You are sickened by the weakness, of a heart that's filled with fear; and if the world won't understand you, you can make it disappear
Discord lay on his bed, staring up at the swirling, psychedelic green and orange of the bedroom ceiling.
He was in a quandry.
Once again, Fluttershy had forgiven him and even Tree Hugger had seemed ameniable to his apologies eventually, but something in him still ached. Fluttershy had been furious with him, and he didn't like it when she was furious with him. He felt confused half the time and hurt the other half.
He had overreacted.
Just a skosh.
He groaned and turned on his side, a fresh ache in his heart. Why was he always getting things wrong? Why did he care so much? This friendship thing was baffling sometimes, but what was even more baffling to him was how much he wanted it. How did everyone else find it so easy to go through every day not knowing if they would lose a friend? Was it because they had more than one of them?
He bit his lip and furrowed his brow as he tried to think who would be best suited to listening to his problems. He didn't want to go and see Twilight again as he often went to her to ask and though he loved annoying her, right now he really didn't want to deal with her being angry at him. Pinkie scared him. He still wasn't sure why. She had a bit of chaos in her, so surely they should be getting along? Maybe it was her voice. She could be quite shrill, however well meaning. No...it had to be someone else this time. Someone who could give him advice on what he was worried about.
Who did he know who knew something of what it meant to overreact...?
A sound like a service bell echoed through the room as Discord's ears shot upwards and his eyes came into focus with realization.
Ah, yes...
Rarity laid the new silk fabric that had just been delivered to the boutique on her couch. The colours and textures were gorgeous. She was sure this year's Spring line was going to be a success. She had spent months on the designs in her sketchbook and mood boards, and now that the material was finally here she could make a start on the finished product.
The loud sound of Discord flashing into the boutique made her jump.
"Rarity! I need to talk to you!"
Oh, NO.
"Oh...Discord. I'm afraid you've caught me at an inopportune moment...you see, I really need to start working on this collection, and..."
"But Rarity! It's important. I..I have a friendship problem! And you're the only one I can talk to about it." He made a whining puppy noise.
"Am I?"
"Yes, undoubtedly."
"Why me, specifically."
"Well, I chose to come and speak to you because I overreacted at the gala."
"...and?"
"Isn't it obvious? You overreact all the time. Therefore I feel we two kindred spirits should have a bit of girl talk over the situation."
Rarity fumed internally. How rude of him! He was always rude. He was rude deliberately and he was rude without realizing it, and it was difficult to tell which one it was this time.
"First of all, I do not overreact."
Discord cocked an eyebrow and snorted. He then vanished and reappeared on the fabric Rarity had laid out. She gasped.
"Oh puh-leese," Discord drawled. "You even have this fainting couch handy". He patted the couch and the fabric laid over it. Before Rarity could even think of what to say, a huge tub of ice cream appeared in Discord's arms and he began unceremoniously shovelling it into his mouth as he began to cry. A pink bathrobe and bunny slippers appeared on his person.
"She's mad at me!" he wailed between mouthfuls. "I know she says she's forgiven me but I know I've upset her...a-aand it hurts when I upset her because..." he paused, and looked at the ceiling, then said "uh..nothing."
"Hmph."
Rarity wasn't about to take the bait. Discord clearly wanted to talk about something but she really needed to get back to work.
"Discord, I'm afraid I simply don't have time for this. Maybe in a few days, but right now...."
"Please, Rarity! I need to talk to someone! I've been agonizing over this for days!"
Discord continued to shovel ice cream into his mouth and sob.
"Okay, okay! I'll give you a little of my time. Just promise me that if I talk to you for an hour you will let me get on with my work afterwards."
Discord's bottom lip wobbled a little and he cracked an awkward smile at her in gratitude.
"Now," said Rarity, patting Discord awkwardly on the shoulder. "What is the problem, specifically? I thought you and Fluttershy had made up."
"We have. That's true, it's just. I..."
He hesistated.
"Yes?"
"I don't understand. I keep getting this pain in my chest when I think about her being upset with me."
"That's understandable. It hurts when you know you've upset a friend."
"Has she said anything to you about the gala?"
Rarity was starting to suspect there was more going on here than Discord was letting on. Why was Discord so concerned?
"Haven't you two talked it over?"
"Yes. I'm just. Rarity, how does everyone find emotions so easy to deal with?"
"They don't all the time."
"Everyone just seems to get on with their lives and...grr." He growled in frustration. "It's all so complicated...and stupid!" He shoved his entire snout into the ice cream tub and a fresh wave of tears blanketed his eyes.
"I'm not going to be able to help you until you tell me what's bothering you."
Discord removed the tub from his snout and looked at the ground. A ring of strawberry flavoured ice cream coated his muzzle.
"I'm in love with Fluttershy," he mumbled.
"Obviously."
"You know?"
"Everybody knows! You aren't exactly subtle about it."
"Has she said anything?" he leaned over the edge of the couch.
"Not that I know of. I'm not even sure she realizes it."
Discord seemed to be struggling with the next question. Rarity looked at him pointedly as if to say the clock is ticking.
His voice was barely audible. "Does...does she like me the same way?"
The snot from his left nostril threatened to drip down onto the tapestry covering the couch he was perched on. Rarity gritted her teeth as she watched the bead of clear but green tinged mucus wobble and threaten to separate from Discord with each sob.
Breathe, Rarity. Breathe.
The globule of mucus fell.
The dam in Rarity broke. “For goodness sakes, of course she doesn’t! How can you expect her to have feelings for you after everything that you've done!”
Discord jumped at her outburst, and then looked at her in shock.
“I…had expected you to be a little less blunt about it.”
"Then it's clearly something you already know."
"Not exactly. I needed to hear it."
Rarity could see more tears threatening to fall from Discord, only this time they weren't the overly dramatic tears that she could roll her eyes at. They were genuine because Discord was trying to hold them back. She softened a little. The tapestry could wait. She would ask Twilight if she had a cleaning spell. Helping a friend was more important right now, and she did consider Discord a friend, albeit an annoying one that was difficult to understand. Besides, it wasn't as if she hadn't had her own experiences with jealousy and bad behaviour. She thought about how jealous she had been when Trenderhoof seemed to prefer Applejack's company. She didn't even know him very well, she had simply wanted validation. Discord and Fluttershy were best friends, and were very close. If anything his worry over losing Fluttershy was more valid than her worry that Trenderhoof wasn't attracted to her. What wasn't valid was his appalling behaviour at the gala. However, he did seem genuinely sorry about it. She also vaguely wondered if she had the power to make the universe disappear when she was upset, whether she would exercise it out of sheer frustration or pain. In that respect the Chaos god had been surprisingly restrained.
"Er...listen, darling," she said softly."That was rather harsh of me. Sorry, it's all the Spring stress. Work builds up. But, regarding your situation; It's...not the end of the world".
"Says who?"
"Well, for one thing, why do you think Fluttershy yelled at you?"
"Because I threatened to send her friend to the third dimension?"
"Well, yes. But besides that."
"She hates me?" He sniffled, pulling up another gob of dangling snot back into his nose.
"No!"
"I don't understand."
"Darling, Fluttershy wants you to become a better person. That's because she cares about you."
"Why would anyone care about me? Especially when everything I touch turns to cowpat."
Rarity looked alarmed. This was rather maudlin, even for Discord.
"Er...you did realize that Fluttershy and Tree Hugger weren't an item?"
"I know Rarity, I'm not stupid."
Goodness, he was difficult to talk to! It felt like all the advice she was giving him was being thrown back in her face. He had behaved like a jealous coltfriend when he found out Fluttershy was taking another friend to the gala. He was so mercurial she was never entirely sure where his rollercoaster of emotions was going to derail off to next.
Why had he acted that way towards her friend? Was Discord really that inexperienced with love? She tried to think of how best to approach the subject.
"Have you...er...ever...you know?"
"Have I ever what?"
"With a mare?"
To her surprise, Discord threw back his head and cackled.
"Rarity, I've not only been with mares, I've been with stallions. I've been with people who weren't even ponies. Do you really think little old moi has never done the horizontal mambo?"
"That is not what I meant!" said Rarity, turning bright red. "I was talking about relationships!" That was half true; she hadn't meant that exclusively, but she had assumed that Discord had less experience with romance than casual encounters.
"Anyway, to answer your rather rude question: Of course I have, Rarity! I'm thousands of years old. I just...it's been a while. I've been out of the game because I've had my tushie sealed in concrete for more than a teensy little while. I...feeling things again is difficult. I can't seem to have a medium setting anymore. I either feel nothing or feel too much."
Rarity then realized that Discord's crush on Fluttershy and his jealousy towards Tree Hugger were separate issues, but they overlapped to the point where Discord could not recognize the difference. Discord obviously craved Fluttershy's attention, and when he wasn't getting it he panicked and assumed the worst. He had a massive fear of abandonment. She had to admit, despite his absolutely atrocious behaviour, she didn't have the experience of being shut in stone for centuries to the point where learning to communicate with others and feel things again was a difficult learning process. It was likely that because he had been alone for so long, Fluttershy meant everything to him. She was his friend, his family and he was beginning to think of her as a potential love interest. He hadn't yet mastered the first two yet and his emotions (and snot) were leaking everywhere. It was no wonder this was all so confusing to him. Perhaps asking him about his previous relationships might help...
"Well, when you were...er...in the "game" as it were, how did you approach things?"
"From the right. Sometimes from the left. Occasionally from above."
It was like trying to get blood from a stone. Rarity tried again: "How long did your relationships last?"
Discord looked forward and blinked, then stuck his nose in the air. "That's a rather forward question, Rarity."
"I know, but if you want me to help you then I think we need to talk about it."
"It depends."
"Tell me about one."
"Er...well. There was that one thing with the cat goddess in Anugypt..."
"Yes?"
"Um...that was a few months."
"What's the longest relationship you've ever had?"
"Hmm. Let's see." He stroked his beard as he pondered. "I would say, roughly 3000 years."
"What?!"
"Give or take. It was with the Andromeda Galaxy. Though truth be told it was kind of fizzling out around the first 1500. We didn't talk much and by then we had agreed to see other people openly."
Rarity didn't even want to ask.
"Okay, so you've had some experience with relationships. But right now, I don't think you're entirely ready for one."
"Why?"
Rarity noticed with horror that Discord was now using the fabric for her Spring collection to wipe the tears off his face.
"Well, for one thing you need to learn how to be more refined! Fluttershy is a lady."
"Ooh! A lady! I never would have guessed!" exclaimed Discord in a high pitched voice. A corset had materialized on his now busty chest and he waved a hankerchief at Rarity while he batted his eyes.
"I'm taking about general etiquette! Your...dress sense for one thing. It's not exactly the height of refinement."
"I'm plenty refined!" said Discord, blowing snot loudly into his hanky with a loud honk. "I have fabulous dress sense."
Rarity winced. Discord loved costumes and fashion, but what he thought of as refinement seemed like a parody of it. If there was a season trend regarding fashion inspired by the Seventies, Discord would no doubt have shown up sporting star shaped sunglasses, lime green bell bottoms and a a jacket covered in pink sequins.
She took a deep breath and got back on topic. "Discord. I think that maybe you need to figure out what being a friend means before you tackle any of the other stuff."
"But I've had experience! You just said..."
"I know what I just said, but hear me out. I think, if I'm hearing this correctly, that you are having emotional problems".
Discord's mouth opened and closed again quickly. Rarity placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.
"Being in stone for that long can't have been easy. It must have been bone-achingly lonely for you."
This time Discord did cry, and to her surprise he buried his head in Rarity's chest as the sobs racked him.
"It's also because I have no chance, isn't it?" he croaked.
She patted him awkwardly on the horns. "I honestly don't know that, Discord. I think you have a lot of growing to do as a person. I think you need to be kinder to yourself and take some time to heal. We will all help you with that. You can't rely on Fluttershy to ever return your feelings, but I am certain of one thing."
"Yes?"
"Fluttershy does adore you. She's always got a smile on her face when she talks about you. She loves your funny stories. She tells us about all the trips you go on to see unusual wildlife. She considers you her best friend."
"She does?"
"Yes. She does speak very highly of you. Given time, who knows? Maybe her affection for you could grow, but you have to grow first."
He seemed calmer now.
"But Discord, I...I know it's a hard thing to hear, but you have to also accept the possibility that she might never return your feelings when you are eventually ready."
Discord winced. "I know."
"Well if she does reject you, are you going to throw a tantrum like you did at the gala? Are you going to be horrid to her about it?"
Discord went very, very still and Rarity felt a chill go down her spine. Perhaps that was too blunt.
"I would NEVER," said Discord. "I would never, Rarity."
Rarity thought he was referring to the tantrum, but then he continued: "I would NEVER throw Fluttershy's friendship away because she doesn't have feelings for me. I get it, okay? You all think I'm not to be trusted, and I suppose I can't really blame you entirely. I can't promise I won't make mistakes again because I seem to have that written on my job description, but one thing I'm sure of is I'm never, ever going to do what I did to Fluttershy with Tirek again. EVER."
"Why?" said Rarity. She wasn't really wondering why, she just needed to hear that Discord was doing this for the right reasons and wasn't going to do anything stupid again.
"What do you mean why?" snapped Discord. "Because she's my friend and she's worth it."
He put his hat and coat on and vanished.
Rarity blinked, then looked over at the silk. There was no stain on it from Discord's tears or snot. He had cleaned up after himself. She sighed with relief and thought about what he had said.
She's my friend and she's worth it.
Maybe there was hope for him after all. Maybe it would just take a little time.
She heard the sound of something flashing into the room and noticed a note had materialized on the couch. She walked over and picked it up:
Dear Rarity, thank you for listening. I really do appreciate it, but if you tell anyone what transpired here I'll make sure your new Spring line will be referred to as "Mucus Green."
-Discord.
Maybe it would take a lot of time.
When Discord arrived at Fluttershy's cottage she was outside with a flock of starlings hopping around beside her. She was laying on her stomach, with a book on magical beasts open in front of her. It was a beautiful Spring day with a soft breeze that ruffled her mane in the sunshine. He observed her for a moment. She was concentrating on the text. Her furrowed brow as she absorbed the words made her look adorable and a fresh wave of emotion overcame him.
He took a deep breath. One thing at a time. Friendship first. That was the most important thing. After all, without it he wouldn't be standing here.
She's so smart he thought. And brave, and caring, and beautiful. Of course he had messed it up. What did he expect when he had practically handed her and her friends gift wrapped to Tirek? He wasn't even sure why Fluttershy was his friend, so how could he expect anything more? He suddenly felt he shouldn't be there. Maybe he should just go home and nurse his wounds and come back another day. Maybe...
At that moment Fluttershy looked up, spotted him and smiled joyously at him. "Discord!" she beamed.
She looks happy to see me. She always looks so happy to see me.
He went to sit next to her on the grass in the sunshine.
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OMG I love that episode! Remember when Discord almost sent Tree Hugger to another dimension? xD That was cool.
I saw this on my cellphone and thought "Well then. Guess I'd better get my laptop so I can write her a review that will no doubt rave about how wonderful and brilliant this fic is sure to be."
And what do you know? I was right. I don't even need powers to do that.
I admire you for so many reasons and this was the first reason. You never disappoint. This is once again going to be upvoted and put in favorites.
My fave parts:
HAHAHAHA! Yes. He would totally say that! Reminds me of my fic where he says "Well, you see, two and two make four." Gotta love the smart@ss Discord.
Oh my gosh Discord. You're talking about the comet. You'll never admit you loved a comet to Rarity. And now she thinks you were in a serious mutual relationship with a sentient being, when it was a space rock. Nice connection to Wanderlust. I love that kind of thing.
Two reasons why I love this--One, because it talks about Discord's tears. Sometimes people don't describe tears enough. What kind are they? Are they serious or joking? Are they slowly rolling down the cheek, or are they rushing down the face in big fat tears trying to crash to droplets early? Tears are important, and describing them allows you to picture things differently. The picture of a truly sad and crying Discord is currently piercing my heart.
Second reason--this was an EXCELLENT point that I haven't really thought of in terms of Rarity. If SHE had chaos powers--if anyone did--would THEY have reacted like that? Would she have created a rift too, or as you said, destroyed the universe? The only reason most others can't get in trouble like that is because it's impossible for them. That's very insightful. I must remember this.
Amazing job. And you are once again a pro at characterization. Already knew you were when it came to Discord, and now Rarity too. Awesome sauce all the way.
Sploosh. Called it.
...
Okay, back to reading.
Weeee! What a fun, funny, yet touching one shot
I can't tell you how much I love this
But I'll try
This could be a legit canon episode (minus the sexual parts of their conversation), but either way, I would love to see Discord realize his feelings similar to this and go to Rarity for love advice and she can play matchmaker
Yes! Rarity and Discord girly friendship is a go!
I enjoyed this! Discord dialog was done well, and the whole thing felt perfect!
Sir Crabington Seal of Approval!
5997015 If only, if only...
I'll admit, as soon as Rarity started talking about Discord's previous relationships, I screamed "Don't you DARE bring HIM up!". My parents gave me the strangest look. ( 'Him' being Discord first asshole god of decay boyfriend..)
This is gold! I've always wanted some Discord and Rarity interaction!~
Soon as I saw this, I thought, "This is gonna be good."
Yeah, yeah... it was.
I kind of--actually, no, really--want to see Discord interact with Rarity more, out of the rest of the girls aside from Fluttershy. Once they're more friendly with one another, of course. I think they'd make really good friends.
Wonderful as usual. Good old talk for Discord to get his priorities straight. There's hope for you yet, pal.
It was... meh.5 overall. Rarity seemed to be really in-character and some of the one liners from Discord were humorous, but the rest kinda falls right on "average and forgettable".
Yes! Rarity as the Fairy Godmother for chaos gods!
5997042
I actually wasn't putting continuity from that story into this one, but if people want to read it that way then I'm perfectly happy for them to do so.:)
We see a bit of this in Inspiration Manifestation. She can go mad with power when she has it. Obviously not to the same extent as Cordy, who can rip open holes in spacetime, but she can empathize to some extent. They are more alike than they realize. Both can be control freaks, both of them overreact to things and yes, they DO both like clothes.
Aw, thank you.
Always a pleasure to read your thoughts.
Hnnng, this was such an enjoyable read! You my friend are getting another watcher if I wasn't already!
5997458
Haha thanks! Yes, I would love more Rarity and Discord interaction. They're both so overdramatic.
5997455
As I said to tater, I didn't intend for there to be continuity between the two stories, but I wasn't going to bring HIM up again, because like Discord, I've had enough of him! I kind of think it's a given that Discord's had relationships since he is "centuries old" (I write him as a lot older) but he's not terribly good at keeping them due to being a.) a pain in the backside b.) a childish chaos god who doesn't take the feelings of others very seriously.
Thank you for getting the writing muscles working again! I owe it to you that I wrote this!
5997941
I'm glad you approve! Thank you!
5997172
5997534
Rarity would totally be best Fairy Godmother to Discord--though it wouldn't be easy. Imagine the hilarity though... >:)
5997239
Thank you, you most excellent crustacean, you! :)
This was great. The interaction is great and it feels like a pretty natural expansion on the episode.
Discord's dialogue is a little off here and there, somehow too "normal". It's hard to put a finger on it, but here and there, I just can't hear it in his voice. But it's only in a fraction of this fic, so no big issue.
Still, good work. Well done.
Happy writing.
I think Discord could have an interesting talk with a bunch of ponies. From most comptetent to least.
Cadance (obviously about basics of love and relationships)
Rarity (more or less about those things but she would be less competent advisor since Rarity is kind of failing at romance, too)
Spike (basically understand him completely but is as incompetent and immature as Discord)
5998304
The thing is, even though everyone (except possibly Fluttershy) knows about Discord's crush, he's unlikely to want to talk to multiple people about it because, as I stated in my author's note, he's a bit of a Tsundere.
He can keep his secret with Rarity because she will keep confidence (though he thinks it's simply because he has threatened her fabric with gross bodily fluids, because Discord still struggles with the idea that anyone genuinely likes him) but I think he'd be worried about going to Cadance because that would be putting all his cards on the table and revealing too much to those in power.
I could see him having a draconequus to dragon talk with Spike though. As I said elsewhere, I grew up with all these teenage shows where girls were worried about whether the cute boy in high school liked them or not and tried to seek their approval. I'm pretty pleased the boys in MLP are falling all over themselves over female characters this time round.
5998303
Thank you so much for your comments and crit. Glad you enjoyed it! Would you mind telling me in PM what parts of the dialogue felt off? I may not be able to respond right away because in a few hours I'll only have access to my phone and this site is wonky on it. Anything that helps me improve. If you'd rather not, no worries--and thanks for reading. :)
Lovely story.
5998301
Now imagining Rarity in a poofy and sparkley Fairy God mother dress, lol
I can so picture this scene! Rarity relating to how she would handle having his amount of power was amazing. Him being such a git in his parting shot was classic too. Love it!
Y'know, until you said it, I hadn't thought how apt the expression "blood from a stone" is for Discord, what with his dalliances with enforced statuary.
Damn, hope this gets featured! IT'S SO DARN PERFECT HOW IN EQUESTRIA DO YOU DO THIS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
So I kinda hate Fluttercord....like really, really hate Fluttercord....but this was surprisingly good.
Well, this is objectively a pretty decent story, but one part just ruined my enjoyment completely:
1. That's practically pedophilic. One reason pedophilia is taboo is because one person has much more experience and can easily manipulate the other, even without knowing it, and that remains true for Discord and Fluttershy. They could still share love for each other, but it'd be more like parents sharing love with their children, and this implies a romantic relationship.
2. "Everybody knows" is complete bullshit. There are people in the community other than me that feel that Discord and Fluttershy are not in a relationship and shouldn't be, and Discord has never displayed signs typical of people who have crushes on other people.
Edit: Oh my god yes! Pour your hate all over me! I'm such a dirty, dirty horse!
This story has been featured. Just checked
5999417 it's an interesting idea that ancient equals necessarily more mature. Based on the most recent episode I would have to disagree. In fact, if mutual Fluttercord were indeed an actual mutual thing in the Equestria universe, I'd be more worried about poor Discord being at the mercy of the much more emotionally mature Fluttershy. However the idea of "everyone knows" in the context of this story refers specifically to everyone "knowing" that Discord has a one-sided crush on Fluttershy which, if true and not acted upon (and assuming that Discord dating her is, in some way, still a violation of Fluttershy's free will) is still not pedophilic if it remains a crush maintained solely by Discord. It just being creepy that he feels that way is a personal choice of course. My aunt and uncle are 35 years apart and neither of them is at the mercy of the other, they're both old enough to make their own decisions even if one is of an age socially unacceptable to most.
5999968
Really? I doubt being centuries old and once a ruler of Equestria makes discord less mature than Fluttershy. She might have him beat in kindness and some aspects of friendship, but it's ridiculous to think that discord couldn't call up some of his countless memories to outsmart Fluttershy.
I take back what I said about pedophilia. Discord dating Fluttershy would be more like a human man-child dating a friendly chimpanzee.
6000021
Now now, you don't have to be rude. I'm sure the chimpanzee isn't returning your calls for a very good reason.
I died at that part.
6000696
Ha, it's funny because your implying I'm a man-child by referencing my own comment.
Except it's not funny.
Way to go for the low hanging fruit.
And speaking of low hanging fruit, I think that's a pretty good way to pick of chimps if your last monkey-friend went ape-shit and left. I mention this because people involved in recent break ups tend to push their own feelings on other people, and you seemed like you could use the help. After all, it's not interspecies if you're both chimpanzees.
Edit: Don't try to start a flame-war with me. I have more stamina than anyone.
6001339
Well you don't have to get defensive about it, it's almost like you're a great big conceited wind-bag spreading an opinion no one cares for all about like fertilizer. Flung fertilizer. Hm, no... it couldn't be...
Aha! So you're a chimpanzee AND a man-child! It all makes sense now!
6001359
Okay, you officially suck at insults. I mean, that insult was older than the dawn of man.
Now how about we don't fill the comment section with flaming. I'd be happy to demean you over PMs, but it's a bit rude to the author to do it all over his comment section.
Edit: her comment section.
5999417 pretty sure FS is old enough to make And understand the consequences of her own decisions.
Granted, I'm not a fan of Fluttercord, but that's because I prefer flutterdash.
And, as a personal side note: after a few thousand years, I can only imagine that physical age takes second fiddle to mental maturity.
6001369
Still sounding pretty offended there, buddy. I mean... I'm not the one trying to call Fluttercord a pedophilic relationship or a union between a slightly more advanced creature and a one of your immediate relatives... ON a Fluttercord story. That's like walking into a sports bar in a team's hometown and yelling that the team sucks. Eminently foolish! We can see who's swimming in downvotes, after all. And not even one from me, because I find you to be a mildly amusing distraction from more important matters.
6001379
Legally she's old enough, but let's consider a situation: say I'm Discord, and I like Fluttershy, so I decide the approximate course of action for every possible event for the next hundred years within the bounds of my knowledge and experience, and unexpected things only happen once in a few years. Of course, I do this to maximize Fluttershy's happiness. But if Fluttershy did not or could not plan similarly, then I would have much more freedom to steer her towards any decision, especially in the long run. So would Fluttershy still have free will?
You may say that Discord could not possibly be that manipulative, or even that it's not possible to be that manipulative, but that's exactly what he did in the Return of Harmony. If Celestia, another ancient being, had not sent Twilight her old friendship letters, then the entire mane six would have been broken through sheer manipulation. Fluttershy may have been able to withstand him then, but that's only because he couldn't understand her at that point in time, and he only has to understand around twenty years of experience to fully understand her, which is nothing compared to all the experience he can draw on. Once he understands all those lessons on common decency Fluttershy is teaching them, which would probably take the length of a typical childhood as his ability to learn seems fine, there is nothing that can put Fluttershy on equal terms with Discord mentally.
6001392
Hmm. I find your analogy apt, but do the downvotes really matter?
I mean, why should I care about the number of people that are wrong?
6001415 He cheated the first time around. And if he's doing his best to make her happy, how is that different from any normal relationship?
Honestly i think we've got something of a disconnect in our relative perceptions of morality.
6001431
Yeah, I think I value free will a lot more.
There were and are entire societies that like to establish that there is limited or no free will though, so apparently that's a thing that works. That kind of thinking apparently leads to things like caste systems though, and I don't really like those societies, but that's a personal qualm.
6001438 It's less about free will for me and more about the age of consent and what that means both legally and morally.
If someone is the age of consent, they should be capable of making responsible choices on their own. Further, even if Fluttershy gives up her free will, if sheddid it of her own accord, and is generally happy with therresults then why is it bad?
Does freedom not extend to the freedom to choose not to be free?
6001500
I don't really consider the legality of something to have any meaning. The morality of the age of consent, on the other hand, seems more to do with making sure a relationship is fair, which is why I think it applies here.
And Fluttershy choosing to throw away her free will knowingly depends on her knowing she would be throwing away her free will, which both her and Discord might not realize. Besides, if you use happiness as a measure of whether something is good or not, I could just decide that the most morally correct thing to do would be to isolate every human into their own cells and inject dopamine and ecstasy into their brain until they die.
Freedom does extend to the freedom to die, which, for me, is equivalent to not being free, but that doesn't mean that dying is a good thing or should be cherished.
6001520 You Are free to do so, just as people are free to stop you
The point im attempting to make (more likely poorly as not) is that advocating freedom means allowing people to make their own decisions regardless of how it will affect them personally, because it's their free will they are deciding with.
6001535
Ah, I see your point.
It doesn't mean I have to like their decisions though. I was pretty much just stating that opinion in most of my comments here. I actually haven't even voted on the story: I feel I can't judge it properly since the DiscoShy thing gives me the willies.
6001545 fair nuff. As stated previously, I'm more a fan of flutterdash on account of my tendency to ship the blue one with anything with a pulse (and some things without; looking at you Tom.)
6001559
Hah! That reminds me: I think one of the first fics I remember reading on here was a shipping fic with Rainbow Dash and a watermellon. It was glorious.
Well then, good luck on your FlutterDash adventures!
6001569 heh, thanks. After all the places I've been, I think I'll need it. Been pleasant chatting with you.
Kinda wish this story went on, but otherwise, this was a great read
I dunno. Fluttershy seemed really into the hippie chick. Like, more than you'd expect from just a casual friendship.
I mean, I was never quite sure on my headcanon regarding Flutter's sexual orientation, but that episode might change things.
Oh well. Over-all, not a bad piece. Though, your dialogue looks a bit separated from your narration, so you might want to work on that.
A few things
1. I could really relate to Discord in this story.
2. I just love the picture that you used for this fanfic. Discord has such a cute smile
Wouldn't you prefer to Discord as an "Individual" "Being" or "Creature" instead of person?
Otherwise this story is added to my favorites. It is very easy to relate to.
6001738 Oh I know.