Chapter 22
The sun was setting outside. The sky had started to turn from yellows to reds. A light breeze was blowing up along the cliffside. It tugged at the herbs dangling outside the cottage and rustled the thatch of the roof. Swallows swooped and dive-bombed into the gorge below to their clay nests, where they gave calls of goodnight to each other.
Discord walked a few paces away from the front door before he stopped. He realised he had nowhere to walk to, as nothing but open landscape stretched in front of him. He turned around and marched back the other way. He considered the roof of the cottage for a moment, but with an injured wing he could not fly up to perch on it, and he did not have the energy to bother trying to climb it. Frustrated, and with no other options of where he could go to hide from the group of ponies, he walked around the cottage to the cliff outcrop that served as its garden. In the cooling air, the grass felt warm from the day's sun. He trudged across the wild lawn before flopping down near the cliff edge overlooking the slow moving stream below.
He put his chin in his claw and glowered to himself, digging trenches in the soil with his lion claws irritably. He had hoped to avoid the others finding out what this mission meant to him personally as far as the whole 'spirit of chaos' thing went. Emphasis on the 'spirit'. He had been perfectly content with just complaining about not having powers and just leave it at that. Now the truth was out and, undoubtably, with it was going to come a ton of awkwardness, hoof pointing for not mentioning it sooner, complications and arguments over 'what they should do now' and a whole slew of other things that seemed to have no point other than to make him feel uncomfortable. He was already feeling out of sorts, he did not have much patience for ponies and their strange behaviour at the moment.
But then again, if it had to be brought up eventually, it was perhaps better for it to have been brought up by a stranger. It saved him from having to tell anypony himself. At least they knew about it now, and they had actually looked rather alarmed by the news. Discord did not enjoy handling pony emotions. For as far back as he could stretch his memory, the only pony emotions he'd had to deal with before were pretty straight forward and easy to decipher. It mostly involved anger, fear and occasionally mass hysteria. But since he had been 'reformed' as they called it, and come to interact what he though of as 'the modern pony', he'd had to try and figure out how to handle being on the receiving end of all these other nitty gritty feelings. It would not have been so bad if he could figure out how he was suppose to react to them. Long ago he had come to accept that his existence was met with nothing but hate and fear. 'Chaos' had always been the answer to anything a pony said to or about him in the past. Turning things pink, changing them into marshmallows, altering gravity a little, that sort of thing. But now, it did not feel like the right response to everything anymore. He had lived his life being suspicious of pretty much everything and everypony. Now he found himself in the uncomfortable position of having to consider that their feelings about him might actually be genuine. Avoiding scenes like this was far easier than dealing with all of that confusion.
'They DID look shocked, though.' He thought to himself, plucking out blades of grass one by one. He did not like these awkward emotions and reactions to his personal wellbeing, but somewhere deep down, he had been putting off not saying anything for another reason as well. He had been afraid that, if they had learned the truth, they would not have reacted at all.
He sighed, shaking grass from his claw as he wondered when exactly he had allowed such uncertainty to take root in him.
“Uhm... Discord?”
He flinched at the voice. Pushing himself up to a sit, he twisted his head backwards to blink at the figure of Fluttershy trotting over to him. At least she was alone.
“Come to enjoy the evening air, my dear?” he said, turning to look at her properly as he shifted to make space for her.
Fluttershy, however, did not sit down. She stood in place before him, rubbing one foreleg with the other and staring at the ground. “Uhm. No. No, not exactly.”
“Pity,” Discord said, turning back to face the gorge. “It's rather nice weather for it.” There was a pause before he added; “Lots of birds around here. I suppose you could try and make some new friends. You spend so much of your time looking for the most ridiculous things to-”
“Is what the troll woman said really true, Discord?” Fluttershy interrupted, an unusual action for her. “Will you really die if magic keeps fading away?”
Discord said nothing, his frown settling back in place. Fluttershy waited for a few minutes before she walked closer, standing beside him.
“I've noticed you seem to be acting a little... well... not yourself lately. Is it really because magic is getting weaker?” Fluttershy persisted.
Discord grumbled something under his breath, lying down again as he glared at the gorge as if it had insulted him. Fluttershy did not need to guess what he meant by this. She took in a breath of air, too small to be a gasp, but too sharp to be anything else.
She stammered out, “I... I see.”
“I'm surprised our local Princess didn't realise it sooner,” Discord said casually. “Being so very good at magic and so absorbed in her books, you'd think she'd have put two and two together at some point. Then again, I have overestimated her before.”
“Why didn't you tell us?” Fluttershy blurted out, staring at him with her large, honest eyes. “Discord, if I had known you were in so much trouble I would have-”
“'Would have', what exactly?” he cocked an eyebrow at her. “No really, I'd love to hear the end of that sentence.”
Fluttershy's gaze dropped as she tried to think. “I... I would have... I don't know... done something... I guess.”
Discord scoffed, “There's nothing you can do about it, and you know that.”
Fluttershy snapped up her gaze and shot him a frown. “But why couldn't you tell us?! Even if we can't do anything, if we at least knew, maybe we could've put our plans together better! Or maybe Twilight could've planned our trip so we'd get to Kerry Shire faster! Or we could've tried to think of a way to help you! Just... something!”
Discord watched her in bemusement, resting his chin in his claw again. “Personally, I think that apart from a few minor hiccups, things have been going rather well for us so far. Better than just heading straight for the cult's little club house, finding it empty, and then not having anywhere to go from there. Wouldn't you agree, my dear?”
“How long have you known about this?” Fluttershy asked accusingly.
“Well, I've been thinking it might be something to actively worry about for a while now,” he said.
“And how long has that been, exactly?” Fluttershy pressed.
Discord looked slightly annoyed for a moment before answering, “When we got to Rainbow Falls and found it rather rainbow-less, I had started to suspect something was amiss. But I didn't give it much serious thought until more recently.”
“That long?” Fluttershy looked almost pale.
At this, Discord waved his paw at her dismissively, “It was just suspicions, mind you. I thought it was something that would take a considerable amount of time to actually start showing. At least until I found myself on the business end of that arrow. But by then it felt like a bit of a faux pa to bring it up after such an extended period of time.”
“But why didn't you tell me?!” Fluttershy asked, putting her hooves to her chest. “You could have at least told me! If you didn't want the others to know I would've kept it a secret!” Her voice cracked. “Why couldn't you tell me?”
Discord frowned at her. “I'm not so sure if the Royal Policer of Friendship would have been very pleased with the two of us keeping secrets from her.”
Fluttershy gave her head a hard shake, “That's not why you didn't say anything! You'd probably enjoy annoying Twilight by keeping secrets from her!” She turned to stare at him again. “Why couldn't you tell me? I need you to be honest with me, Discord! I know you don't have much practice, but I need to know why you kept such an important thing from me!”
“I was being honest,” Discord said, sounding offended. “There is nothing to be done about it, Fluttershy! At least nothing you yourself can do! What point would there be in telling you something you can do nothing about?! It's not your problem, after all.”
“But we're suppose to be friends!” Fluttershy said. She was raising her voice which, he had to admit, was putting Discord on edge. “You're suppose to be able to trust me!”
“I do trust you!” Discord said, much to his own surprise. “But I repeat; there is nothing you can do about it!”
“But that's not the point!” Fluttershy said, sinking in place. “What about your feelings?!”
“What are you talking about?” Discord pulled a face.
“Aren't you upset?!” Fluttershy pushed, looking pained. “Aren't you angry or... or sad or... I don't know! Something?!”
“I fail to see how-”
“Because that's why you need to tell me these things!” Fluttershy interrupted again. “I can't help make you better maybe but... but I'm suppose to be your friend... I... I thought maybe... maybe at least...” she suddenly gave a sob, he forelegs raising to rub at her face, “...I don't want you to be alone... I... I thought I... could...”
“Oh no no no no!” Discord flapped his paw and claw at her frantically. “No, don't do that! I don't know what to do when you do that!”
“I thought... I thought I could be there for you... I thought we... Oh, Discord...” her futile attempts to try and wipe her tears disintegrated as she crossed her forelegs over her face and started to sob, heartbroken.
Discord bit his bottom lip and looked around the garden with a panicky expression. What exactly he thought he'd find that could help is anypony's guess. Realising he was not going to find a solution to the situation, he was forced to focus back on the crying pony. He twisted his fingers a couple of times before he leaned forward and nudged her softly with his paw.
“Fluttershy... er... Look, I did not mean for it to be malicious of me. In all honesty, I wasn't entirely sure how to...” he twisted his claw in the air, trying to think of the right word, “...approach the subject, shall we say?”
Fluttershy didn't seem very comforted by this and Discord felt his ears drop. He leaned down on all fours so he could put his face closer to her's.
“I never intended to upset anypony, least of all you, I swear. I am sorry, Fluttershy. Sincerely.”
Fluttershy pulled her forelegs away from her face, gave him a gut wrenching look, and then put her forelegs around his neck and buried her face in his fur where she let loose with a fresh batch of sobs. Discord shifted slightly, staring at her with wide-eyed panic for a few moments before he reached forward and put his arms around her as well.
Fluttershy dug herself deeper against him. “I'm... I'm so scared...!” she choked out.
Discord opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't think of anything. He stroked her back instead, at a loss for what he could or should do.
After a minute he tried to give her a grin but it was shaky at best. “It's not really all that bad, Fluttershy.”
“How can you say that?” she pushed away to look him in the eye. “Discord, this is something that's going to kill you!”
“Well... yes...” he nodded, “But I am, at my core, a being of chaos. And as much as you ponies may try, chaos isn't something you can kill. You may do all you can to remove it from the world, but it will always be somewhere. At the very least it will always find a home in ponies here,” he put a finger to her forehead. “and here.” he moved it to her chest.
She shook her head wildly. “I don't care about that! It's you! You're the one who'll die! I don't care about chaos or magic or anything else like that! I care about you!”
“Is it... really so bad?” Discord asked. There was hesitation in his voice.
“Yes!” Fluttershy insisted.
“So it's alright for, say, Twilight to outlive her friends, but it's not alright for me to do it to you?” he gave her a frown, but his heart wasn't in it.
“I'm not going to be murdered!” Fluttershy broke into fresh sobs. “I'm going to have a life! You're going to be killed right in front of me! It's not the same thing!”
Discord tried to think of a rebuttal but nothing came to mind.
“Touché.” He grumbled.
Fluttershy made a noise and buried herself against him again. “Oh Discord... I... I'm so scared for you!” her shoulders gave a sharp spasm. “I... I don't want you to die!”
Discord's paw froze against her back at this. After a moment he turned to look down at her again. “Pardon?”
She looked up. “I don't... don't want you to die! Discord I... I don't... I don't want...” she couldn't get the rest out and hid her face again.
There was a very long pause after this. Fluttershy's sobs calmed down after a while. She continued to cry, but her tears slowed and her breathing became less frantic.
“Nopony's ever said anything like that to me before,” Discord said from somewhere above her. He quickly added; “Cliche as that statement may be, it's the truth,” he lowered his head and she felt him press his forehead against her's. “Nopony's ever said that to me.”
She turned her eyes to meet his. His gaze was uncharacteristically sincere, and open.
“Why didn't you tell me you were in trouble?” she asked again, her voice soft and broken.
Discord blinked at her before he gave a long sigh. His ears lowered as he looked away.
“...I was afraid nopony would care.” he said as he closed his eyes.
Fluttershy sunk against him as she took deep breaths, calming down. She tightened her grip. “I care.” She nuzzled her face against him. “You're my very important friend.”
She felt him shift his weight before he twisted himself snake-like around her and hugged her back. “I'm afraid something bad will happen. Something to you.”
He pulled his face back so he could look her in the eye again. “Fluttershy, the root of this problem is so much deeper than I anticipated it to be. The others seem convinced that dealing with a single pony means it will be easy. But by the sounds of it he still has his magic, and I can feel my strength starting to fail me. I can't act the way I know how to meet this threat, and I don't know how to protect you or anypony else any other way!”
“None of us will face what'll happen alone.” Fluttershy said softly, her eyes never leaving his. “I don't think it'll be easy, because it never really is. But we can face this pony and his magic even if we don't have any ourselves. As long as we do it together.”
Discord gave a disheartened noise at this. “Because 'friendship is magic' or whatever slogan your little clique likes to use?”
“Yes, but not in the way you think,” Fluttershy said gently. “With the elements of harmony, we use the power of our friendship to cause magic to happen, but that's not what I meant. I could never do any of this if I didn't have friends to help me. Not because they have magic, or because they're faster or stronger than I am. But because they are somepony I can care about, and caring about others gives me my own strength. And, because of their kind hearts, they choose to care about me too. And the fact that ponies can and even want to feel this way about each other, that is what's so magic about it.”
“It sounds all very nice and greeting-card like when you put it like that, but that is also why I'm not sure I can believe it.” Discord said. The brief moment of renewed skepticism faded though as he lowered his gaze again. “I'm afraid I don't have much faith in it as you seem to.”
Fluttershy pressed her face against him again, closing her eyes. “You don't need to be afraid Discord. The others may not know you like I do, but I can see they want to try. But even if they or any other pony in the world didn't want to, I am your friend. I want to help you. And I don't want anything to happen to you.”
Discord's grip strengthened as he tensed.
“I care about you so very much... I don't want anypony to get hurt. And I am afraid they will,” he said with what sounded like considerable effort. “But somehow... even more than that... I am afraid we will fail. And when we do, nopony will give me a second thought, or even a sideways glance. Suddenly, and I don't even know why, I... I'm afraid of being alone.”
Fluttershy said nothing to this, resting her head on his neck. He was warm and soft. His grip felt strong as he clung to her. The deep, comforting rhythm of a heart beat against her as she listened to him breathe.
“I'm sorry I got upset,” Fluttershy said, her voice hoarse, but soft and calm. “Don't worry. I'll be ok. We'll all be alright in the end. I won't let you be alone. You're my dear dear friend, and I love you. You won't be alone, no matter what happens.”
Discord said nothing to this, a twitch running through him.
Fluttershy nuzzled him gently. “It's alright. It'll be ok, Discord. Don't cry.”
Oh god. Crap, this is the first story to make me cry! Please, continue!
And my comment from chapter 13 seems to make more sense in this chapter in the way that he thinks nobody will miss him but I wonder how the others feel now after all the hoof pointing and accusations they initially gave Discord as being the cause of this whole thing now that there's undeniable proof that he didn’t do this or else it would mean his own death.
Congrats on you 1st year progress so far!
He should not be capitalized. There's more than one of those in there, like:
And that should be a comma, not a period.
Pretty sure that should be a comma, not a semicolon.
5070594 Those were all at the beginning of sentences.
mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2896-pinkiecry.gif
5070607
No, he's right. When you follow a quote with a said tag, the beginning of the tag is not capitalized, even if the quoted sentence has an ending punctuation. Also, if the quoted sentence would normally end with a period and is followed by a said tag, use a comma instead.
5070607
No, they are not. The dialogue and the action that demonstrates dialogue are part of the same sentence. See this website and look under example 2 for a more detailed explanation.
5070673 Oh, well then! This is why people in middle school shouldn't correct grammar! My mistake!
First, I'm sorry I didn't review the chapter before this, but please know I loved them both wholeheartedly. Also, despite all the hints, I did NOT expect that Discord was dying...I just...I dunno, I thought he was just having problems with feelings and whatnot...But not dying! But awww man, it was a good shock to have! Pretty sure that's just another sign that you're an amazing writer. Also, I love the troll woman. She was such an interesting addition to the story, especially since trolls have not been mentioned in MLP:FiM at all, if they ever will. I loved her character, and how you wrote her. You are just really fantastic at making OC's that readers easily find likable, despite being an OC. I've loved all of yours so far, and I'm a tough critic when it comes to OC's.
Also....Ugh, this chapter. THIS CHAPTER. And I mean 'ugh' as in 'omg the feels!' You make the relationship between Discord and Fluttershy so genuine and real--you put so much care into how you write it, and in my opinion it's the most important relationship in this story--which I feel you may agree with. It's so deep and complicated, but simple at the same time...I think the way you wrote Discord, with his awkwardness with pony emotions and his secret fear of being alone, is not only sincere, heart-wrenching, and touching, but also very believable. Some people believe that Discord is incapable of truly being 'reformed', of being a good friend with morals and friendship and love. Some think it's against his nature. But I think if they read this story, they'd find that this is exactly how he should be...That he can love and care for others, and still have all the other chaotic traits that make him such a fun character in the first place. He doesn't have to be all jokes and sarcasm and chaos--he can be sweet and loving and awkward and unsure and scared for himself and have dreams and a desire to be with others too. Honestly, I think the MLP crew of the show would be beyond impressed with this.
I also love your portrayal of Fluttershy...I was kind of expecting her to get angry and demand for all of them to go and find the evil ponies as soon as possible to save him, but this is really much, much better. And the idea of her sobbing, and him being like 'holy crap I can't deal with this red alert red alert!' but eventually able to comfort her and reveal what he's thinking to her...And Fluttershy telling him how much he means to her, that she doesn't want him to die and that he's her important friend and that she loves him...I will admit, I was expecting perhaps a bigger reaction from Discord, because he's probably never heard any of these things, and not just the 'I don't want you to die' thing...Then again, perhaps he knew those things already, or the fact that she doesn't want him to die already says all of those things to him, so that in itself was enough. But you make Fluttershy gentle and warm, who tries to understand Discord and comfort him, and give him all she can when she's around because he matters to her. For some reason, not everyone makes her as kind towards Discord as she should be in their fics, despite it all. I think you show in your fic that she's the Element of Kindness for a reason, and that she loves Discord, because for her, loving him is easier to do than it is for any other character. You also don't make her shy around him either, for the most part. She treats him like she does with all her other friends.
I'm rambling...But really, this was just wonderful. It's obvious you give each and every chapter your all, and that's why this fic is so popular. Oh my, this story really tugs on mine heartstrings...Especially since Discord and Fluttershy are my two favorite characters in the show, so this chapter was a real winner for me!
I would love for there to be a chapter of what the others are doing while fluttershy is talking to discord
oh god im tearing up
i pray Discord will be ok in the end D:
i am seriously crying right now
This chapter is pretty much perfect. No, really, this was everything I hoped it would be.
I love the understatement of the last two paragraphs -- the fact that all the narration says is that he twitches, but then Fluttershy tells him not to cry, evokes the mental image of him breaking down, and struggling to hide it, better than actually spelling it out would have. And the fact that he starts out the conversation as flippant as he ever is, and sincerely doesn't understand why Fluttershy wants him to have told her, considering that she can't do any more about it than they're already doing... but then he actually lowers his guard enough to admit the truth to her.
And that fear -- that the thing that haunts him, deep inside, is that no one will care when he dies, so he doesn't tell anyone so he doesn't have to get confirmation of his fear. I suspect that if the worst had happened and they'd failed, Discord would have crawled off in the night and hidden somewhere, planning to die alone so he never has to see whether they'd care or not because he deep down doesn't believe they would. I'm glad that's not going to happen, at least; maybe he understands now that he won't be able to spare Fluttershy from suffering over his fate by just not telling her what's happening.
5070594 omg, thank you SO MUCH for that link you shared! I have such trouble with understanding punctuation as it applies to dialogue and it really is my weakest point! That link is a life saver! I'll be sure to refer to it often from now on and go over my past chapters to fix my mistakes there as well!
5070897 Oh I'm so very glad you like this chapter so much! As I said, I wasn't fully sure if I'd hit the emotions in this chapter strongly enough, but it seems by what you said in your comment that my intentions came through quite clearly! I'm so happy! I was very nervous about writing this chapter and actually put it off for a while for fear of not meeting expectations, both my readers' and my own.
5071056 Thanks for the input! Truly! It actually is a great help on how I can handle the next set of events! And thanks to those who upvoted this comment as well!
5072535 You have no idea how happy your comment made me I actually hold your opinion quite highly, so I am so incredibly happy yo hear you approve of this. As I said, I wasn't sure I could meet expectations. I'm really really touched by your input on this event. It was very important to me.
As for everyone who commented that I made them cry, although I'm not sure how much of an exaggeration that may be, it made me very happy because I was secretly hoping to get some tears. Your sadness feeds me mwahahaha or something.
Also, there might be a slight delay on the next chapter as I have a convention I need to prepare for and then attend over the next 2 weekends. I'll try and work if I can but please don't worry if the update is late.
I suppose one is not supposed to be suppose.
Well, let's read the rest of the chapter...
...
Alert! Alert! Moisture detected. Vision impaired! Vision impaired! Cannot see!
Seriously, though, you did an amazing job with this chapter, C-Puff. It's so well done, you really manage to get all those amazing feelings across and- gah! It's so good! I can't really put it into words.
...
Now I wanna hug you...
Discord friendzoned forever
...Wait a sec. My heart's beating again... CURSE YOU! You made me feel... things! But I won't succumb; I won't be engaged by your... interesting delve into how Discord views pony emotions, or your... pretty intense... argument... Oh who am I kidding? THIS IS FEELS WRAPPED UP IN A BOW!
No offense intended, but I just read all of this story so far and it's really dragging quite a bit. It almost feels like there's no point of resolution to look forward to.
I'm really starting to wonder how Celestia and Luna fall into this puzzle. Depending on the canon of this story, we might suppose that they existed either around when the Great Power and the Darkness fought, or shortly thereafter. Especially when you consider that show canon makes out their old castle is in the Everfree Forest. If this Null Stone is responsible for the forest, and the castle is in the forest as per canon, then we might expect that the Castle, Luna, and Celestia predate the stone or at least it's presence in the Everfree. Also, how and why did they end up with the Elements of Harmony? Their seeming lack of knowledge seems a tad sketchy.
5076920 Aw, I'm really honestly sorry if it feels like it drags. I'm quite serious when I say I really don't write that often at all. I put a looooot of effort into planning events and when what will happen, and then I just write those events and let them take the time they take when I put them on paper. I do my best not to rush through things just to get to the "Fun parts" and not just go "they walked for a while and then the next exciting thing happened". So often I have no idea how long a story is going to end up being.
I don't have a lot of practice with writing at all, and I know I'm not as skilled as I'd like to be (despite whether I'm able to fake it or not) but I honestly am trying my best
5074591 twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org/files/2014/02/FCJ-156fig64.jpg
5077363
Thank you.
Every time anyone uses "friendzone" in the context of MLP, where friendship is magic and considered to be a more powerful force than romantic love anyway, a kitten dies. Think of the kittens, men!
5077363
Oh, good grief.
NOTE: I don't Discord really cares in that way.
Honestly, though, people are sexual creatures. It's definitely nowhere near that straight forward. Even from the outside, that's fairly obvious.
Still, a person who is interested in someone as more than just a friend is going to be at least a little irritated if their love interest, if you will, doesn't seem interested beyond being friends. And people being what they are, sometimes put on masks and don't show their real selves. By which I mean that guys who never indicate what sort of interest they have but are just being nice will probably be treated as just friends most of the time. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure some girls don't always say what they feel, particularly if they are not certain about it. Either or both could lead someone to feel that they are not getting the response they are after, which one might suppose is a definite answer of the yes/no sort in the interest department. -- I could be completely missing the point, but I doubt.
5077978
Your argument contains some BS in it, particularly as regards work that doesn't stick completely to canon. Friendship is not everything in life and as a force, it's "power" is dubious at times. I don't think the elements of harmony would have helped with the changelings, even if the mane six had had them. Also, kittens don't die if someone else doesn't kill them. SO, other person, quit killing kittens already, will you!.
5077293
It's okay, it just feels like there have been lots of mostly irrelevant events put in and that the obstacles to the goal are artificial. It took ten chapters to get from Ponyville to Ogham and it's taken twelve to get vaguely close to the resolution.
In particular, the focus never seems to be on actually resolving the loss of magic only on local inconveniences which have to be solved without magic. It makes it seems less like an epic about solving a problem and more like a story about what Equestria would be like without magic.
Ultimately it may be a pacing thing. I can't say that I can offer any advice on how to fix that, but, from experience, I know that even 5k word chapters can feel really long or really short.
5080492
The point is, in MLP, "you're my dear friend and I love you" does not mean "I am not romantically interested in you so I'm trying to let you down easy." Fluttershy and Discord aren't lovers in this story, they're friends, and even if either of them wanted more than that (which, since C-Puff doesn't ship them, is not the case for this story), a discussion of Discord's impending death is not the appropriate time to bring it up. In MLP, "you're my friend" is the highest compliment a character can give another. It does not mean "but I don't love you romantically" or "but I will never love you romantically"; it just means what it is. You are a person who is dear to me and I enjoy your company and care about your welfare. That's it.
Friendzoning is bullshit anyway because the kind of girl who would reject a guy she's actually attracted to on the grounds they are friends is the kind of girl who is contemptuous of men; most women want their lovers to be their friends, but many people who are their friends, they'd have no interest in making into lovers. Being a woman's friend is not a bad thing even if you're romantically interested in her. The expression "just a friend" doesn't mean "I would date you if we weren't friends," it means "I wouldn't date you," period. So your choices aren't friends or lovers, your choices are friends or nothing.
But even aside from the real world, saying "friendzone" after such a touching and emotional scene between two friends, just because they're of opposite sexes, is like spitting on the whole theme of this show, really. Fluttershy loves Discord. Platonic love is still love and not inferior to romantic love. It hurts to want romantic love and get platonic, but it also hurts to want platonic and get romantic... makes you feel like they were never your friend, they just wanted into your pants.
5080560
Pardon, but I suspect that most women are contemptuous of men, except perhaps when they actually have some kind of disorder. In any case, this "friendzone" is mostly likely a head perception which is a result of both internal and external factors.
If romantic love = getting in pants by your definition, then we don't have the same definition of love. That's not love, that's lust. Given that sex and love are tied up together to a degree...
5080743 it pains me that people can throw away a person's personality, history, mental state, health, mindset and situation and instead say "you are of opposite genders. There is only one way you are allowed to behave."
As for the story itself, I did not and still do not think of it as anything resembling an epic. It is a character study. My focus has always been on the emotions and relationships of the individual characters. The events are there to drive their internal journey. That is what I am trying to set out to do, because a character's feelings and mind are what is most important to me
I find the story to lack... wait...
...a sudden rush of perspective. Life is so much more than this! I must go.
5082220 I am confused
5082388 imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hamiltonian.png
5082414 I still don't get it but ok
Gosh this chapter was well done! Made me cry, not many stories do that with me.
I just adore the way it feels geniune and the characters aren't out of place, the setting. Everything about this is so well done.
Can't wait for the next chapter~
Awesome chapter!!!
This story is simply wonderful. I think your pacing is just marvelous; anyone who says otherwise must not read very many books. The characters are spot on perfection, and you develop them with such careful precision that it feels as if they are real. I read your story straight through in this last hour and I think everything is ingenious. Nothing is too slow or fast; (Actually I adore the slower paced chapters. It makes me feel more immersed in the story on a whole) I love how you don't only skip to action scenes. I WANT to know what the ponies do as they are walking through the forest. I WANT to know that Discord always drags Fluttershy into whatever little place he's sleeping in for the night. I WANT to know the details. Yes, the arson chapter was engaging and action-filled, but it's the sweet details that I crave when reading a story and you are very talented at bringing the story to life. It practically breathes with all the emotion you give it. This chapter was heart wrenching and so sincerely written that I believed every moment of it. I adore the relationship you've created between Fluttershy and Discord. (Much like everyone else reading, I'm sure XD ) I was a little put off at first that this fic wouldn't be "shipping", but now I prefer your version completely. Their friendship is sweeter than romantic love; it's not demanding nor conditional. It's a gentle soothing relationship that is rare to come by and far more meaningful, I believe, than a common place romance. Yes, romantic love could develop from this friendship, but it is not needed. Their relationship speaks for itself, and it is absolutely beautiful.
The feels are too much for me. ;_;
This story is one if the best I've read in a long, long time by the way! Great job!
I've been meaning to favorite this for a while, but goodness, this chapter completely sold it. The emotions are displayed so well, and that ending was a real punch to the gut. Heartbreaking storytelling here. I had a feeling something was happening with Discord that he wasn't telling, but I never bothered to think much of the hints so it rather surprised me. Even though there's just an "adventure" tag and no sad or tragedy, I still can't help but worry of how this will end. When the stakes are high like this, I get really antsy, so I'm seriously looking forward to more.
I'm normally not into adventure stories where it's basically "we travel to this place, stuff happens." My brain's too stupid to follow that stuff for long. I got sucked in right away, though, because the characters really worked well with one another. Discord and Twilight's conflict was a rollercoaster of a ride to deal with, the final payoff natural and powerful, and Fluttershy and Discord are just wonderful. Overall, few people can really get Discord down pat, but you seem to get him just right. He's not going to stop causing trouble all the time just because of friendship, because it's part of who he is, and he's completely stubborn to the point where it gets him into arguments easily with everyone. However, he definitely has a soft side in him that, when the rare thing does appear, he likes to hide behind his pride.
Ugh. I've been busy the last 2 weeks guys, and I meant to update this week since it's my first free weekend... but I feel awful, so I'm afraid you guys have to wait just a little while longer, ok? I'm sorry!
5160823 Oh? Lemme check. If so I'll change it to one or the other. Sorry about that
5112515 I believe the people complaining about pacing expect the sort of blase melodramatic, hastily-constructed balderdash which tends to end up with far too many 'likes' around here simply because it features vampires or mindless violence or humans being Gary Stu bastards.
In other words, Twilight Saga fans.
This is now my favorite chapter
Wow. This... is a really well-written chapter.
This was a great chapter. I found a couple typos/errors but I didn't mark them... If you want me to let you know what they are let me know
I've read this story goodness knows how many times by this point, and I always know exactly what to expect in this chapter. But yet here I am, bawling my eyes out at 3am
Ok, I said I got feels before, and that is rare enough. But this chapter... This took the cake and all the frosting Pinkie Pie could hope to eat. You are the master, C-Puff. This chapter alone has racked up more comments than entire fics. *Claps hooves slowly* Yeah. This is just impeccable. Congrats.