Stitches

Chapter 1: Nightmare

Fluttershy rolled over, blinking in the dim light. Why was her bed so hard? Did she roll over onto the floor again?

Fluttershy sat up with a gasp, realizing that she was neither in her bed nor her bedroom. The ground beneath her was solid black rock, the sky barely brighter with a central point of light that sorta almost mimicked a sun. She could see nothing but grey and black in all directions.

Fluttershy whimpered, hugging herself. What was this place? She felt an overwhelming sense of terror fill her, knowing without being sure how she knew that this place was incredibly dangerous. She might have sat there, alone, for minutes or hours -- she couldn't be sure -- before a figure appeared in the distance.

She sat quietly as the figure got closer and closer, unsure whether she wanted them to see her or not, until it got close enough for her to start making out details. It was snake-like, with horns and limbs that were all different colors, and-

"Discord?" She whispered. She broke into a grin, pushing down a sudden sense of foreboding in favor of the sense of safety he always gave her. "Discord! Discord, I'm over here! Discord!"

She waved her forelegs and started flying towards him, but she stopped when she spotted something very, very wrong. She put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a horrified gasp. "...Discord?"

Every mismatched part of Discord looked stitched together. Not the tidy stitches of a doll, but the messy stitches of a Frankenhoof's Monster. They were bulging, and ugly, and looked as if they were barely holding him together. He was on all fours, his face twisted in a beastly growl, his eyes locking on her with no recognition nor intelligence.

Whatever that thing was had Discord's face, but it was a wild, feral animal. Fluttershy started to carefully fly away from it, but it slowly followed her. She backed up further and further, it got closer and closer, the distance closing until...

It pounced, claws and talons flashing as it tried to gain purchase in her flank, but she dodged upwards just in time. She started flying away from it as fast as she could, hoping the whatever-it-was shared Discord's weak running skills, noting that it hadn't yet used magic.

She felt something hit her wing, pain exploding across it, and realized the beast had started throwing rocks. More rocks came, until one hit just the right place to send her spiraling to the ground. She pulled her wings close to herself, watching in terror as the beast stalked towards her, taking its time now that its prey was wounded.

It leaped, and she prepared to roll out of the way, but a multicolored blur hit into the creature that looked like Discord. They wrestled on the ground, then the blur stood up in a familiar silhouette. Fluttershy felt her heart stop, thinking it was another one of those beasts fighting over prey, until she noticed the lack of stitches.

"Are you... Okay?" Discord panted, looking over his shoulder with a gaze filled with recognition, worry, and protectiveness.

"I'm fine... My wing's just a little banged up." Fluttershy whispered. "Discord, where are we? What is that thing and why does it look like you?"

"You shouldn't be here, my dearest Fluttershy. How are you here?" Discord muttered, more to himself than to her. His attention was caught by a roar from the beast, causing an equally beast-like growl to come from him. He looked between the beast and Fluttershy, cupped his paw and talon to his face, and shouted to the sky. "Luuuuuuunaaaaaa! Hey, Lulu! Get your star-spangled flank down here and do your job! Pony in need of dream protection here!"

"Discord, what is going on?" Luna asked, appearing from a moon that certainly wasn't there before. "Normally you don't let me into your dreams no matter- what is that?!"

"I'll explain never, just take Fluttershy and go. Now!" Discord grabbed Fluttershy and stuffed her into Luna's forehooves, occasionally snapping his jaws at the beast to keep it away. He growled, eyes going completely red. "I'll deal with this."

"Discord, I know not how Fluttershy is in in your dreamscape when even I cannot enter without your leave, but I do know a nightmare when I see one." Luna held Fluttershy tightly, both of them staring at Discord. "Allow me to help you fight this."

"Sorry, Princess." Discord chuckled darkly as more and more stitched-up Draconequui appeared, his eyes focused only on the one that resembled him. "But this is one inner demon that I have to deal with myself."

With that, he pounced back onto his double, scratching and biting every bit as fiercely as the beast. Luna was forced into the air by the other beasts, heading back towards the moon despite Fluttershy's protests. The Pegasus looked back to see hundreds of unstitched Draconequui join the fray, each attacking a ghastly stitched-up double.

"Go back! We can't just leave him!" Fluttershy pleaded, trying to squirm out of the Princess's grasp, uncaring for her damaged wing. They were almost to the moon. "Discord! Discord!"

"I am sorry, my little pony, but- woah!" Luna screeched to a halt just before the moon, her way blocked by another beast, one that resembled Fluttershy.

Except, it had antlers sewn onto its head, bat wings sewn to its back, bird talons sewn as forelegs, a dragon-like tail sewn to its flank. Its canines were long and sharp, its mane sporting a green streak, its Cutie Mark missing.

Fluttershy hated it. She hated it more than anything else she had ever hated in her life. She hated it so much that she couldn't think of anything else, couldn't remember her own name. With a cry of rage and strength she didn't know she had, she broke out of Luna's grip to pounce upon her double, sending both towards the ground in a flurry of hooves and teeth.

The fighting may have lasted for hours, or days, or weeks, or months, or maybe even years. Or perhaps merely minutes, she couldn't really tell and didn't really care. She was distantly aware of Discord and other Draconequui fighting their doubles around her, and of Luna calling for her, but Fluttershy's world centered on her own hooves and her hated beast.

Eventually, though she couldn't remember it clearly, the fighting stop. The stitched-up Fluttershy was gone. The hatred left her, and the world faded to black.