In Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was in the castle library looking at a scroll, though she had trouble keeping her attention on its contents. She couldn’t say exactly what it was, but she could sense something was wrong. And, she wasn’t the only one that was troubled.

Princess Luna entered the library looking for her older sister. And, she came around one bookcase to see the daytime alicorn staring at an open scroll, but clearly not paying attention to what was written in it. The nighttime alicorn asked her sister, “Tia, what’s wrong?”

In surprise, the white alicorn jumped to her feet and flared her wings out. Then, seeing that it was just her younger sister, she folded her wings again and, looking down, answered, “I … can’t say for sure. I can sense something is wrong, but I can’t say for sure what it is, exactly.”

The nighttime alicorn took a few steps toward her older sister and said, “It’s alright. We too have been sensing something … amiss. We could sense unusual dreams during the night, frightening dreams. We know not what they mean, and we have been too frightened of them to approach them.”

Princess Celestia stated, “Well, whatever it is, I fear my former student, Twilight Sparkle, is involved somehow. And, I sense it is not in a good way.”

Before the two sister alicorns could discuss their fears any further, a scroll appeared between the two of them; and the daytime alicorn caught it in her magic. With her magic, she opened the seal, unrolled the scroll, and started reading. Then, suddenly, her irises and pupils shrunk until they were barely visible; and she released the scroll form her magic.

Princess Luna, seeing this reaction from her older sister, asked with, sincere worry in her voice, “Sister, what is wrong?”

Princess Celestia didn’t respond, at least not vocally. Instead, she sat down on her haunches. But, she kept staring into the space ahead of her.

Not knowing what else to do, the nighttime princess picked up and opened the scroll with her own magic and started reading it for herself: “‘Dear Princess Celestia:

“‘It is my sad duty to inform you … by way of this letter … that I’ve been m-m-m—’”

The word, with its connotations, was so painful and frightening to the nighttime princess that her mind didn’t want to acknowledge it. She swallowed hard, then continued, “‘M-m-murd-d-dered b-by F-fluttershy while I w-was investigating her p-pizzeria. P-pinkie Pie also investigated the Pegasa’s P-pizzeria, and F-fluttershy m-m-murdered her as w-well.’” She was startled by a noisy sniffle from her older sister, but still, after taking a deep breath and letting it out, she continued, “‘Not only that, but Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity have been imprisoned by Fluttershy in the basement of her pizzeria.’” She turned to Princess Celestia and said, “There’s more,” before continuing, “‘During my investigation, I have learned that she has also killed four of her animal friends: a bear, a cockatrice, a fox, and a rabbit. And, she’s been using their meat, as well as mine, and possibly Pinkie Pie’s as well, as ingredients in her pizzas. We don’t know but that Fluttershy also plans to murder the rest of the element bearers, and we need your help to stop her and free them. Please do what you can to help Fluttershy. I sincerely hope she can be saved. And, also please free Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity from their captivity.’”

At this point, the daytime alicorn’s defense against the news started to give way, and she found herself confronting the emotional effects of the news she’d received. Her best student, the newest alicorn and bearer of the element of magic, had been brutally removed from her mortal existence, and by, of all creatures, the bearer of the element of kindness. What had happened to Fluttershy that she would do such a thing? To Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle had been more than a student; she’d been the daughter the daytime alicorn might’ve hoped to have one day, and never would. And now, for reasons unknown, Fluttershy had killed her. Whatever the reason or reasons might be, the fact remained. Twilight Sparkle’s life had been cut short. And, the daytime princess had to stop Fluttershy before she killed the rest of her fellow element bearers.

And, then there was Pinkie Pie. How often had she done things that no normal pony could have done? And, she had been killed by Fluttershy as well. Was this another misguided attempt on Fluttershy’s part to prove she could be assertive? But, why involve her friends this way?

The confusion and pain proved to be too much for the daytime princess, and she slid her front hooves forward until she was lying sphinx-style on the floor, then buried her face in her forelimbs, and started sobbing.

And, wouldn’t you know it, that’s when the ruler of chaos, Discord, appeared. Seeing Princess Celestia thus on the floor of the library, he asked, “Is there something I should know about?”

Princess Luna wasn’t holding up much better than her older sister. After all, it was this team of element bearers that had freed her from being Nightmare Moon. And, they had defeated other enemies, including Discord himself.

But, Discord was even more personally involved. Fluttershy, who had murdered Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, and imprisoned the other element bearers, had played the vital role in Discord’s reformation. How was he going to react to this news? Well, now was as good a time as any to find out.

For a few seconds, Princess Luna tried to form words. But, all she could do was stammer. Finally, she just used her magic to pass the letter to the draconequus, and said, “J-just read it for yourself.” And, she went to her sister to try to console her.

Discord, thinking the two sisters might be overreacting to some trivial thing that could easily be solved by a slight adjustment to the gravitational constant, or something similar, started reading incredulously through the letter. Then, his eyes grew and bulged out a little as he read about Fluttershy murdering the author of the letter, and then Pinkie Pie. Deciding he’d read enough, he crumpled the parchment up and tossed it behind him, saying, “It’s a trick. Some pony’s playing a trick on me, on you, on us. I know Fluttershy, and she’d never do what that letter is accusing her of.”

And, before he was finished with his statement, the letter disappeared into the floor, making a splash as though the floor had been water. And, for that moment, for all intents and purposes, the floor under that crumpled-up parchment was water.

At Discord’s remark, in the mean time, Princess Celestia glared up at the draconequus and said, no, growled, “Well, I know Twilight Sparkle. That letter came from her, and she would never lie to me.” She then sniffled before continuing, “She’s dead, and so … so is Pinkie Pie.” She then buried her face in her forelimbs again and cried, “Oh, Fluttershy, what happened to you?”

Discord, scowling, arms folded, remained silent for a few seconds. When he spoke again, he said, “There’s another pegasa that looks like Fluttershy. She could’ve murdered Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, imprisoned the other three, and made herself look enough like Fluttershy that the blame could easily fall on her.”

Now, it was Luna’s turn to glare at the draconequus. But, not satisfied with just growling at him, she also marched toward him as she said, “We know the pony of whom you speak, and she would do no such thing. She may look like Fluttershy, and the two may be rivals; but the other yellow pegasa would never kill, especially not to prove any kind of point. She has no reason to kill any of Fluttershy’s friends, anyway.”

Presently, Discord threw his mismatched arms into the air, literally, and shouted, “Oh, come on now! You’ve got to give me something to work with here!” Then, his arms reappeared in their proper place on each side of him, and he covered his face, whether in shame or in thought, neither princess could tell for sure. When he uncovered his face and spoke again, after a few more seconds, he continued, more calmly, “We’re talking about the pony I had to personally touch in order to turn her. She’s the pony that gave me her friendship, and only threatened to take it back if I wasn’t kind to her friends. She’s the pony that reformed me.”

Princess Luna said, “She’s also the pony that murdered Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie.”

Again Discord shouted, “I can’t accept that! There’s a part of this puzzle we don’t have yet!”

And, while he spoke, a jigsaw puzzle appeared, floating in the air, with a piece missing from its center.

He continued, “We can’t make any judgments until we know the full story. And, in order to do that, we have to go to Ponyville and see for ourselves.”

At this last statement from the ruler of chaos, the two alicorns looked up at each other, then at the draconequus. Could it be that the news had hit Discord so hard that he’s become the voice of reason? The news of the loss of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie was hard enough for the two sisters to take, and compounded by the news that it was at the hooves of Fluttershy. This was the difficulty facing the two sister alicorns. But, now Discord was making sense. Could the ruler of chaos be crumbling under the burden presented to him by the prospect of losing his first real pony mare friend? And yet, he really did have a point.

Princess Celestia, still very much shaken by the news of her faithful student’s murder, still rose to her hooves and shook herself out. Still looking at Discord, she said, “You’re right. We must go to Ponyville and find out what happened to Fluttershy. But, we must also rescue Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack.” She then stumbled past the draconequus, saying, “Let’s get going.”

As Princess Luna also passed him, he straightened out in surprise as he asked, “Wait, I’m right?” Then, a second later, he relaxed again and, following the nighttime alicorn, answered himself, “Of course I’m right. Let’s just get going to Ponyville.”

Author's Notes:

So, there we have it. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. On Halloween, we shall see if these ponies, and Discord, can dance.