Equestrian Heroes

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Naruto x Rarity x Twilight x Fluttershy x Applejack x Pinkie Pie x Rainbow Dash x Ditzy x Luna x ? x ?

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For Normal Speech

Inner thoughts, Text read, Italics used to represent characters speaking in different language.

Demonic rage, Demonic characters, Kurama Speak

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Story Start

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Today was going to be a double whammy of Twilight and Naruto. At the very least that meant these lessons were going to come to a close sooner this week then expected. "I'll see you this evening Discord." Fluttershy baded him bye from the streets.

"Yes, yes, ciao." He said as he tried to prep himself up for whatever he was going to deal with. He entered where Naruto and Twilight were sitting, waiting for him.

"Discord." They intoned, acknowleding his presence.

"So what delightful little harmonic lesson am I going to learn today?" The Draconquus mockingly asked with overdramatic blinking and clasped hands.

Twilight sent an uncertain glance to Naruto who turned, smiled at her and gently clasped her hand. The confidence and gesture renewed her confidence causing the unicorn to smile before turning back to Discord.

"This will be the most important lessons of all. We can spend all year trying to teach you what it means to be honest. Showing you why loyalty to your friends matters. Invoking what it feels to enjoy Laughter in a positive way or show you the gift of Generosity, but at the end of the day, what will experiencing the wonders of friendshp mean if you lack the empathy to connect with others?"

With that Naruto picked up where she left off, "In other words, we need to know, do you have the capacity to feel? To love? To cherish? To get over pain. Call it what you will. Being a human. Being a pony. Being a mortal, it doesn't matter the species but do you have the ability...to feel. To actually feel?" He emphasized again.

What did they want of him? Come now, he wasn't a sociopath. He knew of his emotions. He was not unfeeling. He got joy out of chaos. He knew or rage and disappointment. He knew how to feel. He could feel it. He could feel their doubt and it angered him. Every last one of them doubted him, not that they hadn't had good reason, but it was as he expected. At the end of the day even these fabled bearers were flawed mortals being charitable for the sake of their own ego just counting off the minutes until they could get rid of him again.

"Its time for you to come with us." Naruto insisted as hey stood up. Using the Hirashin network he set up they were transported to a nearby town with an animal settle. While Twilight cooed over the small animals, kneeling to reach a cage too low for her and sticking her fingers to let the friendly little critters lick her fingers, Discord stands silently behind, arms folded. He creates a dark and imposing figure in the brightly lit kennel.

Naruto watched and judged his expressions and saw unwavering neutrality. "Does this invoke nothing from you?"

In a voice both dark and detatched Discord gave his answer."I couldn't care less about the little critters. Animals at best are nothing more then pests."

Twilight's head lowered, her bangs covering her face. Masking the look of disappointment and contempt. Naruto walked over and brushed her fingers trough her hair, calmly brushing the tips against her scalp before his hand traced to her back in a calming gesture.

Next they lead him to another town's cemetwey. A grieving family clad in black stands around while a coffin is lowered into the grave and a minister makes pronouncements they can't hear.

"How do you feel about this?" Once more Naruto prompted the draconquus in hopes to appealing to something within the amalagam.

"I feel nothing at all," Discord says flatly, immediately.

They watched for another minute before Twilight asks, "Do you at all sympathize with the family for their loss?"

Discord falls silent. "I...suppose it is...poor fortune...for the family. But whether the being in the cast is alive or dead makes no difference to me or my life." His eyes darken. "I don't care that he's dead. His death doesn't affect me in the least." He had long forgotten the role he was supposed to be playing a role of the good little colt being reformed. Since the doubt was there from the beginning he figured their was no sense in trying to be something he was not.

They reached another part of the town with thick forests around a private property. The area was decorated with white decorative material and the furniture and area had a rich atmosphere considering the state of dress of the inhabitants. Between the tuxes and dresses, the spread and deocrations it was obvious the setup was that of an outside wedding.

The carpet is littered with red petals, which occasionally catch upon the heel or dress of a young mare in white, who glides on the arm of her father. Both faces are radiant with joy.

It ends in a gazebo with a number of finely attired stallions and mares standing, beaming, in wait for her. The face of one stallion in particular shines the brightest and he steps forward as the mare reaches him, taking her hand in his.

"The mare's name is Sprinkle Medley and her husband's name is Star Hunter." Naruto introduced them.

"Okay? And why should I care about them?"

"Because Sprinkle Medley has a rare magical based illness," Twilight answered quietly. "She only has a few years left to live."

"Then why-"

"Because they love each other," Naruto answered. "And they'd rather have those few short years together leaving each other than no time at all."

"What other nonsense." Discord snips. "When it comes down to it they're going to spend most of their marriage dealing with medical treatments and hospital visits and then she's gone. I hardly call that a happy marriage having to deal with an illness and paying the bills."

Naruto and Twilight clasped hands, "Sometimes, love just beats out logic."

"Not to me," He responded darkly, "Its foolish that he's setting himself up for misery."

Naruto presses his lips together and shakes his head. He turned to Twilight who was becoming steadily dejected.

With that they went to the next place.

A hospital, the most sterile section where they coulld gaze, gazing through the plexi-glass at the dozens of newborns squirming in their individual boxes.

Discord's face is impassive. He is watching them, yes, but his eyes have no warmth or affection in them. He is counting them, trying to deduce what their parents look like, wondering what would be the most subtle ways to make them hellions of chaos.

"What do you think?" Twilight asks quietly.

Discords stays silent for a full minute before answering, "What? A bunch of brats who for a century two are going to be outcasts and criminals or boring beurcrats, artists, and cashiers. Nothing new or nothing special."

'How can...how can...anypony be so...'

Naruto rubbed Twilight's back. 'We did our best Twilight. We knew going in it was a possibility. We're going to just have to prepare for the possibility that...we might not just suceed. Do you...do you want to...'

'No...I...I think I need a few days.' Discord's utter apathy to other's strucked a little too uncomfortably close to home for Twilight. Being reminded of the days she cared little for others outside her own little bubble was too taxing for Unicorn so the lesson for the day was cut short.

Speaking of apathethic the spirit of Chaos was using yesterday's failure to his advantage. After spinning some yarn of being so disappointed at failing the test he went on about how he wished things were simpler and without worry like his early days and it made him a bit homesick. All the while he had an unseen second version of himself causing little bits of chaos here and there, converting animals into his chaotic little minions for the plan he was forming.

Fluttershy of course being the gem she was told him to do whatever it took to make himself more at home.

"Are you absolutely sure this isn't overdoing it?" He asked the pegasus. "You specifically said to make myself at home, but I wouldn't want to overstep my bounds."

Fluttershy had to force herself to give a nervous smile. "I did say that," She acknowledged. "So I guess... if this makes you more comfortable... by all means, please feel free to do so. Just, maybe not do this if guests come over."

Discord smiled, he couldn't believe how much Fluttershy was letting him get away with, but he wasn't going to complain. Fluttershy's passiveness meant she was the only one who would go along with this. "Oh I just knew I can count on you Fluttershy. Unlike your friends you seem to actually care."

Angel let out a scream, as he was unable to fight the gravity and found himself tumbling. But Fluttershy was more concerned with what Discord had just said. With a gasp she protested. "I am sure they are trying their best Discord. You simply cannot dismiss what you did with a simple apology. There are those who find it harder to forgive others otherwise we would not be experiencing this whole process."

Fluttershy had hoped that the other's lessons would have a bigger impact, but it was looking like this process was going to take longer then they thought.

But then Fluttershy's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice calling out. "Fluttershy! Fluttershy, can you hear me?"

Her mental connection to Twilight flickered to life. She flew down from the cottage to greet her friend. "Hi, Twilight, hello Spike!" She greeted, seeing that he came along as well.

"Fluttershy, what's going on? Are you okay?!" Twilight asked, hoping for some kind of progress report.

"We're fine," Fluttershy replied. "Everything's going great. Isn't it, Angel?"

Angel didn't really say anything, he was too dizzy and disoriented to think properly.

Twilight cleared her throat and spoke up. "Listen, I think it's time we face facts. We've all been discussing about this reformation and we simply believe its not working. We think Discord might have just been humoring us just to get us to let our guards down. We know he's a master at manipulation and...well you get what I'm saying."

Fluttershy wasn't about to give up on Discord. "Oh, but you're wrong! We're making great progress!" She insisted. "I think we're already on the verge of making him good."

Spike looked up at the spinning cottage, it seemed like Fluttershy's words didn't match reality. "Seriously?!"

Fluttershy nodded, and explained. "I know it looks bad from an outsider's perspective, but I'm earning his trust by giving him a little space to be himself. If that means spinning my cottage around for a while, then I'm willing to put up with it."

"Do you want to know what Spike discovered last night? All the reforming spell pages from my books were torn out."

"Hm, that does explain the paper eating earlier..." Fluttershy realized. "But, don't you think reformation spells are a bit unethical? One shouldn't forciable tamper with somepony's mind against their will Twilight."

Twilight could hardly believe her ears! "What?! He ate them?! Ugggghhhh!" She groaned and rubbed her head in frustration completely ignoring the second bit. She took a moment to compose herself.

"Fluttershy, let me give you a bit of knowledge. You see, when I was training the elder dragons did more then teach me incredible magic and shapeshifting. They helped me developed and sharpen my mind with knowledge and philosphy. A cunning liar is far more dangerous then a powerful brute will ever be. For a brute you'll see the attack coming a mile away, but a liar with enough of your trust can turn you and those closest to you against each other. They'll take advantage of their knowledge and hit every weak point they can. Discord has been around for as long if not longer then the princesses right? He has centuries worth of knowledge and experience, something most of us will never be able to comprehend. He can see the past, present, and future. Tartarus he admitted he saw all you seven ever were that day." There was no way Spike wouldn't look into such a dangerous entity that would be in the same town where his loved ones were. "He knows you in every detail Fluttershy. He's seen your memories so he knows just what to say to push your buttons. If after all these millennia if he hasn't changed before then I don't think he'll change now. Quite frankly, I don't know why Princess Celestia ever thought reforming him was a good idea! He seems to be incapable of changing."

"We can't think like that, we simply just can't give us because this is a bit more difficult then we thought it was going to be," Fluttershy protested. Her expression became down trodden as she was fighting a war inside herself. "I can't just give up. If I am going to be his friend, I have to start by giving him the benefit of the doubt!" Then an idea came to her. "Tell you what," She suggested. "How about you bring everypony over to my place tonight for a dinner party? I'm sure Discord's manners will have improved by then. Watch, I'll even get him to put the cottage back on the ground first." Fluttershy flew back up the cottage, and sure enough Discord did just that.

Twilight and Spike exchanged nervous glances, before Twilight reluctantly sighed. " Alright. Dinner it is."

"Do you think this a good idea?" Spike asked, as he and Twilight walked back to the library.

"I'm weary Spike, let's just hope Fluttershy knows what she's doing," Twilight replied. "Because otherwise, come tonight, things could get ugly."

The dinner party dawned sooner than anypony would've liked. Even knowing that they had promised to give the party a chance, Spike and the herd were not really looking forward to it.

"Ugh, I rather be fighting the ravenous beasts of Tartaus then be here!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "I just don't get why Fluttershy is so determined."

Rarity found herself agreeing with Rainbow Dash's statement. "As much as I hate to admit it, I do not see this evening ending well," She complained. "At the very least this outfit I chose will be easy to clean should anything happen." Rarity had put on a plain velvet colored dress.

"I think we should keep our hopes up. Maybe things might actually go well?" Pinkie suggested, trying to be optimistic.

"Ah want to hope so Pinks, but somethin' tells me that ain't gonna be the case." Applejack said with a frown.

"Either way, I highly doubt Discord would be foolish enough to try something outlandish with all seven of us there was ever a time for him to be restrained its now." Naruto pointed out.

Twilight paused just before the group arrived at the doorstep of Fluttershy's cottage, turned to face them, and told them. "Well, Fluttershy thinks this is the way to reform Discord and asked us to give it a chance. We've gone as far as we can with the other lessons. Lets put our fate in Fluttershy."

But before Twilight or anyone else could knock on the door, the door swung open and Discord appeared dressed in a black butler outfit complete with a tie. He had also given himself a mustache. "Oh, our pony guests have arrived, and right on schedule too!" He greeted, before adopting a polished upper class tone as he added. "We're so delighted that you've come," As he spoke, a red carpet appeared out of his mouth and rolled towards the bearers and Spike before stopping and unfolding. "Please, do come in and make yourselves comfortable. Dinner will be served shortly."

"See what a beautiful job he did helping to decorate?" Fluttershy called from inside. "Discord even set the entire table himself and helped with the cooking. I'm so proud of him."

Discord smiled, as he offered. "Now then, may I take your..." He cleared his throat before he added. "Hats, ladies, gentleman?" He guested to the Elements of Harmony necklaces or in Twilight's case tiara.

"No thank you, we're keeping them on until further notice," Twilight replied to Discord. 'Keep your guard up.'

At first dinner proceeded uneventfully for all involved. Fluttershy sat next to Discord, while everyone else sat across from them. They mostly occupied themselves with food and drink, and said nothing to Discord.

The tension was rather awkward. Fluttershy turned to Pinkie who she noticed was filling her plate with Mash Potatoes.

"Pinkie Pie, care for some gravy?" Fluttershy asked her friend.

"You bet! I just love your gravy Shy!" Pinkie exclaimed with a wide grin.

Discord looked across to Fluttershy and then said. "Allow me." With a snap of his fingers, the gravy boat came to life and started barking and panting like a dog. It went over to Pinkie and poured some gravy on top of her mashed potatoes.

Pinkie was both amazed by the gravy boat coming to life, and thrilled to see it acting like a dog. "I know I should be worried, but this is still so cool!" She whispered in a loud, exhilarated tone.

"Creepy is more like it!" Rainbow Dash protested.

"Oh come on now, Dashie," Fluttershy angrily replied. "You're not even giving this a chance."

"Yep, because we know dog like gravy boats is totally something you go, 'well would you look at that' about." She sarcastically remarked.

Suddenly, the gravy boat came over to Rainbow Dash and poured some gravy onto her arm, staining her top and burning her shoulder sending her jolting into the air. "Hey! That's hot!"

Naruto tensed and clutched his fist but he kept himself calm.

"Whoops!" Discord apologized, though he couldn't help chuckling. "I'm so sorry, really! I don't know how that could've happened."

Rainbow wasn't convinced even the slightest. "You did that on purpose plothole!" She accused.

"Rainbow Dash! Such language is not needed!" Fluttershy chastised.

"Oh, well, I don't really know about that," Discord sheepishly replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "I mean after all, mistakes do happen. Oh, look, everypony, dancing candles!" And sure enough, a bunch of dancing candles appeared at the center of the table.

Naruto began to tremble but kept it in.

Rainbow flew to the center of the table and glared at Discord as she said. "I'm not falling for that! Discord's just trying to distract us from–" But suddenly the candles started to poke at her. "-Hey! Knock it off!" She complained, before she looked at Discord and asked him. " I suppose that's another 'mistake'?"

"Oh no, I think you just made them mad," Discord replied. "Come now, I just spark the little critters to life. It simply would be far too boring if I micromanaged and controlled their every action."

"Well I not am surprised by how fishy things are turning out." Twilight spoke up, before she was suddenly hit by a blast of soup from the fish shaped tureen.

Fluttershy immediately turned to Discord. "Discord?" She asked him.

"Well, it's hardly my fault if the soup tureen finds the term 'fishy' to be offensive." Discord replied.

Fluttershy promptly began massaging her temples. "Can you...can you please just stop it.

"I would, but it's rather difficult to make something alive become unalive." Discord told Fluttershy, hoping she'd buy the explanation.

The soup tureen targeted Rarity next. "No! Not the dress! Please, not the dress!" She insisted, but the tureen ignored her! It splashed Rarity, then turned its attention to Applejack.

Naruto began putting dents in the table by how tightly he was clutching it.

Applejack blocked the tureen's blast with her arm while glaring at Discord. "That tureen's only doin' what yer makin' it do!" She said to him. "Don't think ya can fool me!"

Fluttershy tried to break up the tension. "N-now now, let's not jump to any conclusions here." She insisted.

Rainbow only glared at Fluttershy as she asked her friend. "Come on, Fluttershy! Even you can't be this ignorant! Can't you see what he's doing right now?! He's playing innocent with you so that you'll agree to never use the Elements of Harmony against him!" Before she had a chance to get a response, she was splashed by the soup tureen.

"Oh, well, that's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Discord innocently asked.

Rainbow didn't bother to respond to Discord's question, she simply placed a container over the soup tureen to stop its splashing spree. Then she looked at Fluttershy as she asked. "You see what I'm saying, right, Fluttershy? Fluttershy!"

"What a surprise, this is a waste of time." Naruto murmured, but loud enough for Fluttershy to hear it.

Much to everyone's surprise, Fluttershy responded by saying to them all. "You know what I see? I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see none of you giving him a chance!" That comment caused all of her friends to complain quite loudly, they thought they'd given Discord more than enough of a chance.

"Fluttershy, its not that easy for us!" Naruto exclaimed, "We've tried, but its still too soon for us to be as forgiving as you. When he clearly takes advantage of the slack you give him...its just difficult for us you know." 'I know you're thinking this is going to work Fluttershy? There's still a chance this plan can fail.'

Fluttershy simply replied. "I know, but I do this because that's what friends do." 'Just please trust me. Those brief moments you picked up through the others tells me even if he's trying to force it down that he can feel more then he shows. All it takes is the belief of one to make a difference.'

Discord seemed to be surprised by Fluttershy's comment, as he looked at her and asked. "We're friends?"

Fluttershy nodded, she could tell by Discord's expression that he was genuinely surprised to see anyone stick up for him and trust him. "Why, of course!" She told him. "I can't remember my house ever being this lively before you came along. And I certainly couldn't have done any of this stuff without your help. You made this dinner party possible."

"Oh..." Discord replied, uncertain of what else to say. Somehow though he managed to force out: "Well, I've... never really had a friend before."

"Well, now you do!" Fluttershy told him. "And trust me when I say, having one friend is better than having no friends at all."

Discord opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. "This... what is this. I...I didn't...this was not part of my plan." He thought to himself.

Just then, Angel came crawling in through an open window, climbed onto the dinner table, and started to chatter in a worried tone. "Now is not a good time, Angel. We're having a dinner party." Fluttershy protested.

But Applejack replied. "Hold up! A-Ah think he's tryin' to tell us somethin'! You'll have to translate, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy reluctantly did so, as Angel explained to the best of his ability what he needed to tell everyone. and upon him finishing Fluttershy let out a gasp! "There's flooding at Sweet Apple Acres, a bunch of beavers just moved in and built a massive dam there!" She told her friends.

"Well, we all know who's behind that now, don't we?!" Rainbow Dash asked, as she glared at Discord.

"Who, me?" Discord replied, feigning innocence as a halo appeared over his head.

"Oh, give it a rest! You're not fooling any of us!" Rainbow angrily proclaimed, as she and the rest of her friends got up from the table and prepared to head to Sweet Apple Acres. "What do you think of your 'friend' now, Fluttershy?" She asked.

Fluttershy looked at Discord, who seemed rather worried. She couldn't help but sigh, it was nearly a no brainer he had something to do with it but there was no way he'd confess. "I'm going to go to Sweet Apple Acres and get to the bottom of this," She told him. "Hopefully it's just a misunderstanding."

Discord watched Fluttershy as she left. 'Why...why did what she say have an effect on me?'

Sweet Apple Acres was completely water logged, the entire orchard was covered with water thanks to the massive dam of sticks the beavers had set up. Fortunately, the Apple family was unharmed. Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh were all on top of a boat.

"I've never seen floodin' this bad!" The distressed farmer murmured as she looked over the soaked orchard grounds. "They've built dams 'round here before, but never like this! Just what's goin' on? Ah want answers!"

Fluttershy attempted to talk to the beavers, but their angry chittering didn't seem to sit well with her. "Such language!" She gasped and exclaimed, before she sighed and said to her friends. "It's no use. They won't listen to a word I say!"

Rainbow flew up to Fluttershy and immediately asked her. "You see that Discord's behind all of this, right?"

Fluttershy surprised everyone when she replied with, "For Celestia's sake Rainbow, of course I do! Do you all really think I'm just some gullible fool?"

There was a long and uncomfortable silence, as the rest of the group struggled to figure out what to say. It was Naruto who finally commented. "Fluttershy, we accepted that your nature is incredibly forgiving; its not out there for us to believe you might have been a bit gullible." He admitted.

"I knew from the beginning this was not going to be easy. If we were ever going to make progress, there needed to be one of us he could trust and listened. " She explained. "That's been my plan all along!"

Just then, Discord came up on a pair of water skis being pulled by an invisible force of some kind. "Hey there, Fluttershy!" He greeted, waving a claw to her. "You want a turn? The water's great!"

"Well, time to see if it worked." Fluttershy said to her friends, before she approached Discord.

Discord, suspecting nothing, innocently greeted. "Fluttershy, oh, there you are. Aren't you just a site for sore eyes?"

Fluttershy cleared her throat and looked at Discord quite sternly. "Let's skip the formalities and get straight to the point," She told him, and then moving her hoof out across the sky she added. "These beavers are clearly chaos inflicted and that's the cause of the mess here."

Discord tried not to look guilty. "Oh, yes. Awful business, that. Mm." He muttered.

"It IS awful!" Fluttershy scolded, her tone sounding not unlike that of a parent lecturing a child. "You are ruining Applejack's home, after she invitied you into it. I know I said I wanted you to feel at home, but this needs to stop. You need to fix this, now!"

Discord quickly replied to Fluttershy's request by saying. "Oh, yes, very well, I will fix it at once."

"Good." Fluttershy smiled.

"But, there is a teeny tiny little catch. One thing I ask in return." Discord added.

"Yes?" Fluttershy asked, suspecting nothing.

Discord sprung his trap! "I ask that you never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sign of our friendship," He demanded of Fluttershy. "That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

Fluttershy froze upon hearing his request. There was only two ways this was go and if...and she knew what she had to do.

Fluttershy looked at Discord and reluctantly she decided to accept his request. "Very well, you have my word. I will never use my Element of Harmony against you."

Everyone else was speechless, they couldn't believe Fluttershy had made such a promise!

"Excellent!" Discord cheered, and snapped his fingers. The water vanished, but it was replaced by ice. "There, much better! I do prefer ice skating to water skiing! Don't you?" He laughed, as he skated along, performing a few spins as a panel of judges that were all copies of him gave him a perfect score of 10!

Fluttershy was quite furious! "Discord! That's not fixing it!" She complained, and raced out onto the ice! "You..." But the rest of her sentence was cut off as she slid uncontrollably on the ice.

"Where are you going?" Discord laughed. "What's the matter, pal?"

"Don't call me your pal!" Fluttershy protested. "I told you to fix this!"

Discord shrugged off Fluttershy's complaint, it didn't mater to him anymore. "Oh come now, why can't I have a little fun?" He asked, then materializing a pair of ice skates he offered. "Come skating with me, and we'll let bygones be bygones. Then maybe I'll change it back."

But just then, Spike came skating up to Fluttershy and offered her the Element of Kindness necklace! "Here you go, Fluttershy! Game on!" He told her. "Playtime is over!"

"He fixes this or he goes back to being stone!" Twilight demanded. "The Princesses will understand! You don't owe him anything!"

There was a long pause, as Fluttershy mentally weighed her options. Before she at last proclaimed. "I made a promise not to use my element against him, and I'm going to keep it." She rejected the necklace, much to the gasps and groans of protests from the herd.

'Shy, this is going too far? He'll go on a rampage if he think he has impunity!'

'Even now I have to believe there is good in him. Until...until he starts to go too far I have to believe he's going to realize what he loses.'

'And if he doesn't?'

'Then I'll take full responsibility for what will happen.'

"What are you doing?! You're making a mistake!" Twilight protested.

Fluttershy winched. She hated not being able to speak to the others on this matter, but something innate in her was telling her the decision she made was the right one. The power of Kindness never steered her wrong before. So right now she had to believe in it for all their sakes.

Discord laughed and began to gloat! "Hahaha, victory is mine! You see? I'm free forever, Equestria will be mine once again! Your princesses were fools to think I could ever be reformed!"

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed in anger, and she growled as she tossed away the ice skates! "I trusted you! I stood up for you when everypony else wanted you gone. I...I am no longer your friend Discord!" She protested, and slowly walk away, taking great care not to go too fast and slip.

"Who cares? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm Discord, the master of chaos!" Discord boasted, and skated towards Fluttershy. "I don't know who you think you are, Fluttershy, but you're nopony compared to me! I am a god! You think losing your friendship...means that...much...to me?" But then he paused, as he suddenly realized the impact of those last words! He looked over at the tossed aside ice skates, somehow by looking at them he began to feel something he never had before...guilt.

Because in that moment he realized that Fluttershy actually genuine believed in him and was friend. All the others in their hearts of hearts merely put up with him, but she had fate in him. They never truly trusted him or considered him a friend. And at that exact moment it all clicked.

Fluttershy was utterly kind with him and wanted to give him a chance that no one else was willing to do. She had been honest from the beginning about everything she wanted to do. She was generous in inviting him into her home and allowing him to use his magic. She invoked the virtue in Laughter in enjoying his magic when it irritate the others. She was Loyal to him against the others and willing to stand up for him. She was emphatic enough to him to consider his feelings to stand up against her herd.

For Fluttershy to stand up against the others in her herd with this much conviction. The lessons the others tried to teach him. He was finally beginning to understand. He was assessing how much they valued their virtues and how they applied it to others and Fluttershy was willing to forgive him and call him... a friend. He had never been willing to understand and explore positive feelings of others until now. He had always dismiss these bits as unimportant, but now they were giving him context to something he didn't understand. Decades worth of interactions and encounters coursed through his mind as only mere seconds passed in the real world.

He had an understanding now. He still didn't know how these feelings themselves felt in relative to himself, but he had knowledge now to base an future feelings on. And now that he experienced friendship he simply didn't want to let it go. Because in the end this was the one thing even his power can't grant him. It was true. It didn't involve brainwashing or fear. Somepony chose of their own free will to accept him and if he messed this up it would be lost forever.

Would it...would it go against the impulses and desires ingrained into that he known for so many years, sure, but at the same time wouldn't spicing things up and trying this new thing be a bit chaotic in itself?

No.

There was no rationalizing it.

He finally found a reason to care for something...someone beyond himself. At the very least maybe taking a century or two for a break and indulging in this...friendship wouldn't kill him. He was immortal after all. He had all the time in the universe to go mad again far, far down the timeline.

"Well played, Fluttershy. Well played indeed. Never imagined I'd be beaten at my own game."

Discord somberly skated over to one of the trees and perched himself on top of it. He joined his paws together, and a powerful magic wave washed over Sweet Apple Acres, turning everything back to normal. Everypony cheered, except for Fluttershy who remained silent. "I liked it better my way, but... I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?" He asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded. "Glad you've finally come around. Friendship is truly a wonderful thing."

'Sorry I doubted you Shy.' Naruto thought through her bond. She was right. Her ability to forgive was truly the strongest out of all of them and in the end it truly was what was needed for the reformation.

Sometime later the bearers as well as Discord approached Princess Celestia met with at Golden Oaks the following day.

"So, is it true?" Princess Celestia inquired of the spirit. "Have you truly seen the light?"

"Yes, Princess, I'm ready to use my magic for good instead of evil," Discord said with a bow. "

He mentally added.

Celestia smiled and in a warm tone she announced. "Congratulations on your success, bearers. I definitely sense a big change in Discord," She then whispered to Twilight. "Since I'll be leaving the Elements with the seven of you with for safe keeping I trust you'll be able to keep an eye on him or use them for any other threats that my show up."

Twilight acknowledged her teacher's comment, before she replied. "You were right when you said Fluttershy would be the one to find the way to reform Discord. By treating Discord as a friend, she got him to realize that friendship was actually very important to him. Despite our intentions the rest of us just couldn't find it in us to give it our all."

"It is understandable Twilight. Each of you have your strengths and working together is how you managed to come this far. For now, after everything you've all done you've earned yourselves a long deserved break." She told her. 'You've earned this break Twilight. All of you have.'

Well we finally finish the latest arc. For the next few chapters we get a breather and some romance and intimacy between the characters.

If there are any pairs you want to see focus or development on, please drop a review.