You Never Walk Alone

Fluttershy’s cottage was mostly sunny, with rain pouring over the flowers and a section set to night for the nocturnal animals. Ever since her 95th birthday, Fluttershy hadn’t been able to take care of the animals, so Discord had taken up the responsibility. By her 100th birthday, Fluttershy could only leave the house with Discord’s help. Now, on her 105th birthday, they were celebrating in the garden.

Discord reached into the ether and pulled out a pocket watch. “Twilight, could you please put up this spell?” The knowledge of the spell entered Twilight’s mind, making her stumble backwards.

“Has anypony ever told you not to put thoughts in their heads?” she asked as she cast the spell.

“Probably,” Discord replied, tossing food on the ground for a family of rabbits, who may or may not have been related to Angel Bunny—he’d stopped keeping track of those details.

The shield didn’t seem to do anything; it was invisible, several animals walked through it for morning breakfast, walked straight through it. Twilight reached out to check on the spell and got a headache—it was extremely powerful, keeping something out, but Twilight didn’t know what.

“Discord, how long did this spell take to invent?” Twilight asked, admiring the magical handiwork.

“Long enough. Come on, Twilight, we have a party to attend.” Twilight turned away, unable to see anything that couldn’t get through the barrier. Harmony simply touched the shield and smiled.

“Chaos magic through an Element of Harmony? Now that’s clever,” Harmony said, looking at the hourglass with Fluttershy’s cutie mark on it. There was one lone grain of sand left, and so she waited.

As far as parties go, this one was interesting. Everypony came to her 100th birthday—even Celestia showed up for that one. But then, Fluttershy just kept living, or rather, kept being kept alive, which is a different thing entirely. This birthday was simple: just Discord, Fluttershy, Twilight, and seven animals, with as much enthusiasm as you’d expect.

Sitting by the window, Fluttershy looked across the garden, her eyes focused on a distant spot. “Hello, Fluttershy, happy birthday.” Fluttershy smiled and hugged Twilight.

“Thank you for coming, Twilight. Would you like some tea?” Twilight poured them both a cup and took a sip, while Fluttershy just looked at hers.

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy? How was the doctor’s appointment?” Fluttershy looked at Twilight, her usual smile slipping away.

“Perfectly healthy for my age, at least. I don’t think I’ve ever been ill since moving in with Discord.”

Twilight took a moment and decided that positivity was probably the best course of action. “That’s good news.” Fluttershy nodded and took a sip of her tea. “What’s on your mind?”

“I’ve been dating Discord for 70 years now—more or less—and…” She paused, reaching into a bag beside her that held her emergency supplies. “In that time, I’ve been healthy, but do you remember that disease that was supposed to kill me? That flu, I think it was.” Twilight nodded.

“I think it did kill me. Ever since then, I’ve nearly died 35 times, but something strange always happened to stop it.” She hoofed Twilight a book on chaos theory in magic. “Do you know what Quantum Immortality is?” Twilight shook her head. “It means that if there’s a way for me to survive, I will—in some timeline.”

“Fluttershy, that’s just a hypothesis. It doesn’t mean—”

“I think Discord is causing me to survive by changing my timeline.” Twilight started to speak rapidly, trying to explain how things like this couldn’t happen. “I feel empty, Twilight, like I just exist. And then I saw…” Fluttershy gestured to a space in the field that Twilight couldn’t quite focus on.

“Fluttershy, I…”

“I love my life, Twilight. I love Discord, and I love you. But I think you should lower the shield.” Twilight realised the implications and hugged Fluttershy tightly.

“I love you, Fluttershy. If you d…” Twilight’s words caught in her throat. “I’ll be alone. What do I do then?”

“Be kind, teach, and move on with life. Also, help Discord be sad—I don’t think he knows how to.”

Twilight lowered the shield.

“NO!” Discord’s scream echoed from Fluttershy’s cottage through Ponyville and beyond. It was a visceral, sorrowful cry that only those with a broken heart can make. As Fluttershy fell from Twilight, she stood next to the pony she had been watching all night.

Even though the shield was lowered, Harmony had not moved from her spot, watching the house. Fluttershy drifted from the house to float next to Harmony. “Hello, Fluttershy, I…” They were interrupted by a loud burst of magic that blasted the front of the cottage off. Discord flew to where Fluttershy and Harmony were, followed by Twilight, who was chasing him through the garden. Suddenly, he was knocked back by a force he couldn’t see.

“Are you kidding me!?” Discord touched the shield around Fluttershy and began to bang on it. Fluttershy flew to the other side of the shield and sat down.

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry.” She didn’t say anything. “I only wanted you to be happy, to be healthy, to live forever like Twilight and Sunbutt. I… were you really so miserable that you wanted to die?” Fluttershy shook her head.

“I didn’t want to die. I have had a great life with you, but I simply knew I must.”

Discord sniffed, reached out, and grabbed something that looked suspiciously like Celestia’s mane, blew his nose on it, and then dismissed it just as quickly. “Why didn’t you let me say goodbye?”

“You couldn’t. You wouldn’t. You’d keep fighting. Besides, you can say goodbye now.”

“Goodbye, Fluttershy. I will never see you again, so I’ll miss you, and I’ll carry on missing you for as long as this universe has chaos.” Fluttershy blushed and flew over to hug Discord. They hugged for a long time, neither of them noticing Twilight staring at them with a notepad, idly taking notes.

“You could stay, you know? The Apple family does it—they’re all at the farm. You could visit, and…” Fluttershy waited for Discord to finish and kissed his muzzle.

“Do you think that would make you happy?” Discord was about to answer straight away, but a glow from Harmony’s magic as the Element of Honesty activated made him pause. He thought about being with Fluttershy, how much he’d already sacrificed to keep her alive, how manipulating chaos to be orderly was hurting him, and finally, if it was worth the sacrifice. “Yes, it is worth it, and it would make me happy.”

“What about me? How do you think I’d feel over time?” This took Discord a lot longer—thinking about the illnesses, the pain, her friends dying, and knowing that the only thing keeping her alive was the chaos of the universe. “I suppose not.” Fluttershy nodded.

“You do favours, don’t you?” He looked to Harmony again, who was just watching. “Can you think of anything?”

“I do favours for the Elements, but as I recall, I gave you 10 years, and you planned to make it longer. That shield was designed to keep me out, and it worked, but you do not understand me.” Harmony gathered the power from the Elements and showed herself to Discord, Fluttershy, and Twilight in her full form—a light brighter than the sun, impossible to look at directly. “I AM THE GUIDE OF THE DEAD. I HEAL THE SOULS AS THE BODIES WITHER. AND ABOVE ALL, I AM NOT DEATH.” Discord and Twilight blinked, looked at each other, and blinked again. “If Fluttershy had died while the shield was up, it would have damaged her soul. Never use it again, Twilight.” Twilight simply nodded.

“Thank you,” Twilight said. “For helping my friends, and goodbye, Fluttershy. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Fluttershy said as she flew, following the rainbow, Harmony close behind until finally, Fluttershy was gone, and Harmony was alone.