Chapter 3: The True Meaning of Hearth’s Warming
“I know Discord’s not been…himself lately, but I hope he’s doing okay,” Fluttershy spoke up at the holiday dinner table. “I mean, ever since ponies have begun to fracture, he’s been extremely on edge.”
Twilight regarded her solemnly. “I’m concerned about him too as far as his mental health is concerned. But as long as you continue to keep an eye on him, we should be okay. He won’t do anything drastic as long as you’re around.”
“But what if I’m not?” The shy pegasus inquired with a concerned expression on her face. “Twilight, he thinks that you creating the Crystals was a mistake. What if he tries to do something horrible with them?”
“Well hypothetically speaking,” Twilight replied. “We would be prepared just in case. I don’t see any reason to turn him to stone again as we’re way beyond that, but I believe that you would be able to talk him down in any situation like that.”
“I doubt it…”
“Why would you? He listens to everything you say.”
“That’s the thing,” Fluttershy stated worriedly. “The last time I tried to reason with him about magic was when Water Lily quit our sessions. And…he didn’t take it well.”
“What did he say?” inquired Twilight, leaning forward.
“When I tried to talk to him about magic potentially being a unifying force despite all of this,” revealed Fluttershy. “He said that…it could also destroy us. I’m not sure friendship will be the thing to talk him down at this point…”
“Discord!” Izzy called out into the air as loud as she could. Her horn was glowing bright blue as she trekked through the piles of fallen snow. It was her only light as she shivered in the oppressive darkness, not knowing where she was going, but knowing that she had to find her best friend. “Discord!!”
She continued trudging down the empty streets as the snow continued to fall from above. Normally, she loved to experience the snowfall and play in the hills all night. But she was on a mission this time and she knew that anything that didn’t involve Discord had to wait. She was freezing and she felt like collapsing, but she couldn’t give up. She had to find him, no matter how long it took her to do so.
The Lord of Chaos was out there somewhere, and she wouldn’t stop until she had repaid the selfless deed that he had done for her. He had put himself on the line and saved her life when she didn’t ask him to, so it was only fair in her mind that she do the same for him.
Minutes passed and soon turned into another hour, which then became several hours. She was getting nowhere and she began feeling lightheaded from being out in the frigid air for too long and her movements began to become more sluggish. Her breath became increasingly shallow and it was becoming harder to stay conscious. Yet she still pressed on and gritted her teeth, ignoring the threat of death that was coming for her. She couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t. She had to save him.
Eventually, she spotted a faint glow of yellow off in the distance that she recognized at once as a campfire. She knew this due to the one she and her friends had set during their quest to restore magic. Wasting no time, she headed in the direction of the light. Her hooves were aching and beginning to feel numb, but they still had enough strength to carry her towards it.
“Discord!!” she shouted again as she limped towards the yellow light, hoping desperately that it was him that was setting off the flare. If it wasn’t, then the only thing left for her would be death. She had traveled too far from Maretime Bay at this point and she didn’t know how to get back until morning, in which she knew would be an impossibility to survive for that long.
Fortunately, the flare sounded again at the sound of her voice. She called again, and the flare responded by growing larger in size. Now fully convinced that it was him, Izzy ran as fast as she could towards the light, occasionally stumbling, but never wavering as she raced towards the draconequus she cared for.
By the time she arrived, however, he was sprawled on the ground unconscious. His eyes were closed and she could tell that she was barely breathing. A campfire was right beside him, which had been the source of the flare that she had seen. Izzy gasped upon seeing this and knelt down by his side, tears filling her eyes as she realized what had happened to him.
“Discord…” she whispered through chattering teeth and tears which instantly froze upon leaving her eyes. She shivered again as she tried nudging him in order to get him to wake up. There was no response from him. “Discord, it’s me…I’m here, Discord…Come back…come back…come back…”
Again, she received no response from him. Izzy began to cry, begging him to wake up as she shook his cold body in desperation. She felt his pulse, which was slowly becoming weaker and weaker by the second. He didn’t have long to live, and she didn’t know what to do. It was thought that draconequui couldn’t die, but that was false. They couldn’t die of natural causes, but they could be killed, as could all immortal beings.
Seeing no way to save him, she lay beside him, accepting her fate and waiting for the inevitably of the snowstorm to eventually consume her whole. There was no way back, but she would not leave him. He had lost too many ponies in his life, and she would be there for him to the bitter end.
But just as she was about to close her eyes and let her body go numb, she spotted something right beside Discord’s left claw. It was a whistle, one of his many random accessories that he kept with him at all times. She knew that it was now or never. She didn’t know whether or not other ponies were nearby, but she had to try anyway.
She had to take a leap of faith for Discord, just as he had done for her earlier.
With great effort, she got to her hooves and levitated the whistle over to her using her magic. Once it was in front of her, she put it to her mouth and blew into it as hard as she could. The sound echoed throughout the snowy wasteland and managed to reach a well-dressed pegasus couple that was walking by in the distance.
The stallion’s ears perked up and he looked out into the outskirts of town to his left, where the source of the noise was presumably coming from. His wife was also on high alert and she flew up above him to scout for anypony still out at this time.
“Come about!!” he shouted as loud as he could, hoping that the whistler would hear.
Hearing the stallion’s voice, Izzy blew into the whistle over and over, repeatedly until she could hear his voice again. The noise picked up again and within seconds, she could see shadows of pegasi flying above her and she dropped the whistle to the ground in exhaustion.
She was saved.
Back at the lighthouse, it was in a total frenzy once Sunny and the others realized that Izzy had taken off after Discord. Alphabittle was panicking at the thought of the lavender unicorn being killed or abducted out there, even as the other ponies tried to reassure him that everything would be okay.
He took several repeated frantic breaths, hyperventilating with all of the stress he was feeling. “This is not okay! Izzy is out there somewhere and if you ponies try to tell me to just let her go, so help me I will-“
“We will find her,” Sunny cut in, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Let’s organize search parties. You take the unicorns, Hitch and I will lead the earth ponies, and Zipp and Pipp will lead the pegasi.”
Zipp walked over to her and saluted. “You got it, Sunny. We’ll check every corner of Equestria before we dare come back here empty-hooved.”
“I second that,” Queen Haven chimed in with a determined expression. “Come on, girls, we don’t have a moment to lose.”
“Let’s go, ponies!” Hitch ordered his squad. The other earth ponies nodded in unison and followed his lead. They walked towards the exit and just as they were about to walk outside and into the pitch black darkness themselves, the doors slammed open and a pegasus couple walked in with Izzy and Discord on each of their backs respectively.
The two ponies stopped in front of the search parties and set Izzy and Discord down on the ground gently. The unicorn was still barely conscious, but shivering. Once she sensed that she was back in the warm embrace of the lighthouse air, she slowly got to her hooves with much effort and the first thing she did was kneel by Discord’s side and beg for him to wake up once more.
She didn’t care whether she herself was okay. All she cared about was the draconequus’s life.
Finally, the Lord of Chaos slowly began to stir and cough. Izzy gasped, her worried expression changed to that of a hopeful one. He then fluttered his eyes open and saw her by his side.
“Fl…Fluttershy?” was the first thing that Discord asked upon regaining consciousness. He was obviously still grieving over her, and all Izzy could do was try and help her through it.
Izzy shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, Discord. I’m not Fluttershy. But you’re safe now, okay? We brought you back to the lighthouse. You’re okay.”
“You saved me…didn’t you?”
“I did,” Izzy replied. “I-I had to. You saved my life back there from that rampaging chicken and I-I-I just had to do it as well, you’re…you’re my best friend.”
Discord’s eyes filled with tears. “A friend…” He coughed. “But I can’t have friends…not now. Not after…not after I lost Fluttershy and those other ponies…”
“Well you’re mine,” stated Izzy gently, but firmly at the same time. “Remember Fluttershy’s message? She told you not to close yourself off from others. I know change can be hard, but…you eventually get used to it. And although things will never be the same as you once knew, that doesn’t mean we can’t be there for you.“
“But why would you save me…?” he asked her. “I don’t even deserve it after what I’ve done…I threw away all of my friendships…for nothing. I had magic and friendship…but now, I don’t have either. And it’s better that it remains that way.” He looked away from her.
“No it isn’t,” Izzy explained. “Do you know why I invited you here to the party? It’s because I saw the good in you. I saw the capacity you had to love again, and I knew that if I didn’t do this, then you would never know what you’re missing out on.”
“But…I’ll mess-“
“How do you know whether you’ll mess up again or not if you don’t even try? I know I can never replace Fluttershy. None of us can. I know that she must’ve been a very special pony to you. But I know what it’s like to feel like you’re an outcast. And I trust you, Discord. Do you trust me as a friend enough to believe that I’m right?”
Discord turned back towards her, staring through tears before wiping them with his lion paw. He took a deep, shaky breath before looking her straight in the eyes. “I haven’t had a true friend in so long…” That was when he smiled. “Izzy, you really think of me that way?”
Izzy smiled back at him, sniffling as tears of her own came down. She was relieved that he was still alive, and she silently vowed that she would never lose him again. “I do, Discord. We’re all in this together. You have us now.”
That was when she let all of her pent-up emotions loose and jumped into his embrace, just as she had done before in the cave. This time, however, he wasted no time in returning the gesture and he hugged her back. He held her tight as they both wept for each other. Sunny and the others watched all this go down with expressions of pure happiness on their faces.
Although the Hearth’s Warming Eve party hadn’t gone as planned, something memorable still came out of it. Discord had discovered friendship once more and Izzy had discovered her true purpose in Maretime Bay. To Sunny, seeing any of her friends this happy was worth far more than any simple gathering in the world.
It took a while of cleaning up, but the lighthouse was eventually restored back to its normal functioning self, hive or take a couple minor damages to the ceiling and walls that would need proper renovation in the coming weeks. The party was once again in full swing and dinner was served to every guest on a plate.
Discord sat with Izzy again at the end. He had the honor of personally serving and carving the roast beast for the assembled guests. He did so with grace and humility, serving a chunk to each pony one by one. Of course, he was still the Lord of Chaos and with that title came a bit of mischief. So he kept the biggest slice to himself, not that anyone seemed to mind him doing so.
Izzy took the slice she was given early and immediately began digging in and eating each bite. She stole an adoring glance at Discord while she did so, and he smiled back at her. Something more was brewing between them, but he couldn’t exactly tell what it was yet. He knew, however, that he would have plenty of time to figure it out after the party.
“I’d like to thank every single one of you here,” Discord said in a speech before the rest of the ponies were set to eat their slices. “For giving me the best Hearth’s Warming Eve celebration I have ever attended. Before meeting you all, I assumed that friendship was beyond me after so many moons. But Izzy here changed my life. I owe my life to her, and she is truly a special pony in my heart.”
Izzy blushed. “Awww, thank you, Discord. But I can’t take all the credit. You still saved us all from that rampaging chicken.”
“But it was you that gave me the courage to do so,” he replied to her kindly. He reached out with his claw and held her hoof with it. “For I learned from you tonight that the true spirit of this holiday isn’t what you buy for other ponies, or any kind of fancy decorations. No, it is the love of one true friend to another that really makes this celebration what it is. And I’m proud to be a part of it again.”
“As are we, Discord,” Sunny told him with a smile. “I’m glad that you’re one of us now. We’ll do whatever it takes to help you fit into Equestria once again. Hoof to heart.”
Discord winked at her in response.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Discord,” Izzy said with a warm expression of her own. She looked at him with those adoring eyes once more and he couldn’t help but blush in response.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Izzy Moonbow.” Discord answered, his eyes twinkling with pure happiness for the first time in so long. At last, he finally knew what it was like to belong again, and he wouldn’t even trade this moment for all the chaos in the universe. He was himself again, and he felt confidence in himself that he didn’t feel before.
He was home.
And Discord raised his glass and led the ponies of Equestria in a toast, “To kindness and love, the things we need most!!”
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Okay, Did not expect Discord to go freaking Titanic on us, but here we are
Thankfully Izzy pulled through for him in the end.
And now for her to destroy the multiverse.
This was so heartwarming! I loved it!
Then how come we haven't seen Discord in the animation of G5?
Yeah about that Twilight...
I felt like that's a reference to Titanic when Rose use every amount of willpower to call for help with the whistle before she freeze to death
Awww this was a really nice story so izzy trying to find Discord after the craziness just happened but she couldn't find him and the storm was getting really bad and she was starting to feel numb and sleepy that she will never find him but she did but unfortunately it was unconscious from the cold and she tried to wake him up but it was no use and it was way too far to get home as well so both of them were in the deep trouble and the Cold well consume them but luckily there were two ponies who were walking heard them thanks to Izzy's whistle the other Ponies were about to find them but didn't have to because the two ponies rescued Discord and Izzy after she starts to regain her conscience she tried to wake him up as well and thankfully he was okay but he felt like he doesn't deserve the friendship and he really didn't want it to lose anybody else sometimes change can be very scary but Izzy will help him get through this alongside with the others and it felt like he can trust him again and I hope he does find his peace with everybody here this was a very nice story and I really like it keep up the good work and Merry Christmas
Oh really Twilight?
You show concern for Discord, a very powerful chaotic being capable of spreading chaos and disharmony all over the land and nearly ruining everything a couple of times now, but you have no concern for a little filly (or two other certain creatures) trapped in stone, evil or not?
Oh that's cool that you are doing a IDW fanfic
11780226
Thanks. It’s my first time doing it, so this marks new territory for me.
11780229
You re welcome!
Ok ok, one, why the random reference Discord? And two, are Ponies here no longer obligate vegetarians?
"I miss my wife, Izzy."