//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Ferocious Hearts // by marci //------------------------------// Three years after the events of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic… *** “I’ve already been a mother for a long time in a sense. I’ve raised more fury, scaly, and feathery friends than I can count. I love caring for them. It makes me happy, but it’s more than that. It makes me who I am. Life is beautiful and magical, and the fact that almost anyone can help create it is one of the most amazing things in the world to me. All it takes is two creatures coming together in love to create something wonderful. I’ve witnessed these beautiful creatures being born many times, but I want to do more than witness it. I want to experience it for myself. I want to be a mother not just to nature, but to my own child or children. Now I’ve finally found someone that I love, and I’m ready. I know it may be difficult because of my and Discord's unusual situation, but I'm ready to do whatever I need to do in order to make it happen." It took Fluttershy a second after she finished speaking to realize that she had just said all of that out loud, in her cottage, in front of other ponies. Two pairs of eyes stared back at her in utter bewilderment. They belonged to Dr. Horse; Ponyville’s best pediatrician, and Dr. Fauna; Fluttershy’s veterinarian and good friend. Of course, there was one other pair of eyes at the scene, belonging to Fluttershy's beloved fiancee, Discord, but unlike the doctors, he was not staring or looking mortified. He simply smiled at them with an expression that was half loving and half cocky. "Fluttershy, I'm not sure we understand exactly what it is that you want us to do," Dr. Horse said. Dr. Fauna nodded her head in agreement. Fluttershy looked down at the floor timidly. “Quite simple really. You use all of your pony doctor wisdom to find out what to do, you tell us, we do it, and it works perfectly,” Discord answered. “But I only work with baby animals, and he only works with baby ponies. I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I just don’t think we’re the right ponies to talk to about this,” Dr. Fauna said apologetically. “Yes, perhaps a more magic based doctor,” Dr. Horse suggested. “A magic based doctor? Oh… Ok… Hopefully we can find one,” Fluttershy said. Her voice seemed to shrink a bit more with every word. "Hmm. If only we knew some sort of exotic, black and white pony who specialized in supernatural remedies and happened to live just outside of town," Discord said. His voice dripped with sarcasm. Fluttershy gasped. "Zecora! You're a genius, Discord!" Fluttershy said happily. Poof! What sounded like applause rang out through Fluttershy's cottage, and sunglasses appeared on Discord's face. "Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!" he said. Then, poof! Everything was back to normal. The doctors were not amused. Fluttershy rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “You really think she could help?” Fluttershy asked the room hopefully. “Let’s see…” Discord said. He snapped, and he was in a scientist’s lab coat wearing goggles and writing notes on a clipboard. “Pi times two hundred and fifty-four, divided by x squared, plus the gravitational constant, equals two point six six six repeating minus eight…” Discord muttered comically. Then, poof! His scientist things were gone. “Only one way to find out my dear!” he said. Fluttershy gave him a weary smile, but it was beautiful nonetheless. She turned to the doctors, not wanting to be rude and shoo them out so soon, but also wanting to see Zecora as soon as possible. “I think if it's okay with you guys, we're gonna go ahead and go now, but… Um… Thank you so much for coming over to my cottage to help. I really appreciate it.” However, when Discord and Dr. Horse were just out the door and Fluttershy turned to leave, Dr. Fauna stopped her. “Fluttershy, as your friend, I feel the need to tell you… I may not know much about the physiology of ponies-much less whatever creature Discord is-but I do know that when you try to breed two different species, sometimes if they’re too different, they can’t conceive. It just doesn’t work.” “Is it… Is it even possible?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Dr. Fauna looked pityingly at Fluttershy’s face, which had turned sad and hopeless, and even though logically she could not understand how it could happen, she smiled solemnly at Fluttershy and said “Anything is possible.” *** “Will we be able to have a baby?” Fluttershy asked Zecora once Fluttershy and Discord had made it to Zecora’s and explained their dilemma. Fluttershy entertained the idea that she could always just adopt instead if having her own child didn’t work out, and of course she would, but she knew it wouldn’t be the same. Wonderful, but not the same. “I know my answers are usually set in stone, but I’m afraid that this time, it is simply unknown,” Zecora said. She had a deeply thoughtful expression on her face. “That’s definitely a first,” Discord muttered. “To know whether the result would be noble or tragic, I must first take a closer look at Discord’s magic.” Discord was taken aback for a moment. “What do you need to know?” he asked. Despite being disorderly and chaotic by nature, it was obvious that he cared about Fluttershy and her dream quite a lot. “You seem to have the entire world awaiting your command, and how that could be possible, I do not understand,” Zecora answered. Discord sighed. He had hoped he would never have to fully explain how his power worked. He hated getting technical, especially since every time he explained to somepony how his magic worked, there was a chance that it wouldn’t work on them anymore. But, he was willing to do it for Fluttershy. “You’re right. No currently existing creature in this universe has the amount of power that most ponies believe I have. Even I am clueless as to how anypony could ever possess that much power without losing control and destroying everything around them.” “I don’t understand. You do have that much power. I’ve seen you use it,” Fluttershy said confusedly. “No. My power isn’t real. It’s just a mirage that fools the senses.” “But that can’t be… I’ve seen you make beevers go evil, and turn water to ice. Those can’t be mirages! They did real damage,” Fluttershy said. “Those weren’t mirages, but the magic I used was. I fooled the beevers senses into believing that they had no choice but to be evil, so they were. I convinced the water that it had to become ice, and it did the work to become ice itself. My magic is merely persuading senses to believe what I want them to believe. As you’ve seen Fluttershy, even I myself do not physically exist. I’m made of an idea, and my magic reflects that.” Fluttershy was flabbergasted. How had she not known that? She and Discord were engaged, and yet some aspects of him were still beyond her comprehension. Meanwhile, Zecora was also trying to wrap her mind around what she’d just heard. “If what you say is truly correct, there are two likely outcomes for your child I suspect,” Zecora said thoughtfully. Several seconds passed. “And they are?” Discord prodded. “The most likely product that I can predict, is a normal pony pegasus, with minimal conflict,” Zecora said. "And the second?" Discord asked. The couple could tell that the second possibility was not as pleasant. Zecora hesitated. "If I am to be honest, I must confess. The other possibility would be reason to stress,” Zecora said cautiously. Fluttershy and Discord exchanged a worried glance. Well, Fluttershy’s was worried. Discord’s was more vaguely uncomfortable. Discord spoke up, knowing what Fluttershy wanted to ask, but also understanding that she was too shy to actually ask it. “What exactly is the likeliness of the second option?” “I would say the likeliness is just a slim chance, but if the unlikely pulled through, we would know in advance,” Zecora said. “S… So our child would probably be ok? And… And if they weren’t, we could save them in time?” Fluttershy asked faintly. Zecora saw the same thing in Fluttershy’s eyes that Dr. Fauna had seen in them, and she couldn’t bear to disappoint her. Zecora nodded her head yes. Hours later, Zecora hoped and prayed that encouraging them hadn’t been a terrible mistake. After all, regardless of the odds, anything was possible.