Black Sun

Chaosville
Any possible time earlier or later...It's an alternate dimension, what do you expect?

As unusual as it was for somebody like him to say, Discord had never felt so satisfied that nothing out of the ordinary was happening. As intriguing as the past few weeks had been, not to mention the subtle amplifier it gave to his natural talent, there was no fun in witnessing random chaos that he hadn't orchestrated. Control over the power of chaos was about more than just doing whatever one pleased, unleashing wanton carnage just because you could. It was about having fun with your talents, using the ability to do whatever came to mind to achieve a set purpose. Doing more with less. Ponies typically saw it as a nuisance at best. To him, it was art. And now Tantabus was out there, seemingly doing its best to give chaos a bad name. Unfortunately, it wasn't like he could just waltz on up to the lekli and show it exactly what he thought about its methods. Much as he hated to admit it, even he had his limits.

In a way, that made it a mercy that nopony had tried asking him for help after Celestia's initial effort proved fruitless. That left him free to keep up with his current pastimes; sprucing up his homestead to be slightly more incomprehensible to visitors and keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble across Equestria. Some that knew him might consider it a step down for the former Lord of Chaos, but they didn't know about the perk package. It gave him freedom to act and use his powers without being reduced to a tacky lawn gnome again, it built up his reputation to the point ponies didn't actively avoid him anymore and best of all, Fluttershy was proud of him. Really, there wasn't much more he could ask for at the moment.

Well, except for maybe a splash of Yellow Gold Tea.

Discord grinned to himself as he stirred the cup of ginseng tea he already had on the go, lifting the teabag out and letting it rest against the cup. They always sang better after a little hydration. As the teabag perked up and resumed singing its jaunty tune, he adjusted his sitting position and snapped his fingers. A bag with the aforementioned tea he desired popped into existence just above his hand, the bits for it left in it's place back in the shop. That would go nicely with a fennel and parchment sandwich later, for now he was still on duty.

Placing his cup of tea on the floor by his right side and looking up at the couch above him, he reached up over the armrest and pulled out a five foot wide board from behind the cushions. A set of four lights were installed on it, along with a set of nametags above them that had been haphazardly taped on. 'Fluttershy', 'General Mayhem', 'Family Issues' and 'Tantabus Attack'. All of them were currently unlit, just as he liked it. His little Flutters and her family weren't wanting and everything in that fun little dimension Equestria was part of was calm. It was a nice change. Fluttershy's husband, Solo Breeze or something like that, was decent for a pony but he was such a worrywart, and rather clueless. He usually couldn't go half an hour without setting off the family light somehow.

Satisfied that everything was as close to order as he could tolerate, Discord dropped the board and let it drift off into the weightless of his living room and turned to look for something else. The fact his antler got caught on the couch and sent it spinning off into the disarray meant nothing. In fact it sent a trace of satisfaction though him, a taste of chaos that kept him going when he wasn't able to flex his magic. After a few moments he spotted several sheets of paper floating nearby and grabbed them, putting on some half moon glasses as he read through.

"Hmm, zero error reports, nopony is getting attacked by some out of control magic...Hrmm. They really should do something about the Everfree forest being on fire." He tutted to himself as he snapped his teacup back into his hand and took another sip.

He could do it himself by scratching his nose if he so wanted, especially since the Everfree forest had been his home for millennia before encountering ponykind. But he could also sense a significant magical imbalance right next to it. Two ponies of significant strength and both with something that really didn't belong to them were going at it. That had to be Twilight and Sunglow Stutter, along with that pesky Tantabus. That thing had no appreciate for the finesse of chaos, simply spreading it through destruction and death. The boring methodology. Really, if they didn't happen to be inhabiting the third most powerful magic wielder in Equestria at the moment, he'd have a good mind to step right into the previous chapter and-

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rapid beeping from the light board. Discord sighed slightly in irritation and put his tea down again before reaching for it. It may have been just a delayed reaction to the fight, but he had to be sure. He brought it back over and looked it over, the look on his face instantly changing from one of annoyance to one of shock. Gravity kicked in as his focus on the world around him vanished, making him land on his back and squashing the unfortunate singing teabag underneath. None of that mattered right now though, all that mattered to him were the two lights that were now lit red with an alarming brightness.

Tantabus Attack, and Fluttershy. The latter wouldn't light up at all unless she was in need of his aid. To be on as strongly as this, her life had to be in immediate and very real danger. There was a sudden sinking feeling in his gut as he stared at the board for a moment before throwing it aside and snapping his fingers.

In an instant he was back in Equestria. From the looks of it he had appeared at some kind of farmstead, abandoned and with broken rock scattered everywhere. The sky above was filled with smoke pouring from the Everfree, ash starting to fall like light snow. Fluttershy was somewhere nearby, but why would she be in all this? Discord turned quickly as he picked up the feeling of incoming magic and saw a beam of potent red magic headed straight toward his head. It was a simple thing to simply separate his cranium enough for the beam to pass through the middle before putting it back into place. The fact he'd needed to at all told him just how dangerous the area was though. He didn't even need to look up to sense the duelling ponies above him, engaging each other at point blank range as they moved back toward Ponyville.

"Fluttershy?" Discord called as he turned in place, looking for any sign of her. His foot and hoof both stepped in something as he did so, a quick glance down putting an extra spark of concern into him. Blood, leading away toward a partially collapsed barn wall.

Discord was a being that had felt many emotions in his millennia of existence, most of them good in some way. As he looked toward the end of the trail, all of those wilted away in the freezing sensation of something new. Discord saw what lay before him and for the first time in his life, felt true fear.

Fluttershy lay slumped against the wall, slightly covered by rubble. She wasn't moving and didn't seem to be breathing. Blood was visible around her neck and chest, still wet and fresh from the look of it. It was near impossible to tell if she was still alive.

Discord was over to her in a flash, tearing the debris away and checking her over. While most of her body was still uninjured, a centimetre wide wound had been punched straight into the side of her neck and out the other side. It was too rough an injury to have been done by magic, though what exactly could have hit with enough force to do this was beyond his capacity to question at this time. Whatever it was, it had gone clean through her larynx and left it bleeding heavily. Even as he got a good look at her face he could see more blood dripping from her mouth and her eyes staring blankly. There was still a faint spark of life within her though, as they slowly moved to look in his direction. It was clearly fading though, leaving his first, closest and oldest friend on the brink of death.

Without thinking, Discord scooped up Fluttershy's limp body and brought them both back to his house. Anywhere was safer than that battlefield. As he laid her down on the carpet and looked for anything he could do, his mind kept racing. Pony doctors? Too slow but he didn't have any medical knowledge. Twilight? Busy with her petty squabble, very frustrating as she would probably have a spell for this. Those two friends of hers that knew healing, Zecora and Quick? Both unfit to help right now, or dead, judging by the state of the Everfree. But what was he supposed to do?! Panic was starting to set in as he desperately racked his brains for a solution. He could feel the state of chaos her body was falling into as she slipped further away. Any longer and...State of chaos.

He could control chaos. If he was precise, he could use it to save her. Maybe even fix her. But using it to manipulate a pony's body was beyond his usual methods, especially on this scale. The risk was only magnified by who it was. Could he really bring himself to do this to her?

The choice was already made. Even if he risked harming her, doing nothing would haunt him forever.

Focusing every trace of chaos magic he could muster, Discord placed a trembling paw against Fluttershy's throat and tapped it with a finger. A sudden glow of white from his chest almost made him heave from the sensation, like having a five ton weight lifted off his heart. The glow rapidly travelled down his arm and into her neck before spreading across her entire body, engulfing it in a flash. As soon as he could see again he pulled his hand back, holding his breath as he prayed to himself that it had worked.

Fluttershy still lay before him in the same position. Her neck wounds had healed over in an instant, the skin raw but intact. The light had come back to her eyes and even as he watched, she lurched and started coughing up the blood left in her windpipe. Her breaths were ragged and hoarse, yet they were still one of the most wonderful things Discord had ever heard. His magic had lost its sway over her, which could only mean her body was in much better shape than before. He couldn't help but beam as she relaxed again, her chest moving smoother with every breath. With everything that he had ever done in his life, up to and including ruling nations, he'd never felt so satisfied with any single one of his actions than he did now.

Feeling confident that she wasn't in danger anymore, he reached out to the side and materialised a towel. As he wiped the blood off his hands he sat down and kept watching her, silently gauging her reactions. She was still lying exactly where he had placed her, though now it was more like she was simply getting her bearings rather than dying horribly. It might help if she had some good news to recover to. The lack of sound from the board meant everything was good with her family and whatever was happening with Tantabus seemed to have subsided. It might be a good idea to check in with Twilight for advice. Normally that would have felt weird to even suggest to himself, but right now he was too relieved to care.

Discord closed his eyes, letting them head toward where he could sense her. When he opened them again they were...He wasn't exactly sure where. A quick glance down showed that his eyes were in a piece of wood embedded in what looked like a crater. A look back up gave him a rather unflattering angle of Twilight, repeatedly kicking and stamping at Tantabus as she lay helpless. If she was saying anything, he wasn't listening. He had just realised precisely where in Equestria they were. Even as devastated as the area was, he'd been there enough to know exactly what it had been mere minutes ago...This complicated things.

His eyes popped back to his body and he blinked back into focus. At this point Fluttershy was starting to come round, her head lifted slightly as she took in where she was. She looked lost, bewildered, but fortunately not frightened. Her gaze moved up to his and she relaxed slightly, her breathing steadily recovering to a more normal level. She still looked a mess with her neck, chest and front legs all bloody, but anything was a step up from the last few minutes.

"Discord...?" She asked weakly. Her voice was strained, like she was fighting to get the words out. Part of him couldn't help but think that his lack of pastel coloured equine anatomy might somehow have been responsible. "What, what happened?"

"Well, how do I put this?" He said gently, umming and ahing over what the best approach would be for several seconds before deciding. It wasn't like he could kill her with the shock of the news, right? "You may have almost died out there. I managed to save you though. Are you alright?"

"Throat hurts..." She replied, laying her head back down. That was to be expected, proper healing wasn't exactly in his resume for a reason. He nodded and started cleaning her off with the towel, doing his best not to be rough at all.

"That's to be expected. Once you're feeling a little more perky, I'll drop you off at a hospital so they can make sure everything's in the right place. Not that I didn't try."

"Is...Is Twilight, okay?" Fluttershy looked up at him nervously, still looking out for her friends even in her worst moments. Discord was momentarily stunned by her devotion before realising that she didn't know.

Her life's work was gone, home and business reduced to nothing. Directly or not, Twilight seemed to have had a hoof in it as well, even as she was beating Tantabus to a pulp. How was he supposed to tell Fluttershy that? Maybe it was their friendship or all the good he had done over the past few years, helping ponies out of situations that set off the general mayhem alarm, but he couldn't bring himself to outright lie to her anymore. This would require a little of the old Discord silver tongue, assuming she would follow it in her condition.

"Last time I saw her she was," He started, thinking for a moment. "There may have been a little, collateral damage but she seems to have a handle on things. Probably has the whole Tantabus situation wrapped up already."

As he looked down at her, he caught the look in her eyes. Only then did he realise that his hesitance and inflection had said everything he'd been trying to avoid. Seeing her face drop at those words, the hurt forming in her eyes, was painful to witness.

"I..." He sighed weakly and moved to sit next to her, gently lifting her head onto his lap. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you like that."

"What about, Breezy?" Fluttershy asked, desperation creeping into her voice even through the hoarseness. "Mist? Star?"

"All still safe in your little sky fortress."

Admittedly it probably wasn't the best time to be making cracks about Cloudsdale but it was having the desired effect. She nodded and flashed an expression of relief as she rested her head down again. That look was still in her eyes though, that sense of loss. He couldn't blame her. She'd lived in that cottage for nearly twenty-five years and run the wildlife sanctuary for thirteen. To lose all that in the blink of an eye...This was a problem beyond his capacity to handle. But he couldn't think of any of the other element bearers that had lost everything in the same way she had. What about the others though, the even less immediate friends? He could feel where each of them were if he put some effort into it, and could tell that a group were headed toward Twilight's position. One among them she would be perfect.

Besides, she would probably be the first to die if they actually tried to fight Tantabus or Twilight. He was technically doing a service, and Fluttershy needed this.

Discord beckoned over a slip of paper and a quill, writing down the message in his mind before sending it to an open space in the room. With a snap of his fingers it disappeared in a flash, replaced by a mare seemingly running in air.

"-The sense to stay what-a?! Wha? Wh-!?" Peace Walker exclaimed in surprise as she froze up from the sudden chance in environment. She dropped to the ground and barely landed on her hooves before spinning round in place and tensing up at the pegasus and draconequus before her. "Discord! What did you do?!"

"Only plucked Fluttershy from the field of battle and saved her life," He replied in annoyance, rolling his eyes at the typical presumption on show. "You're welcome."

Peace looked down at Fluttershy, watching as she nodded in affirmation. The earth mare quickly calmed herself at that and stood upright, getting a proper look at the state of the pegasus.

"Okay. And you brought me here because...?"

"Because," Discord stretched himself out until his front end was right next to Peace, wrapping a scaled hand around her shoulders and leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Fluttershy has just been through a very traumatic experience where she lost a lot of things very dear to her. You're the pony that can relate to that the best."

"So, you want me to talk her through how to handle losing everything?"

"I want you to try and help her."

Discord snapped back into his original position and watched, waiting to see if she would step up for his offer. Peace shot him a momentary glare, making it silently clear that she didn't trust him. Part of him expected nothing less. Her gaze then went down to Fluttershy, who had lifted her head enough to get a look at the newcomer. The look in her eyes softened and she shifted her lower jaw from side to side in thought. After just a few moments she walked forward and sat down on Fluttershy's other side, trying to decide what she was going to say. Once their discussion started it was softly spoken, hesitant yet caring. Discord couldn't really make out what was being said and could tell it wasn't meant for him to do so. In this case, he didn't mind.

He couldn't help but smile to himself. He'd done his part in getting his oldest friend the help she'd need. As soon as Peace Walker was done, he could get Fluttershy to be checked over by a medical professional, satisfied that everything had worked out as best it could. Now he could start thinking about his own concerns again, like how he was going to get the blood out of his cashmere rug.