This story is a sequel to Impermanence
When Discord told Fluttershy that he loved her, he meant that he loved her forever. A beautiful, if fanciful sentiment to most. To a being like Discord, it's a very real promise. For one of them, forever is a very real thing, and an impossibility for the other. But Discord is a master of the impossible. It's his gift. And his curse.
Written for Muwun.
"Beyond the fact that this is excellently written, it's a crossroads where sweet meets hellish. So many stories confront Twilight outliving her friends. Few if any ask, 'But what if Fluttershy outlives them all?' And I stress all. Part of why this story hits so well is that I've seen two diametrically opposed readings of it and it manages to support both at the same time. On one hand, it's a poignant and tragic love story as Discord desperately tries to keep his love alive and she fights back with just as much force to have him accept the inevitable. On the other hand, it's showing the most toxic relationship possible as Discord forces Fluttershy to endure it all - even as she begs him to stop - because he can't deal with not having her in his life. I know my read on the story, but it's fascinating that it manages to be both a beautiful romance and a relationship horror story all at once. No matter your reading of it, it's an amazing tale and one of my absolute favorite FlutterCords." - TCC56
Dispite Thanksgiving ending, I can still be thankful for this...
Right?
Holy shit. I am reeling. I always thought I had a high tolerance for pain in fanfictions - like, I genuinely enjoy vast amounts of angst.
But oof.
This fic almost did me in. I could barely finish it, I was such an emotional wreck.
Long story short: THIS WAS AMAZING, I LOVED EVERY WORD. The ending was such sweet relief for the emotional TORTURE this fic put me through. When Fluttershy told Discord she loved him, the feels hit me so hard I couldn't breathe for a moment there.
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Thank you for sharing!!!!!!!
Don't you mean muwun?
9966510
Yes.
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I DIDN'T NEED THESE TEARS.
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oof
can i get an f in the chat for society and the entire species of Equinity
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9966607
F.
And also, as Discord says, even these millennium are only a tiny part of eternity. Maybe in the ancient past, far future, or another universe, ponies live on. After all, this is only one interpretation. Everything comes to an end, but that’s not to say there won’t be a new beginning.
Is... is that a Steven Universe reference?
9966680
N-no...
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Rod Serling does MLP
Scale rot? That was pon3 herpes...
Don't blame me Spikey Poo!
I found my hoofie!
Apples!
Damned doomsday weapon
I did it first!
I was the last mare standing? I win!
Did you turn out the lights!
nope
WOW! Read it all in one go; super emotional and got me teary eyed real good. Was NOT expecting the 'Twilight Zone' twist ending; nice! A great read for sure! Kudos!
9966634
That slaps bro but I aint no philosopher I don't know shit
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9966612
Btw I love your tf2 username
9966718
I mean, I’m not either. Was just trying to think of other possibilities.
9966724
Tight
So, to recap:
maybeprobably-suicide.Damn, dude. If I wanted Infinite Sadness, I'd go listen to Mellon Collie.
(song lyrics are vaguely relevant, btw)
Not a story I can bring me self to like (see above), but I can still appreciate how well it was written and executed.
Nicely done.
I was not ready for this. Not at all
9966478
Seconded. Just, damn
Okay, I like this idea here because Twilight doesn't outlive all her friends. At least she has Fluttershy around all this time. Good job, I'll be sure to give it a closer read later on.
I mean, well-written and all but... The driving idea behind this story, that death is necessary and needs to be accepted... it's just absurd. Death only needs to be accepted because it's inevitable... but once you add in functional immortality, it's not inevitable, and any and all characters who claim it is (Twilight, Celestia, Fluttershy, etc) just come off as utterly deluded; trapped in an ideology of inevitable death that no longer applies.
The whole "I can't just keep watching people die" thing doesn't work for multiple reasons. For one, Discord openly offers to stave off death for others; you don't get to tell him not to keep others alive, and then say that you don't want to live anymore because everyone you knew is dead; that's stupid. Legitimately stupid; just let him save them all, and then none of you have a reason to die.
But there's also the more general fact that you live your whole life watching loved ones die; it doesn't just start up when you get old, it's a constant, life-long thing. To say that it's okay when you're thirty, but a legitimate reason to wish for death when you're eighty... there's no consistency to it whatsoever. And what about meeting new people and making new friends? Do you really only care about those few you met when you were young, and everybody else is just immaterial? All of this is just an excuse; people convince themselves that they don't want to live forever, not because they are led to that conclusion logically, but because you can't live forever, so pretending that it's a good thing provides emotional comfort: Again, this doesn't apply when you actually have the option of immortality.
This is more than just philosophical navel-gazing, by the way. There are many scientists working on radical life extension today. Functional immortality is a reasonable possibility in the near future. We need to address this aversion to living before it becomes a real problem, and we end up with terrorists blowing up life-extension clinics on the basis that they're an affront to the natural order.
9966837
Seconded. You've put into words some of the thought I've often had about this kinda topic, better than I would have.
Legitimately suprised at Shakes going for this angle, too.
9966837
I think this would have been better by instead of the meaning behind wanting to die being Fluttershy cant handle seeing others die. It was instead she reached the point where she had lived enough and life no longer holds any value. She'd done it all, seen it all, heard it, everything. Now its all white noise and a colorless meaningless existence.
Cause eventually, you'll reach the point where life just becomes pointless and unfulfilling after a certain point. Especially one with a mortal mind.
Nice to see Discord getting exactly what he deserves.
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Discord never says that he could save everypony. And even if he could, he wouldn't care to. Also when Discord claims he can bring everypony back, it needs to be taken with a grain of salt because there is a wide difference between what he says, and the truth.
When Discord finally does bring ponies back in the pizza scene, the purpose of that was to demonstrate that he actually can't bring ponies back to life. All he can do is create warped, one-dimensional caricatures of them.
It's demonstrated again at the end of the story, with his copies of Fluttershy. They are just shadows of the real thing, saying what he wants to hear. And his version of Celestia is more just his guilty conscience telling him what he already knows. The fact that he can't actually resurrect ponies gives life, and the individual lives of the ponies meaning and value. Call it a life force, or soul if you like. Once a pony is dead, they are gone forever.
He can't watch over everypony, nor would he want to. The was only one pony he couldn't live without. Only one pony he was willing to watch over at all times. For Discord, it doesn't matter to him if everypony else dies because he doesn't care. Fluttershy is forced to live along side him and can't create that kind of detachment from everypony, herself.
Fluttershy's mentality at the end of the story after Twilight died was meant to be more of a loose parallel to 'I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream'. Which if you haven't read that, I highly recommend it. Not that Discord is explicitly, (or rather, knowingly) playing the role of the villain in this case. But rather that, at the end of all things, when everything and everypony she had ever known was gone, she was cursed to linger on forever. It was meant to be a pony's glimpse into Discord's fate as an immortal, invincible being.
You're comparing apples to oranges here. There is a huge difference between living longer as a human, and the kind of immortality Fluttershy is experiencing. Fluttershy gets to be young and healthy. But a person who is eighty will never be in the peak of their health. It's a matter of quality of life, rather than quantity. Some people do better than others, but at a certain point, it just hurts to be alive.
To climb out of bed and all your joints are grinding together every time you move. A cough that never goes away. You can never trust a fart. Being legally blind or deaf, or confined to a wheelchair, and just being so, so tired all the time. At a certain point, no matter how many 'new friends' you make along the way, the exit sign for life starts to look real attractive.
But the point of this story wasn't to demonize living longer, (as you are suggesting) or even living potentially forever. But rather, it was a look into the existential horror of being a creature like Discord that is both immortal and functionally invincible, having no choice but to linger on long after the end of all things.
I did try to touch on this with how alien the world was starting to look to her after centuries. Everything was becoming unrecognizable. And I guess I could have spent more time focusing on this aspect of it rather than her primarily mourning about her friends. Though in the original draft, the sequence with Twilight dying happened much sooner, and there was more of a philosophical emphasis on Fluttershy existing long after ponykind. But without the reader experiencing the deaths of her other friends, the bulk of it felt emotionally hollow. So that's why there was more of a focus on the loss of her friends and loved ones.
Discord, as a character in the show epitomizes this aspect fairly well. The Spirit of Chaos aside, He's world-weary with reality and reshapes it into whatever he can to try to entertain himself. Maybe he didn't start out as the Spirit of Chaos, but became it over time.
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Realistically though, it still is. Even with functional immortality, that does not mean one is invulnerable. Look at the deaths of, Celestia, Luna, etc. On a broader scale, barring any accidents, the universe will collapse on itself entirely one day, so pretty much all we have will be destroyed regardless. Death ultimately is inevitable, as all endings are. And as Grailm said, it’s not wanting to die, it’s simply being that life no longer holds much value. I mean, in the end, we were talking about the end of the world. And it was just torture for Fluttershy to continue existing in that nothingness. Death was peace. So no, I don’t think that accepting death is “absurd” or wrong. Every beginning has an ending, no matter how long you put it off. Death is still the ultimate ending for all of us, it still is what gives life meaning.
What an incredibly written, heartbreaking story. That ending bit really did get to me, despite everything Discord did. That said, I had some minor gripes that did add up and just didn't allow the story to work for me as a whole.
The first half of the ending feels so... odd. I can't summarize it in one word, but it took Fluttershy millennia after millennia to finally just tell Discord to stop and he just... gives up? It feels almost lazy. The conversation they have doesn't even last long or feel all that compelling. It didn't tug at my heartstrings even though this is the part that probably should, since well, Fluttershy is finally swaying Discord into letting her rest. She could have talked to him about this eons before, when the world wasn't an empty wasteland. Fluttershy has had this desire to end her life far before she finally confronts him about his selfishness.
I suppose I'm just uncertain as to why it took so long for her to finally confront Discord about this, since, well, the conversation here at the end is honestly just similar to the one they had after she finds out she'll be the last living pony on the planet. And on Discord's end, again, since it echoes a lot of the previous chapter's fight, what changed his mind? We don't really see his internal struggle regarding this conversation (since these last chapters have been in Fluttershy's POV, which is fine). We don't see what makes him go "oh, I... I can't keep doing this anymore." It might have been when she admits trying to kill herself, but as a reader I cannot 100% tell. The whole thing is Fluttershy saying "screw this, I hate this, please let me die" and Discord simply going "kay" like he truly just didn't want to bother anymore. It was too sudden and hardly satisfying.
And I'm confused here; are we supposed to find Fluttershy's little "I love you" and kiss sweet and touching (the romance tag tells me as much but who knows)? Because I don't. Her reciprocating feels like a reward for Discord, like giving a child a cookie for doing their chores, rather than something earned and something Fluttershy truly feels. I'm sorry, but after all this time, how can she truly love him? For that one moment when he finally decides to be selfless and let her die, perhaps she sees someone she loves and maybe loved once upon a time, but I'm sorry, I just didn't buy it.
At the end of the day, I think my issues can come down to personal gripes. Aka I don't agree that this is how Discord would handle Fluttershy dying; I have different headcanons that aren't as angst and disturbing because I'm a soft little wimp who prefers her fluff and sweetness. Anyway, regarding Discord himself, it feels weird that he's willing to constantly save her and allow her to live forever, but he's also totally okay with hardly ever seeing her? It makes sense in a way - all that mattered to Discord was that he didn't want to see her die. We don't see whether he yearns for her affection or not, but he seems fine whenever he's talking with her, as if they hadn't not spoken for years. I feel like there's something missing by changing perspective's and only returning to Discord's right at the end.
Because this doesn't feel romantic, not even at the end. Discord's love is twisted and cruel, because he's willingly loses touch and connection with Fluttershy just to keep her alive. They don't spend anymore time together, have tea or do anything, but he seems perfectly fine with that? That feels strange to me, because why does he bother when he hardly ever talks to her and he knows she's upset with him? Discord may be a selfish a-hole, but Discord has grown throughout the series. Wouldn't he want to fix whatever's making her upset? Because that's how I see Discord; someone who craves his friend's support and love and while he's made mistakes, can recognize them and can be genuinely remorseful regarding those who he has hurt.
I kind of want to see the struggle there, where Discord's honest to god wanting to talk to her and fix things, but selfishly cannot bring himself to, but perhaps that's unfair since critiques should be about what the story's about rather than what the story could be about. After all, again, it does make sense in a way for Discord to be okay with that broken connection, but the romance and Discord's honest, true love for her was long gone when all he did was watch her from the sidelines, hardly talking to her in years. Which I'm sure is the point; doesn't mean I have to like it, haha.
All that said, that doesn't mean I'll dislike this story for having different ideas I don't agree with. It's a different headcanon that isn't for me; this just isn't my type of story and that's totally okay. It was an emotional trainride, and one of the many good stories out there that shows one way Discord will handle Fluttershy dying.
Hopefully some of this mumbo jumbo made sense. I really wanted to like it, because among all the fluff I read, some angst is always a nice change of pace. But it just didn't work for me.
9967267
I know the feeling. I really liked the story, but it isn't my personal version of how Discord would handle the mortality of his friends. A different version that I like a bit better is "One Last Snap" by Somber, of you haven't checked that out already.
Also, I agree that some parts felt a bit rushed, and think it's a bit hard to swallow that Fluttershy would take that long to confront Discord, and that he would not care about how much she hated him. And yeah, the "I love you" felt kind of tacked on. Anyway, good story overall, but I agree it is just one possible scenario, and everyone has their own personal headcanons and theories.
9967278
Exactly. If someone wants a Fluttercord story on the more angst and borderline horror-like side, then this is perfect for them. Myself? Let's just say if I wrote about this kind of story myself, I'd go in the more "Forever Young" direction ("One Last Snap" is also a great version!). Goes to show that this one wasn't my cup of tea, but that doesn't make it bad at all! It has fantastic writing, and it's a great look into the horrors of living so far beyond what we can only imagine. And the last scene with Discord fading away? Definitely got me.
Oh Discord... you are Chaos. Chaos is eternal. So thus are the culmination of your sin, your lust, your greed and covet. Enjoy eternity alone knowing the one friend you had died in utter loathing of you. Not an en-flamed passion, no, but a black cloying void of empty despair. For this oh Discord, there shall be no reprieve, from this even you, oh master of the Possible, oh king, there is no escape, not even into the void. For always you will return, you wretch, you ancient beast, and always in the back of your soul, in that special place where its only you and God.
You spent eons tormenting the one you loved. Welcome to Hell. And not a one in the Pit is there that doesn't deserve to be
9966837
I think there term you are looking at is "biological immortality" Where the body stays healthy (well as healthy as you maintain it). As if you mature to a certain point then its not like you stop aging, but the things in your body which break down over time don't and you basically live forever bar some accident that kills you. Death instead becomes something that happens because of an event, not because you just age to a point your body shuts down.
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the ending of senescence in other words
I think this one best describes thing
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You did a great job on this story.
Though now I have to troll my favorites for the happiest thing on it. I hate you in a good way.
He should be she
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Fixed!
Reminds me of Last one out.
Jesus...
Mind if I take some inspiration from this? It's very... twisted, and I love it.
Crying many tears. Crying very hard.
wow......................this is really hitting me hard.
Now I know why this is top of the future box................................................
Also I may sort of hate and love you at the same time.
i never commented but i read this when you first published it and dude.
my heart, dude, my heart.
hk, it's not like i needed it anyway.
thank you for writing this for me.
I don’t really know how to describe how thought provoking that story was. All I can say is that you are a great writer. This story had a fantastic premise and you built upon that amazingly! I totally didn’t expect the apocalypse twist and it made the conclusion so much better.
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You're welcome.
I'm guessing there's no answer, but why was Cadence assassinated? And having both Celestia and Luna die? I get the story is about death, but it just seems kind of random for all three Alicorns to die in such a short span of time.
This made me cry slow, silent tears
It’s