Keep calm and flutter on - Alternate ending
The bearer of the element of kindness, Fluttershy the pegasus, turned to Discord and took the shoes he created in her mouth before starting to walk off. The other ponies, astounded by what they had just witnessed, their friend discarding her element because of her promise to the malicious spirit, all exclaimed their disbelief in their own various ways, from Twilight's look of shock to Applejack covering her face with her hat. Not moments after this, Discord appeared over Fluttershy's head in a bright flash of light, before pointing to the other five element-bearers in mockery.
"Haha! You see? She wants to have fun with me because "we're friends". She can't use the element against me because "we're friends". I'm free forever!"
His harsh words cut into Fluttershy like a knife, driving her anger up more and more with every word he spoke. Her expression grew angrier, letting all know the kind of raw hurt she was feeling. But Discord didn't care. Instead, he merely threw back his head and laughed heartily.
But this was the final straw for Fluttershy. She had given this creature every chance one would be willing to give him and more. She'd welcomed him into her home. She'd done everything possible to try and make him into a better person. She'd even stood up to her closest friends in an effort to do something she felt deep down was for a good cause, his cause. And in the end, all Discord cared about was himself. And when she realised that, when she suddenly understood just who this creature truly was deep down, she just gave up.
"Not. Your. FRIEND!!!" She yelled out.
She threw the ice shoes away from her, not wanting anything made by this guy anywhere near her. This display had no effect on the lord of chaos however, as his following tone showed.
"Who cares? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want! I'm Discord! The master of chaos!"
In another flash of light, Discord disappeared from his previous position and appeared again right next to Fluttershy, who at this point was walking away from him, unable to even look at him anymore. As they continued walking, Discord continued his rant.
"Did you really think your pitiful attempts to change me would have any effect? That I'd just roll over and turn good because an adorable little pegasus acted sweetly to me? That I'd stray away from my natural calling, that of a bringer of chaos? If so, then you're even more of a fool than I thought. And so was Celestia for thinking that somepony like you could ever have power over me!"
Fluttershy stopped walking. She said nothing, merely looking up at the spirit with a look of sheer disappointment in her face. The spirit was still unaffected however, and continued his scathing remarks against her.
"What a letdown you must be feeling like! You tried so hard to change me and all you get for your trouble is a knife in the back. Element of kindness. HAH! Look where your kindness has gotten you! You thought you could make me care. But the one thing you should know about chaos my dear, is that chaos DOESN'T care about anyone or anything!"
He walked past her, still causing no reaction or counter-remarks from the young pegasus. The silence bothered him, but not enough to make him stop his harshest comment of all.
"At the very least I was able to find somepony out here that I could say was like me in some small way. All this time I tried to manipulate you, just like you tried to manipulate me. We each tried to change the other for our own ends. The only difference is that my victory came from something as easy as a broken promise."
It was at this point that Discord, still with his back to the ponies, finally heard Fluttershy speak.
"You're right. A broken promise brought you victory. And that, it seems, is something else we now have in common."
The spirit raised an eyebrow. What did she mean? Before he could react, he heard a noise from behind him. A hauntingly familiar noise. He spun around, and to his horror, he saw Fluttershy, still looking angry at him and worse still, wearing her element around her neck once more. She was flanked on either side by her five friends, whose respective elements were now glowing brightly.
Discord stepped back in shock over what he was seeing. Fluttershy had actually done it. She'd done the one thing he never suspected she would do. She'd stooped down to his level. He considered running, but he knew that the power of the elements would find him sooner or later. His only course, to simply accept what he knew was coming. The elements glowed brighter before finally releasing their energy, once more in the form of a bolt of rainbow-coloured magic. It shot towards the spirit and struck, engulfing him and a rainbow vortex.
As he stood there, not resisting the power that was now overcoming him, Discord merely looked beyond the vortex and straight at the yellow pegasus, who stood there beside her friends, her eyes already filled with regret over what she was doing. And the spirit merely smiled. A smile that did not seek to comfort or befriend, but one that sought only to show victory.
"Well played Fluttershy. Well played".
With those final words, the power of the elements finished their work. The element bearers, headed by Fluttershy, walked forward to see their what they had wrought. Discord was now encased is stone prison once more. But whereas before his pose was one of resistance, here he merely stood normally, his face still bearing that scathing smile. Within moments, the same magic of the element that had imprisoned him got to work on the surrouding area. The frozen water vanished without a trace, the beaver dams disappeared, and the animals themselves reverted back to their original way of behaving. Everything was once more back to normal, just as it had been the first time they'd used the elements on him.
The other ponies said nothing, merely looked over to Fluttershy, who, eyes filling with tears, shut them tightly and walked away.
..................................
After a lengthy wait, Princess Celestia had arrived, after having received a letter from Twilight explaining what had happened. The Princess arrived with her accompanying guards and a second chariot. As Twilight was busying herself with explaining the finer details to Celestia, the guards were busy in hoisting the statue form of Discord back onto the transport. Once in place it was secured with heavy chains in order to prevent it from falling during the long flight home.
Celestia, having heard Twilight's full account of what had happened, closed her eyes and sighed.
"......I see."
Twilight hung her head before her mentor, expecting the Princess to declare how disappointed she was that she and the others had failed in the task she'd set for them. Instead, she felt the Princess' hoof under her chin, gently pulling her face up to look at her.
"You did everything you could. I cannot expect any more of anypony than that."
Celestia's tone was clear. It was not Twilight she was disappointed in, but the situation in general. Twilight had known the Princess long enough to know how upset she must be that an attempt to make someone's life better had failed, however hard they might have tried to do so. The Princess looked up from her pupil and scoured the area, looking for something, before looking back down at Twilight.
"Where is Fluttershy?" She asked.
Twilight turned from her once more. Fluttershy had not spoken to anypony since Discord's imprisonment. She'd merely taken herself off elsewhere to be alone for a while. Twilight couldn't blame her, but the Princess had asked a question, and she had to answer. She pointed off in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. Celestia drew her gaze to where Twilight was pointing and gave a nod at her pupil before beginning to walk off alone in that direction. The young unicorn decided it was probably for the best that she not follow.
Celestia took her time in getting to the cottage. She did not want any guards with her for this. This was a moment between her and Fluttershy. A moment between her and the pony she'd charged above all others with completing this task.
Eventually she reached her home. She looked ahead and saw that Fluttershy was sitting outside the cottage, on a log next to a small pond. The young pegasus barely moved, just looked down into the water, her face obscured by her long pink hair. Celestia knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant exchange for either of them, but she felt that it was something she had to do. She approached quietly until she was mere feet away from the pegasus. The princess cleared her throat, alerting Fluttershy to her presence. The yellow pegasus sat up straight and looked straight at her in surprise.
"Oh! Princess! I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd arrived yet." She explained.
Celestia held up a hoof, stopping her. Fluttershy became silent once more as she watched Celestia walk around the log and sit down right next to her. The two looked at each other for a while. Saying nothing, listening to the sounds around them.
"Fluttershy. I feel I must apologise to you." Celestia said, breaking the silence.
Fluttershy looked up surprised by what she heard.
"Apologise? For what?" She asked.
Celestia looked rather uncomfortable as she began to speak.
"For what you've had to go through. As one of Equestria's rulers, I have come to view every living thing within this realm as a subject, somepony who needs my protection and for me to do what I can to help them. And in a strange way, I began to view Discord the same way. While he and I have never been friends, to be enemies was never something I wanted. I had hoped that, eventually, he'd come to know just how much better life would be if he'd allow others into his heart besides himself."
Celestia closed her eyes and hung her head.
"But it seems I was wrong. And worse still, I let a responsibility pass to those who should never have been exposed to it. And seeing what pain it has caused you, I feel it is my responsibility to bear the blame for what happened."
Fluttershy looked at her, astounded by this vulnerability she had just showed her. But all she could think about was Discord, how he'd mocked her attempts to make friends with him, how he'd betrayed her, lied to her, discarded her like she was nothing. That pain ate away at her. And what's more, like Celestia, she viewed it as her fault that all this happened.
"No Princess. I'm the one who should apologise."
Celestia opened her eyes again and looked down at the yellow pegasus.
"I wanted so badly to make Discord my friend, I blinded myself to what he truly was. Whatever good there might have been in him, he threw away a long time ago. I was naive."
The princess placed her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.
"No, sweet child. You did what it is in your nature to do. The element of kindness chose you for a reason. Of all the ponies in this land, you are possessed of a compassion and willingness to help that is unrivalled by any other. You care for every living thing and want the best for them, from the tiniest blade of grass to the most foul of beasts. That is why I chose you. But kindness it seems, is not enough when faced with one who has none himself."
The remark pained Fluttershy to hear, but not more than the pain she felt from another problem.
"But I was no better than him. I broke a promise. I told him I'd never use my element of harmony against him, and I did when he pushed me too far. I've never broken a promise before, nor did I want to ever."
She looked up at the princess once more, her eyes beginning to water.
"I'm not good enough to be the element of kindness."
Celestia frowned, shaking her head.
"You're wrong Fluttershy. You ARE worthy. But kindness takes many forms. While you may not have been kind to Discord on this day, You were still kind. But your kindness was towards all the ponies of Equestria, whose lives you've saved by doing what you did."
Fluttershy looked away from her, instead turning her gaze towards the small pond once more. Celestia looked at what she could see of her face. Although it was again obscured by her long hair, she knew that expression all too well. It was one she'd worn herself many times when tragedy had struck. A look that showed the poor girl was in pain over what happened, but was holding it back, not wanting to show it to others for fear of being seen as weak.
She knew that no matter how much anypony was going to tell her that what she did was the right thing, she'd regret this action she had to take. She would look back on this day for the rest of her life, and view it as her great failure, her inability to help perhaps the one person in all the world who needed it most. And all because that one person was one who neither sought that help, nor wanted it, instead viewing it as a weakness and a joke.
The princess placed a hoof gently on her shoulder once more, causing the pegasus looked up at her again, her eyes welling. Celestia's tone was warm, almost motherly.
"I will not say do not weep. For not all tears are an evil."
And with those words, Fluttershy finally relented. She flung herself at the princess and buried her face in her chest, tears pouring from her face.
"Why?! Why did he do it?! Why did he lie?! Why didn't he want friends?" WHY??!!!"
Her screams of grief and agony could be heard from far around, but the princess merely held her and the pained child let out all her sadness out in this place. Celestia knew all too well what if felt like to try and help others, and to fail at doing so. But she looked down at the weeping mare before her, and did all she could to comfort her, despite knowing that no matter what she did, there could never be anything she could do to ease the pain of betrayal.
Just as there was nothing anypony could do, to save the betrayer.
