Why Can't We Be Friends?
By Ianpiersonjdavis
"Hello, Rainbow Dash!" a cheerful voice greeted.
The Pegasus pony's eyes opened a crack, but widened at what she saw-it was Discord riding a cotton candy cloud, while laying on his back.
Fluttershy trusted him and the others seemed to be now willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. But, Dash still didn't trust him as far as she could throw them-although, if she put her mind to it she could probably send him a good distance. He was the god of chaos after all, he was probably just biding his time until they were lulled into a false sense of security.
"Are you up for a race?" he asked.
While normally she wasn't one to turn down a challenge but, he'd tricked her before in the past and if there was one thing she hated more than losing or someone hurting her friends-it was being made a fool of. Instead of responding to his invitation, she merely glared at him.
His grin turned into a frown.
"Rainbow Dash, why don't you like me?"
"You're kidding, right?"
Discord shrugged, while giving her a sheepish grin.
"Well let's see; you insulted the Princess, turned Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world, turned all of us into jerks, making me abandon my friends, and you totally tried to manipulate Fluttershy!" by the time she was finished, Rainbow was desperately trying to catch her breath.
"You're right." he admitted. "I've done all of those terrible things...and I'm sorry." he added the last part with watery eyes, holding his talon and lion's paw together in a pleading gesture. "Can you ever forgive me?"
She gave him an incredulous look-did he really believe that those two little words would make up for all of the mental anguish and emotional turmoil he had caused not only her friends, but the entirety of Ponyville?
"You're some piece of work, ya know that?" she grumbled, spreading her wings before hopping off her cloud.
Much too her annoyance, her flight path was blocked when Discord teleported in front of her.
"Come now, Rainbow Dash." he added in a condescending tone. "Princess Celestia wanted you to try and reform me, but you never even gave me a chance-surely, not the example one would expect the Element of Loyalty to set."
"DON'T YOU DARE EVER CHALLENGE MY LOYALTY TO THE PRINCESS OR ANYPONY ELSE!" she barked, causing the draconequus to flinch. "And second of all, if she really trusted you and believed that you could be reformed-then why did she cast a spell on the Elements of Harmony so you couldn't take them and hide them again, huh?"
At this point she was flying at a height that made her level to Discord's face.
"Okay, granted that after being turned to stone for a second time I may have been a little mad and turned into a bit of a...wild card, shall we say? Those kinds of precautions made perfect sense-but, now I'm reformed!" he insisted.
"Really?" she challenged.
"Yes, Princess Celestia even said-and I quote;" His face contorted to the point that it was the exact same shap and size of Celestia's and mimicking her voice. "'I sense a great change in Discord.'"
"Yeah," Dash agreed, before butting her head against him so that they were nose to nose. "But, she also left the Elements with us-in case you decide to do something crazy-doesn't sound like trust to me."
"Rainbow Dash..." he sighed, "What can I say or do to convince you that I'm on your side?"
"Why do you care so much about me being your friend?" she challenged, "There's a ton of other ponies in Ponyville-why don't you go bug them for a change?"
With that, she flew off to do some cloud busting, she was so worked up from talking to him she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep even if she tried-besides, she needed to blow off some steam before she made his face look even more messed up than it already did.
===
"What's wrong, Discord?" The kind Pegasus asked, upon spotting the ex-master of chaos sitting dejectedly in front of her cottage.
"Oh, hey there Fluttershy..." he replied, sadly. "It's just that I tried talking to Rainbow Dash today, but she doesn't want anything to do with me."
"Um, well...Rainbow Dash can be a bit stubborn-but, if you give her some time I'm sure she'll come around." she replied, ecouragingly.
"But, all she and everypony else ever sees me as is a master of chaos and they're right...it's all I've ever known how to do-and I've never been very good at making friends."
"Well, friendship isn't just about being around those you like and having fun, it's also about sacrifice-remember? Maybe if you tried helping her out with some things she's having trouble with she'll trust you more."
"Yes!" he exclaimed, picking her up and twirling her around with him. "Fluttershy! That's a wonderfully evil idea you've concocted in that sweet, sweet, little pony brain of yours! I'll gain her trust by doing her favors and force her to be my friend!"
"What? No! Show her acts of kindness, like I did for you."
"Oh." he dropped her. "Well...I suppose that might work, too." he sighed.
===
Scootaloo sadly walked through Ponyville, hanging her head-not only did she fail at another attempt at flying, but thanks to a stupid rock jutting out from the ground she'd lost her balance and her scooter got completely totalled. The only luck she seemed to have today was the fact that she had been wearing her helmet, if not for that her injuries could have been far worse than a few minor cuts and bruises. After the tumble, she felt tears welling up in her eyes, but willed herself not to cry-just in case somepony was watching her-especially not Rainbow Dash.
Discord, who had been hovering upon his cotton candy cloud and musing to himself what he could do to gain Rainbow Dash's trust spotted the disheartened filly below.
She stopped walking when she noticed the sun bathed Ponyville suddenly became much darker. "Great." she muttered dismally. "Now, it's probably going to rain, too..." Looking up, she saw a puffy cloud and her heart jumped in her chest. Was it...pink?
Towering from the cloud above her was an odd creature, that reminded her of the stone statue Miss Cheerilee had showed them during their class field trip to Canterlot. She called it a 'draconequus' and said that it had a head of a pony and the body of all sorts of different things. But, she'd never seen one in person.
"What's wrong, my little filly?" asked the bizarred creature in a sympathetic tone.
Scootaloo could only stand there in a stunned silence at the sight before her, a strange hybrid of creatures, floating atop a cotton candy cloud had just spoke to her and asked her how her day was going...
"I...I..." she stammered at an utter loss for words, and conflicted on what do next. She was pretty sure that she had completely lost her mind and that this was all just some crazy hallucination that she was having. But, on the other hoof...if this was real, she still wasn't sure what do. After all, Rainbow Dash was always adamant that she never talk to strangers-and this guy was definitely strange.
"Oh, were are my manners?" he asked, rhetorically. "I am Discord; Master of Chaos...or Ex-Master of Chaos-as it were." he gave a bow while introducing himself.
That name definitely rung a bell and Scootaloo was suddenly on her guard. "Discord." she growled. "Rainbow Dash told me about you...you're a bad guy!"
"Bad guy?" he repeated, "Well, that's a bit harsh...but, I promise you-I don't cause trouble for your beloved Rainbow Dash-or her friends, anymore. In fact, that's the reason I came to see if I can help you."
"Help me?" she repeated incredulously.
He nodded, "Now, why don't you tell me; what has you looking so glum?"
She sighed, while she didn't really trust this guy it would probably feel good to vent-since she couldn't find Rainbow Dash anywhere.
"Earlier while I was on my Scooter, I tripped on a rock and it got totalled, I fell off it and crashed to the ground..." she replied.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
"A bit, but nothing serious-my helmet also got cracked when I landed on my head."
"But, you're pegasus pony...couldn't you just fly?" he asked, curiously.
Her cheeks turned from orange to a deep scarlet as she shook her head sadly, causing Discord to realize this was a painful subject for her.
"Why not?" he couldn't help but, ask.
"Because my wings never developed properly, the doctor I was taken to said that I'd never be able to fly and that it's a miracle I'm even able to hover for more than a few seconds..."
"You're very brave." he commented. "Your parents must be very proud of you..."
"I don't have any parents." she replied looking at the ground sadly, tears welling up in her eyes again.
This came as a huge slap in the face to Discord, this young filly was a cripple and an orphan.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Scootaloo..." she sniffed.
"Scootaloo, don't you have any friends?"
"Yeah, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle-they don't have a their Cutie Marks, just like me." she replied.
"You know Scootaloo...for a long time I felt like you did; like I had no purpose, that I didn't belong anywhere...and only recently did I discover that wasn't true-do you want to be friends with me?"
"Mm-hmm..." she sniffled.
"Here, let me give you something as a sign of our friendship." he snapped his talon-like fingers and in a flash, all of her injuries were cleaned up and she was wearing her helmet with her scooter standing right next to her, both of which looking as good as new.
"My Scooter!" she exclaimed. "You fixed it!"
Before he realized what was happening, the young filly jumped onto the cloud and embraced him in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
The celebration was cut short as a raspy shriek cut through the air like a knife.
"SCOOTALOO! GET AWAY FROM HIM! RIGHT. NOW!" It was Rainbow Dash and she was streaking toward them like a rocket, before stopping short in front of them.
"But, Rainbow Dash-" she tried to protest.
"Clubhouse, now." the Pegasus demanded, pointing in the direction with her hoof.
Scootaloo hung her head, but obeyed her big sister figure's orders and sadly headed off on her repaired scooter.
"And you." she snarled. "Stay away from her-or you'll be sorry."
After her warning she flew off in the same direction as Scootaloo, leaving Discord standing there, dumbfounded.
===
At the clubhouse, Rainbow Dash confronted Scootaloo.
"Why were you talking to Discord?" she demanded.
"I fell off my scooter and I was looking for you!" she exclaimed, "And then Discord showed up and fixed it for me!"
"'Fixed it'!?" Dash repeated, incredulously. "He's probably the one that broke it!"
"Why won't you give him a chance?" Scootaloo challenged.
"Because he lies!" she exclaimed, "All he ever does is cause chaos and disharmony among everypony, and it seems like I'm the only one here who hasn't forgotten that!"
Scootaloo grumbled something.
"What?"
"Nothing." Scootaloo replied, indignantly.
"What did you say?" she demanded.
"I said; Maybe if you gave him a chance and actually listened to him, he wouldn't seem like such a bad guy!"
"Look," Dash sighed. "I'm trying to be really patient with you here, because I know you're just a filly-"
"What's that supposed to mean!?" she shrieked, "You think you can just tell me what to do all the time? Get over yourself! You're not really my big sister!"
"...I know." she replied, quietly.
As the gravity of what she just said sank in, Scootaloo burst into tears and began sobbing on the clubhouse floor.
Rainbow Dash knew that that the younger filly didn't really mean it and that she was just upset, but her words still stung like the time she'd crashed into a hornet's nest.
"I...I'm sorry..." Scootaloo sobbed, as Rainbow Dash came closer to her. "Please...Please don't hate me..."
"Scoot." Dash replied softly, running a hoof through her mane. "I might get angry with you sometimes, but I could never hate you...and I'm sorry that I yelled at you, too. I was just...scared that something would happen to you."
Scootaloo's head perked up, did Rainbow Dash just say that she was afraid of something.
"Y-you were?" she stammered.
She nodded.
"I'm gonna tell you a little secret; there's nothing in this world that scares me except the thought of losing you."
"R-Rainbow Dash..." she sniffed, before throwing her hooves around her. "Is that really true?"
"Of course it is." she replied, returning the embrace. "You're my little sis."
===
Rainbow Dash and Discord were both inside Fluttershy's cottage, sitting in two armchairs next to one another, which were provided by Discord through his magical abilities. She had agreed to give this a shot solely for Scootaloo's sake and emphasized that for both of them. While Discord seemed confident, Fluttershy was nervous that things would quickly become violent if they wouldn't work out-having been Rainbow Dash's fillyhood best friend. As usual, Rainbow Dash herself seemed to have trouble sitting still and was more than slightly annoyed at this idea of a 'therapy session'.
Fluttershy placed some tea down on the table in front of them, "I just made it-be careful." she warned. "It's very hot."
"Why thank you Fluttershy, how very kind." Discord replied, taking a cup.
Rainbow Dash merely rolled her eyes, she did have to get him credit though, he was sticking to this 'perfect gentleman' routine pretty well.
"Dashie?" she asked.
"No thanks." she replied, eyeing it suspiciously. "I mean-I'll wait until it cools off a bit."
"Okay!" she replied, merrily.
Little did she know, the true reason she didn't want the tea-or any other hot liquids for that matter was because of what happened at the dinner party last time.
Fluttershy sat in an armchair across from them in a manner that reminded Dash of a shrink.
"Now then, let's begin with something simple; I want you two to compliment each other on one aspect you like about them. Dashie, you go first."
"Alright...uh," she hated being put on the spot like this, how could she compliment him on anything? She hated just about everything about him. "Your voice is pretty cool...I guess." she conceded.
"Why, thank you Rainbow Dash. I find your voice quite melodic as well."
She cocked an eyebrow. Seriously? Most ponies thought her voice was annoying and scratchy, often comparing it to nails on a chalkboard, her friends never complained-but, they never complimented her on it, either.
"Uh...thanks!"
Fluttershy seemed to ease up a little, seeing that they were actually making some progress and that her living room might actually make it through the day without turning into a full-fledged warzone.
"Okay...that's good. Now why don't the two of you try talking to each on your own and I'll sit back and listen."
"So...you're a big fan of the Wonderbolts, huh?" he began.
This peaked Dash's interest.
"Hay yeah!" she exclaimed.
"You know..." he whispered, leaning in close to her ear. "That with a snap of my fingers I could make you a Wonderbolt or even the leader of the Wonderbolts!"
"Well...it is pretty tempting." she admitted. "But, I feel like my friends still need my around Ponyville besides, when I do get into the Wonderbolts I want it to be all by myself, blowing their minds by being totally awesome!"
Discord chuckled to himself.
Not if.
When.
She certainly wasn't lacking in confidence.
Rainbow Dash eyed him suspiciously.
"What's so funny?" she demanded.
"Oh, it's nothing." he lied. "Now let me ask you something else; How did you and Fluttershy become friends?"
"I thought you knew everything about us?" she challenged, smugly.
"Maybe I do." he replied mysteriously.
"Well, didn't Fluttershy tell you that?"
"Mayhaps she did...and mayhaps she didn't!" he replied grinning. "I want to hear you tell it."
Of course, no matter what her disposition may have been Rainbow Dash's ego would never allow her to skip a chance to regal somepony with her feats of awesomeness.
"Okay, so when I was just a filly I was at the Junior Speedsters Summer Flight camp and as usual with every morning, I was flyin' around, bein' awesome. Until I heard some voices, there were these two jerks making fun of some filly because she couldn't fly very well and that made me mad...besides, I'd dealt with these jerks before and I had a score to settle!" she added that last part to make the story sound 20% cooler than she thought it did.
"So, they challenged me to a race and I totally took 'em both on, and did the only ever Sonic Rainboom!...and that's how I got my Cutie Mark!" she exclaimed, triumphantly.
"What about Fluttershy?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, she kinda fell off her cloud after waving the starting flag." she replied, sheepishly.
"But, she wasn't hurt!" Dash insisted, upon seeing the horrified look on Discord's face. "Besides, I was so far ahead I didn't even see her fall! And I went back to look for her when I noticed she was gone!"
"I was caught by a group of migrating butterflies." The yellow Pegasus spoke, causing the other two to jump-forgetting that she was still there.
"Well, that was...quite a story." Discord admitted.
"I like Daring Do books-because they're about adventure and reading about adventure totally doesn't make you an egghead." she spoke up in a tone that seemed as though she were trying to convince herself more than him. "Anything you like to read?"
"Oh, yes...I've eaten a few good books lately." he grinned, fondly remembering when he first stayed with Fluttershy and she'd commented on his 'paper eating' habit.
"Hey...Discord." Rainbow Dash spoke quietly, which was unusual for her. "I'm sorry about...earlier and being kind of a jerk to you but, after everything else...you know how it goes."
"I understand completely." he replied, extending his lion's paw. "No hard feelings?"
Rainbow Dash reached out a hoof towards him as he shook it. "No hard feelings."
"Now...I know that I promised to only use my powers for good, but I never said anything about pranking, did I?" he asked, quietly as a mischievous grin spread across the Pegasus' face.
That's when a horrific thought occurred to Fluttershy, now not instead just Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's typical gags Ponyville would have to deal with their schemes being fuelled by Discord's magic as well?
"Oh dear..."
===
It seemed impossible, but Fluttershy was finally able to get all of her friends to give Discord another chance and visited for another dinner party, Rainbow Dash even brought Scootaloo. Which, she found amazing-having known Dash the longest, she was sure that convincing her to attend a social event with someone like Discord would have been next to impossible. Yet, somehow she had pulled it off. After the first few baby steps were taken care of, Rainbow Dash and Discord began talking about everything from Cloudsdale to the Wonderbolts, and even the latest Daring Do novel.
She was actually feeling very proud of her self, now that she got her oldest friend and her newest friend to finally get along.
"Welcome, Rainbow Dash!" he greeted. "And hello there, Scootaloo!"
Scootaloo waved back with a hoof, before spotting Applebloom and Sweetie Belle and running off to catch up with them.
Discord snapped his fingers and mugs of Apple Family Cider appeared in both of their grasps.
"I hear it's your favorite."
"Yeah, and I've got a few pranking ideas that I want to try out-but, I'm gonna need your help."
"I'm listening." he grinned.
They clanged the mugs together, before drinking.
THE END
