EPaper Butterflies

• MLP: FiM
• Sad
• Slice of Life

Discord and Big Mac get together for an arts and crafts project.

• Rarity
• Big Mac
• Discord

Petrichord · 3.8k words  ·  209  5 · 2.4k views

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Initial thoughts: : Paper butterflies is a very unique tale, and not in the ways you might think. I will get more into this in Heart of the story, but I was truly amazed by the sheer complexity and thoughts throughout this piece. It starts out simply with Rarity wanting to help Discord, sure it may seem like a bit of a stretch, but I can believe it. Though the question is why? This question is answered by the end of the piece in the most blunt of ways. I won't reveal it, but the message about letting go is strong here. How hard it can be, if you truly love someone you have to let them go.

Score:9/10

Heart of the story: The heart here is the message. And most messages/morals are often put in our faces, or shoved down our throats to the point it becomes annoying and we find ourselves groaning by the end of it. This story is far from this. It treats it's message with the upmost respect, and doesn't talk down to it's readers. It leads the characters on this journey of self-discovery. I enjoyed how it was BIg Mac who had to get Discord to finally confess that he was having difficulty letting Fluttershy's death pass him over. He wanted to believe she and him would always be together, that his love for her didn't have to die, even though she was gone. That's where the message of letting go comes in.

Often it can be hard, almost impossible to let the ones you love move on. Especially after Death. The stages of grief are all too real, and feel very vivid throughout the tail end of this story. Where Discord and Big Mac are making butterflies. I noticed they avoided making Fluttershy a paper butterfly and if you haven't figured it out, Fluttershy is no longer among the living. So Discord feels like he should remind himself of her passing, and yet BIg Mac insists he make one for her. As a way of finally letting his grief for her go, and being able to live his life.

Grief is a thing that everyone at some point goes through. I remember my first experience with it vividly. My step mom had passed away a week after I turned 15. It was truly a depressing time, and the first time I saw my father cry. But, I remember he told me "Don't be sad, Lisa wouldn't want that. She'd want you to be happy"

Fluttershy may be gone, Discord knows, but yet he still wants to hold on to her, and not let her go. Not move forward, and this is crippling him in more ways then one. I can only assume Rarity noticed this from afar, and that's why she pushes him into working on this project, in an effort to teach him this lesson. Letting go is hard, but necessary to heal.

Score:10/10

Characterization: There's three characters if you count Rarity here. Her role may be small, but it's important. Let's dive in.
Rarity- Her role is to get Discord to open up by offering him a little project to work in for some event going on in Ponyville. Of course she realizes Discord won't be interested, but using her charm and grace to "persuade" him into giving it a chance. Her portrayal felt very mature, very real, and very much like a Sophisticated lady, that knows just how to get what she wants.

Discord- Discord acts exactly the way I'd except of him in this situation. He doesn't want to listen, nor budge. He wants to stay in his own corner of imagination, and delusional. Even if a small part of him, realizes it's wrong, he doesn't care. He tries to ignore the call of Rarity, until he sees Big Mac, then the thought of working with a good friend helps him step out of his bubble and work alongside him.

Big Mac- There's not a lot to say about him here, he plays the supportive role, and is the one that gets Discord to open up. And well, that is a feat all on it's own. He's caring, compassionate, and determined. He doesn't let Discord's antic's, nor his mood get in the way of solving the problem. He's a hardworking stallion that believes in the honest day's work, and that with hard work and dedication there is nothing one can't do. Even get a spirit of chaos to admit he's wrong.

Score:10/10

Writing/Grammar: Errors? I saw none of these.

Score:10/10

Originality/Execution: This one is hard, because the whole idea of Grief being used to tell a tale like this, isn't really an original idea. However the execution is far beyond what I expected. Often, messages and stories like this will feel preachy, and that can deprive from the enjoyment of the piece, and yet there's a simplicity and coherent nature in the structure of the passages. That I find it hard to fuss over. This is a great read, and truly a piece to be remembered.

Score: 9/10

Overall thoughts and feedback: Beautiful piece of work here, quite lovely as Rarity herself might say.
Change comes and it goes, and we're always adapting to the changes around us, and that's no different even for the Lord of Chaos himself. I enjoyed the simplicity of Big Mac being the one to drill this message home to him. It's very fitting of their dynamics.

Final score:9/10
9+10+10+10+9=48/50
9.7/10

Head pat worthy: Yes

Boop worthy:

Needs work:

To the author: Wow, This piece is truly remarkable. I'd be interested to know what it was inspired by. Granted, that might be a touchy subject, but still. You did well with this, and I am eager to read more from you.

To the reader: Highly Recommended.

<For archive purposes: 9.7/10>