The last pearl.
It had been over a hundred years.. Fluttershy's cottage on the edge of the Everfree forest has remained in impeccable shape thanks to it's current caretaker.
With a groan and a stretch, the brown pegasus mare looked up at the sun as she did her morning gardening, her long, pink and red striped mane flowing in the breeze, mixing with her similarly coloured tail, at times blurring where one ended and another began, one of her brilliant red eyes glanced at her cutie mark, a trio of pink candy clouds, which prompted her to chuckle.
To the ponies of Ponyville she goes by the name of Cloud Candy, known for two things, first is that she's the latest of a line of ponies descended from Fluttershy, the second is her candy stall that sells special cotton candy made of the clouds the weather team needs disposed of. She is also close friends with the Princess of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle.
But, like anypony,she has her secrets.
Most of them involve the way she makes her cotton candy clouds...well all of them do actually, because she only has two secrets.
Her name isn't Cloud Candy, and she isn't really a pony.
Her real name is Discord, and she... or really he, is a Draconequus.
For the past hundred years he has disguised himself as pegasus mares of varying names and professions, claiming to be descended from his good friend Fluttershy.
If you ask any historian, one that isn't ageless and immortal... or a dragon, then they'll tell you that Discord and Fluttershy agreed to have a foal together, with him magically impregnating her and the stress of the foaling on her body causing her to die as she delivered the foal.
They will also tell you that Discord, mad, even moreso than usual, with grief and guilt left the foal in the care of Princess Twilight while he returned to Tartarus to compose himself.
If you were to ask the Princess's, swear to an oath of secrecy, sign a waiver or twelve and live in constant fear of the truth slipping from your lips... or a dragon and offer up one of six one of a kind gems, they might, might tell you that's a lie.
The truth is that Fluttershy took ill, and due to her natural frailty it only got worse and worse until she was at death's door, knocking feebly and politely to ask for a day or two more, if that was alright with Death of course, naturally he said yes, because she was the first polite visitor he'd had in twenty thousand years.
It was at that time Discord appeared before her one night, while Princess Twilight and her other friends were gathered round her bed trying to help her recover, and offered her a deal.
"I can help you live on through more than just memory, the world needs more Ponies like you my dear, and I wouldn't think twice of... bending the rules for you." he told her.
When she asked for more details he whispered them to her, and she declined.
Before the amalgam of mismatched parts could leave however, she rose her hoof.
"however... if you can wait, wait until everypony in this room except for Twilight is buried next to me, then I will allow you and you alone to have what you seek." Before he could speak, she continued, no doubt struck by a thought. "a natural death at their correct time Discord, not a second earlier."
The draconequus mulled it over for a minute before replying. "I accept, but we'll need a special contract."
With much pestering, Twilight pinched off the tiniest bits of her other friends life forces and bound them to a scroll, upon which the contract was written.
Instead of the four though, there were seven. One for each of the now marked crusaders who had insisted on being a part of it.
It was twenty years after she passed before 'Sweet Rain' moved into the abandoned cottage, turning it into a homemade sweet shop. She grew up, got pregnant, had a foal, grew old and 'died'.
'Peppermint Storm' was the next to do so, following in her the hoofsteps of one of her 'mother's' friends, she became a stunt flier, joining the Wonderbolts and becoming captain before retiring to raise a family.
'Cloud Candy' was in her 30's, and had reopened the sweet shop her 'grandmother' had started, and throughout it all, the scroll hung on the wall in the wardrobe of her bedroom.
'Cloud Candy' made a habit of checking the scroll daily now. There was just one little pearl of light left.
One, out of the seven that were there.
Pinkie Pie had passed shortly afterwards due to a mouse and a gas pipe on an oven.
Rainbow Dash had been next, overestimating herself in her advanced age.
Rarity, suffered a heart attack from the stress of her career.
Scootaloo met a tragic end due to a bird and mach one flight.
Applejack died of old age at one hundred and twenty.
Sweetie Belle died of old age as well at eighty nine, she was still performing live to sold out arena's.
And now it was Applebloom's turn, the old mare had already lived longer than her sister and grandmother, but her life was fading fast now that she was a hundred and sixty two.
There was a knock at the door, prompting Discord to close the wardrobe and assume the form of Cloud Candy, with skilled wingwork she tied her apron on and made her way downstairs, opening the door with a close eyed smile.
"Welcome to Everfree Treats, can I help you find anything?"
"Hey Candy." A middle aged unicorn mare trotted in. "Just the usual today." She smiled.
"Of course Lace. A bag of Diamondbreakers and Starbusters coming right up!" 'Cloud' replied and set about fetching the requested foodstuffs. "On the family tab like usual?"
"Yeah. Mom will send Spike down with some bits to pay at the end of the month." The lavender unicorn replied. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, her mane and tail were bright pink with streaks of indigo through it, both styled to that 'perfectly messy' look. Her cutie mark was a star cut diamond with a lace trim around it.
"Of course. Tell Twilight I said hi okay?"
"Will do Candy, thanks." The unicorn took the bag in her violet magic and vanished with a teleport spell.
Discord chuckled, not bothering to disguise his voice now that he was alone, which is just as well, seeing a dainty little mare like Cloud Candy laughing and talking with the voice of a stallion would be... disconcerting.
"Oh those two made quite the foals together, too bad only Lace got Twilight's alicorn longevity. Sweet little Chime was such a doll."
He shrugged. "Oh well, at least Twilight came to grips with the fact she'd have to see Rarity die due to her immortality fairly quick. It must be a huge help being able to seemingly turn off her emotions like she can."
With a shrug he set about making more candies to replace the ones he had just sold.
---
It was the end of the day, and Candy Cloud had closed her shop. As usual things had been busy, and she had pulled in a lot of bits. With a tired, yet content sigh she closed her safe and flew upstairs to have a shower, but something stopped her. There was a glow coming from within her wardrobe. Without wasting a second she flung the doors open and grabbed the scroll.
Applebloom's pearl was dark, the word 'completed' had written itself under the word Contract.
Discord immediately abandoned the guise of Cloud Candy and stared at the scroll with disbelief. It had finally happened, one hundred and twenty two he'd been waiting... he should have been happy, but instead he was... reluctant to give up the life of Cloud Candy so early.... how could he make it believable? The thing he'd been waiting for for so long had risen out of the paper, encased in a jar, the shifting fog within taking on the unmistakable shape of Fluttershy... all he had to do was open the jar and inhale the mist, and she could live on through him, he would be transformed into her...permanently, agelessly.
"Not as easy as you thought is it Discord?" a low growl came from the window before the clinkling of coins in a sack reached his ears. "Lace's purchases, early." Spike said.
"Well Discord?" A second voice sounded. "Give up the life you've built for yourself? or keep the promise you made to her?"
"I...I don't know... for once I don't know...what to do...." Discord stammered. "There's third option somewhere I just know it!"
"There is..." Spike began.
"....and she's thought of it... Twilight...help me... please." Discord begged. "How can I have both?"
"You've been living as a pony for too long if you forgot what your powers can do, or have they begun to wane due to lack of use I wonder..." Twilight sounded... analytic. "But there is... live your life, then in your golden years request an audience with me when you think it would be time for Cloud Candy to die, the rest will be taken care of."
Discord turned to look at the princess and her steed, but they were gone, the only sign they were even there was the bag of bits.
---
Sixty six years have passed. Cloud Candy darts through the streets, still remarkably spry for her old age, making her way to the castle.
She was stopped only briefly by the guards to confirm her identity before being let into the throne room, being told that the Princess was expecting her.
"Clairvoyant now are we Twilight?" Cloud asked.
Twilight simply gazed at her, Spike asleep and curled around her throne. "Among other things." She said. "In truth i'm just eager to get this over with."
Cloud gulped. "So am I..."
---
Three little fillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders generation 110, skipped up the road towards a small cottage on the edge of the everfree forest. The sign for Everfree Treats comes into view, the front door open.
The three fillies stop by the door and file in one by one.
"Hello girls, is it your weekly visit already?" A soft, sweet voice sounded from the back room. "Oh but it's still a weekday, shouldn't you be in school?"
"No miss Fluttershy.." They reply as one. "We're here to pick up some supplies for a small party for one of our classmates."
With a smile, a yellow pegasus mare with a long pink mane and tail emerges from the back, her cutie mark a trio of butterflies, her eyes are an oddity, they always have been, but she insists that it's because of her father's recursive genes as they are a brilliant red over a yellow sclera . "That's sweet of you. Take what you need, it's on the house this time."
"Thank you miss Fluttershy!" The fillies cheer as they grab some of the large paper bags and race around collecting various candies.
Discord smiled. He had lived three other lives happily, and now he would make sure that his best friend would live on forever.