The Key Part 1
The Key part 1
“My, my how time flies.” Discord said, his eyes following an alarm clock floating across the room. Fluttershy tilted her head at him, putting down her empty teacup and watching it immediately float up in the air, joining the clock. They both sat in their assigned seats in Discord’s home, sitting across from each other. She sat in the chair as he took the couch.
“How do you mean?” She asked, picking up her butterfly net. Her eyes darted to Discord’s checkered ceiling towards the sandwich butterflies fluttering above her head. She aimed. Discord’s eyes fell back onto the yellow Pegasus who waved her net around, struggling to catch the tricky sandwiches. Her reaction slow. Not as precise from when she was younger. He noticed a lot of things from Fluttershy. Minor things. He doubted Fluttershy noticed the change to her appearance. The slight wrinkles underneath her eyes. The touch of silver thread in her mane, entirely unnoticeable in other pony’s eyes, but Discord wasn’t like other creatures. He picked up a sugar cube from a barking bowl and popped it into his cup of tea, giving it a slight stir with his talon.
“Well, we have known each other for quite some time…” He said, moving his tea cup to his lips. He sipped once before taking a bite of porcelain.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy said with a nod and waved her net. She missed, which caused her to narrow her eyes, refusing to give up on a tasty treat. Discord tail swayed beneath the table, and snapped. The butterflies slowed their wing beats and lowered themselves. Fluttershy swung her net, oblivious to the change of difficulty. “We’ve been good friends for years.” She waved her net again, capturing her mark. Discord smirked when Fluttershy squeaked in surprise.
“And to think we haven’t celebrated an anniversary together.” Discord replied, conjuring up a cupcake with a single sparkler. “What a shame.” He tossed it aside and the cupcake bursted into a cloud of confetti.
“Well, we have been through a lot together.” She said and took a bite of her butterfly sandwich. Her eyes grew when she saw the time on the floating clock. “Oh my, it’s time for little Petunia’s feeding.” She reached over her chair and grabbed a woven basket. Inside, was a smaller than average baby bunny. The runt of the litter. It was so small, it couldn’t fit on Fluttershy’s hoof. “Excuse me Discord, I only need a few minutes with her.”
“Oh, you know I don’t mind, my dear.” Discord replied, keenly watching her feed the bunny with a bottle of formula.
“Thank you Discord, I needed to take Petunia with me today. The sanctuary is getting a bit too crowded and she need a quieter space.”
“Things becoming…chaotic?” He said, followed by a sly smile. Fluttershy mirrored his smile.
“Chaos, I can handle.”
He chuckled. “Clearly.”
“But, there are so many animals that need my help, I’m becoming overwhelmed. I’m worried that I might need to turn away animals.” There was a slight tremble in her voice. Fluttershy put away the empty bottle and bounced the mewling bunny gently in her arms. “The sanctuary isn’t as large as it used to be.” The bunny let out a quiet burp and she placed it back into her basket. “It’s becoming quite stressful.” She glanced up at Discord and smiled. “But when I come here, I can relax.”
“Quite ironic, isn’t it?” He said, making a sweep with his paw, gesturing to the vast array of chaos around them. “Especially since we have been having tea together so often in my home.”
Fluttershy’s ears flew up. “Oh, I hope I’m not being a bother.”
“You? Never. But you did leave a few items here from your last visit.” He said and snapped his fingers. A box teleported in front of her and fell right onto her lap. “This is the third time this week that you left your things behind, not that I don’t mind. It’s the perfect excuse for you to come back and visit.” Fluttershy opened the box to find her gardening tools. Her trowel was dancing with the shovel while her pruner provided the music by singing a nonsensible song. She closed the box, and giggled.
“From all the time I spent here, I might as well be living here.” She took a bite of her sandwich, lamenting how tasty it was, but Discord didn’t pay attention. His thoughts preoccupied from her passing comment. When she said her goodbye and took the portal back to Ponyville, Discord hummed and pondered.
"What if Fluttershy did live here?" He questioned aloud.
"Don't be ridiculous."
Discord turned to see another version of himself, sitting on a chair, and wearing large glasses. Discord called him, "Logic Discord". The name itself was enough to reveal what Discord expected from his "other". Discord scoffed at Logic, knowing he had no control on when it decides to show up.
"And what, pray tell, is so "ridiculous" in having Fluttershy come live here?" Discord asked.
"How about I give you one?" Logic replied, and pointed at Discord. "You."
"Me? Now who is being ridiculous? Fluttershy adores me! I am her best friend." Discord said, snapping his fingers to reveal a laminated photo of him and Fluttershy. He made the effort to shove it against Logic's nose. Logic pushed the photo away and adjusted his glasses.
"Yes, there is no doubt about that, but there is a difference in "hanging out" and "living together". You know?"
"No, no I don't know." Discord snapped his fingers, making the photo vanish.
Logic rolled his eyes. "Let me give you a hypothetical situation..."
"Ugh, at least make it interesting, how about showing me pictures?"
"There! Right there!" Logic began, pointing to Discord. "You are too foalish! Sure, every once in a while, Fluttershy might see it as funny but trust me, it gets old, and it get old very quickly!"
"Old." Discord muttered and glanced at his paw. "That is what Fluttershy is becoming. Old. Soon she will become Ancient, and then she will become..." He closed his eyes, refusing to say the word. Discord glanced up at Logic, who let out a tired sigh.
"Even with our vast, chaotic powers....there are limits."
"Which is why, I rather be by her side."
Logic groaned and shrugged his shoulders. "It seems like I won't be able to convince you." It leaned back, falling into a large chair. "But, make sure not to mess it up." Logic said, conjuring up a newspaper. It began to read the passages with a bored expression. "We've made a lot of mistakes. Don't make this another one." And Logic disappeared in a flash.