//------------------------------// // Words // Story: Flurry Heart // by Buttery Biscuit //------------------------------// It was an average day, a normal day. It was going to be one, ah, who would believe that? A day in Cadence's family was never normal. For the love of Celestia, Flurry's uncles were Discord and Sombra. They weren’t directly related but Cadence and Shining sort of adopted them into the family. She was glad she did, they were the sweetest of creatures. She could hardly believe they were the same ones that used to be her enemies. “Dada” Yeah, they, wait, what? “Flurry what did you just say?” "Mama." “SHINING!” She yelled as she blew into her whistle to summon Sombra and Discord. Shining quickly came bursting through the kitchen door, followed shortly by Discord and Sombra who teleported directly to her. “YES?!” They asked in a panic, assuming the worst. What was wrong? Was it Flurry? Of course, it was, it always was. “Flurry just said her first words, come on Flurry say it again. Who am I? Mama. Mama." She cooed at her daughter. "Mama, Dada." Shining's eyes teared up as he approached his daughter. "Dada," she said as her tiny arms reached out to him. "That’s right Flurry I'm your father, oh Cadence. She talked!" He took a moment to look at his daughter in awe, before his moment was rudely interrupted. "What about us!?" Discord and Sombra yelled as they ran up to her, they waited with bated breath. “Sombra,” Sombra said pointing at himself with his hooves. “Dada.” “Sombra,” He said as he once again pointed to himself. “Som bra,” he pronounced slowly so that Flurry may understand how to say his name too. Though this meant he lost the betting pool. One started by Discord and his ego, he was absolutely convinced Flurry would say his name first. Every pony soon joined the bet as the months passed and the time for ponies to start talking approached. “Mama.” Discord just stared at her, how dare she? The utter betrayal, he was the one cleaning up her magical messes. He spent so much time with her and this was the thanks he got. He just angrily huffed but that anger didn’t stay for long. “Issy.” “What?” Discord asked his heart in his throat, was, was that his name? It sounded close to it. Was it wrong to get his hopes up this high? He made his way over to her. “Do you mean me?” “Issy!” She said excitedly as she grabbed at his face with her tiny hooves. He just squeaked with excitement. “Dwaaa, hello Flurry! HI!” He said as he squeaked some more, he just couldn’t hold himself back. This was the most exciting thing to happen in the history of ever. That just left Sombra he looked down at Flurry, he just took a moment. His heart crushed into a thousand pieces. “Soma” His ears perked back up, his heart stopped breaking. “Me? Is...is that me?” He said as he scooted next to Discord. “You…..mean me?” He said a little more cautiously then Discord did. “Soma!” She said as she switched her attention from Discord to Sombra. Her tiny hooves reached his face. “Soma.” She repeated. Sombra's tail flicked back and forth excitedly, and he joined Discord in squeaky voice town. “Hello, Flurry. That’s me, I'm Sombra.” “We have to show Fluttershy!" Discord stated, she just had to see this. She just had to. "And Pinkie Pie!" Sombra added, he could not wait to show her. Maybe they could throw her a small impromptu party. "And Celestia!" Cadence could not wait to show Celestia. "Road trip!" Discord exclaimed excitedly as he bobbed his head up and down. He was filled with so much energy. "Shining hold down the fort we are going to go show every pony.” That wasn’t really an option as Discord teleported all three of them straight to ‘Tia leaving Shining in the dust. He just sighed and smiled. Fatherly pride flowed through him, and he could not wait to see his daughter again though he wished he could also go. Discord, Sombra, Cadence, and Flurry were now in the middle of Celestia's throne room. She was trying to have a meeting with some dignitaries but that was not going to happen now. Nothing productive was about to happen but that did not matter much. “Celestia LOOK! LOOK!” Cadence said as she grabbed Flurry out of Discord's arms and ran over to Celestia. “Say it again Flurry. Say it, mama." “Mama.” Celestia's eyes went wide as she threw her papers aside. “Meeting is canceled you may go.” She said as her expression changed from surprise to happy. “Congrats Cadence.” She said as the dignitaries left the room. “Say, Celestia,” she said to her daughter. Celestia could feel her heartbeat as she caved, throwing all royal attitudes aside as she pointed hooves to herself. “Celestia, I am Celestia. Can you say, Celestia?” "Tia!” Celestia smiled. She used to hate that name when Discord gave it to her. But just like weeds, mold, and Discord, it grew on her. “Close enough for me.” Cadence smiled and held her daughter close. “She is a smart one, aren't you Flurry. Yes, you are, boys could you give me a moment with Celestia?" "Sure," They said as they left the room, the stood outside vibrating with excitement. They hoped she wouldn't take to long. There were ponies they had to see. "Celestia, did you know Sombra was in Tartarus?" Cadence asked, but the face her pseudo-aunt was making. She already knew the answer. "I never put him in Tartarus. He was put into ice, then dissolved into shadow, then put back into ice. Then we reformed him." Celestia said, "where did you get that idea?" "Sombra said he was, he let it slip. He even has a number and everything. 237-A113-42." Cadence clarified. If she didn't do it, then who did? "That's the cell Tyrik is in. How did he get out?" Celestia asked, she had seen no proof he was even there. "Discord," Cadence told her, there was something she and Celestia were missing. "I'm sorry but I had no idea. Did he say anything else?" Celestia had no idea Discord knew Sombra well enough to bail him out. There was something she wasn't privy to, wasn't there? "He had to eat cockatrice to survive, he said a colt built the place, and that it was a place to just toss creatures into. Most of them didn't make it out alive." Cadence said, that was all the information she knew. "Cockatrice? Those were all eaten by the time I got there, I could tell by the bones. It had to be Sombra. That means, whoever put him in Tartarus, ruled before I did. Who knows how long he could have been in there, it could be any alicorn." Celesta said, "I'll take a look for you, see if I can find anything." "Thank you, aunt Celestia," Cadence said as she walked out of the throne room. As soon as she exited, she was immediately bombarded by excited creatures. "Let's show Pinkie!" Sombra suggested but it really wasn't a suggestion. "And then we have to show Fluttershy." Discord insisted. Cadence activated her horn and suddenly they were in Pinkie Pie's shop. While she couldn't teleport long distances like Discord without getting exhausted, she could bring them to Pinkie's shop. Sombra grabbed Flurry out of Cadence's arms, climbed over the counter, and ran straight into the kitchen all while yelling “Pinkie Pie you have to hear this!” You think it would upset Cadence and while on some level it did. She found it funnier rather than upsetting. She hadn’t expected Sombra to be so excited. It was so cute the way his ears bounced back and forth, the way he hopped up and down, the way his tail swished back and forth. Any creature could tell he was excited. “Flurry, say it. Say Sombra, Som bra, Som bra.” He said as he hovered Flurry in his magic. “Soma” He turned to Pinkie Pie whose eyes went wide. “She said your name!” Pinkie yelled as she dashed into the kitchen and back out faster than you could read this sentence. “She can have this, it’s on the house!” She said as party cannons sounded off behind her, confetti spraying everywhere. She handed Sombra a cookie meant for babies. Flurry picked it up in her magic and shoved it into her face. “Awwww,” Sombra said as he watched her attempt to eat the cookie “Thanks, Pinkie.” “No problem!” She said as a huge smile dawned her face. “You’re so good with her! Do you want kids?” Sombra looked at her and just laughed, “Pinkie Pie you're too funny.” He said as he assumed she was joking until he saw the serious expression on her face. “You’re not kidding are you?” “NO! What made you think that?!” Pinkie Pie tilted her head questioningly. “No.” Sombra snorted, what a preposterous idea. “You’d make an excellent father, especially after all you have done with Flurry.” Cadence stated, she was also curious whether or not Sombra had considered something like that. Did he have some-pony special? She hoped so, he deserved it and if he didn’t she should help him with that. “No,” Sombra stated flatly as he got up and walked to Discord. “Where to next?” He had started feeling uncomfortable with the situation. He wanted to not talk about this anymore, so he focused on Discord. He would most likely turn the conversation into something else. “What about you Discord?!” Pinkie Pie asked, Cadence hoped she would get more of an answer this time. Sombra gave no inkling as to why, he just said no. “No, I'm far too old to be having kids. This little bugger will be the only one I will raise. Plus I don’t think you want two beings of chaos around.” Discord said as he picked up Flurry from Sombra's arms. “Aww but your so much fun, I'd love another Discord. Discord 2.0!” Pinkie Pie giggled. Discord snapped his fingers and a life-sized stuff animal of himself and Sombra popped into existence “here you go, just as you ordered. Discord 2.0, comes with Sombra.” He said as he dumped them into Pinkie Pies arms “I hope this will be good enough.” Pinkie Pie squealed with delight as she set them up at an empty table. She put some food and drinks in front of them. “I love it, look you're having a tea party!” Discord chuckled he always enjoyed Pinkie and her silliness he felt they were sort of kindred spirits. Both were chaotic, both made no sense, both could do something others could not. “Alright, we’re off the see Fluttershy see you around Pinkie.” “Bye Discord, bye Sombra.” Pinkie pie waved to them as they disappeared with Cadence and Flurry. She hoped they would stop back soon she really never saw enough of them. Though now she had their duplicates which made her happy. Discord appeared outside of Fluttershy's cottage, and he knocked on the door, holding Flurry in his other arm. He was so excited that he was bouncing up and down in place. “Hello?” A familiar voice answered. “Flutterhshyyoujusthavetoseethis” Discord said quickly as he showed Flurry to Fluttershy, “Flurry say it, say Discord. You can do it. Say it, who’s your favorite creature? It’s….." "Mama." "Nooo Flurry it’s me its Discord say Discord, Dis cord." Discords ears flattened, was she not going to say it? "Issy!" "There ya go! Atta girl! Did you hear that Fluttershy? She said my name! Isn’t that awesome?!” He asked his excitement at an all-time high as he flew around Fluttershy in circles, occasionally landing only to jump up and down in place. Fluttershy just giggled she had seen him excited before but this was a whole new level. Her heart couldn’t help but melt as she watched Discord coo at Flurry. He really seemed to take a shining to her. It made her wonder if Discord would have children of his own. She could always ask him later such a question would be private. “Congrats Discord, I think she likes you.” “I think so too, did you know she likes my magic, just watch.” He said as an octopus that blew bubbles appeared in his hand “this one is her favorite.” He said as Flurry just giggled at his creation. She reached her tiny hooves at it, and he brought it close. She grabbed and bit into it. He was not worried as she could not eat it and it did not feel pain, so he let it happen. “Did you see that?” “Yes Discord, you made her so happy.” While the scene melted Fluttershy's heart she couldn’t help but feel anxious. She had been let in on the secret. She had been let in on more than that. Cadence had told her about Discord and Sombra's love problem. Fluttershy was doing all she could, but it wasn't much in her own opinion. Cadence had noticed the look on Fluttershy's face. She felt guilty for having her have to deal with this situation, a situation Cadence still hadn't solved. It frustrated her to no end, why did she feel this way? Like she didn't complete her mission. She wasn't sure but today was the day she was going to solve it. "Fluttershy and I have some business. We are gonna plan on telling Twilight. And I figure you guys would want to go out and have some fun instead." Cadence announced. Discord and Sombra looked at one another and smiled. "Ooo no what a shame. Guess we should take our leave Discord," Sombra started. There was something they wanted to do in addition to showing Flurry's speech to as many creatures as they could. "100 percent shame. Let us go do...something." Discord added as he bit his lip. He had planned a little something with Sombra. "Something? Sounds suspicious." Cadence expected some backlash. For them to insist on staying. Not insist on leaving, they were definitely planning something. "Definitely not, we have nothing planned." Discord insisted, but that was a lie. They wanted to give Cadence something, as a thank you for her constant kindness to them. "Nothing." Sombra insisted but his face screamed. I am lying. "100 percent nothing." Discord insisted as he snapped them both away. Back to sugar cube corner. There sat Pinkie Pie, Rarity. Discord 2.0 and Sombra 2.0. Rarity, just who they needed to see for their mission. "Hello Pinkie Pie, Rarity," Sombra said as he waved to them all. "Heya girls!" Discord yelled as he too waved at them. He was very excited for so many reasons. There was Flurry and there was a surprise. Discord thought at any moment he might explode. "Hi again. You teleported away so fast that I didn't get to tell you the extra good news. I improved your popsicle recipe!" Pinkie Pie was so excited to show them but Flurry had distracted her from bringing it up sooner. It took her several days to get the recipe just right. Sombra just blushed "not so loud pinkie I don't think your friend would want to know-" "Want to know what?" Rarity asked she was only a few inches away from them. So it was easy to overhear what was being said. "Oh, I already told her I was making you something special. Let me go get them!" Pinkie said as she bounced off to the freezer to retrieve the pops. She was so excited for Sombra and DIscord to try them, they were going to love them, she just knew it. Discord followed right behind Pinkie as he was much too excited to wait for anything. "Rarity, how are you?" Sombra asked her as he silently hoped she would not ask him any questions. "Just peachy. Thank you and how are you?" Rarity asked as she elected to not press the issue further, for now. "Good, actually I could use some more red shirts. Flurry destroyed a few of them, do you think you could make me some more?" Sombra asked Rarity. It was true so many were lit on fire, frozen, had tares, not to mention all the projectile vomit. "Also Flurry can talk now. Say it Flurry, Sombra." "Soma." "Awww that is precious! Of course Sombra! You must like them a lot to ask for more." Rarity smiled, she was glad her creations brought Sombra some happiness. "I love them Rarity. It was very kind of you to give them to me for free. This time I'd like to pay you." Sombra stated. He could more than afford it with the pay he received from Shining and Cadence, which he tried to refuse. That had more than failed, and he ended up taking the bits. "Soma, Soma, Soma!" Flurry chirped. "She's quite the chatterbox," Rarity cooed. "Sombra you don't have to pay." Rarity offered, he didn't have to. She considered him a friend, so she wouldn't mind doing this favor for him. "I wonder what she will say next. And I want to Rarity. Giving so many things away is a bad business strategy anyway. Do you think I can get some different colors, besides red?" Sombra asked. Though he loved the red shirts and all. He wanted to try out some new colors. He wondered what he would look like in blue. "If you insist. What are you thinking?" Rarity decided she would accept his bits. She learned to do that from her friends. Who would hide bits in her purse or wallet in order to pay her. She knew when to give in and accept payment. "I trust you, you're the professional. Follow your design whims. Also, do you think you can help Discord and I make some string for hair bows? Discord and I have figured out a way to combine our magic. I think we could put it into the fabric. You remember the windows, no?" Sombra stated it was the moment of truth. Would she help them? "Of course I do, I'd love to help, we can do it today if you wish. I'm free anyway." Rarity said. "Fantastic Cadence has been nothing but kind and-" Sombra never finished that statement as Pinkie Pie came to interrupt. "How many elephants do you think would fit into the sky?" Pinkie asked as she plopped a cooler in front of Sombra. Discord followed behind her, his arms crossed. She did the impossible, she made him wait, which he did not want to do. Flurry just babbled at Pinkie's presence, she was so full of energy that she took all the foal's attention. "Pink Pie your so-" Rarity started before she was interrupted by Sombra. "At least 5000. That would be my guess." Sombra stated. Pinkie often asked questions like this. He always made sure to answer her. He didn't want her to think he was ignoring her, or brushing her off. He hoped that she would bring that up with her friends soo, it looked like they were still using that phrase. "I say a million and two!" Discord piped up as he started to bounce in place again. “That's a lot of elephants! Try my popsicles!” She stated as she pointed her hoof to the cooler on the floor. “I'd love to," Sombra said as he levitated a popsicle out of the cooler and stuck it into his mouth. No hesitation, "oh my Celestia this is sooo good Pinkie Pie. Thank you for doing this. It's very kind of you.” He stated as he gobbled the pop down. It put their own recipe to shame. He hadn't thought it possible in the first place, but here he was enjoying the taste of lemons. “I wanna try.” Discord stated, he didn’t need the pops like Sombra did. So he only partook when he had to, or he wanted to. Also, they tasted terrible. “oh my. These are so much better. You did a fantastic job!” Discord was surprised, his pop tasted like strawberries. It was so good that he would love to have another one. “Well, you supplied the supplies I just baked,” Pinkie Pie beamed “I’m really glad you like them. I even made them different flavors. Yellow for lemon, orange for orange, red is strawberry.” Pinkie pie stated. “I think I'd like to-” Rarity began as she reached into the cooler to get one of these pops. “NO" Sombra dove for the bin stopping Rarity just in time. "You don't want these trust me on this. It's for supplying dark magic. It's gross,” Sombra said as he watched Rarity frown, he had been too harsh, “sorry Rarity.” “It can't be that bad.” Rarity stated, she wanted to partake in that popsicle. They made it look so tasty, the way they gobbled them down. The praises they sung about them. “Its raw chicken and blood!” Pinkie Pie stated it wasn’t really something that bothered her all that much. Of course, it was sort of gross the first time, but then she learned how terrible they were. She couldn't let any friend of hers eat something like that. Not when she was one of the best bakers around. “Never mind!” Rarity said as she quickly backed away from the cooler. She was glad Sombra had stopped her from consuming one of those pops. "So about those meetings Fluttershy, when will there be another one?" Cadence asked. Fluttershy frowned, she knew of the plan. She even tried to help get Discord and Sombra the love they need. Included them more often. She was going to try and get them to bond with other elements but to her surprise, some of them felt strongly for them. Rainbow seemed more than happy to include Discord on her pranking sprees. She didn't know about the love problem but she did seem moved by the colt fiasco. Applejack had also started to push harder for them but Fluttershy had no idea why. Rarity seemed to be on board but wasn't sure how to include them in what she did. Pinkie Pie she had yet to ask, but Fluttershy assumed that she would join the mission. "Twilight refuses to hold another one, she has taken over more responsibilities. Since we can't make a decision, it's been put on the back burner." "Alright, if I can't get into one of those meetings. Maybe, maybe we can simulate it. It's time to finally put this to rest," Cadence said. "For a while now I feel as I have only band-aided the problem. I do not know why. To be honest, I sort of forgot, as I didn't have the time or the brains. With Discord and Sombra's help. I found myself with a clear head, due to the breaks I was receiving." It was true, It felt like all the cobwebs had been swept from her head. For the first time in a long time, she saw the world clearly. "What about Twilight?" Fluttershy asked they did have to tell her at some point. "We will get to that. The matter of love needs to be solved first. Tell me about these meetings," Cadence had a simple plan for Twilight. All she had to do was wait until Flurry was the same age Twilight was when she was deemed a prodigy. Four years old, though Cadence assumed two would be fine. Flurry was an alicorn. Then it was like the past never happened. Though she had to be careful, maybe just tell Twilight. She had been told that a dampener was put on Twilight when she was young due to her proficiency with magic. Maybe if she framed it just right, Twilight would understand and join her side. She did have first hoof experience. Everything would work out with everypony in mind. Everything would turn out just fine for all involved. "Well, this one was about changelings and their land. It's so dead. So we were trying for a solution. Discord and Sombra came up with a pretty solid idea. They wanted to fill it with crops that had never been there. So it was using different nutrients while enhancing it with magic that would dwindle over time. That way the land wouldn't become dependent on just magic, but it would come back sooner than normal" Fluttershy said. "That's a fantastic idea and so them!" Cadence smiled, she had gotten used to their unique way of thinking about things. "I thought so too but no matter how hard we pushed for it. It was always no." Fluttershy added. This was before Discord protected her from that colt, she felt that if given the chance. She would depend them more, at least try. Their backing of her decisions made her more confident in those decisions. "Why?" Cadence asked the idea was a solid one. There was no reason that one would say no to it. "I think some of the others still hold grudges. Especially Twilight. That, or they are too afraid to say anything. Twilight has been on the edge lately. We all remember what happened to Rainbow." Fluttershy added honestly. "That's just what I thought, maybe you could be more specific on how you treat them. What has reforming them been like?" Cadence asked, maybe a glimpse into that would help her solve this mystery. "Well, Discord wasn't easy even though we used the same lessons. We even did it the exact same way we did, but it was really hard to get him to cooperate." Fluttershy said as she reminisced on all the fights they had about friendship. "It was like he understood but was choosing to be difficult. Sombra on the other hand. It was like Sombra had never heard of friendship at all, or he pretended to not know. Then one-night Discord and Sombra hung out, and suddenly their reformation was barely any work at all. Then it was over. They were suddenly both so well behaved, it was strange, but I'm glad we succeeded." "So you made them do it your way?" Cadence asked she needed clarification on this detail for thought was forming. "Give me an example," Cadence asked she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. No grey area was needed here. Only the exact answers needed. "Teamwork with apple bucking. Just like Applejack learned the same way and everything. Trying to get them to work together with Applejack's family. We followed the journal step by step, no exceptions." Fluttershy clarified. Where was Cadence going with this? "Ok what about when they do something wrong. What do you do?" Cadence said as she felt the pieces start to fall into place although the overall picture was still fuzzy. She was so close. "What about when they are good?" Cadence asked, so close, she was so close. She could feel it. "Well, when they did we would say something like. This is not what friendship is like, then explain. Like lying, lying is wrong because you can hurt some creature by accident." Fluttershy explained. "We tell them that they did a good job or praise them," "I see, you are their reformers but it's more than that, you were trying to get them down your path. Not theirs. They won't learn the same way you learned. They are not you. It seems to me that you assumed that your path is the only path, that you had to follow it exactly to get anywhere." Cadence clarified. "You think we forced them to try and be like us?" Fluttershy asked, "but I wasn't trying to do that. It was Twilight that refused to deviate from the book. Though I never stopped her, I just did what she told me." She felt guilty for not standing up for them more often. She tried her best to make sure that they had everything they needed although she often went overheard. "Maybe accidentally. That doesn't solve the love problem but it does explain why reforming Discord and Sombra was not easy. So why does the situation feel band-aided? They have some friends. They have the love of Flurry heart, so what is missing?" "Sombra did say he had no one at one point, though I'm not sure how that helps," Fluttershy added it was something she heard him grumble from time to time. "Ok so let's assume that they think you don't support them. They think no one supports them. Maybe this is like every other love problem, miscommunication. Maybe they think we don't care about them. Though I feel its more than that, they don't rely on us for support. They rely on no pony. They don't think they can. Think about it, they been on their own for a very long time. No love. No affection. They need someone on their side, who will listen and understand. Push for what they want, support them in their endeavors." Cadence said this was the answer. Just like how she was there for Flurry. That thought made her pause, and backtrack. Just how like she was with Flurry. Did somepony go back in time and hit her with a stupid stick? Because that is what it felt like. Cadence face hoofed so hard that she was sure it echoed through time and space. "They never needed Flurry's love, they needed my love. They need the love of a mother figure. That's why it felt band-aid-ed because it was love but not the love they needed." Of course, it was something they never had, something that they were missing.