Fluttershy was in the middle of making tea when she heard someone knock on her front door, which startled her slightly, as it was early in the morning and she didn't expect guests. Oh, she didn't spill anything or do anything rash, but she was quite in the middle of getting comfortable for a day consisting of absolutely nothing at all, with all the animals fed and her friends having filled schedules.
But, as she wasn't one to leave a pony outside, so, after gently putting the kettle on the stove, she flew over to the front door and opened it, letting out a welcoming "Hello."
Fluttershy kept smiling gently until she noticed that she didn't see anypony in front of the door.
Until she looked down.
Fluttershy blinked when she noticed the little bejeweled tiara, and the pink form of the filly wearing it. Big blue eyes that were remarkably weary looked back up at her, and when Fluttershy realized she was looking down at a filly, she flew back a few feet into the house, to give the strange filly who strangely reminded her of someone some room to walk inside.
"Oh, are you here to find a pet?" she said mildly, hoping it was the case. The filly looked a little sad; Fluttershy hoped she wasn't here about a sick pet, or worse.
"No." the filly replied flatly, causing Fluttershy no small amount of surprise. "I'm here to talk about you're weird freaky friend."
Fluttershy only blinked once at the filly, even when she wiped her hooves on the carpet directly in front of the door and walked inside her house, but her mouth wavered lightly.
"Now, I am not sure what happened, but if you are worried about Pinkie Pie and the exploding muffins she ma-"
"I'm talking about Discord."
Fluttershy suddenly realized that this was likely going to be a long conversation. Her friendship with Discord wasn't a secret, but it wasn't exactly well known.
There was a reason for this, of course. As much as Fluttershy didn't like it, you couldn't just say that one of the most dangerous entities in the world visited your home every other weekend for lunch and small talk around the average pony and not expect them to react strongly.
But, that only left her close friends and their family, the Mayor, and the Princesses themselves who knew that Discord was even on the continent, let alone walking free and unfettered. And as far as Fluttershy could tell, this filly was none of the above, which made it all the more troubling for her.
"Oh. Would you like to sit down?" she replied after a few moments, heading over towards her kitchen, only to pause halfway into it. "Would you like some chamomile tea? I have honey and milk if you want."
Fluttershy smiled at the filly's frown struggling to stay on her face, especially after she settled down one of her green couches. As upset as the filly was, Fluttershy hoped that she could answer the filly's questions.
"I would like some, thank you." the filly mumbled. Fluttershy's small smile grew slightly. The filly did remind her of someone she knew.
Fluttershy already had two teacups out, as she always did expect a bit of irregular company even on days like this, and as she filled it, she thought about if she knew the filly just from sight. She frowned lightly when she realized that she wasn't one of the Crusaders, or any of the ponies they hung out with.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but I don't believe I got your name." Fluttershy spoke up after a few moments, slightly embarrassed.
"My name is Diamond Tiara." the filly replied plainly. She sounded quite bored. Fluttershy winced lightly.
She tried to remember if she had heard the filly's name before, which was met with failure. Realizing that she didn't really know the filly at all, Fluttershy settled on assuming that the filly heard something from her parents and wanted to know for herself.
"So; what do you want to know about Discord, Diamond Tiara?" Fluttershy replied mildly, only to pause after a few moments after pouring her own cup of tea.
"I don't really want to know anything about him. I just want to know why you're friends with him."
Fluttershy sucked in a breath unthinkingly. She needed to approach this delicately, and in a orderly fashion.
She didn't say anything when she took the tea tray on the counter and flew over to her living room, settling it down on the table in the middle of it and sitting down on one of the cushions on the floor.
"Well, I am his friend because I don't believe anyone ever gave him the chance."
Diamond Tiara didn't say anything when she took the mug on the table, cradling it with both hooves.
"Why not? Doesn't he have other friends?"
The filly's face was filled with a mix of apprehension and confusion. Fluttershy felt another wave of deja-vu.
"No, I don't think he ever had a friend before me. He's very old, you know."
Fluttershy watched as a bit of unease eased it's way into Diamond's face.
"So...why doesn't he go back to where he lived before coming here?" the filly said quietly, before continuing. "Wouldn't there be more of whatever he is there?"
Fluttershy frowned delicately, but she hid it from Diamond by taking a sip of her own tea. "No, I wouldn't think there would be another one of him. He's a one of a kind, but I don't think that bothers him too much. I don't think he even had a family, really."
Diamond Tiara's face turned rigid, becoming a mask to hide her thoughts. "But, why are you friends with him? He's evil, isn't he?"
Fluttershy's frown, which was beginning to vanish, stayed on her face solely due to that comment. "He's not evil, just misunderstood. He thinks quite differently then most ponies, and he's just very powerful. He didn't know that he was doing anything wrong when he attacked Ponyville."
"You can go to jail for doing stuff you didn't know you were doing wrong, though, right?"
Fluttershy blinked at the filly's comment. Her tone was just off, like she was talking about this as if she had already thought it over a dozen times beforehoof.
"Yes, that's true. But Discord thinks differently then ponies. He didn't know what he was doing was wrong. Punishing him for what he did would be much like punishing a squirrel for hiding food for the winter."
Fluttershy watched as the filly squirmed around slightly on the couch, and couldn't tell if she was honestly uncomfortable at the topic or was just trying to avoid touching her legs on the hot mug in front of her.
"If you're his friend. why haven't you asked about where he's from? If he acts so weird and isn't from Equestria, and doesn't look like anything from here, wouldn't that be something to talk about?"
Fluttershy lowered her head slightly, looked at the tea in the cup in front of her, and, after a few moments of deep thought, took a sip.
"He doesn't know, actually. He has a bad long-term memory, and I think he's slightly embarrassed that he doesn't remember where he came from."
Fluttershy was talking from personal experience; it took him months to comprehend that using a door was polite, as apposed to blasting holes into the side of her house or simply popping out of corners that didn't exist before he wanted them to.
But, while she was musing on that tangent, she also noticed that a look of almost pure rage flashed over Diamond Tiara's face. A wave of mild panic went over Fluttershy when she noticed that the filly's cup almost fell on the floor.
"He lied to me." the filly hissed quietly, in a tone that was very out of place on someone who couldn't have had been alive for more then ten years, "He lied to me."
Fluttershy, having a feeling that this was a conversation that was going to prove to be very important to the next few days of her life, carefully placed her cup of tea, barely being held between her trembling hooves, and placed it on the tea table so it wouldn't spill between her clumsy limbs.
"Little one, how do you know Discord?"
"He convinced my dad so he could be my tutor." the filly said forcefully, hair and headpiece bobbing lightly as she shook her head, "Because he said that he thought he could help me refine my natural talents."
Fluttershy almost overturned the table she was sitting in front of as she stood up and stretched her wings; a purely nervous gesture.
She took a deep breath, and did her best not to look alarmed, which she failed at quite badly.
"When did this happen?" she breathed out, taking another deep, even breath.
Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes. "Three days ago." she spat.
While Fluttershy was starting to be offended by how the filly was talking, she heard a knock on her door, so after nodding briskly at Diamond, she trotted over to it.
She hoped it was Discord who would be the one who would be the person on the other side of it.
It was actually close to the exact opposite of Discord who was standing outside her house, in fact.
"Hello, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy looked up, simply too stunned for words.
Princess Celestia smiled gently at the internally-hyperventilating pegasus, a look of benevolence and peace on her face.
"May I come inside?"