//------------------------------// // Less Than Reality // Story: Less Than Chaotic // by TheTalentlessPony //------------------------------// Fluttershy opened her eyes slowly, seeing a blank area of white ahead of her. She blinked confusedly, then slowly stood up, trying to gauge her surrounding. Around her was nothing but a gigantic white room, with no furniture or anything. She could tell where the floor met the wall, but walking towards it didn't seem to take her anywhere. She rubbed her head, trying to remember how she could've gotten there. She was at the picnic with Discord... then they walked home, took care of the animals... and then went to bed. Ah, so I'm dreaming... right? Fluttershy sat down, glancing around as her tail shifted uncomfortably. Dreams were supposed to be vivid and vibrant, so why was she seeing nothing but white? She considered the fact that she might've been having a nightmare, but nothing was inherently scary about a large white room. She traced the shape of a circle on the floor with her hoof, then began to feel cautious. What if something intended to jump out at her? She swallowed nervously, glancing up at the ceiling and only feeling slightly relieved when she saw nothing there. "H-hello?" she called out in mild desperation. Her voice echoed, but there was no response. "...Discord?" she tried, placing a hoof to her forehead and hoping to dream him up. She waited, then gasped as she felt a presence behind her, instantly turning around to see who it was. "You called?" She smiled wide, despite knowing that it wasn't really him standing there. "Discord!" Discord smirked in amusement. "You act like you haven't seen me in a while. I assure you that I've been around." Fluttershy shook her head. "No no! I'm just... happy to see you here, you know?" He grinned in response. "What a surprise; rare for somepony to say that." "Ah... that's not true, Discord. All of your friends... _we're_ always happy to see you." "Is that a fact?" Discord mused, placing a hand to his chin. "Huh..." "You alright?" Fluttershy asked cautiously. Though knowing that this wasn't Discord, she couldn't help feeling a nagging concern. "Lovely!" he replied, twirling around a bit. "Though this place _is_ admittedly very cramped and constricting." "Cramped and constricting?" she repeated, looking around the white room. "It seems a lot more spacious to me..." "Perhaps we don't meet eye-to-eye in that way, Fluttershy," Discord said with a shrug. Fluttershy frowned somewhat, but nodded anyway. "I suppose so." A silence followed, only being filled by the gentle sound of her heartbeat. Discord paused to take one more look at the room, then locked eyes with her. "Would you like to walk alongside me?" "W-walk?" she asked, tilting her head at the sudden question. "Um... okay, but I don't think we'll get anywhere. I already tried, and the room moves with me," she explained. "Perhaps it's a metaphor," Discord suggested, smiling slightly as he began to walk. Fluttershy raised a brow, following him. "A metaphor for what?" she inquired. "Could be anything," he said. "Do you feel like you're getting anywhere in life? You're not exactly the richest or most productive mare in Equestria." Fluttershy frowned, her ears flopping down. "That doesn't matter to me. I have great friends, a great job, and a special someone who's indeed very special to me." "You think far too small, Fluttershy," Discord argued. He snapped his fingers, and a tree suddenly appeared above them, which he hung himself upside-down from using his tail. "Your world is upside-down and you don't even know it." "What do you mean?" she questioned, sitting down and staring at him. Discord rolled his eyes, then shrugged. "It's quite simple, really. Your job involving animals takes up nearly half your day. Don't you ever want to do more with your life? Do you have a dream?" he asked in reply. Fluttershy shook her head. "Not really. I'm happy with what I'm doing. Besides, I have you and my friends. What else could I need?" "Ugh!" Discord groaned, pulling himself up onto the branch and sitting on it. "You can be so boring sometimes, Fluttershy. I could think of a thousand things that would be more fun than that." "Like... what?" she asked cautiously. Discord grinned slightly. "If I decided to return to my chaotic roots, would you join me?" Fluttershy blinked, shocked at the question. She didn't need to remind herself that this wasn't really Discord, but it still concerned her as to why she'd dream him up this way. "You told me that you'd never go back..." she muttered. "That's not an answer~" Discord chimed. "Yes, or no?" She gazed at him uneasily, almost as if... debating? "...No, I wouldn't," she told him. "Oh?" he asked, his gaze sharpening slightly, as though he was insulted. He knelt down to her, then gestured out with his hands. "So our little relationship means nothing? A simple shift from good to evil would deter you that easily? I thought you held affection for me, Fluttershy. Do your little friends mean more than me? If so, wouldn't that negate all signs that we should be together? Honestly, that seems a bit shallow." Fluttershy's ears lowered as she absorbed his words. Was it fair to question her like this? "That's... not what I mean at all. You mean everything to me, Discord," she argued, a strange bit of confidence rising with her tone. "I'm saying that you wouldn't do that; you wouldn't turn bad again. You told me that you wouldn't, and I believe you. You got rid of your powers for me, after all. Besides, even if you did somehow turn bad again, I still wouldn't go with you. The good Discord is the one that I admire... that I fell for. I probably wouldn't have the heart to try and stop your evil deeds, but that doesn't meant that I'd go with you..." She flinched slightly as she spoke the last word, feeling an aura of aggression appear around Discord. "I could very well have been lying to you. How can you be so certain? You were so sure of my reformation before Tirek, and all of a sudden, you're willing to take my word for it again? What about my powers, if I got them back? They're cramped shut in a little jar at Twilight's castle; all I'd have to do is open it again and absorb the energy inside. Would you stop me? Would you be hurt?" Fluttershy stared at the draconequus, trying to make sense of why he'd be saying such things to her. However, she eventually stood firm and gazed at him seriously. "...That's a trick question," she stated simply. "Is it now?" Discord shot back. "And why is that?" "Because my Discord wouldn't do that," Fluttershy said. She paused for a moment, then swallowed nervously as she looked downwards. She had never called Discord "hers" before. He had certainly called her "his", but she had never done the same for him. Saying it though... felt right somehow. She took a breath to absorb what she had just said, then glared back at the draconequus. "He'll never go back to his former roots. He still loves chaos - I know that - but he'll never go back. He'd never do that to me because he wants me more than his powers; he never would've given them up if he didn't. He chose me over chaos..." She brought a hoof to her face, shyly wiping a stray tear from her eyes. She had never really thought about this before; how much Discord really cared for her. "I-I never thought that someone would ever like me that way. I have friends, and I appreciate every one of them, but I never thought that someone would think of me in such a way. You remember... I told you that I was weak and helpless. Sometimes, I try and help my friends and I just feel like I don't do enough for them. As much as I want to, I end up becoming cowardly and..." Her voice trailed off as she gazed at him, sitting down as she let out a sigh. "...That's why this is making me upset..." she said. "Hm?" Discord grunted slightly. Fluttershy frowned, rising back to her hooves as she pounded the ground below her. "What makes me upset is that I don't know who you are! You're not my Discord, so what are you?" she asked. Honestly, she had been holding it back for a while. How dare this... this imposter... disguise themself as the one she cares for most, then expect to talk to her and just get away with it? Fluttershy was aware that she wasn't as smart as some of her other friends, but for this dream-Discord to think that she'd fall for such a fallacy was almost insulting. The draconequus stared at her with a partially intrigued expression. "I'm Discord, obviously." Fluttershy's gaze sharpened. "Not mine..." A long silence followed, with "Discord" staring at her inquisitively. His stance shifted slightly, his tail swishing back and forth in a rhythmic motion, occasionally hitting the ground despite not making a sound. Fluttershy waited for him to speak, her eyes locked with his as the nervousness in her heart grew more intense. Finally, he craned his neck to the side, the noise it made echoing in her ears. "...Well, Fluttershy." Suddenly, he glared at her, twisting his body around and causing his tail to viciously slam into her. She gasped, then flew back a few meters, tumbling for a while before managing to regain her ground. It didn't hurt, but it still shocked her. Instantly, she turned around and started running towards the other direction, the room no longer moving with her. However, a large wall suddenly bolted up from the ground, stopping her in her tracks. She turned, biting her bottom lip as the room slowly turned into a large labyrinth of sorts. She jerked her head to the figure behind her, then ran down a random passageway, hoping that she hadn't made the wrong choice. The imitation gave chase, though she failed to see the somewhat sadistic grin on his face as she didn't dare to look back at him. "Why run, Fluttershy? I'm bound to catch you after all~" She ignored him, her hooves slamming against the floor as she continued to gallop away, turning corner after corner in hopes of getting away. She didn't even have any course of action; she just wanted to find a way to leave this nightmare. "Trying to get ahead, hm? We certainly can't have that, now can we?" The sinister voice rang in Fluttershy's ears, causing her to yelp in sudden pain as her head began to throb. How was this happening? This wasn't real. Was the fake causing this? How could it? She shook her head, reminding herself that it didn't matter; perhaps she fell off the bed and landed on her head. But no. That wouldn't be possible. She was certain; Discord would've caught her if that was the case. He wouldn't have let her fall, asleep or not. She swallowed, trying to make sense of it all. Maybe... maybe— "KYA!!" Fluttershy flinched as she slammed against one of the walls, having not been paying attention to her surroundings. A dead end... She cowered, curling up as she brought her hooves to her head, the throbbing only increasing in severity. The Discord fake walked closer, eyeing Fluttershy with a wide smirk. She whimpered, not understanding the situation. This had to be a dream. Otherwise, he'd be here to help her. "Discord..." she murmured softly. "...DISCORD!!" She sobbed slightly, then gasped as she felt two arms circle around her, pulling her into the owner's chest. She looked up, her face instantly brightening. "D-Discord?" she asked, even turning her head to the copy to ensure that he was still walking towards her. The imposter had stopped, now glaring at the two. "It's alright, Fluttershy," Discord assured, holding her gently in the hopes that it'd calm her down. She sniffled. "M-my head hurts... he's hurting my head..." He looked at her confusedly, then slowly brought his hands up to delicately massage the sides of her forehead. "I've got you. Now wake up, Fluttershy." "D-Discord..." "Wake up, Fluttershy. Wake up." Fluttershy let out a weak moan, cautiously opening her eyes as she suddenly found herself back in her room. Her and Discord's room. Her eyes drifted upwards, seeing Discord looking down at her worriedly as he held her. She let out a small murmur of contentedness, then brought her hooves around him in an embrace. "I'm sorry. I was dreaming... of you, but not you. I knew it was a dream, but... but it hurt my head. That... that fake, he..." Discord pulled her closer in an attempt to get her to stop talking. "It's alright now, darling Fluttershy. You're awake now, aren't you?" She shuddered slightly at the utter tenderness in his tone. "M-mmhmm. I am..." "Then it's nothing to worry about, right?" Discord asked, gently running his eagle claw through her mane. She nodded, and he slowly sat her back down, despite not wanting to. She breathed slowly, rubbing her eyes until she was fully awake, at which point she tensed up, seeing the sunlight outside. "O-oh! I-I should be up! I-I need to—" "-Fluttershy." The pegasus stiffened, already off the bed, then turned her head to Discord. "Y-yes?" The draconequus shifted uncomfortably, making it clear that he didn't want to say whatever it is he planned to, but eventually sighed and said it anyway. "Do you... need me today?" Fluttershy thought about it at first; with what had just happened, she was still frazzled, but Discord must've known that. He wouldn't ask if whatever this was wasn't important. "I suppose not. Do you have an errand to run?" Discord slid off the bed and stood up, gazing at her with a nod. "It's rather important, yes." She smiled softly, the small shivers in her forelegs quickly dying down. "That's alright. You go off and do whatever it is you need to. I'll be fine," she assured. Discord hesitated, then slowly made his way to the door. He needed answers now, and he knew just where to go.