"Permission to enter, ma'am?" Rainbow Dash asked her boss.
"Come in, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie," Applejack invited.
"Why did you tell Cheerilee?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "We thought the NSA was a secret! How could you just tell her that?"
"You weren't supposed to blow your cover," Applejack shot back sternly. "Besides, what do you mean I told her?"
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were surprised.
"If you didn't, then who did?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Just then, the door opened suddenly. They saw a draconequus standing there, but it wasn't the one they knew.
The draconequus smirked at them. "Now, my brother will never be loved. Just the way it should be."
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were aghast at first, but then they shot him death glares.
"Misfortune," Applejack said gritting her teeth.
"He's a monster," Misfortune said. "He doesn't need to be loved."
"Then, how in the hay did someone like you get it?" Applejack asked restraining all her anger.
Misfortune avoided the question similar to the way a chariot avoided a crash in Manehattan. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that my brother doesn't get it."
Pinkie Pie then remembered what they overheard Discord and Fluttershy talking about in the garden.
"You're the monster," Pinkie Pie said. "You're a monster inside! Your actions show that you are a heartless creature with true hate. A true monster."
Misfortune laughed. It reminded Applejack and Rainbow Dash of a donkey with tonsillitis.
"A disguise can really deceive poor Cheerilee, can't it?" Misfortune said. "I wonder if that would work to make Sweet Melody take out the trash."
Misfortune snapped his claw and teleported back to his own house.
Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
"Your mission is to---" Applejack was cut off.
"Ma'am, the truth is we don't want to be spies anymore," Pinkie Pie cried.
Applejack just stared at them for a really long time. "What?"
"We're sick of hiding in the shadows," Rainbow Dash said. "We want to make a difference in the light."
Applejack smiled. "You girls are full of surprises."
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie took off their spy uniforms, ear pieces, and shades and gave them back to Applejack.
"Can I give you one last mission before you go?" Applejack asked. "To do without hiding?"
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie nodded.
"Misfortune is planning something sinister," Applejack explained. "He truly hates Discord and wants to... rid of him."
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stood agape. They knew she meant kill.
"So, I ask you to protect Fluttershy and Discord," Applejack said. "Please make sure that nothing happens to their family."
"Of course," Rainbow Dash said. "But, we're going to need some help."
There was a knock on the door.
Discord sulked over to the door and pulled it open. When he saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie standing there, he narrowed his eyes. He was about to slam the door.
"Wait!" Rainbow Dash yelped.
Discord kept the door open and stared at them.
"Go get Fluttershy back!" Pinkie Pie told him. "I know that she'd rather be your wife and your triplets mother than a nanny."
Discord looked at them hopefully. "You do?"
"Hurry!" Rainbow Dash begged. "Her ship is leaving soon!"
"Girls, you're something," Discord said.
"We can do all of that later," Rainbow Dash said. "Hurry!"
Discord raced out the door and Rarity and the triplets rushed out.
"We overheard," Rarity said.
"Girls, we need your help," Pinkie Pie said.
"Our help?" Apple Bloom asked. "What can we do?"
"Misfortune wants to get rid of Discord!" Pinkie Pie said.
Rarity and the triplets gasped.
"Why ever does he want to do that?!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Because he's more jealous of Discord than Discord is of him," Rainbow Dash said. "He wants to get rid of Discord so he doesn't have to envy him anymore."
"That's terrible!" Sweetie Belle cried. "What can we do to help?"
"Just follow my lead," Rainbow Dash said.
Fluttershy boarded a ship at the Baltimare Harbor. She looked back at the land and tears filled her eyes. She was leaving the only home she ever knew. Discord's. Even her peaceful cottage with her animals didn't feel completely right. She loved the triplets, she missed being able to confide in Rarity, and she didn't know why but she thought of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie as her best friends. The cost of them telling Applejack had cost her the place she loved, but she didn't care. She missed them. They felt like her family. But most of all, she missed Discord. She felt as if her heart was slowly ripping itself into shreds like paper. Discord felt like no one loved him and that she would never like him back. But she loved Discord. He made her laugh. He said nice things to her. His heart was in the right place. His looks didn't scare her away. She could see past all of that.
Tears began to spill down her cheeks as the ship's bell rang and then it began to move away from the harbor.
As it sailed over the water, she watched the land until it shrank away and disappeared. Fluttershy looked across the blue water. The waves lightly tapped at the ship, but the ship was so big that the waves were like little kids trying to get an adult to play hide and seek with them. She began to imagine that and smiled, but her smile faded as she was reminded of the triplets. She pushed the thought out of her mind. She wanted to think of her home, but she didn't. Thinking of her home only brought the memories that she now wanted to forget.
She got lost in thought and looked around the beautiful sky.
A draconequus suddenly appeared right in front of her face. "Fluttershy!" he yelped.
Fluttershy was so startled, she screamed and fell overboard. She was so scared she forgot she had wings. Discord swooped down to catch her just in time using his own wings.
Fluttershy watched the ship to Trottingham sail away without her.
"Discord? What are you doing here?" Fluttershy asked.
"Our lives aren't fun without you here, Fluttershy," Discord said. "The triplets love to play with you and think of you as their mother. Rarity loves to hear your thoughts and share hers with you. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie miss you terribly. And I... I... I love you, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy smiled and gazed into his eyes. She could only see the sincerity in his eyes.
"Discord, I don't want to be a nanny anymore," Fluttershy said. "I want to be the mother of your triplets. The friends of Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. And your special somepony."
"That's exactly what they want you to be," Discord said with a smile.
He snapped his claws and teleported back.