Sincerity
She could see them shouting her name, but Twilight couldn’t hear anything but a faint muffled hum. Rainbow Dash was in the air again, backing up quickly and attempting to ram through the invisible wall, only for her skull to meet it head-on with a very unpleasant conking sound.
The others continued to call her name while Dash kept trying to force her way in repeatedly and from different angles, but it didn’t seem to be of much use. Twilight was sure that this dome surrounded and encased them perfectly and impenetrably.
That didn’t stop her from taking a few slams at it with her own hooves. It might have been fruitless, but it was the natural reaction to being trapped in such a way.
“Discord, what is this? Let me out!” Twilight shouted, turning back on him while he still remained cool and collected, moving away from the shack now and closer to her.
“You said you wanted to talk,” he said with a shrug. “As it happens, so do I. I thought this would give us a little more privacy.”
“But you didn’t have to separate me from my friends!” Twilight said, although as she said that, the realization dawned on her. “Y-you don’t trust them…or us together.”
“I knew you’d never dream of coming to find me alone again, couldn’t take the chance. You understand.”
“I may understand, but that doesn’t mean I like it!” Twilight said. She was angrier with herself for not catching it sooner, that it wasn’t a trap for them – but for her.
“Hey, I only wish to speak with you. No tricks, and your friends are still right there and still armed with their little element necklaces.”
That was true; Twilight could see that all of her friends had donned their necklaces. Of course they weren’t that useful without her magic and tiara to activate them, but they were still there. Discord could have taken them, or even flashed her friends far away and out of reach to help.
If this really wasn’t a trick, than Twilight was getting the opportunity she had wanted. If it was, than she hoped she would be able to get her magic back before he did anything too harmful. Honestly, she was a bit curious about this as well. She knew what she wanted to ask him, but she couldn’t imagine what he’d want to know of her.
Her friends all stood huddled close from the other side of the force field. Twilight put a hoof up to the edge, and tried to reassure them with a smile.
She saw Applejack nod sternly, and Fluttershy reach to meet the unicorn’s hoof with her own. She then turned from her friends and walked towards the center of the Twilight-holder.
“I see you’ve made yourself at home,” she said as she approached him, acknowledging the odd grouping of items around the shack. Twilight tried to keep her tone conversational, but she was still too wary for it to be in any way friendly.
“This dilapidated place seems sort of a step down from the last time.”
“’Dilapidated’? I prefer to think of it as ‘rustic’,” Discord said. “but yes, it’s not up to my usual standards, but you make do with what you can when you’re trying to lie low.”
“And again, you set up somewhere far away from any pony who could find you.”
“Well, you know how the old song goes, ‘Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
For the deer & the antelope-horned!’" he sang, pointing to each of his horns in turn. “This was an old stomping ground of the buffalo, abandoned for several years now though.”
“Wait, if you disappeared again back into hiding, then how were you discovered this time?” she asked.
“Perhaps I wanted to be found this time,” Discord answered. “If I really put my mind to it, I could disappear so completely I’d never be seen again if I didn’t want.”
Twilight believed it, and she was getting the vague feeling that she knew the answer to the question in her mind, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to be right. “Then, why did you want to be found?”
“Not sure, maybe for the same reason you came to find me,” Discord said, reaching to put his arm around her, which she quickly spun out of.
“I came to stop you from wreaking any havoc,” she said, which in her own way was true.
Discord shook his head, gesturing towards the others without looking at them. “No, that’s why they’re here. I would like very much to know why you’re here. What questions could you have that you would seek me out like this?”
“I didn’t seek you out,” she said slightly defensive. “But I did convince my friends to let me have a few minutes with you.”
“Before it’s time to make me ready for pigeons to use for target practice again,” he presumed.
“Things don’t have to go that way this time, not if you answer my questions truthfully.” Twilight saw Discord’s eyebrows go up in mild surprise. She tried to relay the importance his answers carried in her words.
“The last time I found you, you talked about balance, and your part in it. I’ve been trying to keep that in mind, because strangely enough I think I’m beginning to understand your argument,” she began her only slightly-prepared speech. “The rest of it though – what you said that night – I need to know how much of it was real, were you being honest then?”
“Hmm, which part?” he asked, clearly not taking this as seriously as she was.
“I think you know which part!” she snapped. “When you spoke of your prison and your loneliness, I felt sorry for you. I told you so, but is that what you wanted all along? Were you trying to play on that so you could escape?”
“You know – speaking of being honest that night – I could ask you the same question,” he said. “As a matter of fact I intended to ask you that same question.”
“What, of course I was being honest!” Even though Twilight didn’t want him getting up
in her face again, the unicorn couldn’t help storming up to him at this accusation. “What could I have possibly gained by lying?”
“And what could I have gained?” Discord asked of her, “I didn’t need to trick you to be able to escape. I didn’t want you to be able to find me that is true, but I could have left that conversation at any time.” He smiled down at Twilight’s frown.
“I stayed because - as I said that night – I find you to be a very remarkable pony, Twilight. I genuinely wanted to know what you – the most logical and powerful of this new team – thought. At the start most of what you said was typical…until then.”
Then? Did he mean when she’d voiced her feelings of sympathy and started trying to think of ways to fix things? Than why wasn’t he saying that outright instead of alluding and dancing around the words? One might almost assume that it made him uncomfortable to think about it.
“But you were trying to persuade me as well, were you not?” the draconequus continued. “That was why you’d come in the first place. How would I know you weren’t using your own form of manipulation?”
Wait, so Discord thought that she might have been trying to fool him that night? That was just absurd.
“Um, because I would never do such a thing,” Twilight said obviously, no longer shouting. “Even if I were that type of pony, that wouldn’t have done anything. You would have seen through that.”
“You’re probably right about that,” Discord said, he seemed to be evaluating her answer, looking her over in an oddly similar fashion.
“I mean, I wanted to talk – to possibly reason with you, but that’s something entirely different. There’s a clear difference between trying to convince and just flat out tricking some pony.”
It was a strange thing to contemplate, but it seemed that he had been having the same misgivings about her as she had been having about him. But, why would it matter to Discord if she were trying to trick him? That would only be possible if her words had had some sort of lingering affect on the draconequus. Could they have? No pony wants to be tricked; it seems not even a trickster.
“No, I wasn’t lying,” Twilight said, clearly to ensure he caught her sincerity.
“Neither was I,” Discord spoke with equal clarity.
A moment passed between them, both still unsure about the other’s motives, but as Twilight accepted his words as truth, she felt the veil of uncertainty lift – or at least become easier to see through. She still felt compelled to confirm though, in case he still held doubts.
“I’m not now, either. I still want to find another way of doing things.”
“Still on that, are you?” he asked.
“Yes, and I’ve been trying. I even asked the princess to show me what happened between you all that time ago, and her account helped me see something.”
“Oh, did she show you the part where they snuck in and zapped me while I was singing?” Discord asked, “Very un-sporting, wasn’t it?”
Twilight ignored him.
“She’s my teacher, I respect and admire her very much, but I do think that she might have approached you the wrong way. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t feel she was completely in the wrong, I’m saying that her methods for convincing you weren’t the best.
She tried to appeal to any love you might have for the ponies of this world, but I don’t think you have any. I don’t feel that you’re incapable of it, but that you don’t see them as anything but an obligation.”
“You see though, that’s what they are,” he said as he suddenly appeared behind the pony scarecrow, patting its little head for emphasis. “The ponies of this world are a bunch of harmony-loving little ingrates. Most of them just go along with their little lives ignorant to the true nature of balance, content to boil it down to the basic extremes. They don’t see anything I do as anything beneficial.”
“That’s something that you could change. You could change how every pony views you, but you’d need to try.” Twilight said. That had been all that was needed to change Princess Luna’s image.
“That would be if I had any inclination to try, which I do not,” Discord said, now echoing the words he spoke in that long ago memory Twilight had viewed. “I am bound by that ancient bargain to keep the balance, but I have found that doing it my way proves so much more fun.” He gripped the back of the scarecrow’s head to make it look like it was listening to his words, then nodding its head in agreement.
“But that thinking is what got you into trouble in the first place,” Twilight reminded him. That had been his attitude when Celestia had tried to reason with him. “You can’t see that spreading chaos in your fashion can hurt ponies…because you don’t care about them.”
She had expected Discord to give some sort of retort, but when he didn’t, she continued.
“I don’t really agree with that either, but I did have a thought. You want to avoid every pony – and you can be very good at it – why not continue on like you are? Fulfill your obligations, only without interacting or manipulating ponies.”
“Why not continue like this? Well Twilight, hiding out like this isn’t exactly the most riveting of activities.” He looked over the ‘rustic’ surroundings he’d constructed. “Very constricting to the creative mind, you know.”
“That’s where a little change of image can help,” Twilight tried persuasively. “You wouldn’t need to hide out if every pony knew you wouldn’t harm them.”
This time she could see that the draconequus was about to say something, but she cut him off. She knew what he was going to say. No pony in Equestria would believe that, and that was true. The unicorn had anticipated that, but this was going to be the hard part, she knew.
“I can vouch for you. With my friends, with the princesses, and with hope every other pony. However, the trust they have in me will only take you so far. You need to do something to prove you will keep your word.”
Genuine surprise was a look that so rarely graced Discord’s features, Twilight thought this was only the second time she had seen it. He recovered much quicker this time, however.
A disbelieving, almost pitying smile was what greeted her now, and Discord shook his head as he abandoned the scarecrow to float back over to her.
“There you go again, trying to fix things. It’s a very well-intentioned idea, Twilight. If I were even to consider it though, I don’t think I’d know where to start. What gesture could I perform that would be grand enough to convince an entire population who fears and hates me?”
Twilight’s eyes strayed from his at this, and a defeated sort of sigh escaped her. “That was something I have been wondering too, and honestly…I don’t know.”
She did have one idea, albeit one that served her more than all of ponydom.
“How about you give me my magic back? It’s not a grand gesture, but I—“
“I didn’t take your magic, not this time, anyway,” Discord interrupted her thought with a questioning look.
“What, then why hasn’t my magic worked since the last time we spoke?” she asked, her mind stuttering over that part of the night that she kept trying to write off, but still made her feel so strange. “…Not since you kissed me.”
The question on Discord’s face faded to understanding. “Oh, that? That was only a temporary block. I didn’t want you following me or summoning your friends before I could get a good head start. It should have worn off by now. It would only last this long if you continued to think about it.”
But Twilight had been trying not to think about it, and every time her mind brought it back to the surface she tried not to dwell on it...had that counted? She hadn’t even verbally admitted it had happened until now.
“I must have made quite an impression.” Discord said slyly. Twilight had trouble looking at him then; he just looked far too pleased with this new information.
Testing it out, she focused on creating a protective bubble around her. Her horn glowed, and a shimmer of pink formed over her head, surrounding her whole body. So finally saying it out loud had done the trick, the first step to acceptance.
She kept the bubble up to form a solid barrier between her and Discord. The last thing she needed was him invading her personal space again; she needed to keep a clear head, and that was very hard to do with him so close to her.
On the outside of her little dome, Discord had pulled up a cushy seat, sitting sideways with his back leaning against one arm of the chair, his legs slung over the other, and still looking positively smug.
“But…did it have to be a kiss?” Twilight asked. “I’m sure you could’ve blocked my power in some other way if you’d wanted.”
“Oh, and I’m sure I could have too, however it had to be something that you wouldn’t easily forget, but also couldn’t easily admit to happening. Something intimate,” Discord explained. He sat a little straighter in the chair. “Plus, it seemed like a good idea at the time. You were already so interesting, but the compassion you showed me…it intrigued me all the more. It was surprising…compelling.”
Twilight felt her tiny force field flicker for a moment as her concentration drifted. That was why he’d chosen to do it that way? He found her interesting?
“So sue me, I was curious. I don’t blame you for lingering on it so much, it was quite enjoyable, even better than I’d imagined. I’ve had trouble getting it out of my mind as well.”
She couldn’t help but revisit the memory now. Since she’d admitted it out loud – as well as to herself – it held no power over Twilight…or, at least her magic. She had felt so mixed-up about that whole encounter, especially the kiss. Now that she knew that it hadn’t been a complete lie – that there had been true feelings behind it – she felt oddly relieved, and even…flattered?
He paused, and she wondered if he’d seen that flicker. “You’ve thought back to it more than once since you mentioned it, I can tell. You can be very easy to read…you should work on that, Twilight.”
For the first time Twilight was actually glad she was divided from her friends. She hadn’t looked behind her to where they were all standing watching the two of them, but she was quite grateful that they couldn’t hear what was being discussed. She didn’t want Discord to know he was right, so she tried to not look as embarrassed as she felt.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “But we need to get back to the subject at hand. If you don’t want to change your image, what do you want?”
Discord slumped back into his earlier position, obviously losing interest now as Twilight was trying to get back to brainstorming.
“You don’t want to be bored,” the unicorn answered her own question. “That much is obvious, but you’ve proven you can entertain yourself without directly influencing any pony. This way you could go anywhere you wanted, within limits.”
Discord held out his claw as if underlining Twilight’s words. “There’s the catch, limits.”
She nodded. “Yes, limits. If any pony needs them, it’s you. I’m not proposing a scenario where you get off scot-free. I no longer think that your previous punishment was right, but if you’re going to live here-“
“Well, why can’t they just take my word for it? Why would I have to prove anything?” his interrupting complaint was on the verge of a whine.
“Sorry to break it to you Discord, but I don’t think your word is going to hold much weight with every pony. Not without my help and not without putting forth something of your own.”
“What do I have to do, wear a shock collar?” He threw out, growing irritated. Twilight rolled her eyes.
“It was my only idea that I felt could work for everyone, and…it’s better than being stone, isn’t it?” she asked. His flustering her had not entirely helped Twilight’s mood, but neither was his apparent unwillingness to cooperate.
“You do have me there,” Discord said reluctantly. “I have to wonder though, Twilight. You don’t believe the others will take my word alone, and yet you are still trying to help me. I’ll have to admit it is flattering, (Twilight had to roll her eyes again at his tone there.) but what is it that makes you think I will keep my word?”
Twilight risked a glance back at her friends, they were all still there standing up against the slightly opaque barrier, all with varying degrees of worry on their faces. Discord was repeating the same question that they had asked…the same question that she asked herself when she came up with this proposition.
Realistically it was absurd for her to think that Discord might agree to something even this restrictive, this orderly. Then again, she would have thought it absurd that he would – upon escaping – choose to hide out and be free rather than engage in his usual antics knowing he’d be caught. He apparently couldn’t help playing around a little, but he still voluntarily left a town full of ponies alone.
He had shared with her how it felt to be stuck like that, and he’d made it sound like he mostly found it to be just a big inconvenience, but Twilight couldn’t help thinking there was more to it.
“I probably shouldn’t,” Twilight hesitated. “But I have faith that you will,” She was taking a gamble - she knew - but there was something inside her that made her feel the need to try.
Because she now understood why he needed to exist, because she felt in her heart that no pony was beyond help, and because she had seen that small trace of a possible vulnerability – whether he’d meant to let it slip out or not. It had given her hope that she was right.
Discord was out of his chair now, standing right next to the outside edge of her bubble. He seemed to be considering her again, his expression then changed to a smile that brought her back to the last time he’d been this close, and it made her breath stop short.
“And now you have faith in me. I must say you are presenting me with many firsts, Twilight.”
She dearly hoped that Discord didn’t know about the particular ‘first’ he’d given her.
“Maybe I should show a little faith in you,” He now rested an arm on her personal bubble, using it to prop himself up.
“So, you do want me to help you?” Twilight asked tentatively, adjusting the bubble’s strength accordingly to support his weight.
“It’s really the best choice I have, isn’t it?” His tone was not all that enthusiastic, but perhaps it was finally sinking in just how far out of her way Twilight was going just to help him.
But if she was going out on a limb, Discord would need to come join her.
“You’ll still have to do something yourself,” she reminded him.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he waved his claw flippantly.
“And you’ll agree to my terms, and whatever I come up with, even if you don’t like the restrictions?”
His smile faded a bit. “I’m almost afraid to ask, what have you decided on?”
It wasn’t much – and she wasn’t sure what her friends would think - but Twilight thought she had an idea now. Oddly enough he’d actually supplied the inspiration, and she felt a sly smile of her own begin to grow.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Touché,” Discord conceded. His tone was back to playful.
The air between them that had lost so much of its uncertainty – and had even become somewhat friendly – now grew a bit awkward for Twilight as they both just stood there for a moment, still smiling but neither sure of what came next…or how it would go.
The unicorn reminded herself that that was what he needed right now, a friend. This then reminded her of the friends watching on the other side of the barrier, and she broke eye-contact with Discord to turn back to them.
“So…what we should do now is take down the barriers so that I can tell the others what’s been agreed to,” Twilight inelegantly brought herself back to business mode.
“You mean you’ll take down yours, and then I’ll take down mine?” Discord asked, easing himself off of her bubble finally.
She caught his meaning. It had been one thing talking about having faith and trusting him, but this was the moment to show it by going first. Of course, trust is a two-way street.
“How about at the same time?” Twilight asked.
A shorter pause as a wisp of that earlier uncertainty seemed to seep back in, but when it was over both pony and draconequus had lowered their shields.
Discord stayed the exact distance away from Twilight that her protective bubble had extended, at least until his barrier had melted away and he was promptly tackled by Rainbow Dash.
The other four who had been waiting on the outside rushed up to Twilight, all bringing her into a quick group hug before jumping back to stand protectively between her and Discord.
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Well, hope this lives up to the anticipation/makes up for the 'rage of curiosity' that the previous cliffhanger caused.
Also that you're still enjoying.
i like, i like
Definately enjoying!!
Huzzah!
brilliant, and cant wait for the next chapter
I'm not much for h/c with Discord--it reminds me too much of h/c with the Joker, and Harley Quinn can tell you how well that turns out--but judging by the first chapter, this isn't whitewashing or overjustifying him. (I'll hold off on reading the rest until it's finished, since once I get hooked, I get impatient waiting for updates, but I'll give you a Like.)
One thing that disappointed me about the first chapter was that it didn't display much of a narrative voice--that is to say, you didn't have many turns of phrase that seemed uniquely yours. That said, the characters' voices are conveyed much more clearly, with an enjoyable contrast between Twilight's and Discord's styles of speech.
please continue i really want to know what's going to happen!
Wonderful I enjoy how you make them both
though those evil cut offs as the chapter ends is starting to yank at me. almsot about ot make me cry.
Hah! Yes, i knew it was a good idea to follow this!
I'm rather curious as to how this will turn out as i get the vague feeling that the most likely place it'll all fall apart is Celestia. Especially if she's still somewhat blind to the whole point of Discord as a concept (especially when, if you think about it, Discord can potentially be argued or claimed to be responsible for even such vital pony-things as Cutie Marks. After all... it'd be so boring if every pony was the same... right?) Who knows how much of the world is a result of Discord's side of the balance.
Aside from Discord, obviously - and I doubt he's liable to explain.
Keep posting keep posting keep posting
1191898 Sure I do.
Hmm.. so what could be the contract. A power sharing agreement? The Cancellation of the Running of the Leaves and Winter Wrap up?
1192408
Agreed.
Keep up the great story!
MOAR!
1191898
It totally would, if you hadn't left us wondering if the negotiations have completely broken down or not. MOAR PLZ.
anyone else want to kill rainbow?
Many, MANY times I wanted to slap somepony/draconequus (mostly a certain draconequus). But it was still awesome. I could hardly bring myself to read certain lines of dialogue/scenes/the whole thing, that's how you can tell somethings good. Can't wait till next time!
ahh...my mortal enemy the CLIIFFHANGER...we meet again
im liking this story so far :3 really good
1194111 I.
1194111We will start an angry mob...
PITCHFORKS! GET YOUR PICTCHFORKS HERE FOR 1$!
1212911 excellent...
1212645 Ve~
In before overprotective jerk mode: Curse you elements.
Excellent work.
I don't know why, but I like how Twilight decides to give Discord a chance, and that he actually accepts and (hopefully) coorporates.
*now kiss*
They are so perfect for each other. So cute
1850836 Well I wouldnt say perfect but, if writen right, they kinda fit each other^^