//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Forgiving Discord // Story: A Secret Admirer 3: Spike's Sacrifice (AU) // by 1jckuhn //------------------------------// TWO DAYS EARLIER, TWO HOURS AFTER THE FUNERAL Discord sighed and wiped away a tear as he stepped into Celestia and Luna's castle. The guilt he felt was unimaginable. He had tried to boost Twilight's confidence by banding the Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek together under the guise of an ancient, Cornflower blue Ram named Grogar so the lavender Alicorn and her friends could get a confidence boost and, in the process, reform three of Equestria’s most feared foes. Unfortunately, his plan went off the rails when the vicious trio found him out and stripped him of his chaos powers and the Princesses of their magic. Lucky for Discord, however, the Legion of Doom didn't get to overthrow all of Equestria, but that was because one of his closest friends had lost his life saving all of them. Celestia and Luna were sitting on their thrones. They had just settled down after coming back from the funeral of the person who Celestia considered her son when the downtrodden Draconequus walked in the door. Discord," Celestia said, surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?" "Is there an available guest room in here?" Discord asked somberly. "Yes, there is," Luna answered. "Why do you want to know?" "I'd like to have it please," Discord said. "I need some time alone to cope with..." Discord couldn't bring himself to say the last two words, Spike's death. Celestia and Luna immediately understood Discord's situation. They lead him to the guest bedroom and left him alone to settle down. PRESENT DAY It had been two days Since the funeral and six days since Equestria had lost Spike. Everyone was still sad, but they were trying their best to move on with what happened, just like Spike would've wanted them to do. Unfortunately, Discord had found himself still unable to move on with Spike's death. His sadness was just as bad, if not worse, than it was two days earlier. The Draconequus had no doubt in his mind that Twilight and her friends hated him unconditionally. Discord believed he was fully responsible for what happened and knew it was best not to make any contact with them again. THREE DAYS LATER True to his promise to himself, Discord stayed as far away as he could from Twilight and her friends as well as the other Princesses. He had never felt so alone. Celestia and Luna thought the ancient Draconequus would eventually snap out of it, but as time went on, the two Princesses noticed Discord seemed even more downtrodden with each day that passed. Finally on the third day, the royal sisters decided they had enough of seeing Discord moping around and blaming himself for something he couldn't have prevented. They decided that tomorrow, they'd pay a visit to The Friendship Castle. THE NEXT DAY The second Celestia woke up that morning and Luna was off duty for being Equestria's dream keeper, the two quickly freshened up, had a quick breakfast, headed outside, and got in the enchanted chariot that was waiting to take the royal sisters to the Friendship Castle. They landed in front of the large building where Twilight and her friends resided. After ordering the Pegasai who pulled the cart to wait for them, they both slowly walked to the entrance of the Friendship Castle, looked at each other, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. Twilight was walking down the hall when she heard a knocking on the front door. "I'm coming," she called as she rushed to the door. She opened the door and saw the two royal sisters standing before her. Hey, Celestia and Luna. What can I do for you?" Twilight asked. She did still seem a little sad. "Hello, Twilight. May we come inside, please? We need to talk with you and your friends," Luna responded calmly. "Certainly," Twilight smiled. "Can we discuss it in the map room?" "Of course," Celestia replied. With that said, Twilight rushed off to gather her friends and the Princesses headed to the map room and patiently waited inside. It didn't take them long to notice a stone chair smaller than the other six. On head rest was a picture of Spike, he was looking at the camera with a big smile. On the seat of the chair were several bouquets of flowers with a golden medal on the top, it was the Royal Advisor medal Twilight had given Spike no more than ten days ago. On the armrests sat two lit candles, one purple and one green, for each side. Below the picture sat a shiny golden plaque which was reflecting some of the yellow glow of the small candle flames. There were cursive letters carved into the plaque, they were easy to read with the help of the light of the candle flames. Spike The Dragon Beloved Boyfriend, Friend, Brother, Son, Uncle, Nephew, Cousin, and Hero The Princesses teared up a bit at the bittersweet sight of all the things that decorated Spike's chair. They heard a door opening as Twilight walked into the room accompanied by the other members of Spike's harem and Garble. They took notice of the Princesses staring at the Spike's adorned map room chair and they all began looking longingly at it, feeling all the good memories of their fallen friend come rushing back and hitting them right in their emotions. Not a word was said as the 12 ponies, two Dragons, and one Griffon all continued to stare at the permanently vacant stone chair. If a pin was dropped, everyone would've heard it. After 45 seconds of pure, dead silence, Princess Celestia finally cleared her throat and got the other eight Ponies' attention. "Ahem, now that we got that out of the way, there's something that I need to talk to you all about," Celestia spoke up. "Sure thing, Celestia. What's up?" came the heavy southern accent of Applejack. "It's about Discord," Luna started. All the girls, excluding Fluttershy, and Garble winced slightly as they heard Discord's name. If the truth be told, they all did harbor some anger toward Discord as they held him partially responsible for what had happened. "What about him?" Rainbow Dash asked with a hint of bitterness in her tone. "Well, you see, he's taken Spike's death just as hard as you girls," Celestia said. "Hmph, I should hope so," Rarity huffed. "He's the reason why our Spikey-Wikey is gone in the first place." "Not to mention my sister has to go back on her anti-depressants because of him," Garble added with a growl. "I don't even know why were even bringing him up in the first place," Applejack added. "Because he was trying to help you. We miss Spike just as much as you all do, but clinging to the past won't do any of us any good," Celestia said curtly. "Oh, and how did he "help" us as you put it?" Rainbow Dash asked, the bitterness in her tone becoming a bit more evident. "Remember how he realized his mistakes and how he promised to make it up to everyone?" Luna asked. Rainbow fell silent, she remembered how Discord swore to them that he'd make it up to them, how the cyan Pegasus herself told him that, "it would have to be a pretty epic make-up". The ancient creature, however, was true to his word. He grabbed a crystal rock while trying to work out a bargain with the three fiends, eventually getting into a verbal fight with, and eventually angering Tirek to the point where the rejuvenated Centaur tried to blast Discord. At the last second, Discord stuck out the crystal rock, Tirek's blast hit the rock, it ricocheted off of the object's reflective surface, and it ultimately obliterated the shard of Chrysalis' old throne that was subduing Starlight in her cage, causing her to break free and the pink unicorn was able to break out every other creature. When Rainbow Dash, as well as her friends, thought about that way, they realized that while Discord may have gotten them into his mess, he managed to get them all out of it. "Do you also remember what Spike said in his final moments about you all being hard on Discord?" Celestia added. The other Element Bearers joined Rainbow deep in their thoughts. "Listen, please don't be angry at Discord for this. He never intended this to happen.” It was painful to remember his voice and seeing him dying on the ground right in front of them, but at the same time they realized that unlike them, Spike held no ill will toward Discord and knew that the ancient creature had good intentions. He had used one of his last breaths to beg them to drop any feelings of hate or anger harbored toward the Draconequus. While the Element Bearers were deep in thought, Gabby spoke up. Because she wasn't there, the Grey Griffon, as well as the other members of Spike's harem and Garble, were very confused. "What are you talking about?" Gabby asked. "In his last moments of life, Spike pled with the Element Bearers to forgive Discord rather than be angry with him," Luna explained. "Huh," said Applejack. "When you put it like that, I guess he did really try to help us, he just didn't plan for the villains to betray him so suddenly." "Precisely," Celestia said. "Discord wasn't trying to bring you down. He just didn't think it through." "He's in our castle right now in a guest bedroom. Celestia overheard him one time saying to himself that it was best if he never talked to any of you again," Luna added. "If the truth be told, I've already forgiven him for what he's done," Smolder said. Garble was completely shocked. "What? Why?" he asked. "Because, Gar-Gar," Smolder explained. "I need to move on from this event just as much as everyone else. If I am unable to forgive Discord, I feel like I cannot move on. No matter how much I hope or try, I know nothing can bring our Spike back. I know he does hold some blame for what happened, but you have to understand that we cannot move on if we dwell on what Discord did instead of forgiving him, we cannot move on and, in the process, we'll all become more and more bitter to not just Discord, but everyone we know." "Wow," Garble was astonished. "When did you become like this?" "I learned from the best," Smolder chuckled, nudging Fluttershy. "Thank you, Smolder. Getting back to the serious matter, though, you are right. I think it's time we paid him a visit," Fluttershy spoke up, her meek tone replaced with a determined one. "He needs to know that his heart was in the right place and that Spike, like the kind, caring soul he was, held no hate towards him" Everypony agreed. With that being said, the nine ponies raced outside to Celestia and Luna's chariot, climbed inside, and they rode back as fast as they could to Celestia's and Luna's castle, determined to go find Discord and sort things out with him. *** Discord sighed as he looked out the window of his guest bedroom. Everything that was either purple or green reminded him of Spike. It didn't help that there was a tree right in front of his window surrounded by grass. Discord would always cry himself to sleep each night, but just because he was asleep didn't mean his troubles were over for the day. In his dreams, a vision of Spike would appear in his mind, covered in blood and cuts, he had a charred abdomen, and he wore a blank expression. Worst of all, five seconds after his vision of Spike appeared, the injured dragon would open his mouth and just let out a blood-curdling scream for a full minute then collapse on the ground and before being enveloped in a cloud of smoke. When the cloud of smoke cleared, Spike was gone, the only thing that reminded Discord of what he just witnessed was a small pool of blood on the ground. Discord would always wake up in a cold sweat after he looked at the pool of blood and it would take an hour, sometimes two, to fall back asleep. Discord experienced the same nightmare at least twice each night during those ten, grueling days since one of his close friends died. The worst night was the night after the funeral, when Discord had the same nightmare seven times and had only gotten two hours of sleep. He had put a spell up that prevented Princess Luna from seeing his horrifying nightmares believing that this was part of what he deserved. The Draconequus was known for being a bit of a troublemaker even after his reform, but the one time he tried to do something for his best friends it went horribly wrong. He knew that the second that Twilight and her friends found him, they'd turn him back into stone. Of course, he believed it was what he deserved, but every time he got the courage to get up and go to the Casle of Friendship, it died at the last minute. Every time this happened, Discord felt ten times worse than he did before. A knock was heard at the front door and Discord slowly walked to it and looked through the peephole. Instantly, his gut dropped. He could see Twilight Sparkle and one or two of her friends. He knew Twilight was going to turn him back into stone. He knew there was no point in running, he did this and it was time to face the music. He slowly opened the door, the wooden object letting out a low creaking noise as it slowly revealed the depressed being behind it. "I know why you're here, Twilight," Discord sighed sadly. "I know what I did, but no matter how much I hope, no matter how much I try, I cannot see you or your friends ever forgiving me. So, please, just turn me into stone again and get it over with. I deserve it." Twilight was taken aback. She already knew Discord was upset, but she hadn't expected him to be tore up to the point where he wanted to be petrified in stone for a third time. Celestia, Luna, the other members of Spike's harem also seemed a little shocked by Discord's behavior. "Discord," Luna spoke. "We're not here to turn you back into stone, we just want to talk." "Oh, do you have another punishment in mind?" Discord asked, his tone seemed the same. "No, Discord," Celestia said calmly. "We're not here to punish you at all." Discord was shocked, "I-Is this a joke? Please don't toy with me like this. I know what I did was wrong, but don't leave me in the dark about my punishment." "No, we're not joking. Listen, Discord, we may be angry for what you did, but we know deep down that you never meant for this to happen. You may have drug us into your mess, but you also managed to get us all out of it," Twilight said kindly. Discord remembered what Twilight was referring to. How he'd freed everycreature in Equestria by goading Tirek into blasting away the chard of Chrysalis' throne restraining Starlight, causing a domino effect for everyone else. "While I see your point there, it still doesn't take away from the fact that one of our close friends lost his life due to me," Discord said, beginning to tear up. "I've been having the same nightmare about Spike every night." "What sort of nightmares?" Rainbow Dash asked. Discord gulped and then went into detail about his recurring nightmare about Spike. How he was so badly injured, how he had that blank expression, and how he'd just let out that awful scream before collapsing on the ground in a bloody mess. He also recalled how he woke up in a cold sweat every night at least twice. When Luna asked why she couldn't see his nightmares, he told her he had put a spell up to block her from seeing it because he thought this was part of was what he deserved. When he was finished, he looked like he was about to cry. "The worst part about this whole thing is Spike died hating me for what I did. He's not wrong either, I feel fully responsible for what happened to him. If I hadn't put them together, he'd still be alive," Discord choked out. Unable to bear the pain any longer he broke down and began to cry. After hearing this, Fluttershy trotted over and hugged her Draconequus before looking him right in the eye. The cream colored Pegasus looked very serious, "Listen, Discord. I am your best friend and as your best friend, I know you very well. I know that you're sometimes a troublemaker and mischievous person, but you have a caring heart deep inside you. You tried to do something to help us and it unexpectedly went south. You couldn't have thought that Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow would've stabbed you in the back like that. I also want to make something very clear right now, Spike was not angry at you or hated you for what happened to him. In fact, right before he died, he used one of his last breaths to tell us not to be hard on you. He said that you never intended this to happen. If he were alive now, he'd want us to go over there and forgive you, it's just who he was. If we cannot forgive you, we are going against his final wishes and thus dishonoring his memory ," Fluttershy said, her turquoise eyes vibrating with the same seriousness, but at the same time hope, at the day of the funeral when she gave a similar speech to an emotionally broken Twilight. Smolder wanted to add something. "Also, you should realize that you need help moving on just as much as we do. If we do not forgive you, not only do we lose the ability to travel down the road to recovery successfully, we'll also become bitter and angry to not just you, but everyone we know as well." After listening to his best friend's speech, Discord felt like crying again, but this time it was out of happiness. "Thank you. Thank you all so much," he whispered as he wrapped Fluttershy in a hug as he wept. Slowly, the other ponies, Dragons, Griffon, even Celestia and Luna, joined in the hug and Discord couldn't be happier. For a full minute they all just hugged each other and didn't say a word. Afterword they broke away before Fluttershy spoke up again. "You've been couped up for too long in this small room and you need help dealing with your night terrors. It's time we headed back to the Castle of Friendship for some tea, and we can talk about the things that we loved most about Spike. How does that sound?" Fluttershy asked sweetly. "That would be lovely. Thank you, Fluttershy," Discord smiled back. Fluttershy turned toward the other 14 creatures. They felt so touched at Fluttershy's actions at reconnecting with Discord. "Well done, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia said. "Today, you and your friends have proven that you all have a little bit of Spike's spirit in you." "I couldn't agree more," Luna added. "I have no doubt that Prince Spike has never been prouder as he's looking down at us from the heavens." With that Discord and Fluttershy took the lead as they walked back to the chariot to be transported back home, all feeling their hope they had gotten from each other right after the funeral strengthening twice as much or, in Smolder's case after a little guidance from Fluttershy, herself, two days after the funeral.