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You'd think that being trapped in stone would mean that, if nothing else, I could get some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, it seems that Celestia has other ideas.
She has appointed these ponies... these 'Keepers', as she calls them, to keep me entertained during my incarceration.
Honestly? I'd prefer the boredom.
This idea has been bouncing around in my head for a long time. I struggled a bit trying to make it work. Hopefully, I did a decent job. Writing a character who can never move is more of a challenge than I thought it would be.
The timeline that I made for this story gives a range of 95 years that Discord was stuck as a statue, if anyone is curious.
A little bit of the inspiration for this story came from the old Doctor Who episode The Keeper of Traken. A few story elements were taken from that, though the overall story itself is pretty different.
Since I love the Pony Creator, here's the quick reference I did for Sunny Meadows:
I wish I could say I cried. This story was too fantastic, too well written for me to not cry and yet... my eyes are dry.
Words cannot properly describe how I feel about this story. Your stuff is always well written, but this was different.
Kudos to you, Hoopy McGee, for writing such a wonderfuly tragic and deep story about mortality.
...damn you Hoopy McGee.... damn you. I have to say about half way through the 1st chapter I had a pretty good sense of where it was going. However, that didn't make it any easier to deal with. This was one of the better stories that nearly drew tears out of me (I don't often cry when I read.) The question of immortality and watching your loved ones grow old and die has been something that's always haunted me and has always made me think "getting immortality is just stupid" and so it was a wonderful thing for me to see Discord learning about it the hard way. Learning to Love and then learning the pain that comes with it... of course I see a certain family getting the protection of a certain spirit of Chaos. That... that could be some interesting short stories to create...
Anyways, you have my thumbs up, and my favorite.
By Odin's magnificent beard, was this an incredible read. I never thought of Discord as anything but a goofy villain, but to make me FEEL something for the guy? You, sir, have earned all my respect, all my internets, and all my moustaches. 
EDIT: Also, love love LOVE the character of Sunny Meadows. I fear, because of this story, I'll have trouble referring to Discord as anything other than "Mister Funny Face". 
It takes a certain kind of melancholy to make me tear up and this is it.
I know you can't see me, but I'm giving you a standing ovation.
curse your existance! Ah but such a good story! Ah confound it all! Im getting cotton candy...
This is a fabulous story. I love the idea of taking advantage of Discord's immortality and making the mortality of the other characters painfully realistic. I don't like sad stories usually, because they tend to be 'Hey, let's see how long it takes to make you cry' fics, but this actually has meaning, and it's great. Wonderful job.
No manly tears were shed, but that's kind of common for me. However I would love to see a kind of Slice-of-life series to come after detailing any further lessons (and antics) with Discord. Plus it would be kinda interesting to see how the world is at this point.
ALL OF THE FEELS. 
In all seriousness, though, excellent work. I truly enjoyed that little nugget of joy (especially what you did with the Chaos/Order relationship. Personal bit, that, in case my name didn't give it away.) Discord has always been my favorite character, and I could almost hear John DeLancie's voice in my head as I read your portrayal of the big guy. Bravo, fine sir!
Well, that was depressing. It's not bad, but INCREDIBLY... sad. He loved her, though they never truly got to meet each other. Even so, he didn't need to, because he knew her, and she knew him; even if only in her own mind.
This story should be called Hard to Read, because that's what it is. 
Even though I saw the ending coming a mile away, it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. Because that's how it always ends - everyone dies. Well... Except for the (un)lucky few. 
It's been a long time since I last cried like this. Your story was so well written that if there were any grammar or spelling errors or typos, I missed them all completely or didn't care. I was too distracted by a wonderful story that was as sad and as beautiful as the movie Bicentennial Man. Thank you.
Ha, I find great irony in me having read this.
At first I didn't really want to read it, I sort of clicked on the story on a whim and decided meh, may as well. I found that I actually kind of liked it by the time I was halfway through. Nearing towards the end I had decided I loved this, the way it showed the family, the things they went through and such.
Then... the news sunny had died, and discords reaction. I found that it stole some tears from me and made me cry.
Looking back, its sort of like what discord felt towards the idea of his keepers. At first he didn't care, but ti grew onto him. 
...
...such a story...long...the monster learns to love...no couldn't be...
...no mouth and yet must giggle...hahahaahahahhAHAAHAHAAHAAHAAHAhAHAHAH...aha aha aha...*silence, as if to reflect on the matter*...
...even he gets touched by the Immortal's Dilemma...amazing...sad...yet...
...*spends the remainder of the fanfic reading in silence, clasping my palm over my eyes as the final words of the letter*...
...
Excellent job on this. There's been more than enough comment on the emotionally evokative side of it, so I'll just move on. I don't think that the pathos was even the strongest element of the story, anyway. What really blew me away was the pacing and the character voice.
All of Discord's thoughts and reactions to everything always felt real and true to his character. He's sarcastic and tetchy the whole way through, and even as it lessens by the story's end, it's still there. He never sounds like he's a whining child, he's just grumbling over the annoying setback of being in stone and the constant annoyances of his Keepers. Even the way you handled his burgeoning emotions felt appropriate, being somewhat confused by the new feelings and rationalizing it as just a type of possessiveness. He never starts being "nice" -- or even stops being cruel in terms of celebrating the deaths of the Bearers -- he just changes the way he approaches the nature of life and the world and the merits of balancing chaos and harmony.
(On that topic, the inclusion of the whole "balance between chaos and harmony" theme is my only major gripe with the story. It's majorly overdone. Which isn't your fault, of course. The story would go in an entirely different direction of that theme was changed, and to your credit the ways you illustrated the message were a refreshing breath of originality. And it was also made more forgivable that you went for a simpler approach, keeping it as just a few mentions of the idea and then moving on with the rest of the story. It's always groan-inducing in any story where the message is treated very heavy-handedly and shoved down the audience's throat. An entirely new idea would have been much more welcome, but as far as banging out the same old theme goes, it wasn't too bad.)
The pacing of the story was pitch-perfect. Hands down the strongest thing this story had going for it. There's no magical instant metamorphosis for Discord's attitude, and it wasn't as if there was even a single pony who changed him. It was mostly Sunny, obviously, but I still felt that Ember and all of Sunny's children were still important characters for their contributions, rather than just extra names thrown in. Sometimes the little vignettes had some greater importance, but usually the little episodes' "deeper meanings" were more shallow or hardly significant at all, which is exactly how any story should read. There doesn't have to be a constant bombshell or sudden turn of events when more impact can be made through delicacy and moderation. But best of all, time flowed. It didn't feel like five generations of ponies were passing by, it felt like it was over, as Discord put it, "in the blink of an eye." The meat of the story was 9,000 words and it never once felt like it was dragging on longer than welcome.
One last thing that I'm surprised no one else has mentioned, I thought that the Keepers were wonderful characters. At least the first three had very memorable personalities, and their own life stories all felt believable. There were ups and downs, sudden surprises, the cycles of pregnancy and raising the kids around Discord, it was all very real. It wasn't like a roller-coaster of drama, it was just ordinary life with some spices of excitement. (Like I said before, I'm not crazy about the chaos/harmony message, but I still liked how it was shown.)
As a big fan of Discord, this story wound up being a rare gem and a fast favorite. I didn't quite get much of an emotional response to it, but I found myself enjoying the story too much to be disappointed in any regard. Top-notch work.
>>1582978 I have to agree with you on the character bit. Especially with how I felt like I could see how each one affected Discord. The Keepers were certainly well done, as was Discord's reaction to all of them. Few comments have actually noted how well they were written but I'd say this story was built off their backs. It's not a plot driven story or some other type of story, it's one driven by the characters. Characters that are realistic, believable, and well crafted.
My God..... this is one of the most beautiful stories that I have had the pleasure to read on this sight. A tale of redemption through love and friendship. This......... Keep writing good sir and don't you ever stop. The world needs more of this kind of beauty.
Damn this icey heart, and the painful experiences that made it so! Never before have I been so close to shedding manly ANY tears in the many years of my teenhood or my more recent adult years. Discord in completely in character, believable and yet he still falls in love with mortal pony.
I tell ya, that's hard to do. Congats, you've earned a new watcher.
I do have to hand it to you, sir. I have read quite a bit of fanfiction since I became a brony, and much of it was either lacking in emotion, or just "good". I will not say that your story almost made me cry, because that in itself is no easy feat. But I will say that I was certainly pleased by the quality of the story that I just read.
You portrayed Discord perfectly, neither making him a cold hearted meanie (for lack of a better word), nor some overly emotional child. Discord is honestly one of my favorite characters in the show, and it always makes me happy to see someone do his personality perfectly.
I shall be watching you and viewing your other works in hope that your other fics are as good quality as this one.
Good day, and have a Favorite.
This was simply wonderful, I hope you realize how talented you are as a story teller. You really seemed to be in discord's head and the story was just beautiful. I can't congratulate you on this work enough, you definitely have a new follower.
Thank you very much for sharing this with us. 
Everything you said.
I guess I'd disagree on the balance of harmony and discord thing. To me, it felt like a little thing that Discord ends up thinking about for eons and eons rather than a Morality Hammer.
But the end result is the same, Hoopy McGee: You completely kicked ass at this story. So well done.
This story is beautiful, a work of art.
It shows your efforts, your feelings, your heart.
You teach lessons of life and death,
In accuracy so true it steals my breath.
But most impressively, you speak of love
And of those who leave for the heavens above.
Your words cut deep, in a bittersweet sting
With a pleasure uncomparable to anything.
I thank you, for this truly wonderful story,
And as Discord affirmed for Sunny, may you live on in glory.
Rest in peace, Sunny Meadows... Rest in peace.
I've saved my comment for the final chapter. And, I have oh so much to say. It was beautiful. No other word for it, unless you want to add others that shower it in praise to a ridiculous level. Just, so perfect. I've read the occasional sad story, and the best ones bring a tear to my eye. Now, now I'm choked up. I read this story without stopping, and that's coming from the guy who still has story updates from 4 months ago that haven't been read. I haven't felt like this since I read My Little Dashie. It might be the fact that this sort of thing - growing old and leaving the world - gets me choked up anyway, but the absolute perfection of this story on top of that. In my opinion, this is better than MLD. I'll be embarrassed by this comment, but seriously my man: a genius idea, perfect execution, I can't praise it enough. Well done This is a story I will remember until the day I die.
Everything up to this point was awesome. This chapter felt almost disingenuous. The dialogue was clunky and lacked conviction, especially on Celestia's part.
Her words and the emotions coming from her are what you'd expect to get from someone talking over coffee, not of a leader confronting one an enemy in a situation that could be the end of her world. Only to realize that they are emotionally vulnerable and could possibly be convinced not to be an enemy.
How wonderful the rest of the story is serves to highlight how much this chapter doesn't stack up.
Anyways, wonderful nonetheless.
*Snf* Manly tears have been shed at this beautiful story. My connection to the characters grew along with Discord's. *Snf* The feels, they were many, especially for Sunny.
After reading next chapters: Welp, that was the nail in the glass coffin of emotion for me. Again, beautiful, man. Beautiful! 
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