Fluttershy and the Beast

by Roisin the Irish pony

Forever

Fluttershy and Muffins were nearly falling asleep as they flew along just above the ground. They had been following Sweetie Belle's hoofprints hoping that they'd lead them somewhere. They were only awake through worry about Sweetie Belle.

They had now come deep into the valley, Fluttershy had guessed that much. Occasionally, she thought she heard distant noises, probably a fox or owl, but they never ventured out into the open.

The temperature began to drop and kept on dropping. It was now six o' clock in the evening. It wasn't usually too cold at this time of day, but nevertheless she shivered and her teeth chattered,although not uncontrollably.

Abruptly, they stopped. The tracks ended at a large mansion. There was a possibility that Sweetie Belle was there. After all, there were no more tracks to be found. She looked at the mansion properly. What was it doing here in this lonely, harsh place? Was it abandoned? Or did some eccentric pony live here in the middle of nowhere? Had they found Sweetie Belle? Were they taking care of her? She hoped so.

'What is this place?' She said more to herself than Muffins. Well, they could always shelter here for the night. Even if it was abandoned, stone walls were good shelter for one night.

For such a grand mansion, it didn't have any real security like monstrous iron gates, it was very easy to access. Fluttershy tested the door. It opened as easily as putting a hot knife through butter. Who would leave a grand mansion which was probably full of fine,expensive things wide open for the world and its dog to just waltz in. Well, all that mattered now was looking for Sweetie Belle. Both of them stepped inside. 'Hello?'

Her voice echoed inside the cavernous hall. Both of them had never seem a room so big, so fine, that had gone to wreck and ruin. The floors were made of dark marble and the colonnaded stories and balconies above them were made out of carefully carved stone. Close by was a small but still grand staircase. On closer inspection, both of them realized that everything was incredibly dusty and dirty.

It took all of Fluttershy's strength to close the door. Immediately the air temperature began to rise by several degrees and she sighed with relief. She began to advance down the hall. Muffins followed her closely.

In the centre, both of them stopped. They heard nothing. Surely if somepony was there, they would come out to meet them. After all, that door was creaking really loudly. And wouldn't Sweetie Belle hear them and possibly call for them?

'Is anyone here?' Muffins called out. Still nothing. She shrugged her shoulders. Both of them decided to conduct a thorough search of the building. Fluttershy would look downstairs and in the grounds for her, whilst Muffins would look upstairs.

This place was very strange. It was clearly lived in,the living room had a roaring fire in the grate, but apart from that, there was no other evidence. However there was dust and cobwebs everywhere and the place was overrun with insects, rats and spiders. Whoever was living there must be very lazy or even I'll

Eventually, she realized that somepony was watching her. It made her feel easily and she wanted to fly out of that front door and never go back! But, no, she had to stay, she had to. She had to find Sweetie Belle.

Suddenly, there was a creak behind her. She spun around. 'Sweetie Belle?'

There was no reply, but the door at the end of the hall was half open. Flickering light spilled from behind it. Fluttershy hurried forward and peered around the door. Sure enough, there was light down there. Somepony was down there. 'Hello?' She called. 'Is anypony there?' She thought that she heard footsteps but she wasn't sure and the light began to fade. She decided to follow.

'Wait!' Fluttershy called after whoever it was. She hurried down those stairs after the light. There were a lot of stairs and soon Fluttershy was beginning to pant. 'Wait, please, I'm looking for my friend Sweetie Belle...'

Meanwhile, Discord hung the lamp onto the hook and crouched down in the right corner of the dungeon, waiting for her. He smiled evily.

Abruptly the stairs ended at the last curve. She was now in the dungeon. All she could see was a small lamp hanging on a hook. She took it off and held it up. The dungeon was bigger than she thought. On both sides of the room, there were ten large cells.

'That's funny,' said Fluttershy murmured to herself. It wasn't though. She felt that this was too weird and creepy and she wanted to go home, but she swallowed her fear and continued. 'Is anypony there?'

At long last, from the far end of the room, there came a weak voice. 'Fluttershy?' Fluttershy ran towards the voice, finding Sweetie Belle in the last cell. She flung herself at the cell. From behind the barred grate set nearly at the floor was Sweetie Belle's beloved face. She thrust a hoof between the bars, and she caught it in hers and squeezed it tightly.

'How did you find me?' She stuttered. Fluttershy could hear her shivering.

'Your Hooves are like ice!' She exclaimed. She was as warm as toast after flying for so long and walking around the castle, but poor Sweetie Belle was as cold as if she had been out in the dead of winter.

'Fluttershy, you must leave. He's here. He put me here because I was poking my nose into things that I shouldn't have. He's really angry, it's too dangerous, you must leave me!'

'No! I won't leave you!'

Fluttershy would have argued further but for a few things. As if on que,something enormous seized her shoulder and wrenched her around. Her lamp flew from a sudden numb hoof. It managed to go dead in the process, leaving the room in semidarkness. There was a roar around her, a sound of pure anger, evil and malice 'What are you doing here?'

Sweetie Belle screamed hysterically. 'Fly, Fluttershy, fly!'

That was impossible although whatever had grabbed her had let her go. Fluttershy found herself kneeling by Sweetie Belle's cell, with her back against it. A hulking shadow stood between her and the staircase.

'Who's there? Who are you?' Whimpered Fluttershy.

The figure laughed mockingly. 'Why, I'm the Master of this Mansion! I'm Discord, the Lord of Chaos! And you are Fluttershy and you've come for your friend Sweetie Belle. How sweet, how touching. Friends looking out for each other. How terribly Corny and boring!' He exaggerated a yawn.

'Please, can't you let Sweetie Belle out? Can't you see she's sick?'

Discord thought for a minute. 'Nope! You see, she trespassed on my property, but I treated her like you do with a guest, she repaired me by trespassing into my bedroom and tried to steal my magical rose. So, if you add it all altogether, she has to pay the price by being my prisoner, forever!' He chuckled.

'Please! I'll do anything!'

'Really? Well, then, you can stay here forever!

Fluttershy gasped. Stay here with this whatever he was, forever! She couldn't bare thinking about it. But at least Sweetie Belle and Muffins would be safe.

'You have my word!'

'No, Fluttershy, you don't know what you're doing! I'm in this mess because of my own selfishness and stupidity! I should stay here!'

Fluttershy ignored her poor friends cries. She bravely looked into Discord' eyes, but she could only speak in a squeak.

'You heard me. You have my word. Let her go!'

'Excellent!' Discord exclaimed, snapping his fingers. A pumpkin carriage appeared, with Sweetie Belle and Muffins inside. He snapped his fingers again only for the carriage to disappear and for himself and Fluttershy to be in a guest bedroom.

'This is your room. The castle is your home now, so you can go anywhere you like, except for the West wing. I'm sure that you have learned from Sweetie Belle's story. Oh, and you will have dinner with me tomorrow. That is not a request. Pick out a dress from that wardrobe there. And tomorrow, we will talk.'

The tears did not begin to fall until he had left. Then Fluttershy threw herself onto the bed and began to cry until she fell asleep.

Comments

[Roisin the Irish pony]

I know that Discord seems to be two completely different draconecquui in this, one minute he's really nice to Sweete Belle, and the next minute, he's locking her up!

[Jade Crossroads]

6968986 I can understand that, but this chapters seems really rushed as it reaches the end.

[Mythic Eithne 597]

6968569
If you're talking about the 6 Swans then yeah it is a Grimms fairy tale: there are so many different stories though that have similar storylines that maybe you've heard of something similar that there probably is one from Hans Christian Anderson. But the 6 Swans that I know is a Grimms fairy tale. The other 2 I mentioned are just little love stories I found when searching the internet one time.

I like that there are some differences from the original story, and let me guess, will the rest of the mane 6 be looking for her while she's with Discord? Although I do feel like this chapter was a bit rushed.

[Roisin the Irish pony]

6969012 I understand, but by the time I'm finishing the chapter, I just can't be bothered with it.

Maybe instead of uploading new chapters, I should try to improve the other chapters.

Anyway, thanks for your feedback.

[Jade Crossroads]

6976268 No problem.

It was still an interesting chapter, but it is a good idea to improve chapters when they ever off a bit. I've found not many people will point you out on it though, a thing I can't tell is good or not.

[Toonsgirl]

The chapter felt a little bit rushed at the end. Some more descriptions would have been nice like SB's reaction to Fluttershy taking her place.

[Roisin the Irish pony]

6984883 Don't worry, I'm going to start fixing the chapters over the next few days.