The Beginning
It was a rainy, unseasonably cold day in Ponyville and it chilled Fluttershy to the bone as she stepped out of the Ponyville Schoolhouse. It was days like this that she almost wished she still attended a school up in Cloudsdale, where the air was surely cold, but where there would be no rain to be found. A cool perk of living in a pegasus city, she supposed. Once she breached the bottom layer of Cloudsdale, she wouldn't have to worry about being wet anymore. But for now...
She shook, a mix of an attempt to knock some water off and a shiver. Normal pegasus ponies were generally less affected by cold weather, wind, and rain than most, having been the weather-makers for most of history; but Fluttershy was not only not a 'normal' pegasus, but rather small and sort of frail, and she was absolutely freezing. She shivered again as a gust of wind threatened to knock her over. Normally, she would have began her ascent to her home immediately after class was out, but she couldn't fly home like this.
She was pondering if she should head back into the school house when she heard hoofsteps begin to get near her. Her ears swiveled slightly in the direction of the noise. She thought she might know who it was, based on the jingle of jewelry.
"Fluttershy, dear," None other than Spoiled Milk's nasally tone came like nails on a chalkboard. "You must be freezing. If only your family would give you a coat." The implication was, of course, that they could not afford to. This was simply untrue - but Fluttershy had learned long ago that Spoiled Milk did not care about any attempt to defend herself.
Spoiled Milk was, well, spoiled. Her family was wealthy and yet not all that important, but they thought they were, and the attitude carried through to their youngest daughter, who thought herself the most important of all. Spoiled Milk was not yet mature enough to understand how to be gracefully mean, so her tactics were more like any other schoolyard bully than she likely wanted. However, Spoiled Milk took herself very seriously, so Fluttershy would never tell her this.
She walked around to the front of Fluttershy so she could see her. She was a year older than Fluttershy and not only was she a good deal bulkier (most ponies were), but she had on a thick fur coat with a hood to protect her from the rain. She almost looked warm. Her ears poked out of the top and were the only thing that gave away that she might just be a little cold - they twitched as drops of water landed on them.
Spoiled Milk's breath fogged as she spoke, "You look like a shivering wet dog. No, no - dogs normally get brought inside when it's ugly out. You are more like a wild animal, I suppose. It's pitiful." Her already-upturned nose turned even further up as she looked down at Fluttershy. "A possum or some such."
"I like p-possums," Tumbled out of Fluttershy's mouth before she could think about it. The stuttering was not due to nerves so much as the chattering of her teeth - but her nerves ran amok, now, knowing how much Spoiled Milk hated 'backtalk'.
"Of course you do." She squinted and inched herself closer to Fluttershy. Though quite average for her year, her stature nearly dwarfed Fluttershy - at least, that's what it felt like as Fluttershy shrunk in on herself, hoping to avoid much more of this encounter.
"P-please just let me go home. I-it's so cold out-"
"Oh, like you could even fly all the way there in this weather." Spoiled Milk scoffed and a small smile spread across her snout. "Hey. Awful odd it's below freezing in early fall, isn't it? Almost like something strange is at play." She stepped even closer. "You remember what we read in our history class today? About the Chaos King? Discord?" She smiled. "He preyed on weak ponies, Miss Patch said. Mentally weak. Like you."
An irrational chill ran down Fluttershy's spine that she couldn't attribute to the rain.
"He might've disappeared, but I'd watch out if I were you. You'd be perfect for his army of freaks." She had been slowly leaning down towards Fluttershy, more and more - but she finally straightened up and took a step back. "Now, good luck getting back home, dear." Without another word, she turned away and trotted off.
Fluttershy did not care where Spoiled Milk was headed. Her hooves and muzzle were going numb and she was shivering more intensely than ever and she could not get Discord's name out of her mind - she shook her head, cleared her thoughts, and began a gallop towards the nearest non-school building.
She stumbled into Sugarcube Corner only a couple minutes later. It was blissfully warm - not only because it had heating, but if she crept closer to the table right by the kitchen entrance, it was even warmer from the ever-active ovens radiating heat... she sighed and stretched her wings and hooves, sore from the sudden temperature change. It was then that she realized how soaked she was - she had tracked water all the way in. She frowned and began to worry. Would the owners get mad? Should she offer to clean it? But warming up felt too nice for her to spiral too deep into her thoughts. She sat at a table for a moment, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling and the sugary smells.
In all honesty, she thought, Spoiled Milk had been almost nice to her today. Normally she would get at least a little physical - a shove here, an extended hoof to trip somepony there, the works - but maybe she had gotten her fill earlier today; Fluttershy had narrowly avoided somepony else actually hurting her by flying up into the air, but only after already receiving a box to the right ear. It was still tender, but she doubted it would bruise. (She had then been punished for flying indoors. Today had not been nice. Fluttershy, it seemed, was an easy target for her schoolmates - just like she had been before dropping out of Cloudsdale Flight School.)
She heard more hoofsteps approach her and involuntarily tensed. Please be somepony nice this time. Please be somepony nice.
"Good afternoon, young lady!"
Fluttershy took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Um, hello." The stutter was gone, for now. The mare in front of her appeared to be several years older than her, and - based on her apron - a worker at the bakery. She also looked very kind, but... concerned? Oh dear. "Oh no! I'm sorry I dragged water in! It was so cold outside and I live in Cloudsdale a-and I couldn't have made it home in this weather, so I had to come in somewhere but I didn't notice the water at all and I..." She trailed off, having to hold back tears that threatened to surface. She was so quick to work herself up, especially after days like today.
The mare - Chiffon Swirl, according to her nametag - waved a hoof at her. "Not a problem, dearie! It's dreadful outside and what better place to warm up than our bakery? Mighty odd how cold it is, isn't it?" She put a hoof to her chin as she glanced out of the front windows. "I'd offer you a coat if I had one that I thought would fit, but I was gonna ask if you wanted an umbrella, at least!" Her smile was warm as she turned back to face Fluttershy and she smelled like the cake batter and frosting that stained her apron.
"...oh." Being treated with actual kindness somehow managed to make Fluttershy retreat in on herself. This was scarier than someone being blatantly mean. "I don't want to be a bother..."
"Nonsense. Here, I'll grab ya one. We've got so many extras." The mare trotted off briefly, and after a minute returned with not just a blue umbrella, but a steaming drink. "I grabbed some hot cocoa for you, too. You look like you need it!"
Fluttershy smiled meekly and grabbed the umbrella. "I didn't bring any bits with me, ma'am," she mumbled. "So I'll have to say no to the cocoa. But thank you."
Chiffon Swirl chuckled and set it down anyways. "I wasn't asking you to pay. Be careful, it's hot!" And with a wink, she trotted back over to the kitchen. She paused before walking through and called over her shoulder, "And hey, if any of your classmates would be interested in baking and confectionary, let them now about Sugarcube Corner! We're looking for a sort of apprentice. Thank you!" She finally stepped into the kitchen, doors swinging shut behind her.
Fluttershy smiled, deciding this would be a nice place to hang around for a while until the rain cleared. Maybe today could be considered a good day after all.
No, today was not a good day.
"I understand that the weather was bad, but you should have just taken a coat this morning instead of making us worry you got hit by lightning or something." Her mother spoke as if she truly had been deeply worried that her only daughter had been electrified to a crisp - fretting rather than fussing.
Her father nodded. "Or blown right out of the sky by the wind! You could have asked another pegasus to fly with you, or stop by and let us know you'd be late."
Oh, like it was reasonable to ask any other pony to go all the way to her house because she was too weak of a flier to make it on her own. She ignored the inanity of her father's suggestion and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't think about it."
"Well, try to think about it next time." Her mother replied, putting on her coat - wait, putting on her coat?
"Are you guys going out?" Fluttershy tentatively asked.
"Flutterbunches, we told you this morning we were! Your dad's got an office party tonight that he can't just skip."
"We wouldn't go, but the boss says it's 'informally mandatory'... ahh, what does that even mean?" Her dad said, shaking his head.
Fluttershy didn't even want to ask the next question. There was bumping and thudding and the sound of some miscellaneous item falling in the next room over as if the universe wanted to make fun of her fate. "And Zephyr...?"
"You'll be watching him, of course."
"Mom!"
"Now, now," Her mom said, "It's just one night! I'm sure Zephyr will love spending some time with his big sis!"
"But today's been so stressful! Please, I really just wanted to come home and go to my room and try to relax and not have to worry over anything else..." She acknowledged she may have been acting a little bratty - but she couldn't help it. They could have absolutely afforded a babysitter. She didn't understand why it was left up to her.
"You won't have to worry about him too much. His bedtime is in just a few hours, anyways. And I already made a dinner for you to heat up." Her mom smiled - like this was a wonderful compromise and she simply couldn't understand how it wasn't beneficial for everypony involved.
Fluttershy sighed - no, huffed. And nodded. "Fine." No point in arguing.
Her dad kissed her forehead and said, "Thank you. We'll be back before too late, but don't worry about staying up for us." After taking a moment to pull on his own coat, her parents were off, shutting the door behind them and leaving behind a quiet house.
Except for Zephyr Breeze making a ruckus.
Fluttershy took deep breaths. In... out. In....... ouuuuut. It was okay. She should go ahead and check in on Zephyr... and get him started on something other than causing chaos.
Truthfully, she did not hate watching Zephyr every now and then, but she did not like having it sprung on her, and especially did not like having to be a babysitter after such a long, stressful day. Her nerves were already frayed and having to watch Cloudsdale's most indecisive and impulsive foal for several hours was not going to help. He was six now, and calling him a hoof-full would be an understatement, but maybe he would play nice tonight. (He didn't tend to with Fluttershy, in particular - but she could hope.)
She gently knocked as she pushed her way into his room, and he looked at her as best he could with the upper half of his body buried in the toybox. "Busy," Was all he said, and continued to rummage around.
"That's fine," She replied, glad he was... occupied. "Well... when you're not busy, come and find me, okay? I'll make dinner and we'll play a game... we'll have a nice night!" She smiled at him as he looked back over his shoulder at her.
Zephyr shrugged.
'How encouraging.' Fluttershy sighed and walked away. At least he wasn't currently making a mess.
Thirty minutes later, Zephyr still hadn't approached her, so she started making dinner anyways to avoid a fussy, hungry foal that didn't want to wait to eat. She had started to really relax. He had been quiet, not making much noise at all yet. She knew that would certainly change, but she also knew to enjoy it while it lasted. Her parents would have been constantly bothering him, checking in and suggesting new activities, but she had seen how annoyed that could make him sometimes, so she knew it would be nicer for both of them if she just let him be.
She hummed to herself while shoving some veggies into the oven to warm. It was a Friday night and as such, there was no homework to worry about. Thinking to herself as she set a timer, she decided that aside from the obvious mishaps, it really had been an alright day. But it was still rainy and cold, and as she stepped away from the oven, she felt another chill.
She walked to one of the windows in their living room and frowned as she looked out. It was dreary and damp, even up in Cloudsdale; it was ugly enough that she didn't see a single other pegasus out. It was a wonder her parents had ventured out. And just a couple days ago, it had been uncomfortably hot... matter of fact, the weather in general had been weird lately. Pegasi (even Fluttershy) knew the difference between strange weather and weather that was just slightly out of the ordinary, and this weather was strange.
She thought back to Spoiled Milk's words earlier. Maybe something weird really was going on.
The timer went off before she could spiral down that train of thought, and she hurried back over to the oven. The veggies were the last thing to warm, so dinner was now ready. Pulling them out with a mitt, she set the dish on the table and made Zephyr a plate. Lots of hay-fries, lots of the cooked veggies, and very little fruit salad. She knew just what he liked - better than her own parents, she sometimes thought.
His plate held aloft in a wing, she happily made her way to his room, spirits lifting at the ease of the night so far. Upon reaching the door to his room, she paused and set the plate down very carefully lest she drop it along with her jaw in shock.
Zephyr had lined up his tallest toys - stacks of them, in some cases - right in front of his door, forming a barricade of sorts, and on the wall directly across from it, he was currently at work absolutely coating it in different colors of crayon, marker, and pen.
"Zephyr!" She called, and he turned to look at her, smiling as if proud of his handiwork.
"I'm gonna be an artist!" He said.
She shut her mouth and shook her head before marching over to him. Or rather... attempting to.
The toys in front of the door were not merely stacked. No, they were glued together-- if she was correct, super-glued. She pushed at them but was too scared to push too much and risk damaging the flooring as it peeled up or - Celestia forbid - damaging the toys even more.
"Zephyr, stop that right now!" She stood outside of the door and glared at him, or tried to. Sometimes, she could manipulate her look in a way that really made him listen - he called it "The Stare". But Fluttershy had not yet mastered it and as such he was unaffected by this one.
He laughed and said, "Not done!" before turning back to the wall in front of him, now attacking it with a red crayon.
The barricade was tall, yes, likely too close to the top of the doorframe for an adult to fly over and slip through - but Fluttershy was nowhere near the size of an adult yet, so she huffed and slowly, steadily flew over the barricade, an alphabet block grazing her stomach. She landed in front of it, firmly planting her hooves - and all of the indignation promptly left her as she realized her situation.
Part of his floor and one of his walls was beyond saving, most likely. She'd have to tell her parents they needed new paint and she didn't even know where one would begin to fix the floor. Materials for a cloud home were always a bit more expensive than their ground-bound counterparts. And, worst of all, they'd probably blame her for it - and why wouldn't they? She should have been checking in. She should have been suspicious of how quiet he had been. She should have..
She fell to her haunches, silent. Her lip quivered as she examined the destruction Zephyr had only just stopped unleashing onto the wall. He had turned to look at her, now, stopping his ceaseless assault on the once sky-blue wall. She couldn't tell if he looked proud or nervous or surprised or what. Her face scrunched up as tears really threatened to spill out.
"Shy?" He said, in disbelief he had not yet been scolded.
Fluttershy just shook her head and turned away from him. She had gotten so close to crying several times that day already but this was the final strike. She exhaled as tears began to cascade down her cheeks - but instead of sobs that might have usually accompanied it, she let out a short growl. She wasn't sure what or who she was mad at-- the classmate who had tried to hurt her? Spoiled Milk? The weather? Zephyr? Herself?-- but she was certainly at least a little mad.
"Zephyr," She began once she had just barely composed herself enough to speak, "This was a very poor idea and I can't believe you did it the one night I had to babysit you! Which I didn't even want to do! I leave you alone to do as you please instead of helicoptering over you like mom and dad, and this is how you repay me???" If her voice was high before, this was almost outright shrill. She gestured frantically with one hoof, occasionally wiping a tear away.
"Uh..." Zephyr didn't seem to know how to respond. "I just wanted to..."
Fluttershy stamped her hoof on the ground. "It doesn't matter what your goal was! How could doing this be anything other than destructive and obnoxious?!" She was close to running out of steam, but her mind flicked back to one of her earlier conversations that day. "I hope what Spoiled Milk said to me earlier was true - that the Chaos King takes ponies for his army. And I hope he takes you first. That way I wouldn't be stuck dealing with the fallout of some stupid scheme like this ever again!" She turned without looking to see his reaction and leapt back over the toys still blocking the door. She hurried to her own room and shut the door behind her, breaking down in more tears once she sat on her bed.
She was still upset. She still thought it had been a bad day. She was still annoyed, frustrated, and a little hurt. But most of these feelings were now aimed at herself. As she thought about it more and more, she knew she had been too harsh.
She had never once spoken to Zephyr like that before and she didn't know why she had done it then. She felt awful. A queasiness settled in her stomach as she realized Zephyr hadn't even approached her to say sorry yet. He always tried to apologize after he got in trouble-- more to appease the one who was upset with him than out of any real guilt, but still. 'Oh, he must feel so terrible...'
Slowly, her sniffles slowed and she rose again. She had to be the one to apologize to him. Yes, what he did had been wrong, and, indeed, obnoxious, but she had no reason to yell at him and, worst of all, tell him she wished he wasn't around anymore. She cringed thinking about her earlier words. She'd have to make it up to him another day.
She steeled herself and finally hopped off her bed, heading out into the hallway their rooms connected to. Her ears perked up as she walked, noticing a distinct lack of noise.
His door was shut once she got to it - he would have had to do some weird maneuvering to close the door with his toys stacked in the doorway, but it wasn't impossible, she supposed. He was surprisingly nimble when he wanted to be. Still, something felt weird.
No noise was coming from his room. None at all. She couldn't hear hoofsteps, or the sound of toys moving around, or even any rustling of covers - pure silence. She gulped. 'He... feels terrible, I'm sure... he must have laid down or something?'
Finally, she pulled open his door. For the second time that hour, her jaw dropped.
No toys stood stacked in front of the doorway, or scattered anywhere else in the room, for that matter. She looked down at the floor and scuffed her hooves against it. No trace of glue remained. His toybox sat, closed, opposite her. Against the very same wall he had drawn on earlier, but...
Her brows furrowed. She stepped in, tentatively, eyes fixed on the wall ahead.
The wall was absolutely spotless.
Not a single trace of any pigment but sky-blue remained on its surface.
'Did Zephyr somehow...? Wait.'
Her eyes widened as she glanced around the room frantically.
'Where is Zephyr?!'
"Zephyr?" She called, approaching his closet. She opened the door. He was not in there - and nor were any of his toys that usually resided inside. Strange.
She approached his bed and peered under it, finding nothing, then moved to look under the covers but stopped. He was not under the covers. His bed was perfectly made.
"Zephyr, this is not funny!"
Her heart was thudding in her chest. Where had he gone? Had he managed to pull of some elaborate clean-up-then-run-away plan in the twenty minutes she left him? Where could he have gone, if he did? They had no close-by neighbors and, really, no place else to go that you didn't have to fly to get to, and Zephyr was simple unable to fly for more than a couple seconds at a time at this age. So was he somewhere in the house? No, he would have heard her call for him.
She had to try again. She took a deep breath. "Zephyr! Please, come out! I'm sorry for what I said!"
"Come again?" Spoke a voice from behind her that was definitely not Zephyr, or either of her parents, or anypony she knew at all.
She swore her blood ran cold. Her heart felt like it dropped to her hooves with such velocity it went straight through the floor. She spun around, already backing away from the strange pony in her house-- only to find it was not a pony at all. It was much worse.
In front of her stood a creature with... a long body, a horse's head, an antler, a horn, a hoof - too many mismatched parts to name. Something inside of her knew exactly what he was. She suppressed that part of her and, instead of speaking, let out a very eloquent 'eek'. The creature grinned revealing very sharp teeth indeed.
"Oh, dear. Cat got your tongue? Actually - can you own cats up here? What if they fell off? I know you ponies say cats always land on their paws, but from over a thousand hooves up?" He put a... talon to his chin and looked downward-- into a brand new hole the size of a pony that led straight down, giving whoever stood above it a view straight to the ground. "Hmm. Doubtful." With a snap, the hole sewed itself shut.
Fluttershy had no idea what she was witnessing. She still did not speak. The gears in her mind were working as hard as they could to provide answers to a question she did not have.
"Are you just going to stand there? I know you're shy or what-have-you, but this will all be rather boring if you don't speak to me. Hello? Earth to little yellow pegasus pony? Oh, where are my manners." He pulled a hat from behind his back and placed it on his head, only to kneel in front of Fluttershy and immediately remove it. "My name, dearest Fluttershy, is Discord. I am the Chaos King, and I have taken your generous offer of a foal for my army."
Finally, her mind permitted her to speak. "What?!"
He stood, the hat vanishing. "What? Relax, it's not really an army. I don't need goons to fight for me. You needn't fear the little one rushing into battle - he will live in my castle as, well... not a son, but a son-minion of sorts. He seems to quite like chaos already!"
He was not threatening her. He was not threatening her. If he wanted her dead, she would probably be dead already. She repeated this a few times in her mind to will herself the courage to speak to him normally and, after a few seconds, it seemed to work. Some. "I was not-- I didn't think... well, I was just saying! I didn't really want-"
"Hm? You didn't really want me to take him? Well, I'm afraid I can't let you go back on your word. You ponies like your harmony - and honesty is a part of harmony, no?" He smiled at her. "So by refusing to give your brother back because you didn't mean it, I'm protecting the harmony of Equestria! Sheesh, the things I do for you ponies."
She was getting a little frustrated, now, which seemed to help with her nerves. "I want him back!"
"Oh, don't worry about it, dear! See, I'm also going to do you the favor of removing most of the consequences you would ordinarily suffer. Look over here." Discord pointed out of Zephyr's door, and Fluttershy realized he was pointing to a photo hung on the hallway wall- no, not just pointing to it, summoning it, she realized as it came floating towards his paw. He held the photo up for Fluttershy to examine.
Once, the photo had been of the her, Zephyr, and her parents at Rainbow Falls, the prismatic water reflecting from behind them. Her parents had looked tired, certainly, but happy.
Now, the photo was missing a piece. Zephyr. Her and her parents stood in the photo. She stood nestled under one of her dad's wings, and her parents looked much less tired than before. Her own smile was wider, too.
"I daresay it's an improvement, myself. And, Zephyr himself has received a memory treatment already!" With a light toss, the photo went flying back to its original position on the wall.
"I... I..." Her heart had begun to beat faster in her chest, scraping against her ribcage as she fought to form the right words. "But I want him back! Please! Even if it wouldn't matter to anypony else, I need him back!"
"Are you sure? I could always fix your memories, too." He crept closer and Fluttershy felt an overwhelming force, almost like someone was peering into her own head. "It would be so easy. You could forget alllllll about little... oh, Zephyr, was it? Or was it Zigzag? Zebra? You wouldn't know. I could do it at any moment." Discord grinned.
She decided she'd had enough and, backing away, let out her loudest yell yet. "No!"
Discord's smile grew. The feeling in Fluttershy's head vanished. All at once, everything was so, so quiet. "So be it. You want him back so bad?"
Fluttershy nodded, swallowing. She had to do this. She had to get her brother back. No matter how surreal this situation was - she couldn't focus on that.
"Well, I believe I shall make you work for it, then. I went through all this trouble, and now I'm going to have to undo all of it; shouldn't I have some fun, too?" His serpentine body slid up and into the air, slithering towards her like a living lasso. She stood very still. "I'm going to set up a trial for you, Fluttershy. A maze, of sorts. So listen to me carefully.
"When you wake up, you will have twelve hours, or else you will never have him back. I hope to see you again. Or maybe not. Good luck, Fluttershy."
"Wait! When I wake up? What do you-"
Discord snapped, and Fluttershy dropped like a marionette with its strings cut. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell in time with her breaths. She looked impossibly serene.
Discord smiled at her sleeping form, rubbed his hands together, and left her.