-o-
There were an infinite number of words that could be used to describe Twilight Sparkle; unstable was not one of them. Sure, she'd had her fair share of lapses in judgement, but they never occurred often. Overreacting over the tiniest thing was something Rarity did far more than Twilight, and no one questioned the unicorn's ability to keep a hold of herself in unusual situations. Everypony lost a bit of sanity sometimes, didn't they? Was it wrong to act as though the world were ending, when reality was much less dramatic?
Twilight huffed out a mirthless laugh. Comparing herself to other ponies was not going to do her much good. It was only natural for cracks to appear in her control every now and again; who could blame her when the occasional tear burst open into a massive hole?
She closed her eyes. Right now, she was a wreck, and no matter how much she wanted to rationalise her thoughts and actions, she couldn't.
Her mane was perfectly neat, with not a strand of hair out of place; her features were aglow with a well practiced calm. Her legs were stiff and unmoving, her stance bold, and her posture flawless.
Inside, she was burning. Her chest felt as though it were being hammered with a force too great, and sweat was building up around her neck and brow, almost certainly due to the heat beneath her skin. With a dry mouth and parched lips, every breath was hot and heavy.
A cringe marred her face. She didn't remember her home being this warm. Had somepony cast a spell on it, hoping to cook her alive?
Opening her eyes, Twilight sneered. How stupid could she be? What was she thinking? No one wanted to cause her harm. She was allowing her mind to conjure up ridiculous ideas. Letting the irrational part of her consciousness take over was not beneficial to her well being. So... Why did she always seem to allow it access to her most nightmarish fears?
She needed to stay focused. Snorting out a grunt, she lifted her chin and stared straight ahead. Her journey back to Ponyville had not taken too long - flying had been a good strategy, considering how slow the trains could be. Her arrival here had not been met with cheers or celebrations, because nobody cared that she was home. All her friends were undoubtedly in Canterlot by now - was she a coward for not waiting to greet them? - and Spike was probably off having a nap somewhere.
But then, she hadn't come here expecting a warm welcome. Twilight had come to her castle for a specific purpose, and she would not let idle paranoia keep her from the task she had assigned herself.
Deciding to try out some experiments had been a brilliant idea, but now she had to find a way of actually creating said tests. Initially, she'd wanted to see if Spike could truly see colours that her eyes were incapable of picking up on. Though... How could she go about producing a hue that she could not see? Where would she start? First, she would need to know exactly what the colours were, and how they appeared naturally on the planet, and then she would require a method of actually replicating the various shades and hues with her magic.
Of course, there was always another way; she could ask Spike to follow her around Ponyville as she pointed at various objects, while making him describe what they looked like. That wouldn't really be useful, would it? What if, after countless hours of nonsensical trotting, it turned out that every colour present in Ponyville could be seen by ponies? What if the only colours she couldn't see were hidden away somewhere, lost in a dark corner of the world? She couldn't possibly search the entire planet, hoping that she'd get lucky.
That would be silly. Therefore, a more viable series of tests was desired.
Pursing her lips, Twilight lit up her horn and picked up the first book on her library's shelf. Once again, she was resorting to these ancient stories and documents to help her gain some answers. Though, that was what they were for, correct?
Blowing out a sigh, she opened the cover and began scanning the contents. It was going to be a very long afternoon.
-o-
The liquid was cold; its surface had long ago stopped producing steam. Lacking milk made its colour darker, more solid, though that added nothing to its desirability. If left for a great length of time, it would begin to cloud with dust, creating a mixture that was beyond inedible.
Celestia had been staring down at the cup of tea for at least ten minutes, silently gazing into its centre, as though some fantastic secret was held within its form. She had still not taken a single sip of it. Downing the drink now would be pointless, as her tongue would reject the flavour and temperature, dubbing them incorrect. Were the snobbish judgements of her taste buds an indicator of her character as a whole?
Celestia's eyes narrowed marginally.
A solitary sound was constant in her ear - the beat of her heart - and its companionship had been her only comfort since everyone had vacated the room earlier. Its tempo was slow and steady, its thudding quiet and relaxed, but the rattle scorching throughout her body defied all logical sense. It seemed that the organ wished to be free of her anxious soul.
She breathed deeply. Longing for the company of another, she prayed that someone would enter her personal space, offering speech and play and laughter. A tease from her sister would do, or perhaps a discussion with Applejack about the joys of hard labour. Anything to occupy her thoughts would be a bonus; the desire for normal, common activities pushed at her mind, calling for immediate attention.
Her body was not complying to her inner pleads for socialisation.
No words seemed able to escape her lips... But even if they could, what would be the point? She was not willing to move from this spot at her table. Luna would not seek her out to have a conversation, and the other ponies... Well, she honestly didn't know what they were up to. All she knew was the fact that she wanted one of them - just one - to be here with her, sitting in this room, to provide a way for the confusion to be removed from her thoughts, if just for a moment.
Was it unfair to wish that Twilight had never found that book?
Was it selfish to want the information it had held to be removed from her memory?
Celestia's vision blurred as her focus on the tea began to deteriorate. There was a possibility that the data was wrong, yet a nagging guilt had etched itself into her subconscious. Ever since Twilight had revealed that startling piece of information in her outburst, the disgusting feeling had not faded even a small amount. Receiving a letter from the young princess, explaining her intentions and desires to get concrete proof that the book was either fictional or factual, had done absolutely nothing to ease Celestia's negative emotions.
Her faith in Twilight was undeniable; she knew that Twilight would do all that was necessary to either prove or disprove the book's words. What was bothering Celestia, what truly set her teeth on edge, was the belief that Twilight's escapades would reveal that the book's contents were indeed truthful.
How could the information be a lie?
The more Celestia thought about it, the more it made sense. The bewildering pieces of history that made up Discord's life connected together perfectly if the ageing process was added to the puzzle.
He had always been different, and not merely in terms of maturity. Since their very first encounter, right until this present day, she'd had a question at the back of her mind; it pertained to his height.
She was older than him - there was no doubt in her mind, as she had pried his birth date from his lips after countless years of prodding, long before his initial downfall and betrayal - and they hadn't been very old when they'd met. Even then, being a young filly, she'd thought his size was peculiar. Discord had been larger than her, of course, since his species appeared to be naturally bigger anyway, but after a few years or so, there had been a distinct lack of physical change in him.
Whereas she had become taller, with longer wings, legs, broader shoulders, and a sleeker, adult body, his growth had seemed so much slower. There was a time, she could recall, when she had been taller than him.
Celestia fought to hold in the curse that wanted to escape.
How could she have not found that significant? How had she not taken notice?
Perhaps she had always pinned it down to the fact that he was a unique being; one that she could never hope to fully comprehend. Just because his rate of growth was varied from that of a common pony, did not mean it wasn't normal for his kind.
The question was: Had he stopped growing yet?
She bit her lip as she tried to concentrate. Had he grown in the past couple of millennia? Yes, obviously. He towers over me now.. She shook her head. Patronising herself was not going to give her the answers she wanted.
"Princess?"
Pulling her abruptly from her train of thoughts, the word was spoken with a nervousness that she had come to recognise over the past few years. The tone lacked confidence, and the pitch was light and frail, as though the speaker was going to break apart any second.
Finally managing to move her attention away from the cup placed in front of her, Celestia turned her head and blinked down at her intruder. Concern filled her instantly.
"Yes, Fluttershy?" Despite her dry throat, the question came out clearly.
Streaks of moisture were still present on the young mare's cheeks. Her nose was a delicate pink, probably from the abuse it had endured from a vast amount of tissues. The posture she'd adopted was as low as possible, almost as if she desperately wanted to disappear into the floor below.
"Rainbow Dash said that... that Twilight was going t- to do some experiments to see if what the book says is true?" she asked, struggling to keep her tears at bay. Regardless, the volume of her question was high, showing a strength that Celestia admired.
She smiled kindly, though it took effort to keep the expression in place. "That is correct, my little pony. She wishes to find proof as to whether it is fiction or not."
Fluttershy's mouth quivered. "Will it hurt?"
Oh. That was the problem? Celestia's smile became much more genuine. Fluttershy was worried that her friend was going to come to harm, but the concern was unprecedented. No, Celestia did not know what Twilight was planning to do, but she had known the purple alicorn long enough to understand that she would never intentionally create an experiment that would cause pain.
"I have no doubt that Twilight will be as safe as possible when it comes to his well being. You have nothing to worry yourself over, Fluttershy."
And wasn't that a total lie? Once again, a battle had to be undertaken to keep her expression friendly. Each of them had something to be concerned about if Twilight's results came back in favour of the book. Fortunately, she now had a distraction to keep her from dwelling on that possibility.
"Is there something else troubling you?"
Fluttershy did not look happy; that was a complete understatement. She was visibly shaking, and she was refusing to meet Celestia's gaze. Something was amiss; she had a feeling that it was not entirely down to her worries about Discord's personal safety.
"Fluttershy?" she said, urging the pony to speak up.
"I..." Fluttershy swallowed, before raising her head slightly. "I'm supposed to be going on a trip with him tomorrow," she admitted, her features twisting in uncertainty.
Celestia resisted the flinch that tried to manifest itself into reality. That was unfortunate. Standing up, she manoeuvred herself smoothly around the table, coming to a stop just inches in front of the cowering pegasus. Placing a hoof under Fluttershy's chin - and silently thanking the sun that her leg did not tremble - she lifted Fluttershy's head until their eyes were locked.
Her tight smile was back in full force. "Then you go and have fun with him. Treat him no differently than you would normally. Remember, he is still the Discord we both know, and that this information could just be a misunderstanding. Even if it is not, it does not change anything."
The sentences were powerful. It was just too bad that she didn't believe them herself.
-o-
Nice to see this still alive.
IT'S ALIVE!!!
Great chapter. Good to see this story is going strong. Will we be seeing what the rest of the mane six think of the entire situation? You seemed to have skipped the part of them finding out.
6096509
Thank you.
*Incoherent screaming* YES! ONE OF MY FAVORITE FICS IS BACK! Oh, how I have missed thee!~
Finally got to get a glimpse of Celestia's thoughts, and I must say, it almost made up for the seven month hiatus. Half the chapter being devoted to Twilight freaking out and trying to distract herself knocked this chapter down a few notches though. I get why it was there, but it could have used some shortening in favor of more interesting things after such a long wait. Hopefully we won't be kept waiting too long for the next chapter.
666 upvotes...I really want to upvote, but at the same time, 666 upvotes...
edit: some asshole upvoted, so i guess you can have mine too gumble grumble
Not that I'm not happy that you came back to this, but you wrote the return in... not the best way. There was too much inner monologue and not enough action to get the returning reader situated.
6097047 That would explain all the candy he eats.... Kids love candy.
Keep going!
Good job so far, btdubs!
I like this. I like this a LOT. Keep it up!
O really? Need I remind everyone of Lesson Zero?
Just found this story today....
Good work! Will Follow.
Draconnequi mature at 7000 years, while Discord is only 3-4000 years old? Headcanon Accepted.
Why is every pony so upset
Lets look at this from a logical perspective. Just because discord is a child doesn't mean they shouldn't be stopped by any means necessary
As a example, say a kid got a knife and started stabbing people. For some reason, the only way to stop this kid is to kill them. Do you do it? Of course! It's sad a kid died by you saved multiple lives. Its mathematically the best opinion. Now after admitting this, the main difference is Discord wasn't killed, merely imprisoned, and they let them out to try to reform them.
So in conclusion nice story and premise, but I don't see what the fuss is about. They did what they had to.
6097063 Yes. And so do teens and adults.
6097063
Last time I checked, adults love candy too. There's a reason Wal-Mart is absolutely packed the day after any given holiday: holiday candy prices plummet, and as it is, adults also love a good deal.
6097047
Actually, humans reach full sexual maturity between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. However, humans are progenetic, meaning they reach sexual maturity before full physical maturity; our brains are the last thing to fully mature, at somewhere between twenty-five and thirty.
With that said, if 7,000 years was the point at which Draconequi reached sexual maturity, Discord would be closer to the equivalent age of seven or so.
However, it may be that Draconequi are also progenetic, in which case Discord would be like an eleven year old - approximately the age at which most humans begin puberty. Furthermore, they may be progenetic in that they actually reach maturity in all aspects except size very early in life. This is not unheard of; there are plenty of animals that are mentally and sexually fully mature before they are actually fully grown, from walruses and elephant seals to clams and crabs.
6098367
You make a very good point. No matter how innocently someone does something, it can still be quite dangerous and destructive, and ultimately, they must be stopped. For instance, if an elephant got loose in a city and started innocently doing normal elephant things, it would inevitably cause massive traffic disruptions, infrastructure damage, and who knows what else. The only option would be to tranquilize it and put it in some kind of confinement. What they did with Discord wasn't much different.
6098538 True, true.
...
...
...I didn't mean for anyone to take that comment seriously. I wasn't trying to say older people can't like candy or anything
I have to disagree with two people on comments. One, taking a life is a terrible thing yes at times had to be done to save lives. But don't bring logic into it so casually,
genericacount you can ask why it a big deal, because you didn't do it.
Can you say the same if you were the one who pulled the trigger to end a kid who gone crazy or even a adult?
Yes you saved lives but you have to cope with what had to be done. I pray you never have to be be in such a situation.
Cops have to go thru this everyday on duty with the possiblity they have to take a life, I'm sure many fo them have t take therapy to cope with what happen.
And Freedomfiend they didn't put Discord down for a nap they turn him to stone, what if he was semi aware what was going on for thousand years.
Discord was locked as a Statue, and been that way for thousand years what if he could see a little and hear but unable to move or speak or do anything.
Or worse found his mind or self in a dark open space floating unable to do anything for a thousand years, he then finally gets out, what does he do, goes playing around yes he was out of control, and he did Discord the main six but because he didn't want to go back to the bad place., which didn't matter as he was put back anyways, for months?
When he gets out to be reformed they threaten to put him back if he doesn't do what they say. He goes along and finds a way to get one of them to promise not to.
He won and he beat them and like a kid gloats about it and wants to play more with Fluttershy, and everything is fine.
Till he almost loses his friend.
DISCORD! If you don't behave and stop acting bad then....I won't be you're friend anymore!
Like a kid who been alone all his life, he doesn't want to be alone anymore, i mean what happen to his race where were his parents?
Does this mean Discord is a ...orphan? Did he act out as he did because he was lonely and alone or was it a cry for attention?
Something to think about.
IT'S BACK!!
Yes.
6099332
keep calm and flutter on transcipt
Twilight Sparkle: How'd you know about that?!
Discord: Being turned to stone doesn't keep me from hearing every word Celestia says. Although I admit it makes rolling my eyes a challenge.
Yes! That what I mean, totally forgot about that part. so for a thousand years he was well...paralyzed in a way in the garden all alone,
when it rain or snowed.
I'm surprised Discord didn't get any crazier then he already is unless he spent all that time planing pranks.
6099332 Jeez, I've been focused on the petrification, but you're right, a lot of other things become questionable if Discord is a child. Fluttershy "reforming" Discord by withholding affection unless he behaves is acceptable to do to an adult, but doing it to an orphan child is... problematic. And Celestia sending Discord into battle against Tirek?
Also, a lot of the smaller ways ponies other than Fluttershy and Pinkie treat Discord needs to be re-examined. Remember how everyone laughed at Discord for getting sick after he pretended to get sick to get Twilight to spend time with him? No one would be proud of laughing at a child like that.
In many ways, the small ways ponies shun Discord are worse than the big things. Other commentators have successfully argued that Discord was a threat to civilization, child or not, so he needed to be petrified and emotionally manipulated for the greater good, and I agree with that. But ignoring and isolating Discord during his reform efforts wasn't necessary, and I suspect many ponies like Rainbow Dash will look back on their actions with regret.
Yeah..oh man i realized something the part about pretending to be sick and get to spend time with Twilight.
Could been more then a simple prank, he could done to try and get her attention, say a lonely kid tries o befriend the leader of a group so this way the others give him or her a chance.
Yeah he was friends with Fluttershy but everyone else? It always bugged me that only Fluttershy ever tried to get to know Discord while the others avoided him, they dealt with him if they felt they had no choice.
Thou why he got rid of Pinkie when she tried to take care of him during the blue flu was simple. Twilight he view as the leader of group of kids he wanted to play with,If even being friends with Fluttershy didn't help how would Pinkie help, add that everypony would just assume like Fluttershy she befriend anyone if she could.
Twilight the top pony of the group the leader the one they turned to and respected the most, and maybe they give Discord a chance because of Twilight, the plan back fired of course.
But hey he a kid in maturity.
But I may be over thinking this....Pulls pipe out to take thinking stance while blowing bubbles out.
I do agree on Celestia choice on sending him after Tirek, it was another male a guy, how many males characters appear that often in the series that aren't back ground characters?
how could he resist having a guy for a friend then, i mean he had a glass window altered to show him and Tirek riding off together him welding a sword and Discord welding a giant sub sandwich maybe sharing it like best friends and............
OH MY GOSH!.....Tirek knew! I bet he knew Discord was still a kid he a Chimera like Discord not the same race but still...He could known Discord was still a child and thus why he tricked him so easily!!
6100659 .... You know what? If Discord actually is a kid in the end, ( I hope he is, because drama and angst ) I am going to consider the thing with Tirek canon. *evil laughter* I do quite like the idea; go you!
6097114 That's what I was about to say. Fortunately, she spent the next couple of paragraphs telling us how unstable she was.
5044555
LOL. Okay, but seriously though. Poor Flutters learning that her romantic interest is actually a child. I can understand her crying.Imagine you're just going about your day with your best friend who you have a crush on and suddenly you learn your friend/crush is a child and you, by proxy, are a pedophile for having a romantic interest in this child. Woof, Flutters is gonna need some therapy after this hell of a day.
6100507
Not really. Fluttershy is not his mom, she's his friend. "I won't be your friend if you keep hurting me or my friends" is totally acceptable to say to a child, and in fact necessary. If I befriended a child who kept trying to shoot my cat with a BB gun, who I knew had neglectful parents or foster parents that would do absolutely nothing about this situation, I would be well within my rights to say "If you don't stop trying to shoot my cat, we cannot be friends anymore, and I might end up having to call the police to protect my cat from you." It doesn't matter how starved for affection the kid is; no one has the right to have friendship from someone they are hurting. For that matter, if your 15 year old son beats the crap out of your other kids, you're in your rights to have him arrested and sent to juvie. Fluttershy merely saying "I'm not your friend!" is minor. Keep in mind, Discord's misbehavior is not the equivalent of dipping pigtails in inkwells; flooding Sweet Apple Acres could destroy Applejack's livelihood and freezing it could kill animals who weren't prepared to hibernate yet. He's capable of causing the equivalent of billions of dollars of property damage, killing animals and ponies by accident, and causing serious damage to the physical and mental health of those he plays with. Threatening not to be friends with a child who's doing such things is totally justified. I mean, she can't exactly spank him, put him in time-out or send him to his room.
I feel bad for everyone in this story, because yes, of course everyone's behavior toward Discord is horrifying if he's a lonely orphan child rather than an asshole adult, but... they didn't know. Discord never told anyone (probably he doesn't know it himself), his species are either extinct or so rare that nothing is known of them, and he looks and sounds like an adult. He's even got a beard, which in ponies, as with humans, is an adulthood marker that never appears on colts. (Which implies his face is a goat's, rather than a pony's, as goats have beards when they're young.) Discord's done nothing to make anyone think he's a child, because he's thousands of years old and quite intelligent; he's totally immature, but all by itself, with no other markers of childhood, that makes him look sociopathic, not childish. So this is a tragedy in the making, but it's nobody's fault. Celestia maybe could have guessed -- the things she thinks to herself were clues are valid evidence -- but the truth is, girl humans end up taller than boy humans of the same age all the time, because the girls mature faster, but top out in size earlier, so the adult men are usually taller than the adult women. If ponies have a similar growth pattern, the fact that she was taller than Discord at one point doesn't mean jack. She couldn't really have known either.
6103905 You're right that Fluttershy was fully justified in her actions, I just mean that it's problematic in the sense that he deserves affection from someone, in a way that adults don't. In some cases it may be the right thing to have your child arrested and sent to juvenile hall, but I would say you still have to visit them regularly, at least until they are an adult. That example of the neglected child shooting a BB Gun at your cat is a good one. In that case though, the adult deliberately set out to befriend the child that they knew had no other source of affection (though the adult didn't know they were dealing with a child). The adult did it for necessary reasons, and with the intention of ultimately benefiting the child as well as everyone else, it just feels a little manipulative to me.
And you're right, no one except maybe Celestia could have had any reason to even guess that this was going on, and even she would have had a pretty hard time.
6098367 Because of circumstances. Throughout the millinea that Discord was around, they were assuming he was this all-powerful figure who did things because he was an asshole and knew what he was doing. Him being the equivalent of an 8-year old (or younger if you subtract his stone years), changes the whole persepctive. They realize that rather than being a monster, they were imprisoning a child.
For everything that Discord has done... they can't hold them responsible because he had no one to teach him from right or wrong. Discord isn't a sociopath or a monster... he had no one to teach him what was good or what was bad. Worse still, he had no one of his race to identify with and instead grew with what was probably isolation or even scorn from the pony population. If you were raised without someone to give you a moral compass and being ignored by a population, it would make sense he would gain his sense of fun. He would use his powers to entertain himself while not giving much of a damn about others because no one cared for him.
Recall the CMC/Discord Friendship issue. The CMC can be compared to Discord in terms of mischief at times. They can cause trouble or problems, but they don't mean to. Furthermore, Sweetie Belle mentions the rush for the cutie mark because they feel isolated compared to the other ponies, something Discord could identify with. The fact that his first friendly interaction outside of Fluttershy are fillies that he is the equivalent of their age for his kind.
The idea of a kid shooting a cat with a BB gun fails because Discord can fix the problem just as easy. Any and all damage is repairable with a mere snap of the fingers. Being a fundamentally different being, perhaps his abilities are common for his kind and thus what he is doing could be childish pranks for his kind. Regarding petrifying and so on though...
If ponies knew sooner, they could have avoided all of this...
6098367 They're upset because they think they could have prevented his whole thing by treating Discord like a child and actually comforting and teaching him right and wrong. It's like the kid was never told knifing people was wrong, lived his life in isolation, and knifed things for fun with the only thing he ever had. It's the only way he knew how to have fun, and someone could have easily taught him not to in his infancy. IMO
6115066 Keep in mind that this is Discord. I don't think anyone really had the power to enforce lessons nor would he likely have the attention span necessary to teach them.
There was Fluttercord going on here wasn't there? And now she's found out he's a kid. Well this is going to be awkward.
6105445 It'd be ironic if centuries long petrification is common discipline for children among draconequi.
6115066
I think they need an adult of his kind to teach him considering he barely listens to them as is and by the time he is adult only those who haven't been exactly friendly to him will be left.