Fluttershy knocked at the door softly, and looked around the purple void, a bit apprehensive.
For some reason, Discord hadn't been in contact with her for a few days, and she was starting to get worried.
Ever since that whole fiasco with the villains coming back, it seemed like he had distanced himself from the rest. It was really strange, and it started scaring her once she realized he had missed their planned tea parties twice in a row.
Something was wrong. He'd usually go there happily and willingly, sometimes even when Fluttershy had forgotten, or when he was busy himself.
She knocked again softly, hooves tapping on the soil in apprehension as he still wasn't answering the door.
She knew he was there. She had asked everypony around, and nobody had seen him. She could only assume he was in his house.
After knocking a few more times, Fluttershy, worry getting worse and worse, cleared her throat, and took a step back, puffing up her chest and wings. "DISCORD!!! ARE YOU THERE???"
Right after having yelled that, she thought about how maybe she screamed too loud, when she heard her voice echo through the void. Ah, hopefully she hadn't bothered anypony else around.
Suddenly, the door opened, and from there came Discord, looking very pale, glum and disheveled. "Ah, you're a persistent one. Why are you here? Don't you have… pony things to do, or something…"
Fluttershy already felt a bit better seeing him, although his complexion looked awful, and quickly she felt bad again. Poor guy. What happened?
"I was worried! You haven't responded to my letters, and you've missed our tea parties! I was scared, I thought that maybe something happened to you!!"
Discord stayed silent and sighed. "Well… I guess… it's normal that you would care…" he mumbled. "Don't worry, I'm fine. You can go now." He then added, and motioned to close the door.
On impulse, Fluttershy flew and blocked the door, squealing in fear. "No!!! Please don't go!!!" She squeaked, and Discord stopped to look at her, before sighing and letting her in.
"Whatever…" he mumbled, and as she walked in his living room he went to lay on the upside down sofa, face flat on the cushions, almost like he was melting.
"Oh, Discord, why do you look so sad? Did something happen? Please tell me, I'm really scared, I don't want you to stay here all alone while you suffer!" Fluttershy said as she flew to him and sat on the bottom of the sofa, as she didn't have gravity powers like Discord.
"You should know… it only happened recently after all, and you were there…" Discord mumbled, and Fluttershy thought for a second, before she realized.
"Oh! Is it because of what you did, with the villains?!" She asked. Discord nodded, and Fluttershy brushed her hoof against his fur. "Oh, don't worry Discord! It's okay! We won against them! That's all finished now, you don't have to feel bad!"
Discord groaned, and, still melting, rolled down on the walls and flattened himself on the floor. "Maybe that's what you think. But the others still hate me for it…"
Fluttershy flew down and sat next to him. "What? Really? But…"
"It's only fair. I guess I deserve it. I did something horrible… even you were shocked when you learned I was the one who started all this." Discord mumbled as he melted a bit more.
Fluttershy thought for a second. "Well, that's true, but… I did do some thinking after it happened, and… I don't think it was your fault. Not entirely, at least. It's not like you knew they were going to take your powers. You were only doing this because you thought it was the right thing. You thought it was normal. Right?"
"Mmh…"
She brushed his fur softly with her muzzle and hummed. "I'm not mad at you. Don't worry."
Discord's face got red at the contact, and he vibrated and contorted vigorously, before taking his normal shape again.
"What about the other girls? They've been avoiding me… I thought, after so long… they'd be past all the dirty looks and angry stares…"
Fluttershy sighed. "Mm, you're right… they never truly seemed to trust you. Not like I did. Every time you came by to help during a crisis, they were always so annoyed…" she mumbled, thinking to herself more than actually talking to Discord. "I guess, since they never trusted you in the first place… when you did that, it only deepened the mistrust they had for you…"
Discord rolled up into a ball, literally, and whimpered. "Oh… and I thought friendship was supposed to be fun…"
Fluttershy's heart could only break when she heard him say that, and she whimpered, laying down next to him and hugging him. "Ohhh, no, Discord! I'm so sorry! Friendships are supposed to be fun! If it isn't fun for you, that means it's not a good friendship, and you have to fix the problem!" She said softly, and he un-balled himself to hug her back. "But how can I do that if they won't even talk to me?" He asked, and she thought for a while.
"Hmm, well… I guess I could go talk to them myself? I'll go to each of them separately, and try to understand why they don't trust you. And then, I'll fix the problem, and you can all be friends again, okay?"
Discord nodded. "I guess so…"
"Well, I know so! We became friends with changelings, pirates, monsters and all sorts of villains like, uhm-" she hesitated and mumbled hopefully this won't sound too rude, I'm sorry, "-a giant shadow pony, a brainwashing cult leader, and the right hoof woman of a dictator! If we all became friends with them, I'm sure a god of chaos is no biggie!"
Discord smiled softly as she said that, and chuckled. "Well, I guess that's true. Thank you Fluttershy. You sure know how to cheer up a draconequus."
Fluttershy smiled at him, and took his paw.
"Don't worry Discord. We'll fix your friendships! And now, we should go and find them!"
The first place they teleported to was to Spike, in Twilight's castle in Canterlot. He was in the middle of unboxing bags and boxes, as Twilight was still in the process of moving and was a bit too busy with her work to unpack herself.
The sudden teleportation made the dragon jump and squeal in surprise, but he quickly got back on his feet when he realized it was just Discord and Fluttershy.
"Oh, Celestia almighty, you guys scared me! Why'd you teleport right in front of me like that!?"
"Oh, sorry Spike! We didn't mean to!!"
"Ah, it's okay Fluttershy." He let out a huff as he patted his chest to calm down, and then regained his composure. "So, uh, whatchu want? You here to see Twilight?"
Discord was about to say yes, but Fluttershy quickly cut him, knowing seeing Twilight right away wouldn't really be a good idea, and she shook her head. "Oh no, actually, we're here to see you, Spike!"
"Oh, really? What's up?"
"Well, it's a simple issue, really, uhm…" she hesitated and stuttered, trying her best to find the right words. "Well… do you… feel any hate or uhm, anger, towards Discord?"
Spike shrugged. "You want my honest opinion?"
Discord nodded vigorously, and Spike chuckled. "Not really. I mean, sure you can be a bit annoying and all, but you're my bro, y'know, I would never hate you!" He said, and Discord sighed in relief.
"Oh, thank you Spike, it makes me happy to hear you say this."
Spike cocked his head in confusion, and leaned back. "What's going on? Why'd you ask me that?"
"Uhm, well…" Discord stuttered, and looked down at Fluttershy in panic.
"Oh, uhm, Discord has been feeling a bit sad lately. Because of uh, what he did, back a few weeks ago, with the villains."
Spike's eyes widened and he nodded. "Oh! Yeah, I do remember." Then he waddled over to Discord and tapped whatever was in his reach - his left foot, to be precise - and smiled. "But I don't hate him for it, not at all! I know he meant well. He's done things like these in the past. And he felt bad and apologized in the end. That's what really counts, right?"
Discord's eyes grew in size as they filled up with tears and then exploded like water balloons, as he lifted his hand to take a giant tissue to blow his nose, and then crumple it up in two pieces to make new eyes.
"Oh, Spike! You're the best friend I've ever had!"
He then leaned over Fluttershy and batted his eyelashes. "Except for you of course, pretty pony." Which made Fluttershy blush and giggle shyly.
"Alright. Now, who's next?"
"Oh, are you going to see everypony to ask them the same thing?" Spike asked, and the other two nodded. "Yes. Hopefully, everypony will be as understanding as you were, Spike." Fluttershy answered.
"Neat! Can I join? I feel really tired, I don't want to open boxes anymore, pleaaase!!"
"Already slacking off, Spike? I left only 5 minutes ago!" Twilight's familiar voice said behind them, and Spike squeaked.
"Oh no, it's just, I- uhm!!" Spike stuttered, and Twilight laughed. "No I'm joking, don't worry Spike. You can take a break."
She then turned to Fluttershy, curious and happy, wings fluttering in her back.
"Oh, Fluttershy!! I'm so glad you came to visit!!" she said happily, leaning in to hug her. "Sorry for the mess, I'm still in the middle of unpacking right now."
"It's okay. Uhm, would you mind uhm, talking for a while? We came here to see you for a reason." Fluttershy asked, and Twilight nodded. "Of course. What's the issue?"
"Well…" Fluttershy looked at Discord, and sighed. "It's about Discord."
Twilight squinted, looking a bit apprehensive. "What about him..?"
"TWILIGHT, DO YOU HATE DISCORD??" Spike screamed immediately, and then placed a hand on his mouth. "Ah, whoops, sorry, I got nervous."
Twilight's eyes got a bit wide in surprise, and then looked at Discord. "Of course not. I don't think I hate anypony. Hate is a very strong emotion."
"B-but… are you perhaps still upset at me for what I did, when I pretended to be Grogar and… unleashed all those villains on Equestria..?"
Twilight sighed, and looked down sadly.
"Well… yes, and no."
"What do you mean, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, I definitely was upset for a long time. I did feel very angry at what you did, Discord. I felt betrayed. And… I think you noticed I avoided you for a while." She pouted a bit. "But holding a grudge is not a good thing. I'm a princess. I'm supposed to find ways out of conflicts, right? Well. I thought about it a bit more and I… I think I might have been upset simply because I didn't understand you. And now, I want to understand. I don't want to feel upset anymore, see?"
Discord and Fluttershy smiled softly, and Spike giggled. "Aww yeah!"
"I… I'm sorry for what I did, although I think you already knew that… not sure about the rest of the girls, though" Discord started. "I already explained it briefly when it first happened, although… the shock might have made it hard to remember, so I'll explain again. I did it because… I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought that, if I got many villains together, you were strong enough, and would be able to fight them all, and feel better about yourself. Like we did with Sombra, no? When you finish a task that you thought was impossible, isn't it just the greatest feeling? I know that the way I act isn't always… normal. But I assure you, I did not want to harm you. I only had good intentions, even if in the end, it didn't go at all how I had planned. I just… I just thought it would help you…"
Twilight stayed silent for a few seconds as she thought. "Hmm… I see." Then she smiled. "Well, it makes sense. We all make mistakes, and well, for somepony as powerful as you, who has only been taught about friendship recently, it's normal, in a way, that you wouldn't always know how to act in certain situations."
Discord sighed and nodded. "Yes. It is hard to understand friendship sometimes."
"I think my first royal decree will be that, for now on, you will be living with Fluttershy, and she will be your personal friendship teacher. Seeing how understanding she was of the situation, more so than myself, and so willing to help you, I think that she'll be a great teacher."
Fluttershy squeaked and blushed a bit at that praise, and Discord smiled. "Well, that sounds quite fun. I already love visiting Fluttershy's cottage, after all."
Then he extended his paw to Twilight. "Thank you for understanding me as well, princess. I promise, I'll do my best to not make these mistakes anymore."
Twilight pressed her hoof to his paw and shook it. "It's no problem Discord. It's the least I can do, as the princess of friendship and of Equestria, to make peace with my friends."
Then she looked around and sighed. "Well then. I have to get back to my duties. Who will you be visiting next to apologize?"
"I was thinking about Pinkie." Discord said, and Fluttershy smiled. "Yes, I was thinking that too. Then, maybe Rarity, Applejack, and then Rainbow Dash?"
"Sounds good. I hope everything goes well." Twilight said, and then trotted off back to where she had been to keep working.
"Alright! Let's go!" Spike exclaimed, and the three teleported away.
Somehow, Pinkie had already guessed everything. They barely had to say anything, and already she was blabbering about the whole thing, that she knew they were here to talk about it and apologize, and had probably already talked to Twilight, and how in hindsight, the event was quite fun, and that she loved their adventures, and that she didn't care much about what Discord did because he was a funny guy and she liked funny people.
Sometimes Fluttershy wondered if Pinkie was a psychic or something.
With that simple visit out of the way, they then had to move up to the more… difficult ponies.
Fluttershy loved her friends with her whole heart, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't realized that Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had always harbored a deep mistrust of Discord from the very beginning, no matter how much work he put in being better.
Trying to convince them would be hard.
"Apologize? Apologies mean nothing! Who's to say he won't do it again?!"
Rarity didn't even look up from her sewing machine as she said it, so sure of her words she didn't need to stop and think about them.
"He's always been so… sneaky. How can you possibly trust somepony who's done all the things that he has?? He's a pest." "But Rarity! Don't you see just how sorry he is? He really is trying!"
Rarity turned around and placed her glasses on the counter, looking at Fluttershy in the eyes. "Fluttershy, darling. There are some things that simply can't be excused. He will never change. Not now."
Fluttershy was starting to get a tiny teensie bit annoying, right now.
Never change? Everypony made mistakes. It just so happened that his were dangerous, but they were mistakes nonetheless.
"Would you have said that to the you who read a book and was corrupted by its magic and hurt many ponies trying to make the world "beautiful"? Or the you who abused of her friend's generosity by making them work so much and so late they missed the play they wanted to watch? Or the you who pretended to be somepony else, somepony who didn't even know us, just so you could make friends somewhere else?" Fluttershy said, and Rarity froze.
"W-well-"
"You made mistakes. We all did. So why can't he be forgiven, when you were? Especially since he wants to be?"
Rarity stayed silent, a shameful expression spreading across her face.
"Fluttershy, I…" she started, and then looked at Discord. "I'm sorry Discord. I didn't mean… I didn't mean to say hurtful things like that. I simply… I should have thought before speaking, I'm terribly sorry!"
Discord smiled, content, and tapped her head. "Oh, that's quite alright, lady marshmallow. I accept your excuses, and I'm happy that we can come to a peaceful conclusion."
"Marshmallow?" Rarity asked, and Spike giggled. "Well, because you're soft, and sweet! Like one!"
Rarity hummed proudly, and tilted her head. "Oh, Spikey-Wikey! You flatter me too much!"
"Alright. Now to go see Applejack." Fluttershy said. "Do you know where she is, Rarity?"
Rarity's mood suddenly seemed to sour as soon as she was asked that. "Oh, she's probably with Rainbow Dash. They've been hanging out a lot these days."
Discord chuckled. "Oh my, are we feeling jealous?"
Rarity's face flushed, and she scoffed. "W-what? No?? Jealous of who?? Of Applejack? And why would I be, b-because she hangs out more with that jock than with me? N-no!!"
Fluttershy looked at Discord and chuckled, and Spike sighed.
"Well. The least I can do is help out." he mumbled, and left Discord and Fluttershy to go talk to Rarity about crushes.
"Well, while that's that, let's go to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack is probably there." Discord suggested.
"Are you two coming with us?" Fluttershy asked, and Rarity nodded. "In a minute. I need some time to think about… personal things."
When the four of them teleported to the entrance to the farm, it gave a slight surprise to Big Mac, who definitely wasn't expecting them to arrive right here, especially not arguing about whether or not Rarity had a secret crush on his sister Applejack.
"Ah, these girls are always so energetic…" is probably what he was thinking as he shook his head and carried on with his work, although definitely lending an ear to listen in on their conversation, because really, who didn't love a good gossip.
"YEAH YEAH!! LOOK AT THAT, AJ!!" Rainbow Dash's familiar voice taunted from the acres, and the group followed it.
It wasn't hard to find them. Rainbow Dash was zooming across the trees left and right, trying to make the apples fall, but what was mostly happening was just that chunks of leaves along with a few apples kept flying off with her.
"Aw yeah! You see that? I should totally work here on my days off! I'm just so good at this, y'know? And I'm waayyy faster than you!!!" She said proudly as she landed, kicking off some leaves and apple bits stuck to her fur.
"Hah, yeah, tho maybe you'll need some proper trainin' first." Applejack joked, looking with slight worry at the mess of crushed apples and leaves on the ground.
Rarity scoffed. "Oh, you made such a mess, Rainbow Dash! Applejack doesn't need speed, she needs intact apples!" she explained, and turned to the trees, carefully picking the remaining nearby apples with her magic, barely even making the leaves around the fruits move. Then she carried the dozens of apples on the ground in front of Applejack and smiled proudly. "Like this?"
Applejack sighed. "Darn. We really need more unicorns to help. We earth ponies are good with plants and food and all but it's hard pickin' the apples with just our hooves and bucks. Hurts an' stuff, ya know."
She was about to turn to get back to the barn when she realised that Spike, Fluttershy and Discord were here, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh! Hey folks! What's up?"
"Uhm, Applejack..? Could we… speak to you for a second? I hope you're not too busy…" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh nah, it's alright. We're almost done with pickin', so I can take a little break. What's happenin'? Why're y'all here?"
"And why is he here..?" Rainbow Dash added, squinting and eyebrows furrowing with sudden hostility as she stared at Discord.
"Well, for Spike and Rarity, they just wanted to accompany us." Fluttershy stated. "I'm here with Discord because there is an, uhm, an issue that I want to fix with you and him. Both of you."
Applejack lifted an eyebrow. "Oh. That so?"
"Mmhm. It's, uhm, about that time, when Discord pretended to be Grogar, and-"
"Ugh, what? No way dude, I don't wanna talk about that, I got better things to do." Rainbow Dash groaned, and flapped her wings to try flying away. Rarity grabbed one of the wings with her magic and pulled the pegasus back to the ground, scoffing. "Oh, no you don't. Listen to what they have to say first, Rainbow Dash!!" She said, and Rainbow sighed and sat down. "Okay, whatever."
Fluttershy smiled at the unicorn, and then started talking.
"Discord has been feeling very bad for what happened. And he wishes for you to forgive him, and also be nice to him again, because he wants to be your friend." she said softly.
Applejack made a weird, uncomfortable face, and Rainbow Dash laid down on the ground and sighed. "Yeah, as if we'd still wanna be friends with the guy who's been trying to ruin our lives for the past few moons!" She said, and looked back up as Fluttershy kept talking. She knew it wasn't going to be easy. She just hoped it wouldn't start a fight. Since she also knew just how stubborn those two could be.
"He is trying to learn friendship, although he's not the best at it, but he is trying!" she pleaded, and Applejack stayed still, face still as unconvinced as ever.
Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Are you insane, Fluttershy? Why are you taking his side?? He's definitely lying!! He's always lying!!"
"I'm not insane! I know him and he's very kind! He's not lying, and I know that!"
"How do you know?? You're not Applejack!"
“Now, don’t talk about me like I'm not here, RD. I can speak for myself."
Rainbow Dash grumbled and stuttered. "Well, uh- the point is that you don't have any way to know he's not lying!! He's lied before, and he'll probably do it again!!"
Rarity groaned, seemingly getting more and more impatient. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! Can't you at least have some faithin him? He's not the first villain we've helped be better, you know??"
"Ugh. Whatever." Rainbow Dash groaned, and, before anypony could react, she flew away.
"S-should I go get her?" Spike asked, and Rarity shook her head. "No. I think it'll be easier to talk to Applejack now that we're alone. We'll go see her afterwards."
Applejack was silent, looking at everypony one after the other.
"Well, uh… Rainbow pretty much said everything I wanted to say… y'know, lyin' all the time, it ain't really trustworthy, ya know what I mean?" she finally said, and Rarity sighed, about to say something, but Fluttershy cut her.
"You've lied before! We all have at least once! Lying isn't something only he does!" She said, a bit louder than usual, showing her growing frustration.
"Well, that's true. But… when we did it, that was just for small things, nothin' bad…" Applejack said.
"You once lied about Flim and Flam's tonic and it almost hurt Granny Smith because she believed you!! That's not a small thing at all!! That's very bad!!" Fluttershy said, and Applejack froze. "Oh. Yeah. I guess I did do that…"
"And you apologized and we always forgave you! Because that's what friends do! They forgive each other and they trust each other!! That's a part of honesty too!! He's apologizing, he's always apologized! So why can't you treat him like you treat the rest of us??" Fluttershy then added, almost out of breath at the end of that sentence. Ah, wow, she was getting more and more worked up by the minute. This was so strange, this feeling of anger, and of protectiveness towards Discord. Was this how Twilight felt all the time? Talking to people was usually her job, after all.
"Yeah… I… I guess… you're right…" Applejack mumbled, and then took her hat off as she looked up at Discord. "I'm real sorry Discord. I didn't realize you felt that way. I guess… we're more similar than I thought, huh?"
Discord chuckled, and with a poof, an oversized cowboy hat and boots appeared on him, and he made a weird noise. "Heck yeah pardna! That's what a'm ta'kin 'bout!! YEEEHAWW!!!" He then exclaimed and danced around happily. Applejack laughed softly and shook her head, putting her hat back on, and then turned to Spike, Fluttershy and Rarity. "Thanks guys. Didn't think I'd be needin' yet another friendship lesson, but I guess things just be that way, sometimes, y'know?"
The three smiled, and Spike giggled happily.
"It's no problem Applejack!" Rarity said, and then walked up to her and led her away. "Now, about wanting unicorn workers. I think I might know some people…"
Spike waddled to Fluttershy and Discord, and sighed.
"Now, there's only Rainbow Dash left…" he mumbled. "I'm… a bit scared. She seemed really angry. I don't want to start any conflict…" he said. "What about you, Fluttershy? Do you think it'll be okay?"
As he turned to look at her, he saw there was now some kind of different sparkle in her eyes. Something new, something rare, something that… Fluttershy didn't often get in her eyes.
"Ah. Alright, well… let's go?"
"Let's go." Fluttershy breathed, and with that, Discord teleported all three.
When they arrived at Rainbow's house, they found her in the front, probably as she had guessed they'd come here.
"Rainbow Dash! Why did you fly away?" Fluttershy exclaimed, and Rainbow Dash groaned. "Because I had heard enough. And it's all just nonsense!! He lies and he manipulates you!! How can you not see it?? He's a bad person!!!"
"We have helped so many villains in the past! Why can't you just treat him the way you treated them??"
"Because he's different from them!! He's so arrogant and snarky and rude!! He keeps making pranks and jokes all the time and he has no sense of personal space!!"
"That's just his personality!! He's not hurting anypony with those, and we have other friends like that! Would you get mad at Pinkie, since she is also joking all the time and has no sense of personal space??"
"N-no, but that's just wrong to compare Pinkie to this guy!! He's a villain!! Pinkie was always a good person!!"
The more Rainbow talked, and the more Fluttershy could feel herself grow annoyed.
Rainbow Dash, your stubbornness is your worst trait.
"Celestia released him for a reason!! And Twilight trusts him as a friend!! Why is it so hard to understand that?"
"Because I trust my own instincts and my experiences more than lies and deceptions from a Lord of Chaos! A draconequus!! A monster!!! I can't believe you think he's redeemable!! He was set in stone for a good reason, if it were up to me, he would have stayed that way forever!!" Rainbow Dash growled, and then puffed up her chest, letting out a satisfied huff as the three others were left silent and without words.
A monster?
Fluttershy felt her eyelid twitch a little, and her heart beat a bit faster.
She'd rather he… was not ever released?
What about… all the fun times they've had together? All those tea parties. Those adventures together. All the time they spent together, the two of them, talking and laughing…
She really thought that… it meant nothing? That all those times, when Discord was genuinely being kind towards her… those were all lies?
"How dare you??"
Rainbow opened up an eye, curious. "What-"
"HOW DARE YOU?? WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT??" Fluttershy screamed, on the border of tears, yet not feeling fear or sadness but rather anger, confusion and frustration. "How dare you say all that!! Not only just say those things but say them right in front of me!! Right in front of him?!!?" She exclaimed, trotting closer to the blue pegasus.
"You called him rude and arrogant, but you know what I think, Rainbow Dash??? I think that YOU'RE the one who's rude!!! How many times have you acted better than everypony else? How many times have you let your ego dictate how you acted, and hurt your friends because of it?? How many times have you betrayed somepony's trust, because of your own need to feel better about yourself?? How many times have your pranks and bragging hurt somepony else's feelings??" She yelled, and Rainbow Dash's ears flopped down as she scooted back, very much shocked by Fluttershy's anger.
"You know what I think?? I think you're selfish!! You're supposed to be the element of loyalty, and yet, instead of trusting your friend's judgment, you'd rather listen to your own!! And for what?? What does it hurt to just take a leap of faith, and trust us, and listen to us??"
"Well, I-"
"You claim that Discord is a monster. So are you claiming that all those wonderful times I've had with him, of him picking flowers for me, or saving me from danger, or healing and feeding my animals with me, or all those tea parties we've had where he brought the food and entertainment and took care of me like nobody has ever done before, are you saying that these were all monstrous too??"
"Flutter-"
"You know what the difference is between you and Discord? It's that he actually tries. Who knows if it'll work in the end, but at least he tries to understand us and be our friend!! What have you done? Nothing! You never even TRIED to understand his side!! You're not his friend at all, you're just selfish and MEAN!!!!"
And as soon as she said that, she flew off, faster than she'd done before, and Discord and Spike looked at her, also very shocked, although definitely not as much as Rainbow Dash was, seeing her almost melted into the clouds with a very terrified expression on her face.
"Should we…?" Spike stuttered, staring at the tiny speck of yellow flying further away.
"Yeah, let's go." Discord immediately answered, and the two teleported away.
When they arrived at the part of the forest where Fluttershy was hiding in, they found her curled up in the grass with many animals around her, sobbing and sniffling.
"Oh, Fluttershy! Oh no!" Spike said, and the two of them walked up to her.
"Are you okay?" Spike asked, and Fluttershy shook her head.
"I can't believe I said all of that. Oh, I've never been this angry before!" She sobbed. "I couldn't even think or stop, the words just… flew out of my mouth, just like that!!"
Discord went to stroke her mane, and he sighed. "Well, it's okay. Your intentions were pure, that is all that matters, right?" He mumbled, and Spike nodded.
"Do you think… do you think I hurt her? Do you think I made her sad?" Fluttershy asked softly, and Spike shook his head. "Nah, don't worry. She's a tough pony, she'll be alright!"
Fluttershy wiped her eyes and sniffled, and smiled softly as she let a nearby squirrel give her a little nuzzle.
"I guess... but… oh, Discord, the way she was talking about you! Saying all those awful things! It just made me so… angry!" She said, and Discord chuckled. "Ah, well, I've been called worse…" he mumbled, and Fluttershy placed a hand on his paw. "You should never let other people treat you like this! You don't deserve any of it! You're very sweet and kind, and you're the greatest friend I've ever had!"
"Oh, the greatest friend, huh?" Discord joked in a fake, proud voice, and Fluttershy blushed a bit. "Well, y-yes. You treat me in a more… special way than anypony else, I said that before. It's quite nice. It makes me feel safe. Like I'll always be okay when you're here."
She leaned against him and he laid down a bit better so he could curl up around her. Spike, in the meantime, just sat nearby and watched giddily.
"I… I really like you, Discord." Fluttershy mumbled, face now completely red, and Discord smiled and placed a flower between her hair and ear. "I really like you too, Fluttershy." He breathed out and nuzzled against her, and Fluttershy squeaked shyly, which made him giggle.
"Oh, just kiss already!!" Spike yelled out, and then placed a claw on his mouth. "Ah, sorry. I'm getting impatient, sorry."
Fluttershy giggled shyly, hiding her face with her wings, and Discord chuckled. "Ah, maybe later, when nobody else is watching." He said softly, looking around at Spike and at the many woodland animals who were currently staring at them.
Ah, well, thank you Spike, and thank you adrenaline rush, for helping her confess.
"Do you think Rainbow Dash will understand?" Fluttershy added after a few more minutes of silence.
"Hopefully she does. If not… maybe we can ask Twilight for advice." Spike said, and Discord nodded.
"You know, I'm quite surprised that she took it so well. Considering she was usually the main… erhm… victim of my mistakes and lies." Discord said.
"Well. She's a princess of Equestria, and The Princess of Friendship. You don't get that title by simply sitting around doing nothing, right?"
"Yeah, that's fair…" Discord answered, and he curled up a bit closer to Fluttershy, before leaving some place for Spike, who was clearly feeling left out and wanted some cuddles too. And then once all the animals joined in the pile, Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle a bit, and she turned to the two boys. "Thank you. I don't think I could have gotten this far without you. I'm really happy you both stayed with me the whole way. It made me feel more brave."
"It's no problem, Fluttershy!"
"Anything for you, pretty pony…"
The rest of the day passed, and yet, there were no signs of Rainbow Dash.
It was only the day after, at the crack of dawn, that Fluttershy was awoken by a knock on the door.
Apparently, Discord was a very heavy sleeper, as he kept on snoring peacefully, but Fluttershy got up and opened the door, finding Rainbow Dash on the other side.
"Hey Fluttershy…" she said, a sad, pitiful look on her face. "I'm… I'm really sorry about yesterday… I went too far, and… I made you really angry. I didn't really realize just how much this all meant to you, and… you were right. I acted selfishly. I'm sorry."
Fluttershy smiled, and cocked her head. "It's okay. Now, how about you tell it to Discord too?" She said, and then turned to look inside, where Discord was sleeping, floating on a fluffy dog bed with butterfly pyjamas on, and holding a small Fluttershy plushie in his paws.
"Hey, Discord?"
Immediately, Discord woke up, apparently he only could hear Fluttershy's voice, hah, and he slithered up to the door. "Yes?"
"Rainbow Dash wants to tell you something."
He turned to the pegasus, and she sighed. "I'm sorry that I was so mean and judgmental towards you. It wasn't good of me to do so. I'll try to understand you better." She said, and then raised an eyebrow. "But only if you promise to take your friendship lessons seriously!"
Discord saluted her. "Yes! I promise!" and then smiled back. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
And with that, Rainbow Dash was gone, and it left the two alone.
"Do you feel better, now that all your friends have apologized?" Discord asked.
Fluttershy grimaced, and she turned to Discord. "Uhm, I think that's a question I should be asking you, Discord!" She said, and he giggled. "Ah yes, of course. Yes, I feel great!" And then he booped her nose. "I feel even better now that I'm here with you, actually!" He said, and then his expression softened. "Thank you for helping me, Fluttershy. I couldn't ask for anypony better and kinder than you."
Fluttershy blushed, and nuzzled against his hand. "Mmh. Thank you. Now, how about we start our first private friendship lesson?"
"Oh, alright! What is it about?"
"How to clean up animal poop with a smile!"
Author's Note
THE SHOW DID DISCORD DIRTY, HE'S JUST A CONFUSED BABY BOY STOP BEING SO MEAN TO HIM HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT FRIENDSHIP
