In a cemetery outside Ponyville, there were many gravestones marking the final resting place of deceased ponies. Each had their fair share of visitors, but one in particular had a regular visitor of a most irregular variety; The living Spirit of Chaos, Discord. He stood before the stone monument, which had etched upon it the words:
Fluttershy
She taught us all the power of kindness
Discord gazed upon the headstone with a somber air.
"So, here we are again." He sighed. "Same time every year, like clockwork. Who would have ever thought I'd become predictable?" He placed his lion paw on the gravestone. "But we both know I'd do anything for you. Especially today..."
That day was a very significant one, for it was the hundredth anniversary of the day Fluttershy had befriended Discord, the day he had (mostly) put aside his zeal for unbridled chaos, and began to learn the ways of friendship. Naturally, Fluttershy had passed away somewhere in the interim, albeit after living a long, happy life. On the day of her passing, Discord pledged to visit her grave every year on the anniversary of the wonderful day they had become friends. And he had upheld that pledge admirably, letting nothing stop him from coming to the cemetery, no matter what.
"It still feels like just yesterday that you left us." Discord said quietly. "Of course, keeping track of time isn't exactly my specialty." He joked half-heartedly. "You always had a courtesy smile for my little jokes, no matter how cheesy they were..."
"Discord?"
Discord turned to see a ten-year-old Pegasus filly. She had a mint green coat, a pale pink mane worn in braids, sky blue eyes, and a Cutie Mark of a heart-shaped leaf.
"Oh, it's you, Ivy." Discord remarked. "What brings you here?"
"About the same as you." Ivy declared. "Mom told me you were going to see great-grandma's grave today."
Ivy was indeed Fluttershy's great-granddaughter. Even after Fluttershy's passing, Discord had kept close ties with her descendants, to the point where most of the family saw him as being like a "quirky uncle". Ivy was no exception. She had known Discord since she was a foal, and considered him to be fun. Weird, but fun.
"Well, as you can see, your dear mother was right." Discord pointed out the obvious. "I've been coming here every year on this day for over two decades now. Not exactly a big secret, is it?"
"Guess not..." Ivy admitted.
"Now... why are you here?" Discord asked.
"Well, I never knew great-grandma." Ivy sighed. "She passed away before I was born, remember?"
"Oh, that's right..." Discord nodded sheepishly.
"I figured if I wanted to talk about her, you'd be the one to talk with." Ivy declared. "...What was she like?"
"Fluttershy? She was a pony like no other." Discord smiled. "Warm, caring, compassionate... and of course, kind. She was the first pony ever to treat me like a friend. Until then, I'd only seen ponies as targets for my chaotic ways. It never even crossed my mind to actually try and be friends with them. But Fluttershy changed all that. Thanks to her, I learned that friendship is more valuable than all the chaos in Equestria. No matter how much I tested her patience with my chaotic ways, she never stopped being my friend. She forgave me for my many mistakes, even when I thought I didn't deserve forgiveness."
"She must really have been something special." Ivy mused.
"Oh, she was." Discord smiled. "Though I made many more friends after her, she was still the closest, and most dear to my heart." His smile faded. "Unfortunately, she was still mortal, and all mortals have their time..."
"Yeah, we do." Ivy sighed, acknowledging the heartbroken look on Discord's face.
"She did live to a ripe old age, though." Discord admitted. "Out of all my original band of friends, she was actually the second-to-last to go. Only Princess Twilight outlived her. Not that it made her death any easier to live through..."
"Wait. Couldn't you do, like, anything?" Ivy asked. "Couldn't you help great-grandma to... not die?"
"If only." Discord sighed. "As much as I hate admitting it, even my magic has limits. Fluttershy didn't die from an illness, or an accident. Those things, I could do something about. No, I'm afraid her body was just too old to go on. There was nothing I could have done to help... and don't think I didn't try. I couldn't stand the fact that I was powerless to do anything to help her. I'd never felt so helpless before..."
"I'm sorry." Ivy apologized. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay." Discord sighed. "You didn't know. It was a rough time for me, though. I may not have been able to do anything to save Fluttershy, but what I could do was stay by her side. I was there in her final moments. I held her hoof as she breathed her last. As her eyes closed for the last time. I had always known, in the back of my mind, that that day would eventually arrive, but it never seemed real until I saw it with my own eyes." Discord gazed upon the headstone once more. "To be perfectly honest, I fell to pieces after that. I could barely make it through the funeral. I was a weeping mess, utterly inconsolable..."
"Oh, Discord..." Ivy placed a hoof on his side.
"That was, without a doubt, the hardest time of my centuries-long life." Discord admitted. "It seemed like my whole world had crumbled beneath my feet. Like everything that mattered had been taken from me. I was so lost. In fact, I actually gave serious consideration to going back to my old ways, and unleashing a maelstrom of chaos across Equestria. But in the end, such a thing no longer held the appeal it once had. Thanks to Fluttershy, and the friendships I had gained, it just wasn't in me to ever go back to the way I once was. Even after she'd left me, her influence still ran strong."
"I can't imagine how much it must have hurt." Ivy consoled him. "And how much it must still hurt after all this time."
"It got easier." Discord admitted. "Even now, the pain hasn't completely vanished, but it got easier to live with."
"And there was no way you could... try to reach her?" Ivy suggested. "Like... spirit to spirit?"
"Oh, there are ways." Discord admitted. "I even suggested some of them to Fluttershy, prior to her passing, but she shot me down."
"Why?" Ivy asked.
"The last thing Fluttershy said to me before she passed was 'Don't let losing me cost you everything'." Discord recalled. "Fluttershy didn't want me to keep hanging on to the past. She told me I had to let her go, and move on. It took a while for those words to finally sink in. Thankfully, several of the other friends I had made, Twilight and Spike among them, helped me to realize the wisdom of those words. They helped me see that I still had so many other friends who cared for me, who I cared for in return, and that I shouldn't forget them in my grief. So I didn't. We shared the grief over our lost friend, and gradually, the good times came back to me again." Once again, he placed his paw on Fluttershy's gravestone. "But even after all this time, I still hold her memory close to my heart. I come here every year, on this day, to honor that memory. To commemorate the day the old Discord died, and a new one started to grow in his place, all thanks to her. Everything I've done since then wouldn't have been possible without her. All one hundred years. That's what makes this day so special. So meaningful."
"Wow..." Ivy gasped, awed by Discord's heartfelt speech.
"And every day since her departure, I've been doing my best to live up to the example she set for me." Discord added. "I like to think Fluttershy would be proud if she could be here right now."
"...You know what I think?" Ivy asked. "I think that as long as you keep being the Discord great-grandma helped you to be, she'll never really be gone. She'll always be with you."
Discord smiled widely.
"I suppose you have a point there, little lady." He admitted. "You are one smart young filly." He snapped his claws, and a graduation cap appeared on Ivy's head, followed by a diploma appearing in her hoof. "You get that from your great-gam-gam, you know."
"Thanks, Discord." Ivy chuckled. She was well aware that the joking was a sign that Discord was feeling better. "Hey, it's almost time for dinner. You wanna join us? Mom's making her famous rutabaga soup."
"Mmm, how can I say 'no' to that?" Discord chuckled. "I'll be right there. Just give me a moment to say 'ta-ta' to an old friend."
"Sure." Ivy nodded.
As Ivy walked away, Discord turned to Fluttershy's headstone.
"I see a lot of promise in that young filly." He smiled. "She'll do you proud, Fluttershy. Just you wait and see." He produced a bouquet flowers (which he had picked himself, rather than conjured out of thin air), and placed them tenderly on the grave of his first friend. "Same time next year? Wonderful. See you then..."
With one last warm smile, Discord departed the cemetery, ready to return when another year had rolled around, and continue to honor the memory of his first friend, not just for another hundred years, but for all the centuries to come.
The End.
Author's Note
A little something to celebrate the anniversary of "Keep Calm and Flutter On". Hope you enjoyed it.