"Pipp! Pippsqueak! Hey!" Zipp flitted through the empty streets, stopping only occasionally for the odd noise every now and then. "Hitch, you see her down there?"
"Nope."
"C'mon, sis," The mare's voice gradually faded as she dipped behind some buildings. "Are you really gonna get yourself this hopelessly lost again? This isn't the royal gardens, you know!"
Hitch listened to Zipp's calling for a few more seconds, before turning his attention to the dilapidated buildings around him. "Pipp?" He peered into the empty foyer of what was probably once a house. "You in there?"
Nothing.
"Any luck?" Sunny cantered up beside him. "We didn't see her anywhere while we were up at the edge of the forest."
Hitch shook his head.
"We've got apples!" Izzy grinned as she caught up. "Very tasty apples, too!"
"Apple family." Sunny gave a nod toward Izzy. "Turns out they used to live right here. Can you believe that?"
"Pipp?" Zipp's voice echoed in the distance.
Spike cleared his throat. "So, uh, we gonna keep looking for your friend now?"
Another nod. "Yeah, we're still looking." Sunny continued past Hitch. "Let's see now... if I were Pipp, I would..." She narrowed her eyes, peering past the rows of abandoned buildings. "Oh, oh, I think I've got an idea!"
"Hm?"
Sunny turned to Spike. "We were talking about Fluttershy earlier, right? Didn't she live in a cottage nearby?"
"...Yes. Do you think Pipp might've gone there?"
"Mm-hm!" Sunny began walking in the opposite direction. "She likes taking pictures and recording videos, so if she found a place that's filled with cute critters, then she'd be having the time of her life there!"
"Don't you think you might be projecting a little?" Hitch deadpanned.
Sunny chuckled. "Mmmaybe. But hey, it's worth a shot if we haven't checked there already, right?"
"...Fine. Zipp! You comin' with us?"
"In a bit! Checking the train station at the moment!" Zipp's voice echoed back.
"Does she have, like, a super-voice or something?" Izzy whispered to Sunny. "That's some strong yelling!"
Sunny stared at the vine-infested cottage. "It's..."
"A little run-down? Yeah." Spike laughed, grabbing a fistful of vines and tugging. "It was her wish to leave her home to nature, so I haven't touched it since. Not even after she vanished."
A loud pop tore through the air, followed by a flash of light.
"WHO DARES SET FOOT ON THE TERRITORY OF THE WEED EATER?" A wavering voice boomed, before devolving into a fit of cackling.
Almost instantly, a long-unspoken name resurfaced in the dragon's mind.
"...Discord?" Spike raised a brow. "This is where you've been all those years?"
"In the flesh!" Discord bowed... or more accurately, the vine-encrusted dirt golem shaped like him bowed. It opened its mouth, revealing the draconequus lounging with his feet up on a table.
"You know this guy?" Hitch frowned. "He's a little... uh..."
"Loopy? Yup, that's Discord alright." Spike climbed up the thick layers of vine to the roof of the cottage. "Discord, how's it been, man? I haven't seen you in ages!"
Discord opened an eye, peering at Spike before rising from his seat. He picked his feet off of the table and slipped them back on with an audible click. He stepped closer, and closer, and closer...
"Uh, Discord?"
The draconequus leaned in close to Spike, to the point where their foreheads were nearly touching.
"Mayonnaise."
"Bing bong!" Izzy whispered with a chuckle.
"Okay, what's with the word mayonnaise that makes it such a bad word for you unicorns?" Hitch spun around to face Izzy. "Who ruined mayo for you guys?"
Izzy shrugged. "Legends say that it involved a pegasus. Though, a different legend says that we unicorns started it."
"Oh. Okay."
"Hey! Heeeeey!" Discord slithered around the group. "We talking about mayo without ol' Uncle Discord? Hmm?" He pat Izzy's frilly mane. "Ooh, I like this one. Very puffy."
A quiet yip rose from the underbrush nearby.
"Timby!" Izzy squeaked, bending down to the timberwolf pup.
"You named him?" Spike cocked his head.
"Yup!" Izzy stood back up. "Ooh, Hitch, you wanna meet Timby?"
"Who's Tim--" Hitch was promptly tackled by the hyperactive bundle of sticks.
"Ignoring me again?" Discord sighed as Hitch struggled against the timberwolf. "Kids these days and their lack of attention, good grief."
Spike smiled, shaking his head. "No, I think it's more that they might be a little... afraid of you. Except for Izzy, though. That was certainly quite the entrance you made there with the golem."
"And I suppose they don't hear of the ol' Lord of Chaos in their bedtime stories anymore, do they?"
A shrug. "Beats me. Couldn't you, like, check for yourself?"
"Meh." Discord snapped his claws, summoning a comedically small walker. "I'm too old for that."
"Suuuuure." Spike glanced at the three ponies continuing to struggle behind him. "So... uh, I've been meaning to ask you something. About Fluttershy."
The draconequus froze at the mentioning of that name. He looked down at the walker, waving it away with a paw before turning back to Spike.
"Fluttershy, you say?"
"Yeah. All anypony knows is that she disappeared one day. Twilight was devastated when she heard."
"Well..." Discord hung his head. "I suppose you should see her for yourself."
"See--" Spike tripped over his words. "See her? You mean she's still--"
"Not all there." Discord walked up to the vines, holding a bundle aside to reveal a worn door. "I did what I could. The rest is up to her to figure out."
Spike looked over his shoulder. The timberwolf was frolicking in front of Hitch, and Sunny was talking to Izzy about... something. It wouldn't hurt to slip away for a moment, right?
He set his hand on the weathered doorknob and twisted.
It was... dark, to say the least. Nothing like what the cottage had been years ago. Spike flinched at the touch of a vine that'd penetrated the ceiling.
"This is how she's living?" Spike muttered under his breath. "I... wow. I honestly didn't kno--"
"Tut tut," Discord's voice echoed through the damp hallway. "You wait just one moment."
"Wh--"
He turned his head back to the door. A small seam was beginning to form across its surface, spreading quickly to the floor and ceiling before tearing open. Behind it, a considerably newer-looking door, and walls, and ceiling, and--oh man, he could already guess what was coming next.
Slowly, Spike turned back around.
And all thoughts left his head.
"F-Fluttershy?" Spike stepped closer to the stony mare. "This is where you went?"
The sound of stone grinding on stone filled the air. He could almost make out a smile on Fluttershy's face before the stone receded into a mass of bark and leaves.
"Spike?" Her voice rustled through the leaves. "Spike, is that really you?"
"I could ask the same."
The branches shuddered for a moment vaporizing, leaving only Fluttershy's wooden form before him. Two mismatched wings broke free from the bark, followed by a pair of hooves. A scaly arm emerged next, followed finally by one more hoof.
And all fell silent.
"Flu--"
A burst of light exploded from underneath the remaining bark, blowing off the last of the mare's wooded fortress. Her eyes immediately shot to her mismatched limbs. "Oh," she sighed, "it's happened again."
"You'll get it someday, sweetheart," Discord slithered out of the ceiling. "I know you can."
"This--" Spike gestured at Fluttershy. "This is what you were talking about, isn't it, Discord? Her body was failing, so you made her a new one. And now she's a--"
"Draconequus." Discord nodded. "Just for the record, she asked for it."
Fluttershy blew a raspberry at Discord before turning her attention back to Spike. "Spike, it's been so long since you've visited! How's Twilight?"
Spike cringed.
"O-oh..." Fluttershy visibly wilted. "I see. I'm too late, aren't I? But it's only been a few years!"
This time, it was Discord's turn to cringe. "Well... you see, Flutters, you said that you wanted to return the cottage to nature, but I couldn't let you live like that, so I opened a pocket universe inside it! One that... well, happened to... pass time... slower than the rest of the world..."
Fluttershy's eyes shot to Spike. "How long has it been?"
"About five centuries..."
Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp. She frowned at Discord. "You and I are gonna have a long talk later, mister."
As for Discord's part, he shriveled into a raisin.
"Well," Spike coughed. "Uh... I don't suppose you'd be interested in stepping outside again, after everything you just learned. The world's a changed place. Having you around would be a great help."
Fluttershy shook her head. "Not yet. I don't want to scare anypony looking like this. What would they think?"
"Probably the same thing they were thinking when they saw mister raisin over there." Spike grumbled. "If you want, I could show you some new friends I made today. One of them seems to have a thing for animals just like you."
"Oh?" Fluttershy cocked her head. She fluttered her wings, lifting quietly into the air. "Well... I guess if it's been this long already, I should at least take a look..."
She landed in front of the door, opening it with her mouth. Bright, rolling fields stretched across the horizon, broken up only by the many animals dotting the landscape.
"Oh, right--" Discord snapped his fingers. The scenery around them melted away, leaving only the dilapidated cottage in its wake.
Fluttershy scrunched her muzzle at the sudden stench of rotting wood, but nevertheless repeated her actions. The light that streamed through was considerably dimmer this time as she stepped through.
"Oh, there's a second one now?" Hitch's voice grumbled.