The World At Your Fingertips: Discord Speaks
Hello there.
Goodness, you’re jumpy! Yes, I know you’re there. Surprise! Well, not that the look on your face wouldn’t be delightful to make fun of, but I need to ask you a question, and you don’t need to know why, capeesh?
If you could have anything, absolutely anything, by just snapping your fingers, what would you do with this power?
No, this isn’t a trick question. Come on, just be honest—what would you do?
Hmmm.
There’s a lot of you out there, so I suppose it’ll all be different. Oh, I’m sure some of you would try to be noble about it and end world hunger or some equally corny mush. Bah. Oh well, I suppose if the power was yours, you could do whatever you wanted with it. Others would immediately save their families from hardship for the rest of their lives. Maybe some of you would even at least consider saving the forests, or the school system, or whatever it is that needs saving wherever you’re from.
But, that wouldn’t be what you did with your first snap, would it? Admit it, your first snap would be for that thing you wanted, no matter how pure you consider your heart.
Don’t feel guilty, stupid, it’s only natural. What is it—a book, a flashy toy, a zillion pizzas? Whatever it is, it’s what you want, yes? Something to hold, or something to eat, or something you can sense immediately. And I’m telling you that you shouldn’t feel bad about this.
Like I said, it’s only natural.
Of course, some of you won’t move beyond that to what others call ‘higher things’. You’ll just keep satisfying your petty wants and needs, or your friends’ petty wants and needs. Big screens, shiny cars, more food, beautiful females—need I go on? It’s just for you. And why shouldn’t it be? You can save the whales later, but you don’t get a chance to try hibernation every day, right?
Well, you actually could at this point. Just a reminder.
You see the possibilities, don’t you? Why, you could even follow in the footsteps of that weird purple-faced thing that seems to be popping up everywhere these days!
Because you’re idiots and want to see if it really works.
Oh, begging your pardon, but you will do it. You’ll probably regret it, but don’t worry. Just snap again, and everything will fix itself.
Ha. You’ll probably try this several times now, yes? That’s fine—just remember to erase any long term effects. It’s hard to do when you have a power that depends on the present moment.
Will you keep this new power a secret? Share it with every creature you see? Either way, it won’t matter—people will find out. They always find out about these things, one way or another.
What then, hmm? Simple—you find you like this. You can have whatever you want, do whatever you want, be whatever you want. For once, life is perfect.
And hey, if life is perfect, why not make it last? Why not make it go on a while?
Forever, perhaps?
It’s easy enough now. Just a slight muscle movement. Voila! There you go!
So, what would you do now?
Hmmm, a year’s time? I’m going to guess you go a bit further, if possible, in whatever endeavor you choose. If you were trying to keep this whole thing a secret, sorry, it’s already leaked out. Hey, it happens. But that’s fine! People love you now—or they pretend they do at least, and hey, isn’t that just part of popularity? You can make their lives better, after all! And if you like them, it’s easy. The catch is you’ll have to deal with those that come to you begging, or bribing, or even threatening for your power. How you handle these is your choice—I really don’t care.
But I’ll just tell you now—whatever you’re snapping for at this point, you’re going to want more.
And more. And more.
Now it’s been ten years. Now twenty years. A hundred years.
You probably start getting fidgety before this point. Oddly enough, everything doesn't seem to be enough anymore.
You start becoming more...creative with this power. You figure out where balloons go when they float away. You explore the bottom of the oceans. You raise a tank of goldfish that grow into dragons. You dance with the little folk a few times just for the heck of it.
Will that be enough? I doubt it.
Two hundred years. Five hundred.
You go to space and race comets. You turn into a chameleon and live out a lifespan in the furthest reaches of the rainforest. You find the secret of life, play the history of the world backwards and forwards again, rearrange your whole genetic system so many times it hurts, reimagine the whole concept of food, make yourself an army of living volcanos...
And it still won’t be enough. Not for you. Not anymore.
One thousand. Twenty thousand.
You’re bored. And you’ve been bored for a long time. Dear me, you’ve done it all, how could you not be bored?
Oh, I fancy it will be about this point, if you are really a very good person and haven’t come to this point already, that you began to realize the only limits left to break are your own.
Yes. The ones you have given yourself, or that have been ingrained into you by society or family since you were born. The unbreakable things.
Oh, you probably won’t start breaking them altogether—not at first. Just...a little pushing back the limits here and there. A bit of bullying, leaving muddy boots on the couch, so what? You’re not stealing, or selling drugs, and you certainly haven’t killed any creature!
But you will.
Three hundred thousand years.
You’ve learned and perfected the art of creating war. People are trying to stop you now, if they haven’t already. They talk with you, they try to kill you, they beg, they ignore...
You see how pathetic this is, don’t you? What, exactly, do they think they can do? What do they think they can offer? You’ve had everything—you’ve been everywhere.
Who are they to even look at you?
It’d be humorous if it wasn’t so annoying.
You could get rid of them—in a variety of interesting manners. But, that’s no fun at this point.
So, why not just...change them?
The mind is fragile, you’ll find. It’ll take a few times before you master controlling the minds of others so they do what you want without breaking them altogether, but what’s a few minds less? You’ll find a way to fix them...if you even want to now.
And now, everything is right. You’re recreating the world—a world you want, a world where what was impossible becomes possible, a world were myth and fact are blended together in a beauty swirl of color and magic, a world where no one has to die...oh, need I go on? It’s glorious, glorious!
And everybody loves you. You’ve made sure of that.
Oh, that’ll get boring too, by the way. You’ll let a few minds be themselves to hate you. It’s more interesting to be hated than to be loved after a while.
You’re staring at me in horror. No I wouldn’t, not ever! Is that what you’re thinking?
Trust me—whoever you are now, whatever you hold dear now, I guarantee with this power, none of that will matter. If all the scum claiming to be friends following you around like lost puppies or the pressure of your ability or even the pride at some misconception of achievement doesn’t crack you first, the boredom will.
Whoever you are now, I have no doubt of what you’ll become.
Chaos.
That’s right. Me.
You seem so down at the thought! Don’t be that way! It’s loads of fun once you get there! You have no self-imposed rules! No worry or care about others! No limits whatsoever! Why, it’s all nothing but one party to the next, a ball of never-ending entertainment and satisfaction!
But, now thinking about it, I should warn you about a little something.
There will be moments, oh maybe every hundred years or so, when you’ll stop everything. Make the world you’re created freeze, become completely still like a painting.
And you’ll sit there, staring at nothing, and wondering such strange things. Things no sane person even considers.
Like...what would happen to your perfect world if you suddenly died.
Or whether or not one of these days you’ll just wake up and find your power was nothing but a dream after all.
Or how long you’re going to keep up.
Or if anyone would really miss you if you did leave.
Strange, I told you. Don’t worry—they’ll pass quickly.
They’ll find some way to stop you. I don’t know what it’ll be or when it’ll happen, but they’re determined, and they’ll find a way.
I suppose they might find a way to kill you, finally. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Or, they might trap you so you can’t escape despite all your matchless power. Or, you know, torture. Depends on what lot of creatures you find yourself with.
You may not see this coming. You may see this coming, then try and fail to stop it.
But, you may see this coming and do nothing. You let it happen. Because at least it’s something different, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Ahem. JUST SAYING, if you’re trapped, it won’t be that different for long. So flipping move out of the way, idiot.
Trapped. Oh, it might as well be torture. Staying in the same place every day, every hour, every second. WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS, ANYWAY!!!???
You’ll probably only have your thoughts to entertain you now. Useless plans of revenge will come first, then just dumb tricks that would be fun to pull if you could just do something.
Thoughts of those days gone by. You’ll miss those pizzas.
The strange thoughts will come more often here. And they’ll be harder to get rid of.
It’s hell, pure hell. Does that word make you flinch a little? WELL, I don’t care.
No one cares about you without power.
No one.
Is there hope for me at this point? What do you mean by that? You could escape at some point, you know...
Ah. You are talking about something different, aren’t you? About what you’ll become with this power, is there any hope for that person?
You creatures seem to think you’d deserve hope at this point, or need it. Trust me, if you ever go there, things like hope for your own self won’t be own your mind.
Ugh, don’t leak like that! Fix your eyes, before they drip out of your head! What are you...?!
Fine. Fine—sheesh, you have an overly active imagination.
Hmmm...let’s just say there’s a chance for you have hope. I can see about, oh, three possible paths of hope.
You could change yourself. With time to cool down, you might decide it’s time to remember who you were before and turn back. Of course, you’ll still be trapped, but hey, at least you’ll have a clear conscience! You might decide to abandon this power and return to a normal life when you finally are free.
Ha. Not likely. But it’s a might, at least.
Or, even less likely, someone might have pity on you. Someone might find it in their hearts to forgive you, or at least talk to you with respect. You’ll hate them for it, of course. But maybe seeing that someone cares for you who is not under your control will cause you to care about them. And this care, in time, will help you learn compassion and respect toward them. You may decide to change for that creature.
But you probably won’t.
Then, the least unlikely of all, someone may choose to take action on the pity they have for you. As in, they actually pity you enough to do something about your position.
They set you free. Under probation, of course, but better than nothing.
And, you know, your guard might be stupider than most and actually try to be kind to you. You’ll be disgusted by it, but at least it makes it easier to use them. I mean, if you haven’t learned a thing or two about manipulation at this point, you’re even duller than they are, am I right?
Exercise a bit of patience, put a bit of a show for them, and when the right moment comes…freedom! True freedom, at last! You’ve come into a position you can actually have your way again! You can do whatever you want again! It’s time to put things back the way you would have it, finally!
And yet...
And yet...
Suddenly, you don’t want to anymore.
Why? What’s happened to you? To you, of all creatures?
Is it because this dumb creature actually calls you a friend—really and truly calls you their friend, like no one’s called you in years without your intervention? So sincere, so naive... it’s warm, isn’t it? And bubbly. It tickles.
Is it because for some reason their kindness has awakened a sense of trust in you? Trust...trust you threw out cynically when those lines of scum started wiggling their way into your life back when you first obtain world shattering power. But somehow, now you trust them now. Trust that they mean what they say, and that they’ll keep showing you this kindness. Is it possible that you want to be trusted again too?
Or is it because when you look in their eyes you know they don’t see you for who you are, or who you ever were?
When you really look into their eyes, it’s not the you you know inside, is it? It’s you, of course, but different.
When you look into those eyes...you see what they believe you could become.
Does it unnerve you? You’ve done it all. You’ve been everything. What more could you possibly become?
Is it...frightening, almost? Unnerving. Unimaginable. Unexplainable. Unpredicted. Unreasonable, even.
But something inside, something you thought you’d killed off years ago, tells you it’s true.
This creature. They see it, even if you can’t.
You haven’t, they say without words, become everything you could be yet.
Because you haven’t become the best You yet.
And that’s okay. It’s okay because they’re willing to help you. Becoming the best you is too hard to do alone, even for a person who’s moved solar systems by just snapping their fingers.
You’ll need someone else. Maybe a few someones, people—or ponies—who are willing to stay by you until you figure it out. It won’t be easy, but it’s alright to take baby steps. Baby steps—until you can walk, and walk until you can fly, and fly until you make it.
They’ll help you make it there. That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?
Impressive that just two eyes could say so much. But, it’s all there. All they want you to know as they know, all they want you to feel the way they do, all they wish they could show you...
A friend’s eyes.
They’re terrifying.
You deny. You’re perfect the way you are! How can you become more than perfect?
Besides...what kind of fool would be willing to do all that...for you? Surely—
Oh, but there’s something else.
Something inside feels different. Something inside want to see for yourself if what they’re saying without saying could be possible. It could be interesting, at least, right?
So, now you have a choice.
You can have what you want, or…
You can have something better than that.
What will you choose? Honestly, how should I know? I may be amazing, but I’m obviously not you.
Figure it out—really think about what I’ve told you, and then decide what you would do. You’re the only you there is, after all.
But...if you ever head that way...and if you’re ever given that chance…would you think about taking the advice of the one who’s already done it all?
It’s better. It’s better to at least try.
I...I’m not the draconequus I saw that day in my best friend’s eyes. Not yet. But I’m not the draconequus I used to see in the mirror everyday for thousands of years either. Heh, just look at me. I’ve come further than I actually thought was possible, with a little help from a few special friends.
And I know I’m loved. Even if my power fell between my fingers, I know that I’ll still be loved unconditionally by those few, dear friends I have. What’s a world compared to that?
And it’s better. It’s not always fun, but it’s better this way.
…
…
...I can’t believe you actually pulled that out of me. Forget that last part.
Go ahead, just forget it. I can wait. I really don’t know why I cared if it helps you or not at some point...
Whatever. I’m already late for a tea party, so just thank your lucky stars I thought you worth my time. Toodles! Oh, by the way, I left a little bug for you. Hope you enjo*&###%%
*Error. Reload the page and try again.*
Author's Note
Thanks for reading!
As I said before, I really don't know where this came from. I was just typing, and there it was. It's not what I usually write. Admittedly, it kind of scared me as I wrote it, so that's why the Dark tag is here. I don't know. I'm not even sure if it can properly be called a story. But here it is, and since you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed it.
I haven't seen the new stuff in Season 9 yet, so I don't know if what I wrote contradicts. But somehow I don't think it will.
These thoughts are the ones I personally felt Discord might have every once in a while. I guess we all have similar moments. I can't imagine him ever coming out so clear about them in the actual show, even (or especially) with Fluttershy. But, it was fun to write about. He's a funny creature, but also kind of scary.
I'm glad the show gave him people who care about him. He's really become someone special, hasn't he?
