//------------------------------// // Convincing the Girls // Story: Discord's First Hearth's Warming // by ZeroMonkey //------------------------------// “We’re all here now. What’d you call this meeting for, Fluttershy?” asked the blue pegasus as she finished her last, impatient flying lap around the room and landed quickly next to the sturdy wooden table in the center. It was Rainbow Dash who spoke, but Fluttershy could see the same curiosity etched onto the faces of her other four of her friends who had each found a comfortable position around the library’s small main room. It was Rarity who chimed in next, rising from the chair where she had been covertly napping. “You hardly needed to be so cloak-and-dagger about all this. We’re not in a Shadow Spade novel, darling.” “And no, saying that it had something to do with Hearth’s Warming didn’t really clear things up,” Applejack added in her drawl. Fluttershy waited calmly a few moments more to see if her other two friends, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, had anything to add and quietly steeled herself for their inevitable reactions to what she was about to say. On her back, Angel Bunny also prepared himself. He knew this wasn’t going to be pretty. “...Well, um, first could you all promise me that you’ll let me explain myself before you react, okay? ...Please?” A chorus of assent rang out in the small library, Pinkie Pie’s being the most enthusiastic and including a series of silly gestures that indicated how seriously she took the oath. Fluttershy gathered her courage a moment longer, then spoke very quickly, spitting out the words like they were poison. “I’d like to invite Discord to Hearth’s Warming this year!” At once, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack had forgotten their promise from a few moments prior and had begun to emphatically rebuke Fluttershy’s request. Applejack was ranting about tradition and Rainbow Dash was saying something or other along the lines of ‘good-for-nothing troublemaker.’ Their sudden and impassioned speeches rendered each other largely mutually unintelligible. Meanwhile, Rarity held her tongue, but with a distinct look of a disapproval on her face. Pinkie Pie also looked like she had a lot to say, but hardly any more than any other time when she had to stay quiet. Fluttershy didn’t doubt that she would have joined the other two in ranting in a heartbeat, not out of any strong feelings of her own, but for the fun of it. Twilight’s eyes had widened at Fluttershy’s statement, but the curiosity remained. When Applejack paused her ranting which had moved onto the spurious claim that Discord would use the opportunity of the Hearth’s Warming festivities to try and ruin her farm again, Twilight cut in reproachfully. “Girls! Let Fluttershy explain herself, at least.” Once again the focus of attention, Fluttershy faltered and shrunk back. A well timed prod from Angel Bunny snapped her out of it, however, and she recovered her resolve. “Well, I’ve, uh, been trying my best to help Discord better understand friendship...but if I’m the only pony who reaches out to him, he’s never going to really be reformed.” “He’s keeping to himself and not trying to rule over Equestria. That’s reformed enough for me,” Rainbow Dash said dismissively. Before the conversation could get out of her control again, Fluttershy responded with a much firmer tone as her confidence solidified. “He’s not trying to rule over Equestria, Rainbow Dash, because he values my friendship. But I’m not Princess Celestia; I won’t be around forever. If nopony else even tries to be his friend, what do you think will happen when I’m gone?” Before Rainbow could think up a retort, Twilight’s eyes lit up with realization and she cut in. “Fluttershy’s right! Since the very start, we’ve been treating Discord like a burden and foisting all that responsibility onto her, but that’s no way to treat a friend!” The room was silent for a while after Twilight’s declaration as everypony mulled it over. Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked unconvinced. Pinkie Pie was lost in her own world, her eyes inscrutable, perhaps already selecting a recipe and designing an apology cake for both Fluttershy and Discord, perhaps thinking over the situation in depth, perhaps trying to remember if she left the oven on at Sugarcube Corner. Applejack’s stalwart expression slowly took on a tinge of guilt. “Ah reckon that makes a whole lotta sense. Ah’m sorry for treating you... and Discord so badly. But why are you bringing this up now? Why Hearth’s Warming?” Fluttershy gave Applejack a gentle and said, “Oh, well part of it is that I, uh, needed to figure out how to broach the subject and then actually build up the courage to do it. But it’s also that Discord is, um, really creative and now that he’s not, you know, wreaking havoc on Equestria, he doesn’t really have an outlet. I think performing might be a good way for him to express himself without, uh, literally turning the world upside down, don’t you think?” Applejack nodded and thought for a second. “What role were you figuring on him playing? There ain’t exactly a wealth of draconequuses in the Hearth’s Warming Pageant.” Fluttershy’s face scrunched up in thought. “Well, I’m pretty sure he could take the form of a pony, I think.” “Shapeshifting is in very poor taste right now, I’m afraid. The invasion of Canterlot is still fresh in a lot of ponies’ minds,” Rarity chimed in, “And I don’t have time to make a costume for him anyways. Hearth’s Warming is only a few days away and we already have a full cast.” “I don’t think that he’d enjoy having to take the form of a, uh, pony for very long, either,” Fluttershy agreed. After sitting in pensive silence for a while longer, Twilight weighed in. “I might have an idea. Your Granny Smith is the narrator this year, right Applejack?” “Eeyup.” “Alright, hopefully we can convince her, but here’s what I’m thinking...”