Bride of Discord

The Emptiness

Fluttershy had not left her cottage for three days. After returning home, the first thing she did was collapse on her bed and in the morning went shopping for food. Since then, she had not moved. Her friends would swing by, trying to cheer her up and convince her to go out, but none of them succeeded. Pinkie Pie even threw a welcome home party, but that only brought her to tears.

Finally, she emerged from her cottage, but only went as far as her yard. It was mostly empty, since she had let most of her critters go, and the flowers were almost dead from lack of water.

As she watered them, she did not notice she was being watched.

Her cottage was on the very edge of the Everfree Forest and she made an effort not to look at it. Perched on one of the trees was the very draconequus she was trying to forget.

He had done nothing but watch her the past few days, when he was not sulking. It had all been through the mirror until now. It ached to see her, and up close was even worse. Why did he torture himself then? He could not stay away from her.

He wished he could do more than just worship her from afar. He wanted to take her in his arms and apologize for everything and tell her how much he loved her. Then he would hold her close to his heart with no intention of ever letting go.

But he had already done enough.

"Fluttershy!"

At the sound of Twilight Sparkle's voice, Discord vanished from his hiding place. The alicorn approached her pegasus friend, carrying a bag of books.

"Nice to see that you're out and about," she said with a smile. "I brought some books that might cheer you up."

"Thanks," Fluttershy muttered. "But I don't think reading's going to make me feel better."

"Well, you have to do something. Maybe what you need is a break, to get your mind off" She did not dare say it. "Anyway, I'm returning to Canterlot tomorrow. You want to come along?"

She did not take time to think about it and nodded.

The next day, Twilight, Fluttershy and their four friends were on a train to Canterlot. The others had decided to come as well for Fluttershy's sake, though it took a while for Rainbow Dash to convince Spitfire into letting her have a vacation. Since she had started going out with Soarin, Spitfire had been a little edgy with her. Spike had to stay in Ponyville and mind the library. Each mare tried to engage Fluttershy into a conversation, but she hardly spoke a word.

"And then he said: I'm just a little horse!" Rainbow burst out laughing.

"I don't get it," Pinkie said.

"Well, if you heard Soarin tell it, you'd think it was funny."

Rarity rolled eyes. "I've heard of love being blind, but deaf?"

"I'm not in love with Soarin! We haven't even been going out that long!"

Fluttershy let out a whimper that only Applejack had heard, because she was in the bunk next to her. She patted the yellow pegasus on the back.

"Hang on, Sugar," she murmured. "We're almost there."

Celestia greeted the group at the castle and surprised Fluttershy with a hug.

"I never had a chance to thank you," the princess explained. "What you did was very brave."

She did not need to ask what she was referring to.

Fluttershy remained in her room until dinner, though she could barely eat. As she fiddled with her fork, she thought of her many mealtimes with Discord. He would always give her what she asked, or surprise her with her favorites. She remembered one time when he made the candles dance and the gravy boat come to life. Those little harmless magic tricks would make her giggle. Somehow, he always managed to put a smile on her face.