Chapters I Can't Change the Way I Feel
Author's Note
I wrote this entire thing while listening to the song Entropy on repeat.
This is the original, single-chapter form of the story. The remainder of these chapters are the unfinished expaded form I was planning on writing before I cancelled it. I thought I might as well re-publish the original full version if I'm not going to finish the rest of the long-form version.
I Can't Change the Way I Feel
Discord sat on his throne. Around him sat the town of Ponyville, now the chaos capital of the world. The defeat of the Mane 6 was quite easy, really. He may not have been able to cast spells on the Elements, but he could cast a spell on their wielders. All he needed was to prevent them from seeing the Elements, with a simple snap of his claw. None stood a chance against him. But was he happy? Not really. He sat there, with Fluttershy in front of him, crying and asking him why.
"Why, why would you do this? I don't understand. I thought we were friends!" sobbed Fluttershy.
"I can't help it Fluttershy, this is my nature. I can't change the way I feel. I was born to be chaotic." Discord said, drinking a glass of chocolate milk. Just the glass.
"I thought you really had changed."
"I tried, but I just need to cause some entropy. I can't bare living without it."
"We had some fun times together..."
"What fun is there in ever making sense? But don't mistake this for not wanting to be your friend. I really enjoyed most of our time together. I just can't give up my chaos. I need it to feel good."
"What are you going to do to us?"
Discord turned his head sharply, 360 degrees. "I will let you live your lives, dropping in from time to time to say hello. I really am sorry about all this. Make no mistake, I won't mess with you. You taught me friendship. That is a part of me now, and I want my friends to be happy."
"Them fix this! remove the chaos!"
"I can't. I... guess I can make a hole in it... After all, perfect chaos is order." Discord said, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, Canterlot appeared to have changed back to normal. With another snap, Discord created a scepter and gave it to Fluttershy. "Congratulations, Fluttershy. You are now the leader of Canterlot, the non-chaos capital of the world." he said with a sigh.
"But how am I going to help all of my animals? They might get hurt!" said Fluttershy.
"Don't worry, just lead your city for a while. I'll start sending you animals." replied Discord, pulling his eyes out and rolling them on the ground. "I always get snake eyes." he muttered, seeing the results. He put them back on, and said, "Go on now. You got me to give up some of my chaos."
----------A Month Later---------A Month Later---------A Month Later---------A Month Later---------
"YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE!" Discord roared. He stood over the dead body of Fluttershy. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"
The ponies of Canterlot stood around, their heads tilted upwards. "She was a common pony, and she helped you." said Prince Blueblood in his arrogant, stuck-up voice.
Discord ground his teeth. "Enough is enough. You ponies have proven that I can't even cut you a little slack." he snapped his fingers angrily, and chaos covered Canterlot once again.
"If you're so powerful, why don't you just bring her back to life?" asked one noblepony.
"For all my powers, I cannot bring creatures back from the dead. That is why I never killed anypony. And your punishment for killing her, is eternal torture. Go to Tartarus." said Discord, turning away and snapping his fingers. In an instant, the city was empty, and Tartarus was full of nobleponies.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy." said Discord, a tear slipping down his face. "I could have stopped this, somehow. My first and only true friend, gone..." Discord began sobbing. "I didn't want this! I wanted us to stay friends. If only I could stop wanting chaos. But I can't change the way I feel. Those nobleponies deserved that. Stuck-up little pricks." Discord growled. He snapped his claws, and the rest of the Mane 6 appeared before him. "I felt you should be here." he said to them. "The nobleponies of Canterlot killed her. May they rot in Tartarus."
The Mane 6, or Mane 5 now, cried for a while. "Couldn't you have done something to prevent it?" asked Twilight.
"Probably, but I didn't know until too late. I have made my decision." said Discord. "If I were to become non-chaotic while the Elements had frozen me in stone, what would happen?"
"Uh, I think you would turn back, if you no longer had chaos. You would probably still be immortal, but you would lose most of your power."
"Can you do that for me?"
"Turn you to stone? I'm afraid we would need Fluttershy to wield her Element."
Discord snapped his fingers, and everything went back to normal, but Fluttershy was still dead on the ground, and the nobleponies were still in Tartarus. "I'll be on the moon, you'll be immortal. Send me a dragon-fire message when you have an Element of Kindness. Call me for the funeral."
"Discord, why are you doing this?"
Discord stared, tears in his eyes. "Because it's what Fluttershy would have wanted."
He snapped his fingers, and appeared on the moon. He gritted his teeth and resisted breaking the laws of physics. Clasping his paws, he repeated one word over and over in his mind. Fluttershy.
Two months later, Discord was still reciting Fluttershy's name over and over, when he got a dragon-fire scroll.
"Ah, the funeral. I'll be there right on time. Until then, gotta practice my entran-no!" he shouted. "I must stay strong, for Fluttershy's memory." He popped in during the ceremony. Everypony gasped at his entrance, and during the chaos he moved to the front. He made a speech, then sat down to watch. Afterwards, he teleported back to the moon before Twilight could talk to him. He resumed his chant. Over and over again. When it no longer seemed effective, he chiseled Fluttershy's name into the stone with his claws. Then he got a really good idea. Over the next millennium, he chiseled Fluttershy's face into the moon, gradually, until it could be seen from Equis. Then, he teleported to Twilight's throne room.
"I think I have done it." he said calmly. "After over a thousand years, I have reformed."
"I was going to send you a letter within the week. We have found our Element of Kindness."
"Good. Test the Elements on me."
Soon, the Elements assembled. They closed their eyes, and cast the spell. Discord found himself surrounded by memories.
"I can't change the way I feel."
"I just need to cause some entropy."
Discord opened his eyes. They glowed a brilliant white. "I can change! I have! I was wrong !" a few moments later, the rainbow left, and Discord stood there, encased in stone. The stone began to crack, and Discord was free. He didn't overload the spell with chaos, though. He was well and truely reformed.
"I did it!" he said, weeping freely. "I'm reformed. I am so, so sorry Fluttershy! If only I had been stronger then."
I Can't Change the Way I Feel (Expanded)
Discord sat in Fluttershy's home in Ponyville. He sighed, bored. This was no way for a God of Chaos to live! Where was the corruption? The destruction? There were only three pluses to living like this. The first one was immunity from the Elements of Harmony, meaning he didn't have to spend thousands of years bored out of his mind as a statue. The second was that it was unusual and interesting, being the good guy for once. Chaos is random, meaning it isn't always bad. It wouldn't be very chaotic of him to pick one side and stay there, now would it? The third advantage, was, well... Fluttershy. Discord hadn't had a friend before, and it was an experience like no other. He couldn't even begin to describe how much he enjoyed the feeling. However, he felt the loss of chaos deep in his heart. Chaos had been who he was , his very soul and being, for all of eternity. To step away from that path, even for a metaphorical eye-blink in his life, was a horrifying experience. It was comparable to ripping your own soul out for your only friend. He snapped his claws, and appeared on top of Fluttershy's cottage. He couldn't help the way he felt, and he just couldn't stand having his very essence absent from his life. He needed to cause some entropy.
"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy." he whispered to the wind and the starry night sky. "I just can't take this any longer."
With one snap of his claws, the moon lowered from the south and the sun rose from the west. With another, the clouds changed to cotton candy and rain to chocolate milk. He resisted the urge to turn the animals wild, however. Despite turning his back on his reformation, he couldn't quite bring himself to leave behind the only friend he had ever had, and he knew that the instant he started messing with animals, Fluttershy would... well... best not to dwell on that. Anyway, it's different from the last three times. I could use a change. he told himself, refusing to let himself believe that Fluttershy still played such a huge role in his life. After all, he was chaos embodied, the very opposite of friendship and all it stood for! He snapped his fingers and vanished, entering one of the stain glass windows of himself in Canterlot Castle. He looked on at Celestia, who had already sent a dragon-fire scroll to Twilight, and was waiting for their arrival.
"Discord, I know you're watching. Show yourself!" Celestia demanded.
Discord winced mentally. Was he really so predictable? Then he thought for a moment, and stayed perfectly still. If Celestia thought that he wasn't really there, it would be really embarrassing to catch her yelling at walls! I wonder how many times she's done that... he grinned mentally. Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes Celestia began to blush.
"I thought he would be here. Where is he?" she muttered to herself. "Good thing Twilight should arrive shortly. I probably shouldn't have left Luna alone at the station to wait for them, though. Now that Discord can't mess with the Elements, what could possibly go wrong?"
Discord grinned mentally. Almost everything that can possibly go wrong will do so. he thought to himself. He waited patiently for the Mane Six to arrive, contenting himself to watch Celestia pace back and forth. Soon, Luna entered the room, followed by Twilight and her friends.
"I believe you can tell why I summoned you here." said Celestia, her face grave. "Discord once again roams free, and we must entrap him again. Apparently the reformation didn't work."
"I-I-I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason. The Discord I know wouldn't do this." said Fluttershy quietly. "Right?"
"I don' know 'bout that, Fluttershy." said Applejack. "I always knew he was up ta somethin'."
"Yeah. He never changed a bit!" said Rainbow Dash, hovering above the ground. "We need to find him and stop him, fast!"
"But, what if he's not bad?" asked Fluttershy timidly.
"Uh, Fluttershy? If he's causing all this chaos, how could he possibly be good?" asked Twilight, an unsure look on her face.
Discord's emotions varied throughout this display. Fluttershy's first comment almost broke his heart, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash made him furious. Twilight's comment didn't help, either. It just goes to show how very little they understand me! Discord growled to himself. Dash doesn't think I changed at all! Applejack thought I was planning this all this time, when I honestly attempted to give up chaos for a time! Twilight can't see that I can't just leave my essence behind! he was so angry that he missed the next bit of discussion.
"-eed to get the elements of Harmony!" Discord heard Twilight say as she walked out the doorway. Discord teleported to the place in Twilight's house where the elements were kept.
"What can I do, what can I do..." said Discord, frustrated. Now that he couldn't mess with the Elements, this was going to be a lot harder. "I need to keep them from the Elements. But how can I do that without messing with the Elements?" a smile rose on his face. "I mess with the Bearers! But I don't want to mess with Fluttershy..." his face fell. Literally. He put it back on his head, then smiled again. "I just need to make it so they can't see the elements!" he said, happy again. With a simple snap of his fingers, the Bearers couldn't see the Elements. Discord chuckled and teleported to Celesta's hall. They were due for a chat. He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt the need to explain why he did this to his former fri-Ally! Not friend! he thought to himself. It was disturbing to him that he almost called Celestia his friend. I guess it was pretty fun staying at her castle... Oh, and I just love Philomena. She's a great prankster!
Celestia watched the chaos-changed land from one of her windows, when she heard a cough from behind her. She turned to see Discord standing there, with... somehow, sadness in his expression?
"Celestia, we need to talk." said Discord.
Author's Note
I decided to turn this into an epic tale of massive proportions. Special thanks to Avox for encouraging the idea, and giving advice.
"Discord! You won't succeed!" said Celestia angrily. "This time, you can't mess with the Elements!"
"Oh, I know. But what about their bearers?" Discord asked, grinning.
"What did you do to them?!" asked Celestia in shock and horror, tears streaming down her face as she realized her mistake.
Discord frowned. "I only prevented them from obtaining the Elements. They are safe. Do you really think I could hurt Fluttershy?"
"You never really cared!"
Discord seethed. "I do care! I just can't change who I am! Not even a thousand years, frozen in stone, could change me!"
"I thought a friend could." said Celestia quietly.
Discord felt tears begin falling out of his eyes as well. "I thought so as well." he replied, before teleporting away, back to his throne in Ponyville. He sat there for a while, feeling something missing. He decided to see what his fri-FORMER friends were up to. With a teleport, he was in the library, right next to them, invisible for the moment.
"They were right there!" said Twilight, panicked. "The Elements are gone!"
"Maybe... you misplaced them?" asked Rarity, concerned. "What other explanation is there?"
"I don't know, but we need to look for them! They could be anywhere!" panicked Twilight.
To Discord's surprise, Pinkie Pie was holding the Elements of Harmony on her back. "I have no clue where they are!" Pinkie said, giggling. "They're certainly not invisible on my back while an invisible Discord steals them!"
Everypony stared at Pinkie, confused and concerned, while an invisible Discord stole the invisible Elements off of Pinkie's back. He may not have been able to use magic on them, but he could hold them in his claws. He nervously backed away, before tripping over Pinkie's outstretched hoof and falling into one of Twilight's shelves. Books and dust rained over Discord, and everypony turned his way. He was still invisible, but Twilight and her friends could clearly see his outline from the dust and books lying on top of him, as well as the Elements. They simultaneously made a mad dash for the Elements, but Discord teleported away with a snap. It took him under ten seconds to figure out his mistake. He teleported back in, still invisible, this time behind Twilight. His magic hadn't kept the Elements with him during the transport. They were still sorting out where each element was, so he quickly and quietly took one, the Element of Laughter. Serves her right! How did she even know I was there, and how did she find the Elements? Discord wondered. He was about to teleport away again, but caught himself. He walked out the door, then with a snap of his fingers a giant pit appeared in Ponyville, about a hundred feet deep. He dropped the Element of Laughter at the bottom, then sealed it back up with another snap of his fingers. Opposition was over and done with when he deposited Tirek on the moon, three snaps later. Nopony could stop him now, but he still felt something missing. Back on his throne, directly above the Element of Laughter, he sighed. Chaos was back, and it looked like this time it was here for good, but he couldn't help feeling something missing. He wished Fluttershy was there. There was no denying it, something inside him had stopped him from terrorizing animals, and it was the same part who didn't want to lose the only friend he had ever made. Thousands of years of life, and in the entire time, only one friend? There was a part of him that still hoped that Fluttershy might forgive him, and maybe even help him, in time. He teleported to Fluttershy, who was currently sobbing in her cottage.
"Fluttershy?"
"D-discord? What are you doing here? Why did you go back to causing chaos? I thought I was your friend!"
"I was your friend, and I would like to remain your friend."
"Then fix everything! Remove the chaos!"
"I can't, Fluttershy. I can't change who I am. In my heart, I am made of chaos. Nothing can change that. Would you force one of your friends to be something they weren't?"
"N-no. I just, really thought you didn't need chaos anymore."
"I'm afraid I'm always going to need chaos."
There was a moment of silence. "What are you going to do to us?" Fluttershy asked, fearfully.
Discord's head whipped around, 360 degrees. "I will let you live your lives, dropping in from time to time to say hello. I really am sorry about all this. Make no mistake, I won't mess with you. You taught me friendship. That is a part of me now, and I want my friends to be happy."
"I can't be happy with permanent chaos."
"I... guess I can compromise. I'll create a hole in my chaos. After all, perfect chaos is order." Discord said, while a hole in his chest appeared and grew until it was about the size of his head. He snapped his fingers, and Canterlot returned to normal, and Celestia and Luna were teleported next to him. With another snap, he created a crown and staff for Fluttershy. "Here you go, you are now ruler of Canterlot, non-chaos capital of the world! Sorry, Celly and Woona, you've been demoted. You can stay with me, though. Oh! We could play card games!"
Fluttershy flew off, reaching Canterlot only a few minutes later. Discord had apparently shortened the distance between the two cities. She gulped noticeably, before reaching Canterlot Castle. This was her home now, and it was her job to keep these ponies safe.
Author's Note
I know it's been a while, but I'm writing like 7 stories at the moment. If you read all of them, there'll be an update to at least one of them like every other day.
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Bonus: Alternate Timeline: Life-Afferming Chaos
Bonus: Alternate Timeline: Life-Afferming Chaos
THIS IS NOT PART OF THE ACTUAL STORYLINE AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY
"Hey Discord, I found a book I think you would like!" said Fluttershy cheerily. Discord had been about to teleport to the top of the roof and begin a new era of chaos, but Fluttershy came in just when he was about to leave.
"Ok, I'll try it." Discord said, picking up the book. He didn't seriously think he would read it, or like it, until he read the title. "Life-Afferming Chaos? What sort of a book is this?"
Discord grinned, staring at the shocked expressions on the ponies' faces. A moment ago, three unicorns were on a trip in a hot air balloon, when suddenly a miscast spell punctured it and it began to fall, very quickly. They were doomed and about to die, when they impacted the river they were flying over... that was suddenly made of jello. They bounced a few times, but ultimately were safe.
"T-thank you, Discord! You saved us!"
Discord grinned. "Oh, it's a little thing I learned called life-afferming chaos. I get to use my chaos, and you get to survive otherwise deadly events! Everybody wins!" with that, he teleported out to save the next unsuspecting ponies.
In Canterlot, Celestia and Luna suddenly found ponies trying to raise money for... Discord?
"Send for the Elements of Harmony. I honestly have no clue what's going on." said Celestia, blinking.
Twilight and her friends arrived, panicked. "Princess! What's going on?"
"Discord is receiving donations from ponies. I want you to find out why."
"Couldn't you just... ask?"
"I haven't seen him all day!"
"Um... I might know why." said Fluttershy timidly. "I gave him a book about life-afferming chaos. It's a theory where beings who want to create chaos use the chaos for good, instead of for evil. It's a novel, centered around Discord himself, and he might have taken it to heart."
"How does it work?" asked Twilight and Celestia simultaneously.
Fluttershy shrunk back a little in response. "Well, he creates chaotic events to save lives, for instance if a pony were to fall out a window the street would suddenly turn into a giant mattress. If somepony were about to be killed, the weapon turns to party streamers, or a kazoo. Basically, random chaos saves lives."
"How does that explain the donations?" asked Celestia.
"Ponies feel thankful to those who save their lives. In fact-" what Fluttershy was about to say was cut off by the rioting crowds outside.
"WE WANT DISCORD! WE WANT DISCORD! LONG LIVE KING DISCORD! LONG LIVE KING DISCORD! DOWN WITH THE DIARCHY!"
Celestia and Luna's jaw dropped. In just one day of performing kind acts, ponies already wanted him to be ruler?... What did that say about life under the Diarchy's rule? At that moment, Discord teleported in. "I've saved my daily quota of souls... What's going on out there?" he asked when he saw the riot. When he heard their chants, his jaw dropped and he blinked rapidly. "Never in my life did I ever imagine such a thing could be possible without my corruption..." he snapped his claws together. "As they say, "Hell hath frozen over!""
In Tartarus...
Tirek shivered in the cold, blinking in surprise. "Well, look at that, Hell's frozen over!" he laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day."
Author's Note
Credits for the idea for this alternate ending go to Dan_s Comments and his story Cultural Artifacts .
Fluttershy sat in her throne, nervous. Very few ponies obeyed her rule, and telling them that Discord had put her in charge didn't help. She was doing the best she could, and managed to get almost a hundred ponies on her side. They were all housed in the palace, using the powers Discord had granted her. She had discovered them gradually, from the ability to spontaneously create food to the ability to return to her throne when in danger. The latter had been discovered after a group of unicorn nobles reacted negatively to her claim to the throne. Fluttershy may not have been outgoing, but she was smarter than she was given credit for. She quickly realized the advantage in controlling the castle, and the throne room in particular. She gazed down at the dozen ponies that slept inside the room with her and sighed. The five guards she had recruited were very good at protecting her, but she was afraid that even they could be overcome by the thousands of Discord-hating ponies inside. She also had a few medics, a dozen or two nobles, but a majority of her subjects were common ponies, including Pony Joe. A few children even joined her! Most ponies only joined her for the free food, but at least two of the guards were there to protect her because she was the current ruler, even if her right to rule was debatable. As a leader, she had functioned fairly well over the last month, uniting a hundred ponies under her rule, and keeping the castle free of enemies while taking in ponies who wanted to join. She heard a knock on the doors to the palace, and she answered it politely and quietly.
"H-hello? Is anypony there?" she whispered, opening the door. In front of her, she noted with a squeak, was several hundred nobleponies and their servants, with Prince Blueblood at the front.
"We wish to talk to the False Queen, Fluttershy. Go and get her, servant. Now!" demanded Blueblood rudely.
"Oh, my... You're speaking to her..." Fluttershy whispered.
"We demand that you surrender the palace, and all who dwell within, to me. I am the true ruler here, as the closest living relative of the late Princess Celestia."
"Oh, but she no longer rules, and the new ruler of Equestria, Discord, rules now, and he appointed me ruler of Canterlot. Also, she's still alive, and you're not really her relative, Prince is just a title."
"She cannot be alive, she would overpower the False King Discord if she was alive! A False King cannot appoint a new ruler, and the title makes me her relative. Now, surrender before we are forced to attack! I would rather not get my hooves dirty." Blueblood haughtily demanded, his head practically vertical.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that. I can't let you hurt my subjects." Fluttershy responded in a slightly louder tone of voice, but still quieter than most ponies talked usually.
"Then we will have to take it by force. Servants, attack."
With that, the Nobles' servants combined their telekinesis to keep Fluttershy in place, while a pegasus Royal Guard stabbed at her with a spear. Fluttershy squeaked, closed her eyes, and vanished in a flash of light. Discord, who was currently at Ponyville, felt his ward activate and teleported to just outside the throne. He looked in concern at Fluttershy.
"Are you okay? What happened this time?" he asked, genuinely worried for his one and only friend's safety.
"I-I d-d-don't think I'm o-okay." Fluttershy shuddered. "S-s-something is w-w-wrong..." she gasped out, clutching her chest painfully. Discord snapped his fingers and checked her vitals, finding no heartbeat. He quickly realized what had happened when he saw a rock in place of her heart... He turned towards the ponies, some of whom had been awake, some of whom were waking, and some who had just come in, including Blueblood.
"WHO LEVITATED A ROCK INTO WHERE HER HEART WOULD BE WHEN SHE TELEPORTED BACK HERE?!" Discord roared angrily, and physics began to warp around him. The ground began to disintegrate beneath him, and particles swirled around him. His eyes went white, and his entire body was the very image of rage.
"I arranged it." Blueblood declared proudly, head still in the air. "She was only a commoner, and she obeyed you. She deserved it. And if you're all powerful, why don't you just bring her back?" he asked arrogantly.
"Even I can't bring ponies back from the dead, that's why I never killed anypony. Death is no fun." Discord shook himself, rage building. "YOU KILLED HER! MY ONLY FRIEND! YOU'VE ONLY PROVED THAT I CAN'T CUT YOU ANY SLACK AT ALL!"
His rant was interrupted by titters of laughter from the stupider nobleponies, upon the mention of him only having one friend. The wise ones began to look afraid, and attempted to shush the others, hoping for a reduced sentence that would not come.
"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! FOR FIVE SCORE, DIVIDED BY FOUR... NO, THAT CURSE WOULD BE TOO LITTLE. I BANISH YOU TO TARTARUS FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!" Discord roared. With a snap of his fingers, Canterlot was empty, and Tartarus was full. Only Discord was left, sobbing over the dead but unmarred body of his only friend. "Oh, I'm so, so, sorry Fluttershy. I can't help feeling that this is all my fault, and I could have prevented this somehow." he snapped his fingers, and the rest of the Mane 6 appeared in front of him. "She's dead, killed by the nobleponies of Canterlot. May they rot in Tartarus." he said with a growl.
The Mane 6, or Mane 5 now, cried for a while over their dead friend, ending in a group hug. Finally, Twilight spoke what they were all thinking. "C-c-couldn't you have done something to prevent this?" asked Twilight, tears streaming down her face.
"I thought my teleportation ward would have been enough. I probably could have, if I had not been so short sighted." sobbed Discord. Then an idea struck him, and he stopped crying and stood up straight. "What would happen if I were to become un-chaotic while stoned by the Elements?" he asked determinedly.
"You would probably break free. You would lose most of your power over chaos, but you would retain your immortality and non-chaotic powers, including teleportation and ordinary magic, but you couldn't warp physics any longer." responded Twilight, unsure where this was going. Her head was cocked ever so slightly to one side, attempting to guess what was to come.
"I want you to freeze me in stone. I'll come out when I'm done needing chaos. Try to keep the garden as orderly as possible, okay? I should be immersed in order. Maybe I'll finally find out why you love it so much." Discord chuckled.
"We can't do that without an element of Kindness. With F-fluttershy dead..." Twilight had to choke back a sob as she mentioned Fluttershy, nearly bursting into tears again. "Speaking of that, we need to b-bury her." Twilight could not hold back her tears, and she remained crying for the next minute. Discord attempted to comfort her with a well placed paw on her back. Surprisingly, it was still attached to her body.
"Then I'll just have to wait until you have one. However, I should wait away from ponies, so I don't accidentally cause any more pain. The moon's looking pretty good this time of year!" Discord said, and was about to snap his fingers to create an umbrella and sunglasses. He stopped just before his fingers came together and sighed. Only for Fluttershy, he knew, would he be willing to give up everything. Why did I have to wait to learn that until she was dead?! he asked himself mentally, giving an audible sob. "When Fluttershy's funeral is ready, a letter would be appreciated. S-she was my only friend..." Discord whispered trembling slightly. His voice grew stronger with his next statement. "You will have semi-immortality, all of you. It will... run out, after a time, but it should keep you around for a good six or seven centuries. Hopefully, you can find a Kindness by then. The first thing I'll do on the moon is set up a ward that will drain my ability to perform chaos, that will be broken by me becoming orderly. Send for me when you have a new Bearer."
With his final sentence, Discord prepared to teleport to the moon. He was stopped by Twilight, asking a question: "Discord, why are you doing this?" Twilight asked, still uncertain.
Discord stared at her, a determined look on his face. "Because it's what Fluttershy would have wanted." he whispered softly, before turning around. One snap later, and he was on the moon, and Equs was returned to normal, with only three differences: Fluttershy was still dead, the Nobleponies were still in Tartarus, and Discord was sobbing on the moon next to a rock with his chaos-sapping spell.
Author's Note
I'm sorry I killed her... pleasedon'thateme... I had to for the plot...
Two of my stories are on the moon now. Kind of strange, really.
Discord had finally stopped crying. He knew that now he had to find a way to make himself less chaotic. How to do so? Practice ordering things. Discord began carving out a straight line with one claw. He began sorting rock from largest to smallest. However, this was quite boring. Especially to Discord. It wasn't working. I'm sorry, Fluttershy. he thought, tears dripping down his face. I just don't know what to do. Then he realized that his memory of Fluttershy was keeping him from being chaotic when he was about to let loose! He had a new idea of how to help himself: remembering Fluttershy. He began carving Fluttershy's name into the rocks around him, over and over again.
----------One Month Later----------
Discord had just finished writing Fluttershy's name 31,415,926 times when a letter appeared in front of him, sent by dragon fire. He opened it and read it aloud.
"Hello Discord, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle. We have finished preparations for Fluttershy's funeral. Come now if you're ready. No news on new Element Bearers yet.
Your Friend? Princess Twilight Sparkle"
Discord sighed, snapping his fingers and teleporting away. In an instant he appeared in the castle's throne room, where Twilight was waiting. She walked him out to the funeral, which only Fluttershy's real friends were attending. No prissy, stuck-up nobles or those who wanted to get closer to Twilight were there, it was just a quiet sob between friends.
"Fluttershy was my first friend in Cloudsdale." Rainbow Dash sobbed. "I stood up for her during our school years, protecting her whenever anypony tried to bully her. I only wish I could have been there to protect her when she needed it most."
Discord flinched. Rainbow Dash's words reminded him that if he had been more careful, he might have been able to save Fluttershy.
"I loved spending time with Fluttershy. Our trips to the spa were simply divine. She was so helpful, some of the designs for my best dresses were ideas she came up with. If she wasn't so shy, she could have even become a supermodel!" Rarity cried softly. "I wish I could have had just one more trip to the spa with her."
"I'm not a pony of many words." Big Macintosh rumbled. "So I'll be short. I was planning on asking her out on a date not a month before... Well, we all know what happened." he glanced at Discord, and Discord winced. "I should have asked her sooner."
"There aren't the words to describe how I feel." Applejack said simply, holding her hat over her chest with her eyes closed. "I miss Fluttershy. She may have been shy around most ponies, but around her friends, she was the sweetest thing!"
Pinkie Pie looked unusually deflated. "Death is the only thing that's not fixed by a party. Fun has no place in Funeral, I don't know what the ponies who created the word were thinking. Funerals are meant to remind ponies that life is all too short sometimes, and we should have fun while we still can."
"I don't feel that a pre-written speech is appropriate at this time, and I can't improvise very well. I just want to say, I miss Fluttershy. She was one of my first friends." Twilight said, pulling her friends into a hug.
Discord sad there for a while, even after everypony else left. This was directly his fault. With a sigh, he teleported back to the moon. This time he began carving Fluttershy's face into the rocks. I will never forget. he promised himself silently.
Author's Note
Sorry it's been so long, I have writer's block for this story right now.
I suck at speeches.
Discord had an idea. After carving Fluttershy's face into rocks had gotten boring, he got a master plan, a plan to keep him occupied for hundreds of years. Fluttershy's face would be carved into the moon so large that ponies from Equestria could see it, and so detailed that a telescope could see every contour just as it had been in Fluttershy's life. Discord remembered her with that much detail. Discord began his project, carving it out one claw at a time.
Twilight frowned. She thought she saw an unusually dark dot on the moon, but it was probably just her imagination. She hoped it was, if the moon was being destroyed by chaos it would mean that Discord had failed. No matter how much Twilight hoped Discord would reform, she didn't really believe he could do it. She went to bed, exhausted from her daily struggles in keeping Equestria together.
Discord continued his project, scratching the rock one inch at a time. For years, he scratched out his pattern, imagining the result in his mind. He would finish this by himself, the only important thing he'd ever done without magic.
After centuries of work, Twilight stared up at the moon and recognized the image on the moon. It was Fluttershy's face! Tears of joy and sadness glistened on her face as she smiled up at the celestial object. Fluttershy would be remembered, she would never be forgotten. Discord was still keeping his promise.
"I hope you succeed, Discord." she smiled. "Fluttershy would be proud of you."
Discord heaved a sigh. After a thousand years, he was finished. Fluttershy would be remembered forever. He felt a wave of euphoria wash over him, and wondered.
If this is how great it feels to do something with your own limbs, instead of resorting to magic, what else have I been missing?
Another thought came to him.
If I hadn't followed along with the silly plan to reform me for a little while, I would never have discovered friendship. If I had never learned about friendship, I'd still be stuck in stone with nothing to do for all of eternity. I haven't done anything useful with my powers of chaos in my entire life. This is the first useful thing I've done in my entire life, millennia of living and the only useful thing I've done is create a single monument?
Suddenly, it hit him, and he spoke out loud to himself.
"I hearby swear to never use my powers of chaos again to do anything that I could do by my own efforts, and to do my best to make up for the millennia of time I wasted."
He knew now he was ready. With a snap of his fingers, the world shifted, and he appeared in Equestria once more.
Author's Note
UGH! Writer's block hits hard. Also, I feel like the quality of my work is degrading. I'm not satisfied with what I've written. I think that when I have more time on my hands, I'll redo this entire story and make it better. On the bright side, we're almost done!
