Fluttershy and the Beast

by Roisin the Irish pony

Once Upon A Time

Discord smiled as he stroked the smooth leather hardback. After all those months of careful planning and writing and interviews, the story was no finished, and soon to be published publically for all ponykind to read if they wished to. He glanced over at his wife Fluttershy who was sitting with their seven children. This was their story, and he didn't want them to miss out on it.

Twilight trotted excitedly into Discord and Fluttershy's living room. There would all their friends and family would be waiting for her to read them the story. They'd chosen her because of her pleasant reading manner. Twilight really knew it was because Fluttershy was still too shy to read aloud in public, Discord wanted to sit with his family, Rainbow Dash would change the story, Rarity would point out silly little mistakes, Applejack said that it was their story, and not her's, so she wouldn't feel comfortable reading it, especially since it was a romantic story. And Pinkie Pie, well, she had a very short attention span, and would completely abandon the story and go off on a tangent about parties or cupcakes or something like that.

Discord handed the book to Twilight and she nodded her thanks. She sat down onto a beanbag in the middle of room, opened it to the beginning and began to read....

Once upon a time....

'Hold on there, wait a minute! This is my story! I'm Discord, the Lord of Chaos. I'm unique! Once upon a time isn't gonna cut it pal!'

Well Discord, all fairy tales begin with 'once upon a time. Besides, you didn't protest when we were writing it!'

'But they're all so boring!'

Can I get on with the story?

'I suppose you might as well.'

Thank you. Now, where was I? Oh yes, once upon a time, in the beautiful land of Equestria, there lived two regal princesses called Celestia and Luna. They were alicorns and were very powerful. They lived in a shining Castle beyond the Everfree Forest with their friends Discord...

'That's me!'

And, their mentor Star Swirl the Bearded. Star Swirl taught them everything they needed to know about ruling a country. And Discord, well, he was a draconecquus who had chaos powers. He used these powers to play pranks on Star Swirl. Luna and Celestia thought that he was brilliant and all three of them had great fun together. They were all very happy.

However, this idyll didn't last long. Star Swirl passed away, the two mares without their father figure. In time, Celestia and Luna took to the thrones of Equestria and ruled peacefully. Discord had now reached his full potential in chaos magic and began using it to the full. What was once funny or harmless in the princesses' eyes was now selfish and cruel. Discord had turned the buildings into Cheese, the clouds into cotton candy and the grass into candy canes. It was also too dangerous for ponies to go outside for fear that they be turned into an ice cream sundae or something like that. However, poor Celestia didn't know what to do.

Matters only got more complicated, when out of the blue one day, Discord proposed to Celestia. Ever since he's been little, he'd always had a big crush on her...

'Like Spike's crush on Rarity!'

'Hey! Not everypony neeeds to know! Twilight, tell him!'

Discord, behave yourself! Back to the story...

So, like I said, he always had this massive crush on her and then he proposed. Celestia refused but told him that she'd reconsider if he stopped causing so much damage. Discord said that she was being a spoilsport and that she should liven up a bit. Celestia shot back that he was a beast and that she hated him. At this, they parted ways and didn't see each other for a long time. Discord lived in a castle in a little valley far away from any civilization. And that's where he stayed.

In the months that followed, Discord gradually became worse. He was ungovernable, angry, demanding, rude, dishonest, sneaky and bitter. His chaos powers got even more out of hand, deliberately now, but he didn't care. Why should I, he reasoned. He had truly become a beast.

'I'm right here, you know!'

Anyway, Celestia and Luna had had enough. They would be letting their subjects down if they didn't stop Discord sometime soon. And so, they came up with a plan.

One cold winter's night, an old begger pony arrived at Discord's castle and offered him a single rose in exchange for shelter from the bitter Wind and rain. Discord was repulsed by her haggard appearance. True, he was no male model...

'I can hear you!'

But... but this mare truly was ugly. He sneered at the rose. What would he want with a rose? He was the Lord of Chaos for crying out loud?!

'That's like so true! I mean, I can't count the number of times that I actually have to introduce myself to ponies! I'm a celebrity! Twilight, you even wrote and published this story!'

Anyway, moving swifly on... he had a garden of roses, but he only ate the flowers when he was bored. He therefore turned the old mare away.

The old mare turned around as if to leave, but instead she took a feeble step forward. She warned him not to be disceived by appearances, as true beauty can only be found within. Discord didn't know how she knew of his prejudices, but he didn't dwell on it. He didn't want to make sense of her wise words. He felt only anger and self pity inside, not Beauty. To make the mistake of living somepony risked the pain he felt at Celestia's rejection. He didn't want to go through that again. He scoffed at the old mare's warning and dismissed her again.

Immediately, the old mare's ugliness away to reveal Princess Luna. She seemed almost near to tears as she explained that Celestia had sent her to test him, and the results weren't good. The misery of those affected by his actions would get worse. He had failed to show fellow feeling.

Discord tried to apologize, the first time he'd done so in years, but it was too late, for Luna had seen that there was no love in his heart. She decided to punish him. If he didn't learn to love and earn her love in return, he would not be turned into stone by the Elements of Harmony. The rose that Luna offered him was an enchanted rose, which would bloom for about a thousand years, and if he failed by the time the last petal fell, he'd be imprisoned in stone forever.

Luna offered a gift to Discord; a magic mirror, which would him anything that it was asked. Then she left, but not before saying that she hoped that everything would turn out all right for him. She explained that he had always been like a brother to her and that she was just trying to help him.

Ashamed of himself, Discord, now calling himself the Beast, concealed himself inside the castle. It seemed that Luna had guessed that this might happen, for the Magic Mirror became his only and rarely used window to the outside world.

The rose was placed safely under a bell jar to prevent any posdible damage done to it. It remained in Discord's bedroom, the West Wing, a silent glowing reminder of his impending doom. Well, he looked at it that way. Really, it was meant to be a symbol of hope.

And time did pass. Equestria moved on. Using the mirror, Discord found out that Luna had become evil, Nightmare Moon and had been banished to the moon with the Elements of Harmony. Discord called her a hypocrite because of this and became even more depressed. He'd fallen into the deep pit of despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

Comments

[Roisin the Irish pony]

Mistakes! Mistakes! Mistakes! Why do I make so many of them?!

[Roisin the Irish pony]

Yes, Twilight's the narrator. I regret nothing.

[Roisin the Irish pony]

I know that I'm not the world',s best writer, please have mercy on me! ( Puts on chainmail, helmet and bullet proof vest)

[Angelic Wing]

Great first chapter

[DaydreamsOfAStranger]

6922625

Would you like someone to edit this? Because I wouldn't mind working on it