//------------------------------//
// A Flying Ace 
// Story: The Redemption of a Showstopper 
// by Nazoult98 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 8
A Flying Ace

Trixie hid a yawn as she stood outside the door to Fluttershy’s Cottage. It was six in the morning and the sun was beginning to peek up over the horizon. She knocked on the door again. She had promised Fluttershy to be there before dawn, but Fluttershy hadn’t been answering her door and Trixie was beginning to contemplate whether or not she had time to grab a coffee. Trixie sighed and looked around.  She was about to give up, but before she did, she heard some faint singing coming from behind the house. She walked around to the back side of the house and saw Fluttershy putting food out for the animals with her back to her.  Trixie walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.  Fluttershy jumped; dropping the bag of food she was holding which caused it to spill everywhere. “Sorry,” Trixie apologized, “Trixie didn’t mean to startle you.” Fluttershy recovered and regained her composure before turning towards Trixie. “It’s okay,” Fluttershy said her voice barely above a whisper, “I figured I’d start without you and I guess I lost track of time.” “What song were you singing?” Trixie asked picking up the bag Fluttershy dropped. “Just something I used to sing to Scootaloo,” Fluttershy answered, “I didn’t know you could hear me.” “That’s actually how Trixie found out you were back here,” Trixie replied, “So, is Trixie helping to feed the animals?” “To start with,” Fluttershy answered, “We’ll see what else needs done afterwards.”

It was about a quarter to 10 by the time they finished feeding the animals. “That should do it,” Fluttershy said as she finished feeding the chickens, “Have you finished feeding the bunnies?” “Yes,” Trixie answered, “Trixie didn’t realize you had so many animals.” “I just can’t help myself,” Fluttershy replied, “I find myself keeping more and more animals as I help them.” “You’re just really kind,” Trixie said looking over to the Everfree Forest, “Is that where most of them come from?” “I don’t know,” Fluttershy replied shrugging, “If it is, I’m glad I’m helping them.” Not long after Fluttershy said that, a loud squawk came from the Everfree Forest. “Oh no,” Fluttershy said quietly, “It sounds like an animal is in trouble.” “We should help it then,” Trixie said starting off towards Everfree Forest.

It was dark in the Everfree Forest, which was weird considering it was a sunny day outside the forest. Trixie figured it was mostly because the trees seemed to block out the sun. Fluttershy had a tight grip on her arm as they walked through the forest. “It never gets any easier,” Fluttershy said her voice barely audible, “I’m still scared of this forest.” “It’s okay,” Trixie replied, “Trixie doesn’t mind.” They finally reached a clearing with the sunlight poking through the trees. The noise seemed to be getting louder, but they could also hear something else. Amidst the squawking they could hear a faint growling noise. Fluttershy tried to say something behind her, but Trixie couldn’t make out what it was. “What is it Fluttershy?” Trixie asked. “Please let it be a joke,” Fluttershy squeaked. The squawking was getting closer, unfortunately so was the growling. A creature entered the clearing. It looked like a cross between a chicken and a snake, and it was running from something. “It’s a cockatrice,” Fluttershy whispered, “And, it looks like it’s only a baby.” Finally, the creature chasing the cockatrice entered the clearing as the stench of rotting wood permeated the forest air. It looked like a wolf, but it was entirely made out of wood. It had glowing greenish-yellow eyes under its eyebrows which were made out of leaves. The cockatrice hid behind Fluttershy at the sight of this new creature. “Oh my Celestia,” Fluttershy said as fear seeped into her voice, “It’s a timberwolf.”

The timberwolf stared at them for a moment or two. Trixie stared back; she had never seen a timberwolf before. She had heard about them on multiple occasions, of course, but she had never actually seen them. It didn’t take long before Fluttershy was hiding behind a tree, watching from a distance. Trixie glanced over at her; she was holding the cockatrice firmly in her arms. Trixie glanced back towards the timberwolf and noticed it was moving side to side. Finally the timberwolf stopped and growled. After a second or two, it lunged. Trixie sidestepped and the timberwolf soared past her. It turned towards her and lunged again. Trixie tried to sidestep it again, but she wasn’t so lucky. It had lunged lower and faster this time, so it had caught her off guard and bit her left leg. It pulled and Trixie fell back, hitting her head hard against the ground.  She kicked it hard in the head with her free leg, but it didn’t let go. She kicked it again and still it didn’t let go. She pointed her hand towards its head and fired off a magic blast. The magic blast took off its head and it fell apart, the pieces disappearing into green smoke. “Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked approaching her. “Trixie’s fine,” Trixie answered holding her left leg, “It just got Trixie’s leg.”

Trixie tried to stand up, but fell to her knees as pain shot through her leg. “Are you going to be able to walk?” Fluttershy asked still afraid of the forest. “Trixie doesn’t think so,” Trixie answered. A howling ripped through the air like a shockwave. “Oh no,” Fluttershy squeaked, “The rest of the pack is coming.” “We’re not going to make it with Trixie’s leg the way it is,” Trixie said still kneeling, “Even if you were to help Trixie walk, we’d be too slow to beat them to the entrance of the forest.” “So, what do we do?” Fluttershy asked fearfully. “Trixie doesn’t know,” Trixie answered again, “You could run and leave Trixie here.” “I c-can’t,” Fluttershy replied, “I couldn’t leave you here.” “You might not have a choice,” Trixie said sitting down on the forest floor, “If you don’t run soon, they’ll get you too.” “I’m not leaving a friend behind,” Fluttershy almost shouted, “If you’re not going to be able to move, then I’m not going anywhere.” Trixie fell silent. “We can find a way out of here,” Fluttershy said determined. The sound of growling drew nearer. “We better think of something soon, or we’re done for,” Trixie remarked.

"So, this is where you've been Fluttershy," a voice echoed through the trees drowning out the growling from the Timberwolves. "Discord?" Fluttershy questioned thin air, "Where are you?" "Sitting back at your cottage, Fluttershy" the voice cut through the air again. "But," Fluttershy began, "How do you know where I am if you're back at the cottage?" "I'm Discord," the voice rang out, "I'm the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, remember?" "Point taken," Fluttershy said meekly, "Can you help us out here?" The voice said nothing in response, but a snapping sound resonated throughout the trees. Right before their eyes the trees melted away into nothingness and everything went white.

When Trixie came to she was staring at a wood ceiling and there was something soft under her. She looked around and noticed she was in a house made of wood and there was a red door on the opposite side of the room. On the right side of the red door was a green set of drawers and above that was a birdhouse. On the right of the drawers was a little staircase leading up to a little hole in the wall. Under the stairs was a bag of animal food. On the left side of the red door was a window with blue shutters and yellow diamonds on them. Under the window was a small pet bed full of pillows and above the window was an oil lamp hanging from a post near the ceiling. To the left of the window was a birdcage with a small set of stairs running up to its door. Next to that, on the left, was a fireplace. On the left of the fire place was a small blue table. There were to other doors leading out of the room as well as a set of stairs leading up right next to one of them. Next to the staircase was another small table with a set of shelves to the right of it. Next to the shelves was a floor lamp which was right next to her. Looking over to the other doorway, she noticed there was a green armchair sitting next to it. Next to the chair was a third small table, this time it was brown. On this table was a framed picture of Fluttershy, a man she didn't reconize, and a little white bunny Fluttershy was holding. The man had messy white hair and bushy, white eyebrows adorning his face above his red eyes. His face looked a little bit older than Fluttershy's and he was sporting a small, white beard. He was wearing a brown button-up shirt that was missing its sleeves and a pair of khaki pants. Trixie was sitting on a couch between the small table with the picture and the floor lamp. She looked down and saw the floor was green and had two rugs. One of them was under the couch she was on and it was pink. The second one was near the pet bed across the room and it was red. 

Trixie felt something curl up against her injured leg. She looked down at her legs and noticed that the pant leg on her injured leg was rolled up and it was neatly bandaged up. Snuggled up against her bandage was the cockatrice she had saved in the forest. She reached down and petted it. Just then the man from the picture entered the room. He was carrying a tray with three cups and a stack of cookies on it. The man looked over at her before calling upstairs. "Fluttershy," he called, "You might want to hurry up with your bath. Your guest is awake." He turned back towards Trixie and walked over towards her. He set the plate down on the table with the picture and sat down in the armchair next to it. "So, how are are you feeling?" He asked staring at her intently. "Fine," Trixie answered, "Why?" "Oh," he said as if he realized something, "Where are my manners? My name is Discord, and I'm the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Can I offer you some tea?" As he offered he pointed to the cups on the tray. Trixie just nodded, which caused a grin to spread on Discord's face. He snapped his fingers and the cup sprang to life. It had grown legs and walked off the tray. It walked to the edge of the table and paused for a bit before it jumped from the table to the arm of the couch. Carefully It jumped off the arm of the couch and onto Trixie's good leg. From there, it walked up her leg to her waist and sat there allowing Trixie to pick it up. Once Discord saw she had picked it up he resumed talking. "Now then," he continued, "I'm guessing that was your first time being teleported." "How did you know that?" Trixie asked taking a sip of tea. "It's simple," Discord answered with a smirk, "The first teleportation is always the hardest. Most people faint during their first time, I know Fluttershy did." At this he laughed to himself as if he was remembering something funny. "He seems to have taken a real liking to you," Discord resumed talking as he picked up a cup of tea, "I've personally only seen animals do that to Fluttershy." "Well," Trixie began, "Trixie did save him from timberwolves." "That's true," Discord replied with a smirk, "But, I also saved you from the timberwolves. Don't worry, you don't have to thank me. I would thank Fluttershy though, she took care of the rest." "When was that picture taken?" Trixie asked pointing towards the picture on the table. "That was taken on a picnic after Tirek was defeated," Discord answered without even looking at the picture, "That was a couple of months ago." Discord had finished his tea and had started eating the teacup. He paused halfway through and looked at Trixie. "There is something I wanted to ask you," he began putting the half-eaten teacup down, "What are you hiding?"

Trixie almost choked on her tea. She looked up at Discord as her hands shook uncontrollably. "What are you talking about?" she asked trying to sound convincing but she knew she failed. "You kept muttering something about fire and something about it was your fault as you slept," Discord answered bringing his face to be inches from hers, "So, I'm going to ask one more time. What are you hiding?" Trixie's heart was pounding in her chest and her hands were sweating uncontrollably. Next thing she knew the teacup slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor. "Well, what is it?" Discord continued to interrogate her, "Are you going to tell me?" The intensity in his glare was getting too intense for her to handle. "Discord," Fluttershy's voice came from the top of the stairs, "What broke down there?"

"Just one of the teacups," Discord called up the stairs, "Don't worry, I'll clean it up." He snapped his fingers and the teacup Trixie had dropped had disappeared . Footsteps decended down the stairs and a minute later Fluttershy was at the foot of them. "I'm so glad you're up," Fluttershy said to Trixie as she walked over to her, "How are you feeling?" "Fine," Trixie answered, "How long has Trixie been out?" "Just a couple of hours," Fluttershy answered, "I passed out the first time I teleported too. So, don't feel bad." "Thanks," Trixie replied, "For everything, I mean." "It was no problem at all,"  Fluttershy replied gently touching Trixie's injured leg, "Was Discord giving you problems?" "Just asking about something she muttered in her sleep," Discord butted in, "I have to make sure she hasn't done anything too bad." "What was she muttering about?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "She said something about a fire that was her fault," Discord answered grimly. "Is there something you want to say about it?" Fluttershy asked Trixie turning to her. Fluttershy was wearing a gentle smile on her face, not the face of someone interrogating someone else. Fluttershy's countenance and demeanor made it easier for Trixie to relax. She told them the story she had told Vinyl and Octavia.

"Oh, is that all?" Discord asked hiding a yawn behind his hand. "Discord," Fluttershy said in a soft voice, "It's been really bothering her. Try to be a little more sensitive." "You're right," Discord replied, "I'm sorry." Discord got up and started stretching. "It's getting late," Fluttershy said looking out the window, "Will you be okay getting home?" "Trixie's not sure," Trixie answered, "Do you think Trixie's okay to walk?" "I think you should be," Fluttershy replied looking at Trixie's injured leg, "What do you think Discord?" There was no reply. Fluttershy looked around and noticed Discord was no longer in the room. "He must have headed up to bed," Fluttershy said as she turned back to Trixie. Trixie tried to stand up, unlike last time there wasn't a wave of pain as she did. Fluttershy glanced behind her at the sleeping cockatrice. "Why don't you take him with you?" Fluttershy asked pointing at the cockatrice as he slept on the couch, "He seems to be really close to you since you saved him. And, I can't imagine how lonely it must be to be living alone in a traveling house." Trixie stared at the cockatrice and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. Trixie scooped the sleeping cockatrice off the couch and held him close. "Come on Ace," she muttered, "Let's go home.