Marshall left Cookie Crumbles with a bounce in his step despite the mystery that still stirred in the back of his mind. Aside from seeing Rarity being a tomcolt in her youth, and hearing more interesting and amusing tales about her, he was also in a good mood because he was looking forward to his visit with Fluttershy. Cookie Crumbles had recommended that he pose some of his questions — concerning Rarity — to her, since she believed that Fluttershy was her daughter's closest friend, and that was as good a reason as any to go and see her.
He made a detour to Twilight Sparkle's castle, both to drop off his saddlebags and to see if Fluttershy was still there. Seeing that the ballroom was vacant of changelings and ponies alike, he opted to see if Spike or Twilight Sparkle knew where she was before heading back out. When he failed to find them at the few parts of the castle that he was familiar with, he figured that he could risk taking a walk to Fluttershy's house and back, should she not be home.
Cookie Crumbles had informed him that Fluttershy lived across the river, just outside of the Everfree forest, and that her home would be easy to find: not only because it was among the few homes that were remotely close to said forest, but because of the owner's efforts to cater to various animals.
So, he knew that he had found the right place when he came upon a house with many nests, burrows and bird houses in its front yard, as well as many of the latter on the house itself. The cottage in question was quaint, to put it simply, although he had to wonder about the grass-like roof, because it didn't exactly look like thatch and he had never seen any that was green.
Leading up to the house was a natural-looking bridge that arched over a small pond, which he crossed over slowly when he spotted a frog that was sitting on a lily pad, something that he had only seen in pictures before. When he reached the door, he paused, hoping to hear any activity inside, before knocking.
"Who is it?" Came Fluttershy's muffled response.
Glad that she was home, Marshall answered, "Recherché!"
The door opened a few seconds later, and a reserved Fluttershy opted to not step any closer to the doorway. "Hello. Um... Did you need anything?"
"Well," Marshall temporized, as he tried to make himself look as non-intimidating as possible, "Rarity's mom recommended that I talk to you about her daughter, and... I was kind of hoping that we could just chat afterward?"
Fluttershy perked up a little bit at the request, despite the seriousness of the statement that had preceded it. "Oh, of course." She stepped aside to allow him entrance. "Please come in."
After stepping past the threshold, Marshall couldn't help pausing and marveling at the room that he found himself in. On his left was a hutch desk, the kind that had a door that doubled as a desktop when opened. On his right was a wood-burning stove made of stone, where the furnace was already in the process of heating up a tall kettle. Across the room was the sitting area, consisting of a chaise lounge, armchair and a couple of small tables.
What really caught his eye, though, were all of the accommodations that were made for animals. There were more birdhouses, and he saw at least two of their perches being occupied by a bird of some description. Mouse holes were all over the place, rather than just on the floor level. The ceiling was crisscrossed with a number of walkways, including one that was suspended, and he noticed a squirrel watching him from it. Connecting a lot of areas in the room were little stairways, going so far as to zigzag from the floor to a mouse hole in the middle of the wall, or wrapping around the flue of the stove multiple times.
When his attention returned to Fluttershy, he realized that his scrutiny had made her self-conscious, possibly uncomfortable. He quickly tried to remedy that, by apologetically saying, "Sorry! I've just never seen anyone's home this dedicated to animals before. It's really neat."
Fluttershy relaxed upon hearing that. "Thank you. Would you like some tea?"
Marshall opened his mouth to reply, but a seemingly-disembodied voice, in a familiar, masculine-sounding tone, chose that time to say, "Did somepony say tea?"
Immediately following the now-familiar sight and sound of someone using teleportation magic, an unfamiliar creature appeared beside Fluttershy, who was neither startled nor surprised by it. Said creature, if it was its own species, appeared to be an amalgamation of several: one hind leg was from some kind of lizard while the other came from a hoofed animal, a feline paw and bird talon was what it had for forelegs, one wing was a bird's while the other belonged to a bat, and on its head was a pair of horns, consisting of a deer antler and a goat horn. Its overall body shape was that of a serpent, which was especially true of its tail, while its head seemed to be a mix of donkey and goat. The snaggletooth and asymmetrical red eyes, which had yellow sclera, alongside everything else, was a somewhat disquieting image.
Fluttershy calmly looked up at the creature beside her and commented, "I didn't know you were here, Discord."
Marshall recalled hearing about Discord when Rarity had told him about the circumstances surrounding the creation of Twilight Sparkle's castle. She hadn't said much about him beyond his role in the tale, but she had mentioned that he was now a friend, so he was willing to take his cues from Fluttershy.
"Oh, I wasn't," came Discord's flippant reply, before making a sweeping gesture with his arms, as if to showcase the room. "Haven't you ever heard that the walls have ears?"
After a blink of the eyes, Marshall could see the walls covered in all sorts of ears, where none had been a split second ago. It proved to be distracting — as well as disturbing — enough that he didn't notice Discord say, "What have we here," before appearing beside him. He certainly took notice of him, however, when he hunched over enough for his head to nearly be parallel with his own and entered his field of view.
"Hmmmm..." Discord hummed thoughtfully, who seemed to be peering closely at the empty space that was near the side of Marshall's head. "How interesting."
He extended his paw, with its "index finger" extended, and moved it away from Marshall's head in a straight line, as if it were sliding along something. At the same time, Marshall's body simultaneously stiffened and shuddered. He could only liken the experience to hearing someone scraping their nails across a chalkboard, and it also made him wonder if another, accompanying sensation was what people meant when they said that someone had walked over their grave.
Noticing the affect that the action was having on Marshall, Fluttershy admonished Discord like a mother would their child. "Discord."
Discord paused what he was doing and glanced over at Fluttershy with a mixture of confusion and contriteness on his face. "What?"
Fluttershy pointed at Marshall, and Discord drew his paw away when he noticed the stock-still, cold-sweating pony that had caught his interest. "Oh."
Standing up straight, he proceeded to mimic pulling something from his head and giving it a pluck, which resulted in him freezing up in the literal sense. While he was in that state, Fluttershy stepped up to Marshall and concernedly asked, "Are you alright?"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Marshall eventually replied, "Y-yeah," and tried to put the perturbing experience behind him.
Discord shook his body in a way that was strangely both serpentine and canine, showering the immediate area with snowflakes. "Brrrr! That was quite unpleasant." He vanished and reappeared in the air right behind Fluttershy's head, his body in a reclined position as he casually said, "So, obviously I missed something while I was away."
"Discord," Fluttershy began, as she gestured toward Marshall, "this is Recherché."
Marshall smiled uncertainly and gave a weak wave in greeting.
Looking over her shoulder to regard Discord, Fluttershy added, "Remember when I told you about Rarity's plan to look for inspiration in other universes? Well, she connected with Recherché, and she agreed to help her."
That was putting it rather simply, but Marshall could appreciate certain details being omitted. Either way, he tried to not be nervous about the intrigued expression that Discord was directing his way as he stroked his beard.
After Fluttershy confirmed that both of her guests wanted tea, she added more tea leaves to the teapot before filling it with hot water. While the tea was steeping, she retrieved a magenta cushion for Marshall to sit on, which she set by the table that was beside the armchair. In the meantime, Discord claimed the chaise lounge, who looked suitably bored as he leisurely used a brace to drill a hole into his body. Marshall couldn't help watching him in morbid fascination, until Fluttershy — who was unaffected by Discord's behavior — deemed the tea ready and served it on the tables between the chairs and cushion.
Once Marshall was settled on the cushion, and Fluttershy in her armchair, he watched the steam wafting out of his tea cup for a few seconds before deciding to fill the silence while it cooled down. The silence was broken by Discord instead, however, because he didn't seem to have any trouble drinking a scalding liquid, on account of the old-fashioned steam whistle that had replaced one of his horns, which was wailing and billowing steam while he drank.
When the whistle died down, he spared Discord one more look before speaking, assuming that Fluttershy would have said something about his presence if he wasn't privy to what they were about to talk about. "So," he began, making sure that he had Fluttershy's attention before he continued, "I think I know what's driving Rarity's desire to work so hard."
Fluttershy leaned forward, her expression and tone that of a concerned friend as she asked, "Oh, do you?"
Marshall nodded his head. "Yeah. So far the evidence is pointing to her wanting to be a princess."
He heard a spit-take after his statement, so he — along with Fluttershy — turned to look toward its source: Discord. He had tea running down his face, while the tea cup ran a small handkerchief along its rim with limbs that it didn't have before.
"What?" Discord replied, as if he didn't understand the reason for their attention. "You wouldn't expect a teacup to see that coming, would you?"
Fluttershy, unfazed, returned her attention to Marshall, who was understandably still nonplussed by Discord's antics. "Um," she hesitantly started, drawing Marshall's gaze back to her, "are you sure?"
Marshall opened his mouth to answer, but something about her response made him pause and rethink his reponse. When he was sure of what he wanted to ask, he queried, "Do you think there's another explanation?"
"Well..." Fluttershy temporized, as she ducked her head and hid most of her face with her mane. "I know how it looks, but I don't think she wants to be a princess."
Taking her word for it, Marshall took a moment to consider what she had said against what he knew before asking, "Do you think it's possible for it to be a means to an end?"
After some contemplation, Fluttershy was willing to offer a tentative, "Maybe."
Marshall's eyes fell on his teacup as he thought about the possibility of Rarity's true objective being something else, where becoming a princess was merely a stepping stone. What might she be after, that would necessitate being a princess? Something didn't seem to be adding up, but he didn't know what he could be missing. To take his mind off of the rising frustration that the mystery was kindling within him, due to how close to solving it he thought he was, he levitated his tea over to himself and blew on its surface a few times before risking a small sip. Wincing as the scalding liquid passed over his lips, he returned his tea to the table for a bit longer.
Since Fluttershy might be Rarity's closest friend, and another friend — Twilight Sparkle — couldn't be sure what Rarity's special talent was, he decided to seize the opportunity and try to solve another potential mystery. If for no other reason, other than to somehow use the knowledge to help Rarity, it might give him better insight into what she might be trying to achieve.
"This question might sound odd," he prefaced, "but do you know what Rarity's cutie mark means?"
"Why do you ask?" Fluttershy prevaricated, with a hint of discomfort, nervousness or both, which had the effect of making Discord noticeably tense and alert.
"Because I approached Twilight Sparkle with this question last night and she couldn't give me a definitive answer," Marshall explained, as he warily eyed Discord out of the corner of his eye. "I was hoping you might be able to help us figure it out."
"Twilight really isn't sure?" Fluttershy queried, her expression slightly hopeful. Upon receiving confirmation, she breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I've suspected that her talent wasn't in fashion, but I couldn't be sure and I didn't want to upset Rarity whether I was wrong or not."
Marshall's body and ears perked up simultaneously at that admission. "Can you tell me what made you think her talent wasn't what you thought it was?"
Fluttershy nodded her head, seemingly eager to share what she knew. "It wasn't long after we became friends. She offered to make all of us outfits for the Grand Galloping Gala. While I don't consider myself an expert on the matter, I didn't expect the quality of the outfit to be... Um..."
Catching on to what she wanted to say, but didn't have the heart to, Marshall helpfully offered, "Less than stellar?"
"Less than stellar," Fluttershy softly agreed, before continuing. "Of course, I wasn't going to tell her that, but she insisted that I tell her what I really thought." She ducked her head a bit. "A lot. She wouldn't give up, so I eventually caved and told her all of the flaws that I saw in it."
Marshall leaned toward Fluttershy avidly and asked, "What happened?"
Looking away guiltily, Fluttershy replied, "Oh, well, the poor dear was shocked speechless. I didn't think much about it at the time, because I felt bad about what happened, but — in retrospect — that was the first time that I noticed something strange."
Leaning back, Marshall folded his forelegs and hummed thoughtfully before wondering, "Was it just the outfit that you found strange? What about her reaction?"
Fluttershy blinked her eyes a few times in bemusement, apparently having not thought about it before. With some uncertainty, she answered, "I suppose her reaction was strange..." She cocked her head and furrowed her brow ever-so-slightly as she continued to think about it. "I know that not all ponies would openly take offense to their talent being put into question like that, but she never defended or explained herself at any time. It doesn't seem like her to not put something like that to rest." She shook her head. "Not that I would have expected some of those mistakes from her either, even though she had begun her apprenticeship so young."
Deciding that that information would suffice, partly because he didn't want to press Fluttershy too much, Marshall opted to ask about the other talent that Twilight Sparkle thought was possible for Rarity to have. "Do you think she has a talent in finding gems instead?"
Shifting her gaze upward in thought, Fluttershy deliberately said, "I don't know... Maybe? Twilight would know better than me." A second later she recalled a notable event, thanks to how rarely she had experienced the relevant subject matter, leading her to perk up and establish eye contact with Marshall without reservation. "Oh! I just remembered something, but you'll have to ask Twilight Sparkle if it means anything."
"What is it?" Marshall inquired, curious as to what Twilight Sparkle might have to ascertain.
"Well," Fluttershy began, some of her reservation returning as she dredged up what details she could, "quite some time ago, Twilight copied a spell from Rarity — which I didn't even know unicorns could do. It was a spell that revealed all of the gems nearby. It just seems odd for Rarity to need that kind of spell if she has a talent for being led directly to the gems she wants."
Marshall barely had enough time to think about this latest bit of information when he heard Discord chuckle. Turning his attention to him, he saw that he was now lying on his front, with his head propped up on the heels of his "hands." He had an amused grin on his face as his tail swayed to and fro above him.
"...Did I say something funny?" Came Fluttershy's uncertain query.
"Your friend's talent is so painfully obvious that it's killing me," Discord drolly replied, before suddenly clutching at his chest, spasming a few times as he emitted comical-sounding noises, then collapsing listlessly, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and the yellow of his eyes crossed out in red.
Fluttershy didn't even blink at the display. "Oh, you know what her talent is?"
The front door swung open and another Discord entered the room, wearing an emergency medical technician shirt and pulling a gurney behind him. "Of course I do," he answered while he made his way to his supposedly-dead double. Upon reaching him, he carelessly swung him onto the gurney before kicking it away, sending both careening out of the house, the door slamming shut in their wake.
Tossing his shirt away, he casually reclined on the chaise lounge and continued, saying, "And before you ask: no; I can't tell you what her talent is."
While Marshall was too flabbergasted by his antics to inquire about that, despite being the one that had come around for some detective work, Fluttershy tilted her head and asked, "Why not?"
"Because omnipotent and clever beings," he pressed the digits of his feline paw upon his chest, "such as myself, often end up being bound by nonsensical rules or obstructed by terrible plot devices."
"...Plot devices?" Marshall unthinkingly muttered, as he stared at Discord with an incredulous expression on his face.
Inured to such statements, Fluttershy remained focused and leaned toward Discord, whom she unintentionally regarded with a rather imploring look. "You can't even give us a hint?"
Initially shying away from her gaze, Discord took a few seconds to compose himself outwardly, at which point he closed his eyes and stroked his beard in thought. "Hmmmm," he hummed, as he sought for any wiggle room that might allow him to help Fluttershy. Upon finding some, he perked up with delight and raised himself high enough to knock away the lit light bulb that had appeared over his head. "Why, yes; I do believe I can!"
"Now," he continued, as he meshed his digits together and popped their joints by stretching out his arms, "watch closely."
He raised his feline hand, with its thumb pointing skyward and its index finger extended, then jerked it back in recoil when he shot something from his simulated barrel. That something turned out to be Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark, which tumbled through the air at a rather sedate pace. By the time it came between Fluttershy and Marshall, who were keenly studying it to figure out what the hint meant, they both jumped in surprise when it suddenly burst into a miniature yet noisy firework display.
Without thinking, Marshall reacted by directing a look that was half dirty and half questioning toward Discord, who feigned innocence and casually replied to his look with, "That last bit wasn't a part of the hint, by the by."
Irritated, and heartrate still elevated from being startled, Marshall decided to see if his tea had cooled down enough to drink while he thought about the hint, which he could only hope wasn't another joke. It was uncomfortably hot, but it was a nice distraction from how he was feeling at that moment. After a few sips, and having no success in figuring out Discord's hint, he turned to Fluttershy and asked, "Can you think of anything?"
Fluttershy shook her head apologetically.
Rather than dwell on it any further, since he had intended to spend most of his time chatting with Fluttershy about other things, Marshall set his tea down and changed the subject. "So, uh... You told me that you took care of animals, but you didn't say how much."
Blushing with embarrassment, Fluttershy looked askance and humbly replied, "It's not that much, really."
Marshall wasn't going to believe that with all of the accommodations that she had made for animals, especially all of the ones and kinds inside the house. "You don't have to be modest. I think it's awesome. Which is why I was wondering: did you have any plans to do more?"
"Plans?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Yeah," Marshall said, as he prepared to explain himself. "I was wondering since it's related to your talent and you've gone this far already. Or are you satisfied with sharing your land and home?"
Fluttershy worried her bottom lip. "Well..."
Seeing her reluctance, Marshall readily offered, "You don't have to share if you don't want to."
Her gaze spontaneously flickered over to Discord for a split second. Marshall couldn't help following where she looked, which made the attention apparent enough to the one being subjected to it, who inquired, "What? Is there some thing on my face?"
While Discord pat his face to see if anything was there, which turned out to be an animated hand that crawled around on its fingertips and dodged his searching hand, Marshall returned his attention to Fluttershy and used the expression on his face to convey an apology, followed by one that asked, "What do you want to do?"
After an obvious internal struggle, Fluttershy sighed in resignation and quietly confessed, "My dream is to build a real animal sanctuary."
"A real one?" Marshall inquired, wondering what she meant.
"Mm-hm," Fluttershy confirmed with a nod of her head, before her gaze drifted away from him and began to stare into the distance. "I want to build a beautiful habitat, where every animal, whether sick, scared or even just lonely, feathered or furry, scaly or slimy, would be welcome. My sanctuary would be the one place in Equestria that they could call home till they feel ready to take on the world."
Discord reached into Fluttershy's ear with two fingers and grasped something between them, and she let out an, "Eep," as he drew out what appeared to be some kind of fabric that was as large as a tablecloth and square in shape. He got to his feet and held it up by two corners, revealing a picture of what she had been envisioning in her mind when talking about the sanctuary. While she bashfully hid her face behind her hooves, Marshall examined the scenic image set against a forest and waterfall, which had the plunge pool as the centerpiece and — naturally — a stream running through the sanctuary. There were various places for animals to live, rest, play and do whatever certain species did with themselves. It was as heartwarming as it was charming.
Once Discord had gotten a good look at it himself, he appeared to be baffled, and possibly a bit hurt, as he spoke to Fluttershy. "You've never mentioned this to me before."
Fluttershy turned her head away from him and looked down guiltily. "I, well... I didn't want you to think that I was trying to take advantage of your abilities."
Discord regarded her with a perplexed expression on his face. "Why would you think that?"
"Because," Fluttershy began, who paused and started to fidget with her forehooves when she couldn't formulate a clear explanation quickly enough. "Um..."
Unable to resist helping her out, partly due to being able to read the situation and relate to it, Marshall made a point of directing his attention to the clueless Discord and said, "When someone cares enough about something, their worry for it might create a problem that wouldn't otherwise exist."
Discord blinked his eyes owlishly, then turned an inquisitive look toward Fluttershy. "Really? Is that how it is?"
Despite her obvious embarrassment, Fluttershy managed to meet his gaze and nod her head resolutely before earnestly saying, "I never told you because... I wanted to be the kind of friend that you needed. Princess Celestia wanted you to be reformed, so you would be willing to use your magic to help us, but I didn't want there to be any doubt in your mind that our friendship was forged apart from that." By then the blush on her cheeks had disappeared, but she was no less emotionally-invested as she continued. "She said that you had to offer your magic to us of your own free will, so the last thing I wanted to do was ask you to help me with something personal and risk giving you the wrong impression. I didn't want you to think that we were only friends because of what you can do with your magic."
Touched by her words, Discord dropped the image that Fluttershy had envisioned in her mind and assumed a solemness in his expression and bearing that Marshall figured was rare for him. "Fluttershy... Before Twilight Sparkle included me in her trade with Tirek, I considered you the only real friend I had. Well..." He turned his head aside in embarrassment and scratched the side of his face. "Until I was offered a chance to enjoy the old days again." Regaining his composure, he reestablished eye contact with Fluttershy and said, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: you don't have to worry about that. Friends can help each other, right?"
Both happy and relieved, Fluttershy smiled softly, nodded her head and echoed her agreement. "Right."
Marshall levitated the cloth that Discord had discarded and proffered it to him with an expectant look on his face. Getting the message, Discord perked up and accepted it before returning his attention to Fluttershy. "Was there any place in particular that you wanted to set this up at?"
Excited by the offer being made, Fluttershy leapt from her chair and rushed to the door, which she opened and hurried through without saying a word. Discord, despite being a little startled by her behavior, snapped his fingers and disappeared a second later. It took a few seconds more for Marshall to make the decision to follow them, worried that he might be a third wheel. However, he was curious about Discord's power, didn't feel comfortable being alone in someone else's home, had no idea how long Fluttershy would be gone, and still wanted to have a proper chat with her.
Fortunately, Fluttershy's yellow coat stood out against the grass, dirt and trees, and Discord was flying above her, so he was able to follow them to their destination. That turned out to be a small hill that overlooked a familiar stream, although he wouldn't have recognized it if he hadn't just seen it depicted on the cloth that Discord had pulled out of Fluttershy's ear. He almost couldn't believe it despite that, since there was a major detail missing: the waterfall.
When he reached them, and stopped beside Fluttershy, Discord was holding the cloth up, in such a way that it blocked their view of the prospective sanctuary site. He was unsure whether they noticed him or not, but it was quickly made evident that his presence wasn't going to derail whatever Discord was currently doing.
"Now," Discord began, who seemed confident yet gave Marshall the impression that at least some of his confidence was a facade, "is this exactly what you want?"
Fluttershy, who was brimming with barely-contained eagerness, readily replied, "Oh, yes! It's been such a long time since I've been able to think of anything to add or change to the sanctuary."
Discord proceeded to toss the cloth aside with a flourish, and its trajectory went unnoticed because of what was revealed behind it: exactly what they had just been looking at on the cloth. Marshall's jaw dropped as he stared in shock. While moving the sun had certainly been an unbelievable feat, at least he could imagine the kind of forces involved. Here, he had no idea how Discord had made such a change without it being noticeable, as if the new sanctuary had been there all along. The waterfall was especially mind-boggling, considering how high it was and thus how far the unseen part of the new stream might have to go to reach a constant source of water that was high enough for gravity to make it functional.
He didn't know how long he had been in a stupor, but Fluttershy's voice eventually brought him out of it, just in time to see her launch herself at Discord and hug him while thanking him profusely, her words strained by emotion. Discord was initially surprised by the action, but eventually reciprocated the hug and looked down at her fondly. The moment they were having made him feel a little uncomfortable, a bit like an intruder, so he tried to make himself unobtrusive by quietly turning away from them and setting his attention elsewhere, hoping it would offer some semblance of privacy without doing anything that would interrupt them.
After a minute or so, he finally heard Fluttershy gasp and say, "Oh! Recherché!" After he turned back around to face her mortified visage, she continued. "I am so sorry!"
Before she could say any more, he held out a hoof to stop her and assured, "I understand, so don't worry about it." Glad that she just looked embarrassed now, he turned his attention to Discord, who was looking rather unsure of himself, and added, "I'm just glad that someone was able to help make your dream become a reality."
Discord regained his composure, which Marshall could only assume was due to avoiding the subject of his behavior with Fluttershy, and casually stated, "Well, it was the least I could do for a friend."
"How did you do that, anyway?" Marshall couldn't help inquiring, his curiosity greatly piqued. As far as a cartoon universe went, what he had seen so far had been relatively sensible, but Discord's antics seemed more at home with cartoons like the Looney Tunes. "You only blocked our view for a few seconds, and in that time it's like you created something out of nothing."
Appearing to be surprised by the question, Discord teleported over to Marshall and lowered his head so he could whisper conspiratorially. "Now that," he paused to make a show out of looking for eavesdroppers, then raised an index finger between them and waggled it, "is a secret!"
Marshall stared in disbelief as Discord teleported back from whence he came, suspecting that the reference he had made was only unique to his world's culture. He would have to check to be sure, but he had the feeling that Discord had just demonstrated more of his abilities in response to his inquiry about said abilities, which — if his expression said anything — had clearly amused him.
Before he could recover enough to think of something else to say, Fluttershy remembered what the sanctuary was supposed to be for and ran off to gather her animal friends, in order to introduce them to it. He caught Discord staring after her, with a small, gentle smile, which lasted until he noticed the attention.
"What?" Came Discord's somewhat defensive response.
Not wanting to prod a potential bee hive, especially after seeing what Discord was able to do, Marshall stuck with what was comfortable and tried to be placating with his delivery of, "Sorry. I'm still trying to wrap my head around what you can do."
Discord waved a hand dismissively. "You haven't even seen what I'm really capable of." He proceeded to cross his arms and look a mite petulant. "I'd show you, just to see the look on your face, but I seriously doubt that the scale of such a demonstration would be appreciated."
Seeing that he had somehow stumbled upon another touchy subject, he cautiously asked, "How come?"
Staring at Marshall as if he'd asked a stupid question, Discord replied, "You do know that I'm a spirit of chaos, right?"
Marshall shook his head.
"Well, now you know," Discord carelessly said, before turning away and motioning toward the world at large with both arms. "And this harmony-centric land doesn't care much for my brand of fun."
Tempted to leave it at that, and hoping that Fluttershy wouldn't take too long to return, Marshall didn't immediately reply. However, Discord's situation and powers were too intriguing to not think about, and they seemed like a combination that could lead to trouble down the road, if they weren't suitably addressed. Discord had once been an enemy of Equestria, after all, so the potential for a relapse to that mindset wasn't a stretch, especially since he'd relapsed once already. Disillusionment could throw a big wrench into the early stages of adaptation, and that could easily inspire a variety of negative feelings, which could lead to the kind of behavior that Equestrians would no doubt wish to avoid as a consequence.
In the end, he couldn't ignore someone who was having trouble fitting in: because it was something that he could strongly relate to, even if the reason for Discord being out of place was foreign to him. So, after some contemplation, he called out to Discord to wake him up, who had seemingly fallen asleep on his feet while he had been preoccupied with his thoughts. Discord jerked awake, who smacked his lips a few times and blinked his eyelids out of sync while the Zs that had been drifting away from his head rode off on lambs instead of reaching the point where they popped out of existence.
"Are we there, yet?" Discord asked, before yawning and absently scratching underneath a wing.
Ignoring that, Marshall inquired, "How are you feeling about your reformation?"
Discord hadn't expected that kind of question, because it took him a few seconds to narrow his eyes in suspicion and reply, "Why do you ask?"
Marshall mentally clamped down on his nerves and hoped that he wouldn't run out of luck trying to help yet another stranger who could do who-knows-what to him if things went south. Idly, he wondered when he'd gotten so much nerve to be this open and direct when he wanted to help someone. "Well, based on what I've heard and seen so far, it didn't look like you were completely happy with your situation." In light of the cocked eyebrow being directed at him, and the accompanying look that told him he had assumed the guise of Captain Obvious, he awkwardly forged ahead. "I was kinda, well..." Having some trouble finding his words, he lamely finished with, "I was just wondering if I could help in some way."
Discord clasped his hands over his mouth, making it apparent that he was bursting at the seams with amusement. That was made literal when one of his sides suddenly tore open and a mass of batting burst free. He collapsed in a fit of laughter immediately afterward, but before long he pulled out a thread and needle from somewhere and tried to sew himself up. While he attempted to do that, despite all the shakes and spasms from his laughter, he managed to get out, "Look at what you've done! You have me in stitches!"
Feeling his face heat up and adrenaline spike, Marshall restrained his reaction to turning his back on Discord and sitting down, trying to keep his mind clear as he waited for Fluttershy's return. He didn't notice when the laughing stopped, so focused was he on ignoring Discord and keeping his cool, but he certainly noticed him when his face appeared from above and blocked his view.
"So," Discord casually began, as if nothing of note had just happened between them, "what did you have in mind to help me?"
Marshall stared at Discord incredulously, and had half a mind to snap at his audacity. However, he knew that wouldn't lead anywhere good or productive, so he sighed and rose to all four hooves, with Discord standing upright at the same time. After turning around to face him, he allowed himself a calming breath before speaking, because what he hoped to say came from a personal place.
"First," he began, opting to fish for some information first, "are you expected to give up being chaotic?"
Discord opened his mouth to reply, then shut it and frowned before trying again. "Actually, I'm not sure."
"Do you know how the enforcers of your reformation feel about what you do?" Marshall followed up with.
"I know that Fluttershy doesn't really mind," Discord easily replied, before turning more thoughtful. "Pinkie Pie isn't bothered, but that's no surprise, really. The others tolerate my antics, but only to an extent."
Giving Discord a more piercing look, Marshall asked, "What about princess Celestia, since it was her idea to reform you?"
Discord furrowed his brow and stroked his beard as he thought about it. "Well, I heard that she enjoyed the last gala, even though my friend got ooze all over the place and I threatened to send someone to another dimension..."
Marshall suppressed his curiosity about the aforementioned event and got to the point, relieved that he could make it. "I think what you need is an outlet to be yourself, so others can get to know and accept who you are instead of only conforming to what others want."
Perking up with obvious interest, Discord said, "Oh? Did you have anything in mind?"
Despite his limited interaction with Discord, Marshall felt fairly confident that he had gotten a good enough read of his character to come up with an idea that was both suitable and promising. "I was thinking that you could ask a princess about setting up and running an amusement park." Noticing the intense look of contemplation and excitement on Discord's face, who was probably thinking about the things that he could do with an amusement park, he momentarily raised his voice before continuing, to try and interrupt those thoughts and bring him back down to earth. "Just be sure that you're not the only one who gets to have fun, and your visitors know what they're getting into."
Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared a second after he had finished speaking, giving no indication that he had heard him or planned to heed his words. He began to worry that he might have made a mistake with his suggestion, and his doubt made him wonder what had compelled him to offer his help so forwardly in the first place. Sure, he liked to help people when he could, especially if he could be discreet about it, if not completely unknown, but as of late he had been something of a busybody. Was it the circumstances that brought this out of him, or was it something else?
A few minutes later Fluttershy returned with an entourage of animals. She was too absorbed with them to notice him, or that Discord was absent, as she happily chatted with them and showed them around the sanctuary. While she did that, he was content to watch and admire her, which was a lot better than worrying about Discord or himself.
It didn't last, of course, and Fluttershy eventually got back to him and asked about Discord's whereabouts. With some hesitation, he replied that he might have given Discord the idea to set up an amusement park. Rather than worry about it like he was, she seemed more intrigued than anything, and looked forward to seeing what he would come up with.
After that they made their way back to her house, where they returned to their cooled cups of tea and restarted their chat. With Fluttershy glowing with happiness, she turned out to be more loquacious than Marshall would have expected of her, and he had a pleasant time talking about mostly-inconsequential things for what could have been an hour. He would have preferred spending a bit more time with her, but not only did he have one more obligation to see to before it got too late, but Fluttershy wanted to tell Dr. Fauna about the sanctuary before taking care of one of her own commitments.
While Fluttershy took flight from her doorstep, Marshall set off at a trot until he could get a look at the clock tower. When he saw that it was a quarter to four, he slowed to a walk, knowing that he'd have plenty of time to meet Sweetie Belle and her friends at their clubhouse, who would be expecting him thanks to Cookie Crumbles offering to catch them at the school when it let out.
He reflected on his time with Fluttershy until Twilight Sparkle's castle entered his field of vision and the large star at the top reminded him of Discord's clue, since said star reminded him of her cutie mark. Then he stopped dead in his tracks after thinking about it for a few seconds, as the clue and the castle brought certain ideas together that made him think of something that couldn't be mere coincidence. When he considered everything else that was relevant to his investigation, with some things he was only able to recall — and thus include — because of their recentness and his attention to the matter in general, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
Mouth dry, he wondered what he should do with his discovery. He didn't think that revealing it to Rarity or her friends would be a good idea, because there was no telling if the knowledge would cause any problems or not. What Rarity hoped to accomplish was so profound that there was no question in his mind that he should exercise a lot of caution with what he believed was going on.
Despite being in a bit of a daze, he eventually got himself moving again, deciding that he could spare some time to determine a course of action after seeing Sweetie Belle. After thinking about the meeting that he was going to have with her for a moment, he wondered if she could answer a new question that he had about Rarity's cutie mark.