“Fluttershy, dear,” Discord called out, knocking on her door. “Would you like a refill on the fudge and chocolate ice cream?”
Fluttershy suddenly lifted her head from her tangled mess of a mane and looked towards her door between a few strands of her pink mane. She then looked over to an empty bowl sitting on her bedside table with a pool of melted ice cream at the bottom of it and a few tiny chunks of fudge within it.
“Sure..” She replied, sounding rather emotionless.
“May I come inside then?”
“Sure..” She repeated.
Discord then attempted to turn the knob on her door to check if it was locked but thankfully it wasn’t. It didn’t really matter however since he could magically just unlock it himself but he didn’t want to intrude on his daughter’s privacy. Especially not right now in the state she was in.
He slowly swung the door open and peeked inside. She looked worse than he had expected. Her once beautiful straight pink mane was full of knots and tangled and now covered her tear-stained face. She had dark circles under her eyes and she clearly looked like she had been crying for days. She easily looked like she hadn’t slept for days either even though it had been only a few days since that whole “catastrophe” happened.
“Fluttershy..Have you..Came out of your room in the last twenty-four hours?” Discord asked, snapping up a refill of chocolate ice cream and fudge into her empty bowl.
“Well..I came out to use the bathroom and get a glass of water..Also a tiny snack.” Fluttershy answered, grabbing her bowl and digging into the dessert.
Discord frowned. This wasn’t good for her at all. Was she even eating? If it weren’t for his magic, she probably wouldn’t have eaten today. Staying cooped up in her bedroom for hours on end wasn’t healthy either. This wasn’t the Fluttershy he knew a few days ago.
He had been hesitating upon addressing her bad hygiene and behaviour but it was about time to say something. This was getting out of hoof.
“Fluttershy, you need to come out of this bedroom. You can’t stay in here forever. I’ve been comforting you and doing all I can but this isn’t good for you. At least come out and take a bath. Your mane is a mess and you need a wash.”
“I just don’t feel like I can right now..I’m sorry, Discord.”
He stared down at her as she shoved a piece of fudge and ice cream in her mouth, slowly chewing it and staring down at the floor. If his words wouldn't do anything then it seemed he had to force her.
“Alright, that’s it. You’re going to take a bath and you're going to take it now.” He said sternly, grabbing the small pegasus and carrying her in his arm like a football.
“H-Hey!”
He walked with her in his arm, exiting her bedroom and into a hallway. Fluttershy surprisingly didn’t squirm or object to what he was doing as he soon made it to the bathroom, setting her down on a little mat.
“I’ll be nice to you and even make you a nice bubble bath. You have to take the bath though, alright?”
“C-Can..You make the bubbles...Bubble gum?..Like old times?”
“You still remember that?”
“Of course I do..I remember a lot of things from when I was a filly..”
“Well, alright then. If that’s what you want.”
Instead of simply just turning on the faucet like any other pony, Discord snapped up some warm water in the bathtub along with lots of pink bubbles that seemed to be the bubble gum bubbles Fluttershy was talking about. They floated in the air and popped, making the bathroom smell like sweet-smelling bubble gum.
“Thank you, Discord.”
“It’s no problem, my dear. Now, enjoy your bath. I’ll go make you some lunch.”
“Lunch?”
“Yes, of course. You can’t expect to just eat ice cream and fudge all day now can you?”
“I..I suppose not..”
“Right. Enjoy your bath dear.”
Discord grinned to himself a bit as he exited the bathroom, closing the door. He was finally getting Fluttershy to do something else! Perhaps all he needed to do was give her a little nudge in the right direction here and there and she’d be back to her normal self again. Even if he couldn’t get her back to feeling the same way, she was at least taking care of herself now.
He walked towards her bedroom again, studying her messy blanket and misplaced pillows upon her bed. He used his magic to straighten her blanket and place her pillows back at the top of her bed, cleaning her bedroom a little for her.
“Ow!”
He flinched as he was suddenly kicked at the back of his leg. He turned around to see Fluttershy’s ‘devil’ of a pet bunny, Angel. He was thumping his paw furiously on the floor as he stared up at Discord with a very unimpressed look. Discord questioned why he allowed this ‘thing’ to live in his house if he was such a pest.
He was just a simple bunny Fluttershy found in the Everfree Forest one day as a filly and brought home, asking if she could keep him as a pet. Since Fluttershy had so many animal friends already, Discord didn’t see why she needed a pet. However, the cute puppy eyes and begging for him to stay couldn’t keep Discord from refusing. What a mistake that was..Such a self-entitled brat. He still wondered to this day why she called him Angel when he was far from an angel. Discord simply just resorted to calling him Devil instead (not when Fluttershy was around though of course.)
“What do you want, Devil? I’m busy if you couldn’t tell. Oh right, I’m sure you CAN tell, you just think your wants are much more important than what I’m doing, right?”
The bunny scrunched up his nose and pointed at a small little bed that was stacked up on a shelf beside some books.
“Oh, is that your bed? Whoopsie, I guess you don’t have one now.” He grinned mischievously as he snapped up a broom, sweeping the walls instead of the floor.
The bunny made a noise that was close to an angry squeak and grabbed a pencil off Fluttershy’s dresser, throwing it at Discord. He was currently faced towards the wall sweeping it with his broom when his claw suddenly swung out and grabbed the pencil before it could hit him. He slowly turned his head and looked at Angel with an amused smile.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that. I have eyes at the back of my head you know.”
After he said that, two eyes appeared at the back of his head and stared down at Angel. They didn’t even need a mouth paired with them to know that the other face was smiling down at him with amusement. Angel only looked up at them with disgust as Discord continued sweeping.
Angel began to do a bit of parkour on Fluttershy’s things as he attempted to get up to Discord’s head. He jumped on a bird feeder, making it swing back and forth with his small bunny weight on it as he crouched down and got ready to make his next move. He suddenly jumped off, going soaring through the air and straight for one of Discord's antlers. The face obviously had been watching all of this and Discord used his paw to grab Angel from the air and threw him towards his bed on the shelf. The bunny landed perfectly on his bed but now he was stuck up there.
“There, you have your bed now. Happy?”
Angel clearly wasn’t happy as he looked around for something else to throw at Discord. He spotted a small vase with colorful butterflies on it up there with him and got an idea. He hopped over to it and suddenly kicked it off the shelf. Discord snapped and made the vase idly float in the air like there was no gravity in the room.
“Really..Trying to destroy Fluttershy’s favorite vase? You really are a terrible pet. The worst I’ve seen anyway.”
That statement only made Angel angrier as he continued to throw Fluttershy’s things to the floor as Discord continued to save them with his magic such as spawning wings on objects, making them float, placing them back where they were, and saving them with his own paw and claw.
“Um..Discord? Do you know where my brush is?” Fluttershy called out from the hall.
“O-Oh! Hold on my dear, I’ll be right there! I just have to take care of something first..”
He snapped as he tied up Angel’s arms and legs with a nearby ribbon, trapping him in it as he wiggled and squirmed, trying to break free.
“Now you better not cause any chaos here while I’m gone or I will turn you into an immobile potato.”
Discord snapped as he teleported in the hall where Fluttershy was standing with her mane wrapped up in a white towel. She definitely looked a lot better and smelled like bubble gum as well.
“Your brush? Oh, I actually teleported it away because I wanted to give you a beautiful mane style myself!”
“You?..But..Why?”
“A beautiful mare deserves a beautiful mane style.”
“But...I’m not going anywhere today.”
“Who cares. That shouldn’t be the reason why you can’t look nice.”
There was a sudden crash noise from Fluttershy’s room which made both Discord and Fluttershy look.
“W-What was that?..” She asked.
“Oh nothing, come along!”
He quickly shoved Fluttershy out of the hall before she could go and look herself at whatever mess Angel was making in her room right now. He would definitely deal with him later but not at the moment. Right now it was father and daughter time for Discord and Fluttershy.
“Lunch is ready!” Discord called out.
Discord seated himself at a long dining table as his daughter slowly trotted out. Her pink mane was in beautiful braids along with her tail as she sat down at the table. It was only a few snaps of his claw and a few brushes here and there but he was able to give her a pretty mane style that she seemed to adore as she smiled, crunching on some of the salad Discord had set out for lunch.
“This is delicious. Thank you, Discord. I must thank you again for the pretty braids you put in my mane as well. The squirrels and birds said they were very pretty too.”
“It’s no problem. I’m just happy to see you smiling again.” He smiled back at her as he dug into the salad.
There was a pause as the both of them chewed on their salad as Discord was about to say something again when there was a poof noise as a scroll fell on to the dining table, almost in the salad bowl.
“What the..Are the mail ponies too scared to deliver mail to my door now?” Discord asked.
Fluttershy reached for the scroll, studying it. There was a little star stamp on the outside of it which immediately made Fluttershy’s eyes widen. Only one pony she knew used that kind of symbol on their mail and that was Twilight Sparkle.
“So? Who’s it from?” Discord asked.
“Uhhh..Hold on, I’m sure it says a name in the letter.” Fluttershy lied as she opened it, reading the writing inside.
“Dear Fluttershy,
It’s Twilight Sparkle if you couldn’t tell. I know this seems a little informal but I’m more concerned about you than I am about the formality of my letter. Are you alright? I’m not even sure if my letter will get to you but I really hope it does. I and the other girls hope you’re okay and that you’re safe. Rainbow Dash is okay as well. She was taken to Ponyville Hospital the other day and was told she just needed rest. She hopes that you’re safe too. Maybe we could plan to see each other soon and talk perhaps? Please respond to this letter and send it back if you get this. The scroll is enchanted with magic so when you’re done writing, it’ll teleport back to me so no need to worry about sending it back. Be safe.
From, Twilight Sparkle.”
Fluttershy was left in a bit of shock as she finished reading the letter. Discord was just drumming his claws on the table as he watched Fluttershy closely.
“What did it say?” He asked.
“U-Um..Do you have a quill and some ink perhaps?” Fluttershy asked.
“Sure but..What for?”
“I..I just need them right now if you don’t mind..”
He stared at her for a moment, watching her concerned expression as he snapped up a white feather and a little bottle of ink on the table.
“Thank you.”
She grabbed the tip of the feather with her mouth as she slid the bottle of ink towards herself. She dipped the end into the ink and began to write at the blank part at the bottom of the scroll.
“Hi, Twilight. I did get your letter. I’m alright, I promise you that I’m not lying when I say this. I’m really truly sorry that I ran off a few days ago on you all with no warning. That wasn’t very nice of me at all and I promise that I won’t do it again. I’m glad Rainbow is doing okay and I wish her a fast recovery and that I apologize for what Discord did to her. He doesn’t think with his head sometimes when he does such things. I’m not sure when we’ll be able to talk again but I do hope soon. I hope you all are doing well too.”
As she placed one last period at the end of her writing, the scroll suddenly glowed with pink magic and disappeared with a poof. She assumed that meant that it was teleported back to Twilight.
“Woah, where did it go?”
“I’m not sure..” Fluttershy lied once again.
“..I think you do. Why were you writing in the letter anyways?..Why won’t you tell me what it said? Is there something in it you don’t want me to see?”
“No! I..I um-“
A poof noise sounded again as the same scroll bounced back on to the table. Discord reached for it himself when Fluttershy quickly snatched it before he could grab it.
“Fluttershy!”
“I-I’m sorry! I just need to read this myself, okay?”
She didn’t even wait for his reply as she quickly opened up the scroll again, her eyes moving across all the words quickly.
“Oh thank goodness! I’m glad to hear you’re okay. Listen, is it possible you could come to talk to me sooner than I previously mentioned? I know you said you didn’t know when you could but it’s kind of an emer-“
“Discord, no! Give it back!”
Discord had snatched the scroll out of her hooves, looking down at her angrily.
“No, it’s clearly something bad that you’re trying to hide from me. If you can’t show me then obviously you can’t be allowed to read it.”
“I don’t have to show you every single thing of mine that came from the outside world just because you’re scared of me being in contact with other ponies! Other ponies like me! I am a pony!”
“You’re not like them though. Fluttershy, you have no idea what they could do to you. They’re-“
“What are they going to do then? Accept me? Make me feel normal and wanted? Twilight and her friends are the only friends I have! You’re trying to take away my only connection to my kind and that isn’t right at all.”
“I am not! I’m only trying to protect you.”
“From what? Your fear that I might up and leave and decide to live in Equestria instead?”
Discord eyes widened as he stared at her in silence.
“Honestly I’m considering that now because you just won’t give ponies a chance. I’m sure my friends would help me find a place to stay for now. At least they support me in my decisions..”
Discord folded his ears as he felt tears forming in his eyes. His worst fear was coming true?..Fluttershy..Turning on him?..No...This couldn’t be real.
“Fluttershy?...”
“I’m sorry Discord..I have to go.”
Fluttershy folded her ears as she galloped out of the room, tears falling down her faces as she suppressed herself from fully crying. She couldn’t even hear Discord’s yelling and cries for her to wait and come back over her own thoughts in her head.
She felt fear and slight anger as she entered through the portal to Equestria at the end of Discord’s yard. But most of all she felt sadness...More than just sadness in fact. It was as if there was a giant hole in her heart that she couldn’t mend or fix no matter how hard she tried..