Kindness and the Seed of Shadow

by Raven-Flight

It all started with a question

Author's Note:

This AU bears some similarity to MLP canon. If any clarification on the differences is desired, please read or comment on this post.

“One lump, or two?”

“Just one will do for me, thank you.” Rarity lifted the teacup with her magic to allow Fluttershy to drop in a single sugar cube. Her spoon clinked conspicuously against the cup as it stirred the mixture. When she finally raised the drink to her lips, she paused. Her eyes were strained and gleaming.

“Rarity, is something wrong?” Fluttershy put down her teacup and leaned forward as well as she was able.

“I-it’s nothing, darling.” The unicorn sighed and set down her own cup. “Okay, it’s not nothing. I’m just a little distraught that Applejack is leaving us so soon. Now that I’ve begun feeling settled and comfortable in Canterlot, she’s going back to Ponyville and things are going to change again. I’m going to miss seeing her.”

“We all will, but she’ll visit sometimes, or you could visit her. I don’t think it will be much different from when Pinkie and Rainbow left. Even though Applejack is relocating like they did, she’s not really going to be all the way gone.”

“Oh, I know,” Rarity huffed. “But still.” She took a jam cookie off the plate and chewed it forcefully. Fluttershy sipped her tea while Rarity finished and sighed again. “I’m already getting busier with the boutique, and the farm is a full-time job for Applejack—more than full-time. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie still manage to return to Canterlot at least once a week, but I just don’t see how it could be possible for Applejack to visit even half as frequently.”

“You’re worried our friendships with Applejack will change if she’s not in our lives as much.”

“Why, yes! I’ve really come to depend on her! Who else could advise me in my business ventures with such forthrightness? And you know, she was even coaching me through a little physical training to help me get stronger. I won’t know how to proceed without her experience and patience!”

“Wow, Rarity, I knew you and Applejack were good friends, but I hadn’t realized just how much your relationship had developed! I guess I understand now why you’re having trouble accepting this change.”

Rarity carefully set her teacup down on the table, then raised a hoof to her forehead and flung herself backward into the sofa. “Oh, whatever shall I do, Fluttershy?”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

“Yes, of course, darling!” The unicorn sat back up again, and it was obvious that she was trying hard to hold back tears. “She said she was sad too, but she just couldn’t stay here in good conscience! She said it wasn’t fair to leave Big Mac and Apple Bloom with all the farm chores and with caring for Granny Smith. I understand her point, but oh, why must fate divide us so?” Here, Rarity draped herself over the sofa again.

“What if you wrote each other letters? I know it’s not the same as being together in person, but at least that would help you stay present in each others’ lives.”

“What a fabulous idea!” Rarity jolted back upright, knocking her teacup over as she did. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She picked up the empty cup in her magic and set it right, but there was still a puddle of earl grey on the table and dripping down to the floor.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” Fluttershy rocked herself back and forth until she had enough momentum to heave herself off the chaise lounge. When all four cloven hooves met the floor, she made her way to the kitchen to fetch some towels. She tossed a few over her back and heard Rarity calling from the other room.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“It’s fine,” she replied as she approached the spill. But when Fluttershy placed a towel on the table to start wiping, Rarity stopped her.

“You must at least let me do that part, darling.” Rarity took all the towels in her magic and soon had the entire mess cleaned up. Once she had a new cup of tea in her hooves and the table setting was back to the way it had been, Fluttershy moved to sit down again. It took her a very long ten seconds to carefully lower herself back into the chair. Rarity’s brow furrowed as she watched.

“I’m very sorry, Fluttershy dear, I shouldn’t have made you get up like that.”

“Oh, I don’t really mind moving around a little. It’s kind of hard right now, but I’m trying to enjoy it while I still can.”

“I’m sure, darling! You must be due any time now, yes?”

“Not for another six weeks.”

“Surely you must be joking! How can you still have six weeks left?”

Fluttershy giggled self-consciously. She knew she looked about has huge as she felt. “Its father was, um, not exactly a small stallion. I guess the foal is planning to take after him in that regard!”

“Well, I hope it… goes alright for you. I mean, of course it will!” They both laughed uncomfortably, and Fluttershy munched on a jam cookie to fill the silence. Rarity was about to sip her tea, then leaned forward instead. “Do you ever wonder just how much your foal might take after its father?”

“Um, yes. How exactly do you mean?”

“I mean what, well you see… Oh, there’s just no good way to put this, is there? Please pardon my asking, but do you have any idea what it’s going to be?”

“Rarity, you already know I wanted to wait until the foal is born to find out what it is. I don’t really care whether it’s a colt or a filly, since I plan to raise it just the same either way.”

“No, I mean—” Rarity planted a hoof on her forehead. “I mean what race. Will it be a normal pegasus, or a bat pony or shadow pony, or perhaps some kind of… combination, I suppose?”

Fluttershy blinked. Yes, she’d thought of that, a little. “Do you think that matters very much?”

“It certainly does! Do you know much about shadow ponies? It might have different needs than a… more typical foal, you know. Why, you ought to prepare yourself as much as possible for anything!”

“Oh my. You might be right. Maybe I should do some research.” As Fluttershy recalled, the father of her foal was enough above his own physical existence that he didn’t even need to sleep if he didn’t want to. How would she get through the next few years of her life caring for a foal that never slept?

“Fluttershy, dear.”

“Huh?” The pegasus startled out of her thoughts.

“Don’t fret about it. Whatever happens, you know I’ll always be happy to assist you in any way you need, and the others will too, when they’re around.” Rarity’s confident smile was contagious, and Fluttershy smiled back.

“Thank you.”

When the time eventually came for Rarity to be on her way, Fluttershy dug out some of her old, unused stationary and gave it to her. After all, she had mostly needed it to write to Discord, many moons ago, but now that their correspondence was broken, she didn’t need so much of it. Rarity, for her part, was giddy with delight. She made overtures of writing and sending off a letter to Applejack that very day, even though Applejack herself wasn’t leaving Canterlot until tomorrow.

“That way she’ll have a letter already waiting for her when she gets home,” she had said on her way out the door. Fluttershy only giggled and waved goodbye.

As soon as the door was closed, Discord appeared in a flash of confetti.

“Oh, I thought she would never leave! Flutterdear, how was your little tea party? Any news, any wild ideas, any juicy gossip?” His tail wagged back and forth so fast, it blew the confetti off the floor and into a rainbow maelstrom in the middle of the room. Just as quickly, it blew itself out, and the house was spotless once more.

“Well—”

“How are you feeling? Why are you still standing? Are you tired? Let me help you!” Hardly a syllable of protest had escaped Fluttershy’s throat before Discord had teleported her onto the chaise lounge and propped up her hooves. The draconequus whizzed about fetching pillows and a blanket, fresh tea and a bowl of butterscotch candies. When he finally calmed down, he was holding a huge page of typewritten text and gently fanning it over Fluttershy. She could see it read “Marvelous Minty’s Mediocre Monday” at the top.

“Discord, I’m okay. You don’t need to do all this.”

“Oh, but I do! This isn’t for you, you see, it’s for me! I worry about you and sometimes I just need to do something about it.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “But there’s nothing to do for me right now, so you’ve made up something to do to make yourself feel better.”

“Precisely!” He bent down and gave her a peck on the cheek, then resumed his fanning. “Just let me have this, alright?”

“Alright,” she giggled. Fluttershy reached out from under the blanket and took one of the candies to suck on.

“So, you were going to tell me about your time with Rarity, I believe?”

“Oh! Right. Well, Rarity was feeling pretty downcast about Applejack moving back to Ponyville tomorrow. She had a lot to say about how important Applejack is in her new life here in Canterlot.”

“Ugh, how mundane! She knows I could teleport her back and forth for visits as often as she’d like, right? I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“Rarity and the others have certainly accepted that you’re going to be a regular part of their lives now because of me, but I think they’d all rather you not make yourself too much of a daily presence...”

“I can’t imagine why not. It seems none but you and I have a good taste in companions!” Here Discord paused to bask in Fluttershy’s giggle. “Ah, well, I suppose you would know them best. I certainly don’t want to spend any more time in your friends’ ill favor, for your sake. But do go on: did Rare-rare have anything actually interesting to say?”

It took Fluttershy a moment to reply, as she was busy incredulously mouthing “Rare-rare” to herself. When she had gotten over her mild shock, she brought up her new worries about the possible race of her foal. “Do you know anything about shadow ponies that might help us?”

Discord yawned. “I never paid the shadow ponies much mind, honestly. I can tell you their dark magic is pretty dangerous to anycreature except myself. But hey!” Discord suddenly jumped up and hovered over Fluttershy to look more directly into her face. The giant sheet of paper kept on fanning. “Is this really a matter of concern? Do you mean to say you might produce a foal that’s not the same race as you?” His eyes were wide with fascination.

“...yes? That’s how reproduction works for mammals, and since it’s not just me, but me and the father that’s produced this foal, it stands to reason that the foal might end up having many of its father’s traits. You don’t… know this?”

Discord huffed. “Normally, I’d punish you for mocking me, but you’re just too delicate for that. Yes, come to think of it, I guess some part of me was aware of how that all works. I just never had a reason to care….” He trailed off and started drifting away in the breeze from the fan.

“Discord?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m going to visit the castle tomorrow morning. I’d like to do some research in the library.”

“That’s nice.” His voice was further away and Fluttershy watched him drift on until he had passed right through the wall. He seemed lost in thought about something, but at least he wasn’t interested in convincing her not to leave the cottage.

“Bye, dear!” she called after him, then took another butterscotch candy and lost herself in her own contemplations.

Comments

[taterforlife]

A sequel! A sequel, a sequel, a sequel!
You write everypony and Discord so well. I love how he makes excuses to make himself feel better, but it's a sweet kind of selfishness.

I kinda hope his relationships with the others improve. He needs more than just Fluttershy.

A very good start to what I'm sure will be another great story!

[Raven-Flight]

10238048
Don't get too excited, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to turn this little series into a trilogy! I've already sketched the plot for the final installment, but you're right: Discord needs to work on his other friendships! There will be a little bit of that coming up here, but I'll try to remember to explore that in more detail in the next story. Thanks for the read!

[Heartstrings1]

YES YES YESSSSS A SEQUEL

“...yes? That’s how reproduction works for mammals,

The ocs be like

[Raven-Flight]

10248114
Those poor OCs! I'm sure somepony in magical ponyland knows a spell or two to make equine reproduction more... flexible. In this universe, Flutters probably hasn't given the idea much thought. She is surrounded by all her unmagical animal friends, after all.