Chapter 1 A New Friend
The young filly stood on the small cloud, in front of the three foals. She held the flag in her mouth and got ready to wave it. The one filly on the left was Rainbow Dash, her best friend.
Rainbow Dash was gonna fly a race with two other colts that were bullying her. She had come swooping in when they started to tease her and they challenged for a race to see who was better, and Rainbow dash, to defend Fluttershy's honor.
Fluttershy was a very weak filly. She could barely fly and was very skinny. She was always being bullied by all the foals at school from being such a disgrace to the Pegasi kind. Her wings couldn't beat fast enough to lift herself more than a couple feet in the air before falling from exhaustion.
She stood there with the flag in her mouth. The foals were crouched down, getting ready to take off when the flag waved. She felt slightly shaky, and felt a little nervous as it was time for her to wave the flag.
She waved it and before she knew it, they zoomed past her like lightning. One of the colts flew right next to her and spun her and plus with the force of a strong wind from the other racers flying by, caused her to spin around uncontrollably and tumble off the cloud. She screamed as she fell, she looked up as she did and noticed no pony could hear her through there cheers for the racers, and began to frantically flap her wings and tried as hard as she could to fly.
No matter what she tried, she wasn't strong enough and to another pony, she looked like she was barely trying. She screamed at the top of her lungs, but still no pony heard her. She began to scream and wave her hooves around frantically as she was getting closer, and closer to the ground.
She shut her eyes tightly as she felt tears form in them. She knew that she was going to die that day and no pony was going to save her. But just as she was about to hit the ground, she landed on something...soft and light?
She opened her eyes and looked down and noticed she was moving. She thought maybe Rainbow Dash or some pony saved her, but it wasn't a pony at all. It was the most beautiful thing she had every seen in her life. It was a giant group of butterfly's flying through a small forest.
She was so light that the butterfly's were able to carry her along without any struggle. She smiled as she looked at the beautiful sight before her. She didn't know what it was, but she felt happy all the sudden and looked around her.
She didn't know that the lower land was so beautiful. She thought Cloudstale was pretty too, but it didn't look as cheerful and relaxing as this place. She suddenly felt so light on her hooves and started to hover over the butterfly's.
She was only able to hover since her wings were strained from trying so hard to flap as the wind had smacked across her delicate, small wings. She felt so happy as she looked around at the sight before her, she all the sudden started to sing.
'What is this place, Filled with so many wonders'
'Casting it's spell, that I am now wonder'
She flew away from the bunnies as she spotted a few creatures and continued to sing.
'Squirrels in the trees, and the cute, little bunnies'
'Birds flying free, and bees with there honey! Honey!'
She slowly floated down and all sorts of animals started gathering around at the sound of an angels voice. Her voice was not only heard by the animals. But someone else heard it too.
In and old, abandoned burrow that used to have a family of bunnies, a young, small creature lay awake. A tear fell down his cheek as he thought. He was never accepted by the ponies.
Everypony shunned him, and screamed at the sight of him, fear that he would hurt them with his strange appearance. All the animals would laugh at him or scurry away in fear, along with any fillies or colts he came across. This creature also had very powerful magic. He can make anything he wants appear out of thin air, although he has a very hard time controlling it and getting it to do what he wants, which what also caused the ponies to fear him so much.
Most ponies feared him for that. Everypony called him a 'Monster' or a 'Freak' when they saw him. He didn't understand why they had to be so rude and say such nasty cruel things. He had been hunted down by ponies, and he had been caught once and was tortured by carnival ponies that kept him in a cage and put him on display for all to see.
He always cried himself to sleep every night, wishing that he could be excepted and loved by these ponies instead of hated and feared. Why couldn't anyone accept him? Why did he have to be so different? He had escaped the place when the stallions came in one day for more beating. He had waited by the door, and when it opened he ran out as fast as he could.
It took him a while and had almost been caught several times. That all happened three weeks ago...Till then, he stayed in this abandoned burrow. He never left it, never at all.
He stayed there hidden from all the ponies and animals. When the animals tried to enter, all he had to do was shoot a bit of magic at the entrance and they would scurry away in fear. He never ate or drank.
He didn't really need to though. His magic seemed to take care of him and he didn't need to worry about getting dehydrated or starve. But he did feel the need to eat and drink. He laid on the cold dirt all day long in darkness.
He curled into a ball and he shut his eyes tightly as tears began to flow out of them. He felt so lonely and rejected. No one excepted him. He wished sometimes that his magic would stop taking care of him so he could waist away and finally be rid of his misery.
He didn't know where he came from. He didn't know if he had any parents. He didn't know what he was except what his type was called and his name. He just woke up in the middle of nowhere, he had no family or anyone around to help him.
He had often wondered why he was alone, and why he had no mom, dad, or the siblings he used to see and watch. He wondered if maybe he did have a mom and dad, but lost them somehow.....maybe they were somewhere out there. He had tried searching for them if he had any, but he gave up when he searched pretty much everywhere, he couldn't even remember where he looked either.
The young Draconequus sighed quietly and tried to drift off to sleep when a soft, sweet sound filled the burrow and his ear twitched up suddenly at the sound. He lifted his head and looked over at the entrance. Curiosity got the better of him and he got up and started to walk over to the entrance on all fours.
He crouched down as he came to the hole of the entrance and peeked out slightly. The voice became louder and it seemed to charm him. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard and he felt something drawing him to it. Without thinking, he walked out of the burrow for the first time in a few weeks.
He began to search through the forest for the source of the voice. He completely forgot that he was now out in the open for animals and possibly ponies to see. He went behind a bush and hopped onto a flat rock and his eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly in awe at the sight that greeted him.
It was a yellow, young filly pegasus, with long beautiful pink hair. She sang with so much passion and animals of all types were gathering around her. He laid down on the rock and relaxed as he listened to the enchanting filly's voice.
She finished her last long note as she landed on the ground. The animals were still gathered around her. The creature sighed quietly as the melody stopped. Discord tilted his head in curiosity at the little filly, she looked slightly different then any of the other ponies he had seen. She was just a pegasus but she looked skinnier than any of the others he had seen, and also very fragile and small.
All the sudden Discord jumped in fright as a giant rainbow explosion burst through the sky. He tried to jump off the rock but his goat hoof got stuck in a root, causing him to stumble and trip into a thick, large bush.
Fluttershy jumped and looked up at the giant rainbow that blasted across the sky. All the animals started to scamper away in fear of the loud booming noise. She was slightly scared as herself and her heart pounded hard against her chest from the jump, but there wasn't any sign of danger.
She smiled after a moment of caution and flew over to a bush where a few bunnies were cuddled up together, shaking and holding each other in fear.
She hushed them and whispered sweetly. "It's ok..." The bunnies felt a feeling of reassurance from her sweet, calming voice, and followed her out from the bush.
She then flew to a tree hole where some squirrels where, knocking on the outside, and stuck her head in. "You can come out..." The squirrels cautiously peeked out and hopped out of the tree.
She went to a pond and stuck her head in the water with a smile and said. "Everything's ok...." And some frogs swam to the top.
She flew up, her wings were burning from over use and she was struggling to get to the clouds, but she pushed herself anyways. Finally she got to a cloud where a few birds were hiding.
"Theres nothing to be afraid of..."
The birds flew out and flew down with her. She slowly glided gracefully to the ground, doing one small spin before laying on the grass, folding her legs in. Just then, a small white flash went over her flank and three pink butterfly's with teal bodies appeared on it.
She didn't notice the white flash since she was paying attention to all the animals. There was even a bear there, though she wasn't afraid. It seemed she could talk to animals, and it seemed like they trusted her.
She giggled as a bee landed on her nose and fluttered around. She took in a long, deep, relaxing breath. She closed her eyes for a second, then she heard the sound of a bush rustling.
She turned her head over to the big bush with thick roots popping out of the ground here and there. She thought maybe there was an animal still hiding, or an animal was stuck and got up and started to walk over to the large bush. She leaped onto a rock and looked into the bush, but it was too thick to see anything inside.
"Hello....come out little guy...there's nothing to be afraid of..I promise everything's ok.." She purred softly, trying to encourage whatever was inside to come out.
Discord suddenly felt panic when he heard the soft and light angelic voice right next to him. He put his ears back and looked back at his stuck goat hoof and gritted his teeth and tried to pull it out faster so he could get away before she or the animals saw him. He couldn't teleport since he hadn't mastered his magic yet, he was still learning to control it and could only summon basic, simple foods and drinks.
He heard her jump off the rock and Fluttershy started to enter the large bush. He started to panic and looked in front of him as leaves and twigs started to part and then back to his leg and pulled harder, grunting quietly.
Fluttershy tried to get into the bush but it was too thick, and the twigs inside seemed to poke her face and fur. She sat down and wondered how to get the poor creature out, he must be stuck. She looked up as a shadow came over her, and the bear that was laying down next to her earlier growled lightly and she moved out of the way.
The other animals started to come over and help break open the bush. Discord tried his best to free his hoof, but he couldn't get it out, no matter what he did, and his leg was slightly twisted so it hurt to try. He gasped lightly as the front of the bush was ripped open and light shown threw the bush and on his face.
He moved as much as he could behind the base of the bush and laid his ears back. He jumped slightly as he heard the ponies voice again.
"Hello?...please come out...no one will hurt you...right guys?"
The animals made chitters, tweets, and groans of agreement in reply. Fluttershy frowned when she didn't get an answer. She started to walk into the bush and placed a hoof onto the middle base of the bush and peeked over and noticed a goat leg stuck in a root.
She figured it was a goat since that's what the leg looked like. She had seen many animals in her books she got from the library, so she knew what leg it was. She also really loved animals, so it was natural for her to know.
"Oh you poor thing, you got your leg stuck...." She said as she started to move forward, around the bush base.
Discord tried to scramble away in panic as her shadow came closer and closer. He yelped as he pulled his leg too hard and he shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth in pain and took in a sharp breath. Discords eyes widened as she was now one step from being able to see him.
Fluttershy walked around, expecting to see a little innocent baby goat, but what she saw was nothing like a goat. She gasped and her eyes widened in surprise and shock, and she placed her hooves on her mouth. Discords ears laid back and he looked away from her, closing his eyes, waiting for the scream that never came.
Fluttershy was shocked, but not afraid. He was very strange looking...but in a good way. He had a deer horn, and antelope horn, a head of a pony, a paw, and eagle claw, a goat leg, and what looked like a dragon leg? he had one bat wing and one that looked like an ordinary pegasus wing.
His body looked kinda like a snake and a dragon with his long body. He slightly opened his eyes and she tilted her head as she looked at his red and yellow eyes that glowed slightly. She didn't feel scared of him, and that surprised Discord greatly.
"What are you?" She asked curiously, and sweetly.
Discord eyes opened all the way and he looked at her confused. Why wasn't she screaming? why wasn't she running or fainting at the sight of him? Why was she talking sweetly and not screaming out in anger or fear?
He didn't answer and just looked away with his head down, looking at the ground. She took a cautious step forward and Discord noticeably flinched and she hushed him softly.
"It's ok...I won't hurt you...your going to be just fine..."
Discord's ears perked up and he looked at her again surprised. He still didn't say anything and his heart started to pound as she was now right next to him. He flinched and quickly looked away again as she raised a hoof.
He closed his eyes tightly once again and fear gripped his heart pounding heart. He was scared that she was going to strike him, after all that's what every pony did that got close to him.
His eyes shot open as her hoof touched his black mane and she began to stroked it while looking at him, smiling kindly and tilting her head slightly. He kept his head to the side as he looked at her and then her hoof which stroked him.
"Don't be scared....I'm not going to hurt you....I promise...you'll be just fine..." She whispered again with a caring smile.
She removed her hoof from his mane and patted his back before turning and going to his caught goat leg. He just watched her as she inspected it, leaning down and looking where it was stuck and tried to figure out how to get him out, looking at it in different angles to find a way she could slip him out. He slightly kicked his goat leg when her small hoof reached and touched it.
She was touching him so softly that he could barely feel her hoof. She tried pulling it but she wasn't strong enough to snap it and grunted as she tried. She sighed and stood back up and looked behind her.
"Um...Mister bear? Could you help me?...if that's okay?..."
The bear growled and smiled at the pegasus before pushing the bush more apart and crawling on his stomach over to her. He had a bit of trouble from his size but he was able to get close enough to help her.
"Could you please try and snap this root without hurting this poor fella? I can't find a way to get him out."
The bear growled again as he reached over to the root and grabbed it firmly. Discord started to panic slightly as the bear touched his leg and his breathing became rapid. His muscles tensed up and he was looking over at his leg and Fluttershy looked over and could clearly see the fear in his eyes.
She smiled and pet his leg while she looked at him. "It's okay. This won't hurt. Just try an hold still for me okay?."
Discord felt slightly calmer but still looked at his leg and then the bear with fear. The bear then tugged on the root and it snapped. Discord yelped and jerked his leg out and quickly scrabbled up into the corner he was in.
He shut his eyes tightly and a tear fell down his cheek as he sat on his haunches. Fluttershy smiled and looked at him, but frowned when she saw the tear.
"Hey..." She whispered in a worried and calm voice a she walked over to him.
She placed a hoof on his shoulder and he flinched slightly. "Please don't be scared....I'm your friend...I won't hurt you, just like I said....I promise..."
His ears perked up and he looked at her completely shocked. He then felt confused and felt the courage to speak.
"W-we're friends?..." He whispered barely.
Fluttershy perked up and smile brightly at him. He could talk and she was glad she found another friend.
"Well of course!" She said.
Discord looked down and his heart seemed to warm up. "Well...I've...never really...."
He looked back up at her and another tear fell down. "Had a friend before...."
She smiled even brighter and scooted closer, sitting on her haunches, and grabbing his lion paw across from his eagle one. His ears fell back and he looked down at the paw she so willingly touched.
"Well now you do...."
He felt a slight smile pull at his lips and pulled his paw away, placing it on his chest and turning his head away, his ears still against his head while he peeked at her from the corner of his eye as she continued to smile at him.
"What's your name?...."
He looked away and circled the ground with one of his talons. "D-Discord.....my name is...Discord...."
"My names Fluttershy..." She said the last part quietly and shyly, but loud enough for him to hear her clearly.
He turned his head and looked at her and smiled with a small hint of sadness. a friend?...I'm her....friend?....why is she being so kind to me?...why does she want to be friends with...a....a monster... He thought to himself.
"That's a pretty name...Fluttershy..."
She blushed slightly and hid behind her mane with a slight giggle. "Um...thank you..." She replied shyly.
She looked up at him and lifted her head tilting it. "What are you doing out here? And where are your parents?"
Discord immediately looked sad and he looked away. "I....I....I don't...." He closed his eyes and sighed.
Fluttershy seemed to get what he was saying and her ears fell back and she looked sadly at him.
"Oh-I-I'm so sorry....I didn't mean to-"
"No it's okay....." He mumbled, still looking to the ground.
"So...do you have any other family?"
Thats when Discord felt the tears blur his vision and he shut his eyes tighter as a tear snuck out and fell to the ground.
".....no.....I.....don't have any....family...."
Fluttershy began to feel terrible for bringing up the subject of his family. He was all by himself and was just a colt.
"Your all alone..." She whispered sympathetically.
He wiped his eyes with a talon and his head turned towards her and he nodded.
"I'm so sorry....that's...that's just terrible...you don't even have a home do you?"
He closed his eyes, his ears still laid back and he sighed. "....no...."
Fluttershy felt deep pain at the thought of having no friends, no family, and no home. It sounded simply lonely and it made her feel terribly sad. She then thought for a moment and smiled at him.
"Well...I'll be your friend. And I won't ever leave you. You don't need to be alone anymore."
He looked at her slightly surprised. She giggled and grabbed the hand in front of her, his claw and smiled brightly. "Do you...do you...want to come home with me?" She asked shyly.
He quickly looked around the bush they were in and then shook his head. "No....I...I can't....you see...ponies they...they don't like me...."
She frowned and let go of his claw and tilted her head. "Why?...why don't they like you?...and why did you act so scarred around me?"
He looked at her, "well..." He glanced down at his body and sighed. "I guess just....me...no pony has ever accepted me...the animals laugh...ponies have always been cruel to me....they....hurt me and...t-tortured me...because they think I'm, evil...they think I'm a monster...and I am..." The last part he rasped and another tear ran down his face.
She teared up a little and grabbed his face with both hooves and he jumped slightly. "Hey now, it's okay....I don't think your evil, or a monster...your just an innocent young um..."
"Creature?...." He mumbled with a slight hint of anger.
"...I know your not a monster, when I saw you I was a little shocked. But after helping you, I can tell you have a good heart."
"How?" He grumbled.
She giggled. "Well, if you were a monster you would have chased me down and tried to eat me. I don't think you would hurt anyone. Um...forgive me for asking, but....what species are you exactly?"
He smile slightly and replied. "I'm a draconequus."
She let go of his face, the smile remaining on her face. "That's an interesting name for a species...I like it..."
He smiled and she brightened that she made him smile. She was about to say something when her stomach growled and she looked away shyly. "Oops..."
"Your hungry?"
She blushed and cleared her throat, still looking away. "I...didn't exactly have lunch today..."
Discord thought about offering to summon some food, but he didn't want to scare his new friend off. She was his first friend, and his magic has always scared ponies away, so he just left it alone, he couldn't lose her after he had just gained his first friend. Though he didn't want to leave her hungry.
"Um...do you...want me to get you something to eat?"
She turned he head to him. "You have food?"
He looked away and rubbed his eagle arm nervously. "Kind of...I don't have any food...and I don't really need any...but I can...make food out of my magic..."
He looked at her to see her reaction, and it seemed this filly continued to amaze him.
"You have magic?...that's nice. I've always thought magic was pretty neat. But, how are you gonna get food with magic? I didn't know there was spells for that...at least...that's what I've heard and read."
"I...make it appear out of thin air....my magic isn't like ponies..." He chuckled slightly.
"Well...um...you wanna show me?....um...if you want to that is."
His eyes widened but he lifted his head up all the way and smiled before nodding slowly. He raised his talons and closed his eyes, focusing before snapping his fingers together and a small cotton candy cloud appeared, floating in between them.
Fluttershy stood there shocked and amazed. She never saw a creature like Discord, and he was very interesting. She was glad to make another friend...and a very interesting one too.
Fluttershy only had Rainbow Dash as a friend. All the other ponies didn't like her and would push her around, and make fun of her. Her parents disapproved of her and thought of her as a complete disgrace to their family name and reputation of good offspring.
She was pretty lonely, so she knew how he felt, but she knew he was even lonelier since he had no family, friends, or even a home to stay.
She smiled after a second and gaped at the cloud. "Wow...that's amazing."
Discord was curious to her calm reaction, and was even more surprised at each thing she did. She didn't fear him, or yell at him, or call him a monster. She immediately showed him kindness and became his friend like he was just a regular pony.
She lifted her hoof and stroked it down the cloud, some cotton candy smeared onto her hoof and she gently licked it and her eyes widened slightly.
"It's good!" She grinned.
"Yes it is...it's my favorite, second to chocolate milk that is." He chuckled softly.
Discord realized that this was the first friendly conversation he had with a pony. The first one he talked with as a friend.
"I love chocolate. Never had chocolate milk before though."
He tilted his head and narrowed his eye brows. "Really?"
"Yes. I have only had a couple of simple chocolate bars once."
"Would you like to have some...oh wait...I might spoil your dinner by doing that..."
"It's okay! You can just make something for me and then I'll have the chocolate milk with it....oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to demand you to do that!"
He smiled at her, she was cute when she did that, thinking she was being rude or demanding when she wasn't being anything but that, and today was the first time he had really smiled, joy radiating from him. From what he could remember, all his life he has met nothing but fear, hatred, loneliness, and sadness.
"It's really no problem. What would you like. I'll try to make it for you."
She put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment before answering. "How about a cucumber sandwich? I love those!...oh...if you can."
He looked to the ground in thought while biting his lip then nodded. "I guess I can try."
He then got up on all fours and closed his eyes in deep concentration. He then sat down and snapped his fingers. In a white flash, a plate with two halves of a cucumber sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk appeared in front of Fluttershy.
"You did it!" She said as she looked at the food in front of her in awe.
Discord smiled then frowned. "Why aren't you afraid of my magic?"
She looked at him as she was picking up a half of the sandwich in her left hoof. "What do you mean?" She asked confused.
"Well...every pony or animal who has seen my magic has ran away in fear....and you act like it's nothing."
She smiled at him. "Well that's because I know you wouldn't hurt me."
"But you just met me. How can you be so sure that I won't?"
"Because your my friend. And a friend would never hurt another one of there friends." She smiled as she took a bite of the sandwich.
Discord frowned at her and watched as she chewed her food.
"Mmmm" she sighed as she slowly chewed it. "This is delicious! This is the best cucumber sandwich I've ever tasted! Thank you Discord."
"No problem....it was nothing really." He grinned as he twiddled a small pebble between his talons.
Fluttershy, after a little while, finished her sandwich and thanked Discord again. She grabbed the cup of chocolate milk and got ready to take a sip.
She lifted it to her lips and let it sit in her mouth for a second to taste all of the flavor. She moaned sweetly and giggled. "Wow...this is good! It's really sweet and...chocolatey!"
"Yeah it is...I only ever eat chocolate milk or cotton candy."
She looked at him strangely and tilted her head. "Won't that give you a terrible tummy ache?" She said with slight worry.
He shrugged. "I never do. I think it's because of my magic."
She nodded her head and drunk down the rest of it. Discord snapped his fingers and the cup, and plate disappeared.
Fluttershy sat up and looked outside. "It's getting late..."
is she gonna leave me? Discord thought with worry. He didn't want her to go. She made him feel not so lonely and it was nice to have company with his first friend
"Are you gonna leave?"
She looked back at her wings and sighed. "I don't think I can. I strained my wings when I fell earlier."
Discord got up and looked at her worried. "You fell? How could you have fallen if your a pegasus?"
Fluttershy lowered her head and closed her eyes and said sadly. "I'm a very weak flyer. My wings can barely flap fast enough to create even the slightest amount of air. I can hover but I can't fly fast at all. I'm bullied and my parents think I'm a disgrace to the Pegasi race."
Discord looked at her with understanding. She was also being rejected. She was lonely as well.
"So your...all alone?"
"No...but...my parents don't really care for me and all the kids at school make fun of me...I only have one friend named Rainbow Dash. She is the fastest flyer I have ever seen!" She said the last part with a big smile.
Discord nodded. "Fluttershy, how did you end up down here anyway?"
Flutterhy turned to him and told him about how she was being bullied and Rainbow Dash came I to defend her and challenged the bullies to a race and how she was the flag carrier and she fell when one pushed her and the force of there wing power caused her to fall off the cloud and down here.
Discord was about to ask something else when Fluttershy yawned.
"I think I can go back tomorrow. My mom and dad won't care cause they barely even notice when I come home, and my wings are too tired to fly anymore today."
"Where will you sleep?"
She looked around the inside of the bush and shrugged. "I guess in here would be fine."
Discord and Fluttershy noticed that all the animals had left and went back home to sleep. The sun was almost behind the mountain completely.
Fluttershy went to the middle and curled up in a circle. "I guess I'll sleep here for the night.
She shivered as a breeze started to blow from outside the bush. Discord smiled and came over to her cautiously. He was now right next to her and he looked away with his ears back. He didn't know what made him want to do this.
"Do you need help getting warm?"
She smiled and looked away shyly. "I am pretty cold...you can lay here with me...if...if that's what....you want." She said with a slight blush.
He nodded and slowly walked behind her and laid down, curling around her. Fluttershy sighed as his long snake body rapped around her body and she immediately felt warmer from his radiating body heat. She soon started to fall asleep and mumbled something before she fell completely asleep.
"Goodnight....Discord..."
Discord's ears perked up and he lifted his head and smiled down at the sleeping filly next to him. He then frowned before laying his head back down and whispering back.
"Goodnight.....Fluttershy."
After he was sure she was asleep, he lifted his head again and his eyes teared up. The tears started to break free like a water fall and he had to hold back sobs. He then laid his head back down after taking a couple deep breaths.
He had been holding his tears in most of the time she was awake. He wanted so badly for ponies to except him. When somepony did, it hurt, but felt nice at the same time.
He had a friend. He did think he was a monster from a past mistake. His magic, it could easy hurt someone if he was scared....or angry.
He got scared and hurt somepony a long while back, and he thought since then, he was a monster. He thought he had killed them, but he left right when the pony had woken up. That's when ponies started to hunt him down.
Discord curled closer next to the filly who was shivering slightly. Without thinking he nuzzled her mane and hugged her protectively.
"....a friend...." He whispered as one more tear fell down his wet cheeks as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, a smile gracing his features.
