Discord, Don't Die...

by KIDX


Life is Precious...

At the very moment Twilight and her friends are exploring their new Castle of Friendship, Princess Celestia proudly introduces Twilight's role as the princess of friendship, along with Luna and Cadence. Discord only looks, hiding behind a wall, expecting that they want him to leave. However, Twilight and her friends understand Discord had truly changed, and her magic floated him over to have him be part of the group hug.
"Wait, wheres MY throne?" Discord wonders
"Oh, I don't think you're ready yet." Fluttershy smiles.
"Heh. I suppose not." Discord admits.
Then, things start to get upsetting...
"DISCORD!" Celestia sneers.
He looks at her in shame, as Fluttershy cowers down.
"How dare you ask about a throne..." Celestia scolds, "After everything you done..."
He looks down at Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity, seeing that they actually haven't this close to forgiving him either. Their faces actually looked back up at him in disappointment and disgust, especially after he asked for a throne. He then looks at Celestia, Luna, and Cadence.
"We'll be expecting you to arrive in our throne room three days from now..." Celestia finally said, "Your charges will be addressed there."
"Celestia... he did help us a little..." Twilight tries to reason.
"HELP?" Cadence shouts, "He helped TIREK!"
Celestia then looks at Twilight and her friends, except Discord.
"Your... subjects will want to see you on the balcony. They're pretty excited to see the new princesses." Celestia smiles slowly at them.
As Twilight and her friends head to the balcony, Fluttershy looks back to see the last three princesses in the room, just turning their heads away from Discord.
"I can't believe I thought you'd changed..." Celestia sighed.
As the last three princesses left the room, Discord shakes in horror, realizing what everypony now thinks of him after what he just done.
"Discord..." Fluttershy tries to comfort, as she approaches him.
Discord just snaps his fingers, and disappears.

He hidden himself somewhere in the Everfree forest, probably near Fluttershy's house. He clings to his legs, rocking back and forth, as he starts to cry softly. He then hits himself on the head.
"What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?" he kept repeating to himself.
He shook more and more, and hit himself on the head again and again. As he snaps his fingers by accident, he suddenly notices he created a small razor blade by him. Discord looks at it, seeing the reflection of himself on it.
"Look at me... I'm nothing but a monster..." he whispers to himself, "I haven't changed at all."
He then picks the blade up, looking at himself. His mind is now ruminating on the bad things he done. Then... he cut his wrist...

Two Days Later...


“You came!” Fluttershy said, as she hugged Discord wearing the medallion, “Did you bring the cucumber sandwiches?”
“Right here.” he said, showing them to her.
“Great.” she beams.
He then tosses the sandwhiches to the ground, right in front of the five ponies and Spike.
“I’d imagine they’ll be your last decent meal for quite sometime…” he said nonchalantly.
The ponies then saw Tirek with him, as Discord threw them in a cage.
“TA-DAA!” he cheers.
“Discord. WHY?” Fluttershy cries, “I thought we were friends!”
“Oh, tell me you didn’t see this coming.” Discord grins.
“I didn’t. I truly didn’t…” Fluttershy sobs.
He then remembers the last image of the ponies looking coldly at him.

Discord was all alone in the Everfree Forest that day before going back to Fluttershy’s house. He kept thinking if that image of betrayal he done to her, and all of Equestria. He then picks up a box he dug to hide in the ground, so nopony else can look for it. He opens it, containing a roll of barbed wire, a set of razor blades, and a whip. There’s also a journal book inside, as he brings it out to read and write more memories of the things he done.

MY ATROCITIES
Betraying my friends and all of Equestria to help Tirek
Tried to break up the main six ponies
Tried to ruin Princess Cadence’s visit to Twilight
Created the vine destruction in Ponyville

After he looks at the info and continues writing, he sets it down and picks up his whip. He’s been doing this in secret for quite some time now after the whole Tirek thing, refusing to forgive himself. Celestia, the other princesses, and Shining Armor are also setting up a trial to discuss his betrayal. That’s enough to keep thinking to himself that he’s a monster. He raises his whip, and strikes it HARD behind his back.
“I’m so evil…” he keeps telling himself, crying.
He does the whipping again and again, scolding himself in an unhealthy state. He then glances to see that far from him, the main six ponies are meeting Fluttershy at her house. Before leaving, Discord picks up a razor blade and cuts his wrist. He looks at the other scars he created on his arm from a while back. He then puts back the box, digs it up, and walks to Fluttershy’s house.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilight are sitting in the room with Fluttershy, drinking tea with her.
“You’re aware that Discord has to arrive in Canterlot tomorrow?” Twilight asks her.
“I know…” Fluttershy sighs.
“We ain’t happy about what Discord done neither.” Applejack says, “But he has to confront his wrongs.”
“I just hope they aren’t too hard on him…” Fluttershy said.
Discord then arrives in the room, looking at the ponies in emotionless state.
“Hello…” he breathes slowly.
Rainbow Dash just turns her head away.
“It’s… good to see you Discord…” Rarity said.
“How have you been doing?” Applejack asks.
“I… horrible…” Discord confesses, “I’m expecting to hear negative things from Shining Armor tomorrow…”
“Discord…” Twilight said.
Fluttershy can see that Discord needs time.
“Um… Discord… why don’t you go out and get vegetables for us. I’m preparing a good dinner for the girls tonight, if you want to join too.” she offers.
“I’ll… go get the food.” Discord said, snapping his fingers, creating a bag of bits, “But I won’t join tonight…”
As he turns around, the six ponies gasp as they see the blood trickling from his back.
“What happened to him?” Rainbow Dash asks.
“He’s… been acting strange lately after hearing he’s being brought to trial.” Fluttershy tells them.
The other four ponies look down.

At the marketplace, Discord predicted correctly that the other ponies are disgusted to see him. And why not? He helped Tirek steal the magic souls from them, and he’s hoping to hear more words from them that can put him down. That’s what he deserves, isn’t it? At least that what he thinks…
He comes to a food stall, only to have an angry face appear on the seller’s face.
“I’m… here… because of food for Fluttershy…” he whispers.
“I’m not selling you anything! GO AWAY!” the seller shouts.
Discord breathes slowly, and turns around to leave. He can also see fillies being pulled away from him by their mothers, as they look at him in disgust. Other ponies around him murmur negative things about him because of his actions, as he listens closely.
“What does he think he’s doing here?”
“Traitor.”
“Monster.”
“More than a monster. A freak…”
“He should be ashamed of himself…”
Discord heard the words he needed to hear, as he left the village. In the fields, he can feel hard rocks suddenly being tossed at him. Angry male ponies shout slurs at him, rebuking him for his past actions.
“GO BACK TO YOUR STONE PRISON!” they call out.
Discord refuses to act back with chaos, and keeps walking.

That evening, Discord went back to the Everfree Forest, at the same spot he dug his punishment box. He weeps slowly, as he grabs the roll of barbed wire, and CHOKES himself with it. Blood trickles down from his neck a little bit, as the cuts leave gashes on his neck. He then lets go, bringing the betrayal scene to Fluttershy up again on his magical screen. He kept slitting his wrists again and again when watching it.

The next day at Canterlot, the main six ponies and Spike walk with Discord to the Canterlot castle. The spirit of chaos looks up to see the guards in front of him, pointing their spears at him with anger. They signal him to walk in, as the main six ponies and dragon wait outside.
In the throne room, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, and Shining Armor are lined in a row in front of Discord, as he walks in with the guards behind him.
“Discord…” Celestia sighs, “Your betrayal really disappointed us…”
Discord doesn’t respond.
“What you done is almost unforgivable…” Shining Armor sneers, “It almost destroyed all of Equestria.”
“You were given a job, and you disobeyed orders. How do you plead?” Princess Cadence asks.
Discord says nothing.
“Do you really have nothing to say?” Shining Armor shouts, “Address to the princess!”
Discord just looks down, as he says his words.
“I just want to punish myself, and keep doing it in any way possible…” he moans.
“Well… we don’t know if that will solve anything just yet…” Celestia sighs, “But we’re considering putting you to service tasks that…”
“I WANT YOU TO TURN ME BACK TO STONE!” Discord suddenly screams.
The four ponies freeze in shock.
“How can I live with myself after the things I done…” Discord whispers.
“Discord…” Luna said, “We just don’t come to decisions like that so quickly.”
“I think it’s a good idea…” Shining Armor seethes, “He’s done enough damage already…”
“Shining Armor…” Princess Cadence tries to reason.
“THINK OF THE DAMAGE HE’S DONE TO MY SISTER!” Shining Armor shouts.
Celestia can then see the scar marks on Discord’s neck.
“Discord, what happened to your neck?” she asks.
Discord then sobs, and snaps his fingers, disappearing from the throne room.
“HE JUST LEFT?” Shining Armor shouts.
Celestia breathes heavily.
“Perhaps this went too quickly…” Celestia thinks, “I’ll have Twilight and her friends find him…”
She walks out of the throne to meet them outside, telling them what just happened, and that they need to find Discord.

Discord has hidden himself in the Everfree Forest all day, and he’s hardly left his spot where he punishes himself. He keeps ruminating on his betrayal to his friends, more than once. He looks at his hands, growling at them.

“You came!” Fluttershy said, as she hugged Discord wearing the medallion, “Did you bring the cucumber sandwiches?”
“Right here.” he said, showing them to her.
“Great.” she beams.
He then tosses the sandwhiches to the ground, right in front of the five ponies and Spike.
“I’d imagine they’ll be your last decent meal for quite sometime…” he said nonchalantly.
The ponies then saw Tirek with him, as Discord threw them in a cage.
“TA-DAA!” he cheers.
“Discord. WHY?” Fluttershy cries, “I thought we were friends!”
“Oh, tell me you didn’t see this coming.” Discord grins.
“I didn’t. I truly didn’t…” Fluttershy sobs.

“I’m a monster…” Discord weeps, as he cuts himself again, “I’m a complete monster…”
He doesn’t even want to feel like his chaotic self anymore. It was just three days ago after what he did was wrong, THREE DAYS AGO that he betrayed his friends. And he couldn’t let it go. He didn’t want to be evil, but… he was pushed to. He recalls his childhood, being abandoned by his former parents because he was deformed.

“FREAK!”
“ANIMAL!”
“MONSTER!”
That’s what young fillies used to call him at the orphanage. Soon, he turned to his power of chaos to playfully get back at them, but he never harmed them, let alone wanted to kill him. That’s when the other ponies turned against him, and chased after him because of his chaos. And it still happens up to this very day. Even if he cared for Celestia sometime in his childhood when meeting her, he still made her his enemy today.

Discord was rocking back and forth, not feeling he can be trusted by anypony else anymore. He looks up, emotionless, deciding to end it all. That’s what they want, right?
But what about Fluttershy?

“Discord. WHY?” Fluttershy cries, “I thought we were friends!”
“Oh, tell me you didn’t see this coming.” Discord grins.
“I didn’t. I truly didn’t…” Fluttershy sobs.

Yeah. He couldn’t forget that. And he actually regretted asking if he could get a throne after all the damage he done. He didn’t want to suffer like this anymore. He snaps his fingers, and makes a pen and paper. He then writes slowly, as tears stream hard from his eyes. He then snaps his fingers, finding a place to set his letter.

He arrived at Twilight’s castle, setting the note on the table.
“Discord…” a voice said in the room.
He looked to see Rainbow Dash approaching him.
“Where were you?” she demanded, “Why did you suddenly disappear on us? We were looking everywhere for you…”
“I never meant to hurt anypony…” he said softly, “I just want to do what’s best for all of you.”
He then sobs softly.
“Goodbye…” he weeps.
As he snaps and disappears, Rainbow Dash picks up the note he left for Twilight and the others.

My dear friends,
If you read this, I can no longer live with the guilt and betrayal I passed onto you. I know you’ll never forgive me for betraying you and almost destroying Equestria, and I’m glad you never will. I hope I set things right for you with my suicide. Goodbye. I’m sorry.
-Discord.

Rainbow Dash shakes in horror, as she suddenly tears up. She then flies out as fast as she can to find Twilight and the others. She can’t hold back her tears after she read the letter.

As Twilight, Applejack, Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie head home, giving up on their search, they become agitated.
“I guess he refused to face his consequences…” Twilight sighs.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to…” Fluttershy tries to reason.
“GUYS!” Rainbow Dash cries, as she meets up with the gang.
“What?” Twilight asks, “Did you find Discord?”
“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash sobs, “And… he’s going to try KILLING HIMSELF!”
“WHAT?” the ponies and Spike gasp.
“Read this!” Rainbow said, handing over the letter.
The ponies and Spike look at the note, seeing the blood drips and teardrops on it. They read the entire thing, and shake in fear and guilt. Fluttershy was the one to cry the loudest.
“WE HAVE TO FIND HIM! FAST!” Twilight cries, “I know he sometimes passes by the forest near Fluttershy’s house!”
“LET’S GO!” Applejack shouts.
They run as fast as they can, and they’re lucky they’re close to Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight then uses her aura to sense where Discord is heading, suddenly seeing his footprints in the ground. Twilight assumes he wanted to look at Fluttershy’s home before he left.
They all then entered the Everfree forest, as Spike suddenly notices the box.
“Hey… does that belong to… Discord?” Spike asks.
“Find out!” Twilight looks back, as she, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash keep running, “We’re going to find him!”
Spike, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie feel their blood run cold, as they see his items, realizing what he done to himself. They see blood on the barbed wire, the razor blades, and his whip. They then look at his journal, seeing all the things he wrote about himself, why he hates himself, about his horrible childhood, and everything he can’t forgive himself for because he betrayed them.
“How… how can he hurt himself like that?” Applejack whimpers.
“Why?” Pinkie sobs.
“That poor creature…” Rarity cries, as Spike hugs her.
“We need to follow Twilight, NOW!” Applejack shouts.
The four of them then run, as Spike carries the evidence of Discord’s sad items, so they can inform Celestia of Discord's self abuse.


Discord looks down at the cliff, overlooking the violent flowing river at Everfree Falls. He can see the waterfall to the right, going as deep as it goes to the sharp rocks below. He snaps his fingers, and creates a big rock and rope. He ties the noose on his neck, sobbing as he then ties a knot on the rock. He steps slowly to the edge of the cliff while holding the rock, crying softly.
“I’m so sorry Twilight…” he finally wept.
Twilight and her friends are back together again, and come up behind him. They feel their blood run cold, as they see Discord throw the boulder, carrying him off with full force. He chokes and rattles as he falls into the river.
“NO!” Fluttershy screams.
Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie knew what they had to do. They run over to the cliff as well, as Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack fall into the river to swim after him. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy swoop over the sky to keep sight of him.
“HE’S GOING TO DROWN!” Rainbow Dash screams.
Surely enough, the six ponies and dragon can see that the rock is finally pulling Discord deeper into the water.
Underwater, Discord felt like he got the punishment he deserved. He breathes in as much water as he could, letting the pressure of the water burn his lungs. He feels his tears collide with the river, as he thinks of the disappointment he caused his friends.
“I’m so sorry…” he thought in his head, hoping he’ll die soon, “You never deserved me. I don’t deserve any friends…”
His eyes close.
Then, as he becomes unconscious, six of the ponies dive underwater together, and swim towards Discord to catch him before he reached the waterfall. Loosening the nose on his neck, they then swim him back up to the surface, as they gasp for air when returning him back up. Applejack then swims fast to shore, and gets up to throw her friends a lasso to grab onto. Spike is with her, as the two of them pull the rest of the gang after they grab the rope. They pull Discord back onto the ground with all their strength, finally setting him down on the grass. Discord coughs water out of his nose, but is breathing unevenly.
“Discord…” Fluttershy sobs.
“We need to get him to a hospital!” Twilight said, “Spike, inform Princess Celestia!”


Celestia is pacing around the throne room, as Shining Armor looks at her.
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t trust Discord anymore…” he said to her, “I’m just trying to make him face his actions so he can fix the damage he done. Every single one!”
“He seemed less chaotic as I noticed lately…” Celestia said, concerned, “He even looked like he…”
BAM!
Spike then runs into the room, panting to catch his breath.
“I… don’t know how I had the strength to run all the way here instead of sending a letter… but it’s urgent…” Spike weeps.
“What?” Celestia asks.
“Discord tried to kill himself…” Spike said.
Shining Armor is in intense shock, as Celestia suddenly dropped to the floor.

At the hospital, the doctors are looking over Discord as he’s unconscious on the hospital bed. They took x-rays, and recorded his pulse on the EKG. The six ponies just stand really close to him when in the room, crying.
“He has a fracture in his neck.” the doctors tell them, “The weight from the rock could have broken his neck bone and killed him, but we also noticed the noose nearly blocked his air flow and blood stream.”
Twilight cries softly, seeing the pain Discord put himself into because of his bad guilt. She sees his face all white, noticing the barbed wire marks and scars on his neck. Fluttershy then lifts up one of his paws to see his wrists cuttings, suddenly dropping it as she gasps at the sight. She puts her head on Rainbow Dash’s arm, crying hard.
Spike then enters the room with Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, and the royal guards. Their eyes widen as they see the state Discord is in. Shining Armor then paces slowly to him, tearing up as he puts his hoof on his talon.
“I don’t get it… why?” he weeps, “You betrayed us… but you then go and try to kill yourself? That’s very wrong… I didn’t… I should have never yelled at you… this… this is all a joke right? Did you just do this to get our attention?”
The ponies were wondering the same thing, but then notice the extreme amount of tears pouring from Discord’s eyes.
“Why didn’t you let me die?” Discord cries.
Fluttershy flies over to him, hugging him tightly.
“Be careful of his neck!” the doctor advises.
Celestia walks over to Discord, seeing him cry harder as if he has a mental breakdown.
“Call off the trial…” she weeps at the guards and other princesses, “This is a topic I must discuss with Twilight and the others. This is no longer about betrayal.”
“Can… can we stay and watch over Discord tonight?” Twilight asks.
“Of course…” Celestia nods, “He may need you…”
Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie then go onto the bed, curling by Discord’s body and hugging him softly. They can only feel guilt for not letting go of the past and forgiving him sooner. They also cry hard, wondering how the rest of Equestria will take it.

The next morning, the six ponies and Spike slowly get off the bed and get Discord breakfast. As they lay in on a tray, they can still hear Discord whispering "I Hate Myself" over and over again. Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack approach to Discord slowly.
"This is partly our fault..." Rainbow sobs, "If we haven't accepted you as our friend sooner after Fluttershy reformed you, we wouldn't have pushed you into... betrayal... or..."
"Please... understand we do care for you..." Twilight cries softly, "We're sorry too..."
"No... all my fault..." Discord whispers.
Twilight weeps slowly, then looks at her friends.
"We... should probably go see Celestia..." Twilight said.
As they leave the room, Twilight suddenly hears Discord snap his fingers. She looks back, screaming when Discord created a gun, pointing it toward the temple of his head. He was about to shoot, until Twilight uses her magic ray to destroy the gun just in time.
"NO! I WANT TO DIE!" Discord wails, thrashing in the bed, "SOMEPONY KILL ME!"
"Discord..." Twilight stammers, as the doctors and nurses rush in to hold him down.
"Calm down Discord... Discord..." the doctor tries to reason.
"KILL ME! KILL ME!" Discord shrieks.
One of the nurses then gives Discord a shot, putting some sort of anesthetic to calm him down. He suddenly relaxes, going into a harmless nap. The doctors then look at Twilight and her friends, as they whimper at the sight.
"He'll be fine..." the doctor assures, "But we'll have to put him under suicide watch."
He then walks them out of the room, and sighs hard as they're in the hallway.
"I know he's... like this because he feels guilty for betraying us..." Twilight tells the doctor.
"That's the problem with this certain guilt of his..." the doctor shudders, "It's fogging up his mind, and he's now destroying his mental health as we speak..."
"No..." Fluttershy weeps, as Rainbow Dash hugs her with her wing.

In Appleloosa, Braeburn and his friends are doing construction to fix up the town.
"Darn that... lord of chaos... capturing us to go toward that Tirek..." one cowboy pony sneers.
Some buffalo indians are helping with construction too, as they listen in on the conversation. Little Strongheart is also walking by other construction workers, as she suddenly hears the word that's going around Equestria pretty quickly. "Discord tried to drown himself..."
The words shock her, as her legs wobble when walking.
"Let me tell you..." Braeburn tells his friends, while Strongheart passes by him, "When I catch Discord, I'm going to kick his behind..."
"He already beat you to it..." Strongheart tells him, as they look at her, "Actually... he tried to kill himself..."
"Wait... WHAT?" Braeburn gasps in fear.
He slumps down to the ground. Sure, he's angry at Discord for the wrong doings he did... but SUICIDE? He knows that's no way to see his errs... and... if Discord did die, he wouldn't be there to help him, along with Twilight and her friends. This made him feel remorse completely. Strongheart then helps him up, as he shakes in fright.
"So what?" another cowpony smirks, "If you ask me, Discord got what he deserved..."
Braeburn then punches him in the face the moment he said that.
"How dare you..." he said in anger, "An old enemy in pain met extreme guilt, and you say he deserved to die? He never tried to kill us... so why do you think he deserved to kill himself?"
He then walks to the train station.
"I'm going to the hospital to say I forgive him..." he said.

In Celestia's throne room, she looks out the window in sorrow, as Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, and Princess Luna stand by her.
"No one in Equestria has ever thought of doing suicide in years before... ever..." Celestia said, "But... Discord..."
"Everypony else has already heard about it..." Luna said in silence.
Celestia then turns around.
"I'm partly to blame..." Celestia cries, "When... I was younger... Discord tried to befriend me... but I rejected him because he looked different... how could I have been such a fool to take part of turning him into something he wished he never became?"
The other three ponies just stand in silence.
"I suppose some apologies should be said to him." Luna admits, "But... still..."
"I'll... see if Twilight arrived..." Shining Armor wept, as he leaves the room.

While Discord is at the hospital, recovering from his injuries, Twilight and her friends slowly pace through Canterlot to meet Celestia in the throne room. Through the palace streets, they can hear the other ponies hearing the news about Discord’s suicide attempt. The whole discussion is polarized, and Fluttershy can only turn her head in disgust when somepony said Discord got what he deserved.
Those kinds of “he deserved it” comments disgusted Twilight and her friends too. They then meet up with Shining Armor at the entrance, where he can’t control his crying. He then walks over to Fluttershy and hugs her.
“I’m so sorry about what happened…” he said to her, “I never meant to hold a grudge against...”
“Don’t apologize…” the yellow pegasi said, “Discord was stressed and guilty. I just don’t know why his emotions took his toll.”
“Celestia is waiting for the seven of you inside…” Shining Armor said silently.
They then walk in, going through the corridors, and finally meeting the princesses in the throne room, where they stand in sadness.
“How long has Discord been like this?” Celestia asks.
“We brought evidence…” Applejack tells her, “I think he started doing this to himself after the day we defeated Tirek.”
Celestia grabs the box and looks inside. She drops it, coughing out as if she’s trying to hold back her crying. The other ponies and Spike can then feel their hearts drop as they see the tools Discord self-abused himself with. Twilight then picks up his notebook and looks inside. He written reminders to himself of how evil he is, and why he should never forgive himself for teaming up with Tirek. She read the words in every detail.

I don’t know what to think of myself anymore. I was so committed to Tirek’s offer that there is something more powerful than friendship, and I actually TOOK it. Think about the lives I nearly destroyed, I made Fluttershy distraught. I even made the ponies hate me more, and I don’t want them to find it in their heart to forgive me after this very day. Why Twilight included me in the group hug, I don’t know. But I never deserved it. Every day, I dreamed being in another universe, all alone, with no pony to bring suffering to. Not being called a freak and monster every day when I was so young. Having only a mother and father to care for me and hear them say they love me. A world where I can only rely on chaos, and be alone with it forever. I can just remember those days after Tirek’s defeat, when male ponies threw rocks me, telling me to go back to my stone prison. It was then I knew they were right. Every pony should never accept me for what I did. I just hope they appreciate me dying one day…

The other ponies read with her, as they drop the book in depression.
“We need to dispose of this immediately…” Celestia decides.
“What can we do?” Fluttershy sobs, “We can’t let him suffer like this…”
“We released him because we gave him a chance to reform, to change… we can still do that again….” Twilight said, “I know what we have to do…”


A couple days later, Discord was permitted to leave the hospital after he was all healed up. When he went through the entrance, the doctors asked if he wanted to be picked up by somepony. Discord insisted not to be, and walks slowly alone, planning on going back to the Everfree Forest.
Other ponies see him pass by, and try to apologize to him because of they way they didn’t forgive after hearing of his suicide attempt. Discord ignored their apologies though, not thinking he deserved them. He just kept ruminating on the betrayal he did to his friends.
Eventually, Discord stops, seeing that Braeburn is suddenly standing in front of him. He then sees the mothers and fillies are passing by, seeing that Braeburn is looking up at him. As Braeburn walks up to him, Discord covers his head.
"No need to fear any yelling..." Braeburn said, "I just want to tell you I forgive you. And... I know completely you don't deserve to die."
Discord then lowers his hands.
"But I should've..." Discord weeps.
"Discord..." Braeburn says.
Discord snaps his fingers, as rocks appear on the ground by his command.
"Just throw rocks at me..." he sobs, "PLEASE! DO IT!"
Braeburn just stands there, depressed, not wanting to do it. The other mothers and fillies only tear up as they see the horrible new side of Discord that wants to punish himself. He's not jovial anymore... not one bit...
"Why won't you punish me?" he said in silence.
He then continues to walk down the hill slowly, as Braeburn just cries softly.

Down the hill, Discord is just overlooking the town of Ponyville as he walks. He clings his hands to his head, and then notices the ponies who rocks at him the other day, standing in front of him. They sneer at the sight of him.
"Why aren't you dead you beast?" one red pony sneers, "You should've dropped dead..."
"I deserve to hear that..." Discord sobs, letting the words sink into his heart.
"YOU DARN RIGHT YOU DO!" the second pony yells, "YOU NEARLY DESTROYED EQUESTRIA!"
Discord kept walking past them, crying harder when going father away from them, as he hears them yell louder at him, calling him names.
When far enough, the three angry ponies then see a sword extend in front of them after Discord is gone.
"I think that's enough of that..." Shining Armor said in anger, when holding the sword "I'm charging you three with harassment. The guards will give you a long lecture about compassion when you get to the nearest station."
As Shining Armor's guards escort the three protesting ponies to the nearest police station, he steps back onto the chariot being pulled by pegasi ponies. His wife Cadence is with him, seeing him sigh and tear up. She put her hoof on his.
"I... hope this... certain intervention Twilight planned works." Shining Armor hopes.
"You care for Discord after all?" Cadence asks.
"I didn't at first... but... after what happened..." he wept, "I think I do..."

As Discord passes by Fluttershy’s cottage, he suddenly notices that she’s standing right in front of him, smiling.
“It’s good to see you Discord…” she said, “I really missed you.”
“I want to be alone right now…” Discord said, attempting to leave.
“But I made tea for us…” Fluttershy said, grabbing his talon, “At least drink some with me…”
Discord sighs.
“Okay…” he reluctantly agrees.
As she guides him into her cottage, she opens the door to reveal her guests to him.
Discord looks up, to see Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor in the living room. They hold up cotton candy for him, dripped in some chocolate milk. Twilight warmly welcomes the draconequus with the food they made for him.
“It’s what you normally make…” the purple alicorn grins, “We thought you like to join us…”
“I want to be alone…” Discord sobs, as he turns around to leave.
Twilight’s magic then gently shuts the door in front of him, and Fluttershy hugs Discord tightly, crying.
“Discord…” Twilight said seriously, “Sit down… please…”
Discord breathes slowly, and does what she asks. He slowly takes a seat on a couch, as Fluttershy sits by him. Spike also cuddles by Discord to comfort him.
“We found that box of yours…” Celestia finally confesses, “And… it really horrified us to say in the least…”
“I thought that’s what you wanted…” Discord said silently, “So I could actually learn something…”
“We read the letter, and we were shocked…” Twilight said, concerned, “Self-abusing yourself to learn something? Cutting and whipping yourself? Hiding your emotions? Wanting to be alone for the rest of your life?”
“It’s all true…” Discord weeps, “I’ve betrayed you to Tirek, and that’s what I deserved…”
“NO! IT’S NOT!” Twilight sobs, hugging him, “Yes… you did do something wrong… but we did something worse… we hanged on to our anger… and we never forgave you…”
“I didn’t try to get rid of myself because of attention…” Discord whispers, “I wanted to do it, because I hate myself…”
“Discord… I understand why you pushed yourself to do these things…” Princess Celestia said gently, “Your childhood was horrible, and… I wish there was something we all could have done to change it…”
Discord said nothing.
"I know It's partly my fault too..." Celestia adds, "I was one of the worst parts of your childhood to put you down because your'e different. When I battled you years ago, I couldn't even show one hint of mercy towards you when you turned to the dark side. I... should have accepted your friendship."
"We really do care for you..." Luna assures.
Discord still said nothing.
“Hey… we still love your chaos.” Rainbow Dash encourages, “I like it when you sometimes turn into a cute giant rattlesnake to play with Spike.”
“Yeah… it was fun.” Spike said.
Discord turned his head aside. Rainbow frowns. They were only trying to share something positive about his magic so he can feel good about himself. It didn’t work yet though. Shining Armor then sighs, and walks to Discord.
“Discord… I agree with the lesson you want to learn about not betraying anypony again…” Shining Armor comforts, “But… hurting yourself is no way to learn something. It only makes you more miserable… not only you… but us too.”
“I’m the only one who’s miserable…” Discord protests.
“But if you died, WE’D BE SCARRED FOR LIFE!” Applejack weeps, “Discord… when we saw you nearly drown a couple days ago… we were worried we will never forgive you again… never play with you again… never help you become a better creature…”
“And… we would’ve never forgiven ourselves if you died…” Twilight said, “Because it would’ve been too late… we would have lived in misery because of what we all done…”
“We?” Discord asks.
“We should have forgiven you sooner as you expected…” Twilight sobs, “Can you forgive us for that… please?”
“But why should I?” Discord cries loudly, “How I can forgive you when this is all my fault?”
“Honestly…” Applejack says, putting her hoof on his leg, “You start by forgiving yourself…”
He looks at Applejack, then at Celestia, Luna, and Cadence.
“Taking care of yourself is the most precious gift we ever could hope for…” Celestia explains, “Life is charitable, and it’s nothing to ever throw away…”
“Look at it this way…” Rainbow Dash points out, “If you wouldn’t have betrayed us.. even if it’s bad… we would’ve never had that awesome fight with Tirek, or discovered our new Rainbow Power…”
"And we also would have never created Twilight's Castle of Friendship should you not have made that err." Rarity adds.
“Yeah! AND THEY'RE BOTH AWESOME!” Pinkie cheered.
“But I was shelfish enough to ask for a throne…” Discord whimpers.
“We know you’re not perfect…” Luna said, “And… I know what it’s like to live in pain for bad things you wished you haven’t done. It took me a while to live with it… but I learned to appreciate being open to everypony and… not being alone… do you know why that’s important?”
Discord shakes his head.
“Discord, we gave you another chance, and we’re giving you another again and again.” Cadence said, “Because we want you to be happy. We know that if you become our friend, we’ll all be happier. Equestria will become better if you learn with us…”
“But.. what if I… betray you… again?” Discord whimpers nervously.
“We’ll keep teaching you no matter what.” Shining Armor promises.
“Discord… you’re my friend…” Fluttershy begs, “I’ve cared for you longer than you knew…”
“We all care for you…” Spike assures.
Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie then gather around Discord to give him a comforting squeeze.
“Please be with us…” Rarity said, nuzzling by his body.
“Don’t try to kill yourself again… please…” Twilight begs, “We love you…”
Discord doesn’t know if he should shake in joy, or cry in happiness. Instead, he collapsed down, and hugs his friends back. He cries hard as he nuzzles with them.
“I NEVER MEANT TO HURT YOU!” he weeps, “I’M SO SORRY FOR EVERYTHING! I’M SO SORRY I SCARED YOU!”
He cries harder, as Fluttershy can feel the tears streaming from his face. Twilight then pets Discord by the ear, soothing him. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor then gather around Discord to assure him he’ll never be alone.
“It’s okay Discord…” Twilight whispers, “It’s okay…”
Discord faintly smiles, as his body grows warm when he cuddles with his friends.

The next morning, Discord is on top of a green hill overlooking the town of Ponyville. He smiles as he sees the other ponies laughing and greeting one another. Just as he arrived towards the hill, he noticed how guilty the ponies felt when they heard about him almost drowning. He explained that it wasn’t for attention, and they believed him, saying they can help change him. He’s just very happy to learn he’s no longer being hated.
He can just remember the warm welcome before he arrived on the hill.

"Hey..." Braeburn said, as Discord walked into town, "How are you feeling?"
"A lot better..." Discord admits, "I... never did this for attention... just to let you know..."
"We know..." Braeburn said, as a couple more citizens in Ponyville came by him, "I... am about to leave... but it's good to see that you're with us..."
"Yeah..." Discord grins.
"HI DISCORD!" some fillies said, coming around him playfully, "Can we have some floating cotton candy with chocolate milk? PLEASE? PLEASE?"
"Your... mothers don't want me around you..." Discord almost declines.
"It's okay..." one of the mothers said, as they approach him, "We're... kind of hoping for some too."
Discord grins, and snapped his fingers, creating the special treat for all of them.
"THANKS!" the fillies cheer.
The mothers smile at him as he continues walking. He then notices Miss Cheerlie, Big Mac, and the mayor welcoming him back.
"We... know how guilty you were... and we see that now..." Big Mac said, "If... you're in more pain... please come to us."
"We really want to help you." Miss Cheerlie said.
"I... do want to make new friends." Discord smiles.
Big Mac then holds up his hoof, and he and Discord do a fist bump.

The welcome back to Ponyville was enough to build Discord's self esteem. He already forgiven himself, and all he needed was love. He felt really grateful for the ponies to give it to him.
“Hey Discord!” Fluttershy calls, carrying her picnic basket.
Discord squeaks, and gives Fluttershy a big hug.
“Did you bring the cucumber sandwhiches?” she asks.
“And tea.” Discord says as he snaps his fingers, bringing them both here.
“I also invited some friends.” Fluttershy grins.
“That’s great.” Discord smiles, “Who?”
He then sees Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow coming up the hill, carrying their own baskets and blankets.
“We thought it would be nice if we all ate together.” Applejack smiles.
Discord just smiles back, happy to see his favorite friends who actually care about him.
“Hey, how about changing into a rattlesnake? Just for fun?” the cyan pegasi suggests.
“I… don’t know if I’m in the mood for…” Discord said.
“C’mon… just once.” Applejack says, “A little chaos can actually cheer us up.”
Discord grins.
POOF!
“HISS! Somepony is going to get a hug and lick!” Discord giggles in his snake form.
He then playfully slithers and tickles the ponies and Spike with his tail, as they laugh in happiness. Discord then licks Rainbow Dash and Rarity with his snake tongue. He then changes back to his original form, hugging them as they laugh and play.
Discord never felt happy like this for so long. Seeing Discord here and being friends with him is something that warmed the ponies hearts too. They’re just happy that he’s alive…