A Wish is Made

My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter One: A Wish is Made

Tonight is the night.

The night was beautiful, Luna’s moon shining magnificently on a sheet of obsidian, the stars twinkling like opals scattered across the sky. The wind was blowing hard, making the Everfree dance by the sway of the leaves and moan as the branches shook to and fro against the torrents.

The only other sound was the flapping of a black cape, tied around the neck of a four-legged shadow, the face hidden under a dark hood. The mysterious figure seemed to be in a hurry, running easily between the confusing maze of the forest, heading towards the edge of the Everfree.

I must stay out of sight.

Not far now; the stranger was nearly there, jumping fluidly over rocks and easily avoiding broken twigs on the ground. The wind was helpful in masking any noises, but the cloaked creature didn’t want to take any chances when it came to the mission at hoof.

I must do what is demanded of me…Things are not the way it ought to be.

The edge could be seen now, the grass lit by the magnificent light of the moon. No trees were there to shroud the earth in darkness. The destination was in sight.

She is not angry, but hurt and unsure.

The soft clopping against the ground started to slow from a trot to a cautious walk. The hooded stranger came out into the open, looking to the right, then the left. Right again. Left.

The cottage. It was right there. Nopony was in sight, not even the Pegasus who lived there.

Lifting a hoof, the figure reached into a pocket located inside of the cloak, removing a small, velvet bag tied shut with a roped cord. Clamping the tied-off end of the package with her teeth, the stranger approached the cottage, slowly but surely.

The magic whispers to me; I have the cure.

The leaves in the tea and the smoke from the fire had never lied. The energies that radiated from the earth itself—the magic that was forever free from the manipulation of sorcerers—demanded that things be put back to right between chaos and kindness. The union was needed; not only for the happiness of the two creatures, but for the balance of the world as well.

If this was not done, the balance would skew and the world would tip over. Nothing would ever change for the better.

The stranger sighed in relief, finally arriving in front of the cottage, the velvet bag still held firmly by her mouth. Walking gingerly over to a small patch of blue flowers by a small chicken coop, she stopped and lowered her neck, gently laying the bag on the ground. With a hoof, she scraped a small hole into the ground and the cord of the bag was loosened. As it opened, a small light radiated from the inside, and the stranger plunged a hoof inside and came out with a small, glowing blue seed.

The seed was placed carefully in the middle of the small hole, and then covered in soil, its glow choked out by the seed’s burial in the dirt.

A wish to be made on the morrow…

The task was done; it was all up to them now. All she could do now was wait.

With it, a hopeful end to their sorrow…

The stranger turned, and escaped back into the darkness of the forest.

The sky is so beautiful tonight.

Fluttershy sat at the edge of a high hill not far from her backyard, her gaze on the universe above. Her hair and tail billowed behind her as the cool wind blew against her face. Normally she would have been in bed by now; she wasn’t usually somepony that enjoyed being alone outside in the dark.

But tonight, the moon and stars seemed to beckon for her, yearning for her attention. She had heeded to this imaginary call, unfurling her wings to feel the soft caress of the wind against her feathers. It felt so nice, and though she had been afraid at first to come out into the open at night like this, it felt right.

But…

Other things plagued her thoughts, and a frown marred the peaceful look that had been on her face. Worry now clouded her aquamarine eyes.

It’s been two days…and I see him tomorrow…

Her heart seemed to sink into her stomach. That had been happening a lot lately, whenever she thought of Tirek.

Of cucumber sandwiches.

Of the now-decimated library.

Of losing her Pegasus magic.

Of him.

But I forgave him…I forgave him! I shouldn’t feel this way. I should be happy, it’s all in the past now!

The wind wasn’t soothing her anymore. Now gentle, silent tears ran down her face. They glittered in the moonlight as they fell against the ground, resembling shooting stars escaping the galaxy of her eyes.

She had been so happy when it was all over—happy to have all the magic back, to have all her friends with her, to have Discord back on their side.

But the glow of victorious harmony had not been enough. She was still hurting on the inside. She put on a brave face, still smiling and assuring everypony that she was fine, but both her heart and her head knew the truth.

I wasn’t good enough.

That hadn’t been the first time she’d had the same thought in the past few days. And each time, it seemed to tear at a crack in her heart, breaking it apart.

My friendship wasn’t important enough. He saw Tirek as a better friend than me. He wanted to cause chaos more than he wanted to spend time with me. He saw it all as the better option…

She screwed her eyes tighter together; maybe if she did that, the tears wouldn’t escape so easily.

Such a silly thing for me to believe…that I could ever be so important to him…To anypony, for that matter. To think that I could ever be number one.

She was so ashamed of herself. Just how arrogant could I be? Oh, I’m such a bad pony! She curled herself into a ball, her hooves covering her eyes, curling her tail around herself.

I’m not the Element of Kindness! I’m the Element of Failure! Of Silliness! Of Delusion! I was absurd to think I could ever be as important to him as he is to me.

She had been so proud to be his friend. It wasn’t solely because she had successfully reformed him, making Celestia and her friends proud. That had been nice, of course, but…

He had cherished her. Nopony had ever appreciated her as much as he had. When she had decided to send him a letter the week after she reformed him, he had written back in a way that reminded her of Rainbow Dash whenever she talked about Daring Do—as if Fluttershy was the epitome of all things good in the world, and thus demanded his utmost admiration and affection. He had written back to her so fast that she received his reply merely five minutes after writing it—and the envelope had opened up with a burst of confetti.

For her. Her.

Discord had once been a prankster with a habit of torturing ponies and using them as his personal playthings. But then he became friends with Fluttershy, and he had began to change his point of view. He still criticized ponies with contempt, but he saw her as different from everypony else. He had valued her as somepony worthy of not only his time, but also his friendship, his kindness, his hugs, his smiles, his amusing displays of magic, and his companionship. And that had meant the world to her.

She had loved having him around. It had come to a point where a smile automatically appeared on her face any time he showed up, whether she noticed it or not. He brought her a joy and a sense of pride that Fluttershy didn’t even know she could have. She was so grateful for it. Nopony had ever made her feel so special or important before…And she did everything she could to make sure she made him feel the same way.

But I didn’t make him feel that way. I failed.

She had loved their friendship.

And she had thought he felt the same.

But he didn’t. It wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t as good as chaos…as good as Tirek…At least, not at first…

Not being good enough—it was one of her biggest fears, and brought such terrible memories to mind.

Foals, laughing and pointing at her awkward height, her skinny legs, her squeaky voice…But most of all, they mocked her for being such a bad flyer.

Her father, appalled by his daughter’s cutie mark and her destiny to be a Pegasus living on land—and slamming the door in her face, never to see her again.

Bullies at school, shoving and pushing her around for being such a wuss.

A draconequus dropping a plate of perfectly good cucumber sandwiches on the ground, only to place her in a cage with her friends.

“I thought we were friends!”

“Oh, but we were. But I found something much better than friendship.”

Better than friendship. Better than her.

What was she thinking, that she was so important to him? She had never been that important to anypony. She knew her best friends loved her, she knew her animals adored her, but…

She had thought she and him had something special. She couldn’t put her hoof on exactly what it was, but it was something that she never got from anypony else, not even her best friends.

Discord…Why? Why did you do this? I thought I understood you, or at least was beginning to. We were friends for such a short time, but we grew close so quickly. You meant so much to me, and I thought that maybe I meant just as much to you. l thought you didn’t mind…

Though the wind felt good against her face, she turned against it, walking carefully downhill, her head hung low and her ears pressed back.

I always knew how much chaos meant to him…I know he is chaos…But I didn’t think he felt like our friendship was a form of imprisonment. I thought he was happy. I thought I made him happy.

The tears continued to fall, splashing against her now trotting hooves as she made her short way home. Now she wanted nothing more than to just get into bed, try to sleep, and hopefully feel better tomorrow, before he came.

I was happy.

She started to sniffle, her nose starting to run a bit.

But I wasn’t enough. He still wanted to so much, and I couldn’t give it to him. I knew he played pranks, I knew he didn’t like the others as much. I knew he missed parts of his old life. But I had never dreamed he would do what he did. He seemed so happy to have a job for Celestia, and so pleased to have a picnic with me. I didn’t see it coming, I thought he would capture Tirek with no problems, but I was wrong!

She circled around the house as she saw her backyard, passing the chicken coop, her precious fowl long asleep in the hen house.

I just don’t understand…I don’t know why…

“I don’t understand you…”

She came to a small patch of wildflowers that always grew by her house each year. She had always loved those flowers; they were old friends to her, always growing back in the springtime to greet her. She bent her head low and gave a sniff, and the soft, pleasant smell brought a sigh to her lips.

As the fragrance entered her nostrils, Discord’s image remained in her head, making her tense and her knees weak. She had to see him tomorrow; he was coming for a visit in the afternoon. How was she going to keep herself together as she was feeling these things? How could she possibly make things better?

The words had left her mouth without her planning to; it just came out, as if her secret desires demanded to be heard, even though nopony was there to listen. “I wish I could understand you, Discord.”

She turned her back to the flowers, slowly dragging her hooves to the door, wallowing in her own sadness. She failed to notice the small mound of dirt near the front of the patch, and missed the glow that seemed to radiate from it the moment she had voiced her wish.

She opened the door, the warm light of the cottage coming through to the outside, yellow warmth in the darkness.

“But I don’t think I ever will,” she whispered, voice cracking. With her hoof on the knob of the door, she took one last look at the moon, wondering who else was looking upon it right now.

Maybe he’s looking at the moon, too…

Gently, she closed the door.

A stalk began to bud in the dirt, its glow doubling in intensity as it reached for the sky.

And through the upper window of the cottage, a soft weeping echoed through the air. Slowly, slowly, it quieted itself, and the crying was no more.

The glow hit the window, entering the cottage, caressing a small sleeping Pegasus in her bed until she began to glow as well.

The spell had begun.

Discord wasn’t just looking at the moon that night; he was on it.

“Can’t say this is the worst place to be banished to,” he mumbled to himself, using magic to keep himself laid against the lunar surface despite the lack of gravity. “Though the silence could drive anyone crazy. No wonder Nightmare Moon was so angry all the time.” He sighed.

But I’m all right with quiet for now.

Discord didn’t often visit the moon; whenever he had needed a place to be alone with his thoughts, he often conjured up his thinking tree and rested there. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to go to the moon.

He scoffed at himself. Don’t be daft; you know perfectly well why you’re here. The guilt was killing you.

No matter where he went, there was always something to remind him of Tirek’s tirade through Equestria, sucking everypony’s magic out with his help. Sometimes it was something as simple as a Pegasus-shaped cloud. Other times, it was a piece of wreckage that still hadn’t been cleared from all the buildings he and Tirek had crushed. But everywhere, there was guilt.

Of course, he still felt horrible as he lay there, staring down at the world from above. There was no way of escaping that. But at least there weren’t any visual reminders that made him feel even worse than he already did.

Lifting a single claw, he made swirling patterns out of the primordial dust that forever floated around the universe, turning it to different shades of light and color. He sighed, long and low, as he wondered if he would be getting any sleep tonight.

Barely had a wink the past two nights. It’s probably better off that way—I’m sure it wouldn’t take long for nightmares to take hold of my crazed noggin, leaving Lulu with dreams the like of which she’d never seen before.

Though his friends had forgiven him, he himself still hadn’t. Every moment was a chance to berate himself for being used as a tool and betraying the trust of Equestria. He didn’t need the glaring and the angry whispers from the citizens as he walked around town in order to feel badly for what he had done. He was doing just fine on his own for that, thankyouverymuch.

He hated himself for what he had done—especially for making a certain pony cry, when she had been the only one to truly believe in him, the only one to ever really care.

Sweet Celestia, how am I ever going to face her tomorrow? He thought with a grimace, dragging a paw over his head and stretching his face downward, only for it to slap back into place when he stopped. What ever were we thinking, meeting up for a get-together so soon? It’s not going to be the same, it will never be the same, not after all I’ve done to them…To her.

“Guuuuuuuuhhhhh,” he moaned, his head banging against the hard ground of the moon, his stomach against the ground with his legs spread out, as if imitating a star. “I can’t do this. Things were so much simpler when I didn’t care about anyone. But that’s all ruined. Now I want things like friendship and kindness and all that jazz!” A trumpet and a saxophone suddenly appeared next to him, playing the blues.

“I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Darn that Fluttershy! This was her fault, it was because of her that he was like this. She was the one that befriended him, the one that sent him all those sweet letters, the one that took care of him when he was ill, the one that always let him cause chaos in her house because she knew he liked to do that, and complimented his cucumber sandwiches and had tea and picnics with him and made him feel like he was lovable and important and maybe not so much of a loner and laughed at all his corny jokes and gave him hugs without hesitation and—

He groaned again. You’re a moron. A complete and utter moron. I always thought everypony else was the moron, but you know who the moron is?

He raised a clawed arm and pointed down on himself. “Me,” he said, answering his own question. “I’m the moron…I’m the one that screwed it all over. You’ve lost her, Cordy, you most definitely have. She’ll never care for you the same way ever again. Because you’re an imbecile!”

He stretched out an arm and grabbed both his floating instruments by the handle, and banged them against the moon. The smashing and clanging of the brass pleased him—nothing blotted out the thoughts of self-destruction like decimating inanimate objects did.

The satisfied feeling didn’t last long.

He stared at the earth of Equestria, and wondered where she was. Probably in her cottage, asleep, with that little Demon Bunny curled up by her side. He sniffed at that. Lucky little furball. He didn’t even have to do anything to get to where he is!

He was starting to get restless, and the silence now began to gnaw at him, along with his thoughts. “Yep, I can definitely see why perhaps Nightmare Moon went crazy up here,” he muttered with a dark chuckle, before snapping his fingers and teleporting himself back to his room in the Royal Castle in Canterlot.

Sweet Celestia I hate it here. Despite all the chaotic changes he made to his Royal chambers—paint-splattered walls, a checkered floor with both squares of carpet and polished wood, two types of disco balls on the ceiling, a bed made of soft sponge—it still felt like more of an imprisonment.

And now I’m to remain here even longer! He moaned. I’m never going to be free if I ever want to be trusted by these ponies. I don’t even care for most of them…

With a jump and a swoop, he landed on his spongy bed with a few bounces, his stomach cushioned against the softness of his sponge mattress. He turned his head to his orange bedazzled nightstand, and his eyes landed on a picture of two friends with their arms around each other’s shoulders, looking at each other with wide grins on their faces.

And to think, I even had that picture with me as I made the wrong decision…

He reached an arm out, and his clawed fingers landed on the top edge of the picture frame. He paused, his eyes boring into the still, aquamarine eyes of the yellow Pegasus. The guilt started to tear at his heart again…

“Surely you saw this coming?”

“I didn’t! I really didn’t!”

He slammed the picture down against the tabletop, turned his back to it, and screwed his eyes shut.

He didn’t sleep at all.

A jolt of electricity, the beat of his heart. It thumped against his chest, and his brain seemed to jump out of his head. It was a red alert.

Something is wrong.

Discord’s eyes popped open, and jolted upright in bed.

What is this?

His nerves were on end. His body flailed around involuntarily, waving and swirling as if his body were a wet noodle in boiling water. His skin grew cold, and sweat gathered in his brow. He squinted as the rays from the hot sun fell across his face from the window.

The balance is off. There’s magic in Equestria, magic beyond normal proportions. I haven’t felt something like this since…

Suddenly his body went from thrashing about to as straight and rigid as a rod.

Tirek.

He closed his eyes, and sent invisible waves of magic all around Equestria, feeling around for anything that resembled Tirek’s magical signature. It reached all the way to Tartarus, where he sensed Tirek’s weakened state of power.

If not him…Then who?

His waves of chaotic magic suddenly went off as it neared Ponyville.

This…thing…was in Ponyville.

Rubbing his temples, he focused even harder on his magic, trying to pinpoint the magical being’s direct location.

Twilight’s castle…Sugarcube Corner…Carousel Boutique…Sweet Apple Acres…The clouds…Nowhere in town…

It couldn’t possibly be in the outskirts, could it? That’s where…

Discord gasped as he found the direct spot, his body convulsing so strongly in reaction that he grit his teeth and tried holding back a strangled cry. He had never reacted so strongly to a source of imbalance before. Usually he just had a tremor that made him wiggle around like a silly strand of spaghetti, but this power…

This signature…It is nearly identical to my own..! Impossible! And…

He swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing as he made a fairly loud gulping sound with his tight throat.

It’s in Fluttershy’s cottage!

She awoke as the rays of the sun hit her eyes from the window, yawning squeakily as she stretched her limbs out. “Ah,” she breathed, enjoying the warmth of the light on her face. She still felt tired from staying up so late the night before, but she always had busy mornings.

Feed Angel Bunny…Seeds for the birds, honey for Harry…Check to see if his back needs a massage, check up on Angel’s friends and the jackalopes…

As the list went on, she managed to roll herself off her bed and land on all fours on the floor. She began to her way to the hall, but paused at the doorway to look back at the snow-white bunny still sleeping on the bed. “Angel,” she giggled, smiling at the drooling rabbit. “It’s time to wake up!”

The rabbit’s ears twitched, but he only rolled over to his other side, his back now to Fluttershy.

“Oh, Angel, come now. You know what they always say; the early bun gets the carrot!” she sing-songed, trotting over back to the window side of the bed. She laid her chin on the mattress and stared at his sleeping face, then gently nudged him on the shoulders. “Wake up, Angel Bunny. You can’t oversleep now. There’s much to do today.”

The rabbit still wouldn’t open his eyes, and batted Fluttershy’s foreleg away, rolling onto his stomach and laying his face against his paws.

Fluttershy sighed. Sometimes he could be just a little bit difficult. “Angel,” she said, her voice a little sterner. “It is time to wake up, or I won’t let you have any sweets today. Do you understand me?”

His ears went up immediately, and he used his paws to lift himself up on to his hindquarters, his eyes now fully open and alert. He hopped off the bed and out of the doorway, and looked over to his owner.

“Good boy!” she praised with a wide smile. “Now let’s go downstairs and—“

She paused as she saw Angel freeze in place when his eyes landed on her. They grew as large as dinner plates, and his face was horrified. He let out a high-pitched shriek, hackles raised, and jumped high into the air, eyes still glued on her.

“Angel! W-What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked him. She took a step closer, only to find that the rabbit scrambled backward as she did so. He hunched on the ground, shaking harder than Fluttershy had ever seen him, and stared at her as if she were a monster.

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Is…Is there something…outside…?” she squeaked, slowly growing scared at whatever it was Angel was afraid of. She turned her head and looked towards the window. The sun still shining, everything seemed normal from what she saw. Three birds perched at the sill, and Fluttershy smiled at them with a wave.

“See, Angel Bunny? There’s nothing—“

The birds, now seeing Fluttershy’s waving, looked towards her, expecting to see their dear friend and sing her a friendly hello, but instead they squawked and honked in terror while looking inside. They jumped off the sill and into the sky as fast as possible, feathers floating behind them.

“What…?” She trotted over to the window and opened the oval glass outward, and stuck her head out. “W-wait! Please come back! Wh-what’s wrong?”

Looking downward, she saw assorted animals on her front yard, walking and running and hopping about. Raccoons, beavers, squirrels, mice, rabbits, and jackalopes scavenged through the grass, waiting for their caretaker to come out and enjoy the sunshine with them. Harry the bear was over by a tree, using the bark to scratch a part of his back he couldn’t reach. Over in the creek, frogs, fish, newts, and salamanders swam and lounged about, waiting for Fluttershy to come and feed them, perhaps even share a splash with them.

“Oh friends!” she called, trying her best to keep her voice pleasant despite her growing fear. “Is…Is everything alright down there?”

All of them turned their heads to the sweet, soft voice, recognizing it as Fluttershy’s. Dozens of small, innocent eyes landed on her, smiles on their faces, ears perked, and tails wagging.

Harry roared at what he saw in the window before getting back on all fours. His hair on end, he lumbered back towards the forest as fast as he could. The smaller animals followed, screaming and whining and squeaking as they followed the bear, each with an alarmed look on their face. All of the fish, frogs, and other swimming creatures dove into the water and dug themselves into the mud beneath, or escaped in holes between the rocks.

“Wait! N-no! What’s wrong?!? I don’t understand!” She got on her hind legs, about to leap out of the window and fly towards them, when a flash suddenly appeared. Fluttershy squinted in the light, shielding her face from it. Before she could even process what had happened, a blur of brown, red, and gray crashed into her.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Discord roared.

Fluttershy screamed, but the breath was knocked out of her as Discord slammed into her, grabbing her arms and pummeling her to the ground. Angel, who had remained frozen throughout the whole spectacle out of fear, screamed again as he watched the Draconequus slam Fluttershy down. He scrambled away before he could watch any more.

“Now I have you!” he roared, his eyes glowing blood-red and neon-yellow, snarling as his fangs glinted in the early morning light. He snapped his fingers and Fluttershy found herself suddenly wrapped in a large net, her limbs tangled and twisted in it.

“D-Dis—!” she protested, her heart in her throat. She had no idea what was going on.

“Silence!” he growled. “Who are you?!? What are you doing here?!” He squeezed her arms harder.

She yelped in pain. “Discord, you’re hurting me!”

Letting go of one arm, he reached his claw through one of the holes of the net and gripped the side of her face. With this, he forced her to look at him and into his flashing eyes.

“I said for you to be si—“

His heart stopped and his mouth dropped open.

The eyes he saw were gentle. Kind. Tears of terror ran down her face, but he knew he had seen those eyes before. Those innocent, turquoise eyes…

“Fluttershy?” he breathed. His hands immediately let go of her, and he stood back up and took a step back. “Is…Is that…you?”

“W-what are you talking about?!?” she demanded, trying to get herself back up. She struggled; she was so entangled in the net that she wasn’t sure if she could get herself out. “E-Everyone’s acting so strange, even Angel was afraid of something! W-what’s going on? Wh-why are you attacking me, Discord? You…”

She grew more tearful. “Are you going to hurt me…?” She couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. “Discord…”

Discord knew that voice too. It was undoubtedly hers. He had no doubts now. “No!” he protested, his eyes no longer glowing, but panicked by what he saw. “Fluttershy! My dear…Oh, I’m so sorry, please, let me remove that!” He snapped his fingers, and the net disappeared.

Fluttershy was quick to get back up on her legs. “What’s going on?” she squeaked, breathing hard and breaking out in a cold sweat. “W-why did you…Did you…? Why are you…?”

Discord still couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and continued to blatantly stare at her. “Fluttershy...” he cleared his throat. “Have…Have you looked at yourself lately? Since you woke up?”

She blinked at him. “Huh…? No…”

“I think…I think perhaps you should take a look at that first, and then I’ll…I’ll explain myself. And then I think you may have some explaining to do as well,” he said to her, giving her a curious look, before snapping his fingers. A full-length mirror as tall as the ceiling appeared next to the window, leaning on the wall. Discord stepped aside and gestured towards it.

“Come look, dear.”

The fact that the problem seemed to have something to do with her made her throat constrict as she grew more nervous. She gulped. “Why? Do I have…Do I have something on my face?”

“No, not exactly. Just…Fluttershy, look at your forelegs.”

“Huh?” Despite her confusion, she did as she was told and looked downward. “At my hooves? But—“

She gasped, the sudden breath of air stinging her throat. “What…” She sat on her haunches, staring at them. “Discord…Did you do this?!?” she yelped, looking at him hopefully. “Is this another one of your pranks? It is, right? I-I won’t be angry, but if you could please—“

Discord put his paw and claw up in defense. “I swear to you Fluttershy, I did nothing to you! How could I, so soon after—“ Now he was the one to gulp. “After what happened? Fluttershy, I came because I felt a strong source of energy coming from your cottage—one as powerful as mine, with a signature that nearly copies my own. I came here thinking you were in grave danger from some sort of menace. But…Fluttershy…It’s you. You’re…”

He couldn’t get the words out, but Fluttershy didn’t need him to. She got back up and ran to the mirror.

There was no pony in the reflection, but something else. Something that was her, but couldn’t possibly be her.

Her neck was elongated, and the bridge of her nose connected her muzzle and her forehead. Out from the top of her head were two…things plummeting out between her ponylike ears. The one to the left seemed to be a thicker and heavier version of a butterfly antenna that matched her eyes. It was thick, balancing both sides of her head, since the other protrusion was the antler of a moose. Her left foreleg was now the damp, green cold one of a frog’s, and the right was the soft, familiar foreleg and paw of a rabbit. Her head and graceful neck were the same shade and texture as her pony coat, her pink tresses cascading down as they did in her real form. On her back, she sported the small wings of a periwinkle bat and a yellow wing similar to her Pegasus ones. Her torso was a soft, creamy tan color, and it ended at the long, green dragon tail she sported, with a long tuft of pink hair at the end. Her back left leg was the leg of a bear, the other leg being that of a duck’s, webbed foot and all.

Mouth agape, she rubbed her eyes, thinking maybe she was dreaming, or seeing an apparition. When she removed them, she looked again.

Nothing.

She took a sharp input of breath, about to scream from the top of her lungs, when Discord quickly came to her side and placed his claw over her lips.

“Shhh!” he said, taking a panicked glance out the window. “We don’t want anyone to hear you, dear. Listen, I know this is a bit of a shock, but you need to relax, and—“

“R-relax? Relax! D-D-Discord, l-look at me!” she said, putting her hands on her chest. “I’m not supposed to…This isn’t...” She couldn’t seem to form a coherent sentence as she continued to look at herself, lifting her fingers and sweeping her tail back and forth. She looked to her stomach and gasped.

“I mean, look, Discord! I have a pouch! On my stomach! I’m part kangaroo!” she exclaimed, holding the flap of her large pouch open, staring at it as if it were the most gruesome thing in the world.

“Yes, I know, and I’m extremely jealous of the fact!” he said, poking at her stomach with furrowed brows. “Why don’t I have a pouch? It would be so much easier to have for carrying my things! That is just not fair.”

“Discord!”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll complain about that later,” he said, scratching his head. “But Fluttershy, you really do need to calm down! If you don’t, you could trigger…” His lips formed into a deep frown.

Her eyes grew bigger as she stared at him. “T-trigger? Trigger what?”

He sighed. “Fluttershy. You know what you are, do you not?” he said, glancing at her webbed hand and paw. He seemed to hesitate for a second before he finally made up his mind and took each of them in his own paw and claw. “We may not look exactly the same…But it’s just like how ponies don’t all share the same coat, or cutie mark. You know what you are, dear. You’re a…”

His grip on her hand and paw loosened as he realized just how much weight his words held. He never thought in a billion years he would ever see another one of his own kind.

“You’re a Draconequus, Fluttershy.”

Though Fluttershy continued to shake, she nodded. She already knew that. She just couldn’t get herself to say it.

“I have chaos powers, don’t I?” she whispered.

He opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, a pink light blinded the two of them, making the room flash. A hole suddenly appeared in the floor, and with Discord’s hands still in her own, the two plummeted towards the first floor.

Fluttershy screamed, letting go of Discord’s hands and instead wrapping her arms around his torso, her two over-small wings flapping uselessly. Discord was about to snap his fingers when another pink flash once again obscured their vision, and an indoor swimming pool appeared in Fluttershy’s kitchen floor.

They fell in with a loud sploosh!

Discord was the first to come out, gasping for air and raising himself out of the pool, Fluttershy following close behind. Discord, now on all fours, began shaking himself dry like a dog, the drops of pool water hitting Fluttershy like raindrops.

Fluttershy grit her teeth and stared back at the pool, seeing her reflection in the chlorine green waters. Another light flash, and the water turned into orange jello. She gasped at the magic, and took a step back.

“Discord!” she said, turning to him as he wrung out his tail. “The hole in the floor! The pool! Was that—?”

Discord turned his neck to gaze at her. “Yes, I’m afraid so.” He faked a smile, though his face still looked deeply troubled by the abrupt change in circumstances. In all his life, he had never been through anything like this—and for him, that really meant something.

“It seems you’re our new Lady of Chaos.”

He snapped his fingers, and repaired the hole in the wall. The pool vanished. He rubbed the back of his neck, and looked to Fluttershy. The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. But instead of literally doing so, Discord took her paw and shook it slowly.

“Welcome to the club.”

Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I own no part of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" nor any of its characters.

So this is something that I've decided to write in order to help me take a break from "Going Backwards", because there is so much I need to consider for that fic. It was a much tougher synopsis than I made it out to be. I'm not giving up on it, but I got the idea for this fic—something I liked, but hopefully a bit more simpler—and I have a good feeling for this one. I really hope you all like this. Thanks to all who read this! :)

Also, I'm very aware how obvious it is who this mysterious stranger is. I tried not to use 'she' to make it maybe a little less in-your-face, but then she started sounding like a thing rather than a pony. And you can only type 'the stranger' or 'the creature' for so long before someone starts getting frustrated. XD

Yes, yes...I know. "You're a Draconequus, Fluttershy." = "You're a wizard, Harry." I tried so hard to avoid that. Haha.

Please, reviews/constructive criticism is always appreciated!
However, ship bashing is not. If you do not like fluttercord, I am perfectly all right with that. But please respect my opinion as well. Thank you.

The Wishwell

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Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Two: The Wishwell

Welcome to the club.

If only such an invitation made things so easy.

She felt as if she were in a dream, certain she would wake up any moment now. Angel wasn’t really afraid of her. Discord wasn’t actually here; he hadn’t really crashed through her window, tackling her with the intention of pummeling her to smithereens.

She didn’t really have a dragon tail, or a frog leg, or a moose antler. No, of course not. Luna was going to come any moment now to tell her she was having a crazy dream because she was worried about Discord’s upcoming visit. She would rid her of these night visions. Yes, most definitely.

Right?

“You are able to use your new appendages properly, aren’t you?”

Fluttershy’s ears popped up as she brought herself out of her daze. “W-what?”

“Your hand: it’s as limp as a fish,” he commented, eyeing her paw. “Can you move it properly?”

Fluttershy blinked. He seemed almost concerned about her, the way he peered at her arm. Gulping, she slowly tightened the grip she had on his hand and shook, showing him she was fine.

The way his thumb laid parallel to her own as his claw curled around her paw didn’t feel right. Up and down her new arm went, shaking hands for the first time in her life…

It was terrifying.

“I think I’m going to faint, Discord,” she told him, her pulse continuing to speed in rate, her breathing growing heavy. “I-I don’t know how this happened, I don ‘t even—“

He put a finger up to her mouth. “Shhh,” he said calmly, letting go of her paw. “Don’t.”

“D-don’t?”

“Panic,” he answered her. “You saw what happened in your bedroom, did you not? You started getting yourself all in a tizzy and then poof!” He spread out his fingers in a fan. “We’re on our way down to the local kitchen pool! And—wait.” He cocked a brow at her. “Did you say you don’t know how this happened?”

She nodded fervently. “Y-yes! I just…just woke up this way! I knew something was wrong by the way Angel Bunny reacted to seeing me…So I looked out the windows to see if something outside scared him, and then all my animal friends ran away with just one look!”

“Hmph, I know the feeling,” he said tartly, squinting his eyes as scenes from his own life ran through his mind.

She didn’t pause to register what he had said, her heart rate going at full-speed. “And then you came in and I thought you were going to hurt me and then this happened and oh, this isn’t how today should have gone—!”

Discord winced as another flash took over the room, and the door to the living room turned into a mirror. It then promptly fell onto the floor and smashed into pieces, a sharp cracking noise interrupting the soft morning chirps of the birds outside.

“Ah!” Fluttershy gasped at her own magic, jumping at the sudden light. She looked down and saw her own reflection again in the fragments of mirror at her feet, and tears welled in her eyes. “What’s happening to me?!? Discord—“

The fragments of mirror then started to glow a bright pink and levitated into the air, and started heading straight to Discord.

“Gah!” Running from the sharp blades of glass and bolting out of the kitchen, Discord looked back to see if the shards still followed him. The sharp pieces seemed to shimmer as they closed in on the Draconequus. Quickly getting over his initial surprise, he snapped his fingers with a confident twinkle in his eye. The glass shards froze in midair and fell, disintegrating into thin air as they plummeted to the ground.

“Phew!” he said, dramatically wiping his forehead. “That was certainly unexpected! Fluttershy, are you—?”

“Aaaaaah!”

This time it was Fluttershy running out of the kitchen. Unlike Discord, she remained on four legs, but her body was longer and heavier than she was used to. Her tail got itself caught between her two hind legs. As a result, she stumbled and fell to the ground with a resounding fwump!

Following her was a giant silver fork the size of a tree sapling, surrounded by the chaotic aura that was Fluttershy’s magic.

The fork seemed sinister somehow as it slowed, floating behind her. Fluttershy, so lost in her own confusion and terror, didn’t even try getting back up, using her hair to block her vision as it tumbled over her face. She further tried to hide by crossing her arms in front of her, shivering as she hugged close to the ground. “H-help!”

Snapping his fingers yet again, Discord summoned a giant golden spoon, his face etched into the bowl of the utensil with various gems incorporated into the handle. Spinning the spoon like that of an expert baton-twirler, Discord shouted. “Oy, you there! Shiny Prongs!”

The fork turned towards him, a single tine glinting with the harsh light from the window.

“En garde!” Discord jumped over Fluttershy to slam his spoon into the evil utensil, a metal clang reverberating between them.

The fork pulled back and made itself vertical to the floor, its sharp, curved prongs aiming straight for Discord’s eye sockets. “Oho, a bull’s charge, eh?” Discord laughed, turning his spoon into a red towel. A matching red sombrero and poncho with yellow hanging ornaments now clothed him, and he spoke with a fake Spanish accent. “Torro! Torro!”

The fork seemed to make a gesture that looked like a snort, the prongs arching backward before straightening back up. It then charged at Discord yet again.

Fluttershy, in spite of herself, took a peek and gasped, thinking the fork was going to pierce straight through Discord’s face. She stood up and screamed, “Wait! No!”

Discord was just getting ready to jump out of the way before the fork’s glow doubled in intensity. It began to grow distorted in shape, until the head came rounder, deeper…

“A spork!” Discord exclaimed, a goofy, excited grin now on his face. “Aha! Even better!”

“Discord, that’s not what I meant to do, how do I stop this?!?” Fluttershy pleaded with him, wishing he would stop.

Discord faced off with the spork yet again, waving his towel at it. The spork seemed to turn purple, as if it was getting even angrier and holding its breath, before charging again. Discord jumped up and floated in mid-air as the spork missed, but it had charged too fast and slammed straight into the front door, its tiny, sharp prongs goring right through the wood.

“The winner!” Discord cheered, snapping his fingers. A first place winner’s block stood under him, confetti raining everywhere. The sounds of an audience cheering came out of nowhere, and Discord clasped his hands and waved them in the air. He blew kisses to the imaginary audience. “Thank you, thank you! You’re too kind, really! I—“

He stopped cheering when he heard soft whimpering, and his winner’s circle along with the defeated spork poofed away immediately. He looked over to the pink-haired Draconequus as she lay curled up on the floor in front of the couch, her hands over her eyes.

Discord’s ears drooped. Oh. Oh no. You let yourself get carried away again…!

He took careful steps, slowly approaching her. “Flutterb—“ He paused, about to say her nickname, before changing his mind. “Fluttershy …” He took a seat onto the couch and bent down to look at her. “Please…Please don’t cry. You…You know I hate it when you cry…”

Images of Fluttershy sobbing in a cage flew through his mind. “I hate it,” he whispered to himself.

“But I don’t know!” she yelled, making Discord reel his head back at her sudden outburst. “I don’t know what’s happening, and I don’t know why I’m like this! Discord!”

She jumped out and grasped onto him, her arms circling around his torso and burying her head into his chest. “Discord, p-please, h-h-help me! Please!” She clutched him tighter, surprising Discord. Her hugs were usually so gentle and sweet. But this…

“W-wait!” Her eyes popped open, and she stared up at the Draconequus she currently held onto for dear life. “You…You have magic, right? C-can’t you turn me back?”

He sighed. He had seen this coming a mile away. “I could try, but I’d rather not,” he said, looking down at her and fighting the urge to play with her hair like he used to, before the incident. “Turning you back would mean to take the chaos magic you possess out of you, and taking somepony’s magic is always tricky business.”

“But you took away Twilight’s and Rarity’s horns before, didn’t you? And that took away their magic…”

He shook his head. “Not so, my little Pegasus,” he said, settling for just putting a paw casually against the middle of her back. “I took away their channel for magic, not the magic itself. And that’s just as effective as…as…”

He bit his bottom lip, a look of sorrow on his face as the face of a red, evil centaur clouded his thoughts.

She quieted for a moment, wiping a few tears away from her face with webbed fingers. She knew exactly what was bothering him, and desperately wanted to comfort him, but wasn’t sure how to do so. She was so wrapped up in her own despairs that she didn’t know how to calm both him and herself down.

“So you can’t turn me back into a Pegasus?” Fluttershy asked him gently, trying to get his mind off things.

“It’s a risk I don’t want to take,” he answered back, looking at her square in the eyes. “There are few things I’ve never done with my magic, and there are reasons for it. This is one of them. If I change you back, I could hurt you, perhaps worse. I can’t do that to you.”

At least, not anymore.

She couldn’t hear his thoughts, but the sadness returned to his eyes, and she had a feeling she knew why.

I need to stop being such a selfish pon—Draconequus. Discord needs comforting too. I can… She stared back at her mismatched hands, her tail hanging awkwardly at the edge of the couch by her side. I can worry about myself in a little bit. Discord is more important…

She opened her mouth, not sure what she would say to help him, but Discord beat her to it. He straightened up more and must have somehow wiped any clue of distress away from his face as he looked back at her with a face of upmost seriousness.

“Fluttershy, you said that you don’t know what happened. You just woke up this morning and found yourself like this. Tell me; has anything happened as of late that could have brought this about? Have you bought any strange magical objects, or found yourself in the company of an oddball or two? Any new spells from Twilight, perhaps?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, not really…”

“What did you do yesterday? Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Um…” She looked away for a moment, fast-forwarding through her memories of the day before. “No. Not really. In fact, I didn’t even go to see the others yesterday. I just spent a quiet day at home.”

Discord’s ears perked up at that. “Really? And you felt fine through the entire day? Nothing that resembled growing pains, bruising, stretching?”

Another shake of the head. Her neck felt so strange at that moment; she felt like her brain was wobbling back and forth like a bobblehead doll. “No.”

“You’re kidding me. Surely, you’re kidding me.” He was getting stumped. “And nothing extraordinary or, dare I say, chaotic, happened? No explosions, no poison spills in the creek, no toxic gas, no strange visitors, no objects falling from the sky? Nothing at all of the sort?”

“N-No! Not at all,” Fluttershy said, her neck starting to feel a little sore from all the movement. “The farthest I went was just to a hill near the back of my house.”

“A hill?” he said. “Why? Do you usually go there? Did anything seem peculiar when you arrived?”

“I…I only go there to think, sometimes,” Fluttershy answered, her antennae bobbing up and down as she thought to herself. “I was only there last night, though.”

Now that was peculiar. Discord raised an inquisitive brow at her. “Last night? My dear, since when did you go out at night? Surely you weren’t by yourself?”

“I…I was.”

“Whatever for?!? Fluttershy, I’m surprised at you! That was so unexpected!” He grinned at the thought. “Have you gotten more adventurous in only the short amount of time I’ve been gone? It’s only been a couple of days since—“

Discord stopped himself before he could continue, not wanting to bring up such a sensitive subject. He cleared his throat while Fluttershy looked away. Discord hated the tension in the air, and she still hadn’t answered his questions.

“So, why? Why were you out there, so late at night?” he asked again, his voice quieter than usual.

She was thankful that the transformation hadn’t affected the length of her hair at all. She happily retreated behind her curtain of pink tresses, unable to look at him while remembering last night.

“No reason, really…”

“Pffft.” He came forward and pulled a few hair strands aside, peeking at her different-yet-familiar face. “You’re a horrible liar, almost as bad as Applejack. You hate going out in the dark alone, and you, my dear, are a creature of habit. So let me ask you this once more: why were you out there?”

He then realized that perhaps he was being hypocritical; he hadn’t exactly been the most truthful creature in Equestria as of late. Softening his voice, he remembered what Fluttershy had told him of minding his manners. “Please.”

That got a small smile out of her. “You remembered.”

“…I never forgot.”

Straightening up again, she realized that she had calmed down while speaking to him. She tried to keep it that way so her magic wouldn’t react again.

“You…You want honesty…R-right?”

“I realize it’s not the best thing for me to ask for, considering all I’ve done,” Discord said, his ears still slightly drooped, eyes flickering to the floor for a moment. “But we need to be thorough!”

He snapped his fingers and an old fashioned Victorian detective’s costume appeared on his body, a magnifying glass in his claw. “I’ll investigate every crevice and corner of Equestria if I have to!”

“E-E-Equestria?!?” Fluttershy gasped. “You think it’ll take that long to just find out how I got this way? Oh, oh dear, oh—!”

A bucket of paint suddenly flashed above her, and she barely got away before it turned over and splattered all over the couch. They heard an angry set of squeaks before Angel Bunny jumped out from behind the couch, blue paint now all over him.

“Angel!” She ran over to her rabbit, her eyes big with worry. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Angel Bunny! P-please, let me clean you up…”

The rabbit jumped back against the couch at the sight of her, then shook his head. He decided he was tired of running around like a silly little baby bun. He furrowed his brows and pointed a claw at her. “You!” he squeaked in an accusatory tone. “What did you do with my pony? Huh? Whatcha do? Did you eat her?”

He then noticed Discord behind her. “Ohhhhh, I see! So there are more fuzzy wormhorses around here! Here to form another coup d'état? Tryin’ to take over Equestria and take my pony’s powers away?”

He stomped a foot. “Well, no more! I mighta been afraid of you before, you freak, but I’m not gonna let you try to hurt my pony again! She’s mine! And it’s time for my breakfast, and she ain’t here!”

Discord could only stare. “Did you just call me a ‘wormhorse’?”

The bunny ignored his question and hopped over to Discord, and tried stomping on the Draconequus’ lizard foot.

“Give. Her. Back!” Stomp stomp stomp.

Fluttershy gasped. “Angel! Stop it, that’s not nice! He’s our guest!”

“No no,” Discord said, holding a claw up. “This is fascinating; tell me, little ‘Angel’, what else do you plan to do? Fling a carrot at me?”

“Discord—“

“Don’t you talk down to me!” Angel said, growling. “Don’t think I don’t know everything that you’ve done, dishrag! She told me everything! And she was all like...

Angel Bunny put his paws together, batting his eyes, his lashes fluttering outward.
“ ’It’s all my fault! I should have been a better friend! He betrayed us because I couldn’t make him happy, wah wah wah!’ “

“A-Angel!” Fluttershy protested, her face red. “I-I never said that…!”

Discord blinked. Fluttershy had said what to her pet rabbit? That it was her fault? That she was the one that needed to be a better friend?

What?

Angel turned back to the female Draconequus. “And you! You’re talking as if you are my Pegasus! But I’m not stupid, you know. How in the world could you be her?!? I don’t care if you have some of the same colors as her, and sound like her, and have eyes pretty much exactly like hers! I ain’t buying it! I heard everything you guys said, about you turning into a wormhorse overnight! It was a good act.”

Discord shook his head, putting Angels’ information in the back of his mind for later, and laughed. “You think we were acting? Really? Oh, that’s hilarious.”

“You were acting! You’re trying to take over Equestria again, and you got your girlfriend over here to help!”

“A-Angel!” she scolded again. “I-I’m n-not…”

But this time not even Discord could hold it back. Despite his dark brooding from the past few days, this had been one of the funniest accusations he could remember. He really needed to laugh like this, and this raging rabbit was just the ticket.

“M-M-My girlfriend?!? You, you think—ohohohohoho!” He floated up into the air, grabbing his feet and rotating in a circle. “Oh, this is just too good! Really, it is! You think I’m actually capable of such feelings? Ahaha! And with another Draconequus, when I’ve been the only one in existence? And I enlisted her help to take over Equestria?!? Bahahahaha! Oh, little bunny, I underestimated your comedic abilities! You really aren’t making any sense, I love it!”

“Shut up, dishrag! You know I’m telling the truth! Where’s my pony?!?”

“You’re so ridiculous!”

“You can’t hide her from me forever!”

“Yes, yes, my friend here and I have tied her up to a railroad, just waiting for the train to come and turn her to a pony pancake!” He conjured up a mustache and started stroking it, cackling evilly.

“You stop that!”

“Make me!”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a little stung by his earlier words, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She stomped her bear foot against the floor, deciding that this had gone on long enough. “Discord! Angel! Stop!””

Discord’s laughing started to die down, and he floated back down until his feet were firmly on the ground. “Sorry dear, ahaha,” he apologized, flicking some tears off his eyes. “Ah, I feel like I hadn’t had a good laugh like that in ages.”

Angel eyed Fluttershy critically, thinking hard to himself. “Hmm. All right, I’ll tell ya what, girl-version-of-a-horseworm. Prove it to me. Prove to me you’re Fluttershy. I’ll ask you a question, something only she would know the right answer to, and then…I’ll believe you.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Okay!”

Discord nodded. “Okay, well, while you two do that, I’m going to step outside and investigate,” he said, walking towards the door. “Once the rabbit gets back to his senses and stops making up hilarious stories, come on outside, Fluttershy. We’ll see if we can crack the mystery!”

“Okay…” Fluttershy agreed, nodding towards Discord as he opened the door. “Just…make sure there’s nopony outside? I…I don’t want…” She hid under her hair. “I don’t want anypony to see…”

Discord glanced at her, frowning slightly. “Yes. Of course.”

The door slammed behind him.

It bothered him, the way she seemed so embarrassed of her new form.

What was wrong with looking like him?

Now I’m being the ridiculous one, and not in a way I like, he thought, grumbling to himself. As if I care what she thinks of being a Draconequus. Besides, she’s just got her tail in a twist because she’s afraid ponies will fear her.

He looked to the sky.

Fear her like they fear me. Or used to, anyway. Now they all just sort of hate me.

Ugh, he despised being thoughtful. Must’ve been a habit he picked up from hanging around ponies all day. He shook his head again.

Eyes on the prize. Whatever that may be.

He had to admit, this really should have been one of the most exciting days of his life, post-reformation. If I wasn’t so ridden with guilt and watching her suffer through all this, perhaps I’d be enjoying it more!

But it was better than lying on the moon pitying himself, or arguing with Celestia all day over how droll and boring the castle was. Anything was better than that.

Twisting his neck all around, he focused on all that was around him. For once, Fluttershy’s yard was completely bare of wildlife, and it felt…wrong. He had visited the cottage so many times, and the grass was always covered in annoying little furballs or pests, hopping or crawling or walking around, calling on the dear Pegasus for their every whim. It was something one grew accustomed to, after being there enough times.

It was one of those things you didn’t really notice until it was gone.

But, it made things easier to look through. Using magic, he scanned through the yard, through every crack and crevice, searching for something, anything that indicated some sort of power.

He was just about to scan the other side of the yard when he heard the door creak open. He turned to see Fluttershy’s head and long neck peering out the door, scanning the road.

“Fluttershy! That was quick. Did you pass your little puffball’s test?”

“W-wait…” She looked all around her again. “Is…Is it safe?”

“Yes, yes,” Discord said, waving a paw. “There’s nopony around to come and find you, I can assure you of that. Nopony often comes this way anyway, so close to the Everfree. Come on out.” He nodded towards her. “Come on!”

Taking one more look for good measure, she took a hesitant step outside, still walking on all fours. She froze.

“I’m in plain s-sight…” She murmered.

“Yes, isn’t it great?” he asked her. “Tia’s sun is glaring, the clouds are fat, and the grass is thick and itchy! Come on now, don’t be a scaredy-cat.”

She hid under her hair as she shook. “But I am a scaredy-cat.”

“Fluttershy,” he said seriously. “Come on. I cannot help you if you don’t help me. I don’t mean to push you, dear, but honestly. You’re fine. There’s nopony around, tru—“

He almost said “Trust me.” He wanted to smack himself for almost making such a blunder.

Fluttershy wanted to say that she did, that she did trust him. But no. She had trusted him. But now? It made her heart heavy that she found she wasn’t able to say it.

They looked to one another, her eyes big and sad while his eyelids lowered, his own eyes reflecting his sorrow.

He softened his tone with her, taking a deep breath. “Fluttershy, it’s all right. No one will see you. I promise.”

She made a movement to hoof the ground, only to find that she no longer had said hoof. Awkwardly, she just pat the ground, as if flattening the dirt.

Discord gave a low chuckle at the odd sight, getting a small smile from her in return. “I guess I still act like a pony, at least,” she offered.

He nodded. “So.” He gave her a hesitant smile. “Does the little fuzzball believe it’s you now?”

She nodded, some of the life returned to her eyes as she grinned. “Oh, yes. It’s all fixed now. I just gave him his breakfast. He’ll be out to join us soon! Oh, I’m just so glad I have my sweet little Angel here to support me…” She looked sadly around her yard. “All my other animal friends ran off afraid…”

Discord frowned further. “Well…” He cleared his throat again. “Um. Yes. You told me that, earlier.”

She sighed. “I know…”

She finished staring at the ground to glance at him. “Have you found anything?”

“Well, you and Angel didn’t take very long. I thought he’d give you an entire exam before even batting an eye towards you! So I didn’t get very far…What did he ask you, anyhow?”

A small blush splashed on her cheeks, she looked away. “S-secret…” was all she mumbled.

His ears perked up at that. “A what? Did I hear you correctly? It’s a secret? “

“Um…” Wanting to change the subject, she pointed a hoof over towards the edge of the clearing behind her cottage.

“That’s the direction of the hill I went to, last night. See it? It’s not very far. You can see it where the sky meets the edge of the ground.”

Discord knew what she was doing, and as much as he wanted to, he still didn’t press. He didn’t have the right to pry. Of course, that had never stopped him before, but…He had to try. For both of them.

Discord followed the direction of her hoof, seeing that it indeed wasn’t far off, with nothing particularly special about it. He spotted the chicken coop next. “There’s no chance that chickens are bright enough to be able to perform spells, are there?” Discord said jokingly. He walked up to the coop and knocked on its wooden paneling. “Now that would be something!”

She gasped at the idea. “My sweet chickens would never do such a thing to me! At least not without permission…” She smiled as one of the chickens slowly came out. She crouched down to look at the hen. “Hello, Elizabeak! How are you this morning? Are you ready for some corn?”

Elizabeak took one look at the she-draconequus and squawked for dear life, jumping in the air and flapping her wings, chicken feathers everywhere. The other chickens peeked out of the pen to see what their companion was squawking about, looking rather annoyed by her sudden antics until they saw Fluttershy.

The chickens hopped around, feathers flying to and fro and making music with their squawks and screams. “W-wait! It’s me! Girls, it’s—“

Her powers activated again, this time coursing out of her antenna and antler and hitting all of her chickens, turning them into…

Eggs.

With eyeballs.

Chicken feet, too.

Fluttershy screamed.

“Oh no! No no no!”

The legged-eggs, no longer able to make themselves heard, ran around in endless circles, clearly panicked. Fluttershy thought she was going to faint. W-what if they fall down? What if they…. She gasped.

“N-no! You have to stay still!” Without even thinking, her tail whipped to her side and effortlessly circled around all of the chicken eggs, carefully gripping them, but not too much so. Though no sound escaped them, their eyes were filled with terror, their dangling legs kicking back and forth uselessly.

“Y-you can’t run around! You could break!” Fluttershy warned them. “And I would just be so sad and unhappy if that happened to any of you. I’d be heartbroken!”

The poultry stared at her, finally able to recognize her voice, slowly calming down, their legs slowing and then dangling limply, focusing on her.

Discord watched the scene with interest, not sure whether to literally laugh his head off at the ridiculous sight of the eggs or wince at the thought of what exactly was inside the shells.

“Discord, could you please…?”

“Hmm? Oh, right, sure, yes!” Discord said, nodding. He made the motion for snapping his fingers, but looked to her. “You may want to put those down.”

“Oh! Good point,” she said. Lowering them safely back onto the ground, Discord changed them back, and the poultry hastily jumped back into the security of their coop, shivering inside and not making a peep.

Fluttershy sighed sadly to herself as she watched them run away from her. Seeing the familiar blue flowers in the corner of her eye, she turned. “At least flowers can’t run away from you,” she muttered, smiling sadly to herself, bending her graceful neck down to take a sniff.

“Well, learn to use your powers well enough and you certainly can give them the ability to move…“ Turning back to her after peeking a look into the coop to laugh at the startled chickens, he eyed the flowers.

One especially caught his eye. It resembled all the other flowers, blue and bobbing slightly in the breeze with its perky green leaves, but…

He squinted slightly. “Fluttershy…”

“Hmmm?” she said, still taking in the scent as it soothed her.

“Does one of those seem a bit…glowy to you?”

“Glowy…?” she looked at him in confusion.

“Yeah, glowy. You know, luminescent, bright, radiant, luminous—“

“I know what you mean, but these flowers have grown here every year for as long as I can remember, and…Oh!”

She could hardly believe it when her eyes finally landed on it. “It looks just like all the others, but…”

Right at the edge of the patch, one of the flowers had a small, thin ring of luminescence around it, like an entire halo that wrapped all around its edges. It was hard to see in the sunlight of the day, but using her hands to cup around it, she looked through them to see that yes, the flower was indeed ‘glowy’.

“What…What is it?” she asked, unable to tear her eyes away from it.

Suddenly teleporting next to her and making her jump, Discord caught the ginormous, magenta pizza pan that Fluttershy had summoned from her shock. “But no pizza? Tsk, tsk, Fluttershy. That’s no fun.”

Turning the pan into vapor, he took a closer look at the flower, rubbing his chin as he leaned over it. Taking out the magnifying glass he had summoned earlier, he took a better look at it. “Mm hmm….Interesting….”

“W-what is?” Fluttershy asked him, sidling up to the flower, wondering its significance. “Could it…have something to do with…with this?” She gestured to herself, opening her kangaroo pouch slightly.

“Hmm…”

Using his magic, he sensed the flower’s own odd powers. Earth magic. Of course.

Throwing his magnifying glass randomly to the side, Discord stood back up, with Fluttershy mirroring him, waiting for an answer.

“Fluttershy, may I ask you a question, forgetting the fact that this in itself is, indeed, a question?”

“Yes?”

“…Do you remember making any sort of wish yesterday, while standing around this spot, or anywhere near it? Say…Oh, I don’t know…” He rotated his hand in a circular motion. “Ten, twenty feet around this spot? More or less?”

“A…A wish?”

“Yes! You know, wish I may, wish I might, I wish for so-and-so tonight?”

Tonight…

She gasped as suddenly she remembered. Last night. Coming home. I remember, I was worried about Discord, and how he was supposed to visit, and I felt hopeless, and I was…

She glanced around her. “I was right here when I made it!” she exclaimed, before realizing that she had just made a loud sound and covered her mouth, looking down the path, hoping no one was around to hear.

“When you made it?” Discord repeated, cocking an eyebrow at her. “A wish, you mean?”

“Y-yes…” she answered, her voice small and quiet now, allowing her hair to slightly cover a part of her face. “I had just gotten back from my walk to the hill, and I stopped to smell these flowers, since they help calm me down when I’m troubled…”

“I noticed.”

She gave him a small, shaky smile. “Yes, well…I remember, I was smelling them, and then I had the oddest sensation…I felt a need to say something. No, wait.” She shook her head. That wasn’t right. “Not say something, but…”

“To wish for something?” Discord supplied.

Her small mismatched wings fluttered outward. “Yes! Yes, that’s exactly it. The words left my mouth before I could even think it. I didn’t really notice it then, but now that I think about it…It really was just a random thing I said…”

“But was it something you desired, nevertheless?” Discord said. Fluttershy could see from the glint in his eyes that he was on to something. “This wish, even though you voiced it without hesitation, or considering the consequences…It was important to you, wasn’t it?’

With those words, she took a good look at his face. She thought about how she had used to fear that face, how the thought of it used to make her squirm and want to run away in fear.

But now, looking at it brought a whole new set of emotions and memories with it. Memories of tea parties in warm, sunny afternoons, surrounded by dancing plants and winds that sang songs of nonsense. Letters written in beautiful, overdone calligraphy, telling her tales of silly little tricks and odd sights, while asking her how her week had gone and if she had done anything exciting lately. Late nights awake, telling each other stories while he made shadow puppets way too elaborate for his mere fingers to be able to portray. Flying and floating, stars all around, staring at the Aurora Borealis where it shouldn’t be…

Discord found himself staring back at her, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the deep look she was giving him, as if she were peering straight into his soul. He wasn’t sure he wanted her to see his—and he didn’t want to know what she saw there. And the fact that it was one of few parts of her appearance that hadn’t changed made it all the more uncomfortable. He couldn’t trick himself into thinking it wasn’t her, because he knew who was really there.

Pony or draconequus, he knew a Fluttershy when he saw one.

“Um. Fluttershy?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Fluttershy, you know,” he said, rubbing his neck. “I don’t mean to be rude, but your staring at me is making me feel a bit—“

“No, no, Discord, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t mean that. I mean ‘yes’. What I wished for…It was something important to me.”

Blink blink. “Oh….” His eyes grew wider as he realized what he misunderstood. “Oh! Well! That explains a lot then!” he said, shaking the thoughts out of his head as he clapped his hands together.

“It…It does?!?” she asked, her voice loud and her eyes much bigger than before “You mean you know what happened? What caused this? And how we can—“ Realizing her outburst, she blushed and shuffled her legs on the ground a bit, before sitting on her haunches and hiding a part of her face in her hair. “Oh, uh…I mean…Um…Please tell me what you mean, if that’s okay…”

He pointed to the flower in question, its glow still partially hidden by the surrounding sunlight. “It seems this flower is our culprit!” He snapped his fingers, and his detective outfit appeared again. Handcuffs in his paw, he jokingly circled them around the flower’s stem on the ground. “We’ve got you now, you little trickster!”

“Wait…” Fluttershy cocked her head, looking back at the silly scene. “You mean…The flower is what caused this?”

Discord snorted. “Why would I bring it up in the first place if it wasn’t?”

“Well…”

Discord waved her next comment off. “Never mind that!” He snapped his fingers and the outfit and handcuffs disappeared. “Fluttershy, this flower…It’s not like the rest of this little bunch here. If the glow wasn’t enough of an indication, I’ll have you know that this flower is very rare.”

“It is?” She crouched down to take a closer look. “Why?”

“This isn’t just any ordinary plant—in fact, I’m not even sure I’d call it a plant,” Discord answered, getting on his belly and lying across from the flower. “It doesn’t need water or sunlight to grow. It won’t die and come back next year like the flower it’s imitating…”

“…Imitating? Discord, what do you mean by that?” She asked, getting more confused. “What does it imitate? The rest of the flowers around it? A-and, why doesn’t it need any of those other things? What does it need?”

Discord smiled a little. He wasn’t sure if she was always this curious, but he liked to think maybe it was his influence that made her question everything.

“Allow me to explain.” He snapped his fingers, and this time a mortarboard and a graduate gown appeared on himself, along with thick-rimmed black glasses with lenses that seemed to take up half of his head. A chalkboard appeared behind him as he got up, and a ruler appeared in his hand.

Fluttershy squeaked as a draconequus-sized desk appeared before her, and she found herself sitting on a chair.

“This pest here is called a Wishwell,” he said, pointing to the actual flower on the ground before an exact portrayal of it appeared on the board. “I said earlier that I wouldn’t exactly call it a plant; that’s because it really doesn’t have anything plantish in it.”

Fluttershy listened with perked ears, but glanced inside the cubby of her desk, wondering if she should take notes. She saw a notebook and reached inside, opening it, only to find that everything Discord put on the chalkboard also ended up in the book at the same time.

Despite herself, she let out a small laugh. “Plantish?”

He smiled. “That’s right. All the little cells and chloroblasts and all that boring scientific stuff, can’t be found in this little plant. Instead, it’s made up of…”

He pointed his ruler to the sky, and the ruler started sparking. Fluttershy, knowing Discord better than anyone, did not gasp or warn him of its dangers, but instead watched with interest, the sparks reflecting in her eyes.

The sparks went on to be fireworks, and the words spelled out in big, bright, sparkly purple letters—“MAGIC!”

“The flower is made of only magic?!?” she squeaked. Discord laughed, wondering how that was so surprising.

“Well, obviously! What else would it use to change you into a draconequus? Dirt? Because I’ve flung dirt at ponies before—it doesn’t do anything but irritate them.” He almost chuckled, but stopped himself when he saw Fluttershy frown.

I really need to stop making myself look bad…

Seeing his rapid change of mood—sometimes it was like he was a hormonal teenager, able to rapidly go from happy to sad in just a matter of seconds—Fluttershy shook her frown off and gave him a very small smile. “Um…Professor Discord?”

That brightened him up a bit. Professor Discord! Oooh, I think I like that. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“How…I mean, why…Why does it—“

“Have magic?” he finished for her. “Well, dear, this magic is very special. It’s not just any magic. It’s earth magic.”

Fluttershy’s mouth formed a perfect little ‘o’ in realization. “Oh! You mean like Earth Ponies? And how they’re able to work the magic of the land?”

Discord smiled and spread his arms out, and Fluttershy thought she was correct when Discord shouted happily, “No! Not at all!”

Her ears drooped. “Oh.”

“Now, now, it’s a common misconception, my little Pegasus!” Discord said. “A lot of ponies, especially non-unicorns, get that one wrong. But there is a difference between Earth Pony magic and earth magic. Earth magic is much older, and it’s one of the most mysterious types of magic there is! Why, some ponies find it almost as annoying as my own!” he said with a cackle.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing…” Fluttershy mumbled under her breath, only to see Discord’s face as he teleported right in front of her. She didn’t flinch, used to his antics by now.

“Most haven’t.” He took a claw and tipped her chin up to look at him. Fluttershy always grew nervous whenever he did this; she knew he did it with a lot of ponies, but it was always such a tender gesture, and it made her uncomfortable.

But Discord was always careful to hold her chin as gently as possible, and never for too long.

“Why?”

He retracted his hand. He saw her sigh in relief, and he nearly frowned. Did that scare her?

The thought made his heart plummet, but he put on a happy mask, as he always did. He shrugged his shoulders. “Like I said, earth magic is mysterious. It comes from the very core of this planet, belonging to no one and nopony. It is an entity that belongs to all of nature itself. We’ve only ever been able to theorize how it works. The only beings that seem to be able to directly communicate with it are the Zebras. Why they can do that, not even Zebras know. It’s been a part of their tradition for as long as each clan can remember. And yes, that includes your little friend Zecora too.”

This made the Pegasus-draconequus gasp. “I had no idea…”

“Well, it’s fairly obvious that Zecora is annoying, how she keeps her methods such a secret. You know how she is. Remember when I had the animals speak for you, as a gift? Did she happen to explain any of the things she did, hoping to find the answer to the problem?”

Fluttershy smiled at the happy memory, and that in turn raised Discord’s spirits up. Ha! See, my dear! I’m not all bad, remember?

“She didn’t. She just…” Fluttershy pursed her lips, trying to remember, and looked up at Discord. “She just did them. She never tells us how she makes her potions, or how she’s able to read things from tea, or dice, or cards, or whatever other things she uses. But I always thought that it was some kind of…Um…” She blushed. “Zebra magic.”

Discord stroked his beard. “Well, that guess isn’t as misguided as you’d think! It’s very possible that the abilities for Zebras to communicate with earth magic is a type of magic in itself—perhaps a gift from the very magic they speak to? There’s probably some sort of theory about that somewhere, but that’s too yawn-worthy to make me look for the answer.”

An idea popped into Fluttershy’s mind. “Does that mean Zecora can change me back? That the magic can tell her how to change me back? But wait…” She wrinkled her brows in thought, a look quite similar to when she did the same as a pony, Discord thought with wonder.

“Could she change me back even though you can’t?”

Discord’s face went back to somber again, as it had been earlier when they talked of his own abilities to change her back. “Even if she did have a method to try, she’d be taking the same risk as I would. We’d be taking the power you have now away, without knowing what would happen. Besides…” He glanced back at the flower patch. “Now that I know what we’re dealing with, I know for sure that there’s only one way to get you back to being the kind little yellow Pegasus you are.”

Fluttershy’s heart leapt in excitement at his certainty. “R-really?!? Then..,why didn’t you say so before?”

“Well, you were the one that kept asking questions! I was going to get to it, you eager little thing,” Discord teased, grinning toothily at her. “Anywho, the Wishwell flower…since it’s made entirely out of earth magic, it only requires two things. One,” he held up a pointer claw. “Its seed needs to be placed in dirt, preferably near other flowers. It needs to be able to root itself underground, and that’s about the only thing it has in common with any other plant.”

“So…” Fluttershy bit her lip in thought again. “It needs to be near other flowers so it can…um, imitate the others?”

He smiled again. “Precisely! Oh, look at you, learning so rapidly!” He snapped his fingers, and placed a gold star on her forehead, just between and underneath her antenna and antler. “You get a gold star, you little Einstein!”

Fluttershy giggled again, and Discord started feeling even better. Perhaps they really would be okay…

“What’s the second thing?”

Realizing he had been staring at her as she laughed, he blinked. “Hm?”

She blushed, realizing what happened. “Um…The…The second thing? You know, the second thing the Wishwell needs?”

“Oh! Right!” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before jumping back to her education. “The second thing it needs, darling Fluttershy…is a wish.”

“A…wish…” she repeated.

“I wish I could understand you, Discord.”

She gasped. That was why…That was why she…!

Jumping out of her desk, she unabashedly landed on her four limbs and placed her hands on Discord’s feet. “Discord, if the Wishwell flower turned me into a Draconequus, then does that mean this is permanent? Can’t we…Can’t we just…Just cut it? If we cut it, will the wish be broken? Will it—“

Her words were cut off as he bent down and placed a lion finger against her lips. She gasped again as she saw something sad flash for a second in Discord’s mismatched eyes, shaking his head no.

He snapped his claws again, his finger still against her lip, as hedge clippers appeared in his claw. He stretched his arm over to the flower, and opened the shears, as if to cut the stem.

Fluttershy jumped as the clippers made a crunching sound as it closed in on the stem, unable to cut it. The steel of the shears was completely bent out of shape, bent inwards from where the flower stood.

“Earth magic’s stubborn,” Discord said. “It doesn’t like to be easily fooled, and it won’t take no for an answer. These flowers are very hard to find, their seeds even harder; every species on this earth has had at least a dozen of its members search for the seeds, only to end up with nothing. I myself have never seen what their seeds look like. And of the flowers, I’ve seen only two before this one.”

Fluttershy still gaped at the ruined hedge clippers, frozen in place. Her shock was enough to trigger her magic again, a pink flash hitting another blue flower. The flower suddenly grew wings. It flapped and flapped, trying to get itself off the ground, until it stretched out its stem enough to break its roots and fly off into the sky.

“Haha!” Discord said, laughing at the flying flower. “Ahaha, I think I’ll let that one go. Maybe a pony will see it! Ooh, I’d love to see the look on the pony’s face! Perhaps a Pegasus will run into it while flying! Ooh, that’d be hilarious!”

He glanced at Fluttershy, still chuckling at the thought of Rainbow Dash flying with a sudden flower in her face, when he noticed she was still horrified by the strength of its magic. “You know, the flower isn’t going to hurt you, you know. It’s harmless, for the most part.” He poked at the flowers head, as if to demonstrate, and it bobbed back and forth, just any other flower would. “But this Wishwell is going to be around for as long as needed, until your wish is fulfilled. That’s the only way to get it to go.”

She finally stopped gaping, realizing the implication of his words. “What do you mean?”

Discord shook his head. “Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy. Don’t you remember the stories and lessons you heard as a foal? There’s always the one story about a pony who’s given a wish, and wastes it on something worthless, or doesn’t think hard enough before making it. You know the saying: ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ Earth magic isn’t going to just grant your wish and leave you with a silver spoon in your mouth.”

A spoon ended up in her mouth, courtesy of Discord.

“No, no; it’s going to give you the means to make your wish come true. It’s as annoying as your Princesses, Tia and Lulu—always insisting you learn a lesson before getting what you want.” He put a paw on her shoulder, sympathetic in his look. “Trust me, I know how agitating that is, but that’s how it works. The seed waits for a creature with a wish worth granting, compels the target to make his deepest desire known, and starts to grow. As it does, it casts a spell on the wisher overnight. The effect of the spell is based on what will help its target’s wish come true. And the flower will only die and undo the spell once that wish is realized.”

She spit the spoon out, trembling on all four feet as she looked up at him. “O-once the wish is…?”

“The wish turned you into a Draconequus. Apparently, that’s the way to get what you want. Once you do, the flower will reverse the spell it put on you, and die.” He stroked his beard. “So this time, I have a question for you, dear.”

He mimicked her, putting all four legs on the ground himself. “My dear Fluttershy—it’s quite obvious that you didn’t wish to become a Draconequus. So what in the world did you wish for…” He took another step closer to her. “… that turning into one would help it come true?”

Her breathing quickened, aware of his eyes boring into hers. His curiosity was so strong that she swore she could feel it, crashing into her, demanding the answer out of her.

No. I can’t…How can I tell him…? I-I’m not ready to talk about this…I don’t want to…

Discord noticed her distress, and felt guilty once again, taking a small step back. “Fluttershy…?” he whispered.

He’ll laugh at me, or he’ll feel bad about what happened…Oh, and it almost felt like it was back to the way it was before, only for a moment…Oh dear, why, why…?

Her thoughts halted when she felt a paw on her hand. She glanced at his lion paw on top of her rabbit one, and stared back up into him.

“Perhaps, if you tell me…I can help,” he said softly. “It’s the least I can do for you, after all that I’ve done. I’ve been joking around as usual with you, but I promise you, I don’t ever forget what happened, no matter how much I goof around. You don’t need to fear me…I don’t want you to. Please…” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he continued to stare.

“Just tell me you wish, Flutterb-“ He stopped, but he shook his head, changing his mind. No. I will fix this.

A look of utter determination set on his face, and he spoke with all the confidence that Fluttershy always admired, wishing she had some for herself.

“Tell me what you wish for, Flutterbuddy, and I’ll help it come true. I swear it.”

Flutterbuddy.

It was her favorite nickname he gave her, out of all of them. He didn’t know, but she loved it when he called her that.

She had been afraid she would never hear him say it again.

Her eyes watered, but her magic didn’t react.

Very calmly, she smiled at him, and placed her webbed hand on his cheek. Discord actually turned a little red across the bridge of his nose at the sudden contact. It only made her smile wider, as tears fell down her face.

“I wished that I could understand you, Discord. That’s all I wanted…”

This time, it was his turn to gape at her. “What?”

She hid behind her hair, but didn’t remove her frog hand. “Will you help me, Discord? Help me understand you? I want to…” She shook her head slightly to move her hair, and blinked so her tears would fall. She remained smiling.

“I think if I learn to understand you better, then maybe...We could be better friends. You and…and me. Do you…Do you think it’s possible? Do you—“

“Yes.”

She squeaked at his sudden answer. “Huh?”

She couldn’t see it, but Discord was secretly touched by her words. She wants to understand me…so we can be better friends? Does she think that’s why I betrayed her? And she wants to make it better?

He took a deep breath, waiting for the right moment to speak so he his voice wouldn’t break when he spoke.

“You really made yourself quite the wish there, dear. I’m not exactly easy to understand. Ponies have been trying to figure me out for ages. But chaos, it’s unpredictable. I’m unpredictable…” He grinned toothily.

“After all, nopony has ever been able to crack what makes me so wonderful and amazing, but if anypony can, Fluttershy…”

His grin shrunk into a more genuine smile. “It’s you.”

Fluttershy shuffled again where she stood, hiding once more behind her pink tresses. She wondered if the blush on her cheeks made her face blend in with her hair more.

He chuckled at her embarrassment. “Alright then, enough with that mushy friendshippy boring stuff!” he proclaimed, taking a step back to give her more space. “It’s painfully obvious to me that this little transformation spell is a way to put you in my shoes.” A snap of his fingers and ridiculous, oversized clown shoes appeared on his hind feet.

“I suppose I’m just so complex that the only way to get me, is to be like me!” he boasted. He slowly started to get up.

Fluttershy gulped, realizing just how difficult this task would be now that the warm feelings of friendship were over. But I’m a pony! A simple Pegasus pony who can’t even fly very well. How am I supposed to learn to be like Discord?!? And use magic?!? She argued in her head.

Discord, finally on his feet, pointed his finger at Fluttershy, smushing it slightly into her muzzle as she looked up at him, tall and mighty on his two legs.

“And we’ll start your first lesson now.”

“Lesson…?” she asked, staring up at him.

“That’s right. You’re doing it all wrong. Everything. You’ll have to start over.”

“St-Start over?!?”

“That’s right, my dear!”

“But..But…Start over how?” Fluttershy asked, looking troubled.

He stared at her as she stood there on four legs, and his lip curled into a cheeky little smile. He bent over with his hands on his knees, pressing his muzzle against her as she blushed.

“Baby steps, my dear.”

He grasped her wrists.

“You’ll just have to take baby steps.”

Author's Notes:

Wow, I finally did it! I updated!
Get the party cannon! WOOHOOO!!!
I'm glad I was able to do at least this, what with college and all. And then I'll have to update Going Backwards, and then this, and then so on and so forth. Haha!
Guys, thank you all for all your wonderful feedback. I've gotten not only thoughtful, kind reviews that brought me an amazing amount of joy, along with all the like votes, but...
I got a piece of fanart!
Yes, that fanart as the cover was drawn by none other than the fabulous trehcedasil! As a thanks, this chapter is dedicated to her! Isn't it great?!? That's pretty much exactly what Fluttershy looks like as a Draconequus. I was so thrilled to get this!!!
Thanks as always to ButtonMash for editing. Your patience and help is forever appreciated, friend!

Now...Okay. I promised I'd give you my drawing of Fluttershy the Draconequus. Just know, it's not nearly as good as trehcedasil's...But I'm proud of it, a little. Here you are.

Thanks for your patience guys, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I hope to have the next one up soon, with the semester almost over. As always, reviews and positive criticism are always appreciated!

Also, if this comments section is appearing twice, I apologize. I have no idea how this is happening.

Walking Tall

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Three: Walking Tall

The visions in the cauldron’s smoke dissipated, the crystal clear images of Discord and Fluttershy coming apart as they darkened and changed back into curls of smoke. The coals inside sizzled as she poured water upon them.

Looking out her window, she saw that despite the nice weather, there was still a warm breeze going throughout the Everfree, and she decided to take a step outside. No longer needing her cloak, she kept it hung on the peg beside her door, and grabbed her saddlebag instead, putting it on before emerging into the forest waiting for her beyond the door.

She did not have far to go. Circling around her hut, she stopped once she reached the back of the house, and looked up to see a tall tree. From this tree hung countless glass bottles, all empty and hanging from thick cords tied to the branches. The tree itself had few leaves left, being old and therefore less fruitful than it had been in the past century. However, despite the years, it stood proud and mighty, and served its new purpose well.

Each bottle had a peculiar symbol on it, each one different from the other. Some had simple pictures, such as a sun, a flower, a bear, or an eye. Others were more complicated, some resembling letters seen in Saddle Arabia, or patterns of lines that confused the eye. But each symbol meant something, and only Zebras could read them. No other creature could know these secrets. The magic’s words were their burden to bear, and no other’s.

Zecora knew this, and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she smelled all the earthy tones around her—the soil at her hooves, the dew still drying from the morning sun, the flowers and leaves patched all around the forest. The smell of the forest and all its natural miracles soothed her, and seemed to cleanse her soul. Her eyes opened as she felt the breeze caress her short mane and tail. She looked to the bottles hanging on the tree.

“I looked to see what you wished to show me. Fluttershy and Discord certainly have quite the task. What is the plan, if I may ask?”

Her attention to the tree doubled as she felt the breeze suddenly grow in strength and speed, watching the bottles as they waved to and fro, taking note of the symbols and the direction of the wind, and the order of the bottles being blown.

Her grin was wide and wry. “Ah, I see—always the mystery. Why, I’d even say that there is no plan at bay.” She turned her back to the tree, her smile still there. “Not even you, the power of earth, can tell the future…of what is to become…” She looked off to the vast distance of the forest, looking towards the direction of the cottage. “Of he and her.”

The wind whipped almost violently at her tail, causing it to slap against her side, and she snapped out of her reverie and laughed. “Oh, you stubborn magic, do not tease, do not tease! You know I have never failed you, I aim to please!” She looked back to the tree, her eyes again on the bottles. Her smile was gone, her eyes once again dark and stormy with curiosity and doubt. “…But I will confess, there are concerns I must address…”

The bottles rattled, encouraging her to go on. She sat on the ground and straightened her back before speaking. “Are you quite certain that the Wishwell and the transformation were necessary? This was quite a risk—you know that ponies find chaos so dark and scary. And now, with Fluttershy no longer a Pegasus…But a Draconequus…” She paused, recognizing the small pit of doubt and fear in her stomach, but not showing it on her face. “Is this truly what is needed for the world to see the need for Discord’s powers? There is no risk…no risk of danger, or a final hour…?”

This time the wind blew so hard that she actually fell over, though she took it with grace, landing on the ground with only a quick, surprised gasp and landing on the hard ground. She moaned for a moment, before turning back to the bottles as they clinked and clanked. She furrowed her brows, looking slightly angry.

“I know I am to trust you, but we both know that it is possible this could fail, with consequences dire. This is chaos we are tampering with—there could be injury, brokenness, fire! There could—“

The tree swayed, but only a few bottles chimed, each with a label of meaning—a zebra, a cloud, a red swirling pattern, and an owl.

Zecora’s eyes widened at the message, and bent her head towards the grass, her ears flattened backward as she sighed. “Yes…I suppose even I still do not understand why it is so important we have Discord at hand…”

A gentle breeze stroked her face, the bottle of the pink heart swaying gently in the direction of its caress.

“I don’t understand how you know what is best when you cannot see what the future has in store. But you have always been right before, that much is true. You are correct; I shan’t question you…”

She got back up on her hooves. She knew that the magic was still trying to soothe her, as it smoothed out her tail and gently kissed at her coat. She smiled, taking control over her emotions. She would have been lying to herself is she said that she still wasn’t afraid, but…

Being afraid didn’t get anything done. That was one thing her tribe had always taught, and she would not fail to remember it.

She turned back to the tree.

“Do not worry. Keep watching, keep watching. Keep them together.”

That is what the bottles translated into as she saw the glass shake in the winds.

“Keep watching. Keep them together. Wait and see. It is all you can do.”

Internally she sighed. They were right.

There was nothing else she could do but wait and watch…and hopefully see where all this was going.

She continued on, deeper into the forest in search of herbs…

Things were not so ominous back at the cottage, though it wasn’t easygoing either. Fluttershy herself sat there in the grass, gaping at Discord as if she had seen him take his eyeballs out of his head for the first time.

“You want me to…what?”

When he had said ‘baby steps’, Fluttershy did not think that he would mean it so literally.

Discord squinted his eyes at a claw after filing it in a shape to his satisfaction, watching it glint in the sunlight. “Oh, it’s really no big deal, you know,” he said, sliding off the rock that he sat on. “It’s not that much different from walking on four legs. Saw two of them off a pony and they’d be just the same!”

Fluttershy winced at that particular image in her head, shaking it away as she gasped. Angel, sitting beside her as he sniffed and nibbled on a patch of wild purple clover, stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“That’s…never actually happened before…Has it?” Fluttershy squeaked, shivering at the thought of some poor pony being tortured and losing two legs in the process.

Discord only laughed and shook his head, patting her on the head. “No, no! Of course not! At least, not to my knowledge, anyway. I’ve done an illusion or two to make a pony think he’d lost a couple of parts, but they were still there. Harmless little pranks, you know.”

Fluttershy sighed, happy enough with the answer to move on. “O-okay then…So…Why do I have to walk on two legs? What’s wrong with being on four?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, per se,” Discord answered, crossing his arms and looking down at her, his head blocking out the glare of the sun for her. “It’s just better. For a Draconequus, that is.”

Putting a hoo—a rabbit finger on her chin, she looked at him curiously. “Because it’s different from the way ponies walk?”

“I wish that were the only reason,” he answered, sighing. “But I’m afraid it’s more…more…” He gulped, and then bent his long neck over to her eye level, looking back and forth conspiratorially.

“Discord…?” she murmered, eyes going wide, before he put a lion palm up against his lips, looking to the side as if staying on watch. “The reasons for my bipedal ways are actually quite…quite…”

“Quite what?” She whispered.

He swallowed again, this one bigger than before, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

“Logical.”

He gagged after speaking the word, and Fluttershy was surprised to feel an unpleasant electric shock course though her own body, her hackles rising and her pupils constricting. She winced, and her tongue stuck out in disgust. She resembled Discord at that moment, mirroring him.

She gasped when the feeling was over and covered her mouth with her hands. “What…What was—“

“The very word is enough to make a Draconequus sick to the stomach,” Discord explained, poofing up some mouthwash and gargling it, spitting it on the ground where a weed sat. The weed turned into peppermints with pink stalks.

“Really…?” She whispered to herself, staring at the candied plant before her. “You can’t even say it?”

“Unless you want to feel that sensation all over again, then no. But you’re getting me off track, Fluttershy.” A playset of a train appeared on his head, the tracks circling around his horns with a toy train tooting around and around, smoke coming out from its little plastic chimney.

“Oh! I am? I’m sorry…” Her hair hid her face as she blushed, embarrassed and thinking he was cross with her. Discord immediately poofed the train away and massaged his forehead, sighing rather loudly. Despite the chaos that kept him energized, it had still been a long day …

“Don’t be. Just listen. The body you’re in now, it’s built for walking upright better than on all fours. You can do both, but you’ll end up sorer for doing it the pony way after a couple of hours. We have long spines, with shorter limbs. If you walk the way you’re doing now for a while longer, you’ll notice that the middle of your spine will start to sag downward, making the rest of your back look like the humps of a camel.”

He turned into a camel for emphasis, his bushy eyebrows still present as he raised one of them at her. “And as fond of animals as you may be,” he continued, lifting a tan leg to scratch at his back green one, “I’m telling you, your back will be the worse for it.”

He changed back, a bright flash appearing before he stood before her again. “Not only that, but our front limbs really work better for manipulation,” he said rather matter-of-factly. “There’s a reason your front appendages are equipped with digits, and not your back ones. Handling objects will be a lot easier for you standing upright.”

“B-But…” she began to protest. “I’ve been walking like this since I was a filly,” Fluttershy said, getting off her stomach and standing there on all fours. “I…I’m not sure I can just switch so easily. You learn to walk as a baby, not as an adult. Can I really do that? I could barely fly as a Pegasus, so I don’t…” Her head lowered even farther, practically reaching the ground, as her hair completely hid her from view. “I don’t know if I could…”

She found herself looking back at him when she felt his hands cup both sides of her head and look up at him.

“Oh, you can, my little apprentice, you can. And you will!” he said with a toothy grin. “You’ve got the best chaos tutor in the business, and this doesn’t even have anything to do with magic! You’ll be fine. You’re built for it now! Besides, I swore to you that I would do anything to help your wish come true, didn’t I?”

She nodded, though it was somewhat reluctant. “Yes, but how is walking going to help?”

“You’ve got to walk in my shoes, correct? Might as well get started on that. You want to see my point of view? Well, mine’s a lot higher than yours, my dear, and the only way you can see what I see is by standing tall like moi. Not only that, but if your back is hurting from a lack of proper support, then you’re not going to learn as fast as you will with a straight and upward spine. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this.”

He snapped his fingers again, and Fluttershy stepped back as a long wooden walkway appeared in front of the both of them, equipped with silver rails on each side.

“There! Perfect for walking,” Discord complimented himself, dusting his claw with his chest, before turning to look back at her. “Well, no time’s better than the present, Flutterbuddy!”

Suddenly Fluttershy felt Discord’s chaotic magic embrace her and lift her upwards, floating her over towards the bars. Discord hadn’t moved her much with his magic before—a few times, but not enough so that she was used to it. She stuck her arms to her sides as it glided her over to the bars, herself in an upright position. The magic itself unglued her arms away, making them stick out to the sides and tap her balled fists against the rails.

“Come on, take hold of the bars, Fluttershy!” Discord encouraged, now on the opposite side of the walk from her, tapping on the rail.

Gulping, she did as she was told, wrapping her fingers around the bars, the cold metal tingling her sensitive paw, while her cold-blooded frog hand was able to take a more firm hold of it. The purple aura still held onto her, holding her weight for her, as her feet floated not even an inch above the wood of the walk.

“Good!” Discord praised her. “Okay, now I’m going to snap my fingers, and my magic is going to let you go. Keep holding on to the rail. Your legs will feel a bit wobbly, but if you keep your grip, you’ll be able to hold yourself up.”

Her nerves were on end, staring at her feet on the wood as if they were tipping on the edge of a cliff rather than on solid ground. Her heart rate already seemed to triple as a trickle of sweat made its silent path down her face. “Discord, wait, I d-don’t—”

Snap!

She had been so busy worrying that her grip had loosened, and the moment the chaotic energy let her go, her palms immediately slid forward, slick with nervous sweat, and the pits of her arms hit the bar, her knees immediately buckling.

She fell to the wood with a thwonk!

She yelped in pain, and Discord immediately appeared in front of her, flipping her over and looking at her from above. “Fluttershy! Are you all right?”

Her eyes swirled as a small red bump formed on her forehead. “I-I-I’m okaaaaaay…”

“Sweet chaos, this is going to be harder than I thought. Okay, new strategy!” Discord announced, making the walkway vanish and healing Fluttershy’s head wound. “You’ll need more proper support as you gain your balance, so! Let’s try again!”

“A-A-Again?!?” she squeaked, already flipping over and on her four legs again. “Discord, this…this really isn’t necessary. My back…it feels lovely,” she said, staring at the curve of her spine and ignoring the small ache that settled straight in the middle of it.

Angel Bunny, annoyed at being ignored for so long, hopped to her side. “She’s lying,” he deadpanned, giving her a straight look. “She said back at the cottage after talking to me that her new body was making her ache. She said her back hurt especially.”

Surprised that Angel was taking his side for once, Discord masked the feeling and instead gave the she-Draconequus a pointed look. “~Oh? Is that so?~” he singsonged. Fluttershy gave him a sheepish grin, her bangs once again covering half of her face as she nervously rubbed on arm against the other.

“Um…Well…” she sighed. “My back does hurt, just a little.”

“Well then.” He gave a side smile, looking cocky. He thought to make a joke out of Fluttershy’s lying, but once again restrained himself.

You’re in no position to joke about anything that could come back to bite you in the hind!

“Looks like I’m teaching you as I should, then,” Discord said smugly, shaking off his thoughts. “Well, don’t you worry, Flutterbuddy. We’ll have you up on your feet in no time, no time at all!”

He teleported from the front of her to behind her, and laughed at Fluttershy’s gasp as she felt him lift her up from under her arms, back again on her feet. “So I’m thinking perhaps I need to give you more personal assistance with this,” Discord said, Fluttershy looking back at him and blushing at the contact. He laughed again at that, wondering how she had ever learned to touch anypony without bursting into flames.

“Personal…assistance?”

“My, you’re asking a lot of questions today…“ He already saw it coming, her mouth barely open before his tail whipped around and held a furry finger up to her mouth. “Don’t say you’re sorry, you say it far too much, and if you apologize for that then I just may scream.”

Her mouth snapped shut, not wanting to hear anything of the sort, and nodded.

He smiled, ears perking up. “Good! No more apologizing today, you’ve used up your quota,” he joked. “Now, I’m going to keep my grip on you, and you’re going to put one of your feet forward. Don’t worry about falling, because I’m right here.”

She didn’t make a move, and just stared at the ground and her feet, looking discouraged. He nudged her back slightly with an elbow. “Come on, dearie. I’m not getting any younger over here.”

That caused a small giggle to bubble up inside her. “You really think…I can do it?”

“Did we already go over this? Of course you can! Dem—I mean, Angel Bunny over here does too! Don’t you?” his head whipped over towards the rabbit’s direction, and the rabbit scowled at him.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you were gonna say, buster.”

Giving him a final glare, Angel hopped over to Fluttershy and looked at her stomach.

Jumping up, Angel dove into Fluttershy’s kangaroo pouch. “A-Angel!” she gasped, blushing at the strange sensation of having something in her pouch. She nearly fell over, but Discord kept his claws around her forearms, looking over at her stomach with an interested look on his face.

Angel’s head popped up above the folds, and looked. “Whoa, this is nice!” he exclaimed, wiggling himself to get into a more comfortable position. “It’s so warm and compact in here!” He looked back up at his owner and best friend. “We shoulda gotten one of these things a long time ago!”

“Angel! P-please! Ask permission next time you do that!” Fluttershy scolded, though her voice wavered in embarrassment. It didn’t feel wrong, as her stomach did resemble a kangaroo’s, and that’s what kangaroos did with their pouches…But she wasn’t even used to the body yet. She felt like Angel had become some sort of awkward fifth appendage.

“Sure, sure, whatever,” Angel said, waving her comment off. “Listen, you let the ringworm over there guide you, and I’ll keep watch for anything you could trip over!”

This did not settle well for Fluttershy as she ignored the scowl that escaped Discord’s lips. “No, Angel! What if I fall over?”

Discord groaned. “You won’t fall over. I’m right here, remember?” A giant neon arrow suddenly appeared above his head, flashing downwards and pointing at him.

“And I’ll just jump out if you do,” Angel said. “Stop worrying already! Let’s get going.”

“As much as I despise admitting it, Puffy the Carrot Slayer here is right,” Discord said. “We need to keep going. I’d like to get you walking by the end of today, if possible.”

“Today?!?” Fluttershy gasped. “I--!”

“Yes, and then tomorrow we can work on flying!” he answered, smiling as if it were the most normal expectation in the world.

“Tomorrow?!? F-Flying?!?” She felt like she was going to start hyperventilating, her breathing already tripling in rate. “B-But…” She gave her small wings a little flap. “These are hardly built for flying, and I can’t even fly well with bigger Pegasus wings…”

“Well, you’re not going to be using those wings to fly, my dear. You’ll use your magic!”

Taking a look at her face, he smiled and rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, Flutterdear. You know I’m going to have to teach you how to use those powers of yours, right? If I don’t, you’ll never learn to master using them. Instead, they’ll master you. But honestly, just relax.”

He patted her head. “Just focus on the now, hmm? Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Miss Elizabeak’s already had enough trauma for today, anyway.”

Despite herself, she laughed again, amazed how he could always make her do so, no matter how anxious she was about something. Discord smiled at that, and even gave her arms a reassuring squeeze.

“Alright then. Ready, my little Draconequus?”

Her laugh already gone, she took a deep breath, and looked back to the ground, on her feet. “You won’t let go?”

“You have my word as an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader; I swear I shall not let go until you are ready, my dear!” he said, his scout cap on his head again as he listened to her melodious laugh again.

“Okay...” She nodded, a small smile on her face. “I’m ready.”

“Then lift up a foot and put it in front of the other,” Discord instructed. “You’ve seen me and other animals do it; it’s not that tricky. Maintaining balance is the hard part, but until you get the hang of the movements, I’ll take care of it.”

She nodded again, and slowly, slowly, lifted her webbed duck foot.

As if testing the water of a pool in the beginning of summer, she moved the foot forward and stepped down onto the soft green blades of grass.

She gasped with a smile. “I did it!”

Discord couldn’t help but let out a laugh, amused that such a small feat would thrill her so much. “That you did! Now do it again.”

More encouraged now, she lifted her other foot and took another step, Discord stepping forward with her and Angel Bunny watching the ground for anything that could trip her.

“I did it again!” she gasped excitedly. “Discord, I’m doing it…!”

“See? It’s not so hard now, is it?” he replied, a smug smile on his face.

“No! You were right, maybe I can do this!”

Her excitement stayed with her as they circled around her yard, only stumbling a little when Angel missed a small rock, but Discord was able to pull her back in enough time to recover. The rest went smoothly, but Fluttershy seemed to forget that Discord was handling her balance for her.

So when he suggested taking her by the hands and leading her, Fluttershy lost her confidence.

“I can’t hold on to you forever,” Discord said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you’re just dying to stay in my strong arms for the rest of time, but that won’t get you anywhere, will you?”

She blushed, knowing it was a joke, but his implications embarrassed her nonetheless. “No, it won’t…”

“And I’ll still be able to catch you, anyway,” Discord said, still holding on to her arms from behind her. “I’ll still have a hold on you. You’ll just need to work harder at keeping your balance. Just remember to keep the weight of your body evenly distributed, and when lifting your leg to take a step, shift your weight over to the side you’re not moving. Got it?”

“N-no.”

“Okay then!” he yelled happily, jumping up and teleporting. Fluttershy quickly began to lose her balance in the millisecond he wasn’t there, only to feel a claw and paw grasp at her fingers and bring her forward again.

“See, what you did there, that wasn’t correct,” Discord said. “No weight distribution whatsoever! My word, have you not been listening?” he said with a teasing smile as she just stood there. Glancing at her knees, he saw they were wobbling.

“Hmm…Still too difficult for you. Alright then…”

Fluttershy marveled at him as he placed her held hands onto his shoulders, too distracted by her new discovery to be embarrassed by the contact.

He’s being so patient with me…He’s a good…a good teacher…

“Discord?” The name left her lips before she even spoke.

“Yes dear?” he replied, trying to decide where to put his own hands after she settled hers on his shoulders, putting her weight against his. He lightly laid them on her outstretched arms, not putting any weight on them.

“Have you ever taught anypony anything before? I mean, you are…” She paused and bit her lip, trying to think of a way to express herself without insulting him. “You’re being very...”

Kind? No, that would imply he was mean, and while he wasn’t exactly an angel, he wasn’t a bully, either, not anymore—at least, not to her he was.

Patient? That’s what made the whole experience so surprising to her. He was all about instant gratification, and didn’t like waiting, which was always so “boring” to him. But her progress was already slowing down, and yet she hadn’t seen a scowl from him, aside from the disdainful one for Angel Bunny. She had been afraid he would be frustrated by her slowness and would want to fly off to lay off some steam, but he was smiling at her!

But won’t my surprise hurt his feelings too? I can’t hurt him! He’s helping me so much, and he still hasn’t forgiven himself…Just like I haven’t forgiven myself for so many things…And I know how much that hurts.

“I can read you like a book right now, you know.”

Fluttershy gasped as she felt a skinny, bony elbow lean against the top of her head, but Discord hadn’t moved. Looking behind her, she saw a second Discord, a trick she had seen before. Nevertheless, it had surprised her this time, though it was only to a small degree—not enough to make her magic react, thank goodness.
Or is he the real Discord, and the one in front of me the duplicate?

“Well, my duplicates don’t seem to be able to talk, so if you’re wondering which one is the original, it would be moi,” the Discord beside her said, still casually leaning on her head like a table.

“And to answer your other question, no, I have never really taught anypony anything, Let’s be truthful, after all: nopony wants to learn from the Lord of Chaos! It would be far too much fun and different for them!” he spat. “And well, I obviously can’t teach them magic, as they don’t have the kind I have.”

He replaced his easygoing look of nonchalance with a prideful, happy one. “But now I have somepony that can finally learn the spectacularifficness that is being a Draconequus!”

His eyes widened. “No! Not somepony, somedraconequus! Yes! And to be completely honest, there is no one I would rather teach my ways to then to you, my…my friend…” His smile vanished by the end.

Fluttershy took note of the pause, and his saddened face. She blinked before she furrowed her brows in determination. She didn’t want Discord to wallow in guilt any more than he already had lately. That was her job!

She gave him a small smile, her eyes big and kind. “And there’s nopony I’d rather have teach me than my friend Discord.”

Discord blinked at that, growing warm at her kind words. Really, it was amazing to him. She was so nice. Almost impossibly so. Sometimes he wondered if she actually existed.

But she was real, she was solid. He felt her head supporting his elbow, with her soft hair pillowing his arm. Had he been dreaming, he would have known it.

“…You’ll just use any excuse to make any moment soppy, won’t you?”

“Wh-wha…?”

“Your friendship is so distracting, too!” He snapped his fingers and immediately showed up in front of Fluttershy again, feeling her cold frog hand on his right shoulder and her soft bunny one on his left, the doppelganger gone. “We need to keep going. You may be surprised by my patience, but I am capable of being so if needed, and I anticipated that your progress would be slow. However, I’m still determined to have you up and motoring by sunset, as there is much to do, and much chaos for you to learn!”

She gasped. “How did you know—“

“I said I could read you like a book at times, did I not?” Discord answered, but didn’t give her time to reply. “All right. Now, you have all your weight on me, but as we go, I want you to try to put less and less on me, and more on yourself as you walk. Tread lightly for now. I’m going to take a step back. You follow. Got it?”

Encouraged by her hesitant nod, he slowly stepped back, his fingers once again resting on her forearms in case she needed a quick rescue. Angel had removed himself from her pouch, deciding he didn’t want to have to stare at Discord’s “ugly mug” now that he was in front of her, but watched as he nibbled on more clover a few feet away from them.

With him to lean on, she found it hadn’t been much harder to take steps as it had been when he was guiding her from behind, though she knew it was only going to get harder from there. After a few steps, Discord already asked her to start putting more weight on her legs.

“Anchor yourself with the foot you keep on the ground. Yes, that’s it, there you go!”

She smiled at his praise as she took the slightest bit of weight off him and took a step. Slightly more confident, she jumped ahead from taking on a tiny bit of her own weight to almost none at all.

“Wait, wait, that’s not a good—“

Too late. Her legs had already turned to jelly as she realized she was unsteady, and her knee buckled as she tumbled forward. Discord was too late in grabbing her forearm, and she crashed into him, her forehead clonking against his as they tumbled back.

“Oh dear--!”

“Gyah!”

Fwomp!

“Oy vey…” Discord moaned, opening his eyes to see a very flustered Fluttershy lying on top of him as he lay there in the grass. He heard a very amused Angel Bunny clicking his teeth together in laughter in the background, rolling around in the grass and clutching his stomach. Discord paid no mind to it; he had bigger problems at the moment.

“You know, you sort of resemble an oddly-shaped tomato I came across once,” Discord commented, fascinated as he watched her face change from a soft buttery yellow to a deep and lively shade of red. He gave out a laugh as she started turning even more crimson from his words.

“I-I’m so sorry!” she spluttered. “I…I tried going t-too fast, didn’t I? Oh, I’m such a—“

“Ah ah ah! No more pity parties!” Discord interrupted, putting a finger to her lips as he bent his arms back to prop himself up on his elbows. “Pinkie would never forgive you, and—“

He then realized he couldn’t move his head back. Instead, it seemed to be locked into a slightly forward position, and it was hurting his neck…

“What in the universe...?” he looked upward, and Fluttershy followed suit and gasped.

“Discord! My...My antenna!”

The turquoise appendage seemed to have looped around her moose antler and then crossed back and around Discord’s antler and horn, with her antler locked under a prong of his own.

“Now how did that happen?”

“I don’t know! I g-guess I started to panic when I began to fall, and I must have just…grabbed onto something?”

“With your antenna?” He lifted one of his big bushy brows at her. “Around my horns, and your antler?” Laughter bubbled up his throat and he covered his mouth. “Oh, that is hilarious! Fluttershy, honestly, do you ever stop being so amusing?”

She didn’t seem to have an answer to that, which only entertained him further. “Ah, suddenly lost the ability to speak?” he asked with a smirk, before looking back up towards their horns. “Well, let’s see if I can fix that for you.”

He popped his own horns off his head, which earned a gasp from Fluttershy, only for it to turn into a…

“Are you giggling at me?” Discord asked, watching her cover her mouth as she sat above him.

She had never seen him without at least one of his horns on his head. She had seen him take one or the other off before to polish them, but never both.

It looked…funny.

“You are!” Discord said as her laughing grew harder. “You think I look strange without my horns? Well, let’s see how you look!”

Determination flashing in his mismatched eyes, his tail turned to the side and upward towards her head, wrapping around her antenna and antler and taking them off with an airy pop!

Fluttershy nearly screamed until she realized that she didn’t feel any pain, her mouth halfway open in a pause.

“You can do anything with chaos!” was Discord’s fast and easy explanation, snickering at her. “And now you look funny! So ha!”

The both then burst into a fit of laughter, smiling at each other, and Discord couldn’t help but rub her head a little as their laughter died down. She closed her eyes at the friendly touch, leaning her head into his claw. “That feels nice.”

He smirked. “I know.” This got another giggle out of her, and he smiled at that. His grin was replaced with a thoughtful look at the various pieces of natural headwear in his paw and claw. He held the tangled mess up by the base of Fluttershy’s moose antler. Looking closer at the antenna, he flicked a finger at it, straight in the middle.

Snap! Curling tightly on itself in a turquoise spiral, it released Discord’s horn and the two antlers, no longer tangling them all together. His horns fell against his chest, but Discord didn’t seem concerned as he reached up and placed Fluttershy’s appendages back on her head, safe and sound. Fluttershy once again marveled at how she didn’t feel a thing.

And then she remembered she was still on top of him.

She squealed, reeling back as fast as her antenna had. She plopped backward, landing on the ground with her backside. She winced at the motion, her only thought being about how embarrassed she was.

Discord himself hadn’t been perturbed in the slightest, popping his own horns back on and getting back up on his feet. He clapped his hands, getting Fluttershy’s attention.

“~Okay~! Time to try again!” he sing-songed, and quickly grabbed her hands before she could protest, flopping awkwardly against him as he put them on his shoulders again. He quickly felt her grip them, and then looked down as the top of her feet touched the ground.

“On your soles, dear.” He lifted her up slightly at the waist until the bottom of both her feet touched the grass. “Like so.”

His hands did not move from her waist, a point Fluttershy was all too aware of, but too embarrassed to make out loud.

He took a step back. She followed.

Another, then another, then another.

“Alright, start taking on your weight, like you did before,” Discord said, nodding at her progress. “But this time, take it slow and steady, slow and steady. Like that turtle friend of Dashie’s…Stank, or whatever it is.”

“Oh, it’s Tank!” Fluttershy corrected him, too nervous to laugh at the mix up. “Tank is his name.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

She shook her head with a small smile at this, wondering if Discord would ever get along with animals. She then let the thought go, doing her best to focus.

Her confidence had shattered at the moment she had fallen on him, though, and it took a while for it to build back up again. She lost her footing on a clump of dirt near one of her potted daffodils, but Discord was prepared this time, and was able to hold her back at the waist instead of sending them stumbling.

“Aha! Your fiendish antenna won’t be getting back at us again!” Discord cheered as he helped her gain her balance again. “Try again, and keep trying adding more weight. You’re doing lovely, just lovely!”

“You really think so?” she asked hopefully, a small smile forming on her face.

“Of course! You’ve had a stumble or two, but that’s to be expected. Now, if you had spontaneously combusted…”

“Huh?!?” Her eyes popped open in a gasp. “That won’t—“

“I’m joking, joking!”

After he was able to finally calm her down, she practiced more and eventually started taking on enough weight that Discord stopped her at the edge of her yard.

“Let’s go for a walk!” he announced, looking down the path that walked alongside the Everfree, towards the green, lush mountains ahead. “It’s been so long since we’ve just walked and talked, has it not?” he said, turning his head towards her. “And this can be the final step in your walking lessons! By the time we’re back, you’ll be motoring around like nopony’s business!”

Fluttershy was hesitant. “A walk? Oh, I’m not sure, Discord, I—“

“Nonsense!” he cut her off. Letting go of her waist, he grabbed her rabbit paw with his lion one.

The motion was still too quick for her, and she immediately started wobbling on her legs, about to fall over to the side. Discord pulled the rest of her rabbit arm towards him, and she fumbled back over to him, her face plunging against his chest.

“Whoopsy daisy!” he laughed, a daisy growing out of his ear. He plucked it out and chomped down on it, swallowing it with exaggerated enthusiasm. “Come now, Fluttershy. You can do this! There’s no need to crash into me anymore.” He used his claw to tip her back on her feet and settled it on her shoulder, his paw still holding her hand. “Steady now…”

Gulping, she looked down to her feet so she could watch her step.

Discord frowned. She would never learn that way if she didn’t trust herself, and he knew that. “Fluttershy,” he started to say. “Look at me.”

“Huh?” she squeaked.

“Look at me, Fluttershy,” he said again, and she felt his claw leave her shoulder and his paw hold her steady at the arm, his talons lightly gripping her chin to have her look at him.

“You have to walk without staring at the ground the entire time. It’s distracting you from focusing on your balance. Look at me instead.”

She tried following his directions, bashfully looking at him. The red irises popped out from the yellow sclera of his eyes, as if looking at a small clump of poppies amid a field of dandelions. They were eyes that used to terrify her, but she couldn’t help but now think that they were quite pretty. However, the thought startled her, and she turned red again, breaking the contact and looking away. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You just did. Don’t tell me you’re bashful now?” he asked her. “After everything that we’ve been through today? What’s wrong?” He could only think of one reason.

“I—“

“…Do my eyes scare you? Is that it?” he said, his voice slightly lowered.

He had tried to hide it, but she could hear a slight bit of hurt in his voice, and she was quick to turn her head back. “No! That’s not it at all! I actually…”

She looked to the ground. “I like them,” she whispered.

Discord’s ears perked at that. “You do?” he asked her incredulously, his voice back up to its usual volume and pitch. “Really? Well, that’s a first.” He conjured up a mirror, releasing her chin and looking at himself. “I love my eyes as well, but I never thought I’d hear a pony agree with me.” He gave himself a smile in the mirror, flashing his canines and clicking his tongue with a wink, pointing at the reflection.

She giggled at his antics. “Well, I do.”

Flashing his mirror away, he said, “Then you should have no problem looking at me instead, if they don’t scare you. But that doesn’t matter. I just want you to practice looking ahead of you, rather than below.”

He eyed her feet, but she still noticed the happy smile on his face from her comment. That alone was enough for a smile to grace her face as well.

“Steady yourself,” he commanded, the happy moment gone. Putting her feet side-to-side, she did so, and was surprised that Discord was just now merely holding onto her paw.

“Good!” he said, satisfied. “Now…” With exaggerated movement, he took a step forward. “We go!”

Hesitantly, she followed him, taking a hesitant bear step forward and wobbling a bit. Feeling his claw holding her paw, she felt as if he was an anchor to her, and she would be safe as long as he was beside her.

I can do this. I can do this! I just have to…have to balance myself, and do as he says, and then we’ll be one step closer to—“

“Excellent!”

Fluttershy had been so stuck in her thoughts that she didn’t notice they had taken more than just one step together, already a few feet away from where they had started, and she gasped in surprised, gripping onto Discord’s claw harder.

“We’re walking, Discord! We’re walking!”

He scoffed at that, amused. “You were expecting something else to happen? Walking is nothing out of the ordinary.” He sighed. “Trust me.”

Fluttershy took a good look at him as they walked together, side-by-side. She was proud of herself, but her good feelings were disturbed by his slightly stolid face .

It’s been so long since we’ve just walked and talked, has it not?

“Discord…”

He must have been doing some thinking as well. He seemed to be in his own world until she spoke. “Hmm?”

She found herself looking at him again, into his eyes. She found herself unable to speak.

She wanted to talk about the last few days—over what had happened, and why he did it. How was he feeling? Was he afraid? Scared? Angry, even?

Discord stopped walking, but Fluttershy didn’t notice until it was too late, still holding onto his hand, only for it to pull her backward as she went too far. He caught her once again for the umpteenth time, this time with both of his hands underneath her arms.

He looked down at her from above. “Getting distracted?” he asked with a raised brow.

She gave him a cheesy smile. “Um…”

With a sigh, he only said, “Try, try, try again!” and helped her get back up on her feet.

“Thank you.” She looked back up at him hesitantly, pushing her strands back behind her ear.

Skipping the formalities, he already started moving forward and Fluttershy had to take a few quick steps to catch up with him. Discord noticed she seemed to do so with little trouble, and gave her a smile. “There you go!” he praised, before turning back to the path. “So, what was it you wanted to ask me?”

“What?”

“You said my name earlier.” He raised a pointer finger like a scientist stating a fact. “Usually, when one says another’s name, that one wants the other’s attention. For instance, when I want Tia’s attention, I enjoy turning into a bug and screaming her name into her ear with the decibels of a roaring lion.”

Fluttershy gasped at that. “You actually do that? To the Princess?”

Discord scoffed at her incredulity. “Are you really that surprised, Fluttershy? Do you know me at all? She and I have been enemies since day numero uno!” He pointed his finger again with certainty.

“Even…now?”

“What do you mean?” He looked at her.

She stopped, and he stopped with her. With courage she didn’t know she had, she took his claw in her paw too, standing in front of him.

“Is she still your enemy, Discord? Even after all of this?”

This time it was Discord who was unsettled by the eye contact. Her directness was a surprise to him; it wasn’t something she did very often. He had seen it before, of course—she was that way when directness was the only way to get something out of him.

So what does she want now?

He frowned further, and broke eye contact, though he continued holding her hands. Fluttershy had rearranged her hands so that their fingers were intertwined, and Discord had to admit…It felt nice. There weren’t a lot of other creatures around with hands like his, with fingers and opposable thumbs. It was a sensation he had never really felt before.

He looked to the ground. “Is this a way of you trying to…How did you put it?” he asked her, though his voice had little inflection. “’Understanding me’? Trying to get into my brain, hoping to see some cruel and tortured past, seeing if you can get under the hard, candy-coated shell into the soft, caramel insides?”

“Discord—“

“You realize that I really did mean it, when I said that it would be hard to do such a thing?”

“What?” She said, remembering his joking about it back at the cottage. “Of course I knew you meant it!” she argued back. She immediately let go of his hand with her paw, and Discord hated the emptiness he suddenly felt there until he felt softness on his cheek.

With her paw on his face, she said, “Discord…understanding anypo—I mean, anydraconequus—is hard. We’re all different, with different experiences, likes, dislikes…It may sound easy, but I know how difficult it is…”

She lifted her paw up further and started brushing at his big, bushy eyebrows, straightening them for him. Discord gave her a confused look, but allowed her to continue, because that too felt…Sort of nice.

Sort of.

“And I know it was…a big wish. A very big wish. And I…I…”

Discord knew immediately what was coming when he heard her voice start to break. He didn’t need to see her eyes starting to shine with unshed tears.

“I’m so sorry!”

The breath was knocked out of him when she jumped towards him and clasped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and sobbing loudly into his small shoulder.

“…Sorry?!?” Discord repeated. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to let go of him, only so he could look at her more directly. “My dear, whatever are you sorry for? What in the world have you done to feel the need to cry like this? Draconequus tears aren’t that useful, dear, unless you make them so.”

A steady stream of tears still racing down her face, she took a few breaths and said “I’m s-s-sorry for….for w-what happened.”

“For what happened?” He looked back towards the cottage. They hadn’t gone very far in their ‘walk’ at all; he could still easily spot the small blue patch of wildflowers, the magic one easily sticking out despite its camouflage, in his mind’s eye.

“You mean your wish?” He looked back at her, and gave a shot at being sympathetic. “Well, it was a shock, but the results were rather exciting, right? I got to face off with an angry spork, after all!” He forced a smile at her.

But she only shook her head adamantly. “N-no! I mean, w-well, yes…b-but…” She cried further and felt a finger snap, only to find a handkerchief in Discord’s hand. She took it and dabbed it at her eyes, and blew her nose.

“I meant with everything,” she further explained. “I’m sorry for everything, Discord. For forcing you to be friends, for manipulating you, for disappointing you, for being a failure as a friend…It’s because of that…Because of my failures that you…That you…” Her eyes watered again and her jaw clenched, as her explanation only made things worse. She started crying harder again. “I’m so sorry!”

Discord just stood there, looking at her. He felt that he should be confused, but even her vague apology was enough clarification for him.

Fluttershy took in a sharp breath when suddenly, Discord was the one to grab hold of her and hold her tight in an embrace.

“What happened with Ti—with him,” he spat, angry just from thinking the name, “—is not your fault. You may think it is, but it was my mistake, and only mine. Don’t you dare take the blame for me, Fluttershy.”

His hug loosened somewhat, but it remained as he closed his eyes.

“Don’t you dare take the blame,” he repeated.

Even though his embrace helped soften the pain a little, she was still crying and feeling hatred towards herself. “I have to,” she said, her paw and webbed hand clutching at his shoulders.

“No you—“

“I have to. You’re my friend. And for a while, I was your only friend. I was supposed to be there for you, I was supposed to help you be happy and help you get along with everypony else. But I failed.”

She released his shoulders and held his neck instead. “The others didn’t see you as a friend because I didn’t try hard enough, and you had to restrain your chaos because ponies didn’t like it, but I didn’t do anything to help! I should have known you weren’t using your magic enough, but I didn’t even bother trying to help you!”

She pulled her head back and met eyes with him, and Discord’s heart cracked at the agony in her face. “I was a horrible friend to you…and that’s why you helped him. Because he offered you something better…I wasn’t good enough…”

Her face seemed to crease and crinkle like paper. It looked broken.

No. This wasn’t the way she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be smiling. She was supposed to be happy. Maybe nervous or shy, but not like this. Discord had already made her cry enough two days ago, when he foolishly threw her and the others away for his own satisfaction, only for it blow up in his face.

He couldn’t stand to watch as she cried again…especially on his account.

He held her more tightly against him now, more determined than ever to break through all the madness that was keeping their friendship from mending completely. Madness was something he usually embraced, but emotional turmoil was another thing to him completely, and he didn’t want it.

Especially not between him and his best friend.

“You were and you are good enough. I was a fool,” Discord said, petting her hair as her head rested on his shoulder. “You weren’t the one who wasn’t trying hard enough, Fluttershy. It was me… I see that now. And…Well, I think I don’t have to tell you that your friends weren’t trying very hard to get along with me either. I still sought out to annoy them and play my fun little games with them, and they saw me as annoying as the common housefly. Worse, even.”

“Discord—“

“Please, let me finish,” he interrupted, looking back at her and putting a finger to her lips.

Fluttershy smiled again, despite her tears. He remembered to say ‘please’ again.

He sighed. Being so honest and forward like this was hard for him, but he had to continue, for the sake of their friendship…

“But like I said, I sort of…enjoyed annoying them. Especially Twilight. That mare is just as easily irritated as Tia is at times. It’s hilarious!” He fought the smile on his face before turning somber again.

“I didn’t take any of it seriously…until two days ago. The only time friendship really mattered to me was when I was with you, but even then…”

He paused. He had to be careful. He couldn’t affirm her fears.

Fluttershy’s lip started to tremble. “Even then I wasn’t—“

“I already told you, you were enough!” Discord barked, and immediately softened and felt a wave of guilt crash through him as she flinched at his voice.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy…” He sighed.

Why is this so difficult? This friendship business is terribly annoying, and yet I need her. She’s the only one that can put up with me like this! Twilight may have saved my life, but this girl would have done the same and more…

So I’d better get on with it.

“What I was going to say was that even then, I didn’t know how much your friendship meant to me. How much you meant to me.”

He poked a finger at her chest, and watched her eyes widen at his words.

“And it was because I still wanted power. I wanted the freedom to do whatever I wished, regardless of everyone else. I was being held back. Celestia, your friends, everypony else…They wanted me to stop my powers cold turkey. They didn’t care about what I wanted. They only cared about what they wanted. And I know you could say the same for me, but at least I was trying to change. It was a feeble attempt, but it was a try, nonetheless…”

He found himself growing angry as he thought more about it.

“The only time my powers were considered any ‘good’ was if I used it for their benefit. But when I used them to make myself happy, well! That wasn’t good enough, was it? Even something as harmless as a flying flower was considered ‘bad’! Yet if they needed an army of them to fight, oh, I don’t know, a fleet of giant evil dragons with horrible allergies to pollen, then they’d be at my knees begging!”

Discord had let her go by this point. Now he was just pacing back and forth, back and forth, his paw and claw in fists.

“Using me. Me! Discord! A god! That’s all Celestia wanted. That’s all she ever wanted! And the same went for everyone else!”

Fluttershy stood, watching him. The sun started going down, turning the sky a deep, deep orange. It was beautiful, but he was all that took her attention, her heart aching for him.

“That’s all they ever wanted! They think they’re so great, that their ways are so much better! But I say my way, it’s the more fun one! The more exciting one! But they just wanted to use me and take it all away from me! It was either that way, or the stone way!”

“Discord…”

He stopped again, and noticed her eyes watering. “Fluttershy, what…Please, I’m just angry, but it’s not with you! Don’t you see?”

He held his hands out towards her. “You were different. You let me use my chaos…Not for you, not for other ponies, but for me. You’ve been that way ever since you tried reforming me.”

“B-But….” Fluttershy’s face crinkled again. “I…I still had my own reasons…”

“…Yes, you did,” he said, his voice lowered. “You wanted to make Celestia and your friends proud, and you wanted to protect your country from…me…”

He clenched his teeth, not willing to get more upset than he had already that day, willing his eyes to stop burning.

“But you still tried to make me happy, as well. You stood up for me. You let me use my magic. You weren’t bothered by my harmless little tricks, not in the least. As our friendship went on, the only times you protested against them was when I pranked or mislead you and your friends…”

Memories suddenly flashed through his mind. He remembered moments he had shared with Fluttershy. His favorite was the time when he moved the Aurora Borealis. He had wanted to show her, knowing she would appreciate its mysterious beauty as much as he did. He had moved it right above her cottage using his magic. They had flown up to soft, glowing, magical lights, and had rested upon it, watching the rest of it ribbon around the dark blue night sky, the stars twinkling around him. The amazed look on Fluttershy’s face had been worth it.

He remembered pushing her down the strip of wavering light, using it like a slide. She, of course, had been afraid of it at first, but he had surprised her as the Borealis sloped downward, pushing her down.

She had started out screaming, only to ask him to do it, again and again, shortly afterward. They had even slid down it together, him holding her small pony-self in his arms as they slid around.

“That was so much fun! I felt like a filly again…”

He smiled at the memory.

“…You appreciated my magic. You were the only one that did. You cared for me.”

“Of course I did!” Fluttershy said, taking a perfectly balanced step towards him. “That’s what friends do! I may have agreed to befriend you to help Celestia and Equestria, but I really did want to see if I could befriend you. I couldn’t have possibly refused, knowing that you would have to stay in stone if I didn’t agree to help you. That would have been horrible! That would have…”

She took another step, and laid her forehead on his chest, her hands on her own chest, curled up into another.

“That would have been a mistake…I’m so glad…So glad that Celestia chose me to help you, and that I agreed to. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten a friend like you.”

“You mean…” Discord started to ask, looking at her in a puzzled way. “You don’t regret it? Helping me? Even after what I’ve done?”

He felt her head softly shake against his fur. “Never,” was her simple answer. “I’ll never regret it. I would do it again, too. Every time.”

That did it. Now he was the upset one. His irises grew big and shiny, and the crystal-clear tears welled in his eyes.

“Yes…I…I’m glad you did, too. I…I know you may think that I…that I don’t appreciate you…That I gave you up for him easily. But I didn’t, Fluttershy. It took what felt like ages to make my decision. You were the only one that held me back.”

She took her head off of him and looked up. She hadn’t known that. “You…You did?”

He nodded once and crossed his arms. “Had it not been for you, I would’ve taken his offer without hesitation.”

She didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hoof, he had considered her and their friendship. That showed he valued it in some way.

But on the other hoof…

“…But you still chose him…” she whispered. Her voice wavered more than she wanted it to.

Discord winced. He knew she would say that. And she was right, too.

“I did…And I’m truly, truly sorry for that, Fluttershy.”

He tipped her chin up.

“If I could do it over again, I would never have given him even the chance to offer me his deal. I would have duct taped his lips five times over before his pretty little lies could touch my ears. I would have never betrayed you.”

He let her go, and turned around, his hands clasped behind his back as he took a look at the display of fiery oranges, soft pinks, and majestic purples in the sky.

“But in doing so, I realized just how important friendship is. You remember me saying that? I realized nothing was worth more than that—a kingdom, control over everypony…And I meant it, Fluttershy, when I said you were worth all the magic in the world and more. You did nothing but give and give and give, while I took it all. Your kindness, your charity, your comfort…I took it all, without taking a moment to think of how much that all meant to me. And now here you are…” He turned back to her and laid his hands out before her. “A Draconequus, and all because you want to understand me! Fluttershy, honestly! Does your level of kindness actually exist?”

He put his hands on his hips and tapped a foot. “Because sometimes I fear you’re actually a figment of my imagination. After all, I’m a loopy guy. It’s entirely plausible. So tell me,” he joked. “Speak to me, apparition! Are you truly a friend of mine, or are you just my mind playing tricks on me?”

This made her finally laugh, and Discord felt the tension in his chest finally release.

“I know I’m not how I usually look,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “But…I’m real, Discord. Really, really real.”

He returned the smile. “Allow me to be cheesy for a moment more, dear, and let me just say…You’re my best and dearest friend, Fluttershy. You always will be. My biggest mistake was thinking that you could be easily replaced, and I was wrong. You are irreplaceable. You’re the kindest creature I’ve ever met, and I find myself acting like you as I beg you for forgiveness for the thousandth time.”

She shook her head and laughed, but the tears ran down her face…

“Do you…do you really mean that, Discord?” she croaked, looking up at him.

“Mean what?” he asked her, his eyes curious, but his voice soft. “What do you mean, Flutterbuddy?”

She swallowed. “I...r-really mean that much to you? As an…irreplaceable friend?”

“Most definitely!” Discord assured her with confidence. “I realize that now. You won’t ever be betrayed by me again.”

A burst of happiness burst through her chest at that. “Did you just…not know it…when you—“

He could read her mind, and saved her the trouble of finishing. “Like I said, Fluttershy: this friendship business is new to me. I had no idea how much I cared for you until you were taken away, along with my magic. I had a bad feeling in my stomach during the entire escapade with Tirek, but I had ignored it in my thirst for power. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was betraying you. I had felt bad. But I didn’t truly know what I had lost until—excuse the cliché—it was gone.”

She was stunned. She had always known that he was capable of kindness, of being a friend. She had seen how genuine he had been when he awarded Twilight with the talisman that served as the final key to the box, telling them how he truly felt about them.

But he went above and beyond that as he told her all this, and finished with telling her:

“And I hope not to lose you again. I don’t think I could deal with the pain or the guilt again, Fluttershy.”

She smiled, gazing at him with her teal eyes that never changed. “You won’t. I already said that, didn’t I?” She giggled. “Silly.”

“Silly?!?” Discord shrieked, as if it were an insult. “My dear, my dear! That is such a weak adjective for a creature of chaos such as myself!”

He jumped up and floated over to her, getting in her face. “What about ridiculous?”

Snap! Flower petals grew around his head.

“What about zany?!?”

Snap! A fire hydrant appeared, barking and walking over to a tree, sniffing around it.

“What about ludicrous? Preposterous? Outrageous? Bizarre?”

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

The path where Fluttershy stood turned into the keys of a piano. Rocks and pebbles began to skip like they were being thrown across a lake, hitting the keys as they skipped to and fro like frogs. The notes of piano music the skipping rocks produced made themselves visible, as if the score to the song was being written across the sky. A drumset and a guitar suddenly appeared in the air, playing on their own without a musician to use them.

“Wouldn’t you say this surpasses silly?” Discord asked her, gesturing to the seemingly-impossible scene. “Why, I’d even say it’s more surprising to the naked eye more than the sight of you walking on two feet!”

Fluttershy only stood and laughed. This trick was a new one, one that made her start tapping her foot and wave side to side without thinking about it. “Why do you say that, Discord?”

“You’ve been moving on your own two feet this entire time!” he pointed out, grinning as he watched her gasp and look at her legs. “And you barely even stumbled! Congratulations, Flutterbuddy!”

Confetti sprinkled above from the sky, and he grabbed Fluttershy and started whirling her around in a circle, without any sort of rhythm to the movement.

“You’ll be a fully-functioning Draconequus in no time! You’ll do so well, you’ll barely even realize you’re not a pony anymore!”

“Discord!” she giggled. “P-Put me down!”

“No!”

“Discord!”

“What?!? This is the very next step after walking! Don’t you want to be able to jig with those mismatched feet?!? Come now, it’s been a long day! Loosen up! Live a little!”

With another bright smile, she decided to humor him, and let him twirl her and move around in circles.

She was so happy to have one of her best friends back as he dipped her backward with a silly grin on his face, his tongue sticking out to the side.

“I’m glad to have one of my best friends back,” she said. She jumped up from being dipped and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Discord gave a happy hum. “Ah, it’s good to be back, my dear,” he said as she let him go, twirling around with him again. “It’s good to be back…”

He smirked at her.

“Though what to do with you tomorrow? Magic, perhaps? Shall we get started on that? Ooh, or how about flying? Maybe both!”

“W-What?”

His words made her stumble in her dancing and he had to catch her one last time.

“Tomorrow, Fluttershy. You can worry about that…tomorrow.”

A flower flapped on as the sun went down that day, its short wings pumping as it traveled, the winds picking up as the night started taking over.

On the horizon, buildings could be seen.

Ponyville was not very far away.

The plant flapped on.

Author's Notes:

Credit, as always, goes to ButtonMash for proofreading!

I do hope you liked this chapter. I apologize so much for the long, long, long wait. I had promised you all that it would be faster, and I failed. I will do my best to try to at least update this in a reasonable amount of time.

I also apologize if this chapter is not up to par with all the others. I was told that some segments run rather long. As true as that may be, I wasn't sure what to cut, so I'm leaving it as is. My editor has been busy, and I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer.

Thank you all for your amazing patience and kindness. Reviews, including comments, concerns, and constructive criticism, are always welcomed, appreciated, and considered with thought. I will do my best to respond to them as well!

Their relationship is finally starting to return to its original state before the betrayal, and they are back to being close friends...but what else is in store for them? What must Fluttershy the Draconequus do next? What about the flying flower? Will Fluttershy ever turn back?!?

I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned! And yes, now you know who the stranger from the first chapter is!

Incredible Flying Objects

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Four: Incredible Flying Objects

“Ooh, I’d love to see the look on the pony’s face! Perhaps a Pegasus will run into it while flying! Ooh, that’d be hilarious!”

-Discord, Chapter Three

There it lay, the poor thing. It was worn out from so much flipping and flapping. But who could blame it? It had lived a life stuck in the ground. It was ready for adventure! Excitement! To see things no other flower had seen before…

But alas, it had been too much. Far too much. It had started getting sore just after a few miles of flying, but now…

It would never get to do anything, never grow to be anything important...

“You poor, poor little flower. Why don’t we try and restore your flight power?”

The little blue plant seemed to shiver as a gust of wind blew, and Zecora smiled at it tenderly, as if it were her child. Taking a vial out of her pack, she said:

“Now, just stay there; don’t despair.”

She tipped the bottle over slightly, and a liquid, cloudy and light, fell down on the flower’s wings.

As soon as the liquid made contact, the flower burst upward, up and ready…for action!

Grateful to the creature, it flew towards her face and stroked a velvety smooth petal against her face. Zecora laughed.

“I am happy to help, little one. Now you’ve a job to do—so go on, go on!”

Nodding, it turned its stem on her and went forth, ready to seize the day and fulfill a mission…

Zecora smiled. It was amazing what life could bring, what sentience could do. It made life all the more meaningful and exciting…

No matter the form it was in.

“My little blossom of the sky…” she whispered, still beaming after it, her heart filled with warmth at the miracle above her. “Go and fly. I will come back to save you, after you have given your clue."

Princess Twilight Sparkle was adjusting to her new circumstances, albeit a bit slowly.

Her biggest improvements had been in her confidence and her flying. Now that she knew what her purpose was—to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria—she was excited to begin the next stage of her life.

However, the castle was still something to get used to. She was going to be a Princess for the rest of her life, but she knew she would never think of herself as one. For her, it would never be her ‘royal castle’. It would just be ‘home’. For her, she would never be ‘the’ princess—just ‘a’ princess.

The place was huge, too. And the walls seemed cold, blank. She hoped that, with time, memories of her friends and loved ones would make the castle seem warmer. But for now, it wasn’t nearly the home that the library had been.

But at least her flying was improving. She was still rather comfortable walking, but she had to admit—flying was…Well, it was fun. Not as fun as reading books and being with her friends, of course, but still…It gave her a thrill, and she was proud by her progress.

Spike, however…

“T-Twilight, please, please don’t drop me…”

As she flew, she gave her number one assistant/best friend/surrogate son a warm smile. “I won’t drop you, Spike. I put a magical belt on you, remember? You’re safe!”

That did not reassure the small dragon as he stared at the pink, glowing strap that buckled him to a saddle on Twilight, one made especially for him so he could go with her when she flew. It was tight and secure, but he wasn’t assured.

“But Twi, what if you fall? What if there’s a current that you can’t take? Or a tornado? Or, or, or…!”

“Spike, it’s okay. Rainbow will be here soon anyway, and you know she’ll have your back if something happens.”

“But that’s when she gets here, which she isn’t!” Spike proclaimed, lurching forward and putting his short little arms around her neck. “Can’t we just go back to the ground, please? At least until Rainbow—“

As if on cue, a rainbow seemed to whoosh right past them, only to stop suddenly and turn to the pair, a toothy smile beaming at them.

“And the Rainbow has arrived!” she said with a flourish, smiling in satisfaction as she flapped her wings and crossed her forelegs, looking smug. “And look at you, Spike! You look pretty cool there.”

The dragon blinked. “Cool? Me?”

“Oh, yeah, totally!” Rainbow embellished, spreading her arms wide. “A little guy like you, sailing the skies with a Princess as your steed? Awesome!”

As Spike blushed and took her words with thought, Twilight snorted. “I’m not a steed.”

“Aw, don’t take it personally, Twilight,” Rainbow said, rushing over to her side and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with being a steed every now and then. It’s not like he actually owns you. It’s a compliment! His majestic, royal steed!”

Twilight remained unamused. “Yeah. Sure.”

Rainbow just laughed it off and then flapped backwards a bit, looking at Twilight with a thoughtful eye. “You’re lookin’ good!” she complimented her, as Spike slowly smiled at himself and sat up a bit straighter on Twilight. She continued to speak on Twilight’s flying. “You’ve got the form down and everything! A pony might even think you were a Pegasus before, instead of an egghead Unicorn!”

Twilight tried to look peeved about the insult, but the laugh that rose up from her throat kept her from doing so. “You really think so?”

“Think so? I know so! Look at ya!” She returned to her friend’s side, then licked her own hoof and put it to the sky. “There’s even a pretty good wind today, and you’re holding up like a pro!”

Twilight blushed, smiling sheepishly. “Oh, stop. I haven’t done anything that amazing! Besides, it’s pretty simple, once you get used to it. And all I had to do was read…”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, tapping it as she thought. “One, two….Mm, about twenty books on flying and aerodynamics! Once Celestia gave me those, then it became a lot clearer on how to fly!”

“Books can’t teach you how to fly,” Rainbow deadpanned. “It takes practice, and you know it. If books could teach you how to fly, then Fluttershy wouldn’t have trouble!”

Twilight scrunched her forehead together at Rainbow’s words. “But she does know how to fly.”

“Yeah, but not very well…Or very long…”

Oh. That was what she had meant. This caused a frown on Twilight’s face. “Why? I don’t understand why she can’t fly well. I’ve always wanted to ask about it, but…”

“It’s a touchy subject with her, I know,” Rainbow said again, closing her eyes for a moment, remembering how it used to be for her yellow Pegasus friend. “There are just some Pegasi that have trouble flying. I think she told me it was because she was born early, and has weak wing muscles or something?”

“Hey! That would make sense!” Spike said, now riding comfortably on the saddle. “…I think.”

“A premature filly…” Twilight murmured.

It did make sense, when she thought about it. Foals born long before their birth date tend to be weaker than those born on time…

A gust of wind blew.

I wonder how much earlier she was born, and if Rainbow’s even getting her facts straight.

“What is that?” asked Spike, peering at something in the distance, a claw on his forehead.

Has she ever told me anything else about her childhood? Besides the day she got her cutie mark? Twilight just couldn’t stop thinking on it.

“Twilight, watch--!”

Smack!

Whatever had rammed into her face, it was startling enough to cause Twilight to stiffen, falling towards the ground.

“Twilight! Spike!” Rainbow Dash called, speeding downward. Her worries proved to be nothing as the Alicorn managed to save herself, the fall not fast enough for her to lose control of her body. She easily spread her wings back out, Spike trembling and holding onto her for dear life, sweat falling down his forehead.

Rainbow sighed as she slowed herself and flew down to Twilight’s level. “What in the hay was that?” she asked, turning her head in different directions, looking for the culprit that had caused her friend to fall. When she finally looked towards the ground, she pointed.

“Look! That little blue thing! Right there!” She squinted more. “It looks like a…No…Maybe I’m going crazy…”

“D-Does anyone even care that we almost splattered onto the ground?!?” Spike yelled, eyes shut tight and still holding onto Twilight like the last fall leaf on a dying tree. “Twilight, please, can we go back to the ground now?”

Giving him a sympathetic smile, and feeling bad for allowing herself to get off-track, she said, “Sure, Spike. We need to take a look at whatever it was that hit me, anyway.”

The two ponies made their way back down to earth, eyes locked on the object.

“Wait, I’m not going crazy!” Rainbow gasped, the grounded flower crumpled in the grass as its wings fluttered pathetically, its small little feathers torn and broken from its fated impact. “It is a flower! And it has wings!”

Twilight said nothing as she landed next it, the belt holding Spike evaporating into thin air as he hopped off her back and began kissing the ground as if it were Rarity.

She delicately touched the right wing of the plant, its ruined feathers the size of an artist’s eraser.

“A flying flower…”

“That’s so weird!” Rainbow added, peering closer at it. “This isn’t something that’s usually around, right? It’s not natural, right?”

“Hmm…” Pursing her lips in thought, Twilight tried remembering all she had learned about plants, both ordinary and extraordinary. She couldn’t remember anything about a blue flower with wings…

“And it’s still tryin’ to fly…” Rainbow’s eyes seemed to grow big with sympathy as her wings and ears drooped a bit. “Maybe I am crazy. I’m starting to feel bad for a flower.”

“I’ll fix it, don’t worry…But…I don’t think it’s supposed to have wings,” Twilight concluded, sitting on her haunches and picking the flower up delicately. As her horn glowed with a magical pink aura, she closed her eyes and focused, both on the flower and on its source of magic.

The wings disappeared, and the flower returned back to normal as it was lowered into the ground. Luckily, Twilight was well versed in the arts of vegetation magic, and was able to encourage the flower to once again root itself to the earth, stable and healthy as it had been…

Her eyes opened.

“Discord.”

That one word—that name—was enough to cause not only Rainbow to gaze at Twilight, but to also managed to get Spike to stop kissing the dirt and look at her with wide serpentine eyes.

“What did you say?” he asked, dirt on his lips.

“His magical signature. I sensed it as soon as I searched for it with my magic. He’s the one that did this.”

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at her. “His magical siggy-whatsit?”

“Signature,” Twilight answered. “It’s complicated to explain in detail, but basically, it’s a sort of ‘stamp’ every magical creature has. It can be used to detect the magic’s source. No two are alike, sort of like muzzle-prints.”

“So let me get this straight,” Rainbow said, pointing at her. “That flower got wings by magic, and you used your own magic to see who made it that way? And it was…Discord?”

Twilight nodded, somewhat grimly.

“Oh…”

It was an awkward moment of silence for them as the three stared at the now-normal flower between them all, remembering what had happened the last time they saw the Draconequus in question.

“Do you think…that means he’s around?” Spike finally said, breaking the sound of the lonely wind with his hesitant, anxious voice.

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, hoofing at the petals again and giving it a good looking-over to check and make sure that it really was normal and healthy again. “It’s..It’s possible. I mean, we did forgive him. But I haven’t seen him since then. And, well…”

Her purple eyes landed on Rainbow, a sad sort of knowing in her eyes. “Have you seen Fluttershy lately? I know she took it the hardest.”

“Well no duh,” Rainbow shot back, rolling her eyes. “Of course she took it the hardest. She’s sensitive, and she was the only one that could actually handle that annoying creep. But if you’re asking if I’ve seen her, I haven’t. And I’m guessing that means you haven’t either? Or you, Spike?”

The two shook their head. “Spike and I have been too busy moving into the castle and getting things organized to see her…Or anypony, for that matter. In fact…” She pointed at Rainbow. “You’re the only one I’ve seen since the celebration. I haven’t seen Applejack or Rarity or—“

“ME!”

Twilight had always found herself disappointed when Pinkie managed to startle her like that. She thought that, for somepony who had been best friends with Pinkie Pie for as long as she had, that she’d be used to her quirks and surprises by now.

She, Rainbow Dash, and Spike jumped and faced the pink party pony with a startled look. “What?!?” they all spoke in unison.

“You haven’t spoken to me in what feels like foreverrrrr!” Pinkie yelled—well, more like cheered—as she jumped up and down on all fours with a beaming smile. “I mean, I know it’s only been, what, three days since the ‘We-Beat-the-Big-Meanie-Centaur party, but I missed you three sooooo much! And Rarity and Applejack and Fluttershy! Oh, and Discord too! Because he’s our friend now, right? Ooh, do you think he has a birthday? I should find out! I was going to do that, you know—go find Discord and ask about his birthday. My tail twitchy-twitched this morning, and I can tell you right now, Discord is at Fluttershy’s!”

“He is?!? That’s what your Pinkie Sense says?” Rainbow asked, taking a step forward and looking at her with wide, urgent eyes. “Why? D’you think—“

“I don’t know silly! That’s why I’m going over there! Oh, and also to ask about Discord’s birthday!”

Pinkie then gasped, and took a jump higher than all those previous to it, her mouth a perfect circle as she landed on the ground. Her tail began to swing in rotation like a helicopter propeller, and her left eye twitched while her hooves tip-tapped against the dirt.

“Twitchy twitch! Twitchy twitch!” she said, before shaking herself off and returning back to normal. “Oh my gosh! I got a whirling tail, a twitchy left eye, and all four of my hoofsies were tapping the day away! Do you know what that means?!?” she asked them, her eyes just as urgent as Rainbow’s had been.

“What?!?” The three of them were all in Pinkie’s face now, eyes open and minds alert for what she had to say.

“We need to see Fluttershy—right now! Because something big has happened! We need to grab everypony and go!”

Rainbow, Twilight, and Spike all shared a serious look, Twilight looking at Rainbow, then back at Spike, then Rainbow and Spike.

They had questioned the party pony’s Pinkie Sense before. They knew not to, now.

Twilight’s mind was made up.

“Let’s go.”

Of course, the farm pony and the fashion guru had questions once Twilight told the story, both of them looking perplexed—Rarity’s brow crinkled her forehead, and Applejack’s mouth slightly gaped.

“So…You ran into a flyin’ flower, is what yer sayin’?”

“And that Discord’s responsible?”

Twilight sighed. For an event that only took a few minutes to occur, it was a lot to explain. “Who else could it be? And it was only a notion until Pinkie came.”

“And everypony knows my Pinkie Sense never lies!” Pinkie cheered with a smile. “And it tells me we need to march over to Fluttershy’s cottage and see! What’s! Up!” She jumped with each exclamation.

“Do you know if it’s anything horribly serious?” Rarity asked Pinkie. “Because if the poor dear is in trouble…”

“An’ I know we’re supposed tuh try and give Discord another chance, but if he is here, and he’s doin’ stuff right after he helped Tirek with his chaos…Maybe we should check…just in case,” Applejack reasoned.

Twilight sighed. “I know…I know.”

The six of them went on their way towards Fluttershy’s in the outskirts of town, following the familiar dirt path. It hadn’t taken long to get Rarity and Applejack, seeing as Rarity’s shop was right in the middle of town and Applejack had been helping Big Mac sell some apple pies in the square. Luckily, business had been slow enough for her to come along.

But the trip to Fluttershy’s wasn’t silent. “Hey, Twilight. I wanna ask you somethin’,” Applejack asked her, trotting beside her. “It’s been on my mind for a while, now, and I just wanna know what you have tuh say on it.”

“What’s that?” the Alicorn replied, turning a head towards her friend.

“…Why’d you save him?”

Twilight stopped in her tracks. In a way, she had expected this question. She knew saving Discord had been a surprise to all of them, most of all to Discord. If she was truly being honest with herself, she, too, had been surprised by her own decision.

But…

“Twilight?”

She looked to her friends, who had stopped too, with all eyes all on her. She didn’t need to look, but could feel Spike’s stare as well, feeling his small body sitting atop her back.

Pictures of what happened went through Twilight’s memory. Oh, she had been so horrified at the time. Burdened with magic she didn’t know how to use, she had felt that the entire world was at her shoulders—a world that, without her support, would come crashing down, and become a prison of destruction and despair. She had fought so hard, but she and Tirek had been equal in power. And the only ponies that could make her stronger, the one thing she had that could make her rise above the enemy…had been in his clutches, in bubbles.

Bubbles. Put it in a bubble and blow it away. Twilight remembered that phrase the moment she saw her friends encapsulated in them. It was something her parents had told both her and Shining, back when they were younger. If you had a problem you didn’t want to bother you anymore, you should just ‘put it in a bubble and blow it away’; that’s what her mother and father had said, anyway.

Tirek had seen her friends as nothing but worthless problems, easy to get rid of with just one exhale of breath.

And Discord…A pawn. Tirek had used him in the worst way possible, gaining the Draconequus’ trust and friendship, and enticing him with the hard-to-resist temptation of freedom…

All of them, nothing but bubbles. But…

Hadn’t Discord always been pushed away? Twilight remembered the day Celestia came, asking Fluttershy to help Discord become reformed. With an odd sense of shame, the Alicorn remembered how quick she had been to decide to turn Discord back to stone. If it hadn’t been for Fluttershy…

He would have never had another chance. And though it also meant Tirek would have never gotten him for a pawn…Well, she would have had to face him off then anyway, right?

But why had he gone off with Tirek in the first place? Tirek hadn’t seen anything good about friendship—it was why they were able to defeat him so easily!

“Because we were never really his friends, were we? We always pushed him away, and treated him like he was just a nuisance.”

She didn’t realize she had spoken out loud until she noticed the even wider stares of her friends. They all just stared at each other, until Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

“Well, duh! That’s because he was—is—a nuisance! He totally came on a day where he knew Fluttershy was out, just to ruin your day with Cadence!” She pointed a hoof at Pinkie without taking her eyes off Twilight. “And it wasn’t just to get someone to take care of him—it was to bug you, and only you! He wanted to ruin your day! I know, because Pinkie offered to take care of him, and he totally blew her off!”

Pinkie gasped. “Ohmygosh, you’re right! I remember! I offered to give him cuddles and spend the whole day with him! And then a balloon showed up!” Sitting on her haunches and looking proud, she said, “And I caught that balloon, too.”

“Pinkie,” Rainbow deadpanned. “That was Discord. He was the one that conjured up that balloon! He only did it to get you away from him!”

Another gasp. “What?!? That meanie! That—wait.”

The pink pony stopped and thought for a moment. “I like balloons…So…I should thank him, right?”

Rainbow hoof-slapped herself in the face. “No, Pinkie, you shouldn’t.”

“I’m not saying that Discord doesn’t have his part in things too,” Twilight said. “Trust me, I remember my time with Discord very clearly. “

“He’s hard to forget,” Rainbow grumbled.

“But is he?” Twilight asked. “Did anyone besides Fluttershy ever try reaching out to him after she reformed him? Apparently Pinkie did, but that was only when he was pretending to be sick—and he only did that because he wanted attention. We know he’s got a love for the spotlight. We know that he’s never had friends before. But how hard did we try, really? How hard did we try to be his friend?”

She turned her back to the girls and sighed. “Not very hard. And maybe if we had, things would have turned out differently…But we never really thought of him as a friend…Just a…nuisance.”

“Except for Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “She was an absolute doll towards him, of course. She took her friendship with him much more seriously than I would have thought. I knew Fluttershy was kind, of course, but I had no idea how much Discord meant to her. I was shocked when I found out she wrote him letters—and even had tea parties with him! Honestly, can you imagine?” she asked, flicking her hair. “Discord, doing something as proper and gentlecoltly as a tea party?”

“But maybe we wouldn’t have been so shocked if we had at least tried to get to know him,” Twilight argued. “I mean, how much do we actually know about him?”

“But how much does he know about us?” Spike argued back. “Sometimes I wondered if he even knew my name! Twilight, he’s Discord! He’s chaos! He’s crazy!”

“Maybe,” Twilight said. “Maybe he is. But he’s not the only one at fault. The only one that really tried to make things right was Fluttershy. She’s the only one that isn’t to blame for what happened. Didn’t you guys see how concerned she was for him when Tirek didn’t release him? She looked for him when she landed on the ground. She still cared for him. I saw her do that, and in that moment, I realized that if Fluttershy was able to see him as a friend, then maybe I should, too. I wanted to give him another chance, a genuine one, where I really did consider him important to me. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

She then finally took a step forward. “I’m not putting him in a bubble anymore and blowing him away!” she said with a determined smile. “Not anymore.”

“Bubbles?” Pinkie asked.

“What does that even mean?” Rainbow wondered.

“Well, whatever it means, it looks like we’re gonna have tuh try it too,” Applejack said. “I’m still not too happy with Discord for makin’ Fluttershy cry like that…And I still don’t understand why he was so eager tuh throw her under the wagon for Tirek. But I think I get what she’s sayin’. Discord wasn’t the greatest friend to us, but we weren’t either. So let’s try again and see if we can all get it right.”

“Oh, I suppose,” Rarity said, trotting delicately beside her. “He did always like putting on clothes, so I could always try helping him in the fashion department.”

“And I like all the treats he makes appear!” Pinkie said, right behind them. “He can make cake appear just like that! Poof!”

“Well, I guess I did kinda hug him,” Rainbow grunted as she flew above them. “So I guess I can try to be…nice…to him. But a third strike, and he’s totally out!”

So they all continued forward, and nobody said anything until Spike crossed his arms and spoke.

“…Doesn’t anypony even remember the bubble that Discord put me in? How’s that for karma?”

It only took a few minutes before the cottage was finally in sight. Pinkie grew so excited that she hopped to the front of the group and bounded over to the door in just a matter of seconds. The rest of the group then had to run just to catch up with her.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! You in there?!?” Pinkie shouted, knocking on the door repeatedly and at a fast pace. “It’s us! C’mon out! We haven’t seen you in so long!”

She kept at it until a minute had passed, and her knocking got slower and slower until a frown appeared on her vivid pink face. “She’s not here!”

“She’s probably just out with her critters or somethin’,” Applejack suggested, taking a step into the yard. “There’s a lot of land out here for her to roam in.”

“Wait…” Twilight said, taking a look around. “…You’re right. She does have a lot of animals. She always does. But…”

With land all around her, Twilight Sparkle did not see a single creature—no mammals in the grass, birds in the sky or the trees, and not even a single fish to be found in the open water.

The others realized this as they watched Twilight look around, suddenly all-too aware of the silence that surrounded the cottage.

“Perhaps she went on a trip with…all of them?” Rarity suggested hesitantly. “Though..that seems rather impossible…”

“Could be that Discord came tuh visit and teleported ‘em all somewhere,” Applejack said. “If he was here in the first place, that is.”

“No, that can’t be!” Pinkie Pie immediately argued, who had somehow gotten herself on a tree branch, standing on it with all fours as if it were the ground. She put a hoof to her forehead and searched all around, as if she were an explorer on the hunt for something. “My Pinkie Sense never lies, and it told me she was definitely at home.”

Rainbow flew up to Pinkie. “But you knocked on the door yourself, Pinkie! She isn’t home.”

“Sure she is! She’s just not in the cottage part.”

“…Huh?”

“The cottage is only part of her home, silly-billy! She’s probably in her backyard or something! We just gotta keep…”

She then gasped. “Hey, what is that?!?”

“What’s what?” Rainbow asked, looking in her direction before gasping.

Pinkie, in one glorious bound, managed to leap of the tree and land on the ground, galloping towards the mysterious thing she saw. As she ran, her eyes were glued to the sky, and Rainbow was quick to follow her.

Twilight Sparkle was third to go, shouting “come on girls!” to the rest, though there was no need as they loped together to the acres of land found beyond the cottage.

“This is it!” Pinkie shouted in glee, her smile wide and triumphant as she got nearer to the dot she spotted in the sky. “This is totally what we’re looking for!”

By this time, everyone had been keeping their eyes on the same thing—a colorful dot in the sky that seemed to be flying and humming, laughing and twirling around in the air.

As they got closer, the dot grew bigger, longer, more colorful. Yellow and green stood out, with what looked like long strands of pink on both ends…

“I can’t believe how much easier this is!”

The ponies came to a screeching halt, making tracks in the dirt as they stopped themselves.

“That voice…” Rarity murmured.

“It sounds like…” Rainbow continued.

Twilight couldn’t believe it. They were close enough to see the object in the sky, though it was by no means just a mere object.

“Not only that!” Applejack said. “But it looks like a…like a…”

“Draconequus…” The word escaped Twilight’s lips, but she couldn’t believe It herself.

Not surprisingly, Pinkie Pie was the only one undeterred by this discovery. Instead, Pinkie hopped up and down, landing on her forelegs before jumping again, and waving furiously at the Draconequus above.

“Hi Fluttershy! It’s me! Pinkie! And the rest of us! Hiiiiiiiiiii!”

The others gasped at Pinkie’s assumption, though in their hearts, they knew it was true.

And they couldn’t deny it anymore when the figure finally turned its head in their direction, and her eyes widened.

Her big, wide, yet amazingly gentle turquoise eyes.

And then, Fluttershy the Draconequus, with a look of absolute horror on her face, stopped flying.

“G-G-G-Girls….!” She gasped.

But that was all she could say before she started plummeting to the ground.

“Fluttershy!”

Author's Notes:

Whoo! Another one done! And who knows how many more to go?

As always, thanks to ButtonMash for editing.

This chapter goes out to BluegrassBrooke for giving me some wonderful writing advice, and just for supporting me in general. She's an excellent writer, and if you like Twicord or Cheesepie, you should give her stories a gander! :3 Thanks for everything!

Yes, I know, I know...A chapter without the main characters! I do apologize, but this was needed. And I promise the next chapter will have Discord and Fluttershy back in action. We'll have to backtrack a bit though--it'll start with the night before this chapter began, and then to the next day, so we can see what they were up to while their friends were figuring this out!

I almost named this chapter "Unidentified Flying Objects", but...they are eventually identified. XD So I thought "Incredible Flying Objects" would fit better.

And I put in Discord's quote as a joke...The flower didn't run into a Pegasus...but an Alicorn! HAAAA, I'm just so DARN clever! Pfffft.

Thanks for reading, and as you know, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!

Of Letters, Flutterburritos, and Magnets

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Five: Of Letters, Flutterburritos, and Magnets

The Night Before Chapter Four

“You’re…You’re not leaving, are you?”

Fluttershy was in a panic. Her chaos was acting on her anxiety, causing the light bulb in the kitchen to spark on and off in an erratic manner. Oddly enough, the lights in the living room weren’t affected. Then again, odd was normal for a Draconequus, so Discord wasn’t overly concerned with it.

“I wish I wasn’t, trust me,” Discord said, making a disgusted face at the thought of returning to that boring, prissy castle back in Canterlot, forced to stay in a room that influenced nothing but his own dark, dreary thoughts. “But unfortunately, trust is the very thing that keeps me from staying. If Celestia and Luna found me gone, they would search for me at once, and who knows what horribly boring punishment they would inflict on me? As if my guilt wasn’t punishment enough!”

“B-But…”

“And let’s not forget that you don’t want anyone to know of your new form. I’ll admit, at first I really didn’t understand the reasoning, but upon reflection of the day’s events…” A pair of glasses and a smoking pipe appeared on him. He blew on the pipe and soda bubbles fizzed out from the opening. “…I have changed my mind! You are stressed enough already, and your powers are strong, but not even close to being harnessed yet. Not that you can really harness chaos, but you get my point. And if the Princesses found out, then they’d probably force you to come straight into Canterlot so they could ‘look after you’”, he said, making quotation marks with paw and claw in a mocking tone. “You wouldn’t be able to come back into Ponyville or your cottage until you changed back, and who knows when that would be?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and a gasp escaped her throat at the thought. “I wouldn’t get to see the animals!”

Discord shook his head. “Nope.”

She shrank down. “But then again…” she murmured, taking steady steps with her two legs and looking outside the window, the moon in sight as it shined down on her face. “The animals don’t even want…to see me…” She sniffed, and her eyes were already getting shiny with tears.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” Discord took the pipe out of his mouth and tipped it over his open maw, soda pouring out of it as he took a few hearty gulps before snapping it away. “They’ll be back eventually. They’ve grown so dependent on you that I highly doubt they even know their noses from their backsides! And besides, what of your…precious….” He almost lost his dinner saying the word. “…little Angel? He’s still here, right?”

Both he and Fluttershy turned their heads to glance at the bunny, who was passed out on the green couch, his stomach large from dinner and all the plants he’d munched on outside.

This put a small smile on Fluttershy’s face, which relieved Discord’s concerns a bit. “That’s true,” she murmured, going back to the couch and softly, gently rubbing the bunny between the ears. “He’s such a good, sweet little boy. I don’t know what I’d do without him…” She bent over and kissed the sleeping rabbit on the forehead.

Unable to help himself, Discord snorted. Lucky little rat. “Yes, yes, yes, he’s absolute perfection on a stick, hoorah,” he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster, rolling his eyes. “I’ll just let myself out.”

He turned to the door to twist the knob, only for it to turn into a tiny-sized balloon and float up to the ceiling. It was Fluttershy's powers acting out—and she was freaking out again.

“N-No! Please! You can’t go! Don’t leave me!”

He sighed as he watched the apple-sized balloon bump against the ceiling before he turned back to her. “Fluttershy, dear,” he said, looking at her with pleading eyes. “I really do apologize, but I can’t. Do you have any idea what your little Princesses will try to do if I don’t come back without some sort of explanation? They might make me paint the walls white! And not even a bright white, but off-white, which is even more dull than the former! They might ask me to polish their thrones, or make me attend some boring delegate meeting!” His eyes swirled with the possibilities of punishment.

“And while normally I would just scoff at them and turn down any assignment those two give me, I’m afraid I just can’t right now! With my recent history, I’ll have to make myself go through every torturous thing Sunny and Moony want me to do! If I don’t, then Equestria will just continue to make my life as miserable as possible until they decide to turn me back to stone.”

“No!” Fluttershy argued, shaking her head. She approached him and put her hands on his shoulders. “That…That wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.”

As touching as those words were meant to be, Discord only gave her a deadpan look. “Fluttershy, I apologize, truly, but I just don’t think you have the influence. Especially after what I did.”

Her ears folded back as she considered his words. He was right. If Discord disobeyed orders, then Equestria’s already-high level of mistrust in him would grow to the point of no return. And as much as she cared for him, as much fame as she had as the Element of Kindness—she wouldn’t be able to save him, if it came to the worst.

She whimpered. “But…I’m so scared.”

“Scared?” Discord repeated. “Of what?”

“M-My magic…” Her eyes glanced at the balloon knob above them. “W-What if something happens overnight? What if my chaos goes off, and I-I do something horrible because of it? I’ll only get more panicked, which will set off more chaos, and then Angel and I could get hurt! Or, or what if it spread to Ponyville? A-And hurt ponies in town?!? Wh-What if--?!?”

Before she could continue, Discord wisely put a lion paw over her mouth, muffling her words and getting her to stop talking, before she set off her magic again. As an afterthought, he turned the balloon back into a doorknob.

“…You have a point, Fluttershy. I myself remember having that problem as a kid. Hmm…” He scratched his beard in thought, pursing his lips in a funny way as he squinted at her. “I suppose there is a basis to your worry. And if it did reach Ponyville, well, then keeping it a secret would have all been for nothing.”

She nodded her head, only able to mutter, “mmm-hmm!”

After thinking for a moment, an idea popped into his head, and he slapped himself in the face. “Of course! It’s so simple, why didn’t I think of it? Sometimes, I swear there are spider webs in my head.” He stuck his claw through his ear, then brought it back out with ripped cobwebs and tiny black spiders crawling over him. Fluttershy gathered them in her hands and set them outside.

“What is it?” she asked as she watched the arachnids crawl from the doorway into the grass, happy to see that at least spiders didn’t seem to mind her.

“You could write to the Princess!” Discord said, pointing at her as she shut the door. “They know I was supposed to visit you today anyway. So you could tell them that we’ve made up, we’re bestest buddies again, and that you want to spend more time with me as a way of making sure I don’t go off the mend again.”

She froze, and swore she could feel her heart stop and her blood turn cold. “You…You want me to…lie to them? The Princesses?” Her voice had gone so high that she sounded as if she had chowed down on a tube of Helium.

Discord blew a raspberry, waving his paw as if her concerns were nothing. “Oh please! This is barely even a lie! It’s just leaving information out. And besides, it’s not like it isn’t true. The whole reason you made the wish was to understand me, right? And the only way to do that is to spend time with yours truly!” He gestured his hand towards his chest with a smirk. “You couldn’t have made a better wish to go with this! The letter will practically write itself!”

She sighed. She should have known he wouldn’t understand. He either had no idea that withholding information was still lying…or knew perfectly well that it was, and just didn’t care.

Applejack would be able to explain this better…

That simple thought was enough to nearly make her flinch. Her friends…When would she see her friends again?

“Fluttershy…?”

Would she get to see them soon? But what if the spell didn’t reverse soon enough? What if it took days, weeks, years? What if it never happened at all? Would she never get to see them again? Would she have to run away to avoid them at all costs? Would she have to—

“Fluttershy, what are you thinking in that noggin of yours?”

No. No…She couldn’t allow that. She would miss them. She would miss her friends, her animals, and her old way of life too much. She was being too difficult, and she knew it. The only friend she could rely on at that point was Discord, who was currently trying to help her. She was being selfish, asking him not to only help her change back, but also asking to stay with her until she was safe enough to manage on her own—and who knew how long that would take? No…She couldn’t be picky now. As scary as the thought lying to royalty was—to the Princesses that relied on her and her friends so much—she knew she had to make one decision or the other, and revealing her secret was just too high a price to pay right now.

Fluttershy swallowed, but stood straight up. “H-Help me write it?”

She wrote it the pony way—with a quill in her mouth, to keep her handwriting recognizable. It was polite and short, giving as much information as it could without mentioning anything about her new makeover. She addressed it to both of them, and when Discord asked why, she told him she always did it that way.

“I know it goes directly to Celestia, but…I don’t want Princess Luna to feel left out…”

Discord only rolled his eyes, but the hint of a smile could be seen, crinkling his eyes ever so slightly. “Of course, I forgot who I was talking to,” he teased.

Fluttershy, used to his friendly jabs now, only smiled back as she reread the letter.

Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,

Hello. I hope you two are doing well, and Philomena too. It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you. I know you’re busy a lot, and I don’t mind that and I understand, but it’s always so nice seeing you.

I wanted to thank you for letting Discord come visit me today. I was so worried about him after all that happened, but luckily we had a wonderful time together. I wanted to ask your permission for Discord to stay with me for a while at the cottage, please, if it’s okay. I hope you don’t mind. I know I’m being selfish, but I really want to have him with me so we can strengthen our friendship. If you can’t, I understand, but it would just mean so much to me if he could stay. I don’t know for how long he’d be with me, but I don’t mind that. He can stay as long as he wants, and I enjoy his company. I hope that’s okay, Your Highnesses.

Thank you for reading this. If you could please let me know if Discord can stay, I would be so grateful. Only when it’s convenient to write back, though, of course. Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Fluttershy

With the snap of his fingers, Discord sent the letter to Celestia herself. It was only a few minutes of waiting, but Fluttershy paced back and forth the entire time, nervously biting the nails of her rabbit paw as she walked back and forth, back and forth…

He couldn’t do anything to calm her down, and sighed in relief when a reply letter magically appeared in the room. Fluttershy grabbed it so fast that he swore she had hopped like a kangaroo just to get it first.

Dear Fluttershy,

Hello! Thank you so much for you letter. Luna and I are doing very well, thank you for asking. Philomena is doing well, too, though I’m sure she misses you. After all, you are one of the best animal caretakers I know of!

I’m delighted to hear that Discord’s visit went well. I’ll admit, I was worried about how it would go. I could see that Discord’s apology had been sincere, but I knew that there would be complications. It’s a relief to hear that he’s still able to have a good time with the pony nearest and dearest to him.

Which brings me to my next point. I have never known a pony that Discord cared about more than you. He respects you and listens to you. He may have forgotten that for a moment, but he was worried about you the most after what had happened. His mood was low and quiet, and I know I don’t have to tell you how out of character that is for him. And he is very unhappy here in the castle. My sister and I have tried our best to make him comfortable, but we can only give him so much freedom, especially after the incident. He will be much happier with you, and I know that you can handle him. As I’ve said before, he actually listens to you and enjoys your company. I completely trust that the two of you will be just fine together. He is free to stay with you.

I would like to ask a favor from you. If you could send me daily reports on his progress, I would appreciate it very much. Not only that, but I would love to hear more from you and how you’re doing. I know it may be quite a transition for you, but I was hoping that we could address each other as friends. What do you think?

Thank you,
Celestia

“She’s okay with it!” Fluttershy gasped. “She’s really, really okay with it! Oh my goodness, and she wants us to be friends! Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness…”

She felt a mix of joy, relief, and guilt. She had lied, in writing, to a Princess! No, both Princesses!

But he can stay!

She felt the letter slip from her grip as Discord grabbed it from her, scanning the pages himself.

“A report?!?” Discord said, obviously offended by Celestia’s request. “Sheesh! I know you ponies question my level of maturity, but I don’t need a foalsitter to tell Sunny and Moony how I behave! Ugh.”

Fluttershy gave him a tentative smile. “But at least you get to stay with me for a while…That’s good, isn’t it? You…You like staying here, don’t you?”

His expression of disgust changed into a look of incredulity, before his eyes softened ever so slightly.

He placed the letter back in her hands, crossing his arms. “You read what Celestia wrote, didn’t you? Isn’t that enough of an answer for you?”

“Huh…?” She glanced back at the Princess’ beautiful script before remembering what she wrote about Discord. “O-Oh, yes, of course! Um…” Her ears folded back and she bit her lip. “If you don’t mind me asking…Is it true?”

Discord turned and went to the now Angel-less couch, snapping up a blanket with the words'HOME SWEET HOME' with his face stitched on it. Angel had gone up to bed, so it was all his now. “Is what true?” he asked her.

“That you…worried about me?”

That you worried about me the most? That was the question she really wanted to ask…but there was no way she could have said such a thing. No, that would have been far too arrogant for a low Pegasus-Draconequus like her to say, surely. At least, that’s how she saw it.

Or maybe she was just afraid of the answer.

Now with his rump against the cushions, the blanket over his shoulders and covering his front like a shawl, he titled his head back and groaned, “Fluttershy, please. I’ve already said so many things today that are far out of character for me, and from what I’ve told you, isn’t it obvious what the answer to that question is? What do you think?”

Her first reaction was to apologize—oh, of course he would be so frustrated from answering so many questions for her in one day! It had been a long day for both of them, and surely he was tired. How selfish could she be? Had she always been like this?

But before she could voice these thoughts, she found herself smiling at him tenderly, making her friend raise a bushy brow in confusion as she made her way over to him.

“Discord, I think...maybe you weren’t as out of character as you think you were.”

Blushing and leaning over the couch, she hugged him and quickly kissed him on the forehead before she lost her confidence. She nuzzled his cheek for a moment before finally letting go.

Once she did, he just stared at her, blinking a few times. Fluttershy bowed her head, suddenly nervous from her actions and the quietness that seemed to overwhelm the room. Her hair fell over and covered half of her face, hiding her from him.

“I’m going to go write one more letter to Celestia…Do you think you could please send it for me before going to bed?”

Discord visibly relaxed, taking a deep breath. “Yes, of course, of course! And then you had better head off to bed yourself! You’ve got a lot to learn, and you need that brain of yours up and ready to go by morning.” He stretched his arm out and knocked against her forehead. “So make it quick and then skedaddle off to sleepyland.”

This time, Fluttershy really did giggle, covering her mouth with her frog hand. “Okay…Are you sure you don’t want to stay in the guestroom?”

Discord gasped dramatically. “And leave my precious love behind?!?” he said, grabbing a cushion and holding it against his heart. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your couch, far too long! I think she missed me, I know I certainly missed her.” He stroked the cushion as if it were someone in need of comfort, and cooed at it. “Hush, darling. It’s fine now, we’re together again. I won’t leave you for the guest bed, I promise!” he said to it, burying his face against it. “No bed can ever pull us apart!”

Fluttershy giggled yet again and shook her head. “Oh Discord…”

She wrote a quick response to Celestia, agreeing to send in a report, before wishing Discord goodnight and making her way upstairs. As she opened the door, she smiled to see that Angel had moved and was now sleeping at the foot of the bed, as always, then gasped at seeing the window still open, curtains tucked at the sides. She quickly closed it and drew the curtains in, making sure no one could see her world from the outside.

And to think, I had been a pony the last time I went to bed…

It had been a long time since he had been kissed anywhere.

And by kissed, he meant an actual lip kiss. Not a lick from a cat, like when he had taken Fluttershy and the Crusaders out on a time-travel adventure. Though, did it really matter? Because ironically, Baast had been the last one to press her lips against him.

The only one, actually.

So while he had grown used to Fluttershy’s hugs, the kiss to the forehead was rather new. He was still thinking about it when he was trying to sleep, lying across the couch with his blanket over his stomach.

He’d never been kissed on the forehead before. As far as he knew, a kiss on the lips was usually reserved for romantic affection. A kiss on the cheek could be platonic, but it could be romantic too. What about the forehead? Wasn’t that a thing mothers did to their children? Kiss their kids, tuck them in bed, read them a story, and tell them goodnight? That sort of thing?

Was Fluttershy his mother now?

He scoffed at himself for that thought. As if I’d know what it was like to have a mother, or a family of any kind.

His lion claw slithered out from the blanket and settled against his forehead, touching the place where Fluttershy’s lips had brushed him. He swore he could still feel it. He didn’t understand why it bothered him so much.

She was always so unsure of herself. He had said explicitly that she was his best friend, that he didn’t want to lose her, that she was the kindest pony he had ever met. He had apologized, and had told her how guilty he was over what he did. He even groaned at the thought of going back to Canterlot, right in front of her!

So why did she still feel the need to ask if he worried about her, if he minded staying in the cottage with her? Why could she not see these things?

“Is it because of me, or because of her…?” he muttered, stroking his chin as he stared intently at the blanket. “She’s got such low confidence in herself….It’s not that strange that she would constantly need reassurance…But it’s possible she might not trust me. But if she didn’t trust me, then why let me stay here…? And if she didn’t trust me, then she wouldn’t have been so comfortable with me earlier…Wouldn’t have kissed me. But kissing my forehead was bold for her, so perhaps she’s not as hard on herself as I may think? Or perhaps…Ugh!”

He picked up the pillow and groaned, the fabric muffling out his anguish.

He wished he understood her better.

The thought made him smile ironically at himself.

I’d better be careful, or I may just wake up as a pony.

“Um, Discord…Help…?”

“Heh?” He raised his head, looking over by the stairs, and nearly laughed at what he saw.

Fluttershy stood there, though it was hard to tell due to all the blankets around her. One eye poked out of a sheet that somehow got pierced by her moose antler. A quilt covered her back, ruffled around where her small wings lay. One blanket wrapped around her as if it were a scarf, and all of these things reached the ground, making it hard for her to walk.

He must have been in such deep thought that he didn’t even notice her struggling down the stairs! How odd, he thought. Normally he was so good at keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Snapping a finger, all the blankets and sheets flashed away, only to reappear beside her, folded and stacked.

He raised a brow. “Having problems in bed, Fluttershy?”

He smirked at her blushing face.

“Uh, um…” She shuffled and kept her eyes on the floor. “S-Something’s wrong.”

“Wrong?” He sat himself up, pushing the blanket off himself. “What do you mean, ‘wrong’? Are the blankets tired of being your servants and planning a rebellion? If so, I recommend a pillow army.”

She shook her head. “No no no, nothing…nothing like that. I can’t…Oh, I just can’t get comfortable,” she groaned. “I don’t feel right. I feel like…like I’m tingling all over, or like there’s ants all over me, but on the…on the inside…Oh, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true! I can’t stand still, and it aches and it hurts and I’m so tired…Oh!” Her eyes widened as she realized that she had barged downstairs as he was trying to sleep. “I’m so sorry, did I wake you?!?”

He stood up, and waved his paw and claw at her. “No, no…I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, don’t worry about that. My my, you just get worked up over every little thing, don’t you?”

She blushed further and returned her gaze to the floor. “Yes…”

“Well, luckily, I know exactly what you’re talking about!”

She jumped a bit and looked at him. “You do?”

He gave her a smile. “I do! Though, the situation’s a lot more different from yours. I had the same thing happen to me when I was going through, well…Let’s just call it the ‘awkward years’,” he said, making quotes with his fingers. “I shot up like a rocket—sometimes quite literally—and the growing pains really took a toll on me. I imagine that’s similar to what’s happening to you, only it’s because you changed form, so now your body’s trying to make sense of it. But no matter! I can fix it!”

Grabbing the biggest sheet from the floor, he laid it flat in front of her. “All you need is a little bit of stimulation!”

“Stimulation…?”

“Yes, you know…” He got on his knees, smoothing the sheet out. “Pressure, the feeling of something against you. Now, be a good Draconequus and lay down right here.” He pointed to one end of the blanket, near to where he sat.

“What? Why?”

“Just do it, why don’t you? Trust me, this will most definitely work!”

She seemed hesitant, but eventually she did as he wished and laid down where he told her to, on her back.

“Now either cross your arms or lay them to the side.”

She crossed them, as if hugging herself.

“Good! Now, don’t scream.”

“Wha—ahh!”

Before she knew it, Discord had tucked his paw and claw under the blanket where she was, slightly lifting her before effectively rolling her across the blanket. Using his magic, she rolled across faster than normal, the blanket rolling tightly around her until she ended looking like a long, skinny burrito.

Fluttershy instinctively started to struggle, only to stop when Discord put a lizard foot gently on her.

“Struggling will get you nowhere!” he said dramatically, grinning as if he had just caught a criminal and trapped her. “I’ve used magic to keep you nice and snug. You won’t easily be getting out of there!”

“Discord!” she said, still trying to wiggle out of her blanket pod. “What is this for?!?”

He crossed his arms. “Well, if you stopped struggling, maybe you’d figure it out, my dear! I did this myself when I started growing. It helped relieve my nerves! I’ve no doubt that they’ll do the same for you, so just hold your horses for a moment, hmm?”

Despite the bad pun, she did as she was told and stopped struggling. The blankets were wrapped around her tightly, but not too much so. It almost felt as if she were getting a firm hug from somepony, but not so tight as to make it hard to breathe. It pressed against her so that she couldn’t easily move, but that’s what made it better. Her nerves were soothed by the constant pressure of the blanket. It was warm…comfortable.

Discord could tell just by watching her face that she felt a lot better. “~I told you so~!” he sing-songed. “Honestly, why does anyone ever doubt me?”

He bent down and picked up his Flutterburrito, putting her over his shoulder and making her screech.

“Discord! What are you doing?”

“Oh, don’t be so surprised. You can’t move. I’m going to take you back to your bed!’

“But how will I be able to get out? What if I wake up thirsty or need to use the bathroom? What about in the morning?”

He stopped. “You have a lot of good points tonight, Fluttershy. Kudos to you.”

He snapped his fingers, and Fluttershy looked around as much as she could with her limitations. “What did you do…?”

“I just cast a spell. If you need to get out, just say magic words and you’ll be free! And when you need to be wrapped up again, say it again!”

“What are the magic words?”

Discord kicked off from the ground, getting a squeak out of his passenger, floating upwards until he landed on the second floor just outside her bedroom.

“The only thing you need to say for the spell is ‘magic words’.”

If she were Twilight, she imagined she’d groan in frustration. Luckily, Fluttershy was always too kind for such things. “Which are…?”

He smirked, knowing he confused her. “Magic words. Just say the phrase ‘magic words’, and you’ll be free.”

“O-Oh! You mean I have to actually say—“

A talon landed on her lips. “Don’t say it! That will undo the spell, and then you’ll risk falling from my shoulder. And that would be just tragic.”

She gasped and kept her mouth shut tight, only for a yawn to stop her from doing so.

Even as a completely different creature, there was something about his best friend that just made everything she did completely adorable. He smiled at her yawning, and used his free arm to open the door to her room.

He’d never been in there directly before the morning he found her draconified. He had seen in through the windows when flying around and whatnot, but that had been all. He wasn’t completely without manners, and had only invaded her privacy in every other inch of the house besides those of her bedroom. But this time, he would see to it that she was in bed, tucked in and ready to sleep.

Walking in, he took his bundle in both arms and laid her gently down in bed, which looked just as fluffy and comfortable as he imagined it—perhaps even more comfortable than his beloved couch downstairs.

She smacked her lips a few times, yawning again, and smiled as she was laid down. She didn’t even notice the situation, too tired to be uneasy by having a male in her room. All she thought was how nice and snug the blanket burrito was, calming her senses, and how sweet it was to have her friend tucking her in bed.

But to Discord, it was the perfect opportunity for revenge.

He was pleased to see her sleepy eyes awaken in surprise as he ducked down and placed a kiss directly where she had kissed him before, smack dab in the middle of her forehead.

It only lasted a second, but that was still long enough to make Fluttershy’s face burn. Discord couldn’t have been happier with the results. With a triumphant grin, he straightened back up.

“~Goodnight, my little Draconequus! Sleep tight! Literally!”’

She blinked, wishing she could still bend her neck down to hide in her hair, only to giggle at his joke, at ease again once more. Of course…We’re friends. There’s nothing wrong with what he did. It was sweet, actually…

She gave him one more sweet smile before wishing him goodnight. “See you in the morning.”

Despite himself, he returned the smile. “Of course, Fluttershy. Of course.”

He closed the door and slept soundly that night. They both did.

The spell worked just as Discord said it would. She squeaked out “magic words” each time she needed out and again when going back to bed, and was pleased with how well she slept, thanks to Discord.

Of course, waking up, she was nearly startled again as she looked at the bathroom mirror, seeing her Draconequus self yet again. It was odd, how quickly a night’s rest could make one forget what had happened the day before. But yesterday’s events played through her head like a video on fast-forward, and she couldn’t help but feel relieved when she saw Discord downstairs, making tea for the two of them.

“~Good morning, Flutterbuddy!~” he sing-songed to her, steeping a bag of breakfast tea in a mug, another cup of hot water ready for Fluttershy with a bag already there for her. “Did you sleep well as I predicted?”

“Good morning, Discord,” she greeted back with a wide smile, walking to the counter and joining him in tea preparation. “I slept very well, and the spell was a really good idea…”

She leaned over and nuzzled the side of his head. “Thank you so much.”

“No problema, mi amiga,” Discord said, taking a drink and conjuring up a plate of waffles for the two of them. Hers was the shape of a butterfly and his the shape of his snaggletooth. “So…Ready to hear about today’s lesson, my protégée?”

She blushed at the title. “I-I’m not sure prodigy…”

“Not prodigy—protégée. The second one is fancier and therefore sounds more important.”

She laughed. “Either way, I’ve only had one lesson…and it wasn’t even on magic!”

“And yet…” he added more sugar to his tea and stirred it. “Look at you! You didn’t wake up and turn the roof into a waterslide filled with jelly or turn the floor into sinking sugar sand.” He paused. “Those are really good ideas, though.” He wrote them down mentally in his head while Fluttershy raised a brow at him.

“You’re not going to…?”

“No, no. Not here, anyway.”

She shook her head at him. “Just make sure—“

“No one will get hurt, I swear!” he objected, before sitting at the table and taking a bite of waffle. “Anywho, who is the teacher here? As I was saying, you haven’t had a magical panic attack. You’ve been in control all morning! That’s pretty good for your second day. And you’re walking like a pro now. You’re going to be the best prodigy I’ve ever had!”

“I thought you said—“

“Oh, potato, po-tah-toe. Prodigy, protégée. Sit down, dear.”

Always full of contradictions, Discord was. She wondered if that was going to be a lesson too as she sat next to him at the table. “Thank you for breakfast and the tea, Discord. I almost forgot to thank you! I’m sorry.” She blushed with an apologetic smile.

“Yes, well, that’s going to be the routine around here!” Discord said. “I’ll make the meals and whatnot, and you’re going to do nothing but focus on your lessons and magic and spreading havoc wherever you go! Syrup?”

“Oh, no. You don’t need to do that, Discord! You’re my guest!” Fluttershy argued, not wanting to overburden him. “You’re already teaching me, and helping me understand you and your magic, and, and, and…”

“—And it’s going to make your life more exciting than ever before!” he interrupted. “Which means you won’t have as much time for such everyday things like making meals, so I’ll do the easy thing and just conjure them up for us! It’s really not much of an effort, Fluttershy. Eventually you’ll know how to do it anyway, so really, it’s not a problem.”

“That’s still so much to ask, though…” she said with a frown. “I just feel that I’m asking so much from you.”

“Stop worrying,” Discord groaned. “Fluttershy, please. Just let me decide how things will go for a while, hmm? Cordy’s going to take care of you. It’s an honor for the both of us! Now, syrup?”

Deciding that it was useless to argue, she nodded, and a bottle of syrup floated over to her, pouring a generous amount before Fluttershy thanked it and assured it that she had enough on her plate. It stopped, sprouted an arm and gave a salute, and then continued to pour a river of syrup on Discord’s plate, the waffle quite literally swimming in it by the time the bottle ran out.

“Thank you…”

He groaned inwardly. Now he felt bad, as if he had barked at her instead of giving her reasonable advice. “You’re welcome,” he said, stretching his tail out and patting her head, making sure not to touch her delicate butterfly antenna as he did so. “Now, as I was saying…Today’s lesson.”

Fluttershy took a sip of tea.

“I think now that you’re walking so efficiently already, that it’s about high time you learned how to fly! Ha! Get it?!? High time?!?”

He laughed while Fluttershy spit the tea out in shock. “F-F-F…!”

Her emotional reaction triggered the spit-out tea to explode against the floor as it landed, making her jump out of her seat and hit the ceiling. “Ah, ow!”

“Fluttershy!” He snapped her chair to turn into a soft beanbag to land on. “Are you all right?”

A massive bump on her head showed at the top of her head, and Discord was quick to bandage it with the snap of his fingers, the boo-boo covered in a large band-aid decorated in yellow and white ducklings.

“Oh no…” Fluttershy groaned. “I did it again…” Her lip quivered but tears were not shed, and sniffled as she got up. Her stress made her nearly fall back to the ground, but Discord was quick to grab her arm and help her back on her feet as he returned the chair back to normal.

“See? I can’t even drink tea without getting myself hurt. And Discord, I could barely fly as a Pegasus. Why should I fly as a Draconequus? This just…it isn’t…”

He covered her lip with a talon again. “There you go again, getting all excited over nothing. It’s just a bump on the head, Fluttershy. If I had a bit for every time I’ve done that, I’d be richer than Sapphire Shores! So there’s no need to get worked up. Besides…”

He smiled excitedly at her. “I think you’re going to like flying as a Draconequus.”

She wasn’t so convinced, but asked him anyway, her curiosity getting the best of her. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as you meet me outside! I’ll make sure it’s clear so you don’t get embarrassed and keep our little secret safe. Oohoo, secrets amongst friends is a real treat, isn’t it? It’s kind of exciting.”

She gulped. The thing was that Discord didn’t know just how big of an issue flying was for her. He knew that she was a weak flyer, but he didn’t know enough of her past. He didn’t know how much pain her wings had brought to her life—and made it her biggest weakness in more than just a physical way.

But he had already thrown the rest of his waffle down his gullet and was making his way out the door.

“Come on out when you’re ready, Flutterbuddy! Oh, this is going to be fun.”

She wasn’t so sure about that.

The animals were still avoiding the house, and Discord could see the disappointment in her eyes as she finally stepped outside. She looked around the yard, and it was painfully obvious that she had hoped her forest friends would return soon. He could see her eyes dim as she found her grass barren and without animal prints.

Her frown was heartbreaking, so he put on a smile. “Well, it’s about time you came out! I know flying isn’t your favorite, dear, but I was waiting forever.”

Her focus on the yard broke as she turned her elegantly long neck to look back at him. “Oh...I’m sorry. I was just…thinking.”

He stroked his chin with an all-knowing smirk on his face. “And let me guess—it was about how afraid you are about learning to fly?”

Her small wings flapped out in surprise, but she nodded.

“Yes, well, I thought as much. But Fluttershy, I’m telling you, you’re really in for a surprise. You’ve already got walking down, for the most part. That means flying for you will be…”

He snapped a finger, and a gust of wind, sparkling in different colors, flowed through Fluttershy’s pink tresses, making her gasp but eventually sigh as it fingered her hair, helping her relax.

“…a breeze!” he finished.

The soft wind ended, making Fluttershy frown again as she opened her eyes back up. “Discord, flying has…has never been ‘a breeze’ for me.”

“As a Pegasus, maybe…Though, you know, you seem to keep forgetting that you did learn to fly. Just because you prefer the ground doesn’t make you any less of a Pegasus than anyone else.”

She was surprised to hear this from him. “You don’t—“

She was about to say 'you don’t understand', but she stopped. What he had said was amazingly considerate. It was something many Pegasi still had trouble understanding, hence…

My childhood…My father…

“I don’t what?”

Her attention snapped back to him. “Oh, um, I’m sorry. Never mind on that.”

He gave her a blank look. “Mmm-hmm,” he grunted. “So. Flying. You’re going to do that today.”

“…And you…You really think I can do that?”

“Fluttershy, even I wouldn’t waste my time teaching something I thought you couldn’t do. I’m not that bored or illogical. You’re going to have to start believing me when I say that you can do things. You may not believe in yourself, but you can believe in me believing in yourself.”

As sweet as it was, she didn’t catch his last sentence. “Huh?”

He ignored her. “Now, my dear, if you could please just sit down and make yourself comfortable. I need to draw a picture of you.”

“W-What?!?” Her face turned to a blush instantly. “Draw me? But why?”

He snapped his fingers and a striped turtleneck, a beret, and a fake mustache appeared on his upper lip, long and thin and curly. An easel appeared in front of him, with a finely sharped pencil in hand. “Because, mon chérie, eet eez critical zat we go over zee basics of your magic first and foremost.”

His fake Prench accent did not deter her. “But what does that have to do with—“

“You will zee! Now, just seet zere like a good leetle mare and let me draw…ze magicks!”

He said it with such flair that she had to laugh a few times. “Okay. How do you want me to stand?”

“Just stand like zat, eez perfect!"

So she stood there very woodenly. It was awkward, and she wasn’t used to somepony looking at her so much, but she did her best to put it in the back of her mind so Discord could do his thing. If he says it’s needed…I’ll trust him.

I will trust him.

It felt good to think that, without doubting her own mind.

“Yes, yes, I can zee eet now…!” he said ecstatically, his eyes somewhere different every time he looked up to see her. His claw rapidly started to draw, moving so quickly it was as if it were a film of him put into fast forward.

Fluttershy imagined his magic had something to do with it.

“And voila! We are done! Eez amazing! You are such a bee-yoo-tee-ful subject to draw, hauh hauh hauh! Now!”

He snapped his fingers and all his Prench apparel disappeared, and he turned the easel around. “Now, let’s have a look-see, hmm?”

She gasped at how good it was. He had managed to get down every last detail of how she looked. Her eyes, the light and soft aspect of her hair and the way it covered part of her face, the shine in her frog hand and the softness of her body...

But the curious thing was that it wasn’t just a picture of herself. She peered at it closer.

“Um, what are these lines and dots you’ve drawn on me, Discord? They’re…supposed to be there, I guess?”

“Yes, they’re the very reason I drew you! Sit down—“ He conjured up a chair for her. “—and I’ll explain.”

She laughed. “Yes, Professor Discord.”

“Heh,” he grinned as she sat down. “I’m glad you remembered! Gold star for you! Keep this up and you’ll be at top of the class!” A gold sticker once again appeared on her forehead.

“But I’m the only—“

“Okay! So!” He clapped his paw and claw together. “What you see here, Fluttershy, is the pathways of your magic. The dots are your magical…’pores’, we’ll call them. The lines are how they get to the pores. Got it?”

“So it’s like blood vessels?”

“Sort of. It’s more like…a train track, really. You see, with chaos magic, it doesn’t like to be contained much. You and I are already producing the magic within ourselves, and it, of course, wants out. It’s constantly moving inside of us, never really sitting still. You can’t really feel it if you don’t want to, but it can have its side effects if you’re not used to it. It’s probably one of the reasons you struggled sleeping last night.”

“Oh, really?” She leaned forward. She had never been really interested in how magic worked, for the most part. The most she knew was whenever Twilight talked about it, but she never really understood any of it. That, and it never applied to her before.

But now…all of it mattered.

And it will help me get closer to Discord. It will help me understand him. I don’t know if flying will really help, but…I have to learn. For him. For us. For our friendship. Maybe even…a little for me. Is that selfish…?

Discord continued. “Yes. Not only is your body completely different, but it’s soaked in magic. Even a Unicorn or an Alicorn would have faced problems, but you were a Pegasus! You didn’t use your magic directly at all, so your body was quite unused to it.”

“You mean, if Twilight was like me right now…?”

He snickered. “Twilight the Draconequus? Oh, if only the day would come! She would go about it the entirely wrong way, I’m sure. Diving into her books, digging for an answer! Ha! As if she can learn how to use my kind of magic that way. She thinks she knows how to do it all, but she can’t. Now I’m hoping she really does turn into a Draconequus! It would be the kind of wake-up call that little mare really needs to—“

“Discord!” Her eyes hardened as she frowned at him. “That’s no way to speak about your friend. Especially the one that saved you!”

He winced. “Ah….Well…Right. Of course. I take it back.” He cleared his throat, his face slightly red from embarrassment. “This time, at least. Can we get back to magic talk now?” he whined.

Fluttershy smiled, nodding for him to go on.

“Phew,” he wiped his brow dramatically, clearing the sweat off. “Good. Apologies really take too much out of me. “

“Then you’ll have to make sure to be more careful,” she hinted sweetly.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

With you, I’ll be more careful. And mayyyyybe Twilight. We’ll see just how much she meant her offer of friendship the second time around, he thought.

“Anywho, you’re right. Even Twilight would be having trouble right now, not just you. My magic is different from hers, and all the other Princesses. Though, I’m assuming you knew that already? I mean, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” he asked, bending his neck to the side and tilting his head. “I’m not even a pony, anyway.”

“I know. I just…wanted to make sure,” she said, her blush lessening but still bright on the apples of her cheeks.

“Ah, okay. Well, Fluttershy, any shortcomings you have, won’t be anything I didn’t go through myself.”

“…Really?”

“Of course! Even immortals have to grow up and gradually learn their magic.”

This sparked her interest, which Discord could see by the widening of her eyes. And…were those stars he saw in there? Stars in her eyes? Could ponies do that naturally? Or was it because she was a Draconequus?

“Are you going to tell me about how you grew up?!?” she quipped, leaning forward even more with her hands clasped together, with the biggest, most expectant smile on her face.

Oh NO. He grimaced. No no no, not today, not today.

“No!”

The outburst made her jump and squeal, making her seat turn into a whoopee cushion. But Discord had freaked out so much from the question that he couldn’t laugh as the familiar sound emitted from under Fluttershy’s behind, and she just stared at him, wide-eyed. “I-I’m sorry. I just…”

She deflated a little. “I just want to know so much…”

He gulped. “Listen, Fluttershy…You’re not going to cry now, are you?”

Blinking at his question, she managed to smile a tiny bit, and gained the courage to meet his gaze again. “I don’t cry all the time, you know…”

He gave quite the audible sigh, and not for the first time that day. “I know, but you do cry an awful lot. And I already told you how fond I am of that.”

He dipped his head a little and Fluttershy found this to be the perfect moment to copy him. She put a paw on his chin and tipped it to look at him. The action made him horribly confused. What was she doing? He wasn’t used to being on the other side of the coin. Most ponies couldn’t even reach that part of him!

“I just want to know more about you, you know that,” she soothed. “I hope you tell me those things, someday.”

He twiddled his fingers. “I’ve never told anyone those things. Not in detail, anyway. Not anyone who didn’t know already, like Tia and Lulu.”

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“I’m not ready yet.”

Another surprise of the day, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Since when was Discord a creature that needed to be ready for things?

He lifted his chin away from her hold. “All in time, Fluttershy.” He pat her head. “All in time. Can we please just talk about magic right now? No past stories, no sob stories, no anything?”

Sob stories…He had said ‘sob stories’. Was he talking about himself? Did he just reveal something without even knowing it? How sad was that story…?

She looked at him curiously for a few seconds, before hesitantly nodding her head.

Instantly relaxing again, Discord let out a breath and then tapped the picture again. “Now, look closer here. See how the dots—the ‘pores’—are scattered around, but unevenly?”

Perking her ears, she followed his instructions and looked at the diagram. It was true. In some areas, like her stomach, there were less pores, with more space between them. In other areas, such as her hands and fingers, there were much heavier concentrations of them.

“They are,” Fluttershy confirmed. “What does that mean?”

“It means that more magic flows out of those areas—and therefore can be used to guide it. As you can see here, you find the most in your hands and paws, the tip of your tail, and the left side of your chest.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Where your heart is.”

“Oh, bleh!” Discord groaned, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “See, that’s why I phrased it that way! So I wouldn’t have to say it. I knew you’d bring it up!”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “What’s wrong with--!”

He waved his hands in protest. “It’s just cheesy, okay? It’s something a pony would notice, not me. I hardly ever use that area to summon my powers. I prefer snapping my fingers.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy gasped. “I…I see! That’s why you snap them. Because the, um, pores…?”

“Right!” he smiled. “See, you’re catching on! Oh, another gold star for you!” This time an even bigger sticker appeared, right over the pouch on her stomach.

“But you sometimes use your tail too, and once you used your heart.”

Once again, Discord bent his neck backward so his eyes were facing the sky again and groaned. “Ugh, yes. I can snap my tail or use the end of it as a substitute hand to use my magic. And…wait.” He brought his head back up and raised a brow. “You’ve seen me use my magic from my chest before? I hardly ever use that one.”

She nodded, her eyes glittering once again as she smiled. “Oh, yes. When you turned the beaver pond back to normal, remember? When we first became friends. You touched your chest, and a glow emitted from it. That’s when you melted all the ice.”

“I did…?” He blinked, and stopped to stroke his chin and remember the fateful day he realized he wanted friendship. He remembered Fluttershy getting angry, yelling ’Not. Your. Friend!’ before throwing her skates across the pond. He had gotten angry, thinking she was just trying to play him the fool, when…

That’s right…She had won my little game, and I changed it back. But I didn’t snap my fingers, nor my tail…

“Hmph. Okay, so I used it once,” Discord said, crossing his arms with an indignant look on his face. “Once. There’s nothing you need to take from that other than the fact that what I’m saying is true. You can summon your magic from there, along with your fingers and tail. However, it doesn’t always have to be used that way.”

He circled the entire diagram, eager to continue his explanation with no opportunity for Fluttershy to further talk about his heart, or whatever other sappy thing she wanted to talk about.

“For flying, you’ll need to summon magic from every single pore you’ve got! After all, it’s a spell where you’re using it to lift up your entire body. If you tried to use it from just one of those three concentrated areas, then you’d end up flying by the tail or your hand, with the rest just dragging behind!” He laughed at the thought, remembering a few times back in his childhood where that had been exactly what had happened to him.

Fluttershy shrunk in on herself, her hair falling over her face and her long draconic tail wrapped around her, wringing the hair around it.

“Th-That sounds…so hard…Are you sure this is the spell we should start with?” she mumbled, her nerves getting to her again.

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, my little Draconequus!” Discord corrected, wagging a finger at her. “Just because you’re going to be using magic with your whole body doesn’t make it harder. In fact, it’s easier because you don’t have to direct your magic to a specific area of your body! Which is why I’m starting with it. Come now, Fluttershy, give me a little more credit. I am capable of planning things out in an effective manner, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

He waved it off. “Quota used! No more apologies for today! And it’s only—“ His watch materialized on his wrist. “It’s only 10:30! Goodness, you have a long time before you can apologize again! Poor you! But, that’s how it goes sometimes!”

The watch poofed away and he set his drawing on the easel again. “So now you know that part of the process. Let’s start putting it in motion!”

“What?!? But I don’t even know how to…’summon’ it,” Fluttershy said, making quotes with her fingers. “How can you expect me to do that?”

“I’m getting to that, my dear. I’m not going to throw you into the sky just yet. But the boring explanations are over, for the most part. Now you can put some of your own effort into it.”

He joined her side again. “And the first thing you need to do—“ He poked her muzzle. “..is relax. Which I know is hard for you, but that’s why I’m here!”

He disappeared in a poof and appeared from behind her, his paw and claw already on her shoulders, massaging them with his fingers. “So tense. You’re always so tense. That’s not going to help you out if you want to succeed as my lovely apprentice! Don’t that Aloe and Lotus pair know how to properly relax you at that spa of theirs?”

“Of course they do!” Fluttershy said, though she didn’t move. His fingers felt so good on her stiff muscles. Was he using magic to heat his fingers? They were so warm. She could just feel her muscles starting to loosen up a bit… “I just don’t always get the massage. It’s one of their more expensive fees…”

“Well, considering how tight your muscles are, perhaps you should reconsider. Sweet heavens, Fluttershy, I don’t think even my muscles were this tense when I was a garden gnome! There’s no way this is from your transformation. Tight muscles like these take years.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Well…I’ve always been easily stressed.”

“I should say so!”

She sighed and closed her eyes when he said no more, and instead focused on his touch instead. Within a few minutes, she felt more relaxed than she had felt in years. She imagined she was turning into liquid as Discord loosened all the knots on her shoulders, her long neck, and her upper back.

“Phew…There!” Discord said, wiping his brow. “How is that, my dear?”

“Mmm….” She opened her eyes slowly, a serene look on her face with a large and wide smile. “That was wonderful. Thank you, Discord…”

His chest puffed up in pride again, more than pleased with the results of his skills. “You're welcome. Ha, perhaps I should start a spa myself. Give Aloe and Lotus a run for their money.”

“Discord—“ It was her warning tone again.

“Joking. I’m joking. I’ll save my massages for only you, how’s that?”

“Okay,” she smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Of course you would, I’m a fantastic masseuse! Now, I need to keep you relaxed so you can focus. “

He joined her again sitting on the ground. “Now, I simply want you to close your eyes. Just like you were when I was working on those muscles of yours. Close them.”

Fluttershy had no idea where he was going with this. Like always, he was just going all over the place. He would teach her for one second, and on the next, he would do something else, like draw a picture of her or massage her. Couldn’t he have done all of this with his magic? Why was he doing it all the manual way? Perhaps even he liked doing things himself, sometimes. But what was going to happen now?

Nevertheless, she closed her eyes, taking a calm breath as she did so.

“Good, Fluttershy, very good.”

Her ear had twitched at the warm breath that caressed it. Oh my, she thought. Is he whispering in my ear? Her face grew red.

“And there you are, getting nervous again. Relax. It’s just Cordy, your best buddy. I’m not going to eat your ear or anything. I’m just speaking with you, helping you out. Relax.”

…He was right. No need to panic. He was just talking to her. That was all. And she liked the sound of his voice. There was nothing wrong with it.

She took another deep breath.

“There, good. Now, the first thing I want you to do is to turn your attention from the outside world, to within. Think of yourself. Think of your magic. It’s aura is turquoise, just like your eyes and antenna. Think of it, and reach for it with your mind. Imagine it flowing through you, just as I had drawn on your diagram. Think of it tossing and turning inside of you, just waiting for you to call on it and let it free…Waves of chaos, just dying to cause something to change, something to happen….”

This time, his warm breath and silky smooth voice soothed her further, though her heart seemed to be thumping a bit hard. Then again, it often did that when others were incredibly close to her, even her good friends. It was nothing but an old nervous habit, one that was improving. But this time, it would not go away.

But she didn’t mind. She still was able to relax. But…

“Is thinking about it really enough? When Twilight conducts a spell—“

She felt warm lion pads touch her lips closed. “No speaking, Flutterdear. Just thinking. Forget about the outside world, remember? Stop thinking of other things. I’ll answer it later.”

An apology very nearly left her throat, but she gulped it down. Darn that quota…

She wasn’t sure how to imagine herself reaching for magic inside of her. Sure, she had seen the purple aura of Discord’s and her own turquoise magical glow, but could she imagine it inside herself? She thought of the ocean, and tried imagining the magic inside.

She had no idea how a pony would look on the inside, so in her mind’s eye, she saw waves of her magic, crashing against her, receding slowly before building up into a gorgeous glowing turquoise wave and crashing into it yet again. It glowed in the darkness of its captor, of Fluttershy’s body.

Suddenly, rivers of warmth seemed to flow through her. It was warm, and tingly. The magic…!

“I…I can--!”

She gasped and covered her mouth with her paw. Oops, I can’t talk!

And she lost the rivers of warmth. “Oh…Oh no!” she moaned. “I lost it!” She opened her eyes. “I had it, Discord, I know I did. But, oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have opened my mouth…Oh, and I said I’m sorry again! Oh….”

Discord watched Fluttershy’s antenna uncurl and limp to the side as her ears fell and her neck sagged. He snorted.

“Fluttershy, it’s fine. You’re getting tense again, too. You did it! I could sense it with my own magic, and I could tell from your reactions. That was pretty good for a first try. Good job!”

He gave her a hard slap on the back, making Fluttershy wince, but she felt better from his words. “Really?”

“Yes! Now try again. And no talking! I know it’s hard, as I love to hear the sound of my own voice too, but try again.”

So she did. She imagined the waves again, and this time the warmth flowed through her yet again, only after a few moments. She concentrated only on the feel of the magic, flowing through her like her life’s blood. She could feel the warmth in her stomach and chest, spreading and flowing through her limbs. Even her frog arm could sense it, the warm flow turning cold as it hit her slick amphibian shoulder, matching her arm’s body temperature as it trickled down to her fingers.

Back in the real world, Discord could see that it was working by the way she started to glow. He grinned at their success. "There, good! Open your eyes Fluttershy, you've got it flowing freely out of your body now! Hoohoo, I knew I'd be able to teach this!" he said, punching a fist against the open palm of his taloned hand. "Really, I should be getting so much credit for this!"

Before listening to any more of Discord's self-flattery, Fluttershy hesitantly opened her eyes and gasped at the turquoise glow of her body. It wasn't that she hadn't seen it before; being an Element of Harmony tended to get a pony glowing a lot. But this glow....shapes and swirls and different shades danced inside of it. It reminded her of when Tirek sucked out Discord's powers, revealing it to be a magic that wasn't quite the same as any pony's. But while that moment of history had been terrifying to watch, this was...pretty.

"So...What now...?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly, looking over at him. "I'm...doing this right, right?"

"Haha, yes!" Discord said. "Of course you are, didn't you hear me? My teachings can't fail you!" he said with a bright, smug grin.

"I know," she said warmly, a smile on her face.

Discord's smile grew more genuine, trying to ignore the extra warmth in his stomach from her honest compliment. He cleared his throat, trying not to let the moment grow too sappy.

"As for what to do now, we need to move on to the next step: getting you in the air!"

She gulped, which Discord promptly ignored. She was such a worrywart. She'd be fine. At worst, she'd fall, and all he'd have to do was catch her, which he had done all of yesterday anyway. Piece of cake.

"Get in the air...?"

"Yes," Discord nodded. "And to do that, you have to guide your magic. Guide it...with your mind!" He tapped his temple. "The mind is a powerful place indeed, where all imagination roams wild. Chaos embraces the mind, and you must embrace it back.”

Somehow, she was able to speak without breaking her hold on the magic, and kept her eyes closed. ‘’How can I do that?’

Discord smiled, sitting in the grass and twiddling idly with the tip of his tail. “That’s a good question, one that took me years to figure out in my earlier years. There are numerous ways to get started, and the one that worked best for me was imagining myself and the ground as magnets.”

“But Discord, what do you mean by imagining myself like a magnet? I thought I was supposed to imagine waves?”

Discord shook his head. “You’re not supposed to do anything particular, Fluttershy. There are no concrete rules as to how you use your magic. You can’t put rules on such a thing, That would be a contradiction in itself! I’m only giving you these suggestions to help you use your magic. Imagining your magic as waves is useful when you’re getting it to flow out of you and into the physical world. But for you to guide it to help you fly…You’ll need a different approach. Like magnets, as I said.”

He snapped his fingers and a horseshoe-shaped magnet appeared. “You remember learning about these in school, right?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face, gingerly taking the magnet from him as he handed it to her. “I mean, I don’t know anything but the very basics, but…it’s an invisible force, with two different poles, north and south…and the same poles repel each other, but the opposites attract. Right?”

Discord huffed through his nostrils. “With magnets they do,’’ he grumbled under his breath, a certain sunny Princess suddenly coming to mind, a memory from the past.

“Huh?” she asked, blinking at him. ‟What did you say?”

Blast it, I spoke too soon. Realizing his mistake, he shook his head for a second and plastered on a fake grin.

"Nothing, nothing. But hey, guess what? You're correct!" A neon sign appeared above him, flashing the word 'WINNER'. "Congratulations, Flutterbuddy, you won the grand prize!" he said in an overexaggerated host's voice, a purple suit and polka dot bow tie, complete with thick-framed glasses, now on his body.

"Grand prize?"

"The Shellmet 500!" He snapped his fingers and a helmet appeared, the words 'Shellmet 500', engraved in silver on the side. It was white and covered in glitter. He fastened it on her and tightened the chin strap.

The game show garb and sign went away. "You'll be totally fine, there's no chance of you splattering to the ground at all whatsoever, but this is the finest helmet there is, and truly, it's more for your peace of mind."

She didn't know whether he was telling the truth or just joking around with her, but she gulped even harder than before. "Discord..."

Her words were cut off when she felt a hard slap in the back, meant to be a friendly pat from Discord. Sometimes, her friend really didn't know his own strength. He was lanky and skinny, but he could really pack a punch sometimes. But she said nothing and instead let out a cough.

"Now, remember that imagination I mentioned earlier, with your mind and all that jazz?"

"You mean what you talked about a minute ago?"

"Thatta girl!" he said, and slapped her back again, making her cough. "Exactly! I need you to use that mind, right here and right now! After all..."

He flexed his right lion arm, and a teeny tiny bulge of muscle appeared. "Being a creature of chaos isn't all just good looks and brawn! You must have brains!"

Magnets appeared in his paws again, these ones just short and rectangular, both labeled with an 'S'. He let them flow freely, and the two magnets repelled each other.

"Basically, I want you to act as if you and the ground are two poles of a kind. This one here," he tapped the one being repelled upward. "Is you. And this one here is....?" He prompted her to answer by whirling his pointer talon in circles, looking at her.

It took her a second to realize what he was trying to demonstrate, but his explanation was quite simple and easy to understand. I guess chaos doesn't have to be complicated...unless you want it to be?

She wasn't sure if that was something like an epiphany, but didn't want to interrupt the lesson to ask him about it. Instead, she gave him the answer. "The ground?"

"Right again! Baby, you're on fire!" he said, the magnets suddenly on fire and making Fluttershy yelp, her magic reacting and turning the fire into magenta-colored smoke that smelled of raspberries and cream.

"My apologies, not my best material," Discord said, stroking his beard. He snapped his fingers and the smoke dissipated, the magnets turning back to normal.

"So, do you think you can do that, my dear? Imagine yourself as magnets?"

"Oh, well...maybe..." she said hesitantly, staring at her glowing frog hand as she said so. "I mean...I got this far."

"That's the spirit! So, go ahead." He pat the ground. "This is the south pole, and you're a south pole. But that stubborn ground isn't going anywhere, so the only way you can go...is up."

He began to glow himself in his familiar purple aura as he gently floated upward. "So come join me."

She blinked up at him, wondering to herself how he had come up with such a way to fly. It seemed too easy. Twilight never made learning any spell easy, and it was hard for Fluttershy to comprehend that she could just pretend herself a magnet and start flying. As for flying in general, it took a Pegasus years to learn to fly safely, sometimes even longer than that.

Or sometimes they don't improve at all...she thought sadly. An image of a golden Pegasus with a shock of bright yellow hair grimaced at her in her mind.

What if I can't do it? What if I disappoint him? What if...?

"Fluttershy, don't be afraid, hmm?"

She looked up at Discord.

"Just give it a try. I'm not going anywhere, for once."

Her eyes opened slightly wider.

I'm not going anywhere. The Lord of Chaos, a being that was constantly on the move, always with itchy feet, promised he wasn't going to leave her. They had even lied to Luna and Celestia to make sure he wouldn't.

Her glowing grew slightly brighter as she closed her eyes again.

I am a magnet. I am a south pole. The ground is a south pole. We can't be together. We're too alike, there should be a force to pull us apart...

Discord watched as her aura started to flare.

The only way to go is up...!

She yelled this in her head, and suddenly she felt her body careen upwards, the wind whipping against her face so much that it hurt.

"Gah, too much, too much!" Discord yelled, watching as Fluttershy flew upward so fast that she broke through the clouds as if they were nothing.

She began to scream, unable to open her eyes from the pressure. "I can't stop, I can't stop!" Her eyes watered as she tried to see where she was going.

This isn't how it was supposed to work! This isn't flying, am I going to--??

Fwump.

She gasped in a painful breath of air, realizing that she had not breathed the entire time she had been tearing through the sky like a torpedo. She bounced as she hit the surface, before realizing that she had landed into a floating trampoline that had broken her upward fall, only for her to land on a fluffy cloud beneath it, with Discord lying right beside her, leaning on his elbows.

"While that was far too powerful for what you were going for, I have to say, I'm impressed. Just how big of an imagination do you have in that head of yours?" Discord said, knocking lightly on her head. "You know, I'm starting to think you had more chaos in your blood than we thought, before you were a Draconequus!" He grinned.

But Fluttershy was shaking, and she hugged her legs to her chest. "That was so scary! I thought I was going to...to...!"

He snorted. "What? No! I saved you, didn't I? Come on now, this was good! You got yourself to fly!"

Suddenly he felt her two hands dig into his shoulders, the nails of her rabbit fingers digging slightly into his skin. Her face was one of terror, with eyes wide open and her mouth a deep line. "I got myself to turn into a rocket! No no no..." She shook her head. "P-Please, take me to the ground. I want to go to the ground, the ground is where I belong, it's where I always belonged..."

She let go of Discord and hugged herself again, memories going through her mind.

"Come on, Fluttershy! I'm not the one failing here, I've always been able to teach this! Get it together!"

"Why isn't this natural to you?!? Why are you so weak? Your wings should be stronger by now!"

"...You're no daughter of mine..."

"Fluttershy...? Are you having a, erm, moment again?"

The memories suddenly stopped, Fluttershy snapping out of her past and back into the present. "S-Sorry..."

He quirked an eyebrow up. "Quota, Fluttershy, quota. You've already already used all your apologies for the day."

"S-Sorry..."

He sighed, and put a paw to her back, gently massaging her shoulderblades. "You're still so tense..."

He stiffened when she suddenly leaned into him and buried her face into his fur. "Flying is scary."

She sounded like a filly seeking comfort from her mother after a nightmare. Discord started wondering what Fluttershy's inner demons were. He certainly had plenty of them, one he almost revealed not just a few minutes ago.

"It doesn't have to be," he said. "You just focused on getting away from the ground too much. An easy enough fix," he said, shrugging his shoulders with a lazy smile. "All you have to do is slow it down a bit."

"Slow down..." Fluttershy repeated. "That doesn't seem very, um, chaos-like."

"My dear, my dear..." he chuckled. "Applying things like physics and speed to chaos? Haha, no. That's the very thing you must defy."

He held his hand out. "I have no idea what childhood memory you're reliving right now..."

She squeaked, and he chuckled. It wasn't hard to figure out what had been going on in her head. He didn't like to read minds (it took the surprise out of everything), but with her, he didn't even have to do that.

He continued to hold his hand out. "...But why don't we defy it together, hmm?"

It's what I'm always trying to do, he thought as she gaped up at him.

Defy my memories...she thought. It sounded...uplifting.

Sort of like a magnet repelling from the ground.

If anyone could do it, surely the two of them could?

She took his hand.

"Now get up here with me," he said, gesturing for her to come up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Fluttershy asked, looking at their intertwined fingers. "If I shoot up again, you'll come with me."

"Sounds like fun!"

"Oh, Discord, no. It's not," she said, shaking her head. "Not at all!"

"Oh, it wasn't that bad! Besides, you'll get it right this time. You were just thinking of the repulsion too much, of getting away from the ground! Silly girl, don't you know that the force of the magnets weakens as they go farther apart? It doesn't have to be strong repulsion, you know. It can be more gradual."

He had a point. Fluttershy pushed a lock of hair away with her free hand before looking hesitantly back at him.

"So, I just have to imagine...getting away from the ground more slowly?"

"Pretty much, yes," Discord nodded. "A weaker repulsion, if you want to talk magnets." A thought then occurred to him and he scrunched his face up. "Ugh, I'm starting to sound like a bookish Twilight Spark--"

But Fluttershy had not paid attention as he had spoken. Instead, she had closed her eyes yet again, called on her magic as she had before.

Defy my memories...I want to slowly drift up from the cloud--a magnet just like me.

She slowly drifted upward, her grip on Discord loosening as she came up to his level in the sky, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

She opened her eyes and gasped. "Discord! Look! Look at me!"

He laughed in delight and opened his arms. "Look at you! See, I told you! You're always doubting me, but I know how this works! I'm the best professor in this business, and now look at you!"

Fluttershy then peeked at her small mismatched wings. "And I'm not even using these!" she speculated, flapping them.

"You can use them to help you a little bit with direction, but you don't really need to," Discord said. "Now that you've got yourself up at a comfortable pace, you can pretty much just turn and pivot as you please."

"So I don't have to constantly think of being a magnet, or...?"

"Nope! You've used your desire for flight and the magnificent forces of thine mind to compel it to get you into the air. Basically, you got your magic to want what you want, and now you just take the lead. Of course, flying is easier," Discord said. "Sometimes it takes a little more convincing to get your powers to do what you want when it comes to other things--at least, that's how it is when you're a beginner. Conjuring up objects out of thin air took me a lot longer to master, and opening portals to certain places even longer! Oh," he waved a hand. "And don't even get me started on shapeshifting! That took me at least 500 years."

Fluttershy's ears flicked back in thought. "But if I want to..."

In response, Discord's ears perked in interest. "If you want to...what?"

Defy your memories...

"Go faster..." she murmured

Then it happened. Suddenly, the possibilities in her mind were endless. This magic, these Draconequus powers...They didn't test her physical abilities at all. It was all about her mind and all of the things she could do, what she could possibly do and what she wanted to do. Her muscles weren't burning from exertion, her wings were tucked against her back, and yet she was in the sky.

Discord smirked, a challenge in his eyes as he could see the cogs of her mind grinding, just from looking at her.

This is only the beginning, my little Draconequus.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" he asked.

She whipped past him into the clouds; that was her answer.

"Whoa!" Too fast, too fast! Her wings flared out as her magic responded to her desires and she skidded in the sky to a halt. It hadn't been at rocket-speed that time, but still. "Just a nice glide..."

Whoosh.

She flowed with the wind at a speed she was comfortable with, one that she was able to keep up with for as long as she wished. Before she knew it, she was tossing, turning, somersaulting, even diving.

"Is...Is this what it's like to be Rainbow Dash? Is this how...how effortless it is for her...?" she asked herself. She had no idea where Discord was, as she was too lost in the idea of being a good flier, for once in her life.

Just the thought of calling herself a good flier brought a smile to her lips before a laugh bubbled up. She burst through a small fluffy cloud as the other Draconequus in the sky watched her with a lazy smile on his face.

"I can't believe how much easier this is!" she said.

She began to twirl around as if dancing, laughing as she felt the wind against her mane and the sun radiating down from above. She never knew she would enjoy the sky so much. The ground would forever be home for her, but now, the sky held more promise than it ever had before.

She felt like she could do anything. She had never felt so free before.

Her eyes caught Discord's as she turned towards him in a twirl and smiled. Her happiness was intoxicating, and he found himself warm as he gazed back at his friend--

Only for a very familiar voice to bring an end to the moment.

“Hi Fluttershy! It’s me! Pinkie! And the rest of us! Hiiiiiiiiiii!”

Discord could only watch as Fluttershy froze and looked down on five equally familiar faces.

"G-G-Girls!"

Oh no. She was losing her focus. The look of horror on her face was enough to trigger her magic.

Or, in this case, turn it off. She began to fall, her body no longer glowing, and no longer in flight.

"Fluttershy!"

Discord snapped his fingers and vanished.

Author's Notes:

...So if you're reading this then you officially have the patience of a saint and I do not deserve you.

But um, hey, 14k is good, right?

Honestly, I am so glad this chapter is over. I agonized over it so much that it's sad. And I feel like Discord gets more OOC when I put him in teacher-mode, and then he starts acting more like Pinkie Pie or something. I know they're similiar, but...

Gah. I hope this was good, guys. Did you like it? How about those little hints towards their pasts, eh? I look so forward to writing that part and publishing it! I have a story for Fluttershy all in my head, it's been ready for months now.

Please please please don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism. Was anyone OOC? I went so long without writing that I'm afraid perhaps I did. Was anything dragged out? Stupid? Plain old Not Good?

Also, I really really hate uploading chapters on this site. It never turns out right, from gdocs or anywhere! This time I had to copy and paste it because it had a bunch of text mushed together from the gdoc, and there were center tags everywhere. Ugh. And then I had to go back and italicize all the things I needed to. So if you see anything wonky like mushed up text or something, let me know. Of course, anything I did right would be nice to hear too, so I can continue doing it...Um...If you want...*Goes all Fluttershy on you*

...I really hoped you enjoyed it though. It had some really fun parts to write, but it was tricky trying to think of how to explain chaos magic. I hope it made sense. The magnet thing was an idea I had at the beginning. I didn't want his magic to be used too technically--it's not formulaic or anything like Unicorn magic--but I didn't just want to say "use your imagination, it will guide you!" I mean, come on. He's a MASTER of chaos. What's there's to master if it's that easy to use? And it's chaos, for crying out loud. You know? So I thought, maybe if you had to visualize the magic in a certain way...It make sense to me.

And now, I part with only two random thoughts.

1. If only we could all have a Flutterburrito. Then all would be happy.

2. Discord secretly likes da kissies. :D

Secrets Revealed and Secrets Kept

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Six: Secrets Revealed and Secrets Kept

Flippity flap, flippity flap.

Flower, once again free to roam the skies, curled its stem around the handle of a bucket, carrying it over to its master and depositing it into her hooves.

Zecora smiled. "Thank you, my friend. Now I can put this vision to an end..."

She turned to the magical fire at her hearth, where she could see Discord holding Fluttershy, staring down at their friends. She laughed as she noted that all of them looked stunned to see each other, minus the ever-excited Pinkie Pie, not disturbed by the situation at all.

"There's nothing left for us to see, so let us give them their privacy." She took the bucket and poured water over the fire, smoke rising from the cooling coals as she did so. Flower watched the Zebra curiously as she did so, cocking its stem to the side.

"I think we will need to go and see the Princess once they've talked over this mess," Zecora said, laying the bucket back down by the table and going over to the sink to wash her hooves from the coal dust. "Twilight will no doubt be alarmed, and worry that Fluttershy will be harmed. We must soothe her fears, and make sure the situation does not yet reach Canterlot ears."

Flower shivered, rushing over to Zecora in a panicked frenzy, flapping its leaves in her face as pollen clouding up the air from its own rapid movements.

Zecora once again laughed charmingly before giving a gentle pat on Flower's soft yellow face. "There’s no reason to fear anypony, little Flower. I am here, there is no need to cower. Ponies are just not used to flying vegetation; it's not exactly covered in their education!' she laughed.

Flower settled down, and landed on the Zebra's shoulder, nuzzling the side of her face with petals.

"Yes, of course you can stay with me. I wouldn't mind some permanent company," Zecora said, gently nuzzling the flower back with the very tip of her muzzle.

"Now let's just wait for the Princess, so we can help explain this...mess."

The first thing she saw was two familiar red-gold eyes staring down at her.

"You know, this is really starting to turn into a running gag for us," Discord said to her as he held her in both arms, just a few yards away from the ground. With a smirk on his lips, his eyes left hers and turned to the six creatures below them.

"~Hello~! Coming in for a surprise visit, ladies?" He then nodded at the dragon. "And Spike."

"Sur...prise...?" was all Twilight could manage to say before Pinkie interrupted.

"Discord! Fluttershy! Oh, thank goodness you're all okay! We thought you were a goner for a second!" Pinkie said as Discord slowly drifted back down to earth.

When he landed, Pinkie was right there, taking Fluttershy's head by the hooves and smushing their faces together.

"Oh, wow, Flutters! You look so neat!"

"Doesn't she though?" Discord said, bending his neck downward with a perfect 90-degree angle kink in his neck. "Though, I've said this before--I'm extremely jealous of the pouch."

"The--" Pinkie's eyes landed on Fluttershy's stomach, only to gasp. "Ohmygosh!"

Fluttershy, who had been dead silent from shock the entire time, finally yelped when a hoof opened her pouch, only for Pinkie to look inside.

"Oh wow! It's so spacious in there! I think I hear an echo! You could keep so much cake in here!"

It was an odd sensation, having her friend pull on her pouch and open it. Angel Bunny was one thing, but for her friend...

"P-Pinkie!" Fluttershy said, blushing. "I--"

Applejack, who had been staring at Fluttershy with the other remaining ponies and dragon, shook her head and snapped herself out of it. "Uh, Pinkie, Ah don't think you should, uh...Why dont you give 'er some space, huh partner?"

She gently took Pinkie's tail and pulled her back slightly. Pinkie only laughed. "Aww, okay! Maybe later!"

Rainbow was the next to get back to her senses, shaking her head more violently than Applejack had. "Later?!? How can you say that like this is no big deal?!?"

While Discord had been trying to hold back laughter at Fluttershy's discomfort and Pinkie's boldness, he was soon interrupted by a blue blur crashing into him and sending him down to the ground with an "Umph! Ow!"

He rubbed the back of his head while staring up at an angry Rainbow Dash.

"I gave you..." she snarled, "so many chances. So. Many. Chances. We all did." She swept a hoof over all of them.

"And now we find that Fluttershy is a...is a thing just like you?!? What did you do, bub?!?" She smooshed her hoof against Discord's snout. "What kinda sick prank is this?"

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at Twilight, who had her wings flared out and standing firm on all four hooves, Rarity and Spike merely watching beside her.

"Get off of him, please," Twilight instructed.

Discord's mouth gaped open, staring at his princess friend. But Rainbow Dash wouldn't budge.

"Get...off...?" She growled. "Why would I do that?!? Look at Fluttershy!" She then jabbed her hoof in Fluttershy's direction. "Who do you think did that to her? She's a drac..draco...a thing just like Discord! Isn't it obvious?!?"

Before Twilight could open her mouth, Fluttershy interjected, "Wait! No! You've got it all wrong!"

All eyes were back on Fluttershy, and she whimpered and swallowed before gently taking a tail and wrapping it around Rainbow Dash.

"Wait, Fluttershy, what're you...?"

She lifted up Rainbow and set her down, then offered a hand to Discord.

"Why, thank you, Fluttershy," Discord purred, glaring at Rainbow Dash as he took Fluttershy's amphibious hand and stood up. "It's good to know that at least someone has still been able to keep her cool around here."

Rainbow growled again, but Twilight laid a hoof on her withers. "Just stay calm. We all agreed to be better friends to him, remember?" she murmured.

"Only if he's a good friend back!" Rainbow spat.

"But we don't know if he's been a bad friend, Rainbow."

"We also don't know if he's been a good one, either."

"Rainbow--"

"So, erm, Fluttershy," Rarity interrupted, trying to relax the tension in the air. "Darling...What exactly is going on here?"

Looking back at Rarity, Fluttershy took a tendril of hair and twirled it nervously. "Well, it's...kind of a long story..."

"I got time," Applejack said, tilting her hat back slightly to get a better look at Fluttershy, a gentle smile on her face.

"I think we all do, darling," Rarity said.

"And I think as your friends, we should know," Twilight added, before glancing at Discord. "With the both of you."

Discord returned the gaze full-on, but he couldn't help but doubt Twilight's assurance that all the ponies before him were his friends. In fact, he knew for certain that Rainbow wasn't.

"Discord...?"

He looked back at Fluttershy. "Hmm?"

"...Should you start, or should I?"

"Oh." Discord waved her on. "You start, I'll cover the complicated magical hullabaloo."

Fluttershy nodded, and laid in the grass so she could look at her friends more easily.

"It started the night before last..."

"And so, badda bing badda boom, you got yourself a brand new Draconequus!"

No one seemed to share Discord's grin as he finished off the story, explaining how Fluttershy managed to fly into the air. In fact, they all looked confused--except Twilight. As soon as Discord finished, Twilight was on her hooves faster than a blink, with an urgent look on her face.

"The Wishwell. You have to show it to me," she said, practically shaking with excitement. "They're one of the rarest plant-like magical objects there are!"

"There are other rare plant-like magical objects...?" Applejack asked, looking at Spike.

He nodded. "Oh, yeah. One-hundred and twelve, actually."

"Dang."

"Oh, well, it's really not that different from the flowers it's around. It just glows a little, if you look hard enough," Fluttershy answered.

"Exactly!" Twilight said, a full blown toothy smile on her face. "That's exactly how it's described in Magical Rarities AND The Book of Fake Fauna! They mimic a plant around them so they aren't easily spotted! So where is it? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, it'll probably be the only one I'll ever see! Oh, why don't I have a camera...?"

A camera magicked itself above Twilight and she caught it with two hooves. She glanced at Discord, who quickly looked away and pretended to be looking towards the cottage. A small smile graced her lips. She wanted to thank him, but decided to do it later when he was less prone to embarrassment.

"Well, it's in the patch of blue flowers by the cottage," Fluttershy said, pointing over to the blue patch in her front yard. "You should be able to--"

Twilight was already off before she even finished, and Fluttershy laughed. I'm glad she's able to be herself even while I'm like this...That she can forget how I look.

The others didn't seem to forget so easily. As Twilight fervently studied the flower, Pinkie suddenly was at Fluttershy's pouch again, this time opening it all the way and inserting herself into it head-on, her legs dangling out. She had done it so fast that Fluttershy gasped. "Pinkie!"

"It's so warm in here!"

Discord was full-out laughing at this point, clutching his stomach. "Oh, I knew she was eventually going to do it, I could see it coming a mile away!" he said, hardly able to breathe from the hilarity of the situation. He had seen a lot of things in his life, but never had he seen a pony-turned-Draconequus hold a pony friend in her kangaroo pouch. It was perhaps one of the oddest things he'd ever seen.

Fluttershy, blushing and biting her bottom lip, watched as her friend adjusted herself and looked out. "You guys should really try this! I wish I had a pouch like this!"

"I know, right?!?" Discord said.

"Uh, Ah think Ah'm good," Applejack said.

"Me as well," Rarity added.

"It does look kinda warm in there..." Spike said. He looked at Fluttershy and she sighed as she looked into his big green eyes.

"Oh, okay, Spike. I think I'm getting used to the sensation, anyway."

"Whoo!" He ran over to her. "Thanks Fluttershy! Ha-umph!" He pulled himself up by the lip of the pouch and made himself comfortable next to Pinkie, who put a hoof up to him.

"Pouch Pals!"

Spike laughed and high-fived her hoof. "Pouch Pals!"

Fluttershy smiled wider. Maybe it wasn't so bad...and they obviously didn't mind her transformation, either.

"Wait a minute."

All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, minus the occupied Twilight by the flower patch.

"So lemme get this straight," she said, tapping a hoof to her head. "You," she pointed to Fluttershy. "...were worried that it was your fault because of what he..." She jabbed a hoof at Discord, “did? Because that's just crazy talk!"

She flew between the two Draconequui. "I mean, you were the one that was so nice to Discord all the time, and went through all the torture of being his friend!"

Fluttershy gasped. "Rainbow...Please...It wasn’t torture..."

"Yes, Rainbow. I thought we had settled all of this. Calm down, darling, we'll talk it out properly," Rarity said, patting a place next to her.

"How are you guys so calm?!?" Rainbow said. "In case you haven't noticed, our best friend isn't herself! And once again, it's because of him!"

Discord snarled as Rainbow once again jabbed a hoof towards him. "I'd watch what you were saying, if I were you, dear Rainbow," he said, taking Rainbow's hoof and forcing it away from his snout. "I agree that Fluttershy blamed herself too much, but I'm not the only bad friend here..."

"That's a load of bull!" Rainbow barked. "I'm just calling you a bad friend because it's true! I'm doing just fine, thanks."

"Not just you, Dashie," Discord put curtly. "But all of you! Before the whole betrayal! All of you could have cared less about me, and Fluttershy was the only one sweet enough to actually treat me the way I wanted to be treated."

Applejack's ears fell back in guilt, while Rarity cocked a trimmed brow at him and said, "Excuse me? Exactly what kind of accusation are you making?"

Discord opened his mouth, ready to tell them exactly what he had told Fluttershy the other day, when a different voice spoke out.

"The kind that I was telling you guys about, remember?"

Twilight, finished with her observation of the flower and putting the camera and notes in her saddlebag, came trotting back up to him. "We weren't the best with Discord. We didn't really try to see him as a friend. We treated him more like a nuisance than someone we were trying to teach about friendship. We were always groaning and giving him cold looks when he was around. We didn't really do what we were supposed to...We didn't show him that we're his friends."

Discord's mouth had not closed as he stared at Twilight. "Er, what?" he croaked.

"I agree with you Discord. Fluttershy isn't the one who should have felt it was her fault. Instead, it was all of ours."

"Not Pinkie!" Rainbow interrupted. "She, uh...Well, she offered to help Discord when he was sick! And that had been a prank in the first place!"

She had a victorious smirk on her face as Twilight nodded.

"Discord, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to say that nothing is your fault either," she went on to say. "I admit that we weren't as good as friends as we should have been, but neither were you."

"Oh, yes, of course," Discord said, rolling his eyes. "Sheesh, can't take the blame just on your own, can you? You just have to include me as well!"

"Discord..." a soft voice said.

He flinched as he felt a soft hand on his shoulder and looked at Fluttershy.

"I don't agree that I'm the only faultless one, but you know you made mistakes," she said to him softly. "It's okay. Nopony's going to hurt you."

"Hurt me? Hurt me? Pfft, as if that's what I'm afraid of!" he said, shrugging off Fluttershy's hand.

It stung her a bit as he did so, and he immediately regretted it as he saw it in her face.

It was time for him to admit defeat.

"I...Ugh...Sorry, Fluttershy. Sorry to...to all of you, I suppose..." Discord said. "Yes, even you, Rainbow Dash. It's not like I still don't feel any guilt for what I've done. It's all I was able to really think about for days before this happened, and we all know how rare that is for me. I get it, all right? I know I did a lot of things you weren't exactly enthusiastic about, like making you go all across Equestria just to get ingredients for a fake illness I invented, or traipse through a thorny forest just because of some seeds I ate. I know that I still scared ponies and did things you didn't want me doing. But come on!"

He crossed his arms. "You can't expect me to change my ways as fast as it takes for me to snap my fingers. I'm the spirit of chaos and disharmony. I can't just drop everything I love to do just for the sake of all of you! I need some wiggle room, I can't suffocate in all this harmony!" he said, grabbing his ears and stretching them out like saltwater taffy.

"You'd be able to do it if Fluttershy asked you," Rarity said.

"Only because I know she'd let me do something else with my magic," Discord said. "Make her furniture dance and float, make her stairs into a giant slide, making the floor the ceiling and the ceiling the floor! You would all just tell me to stop and go somewhere else! It's as I said to you Twilight."

He turned to her. "None of you wrote me letters, or invited me for a visit. None of you cared."

"Did you care?" Applejack asked. "Because you know Ah'll be honest with ya, Discord. We didn't really think you wanted our friendship, except for Fluttershy's. We thought you were just using us for yer own entertainment."

"Of course I cared!" He threw his hands out. "Why do you think I betrayed you in the first place?!? I didn't just do it just for the power, you know! I thought I could have it all, friendship included! I didn't think I could be myself with all of you guys, and I wasn't sure you all wanted me in the first place. I thought maybe you were all just using me...Using me to help you keep your little country safe, with little to no concern for me. I..."

He hugged himself and looked away. "I don't think I would have done it, had Tirek not offered to be my friend. I wanted power, but I didn't want to be alone. Nor did I want to be some 'pony errand boy'," he said, grimacing. "But I couldn't deny what Tirek said. I couldn't be sure that any friendship I had was genuine. I wasn't sure if anypony truly wanted me around...Not even Fluttershy. Which was a stupid thing to think," he quickly said, putting a finger on Fluttershy's lips before she could even interject. "A stupid, stupid, horrible doubt that I had. It was obvious that you truly cared about me, but my fears kept me from seeing it. You know that."

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you know that too."

"Well..." Applejack got up and stretched herself out. "Seems tuh me that we all did somethin' we shoulda done better. So maybe it's about time that we put this behind us, the whole Tirek thing."

She looked at Rainbow Dash. "All of us.”

"I know I will!" Pinkie said, randomly grabbing Spike and hugging him to her chest. "Heh, I already have! I mean, we did hug him, right Rainbow? That's what you said!"

They all looked to the sky blue Pegasus, who took a deep breath and sighed.

"You're gonna help Fluttershy out, right?" she asked Discord, flying up to him. "That's why you're here, right?"

Discord blinked, not sure where this was going, putting a paw up just in case he needed a barrier from her. "Yes..."

But alas, she was still too quick for him as she slapped him on the back, stinging it a little. "Good. Because I'd pound ya if you weren't! I'll let you off the hook again," she said. "Since you actually weren't the one that turned her into a draco-whatever. And maybe I'll let you chill with me, one day, as long as you don't drive me totally crazy. Maybe."

Discord raised a bushy brow at this. "Really?"

"Not until after Fluttershy turns back to a Pegasus!" Rainbow said. "Though who knows how long that will take? You're insane, Fluttershy, trying to understand this guy," she said, looking over at her while pointing a hoof at Discord.

“Well, if she's insane for that, than she's closer to understanding him than any one of us will ever be," Rarity said, a smirk on her lips as she looked straight at him. "Wouldn't you say so, darling?"

"Ohoho, Miss Rarity," Discord said. "You don't even know the half of it."

After getting most things talked over and settled, Rainbow was insistent on Fluttershy going on a flight with her.

“C’mon, I heard you up there, having the time of your life!” she said, a hoof on her shoulder in encouragement. “I’ve never heard you sound so excited about flying before! It was beautiful! Ya gotta show me! C’mon.”

She gave her wings a few flaps. “I promise I won’t make ya look bad,” she said with a wink.

“Well...It was pretty fun, the way the magic does it…” Fluttershy mused. “It doesn’t tire me out like flying with my real body does...And I do need the practice…”

She glanced over at Discord, who gave her a nod. “I’ll be right behind you, Flutterbuddy,” he said, putting an arm around her. “Twilight will come too, for extra friendship power. How’s that sound?”

“Oh,” Twilight said, blinking before nodding, not expecting his answer to include her. “Of course! I’m here for you, Fluttershy.” She gave her a smile.

“Oh, well, you don’t have to,” Fluttershy reassured her. “I trust Discord on his own. Not that I wouldn’t appreciate it, of course, I trust you too, but--”

Twilight only laughed. “It’s fine. I’m interested in seeing how you’re doing, anyway. And I could always use more practice myself. It’s what I was doing before I came here.”

Discord raised an eyebrow at that. “That reminds me. What brought you all here, anyway?”

“Oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie said, who had gotten out of Fluttershy’s pouch after she’d had her fun with it, Spike right beside her. “I told them I had a feeling that we needed to come here, because my Pinkie Sense was going off!”

“Oh, the famous Pinkie sense,” Discord said. “Of course. You know, you and I are going to have a good talk about that one day,” he said, poking Pinkie in the muzzle while doing so. “After all, I’m quite intrigued by the mysteriousness of your sixth sense.”

“It’s not a sixth sense, it’s Pinkie sense,” she reminded him, poking him back. “And hey! I just remembered! Discord, when’s your birthday?”

Discord took a second to register the sudden question, before his eyes grew large and he frowned. “...What?”

Fluttershy’s mouth opened slightly in surprise as she realized that she herself didn’t know Discord’s birthday. They had been friends for quite a while, and she hadn’t once thought to ask him. Shame on you, Fluttershy, she scolded herself. How could you have forgotten something so important?

“Your birthday!” Pinkie repeated with a tiny hop. “When is it? I’ve been meaning to ask you so I can throw you a party! I’ll make a file for you and everything!” She pulled out a manila folder from out of nowhere, the tab reading ‘Discord’ in Pinkie’s curly writing. “You’ll need to tell me the date, what kind of cake you like best, and oooh, don’t forget games! I know how much you love games! Ooh, we could do a mystery dinner party! Or maybe a trampoline and pogo-stick party! Or maybe you’re the food fight party kind of guy? C’mon Cordy,” she said, giving him a slight punch on the side. “Tell me all the juicy details!”

Discord stiffened, aware of the many eyes that were glued to him in anticipation of his answer. In truth, no one had ever asked him that question; no one ever cared. But he had hoped that it would stay that way.

A distraction. I need a distraction!

Discord’s tail subtly formed fingers behind his back and snapped them. A heavy wind began to blow. Pretending to gasp, he licked his finger and lifted it up to feel it.

“My my, do you feel that wind? It’s getting strong, isn’t it? Pinkie, as much as I would love to answer that question, I’m afraid if Dashie wants to fly with Fluttershy, they’re going to have to do it now, before it gets too risky. You know how it is, safety first!” A yellow hard hat appeared on his head.

Pinkie’s ears turned down. “Aww!” she whined. “But I really really reeeaaaaally need to know!”

“Perhaps another time,” Discord replied, jumping up and flying before looking at Fluttershy. “Come on, Flutterbuddy, Dashie, Sparky. I don’t want any of you to tire out if the wind picks up, come come!”

“Pfft, you think a coupla gusts of wind are gonna bother me?” Rainbow asked smugly. “Puh-lease. I’ve flown in winds ten times harder than this.”

“Maybe you can, but they certainly can’t,” he said, nodding towards the other two. “AJ, Pinkie, Rarity, Spike...keep your ground,” he joked with a wink, before shooting upward.

Rainbow joined him next, while Twilight watched them suspiciously. “...That was weird.”

“Everythin’s weird, if yer askin’ me,” Applejack said. “Magic flowers, wishes turnin’ friends into other creatures, Discord freezin’ up over his own birthday. One of these days, nothin’s gonna surprise me anymore. But go on now.” She waved them off. “If the wind’s pickin’ up, you don’t wanna have any struggles flyin’. Go on, Fluttershy, go show ol’ Rainbow how ya do it.” She gave Fluttershy a confident smile.

“Oh, yes, you’re right,” Fluttershy nodded. “Thanks Applejack. Are you sure you all don’t mind waiting?

“We’ll watch from down here, darling,” Rarity assured her, getting out a sketchbook and a pencil. “We’ll be fine.”

With that, Fluttershy closed her eyes and concentrated, remembering what Discord taught her. It took her a minute, but soon enough, she was floating, and her onlookers watched with interest.

“Come on Flutters!” Rainbow Dash called out, peeking out at her over a cloud with Discord beside her. “We ain’t got all day!”

“Oops, sorry!” She rose up, Twilight following after her.

On the ground, Pinkie sighed as she put the file away. “I was really hoping to learn about Discord’s birthday. The wind is mean.”

Applejack just snorted in amusement. “Yeah, well, maybe it ain’t the wind that’s the problem. Don’t ya think Discord was actin’ kinda strange when ya asked him? And I don’t mean his usual...strangeness. A different kind.”

“I guess...Do you think he’ll tell me later?”

“Just keep askin’ him, and I’m sure you’ll get yer answer.” AJ smirked, and then looked to Rarity, who seemed to be busy sketching. It was most likely a future outfit for the boutique or something, though what it was, AJ couldn’t tell.

She just shrugged. Ah well. All things would be answered…

She looked up to the sky to watch her friends.

Eventually…

While Rainbow and Fluttershy did some basic warm-up exercises, Discord and Twilight got front row cumulus cloud seats to the spectacle. They had sat there for a few moments, eyes on the Pegasus and the (hopefully) temporary Draconequus as they did a few figure-eights in the sky.

Twilight took this time to assess the current situation, to take all the information given to her and process it. So Fluttershy was a Draconequus, and the only way to turn her back was to ‘understand Discord’, whatever that meant. Currently, Discord seemed convinced that if she understood how her new body worked, she would then come to understand him in turn. Twilight agreed partially with this theory; after all, the Wishwell hadn’t just given her the body of a Draconequus, but the magic as well. And this magic was volatile, almost as if it had its own mind, and the body merely its host. It could act on its own if the body and mind could not could not guide it. Teaching Fluttershy how to handle such a dangerous magic was not only a way to fulfill her wish, but a safety precaution for both her and all those around her.

But that wasn’t all there was to it--Twilight had no doubt about that. She had listened to Fluttershy’s story with the same attention she gave her beloved books, soaking in the details so she could examine and evaluate them on her own time. And if there was only one clear thing about the entire situation, it was this--Fluttershy’s wish was to understand Discord, not Draconequui. Her wish was specific, and it was focused solely on the creature that sat beside her.

As this came to her mind, Twilight glanced at him, her eyes scanning his face and stopping at his distracted eyes. His mouth was a deep, straight line, his ears laid back against his head. He rested on his stomach with his claw rested over his paw, his tail leisurely curled to his side.

While this face was by far the most serious look she had ever seen on him, it was his eyes that really caught her attention. He had a specific target, and he was so focused on it that it was easily reflected in his eyes.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy’s voice rang. “H-Hey, ahaha! S-Stop it!”

Fluttershy’s face burst into a smile as she laughed, with Rainbow tickling her long, draconic tail as she flew around it, brushing it with her feathery wings and messy multicolored tail.

Twilight didn’t need to look at her directly to see her laugh; she could see it reflected perfectly in Discord’s golden crimson eyes.

It was funny; by all circumstances, she felt she shouldn’t trust the Draconequus. And in a lot of ways, she still didn’t. She wouldn’t ask him to gather up any active villains any time soon, or any other task akin to what Celestia asked of him.

But ever since she saved him from Tirek’s clutches, ever since he gave her the key to the chest, she began to see him in a more positive light. And as she watched him there, his eyes focused on his oldest and closest friend, Twilight realized something else.

She trusted him with Fluttershy.

She had done so before, of course. After all, Fluttershy had always been able to handle Discord when no one else could. Twilight hadn’t felt the need to supervise every tea party they had together, hadn’t snuck into Fluttershy’s mailbox to read the letters he wrote to her every week. But she trusted him with her because she had faith in Fluttershy.

This time, she needed to have faith in Discord, and she found that she did. In that moment, his focus was all on Fluttershy. He followed her every move, his ears occasionally twitching only to her voice. He was dedicated to her, indebted to her.

If Fluttershy’s magic were to stop, if she were to fall to the ground, he would be there to swoop in to catch her. If some giant dangerous monster with wings came out of nowhere to make Fluttershy his dinner, Discord would be there in a literal snap to protect her. If Fluttershy’s magic overwhelmed her at any time, acting of its own accord and panicking her, he would be there to calm her down and help her control the chaos.

Discord cared about Fluttershy; she was his friend, and she had somehow wormed her way into his stubborn ancient heart. He would do his best not to hurt her again, not like he did when he allied himself with Tirek. Not on purpose.

All of this, Twilight could see in his eyes. They weren’t the eyes of a hungry predator after his prey, but those of a concerned and loyal friend looking out for someone he loved.

But there was something else there too--he refused to acknowledge Twilight’s presence. Yet he had been the reason she was up there, wasn’t he? He wanted her with him, for some reason, but he wasn’t sure how to proceed. Was he nervous? Unsure of himself? Or perhaps he was just being annoying again, waiting for her to crack and try to force the words out of him?

Twilight shook her head...No, she couldn’t get frustrated with him, not after she promised herself she’d try to be more patient with him. She had to be more accepting, more open with him. They couldn’t go back to how it was before. That’s what had got them in trouble in the first place.

“Discord, are you okay?”

He blinked at her question, before finally taking his eyes off Fluttershy and instead focusing them on Twilight. “Hmm?”

“You don’t really need me up here,” she said, sweeping a foreleg around. “You could easily control anything that would go wrong. So why did you insist that I come up with you?”

Blinking, he gave a small shrug. “There’s safety in numbers, is there not? Nothing wrong with being extra careful. Why? Do you not want to be here? Because I’m not stopping you.”

Twilight’s ears sagged. Instead of feeling aggravated by his obvious lie, she felt...disappointed. Her voice was softer than she intended when she finally spoke. “Don’t lie to me, Discord.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, not used to such a quiet tone coming from Twilight. Why, she very nearly sounded like Fluttershy! “Hmmm?”

She broke eye contact with him, watching Rainbow and Fluttershy fly through rings of cloud. “What do you want to say to me?”

“Say to you? Whatever are you--”

“There’s something you’re not saying,” Twilight said. “Something you’re afraid to talk about. What is it?”

Discord’s lips curled back in a slightly annoyed scowl. “You know, you may be a Princess now, but you’re really starting to sound too much like Tia for my taste. Always talking as if you’re some sort of mindreader, acting like you know what’s going on in my mind.”

This time it was Twilight’s turn to scoff. “Oh please. As if anypony could know what’s going on in that crazy head of yours. I may be a, uh...big fan of Celestia’s…” A bright pink blush overtook Twilight’s face. “But even she can’t predict what you’re thinking. But I just know there’s something you want to say to me and can’t. I just…” She looked at his claw and put a hoof on it. “I just want to know what it is.”

Discord just stared at her for a second, overly aware of the hoof that laid on his claw, another thing that only Fluttershy usually did. He then took a deep breath.

“Oh, fine, Princess. You got me!” He raised his paw up in surrender, and left his other claw under Twilight’s grip. “I do have something to say to you, I just don’t know how to go about it, and I don’t want you thinking I’m some puddle of sentimental mush afterward.”

She laughed. “I highly doubt I’ll ever think of the World’s Biggest Headache as a ‘puddle of sentimental mush’,” she said, lifting up both hooves and making quotations. “That’s more my thing than yours.”

He sighed again, and looked at her sincerely. “I just...I just wanted to say…”

“Mmm-hmm?” She nodded. Discord growled at her satisfied, expectant smirk and her one raised eyebrow.

“Would you stop looking like that? I’m trying to tell you something important here!” he said.

Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmmmm….Nah. It’s payback for every time you did it to me.” Her smirk returned.

“Ohohoho, you…!” He grit his teeth, which only made Twilight snicker.

“Come on, Discord. Just tell me! The sooner you do the sooner it’ll be over. Or is that too logical for you?”

He gave her an angry pout. “You know what? Forget it. We’re not friends, and I’m not going to thank you again for saving me from Tirek. I know I had thanked you when I first got out of that blasted bubble, but it was short and I had wanted to expand on that, but now....” He crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at her.

“You wanted to thank me again?” Twilight asked.

“I wanted to, yes. But now…”

“It wasn’t that much, you know,” Twilight interrupted him. “I mean, I had no idea what Tirek was going to do...What he was going to do to you. And if I think about all the things he might have planned…” A shiver went down her spine. “I don’t care how bad or chaotic you are...I wouldn’t want that on anypony…”

Discord’s arms loosened across his chest and his face softened. “...Really?”

She gave a single nod. “I said I’d be your friend, and I wasn’t going to go back on it. I know I was eager to turn you back to stone the first day we released you, but I saw how much faith Fluttershy had in you. And I could see how worried she was for you even after you betrayed her…” Her eyes flicked over to Fluttershy, who was currently being praised by Rainbow Dash for her newfound athletic stamina. “And any friend of Fluttershy’s is a friend of mine.”

She gazed back at him. “And that includes you.”

Discord couldn’t stop it before his eyes grew watery, and Twilight became slightly blurry in his vision. He sniffed and closed his eyes for a moment to gain his composure. Twilight smiled softly and waited patiently for him.

“...Thank you. Truly.” His voice was low and sincere. “You didn’t have to do any of it, but you did. I’m glad to...to have you around.” His face grew slightly hot.

Her smile turned to a smirk again. “I’m glad we’re friends too, Discord.”

Gah. He hated that smirk. He swore she picked that up from him. He stubbornly looked away from her and back on Fluttershy.

They were silent for a few more moments before he remembered something. “And one other thing, Twilight.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t tell Tia about this. Fluttershy and I sent her a few letters last night, requesting that I stay here with her, but we left out the whole ‘Flutters-the-Draconequus’ part. So be sure to keep those pretty little lips sealed, hmm? No letters, either.”

“...You WHAT?” Her eyes bugged out and her hair stood on end. “You mean Celestia doesn’t know? Discord, this is a big thing that’s happened! The flower in itself needs to be studied, and if something happens, we may need to get the Royal Guard to come here to help with anything! And Princess Celestia might be able to--”

“Anything Fluttershy does is nothing I can’t handle, Twily,” Discord shot back. “The Royal Guard knows absolutely nothing on how to combat unharnessed chaos magic. That’s my role. And if your precious little Sun Horse finds out about this, then what do you think will happen, hmm?”

Twilight stood on all four legs now, no longer feeling so relaxed. “Well, I--”

“I’ll tell you what will happen: Celestia and Luna will make a ginormous deal out of it, and require that poor little Fluttershy come and stay at the castle until she turns back. She won’t be able to be in her cottage, with no chance of finding her little animal friends again until she’s allowed to return. And we don’t know how long this spell will last, so what if she’s there for a long period of time? She’ll be absolutely miserable, Twilight.”

He crossed his leg and steepled his fingers together as he continued. “The six of you can’t be in Canterlot all the time to visit, and she won’t have anything familiar around her. I’d be with her, yes, and I suppose she likes the Princesses well enough, but she’s a homebody, Twilight. She would get homesick and she would miss the rest of you. Not only that, but Fluttershy’s cottage is secluded and private. Thanks to that, she can practice her magic with a lesser risk of affecting anypony else.”

“I guess that makes sense, but Discord, what if something happens and we need her? What if--?”

Discord covered her mouth and shut her up with a paw. “Like I said, Princess--I can handle it. I’m far more than capable of protecting Fluttershy and the town than Celestia will ever be. You may not agree with me, but it’s the truth and I’m sticking to it. Besides...Like I said, the cottage is private. Canterlot? Not so much. Fluttershy won’t be able to hide in the city, and she’ll get noticed if she goes there. Do you want all of Equestria in a panic over another Draconequus? I don’t exactly have a shining reputation, and they'll assume that she’ll act just like me.”

She shoved his claw off of her. “No they--”

“Yes they will, and you know it. You and I and all our little friends may know Fluttershy, but most don’t. I’m not even sure if most know who all the Elements of Harmony’s names are. They might know their faces, but Fluttershy’s face is not exactly the same as it was before.”

“B-But…” Her breathing grew deeper, and a trickle of sweat slipped down her face. “I...I’m a Princess now. It’s my responsibility...to let the others know what’s going on in my town...I can’t lie to Celestia!”

“Woah, calm down there, bookworm!” He summoned a paper bag and handed it to Twilight. “Just the fact that you are a Princess now means that you can keep a secret or two to yourself. You’re in charge here!” he said with a flourish. “And besides, does Celestia tell you of every little problem that arises in the rest of Equestria? Of course not!”

She paused her deep breathing and took her muzzle out of the bag. “I wouldn't exactly call this a little problem, Discord.”

“Perhaps not, but I mean it, Sparkle. We can’t tell her. I’m not even doing this for my sake! ...At least, mostly I’m not,” he muttered. “It’s for Fluttershy! You know she’s better off here with me! Fluttershy doesn’t do well with a lot of changes when she’s all freaked out.” He wiggled his fingers and made his eyes cross. “She’s not like me in that regard. The more we can keep the same for her, then the better she’ll be.”

Twilight swallowed so loudly that Discord could hear it. He started to grin. He was getting to her.

“...I don’t like it,” she said.

“I know you don’t.”

“...Can I just...think about this, for a while? I need...time to wrap my head around everything.”

“Sure, as long as you don’t tell Celestia while you’re thinking about it. I will fight you on this, Twilight. I’ll fight you until you’re sick of my voice.”

“I won’t!” Twilight argued back. “I just..” She sighed. “Can I come and check on you guys, then? Just to help keep my peace of mind?”

“Oh, fine, fine,” Discord said, waving her off as if this were all no big deal. “She’ll probably want to see all of you anyway. But not tomorrow. I’ve got plans for the two of us tomorrow.”

“Plans?”

“Yes, we’ll be taking a little field trip tomorrow. I just decided! The poor thing’s been so stressed lately. She needs a vacation! And I can teach her a few things on the way.” His lips turned to a small grin.

“Discord!” Twilight stomped a hoof in protest and flew up to his face. “You literally just told me that she needs familiarity, that she needs to stay at the cottage! Now you’re asking me to consider lying to Princess Celestia while you two take a vacation?!?”

“Calm down, Sparky.” Discord used his paw to push her head down gently, forcing her to sit back on the cloud and fold her wings in. “It’ll only be for a day, and we’ll be right back. We won’t go anywhere that ponies will be present. Your precious little country will be safe.””

“Where are you even going?”

“Oh, just a favorite spot of mine. Nowhere in my chaos dimension, don’t worry.”

“But what if you need help or if something goes wrong?!?” Twilight said. “You said so yourself--there’s safety in numbers! I know you can handle it yourself, but--”

“Twilight, relax.” He cupped her chin and gave her the most serious look he could muster, making her pause. “Everything will be just hunky-dory, I promise you. I won’t let anything happen to Fluttershy. Trust me; she needs this.”

She stared back up at him for a few seconds. He wanted her to trust him. She knew she should try--she was going to have to. But...it was so much easier said than done.

“...I...I’ll try,” she relented.

“That’s all I ask,” he said, letting her chin go. “See? Aren’t I just the most undemanding friend you could ask for? I never ask for much. I’ve only ever wanted trust and a glass of water!”

He snickered as Twilight glared at him. “Don’t push it, buster,” she warned.

“You know I will anyway, Sparky.”

“Ugh.”

Fluttershy began to feel a bit worn out after about an hour, and the four of them made it back to the ground as the time for dinner approached.

Her hair partially covering her face, she giggled and blushed. “Yeah...Thank you. I’m still not as good as you, though,” she said with a smile.

“Hah, well, I am sorta awesome at flying,” Rainbow bragged, a hoof on her heart. “But hey, keep dreamin’ big. You never know. But that was totally awesome!” She hoof-bumped her rabbit paw. “I’ll have to come back before this spell is over and race you.”

“Oh, well...I don’t know when I’ll change back, but sure,” she said. “I’d like that.”

Rarity, who had finished packing her things, put her saddlebag back on. “Well, Fluttershy, it’s been quite a surprise, but I’ll be back soon as well, to take measurements.”

Fluttershy wrinkled her forehead. “Measurements?”

“But of course!” Rarity said. “You don’t think I’d pass the chance for a challenge like this, do you? A dress for a Draconequus!” She clapped her hooves in excitement. “I’ll make sure it’s absolutely divine!”

“And Fluttershy needs a dress why, exactly?” Discord asked dryly, looking at Rarity somewhat suspiciously. “Do you have a problem with the way she looks?”

“Of course not!” she argued back. “Granted, I’m not quite used to you looking like a Draconequus quite yet,” Rarity said to Fluttershy. “But you’re as beautiful as ever, darling. I just want to try making a dress for you, is all!”

Both Discord and Fluttershy stared at her, stunned. Fluttershy blushed from the compliment, while Discord looked slightly miffed.

“You’ve never called me beautiful,” Discord huffed. “Even though we all know it’s true. Where’s my adoration and praise, hmmm?”

“This isn’t about you, Discord. Besides, Fluttershy is infinitely more adorable than you are, no matter the form she’s in.” She smushed Fluttershy’s cheeks together as she smiled up at her. “And she’ll be even more so in a custom-made dress just for her!”

“You really don’t have to--” she managed to say, despite her cheeks being squeezed together.

“Oh, but I must! I’ve been making designs ever since you went flying! It’ll be a wonderful surprise! I’ll come by soon to make some measurements.”

Discord just stood beside her, hunched over and huffing. “I am so adorable.”

Only Fluttershy seemed to have heard him as she pat him on the back with a smile.

“You’ll have to come the day after tomorrow though, Rarity. Apparently they’re going for a trip tomorrow,” Twilight added. “And speaking of trips, I think Spike and I had better head home…” She smiled as her number one assistant climbed on her back. “Hungry, Spike?”

“Starving,” he complained. “But we got a giant emerald back home with my name written all over it!”

“That reminds me! I have to go help look after Pound and Pumpkin while the Cakes restock the store!” Pinkie remembered as she gasped. “I almost forgot! D’awww. Oh well!”

She bounced back up, then looked at Discord. She shoved a hoof in his nose. “Don’t think this is over, mister. I’ll find out your birthday, no matter what!”

Discord tried not to gulp. Pinkie really threw him off sometimes. Too much for his own liking.

They all then agreed to start making their way back to town for their different reasons--besides, it wasn’t only Spike that was ready for dinner.

“So...I’ll see you all later, I hope…?” Fluttershy said, twiddling her fingers.

Their voices all mixed together as they all assured her they would.

“Of course darling!”

“You know it!”

“Yeah, and we can throw a Draconequus party!”

“Duh!”

“Somepony’s gotta look after ya besides Discord. Ah’ll bring ya some good stuff to eat.”

Twilight smiled, though her nerves were still on high alert from the thought of keeping anything from Celestia. “Nothing between us has changed, Fluttershy,” she assured her.

Twilight then gave her a hug around the torso, and soon all the girls were having a big group hug. Discord rolled his eyes. “So corny, blech…”

Fluttershy giggled and surprised Discord by wrapping her tail around him and forcing him into the hug, making the others laugh.

“Hey!” Discord argued, his face red. “Fluttershy! That’s my thing! I’m the one that’s supposed to grab you when you least expect it!”

He only complained more as they all laughed. He tried to ignore the lightweight, warm feeling in his chest.

Pfffft. Friendship.

The girls all separated at a point in the road, with Rainbow setting off to the sky and Pinkie bouncing hurriedly down the dirt path, explaining quickly that she had to keep going or she’d be late. AJ and Rarity were about to join her when Twilight stopped them.

“Can you take Spike with you?” Twilight said. “I think I need to...take a little walk.”

Rarity and AJ shared a look before looking back at her.

“Sure, but is everything alright, Twi?” Applejack asked as Spike took his favorite place by Rarity’s side. “Still reelin’ from the whole Fluttershy thing?”

“Yeah, amongst the usual crazy stuff,” Twilight joked. “Spike, I’ll see you at home soon, okay? I won’t be long.”

“No problemo,” Spike assured her, giving her a salute. “I’ll have a grilled cheese sandwich waitin’ for ya when you do!”

She laughed, rubbing Spike affectionately on the head. “Thanks, Spike. Thanks girls,” she added, smiling at them. “I’ll see you all later.”

Once they were out of sight, Twilight’s wings flared open, and she flew over the canopy of the forest. As often as she had been in the Everfree, she still liked the advantage she had with wings. It was still creepy in that place, and it was nice that she could just head on over there whenever she wanted without having to trek through all the trees.

When she found the correct spot, she gently flew down and landed in front of Zecora’s hut.

But before she could even knock, the door opened for her. Expecting to see a zebra, she gasped when a blue flower with tiny wings hovered in front of her.

“You again? But I turned you back to normal!”

“Sometimes normal is not always best; it can be good to stick out from the rest.”

Twilight’s eyes landed on Zecora, who made her way to her guest, opening the door wider for her. “Please, come into my humble abode,” she invited, gesturing towards a chair at her table. “And allow yourself to unload.”

Twilight did as she suggested and sat at the familiar wooden chair. “So...how did you know the flower had…?” she began to ask.

“I think you already know the answer to that,” Zecora said as she shut the door closed and joined her at the table. “That’s why we’re here, to have a little chat.” She crossed her hooves, a serene smile on her face. It reminded Twilight briefly of Celestia--always smiling. Were most wise ponies always so smiley?

She shook the thought off. I can’t get off track. “What do you mean?”

“You and I both know why you are here. Why hesitate? Go on, share with me your fear.”

“...Does that mean I’m right when I suspect you have something to do with Fluttershy’s current...predicament?” Twilight said carefully. “I mean, there’s a Wishwell involved, and I’ve read all there can be read on them; there’s not that much known about them. But what we do know is that it’s not a plant. It’s a solid form of Earth magic.”

Flower flippity-flapped onto Zecora’s shoulder, curving its stem as if it had a hide to sit on. It cocked its head at Twilight.

“And anypony who studies magic knows that Zebras are the only creatures that can communicate with Earth Magic. Has Discord come to talk to you?” Twilight asked.

Zecora laughed. “He has no need to come see me; that’s how it is supposed to be. He knows what he needs to do; the one that needs directions is you.” She tapped Twilight on the chest.

“Huh?”

“It is true that I have put a hoof into all that has occurred,” Zecora continued to explain, taking a pause to sip at some tea. “Though it was not my idea; of that, you have my word. It is the Earth magic that asked me to plant the seed. And as its servant, I made sure to do the deed.”

Twilight graciously accepted a cup of tea after Zecora finished pouring one for her. “So you knew that Fluttershy would turn into a Draconequus.”

Zecora shook her head. “No, and I had no idea what kind of wish Fluttershy would make. But I did not need to; there was too much at stake.”

Her words made Twilight stop mid-sip. Her ears perked up as she straightened in her seat. “Too much at stake?”

Zecora nodded. “As you have begun to learn, Princess, this world of magic is full of mystery….but also fragility. You see, there is a Balance, written with a capital ‘B’. On one side, there is disorder…”

She raised one hoof, and then another, imitating a balance beam. “And on the other, harmony. This is one of the many things that the Earth keeps in check. Without the Balance, this planet’s a wreck.”

Twilight’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Are you saying that we actually need chaos and disorder? Why?”

“Ponies have labeled Discord’s passions as evil and bad. It is very rare that his antics make anyone glad. But if his powers were not necessary, then why would Discord be here?” She tilted her head at Twilight.

“I don’t know,” she answered, eyes now on the table. “I guess I never really thought about it…”

Zecora smiled again, and said softly: “Even he has a purpose, and it is not to cause fear. In the past, he has been quite a harm and has gone astray...but that is not where his destiny lay. If he were truly an evil foe, then reformation would not have been the way to go. But Fluttershy was able to see all that he could be...even when he could not.”

Her voice then turned more somber. “But then he decided to give world domination another shot.”

Twilight nodded. “Which is what lead to Fluttershy making her wish in the first place...Listen, I mean this in the most respectful of ways, but Zecora...I already know all of that. What I don’t get is what that has to do with the Balance, and why it’s apparently...at risk?”

The Zebra was not insulted, more than happy to explain things further for her. “You have seen the depth of Discord’s regret and self-hatred. He was incredibly depressed after Tirek was defeated. Fluttershy, too, was at a loss for what to do. She felt it was her fault that it turned out the way it did, and they avoided each other, for the pain was too hard to rid.”

She paused to take a breath. “The only reason Discord had come to Ponyville all those days ago, was because he sensed powerful magic had come to flow. He thought Fluttershy was in danger, afraid harm would come to her through a dangerous stranger. Do you think he would have gone to her otherwise? I do not think so. He would have most definitely been a no-show.”

“You mean they were supposed to meet anyway?” Twilight guessed.

Zecora nodded, taking another sip to wet her throat. “They usually meet once a week to share cake and tea. But when it came to Fluttershy’s friendship, he felt no longer worthy. It was predicted by the Earth and by me, that he would not show up for tea.”

“Aaaaaaaand this was a threat to the Balance?” Twilight said, not quite buying it yet. “Because Discord was going to stand Fluttershy up?”

Zecora laughed again. “Always the sarcastic one, you are. Oh, Twilight, you have come so very far…” She laughed a few more times before calming down, putting a hoof on her chest. “But the answer is no, my little pony. That is only part of the story. You see, Fluttershy’s friendship with Discord is more important than even Celestia knows...and in time, this will come to show. But Discord’s magic is needed now, more than ever, my friend. His powers and skills...must never come to an end.”

Blink, blink. “You mean...You think Discord would have felt so guilty that he would have stopped using his magic?”

“He would not have stopped it entirely...It would be impossible for him to do so completely. But…”

Her gaze went past Twilight to the far window, where she watched a few leaves being blown by the wind. “He would have eventually cut off all ties with Equestria, including his favorite pony...even if it made him very lonely. He would have refused to be our ally, and all we’d have left, forever…the power of harmony.”

“Really?” Twilight whispered. “He felt that bad?”

“So strongly that the Earth itself could feel his pain; his grief would eventually have driven him insane. But his friendship with Fluttershy…It is a symbol of two forces coming together to become something unstoppable. For with the power of both harmony and chaos, nothing is impossible. For is it not in a struggle that we learn to conquer? Is it not in disharmony that we grow stronger? Chaos has a beauty and a significance all on its own; there is no reason for it to be all alone. Ponies, including myself, have failed to understand Discord, that much is true--but that is what Fluttershy is striving to do.”

Zecora’s gaze stayed on the window for a moment longer, and Twilight paused to wrap her head around her words.

“...So ponies need to be able to understand Discord’s side of things...and Fluttershy’s the one that can make that happen...because their friendship is important to both of them. She can understand him, and even learn firsthand how chaos magic can help the world...and set an example for everypony else.”

Zecora looked back at Twilight, and smiled her approval, nodding. “And the Balance will not go askew, and happiness will come to the unlikely two.”

A smile finally came to Twilight’s face, the fog of her mind slowly dissipating into something akin to understanding. She still wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but she understood the gist of it. But if Twilight was being honest with herself, the last reason was the one Twilight most cared about.

Happiness will come to the unlikely two.

“...And can you be sure that this will happen? Can we be certain that Fluttershy will turn back?” Twilight asked softly.

“That is something only time will tell.” Zecora slid off her chair, with Flower still at her side, and came over to Twilight, a supportive hoof on her withers. “We can’t time it like an alarm clock or the ringing of a bell. But Fluttershy and Discord are a good team, and I have faith that her wish will come true. And I’d like to think that you do too.”

Twilight nodded. “...I do. But I’m worried…There’s not much I can do for them, and they want me to keep it a secret from Princess Celestia. I don’t want to lie to her, Zecora! I never lie to the Princesses.”

She clutched Zecora by the withers. “I understand that this is all important, and Discord actually made sense when he explained why Celestia shouldn’t know, but--”

Zecora was quick to interrupt her, putting a hoof to her lips. “Hush now, child...There’s no need for your worries to make you wild.” She gently removed Twilight’s hooves from her withers and held them together between her own.

“It is natural for you to be concerned; especially since you are the Princess of Friendship, the title you’ve earned. But I’m afraid what Discord asked of you--I must do the same. But of this, you will not have to take the blame.”

“What do you mean? You think Celestia will find out? Ugh…” Twilight shook her head. “Of course she will. She and Luna, maybe even Cadance! They’re the Princesses! And Fluttershy’s a Draconequus with powers! That can’t possibly be hidden forever. I have to tell them. I can’t just…”

“You can and you must, and my words you must trust.” She put a hoof on Twilight’s cheek, an urgency in her eyes that Twilight hadn’t seen before.

“ I promise you, Twilight Sparkle, that you will not be at fault when this is over and done. I will be the one, when the Princesses come to call, to take responsibility for it all. They too know of the Earth and my duty of service. They will understand after I explain. So please, do not be nervous.”

Tears came to Twilight's eyes. “It’s hard being a Princess, Zecora. This whole year, all that’s happened...And now this, where I have to keep all these secrets...It’s so difficult.”

Zecora’s heart then overflowed with affection for the young Princess. She had known that Twilight had been through a lot, but she hadn’t expected the tears. Twilight was always such a brave and strong pony...So she couldn’t help but feel sorry that she had put this extra burden on her friend’s withers.

Flower seemed to have felt the same way, for it flitted over to Twilight and brushed a stray tear away from her face, the sensation tickling her and making her giggle. “H-Hey! I’m not a watering can, you know.”

“It likes to be nuzzled, the little Flower does,” Zecora added. “I decided to keep it as company...just because.” She smiled.

Twilight laughed again and nuzzled the flower right on the yellow face of it. “I can see why. I’m sorry I took your wings away, uh...Little Flower, was it?…I didn’t think you liked flying so much!”

With a leaf, Flower seemed to wave it off. As far as Flower was concerned, all was well.

Zecora then gently pulled Twilight into a hug. “I know being a Princess is hard, and I’ve made it harder still. But you know if you ever need anypony to help you with anything, then come to me, and I will.”

Twilight sniffled as she hugged her back, and she was soothed once more. “Thank you, Zecora,” she said after pulling away. “I know you’re only doing what the magic wants you to do. I trust you. I’ll pull through, somehow. It’ll be hard, but I won’t tell Celestia or anypony else. And I’m guessing I need to keep quiet about all you’ve told me from Fluttershy and Discord too?”

Zecora could not resist rhyming with her, and grinned.

“Please and thank you.”

They laughed together as Flower laid down on a pillow by the hearth to rest. The day was coming to an end.

But even as Zecora laughed, she knew that was all that would end anytime soon.

For the journey has only begun.

Author's Notes:

Aaaaand chapter six, done!

WHOOOOO!

Lemme tell ya guys...Things are really gonna start picking up from here on out. I feel like this story's been kinda slow, but now that all the important characters are in the know, we can finally move on! So they're gonna have a lil' field trip next time, and the whole chapter will be nothin' but fluttercord! YESSSSHHHHHHH.

And hopefully Tirek won't come up as often from here on out. I'm getting kinda tired of typing up his name and bringing that subject up again. 'Tis time for us to move on with the story!

Just a coupla final things--

One. If anyone wants to design a dress for Fluttershy as a Draconequus, go right on ahead. Because I have no idea. I'll come up with something if I need to, but I am taking in ideas.

Two. If there seems to be a chunk or anything missing from this chapter, please let me know. Sometimes, for some reason, the system messes up when i upload the gdoc...It'll forget one or two sentences, but my eyes are tired. I think I got it all, but if you think I missed something, please let me know and I'll check.

Three. Yes, I realize Fluttershy didn't react to Twilight bringing up the trip to the others. She doesn't know. She'll bring it up next time, I promise. So there's really no chunk missing there, haha.

Four. I enjoy writing Zecora. :D This is not important, I just wanted you to know that.

Five. I BROUGHT FLOWER BACK!!!! I admit, I find Flower fun, and hey, Zecora needs a little assistant too, amIright???

Okay then!

I hope you all enjoyed this, and I'd be so happy to hear your thoughts. As always, constructive criticism is always appreciated. Heck, just telling me the parts you liked is enough for me, too!

You guys rock. Next chapter's gonna be fuuuuuuuuuun~

The Field Trip

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Magic

Chapter Seven: The Field Trip

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

He slithered across the floor, flicking his tongue like a snake, his body easily sliding across the wood as he slowly opened the door.

Creeeeeeeeaaaak.

“Sssssssssss…” went his tongue as it flicked forward. He chuckled quietly to himself. Oh, how fun this was...

In his vision, a red target locked on to a source of heat found in the room, blinking and highlighting the prey.

Target sighted. Target identified. Name: Fluttershy. Species: Draconequus. Target safe for approach.

Ah, but is it safe for her?

“~Hmm hmm hmm…” he cackled.

He slithered up onto the end of the bed, his victim right in front of him, sleeping peacefully in her tightly-wrapped magical blanket. A ray of sunshine fell across her face, though this did not wake her. She looked peaceful and content. A lovely sight, indeed.

Ah, such a pity that I have to ruin it.

But his mischievous smile contradicted his thoughts. It seemed that he wouldn’t regret what he was about to do.

But she needs no beauty sleep, so really, I’m doing her a favor.

He arched his back, which made him resemble a sort of W-shape, his head and tail raised.

“My dearest, darlingest little Fluttershy…” he whispered.

He braced his back legs, before he suddenly pushed off of them and took off like a rocket, only to land on the target’s chest.

“WAKEY WAKEY, EGGS WITHOUT BACEY!!!”

Her eyes shot open and she screamed like a banshee, making an attempt to get away before realizing that her blanket held her there. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

In her panic, Discord jumped up and floated above her as her magic instantly reacted and turned her blanket into a soft shell with lettuce, salsa, cheese,and guacamole--a literal Flutterburrito.

“Now Fluttershy--”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” With the magical blanket no longer binding her, she rolled over and tore the burrito open, falling onto the floor. “Umph!”

Her eyes were turquoise swirls as she laid there dizzy for a moment, and Discord swooped back down on the bed with a concerned look on his face.

“Okay, that was supposed to be funny, but...Are you all right, Fluttershy?”

“Ohhhhh…” She laid a hand on her forehead, rubbing it and coming to her senses. “Discord…”

“Okay, actually, it was a little funny. But you hurt yourself before I could start laughing!”

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. “You scared me.”

Discord nodded with a smile. “But for a good reason, you little yellow noodle you. Though I really didn’t mean to put a bump on your noggin.” Taking a claw, he laid his hand over the obvious bump on her head, and gently pushed it down. Fluttershy marveled at how it didn’t hurt in the slightest as he did so, and the bump disappeared as if it had never existed. The pain was gone.

“Can you teach me how to heal like that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ohoho, that depends how long you end up a Draconequus, my dear,” Discord said, checking over her to make sure she wasn’t hurt anywhere else. “Healing is extremely hard, especially at the beginning. For how exactly is healing something supposed to cause disharmony? But we can talk about that later. Because we have to get going!” He broke into a grin and stood up, offering her a hand up.

She took it and got to her feet, a confused look on her face. “Get going? Get going where? In fact, what time is…”

She turned her neck to look at the clock. It was 6:45 a.m, the sun fresh and bright after arriving to greet the earth. Her biological clock usually got her up at seven, but Discord hardly ever got up so early. She was surprised to see that he had planned this, that he had gotten up just to get her.

He wagged a pointer talon at her. “~It’s! A! Secret!~” he singsonged, looking so excited that Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a little excited herself. “But it’s a field trip of sorts, so we’ll be gone all day. Don’t bother packing, I’ll conjure up anything you need.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, ready to ask about her animal friends, when she realized that her friends no longer wanted her around. She glanced out the window into the empty yard. “Um...What about Angel?”

At the mention of his name, the rabbit looked up from the pillow on the window sill he had slept on, blinking sleepily and waving his paw at her. Yet despite his obvious tiredness, he still had the energy to keep an annoyed look on his face.

“Ughhh. Just go. I need a break from wormhorse anyway. I’ll be fine. Just be quiet, why don’t you??” He groaned and put a smaller pillow beside him over his head. “Stupid loud wormhorse, making everypony scream. No respect, there’s no respect with him around…”

Fluttershy whispered “sorry” to him with a quick pat on the back while Discord just rolled his eyes. As if that rabbit knew anything about respect!

“How long will we be gone, though?” Fluttershy asked Discord. “And is it somewhere in another dimension or is it on this world? Is there anything dangerous I should know? What about ponies seeing me?!? Oh, Discord, I just don’t know if now is the time to--”

He put a finger to her lips to shush her, before removing it to put a paw and claw on her shoulders. “And your worries are precisely why I think you need this. Why we both need this. I’m perfectly capable of staying in one place, but I’m always craving to go somewhere. And you’re right; we don’t want ponies to find out about you, which is why we’ve been stuck in this cottage the past few days. It’s been awfully stressful, hasn’t it?” he cooed, rubbing his thumbs along her shoulders gently, his fingers magically warm to relieve her tense muscles.

Her nerves immediately felt soothed and she took a deep, relaxing breath, closing her eyes. “Mmm-hmm...Not that it hasn’t been fun, but…”

“I know, I know,” he said, nodding his head sympathetically. “And what better way to relieve such stress than a vacation? It’ll only be a day, and I can poof us right back here in the morning. And there’s no need to worry about any ponies...We’ll be nice and remote from any signs of civilization. Nothing will be around except for all the exotic, beautiful, friendly and simply amazing animals there…”

He smirked as her eyes popped open, wide and excited as she gazed back at him with her mouth open slightly. “Animals? Exotic ones?” She smiled and made her hands into fists, waving them back and forth. “Really?!?”

“Really really!” he said, nodding his head, a satisfied smirk on his face. “I’ve been to this place before. And there’s no need for you to worry about any animals avoiding you. They’ll be a bit more experienced with unfamiliar creatures than your little forest friends will be.”

“Really?!?” Her smile widened so much that Discord thought it cut her face in half. “Because I miss animals so much, I need to see more of them!” She then turned to Angel, who was still struggling to sleep. “Not that I don’t love you, Angel…”

He just waved it off again and grunted.

“I promise you’ll meet so many animals that you won’t know what to do with yourself,” Discord said, then took her wrist. “But like I said, we’ve got to get going. We’ll want to get there in plenty of time to enjoy the day there. So shall we?”

Without hesitation, with the promise of new animal friends in the front of her mind, she nodded eagerly.

After a quick breakfast of eggs and tea (but no bacon), they headed outside the door to begin their flight.

“Now that I think about it, I remember Twilight saying something about a trip yesterday. I just didn’t dwell on it. This is what she was talking about?” Fluttershy asked as Discord began to levitate.

“Yep. I thought I’d tell her so she’d know. We wouldn’t want our little grape Princess to come visit and check on you, only to get in a tizzy when she found out we were gone, did we? And since she did mention it, now all our little pony friends know we won’t be home. Now come on!” he said, waving her up towards him. “Let’s go!”

“Couldn’t you just poof us there? Or is it because I need more practice?”

Discord gasped. “Fluttershy!” He put a hand to his heart. “Don’t you know?”

Her ears flipped up in interest. “Know what?”

“Half the fun is getting there, my dear! Trust me, there are some things you’ll want to see on the way there. So come on! Time’s a-wastin’!”

Fluttershy then closed her eyes and persuaded her magic to flow out of her, remembering Discord’s magnetic method of flying. She still had to concentrate; she couldn’t just begin floating at the drop of a hat like her tutor could. But she still managed to be a little quicker about it than the last time.

“There you go, looking good,” Discord said, circling around her to check over the flow of her magic. “Nice and steady...Good to know it’s sticking with you! Sometimes you’ll have it down one day, only to go all wonky the next. Think you’ll be able to do this for a while?”

She nodded, her face flushed slightly from the praise and from her own rare sense of self-pride. “I...actually feel really good!”

Discord clapped his hands, sending a burst of confetti around them. “Excellent! In that case…”

He laid the tip of his tail against the ground and it began to coil tightly like a spring. He braced himself, keeping his body as straight as an arrow with his arms out forward, Superstallion style.

Boing!

In an instant, his tail uncoiled and he soared upward, cutting through the air like a hot knife on butter, going up so high that he became nothing but a dot in only a matter of seconds. It had been so fast that it created a draft that untamed Fluttershy’s hair, frizzing it and making it stick up in a less-than-flattering style.

“CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!”

And after quickly smoothing her hair down, giving a laugh at Discord’s playfulness, she made her way up to the sky to join her friend.

“I’m coming!”

And once again, Fluttershy found herself in awe of how incredibly easy it was to fly with her magic. The wind seemed to stroke through her strawberry milk mane as it flowed wild and free behind her, while the sun seemed to prefer kissing her back, warming it as she soared above the clouds. Her smile refused to die, and she didn’t even notice how happy she looked.

She had flown on days like this before, and she had flown at such heights before. But her anxieties and the limits her pony body had given her had never allowed her to truly enjoy the one thing wingless ponies envied them for.

The world from below was so beautiful, yet odd, from such a height. Farms had somehow cultivated fields that resembled perfect squares, like tiles of the world’s most realistic mosaic. Even the largest of buildings looked like a foal’s set of building blocks scattered on a tapestry of greens, tans, and browns. Mountains stretched upward towards her while clouds rolled both above and below, and both the land and sky seemed to stretch on forever towards the horizon, as if they were in a race themselves towards the end of time.

And when she took a break from appreciating the blessings of flight, she reminisced on flying with Rainbow Dash the day before. The memories themselves did enough to double the amount of pride she felt in her body, making her feel so happy and accomplished that she felt as if she were floating without the use of magic. For a moment, she felt guilty for such pride--she always thought she should be humble--but she decided to forgive herself, and just enjoy the moment.

After all, I am a Draconequus...and that’s what Discord does. Her smile grew at the thought. Maybe I should do that as a pony, too…

So she continued on with her memories, picturing the look of Rainbow’s initial surprise at her skills, only for her to grow impressed.

“Wow, Flutters. You’re so fast now! I never thought I’d see the day…” Rainbow’s eyes then began to glitter slightly, before she had to turn around to wipe her face.

“Rainbow…? Are you…?”

“No way, my eyes are just dry!” Rainbow said, whipping around to look back at her. “But...I mean...Look at ya. Just...look at ya…”

She flew backwards a little for a better picture. Fluttershy’s eyes were clear from clouding worries, her muscles loose and relaxed as she floated there, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Rainbow had never seen Fluttershy look like that while she was in the sky, and her voice was slightly thick when she spoke again, her eyes watery again.

“I mean, I know it’s not like it’s your first flight or anything, but what you’re doing now...That feeling you have, right now? You know what that is?”

The skin around Fluttershy’s eyes wrinkled slightly. “Um, no?”

“That’s flying, Fluttershy. There’s flying, and then there’s flying. And what you’re doing right now, the reason you’re feeling so invincible...That’s real flying. And that’s where all the joy of it comes from. I had always hoped one day I’d get to see you...do that…”

Now they both were crying slightly, though it was soft enough to go unnoticed by Discord and Twilight.

“Magic or wings, I’m proud of ya, Flutters.” She gave her a tight hug around her torso. “You’re 100% cool, and don’t forget that, okay?” Rainbow then leaned towards her ears. "Though, you were always that cool. Just thought you needed a reminder."

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash…” She wiped her eyes before returning the hug. “That means so much to me…”

And it still did, and she had to shake her head to keep herself from crying again, sighing as the pressure from behind her eyes lessened…

“Too much pressure in your ears? Hmmm. I would have thought you’d at least be used to that.”

Fluttershy turned to Discord, who was now by her side rather than in front of her. She smiled sheepishly, turning to him. “No, that’s--” But she gasped before finishing her sentence, catching a gleaming shade of blue in her vision...

“What?” Discord asked, cocking his head in confusion. “That’s what?”

But Fluttershy only darted forward, only to break a few clouds apart as she struggled to clear the way in front of her.

Like a pony opening her curtain windows, she poked her head through, and she gasped again, though this time, her entire face lit up.

“The ocean! Discord, Discord!” She turned around and put her hands on his shoulders, only to shake him.

“It’s the ocean!”

The truth was, they had been traveling longer than Fluttershy had originally thought. She had been so caught up with the world and her own memories that she had lost track of time, to which Discord had simply said:

“Time flies when you’re having fun! Pun completely intended.”

Of course, after Discord had stopped to chuckle at his own joke, he watched as Fluttershy drank in the ocean with her eyes, which seemed a darker blue as they reflected the ocean’s depths.

“Now, don’t tell me you’ve never seen the ocean before!” Discord said. “Surely with all your friendship-spreading adventures, you’ve come across the big blue?”

“Well, yes, I mean...Manehattan is surrounded by ocean, but...but I’ve never really flown over it! Or swam in it. Or anything! And I knew it was big, but…”

She then pulled the rest of her body through the cloud, and drifted down until all the clouds were above her, and there was nothing but green-blue sparkling water beneath her.

“Does it ever end…?” she whispered to herself breathlessly.

But rather than answer the question, Discord just looked at her, remembering the first time he had realized just how big the ocean was. Of course now, considering that he often visited other dimensions and galaxies, the ocean really wasn’t that big to him anymore. But he still remembered how magnificent it was, and how many mysteries it held in its depths. It was vast and dangerous, yet calming and peaceful. Always subtly changing, it was something to be admired, something to be questioned and explored. He loved the ocean.

And it seemed she did too.

Discord smirked. “Perhaps the bottlenose dolphins could tell you. They’re a rather chatty species, after all…”

And immediately, her attention switched from the depths below her to the Draconequus beside her. “Dolphins? Did you say dolphins?!? As in the saltwater mammal? Because they’re not fish, Discord!” She shoved her face against his, her excitement hardly contained as she grabbed his shoulders. It actually surprised Discord, reminding him of when Pinkie grew over-excited and actually made him uncomfortable.

But since it was Fluttershy, his surprise vanished after a second, only to smile at her Pinkie-like behavior.

“They’re mammals! Sharks are fish, but not dolphins! Did--”

She then noticed Discord’s mouth go from a straight line to a smile, and realized what she had done. With an embarrassed blush on her face, she gave him another sheepish smile as she let go of him and backed up. “Um, I mean...D-Did you know that, Discord? About...about the dolphins?”

He smirked. “What, you think you’re the only animal expert around? I’ve palled around with many-a dolphin in the past! Just because your furry friends and I aren’t the bestest of pals doesn’t mean I can’t get along with any animals.”

“So you think we’ll get to see them? Is this where we’re going?”

“Ah ah ah, I’m not telling you where we’re going until we’re there, so don’t you try and get an answer out of me!” he said, wagging a finger at her. “Because trust me, I know all the tricks!”

“But I just thought--”

“You can’t fool me, Dr. Doobridle!” A fool’s hat with jangling golden bells appeared on his head. “I’m not joking; my lips are sealed!” A candlewax seal with a stamp of his visage appeared in the middle of his lips.

Fluttershy just sighed, and turned to scan the ocean, in hopes of perhaps seeing a dolphin or two, only to see nothing. She slowly floated forward, hoping that he had brought up dolphins for a reason…

Only for a tail to wrap around her torso, yanking her to the side as she felt Discord fly against a blow of wind.

“Wrong way, Shutterfly! If you want dolphins, we’ll need warmer, shallower water!” He looked back at her. “Don’t you know that, Miss Animal Expert?”

She rolled her eyes. She knew it; she knew he’d eventually stop joking around and actually do what he meant to.

With his tail still coiled around her, she hugged it in thanks.

He really was a sweetheart underneath it all.

It was another two hours before Discord, who by then had long since released her and let her fly on her own, stopped Fluttershy from passing him. With a victorious smile, he said nothing as she gave him a hopeful, questioning look, before pointing ahead of them, towards a long pod of swimming dolphins.

Fluttershy gave off a squeal so high it sounded like she was on helium before she whipped by Discord, rushing towards them. With a laugh, he followed.

She was just about to get closer and try to get their attention when she remembered the terrified looks of her animals’ faces back home, when they saw her in her new body. She suddenly grew afraid, and hid herself behind a cloud.

So close, and yet so far…

Discord came up from behind her, wondering what made her so bashful all of a sudden. “What’s wrong, Skipper? You see a handsome stallion riding one of the dolphins or something? Because if so, I have got to see that.”

Despite her fears, she never took her eyes off the beautiful, graceful dolphins feeding on the school of fish just a small distance away, peeking through the cloud, wondering if this had all been a bad idea. After all, animals liked her pony self. They liked the small yellow Pegasus with weak wings.

But she now resembled a flying noodle with powers so unpredictable that it could turn the world upside down if her emotions got a hold of them. Sure, she could fly, and it had been incredible, but a life without animals…

She couldn’t bear the thought.

“Fluttershy?” Discord tried again.

“Do you really think they won’t be afraid of me?” she asked. “Because I don’t...I don’t think…”

Discord somehow managed to hold back a sigh. This again. Was she going to be like this when they finally got to the rainforest? He couldn’t let that happen. He’d done this for fun, not to have Fluttershy sulking. He’d initially planned this for her, even if he did benefit from it himself. She was the reason he chose this place in particular.

But there was a selfish part of it too. She needed to enjoy this, but he needed her to as well. For once, he wanted to do something for her that didn’t go completely out of hand, no matter how much fun that usually was for him. The last time he had done something for her, his crazy sort-of-ex-feline-friend had tried to bite her face off in a jealous rage, only for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to be taken by a prehistoric bird. And even though it had all turned out fine, he just wanted...He wanted…

He wanted to see his best friend happy. Not the regular, everyday kind of happiness, but the kind where the world felt incredible and all that mattered was what was happening in the moment. The kind where her eyes, her mind, and her heart were wide open, when she became more curious and more observant than she usually was, and wanted to explore all that was around her without fear or failure.

And while he had seen her with glimpses of that over the past few days, he really wanted to see it more. And he wanted to be the reason for it. After all, he had caused her pain so many times, and had maybe even broken her heart, once.

He had to make this work. He just had to.

“Fluttershy.” Discord said from behind her, a paw on her shoulder. “Your animals at home were afraid because they expected to see a pony, and got a magicalicious Draconequus chica instead. Those dolphins, however--” He pointed at them. “--have never met you before. For all they know, you might be mermare that knows how to fly!”

She gave him a look. “Um, I don’t think you know what mermares are supposed to look like.”

He waved the comment off. “Oh, whatever, does it really matter? Come on, I’ll show you there’s nothing to worry about. I’d hate to see you unhappy all day, when there’s so much for you to see! The world’s waiting for you, my dear, and it doesn’t like getting stood up, you know. Especially when it’s got a hot date with two of the most magnificent creatures that ever existed.” He offered her his hand. “And you know that I’m always right,” he added, in a tone that was almost sarcastic.

She looked back up at him. In the last few days, he had done nothing but believe in her, and actually had been right about how things would turn out, including every time she had doubted herself. It was because of him that she knew what it was truly like to fly, because of him that she could walk on her own two feet.

And it made sense. The animals back home had probably thought she was one of Discord’s kin, maybe even a mean unreformed one that had taken over Fluttershy’s household in revenge for befriending Discord...

She blinked. Oh dear. It seemed Discord’s imagination was rubbing off on her. Or was it Pinkie’s? Either way, hopefully she’d be able to assure her animals that she was okay, one day.

But for now, she wasn’t home, and Discord was trying to have some fun with her. And animals that she had only ever seen in books, animals she’d only ever dreamed of meeting, were right in front of her, just in reach. And once again, Discord was the reason this was possible.

She felt a small push against her webbed fingers.

“...Well go on then, take my hand. I know it’s a wonderfully elegant one, especially since I filed and polished my claws last night, but I promise you won’t break a nail,” he joked. “Oh, but this is all you get. Don’t expect a magical carpet ride or anything. And while I look splendid in a turban, I really don’t like wearing them. They’re itchy.”

Once again, she had no idea what he was talking about. But she was used to that, so she just giggled and took his hand.

“Let’s go meet the dolphins!” he said.

And with that, he gently swooped down towards the water until they were both right above the ocean, hand-in-hand. Discord gave out a laugh and dipped the tip of his tail in the water, the water rippling as it did so. Fluttershy copied him, touching the ocean for the first time, and at once, she felt as if she were a part of something much bigger than herself. It was a feeling she hadn’t had in a long time.

But the splashing sounds their tails made alerted the dolphins, and Fluttershy prayed that they wouldn’t be afraid as they got closer.

Many of them stopped to look at the strange pair of creatures approaching them, watching them. And as small as their eyes were, they seemed to widen with bright curiosity.

“Ahoy, my rubber blubber amigos!” Discord let go of Fluttershy’s hand, and in one swift rotation, he got on his feet, skating on the top of the ocean like a water strider bug. Snapping his fingers, a hot pink tutu appeared on his waist, and he jumped high into the air. When he reached as high as he could go, he spun in a perfect pirouette, his hands clasped together above his head, before he descended back down on one foot, and coming to a slow stop right in front of his oceanic audience.

The dolphins broke out in applause. They slapped their fins and their tails. They made a high-pitched sound that resembled whistling. They jumped out of the air, some twirling in imitation of Discord, while others made perfect arcs as they jumped to and fro, all of them praising him for the display.

“That was fun!”

“You’re fun!”

“We should play together, that would be fun!”

“More fun, we need to have more fun!”

Fluttershy was speechless, though it wasn’t from Discord’s performance. She was too busy looking at the dolphins, cataloging them in her mind, observing their actions and mannerisms and personalities. The most obvious thing about them, however...was that they seemed to live for the word ‘fun’.

No wonder Discord got along with them.

And of course, he was drinking up the praise, as it were. Fluttershy could tell. Every time his ego was stroked, he tended to puff out his chest and put a fist over his chest, and stood straight and tall for all to see. And the dolphins were more than willing to give him cause to do so.

“I can spin in the air like you too, see?” A dolphin that was slightly smaller than the others jumped up and began to spin, but didn’t manage to finish a rotation before she splashed back down in the water. “Though not as long or as high as you!”

“I give it five out of five splashes!”

“You didn’t even touch the water! None of us can do that!”

“But it looked like so much fun!”

“WAAAAIT!”

The smaller dolphin’s commotion caused the others to stop and look at her. She then slapped her tail.

“We forgot his friend! I’ll bet she’s fun too! Hey you! You want a fish?” The dolphin briefly shoved her head underwater, only to come up with a flopping fish in her jaws.

Discord started to snicker as Fluttershy, who had been trying to approach cautiously and carefully, soon decided that these dolphins had no fear of meeting new friends. She quickly made her way to Discord as he joked,“Yeah, Fluttershy, you want a nice, slimy, meaty fish?”

He laughed harder as Fluttershy’s face turned slightly green, the thought of eating some poor defenseless creature herself making her feel sick. But she didn’t want to be rude, especially when she hadn’t said anything to them yet.

She lowered her head down, smiling sweetly at the small dolphin. “Oh, I do appreciate the offer, little one, but I’m afraid I’m a vegetarian. You go on ahead.”

Nodding, the dolphin swallowed the fish as Fluttershy focused on the other dolphins, with Discord grumbling quietly to himself about how no one offered him a complimentary meal.

Fluttershy smiled at the group. “Hello, my name’s Fluttershy, and this is my very dear friend, Discord. I’m so happy to meet you!”

The dolphins happily flapped their fins and tails in response to her, a few of them even jumping out of the water and shouting out their own greetings. She asked them for their own names, finding out that the lighter-toned, younger dolphin who had offered her the fish was named Ivory.

“Can you do cool tricks like him?” Ivory asked Fluttershy, nodding her head towards Discord.

She shook her head. “Oh, no no no. I’m afraid I can’t. He did all of that with magic, you see, and while I have magic too, I’m not nearly as good with it as he is. He’s teaching me to use it. That’s why they call him the master of what he does.”

Discord’s chest puffed up so much that to Fluttershy, he started resembling a frigatebird. But the dolphins could only gasp at her words.

“Magic? He did that with magic?”

“You have magic?”

“We wanna see!”

“Give us a show! That would be fun!”

“Yeah, fun! Show us, show us!”

They all started clapping their fins, chanting “show us, show us” in unison like a gang of excited fillies. Fluttershy couldn’t help but start clapping along and laughing as Discord took advantage of it. He enlarged his right ear and put his paw up to it.

“I can’t hear you~!” he singsonged, and the dolphins gave him just what he wanted, chanting it until there was a beautiful cacophony of chirps and clicks, all of them demanding for his magical entertainment.

“Well, okay, okay!” Discord relented, putting his palms up. “Let it be known that I am a selfless creature that does nothing but give the audience what they want! But first!” He raised a single claw. “I need a little help first. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited this part of the world…”

He lifted a hand and began to spin his forehead as it unscrewed itself from the rest of him, only to reveal a mossy-looking mound underneath. “...And my brain has gone a bit fuzzy, I’m afraid!”

His audience, of course, had given him all the feedback he had been looking for, gasping as he did the impossible, only to laugh at his horrible pun, wiggling around and splashing their backs against the water as they held their fins over their stomachs. Discord gave Fluttershy a toothy grin.

“See? Animals love me.”

Fluttershy didn’t need to smile back, because she had never stopped smiling. She was already in love with her new oceanic friends. “I’m just glad to have them in my life again. But what do you need their help with?”

“Oh, you know…” Discord said nonchalantly, steepling his fingers together. “I only need them to help us get to the Neighyan Rainforest. You know, the huge one with all the old ruins, surrounded by the glory of nature and full of more flora and fauna than you can imagine? You know, that place.”

She gasped. “We’re near the Neighyan Rainforest?!? You’re taking me there?!?”

“Well, that only depends if our little friends here can help,” Discord said, a little louder this time. “Or we may never get to the Neighyan Rainforest, and that just wouldn’t be any fun at all! And if they did, I’d be more than happy to show them all I can do with my amazing, incredible magic!”

And once again, the dolphins took the bait; he could play them like a fiddle.

“We know where that is!”

“It’s not too far if you go fast!”

“We’ll take you, and then you can show us your magic!”

“Yay, field trip!”

“Whoo!”

“Really?” He egged on. “You’ll do that for me?” he said, blinking prettily with his hands clasped together.

“For our fun new friends--” one said.

“--we’ll do anything!” another finished.

“But don’t forget the show!” Ivory said, poking her outstretched tail at his stomach. “Don’t forget, you promised a fun show if we do it!”

“Oh, but of course. I would never think of lying to my dear rubbery mammal friends like that. I am far too noble for that. Take us there and you’ve got it. In fact, why wait?”

Discord snapped his fingers, and a bright light flashed, making Fluttershy squint her eyes as the dolphins gasped.

Sploosh! Her eyes closed completely as she rubbed the salt water off her face. When she felt safe enough to open them, she looked to see that she was the only Draconequus left…

Only for a dark brown dolphin with fairly bushy eyebrows and a tiny beard to pop out of the water. “So, are we leaving or what?” he said to the gaping dolphins. He lifted a fin out of the water to show them the large watch strapped to it, tapping at its face with his other fin. “I’m afraid we don’t have all day to lollygag around. That’s for later.”

The dolphins just stared at him for a moment before breaking out in an excited frenzy again.

“You can turn into a dolphin!”

“You can have fun just like us now!”

“Your magic did that? Amazing!”

“Let’s go then! Come on!”

They all started to swim, instructing Discord and Fluttershy to follow them, only for Discord to turn around. “Come along then, Draconequushy!” He waved to her with his tail before making a spectacular leap upward, laughing happily, and diving back downward.

Fluttershy just watched him, before realizing they were getting farther away, and rushed forward to catch up.

She had forgotten…

Draconequui can transform, can’t they? I could...I mean, I learned to fly using magic...Oh, but I’m sure it’s much too hard for me, and Discord said flying was one of the easier things to use magic for. Don’t you be getting a big head now, Fluttershy. You try to transform, and you’ll probably make yourself look silly! Or worse, I could hurt myself! No, no, I…

She looked longingly ahead as she watched Discord pal around with the other dolphins. Why hadn’t he changed her?

She continued following them, feeling left out.

She wondered what it would be like, to be able to not only talk to animals, but to be one of them. Specifically, the very ones she just befriended. The ocean was so big and majestic, practically tempting all who dared to look at it to jump in and explore it. But she wasn’t much of a swimmer, and she didn’t want to risk drowning as either a pony or a Draconequus. But a dolphin...Surely, if she turned into a dolphin, she’d be able to…

It would be so much fun…

It was all she could think of.

I’ve always wondered what it would be like, to live as other animals...and I’ve got the magic to do it, I just don’t know how!

She clenched her fists in frustration.

But I want to…

Discord laughed as he and all his fellows jumped over one another, making it a game. Fluttershy didn’t notice as his bright eyes, still yellow with bright red irises, glanced back at her numerous times, as if waiting for something.

Oh, I’m so tired of never being able to do exactly what I want to do, when I want to! I know that sounds selfish and obnoxious, but…

She began glowing.

But I don’t care!

Discord had wondered if she could do it. After all, no one loved animals more than her, and the biggest part of any chaos spell was to simply want something. So if anyone could change form out of sheer willpower rather than years of practice...it was her.

So when he and the dolphins stopped at the sound of a magical flash, they turned around, and Discord had a smirk on his face.

“Wha…? Ahhhhh!”

Splash!

Discord dove underwater quickly to check and see how she would fare. He hoped that her transformation would immediately trigger the instincts to swim, but he couldn’t be sure.
.
But he saw her sleek form rise up, and out came a bottlenose dolphin with pink skin.

“Oh my goodness!” she breathed, looking at herself as the dolphins behind her cheered.

“Now we’re all dolphins!”

“And you thought you weren’t as magical as he was! Haha!” Ivory barked in laughter.

Discord whipped his head around. “Hey! Just because she made her first transformation after having her magic for just a few days, doesn’t mean she’s at the same level as expertise as me!” he huffed, an indignant look on his face. “Ignorant little fat pads,” he murmured.

“I...I did it!” Fluttershy said, and her smile was as wide as he had ever seen it, alleviating his mood a bit. “I did it! But...how?” She looked to her mentor for an answer.

Discord just nonchalantly waved a tail at her. “There’s plenty of time for explanation later. For now, we’ve an ocean to explore and a rainforest to get to. So let’s ride!” He dove underwater, the dolphins barking in agreement.

Fluttershy laughed, and dove in after him.

She was in awe as she swam through the water, for the ocean was like a world she had never seen before. She recognized nearly all the marine life she found, though she still gasped in delight at everything she saw.

The eels poked out from corals and rocks on the sand, their eyes always shifting, cautious yet alert. A harem of rainbow parrotfish lounged on the seafloor or scraped on coral, the male watching his girls as he circled around. “You’re lucky I’m a guy now, ladies,” he boasted. “I never felt right as a female, anyway. This is what I was meant to be!”

His girls giggled. “Yes sir, yes sir, we love you.”

Discord grunted. “That guy has it good,” he mumbled.

“Parrotfish are fascinating, aren’t they?” she cooed. “Did you know that the male used to be female, but when the alpha male died, he...”

She continued to give him facts on the parrotfish until she saw a crowd of angelfish, singing like a beautiful choir that the dolphins danced to. They came across stingrays gliding across the ocean floor, warning them to stay away from their tails and asking them to rub their backs. Of course, Fluttershy was more than willing to do this for them, feeling their soft leathery skin. The ray also rubbed against her beak, curious to touch her. Discord brushed a few rays himself with the end of his tail.

The nurse sharks were there with the rays, most of them friendly and more than willing to have a nice chat with anyone who asked. Of course, Fluttershy wanted to talk with all of them, and Discord had to practically push her away from them to get her to keep going.

The trip took a little longer than expected due to Fluttershy’s fascination with every little thing around them, but they still made it early enough to make Discord satisfied. Discord had to take some time to entertain the dolphins with magic as they traveled anyway, so he wouldn’t have to pause and give them a show when they arrived. He used magic to make bubbles dance in the sea, put polka dots and stripes on those who wanted a bit of a makeover, and made tall corals into balloons that the dolphins bopped back and forth as a game. They finally came to the coast after Fluttershy observed some clownfish rubbing their mucous-covered skin against anemones, as Discord showed his audience what he looked like with two heads.

“Flutterphin!” Discord’s left head called. “We’re here, my dear! I know you’re dying to explore some more, but we can always come back another day…”

“Oh yes, we must! There’s still so much to see! Discord, this may just be one of the best days of my life!” she said. “I haven’t met so many different species in one day since I dropped from the sky during Rainbow’s race as a filly!”

Discord’s right head grinned. “Well, it won’t stop there! Just wait until you see the Neighyan Rainforest. You’ll be so amazed you’ll get lightheaded with enthusiasm! Now, let’s turn you back into a Draconequus, hmm?”

“Oh, well, okay...You’re not going to teach me how?”

“Like I said, I’ll explain it all later!” both his heads echoed, snapping his fin and causing another flash to envelop them both. They reappeared above the water, back as their Draconequui selves, and Discord gave a bow as the dolphins cheered. Fluttershy just blushed.

“Thank you dears, thank you!” Discord said. “Really, I deserve it, don’t I? Thank you!”

Fluttershy gave him a slight nudge and a raised eyebrow, and Discord rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. Thanks for the directions, too,” he added, with less feeling.

They all gave them their goodbyes, and of course Fluttershy had to hug and kiss them all, smooching them on their beaks as Discord stood on the nearby shore, tapping his foot in impatience. Really, what had he been thinking, showing her all these animals? Where was his attention?

And why was he so jealous all of a sudden? Oh, sure, sometimes he complained when he wanted Fluttershy to pay attention to him instead of her animals back at home, but that was always on purpose. But today, he had wanted to show her all the animals.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

After Fluttershy gave Ivory one last hug and kiss, promising to see her again and waving goodbye, she finally made her way to shore and gaped at the looming, swaying trees before her. “The rainforest…”

Discord shook himself out of his funk. “The Neighyan Forest, correctomundo!” Discord said. “So huge that it’s found in both Beleadze and Trotemala.”

“It’s beautiful…” she whispered. “Can we go in now?”

“Oho, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Though, I recommend we walk. The trees are rather thick. We could fly over the canopy, but methinks you’d rather see as much of it as possible?” He raised an expectant brow at her.

Suddenly Fluttershy laughed her confirmation, and took his paw in her hand, her fingers wrapped around his, and excitedly walked through.

Bugs immediately scattered as the two broke through the brush of the forest, beetles and wasps buzzing out of their way as spiders scuttled around their webs, hoping to make a meal out of the others. Fluttershy spotted a blue morpho butterfly as they came upon a clearer area, giggling as it landed on her nose.

Discord just stared at their hands. He had forgotten that she had fingers, only for a moment...and how nice it was to hold them.

He smiled at her laughter and gave her hand a squeeze.

“If you think the butterflies are amazing enough, then wait until you see the rest of the wildlife here,” he said, and pointed forward. “We’ll see more the closer we get to the Neighyan Ruins, which is this way, if I recall.” He sighed as memories rushed through his mind. “It’s been too long since I’ve visited here. I used to come here all the time!”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up, his words piquing her interest. “When was the first time you came here?”

“Oh my, it’s been a while! Hm…” He stroked his beard with his other hand, squinting his eyes as he went through the file cabinets in his brain, the little Discords inside of it scrambling around, trying to find the correct memories.

“I think I was about 12 years old when I first came here, though I had stayed away from the temples at the time. And when I came back a few years later, everypony had left,” Discord said. “The Zebras who had lived there--”

“The Neighyans were Zebras?”

He laughed. “Ohoho, yes, they most certainly were. And let me tell you a little something, my dear...Those Zebras weren’t quite like your rhythmic friend Zecora; at least, not while they lived here. Why, they didn’t even know that ponies were the ones to raise the sun and the moon. But then again…” He scratched his head. “Ponies didn’t really come around here until a few hundred years later, and we’re so far into the forest that I doubt we’ll see any ponies from the cities. They have to travel by boat to get here, and tours of the ruins are only really offered in the summertime.”

“What made the Zebras abandon the temples?”

“I’m not quite sure, really. There are speculations, ones that I’m sure Twilight would be happy to tell you about. Personally, I think they just got tired of the bugs,” he said, waving his hand at a nearby fly hovering in front of his face.

She giggled, and they eventually unclasped their hands in order to push back branches and maneuver around plants. Fluttershy did her best not to disturb any of the beautiful fauna of the forest, while Discord was more than happy to stomp on flowers or ‘accidentally’ whack at a bush with his tail.

As the trail widened, Fluttershy marveled at the tall trees and the colorful flowers around her, laughing as she poked at the Mimosa plants that curled inward when touching them. Discord teased her, saying the fern was just as shy as she was, earning a poke in the side as he did so.

“Ooh, Fluttershy, so violent!” he teased, before he felt another poke on his other side that really did cause him to yelp. “Ow! Fluttershy! You know it was just a joke, sheesh.”

But the giant smile on her face wasn’t from annoying Discord. Rather, it was from the spider monkey that had hid behind Discord, who held a stick and poked him. Fluttershy waved a hand and giggled.

“Look behind you Discord; you made a friend.”

“Hmm?” Poke. “Ow!” He whipped his head behind him and saw the perpetrator, who was chittering in laughter at the funny face of the strange creature before him. More heads poked out from the surrounding vegetation, and they began to laugh as well. Discord’s scowl soon turned into a smile.

“You laugh now, little monkeys, you laugh now…”

He murmured this quietly enough that Fluttershy didn’t notice. He had been waiting for a small reprimand from her, only to turn around and see that he no longer had to bring her to the animals...They were coming to her.

There she was, sitting under a ray of sunshine that had somehow managed to break through the canopy, laying on her stomach as numerous animals made their way to her. She had the gentlest yet happiest of smiles on her face, giggling as a spider monkey stroked her hair curiously, even bringing it up to his nose and giving it a sniff. He then began to babble in excitement. Apparently, he approved of her shampoo.

A few Howler monkeys greeted her as well, making Discord’s ears hurt with their loud screeching, and Fluttershy was more than happy to bring a baby Howler into her arms and nuzzle against it. Two hummingbirds appeared, taking long tendrils of her hair and braiding it together, while a Toucan rested on her antler, showing off his beak to all around him. Fluttershy looked as if she were in heaven, greeting them all and learning all their names.

Discord watched in awe as even more animals joined in on greeting her. Even a tapir and an ocelot joined the party, and all the animals seemed to get along fine as they played with their new friend. Was it always this easy for her to get along with animals? He had never really seen her approach new creatures before. He had heard tales, of course--he wished more than anything that he had been there when she had shouted at a dragon and made him cry--but he had never experienced it beforehand. The animals in her cottage didn’t count; they had known her already.

But these animals had never met her, or anything like the two of them, before. And yet they did not hesitate to approach her, with some animals offering her gifts such as flowers and fruits of the forest. The ocelot even gave her a lick on the cheek, making her smile so hard that he thought it would freeze there.

She was like a character from a foal’s fairytale, it seemed. The sunlight that fell upon her seemed to double that effect, making her coat shine and her hair glimmer as the hummingbirds tied off her new braid with a bit of vine. She thanked them for such beautiful work before she caught Discord staring at her.

He, of course, hadn’t realized that he had been doing so, and looked away, his face suddenly feeling a bit warm.

“Um, Discord…? Is everything all right?”

Discord scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree. “I’m fine, my dear. I just never realized how...natural you were at this.” He spread his hands apart in her direction. “I mean, look at you! You’re practically a little forest nymph. Have you always gotten animals to approach you so easily? Because I’ve never…”

He found himself trailing off, realizing that he enjoyed the sight of her surrounded by fluffy furballs and creatures of all types. It was more than just seeing her extremely happy that made it fulfilling. But the fact was...he had never really seen something like this before. For foreign creatures to just so easily accept her…

It only took one day for her to befriend me. They remind me a bit of...myself…

He remembered that day as clearly as the ice he had covered the pond with, all that time ago. How her angry, frustrated face had set him off, inspiring his own anger, before he realized how much he had enjoyed her attention, her kindness, her hospitality…

And none of the animals had approached him with such trust or gentility. He stood alone as all the animals surrounded her. That was, until a blue morpho butterfly landed on his arm. He looked down at it in wonder.

“You’ve never what?”

“Hmm?” Discord brought his gaze back to her, the sudden movement causing the butterfly to take off, only to land on Fluttershy’s ear.

“You never finished your sentence. Why are you…” Her face blushed slightly, and she broke eye contact. “You’re watching me...Why? Are you bored, or…?”

He blinked. “Well, I’ll admit that standing here gaping at you isn’t quite what I had in mind,” he said, trying to be nonchalant as he panicked inwardly. What in the world was he doing? “But I must say...I’ve never really seen wild creatures approach another with such…”

His voice quieted a bit. “Such trust…”

Fluttershy stopped being bashful at the sound of his honesty. For some strange reason, the sound of his voice and the way he held himself...His head was dipped toward the ground, and without knowing it, the palm of his paw was laid on his heart, making her think of the moment he changed Sweet Apple Acres back to normal to gain Fluttershy’s friendship back. It was an experience of deja vu that made her get back on her legs, allowing her new friends to scatter as she did so, and approach him slowly.

He was out of his stupor as he felt a paw on his small shoulder, and he looked back at her.

“Would you like to be trusted too?”

Because I think you need it.

She turned around, flashing a sweet smile at the animals that waited for her a few feet away.. “This is my very good friend, Discord,” she said softly, keeping her paw on him to show he was safe to be around. “He’s actually the one who brought me here, because he’s such a big sweetheart.”

Discord just stared at her. What in the world was she trying to prove? Oh, sure, he was still blushing a little, but that was no reason to assume he was growing that soft now, was he? He crossed his arms.

“Now, Fluttershy, what exactly makes you think that I want a bunch of cute little fuzz-for-brains around me? That’s your thing, not--hmm?”

He felt a weight upon his head and looked up to see a large colorful beak and two small black eyes staring back at him. “Check out this beak. Pretty nice, hmm?” the toucan sang.

“Can we braid your beard?” the hummingbirds asked.

Numerous monkeys made their way over to him and began picking at the fur on his back and neck, looking for bugs. Discord made an irritated face. “What do I look like, a rotten log?”

Fluttershy just giggled. “They can’t help it, they’re just curious. See, they’re doing it with me too.” She gestured towards a small capuchin and a larger Howler picking at her own fur. One found a small beetle nestled in her neck and chucked it into his mouth with a large crunching sound.

Discord just shook his head and groaned, trying his best to look annoyed. Fluttershy knew better though; she could tell he was enjoying the attention, and how easy it was for her to get the animals to befriend him.

Has he ever gotten along with creatures before? Or ponies, before he was turned to stone? I wonder…

“Well, as enchanting and exhilarating as that was,” Discord said, gently pushing the monkeys off his body and poking at the Toucan until he flew off of him, “can we please go now? I’ve so much more to show you! The ruins, the waterfall…!”

“Waterfall? You didn’t tell me about a waterfall”!

“That’s after the ruins!” He grinned. “Come on, come on! The little squirts can join us, if they must.”

He then grabbed her hand again, and at that moment, he could just feel himself relax a bit more, and his smile become a little bit more genuine.

Ah, yes.

Much better.

It took them about an hour to finally get to the clearing where huge temples stood--big triangles of rock with flat tops and layered steps, giving it a staggered look. The true stairs, however, each went up the front of each temple, narrow and less than pristine, leading to a small square building at the top of each structure. A lot of the rock had worn down with age, and many of the steps seemed to be in the process of crumbling apart.

They were surrounded by smaller huts and structures, some which, Discord explained, had been residential areas or smaller temples. It was one of the largest and oldest civilization sites in all of Equestria.

Fluttershy just gaped at the large temples. “The Zebras didn’t even have magic to build these... but they’re so tall…”

“Yes, well, even ancient Zebras were overly dedicated to their royalty. That’s what the big ones are for, anyway. Places for fancy schmancy kings and queens and princesses and whatnot. The little ones were just for commoners. Because who cares about them, hmm?”

Fluttershy was too busy taking in the sites, her new animal friends minding their own business or playing with Fluttershy’s tail as she did so.

“It’s incredible...and you found these?”

“I did, though I didn’t intrude until after the Zebras left. I liked the view, and it was a nice getaway from the rain.” Discord pointed to the second tallest one. “I used to sleep in that one.”

Fluttershy titled her head. “I always thought you’d be the kind to pick the tallest one.”

Discord shook his head. “Too big. Too many steps. And back then, I was so much smaller, and I, well…” He gave a chuckle. “I had my limits back then, even with heights.”

Fluttershy smiled. "That's kind of...cute."

Discord nodded. "Of course it is. But I’ll have you know that I’ve long since gotten over my fear of heights.”

She gave a giggle. It was also kind of cute when he got defensive, like a foal insisting he wasn’t a baby anymore. “I know, Discord. I’ve seen you fly on a rocket before, remember?”

“Good, as long as you know. Anywho…”

Blushing, he made his way over to the second temple. “There’s not much up there anymore. There used to be ceremonial artifacts and whatnot, but ponies have long since taken them. A shame, really. There used to be some ceremonial furs here that I used for blankets. Anywho, shall we make our way up?”

He snapped his fingers and reappeared in safari gear, dressed like Daring Do and tugging on a rope that magically appeared on the steps. “You can fly up there, but I prefer the hard way.”

Fluttershy backpedaled as Discord made a single step, watching as a small bit of a step crumble beneath his feet, though he didn’t lose his footing. “Um, I think I’ll just...meet you up there?”

“Oh, come on, Flutters! Live a little! Be the Azuihotl to my Daring Do! I mean, sure, they’re enemies, but I’m sure they get together on weekends a few times, just to lighten it up a bit,” he said, one hand still on the rope while the other wiggled his fingers at her.

“N-No, I think I’ll just...practice my flying more, sorry, see you up top!”

She zoomed upward before he could get another word in and he huffed. Pffft. So much for that.

But no matter; he shook his head, and with an exaggerated look of epic determination, he eyed Fluttershy as she made it to the top and began to make his way there. He was rather fast making the climb, and he couldn’t help but huff his chest up a little as he watched Fluttershy watch him in return. He could tell she was worried for him, despite the fact that he was a powerful magic wielder, but he could also see a spark of awe in her.

Discord was a proud creature, but Fluttershy had a tendency to double that effect, making him feel even more spectacular than usual. He always liked that about their friendship, and he gave her a cocky smile as he made his way up.

“All in a day’s work,” Discord boasted, tipping his hat at her as Fluttershy gave a sigh of relief and a smile. Really, she had no idea how he managed to do so many daring things, magic or not. But it was impressive, either way. He didn’t have a bead of sweat on him.

“You were so busy watching me that I’ll bet you didn’t even notice the drawings on the door.” He pointed to the entrance of the tiny building that topped the square, flat pyramid, and Fluttershy turned to see a beautiful, yet faded, etching of what looked like Zebras of times passed, gathered in a crowd and surrounding a Zebra with a crown and a cutie mark of ivy that didn’t just cover her flank, but her entire body. She had the most dzilla rings on her neck, but all the etched Zebras possessed them.

It was beautiful, in a style that greatly resembled the bold, sharp lines of Zecora’s cutie mark. “This is…?”

“The queen this temple was dedicated to, yes. They moved all of her things out of here, but it used to belong to her as a tribute. I don’t know what her name was, but I used to spy on them. It seems the Royal Zebras were the only ones that could speak to Earth magic, unlike Zecora’s brethren from Afriquagga, where all of them could. But it’s where I began to learn about it.”

“But I thought you said you avoided them.”

Discord’s mouth quirked up slightly. “Avoided them enough to spy, yes.”

Fluttershy laughed again, though she couldn’t help but ignore a small pain in her heart. She knew he liked to spy on others--heck, he probably invented spying. But she knew, deep down, that there was more to it than that. He didn’t just hide so he could spy on ponies or zebras. No; there was something else there, something he wasn’t revealing.

But what?

She returned her gaze back at him and was surprised to find Discord putting his hands on the etchings, his fingers brushing against the light engravings of the old life.

“I used to spy on them...I watched them live. They weren’t exactly the most exciting of creatures, but I would watch the foals play, and their parents with them. They were an interesting bunch, and the queen herself was especially curious. You know, her cutie mark didn’t really cover her entire body.” He smirked. “She told her subjects that it was au naturale, but in reality, she secretly painted it. Her cutie mark had an open end of ivy that she continued with paint to wrap all around her. Her servants would help her do so. Even the king didn’t know the truth.” He laughed. “She was a clever old gal.”

“What happened to her?”

Fluttershy instantly regretted the question as a sad look passed over him for a moment. He looked back at the drawing, and brushed his fingers across it one last time.

“I don’t know. Like I said, there are theories. But once I came back a second time, wondering what they were up to...They were gone. Nopony else knows either. And Zecora certainly won’t know, seeing as how she descended from the other side of the world. But I always wondered…”

Discord gave a sigh, and spoke before he could stop himself. It was soft, a whisper, words to himself that he didn’t mean to share. But it was said nonetheless, and Fluttershy’s ears twitched as he said them, his tone pulling at her heart.

“...What happened to them...and whether it really matters or not.”

At that, he bowed his head, his ears flopped down. He himself had forgotten how upset he had been, all those years ago, when he had returned to find ruins instead of a bustling society of exotic Zebras, laughing and dancing and brewing potions, telling stories to their foals of their ancestors and of worlds above…

He wanted to growl at himself then and there. Who cared? The past was the past, and they were gone. Whether they had moved on and flourished somewhere else, or had all died of some horrible illness, or had gotten foalnapped by Mulella Deville, it didn’t matter. Nothing that had happened thousands of years ago mattered!

Nothing.

He felt a softness on his shoulder, and raised his face to look at her.

“Of course it matters.”

She put her hand on his other shoulder, her arm around him as she turned to gaze on the ruinous city around them. “This city...It’s beautiful, even now, after all this time. And it wasn’t always here. And if it hadn’t been for the Zebras who lived here, it never would have. You and I wouldn’t be here together like this, and I wouldn’t be learning these things about you. They made a special place here, an entire world, just for them. It’s no alternate dimension, I know, but...that doesn’t make it any less special. They’re a part of history...a part of the world. Even if no one remembered them, well...That wouldn’t mean that they didn’t exist. That they didn’t live their lives, laughing and learning and crying and loving others. Nothing can take that away from them.”

Another soft touch, this time on the jaw, and his face was gently turned towards her again.

“We learn about the past and why things happened so we can learn from it. You know that. And even if you never learn what happened to them, or where they went, that’s okay. Just the fact that you remember them, and want to know what happened, makes it important. What anypony else thinks doesn’t matter. Though…”

She then gave him a sheepish smile. “I have a hard time remembering that part, sometimes.”

Discord chuckled. Of course Fluttershy would sit there and give a deep, heartfelt speech such as that, only to end it with a guilty look on her face as if she had done something wrong. “I think we all do, just a bit.”

He could see in her eyes that she took this as a good sign--that her words had made him feel better, that they had made some progress.

But as a master of disguise and manipulation, she didn’t see that his smile was a lie; that his laugh had nothing to do with what he really thought of the past. More specifically...his own.

She still didn’t understand.

Was she supposed to? Was that a part of it?

And if it was, then...was he keeping her from turning back into a pony?

This thought brought a sort of guilty feeling in his stomach, and he shook it off. No. There was no way. His past surely couldn’t be that important. Not enough to keep Fluttershy asymmetrical for the rest of her life. No; she could understand him plenty without knowing any of that. He wouldn’t need to force himself to show her the wounds that were more than skin-deep. He was entitled to some privacy anyway, wasn’t he? After all, everypony had a secret or two.

Or several, like him.

Actually, he wasn’t sure how many. He had never bothered to keep count. And he certainly wasn’t going to try now.

So he stuffed his troubled thoughts away, back into the dusty tombs of his mind, and brought her in close for a hug. He knew social protocol called for a ‘thank you’, for some feedback on how her wisdom would forever impact his view of the world. But that simply wasn’t true, and he said nothing. But she seemed more than happy just to hug him back.

There was no time to dwell on the Zebras and times past gone. It was time for the next thing, and after showing her the rest of the abandoned city for a while, telling her stories of the things he’d watched the Zebras do, he wiped the sweat on his brow with a satin pink hankie before suggesting their last destination for the day.

“So…”

He turned and gave her a grin. "Ready for a little dip in the jungle?”

It was so beautiful that she wondered, not for the first time that day, how any living thing could live in such a place without losing their breath in awe every time they looked around their world. Tropical birds called for each other in lovely song as she looked at water so teal in color that she wondered if it was even water at all. She dipped her hand in the pool as she felt herself relax at the sound of her new avian friends, along with the rush of the waterfall just several yards away from her.

It was so pristine, so perfect. How in the world were they the only two there that day? And why would anyone ever want to leave it?

“OH FLUTTERNUTTER!”

Looking up, she gave a giggle as she looked to the top of the waterfall, only to see Discord standing proudly in his vintage swimsuit, a one piece with straps, decorated in stripes of white and orange. He waved at her excitedly.

“You sure you don’t want to join me?! I promise there’s only a slight chance of you bellyflopping into the water and breaking in two! About 50.5 percent!”

Already feeling a drop of sweat beginning to slide down her forehead, she shook her head. “Um, I’ll pass, thank you! Please be careful!” she called back, glad his ears were sharp enough to hear her weak calls.

She could see him shrug. “Oh fine! Your loss then! GERONIMO!”

The animals that had joined them by the waterfall chirped and howled and clapped as Discord made his swooping, swirling jump. He whooped in joy as he twisted his body round and round as he fell, only to straighten his body into a perfect dive seconds before crashing into the water. Fluttershy laughed as the water splashed all over her, her eyes closed to shield her eyes as she clapped and cheered for him.

He returned to the surface seconds after impact. With only his head peeking out of the water, he grinned and shot water out of his mouth like a gun, with a group of monkeys as his target. The monkeys screeched in alarm at the sudden assault, and were quick to jump in the water in pursuit of him. Discord merely cackled in mock laughter as he began to make his escape, trying to avoid the slaps and splashes the monkeys made after him.

Smiling at Discord’s joy, Fluttershy bent her neck over the pool of the waterfall, twisting her hair and squeezing the water from it. She hummed to herself for a moment, enjoying the fresh air and the sound of nature all around her, until she opened her eyes again and jumped at the creature staring back at her.

“Oh! Who--?”

Then a drip of water fell from the pink tresses nestled in the clutch of her paw. It broke the creature up as it landed in the water, causing the pool to ripple and quake for a second before making itself still again.

Fluttershy blushed at herself, watching her cheeks redden as she stared at her own reflection.

Oh...That’s...Of course. Oh, I’m such a silly filly! Scaring myself like that, when all it is, is my…

She bent her neck out again to get a better look at herself. There she was...or something similar to herself, at least. Something that had the same hair and eyes, with a voice that matched hers exactly. But this…

This still wasn’t her. The neck was too long, the nostrils too big. The antler and antenna stuck out of her head like sore thumbs, appendages that didn’t belong there. She looked awkward, she looked strange, she looked...

Not like a Pegasus.

Suddenly she felt as if she could feel the magic inside of her body, the magic that came from a some mysterious magical power that had chosen her as its target. She had used it and she had manipulated it for her own gain, flying with an expertise she didn’t truly have, and transforming into things she wasn’t supposed to be. It suddenly felt as if she had a foreign substance in her body; her warped, mismatched body that didn’t belong to her, a virus that she needed to get out before she became a masked ghost of herself.

The thing in her reflection wasn’t her. It was never her. It was just a reminder of what she had lost, and what she needed to do to get it back.

But what if it never gets done? What if I never understand Discord, the way I’m supposed to understand him? she began to think in panic. The way I want to understand him? We failed before; we could very well fail again! I could...I could lose not only him, but myself too, and become...what? What would I be, if I fail? Can I even be an Element again, if my powers are disharmonious? And what about the rest of Equestria? My best friends can accept me, but they see me in a way most ponies don’t. Goodness, not even I see myself the way my friends do, not all the time! Discord doesn’t even feel comfortable enough to tell me anything too personal about his life. What sort of progress have we really made with that? I’ve learned some things, but...nothing about him! What is all this really for, anyway?

Her breathing quickened, and she put her cool, amphibious hand to her chest. Maybe this was a mistake. We shouldn’t be here. We need to solve this problem. I’m just fooling myself. I can’t fly. I can’t perform magic by myself. I can’t turn into animals. This isn’t who I am. I need to be me, before this all ends up getting out of hoof, and ohhhhhhh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear oh--

“I know. It takes my breath away too, ohohoho~”

Her breathing slowed a bit at the sound of his voice, her ears perking towards him as she looked to see Discord lying on his stomach beside her. His chin rested on the knuckle of his paw as he looked at his own reflection, right beside hers.

“Hello, handsome. Oh, it’s been too long since I’ve seen you,” he purred, sticking out a talon and ghosting his reflection’s chin. “I missed you. Did you miss me?”

Fluttershy watched as his reflection moved of it’s own accord, and gasped as it spoke back to him. “Oh, you know I did, you glorious devil you. Oooh, and are those polished nails I see?” it cooed, looking at Discord’s talons. “I think I see my reflection in them!”

“A reflection of a reflection of myself, you say? Oh, we’d best be careful then. We don’t want to overwhelm dear Fluttershy over here with a triple dose of stud muffin, you know. She has a delicate appetite.”

His reflection nodded. “That’s true. And we’re nothing if not sensitive to the needs of others, wouldln’t you say?”

“Why, I couldn’t agree more, Reflecticord, I really couldn’t. And do you know what I think Miss Flutterbuddy needs now, more than anything?”

Reflecticord gasped in mock horror. “Surely, you don’t mean...?”

“Surely, I do. I think that she needs a little…”

Suddenly Fluttershy felt a grip on her arm, and only saw Discord’s dastardly grin before he tipped himself over the water.

“SWIM!”

SPLOOSH! Down she went, quickly huffing in a quick breath of air before she plunged into the depths below, her hair tumbling in after her and swirling around as she opened her eyes under the water. Rays of light poured from the surface, bubbles from her fall reflecting rainbows as they made their way back to the world above.

She turned her head, her cheeks still puffed out and filled with air. Where was Discord?

Scrambling to break the surface, she swam upward and gasped for breath as she looked around. “Discord? Discord, where are you…?”

“Look up and find out!”

She did as she was told and there he was, floating above her, lounging casually inside of a bubble. She looked around to see that the pool was now covered in them, as if they were taking a warm bubble bath instead of a refreshing dip in the middle of a beautiful, ancient jungle.

“I hate to burst your bubble Fluttershy, but seeing you mope as you look at yourself really doesn’t become you. Though I’ll admit, I wasn’t exactly Mr. Sunshine back at the temple. Silly me, getting caught up in the nostalgia of it all. But you helped me then, so now I can return the favor.”

He reached his arm through the bubble, though it didn’t break as it popped out. He reached for her.

“Care for a ride? It’s safe, I promise! As safe as those hot air balloons you ponies are so fond of.”

Her eyes lost their light at the mention of ponies. “But I’m not a pony. I...probably wouldn’t even fit into a hot air balloon now.”

But Discord didn’t let her mood stop him. He gently took her hand and pulled her up. She didn’t even protest as he brought her in, the bubble closing behind her as she landed on his lap. She blushed at the closeness, but Discord didn’t seem to care as he poked at her nose.

“Oh, I’m sure you could squeeze into one if you really needed to. Which you don’t, seeing as how you fly well enough now.”

“But that’s not--”

He gently caught her lips between two fingertips. “But you know what else you aren’t anymore, Fluttershy? A dolphin. You managed to turn yourself into one earlier, remember? And yet, here you are, a Draconequus yet again. And I’ll bet you still don’t know how you managed to do that.”

By the look on her face, he could tell he was right. In fact, her widened eyes seemed to tell him that she had forgotten about that mystery altogether. He let go of her mouth and let her speak again.

“That’s right! I did turn into a dolphin. But you said that transformations were hard, that it took you a long time to learn it . So how was I able to do that?”

Discord gave her his signature smirk. “Simply because...you wanted to.”

He could practically hear her eyes blinking in confusion. Blink blink. “Huh?”

“Desire is a very powerful thing, Fluttershy.” He leaned his head back and used his arms as a pillow as he rested against the bubble. “Why do you think you find villains so hard to beat when you and our little friends go up against them?”

“Um, because they’re scary?” An image of Chrysalis and her love-sucking cronies popped into her mind, and a shiver went down her spine. Ooh, they had been the worst.

Discord scoffed. “Pffft, no. No, the answer is because most villains want something so much that they’re willing to do anything to get it.”

He scratched his chin in thought. “Well, that, and they usually have some sort of power to aid them in their conquests. But the desire and power fuel each other, and make each other stronger.”

He leaned forward with a slight glow in his eyes as he poked her nose again. “And the reason it’s hard for them to beat you in return...is because you and the others want something else just as much, if not more so, than them. Desire is what makes things happen, Fluttershy. If you don’t want anything at all, not even the slightest bit, then you do nothing. But everyone wants something, at least to some degree.”

Fluttershy bit her lip. “Okay, but...what does that have to do with chaos magic?”

“Oh, it has everything to do with magic, Fluttershy, absolutely everything!” he said, tipping her chin up towards him. “Fluttershy, I am chaos. You are chaos. But it’s best to think of our chaos as its own entity, as if it doesn’t belong to us. For chaos isn’t meant to belong to anyone or anypony, and we don’t control it.”

“Because it wouldn’t be chaos if we could control it, wouldn’t it?” Fluttershy said.

He grinned. “Yes, exactly! Chaos can’t be tamed. Oh, no. No no no no no. Not when our magic is pure and utter chaos. No. What we do...is manipulate it. And the best way to do that is to make it want what you want.”

He saw her forehead crinkle, and knew she was about to question his words, and continued before she could throw a million and one questions at him. “But it’s not as easy as it sounds, not at first. You’re new at this Fluttershy. And, since we’re speaking as if your magic were it’s own being, well...Let’s just say it needs to be really convinced before it starts listening to you. And I mean really convinced. It’s the most stubborn type of power there is, second to that of a unicorn foal’s. Take me for example.”

He pointed at himself. “I had to learn to manipulate it for at least a thousand years before I really started becoming a pro. Now, my chaos just follows my lead, because, well, as a matter of speaking...It’s grown to love my ideas. It...trusts me, in a manner of speaking. I don’t have to focus on wanting something as much as you do to get it to work. My magic listens to my ideas far more diligently than yours does.”

“So...I manipulated my magic...to make me into a dolphin?”

“Yes. That, and transformation can be considered a form of disharmony. For some things, you have to think of how what you want could be considered chaotic, but this time it wasn’t needed, so it’s besides the point.” He pointed at her. “Tell me, Fluttershy. What were you thinking when it happened? How’d you feel, when you watched me frolic with all our dolphin friends as if I were one of their own? Were you jealous?”

He snaked himself around her. “Did you feel left out and want to join in?”

He turned so that his forehead was against hers. “Were your thoughts focused solely on how much you wanted to join us, but not as a draconequus, not as a pony, but as one of them? One of the animals you’ve dedicated your entire life to? Did you suddenly realize that the impossible dream to be anything you wanted to be, any animal you wanted to become, was suddenly possible?”

Her irises grew big, shocked at how accurate his words were. “Yes…”

“Of course you did, my yellow-y noodle friend. Of course you did,” he whispered. “And in that moment, was there anything else in the world you wanted, besides being a dolphin? Did you want anything else? After all, most of the time, everyone wants more than one thing. You can want something to eat while also wanting a nap at the same time, or ask for more than one present for Hearth’s Warming. But at that moment...What did you want?”

“I just...I just wanted to be a dolphin. I wanted to be a dolphin, and nothing else. I...I didn’t…”

“So…” He put his arm around her, his tail and lower torso still loosely wrapped around her arms and chest. “You didn’t think about how you wanted to understand me more? Or how much you wanted to turn back into a pony? Or how good the taste of a juicy hayburger would be? Nothing else?”

She shook her head fervently as the gears in her mind churned at full speed. “No. I couldn’t think of anything else. It was the only thing I could think about, it was all I could focus on. I...I get it…”

Her mouth stretched into a smile, the light returning to her eyes. “I get it, Discord...It’s not very often that I want just one thing and nothing else. That’s why my magic gets out of hoof sometimes, doesn’t it?!? Because a lot of the time, it’s because I’m frightened, and I want the magic to stop, but at the same time, I want to be a pony again, or I want you to help me, or…!”

She gasped. “And when you taught me how to fly! And think of a magnet. That was just another way of...of manipulating my magic, wasn’t it? In a way, I made it ‘want’--” She made quotations with her fingers. “--to act like a magnet and make me fly, right?”

“That’s right. That, and the fact that you know so much about dolphins themselves--their habits, their movements, their way of communication, and all that jazz, well…” He shrugged. “That just made the transformation all the easier for you. It’s harder to turn into something you don’t know much about. But you’re an animal expert, so turning into a dolphin was a perfect spell for you to use. And you know what else you’re rather good at, Fluttershy?”

“What?” she asked innocently, only to feel his cool talons rub the top of her head, tousling the hair in front of her antler and antenna.

“Being a friend, and being a pony. Which is why I’m confident that you’ll manage to break this spell that’s been put on you.”

He tipped her chin again to look at her. “So there’s no need for you to mope so much at your own reflection, Fluttershy. You’ll get your wish and you’ll be a happy yellow bird horse again in no time, I’m sure of it. And besides, it’s not as if we haven’t made any progress on this trip. After all, now you understand my magic a bit more. And that’s always good, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but…”

“But nothing. You told me yourself that I shouldn’t dwell on the past and mope about it. Instead, you wanted me to embrace it and consider it important. Well, right now, I consider everything we’ve done today important, and we had some great buddy-buddy time, didn’t we? And if that didn’t make us closer, then we might as well handcuff our arms together if we ever hope to turn you back. Besides, the day is mostly over anyway, and tomorrow we’ll go right back to where we left off.”

Fluttershy found it hard to argue with that. It was true that this was still one of the best days of her life, despite its few setbacks and her situation. And while it was a very small glimpse of it, Fluttershy did learn something of Discord’s past.

But it still wasn’t enough, and she had a feeling knowing more about it was essential in breaking the Wishing Well’s spell.

He came here when he was 12 years old…

Which reminded her of something. Pinkie Pie. Discord’s birthday. What had that been all about?

She thought of back in the ruins, and how vague Discord had been about his own past, but more than willing to tell her about the Zebras and what he knew of them.

“Discord, when do you think you’ll be able to…”

She stopped as she looked at Discord, who was blowing raspberries at some confused birds flying outside the bubble. Instead of scolding him for teasing the poor birds, however, she gave a sigh. No. There was no point in bringing it up now. She had told herself during the flight here that she was going to try to stop worrying and enjoy the moment more, just as Discord did, and she had already struggled with it. They could talk about the difficult things later, and just enjoy the day now.

Or rather, the night, she noted as she looked at the darkening sky.

“Yeeeeeeeeeees?”

He was in her face again, interrupting her thoughts. Oh, right. She had been in the middle of asking him a question…

“...Um, what I meant to ask was...Do you think we can set up camp now? It’s getting darker.”

“Good point! We should get started right away! And what better way to start than with a pop?”

“Wait, Discord, why don’t we just--!?”

But he unsheathed his talons and stabbed the side of the bubble, and this time, it didn’t stay intact.

Pop!

“GERONIMO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Fluttershy ended up drying faster thanks to Discord’s fire, though he also was thoughtful enough to offer her a towel as well. Numerous animals lay around where they set up camp, and the ocelot from earlier laid happily in Fluttershy’s arms after lapping her face dry from water. It purred as she sat him in her lap and pet him.

Of course, Discord didn’t apologize at all for sending them plunging into the cold water after their flight in the bubble, but no one had gotten hurt, and he had made it up to her by helping her dry from the fire. The hummingbirds were fussing over her messy hair again, braiding it even tighter together in hopes of making it last longer.

And besides, the birds themselves were doing just a fine job of scolding Discord all on their own.

“We worked so hard on this and you just had to mess it up!” one hummingbird scolded at Discord, making a bow at the end of the braid with another piece of vine. Her name was Orchid. “We hardly ever get to play with anyone’s hair, you know!”

Discord rolled his eyes as he handed Fluttershy a haydog to roast in the fire. “Which just goes to show that you should be thanking me, since now you get to braid her hair all over again. You’re welcome.”

“But this time it was so much heavier because it was soaked!” she argued back. “And she had bits of dirt and dandruff everywhere, thanks to you sending her headfirst into the water! Don’t you care about her at all?!?”

“I care for her puh-lenty, thankyouverymuch!” Discord barked back. “In fact, that’s how I show my affection, you annoying little nectar needle. By constantly throwing them into pools of water.” He threw a grin at Fluttershy. “Oh, you must feel so loved, Flutterbuddy!”

Fluttershy laughed lightly at both Discord and the hummingbirds. It was hard to tell with their dark little eyes, but she was pretty sure the three were rolling their eyes. “That’s no way to show affection! You should show her you care by hugging, or giving her flowers, or something!”

Discord growled. “I hug her all the time, you’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I even kissed her on the cheek the other day, and that was only after she did the same to me. So there."

The hummingbirds froze at that, and Fluttershy’s braid was let go of by the others as the three looked at each other. “Oh! Really, it’s like that? Oh, sweetie…” Orchid began.

She looked at Fluttershy and put a wing to her beak. “You could do sooooo much better.”

Fluttershy let out a squeaky ‘eep’ at her suggestion. “Oh, nonono, that’s not what he meant, it was entirely out of friendship, r-really!”

The second hummingbird, Zippa, landed on her shoulder and crossed her wings. “And the two of you took a trip together alone? Is that normal?”

“We don’t do normal,” Discord added after gulping down a haydog in one bite. “That’s sort of my thing, if you knew any better. And for now, it’s her thing too. And by the way…” He glared at Orchid. “She could not do any better than me. I’m as good as it gets! Don’t fill poor little Fluttershy’s head with lies. She’ll only be disappointed when she goes out and sees that other stallions are completely bland when compared to me.”

“Um, I, uh…” Fluttershy stuttered.

“And what makes you so sure of that?”

“Because I’m magnificent.”

“And no one else is? Oh, you poor deluded creature, you’ll lose her faster than you know if you keep that attitude up.”

“You’re the deluded one! You don’t even know me, you puffed up excuse of a bird.”

He picked up a raw haydog and ripped a piece off with his teeth, not even bothering to roast it. And Fluttershy could see that he was really getting irritated now.

“Girls!” Fluttershy squeaked, grabbing their attention before anything else could be said. “Thank you for doing my hair again, but....”

A yawn escaped from her before she could finish, and the birds nodded. “Oh, of course, where are our manners?" said Orchid.

“They’re nonexistent,” Discord mumbled.

They all just ignored him as they bid each other farewell, with Fluttershy promising to say goodbye to them in the morning. The ocelot followed them sleepily, giving Fluttershy one last goodnight lick before making his way through the forest back home.

Fluttershy then yawned again, and put a paw to her mouth to cover it. Discord conjured up a blanket for her to lay on, and she was just about to lay there when Discord stopped her.

“If you think I’m going to pass up this opportunity, then you’re quite wrong,” he informed her. “After all, it’s not every day that you’re long enough to wrap yourself around me.”

Fluttershy cocked her head, a little more alert now. “What do you mean?”

“Well, don’t you recall the nights I’d stay over, and we’d fall asleep on the floor, with me wrapped around your little pony self?” he asked, rotating his pointer talon in a circle.

Fluttershy did remember. In fact, it had been during the colder months, when she would set up a fire on the hearth inside her home, and they’d lounge there after some tea and sandwiches. He would wrap himself securely around her in coils, and Fluttershy always felt so warm and safe as she sat in the middle, with Discord’s face always being the last thing she saw before falling asleep.

“Of course I do.”

“Well, you always complimented me for being so furry and comfortable, and you always slept so soundly. Sometimes I was actually envious of you, for having me as your personal blanket! After all, it’s not like there was a Draconequus around to wrap around me…”

And Fluttershy knew immediately what he wanted as soon as he gave her that cocky look, his lips stretching wide to show off his pearly whites.

Snap!

The sound of his fingers was the loudest thing in the forest before he reappeared as a stallion pony, with a dark gray coat and a tornado for a cutie mark. His smile was the same.

“So, if those hummingbirds really want us to hug and whatnot, well, I think we should one-up them and just show them just how good of friends we are.” He glanced over to where the birds had been earlier. “I mean, they’re gone now, and good riddance for that, but it’s the principle of the thing.”

Fluttershy could already feel her face burning. For some reason, the thought of wrapping herself around him, instead of vice versa, seemed so much more...intimate than the latter. After all, as a pony, Fluttershy just had to lay there and enjoy his soft warmth. But with the roles switched...now it was her making the effort, and she wondered why that seemed so much different than before.

“I never thought I’d get to see the day where the roles were reversed, but you know me well enough to know I’d take advantage of this sooner or later. So now I’m the pony, and you’re the draconequus. So…”

Discord folded his equine legs and pat the space beside him on the blanket. “Show me what I’ve been missing, dear Fluttershy.”

She shook her head. “Oh, Discord, I’m not sure I can do that…”

“Oh, sure you can!” Discord encouraged. “How is it any different from before, other than being the Draconequus this time? I just want to know just how comfortable it is to be wrapped by another draconequus.”

“I don’t know…”

But she caved in when she heard sniffles and looked to see a ponified Discord giving her the biggest, most pity-inducing eyes he could muster, his little hooves pressed together in begging. “Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase?” he whined.

She sighed. “Oh...Okay…”

Discord let out a whoop of victory before patting the blanket again in expectancy. Fluttershy awkwardly stepped around him like a dog fluffing a bed, before she laid down in a circle around him.

“Fluttershy, you’re not even touching me. I need to be embraced! I need to feel loved! Adored!”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never done this before, not this way!”

“Just wrap yourself around me, it’s not rocket science. Trust me, I use rockets all the time.”

“But what if I wrapped myself too tightly around you? What if I choke you? What if I’m not as warm and cuddly as you are?!?”

“I’ll be the judge of that, now stop making excuses and just do it, hmm? Come now, it’s not that embarrassing, there’s no need to turn red. I promise I’ll behave.”

“Discord!”

“What, what’d I say?!?”

They continued arguing like this until Fluttershy eventually drew up enough courage to wrap herself around Discord the way he wanted her to--tightly, but not too much so. Fluttershy felt completely embarrassed. It felt like her nerves were on hyper drive, and she could just feel Discord a little too well with her heightened senses. His own warmth, and his fluffy little tail, and his chin where he rested his head on her coils, and…

“Sweet Celestia, I’m incredible! Is this how it feels to be in my embrace like this at night? My my, I really did have reason to envy you! This is better than a cloud hammock. And those are quite hard to beat in terms of ultimate comfort!” He bragged as if he were the Draconequus at the moment, and not her.

She could hardly breathe as she felt him wiggle around to make himself more comfortable. “Ah...Thank you Flutters…” he sighed. She looked at him, surprised to see his eyes already drooping. “You’re such a...lovely pony...” He hoofed at her bangs for a moment before finally falling asleep.

She didn’t care that he had called her a pony by accident, not this time.

Instead, she was caught up on the word ‘lovely’.

He’d complimented her before, but for some reason, this time it felt slightly different, and he sounded so...blissful as he said it.

Did having her wrapped around him really make him that happy? Was it just because she was a Draconequus, or because it was her…?

She gazed back down at him, already so deep asleep, his breath whistling each time he exhaled. He certainly looked as if he were in bliss, as a faint smile lingered on his face.

She extended a paw, curious now that Discord was a pony. She had to admit, he looked rather nice for a unicorn stallion, though it was odd to see him so symmetrical and uniform in color. But the dark gray suited him, and earlier she had noticed that his eyes had stayed the same color. He still had his fang too, though instead of sticking out, it remained within the confines of his shut mouth.

Her paw brushed down his dark hair, and Discord wiggled a bit at the touch, but stayed asleep. She smiled at the prickly, stiff texture of it. Even as a pony, his hair was still more like a zebra’s than a stallion’s. She liked that; it suited him more.

She found herself curling slightly more around him, with her head laid across his back. Oh, that was actually...rather comfortable. She liked feeling the rise and fall of his back as he slept and breathed, and she felt the familiar sensation of safety and warmth.

Even though he wasn’t wrapped around her...It turned out that wasn’t really needed. He just made her feel that way in general.

It was nice.

So wonderfully, amazingly nice.

And she spoke one last time as she felt her eyelids grow heavy again, and nuzzled his neck softly.

“Goodnight, Discord...I think you’re lovely too…”

She smiled in her sleep.

Author's Notes:

Sooooo. I finally finished this!

I avoided it for the longest time because it never went the way I wanted it to. I wrote and rewrote parts more than I can remember. Sometimes I would just go off and write something completely different, and I'd have to sacrifice it and delete it to stick to the original outline. Of course, I still ended up changing it a bit...and the part with the hummingbirds definitely wasn't planned, but I thought it helped lead to the finally scene rather well.

That, and I was worried about all the stuff happening in this chapter. I know, it's a lot of stuff. I thought about cutting them in half and making two chapters, but I couldn't find a good place to separate them. That's what I get for trying to add so much stuff, I guess. I hope it wasn't overkill. The next chapter will be more focused. At least, that's how I plan for it to go.

A lot of this chapter was inspired by Woolly, who writes fics with a lot of zoological elements in it. This one, I believe, was particularly influenced by one of her first stories, Wanderlust. Her stories, in my humble opinion, are absolutely brilliant and some of the best on this site. You should read them if you haven't. If you have, I'm sure you can see her influence in this chapter.

The Neighyan Rainforest orest is the ponified version of the Mayan Rainforest, where the Mayan temples can be found. I had the privilege of going to some of these Mayan temples with family a long time ago, and I had to research it a bit to refresh my memory. I believe the one I traveled to was Tical. I remember seeing those big beautiful structures, along with a turquoise blue waterfall, and I thought it'd be a great location for Discord to take Fluttershy, too.

Afriquagga = Africa. The Quagga are an extinct species of Zebra. Ironically, I came up with this name before Woolly posted her newest chapter of Eons, where the Quagga were also mentioned.

Now, if you're struggling to see the point of this chapter, it's okay. Everything that was said and done in this chapter will come into play later, I promise.

Not to mention, these two really needed a vacation. And fluffy times to boot. :3

Anways, thanks for reading, especially after waiting for so long!!!! As always, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome here! I'd love to know what you thought of it.

And the next chapter...Hoohoohoo, oh, all the drama there will be!!!~

Dress to Distress

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Eight: Dress to Distress

Soon, it would be finished.

Soon, Rarity would complete her very first dress for a bipedal creature.

And she could hardly contain her excitement.

She had already finished her design sketch and had all the materials picked out. Fluttershy’s new measurements from her visit to the cottage yesterday stood in the forefront of the Unicorn’s mind as she prepared herself for the final step: making the actual, tangible thing.

With help from Twilight’s number one assistant, of course.

“Wow, Rarity,” Spike said, looking at her sketchbook and admiring Rarity’s design. “This dress is gonna be beautiful!”

“Oh, but of course it will be, Spike. In fact, it must!” Rarity replied, putting a confident hoof in the air with a determined glint in her diamond blue eyes. “But!”

She turned around and pointed at Spike. “It mustn’t be too beautiful! For it is the mare that compliments the dress, not the other way around. It must say to all who see it on Fluttershy…”

She stood on her hind legs. “‘Look at me! I’m Fluttershy, and I don’t care who knows it!’”

Spike wrinkled his brow in confusion. “But she does care, doesn’t she? And don’t we have to keep it a secret? I mean, we don’t want other ponies to see her. They’d flip out over seeing another Draconequus!”

“Of course we want to keep it secret, sweetie.” She trotted over to him and put a hoof under his chin. “But I want this dress to make Fluttershy more comfortable in her own skin...to help remind her of who she is despite how she looks.”

A thought occurred to Spike. “‘Remind her of who she is’? You mean...You think she’ll forget? Forget who she is and maybe…” He gulped. “Go...crazy?”

Rarity gasped. “What! No, of course not!” She put a hoof to her chest, “She would never do anything to put Equestria or her friends at risk, no matter what she is. Really Spike, you’re taking my words far too literally. Hmm.” She tapped her chin in thought. “I’m not sure whether that means you should read less books, or more of them.”

“I live in a library, I think I’m good,” Spike said. “But if you didn’t mean it that way, then...what did you mean?”

Rarity’s eyes softened as she looked at the innocent young dragon, and rubbed the top of his head softly. “What I meant, Spike, is that Fluttershy has made so much progress over the years, and I don’t want all of her hard work to become undone like a spool of thread on the floor. I’ve known Fluttershy for a long time, and you and I both know that she’s grown a lot in four years. She’s started to grow the kind of confidence I’ve always hoped for her to get. But she still has a ways to go.”

She looked out the window. “Did you know that when I first met her, her voice hardly ever went up above a whisper?”

Spike put a hand to his mouth and chuckled. “She was that way with Twilight too, until she got a look at me.” Seeing a rare opportunity to strut his stuff for his lady, he puffed out his chest and put his arms on his hips. “Then she wanted to know all about me; she thought I was fascinating, you know.”

This time, it was Rarity who laughed. “I know, dear. I remember her talking all about you afterward. But I met her before the two of you did, and oh, she was even quieter then.”

This surprised him. “She was?”

Rarity nodded. “She was.” She sighed deeply. “...I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much, and you’ll have to ask her yourself about it, but...when we first met, she was still healing from from her past. It’s true that she’s always been a shy mare, yes, but oh, what she went through…” She shook her head. “It only made things worse.”

But the corners of her mouth turned up as the sun shined brighter. “But that just makes her growth all the more impressive now. She’s overcome it, and she shines so bright in my eyes that I’d take her friendship over a mere diamond any day.”

This piqued Spike’s interest, but he was still confused. “But what’s that have to do with a dress?”

“Why, everything, of course! Fluttershy’s going through a very trying time right now. It was hard enough when Discord made a mistake and chose Tirek over her. But now she’s in a strange new body with powers she’s only beginning to comprehend. I don’t want her to forget all the progress she’s made, or lose faith in herself. And I think a dress is just the ticket to helping her with that.”

“Woah, can a dress really do that?”

Smirking, Rarity glanced at Spike, and levitated a fancy top hat over to the top of his head.

“Don’t you feel more confident when you’re in a dashing suit, Spike?”

Grinning, Spike stood with as much good posture as he possibly could, and tipped his hat to her. “Definitely.”

Rarity gave him a smile so genuine that he thought he’d melt through the floor. “Then imagine what a nice dress will do for Fluttershy when she wears it as she is now.”

She glanced at the clock and gasped. “And if I wish to get anything else done by the end of the day, we have to start working now. But I can’t hurry too much. I’ve got to give this my best effort.”

With her horn aglow, she levitated some pale yellow fabric, which inspired more questions from Spike. No one was more familiar with Rarity’s collection than him, after helping her in the shop for so many years, and he thought her choice of color was unusual.

“Rarity, are you sure that’s the right fabric you’re gonna use? It’s the same color as Fluttershy’s coat! I mean, er…” He blushed, and clasped his claws together in embarrassment. “Head. The same color as her....head. And uh, you hardly ever make dresses that are the same color as somepony’s coat. Or head.”

Rarity rewarded him with another smile. “Oh Spikey Wikey, you really do pay attention to my work, don’t you? Well, you’re right. Usually, I don’t do that. I’ll sometimes pick a dress that matches a pony’s hair color, but never the coat. It’s just far too bland to work in most things, unless the dress has embellishments of different colors.”

She hung the fabric over a hanger and picked out a spool of turquoise ribbon. “But this is a special case, dear. Fluttershy isn’t in her...usual form, right now. Her head and upper neck are still that lovely shade of buttercream yellow we’re all familiar with, but she’s also sporting a plethora of other colors on her body. Having a dress the same shade as her pony coat will be a lovely way of making her feel more comfortable under her own skin.”

Spike nodded in understanding. “You’re such a good friend, Rarity,” he gushed. “You always know just what everypony needs.”

“Oh, you’re too sweet,” Rarity said,, a hoof on her cheek as she stood there with a pleased blush on her face. “Now, could you be a dear and hold up my sketch for me to see? I remember it well, but one can never be too careful. Especially in fashion!”

“You got it, Rarity.” He picked up the sketchpad and held it above his head for her to see without having to bend her delicate neck too much.

“Ah, yes, thank you, Spikey Wikey. I don’t know what I’d do without you!” She turned back to her work as Spike pumped his fists in celebration.

“Yes, this is going to be the perfect outfit for her,” Rarity said to herself. “ Simple, yet chic! Casual, but refined! Comfortable, yet functional! She’ll be able to move freely and still feel as pretty as a flower.”

The design was simple enough, but it was a challenge to design a dress for someone who didn’t stand on four legs. But that made the project all the more exciting for her, and after a few failed attempts at cutting the fabric and starting over, she was able to make it just how she envisioned. Since all she had were ponyquins, she had to levitate the dress in the air instead so she could see the final product.

And she squealed in delight at her success. The yellow dress had an orange ribbon wrapped right around the waist to nip the shape, with a tiered empire skirt just beneath it and a shallow V-neckline. It was light and it shimmered slightly under the natural light of the room. It was the perfect sundress for a tall skinny figure like Fluttershy the Draconequus. And for a final touch, she added in a floppy sunhat with openings for her antler, antenna, and ears, with another ribbon wrapped around its brim.

“So what do you think, Spike? Does this not positively scream Fluttershy?” Rarity asked giddily.

Spike nodded in agreement. “It totally seems like the kind of thing she’d wear. She’s going to look great! But I mean, it is a dress from you, so I’m not that surprised.”

“Oh, always a flatterer, Spikey! I’d say it was too much, but I just love to hear it! Now, shall we go deliver it to her?” she asked with a smile.

Spike grinned from ear to ear. “You want me to go? On the long walk to Fluttershy’s? Alone? With you?!?” It was practically a date.

She lifted her hooves and pinched his cheeks. “But of course! I couldn’t have done this without your help. So let’s get going!”

She folded the dress in a box and levitated it herself, not allowing Spike to handle it. This had been such a special project that she wanted to do everything herself this time.

Stepping onto the cobbled streets of Ponyville, Rarity trotted forward with Spike by her side. The fashionista was so happy with her work that she even started humming to herself. Spike had hearts in his eyes.

He was so occupied with listening to her heavenly tune that he didn’t notice Mayor Mare headed their way. The mayor herself had just finished straightening her collar and began walking again when she ran straight into Rarity.

“Oh!” Rarity gasped as the mayor’s forehead bonked against hers, startling her and causing the box to hit the ground before Spike could think to catch it. Both mares stepped back, taking a moment as their heads circled and their irises rolled, before shaking their heads to reorient themselves.

The mayor was the first to speak. “Oh my! Rarity, I’m so sorry! Are you--?”

“Rarity! Are you okay!?” Spike cut in, taking her shoulders and holding her steady in case she needed the extra support.

The unicorn put a delicate hoof to her head, rubbing it for a moment. “Oh, I’m quite all right, but I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, Mayor.” She looked back at the gray-haired mare. “I’m afraid I was so occupied with what I was doing that I paid no attention to where I was going. Are you all right?” She reached forward to straighten the glasses on Mayor Mare’s face.

She was rewarded with a thankful smile. “I’m right as rain, with no harm done. I take it you were on your way to making a delivery?”

“Yes; it’s a dress for dear Fluttershy, actually!” Rarity replied, her horn becoming aglow as she set the box upright on the ground again, with the dress neatly tucked inside. “In fact, I’m heading to her cottage now to show it to her.””

Mayor Mare grinned. “Oh, in that case, I’m glad I ran into you! I’ve been meaning to speak to Fluttershy myself. It’s odd though; I haven’t seen her in the last few days. I know she enjoys her alone time in her cottage, but normally I see her at least a few times a week, either with you girls or at the market stalls.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Rarity’s eyes widened as she realized her mistake. A quick glance at Spike showed her that he was thinking the exact same thing.

“Oh, err, yes, well, Fluttershy, you know, she...Um, what was it you needed her for? Perhaps somepony else could help you…?” Rarity said with a forced smile.

“Oh, but Fluttershy would really be the best choice,” the mayor said. “After all, she is our local animal expert, and I recently just found a nest of baby birds in my flower garden. I think they’re bluebirds...or maybe bluejays…?” She pursed her lips in thought, before giggling to herself. “Well, either way, I’m not quite sure what to do with them, and I don’t want to scare the mother away with my presence. I was hoping I could get Fluttershy to talk to her for me.”

“Ohoho, is that so! How quaint,” Rarity answered, stalling for time. “Well, I’ll make sure to tell Fluttershy for you, but I’m not sure that she’ll be able to help you any time soon. She’s been away from town because she’s…”

Rarity swished her tail as she struggled to think of a good lie. Think, Rarity, think, think!

Luckily, Spike was able to save her. “She’s sick!” he cut in, waving his claws as if the situation were dire. “Really really sick! With, uh, lice! So she can’t be around ponies OR animals! Not even birds!”

The mayor gasped in horror as Rarity tried not to facehoof herself. While she was grateful for Spike’s quick thinking, she couldn’t help but inwardly moan at his choice of fake illness for their friend. Lice? Really? Ugh, how deplorable…

“Is that so?” The mayor asked in wonder. “And shampoo hasn’t worked? Because lice certainly shouldn’t be enough to keep her out for a week.”

“It’s a rare type of lice, one from the Everfree! They’re, uh, mean, with sharp little teeth and pincers!” Spike wriggled his claws menacingly as he displayed his small canines, as if mimicking a monster. “Theyl lay their eggs in anything with hair or feathers, and, and, they’re so tough that not even a bath can destroy them!”

“Oh my goodness!”

“But not to worry!” Rarity added, putting a hoof on Spike’s shoulder and sending him a look that said I’ll take it from here. “They’re relatively harmless, just a bit itchy and unpleasant. Twilight is fervently looking for a spell to get rid of them. Of course, it’s got to be a humane spell too,” she laughed nervously. “After all, you know how our Fluttershy is. Couldn’t harm a thing even if it helped her!”

The mayor nodded in understanding. “Well, I certainly hope Twilight finds a spell to help her, so that she recovers soon. Though…” She looked at them in confusion, “if she’s contagious, then why are you going to visit her?” She put a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “It would be a shame if those nasty little fleas got to you, Rarity, or…” She gasped. “What if they got on your dresses and spread them all over Ponyville?” Her eyes continued to enlarge in horror. “Or not just Ponyville, but all of Equest--!”

A delicate, polished white hoof stopped the Mayor’s lips. “Now, there’s no need to worry! I assure you that I’m going to be just fine.” Rarity smiled, trying to look confident, hoping it was enough to deter her. “I won’t get close enough to contract them. I’ll just deliver the dress and be right off! I just, err, couldn’t put off the delivery. After all, a due date is a due date, and as a proper businessmare, nothing will get in my way of finishing an order on time.” Her grin widened painfully. Please believe me, please please oh sweet Celestia please…

“But if you get those fleas, the fleas could spread and ruin all your inventory, and put your business at risk. I think Fluttershy will understand if you don’t deliver one dress on time, just this once. And as mayor of this fine town, it’s my duty to look after all it’s fine citizens.” She poked at Rarity’s chest with a determined hoof. “And that includes you, Miss Rarity.”

Drat. Rarity could feel sweat beading at her forehead. Great. Now, not only did she lie and tell the mayor that one of her best friends was covered in bugs, but now her hair was surely going to frizz. Oh, why wasn’t the mayor a stallion instead of a mare? Had the mayor been a stallion, she could have easily convinced him to let her go with the power of her luscious fluttering eyelashes…

Spike could tell this wasn’t going to end well if he didn’t intervene again, and shoved his entire body between the two ponies, his back to Rarity as he smiled awkwardly at Mayor Mare. “But I’m not at risk, see?” He gestured towards himself with both claws. “No feathers, no hair, nothin’! Just scale and tail, as I always say.”

Mayor Mare blinked. “You do? I’ve never heard you say anything of the sort, Spike.”

“I just started yesterday!” he said, his voice a tad bit too enthusiastic, making Rarity nearly wince. “But don’t ya see? I can get near Fluttershy with no problems at all! So I’m the one that’s actually gonna take it.” As if demonstrating, he picked up the box. “Rarity’s just gonna wait outside the cottage while I go in and give it to her, aren’t you, Rarity?”

Rarity nodded, her forced smile starting to make her face hurt. “Oh! Oh, yes, most definitely! I’m just going to make sure Spikey Wikey here gets there and back safely, and that the dress is in pristine condition when it arrives! I won’t even go inside the cottage!”

Mayor Mare stared at the two as they displayed their pearly whites in giant grins. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Rarity and Spike, hoping they hadn’t ruined everything.

“Well, if that’s the case,” the mayor finally said, “then I’m sure it’s all right. Though I’d suggest taking no risks, Rarity. Don’t even take that box back home with you. And please, let me know if there’s anything I can do for Fluttershy.”

“You got it!” Spike said.

“Of course!” Rarity nodded quickly. “We’ll be sure to do that. Thank you, Miss Mayor! Come now, Spike.” She levitated the dress and trotted past the mayor. “We’ll have to be quick if we want to get back in time!”

“Coming!” Spike called, running to catch up, before calling over his shoulder to the mayor. “I’ll ask Fluttershy about the birds and see if I can help later!”

But the two were out of sight before Mayor Mare could even thank him, watching as they disappeared around the corner towards the outskirts of town. She cocked her head.

“How odd…”

When Rarity and Spike were out of earshot, they looked at each other for a moment and sighed in relief. “That was a close one,” Spike said.

“Indeed, but I wasn’t kidding about us needing to hurry.” Rarity continued to trot, quick enough that it was faster than a walk, but slow enough that Spike could still keep up with her. “I just hope that the Mayor doesn’t see Twilight while we’re gone. We’re going to have to stop by the castle to tell the others about our little fib. Especially Twilight. That way we can keep our stories consistent.” She sighed. “So much for finishing up the rest of my orders today…”

“Sorry, Rarity…” Spike rubbed the back of his head, feeling guilty. “But I had to come up with something, or--”

A soft muzzle nuzzled his face. “No need for an apology Spike; you saved me more than once back there. True, I wish we didn’t have to include something as vile as fleas in our lie, but I’ll admit...It’s a good fib. The mayor surely won’t come for a visit now.”

Spike glowed under the compliment. “Yeah! And nopony will bring animals to her, either.” He put his claws on his hips, looking smug. “I guess I’m a better liar than I thought!”

Rarity gave a laugh. “I wouldn’t recommend advertising that particular skill of yours, Spike. Especially not to Twilight.” Her smile then turned to a frown. “Let’s just hope we won’t have to lie much longer…Fluttershy’s more popular than she realizes. They’ll begin to notice if she’s gone too long.”

Spike nodded. “Yeah…” His voice was somber.

They tried not to think of it as they made their way to the cottage.

Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,

Hello! I hope that the two of you are doing well, and that everything is peaceful and lovely in Canterlot. I wanted to write to you to tell you how Discord and I were doing back here in the cottage, as you requested. I hope you’ll forgive me if this letter gets too long, though...It’s just that I have so much to tell you.

Discord and I have been getting along wonderfully. It hasn’t all been easy, but

“Do you have to do this now?”

The writing stopped, though the quill remained steady in Fluttershy’s mouth as she twisted her long neck to look behind her. Discord had his arms crossed, with a slightly irritated scowl on his face.

“Diff--”

Oh, right. The quill. She still wasn’t used to writing with her hands yet, and she definitely didn’t know how to use her magic to levitate things, so she still had to write it old-school Pegasus-and-Earth-Pony style. She gently put the quill back in the pot of ink before turning back to Discord.

“Discord,” she said again, “you know that Celestia asked for daily reports on your progress. If I don’t, she won’t know what’s going on and may come visit here. And you know we don’t want that.”

Discord scoffed. “Well, it’s not my fault you love me so much that you want to be me.”

Color rushed to her cheeks and she shook her head. “That’s not true! Well, I mean, um, part of it is...kind of true, but not, I mean, um, and it’s not that I wished to become you, but I do care about you, and…”

Discord rolled his eyes, though the smirk on his face showed anything but annoyance. “Calm yourself, Shutterfly,” he said, putting his paw on top of her head. “I was only joking.”

Slightly. The corner of his mouth quivered as he tried not to giggle.

“Well, either way…” She stood up straighter and set her shoulders, turning away from him and picking the quill up awkwardly with her hand, clutching it against the pads of her rabbit paw. “You know I have to do this.”

“But why now?” He spread his hands before him. “The day is just beginning, you have plenty of time later to gossip with ol’ Tia later! We could be working on your powers now instead. That’s a lot more interesting than this.” He pointed to the parchment with an accusatory finger. “You’re letting this letter hold back your progress!”

“But it could hold me back even more if I put it off for even longer. Then I’d have a longer letter to write, and I would need to apologize for taking so long.” She straightened the parchment before glancing back at him without turning her head. “Why don’t you go read a book? You don’t have to wait for me. I promise I’ll join you soon.”

Discord snorted. “Oh, wow, thanks for the advice, Twilight Sparkle. In fact, while I’m at it, why don’t I go ahead and polish your friendship tiara! I’m sure you have a book on princess crowns around here, so perhaps I’ll just read that!”

“Wonderful, go ahead.”

Discord’s face fell. He had been expecting a lecture in return for his sass. He hadn’t expected to get sass back. “Huh?”

Her mouth curled upward the slightest bit. “There are books on the shelves beside the couch. I have a lot for you to choose from, and I know you like to read.”

He gasped. “Moi? Like to read? Whatever makes you think that?”

“You read the entire journal my friends and I kept of our adventures. Not only that, but you had left tabs in them to help us figure out how to unlock the chest to the Tree of Harmony. I know you’re intelligent, but I’m sure that still took a lot of time.”

“That...That was different!” Discord said, waving his paw and claw in protest. “That was more like snooping. And you know how much I love to do that.”

Fluttershy’s tiny smile widened. “Then why did I find a tea stain in my copy of Gait Expectations for Furry Friends Book Club? It wasn’t me.”

“Well…” He looked away from her. “I didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re implying!”

“Miss Hooversham is an interesting character, isn’t she?” Fluttershy asked before taking the end of the quill in her mouth.

With this question, Discord’s demeanor completely changed, a devious grin on his face. “Ohoho, she’s an interesting one, that old mare is! Can you imagine, meeting a mare who’s stayed in her wedding dress without ever taking it off, so bitter over the groom who jilted her that she raised a gorgeous cold-hearted daughter for revenge?” He slapped his knee and belted out laughing. “She’s my idol! I was delighted when--”

He stopped immediately, realizing that he had been tricked. He glared at Fluttershy as she tried not to giggle.

“Oh, that was low, Fluttershy. Real low. Even for you!”

This only made her giggle harder, and he growled and walked away, though once he made his way back to the living room, he found himself chuckling too.

“I really am rubbing off on her,” he mused, before taking a seat on the couch and eying the bookshelf.

Fluttershy had been more right about him than she realized. The truth was, he had already read all the books on Fluttershy’s shelves, save for the ones on the very bottom. Craning his neck down below the arm of the couch, he saw that there were only a few books on the last shelf, many of them dusty. They looked like they hadn’t been touched in years.

But that made him all the more curious. Reaching down, he grabbed the biggest book he saw. Bound in what looked like vegetable leather, it looked more like a large binder than anything else. Rubbing his paw over the cover, his eyes widened as he realized the treasure he discovered.

In glossy embossed golden letters, the words FAMILY ALBUM stretched across the cover.

An album? Discord mused. A family album? Suddenly he was grateful to Fluttershy for her suggestion. How did I not come across this before? She didn’t even bother to hide it!

His fingers itched to open it up, and Discord always had a hard time with temptation. Besides, it had been right there, on the shelf, for anyone to find. He really wasn’t doing anything wrong. It wasn’t snooping.

And yet...it still felt slightly wrong, but…

He opened it anyway.

And his irises grew at the very first picture.

The picture was of a tiny, tiny foal, with a buttermilk coat and long, long eyelashes. The eyes were closed, and just a small, curly tuft of pink hair sprouted from the base of the head, between two tiny ears.

Fluttershy...She’s so...tiny…

Without thinking much about it, he put a talon on the face of the picture, as if stroking the baby Fluttershy.

Too tiny.

It was true. Wrapped around Fluttershy were two huge brown forelegs, which Discord guessed were her mother’s. But Fluttershy looked incredibly small compared to the grown adult pony’s forelegs.

Discord didn’t know a lot about foals, but he knew how big they generally were, and Fluttershy was definitely not that. She looked so small that she could fit into the palm of his paw.

He turned the page, hoping for more answers.

He got them.

The next photo showed something that looked like an incubator, with glass surrounding little Fluttershy, a soft light glowing on her angelic little foalish face. He noticed that despite her tiny size, her limbs seemed abnormally long, and her stomach, a bit too skinny.

She was always such a petite little thing…

But it seemed that Fluttershy overcame whatever problems she had as a newborn, for the next pages showed pictures of her as she grew. Her limbs remained long and gave her a gawky sort of look, but Discord found it completely and utterly adorable. One picture showed a tiny little Fluttershy foal giggling as her muzzle touched the muzzle of another…

Her mother, it seemed. She was holding little Fluttershy up in the air and giving her an Eskimo kiss, making the filly laugh in delight.

Her coat was brown, and her mane was a lovely shade of orange that laid over her left shoulder in a soft curl, bound together with a single hair tie. Orange freckles spread across the bridge of her nose. And her eyes…

They matched Fluttershy’s perfectly in shape, with eyelashes just as long and lovely as her daughter’s. The only difference was the color of the irises. They were the same fall-orange as her hair.

Well well well, Flutters. Now I know where you get your looks. Though I can’t help but think you’ve surpassed her, somehow.

Which was odd for him, because freckles were always asymmetrical on the face. Usually he liked asymmetrical. It certainly made Applejack more interesting to look at.

Still, he found himself looking at Fluttershy’s picture more, and it made his grin broader.

Before he knew it, he turned towards the end of the album, hoping to see a more updated picture of Fluttershy. Something in her teens, perhaps? Or maybe one of her with a brace face. Wouldn’t that just be a riot?

But he soon realized that the album had nothing towards the back. The shiny plastic pockets for holding pictures held nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Slightly taken aback by this, he furrowed his brows and took half of the pages and flipped through them until he came across one that refused to bend, stiffer due to the insertion of a photo. He stopped to look.

He gasped.

The picture had been ripped horizontally. On the bottom half was Fluttershy, her parents’ legs standing from behind her, smiling happily at the camera. Her eyes were shining as her little wings stood up and outward. None of her usual shyness seemed present during the taking of the picture.

On the top half, he saw the brown Pegasus mare, smiling serenely towards the camera. And next to her, with a foreleg wrapped around her withers…

The pegasus’ smile was proud as he stood there with confidence, his shoulders squared and a determined sort of gleam in his brown eyes. His coat was beautiful, a bold shade of darker yellow that seemed gold, complete with a metallic sheen. His slightly curly, windswept mane was a brighter yellow, a nice compliment to his golden body.

A happy family, torn apart by a rip, but forced together through the pockets of an album and two grayed strips of old wrapping tape.

How did the picture end up this way? That was only one of the many questions Discord had on his mind, but it was the most important one. Had it come from an accident? He doubted it. The rip had been too clean, as if it had been done on purpose. It went straight across the middle of the photograph, with no jagged edges or missing bits.

No. Whatever had happened, it was ripped on purpose.

But the question was...who did it?

Had it been Fluttershy?

No. He couldn’t imagine somepony like her ever doing such a thing. So if it hadn’t been her, then…

Knock knock knock!

Discord nearly fell over at the sound of the pounding door. Acting as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have, he shoved the album back on the low shelf before standing up.

“Fluttershy, darling! Yoohoo, we’re here!”

Discord grunted as he smoothed back his hair, hearing the legs of Fluttershy’s chair scrape against the floor in the kitchen. “Back already...?” he muttered to himself, glaring at the door.

Rarity had just been to the cottage yesterday. She had arrived immediately after he and Fluttershy returned from their trip, armed with pencils and measuring tape. It had taken forever, and as soon as Rarity had finished, Applejack came right after, hauling over a cart of groceries and carrots for Angel Bunny. By the time the three had finished helping Fluttershy put her groceries away and gabbing over various things, the sky had darkened, and Discord hadn’t gotten any alone time with Fluttershy at all.

Not that he had been looking for any. No. Of course not.

But he couldn’t help but wonder what Rarity came back for.

The sound of Fluttershy’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Coming!” she replied, zipping past Discord without a second glance and landing at the door to answer it.

He stayed where he was, eyeing the shelf again to make sure it was hidden where he’d found it.

“Hello Rarity, hello Spike!” Fluttershy said happily as she opened the door, stepping to the side to let them in.

Rarity trotted in, a box floating in front of her as Spike trailed in from behind, greeting Fluttershy and giving her a small wave. Discord eyed the box.

He remembered Rarity’s promise to make Fluttershy a dress. It had been the whole reason she had come over the day before to take her measurements. And knowing Rarity’s level of skill and the look of excitement on her face, he had a good idea of what was in the box.

That was awfully fast, Miss Rarity…

He could see that he wasn’t the only one to suspect it. “Rarity, is that…?” Fluttershy asked, her head slightly tilted as she looked at the mysterious package.

“That it is, darling, that it is!” Rarity said, looking proud as she set the box down in front of Fluttershy. “I finished the final sketch last night, and thanks to Spike’s help this morning, I was able to finish it up just before arriving here! Go on, open it, open it!” She bit her lip as she practically pushed the box against Fluttershy’s stomach.

Fluttershy seemed hesitant, biting her lip as she picked the box up. This also caught Discord’s interest as he sidled up next to Spike. He was about to tease Spike about his little crush on Rarity when Fluttershy finally opened the package.

A small gasp left her throat as she looked inside, before reaching a paw into the box. “Oh, Rarity…”

Gently with her rabbit paw, she took out the long yellow sundress, which seemed to glow as the light from the window fell across it. With the other hand, she pulled out the sunhat as well.

“It’s…” she began.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking,” Rarity interrupted. “It’s the exact shade of yellow your pony coat is, and I don’t normally do that, but this time, I felt it was needed. After all, even artists such as myself make exceptions every now and again. But I thought it would help…”

She touched Fluttershy’s arm. “Help you feel more like yourself again.”

Discord felt his jaw set as he watched Fluttershy give Rarity a wide, grateful smile as her eyes glittered. “It’s beautiful, Rarity. I love it.Thank you.”

“It’s not beautiful yet, darling!” She started pushing Fluttershy in the direction of the stairs. “It’s only going to reach its full potential when it’s worn by its intended! Oh, I can’t wait to see it!” She clapped her hooves together. “So go on, go on! Go go go!”

Fluttershy laughed. “Okay, I’ll be right back!”

“Don’t forget the hat!” Spike ran to the base of the steps, her sun hat in hand. Fluttershy thanked him and gingerly took it with her tail before heading to the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

“Oohoohoohoo, I’m on pins and needles now!” Rarity said. She seemed unable to keep still, tapping her hooves and pacing back in forth. “My first bipedal customer! Oh, do you think it will fit right? Even with the measurements I’m still afraid the length might be a tad off.” She gasped. “But wait!” She turned to Discord. “Of course! Discord, you wear outfits all the time. What do you think?”

She zipped over to him so fast that she seemed to vanish before re-appearing before him. “Do you think it will fit? Did you see the slit in the back for her tail? Do you think it will be comfortable enough? Oh, why didn’t I ask you this yesterday? You should have said something!”

Discord crossed his arms and glared at her. “Yes, well. I don’t normally find measuring ponies very scintillating, and I was busy greeting Fluttershy’s couch after such a long visit. It tends to miss me when I’m gone.”

Rarity shook her head. “Oh, it doesn’t matter, never mind that! Just tell me, do you think it will work for her? It’s my first dress for a creature with her…” She struggled for a word. “...characteristics.”

Discord’s glare grew more intense. “You don’t say…?”

The conversation came to an end when all three of them heard the bathroom door creak open.

“Um...I’m ready…”

All heads turned to look at her, and Fluttershy made her way to the stairs. Spike grinned while Rarity gasped and pressed her hooves against her face..

Coming down to the last step, with her paw on the rim of her hat, she peeked out from under the brim, a slight blush on her face. “Do I...look all right?”

“Are you kidding? You look great, Fluttershy!” Spike said, his arms out towards her. “It fits you perfectly!”

“Oh, it’s just like I imagined! Fluttershy, you look like a doll, an absolute doll!” Rarity gushed. She zipped over to Fluttershy just as fast as she had earlier. “The hem is just where your knees are, making it the perfect length! And the bow, is it tight enough?”

“Oh, I actually think I need it a little tighter. Could you maybe redo it for me please?”

Rarity agreed, retying the bow on Fluttershy’s back. Once it was tight enough to Fluttershy’s satisfaction, Rarity had her do one more twirl, checking her from all sides and making sure the tail had enough room from the slit in the dress to move about freely and comfortably.

Discord watched and said nothing, wondering if they had all forgotten that he was there.

He was wrong. More bashful than she had been before, Fluttershy glanced at him, blushing even redder. “Discord…?”

It was obvious what it was she wanted to ask, not only to Discord but the others as well. She could barely look at him for more than three seconds before losing her nerve and looking at his feet instead of his face. Spike and Rarity looked at him expectantly, and Discord tried not to grimace at the slight smirk on Rarity’s face. It was so irritating, how she lifted that high brow at him, expecting him to coo about how pretty Fluttershy was.

But as much as Discord had a bad feeling about the dress, he couldn’t help agreeing with her. “It’s nice,” he finally relented. “Very pretty.”

Despite his uncaring voice, he meant it. She did look very pretty. Lovely, even. He even liked it better than the getup she wore at the first Grand Galloping Gala. She had been one of the few ponies he had seen that night, back in his dark corner of the Royal Garden. He had known who she was the moment he looked at her, and while he had inwardly laughed at her misfortune at the party, he thought she looked rather nice, for a pony.

But this dress seemed to fit her personality even more, in its simple yet chic form. It hugged her in all the right places and looked modest without being too much so. The bow wasn’t too much on her; it was a thin strap of silk rather than a wide piece of ribbon, and it didn’t poof out too much in the back. The layered tiers gave her more of a shape without making her look too frilly. The shallow v-neckline was enough to show her her lovely clavicles, and Discord discovered with mild surprise that he wanted to touch them, as he had never really noticed them before. And the way the sleeveless straps showed off her shoulders, which otherwise went unnoticed…

He tightened his arms around him more. His hands were getting more itchy than usual. He almost wanted to bite them.

But despite all that, nopony could tell that he noticed it more than he implied.

Especially Fluttershy. She frowned.

Rarity scowled.

That stupid, stupid male. Of course, Rarity always knew that Discord was nowhere near a perfect gentleman, but she always thought he had more tact than that when he was with Fluttershy.

Apparently, she was wrong.

Her smile was forced but her eyes glittered tersely as she looked Discord straight in the eye. She still stared at him as she spoke. “Spike, why don’t you ask Fluttershy on how you can help the mayor with that bird nest she mentioned earlier? I need to speak to Cordy privately for a moment.”

Discord stared right back at her, wondering what in the world he did wrong. “You do?”

“A bird’s nest?” Fluttershy asked.

“Um, yeah!” Spike said with a few nods. “A bird’s nest. I promised the mayor I’d ask you how I could help her…”

Though Fluttershy still seemed disappointed by Discord’s lackluster compliment, she still smiled. “Oh, of course. Did she mention what bird it was?”

“Um, a bluebird...I think.”

They began talking about it and when it seemed safe, Rarity grabbed Discord by the arm. “Kitchen. Now.”

Discord was stunned. “What? Why? Whatever you need to say to me, you can say right here. We may be friends, but no one bosses me around.”

Rarity took a deep breath to relax herself, before holding her head up high and turning her back to him. “Fine then,” she said. “Then I guess you can just continue to hurt Fluttershy’s feelings like the uncouth brute that you are. After all, I’m sure you don’t care about how she feels, right? She’s only in this predicament because of you, anyway.”

She hid her satisfied smirk as she heard a small growl behind her. “What? Ugh, fine.” He stomped past her to the kitchen, and she quickly followed him.

They sat at the table. Discord looked more like a stubborn foal rather than a full-grown Draconequus. “What did I do now?”

“You acted foolishly, that’s what you did,” Rarity said, almost yelling but not quite. “Come now, Discord, I know you can do better than this. Did you not see how badly Fluttershy wanted you to like the dress? She was practically begging you to fawn all over her. Of course, she would never make it too obvious. After all, she’s a very modest mare that doesn’t like to ask for much. But sweet Celestia, Discord!”

She slammed her hoof against the top of the table. “You and I both know her well enough to tell when she secretly wants something, and she made it even more obvious than usual when she asked you what you thought of the dress. Why, I hadn’t even expected her to ask you herself! I thought I’d have to do that. But nooooooooooo. Instead, you just had to give her a halfhearted answer. And while I’m aware that you and I still don’t know each other that well...I know you like her more than you let on. So why? Why disappoint her like that?”

Discord was stunned by this, his eyes wide and blinking a few times before growing irritated. “Methinks you’re reading into the situation a little too much, Rarity. In fact…” He stood up from his seat, glowering over her. “I think it’s more your problem than hers. Why?” He spread his hands apart in questioning and pouting his lips. “Sad that you can’t make a dress that impresses me? Were you expecting me to fall on my knees in captivation of my best friend, adorned in one of your creations?”

He threw himself on his knees with a dramatic paw pressed against his forehead. “‘Oh Fluttershy! Your beauty! That dress! It’s the most amazing thing to ever come across my old, tired eyeballs!’“ he lamented. “‘Why, I may just faint!’”

He then made a sighing sound, and Rarity’s fainting couch suddenly appeared as he fell across it, pretending to go unconscious as he hit the cushions.

“Ugh, would you please stop teleporting my couch out of my home whenever you feel like it?” Rarity moaned.

“Nope.” He broke his act and sat up, crossing a leg over the other and looking back at her. “But I will have you know that while my compliment might have been a little too lackluster for you...I do find the dress…”

Rarity looked at him as he spoke and was surprised to find a hint of color at the top of his cheekbones.

“...Attractive. It suits her. I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings. But now I have a question for you.”

“Oh? And what question would that be?” Rarity regarded him with suspicious curiosity.

He stretched his neck out more to get closer to Rarity’s face. “Why?”

She managed not to roll her eyes at his vagueness. “Why what?”

“Why make the dress? You made it so quickly.”

He settled back down into the cushions and steepled his fingers together. “I’ve been in your shop enough times to know that you usually have plenty of work orders to keep you nice and busy, and you only just took Fluttershy’s measurements yesterday. And yet, here we are, talking about dresses with a gussied up Draconequus in the living room. What are you trying to say here, Rarity?”

“What am I…? I just wanted to make a dress for my friend, Discord. A gift! I’m not trying to say anything.”

“So you don’t mind that Fluttershy is a Draconequus? You aren’t embarrassed by how she looks? After all, who knows how long she’ll be like this? Maybe a dress will help you look at her easier.”

Rarity gasped at his suggestion, and before he knew it, she grabbed his goatee and shoved her face against his snout.

For a sophisticated mare, Discord noted, she could really growl something fierce.

“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just accuse me of being so petty, Discord. That you implied that I would be so shallow as to end my friendship with Fluttershy due to her appearance. I love Fluttershy, and I’ll always be her friend, regardless of what she is.”

With one last yank, making Disord hiss in pain, she let go. “And I hope that you do the same.”

Rubbing his chin, he glared at her. “I never implied you would end her friendship with Fluttershy.”

“Perhaps you did without meaning to, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve said my piece, and you had better believe it. I may enjoy fashion and beauty, but I am not so horrible as to judge my friends for things they can’t control.”

This time she was the one to sit on her haunches and cross her forelegs. Her feelings were genuinely hurt by Discord’s accusation. She thought that Discord wanted to be friends with all of them. Did that not include her?

She was surprised that it actually mattered to her.

She was even more surprised by what came next.

“I’m sorry.”

She looked up at him. “What?”

Discord merely sighed, and he looked tired for some reason. He stretched out his arms and stood up, snapping his fingers and teleporting Rarity’s fainting couch back to where it belonged.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Apologizing is sort of my thing now. It’s all the rage, you know.”

“Oh, well…” She looked away, feeling awkward. Had he ever apologized to her personally before? It was...different. “What are you sorry for?”

“For…” Rarity looked up and could see him searching inward for words to explain himself. “...Misjudging your intentions. Yeah, that sounds pretty good,” Discord mused to himself. “I’m sorry for that. I was only looking out for our favorite bird horse. You know how she is, always afraid of being judged.”

Rarity straightened herself up, relieved that the awkward tension was gone. “Well, she certainly doesn’t seem afraid of me judging her. There was absolutely no reason for you to assume that I made her dress for all the wrong reasons. However, I do appreciate and accept the apology.” She smiled sincerely at him. “Thank you. And I will admit, it’s sweet to see you so worried about her. After all, I did make the dress to help her feel a little more comfortable in her new body. Maybe help her feel a little bit more like herself.”

He looked at her curiously. “And you think a yellow dress will help with that?”

“It might help her feel more attractive. It’s true that she didn’t wear clothes very often as a pony, but she’s always had some interest in fashion, especially of the Prench variety. So the dress is something akin to what she would wear as her normal self. That was my goal with the dress. I just want to see her happy and comfortable.”

She sharpened her gaze at him. “And that’s the only reason. It was for her. Not me. I’ll admit I was excited about the project, but that was just because it was my first dress for her kind of body type. But that’s it. Understood?”

His hand turned shiny and transparent. “Crystal clear.”

“Good. And Discord.”

“What?”

“Next time she wears something nice and asks you how she looks, make sure you flatter her. Even overdo it if you feel so compelled, which I’m sure you will. She might blush, but trust me…”
She put a hoof on his arm. “She’ll secretly love every minute of it.”

Discord gave her a smile. “I’ll overdo it so much that she’ll turn into a tomato.”

Rarity didn’t doubt it.

Discord was rather surprised by how fast it took him to apologize to Rarity. It seemed like it really was his thing, apologizing to everypony at the drop of a hat. But he could see how honest Rarity was, that she truly meant what she said and didn’t judge Fluttershy in the slightest.

It made him both happy and jealous at the same time. Why couldn’t all ponies be like that? Why did it take so long for…?

He mentally slapped himself. Don’t think about it. You don’t care about that anymore.

But he still had an uneasy feeling about the dress. He wasn’t sure why.

As he and Rarity came out of the kitchen, they could hear Fluttershy talking to Spike about the birds. He was writing notes on her words when they finally came into view.

“...But I can understand animals, so I’d be able to talk to her. But for you and the mayor, I think it would just be best to leave the nest alone. The mother will know what to do. Just peek in the nest every so often to check them, and make sure they’re all safe in their nest. Once they start to resemble their parents with all of their feathers, you might start seeing them out of nest, but don’t chase them. They’re supposed to be exploring by then.”

Spike nodded. “And that’s all?”

Fluttershy nodded back. “Yes, that should be all…” She sighed. “I’m sorry I can’t come to help you. I love baby birds and helping them learn to fly.”

“Don’t be sorry at all, darling,” Rarity said, trotting over to her friend’s side. “It’s not as if you meant for this all to happen. At least, not in the way it panned out.”

“I suppose…” Fluttershy’s ears perked up again as she glanced at Rarity and Discord. “Did you, um, have a nice talk? In the kitchen?”

“Oh, it was scintillating,” Discord said. “We were just gabbing, Rares and me, weren’t we my dear?”

Spike scowled at this. “My dear?”

“Oh, yes, in fact, Discord just couldn’t stop talking about how gorgeous you looked in your new ensemble!” She pat his side. “He was just so stunned earlier that he couldn’t properly express himself. Isn’t that right Cordy?”

“Oh, yeah, totally.”

He watched as Fluttershy turned crimson. Despite his reservations on the dress, he couldn’t help but feel a little glee at his influence on her. Who knew she cared so much about what he thought of her? So much that she wanted him to compliment her? So much that she was willing to ask him for it?

“Thank you…” Fluttershy hid behind her hair, embarrassed by the attention. “I’m...um...glad you think so.”

A warm feeling spread in his chest at her words and his smile turned softer. “As you should be,” he said. The words came out softly, quieter than he had intended. She looked back at him and for a moment, his mind went blank as he stared back at her face. He didn’t even think of her dress.

He just looked at her.

He liked looking at her.

The moment ended when Spike cleared his throat. Fluttershy started at the sound while Discord merely blinked. Rarity, on the other hand, giggled and trotted back towards the door.

“Well, Spike, I think it’s best we made it back to the shop. I do have other orders to complete, after all, and with your help, I think I can still get them all finished.”

“Oh, you don’t have to go, if you’d like to stay…” Fluttershy tried, but Rarity shook her head and nuzzled Fluttershy’s side quickly before opening the door.

“Normally I’d love to, but I really do have to get going. Besides, I’m sure you had plans today, and I wouldn’t want to...interrupt anything. I’m just happy this worked out so wonderfully. Discord,” she looked back at him, “Take care of her while I’m gone, all right?”

She winked at him, and Discord wasn’t sure what she meant by it. But he played it cool and winked right back at her, a cheesy grin on his face.

“Oh, not to worry, Rares. I’ll make sure she stays in one piece and doesn’t explode.”

He laughed as she rolled her eyes. “Always the funny stallion, you are. So glad I can count on you to take care of her,” he said.

“Me too,” Fluttershy said. “He’s been wonderful with helping me…”

“I’m sure he has, Fluttershy....” She eyed Discord before hugging Fluttershy. “I’m sure he has.”

They bid their farewells and made their way off the path, with Spike carrying a page full of notes from Fluttershy’s lecture on baby birds. Discord and Fluttershy watched them walk off with a final wave goodbye before closing the door back on them.

And they were alone again.

And the two of them stayed alone together for the next few days, not having any more visitors for a time.

But that made it all the more frustrating for Discord as he watched Fluttershy out of the window one morning.

She just won’t take the stupid thing off! He thought with a grimace. His paw and claw gripped the window sill tightly, enough to engrave thin little lines across the wood with a screeching sound.

There she was, standing in the bright fluffy green grass and watering the plants of her garden with a sweet little smile on her face, the sun glinting off her pink tresses…

As that stupid, stupid dress flowed in the gentle breeze, billowing against her thin little Draconequus legs. Fluttershy laughed she held her sunhat against her head, trying to keep it from flying away. Discord scowled.

She was just so happy. Because of clothing.

At least, that’s how Discord saw it. He didn’t see what else could have made her so giddy. In terms of their magic lessons, the past few days were not as productive as learning to fly had been. She was working on levitation and teleportation spells, but success had been minimal.

At first, Fluttershy had tried bringing objects to her by using the same method she had with flying, with the concept of attracting magnetic forces rather than opposing ones. But, as Discord had predicted and later explained, Chaos was a picky mistress. Magic such as theirs demanded creativity, and coming up with new ways to use their powers was a must.

She had made a little progress, but it was much more mentally draining to her than flying was. Discord wasn’t surprised. She had been a Pegasus, and the concept of flying wasn’t nearly as foreign to her as object manipulation spells were. The lessons were short, and so far, Fluttershy had only been able to move liquids due to their irregular molecule structure. And even at that, she wasn’t able to manipulate it much. So far, all she had been able to do was cup her hands together and transport a bit of water from the nearby pond into her palms. It wasn’t exactly thrilling, not even for Fluttershy.

But Discord remembered having slow progress himself as a youngling, and Fluttershy was undoubtedly moving at a faster pace since she had him as a teacher. He was okay with it, for now.

Besides, he had other things to be frustrated with.

Such as the dress she refused to take off.

She had worn the dumb thing every single day since Rarity had brought it to her, and while Rarity had been able to calm Discord’s initial disgust with it for a short period of time, it had quickly returned when he woke up the next morning to find Fluttershy making tea in the kitchen, adorned in yellow flowing fabric.

But he had shaken it off that day. Surely she was just sporting it for one more day, since she had just gotten it from a friend. Discord could at least relate to that. After all, he remembered using the same teapot Fluttershy had given him for Hearth’s Warming for a week straight after opening it. That had been a record for him. He usually used a different tea set every time he made tea.

But tea sets and dresses were completely different things. Most avid tea drinkers would of course use a pot more than once a week. But a dress? Not even a fashionista would make such a faux pas. And Fluttershy was nowhere near as into fashion as Rarity was.

And yet, this was the fourth day in a row that Fluttershy had it on, and Discord was more than tired of looking at it.

But he had kept his mouth shut, because he himself didn’t understand why he cared so much.

But Discord was never really good at keeping his feelings to himself. He had always been a creature of intense emotion, especially when it came to the unpleasant ones. Trying to hold them back was like trying to bottle up a stick of burning dynamite until the whole thing exploded. And it was hardly ever pretty.

At that moment, he was afraid he was coming close to detonation. Frustrated with himself, he scowled and forced himself away from the window. With an impressive backwards jump, he landed on the couch with his hind, an annoyed frown still plastered on his face, wondering what he could do to distract himself from his dilemma.

His eyes flickered to the bookshelf, and a memory of the photo album flashed in his mind. He hadn’t looked at it since he had discovered it four days ago, and a familiar itch came to the tips of his fingers. Looking once again through the window, he could see that Fluttershy still had a few patches left to water.

Just enough time for another quick peek.

Scrambling over the arm of the couch, he quickly leaned down and grabbed the album. It had been exactly where he had left it last time. Checking again to make sure no one was watching, he eagerly dropped the book on his lap and leaned over in hopes of concealing himself better. Even though Fluttershy had made no attempt to hide the album, it still felt like he had found a forbidden treasure, one for his eyes only. He opened the book and perused once more through the pages.

There were a few that featured only Fluttershy’s parents, dispersed throughout the book in random places. The first one he found was obviously their wedding photo, and Discord gagged at the outfit the golden stallion sported. A black tuxedo with a white undershirt and black bow. He could have at least added a little color to it, Discord thought. So boring and common. Had I been the wife I would have left him at the altar. He gave a harsh laugh at the thought before turning back to the mother.

And once again, he was stunned by how much Fluttershy resembled her. The way she held herself was soft and gentle, but her eyes and smile radiated the kind of happiness a new bride would feel next to her husband. Her dress was also simple, classic and white with a skirt that draped over and behind her. Sheer lace with a very subtle flower pattern covered the silk of the dress. Discord thought she looked beautiful despite the boringness.

Discord looked once more through the window, catching a view of Fluttershy from the back as she watered the flowers towards the front of the yard. The ribbons of the bow at her torso fluttered in the wind and made him growl.

“It’s not like you’re getting married, you know.” He said it so quietly that there was no possible way she could have heard him through the walls of the cottage. “This is different.” He tapped a talon over the wedding photo. “Fancy prancy weddings are supposed to have a gussied-up bride. Besides...” He looked back at the photo to look at the stallion. “Your old man would have married her anyway, dress or no. She’s quite the looker. The only one that seems to beat her is--”

His ears flicked as they caught the sound of a door opening. Uh oh. He grabbed the book and threw it back under the arm of the couch, making it hit against the top of the bottom shelf before landing haphazardly on the floor. He tried not to wince at the sound of it landing, and didn’t dare to look to see if it was all in one piece.

The sound of humming filled the room as Fluttershy kept the door open for Angel, who carried a few flowers in his mouth for the vase on the kitchen table. He hopped past Discord without acknowledgement, which suited Discord just fine. Instead, he crossed his arms and glared at Fluttershy.

“Oh, Discord, you’re in here! I would have thought you’d be outside!” Fluttershy said as she turned and found him on the couch. “I haven’t seen you all morning.”

“I slept in,” was his only reply.

“Oh, okay. Well, I just finished watering the garden, and it’s almost ten. Did you eat breakfast yet?” She took a seat next to him.

Discord refused to turn his head to look at her. Instead, he leaned back and rested his head against his arms. “I’m not hungry.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy twiddled her fingers. “Well, Discord, I know that...I still haven’t made much progress with the new spells yet. I...I tried to teleport some water into my watering can earlier, but I didn’t even get a drop. I had to fill it up myself. So I guess we should probably practice again…?”

He shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. After all, you don’t seem too concerned about it. Instead, you seem quite happy.” He popped open an eye to acknowledge her. “You’ve been rather chipper for the last few days, actually. In fact…”

He stroked his chin to appear as if he were in deep thought. “If I recall correctly--and my memory usually serves me well, mind you--I’d say you’ve been in a great mood ever since Rarity came over to give that dress to you.” He said dress as if it put a bad taste in his mouth, then sat up and peered closer at her, almost giving her the stink eye. “Does that seem accurate to you?”

Fluttershy leaned back a bit, his gaze a little too harsh for close inspection. “Well, no...I mean...Our trip really made me happy. It was one of the most magical days of my life!” She perked and gave him a big smile.

“Oh? So you’re telling me you’re still feeling happy from that one day? I don’t remember that happening to you after all the other trips you’ve been on, ours included. So tell me…”

He extended a forefinger and thumb and pinched a piece of fabric at her waist. “What is it about this thing that’s got you all perky, hmm?”

She blushed at him touching her dress, though she could barely feel the hold he had on the fabric. He was barely pulling on it. But the color rushed to her cheeks nonetheless, and Discord tried not to pay attention to it. Instead he continued to hold the fabric between his fingers and tapped the pads of his paw against his leg. “I’m waiting~” he singsonged.

That seemed to be her last straw. She pushed his hand away to free her dress from his clutches and frowned. “Why does it matter?”

He snickered. “Oh, I don’t know…” He levitated himself off the couch until he was looking at her from above, giving himself the higher ground. “I’m only asking because of what I’ve observed for the past few days. You’ve acted as if you’re on cloud nine....” He snapped his fingers and a cloud in the shape of a 9 appeared, with Fluttershy’s head sticking through its looped top. “...Ever since you put it on!”

Fluttershy waved her hands around until the cloud dissipated. “But why does that bother you? You’re my…” She paused. “...friend. You’re my friend. Friends should want each other to be happy. I know I certainly am whenever you’re having a good time. And I know you don’t want me to be unhappy, or else you wouldn’t be here. So why does it bother you now?”

Discord shook his head. “I don’t have a problem with you being happy, bird horse. Because I am your friend. Your best friend.”

“Then is it…”

Her eyes widened as something seemed to dawn on her. “It’s the dress then? You don’t...like it?”

Ugh, this was irritating. Why was she making this into something about him? She was the one with the problem. “Well, I certainly don’t seem to like it as much as you do, my dear…” He fingered the strap of the dress. “After all, you’ve worn it for three straight days. You don’t even want to take it off…”

She shoved her shoulder out of the way. “And what’s wrong with that?”

His teeth clamped together. “What’s wrong with it? What’s wrong with it?!? You’re really asking me what’s wrong with it?!? Everything’s wrong with it!” He threw his arms up in the air. “You never wore anything this often back when you were a pony! And now that you’re a Draconequus…!”

It suddenly came to him then. He suddenly understood why it bothered him, and Rarity’s words from her last visit rang in his head.

It might make her feel more attractive...I just want her to be happy and comfortable.

And then more voices joined in. Voices that mocked. Voices that threatened. Voices filled with fear and pure, utter hatred…

His head had dipped lower and a shadow crossed over his face as feelings boiled and bubbled inside him, dark and bitter feelings that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Discord…?”

“...It’s because you’re a Draconequus, isn’t it?” He growled in a low voice, frozen in his pose without looking at her.

“What? What do you--”

“It’s because you’re like me that you’re wearing it!” His head snapped up, his eyes blazing with sudden anger that made Fluttershy take a step back. “That’s why! Ahaha!” A cynical smile that seemed too long for his face appeared as he slapped his forehead. “Of course it is. After all, you’re not a pony anymore, and who knows how long you’ll have to stare at yourself like that in the mirror before you turn back? And anything that doesn’t look like a pastel pony with perfect symmetry is most definitely wrong, right? That’s why, isn’t it? Haha!”

He started pacing back and forth. “Of course it is. Because Celestia forbid anyone be unique and stand out from the crowd...I might find my species incredibly attractive, but no one else would dare to agree with me.”

He dragged his fingers across his face, his eyes looking out from between his fingers. “Even you, Fluttershy! Even you, who has managed to shatter all my preconceived notions about you, still conform to normal, pony aesthetics! You hate being like me, and that’s why you hide yourself behind measly yellow fabric!”

She took a hesitant step towards him, and reached out to him. Now she seemed to be nothing but concerned. “Discord, I don’t think that at all…”

“Oh, yes you do!” His eyes blazed at her. “Admit it Fluttershy! You like yourself as a pony much more when it comes to looks, don’t you? Because ponies would totally freak out if they saw you now, because anything like me has to be dangerous, right?” He closed the distance between their feet and practically shoved his nose against her muzzle.

“Discord…” she whispered.

“Just answer the question!”

She looked at him for a few more seconds before taking a deep breath and gently pushing his shoulders away from her, giving her more space.

“You deserve the truth, Discord, so...Yes. It’s true that I think I look...strange, in this body. But that’s only because I’m supposed to be a Pegasus!” She quickly added before Discord could react. “And you’re right.” She put a hand on her chest, her fingers gliding over the material it. “This dress...helps me feel a bit better about that. When I look down, my eyes see a familiar yellow that they’re used to seeing. It’s not as big of a shock in the morning if the first thing I see when I look at myself is the dress. I feel more like myself in it.”

“And this kangaroo pouch…” She moved her hand to her stomach. “It covers it up. The pouch gets in the way sometimes and it feels so strange. It’s...disorienting. But with this on, I feel a little better about that.”

Discord still wished he had one, but he nodded anyway.

“But why does that upset you so much, Discord?” She tilted her head. “I mean...how I feel about my appearance is my problem. Not yours.”

She had a point. He tensed at the question. The voices in his mind blasted back for a moment, before he shook his head. “I don’t have a problem with it!” He argued, looking indignant with his face turned away and his arms crossed.

“Then why do you look so angry?” Her voice was soft, and Discord couldn’t help but wish she sounded harsher instead. It was so much easier to fight with ponies when they were fed up with him.

He sounded like a child as he murmured, “I’m not angry.”

He could sense her gaze on him and suddenly the room felt hotter. He could practically feel the waves of pity radiating off of her and crashing into him. “This has nothing to do with me,” he growled.

“Discord, you can tell me…” She started reaching out for him. “Is it because you’re a Draconequus?”

“Of course not! I’m not the one who hates my appearance!” He stepped backward as she came forward. “I love myself. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Then are you afraid…” She blushed. “...that I don’t like your appearance?”

Discord’s mouth fell open. “...What?”

“Do you think I don’t like your appearance too? Because I just told you that I think I look strange myself, and we’re the same species.”

He scoffed at that. “I’m not worried about that at all,” he lied. “Instead, I wonder if you really mean it. That your little outfit makes you feel more like yourself. Are you sure about that? Really, really sure?”

She didn’t seem to take offense by the question, which irritated him again. Why was she making this more difficult? He was so good at fighting. Why did she always have to be so patient and calm and kind with him? Had she been Twilight Sparkle, he would have gotten her to tear half her mane off by then.

“Really. Didn’t I just tell you that?”

He stuck a finger in his ear as if trying to clean it out. “Yes, but I thought I’d ask again, just to make sure I was hearing you correctly. And I’ve got to say, Fluttershy...I’m so disappointed in you. I had no idea you were so petty. You care so much about outside appearances.”

She gasped. “What? No, that’s not true. Of course not! But Discord--”

“It is so true! Do you really feel so much unlike yourself that you need a dress to remind you of who you are? Fluttershy, this silly little table cloth doesn’t change anything!”

He grabbed the ribbon of her bow from the back and tugged hard, so much that she fell forward and had to put her hands out to save herself, only to find them on his chest. He grabbed a small part of the skirt and crumpled it in his fingers. “You can’t hide behind this thing forever, Fluttershy! Whether you like it or not, you’re a Draconequus with a kangaroo pouch and the assorted limbs that come with it, antlers and all! It changes nothing, and you have to accept it before you start letting the opinions of others rule over you! You’re--umph!”

He felt a push against his chest and he toppled over onto the couch.

He looked to find an angry Fluttershy with her fingers curled into fists. “Don’t you dare touch me like that again, Discord!” She scolded. “Especially when you’re the one that’s in the wrong!”

“Me?!?” He sat up and growled at her. “I’m the one in the wrong? Well, ohoho, no surprise there! After all, I’m always the one in the wrong! But you, nooooooo. You’re perfect little Miss Two-Horseshoes!” He snapped his fingers and a halo appeared over her.

Fluttershy grabbed the halo and threw it on the ground with her eyes shut tightly. It made a metallic ting as it rolled around on the floor before falling flat. “I never said I was perfect! I never said that! I’m never perfect! If I were, don’t you think I’d be as confident as you are?!”

“I’m not just confident, Fluttershy, I’m a narcissist!” He shouted. “There’s a difference!”

“Well, I’m not! I don’t think I’m pretty at all! I...I never have!”

Discord gripped the seat of the couch and squeezed. “And being like me only exacerbates the feeling, doesn’t it?”

“This has nothing to do with you, Discord!” She tugged at a piece of her hair with both hands. Ah, now they were getting somewhere.

“It has everything to do with me! I’m the very reason you turned into one in the first place! And it’s not like I was always so c--”

He shut his mouth. Oh no.

He looked away and bit his lip nervously. Maybe she didn’t catch it, he thought hopefully.

“You weren’t always what, Discord?”

Barnacles.

He blinked a few times, trying to look innocent. “I wasn’’t always what what, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy stared down at him, but he refused to give in.

It was only a few seconds of dead silence between them, but to Discord, it seemed like hours. He swore he even heard crickets despite the fact that it wasn’t even evening yet.

Fluttershy broke the silence. “I’m not taking the dress off, Discord.”

That got his attention. He immediately got back to glaring at her. “Why not?”

“Because it’s my dress and my problem, mister. So if you want to change my mind, you’ll have to try a little harder to convince me.” She crossed her arms and looked away. The gesture was stupidly cute, and he secretly loved that pose of hers, but this time it didn’t amuse him.

“And how, exactly, am I supposed to do that?” He asked sharply.

She still didn’t look his way, but she visibly softened. Her arms loosened around her torso, and her tightly pressed lips opened slightly. “You know what I mean, Discord,” she whispered.

Discord instantly grew stiff, his hackles raising in defense. “No.”

She whirled around, her hair slapping him in the face, before facing him with her hands on his shoulders. “Please Discord!” She begged him. “I know this has something to do with your past! The dress triggered something, didn’t it? I know how ponies react to you, sometimes. I know that ponies today aren’t like how they were thousands of years ago. And you’ve lived a long time. Long enough to have known the Neighyan Zebras!”

“Exactly! Neighyan Zebras, who don’t exist anymore, with a society that’s now in ruins that nopony cares about!” Discord shot back. “The past doesn’t matter! I know you told me differently back in the rainforest, but you’re wrong! It doesn’t matter, and it especially doesn’t matter to me!”

“But it matters to me!”

Discord lowered his head and, to Fluttershy’s confusion, chuckled slightly. “Oh? Does it? Does it really?”

“Yes, Discord!” She scrambled over to his side and sat next to him, desperate to get him to understand. “Don’t you see? Learning your powers and being like you can only get me so far into really understanding you. And the reason I want to understand you in the first place is because I care about you. I care about you very, very much, and I want to know as much as I can about you so I can help you when you need me. Because that’s what friends do.”

His head dipped lower until his face seemed covered in shadow, though his eyes were too bright in color to miss. “Is that so? Well, in that case…”

He held her trapped in his glowing golden eyes as he bent backwards and dipped his paw down behind the arm of the couch. Fluttershy watched his every move.

He grabbed something and dropped it into her lap. “Then how do you explain this?”

“Wha…” She leaned over to look at what was there. She gasped and her face grew pale.

“...Where did you…?”

“A bit of advice, from one wormhorse to another,” Discord said. “Hiding a book in a bookshelf isn’t exactly hiding anything.”

She said nothing else as her hand grazed over the worn cover, feeling the letters emblazoned over it. Family Album.

“I found it on the bottom shelf looking for something to read the other day. Which you suggested, by the way, and…”

He stopped as he noticed something glittering down her face. A tear.

Oh no.

“Discord, why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!”

He snapped his fingers and a tissue appeared. He took it and brushed it softly over her face, making the fiendish drop of moisture disappear. He crumpled the tissue in his hands.

“Don’t cry. Please...Please don’t cry. I...I didn’t mean…”

He heard her softly whisper something, but didn’t catch it amidst his apologizing and the pounding sound of his heart in his ears. “Huh?”

She laid her hand over his fisted one. “Did you look…?”

His ears flattened and he started feeling even guiltier. Stupid dress. This is all IT’S fault. I need a giant paper shredder.

He shrugged. “Who wouldn’t look? And like I said...You didn’t really seem to hide it.”

“I didn’t...You didn’t do anything wrong…” She sniffed and wiped the back of her rabbit hand across her face before shooting a warning look at him. “About this, that is.”

He perked up despite the warning. “So it wasn’t a secret?”

Fluttershy sighed. “I forgot about this completely...Whenever I want to see my mother, I just look at her picture in my nightstand. That way I wouldn’t need to…”

Her lips shook again and Discord panicked. “Gah! No, don’t do that! We can put it back! In fact, you know what?” He forced a toothy smile on his face and jumped up. “Let’s just forget that this entire incident ever happened! You can keep that fabulous, totally not-annoying dress on…”

He bent into a slight arc and reached for the album, which still laid on Fluttershy’s lap. “and I’ll just throw this book back where I found it and--”

His fingers barely brushed the cover when Fluttershy grabbed it and held it to her chest. “No.”

Startled, his hand hovered there. “No?”

She shook her head. “No. I...We need to get past this, Discord. And you’re right...I…”

Fluttershy sighed again and put the book back on her lap. To Discord’s surprise, she opened it. It was like her fingers knew by memory where to turn it to get to the page she wanted.

She opened it to the very last picture in the book. The one with the clean rip right across it, separating Filly Fluttershy from her parents forever.

“I have a past to share, too...One that I don’t really talk about often…”

She slowly brought her frog finger to the picture, sliding it across the stallion and the mare’s face.

“Discord…?”

Discord found himself leaning over the book and stroking her face. “Yes?”

“Do you care about me?”

“Of course I do, Flutterbuddy.” He didn’t even have to think about it.

“And you know I care about you.”

“I do.”

“Then…” She held his hand against her face and looked at him with big beautiful aquamarine eyes that never changed. “If I tell you my story, then will you tell me yours? Because we’re friends that care about each other, and want to know each other more…?”

He knew what she was asking him. An eye for an eye, it was called. Only if Discord had the choice, he would have preferred to give her his eye in exchange for her past, rather than his own story. It sent a jolt of fear into his heart, because he had never told anypony his past. Not all of it, anyway. Mostly not the part about his childhood.

Especially not the part about his childhood.

“I don’t want to,” Discord whispered in fear. “I’m...I...I hate being vulnerable.”

Fluttershy graced him with a small smile. “I’m used to it, actually. It’s not so bad.”

He blinked. “Was...that a joke?”

“...Sort of?”

That managed to get a snicker out of him, and he put his arm around her and laid his forehead against hers. He felt a little lighter as he felt her lean back against him. “You’re terrible at jokes.”

“Well, maybe my story will help explain why. But only if you tell me yours in return.”

He paused to take a deep breath. “...You’ll go first though, right?”

She nuzzled the side of his face. “Uh huh.”

“...And you won’t tell anypony anything I tell you?”

“Never.”

He pulled his head away and sighed, before looking down at the open album.

Fluttershy was so much like her mother…He wanted to know about her. About the stallion next to her…

His eyes shifted to Fluttershy’s gentle face.

He wanted to know everything about his best friend. Everything. He cared about her, and realized that he wanted to be closer to her, closer to her than anypony else he’d ever known. She was precious to him, and he needed her. Her friendship, her approval, her utmost affection…

He slowly twisted his tail around hers, and Fluttershy gasped at the sensation. She looked over to see that his tail had slithered from behind her and around to her other side to wrap around her tail, his white tuft at the end resting above her own pink one.

She blushed. “Um...I-Is...Is that a yes?”

He felt hot in the face too, and swore he felt something spark inside of him, but he kept his cool and ignored it. “That it is. But remember!” He poked her in the chest, which made her giggle. He smiled. “You said you’d go first.”

She nodded, and looked back at the photo. Her face went somber once more, her eyes clouding. Discord gave her tail a supportive squeeze with his own, and felt her finally hold his tail back, tightening them together in a twist.

She leaned against him. “Well...In that case...I’m sure you’ve already figured out that these two…”

She stroked her hand over the golden stallion and the brown mare again. “That these are my parents.”

“I gathered that much, you are correctamundo.”

She gave the slightest chuckle at his word of choice, but her face didn’t change. “Then I guess the best place to start is with them…”

She turned a few more pages until she got to the wedding photo. She took a deep breath. Discord rubbed his thumb over her small shoulder in comfort. If he was lucky, she would do the same for him when it was his turn.

She spoke in a tiny, quiet voice.

“It started with a whisper…”

Standing Ground

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

Chapter Nine: Standing Ground

Chapter edited by and dedicated to MissytheAngle, who always supports me and gave me the confidence to publish this chapter. Thank you, Missy. Truly. You will always be acute to me.

It started with a whisper.

She didn’t actually say anything, but her lips moved with the suggestion of words. Words that no one could hear. No one but her butterflies, who didn’t need to hear her in order to listen.

The adolescent foals, on the other hand, did their best to hide their voices as they watched her from a distance.

“Can she really not talk?”

“My mom said she’s been mute since she was born.”

“So not only did Coach drag us to this completely boring place for no reason, but the mare who runs the place can’t even talk to us about it?”

“Ugh, this is so pointless. Why aren’t we in the field practicing? That would be a better use of our time!” a bright blue colt whined.

The others agreed more than enthusiastically, cheering the colt on. “Yeah, I think I’ll go right over to Coach Golden and give him a piece of my mind!”

“A piece of your mind, huh? Well go on then, I’m right here.”

The foals froze in fear at the sound of his voice, and the colt slowly turned around to face him, his earlier boldness gone.

There he stood, tall and bright, the sun rays cascading down on him through the glass roof of the butterfly house. The light made his coat shine like the sun itself, his cutie mark of a flaming chariot glittering on his flank. Under the gaze of such a stallion, the colt could see the glint of a challenge in his eyes, watching as his coach began to smirk.

“Well, go on, Stratos. Please, I’m psyched to hear it! Tell me about how this place is a waste of time for the class. I mean, it’s obvious that you think you can do my job better than I can, even though I’ve taught this class for only five years and I’m already the head of the gifted program! But go on, go.” He put a hoof on his cheek. “Enlighten me.”

Stratos scowled slightly as he heard a few classmates chuckle and stomped a hoof. “Fine, I’ll tell you! This place is stupid, coach! I mean, maybe if we were in an aviary with super cool fast birds or something, that would make sense, but a butterfly house?!” He waved his forelegs in the air. “What’s so great about butterflies? They’re not fast, they’re not strong, they’re not nothin’! Their wings are like, paper thin! They’re boring.”

His classmates were impressed with his gusto, and were quick to agree, making their coach furrow his brow.

“...You’re right, Stratos.”

His class gasped at his words. The coach actually agreed with him! That was unheard of. Stratos was the most surprised of them all. “I am?”

He nodded. “You are. After all…”

He held out a hoof, and a butterfly landed on his hoof. “They’re so fragile. So weak. Why, I could so easily hurt this creature, if I really wanted to.”

The brown mare, who had long stopped whispering to her winged beauties to listen to the conversation, looked worried. She slowly began making her way over to them, zeroing in on the stallion as he held one of her friends on his hoof.

“...But why would I? A butterfly has every right to the sky, just as I do. We both live our lives in the wind, setting our own course towards our goals. And besides, look at it!” He gestured towards it with his wing. “You think I could look that beautiful flying? Pffft. Have you seen my hair after handling a wind storm? Ha, I don’t think so.”

This got a laugh from the kids, and the stallion lightened up. The mare was only a few yards away from him. He caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye and turned to smile at her.

“Butterflies have their own kind of strength, anyway. They’re a big part of life despite their small size. They help flowers grow and give the world a splash of color, no matter how bleak things get in the world. Just because they’re weaker than us, different from us... doesn’t mean they don’t matter. And because they fly like we do…”

He turned and set the butterfly down on a flower. “We have to learn to share the sky with them. We have to share the sky with all flying creatures. Because there is no better place to be than the sky... none.”

He looked back at the mare. “And that’s why Miss Wing has been kind enough to let us visit her butterfly house. She’s the reason we have it; it’s the first one that Cloudsdale has ever had. She studies them. And I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty cool. Come over here, Miss Wing! Please, we wanna thank you.”

Whisper Wing’s eyes widened slightly and she blushed. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. No one had ever... appreciated her work the way he just did. Her fellow Pegasi hadn’t really understood why Cloudsdale had even needed a butterfly house. Most of them were too big-headed, believing it to be a waste of time. Even though it had been thousands of years since the First Hearth’s Warming, Pegasi still had an arrogant pride about them...so why worry about butterflies?

But this stallion...

She straightened her cargo vest, zipping it up as high as it would go, before going over to join him with a gentle smile on her face, her freckles bright orange as she stepped out from a canopy of greenery into the sun rays.

“Hi there, Miss Whisper,” the stallion greeted, offering her a hoof to shake. “I’m Coach Golden. Golden Chariot. Thank you so much for letting my little class of horrors,” he shot the class a teasing look, “visit today. They really needed this. Obviously.”

Whisper chuckled, and Golden couldn’t help but notice how lovely she looked while doing it. She happily gave him her hoof to shake, before a filly came up to them and looked at her.

“What butterfly is your cutie mark, miss?” she asked, glancing at the large orange and black butterfly on Whisper’s flank.

The butterfly keeper smiled wider and took a card out of her vest pocket and handed it to her.

My cutie mark is the likeness of a Monarch Butterfly. Did you know that these butterflies eat mainly milkweed? They eat it from the moment they’re born as larvae, and it gives their wings a toxin that makes them poisonous to predators if they’re eaten.

The foals all gathered around her as they took turns reading the card and were fascinated by what they read. They forgot the fact that their guide could not talk and were more impressed by her preparedness for it. She had a card for every question they had, it seemed, as if she could read their minds.

She showed them dozens of butterflies and taught them how to stand completely still and quiet, to whisper gentle greetings to befriend them and offer themselves as a place for them to perch.

She showed them milkweed, squeezing the leaves until a white substance emerged, causing the monarchs to land on her hoof and feed on the plants. She gave each student a small milkweed plant as a gift, explaining on a card to plant it somewhere the next time they visited the ground to help keep the butterflies thriving.

By the end of the day, the class had a change of heart in regards to the trip. Whisper had been an amazing teacher without speaking a single word, and the butterflies had mesmerized them. And watching the way they flew gave them encouragement to fly as gracefully as they did, so perhaps they one day could be just as eye-catching as a butterfly.

“Well guys, what do we say?” Chariot asked after they all packed their saddlebags, their milkweed plants safely tucked inside them.

“Thank you, Miss Whisper!” they chanted, making her blush and smile sweetly at them, with a nod.

She pulled out a blank card with a pen in her mouth and wrote: It was my pleasure! If you’d like to come back, I actually have some other winged friends I could bring along to introduce you to. I can’t communicate with them like I can with butterflies, but I befriend them all the same.

She tapped her chin and added as an afterthought: If Coach Chariot approves, of course. She raised a brow at him, slightly smirking as the foals suddenly surrounded him.

“Can we?! Can we, Coach?”

“I wanna see some birds!”

“And Miss Whisper is so cool!”

“We’ll practice extra hard the rest of the week, we promise.”

Coach returned her smirk after glancing at her for a moment. “Well, perhaps we could make this a weekly thing. That is, if Miss Whisper has enough friends to occupy you for so many classes.”

Her next card simply said: You have no idea. Come the same day next week. I’ll have everything ready by then.

And so, it became a daily class for them, on every Friday of the week. Chariot would bring them to the butterfly house, and Whisper would have a brand new set of cards each time, and some new friends for them to meet—birds, flying bugs, even a flying squirrel at one point, just to show them that they didn’t really fly.

At first, the other coaches scoffed at Chariot for wasting so much class time with the field trips. He was the head coach of the advanced classes, and he was hampering his students’ progress, keeping them from reaching their full potential until it was too late.

But after about three months, his students weren’t just improving—they were dominating over the other advanced classes, and had needed less instruction from their coach than ever. The other coaches were astounded.

But in response to the shock, Golden Chariot would merely shrug witha smile and say: “She shows them how different birds and insects fly; it helps them with their own technique, and I don’t have to do a thing.”

By the end of the year, it wasn’t just his class taking trips—all the advanced classes began visiting the butterfly house, and learned all they could from Whisper Wing and her flying friends. And soon enough, the other classes were improving too.

They were all so impressed that at the end of the last trip of the school year, Chariot had a proposition to make.

“They want to hire you and make you a teacher. What you’ve done for the foals is incredible. Showing them your friends do more than what I originally set out to do. They’re not just more aware, they’re flying better than ever before. You could have your own class, and we’d move your butterfly house to the campus to make things easier. What do you say?”

He grinned at her, hoping beyond hope that she would accept. He had grown quite fond of her—
the way she spoke without saying a thing, the way she did everything gracefully and gently. She expressed herself in ways that words never could, and Golden Chariot had never met anypony like her. She had grown to be one of his friends, and to actually work together? A dream come true.

But she seemed hesitant, and his ears swiveled back against his head. “What? What’s wrong? You...don’t want the job? Is it the money? We can offer more, we—”

She put a hoof to his mouth to shut him up, before grabbing a stick and writing in the dirt on the ground.

Can you move the house without harming the butterflies?

He blinked. “Oh!” He grinned excitedly. “Yes, no problem! I can get my best graduated students to help fly it over and—” He stopped, watching her shake her head, making words soundlessly with her lips. “What? What do you mean that won’t work? Of course it will, it’s safe enough. I don’t know why—”

If we could get some unicorns up here…

“Unicorns? What do we need unicorns for?” he sniffed. “We Pegasi can do it all on our own. There’s no need to—”

She shot him a warning look. She had known him long enough to know that while he was never outright rude to what he called ‘grounder ponies’, he had a bias towards his own kind. She was working with him on it, but times like these made it harder.

Unicorns can move it even more safely with magic than Pegasi can with wings. They can do well enough to move it without me having to relocate my butterflies somewhere else until it’s moved. If you can’t, then I won’t take the offer.

“What! But Wisp…” he groaned, calling her his nickname. But Whisper was a pony that didn’t change her mind once a decision was made, and he knew better not to argue. He sighed. “Fine... we’ll get some unicorns up here,” he groaned. “Any other demands before you can take the job? Because I gotta tell ya, if you don’t take it, the school board will say it’s my fault and have my head.”

She gave a tiny smile and wrote one more message. Will I see you more if I do?

His heart jumped at the unexpected question. “You mean...you want to spend more time with...with me?”

She gave a small giggle, a sound that made his ears flicker, and she leaned forward and nuzzled his cheek for a moment before stepping back and nodding a yes, smiling sweetly at him.

“I…” His face felt like it was on fire. “... I’d like that.”

And so Whisper became a teacher at the flight academy. It was a bit rocky for her as she tried learning to work with other ponies she didn’t know. Her inability to talk made it awkward at first as she tried to make friends. Many ponies scoffed at her and accused her at being ‘inept’ at her job, but she continued on and did her best to make it work. She made a friend in a teacher named Comet Tail, who knew Chariot well and was willing to work with Whisper when nopony else did. With Comet and Chariot, she was able to gain more respect as time went on, and soon enough, communication got easier with her.

Thankfully the school allowed her to choose her own office as a part of the job offer. She didn’t hesitate to choose the one next to Chariot’s, and from then on, they spent nearly all their free time together. But between work and other hobbies, it wasn’t as much as they would have liked. As a result, they started a tradition of writing to each other about their day when they were busy, about what happened during work or anything else going on during their week. Each time they did, they left it in each other’s offices, on their desk.

Several months after Whisper Wing took on her new job, Chariot received a very special letter from her. It was evening, and classes had ended. The students were set to compete in a day of races against other flight schools from around all of Equestria, and he was working them hard, giving them each individual attention and doing his best to keep them motivated, but he was exhausted. And stressed. He needed coffee.

He brewed a cup and went to his desk to sit and was surprised to find the letter there. He knew from his name on the envelope that it was from Whisper, but normally she left him letters after he left work, giving him something to read in the morning unless she saw him afterward. This was new.

He opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Golden Chariot,

I wish I could tell you what happened throughout my day, but the truth is, I really can’t recall much. I did the normal things of course—took care of my butterflies, taught a lesson (today was hummingbirds), watered the plants...But I can’t give you specifics.

And the reason for that is because today, all I could really think about while doing all those things...was you. No matter what I did, all I could think about was you, and the day I met you. I remember the first time you visited with your class and a butterfly landed on your hoof. I heard you talk about how butterflies were important, about how they matter despite how ‘weak’ they seem, even though they aren’t weak at all. That meant so much to me, and I never told you that. We Pegasi are such a proud race, and so many of them don’t care about the other creatures of the sky. But thanks to you, we can change that. You know what I was trying to do. And I was so happy hearing that. I never thought anypony would understand that, or understand me.

You do.

I’m coming in early tomorrow before school starts. And I wouldn’t mind if you came in early too, just so you could come visit me in my office and kiss me.

I wouldn’t mind that at all.

Love,
Whisper Wing

He did just that.

Six months later, he proposed to her. Six months after that, they married.

Two years passed.

Things were going well for them. They continued to teach at the flight academy, each with increased wages thanks to the fact that the academy was going into its third year in a row as the top school in the nation for flying. Things were going so well, that they eventually decided they wanted to have a foal.

It took them a while, to the point where Chariot was very nearly afraid that something was wrong with him. But a few months after Hearts and Hooves Day, his wife came home from the doctor’s with the good news. She was pregnant.

At first, everything went well. The doctor’s visits had positive results, and Whisper did everything as she needed to, sticking to a healthy diet and not overexerting herself. She hired an assistant to help with her classes and took over for her when she started her pregnancy leave.

She had been pregnant for about ten months when she started showing signs of issues. She woke up one morning to wet sheets, only to find that she had been expelling milk from her teats. That’s not supposed to happen, she lip-synced to Chariot when he woke beside her, her eyes wide with fear. I shouldn’t be expelling milk yet.

Golden Chariot did not hesitate. “The doctor. Now. Let’s go.”

He was a wreck when they arrived at the hospital. What if something was wrong with Whisper? What if she was sick? Would she be all right? Was the foal okay? What if there was more wrong with her than just the milk, and she was at risk of abortion, or worse?

A nurse, an elderly dark green Earth mare named Fertile Fields, found him pacing and biting fervently at his hooves, his mane and tail frazzled and his coat brushed unevenly. “Nurse Fertile!” he exclaimed, rushing to her and practically shoving his muzzle into her face. “What is it? Is she all right? Will my wife be okay?”

“Calm down, Chariot, please…”

“No, you calm up! That’s my wife in there! With my kid! She told me, she... she told me that it wasn’t normal! Please tell me she was wrong, tell me that it’s all fine and—”

Fertile stomped the ground. “Buck up, stallion, good grief! Your wife needs you, she’s giving birth now!”

His eyes grew so big they seemed to take up half his head. “What? But she’s not due for another two—”

She grabbed his face before he could finish. “You think we don’t know that? Young stallion, it’s placentitis! The infection caused an early delivery.”

“Is—?!?”

She shoved her hoof over his mouth to shut him up. “You must stay calm, Chariot. You don’t want to stress your wife nor the foal during the delivery. It could affect the outcome in a big way. Do you understand me, young stallion?”

He nodded; it was all he could do.

“Good. Now take a deep breath and give your wife the support she needs.”

“You’re doing awesome, honey, really great...I love you, I love you so much...You’ll be okay, I promise…” He tried not to cry.

Whisper was happy her husband was there, clutching her hoof in his own. She had been terrified. She was worried about her baby, the foal the two of them had wanted for so long. There had been a time where she didn’t think anypony would want a foal with her, and now that she was, she wanted it more than anything. She couldn’t lose her baby now, and was determined to push on despite her fears.

It only took about thirty minutes until the foal came out. It was tiny; quiet. The coat was overly silky and short, and it seemed to be struggling for air. It was put onto a gurney with an oxygen tank and rushed off to the ICU before Chariot could do more than glance at her.

Whisper wished she could shout for her baby, but no one could hear her.

She was under a heating lamp, with various tubes and wires attached all around her.

“It’s not as critical as it could be. She doesn’t have a suckling reflex, but her bones aren’t as underdeveloped as we feared. There have been cases where they weren’t ossified at all,” Nurse Fertile explained.

Whisper nodded her head, but her eyes didn’t leave her foal. She had felt fine when she woke up after delivering, and had demanded to see the filly with the determination of a wild bull. And the doctor didn’t try too hard to fight her. For a silent mare, her eyes were louder than a siren, and she was likely capable of setting the entire hospital on fire.

Chariot, on the other hand, raised a brow at the nurse, asking for clarification.

“They’ve not completely hardened yet. The bones start out as cartilage and harden into bone once the foal is ready to be born. Earlier she tried to crawl.” Fertile smiled. “She’s too weak for it now, but she tried her darned hardest, that’s for sure. We had to catch her before she fell. She’s a warrior, that one.”

He smiled at that, and looked back at his beautiful little filly. “And her wings?”

Fertile fought to roll her eyes. “They’re still softer than they should be, and they’re drying. The heat lamp is helping. But Mr. Chariot, I hope you understand... I know flying is important to you, but your filly—”

“As long as her wings will dry out and form normally, then that’s all I’m worried about,” he countered. “She’ll fly just fine. She’s a warrior, after all. My little warrior…” He looked at her fondly. “My little…” His eyes widened and he looked back at Whisper. “Wait; we haven’t named her yet!”

Whisper didn’t seem to hear him. She was too lost in her own thoughts as she stared at the fragile yellow filly surrounded in glass.

My angel. My precious foal. I already love you so much. And here I didn’t think that love at first sight existed... She stroked the glass, wishing she could hold her and press kisses all over her sweet face.

My Fluttershy…

“Whisper? Honey? Honey, I asked you a question…”

They took Fluttershy home after two weeks. She was finally crawling and was able to suck on a bottle with some assistance. Her wings were dry, and her body was able to regulate its own temperature without a heating lamp.

She was still weaker and clumsier than she should have been. She couldn’t walk for very long, and she couldn’t hold a bottle on her own like most could.

But they didn’t care. They were just so happy that she was okay.

And little Fluttershy had plenty of visitors, most of them being past and present students of the school. Everyone agreed that she was a sweet young thing. And so quiet. Even when she cried, her voice was soft. The only time she ever really cried was if somepony tried separating her from her mother without warning. Whisper herself had a hard time separating from her baby, afraid that perhaps somepony would drop her, or squeeze her too tightly, or Celestia forbid, shake her. The only one she trusted to hold Fluttershy at first was her husband, and Chariot often had to take the foal from her to hand her to somepony else. Fluttershy would cry at this, but with her mother nearby, she would eventually calm down and relax.

On Fluttershy’s first trip to the butterfly house, the butterflies were ecstatic to see their pony keeper again after so long, and even more excited to meet her foal.

They were so excited that Whisper had to place Fluttershy on the floor so they could greet her properly. The first one landed on her nose, tickling her snout. Then another on her ear. One more on her leg... and another, and another, and another…

“Whisper, can’t you tell them to knock it off?” Chariot said, getting nervous. “We don’t want her to get upset and—”

But he was interrupted by the sweetest sound—a gentle, high-pitched giggle, from a foal so covered with butterflies that only her eyes could be seen, along with the outline of her body.

She laughed, and she smiled, and she had never looked happier as the butterflies softly kissed her, their wings brushing against her, softer than flower petals.

“She’s definitely yours, that’s for sure,” her father laughed. “A natural butterfly expert.”

But Whisper was too happy, too overjoyed by the scene before her, to laugh along.She had been nervous to bring Fluttershy to the butterfly house, afraid that the butterflies wouldn’t accept her. But that had been all for naught. Proud tears gathered in her eyes, and Chariot smiled softly before giving her a soft kiss, making her close her eyes, and the tears ran freely down her face.

Fluttershy followed the butterflies. Her first friends.

“Buff-fly!”

Her first word.

Little Fluttershy grew into a master of communication, verbal and non, by the time she was eight.

She was always quiet, however, and when it was just her and her mother, she didn’t speak at all. The two could have a whole conversation without saying a word. Fluttershy could read her mother’s lips as well as her father, perhaps even better, and they spoke in much more than just yes’s and no’s.

Which is your favorite butterfly, Fluttershy? She asked as she tended to the butterfly weeds.

Fluttershy only made a small ‘o’ with her mouth as she shook her head viciously to and fro. Translation: I could never choose a favorite! She pointed to her mother, then back to herself. I’m just like you, remember?

Her mother laughed. How could I forget?

She hid behind her hair, looking nervous. Translation: But that’s okay, right, mama...?

Whisper scooped her daughter into her forearms, nuzzling her lovingly and kissing her on the forehead. Of course it’s okay, sweetheart. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as you’re you. Because that’s all you should ever be, honey. You.

Fluttershy blushed, and bit her lip. To Whisper, this meant: But I don’t know who I am.

She smiled. You don’t know who you are yet because you’re only six. You’re too young to worry about that. All that matters… She touched Fluttershy’s chest softly, right over her heart. ...is this. This right here. Your heart. You have a big heart, sweetie. And you must always remember to listen to it.

Fluttershy cocked her head. She tapped her head, and mouthed the word ‘daddy’.

Whisper scoffed. It’s good to listen to your head, but sometimes your heart is the one who knows best. Daddy just says that to you because he wants you to protect your heart from getting hurt. That’s what daddies do.

Her daughter titled her head even more, and pointed to her. But what about you? Aren’t you worried about my heart too?

Her mother surprised her with her answer. Not at all. A heart that’s truly broken doesn’t work—and a heart that doesn’t work doesn’t care for anypony.

She reached out with a hoof and a Monarch landed on her. Fluttershy smiled as her mother touched hooves with her so it could climb up the filly’s foreleg and onto her withers.

But hearts don’t really break; they crack, but they don’t fall apart. They are stronger than butterfly wings. They are what makes YOU strong. Your heart is your biggest weapon. You will grow up to be a mare that will never stop loving, Fluttershy. You already fought for your life the moment you were born, and you made it. And ever since then, you have always been strong.

Fluttershy raised a brow at her, and Whisper laughed. Don’t look at me that way. It’s true! You may not be strong physically, but you are not weak. She lifted her daughter’s chin to look at her. Remember that. No matter what anypony tells you. You are strong. Say it.

Her eyes widened, and she pointed to her lips.

Yes, out loud. Say it; say ‘I am strong’.

“......”

Whisper made a show of pretending to yawn, opening her mouth wide and patting her hoof repeatedly against her mouth.

“...I-I’m strong…”

That wasn’t very convincing.

“I’m strong...”

Louder.

“I’m strong.”

LOUDER!

“I’M STRONG!”

The butterfly flew away in a panic at Fluttershy’s sudden outburst, and the filly blushed and covered her mouth, embarrassed.

She and her mother looked at each other.

And both burst into laughter.

Her relationship with her father was not quite as harmonious.

“Daddy, yay!” She scrambled to the door as he got home. He had worked late after school hours writing up progress reports and didn’t get home until mid-evening.

“Fluttershy!” he exclaimed, his tired eyes lighting up at the sight of his little filly. “How’s my favorite ace?” He opened his arms wide and Fluttershy jumped right into them. “Did you stay up just to see me?”

She flushed happily and gave a tiny nod. “Uh-huh. And I made you some tea; it’s in the kitchen.”

“Awww, thanks pal,” he said, kissing her right between the eyes before putting her back down. “Did you do your wing exercises today?”

Oh no. She had been so excited to see him that she had forgotten to prepare for that question. “Um…”

“You’ll be going to flight school in two years, you know. It’s important that you start early so you can get into the advanced school. The stronger your wings are, the better!” He patted her on the withers.

She ducked behind her long bangs and looked away. “I... I tried…”

His smile vanished and he froze in bewilderment before raising a brow, deep lines forming between his eyes. “You mean you tried, or you gave up?”

“I…”

“How many times did you flex them?”

“Um…” Her face turned hot and she started to feel clammy. Her father’s gaze pierced right through her like an x-ray, right to her soul. “...T-T-T…”

Her father began to smile. “Twenty? Oh, hey, that’s not too bad. Just ten more and you’ll be caught up with Rainbow Blaze’s little girl.”

She swung her hoof back and forth against the floor. “Um, D-Daddy…?”

But Golden Chariot put a hoof to his chin, ignoring her. “What was her name again..? Rainbow Flash? Nonono, it was...Dash! Rainbow Dash!” He grinned. “She’s the same age as you, you know. You should meet her. I know you struggle making friends, but trust me, you two are going to end up spending a lot of time together in flight school…”

This was the problem with her father. When it came to flying, her father could talk non-stop for hours, never letting anyone else get a word in. Most of the time, Fluttershy was okay with this. Teaching others to fly was his passion—he was the chariot that carried young Pegasi towards their dreams, who supported them until they were ready to go off on their own to meet their own horizons. She loved to watch him whenever he talked of his work at the university and his students’ progress. It made his eyes twinkle. He had an intense passion for what he did, and Fluttershy would always find herself excited for him whenever he had a success story to share.

But when it came to her own skills, she just wanted to run away so she didn’t have to listen to him anymore. It was too much. Too much pressure, too many expectations.

“Daddy…”

“She would be a great influence on you. We’ll have to set up a playdate, and she can show you how she does it. With her help, I’m sure you’ll be able to—”

“I didn’t do twenty!” she shouted. It startled herself more than it did her father, her front hooves over her mouth as she looked up at him warily.

He stopped and leaned down closer to her. It was at such an angle that it looked like one eye was closer to her than the other, as if he were giving her the stinkeye. “What do you mean?” His voice was low and suspicious. Like his daughter was a criminal-in-hiding. Like she did something wrong.

She gulped, but nothing went down. Her mouth felt dry, and her throat was tight. She had already known that this would happen. She had been silly to think it would go any other way. She should have just gone to bed. At least then she wouldn’t have to feel like this until morning.

“T-T-Twelve…”

She watched his face, but it was blank. No emotion.

“Twelve. You could only flex your wings twelve times.” His voice filled her with shame, despite how flat it was.

Her whole entire body seemed to sag, her head facing the floor and her hair touching the ground. “I-I’m sorry…”

“You’re sorry.” He stated it like it was a fact.

“... Yes…”

“For what?” Now his voice was harder, his mouth a hard line against his face, like a single slash of a thick black marker. “For not trying? For being lazy?”

Her head whipped back up at his accusations. “N-No! Daddy, I—”

“I’ve told you time and time again, Fluttershy, that there are no excuses for not practicing!” he barked, slamming a single hoof against the floor. “You’re behind because you don’t do it enough. You just do it when you feel like it. As if flying isn’t important to you. But you’re a Pegasus, Fluttershy. This is what we’re built for!”

Her eyes grew shiny and her father felt a smidge of guilt as he noticed the tears building up, but he held firm. He lectured with his students like this all the time, and this was no different. She had to learn.

“I-I-I…!” Her voice was cracking and she wanted to run to her mother. Her mother would understand. She always understood. Her mother always let her be whatever she wanted to be. She wouldn’t even have to say anything to her, because she would know. She always knew. Especially when her dad was like this. When she felt like a failure.

A hoof softly touched her back, and she looked over. Her mother was there, like an angel, smiling down on her.

She pointed to the stairs, her signal for It’s time to go to bed.

“Wait, Whisper, I’m not finished talking to her yet,” her father said. “This is important, she needs to learn that—”

She shot him a glare that made him freeze. He didn’t speak another word as Whisper knelt down to give Fluttershy a tender hug. Fluttershy returned the hug with as tight a squeeze as she could muster, lingering there for a moment and burying her face into her neck. Whisper felt warm tears on her coat, and let her stay there until the tears were dry. Fluttershy did her best not to cry around her father. She didn’t want to give him any more reason to think her weak than he already believed.

When she was ready, she gave her mother a kiss, and looked to her father, asking him the silent question of whether he would say goodnight or not. Whisper’s eyes were hazel warning lights behind her.

“... Goodnight, Fluttershy.” He wrapped a hoof around her neck and gave her a quick nuzzle. “We’ll talk about this later.”

She nuzzled back hesitantly and kissed his cheek. “Yes, Daddy...Goodnight.”

She went up the stairs towards bed.

Towards being the key word. She was quiet in all ways, hoofsteps included. She wasn’t normally an eavesdropper, but she wanted to know what was happening. She knew they were about to talk about her. She just knew it. Her father had lectured her so many times over the past year about preparing for flight school, and the burden he was putting on her was getting heavier and heavier. And her mother knew that.

She needed to hear this.

“Stop looking at me like that, Whisper. I’m only doing this for her own good.”

Fluttershy sat at an angle where she could still see her mother’s mouth, and watched them carefully. Anypony could see just by Whisper’s face that she was angry. Maybe even furious.

For her own good or for yours? She’s not built like other Pegasi are, Chariot. You know that.

“She doesn’t look any different from other Pegasi that I can see,” he said firmly. It seemed that her mother’s looks weren’t intimidating him as much as they had before. “You’re just using that as an excuse. Why aren’t you helping me with this? She’d practice more if you were there with her. She needs encouragement!”

Fluttershy had to stop herself from gasping as she swore she heard her mother growl, jabbing a hoof into her own chest. I was with her when she practiced. And if I hadn’t stopped her at twelve, she would have hurt herself! And as her mother, I just can’t let that happen.

“You’re the reason she stopped at twelve?” His mouth stood agape before he himself grew angry. “Her goal was thirty. And even then, I would have accepted twenty. You’re being too easy on her, Whisper! She has to learn—”

This time Whisper stomped her hoof on the ground. Fluttershy’s heart raced as she continued to watch from the top of the stairs. She had never seen her mother so angry before.

Her wings looked like they were ready to fall off of her back by the time she hit ten! I should have stopped her sooner, I was so worried about her! She was so sore afterwards that I put a heat pad on her so she could relax. She did her best, and you’re making her feel shame for something that isn’t her fault. And I will not let you do that to my daughter.

“She’s our daughter, Whisper, not just yours. Ours. And everypony gets sore after doing exercises they’re not used to. She has to fight through it.”

And what if she doesn’t want to?

Fluttershy really did gasp at that, unable to stop herself this time. Luckily for her, nopony appeared to hear it. She wondered if her mother’s words rang in her dad’s head, too. She didn’t think either of them expected that, but she was secretly glad that they were said.

Because the truth was... she didn’t want to. She didn’t care about flying. All she really wanted to do was play with butterflies all day. Be a butterfly. She was certain she could at least one day learn to fly like a butterfly. And that would be more than good enough for her.

She and her father just didn’t care about the same things, but he wanted her to. But she never wanted to tell him.

What happened as a result was a hard laugh from Golden Chariot. “Hah! That’s crazy, Whisper. Of course she wants to. She’s my daughter, isn’t she? And I’m her father. And I make flying pros out of all the Pegasi I teach.”

Now her mother just looked tired, though the anger was still there. It had just dulled somewhat, like an old knife. She wasn’t looking to cut his nonsense out anymore. She knew that nothing would come out of it. Not yet, anyway.

She’s not your student, Chariot. She’s your daughter. And she needs you to love her no matter what she can or cannot do. You need to accept her as she is…

She turned away and Fluttershy swore she saw her glance up the staircase.

She turned one more time to look at her husband. ...Just as you accepted me. She left the room.

Fluttershy began to hope.

Her father began to find a little bit of time, every day, to help Fluttershy with her exercises. He was much more understanding and patient with her at first. He saw firsthand just how difficult it was for her to do the exercises. With her wing-ups, she would only reach to five before she started trembling, and by ten she was sweating.

“I had no idea it was this bad, ace,” he said, patting her and handing her a moist towel to cool her face with. “I’m really sorry about that. But don’t worry.” He put a hoof on her and cracked a smile. “We’ll go at your pace, and with my help, you’ll improve in no time. By the time you start your first year at flight school, everypony will know just by your skills whose daughter you are.”

Fluttershy just gulped and slowly nodded.

She really did try to improve to please her father. It was one of the few things she could do to try and make him proud of her. Sometimes, she would lay awake at night, staring at the glow-in-the-dark butterflies plastered on her bedroom ceiling, and worry about what would happen if she didn’t improve. Would her father not love her anymore?

Maybe if she had been born just a little bit later, she would have been fine. She had known ever since she was old enough to understand that she was a bit weaker than most because of her untimely entrance into the world. Her parents had always assured her that it didn’t matter to them, but lately, it seemed like only her mother meant it.

And making her father proud was her only motivation for torturing herself with wing exercises. In all honesty, she didn’t really care about flying, at least not so well that she’d make a life out of it. But what she did want was her father’s approval. She and her mother always went to the competitions that Golden Chariot’s students took part in to support him; which meant that she would watch her father out in the field with his class as he gave directions and pumped them up for whatever task laid ahead of them.

And his class almost always won. It was no secret that Golden Chariot was one of the best flight school coaches in Equestria, if not the best. No matter how many times they won, however, he and his students would celebrate as if it was the biggest victory in the world, and Fluttershy watched every time. Her father always looked happiest after a win, hugging and cheering and noogie-ing his students, lavishing them in praise and looking so proud. She even saw him cry tears of liquid pride a few times, if the competition had been particularly challenging or high-tier.

But with whatever Fluttershy did, whether it was successfully raising her very own caterpillars into butterflies, or breaking her personal record of consecutive wing-ups in a single session... he never looked at her like that.

He would congratulate her and pat her on the back before moving her onto the next thing. It would take five, maybe ten seconds, and then he’d be done. After that, he just pushed her further.

She wanted so desperately to be a daughter he could be proud of, just like his students. But she hated the exercises. It made her sore and sweaty and by the time it was over each day, she would need at least thirty minutes to recuperate. Whisper Wing would always coo at her and praise her for her hard work, and try her best to make Chariot let up on the training, but he insisted that the pain was normal, that he had gone through the same thing himself as a young colt and that there was nothing to worry about.

But her father’s level of patience with her was never the same each day. There were days where he didn’t have much of it at all.

He certainly didn’t much of it on the day when his daughter came up to him and Whisper with a book in her forelegs against her chest.

“Mama, Daddy? I-I got a really wonderful book at the schoolhouse today. It’s Miss Horizon’s book, but she brings them into class for us to look at sometimes during free time. She saw that I liked this one so much that she let me take it home, and well…” She bit her lip, trying to think of how to bring this up.

Her father chuckled. “So then what’s the matter, Ace?” He reached a hoof out. “What book is it? It can’t be that bad if it belongs to your teacher, right? Let’s see.”

Reluctantly, she handed it to him, and he looked at the cover while Whisper leaned over to see it on his lap.

“Life is Wild: An Animal Encyclopedia for Foals,” he read out loud, and smiled. “Neat. Did you look up E for Eagle? I always loved those birds, let’s look for it…”

“Oh, but um, I’ve already read every page, Daddy. A-And I only brought it up because... it reminded me of something.”

“Oh yeah?” He closed the book and handed it to his wife, who wanted to leaf through it herself. “What’s that, kiddo?”

Fluttershy felt her throat tighten. They were smiling, and her mother put the book aside to look at later, giving her daughter her full attention just as her father was. For some reason, she felt that this question was a risk, but wasn’t sure why. But she had to know.

“Why have we never been on land before?”

Her father stiffened, and Fluttershy knew at that moment that she shouldn’t have asked.

He confused her by laughing, putting a hoof to his mouth as he chuckled. “Why haven’t we ever been on land? Hah, isn’t it obvious, sweetie? We don’t need to be on the ground.” He got off the couch to stand before his daughter and spread out his wings. “We’ve got these, remember? The sky is where we belong. Land is for the Earth ponies and Unicorns. Not Pegasi.”

“Not even to visit?”

Another laugh. “Well, I mean, sure, every Pegasi gets a reason eventually to go down there. But not for very long. I know I don’t like it there. It feels so limited, to have the ground underneath your hooves. And personally, it makes me feel heavier, like gravity is stronger down there or something. And dirt is definitely not the same as walking on a nice cozy cloud.”

She bit her lip again. “But...a-aren’t there Pegasi who... who live on the ground?” She looked up innocently at her father.

His smile was gone, and Whisper was quick to intervene. Don’t you start, she warned him with her eyes. It’s a perfectly logical question, she mouthed.

Fluttershy felt a rush of relief at the sight of her mother smiling down at her, rather than her father’s cold stare that still remained from behind. Luckily, her mother’s head blocked it out as she spoke to her. There are many Pegasi who live on the ground. Some of them really love living there. Just like these animals do. She reached for the book and opened it to a random page. Do you want to go down there and see them one day?

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh my goodness, yes! Could we, Mama?” She reared on her back legs and folded her front ones against her mother’s chest. “Could we please? Because I had no idea that there were so many cute things there! Like…” She got off her mom and turned the the S-section. “Squirrels! A-And…” She turned to the R’s. “Rabbits, and rats! And jackalopes and mice and bears and cats and dogs and all sorts of other creatures! They all look so cute, Mama. I want to go see them!”

Whisper had never seen such excitement in Fluttershy before, and she felt her heart squeeze in joy at seeing her daughter express so much passion for something. The ground could be dangerous, but as long as she was there to protect Fluttershy, then it was a risk she could take. Of course, sweetheart, we can definitely…

A loud thump made the floor shake. Whisper whipped her head back in surprise at Chariot, whose mouth was twisted into a snarl. Fluttershy had never seen him look so angry before.

“No. Absolutely not.”

Whisper slanted her brows angrily at him and stamped a hoof back. Stop it, Golden Chariot. This is not the time nor place…

“It’s the perfect time and place, Whisper!” he countered, poking her in the chest. “Now I don’t mind if our daughter has a fondness for animals and reading about them, but it’s time she learned that there is a place for everything in this world, and that Pegasi do not belong on the ground.”

She batted his hoof off of her. You don’t get to decide that, Chariot! She can do what she wants when she’s old enough!

“And until then, I’m going to teach her how things are and then she’ll make the right decision when she IS old enough. It’s for her own good.”

You don’t KNOW what’s good for her, Chariot!

“I am her father, Whisper. I know exactly what’s good for her!” He passed her and towered over Fluttershy. “Look at me, Fluttershy. Look at me. You’re not in trouble. But you have to understand something very important.”

Fluttershy glanced at her mother, who shook her head no. Listen, but don’t pay attention, she mouthed. He’s wrong.

“Fluttershy, look at me, not your mother.”

“Y-Yes Daddy...” She obeyed. Her father looked calmer now, but she still didn’t like how he stood before her. He was tense and his eyes were intense, as if they were boring down on her.

“It’s great that you like animals and find them cute, but you have no need to go and see them. That’s what the books are for. The only ones you need to worry about are the animals that fly with you, the ones you share the sky with. Just like your mother does.”

In Fluttershy’s peripheral vision, she could see her mother shaking her head again. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

“You are a Pegasus, Fluttershy. You are a part of the skies, the heavens. To be on the ground is to live beneath your full potential. You don’t make the clouds rain, but you get rained on instead. We Pegasi are proud ponies, Fluttershy. To leave us, and go live on the ground… it’s the biggest insult you could ever make against your own kind.”

Fluttershy felt dizzy, her breathing getting short and heavy, her heart racing.

“And my daughter will not be that way. You are not to go down there while you are living in this house. And that’s all there is to it. Now go to your room. I think you need some time to think about what I’ve said.”

He didn’t need to tell her twice. She was already sobbing and running up the stairs before Whisper could stop her.

She cried so loud that she didn’t even hear her mother come in. But her eyes were too busy leaking to read her mother’s lips, so Whisper just held her. When her tears had subsided, her mother gently lifted her chin up.

Your father was raised in a family that’s very prejudiced against anything that’s on the ground...including other ponies. He’s nice to them, but he thinks that everypony has their place, and that they should stay in it. And for him, Pegasi should be in the sky, and nopony else.

“So it’s b-bad to go to the g-ground? Even for just a day? That seems just...just...!” Fluttershy shook her head, not sure how to finish her sentence. There was a hint of anger in her voice and expression, but Whisper was pleased by it. She wanted her to feel that way.

Whisper shook her head. No. It’s not. Your father took it too far. He always does. I’ve been trying for years to get him to see the wrong in what he things, but he’s stubborn and proud. I love him very much, but I could not disagree with him more on this.

Fluttershy was amazed. “But I-I thought...th-that you liked everything about Daddy.”

Her mother silently giggled. No one is flawless, sweetie. Your daddy drives me mad sometimes, but I do love him. He may not understand that we’re all ponies, whether we’re skybound or not, but he is, underneath it all, a good pony who wants to help others meet their dreams. And he always cared about the butterflies. She winked at Fluttershy. And you know how much that matters to me.

Fluttershy giggled despite herself. “A-And he doesn’t mind that we’re quiet, either…”

Whisper grinned. No, though sometimes I wish he were a little quieter.

This made the two of them burst out in light titters, hugging and laughing until the moment passed, and Fluttershy yawned with heavy eyelids. Whisper picked her little filly up and opened the covers, slipping her into bed. She kissed her forehead and nuzzled her face, but Fluttershy reached out and gingerly touched her mane before she could turn away.

“Mama, I really wanna go to the ground, but I don’t want Daddy to hate me.”

Her mother swiftly turned to stare at her daughter with wide eyes and an open mouth. While she knew that Fluttershy wanted to prove herself to her father, she never thought that her daughter feared of a day where her father hated her. She came to her daughter’s side and stroked her face.

He will never hate you, sweetie, Whisper insisted. You’re his baby. That will never happen. And I promise you, Fluttershy… She took her daughter’s hoof and laid it over her heart.

One day, I will take you to see the ground.

Over the next year, Fluttershy started to grow. A lot.

It was as if her body, once so small and underdeveloped, decided to take a year to catch up with nine years of developmental delay. It happened so fast that it worried her parents, especially Whisper, but the doctor had assured them it was normal. It seemed like one day, Fluttershy was tiny and frail, and the next day, she was tall and extremely awkward looking. She was thin and gangly, with a long neck and long legs, and her head seemed to be the biggest part of her entire body.

This made her clumsier than she used to be, and she seemed to tower over all her classmates at the schoolhouse, which only made it harder for her to go about the school day without being noticed. It also didn’t help that while her body was changing, the rest of her wasn’t. She was still shy and quiet, with no idea on how to make friends with foals. Like her mother, she was a homebody, and didn’t go no playdates. And unlike other foals, Whisper did not let Fluttershy go into town on her own. If Fluttershy ever went into town, it was to run errands with her mother. And she still had no cutie mark, while a lot of her classmates were beginning to get theirs.

And of course, it made exercising with her dad harder as well, especially with flight school looming so near. While her father grew more excited at the thought of his daughter going to flight school, she dreaded it. She didn’t need to try flying to know that it wouldn’t come easy to her. But her father was so confident in her future success that she never had the heart nor the nerve to tell him that.

On her ninth birthday, her father gave her white, red-striped sweatbands—one for each of her legs, and one for her head. “They’re the same brand and style as the ones I had when I was your age. Oh, Fluttershy, just you wait.” He put a foreleg around his daughter, who was desperately trying to look thrilled by the gift. “By the time you’re flyin’ high in the deep cerulean sky, those sweatbands will be brown from years of practice, a symbol of all the hard work you put in to become the flyer you’re meant to be. Why, I even still have mine, though it’s far from being white and red anymore.” He laughed at his own joke, while Fluttershy scrunched her nose and her mother stuck her tongue out in disgust.

But on the night before flight school started, Fluttershy sat on her bed, with her new sweatbands adorned on her lanky legs and her slightly large forehead, looking out the window at the moon. Fluttershy swore that the moon was colored in such a way that it looked as if there was a unicorn’s face on it. At first, it spooked her, but then she had started to see the Unicorn as a sort of guardian—somepony she could talk to besides her mother, somepony to whisper her secrets to, without worry of having them spilled.

Somepony to pray to.

“Please please please let me just get through school. Please let me learn to fly, and make Dad proud…” Her fears were so great that she could feel her eyes welling up with tears, a result of the anxiety bubbling in her stomach. Two teardrops fell and stained her comforter, but those were all she needed to feel a little bit better.

“And...m-maybe a friend would be okay, too. Maybe one that can help me get through school a little easier... one who doesn’t care…” She breathed in as she began to yawn, and she laid down and snuggled under her blankets. “...whether I can fly well or not... one I can’t disappoint…”

And the moon watched over her as she slept.

It was hard getting Fluttershy out of the house as Whisper fretted over Fluttershy, making sure she had all her supplies, including a tiny emergency aid kit in the side pocket of her saddlebag. She gave Fluttershy numerous pep talks, encouraging her to make friends but to look out for herself and check with her teacher when something went wrong. Luckily, Whisper had made a special request to put Fluttershy in a class with a teacher she trusted, and hoped that Comet Tail would be able to watch out for her well enough.

Whisper wanted to walk Fluttershy to school personally, but Chariot was adamant that she stay home. “You’ll just be freaking out the whole time and making Fluttershy nervous. There’s no need to worry though. This is flight school! It’ll be the best time of her life. Trust me. Stay home. I promise I’ll get her home safe.”

With a little more assurance from her husband, Whisper was able to calm down enough to give her daughter one last hug before saying goodbye, watching the two of them leave from the door. Oh, she hoped it went well…

The sun beat down on Fluttershy as she walked beside her father to school, her saddlebags packed, with her sweatbands just under the flaps. Her dad was far more excited than she was. He was practically skipping.

And embarrassing Fluttershy everywhere they went.

“Me and my daughter coming through! She’s got her first day of flight school, you know. Yep! This filly, right here, walking next to me. Fluttershy’s her name, and one day flying will be her game. That’s right. My little ace, ready to take on the world by storm. Fluttershy, daughter of Golden Chariot, is going to the Cloudsdale Flight School on this very day, on her way there right now, make no mistake! That is who she is, and that’s where she’s going! And I couldn’t be prouder!”

Fluttershy knew she should have brought a paper bag with her.

Her father took her to the beginner’s class for the youngest students, all around eight or nine years old. “Now, my students are older, so I’m on the opposite side of the school, but don’t worry. I’ll use all the free time I can get to come and see you practice.”

Fluttershy gave him a hesitant smile. “Y-Yes Daddy... but... don’t feel pressured to…”

He gave her a slap on the back that almost sent her to the ground. “No pressure at all! Not when it’s my little ace we’re talking about!”

She heard snickers from the door behind her. Oh no.

But she distracted herself by looking back at her father, and was surprised by the look of tenderness on his face. He reached over and slid her towards him into a warm hug. “I’m so proud of you. I know you struggle with your exercises, but I know you’ll catch up and be the flyer that I know you’ll be. I love you.”

Fluttershy’s own face reflected his expression. Surely, this was something that none of his students ever got. This tenderness. This love. This total confidence in her abilities. And for one single moment, she thought that she could meet his standards. “I love you too, Daddy. I’ll do my best.” She hugged him tightly.

“I know you will.” His eyes caught sight of the clock next to the door. “Oh, but I’d better go. They tend to get antsy if you keep ‘em waiting. I’ll see you later, ace!” He gave her a kiss on the forehead and rushed off, and Fluttershy was alone again.

She knew that it would be a lot like the schoolhouse, except this would focus primarily on flying, with no real cutoff. Students in flight school got to choose how long they attended after learning their basic skills, some moving on to more-focused classes, like air aerobics, beginner’s weather control, and the advanced classes for those who wanted to go above and beyond in their performance. But for those, you had to pass a test. For classes like her father’s…

She wondered if she’d be even able to fly a short distance with such a huge weight on her withers.

Even more scary were the brand new classmates. She didn’t recognize any of the ones in her class; there was more than one schoolhouse in a town as big as Cloudsdale, and apparently, nopony cared as to whether she recognized anypony or not.

Not that it matters. I don’t have any friends anyway.

What was even scarier was that her class seemed to be full of colts. It was one thing to deal with strangers, but colts made her feel somewhat uneasy. She at least could have small talk with a filly if she absolutely had to. But colts? Who knew what in the world colts were thinking of?

It didn’t help that she was the tallest and lankiest pony in the room, either. She could just feel all their stares, judging her and thinking, who is this weirdo?

And the first to approach her were two colts. Of course they were colts. How could she have expected any less? Just the smirks on their faces were enough to make her hide behind her bangs, praying to whatever god or goddess there was to give her the strength to not run away and hide.

“Awww, are you the little Daddy’s girl we heard from outside the door?” a light orange colt with a brown mane and three basketballs for a cutie mark asked mockingly. “Are you sure you’ll be all right in here without your daddy to take care of you?”

The dark brown one, with bangs that flopped over his blue eyes and a dumb-bell cutie-mark, snickered. “Heh heh, yeah! ‘Cause if he ain’t here, then who’s gonna tuck you in for your nap time at noon, huh?” The two burst out into laughter, along with most of the other classmates.

Fluttershy felt her lips wobble and helplessly watched her vision blur with tears.

“Oh no, Dumb-Bell, look at what we did,” the orange colt said, pretending to gasp with a hoof over his mouth. “We made the wittle filly cry!”

“Oh my gosh, you’re right, Hoops! What should we do about it? Should we apologize?” Dumb-Bell asked as he went along with the play-act.

“I got a better idea! Let’s get her daddy! He can take care of his ‘little ace’ and make her feel alllllll better.” The two started laughing again, causing a chorus of giggles all around the room.

“Hey! Knock it off, ya big lugs!” somepony said in a raspy feminine voice. Fluttershy looked up to see a sky blue filly with a messy rainbow mane and fiery cerise irises walk up to the colts, standing in front of her and glaring at them. She also noticed that this mysterious classmate was a late bloomer in getting her cutie mark, just like herself. “She just got here! Why don’t you go and do stupid boy things, huh? Or I’ll tell the teacher on ya!”

“No need to do that, Rainbow Dash.” In walked a mare with a red coat and a mane streaked with yellow and orange. “I’m here now. Hoops, Dumb-Bell. Get back to your seats or I’ll replace your first flight days with bookwork rather than letting you out into the field. And if I hear you harassing another student, I’ll see to it that you’re sent to the office. And trust me, you don’t want to go there.”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” the two said simultaneously, before rushing off to their desks.

The mare then set her eyes on Fluttershy and her savior. “Well? Bullied or not, I’m not going to wait for you to get to your desks either, young mares.”

Fluttershy bit her lip and rushed to a desk in the back, the other filly not far behind and taking a seat beside her. She did her best to focus on the teacher, who introduced herself as Comet Tail, and whatever lessons or introductions she had planned for the day. But it was hard to do, as she could hear the silent snickers from other students as they glanced at her, with Hoops and Dumb-Bell in her periphery.

As the teacher spoke and went over what they’d be doing over the year and the class rules, Fluttershy’s ears flickered at the soft, crisp sound of paper being laid on her desk. She looked down to see a note scrawled in messy hoofwriting.

Don’t worry about those losers. I’ve known them my whole life, and they aren’t anything special. Just stick with me and you’ll be fine. I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way.

Rainbow Dash. The name rang familiar in Fluttershy’s mind, and it took a moment to remember her father mentioning her and her strong wings. It made her nervous. If she was as good with her wings as her dad said, then what would happen when she saw how weak she was?

She glanced at Rainbow, who was already looking at her, and smiled. She pointed at her, and thanks to practice with her mother, she already knew what she was asking.

She wrote a quick message back, though Rainbow Dash had to lean over and grab the note herself. Fluttershy was too nervous to get caught by the teacher to hand it back, but Rainbow didn’t seem to mind at all.

My name’s Fluttershy. It’s very nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash. Thank you for helping me.

It was only a few seconds before the note appeared on her desk again, and she had to stifle her gasp at the reply.

No prob, friendo. We blank flanks gotta stick together. Gotta let ‘em know you don’t need a cutie mark to be totally awesome, ya know. Like me!

Fluttershy looked at her again, her eyes hopeful. Rainbow was smiling confidently at her, and she found herself shyly smiling back. She nodded once, and Rainbow nodded back.

She hadn’t needed to make a friend that day. Somepony had made a friend of her instead. And suddenly, she wasn’t as afraid anymore.

The first few weeks of flight school were pretty good for Fluttershy. Comet Tail was a sharp and attentive teacher that always seemed to have eyes on the back of her head whenever she was around. Every time Hoops, Dumb-Bell, or any other pony tried bullying her, or anypony else for that matter, she was there to carry out discipline for them. Fluttershy was extremely grateful for this, almost as much as she was grateful for Rainbow Dash. The two of them really took a liking to each other, and while Rainbow made friends with other foals as well, she always made time for Fluttershy.

She didn’t really understand why Rainbow liked her so much, but she didn’t ask. At first, she was afraid that Rainbow pitied her and was just throwing her a bone. But after a while, she realized that Rainbow always greeted her first and was always willing to help Fluttershy during gym as she struggled to tone and work out her wings. It wasn’t that Rainbow Dash just liked her. She was loyal to her, and while her shy mannerisms did occasionally annoy Rainbow, she never bullied her or made her feel bad for being the way she was. Sometimes she even apologized.

“Hey, I’m... sorry I rolled my eyes at you earlier. I didn’t mean it. I just don’t know what it’s like to be so quiet and shy and all that other stuff. But we’re good, right?”

And Fluttershy would smile and raise her hoof to give her friend a high-hoof. “We’re always good, Rainbow…”

In return for all of Rainbow Dash’s protection and loyalty, Fluttershy always helped her with classroom work. The first few weeks were nothing but books, notes, and videos on flying technique, with quizzes at the end of every week to test their knowledge. In addition, they also had gym to do exercises and improve on their overall stamina. The class always complained that it was stupid, that they’d learn much quicker if they just started right way. Rainbow was one of the biggest complainers of all. The only time she ever liked being in class was when they watched documentaries on the Wonderbolts. The first video they showed, going over basic safety rules when flying, starred the famous team of expert flyers, and Fluttershy quickly learned that the Wonderbolts were her friend’s idols. Her eyes always widened and sparkled when watching them perform, even if it was something as basic as demonstrating how to fly and look out for any possible hazards.

“They’re the coolest pegasi ever...and one day, I’m gonna be one!” Rainbow said every time they came into discussion. “It’s my dream!”

“Your dream…?” Fluttershy asked, cocking her head.

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah! It’s what I know I was meant to do. Being a Wonderbolt and making all these cool moves while soarin’ in the air, that’s my dream! And it’s gonna happen; I’m gonna make sure of it!”

Fluttershy had no doubt that she would. But the matter of the fact was, she was also a little jealous of her friend.

She didn’t know what her dream was, or what she was supposed to do. All she wanted was to make her father proud, and to sneak in as many books on land animals as possible without him knowing. Her old schoolhouse teacher had let her keep the Animal Encyclopedia as a gift, saying that she had never known another pony that loved the book as much as she did. And it was true. The book was dogeared after just five days of constantly reading it under her bed after dark with a flashlight.

But hiding it was crucial to keeping her father happy. If he knew that she had the book, and read through it every day, looking at all the animals and dreaming of meeting them one day... she knew it wouldn’t go well. ‘Grounder’ animals didn’t have anything to do with flying. And that’s the dream that her father had built for her. He didn’t care about what she wanted.

So she tried to want what he wanted, though deep down she knew it was impossible.

Rainbow Dash always made a big deal every time Fluttershy did just one extra wing-up more than usual, or managed to keep her wings outstretched without tucking them back in for just a few seconds longer. She’d jump around and flap her wings excitedly, sometimes hugging Fluttershy or giving her a light congratulatory noogie and make Fluttershy feel like she was just as awesome as a Wonderbolt.

Whereas it was never enough for her father whenever he joined her in gym to help when he had the time. He’d greet Rainbow Dash before telling her to go focus on her own exercises. “After all, a Wonderbolt has to keep in top condition! I appreciate you helping Fluttershy, but I’ll cover it for now.”

“Whatever you say, Mr. C!” she said with a salute before going to find a spot to practice. “Catch ya later, Flutters!”

But every time, Fluttershy’s heart would sink at seeing her friend leave and her father stay. Please don’t go…

Exercising with her father only disappointed the both of them. Just like old times.

“Fluttershy, come on! You gave up too early, you could have easily lasted another five seconds!”

“I know it hurts, but that’s a good thing! Trust me, you’ll thank me for it.”

“Fluttershy, you’re in flight school now. This is it. This is the time for you to learn this. If you don’t improve now, then you never will. I know you can do this. So let’s try for thirty again!”

But she never met her father’s goals, and he always left her with a look of disappointment on his face. By the end of the second week, he had made a promise to her. ““I’ll make an effort to come by during gym more often. Because clearly, you’re not getting the instruction and discipline you need. We’ll start doing it more at home too. Until then, go to class.”

That day after he left, the gym walls were loud with the soft echos of snickering behind her. Even Rainbow’s death glares didn’t stop them this time.

Rainbow was a great flyer, but she wasn’t very coordinated and struggled to remember all the rules of lessons on the field. The name ‘Rainbow Crash’ had stuck to her like glue the second she forgot to look both ways before crossing the track and ended up knocking over a trashcan, getting garbage all over her and feeling completely uncool. Fluttershy was the only one who didn’t make fun of her and washed her off with a hose afterward. Even Rainbow’s other so-called ‘friends’ in class started calling her that, and from then on, it was just the two of them, making them closer than ever.

But Rainbow’s little mishap was forgotten every time Fluttershy tried taking to the sky. In her first year, she was lucky to be able to hover for just a few seconds before crashing into the cloud below her. While this was to be expected for every new student for a while, by the end of the year, she only made a little progress, with the lowest scores in her class.

It drove her father to the point of fury, and instead of blaming her for it, he went to the school. Whisper insisted on going with him, because she was afraid of him taking it too far. And poor Fluttershy, who was still considered too young to stay home on her own, had to sit outside Miss Tail’s office door and listen from outside.

“You’re being too easy on her! You have to push her! She can do it, she just needs more motivation! More attention! It takes a village to get a Pegasus to fly, and I’m tired of being the only one who really cares!” she heard her father yell.

Fluttershy was impressed by how calm and collected Miss Tail sounded. “Chariot, you and I both know that there are just some Pegasi that take longer to develop their skills than others. Rushing her will only put pressure on her. I’ve been instructing her since day one, Chariot, and she tries her hardest to get results. The fact that her scores are the lowest means nothing in terms of how she’ll do in the future. She can get up a few inches, which at this age is enough to know that she should be able to get the basics down. She won’t go flightless like some Pegasi have to. Her scores are still enough to pass on to the next year.”

“I don’t care about whether it’s enough to pass! I want improvement!” Fluttershy flinched as she heard a hoof strike the desk, followed by a feminine gasp.

“Golden Chariot! How dare you! It’s times like these that you need to take what Whisper says into consideration. Don’t glare at us, we’ve talked about it before without you here to blow your head off. You’re hurting your daughter, Chariot. I’ve never seen you act like this with any of your students. You’re much more patient with them than you are with Fluttershy. You need to stop.”

“Stop what? Encouraging my daughter to be the best she can be?” By the sound of chair legs scuffing the ground, her father wasn’t sitting anymore.

“No. You need to stop forcing her to be the way you want her to be. I don’t think you realize how lucky you are to have a little filly like the one you’ve got, Chariot. She’s sweet and loving, and much too gentle to ever resent anypony, including a father that wants her to be something she’s not. But I would hate for your behavior to push her to the point where she doesn’t want to be around you, Chariot. She deserves more than that.”

“Don’t tell me how to treat my daughter! You’re the lucky one... lucky that she’s almost finished with this first year so I don’t have enough time to switch her out of your class. I’ll make sure her Year Two teacher actually knows how to do the job right!”

The door opened and out came her father. “Come on, Fluttershy. We’re going home,” Chariot told her sternly.

Her mother joined her by her side, touching her daughter’s back with a wing as she smiled. I’ll talk to Daddy some more, Fluttershy. Don’t worry. Mama and your teacher are on your side.

It was the first time that her mother’s words didn’t comfort her, because to her, that’s all they were. Just words.

For Year One students, the last day of flight school was a day for parents to come out and watch the kids show them their progress. At first, Fluttershy didn’t worry too much about it. Her father saw her almost every day in class. There was nothing she could do for him that he didn’t already know. She was very, very close to forgetting about ever making him proud. Miss Tail had been right about her. She really had tried her hardest and her best all year long, but her tiny improvements just weren’t what her father expected from her.

It was a depressing thought, a thought that sometimes left Fluttershy in tears at night. Not even her mother knew that she was starting to lose faith in herself and her relationship with her father. While Chariot loved Whisper and never asked her to excel in anything she didn’t want to do, she wasn’t of his blood. Fluttershy was, and his demands were taking a toll on her. She was getting tired and losing her energy. She suspected that if it weren’t for her butterflies, her animal book, and Rainbow Dash, she’d feel even worse, but those three parts of her life helped her get up in the morning. That, and her mother, who always gave her the love she needed when she only had her to go to at home. Her mother accepted her. Her mother was there.

At least her mother smiled and congratulated her in all her progress. Her father wouldn’t be proud, but she would. Fluttershy just had to learn that making her proud would have to be enough. She’d continue to love her father, as she knew he loved her too, but she had begun to accept that she was not good enough to be his daughter. That she would never be as good as one of his students.

That she would only ever bring him shame when it came to flying.

But she hadn’t fully accepted it yet. There was still a part of her that hoped that things would change. She hated that part of her, because that was the reason it still hurt, but it was true.

She let all her classmates pick their performance times, having no problem with taking the very last slot. If she was lucky, maybe most of the parents would go home before her performance started. She didn’t even want to perform. The thought terrified her. It was one thing to disappoint her father, but a big audience that looked as big as the whole entire world? What if they made fun of her for being so weak? What if they tried driving her out of town, too embarrassed to call her a fellow Pegasus? What if they hated her?

She was not like Rainbow Dash, who astounded the audience with a speed that was above and beyond her years and made everypony’s hair stand up from wind her wings created. The audience clapped so hard for her that Fluttershy had to put her hooves to her ears to block out the noise. They were all so impressed, and Rainbow took it all in with a smug smile before being pulled into a huge hug by her parents, who were so proud that they seemed to glow.

Fluttershy watched as all the parents did the same thing for their foals as well. They were all so proud of the progress their colt or filly had made, even if their performance wasn’t half as impressive as Rainbow Dash’s. They all looked at their foal as if they were the biggest winners in the world. Some even cried. And while some of her classmates would just pretend to act embarrassed, they never fought too hard, and took in the praise with absolute joy shining through their eyes.

Fluttershy wanted that too. Not just from her mother, but her father as well. She wanted that moment. She deserved that moment. All her hard work had to mean something!

Perhaps her father was right. Maybe, if she just forced herself to do better, then maybe she could finally make him proud.

So when her name was called, despite her trembling, she made her way to the center of the track, the parents watching from the stands. “Whoo, go Fluttershy!” Rainbow cheered, and Fluttershy blushed and waved at her.

I can do this…

It didn’t take long to find her parents in the stands. They sat in the middle of the center row, the best seat in the house. She gulped, but her mother just smiled at her proudly.

I can do this…

She unfurled her wings. She saw Miss Comet Tail, who also smiled, her eyes much softer than they usually were. She had stood up for her to her father, and also accepted her for who she was.

I can do this!

She shut her eyes before she could wimp out, and flapped her wings as hard as she could. She felt her hooves leave the soft clouds as she rose up higher in the air.

“Go Flutters! You can do it!”

She was already starting to tire but the familiar rasp of her friend’s voice made her flap harder. She would show her father...She would show him that he could believe in her…

She heard gasps and opened her eyes, seeing that she was higher than she had ever been before. She still couldn’t make loops or fly very fast, but she was higher than the rafters now. It was so high it was almost dizzying. Whisper bit her lip as her body went stiff, watching in anxiety as she flew up higher.

Her father wasn’t worried at all. “Fluttershy! Yes! That’s it! That’s my girl!” He rose to his hooves, grinning. “That’s my ace!”

Fluttershy’s eyes started to well up with tears. “Daddy…”

But no one noticed the winds picking up unexpectedly. It wasn’t terribly strong, but Fluttershy’s wings were weaker than most, and she was higher up than ever. The winds began to pull and push at her, and she didn’t know how to deal with it. She never had to before. She began to sweat as she struggled to stay put.

The others looked concerned, some even beginning to unfurl their wings to help. Whisper jumped to her hooves, but Chariot stopped her from going any farther with a foreleg. “Don’t help her! She can do this! Fluttershy, you’re doing great!”

But one little gust was all it took before she was too weak to fight it. It was so strong that it sent her careening off the other side of the field, away from the stands. The force of the gust was so strong that she couldn’t keep her wings out, and they folded against her back and froze, as if they were glued together that way.

Fluttershy was terrified, and she began to scream. “Help! Daddy! Mama! Somepony, please…!” She was blown away until there weren’t any clouds beneath her, leaving her to freefall.

Whisper could watch no longer. She shoved her husband out of her way and jumped off the rafters, flapping her wings.

“Wisp, no! Don’t help her,” he warned. “She can do this! She just needs to—!”

Another stallion near him slapped him in the face. “Do you not see the huge hot-air balloon heading her way? If someone doesn’t grab her, it’ll ram right into her! Go get her!”

All Chariot needed to do was look back over to where Fluttershy was to see the big red hot-air balloon headed towards the school. The wind had picked up more than anticipated, and the ponies in the balloon seemed to have trouble navigating through it.

Whisper had seen it before anpony else. In a burst of speed that neither her husband or anypony else had ever seen her demonstrate, she began to zoom towards her daughter.

She wished she could yell that she was coming, but all she could do was pick up speed as Fluttershy continued to fall.

Fluttershy was certain that she was going to die. “Mama!” she cried. “Maaaama!” She saw the hot air balloon coming, and wondered how much it would hurt if she hit it.

The ponies riding the balloon hadn’t noticed her until she screamed, and were trying desperately to get out of her way.

But it was no use. The winds were picking up even more, and there was nothing they could do. It was out of their hooves.

Fluttershy closed her eyes. I am a butterfly, and I am stronger than I seem. I am a butterfly, and I am stronger than—

She felt hooves hug around her chest, and she opened her eyes to see her mother as she pumped her wings. “Mama!” she cried, burying her face into her chest. Safe. She was safe. Nothing would hurt her now.

But Whisper herself was out of practice, and her adrenaline rush was slowing down. A strong crosswind pushed against her, and she pumped her wings harder to move forward. The balloon grew larger in her periphery, and she noticed Comet Tail rushing to meet them. With as much strength as she had, Whisper forced herself to tear Fluttershy away from her, and tossed her towards Comet. Fluttershy screamed. “Mama!”

Comet didn’t even have to think to react. She caught Fluttershy easily and swooped upward, her wings plenty strong against the gusting winds, before hearing something crash into a basket.

“No! Whisper Wing!”

A hoof blocked Fluttershy’s eyes before she could see anything, but it didn’t matter. She passed out before she could process anything else, everything going black.

The last thing she heard was the sound of a stallion screaming.

She woke up in a hospital bed, with various wires and clamps attached to her. It was not a welcome sight; she knew this was the hospital, and she had obviously gotten her own room, but she didn’t know why. Why was she here? What had happened? She couldn’t remember. “H-Hello…?” she squeaked, hoping somepony familiar was around. “Mama…? Daddy?”

Somepony answered her call, but it was not who she expected. Luckily enough, she knew Nurse Fields well, as she was an old family friend of theirs. She sighed, feeling the tension release. She still wanted her parents, but at least she wasn’t all alone, or with strangers.

“Oh, Fluttershy, I’m so glad you’re awake, sweetie,” Fertile Fields said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes as she came to her bedside. “You had quite a tumble, from what I heard. How do you feel?”

Fluttershy was ready to tell her that she felt fine until Fertile’s words finally struck her. You had quite a tumble, from what I heard. Memories struck her brain like a hammer on molten metal.

Suddenly, she sat up. “Mom. Dad. My teacher. W-where are they? I need to see them! I need to—”

Nurse Fields touched her withers, and Fluttershy looked up at her face, looked closely. Not only was her smile not quite right, but her eyes were far too shiny. Her face seemed even older than she already was, as if the weight of the world made her wrinkles deeper, made them sag.

Something was wrong, and Fluttershy felt an anxious buzzing at the pit of her stomach.

“Fluttershy, honey…”

“Stop.”

Fluttershy titled her head to look past the nurse, though by his voice, she already knew who it was. “Daddy…?” She gasped. “W-Why are you…?”

She had never seen him cry before, and his face was wet from tears as more streamed down his face. He stood rigidly at the door, his face hardened despite his crying. When he spoke, his voice was pained.

“I’ll tell her, Fertile. Could you give us a moment?”

Fluttershy began to tremble, and Fertile looked hesitant as she bit her lip. “Chariot, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea…”

“Please, Fertile,” his voice growled, but he looked desperate. “Please. I need to tell her alone, or I’ll never be able to, and I don’t want anypony else telling her.”

Fertile sighed, but nodded, and turned to lay a hoof on Fluttershy’s withers. “It’s all gonna be okay, honey. You’ll see.” She placed a kiss on her forehead, wishing she could soothe the girl and coo at her, but she knew nothing would help take away the pain that Fluttershy was about to feel. If she wasn’t feeling it already.

She turned and left as her father sat beside her.

Fluttershy was afraid to ask, but couldn’t help herself. “Daddy...w-where’s…?”

Her father didn’t answer right away. He just looked at her. He looked at his little daughter, all wired up and covered in blankets with a vase of flowers by her bedside, with her big turquoise eyes that were the exact same shape as Whisper’s. He moved a hoof and stroked a tendril of her pink hair, as soft and long as Whisper’s. She is so much like her mother…

His brave face shattered. Trembling lips. Tightly shut eyes. Falling tears. All of these things were things he tried avoiding in front of her. He failed. “Fluttershy…”

We failed.

“Your mother....She...She’s....”

His hooves rose to his eyes and he began wracking in sobs, his teeth clenched and his back bent over, as if kneeling to pray. But he had no prayers left. They had been answered, once, but it seemed that even those could be taken back.

Fluttershy’s heart cracked straight down the middle, fractured but never broken. But it felt as if it had.

She sobbed so loudly that nopony could hear it. Not even her father.

Her mother had been hit by the balloon, and the impact had broken her spine before she landed on a cloud below, lifeless.

Her mother was the true angel that ascended into heaven. Not Fluttershy. But as she cried into her father’s chest, she wished that she had been.

Whisper Wing, beloved wife and mother, reflected the sunset as it went down, amidst a tearful company giving her their final goodbyes.

She was in an urn now. It was tradition. Pegasi were once thought to be the children borne of wind and sky, melded from clouds of cirrus, nimbostratus, and a dash of cumulus. Because of this, ancient ponies had believed that once a Pegasus left the living world, they belonged to the sky—to become one with the infinity above. While modern Pegasi no longer believed this, they carried on the symbolic tradition that had gone on since the beginning of their kind—to take the vessel of the pony’s soul, turn it to ashes, and release it into the wind for one last flight.

Today was the day that Fluttershy’s mother was being released.

The funeral was a small affair. Fluttershy’s hair was up in a ponytail again, adorning a simple black dress with sleeves that were far too puffy and made of a material that made her itchy. But she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything as she sobbed against Rainbow Dash’s chest. Rainbow stroked her back as she cried small tears of her own. Her parents hadn’t wanted her to come, but she had insisted that she go with them. Fluttershy needed her.

And she had been right, because Rainbow was the only one who supported her.

Her father hadn’t looked at her for three days. Hadn’t spoken to her. Hadn’t done anything.

When they had gotten home from the hospital, he went straight to his room. His room. It was only his now. He had to sleep alone that night. He’d have to sleep alone for many nights, and as far as Fluttershy knew, maybe for the rest of his life.

It had been a week since Whisper died, and Chariot had done nothing but plan the funeral and sit alone in his room. He wouldn’t even look or talk to his daughter. He had embraced her and sobbed with her when he told her what happened, but it was as if a switch was turned off when the moment ended. They walked home in a silence that, unlike before, wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t comfortable at all. And it stayed after they returned home and never left.

And now, his eyes could only focus on the urn that stood on a table, sitting next to a picture of Whisper for all to see. She had been so beautiful, so full of love and life and a love for life. She had been amazing. And now, ashes. Just...ashes.

But it was still her, and he couldn’t stop staring. That urn was Whisper now. It was almost chilling, the way he stared. But ponies didn’t comment on it. They let him be. They poured their condolences on Fluttershy instead, or tried to. She could barely speak, and anypony that tried to speak with her had to be sent away by Comet Tail, who seemed even fiercer as tears sparkled in her eyes. Miss Tail and Rainbow were the only ones Fluttershy was comfortable with. Them, and of course, and her butterflies.

They were her butterflies now.

She took care of them, and she could tell that they knew what had happened. The first day Fluttershy came back, they came to her and covered her body with their tiny feet. Softly, they drank her tears away and brushed her with their soft wings. They seemed less energetic and more focused on the filly that now took on her mother’s role. They suffered from the loss; they had loved her mother as if she were their parent too.

But now they were all motherless, and all because Fluttershy had made a mistake.

She tried not to think of it. Everypony had already told her it wasn’t her fault. Miss Comet Tail was especially adamant about it. Now that Fluttershy wasn’t her student, she made herself a guest at the house every day since the accident, to take care of Fluttershy and keep her company, since her father was too busy mourning to do it himself.

“Now you listen to me, young mare. What happened was not your fault. I know exactly what you were thinking and what you were trying to do, and I don’t blame you in the least. You did nothing wrong, and you have nothing to feel guilty for. I want you to remember that, no matter what anypony says. Do you promise me?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer at first, looking doubtful. But Comet Tail held firm, and Fluttershy promised to remember her words.

She tried remembering them as the ceremony began. She sat front and center, next to her father. He looked wretched, but he was even worse before the funeral. Before it started, Rainbow Dash’s father, Rainbow Blaze, and Comet Tail had to force him into the bathroom to clean himself up. Before that, his mane had been unkempt, his coat had grown dull, and his wings had needed some preening. That was fixed as the ceremony began, but his face was still so haunting that had he been anypony else, Fluttershy would have found him scary. His eyes were red and watery, and the shadows underneath them seemed to have shadows of their own. He looked weak and frail, as if he could barely handle the burden of his own weight. And though his coat had been scrubbed and cleaned, it didn’t glitter with a metallic golden glow as much as it usually did. It looked more like a dark yellow than anything else.

Could you lose a parent without actually losing them? That’s how it felt like with her father. And actually losing one was devastating enough. But Golden Chariot didn’t seem to care, and that gave Fluttershy another reason to cry.

Ponies noticed this, and they tried hard to either ignore it or fight the urge to strangle him. In the end, ignoring it won.

The ceremony was too short and too long at the same time. Ponies took turns saying things about Whisper, and while it made Fluttershy cry all the harder, she listened hard to each and everyone one of them. They spoke of how gentle she was. How kind she was. How strong she was despite all she faced, both as a filly and a mare. Ponies had mocked her and hurt her for her disability, but she had never backed down and never lost sight of who she was or what was important to her.

And each and every one of them spoke of how good she was at loving others. She loved without fear and never lost sight of what she cared about. They spoke as if she were an angel and a saint.

So many spoke that Fluttershy needed to be tapped on the withers a few times before she took notice of Comet Tail. “Do you want to say something, Fluttershy? I know it might be hard for you, but you are her daughter. We’d love to hear…” Comet swallowed and fought back tears. “...what you have to say.”

Fluttershy hadn’t expected that. They wanted her to speak? Her surprise was evident in her face. “But...I-I thought...only adults…”

“Anypony can speak about her if they want, Fluttershy. And...I know you want to say goodbye... and she…” Tears escaped Comet’s face. She had been Whisper’s best friend. She herself was fighting grief. “She loved you more than anypony else. I’m sure she’s waiting to-to hear you right now.”

Fluttershy gasped, before leaning forward and giving Comet a hug. Her old teacher was hesitant, but eventually hugged her back. “You’re so much like her, Fluttershy…” she murmured, stroking her hair a few times before taking her withers and pulling apart from her. “Go on. It’s your turn.”

Fluttershy was trembling as she stood and walked slowly to the front. She looked to the urn, decorated with a single etching of a Monarch Butterfly in commemoration of her, and felt strength inside of her despite her falling tears. She glanced at Rainbow while taking a steady breath, and Rainbow smiled and nodded.

A stallion adjusted the microphone for her so she could reach it, and she spoke.

“I...I have...” Her throat felt stuck, and she had to sob for a moment before composing herself, the audience smiling encouragingly at her. She swallowed, took another breath, and tried again.

“I have a voice. I can talk. I mean, you can hear that right now, of course…” She blushed in embarrassment at her obvious statement but continued. “...But Mama…” A choked sob. “Mama...she talked in a different way. She didn’t use words. She used other things. Things like smiles, and hugs, and the way she moved around. She whispered, even though you couldn’t hear it. That’s how she could talk to the butterflies. And I can talk like that too, because I’m her daughter. My mama...She…” She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “She’s not...not here anymore, but she’s my hero. She’s everything I want to be, one day. I want to be able to talk without speaking. I want to say a lot without words. I want to be kind, but I want to do it quietly. Because that’s how my mama was. She was quiet with her kindness. To her butterflies, to ponies, to everything. And I-I will be just like her, one day. Because because that’s who I am. Who I want to be..."

Her tears fell silently as she turned to the urn. I hope you heard that Mama. I hope you know that you’re my hero, and that I love you…

“...You’ll never be like her, Fluttershy.”

The voice was deep and full of pain, but far too recognizable to Fluttershy’s ears. She didn’t need to turn to figure out who it was, even though she did anyway.

It was as if her father’s face was overtaken by shadows. “I’m sorry. But nopony could ever be like her. Not even you...Though you’re just enough like her for it to hurt whenever I look at you.”

He stood up, and the crowd was tense. Fluttershy thought he was going to approach her, but he walked right past her, right to the urn.

“And I can’t lose all I’ve got left of her.”

Suddenly his golden wings flared out and he grabbed the urn, hugging it close to his chest. “I won’t let you talk her away from me!” he shouted, his eyes now large and full of bitter, painful anger as he stood on his two hind legs and jumped, pumping his wings and taking off.

The crowd was stunned, and Rainbow was about to take off after him before her father grabbed her by the tail, yanking her back into his lap. “Don’t even think about it,” he warned.

Fluttershy could barely believe her own eyes as she watched her father fly into the horizon, gliding like a fiery chariot. The stand where her mother’s remains had been stood empty, and it looked incredibly wrong that way. The emptiness was as loud as the silence that occupied her house ever since Whisper had died.

What her father had just done...Stealing the urn, keeping the ashes to himself, and never giving Whisper the freedom of the wind, owed to her in death…

It was one of the most shameful things a Pegasus could do.

Her father, always so proud and so revered among the citizens of Cloudsdale, had broken one of the most cherished and revered traditions of the winged ponies.

He would never be looked at the same way again.

He refused to return the urn and allow the ceremony to finish. He was adamant on it, to the point where the look in his eyes was haunting. Instead he kept it over the mantle in the living room, where he spent all his time he speaking to it. Over the summer, as Fluttershy did her own silent grieving, she heard him speak to the urn plenty of times. He never tried hiding it. Sometimes he spoke to it as if it were any other day, as if she had never died, laughing and talking about cherished memories or any news of the day. But many other times, it was heartbreaking. He would sob loudly, making his pain known to all near enough to hear him...which was usually just Fluttershy.

Often, he begged her to come back. It was sad, and even a little scary.

But he did other things besides just that. He locked himself in his room for hours on end, where Fluttershy knew he either sat there and did nothing, or prepared for the upcoming year in school. Despite the scandal he had caused by stealing the urn, his skills in teaching advanced flying for foals were too valuable to fire him for. And he was in mourning, so some ponies weren’t surprised by his actions. It wasn’t as if he were mental, after all.

But the house was nothing but miserable for Fluttershy. She hated waking up in the morning, expecting to see her mother’s loving face in the kitchen making breakfast, only to find a sink full of dirty dishes. As time went by, Fluttershy noticed something else too.

Dirty mugs, sticky with what smelled like old cider.

She didn’t think much of it. Adults were adults, and they could do what they wanted. Fluttershy knew that her father was mourning just like she was, and if drinking after she went to bed helped him, she wasn’t going to stop him. Besides, there were never enough mugs to make it alarming. Just one, sometimes two.

During the summer, at least.

It was the first time in Fluttershy’s life where she did everything she could to stay out of the house, whether it was to go to the butterfly house or spend time at Rainbow’s. The family had told her that their door was always open to her, and while at first she felt bad for taking advantage of it, the Rainbow family told her not to worry, that they loved having her around.

But as much as she tried to stay out, her father still left his room frequently enough to help her practice flying. And while it was nice for her to see him come out of his room, the practice was hardly pleasant.

“No no no! You’re doing it wrong, Fluttershy! You need to spread your wings farther apart, see? Like this!”

“You’re going higher but you’re not going faster. I need you to improve your speed, not your height. Go around the track again, and this time I want at least thirty seconds less than your original time.”

“Five more laps!”

“One more time!”

“We’ll finish when I say you’re finished, young mare! And by the looks of it, you’re not even close!”

It was as if her mother’s death made him ten times harder to deal with during practice. He got meaner, more demanding. Sometimes he yelled in her face, asking her things she couldn’t find the answer to. Why wasn’t she improving? Just how lazy was she?

Before Whisper died, if she began sobbing, he usually relented and apologized for being so stern, hugging her and telling her that she could rest, that they could try again another time.

But that summer, Chariot stopped caring about her feelings. Instead, he got angry. So angry that he would stomp off and leave her sobbing, alone, and lock himself in his room. Sometimes he even spat at the ground in distaste before turning his back to her.

But that was only the beginning of the storm.

The second year of flight school was horrible.

The first thing that made it awful was the teacher. The only thing her new teacher, Swift Star, had in common with her old one was that she was stern. But she wasn’t stern with a secret heart of gold underneath it all. In fact, she just wanted to get her job done for the day and get paid. As long as they practiced what they were supposed to, she didn’t really care what her students did. Including bullying.

And as luck would have it, Fluttershy was once again in the same class as Hoops and Dumb-Bell. But on the bright side, so was Rainbow. Fluttershy was beyond happy when she saw her on her class list, and thanked the pony on the moon several times over for having the same class as her friend. It was the only good thing she had going for her, it seemed.

The flying lessons started right away, and each day’s lesson always took place in the same practice field, and Swift Star was more of a bad babysitter than an instructor. She pretty much left all the foals to their own devices—an open invitation for a bully to attack. Hoops and Dumb-Bell did some of their best work that year, coming up with mocking nicknames for anypony deemed worthy of it. Of course, Fluttershy was their favorite target. Whenever she attempted to fly a little higher, or make it through an obstacle course without falling, she usually failed, landing on her flank and feeling a little startled or dizzy. And every time she messed up, it seemed as if the two colts were always there, laughing their own flanks off and throwing as many insults at her as they could before Rainbow came to her rescue.

They eventually came up with the brilliant moniker of ‘Klutzershy’, a name that everypony but Rainbow seemed to find funny. It didn’t help that Rainbow Dash was still called “Rainbow Crash.” The two became victims of their own mistakes, all because of a horrible teacher and a couple of jerks who thought themselves better than everypony else. The blank flanks certainly didn’t help either.

However, Rainbow didn’t seem too bothered about her lack of a cutie mark. Whenever Fluttershy tried bringing it up, Rainbow would merely scoff at her, waving the problem away with a single hoof. “I’ll get mine eventually, I’m not too worried about it. I can feel it in my gut. Besides, I already know what I’m gonna be. A Wonderbolt!”

She always said this with such certainty, as if it were a fact and not a wish. It was something that Fluttershy both admired and envied her for, because Fluttershy had no idea what she was going to do. She knew what she liked, and had an idea of things that she would like to do, but they weren’t what her father wanted. And her father was the only real family she had left. Her mother’s side of the family was incredibly distant for reasons unknown to her, and she had never been a big fan of her father’s side. While her father was obsessed with flying, the rest of his family was obsessed with high society and their own social standing, and since her father had disgraced the family by taking his wife’s ashes and breaking tradition, they wanted nothing to do with either him or Fluttershy. But her dad didn’t seem to care, and Fluttershy didn’t really know any of them very well.

So if she pursued something her father didn’t approve of… she’d be all alone.

She never told this to Rainbow Dash. Her friend had already done so much for her. It was better she not burden her with this specific problem. She figured she could at least give her that one mercy, one less thing for Rainbow to protect her from.

But it hurt, having this fear and being unsure what to do about it. She wasn’t so worried about when she’d get her cutie mark, but what her talent would be, and what consequences would follow it.

But deep in her deepest heart of hearts, she knew what she wanted. She was just too afraid to go after it.

Only her mother would have understood.

Fluttershy sometimes talked to the urn herself, when she could. She never condemned her father too much for taking the ashes and keeping them for himself. The urn comforted her in many ways. It was a reminder that her mother was watching over her, guiding her through life in a way she never could have while alive. But Fluttershy did feel guilty on behalf of her father’s act. Her mother deserved to be free of the urn.

Just as she wished she were free to make her own decisions.

At least she still had her animal book. She was so enthralled with it. It was one of the few things she did back at home that truly made her happy, looking at all the animals. The pages were now worn with use, and some had articles taped to them, gifts she had gotten from Mr. Blaze. It was always hidden in her pillowcase, away from her father’s eyes.

But one day, after an especially tiring day at school—Hoops and Dumb-Bell had been especially brutal that day in their taunts, making her cry more than once until Rainbow came to the rescue—she came home to find papers on the floor.

At first, this made her curious. So many papers in the hall! Were these her father’s lesson plans? What had made them scatter like this? Had she or her father left a window open, letting the wind in and knocking them over? If so, she needed to clean them up and attempt to organize them before her father returned from work and—

But then she remembered. Her father had taken that day off, after complaining of a massive migraine and requesting another coach to fill in for him. So if these were his papers, he surely would have found them by now. Not only that, but they were ripped haphazardly, and when she took a good look at them, she noticed they had pictures.

She gasped.

Suddenly in a panicked frenzy, she picked up all the pages and clutched them to her chest, as if they’d sink through the floor and be lost forever if she didn’t. They were everywhere. In the hallway, in the living room, the kitchen…

Fluttershy only paused in her page collecting when she entered the kitchen, when the sight of the counter caught the corner of her eyes and beckoned her to look at it. Mugs. There were so many mugs. A sour scent hung in the air of the kitchen, and she noticed with alarm that one mug had apparently dropped and shattered to pieces on the floor.

Those mugs had not been there this morning.

“Fluttershy! Are you there? Come up here! Now!”

She jumped in terror at her father’s scream downstairs, some of the fur on her neck standing up as she felt goosebumps from his commands. His voice was rougher than it usually was, and he sounded absolutely infuriated.

Something told her that taking her beloved pages was not a good idea. She needed to hide them. She shoved them under the sofa in the living room before shakily making her way up the stairs.

“P-Papa…?” she called through the hallway, not sure which room he was in.

“In here.” He didn’t yell, but his tone was the same. Her room. He was in her room.

She made her way to her room, and her father sat on the edge of her bed, his eyes blazing at her.

More pages were scattered around the floor. The only thing her father held in his hooves was a now empty book cover, the bind to Fluttershy’s once favorite book of all time, a book that had felt like an old friend to her.

He held it up to her for her viewing pleasure. “You hid this from me?”

Fluttershy knew it was a stupid question, but she tried to answer it. She found she couldn’t speak. Her throat felt too tight and wouldn’t let the words escape. This only made her father’s eyes darken even more, and he gritted his teeth in anger.

“You hid this from me. You hid this from me, because you didn’t want me knowing, did you? Didn’t want me knowing how much you just loooooooved your little grounders, didn’t you? These non-flying animals.” Some of his words slurred, and he seemed to spit every one of them out as if they had a bad taste.

This time, her throat granted her a few words. “I-I love the flying ones too…” It came out as squeak, but her father heard it well enough.

“But that’s not all you want, is it, Fluttershy?” He slid of the edge of the bed and fumbled for a second, almost losing his footing before he was able to steady himself and get back on his four hooves, stomping towards her and towering over her. His eyes were bloodshot. “You want to see the ground, don’t you? Because you don’t…” He paused as a hiccup escaped his throat, and he had to start over. “You don’t wanna ever ever fly, because you don’t care. You’re too lazy to care! Even though I told you that you were never, ever ever ever, gonna go to the ground while you were in my! House!” He stomped against the ground at the last two words. “And this is still my house! And I am your father, and you are my daughter, and you are betraying me!”

She couldn’t believe it. “N-No! I’m not b-betraying you, Daddy! I...I really do want to fly! I...I want to fly, and make you—”

“Liar!” he screamed. “You’re a liar! You lied to me, and you lied to your mother, and to everypony you know! You hate being a Pegasus, hate being my daughter, and hate your wings! So much that you wanna shame me by going to the ground!”

Tears welled in her eyes. She hated the way he was looking at her right now. As if she were disgusting to him. As if she were nothing but a waste of his time. “That’s n-not—!”

“Well, guess what, young lady? You’re stuck with me, and I’m not gonna let you laze about and act like a...an earth pony!”

“But Papa, I’m not being lazy…! I really do want to try and fly!” As she spoke, she silently begged him to please, please understand. “I want to make you...I…”

Her father lowered his face until he was eye-to-eye with her. “Make me what?” His breath stank of cider and made her squirm, but she didn’t break eye contact with him.

“I just want to make you proud of me…” she choked out, gentle tears rolling down her face. “I-I...I don’t want you to hate me…”

“Well, hiding this ain’t gonna help you any! Which is why…” His mouth curled into the corners of his mouth into a chilling smile. “It’s not here anymore. ‘Cause I ripped it and made it go all away. Because like it or not, Ace…” He said her nickname without its usual warmth. “I won’t go having a daughter so weak that she can’t get herself off a cloud without falling flat on her face. You won’t shame me like that.”

He put a forceful hoof under her chin and forced her to look at him directly. “And you’re not gonna keep any more secrets from me, ever. From now on, you’re gonna come home, and you’re not gonna leave, ‘cause we’re gonna practice all the time, now. That’s right. All the time. Until you get your act together and...and we make you the flyer you should be. Because no daughter of mine will ever ever be a worthless, dirt-covered grounder pony.” He said the words with such disgust, and Fluttershy gasped at his candidness. He had never spoken so ill of non-Pegasi so directly before.

She didn’t know the pony who stood before her. This stallion was not the father who raised her. This father’s heart was breaking, and she was afraid at one point, he really wouldn’t love her anymore.

“And this book...is history. An’ I never wanna see you with this kinda stuff ever ‘gain.”

He took the cover in his hooves and slowly started to rip the binding.

“No!”

She leapt forward and tugged at the bottom of the cover, using what little strength she had to try and rip it out of his grasp, but that only made it easier for him as it ripped completely in half.

“My book…!” Fat tears slipped down her face as she realized what had been done. Now that the cover was ripped apart, she couldn’t get it bound back together again. And she knew that her father would soon dispose of the rest of the book too. “Papa, why…? Why? That book…” She rubbed her eyes, a tangle of emotions caught in her throat and making it hard to get the words out. “It...It made me happy…! It was important to me…!”

She knew her words meant nothing to him, but his reply still felt like her heart was being cored like an apple. “I don’t care. You knew what I wanted for you…”

“But what about what I want?” she shouted back. She had never yelled so loudly at him before, but she was desperate to be heard through her father’s stubborn ears. “What about what I want to do?! Why doesn’t that matter!?”

His face came to view suddenly, his wings flaring and wrapping around her to bring her against his face, his sour breath burning her eyes. “You’re too young and foolish and full of dreams t’know what you want, to know what’s good for you! And I do! So shut your mouth! Shut it!”

She just collapsed on the floor, her tears a puddle on the floor as she wept. This battle was one that she could not win. She could already feel the aches in store for her future once her father started to work her to exhaustion.

She heard her father stumble out of the room, picking up sheafs of paper with rips that made her body stiffen, as if he were hitting her rather than leaving.

“You’ll be a g-good girl…” He hiccuped. “Y’won’t disappoint me...You aren’t gonna fail....Not my daughter…”

And Fluttershy just stayed there, on the floor, feeling as if all her strength had left her. She cried to herself, and she cried for her mother.

“Mama...Mama…”

But nopony came to her aid this time. Nopony nuzzled her and told her that her father was out-of-hoof, that he was being silly and had no right to tear her book apart. Nopony came to tell her she wasn’t a failure, to assure her that her father loved her despite his harsh prejudice. Nopony came to let her cry against her shoulder. Her mother was gone, and her father was turning into a pony she no longer knew.

She had never felt more alone in her entire life; she blamed herself for it. The more she thought on it, the more she was convinced that she deserved what was happening to her, that her father was right all along. That she had been selfish this entire time, and she shouldn’t have kept the book a secret, or entertained the thought of going to the ground in the first place. Father knew best, after all. Isn’t that what ponies always said?

And by morning, she was sure that the only way out of her misery was to follow her father’s wishes, lest she be judged and hated by him and everypony else. And worse, if she didn’t make her father’s dreams come true, then he would only become even sadder, and it would be her fault.

She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t bring such pain to him. Even after all he’d done to her, he was still her father, and she wanted to make him proud and happy. She didn’t want him thinking his plans for her didn’t matter. Was she really that selfish to do that to him? They both already lost her mother. She couldn’t take this away from him too. That would have been cruel, and she had to protect him from changing into the pony he was now completely. There was no one else to protect him, now.

It was a daughter’s job to protect her father, she was sure of it. Yes. Yes, that was her purpose. Her happiness didn’t matter, her father was right.

She was certain of this. Her mother herself had told her that she was strong of heart, and was always kind. And being kind meant putting her needs in front of others—including her father. Especially her father.

And her heart couldn’t break, or else she’d stop caring about anything. And she never wanted that to happen. A life without caring for others, be it a single butterfly, a best friend, or a parent… that wasn’t a life worth living.

It was even more important than having dreams of her own.

But her father’s dream was just so hard to accomplish.

Her progress had slightly improved, with her new motivation to protect her father’s happiness. She could now fly a little bit longer and ignore the burning in her joints a little less.

But it was difficult for her to take any pride in any of her progress; she could ignore the pain in her muscles all she wanted, but she could never ignore her classmates and the shame they made her feel for being so weak, just as her father often made her feel. But her classmates didn’t need her protecting like her father did. They didn’t care about her at all. And yet, they still kept her on their radars, much to her unhappiness.

Hoops and Dumb-Bell were especially relentless a few weeks after the book incident. It was possibly the most humiliating moment of Fluttershy’s young life.

She was attempting to fly through a hoop of cloud in the obstacle course. She had never been able to reach it before, and thought to give it yet another try. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, she drifted upward with her eyes closed tight, only to open them when she realized she wasn’t falling yet. She gasped in surprised delight when she found herself hovering in the hoop, ready to finally fly through.

Oh, her father would be so pleased to hear it! Maybe she’d even be able to bring a smile to his face. She couldn’t even remember the last time he smiled out of joy. Maybe today she’d be able to do it. Make him smile because of her! Maybe—

In her own excitement, she didn’t notice herself losing height and hitting her hoof against the bottom of the hoop, making her stumble and lose her focus.

Down she went, to land on her rump and slide down the slippery, cloudy hill, only to careen into the air on a slope.

She opened her mouth in terror, memories of her last accident fresh in her head, hoping no disaster would once again darken her life...She gasped as she saw something orange in her vision. Oh no. Ohnonononono—!

She collided into the fabric of the orange flag and fell flat on her face, the flag wrapped around her as if trying to imitate a blanket. By the time she wiggled herself out of it, Hoops and Dumb-Bell were already laughing their hooves off, flying down so they could tower over her and make jokes at her expense.

“Nice going, Klutzershy! They oughta ground you permanently!”

Fluttershy hid under her bangs. I don’t think I’d mind that…

“Ha! My baby brother can fly better than you!”

That one stung a little more. His baby brother? Even foals were better flyers than her? Just how bad at this was she, truly? She felt shame build and bubble up in her chest, ready to burst out in tears, when a familiar rainbow blur swooped across the sky, only to land in front of her. Just the sight of her was enough to give her the strength to sit up and eventually stand as her best friend stood up for her, demanding that they leave her alone.

Of course, Hoops and Dumb-Bell did not heed to her demands, and the three of them provoked each other to a race, determined to prove which one of them was the big shot of the skies.

“I’m gonna leave ‘em coughing in my dust,” Rainbow bragged as the two made their way to the start banner, with the two colts not far behind them. “Just you wait ‘n see, Flutters. I’ll show ‘em why they can’t mess with either of us.” When they arrived, Rainbow directed Fluttershy to her own little cloud and handed her a flag.

“Just ‘cause you’re not racing doesn’t mean you can’t take part. You wave the flag when it’s time, okay?”

“Oh, okay,” she nodded. “And Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

She smiled. “Thank you. For saving me...again. I know you’ll win.”

Rainbow grinned back. “‘Course you do! You’re my best friend. So I’ll see ya after I show these dummies what real flyin’ looks like.” She flew off to the flag and Fluttershy readied herself for the race.

She had faith that Rainbow would win. She was the best in class, and nopony worked harder than she did when it came to flying. But she felt a bit nervous for her anyway. She hoped that the two colts would play fair.

But she couldn’t keep them waiting forever, so once they were all ready and in position, she reared on her back legs and waved the flag.

The racers didn’t even hesitate as the flag went down, and Fluttershy had little time to react before the three of them blurred past her. They flew by her with such speed that Fluttershy got caught up in their winds, without the strength to keep herself steady amongst them. She whirled like a tornado before she realized the clouds were no longer beneath her hooves any more.

And nopony even noticed.

It was more terrifying than the first time she had gotten blown off course. There was nopony to save her now. Her father was working and her teacher wasn’t watching them. Her best friend was racing for her honor and her classmates were too absorbed in the excitement of the event to pay attention. And her mother…

Her mother…

She screamed at the top of her lungs as her wings froze shut against her back, refusing to come to her aid. Her limbs tried to compensate for it, flinging themselves in every direction in hopes of finding anything, anything, to hold on to.

She wondered how much it would hurt when she landed, wherever that landing would be. She couldn’t see where she was going, falling with her face towards the sky, watching the clouds shrink further and further away, as if they were mocking and rejecting her. We are not for you. We don’t want you here.

Her back would probably break. Maybe her neck. Or maybe she’d land in those large bodies of water she’d seen in books, making a giant splash before drowning and filling her lungs with water. This was it. There was nothing to do now but scream.

I’m sorry, Papa. I’m sorry Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry…Mama…

Her body rotated and suddenly she saw nothing but green and trees. Oh no. Her first glimpse of the ground would be her last and she was going to die there. Her forelegs whirled faster and her screams grew louder but she doubted anypony would hear her before the end of it. So much green, green green green, green everywhere, the color of doom.

She closed her eyes, ready for the inevitable, praying it wouldn’t hurt too much.

Poomph!

Her eyes shot open. Oh. Wait. It hadn’t hurt at all…“Huh?”

She rolled onto her stomach and found herself floating on something right over the ground. She bent her neck downward to take a closer look and found that it wasn’t something, but a whole bunch of somethings. Somethings that were...extremely beautiful. And familiar.

Butterflies! Wild butterflies! Oh, she had never seen wild butterflies before! She knew they existed, but wild ones never flew as high as the clouds back home naturally. The ones from home had been taken there by ponies. But these…

They had saved her life. And she could feel from the hum of their bodies and the way they flittered above the earth that they didn’t mind her landing on them. In fact, they seemed...relieved.

But why?

She wasn’t sure, but by that point she didn’t care. She looked around her and saw the real ground for the first time, and it was gorgeous. She never realized just how wonderful and vibrant the color green truly was to the naked eye. The trees looked so fluffy and proud, and the flowers were gorgeous.

Feeling the rhythm of the butterflies as they beat their wings, Fluttershy began to copy their movement without realizing it, and soon she was flying on her own.

The trees and flowers were beautiful, but what was even more captivating... were the animals.

Squirrels, birds, bees, bunny rabbits! Oh, they were all so cute and innocent! Their eyes were big and they seemed so happy, running and flying and crawling free far below the surface of the highest clouds. This. This was her dream.

Her dream of seeing the ground had finally come true, and she felt delirious in her happiness. How had she gone so long without doing this, without seeing this? How had her mother stayed away from this from so long? She had seen it too, hadn’t she? Wouldn’t she have loved this just as much, if not more?

She was skipping around and taking it all in before it all changed for her. The ground suddenly shook and Fluttershy stopped in her delight before a huge rainbow-streaked boom spread across the sky, making all the creatures around her scatter and hide in panic. Oddly enough, Fluttershy was the only one who didn’t feel afraid. She was concerned for all the animals, afraid for their well-being. Somepony needed to calm them down and help them feel safe. It was the kind thing to do.

She approached a bush, pushing the leaves apart.

“It’s all right, shhh. Everything is fine now. There’s nothing to fear,” she said to the rabbits and squirrels. The mammals looked up at her in awe, and she was surprised when she found that they understood her. And she understood them back.

“Really?” asked a gray rabbit.

“You’re sure?” prodded a squirrel.

She nodded. “Yes, don’t worry. Everything is okay, I won’t let anything hurt you.”

They hopped and scurried out at her assurance, and Fluttershy, in awe of what was happening, continued to look through all the forestry, even stopping to dip her head in a small pond to assure the frogs of their safety as well. She didn’t even hesitate to spread her wings and fly to the lower clouds to assure the birds that the coast was clear.

It took a while, but they all began to trust and believe the strange new yellow filly in their lives. When she finished coaxing them out, she sat on her belly as if to show that she was no threat to them, and they were more than happy to keep her company as they did.

And Fluttershy knew at that moment that this was what she was waiting for. This is what she wanted to do; this is where she wanted to be, always. The sky was a wonderful place, the place of her hometown, but the ground was a magical, unexplored territory that she was eager to discover, so she could befriend more animals. She finally felt like she could be herself here, without sacrificing her own happiness.

And her flank began to glow, and suddenly, there it appeared. Three pink butterflies, with turquoise bodies—her cutie mark.

She gasped. “Oh my goodness...Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness!” she squealed, pink coloring her cheeks at her excitement.

Butterflies! Her Cutie Mark was butterflies! Of course. Just like...Just like…

“Mama…” she sniffled.

One very pregnant rabbit approached her with a concerned look on her face, patting her on the withers and cocking her head. Fluttershy laughed in appreciation and stroked the rabbit’s back. “My mother had a butterfly cutie mark too, you see. But she’s not here anymore…”

A butterfly that matched her cutie mark flitted to her face and landed on her nose, making Fluttershy blink. “Oh, hello. Thank you for saving me earlier. I’m oh so grateful for it…”

The butterfly gave her kisses with its antenna, and a thought occurred to her. If her cutie mark was like her mother’s, and resembled the very creatures that saved her life...And her mother had saved her life…

What if Mama had sent them for me, in that high place way above the clouds where all the ponies go?

“Do you know my mother....?” she asked, speaking softly. “Did she send you here…?”

The butterfly stroked her face with a wing and kissed her once more, before flying off to join its comrades in flight.

Fluttershy watched them as they went. She was smiling, with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you…” She looked at her new friends, who came close to her for cuddles and kisses and a place to perch on, and she looked as if she were glowing with not only happiness, but a sudden new strength she never knew she had until now.

“Thank you, all of you.”

“Papa! Papa! Papa, I’m home!”

She clacked her hooves against the locked door of her home, her wings flapping against her back in excitement as she waited for her father to come and open the door. It had taken her a while to make it back to Cloudsdale, with numerous breaks on random clouds, but she had done it. She could not only fly better than ever, but she had her cutie mark, and a pretty good idea of what it meant for her.

She felt the bar to the door slide back and the door opened, her father looking down at her. “Fluttershy!” he exclaimed, swinging the door further open to look down at her. “Where have you been? The school told me you were missing, putting everypony into a panic! I’ve been calling everypony asking about you!” He crossed his forelegs and scowled at her. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Her throat constricted and she took a deep breath before telling him exactly what happened—the fall to the ground, the butterflies, and her cutie mark.

“And as they carried me, my wings, they, they just started flapping!” she said with a growing smile. “They flapped, and I was flying. I can fly, Papa!”

To demonstrate, she unfurled her wings and hovered off the ground up to his eye level. “See? A-And I’m not...not exactly fast, and I still need breaks, but… but I can do it more easily now! It’s how I managed to get back here. That’s really good, isn’t it?”

She beamed at him, expecting him to break out in a giant smile and take her in his arms in a whirling, twirling hug, and maybe even finally tell her how proud he was of her, and make him happy. She had been waiting for this moment for as long as she could remember, and she was buzzing with excitement in anticipation for it. Besides the animals she met, it was all she could think about on the way back.

Her wings slowed as they beat the longer she waited, to the point where her hooves were planted back on the ground.

Her father wasn’t smiling. In fact, a shadow took over his entire face, with only his eyes visible behind the darkness.

“So you saw the ground and got your cutie mark.”

“U-Um…” She fought hard not to tremble at his chilling look. “Y-yes…”

“And what do you think it means?”

Oh.

Oh no.

Suddenly, she knew that this wasn’t going to go well. She felt like banging her head against the wall for being so foolish. Of course her father wasn’t going to like what she got her cutie mark for.

She stuttered and fumbled with her hooves as she sat on her rump. “I...W-Well, I...That is, to say...The animals...I…” She looked away. “I can speak with them…”

She could feel his stare without turning her head.

His voice was flat. “You can talk to them.”

“A-And understand them, yes...I...Papa, I…”

“And now you want to go to the ground. Is that it?” He glared down at her. “You want to be grounded for life now, don’t you?”

“D-Daddy, you don’t understand!” Fluttershy said, getting back on her hooves, her eyes pleading for him to listen. “I-I think this is what was supposed to happen. B-Butterflies... they’re fragile. They’re not supposed to be strong enough to catch a pony, even a small one! B-But they were there, right before I hit the ground, like a...a miracle...And Mama always told me that…” Her voice dropped lower. “That she’d take me to the ground…”

Her head dipped to the floor, but there was no reply. She was afraid to look at his face for clues. It seemed like forever until her father finally spoke up.

“So you’re saying…” His voice drew closer. “That your mother sent those butterflies? Is that it?” His tone was so deep that it was a growl. A forceful hoof took Fluttershy by the chin and made her look up at him. “You think this was your dead mother’s plan, to send you to the ground so you could get your hooves dirty taking care of filthy land animals?”

Tears welled in her eyes. His hoof on her chin was pressing into her and it hurt. His voice was cutting into her heart like a knife, and his eyes were chilling to look into. Her heart was racing, but this time was far different from earlier when she received her cutie mark. She couldn’t speak until she was forced to.

“Well?” He grated his teeth in frustration and tilted her head higher, enough to make her neck hurt. “Do you?”

She let in a gasp. “Y-Yes…!”

He shoved her to the ground, making her fall over. Fluttershy’s eyes flew open in surprise. Her father had just hurt her. He wasn’t the nicest of fathers, especially as of late, but this...This was something she never thought he’d do. The tears continued but she didn’t even whimper. She just stared up at him in shock.

But this did not deter him. He towered over her. “Did it ever occur to you, ace…” He said her nickname with venom. “That because of you and your inability to fly, you’re the reason your mother is dead?”

It had at first, but so many ponies had reassured her that this wasn’t true. And after grieving a while, she had begun to believe them. She had no idea that her own father disagreed.

“She sacrificed her life for you so you could live and fly!” he yelled, his eyes burning with fury. “You killed her, and this is how you repay her, repay me? Your father, the one who loved your mother more than anything? After all we did for you, after all I’ve done for you? This is how you thank us? By becoming a pathetic grounder pony and completely abandoning your Pegasus culture? Did you--”

Something seemed to dawn on him as he stared down at her, his anger disappearing for a moment and his mouth making a surprised ‘o’ before he spoke again.

“You’ve been lying to me this whole time, haven’t you?”

Rubbing the tears from her eyes, she stopped to look at him. “W-What?”

“Your flying. You’ve known how to fly this whole time, haven’t you? It was all just an act.”

How many times would her father say things so preposterous that it made her gasp? “What? N-No! Daddy, that’s not true!”

“It IS! It IS true!” He pointed at her accusingly. “You never wanted to fly. You were always so fascinated with that precious little book of yours and the ground, so you just pretended you couldn’t fly in hopes of destroying our dreams together. Isn’t that right? Tell me!” he roared.

She shook her head wildly in protest. “No! D-Daddy, all I’ve ever wanted to do was make you proud of me!” She felt her heart begin to crack as she finally told him how she felt. “I always knew you were disappointed in my flying, and that you wanted me to become just as great as your students. I wanted to make you proud of me and make you happy! I just...I wanted us all to be a happy family, a-and not be so weak…!”

“You liar!” He stomped his hoof. “You always knew to fly! Getting caught by butterflies shouldn’t be enough to suddenly give you the ability to fly!”

“But Mama told me that’s the entire reason she worked as a teacher with you! Because you found out th-that learning about other flying creatures did help!”

He scoffed at that. “Yes, they did! Your mother was amazing, for all she did for my students. But those students had much more than the basics down before learning anything about butterflies and birds and whatever! They didn’t need them to learn how to fly altogether! Which is exactly what you’re saying happened, and I’m not buying it.”

“But it’s true!” she yelled in hopes of knocking some sense into him. “I’m not lying, Daddy! I would never do that to you; I love you Daddy. I just…”

There was no getting through to him. He wasn’t buying it. He did not look at her the way a loving father should at his one and only child. No, he stared at her as if she were nothing. Nothing or nopony important.

“...Get out.”

Her tears stopped and her eyes widened. “H-Huh?”

He turned away from her. “Get. Out. You want to go to the ground and be a grounder pony? Then get out of my house, and out of my face.”

Fluttershy barely had the energy to get off of the floor. “Daddy…?”

“You have five minutes to grab your junk and leave. That’s it.”

Trembling, she somehow got on her hooves. “B-B-But…”

He looked back at her with tears in his eyes and a scowl. “Are you deaf? Go pack your bags and go! You’re not my daughter anymore! Five minutes and you’re gone!”

“You...Y-You’re kicking me o-out?”

He reached forward and grabbed her foreleg, dragging her in an arc and pushing her in a slide to the stairs, making her crash against the first step. “Yes! Out, and out of my life forever! Now go get your junk and out of my house!”

She squealed, her forehead slightly red where she hit the step, and ran upstairs.

She barely had time to cry before she grabbed her saddlepack and started shoving it with her things. A pillow and blanket. A flashlight. A butterfly doll that Rainbow had gotten her for her birthday. Some paper and quill. Her sweatbands.

She left her room and slowly tread down the stairs, shaking with fear that Golden Chariot would hurt her or scream. At the tender age of ten, she learned that her father had changed, and no longer wanted her anymore.

The thought made her want to wail with pain, but she had to keep going before Chariot made himself known again, wherever he was. She carefully went into the kitchen and packed a few fruits and veggies to take with her, her eyes darting around for Chariot, before she finally made her way to the family room.

The urn gleamed as she entered, and fresh tears appeared. “I’m so sorry, Mama…” She sniffed. “I-I didn’t mean —I didn’t mean for...for all this to happen…” Her chest began to heave and she couldn’t help but start wailing again.

The sound of something papery made her stop. She turned and jumped at the sight of Chariot towering over her, with what looked like two ripped pieces of paper in his hooves.
He released the paper, and the two pieces gracefully danced in the air, before gravity won out and sent them to the floor. Fluttershy gaped when she saw what it was he dropped—the family photo of her parents and herself, the first one they ever took together. The memory came easily to her. She had been terrified at the idea of some stranger coming to the house and trying to take a picture of them, but her parents had consoled her, telling her the picture would be a memory and a treasure of the family for years to come. A photo to brag about to their friends about their loving family, especially their beautiful daughter. The entire conversation had ended in a group hug and kisses on both of her cheeks, before the photo was successfully taken.

After it was developed, the picture hung proudly on the wall by the door for all to see. At least, it used to be. Now, the frame was on the couch, empty, and its picture was torn to pieces. Fluttershy could see the perfect rip that separated Fluttershy from her parents in the picture.

Something else slid across the floor, and Fluttershy stopped to see it was a photo album. It wasn’t quite as thick as she remembered it, and she saw that there was a pile of photos on the end table, ones that had belonged in the album. She saw the top photo and it was one of her parents. She suspected that they were all like that, with none of them including her.

Later, she would find out she was right.

“Take it. I don’t want those anymore.”

She shook as she took it and put it in her bag, before she picked up the ripped photo and looked up at her father with large, watering eyes.

His face remained blank. “Your five minutes are up. So get out.”

But neither of them moved as Fluttershy’s eyes drifted down at the photo. She moved it so the ripped pieces joined together, and for a moment, it looked as if they weren’t ripped at all.

She looked at her mother, and then at herself. Her eyes glanced at her cutie mark.

She was her mother’s daughter. Her father may have abandoned her, but she knew in her heart what she believed was true. Her mother had been a part of this. Her mother would have supported her had this happened had she not died. She had not saved her once, but twice, and now it was her turn to save her mother.

“I—I am a useless pony, Dad…”

She flexed out her wings.

“But my Mama loved me anyway, e-enough to save me twice…”

She approached the urn before her father realized what was happening.

“And I’m going to do the same for her!”

Her father leapt across the room to catch her, but in a burst of speed that would inevitably make her back ache later, she zipped past him and into the hallway before kicking the door open.

“No! No, don’t you dare….!” He jumped up at the doorway and flexed his wings, and chased her. “Come back here, Fluttershy! I’m warning you!”

But what else could he do? He wasn’t her father anymore. She was only her mother’s now. But that didn’t make her any less terrified. “Hold on, Mama…!”

Ponies from below watched the scene, and some recognized the object Fluttershy held as she passed.

Her wings began to burn as she rushed forward. Her father was catching up, and she had no idea how she managed to keep out of his grasp for so long, but hoped it lasted long enough.

Only a few seconds passed before she felt a breeze, one strong enough for her task. Looking back, she realized she only had a few seconds before Golden Chariot would catch her. She hovered in the air and wasted no more time.

“I’m sorry this took me so long. Thank you for everything, Mama. You kept your promise even when you didn’t have to, and showed me the beautiful ground…” she murmured to the urn, stroking it with love as a tear splashed against its surface.

She opened the lid as she heard Chariot scream, “No! No, please, no! Whisper! Not my Whisper!”

Fluttershy tilted the urn into the wind. “I love you!” she yelled as she watched her mother’s ashes fly into the heavens.

The wind stroked Fluttershy’s face, distracting her from Chariot’s screaming.

And she swore she heard it whisper in her ear.

I love you too…

And it was those winds that carried her home to the ground, where her animals were waiting for her.

Author's Notes:

I know this was SOOOOO long. This chapter could have been a oneshot all on its own. I didn't plan for it that way. But I had such a detailed past for Fluttershy and I really wanted to share it with you and make it a part of the story.

Thank you as always for your incredible patience. An author couldn't ask for better readers.

I'm so glad this is finished. It was such a hurdle. This here guys, was a labor of love. Truly. And lemme tell ya, it still baffles me that this chapter is the longest so far, since it's all backstory. I didn't plan it that way, as I said. I hope you all didn't mind.

For some reason, I feel like Discord's backstory won't be quite as long. But don't worry, it won't be too short either. Since when do I ever write short things? *sighs*

Thanks for sticking with me, and as always, comments and constructive criticism are appreciated forever.

Shout out to Kittyglimmercat01, GarfieldthePony, and BestTitanosaurus for helping me earlier in the process with finding the names of the two bullies, Hoops and Dumb-Bell. You really helped me out.

Intermission

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My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Magic

Chapter 10: Intermission

By the end of her story, Fluttershy’s eyes were dry. Granted, they were still a bit red and puffy from her earlier tears, but that quickly passed once she had moved on to describe what happened after losing her mother.

She hadn’t shed a tear for her father.

With wide eyes, Discord stared at her.

He was astounded.

Before Discord had broken out of his stone prison the first time, he had already known quite a few things about the Elements of Harmony. Being stone hadn’t affected his hearing, and while Celestia and Luna were always careful with their words whenever they visited the garden, the tourists weren’t so discreet. When he had finally gained his freedom back, he had already known that the Elements had chosen new ponies to represent them and were no longer connected to the Royal Sisters.

But he hadn’t had much time to find out more about them. He’d known that his enemies would find out about about his release, and had been quick to act. Luckily for him, it hadn’t been a challenge. Records on the new wielders of the Elements were easily found in the castle, and the security there had been laughable at best. By the time he had broken Celestia’s pathetic little spell that had kept the Elements locked and hidden away, he had already memorized each pony’s profile, with a plan on how to turn each of them against themselves. He’d thought it was going to be easy.

He’d believed that Fluttershy was going to be especially easy. He remembered how he had scoffed at her folder in the Royal Archives. Her picture alone had been enough to show just how easily shy she was, with her head bowed toward the ground and the smallest of smiles. The Element of Kindness. The Element that Discord had once believed to be the most pathetic of them all. He had laughed then. The weakest pony for the weakest Element. Hilarious.

And then she had fooled him, had made him cheat at his own game. He’d been so furious in that moment. Furious, and utterly confused. He hadn’t had a single clue as to how a shy little nopony like her had gotten the best of him. Nopony other than the Royal Princesses had ever done that to him. It would’ve been one thing, had Applejack or Twilight Sparkle had been able to resist him the first time. But Fluttershy? That had made his anger even worse.

But now, as he sat on Fluttershy’s couch, with his tail still twisted around hers, he realized just how wrong he’d been. Of course, he’d known for a while since befriending her that he’d been wrong to some degree. He just hadn’t known exactly how wrong he was.

He did now.

“Um, Discord? I appreciate you holding my hand, but do you think you could hold it a little more gently? Please?”

“Hmm?” Out of his thoughts now, he looked down to see that he was clutching Fluttershy’s hand. He hadn’t even noticed that he had taken her small, cold-blooded frog hand into his big, fuzzy lion paw. He was squeezing it so hard that he could feel his fingers starting to go numb. How long had that been going on?

“Oh. I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn’t mean to. Well.” He scratched the back of his head. “I suppose I did, but I didn’t notice it.”

An odd look appeared on her face for a mere second before she shook her head once and smiled. “It’s okay. I understand. But you looked to be so deep in thought. What were you thinking about? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He stopped scratching his head, resting his hand back on his lap, and smiled. “Oh, I suppose I was just processing everything you told me, you know. It was quite a long story.”

She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I know I probably didn’t need to—”

He waved his hand at her. “No, no, that’s not what I meant by it, don’t waste an apology on that. Goodness, Fluttershy, don’t you ever reflect on a story after hearing it?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Especially that of my bestest buddy’s?”

She giggled. “Oh, of course. How silly of me. I should have known.”

“That you should have! Now, if you don’t mind…” He crossed his leg and steepled his fingers together. “I’d like to ask you a few things.”

She nodded towards him. “Go ahead.”

“What did you do after you came down here? Did you know somepony that would take you in? An estranged aunt that broke away from your father’s crazy family, perhaps?”

His eyes were drawn back to her face as she smiled widely. “No, actually. I stayed with the animals. I told them what happened as soon as I came back, and they offered to take care of me.”

Discord wrinkled his brows together. “But isn’t your talent taking care of animals? That’s what got you your cutie mark. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

She shook her head. “We took care of each other, Discord. I did things for them, and they did things for me. I helped calm them when they were afraid, or helped babysit their young, and they helped me start a new life here. It’s thanks to them that I have this cottage.”

“... Wait, what?!”

His face made her laugh again. “It’s true! I was only ten at the time, and I needed a place to live. For the first few years I lived with Harry’s mother, Sherry, in a bear cave…”

“What?”

“... and she and all the other animals and I would forage and find food together. I got water from a water fountain by the park in Ponyville. I was so glad that I had thought to bring a water bottle from home…”

“You lived with a bear!? In a cave!?”

“The hardest times were during the winter, but luckily, I had Sherry for warmth, and by my first winter on the ground, the Rainbow family had found me and had made sure I was taken care of.”

“You mean they found you and they let you live near the forest like an exotic animal-taming native? Please tell me you wore a loin cloth and swung from tree branches. That would just make my day.”

She snorted, imagining herself as some sort of Amarezon warrior riding on the back of a ferocious bugbear to save animals from a devious hunter. Being a Draconequus had certainly given her a more active imagination.

“I was nothing like that, but yes, the Rainbows did find me. Oh, I felt so bad for making them worry about me for so long! Ponyville wasn’t far from Cloudsdale, and it had been one of the first places they had gone looking for me. They hadn’t thought to look near the forest until a few months later. They knew I loved animals, but they didn’t think I’d ever actually want to live with them until Rainbow Dash thought of it.”

She giggled as she remembered something. “When they found me, I was putting flower crowns on all the animals. Rainbow Dash pounced on me the moment she found me, hugging me so hard I could barely breathe.”

Discord raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “And they were totally fine with you living in the wild? Because if so, I just have to meet Dashie’s parents.”

Fluttershy leaned against Discord, making sure to keep her antenna from poking him in the eye. “They weren’t at first, but once they saw how I was with the animals and how much I didn’t want to go back home with them, or live in town...They gave in.”

Discord decided to answer his own question for her. “Because you just love your little creatures so much.”

“That, and I was still so shy. The town ponies knew about me, but I did my best to avoid their attention. They didn’t go near the bear cave, so whenever I saw a pony come near, I ran there to hide. I didn’t...really trust anypony, besides the Rainbows.”

Discord felt his heart sink a little at her quiet voice. He had no idea what it was like to lose a loved one.

But he did understand what it was like to be alone and distrust ponies. He understood it all too well.

“But the Rainbows did make me introduce myself to the local mailpony so she could deliver packages to me every week. Dashie’s parents knew they couldn’t get me to go back with them, but they wanted to make sure I’d be okay on my own. So they started a bank account in Ponyville, which paid for groceries and supplies that were sent to me from town. The mailpony was a brave pony, and agreed to come to the cave after I showed her how nice Sherry was. It helped me get through the winter.”

She took a little weight off of him to meet his eyes. “And after a few years, and risking a few visits to the local library to look at house plan books...The animals and I built this cottage.”

After everything Discord had heard, he was no longer surprised. He smirked and rolled his eyes. “Oh, I can only imagine. Now, let me guess.” He cocked his head at her, his face smug. “The beavers helped you with the woodwork and made you some of the furniture, and the birds helped you gather moss and greenery to cover the roof?”

Fluttershy gasped. “How did you…?”

“An easy guess, my dear. You said yourself that you didn’t trust anypony in town, and that the animals helped you as you helped them. But each animal has their own special abilities, just as you and I do. And anypony who’s anypony knows that beavers are good with tree bark. And it’s not like a bunny would be able to help you cover a roof. You’d need a flying animal for that. I’m very good at guessing games, Fluttershy. Don’t you know?”

Except for when it comes to you. I once tried to guess what kind of pony you were, Fluttershy, and oh, what a horrible guess it was.

She nodded. “That’s true. But all the animals did their part. It took a while, but by the time I was sixteen, this was built.”

“It took you that long?” he asked sarcastically. “My my, Fluttershy. You moved out at ten years old, and yet you didn’t find a house for yourself until six years later? Yeesh. How lazy.”

She swatted a hand at his shoulder and he barked out in laughter, putting his hands up as if asking for mercy. “I kid, I kid! But seriously, Fluttershy, I’m impressed. How did you get all your quaint little furniture and whatnot?”

“The Rainbows.” She smiled. “They gave me the money, and to this day, they refuse to let me pay them back. They pretty much became a second family to me, and I… I think that’s what they wanted to be. Blaze cut off all ties with my father after he learned what happened to me. Though…” She put a finger to her lip in thought. “I suppose I shouldn’t call Golden Chariot my father anymore. I don’t have it with me, but in my file at Town Hall, you can see the form that declares me as an independent.”

Discord stiffened. That didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?”

Her smile disappeared, but once again, her eyes shed no tears. “He had meant what he said, Discord. Legally, I’m not his daughter anymore. He kept track of the time and disowned me when I turned eighteen.”

Fluttershy noticed that Discord’s tail was suddenly very tight against hers, twisting them more closely together. He growled as he spoke.

“...Did he, now?”

She knew it wasn’t a real question, but she could tell how angry he was. His hands curled into fists as he stared ahead without looking at anything, his eyes harder than they were before. She heard a slight growl rumble from his throat.

He was angry at her father for what he did to her, all those years ago. Discord, a creature that thrived on things such as broken relationships, was angry at Golden Chariot for destroying the bond he had once shared with his daughter.

Fluttershy felt a fierce wave of tenderness crash into her, and it nearly made her cry. She felt a sudden urge to hug him and kiss him all over his stupid face.

She blushed at the thought. Oh my goodness, what am I thinking? I couldn’t! That’s not me! It must… it must be my magic, toying with my emotions. It can do that, right?

She didn’t dare ask. Instead, she interrupted him by laying a hand on his shoulder, though her face was still burning. She tried ignoring it.

“I-It’s okay.”

He looked at her. “And just how, exactly, is it okay, Fluttershy? You don’t seem upset by what your father did at all. And frankly, it’s confusing in a way I don’t understand.”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean what do I mean?! Fluttershy, your father abandoned you!” he said, throwing his arms out towards her. “You miss your mother to the point of tears, and yet when it comes to Golden Idiot, you barely blink! Why miss one part of your family, but not the other? Isn’t family as sacred as friendship to you ponies?”

She opened her mouth to speak but he stopped her. “Yes, yes, you’re not a pony, blah blah blah, I know that! And it’s not as if I want to see you cry over your father, because he doesn’t deserve your tears.” He gazed at her sharply. “He certainly never deserved you.”

The way he said it made her feel so inexplicably warm that she didn’t know what to say, so she let him continue.

She watched as he broke his gaze on her. His anger disappeared as his ears flopped down and sagged downward, resting his elbows on his legs and covering his face with his hands.

“But I just don’t understand,” he whispered.

Fluttershy didn’t know what to say until she put her arm around him in comfort. The words left her mouth before she could stop them. “Discord…”

He didn’t move, but his eyes looked up to her face.

“Do you have a family?”

He smiled slightly. “See, I knew you’d ask me that.” He straightened back up, hoping that doing so would get Fluttershy to stop looking at him so pitifully. “Which reminds me. It’s my turn, isn’t it?”

“Is that okay?” she asked.

“We made a deal, didn’t we? And, well…” He took a deep breath. “I’ve never really talked about it in detail before. I’m a bit curious as to how much I’ll remember. But it’s not exactly a feel-good story for the entire family to enjoy, so be prepared.”

She took his paw back in both of her hands, leaning against him again. “That doesn’t matter. I just want to know you better.”

He cleared his throat. “Right. Well. First, let me ask you: do you remember what Pinkie asked me a few days ago, when she and the others found out about your transformation?”

She nodded. “She asked you about your birthday, but you wouldn’t answer. And I realized that I had never asked you about it, either.” She squeezed his paw. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Pffft,” he scoffed. “Even if you had, I would have tried avoiding the question as I had with Pinkie. Because answering that question would only lead to more questions, and then I’d have to talk about my past anyway. Which is why I’m only going to tell you this once, so listen closely. It’s not something I enjoy talking about. But I will.”

He made a point of looking at her again. “For you.”

She blushed, then let go of his paw and instead took his entire arm and hugged it slightly. She noticed that he didn’t try to pull it away, and it made her happy.

He raised his other arm, and she saw his hand start to glow.

“But if I’m telling a story, then we’re going to do it my way.”

He pointed his pointer finger towards the table. His magic drifted towards the table like purple smoke, with tendrils dancing in the air that slowly began to shape into something. The smoke stretched and molded itself until it looked like something familiar, but tinier. Younger. It had no beard as his current self did, and its horns were stubs, but it was obvious who it was.

Discord spoke. “That, my dear, is me. I believe I was about six. Maybe seven.”

“You mean you don’t know?” Fluttershy asked.

“No. I don’t. No one does. The thing is, Fluttershy…”

She slowly looked away from the vision and up at him, seeing the tiny Discord apparition reflected in his eyes. He didn’t return the look; he was too focused on the past that played out right in front of them.

“I don’t have a birthday.”

Author's Notes:

Wow. I never thought I'd see the day where it actually takes me less than two months to update.

...But that's only because this chapter was so tiny for me.

So hey, at least we know that tiny chapters don't take me too long, amIright? Eh? Eh?!?

Not crazy about the chapter title. It makes me think I'm writing a play or a play-based story or something. But I couldn't think of anything better. I know chapter titles aren't usually a big deal, but I enjoy making them. So it sucks I couldn't come up with anything I really liked.

I know I still have to reply to reviews from last chapter, I'm sorry, I will get to them!!!

As always, constructive criticism and reviews are always welcomed and appreciated. Up Next: Discord's past...

(Luckily there's nothing canon about that...yet. XD)

Discord, Part 1 of 2: What's in a Name

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I have no birthday.

At least, I don’t believe I do. The question of how I came into existence is quite the brainteaser. Nopony or otherwise has ever been able to solve the mystery.

What I do know is that I started out small. I was a kid, just like everypony else was. I know because I remember gradually growing into my own consciousness.

But was I born like any other creature is, with parents? With a family?

No. I don’t think I was.

I’ve never seen another one like me. Not until now, of course. As far as anypony knows, I was the first.

And for the longest time, I’ve been the only one.

And that’s only one of the questions I’ve yet to answer. For if I had no parents, then how did I get here? There are multiple theories on my so-called ‘origins’. I’m sure Twilight Falafel has read of most of them, if not all. And guess what? They were all written by ponies.

What a surprise.

Some say I came from another universe—according to them, when a Mommy Draconequus and a Daddy Draconequus love each other very much, they enjoy booting their offspring off into other worlds so they can become someone else’s problem.

Others say I was borne by a mare, one that was unfaithful to her husband and, as a consequence, paid for her sin through me. And, just like in the aforementioned theory, threw me away for the timberwolves to munch on.

I could list a dozen or two more, but it doesn’t matter, because I think they’re all wrong. Something tells me that I never had parents, never had any family. I really am the only one there ever was.

I was a non-spontaneous event that came into existence out of nothing. Nothing but magic.

And what does magic do? The answer is easy: it does magical things. And what’s more magical than making a handsome being such as myself come out of nowhere? And from that magic, came my own magic. In that way, I was like any average unicorn foal. I came into being with magic in tow, and I couldn’t control it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Ah, no, you need more context before I get into the real nitty-gritty. Oh, you’re in for a real ride, I tell you.

Notice earlier that I referred to myself as a non-spontaneous event. It’s certainly not a phrase most expect to hear from me, of all creatures. But it’s what I believe to be true; the truth about why I’m here, and why I’m the only creature with chaos magic. The theorists do too, and they’d be idiots to disagree. And that truth is this: I am very, very, very old, and while nopony, including myself, knows for sure exactly how old I am, historians and myself believe that I was born shortly after the events of the first Hearth’s Warming.

The story the ponies tell of Hearth’s Warming is simple and short in context. ‘Once upon a time, Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns were divided into tribes that hated each other and refused to cooperate, inspiring an eternal winter caused by those pesky little Windigos. But luckily, before everypony turned to ice cubes, three royal supervisors realized that they didn’t actually want to strangle each other to death, because death was unpleasant, and that conveniently inspired a random spell that melted all the snow, calling it the “Fire of Friendship”. Because apparently, giving cheesy names to random spells that save the world is something ponies are rather fond of doing. The end.’

Anywho, while I can’t say just how accurate the story is, it’s definitely a sugary version of it, because it seems to imply that after that horrible winter melted away, thanks to the mere cooperation of three royal advisors, that all the pony tribes got along just great, and in turn made everything hunky-dory between them.

I can tell you from experience that this isn’t true.

I was young once. I experienced Equestria when it was just barely older than I was. I saw the ponies. I saw how they acted.

Ponies back then were much different from the ponies of today.

Think about it. The three tribes had lived for years as separate societies, teaching their young that their tribe was the best pony there was. Earth Ponies thought they were the strongest due to their ability to survive without wings or raw magic. Pegasi saw themselves as literal angels on earth, dominating the sky with the power of manipulating the weather. Unicorns believed they were the top dogs, blessed with special magic that only they could directly manipulate, making them superior over all.

They had common goals but didn’t know how to work together. And most ponies would argue that this changed as soon as winter ended. But here’s the problem with that buffoonery: Equestria did not have a population of six ponies. Puddinghead and Thunderclap and Lady Gaga or whatever their names were, along with their advisors, were not the only ones to inhabit the land. They had thousands and thousands of ponies with them. And just because six of them knew how to get along, did not mean that the rest magically learned to do so as well.

Just like those royal brats and their corny advisors had, they all needed a common goal. They need a problem to solve, a problem that would force them to come together and use their individual strengths to make up for their weaknesses. They needed problems to solve that didn’t come from other ponies.

And that’s when I came into the picture.

Because you can’t have chaos without harmony, nor harmony without chaos.

You’re welcome.

As far as I can remember, I have always been a roamer. I never stayed in one place. I had no one to guide me, and no one to tell me where to go or what to do.

I didn’t even have a name.

My mind was as blank a slate as they got. I remember looking all around, at the trees and the grass and nature and whatnot, and while I didn’t have the language to think about it all, I remember the feeling.

Everything seemed so big then. I started out as such a tiny little thing. I had forelocks that hung just above my eyes, with tiny stubs for horns. My proportions weren’t nearly as mind-boggling as they are now. I also walked on four legs rather than two. I didn’t have as long a spine back then, so my back didn’t hurt walking that way.

I enjoyed chasing bugs and rolling in the grass. I liked climbing trees like a gecko and peeking out of the canopy of the forest, gazing at the sky, especially at night. I liked rubbing myself against flowers, because they smelled so good. Swimming. I really loved to swim. Even back then, I loved to bother other creatures I ran into. They tended not to stick around when I found water. I gave them quite a soak whenever I did. Have you ever splashed birds as they pecked in the grass? Their angry faces are hilarious.

I must have gained self-awareness slowly over the summer, because that’s when my memories begin. And I was fine in the beginning. There was plenty to eat and drink, and I enjoyed myself in my own ignorance. I felt free.

But I had no idea that I had magic until winter came.

The happiest times of my childhood were over by then. It didn’t last very long.

Not nearly long enough.

For someone who enjoys change as much as I do, I didn’t understand it when I was shiny and new. The air changed, and I didn’t know why. It felt different. It made my teeth chatter and my skin sting until it was so numb that I couldn’t feel it anymore. Later, I would learn the term for this was cold.

The land was bare and I couldn’t find anything living. There were no huffy little angry birds for me to bother, no bugs to chase, and no squirrels to steal nuts from. Old nests and beehives became husks of the past, with no eggs or honey for me to pilfer for.

But what scared me most of all, oddly enough, were the trees. They actually scared me. Can you imagine? Me, afraid of wood without cover. It confused me. I liked how the leaves had changed color, because it was beautiful to me. But when they all fell off and began to disintegrate, I grew afraid. All I had known were trees with leaves, and grass that covered every inch of the ground. And it was all leaving me.

Yeah. For even me, my first taste of true change was scary. But this was yet another thing I realized years later, after gaining the gift of language. Those changes had scared me because I had thought the world was coming to an end.

I thought death was coming for me, and I didn’t even realize it.

Snow eventually came down. At first it delighted me. It was soft and it wasn’t rain nor thunder, but something I could mold into whatever I wished. I drank it, I licked the icicles. I remember one day, I even made the classic mistake of getting my little tongue stuck on an icicle. I remember laughing at myself while trying to tug it away.

I don’t recommend laughing when getting your tongue stuck to an icicle. It’s rather painful.

But my joy with it quickly passed when I began to starve.

I remember nights where I had grown so hungry and cold that I had trouble sleeping. I did what I could to keep myself warm, but the stinging cold tends to be unrelenting.

All I could do to survive was forage and keep on walking. I don’t know how long I walked, or what direction I went. Was Equestria just much smaller then, and I eventually came upon it? Or did I just manage to avoid ponies until the day I found them?

I don’t know. But I really don’t care either.

But I do remember when it happened. The day was gray, the ground soggy with slush from a big snowstorm that had occurred the day before. I remember how hard it was to walk that day, because every time I took a step I seemed to sink into it, only to tug my paw out of the ground with a wet popping sound. Once again, it seems like something I should have enjoyed, but when one’s ribs are beginning to show as your stomach roars with hunger, finding food is the only thing that seems to matter.

Now I know what you’re thinking. But Discord, can’t you eat things that aren’t really food? Like glass and paper?

The answer is yes. But I can only do that with my magic. And as I’ve said, I didn’t even know it existed yet. But more on that later.

The sun began to sink back towards the skyline and already I was shivering. The fact that I was so short and surrounded in frozen hard snow didn’t help either. But I wanted to make more ground. I was exhausted, but determined to keep going, because the more I traveled, the more likely I was to find something new--something that would hopefully help me in such a predicament.

And, as always, I was right. The first change I noticed was when I checked the sky again, trying to gauge just how much time had passed. As much as I wanted to keep going, I was feeling weak and I needed to find somewhere dry (or drier, at least) to rest before it got too dark. The sky was a deep purple and the stars began to appear. But as I looked at the stars, I realized that their light wasn’t as twinkly as they usually were. I checked the moon, and it was full, so it wasn’t as if a lack of moonlight was making them look brighter.

I lowered my head and at first, I thought I had seen a star on the ground. I reached for it, only to find I couldn’t grab it. I then realized that it wasn’t just some tiny thing sitting on the surface of the ground. It was something far, far away. Something that glowed. Something that wasn’t natural.

Once again I grew frightened, but can you blame me? I’d never seen pony-made light before. I was only used to the world as it naturally was. However, my nose, as sharp and as sensitive as noses come, started picking up the slightest traces of scents. Scents that my roaring stomach seemed to appreciate, for my hunger pangs grew even more painful to the point where I couldn’t move for a moment. But once they died down, something in me began to move as fast as I could, despite the mucky ground and my weak little stringy body.

As I got closer, I could see objects rising towards the sky. They weren’t rocks, and they weren’t trees, but they were made of wood and straw, things I was familiar with. And the light, oh the light! It was like starlight, but it wasn’t at the same time. It was yellow, and warm, and dare I say, even a bit comforting. It was a light that was easy on the eyes, a light that beckoned me and told me to come, come towards the warmth, come and find the source of the delicious smells, come and take the world in, for I knew less of the world than I was even aware of.

But that soon changed as I came closer and caught movemery ahead. I stopped in my tracks. I’m not sure to this day exactly what it was I was expecting. Of course I suspected something lived there, but my hunger had kept me in a ravenous fog. I hadn’t even stopped to wonder what might have lived there.

Their mouths were stretched upward in expressions I wasn’t familiar with, their eyes reflecting the warm light. Their furry bodies came in a plethora of colors of all different hues, with hair that swayed from their heads and their hinds as they trotted across cobblestones. But the oddest thing of all was the pictures. Many of them had pictures on their sides, on both of their sides! Pictures of things I had seen, like clouds and plants and animals, and things I had yet to discover, like playing cards and bouncing balls and slices of strawberry shortcake. All the bigger ones had one, while only some of the smaller ones did.

A shadow passed over me and I looked up, and noticed a black dot far above me against the moon until it landed in town on the cobblestones. Then I noticed a few more, and they looked just like all the others in the little town, only they had wings. Fascinated by this, I looked more closely at the creatures, ducking behind a building as I drew closer. Horns. Some of the four-legged things had horns! I remember my claw reaching for one of my own as I stared at them.

One in peculiar had caught my eye, one that had some sort of sack strapped about him, with a baggy looking cloth material stuffed over his head. “Extra extra, read all about it!” it had yelled.

And that pony’s horn began to glow, and I gasped as a newspaper floated out of the bag. I had never seen magic before, and I had been so baffled by it that I fell over. But I scrambled back on my four legs, just so I could watch the thing ignite his horn with magic again.

Had I known the word to describe it at the time, I think I would have called it beautiful.

“Extra extra, read all about it! Starswirl sets out to look for Alicorns to look over the new Equestria! Read all about it, only one bit each!”

I had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but I was enthralled by it. So many sounds, made with so many shapes of his mouth! His voice young and youthful and full of vigor, so loud that it seemed to rip through the very air itself! And then I realized that all the ponies had been making those sounds. And they all sounded so very different from one another. No two voices sounded the same, even if their coats or their manes or their eyes were the same color! It was like music, like song, like nothing I had ever heard before.

The other ponies seemed enthralled by his voice as well. Especially when he said that one particular word, Alicorns.

Yep. The Princesses didn’t even have to be around yet to cause a fuss.

“Excuse me, did you say Alicorns?” an older stallion asked.

A mare beside him, her hair in a tight bonnet, looked just as baffled. “And that Starswirl was looking for them?”

“Sure did!” the newspaper pony said, his voice still as loud as ever, flicking his eyes around to catch the eyes of his fellow pony . “Starswirl’s lookin’ for ‘em as we speak!” Ponies of all types started to gather the more he spoke. “Says that they’d be best to lead Equestria, seein’ that they represent Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns.”

A nearby Unicorn pushed his eyebrows together. “I say, I disagree with that. Isn’t it obvious that that Alicorns should lead us because they’re powerful magic wielders? A leader can’t protect us without magic, of course. Why do you think there are so many of us Unicorns in the guard?”

A Pegasus mare blew a raspberry at him. “What? You’re kidding! Alicorns have wings that are at least three times more powerful than a Pegasus’, making them swifter and stronger than anypony else! It’s their wings that make them the best, not magic!”

The older stallion who had first spoken with the newspaper pony cleared his throat. “Need I remind you all that we Earth Ponies get along just fine without wings or horns? An Alicorn with tied wings and a broken horn would still be more powerful than any Unicorn and Pegusus combined. It’s their relationship with the magic of the land and their natural brute strength that makes them the best to lead, and nothing more!”

The argument just picked up from there, with more ponies joining in on the debate.

“Have you SEEN their wings? They’re supposed to be huge! They’d be able to respond to an emergency from miles away by flying there in five seconds flat!”

“Which isn’t even necessary if they can teleport, and besides, flying itself can’t solve a problem! But there’s a magic spell for everything!”

“If there’s some fancy spell for everythin’, then how come you still need us Earth Ponies to tend to the soil for food? Magic is nothin' without hard work!”

“Liar!”

“Why I oughta--”

“How dare you insult the sky’s chosen ones?!?”

“I oughta knock you ten ways to--”

“Don’t make me conjure up a spell on--”

“Don’t tempt me to bring out a stormcloud--”

And on and on and on they went, until all of the crowd was fighting and arguing. Well, all except for the newspony. He just stood there, tentatively waving his newspaper. “Um, extra extra?”

Pretty soon, it seemed like every one of the creatures in town had joined in on the argument.

Now, logic would say that it would have made the most sense for me to sneak past the crowd and go towards the abandoned carts that had been laden with food. The fight was certainly proving to distract ponies enough on its own, and I could have easily crawled away without catching any wandering eyes.

But I was struck by the utter excitement of the events unraveling before me. They yelled over one another until their faces were red with exertion, the veins in their eyes popping. They stomped on the ground, some of them throwing down a hat or cane or whatever else they had to highlight whatever point it was they tried to make. Pegasi are better! No, no, no, it’s the Unicorns, the Unicorns! No, it’s the Earth Ponies that do it best!

Ponies started getting into fights, with Pegasi getting their wings tugged at and Earth Ponies stung with mild offensive spells. Unicorns battled against canes like swords while other ponies got a-rumblin’ and a-tumblin’, rolling over the ground as they tried beating each other up. The newspony shook in his horseshoes as he watched the calamity unfold.

The beautiful, exciting, amusing drama of it all!

A chuckle left my throat. It was my first laugh in months. “Heh…”

Another pony showered his adversary in spit as he screamed at him, and I began to laugh even more. “Hah! Hahaha!”

Things got more and more intense and before I knew it, I was bowled over in laughter, clutching my hungry stomach. Tears ran down my eyes. Though I still desperately needed food, feelings of amusement and joy coursed through my blood and I welcomed it like an old friend. I felt excited, perhaps even thrilled. I felt alive.

But I have always had a tendency to bark in laughter when amused, and I hadn’t made any effort to keep quiet about it. The ponies soon took notice of it and paused in their fighting. After all, who would dare laugh in such a serious situation? And seeing as to how I was laughing so hard that my throat was hurting, it didn’t take them long to find little old me.

Well… That, and the fact that I began to glow. I didn’t even notice it at first. I was too busy hugging my legs to my chest and giggling.

And then the newspapers began to glow as well.

“Huh…?” The newspony cautiously poked at his supply.

I stopped my laughing as soon as I noticed the echoes of my own voice, alone and unaccompanied. Realizing that I had made a mistake, I slowly opened one of my eyes.

The ponies gasped as they stared at my one red iris, surrounded in a pool of yellow sclera. Because that color combination is most definitely the most evil of them all, am I right?

Pffft.

Either way, they seemed to think I was something to fear.

“What is that thing…?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Is it a dragon?!?”

“But dragons don’t normally look like…whatever this thing is! And it’s glowing!”

“Um, guys?” It was the newspaper pony.

“It could still be a new breed!”

“Um, guys, is paper supposed to fold itself?” Nopony really liked paying attention to that poor newspaper fellow.

“But even if it is a new breed, a new breed of what?”

Suddenly, the newspaper pony screamed and broke through the crowd. “GANGWAY! WATCH OUT!” he cried as a giant newspaper rocket flew behind him, magical fire bursting from its paper-made turbo engine.

My eyes grew as I looked down on the rocket, thinking it completely beautiful. The screams of the ponies were also quite amusing as they scattered from the booming, zooming paper-made space missile. What had made THAT happen? One of the horned ones, perhaps? Could they make more?

Because that’s what I wanted: more of the planes. More of those silly, random, fantastic little planes causing all the little hoofed things to trollop about, screaming as they wondered what in the world was going on.

And then the most curious thing happened. I had gotten taller. At least, that’s what I had believed before I finally realized I was floating and that something… some vast, mysterious, but exciting something, was radiating from my body and causing me to float. The magic itself was radiating from my floating sphere and landing right on the scatter of newspapers the pony had left behind.

I watched in awe as the paper began to fold itself. More rockets were folded and thrown into the air, but it wasn’t just rockets, oh no, not just those! There were paper airplanes with air missiles, hot air balloons, fat blimps! There was even a flying paper mache motorcycle. And they all began chasing the ponies.

And bumping into things.

And making those things explode.

Sometimes it exploded into confetti. Other times, it just went into flames. They caused damage everywhere, hitting buildings and causing them to crumble upon impact. To make matters more interesting, the magic used the new available materials to add to the paper machinery, making them bigger and badder than ever before. The rocket had wooden wings after crashing into a bench. The motorcycle used wheels off of a broken cart to make it careen around the ground in style, burning smoke as it made its tracks.

I was astounded and unable to look away.

Beautiful. So beautiful…

Soon I noticed that the planes and other origami objects began moving as one towards a particularly eye-catching building. Its walls were made of what looked like polished marble, with lovely columns all around. But the magical paper objects had made that all go away as they plummeted into walls and made the glorious architectural work of art go boom-boom.

Most ponies screamed, saying things like “nooooo!” and “not the courthouse!”, until the house fell apart and crashed to the ground, along with all the papercraft, now too tattered and torn to go on destroying things. They shoved their hooves into their ears as the crash made the ground rumble.

I began to laugh again. The sound was pure music to me, pure mad and utter music. I clapped my paw and claw together in my amusement as I chewed on a small square of poundcake, sending bits of food to the ground as I laughed with my mouth wide open.

I clapped again, and the second my palms touched, a concentric ring of magic radiated from my hands. I shook as it seemed to pull and break itself away from my tiny little serpentine body. The surge of power from my clap grew larger and it shook the entire town, making the pavement crack and fill itself with thorny weeds and spikes. It shook buildings and made a few smaller homes fall and crash to the ground, making more ponies shriek as they recognized their own houses crumbling and being destroyed.

Once the magic had dissipated from my palm, the electric, joyous feelings that had been flowing through my body seemed to wink out, and I fell to the ground, no longer able to fly. My chest slapped against the broken pavement. I heard a rib crack as it did so. I screamed in pain.

The fun was definitely over.

I didn’t have the words to think it, but I knew instinctively what had happened. My body glowing and floating out of nowhere. The paper planes and motorcycles and blimps come to life. The explosions. The magical quake.

It had been me.

That power, that magic…It was me.

And I wasn’t the only one that recognized this. I straightened my neck and desperately tried to move, but my cracked rib protested my movement. I cried out, tears gathering in my eyes. I held my side before I looked up and saw them.

The eyes of the ponies flashed as they glared at me. Their gazes seemed to pierce through my body and send chills down my spine. They were not happy.

Nope. Not happy at all.

“It was that thing…”

“It’s no thing, it’s a demon!”

“Look what it did to our town! Our beautiful town!”

A foal cried into his mother’s chest, and I felt a very keen sense of dread in my stomach.

Ponies turned to each other, Pegasi and Earth Ponies and Unicorns alike. Something seemed to pass between them, an understanding of some sort. They now had a common enemy, something to fight besides themselves.

I gulped and tried to crawl away as quietly as possible. I did my best not to pay attention to the ponies that began picking up wooden planks, bricks, torches. One farmer pony still had his trusty ol’ pitchfork with him.

They sent the children to the back with some of the other ponies to watch them as they began to form a crowd and make their way towards me.

My ribs were searing in pain, but the fierce looks in the eyes of the hoofed quadrupeds scared me. I had found them happy and smiling and now I was going to leave them as they looked like demons coming to rip me limb from limb.

There was no way I was going to be able to run away with my broken rib, but I had to ignore the pain. Run, my instincts told me. Run far far away and for the love of all that is good and pure, run!

My speed was pathetic, to say the least. I was in deep doo-doo as the ponies made some sort of battle grunt and began to chase after me. My tail whipped out from behind me and grabbed one last cupcake to stuff in my mouth before I ran into an awkward gait, the pain in my side making tears run down my face. A small, squeaky cry left my throat as I ran as fast as I could.

But those ponies were even faster. And I was hurt. And I…I had magic, didn’t I?

Yeah…

Yeah, I had magic!

I froze to a stop and turned back to face the crowd of angry ponies. With all the courage I could muster, I stopped them in their tracks with an upraised palm. I knew I had to look the part, so I tried showing my teeth and gave off a squeaky little growl.

I sounded like the runt in a litter of puppies, but it was the best I could do, okay? I’m pretty sure even a mare somewhere cooed, thinking that I was cute, before her husband hastily reminded her of what I had done.

Well, so much for killing with cuteness.

The lead pony, an Earth Pony with a gallon hat and a giant mustache, sneered at me. He bore a jacket with a shiny badge that boasted the title that I know now had said, ‘MAYOR’.

I raised the other palm of my hand above me and my message rang clear throughout the crowd.

They all gasped in unison while a stallion announced the obvious. “He’s gonna-!”

I didn’t let him finish. I smiled in triumph, the tips of my little baby canines showing, as I smacked my palms together in one glorious clap that was sure to bring the magic out and come to my protection!

All was still when it was over. Nothing changed. Nothing pulsed through my body, nothing glowed purple. Nothing levitated from the sky, and no explosions came to pass.

It seemed that my magic had left me. I wondered if perhaps it was all the magic I ever had.

But I didn’t wonder for too long before some of the stallions snickered at my lack of success and began to slowly plod towards me.

I gulped, and the glorious taste of sugar in my mouth suddenly turned sour. I felt sick. Sick and in pain from my broken rib.

But the body is resilient in fight-or-flight mode, and with fight as no longer an option, I had to settle for flight.

I ignored the pain once again as I turned around and zoomed off.

The ground shook from beneath me as I sped away. It felt like an earthquake while standing at the fault lines. My stomach clenched and my heart pounded so hard that I thought it was trying to bust out of its cavity.

But do you know what the worst part of it was? The sound of the hooves pounding against the ground. Dozens of pairs of hooves, pounding in unison, making a single uniform sound. It was so simple, and yet it told me without looking just how much bigger and stronger than they were than me. Faster, too. I had gotten a head start, but it wasn’t much. I knew it wouldn’t be long before they caught up to me.

I heard them shouting to one another, but it was jibberish to me. They must have been strategizing, because the land around us was flat and they wanted to trap me. My right ear twitched as some of the pounding grew closer and I turned. Some of the ponies had caught up, parallel with me and smirking my way.

I yelped in alarm and tried to veer the opposite way to lose them. Surely that would catch them off guard?

Yeeeeeeeeah, no. I ran straight into a stallion’s chest. A very muscular one, actually. It felt like running into a brick wall, and the impact of it made me want to retch. But I swallowed and kept it down, jumping back before the stallion could reach me.

I turned to run a different direction, and found myself surrounded by very, very angry stallions.

They slowly began to approach me.

I’m not proud of it, but I was a child. I wasn’t the amazing and talented Discord back then. I definitely wasn’t anything to thuse ponies. To them, I was a monster.

Their weapons gleamed by the fire of their torches as they came closer, their teeth clenched and their eyes bright with malicious intent. I shook so hard that I was sure I was going to crack before they even hit me.

The mayor raised a pitchfork, its prongs gleaming like murderous diamonds with the moon as its backdrop. Mental images ran through my head of it breaking my skin, my body, my everything. I remember the stallion’s face going blurry in my vision. I mewed at the stallion, as if pleading for one last chance to make things right. A chance of redemption.

Ponies didn’t believe in redemption back then. Especially not the pitchfork pony. He raised it as high as he could without falling over before it began to fly in my direction.

The rest happened so fast that the memory is hard to grasp. I know that I squealed and raised my paw and claw over my face (as if that would help), but then…

Something surged through me and seemed to propel up my chest and through my arms. I saw something flash behind my eyelids and I opened them just as the purple light began to fade.

The pitchfork had broken against the bubble shield that surrounded me, its once proud prongs now broken to pieces as if just mere toothpicks.

“Heh?” The mayor said, gazing at the bubble. A unicorn next to him gasped.

“A magical barrier? That’s a really complicated spell!”

“Can ya get it to go away?” an Earth Pony grunted, this one with a shovel. “He ate part of my stock, and that was after he ruined the town. I want to bash that thing’s head in!”

The Unicorn’s horn began to glow, but I didn’t give him the time to try a spell on me. All I know was that stuff in my body had come back, and it was actually doing something helpful. I backed up and found that the bubble moved with me when I did. I couldn’t fly with it when I tried a small hop on my legs, but it rolled as I moved, always keeping me right in its center.

With my life still intact, I broke for it and rushed towards the stallions. Their hooves made dust clouds as they got out of my way.

Well, most of them, anyway. One of them wasn’t very bright and just stared in horror as I plowed right over him, smacking him into the ground as I literally rolled over him.

It makes me laugh to think about it now; he got what he rightly deserved, thankyouverymuch. But I didn’t laugh then.

I just ran and ran and ran. I heard the ponies protest to my escape, but the Unicorn wasn’t able to counter the spell. The adrenaline kept me going long after the sounds of Equestrians left my ears.

Not only did I run, but I plowed into things. I slammed into a tree and broke it in half. I ran into a frozen stream and cracked the ice, but the bubble floated and I didn’t touch a drop of it. I ran for so long that by the time I stopped, I was in a brand new stretch of land that I didn’t recognize.

But I didn’t care. I was safe. I was safe.

Then everything went black and I collapsed to the ground.

I dreamed.

I dreamed of so many things, things I had never even known before. Shapes and colorful mists danced as mismatched creatures with misshapen bodies floated across a landscape of nonsense. The sky was the ground and the ground was the sky and the air itself was thick with purple static.

And I was the star as I took hold of the static, wrapping it all around me as I floated in midair. I manipulated all that surrounded me to my liking, which changed every few seconds with just a snap of my fingers and tail. I giggled as I hopped across clouds, turning them into assorted objects as I bounded into them. A balloon, a cheese wheel, a bird house. Nothing stayed the same as I attended to my own whims.

I heard the sound of galloping hooves and I stopped, landing headfirst into a cloud. I pulled my head out of its fluff before staring at the ground above, only to see those horrible, terrifying, wonderful, interesting quadrupeds. Ghost ponies galloped above me without acknowledging my presence.

Magic pulsed from them as it did from me, but it was different from mine. Whereas mine looked like multiple vortexes of whirling shapes and shadows, theirs was white and sparkling. Unicorn horns glowed while the Earth Ponies pulsed magic with each hoofbeat against the grass. The Pegasi flew above them with glittering wings of light.

It was so bright, far too bright. It hurt to look, and yet I couldn’t stop gazing at it.

I began to follow them. What were these creatures? What were those sounds that they made from their mouths? How did they make towns and create food that wasn’t from the forest? What were those symbols on their flanks? What powers did they hold, and why was it so different from mine? And which was the more powerful of the two—theirs, or mine?

My magic followed suit, rushing over me in a single propulsion as it rushed towards them. The violet rush of magic was on their tails, but I began to fall behind. I pumped my legs for as far as they would go, but I grew too exhausted to continue the chase.

Both the creatures and my own magic left me alone on a blank canvas. I tried reaching for my magic as I let out a long, single whine, begging for it to come back, for the running creatures back, for anything to come back and keep me company…

I woke up. Had someone been watching they probably would have laughed at me. I jumped like a coiled spring as I gasped and looked all around me.

I found myself exactly where I had been when I collapsed the night before. The ponies hadn’t found me. I was still alive.

Visions of my dream overtook my senses and I remembered how it felt to have all that magic, allowing me to create such things that I had never even imagined before. As terrified as I had been, that magic had felt so natural to me, so right. It had made me feel invincible and powerful and happy.

For I had never truly lived until I had discovered that magic. I had merely existed. But at that moment, I decided that it was time for me to live.

And in order to do that, I had to get my magic. And to get my magic, I had to go find those creatures again.

The magic was where the ponies were, I was sure of it. If I wanted it back, I would have to put on my big boy pants and find them once more.

It was the first big decision I had ever made as I licked my wounds and got on my feet. I was in new territory, and I was determined to find more of those creatures. I had to. It was either that or die trying.

I picked a random direction and set forth to find the magic.

It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for.

In those days, villages were growing in number, but still far enough apart that it took about a day’s walk to get from one town to the next. This can go even faster if one crosses such a distance by running for his life for half that length. Hence, I found the next village in only a few hours.

More accurately, I found the schoolhouse first.

It was a lot like the one you’d find in most rural towns today: a small, red clapboard building with big windows and a perky little white roof with a bell and rope perched at the tippity top.

It was on the outskirts of town, surrounded in open fields intended for the kiddies to romp around in for recess.

I stumbled upon it as I emerged from an acre of bare apple trees, my stomach rumbling once more as I recalled the taste of cupcake on my tongue. I regarded the building with a sense of unease as I glanced at the building. Where was everyone? Were the creatures inside?

Perhaps it was best if I took a peek.

Slithering on my stomach, I crept up to the window, my tiny little heart thumping in my chest. My curiosity was too strong to stay away, but I smoothed down my mane in an attempt to hide. I didn’t want to risk a single stray hair to be seen.

Can you imagine? Me, trying not to take risks. Oh, the irony of it all!

Very carefully, I lifted my haunches and peeked between the marigolds in the hanging flower box and into the window.

I’m sure you can imagine what I saw. Rows of desks, filled with tiny little quadrupeds, some with pictures on their flanks, some without. An adult female sat in front of a chalkboard with a smile on her face, pointing to a series of symbols on the board.

I watched in awe as the little ones spoke with each point of her hoof to a symbol. What were they doing? Was she the alpha of the group, and they her minions? Was she taking all the small ones to create a group of rebels to overthrow the town? Why were they all talking in unison, and why were they so happy about it?

“A, B, C, D…”

My imagination got away from me before I figured out that they were simply naming the symbols for the teacher. But I wondered what the significance of the symbols were. What made them so important?

I was enchanted by the scene before me, and I found myself unable to tear away. I watched as they moved on with their lessons, writing and drawing on white squares with colored pieces of what looked like sticks of dried clay. They sang songs, read from the square things with even more white squares in them, and played with objects around the room. One even had what looked like a bear, but wasn’t. That was fascinating to me. It looked just like one, and yet, the student just took it and hugged it to her chest! It wasn’t alive!

Hours passed by until I heard the sound of the bell. I sprang away before I could be found, ducking behind a tree with a thick trunk, perfect for hiding.

And by evening, they were gone. Some of them lingered and played, but as the sun started going down, all of them, even the adult, had left and headed towards town.

I watched their alpha lock the door with a key. She was the last to leave.

When the coast was clear, I approached the door, looking around to make sure I was alone. I tried opening it. I didn’t know what a key was or what it was for then, but when the door didn’t budge, I easily figured it out. My claw was all I needed to get inside.

And that one discovery changed my life and opened my world more than I ever imagined. I discovered books. Models of animals to play with. Wooden chunks so perfect in shape and proportion that I could stack them up and make them into structures just like the buildings in the villages.

But one toy alluded me, and I didn’t know what to do with it. It was wooden, and in the shape of the creatures that made it—ponies. But it wasn’t like the little miniature figures of animals I had seen, or the dolls, or any of that. These were attached to a wooden cross with strings fastened at its edges. I tried my best to figure it out on that first night in the school. I wrapped myself around it, I hung it from the ceiling, I even tried throwing it across the room to see if the device could fly. By dawn, I had grown frustrated with the dumb thing and had kicked it across the room.

But overall, it was the books that had enchanted me the most. I had made a delightful mess that night as I took all of them off the shelf and flipped through every single one of them.

Don’t tell Twilight, but secretly…I get it. Yes, yes, uggggh, I know. I hate having something in common with her too. While I will never be the egghead that she is, I do admit that learning the old-school way has its… merits. Because of the books I read growing up, I learned to talk, categorize, reason. It’s how I learned to develop as a sentient being with a penchant for magic.

Learning to read by yourself is tricky of course, but I was trickier. The school had books with more than one copy available, and sometimes the ponies would go to the shelf in the morning and find that one or two were mysteriously ‘missing’, unable to find them.

Little did they know that I was giggling under the window, books clutched to my chest. I always had a plan, you see. The teacher had a habit of showing her students the books she’d be reading to them over the week, and I quickly learned that, if the book had a twin, maybe even a triplet, I could snatch one for myself the night before and follow along with the teacher in my hiding spot the following day.

I always returned them, of course, and there were so many books that most didn’t even notice them when they were gone. I was just that good of a thief, I suppose.

But I was an even better learner. I learned the language much faster than most young foals did. It was the first true sign of my genius. After a week, I had already figured out that the symbols in the books were ‘letters’, found in a simple ordered system known as the ‘alphabet’.

Of course, I had a lot of free time at night, and that practice helped speed things along.

Oh, I remember those nights, scrunched against the corner of the room, a single candle lit and not a stick more, in fear of anypony seeing the light. I’d have a box of graham crackers open, eating only as many as I could without anypony noticing. I snarfed them down whenever I had the chance.

One night I was flipping through a book that named objects and animals through the alphabet. I wanted to be able to name as many things as possible, as it was the easiest way to start. Smart as I was, I still had quite a few things to touch on.

“Rrrrr…roooo…ccck. Rock,” I whispered. “Rock.” My eyes switched from the page to a small pebble on the floor. I leaned over and picked it up. “Rock,” I repeated. “Rocky rock, rockity sprockity rocky rock rock. Rock.”

Well, that was the end of that particularly fascinating page. I flipped to the next one.

The pages had pictures to accompany the words, and I was surprised to find a drawing of the very creatures I had been studying. I gasped. Finally, I had a word for these things!

P’s were a bit difficult for me. When I first tried them, I ended up spitting most of the time. It was funny at first, but I soon lost patience. Needless to say, I was a bit disheartened to find out these things also started with a P.

“Pbbbbbbbb.” Nope, more spittle. I shook my head. Honestly, why did stupid letter have to be so complicated? It looked like a mouth with its tongue hanging out, of all things! Why didn’t it involve spit if that was all I was getting out of it?

I had to look at the next letter and go from there. O. Po. Then an N….

“Poooonie. Ponwy. Pohhhh…neee. Po-ny. Pony.”

Pony. The word rang a bell. Yes! That had to be it! For every morning, without fail, the teacher would greet all her students personally as they came in, asking them questions, laughing with each one, exchanging stories, all that meaningless riff-raff, you know. And then, once all of them were seated and ready for the day, she greeted them all again, but as a whole.

“Good morning, my little ponies,” she always said. So she was calling them by what they literally were to themselves. Ponies. They were ponies.

I said this to myself the next day as I took my standard hiding place near the window. I heard her greet them as they always did.

“Good morning, my little ponies!”

They always wished her a good morning back (“Good morning, Miss Spring!”), but I didn’t chant it with them. Instead, I just copied the teacher.

“Good morning, my little ponies…” I whispered. “Good morning, ponies…”

I always imagined them saying it back to me.

It was wishful thinking on my part.

I stayed in Gaittysburg for about, oh, I’d say a month, give or take a week or two.

Remember that toy I was telling you about, the one with the crossed sticks and strings? I had long learned that it was called a puppet (found, ironically, on the same page as pony in the alphabet book), but I still couldn’t figure it out. I had a picture of it in the book, but there were no instructions on how to use the thing. I didn’t even know how to properly hold it, and I kept getting the strings mixed up and knotted.

I was learning that I grew frustrated rather quickly, especially when things didn’t go my way. Surprising, no?

Anyways, to make an already long story short, I pretty much got fed up with it and kicked it across the room. Except that I had really lousy aim back then, so I ended up kicking the candle instead.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I watched with widening eyes as the wooden puppet bounced off my leg and made a short arc in the air. The arc was way too short from the very beginning, and the light from the candle reflected off the polished wood. The light grew brighter, and brighter, until fwoosh!

It spread like storm clouds across the sky, except the sky was a wooden floor on the ground and it was a lot more beautiful. I had seen small forest fires before back when I lived amongst the trees and the wild countryside, but I never got too close. This time I didn’t have a choice. The candle hadn’t been far from me when it got knocked over, and I had never thought to just stop and watch it. I never knew how lovely and exciting fire could be.

In fact, maybe there should be more fire. It was so pretty, surely the loss of a single building and a few toys and books wouldn’t be too big a cost for such a lovely sight? Oh sure, I’d miss the yoyo, the stuffed animals, and the stories I had learned to read with, but this fire was really something. And besides, the puppet was impossible! It needed a lesson, it deserved to burn.

And ponies love beautiful things, did they not? The fillies plucked beautiful things right out of the ground nearly every day during their outside time, tucking them into their pretty little manes and braiding them into each other’s tails. And almost all the ponies made art with their crayons and markers and paints each day. And those things were nothing compared to this! And if I could appreciate it, then so would they.

Oh, I was such a romantic back then.

Embers landed on my fur, but the pain seemed to escape me. In fact, the embers seemed to be pulling themselves towards me, as if we were having a family reunion and pulling each other in for a hug. My fur glowed with it, but it tickled rather than burned, and I giggled. It felt pleasant.

I began to levitate and I gasped. The magic! It was back! But… if the magic was there, then where were the ponies? The magic came with the ponies. That’s what the dream had shown me. I couldn’t have the magic without them.

But I didn’t have much time to wonder before I noticed the familiar purple hues mix with the hot red and yellow flames of the fire. It whirled in gorgeous swirls until every bit of it was ensconced in magic.

The fire stopped spreading at that point, but instead seemed to keep its flames together in one spot, and tendrils of fire snaked towards me. Yet, the fire never burned me as it should have. Instead, it poked, it prodded.

“Hee hee, s-stop! That tickles!” I was crying in laughter before I felt heat around my wrists. The flames had swirled around my arms and pulled me in and I found myself surrounded in a ring of magical fire.

My instincts kicked in and I suddenly remembered that fire was not supposed to be fun. I felt the heat on my face, I smelled the smoke through my nostrils. I knew it wasn’t exactly a good thing to be surrounded in an all-consuming fire.

But the stuff still didn’t hurt me. In fact, it seemed to have formed arms and a head, somehow. And it never burned me.

It just…tickled with me. Played with me. As if it were a friend.

It went on for a minute or two as I laughed, begging for it to stop the playful torture as its fiery fingers licked at my belly, my neck, my foot, my tail, and my ears. I had completely forgotten about the situation until I heard the familiar sound of stamping hooves outside the building.

“I scanned the building with my horn, there’s something weird in there!”

“I don’t care; let’s get this fire out and help whoever’s in there! This is my town and I aim to keep it a safe one!”

An authoritative voice boomed over the sound of the flames as the fire seemed to stop teasing me and froze. I peeked over and saw the shadows of ponies. I stepped through the flames, biting down my lip to keep myself from laughing with contact from the fire as I went through the door.

Just like that. All those weeks of hiding, and I had seen a grand entrance. After all, I was already exposed. But now that I had their magic with me, I thought they’d certainly accept me.

The crowd of ponies had buckets in their mouths as one from across the way pumped at a well, filling a line of ponies waiting for their buckets to be filled. One Unicorn with a nice suit on gave off an authoritative sort of air to him as he directed the crowds.

“Pegasi, you take to the skies and pour them from there! Earth Ponies and Unicorns, you stay on the ground and pour as much water onto the building that we—“

“No!”

The crowd stopped and looked my way, gasps echoing throughout as they stared at me.

I didn’t let it stop me, of course.

“There’s no need to stop the fire. It’s a good thing! I like it! And I think if you ponies just give it a chance, then you will too! And it’s all thanks to the magic you gave me!”

I stepped forward, reaching out towards the primly-dressed Unicorn, who I assumed was the mayor. “Come on, I can—“

“You!” the mayor shrieked. “It’s…It’s that thing! That thing that Mayor Spurs described to us! The creature that destroyed Gaittysburg with magic! It…it can talk?”

Well, that was a bit insulting. I gave him a pathetic squeak of a growl. “Yes I can! I just hadn’t learned until a few weeks ago from watching the lessons at the school! At least, I think it was a few weeks. I can’t remember. A week is…” I held up a few fingers. “1, 2, 3… 7 days, right? Hey, how come you do that, anyway? Seems kinda stupid to me. Why don’t you just go with it, huh?”

A random pony from the crowd screamed. “It can’t just talk, it’s intelligent! Oh my goodness, Mayor, do something! Before it ruins our town next!”

“I did not ruin that town! It was your magic! It likes me and it wants to have some fun!” I countered, glaring at the mare who spoke against me. “Maybe if you did something cool with it every once in a while, it wouldn’t come to me every time it got bored! Like it did with the fire!”

I turned and pointed to it. “It’s not a burning fire, it’s a tickling fire! And it’s beautiful!” I spread my arms and they glowed, and the fire grew in size. “You should appreciate it! It’s my friend!”

“Fire is…your friend…?” The mayor gulped. “What are you…?”

I gaped at him. “That’s all you want to know? I’m showing you the coolest thing ever, showing you something crazy beautiful, and you just want to know what I—“

A shadow flew by in my periphery and I saw the Pegasi flying overhead as they poured buckets of silver sprinkling water over the flames. The fire had burned a hole into the roof, and they were killing it. I could hear it sizzling and it felt like screaming in my ears. They were hurting it, they were trying to kill my friend.

“Hey, no! Stop!” I screamed, and I flew up to stop them. “Leave it alone! That’s MY fire!”

I bulleted towards a Pegasus and head-butted him to the side, throwing him off course as I got drenched in water. An Earth Pony caught the Pegasus with his back before he could crash to the ground.

I turned to the crowd. “And to think, I was actually trying to share it with you! I thought sharing was a good thing! That’s what Mrs. Spring says, anyway!” I scanned the crowd and quickly found the schoolteacher. “Hey, you! Hi! That’s what you tell your class every day, right?”

Her eyes widened. “You…You know who I am?”

“Call me an unofficial student of yours. It’s because of you and your teaching that I learned to read and talk. So to thank you, I’ll forgive you for saying such horrible things about my fire, and let you take a crack at it first!”

I flew down and took her hoof before a warm body slammed into me and sent me to the ground, hard. “Hey! Stay away from my wife, you…you… monster!”

My body pounded against the dirt, shards of gray granite jabbing into my skin. Tears came to my face as I trembled. He had thrown me into a particularly rocky patch of ground, and it stabbed my side and made it red. “Ugh…!”

I pressed my teeth together in pain and anger. Once again, they were trying to fight me, when I had done nothing. All I had done was play with fire…

FWOOSH!

More screams penetrated my ears as I struggled to get up. Light flashed before my eyes and I gaped as I saw the fire lash out at the stallion who struck me.

It was moving a fiery arm towards him, and the stallion screamed and tried to turn tail. But the fire was too quick; it reached the tip of his tail before it began to burn.

And the stallion wasn’t laughing. Apparently, this fire only seemed to have a love for tickling me. I had thought it was protecting me.

“Oh, fire, don’t worry about it,” I said, speaking to it casually. “He’s not worth it, he’s just stupid. No need to burn him to cind—“

It wasn’t listening to me. It suddenly spread in the grass, leaving flames in its wake as it chased after the stallion and circled around all the ponies. It wasn’t listening; it wasn’t tickling anything. It was acting like a normal fire.

My so-called ‘friend’ had decided to protect me in the most brutal way it could.

But like any other creature, I don’t particularly love the smell of burnt hair, and death certainly isn’t fun. I definitely hadn’t put ‘watch a pony be burned alive’ on my bucket list. I tried to stop it.

“Stop! Fire! No!”

The sensation of the magic within me started to fade, and I tried to get it to come back. I waved my arms and tail, clapped my hands, and snapped my fingers. None of it worked; nothing happened.

But the ponies were far more prepared than I was. Mrs. Spring’s husband ran to the well and jumped down below, escaping the fire before it could burn him to a crisp. The others had buckets ready before it could even begin to chase anyone else. More Pegasi appeared and took it down from up high, and as I tried desperately to bring the magic back, they got rid of it.

In a matter of minutes, the schoolhouse was in ashen ruins, the ground burnt black and bald. It amazed me how differently it looked after one single incident. I barely recognized it anymore.

“I don’t understand…” I said to myself. “I don’t understand! The ponies are right there!” I scowled in frustration, my tiny fists balled against the dirt as I sat on the ground. “They’re right there, so why did the magic leave me? Why does it leave?”

“I don’t know, but we’re awfully glad it did.”

I froze and turned towards the voice. It was him. Mrs. Spring’s husband. Water dripped down his forelocks and his burnt stub of a tail. He must have gotten out of the well, perhaps by a Unicorn’s spell. I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. He was the biggest, tallest stallion of the group.

Of all the stallions my so-called ‘teacher’ had to marry, it had to be that one.

I should have ran. Should have picked my sorry tail up and ran like the wind. But this stallion, this ginormous draft pony who looked ready to gore me, held me captive. I was a skinny little rod baby and he was a hulking mass of muscle and hoof. I missed my fire more than ever at that moment.

Mrs. Spring was behind him, looking terrified as he stared me down. “Be careful, Burly Brawn! That thing said he watched me and my class for weeks without me noticing, and now look what it’s done!” She looked back at the pile of rubble from behind me. “My school is gone!”

But he ignored her. Because in those days, who cared what mares had to say? They just had to sit there and look pretty.

Not that I cared too much. She taught me so much, and she didn’t even care. And to think that I had liked her before she had found out about me. That she was one of my little ponies.

She was not.

“So you think that it’s our magic that did this, boy? Is that it?”

I gulped and said nothing.

“…You are a boy, right?”

“I…” I hesitated. “I think so? I don’t have to sit down to pee.”

The stallion suddenly blushed, and I’m pretty sure somepony laughed, but what did I know? The teacher hadn’t put that kind of reading material the classroom; not even a single encyclopedia. That was the only way I could tell the difference.

Burly put a hoof to my chest and pushed me back down to the ground. “You think this is funny? You think this is a game?”

“I’m not laughing!”

“Oh, so now you’re a wise-donkey, too, eh?” He pressed down harder against me. “Stop fooling around and tell us… What are you and what are you doing here, spying on our wives, our kids, and setting things on fire? Are you the thing that destroyed Gaittysburg?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I cried. “What’s a Gaittysburg? A type of sandwich or something? Because if you haven’t noticed the the ribs trying to poke through my stomach, I could really use more food!”

His eyes seemed to blaze fire as he grit his teeth and screamed at me, sending a shower of spit my way. “There was a town, just a coupla days walk from here! It got demolished a few months ago by some weird monster thing that caused mayhem with just the flap of his hand! Was that you?”

He slipped his hoof up my chest and pressed down on my neck. My head pounded against the ground and he pushed against my throat, making it hard to breathe.

“Were you planning on doing to us what you did to them?” he asked me in a low, blood-curdling voice. “Planning on doing that to my wife?”

I tried to speak but breathing was a bit more important to me, and he was making it harder for me to do it. “Ahhh…guh…” I wrapped my fingers around his hoof and tried to move it away, but he overpowered me by a mile, and my vision was growing hazy.

More ponies screamed from behind.

“Yeah, that’s right, Burly! Show it who’s boss!”

“Yeah, that thing’s got no magic now! Get it while it’s weak!”

“Throw it in a cage!”

“Toss it in the lake!”

“You go, Burl!”

The cheers made him smile in the most grotesque way possible. It made me wonder for a moment exactly why a sweet little thing like Mrs. Springs was into such a brute like him. He just looked like a giant hunk of meat to me. And I thought ponies were vegetarians!

“You can’t hide a second time, boy. You say it’s our magic that did this, but it was you. It was you. You’re the one that caused all this…this…this craziness!” He pressed down harder on my throat, hard enough to bruise.

I wiggled my legs and tried twisting the rest of my body away, desperately trying to think of an escape plan. All right, so I couldn’t push his hoof off my neck, and he was too big and strong for me to hit or push away from me. My tail wasn’t long enough yet to twist around him, and my claws broke easily from my lack of nutrition; scratching him would end up in broken nails.

I bit my lip. Come on, come on! Think, think! Or you’ll do that thing where you stop breathing and don’t come back!

Despite my situation, it reminded me of one day where the foals had found a dead frog and asked the teacher what was wrong with it. She had tried explaining what death was as gently as she could without revealing too many of the scary little details. She told the kids that he had been too dry and thirsty, and didn’t survive, because frogs needed water to keep them wet and alive.

Water… I smacked my mouth. It was dry from the fire but not completely so. That gave me an idea.

“I just…” I croaked, my lungs still aching for air. “need…t’say…” I closed my mouth and moved my tongue around.

“What?” he snarled. “Go on, give us your dying words.”

I spat on him, right on the eye.

There’s a benefit to being seen as foreign and extremely dangerous. Because when you are, everything you do is threatening. Every part of you is regarded as poison upon contact.

So when my glop of glorious, sticky saliva splashed into his open eyes, he reared up on his back legs in a scream. “Ahhh! Sweet Tartarus, he got me! He got me!” He continued screaming in a panic as he ran in little circles. "I've been spat on by a monster! Get some hot water, get some disinfectant, get some iodine!"

The other ponies rushed to Burly Brawn, trying to figure out what had happened. It was a good distraction, and I wasted no time in scrambling up and running off. I didn’t pause to tell them it was only spit.

I wasn’t chased that time. Word of my first bout with ponies had spread over Equestria, and all were on the alert. But their discovery of me was too fresh; they didn’t know anything about my small little noodle-self. So I think they must have been too afraid to chase after me. Too afraid of the unknown to bother looking for me.

But I was upset, nonetheless. I had started of thinking of that little school as a home of sorts, and it had been destroyed by a fire that only I had appreciated. The ponies hadn’t understood it, and my so-called ‘teacher’ hadn’t even cared that she had made history by assisting a brand new species in learning how to talk and read.

Even worse was that I had lost the magic again; it had stayed with the ponies. Was it because I had gotten exposed, and the magic knew I’d have to go?

I didn’t know, but my craving for pony society was stronger than it was before. I wasn’t just an animal anymore; I had grown into a sapient being, capable of learning things and going above and beyond the scope of my animal instincts.

And I wanted it. I wanted the magic, I wanted the knowledge, I wanted it all.

I was Twilight Sparkle before there even was a Twilight Sparkle. Only better.

And I was better because, unlike our sparkly, sappy little Friendship Princess, I didn’t need a Princess Celestia to goad me into new places outside of my comfort zone.

No. Two bad experiences with ponies was nothing. I thought that if there was one town with a school, then there were others, too. And I would find them.

And the ponies would give me their magic. And they would see just what I could do with it, and accept me into their world.

This, my friends, was the dream of my childhood, and I chased it down with every fiber of my being.

I chased it down just as much as the ponies chased me. And trust me, there were a lot of those.

Let’s have a little time-skip, shall we?

Because there’s not much to tell for the next few years of my life. It became a (sadly) predictable pattern of life for me. I’d find a new town of ponies to sneak in to learn as much as I could and pony-watch. I stole food from ponies who didn’t notice, including scraps I’d find in the trash and forgotten crumbs littered on the street corners.

I listened in on lectures in classrooms from outside of windows and inside of chimneys and pipes. I snuck into them at night and studied the books and played with the toys. I even found another old-fashioned puppet in the forth or fifth town I visited, I can’t remember when. I managed to go hidden for so long in that particular one that I even mastered using the puppet, and it became my favorite toy. I liked controlling it; I liked being its master. It did as I pleased, and it existed to make me happy.

But the happiest I could get was still pretty miserable. I still couldn’t figure out how to get the magic from the ponies back; it came at random moments, but I could never seem to keep a hold of it for long. And when it did come, it usually got me in trouble.

And if you hadn’t caught on already, the trouble was usually BIG trouble. As in, I would suddenly have the power of a thousand Unicorns and I’d do something to the ponies that would not only expose me, but get me run out of town.

But I’ll give it one thing: I always did enjoy the magic’s antics before I’d get threatened with the torches and pitchforks. It always did something different to the numerous towns I visited.

Once, I stubbed my toe in Neigh Orleans as I tried catching some frogs, and turned the rivers into diet soda as the clouds rained mint candies that made it fizz. It grew so intense that it washed over the entire town and left everypony in a sticky, fizzy mess.

During my last day in Appleloosa, I grew angry after watching a family of four waste a perfectly good loaf of bread on a couple of stupid birds instead of throwing it away where I could get it, and I smacked a tree in frustration. As a result, the tree sprouted giant bowling balls that smacked to the cobblestones and endlessly rolled after ponies until everyone was hit.

Things like this happened no matter what town I was in. The Great Jello Earthquake of Las Pegasus, the Bad Manecut Epidemic in Manehattan, the Mexican Jumping Bean Infestation that took Mareyland by storm…

I caused all of them, and ponies were the ones to end it. For all the different tricks that were pulled, the mobs were always the same thing. Boring, right?

No. Not boring. You know what it was for me? Terrifying. Each and every time they found me and shared a good laugh after every freak accident. They always looked at me with the purest, most bitter hatred I had ever known.

Nopony knew who I was or how I came to exist, but I grew famous over those short few years. More and more ponies could claim to have seen me because they had been part of a mob to chase me out of town.

But they didn’t just chase me. Ohoho, nonono. Had they all been just mere chases, then perhaps I wouldn’t have had such bitterness towards ponykind at the end of the day.

But you won’t find the truth of those mobs in books written about me. After all, it doesn’t matter what kind of trouble I caused; ponies don’t like to read about baby creatures getting stabbed and jabbed and beaten by other ponies. No, they just talk about what I did wrong, and how they merely chased me out or tried to catch me so they could ‘turn me in for the better of ponykind’.

They are filthy, disgusting liars. Ponies were nothing but violent brutes back then. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I had pitchforks scar my skin or a torch singe my fur. Kitchen pans were slammed into my face. Ponies spat at me and threatened to torture me, to hurt me, to make me into their fireplace carpet.

But I was a star athlete, and I almost always outran them when I wasn't too seriously injured. It always ended with my shaking at the bones and my face covered in tears and snot, but I usually made do.

And my magic saved me many times when I thought I was done for. It didn’t always happen, but upon contemplation, I found the answer for its sporadic appearances years later. I’d tell you, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise~.

For now, all you need to know is that there were times where I was sure I was going to get caught, only for my magic to come in and put my pursuers in a pickle, giving me a chance to escape. (And I mean that both figuratively and literally. One mob truly found themselves inside of a pickle before they could stab me with their pikes. I smelled brine for days after I escaped.)

But nothing came close to as lethal as the last chase I faced before I finally made it to the Neighyan Rainforest at twelve years old.

After all, this mob was made of guards.

Royal guards, to be precise.

Oh, the joy.

Out of all the cities I had visited, Canterlot was my favorite.

Take note that his was before Sunny and Moony came into play, as Starswirl the Snotbearded was still out and about looking for the Alicorns at the time. Back then, Canterlot was a much darker, danker place.

It was fabulous.

The place smelled like rotten horseshoes and dungbeetle dinners, and the stallions even more so. To go without at least one scar on your body was considered an anomaly in a town such as early Canterlot. Filth was on every streetcorner, garbage on every sidewalk and flying with the wind. It was incredibly easy for me to find something to eat in the trash whenever my thieving schemes didn’t work out.

One thing that didn’t change was that the city was huge. The first time I saw it, it had been two years since my first winter, and the cold season was approaching yet again, and fast. I was shivering as I first saw the towers rising above the trees. The city’s built up against a mountain, so I had to do quite a bit of climbing, but despite my weak body from poor nutrition, I was still incredibly agile. I got up there pretty easily.

Now, by that the time, I had grown incredibly famous. Wanted posters, plastered with my face, were seen all around Equestria wherever I went. And as the days passed by, so did the reward money.

I never worried too much about them catching me, though. Legends of my incredible feats were powerful enough to keep ponies from actively looking for me. Even if it sounded exaggerated, ponies didn’t doubt the stories. My magical abilities were not to be questioned by them. I was the only one that ever did that.

But I wasn’t very much closer to answers about that said magic. I had grown more adept at what seemed like every subject the ponies had to offer except for magic. It was frustrating. I had no control over it, and only it decided when to appear and what it would do.

But the ponies were able to do whatever they wanted with their magic, and as far as I knew, they weren’t sharing their secrets with me. I would have to steal it from them, just as I did with everything else they had. I just needed to find a good source. Books on magic were scarce. Starswirl the Snotbearded hadn’t published any of his books yet, and libraries weren’t much of a priority back then. Everypony was too busy trying to survive and find better ways of life, just like I was.

Canterlot, I found, was just the source I needed.

Because despite all the tattoo parlors, scum-filled bars, and gang hideaways, Canterlot was still the political center of Equestria. Starswirl had lived there, along with Clover the Clever and all those other important ponies needed to make life go round and round and all that jazz.

This included the School for Gifted Unicorns, right in the center of town.

It wasn’t hard to find once I figured out which alleys were best to travel by. That was another good thing about the town. It didn’t have as many as Manehattan did, true, but the ones in Manehattan were almost always filled with questionable characters.

In Canterlot, most of those said characters had no problem making themselves known. They only hid in alleyways if they needed some peace and quiet. None of them were extremely dangerous criminals; the worst thing that happened most days were gang rivalries and thieves stealing off of haycarts, but as long as you didn’t join a gang or fraternize with the police too much, you could live there without much trouble. They only went after you if you went after them first. Let them be and you could live in their city without constantly looking over your withers.

So the alleyways in Canterlot were a lot emptier, and that was a blessing in itself. I could go all around town at night and go unseen as I slithered to and fro, going whatever direction I pleased. I still hadn’t grown very much, so I was small enough to follow the shadows and keep myself from being exposed easily. My quiet feet alone were enough to keep me under the radar.

I found the School for Gifted Unicorns about a week after arriving there, once I got a general feel for the alleyways. And it was there that I stayed.

You may be asking yourself why in the world one of the most important schools in Equestria was located in an extremely unethical city such as that of old Canterlot. But if you know your history, you’ll know that back then, it was mostly Earth Ponies and Pegasi that acted as the guards for Canterlot. They needed more Unicorns. And since both defensive and offensive spells are more complex that most other spells, then why not put it in a town where better police was needed?

The school was an utter goldmine for information on magic. The place had ginormous pipes for me to squeeze and hide in, so I didn’t have to hide behind windows to listen in on lectures. Since part of the school was also a dormitory, I didn’t even need to go far in looking for food. There were often enough leftovers that I could steal from the kitchens without anypony noticing when I went out of the vents at the dead of night. The school was a paradise.

I was there for so long. Two years. And for a while, I had begun to think that this was the home I was looking for.

It gave me everything. The food was delicious and I finally started gaining weight that actually stayed on me. I had top-of-the-line instructors teaching me all about Unicorn magic without knowing it. And through there, I finally gained the tools I needed to practice magic.

Because that was where I finally learned about myself.

I’ll always remember that day. The class was Magic of the World, which expanded upon all forms of magic, not just that of Unicorns. It wasn’t my favorite class, as it was less about spells and more on just basic information, and I sometimes skipped it. But on that particular day, I was bored, and nothing good was playing on the record-player in the teacher’s lounge. So I settled for Mr. Globe Trotter's class instead.

He had a rather nice ceiling pipe that gave me a perfect view of the board. I settled in comfortably, laying down an extra pillow I had taken from a custodian closet, and waited as all the pretty little Unicorns trickled in and took their seats. I stifled in a yawn. Hopefully, at least, he’d teach something worth knowing.

“Okay, class. Today, we’re going to discuss something a little off-schedule, because it’s important and warrants your attention. I want you to take a look at something, and tell me if you recognize it. Look at it good and well, all right? You guys see a lot of these in Canterlot, and I want you to study it before raising your hooves. I’m sure you’ve all seen this one, but everypony pretty much has without really studying it. You ready?”

They chanted in unison that they were, and he then taped a poster over the board.

It was my wanted poster.

I gasped. But I was lucky, because the rest of the class did too, and none of them did as he said. They spoke out right away, the little loudmouths. They were great.

“That’s the mysterious magical creature that’s been found everywhere in Equestria!”

“Nopony knows what it is!”

“And nopony knows what it wants!”

“But it’s magic is terrible!”

“It’s bad!”

“It’s evil!”

“It’s kinda cute if you squint a little!”

See? Great kids. Especially that last one.

“Class, class! Calm down! Stop shouting, raise your hooves!” Mr. Globe said, and all mouths went shut. “Good! Now, I’m going to ask you again to really look at this poster.” He tapped on it again. “Look at the creature on it and think—think, not scream at the top of your lungs—about what you know about it. Ask yourselves questions. Here, I’ll give you a hint.”

His horn lit up and levitated a piece of chalk. I found myself staring at his glowing horn, wishing I could do something so simple whenever I pleased. Even when talking about the most important subject of all—me—I still preferred the sight of magic to my own wanted poster.

My, how I’ve changed.

He started to write as he spoke. “Ask yourselves what the creature could possibly resemble. We’ve got a full illustration of this guy, legs, tail, and all, right here.” He gestured towards my picture again. “Because while we may not know what he is, we can make inferences on what he could possibly be. Can anypony tell me why that is?”

Because we all have common ancestors, obviously. Duh. I leaned on my claw, already feeling exasperated. Though I don’t know where THAT will get any of you. I’m nothing like any other creature, you know. I’m unique that way. I’m not a zoo animal.

A Unicorn gave him the same answer and I rolled my eyes. I could have answered that ten times faster than him, tops!

But of course, nopony praised me for that. “Good job, Hoofdini! That’s right, we all have a common ancestor. So while this guy might not be a pony or a griffon, or a dragon or a centaur, or anything we know of, he could share common features with them. And by doing that, we can learn more about him.”

Stop calling me ‘this guy’. I’m right here!

He stopped writing. “So, what do you see?”

This time they really looked at it. I shook my head as I watched. I found it such a shame that I was so much smarter than them, and I hadn’t even needed to enroll in the school. I found myself wondering why magic decided to stick with creatures like this when I was so much better than them.

Hooves slowly rose back up.

“Yes, Stardust?”

“He’s got a leg that kinda looks like a dragon’s.”

No duh, Spurlock. I rolled my eyes again.

“Yes!” Mr. Globe smiled as if she had made the discovery of the century. “Good job! Anypony else? Yes, Hazy Smoke?”

“One of his horns looks like a deer antler!”

“Yes, that’s right! What else?”

I’ll spare you all the details of the entire conversation, because it was idiotic and you can probably already guess what else they said. A tail like a snake, the paw of a lion, a claw like an eagle’s…

They had most of the basics down, until Mr. Globe seemed satisfied enough to finally end the name-the-animal game. “Okay, you guys got it. But you guys all forgot one thing.”

He levitated his pointer and jabbed the thing straight into the illustration’s face. I winced as if he had struck me.

“His head. What do you think of that? It’s a bit of an odd-shape, isn’t it?”

I smiled. I liked my odd head.

“Now,” he continued, “wouldn’t you say, that in a way, it resembles the head of a pony?”

Silence.

I stared at Mr. Globe as if he had struck me with a lightning bolt straight from his horn. A head like a pony? I was nothing like a pony! If I were like a pony, then I would have had my magic as constantly as they had! If I were like a pony, if I were more like a Unicorn, then I would have had fewer problems!

The ponies stared at him in the same way, but it was more out of offense than wonder. They were quick to refute his premise.

“No way!”

“That thing destroys stuff wherever it goes! His magic is dangerous!”

“It’s bad for us, we’re nothing like it!”

“How could you even say such a thing, Mr. Globe?”

“Because it’s true,” Globe Trotter said. “Tell me, have you been keeping track of the Equestrian Journal of Biology and Magic like I’ve been asking you to? Did you read this month’s issue? It came out a week ago.”

I myself had heard of the journal, but never read them. I would have, but I wasn’t interested. I was mostly reading magical articles those days, and that particular one was mostly about magic in its connection to anatomy. I didn’t interest me.

And by their lack of answers, it seemed the class wasn’t very interested either. I quietly snickered at them. They were in one of the most prestigious programs Equestria had to offer, and they didn’t even do what they were supposed to! I loved it.

Mr. Globe did not. “I see. And you must not be keeping up with any of the other journals for your other classes, either, because it’s big news right now in Equestria. There's nothing in the newspaper about it yet, but there will be soon. We’ve got info on this creature now. Evidence that’s scientifically accurate. As accurate as science can get, that is.”

I felt a spark of fear in my chest at his news. I was going to be in the newspaper? Oh no. I would have to hide. Stay even lower on the radar than usual. I’d have to stock up on food all at once so I could survive without leaving the pipes more than I had to. I’d need to stay hidden in said pipes for a while before I could risk leaving. News would undoubtedly bolster attention, and they might—

“What kind of news?” one Unicorn chirped. “And how’d they get it?”

Globe Trotter smiled and I turned my attention back to the class. “Big news, class. Big, big news. News that could change the world.”

News that could change the world.

Did that mean I could change the world?

He really had my unfocused attention now. My face was practically embedded into the grille of the vent. It was a foolish thing for me to do, as somepony could have seen me. But I guess Lady Luck was into me that day, because nopony caught me, and I was able to listen to them without being caught.

Mr. Globe took his chalk again and wrote again on the board. “Simply put, DNA samples, kids. It’s that easy. But nopony had ever thought to try to collect them before Clover the Clever decided to pursue the project.”

I felt my heart jump into my throat in silent shock. I was growing well-versed in science back then, and I knew enough about DNA to get an idea of what it meant. What I didn’t know, however, was how they got it, and what they wanted it for. Who knew what the ponies were capable of, if they had a piece of me? They would know more about myself than I did. Unthinkable.

Hooves shot up in the air but Globe Trotter brushed them away. “Now now, I know you all must have a million questions, but just hold on for a while and wait until the I’m finished. In fact, I can already guess what your top question is: how did we obtain his DNA? Easy.”

He pulled a giant map over his chalkboard, revealing the entire layout of Equestria and its borders. He struck at a section of the map with a resounding tap. “Gaittysburg!” He pointed somewhere else. “Neigh Orleans!” Tap tap tap! “Appleloosa, Mareyland, Manehattan! These are several of the many towns where our little vegabond’s been spotted. These were the obvious places to go to find any evidence of his presence in these places. And evidence was found.”

“What kind of evidence?!?” a pony asked, sitting at the edge of his seat. He wasn’t the only one. I’ve always been a very interesting guy, and these ponies looked like they were about to pee their pants with excitement.

(Not that any of them wore pants, but you get the point.)

“I was getting to that, Bunson Burner, no questions until I’m done, remember? Anyway, you all know how this has typically gone over the past few years. The creature would be spotted, and the town would chase him out, typically with weapons of some sort for defense.”

I snorted quietly at that. And offense. A ghost ache from the last place a shovel struck me suddenly felt sore. I rubbed it. Don’t forget that side of the story, mister.

“This is where we found a lot of our DNA. Anything the creature touched made ponies afraid to use them, even if trustworthy Unicorns confirmed there was nothing wrong with them afterward. They saw the items as bad omens and hardly used them. They were more than willing to give them to Clover for her research, and she spent months collecting bits and pieces. But, some samples are better than others, and it wasn’t until she reached Gaittysburg that she managed to get a sample of the creature’s skin cells, found on an old puppet that was found in a fire the creature had left.”

Thaaaaaaaat’s right. The puppet I had played with, the one that had knocked over the candle? It had somehow survived the fire. I don’t know if the fire had known that I'd liked it and didn’t touch it, but the toy had survived. And sompony had saved it for evidence and put it in storage.

That was the second time that puppet got me in trouble. How aggravating it was to find that out! It felt like I was its puppet, rather than its master. And it wasn’t even alive.

And for a fraction of a moment, I felt… betrayed. I had loved that toy; I had worked so hard to learn to use it, and once I had, I had loved playing with it. But it had given me problems even when I thought it was gone forever. I felt powerless.

But I am powerless. That’s why I’m here. That’s why—

“Not only that, but she did a magical survey of the area, and she looked over pieces of shrapnel and found some of his saliva. This was an accurate assumption before she tested it; a stallion from Gaittysburg claims that the creature spat on him in defense on the night the schoolhouse was burnt down. Two big finds in one tiny town. Kids.” He turned around and faced the class. His voice took on a tone that he was about to say something groundbreaking, and I refocused on him. My heart beated even faster as my ears perked towards him.

“Clover has looked into all the samples of the DNA, and she has made some incredible discoveries in her research. We said earlier that he resembled many different creatures, including the possibility that he was part pony. But while his DNA did show to have similar characteristics to the DNA of many other creatures, including ponies, he is a creature all on his own. He has NO common ancestors that we know of. His DNA was a complete contradiction of itself. While he shared some segments that resembled other creatures, he also had some nucleic acids that we have never seen before in any other organism on the planet. He has organic matter that is nothing the likes of which we have ever seen before. We don’t even have a name for some of the DNA he holds in his body.”

My claws seemed to dig into the bottom of the pipes. I was shaking.

The likes of which we have never seen before…

“But that isn’t even the beginning of it, guys. Because in the samples of his skin and saliva, Clover discovered something else that we’ve never seen before. Because there’s no question that this organism has magic. We’ve all heard the stories, right?”

They nodded in unison, but I stopped shaking and turned rigid.

This organism has magic. Wait, I had magic? But the ponies were supposed to have the magic, right? I never had it alone. I only ever saw it when I was around ponies. It wasn’t mine until it let me take it from them. I couldn't be its source!

But if the DNA revealed it, then… was it possible I was wrong?

“So, before I go on, I have a question for one of you. Bunson Burner,” he turned to the pony in question, “tell me. What’s the main purpose of all pony magic? Something that the magic of all three pony types share in common?”

It was a question so easy that it startled ol’ Bunson Burner. Practically any pony, dead or alive, knew the answer to that one.

“Oh, well, that’s obvious, isn’t it?” the young stallion said as he adjusted his glasses. “Our magic’s main purpose is to provide and maintain harmony. That’s why ponies, as a species, struggled so much during the winter before all three tribes came together. We argued and created so much dissent that our magic wasn’t as powerful as it is when ponies get along.”

Mr. Glove nodded. “An excellent explanation, Bunson. That is correct. Most of you know this. But what you don’t know is that this creature…”

He tapped his hoof against my wanted poster again. “This creature, who has been known to make ordinary objects sentient and turn nightmares of the imagination into reality, has magic that directly defies our very own magic. For his, my little ponies... is powered by chaos and disharmony.”

Chaos and disharmony.

Something stirred within me; something seemed to click the second he muttered those two epic words. The first one, this chaos, was new to me, but it sounded so… familiar. As familiar as my reflection in a mirror or the palm of my paw.

I felt a rush in my blood, a familiar feeling to that of magic, and I grew afraid.

Nonono, not now!

The class was anything but quiet now, as the news of my magic had caused quite the ruckus amongst the students. I felt an odd compulsion to stay there, to remain at the end of the pipe and watch through the vent and enjoy the confusion and excitement the ponies seemed to radiate from their bodies. It felt good to be there. Their colliding voices, their protests and shouts and questions, sounded like an orchestra to my ears.

I had no idea why I always felt so thrilled by such things, but every time I did, something bad happened, so I fought the urge to stay and ran off as fast as I could. Their noise covered the sound of my light steps against the metal of the shafts, keeping them light enough not to pound against it too loudly. They didn’t suspect a thing.

I needed to know one thing, and for that to happen, I needed a book. More specifically, a dictionary.

Twilight would be so proud. Can you see my eyes rolling right now?

Hmm, anyway, pretty much every room in that place had some sort of dictionary, so I dropped into the emptiest classroom I could find that was far enough away from anypony else, and I scuttled to the bookshelf.

I was in luck; the dictionary in there was huge, and it was a basic word dictionary, rather than one catered to Unicorn magic. I grabbed it and turned to the C’s. If it wasn’t there, I’d check the K’s next. I had no idea how the word was spelled.

When I finally found it, I was beside myself with excitement. Just looking at the spelling of it seemed delicious. C-H. A silent H! That made no sense whatsoever. It sounded nothing like the word nachos, minus the N. It was a word all on its own, beginning with the harsh, sharp sound of a K, only to end in the smooth sounds of vowels and the hiss of a single S. Why throw the H in there at all, if not to confuse readers? It was perfect already, and I didn’t even know what it meant yet.

In anticipation, I finally read the definition.

Chaos: Complete disorder and confusion.

Everything was becoming clearer for me. There wasn’t just a single lightbulb lighting up in my mind; this discovery was so huge that I felt like I was a lightbulb, flashing and dancing, lighting up everything in the past and present. I got it. I understood.

I had a good idea of what disharmony meant, since I knew what harmony was. Ponies, especially Unicorns studying magic, preached about it all the time. But I looked it up anyway, out of curiosity. I had never thought of there being a word for the opposite of such a huge concept. I thought if I looked that up too, then perhaps I’d understand even more about myself.

Disharmony: Lack of harmony or agreement.

I nodded. I thought as much, but it wasn’t a lot. I needed more. I needed synonyms. A thesauraus!

I looked for one and growled in dissatisfaction as I saw no thesauraus. I threw myself back into the pipe in search of one. This was harder to find, and it took what seemed like hours before I found an old, seemingly abandoned classroom with a bookshelf full of dust.

I coughed as I swiped the spines of the books to clear off the dust. I was at the end of my patience, and getting hungry. I was hoping to find at least a small thesaurus before I went to look for dinner in the kitchens.

As luck would have it, I found a bright yellow one at the bottom of the first shelf. I grabbed it and looked up synonyms.

There were so many glorious words that meant the same thing, but felt different all the same as I said them. I whispered them all aloud as I looked them up. “Chaos: disorder, disarray, disorganization…Well, those aren’t new, those are kinda boring…Hmm…Le’see here…Bedlam, pandemonium, havoc....Oooh, baby, now we’re talkin’!”

I looked up those words as well, but they weren’t much different from chaos. But at least a lot of them sounded as cool as chaos! Though I couldn’t help but prefer that one over all the others.

Next was disharmony, and it was in those words that I was the most fruitful of all.

Disharmony: Discord, friction, strife

Discord… Discord…

That word tasted as delicious on my tongue as chaos did. More exciting than simply disharmony or friction and strife. Those sounded completely and utterly boring to me. Disharmony was one word with three more letters attached to its front, friction made me think of its scientific definition, and strife was just that one word used in poetry a lot when the author was lazy and couldn’t think of anything good enough to rhyme with life that still made sense.

I turned to the dictionary.

Discord: disagreement between ponies. Lack or agreement of harmony between things.

Now that was interesting. This definition was the only one I had found so far that specifically mentioned problems between ponies.

I had a sudden flashback and remembered the first time I used magic, back in Gaittysburg. The Unicorns, the Earth Ponies, and the Pegasi. They had argued over which one of the tribes were best, and I had stayed and listened. I had loved the turmoil it had caused, and in turn, I had added to the mayhem.

Just like I had wanted to stay near the classroom to hear the ponies’ excitement over the teacher’s news about me.

It wasn’t just that I enjoyed excitement in general, nor the fact that I loved everything out of the ordinary. I loved drama, I loved problems that led to other problems, I loved passionate arguments and the faces ponies made when they were completely furious with one another. It made creatures act so much differently than they usually did. It made everything seem upside down and uncertain and unusual, and sometimes, even unreal.

It made things go from dull and ordinary, to crazy and extraordinary.

Discord was chaos, but chaos was not just discord, if the definition was to be taken for the truth. It was so many different things, but I had unknowingly developed my own taste for chaos, and discordance was my favorite flavor.

I finally had an identity.

I dropped the book in wonder at my own thoughts. I had never thought of myself as having an identity that could be described in any real, concrete way. I had only ever seen myself as just what I saw and felt, but I never knew who or what I was.

I was beginning to finally see it, now. A part of it, anyway.

I heard the book land on the floor and I cringed. I was in a remote part of the school, but I had to be quiet if I wanted to stay safe. I waited for a moment before I let myself relax. I reached to pick the book back up.

I noticed a bent piece of paper was sticking out of the dictionary, and out of curiosity, I looked at it. It was nothing special; just an old worksheet, it looked like, one for vocabulary.

And there was no name on the thing! Ha! Some genius that student had been. I snickered. What an amateur. You have to have a name if anypony is going to give you any credit!

As soon as I thought this, I saw a flare in my peripheral vision, and I nearly panicked. Was my magic acting up again?

I felt something slim and smooth form between my fingers, only for something liquid to fall against my fingers. I lifted it up and saw it was a quill, dripping with ink.

It wasn’t chaotic at all, but the magic was telling me something. No, wait; my magic was telling me something. I had interpreted my dream wrong; this was my magic. Not theirs. And it wanted me to write.

I looked at the empty, unwritten space where a name was supposed to be written.

Before I realized it, my hand had moved with the quill in the grip of my fingers. I wrote across it, ink splashing across the signature it left behind.

Name: Discord

“Discord…” I whispered. “Discord…”

I walked to the dusty podium at the front of the room and gazed at the desks. I imagined ponies sitting there, eyes on me.

“Hello, my little ponies. Oh, what is my name, you ask? Good question!”

I smiled ear to ear as I showed the imaginary class my shiny little canines.

“You can call me Discord. Discord, the magic chaos boy. Yeah. That’s me.”

I finally had a name.