A Cold Night

by GarfieldThePony

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fluttershy, Discord, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Sad, Main 6
Length: 3403

Why couldn't I help you? What did I do wrong?

Set after the events of an alternative Keep Calm and Flutter On. After Discord refuses to remove the chaos from Applejack's farm, he is imprisoned once again in stone, and Fluttershy must deal with loss of new friend with a new promise.

*Submitted for Day One (Alternate Universe) of #FluttercordWeek

Published 2019-01-19 05:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-01-19 05:00:01 UTC

Promised

"I ask you to never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sigh of our friendship."

Luna's bright moon shined down on Canterlot Gardens as the comforting sound of crickets chirping throughout the night helped soothe this silent night. Under the moonlight, a buttermilk-colored pegasus silently trotted up the stone cold path through the night, their pink mane blowing in the cool night air.

Fluttershy, silently shievering, wandered through the garden with her saddlebag, and a concerned look on her face. Dutifully searching through bushes and topiary until she happened upon the sculpture section of the garden. Following the smooth and organized path, Fluttershy past by rows of newly cleaned and polished statues, her expression remained cautious.

"I promise never to use my Element of Harmony against you."

Soon, the path became cracked and rigid, she never understood why Princess Celestia never decided to clean up this part of the path. She stopped in front of a crowd of untended bushes, and pushing her way through the leaves, she found herself in the middle of an clear opening. In the middle of the clearing, hidden away from tourists, was the unpolished and pigeon-dominated statue of a misshaped draconequss.

The still draconequss sat upon a short marble pedestal, his long face was etched with surprise and betrayal. His eyes were widened, and and his jaw dropped. His long snake body was twisted like a spring. His head facing one way and his limbs facing another. How uncomfortable he must be, Fluttershy thought.

"Where you going? Aren't you having fun, pal?"

"Don't call me your pal!"

"Oh, pfft, come skating with me, and we'll let bygones be bygones."

Fluttershy seated herself directly beneath the statue, and placed her saddlebag right next to her. She quietly muttered to herself how bad of an idea this was, but it was too late to back out now. She sighed in defeat and gazed up at the statue. The yellow pegasus shivered at the sight of the statue's empty eyes staring into her deeply as she smiled nervously.

"Hello, Discord. It's me, Fluttershy," she hesitated and started twiddling her hooves. "I...um, I came to visit you, if you don't mind. I also came on my own accord, no pony told me to come here."

She stared up at him again, and noticed there was a pile of bird droppings that lay on top of the draconequss' stone head. She frowned to herself at the state of how the once powerful Lord of Chaos has been reduced to a pigeon's meeting ground. She flew to his head and found an empty bird nest logged in his left ear, and a couple of feathers stuck in his mouth. Poor, Discord...

The yellow pegasus shook her head in sorrow. "Oh, dear. I'm sorry this happened to you, Discord," she paused, removed her satchel, and pulled out a clean towel and other cleaning supplies. "I remember you telling me about how living out here in the open always made you feel humiliated, so I brought a couple things to make you feel better, if that helps."

Covering her nose, she started wiping away the bird poop from Discord's head until his head became shiny, and she was able to see her reflection. Careful not to break his ear, Fluttershy slowly scooped out the nest out of his ear, and placed it in a nearby tree for other birds to use. Before she got rid of the feathers in his mouth, she paused, and looked up at him and chuckled nervously.

He fixes this or he goes back to being stone! Princess Celestia will understand!

"Sorry, Discord, but I have to get feathers out of your mouth," she smiled awkwardly. "Hope they weren't too ticklish."

After Fluttershy finished cleaning Discord, she stepped back to admire the work she had, and smiled to herself in satisfaction. A statue fit for a draconequss, she thought to herself. A cool breeze hit Fluttershy, and she started shiver as the night became colder, and the trees started to sway in the wind. As her teeth started to clatter, a thought popped into her head.

“Oh, y-y-yeah, that r-r-reminds me. S-S-Since you’re gonna be always out here in the c-c-cold, I thought you could use a blanket,” she reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out a long green blanket with the signature Discord stitched into it with brown lettering. “And I-I-I made it myself. I don’t know if you can f-f-feel anything or not, but I thought you should have one.”

She wrapped the long blanket around his still shoulders, and tied it around his neck. Fluttershy giggled to herself softly as the blanket almost reached all the way down to his tail, and with the wind, it made the blanket fly like a cape in the wind.

"Oh, and don't worry about me, D-D-Discord, I brought my o-o-own," she smiled, and pulled out a pink, fluffy blanket with a yellow Fluttershy stitched into it. "Now we have friendship blankets."

Sitting back on the cold grass, the yellow pegasus grew silent, and curled herself inside the blanket. Her joyful smile melted away, and solemn expression was in its place. She glanced back toward the Draconequss's statue, and frowned in disappointment.

"I made a promise not to use my element against him, and I'm going to keep it."

"Discord, can I ask you a question?"

She was silent for a moment.

"What did I do wrong?"

Fluttershy stood in the middle of a frozen Sweet Apple Acres, her hooves trembling on the cold ice, and her body shivering from the cold, but she didn't care. On one side of her was Spike, holding her Element of Harmony, and on the other was Discord, with a confident smirk, holding a pair of ice skates.

"He fixes this or he goes back to being stone!" exclaimed the lavender unicorn from the other side of the lake. "Princess Celestia will understand!"

Discord dangled the pair of skates in front of Fluttershy's face like foal and a pair of toy keys. Spike shoved her Element of Harmony into her. Fluttershy felt her heart pounding rapidly, she felt as if her heart was going to burst out her chest. She glanced at Spike's worried expression, his big, emerald eyes practically begging her to take her Element.

However, in the corner of her eye, she saw Discord, mouthing the words, "You promised" as he sent her a warning glare. She looked toward her friends, all of them stared at her with anticipation. She couldn't bear it. She shut her eyes, unable to look at her friends in the eye.

"I made a promise not to use my element against him, and I'm going to keep it."

The yellow pegasus felt her heart drop when she heard their disappointment echo in her ears as she grabbed the skates from Discord's hands. She trotted away as she tried to keep a strong face.

"Hahah!" Discord teased, as he materialized above Fluttershy. "You see? She wants to have fun with me because we're friends. She can't use the elements against me because we're friends. I'm free forever!"

Fluttershy felt her anger build up insider of her as Discord continued to belittle her friends. She couldn't stand Discord using the word friend in a twisted way. She couldn't hold back her anger and in a fit of rage, she threw the skates, proclaiming:

"Not. Your. Friend!"

Discord scoffed. "Who cares? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm Discord, the master of chaos!" he disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared in front of her. Her face remained still as he continued to rant. "You think you can boss Discord around? You think I'm just going to turn all this back because you say so? Because if I don't, I'll lose the one friend I ever had?"

The draconequss paused as he felt his heart sank in realization for the first time. He couldn't understand what was going in his head, he felt something he never felt before. Guilt. He looked back at Fluttershy, and frowned in disappointment. She didn't stop, or even look back at him. Is this what losing a friend feels like? Is she coming back or did she mean it?

However, something deep in a dark corner of the draconequss' mind convinced him it was something else.

It's a trick, a scam, a scheme. Yes, that's what this is. A trick.

And Discord should know, he knows how to manipulate, he manipulated them before. This is a mind game, and if there's one thing that Discord hates, it being the victim of a mind game. He laughed evilly, and snapped his fingers and appeared in front of Fluttershy.

Before Fluttershy could even process what had happened, she found herself in the arms of the draconequss with a devilish grin on his face.

"Oh, ho, ho! Well played, Fluttershy. Well played. I almost fell for that, but you can't manipulate me. And here I thought the Element of Kindness was meant to be pure of heart."

The yellow pegasus's face went blank. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, enough playing games with me, Fluttershy. I know that you didn't mean what you said back there."

Fluttershy scowled. "I meant it, Discord. I'll say it again if I have to," she narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm. Not. Your. Friend."

His face didn't waver. "Oh, c'mon! You can say it better then that! Say it again."

"Discor-"

He gave her dark look. "Say it again."

She gulped. "I'm not your friend."

"Louder."

"Discord, pleas-"

"I know that you're not telling the truth, so humor me instead."

"That's enough, Discord!" Rainbow Dash demanded. "Leave Fluttershy alone!"

The draconequss glanced at the blue pegasus and smiled mischievously. He snapped his fingers and a mouse clicker appeared next to Rainbow Dash's wings. With a swipe of Discord's finger, the mouse clicked on Rainbow's wing, picking up Rainbow in the process.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Rainbow questioned.

"Scale down."

The draconequss swiped his finger down and the mouse started to move by itself, and it clicked on the corner of Rainbow Dash's wing. The mouse dragged itself down as it caused her wings to shrink down to the size of a filly's set of wings. Rainbow found herself falling to the ground as her wings became unproportional to her body.

She shrieked in horror. "My wings! What did you do it them?!"

"I simply made them smaller," Discord explained. "Better to have them useless, then gone. Maybe you can learn some tricks from that little pegasus, oh, what was her name again? Scootaloo? Or ask that hulk-like pegasus how he does it."

"Stop this madness, Discord!" Twilight yelled, stomping her hoof. "Or else!"

"Oh, finally! What took you so long to say something? I was beginning to think that you didn't care!" Discord materialized in from of Twilight and smirked. "And besides, what can you do to me? Fluttershy here has already demonstrated that she isn't willing to use her Element again me. She promised. So, that's one out of the six Elements needed; which means I can do this."

Discord snapped his fingers and a pink cotton candy cloud hovered above Twilight. Pinkie Pie bounced in excitement, and pushed Twilight out of the way. She opened her mouth wide as the cloud started to rain. Immediately, Pinkie recoiled and gagged from the rain.

"This isn't chocolate milk, this is black coffee!" she covered her mouth with her hoof in disgust. "You could, at least add creamer to it!"

"Where's the fun in that?” he shrugged. “It want gets me up in the afternoon."

All the Mane Six could do was do nothing as they stand by and watch as Discord continue to cause chaos. He chuckled to himself as he snapped his fingers and a green dress with black lining appeared on Rarity.

The white unicorn gasped in horror. “Green?! It’s not even Spring! It’s the middle of Summer!”

Discord pouted, crossing his arms. “Fine then. You don’t have to be so picky of my fun-in-the-sun wear,” he snapped his fingers. “Is this better?”

A silk, brown gown with with pink lining appeared on Rarity. It had bright green sleeves, a red collar, and rainbow-colored polka dots covered the bottom. Discord covered his ears as Rarity looked down at herself and shrieked in horror. The color drained out of her face as she soon fainted into the snow.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Rarity!” Spike exclaimed as he ran toward the white unicorn’s body, dropping Fluttershy’s pendent.

“Oh, look! The knight in dull armor is gonna save his fair princess. How courageous,” he yawned to himself and snapped his fingers. “Let me give you a hand.”

In a cloud of smoke, Spike disappeared, when the smoke disappeared, everypony gasped in surprise as a small purple and green leather bag was in his place.

“I wonder if dragon handbags are in season.” Discord mused, as he held the bag around his shoulder. “How do I look?”

“What did you do to, Spike!?” Twilight yelled. “Bring him back!”

“It’s okay, Twilight, I’m okay!” said a voice from the bag. “I think Discord just shrunk me, and I’m in this...where am I?”

Discord groaned in frustration. “Oh, c’mon! You just ruined a perfectly, good prank, you little runt! Convince me why I shouldn’t turn you into a real handbag, right now?”

“Uh...” there was a pause. “Because alligators are better?”

“Oh, that is true,” Discord agreed, as he stroked his beard. “But I still need something to satisfy my chaotic need.”

As Discord continued to ponder, Applejack quietly tapped Twilight’s shoulder.

“Shhh.” she whispered softly.

She pointed at Fluttershy’s element laying in the snow, and Twilight nodded her head in agreement. Quietly, both ponies quickly sneaked past the draconequss.

But as they trotted over their way toward the pink element, their steps in the snow became louder and louder. Discord’s ears perked up as he heard the sound of crunching snow, and just as Applejack went to grab the pendant, Discord’s head popped out from the snow, startling the two ponies.

Discord smiled mischievously, wagging his finger. "Ah, ah, ah."

"Applejack! Run away!" Twilight urged.

Applejack managed to grabbed the pendent and throw it away, making it land on the ice just before the draconequss snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the orange earth pony was encased in a ice sculpture of Discord. The only left pony was Twilight. She felt a chill go down her spine as his eyes meet hers.

Slowly, the draconequss floated toward the purple unicorn, as Twilight backed away slowly, her eyes still staring at his. Twilight started to flare her horn, Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, and a small, frozen puddle appeared below Twilight, making her self. She tried to get up, but every time she did, she slipped on her hooves like a newborn filly.

Discord now stood over her with an annoyed look on his face.

“You’ve been a pain in my tail ever since the beginning, Twilight. And now after everything that happened ever since I got out; you attempting to use a reform spell on me, constantly being suspicious of me, and trying to deny me of my true nature! That doesn’t sound like the “magic is friendship” to me. I was truly considering changing until I thought about how you all treated me.” he glared menacingly at her. “Now you’re going to let me do what I want, when I want and where I want and there’s nothing you could do about it because Fluttershy won’t break promise.”

As Discord started to raise his fingers, a sudden beam of pink butterflies whizzed pass him, almost mer inches away from his head.

"That's enough, Discord."

Discord turned his long neck and saw the yellow pegasus with her Element around her neck. Her face was solomn, her nose flared, and her pupils were dilated. Discord felt his body stiffen, he stared in shock at the yellow pegasus, he couldn't believe what had just happend.

"F...Fluttershy?"

"What did I do wrong?"

The yellow pegasus asked again as she stared into the draconequss's blank eyes.

"Why couldn't I help you?" she questioned. "I spent all my time trying to make you feel at home, trying to make your feel comfortable, and...and...and trying to become your friend!" the yellow pegasus yelled, throwing her hooves up in exasperation. "Was I being too brash? Was I too insisting? Was it because of Angel? Is that the reason I couldn't help you?!"

Fluttershy paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Sorry, Discord. Look, I know you probably thought of me as something beneath you, and was probably just reforming you just because Princess Celestia said so. That is true...partically. At first, I was a little hesitant spending time with you, but after I got to know you a little bit, I felt comfortable being around you."

"You made my life more exciting, even with the little things," she sniffled as she placed her hoof to her chest. "Even if it didn't matter that much to you, it mattered the most to me. I want to have that kind of exceitment in my life, and I want to spend it with a friend like you."

"Yes, I broke a promise, your promise. But you caused panic with the flood and everything else, I want you to understand that you are not forgiven for what you did. Neither my friends nor I forgive you for what you did," she paused and nervously looked down at her hooves. "But I'm here to give you a second chance, because I want to help you. I want to be real friends with you. I want to make you better, not because you deserve it, it's because you need it."

"When you said you could hear everything going on around, I hope you weren't lying about. I hope you heard me make you a new promise," she pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment. "I promised you that I would visit and take care of you every day until you become free from stone once again."

She started quickly scribbling down some words on the parchment. "And until that day, I will be sitting right here, talking to you every night. I will not break my promise this time. After today, we will become strangers then we become will acquaintances, and you'll figure out the rest."

She flew up to his head, and showed him the paper. "I don't know if you see this Discord, but I'll tell you it also."

I, Fluttershy, promise to visit Discord
and help make his life in stone easier then
it should be, and this promise will not be broken
until he is allowed to be freed from stone.

Fluttershy smiled to herself as she placed the sign on Discord's pedestal, using a nearby rock to keep it in place, so it didn't fly away in the wind. "And don't worry, Discord. I'll keep these meetings between us a secret. But when it's time, Princess Celestia and my friends will find out. And Princess Celestia and my friends will be the ones who see if you deserve to come out."

The yellow pegasus let out a long yawn. She got up and stretched her wings. She looked into her bag and pulled out a watch. Fluttershy squinted her eyes in the darkness of the night and, gasped in surprise. "Oh, my goodness! It's almost midnight! I gotta get home before Angel starts to worry about me!"

As she was packing her things, she quickly taped a small note on Discord's chest:

Pigeons beware! A monster is sleeping! Do not disturb!

Before she left, the yellow pegasus carefully wrapped her forelegs around Discord's neck, Sweet dreams, Discord. As Fluttershy flew off to her cottage, she felt a small smile tug at her lips as she left the garden and Discord behind in the silence of the night.

"I'm not falling for any of your tricks, Fluttershy! I won't fall for it...I absolutely will not...it's....it's too quiet."

Author's Note

Does Discord really deserve another chance?

I know that I didn't fully show Discord getting turned to stone, but it's easy to fill-in the gaps.