The Cruelties of Friendship
Left with Nothing and Nothing Left
Roaring reverberated throughout the simple cottage. Angry foot stomps made the floorboards quake loudly. A lion paw slammed down onto a nearby coffee table, smashing through it completely.
"NO FAIR!!"
The bitter words were spat out by a seething Discord, who was currently tearing through the tiny cottage home. He threw out his left arm and his talons caught onto the drapes. He raked them down the flimsy fabric, the hissing of the ripping fabric only adding to the draconequus's aggravation.
"No fair! No fair, no fair, no fair, no fair, NO! FAIR!!!"
He reared onto his hind legs and slammed his front legs down onto the small couch, bits of cushion and wood flying all around as it gave way to Discord's force and broke.
"YOU were the one who made me get into this 'friendship' nonsense! You! You and those other mares! All of you!" Another roar left his muzzle and Discord rammed his shoulder into the railing of the stairwell. The wood splintered and burst from the force. His large tail whipped around and slapped the hanging paintings off the walls. He grabbed a chunk of the broken couch and threw it hard against the wall, sending it sailing out of one of the windows and shattering the glass.
He then directed his feet to stomp into the kitchen and Discord set his claws onto the cupboard doors.
"So I behaved!" He chucked a ceramic bowl over his shoulder and made it shatter against the wall behind him. "I was being good!" A dinner plate soon followed the same fate as the bowl. "So that I could KEEP our friendship! I actually wanted to KEEP something not tangible!"
Frustrated with the speed of his destruction, Discord embedded his claws and talons into the wood of the cupboard and held it overhead, shaking out the rest of the dishes it contained.
"AND FOR WHAT?!?!?!?!" He roared the words and sent the cupboard sailing through the kitchen and exploding at the corner of the kitchen's entryway.
"I had your friendship! I even apologized for my betrayal with Tirek! It was genuine! And I meant it as much as I meant it when I gave Twilight that jerks amulet! And here you go, doing the very same thing!"
Discord stomped back into the living room and sees that Celestia is standing there in the entryway, her ethereal mane flowing even slower than normal. Her face was set in a pained frown as she took in the destruction of the cottage. The draconequus let out a loud groan and promptly sat himself on his flank, his eyes looking dull and cynical. "What are you doing here?"
Celestia didn't move from where she stood and spoke gently and carefully. "I came to see how you were doing, Discord."
Discord let out a derisive snort through his nose and widely rolled his eyes. "Never better. Why, I'm the freaking epitome of perfection right now. Happy as a clam. Good as gold. Right as rain. Whatever analogy you want to use, I really don't care."
He waved a dismissive paw through the air and kept looking at everything in the room except Celestia. She let out a sad breath and regarded the hurting creature. "Discord...At least go and see her."
".......No." The simple word was spat out bitterly. Was he telling Celestia "no"? Himself? Or maybe...
"You know she would want you to."
"Well, I guess she won't mind it if I just stay here all the same."
"Discord..."
"I mean, how much can she mind if she's dead, right?"
"Discord..."
"Can't feel much of anything if you're deader than a doornail."
"Dis--"
"SHUT UP!!!"
Discord punched a paw through the floorboard and grit his teeth in a growl. The sudden commotion made Celestia flinch back a bit but she remained stationary.
"Just...shut your muzzle!" His nostrils flared as he snorted out a puff of hot breath, eyes and brow furrowed in an angry snarl. "Don't tell me everything's going to be okay! Because it's NOT! Fluttershy's GONE! DEAD AND GONE!!!"
Discord had gotten up on all fours, teeth bared and ears flattened against his head. Slowly, he advances towards Celestia, as if aiming the blame on her. "There's nothing 'OKAY' about any of this! If she was sick, why didn't Fluttershy tell anypony?! Why'd she let this get out of hoof?! The animals would've been JUST FINE out in the rain!!"
Celestia remained with a sad and calm expression, even as the angered master of chaos angrily locked his antlers with her horn. "Why didn't you do something to help her?!?"
His seething question was forced through his teeth in a bitter whisper. She felt his breath hot against the bridge of her nose. And still Celestia never wavered. Not even when she saw the raw hurt in Discord's red yellow eyes. He was unaware of the heavy tears pouring forth from them.
A stinging lump formed in Celestia's throat. She hadn't seen such raw display of emotion since...."Discord. We did everything we could to save her. You know this. You were there...right beside her." She felt the hot prick of tears welling up behind her eyes but continued on.
"Every. Pony. Tried, Discord. You know that."
Discord let out an angry snort and pushed away from her, disengaging their horns and pacing amidst the debris. He stopped at a damaged photo that he had crunched under his talons and brought it up to eye level. It was a picture of Fluttershy and Discord. He had been helping her with her animals that day, and the newly hatched baby ducks had climbed all over him. He had a deadpan expression while holding his arms out like a scarecrow, and Fluttershy...was laughing. Happily laughing. It was the first time he had tried helping her with something other than a friendship problem. There were a few false starts but eventually, Fluttershy had gotten all of her animal friends to trust him enough to let Discord get near them.
"W-Why...", he panted in a low whisper. "Why give me something...so nice as your friendship...when you were gonna turn right around and leave me...leave me all alone?"
Discord sat up on his haunches, still grasping the picture in his claws. He didn't acknowledge when Celestia slowly came up beside him, as he remained looking to the photo.
"You gave me something...I didn't even know I wanted, until...until you gave it to me. You gave me friendship. Companionship. Unrelenting kindness. You gave me fun times, wonderful times. And all without using underhanded things to anypony, or even asking for anything in return. But...in giving me these lovely things...these menacing...priceless baubles known as 'memories'...you also took from me my loneliness."
Discord sniffed loudly, wiping his nose on his arm as he cradled the image in his claws. His body was numb to the comforting wing of Celestia as she draped it over his shoulders. His voice began to crack as he went on.
"How dare you...reduce the very master of chaos...to such...a pathetic mess. So kind, so forgiving...and yet, you were the cruelest thing to have happened in my life."
He could no longer hold his composure and Discord threw his head skyward, emitting a long mournful wail as he unashamedly let his tears fall. It was the saddest sound the princess had ever heard in all of her thousand years of living, like that of a great dragon sobbing out to the very heavens. Celestia bowed her head, the glow of her long flowing mane dimmed and silently wept against Discord's shoulder.
'You were the cruelest thing to have come into my life....for you were my...very best friend...'
