Chapter Text
Under the shade of an oak tree Twilight lay, scribbling notes and thinking out loud, and five cold stones silently regarded her, the names of each of her friends carved into them. She buzzed about the latest spell she’d tried, about the newest headmaster at the school of friendship, about everything that had gone on the past week, two weeks she reminded herself and quickly blurted an apology.
When it came closer to time, their meetings had become more frequent, there was more of an urgency to them. One moon was too long, and so it became every 2 weeks, 1 week, every few days, every other day, every day, and then it was over one by one.
The sting had never really gone away, she would sob “Why did you leave me?” and answer herself “I couldn’t help it” in the same breath.
In some ways her visiting them this way had been the reverse, it used to be every day, then every other day, and then every few days, and now every week. She’d tried to fight it at first, the distance she felt, the natural eb and flow of time, she knew they wouldn’t want her to, and she did it anyways because it didn’t matter anymore.
Time came for her, a sunspot through the clouds, always following her always pounding down on her, drying her out like a pressed flower, immortalized and pinned on the wall like a preserved memory still crying out for the same rain that had taken her friends and swallowed them whole, leaving nothing but their memory in turn.
Ponies were supposed to die, everything was supposed to die, the grass beneath her, the trees towering over her, coating her in much-desired darkness, shielding her from the world, the birds hidden within, the ants beneath the dirt, everything. Everything was supposed to die. What meaning was there in a journey with no destination? There was none, it was aimless wandering, watching, waiting for nothing, wanting for nothing.
She frowned, realizing her pen had long ago stopped its almost automatic motion, and the ink had pooled, stagnated in a shimmery black mess all over her page.
“Going to finish that?”
Twilight snorted, pushing air out of her nose.
“Discord.”
“Twilight.”
“What are you doing here?” Twilight turned her attention back to the paper, crumpling it and teleporting it off somewhere before immediately grabbing a new piece.
“Came to bring caterpillars to Fluttershy’s butterfly garden,” Discord replied, settling himself in the oak tree, a spatter of grubs climbing from his claws to the leaves.
“Couldn’t you just bring butterflies?”
“She prefers when they grow up here, and she didn’t want me messing with their natural life cycle,” Discord retorted, poofing himself to the milkweeds behind Twilight and setting more caterpillars down.
“Preferred,” Twilight sighed.
“You’re no fun Twilight Sparkle,” Discord sighed, setting the multicolored grubs into various other plants, an uncomfortable silence cutting between the two.
A small bird swooped into the tree, picking at one of the caterpillars, and Twilight rose, lighting her horn and shooing it off.
“You know, Fluttershy really loved these things,” Discord offered.
“I know,” Twilight replied, sitting in front of the tree and staring up, ready to defend the helpless little creatures “Rarity didn’t-” she began, but then stopped short, shaking her head.
“Rarity didn’t what?” Discord turned his head and raised an eyebrow.
“Rarity didn’t like them,” Twilight finished begrudgingly.
“Too dirty for her?” Discord asked, cocking his head to the side “Or ugly?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight quickly lied.
“You don’t know?”
“Yes. Okay?”
“Mmm,” Discord hummed, and immediately appeared in front of her, leaning down the trunk of the tree, defying gravity and facing Twilight “I think you’re lying.”
“I-” Twilight balked, rearing back, “I don’t want to talk about her, okay?”
“You could’ve said that, you know?” Discord frowned, laying midair like he was lounging on a couch, the lower half of his body still flat against the tree and his claws holding his chin “You shouldn’t lie, didn’t Applejack-”
“Oh, what do you know about her!” Twilight stomped one of her hooves against the grass, “What do you know about honesty?”
“Whoa,” Discord raised a white flag in surrender “You’ve got me, I’m a liar and a horrible evil monster. I truly know nothing about honesty or kindness or friendship," He sneered "Really, Princess, I thought you knew better than that,” he rolled his eyes, seeming genuinely annoyed, “I thought you knew me well enough by now.”
“Why- why are you even still here?” Twilight backed up, looking away.
“Because I hate you and I wish the very worst for you,” He said flatly “Obviously, I have no feelings, and I’m definitely NOT here to visit my dear friend Fluttershy’s gravestone.”
“Oh,” Twilight looked down, “I- I’m-”
“You’re sorry?” He raised a claw, “You should be,” he snapped.
“Discord?” Twilight looked around, “Wait! I’m sorry!” she called out, trotting around the length of the garden, “I didn’t mean it.”
She sat, defeated, “ i didn’t mean it. ”