Yes! The last chapter. Now I can officially get to my other stories...not that this one was a burden, I quite enjoyed writing it, but other fanfiction have infested my mind, and now I can get to writing them
I don't own My Little Pony, I'm just a lowly fanfiction writer.
In the beginning of Discord's tale, he sounded very awkward, and Rainbow Dash could tell that he did not want to do this. She was impressed that he actually kept going. Not just that though, but the further he got with the story, the more he seemed to actually want to talk about. The more he needed to talk about it.
And, surprisingly, Rainbow Dash found herself actually listening to what Discord was saying, and caring about it...no, she still didn't care about him. She thought that Discord was as annoying as he ever was. But she understood him more now. Enough to at least tolerate him, and not just for Fluttershy's sake either. And, she felt kind of sorry for him too. Having his wings hurt like that? It sounded horrible, and long lasting, almost permanent...wait.
"Did your wings ever get better?" Rainbow Dash found herself asking. Out of all the things she wanted to say, that was the most pressing? But to her, wings were everything, and she couldn't imagine how it would feel to have them injured like that.
"See for yourself." Discord looked a little sad when he stretched his wings out. Rainbow Dash hesitated for only a moment before taking a closer look. They were both scarred, and she could tell exactly where the ray of magic had hit them. Now, Rainbow Dash was no expert, but even she could tell that Discord's wings weren't very useful for flying, not anymore. They had been too damaged.
"So, you can't fly?" Rainbow Dash felt so depressed just thinking it, and they weren't even her wings.
"That's what levitation is for." Discord shrugged, as if it weren't a big deal. Sure, he remembered loving to fly when he was younger, but it had been so long since he'd been able to use his wings properly, that it didn't seem like as huge of a deal as it had when he was a small draconequus.
"So, you've known...Princess Celestia, since you were kids?" Rainbow Dash asked a moment later. She was having a hard time digesting the information that Princess Celestia would ever do something like pretend to be friends with someone, or shoot somepony's wings with a ray of magic, even if that part was kind of an accident.
"Yes, we knew each other." Discord rolled his eyes. He knew that Rainbow Dash had been paying attention to the story, so why was she asking that?
"Sorry, just double checking." Rainbow Dash said. "It's hard to believe that Celestia…"
"Isn't the perfect leader you ponies all think she is?" Discord interrupted.
"Alright, I admit, she could have done better back then." Rainbow Dash said. "She made a mistake, I get it. But seriously, it was forever ago. Does it still seriously bother you? Celestia wouldn't do something like that now. She was just a kid back then." Even as she said the words, Rainbow Dash knew that they sounded wrong.
"You're still bothered about being picked on when you were at flight camp." Discord pointed out. Okay, Rainbow Dash had to give him that.
"And those ponies that picked on you were also just kids." Discord continued. "Yet, if you saw them today, what would your first reaction be?"
"I'd be cautious." Rainbow Dash said honestly.
"And why would that be?" DIscord asked.
"Because they gave me a tough time when we were kids, and I haven't seen them much since then. How do I know that they're any different now than they were before?" Rainbow Dash said. She sighed. Discord had a point there too. She was really starting to hate him being right about things.
"Exactly." Discord said, satisfied that Rainbow Dash actually got it.
"Hey, if you don't trust or like Princess Celestia, why are you willing to actually, you know, help her out?" Rainbow Dash asked. DIscord scowled.
"It's not for her, it's for Fluttershy." Discord grumbled, causing Rainbow Dash to smirk. Discord really was such a softy when it came to Fluttershy.
"Speaking of Fluttershy, I really think you should talk to her." Rainbow Dash said. Discord looked alarmed at the mere suggestion.
"I-I don't know." Rainbow Dash had never seen DIscord look or sound so unsure of himself. He was usually so energetic and flamboyant, kind of like Pinkie Pie, but more obnoxious. Seeing him like this was rather, disturbing.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Look, I know you still have your doubts about friendship, and I get it, really, I do. The truth is, yes, letting yourself get close to somepony means also letting them get close enough to hurt you. You've just got to decide, is the possibility of getting hurt going to keep you from being friends with somepony as great as Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash could tell that Discord's defenses were falling, which was a good sign.
"Just talk to her." Rainbow Dash said. This day was really weird. She had never imagined herself giving friendship advice to Discord before. And she was sure he never imagined sharing his past with her.
"Yes, I suppose I could." DIscord said thoughtfully. Rainbow Dash smiled. That had actually worked! Discord was going to go see Fluttershy. After that, their friendship would certainly go back to the way it was before.
"Of course, things won't change between us, will it?" Rainbow Dash asked. She hoped that Discord didn't expect her to be suddenly all chummy with him.
"Oh, certainly not." Discord agreed. He thought for a moment before adding, "Well, maybe it will a bit." He had a fun little habit of messing around with Fluttershy's other friends. Mainly Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, because of how unaccepting they were of him. Rainbow Dash though, now did accept him. Like him, certainly not. But accept him. So he could bare to be a little more accepting towards her.
But just a bit.
"So, we're not friends." Rainbow Dash clarified.
"Well, we're both friends with Fluttershy." DIscord said. "With each other? No."
"I think that us both being friends with Fluttershy is fine, don't you?" Rainbow Dash asked. They would ease up on each other a bit, because of their mutual friend. Discord nodded.
"Sweet." Rainbow Dash held out her hoof and looked expectantly at Discord. It took him a minute to figure out what she was doing. Once he did though, he closed his lion paw and hoof/paw bumped with Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, and just so we're clear." Discord looked sternly at Rainbow Dash. "Not a word of occurred here is to be spoken to anypony."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Rainbow Dash said. She hadn't been planning on telling anypony anyways. Discord nodded his thanks and, without another word, disappeared. He really liked to teleport wherever he went, didn't he? Rainbow Dash felt proud at having done a job well done, and decided it was time to head home now. She walked out the door, and was very glad she had wings, and fast instincts, because Discord's house was now in midair.
Not only was the house floating once again, but it's colors were brighter and, well, more colorful than they had been before. The house still wasn't as bold as it usually was, but it was certainly an improvement. Guess that meant that Discord was in a better mood than he had been in before.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, only Discord would have a house that changed based on his mood, and began flying back toward ponyville. Her first stop was to the library. Upon entering she found Twilight reading a book, a real shocker there. Twilight looked up from her reading when she heard her.
"Rainbow Dash, you're back." Twilight observed.
"Yep." Rainbow Dash looked around quickly. "Fluttershy's not here, is she?"
"No, she left with Discord." Twilight said with a smile. "I don't know how you did it, but whatever you did, it worked."
"Yeah, I guess it did." Rainbow Dash agreed. She thought for a moment before coming to a decision. "Do you have any paper and a quill I can borrow?"
"Of course." Twilight used her unicorn magic to fetch the requested items. "What do you need them for? Are you going to write a note to Princess Celestia?"
"Uh, not exactly." Rainbow Dash said, accepting the paper and quill. She had promised Discord she wouldn't tell anybody about what happened, and that included Celestia. Besides, it would be very awkward to send this particular note to Celestia. But she had still learned an important lesson on friendship, and she planned on writing it down, even if she was the only one who would read it. Rainbow Dash took the quill in her mouth and began writing.
And there it is, the end. I hope you enjoyed it. I was thinking of actually typing out what Rainbow Dash would write down, except then I'll just be repeating myself, as I've already said what she was going to write down. So, yeah. Thank you for reading.