Discord's Little Butterfly

by Fluskie

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Fluttershy
Length: 14133

What if the Lord of Chaos was reformed in a different way? Perhaps through the younger Element of Kindness?

(This is an alternate universe where Discord is set free from his stone prison a little earlier than the canon show and of course more changes along the way. Again, this sort of follows the show but not in the way you’d think.)

(This idea came from someone in a Fluttercord Discord server. Her name is Chaoticsyd. This alternate universe was her idea. I only took it and added on to it with my own ideas with her permission. Without her, this story wouldn’t exist. ^^)

After Discord finds a small child, his whole life takes a huge turn. One that he would never imagine would change his outlook on chaos and harmony forever.

Cover art by Chaoticsyd!

Published 2020-05-20 18:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-09-30 06:03:25 UTC

Chapter 1: Love

Thunder crashed loudly and lightning shot through the sky as rain from dark storm clouds hovering over Canterlot covered the city, forcing ponies to hide within their homes and seek safety. It was particularly a horrible storm this chilly night and it showed no signs of stopping or even slowing down a little. Either the pegasi were having issues with controlling the weather or this was suppose to happen. Nopony knew for sure. Screams of terror soon answered them though as the streets of Canterlot began to flood, picking up fences, pools, even helpless ponies who were trying to get inside. This was clearly not intended.

The princesses would have to answer soon as well to their helpless subjects. They had a slight advantage from where the castle stood considering it was a bit higher up from the actual city but it still remained in the same area. It would as well flood if they waited too long to assist. Princess Luna had seem to have made that urgent considering she was already gone while Princess Celestia prepared herself, staring out at the violent waters enveloping the city.

“Utter madness...Chaos.”

Celestia said silently to herself, turning her attention out to the castle gardens. The plants would definitely be over watered at this point but that was the least of her worries. She had her attention on the hedges over where many statues stood, holding much history of the past. Her eyes specifically fell on the most unique one of all..Discord. The Lord of Chaos and Spirit of Disharmony..Even in these circumstances he remained in the same position laughing at almost what seemed no one but himself. Celestia knew exactly why he remained that way however.

“You love this don’t you? If you were free you would be laughing at them all struggle and perish. As if you weren’t cruel already.”

Her eyes blazed with fury at the statue in the distance as if she was angry with some stranger injuring her children. The ponies were basically her children anyways. It was her duty to protect them. She would not let that terrible creature ever harm them again!

And then she took a deep breath. She was getting a little too angry..Now was not the time to be angry at past things that had be done. She had to focus on the present now and focus on using her powers to restore Canterlot, not be bitter with a creature of chaos who was harmless and encased in stone.

She trotted over to the exit of the throne room, quietly opening it for herself and pausing, allowing herself one last look at that vile monster.

“It would be horrible to ever think you would be able to love anypony else other than yourself. You have no love in your heart to give and be given.”

Her eyes narrowed on the statue, waiting for him to for some reason give her a dumb response back but of course, nothing. She shook her head and exited the throne room, shutting the door behind her.

***

Meanwhile, a lightning strike struck not too far from the castle gardens letting out a loud crash sound. With it came the shriek of a baby and loud crying from what sounded like to be in the area of the tall hedges. The storm continued on as the baby continuously cried, seeming to be frightened of the storm when it suddenly stopped.

A baby yellow pegasus with a long pink mane suddenly emerged from the hedges in a small cradle being levitated by some foreign magic that seem to have come from nowhere. The young one was staring down at the sparkly magic enveloping her cradle as it carried her away from the lonely hedges and somewhere else she hadn’t seen before in her short life span.

The young one sucked on her hoof as she was soon face to face with the large hybrid creature whom was in stone. Her cradle was suddenly gently dropped beside him, allowing her the ability to look up at him and be curious of his strange appearance. The little pegasus stopped sucking her hoof and reached her hooves out to him, making small baby babbling noises as if he might respond to her back.

“You poor thing..Left out in such a terrible storm to fend for yourself..How awful.”

A disembodied voice spoke calmly all around her, sort of putting her at ease. The little one seemed happy to hear him speak back to her, babbling back to him in her own baby language.

“I love to see ponies struggle and try for impossible things but somehow I can pity you, dear.”

The small one felt something touch her face and stroke her cheek, making her smile a bit and lean into the touch. She felt there was something physically there but she couldn’t see it. It felt like a warm paw of a kitty cat. Soft, warm, calming...She let out a small sigh, closing her eyes letting herself lean into the touch of the invisible paw.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this..Am I really doing this? Caring for one of them? Caring for the kind that put me in stone in the first place?” The voice spoke to itself, sighing. “Fine, I’ll provide you shelter but only just this once. I can’t do much from here but I can try.”

The young one felt the warm paw leave her face as she opened her eyes. She reached out for it with her little hoof, trying to grab it again to put it back on her face but she couldn’t seem to find it again. She whimpered a little when suddenly a small umbrella poofed out of nowhere and softly levitated over her cradle. The rain immediately stopped falling on her as the small patter of rain was heard on the umbrella instead.

“There you go. I’m assuming you don’t want to sleep in a puddle. Although..You might already be.”

There was another poof as the soaking wet blankets the young one was lying in were changed out with dry warm ones that felt like they almost hugged her.

“Alright, that should be good. I’ve already done enough for you as it is. You better be grateful because I’m never doing this again!”

And with that the voice was gone. The young one seemed to be confused though to not hear the voice anymore and she searched the stormy sky with her little eyes and then the statue, waiting to hear from it again. Did it leave?..Why would it leave her alone? She already got left behind..Why would another pony leave her?

She started to cry again, a loud rumble of thunder sounding soon after she started again.

“Alright, alright! What is it now? Seriously, I invite you here to stay here with me and you won’t even shut up. Stone draconequus have to sleep too you know!”

Her crying immediately stopped upon hearing the voice again and she giggled a bit, reaching her hooves up to the sky.

“What do you want!”

“Up, up!”

The voice sighed as the pegasus was enveloped in the strange aura again and lifted into the air. The strange magic tingled on her tiny body and put little sparkles on her as she giggled, being lifted up to the statue’s face.

“There, happy now?”

The pegasus suddenly reached forwards for his face, holding it with her small hooves and smiling.

“Hey, stop that. I can still feel that you know.”

She fluttered her tiny wings as she pulled herself up on to his face, climbing up and using his eyebrows as stepping stones. She pulled herself up on to his head, gripping his large antlers. She then proceeded to curl up on top of his head and yawn, resting her head on her hooves and closing her eyes.

“Seriously, on my head? Ugh..”

But, even though the voice seemed annoyed, a blanket was levitated from her cradle and lied on top of her along with a small pillow underneath her head. A spell seemed to of been casted on her as well that made a small force field, preventing the rain from getting on her. That night seemed to just drift away as the sounds of thunder and the flashes of lightning did so with it.

***

“A search party for one foal who’s probably already dead? They’ll never find her at this rate. That storm was way too strong for her to survive in.”

“It doesn’t matter, Luna. If there’s still a chance of her being alive, I’m taking it. As princesses, it’s our duty to protect them and protect the innocent and the weak.”

The little one opened her eyes as she yawned softly, looking ahead to see two large alicorns trotting through the nearby gardens which seemed rather flooded with water from last night with a few flowers tossed everywhere and a few fully grown carrots and turnips. On the bright side, it was no longer storming and a warm sun shined on the statue and the little pony. The little foal moved a little backwards on the statue’s head, trying to hide behind its antlers so she wasn’t very visible as she watched the two princesses.

“Waste our time chasing after someone who’s already dead? Ridiculous..” The one named Luna said.

“You don’t know that!”

“Anyone who has any logic of a deadly storm knows she’s dead! The only one who doesn’t know is obviously you.”

The darker alicorn stomped off back into the castle. The lighter alicorn presuming to be Princess Celestia lowered her head and folded her ears. She stayed there for a moment just staring at the ground. She seemed to be lost in thought and rather sad. Why was that?..

“I don’t know what’s got into you Luna but it has to end somewhere..Our relationship has already strained itself enough. I’m worried for you...I wish you would talk to me about what’s on your mind so we can resolve whatever this is.”

Celestia raised her head again, small tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked ahead into the distance. She then turned away and trotted back into the castle herself. The little one waited until she was fully gone to stand up on the statue’s head and trot around on it freely.

“A lost foal, aye? I don’t suppose they’re looking for you?..” The voice suddenly spoke.

The little one babbled as she pointed towards the castle and then to where the two alicorn were standing before they took their separate ways.

“Oh, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? Bah, don’t bother with them. They’re a couple of grumps who don’t even know how to sustain a relationship. They’ve been fighting like this for almost..Has it almost been a thousand years since I’ve been imprisoned?..I think so. That’s rather eye opening.”

The little one babbled again seeming to be in response to him.

“I said don’t worry about it! I really don’t care if the younger one snaps on Princess Celestia. She deserves it! She ended my beautiful reign of chaos! Sure, the younger one did it with her but that’s different. She was most likely manipulated by her. I sense a lot of anger in the younger one and I can tell she’s as fond of Celestia as I am.”

The foal babbled back again.

“No I’m not being too harsh. If you were imprisoned in stone for the time it took for thirty generations to go by, you’d be angry as well. Or is it forty?..Oh dear, is my math failing me now as well?”

The little foal made a small scream of anger as she punched her hoof into his stone antler. Though, of course it didn’t do anything and she stumbled backwards clutching her hurt hoof. She started crying as she rubbed her little hoof.

“See, that’s what you get for arguing with me! You have no idea who I am and who you’re messing with! If you truly knew who I was and what I’ve done to your ancestors, you would be at my feet begging for my mercy!”

The little foal wailed at this point as she rolled on to her side, clutching her hoof tightly to her chest.

“Ugh..You’re not even listening. You’re just using that annoying noise to make me feel bad for you and say the dumb ‘s’ word. Well not happening, hun. Not now, not ever. Never have I ever used that stupid word. You won’t get the Lord of Chaos to feel sorry for you!”

There was a moment of silence except for the little foal’s constant crying as the voice seemed to just think to itself, trying to restrain from saying anything else to the little one. The crying kept up for a solid five minutes before the voice finally gave up.

“Alright, fine, just shut up already!”

The little foal stopped crying as she stared down at the statue confused.

“If I say the ‘s’ word will you please shut up?”

The little foal smiled and made a happy noise as she reached her hooves up to the sky.

“Alright..” The voice took a deep breath as if this was the most important moment of its life. “I’m...S-S...I’m..S-So...”

“Gah!” The little foal said.

“I’m trying okay!...I’m s-s..I’m..”

The little foal suddenly smacked him on the head.

“I’m sorry!”

The little foal clapped her hooves together and giggled, now nuzzling the head of the statue.

“Wow, and your hoof is perfectly fine now isn’t it?”

The foal only giggled in response as she hugged his head now. The voice simply only sighed, unsure if this was enjoyable or not but not complaining. As the little foal hugged him, a crack noise was heard below her which she didn’t seem to notice at all.

***

“Princess, come this way, I noticed a few things by the statue!”

A guard pony and Princess Celestia galloped over to the statue of Discord. Everything seemed to look normal as always and a lot more normal considering a lot had been restored since the night of that terrible storm. It had only been a week and those ponies seemed to have everything in order again. Though, a few things were off.

“There’s a abandoned cradle right here beside the statue!” The guard pointed out.

The princess approached it, staring down at the empty cradle and then up to the statue of Discord. Her eyes narrowed between his stone antlers, thinking she saw something pink shift around.

“How long has this cradle been here?” She asked.

“A week is what some of the guards said. I work inside so I never noticed.”

She softly glided her hoof through a soft blanket inside and turned back to the guard.

“Continue the search, that foal is definitely here.”

The guard nodded and trotted off. Celestia turned back to the statue.

“You better of not done anything to that foal. I know your powers reach further than your stone prison and that you’re more than capable of wreaking havoc. I don’t trust you and I never will.”

Celestia stared at the statue for a moment more with stern eyes and turned away, following the same way the guard went.

A babble of a foal was suddenly heard.

“Yes, yes, you did well and all that. It really isn’t hard to hide on a giant mismatched statue.”

The foal was suddenly levitated off the statue’s neck and placed on the ground in front of the statue.

“Let’s get this straight though, I’m not your parent and I never will be. I also most definitely won’t be associated with you. You’re going to have to find some other free care taker because I’m not doing it anymore.”

The foal looked up at the statue confused and made a noise.

“You have to get out of here or let yourself get caught. Those are your two options. Although, clearly it seems like you want to take the first one because your parents were sooooo ‘abusive’ to you.”

The foal folded her ears and babbled angrily.

“Oooh nooo! My toy rabbit got taken away, now my parents are the worst in all of Equestria!” The voice mocked the foal.

The foal suddenly started to scream in anger.

“Ah yes, scream your little lungs out and get the guards to hear you, perfect plan! I don’t even know why I’m talking to a tiny baby who has no idea what she wants or what she’s saying.”

The thumping of galloping was suddenly heard on the other side of the castle gardens. The foal didn’t seem to care though as she continued to scream.

“Perhaps they’ll make you into a stone statue like me! After all, your screaming could disturb all of Equestria. You’ll be seen as nothing but a nuisance.”

The guards heads could be clearly seen over the flowers now and the foal continued to scream.

“Would you..SHUT UP!”

A shockwave suddenly burst from the statue, exploding outwards and utterly destroying flowers and crops as it traveled away. The young foal toppled over and nearly went flying as she gripped the ground somehow by only a stray flower survivor. The guards however got it hard as they all were knocked over and a few went flying. The shockwave was even strong enough to shatter a few windows on the castle as small pieces were flung into the grass below. Everpony in the castle area had to have felt that.

“What in Equestria was that?”

“A magic surge?”

“A magic surge..Really? There’s no unicorns around here that could manage to do that!”

“Who cares, some of the others are hurt, let’s go!”

The guards that remained replied to each other as they all soon dusted themselves off of grass and galloped off to go help the wounded. This gave the little foal a chance to get up and recover. She lifted her now bruised arm and sniffled, tears dripping down her cheeks.

“This is why they keep me in stone..”

“G..Gah?..”

“This is why they keep me in stone!” The voice repeated.

The foal fell over, frightened by the voice..Well, ‘raising its voice’.

“I can’t be trusted to not hurt anypony. Especially somepony as delicate as you. I don’t even trust myself quite frankly..I’ve gone mad.”

The foal shook her head and seem to babble some comforting words in her own little language as she inched closer to the statue, still cautious.

“Why don’t you just leave? What do you exactly see in me that’s so great?! You’re only a child!”

When she knew he wouldn’t harm her again, she freely walked over, carrying confidence within her and knowing she’d be fine. She climbed up from his stone tail and then all the way up to his face. She sat on his muzzle at this point when she suddenly hugged it, closing her eyes.

“Love..” The young foal suddenly said.

“W-What?..Love? What’s that suppose to mean?!”

“Love.” She pointed towards his chest and smiled up at him.

“L-Love?..” The voice said, seeming like it was trying to touch its own nonexistent chest.

“Love...You.”

That was the moment that changed everything for the both of them. Although it was very short and less meaningful to an outsider, it meant everything to Discord. Even within his stone prison, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes, trying to escape the stone encasing him.

He had the urge to embrace the young one suddenly..Something he had never felt before in his many years of life. The stone restrained him from moving his arms around the young one but he could visualize it happening within his mind. He didn’t even understand what he was feeling right now..He just felt warm..Happy?

“I..I don’t know what to say.”

The foal only grinned and nuzzled his muzzle. A foal of little words but such hard hitting meaning.

“I’ve never had anyone who’s loved me before..And maybe you don’t know if you love me or not and you’re only saying that to be kind but..All I know is you’re worth more than the ponies I’ve tortured in the past and..

“I will protect you.”

A blinding light exploded out as loud cracking noises sounded throughout the castle gardens. Celestia has just arrived to assist the fallen guards when she saw the sudden light, immediately following it. When she arrived she only stood there staring in utter disbelief.

The pedestal that held Discord’s statue upon it was now empty with no large draconequus statue to be found anywhere. The only thing that seemed to be left behind was that same cradle from before..Untouched.

Chapter 2: Her Name

Author's Note

Hello everyone! Thank you for all the support for the first chapter, I appreciate it a lot! ^^ I apologize that this one is a little smaller and was made last minute after I realized that I didn’t give much time for baby Fluttershy to be known. This is to make up for that and I’ll be posting the third chapter very soon. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 2: Her Name

A poof noise sounded throughout the empty space of Discord’s dimension. Well, it wasn’t entirely empty. What else existed in the dimension other than the foal and Discord was floating islands with small exotic flowers growing on them scattered around in the air and some weird floating creatures that none of the pony kind had ever seen before. Except for the foal of course..

There was a big island in the middle among the strange wavy sky that carried a seemingly normal house on it. That definitely couldn’t be right though. This was Discord, why would he have a normal house in a dimension of absolute chaos?

The foal and Discord had poofed in the air and were now gently gliding down to the house Mary Poppins style as Discord carried an umbrella in his claw and the foal in the other.

When they reached the ground, Discord did a rather graceful landing and sighed, wiping at his eyes. He seemed a little emotional still from the beautiful child he held in his arm that had shown him a powerful emotion he had never felt before until now. He had a feeling of wanting to fight for her life and fight for her happiness till the end. It was a powerful emotion that almost overwhelmed him. He could handle it though.

“Well, I never really thought I’d get this far.” He said as he stared at his home in front of him, not really acknowledging the fact that he was no longer encased in stone.

He stared down at the little foal who was looking around at her new surroundings in wonder. This was probably any child’s dream come true to see such ‘impossible creatures’ brought to life in front of their very eyes. Then again, she was being held by Discord who was a mix of many animals. Was it really a surprise? Discord was just happy to have her and couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to make it work. Besides, it seems like I have my full chaos magic back now,” He said, snapping a tiny bunny with a top hat on and dancing tap dance. “Nothing a little chaos magic can’t do!”

He carried the foal inside, opening the door for himself and shutting it behind him. With a small snap, the lights turned on and immediately it was clear this house wasn’t completely normal like it looked on the outside. Discord and the foal were on the ceiling upside down! The foal seemed to notice it pretty quickly too as she started to cry.

“O-Oh dear, what did I do this time?”

The foal continued to cry as he stared down at her confused, unsure why she was upset.

“Can’t you just tell me what’s wrong? I was able to understand your baby language before but this doesn’t tell me anything!”

But she continued to cry. It started to tick Discord off once again as he sighed, rubbing his face.

“Do you want less chaos?..”

He snapped and suddenly it seemed like gravity shifted as both Discord and the little foal fell off the ceiling and hit the floor. Luckily, Discord broke the foal’s fall and she only bounced and landed on his stomach. Discord however fell on his head and now looked rather dizzy from the impact as little stars seemed to shoot around in a circle around his head as his eyes spun around.

“Woooo..That..Wasn’t a good idea…” He said, soon slamming his head back to the floor. “I’m just..Going to take a..Q-Quick..Nap..Yeah..I think I see Mommy over by those trees..”

The little foal climbed off Discord’s stomach and crawled over to his head. He had his eyes shut as he seemed to have fell asleep to go see his..’Mommy’. He wore a goofy grin on his face as he snored, mumbling a few things in his sleep. The foal wasn’t having it though. She suddenly slapped him particularly hard for somepony of her strength and yelled in her baby language.

“Ahh, Mommy!..Oh.”

He sat up and rubbed his head, seeming like he caught a headache falling on his head.

“Gee, thanks for letting me sleep..” He complained, rubbing his eyes.

A sudden growl came out of nowhere which startled Discord from his sleepiness. He looked over to the foal to see her curiously staring down at her stomach, gripping it with her hooves and looking up at him confused. And then..Discord’s favorite noise..She started to cry.

“Oh shush, you don’t need to cry over everything! You’re just hungry, calm down!”

He scooped up the foal into his arms and began..Furiously shaking her?

“Shut up, please! I can’t stand that stupid noise!”

But his efforts just made her cry even harder as presumed.

“Okay, fine! Just wait a second, I’ll snap you up something.”

He placed her on the floor as he snapped, now grasping some cotton candy on a stick. She stopped crying, amazed by the fluffy pink food on the stick.

“Here you go, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.” He said, giving the cotton candy to the little foal.

The foal giggled as she took a small nibble off the cotton candy, her eyes immediately lighting up after the first bite. She started to take bigger bites off the cotton candy now, enjoying it perhaps a little too much. By the end of it she was covered in sticky cotton candy from head to hoof. She did a small burp and yawned.

“Seriously, ugh, must I do everything?”

And, in fact he did as her new ‘parent’. He had snapped her and him into a bathroom which was surely not in Discord’s house before. He gave her a bubble bath with many toys such as little boats that floated above the water and even some sea creatures like a little seal and some ducks and fish. And since it was Discord, they even came to life and moved around like they would if they were real.

The bath was a lot easier than Discord had first thought and he was soon figuring out how to put a new diaper on the young one. He struggled a bit but he was able to get it on her nice and snug.

Eventually, he was cradling her in his arms singing her to sleep and rocking her. He waited until he could only hear the soft and gentle inhales of her asleep to finally lie himself on his back on the couch with her asleep on his stomach. He sighed, closing his eyes and lying his head back on the couch.

“I’m definitely never doubting a parent’s job ever again..Parents have a right to be grouchy after these little monsters..” He mumbled to himself.

He placed his lion paw on her back, gently stroking it as he felt it slowly fall and rise a little with each breath.

“I’m never letting those ponies get a hold of you..My dear, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy..He had never thought that word would ever come out of his mouth. Where did it even come from? He had never heard anyone say that in his life..Yet..It felt so familiar and right to say. Like that was the name she was meant to have. Yes..Fluttershy. It was perfect.

Chapter 3: Three Butterflies

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Chapter 4: Melted Emotions

“Ah, let’s see what those silly ponies have to say now.”

Discord grabbed a rolled up newspaper off his step, shutting the door behind him as he unrolled it. It seemed the mail pony had come by recently and somehow had made it through his chaotic dimension to his home. He always internally applauded them for making it through all the obstacles there were on the way and at least surviving to deliver his mail and other things. There was always a new mail pony so he assumed it was him making all the previous ones quit. How surprising that none of them had complained to the management and got word to higher authority such as Celestia yet.

“Blah, blah, boring bake sale, boring fashion, boring birthday parties..Ugh! Is there really no juicy drama in here? Nothing that could be going wrong? Nothing that’s worth reading?” Discord complained, flipping each page after reading the headline.

One page caught his eye though and made him pause and look at it. It was a picture of two little fillies running a little lemonade stand on a hot sunny day. That wasn’t what he was interested in though whatsoever.

In the corner of the page was a little black and white picture of a foal who seemed to be not much of a newborn foal but rather young at the same time. She was all snuggled up in a cradle smiling with a little bunny plush in her hoof. Underneath was a bunch of text which seemed to be saying they were looking for the foal and whoever found her would be rewarded. There also seemed to be a warning that she might be accompanied by..

“Hold on a second..That’s Fluttershy!”

He snapped on some reading glasses and brought the page right up to his face, squinting sort of and making sure he was seeing right. It was indeed Fluttershy. He’d recognize her even through some black and white printing.

“Oh no..This isn’t good..I think I’m going to have to pull her from school..Would they really recognize her though as a filly now? I think I’m overreacting..”

Discord slumped into his arm chair and let himself slide downwards lazily, letting the newspaper fall out of his claw and become nothing but a limp noodle. He closed his eyes, taking a large exhale. The stress was getting to him and he couldn’t help but just let himself be consumed by the chair. Perhaps a little literally as his magic influenced the chair to slowly swallow up his tail and the rest of his body.

“Discord, I’m home!”

His eyes immediately sprung open as his head poked out of his seat. His daughter was home! He proceeded to pull himself out of his chair’s grasp, yanking his tail out.

“Let go of me, I’m done being a lazy potato!” He said, finally getting his tail free.

He ran up to the door as he met up with Fluttershy who was just putting up her school bag on to a hook. As soon as she finished, he grabbed her and swung her around.

“Woooah! Diiissscoooorrddd, aaa liiittllleee tooo faaasstt!” Fluttershy said, being swung around and around.

“Whoops, sorry! I’m just so happy to see you!”

He stopped, setting her back down on to the ground after as she wobbled around all dizzy, her eyes spinning around and around just like she was a few seconds ago.

“E-Everything’s spinning..”

“Just give it a few moments, dear. It’ll wear off.”

He was right as she soon found herself on stable ground again and a non-moving world. She took a deep breath and smiled, unzipping her bag and grabbing a small book from it. She soon joined Discord at a little coffee table with a vase of dandelions which seemed to be producing little sparks of fire. The sparks didn’t seem harmful as they fell off the dandelions and floated for a moment before disappearing within the air.

“What are you doing there, kiddo?” Discord asked, sipping some coffee and casually brushing aside the newspaper he was previously reading.

“Some homework.” Fluttershy answered, scribbling something into a little blue book. “Ooo, I almost forgot. Miss Daffodil told me she wanted to speak to you sometime soon.”

“Miss Daffodil?”

“Yeah, she’s my teacher.”

“Uh..Why does she want to speak to me?” Discord asked, fidgeting with a pen now.

“I don’t know. She just said she wants to set up a meeting to speak sometime soon.”

“Fluttershy, you do realize that I can’t talk to her, right? If I just showed up as myself, I would not only freak her out but I would literally be dragged out of her classroom possibly by Princess Celestia’s guards and then sent back to stone. You know how everyone feels about me being free. I don’t exactly feel safe exposing myself just yet.”

“Well, why not use your disguise you used when you teached me how to fly? Um..Tornado Twister?”

“Right, so, I’m just going to have to be him whenever in public. I hate having hooves! What if you have some kind of school concert that I’m forced to go to. I’ll be stuck like that for hours!”

“It won’t be forever. Just pretend to be my normal pony dad while you both speak.”

Discord sighed, setting down his cup of coffee.

“Fine, but this meeting better not be about bad grades.”

“W-What! Of course it isn’t, I’ve been working really hard!”

Discord burst out laughing, hitting his paw on the table.

“I’m just kidding my dear. Like I would ever care about bad grades.”

He grinned, gently stroking her head and combing through her mane with his paw.

***

“Alright, is this fine?”

Discord was now in disguise of Tornado Twister. He looked a little more decent now as he had his black mane slicked back and a unicorn horn instead of pegasus wings. He gently walked alongside Fluttershy now as they were approaching the school a little into the evening of the next day.

“I think you look perfect.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Oh stop it.” He smiled back at her, truthfully not wanting her to stop the compliments.

They approached the door as ‘Tornado’ put his hoof on the handle and then turned back to Fluttershy.

“You owe me for this..Big time. I hate all ponies except for you so it better be good.”

“Alright fine, I’ll make you a dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

“A dozen? I’m doing it!”

‘Tornado’ adjusted his mane and put on his professional face. He then proceeded to turn the knob and walked in with Fluttershy shyly following behind.

Miss Daffodil was adding some water to some flowers she had set to the side at a window sill when she noticed them come in. She was a very kind looking pony who seemed rather obsessed with flowers as they decorated her room and even lived there. Her name fit her well. She gave a kind smile to the both of them as took a seat behind her desk while they sat in front of her.

“Good evening, Miss Daffodil. I am Tornado Twister, Fluttershy’s father. Please, call me Tornado.” He held his hoof out as they shook hooves.

“Sunsetta Daffodil. It’s very nice to meet you at last!”

“You as well.”

Fluttershy was shocked at ‘Tornado’s’ perfect acting. It all seemed to be going well and ‘Tornado’ was showing such professionalism. It was very unlike him and almost frightened her at what he had become.

“So, I just want to make it clear that I didn’t ask you here today to discuss Fluttershy’s grades. She’s doing extremely well and she’s a very hard worker.”

Fluttershy smiled proudly as ‘Tornado’ patted her on the shoulder.

“I asked you here today for a little bit more important matters.”

Miss Daffodil searched through her desk, shifting through a few papers and pencils. She finally put a stack of papers on to her desk and grabbed one out of it. She placed it on the table as ‘Tornado’s’ eyes immediately widened.

“So, I didn’t want to discuss this with the kids because I’m sure they don’t care much and are a little too young but the princess has wanted me to share this around in hopes maybe the young one will be found. They’ve been searching for her for years so she might be around this class’s age group now. I just wanted to know if maybe any of you had seen her. I kinda thought she looked like Fluttershy a little honestly.”

Miss Daffodil giggled as she stared down at the paper placed in front of the two of them. It was the same picture of young Fluttershy except bigger and it seemed to be an actual article on her. ‘Tornado’ looked like he was about to lose it.

“Wow, she really does look like me!” Fluttershy said innocently.

“N-Nope! Never seen her in my life!”

“Really? I thought maybe Fluttershy had a younger sister or something.”

“Nope! Just me and Fluttershy!”

‘Tornado’ was clearly losing his cool at this point as he felt himself starting to sweat. He smoothed back his mane as his breath quickened.

“Woo..Sure is hot in here, isn’t it? M-Me and Fluttershy better get going before we turn into melted ice cream! Literally.”

‘Tornado’ laughed awkwardly as he yanked Fluttershy out of her seat and headed for the door.

“O-Oh, well, okay! It was nice talking to you Tornado and Fluttershy!”

But ‘Tornado’ didn’t stop to hear the last bit she said as they were already galloping into a hidden portal back to Discord’s dimension. They poofed on to the lawn and ‘Tornado’ galloped inside looking like he was about to have an accident.

“Discord, wait!” Fluttershy called out, following him inside.

She entered the house and paused when she heard puking noises. She folded her ears and trotted over to the bathroom, peeking in. ‘Tornado’ was over the toilet puking particularly hard. Fluttershy flinched every time he did it more as she trotted in, sitting behind him and gently rubbing his back.

“You should of told me you weren’t feeling well. I wouldn’t of told Miss Daffodil that we were ready to talk today.”

“No..It’s not that..”

‘Tornado’ wiped his mouth with his hoof sighing. He turned around, looking Fluttershy in the eyes. He looked very pale and definitely sick.

“I puke sometimes when I’m overly stressed. I’ve noticed it now and that I used to not do it before. Perhaps I didn’t have as much on my plate before and I was too busy having the time of my life to care.” He then laughed suddenly. “My puke is even ice cream.”

Fluttershy hesitantly peeked over the toilet to indeed see there was many flavors of melted ice cream in the toilet slowly mixing together. At least it wasn’t normal puke. That would have been more disgusting.

“But..Why are you so stressed?” Fluttershy asked.

“It wouldn’t be very fair to you if I answered that question.”

“..I make you stressed out?..”

“U-Uh..Not y-you in particular b-but..”

“You stutter when you’re scared or lying..Discord, are you sure?”

He stopped and just stared at her. She was making this turn on her and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want her to feel guilty for his own decisions.

“Fluttershy, I don’t want to discuss this anymore. Please respect that..I..I’ll be fine. I think I just need some rest.”

He got up, transforming back to his original form and making his way out of the bathroom. He felt his claw suddenly be grabbed by her hoof though as he turned around and looked at her again. She had tears forming in her eyes now as she sniffled.

“I-I’m so sorry Discord..I-I don’t mean to make you miserable. I just w-want to see you smile..Y-You’re so a-alone..A-And scared..I wish y-you could have l-lots of friends like I can..T-That ponies liked you..A-And that I don’t e-ever make you upset again! I-If that’s what I do to you..I..I can l-leave..If that’s truly what y-you want..”

He dropped her hoof, his eyes widening. She started to sob on the floor as he quickly ran over and embraced her. It was suddenly as if he could feel the same heartache Fluttershy felt for him as tears started to form in his own eyes.

“No, no, no! I don’t want you to leave. That’s the complete opposite of what I want. You do make me happy, Fluttershy. More than you could ever know. I didn’t like who I was before and the pain of others that I lived on. You’ve made me better..Don’t ever doubt yourself, okay?”

“B-But..”

“Don’t..I don’t want you to go..”

At this point tears were falling down Discord’s cheeks as he held her tightly, never wanting to let her go again. Fluttershy suddenly started to sob into his chest, hugging him back. This moment was different from any other one he had ever experienced with her..This one was sad..He didn’t like feeling sad..He wanted to just ball up all his emotions and throw them out the window..But not even chaos magic was able to do that..

Chapter 5: Graduation Disaster

“Discord, I’m leaving!”

Discord suddenly poofed behind Fluttershy, carrying a bag of chips and crunching on them.

“Oh no you’re not, missy. It’s too late for you to be going out at this hour. And that’s saying something as the Lord of Chaos. I’m quite easy on the rules since I myself do not follow rules and you know that.”

“But I have to go. I told you that I’m requesting a dress from my friend for the graduation dance.”

“Who is this..’Friend’ and why do they need you to be out so late? Can’t you do it tomorrow?”

“It’s that unicorn from Carousel Boutique! Her name is Rarity. I’m pretty sure I told you about her before. She gave me a discount on some clothes a while back and we’ve been friends ever since. I’ve even met one of her other friends who is a pegasus and runs the weather in Ponyville and other places. Her mane is amazing!”

“Well this Rarity sounds like a Canterlot snob who is trying to manipulate you and the other one sounds like she’s nothing but selfish just by the thought of her ‘amazing mane’. Don’t hang with them, Fluttershy. Hang with me! I’m the most fun after all. You know you can trust me more than you can trust them.”

“Discord, I’ve heard your lectures about ponies many times before and they haven’t changed. I’m older now and graduating from school anyways. I can take care of myself and watch out for toxic friends.”

Fluttershy turned around, making her way for the door when she felt her back leg being pulled on. She turned around to see Discord hanging on to her leg and giving her puppy eyes. He looked like he was almost in tears. Clearly he was acting though.

“Don’t go Fluttershy, I’ll give you all the puppies in the world if you stay!” He pleaded.

Fluttershy giggled. “While that’s a very tempting offer, I have to say no. I’ll be back soon though and I’ll even show you maybe a rough draft of the dress I’m getting for graduation. You promised you would be there as well.”

“I..Well, um…”

“I hope you don’t bail on me because you’ll have to be in disguise and be around tons of ponies.”

“Of course not! Why would I miss out on my daughter’s most important moment of her life?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s the most important but it’s pretty special to me.” Fluttershy say as she turned the door knob, opening it and beginning to trot out. “See you later!”

“Don’t come home too late!”

“I promise I’ll be back by ten at night in Equestria hours!”

He watched the almost adult pegasus disappear through a nearby portal at the end of the front yard with a small flash. Once he was sure she was gone, he sighed and slumped into a arm chair. Time to sleep his alone hours away.

***

“Discord, I’m home!”

He immediately sat up in his seat as he watched his daughter enter through the door, a small notebook in hoof. He got up from his arm chair and greeted her, his eyes falling to the little notebook she carried.

“What’s that?” He asked, pointing to it.

“Oh, I told you that I was going to show you the rough draft of the dress. Rarity sketches out what she plans on making first so she gets an idea of what it’s going to look like and how to make it. This is both my ideas and hers combined together!”

She flipped open the notebook to the first page and held it out to him grinning. It was a very detailed looking dress (aside from the poor messy coloring) that looked like a flower itself. It looked like a bunch of pink petals were sewn together to make a dress that flowed to the ground and would most likely drag behind whoever wore it. On the sides of it, little sunflowers and other types of flowers were hung by a hot pink ribbon which tied together at the back. It was perfect..It was like it fit both Fluttershy’s interests and personality perfectly well and that only she could wear it. It would only fit her.

“Wow..That’s..Well, I’m sure it’ll be more beautiful once I see it myself since this is just a messy drawing but..Wow.”

“I know! Rarity did such a good job. I wanted it to be nature looking and feel like I was wearing the animals and plants of the Everfree with me since..You know, they’re not allowed to be with me.”

“Who says they’re not allowed to be with you? I can rearrange that in a simple-“

“No!”

Discord had his claw held in the air ready to snap when Fluttershy grabbed it quickly.

“Oh! Sorry..It's not that I don’t want you to help, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t want anypony to get hurt and I’m sure the animals or well..The flowers wouldn’t enjoy being around so many ponies at once. It’s not their ideal place to be.”

“Oh, I see. No problem.”

Fluttershy released his claw as he gently rubbed it now with his paw, thinking to himself.

“Perhaps I could plan a special graduation for just you and me and your animal friends.”

“For just us?..What do you mean?”

“Well, I could make a little party in the woods and graduate you myself with all the animals watching. That way they wouldn’t miss out. You could still go to the pony one if you truly desired. You’d just have two graduations to do.”

Fluttershy gasped, her eyes lighting up. “Discord, that’s a great idea! Well..I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble?”

“Of course not my dear. Anything for you.”

Fluttershy clapped her hooves and squealed, giving Discord a hug and trotting away giddily. He only chuckled and sighed. He had a lot to do tonight and perhaps some compromise making with the animals.

***

“Ow!”

“Oof!”

“Watch it!”

“Watch the tail, sir. Ya’ coulda’ poked my eye.”

Ponies in a row of seats complained as ‘Tornado Twister’ hurriedly made his way to his seat for the pony graduation. When he sat down, he had already made the entire row grumpy with him as he finally sat down beside a mother who was feeding her baby a bottle of milk. She didn’t seem to notice as she only smiled at her little offspring. It reminded him of when Fluttershy was small..The good times..

He had made it just in time as he heard someone walk on stage, presumingly the principal who stopped in front of a microphone and looked out at the crowd and the many ponies below dressed in blue. The soon to be graduates. He couldn’t see Fluttershy in there but he knew she had to be somewhere in there. He’d soon see anyways.

“Good evening soon to be graduates and their families. I am very pleased to have you all here today and to be able to assist your young mares and stallions into the next stage of their life. It feels….”

Annndd that’s when ‘Tornado’ stopped listening. Nothing but a boring old speech he didn’t need to hear. Instead he thought about Fluttershy and chaos and for some odd reason Princes Celestia crying over her castle being turned to cheese. What a great idea for the future..No, Fluttershy would scold him for that. She was fine with harmless little jokes but not ‘pranks’ that would ‘harm’ ponies. She cared too much..Way too much.

It seemed the muffled speech he didn’t listen to was over as he now heard names being called out as ponies trotted up to the stage to claim some kind of rolled up parchment. The principal would move some kind string attached to their hat on to the other side while they were there. The ponies cheered and clapped after as most of the now graduated ponies exited the stage with nervous smiles as they waved to their family in the audience. He also tuned that out after the first few ponies as he only listened for Fluttershy to be called.

“Rarity!”

Hold, on what?! He opened his eyes from attempting to sleep through this to look and see a white unicorn with a twirly looking purple mane approach the principal on the stage. She had big eyelashes and light blue eyeshadow on as she was also dressed in the graduation attire. She looked rather proud as she accepted the parchment and smiled at the crowd as they cheered. He could see a few stallions drooling and cheering particularly hard for her. Stallions..Of course they couldn’t control themselves.

Somepony cheering caught his eye though as he saw two light yellow hooves from the graduation group in the air. He could swear he could hear soft cheering as well. Was that Fluttershy? Rarity soon sat down again as she joined beside the light yellow hooves. He could only see her purple mane as the hooves soon disappeared back down into the crowd.

Well, now he knew who this Rarity gal was and he was sure she was nothing but rich. Somepony who would use Fluttershy and pretend to be her friend..He would destroy her..

“Fluttershy!”

He immediately stood up upon hearing her name as a big smile came upon his face. Fluttershy nervously trotted up on to the stage, forcing a smile on her face as she accepted her parchment while her hat was adjusted. She hesitantly turned to the crowd, her eyes searching around. The crowd cheered for her but ‘Tornado’ made it his job to the loudest of them all as he yelled over them and clapped his hooves. It didn’t take long for her to find him. She smiled and giggled, waving at him.

“That’s my daughter! That’s my Fluttershy! Woooo!”

She trotted off the stage smiling and took her seat. He then sat down again, panting slightly from the amount of energy he just used to cheer her on. It was worth it though. Exhausting but worth it.

***

“Are you sure I can’t come with you?”

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s a dance for just the graduates. Besides, it’d be weird to go with my father anyways. Nopony else is. We will get to dance tonight for the private graduation party you're planning anyways. The animals will have lots of fun I’m sure.”

Fluttershy and Discord were back home as Fluttershy carefully tucked a little pink flower into her mane as she peered into a mirror. She was wearing her dress and Discord had to admit, she looked gorgeous. He carefully fixed a strand in her mane and clapped his paw and claw together.

“Perfect! You look wonderful my dear!”

“Thank you, Discord.” Fluttershy said, grinning as she posed a bit in the mirror.

She trotted towards the door, her long flower dress dragging behind her. She turned back to Discord.

“I won’t be gone for too long. Bye, Discord!”

“Bye, Fluttershy!”

He waited for her to fully leave his dimension before doing a girly squeal and a little dance in place. He snapped as he teleported from his dimension to what seemed to be the Everfree Forest.

Normally ponies were terrified of this forest because of the many rumors of the weather that did its own thing without pegasus assistance and the animals that also lived on their own. Its trees also blocked out most of the sunlight from entering the forest so that was another factor. This didn’t bother Fluttershy and Discord however. Fluttershy had played in this forest since she was first able to walk and they both had never had issues. Heck, she even got her cutie mark within this very forest. What was there to be afraid of?

Discord walked a little into the forest before whistling loudly, pausing and listening as his whistle echoed against each tree within the forest. It wasn’t long before he heard a tiny stampede of animals coming his way. The whistle worked just like Fluttershy said it would. He soon had small bunnies and squirrels sitting down in front of him, confused that he wasn’t Fluttershy. Many birds flew over, tweeting and flying all about and Fluttershy’s bear friend came walking over, giving Discord a weird look.

“Is this everyone? I have an important announcement about Fluttershy!” Discord said, cupping his claws and yelling over the animal chatter.

The animals abruptly stopped excitedly talking to one another and looked around at each furry face and bird beak around them. It seemed everyone was here. A squirrel gave him a thumbs up with its small paw.

“Alright, good. As you all might know, Fluttershy is graduating from her pony school. You might know what a school is..You might not..Doesn’t matter. You all know what a party or a celebration is, right?”

They all nodded. They probably had experience from Fluttershy having little parties for them or perhaps they found their way into Ponyville. There was a lot of talk about parties there and planned ones.

“Well, we’re going to plan basically a party for her. I’ll show you all what we need to do and how this will happen. First though, I need to assign jobs.”

And so it began. The squirrels were assigned to hang ribbons and tiny lamps in the trees, the birds to throw small rose petals on a small rock path that was currently being built by the bear, a stage and a dance floor was being made by Discord currently, and the bees and the butterflies were setting out chairs of all sizes around the stage area. Discord had to admit, it was a little unfair to give tiny creatures such as butterflies and bees the chair setting up job, but every other animal was busy and they couldn’t exactly do much else. They seemed to figure it out though as they grouped up to carry large chairs.

It wasn’t long before the party really started to look like a party. It seemed the animals even decided to add their own idea as there was a small table carrying bird seed and other foods of the small creatures. Discord decided to make his own for Fluttershy and him as he snapped up a table full of little snacks and beverages for them to share during the night.

It was a few hours before midnight when the last detail was added and it was confirmed that the party was ready.

“Alright, that looks good! I can’t believe I’m saying this to a bunch of animals but..You all did great!”

The animals cheered as they gave each other high fives and some kind of secret handshakes. Discord chuckled a little as he clapped his paw and claw together.

“Now, first off, I think it would be best if you all sat in the chairs and waited for her to come and I’ll stand to the side at the entrance of the party. Once the small graduation part is done, then the party is on and you all can do what you want. Now, hurry, hurry, she’s coming soon!”

The animals scurried to get a seat as Discord snapped his claw, teleporting a black tuxedo on and leaning against a little flower archway. He checked a watch that seemed to be drawn messily in marker on his arm as he watched for Fluttershy to make her way over.

It wasn’t long when the animals spotted a pony figure in a long dress flying over. Discord noticed as well as he adjusted a tie he had on, knitting his claw and paw together behind his back. His calm relaxed face however soon turned to a look of pure fear in a matter of seconds.

“She wasn’t lying? Are you kidding me!”

The pegasus that was flying over to them was not the pegasus they expected. A blue pegasus mare in a long rainbow dress was staring at the whole party in shock. She mostly had her eyes on Discord though who was trying to hide behind the flower archway so she wouldn’t see who he was but was clearly failing.

The rainbow maned pony softly landed on the ground as she started to make her way over, cautiously.

“I can’t believe you’ve been with Fluttershy all this time. They only said you went into hiding and that was that. This is unbelievable.”

“If you get any closer to the party and me, I’ll make sure you suffer a punishment worse than just memory erase. This was for Fluttershy and Fluttershy only..You were not invited and are not welcome.”

“If you did that Fluttershy wouldn’t be very pleased. Besides, we have a friend who’s a student of Princess Celestia. They contact each other almost everyday. I’m sure you being locked back in stone again can be arranged.”

“A student..Of..Princess Celestia?” Discord now poked his head out from behind the flower archway.

“Gee, you must be really out of whack with the time right now. I guess that’s what you get for hiding away with a pony for years. Are you her boyfriend or something? I don’t know how Fluttershy would choose such an ugly old man.”

“Boyfriend?! Absolutely not!”

“Then what are you doing with an innocent pony such as herself?! Are you planning to eat her later?”

“No!”

“Are you going to use her like a puppet with your chaos magic and make her do everything you say?”

“No!”

“Then what is it then? I swear, if you hurt her, you’ll be sorry. These hooves do more than just trot.” The mare threatened, bringing her hooves up into a punching position.

“Like you could even do anything to me. You’re nothing but a puny little pegasus.”

The mare’s face quickly changed to one of anger as she gritted her teeth and zoomed at an alarming speed towards Discord. His eyes followed the rainbow blur zooming right for him as he casually lifted his claw. The mare suddenly came to a halt in the air as her entire body was being held still by his magic. He levitated her right to his face now as he simply smiled.

“Only wings and hooves and you think you’re so great. I have wings, magic, and the ability to get whatever I want. And what I want will be what you want as well..”

He brought his lion paw to her face as her pink eyes suddenly turned into colorful swirls that swirled around and around endlessly. Her body suddenly went limp as all her inner defenses surrendered to his power.

“Let my voice and my magic consume you little pony..You won’t have to fight no longer and tire yourself out if you do..Just listen to me and let me be the only voice you-“

“Discord! Put Rainbow Dash down at once!”

He looked beyond his controlled pony to see a purple unicorn also wearing a dress and staring him down. He definitely wasn’t expecting another one to show up.

“How many friends do you have?” He said, looking down at the rainbow pony.

“Ten..Perhaps more I cannot recall.” Rainbow Dash answered, her tone sounding robotic and emotionless.

“Well recall them already! I don’t have all day!” He said, shaking her furiously.

“Discord!”

He immediately looked up to see his daughter Fluttershy galloping over, having a rather frightened look on her face.

“Fluttershy! There you are, I was starting to worry that you weren’t going to show up. Now, what are all these ponies doing here? You know that I can’t be exposed like-“

“Release Rainbow Dash now!” Fluttershy yelled over him.

“Alright, fine! There’s no reason for you to yell. You’re lucky I’m nice to you..”

Discord’s magic released Rainbow as she started to fall. The purple unicorn quickly caught her with her magic and brought her into her hooves. Her eyes were still swirling as she stared into the distance.

“Rainbow, are you okay?” The purple unicorn asked.

“I do not respond to anyone who is not the Lord of-“

“Snap out of it, Rainbow!”

Rainbow closed her eyes and shook her head suddenly. When she opened them, her eyes were back to normal and she blinked several times as she stared up at the purple unicorn confused.

“Twilight?..What happened?..W-Why..Ow!”

The blue pegasus flinched as she brought her hoof up to her forehead, rubbing it as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Hey, take it easy. Whatever Discord did to you must have been pretty powerful. Here, lay your head down.”

The purple unicorn named Twilight began to slowly lower Rainbow down onto the ground, supporting her head and her back with her hooves. A small pillow poofed under Rainbow’s head as it was softly lowered onto the pillow. Rainbow sighed, letting her muscles relax and her wings go limp at her sides.

“There you go. I’ll get you in a bed in Canterlot as soon as possible. For now, stay here.”

Rainbow nodded as Twilight trotted away from her, joining Fluttershy’s side.

“Of course, you told them about me didn’t you. You just couldn’t leave it alone. You couldn’t have just enjoyed the nice party me and the animals organized. Just screw everything up for me, right?” Discord said, gesturing to the animals who still remained in their seats, watching whatever was going on right now with interest.

“That is not what I intended and you know that. Trust me, I did want to attend the party just you and me and the animals..But..Some plans changed.” Fluttershy said, looking down at the ground now and frowning.

“What she means is, the Princess has called all of us to the castle as an emergency and you messing with Rainbow Dash like that is wasting time and wasting my patience with you.” Twilight answered rather sternly.

“Yes because I care about your precious patience.” Discord responded sarcastically.

“You will when I send a scroll to Princess Celestia to turn you back to stone.”

Discord eyes widened as he stood there in shock and realization. This little unicorn was the one called ‘Rainbow Crash’..Rainbow Crash?..Yes, Rainbow Crash was talking about. A tiny unicorn who acted all high and mighty?..And why wasn’t Fluttershy doing anything about this? Why was she just standing there letting him take it?..

“Look, Fluttershy told us that you’re a ‘friend’ of hers and that you’re not bad anymore. I highly doubt it but I trust Fluttershy’s judgement. That display that you showed there with Rainbow will not happen again or I will tell the Princess where you are. I know who you are and what you’ve done a thousand years ago. I’m not afraid to take action..Got that?”

“Sure.”

“Twilight, there’s no need to be so harsh.” Fluttershy said.

“There is if he’s hurting my friends..Our friends. Harming ponies is not acceptable and it shouldn’t be to you either.”

Fluttershy only frowned as Twilight trotted back over to Rainbow.

“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time to waste. The others are waiting for us.” Twilight said as her horn began to glow, seeming to be preparing a teleport as her purple aura started to envelop Rainbow on the ground.

“Discord..I-I have to go. I’ll..I’ll see you back home later..”

“Fluttershy, wait!”

Fluttershy turned her back on him and galloped over to Twilight. She made it just in time as Twilight casted the spell. They all disappeared with a poof as only a few sparkles were left behind, flying through the air and disappearing as well.

Discord sunk to his knees as he lowered his head. Was his fear coming true?..Or, was this a small attempt for the ponies to get to know her and she would decline later on..But, why would Princess Celestia need her?..Perhaps she knew something Discord didn’t want her to know..

Chapter 6: Harmony Isn't Always Peace

Author's Note

Woo! I'm so happy I got a chapter out finally after a month. Enjoy y'all. This one might hurt a little. :fluttershyouch:

Edit: Whoops, I noticed just now that I said Discord used an invisibility spell at the beginning of the chapter and Celestia saw him midway through when she probably shouldn't have. Sorry for that little error! :twilightsheepish: Perhaps Celestia can see through invisibility magic..

Edit again: I fixed another error. Sorry for so many. xT

Chapter 6: Harmony Isn't Always Peace

“Almost...There..Phew..Still haven’t changed the castle much have you, Tia?”

Discord was currently hanging from a window on Canterlot Castle, his noodle-like body just dangling in the air as he held himself there with suction cups.

One would normally scream in fright upon seeing a rather giant ‘monster’ hanging off Canterlot Castle but Discord had it covered. He was using an invisibility spell to make himself not visible. As well as a spell that would mute all sounds of his moving and speaking. Chaos magic was truly a treasure like no other.

He grunted as he pulled himself up so he could sit on the very tiny windowsill and peered inside. It seemed his memory hadn’t failed him in the number of years he was in stone as he found just the room he was looking for, the throne room. And there was his greatest enemy seated in her royal throne, Princess Celestia. All high and mighty looking as usual..Pathetic.

She was levitating some scrolls, frantically looking them over as her eyes moved over each letter as quickly as possible. Despite having a rather serious and calm look on her face, the Princess still looked a little unsettled. She was the type to fake her smiles and emotions for her subject's delight and seemed to have a lot of training in keeping herself calm in intense situations. Discord could understand why since she had to be a role model to the ponies but it still disgusted him that she did that..You know what, everything about her disgusted him. She was a pretty pony with a lot of awful secrets..

“Princess, we’re here!”

Princess Celestia’s head jolted upwards as Discord heard the throne room doors slam open and shut. A small stampede of hooves made its way up to Celestia before stopping in front of her. Rarity, Twilight, and two other ponies he had never seen before stood in front of her. An orange earth pony wearing a western looking hat was carrying an unconscious Rainbow Dash on her back while his daughter Fluttershy stood in the back of the group, looking rather uncomfortable. She didn’t seem like she wanted to be there at all and would rather jump out a window than be here. If only he could snatch her from them..

“Good, thank you Twilight. I’m happy to know you all made it here together safely..Or am I mistaken..”

The first time in many moons, he had heard her calm voice once again. It brought back many memories such as his first meeting with Celestia when she was preparing to become Equestria’s ruler or when she had made a fool of herself in front of a bunch of fancy Canterlot ponies. Yes..He did know her personally before he was turned to stone..But those were memories he’d rather forget. They were nothing now. Nothing after what she did to him.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash? Yeah, she’ll be fine. Just took ah’ hittin’ from a tree. Ah'll take her to go lay down when we’re done here.” The orange pony said, seeming to have a southern accent.

“I see. If she has any other issues, don’t refrain from taking her to a doctor. There’s plenty of nurses and doctors here in the castle.”

The southern pony nodded.

“So what did you need us all here so urgently for?” Twilight asked.

Celestia seemed to hesitate to continue as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Something was clearly bothering her as she stood up from her throne and trotted down onto the red carpet, facing away from all of them.

“I need to show you all something very important. You cannot tell anypony else you have seen or have these. Follow me.”

The other ponies seemed to give each other weird looks as they all followed her, Fluttershy still trailing behind. Discord shifted a bit and jumped over to the next few windows until he could see them clearly again. They approached an odd door that had no handles but rather a hole. Celestia bowed her head, pushing her horn inside it as she used a spell on it. Her horn and the outlines of the hole glowed as she removed her horn, the magic travelling through different lines and patterns on the door until each and every one was traced with her magic. The door suddenly opened as a huge dust cloud flew at the six ponies, making them all cough and rub at their eyes. When they opened them again they were in pure shock at what they saw.

The room in front of them was filled to the ceiling with gold and jewels, even treasure chests spilling out with bits on to the floor. The Princess simply walked inside as they all followed looking around in amazement.

“Darn it, did they really have to go into a room with no windows?”

Discord quickly sneaked in through an open window and tip-toed right into the treasure room. He couldn’t believe how loaded Princess Celestia was when he got inside. He almost had to refrain himself from grabbing a handful of gold and jewels himself despite being able to easily snap them up with his magic.

“Ooo, do you think the Princess would let us have some gold?” The pink pony asked.

“Absolutely not. It would be disrespectful to steal from her without asking.” Twilight replied.

“Yea, so why don’t we ask?”

“Just leave it alone, Pinkie. It’s hers.”

The one named Pinkie pouted as she eyed a pretty necklace with a large jewel in the middle before turning away from it and following the group again.

Twilight trotted in front of the group now as she walked alongside Princess Celestia.

“Is there anything wrong, Princess? You seem particularly quiet..Well, there’s nothing wrong with that obviously but-“

“We’re here.”

Twilight looked in front of them as they now stood in front of a pedestal at the end of the room. There was a small blue box on the pedestal just sitting alone. Just a basic old blue box..

“Ooo, boxie!”

Pinkie gasped, running out from behind the rest of the ponies and heading straight for the little box. Twilight was about to say something when Pinkie suddenly smacked her face right into an invisible wall, falling on to her back.

“Ouchie..” Pinkie said, rubbing her forehead.

“A force field..Good choice.” Twilight mumbled to herself.

“It’s not just a force field.” Celestia replied.

Celestia’s horn glowed as she lowered the force field. It wasn’t very visible but the ponies could see a thin wall shrinking and getting smaller and smaller until it was as if it was gone. Celestia then stood aside and pointed to the tiny little box.

“There is one more enchantment on it that must be broken. It requires the six of you to place one hoof on the box. This will tell me if my predictions were correct and you all can use them.”

“Use what?” Twilight asked.

“You’ll see, go ahead.”

The ponies all glanced at each other as Rarity was the first one to put her hoof on the box. She felt the box vibrate softly under her hoof as if there was some kind of powerful magic within it waiting to be released. It was almost like her touch had given whatever was inside more of a chance of escape.

The others soon joined after Rarity, placing their hooves on the box. The box suddenly started to vibrate furiously. A bright light started to shine out of the cracks of the box as the ponies grew more curious of what was inside. But..Nothing happened. They did just as Princess Celestia told them to..Why wasn’t it working?

“Princess, was the box supposed to do something?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, horse apples! Sorry y’all, ah’ forgot to put Rainbow’s hoof on the box.”

The country pony apologized, blushing with embarrassment as she moved Rainbow’s limp hoof to the box as Rainbow continued to snore loudly on her back.

That was all it took for the box to do something as it suddenly exploded open, letting out a blinding bright light. The ponies shielded their eyes with their wings and their hooves as Celestia shielded her own with her large alicorn wings. The blinding light wasn’t for long as it shortly disappeared after. When they all opened their eyes they were amazed at what had come out of the box.

Six colorful looking gems came out of the box and floated in the air in a little circle. There were five that were shaped like diamonds and one that was in a star shape. There was a blue diamond, a light pink one, a red one, a orange one, and a purple one. The one gem that didn’t look like the others was hot pink and floated a little higher than the other ones while still remaining in a little circle.

“Woah, what are those thingies?” Pinkie asked.

“They’re-“

“The Elements of Harmony..” Both Princess Celestia and Discord said together, interrupting Twilight.

Discord’s eyes widened as he may have said that a little too loudly. He could see the Princess looking around the room out of the corner of her eye as he quickly ducked out of view behind some gold. His heart pounded as his mind raced, wondering if she saw him. There was a long pause however as he waited until someone finally spoke again.

“Princess? Are you alright?” He heard Twilight ask.

“Yes..Yes of course. Forgive me, I was lost in thought for a moment.”

Celestia composed herself as she stared up at the floating elements.

“These as I once said are the Elements of Harmony. They are ancient relics that carry powerful magic within them that can only be unlocked by its users. Only the ones who are connected to the elements may use its power. And just as I suspected, you all are connected to them.”

“We are?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been able to open the box. I’ve been storing them away for years until I found its next wielders. It seems you all have been chosen.”

“Chosen?..For what?” Applejack asked.

“I can’t exactly answer that right now but I can tell you that these elements will be very important to you. I would recommend getting used to them for the moment.”

“And how in Equestria do we do that?” Rarity asked.

“Pinkie Pie seems to have the right idea.”

The other ponies all turned to look at their pink friend who was currently inspecting a floating blue element. She batted at it with her hoof like a cat when it suddenly glowed. She backed up, a little startled by it as all the elements including that one began to rotate in a slow circle and glow one by one.

“Pinkie, what did you do?!” Twilight asked, seeming a little frightened.

“I don’t know!”

The elements suddenly all flew in different directions, each one of them heading straight for one of the six ponies (except Celestia of course). When it reached the pony it chose, it stopped a few inches from her face, idly floating there allowing the pony to see her own reflection in its shiny surface. Fluttershy flinched when the light pink element stopped in front of her, covering her face with her hooves and shaking.

All the elements were suddenly enveloped in bright light, covering them entirely as they each got closer. The diamond looking elements floated to the ponies necks and suddenly transformed into wearable necklaces with the actual gem part in the middle. The star looking element had floated up to Twilight’s head and transformed into a crown, softly resting on her head.

Celestia seemed rather surprised and Discord on the other hoof couldn’t believe his eyes as they all noticed that not only did the elements become wearable accessories, but they changed shapes. It seemed the elements had become similar to its owner’s cutie mark as Rarity’s was a more detailed purple looking diamond, Fluttershy’s a light pink butterfly, Rainbow’s a red lightning bolt, Pinkie’s a blue balloon, and Applejack’s an orange apple. The only element that stayed the same was Twilight’s and that one already seemed to resemble her star cutie mark even before she knew it was her’s.

“T-They changed?..” Twilight gasped, touching her hoof to her new element crown.

“I’ve never seen this before..It must be because they belong to somepony now..” Celestia muttered to herself.

“They didn’t belong to somepony before?” Rarity asked.

“Not really..They were connected to me and..My…”

And then Celestia stopped. It was like she couldn’t continue her sentence..Something was stopping her. There was a look of fear and sadness on her face now as she turned her head away from the ponies, using her long flowing mane to prevent them from seeing her expression.

“Princess..I know there’s something wrong. I’ve known ever since you called us here. The way you’re acting shows it even more. Would you please tell us what’s wrong?” Twilight asked. “I have a feeling you gave us these elements right now because of a bigger reason and it connects to why you’re acting like this.”

There was a long silence as Twilight watched Celestia worriedly while the others stood there waiting for some kind of response. Finally, Celestia sighed and finally looked Twilight in the eyes. Twilight could see great pain within her eyes which made her even more concerned.

“I was originally supposed to give these to you all later on as you all got more use to your new adult lives. However, that isn’t possible anymore..”

Celestia looked over to the throne room where her large throne sat along with a smaller one beside it. Luna’s throne..

“My sister has been disappearing during the day a lot more than usual without telling me where she’s going. If I ask she simply tells me to mind my own business and goes off on her way. I’ve tried to follow her but I always lose track of her. She returns at night time to do her night duties in the dream realm and as soon as I raise the sun, she leaves again.”

“I’ve walked in on her once looking at a book about dark magic and other evil creatures. I’m rather concerned that she might be tampering with something she shouldn’t be and possibly cause harm to herself and others. If that comes to pass..”

Celestia hesitated and then started again. “I need you all to use the elements on her.”

“Wait..But, she’s a princess!” Pinkie gasped.

“I give you permission to use the elements on her. I promise you that you will not be in trouble for it. The element's main objective is to bring harmony and peace to others. I think they will bring her a sense of inner peace and stop her feelings of anger and pain.”

“But, what if we don’t need to use the elements on her?” Twilight asked.

“Then I will try and help her myself. It's the least I can do for how I’ve made her feel all these years..”

There was a pause as it seemed Celestia had finished her speech and Twilight turned to her friends with a proud look on her face and then to Celestia again.

“Alright, will do our best princess! Right, guys?”

“Right!” The other ponies cheered except for Fluttershy who was just shyly hiding behind the rest of them still.

“Wait, before you all leave, I need to tell you someone else you should look out for.”

Discord suddenly felt a bad feeling in his gut. He knew she was going to talk about him..

“I’m sure you’ve all heard of Discord at this point since it's widely known that he was let out of stone around when you were all born, right?”

The ponies all nodded except for Fluttershy as her eyes widened with fear. She really hoped that the princess wasn’t going to make them use the elements on her very own father. He wasn’t evil anymore..Well..Celestia didn’t know that. Her friends seemed to not believe her very much as well but trusted her for the moment.

“With my sister possibly in trouble like this, he may use this time to strike and wreak havoc on Equestria once again. Use the elements to turn him to stone..Permanently.”

Fluttershy gasped behind all of them, her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe what Celestia just said as she could feel fear taking over her and multiple scenarios of Discord being turned to stone zooming through her head. She felt like she couldn’t breathe as she stared down at the shiny floor. Her body was shaking in her reflection as she tried to calm herself down.

“Use the elements to turn him to stone..Permanently.”

“Stone...Elements..Permanently..”

“Permanently.”

“Are you alright darling?”

Fluttershy looked up to see Rarity with her hoof on Fluttershy’s back, looking down at her concerned. Her eyes fell on Rarity’s sparkling blue eyes and then on her diamond element on her neck.

“Wait, no, don’t do it! Please, he’s all I have!”

“DISSSCOOORDDD!”

She could hear her own screams echoing in her head mixed with his screams of pain and the sounds of the stone cracking and forming on his body. It was unbearable..

“Fluttershy, wait, where are you going?”

Fluttershy galloped out of the room and slammed right through the throne room doors, leaving them swinging behind her. She heard the distant yells of her friends trying to get her to come back but she refused..She wouldn’t. She was not turning her father to stone no matter what anypony else wanted.

“Fluttershy, wait. Fluttershy!”

She suddenly stopped as she realized she was now outside of Canterlot Castle in the same gardens Discord once found her as a baby. She turned around to see Discord standing there in his normal form.

“D-Discord?..”

“Yes, it’s me. Sorry, I probably should have put on my disguise but I noticed you ran out of the castle and- oof!”

Fluttershy had flung herself at him which almost knocked him over but he somehow kept his balance. He looked down to see his daughter hugging him tightly and crying. His ears flattened to his head slightly as he put his arms around her, crouching to hug her back.

“I-I won’t turn you to stone!..I..I won’t!” She whimpered.

“It’s okay..You don’t have to.”

They stood there for a while as he felt her sob into him and hug him tightly. It soon came to Discord’s attention that they were out in the open and that her friends might come looking for her soon..And possibly see him.

“You want to go back home?..” He asked softly.

“Yes..” She sniffled.

That’s all he needed to hear as he snapped and they poofed far away from the castle, leaving behind the others.

Chapter 7: Setting The Butterfly Free

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Chapter 8: Mistress of the Night [Part 1]

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Chapter 9: Mistress of the Night [Part 2]

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Chapter 10: Reunited At Last

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