Gifts from a friend

by Element of Malice

Alternate Ending

With his sadistically charming smile, the stallion gently brushed Fluttershy’s hair behind her ear and softly stroked her cheek. He then tenderly lifted her chin.

Fluttershy gave a weak moan as she strained to keep her eyes open, but she was quickly losing the battle. She couldn't even gather the strength to spit on him, and she so wanted to.

“And to think, in another timeline, I would've been considered one of your ‘real friends.’ Who am I kidding? From the moment I laid eyes on you, I would have even asked you to be my fiance. Too bad that’s all in the past. No hard feelings really, I just took into account that if I only went after Twilight, you and the gang would have banded together and defeated me before I got my chance to shine. But the way I see it, this is proof that I am superior to her and you in every way, succeeding where all those other fools had failed. Oh, they will be talking about this for generations.”

Without warning, the stallion pulled Fluttershy into an embrace. His hooves felt like they were slithering under her skin. In response, her muscle memory tensed as it would if cold, wet, slimy tentacles were wrapping around her body.

Hearing Fluttershy rapidly breathing uneven breaths, the stallion started softly shushing her and stroking her main. “You’re okay, this isn’t hurting you. You do understand me after all, right? Seeing as how you spend a lot of time alone.” Her breathing did calm down but that didn’t mean she was any less horrified about being this close to this embodiment of a nightmare. “For so long, that's how I’ve felt. I'm tired of being nothing and considered less than an afterthought, but right now with you, I feel complete.”

A muffled boom sounded in the distance making the stallion’s smile just a bit wider and much more sinister.

“And it sounds like Twilight... is history.”

Fluttershy did the only thing she could do and closed her eyes. That was moments before she felt his lips press against hers. She had never been so terrified in her life, but her body was too weak to even shake. There was no hope of preventing him from doing whatever he wanted to her. And after what he had just said, the things that came to mind were anything but pleasant.

He eventually pulled away, then maneuvered to Fluttershy’s side. “I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry yourself. True, I may be a vengeful murderer merely seeking much-deserved attention, but even I wouldn’t stoop to that.” The stallion actually seemed to retch at having to even allude to the act, offering her a single look of pity.

The stallion nuzzled her, sliding his hoof to her cheek, causing it to pull against her throat, slightly tilting her head to the side. He then sniffed her mane before whispering into her ear. “Sweet dreams, my little angel. You’ll be with all your ‘real friends’ soon enough.”

“Pardon my intrusion, but I wouldn’t happen to be interrupting a heartfelt reunion. Am I?” That last sentence was dripping with malice, despite its friendly first impression.

Fluttershy knew that voice. Hearing it gave her all the strength she was looking for to open her eyes.

The very moment her gaze fell on Discord, her vision blurred, her eyes welling up as tears gushed down her cheeks. Fluttershy felt boundless relief as she unconsciously made soft sobbing noises.

She wanted to do more than that, though. Fluttershy wanted to rush over and use her shining beacon of hope as a shield to put between herself and the monster currently having his way with her. Yet despite her deepest desires for this nightmare to end, Fluttershy’s immobilized limbs refused to comply.

“Not at all. I was just leaving,” the stallion calmly responded, the smug smile still plastered on his face. “As you can see, she is rather gah— tired. The poor thing.” He was promptly interrupted by talons wrapping themselves around his throat multiple times and digging deep into his flesh before the tips turned into hissing venomous snakeheads.

“Oh hello, what might your names be?” The stallion struggled to say with a joyous smile.

“Don’t play games with me, punk. Now tell me what you’re doing to her!”

“Boop.” The stallion poked Discord on the nose and coughed up a chuckle like a crazed lunatic.

The world turned red. Discord morphed into a cartoonish-looking monster, speckled with white accents deep within his black exterior and blood-red eyes.

“Ooh, you look mad. Are you having one of those days?”

The stallion’s bravado lessened as Discord’s greatly enlarged lion paw clamped hard around his entire body, the arm bulging with angry muscles that could snap a full-grown tree with ease.

“If you don’t tell me everything, I will sprout fungus from your eyeballs and cram you in a straight jacket made out of your own hide!” Discord shouted, fracturing the very fabric of reality.

Choking the words past the strangulation, the stallion managed to speak out. “I haven’t hurt a hair on her head. Believe me. If that were my intention, I would have done this.”

There was the snapping sound of bone as Fluttershy’s head was twisted violently by his magic, her limp body falling to the floor like a bag of potatoes.

“See? That’s a big difference, isn’t it?”

With a huff of pure fury, black flames escaping his nostrils, Discord stared directly into the stallion's soul, through his very existence, past the cosmos of the infinite universe and… right over my shoulder?

“Oh, now this is interesting, Mr. Narrator.”

Discord. No spoilers.

Discord, what are you— Don't touch the script! Hey! Give it back!

“Give me one reason why I should.”

You realize all I have to do is say the words, and you will have no choice but to comply.

Discord pondered the words I said and decided to hand the manuscript back to me…

And he handed it back to me…

Against his own will, Discord's body moved to hand back what he…

“Will you put a sock in it?!”

Why isn’t this working? It usually does.

“Hmmm. That’s quite sneaky and underhanded, I have to admit, having him be a mere clone of the mirror pond. I could have all manner of fun with him, and yet it would matter so little in the grand scheme of things. That would have ruined my plan to turn him into my very own mobile, tossed salad garden or make him immortal and unkillable for the price of his magic only to trap him in my realm.”

I said, no spoilers. Give me back my manuscript, Discord, now!

“Oh, yes, that would also allow him to attend the funeral. Handing out eternal sleep flowers for everyone ‘to pay his respects.’ And please. I was to die with Sunshine, Moony, Twilight’s brother, and his family during the procession by a spinning chandelier built with anti-magic crossbow-bolts firing explosives!? Probably would have fallen for that, too, except you forgot one minor detail.

And….what’s that?

“I'm Discord, the Lord of Chaos!”

Whoa, easy. Calm down. I’m just the narrator. Ever heard of ‘don’t shoot the messenger’? ...wait. No, Discord! That was a figure of speech, don't shoot me! Plea-!

“I’ll do you one better. ‘I don’t care!’ I am the narrator now, and I will certainly not let…

“Huh, I guess he never did have a name. More power to me! From now on, he will be known as Brainless Paramecium. Now, time to alter the outcome in my favor.

“I sat down at the desk of the late narrator and licked my talon, causing it to spark like flint on steel. A feather erupted out the top of my talon as I rewrote the fate of Brainless Paramecium.”

Author's Note:

This is a visual of how Discord sort of looked.

and a relatable video.

And be sure to check out the sequel Paralysis a commissioned request I made for Novelle Tale to write.

Comments

[Vaguely Demented]

Fascinating traps. Only one that seems a bit off is AJ as I’m not sure how it would know when to do what it did, whereas all the others seemed to either have built in activation methods or just did their job by being there. Also while his moves against Twilight make perfect sense it would have been nice if there was a reason for his actions against the other 5 and the others beyond. Regardless a great bit of horror.

[PacifistDoodl3r]

This is proof it's never too late to have a (hopefully) iconic horror fic!

[Element of Malice]

10770989

Only one that seems a bit off is AJ as I’m not sure how it would know when to do what it did,

Simple it was from the weight of the apples in the almost full barrel. And to tell you the truth, AJ was the hardest one to figure out.

[Vaguely Demented]

10771169
Ah. Yeah that makes sense. Suppose the only problem then would be wether AJ or Big Mac was closest.

[Element of Malice]

10771207
What do you mean by that?

Additionally, now that I’m not as busy as before IRL,

Also while his moves against Twilight make perfect sense it would have been nice if there was a reason for his actions against the other 5 and the others beyond

The idea was that he wanted to take care of everything even remotely Twilight related. That would also include her friends and family and admirers and so on and so forth.

BTY, what did you think of his plan Discord spoiled in the alternate ending?

[Element of Malice]

10771045
Thank you, might I ask what made you think it was worthy of being considered, as you put it, ‘iconic?’

[Vaguely Demented]

10771589
Well you said it was weight based, so assumedly it was waiting till it needed to be unloaded or something, if at some point over the course of it Big Mac had been minding it instead of AJ it could have gotten him instead. Admittedly the later portion of the plan would likely have done AJ in.

As for what’s revealed during Discord’s alternate end it was a good and effective method for ensuring his survival while still giving him a method to check up on things. Do have to question how he would think that he would have such direct control over the funeral, as I can imagine that would be in the hooves of Luna or Celestia depending on how distraught anyone would be. Also I am surprised he wouldn’t have more definitive personal plans for Celestia and Luna. As Celestia had wronged him by inaction and Luna would arguably be the biggest part of Twilight’s legacy.

Also brief question, was the Twilight trap inspired by the microscope in The Phantom?

[Element of Malice]

10771622

Also brief question, was the Twilight trap inspired by the microscope in The Phantom?

Yes and no. It was, only to the point to have her be exactly in the right place for the best effectiveness. As for the rest of what you stated, the story was mostly improvised, I wrote it in three days after I concocted it up in one afternoon (mostly rough draft material).

But if you think about it, what better way to have all of them gather in one place? And assuming things had gone according to plan, Discord having handled the perpetrator, or him getting away with it, him being there would be (more or less) unthinkable. You follow?

if at some point over the course of it Big Mac had been minding it instead of AJ it could have gotten him instead

It was mentioned that it could only fit her, so it was too small for Big Mac to use.

[PacifistDoodl3r]

10771600
I... read the alternate ending. Good story nonetheless. Maybe my high praise does seem a bit over flattering?

[Element of Malice]

10771680
Not at all.

[Element of Malice]

10771982
All to prove that he is superior. He even held his own against Discord. For almost 5 or something minutes.

[flutterJackdash]

This wasn't a bad read, though I have difficulty believing he could remain smug in the moment he knew he'd still remain nothing. Since being nothing had been his entire motivation, the idea that he'd die and never go on to have any notoriety whatsoever doesn't really work well. He played each mare pretty well, but unless he had the greatest possible fashion taste in addition to his impressive intellect, he'd never have gotten Rarity to wear the necklace right out of the box.

Still, well written. It kept me moving to the next chapter, despite me telling myself I shouldn't be reading this at 2 in the morning. Ah, but I'll sleep just fine. Oh, for the record, I asked about how he'd handle Discord before I moved on to the alternate ending, and I'm not sure why Discord wouldn't move Flutteshy out of the danger zone first, and he's plenty powerful enough, and frequently omniscient enough, to not have to ask what the fellow is doing in the first place.

But, yeah, the whole motivation was apparently his lack of notoriety, his being overlooked and his greatness not being acknowledge, so the moment that was a wash he should have been a ball of rage according to that dynamic.

Never did get to what happened with Spike, either.

[Element of Malice]

10810550
I’m currently working on attempting to improve the story, but as I said to another user in the comments:

the story was mostly improvised, I wrote it in three days after I concocted it up in one afternoon (mostly rough draft material)

As for his smugness. It was his clone being used as a backup. And his goal had been achieved by eliminating Twilight. A feat of that magnitude would definitely be noteworthy. But yes he greatly underestimated Discord.

he's plenty powerful enough, and frequently omniscient enough, to not have to ask what the fellow is doing in the first place.

There was this instance,

[flutterJackdash]

10810590
Well, awesome writing for such a short period spent on it, I have to say. Even if more time had been spent on it, honestly.

So, does his clone not have any mind of its/his own? That kind of ego seems to indicate that a clone might actually backfire.

Anyway, it's a good story and I enjoyed the read.

Although, Twi is a mare of more than 5 friends, not a few of which are rather powerful indeed. Did this individual honestly plan for every last eventuality? I guess I'm a fan now, heh.

[Element of Malice]

10810862

Did this individual honestly plan for every last eventuality

In the alternate ending, Discord leaked the information that it was to be done during the funeral, where all the friends and families of the Elements of Harmony bearers would attend. But that was before the narrator was replaced.

So, does his clone not have any mind of its/his own? That kind of ego seems to indicate that a clone might actually backfire

I don’t know much more about them than what was shown in ‘Too Many Pinkie Pies’ but it would appear that their personality matches those of the original, and they can be taught.

[flutterJackdash]

10811111

In the alternate ending, Discord leaked the information that it was to be done during the funeral, where all the friends and families of the Elements of Harmony bearers would attend. But that was before the narrator was replaced.

Oooh yeah yeah yeah, right, that was explained, my apologies.

So, does his clone not have any mind of its/his own? That kind of ego seems to indicate that a clone might actually backfire

True, but they have enough self awareness to want to live and sorta set their own goals, yeah?

[Element of Malice]

10811128
My answer to the question about the clone, as stated in my previous comment:

I don’t know much more about them than what was shown in ‘Too Many Pinkie Pies’ but it would appear that their personality matches those of the original, and they can be taught.

In said episode, the Pinkies we're fully aware of the consequences if they became distracted from watching the paint dry, but they still did anyway. So I do suppose that they have a mind of their own.

[Element of Malice]

10848147
I was leaning towards jump scare realization, I’m glad you liked the first chapter. Have you read the other ones? Which was your favorite?