• Chapter Eighteen: Murder Lingering •
…
Fluttershy watched, as the final animals began to scurry into the homes she had set up for them not long ago. She felt tears dribbling down her face, as the departure of these animals only meant she wouldn't see them for another season.
"Take care everyone! I'll be waiting for you at Winter Wrap Up!" Fluttershy forced a smile. Angel Bunny hopped up, and glanced at her worriedly, in a way which spoke "you alright?"
"Yes, I am fine Angel Bunny. Thank you for wondering. Come inside now... let's get something to eat." Fluttershy began to trot towards her cottage, Angel Bunny closely following behind her.
"I might even have your favourites waiting..!" Fluttershy smiled, as Angel Bunny hopped ahead of her ecstatically, and sprinted into the home, before gnawing on a carrot she had left. Fluttershy closed the door to the house, making sure none of the chilly breezes dared to enter. Trotting passed Angel, she began to eat an apple of her own- she hadn't even devoured half of the apples yet, and she had enough to keep her alive until half of Winter! And it was all thanks to Discord. Fluttershy sighed, knowing she'd probably never see the unusual creature again. He just seemed to intrigue her somehow... he wasn't like anything she'd seen before- with the head of a pony, and his serpent-like structure... his bat and pegasi wings... his dragon-like tail. Fluttershy didn't really have any friends, except her woodland creatures. Discord was the closest she could get to a pony friend... if she was his friend. Oh, what am I thinking? I bet he's already forgotten my name.
…
It was quite the opposite though. Discord had been thinking of her every day. He was unsure what this obsession was, but it was driving him insane. How could he soften up to a little pegasi, who was afraid of her own shadow?
"The Lord of Chaos will not tolerate this nonsense! What I am supposed to is the obvious- cause chaos!" Discord mischievously grinned, knowing that this was the perfect distraction from his bothersome daydreaming. He flicked his eagle claw, and teleported the wide distance to Chrysalis's evil lair. Almost instantly, he was bombarded by a swarm of furious changelings.
"Every single time..." He grumbled. Ever since Chrysalis had found competition for her beauty, she had increased the level of guards, and it was making Discord agitated.
"Yep. Attack me," Discord muttered, and felt the zaps of magic being shot at him through the changelings' crooked horns. Discord rolled his eyes, as the complex spells, only felt like small pinches on his sides. Eventually, Discord just clicked his talon, and the changelings froze-solid in mid attack.
"Discord, what an unpleasant surprise," Chrysalis muttered, as she sat on the other side of the room, glancing at her frozen guards.
"Same goes to you, my queen!" Discord pretended to bow, before he worked his magic, and the changeling guards disappeared altogether. "Y'know, you should really teach your guards how to properly fight."
Chrysalis slitted her eyes. "I called you by your name, and you took no offence. How?"
"It no longer works on me!" He grinned. "Discord! Discord! Discord! I am Discord! Now you sing!" He began to dance, while he sung his name over and over again.
Chrysalis stomped her hoof on the marble floor, silencing him. "How?"
He shrugged, whilst turning the floor to ice, and skating over it. "I built up immunity."
"You're bluffing."
"Of course, you can tell when I was saying my name over and over again."
"This is preposterous."
"Well I find it reasonable."
"Well I get the last statement, so shut up." Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, before smirking. "I win the argument."
"Discord!"
She screamed, before teleporting before him, and knocking him down with a blaze of her magic, her eyes flashing a neon green. "What's going on? Why don't you find offence to it after what... happened?"
Discord shivered slightly, before teleporting into the air above her, out of her reach. "I don't know!" He knew he couldn't tell Chrysalis it was because of Fluttershy. If I do, then she'd probably think I'm siding with the ponies other than the changelings, and she would probably do something much worse to me than take away all my youth... because everyone wants to be as pretty as me! Jokes, but still!
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. "Ok then Discord." Her gaze softened, as she turned away, and trotted up to the mirror. "Sorry for mentioning what happened... even I'm not as cruel as that..."
"Your apology has been unaccepted!" Discord began to laugh, when he noticed the look Chrysalis was giving him, and he went silent.
Chrysalis looked over her reflection, before she turned to the image of Fluttershy, who was sitting by a fire, and warming up with the blazing heat which tickled her fur. Discord watched, as Fluttershy got up, and began to make sure all her animals were asleep.
"Mirror mirror, on the wall... who is the fairest, of them all?" Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, as the face began to draw its way through the mirror's surface. All was silent, as Discord watched Chrysalis glance at the face hopefully. The face seemed to be taking longer to come up with its answer than usual.
"Well?" Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, as the face looked at nothing whatsoever.
Finally, the face managed to calculate the answer, and he looked solemnly at Chrysalis. "My queen, you may be pretty by face. But it is Fluttershy, who is winning this race."
Discord waited for the screaming- the wailing? Trauma? Depression? Misery? Jealousy? Anything? But Chrysalis just stood there, glancing calmly at the image of Fluttershy.
"Aren't you mad Chrysalis?" Discord cautiously questioned, coming closer to the changeling queen.
Chrysalis shook her head. "No. We all knew this was going to happen. I allowed Fluttershy- whatever her name is- to stay alive for as long as possible..." Chrysalis grinned wickedly. "Now, she must die."
Discord was taken aback. "Murdered..?"
Chrysalis smirked. "Yes. I have already planned everything out." Chrysalis spun to Discord, who was now trembling at her presence. "Now it's time I involve you into this."
"M-me?" Discord stepped backwards in horror, as Chrysalis nodded.
"I can't think of anypony more qualified than you to kill her. You may be... annoying, but I know you are loyal. And I know you will not fail this challenge."
Discord's eyes widened. "O-of course y-your highness..."
Chrysalis sighed. "Too bad she couldn't live any longer. Oh well. Discord, I want you to take her out deep into the woods, where nopony will hear her screaming. Then, I want you to murder her, and let her corpse be eaten away by the animals or covered in snow."
Discord quivered. This was inhumane. This was murder- his spirit wasn't designed for murder. It was designed for chaos! "O-ok..."
Chrysalis paused. "You could always betray me though." She closed her eyes. "You know you could."
"I'd never, your majesty!" Discord gulped.
"Still..." Chrysalis glanced at her hoof. "I want you to bring me her tongue and her heart, to prove to me that you have murdered her."
"Tongue and h-heart... ok..." Discord nodded furiously. "I will try my hardest!"
"I know you will," Chrysalis spoke. "Do this in the morning. Tonight, you shall rest. Her heart and her tongue."
Discord nodded, before teleporting away. He lay in the branches of his thinking tree- the tree where he did his most hardest thinking.
Fluttershy doesn't deserve to die. She's too innocent... she's too naïve. If I killed her, that would make me way lower than Chrysalis... it would make me lower than low. I can't kill, it's not even in my nature! I especially can't kill Fluttershy... she's the closest to a friend I have! But if I disobey Chrysalis's orders, she'll probably kill me... no- she'll torture me, then kill me! And then she'd bring me back to life to pay the taxes, and summon her things like gold and stuff... then she'd kill me again! Double killed, no that's horrible! Back to the subject, how am I going to do this? My life or Fluttershy's life? Fluttershy's or my life? Why am I so selfish... no... this is not right! This is probably the longest rant I've ever done- cool! Wait... Fluttershy...
Discord closed his irregular eyes, before he opened them again, welled with tears. "I am so sorry Fluttershy..."
…
Fluttershy awoke in the morning, hearing the chimes of her birds rouse her. She yawned, before trotting to the mirror, and brushing her mane. Then she went downstairs, and was welcomed by the complains of her hungry animals.
"Don't worry little ones... I'm going to feed you." Fluttershy sighed, peering outside to see a bellowing snowstorm. "Second day of Winter, and it's already snowing. I have a feeling this is going to be a long season!" She went to the kitchen and began to prepare all the food for her hungry animals. Seed for the birds, lettuce for the rodents, kibble for the dogs and cats... Once Fluttershy had fed all her animals, she fed herself, by eating another one of the apples Discord had given her. It was probably the nicest gift she'd ever received. Grabbing a scarf, Fluttershy opened the door to outside, and dashed into the cold, slamming the door behind her unintentionally. Once she'd reached town, she was pleased to see that not much ponies were there- probably hiding from the snow. As Fluttershy was buying the food she needed, she was unaware of two mismatched red and yellow eyes watching her.
…
Step 1. Take her far into the woods, so no one else could hear her screaming.
Discord sighed. All he had were three steps, and he planned on accomplishing all three. He watched Fluttershy, as she was turning around to get back home. Luckily for him, her route home was partway through the woods.
"Fluttershy..." He called.
Fluttershy perked her ears, peering around. "Discord? Is that you?"
It hurt him to see that there was a spark of hope which glimmered in her eyes. "Yes, it's me.." He teleported behind her. "I'm here!" He picked her up from behind. Fluttershy yelped, to find herself suddenly into air. She was whipped upside down, so she was facing him.
"I'm so happy to see you again! Now can you please put me down, I feel like a bat hanging upside down!" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, and Discord grinned, as he teleported her to the earth.
"It's great to see you again! I still cannot thank you enough for the apples!" Fluttershy beamed brighter than the sun.
Discord guiltily shrugged. "It was no biggie..." Here's it. An excuse for taking her into the woods. He gulped. "Hey, I saw these unusual looking flowers in the woods, and I was wondering if the smartest pony I knew could help me find out what they were."
Fluttershy giggled. "I'm not very smart... but I'd be happy to help!"
"Great! Follow me!" Discord began to trudge through the snow. Fluttershy followed, flapping her delicate little wings to fly besides him.
"So..." He mumbled, as they got deeper and deeper into the flora. "How long have you been living here?"
Fluttershy hesitated. "All my life... I never really see my family, and this is my home... with all my little woodland creatures. They're the only friends I have really..."
Discord glanced at her disappointedly. "I'm not your friend?"
Fluttershy gasped in shock. "I didn't think you'd want to be my friend. I mean, I'm not really anything special..."
"You're kidding, right?" Discord stopped. "You don't think you're special?"
Fluttershy cowered slightly. "Not really..."
"You are everything special Fluttershy!" Discord cried.
Fluttershy blushed. "Thank you... so are we friends?" She glanced at him hopefully.
"Of course!" Discord grinned, as she let out a little cheer, and flew around him in the air.
"You're the first friend I ever had, which is not one of my woodland creatures!" Fluttershy smiled.
"You're the first friend I ever had, too!" Discord sighed. "I can't believe you don't have any other friends! There's so much likeable things about you!"
"I don't really talk much... that's all," Fluttershy sniffed.
"It's ok... it's funny though, because others are always telling me I talk too much!" Discord laughed slightly.
Fluttershy nodded. "How long until we reach the flowers?"
Discord's eyes widened... they'd been walking for a while now, and he had completely forgotten the reason why he'd taken her here in the first place. Swear began to poor down his skin... he shouldn't have been bonding with Fluttershy... she'd made it a lot harder for him now.
"They're... uh... right ahead!" Discord gulped, and when he was making sure she wasn't looking, he snapped his eagle claw, and summoned some flowers further in the distance. Eventually they reached them.
"These!" He gestured to a bunch of white flowers, which were sprouting in the snow.
Fluttershy gasped, as she rushed up to them, and sniffed the petals. "I've never seen anything like these in my life... I've never seen a colour so white... it's a lighter shade than the snow... and they smell lovely."
"I thought you'd like them..." Discord sniffed, as he began to sob slightly. "There was another reason I brought you here though..."
Fluttershy looked up from the flowers, to see Discord suddenly revealing a knife out of nowhere... the blade was alarmingly sharp, and glinted silver in the light.
Fluttershy let out a shocked whimper, and backed away into a tree. "Discord... what are you doing..? I thought we were friends?" She began to cry ever so softly.
Discord paced closer, each step a struggle. "You see Fluttershy... you are the most beautiful pony in the world... the most fairest. I am in an alliance with Chrysalis... and she always thought she was the fairest of them all. Her magic mirror thought otherwise though... it said that you were the fairest. Chrysalis ordered me to kill you..." Discord began to weep.
Fluttershy was as frozen as stone, as she stared at him with pleading, miserable, big teal eyes. They were welling with tears.
"Step one... was to take you deep into the forest where nopony would hear your screams..." Discord cried, as he stepped closer, stamping on the white flowers, and crushing them.
"Discord... please..." Fluttershy begged, as her tears began to melt the snow as they leaked from her eyes.
"Step two was to kill you..." He sniffed. "And step three was to give your tongue and your heart to the queen..."
"This isn't you Discord! This isn't you! Stop!" Fluttershy pressed her back as hard against the tree as possible, as Discord etched closer.
"I am sorry Fluttershy..."
"You don't have to be..." Fluttershy stepped forward to his surprise, and wrapped her hooves around his legs... they were all she could reach. "Chrysalis is a tyrant... you're no tyrant Discord! You are generous, helpful... troublesome, but you have a good heart!" She wept into his fur. "You're the only friend I ever had... aren't I your friend?" She hesitated. "And if you do kill me... at least I'll die next to you."
Discord gaped, raising his knife to the air, but he was unable to slice it down. Instead, he dropped it into the snow, and let the cold, whiteness cover it. Then he unsurely returned the hug, bending down to wrap his arms around Fluttershy lightly. The two stood like that for a while, locked in a small embrace, before Fluttershy began to cry again and stepped back.
"Thanks for not killing me... but what about Chrysalis? Is she going to be hunting me down?"
Discord glanced at the creature solemnly. "Yes. I will keep you covered for as long as possible... I want you to change your name. Chrysalis will be setting up signs all over the place for you, and if anypony recognises your name, you might get in trouble..."
"I don't know... you name me," Fluttershy shivered, as a small flake of snow drifted onto her nose.
Discord squinted, before glancing from her, to the cold iciness which lay below them. "You're now Snow Flutter."
"Snow Flutter..." she echoed. "I like it."
Discord gratefully nodded, before using his magic to summon a heart, and a tongue. "I'll give this to Chrysalis... it will keep her occupied for now."
Snow Flutter cringed slightly at the body parts, but didn't complain.
"And finally... I want you to run as far as you can into the woods. Don't turn around, just run. Get as far away from Chrysalis as possible." Discord sighed. "I know you won't get eaten by any animals... but please be careful."
She nodded obediently.
"Now go!" Discord cried.
Snow Flutter hesitated. "But..."
"Go!" Discord roared, fury blazing in his eyes. "Run for your life!"
Snow Flutter squeaked at Discord's harshness over her life, and turned tail and fled.
Discord watched as the last traces of her disappeared into the bushes. "Take care Snow Flutter... please be alright." With that, he teleported back to Chrysalis's mansion. As soon as he entered, Chrysalis was there, looking curiously at him.
"Did you kill her?"
Discord put up an evil grin. "Sure did!"
Chrysalis nodded in satisfaction. "Give me the heart and the tongue."
Discord hesitated, before handing her the two body parts, laying them on the floor.
Chrysalis examined them, before nodding, and picking them up with her magic. "Good job Discord. I knew I could trust you."
Discord felt a guilty sensation run down his spine at this.
…
Snow Flutter felt wind whipping at her face, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. The series of events which had happened in that day, were shocking. She now knew her life was at stake, and it was a horrible feeling.
"What am I to do?
What am I to say?
After what happened today?
How am I to think?
How am I to talk?
I run instead of walk...
But oh please, fate be kind!
My very wish I use...
What have I to lose?
My life is going to leave,
My life may go away...
I may not be here to stay?
But who would care,
No one knows who I am...
But even silence can make you scram.
Oh please, oh please, be nice.
Fate, oh please be good.
Be kind if you think you could...
I'm not one to complain...
I'm just so distraught,
The queen will have me caught.
Oh please, oh please, oh fate!
I've been up to date.
Oh please, oh please, my fate,
Let me get this straight...
I contain most fair,
So please oh please good fate be there!"
Luna's moon was edging up the horizon, licking away the last remains of daytime. Snow Flutter whimpered, before scuffing around in some cozy moss clinging to the bed of a tree. Snow Flutter curled up into a tidy ball, before closing her eyes, and let her dreams open up inside her head.