Twilight, Pinkie and Angel had been tending to Fluttershy as best they could for the past forty minutes, but their capacity to do so had been severely limited by her non-responsiveness. They had tried gently coaxing her into speaking several times, but all attempts had been met with failure.

When Discord finally popped back into existence behind them with the gall to look exhausted, Twilight felt her blood boil, "Just where the hell have you been!?"

Discord briefly considered telling - or even showing - her exactly what he had been doing just to see the look on her face, but decided against it, "Blowing off some steam in the way only I can." He dropped all traces of smugness from his voice, "How is she?"

Twilight had already prepared her answer in advance, and a remarkably snide one at that. However, Discord's tone and expression suggested that he was genuinely concerned for the well being of the pegasus, despite his hasty exit earlier. She resolved to save it for later and sighed, "Not good. She hasn't moved a muscle, and we can't get any response out of her whatsoever, no matter what we try." She took a deep breath, "I'm really worried about her, Discord. What if she's stuck like this? We can't even tell what's wrong with her because she won't communicate with us."

Discord scanned over the pegasus, "Correction, you can't tell what's wrong with her. I've seen this before, several times actually."

"You have?" Twilight felt a small flicker of hope spark up within her chest.

"Yes, although usually it was my fault in the first place." He stepped towards Fluttershy, "The pony mind is a very complicated, intricate thing, as I'm sure you're aware. However, there are certain things that the mind simply cannot, or will not, process; resulting in what we're seeing now." He stopped before Fluttershy, staring closely into her unmoving eyes, "Though the specific causes can differ from pony to pony, as well as their circumstances, we're generally talking about mentally scarring events. For instance, the massacre survivors during the 'Chaos Wars' tended to end up the same way."

He caught Twilight's disgusted expression but ignored it, "We shouldn't really be surprised that Fluttershy ended up like this after such a revelation. She's the Bearer of Kindness, after all. She killed in anger - using the Element itself as a weapon, no less - going against everything she stands for, and there's no way she can undo it now that he's dead." He sat down before Fluttershy, giving a dry, humourless chuckle, "Gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase, 'Killing them with kindness', doesn't it?"

Pinkie frowned momentarily at Discord's choice of humour, preparing to speak her mind on just how inappropriate such jokes were given the circumstances, but his hollow laugh gave her pause, 'He's hurting. A lot more than he's letting on.' A pang of sympathy shot through Pinkie, adding to her already heavy emotional load, "S-So what can we do to help her?"

Discord tapped his head without looking at her, still examining Fluttershy's eyes closely, "I'll be going on another mind stroll, like I did with you, only this time I won't be looking for alternate personalities, I'll be looking for Fluttershy herself. She's in there somewhere, I just have to find her and bring her back out." He turned his head all the way around to look at them, "One thing though, and this is important."

"What?" Pinkie asked.

"I know this sounds odd, but do not fall asleep under any circumstances. I don't know how long this will take, and I'm tired. There's no way I can watch over your dreams and do this at the same time."

"Watch over our dreams?" the thought made Twilight feel uneasy.

"Ever since the incident with Luna and you, Twilight, I've been watching out for her trying to pull the same trick again. My presence alone is enough to ward her off, but I can't stop her from watching and waiting from afar. Think of it this way, every time one of you falls asleep, doorways appear that Luna can use to get into your heads. Ever since the incident where she invaded Twilight's dreamscape, my magic has been blocking those doorways, preventing Luna from meddling with our heads and gleaning any information from us. However, when I'm tired blocking these doorways becomes much harder. Blocking them whilst tired, and exploring Fluttershy's mind simultaneously is too much for me in my current state. So don't fall asleep, got it?"

The ponies gulped and nodded.

Discord span his head back around the right way and met the eyes of Angel, who had climbed up onto Fluttershy's head so as to meet him at eye level. The rabbit scowled at him and gave several threatening squeaks, though he would occasionally look down at Fluttershy with a worried expression.

Discord rolled his eyes, "You don't need to threaten me, Angel, nor would I consider it wise if I were you. Besides, I won't do anything to make things worse, she's my friend; I want to help her as much as you do." He hummed for a moment, "And I will, under one condition..."

Angel frowned and shot the draconequus a death glare.

Discord smiled devilishly, "Chess. Rematch. My rules."

Angel's scowl turned into a look of confusion and exasperation. He gave the draconequus a curt nod after realising that he was awaiting an answer.

"It's settled then!" Discord snatched the paw of the bunny and shook it wildly, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an important visit to make." He placed a finger gently against Fluttershy's forehead, "Knock, knock..."

Staring helplessly at her friend, knowing full well now that this was something only Discord could fix, and that it may have been beyond even him, Pinkie's outlook on the situation became darker and more grim by the second. With nothing else to do that might have staved off the crushing, fenced-off emotions within her, her mind quickly wound back to the previous day, and the numerous terrible events that had taken place. Namely, that Fluttershy had inadvertently taken a life.

But as she reflected on it, the more unsettled she became, not by the actions of her friends, but by her own, 'Fluttershy would never have killed a pony on purpose...' She grimaced, 'But would I have?'

A familiar voice echoed from within her mind, 'Evidently not, otherwise you wouldn't have relied on me to quite literally fight your battles. You don't have the nerve.'

Pinkie didn't respond, 'I hurt them, those guards. Blew out their eardrums without a second thought. I knew what overcharging the cannon would do to them, but... but I... did it anyway.'

'In self defence, you know you didn't charge it to anywhere near lethal levels.'

Pinkie sighed inwardly, 'That doesn't make me feel any better.'

Pinkamena replied flatly, 'Good. That wasn't my intention, I'm just stating the facts so you'll shut up. You and I both know you don't have the steel to take a life. Contemplating whether or not you would've when it's obvious that you never could is both pointless and irritating.'

'But I released you, knowing what you might do to them.' She paused, 'You could have killed them, but I let you out anyway. Does that... Does that make me just as responsible? What if you had killed that guard?' Pinkie trembled slightly, 'What if he's dying now? What if he's dead? Am I as guilty as you, even if I wasn't the one in control? Would it be my fault if he died?'

Pinkamena grunted, 'I don't know. I don't care.' A spitting noise could be heard before she spoke again, 'Suck it up. You needed my help, and I gave it. If he's dead, it's his fault, not mine or yours, and it's the same for the one Fluttershy shot. They came after us, not the other way around. If you want to be sorry for yourself until someone reassures you, ask somepony else. Any more of this to me and I'll drag you back in here and kick your teeth out.'

Silence prevailed as Pinkie's glazed-over eyes regained their focus, the pegasus before her hadn't moved an inch, and from the looks of it, neither had Twilight or Angel.

When she spoke, her voice came out only as a dejected whisper, her gaze never leaving Fluttershy, "Twilight? I-I know it's not a good time, b-but can I ask you a question?"

There was a brief silence, "What is it?"

"Do you blame me for attacking those guards, even if P-Pinkamena was the one hurting them?"

Twilight turned her head to face her, "What?"

"I-I mean, I let her out in the first place." She lowered her voice even further, as if to avoid Fluttershy hearing, "I know what Fluttershy d-did, but that was an accident. Pinkamena... she could have killed somepony on purpose, but I still let her out. Is it my fault, too?"

Twilight sighed, glancing at Angel for his input only to see that their conversation hadn't merited any response from him, his fearful eyes still locked firmly on his owner, "Pinkie, I don't blame you or Fluttershy for anything that happened. It was my fault in the first place, I was the one that decided to walk off on my own. If I hadn't, this entire situation could have been avoided." Again, she sighed and took a deep breath, fixing her eyes back on Pinkie's, "But it did. We all had to do things we didn't want to in order to escape, but out of necessity, not because we felt like it." Her voice softened, "You freed Pinkamena, despite the risk to yourself, to save us; not because you wanted to hurt those ponies. It's your intention that matters, Pinkie. How can we blame you for putting your life on the line for us?"

Pinkie almost smiled, but the weight of her thoughts tugged her mouth downwards at the corners, "But even then... The guards that got stabbed." She flinched at the gruesome memories, "It was technically still me that did those things. The poster said so! I'm guilty!"

The next sound that filled the air was that of a resounding slap as Angel hopped up and swiped his paw across Pinkie's muzzle. The ponies stared at his deadpan expression for a couple of seconds until he raised his paw and jabbed it towards Fluttershy before frowning at Pinkie.

Twilight did her best to interpret his actions as he span on the spot and faced his owner once again, "I think he wants you to keep it down, Pinkie. And perhaps this conversation should wait, at least until Fluttershy is okay."

Pinkie hung her head and rubbed her cheek, "Yeah, I'm being pretty selfish, aren't I?"

Twilight rested a hoof on her back, "You're scared, Pinkie, we all are, it's fine. And for the record, those posters are full of crap. Just Celestia doing as she always does, twisting the facts to portray herself in a better light. How can you be guilty of what Pinkamena did? She's another pony, at least in terms of conscience. She did those things, not you." Pinkie lifted her head, but Twilight spoke before she could talk, "Did Pinkamena throw parties out of the goodness of her heart every single time somepony back home was sad, or lonely?" She paused for a moment as her message sank in, "No. You did."

With that, the room lapsed into silence for the final time, both ponies turning back to their pegasus friend as Twilight's words echoed through Pinkie's mind. A fraction of a smile forced its way onto her face, though the direness of the situation quickly erased it. Even so, there was still a small measure of comfort to be found in what Twilight had said.

At least until Pinkamena made her distaste quite obvious with a threatening snarl, 'Of course I didn't throw any parties. I spent my foalhood in a prison cell.'

Pinkie fixed her eyes on the floor and staved away the guilt as best she could.

A contented sigh signalled Discord's arrival within Fluttershy's mindscape, "Ah... So nice to be in a normal mind for once." He surveyed his surroundings with interest. What immediately struck him was just how well organised her mind was. Everything around him was impeccably tidy and uniformly arranged, an exceptionally rare trait indeed.

He currently stood in the centre of a perfectly square room, the walls were a clean white, the floors beneath a polished marble. Many doors lined each wall at perfectly regular intervals, and each had a golden plaque above it, detailing exactly where one would end up after stepping through the threshold. Although it was infinitely less chaotic than Pinkie's method of pulling doors from nowhere, Discord couldn't help but appreciate it, given the circumstances; it made his job far easier.

His gaze flicked between the plaques, "Ideas, Dreams, Fears, Desires, Memories, Emotio- wait a second..." He glanced back to the door beneath 'Memories'. "Bingo." The door was ever-so-slightly ajar, as opposed to fully closed like the rest. It was the sort of thing he wouldn't have given a second thought to were he anywhere else, but here in 'Order Central' it was the only - and therefore a glaringly obvious - flaw.

Discord stepped towards it, and noticed that despite the lack of objects in the large room, his footsteps didn't echo at all. If the atmosphere of Pinkie's mind - with her thousands of imaginary clones - could be likened to a factory, then Fluttershy's was easily comparable to a library.

Or a cemetery.

He reached the door and stepped through, taking care not to shut it behind him for fear that the noise might scare away the pony he was searching for. A wide hallway materialised before him, stretching into the distance, doors lining either wall, and other hallways connecting to it on either side every so often. He made his way along it, checking for anything out of place as he went. Unlike the doors from before which were made from solid wood, these possessed glass panes, allowing Discord to peek at the memory within. He stopped by one, his curiosity getting the better of him. It was a short memory, relatively speaking. Though he couldn't hear anything through the door, Discord remembered this occasion himself and smiled. It was one of their earlier meetings after his reformation.

The focus was on Discord, holding a steaming tea of cup and laughing. The perspective shook slightly, presumably as Fluttershy laughed herself. This continued for a few seconds before Discord sipped at his cup and smiled down at her.

The memory stopped there, and promptly began replaying itself from the beginning.

Discord chuckled to himself, glancing up at the sign above the door, 'Tea (?) with a New Friend'.

A smile worked its way onto his face, though he dropped it quickly enough as he reminded himself of his purpose there. He continued down the hall, noting that the further he progressed, the older the memories became.

He stopped.

It was quite a distance away, but even so it would have been impossible to miss the monstrous metal door that materialised and blocked the hallway. He remained where he was and squinted, not out of difficulty seeing, but from confusion. The door resembled the one that Pinkie had used to keep Pinkamena's containment cell secure, but this one had a distinct difference. Several dozen sharp metal spikes protruding outwards, preventing further passage beyond that point. The gears in Discord's mind began whirring, yet he found himself unable to comprehend exactly why Fluttershy would have any need for such precautions.

It actually unnerved him somewhat as he thought about it. Whereas the door within Pinkie's mind was intended to keep a pony sealed in, this one was specifically designed to keep ponies out.

Including Fluttershy herself.

"Whatever's behind that door, it's bad news..." He resumed his search, trying his best to pinpoint any out-of-place details other than the gargantuan death trap in the distance; he figured if she'd actually managed to find a way through that, things were going to become very problematic, very quickly.

Fortunately, as he continued onwards the faint sound of voices could be heard from up ahead. He picked up his pace, coming to a halt just outside the corresponding door after a half-minute's brisk walk. As he'd expected, this door had been left ajar too. The plaque above simply stated, 'The Best Night Ever!', a phrase which was promptly chorused from the voices within. Discord peered through the glass and observed as the six Bearers, Spike and Celestia would discuss the events of the gala, explain what they had learned about friendship, coin it 'the best night ever', and laugh. Then the memory would reset.

Discord found himself cringing through the majority of the memory, but he kept his complaints to himself. After his third observation, he was sure of it. Each time the memory replayed itself, every action and word spoken would be repeated perfectly, save for those involving Fluttershy. Though the variations were minute at best, they were there. Fluttershy was re-living this specific memory on a loop.

He waited for the memory to reset and pushed the door fully open, stepping inside and feeling the room shift around him as he was plunged into the memory himself.

"That sounds like the worst night ever." Spike raised his arms in bewilderment.

A unified chorus of, "It was!" followed by a wave of joyous laughter did little to clear up any confusion the dragon may have had.

Discord watched as Celestia announced her arrival and conversed with the others. He stood back, out of their line of sight, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. They were nothing but a memory, they couldn't see or hear him, as he wasn't part of the original event. Nevertheless, Discord's close proximity to the memory Celestia was enough to prompt him to stop observing and act. He'd already killed a Celestia today, and that was messy enough; he didn't want to kill another inside Fluttershy's mind.

"Yeah, hanging out with friends!" Rainbow gestured to the others and smiled.

"T-Talking!" Fluttershy stammered slightly.

"Laughing!" Pinkie raised her hooves merrily.

Discord stepped into Fluttershy's field of view. As if a steel girder had been jammed into the workings of a great machine, everything jarred to a halt, the ponies involved frozen in their respective poses, "Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy looked up in alarm, "D-Discord? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Discord paused for a moment, a grim expression on his face as he searched for a way to broach the subject, "Fluttershy, what... How long have you been here?"

She seemed perplexed by his question, glancing around at her currently frozen friends, "I-I don't know. A few minutes, maybe? W-Why?"

Discord sat on an empty section of the table, keeping his eyes locked onto the pegasus, "It's been nearly an hour, Fluttershy. Maybe even more, I don't know how long I've been in here looking for you."

The look on Fluttershy's face was one of immediate acceptance as she stared down at the table, her words tumbling out just a little too quickly, "Oh, has it? I must have lost track of time, sorry..."

Discord's voice fell flat, "You're lying. To me or yourself, I don't know, but you're lying."

Fluttershy appeared not to have heard, glancing around at the room's other occupants, though clearly avoiding looking directly at Discord, "They've stopped... Why aren't they moving any m-more?"

"Because this conversation isn't part of the original memory, and it's stopping you fulfilling your role in it."

Fluttershy remained still for a second before facing him, "W-Why are you here? What do you want?"

Discord extended his paw to her, "To help you and be there for you when you need me. Take my paw, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy raised her hoof reflexively before realisation sparked in her eyes, causing her to yank it back, "You want me to leave, don't you?"

"Yes."

Her ears fell back and hurt filled her voice, "Why? Can't you see that I-I'm upset enough?"

Discord shook his head morosely, "This isn't the right way to deal with it, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy hung her head over the table and said nothing, "Fluttershy look, I understand how you must feel after... what happened, but you can't just stay here forever; it's dangerous!"

She shook her head fervently but didn't look away from the table beneath her, "No it's not! I-I'm safe here..."

Discord slammed his paw against the table, although Fluttershy didn't seem to register it, not flinching an inch, "No, you aren't! You'll go mad, Fluttershy! All you're doing is living the same memory through on a loop! None of this is real!"

Fluttershy brought her own hoof down onto the table - albeit with much less force than Discord had - and glowered up at him with gritted teeth and wide eyes, "I don't care! It's better here!" She pointed at Spike, Celestia and herself in turn, "Nobody is dead! Or a monster! Or a murderer!" Fluttershy gagged, revolted by her new title, before looking back at Discord with as much determination as she could muster, "Everyone here is happy! This is better than reality!" After allowing herself a moment to simmer down, she glanced at the smiling figures around the table and forced a forlorn smile of her own, shaking her head slowly at Discord, "This is the way things used to be. The way they should be. I just want to stay here and be happy..."

Discord scanned around the room and gave a tired sigh, "Yes, you're right, Fluttershy. Everyone here is happy, there's no use debating that. But..." he allowed more concern to flow into his voice, "What about those that aren't here? They aren't happy."

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"Your friends - your friends in reality, I mean - they're worried sick. Twilight, Pinkie, Angel, they're scared, Fluttershy. Scared for you."

"But why? I'm happy here, they d-don't need to worry about me any m-more."

"But they will, because they're your friends. They don't know what's happening in your head. They just see you, staring off into the middle-distance, all but dead to the world. They're terrified for you, Fluttershy, and every moment you spend here scares them a little more. They think they've lost you, forever."

Hope flooded into Fluttershy's voice, "B-But you can tell them I'm fine! Everything can b-be alright!"

Discord shook his head, "No, it can't. At least not like that." He stood from the table, walked around to Fluttershy's side, and stared deep into her eyes as she looked at him, "You can't actually expect me to leave you here!? You're my only friend! I won't leave you here just to go insane!"

"B-But I can't! Out there I-I'm a m-murderer, Discord! I killed a pony! I don't want to hurt anypony else! P-Please just leave me here! I can't go back out there!"

"You must."

"N-No! Discord please liste-"

Discord dropped to one knee, leaning on the other and levelling his head with her own, "No, Fluttershy, you listen. Your friends need you. I know what you're going through, I know how much it hurts." Discord's eyes widened a fraction, "But listen to me!" He backed away and stood tall, "You have friends who'd put everything on the line for you. Good friends. All they want is to be with you, and help you when you need it the most." Discord's features darkened somewhat, "As I've said, I was in your position once, a long, long time ago; but I had no friends to look out for me. To care for me..."

Fluttershy felt a knot in her stomach at the pain evident in his voice, "Discord, what-"

He cut her off, "You have to go back to them, or it'll take its toll, trust me. You'll start to lose parts of yourself. You'll become a monster, like me."

"Stop it!" Fluttershy stood from her chair and shook her head at him, "You're not a monster!"

Discord's voice fell to little more than a deep murmur, "Thousands upon thousands of dead ponies beg to differ."

Fluttershy flinched but shook her head again, "I... I know... But y-you've changed! You've t-tried to b-better yourself! You have bettered yourself!"

Discord sighed, "We're straying off-topic here. This isn't about me, this is about you." He leaned against an empty table, "Fluttershy, I'm your friend. Please, do as I say. You have to trust me! Insanity isn't half as fun as I make it out to be."

The remaining traces of hurt in Discord's voice didn't go unnoticed by Fluttershy as she slumped back into her seat and chewed her lip desperately. Try as she might, she simply couldn't refuse him in his current state, the only other time she'd ever heard him sound so dejected was right before she and the others had turned him to stone for a third time. That chain of thought only served to make her choice all the more difficult.

The months he'd spent in freezing cold stone all because of her inability to say 'No!'

The intense sorrow that radiated from his statue after being petrified by his only real friend.

The fact that, despite what she did to him, he'd brushed it off and done nothing but try to protect her ever since.

She kept her lips sealed and chewed them ferociously as her conflicting thoughts addled her judgement.
'I owe him so much...'
'I can't leave!'
'My friends need me!'
'They're better off without me...'
'I'm the only friend he has...'
'Everything is alright here...'

"Fluttershy, please..."

The weight of the sorrow in his voice shattered what remained of her resolve. She hung her head, closed her eyes and sniffled slightly, "Okay..."

Discord stooped his head down beside hers once again, "You'll go?"

Fluttershy lifted her head just enough to see him from the corners of her eyes, and nodded, "I-I will. Y-You said it y-yourself, my friends n-n-need me." She tried to force a smile, but the constant quivering of her lip made it impossible, "What ch-choice do I h-have?..." She sighed and scrunched her eyes shut again, the memory around them fading. A moment later, she and Discord were outside the - still open - door, watching as the memory restarted itself.

Discord looked down at her and tipped his head slightly, "Fluttershy... Thank you."

She nodded once to indicate she had heard.

Discord held out his paw, a small, strained smile on his face, "Shall we? It's far too orderly in here for my liking anyway."

Fluttershy stared sullenly at the paw until the sound of joyous laughter rang out from the room they had vacated. She slowly turned her head to the door, then back at Discord. Her eyes widened as she forced herself not to cry and simultaneously suppressed the urge to dart back into the room once again, "D-Discord?" she stared up at him pitifully, "C-Can I ask a f-favour first?"

His smile vanished, replaced by an expression of utmost seriousness, "Anything, so long as you come back. Name it."

Fluttershy gulped down the lump in her throat and spoke hoarsely, "Stay and watch with m-me. J-Just... Just a few more times..."

Discord prepared to argue the detriments of doing so, but with each second her sorrow grew more and more profound, and the crushing despair in her eyes overwhelmed him. He sighed and looked away, "Alright. Just a few."

Fluttershy nodded and turned to the doorway, watching the memory play out before her as Discord stepped up beside her. They watched the memory from beginning to end one, two, three times. With each repetition, Fluttershy's sorrowful expression would alleviate slightly; though upon each reset, she would hesitantly glance up at Discord.

As the fourth cycle began to draw to a close, Discord spoke up quietly, "Fluttershy, it's time."

The pegasus whimpered but said nothing as Discord held out his paw to her, his claw slowly pulling the door shut as he did so.

The door obstructed much of her view now, but those happy words and warm laughter filled the air.

"The best night ever!"

The door clicked shut. Fluttershy scrunched her eyes closed, tears brimming at their corners as she took Discord's paw.

The corridor faded into nothingness, and they vanished.

Fluttershy's eyes fluttered open as she came to, noticing the sheets that had been draped over her, and how she had presumably remained standing the entire time. "W-Where did these come from?" She attempted to shrug the sheets off, but promptly found herself pinned by the weight of two ponies and a rabbit atop her, squeezing her tightly.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy you're awake! Or at least not... whatever that was. Welcome back!"

"We were really worried about you!"

Angel jumped down to the side of Fluttershy's muzzle and curled up next to her cheek, gently pressing against her and nodding in agreement.

The pegasus at the bottom of the heap made no attempt to reply, which - given the tightness of Pinkie's grip, and her need to preserve oxygen - was probably a good idea. Once Pinkie eventually released her and the others stepped back, she scanned around gloomily for the only one who hadn't leapt across the room to greet her.

Discord's expression was as unreadable as a blank mask.

Fluttershy addressed him, her voice flat and monotonous, "What now?"

Discord responded in kind, ignoring the concerned expressions of the other three, "Now? That entirely depends on your answer to my next question."

Fluttershy lowered her gaze to the floor before resting her forehead against it, "Which is?"

"Do you really want to see this through?"

She didn't raise her head, "What do you mean?"

"You can be done with this. You've seen enough. Suffered enough. More than enough." He furrowed his brow in pity, "You can go home, if you wish."

Twilight and Pinkie shared a hurt look at the thought of their friend leaving, but all it took was a momentary glance in her direction to remind them of the ordeal she was going through. They remained quiet, though both looked up at Discord pleadingly, as if to ask him not to take her away.

Discord caught their expressions in his periphery, but pointedly ignored them.

Fluttershy lifted her head a fraction and glanced at him questioningly, "How?"

"I could send you back right now, really. It wouldn't be difficult to make it seem like you were brainwashed the entire time. Sure, they'd ask questions when they found you, lots of questions. But with a few precautions I can't foresee that becoming too much of a problem."

Fluttershy didn't move, "Th-That's not what I meant. What I m-meant was, how do you e-expect me to leave all this behind me? T-To leave you all a-and pretend I n-never had anything to do with it? Not five minutes ago you told me my friends needed me, D-Discord..." She glanced at everyone around her with sullen eyes, "I n-need them, too. I'm s-staying with you, all of you. I've said it b-before, and I'll say it again, I won't ever abandon you. You're my friends, no matter what."

Discord slumped down onto the sofa sounding relatively relieved, "I was hoping you'd say something along those lines. Regardless, the offer is always there should you change your mind."

Fluttershy nodded in acknowledgement, and the room fell quiet.

All eyes were on the pegasus - still prone on the floor - as Twilight spoke gently, "Fluttershy, I'm so, so sorry." She sat beside her friend and draped a hoof around her neck, "I-I didn't know, didn't realise... I never would've read that out if I had." She grimaced and looked at Fluttershy, but the pegasus was still staring blankly at the floor beneath her. "I can't even begin imagine how you're feeling right now. I-Is there anything you need? Anything at all?"

Fluttershy blinked and gave Twilight a sideways glance, her voice still a flat, soulless monotone, "I need to be alone."

Without skipping a beat, Discord snapped his fingers, causing himself and Fluttershy to vanish from sight.

Pinkie lowered herself onto her haunches, "Twilight?"

"Yes, Pinkie?"

Pinkie's voice was laden with worry and concern, "Will she be okay?"

Twilight sighed and sank into a nearby chair, lowering her head into her forehooves, the image of Fluttershy's empty gaze still pinned firmly at the forefront of her mind, "I don't know, Pinkie. I just don't know."

Fluttershy sat beside Discord atop a high-up hilltop, the vast expanse of the Appleloosan apple orchards beneath them, stretching off into the distance with the town lingering on the horizon. The wind whistled quietly by them, causing Fluttershy's mane to wave in the breeze, though Discord's beard remained blatantly unaffected.

Discord mimicked Fluttershy and stared at the town in the distance as he spoke, "I'll leave you to your thoughts. Call for me whenever you're ready and I'll bring you back." He raised his paw, but it froze in mid-air, "Oh, and please don't wander. I'll know, and you could probably do without a safety lecture at the moment."

Fluttershy nodded and turned to him, "Thank you for everything, Discord."

Discord nodded back, and stretched in preparation.

"Despite what you might think, you're not a monster, not really."

He hesitated for a second, then vanished with a flash of light and a resounding snap.

Fluttershy turned back to the orchards without a word, her eyes fixated on the barely visible town of Appleloosa in the distance. The town in which guards were putting up posters of her labelled 'murderer'.

She thought back to it for the hundredth time. The anger. The arrows. The agony on his face as he fell. The absolute certainty that this was, in fact, reality, and that she had killed a pony just for trying to save his friend.

Fluttershy keeled over and vomited.

Her stomach now emptied, she coughed weakly and blinked the reflexive tears from her eyes. She tried to collect her thoughts, to compose herself and think things through properly, but couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. Thousands of questions, uncertainties, apologies, facts and fears raced through her mind and left before she even fully registered them.

Of all those multitudes of thoughts, only one was constant. One word repeated over and over, as if chanted by a choir of vindictive voices.

'Murderer!'

A gust of wind blew her mane across her face, hiding her features for but a few seconds. By the time it died down, and her mane fell back to its natural position, her face was already streaked with miniature streams of tears.

"I'm sorry..."

Author's Notes:

So, it's been over a month, I know, I apologise once again. I won't bore you with excuses or anecdotes, if you're interested in specifically why this is so late out there's a post on my blog explaining it.

Key information for you:
This chapter is part of a bigger one that I wrote, which has been split into many other chapters now, as I wrote quite a lot and had to arrange it all logically etc. The details on Fluttershy's Element breakage will almost certainly be in the next chapter. I tried to get it in here, as per my promise in the last A/N, but nope.

In case any of you were wondering about that Amnesia livestream I promised, I've resolved to get around to it during the Christmas holidays, when I'll have enough free time.

Anyways, I apologise once again for not keeping to my personal deadline of one chapter every two weeks. I know you probably expected more than 6.5k words considering this took me over a month, but I simply cannot find the time to write at the moment.

Ending on a positive note, at the time of writing this, As Twilight Falls has 171 likes... That's just absolutely crazy, I swear it had only 130 something last month. :D

- Mike, bringing you the 'scope' of things to come (and taking his bloody sweet time whilst he's at it, too).