Could Have Been

by cartuneslover19

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Discord, Slice of Life, Sad, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 3118

Harmony has been restored in Equestria and all the ponies are happy and enjoying themselves, glad that Discord is gone. However, one certain pony pays the stone-imprisoned creature a visit, feeling the need to tell him there's more to life than

Harmony has been restored in Equestria and all the ponies are happy and enjoying themselves, glad that Discord is gone. However, one certain pony pays the stone-imprisoned creature a visit, feeling the need to tell him there's more to life than chaos.

After all, how many of us had assumed Discord would receive the same fate as Nightmare Moon?

Prequel to Discordant Feelings.

Cover image by me, cartuneslover16 from Deviantart.
http://cartuneslover16.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d514b5d

Published 2012-12-19 06:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-19 06:50:01 UTC

What could have been...

This was something I created a long time ago, long before I decided to make Discordant Feelings. I'd like to give a special thank-you to 142 with an 8 for suggesting I post it. It's great to put something new after such a LONG time. :D
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Good ol' Canterlot...

Twilight admired the surroundings of her old home as she walked down a cobble path filled with busy ponies at every corner. She decided to go for a walk by herself while her friends were enjoying Canterlot in their separate ways, promising to meet up at Spike's favorite donut shop for lunch.

Yes, they had been in Canterlot before during the Galloping Gala...not a great experience for them the first time but that was behind them now...

This week had been a little tiring, with having saved Equestria...again.

The events of that chaotic day ran through Twilight's mind more than the words she read off her precious books. Emergency...Discord...elements...friendship...hope...victory...

Though that second to last one, Twilight almost lost hope in ever restoring harmony. But thanks to her dear mentor showing her every note she sent to her, about the importance of friendship and being together, that brought Twilight back to her senses and she immediately went back to pursuing bringing her brainwashed friends back together and using the Elements once again.

And they did it. The power of their friendship was too strong for Discord to ruin.

The memory of Discord sent a shiver down Twilight's spine as she recalled how he nearly won, how he nearly ruined all of them in his little game of chaos and disharmony. Twilight pained a bit as she remembered what he had done to her friends...

Applejack lying...Pinkie Pie angry...Rarity greedy...Fluttershy cruel...and Rainbow Dash being disloyal...

And Twilight herself...she almost believed that she didn't need friends, and that living in Ponyville was no place for her anymore. She almost went back to Canterlot...she almost gave up...

Almost.

Now harmony was restored and her friendship was intact. Everyone in Equestria, as well as Ponyville, was grateful for their strength and bravery. Twilight did feel embarrassed about all the praise, and she had been so overwhelmed when the princess had made a special glass window of her and her friends defeating Discord. Princess Celestia promised to secure the Elements of Harmony more properly in her castle, promising Twilight and her friends they could wear them for fun for a special occasion next time.

Right now, since they were in Canterlot, it was time for a well-deserved break as she and her friends just enjoyed Canterlot. No doubt Rarity would be visiting the best boutiques while Pinkie Pie would be visiting the best candy stores. Twilight had visited a few book shops, wanting to see if there were any new classics she could have delivered to Ponyville. Oh, how she loved reading...

The unicorn had been much in thought that she hadn't realized where her hooves had taken her. She blinked a few times before seeing where she was.

She was in a garden. A very familiar garden.

Twilight winced a bit as she could recall what exactly this garden held as she slowly walked down the well-trimmed grass and bushes. Apple Bloom and the other fillies recently had a field trip here, after they had their field trip...

Twilight looked up as she passed a statue which represented Victory. Then she passed another which represented Friendship; she liked that one. She passed from one statue to the next, admiring the concept put into chiseling them just right.

Finally, she stopped in her tracks as her eyes became focused at a certain statue before her.

"Hello, Discord..." Twilight said as she gazed up at the familiar stoned face before her. Her voice carried neither bitterness nor hatred. Instead, her voice was calm, steady, almost friendly...And the look she gave the Discord statue was an expression of wonder mixed with slight concern.

Of course the statue would not reply to her, though Twilight half-expected Discord to pop out from wherever and give her a teasing smile while playfully taunting her with his riddles and dramatic monologues. Twilight just stood there and gazed at the statue, not sure what to do. She and her friends had defeated Discord, turned him back into stone, not much for him to do now except just be a statue in a fancy garden while ponies gazed at him with either humor or disgust.

But the way Twilight looked at him...it almost seemed...remorseful.

But why would she feel sorry for someone who caused nothing but chaos and suffering for ponies everywhere? Why would she sorry for someone who nearly destroyed the bond she had with her friends? Why would she feel sorry for him when it was her whom Discord had messed with the most?

Feeling a bit tired on her hooves, Twilight sank down on the grass and laid there, simply gazing up at Discord, a bored expression now visible on her face.

"Still think you can make chaos now?" She joked half-heartedly, her expression becoming dazed as she rested her cheek against her hoof.

Her friends would think she was crazier than Pinkie Pie if they ever saw her talking with a statue, let alone one that was Discord himself. Twilight wasn't sure why exactly she just laid there and looked at it, almost trying to whip up a conversation with the statue.

She had been staring at it for so long, she almost fell asleep. Shaking her head a bit, Twilight just gazed at the statue.

There Discord stood, his body of many creatures, standing tall and powerful...

...yet he looked scared.

Twilight raised a delicate eyebrow as she finally took notice of the expression of her old enemy. Sliding on her stomach a bit, she came closer for a better look.

Sure enough, the expression on Discord's face was something Twilight never assumed she would see in someone as playful and chaotic as Discord.

Fear. Fear was plastered on his face, that expression which had been turned to stone along with the rest of his body.

Suddenly, Twilight's ears lowered a bit as she averted her gaze from the sight of Discord.

What was wrong with her this instant? First she was just dully gazing at Discord, proud of herself for having defeated him, now she suddenly felt a little...bad?

Felt bad for what? He nearly destroyed Equestria! He nearly destroyed harmony and friendship! He nearly made Twilight fall into a depressed, lonesome, colorless unicorn with no friends...

But yet...

The unicorn slowly lifted her violet eyes and gazed at Discord once more. The look on his face...he looks so scared...and so sad...

"What are you being sad about?" Twilight asked aloud, gazing hard at the statue. "You've had your fun with your little cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain and making houses fall like a stack of cards." She stood up on her hooves as she walked closer to the statue, inspecting it more closely. "Well, buddy, you should have seen it coming!" She couldn't stop one of her hooves from tapping firmly at the stoned chest of her enemy.

Twilight's eyes widened a bit as she slowly backed away, placing a hoof against her lips. She groaned as she turned on her heel, not wanting to gaze at the statue that was making her look like a fool. "Great..." She muttered. "I'm talking to a statue! Way to have common sense, Twilight..."

She sighed before she turned back toward the Discord statue, becoming slightly annoyed. Good thing no pony was around.

"Okay, since I am talking to a statue, I'll just say the stuff I had been wanting to say to you," she said fiercely as she gazed at Discord. "You can't ruin harmony! You can't ruin friendship! And no ones messes with my friends!"

Silence. Again, Twilight half-expected a comeback, anything like maybe a practical joke or a chuckle from her enemy. But the scared expression on the statue's face remained.

Twilight sighed again as she sank a little on her hooves. Her expression softened, though she still gazed hard at him.

"I know putting practical jokes on ponies is fun..." She said more softly. "Trust me, I know a certain pony who loves doing practical jokes..." She couldn't help but chuckle as she rolled her eyes. "But still..." She looked up at Discord's face. "The jokes you did on us...they were wrong and you knew that, no matter how funny it was..."

Again. Silence.

Twilight sighed again. "But I guess that's just you..." She told the statue. "I mean, you are the spirit of chaos and disharmony. It must be what you were always meant to do..."

She gazed up at the statue's face, her violet eyes focused directly on those stoned eyes that were once yellow with red pupils. Gazing at them for so long, it almost felt as if Discord was looking back at her as well.

"But that doesn't mean you have to do it," Twilight said softly.

If Discord were back in the flesh, he would have flinched at her statement.

"Discord..." She spoke carefully to the statue, as if somewhere deep in that stone prison he could hear her. "Dear Discord...even though I was proud of myself that me and my friends stopped you..."

She lowered her eyes a bit, her eyelashes drooping sadly. As ridiculous as she appeared, talking to a statue like this, what needed to be said needs to be said.

"Deep down, I felt guilty..." She said quietly, almost too hard to hear.

Discord would have been shocked at her honest words, wondering why the hay she would feel guilty for defeating him, the spirit of chaos and disharmony.

"Well, I don't feel guilty for stopping you from harming Equestria," she said quickly, clearing her throat and trying to sound formal. She dropped her posture and gazed at the statue sadly. "What I do feel guilty for is...well, this..."

And she lightly tapped a hoof against Discord's stoned chest, making a slight thump with every tap. Discord would have been annoyed by that.

Twilight lowered herself on her hooves, raising her head high as she continued gazing at him. "Maybe you didn't really deserve to be turned into stone again, after having just been recently released. I bet you just missed being outside that stoney 'home' of yours and having fun pulling pranks of ponies that you took your freedom to heart and wasted no time in creating disharmony..."

Suddenly, she sniffed. Her eyes widened at the shock that her nose felt a bit stuffy...from what? No way in the hay was she crying!

Was she?

She immediately got an answer when she felt something wet run down her cheek and she saw her tear fall onto the grass. She groaned in frustration before she whirled toward Discord, her violet eyes blazing.

"See what you did?" She said, her voice cracking on account of she really was crying. "Even when you're stone you're making me suffer!"

She gazed hard at Discord for a few long seconds...then her expression softened to that of regret and overwhelming.

"Maybe I do have a reason to cry for you..." She sniffed, wiping a hoof against her cheek. "I'm enjoying myself with my hooves on the ground...and you...you're just here being in a garden..."

She gazed around the garden. Nothing but statues and plants. Not much for Discord to see if he could actually see with those stone eyes of his...

Twilight sighed again, lowering her ears. "What I'm trying to say is..." She muttered.

She looked up at his face again. The scared expression forever on his face. That look of fear everyone would always see when they saw him. Reminding Twilight of what she had to do to save Equestria.

"Even though you were evil, malicious, disrespectful and so on..." Twilight said. "I did see a little goodness in you..."

That was the truth, and if Discord really did hear that, he would be a complete loss for words.

Twilight scuffed a hoof against the ground, feeling her cheeks darken with so much embarrassment from being completely honest with Discord to realizing how long she had been talking to a mere statue. She was so glad her friends or Princess Celestia were not around to see her like this.

She sighed again as she looked up at the statue, her violet eyes sparkling with sadness. "I know you can't hear me..." She said quietly. "But I just want you to know..."

She gulped a bit, lowering her head, allowing her mane to cover part of her face the way Fluttershy's mane always covered hers. Finally, she raised her head up and gazed at the statue once again.

"Even though you've done wrong..." She said. "I did have hope that maybe I could help...and we...maybe we could have become...friends..."

Discord would have just scoffed at the thought of being friends with a mere pony. But Twilight, honest and true, she meant every word.

When she brought back her friends from the powers of Discord and summoned the Elements of Harmony, Twilight wanted to use the power to not only stop him but maybe knock some sense into him.

But all it really did was turn him back into stone. Like the first time.

In a way, that wasn't fair. What was turning him back into stone going to help in anything? While all the other ponies were glad Discord was back in his stone prison, Twilight felt her heart ache that such a punishment would be inflicted on him again.

If she truly had it her way, she would have held out a hoof to Discord, despite his reluctance, try and show him that there was more to life than chaos.

That there was friendship. She and Discord could have become friends...

Could have ...

Twilight gazed sadly at Discord, his scared expression now making her want to cry a river. She wanted to cry for him; she just felt so remorseful right now. Maybe she didn't use her element right...

Twilight sniffed before suddenly realizing how long she had been out here in the garden. She gazed up and looked at the sun dial and gasped, seeing that she was nearly late meeting her friends for lunch.

She quickly turned on her hooves, intending to run. But then she turned her head and looked back at the sight of Discord.

All alone...scared...not realizing someone did actually care for him...

Twilight sighed sadly before she galloped off, and out of the garden.

However, she was not going to to meet up with her friends just yet.
_

Twilight panted and huffed as she entered the garden, something red and sweet-scented dangling from behind her ear as she made her way back toward the Discord statue.

"I'm guessing you thought I'd never come back..." She joked half-heartedly as she wiped her forehead. "Well, I thought maybe..." Her voice trailed off.

No words to describe what she wanted to say as she gave a deep breath. She used her magic to remove the red rose from behind her ear. She had ran all the way to the flower shop and purchased it quickly before returning to she garden.

Ever-so-gently, Twilight's magic slowly allowed the delicate rose to descend in front of the Discord statue.

For the first time since she came to the garden, Twilight smiled, her violet eyes sparkling as she looked up at the statue.

"Consider this a token of my friendship," she said smoothly before she turned back and casually walked out of the garden.
_

Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof against the table impatiently, wondering where in the hay Twilight was.

The five ponies and Spike were inside the lovely donut shop, their table covered with assorted treats of colorful donuts and cinnamon buns and such. The only thing that was missing was their dear friend Twilight herself.

Pinkie Pie's stomach growled, her lips practically drooling at the sight of the wonderful treats before her. She wanted a donut so bad, but she didn't want to start eating until Twilight arrived.

"Boy, where can Twilight be?" Applejack asked aloud. "She should have been here half an hour ago."

"You think she's alright?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"She probably needed to do some last-minute book scoring at some shop or whatever," Rainbow Dash huffed, her stomach growling.

"Well, there are such things as being fashionably late," Rarity said delicately. "However, I'm feeling oh-so-very peckish, I wish she would arrive fashionably late a little early."

"My tummy needs sweets!" Pinkie Pie groaned, rubbing her growling stomach.

"Join the club," Spike muttered impatiently, fingers barely touching a sprinkled donut in front of him.

The bell of the door tolled and all heads turned with smiles of joy. "Twilight!" They exclaimed happily.

"Aw, you've been waiting for me?" Twilight cooed playfully as she strolled into the shop and sat between Spike and Applejack.

"Twilight, where have you been?" Rainbow Dash laughed, her hoof reaching toward a chocolate-covered donut.

"Oh, just exploring," Twilight chuckled as she used her magic to feed herself a sprinkled donut. "So, how are you guys enjoying Canterlot?"

"It's great, Twi," Applejack said, "sure is better than our last visit."

"Don't remind me," Rarity muttered.

"Want something to drink?" Applejack asked Twilight. "Milk? Tea? Apple juice?"

Twilight smiled to herself, giving her selection some thought. "Hot chocolate would be fine."

"Oooh! Hot chocolate!" Pinkie Pie squealed. "Reminds me of the chocolate rain we used to have before we went and took on Discord and-"

"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "It's been said and done. So can we please just eat now?"

"Way ahead of you!" Pinkie giggled before she grabbed a bun and shoved it into her mouth.

Twilight gave a nod to Applejack as she was given her selected drink. Using her magic to stir it and adding a few marshmallows, she raised it up, smiling as she gazed at it. "Here's to you."

Fluttershy took notice of her toast as the unicorn sipped her hot chocolate. "Who are you toasting to?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, uh..." Twilight chuckled nervously. "To...myself...to us. You know, us, friends. Toasting friends."

"Aw, that's sweet," Fluttershy said with a sweet smile.

"Sure is!" Applejack added as she raised her drink. "To good friends!"

The others cheered in agreement before raising their drinks. "Good friends!"

Twilight smiled to herself, simply gazing at her half-empty cup. She closed her eyes, simply smiling as she raised her cup once more. "To good friends..." She said before sipping it once again.

He and Twilight could have been great friends.