Equestria Copes

Fluttershy crashed through the window to her cottage.

Rather, she would have, had she not phased right through it with no impact. The shock caught her off-guard, and she was in the root cellar before she realised she'd come through the floor.

She backtracked a few paces, bringing herself back upstairs. "Angel? Angel, where are you?!" she called. "Mama's here, Angel! Come down for your dinner!"

No sound was heard. In a panic, Fluttershy darted from room to room, though there weren't many rooms to begin with, looking for any sign of Angel Bunny, or worse, what remained of him. She found him upstairs on the bed, curled up like he was when he was angry with her.

"Angel! There you are!"

She darted over to him and scooped him up, but he remained where he was. She tried again, but her hooves just went right through him. She was, after all, just a spirit of kindness.

She lowered herself to the edge of the bed, as she had countless times before. He was still alive, she could see that. He was breathing, though it was a little unsteady.

"Angel?" she said softly, trying to put a hoof on his shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

No response.

"Can you even feel my presence?"

He shifted slightly. That wasn't a yes, but more importantly, it wasn't a no.

"Oh, Angel... I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave you all alone like this. You know I always wanted what was best for you."

He sniffled.

"I'm going downstairs right now, and I'm going to give you some food and water."

Fluttershy moved to the stairs and walked down them, realising that she could have just as easily slipped right through the floor, but unwilling to do that until she was more comfortable with her status. To her shock, Angel's food bowl was overstocked, and his water was just fine. He had food, he had water, he had safety, he had a warm and comfortable bed to sleep in... He was fine.

Why was he fine? Who was coming in here to check on him? She wasn't mad that somepony had stepped in, she just wanted to know who to thank. Somepony had come to his aid, and that somepony deserved to be rewarded for their efforts.

As if on cue, the front door opened and closed. Fluttershy turned to exit, wanting to see who had come to Angel's aid. To her shock, it was the exact creature she had been sent to deal with.

Discord trudged through the house, carrying on his shoulder a sack of corn. He set it in the pantry, then returned to the kitchen. He sighed when he spotted Angel's food dish, still untouched. He sighed and picked up a carrot before making his way upstairs, and Fluttershy followed him.

Of course, Discord was always welcome in her home. Or at least, he had been when this was her home. He tended to be destructive, and perhaps a little bit hurtful, but since he was reformed, he wasn't intentionally causing harm, just throwing temper-tantrums.

But that didn't explain why he was here, now. Sure, he and Fluttershy were friends, but he was under no obligation to care for Angel Bunny.

"Still waiting?" he asked, sitting on the corner of the bed.

Angel pulled the blanket tighter around himself. He and Discord were not very friendly with each other. Fluttershy had tried to be patient with them, but one way or another, they just didn't see eye-to-eye.

Which is why Fluttershy found it so surprising that Discord would do something like this. He didn't like Angel, or at least, if asked, would admit to enjoying tormenting him. So then why was Discord troubling himself with taking care of Angel?

"I've brought you something," said Discord, placing in front of Angel the carrot he took from his food dish.

Angel just kicked the carrot away, not even looking at Discord.

"I guess you're still not hungry," sighed Discord, picking up the carrot and bringing it back to the stairs. "Why would you be? It's only been three days since you last ate anything. I'll just put this back in the kitchen for you..."

Fluttershy watched as Discord left the room. She turned back to look at Angel, then sighed. She wanted him to eat, to leave her bed and go on, but he wouldn't budge. At the very least, Discord was doing the bare minimum to look after him.

She turned to follow Discord. If she hurried, she could catch him before he left for Chaosville. Except, when she made it past the door, he wasn't opening a portal. He was just... walking away, dragging his tail behind him. Not flying, floating, slithering or even sauntering. Come to think of it, he hadn't even used any chaos magic while he was in her house. Part of her even wondered if he could even still cast chaos magic.

Nevertheless, she followed him. She called out to him twice, but he couldn't hear her. Part of her wondered if she should go back to Vesper and ask for help; for guidance on what she could do, but decided against it. She would watch for a bit, come up with a plan, and see if she could enact it before bothering her boss.

Discord didn't go far. Once he was out of town, there was a small plot hidden from Ponyville's view by a small hill. To call it a campsite was generous, as it was barely much of anything. A small frame, wrapped in cheesecloth and covered with leaves sheltered a stone plinth, behind which sat a tarpaulin. A tin can sat atop it to keep it from blowing away, and a pit of ash sat in the middle of a ring of stones.

Discord grabbed the can and dropped a few bits into it. He then set it aside and wrapped the tarp around himself, then lay down atop the plinth, curling up just as Angel had.

Fluttershy was aghast. Why did he need bits? Why was he even holding onto them? Why was he sleeping here, and not in Chaosville? Why didn't he use his magic? Did he even still have his magic?

Fluttershy shook her head. She had to save him. She owed him that much, and also, it was her job.