“He… he wasn’t sup… supposed to… to…” Fluttershy sobbed. She sat down and buried her face in her hooves. She looked at the purple coffin wrapped in black vines.
Princess Twilight Sparkle sat down next to her yellow pegasus friend and placed a purple hoof on her heaving shoulder. “I know it’s hard, Fluttershy, and I’m so sorry that this happened, but he really didn’t mean to hurt you!”
“I know, Twilight!” Fluttershy cried. “B… but, he was perfect, and everything was planned, and… and… and now, everything’s over!” Fluttershy burst into a flood of fresh tears.
Applejack took off her cowgirl hat and walked to her sobbing friend. “Fluttershy, ah’m so sorry ya’ lost him, but, like Twilight said, he obviously cared ‘bout ya’ an’ din’t wanna hurt ya’.”
“I… I don’t know what to tell you, darling, but this: he really did love you, Fluttershy,” Rarity sighed.
“If he truly loved me, he would have told me!” Fluttershy yelled.
“This is so not super duper,” Pinkie Pie sighed. She sat down. Her poofy hair instantly straightened.
Twilight wiped away her tears and looked Fluttershy directly in the eye. “Fluttershy, would you like me to talk with his doctor and find out what was wrong with him?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Sure, Twilight. Thanks.”
The princess spread her wings and took to the sky.
“What did Mr. Chaos have?” Nurse Redheart asked. “Well, the doctors couldn’t really find a true diagnosis, because we’ve never treated a draconequus before, but from what we understood, Discord had a disease we called ‘Odd Death Disease.’” The nurse blushed. “We really had no idea what to call it.”
“O.D.D?” Twilight said. “Odd? Well, that fits Discord well.” Twilight tapped her chin. “So, what did you find about this ‘O.D.D.?’”
“Well,” Nurse Redheart sighed, “Mr. Chaos came to see the doctor seven months ago, complaining of a ‘tickling feeling’ in his heart, as he described it. We ran a few tests and x-rays, and found a strange, black ooze flowing from his lungs and into his heart. We told him that we didn’t know what it was, but we did know that any ‘ooze’ in the heart is deadly and very hard to remove. We offered to do surgery and try to remove it, but Discord said that he had a very special somepony that he cared for and just couldn’t leave. He turned down the offer. He said that he was supposed to be immortal, but the one he loved was not eternal, and he wanted to be like her in every way.”
“Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered. “Well,” she sighed, “thank you for your time. This information is a great help.”
Nurse Redheart bowed. “Of course, princess. I’m sorry that I can’t give you any more information.”
“No, you’ve been quite a help.” Twilight flew out the window.
“He lied to me!” Fluttershy cried. “He told me that he was great! I often sensed that he was in pain, but whenever I asked him about it, he brushed the idea away!” Fluttershy glared at Twilight, her eyes full of tears. “If he had just trusted me, I could have helped him. I’ve brought many strange creatures back to health. If he had just told me, I maybe could have saved him. I could have gotten married. But now…” Fluttershy’s voice cracked. “I’ll have to call off the wedding.” Tears poured down her dainty cheeks.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight protested. “He didn’t want to worry you!”
“Worry me?” Fluttershy retorted. “Oh, well, I’m plenty worried! In fact, I’m not just ‘worried.’ I’m heartbroken! I’ll bet that what he wanted. He corrupted me years ago, and I’ll bet that he just wanted to do it again!” Fluttershy jumped into the air and bolted to her cottage.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight yelled. “Wait!”
Fluttershy ignored her friend; something she hadn’t done in years.
“He lied to me, Angel!” Fluttershy sobbed. Her pet white rabbit rubbed Fluttershy’s leg, trying to comfort her, but Fluttershy kicked him away. “No now, Angel!” She stormed upstairs and ran into her room. She locked the door behind her.
Once inside, Fluttershy stared at the photo on her bedside table. It was a photograph of her and Discord. He wore a black and purple tuxedo and was on one knee. Fluttershy wore a pink dress. On the night the photo was taken, Discord had taken Fluttershy on a date to the Hayburger. He told her to dress nicely, which Fluttershy did gladly. After they had eaten, Discord grinned, pulled a box out of his pocket, and got down on one knee. It was then that he asked Fluttershy if she would marry him.
She said yes, not even knowing that Discord was going to die.
“I…” Fluttershy sighed. She grabbed the photo and threw it on the ground. She kicked it. The glass in the frame cracked. Fluttershy jumped onto her bed and sreamed into her pillow. She cried and cried. She turned to look at her open wardrobe, where an elegant wedding dress hung.
Fluttershy stood up and trotted over to her window. She saw the gray headstone in her backyard. Within the hour Discord passed away, Fluttershy requested that he be buried in her backyard. She ran downstairs, out the door, and sat down in front of the headstone. She stared at the carving of the smiling draconequus staring back at her.
“You told me you loved me, that you wanted to be with me forever. Then, why didn’t you trust me?” Fluttershy drew back her hoof and punched the stone. The rock cracked in half, straight down the middle of Discord’s visage. “Why?” She turned away and looked up the hill, where a brand-new, white gazebo stood. It was something Discord and Fluttershy had built together, where they wanted to say their vows. And now, it felt like a taunting, decrepit memory. But still, Fluttershy didn’t have the heart to destroy it. Instead, she ran back to her room and collapsed on her bed.
Fluttershy closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Fluttershy’s eyes fluttered open. She looked out her window, where a blue jay stood, singing a sweet song.
“Oh, please, Mr. Blue Jay, don’t sing that song. Sing something else, please!”
The bird kept on singing.
Fluttershy sat up and tried to ignore the bird, but her gift for understanding animals prevented her from tuning out what the jay was saying. Soon, Fluttershy heard herself whispering the words of the song.
“We were rivals in a battle for harmony/Never dreaming what we’d have to go through/Now here we are and my head keeps on reeling/My place is here next to you…”
It was the song Discord and Fluttershy had written for their wedding. They were going to sing it during the reception, accompanied by Fluttershy’s bird choir.
But now, the song had such a different meaning. Fluttershy sang the second verse again:
“Never dreaming what we’d have to go through…”
She looked at the picture frame. She picked it up, and upon staring at it, cried out. She noticed for the first time the message written on it. Fluttershy read the writing aloud.
“’For my beautiful butterfly. I love you more than you can ever know. I love you with all my heart. I mean it. And, for a king of chaos, that’s saying something. Hugs and kisses, Your Dissy.’”
Fluttershy sat down on her bed, cuddling the photo. She rocked back and forth.
“Oh, my, oh, my. I… he really did care. How could I have been so unkind?”
The Pegasus turned to look at her wedding dress. She trotted over to her closet and got into the gown. Discord’s voice echoed in her mind.
When he had proposed, Discord had said to Fluttershy: I love you. Will you take me as I am? A confused, strange, mischievious king without a queen? Do you love me?
Fluttershy smiled at herself in the full-length mirror and flipped the veil off of her face.
“I do.”