A new perspective

As the great expanses of the apple orchards slowly gave way to the native trees of the forest bordering town, Discord thought back to the previous day as a whole....and smiled. He had survived his first day with hardly any trouble at all! A large achievement in his mind considering he had not even turned a single apple into a grapefruit with wings or a pig into a licorice stick. Thinking back on his small success a large grin split his features yet again, a more and more common occurrence.

Fluttershy looked up to him and gave a meek squeal when she saw the displayed fangs.

Quickly closing his mouth he started off the first conversation they would have had since waving goodbye to Applejack almost two miles back.

"Where is your place at? I hope its not as big as that farm," he let out an exasperated sigh "It was a bit of a pain having to walk around all of the orchards, even if I did love listening to Honesty."

She smiled briefly "Its...not so much big...as it is spacious. I take care of uhm..a lot of animals."

As if on cue a small white rabbit hopped up and nuzzled into her.

"Oh Angel. I'm so very glad to see you, how is the morning going at home? Oh dear, nothing is wrong is it?"

The white rabbit shook its head back and forth giving a sign that things were all clear ahead and pranced off again at mach speeds.

"Friend of yours?" he asked with a risen brow.

Fluttershy smiled again and looked up at him "Yes...just like you."

"I dont know If Ill ever understand how you all can trust so easily....or if Ill ever get used to being called a friend."

"Well...Everyone deserves a chance at redemption...dont you think? I mean...I thought you did..."

"You are well placed as the Element of Kindness, I dare say you are one of the most genuinely caring persona's I have ever met."

After a moment she hid behind the swoop of hair hanging in front of her face and replied "Thank you...I-I like to think I am."

And the nervousness was back in her as quickly as it had left.

Faster than he would have thought they came upon a quaint cottage and Fluttershy motioned for him to enter, the warmth from a fire inside could be felt even as he passed through the threshold.

Looking around the cottage and taking in the details he spoke up "I suppose I'll have to get use to a lot of scenery changes in the next few days." but what kind of change will I get after that?

 Again pushing the thoughts of his impending due date to the back of his mind he took in a deep breath. Just from what he had seen so far Discord knew he would need to attempt and stay calm around Fluttershy. Inwardly he laughed at himself, the avatar of chaos staying calm? He supposed stranger things had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

Walking past Discord who was still standing beside the door, Fluttershy made her way over to the couch "Our other friends have nice places as well...uhm...how did you like the farm?...I mean if you dont mind me asking...if you're tired we dont have to." She hopped up onto the couch to delicately emphasize the point.

Looking at Kindness who was stretching out comfortably on a couch Discord couldnt help but smile and laugh a little. She could be so cute. Though he had been tired from not getting much rest combined with the relaxing atmosphere of Fluttershy's cottage, he decided to try and strike up a conversation at some point.

The gears in his head nearly came undone when the thought registered in his head. cute? really? cute?

But again the thoughts of doing something to the cottage quickly drifted away as he told himself it was a perfectly normal thought to have. After all, he thought bunnies were cute...he use to think them more cute as q-tips with legs but that was the past, now there was indeed something almost humorous about the way their ears naturally flopped.

"I'll take that...as a no..." Kindness said in almost a whisper, he hadnt realized how long he had been standing there.

"Oh...OH Im sorry Kindness...I-I was daydreaming. I would love to sit and talk about yesterday...uhm...where should I sit?"

She stifled a giggle as she pointed to the other side of the couch and patted it softly with a wing.

Moving forward he sat down on the edge of the couch and was surprised at how soft it was. Apparently soft enough to coax a well flowing conversation out of the two now occupying it. The conversation was mostly about all he had done with Applejack, even mentioning the late night intrusion by the princess, though he left out the conversation they had had purposefully. No need to have another worried about him.

He quickly swung the conversation to something he had guessed Fluttershy would be able to fluently speak of: the many animals that scampered around the house.  After almost an hour he felt a new question burn and willed himself to ask.

"Are you not afraid of the Everfree and the dangers it holds? or the harm that may befall your treasured animals? I may have been gone for quite some time, but I guarantee you there are evils in that forest that do not age."

Without missing a beat she answered "Oh of course I am silly, I know some of the dangers. but....I have to be brave for the ones I love. I have to be able to stand up for them....I mean...I stood up to a Cockatrice once..."

His eyebrow raised high up his forehead "You...stood up to a Cockatrice? How exactly is it that one stands up against such a foul little miscreant?" for a moment a sour taste entered his mouth.

"Well, I uhm...It was about to hurt three little ones. Two of them are sisters of our friends and I couldnt let any harm come to them...my stare just kinda took over and I guess...I uhm...haha...had a staring match with the Cockatrice...It was strange being turned into stone but I uhm...I fought it."

The cringe was involuntary but couldnt be helped, even hearing of being turned to stone brought back every moment in vivid clarity. His reaction was similar to being slapped in the face, a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and quickly ran, the warm interior he had been in moments before turning cold and clammy.

Fluttershy's eyes went wide at the sudden change "Are, Are you alright? I....whats the matter? Did I say something wrong?"

He sat up from where he had been relaxing and rested his face in his mismatched limbs. A shudder ran through his body as he relived those horrifying moments.

"I...Fluttershy...When a Cockatrice turns you to stone it does not hurt.....but when something more powerful turns you to stone using more than just an animal instinct, do you know what that does?"

She shook her head slowly, listening to every word, not daring to interrupt.

"As the stone creeps over you it doesnt just immobilize like an animals powers were meant to. Since its power isnt coming from an animal, the intent of the caster is what gives it strength....and...and when the intent is to harm someone it does just that....It tears you apart as the stone creeps over every inch of your body. You are left feeling that pain for as long as you are encased in the spell...."

Without looking he knew that Kindness had joined him in his tears. The explanation having been in enough detail for her to connect the dots. He hadnt even realized he had let tears fall.

He scraped his digits across his face, scrubbing at the fur with his palms to try and stem the flow of tears that burned. He lifted a few tears that had gathered onto his palm to be scrutinized by a watery eye before his whole body began to shake.

The fragile grip on his harmony loosened. The feelings of terror subsided quickly and gave way to a flood of rage. The adrenaline pumping in his veins as he raised his limb to snap and summon his powers, eager to let his emotions take control, when he was slammed to the back of the couch in the strongest hug he had ever felt.

Regardless of it being maybe the fourth he had felt in so many eons it was like a vice.

Kindness had crashed headfirst into him and buried her face into the Cinnamon of his chest. Weeping with deep sobs accentuating the pain that was evident on her feature. pain she was feeling...for him. A concept he was not use to understanding without feeling sick.

The tears began flowing uncontrollably from his eyes. He shuddered hard before a piercing wail of anguish erupted from his throat and he collapsed onto his side. Kindness now clinging to his side and half on top of him. Both of them weeping openly, the wail had not lost an iota of pitch since it had found its escape, but just as quickly shut off completely as he found the arm rest under his cheek.

Soaking the armrest was not his intention but it was inevitable. both of them were still shaking and crying but for the most part, many moments after having begun, they had both calmed down considerably from the sudden dramatic outburst.

Kindness lifted her head to ask him if he was going to be ok through tear stained eyes when she noticed he was falling asleep. Understandably exhausted from lack of sleep and a draining emotional experience.

"N-no... no...lets get you up to bed mister." she tried to sound motherly but it only came out even more cute to him. There's that word again, I must be tired.

 They were about to go up the stairs when he held her grip and stopped her progress. she looked back to him with a question in her eyes.

With one last quiver Discord got his voice under control "Can...Will you go on a walk with me? It helps me clear my head to look at the moon...."

It took all of a second for her to consider, "Of course."

Walking along the path behind the cottage for a while he found he was calmed by the sight of the stars and the moon. That younger princess could really put out a doozy of a night when she wanted to. Weaving the seemingly tiny orbs of light across a canvas of deep empty black, all the while allowing for the light of the moon to not be outshone by the flecks across the sky. Constellations seemed brighter, almost shimmering on the clear, cloudless night.

The thought of Luna brought up a lot of emotions he didnt quite know how to handle yet. Discord simply quelled them for the moment before shivering. Whether it was from the residual feelings or the cold night air he did not know.

Fluttershy looked over at the motion caused by Discord's shiver, "Feeling any better?"

"Monumentally Kindness. Thank you for all of that...I think I really needed it. Applejack told me I would need to do something like that...I just never imagined it being so emotional."

She smiled and grabbed his shoulder to pull him into a hug, just as Applejack had done, a rather brave move considering what he had observed from the mare. This time though, he immediately returned the embrace, not hesitating for a second.

Looking around the surroundings did not look familiar in the ways of the cottage, they had likely wandered a great deal farther than they had intended into the depths of the Everfree Forest. looking at the moon had distracted both of them as well as the more than companionable silence of the night.

That silence and comfort was shattered as there came a loud series of thundering crashes followed by the crunching and thuds of tree's being broken. Something big was careening through the forest and from the sound of things, straight towards them.

Realizing the possibly fatal mistake he had made by not keeping track of himself and Kindness he turned to her and spoke in a deadly tone. "No matter what happens, I want you to stay behind me." he grabbed her roughly and held her tight. "Just stay behind me, I can handle this....please"

The pain in his pleading drove Kindness to comply with a wordless nod and a shuffle behind him, her wings held tightly to her body in fear. He hoped that should the opportunity arise she would be able to flee on wing.

Just as she was put out of view behind him a rather large shadow came out of the foliage to be illuminated in the glow of the moon. Of all the things he had prayed it wouldn't be, he had forgotten to ask it not to be this behemoth before them..

The white fangs, glistening Ruby tail, roughed fur, razor sharp claws and immense mane gave it away in an instant. It was a fully grown manticore, and by the looks of the disturbed beast they had tread into its territory. By the sound of the noises it was making and the deep grooves it was raking into the ground with its claws, there was a fight to be had.

Fluttershy let loose a scream and the manticore's eyes became pinpricks zeroing in on her figure cowering behind Discord's larger one.

Without a moments notice the manticore charged and blasted a mighty breath of fire ahead of its rush.

Though he had never seen a manticore breath fire it had been a thousand years since his last encounter with the breed, anything was possible. In a blinding flash of heat and light his forelimbs and claws were covered in a blazing veil of orange energy that flickered like fire. Fluttershy looked on in awe at the display of immense power. She had never felt a surge so strong from anyone other than the Princesses.

The blast he sent flying forward dissipated the fire breath almost instantly in a fog of grey, but the beast was still charging headlong. Mentally he thought they must have grown stronger without the presence of the princess near the Everfree.

After a moments thought he had made a decision, She was more important. "Fluttershy. Turn away."

The icy cold tone to his voice sent a very unpleasant chill down her spine. looking up into his once gentle eyes she saw fury in them. He was going to fight it to protect her. With a shriek at the charging beast as her only affirmation she turned and covered her head, sinking low to the ground in an attempt to vanish into her protectors shadow.

He quickly readied another attack and was about to unleash a powerful blast when something ticked in his heart, and at the last minute he grabbed the manticore by its upper and lower jaw. In an unbelievable show of strength that Fluttershy couldnt even comprehend, her protector was lifting the manticore into the air by its jaws, strain clearly evident in his every muscle.

He had not thought that holding the manticore in a debilitating stance would put him in harms way, until he felt a ghastly pain rip through his back to the left of his spine, the world went black for a second as he slammed the manticore into the ground on its neck. Had he been able to focus it would have broke its neck, instead the beast more or less fell onto its shoulder in a pained roar.

Of course he had forgotten about the tail of a manticore having a stinger. That was , until it pierced him.

The scream that should have come out of him was nothing more than a few gasps from his lungs attempting to suck in air to counter the shock slowly taking over his reality. The wound had a familiar burning to it, likely the natural poison the stinger held in droves.

He gained enough consciousness again to refocus and grabbed the felled beast by its midsection. Lifting it over his head he heard a new sound from his left. A sound that terrified him more than the slowly spreading ice in his veins.

Fluttershy was screaming in a way he had never heard.

Quickly throwing the beast into a large tree nearby and knocking it out he looked to her to see what was wrong. She was staring straight at him with her face devoid of color. He stumbled and attempted to follow her gaze, he felt what she must have seen.

He was bleeding from his now open wound, and it was not a slight trickle.

In a sudden flash of blinding white light the eldest princess came forward in a mighty show of lightning and power screaming something that he couldnt understand. The flashes made his already slipping consciousness churn further down the proverbial drain, the edges of his vision were splotched with the darkest ink.

Without warning Celestia made as if she was about to attack him when Fluttershy screamed at the princess and began quickly pointing and speaking, flapping her wings to land between Discord and the princess.

The ink at the edges of his vision began to run towards the center as he guessed that Fluttershy was explaining the situation.  His world swirled and came to a crashing halt as he fell straight forward, revealing his grievous wound to the now awestruck royal. Slipping from consciousness he couldnt help but feel both anger, and joy. Though mostly a sense of utter relief. It looked like a due date had been the least of his worries.

I cant believe I've been free for less than two days, not even enough time to enjoy my new life, and I get myself killed saving someone else.

Well..at least she is safe. I wish I could see the look on the princesses face again when she found out I died  saving someone. He Snickered That will give her something to think about for the rest of her life.

Damn....at least I'm not in stone. At least this time I'll...I dont know...find some peace maybe?

Too bad though....I was kinda starting to enjoy the idea of having friends.

Owh, dammit that hurt!

Owh! What the hell is that?

What? A light?

 The Princess in a barely comprehensible state of mind had listened to the element of Kindness relay how she had been saved by the manticore only thanks to her friend. He had summoned magick and could have easily defeated the beast but for some reason stopped and resorted to attempting to physically keep it away from her when it had impaled him.

It was at that moment that he fell straight onto his face and she panicked at seeing the wound. The proof that the story was true and the Element of Kindness was not under some kind of spell.

Of course...he is not at full power or his wounds would have healed. But why didnt he just use his Magick?

Quickly the princess teleported to his side and sent forth another white light. It was a pulsating kind of magick that seemed to envelope the whole of his limp body. The sight of it floating into the air sent Kindness into a whole new set of hysterics.

With another blinding flash and the three of them where back in the cottage. Fluttershy looked around for her wounded friend and saw him laying on the couch, breathing and on his back. No sign of a wound anywhere aside from the blood slowly drying in his patchwork coat.

The princess was looming over the back of the couch, reaching out and touching his forehead. Just as they connected yet another flash of light filled the room and he came too, immediately sitting straight up, and nearly headbutting the Princess.

Not even a moment passed before ,looking straight into her eyes, his pupils dilated and he released the most pain filled scream Kindness or the Princess had ever heard. It was the sound of a terrified and dying animal.

With a sudden blast he separated himself from the princess without harming her, the percussive force had been to throw himself across the room. In the space of a second he slammed into the brick fireplace and rolled onto his side as he scrambled to get up, still screaming like he was being hunted.

Just as he was about to make for the door he was dragged to the floor and held in a vice like grip that felt comfortingly familiar.

It was Fluttershy, who was now staring deep into his wild ruby eyes.

His scream began to lose pitch and waver as she stroked his head and quietly shushed him.

The princess, standing off to the side, mouth open and startled by his reaction, had come to the other side of the couch to look at where he was now laying. Comfortable in the grasp of the Element of Kindness.

The look of sheer terror in his eyes flashed before hers and she grimaced. There was silence throughout the cottage, all of the animals had heard the death thralls of what they believed a fellow creature. The cottage felt like a graveyard for more than the silence.

It was broken by an eerily firm statement from Fluttershy."You were the one who did it."

"What?" the princess asked incredulous, thinking the Element was blaming the manticore incident on her "Whatever do you mean, I came to help you my frie-"

In a flash Fluttershy had spun after setting Discord down, her wings flared open in the feral stance of a cornered pegasi "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TURNED HIM TO STONE!!!"

Every animal in the house that had moved to check on the sound froze, the princess might as well have become a statue herself as the accusation hit home.

Fluttershy had begun to cry again as she dropped the stance, turning and stroking Discords head every few seconds.

"He told you..."

"No, but you just did."

The princesses frown snapped to a smirk with the realization..she had walked right into the set up. It was very rare indeed when anyone could best her with emotions.

"Wake him up." she finally commanded.

Fluttershy looked over to her, something akin to anger in her eyes

"I would never mean to insult you Princess...but I dont think he can handle anymore from you right now."

"Wake him or I will."

Staring at the princess for what seemed an endless moment she began to slowly wake the sleeping figure in her grip.

--

As his world came back into focus everything played back like watching a movie, everything except the last scene...it played in slow motion as his eyes went wide once again and his mouth opened to let out another scream. Before he could, Fluttershy squeezed him tightly to her and whispered into his ears, "Its alright...she wont hurt you. I wont let her."

Finally his breathing began to slow as he sat up of his own accord, Fluttershy still clinging around his neck, her head buried just below his collar. He looked almost as terrified as before but there was a glint of understanding in them as he peered towards the princess

"You used your magick." she finally spoke.

The voice seemed to bring him back "To save a life!"  He barked out in anger

"DO NOT BE SHORT WITH ME!"

The scream shook both him and the quickly slumping figure clinging to his neck.

He retorted in an instant at feeling Fluttershy cringe "AND WHY THE HELL SHOULDN'T I BE YOU DAMNED WITCH!!"

The sudden outburst had not been expected, and even he recoiled from his words.

The room was immediately as silent as tomb....funny, he felt he had just dug his own grave.

"I....I did not mean what I said..."

The silence remained. None of the three knowing how to truly break it.

"You told her I punished you."

"No. she guessed. Is that why you came...."

"No."

"Thank you for saving my life. For getting her out....there...I said it..is that all you wanted?"

".......no...."

"Well then...MAYBE YOU SHOULD SPEAK UP YOUR HIGHNESS!" he had perfectly imitated the volume of her royal voice.

"ENOUGH!!!!"

Again silent as a tomb.

"This isnt getting anyone anywhere...stop being so grumpy and just...talk with her...please."

It was Fluttershy. she had whispered her plea into his neck, barely audible to anyone but him.

"Only because you asked me too....." he took a moment. Sucked in a large breathe a couple times and released slowly, calming his nerves.

"Again...I am...I shouldnt have been so hostile...but really...what do you want?"

The princess could tell he was sincerely trying on his friends behalf and that hurt her even more.

"I came because I sensed you using your power and I thought...I thought you were losing control."

His eyes narrowed "So you showed up ready to incinerate me without a moments hesitation. If Fluttershy hadnt been there...you...would have..." his eyes went wide as he realized that in her haste, she would have killed him.

His magick not being at full potential he would not have survived the combined wounds. Hell, he would have bled dry shortly after passing out. Its hard to use magick when unconscious.

"I had no intentions of ending your life...I didnt know your magick was not at its potential. I only sensed your chaotic strength, and a large pulse of it at that, and..."

"You did what you had to do...."

A strange look came into his eyes as he said those last words.

Hers became wide as she recognized the words as being the last thing she said to him as he was turned to stone right in front of her...by her magick.

"I did what I had to do...."

About to speak again she looked up to see that he was slouched over. The look on his face brought the princess to tears. In that short moment of reliving the fear of her and the pain she caused him, his facade had broken. The look of anguish and terror on his face was genuine as the tears flowed from his eyes and cascaded onto the head of the now passed out Element hanging from his neck.

"P-please....dont..."

With an insignificant burst of her magick she evaporated the tears on her face so that if he made eye contact he would not see them. the plea continued in a stutter.

"Please..d-dont turn me to s-stone again..." he began to shake and tremble as his voice became a chant.

She could tell that he was completely lost in his fear. Like a child in a never ending darkness that finally broke down and began rocking back and forth breathing out the mantra of "Mommy."

He began to rake his palms across his face in an attempt to get the images that must have been flashing across his mind out of his eyes. She watched in awestruck horror as he began to claw at his own skin, leaving a deep set grouping of five from his left temple to the bottom of his left jaw. No wonder seeing as his claws were indeed sharp when need be.

Seeing the damage he was doing to himself in his almost comatose state the princess rushed forward to break him from the stupor. Slowly looking up into her eyes she saw the child in them that she had known eons ago. Terrified and lost. She had done this to him.....but she didnt know how to fix it.

Fluttershy woke from the body tremors she could feel shaking her. Coming to she felt that they werent coming from her body and drank in the surroundings

Seeing the blood running down one side of her friends face she jumped into action and shook him hard,  partially waking him from his stupor and almost hitting the princess in the process.

In honesty, at that moment she wanted to.

"Help me get him upstairs, we have to get him to sleep this off or he could be like this for who knows how long. What did you do to him?" it was spoke professionally, Fluttershy was in her veterinary mode, the sting was no less profound to Celestia.

The princess wouldnt answer as she enveloped his body in a golden glow and levitated him up the stairs, setting him on the bed and turning to Fluttershy before she could go through the door.

"I think that tomorrow, until you have to give him to our next friend, the two of you should relax, maybe just let him sleep...I'm sorry I have robbed you of your time with him." After a moment she attempted to step forward, only to be stopped by Fluttershy's raised wings.

"I mean this to sound rude princess." she paused as the princess raised an eyebrow and listened,

"Maybe I'm not the one you should be apologizing too, you didnt hurt me."

Again, It stung. Especially coming from the the Element of Kindness, but it was true.As Fluttershy turned to go through the doorway and lay next to the still trembling form in the bed, the princess walked into her blinding orb and vanished, a thoroughly defeated look on her normally blissful features.

Upon clambering into the bed and bringing him close to her, Fluttershy was relieved he had fallen into sleep, a fitful one, but sleep none the less.  "At least we can both sleep in tonight." She thought out-loud.

As soon as she spoke he pulled out his arms and began to grasp the air in front of him like a child asking for something.

Leaning closer she let him find her with his searching palms. The second he did he wrapped his limbs around her in an urgent manner, as if she was the only piece of driftwood in the middle of a churning ocean.

Pulling her close he fell almost completely still, only his chest rising and falling and the glint of the moonlight off the drying blood on his face disturbed the now, thankfully, peaceful scene.

"At least let him sleep peacefully...please."

She left off with that silent prayer, allowing her mind to ease into the comforts of sleep.

It was by no accident that moments later Princess Luna received the urgent prayer and not Celestia. Even though she was accustomed to receiving prayers for sleep, this one was recognizable, an undertone of malice in it that was meant to say something.

Luna, being familiar with the feeling of spite, knew exactly what the subtle emotion was saying.

Celestia had wronged.

The next day the princess arrived at the little cottage not knowing what she was truly doing there.

Luckily for her when no one answered the door and she teleported inside, the two she had encountered the night before where both still dead asleep.

Taking it upon her self to feed the many animals around the cottage and rearrange the bricks in the fireplace that had been knocked out of place last night, she paced about thinking of what she would have said had either of them answered the door...especially if he did.

The image of him broken...would never leave her immortal mind.

A smile played across her lips for the span of a second as she thought about his fate.

Finally resolving to simply make them a large breakfast and visit her star pupil, she left the cottage. Before she visited the town she made sure to find the manticore and wipe its memories. No need to have a vindictive beast out looking for two important subjects.

--

Waking up they where both met with mixed smells. Fluttershy could definitely make out the smell of the animals various foods and he could clearly make out the smell of some kind of delicious breakfast wafting through the air.

Niether had opened their eyes yet, and as both of them slowly did, One wore a confused face while the other simply giggled.

He was confused, she was loving the expression.

He was confused having not been able to remember much after thinking over the painful thoughts of dealing with the princess, and now waking to find his friend lying in his arms.

She was still giggling at the expression for several minutes to follow.

Looking towards the clock Fluttershy gasped. It was almost time for her to bring him into town to the next of their friends houses.

They both became animated and went about getting ready, running downstairs to eat the lavish breakfast that was laid out over the counters of the Cottage. Who had cooked, neither of them  knew, nor did they care as they dug in with ravenous appetites.

Before long they were ready to leave and Fluttershy was leading him back into town.

"I hope we get to spend some more time together Fluttershy....last night was rough and I wish it hadn't happened."

She smiled and he knew she was genuine in her happiness "Everything happens for a reason. Everything will make more sense when you stop trying to make sense of it so much."

They both stopped and chewed over the nugget Fluttershy had just spoken.

It was a very profound thought and he was happy their time together came to an end on that note.

The next friend was waiting for them at the main arch into town with the princesses pupil next to her.

By the looks on their faces, Fluttershy and him were more than a little late.

And so, his second day came to a close.

Much like the matter of space between now and a thousand years prior, time moves quickly, even more so when one only has five days left.