//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Land of Dreams // by Rocky The Unicorn //------------------------------// Prologue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flura was girl who lived in one of the most beautiful places in Europe. Some say it was so beautiful, that it was nicknamed “The Land of Dreams,” because you felt like you were in a dream walking through the fields filled with buttercups, and looking at your reflection in the crystal clear lake. She went to a boarding school in the valley. Flura was a little different from the other students at her school. She had a learning disability, well, at least that’s what her teachers thought. She was rescued from a terrible storm and brought to this school. The cold storm affected her brain so that she suffered from memory loss. She had no idea who her parents were, and what her purpose in life was. Because of this, her peers would make fun of her. Apart from her abilities, Flura looked normal. You would assume someone like her would just blend in with the crowds, but not at school. She had beautiful dark brown hair, lovely pale skin, and gorgeous teal eyes. Flura enjoyed venturing around the campus in her spare time. The nature surrounding the school was amazing. They were allowed to canoe in the crystal lake, enjoy bonfires with their friends, and best of all go hiking in the hills! They could hike anywhere they liked, except on the top of the left hill. At the top of the left hill was a cave. Rumor has it, that no one had ever gone into the cave and lived to tell the tale. Some think a beast lurks in the cave, waiting for easy prey, but no one is sure because no one has ever returned to tell the tale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile, in Equestria, crisis had struck. Ponyville hadn’t been same because of it. One winter day, Fluttershy disappeared, never to be seen again. Some say she ran away, others say she is deceased, but still others have hope that she will return someday, when the time is right. Without Fluttershy, her friends’ friendships slowly started to fall apart. Granny Smith had recently died, so Applejack took over the family business. It had kept her so busy that she didn’t have any time to spend with her friends. Pinkie Pie started a national party corporation with Cheese Sandwich. With this new job, Pinkie had to travel a lot, not giving her much time to see her friends. Rarity ended up opening more boutiques throughout Equestria. She had practically at least one in each city. As you would think, this kept her bustling and busy as well. Rainbow Dash got promoted to Captain of the Wonderbolts, after Spitfire’s flying accident. When Spitfire went to the hospital, she found out she would never be able fly as fast as she used to, so she gave Rainbow Dash her job. Because of this, Rainbow had been spending most of her time in Cloudsdale. Twilight has been kept occupied with all of her jobs she must do and roles she must play as a princess, and Spike has been there to help her along the way. The one who has been affected the most by Fluttershy’s disappearance though, was Discord. He hasn’t been nearly as chaotic as he used to be. He doesn’t find as much pleasure in pulling a prank, telling a silly story, or making a corny joke. Fluttershy had always been there with him, laughing at his jokes, scolding him about his pranks, and listening to his stories. He felt so uneasy when any pony brought up her name. Because of this, he slowly began to isolate himself from other ponies. He sort of felt that what had happened was his fault. That it was his fault that Fluttershy disappeared. If he would’ve just been sooner. If only had had been fast enough to rescue Fluttershy from her own fate. As each day passed, Discord just felt lonelier and lonelier. He would try to stop by some of Fluttershy’s friends houses and shops, but they always seemed busy. If he was in the area, he might stop by to say hello to Twilight and Spike, but usually this just lead to annoying Twilight. He didn’t understand. So what if he glued some of her scrolls to the ceiling? You had to admit, it was pretty funny, but, Twilight didn’t think so. She go rage on Discord and yell at him, telling him to leave. Whenever he stopped by Sugar Cube Corner, only Mrs. and Mr. Cake were there. Pinkie Pie was usually off throwing a party with Cheese Sandwich somewhere in Equestria. The same would go for Rarity, traveling around to her different boutiques, she was rarely in ponyville. Whenever he stopped by Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack would always say she didn’t have time to deal with his shenanigans. But before he left, Discord would do something a little chaotic. Once, he made all of the pigs tap dance when Applejack went out to feed them. He would be watching in secret to see her reaction. Usually things would happen like this: She would get upset that he was messing around and then she would call him out about. "DISCORD!" Applejack would scold. “Applejack, you really are no fun," Discord would reply. That's usually how it went. Discord wanted nothing to do with Rainbow Dash. Every since Fluttershy’s disappearance, Rainbow had been avoiding Discord. If she thought he didn’t notice, she was wrong. It was pretty obvious. Whenever he saw her in ponyville, she would make up an excuse to not talk to him. It was really getting on his nerves. Why on earth was Rainbow so anxious around him? Most of the other ponies wanted nothing to do with Discord, or were terrified of him. He wasn’t so scary, was he? Fluttershy never thought he was scary. She always looked at him with a loving look in her eyes. He always wished they could’ve been more than friends, but now it was too late. He could still remember that day when she disappeared. Everything had been going perfectly. He still remembered her adorable little laugh, her big, beautiful, teal eyes, and how her cheeks would grow bright red sometimes while talking with her. It was as if she thought he didn’t notice. Of course he did! He just wished he could have done more that day. He still remembered how everything happened. It was still so clear in his mind. The day the tragedy struck.