Goodbye
A purple alicorn stood in silence, lost in thought in her own little world. She was in her bedroom – the highest room of the crystal castle in Ponyville: Her bedroom. Bed sheets were tangled and tossed haphazardly, strewn partially on the floor and books and papers littered the small room. A testament to the grief contained within the walls of the small, lonely room. The mare wore a plain black dress. Light and airy but heavy with a weight not its own. Bloodshot and puffy eyes stood in stark contrast as they stared at her from the mirror she sat before. Twilight Sparkle took a deep, shuddering breath.
There was a flash of light from behind her and a pop and suddenly she wasn't alone.
“It's almost time,” came a familiar, deep voice. Twilight turned, and her eyes widened.
Discord stood just inside her door, for once in his life his mismatched hooves sat firmly on the floor. He wore a suit a similar sombre shade to Twilight's dress, and a single yellow flower in his dark purple top hat.
“You're usually more subtle with your entrances,” Twilight noted, the corner of her mouth just barely twitching upwards before falling back into a neutral line.
The draconequus opened his mouth with a rebellious glimmer in his eye, no doubt thinking up some witty comeback, but then shut it with a click. “Only when I'm trying to give somepony a fright or two,” he said eventually.
Twilight frowned. “She never was one for a scare, was she?”
“No, she wasn't,” he agreed, looking up to the rim of his hat. Twilight followed his gaze to the yellow daisy stuck to the side.
A thick silence descended upon the room, and it felt as though any attempt to break it would be in vain. Eventually, Discord spoke; “It's funny, in a way.”
“Hmm?”
“Nopony wants us to be sad,” he said, his tone slow and measured. “They always tell us that they're never gone, so long as we remember them. And they're always smiling when they do, no matter how much we cry. I-... I've never cried before, Twilight. Not until... not until she said goodbye.
“Today is a day of goodbyes, and yet we'll always remember the real one. The one where she said goodbye to us.”
Twilight tilted her head, and the tears snaking down her face were mirrored on his. When he didn't say anything more, she started. “I saw her just a day before. She smiled the entire time I was there. I tried to give her one as well. I tried so hard... but I couldn't. Until I was leaving... I had grabbed my bags, and promised her I'd be back in a day or two. She stopped me, and asked me to smile for her. I cried, then, but I smiled for her. A true, genuine smile for her. She thanked me, and I left, and I cried all the way home. I knew then that I wouldn't be seeing her again.”
“I... I went see her that same night, after checking on her animals,” Discord said, his voice fractured like a shattered mirror. “She told me that it was a good thing I was getting along with you girls. She said...” he paused, and turned his head away. “She said I'd need somepony to keep and eye on me after she was gone. For the first time in millennium I cried. I've seen so many ponies die, Twilight. So, so many ponies. But she...
“Fluttershy was the only one who ever cared about me. She cared about me right up until the very end, more so than herself, sometimes. She showed me kindness in a world I thought too cruel for compassion to grow. I thought the blooming of friendship fostered weakness. I was so wrong for so very long. My entire life was changed by just one pony too bullheaded to accept that I didn't want to change...”
“And now she's just... gone. Just like that.” Twilight finished for him, and despite the tears she smiled as she took his claw in her hooves. “We'll get through this. Together.”
Discord returned her impossible smile. “Friends make you stronger, right? Fluttershy wouldn't want us to cry for her. She'd want us to be happy. To celebrate the life she lived, the great things she did.”
“Carry on, but never forget,” the alicorns stated firmly. “Come on; we should be going.”
“Wait,” he called suddenly, stopping Twilight before she could take more than two steps. When she turned to ask what he needed, she was silenced as he leaned down and wrapped her in a hug. Tight and gentle yet fierce with emotions new and unfamiliar to the God of Chaos. “Thank you, Twilight. I know this is harder on you than it could ever be on me.”
She smiled and returned the hug, tears already drying into her cheeks. “What are friends for, right?”
“Right,” Discord agreed as he slowly released his hold. Without further hesitation they made their way out of Twilight's room and to the spiral staircase. Just a few steps down and Discord grinned, hiding his talon behind his back as he snapped his fingers. All at once the stairs dropped away from beneath them and formed a makeshift slide all the way to the bottom.
Twilight had started off screaming, but by time they slid into the main lobby of the castle a grin was splitting her face and her laughter filled the air. “Maybe I should have a proper ramp installed,” she noted happily as with another snap the stairs rose up through the crystal.
“A little chaos every now and then is good for you. Just ask Pinkie Pie,” Discord said with a laugh of his own.
“If I didn't know any better I'd say the two of you were related,” Twilight agreed. Together the two of them left the castle, Discord once again hovering through the air as though he had not a care in the world.
Though they headed for the funeral of Fluttershy, bearer of the element of kindness and a dear friend to both of them, they smiled. What better way to honour a pony as compassionate as her than to spread a little kindness of their own, even if the pain of her passing still tore at their hearts.
Author's Note
Just a little something something. Honestly I had this written out for like... a year, I just never knew how to end it. I decided to just cap it here and put it up, because I like it being short and self-contained.
Comments go below, yeah?