7. FillyDelphia (Stop 6)
“So by your definition, you are suggesting that there is such a distinction between male and female ponies that the pony’s gender must be preserved for their own safety?”
“Yes. The differences are solid and drastic, just like the differences between pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. In theory every transpony seeks to become the opposite gender, right? That suggests that during the transitional period, the body would be stuck somewhere in between, which would not only violate the laws of nature, but possibly cause a lot of damage to the body itself. Or are you suggesting that a mix of traits would not be an abomination?”
“I think you should write Princess Celestia and inform her of all this, and please keep the gender binary, three pony races, and abomination metaphor intact. If nothing else, she should be aware of what you think of her body.”
Rose smiled as the crowd began laughing and snickering at her response while the pegasus she had been talking to began to blush. She waited for the noise to die down some before continuing.
“Kidding aside though, there are a couple of things I want to point out given your concern,” she said, addressing the pegasus. “First of all, you should know that there is currently no way for one to transition, as you put it. If there was, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be doing whatever it took for it to happen. That being said, I think it’s unfair to say that every transpony seeks to change. Much like every pony has ideas of self perception, so do transponies. Remember, the whole problem comes from a disconnect between how we perceive ourselves and how we physically are. For some it may be enough to just wear the proper clothes. For others it might be more of how society views them and how they are treated. A physical change, though a perfect solution to my problem, should not be thought of as an overarching solution to all transponies.”
There were murmurs of understanding through the crowd, and Rose was happy to see some of them were taking notes.
“As for the mixing of genders,” Rose continued. “I happened to have met a young colt in Baltimare that I want to talk about. He’s transgender, in that he suffers from gender dysphoria and is uncomfortable with his own gender. However, he doesn’t want to be the opposite gender. He is instead a 3rd gender pony.”
The murmurs intensified as she said this.
“Is such a thing possible?” the pegasus asked.
“Quite,” Rose answered. “He is the first one I’ve met, and I did find very little info on the subject back when I was trying to learn more about myself, but I can guarantee that this colt is not the only one. Some see beauty in androgyny, and some see value in both genders. By extension, one should not be surprised to find that there are ponies that identify with this.”
“But how would we even go about adapting to that,” the pegasus asked. “There are the matters of sex and of pronoun use. We have no way to account for ‘in-betweens’. It’d be one thing if was just during a transitional period, but having that be the end goal… we cannot accommodate that.”
“Which is the problem with a gender binary,” Rose said. “Transponies only threaten the system because the system is inadequate. You argue that the lines that divide earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi are very clear, but we have alicorns. Yes, we could count them as separate, but they are still ponies. And if you classify them as ponies that have traits from the other three, that’s no different than classifying transponies, or specifically 3rd gender ponies, as having traits from both genders or neither. The fact that we can’t make that distinction means that the system needs to change, either to include the room for blurred lines or to get rid of the lines altogether.”
The pegasus looked as if he was going to say something else, but he instead closed his mouth.
“Thank you,” he said, before sitting down. “That answers my question.”
“I’m glad,” Rose said. “Now I believe we have time for just one more question. Who has something they want to ask?”
Rose watched as a multitude of hooves shot up into the air.
“Ok, you,” she said, point at a teenage unicorn mare.
“Do you have a special somepony or a crush or something like that?” she asked.
Rose immediately began blushing, coughing a bit as she did so.
“Ok... not going to answer that one,” Rose stammered. “Any questions not relating to my love life?”
Not a single hoof went up.
“Seriously?”
“Well, you did such a good job answering all the trans-related questions,” the unicorn said. “We just want to know more about you, which happens to include your love life.”
There were nods of agreement throughout the crowd.
“And this has nothing to do with it being juicy gossip,” Rose deadpanned.
“Can you blame us?” the unicorn said with an awkward smile.
Rose took a deep breath.
“I cannot believe I’m doing this,” she said. “Ok, as you all know from the previous explanation on the difference between gender identity and sexuality, I’m bi. This has nothing to do with me being trans, I just happen to find myself attracted to ponies of both genders. As it happens, I do happen to have a particular crush at this moment.”
Rose cringed as a collective gasp rung through the audience.
“Now don’t get too excited,” Rose said. “This is completely one-sided. The other pony doesn’t know about my crush, nor do I think the feelings would be returned. I was only mildly aware of my feelings being there until I left to do this tour of Equestria. Having time to think made a lot of things clear to me and... Well, let’s just say there’s a mare I’m really looking forward to seeing when I get back home.”
A collective “Aw” rung through the audience, causing Rose to blush, but not to cringe as the gasp had.
“Well... that was all the time we had,” Rose said. “Thank you all for your insightful questions and for being a great crowd. I hope you continue to enjoy the Equestrian Equality Envoy education rally! If you want to talk one-on-one, don’t hesitate to come up to me if you see me around.”
The audience got up and began stomping their hooves, cheering as Rose took a bow before heading backstage to where Dusk sat waiting.
“I bet I know who it is,” he said smirking.
“You would be here to hear that,” Rose said, walking towards the Triple-E tent.
“Hey, I try to tune in to all your events,” Dusk said. “I’ll have you know that I think you did a splendid job. The answers you gave were good, and the stories were heartfelt. But the way you handled those hecklers? Amazing. I must say you are getting quite good at this public speaking thing.”
“It’s not like I was that bad at it to begin with,” Rose said, with mock indignation.
“You were good at the speaking part,” Dusk said. “But you’ve come a long way from having to whisper to yourself in order to calm down as soon as the heckling started like you did in the first few cities. The snappy retorts just come naturally to you now, and it makes them so much more enjoyable to watch.”
“Well I’m glad I could entertain,” Rose said, entering the tent, with Dusk following behind her.
“Now, I had already narrowed the choices to three,” he said. “I needed to know who you were closest to in order to use them to get to you back when you were being… uncooperative. Based on the data from back then and from what I’ve seen since, however, I am certain that I know who your crush is.”
“You know, I’m aware that we’re friends, but I cannot for the life of me remember why,” Rose remarked, rolling her eyes.
“Because I am an inspiration to you,” he deadpanned. “Now, seriously, I want to see if my hunch was right. I do love being able to predict things with minimal data.”
“Look Dusk, there’s no way you know who it is,” Rose said shaking her head. “I didn’t even know I had such strong feelings for her until she wasn’t around and I started to miss her, so there’s no way you could guess right using data you go back when…”
Rose’s statement trailed off as she stared at the paper Dusk was holding in front of her, which contained a name and picture of one of Rose’s friends. Due to the context of the conversation, seeing this particular pony caused Rose to blush.
“I knew it was her,” Dusk exclaimed.
“But… But how?” Rose stammered. “What even is that?”
“Oh, that’s her information packet,” Dusk responded. “I had one made on each of your friends, just in case I needed them or information about them to get you to cooperate. Would you like to sift through it, you might be interested in what she likes and doesn’t like for when you ask her out, though you don’t really need the packet for that. It’s exactly what you think it would be.”
“You do realize that stalking is a crime, right?” Rose asked, flustered.
“Only if you get caught,” Dusk said in response, failing to earn a laugh from Rose. “Oh come on, bigger picture, remember? Ends justify means and all that. I mean, do you honestly think that you would have kept saying no if we roped her into this somehow? We had to be prepared should you not agree to come with us, and what better way than to get your close friends to come with us willingly. We’d tell them it would help us make the world safer for you, they would all volunteer to come, and you would have to come too to not feel like you were letting them fight your battles.”
“You’re evil, you know that?” Rose said, shaking her head.
“Evil, Effective, and Enthusiastic. Triple-E!” Dusk said, laughing, causing Rose to rub her head.
“So is there a reason why you’re here?” Rose asked. “Or are you just bored?”
“A bit of both actually,” Dusk responded. “Nothing wrong with having a bit of fun while completing my assignments, is there? Now, let me think… I guessed your crush, I congratulated you on a job well done… Have I told you that you’re meeting with reporters today?”
Rose nodded.
“You wanted me to do an interview now that the tour is almost over, and there will be another one after the Ponyville stop, right?”
“Yes, they should be here after the event finishes, which means you have to stick around here rather than going back to the hotel,” Dusk said. “So, told you about that, and I told you about our extended stay here in FillyDelphia, so I guess that covers everything! You are free to do what you will until-“
“What was that about an extended stay?” Rose asked, interrupting the stallion.
“Oh, I guess I didn’t tell you,” Dusk said. “Yes, we’ll be staying in the city for the next two nights, leaving the morning after that for the next destination.”
“Did something happen?”
“You could say that,” Dusk answered darkly. “From what I hear someone in the mayor’s office ‘accidentally’ lost our permission to be in the square. Then there was a media frenzy focused on protests against our event, which we have to rectify before we get there if we want to have any chance of getting any positive coverage. Lastly, we received a lot of requests for extra pamphlets for Cloudsdale, so we shipped them the ones we were going to use in Manehattan, which we’ve yet to re-print because of some technical difficulties.”
“Wow,” Rose said. “That sounds like a lot actually.”
“It sounds worse than it is,” Dusk said, shrugging. “Our printing press should be fixed today, so we can have the pamphlets re-printed soon. The mayor knows that we went through all the proper channels, so she will draw us up another permit and give it to the Triple-E representative in pony to ensure it does not get lost, so that’s an easy fix as well. The main problem is dealing with the media, especially since I am not there personally, but I have faith in Mr. Flint. He can handle it. In any case, the event has been rescheduled for three days from now, and in the meantime we get to relax and enjoy the city.”
“So, this city is one I can actually walk around in for once?” Rose asked.
“Did they seem particularly hostile out there?”
“No,” Rose admitted. “But I wasn’t sure if that was because I was getting better at dealing with it or because they were friendlier.”
“A bit of both,” Dusk said. “In any case, you should be fine. I can’t promise that you won’t get glares or mobs of ponies where ever you go, but as long as you can avoid or ignore them, you should be ok.”
Rose laughed a bit.
“Ok, so just like Canterlot then,” she said as memories of sneaking around Canterlot with Octavia surfaced to the top of her mind. “I should be fine then; I know how to deal with crowds.”
“Great, don’t forget about the interview later today though,” Dusk said. “We need you here at, say, 7:30.”
“No problem. I wasn’t planning on leaving the square, anyway,” Rose responded. “I think I’ll stick around, talk to a few ponies one-on-one, sign autographs… that kind of thing.”
“Very well, Ms. Rockstar,” Dusk said. “I’ll be here tending to some paperwork, but don’t let me keep you from your crowds.”
Both Dusk and Rose chuckled.
“Well, see you around,” the mare said, as she began to walk away.
“Wait, Rose,” Dusk called out to her, causing her to turn around. “Are you ok? You look… off.”
“I’m fine, Dusk,” Rose said. “Really. Thanks for the concern though. I’ll see you at 7:30.”
“Oh, ok then,” Dusk said, sitting at his desk as Rose exited the tent.
Rose winced a bit as the sunlight reached her eyes, squinting until she adjusted to the brightness. Once she did, she was able to see the towering buildings of FillyDelphia.
They had arrived earlier that day, with Rose immediately having to get to the square and prepare her speech. As such, she had not had much of a chance to take in the sights yet, meaning that she was excited to know that she would get to explore the city for two whole days.
“And without any crazy mobs or anti-LGBT groups on the lookout for me,” Rose thought. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Silence was all that answered Rose’s thoughts, which caused her to utter a soft sigh before she began walking towards the public area of the square.
When she had woken up that morning, Discord had already left to Canterlot. Finding solitude and silence instead of his usual remarks was a bit unnerving for Rose, but she had chalked it up to having yet to wake up alone in a while. She had assured herself that she would stop noticing the silence as the day went on. However, she was wrong.
She had always had a habit of talking to herself, and it was something she had worked on to where it only occurred when she was extremely flustered. That is, until recently.
Ever since Discord began talking to her through her thoughts, Rose had taken to this self-reflection more and more, content to actually get responses from another being, a habit she became very aware of as she went through the day alone.
Each thought that went unanswered triggered a second of confusion, followed by sadness.
“I hate to admit it,” she thought. “But I miss the jerkface.”
She stopped for a second, turning to look at Canterlot in the distance. Using that city as a reference point, Rose then turned to look in the direction Ponyville would be in, could she see it.
“Soon this trip will be over,” she thought. “I wonder what will happen then.”
Rose closed her eyes, imagining the faces of the ponies she would get to see again. Her friends, acquaintances, and even the mare she currently had a crush on would be there – the ponies she had missed terribly since she left. However, going back to them meant losing the friends she had made here.
Rose thought of Timetable, Organizer, Dusk, and Discord. She knew that Discord would leave as soon as the chaos she was going to cause was triggered. As for the other three, they all had work to do with the Triple-E, and therefore it would be very unlikely that she would get to see them much, if at all.
“I could always join the group permanently,” she mused. After all, she had grown quite comfortable with her position as an activist and a public speaker in the last week. Perhaps there would be a place for her, another task, after Project Equestria came to a close.
Rose shook her head to dispel her thoughts.
“No, I can’t leave my friends back home,” she thought. “I have a life there. I’ll get past missing the ones I’ve met here, but I’m not sure I’ll get over missing the family I have in Ponyville.”
“I can get over it, right?” Rose thought.
Once again, silence answered her.
“You keep missing Discord of all beings, and he’s only been gone for a day,” Rose thought to herself. “You’re going to be a wreck when Dusk and the rest are gone as well.”
She paused for a second.
“And I’m talking to myself,” she thought. “Perfect.”
“Ms. Rose?”
Rose turned around, stunned by the voice calling her. She looked for the source, finding a few colts and fillies standing on the other side of the fence dividing the open and closed areas for the Information Rally.
“I hope it’s not a bad time,” a pegasus filly said. “But I’d really like to talk to you, and we’d like it if you would sign our newspaper articles of you. If that’s ok.”
Rose smiled and began walking towards the group.
“You’re being silly, Rose,” she thought to herself. “Come what may, it will all be ok. Life moves on, you just have to enjoy it while it’s there. No sense on dwelling on what-ifs, especially when you have ponies that need you.”
Rose walked around the fence, sitting once she arrived at the same side the group of fillies and colts were standing on.
“Ok then, I can sign stuff for whoever wants an autograph, but first things first, I believe this filly had something she wanted to talk to me about.”
“Ow, this should not hurt this much!”
Rose struggled to keep her composure, blinking away the tears that had formed in her eyes, as she met her reflection in the mirror with a determined scowl. Without breaking her concentration, she carefully raised her hairbrush for another attempt.
“Ow!” she yelled. “Stupid knot, and stupid curls, and stupid brush!”
She slammed a hoof on the counter, before stepping away from the mirror, satisfied enough by her appearance, or rather too hurt and irritated to try to correct it again.
“Ok, I should have everything I need for today,” she thought to herself. “I still feel like I’m forgetting something, though.”
Her eyes scanned the hotel room looking for whatever she may have forgotten to grab, stopping as she noticed the dark robe still hanging from the coat rack, a small smirk forming in the corners of her mouth.
Despite having been stuck at the information rally for the entirety of the first day, Rose had managed to go explore the city during her second day, much to her delight. However, doing so was not without its challenges.
Early on in her exploration, Rose found that wherever she went, crowds of ponies seemed to follow. These crowds consisted of ponies that had been at the Triple-E event, ponies that were very much against her being in the city, and reporters documenting her interactions with both groups. As much as she liked talking to the first group, all three of them were hampering her ability to enjoy the sights.
As such, she returned to her hotel room and retrieved the dark robe she had used to pass undetected in Canterlot, only to find that it was completely useless in FillyDelphia.
“I kind of wish ponies here were as self-obsessed as in Canterlot,” Rose mused. “If only so that my robe could hide me from the crowds.”
Still, once she had resigned herself to being followed and stared at wherever she went, Rose found herself being able to ignore the attention and have a good time regardless.
Images from the day flashed through her mind as she remembered the restaurants, the museums, and the various other places she had seen, ending with a memory of a couple accidentally falling into a fountain after a rather risqué public make-out session.
“I really wish he had been here to see it,” Rose said.
Rose sighed as she thought of the draconequus. It was not just that he would have had a witty comment for that particular situation; Rose missed him general. Without his voice in her head, life just seemed too quiet to her.
“Well if me being gone for is causing you such discomfort, maybe I should leave more often and for longer periods of time.”
Rose shrieked, turning around to find Discord standing behind her, grinning from ear to ear.
“I do love that sound,” Discord said. “Not quite singing, but what can you do?”
He shrugged while Rose continued to stare.
“You’re back!”
Discord looked around his surroundings, as if confused.
“Yes, it seems I am,” he said. “That, or you’ve finally snapped and now you’re hallucinating about me. Honestly, I hope it’s that one.”
Rose couldn’t help but smile.
“In either case I’m very happy to see you,” she said. “You have no idea how boring it’s been without you around.”
“That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?” Discord asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I know that life without me is meaningless. It’s one of the burdens I must carry. Still, I was only gone for two days.”
“Yes, but I miss our thought conversations,” Rose said.
“You might want to talk to a psychiatrist about that,” Discord said.
“Don’t you judge me,” Rose thought.
Discord began laughing, soon being joined by Rose.
“Ok, you’re fine,” Discord said. “In any case, did I miss anything interesting?”
“No, not really,” said Rose. “A few funny moments here and there but nothing important, and certainly nothing threatening to bring chaos unto all creation. How about you? How did meeting with the Princess go? Anything interesting happen?”
Discord shrank back a little at Rose’s question, earning him a questioning stare from her.
“Oh, yes, that,” Discord said. “I do believe we have something very important to talk about.”
Rose took particular notice of the seriousness with which Discord had said that last sentence. She searched his face for the shadows of a grin, or a smile, or for the telltale signs of a coming joke. However, she was unable to find them; instead she was met with a sober solemnity she had never seen the draconequus wear before. She could not help but shudder.
“Okay…” Rose said cautiously, sitting down on the bed. “What do we need to talk about?”
Rose’s question was not immediately answered. Instead, Discord mumbled to himself as he searched for the right place to begin. After a while, his mumbling quieted down and when he spoke, it was with the practiced flair of a seasoned storyteller.
“Remember the day I left in Los Pegasus?” he asked, to which Rose nodded. “That day annoyed me far more than I think you realized. It wasn’t just that it was all so dreadfully boring, which it was, but after spending time with you I must confess I didn’t see how you were supposed to cause the chaos I was feeling.”
Discord turned away from Rose but continued talking as he levitated back and forth through the room.
“You were well-known, yes, but not really followed or idolized,” Discord said. “Not only that, but those that hate you don’t hate you enough to start a revolution of any kind. That, and you go out of your way to be so mind-numbingly harmless. I just didn’t see how you were supposed to act as the harbinger of the fall of harmony for Equestria, and even if I wasn’t wrong about that, I still wasn’t sure I wanted to stick around, waiting aimlessly for days and weeks for it to happen. Especially on that day, it did not seem worth it.”
He turned to look at Rose in the eyes as he whispered.
“So I cheated.”
Rose blinked a few times in confusion, before the meaning of Discord’s words caught up with her, at which point she began stammering.
“Wait…” she said. “Cheated… That means you-“
“Yes,” Discord responded, “I peeked.”
Rose’s eyes widened but she said nothing, allowing silence to fill the void.
“So you know what happens,” Rose said finally.
Discord nodded.
“That I do, and I know a lot more than just that,” he said. “I know that I was right all along and that you are the catalyst for what’s to come. I know exactly how and when the event will happen. I also know exactly how the chaos will take shape, what it will cause, how it will develop, and even how it will be resolved.”
“And?” Rose asked.
“And it was a lot to take in,” Discord said. “That’s why I was gone most of the day. I needed time to adjust to all that I’d seen, and to think of the best way to use that knowledge. Who should I tell, what should I do, that sort of thing. It took all night but in the end I decided that it would be best if I just kept that knowledge to myself. After all, Celestia was quite right in that tampering with the future is inadvisable, and to be quite honest, I wasn’t in the best of moods. That is to say, I found no reason whatsoever as to why I should tip my hand and reveal what I know to you or princess sunbutt. What was coming would happen and none would be the wiser that I had a heads up. At least that’s how I felt back then.”
“Meaning that you feel different now?”
“Yes,” Discord replied. “After that incident where we went on our little chaos spree in the middle of the desert, and I must confess that I’ve grown a tad attached to you and your cause. Then there’s the matter of what I saw, which is weighing quite heavily on my mind. The riots, ponies opposing Celestia, massive movements fighting each other in courts and through violence, and that’s not even the stuff I can’t tell you about. This is bigger than I imagined, and the triggers are… worrisome. In any case, I decided that I needed to bring this up to Celestia at the least. If she felt it truly better to stay quiet and do nothing, then it would be her choice, but at least that way someone besides me would know. I could say I tried.”
Rose nodded in understanding.
“So what did she say when you told her about it?” Rose asked.
“I didn’t,” Discord said shaking his head. “She wouldn’t let me.”
“Huh?”
Discord took a deep sigh.
“I went to Canterlot with the full intention of telling her,” he said. “However, when I told her what I wanted to talk about, she stopped me. As it turns out, she really does not want to know the future at all. She also mentioned that she is disappointed to find that I peeked, but respects that the choice to do so was completely mine. And yet, she also forbade me from telling anyone else about what I saw and from interfering in any way that could change what I saw. I spent the rest of my time there arguing with her about that, assuring her that it was of upmost importance that someone knew. In the end, we reached a compromise.”
“Which was?”
“You.”
Rose stared in silence, allowing Discord to continue talking.
“The event, the aftermath, and everything else has to do with you quite personally,” he said. “As such, it is only fair that you be given a choice in whether or not to know what’s coming. The way Celestia put it, I can only tell you about what’s to come, and even then, you have to ask me first, otherwise I’m to stay quiet and I must refrain from intervening. So please, ask me.”
Rose was taken aback by Discord’s pleading tone. He was not quite begging, but it was close, which both confused and unnerved her.
Taking a deep breath, she weighed her options.
On the one hoof, she was extremely curious about what was to come, and having knowledge of events beforehoof would allow her to prepare for them, even if she did not actively seek to prevent them. She was also curious about her role in this whole thing, and the sooner she became aware of it, the sooner she could begin adapting to it.
However, she was not completely sold on the idea. After all, there was truth to what Celestia said. Fighting the future was a foal’s errand, and knowledge of the future would only make that pitfall easier to fall into.
“Would I really be able to do what needs to be done once I find out what my actions cause?” Rose asked herself. “Would I be able to carry on as if nothing’s wrong? Or would I try to change things?”
Rose thought for a moment about her meeting with the princess in Canterlot. How she had been ready to back out of the rally as soon as she found out about what she was to cause. However, she also thought of Sunspot and the various colts, fillies, stallions, and mares she had met throughout the trip.
“If I had backed out, I would never have met any of them,” Rose thought to herself. “I’ve done a lot of good, and none of it would have happened if I had known for sure that my actions would bring about chaos to Equestria.”
Rose thought long and hard about her choices, visualizing them as the two sides on a coin that she had to flip.
On the one side was knowledge. She would know what she was doing and what she would cause. On the other was hope. She would be able to hope that what she was doing was for the best, and whether or not it was would be revealed once it was too late to worry about it.
Rose flipped the coin in her mind, watching it tumble, but it stopped, landing on its side.
“I want you to answer me one question first,” Rose said suddenly. “Before I choose I mean.”
Discord raised an eyebrow.
“And that is?”
“Will everything be ok?” she asked.
Discord didn’t respond at first, confused as he was by the question.
“What do you mean?”
“Equestria, my friends, my family, everything, will it be better after whatever it is that happens?” she asked. “I know chaos will come, but you said it would die down as well. When it does, will everything be better than it was? Will everyone be ok?”
“Well, to be fair, ‘better’ and ‘ok’ are very subjective terms,” Discord said. “They have to do a lot with the individual pony. What is ‘better’ or ‘ok’ for one pony does not mean that it will apply to the others.”
Rose scoffed.
“You know what I mean,” she said. “How about this: use my perspective. What I consider better and ok. You’ve been in my head enough to know what that entails. When everything is said and done, will Equestria be a better place?”
Discord thought for a while before answering.
“Yes,” he said finally. “It will take a long time, and it will be a very painful process for Equestria, but when the fire dies down, it will be a better, more accepting place.”
Rose gave Discord a concerned stare.
“Metaphorical fire, dear,” Discord added, to Rose’s relief.
“And my friends?” Rose asked. “Applejack, Octavia, Derpy, Summer, Perfect, and everyone else? Will they be ok after what I cause and whatever it is I do that causes it?”
Discord took a deep breath.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Rose; they will suffer quite a bit,” he said solemnly. “Everyone that’s close to you, and even some that aren’t, will suffer for quite a while. But, they will eventually move past it and come to terms with everything. They will all eventually be happy. So, to answer your question, yes, they will all be ok, in time.”
Rose closed her eyes and nodded.
“Good,” she said. “That’s all I needed to know.”
“All?” Discord asked.
“Yes,” Rose said. “Thank you, but I don’t need to know anything else.”
Discord’s eyes widened.
“No, you don’t understand,” he said. “I need you to ask me about what happens. You don’t understand, you don’t know what’s going to happen!”
“And that’s the point, isn’t it?” Rose asked, calming the draconequus. “You’re right, I don’t know and I don’t understand. But you just gave me the answer to what I care about the most. Knowing that… Knowing that those important to me will be ok and that everything I do and cause will help Equestria be a better place… it’s enough. Come whatever may, I can face it now because I know what I’m helping create, even if I don’t yet know how. That’s enough for me.”
Discord took a deep sigh.
“I guess there’s no changing your mind now,” he said.
“There isn’t,” Rose agreed. “But I do want to ask you a favor.”
Discord shrugged.
“Sure, what is it?” he said.
Rose shifted uncomfortably.
“When the thing happens, could... could you please be there with me the entire time?” she asked.
Discord’s face went from a confused expression to a smiling one.
“You’re still scared of what’s to come, then?” he asked.
“No!” she replied, before letting her gaze shift towards the floor. “Maybe. I’m not scared, I’m just nervous… But I know that I’ll feel better if you’re there with me to help me face it, whatever it is. So, please?”
Discord chuckled, sitting next to Rose.
“Don’t you worry,” he said. “I’ll be with you the entire time.”
“Thank you, Discord,” Rose said. “That means a lot to me.”
The two sat in silence for a while, letting go of the anxiety for the future, before Rose stood up from the bed.
“Well, no reason to stick around here all day,” she said. “We have plenty to go see here in FillyDelphia and a lot of things that you’re going to enjoy before we head to Manehattan tomorrow.”
Discord chuckled, disappearing and appearing next to the door, which he opened.
“After you.”
Rose headed out the door and into the city with Discord following behind. Rose, as ecstatic as she was, failed to notice Discord’s expression as he trailed behind her. She also failed to notice him talking to himself.
“Enjoy this peaceful moment, Rose,” he whispered. “For as long as it will last.”