I am not an expert on the subject but i did some research and it seems to be the case about the relationship of Discord and Fluttershy at least to me.

Some victims stay loyal to their abusers despite the pain they caused. From what i have gathered, this is the conclusion:
Some victims want the abuse to end, not the relationship. A victim may return to the abuser because that is the person they love, and believes their promises to change regardless how many times they broke those promises.

This is the only logical explanation i can come up with why Fluttershy stays with Discord after backstabbing them twice. But if i am wrong, please correct me.

7531457
It seems to be one of those instances of the MLP writers coming up with something and not considering the implications. I don't think Fluttershy has Stockholm Syndrome; Discord didn't keep her captive or recondition her (knowingly/unknowingly) by forcing her to see things his way, nor does she appear to have a dependence on him or a fear of being away from him. Those that suffer from Stockholm syndrome typically experience stress, anxiety, depression, or feelings of helplessness when not in their captor's vicinity and are constantly looking for validation and affection from them. As demonstrated multiple times, Fluttershy has no issue contradicting Discord or putting him in his place, something a victim of SS would be unable to do.

7531480
Maybe i misused the term "stockholm syndrome". I read it is a thing that happens between kidnappers and hostages, but there was also a section mentioning something similar to abusive relationships, and i tought i could safely call it that. But what i described definitely happens in our reality. Is there an another term that used in this situation?

7531457
Stockholm syndrome may or may not actually be a thing, and Fluttershy probably doesn't have it regardless.

Hang on, this is a good video on it.

That being said she does just have terrible taste in partners.

Considering Discord's an immortal with reality warping powers, I'm pretty sure any of his romantic relationships would fail under any consent law ever.

7531457
I actually made a forum about this a little while back talking about why Fluttershy and Discord have a very unhealthy relationship. While I wouldn't necessarily say it's stockholm syndrome, it's certainly toxic on Fluttershy's part.

Fluttershy and Discord have an Unhealthy Relationship - We hate what's happened to MLP - Fimfiction

7531457
7531480
Honestly, all the times Discord went behind Fluttershy’s back without a care in the world or nearly endangered her (even before Seasons 8 & 9) are why I’m not a FlutterCord fan. The relationship as a whole is too toxic and ironic.

7584167
That I cannot argue with. I used to love Fluttercord but now, especially given the way season 9 turned out, I can no longer support it.

7584208
Personally, I also thought AppleDash was too toxic and ironic of a relationship. I mean, the two of them often argued and competed with each other, and they certainly didn’t care what would happen to each other when that sort of thing was going on.

That’s also how I feel with every Main Six x Main Six pairing.

7584289
AppleDash could've worked but the writing for it just degraded. Strangely, the only member of the Main Six to be in a canonical relationship is Pinkie Pie of all characters. It's just weird to me, as the intention seemed to be for shipping purposes and yet Pinkie gets a significant other. I also don't like the Bon Bon/Lyra pairing either.

7584299

I also don't like the Bon Bon/Lyra pairing either.

Neither do I. I never cared for Lyra and Bon Bon to begin with, but the fact that they decided to officially make LyraBon canon in “The Last Problem” openly caused me to get irritable every time I thought about them.

7584301
It's like the showrunners had become aware of the ship and decided to include it. What really annoys me about it isn't necessarily the pairing itself (though I don't like it in practice) but what it represents. They put together two characters to form a same-sex couple but for two literal background characters (who'd never shown any kind of romantic feelings for one another) instead of for a main character(s). It looks the writers were both lazy and chickening out on tackling such a subject. If you're going to do gay representation in your show, either do it or don't.

7584309
That’s what I thought too. Of course, gay representation as a whole is something I don’t believe to be necessary to begin with, mainly because it makes things too politically-correct or just plain political.

7584311
Too true man. Too true. I personally don't see it as necessary but if someone decides to go in that direction, there's no need to half-ass it.

7584309

(who'd never shown any kind of romantic feelings for one another)

Well, I guess they don't show any signs if you don't count them calling each other "Best friends" with a really weird emphasis on it while holding each others hooves and staring romantically into each others eyes? The writer's had rather obviously been shipping them ever since "Slice of Life", their whole joke in that episode was practically that they were being shipped without it outright being said. Like ship tease to the extreme. I don't mind Lyrabon since the intention of it was clearly just meant to be a cute thing for fans, and I wouldn't expect a big romance arc out of background characters who's usual role is just to stand around doing stuff in the background so the world doesn't feel lifeless.

Something like Appledash is awkward in comparison, because they're main characters so if they were to have a romance you'd expect more development to be involved but there is none, nor even any hints to it really. Just some shoved in vague implications that only exist in the last 5 minutes of the last episode ever. It's just awkward and out of place.

If you're going to do gay representation in your show, either do it or don't.

The one thing I'd like to point out here is that it's very possible the writer's didn't have full control over this. They might want to put gay representation in their show, but Hasbro has control over things at the end of the day and might put limits on what they can do. Doing it officially with background characters might be the very best they could get away with in the end.

7584386
Fair enough