Chapter 13
Getting to Equestria's border would take several days' travel. Twilight and Oggie had planned a route that led them through any towns they'd be travelling close to. They also used roads as often as they could, although sometimes they had no choice but to go cross-country as following a road would add too much time to the trip. Twilight was unsure if their mission really had something like a 'deadline' attached to it or not, but she'd decided it would still be best if they moved as if time was of the essence. They tried their best to spend nights in the towns, but as they headed further north, the farther apart the towns became. Eventually, you could hardly call them 'towns' so much as 'villages'. A few families gathered together would be all that really differentiated them as more than just a family farm. Most of the small villages had a singular large building that was a generic 'social gathering place'. Adults went there for cider and sometimes a cooked meal, younger colts and mares went to find other younger colts and mares, and those travelling through the area could find a room, maybe two, that were partly used for storage and partly rented out. Often the six ponies and Discord huddled together in a small room for the night, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy finding spots on the rafters to give the others more room on the ground.
As they went further, even these small villages started to petered out. When they didn't spend the night outdoors, they'd try to ask any farms or homesteads they passed if they had or knew of somewhere they could get some sleep. Tiny cramped rooms became barns, something that actually seemed like a trade up. Barns gave the group room to stretch out, and hay made for comfortable beds. Pinkie and Discord would ignore Applejack's advice to keep the hay neat and just burrowed themselves in the biggest pile of it they could find like a couple of dormice. It wouldn't take long before a paw would come out of the newly formed nest and drag Fluttershy in by her tail as well.
Food supplies relied less on stores and buying crops from farmers and became more a game of mushroom hunting and searches for wild flowers. Discord was very vocal about this, complaining about 'rabbit food' and sometimes refusing to eat what was available, only to whine the entire next day about starving to death. Twilight really wanted to tell him to keep quiet and stop acting like a baby, but she tried her best to remember what Oggie had told her. Keep it together. Act like the leader she'd made herself. It was hard, and often she found herself grinding her teeth to keep herself quiet.
Fluttershy on the other hand, had no problem scolding Discord for his complaining. However, her soft toned voice and gentle coaxing only managed to keep him quiet for a few hours before he'd start again. The group very quickly learned to find more than mushrooms and flowers to use in their meals just to get some peace and quiet.
The landscape changed as they went. The summer fields and forests of lush greens had changed to hardier plants and much rockier fields. Sloping hills had started to become grey mountains, jutting out sharply in the distance. Large, ancient clusters of rock littered the valleys they walked through with scratchy weeds and shrubs growing in the cracks between them. Patches of evergreens grew tightly together in patches all around them, completely at random. Sometimes they would pass what may have been a house or a farm once, but years of neglect and the elements had thrown its bricks around the building's remains. The paths they followed were more cracked and not very well maintained when made of cobblestone, and when they were dirt roads, the only clue that you were even following a path was the slight difference in colour between it and the surrounding ground. Sometimes a pheasant or lizard would run away from them, having been sunbathing in their way. It was still summer, as the sun shone down on them heavily, but the evening air was colder than back home and it set in faster.
Rainbow Dash grumbled on several occasions about pegasi needing to pay more attention on keeping summer and autumn separate, until Twilight wondered out loud if there even were any pegasi weather teams around this place.
“We should probably thank this strange little group for organising their coup during the summer,” Discord said one day when the weather was brought up again. “The north is really quite unpleasant any other time of year. Cold winds, unpredictable snow, frost, and a lot of other annoying quirks of nature I much rather did away with than worry about when I was running things.” He thought for a moment. “When I bothered to come up here, that is. And I can promise you there was very little that I'd bother to come this way for.”
“Doesn't look like anypony really comes up this way.” Applejack said, her eyes scanning the bleak looking landscape.
“Ponies find a way of taking root anywhere.” Discord said dismissively. “You're a bit like a mould. Even when others can't see you, you're usually still around, hidden from view.”
“I must protest that comparison!” Rarity said, lifting the brim of her sunhat to look up at him with a frown. “I am most certainly not a mould!”
“Oh, I beg your highest pardon, Fair Rarity,” Discord gave her a mocking bow. “Will you accept 'lichen?”
“Ain't lichen a fungus?” Applejack asked. She didn't seem too interested, but long periods of silence was tiring, especially when their walking stretched from almost sun-up till sundown.
“I will not be compared to a fungus either!” Rarity huffed.
“Mr. Davenport back in Ponyville recently found out he has a family of squirrels living in his roof,” Fluttershy spoke up, causing the others to turn to her.
“What's that gotta do with moulds and fungus?” Applejack asked.
“Well, when he asked me to come ask them if they'd leave, they told me they'd been living in his roof for a few years already and he just never knew about it.” She smiled at them. “I guess I just meant, maybe that'd be a nicer way to say it. Ponies can probably make homes and have families like that, where other ponies don't expect them to. Right?”
“Exactly right, my dear.” Discord nodded.
“I suppose I can handle being compared to a squirrel,” Rarity agreed. “At least if moulds and funguses are my second choices.”
“So if ponies are squirrels, what does that make you, Discord?” Pinkie bounced herself to walk beside him, grinning widely. “Would you be a fungus or whatever?”
“Pinkie, what are ya even talkin-”
“If I was a fungus I'd prefer to be one of those that glow in the dark, or one of those nightmare tentacle-looking things.” He shot Pinkie a grin, flashing his teeth while completely ignoring Applejack. She merely shook her head and gave up trying to bring logic back to the conversation.
“But if you glow in the dark, won't you be easy to find if ponies come looking for food?” Pinkie carried on, putting her forehooves over his back and clambering on top of him.
“Why would ponies want to eat me? Didn't you say they were squirrels?” Discord asked, apparently unphased by her using him for transport.
Pinkie frowned, trying to back-peddle her thinking. “Oh yeah... So won't you be easy to find if squirrels come looking for food?”
“Squirrels don't eat mushrooms, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, smiling up at her. “They eat nuts, mostly.”
“Oh ok,” Pinkie frowned deeper. “Ok, so ponies eat mushrooms... but ponies are squirrels, so they eat nuts.. so they won't eat Discord because he's not a nut.”
“He's totally a nut.” Rainbow Dash peered down at her from where she was lazily flying.
“I can't really argue with that,” Discord agreed.
Pinkie put her hooves to her head. “Ok so... So Discord's a nut... but he's also a mushroom... and ponies eat mushrooms but they're squirrels so they eat nuts... but Discord is a nut... but he glows in the dark.. but, what kinda nut glows in the dark?!”
“C'mon guys, ya'll short circuit her if ya keep it up.” Applejack came to Pinkie's rescue, the others giving her three separate grins.
“We should probably start finding a place to make camp for the night,” Twilight interrupted. “It's gonna get dark soon.”
“There's a big group of trees that way,” Rainbow called down as she pointed in the right direction. “D'you wanna head over there?”
“Sounds good Dash,” Twilight called back up at her. “Lead the way.”
“Are there any dangerous animals out here?” Rarity asked. It was unclear if she was nervous or just curious, her gaze going to Fluttershy.
“I don't know,” Fluttershy answered. “I never thought I'd be this far away from home.” She turned to Discord, as did Rarity and Pinkie, still perched ontop of him.
“Are you implying I would know?” He asked, grinning at their expectant faces.
“Well, I just assumed...” Rarity trailed off.
“Oh, you assume right, but I just wanted to be sure, since nopony's bothering to ask me out loud.” His smile perked at her slightly. Unsure if he was offended or just messing with her, Rarity gave an unsure smile back.
“So... there are dangerous animals around here?” Applejack asked directly.
“It depends what you mean by 'dangerous',” Discord started. Twilight suppressed her urge to groan at this opening statement. “In the northern mountains rocs sometimes move in.”
“Rocks?” Fluttershy blinked up at him.
“Not a bad idea,” Discord considered for a moment. “Giant rocks that live on mountains, terrifying any hikers when they suddenly start walking around. I'll have to remember that one. But no. No, R-O-Cs. They just look like giant eagles to me. Disappointingly boring in appearance actually. They like ponies though.”
“I'm guessing you don't mean in the good way,” Rainbow Dash commented.
“Well, good for them.” He turned his grin on her instead. “Never eaten Pony myself though, so I can't give any real insight on that.”
“Ugh.” Rarity shuddered.
“Are there really giant eagles around here?” Fluttershy squeaked, suddenly looking frightened. She gave the sky several nervous glances as she edged closer to Discord.
“He's just trying to scare you guys. Rocs live on the high mountain peaks, and we're still inside the borders. We don't need to worry about them.” Twilight said, turning to look at Fluttershy over her shoulder.
“But how can you be sure?” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Princess Celestia keeps them away from Equestria.” Twilight said with only the slightest hint of pride in her voice.
“My my, I do wonder how our benevolent dictator manages that?” Discord mused thoughtfully.
“I hope it ain't with a spell,” Applejack added. “Otherwise we might need ta actually start thinkin' about watchin' the sky.” Discord's grin widened behind her.
“I never asked her,” Twilight admitted. “But even if it is a spell, rocs aren't magical. They probably don't know about the lack of magic at the moment. They'll probably just stay away from the area. We're too far away from the mountains for them to really care anyway.”
“Of course, of course,” Discord nodded sympathetically. Twilight felt her cheeks flare up a little but she bit her tongue. “Good thing you don't have Thunderbirds this side of the world. Now they do have magic.” He turned and gave Pinkie a wide, expectant smile. “Bit of luck there.”
Pinkie however, seemed immune to his attempted paranoia mongering. “You really know a lot about birds,” She grinned back. “D'you like them? Huh? Which kinds do you like the most?”
“Those little sugar ones you put on cakes,” Discord answered.
“Bon Bon's really good at stuff like that!” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically, apparently satisfied with the answer. “And she's an earth pony so she doesn't even need magic to make them!”
“Ya don't need magic ta do everythin', Pinkie.” Applejack scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
Discord made a noise and stuck out his tongue, “I beg to differ. This lack of magic is killing me. What I would give to be able to spice things up around here.” He gave the landscape a frown. “This place is duller than ditch-water. I don't think even Ponyville is this boring and that, is quite the accomplishment. Honestly, a roc might liven things up a little right about now.”
“We won't be going anywhere near where those things would be, are we Twilight?” Rarity asked, turning to her.
Twilight shook her head. “We're fine, Rarity. Don't worry so much.” She gave her a reassuring smile. “But if you can't help worrying about it, at least we'll be under the trees. A giant bird's wings are too big to get in-between them. See?”
She ended the sentence by tapping a trunk with a hoof as they reached the copse. The trees were a collection of firs with a few paler species growing amongst them. The ground was free of grass and covered with a thick blanket of pine needles. Several pinecones lay around and Pinkie immediately jumped off Discord's back to start collecting them. There was a single large rock in the middle of the grove. A single tree was trying to grow on top of it, its roots curling around it to the ground, creating something almost like a small hollow. It seemed the obvious choice for their camp. They cleared away as many pine needles as they could and set their blankets close together. Pinkie's pinecone collecting turned out to be a better idea than they realised when Applejack pointed out that pinecones sometimes had nuts inside them. With the few supplies they'd gathered from the last farm they found they had a good meal that not even Discord could complain about too much.
After they were full, and with a few short hours of daylight left, they decided to look for more pinecones and any other edible plants growing in the forest to restock with. It soon turned into a game, and, with the promise they wouldn't cheat and leave the cover of the trees, the group split up to try and find as many different foods as they could.
Twilight knew she wasn't doing so good at the game. She was so use to using her magic to carry things she was actually a little confused about how to carry the knobbly pieces of wood back to camp. They tasted kind of bad, and she found carrying them in her hooves to be awkward. She could balance them on her back, but she couldn't carry as many as she'd like, and she had to walk slowly so they wouldn't fall off and roll away. She was making her way back to their spot slowly when she noticed Discord twisted up a tree, pulling down pinecones that hadn't fallen yet.
She watched him for a few moments. Her burning anger from the basilisk had faded by now into a lukewarm annoyance. And yet, every day he seemed to say or do something that stirred the coals and made her anger at him flare up again. She'd actually managed by force of will to keep quiet when he said something she felt was either mean-spirited or unhelpful, but somehow it felt wrong. She knew what Oggie had said was right, and that she couldn't lose her temper at him every time he said something, but she also felt completely ignoring him wasn't going to make anything better either. Seeing him without the others around, she suddenly felt tempted to confront him and at least try to get him to be more careful what he said to the others. An old idiom crossed her mind for a moment; 'it won't get better if you pick it'. But she scrunched her nose at the thought and shook it off. Besides, that saying was created in a literal sense. Her subconscious throwing it up was just her inner critic making her second guess herself. She made up her mind with this and trotted towards him. She felt her pinecones tumble off her when she moved too fast, having forgotten she was carrying them.
She sighed at them before carrying on. She stood herself at the bottom of the tree and looked up, spotting the snake-like figure twisting around in the high branches.
“Hey, Discord? Can you come down? I wanna talk to you.” She said, loud enough for him to hear.
His head popped down between the needles and, she noticed with the familiar stab of annoyance, his eyes lit up when he saw who it was. “To me? What an honour!”
He disappeared upwards again before dropping down, his arms full with his harvest. “Now Princess Twilight, if you're here to suggest a team-up I'm afraid I'll have to say no. Not really the 'friendly' thing to do, ganging up on the others now, is it?”
“Erm.. no. No I actually wanna talk to you about something a little more serious.” She said business-like.
Discord started tossing his pinecones lightly into the air, getting them into a lazy juggle. “A royal decree perhaps? Or maybe a new law against enjoying yourself?”
She suppressed the urge to mention that a decree and a law were kind of the same thing. “I actually wanna talk to you about what you were saying today. About rocs and things.”
“Really now Twilight. I knew the others might get spooked but I suspected you knew better than to take my little joke seriously.” He moved the pinecones to a single paw, using his other one to scratch at something in his ear.
“That's kinda the point,” she went on. “Why do you always have to say something to scare everypony like that? It's not exactly helping the mood, especially when we actually have real problems to worry about.”
“Aaah, I see.” Discord said with apparent realisation. He stopped his juggle, letting the pinecones fall into a neat pyramid. He turned to face her better and smacked it over with his tail into a disorganised heap. “You think that I'm trying to tell them scary stories because I think it's funny.” He pouted. “Twilight, I'm hurt that you would think that of me! Would I really do something so pointlessly mean? Even if it is hilarious?”
She gave him a flat look. “That's exactly the kind of thing you'd do. And if we were back home I probably wouldn't care that much, but like I said, we actually do have real problems to worry about without you talking about things that could eat us that aren't even around.”
“You seem so sure of that,” He said with a pert smile.
“Ugh! Alright yeah, I get it, maybe there is a chance that some of the creatures outside the border could find their way into Equestria, but we don't know if it's true. We haven't seen anything that could mean rocs are around! And with us going to meet a bunch of ponies that are totally crazy and an actual threat I don't think you scaring everypony for no reason is the best thing to do right now.”
“Oh I don't think it'll be that bad,” Discord said nonchalant. “If these cultists are trying to get rid of magic it most certainly won't be working for them either. So no spells, no magical traps and a bunch of unicorns with their main method of attack taken away. Personally I think you and the fanboy are exaggerating things.”
“This is serious, Discord.” Twilight stomped a hoof slightly, her frown getting deeper. “These ponies aren't normal! And from what Oggie said, they're not just pushover academics either! They've got some real sadistic tendencies by the sound of it! And even if you ignore all of that, who knows what they have in their fortress! They've apparently had this anti-magic stone for almost a hundred years! What have they got their hooves on that suddenly now it's affecting all of Equestria? They could have anything in that place! That's what we should be worrying about! Not to mention how are we gonna get the thing to stop doing whatever it's doing? Instead of trying to scare everypony, why don't you use all the free time you seem to have and think about what we can do about it? Princess Celestia sent you with us because you're suppose to know about things outside of Equestria, right? But so far all you seem to do is make the trip three times harder than it should be and making everypony scared and panicky!”
Twilight was getting worked up as more and more pent up frustration found itself into her words. She was now frowning at him hard, his impassive expression and apparent lack of reaction only making her angrier.
“You seem so sure that I'd have the faintest idea on how to fix this little magic problem,” he said when she finished, his smile frozen where it was. “I was under the impression that that was your area of expertise. Granted it usually boils down to 'blast it with the Elements of Harmony' but I must admit, why try something else if it's working?” He gave a shrug.
“I'm not saying you know how to fix it, I'm saying you shouldn't waste everypony's time when you could actually start doing something useful!” Twilight snapped. “Do you think it's a good idea to work everypony up like that? How are we gonna be able to focus and keep calm about the real threat if you're stressing everypony out with nonsense?!”
“You're starting to repeat yourself,” He said, sounding bored. “I really don't see what the big deal is here, Twilight. I understand you've been raised by Celestia and her fun police, but do try and lighten up a little bit. And, if you want my advice-”
“I really don't.” She said shortly.
“Well, if you did want my advice, I'd suggest not to blame your personal problems and worries on me.” His smile, perked again. “It's not very becoming of royalty, you know.”
Twilight knew it was bait, but she couldn't help herself. The words came out before she could stop them. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”
“I'm not blind, Twilight Sparkle. I know you don't like me.” He gave her a sideways glance as he started to pick up his pinecones again. “And really, I could care less if you did or not. You were right about one thing; as long as you and your clique don't turn me to stone I'm not all that interested in what you think of me. But if you're really so intent on giving your little friends less things to worry about, maybe you should start with your own behaviour. You've become really sour since we started this little field trip.”
“Only because you're driving me crazy!!” She yelled, unable to take any more. “The entire world's gone insane and everything is wrong and nothing's working right and instead of doing anything to help you're just making me go insane too! I never thought you'd be even worse without your magic but you sure proved me wrong! For somepony who seems to be annoyed at not having it anymore, you seem perfectly happy without it! You're good at being a menace just by opening your mouth and saying things! And you're wondering why I've been acting a little tense?! If I didn't know any better I'd say you probably don't even care that your powers are gone! You really don't seem that anxious to help get them back! You don't act like you care at all!”
“I could say the same about you” he said, turning back to her with his arms full. “Only in the reverse of course.”
“I don't wanna hear it!” Twilight spat, turning slightly to leave. “Obviously you can't have a conversation for more than a minute without talking nonsense!”
“I am quite serious, actually,” He said, his smile getting a slight edge to it. “Just like you seem to think I do not care about losing my powers, so I noticed that you don't seem to care that you've lost your's either. At least, as far as the significance of it goes.”
“And what 'significance' is that?” Twilight asked, her tone mocking. She was still intent to give up and leave, but something in his tone of voice was stopping her.
“Well, this whole magic business,” Discord started, putting his pinecones down again and sitting down on them, crossing his legs. “Being the Element of Magic, that's probably not made you very happy. Especially after getting the ultimate filly-scout badge of becoming a Princess. Alicornification comes with that little deal, of course.” His smile grew, “Yes, it must be frustrating to be given so much power pumping through you, only to get it taken away again. Certainly, that's the only thing you seem to give any attention to regarding this situation.”
“This doesn't have anything to do with that!” Twilight snapped. “Even if I was still a normal unicorn I'd still be trying to fix this!”
“Ah, but you're not a normal unicorn anymore, are you?” Discord said, his tone of voice never getting louder than it had to. “Or at least, you weren't when you still had your alicorn magic. And that's where I noticed how you really don't seem to care what has happened now that that magic is gone. I mean, it's not like your life depends on having magic. You're not going to stop existing without it.. You just had things made a little less convenient for you. Suddenly ponies can't control everything any more. Suddenly Celestia and her sister don't hold dominion over every aspect of every living creature's life. Suddenly there's complete anarchy and those who are not ponies actually have some freedom. But none of that is really something that keeps you or any other pony alive now, is it? Even our benevolent reagents, old and powerful as they may be, won't pop out of existence without magic. But that is all you seem to be worried about. You're so concerned about this loss of control, but you don't seem to care about the only thing which could be considered life-altering, which is that it's made you normal again.”
“If I'd never been turned into an alicorn I'd still have magic! I've always been a unicorn! Not having any magic at all sure isn't normal” Twilight yelled back.
“That's not what I meant,” Discord went on. Somehow, there seemed to have slipped a drop of bitterness to his voice, but his smile was still wide. “What I am saying is, you may have the wings and the horn, but you're no longer 'Twilight Sparkle, the Great and Immortal Alicorn'. You're just normal 'Twilight Sparkle' again. Perhaps a little downgraded from your unicorn self, but normal once again. But you seem to not care what getting your powers back would do. You'd be 'Great and Immortal' once again. Just like your dear Princesses.-”
“I don't see how that would be any different-,” Twilight hissed at him, but he ignored her. His voice raised in volume to talk over her, a sterner tone to it.
“-And with your powers, you and your princesses will keep watching over Equestria for years. And decades. And centuries. And Millennia. And Millions of years. Epoch upon epoch. Age upon Age. Stretching out for all eternity. Living forever and ever as your magic keeps you alive. Watching everything and everypony around you change, while you remain forever just as you are. But for this moment, without that magic, you are 'Twilight Sparkle' again. Just the same as your friends who you claim to hold so dear. And yet you're so intent on getting that alicorn power back. You don't seem to care about anything else at all. You haven't even stopped to consider perhaps you and your friendship with the others are better without it.” His grin widened again, his teeth sharp and gleaming. “You are mortal again, and you don't even seem to care.”
Twilight was glaring at him with all the anger she thought it was possible for a pony to feel. Her eyes prickled as the blood throbbed in her cheeks. At that moment, Discord seemed to be the concentrated form of everything in the world she despised. And as she felt his words about her immortality and her friends dig itself deep into her mind, she only despised him more for making her realise there was some truth in what he was saying. She broke her gaze, finally turning to leave for good.
“I hate you.” She almost-whispered, venomously.
Discord watched her walk away. It almost looked like steam was curling off her in the darkening light, but it was not just from anger. Her expression clearly showed him he'd struck a deep wound. When she was out of sight and he knew she wouldn't turn back to look at him, the smile dropped from his face and his eyes grew hard. Something had shifted in him when Twilight had said he was making everypony's life harder, and he didn't understand why. He'd lived thousands of years, turning reality inside out without any consideration for any other living thing. Twilight was probably one of the nicest critics he'd ever had. The anger and hate he'd received in the past when he ruled Equestria and the lands beyond it were much more serious and brimming with threats of violence than anything she'd said. Not to mention there were often ponies who would go so far to rise up and try to attack him physically. Armed with every slicing, piercing, burning, hexing and cursing weapon to exist, there had been countless times he'd faced ponies, gryphons, and Minotaurs who were more intent on killing him as brutally as possible than just telling him they didn't like him and he was making them miserable.
So why this emotion? Why this uncertainty in what he'd always considered to be his unshakeable confidence? Somehow, and he couldn't understand why, she'd gotten to him with what she said. Somehow, she actually made him realise he cared about how he was affecting the others. He didn't like it. He knew Twilight Sparkle disliked him and he always thought himself beyond giving it much thought. He'd never had any intention of worrying about how others felt about what he said or did. So then why? Why did the idea that the others would be happier without him bother him? Why did he care?
There were soft hoofbeats behind him and he twisted his head backwards, woken up from his sulk. Fluttershy stepped out from the trees. He was about to push the thought of Twilight and her accusations aside to greet her, until Fluttershy's expression stopped him.
She rounded the pile of pinecones to stand directly in front of him, her eyes glued to his. Her mouth was drawn in a tight line and a strange, almost pained frown was on her face. Her eyes were sad, and somehow confused.
“Why did you say that?” She finally asked, shifting in place.
“I said a lot of things,” He answered as he stood up, bending down to pick up the pinecones again. “What part do you mean exactly?”
He looked back at her when she didn't answer. She was staring off to the side, her face still twisted up as she bit down on her lip.
“Oh come now, my dear. It's not as if Twilight ever liked me anyway,” He said, straightening up. “Nothing I said could make her dislike me any more.”
She shook her head slowly at this as she turned to look at him again. Her eyes were shining.
“What you said, I... I never thought about it before. I never.... I never realised that because she's an alicorn and we're not... Oh poor Twilight.” She shut her eyes, plopping down in place. “Oh Twilight.... you've probably made her so scared and lonely...”
Discord wrung his paw and claw together, pulling a face to himself. He finally gave Fluttershy a rather pathetic smile and was about to say something in his defense when she turned back to him.
“How could you say those things to her? Why did you bring it up? I'm sure she already knew what being an alicorn means. Why did you even mention it?” She gave a sniff. “Why is it so easy for you to play with ponies' feelings? I don't understand you. I don't understand you at all.”
“Well to be fair she was the one-” He started, although his voice was less confident than he was use to.
She shook her head. “I don't think I've ever understood you. I've been thinking and I've realised... I don't think I even really know you. Sometimes I think I do and I think you really are a good person but then you go and... say things and do things like this. And you seem to enjoy it.” She looked up again, and this time her face carried more than just disappointment and sadness. There was a slight desperateness to her. Something urgent, and slightly scared.
“Is this the kind of person you really are, Discord?”
Whatever piece of himself Twilight had awoken with her accusations, stirred again. Something inside him felt like it'd sprung a leak, and whatever the unfamiliar emotion was, it was slowly starting to spread.
Fluttershy said nothing else, blinking away tears from her large, innocent eyes. Her gaze was begging him to tell her she was wrong, and for the first time, Discord felt a small pang of something at the fact that he was hesitating to answer.