It was a long walk home for Fluttershy, the longest walk she had ever made. Several times she stopped to cry; by the time her cottage came into view, Fluttershy wondered if she would ever cry again, or if her tear ducts were permanently dried up. The whole situation seemed so surreal. At any moment, Rainbow Dash would pop out of the clouds or the trees and laugh, telling Fluttershy that this was just a huge prank. Even though it would be the meanest prank ever, Fluttershy hoped this was true. When the bushes rustled near her house, her heart leapt, and she actually called out “Dashie?”
It was only a rabbit. The rabbit regarded her quizzically, confused that she didn't greet it as she did normally, then hopped off. Fluttershy fought back a sob, shook her mane violently to get the tears to stop, and made her way up the path. She reached up to push open the doorknob—
--and it became the head of Discord. “Hello, Fluttershy!”
Under normal circumstances, Fluttershy either would have leapt backwards a few feet with a shriek of terror, or would’ve at least gasped in surprise. Instead she merely sighed and opened the door. The knob reverted to its normal form, and the dragonequus stood before her in her doorway. “And good evening to you,” he said, miffed. “What’s with the long face?” His face stretched to his knees. Once more, Fluttershy ignored him and walked between his legs. She headed for her bedroom. Maybe if she went to bed, she would wake up from this nightmare.
Even Discord, not known for his empathic qualities, could tell that something was very wrong. Though in theory he was “reformed” and had the run of Equestria, he rarely strayed far from Ponyville and, aside from jaunts to the library to torment Twilight Sparkle, usually stayed with Fluttershy. Then again, the pegasus was about the only one of the Elements of Harmony that could stand Discord for more than a few minutes. She actually laughed at his antics now and then, which brought more pleasure to Discord than he wanted to admit.
“Fluttershy? Whatever is the matter?”
She shrugged to herself. Discord would find out sooner or later. “Rainbow…” She couldn’t get the words out, but with effort she mastered her emotions. “Rainbow Dash d-died.”
Discord was silent for a moment, then began laughing. “Oh, that’s rich! Did she snark herself to death? Did Applejack finally tire of her and kick her into next week?” He conjured a calendar and ostientatiously marked the date. “Did she sonic rainboom herself into the ground—“
“Shut up!” Fluttershy shouted, whirling on Discord with such speed that the dragonequus took a step back. She pointed a hoof at the door. “Get out! Get out of my house, you…you…abomination!” It was a word Rarity liked to use when speaking about Discord—admittedly when he was assumed to be out of earshot—and it seemed entirely appropriate for the situation. Discord did not fear Fluttershy’s legendary stare, but he found himself frightened of the venom in her voice. She glared at him for a long moment, then resumed slowly walking towards her bed. He didn’t move. Neither did any of the other dozen or so small animals who lived in her cottage, who found places to hide.
“Oh,” Discord said, in a subdued voice. “You…weren’t kidding.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Discord felt a most unusual emotion: shame. “I…” He also found himself at a loss for words, which was also rather strange. “I am sorry,” he said at length.
Fluttershy snorted. “No, you’re not. Why should you be? The Elements of Harmony are broken now. You can do whatever you want.” She threw herself into her bed. To her surprise, she did not cry again. She felt somewhat dazed, and strangely, even a bit satisfied. It felt good to take out her grief on Discord, even if the shame of sinking to his level made her blush. “You could even kill me, if you wanted.” One part of her wished he would; at least then Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be alone wherever ponies went when they died…
“I don’t want to kill you, Fluttershy.” Discord sounded hurt that she would even suggest it.
“Because I'm your friend. What about the others?”
He chuckled. “Fluttershy, I am the Master of Chaos. I can turn the clouds into cotton candy and make it rain chocolate. I can turn Celestia’s mane into a snow cone. The laws of reality mean nothing to me. If I wanted you and the others dead, don’t you think I could’ve easily done it in the Canterlot maze? Or at any other time I wanted?” He snorted. “There’s no fun in death!”
“No, there isn’t.” She buried her head in her pillows. “Now go away.”
She heard Discord teleport away with the swish of displaced air, and wasn’t sure if she should be happy about that. Then he appeared next to her, with a teacup. “Here.”
Fluttershy rolled over, her expression one of contempt. “It’s going to run over here and pour hot tea on me, right?”
“No.” He held out the teacup.
Now Fluttershy felt bad. Discord actually looked contrite. She was still angry, though—though she wasn’t exactly sure at what she was angry at. “You think a cup of tea is going to help?”
“It can’t hurt.”
When Discord was being logical, it meant for sure that Fluttershy was having a nightmare. Nonetheless, she took the teacup. It was perfect, just the way she liked it. “I didn’t know you could brew tea.”
Discord smiled. “I…had an aquaintance in the past who rather liked tea.” He conjured a stool and sat down. “How did it happen, Fluttershy?”
She didn’t want to tell him. Grief should be private, where no one could see, or with friends she trusted. Discord was the last entity in Equestria she wanted to talk to right now…but he was also the only one in the room who could talk back. So, slowly, reluctantly, and finally in a torrent of words, Fluttershy told him. To their collective surprise, when Fluttershy ended her tale, she was crying on Discord’s shoulder—and he was gently patting her back, telling her it was going to be all right. “You made the right decision,” he said.
“How do you know?” Fluttershy bawled. “Maybe…maybe Dashie would’ve recovered. Maybe we could’ve used the Elements on her…maybe…” She paused. Her mind wound back a few minutes, to something Discord had said: the laws of reality are nothing to me. “Discord!” She drew back from him, to arm’s length. “That’s it!”
“What? What’s it?”
“You could bring Rainbow Dash back!” At his expression of utter surprise, Fluttershy continued. “You said you can do anything! You could bring her back!”
Discord shook his head. “No, Fluttershy.”
“I’ll do anything you want! I’ll…” Fluttershy looked around her cottage frantically. “I’ll give you the Elements of Harmony! I’ll give you…I’ll give you my life if that’ll bring Dashie back! You can exchange me for her!”
“No.”
“No?!” Fluttershy bared her teeth in a very uncharacteristic show of rage. “Damn you, Discord! How could you—“
“I’m saying no because I can’t, Fluttershy.” His quiet tone of voice, so unusual for Discord, brought her up short. “Yes. I can make the clouds rain chocolate or buffalo dance the trot, but I can’t bring back the dead. Not even Celestia can do that.”
Fluttershy sank back onto her bed. “Please? Do you even…maybe, a little bit…know of a way? You know a lot of things.”
Discord sighed. “I know so many things, Fluttershy. I knew Equestria before Celestia was born. I’ve travelled the stars. I’ve seen the beginnings of the worlds and the end of worlds. I have fought enemies that make the Elements of Harmony pale in comparison. But one thing I can’t do is defeat death.”
“But you’re immortal!”
“Am I?” Discord raised an eyebrow. “Celestia encased me in stone as a punishment—not because she wasn’t capable of killing me.”
Fluttershy was not so easily dissuaded. “But…wait, listen. Could you…exchange me for her? Maybe put her in my body and me in hers?” He opened his mouth, but Fluttershy held up a hoof. “It’s all right, you know. I don’t fly very well anyway…I could handle being paralyzed, I think…”
“I would never do that,” Discord growled. “I was paralyzed for a thousand years, Fluttershy. Do you think for a minute that I would sentence the only friend I have to that fate? Do you think me as cruel as Celestia?” His voice softened, seeing the fear in her eyes. “And do you think Rainbow Dash would come back on those terms?”
“No.” Fluttershy’s voice was barely audible.
He shrugged. “It’s a moot point anyway. I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Fluttershy, really. There’s nothing I can do.”
Fluttershy stared at him, then began to cry again. She bit her lip until it bled to stop, but there was no stopping yet more tears. She knew now that her friend—her oldest friend from their filly days in Cloudsdale—was gone. This time she cried so hard she was nearly screaming in grief.
Discord found he could do one thing, after all, something he was not aware that he was capable of doing. As Fluttershy cried herself to sleep, he stroked her mane.
He could be her friend.