A Dream To Remember.
The Gala.
The cold night air brushed upon the land, descending from the dark heavens and gracing the few fireflies who had not returned to their slumber.
One such firefly was a lonely widow, sitting upon the stone pedestal of the great castle, a solemnly grim expression accompanying the beautiful butter-yellow face she adorned. Beautiful baby sapphire jewels were hazed over with grief-ridden tears that were relentless in streaming down her face.
"Fluttershy? Whatever are you doing out here?"
Alerted by the beautiful voice, Fluttershy averted her attention from the pond to the equally beautiful Unicorn, wiping away any tears as to not upset the Unicorn further, "Oh Rarity, it's nothing, just sitting out here,"
But the lie was detected far before Fluttershy spoke. Rarity shook her head and joined her saddened companion, "Ponies don't cry for no reason Fluttershy, something's obviously eating at you," She responds.
"It's nothing, really," Another lie that didn't go unnoticed.
"Darling, I want to help you, but helping you won't be possible if you don't tell me what's going on," Rarity protested, "Now, what's bothering you?"
Every fiber in Fluttershy's brain pushed her to make another lie, but her heart wanted someone to confide her feelings inside, someone to help sort out the buzzing in her head that confused her. She had to bite the bullet and tell her friend.
"I feel left out," She began, "You and the other girls have somebody you love and somebody who loves you back, I feel like I'm dragging all of you down with me," She explains.
Enveloped by a heartwarming hug, Fluttershy could do nothing in repliance to the embrace.
"Love is not to be rushed Fluttershy," Whispered the soothing voice, "Don't you dare think that you drag us down because you haven't found a lover yet, everyone takes time in finding somebody they love and even more time for that relationship to blossom into something beautiful," She assured, "Point is, take your time darling, don't rush it or you'll hurt everyone around you,"
She returned the embrace so graciously given to her by her friend, for it was the only thing she could do.
"Now come, we're waiting for you,"
She obeyed, standing proudly on her two feet and followed the beautiful fashionista into the castle to rejoin her friends who all awaited her reappearance. But amidst their welcoming gestures and smiles of pleasure, her eyes caught a glimpse of what she perceived to be a lion's paw… headed straight for AppleJack!
"AppleJack! Watch out!"
Acting upon her primal instincts, Fluttershy leaped towards her friend, moving her out of harm's way while jamming the small pocket knife she had tucked away in her dress into the paw, earning a shout of pain and shower of blood.
No reaction stirred in anybody's head as they witness Fluttershy violently pull the paw out of its portal-like home, dragging the owner out of the paw who was none other than…
"DISCORD!"
Dusting his attire off and inspecting the mighty wound done on him by the yellow angel, "My my, getting violent aren't we my dear Fluttershy?"
But he was spared barely a second to say another word as he discovered the knife glaring menacingly at his jugular vein, thirsty for more sustenance.
"I'll give you a minute to explain yourself before you won't breath again." She threatens.
"Not much of an angel, are you?"
"Not to those who mess with my friends." She hissed, the knife coming dangerously close to the draconequus's neck.
A chuckle escapes Discord's mouth, "Dear dear Fluttershy, I did not mess with your friends, I merely played a game with them."
"Games that-!"
A rebuttal interrupted by a terrible tremor, violently shaking the castle down to its very core, causing everyone to head for the floor for safety.
"Discord?!" The guttural yell erupted from Fluttershy's throat.
But the perplexed look upon Discord's face showed that he had no affiliation with this earthquake.
"This isn't my work!"
"We'll see about that!" She denied, leaping for the chimera with her knife ready to claim its prey.
Thunder crackled in the sky and lightning struck the floor behind Discord the moment Fluttershy was but within a foot of distance, followed by the opening of a mouth of a terrible beast that inhaled with frightening force, pulling Discord's bottom half within it.
Talons wrapped around Fluttershy's leg as Discord was adamant about not beings swallowed alone.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow shouted, launching for her friend only to be halted by a literal big red 'STOP' sign.
Her other friends unable to aid her against Discord's grip in time as the beasts mouth claimed both of them in one fellow swoop before leaving, satisfied with its prey.
"FLUTTERSHY!"
(Meanwhile)
A shout of pain is released from Discord's lungs as his talons were claimed by the knife, before his neck was wrapped up in a deadly grip, Fluttershy's knife ready for more blood.
"You should've stayed in prison!" She declares, bringing the knife down, but no time to claim anything before another portal opened before them, shooting them out faster than a cannon does a cannon ball.
Igniting on fire, both Fluttershy and Discord releases a terrible painful cry. Gritting her teeth in pain, Fluttershy tried to hold onto Discord, but failed as her grip slowly loosened soon for her to fall off of Discord, heading for her own direction…
To be continued...