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Prologue

Queen Chrysalis had waited patiently. Fluttershy and Discord were very close friends. Recently, they had become even closer, after the Tirek incident. She could feel their love for each other, and knew that she could use this to her advantage. Now was the time to take over Equestria. She called for her general. “General. It’s time.”

Chapter 1
The Beginning

It was a lovely afternoon in Ponyville. Outside Fluttershy’s cottage, Fluttershy and Discord had just finished their picnic. Fluttershy was about to start cleaning up.
Fluttershy asked, “Discord, would you mind helping me clean up?”
Discord snapped his fingers, and the blanket and plates disappeared instantly.
“Done!”
They walked into her cottage, and Fluttershy started to feed the animals. Discord once again used his magic to instantly place food in front of all the animals.
“Discord, maybe you shouldn’t use your powers for everything.” Fluttershy said, a little concerned.
“And why not? It makes everything so much easier, so we can spend more time on things we want to do.”
“I know, but I don’t think Princess Celestia would approve. I mean, I know you are using your powers for good, but I think maybe you should learn to work, sometimes without your powers. I know it’s not really important, but it would be nice to be able to do things sometimes without your powers, in case…”
Discord reluctantly agreed. “Alright. If you say so. But I’m only doing this because you’re my best friend.” Fluttershy smiled. Discord returned her smile.
“So, what’s the schedule for today?”
“Well,” Fluttershy began, “A friend invited me over today, for an activity.”
“Ooh, an activity! Sounds fun. When are we going?”
“We? Well, it’s kind of a… it’s… I don’t think you should come.”
“And why not?” asked Discord, raising an eyebrow.
“Um…” Fluttershy looked suddenly at the clock on the wall. “Oh! Look at the time. I have to go.” She began briskly walking toward the door.
“But Fluttershy -“ The door slammed, cutting him off.

Fluttershy began to fly toward her friend’s house, looking back every few seconds to see if Discord was following her. She breathed of sigh of relief. She didn’t see him, so she assumed she was safe. At least, for now.

Discord stood for a moment, stunned. Then he snapped back to his senses. “Just what does she think she’s doing?” he thought back to the lessons he had learned about friendship. “I mean, I learned that friends sometimes have other friends for different activities, but what would make this friend so important that she wouldn’t tell me what she was doing?”
He snapped his fingers to return to his house of chaos. There, he created a bubble, which showed Fluttershy, and what she was doing.
“I know spying on friends isn’t the right thing to do, but then again, neither is slamming the door on a friend when he’s talking.”

Fluttershy knocked on the door of her friend’s house. She waited for a moment, then the door opened.
“Oh, you’re here! Hi, Fluttershy.”
“Hi, Frost. How are you?”
“Oh, I’m doing fine. Would you like to come in?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
She walked inside, and looked around. His front room had pictures on the walls of him, and she assumed, his friends.
“You can sit down if you like.” said Frost.
She sat down on the couch.

Meanwhile, Discord sat in his house, watching Fluttershy through the magic bubble.
Frost continued. “So, Fluttershy, I was planning for us to go bowling, then maybe go out for ice cream. What do you think?”
“It sounds wonderful.” And together, they trotted to the bowling alley.

Fluttershy and Frost got their bowling shoes and bowling balls. They went to the alley, and the game began, while Discord watched the whole scene.
“So,” said Discord, through gritted teeth, “You’re going out with Mr. Frosty, are you? What’s so special about that? She told me she would be spending the day with me! But instead, she’s spending it with Frosty the Snow pony. Ugh.”
“Good game.” Frost said, “That was fun!”
“Yes, it was. Oh. You aren’t disappointed that you lost, are you?”
“No way! You’re amazing! When did you learn to bowl like that?”
“My friend Discord taught me.”
“Cool! You’re gonna have to introduce me to him sometime.”
“Cool! You’re gonna have to introduce me to him sometime.” Discord mimicked Frost in a high pitched, annoyed voice. “Ugh.” He sighed. “I know I should let Fluttershy have friends other than me, but this is ridiculous! What kind of activity is this?”

Frost and Fluttershy sat across from each other at the table of the ice cream parlor, eating their ice cream.
“I hope this was good enough for a first date.” said Frost.
“DATE?!?!” Discord was infuriated.
Fluttershy replied to Frost, “It was nice. Thank you.”
“Do you want me to fly you home?”
“Oh, um, I can fly home myself, but thank you.”
“Ok. See you later.”

Fluttershy cautiously opened her front door. “Discord? Are you here?” Discord suddenly appeared on her couch.
“Oh, why hello, Fluttershy. Where have you been?”
“Oh well, I was out with a friend, remember?”
“Oh yes, now I remember. You mean, out on a “‘date”’?”
“What? How did you-“
“I saw everything. Why didn’t you tell me? I have a right to know, you know. I’m your best friend!”
“You were spying on me?”
“Yes, but, well…” Discord tried to come up with a reason. “You slammed the door in my face!”
That was no excuse for you to spy on me. But, Discord, you have to understand that I didn’t tell you only because I thought you wouldn’t let me go. I wanted to go on the date with Frost, because I’ve never been on a date before. My friends set it up for me. I really didn’t like the idea of a blind date, but I wanted to try it. I didn’t think you’d mind very much, even if I told you, but I wanted to make sure.”
“I just wanted to know where you were going. Especially when you are going somewhere with some other pony. There are some ponies I just don’t trust.”
“Trust?”
“Because… well… there… there are only a few ponies that I can trust with you.”
“With me?”
Discord sighed. “I… I don’t want any pony to hurt you. I know what it’s like to be hurt, and I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”
“Discord, that’s really sweet.”
“Yes, I suppose, but I mean it. After all, you are my best friend, and I don’t know what I would do without you.”

That night, Discord sat in bed, thinking about what could happen to Fluttershy. That Frosty character was rather suspicious. Why was he so nice to Fluttershy? Discord gasped suddenly. He suddenly realized how dire this situation was. Frosty, or whatever his name was, was trying to take Fluttershy away from him! He probably wanted Fluttershy all to himself. That’s why he was dating her! Well, he had enough of other friends trying to steal Fluttershy. First Tree Embrace, then Frosty! He decided at that moment, he would never let anything ever happen to his Fluttershy. Never.

Chapter 2
The Marketplace

Discord woke up the next morning, and stretched. He yawned. “Ah, what a chaotic morning.” he said, looking out the window of his house of chaos.
Discord appeared in Fluttershy’s house. She was cooking eggs. She gasped when she turned around.
“Oh, sorry Discord. I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Sorry about that. Anyway, what’s the schedule today?”
“Oh yes. The schedule. Well, let’s see. Oh, it’s Tuesday.”
“Oh goodie! Tuesday tea today!”
“Yes, Discord. But first, I have to go to the market. I need to get some food.”
“Oh, of course! I do get to come, right?”
“Certainly.”

Fluttershy and Discord entered the marketplace. Fluttershy said, “Discord, would you like to get the vegetables while I get everything else? It will speed up the shopping, and we can get home faster.”
“Ok. What do you need?”
“Here’s the list.” She handed (or hoofed) him the list, and some bits.
“When you get all of the things on the list, meet me at Sugar Cube Corner, ok?”
“Alright.”
Fluttershy began trotting toward the flour and baking section, while Discord walked around the corner, to the vegetables. He looked down at the list. He needed to get carrots, salad, cucumb- suddenly, Discord walked right into another pony.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” yelled the colt in an annoyed tone.
“Well, excuse me, but I’m walking here!”
The colt gathered up the things he dropped, glared at Discord a moment, then huffed as he walked away. “Ugh, Discord.” he mumbled angrily under his breath. “Why does he have to live here?”
“Sheesh.” said Discord. “Some pony needs to get a better attitude.” He glanced behind him, at the annoyed colt. “Hmm…” Discord thought. “Maybe he can.” Discord ducked around a corner, peeked around it, and snapped his fingers. The colt’s groceries began floating above him. He began to jump and try to reach them, but with no success. He grabbed onto his cauliflower with his mouth, trying to pull it down. Instead, it pulled him up!
“Hee hee hee,” Discord chuckled. “Maybe he’ll think twice next time about messing with the Master of Chaos!”
Two pegasai flew up and helped him down. They rounded up his groceries.
“Aww,” complained Discord. “I was having such fun. Oh well.” He snapped his fingers again, and the veggies began to float again. The colt grabbed onto the cauliflower again, and the pegasai tried to help him down, but the cauliflower was too fast. It darted left and right, dodging the pegasai, as they chased it. Discord chuckled. He continued walking toward the veggies. He spotted the carrot stand. He went over to it. The vendor’s eyes grew wide. He ducked down under the stand.
“Excuse me,” said Discord, bending his neck down, so he could look the colt in the eye. “I need ten carrots.”
The vendor looked up from his hiding place, shuddering. “O-ok.” he stuttered. The colt reached down and found the nicest carrots he had, as he didn’t want to upset Discord, bagged them, and placed them on the countertop. “Th-that will b-b-be t-t-ten b-bits.”
“Hmm. Not a bad price.” exclaimed Discord. He placed the bits on the countertop and took the bag of carrots. “See ya.”
The pegasai waited until Discord was out of sight, then he breathed a sigh of relief, and relaxed.

Discord continued going to different vendors, picking up the things he needed. Most all of them either cowered in fear, or refused him service. The ones that refused to sell him anything were placed under Discord’s spell, so they would give him what Fluttershy needed. And while he was at it, he made small cotton candy clouds float above the stands, and rained on all the produce.
“Oh what fun!” Discord chirped like a three year-old. “How I missed doing this!”
Discord soon skipped happily to Sugar Cube Corner. He saw Fluttershy there, crossing her hooves. Discord stopped skipping. “Discord, what took you so long?” Fluttershy asked, “I thought you would be done before me, since I had so much more shopping to do, but instead you got here twenty minutes late!”
“Oh, well, sorry about that Fluttershy, I just had so much fun causing cha- I mean, I had a hard time finding the stuff I needed.” Discord made an innocent face.
“Alright,” Fluttershy said with a sigh, “Let’s just get home.” They walked toward the marketplace. Discord jumped in front of Fluttershy.
“Discord, what are you doing?” asked Fluttershy, suspiciously.
“Oh, well, you see, I just thought… it would be more fun to walk a different way back home.”
“Discord, the other way back home is a much longer route.”
“Yes, I wanted to, uh, take the scenic route.” he laughed nervously.
Fluttershy’s stomach growled. “I’m kind of hungry. Let’s get home and have lunch.” She started to walk around Discord, but he again blocked her path.
“Ok! Well, then I’ll just use my magic! That will get us home really fast!”
“Discord, you promised you would use your magic less. You can't use it for everything.”
“Yes, but, well, I,” Discord sighed. “Ok.” he said in defeat.
As they walked through the marketplace, Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open. Cotton candy clouds floated everywhere, while pegasai tried to control them, the shop owners were trying to protect their food from getting soaked. Shoppers ran frantically in all directions. Pegasai chased a pony on a floating cauliflower. It was total chaos. And Fluttershy knew exactly who would cause chaos like this.
Fluttershy looked up at Discord with an angry expression. She tapped her hoof on the ground, impatiently.
Discord looked down in shame, then snapped his fingers, and the marketplace returned to normal.
“Discord, I told you, if you use your powers like that, you’ll get in trouble with Celestia!”
“I know, but, they were being so mean to me.” His pupils grew.
“What? How?”
“They didn’t want to sell me the food we needed.”
“Oh, Discord. I’m sorry. You still shouldn’t use your powers like that. You don’t want to get in trouble, now, do you?”
“No. Maybe next time you should just shop by yourself.”
“No, Discord. The marketplace will just have to get used to you. But you still can’t use your powers like that, though, ok?”
“Alright.”
Suddenly, Fluttershy spotted Frost. “Hi, Frost.”
“Oh, hi Fluttershy. Cool meeting you here. What are the odds?”
“Yes, it is an interesting coincidence, isn’t it Discord?”
Discord had a snarl on his face. He gritted his teeth. “Yes. Amazing.” he said, sarcastically.
“Well, sorry I can’t talk, Fluttershy, but I’ve gotta go. See you later.”
“Ok. Goodbye.”
Fluttershy smiled as he walked away. “Isn’t he sweet?” she said.
“Yeah, yeah,” said Discord. “Fantastic.” he said, in a sarcastic tone.
“Well, anyway Discord, let’s go home.”

Chapter 3
Tuesday Tea

Once Fluttershy and Discord had returned to Fluttershy’s cottage, they set up for their Tuesday afternoon Tea. Fluttershy set up the table. She put on the tablecloth, put out the teacups and teapot, and Discord got the cucumber sandwiches and carrot cake ready, without his magic. When it was all ready, they sat down. No sooner than when they had sat down, they heard a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it.” said Fluttershy, flying over to the door. She opened it.
Fluttershy was shocked. “What are you doing here? I mean, with all due respect, your Highness, you should be attending to your royal duties, shouldn’t you?”
“I need to talk to Discord. Is he here?” came a stern, voice. Hmm, it sounded familiar. Uh oh. It was Princess Celestia! Discord’s eyes widened, and he dived under the couch.
“Oh, ok.” said Fluttershy. She let the princess in.
“Discord,” Celestia called. “We need to talk.”
Discord peeked out from behind the couch. “Oh, must we?”
Celestia’s eyebrows narrowed.
“Oh, fine.” Discord complained, and sat on the couch. “But you must know that you are interrupting our Tuesday Afternoon Tea.”
“Discord, this is serious. I heard from ponies here in Ponyville about cotton candy clouds down at the marketplace. It takes a lot of time to come down here to talk to you, so I have to make this quick. So no fooling around. I need the truth. Why? You aren’t supposed to use your magic like that.”
“Well, Princess, you see… I was at the marketplace because Fluttershy needed some vegetables. First, I was just walking over to the vegetable section when a very rude colt bumped into me.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t you who bumped into him?”
“Well, I was looking down at my shopping list, but…”
“Continue.”
“Ok. Then I… well… I made his groceries fly.”
Celestia raised one eyebrow.
“Then I went to the veggies, and I tried to buy things, but some of the vendors refused me service, and I really needed those veggies for Fluttershy, so, I cast spells on them. Then I could buy it without their annoying arguments. Eventually I guess I got carried away… I guess I shouldn’t have even gone there. No pony seems to like me. They don’t forgive me like Fluttershy did. They don’t… they don’t like… me.” Discord looked down, a sad expression on his face.
Celestia’s anger melted away for a moment. Then her face returned to her original stern look. “I see. Well, that’s fine then, if you fixed the problem. Just don’t do it anymore. I have to go. Fluttershy, keep an eye on him, please.”
“Yes, Princess.”
And with that, Celestia walked out the door, and flew away.
Fluttershy closed the door, then looked back over at Discord, with a forgiving face. “Discord, I had no idea that you felt that way.”
“Feel what way? What are you talking about?” Discord said quickly, trying to cover his emotion.
“You feel… like no pony likes you. Don’t you?”
“Well, to tell you the truth,” he sighed. “Yes. Yes I do.” he looked back down at the floor.
Fluttershy held his paw. “I like you.” she said, and smiled.
Discord looked down at her, and smiled back. He gave her a hug. “Thank you, Fluttershy. Thank you.”

Chapter 4
The Break-up

The next day, Frost knocked at Fluttershy’s door. A few seconds later, it opened. “Hi Fluttershy.”
“Oh, hi Frost.”
“Did you want to go out again today?”
“Um, one moment, please.” she closed the door a moment, then called for Discord. He appeared immediately.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Oh, Discord, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you a question.”
“Ok.”
“You don’t mind if I go on another date with Frost, do you?”
In Discord’s chaotic mind, images of Fluttershy and Frost together bounced through his thoughts. He wanted to say “No, I’d rather you stay here with me, rather than that bozo Frosty,” but instead he replied, “Um, sure. Why not?”
“Thanks for understanding.”

Fluttershy walked out the door, leaving Discord alone. “But, I don’t understand.” he said to himself. “Why would she want to go out with him, rather than spending more time with her best friend?” He gasped suddenly, “Unless… unless she’s NOT my best friend.” He looked once again down at the ground. His eyes began to water, but he quickly rubbed the tears away.

Frost and Fluttershy were at a restaurant, a waiter took their orders, and they began to talk.
“So, Fluttershy, what do you like to do for fun?”
“Oh, I just love taking care of all my animal friends, oh, and I love doing things with my friend Discord.”
“You seem to spend a lot of time with Discord.” He said slowly. “I mean, you were at the marketplace with him, he was in your house, and you mention him a lot. Why do you spend so much time with him?”
“Why not?” Fluttershy said, smiling kindly.
“Well, he did kind of take over Equestria.”
“Yes, but he isn’t that way anymore. He’s my friend.”
“Ok, I guess if that’s how you feel…”
“Yes. It is how I feel,” Fluttershy shot back, suddenly very angry and protective. “And I think he is one of my most amazing friends!”
“Ok. That’s fine. But what about me? Am I your friend?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, it seems like you like Discord more than me.”
“Oh.”
“I just think it’s kinda weird how you like your friend better than your colt friend.”
“Colt friend? You think that you are my colt friend?”
“Well, I figured, since we are kind of going out together.”
“Well, yes, but that doesn’t make you my colt friend.”
“Well, than what am I to you?”
“You were my friend.”
“I was? Does that mean you are not my friend anymore?”
“Well, I, I suppose not. The way you insult my friend is very rude of you.”
“Well, fine then!”
He called out to the waiter. “Cancel my order!” And with that, he stomped out of the restaurant. Everyone was staring at him, and at Fluttershy. She sank down in her seat, then stood up quickly, and flew out the door.

When she got home, she walked up to her bedroom, past Discord, embarrassed. Everyone had been staring at her! Oh, and how rude Frost had become. She wondered why she even tried to go out with him. She knew this would happen. This is why she didn’t like going out. No pony seemed to understand her. Discord saw Fluttershy fly up to her room, and so he teleported up to her bedroom.
“Fluttershy?” he tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you ok?”
She looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears. “I guess. I just broke up with Frost.”
“You two were together?”
“Well, not exactly. I guess we were friends for a while, but then this happened.”
“What happened?”
“I told him what I like to do for fun, and I told him I like taking care of my animals, and doing fun things with you. He wondered why we spend so much time together, and I told him because you’re my friend. He talked about you very unkindly. He still thinks you’re mean. But you’re not! You’re my friend.”
“Oh. It was my fault that he broke up with you? I’m sorry, I probably should just leave.”
“No, Discord! It just made me realize how much I enjoy being with you. I’d rather spend time with you than him anyway.”
“You would?” Finally! He said inside his head.
“Of course. You’re my friend.”
Discord smiled. “Um, Fluttershy, I have a question for you.”
“Yes?”
“Am I your best friend?”
“What? Why do you ask?”
“I’ve just been thinking about it lately, and I’ve realized that you are my best friend. You are the only pony that understands me. Are you my best friend?”
“Well, you are my friend…”
“But are you my best friend?”
“Um, well, I don’t know if I have a best friend. I mean, I really like my other friends, like Twilight, Tree Hugger, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.”
“But you are my best friend. Why aren’t I yours?”
“I don’t really want to choose, Discord. Isn’t that alright?”
Discord turned away. “But I always thought-“
“I know, Discord, but I can’t choose. I would break my other friend’s hearts.”
“And what? It wouldn’t break mine?”
“No! That’s not what I said. My friends just wouldn’t be very happy.”
“Your friends, huh? Why are they so much more important to you than me? Doesn’t it matter how I feel?”
“Yes, it does matter. Very much. But… I just don’t have a best friend. I can’t choose. I’m sorry.”
“Sure you are.” Discord snapped his fingers, and he vanished.
Fluttershy reached out her hoof to hold his paw, and reassure him, but he was gone. She sat on her bed a moment, thinking. “He thinks I am his best friend, but am I? I know he really doesn’t have any more friends, but I can’t choose between him and my other friends. What will I do?”

Discord sat in his house, talking to himself. Literally. His reflection appeared in the mirror, and he began to talk to it.
Discord said, “So she really isn’t my best friend. She must care about those ponies more than me! I thought she cared about me. But clearly, she doesn’t care about me any more than her annoying friends!”
Discord’s reflection began. “Exactly. It seems that our ‘friend’ has turned away from us. She no longer cares about us. She hates us.”
“Well,” the regular Discord began, “Hate is a strong word, don’t you think?”
“I’m you.”
“Oh, I guess you’re right.”
“It seems as if her other friends matter to her more than us.”
“Maybe I just acted up too much at the marketplace. I must be an embarrassment to her. I should just leave her alone. Tomorrow, I won’t be there as usual. Maybe that will make her want me back. Just wait, Fluttershy. You’ll miss me. You will.”

Chapter 5
The Kidnapping

Fluttershy woke up the next morning, and noticed that Discord wasn’t there. He usually came to visit her in the mornings. “Discord?” she called, but he didn’t appear. Because he was in his chaotic house, enjoying the scenery. But Fluttershy didn’t know that. She was worried.
“Maybe he didn’t come because of what I said yesterday.”
And so, she continued on with her day as usual, although it was hard to do without Discord. He usually helped her with breakfast. He was usually there to keep her company. It was really quiet there without him, but she thought that if she gave him some time to think about what happened, he might come back. But he didn’t. Not all day. The next morning, he wasn’t there either. Nor the next. She spent those two days with her other friends, since Discord wasn’t around. As Discord sat in his house, he watched Fluttershy once again through a magic bubble. He still knew that spying on others was wrong, but he was so mad, he didn’t even care. He got even madder as he watched her being with her other friends. After a few days, he didn’t bother watching her. It seemed as if she had given up on him. That she forgot him. But that wasn’t true.
Fluttershy talked with her friends, as they sipped their shakes at Sugar Cube Corner. “Discord has been missing, and he hasn’t even showed up for today’s Tuesday Tea. It’s been a week, and I’m getting worried. What if something terrible has happened to him?”
Rainbow Dash replied, “No way! He has the power to turn the world upside down! Literally! He could fight off anything. He’s probably just… taking a break.”
“You aren’t suggesting that Discord doesn’t like me anymore, are you?”
“Well,” Rainbow Dash began. “He may have just wanted to get away from you for a while. I mean, after a while, friends can get really annoying.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled. “That’s not nice.”
“But I’m right, aren’t I?”
Twilight glared at her.
“I rest my case.” Rainbow Dash declared. Then Twilight glared at her again.
“Oh, darling,” Rarity assured Fluttershy, “He’s probably just gone on vacation.”
“But he didn’t tell me he was going anywhere. He just disappeared.”
“Well,” Twilight suggested, “When was the last time you talked to him before he disappeared?”
Fluttershy explained what had happened. She finished, “I must have really upset him, because the next morning, he was gone.”
“Hmm,” Twilight thought, “Maybe you did upset him.”
“Oh, sugar cube, maybe he just needs some time to think about it.” Applejack said kindly.
“That’s what I thought too.” Fluttershy responded, “But he hasn’t come when I called, and it just seems like he doesn’t like me. Otherwise I think he might come when I call.”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy! We’ll always be here for you!” said Pinkie Pie, optimistically.
“Thanks, Pinkie. But I won’t always be there for Discord, if he never comes back.” sighed Fluttershy. “Maybe he doesn’t need me anymore.”

Discord sat in his house, a little sad but mostly angry. He couldn’t figure out why he felt sad, when he felt so mad. “Who needs her anyway? She doesn’t care about me. I thought we were friends, but we’re not. I’m all alone. Just… just like I used to be.” He felt angry, still, but he couldn’t help but feel lonely. He still did care about Fluttershy, he just couldn’t admit it to himself. “I thought I found friendship, but instead, I just found more loneliness.” He thought for a moment. “But, maybe I should go see Fluttershy. In case there’s a chance she does still care about me.”

That night, Fluttershy law awake in bed. She was thinking about Discord and how lonely he might be. But she was also thinking about how happy he might be, without her. She sighed, and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

Far away, Queen Chrysalis watched Fluttershy through a magic bubble, the same way Discord watched Fluttershy. She also watched Discord, predicting his actions. She had just finished her most recent plan to take over Equestria, and she knew what she had to do. She had heard the news of Discord being reformed, and thought of the power he possessed. She had been watching them the past year, and had noticed how much time he spent with the small pegasus, Fluttershy. Discord called her his best friend. It seemed to the small pegasus that he didn’t care anymore, but Chrysalis knew more. She knew that Discord still really cared about her, and that she still cared about him. She knew that now was the time to strike. “So foolish of him to give up on taking over. He could have had it all, and now, thanks to him and his little friend, Equestria will be mine! All mine!” She laughed, and it echoed all throughout her cave.
She called to her general, and second and third command. They came immediately, and she told him of her plan. “Go,” she said, “Make me proud! Oh, and general, before you go, marvelous work on that ploy. You really pulled off Frost well. Although, maybe you shouldn’t have turned into a pony that doesn’t exist next time. But, still, the plan is going perfectly.”
“Yes, Queen.” said the general.
They flew out of the cave, into the dark night.

Fluttershy woke up, and looked out the window, unable to sleep. The stars appeared to make a picture of Discord. “Oh, Discord,” she said, “I hope you still care about me.”
“I do.”
“What?” Fluttershy was startled to hear Discord’s voice. She looked down, and saw Discord just below her window. He flew up, and into her room.
“Discord!” Fluttershy said with joy, “You’re back! I thought you didn’t care about me anymore!” She threw her hoofs around him in a hug.
“Fluttershy, what would ever make you think that? You are my best friend! I could never abandon you!”
“Discord, I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but… I think you are my best friend! Just please don’t tell any pony else, ok?”
“Ok.”
Fluttershy gave him an even tighter hug. He hugged her back. Suddenly, Fluttershy saw only pitch blackness. She was blindfolded, and was being held by two hoofs, one on each arm. But they didn’t feel like normal hoofs. “Hey! What’s going on? Discord? Discord?!”
She heard a voice much lower than Discord’s. It said, “Nope. Your precious Discord isn’t here to save you. No pony is.”

Chapter 6
The Deal

Fluttershy felt the cold breeze of the night rushing all around her. Since she was now blindfolded and gagged, she couldn’t yell for help, nor did she know where she was going. She tried to struggle, and get away, but the grip on her was too strong. She was sad, scared, and confused. Why didn’t Discord help her? Wasn’t he there? No, the pony who took her said that Discord wasn’t there. She felt the hoofs that were around her arms didn’t feel quite right. She was being flown somewhere, she just didn’t know where. She waited patiently, since she couldn’t do anything else.
Soon, they landed on rough ground. Fluttershy heard voices in the distance, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She then heard a voice much closer to her. It chuckled, then spoke.
“So, this is the little pegasus, hmm?” She then spoke to the guards. “Take off that blindfold and gag, then leave, and guard the door.” The changelings did so. Fluttershy looked around. It was dark, and a bit like the inside of a bee’s nest she had seen once, but it was black instead of yellow. In front of her stood Queen Chrysalis. Fluttershy was even more scared now. She shivered in the coldness.
“Where am I?” asked Fluttershy, trying to sound brave.
“Why, you are in my nest. This is where I and my sons and daughters live.”
“And you are Queen Chrysalis.”
“I see you are very observant, small one. You managed to be smart enough to find out who I am. Unfortunately for you, you weren’t smart enough to figure out that my changelings were tricking you in the first place. Unfortunate for you, however, fortunate for me.” A smile curled on her face.
“Why did you bring me here? I want an answer.” said Fluttershy, sounding braver than she felt.
“Well, you’ll know that all in good time. However, I have things to attend to. I am the queen here, after all. General!”
“Yes, queen?” replied the general.
“Take this mare to a ‘safe place’. And make sure she stays quiet, and above all, make sure she doesn’t escape. We need her if our plan is ever to work.” She glanced back at Fluttershy a moment. “Oh, and stay quiet around her. She’s a little too observant for her own good.”
The general did as he was told. Fluttershy was taken deep into the hive, toward the center. She tried to find out an escape route, but it was like a maze in there. A dark, misty maze. She was put into a cell-like room, and was locked in. Then, realizing how terrible the situation was, she began to cry. She had tried to sound brave, but on the inside, she was terrified.

The next morning, Discord appeared in Fluttershy’s house. He wanted to see if she still cared about him, so he came looking for her. He called her name, but couldn’t find her anywhere. He searched the whole house, inside and out, under shelves, furniture, couches, her bed, Angel, and even under the fridge, but she was no where to be found. He searched above things as well. Eventually, he got tired, and sat down on her bed. Suddenly, a portal appeared beneath him, and Discord fell through. “Since when does Fluttershy’s bed have a portal in it? Maybe this is where she disappeared to.” Then he noticed how swirly and strangely colored the portal was, he said, “Now this is my kinda place.”
The portal soon came to an end, and Discord fell out onto the hard ground, with an “Oof!” He used a healing spell on himself, then observed his surroundings. He was deep in the Ever-free Forest. He heard a misty, distant voice echo through the trees.
“Discord…” it said. “Discord…”
“Alright,” he said. “Enough with the mysterious voice. Show yourself, or I’ll do it for you!”
“Ok, calm down, I’m a reasonable mare.” And down from the sky came Queen Chrysalis.
“Tell me, why did you bring me here? You could have just sent an invitation if you wanted to chat.”
“Oh, Discord, you’re as silly and pathetic as that little mare friend of yours.”
“Mare friend? Who… wait. Do you mean, Fluttershy?”
“Ah, and you’re observant like her, too.”
“What have you done with her? Tell me, now.” Discord growled, suddenly becoming protective.
“Alright, easy there. I simply want to strike a deal. I heard it was one of your favorite things to do when you were in power.”
“In power? You mean when I was trying to take over Equestria? Well, Crissy, I’m over that now. So, what do you want, anyway?”
Queen Chrysalis’s horn lit up as she cast a spell. Above her head, in a magical bubble, appeared Fluttershy, who was still crying. Fluttershy jumped when she noticed she was no longer in the jail cell. She saw Discord, and tried to run to him. But she was stuck in place.
“Fluttershy!” cried Discord. “What did she do to you?” Discord said, panicking. This reminded him of the time when Tirek took over, and it filled him with regret, adding to his fear.
“Oh, quit your whining. I haven’t done anything to her. Like I said, I just want to strike a deal.”
Discord stood in silence for a moment, comprehending the situation. “What do you want?” he asked.
“Nothing much. Just to take over Equestria and feed off all its precious love. Then my subjects and I will never go hungry again. But… I can’t do that very easily. You see, Celestia and the princesses are all so alert, if I were to attack now, they would easily defeat me. Again.”
“Get to the point.”
“Well, I need a diversion distracting the princesses. They will become focused enough on it that they won’t even be paying attention to me! And then they will be much easier to overpower. Once I do, they can’t help Equestria. Only then can I take over. So, what I need from you is to create that diversion. And if you don’t, I assure you, you will never see Fluttershy again! So, what will it be?”
Discord thought about this a moment. He had gained Celestia’s, and more importantly, Equestria’s trust. For the most part, anyway. If he did this, he might lose all their trust forever. He knew that if this happened, he couldn’t be turned into stone, but he might never be trusted again. He may be forbidden to ever enter Equestria again. Or worse, he might not be allowed to be friends with Fluttershy anymore.
“I’m waiting.” said the Queen, impatiently.
“Well, I’m thinking.” On the other hand, if he didn’t do this, he had no idea what Chrysalis would do to Fluttershy. She may feed off her love, lock her away forever, or who knows what else she might do. He wouldn’t ever see her again. He realized, this was a choice between Fluttershy and Equestria.
“Discord,” Fluttershy said, realizing that this must be the real Discord, “Don’t do it! Equestria is more important than I am. Equestria can survive without me, but no pony can survive without Equestria. I’m not worth it.”
Discord said, “Fluttershy, I couldn’t live with myself knowing that you weren’t safe and happy.”
“But, Discord, Equestria is more important than me! Besides, if Equestria is taken over, I would have the same fate as every pony else. I still wouldn’t be safe and happy. Please.” Her eyes grew wide, but Discord ignored them.
“Chrysalis, isn’t there anything else I can do? Anything?”
“No.”
“Discord, it’s better to save all those ponies than to just save me.” said Fluttershy.
“Silence!” yelled Chrysalis. “I need an answer!”
Discord realized he had no choice. “Can I say something to Fluttershy first?” he asked.
“Ugh. Fine, but I’m watching you.” she placed a spell on Fluttershy so she couldn’t be taken away.
“Fluttershy, I’m… I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t left you alone for so long, none of this would have happened.”
“Don’t be. It’s alright. You just stay safe, ok?”
“I hope you aren’t thinking about backing out. Look, Discord, do you really care about Equestria? I thought that none of the ponies in it even liked you.” Chrysalis said.
“How do you know that?”
“We’ve been watching you the past little while. That’s how we knew how you acted around Fluttershy.”
“We?”
“My people and I. That’s how we got little Fluttershy to come here. My general pretended to be you, and she fell for it! Isn’t it brilliant? That’s also how I know how the ponies here don’t like you. Don’t you remember how they acted around the marketplace? They hated you! Do you really care about them? Your only real friend is Fluttershy. Isn’t she all that matters?”
Discord thought about this. “They really don’t like me, do they? All but Fluttershy have been my enemies. Well, except for Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight. But, they can fend for themselves. They’ve fought off changelings like nobody’s business! They’ll be fine. Fluttershy is really the only one that matters. Isn’t she?”
“Or,” said Queen Chrysalis, “I’ll feed off your precious Fluttershy’s love for you!”
“Love?” asked Fluttershy, her eyes widening. Her cheeks turned red.
“Oh, do you honestly think I haven’t noticed? You two obviously have much love for each other. I’ve seen the way you talk about each other. Oh, unless you haven’t realized that?”
“We… we love each other?” Discord asked, with wide eyes, and he started blushing, too.
“Well, you two are such great friends, you obviously care a lot for each other. It’s quite a powerful thing, your friendship. Without love there wouldn’t be friendship. You, Discord, are even willing to give up Equestria for her! I can see it in your heart. You want Fluttershy to be live so badly, that you would be willing to help me take over Equestria! It’s quite a sad weakness, love. I’ve never quite understood it myself. Oh well. Have you made your choice?”
Discord hesitated a moment, then said, “I have.”
“What will it be?”
“I-I will help you take over… Equestria.”
“Ha! I win! Oh how I love it when I win! Let the pathetic pony go. Takeover starts immediately!”
“Wait, Chrysalis. How do I know you will hold to your deal?”
“When you agreed to my plan, I cast a spell on you and I. If you break your end of the deal, and don’t help me with my plan like you promised, Fluttershy will be no more.”
“You would go so far as to… kill? You… “
“Well, if my subjects don’t get love, they can’t survive. I’d practically be killing them!
It’s either my subjects, or Fluttershy. Not a hard choice for me.”
“What if you break your end of the deal?” asked Discord.
“Oh, well, it’s a two-way spell. If I break my end of the deal, and I hurt Fluttershy, then I have to stop my take over of Equestria. The spell will provide accordingly. Now, come along, Discord, I am going to tell you the plan.”
Discord followed sadly behind Chrysalis, looking back at Fluttershy. She had a look of despair on her face. Discord knew that Equestria would be in danger, but at least Fluttershy was safe.

Chapter 7
The Plan

“And that is what you will do, Discord, while I take down the princesses. Understand?”
“Understood.” Discord said in dismay.
“Wonderful! I will go tell my subjects.”
While Chrysalis made the announcement, Discord ran out to the forest to see Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy, did she hurt you?”
Fluttershy looked up at him, then turned away. “You have betrayed Equestria.”
“Fluttershy, I know, and I’m sorry. But I just couldn’t let that happen to you. After all, I have a lot of love for you, just like Chrysalis said. I may not have realized it before, but it’s true.”
“But Equestria isn’t safe!”
“I know, but now you are.” He caressed her face, looking into her eyes.
“Discord! It’s time!” came the voice of Queen Chrysalis.
“Goodbye, Fluttershy. Whatever you do, don’t come to Ponyville, or anywhere else with ponies. It’s too dangerous.”
“Discord!” yelled Chrysalis.
Discord gave Fluttershy a hug, then flew up with Chrysalis, with her entire colony of changelings behind them.
“Discord…” said Fluttershy, when Discord and Chrysalis disappeared. “How could you?” But the deal was sealed.

Discord flew next to Chrysalis. She said, “You know what to do. We’ll hide, while you carry out your part of the plan. That’s phase one. Go!”
Discord, with a look of regret on his face, flew toward Ponyville. Princess Twilight was already panicked, because she had noticed Fluttershy had gone missing. But her panic only grew worse, when she saw cotton candy clouds. “Oh no!” she said.
“Ha ha ha!” Discord laughed. “How foolish of you ponies to believe that I was actually reformed-twice! You honestly think that I would give up my chaos for some wimpy pegasus? Ridiculous! I spent these years gaining your trust, so that when you fully trusted me, I could take over! Well, now it’s time!”
“No way, Discord!” yelled Twilight. “Come on girls! Let’s get him!”
Her friends heard Twilight call, and they came running out of Twilight’s castle, and stood by her side.
“What have you done with Fluttershy?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “Give her back!”
“Oh, don’t worry about her, she’s fine. I never cared about her anyway!” He winced slightly as he said those words, but then kept acting.
“Let’s get him, girls!” yelled Twilight.
“But Twilight!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, “We don’t have the Elements of Harmony!”
“Oh no,” Twilight realized, “Well, we can still fight him off until the other princesses get here! They’ll know what to do!”

While Discord fought off the mane six (well, at this point, the main five), Queen Chrysalis lurked in the shadows along with her changelings. They watched eagerly as ponies ran away from Discord, but they knew they had to wait to strike. Within minutes, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence arrived, as well as the entire royal guard.

“Discord!” yelled Celestia. “You were reformed! You learned! We thought you were our friend! Well, now you have lost our trust forever. How do you ever expect us to believe you again?”
“Well, too bad so sad.” Discord said. “I guess you don’t earn my trust then. Who cares?”
“Princesses,” said Celestia, “You know what to do. We have prepared for such a time as this.” All at once, the four princesses blasted the same spell at Discord. It began to overpower him, but he fought back.
Queen Chrysalis knew it was time to strike. “Changelings!” she yelled, “ATTACK!”
And they did. They swarmed, and attacked Ponyville, sending all the ponies into a panic. Queen Chrysalis blasted a spell at Celestia, which quickly overpowered her. The other princesses could not fight back, because they had to fight off Discord. Chrysalis blasted the same spell one by one at the other three princesses, overpowering them as well. They fell to the ground in defeat, and Chrysalis wrapped them each in a chrysalis, that stunned them so they couldn’t move. “Well, well,” said Queen Chrysalis, “We meet again. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight. Nice to see you. I can’t believe how gullible you are. You all came here, when you should have been more careful. I can’t believe that you thought that Discord would turn against you all, again! He’s too soft for that.” She scoffed. “The only way I could get him to help me is by threatening his best friend! Oh well, too bad for you! Equestria is mine! And without Discord or your princesses here to protect you, I WILL RULE FOREVER!”
“There!” said Discord to Chrysalis. “I helped you. Can I leave now?”
“Oh, I just need you to do one more teensy little thing for me, Discord.”
“And what is that?”
“I can’t fully take over Equestria unless these princesses are gone.”
“What are you asking for?” said Discord.
“I need you to kill the princesses.”

Chapter 8
The Sacrifice

“K-kill?” asked Discord, in a terrified tone.
“I can’t get rid of them myself, you see, my magic isn’t powerful enough. I need your magic to help me. Only then can I rule Equestria.” said Chrysalis, a smile curling on her face.
“That wasn’t part of the deal!”
“I’m afraid you are wrong. I need to get rid of the princesses before I can rule, and you promised to help me take over Equestria. Unless… you changed your mind about your little pegasus friend.”
“Don’t do it!” yelled Shining Armor, his eyes wet. “You wouldn’t do such a thing!”
“Please!” agreed the mane five, looking down at Twilight, and crying.
Celestia looked at Luna. Luna looked at Cadence. Cadence looked at Twilight. Twilight looked at all of them. They all realized that this was a choice between them and Fluttershy. They didn’t know what to think.
“Well?” said Chrysalis, impatiently.
“I need to think. Please.” said Discord.
“Alright, fine! But decide quickly. I haven’t got all of eternity, you know.”
Discord’s mind filled with memories of Fluttershy. Her beautiful smile, her passionate eyes, her kindness. He remembered all the wonderful Tuesday Teas they had together. He remembered her reforming him. He remembered her always giving him kindness, giving him that kind of love that no other pony could give him. He realized just how much he cared for her. His mind flashed with memories of her. The only happy memories he had were memories with her in them. He imagined Equestria, taken over by changelings, the princesses gone, and it would be all his fault. He would be with Fluttershy, but he wouldn’t have her trust. At least she would be safe. If not, she would be gone. He understood that Fluttershy would want him to save the princesses, but how could he? He couldn’t let Fluttershy die. He had promised himself to never let anything happen to her. Ever. How could he break that promise? How could he live without her? He would never see another one of her beautiful smiles. He would never again see her kind eyes. He would never again see her. Discord’s eyes filled with tears. He knew what he had to do to keep Fluttershy safe. He looked down at his paw and claw, he could never do such a thing. But he had to. His hands shook as he opened them toward the princesses.
“Excellent.” Chrysalis said, her smile growing. She pointed her horn toward the four helpless princesses. They closed their eyes, realizing that this was the end. The end of them, the end of Equestria. At the same time, Chrysalis and Discord released their power upon them.
“NO!!!” Fluttershy yelled, diving right in front of the four princesses. The powerful beam of dark magic meant to kill four ponies, hit only one. Fluttershy took the full impact, then fell to the ground.
“FLUTTERSHY!” Discord fell down onto the ground, his hands covering his face. “No, Fluttershy, you can’t… you…what have I done?” He tried to shake her awake, but it was hopeless. He knew it was hopeless. Fluttershy was dead. The deal was broken.
A powerful surge of magic came from Chrysalis’s horn. “WHAT? NO!” The spell blasted her and all her changelings out of Equestria, the princesses were released, the houses were fixed, and everything went back to normal. Well, not everything.
Discord looked down at Fluttershy. He stroked her beautiful mane. “Fluttershy,” he said, crying, “I-I need you. Please, please come back to me.”
“Don’t you have a healing spell? asked Celestia.
“It’s not this powerful.” Discord hugged Fluttershy, but this time, she didn’t hug him back. She was limp in his arms. All Discord could do was cry.
“F-Fluttershy… I-I love you. I realize that now. Please… I’m sorry, I should never have left you. This is all my fault.” He closed his eyes.

He felt a soft hoof brush his cheek.
“Oh, Discord, I love you too.” came the sweet voice of Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy?” Discord wondered if it was just his imagination. He opened his eyes. “You’re alive!”
Fluttershy hugged Discord, the most sweet and sincere hug they had ever shared.
“But, how?” asked Discord.
Celestia spoke. “Perhaps your magic wasn’t dark enough to kill. Magic is driven by emotion, after all. You weren’t angry, you were sad. Perhaps it was your love, that saved Fluttershy.”   “Then how was the deal broken?” asked Discord, still confused.
“Fluttershy is still hurt. She was hit with dark magic, after all. But I think I can remove it.” Celestia cast a spell, taking the dark magic out of Fluttershy. “I will put this magic somewhere where it can’t hurt any pony.” And she did.
Cadence and Shining Armor reunited, the mane six back together, and Celestia back in control, Equestria returned back to it’s former glory.

It was a lovely afternoon in Ponyville.
Discord and Fluttershy were cleaning up their Tuesday Tea.
“I am really sorry, Fluttershy, for what happened.”
Fluttershy giggled. “You keep saying that. I told you, it’s ok.”
“I’m never leaving you again.” said Discord. “Then you’ll be safe.”
“I know, Discord, but take it easy. Remember what happened last time you said that?” said Fluttershy.
“Yes, yes, alright. But that doesn’t stop me from keeping you safe.” he smiled.
And so, their friendship continued to grow. And their love. I know what you’re thinking. “Is this story going to end with Fluttershy and Discord getting married?” Well, no. But that doesn’t mean they never will get married. That’s their choice. You see, love doesn’t have to be that kind of love to be special. The love of friendship can be just as powerful. After all, friendship is the most powerful magic of all.

The End