Forgiven

by ashiida

Chapter Two: Leucrotta

Discord. Hasn't. Shut. Up.

Twilight thought with a grumble as she sat across from Discord, sipping her freshly refilled cup of tea that he had generously provided her with. The draconequus had failed to understand anything about the concept of forgiveness, which was shocking to Twilight, seeing that he was a pretty intelligent guy. But then again, Discord hadn't learned anything about friendship until he truly had it hit hard on him. Discord seemed to be more of one who learns from experience, Twilight concluded with a satisfied nod, and turned her attention back to Discord.

"So you're saying that if I do something, and someone else forgives me, that means what I did is completely forgotten, erased from their minds?" Discord said, scratching his head. "That's pretty foolish if you ask me."

"Discord, it's like friendship. If someone is your friend, you should forgive them for something they've done if thy apologize." Twilight took another long sip of her tea, and placed the cup on a table by the chair she was sitting in. She adjusted her wings behind her. Leaning on them wasn't very comfortable.

"Yes but..." Discord began, but stopped himself mid sentence and stood up abruptly. He glanced around, his ears perked and his eyes widened.

"Discord? Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at Discord's peculiar behavior. Discord continued to stand their, occasionally turning his head but remaining silent. Eventually, his face relaxed.

"My apologies Twilight," Discord said, taking a seat again. "I just had the strangest feeling. I'm sure it's nothing." He still wore a slightly mortified look, and Twilight couldn't help but wonder what had made Discord act like that.

-

Fluttershy cautiously trotted down the path of the Everfree Forest, looking around uneasily. Her pupils had shrunk down three sized at least, and her body shook in fear. "D-Discord...? You can come out now..! I-I'm worried are you okay...?"

Fluttershy forced herself to swallow. Be assertive, Fluttershy. Discord is your friend! "B-But what if he doesn't even live here..." Fluttershy mumbled as she continued trotting. A breeze had picked up, and her mane was being blown to tangled bits. Fluttershy knew that Everfree weather was unpredictable, which meant it could thunder or worse at any given moment. She didn't like that.

Fluttershy nervously continued down the trail, the wind slowly getting stronger and stronger. A rustling was heard in the leaves, and Fluttershy quickly turned her head in the direction of the noise. "Discord?" She asked hopefully, approaching the bushes from which the noise came from.

"Fluttershy!" A voice from the bushes called back. Discord's voice. Fluttershy sighed, relieved.

"Discord, you had me so worried!" She exclaimed, approaching the bushes.

"Fluttershy!" Discord's voice called again, but it sounded more distant. Fluttershy cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Discord, are you alright? Where are you going?" Fluttershy bent down and crawled into the bushes. Discord's voice called her name again, and Fluttershy followed, becoming more and more worried. Now that she thought of it, his voice did sound urgent. Was he in trouble? "Oh no! What if he's being dragged away against his will? What if something terrible has him?" Fluttershy bit her lip. "Don't worry Discord, I'm coming!" The pony broke into a gallop, weaving carefully through thickets, branches, brambles, and all the other things you'd find in a forest. Discord's voice continued calling to her, and eventually she saw light in the distance.

"Discord!" She said with a relieved sigh, shutting her eyes and crawling through the last thicket into the light. She opened her eyes at the sound of something behind her, and she turned around quickly to see a stone roll in front of the thicket she had crawled through to get here. It didn't take Fluttershy long to realize that she was not in the open, but in a cave. There were multiple torches around, illuminating the rather small cave. She looked forward, taking her attention off of the stone blocking the door. "You're not Discord...."

In front of Fluttershy stood an odd creature that looked like a mix of a dog, wolf, and lion. The combination itself looked awkward, and it made the creature all the more intimidating. It's teeth looked rather sharp, and Fluttershy quickly understood that this was not a creature like the Manticore or Steven Magnet, who were both beasts that were rather friendly. No. This creature had an evil aura to it. It just felt... wrong.

"Fluttershy!" The creature cooed, it's voice sounding exactly like Discord's.

"Y-You were the one calling my name! How did you... How are you...?" Fluttershy blinked, confused. A laugh rose from the back of the creature's throat, this time sounding like Chrysalis.

"Don't be afraid, pony," it said, now with Pinkie Pie's voice. "I only want a snack..." Mr. Cake's voice said, and the creature licked his lips.

"What are you?!"

"What am I?" Came Fluttershy's own voice. "I am called Leucrotta." Now the voice was distorted. It sounded scary, and Fluttershy could feel herself shaking.

"Please don't eat me... I promise I don't taste good..."

"Nice try, pony." It said. "But it's been a long time since I've had a decent meal." And then Fluttershy felt her body being shoved against the cave wall, and a jarring pain spread throughout her head. Then the world went black.

-

Discord stared at Twilight, listening but not listening. Something was not right. He could feel it. Twilight had pulled a chalk board from a cranny in the castle, and was now drawing images with chalk. Discord had no idea what she was talking about, and right now he didn't entirely care.

"Twilight," he interrupted her mid-sentence, and she turned her head, giving him a slightly confused, slightly annoyed glare. "Something is wrong." This certainly caught her attention.

"What?"

"I don't know what it is, but something is wrong." He tapped his index fingers together nervously. "It's kind of like the feeling I have when a disturbance in the magical balance. It's a rare feeling, but it's certainly there. I am the spirit of chaos, after all, I'm drawn the disharmony like a bee is drawn to honey. It's second nature," he explained. "But this is different. It isn't magical, it isn't entirely disruption. It's just a feeling in my gut that I have. I don't understand it entirely myself, but it's there."

"You can track magical unbalance," Twilight said, repeating what Princess Celestia had told her when explaining why she had chosen Discord to track Tirek. Obviously, that hadn't ended entirely well, but it was still a mental note she took on Discord. After all, she was still trying to understand all of his abilities, such as limits and things like that. Discord was a very, VERY, confusing character. "Can you track this feeling as well?"

Discord seemed to focus on something nonexistent for what seemed an eternity, and then nodded. "Yes, I believe so."

"Great!" Twilight said with a grin. "Where's the source of this thing?" Her grin soon faded after seeing the grimace planted upon Discord's face.

"It's coming from the Everfree Forest."

-

Fluttershy's head throbbed, and when she opened her eyes her vision was fuzzy. After a few blinks, her vision cleared, and she found herself inside a cage made of... BONES? Fluttershy seemed to shrink five sizes after seeing the terribly cliché cage she had been locked inside. It didn't take her long to notice the other ponies inside the cage. Golden Harvest, Roseluck, and Zecora sat in the corner, huddled together. "Zecora?" Fluttershy gasped, approaching her zebra friend. "How did it get you?"

"Using the voice of friends from town, the Leucrotta managed to trap me, making me look as foolish as a clown." Zecora said, furrowing her brow. "This beast is truly tricky, and has put us into a situation that is quite sticky. You see, it will gather many ponies into its cage, and then feast upon them in a starving rage. I had a potion that would get rid of our foe, but I used of the said potion long ago."

Fluttershy frowned. How many more ponies would he gather before he would eat them? Was she the last one he needed? And most importantly, where was the Leucrotta?

Author's Note:

Written over a period of sleepless nights. No reason why I'm writing late at night, because it gives me bizarre ideas, mine adding insane mythological creatures and a wild pointless Zecora.

Hey, it's kind of like her role in Princess Twilight Sparkle! She's just there for plot relevance! Alright, that helps. Anyways, forgive me for this chapter, it's terrible.

Comments

[DemonWriterX]

Yay for updates!!! im liking this so far, cant wait to read more!

[taterforlife]

Terrible? I disagree! Sure, you had a typo there and again, but if I had a dollar for every time I did that, I wouldn't need to go to college! I thought it was spectacular, and I think you've got all the characters down pretty well. Especially Frustrated Twilight, haha! But this chapter was so full of tension, I don't want to wait very long for the next chapter!! I want to see Discord save Fluttershy!!! Of course, I'll be fine waiting, I'm just really excited for the next one!!!

[Exaxxion]

Quick thing, zecoras talk is fine to me except the last part

It doesn't rhyme no matter how many time's I say it In my head even if I purposely try to say it wrong or pronounce it differently

I've encountered one of these only once, and fixed the problem by putting it into a trance

Sorry for nitpicking

Overall I still love the story

[howard035]

I love the story. If Discord needs a reason other than forgiveness why doesn't Twilight point out that he basicallyspoon fed her the rainbow powers that allowed her to defeat Tirek, so the princesses are basically calling it a wash. Do the bats that deliver Fluttershy's letters to Discord magically know where everyone is like Harry Potter owls, or do they just fly the letters over to Spike?

I really love the Leucrotta, I wonder why you're calling it a Krokotta instead. Copyright issues?

[Angelus Alvus]

Interesting new creature.

[ashiida]

4563875 I was debating on what to call it, but now that I google Krokattas, all that pops up is images of hyenas. I think I'll switch it now. Note to self: never trust a wiki ^^;;

[Frankie2]

Discord to the rescue...after it captures Twilight.

[devildog452]

OK.

[Unimpressive Chaos Lord]

Typo error: Paragraph 4: "they've done if they apologize"

Alright, this is getting interesting. Not that it wasn´t before, but now the fanfic is adopting some "adventure" features. That new creature has potential to become a great villain. My recommendation is that you take more time to write and correctly develop the plot. It just feels too rushed! So, anyway, you are doing a pretty decent job, and you have captivated my entire attention for the chapters yet to come

[ashiida]

4581561 Ha, yeah. I feel it's getting rushed as well. That's what happens when I write on my phone. I always rush and have bad typos and blah. So I plan on writing the rest of this on my laptop and trying to spread the last bits of it out some more. I'm glad you like it!

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!