It was a sunny spring morning when Celestia's letter arrived. Fluttershy had been tending her garden and thoroughly engrossed in her work when it arrived, and she was oddly elated. She turned the letter in her hand before opening it, holding onto her anticipation. The summons was simple and direct, and Fluttershy was ready to go in half an hour.
Angel did not want her to leave and grabbed her ankle when she touched the doorknob.
“Please don’t worry about me, Angel,” she said, crouching down to stroke his back. “After all this time, I really feel all right.”
Angel squeaked and gripped her ankle even harder.
Fluttershy sat down on the floor and scratched his head. “I think... maybe he really needs me.”
Angel squeaked again.
“No one else wants to help him. Or maybe they can’t. Maybe I can’t.”
Sighing, she stood again and shouldered her satchel and looked at her reflection in the foyer mirror. Straggly pink hair shaded her face and long black lashes framed her tired eyes. One of her eyes was blackened from a fight she and her friends had had with an evil horse. She tried opening her eye wide to hide the swelling, but it would only open halfway. She patted her face to add some color before stepping outside.
***
Celestia seemed happier see her than Fluttershy remembered. "Discord has a surprise for you, I think. He certainly surprised me."
"Surprise? What surprise?"
"You'll know when you see him." The princess nodded to the guards, who unchained and unbolted the iron door.
Fluttershy could barely contain her excitement and almost ran inside. When she heard the bang of the door close, she scarcely noticed at all. "Discord," she said, grinning.
Discord's hair was overgrown again, as was his beard. His head was tilted far to the right, but he straightened it when he heard his name. "You sound like someone I met before."
"It's me, Fluttershy," she said, dropping her sewing basket.
"Fluttershy?"
"I'm sorry." She stepped closer to him. "I didn't mean to be gone so long."
"Celestia's doing, is it?" he yawned. His eyes, she realized, were closed. "She wants you here again, for my sake. Isn't that heartwarming? Isn't that inspiring?"
"I wanted to see you, silly. Celestia won't let me come more often. I would visit you more if she allowed it." She took her scissors from her pocket. "Shall I?"
Discord eyed the scissors and bowed his head. Fluttershy gathered his bangs, now past his eyes, and cut them so they brushed his eyebrows. She hesitated, wondering if she should fix his beard, then leaned forward to begin trimming. She felt an odd sensation on her arm and jerked back.
“You see?” Discord raised his left hand almost entirely off the arm of the throne; only a small section of stone kept his pinkie finger stuck to it.
“Oh, my! That’s really… I’m-”
“I was just as surprised as you,” he said, inspecting his frail hand. “It doesn’t do much.”
“It's wonderful." She smiled. “I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.”
“Is that the word you’re using? Over a year of correspondence, and I can almost lift my hand from this chair.”
Fluttershy glanced down. “I only mean… I’m happy for you.”
He went quiet again and when she looked at him he was staring at her, faintly horrified. He narrowed his eyes when their gazes met. “Happy?”
“Aren’t you?”
He curled his hand into a fist. “How should I know?”
“How did it happen?”
Discord looked at the crystal ceiling. "It's been chipping away. Every few days, a little more would give. I... anyway."
Fluttershy felt an urge to stay with him on the dais, but settled on her usual cushion on the floor instead. "I wasn't sure I should say anything, but I didn't think I was doing anything. I've been worrying all this time you'd still be..." She pursed her lips and took out her darning needle from her sewing basket and began fixing a hole in a tiny mouse hat. She felt he was looking at her and decided not to reciprocate.
"Happy. Huh." His low voice echoed around the room, but Fluttershy found it rather comforting. She recognized him now; the distinctness of his voice, and the way he held himself, despite his many shackles, in his throne. She realized she felt she had known him a long time, though it wasn't exactly true.
"What did you do?" she asked. "Back then, before you were here."
"How can you ask me that? I did anything I wanted."
"I don't know what chaos magic does. Why did you use it?"
"Why did I...? I am chaos, Fluttershy. How could I not use it?"
Fluttershy finished fixing the hat and tucked into the basket. "But why did you hurt people? Chaos doesn't necessarily mean bad."
"Tch." Discord tossed his head. "Blame my parents."
"You had parents?"
"No."
Fluttershy shook her head.
"I suppose you do." He tugged his hand backwards tying to break his pinkie free.
"Yes."
"Are they like you?"
"Mm-hmm. Kind of." Fluttershy searched for another small piece to fix; she had decided to give up any kind of large sewing or knitting project while visiting Discord, ever since her previous visit yielded such frightening results. She felt Discord was too distracting for her to work on much of consequence.
"Ah. That explains it."
"What?"
Discord shook his head and eyed the dark, tree-like objects behind the walls. "What's it like outside?"
"That probably hasn't changed," she laughed. "Sunshine, rain, wind. I like it. I'm usually outside."
"Usually..."
Fluttershy’s smile faded. “You want to walk.”
“I never walk.”
“I mean-”
“I know what you mean.”
Fluttershy thought for a minute, then retrieved her scissors and stepped to Discord's side again, holding them out. "For you."
He eyed the scissors, his eyes wide. "Scissors."
She set them on the arm of his throne, tucked under his wrist. "It's my present to you. Maybe one day soon you'll be able to cut your own hair."
He did not react and said nothing and, disappointed, she returned to her cushion. She fumbled in her satchel and pulled out a deck of cards. “Do you want to play Go Fish? I think you could play with mostly one hand.”
“Let’s not play.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ve been wanting to show you this for a long time.”
“What…” she trailed off as the room around her dissolved. She scrambled to her feet and tried backing up to the door, but where it had stood was now a shadow which bled into a forest which defied reason. Red and silver trees grew upside-down from a starry sky, their willowy branches sweeping the charred ground like bridal veils.
“I knew you would be scared; I was hoping you wouldn’t. You’re so predictable. This is all my doing. Have a look.”
“I really shouldn’t be here,” Fluttershy stammered. “Celestia-“
“You're standing where you always stand, and Celestia’s not here. When she comes to visit, I’ll show her, too.” He tapped the armrest with his fingernail. “Oh, wait. She never does.”
Gingerly making her way to the edge of the room where the trees began, Fluttershy felt one shudder, then another, pass through her. She felt almost like a pinball machine and glanced at Discord, alarmed.
"There's a beach over the horizon. I couldn't get it any closer."
The horizon was quite far, at least an hour's walk, and but she was mesmerized. "It's... I've never seen anything like it."
"The machinations of my troubled psyche?"
"Is that what it is?"
Discord shrugged. "I lied, anyway. You'll hit a wall in two more steps. There still probably is a beach back there, but you'll have to bring that chisel."
She gave him her warmest smile. "Maybe one day we'll go there."
"Go?" Discord blinked. "'We'?"
She stepped back into the room. "You don't want to?"
His usual grimace returned. "Hardly."
"Well, I'd like to." She stretched her arms overhead. "it's been a long time since I was at a beach."
“You’ve been fighting.”
“Yes." She cupped her hand around her injured eye. "It didn't go very well."
“You’ve got a black eye.”
“It doesn’t hurt. Not unless I touch it.”
Discord hung his head. Fluttershy watched him, worried. He looked just as terrible as he had the first time she saw him, only his hair was better kept and the skin under his eyes perhaps wasn’t quite so purple-red. She stepped aside to turn around and put her back to him when she realized she was worried he might really be seriously ill. It was a very small worry, but it surprised her nonetheless.
“If you can get my hand out of here, I could fix it for you,” he said.
“What?”
“My magic. I can heal your eye.”
She felt the pressure in the room pile onto her and fought the urge to retreat to the door. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Why not? I’ve never hurt you, have I? I’ve never even raised my voice.”
“I mean, I can’t do that for you. I don’t know how to get you out of there any more than you do.”
He shook his head, jerking it from side to side. "You always leave."
"I'm sorry."
Discord’s face twisted into something angry and bitter, and Fluttershy gathered her things, returning to the safety of the door. He struggled against the stone with every ounce of strength he possessed, writhing and grunting and grinding his teeth together. His eyes were wild. Fluttershy could feel the air around them change.
“Discord, please don’t,” she gasped. “Stop.”
Discord fought harder and the air grew heavier. Something in it pricked Fluttershy’s skin.
She whirled around and began banging her fists on the door. “Let me out,” she cried. “Let me out of here! Let me out!”
She hit the door until it opened and fell out of the chamber onto the palace floor. She stayed there until she heard the door close and lock again.
Celestia rushed in and found her still on the floor a moment later. “Whatever happened? Are you all right?”
Fluttershy let Celestia help her up, but she was shaking. “Discord’s angry,” she said with a nervous giggle.
“He didn’t try to hurt you, did he?”
Fluttershy shook her head, struggling to speak. “He was trying to get out of there. Really trying. I really thought he’d do it.”
Celestia smoothed Fluttershy’s hair from her face, her hands calm and steady. “He can’t get out of there. I promise you, he can’t. Even as his magic returns, he won’t get out of there for years.”
Fluttershy took several deep breaths. "I'm sorry. I'm still so scared of things. I hate it. I'll be fine."
Celestia looked her over, helping her stand. "I'm not so certain we're going about this the right away. You don't look at all well."
"He only frightened me. I'll be all right."
"Even without scaring you, you don't look well. I've talked to him more than a few times about being conscious of the pressure of his power, but I see he has not heeded my advice."
"But he can't use his magic, can he? Not really."
"No, not in the way you mean. But there's only so much god-like, chaotic magic a room can hold, even if it is just residual."
"There are real things behind those walls..."
"Some of his raw magic can't be contained; the walls do it for him. He has some control over that part, but it's locked away. Even I've never seen it."
"The... residual magic. Why does that affect me? Is it why you don't visit him?"
Celestia shook her head. "He won't have me. His very being is chaotic. It's impossible to sever it from him completely." She squeezed Fluttershy's shoulder. "He isn't doing anything with it. I don't think he wants to hurt you, but he can't control it. There's nothing I can do about it. It's why I've been so careful about letting you be with him. I thought things would be all right at first, but you haven't been well. It takes longer and longer for you to recover."
"Couldn't I write to him?"
"There's that, yes, but he cannot write back."
He could if you wrote his letters for him, she thought, frowning.
"Anyway," Celestia continued, sensing Fluttershy's thoughts, "he and I do not get along. I'm sure he would not like me transcribing his thoughts."
"He wouldn't have to reply. I could just let him know about what I'm doing. I think he likes hearing stories."
The princess smiled, acquiescing. "I'll ask him."
Fluttershy was crushing one of her hand with the other. "I'm sorry, Princess Celestia. Forgive me, but I can't help feeling this task is impossible. For Discord and for me."
Celestia tried to smile, though one eyebrow was angled down. "He is what he is, Fluttershy. I've had no hand in that."
"I know."
Celestia smiled again, more encouragingly. "As his nature changes, perhaps it won't affect you as much. I don't really know. Someday, if he gets out and has full control again, it might not happen at all, but I imagine you won't need to see him when that time comes."
Fluttershy focused on the chained door. She could have stood there an hour, lost in thought, but Celestia directed her to the stairwell.
"Why don't you stay home for a few days?" the princess said. "I'll have Twilight look in on you, in case you need anything."
"Princess Celestia..."
"I have every confidence in you, Fluttershy, but he's... warped. He isn't like us. You don't need to achieve anything in the end; the achievement is his alone."
Celestia had a habit of wording sensitive things in calm, but vague terms. Fluttershy had always listened to her without preconception, but now found her words irritating. Warped or not, human or not, Discord was alive. Though he was not open, he felt emotions and had opinions. Somehow, when she pictured him now, he looked neglected and lonely. The achievement wasn't his alone; her being with him had to be proof of that.
"Then why do you keep asking me to come here?" Fluttershy found her words defiant and couldn't bring herself to look at the princess.
"Your presence softens him, but only he can make the decision to become better. You should live your life as you already do. Your visits are infrequent. He doesn't need more than this."
Fluttershy had hoped Celestia would give a more appeasing answer and tried to agree with her, but left the castle feeling surly.
***
Her mood did not improve over the next week when she joined her friends for the annual Gala dress fitting at Rarity's boutique. She did not want to talk to anyone, but Pinkie Pie was in fine form when she entered the shop.
"Hey, Fluttershy," Pinkie said, springing to her feet. "What's up? What's new?"
"What?" Fluttershy said forcefully, not looking up.
Pinkie froze, her smile evaporated.
Rarity rescued her and at first frowned at Fluttershy before relaxing. "Did you see Discord again?"
"Last week."
"Oh," Pinkie said, her hair drooping.
Fluttershy felt the air around her change, much the same way she felt it change when she entered Discord's cell. She hugged herself, bristling. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Pinkie bit her quivering lip.
"Hold on, Fluttershy," said Applejack. "That ain't fair."
"Yeah, we're gonna have a word with Celestia," Rainbow Dash said.
"What?" Fluttershy looked up at her friends.
"She can't allow you to see that brute anymore," Rainbow shot back.
"What business of it is yours who I see?" Fluttershy was incredulous.
"It's our business when we see our friend sufferin'," Applejack said.
Fluttershy folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not suffering. You think he's some monster, but he's not!"
"He's corrupting you!" Rainbow cried.
"And he's making you evil!" Pinkie threw herself forward and tried to take hold of Fluttershy's hand.
Fluttershy stepped back in disgust as Twilight Sparkle said, "He's not making her evil. But I don't like seeing you this way, Fluttershy."
It took a second for Fluttershy to stop gritting her teeth. "Oh."
"He's got some awful hold on you," Pinkie said, her eyes welling.
"He doesn't have a hold on me," she snapped.
"Darling, stop," Rarity cried, holding her hand out. "I can't take any more of this vitriol coming from your sweet self."
"The guy's a demon," Rainbow said. "I told you all along you should stay away from him."
"What do you know?" Fluttershy rounded on Rainbow. "You've never met him. You have no idea who he is or what he's like."
"I know he's hurting you," Twilight said, though she looked sorry to say it.
"He doesn't hurt me. What is wrong with all of you?" She felt a tugging on the edge of herself that was almost violent, and ran her hands over her face to fight it. "Will you please just leave me alone?"
She shouldered past her friends and out the door, head down, directionless. A part of her knew her friends were worried about her, but they didn't trust her. They spoke so low of her and of Discord, and they did not even know him. To them he was a monstrous creature from a history book and nothing more.
She turned the thoughts around and around in her head until she reached her home, along with the realization that perhaps her agitation wasn't entirely from Discord's residual magic after all.