//------------------------------//
// Fluttershy 1 - Wilderness 
// Story: Lost in a New World 
// by KingBrony 
//------------------------------//

"Good morning, sunshine!"

Fluttershy stirred, slowly opening her eyes. She was met by Discord's face, eagerly staring back at the sleeping pegasus. The yellow pony closed her eyes again. "Just a few more minutes..." She sighed, rolling around. Discord laughed.

"You're the one who wanted to travel for an extra hour before. If you listened to me, we would be up and ready to go right now." The Draconequus held his paw out to stretch, then teleported away. A second later, he reappeared with some fruit.

"I managed to find this. See, I'm helping!" He said jokingly as he took a bite. Fluttershy didn't move. Pinkie Pie was on her mind again; all of her friends had been lingering in her dreams ever since that confrontation at the edge of the cliff. Fluttershy had resolved to make peace and talk with the Sleipnir...however, she was too tired to get moving.

The two traveled for hours at a time, stopping to either rest or eat food. Not much was said between the two besides warning the other of dangers ahead. Discord would disappear from time to time, only to come back when Fluttershy would least expect it.

"Can't you just teleport us there?" Fluttershy groggily asked. It wasn't like her to be this sleepy, but then again, she would have never found herself in a situation like this before.

"I thought I already told you," Discord replied. "We have our limits. Besides, there is a lot you can take away from walking like this. It's so much fun!"

Eventually, Fluttershy found the energy to get up and eat the fruit Discord had found. After a minute of stretching her wings, Fluttershy trotted onward. The wildlife in the forest they were in was sparse; an animal she did find would run away as quickly as possible. Fluttershy remembered too well how she had dealt with animals recently, but she did it to survive. As bad as she felt, she knew it had to be done.

The two came across a waterfall. The air was foggy and warm - a big contrast to the snow and tundra they had been traveling in. Upon seeing it, Discord immediately teleported to the top and dropped down into the water.

"It's warm!" He called out, waving his arms towards Fluttershy.

The pegasus looked into the water, seeing her reflection. The pony Fluttershy saw was not the Fluttershy she remembered. Her fur and mane were faded shades of their former colors. Her mane itself was tangled with bits of twigs and dirt on it. Her feathers were ruffled, and her eyes were tired. Scars remained where she had been scratched, stabbed, and hit.

"Boo!" 

Discord appeared behind her and pushed her into the water. She was met with a face full of hot water, but it was the most refreshing thing she had experienced since this all began. The dirt and twigs washed off of her as she began to clean herself up. The warmness  sunk right into her bones, removing the chills and massaging her joints. It was a good feeling.

"This is nice." She said quietly as Discord swam around her.

"You don't sound too excited," Discord replied. He took a scoop of water into his mouth and shot it out like a fountain.

"Oh, I am though." Fluttershy quickly said. "It's just..."

"The old Fluttershy would have been more ecstatic," The Draconequus laughed. Fluttershy only lowered herself into the water, thinking back on the life she lived before - the safe, peaceful life.

"Is it bad that I changed?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course not."

"I wasn't able to save Pinkie Pie, though..."

"There was nothing you could do about that. No need to dwell on the past."

Dinner was a pile of fruits and vegetables that Discord happened to find laying around the area. They ate quietly under the twilight sky, with nothing but the sound of falling water in the background. Fluttershy ate her share, but still felt hungry. She remembered the squirrel she had before, craving the taste for a moment. Quickly, she shook her head and took a bite from an apple. The juices ran down her face as the familiar taste brought her back to her senses.

Fluttershy gathered up a small pile of leaves to rest on while Discord sat in a nearby tree. She had gotten used to the waterfall by now; the sound was relaxing to hear.

"What do you think will happen now?" Fluttershy asked. Discord didn't move.

"To whom?"

"Ponies."

"I've been around for a very long time. You can get through this." It was the most serious thing Fluttershy had ever heard Discord say.

"Do you what we need to do?"

"No idea. I thought you were going to just walk up to them and ask to share the land?"

"When you put it that way..."

Discord shifted a little. "Sleipnir were before my time, but I did hear stories about them. I would suggest you come up with a backup plan."

"What about the elements?" Fluttershy placed a hoof around her neck, feeling the Element of Kindness. It was cold to the touch, as if it were out of energy. The pegasus guessed that it was due to the absence of four of the six wielders.

"You shouldn't have tried to use them on me, you know."

"You should have told us what was going to happen."

Discord didn't reply right away. "...I didn't expect it to go down like it did. I thought I'd be able to keep them from fully returning if I kept come chaos brewing."

"Telling your friends should have been the first thing, Discord."

"Yeah,"

Fluttershy didn't know when she fell asleep, but she woke up feeling refreshed. Looking up, she noticed that Discord was sleeping as well. The pegasus didn't know how much time had passed, but she got up to go search for more food. The thought of a freshly-caught animal crossed her mind for a second, but she shook it away in favor of returning to her previous diet of fruits and vegetables.

...However, if the worst came to pass, then she would have no other choice.

The yellow pony luckily came across an apple tree. Not too far from the waterfall, a large tree pressed against another tree as if pulled right out of the ground. Apples were scattered on the ground, still ripe and fresh. Fluttershy scooped up a bushel of them and returned to the waterfall.

Discord was still asleep; Fluttershy took no time to wait for him before feasting on what she had found. Food had always been a bad situation for the two - nothing ever seemed to fill her up. These apples were no exception, although they did remind her of Applejack...

"Starting without me?" Discord appeared out of nowhere and plucked an apple from the group. He ate it quickly. "Are you that hungry, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy blushed. "I...well..."

"No need to pull your shyness act now." Discord chortled. "I've seen your other side. It's the only side you need."

The feast ended quickly, prompting Fluttershy and Discord to continue traveling. Again, the two did not speak much except for warning the other of dangers. Fluttershy grew sadder as she prodded along, missing the adventures she used to have with her friends. Now, she didn't know if any of them were even alive. She had seen five figures before on that cliff; were they all spirits? Were they just her delusions?

"Hey, Discord," Fluttershy finally spoke up.

"What is it?"

"You said you only heard about the Sleipnir, right?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Do you know what they were like? Before, I mean."

"They were always our enemies. From what I've heard, it was always just the two of us in this land before ponies appeared. Not too sure how, but the ponies managed to seal the Sleipnir away."

"Do you know anything else? Like, what they did for fun, or if they kept pets?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I...I just thought-"

"I doubt they did. It's ancient history, anyway. Who they are now is different."

"Oh."

Fluttershy blew her mane away from her face. It was much cleaner now than it was before, thanks to the waterfall. She felt somewhat refreshed, as tired as she was. The pegasus had never traveled for a long time like this without sleeping somewhere comfortable. The two had come from far in the north, through snowy fields and mountains, through the tundra, and now in a cold wood. The Crystal Empire was somewhere nearby; hopefully it was still in one piece. Fluttershy wanted to rest there before making her way to Canterlot to try and speak to the Sleipnir. No matter what, she knew she could not fail at her mission. She was the only one who could do it.

Although, it would be nice to have her friends supporting her along the way. Even though Discord was with her, she still felt alone. Pinkie Pie would have done everything she could to make the mood lighter; Discord was not a good replacement for that. Fluttershy didn't even know if Discord was taking anything seriously or just soaking in all of the chaos. However, having Discord around was better than having nopony.

Luckily, nothing dangerous came out either. Fluttershy was done with being attacked by ponies, or manticores, or griffons, or even Sleipnir. After her last encounter with a manticore, she started to get used to her survivalist side. It still scared her to death, but she realized it had to come out if the situation called for it. She just hoped the situation would not call for it that much.

Hours passed before Fluttershy grew tired again. She began to close her eyes for seconds at a time in order to get some rest. When she did, she suddenly tripped and fell into a small crater. Discord, who was ahead of her, turned around after hearing her squeak.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking into the crater.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and almost died of shock. A Sleipnir was right in front of her, laying on its side. The mark on its flank was glowing, but it seemed like it was sleeping.

The pegasus flew up into the air as a result and looked down at the creature before her. It didn't respond. Fluttershy inched closer to the Sleipnir - shivering as she did. When she was within a hoof's reach, she tapped the Sleipnir lightly. No response.

"Do you think they really do hate the cold?" Fluttershy asked, noting how the Sleipnir was shivering.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Discord offered. "Come, let's get away from it."

"He looks sad though," Fluttershy replied. "Besides, I might need to practice talking to one if I want to talk to their leader."

"If you want to..." Discord shrugged. "Don't come crying to me if it eats you."

"I won't." Fluttershy hovered over to the Sleipnir's face. He was about the size of a stallion. Gray in color with a purple mane, Fluttershy was a little intimidated by him. "Um...hello?" Fluttershy said in a small voice, trying to wake him up.

"You're just going to wake him up?" Discord said from outside the crater. "He might not like that, you know."

"Please wake up," Fluttershy tried to raise her voice without sounding too forceful. The Sleipnir moved slightly, causing the pegasus to flinch. Discord stood ready in case something would happen.

The Sleipnir rose from his slumber slowly. Fluttershy looked up at him timidly. He looked down, noticing Fluttershy first, and then Discord. Upon seeing the Draconequus, the Sleipnir let out a roar. Fluttershy ducked down in response as Discord raised his arms, ready to summon some sort of chaos. However, the Sleipnir's mark activated and it disappeared, just like that. Fluttershy looked up again to see that nopony was there anymore.

"That went better than expected." Discord said.

"How?" Fluttershy asked. "I didn't get to talk to him..."

"Yeah, but you're also still alive."

After more hours of traveling, the two stumbled upon a small cave. It began to snow as they set up their shelter. The cave was small enough for two to fit in. Discord got a fire started before the snow began to come down harder. The air grew even chillier. Fluttershy's feelings of comfort went away again as her bones grew cold.

"I'd say we are pretty close now." Discord said. He placed his hands near the fire to warm himself up.

"Really?" Fluttershy had no idea where they were, or even if they were going in the right direction. It was impossible to tell by the sun anymore, so she hoped Discord was right. Maybe everypony else is in the Crystal Empire, she thought to herself, trying to stay positive.

The snow only grew thicker and fell faster. Wind blew into the cave, making the fire lose its heat pretty quickly. Fluttershy grew even colder as the fire eventually went out.

Discord noticed this. "Fluttershy," He said. "...You know, it would be warmer if we stuck together."

Fluttershy blushed. "O-okay..." Before she finished replying, Discord appeared right next to her. She immediately felt Discord's warmth as the feeling of comfort came back. Looking outside, she saw nothing but white, nothing but the endless abyss.

But here, right next to her, was one thing from the old world. One thing keeping her sane, keeping her safe. Fluttershy wouldn't know where she would be without him. And he knew it.

"We'll be okay, right?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

Discord laughed, saying nothing in response.

Before long, the pony fell into a deep sleep.