It was cold. Very cold, oddly enough, for a mid-summers afternoon, and every pony knew it. The light from the sky was dim, due to the storm clouds that continued to hang over the many citizens that were striving to enjoy what was supposed to be a summer.
The weather pegusi tried with their might ever since the end of winter wrap up to rid the skies of the gloomy, yet sinister, cumulonimbi. These puff balls seemed to be the same texture as cotton candy with a first look, but, every pony learned the hard way that the clouds had the thickness of wet cement. Even though they tried and succeeded, at times, to break down the clouds as fast as their strong wings and kicking hooves could manage, the clouds would appear within the next hour as though they never left.
This was odd enough, but besides the weather, late spring seemed to start a disaster; for the harvest hasn't been doing so hot either, no matter what the crop was. It's as if the Earth Ponies were being ransacked, by the weather, for one, and also the spoilage of the nutrients in the soil that should have been replenished before planting, and most of the time it should have kept it's freshness from the previous years. Everypony just thought, at first, that it was just a bad year, with the weather and harvest, but nothing prepared them for what was about to happen when summer came.
It seemed like the magic by the Unicorns, the Princesses included, seemed to be doing strange things that effected the lives of everypony. Whether it be labor, studies, or just plain using magic, they could not, or cannot, in any way, shape, or form seem to control the certain spells in the right way, even though it was apparent that they could still cast those spells. These seemed to start out subtly at first, thinking it was just a hiccup with fate, but after things start to get out of hand, it becomes apparent in Equestria, and the rest of the world, with similar mishaps, that something's not right; as though the earth itself was suffering. It was strange to everypony, except for a certain few, because everything was going according to plan.
In a dark cave, deep in Equestria, were a few ponies, that weren't actually ponies, but we're actually like bugs.
Their eyes, which had no opals, could see almost in every direction, like flies, and see any type of movement without missing a beat, yet the color was a solid artic blue; their manes consisted of about the same kind of hue as the eyes, but with a hint of grey, no doubt covered in dry, bug-like mucus; it seemed peculiar, but mainly disgusting; their backs consisted of a certain greenish-emerald colored shell, like a beetle, that brought a little bit of complexion to their dark sea-blue colored bodies, but it didn't mean that they were not terrifying, especially up close.
Their bodies, as said before, were of the form of ponies, but they were also part bug. They had horns like Unicorns, but curved, jagged, and sharp at the point, giving them the ability to cast spells and do magic; wings, same color as their shells, but, unlike the pegusi, were more like a dragon flies wing shape, which, along with having holes in their hind legs, gave them sufficient aerodynamics for faster flying, even with having greater agility, at times, than the Wonderbolts. Let's not also forget how strong they are, especially with hoof-to-hoof combat, making even the heavy-weights of wrestling and other physical sports in the Equestrian Games seem like child’s play. If you crossed them just right, they could have the strength at times to toss ursai minors around like little rag dolls, as though they are being flung around and torn apart by a dogs fury.
Standing at the head of the cave were at least three of these pony-like creatures. They were on lookout, guarding the entrance, keeping their eyes out for any pony that decides to come moseying along and possibly seeing ‘too much.’
The very terrifying nature of these creatures wasn't just their strength, agility, or even their appearance, even though it does cause your heart to sink and skin to crawl. It's what they do that causes eveypony to not trust one another from time to time. Why not, you ask? Because, they can change their form.
Changelings. They can take the form of any creature almost, and pass as a certain loved one. Seems terrifying to think about, but that's not even half of it.
Deep within the cave, there was another one of these changelings, but this particular one has moderate harlequin eyes, with dark-greyish opals; the mane of this one was long, and a dark cerulean, usually flowing graciously down upon its shoulders, though lately it's been knotted, no doubt through stress and what seems like sleepless nights that it showed on its face. This one was taller than the other changelings, not to mention different, as though it was a very important specimen.
"We've done as you've instructed, my Lord," came an eerily wheeze of a female voice from this specific changeling. "What more is there that must be done in order to further the plan? Our time to strike is right in front of our muzzles, and it seems that we are just sitting on our hooves and letting it slip away! When do we strike!?"
Her raised and enraged voice was soon quelled by the continued silence of a certain being whom she was speaking to. Its back was facing her, but she knew that it was more than apparent that the form was annoyed by her outburst of impatience about the situation at hand. Though, wanting to retaliate and smash her like a… you know, he digressed and turned slightly to meet her gaze with his peripheral.
"My, my, Chrysalis," he chortled evilly, yet sarcastically with his horrifying, but very charming British accent. "I didn't realize you could be so... passionate about these upcoming events. I figured, you, needing the love-filled energy from other creatures in order to survive, was due to the fact that you don't have a heart… or have I been mistaken?"
Though she was angry by her master’s words, Chrysalis new not to cross him, seeing that he was powerful and, also, because he spoke the truth. These heartless excuses for creatures are as intriguing, as they are terrifying, because they don’t feed off blood or flesh, or of anything else living, but they feed off of the energy of love. That's why they were so feared by everypony. Still, the fact that Chrysalis was terrified of this creature in front of her made even herself cringe.
"Many apologies, my Lord." Chrysalis exclaimed softly, almost in a whisper, as she made an attempted bow, almost touching her face to the ground, in this certain forces direction.
"NEVER! BE! SORRY!!!" He bellowed, causing both the changeling and the cave to tremble, almost to think that the cave was going to collapse. Chrysalis then decided, and was compelled, to grovel, causing herself to become dirty from the ground below her. Then, after a few seconds, she nervously lifted her head to behold the being.
It was a six foot purple cloud, almost, and that it seemed to be jumbling around in the air like a roaring bon fire, but without any noise. It also seemed to have an outline of black, like dark magic, maybe even the darkest of magic. Hovering within the center of this fire cloud seemed to be a small creature, like a rodent of some kind, but it was not recognizable because of this dark aura form, which made it the more terrifying, especially since it was emanating from the tiny animal. Still facing towards to back of the cave, he continued in a soft tone.
"I understand your concern for not wanting to miss the deadline, but we mustn't continue forward until the time is right." He said, as Chrysalis was slowly rising from the ground to stand. He continued, "If we were to attack any time before, and even within the twenty-four to seventy-two hour window after the United Nations gathering at the Canterlot Palace, all the nations, not just Equestria, would be right on their toes, and have a counterstrike ready."
Chrysalis new this, and he was right. Everything must be perfect, but the thoughts of what was going to transpire in the coming weeks were nerve racking. Terrifying! Even for her as a heartless changeling, who couldn’t feel these emotions; but, ever since she has been in the presence of this being, he seemed to know how to get to her kind, possibly through a spell or magic charm that he has.
"Everything will go according to plan, as you have said before in our past meetings. As such, we will continue to do what you have instructed us, my Lord." She said with a bow, and continued, "But if you need assistance with retrieving the others from Tartarus...?"
"No, you’re Majesty." He said, the form moved while his small head turned toward her, his left eye, which was solid black, finding her gaze. "Just do what you have been told, and everything will fall into place." He then turned back, facing away from the queen.
"As... As you wish." She nervously concluded, then turned towards the exit.
"Queen Chrysalis?" He said, without moving, but causing the queen of the Changelings to freeze in her tracks.
"Y-yes, my Lord?" Her voice, cracking slightly with fear. What he mentioned to her next brought tears of despair to her eyes, along with a feeling of dread that only those from the deepest pit of Tartarus know, but could not explain what it felt like.
"If you do anything, even the slightest, that goes contrary to what must be done," he said with the tiniest bit of malice in his voice, which seemed like the most evil she's felt in the past millennia. His voice deepened. "There will be more that you will lose besides the hearts that I will bestow upon you and your kingdom." His demeanor grew more with insidiousness, and Chrysalis became even more overcome with the feeling of cruelty coming from him. "Do you understand?"
Chrysalis felt weak at his evil, which caused her to have thoughts about ending her own existence. But, she knew she couldn’t back out, she was in too deep; he was her hives last chance.
"Yes, my Lord." She uttered, barely above a whisper. "I understand."
She then slowly sauntered out of the cave, meeting with the best of her soldiers. They saw the tears streaming down her cheek and sensed the fear within her, which caused them to not just not blame her, but have more fear, similar to excruciating pain, within themselves. With a look from their queen, they took off into the late afternoon sky, which, at this point, seemed more like late evening. As they flew back to their hive, Chrysalis kept wondering what she got herself into.
After the Queen and her Guards left, the being caused the dark magic too slowly, but steadily, flow back into his small body through his pores, as he slowly floated to the ground, touching it with his long, yet tiny feet. He then hopped out of the cave with a certain stride that would make one think that he wasn’t on time for a previous engagement. As he hopped, avoiding trees and other creatures, he soon was beyond the Everfree Forest line. Many would never have suspected this kind of power from a little bunny rabbit, especially one that was the very same pet and friend of a certain animal loving, pink haired, yellow pegusi, whom lives in a humble cottage on the outskirts of a very well-known little town. Namely, Ponyville.
Chapter One - Regrets and Loneliness
The days felt like weeks, and weeks like years. It would always seem when a pony loses a loved one or a close friend, they mourn their loss; sometimes short, and other times… just about endless. It is a misfortune to see them so down in the abyss of depression, but sometimes, you can’t just simply help them up and out of it at that moment, and make them put on square shoulders. You just simply have to wait until the time is right.
A particular pegasus was fighting this particular battle, and was feeling the very pains that accompany it. Numb, broken, uncertain if she wanted to continue her life. She had been through so much in the past couple years that it seemed all the better to just let it all go, let her life pass on; hopefully, of course, without attracting any ponies attention, but she knew that’d be futile, especially with her five best friends. Thus, like every day before, started the daily battle within her, ever since she lost... Him.
“What’s the point?” Came an assertive thought within this gentle ponies mind. “You know they’d be better off without you. Just do it! Get it over with! Twilight and the girls won’t miss you, and you know that’s the truth! Why do you have to torture yourself like this?!”
The pony didn’t flinch while these thoughts were parading through her mind. She just continued to lay on her stomach on the day bed, and stare blankly down at the cushion beneath her. She always had a section of her smooth, pink hair draping over her right eye and would usually move it away to watch what she was doing through her everyday activities, but, since she was just lying there staring, she could care less.
“You know I can’t abandon my friends so shamefully; so selfishly!” She retorted back to that mean pony within, half convinced of what she said to herself. She wasn't sure anymore about anything.
“You know what I think?” Came the bully’s voice, this time with anger and disgust. “You are just too pathetic. You think you can just move forward and go about your life? You know this is hard, harder than HELL!!! You can’t feel anything anymore! Pain, Happiness; you’re basically a clump of rocks that just sits there and mopes.”
“It’s just not that simple.” She sighed, with tears welling up. “I can’t just give up. I have to fight.”
“Oh my Celestia, you’ve been saying that for the past couple of years! Just give it up already! You have no reason to live, ever since HE kicked the bucket!” This caused the tears to stream down her face, and she started to whimper out sobs. “See! You CAN’T do this anymore!”
She couldn’t hold herself anymore; the pegasus sunk her tear-filled face into the cushion of the couch, and wept. She knew there wasn’t that much time until she came to her decision, whether to fight, or, in a sense, “take flight.” She did all she could to make things better for herself, her friends, and for her animals. She also has all she could ever ask for; a home, plenty of food, loving friends; but, she still didn’t want to continue. She felt weak, down... alone.
“Flu… shy…” She stopped, her ears and head perking upward quickly, her tear stained eyes and face wide with confusion and surprise. She thought she heard somepony silently calling for her by name, but, as she continued to listen, she heard nothing but the quietness of her house.
“Fluttershy…” She froze, realizing that someone was trying to speak with her. It was a faint, hoarse whisper, but it was clear as day that time. “Don’t… so down… for… love… forever…” It was as though the voice was being carried by the wind. She tried to make out the voices words, but couldn’t, for it was going in and out. Just as sudden as this voice came, there was a knock at the front door, causing the pegasus to fall off the couch in surprise.
She quickly got up and wiped her face from all the tears that were shed, ruffled around with her hair to make it look decent, and double-checked in the mirror. She noticed for a moment how she looked, and knew that she would probably be seen as different towards her guests now than she did… wow; months ago? She didn’t hear another knock, of which she knew exactly who was at the door.
She opened it up, expecting to see only one of her pony friends, but it ended up being not just one, but three.
“Hey Fluttershy!” They all exclaimed at once. The one in the middle was the one that knocked; a beautiful unicorn mare with her coat being a pure ivory color, her mane and tail were both like a violet ribbon, of which had been unwound from the roll from whence they came, which gave it a beautiful style and such that it suited this creature of magnificent design.
The other two were also Fluttershy’s best of friends. The one on the right of Rarity was a pegasus, cyan in color and a rainbow colored mane and tail. The one on the left was a pink coated earth pony, with an even darker pink for her mane and tail. If Fluttershy was worried about looking presentable, then you’d think that this pink pony should actually get a makeover, because her mane stuck up everywhere like cotton candy. “Oh no…” Fluttershy thought when the thought of cotton candy came to her mind. She had to do what she could to prevent the tears from brimming to the surface again.
“Hey girls.” Fluttershy said, putting on a fake smile and fighting back tears. “Please come in.”
They entered her home, and looked around. She could tell that by the little “huffs and puffs” coming from Rarity that she was a bit appalled by how untidy the place was. Fluttershy did her best to keep up with her house and tidying up, but with her being sidetracked with all these different thoughts, she really just didn’t want to. Who would being in her situation anyway?
Fluttershy closed the door and was still facing it, not wanting to look at her friends; not at that moment anyway. There was silence that filled the room, and everypony started to feel uneasy. Fluttershy, still facing away from her visiting friends and looking down with a blank expression, could feel their eyes penetrate through her, as though they wanted to speak to her about something important. She knew what they were going to do, but she didn’t want to be the one to break the ice first.
“So… Fluttershy.” She heard the cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash, finally cut through the quiet of the musty living room, with her Tomcolt-like, raspy voice. “How’s it been going?”
No answer.
“We know that you don’t like to have visitors come to you unannounced, but we wanted to stop by to see how you were doing and see if you…” Rarity said with her elegant British, yet small town accent; trailing off, because it didn’t seem like Fluttershy was listening, but she still continued. “Well… we wanted to see if you’d like to come with us, Twilight, and Applejack to a dinner party that we’ve put together. It will be the five of us; six if you come. It will be like old times!”
“Yes-sir-ee!!!” That came from the excited screaming and bubbliness of the pink earth pony, Pinkie Pie. “It will be one of the best parties that I’ve put together yet! And you wanna know the best part?” She paused, and then said the next few words along with explosions of confetti from a cannon that seemed to come out of nowhere. “IT’S GOING TO BE A FRIENDS-OF-HARMONY-ONLY PARTY!!!”
The two other mares were, of course, a bit annoyed by the outburst that Pinkie Pie put out there, but what caused the three even more surprise and concern was that Fluttershy didn’t even flinch from where she stood; she wasn’t even startled by the party cannon blast. When they noticed this, they were way beyond worried for Fluttershy. They knew something was wrong, worse than it has been the past couple of years.
“Darling?” Rarity said, slowly walking up to Fluttershy to see if she was okay, and realized that the yellow pegasus had streams flowing down from her eyes down to the chin, where every now and then, with the build-up, the tears would soon detach and plummet down to the wooden floor, causing a small puddle to form.
“Fluttershy? Are you alright?” Rarity inquired, but couldn’t get her attention. So she gently, yet firmly nudged her friend until she snapped out of her trance.
“Huh… Wha...?” Fluttershy uttered, confused and looking around to meet the gaze of her best friend, of whom was full of concern for her.
“Fluttershy, what is ever the matter? You look terrible darling, as though you’ve gone and done the winter wrap-up by yourself!” She said as she turned Fluttershy towards her and sat her down on the floor with her. She put one hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, and the other she used to caress the pegasi's face as if a mother was doing the same to her sad foal. This, along with the worried looks on the other two ponies coming closer to them, only caused her to release the tears once again and release soft sobs and heavy breathing.
The three were astonished. They knew she was still going through a tough time, but they didn’t think this would happen when they came to her home. Did they do something? Say something? They hadn’t the slightest idea. She was then pulled into the embrace of her friend and sobbed harder. What she said next made every pony gasp.
“I’m sorry… for… being the… piti… pitiful failure that I am!!!” She continued to sob, and the others started to receive tears of their own, very unsure as to why she’d say such a thing. “I don’t want to do this anymore! I don’t want to cause anyone any more trouble than I already have.” She lifted her head, and concluded. “I… I don’t want to live anymore…”
“WHAT!?” The three shouted and sobbed within the same breath. Then they basically did a doggy pile on top of her; half wanting to hold and love her dearly, and the other half to make sure she didn’t have a harmful object of some kind, or even try anything drastic then and there. Something was definitely wrong with Fluttershy, and they needed to get this resolved. They needed to make sure that she would be safe. They had to tell the others; they had to make sure that they were not going to lose the Element of Kindness.
“Why would you say such a thing? Do such a thing?!” Rainbow Dash said, her voice cracking between words, and trying so hard to fight the tears, but failing. “You know that would hurt us and those you love; even those that love you as much as you love them! They would be distraught! We ALL would! We love you so much, and we don’t want you to get hurt or even go!”
“WE DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!!!” A look from Fluttershy to Pinkie Pie, caused her heart to ache even more when she saw her friend's state. Pinkie no longer had her hair up and poofy, but down into straight loches, making her look, well, normal, yet very sad. She was upset, along with the other two mares, of whom agreed wholeheartedly with the pink earth pony.
"We can't imagine our lives without you!" The pink mare continued, as distress was filling her voice for the yellow pegasus. "Please stay Fluttershy, WE LOVE YOU!"
"I know..." Fluttershy responded softly, after her sobs ceased, yet the tears were still trickling down her face. "I really do, and I love you all as well. It's just..." She trailed off, shutting her eyes.
"What, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked, bringing herself closer to Fluttershy, as though she was afraid that she wouldn’t catch what she would have to say. When she didn't respond, Rarity pled, "whatever it is, Fluttershy, we'll help you get through it. If it's something we have or haven't done for you, please tell us! Trust us, darling. We do love you and want you to be happy. You are happy, are you?"
Fluttershy opened her glistening eyes and gazed at her friend's eyes, of which they were sparkling as much as hers. She then sighed in defeat as she finally responded.
"That's just it, girls. I'm..." Fluttershy hesitated, fighting back the lump in her throat. "I'm not... Not happy."
A deafening silence filled the room. Fluttershy knew they were shocked and full of disbelief. Then the question was asked by Pinkie herself and, how she knew this, no one could ever understand, because of either her crazy intuition, or "Pinkie Sense,” or it was just a lucky guess.
"Is it because of Di--" She started, but was interrupted by the silent sobbing of Fluttershy, who lowered her face into her own hooves, not able to keep the flood gates closed and her heart aching in the purest of sorrow.
They all realized then, that it was all because of the very Lord of Chaos himself, Discord. They, through love and sympathy, caressed Fluttershy until she was done crying. Then Rarity was the one who spoke after a time of silence.
"Fluttershy?" She started. "We know it's still tender for you, but maybe... We should talk about this. After all, it's been a couple of years since..."
She fell silent as the yellow pegasus raised her head slowly, meeting the gaze of her friend. The girls then saw that her face was filled with annoyance as well as distress. She then made a quick move to her hooves, and started to walk away from them. They made the same move, but quicker to stop her from leaving the living room.
"Fluttershy, seriously." Rainbow said, as she flew over and landed in front of Fluttershy, who stopped in her tracks. "We all should talk about this. It's unhealthy to bottle up your emotions like this! With how you're feeling, no wonder you want to kill yourself."
"Don't try to make me do something that I don't want to do!" Fluttershy snapped, which was very unlike her. "I know you girls were put up to this by Twilight. I should've known." She shook her head vigorously, glaring at the ground.
"No, Fluttershy, we wanted to check up on you because we've hardly seen you. Like at all!" Rarity exclaimed. "And I didn't mean to come across as some pony who thinks you're sick or something. I'm just saying, like Rainbow Dash said--"
"I don't care!!!" Fluttershy said voice raised. "Whether or not I can get over what happened to Discord, it still won't change the fact that I... That he..."
She then stopped, thinking about earlier. That voice. It called out to her. Was that her beloved? Was he still alive? Was that him speaking to her? Oh, how she wished it was. Her fantasy was then interrupted by Rainbow Dash.
"Flutters, we understand that you're upset but... Rainbow started, but hesitated.
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, half hopeful, and half doubtful eyes. They've been friends ever since they could remember, and Rainbow was always there for her, no matter what. That, of course, was what made Rainbow Dash the Element of Loyalty. Fluttershy, as said, was hopeful, but it completely turned into doubt when Rainbow continued.
"It's been a little over two years." Rainbow finally said, feeling the tenseness from Fluttershy's gaze, praying to Celestia that it wouldn't turn into her stare. However, without backing down she continued. "We just want to help you be happy. If you keep this up, you'll never get over the fact that--"
She was interrupted as a hoof, belonging to Fluttershy, was placed firmly, but gently, on the cyan mare's mouth. Fluttershy's face was solemn, with her eyes closed, trying hard to fight back tears. There was silence again, until Fluttershy spoke up.
"Girls," She said, striving to hold in her patience and sorrow. "I appreciate that you're here to comfort me in my time of need, but there are some things that you just cannot fix--"
"Speak for yourself, Fluttershy!” Pinkie piped up, after being silent for a while. She was a bit annoyed by how stubborn Fluttershy was being. "We know we can't do much, but we're trying to be good friends to you. We can at least help you feel happy..." She went from a frustrated tone to sputtering sobs as she continued. "And even... See... Your beautiful smile again..." She concluded, sobbing.
Fluttershy was now back on the verge of tears because of Pinkie's words. But, alas, she still didn't want to submit.
"I'm sorry..." She said. "I really am, but, I'm just... Not ready..."
"Fluttershy, please." Rarity begged, "give us a chance to..."
"Rarity, I said no."
"But, we're afraid you'll do something terrible to yourself!"
"Not to mention regretful!" Pinkie piped up, with a semi-sob.
"Girls, please stop!" Fluttershy, exclaimed.
"No, Flutters." Said Rainbow. "We're gonna help you because you need it; and we're worried about you!"
"You don't always have to worry about me! Discord gave me space when I needed it, and came around at the perfect time when company was needed!"
"Fluttershy, you gotta stop this. We all know as well as you that he can't do anything now." Rainbow retorted.
"Rainbow! Just because he did those things doesn't mean tha--" Fluttershy was yelling but was interrupted by Rainbow.
"Fluttershy! Stop it! You gotta accept that facts. DISCORD IS DEAD!..."
The impatient-filled, frustrated look on Rainbow's face was quelled when she realized what she said and how she did, as well as the look on her life-long friend's face. They all knew that look, the look of complete shock, not from Rainbow, but from the past.
The room was filled with silence again, but to those that knew the memory of Discord's passing so vividly as they did, there was no need of physical hearing to listen to the dread of that fateful day.
Coursing through memory lane, they remembered how the beast with body parts of different animals had betrayed them for a partnership with the infamous centaur, Lord Tirek, only for himself to be betrayed by the said centaur.
With the magic expelled from him, Discord did what he could with his millennia-old and limited physical strength, and, with whatever love he had left for his discarded friends, distracted Tirek. This was done so the Mane Six could get to the Tree of Harmony, and use their granted powers to stop the tyrannical beast from completely overtaking Equestria. This was the only way. The only thing that could've been done, to save the ones he loved...
The thoughts were shaken from the mind of Fluttershy as she noticed wincing looks coming from her friends. The reason was because Fluttershy herself was crying through a scowl. It was at this time, she felt the visit from her friends needed to end.
"Fluttershy, I..." Rainbow started, but stopped as Fluttershy makes to the front door, where she opened it wide for her living room to be exposed to the outside world. She then stepped aside, not looking towards her friends, but leaving up an invitation, as it were, for them to leave.
After a few moments hesitation, and taking the hint, the three visiting mares started to slowly head for the doorway, leading to where it was opened to; their heads and ears were down, just as their hearts and feelings were. They exited one-by-one; first Pinkie, then Rainbow, and lastly Rarity, who stopped just outside the door to speak with her friend.
"Fluttershy..." She began, hesitating on finding the words to say. "We didn't want, or even mean, to bring up--"
"What, Rarity?!" Fluttershy interrupted, being more snappy than when she was going through the 'assertive phase.' At this, the mares were between cringing and looking at her with what she said next. "Didn't mean to bring up Discord? Because it should be okay to talk about him, seeing that He's dead! If anything, it should be a happy time right now, you think?! Especially after what he did, by stabbing us in the back by betraying our friendship. If anything, there should have been dancing on his grave because the world finally rid itself of a disgusting and annoying Monster!!"
The girls outside were horrified by this. They knew that Fluttershy was lying, about Discord and about her own feelings for him. They were semi-relieved when she continued, voice lowered, but still stern.
"Girls, I've wanted to vent that for a long time." She paused, staring at the ground that her friends were standing upon; she continued. "I've always felt like everyone, all of Equestria didn't care for him… Don't care... All they seem to care about is how they lost another creature of honor; but, in reality, they lost one of the best examples of Prodigal Ponies they could ever imagine."
It seemed that the world within and out of the cottage was silent. Fluttershy, lifted her gaze to see her friends with tears of sympathy and pity, almost complete sadness, at the words that were spoken by the broken mare. They durst not speak, lest the moment be ruined, as though their words would be unworthy to pierce the sacredness of the peace.
"Girls, it may be hard to comprehend why I still feel this way, after a long time, but, to be completely honest, you'd be in the same boat as I. I'm doing my best to keep him alive… In my heart… I didn't just lose an interesting, and charming creature of Chaos… I lost my best friend..." She lowered her head, as warm tears streamed once again, and the lump returned to her throat. “The love of my life…”
The mares were helpless towards their friend, especially since she shut them out, for this time, Celestia knows how long. Rarity tried again, with one last bit of desperate effort.
“Fluttershy… we love you, and we--” Rarity was cut short.
“Please, just go…” Fluttershy begged softly. They didn't argue, especially when the door was closed softly. They started to walk away towards the small-town’s castle, to bear the depressing news to their other two friends, who were waiting, no doubt hoping in anticipation, for the return of four mares, and not just three.
Inside the cottage, leaning against the closed door, Fluttershy started to progressively sob louder, at least for the quiet mares’ standards of volume. She slumped to the floor by the door, smothering her sorrow-filled face into her forelegs, trying her best to stop her constant crying. Unfortunately, she knows she won't stop, not for another few hours; maybe even days. She doesn't even know anymore.
From the time Fluttershy and her friends were conversing, to when she was curled in a ball of sadness by her door, nopony noticed a certain Angel slip into the house, without being spotted, and hid underneath the couch to wait out the passing storm. As he saw his master continue to sob, he couldn't help but smile-- a very wicked smile; mischievous and menacing. He chuckled evilly, thinking that, over the past two years, especially the past few days, everything was going exactly as planned, almost as if fate itself was pleased with his work; and if course, “soon-to-be-fate” was…
He then tucked his evil away and replaced it with a cute, cuddly, and sympathetic face, before leaving his hiding spot to comfort the down-hearted pegasus.
Author's Note
The story of Discord's demise is based off of the fanfiction called 'A Final Act of Love' by Chryssy-miu. I am not in any way striving to plagiarize or steal from this authors work; I am neither going by the story itself, but I'm simply using it as a reference, as I will with other stories. Still, the fact that Discord dies a hero was one of the inspirations I had for this story.
(https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10384256/1/A-Final-Act-Of-Love)
Also, I understand that this may be sketchy with me using Angel bunny as *chokes on thought* and evil villain, but,I promise, it will go well in the end. After all, this is a story about AU MLP, and there's a madness to my method. ;) and again, thanks for the positive and negative feedbacks; I want to be a better writer, and successful one day, so keep the criticism coming! Again, thanks!