The Equestria Healing Process

             Chapter 6

“A Picnic with Fluttershy”

Flying faster and faster from the gates of Tartarus while in a fit of rage, Discord left his ex-partner in crime to Shining Armor and the Canterlot royal guards and shut him out of his life forever.  All Discord ever wanted was to learn the magic of friendship, by any means necessary.  But, it was all put at risk when Tirek offered to give him something more valuable than friendship, an offer that nearly cost him his friends and his magic.  In fact, the moment he betrayed Twilight's friends still kept on playing throughout his mind and no matter whatever happened to Tirek, Discord didn't really care.  Tirek was a monster that deserved to be punish for what he did.

His time with the one pony that he truly understood as a friend had made him realize that there was indeed nothing more than friendship.  It took Tirek’s betrayal and witnessing Twilight have the alicorn magic drained out of her to make him realize just that.

But Discord knew that the emotional damages he had caused to his friends would not fully go away. But if Discord could salvage it, he could.  Approaching Fluttershy’s cottage, he quickly snapped on his tuxedo that he wore at that dinner party while he was being reformed and produced a bouquet of flowers to give to his friend.  Discord was just about to knock on the door of Fluttershy’s cottage when he stopped short of knocking.

“I can’t do it,” he thought to himself, using his magic to cause the flowers to disappear.  “If I go in there, Fluttershy will just order me to go away.  But, if I don’t go in, I will return to Canterlot, witness Tirek’s trial at the hands of Twilight and the other princesses, and will just keep this awful memory go on and on for as long as I live.”

He thought for a moment of what he wanted to do, but then realized that he needed to go through with this.  It was all part of the healing process, so he knocked on the door and a yellow Pegasus with long pink hair answered the door.  Discord closed his eyes, bracing for the moment when he would be rejected by his true friend.

“Oh, hi, Discord,” said Fluttershy, smiling at him, much to his oblivion.  “I see you have come for our picnic.  Did you bring the cucumber sandwiches?”

“Oh, I did,” replied Discord sheepishly, producing a plateful of sandwiches with cucumbers in between.  “Just as you requested, my dear Fluttershy.”

“Excellent, come on in,” said Fluttershy and then he snapped his fingers and shedded the tuxedo and walked into Fluttershy’s cottage.  Knowing that his friend seemed to forgive so easily, Discord sighed quietly to himself in relief.

"At least she has no hard feelings," he thought as he headed inside.  But, there was going to be more than met the eye before this picnic was over.  Discord then snapped his fingers and reproduced the flowers he had initially put away, because of his guilt.

“I brought these for you,” he said, giving the flowers to Fluttershy, causing the Pegasus to smile warmly at the ex-master of chaos.  “It’s the least I can do after what I did to you and your friends.”

He then walked back over and sat down on the couch, unfortunately taking up Angel’s favorite spot on the couch, much to the bunny rabbit’s annoyance.  But, Fluttershy didn’t mind that at all whatsoever, although she began to notice the hurt that was still in his eyes, several days after Tirek’s re imprisonment.

“Thank you for the flowers,” said Fluttershy, placing the flowers in a vase.  “They’re beautiful.  But, I can’t help but notice that something is bothering you.  Would you care to tell me what it is, Discord?”

Discord felt that Fluttershy was starting to catch on and knew that he had to tell her the truth.  As soon as Fluttershy brought over the cucumber sandwiches on a platter big enough for her and her friends, Discord sat up and stared at his friend with a worried expression.

“Actually, Fluttershy,” he said, twidling his paw and claw while looking down at the floor nervously.  “There is something that I need to tell you about and it is not just about the picnic we are having now.”

“Oh, is this about what you did with Tirek, that big dumb meanie?” she asked, guessing right on the nose.  “If you are thinking that I am mad at you for what you did, I’m not.”

Discord was surprised as he took a bite of the cucumber sandwich that was in his hand.  He knew that by deferring to Tirek’s side, he had caused pain and misery to those who truly cared about him.  Everywhere he went with Tirek, he had aided him in absorbing every pony's magic that the two came across from Canterlot to Cloudsdale to Applelossa and all the way to Ponyville.  Discord even stood by and watched as Celestia, Luna and Cadence were sent to Tartarus when he could have at least attempted to fight Tirek and keep them safe, but he didn't.  Instead, he just floated there and played with a stained glass window of him dangling the princesses like puppets.

But, why would Fluttershy forgive him so easily, even after all he had done to her and her friends?  That was the question that was going through Discord's mind at that moment.

“But, how could you say something that?” wondered Discord.  “I made you cry when I imprisoned you and the others in that cage.   When Tirek drained your magic, I couldn’t bear myself to watch you suffer like that and I realized that I made a grave mistake, but didn’t admit until it was too late after he stole my magic.  But, I had to correct my errors in any way possible.”

Fluttershy sat there wondering what Discord had done.  As far as she was concerned, Discord would not do anything violent out of evil.  He only wanted to have a good time and would do just about anything to do so.

“Um, if you don’t mind my asking,” said Fluttershy, taking a sip of tea.  “What errors would you have to correct?”

Discord was not prepared to say what he had to say to his friend.  As far as Fluttershy was concerned, he would never forgive himself if he had to hurt her feelings like did while with Tirek.  But, he had to tell Fluttershy that he was in Tartarus and extracting his revenge on Tirek for brainwashing him.

“Actually, Fluttershy,” he replied, snapping a halo on his head.  “I hope you can forgive me if I tell you this.  But, I was on a mission by the princesses to bring Tirek back to them for his crimes and I had to let him know how I feel.  I disguised myself as Princess Celestia and once I got close, I shed my disguise and expressed to him my anger for what he did to all of you."

Fluttershy began to grow shocked upon hearing Discord say this.  After all, Fluttershy had always learned that violence never solved anything and had passed along the message to Discord in one of his letters.  It seemed however that Discord had broken that rule.

“You didn’t harm Tirek in any way?” asked Fluttershy, starting to look nervous at Discord.

At that moment, Discord lost himself to his emotions.  He didn’t want to tell Fluttershy why he did what he did to Tirek in Tartarus, but he had to.

“Fluttershy, I couldn’t help it,” confessed Discord, throwing his sandwich back on the platter.  “He made me hurt you and when the princesses berated me for what I did, I knew that I needed to do something to make him feel the pain I helped cause on you and your friends.  So, I tortured him right there in his cell and wanted to finish him off right then and there, but I couldn’t. Instead, I tortured Tirek by adding more chains onto him and gave him the shackles that the princesses wore in Tartarus.  I even added the shackle that he was planning to put on Twilight when she was cast into Tartarus with them."

Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel sorry, yet angry at Discord for what he did.  As much as he was trying to right what he did wrong, going against what she had taught him was something that she didn’t like.  But, she couldn’t stay angry for long when she saw tears forming in his eyes.

“I know that you will probably never forgive me,” he continued sadly, his head hung low.  “But I did it because you are my friend, Fluttershy.  I know that you will be there for me as I will be there for you.  What I did was wrong and Tirek is entirely the one to blame.  He made me hurt you and that is something that I could not let him get away with.  When Shining Armor told me that I was a traitor, I had to find a way to prove to every pony that I am not the monster that they think I am.  I may never earn everypony's respect again, but what I did was wrong and if I could earn the respect of those that I am close to, it would make my life worthwhile."

Just then, Fluttershy’s eyes welled up with tears and she began to cry softly as Discord feared that this was the end, despite making this confession.  Thinking that Fluttershy was going to strike him when he saw her hoof rise up towards him, he shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.  But, instead of striking him, Fluttershy threw herself into Discord’s arms and sobbed against his chest.  This caused Discord to feel surprised and shocked, while at the same time, he could see that Fluttershy had no hard feelings against him.

“Oh, Discord,” she cried into his chest.  “I know you tried to right what you did and I forgive you for everything you did wrong!  You were just misled and you’re right, Tirek is the one to blame and we are all the victims here, not just you!”

Discord was very touched by this remark from Fluttershy and began to release his emotions as well.  The two friends realized at that moment that even though Discord did what he did, one little thing like this would not ruin their relationship that they had with one another.  In fact, it would only make it stronger than ever.

"We are indeed the victims, Fluttershy," he said, hugging her tightly while crying.  "Tirek didn't give me freedom, he turned me into a monster and made me hurt you.  Whatever the princesses do to him, I don't really care.  All that matters is we are together again and that we are friends again."

So, throughout the rest of the day, there they sat in her cottage together, finally having the picnic that Discord had promised Fluttershy.  It seemed now that this experience would only bring Fluttershy and Discord even more together than before.  True, Discord was ashamed for what he did, but what was important was that Fluttershy forgave him in the end.

But, as the sun set on Equestria that night, Discord knew that his work was not done.  There was still one pony that inspired him to fully embrace the magic of friendship that needed to be consoled and it would take place at the former site of Golden Oak Library.

"What are you going to do now, Discord?" asked Fluttershy as Discord transformed into a Pegasus pony.

"I need to see another pony who was hurt by my betrayal," replied Discord, turning back towards his friend.  "She had lost everything when Tirek destroyed her home and I must be there for her."

Fluttershy knew that the pony that Discord was referring to was Twilight herself and before Fluttershy could say another word, Discord took to the air and started to make his way towards the destroyed library.  But, he turned around and flew down to hug Fluttershy one last time.

"Thank you for having me over today," he said softly as they hugged.  "You don't know how much this means to both of us."

"Anytime, Discord," replied Fluttershy as they broke apart and the Pegasus pony watched as Discord took to the air and made his way towards Twilight's former home.  "Be careful, my friend."