defeated. 
 
Whether or not this is actually the case is open for interpretation. I do not necessarily believe that it is, but it is interesting to ponder, and certainly makes sense. I just do not believe that the interpretation I have pondered here is the sole possible understanding of what occurs in the show.
 
I will continue to post here later if I can think of other aspects of the show in relation to this topic to comment on, since I believe that this is a good place to end this post.

Edited March 19, 2013 by SCS

[Zygen 6,066]

Well I've heard your headcannon on Discord before and commented on it I think, but yeah I basically have come to agree with it more or less.

 

The other theory about the nature spirits is an interesting one, maybe we'll have some other spirit of something come into play sometime in the show, if so then I'd be almost undoubtable for your theory. For now its alot of speculation since no insight into other spirits have really been given, except for the fact that if one exists it would only make sense others do.

 

Interesting all and all, looking forward to seeing the other ones aswell .

[I am Lunar Fire 198]

Yog-Sunlove

Ageless

Cosmic entity

Spirit of the Sun

 

A cosmic entity that reigned on Equestria before even it's inception. It is known as being the key, the gate and the guardian of Equestria at the same time. This entity created Equestria from the void and is known as being the seal that holds it together. Upon creating Equestria, this entity created all the beings that were to uphold life in Equestria.

Amongst others, it created Discord. Discord was the embodiement of chaos meant to balance the order brought upon by the sisters Celestia and Luna. As Discord turned Equestria into chaos, the entity tried to stop him, but was overpowered by the master of chaos, who had the power to change the fabric of reality, including its. It was then reduced to a ball banished far behind the dark clouds that reigned over Equestria.

It was too late however when Celestia defeated Discord and returned order and peace to the world. It was reduced to the state of a luminous little ball floating over the horizon. This transformation wasn't in vain thought, as it brought an important source of energy that could protect the world from evil: Light. The entity took the shortened name of Sun, and awarded to Celestia control over Equestria. Celestia therefore took the title of Princess of the Sun and was given the responsability to look over the Equestria at day time.

 

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Mixing Lovecraft and My Little Pony is probably the single most awesome thing I have done so far.

 

 

I hope you love my story of Light and The Sun. I thought it would be nice to have the origin and the source of life in Equestria be the sun, as Celestia, it's eternal ruler, is the princess of the sun. And Yog-Sogoth seemed to be a perfect match for this role, being an cosmic entity that is said to be at the creation of reality, that, according to Lovecraft, looks like "a congeries of iridescent globes" (A group of luminous balls).

[SCS 7,511]

Yog-Sunlove

Ageless

Cosmic entity

Spirit of the Sun

 

A cosmic entity that reigned on Equestria before even it's inception. It is known as being the key, the gate and the guardian of Equestria at the same time. This entity created Equestria from the void and is known as being the seal that holds it together. Upon creating Equestria, this entity created all the beings that were to uphold life in Equestria.

 

Amongst others, it created Discord. Discord was the embodiement of chaos meant to balance the order brought upon by the sisters Celestia and Luna. As Discord turned Equestria into chaos, the entity tried to stop him, but was overpowered by the master of chaos, who had the power to change the fabric of reality, including its. It was then reduced to a ball banished far behind the dark clouds that reigned over Equestria.

 

It was too late however when Celestia defeated Discord and returned order and peace to the world. It was reduced to the state of a luminous little ball floating over the horizon. This transformation wasn't in vain thought, as it brought an important source of energy that could protect the world from evil: Light. The entity took the shortened name of Sun, and awarded to Celestia control over Equestria. Celestia therefore took the title of Princess of the Sun and was given the responsability to look over the Equestria at day time.

 

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Mixing Lovecraft and My Little Pony is probably the single most awesome thing I have done so far.

 

 

I hope you love my story of Light and The Sun. I thought it would be nice to have the origin and the source of life in Equestria be the sun, as Celestia, it's eternal ruler, is the princess of the sun. And Yog-Sogoth seemed to be a perfect match for this role, being an cosmic entity that is said to be at the creation of reality, that, according to Lovecraft, looks like "a congeries of iridescent globes" (A group of luminous balls).

 

One of my best friends is (or, at least, was at some point) a huge fan of Lovecraft. I was under the impression that his works were rather dark, so it's interesting to hear about something he wrote that doesn't seem to be. 

 

I love what you wrote, it's consistent with the show, makes sense, and maintains the choice of good over evil.