Seeing the Light

by Animalman57

Visiting the Kingdom

As they entered the Pegasus Kingdom as the kingdom had their annual festival before the lanterns, Posey looked around in shock and awe. She'd never seen this many creatures in one place. Not only were there pegasi, but many other creatures were joining the festivities as they waited for the lanterns. It honestly made her feel nervous to walk through such a huge crowd. Sensing her fears, Discord placed his talon on her shoulder. Posey looked over and saw him give her a comforting smile. She smiled back and, with a strong bit of confidence, walked further into the festival.

"So, we have all day to hang out before we see those lanterns. What do you want to do first?" Discord asked her. Before she could answer, her stomach growled.

Discord smirked before saying, "I bet breakfast is the right course of action since Twilight so rudely interrupted my plans to make you some food." Twilight's eye twitched, but she kept herself under control, as he clearly was just trying to push her buttons.

The four of them went straight to an apple cart being managed by an orange earth pony mare with a blond mane held in a ponytail by a red band, a brown stetson on her head, freckles on her cheeks and green eyes. She smiled as they walked forward.

"Well, howdy ya'll." She said with a Appleloosan accent that Posey thought was pretty cute. "Name's Applejack. What can I do you for today?"

Discord smiled. "What do you recommend?"

"Well, I've got apple fritters, apple dumplings, apple pie, apple fries, just some plain old regular apples. Basically, if it has apples in it, we sell it. A'int that right, Big Mac?"

A large red stallion with similar green eyes and an orange mane, who was helping unload some crates, replied in a deep, monotone voice, "Eeyup."

"Um, can I get some…Apple fries, please?" Posey asked.

"Of course ya can, sugarcube." Applejack replied, as Posey blushed a little at the endearment. Applejack grabbed some fries and handed them to her. Discord asked for 5 fritters and a pie while Twilight just settled for a plain old red apple. Posey also asked for some apple slices for Angel. Discord snapped up the appropriate amount of bits to pay (plus a small gem as a tip) and they left while Applejack called out, "Enjoy yourselves now, ya hear?"

The four of them found a place to sit and enjoy their breakfast. As Posey looked around the festival enjoying her fries, she saw numerous little foals running around laughing and playing. She smiled at their joy, having never had any experience like that when she was younger. Discord meanwhile saw some stallions walking around, giving the princess looks and he decided to tease Twilight.

"Hey, Twi, want us to find you some nice stallion to hook up with?" He smirked. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Not interested. How about we find you a nice mare?"

"Nope. The bachelor life is the one for me, princess." Posey was sadden by his statement, but kept her mouth shut and continued to eat her fries. Just then, a gorgeous mare came forward. She was a white unicorn with a curled purple mane and tail with blue eyes and eyeshadow.

"Hello there." She said as she approached. "I don't believe I've ever seen you three at the festival before."

Twilight replied first, "I never had the time. Too many royal duties."

"Was never interested." Discord snarked.

"I was kinda raised in a sheltered home." Posey said last.

"Oh, I see. At any rate, my name is Rarity. I saw you three and wondered if you'd like to be my first customers at a new shop I'm managing throughout the festival. Make you look a little more festive."

Discord raised his eyebrow, but before he could object, Posey said, "Um, I guess so." Rarity squeed before composing herself and guided them to her tent.

Discord was soon standing outside the tent with his mane combed over and wearing a black cardigan with a white undershirt and light grey jeans, as well as a bow tie the same color as his red pupils and dark brown boots on his mismatched feet and matching brown gloves on his hands. He felt ridiculous. On the plus side, he took amusement at Twilight looking less than pleased with her outfit. Her mane was tied in a bun and she wore a light blue dress with big puffy sleeves and white frilly trims, eyeshadow and lipstick the same shade of blue as her dress, silver shoes on her back hooves and she had a silver tiara with a purple star shaped jewel on her head, obviously cause she was royalty. Angel was on her back with a glittery dark blue bow tie and a similar displeased look as Twilight. Discord chuckled at their annoyed expressions before a rather pleased Rarity and nervous Posey came out of the tent. His jaw dropped all the way to the floor at the sight of the pegasus he's been having strange feelings on. Posey had her mane done up in a braid and she had cherry red lipstick and light purple eyeshadow applied to her. Her dress was a lot simpler than Twilight's, but that just made it more pleasing to him. The dress was a lovely shade of deep violet with white stripes running down them, a semi-sweetheart neckline, and no sleeves, leaving her forelegs exposed. Her back hooves wore tiny cherry red shoes. She was stunning!

"Um, do I look okay?" she asked as if she wasn't the most gorgeous thing on four legs. Twilight noticed Discord gaping at her and smirked.

Bachelor life, huh? She used magic to roll up his jaw like a map on a teacher's board. Discord stopped his jaw and then looked at her, just barley stopping himself from melting on the spot from her cute little nervous lip bite.

"You, uh, look...good." He finally said, picking the best compliment he could think of without going overboard. Still, she blushed at his compliment. Twilight was starting to put two and two together on their relationship. Well, if romance is gonna keep Discord in line, then call me Cadence, cause I'm gonna get them together, even if I regret it later.

The four of them payed Rarity (even when she insisted on letting them have their outfits for free) and they continued on down their way.

"Hiya!" Said an earth pony mare outta nowhere as they walked down the path. She was bright pink with a darker pink mane and tail that were curly and frizzy and her eyes were blue. She was somewhat chubby and she bounced up and down like she was made of rubber.

"My name's Pinkie Pie. Who are all you?" She talked like she was on fast forward all the time.

"I'm Twilight, this is Posey, and he's Discord." Twilight responded. She yelped as Pinkie came close to her.

"Oooo, are you a princess? I mean, I guess you could not be one, but you're an alicorn, but that might be an unfair stereotype, I'm not sure, well, are you?!" Twilight blinked at the mare's energy.

"Uh...I am a princess and as far as I know, there aren't any non-princess alicorns, so I wouldn't call it a stereotype exactly." She looked desperately at Posey and Discord hoping they'd help. Pinkie backed off thankfully and Twilight took that as their cue to leave.

"Well, it was to meet you, Pinkie, was it?" She nodded her head. "Right. But we have things to do, so if you don't mind..."

Pinkie blinked before smiling widely and she said, "Oh, that's okay. I gotta get back to my stand before the oven burns it down."

But then she gasped, suddenly forgetting about the oven and jumping over Twilight as she yelled, "Maud! Limestone! Marble!" and hugged a grey mare with a purple mane and a stoic expression, even as Pinkie hugged her tightly as two other ponies stood by, one looking a bit angry, and the other looked with a shy smile. Discord, Posey, and Twilight all looked at each other, before walking away from them.

As they walked through the festival, Twilight saw a flower stand and smirked.

"Perfect." She whispered to herself.

But before she could hatch her plan, a voice called out, "Twilight!" She turned and she beamed. There was Cadence standing next to a large white stallion with blue hair and eyes. She rushed forward and hugged her brother and sister-in-law.

"Cadence! Shining Armor! What are you doing here?!"

"We could ask the same, Twilight." Shining responded.

"You never attend the festival and besides which, I thought you were tracking down the ponies who stole the crown." Cadence said with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight started sweating and she began laughing nervously. "Yeah, well, the trail ran cold and I just thought I could use a break. I work far too hard and I thought 'ya know, I've never been to the Pegasus Kingdom festival', so here I am." Twilight forced a wide smile hoping they'd buy her lie. Fortunately, they seemed to.

"I've told you, you needed to take breaks for how many years now and the one time you're doing something important, that's when you decide to? Your priorities are a bit messed up, Twi." said another voice walking up to them. It came from a small purple dragon with small wings, a green underbelly and spines, as well as green eyes.

"Spike!" Twilight screamed as she hugged him.

Posey and Discord walked up, having noticed Twilight's absence. Twilight noticed them and let go of Spike.

"Shiny, Cadence, Spike, this are my friend Posey and my kinda sorta acquaintance, Discord. Posey, Discord, this is my brother, Shining Armor, my sister-in-law Princess Cadence, and my adopted brother Spike. But I think of him as my actual brother."

Posey did a curtsy towards Cadence. "It's wonderful to meet you."

Cadence smiled. "Likewise. Discord, I'm surprised to see you here, not causing trouble for my sister-in-law. Or just in general." Discord summoned a halo that appeared over his head.

"I assure you, your majesty, I'm on my best behavior while I attend the festival today." Twilight rolled her eyes while Posey giggled.

"Well, since we're all here, why don't we all enjoy the festival together?" Shining Armor said. Everyone nodded as they soon headed out. Twilight pulled Cadence to the side.

"I need your help with something involving romance." Cadence raised her eyebrow. "Posey and Discord clearly feel something for each other and it might be the best way to keep Discord in line. Can we, you know, nudge them closer?"

Cadence smirked in response. "They don't call me the Princess of Love for nothing."

As the day went on, the seven of them had loads of fun. Plenty of food was eaten, jokes were said and laughed at, and many activities were done. Cadence managed to convince Discord to buy a bluebell flower for Posey, which she put in her mane with a blush, and Twilight convinced Posey to kiss him on the cheek as a thank you, causing her blush to grow deeper and his cheeks to turn red and not just cause of her lipstick leaving a mark. Late in the afternoon, the town started a dance where all the couples would dance around. Twilight pushed Posey towards Discord and likewise, Cadence pushed him towards Posey. Once they met, they both blushed heavily. Cadence and Twilight high five each other with their wings as Posey asked Discord to dance. He accepted and the two of them slow danced among the other couples. Cadence was asked by her husband for a dance and the two of them went as well. Twilight, meanwhile, simply enjoyed watching Discord and Posey dance and stare lovely into each other's eyes. The only thing missing was a kiss on the lips, but all in all, mission accomplished, she thought.

As the sun started setting and everyone was heading to the boats where they would watch the lanterns, Posey could hardly wait. However, a mural on a wall caught her attention. She walked to it. It was of an older green pegasus stallion with a light pink mane and mustache and blue eyes. He wore a golden crown with numerous blue gems shaped like clouds in it. The other was a dark yellow pegasus mare of roughly the same age with magenta eyes and a raspberry mane. She wore a silver crown with magenta gems shaped like flowers. In both of their wings, there was a tiny filly.

This must be that lost princess everyone's talked about. She felt very sad for them that they lost their daughter. One thing she did notice was how much the filly looked like her. Buttery yellow coat, teal eyes, pink mane that nearly cover her eye even as a filly. She started hearing whisperings from the locals.

"Is that her?"

"It can't be."

"Well, she looks like the princess."

"There is absolutely no way it's her."

"Mommy, it's the Princess of Kindness."

"Now, let's not get out hopes up, son. It's likely not her."

Posey started feeling very uncomfortable about all these ponies talking about her like she's royalty. She isn't! She's just a normal mare. She already had a mother; these weren't her parents. Besides, she heard they had a son after the princess was kidnapped. She was an only child.

I'm not the princess. Mother didn't kidnap me. I'm not her! She looked back at the mural, specifically the happy little filly that looked just like her. Right? Oh goodness, please tell me it isn't true.

As she continued to doubt her entire life, Discord and Twilight noticed she was gone.

"We'll be right back, Shiny and Cadence." Twilight said. "She probably just got lost in the crowd." They nodded as Twilight and Discord flew above the crowd. As they flapped their respective wings, they soon found her staring at a wall. Discord teleported them to her.

"Posey, my dear. Whatever are you doing staring at a wall when your precious lanterns is about to start?" Posey shook her head to clear her mind of her conflicting thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. I just got lost in thought." Discord nodded before looking at the mural himself to try and see what caused her to blackout.

"It's alright." Twilight said. "Let's get going." Posey smiled, happy for the distraction from her existential crisis and went towards the docks.

Twilight was about to follow her when Discord grabbed her, looking like he had a startling revelation.

"Twilight, look at the mural." She rolled her eyes, but did as he said. "Does that filly look familiar to you?" Twilight narrowed her eyes to the filly specifically. She shook her head.

"No." She said. Discord facepalmed while muttering about her supposedly being the smart princess before turning her head. Her eyes widened as she watched Posey walk over to Cadence and Shining Armor, who waited for them. Buttery yellow coat, teal eyes, pink mane, pegasus.

"You don't think..." she started to ask. Discord stood there in a deerstalker hat and a pipe he summoned.

"Elementary, my dear Sparkle." He blew chocolate bubbles out of his pipe. "What other explanation could there be?" He then made the pipe and hat vanish, leaving him in his original outfit.

"So she's..." Twilight said before they both spoke at the same time "...the lost Princess Fluttershy!" They looked at her as the pieces started fitting together. They found her. The only question is, now what?

---

Author's Note:

Next chapter will be Discord and Fluttershy/Posey enjoying the lanterns during the famous romance scene from the film. For now, enjoy Posey's interactions with the kingdom, them falling further in love with each other with Twi and Cadence playing Cupid, referencing the bluebell Fluttershy wears in the finale, cameos from a bunch of characters, and Twilight and Discord figuring out Posey's true identity, Fluttershy, while Posey begins to doubt her entire life!

I'd really like fanart of their outfits in this chapter. I'd draw them, but I'm not great at it, so yeah. Fanart of my fic in general would be sweet.

Also, very minor Appleshy here. Applejack x Fluttershy is right up there with Fluttershy x Discord as the only ships in any media I go full fanboy on, but since this is a Fluttercord story, I kept it tame. But I couldn't resist adding a little tease to it regardless. I have no shame in doing it, either.

Appleshy is best MLP LGBT ship and no one can change my mind!

Comments

[Star Hope]

They're soo cute!
It also seems like the cat's out of the bag, or rather the butterfly

[ChubbyNia]

I'd love to see a picture of them in the outfits, Rarity dressed the in also good for trying to squeeze the rest of the Mane 6 in the only missing is Rainbow Dash, can't wait to see Fluttercord bloom🌺

[ChubbyNia]

11157093
Yeah I just wish the show could've had him open up a little more to the rest of Fluttershy's friends

[Animalman57]

11157556
The butterfly is indeed out of its cocoon, but what will our heros do with this knowledge?

[Animalman57]

11157705
Rarity was a good way of putting them in outfits and the colors of Discord and Fluttershy's outfits are meant to least hint towards Eugene and Rapunzel.

I just couldn't find a way to fit Rainbow in here organically, Pinkie was hard enough, so I ultimately left her out. Sorry, Dashie.

Don't worry, the Fluttercord romance will be blooming very soon.

[Animalman57]

11157706
Agreed. The show seemed more concerned with his relationships with Fluttershy (not that I mind that), his frenemy status with Twilight, and later on, his three amigo gang with Spike and Big Mac. He got some other minor interactions here and there, like his grudge matches with Trixie, his jealously of Treehugger, and trying to make Starlight's school day a living hell, but he didn't really interact with the mane cast too much outside of maybe being confused and uncomfortable around Pinkie Pie, but even that only pops up sporadically. That's one reason I like his inclusion in The Best Gift Ever, cause he teams up with Rainbow, Flutter's fillyhood friend and the one who arguably dislikes Discord the most, and the two kinda become closer as a result. I'd love more of that to happen, like him bonding with AJ, since he is good friends with her brother. That way, maybe I wouldn't be so jarred at them treating him the way they did in the season 9 premiere. I mean, I do imagine they wouldn't wanna see him hurt not matter how much they disliked him, but I just felt kinda surprised at how they went to him almost immediately to help with Sombra as if they had no other options like almost immediately after they found out about him. I'd buy that a little more (and their concern for his injury would probably have hit even harder) if he did bond with them more.

[ChubbyNia]

11157772
I hated that episode with Starlight and how they did him dirty in the finale and I guess they could've done What About Discord more better than leaving Twilight out of bonding

[Animalman57]

11157773
Me too. Not the best portrayals for our draconequss boy.

[ChubbyNia]

11157774
I know and the moral was all wrong, he and Starlight got along so well in Celestial Advice, it's like after Discordant Harmony and Break up Breakdown, it's like the new writers had no idea how to write him anymore except " let's throw away all of Discord's character development and make him a bigger petty jerk or make him part of a world apocalypic problem!" mean what was That Nicole Duboc thinking when she wrote that episode
I do love his guy pal interactions with Spike and Big Mac
I wish he and Twilight could've understood each other better
I also wish he got to be friends with the CMCS like in the comics

[AstralFlare42]

Please include the song that is sung when the lanterns fly. It could help push the romance when Discord hears Fluttershy/Posey sing.

[Kikio3000]

She wore a sliver crown - silver crown.

So cute and romantic! So many friends and fun moments like meeting most of Twilight's immediate family!

[Animalman57]

11160513
Fixed.

[Waspinator331]

I just realize something, you forgot Rainbow Dash.

[Animalman57]

11246423
I just couldn't find a way to fit Rainbow in here organically, Pinkie was hard enough, so I ultimately left her out.