The Captive of Discord

      Fluttershy woke up in a strange room, pasted with wallpapers completely unsuitable for each other in style. She was surprised and tried to remember how she got here and why she was lying on a soft mattress. Alas, nothing after the appearance of the terrible figure with mesmerizing eyes was remembered. The girl sat up. Suddenly she heard familiar voices nearby. Turning around, she saw Smooze and Strife talking intensely about something. Strife had his back to her, but it was clear from his voice that he was not in the mood. After a couple of seconds, as Flutty looked at them, Smooze noticed her and pointed at her with his hand, drawing his interlocutor's attention to her. The magician turned around. His shaggy gray eyebrows were furrowed, and as soon as he saw Fluttershy, his left eyebrow immediately went up. "Oh. You're already awake. Funny," he remarked. "W-where am I?" the poor thing mumbled in fright. "You're at our house. In my secret room, to be precise." "How did I g-get here?" "Too many questions. Smooze," the magician snapped his fingers, "Bring our dear captive something to eat. After a few days of being in a trance, she must get really hungry".       Pudgy man nodded and headed for the door. He opened it and went up the stairs. As soon as his footsteps subsided, Strife turned back to Fluttershy. "W-what do you mean by "captive"? A few days in a trance? I-I don't understand!" She was almost crying. "I know you're confused about what's going on. But alas. This is how this world works. Sometimes even a small and stupid mistake can change a person's life. Whether it's an unfaithful husband. Or the same mother, which is unlikely. Or an inattentive father, because of whose stupidity his daughter's beloved pet went missing. Your mistake is that..." The magician took hold of the brim of his hat with both hands, "That you saw me LIKE THIS." With these words, he slowly began to take off his hat. His white, slightly curled back bangs became visible. Then the horns that had frightened her so much appeared to Flutty's eyes again. Now she could clearly make out: the left horn was a kind of goat's horn with a blue tinge, while the right one had a light yellow color and branches, like deer. Flutty looked at them with the same horror as that day, covering her mouth with her hand. "Do you remember the very old fairy tale "The Horned Khan"? The main villain threw all the barbers who saw his horn into a well with a hungry snake, so that they would not tell anyone his secret," He frowned at the girl straight in the eyes, "So I kidnapped you. You would have told them everything." "B-but it's not true. Strife, I would nev-..." "Shut up!" He shouted, making the poor girl shudder, "Don't you dare call me by that name!" "B-but it's yours..." "It's just an alias given to me by everyone I considered close people. Everyone except Smooze, although he's not my brother at all. My real name is Discord!" Discord threw his top hat aside in a rage. His changed tone, brutal look and heavy breathing betrayed his emotions and greatly frightened poor Fluttershy that she shrank into a ball with fear. The magician closed his eyes, exhaling long, and looked at the poor thing. "I suppose.. you have a lot to learn."       At the same moment, Smooze appeared, with a tray in his hands full of all sorts of goodies. He looked rather worried. "Buddy, there are these girls from the first row." "Tell them that I'm not handing out aftographs today. I'm busy." "No, you just listen. There are only two of them: rainbow-haired and smarty-pants. They came to talk about her," chubby nodded cautiously in the direction of Fluttershy. "Holy horses, this day can't get any worse..," the magician rubbed the bridge of his nose irritated, "Are they inside?" "No, on the threshold, outside. The nerdy one prefers to enter only with the permission of the owner of the house." "Huh. Sometimes nerds are more polite than ordinary people. I'm starting to like her," Discord went to the place where his cylinder fell, picked it up and put it on his head with a deft movement of his hand, hiding his two "thingies", "Stay with her, Smoothie. I don't want this baby to suffer alone." "I'm not a baby," Flatty mumbled resentfully, "I'm twenty-one years old." "And I'm almost fifty. So, don't argue with your elders and be a good girl." The magician left after closing the door behind him. He was moving up the stairs leading to an exit disguised as a huge antique chest. Getting out of it, he straightened his collar and all the folds on his tailcoat, and headed for the front door. "Good day, ladies," he said with a smile, opening the door to the guests, "How can I help you?" "We know what you're hiding! She was with you the last time!" Rainbow immediately pounced on him, "Where is she? Where did you hide her?" "Dashie, DASHIE! Calm down," Twi calmly pushed her friend back, "You can't just accuse people without any evidence. Let me. Ahem," clearing her throat, Twilight calmly inhaled and almost immediately shouted at the magician that now Dash had to calm her down, "Where is Fluttershy?! Where did you hide her?!" "I just started to like you... Listen," he got down on one knee, leaning his hand on the other, and with the other hand he propped the shouting girl's chin, "Whatever you think, I have nothing to do with it. I'm just an artist, nothing more." "I don't believe you." "Don't you believe it? Then why don't you and your athletic friend search my entire house?" He snapped his fingers and pointed to the rooms behind him, "I'm sure you'll only be disappointed." "So be it! And if we find her, you won't get away with it!"       And so the search began. Discord watched with a sly grin as the girls tried to look into every corner of his house, but did not find a trace of their lost friend. Finally, Twilight's attention is attracted by a huge chest in the middle of the bedroom. She rubs her hands, walks up to it and grabs the lid. "Now I'm gonna open it and there she will be. One. Two. Three! Here sh-!.. What?!" Instead of a Fluttershy or even a secret entrance, Twilight saw a bunch of multicolored plastic balls inside, and in the middle there was a smiling Smooze head sticking out. "Hi there." "Hi, brother," Dee waved to him affably, "Please excuse him, this is his favorite place after work. You can't get him out of there for hours, when he leaves is unknown. Even if you put cameras on, you'll never see this live." "Cameras!" Twilight abruptly closed the chest, "Camera recordings! That's where you'll definitely crack!" "As you say," making a tired face, the magician snapped his fingers again, "But this is not a guarantee of your rightness."

***

      A silent scene. In the security office of the building where the show was held, Twi, Dash and Dee are standing, looking at the computer screen at the recording from the camera, where it was clearly seen how Fluttershy opens the door, a minute later Discord approaches her, she shows him the poster, he nods and together they go inside. After another minute, Fluttershy comes out of the artist's dressing room joyful and clutching the poster signed by her new idol to her chest, after which she leaves. Twilight looks at it with her jaw hanging open. "I thought so. While you have fun, I'm going home to rest. Have time to get out of here before nine, we are already closing at this time," with these words, Discord turned his back on them and left with a satisfied grin to the sounds of bewilderment and indignation of the "nerd".

***

      Having crossed the threshold of his house and closed the door, Discord, no longer able to restrain his laughter, burst out laughing. I think everyone understands what a pain it is when you just want to laugh, but otherwise people will take you for a psycho and catch you red-handed. So he walked to the secret passage, occasionally stumbling and holding on to the walls so as not to fall from prolonged laughter. Smooze was already out at the time, so Dee was able to tell him how it went. "You should have seen their faces! Simply priceless!" "Hehehe! I totally believe you!" Smoothie answered, laughing too. "Wooh! I'll go, haha, to our captive, ha, and check her out! And you, hahaha, prepare everything for bed for now!"       Discord went down, still holding his stomach from laughing. Fluttershy was already waiting for him there and looked up when she heard his laughter. Strands of pink hair fell on her tear-stained face. The magician immediately stopped laughing and his face changed from cheerful to serious. He came closer to her and bent down. "I know. Sorry about that." "W-why don't I remember anything?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "Excuse me?" "Why. Don't I. Remember anything?" Fluttershy repeated louder. "You don't remember, huh?" Discord sat down next to her. "Because I hypnotized you, silly. I used my hypnosis on you."       Flutty was silent. "You were struggling so hard from Smooze's grip that for a moment I thought you could very well escape. But this is just a small thing. I had to put you in a trance so as not to hurt you, and there were a hundred times fewer cries for help."       The girl was silent. "Look, I'm not sadistic. I'm a victim of circumstances, just like you. And if I had the chance," Discord put his hand on the top of her head, "I would have found a more decent way to apologize." "...How did you get them?" "Them?" "Y-your horns? Magical abilities, hypnosis? Where did you get them all from? Are you cursed or does this all have a deeper meaning?"       Before Discord could think of an answer, a clock chimed and a mechanical cuckoo sounded from the bedroom. The magician hurriedly stood up. "Nine o'clock already? Oh, sweet mother, it's time for me to go," patting the poor girl on the head, he headed for the door, "I'll tell you everything tomorrow, right now it's time for us all to rest. Performing in a circus is difficult, so we should all get some sleep. Sweet dreams, little pegasus."       The door closed and the sound of a key turning in the lock was heard. Flutty stared at the door of her prison for a long time before lying down on the mattress, curling up into a ball and falling into a pleasant abyss of sleep.