Crystal Blood Prologue: Dread

Fluttershy’s Cottage, Ponyville, Day -1

Fluttershy

Fluttershy sighed. It had been a long day, even for a busy pony like herself.

First she, like the rest of Ponyville, had been awoken at the crack of dawn by the new speaker system Vinyl Scratch had installed in her house and the seismic wubs they caused. Then she had to grade final projects and exams for her class at the School of Friendship-school was ending soon and she had a lot to wrap up before summer break. Next thing Fluttershy knew, she was being called to the animal sanctuary to deal with a medical emergency. After a few hours of providing medicine to the animals under her care, she was finally able to finish up and head back home just as the sun was setting.

Fluttershy entered her cozy little cottage and shut the door behind her. Immediately, the entire room went dark besides the spaces that were illuminated by the faint moonbeams that penetrated her open window. A slight breeze came through the room and made the timid pegasus shiver.

“Brrr,” Fluttershy groaned softly as she closed the window. “I thought I told Angel to not let all the warm air out?”

Fluttershy's gaze swiveled around the dark room as she felt around for a lantern. “Angel? Are you home, friend?”

A gust of wind tickled her back and sent a child up her spine.

Fluttershy gasped like she had been dunked into a tub of ice water and looked back at the window.

It was still closed.

“Where did that come from? It’s never this drafty in here,” the shy pony pondered. A floorboard creaked behind her and sent Fluttershy twirling back in fear. “Who’s there?!” she gasped with a raspy voice.

Fluttershy watched as the silhouette of a slithering creature darted from her living room into her kitchen before disappearing in the darkness.

The pegasus froze. She wasn’t afraid of most slithering animals like most ponies, but this creature was different.

Whatever had slithered into the kitchen was larger than the common snakes in Ponyville, not to mention this one was slithering in the shadows of her house without an invitation.“Uhm…hello…who goes there?” Fluttershy asked as she pulled an old lantern off of a nearby desk and lit it up.

The room was quiet, too quiet for there to be another creature in the room with her. “Angel? Are you playing a trick on me? This isn’t funny,” the pegasus whimpered with trembling legs and a hammering heart.

Still, there was no sound.

Fluttershy walked forward with the lamp in her mouth. Floorboards creaked beneath her hooves with each step. She could hear the sounds of pots and pans in her kitchen clamoring together as if some creature had run into them. Fluttershy jumped and gasped as her mind raced with images of what might be in her house.

Fluttershy approached the kitchen with her lamp in her mouth. From the doorframe, she could see that pots, pans, broken jars, and uteslis had been thrown across the kitchen floor.

“Hello,” Fluttershy murmured with the lamp handle in her mouth and trembling voice. She stumbled forward as quietly as a mouse.

“Maybe I was just seeing things. I really am exhausted,” Fluttershy thought to herself. The thought still did nothing to ease her fears, but she chose to believe it anyway. “I’m not some little filly. I shouldn't be scared of shadows on the wall.”

Fluttershy slowly entered through the kitchen door frame and scanned the room.

When the shy pegasus looked into the kitchen corner her jaw dropped.

A large creature with a serpent-like body that stood on two hind legs was in her house. In its hand it held one of Fluttershy’s sharpened kitchen knives. The being was too far into the corner for the lamp's light to reach its face.

The lamp slid from Fluttershy’s gaping mouth and hit the ground with a loud cracking noise. The flame inside immediately shriveled up and disappeared, trapping fluttershy in darkness.

Fluttershy dropped to the floor and covered her head with her hooves. “Please don’t hurt me!” she squealed.

The hidden creature did not advance on Fluttershy, instead, Fluttershy heard the knife in its hand drop to the floor as a family voice shouted out to her. “Wait! It's not what it looks like!”

Fluttershy peaked her eyes open as the shadowy figure scrambled over to another nearby lamp and flooded the room with light.

The shadowy curtain that covered the beast was pulled back, revealing the comforting face of her favorite draconequus.

“Discord?! What type of prank is this?” Fluttershy screamed with the relief that a filly would feel after getting off a roller coaster.

Discord's face cringed as he nervously held himself. “Sorry, Fluttershy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Then what are you doing?” Fluttershy got onto her hooves again.

Discord rubbed the back of his head nervously with a goofy smile plastered across his face. “Well…I heard that you had a pretty rough day at the animal sanctuary, so I decided to make you a nice dinner,” Discord explained as he motioned over to the kitchen table where an unlit candle, tea kettle, and multiple plates had been set out.

Fluttershy gasped. “Discord, you didn’t have to! And you didn’t have to keep it a secret from me either.”

Discord awkwardly pulled out a chair for Fluttershy. “I just wanted it to feel special,” he replied sincerely. “Look, I even made the food myself, I didn’t use a single drop of magic.”

Fluttershy stared at a single burnt and withered carrot that laid before her with a forced smile. Still, she felt a warm feeling in her chest. “You did all of this for me?”

“Of course, you're my favorite pony after all,” Discord replied.

Fluttershy wrapped her arms around Discord and snuggled his chest. “Thanks, you really do know how to brighten my day.”

Discord flashed another goofy smile as he sat Fluttershy in a chair and picked up a broom. “Well, I might as well clean up the mess I made.”

Fluttershy watched as Discord began to sweep up the broken lamp before turning to her many options for dinner. Most of the cooked foods had been burnt and were out of the question. She eventually settled on a plate full of promising-looking cucumber sandwiches and began to dig in.

“I guess that their are a few pony customs I still need to become accustomed too,” Discord replied as he swept.

“Like not breaking into a friend's house and giving them a fright?” said Fluttershy with a devious smile.

Discord snapped his finger and the pile of broken jars and lamp parts he sweeped up teleported away. “That would be a good start,” he chuckled.

Fluttershy laughed and pulled up a chair as she motioned over to it. “Never change, Discord,” she replied as Discord sat next to her.

Discord lounge in her seat before setting his elbows on the table and laying his chin on his knuckles. “So, how was your long day?” he pondered out loud.

Fluttershy chuckled and sighed as she scarfed down a few sandwiches. “It was a lot. Grading papers at the school of magic took much longer than expected, mostly because half of the staff was missing. Rainbow Dash got called up to Wonderbolt HQ near Cloudsdale for training, AJ and Rarity are in Manehattan, and Twilight and Spike are headed to the Crystal Empire.”

Discord raised his eyebrow. “What are they doing so far away?”

Fluttershy became uncomfortable. “Twilight is on a diplomatic mission as apart of her new princes duties. Rarity had an emergency at her Manehattan boutique, and AJ…well…”

“Well, what?” Discord asked, his voice softened.

“AJ is in Manehattan to get pain medicine,” Fluttershy replied solemnly.

“Ah, yes,” Discord started. “It's for her grandmother-Granny Smith-right?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy confirmed as she sat up straight. “How did you know?”

“Big Mac told me. He says the doctor can’t do much and that it's just her time. You know, it's weird being a being of unbridled chaos. I can do so much yet when it comes to something as simple as preserving life I am powerless,” Discord explained as he lowered his head like a sad dog.

Fluttershy comforted Discord with another hug and placed a hoof on his chin. “Don’t
feel bad Discord, it's just the way it is.”

Discord looked up at Fluttershy and smiled softly as he wrapped his claws around her hoof.

“I know-resurrection and life preservation magic are terrifying things to think about, not to mention impossible. But parting is such a strong sorrow, is it not?”

Fluttershy leaned into Discord and laid her head on his shoulder. “It may be, but I just want
to enjoy this moment while we have it.” Fluttershy pushed her empty plate to the center of the table and yawned.

“Are you done already?” Discord joked quietly.

Fluttershy yawned once more. “I’m tired, Discord. Why don’t we save the rest of this food
for Angel?”

“Oh, we don’t have to worry about him. I bribed him with snacks to spend the night At the
animal sanctuary so we could be alone.”

Fluttershy gave Discord a nervous smile. “Then…I guess you could finish this off for me.”

“If you say so.” Discord unhinged his jaw and swiped all the remaining plates off the table.

With one swing he devoured his meal and teleported the dirty plates into the kitchen sink. Next, the draconequus took Fluttershy into his arms and headed up the steps.

Fluttershy curled up into Discord’s arms and began to drift off to sleep.

When Discord got to top of the steps, he turned towards Fluttershy’s bed and laid herbeneath the covers. “Goodbye, Fluttershy,” he whispered.

Fluttershy yawned. Within a minute, she had succumbed to her tiredness.

Discord watched Fluttershy drift off to sleep with a proud smile and took the opportunity to teleport back into the kitchen. With the snapp of his fingers, the dirty dishes in the sink began to wash themselves as Discord relaxed at the dinner table. A happiness filled his body as he smiled.

The feeling did not last long.

Without warning, Discord was struck with an emptiness that he had not felt before.

It was as if the draconequus’ insides had been scooped out and replaced with a dark void. Discord keeled over forward, he felt like he was about ready to throw up. His palms and forehead became sweaty. “What in the name of Tartarus is this?!” he panicked and dropped to his knees.

The sounds of ponies talking filled his head.

“Hurry we found something behind the staircase!” a stallion exclaimed.

A nervous Discord held his ears, but the nosies did not go away or even dampen.

“It’s some sort of crystal!” another stallion yelled and echoed in Discord's head.

A dream like vision hit Discord. He watched as the cozy interior of Fluttershy’s house vanished and was replaced with darkness. A forest of blood red crystals appeared before him. “What is this?” Discord thought as a wave of dread drowned him.

Something was off about these crystals, it was a feeling, something about them felt unnatural and powerful, yet…organized.

The crystals were alive, Discord could feel it. But they were not alive in the sense that animals were alive. Animals spent their days in a constant, chaotic state of evolution and genetic variation. All living things, in fact, just responded and reacted to whatever stimulus was being applied to their bodies. Discord felt this type of chaotic energy all the time, he admired it even.

Yet these crystals were different. They were intelligent, sentient even. Discord sensed intent and desire in the crystals. Intent and desire for what was still a mystery.

“What do you want?” Discord muttered, his eyes raced around the dark realm.

The crystals began to pulsate a red energy that was usually undetectable to most creatures, yet a creature of Discord’s magical stature could detect it easily. The pulsation physically pained Discord as red waves slammed into his chest like an ax to a tree.

Discord let out a pained cry as he fell to the ground.

A cryptid voice filled Discord's ears. “Step aside, draconequus, you can’t defeat me.”

“Who are you?” Discord moaned on the ground, he had never felt this weak before. It was like the crystals had some sort of anti magic properties like the ones in Queens Chrysalis' throne or the Bewitching Bell.

“I am a servant of King Sombra, I was created as a contingency in the event his Empire fell. I waited for centuries to get the chance to serve my master, and I will not let you stand in my way.”

Discord snapped his fingers as he attempted to hone into his magic but nothing happened.

The crystal pulsated with a red glow as laughter filled Discord’s head. “You can’t win, draconequus. You may have power in your domain, but I was prepared to take care of creatures like you, so you may not get in my master's way.”

A red beam lit up Discord’s body, it felt like when he had been defeated by Twilight and her friends. He felt his body disintegrating.

“No! Don’t do this!” Discord shouted as tears ran down his face. He felt powerless. He only had one pony on his mind as darkness tore into himself. “Fluttershy! Fluttershy, help me!”

The black room vanished and Discord with it.

Fluttershy’s cottage returned to normal.

Fluttershy weakly stepped down the first flight of stairs. “Discord?” she asked, exhausted. “Discord? I thought I heard something.”

No one responded. Discord had vanished without a trace.

“I must have been hearing things.” Fluttershy yawned and went back to bed, none the wiser.

Author's Note

Hello-author here-this is my first MLP fanfiction ever (first fanfiction ever actually)! I have big plans for it and already have multiple chapters complete. I hope you guys enjoy!
I'm thankful for all feedback so feel free to comment and rate! Thanks!