New Story - The Butterfly's Burden · 10:34pm Aug 8th, 2014
What should be done about Discord?
Fluttershy knows that’s the question that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia will be asking during their meeting about “the breezies” in the most secure room in all of Equestria.
Could she ever forgive herself if she condemned one of her friends to be imprisoned in stone for a thousand years? But if the fate of Equestria really is on the line, could she ever forgive herself if she doesn’t?
Set prior to the season 4 finale.
I came up with the idea for this story during the middle of season 4, and started writing it before we even knew what the Breezies were; once the Breezie episodes happened, I tweaked the start a little, then started really attacking the rest of it.
You could call this a spiritual prequel to The Stars Ascendant; it could well be in the same continuity in that story. In my head, at least, it is; even so, it makes no reference to that story, so I didn't actually mark them as sequels or prequels to one another because I didn't want people getting the wrong idea, like there was some order that they had to be read in.
I tried something a little bit different with this story; I was trying to be more evocative in the text, as well as to give some insight into Fluttershy, who the story follows. Fluttershy and Celestia have not interacted a whole lot in the show, and yet, Celestia has entrusted Fluttershy with an incredibly important task; clearly, she trusts her, and I wanted to explore what that would look like from Fluttershy's perspective - the most powerful pony in Equestria placing a burden not on "Twilight and her friends", but on her, specifically, and what she thinks of being entrusted with Discord's fate - and by extension, that of all of Equestria, given the trouble he can cause.
I hope you enjoy it.
For reference - this is indeed the story I was speaking of yesterday and was referring to as "A Breezy Topic of Conversation". It was noted that title did not have the appropriate amount of gravitas for the story, and so I had to find another one. I think this one fits much better.
I agree, the new title (and the cover art with it) is sit-up-and-take-notice-worthy. Off to do some reading!
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I'm glad you think so! It has just poked its head into Popular Stories (alas, only without the mature filter on); we shall see if it, like the cream, manages to rise.
Let me know what you think when you get around to it.