#meta is magic

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the mane 6 in order of how well they get along with discord

fluttershy (duh)

twilight (she acts like she hates him but they’re very good friends)

pinkie pie (theyre chums but also she kinda frightens him)

applejack (they’ve come to an understanding)

rainbow dash (are able to relate to each other through their shared trait of I Love Fluttershy but not much else)

rarity (they’ll do favors for each other if need be but also. the yuck vibes are off the charts between them)

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alright here we go. discord’s behavior in season 9 did NOT come out of nowhere and he did NOT regress in terms of character development, despite what so many people seem to think. everything he did was perfectly in-character and it made total sense with the progression of his personality and mindset

first, i def do NOT think that he got off scot-free with no repercussions. he got called out VICIOUSLY & MULTIPLE TIMES in the ending of the end. they didn’t treat him the same way they treat starlight when she messes up; he got properly reprimanded, even though his intentions were nothing but good. and he deserved this! he def made a mistake here but i also think he both made up for this mistake and got proper consequences. is the endangerment of his friends and the world he’s come to care about not enough for yall? if it wasn’t, the characters actively and consistently tell discord he messed up big time. is THAT ENOUGH

second, yes, it was absolutely a stupid decision. but acting like the writers suddenly made him stupid is just incorrect. discord has made stupid decision after stupid decision since SEASON 2, and in-universe he hasn’t been “good” for more than a few years (idk how much time has passed in the show but thats my estimate). he’s ANCIENT, he’s thousands and thousands of years old, do you really expect him to turn into a complete saint who makes no mistakes in just a few years?

discord isn’t stupid, but he IS overconfident. that’s why he makes stupid decisions; it’s because he thinks he can just fix everything with a snap of his fingers. and usually, he’s correct; he’s incredibly powerful, and his plan with sombra worked! discord would have been able to step in if things got too nasty. which is WHY he’s overconfident; he boosted twilight’s confidence, but he also boosted his own confidence, as well

third, his behavior in s9 shows that he really does care about the mane 6 outside of fluttershy. he saw that twilight was a nervous wreck, and since he’s literally the embodiment of chaos, of course his idea of helping her out was NOT simple reassurance. discord knew that twilight does best with concrete results, so he decided he would create some situations for her to get concrete results out of. it’s a very roundabout way of showing that he cares, and it’s a pretty dangerous and foolhardy way, but that’s exactly what he was doing

discord is a complicated character. he’s become a kind person to the people he cares about over the course of 8 seasons, he’s just REALLY REALLY BAD at showing that affection. he doesn’t like to be explicit and upfront with friendship, so he has to figure out some convoluted way to do it, and when he inevitably fucks up, the narrative rightfully punishes him. the show is over, but he’s still got a lot of growing to do, and that’s okay, because if he was a model of Goodness by season 9, THAT would have been bad writing

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i dont agree w people saying "fluttershy getting old and dying is gonna make discord snap" like shes the ONE thing keeping him from taking over equestria again

sure, this was true at one point in the series: he was only good because of her, and if something had happened to her at that point, he probably would have snapped. but it has been 6 seasons since his reformation began, and he's grown a LOT.

he's started doing big things for people that aren't fluttershy because he thinks it'll help them in the long run (its mostly stupid, convoluted, possibly dangerous things, but his heart is in the right place). his actions now are a far cry from season 4 when he faked being sick just to get attention and put people in danger for insignificant and selfish reasons. now, he has INTENT behind them, such as trying to help twilight be the best ruler she can be, and helping to mend the fight between big mac and sugar belle.

i think if fluttershy lives a full life and passes away peacefully from old age, theres two possibilities for discord's reaction:

he chooses to pass alongside her, because chaos is constantly changing and hes decided its time for it to take its next form

he's inconsolable and probably hides himself away for a few months or decades, but eventually moves on to the part of the grieving process where he finds support in others and tries to do what fluttershy would have wanted him to do. lives his life in her memory

either way, if she passed away naturally, he wouldnt snap and go full chaos tyrant again, because that doesnt make sense with how he's grown. at first, his reformation was for himself (he gets a friend if hes good), then it was for fluttershy (SHE will be happy if hes good), and now its just because he's becoming a genuinely good person. misguided sometimes, but still good.

HOWEVER that being said. if someone intentionally hurt and targeted fluttershy they will prob need to be afraid of him bc he will snap on THEM

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fluttercord wedding post

fluttershy wears her favorite casual blue sundress and lets rarity make her some shoes and a veil since she already has a dress

discord lets rarity make his full outfit but he’s present the entire time so it’s really him designing it while she does the technical part. it’s a half-tux half-dress bc he couldnt pick one and its pretty hideous and rarity wants to cry

guest list: mane 6, spike, cmc, celestia and luna, big mac, zecora, treehugger, the smooze, countless woodland creatures. end list

the ceremony is in the backyard of the cottage and it’s a tiny ceremony but the animals have decorated it very prettily. they worked very hard and surprised fluttershy

harry the bear is the officiant and nobody attending understands him except for the couple

their vows are completely improvised on purpose 

despite expectations, the ceremony is pretty short and simple, but it’s a really small and cozy venue/crowd so it doesn’t feel rushed

the reception is in the chaos dimension and it’s the first time many of their friends have visited. discord makes sure there’s a Safe Chaos Area of course where things won’t get too out of hand on accident but it’s still disorienting

once everyone leaves, they do a second set of secret vows bc both of them are bad at talking about their feelings in front of a crowd & bc theyve always liked having something just for themselves. and thats when they get REAL corny

they honeymoon in another galaxy

they were already living in both the cottage and the chaos dimension together equally beforehand, so nothing changes all that much after the wedding. theyre just married now. and im not even sure if its legally official since who knows if discord is a registered citizen of equestria or not bc he hates paperwork so much. but theyre happy

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i have created collages of discord and starlight being directly punished/facing direct consequences for their own actions. i have been very strict with discord’s and very generous with starlight’s. the requirements for this post were:

does the character get forgiven with unwavering hugs and friendship at the end of the episode/action?

are the other characters not at all wary/untrusting of discord or starlight at all after this episode/action?

if the answer to either of those questions is “yes”, then it doesnt count. it’s worth nothing that discord has been featured prominently in 22 episodes, while starlight has been featured prominently in about 25 episodes, give or take a few. it’s also worth nothing that starlight doesn’t even face consequences in her premiere episode; she’s not really defeated, she just kinda runs away

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AND ANOTHER THING just acting like fluttershy wouldn’t be completely fucking devastated over it??? is so dumb!!! even if discord like, 100% turned on them and became completely evil again, it would be INCREDIBLY fucking hard for her to do smth like turn him to stone again. because she loves him (not even in a shippy way she just cares about him) and it would break her heart for his story to end like that

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it just gets me because mlp is a show abt showing compassion in general (even starlight’s redemption fits this narrative even if it IS written like absolute shit) so acting like discord should just be locked up w the rest of em is so fucking stupid and doesn’t go along with anything else present in the show. obv he needs to face consequences after s9 but like, its never said “and they all forgave him instantly” that literally never happens. they are angry at him and stay angry at him the entire episode. but it didn’t end with them turning him to stone again because he’s their friend and they know he meant no harm even if he did fuck up. if like... starlight did the same thing they wouldn’t stone her (as much as i would want them to LOL). he’s a part of their friend circle now just like she is. you absolute fucking morons. did you watch the show

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anyway fluttershy was the only child of an emotionally abusive single mother and rainbow dash’s family was abusive too and they left cloudsdale together at age 16 and settled down in ponyville , living in the cottage that used to belong to fluttershy’s now-dead babysitter who was the only positive adult figure in her life