Forever Is Far Too Long
Spike arrived at the cottage at the edge of Ponyville, which despite having stood for nearly two centuries, looked almost as pristine as when it was built. It had been very well taken care of by its sole inhabitant, even if all of the various woodland creatures had abandoned it long ago.
The adolescent dragon knocked on the door, and when it opened slowly at his touch, he let himself in. Inside, he found Discord waiting on one of the couches for him. This much was expected, considering the letter that had summoned him here. The once animated spirit of chaos seemed just as dour as when Spike had seen him last.
"Discord… it's been a while. A few years since we last saw each other, right? I got your letter, so I came as quickly as I could."
At first, Discord said nothing, taking a deep breath that seemed to hang for a minute. Eventually though, he looked up at Spike with a somber expression, and sad eyes. "Thank you for coming, Spike... I didn't know who else to ask. You're perhaps my last surviving friend in this world, so I'm glad you could spare the time."
Although he considered it, Spike didn't mention Twilight. He knew she never really got along with Discord, not the way he did. "So what do you need? You made it seem pretty important in your letter."
Nodding knowingly, Discord gave a small, weak smile. "Of course, no time for pleasantries, I'm sure you're terribly busy. Let's get right to business, no need to dally."
Lifting a clawed finger and dragging it through the air, Discord cut a tear in the fabric of space-time. Reaching into the exposed void, he took out a small but ornately carved wooden box, and zipped up the hole in reality again with his other hand.
Setting the box down on the coffee table in front of him, Discord carefully undid the latch, and lifted the lid to expose the contents of the box for the first time in millenia. Sitting on the table between them was a crystal dagger about a foot in length, which gently glowed in the darkness of the cottage.
"I need you to take this knife and kill me with it, Spike." Discord's voice was even and calm, devoid of all traces of humour or sarcasm. He seemed completely earnest, and that completely took Spike by surprise.
Looking down at the dagger, Spike almost immediately recognized the crystal composing its blade: it was carved from a shard of the Tree of Harmony, and the magic that it contained was powerful indeed. He could feel its warmth even from several feet away.
Spike pursed his lips and frowned, before looking up at his old friend. "Discord… where did you get this from?"
"It was given to me by the royal sisters once they deemed me reformed," replied the draconequus, "They had made it as a last resort, had the Elements failed to subdue me during my original reign. A weapon made of pure order, my antithesis… and apparently the only thing that could ever kill me."
Spike stared down at the glimmering blade, his face still sullen. "Why do you want me to kill you? Why now?"
Sighing, Discord reached down to a small framed photograph off of the coffee table, and turned it to face Spike. It was of Fluttershy and Discord on their wedding day, with her in his arms and the two of them laughing. Spike thought back to that day, and couldn't help but feel nostalgic at the memory. That day was over a hundred years ago now, the memory rendered hazy like a distant dream.
"She's been gone for so long, Spike," muttered Discord as he stared at the photo, "I just want to see her again. Is that too much to ask?"
"Discord…" Spike searched for the right words as it dawned on him that even now, Discord grieved for Fluttershy. Spike was no stranger to the feeling of watching loved ones grow old and pass away, but he also knew that what Discord felt for Fluttershy was beyond words.
"Please, Spike," pleaded Discord, his sunken eyes having long since run dry of tears, "You don't know eternity like I do. You may live for centuries, but not forever. You're still mortal… Don't force me to live forever without her."
Spike swallowed hard as he looked down at his friend. "Why me? Why can't you do it yourself?"
Discord lowered his gaze back to the blade and sighed again. "It was carved from a branch of the Tree of Harmony. I can't hold it. I wouldn't ask you to bear the burden if I could do it myself."
Spike hesitated, but reached for the dagger, lifting it out of its case. Hefting it experimentally, he found that it was deceivingly light, but simultaneously was the heaviest thing he had ever held. Looking up from the dagger, Spike's eyes met Discord's again.
"Won't killing you disrupt the natural order? Doesn't the world need a little chaos?"
Discord shook his head, as though the question amused him. "No, no. There are others to take my place. The world will eventually right itself again once I'm gone."
Spike remained silent for a moment, before speaking again.
"This isn't what she would have wanted," he said.
Discord nodded slowly, a guilty expression crossing his face. "I know."
"She would have wanted you to live on without her. To find a new reason to live."
"I know. And I know that when I see her, she'll scold me. But she'll forgive me. She always did."
Spike furrowed his brow, as he gripped the cold blade tightly. "What am I supposed to tell her, when I see you two again someday?"
Discord gave the dragon a reassuring smile. "Tell her you were doing me a small favour, like all good friends do."
Spike half-heartedly chuckled, before returning the smile. "Yeah... Just a small favour."
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- DualSoul1423 · 1000 words · 43 3 · 1.1k views
- EndlessPossibilities58 · 6k words · 50 0 · 1.1k views
- DualSoul1423 · 9.8k words · 31 12 · 376 views
- applejackofalltrades · 1.4k words · 30 0 · 271 views
- daOtterGuy · 3.4k words · 37 0 · 390 views
- Rock-Lee · 5.7k words · 57 6 · 1.8k views
- Mockingbirb · 2.6k words · 38 3 · 875 views
- Bad Dragon · 1000 words · 72 12 · 1.1k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.139 seconds
Total duration
966 users online
1,139,402 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Very impressive.
A concise and beautifully done bitter story. Wonderful work!
11600976 11601006
Thank you both. I'm not used to writing such short pieces, but I enjoyed the challenge of doing so. I'm glad you two enjoyed it as well.
Someone woke up and chose to be ultra angsty.
11601283
More like I decided to channel my clinical depression into something productive for once.
11601289
Oh…
Now I feel like a prick. Hope you get better.
noooo that almost made me cry that was so good
11601299
Well, I'm glad to hear that this short little thing moved you so deeply. Thank you for reading!
A rare but powerful example of "A story doesn't need to be long to be good."
I appreciate that Spike only marginally tries to talk him out of it. Simple questions, not judgments, made in an attempt to understand, and when he does, he's sure, and he acts(Or appears to being that is open ended) with his friend's interest in mind.
11602244
Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm always happy to hear when people enjoy my stories. It is, after all, why I write.
So he did it. hmm...not sure what to think/say. It's well written no argument there...but a mere 1000 words is hard to cover such a deep topic, not impossible, just very difficult.
11602281
I think it would be no easier with ten thousand words. At that point, I'd likely have padded it with unnecessary flourish and drama. Sometimes less is more, and I think all that needed to be said was said here. Sometimes life is just too hard, and sometimes you just need the help of a friend who understands that.
Still. Thank you for reading, I appreciate it.
11602301
fair, there is definitely a fine balance where emotional content is concerned. There was another story similar to yours that focused on PTSD, and the idea that unlike in the show, there are some things that can't be fixed up nice and tidy with a mere hug and song.
Perhaps a tiny epilogue that looks into Spike's mind after the fact, or perhaps Twilight orating his funeral, just some off the cuff ideas I just had like 3 seconds ago.
I like the idea of exploring the concept of discord's eternal life, and also interesting how he choose spike for that. but i felt a lack of emotional description from spike side, i feel like spike had similar feelings to discord at this moment, as both of them live very long, spike also lost a lot of friends. spike seems to ask mostly questions that doesn't relate to morals, but just questions that if had answers that were good enough, would make discord death more acceptable.
something like: "Discord, are you really sure about this? if so.. i'll do that",
and not something like "That's not the way! i won't do it."
I think spike choose the fist option because he also felt something like discord, but wanted to make sure discord was okay with this step with no way back.
(The story probably wasn't meant to be that way, but i am happy that i could make a simple theory of it) 👍
11605779
No, you're right. My intention was to have Spike empathize with Discord. By this point, Spike would have lost most of his friends and family to time, so he knows how painful it is to have to watch a loved one fade away like that, and what it's like to miss them. It wasn't about whether killing his friend was right or wrong, it was whether or not it was what Discord really wanted. This was difficult to write, having only a thousand words at my disposal, but I'm glad that you picked up on my intention here. Thank you for reading.
11601283
as everyone should!
Five of the Mane 6 are dead, obviously. I'd assume Twilight is still alive. But she and Discord were never friends, quite honestly. Even then, Twilight would never do what Discord's asking.
But that's just me.
Wonderful storytelling with limited space. Absolutely phenomenal!
11634438
Oh! Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
aww, glad Spike is able to pick up on subtext after all these centuries!
ooh, do love the idea of the Princesses having a contingency plan for Discord
and yeah, this was clearly coming, given sad Discord living alone in a Fluttershy-less cottage
aww! there is something neat about this being so fitting for the FlutterCord dynamic at its end
being so sure of being reunited with loved ones in an afterlife makes both of them accepting this much more understandable. actually more like the “a small favour” that is being used as a euphemism here
Ah, the cost of seeing those around you as more than toys. I can’t help but wonder if the diarchs planned this as a sort of ultimate revenge for Discord’s unreign of terror.
In any case, this is a better performance of the immortality blues than most I’ve seen, though it does still come off as a bit maudlin. Some of that is personal preference; I’ve never really enjoyed this kind of story. From an objective perspective, it’s well put-together, but there’s nothing to really make it pop (which, to be fair, is not easily achieved in just a thousand words.) To your credit, it is an entire plot arc that feels neither padded nor compressed. Thank you for it.