Fluttershy yawned her gratitude for a good night’s rest and brushed her mane out of her eyes. A few of her little animal friends had risen already, but only the usual ones who didn’t need breakfast right away. She trotted down the stairs and sneaked past Discord, still asleep on the couch, on her way to the kitchen.

From the cabinet, she got out her nectar mix and scooped a few tablespoons into a pitcher. Add water, stir, and presto! A delicious and nutritious snack for her hummingbirds and butterflies. Even the bees and wasps would probably eat some, but she could never predict what kind of mood they’d be in.

She poured the mixture into her feeder and hung it on its hook outside the kitchen window. Within a minute, Hummingway flitted up and chittered at her. “Thank you very much!” she read from the friendly chirping and waggling tail feathers.

“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy answered. “Please, eat all you like.”

A few of the bees had indeed shown up and weaved back and forth in a jovial dance instead of streaking along in a straight line. Good. She wouldn’t have to worry about them getting grumpy with the other animals. “And if you don’t mind,” she said to them, “would you head over to Sweet Apple Acres after breakfast and pollinate some of Applejack’s trees?”

“Yes,” their buzzing said. “For our friend, we will.”

Fluttershy swung the window shut again and walked back into the den, where more and more small critters had left their nests and hidey-holes, but when she glanced at the couch, something was wrong…

Instead of a large draconequus, there sat a shiny brass lamp. “Did one of you bring this in?” she asked, but all of the animals either shook their heads, shrugged, or scurried about without paying her any mind. She bent low over it and peered at her gold-tinted reflection before poking a hoof at it. A very pretty one, but she used candles or firefly lanterns, so she didn’t keep any lamp oil around.

Maybe somepony dropped it out in the road and one of the more easily distracted critters happened upon it. Yes, probably a pack rat. Or maybe a raven. She picked it up and set it on the sideboard near the door so she’d remember to take it into town later. She could ask around, post flyers, see if they still maintained a lost and found at the town hall.

And then it whined at her. “Oh, would you just rub me already? Isn’t that what ponies do with strange lamps?”

“Oh, um…” She recognized the voice, of course, but she didn’t exactly have time for practical jokes today. “I suppose so. But later. If that’s okay…”

“You do know what lives in lamps, right?”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Oh, alright.” She rubbed a foreleg over the shiny surface, and in a puff of smoke, Discord stood in front of her with a silk turban on his head.

“Congratulations, Fluttershy! For freeing the genie, you get a wish!” he proclaimed while bowing deeply.

“Isn’t it three wishes?”

Discord stared back with a steely glare. “Really. I offer you such a magnanimous gift, and you question why there isn’t more?”

“Sorry,” she squeaked. “But… what do you want?”

“No, no, you have it backwards! What do you want?” He nodded sharply, and Fluttershy found herself reclining on velvet cushions among swaying palms, with piles of gems around her. “Wealth? Comfort? The easy life?”

“I-I don’t know. Really, I’m busy today. We can play later,” she said, rolling off the cushions and making her way to the door. “I have to buy more vegetables at the market. For my animals.”

“Please.” He flicked a claw and sidled up to her with an immense grin on his face. “I give you my word. I’ve enjoyed my time here with you, and I want to repay you in some way. Name it, and it’s yours. Within reason, of course.” Not anything, then.

“I reserve the sole right to judge any and all wishes acceptable,” he said rapidly. “All taxes and fees are the responsibility of the wishee. Void where prohibited. Wishes are not transferrable.”

She watched his shimmering eyes, and—well, she’d learned to tell with him. He really wanted to do something nice, and it wouldn’t be very nice of her to deny him the chance. “O-okay. But I really don’t know what I want yet. Can I make my wish later?”

“Of course,” he said, and with a snap of his fingers, her cottage returned to normal. “You have until the sun sets.”

“So he said I could have a wish. Whatever I wanted.” Fluttershy set a few coins on the market stall’s counter and put two bunches of carrots in her shopping basket.

“Weird,” Pinkie answered. “You sure he meant it?”

Before Fluttershy could nod, Pinkie had dashed over to one of the produce stands. “Yucca! Hehe! Isn’t that just fun to say? Yucca, yucca, yucca!”

“Do you have to do this every day?” the vendor grumbled.

“Uh-huh! It puts me in such a good mood!” She flashed a toothy grin, then hopped back by Fluttershy’s side. “Where were we? Um, two cups of flour, landscape paintings, collective unconscious, carry the one… Oh, yeah! What do you want to use your wish on?”

Fluttershy flinched momentarily. Where did—? Never mind. “I haven’t decided.”

“What’s that? You want a popsicle?” Pinkie said to Gummy.

He’d been perched on her back the whole time, but honestly, Fluttershy had barely noticed him. So quiet. Now that she thought about it… Throughout the town, dogs barked, frogs croaked, one of White Toque’s pigs snuffled around in the trees for truffles, and some birds discussed the incredible bargains they’d found. She heard it all. More than heard, she understood.

But Gummy… She stared back at his impassive eyes. He hadn’t said anything about a popsicle. He hadn’t moved a muscle or uttered a sound. How did she get that from him?

“You-you can hear him? Most animals will talk to me, but I’ve never heard Gummy.” Fluttershy’s wings extended halfway, and she leaned toward him.

“Really? I figured you’d hear him jabbering all the time. He barely stops to take a breath!” Pinkie hopped up, and the alligator got airborne, briefly. But he just flopped onto Pinkie’s back again, without even blinking.

“You make it sound like he says such interesting things. I wish I could hear him, too.”

Immediately, a peal of thunder rang out across town, and a booming voice echoed in the sky. “It shall be so!”

“What in Equestria—?” Pinkie said.

Fluttershy just rolled her eyes and shook her head. Always with the theatrics… “I guess I got my wish. So, what do you have to say, Gummy?”

He stared back at her. His gaze, hypnotic, drawing her in. She couldn’t think of anything to… She couldn’t…

“Behold, the devourer cometh,” rang a guttural voice inside Fluttershy’s head. “None can escape its path, and the remains of its quarry shall drip and crumble from its mighty jaws. All shall surrender their labors of stone, iron, and fire before the juggernaut.”

Wh-what? Fluttershy stood transfixed, her mouth gaping open. By the time she’d gathered the will to move again, tears coursed down her cheeks. “Pinkie—” She tried to shake the feeling loose from her head, but only succeeded in staggering backward a few steps.

With her wings clamped firmly against her sides, Fluttershy galloped for home.

Fluttershy lay trembling behind her couch. Angel stroked her mane, but there was only so much he could do to quell the apocalyptic visions in her mind. Where had Discord gone? Could he undo the wish? Even if he did, it wouldn’t take care of the danger, unless she could convince him to do that, too. She had to warn somepony. But she couldn’t get herself to move…

And then a knock sounded at the door. Angel poked his head above the couch, then came down with a grimace and drew a paw across his throat.

“Helloooooooo!” Fluttershy could hear the squeak of Pinkie’s face rubbing along the window. “Are you in there?”

The door latch clicked. Fluttershy’s heartbeat quickened as hoofsteps slowly plodded over the floor, nearer, always nearer! She’d have that horrid pet with her, and he’d gloat over the coming end of days! Why did he want to torture her with it? “Fluttershy?”

She held Angel tightly against her and didn’t dare breathe. And as a pink face peered over the back of the couch, Fluttershy let out a yelp.

“Oh, there you are! What has you so spooked?” Pinkie hopped to the floor beside Fluttershy, who cowered away, sparks dancing in her vision. Feeling faint—she might… pass out…

But no Gummy on Pinkie’s back. She sighed, her chest heaving. “Gummy! He—he said… Didn’t you hear him?”

“Of course I did, silly! But what did he say that was so bad?” Pinkie cocked her head.

So bad? How could anything about that sound good? And then—a shock ran up Fluttershy’s spine. Gummy waddled around the corner.

She couldn’t rip her gaze from those eyes again. The voice. The raspy voice!

“The darkness roiling within bursteth forth and inundateth all to the farthest reaches of its domain. The blackest tide will overwhelm all, and nobody can resist its siren call. It is the end.”

Fluttershy shrieked and tore out of the house. Good thing Pinkie had left the door open, or it would have cost her a few precious seconds.

She took the bridge toward town in only two bounds. Right or left? One way lay the Everfree Forest, which would actually be an improvement, but she took off for the Whitetail Woods. Somewhere to hide—maybe Gummy couldn’t cross the stream near her house! No, that was vampires. And he’d gotten to her house anyway.

In the woods. She’d hide out here for a couple of days, then maybe she could go back close enough to watch the house first—to make sure he hadn’t returned before she went in.

Yes, two or three nights in the woods, and she could ask a few of the animals to help her find something to eat. Maybe four or five nights.

She dove into a thicket and peered back toward the road. Would he follow her? Not a very comfortable shrub, but she could pile up some fallen leaves and make a little nest here. It’d only need to last her a week, two at the most. Her heart had nearly slowed back down when—

Fluttershy screamed. A face, watching over her shoulder! “Discord!”

He gave her a toothy grin and doffed his turban. “Yes?”

“What are you doing here? You nearly scared me to death!” she hissed, holding a hoof to her chest.

“Just wondering what you were looking at.”

Fluttershy parted a few of the leaves and gazed out at the road again. “Gummy, in case—my wish!” She grabbed Discord by the shoulders. “This is a joke, right? You did this on purpose so I’d hear Gummy say those horrible things!”

“No joke. And what things?” With a snap of his paw, a miniature version of him stood on Fluttershy’s head and had a look through the foliage for himself. “I certainly had nothing to do with what Gummy chooses to say. Can’t understand a bit of what any of those animals go on about, let alone Pinkie’s little taciturn friend.”

“Y-you didn’t make him say…”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Of course not, I deal in grander things than making an alligator say… what was it he said anyway?”

“Horrible things,” she whimpered. “Terrible things that would happen. I d-don’t want to think about them.”

“Pshaw. What could he do, anyway? Drool on you?” In a flash, he appeared in the dirt path at full size again, and he waved a claw in the direction of her cottage. “Oh, come on. I’ll return home with you. I bet he won’t even be there.”

Fluttershy didn’t budge. Even if Gummy had left, she’d be too easy to find there. “I’ll just stay here, thank you. But can you please undo my wish?”

“Sorry. You have it until sunset.”

Fluttershy still had to feed her animals. The one batch of carrots she’d bought earlier wouldn’t satisfy them for long. All she had to do was sneak into town, buy more food, creep to her house, cook, set out everyone’s dinner, clean up afterward, and get away without being seen. And then find that same kind-of-comfortable shrub in the woods again. She could just stay here all day, but too many of those animals needed frequent meals, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

With a deep breath, she took a very deliberate step from her hiding place.

And then she took a very deliberate step back in. Honestly, the whole patch of scrub shook with her trembling, and anypony or anything nearby couldn’t possibly miss her.

Wait, Gummy couldn’t fly! If she could only take wing, she wouldn’t have to worry about him, but the stupid things had a mind of their own. So cowardly sometimes. She wedged a stick under the left one with her mouth, but she couldn’t pry it away from her side. Now the stick had gotten lodged in there, too, so she had a nice day ahead of carrying it around, apparently.

So she trotted through the woods and tried not to think about all the noise the dead leaves made underhoof. And she tried not to think about the word “dead.”

Why did Pinkie just brush off what Gummy had said? If she considered that normal, she was dead wrong—

Fluttershy hung her head and huffed out a deep sigh. She heard voices floating over from the market by now anyway, so she slunk up behind the strawberry cart. “Psst! One pint, please.”

The vendor jumped and whirled around to face the yellow head poking through the ivy. “Oh, hello, Fluttershy! Why don’t you just come around front?”

“I can’t.” She glanced left and right. “He might see me.”

“Who?” the vendor said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, who?” Pinkie echoed.

“Ahhhhh!” Fluttershy leapt straight up and banged her head on a branch. She hit the ground with a thud and rubbed the sore spot between her ears while trying to remember what—“Pinkie!”

“That’s my name! Don’t wear it out!” She held a hoof to her chin. “Hm. How does that even happen? Would your mouth get tired? Would ponies call me Poongie Pa? I wanna find out!” Pinkie leaned in, a huge grin stretching across her face.

“Hurry, call me that a bunch of times! Then maybe I’ll have to change my name!” Narrowing her eyes, she rubbed her hooves together. “I’ll go by Melvin Quackenbush, Esquire. The perfect crime!”

It took a full minute for Fluttershy’s brain to recover from its numbness, but then she whipped her head around furiously for any sign of Gummy. Nothing.

She let out her held breath and bored a stare into Pinkie. “Don’t you hear what Gummy says? I mean, for real. I can’t—why aren’t you doing something about it?”

A blank look greeted her. “He’s just a toothless baby alligator. What could he do anyway? Drool on you?”

Fluttershy pursed her lips. “No, but it doesn’t scare you? Th-the terrible, dark—”

“Oh, look! Here he comes now!” Pinkie patted the ground in front of her, and inch by inch, the green monstrosity lumbered toward Fluttershy.

She couldn’t move, couldn’t shut her eyes against that creeping harbinger of evil, couldn’t even beg Pinkie for help! The reptilian snout opened.

“Boiling oil shall strip away flesh from the meat underneath, and swarms of stinging insects shall spew forth their vomit. Within the black cauldron lieth death for the unwary.”

Weeping uncontrollably, Fluttershy galloped away. Pinkie must have heard him! Right there next to her, and she hadn’t moved a muscle. Either she couldn’t really understand him like she claimed, or she…

Pinkie wanted this to happen! But she didn’t care that Fluttershy knew. So she assumed nopony would believe her, or it was too late to stop it. Why would Pinkie have such murderous intent? She had to warn them—

“Wait! Why are you carrying that stick?” Pinkie shouted after her.

Twilight Sparkle. A true friend would believe her, and Twilight would prove a formidable opponent for any evil spirits bent on destruction.

Fluttershy pressed on as hard as she could and tore off toward the castle on the edge of town.

Fluttershy had stilled her tremors as much as she could by the time Twilight returned with a tray of tea and cucumber sandwiches. She took the seat opposite Fluttershy and put on a calming smile. Just seeing her sit there, all quiet and confident and steady—she was an anchor. Fluttershy even relaxed enough to drop the stick clamped under her wing.

“Now tell me what has you so upset,” Twilight said, her brow wrinkled.

“Gummy, h-he keeps saying horrid things, and I didn’t actually plan that wish, but even if it went away now, I’d still know—”

Twilight held up a hoof. “Fluttershy, take a deep breath—” the pegasus complied “—and start from the beginning.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy took a sip of tea and swirled it around in her mouth until she’d counted to ten, then gulped it down. “Discord wanted to give me a wish, and somehow it ended up that I could hear Gummy talk, since he’s the only animal I can’t understand. But every time I see him, I get… mesmerized by his eyes, and he has some horrid message about the end of the world! But Pinkie doesn’t care! She’s been there, too, every time, but she doesn’t even flinch!”

“Hm.” Twilight leaned back in her chair and frowned. “What sorts of things does he say?”

“Th-that the devourer is coming, and darkness will flood everywhere, and ponies will be tortured, a-and…” Fluttershy gulped. “It’s the end!”

For a moment, Twilight only peered up at the ceiling and nodded slightly every few seconds. “Yes, that does sound like some kind of apocalyptic prophecy, like Armageddon. Or Ragnarok, from Horse mythology. Lots of references to a time of misery and the collapse of the world as we know it.”

“Why wouldn’t that bother Pinkie, though?” Fluttershy’s heart had slowed. She breathed easier and took another drink of her tea. Having Twilight believe her had settled her nerves and reassured her that she wasn’t slipping into madness. And gave her an ally, too, if it came to that.

Twilight shook her head and tapped a hoof on her seat cushion. “Maybe she doesn’t actually hear him. I mean, why only him and no other animals? Maybe she just reads his moods or something like that.”

Fluttershy had to admit that she liked that explanation better than thinking Pinkie was part of it. Yeah, Pinkie must not get anything but vague impressions, and who would make the leap from that to what words he’d chosen?

“Tell you what,” Twilight said, “I’ll invite Pinkie over, and we’ll ask her about it.” Fluttershy gasped and huddled up in the corner of her chair. “It’s okay, Fluttershy. You’ll have me here, and she won’t have Gummy with her. I’ll tell her to leave him at home.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy unfolded herself and nodded. “Thank you for helping.”

With a smile, Twilight gestured toward the tray of sandwiches. “Please, have something to eat.”

“Well, I did have to skip lunch…”

“Ooh, and have some cupcakes afterward!” Pinkie said from beside her.

Fluttershy yelped, and right there in front of her seat—

“Caustic acids burn and corrode beneath the beaten wastrel spawn of imprisoned remnants from a time long past. And no respite attendeth them, only the singe of fire and the knife’s edge. The end. The end of all things. Make no mistake.”

Choking on her breath, Fluttershy leapt over to Twilight’s chair and pulled the princess’s wing out as a shield. “Didn’t you hear that?” she squeaked. Pinkie just stared back blankly. “Answer me! I need to know—” she broke down into sobs “—did you hear what he said!?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Well, yeah.”

With a glance back at Fluttershy, Twilight scooted further between them. “Pinkie, I think this deserves an explanation. Whatever she heard from Gummy has made Fluttershy terribly upset all day long, yet it doesn’t seem to bother you any. Why not?”

“He…” Pinkie squinted as if stating a well-known fact. “He always talks like that. It’s never bothered anyone before.”

“But only you could hear him!” Fluttershy whimpered. She held her hooves to her temples and rubbed them, her face buried in Twilight’s back. “And now I can…”

“Look,” Twilight said, a scowl on her face, “it’s time to put this thing to rest. Pinkie, what’s he saying now?”

Pinkie turned to gaze into Gummy’s eyes, and Fluttershy could hear the voice again. That awful, scraping voice, like thousands of bones dragged across a crypt floor.

“Deathly cold and pestilence lie in wait, and the frost of the grave be the only solace, lest it fester and rot any further. But embrace its sweet touch not too quickly either, for its numbing release shall transmute into skull-rending pain!”

And Pinkie spoke it, exactly as Gummy had said. Word for word. She even wore an easy smile while doing so.

Twilight swallowed hard. “Fl-Fluttershy, is that right?”

Her eyes squeezed shut, Fluttershy could do no more than nod. With her muzzle pressed into Twilight’s shoulder, maybe the princess would understand her response.

“Pinkie…” Fluttershy felt Twilight’s neck sorting through which words to let out.

“What?” Pinkie finally said, and Fluttershy peeked out from behind Twilight’s wing. Pinkie clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes up at the ceiling. “What’s so bad about that?”

“How can you stand there and say that!?” Twilight erupted. “And why hasn’t your Pinkie Sense been going off all day? Poor Fluttershy here”—she reached around to pat her friend on the shoulder—“has spent hours scared to death! Now, what’s the meaning of this? If you come clean, I’ll try to put in a good word for you with Princess Celestia, but I can’t imagine she’ll treat aiding and abetting the apocalypse as a pardonable offense!”

“Apoca-what now?” Both of Pinkie’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t know. Is that the same as frozen yogurt?”

“What does that have to do with this?” Twilight shouted, her chest heaving.

“Gummy wants some frozen yogurt.” Pinkie shrugged.

Twilight rubbed a hoof down her muzzle and forced out a sigh. “How do you get that from what you told me yourself that he said?”

“Cold and pestilence. It’s frozen and has bacteria in it. If you don’t keep it cold, it will spoil, but if you eat it too fast, your head will hurt really bad!” Her head cocked, Pinkie gave a broad grin. “See?”

“I-I suppose.” Twilight’s frown eased a little. “But what about the rest? What else did you hear earlier today, Fluttershy?”

“Um…” Fluttershy said, wincing at the thought. She started trembling again, but she had to remember, or Twilight couldn’t help her. “Acid burning… under beaten spawn of remnants from the past, then fire and a knife.”

Pinkie flicked a hoof. “Lemon meringue pie. One of his favorites. Tangy filling with an egg meringue on top, then toasted brown and sliced up.” She licked her lips. “Mmm, you’re making me hungry, Gummy!”

Twilight’s tensed shoulders lowered slightly, and she shared a glance with Fluttershy. “What else?”

“Oh. Well…” Fluttershy said. “Hot oil stripping flesh a-and insect vomit. D-death in a cauldron.”

“Hehe! Gummy, I don’t make those!” Pinkie said, her shoulders bouncing with her laughter.

“Don’t make… what?” Twilight ventured.

Pinkie angled her head toward the window, in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “Apple fritters. You blanch the apples, which can make the skin come off. And you know honey is bee puke—”

“Kind of… I guess,” Twilight interrupted.

“Details,” Pinkie said with a sparkle in her eye. “And he wanted to make sure we core the apples first, since there’s a teeny-tiny, eensy-weensy—” she held her hooves up, nearly touching, to demonstrate “—bit of poison in the seeds.”

Well, that… Fluttershy didn’t know what to think. It made sense when Pinkie explained it like that, but… “And darkness bursting out and running all over the place? Nopony can resist it?”

With her tongue lolling out, Pinkie made a gurgling noise as her eyes drooped halfway shut. “Oh, chocolate lava cake. Yuuuuum! I haven’t made that in a while!”

Fluttershy blushed and fiddled with her hooves. It all seemed… kind of silly now. Her voice faded almost to a whisper. “The devourer is coming. Its quarry will crumble from its jaws?”

“That’s what he calls me. And I can be a messy eater at times,” Pinkie replied with a giggle.

“Surrendering labors of stone, iron, and fire?”

Now Pinkie blushed. “Yep, if it’s a baked good, I might just gobble it up, so watch out!”

All the wind gone from her sails, Fluttershy stepped out from behind Twilight and hung her head. “The end? He kept saying it was the end.”

“Yeah, Gummy’s a real stickler for eating dessert last. He gets on my case about that all the time,” Pinkie said, then stuck her tongue out at him.

“I-I’m so sorry, Pinkie.” Fluttershy sidled up to her and gave her a halfhearted embrace. “Can you forgive me?”

“Me too,” Twilight added. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, Pinkie.”

Pinkie shrugged as if at some trivial thing. “Sure! Gummy just talks that way. You have to get used to it. He has quite a sweet tooth—well, if he had any teeth.”

Fluttershy turned to face Gummy. “You too. I’m sorry I misinterpreted what you said.”

His lips curled back, and he bared his… gums. “Tonight I shall dine on the flesh of thirteen ponies.”

Fluttershy screeched and burst out the door. Twilight gaped after her, but Pinkie just sighed and watched her go. “I’ll talk to her later, Twi. But for now, I promised Gummy I’d make him a baker’s dozen of gingerbread ponies.”