//------------------------------//
// Interpretation (Part 2) 
// Story: The Whisper of Freedom 
// by Gapeagle 
//------------------------------//

	"Why is he here!?"

I jumped out of the throne and crawled across the ethereal map to get away from the draconequus. Discord, the true Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, laughed at me in his sinister manner. This dark laughter was a great contrast to the princess's supposedly "innocent" giggling.

"Starlight, you know very well that Discord is our friend now. There's no reason why he shouldn't be here," Twilight explained.

"It does not make a difference to me! He's a demon! A monster from Tartarus."

Discord raised his brow. "I'll have you know, Starlight Glimmer, that I have never stepped hoof, claw, toe, or paw into that forsaken place. I'm far too much fun to lock away."

I was on the other side of the map when he finished his mocking words. One could say that I was terrified at this moment, though I'd probably not admit to it, I was close to such a description. I already knew much of the Lord of Chaos, but to see him in person, in all of his horrid glory, it was humbling even to me who did not need humbling. 

"Oh dear me, do you think I'll bite?" Discord guffawed.

"I think that's enough Discord, we are trying to reform Starlight, so we shouldn't scare her," Twilight told the demon.

"Oh, you're no fun! Fine. Fluttershy did tell me to be nice to your priso-erm-guest."

Discord slithered down from atop the throne and instead stood on his back legs in a far less imposing manner. I was now sitting in Pinkie Pie's throne, which smelled sweet and sugary beyond measure. My eyes kept darted from Discord to Twilight in desperate hope that the latter would shoo off the former.

"Haha! Well Twilight, I do hope you're also teaching her the magic of bravery, because she appears to have seen a ghost!" Discord laughed.

"Discord, be nice. You have to admit, you're pretty scary to somepony who has never met you before. Starlight will get used to you," Twilight said calmly.

"Used to him?" I gasped. "Are you suggesting that I'll keep seeing him?"

"Well, yeah..."

My ears flopped onto the back of my head. I couldn't believe it. Of all the magical beings I had to meet at this hour, it was him. He was the epitome of everything I should against: chaos,disharmony, and most of all, inequality. How could I get used to anything if he was slithering about? It was absurd of the princess to even allow his presence.

"Princess, are you sure of this? If you think we disagree on philosophies, I doubt you want to see how opposite I am of him."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's just part of the process. Princess Celestia wants me to change your views. So I must show you that being unique is not a crime and being, well, talented, is nothing to be ashamed of. My plan is to help you realize that there is nothing wrong with disagreeing with ponies. I can see Discord helping with that, well, if he wants to."

Discord floated in the air above me. "Oh! I'd be delighted to help Starlight! It's what a good friend does, no?"

His large lion paw patted me on the head mockingly. The devious grin on his wicked face informed me of his true motives. I knew he was just going to toy with me. 

"Good!" Twilight clapped her hooves. "Maybe you should take Starlight to Fluttershy's cottage."

"I will not see that liar! She's the worst pony I have ever met." I screamed back.

A silence fell upon the throne room. Twilight's mostly calm face had worry written all over it now. The draconequus began to mumble something above me. I risked a glance upwards. His pointed teeth were barred angrily and his uneven nostrils were flared. Crossed were his mismatched arms and furrowed were his bushy eyebrows. 

"Fluttershy is not a liar," he told me coldly.

"Then you have not been around her long enough," I returned. "Back in Our Village, she tricked me into believing that she had accepted equality. She allowed my hope to get the best of me. My courtesy, generosity, and kindness to her was my undoing. She was nothing more than a spy and a deceiver."

"So what?" he began. "I know for a fact that she did that because of her friends. I'm going easy on you, Starlight, even after you locked my best friend up in a house without food or water. You should be glad."

"Discord..." Twilight said hesitantly 

"You know what? I'll take you straight to Fluttershy." He pointed his claw at me. "You can be a snob all you want, Miss Equality, but if you harm my friend in any way, I'll just have to flex my fingers and something'll happen to you."

"You can't force me, demon," I stood firm.

"Bahaha! That's the funniest thing I've heard all day!" He floated closer to my face. "Maybe you're not so boring after all."

The princess began to shout, but her voice was silenced when Discord snapped his talons. The next moment, I was no longer in the castle, or anywhere familiar for that matter. I was in the sky with Equestria below me. My heart jumped when I started to fall back to earth. I felt myself screaming, but the rushing air kept my ears from hearing it. 

I fell for what seemed like hours, but it was probably less than five or six seconds. The first object I hit was a tall tree. The force of the collision made me bounce off to another tree and then to another. Birds and tree critters began to fly or scramble about as my body rolled through her homes. After bouncing off the trees, I rolled down the trunk and onto the thankfully soft grass. However, I was still falling so fast that I skidded into the dirt and ripped up the ground.

As my body started to ache, I began to remove all the dirt from my face. The good side of this was that it reminded me that my magic was back and thus taking the dirt from my mane was now easy. When the grass was removed from my eyes, I stared right ahead of me. Just inches from my face was a pair of pale yellow hooves. My eyes followed the legs up to the pony's face, which was the face I never wanted to see again.

"Um...Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked me worriedly.

"You!" I shouted. 

"Eep!"

She jumped back away from me, dropping a basket of flowers she was holding on her side. Terror was in her eyes as anger was in mine. Discord teleported me right to her! That meant he was still around, watching me. So I forced myself to breathe calmly after my initial reaction. I would not risk upsetting the demon more than I had already done. After my calming breath, I was ready to speak with the horrid mare. My smile was false, but I pulled it off nicely.

"Why hello, Fluttershy," I said kindly, "Sorry I just dropped in! Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," she replied. "But are you really okay? You just fell from the sky."

"I've been through worse," I dismissed her worry. "I mean, I've tried skiing with Double Diamond on the mountains, that was far worse than a fall." I faltered in my act as I twitched from the pain in my right flank.

"Oh, okay." Fluttershy nodded. "I'm guessing it's my turn to host you? Twilight had me a couple of days later, but Pinkie messed it up I believe."

"Schedules often don't work like how you plan," I shrugged.

"Well then...um, would you like some tea? I set some on before I did my mid-morning check up on the animals," Fluttershy fumbled slightly over her words.

"I don't see why not?" I grinned happily. "Tea sounds wonderful!"

The yellow mare perked up. "Oh good! I was hoping you would say that."

Fluttershy then turned around and began to lead me to her cottage. It was a humble place compared to what I had been staying at the past days. Rarity's boutique, Applejack's orchard, and Twilight's castle shined brightly when compared to the vine-ridden abode that was Fluttershy's home. All these "good" friends still were separated by their homes. How can one be a friend of a mare with a castle when she has an old cottage? It made no sense to me.

"Please wipe your hooves before entering. Angel and I just finished sweeping the floor," Fluttershy told me as she dusted her hooves on the welcome mat.

I did as she asked with my usual beaming face. The mare then allowed me to enter first into the cottage. It was cozy but extremely messy as well. Bird feeders, cages, houses, squirrel homes, food containers, bowls, random dishes, and a small pet bath were all placed in on the sides like they were just lazily pushed out of the way of the walking paths. Now, to her credit, it did not appear like she was not taking care of her home, but more that she owned far too many objects to properly store. It was organized enough to show that she had put everything in place on purpose.

"Oh, this place is lovely," I said.

"Why thank you, Starlight. Angel and I worked hard to clean up. Some of the parrots fought this morning and knocked over just about everything. They get so angry at times, it's frightening. Luckily Discord was there to summon more food so that they could get equal shares."

"Yes, your...friend...seems quite a pal. I had the....honor to meet him earlier."

"Oh, you don't have to hide your feelings. I totally understand if you may not like him at first. He's a bit....eccentric at first. Once you get to know him, he's the sweetest thing."

"Oh I'm sure..." I grumbled sarcastically before returning to my chirpy self. "I mean, it's like that with everyone, right?"

"I guess so. Come along, the tea is in the kitchen," Fluttershy gestured to me and then walked off into another room.

I glanced around, trying to catch a peek of the draconequus that was no doubt watching me from the shadows. I could not spot him, however, and soon followed the pegasus into her small, but clean kitchen. 

Fluttershy poured a cup of tea for both me and her and we took our respected seats at the table. I kept my smile on for the traitorous fiend and drank from the cup without hesitation. The tea, though not the best I've had, was pleasant and warm. Just then was I reminded that I was still full from the coffee I had consumed just minutes earlier. It would not be proper to fill myself again once more.

"So, how has Twilight been? I know we may not have been the nicest to you, but we are trying to help," Fluttershy lied once more.

"Stressed. I guess I have been more trouble for her than expected. Well, it would be expected since I lack any need for reforming."

Fluttershy did not falter and took another sip of her tea. "Discord felt the same way, but he realized he had no friends. That's when he changed. Twilight always preaches about friendship-"

"I had friends, many of them. All of them were lost when you betrayed me. They turned on me when you lied to me. I am a victim of your deceit. The only reason I don't break you right now is your chaotic friend who is watching us. I'm not stupid and I know not to get on his bad side."

I only then noticed the shattered tea cup on the table. In my miniature rant, I crushed the cup with my magic and now the precious liquid was soaking into the aged wood. Fluttershy held her cup in her hooves, but the shaking in her legs made some of the tea spill out. Her body shook with fear but her face remained calm, or so one would think. I saw her jaw muscles tightened and I could tell she was just trying to hold in what she was really feeling. I cursed at myself mentally for breaking my act in such a rude and impulsive manner.

"I apologize. I'll pay for the cup," I placed a hoof on my chest. "I get emotional some times."

"I....can...see that..." she stammered.

I took a breath and tried to sound calm. "But I will not take the words back. I do not lie, Fluttershy. You must know that you have hurt me far more than anypony else has done in my life. That's saying something too. I am to forgive, but I have trouble getting myself to forgive and forget you. I can only hope you'd understand my position."

"I don't," she said faintly.

I blinked in surprise. "You...don't?"

"No. I....I was helping my friends. You trapped us in a house with no food or water. I was so scared. I gave up long before my friends did. I seemed to be good at accepting defeat easily. Twilight sent me out. We all knew you'd believe me before you'd believe any of my friends. I just wanted to escape. I just wanted to help my friends get away from your meanness."

"Are you the same pony I met in Our Village?" I asked the air more than her. "Are you so bold now because of Discord? Huh? I know you guys all too well. You'd run from fright if you saw me any other day. Or was that all a lie too? You seem pretty good at acting."

She gulped. "It's because I know you're wrong. I just want to help you. I once learned that harsh kindness is applicable. I think your problem is that you can't accept that you're mean and cruel. Discord knew he was wrong all along and ran with it. You see yourself as righteous."

"You think I'm wrong because you can't grasp my philosophy. I want to bless this nation with equality! I want to help every single pony that lives and will be living in the days to come. You all scramble about, trying to find your destinies where there are none! I only wish to end that. Ponies care too much about a  symbol on their flanks to get moving. They don't see the real picture: cutie marks are worthless and restraining. Thousands wander about with their cutie marks without hope because they lack any clue what they mean. If we remove cutie marks or make them all the same, no one would care. They'd focus on what's important: the pony next to them. How hard is it to grasp? You all look at me like I'm insane! Is it insane that I believe I can change the world? No! It's insane to think you couldn't!"

I slammed my legs on the table. Fluttershy was pale and her back was pinned to the wall. I could swear that a vein burst within me, probably around my temple. The fear in her eyes were just the normal Fluttershy I expected. However, her eyes were not looking at me, but above me. I knew right then and there that the Lord of Chaos was leaning over me. I had upset him once more. In false bravado, I took a deep and readied myself for any action he'd take upon me.

His lion paw took hold of my entire head and lifted me up. My heart raced, but I made sure to appear strong and able. A gasp flew from Fluttershy's lips. She jumped on the table and placed a loving hoof on Discord's snake-like body. Her eyes were no longer frightened, but full of care and kindness.

"Discord, no." she said softly. "Don't do anything to Starlight! Just because she disagrees with us doesn't mean she needs to be punished. We are better than that! Whatever you're thinking of doing to her, please don't."

"My dear," he began, "this foolish pony has threatened you and yelled at you! She needs to be taught some manners at least."

"No, she doesn't! I trusted you when you flooded Sweet Apple Acres and I trusted you when no one else did! This is no different. The only way we reformed you was through friendship. We must teach Starlight the same friendship. That means NOT sending her to a pocket dimension full of living sock puppets!"

The draconequus faltered as he held me. His claws were raised at me menacingly, but his face was full of hesitation and confusion. It was a standoff. I scrambled a little to get free from his paw, but it was no use and thus I folded my front legs and waited for his decision. I replayed Fluttershy's speech in my head as I waited.

There's a pocket dimension full of living sock puppets?


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