Complications come in the form of Order working in overdrive

Complications come in the form of Order working in overdrive, so why not break the cycle?

I can't seem to work on the chapters I should, instead I keep working on the ones that won't come until later in the story. I've begun to finally backpedal to the chapter I should be focusing on, however, I'm not sure when I'll have it finished,. With any luck I'll have it done this weekend. So this is probably going to be the 5th or maybe the 6th chapter, obviously there are spoilers for what's going to happen a little later in the story, more specifically where the Fluttercord shipping begins, more or less. I'm not talking about over-board no brakes in place kind of shipping, but this is where it will begin to show. It's a work in progress and it isn't entirely completed, but I thought I should let you know I'm still working on the story, and since I only have two other chapters, if you feel like sticking around. This isn't a final draft, but its pretty definite until I get to the point of submitting the chapter this will be, if I think of a better one. I probably won't but that isn't to say it hasn't happened to me before. ( I also have no idea why it veers off at the ending with all italics, there's nothing there to keep that format.)

“Hello Discord!” Fluttershy calls out, prepared for the inevitable surprise greeting Discord always gives her.This morning however, she finds him beneath the oddly colored tree she had caught him among the branches of before. While last time he had sent it out of existence with a snap of his fingers he now only looked over his shoulder at her, and patted a spot beside him before returning his gaze back towards the pond he sat elevated above.

“Discord?” She asks as she files over to him and takes her place at the seat he indicated. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh, no not really, no more than the usual at least.”

“Oh.” was the only response she gave, not entirely convinced by his statement, but unwilling to pry. If he felt he needed to talk to somepony about it he’d let her know.

Discord smiles a bit as she takes her place beside her, but he doesn’t look up or give any other sign that showed that he acknowledged her presence there at all. It wasn’t that he didn’t care for her anymore. It was the opposite, he had come to realize he cared too much and all night he was unable to sleep from thinking of all the things that could go wrong while she was away. He had dreamed last night, and that altogether was not cause for worry, so much as the events that took place in the dream itself. He couldn't outright remember much of it, only that he awoke to the sound of her screaming and plummeting to her demise, and he was flying furiously after her while he was desperately trying to find something himself. He woke up before he could find her or whatever else he had been searching for had materialized itself. He since stayed awake shaken despite remembering little of the nightmare.

It took all his resolve not to attempt to check up on the golden pony, even after he had calmed down somewhat after being shaken awake so suddenly and in such a way. He took great pains not to see how she was as she trained as a knight. He had heard stories of Knights in training that didn’t make it through the ordeals at the end of the program. If anything happened to her…. He didn’t know what he would do. The thought of it had been nagging him since his unwelcomed nightmare. In only a few short days she had become his everything. Anypony else would have shunned or ridiculed him, but she didn’t. She chose to overlook the cruel circumstance that had been their first encounter. He had almost made a decision he never wanted to make, that he swore he would never under any circumstance, make. He almost took it upon himself to end a pony’s life. He… he wouldn’t have actually done so, he told himself, after all, it was a thought he had shrugged off, but it had still been there. Her arrogance had gotten to him, reminded him of his past all too much. It should have been something he forgot as the days passed, but he hadn’t. Did that mean he would struggle with it for the rest of his life? He hoped not, he hated dwelling on things. Today had been an exception though. For the first time in years Discord had something he didn’t want to lose.

He continued to stare down at the water’s surface below him, he admired the shy pegasus whose reflection was gentle beside his own bold and chaotic physique. Surprisingly she had yet to notice the change of focus in his eyes. He had been staring at his own reflection before she appeared, the thought of which brought back thoughts of his past and unfortunately any thoughts that diverged from that were only of his nightmare. He had been on edge all day, so when he heard the faintest of wingbeats in the distance he didn't give into the relief and comfort that it was her, but rather reached out to sense the source of the disturbance. No, it was her. His relief was enough to make him slump in a heap on the branch he had previously been sitting on.

“I don’t know what I would do were something to happen to you while I wasn’t around to protect you. You’re just so fragile…”

At this Fluttershy turned her eyes toward that of the pool that his gaze had never wavered rd from, to find that he was looking at… her. She felt a blush creep across her cheeks and she began to stare back at her reflection and then to his from the corner of her eye. Was she imagining it, or had she seen that look in the eyes of special some ponies. She had always wanted to have someone look at her that way, as if she mattered to them, somepony that wasn’t her uncle, someone that wasn’t one of her animal friends. Perhaps that’s why she had imagined it? She had to have since it only lasted for a splinter of a second as Discord starts leaning a little too far off tree’s bough and abruptly hits the surface of the frigid water.

He looked within the depths of her near teal eyes and almost felt himself slipping into them. He should have thought more about staying on the branch, as with his magic, his own actions seemed to be a bit too eager to cause trouble be it his or another's. Right then he wished it had been anyone else but him, though in honesty that was nothing new.

The suddenness of it surprised her, and she barely managed to call out his name before he fell into its depths, thinking about how her teal eyes seem to be swallowing him alive. That wasn’t a pleasant thought.

“Discord!” She cried as she leapt off the branch and to the side of the pond. She looked out over the pool looking for any ripples or sign of his reemergence. She saw nothing, at least, not until she saw a path of air bubbles touch the surface and pop one by one until there was nothing left of them. There was still no sign of Discord. She dived into the aquamarine of the pool and, determined not to surface until he did.The good thing about being surrounded by water is no one could see you crying. Her flight commander had told her not to let herself get distracted, and look what happened when she forgot that lesson! She couldn’t seem to get anything right and now one of her friends could very well drown because of it! She found him near the bottom just as he felt his lungs fill with the invading substance. The problem now was that she was running out of her own oxygen, and the way back looked like such a far swim away. Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could make it. Discord, whose eyes had been opened this whole time, saw her dive in after him, but it never registered as he hardly realized his fall. It wouldn’t have bothered him at any rate. It would take more than he threat of drowning to make him croak. Fluttershy on the other hoof… he shook of his dazed state of mind and carried her back to the surface, and to the both of them the swim back seemed to last longer and take much more out of them than it should have. Discord had to keep Fluttershy from letting the water trick her into taking a breath moments before they broke through the surface, being so close to true oxygen the temptation to breathe then and there was promising to his charge. A tight squeeze of her hoof reminded her to hold on for just a few second more.

He realized an error in his heroic save of the pegasus then, he mentally face palmed at the prospect that he could have just snapped and had the both of them transported to the shore. “Well aren’t I a genius” he muttered bitterly. He sent Fluttershy to the shore via magic, while he dragged himself onto shore and rolled over. He used another quick snap and striped and polka dotted towels appeared in front of Fluttershy and himself. If he was careless enough to swim to shore and forget his magic conveniently enough, he could make more menial tasks without it. Where is my head today? he asked himself. He looked back to Fluttershy as she wrapped the proffered towel over his shoulders. Oh yeah, there’s my answer.

Once the two friends got over the near death experience, or Fluttershy’s as the case was, the usually soft spoken pegasus took the initiative to make her thoughts clear on how careless the latter had been, literally slipping into danger.

“I can’t believe you would just- just… I thought that was your last breath, Discord!”

“I only just met you sure, but if that had really been the death of you I would have been devastated! I can’t imagine if I had to live with the guilt of failing to save you when you were right there!”

“Oh, Fluttershy, my dear you worry far too much.”

“That’s what friends do! We look out for each other, you would have done the same thing in my place.”

“That’s true… I still only have an apology to give for surprising you like that. I had wanted today to end on a good note I swear I did not plan this.”

“Then why would you scare me like that?!”

“Perhaps it was just my way of making up for not greeting you as I usually do on a less conscious level?” The draconequus tried to flash a smile and lighten the mood, though he wasn’t sure how to. This behavior of Fluttershy’s was new to him.

He looked over his shoulder, suddenly the prospect of drowning looked rather promising.... He heard her clear her throat though, and reluctantly he met her stare head on.

“I honestly meant nothing by it, I have brought up the fact that I can’t be harmed in such a way haven’t I?”

“That gives you no reason to scare me like you did! Do you have any idea how worried I was for your safety? I don’t care what your excuse is, you need to give some sign next time to let me know you’re okay!”

This made the spirit of chaos literally flinch, he had never seen her so mad, not even when she stood against him and protected her friend. She was…. Strong and fierce. It was a wonder, he thought, that she was unsuccessful in her training. Friends look out for each other…! Is that want she had said?/i]

Discord’s eyes reached his eyes then, and a light bulb went off in his head. “Fluttershy?”

“Y-yes?” She stops mid- tirade to revert back to her timid self. She was suddenly worried she had gone too far and he had interrupted her to tell her so.

“What would you say if I offered to train you?”

Her head lifts at this, looking up at the now standing draconequus.

“W-what?”

“I think I should mention that you tell me day in and day out that you lack the grasp of “knighthood” and would like very much to understand it, or at least, match up to those of your fellows.” He did not mention which one specifically, there wasn’t any need for clarification. He grinned as he noticed he was succeeding at getting her attention.

Fluttershy listened intently though at the same time hid behind her mane, he made it sound as if she were complaining to him and talking his ear off about it. Maybe she had though, and he was entitled to his opinion. Besides, if there was any hope that he could help her then she would take it, what he said so far was true, if the first part was controversial.

“You just haven’t been able to match up. You feel like you can’t fulfill your dreams if you fail this and your uncle, but the lessons don’t make any sense to you though, or they prove too difficult for your minimal strength and endurance. So what would you say if I could help you get back on track and find a place at the top of the ranks?” Fluttershy was about to exclaim that there was nothing she would have liked better than to prove that she wasn’t weak and to climb her way up the ranks so she could make a difference in the way situations were handled. A small part of her conscience spoke out though, unsure of Discord’s seemingly generous offer. Sure he didn’t have much better to do from what he made his life sound like, but she couldn’t take advantage of that. There also seemed to be a catch. There had been a catch when she asked him to spare Rainbow Dash, so why wouldn’t there be one now?

“Fluttershy, wasn’t it you who said that friends look out for each other? I’m only returning the favor of you fishing me out of the pond so to speak.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his paw.

“I want to know that you’re safe out there. Can you accept this as a thank you and my way of having your back when I can’t really be there? Much as I want to be, we both know I need to stay away from other ponies, which means I can’t always be around you. It would set me at ease to know I’ve done whatever I can without risking both of our necks with a great reveal, glorious as that may be, it would be a final act.”

“O-okay. I would love that! Only, when do we start?”

“Well, today seems a little pressed for time and we’re still recovering from the whole shock thing, so why not tomorrow?”

“The sooner the safer you’ll be.”

“But only under one condition.” Fluttershy says as she turns away crossing her arms, an action that makes Discord wary.

“What conditions are they?”

“Only that you take care of yourself as well, you take your health in a joking manner and disregard your own safety-”

“For the record, by jumping in after me into freezing cold water, my dear, so did you I’ll have you know!” He protested, tired of this argument coming up again. To think she had begged him not to harm her friend who was trying to cause him harm as if it were no big deal , and now here she was telling him to heed his life and well being in high regard. Much as he was tempted to say it, he couldn't call her a hypocrite, after all the circumstances had been very different, and as usual, she was right.