Author's Notes:

More psychological horror training.

Don't forget to read this second story in my training course. I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun with it.

"What's going on? It's really dark. I don't like this."

Fluttershy found herself in complete darkness and surrounded by even more darkness. She couldn't move nor could she shiver in fear. Strangely enough, she didn't feel anything, be it hot or cold.

"I thought paradise was...different. Is everypony else like this?" she wondered to herself. "No. I refuse to accept that. If this is really the afterlife, I can't let anypony suffer like this." She strained her body to move, but it refused to do so. "Come on! You can do it, Fluttershy!"

"..."

She stopped and looked around.

"Hello? Is anypony there?"

"...e..."

"I can't quite hear you. Speak up."

"c...yo....e..."

"You're starting to scare me. Please stop."

"Fluttershy!" Discord shouted.

"GAH!"

Fluttershy's shock was short lived as she noticed that she hadn't made a peep and couldn't jump underneath a pillow as she often did when terrified. I fact, she still couldn't move at all.

"Discord? What's going on? why am I not dead?"

The draconequus clapped his hands joyfully and floated away in Fluttershy's cottage. It hadn't changed in the slightest. Everything was still there, so was she only asleep? Was she sick?

"Fluttershy!" Discord shouted in the pegasus' face. "I'm so glad it worked!"

A tea kettle and two cups floated behind the draconequus and were filling themselves up. Fluttershy looked around to see if anything had changed, then noticed a lump underneath a pale-green rug poorly hidden by the couches and fake trees for the animals. She could see something yellow stretching out from under the material but couldn't discern what it was. It wouldn't be the first time Discord tried to hide something he was meant to clean underneath the rug.

"Discord! I'm quite...peeved with you! Excuse my language. You shouldn't sweep up eaten foods under the rug. It's dirty and the animals could get sick!"

Discord was about to give Fluttershy the tea but facepalmed. He left the cups to float and walked over to the rug in question.

"I recall you always telling me not to sweep things under the rugs. Silly me. I best help you out. After all," he turned and put a claw to his chest. "What are BFFs for?"

He snapped his fingers and the rug took the shape of a paper plane and flew away outside the window. Fluttershy got to see a more accurate depiction of the body and felt her heart tightening...or did she? The more she looked at the object, the more hollow she felt in the literal sense.

"Heave ho!" Discord shouted whilst wearing a lumberjack outfit.

The object slung over his shoulder and slammed limply against his back. No matter what she tried, Fluttershy could only remain silent and immobile. She felt her mind melting at the aspect of what she saw, but, perhaps, what was worse was the confinement she was in. Unable to express her feelings, she was going to explode and go crazy.

Discord was walking away with Fluttershy's dead body. She recognized it perfectly. Wrinkled with age and decorated with scars of her training past, Fluttershy had indeed died and, when her eyes met with those of her corpse's, she felt an unattainable need to vomit so much it was horrifying to look at. After several minutes, Discord popped back in front of the pony and resumed his work. He raised his paw. Then and only then did Fluttershy feel her body move.

'Would you like some tea, Discord?' the draconequus spoke with a high-pitched voice.

"Why, certainly, Fluttershy. You know I love your tea."

Fluttershy could feel her mouth being forced into a smile while Discord's magic had the kettle continuously pour tea into the cups even after they were overflowing. He had done something artistic with the excessive liquid and had them spin and twirl around the air back into the kettle, letting the liquid go through the same effects as a fountain.

The draconequus' paw broke off at the wrist and a flower grew in its place. It then bloomed into a new paw for Discord and he sniffed it briefly.

"Mmmm. Lilac. Well then, Fluttershy, what do you want to do today?"

'Spend my time with you, Discord, and just talk.'

"Hooray!"

Fluttershy 'followed' Discord into the living room thanks to the strings attached to her body, and while she couldn't move her neck of her own volition, she could see her reflection in the windows. Her 'friend' had turned her into a wooden puppet...No...Her body was...He trapped her soul into a wooden puppet. Trapped.

"Oh Fluttershy. You have no idea how worried I was when you fell to the ground, but at least I managed to save you," he spoke joyfully. "Now we can play and talk forever and to the end of time."

"But, my friends."

'But what about Twilight? Wouldn't she get suspicious?' Discord squeaked.

He waved his hand. "Pffff. We don't need to worry about them. I'm reformed, remember? They'll probably think I'm in mourning. Don't worry. They'll never separate us." He hugged Fluttershy. "Our friendship is eternal and will be tested by time itself, but we won't need to worry about that. I'll take good care of you, too."

His smile was so...earnest, yet to Fluttershy, it was twisted beyond compare. He appeared to tower over the pegasus, emphasizing his eyes which were widened, bright white holes with a tiny black dot serving as the 'ground' at the end of the well. His smile twisted and wrinkled his mouth and its corners, nearly tearing his skin back and showing his teeth and the skull they were attached to.

Several days later, while Discord 'and' Fluttershy were playing dress up, a sound came knocking on the door, irritating the draconequus.

"Who could that be?" he wondered. Discord covered his left eye and used his 'other' eye in the door to see who it was. A scream was the reaction to seeing what was watching. "Oh, it's Twilight." He booped Fluttershy on the muzzle. "You stay there patiently and I'll be back to continue our bit of drôleries."

'Okay, Discord.'

The door rotated around Discord and kept Twilight out of the hut, although it was left ajar.

"D-Discord? Are you okay?" Twilight wondered. "Why are you wearing a tutu and a cowcolt hat?"

The draconequus looked at the alicorn with a despondent expression and Twilight rolled her eyes after realizing to who she was asking the question.

"Of course." She cleared her throat "I got the message you sent out. I was hoping to perform a funeral ceremony for Fluttershy."

Discord hopped to his hooves. "Y-you don't need to do that, Twilight. It's quite alright."

"Why not? Are you trying to hide something?"

"N-no. It's just that, you know...Fluttershy was quite nervous," Discord smiled sheepishly. "I'm fairly certain you would wake her from the dead if you had her surrounded by so many ponies at once in such a noisy area." He created a coffin floating above his paw and a skeleton with long, pink hair burst out screaming.

Twilight was more than 'bothered' by that construct. "I get it, Discord."

"It's why I already buried her someplace calm where all the animals will see and keep her company while I take care of them in her memory." He put his claw around Twilight. "Shall we go see her?" Twilight nodded in response. "Say, you don't seem too distraught over her...death," he trailed off.

"I do feel sad, Discord, but after losing all my friends and family...well, it's become a bit of a habit."

"I see."

"Twilight! Come back! I'm here! I'm here!" Fluttershy tried shouting.

Unfortunately, the lavender unicorn could not hear her and continued her way through the land towards the gravestone where her body rested without her soul. The wooden puppet that was slumped on the table, inconspicuous as it may be, started to cry, the tears welling up in its eyes before breaking and pouring off onto the table the puppet rested on then sliding once more onto the ground. Upon his return, Discord ignored the silent tears and continued playing with Fluttershy, oblivious to her sadness.

Two years later, Discord was hopping on the roof with his Flutterpuppet, yet he felt incredibly bored.

"Ugh," he sighed. "Doing this for ten years is so boring...Perhaps I could do something else?" He took off his foot and scratched his chin with it. "If Twilight sees me walking around with her, she'd be weirded out. I can always try to give her speech. It'd be more authentic, but she might leave."

Discord snapped his fingers anyways, but Fluttershy did not respond. He leaned in closer with a smile to speak to her. "Fluttershy," he said. "You can talk now. Reassure me that you're still there. Please!" he begged.

"I...I can talk?"

"Yes!" Discord jumped into the air and exploded into fireworks.

"D...Discord?" the puppet spoke without moving its mouth.

"Yes, Fluttershy." He hugged her. "I'm so glad you can talk now! Now we can have proper fun and discussions."

"Discord, please. Let me go!"

The draconequus blinked a few times. "What?"

"Let me go. This whole time has been horrible!"

"What do you mean?" he asked. "We've been together for these past few years. What's better than that?!"

The pegasus started to cry. "I miss my friends, DIscord."

"But...But I'm your friend..." He spoke with a disheartened tone. "Don't I count?"

Fluttershy really wanted to yell at him, but seeing his saddened expression really put a vice around her nonexistent heart. "You do, but I miss my other friends. I spent ten years trapped in this puppet that you made, unable to control my own body. You know what that was like."

Discord looked down in shame.

"I don't want to stay like this. Please PLEASE, Discord. Let me go," Fluttershy begged. "You're the only one who can."

"But," the draconequus started. "If I let you go, I'll never see you again. I won't have anymore friends. Causing chaos without you being here wouldn't have the same...tang to it."

"Discord, there are many other ponies in the world. Why, there are even griffins and minotaurs! You'll certainly find somepony that you could talk to and become friends with."

"But no one can take your place, Fluttershy. And how am I supposed to start?"

"I don't know, Discord. I'm so very tired. I can't think anymore. You're no big meanie anymore, and you did make friends with Spike and Big Mac."

Discord crossed his arms and turned his back on Fluttershy. "Oh please. That was just a passing fancy."

"Discord?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Okay, fine. They were fun to hang around with, but that's it."

"That's a start. Find something they like and...and..." the pegasus trailed off.

"Fluttershy?" Discord called and grabbed her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm so...tired..."

The draconequus thought deeply for a moment.

"I let the animals I cared for back into the forest when I was done helping them. I couldn't hold on to them forever," Fluttershy whispered.

Discord himself started to tear up this time and hugged the puppet close to him. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. Even chaos can't stop death. I didn't want to lose my first and only friend in many millennia."

"I'll always be around, and the princesses can...help..."

"Pffff? The princesses? But they're such party poopers." Discord's frown turned to concern then horrified worry. "Fluttershy? FLUTTERSHY!"

The wooden puppet had a blank expression staring into nothing and tears pearling down her cheeks. Discord sniffed and clutched her once again, then his floating hand let go of the strings and snapped its fingers before dissolving. The draconequus could feel the soul of Fluttershy was gone now. She wasn't with him anymore, and being immortal meant they would never be together again. He tried so hard to keep her with him, and even after all he did...

"Okay Fluttershy," he sniffled. "I'll go to the princesses for help...I just hope I don't end up regretting this," he sniffed.