Honesty Part 2.
Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike run into the middle of the ponyville, to find it under a dark cloud. Everypony is avoiding each other either out of hate or out of embarrassment. Everypony has their houses shut and businesses closed, barricaded by ponies who don’t want to have their secrets spilled.
“Yeesh,” Spike starts, “I never seen Ponyville like this before.”
“Ugh! And it’s all Discord’s fault!” Twilight hisses.
“No it’s not,” Fluttershy argues, gently. “I taught him; he just doesn't know any better. He’s innocent.”
Twilight faced hoofs. “Fluttershy, he is not a foal, he knows exactly what he is doing- he loves this stuff and now no pony’s secrets are safe.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t have any secrets.” Spike smiles smugly, crossing his arms. He suddenly lets out a gasp. “Wait! my secret crush on Rarity!” He let out another gasp, covering his mouth. “Oh no, what if he heard me?! You don’t think he heard me right? … I-I… Everypony for themselves!”
He takes off, running back to Twilight’s castle, much to his friends disapproval. Twilight puts out her hoof at him in a desperate attempt to being him back.
“Spike! Spike! Come back!” She sighs heavily, brow scrunching in annoyance, “I guess it’s just you and me Fluttershy.” Twilight looked around at all the unhappy townsponies. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, call him or something? He listens to you.”
“Oh, well, I can try,” she said uncertainly. She clears her throat, putting her hoof beside her lips. “D-Discord? C-can you come here a moment?” she says in a small whisper.
Twilight rubs her hoof against her temple. “Fluttershy, I don’t think he’ll hear you if you say it like-”
In a flash of light, Discord appears in front of them with a bag of popcorn in his right paw, munching a pawful of them in his mouth.
“You hmm… call, my dear?” he mutters chewing through the kernels.
“Discord! How can you be eating?!” Twilight yells. “Just look at this mess you made!”
“Whatever do you mean?... I don’t see a mess, Ponyville is nothing but tidy.” he scoffs, taking another pawful of popcorn, before tossing the empty bag over his shoulder.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Twilight says, her eye twitching. “Everypony hates each other, they are avoiding each other, and it is because you keep telling their secret conversations!”
“Oh, why all the secrecy? Is there a cult I don’t know about? Maybe some of those Celuminnati ponies?”
“Discord, this isn’t a joke.” She says with a deadpanned look on her face.
“Honestly, I thought I was helping… Fluttershy tells me to tell the truth so I have, and here you are reprimanding me- I have never been so offended! If somepony does a good thing around here they get put on the stake and set on fire!”
“We don’t do that!” she shouts.
“You're right… you just turn them into stone.” he hisses.
“Alright that’s enough!” Fluttershy intervenes between the two. “Twilight, can you let me and Discord have some privacy, please?”
Twilight lets out a small grumble of protest, but Fluttershy stares her down. Giving her one of her famous stares. Twilight takes a step back and lets out a sigh.
“Okay, I’ll be in my castle if you need me.” she says before flying off.
Fluttershy turns back to Discord who had his back towards her with his arms crossed. She flies up beside him, finding a scowl across his face, like a foal who had his candy taken away by their mother. She gently sits down next to him in silence. A breeze goes by as she stares at the empty streets, a sight that she hasn't seen since Zecora came around. It was a bit frightful, but peaceful.
“Well?” Discord starts, the silence unnerving him. “Are you going to say something to me?”
“Yes,” She begins. Discord puts his paw next to his ear, ready to hear her scolding. “…I’m sorry.”
“You're sorry?” He reels back in surprise as if slapped. “My dear, you are beginning to have delusions- what do you have to apologize for?”
“I didn’t explain Honesty enough; when I told you to tell the truth, I didn’t mean telling the truth about other ponies conversations. Those are private, and they would tell their friends or loved ones the truth in the future when it’s the right time.”
“You mean like how you told Rarity you hated being a model?” he muses.
“How do you know that?!” She whirls around. Discord presses his lips together. Oops. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.
“I might have heard it… or read it in a certain book?” He says slowly, tapping his fingers together.
“In a book?” She tilts her head at him. Ah, forget it, she would find out sooner or later; better to fess up now and tell the truth.
“Perhaps… your diary?" He smiles painfully.
“M-my diary! You read my diary!?... Is that why you were in my room?!” she asks, mortified, her face becoming redder than a rose.
“At the time I thought it was a good read.” He grins slightly.
“Discord, no! That is private!... What else did you read?”
“Well…” He puts up his lion paw, showing her a certain pink tail. She whirls to find her tail one third its length. She lets out a gasp and sits down, trying to hide it as her face turns bright red.
“Put it back! Put it back! Put it back!” she cries, covering her face with her wings. Discord lets out a laugh.
“Why?… It’s adorable that you have such a stumpy tail!”
“S-stumpy?!”
“Nothing wrong with being a bit stumpy.” He snaps his fingers, attaching her tail back, much to her relief.
“You weren’t supposed to know that, and you weren't suppose to peek in my diary!”
“Didn’t you just say that it was all right to tell ponies secrets when the time comes?” He chides.
“Yes, but sometimes you have to have some secrets as long as it doesn’t hurt yourself or others, or keeping something private between friends and family. Sometimes, if a pony eavesdrops like what you did, they spill the truth to others but it’s sometimes a double-edged sword… because you end up hurting the pony at the end of the conversation. That is called Gossip.”
“Gossip?”
“Yes, I know it’s a hard concept, but… if I tell you something private, I don’t want you to tell everypony in all of Equestria, like… my tail, not everpony knows about it because I am too embarrassed… Will you tell other ponies about it, knowing that it will embarrass me?”
“Of course not, I would never do anything to hurt you,” he says sincerely. “I made a promise to myself after that… ‘Tirek debacle’.” he says painfully. He always regretted that day. “That I will never, ever, in all of my life, make you shed those tears for me again.” She lets out a smile, blushing slightly at his words.
“And what about other ponies?”
“Oh, them,” He rolls his eyes. “I don’t care what happens to them,” he says, waving it off.
“But what if they were me?”
“But they are not, and they are not my problem.” he says flatly.
“And what if somepony starts spreading your secrets?” Fluttershy presses. He lets out a scoff.
“What secrets? I have none.”
“What about those sweet letters you sent me?” She says, nudging him gently. Discord let out a small blush and shrugs his shoulders.
“Your friends already know that, so ha!”
“But not what you wrote in them, and I happen to have memorized one particular letter.” She smirks. He turns to her in disbelief and in curiosity of what letter she had memorized. He had begun sending them since she first reformed him, which he believes ranged in the hundreds.
“Which letter is that?” He asks, his nose in the air acting as if he did not care. Fluttershy let out a small giggle.
“My dearest Fluttershy-” She starts. He rolls his eyes; that is how he always addressed her. “I fear that I am experiencing nightmares…” His ears perk. “I have a recurring nightmare about you disappearing, needless to say it has given me a fright. Your voice soothes me, so…” she says a little loudly. Discord begins to notice ponies slowly opening their doors and windows to listen to her. He lets out a gulp as a cold sweat runs down his face.
“I was hoping you would sing to me my favorite song.” She lets out another giggle as she finishes. “And I know which song you love more than anything…”
He was beginning to bite his nails nervously as more and more ponies peer outside as Fluttershy takes a breath of air.
“Soft kitty, warm kitty~ little ball of fu-” Suddenly she was silence by Discord putting a claw over her mouth.
“All right! I understand now!” He slowly removes his claw from her mouth, wondering if she would continue singing it, but thankfully she knew that it was enough.
“Being Honest also means not lying, or keeping secrets… it also means being honest to yourself,” she says gently. “Always be yourself, and I don’t mean your chaotic evil self, but the Discord I know now, as a gentle, funny, sometimes a bit mean, prankster Draconique.”
“My dear, sometimes you aggravate me with all this mushy friendship talk.” He frowns, blushing lightly from her words.
“And the next thing you are going to do is apologize to every single pony you eavesdropped on,” she says assertively. He lets out a groan.
“All of them?!”
“Yes, all of them, mister… now you better get started, and you better give a sincere apology.” She flew up above him. “I will see you back home with dinner ready.” She flaps her wings, flying back to her cottage.
“Wait!” he calls. “Can’t you do it for me?!” He let out a series of grumbles, seeing her continue to fly off. He ran his paw down his face, stretching it slightly. “That pony, expecting me to apologize… hmph!” He stomps off, trying to find any pony he could see, and saw the grey mare with the wonky eyes and the brown stallion with the hourglass as a cutie mark, smiling at eachother as they walk into the middle of ponyville.
He snaps his fingers, appearing in front of them.
“Hello there!” He says bubbly to the surprised couple. “Let’s make this quick shall we?” Discord says, rubbing his hands together. “I’m sorry for… um… “eavesdropping” on your conversation, and yadda yadda yadda, I feel bad, and I’m pretty sure if I don’t apologize Fluttershy won’t feed me… so I “sincerely” apologize with all of my… ugh, “heart” and I hope you forgive me, but if you don’t that’s fine, I don’t really care either way.” He says bluntly, finding more interest in his nails.
“Oh you don’t have to apologize,” the grey mare says with a smile. “If you hadn’t said anything, well… me and the Doctor wouldn't have… you know.” She lets out a blush. “Gone… out?”
“Oh… well how wonderful,” he says, sticking his tongue out in nausea. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a hundred more ponies to apologize to.” He snaps his fingers, disappearing in a flash.
Throughout the next three hours, he went up to any ponies and knocked on their doors, some even refused to open the door to him in fear and in retaliation. Needless to say, it peeved him off and he had to teleport inside their own home, where he had to face their shouts and cries while he tried to apologize for his eavesdropping and, unfortunately, breaking into their homes.
He found himself back in the middle of Ponyville, finding the citizens finally coming out of their homes to quietly apologize to others. Even if Discord had spilled secrets, hateful comments were told and after he apologized, he must have made the ponies realize their own mistakes. He watches as some awkwardly apologize, some with tears running down their faces, and even some that didn't need words to say that they were sorry.
Discord suddenly felt relief.
He blinks, his paw going to his chest. He feels a calming sensation from the pit of his stomach that reached to the middle of his chest. Was he happy for them?
He shakes his head and snaps his fingers. A long scroll appears in his claw. He looked over his checklist of ponies who he told the secrets to, and he marks the last box with a quill making the scroll roll back up and blow up in a pile of confetti.
“There! My epic quest is finally finished!” he says triumphantly. He clicks his tongue. “Wait, I believe I forgot Princess Twilight.” He snaps his fingers, appearing in front of her castle.
He looks up at the towering behemoth of a tree house, and he invites himself inside, going through the long empty corridors. He thought that she would at least have some guards by now. He enters inside the library with three stories of books, which had been much to Twilight’s delight because of how her books had been when her tree house was destroyed. He finds her where she always is, her muzzle deep in another one of her books.
Hearing him step inside, she looks up and closes her book.
“Discord, what are you doing here? Did you talk to Fluttershy?” she asks as Discord makes his way to her.
“Of course, she told me to apologize to everypony I told their secrets to, and I am here to apologize to you.”
“To me?... I don’t think you told anypony any of my secrets.”
“You're right.” He nods. “I didn’t tell anypony your secrets- I am here to apologize for my behavior.”
“Oh!... well that’s… strange of you to do,” she questions. “Very unlike you.”
“Twilight, you must know by now that everything I do is unlike me… but I suppose in this sense, yes… it’s very unlike me- but I do “value” our friendship,” he says with seriousness in his voice. She blinks at him. “I will never forget what you did for me, forgiving me of my past transgressions, regarding me as one of your friends and… I do appreciate it, not every pony can be patient as my sweet Fluttershy.”
“Discord…” She trails off and lets out a smile. “I can see that you are trying your best, and I accept your apology, can you accept mine?”
“Finally!” he exclaims. “I thought you were becoming prideful if you didn't apologize too! I thought finally having your own castle might had made you a tyrant like Celestia,” he says poking her crown. He proceeds to show her with a large banner falling from the ceiling, depicting Celestia with a disapproving scowl upon her face as she stared down. Above her in black bolded letters that read, “THE SUN IS ALWAYS WATCHING.”
Twilight frowns at him.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t you have to go back to Fluttershy’s?!” she says, pulling away from him as she straightens her crown.
“Yes, thank you for reminding me. Toodle loo, Princess Twilight!” He waves before disappearing in a flash along with the banner. Twilight massages her temple, letting out a sigh and looks to her right.
“You can come out Spike! He’s gone!” she calls. Her small dragon peers out from one of the bookcases, his teeth chattering.
“Are you sure? You don’t think he told Rarity, did he?” he asks with paranoia as he slowly walks up to her, looking over his shoulder for the chimera.
“No Spike, he would have tried to apologize to you if he did.”
“Oh, whew…” he sighs in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I thought I was in trouble there.”