Author's Notes:

My entry for contest #6, "Do you ever think about leaving?"

Tags: Discord, Fluttershy, Slice of Life, Sad.

“Do you ever think about leaving?”

“Leaving? Leaving Ponyville?”

Fluttershy raised her teacup to her lips, giving the draconequus a long look. “No, not really. I couldn’t, not with the School and the Sanctuary and the girls. You know that.”

Discord let out a chuckle. “Well, of course I do. The question was purely hypothetical. What if… you didn’t have all those things? There’s so much world out there to explore. What if you could live anywhere, and didn’t have to leave anything behind?”

Fluttershy considered. “Anywhere? Well… it would have to have a lot of animals.”

“Of course.”

“And… not too many ponies. I couldn’t live in a big city. And… not Cloudsdale, or anywhere too much like it. I left for a reason, after all.”

Discord nodded. “Yes, yes, those all sound like good criteria. But it doesn’t narrow it down much, does it?”

Fluttershy took another sip of her tea. “Are you sure this question is hypothetical?”

Discord blinked, before pulling a sheet of paper out of nowhere and adorning a small set of reading glasses. “Yes, I’m sure. Look, it says so right here.” He turned the paper to her, showing off the word “hypothetical” written in massive block letters.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.

“Hmph! Fine then. What if it wasn’t? You already said you’d never leave, so it hardly matters. Let’s talk about something else.” Discord turned away, his claws fidgeting before he folded them together to make them stop.

The pegasus reached across to touch the draconequus with one forehoof. “Discord,” she said softly. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No! Of course not. How could you even ask that? Taking you away from your friends and your… rabbit. Besides, I have Ogres & Oubliettes with Spike, and I couldn’t miss that.”

Fluttershy gave him a soft smile. “I thought it was just me who was leaving,” she pried, patient as ever.

Discord paused, then replayed what he had just said in a small window in front of his face. He frowned, then played it again. When it started a third time, it was clear he was just stalling for time.

“Discord,” Fluttershy interrupted, taking to the air and flying through the picture so he would look at her. “It’s alright. Just talk to me.”

There was another moment of silence before the draconequus spoke. “I’m the spirit of chaos. Chaos, Fluttershy! I don’t do well with stability. Or routine. Or… contentedness. I was a statue for a thousand years and that was about a thousand years too long of being in the same place. And now the Princesses are retiring and you’ve built a whole sanctuary and everyone is moving forward and I’m just… same old Discord. Can’t fix your problems, don’t get a seat at the table, stagnant Discord.” As he spoke, a slow, creeping gray slid up his limbs, as if he was turning to stone all over again. A few moments before it seemed like it would set in, he shook himself and the stone shattered and fell to the floor, soon replaced with new limbs, healthy once more.

“I need a change, the same way you need water. And… I guess I hoped... You’d come with me.” He took a breath, then shook his head. “But obviously you can’t, and a true friend wouldn’t even ask, I suppose.” He turned away again, and a stick with a polka-dotted bag at the end appeared in his claw. He started to reach up to open a door in reality, but found a butter-yellow hoof on his arm.

“Discord,” Fluttershy said softly, pulling him back down to the couch. “It’s alright.” Once she was sure he was settled and wasn’t about to vanish on her, she continued. “I don’t want you to leave. But I think… if you need to go, then you need to go, and that’s okay.”

“But-”

Fluttershy raised a hoof; she wasn’t done yet. “Sometimes, friendships have to change. Sometimes that means you go from ignoring somepony to playing Ogres & Oubliettes with them. And sometimes it means leaving, and not seeing each other for a while. But that doesn’t mean it’s over. It’s just different.” She took a breath. “You know I can’t go with you. I have too many responsibilities here. But it won’t be the end, and it won’t be forever. You of all creatures should know nothing lasts forever.” She was smiling by the end of this, tears shining in her eyes but not falling.

Discord seemed a little stunned. “You’re not mad?”

A shake of the head.

“But you’re not coming.”

Nod.

Discord seemed morose for a moment, before finally coming up with, “Well, I suppose you’re just one more rewriting of reality away, if you think about it.”

Fluttershy let out a soft giggle at that, her sadness cut through by surprise, and fluttered down to envelop the draconequus in a hug, rubbing her face into his fur. “Everything changes, right?”

“Everything changes.”