My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos
Chapter Four: Incredible Flying Objects
“Ooh, I’d love to see the look on the pony’s face! Perhaps a Pegasus will run into it while flying! Ooh, that’d be hilarious!”
-Discord, Chapter Three
There it lay, the poor thing. It was worn out from so much flipping and flapping. But who could blame it? It had lived a life stuck in the ground. It was ready for adventure! Excitement! To see things no other flower had seen before…
But alas, it had been too much. Far too much. It had started getting sore just after a few miles of flying, but now…
It would never get to do anything, never grow to be anything important...
“You poor, poor little flower. Why don’t we try and restore your flight power?”
The little blue plant seemed to shiver as a gust of wind blew, and Zecora smiled at it tenderly, as if it were her child. Taking a vial out of her pack, she said:
“Now, just stay there; don’t despair.”
She tipped the bottle over slightly, and a liquid, cloudy and light, fell down on the flower’s wings.
As soon as the liquid made contact, the flower burst upward, up and ready…for action!
Grateful to the creature, it flew towards her face and stroked a velvety smooth petal against her face. Zecora laughed.
“I am happy to help, little one. Now you’ve a job to do—so go on, go on!”
Nodding, it turned its stem on her and went forth, ready to seize the day and fulfill a mission…
Zecora smiled. It was amazing what life could bring, what sentience could do. It made life all the more meaningful and exciting…
No matter the form it was in.
“My little blossom of the sky…” she whispered, still beaming after it, her heart filled with warmth at the miracle above her. “Go and fly. I will come back to save you, after you have given your clue."
Princess Twilight Sparkle was adjusting to her new circumstances, albeit a bit slowly.
Her biggest improvements had been in her confidence and her flying. Now that she knew what her purpose was—to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria—she was excited to begin the next stage of her life.
However, the castle was still something to get used to. She was going to be a Princess for the rest of her life, but she knew she would never think of herself as one. For her, it would never be her ‘royal castle’. It would just be ‘home’. For her, she would never be ‘the’ princess—just ‘a’ princess.
The place was huge, too. And the walls seemed cold, blank. She hoped that, with time, memories of her friends and loved ones would make the castle seem warmer. But for now, it wasn’t nearly the home that the library had been.
But at least her flying was improving. She was still rather comfortable walking, but she had to admit—flying was…Well, it was fun. Not as fun as reading books and being with her friends, of course, but still…It gave her a thrill, and she was proud by her progress.
Spike, however…
“T-Twilight, please, please don’t drop me…”
As she flew, she gave her number one assistant/best friend/surrogate son a warm smile. “I won’t drop you, Spike. I put a magical belt on you, remember? You’re safe!”
That did not reassure the small dragon as he stared at the pink, glowing strap that buckled him to a saddle on Twilight, one made especially for him so he could go with her when she flew. It was tight and secure, but he wasn’t assured.
“But Twi, what if you fall? What if there’s a current that you can’t take? Or a tornado? Or, or, or…!”
“Spike, it’s okay. Rainbow will be here soon anyway, and you know she’ll have your back if something happens.”
“But that’s when she gets here, which she isn’t!” Spike proclaimed, lurching forward and putting his short little arms around her neck. “Can’t we just go back to the ground, please? At least until Rainbow—“
As if on cue, a rainbow seemed to whoosh right past them, only to stop suddenly and turn to the pair, a toothy smile beaming at them.
“And the Rainbow has arrived!” she said with a flourish, smiling in satisfaction as she flapped her wings and crossed her forelegs, looking smug. “And look at you, Spike! You look pretty cool there.”
The dragon blinked. “Cool? Me?”
“Oh, yeah, totally!” Rainbow embellished, spreading her arms wide. “A little guy like you, sailing the skies with a Princess as your steed? Awesome!”
As Spike blushed and took her words with thought, Twilight snorted. “I’m not a steed.”
“Aw, don’t take it personally, Twilight,” Rainbow said, rushing over to her side and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with being a steed every now and then. It’s not like he actually owns you. It’s a compliment! His majestic, royal steed!”
Twilight remained unamused. “Yeah. Sure.”
Rainbow just laughed it off and then flapped backwards a bit, looking at Twilight with a thoughtful eye. “You’re lookin’ good!” she complimented her, as Spike slowly smiled at himself and sat up a bit straighter on Twilight. She continued to speak on Twilight’s flying. “You’ve got the form down and everything! A pony might even think you were a Pegasus before, instead of an egghead Unicorn!”
Twilight tried to look peeved about the insult, but the laugh that rose up from her throat kept her from doing so. “You really think so?”
“Think so? I know so! Look at ya!” She returned to her friend’s side, then licked her own hoof and put it to the sky. “There’s even a pretty good wind today, and you’re holding up like a pro!”
Twilight blushed, smiling sheepishly. “Oh, stop. I haven’t done anything that amazing! Besides, it’s pretty simple, once you get used to it. And all I had to do was read…”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, tapping it as she thought. “One, two….Mm, about twenty books on flying and aerodynamics! Once Celestia gave me those, then it became a lot clearer on how to fly!”
“Books can’t teach you how to fly,” Rainbow deadpanned. “It takes practice, and you know it. If books could teach you how to fly, then Fluttershy wouldn’t have trouble!”
Twilight scrunched her forehead together at Rainbow’s words. “But she does know how to fly.”
“Yeah, but not very well…Or very long…”
Oh. That was what she had meant. This caused a frown on Twilight’s face. “Why? I don’t understand why she can’t fly well. I’ve always wanted to ask about it, but…”
“It’s a touchy subject with her, I know,” Rainbow said again, closing her eyes for a moment, remembering how it used to be for her yellow Pegasus friend. “There are just some Pegasi that have trouble flying. I think she told me it was because she was born early, and has weak wing muscles or something?”
“Hey! That would make sense!” Spike said, now riding comfortably on the saddle. “…I think.”
“A premature filly…” Twilight murmured.
It did make sense, when she thought about it. Foals born long before their birth date tend to be weaker than those born on time…
A gust of wind blew.
I wonder how much earlier she was born, and if Rainbow’s even getting her facts straight.
“What is that?” asked Spike, peering at something in the distance, a claw on his forehead.
Has she ever told me anything else about her childhood? Besides the day she got her cutie mark? Twilight just couldn’t stop thinking on it.
“Twilight, watch--!”
Smack!
Whatever had rammed into her face, it was startling enough to cause Twilight to stiffen, falling towards the ground.
“Twilight! Spike!” Rainbow Dash called, speeding downward. Her worries proved to be nothing as the Alicorn managed to save herself, the fall not fast enough for her to lose control of her body. She easily spread her wings back out, Spike trembling and holding onto her for dear life, sweat falling down his forehead.
Rainbow sighed as she slowed herself and flew down to Twilight’s level. “What in the hay was that?” she asked, turning her head in different directions, looking for the culprit that had caused her friend to fall. When she finally looked towards the ground, she pointed.
“Look! That little blue thing! Right there!” She squinted more. “It looks like a…No…Maybe I’m going crazy…”
“D-Does anyone even care that we almost splattered onto the ground?!?” Spike yelled, eyes shut tight and still holding onto Twilight like the last fall leaf on a dying tree. “Twilight, please, can we go back to the ground now?”
Giving him a sympathetic smile, and feeling bad for allowing herself to get off-track, she said, “Sure, Spike. We need to take a look at whatever it was that hit me, anyway.”
The two ponies made their way back down to earth, eyes locked on the object.
“Wait, I’m not going crazy!” Rainbow gasped, the grounded flower crumpled in the grass as its wings fluttered pathetically, its small little feathers torn and broken from its fated impact. “It is a flower! And it has wings!”
Twilight said nothing as she landed next it, the belt holding Spike evaporating into thin air as he hopped off her back and began kissing the ground as if it were Rarity.
She delicately touched the right wing of the plant, its ruined feathers the size of an artist’s eraser.
“A flying flower…”
“That’s so weird!” Rainbow added, peering closer at it. “This isn’t something that’s usually around, right? It’s not natural, right?”
“Hmm…” Pursing her lips in thought, Twilight tried remembering all she had learned about plants, both ordinary and extraordinary. She couldn’t remember anything about a blue flower with wings…
“And it’s still tryin’ to fly…” Rainbow’s eyes seemed to grow big with sympathy as her wings and ears drooped a bit. “Maybe I am crazy. I’m starting to feel bad for a flower.”
“I’ll fix it, don’t worry…But…I don’t think it’s supposed to have wings,” Twilight concluded, sitting on her haunches and picking the flower up delicately. As her horn glowed with a magical pink aura, she closed her eyes and focused, both on the flower and on its source of magic.
The wings disappeared, and the flower returned back to normal as it was lowered into the ground. Luckily, Twilight was well versed in the arts of vegetation magic, and was able to encourage the flower to once again root itself to the earth, stable and healthy as it had been…
Her eyes opened.
“Discord.”
That one word—that name—was enough to cause not only Rainbow to gaze at Twilight, but to also managed to get Spike to stop kissing the dirt and look at her with wide serpentine eyes.
“What did you say?” he asked, dirt on his lips.
“His magical signature. I sensed it as soon as I searched for it with my magic. He’s the one that did this.”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at her. “His magical siggy-whatsit?”
“Signature,” Twilight answered. “It’s complicated to explain in detail, but basically, it’s a sort of ‘stamp’ every magical creature has. It can be used to detect the magic’s source. No two are alike, sort of like muzzle-prints.”
“So let me get this straight,” Rainbow said, pointing at her. “That flower got wings by magic, and you used your own magic to see who made it that way? And it was…Discord?”
Twilight nodded, somewhat grimly.
“Oh…”
It was an awkward moment of silence for them as the three stared at the now-normal flower between them all, remembering what had happened the last time they saw the Draconequus in question.
“Do you think…that means he’s around?” Spike finally said, breaking the sound of the lonely wind with his hesitant, anxious voice.
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, hoofing at the petals again and giving it a good looking-over to check and make sure that it really was normal and healthy again. “It’s..It’s possible. I mean, we did forgive him. But I haven’t seen him since then. And, well…”
Her purple eyes landed on Rainbow, a sad sort of knowing in her eyes. “Have you seen Fluttershy lately? I know she took it the hardest.”
“Well no duh,” Rainbow shot back, rolling her eyes. “Of course she took it the hardest. She’s sensitive, and she was the only one that could actually handle that annoying creep. But if you’re asking if I’ve seen her, I haven’t. And I’m guessing that means you haven’t either? Or you, Spike?”
The two shook their head. “Spike and I have been too busy moving into the castle and getting things organized to see her…Or anypony, for that matter. In fact…” She pointed at Rainbow. “You’re the only one I’ve seen since the celebration. I haven’t seen Applejack or Rarity or—“
“ME!”
Twilight had always found herself disappointed when Pinkie managed to startle her like that. She thought that, for somepony who had been best friends with Pinkie Pie for as long as she had, that she’d be used to her quirks and surprises by now.
She, Rainbow Dash, and Spike jumped and faced the pink party pony with a startled look. “What?!?” they all spoke in unison.
“You haven’t spoken to me in what feels like foreverrrrr!” Pinkie yelled—well, more like cheered—as she jumped up and down on all fours with a beaming smile. “I mean, I know it’s only been, what, three days since the ‘We-Beat-the-Big-Meanie-Centaur party, but I missed you three sooooo much! And Rarity and Applejack and Fluttershy! Oh, and Discord too! Because he’s our friend now, right? Ooh, do you think he has a birthday? I should find out! I was going to do that, you know—go find Discord and ask about his birthday. My tail twitchy-twitched this morning, and I can tell you right now, Discord is at Fluttershy’s!”
“He is?!? That’s what your Pinkie Sense says?” Rainbow asked, taking a step forward and looking at her with wide, urgent eyes. “Why? D’you think—“
“I don’t know silly! That’s why I’m going over there! Oh, and also to ask about Discord’s birthday!”
Pinkie then gasped, and took a jump higher than all those previous to it, her mouth a perfect circle as she landed on the ground. Her tail began to swing in rotation like a helicopter propeller, and her left eye twitched while her hooves tip-tapped against the dirt.
“Twitchy twitch! Twitchy twitch!” she said, before shaking herself off and returning back to normal. “Oh my gosh! I got a whirling tail, a twitchy left eye, and all four of my hoofsies were tapping the day away! Do you know what that means?!?” she asked them, her eyes just as urgent as Rainbow’s had been.
“What?!?” The three of them were all in Pinkie’s face now, eyes open and minds alert for what she had to say.
“We need to see Fluttershy—right now! Because something big has happened! We need to grab everypony and go!”
Rainbow, Twilight, and Spike all shared a serious look, Twilight looking at Rainbow, then back at Spike, then Rainbow and Spike.
They had questioned the party pony’s Pinkie Sense before. They knew not to, now.
Twilight’s mind was made up.
“Let’s go.”
Of course, the farm pony and the fashion guru had questions once Twilight told the story, both of them looking perplexed—Rarity’s brow crinkled her forehead, and Applejack’s mouth slightly gaped.
“So…You ran into a flyin’ flower, is what yer sayin’?”
“And that Discord’s responsible?”
Twilight sighed. For an event that only took a few minutes to occur, it was a lot to explain. “Who else could it be? And it was only a notion until Pinkie came.”
“And everypony knows my Pinkie Sense never lies!” Pinkie cheered with a smile. “And it tells me we need to march over to Fluttershy’s cottage and see! What’s! Up!” She jumped with each exclamation.
“Do you know if it’s anything horribly serious?” Rarity asked Pinkie. “Because if the poor dear is in trouble…”
“An’ I know we’re supposed tuh try and give Discord another chance, but if he is here, and he’s doin’ stuff right after he helped Tirek with his chaos…Maybe we should check…just in case,” Applejack reasoned.
Twilight sighed. “I know…I know.”
The six of them went on their way towards Fluttershy’s in the outskirts of town, following the familiar dirt path. It hadn’t taken long to get Rarity and Applejack, seeing as Rarity’s shop was right in the middle of town and Applejack had been helping Big Mac sell some apple pies in the square. Luckily, business had been slow enough for her to come along.
But the trip to Fluttershy’s wasn’t silent. “Hey, Twilight. I wanna ask you somethin’,” Applejack asked her, trotting beside her. “It’s been on my mind for a while, now, and I just wanna know what you have tuh say on it.”
“What’s that?” the Alicorn replied, turning a head towards her friend.
“…Why’d you save him?”
Twilight stopped in her tracks. In a way, she had expected this question. She knew saving Discord had been a surprise to all of them, most of all to Discord. If she was truly being honest with herself, she, too, had been surprised by her own decision.
But…
“Twilight?”
She looked to her friends, who had stopped too, with all eyes all on her. She didn’t need to look, but could feel Spike’s stare as well, feeling his small body sitting atop her back.
Pictures of what happened went through Twilight’s memory. Oh, she had been so horrified at the time. Burdened with magic she didn’t know how to use, she had felt that the entire world was at her shoulders—a world that, without her support, would come crashing down, and become a prison of destruction and despair. She had fought so hard, but she and Tirek had been equal in power. And the only ponies that could make her stronger, the one thing she had that could make her rise above the enemy…had been in his clutches, in bubbles.
Bubbles. Put it in a bubble and blow it away. Twilight remembered that phrase the moment she saw her friends encapsulated in them. It was something her parents had told both her and Shining, back when they were younger. If you had a problem you didn’t want to bother you anymore, you should just ‘put it in a bubble and blow it away’; that’s what her mother and father had said, anyway.
Tirek had seen her friends as nothing but worthless problems, easy to get rid of with just one exhale of breath.
And Discord…A pawn. Tirek had used him in the worst way possible, gaining the Draconequus’ trust and friendship, and enticing him with the hard-to-resist temptation of freedom…
All of them, nothing but bubbles. But…
Hadn’t Discord always been pushed away? Twilight remembered the day Celestia came, asking Fluttershy to help Discord become reformed. With an odd sense of shame, the Alicorn remembered how quick she had been to decide to turn Discord back to stone. If it hadn’t been for Fluttershy…
He would have never had another chance. And though it also meant Tirek would have never gotten him for a pawn…Well, she would have had to face him off then anyway, right?
But why had he gone off with Tirek in the first place? Tirek hadn’t seen anything good about friendship—it was why they were able to defeat him so easily!
“Because we were never really his friends, were we? We always pushed him away, and treated him like he was just a nuisance.”
She didn’t realize she had spoken out loud until she noticed the even wider stares of her friends. They all just stared at each other, until Rainbow Dash broke the silence.
“Well, duh! That’s because he was—is—a nuisance! He totally came on a day where he knew Fluttershy was out, just to ruin your day with Cadence!” She pointed a hoof at Pinkie without taking her eyes off Twilight. “And it wasn’t just to get someone to take care of him—it was to bug you, and only you! He wanted to ruin your day! I know, because Pinkie offered to take care of him, and he totally blew her off!”
Pinkie gasped. “Ohmygosh, you’re right! I remember! I offered to give him cuddles and spend the whole day with him! And then a balloon showed up!” Sitting on her haunches and looking proud, she said, “And I caught that balloon, too.”
“Pinkie,” Rainbow deadpanned. “That was Discord. He was the one that conjured up that balloon! He only did it to get you away from him!”
Another gasp. “What?!? That meanie! That—wait.”
The pink pony stopped and thought for a moment. “I like balloons…So…I should thank him, right?”
Rainbow hoof-slapped herself in the face. “No, Pinkie, you shouldn’t.”
“I’m not saying that Discord doesn’t have his part in things too,” Twilight said. “Trust me, I remember my time with Discord very clearly. “
“He’s hard to forget,” Rainbow grumbled.
“But is he?” Twilight asked. “Did anyone besides Fluttershy ever try reaching out to him after she reformed him? Apparently Pinkie did, but that was only when he was pretending to be sick—and he only did that because he wanted attention. We know he’s got a love for the spotlight. We know that he’s never had friends before. But how hard did we try, really? How hard did we try to be his friend?”
She turned her back to the girls and sighed. “Not very hard. And maybe if we had, things would have turned out differently…But we never really thought of him as a friend…Just a…nuisance.”
“Except for Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “She was an absolute doll towards him, of course. She took her friendship with him much more seriously than I would have thought. I knew Fluttershy was kind, of course, but I had no idea how much Discord meant to her. I was shocked when I found out she wrote him letters—and even had tea parties with him! Honestly, can you imagine?” she asked, flicking her hair. “Discord, doing something as proper and gentlecoltly as a tea party?”
“But maybe we wouldn’t have been so shocked if we had at least tried to get to know him,” Twilight argued. “I mean, how much do we actually know about him?”
“But how much does he know about us?” Spike argued back. “Sometimes I wondered if he even knew my name! Twilight, he’s Discord! He’s chaos! He’s crazy!”
“Maybe,” Twilight said. “Maybe he is. But he’s not the only one at fault. The only one that really tried to make things right was Fluttershy. She’s the only one that isn’t to blame for what happened. Didn’t you guys see how concerned she was for him when Tirek didn’t release him? She looked for him when she landed on the ground. She still cared for him. I saw her do that, and in that moment, I realized that if Fluttershy was able to see him as a friend, then maybe I should, too. I wanted to give him another chance, a genuine one, where I really did consider him important to me. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
She then finally took a step forward. “I’m not putting him in a bubble anymore and blowing him away!” she said with a determined smile. “Not anymore.”
“Bubbles?” Pinkie asked.
“What does that even mean?” Rainbow wondered.
“Well, whatever it means, it looks like we’re gonna have tuh try it too,” Applejack said. “I’m still not too happy with Discord for makin’ Fluttershy cry like that…And I still don’t understand why he was so eager tuh throw her under the wagon for Tirek. But I think I get what she’s sayin’. Discord wasn’t the greatest friend to us, but we weren’t either. So let’s try again and see if we can all get it right.”
“Oh, I suppose,” Rarity said, trotting delicately beside her. “He did always like putting on clothes, so I could always try helping him in the fashion department.”
“And I like all the treats he makes appear!” Pinkie said, right behind them. “He can make cake appear just like that! Poof!”
“Well, I guess I did kinda hug him,” Rainbow grunted as she flew above them. “So I guess I can try to be…nice…to him. But a third strike, and he’s totally out!”
So they all continued forward, and nobody said anything until Spike crossed his arms and spoke.
“…Doesn’t anypony even remember the bubble that Discord put me in? How’s that for karma?”
It only took a few minutes before the cottage was finally in sight. Pinkie grew so excited that she hopped to the front of the group and bounded over to the door in just a matter of seconds. The rest of the group then had to run just to catch up with her.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! You in there?!?” Pinkie shouted, knocking on the door repeatedly and at a fast pace. “It’s us! C’mon out! We haven’t seen you in so long!”
She kept at it until a minute had passed, and her knocking got slower and slower until a frown appeared on her vivid pink face. “She’s not here!”
“She’s probably just out with her critters or somethin’,” Applejack suggested, taking a step into the yard. “There’s a lot of land out here for her to roam in.”
“Wait…” Twilight said, taking a look around. “…You’re right. She does have a lot of animals. She always does. But…”
With land all around her, Twilight Sparkle did not see a single creature—no mammals in the grass, birds in the sky or the trees, and not even a single fish to be found in the open water.
The others realized this as they watched Twilight look around, suddenly all-too aware of the silence that surrounded the cottage.
“Perhaps she went on a trip with…all of them?” Rarity suggested hesitantly. “Though..that seems rather impossible…”
“Could be that Discord came tuh visit and teleported ‘em all somewhere,” Applejack said. “If he was here in the first place, that is.”
“No, that can’t be!” Pinkie Pie immediately argued, who had somehow gotten herself on a tree branch, standing on it with all fours as if it were the ground. She put a hoof to her forehead and searched all around, as if she were an explorer on the hunt for something. “My Pinkie Sense never lies, and it told me she was definitely at home.”
Rainbow flew up to Pinkie. “But you knocked on the door yourself, Pinkie! She isn’t home.”
“Sure she is! She’s just not in the cottage part.”
“…Huh?”
“The cottage is only part of her home, silly-billy! She’s probably in her backyard or something! We just gotta keep…”
She then gasped. “Hey, what is that?!?”
“What’s what?” Rainbow asked, looking in her direction before gasping.
Pinkie, in one glorious bound, managed to leap of the tree and land on the ground, galloping towards the mysterious thing she saw. As she ran, her eyes were glued to the sky, and Rainbow was quick to follow her.
Twilight Sparkle was third to go, shouting “come on girls!” to the rest, though there was no need as they loped together to the acres of land found beyond the cottage.
“This is it!” Pinkie shouted in glee, her smile wide and triumphant as she got nearer to the dot she spotted in the sky. “This is totally what we’re looking for!”
By this time, everyone had been keeping their eyes on the same thing—a colorful dot in the sky that seemed to be flying and humming, laughing and twirling around in the air.
As they got closer, the dot grew bigger, longer, more colorful. Yellow and green stood out, with what looked like long strands of pink on both ends…
“I can’t believe how much easier this is!”
The ponies came to a screeching halt, making tracks in the dirt as they stopped themselves.
“That voice…” Rarity murmured.
“It sounds like…” Rainbow continued.
Twilight couldn’t believe it. They were close enough to see the object in the sky, though it was by no means just a mere object.
“Not only that!” Applejack said. “But it looks like a…like a…”
“Draconequus…” The word escaped Twilight’s lips, but she couldn’t believe It herself.
Not surprisingly, Pinkie Pie was the only one undeterred by this discovery. Instead, Pinkie hopped up and down, landing on her forelegs before jumping again, and waving furiously at the Draconequus above.
“Hi Fluttershy! It’s me! Pinkie! And the rest of us! Hiiiiiiiiiii!”
The others gasped at Pinkie’s assumption, though in their hearts, they knew it was true.
And they couldn’t deny it anymore when the figure finally turned its head in their direction, and her eyes widened.
Her big, wide, yet amazingly gentle turquoise eyes.
And then, Fluttershy the Draconequus, with a look of absolute horror on her face, stopped flying.
“G-G-G-Girls….!” She gasped.
But that was all she could say before she started plummeting to the ground.
“Fluttershy!”
Awesome chapter! Can't wait for the next!
Well, that was... somewhat predictable. Yet, it was exactly how it would've gone.
Great job, two thumbs up. Four if you count my feet.
-The Character
5722757 Thanks! ^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed it!
5723026 Pre-Pre-Predictable?!? Discord, I have failed you....
lol! Just kiddin'. Thanks for the thumbs and the feet! Hopefully I'll surprise you with something else later in the story! ^_^
Flower is new best character. That is all~
Anyway, bits of the character's childhood is something I'd love for them to explore in the show more. Like Twilight and Spike growing up together, Pinkie moving away at a young age to be happier, but also, Fluttershy and her family. People keep wanting to know more about Applejack's parents (not that I blame them), but we know virtually nothing about Fluttershy's. Aside from the bullying, we don't really know much about her like Twilight mentioned.
As soon as you mentioned her weak flying--as a Pegasus--I couldn't help but think about her flying as a draconequus. Would it be just as difficult due to her usually being unable to fly properly and thus stifling her confidence, or because of draconequus flight relying more on magic than wings, is it easier? I can't wait to see how this turns out next time!
Heh, so much for the new-found freedom of the flower. I'd laugh if it becomes a minor recurring character...
yes, character. When Discord's involved, anything goes!Well, as for the chapter itself, I did find it expectable for the most part. And I say most since them actually finding out was not something I thought it would happen this chapter. More like at the end of the next or something, so you got me there, hehehe. And now it leaves me wanting to know what happens immediatly after, though it seems that will have to wait.
Well, no matter, not like what comes next isn't any less interesting to know or something. Besides, it would make for a nice respite before jumping fully into the drama.
A cute chapter, especially Spike. I'm starting to wonder if, at the end of this, Fluttershy might choose to stay a draconequus for good.
5723103 The only predictable thing was Fluttershy's reaction, but the fact that Pinkie was able to not only recognize her best friend, but she defused most of the situation.
This was great.
I may give the impression that I am impossible to satisfy now, but it seems just a little convenient that the girls all decide, on the way to Fluttershy's, that they somewhat agree with what Discord said in the previous chapter about not trying enough. I agree with the points, but it might be a little too smooth that any disagreements on "who was in the right" has already been talked over, without them even confronting each other. I'm not complaining about this not turning completely into the girls and Discord arguing over who wasn't trying hard enough, but it just seems too convenient that they almost discuss the subject at the same time and reach the same conclusion.
Also "—a world that, without her support, would come crashing down, exploding into a prison of destruction and despair." Weird metaphor, mostly that something would explode (come apart) into something that most definitely needs to be constructed. It's kinda contradictory, and considering that this is Twilight, not Discord, that is kinda odd.
Still, very interesting chapter. Little worried about the whole "born too early", because it possibly opens up for a plotline of Flutters leaving her "inferior" body behind. I'm not that worried that you're going there, but the potential is there and that is a potentially touchy subject for some.
Now write the next chapter, and make sure it updates so that I actually spot the chapter! Happy writing.
nice chapter, though I'm a little bit disappointed.
It was relatively short compared to the first two chapters.
Maybe that is just me but I think it somewhat messes with the pacing, even though it's not different from the other ones in terms of quality or narrative but in terms of quantity.
If my feeling is correct, then this is not a real problem as it will dissolve once the story advances and one can immediately continue with the next chapter.
As for now, the decision to separate their view in it's own chapter may be logically sound but in it's current form -for me- is somewhat disrupting the overall flow.
Anyway I'm looking forward to the next one and wish you fun writing it
Or and before I forget:
Twilight's reflecting upon the behaviour of the group towards Discord, her reasoning behind helping Discord as well as their less hostile position towards him as a group in general was something that pleasantly surprised me and that I greatly appreciate.
I think you have opened up many ways to advance this story with this step.
So, all in all another great chapter, tater. Thank you. :)
yay new chapter!!!!
Awesome updates!
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Heh, I did enjoy writing about that flower. Whether it'll be back or not, you'll have to see. ;)
Exactly. Since this story is centered around Fluttershy and Discord, I'm going to be delving into their histories quite a bit, though, of course, it will be all from my own head and not canon. I'd love to see more about it on the show though.
I'm glad you're excited about it, so am I! I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous about how I'm going to have Discord explain how to use his magic to her, but I know how he's going to teach her some things, at least. You'll see how she fares in flying in the next chapter, as you've been hinted. Thanks for the review and your thoughts! I always love 'em.
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Yeah, I feel kinda bad about it too, but heh heh. You're right.
WHOO! You were surprised at least a little bit! Huzzah! I'll take it! Yeah, you'll have to wait a bit, but hopefully not too much longer! Next chap's gonna probably be long, and then it'll all come together.
Thank you! That makes me happy to hear (well, read, but you know what I mean)! And I was thinking it'd be a good break, too. Glad you agree.
5724033 Hey there! Glad to see you again. Ah, yes, my fellow Spike-lover. I do love me some Spike. I feel bad how so many people keep him out of stuff--and it's not just in fanfiction, but in the actual series too. :( Oh well, at least they made him a hero to the Crystal Empire, amIright? But I do love writing for that kid. As for what'll happen to Fluttershy, well, you'll have to wait 'n see! We'll she stay in her form, or will she transform once again? Will she ever have her wish come true? WHAT IS HER DESTINY?!??!? STAY TUNED!
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Well, thank you! I try to do my best, as you know. It always scares me that I'll eventually write something disappointing, but I can't let that stop me.
You have a valid point here, though I will admit, I planned on them discussing this when I decided to write this chapter. But you're right, this is perhaps a little too...'perfect' in timing, or somewhat unbelievable. However, while I don't want to reveal too much, this discussion isn't over yet. I'll give you that. (I'm using a lot of Rarity winks today...Oh dear.)
I'm not quite sure what you mean about my metaphor, though I will admit, I try a little too hard to sound poetic at times. If you'd like to discuss it more though, I'd be happy to.
Yay for interesting! As for the rest of it, I am struggling very hard not to tell you of my plans. I must zip my mouth shut. Must...keep...secret...Nnnnnng....
Yes, I will keep writing! And you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to do my very best to not mess up updates ever again! That was so frustrating...
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Yes, it is. I knew it as soon as I uploaded it, and it concerned me. I see what you mean about the pacing, and hopefully it will 'dissolve' as you say it will. However, I did have one concern that you bring up...
I won't lie...I thought of this myself, and even considered putting this chapter off and doing something else first. I was hoping perhaps my hint of the flower last chapter would help, but I see what you mean. However, I decided to risk it and went ahead with my original plan. But I am messing with the timing on these stories, and fear perhaps readers will be confused, since I'm going to backtrack a bit to the night of last chapter. Hopefully, it will be okay, but I see this flaw. I see what you're saying.
Yes, this was something I wanted to explore when I wrote this chapter. Why did Twilight save him? While it's true that perhaps having them talk about it is a little too coincidental when Discord spoke of the same thing the chapter before (as it has been pointed out to me), I wanted the others to talk about it in order to make sense of why they aren't in a panic when they find this flower. And the reasoning behind the others' acceptance of it is that they did seem to forgive him at the end of last season's finale. They were completely fine with Twilight bringing him over for a group hug. Rainbow did not punch Discord, and Applejack didn't shoot him any more dirty looks. Not only that, but this is a kid's show and a show about friendship. In terms of the show (and not real life, obviously), it made sense to me.
Thank you for your words of confidence! I'm glad that despite your disappointment, you still were able to enjoy it, at least a little bit. I think next chapter will be pretty long, so hopefully you'll like that one more. Thank you for the review, support, and enthusiasm!
5725684 WHOOOOO! I actually updated! Let's hope the wait for the next one doesn't take me forever!
5728109 Thanks! I'm glad you think so!!!
5724363 Oh, okay, good! Fluttershy can be predictable with surprises at times...but not always, thank goodness! Heh heh, Pinkie's so fun to write. The thing with Pinkie is, unless it's a personal problem, she isn't fazed very easily.
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I'm not commenting in order to get spoilers, I'm commenting in the hopes that any small bits of stupidity that might rear their ugly heads get spotted and beaten down before they mobilize in your creative mind.
In the case of metaphors, it's always kinda subjective. But the image that comes to mind from "exploding into a prison" just makes no sense to me. I can only elaborate with the following: any metaphor involving explosions have to do with something breaking down and never with something being built (or something accelerating, as in "explode into action", but let's leave that aside). So something can explode, in metaphor, and the whole crashing down makes sense. But something doesn't explode into something solid, it explodes into chunks. I just figured out that it would be easily fixed if you wrote something like "a world that, without her support, would come crashing down, and become a prison/wasteland/ruin/desolation of destruction and despair." Those alternatives just follow more naturally after "crashing down", in my humble opinion.
All in all, it is just, to me, kinda a mixed metaphor, and it helps, a little, with my rewording. Again, opinion.
Can never have too many winks.
Now, learn, do even better and get out the next chapter already. Because I am totally one to talk about being fast at writing, with exactly zero Fimfics to my name
5729215 Oh, I get it now! And seeing as it isn't a big huge problem, I can fix it without throwing it off! Hoorah!!! Yes, you are right. Thank you for explaining. And I know you're not the type to ask for spoilers. Really, it's more ME trying to tell myself "don't you dare give them spoilers". lol! But I think you know me far too well to know that I normally don't do anything too stupid. And since you said I can't have too many:
5730428 Glorious.
Looking forward to next chapter.
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Agreed. I love character back stories. ^^ Adds lots of layers and dimensions to characters and their motivations.
Lovely chapter.
you know, for a moment I thought I wold never see another chapter, I'm glad I was wrong. When do you think you can complete the next one? Now that I know you have started again, I'm all giddy.
5740358 I'm glad you love them, because I have them for Discord and Fluttershy. After all, that's pretty important for understanding one another, yes? And I hope that, despite all that happened with the end of your fic, that you find this story to be believable in the end. I'll do my best, since I'm quite the shipper...I wanna impress you with my stuff...*blushblush* (Don't look in my library... )
5741244 I'm glad I could sooth your fears. I never stopped with this story. I had to put the other on hiatus, but this one I have never planned to stop. My problem is that I'm a horribly slow updater. I don't know how so many of you are able to do it! And I have other obligations that keep me from doing so--some of them important, a lot of them not important at all. But it's only because I'm a slow updater. I have started the next chapter, though, if that helps. I'm sorry I can't tell you when I think I'll have it ready. Usually when I do that I only end up taking longer... :( I'm so sorry! But thank you for your support! I hope you stick with me despite my slowness.
5753964 I don't know if you had a really bad day or something, but you can't just feel 'racist' on a certain day. You're either racist, or you are not. And most people aren't even conscious of their own racism--most people are racist in some way or another. It's unfortunate, but true. What's important is whether you act on it or not, and you most definitely just acted on it, and I do not appreciate that at all. People of other races face enough struggles as it is--the ones that everyone faces, their own individual problems, and then the problems that come with being a different race or minority. The names you used are not funny, witty, nor clever. They are just plain hurtful, and it's based on nothing but the color of their skin. I don't know who wrote that little edit of my first chapter, nor do I know why they did it, but it does not warrant the right for you to call people of color such names. What if one of my readers is a POC and reads your comment? How do you think that will make him or her feel? Not very good, and I wish I could apologize to them for you, but I can't, because you won't learn anything from that. Please don't hurt others like this for something that isn't their fault--something that isn't a fault at all! It's hurtful and shameful, and it does nothing for anyone but make others upset or angry. People of color or other races deserve the respect that anyone else does. It's sad that there is such a term as 'white privilege'. Respect them! And America isn't just whites, you know. It's a melting pot! A melting pot of human beings, and they should be treated as such.
I didn't know this story had updated March 2. It's on my favorites but it didn't show up in my feed or in my list of unread chapters.
5766343 Oh, it's a long story...Basically, I accidentally pressed the 'publish' button one day, when I meant to click 'edit', because the buttons are right next to each other. I immediately clicked 'unpublished', but some people got updates, and I guess some didn't. About a week or so later, I published it legitimately...But no one got the update. What I'm guessing is...That even though I unpublished it, the system doesn't recognize republishing it as an update. It's because I made a dumb mistake, and I apologize for the confusion.
I like your new chapter! And I'm excited to learn what Discord and Flutters were doing in the meantime!
Am I the only one who's nervous about what will become of Discord's character in season 5? I saw a commercial for the new season with an unfinished clip showing Discord at some sort of Gala event dressed to the nines and enjoying himself which seems rather un-Discord-like but, who knows, maybe he was enjoying the chaos being created by the Smooze... Or maybe he was just happy to be at a dancing event with Fluttershy (he was standing near her on a stage)? Oooo... I can only hope!!!
I just don't want season 5 to throw your wonderful story off the canon wagon. I mean if Fluttershy doesn't show any kind of sadness for having "failed as a friend" or Discord any guilt for having betrayed her trust I will feel completely let down by the MLP team. Just as "Keep Calm And Flutter On" felt too convenient and rushed to some, the quick apology in the finale was just not enough for me to make it believable that everything is all good and cheery again between Discord and Flutters.
Of course the writers would never adapt an awesome fan fic like yours into an entire episode or two as much as I or the rest of the Fluttercord fan kingdom would want them to (I heard the writers are not allowed to read fan fics and, if they could, I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend too many episodes delving into the Fluttershy/Discord relationship since this is, after all, a show for young children perish the thought!) BUT, if they don't address the tension that should be between these two characters somewhat, I will be sincerely disappointed. But I guess if they do gloss over it, we can just assume your marvelous story is filling in their shortsighted gap!
5754725 I'm sorry for my comment, I was not in my right mind that day. I know what I said was over the line and uncivilized, the edit of your story's chapter made me somewhat upset, and I didn't like it. I thought what I posted was sort of humorous, but as I look back at it, it's as you said; it was not funny, witty nor clever. You're right, it was not in any sense. It was disgusting. And I know what I said I cannot take back and I'm trying not to make any excuse nor I'm asking for your forgiveness, or anyone whom I might of offended. But I am giving you and anyone else, an apology, but I am not asking you to accept it, just to listen to it. If anyone has contacted you and complained about my comment, please, allow me to personally apologize to them.
5856009 Oh, and here, I thought being weird and myself was allowed in this fandom, very well than, I'll just have to take my 'sillyness' someplace else then...
Flutterconequus. Name for what she is right now.
Will you ever make this into a audio drama online
He's right, it was hilarious.
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For some reason, now I can't stop reading this story in Morgan Freeman's voice.
I wonder if Pinkie's Pinkie Sense is related somehow to Earth Magic???