Okay, so I know that I said that this would be the last chapter, and that I would have it up sooner, but it ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be, so I split it into three different chapters, but just posted them at the same time. I'm sorry if that causes any inconvenience.
It took longer for Rainbow Dash to get to Discord's place than it should have. Thanks to Discord's habit of making his house fly, she knew where he lived, so that wasn't why it took so long. No, she took forever to actually get there because the closer she got, the more sure she got that this was a crazy idea, and she would turn around to head home.
Why was she the one that had to make sure that they stayed friends? She didn't even like the fact that they were friends in the first place! She shouldn't be the one doing this. If Discord really wanted to be friends with Fluttershy, he wouldn't be so quick to doubt her. This was his fault...but, then again, he was only doubting Fluttershy because of Rainbow Dash.
"Ugh, fine!" Rainbow Dash shouted before turning around once again so she was heading for Discord's. This happened at least a half a dozen times, so by the time she actually got to Discord's house, she was beginning to get a headache. She took a deep breath to collect herself, and pushed open the door to let herself in.
Yes, it would have been more polite to knock, but she wasn't really in a polite mood right now. She was in a talk-some-sense-into-Discord's-stupid-head mood...yes, that was a real mood. Besides, if Fluttershy was right, then Discord wasn't in the mood for any visitors right now, so if she knocked, he might ignore it. And if Rainbow Dash didn't talk to Discord now while she still had the nerve, she really would turn around and go home. And she had come too far now to give up now.
"Hey, Discord, get your butt out here." Rainbow Dash yelled out to the darkness...seriously, why was it so dark in here? "I gotta talk to you." There was no use beating around the bush about what she had come for.
"Well well, Rainbow Dash, nice to see you being subtle for once." Discord said sarcastically from directly behind Rainbow Dash. She barely flinched, as she was by now used to Discord popping up in the most unexpected places.
"Care to explain what you're doing here?" Discord asked with a cross of his arms. As much as he didn't feel like company now, or ever, he was very curious to know what Rainbow Dash was doing there when she made it very clear she didn't like him. It was rather...unexpected, which was something that Discord could never resist. And what harm could come from hearing what the pegasus had to say?
"I just came to talk, about Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said.
"In that case, I'm not interested." Discord said with a glare. Now Rainbow Dash was getting irritated.
"Well, too bad, because you're going to listen anyways." Rainbow Dash said stubbornly. "Look, Fluttershy would never pretend to be friends with anypony. If she acts like she's your friend, than she is. Even you have to know that."
"You mean like how you so clearly know it?" Discord asked casually. Rainbow Dash winced, Discord kinda had a point there.
"I didn't mean what I said. And it's not true at all." Rainbow Dash said quietly. Discord looked at her with intrigued eyes and she forced herself to continue. "I'm going to be completely honest here, alright? I don't like you."
Discord raised his eyebrows at the pegasus. Ah, there was the lovely subtlety again. Discord couldn't bother being offended by Rainbow Dash's words, because he didn't think too highly of her either.
"But, the thing is that Fluttershy does like you." Rainbow Dash continued, "I guess I had trouble accepting that, and I didn't understand why she would want to be friends with you. So, I came up with my own conclusion, that she was just pretending, which I now know was so off. And I-I'm sorry." That was a lot harder to say than she thought it would be.
Discord looked uneasily at Rainbow Dash. Oh, how he wanted to believe that her words were true. That Fluttershy did actually think they were friends. But, as much as he wanted to believe it, he didn't want to trust her, just to get hurt even worse later. There was no way he was going to let that happen again.
"Fluttershy likes me?" Discord asked worriedly.
"Yes, she does, and her friendship with you matters to her." Rainbow Dash said.
"It matters to me too." Discord said quietly. What was he doing? Why was he sharing his feelings with Rainbow Dash, of all ponies?
"If her friendship means so much to you, why were you so quick to doubt it?" Rainbow Dash was curious to know.
"I made the mistake when I was young to trust somebody who I thought was my friend. She really was just pretending." Discord said, his tone and expression dark with resentment. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. Well, that explained that question.
"This has happened to you before?" She asked the Draconequus. Discord simply nodded, not in the mood for saying more on the subject. But Rainbow Dash wasn't satisfied with just that, she wanted details.
"What happened?" Rainbow Dash asked eagerly. "Come on, tell me."
"Oh no, I don't think so." Discord said. "We don't even like each other." And he'd had enough showing ponies his emotions, that he tried so hard to cover up, for one day.
Rainbow Dash thought for a minute. She really wanted to hear the story, and maybe knowing more about Discord would help her to accept him being friends with Fluttershy. But he had a point. Why should he share a personal story with someone he didn't even like, and who didn't like him. Finally, she came to a solution.
"Will you tell me if first I tell you of when I felt most vulnerable as a filly?" Rainbow Dash asked. Discord thought for a moment. It seemed it seemed like a fair deal. A story for a story. And, if she wanted to learn about his deepest fears, then she should at least be willing to share hers, and she was. Discord reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. Who knows, maybe it would do some good. Fluttershy always said it was better to share your fears and secrets, rather than holding them in and letting them fester.
"Well, it happened when I was in Summer Flight Camp." Rainbow Dash said when Discord agreed to her deal. "Even back then, I loved flying more than anything else. I especially loved to fly fast. The only thing is, I was just a little kid, and didn't have complete control over my own wings yet. I could get in the air, and I could move fast, but there was one thing I couldn't figure out how to do. Control."
"If I took my time, I could control myself no problem. But I hated taking my time. I wanted to go fast, which led to me crashing into things more often than not. Many of the kids began calling me Rainbow Crash because of it, and it bothered me for the longest time. It took me a long time until I was agile while flying, both quick, and graceful."
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Back then, I felt so unsure of myself. What if I never learned how to control myself, and I just wasn't meant to fly? Sometimes, even now, I still feel a little insecure about my abilities." When Rainbow Dash finished, she found Discord watching her intently. She shifted her hoofs a little. "Yeah, I didn't go into much detail, but you get the gist of it." she muttered. She felt so embarrassed. She hadn't shared that with anypony, and then she just went straight out and told Discord. But she couldn't let it bother her now.
"Alright, I told my story." Rainbow Dash said. "Now it's your turn." Discord's face fell, but he couldn't turn back now. He'd made a deal with her, and she had kept her end, so he had to keep his. Discord sighed and began his story. As he spoke, he couldn't help but relive the memories of what happened.
We get to see Discord's story in the next chapter, so we have that to look forward to. Once again, I apologize about the multiple last chapters.