Harpflank and Sweets: Forced Introspection

by Arcainum

Breaking The Surface: Derpy

“Why would I stop when I’m doing so well?”

Discord blinked.

“Well? Did... Were we watching different memories? You couldn’t even deliver the mail without breaking something!”

Derpy shook her head, smiling to herself.

“Is that really all you’ve got? Rifling through a few bad times and thinking I’ll break down and give up forever?”

Discord’s lip quivered.

“That was essentially the plan, yes. You ponies hardly have the greatest mental fortitude.”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

Discord’s eyes narrowed with disdain.

“Oh, please don’t tell me that your friends will get you through this. I may vomit.”

To his great surprise, Derpy laughed brightly.

“Friends? They’re not my friends.”

Even as she chuckled, she fixed her lop-sided gaze firmly to her archenemy’s.

“They’re my family. Every single one. Every member of M.A.R.E, every citizen of Metropony, every living thing on this planet... They’re all my family. Do you have a family, Discord?”

Discord hung still for a moment, an unexpected pause in his constant, erratic movements.

“... No.”

A hint of sympathy flashed across the Commander’s face before her expression hardened once more.

“Then you could never understand. Do you know what happens when a pony lets down their family? When they fail the ones that give their life meaning?”

“...”

“They try harder.”

Derpy stomped her hoof and her every word resonated with power, the same power that had shouted down the Mare In The Moon herself. In the instant before she spoke again, it occurred to Discord that true Honesty could only be achieved with the strongest conviction. Derpy’s faith in herself and her ideals radiated from her, an almost physical aura.

“Nightmare Moon took my home from me? I created the organisation that destroyed her. The public rejected us after all we’d done for them? Our recruitment this year outweighs the past five, and foals pretend to be Harpflank and Sweets when they play. Carrot left?”

Her expression softened.

“Well, that’s between me and her. What I’m saying, Spirit of Chaos, is that you’ve come into my new home, my castle, rummaged through my darkest secrets, and tried to use them against me. No doubt the others, too.”

The look in her eyes made Discord float imperceptibly away from her, recoiling from what he had never thought he’d see in a ponies gaze.

“So what do you think I’m going to do to you?”

There was a moment of silence.

“This is my world, Discord. And I will keep it safe.”

Eyes narrowed to slits of hatred, Discord floated in close again.

“You’re going to regret this, my little pony. You have no idea what I can do to the things you so dearly ‘love’.”

Derpy grinned confidently.

“We’ll be waiting.”

~

She came to, pulling her head free from the papers that had covered it as she slumped under Discord’s influence. Bleary-eyed, she tried to clear the fuzz from her brain. For a moment, she was filled with worry for the other Elements. Then she chuckled.

“Even I don’t listen to me.”

Sitting back in her chair, she kicked her desk and span a few times, watching the relics of her past blur across the walls. As the chair came a halt, her eye caught the photo again. Memory stirred once more, this time a welcome friend. She checked the time and, hesitantly, tapped a familiar number into her communicator. A few seconds later...

“Chief? Yeah, it’s me. Yeah, I know how late it is. Aaah, come on, you’re still up working, right? Listen... you want to get a drink?”

Comments

[Firebirdbtops]

and now that makes M.A.R.E. 2 Discord 0

[Aquillo]

627893
He'll get a few. Just you wait dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/discord.png

[RTStephens]

I think Discord should look into a new line of work. He just doesn't seem to have this pony mentality thing down.

Derpy, once again, is a badass. Conviction in her principles, and when that isn't enough, RAINBOW CANON, MUTHERBUKER!!

Keep it up!

[MillennialDan]

I was going to pm something about the use of "span" instead of "spun", but after looking it up, it would appear that it wasn't necessarily unintentional. It seems a bit archaic, and far more widespread in the UK than here in the States, but still not incorrect, strictly speaking. I learn about the most random things thanks to reading fanfiction!

[Arkaine Deao]

Jeez. Derpy is fucking fearless, ain't she?