At Fluttershy's cottage, she and Discord were having their weekly Tuesday tea, the one day the draconequus would spend some time with his first and best friend ever. They both laughed, regaling each other with stories of the past week in Fluttershy's living room.
"Care for a carrot-ginger sandwich?" Fluttershy offered.
"Oh! You remembered to cut off the crusts for me," Discord said with delight.
He reached his clawed hand out over a plate of crust-less sandwiches, only to hover them over to the next plate, which had said crusts resting on it. Grabbing one of the square crusts, he popped it into his mouth, humming in satisfaction.
"Of course I did. I know how much you like them," Fluttershy said, able to tolerate Discord's chaotic wackiness more than her other friends.
Discord moved his pawed hand over the actual sandwiches, his fingers popping out from his limb, his head popping in on the digits as they dug into the food. "You really do make the best finger foods," Discord said, waving his now stumpy paw to emphasize the pun he made. One of his fingers let out a rude belch, both Discord and Fluttershy looking down at the beet red finger, feeling embarrassed. "What do you say?"
"Excuse me," the finger said in a high-pitched voice.
"Ugh. I really can't take them anywhere," Discord scoffed, sounding like he was ashamed to see his own children behaving so poorly. Fluttershy giggled though, always amused by his wild chaos, unlike Pinkie with all her random antics that don't have much sense for an earth pony. With the "finger food" eaten, Discord squished his paw onto the plate, putting his fingers back in place, then held out his teacup. "Can I trouble you for another sugarcube?"
Fluttershy nodded, but when she opened the lid to her sugar bowl, it was all out. "Oh, no. I'm so sorry, but I seem to be out."
"Well, I can just pop us in some more," Discord said as he popped his neck out of the small sugar bowl.
He raised his hand to snap his fingers, but Fluttershy gently stopped him. "Oh, that's all right," she assured, the draconequus's head disappearing before he reappeared in his seat. "I need to go to the market anyway. I have to restock my pantry for our tea party next week."
"Oh. I never realized how much work you put into hosting these tea parties." Discord looked around the room, from Fluttershy's arranged tea set, a small cart with their snacks, and even embroidered pillows beside him, one of him and the other with the two together.
"Oh, it's really not that much," Fluttershy shrugged off, but Discord didn't believe so as he stood up and paced around.
"No, no, no, no, no! I've been taking advantage of your hospitality for too long!" he exclaimed. "It's high time I do something about it. What to do, what to do..."
In a flash of light, another Discord appeared behind him, hovering upside down and wore a pair of glasses to make him seem like his intelligent side. "Why don't YOU host the next tea party?" the other Discord suggested, holding the original's ear up as he told him his idea.
"I've got it!" Discord cheered, ignoring his double. "Why don't I host the next tea party at my place!?"
After going about the room excitedly and sitting down, Discord 2 leered at his other self, poking his finger in the real draconequus's nostril as he turned his head. "Hey, that's my idea." Discord stared blankly at his other self, snapping his fingers, creating a hole underneath Discord 2. "...Why didn't I see that coming?"
Falling up into the hole, the Discord 2 yelped as he disappeared, Discord closing up the hole before resuming discussing "his" idea. "So, Fluttershy, what do you think of my brilliant, genius, amazing idea of having the next tea party at my place?"
He grabbed and munched down a couple sandwiches, then created a faucet beside him to wash his hands. "Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "I wouldn't want you to go through any trouble."
"You? Trouble? Never! I insist!" Discord said, summoning a sheep out of nowhere with his magic after washing his hands, using its wool as a paper towel to dry them off while soaking the confused sheep's body.
"Then count me in. I'm already looking forward to it," Fluttershy said.
"Me too! I'm so excited!" Discord said giddily. "I can't wait! No, really, I can't! How about we have the tea party tomorrow afternoon?"
"Sounds good to me," Fluttershy agreed, but then a thought came to her as Discord grew a tree in front of them, picking off a thin branch to use as a toothpick. "You know, Discord, I've never been to your house before."
"Well, that's ok, because I've never hosted a tea party before." Discord's nonchalant response suddenly made him grimace, his mind literally exploding, leaving behind a mushroom cloud above his head that faded away as he began to panic. "I've never hosted a tea party before! So much to do!" Quickly downing his tea, he needed to hurry off so he can begin his plans for his first tea party for Fluttershy. "Thank you so much for the tea and nibblies, but I really must be going!"
"Uh, Discord? Before you go, would you mind helping me tidy up?" Fluttershy asked.
Discord turned around, realizing he left his floating faucet on that began flooding Fluttershy's home, he wet sheep he used to dry his hands earlier, and the tree still sitting in her living room. Angel came by with an irritated scowl, rowing himself along in a small wooden bucket. Feeling silly, Discord snapped his fingers, cleaning up his "mess", leaving it just as Fluttershy left it.
"There you go. Back to normal, just the way you like it. See you tomorrow!" Discord teleported away, much to Angel's relief, hating the draconequus's magic always messing things around one minute and turning it back the next. Fluttershy lifted her cup to take a sip, then got startled when Discord reappeared beside her, making her fumble her cup in her hooves. "I can't wait!" he said before teleporting away again.
Despite the heart attack, Fluttershy giggled at Discord's enthusiasm. "Me either," she said to herself.
In the fields outside Ponyville, the Keyblade wielders gathered together to do a bit of group sparring. Riku was finally up and about, fully recovered from his injuries, and was in dire need to stretch his muscles and get back in shape. Taking turns with one-on-one duels, they refrained from using magic spells and heavy blows that could hurt each other severely. Riku and Twilight were next, the couple engaged in a close-quarters clash, the lavender alicorn controlling her Keyblade with her aura while nimbly avoiding any thrusts or high or low slashes Riku made.
"You really are improving, Twilight," Riku complimented. "But, remember, if you can't use your magic-"
Riku stumbled forward as their clashes ended sooner than he expected, Twilight taking her blade's hilt into her mouth, then swung the flat side of her Keyblade into the pegasus's side, knocking him to the ground. She then pinned him to the ground, holding her weapon over Riku's head.
"I have to physically hold my Keyblade instead," Twilight said, finishing Riku's advice for him. She helped him back on his hooves, sauntering around him in triumph over their sparring match. "I've been practicing, but I can't help but feel so used to telekinetically grasping something then using my hooves or mouth."
"Alright, alright, don't gloat, star butt," Riku warned playfully, giving Twilight's rump a light smack with a wing, making her squeak in surprise with a blush.
"You really want to go back to being hospitalized!?" Twilight exclaimed. "And don't call me 'star butt'!"
"Well, you do have several stars on your-" Riku was interrupted by a lavender blur tackling him to the ground, pinning him on his stomach while pulling one of his hind legs painfully behind him. "AHH! I WAS KIDDING! I'M STILL SORE!"
"You didn't sound like it today!" Twilight scolded.
The others watched Twilight and Riku "wrestle", Sora and Ventus snickering while Kairi, Aqua, and Terra stared in amusement. "So, are they done sparring yet?" Terra asked curiously.
"I think they're on round two," Kairi commented with a giggle.
Popping in behind them, Discord appeared between Aqua and Kairi, startling the others. "Hello! No time to talk! Need to borrow the girls! 'Kay, thanks!"
Hoisting Aqua and Kairi in his arms, Discord teleported away, stunning Sora, Ventus, and Terra. "...Uhh...what just happened?" Terra asked.
"Probably some random scheme Discord's trying to pull," Ventus said.
"Speaking of, when are we gonna have another guy's night?" Sora asked. "I want to level up my character and continue the story."
Kairi and Aqua yelped as they plopped down on a bench in the park, confused by Discord suddenly whisking them away from the others. Before them, Discord paced around nervously.
"Alright, Discord, what's going on?" Aqua questioned.
"And why did you drag us away from Twilight and the guys?" Kairi added.
"I'm going to be hosting a tea party for Fluttershy tomorrow," Discord answered.
Both mares looked at each other, still confused with the vague response. "...That's why you warped us away?" Aqua asked.
"Well, you two are girls, so I can't obviously ask Sora or the other guys to help me with this matter!" Discord said.
"Gee, thanks," Kairi grumbled while Aqua facehooved.
"Anyway, Fluttershy goes out of her way to host the perfect tea party for me, but how do I make MY tea party even more perfect for her?" he asked.
"You couldn't have asked anyone else?" Aqua questioned irritably. "I may like relaxing with a drink of tea, but not tea parties."
"I would ask myself." Both mares yelped as they heard Discord beside them, but it was his clone wearing glasses sitting on the bench with them. "But I'm not talking to HIM after he did to me!"
"But this is for Fluttershy!" Discord whined.
"Oh, all right," Discord 2 said. "But no more holes, though." He then materialized a baseball bat and a ball. "You have to knock this tea party-" Discord 2 smacked the ball off in the distance. "-out of the park for her. She was our first friend, after all."
"You don't have to tell ME that," Discord scoffed. "She gave us a chance when nopony else would."
"She makes us want to be a better draconequus," Discord 2 stated. "Fluttershy deserves the best of everything."
Aqua and Kairi looked at the two Discords chatting with each other, feeling completely ignored after the draconequus kidnapped them. "Uhh, do you always talk to yourself?" Aqua asked.
"When I live alone, I live in the company of myself," Discord said. "But I swear, parts of me think they're their own draconequus."
Discord 2 raised a brow at the original, then noticed something hiding behind him. "Like a version of yourself as a colt that expresses your inner youth longing for attention?"
"Well, that's oddly specific," Discord muttered.
Aqua and Kairi looked at Discord 2, but when they looked behind Discord, they gasped when they saw what looked like a young draconequus peeking around Discord's legs. "What in the world...?" Kairi uttered.
Discord raised a brow, wondering what Aqua and Kairi were so shocked about when he looked down at where they were looking. "GAH!" he screamed, jumping back while also startling his younger self. "H-How did you get out!?" Discord dove toward Young Discord, the child draconequus leaping away from the older self's hands, running off to the two mares and leapt into Kairi's lap. "You get back here right now, mister!"
Young Discord shook his head defiantly, nuzzling up to Kairi with his tail wagging like an excited puppy. "Is...Is this really...you?" Aqua asked, her jaw hanging open in shock.
"Yes, and unlike the other doppelgangers he can create out of thin air, this version of us is hard to get rid of," Discord 2 answered in amusement to Discord's ire. "Chaos can run wild, and our young spirit has a mind of his own. We keep him contained in the recesses of our heart, where the rest of our troubled life was as a youngling, but it looks like he managed to slip out."
"And it's high time he goes back in!" Discord said.
He snapped his fingers, but where he expected his younger self to disappear back into the recesses of his heart, Young Discord remained in Kairi's lap. Discord tried to dismiss Young Discord several times, but it was like the child draconequus refused to leave.
"You can't make me go back in there!" Young Discord said defiantly. His voice shocked Aqua and Kairi; they expected a higher-pitched tone of Discord's voice, but he sounded like a young boy fitting the age he appeared to be. "I wanna stay and help us make the best tea party for Fluttershy!"
"Oh, sure. I want to trust a child to assist me in planning the perfect tea party for ADULTS," Discord grumbled, his younger self blowing a raspberry at him.
Kairi was the first of the two Keyblade wielders to break out of her shock, snatching Young Discord in a hug with an excited squeal. "Oh my gosh, Discord! You're adorable as a kid!" Young Discord giggled at the attention, but it made Discord feel uncomfortable, feeling what his young self was, including the petting Kairi gave him. "Just as cute as a pony, if you look past all the other body parts."
"I...can't deny that," Aqua said, watching Kairi coddle Young Discord, still reeling from what she's learned about Discord's chaotic magic able to be out of his own control sometimes.
After Young Discord rolled on his back to silently ask for belly rubs, which Kairi relented while cooing and making baby noises, Discord and Discord 2 winced when they felt an invisible hoof rubbing their abdomens the same way the pink alicorn was. "AHH! Ok, ok! Enough with the petting and rubbing!" Discord exclaimed, swiping Young Discord out of Kairi's lap, to the colt's disappointment. "This little runt may be a part of me, but unlike any clones I make up, I can feel everything he can, and that belly rubbing feels so awkward!"
"Well, I like it," Young Discord said with a smirk.
"Oh, shut up, me," Discord grumbled.
"This is...odd," Aqua said. "Adorably odd, but no less strange than the usual Discord shenanigans."
"You're telling me," Discord uttered, then let out a frustrated sigh, Young Discord still in his grasp as he tried to wriggle out of his older self's hold to get back to the two mares. "As if showing Sora my past insecurities and troubled years was bad enough, runty me had to find a way out at the worst possible time."
"Wait, Sora knew about him!?" Kairi exclaimed, shocked and slightly annoyed. Grabbing Young Discord in her white aura, she snatched him out of Discord's hands, catching him in a hug. "And you forced him to keep his mouth shut about THIS little guy!?"
"It was during guy's night," Young Discord said, making Discord leer annoyingly at his younger self telling secrets. "I think belly rubs are better with hands, but your hooves are so soft, Kairi."
"And he's quite the charmer," Aqua said with a sly chuckle, rubbing Young Discord's head. "Maybe you should learn a few things about yourself from your inner child, Discord."
"Hmph!" Discord grunted with a pout, his eye twitching as he felt Aqua's hoof brushing Young Discord's head. Teleporting in front of them, he glared at Young Discord, who only stuck his tongue out at him spitefully. "Alright, you can stay, but don't cause any trouble."
"Yay!" Young Discord cheered.
"And stop petting me!" Discord shouted, pulling both Kairi and Aqua's hooves off his younger self. "I'm not a dog you can just coddle to your heart's content!"
"But we are part dog," Young Discord stated. "And snake, pony, dragon, bear, eagle, bull, goat-"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm a walking zoo! They understand that!" Discord interrupted. His reaction and the cute listing Young Discord gave made Kairi and Aqua giggle, almost like the two differently aged Discords were like brothers. "Can we please move on with what I wanted you to help me out with? We're wasting valuable time, and I don't know how long this chapter's going to be with younger me in this episode with you two."
"A hundred thousand words!" Young Discord cheered, his muzzle quickly clasped by Discord's paw.
"Shhhhh! Don't give readers any suggestions or demands!" Discord hissed, Aqua and Kairi not getting the "inside joke" the two draconequus' were having. "The story itself is over a million words, and pushing on two. Why do you think parts are made to split up those longer premieres and finales?"
Kairi and Aqua looked at each other, befuddled, but since they know how random Pinkie and Discord can be when breaking the laws of reality, they shook their heads, ignoring the conversation between the two Discords. "...So, where do we start with setting up your tea party with Fluttershy?" Aqua asked.
"We follow the script!" Young Discord said.
"By getting the best of everything worthy for Fluttershy," Discord corrected. "Now, onto the next scene!"
Discord teleported the four of them from the park to the local tea shop, startling the mare behind the counter, who had dark purple fur and faded pink hair. "Excuse me. Is this where Fluttershy usually buys her tea?" Discord asked casually as he approached the counter.
"Why, yes, it is," the mare said after recovering from their shocking entrance. Looking around the draconequus, she recognized a familiar face among the two mares and child draconequus. "Hello again, Aqua."
"Hey, Jasmine Leaf," Aqua greeted.
"You've been here before?" Discord asked curiously.
"I like different varieties of tea, though most of the ones I get are for my nerves to help me relax," Aqua said.
"Ah, so I can get two opinions on getting the VERY best kind of tea for Fluttershy!" Discord excitedly said.
"I'm sure she would enjoy some of our rose hip green tea," Jasmine suggested.
"Ooh! Does it make your hips red!?" Young Discord asked, leaping up onto the counter and startling the clerk, using his magic to turn his hindquarters red. "Or turn you completely green!?" he added with his upper body turning a shade of green.
Jasmine looked at the two Discords, then Aqua and Kairi, the blue unicorn shrugging her shoulders, unable to explain to her why there was a young version of the draconequus. "Well...no, little one?" she said awkwardly. "It just tastes good."
"How boring. Pass," Discord said, Young Discord feeling disappointed as his body returned to normal. They both browsed the shelves of tea flavors until Discord found an interesting one. "Hold on! Ginseng tea! Now that sounds promising. What do they sing? I'm partial to something upbeat and jazzy."
Discord emphasized his likes with a little jig, suddenly in his snazzy orange outfit from when he tried to liven up his first guys night. "Or do they sing rap and hip hop?" Young Discord asked, sliding up beside Discord while wearing baggy shorts, a backwards cap, sunglasses, and some gold and silver chains around his neck, trying to look cool with a few breakdance moves, but only making him seem cuter to Aqua and Kairi with his little getup.
"No, Discords," Aqua said, stifling her giggles from Young Discord's little routine. "Ginseng's more like a relaxant, and as a tea, it's quite tasty and calming. I frequent it myself after a stressful day, like figuring out how the Cutie Map works now that we've got other ponies besides us being called to solve friendship problems."
"Aww. So, it doesn't sing?" Young Discord asked dejectedly with a pout, both Discords' outfits disappearing in a flash.
"Is all this just tea you simply drink?" Discord questioned, Aqua and Jasmine both nodding their heads in response. "Well, looks like I got here just in time." Both Discords looked at each other with glee, then, with both of them snapping their fingers, they made the nearby ginseng teabags come to life and sing a catchy tune, floating out of the box as they entertained everyone in the store. Young Discord bobbed his head in time with the song, ending too soon as the enchanted ginseng floated back in their box, Discord snatching it and placing it on the counter. "Singing ginseng. We'll take it."
"Are you sure you're friends with Fluttershy?" Jasmine asked skeptically. "You seem so very different from her."
Before Kairi and Aqua could confirm and Young Discord tied to respond, Discord took that in offense and pushed his younger self back to the Keyblade wielders. "Well, of course we're friends! She gets me, and you obviously do not!" His face changed to match the same fur and hair color as the lavender mare, along with her pale pink hairstyle. "'Are you sure you're friends with Fluttershy?'" he mimicked mockingly, then scoffed, changing his face back to normal. "The very nerve!"
Discord teleported away in a huff, leaving Aqua, Kairi, and Young Discord behind. "...He needs to work on his social skills," Kairi said.
"And he left us when he asked for our help," Aqua added irritably.
"Three, two, one," Young Discord counted, then pointed at the counter, where Discord reappeared with a sheepish grin.
"I'm sorry. Do you validate?" Discord asked Jasmine Leaf, the mare still a little concerned with Discord's behavior.
"Let's just leave before we find a type of tea that somehow offends you," Aqua suggested, dragging Discord out of the store, giving Jasmine an apologetic look before exiting the shop.
Their next destination was at a china shop, the mare working here a light gray-pink with brighter pink hair. She was on a ladder, setting up a ceramic tea pot on a shelf. Hearing Discord warping himself, Young Discord, Kairi, and Aqua in the shop, she got startled and fell over, the dropped pot quickly caught in Aqua's aura while the mare hit the ground. Discord leaned over the pony, not bothering to check if she was ok.
"Hello!" Young Discord greeted, popping in to join his older self.
"Uh, can I help you?" the mare asked.
"Yes, you can," Discord said. "Your finest tea set, please. I want only the best for my friend Fluttershy."
The mare sat up, staring at the draconequus curiously. "...You're friends with Fluttershy?" she asked, which irritated Discord once more.
"Yes...judgy...clerk...pony!" Discord said through clenched teeth, keeping his anger in check. "Why is it such a surprise to everypony today?"
"Well, where she's quiet and secludes herself to her animals, you're a bit more...loud and crazy," Kairi stated.
"I prefer my craziness to be more showy," Discord corrected, then turned back to the clerk. "But I'll have you know we're besties. And that's why I need the BEST TEA SET!"
"Yeah, the best!" Young Discord added, looking around at all the different tea sets on display.
"Uh, perhaps then you'd be interested in our classic tea-for-two set," the mare suggested, showing them a simple white teapot and cup set sitting on the nearby table.
Young Discord stared in awe as he peeked over the table, watching the mare pour some already brewed tea into a cup. He waited for something else to happen, but it was just tea being poured out from the spout, nothing spectacular. "...Is that it?" Young Discord asked. "A teapot that just pours tea?"
"Well, that is what all teapots are supposed to do, sweetie," the mare said to the young draconequus.
"But that's boring," Young Discord whined.
"You read my mind, mini me." Discord snapped his fingers, making wings pop out of the teapot, which started flying off the table and on top of Young Discord's head. "Much better! No need to wrap it. We'll walk it home."
Both Discords left, the young draconequus skipping with glee as the older one materialized a huge pile of bits around the clerk as payment. Aqua and Kairi followed after them, feeling unsure how Fluttershy would take the crazy ideas Discord has for his perfect tea party. They soon made their way to the store, the next item on the draconequus's list was decor. Young Discord grabbed a pinata from the shelf, putting it in the shopping cart with the rest of their items they bought earlier.
"Pinatas are fun for any party!" the young draconequus said.
"Yes...but not nearly good enough for Fluttershy," Discord uttered. Young Discord looked at the colorful paper mache donkey, getting an idea as he snapped his fingers, making it come to life. It let out a holler-like gasp, then sneezed, blowing out candy from its nostrils. "Perfect! Much more livelier!"
"A living pinata that sneezes candy?" Aqua questioned. "How is something like that fitting for a tea party?"
Young Discord grabbed a lava lamp, turning it into a live volcano with his magic. "A miniature volcano!?" Kairi exclaimed, quickly snatching the draconequus out of the shopping cart. "How is that fun for a tea party!?"
"Well, it's kinda cool," Young Discord said. "Fluttershy would love it."
Aqua quickly encased the small volcano in a magic barrier, the lava running down it causing the metal cart to melt. "Or seriously burn someone," she chided.
"Oh! And we're going to need napkins," Discord said. "Hmm...how do I make them better? Uhh, maybe...make them glow?" Snapping his fingers, he made the pile of nearby napkins glow blue. "Oh, that's not good enough. Make them glow and...fly?" The glowing napkins then began to flutter off the shelf, flying around the group. "Hmm, what else?"
"Ooh! Make them glow, fly, and fold into all kinds of shapes!" Young Discord suggested, the napkins folding into origami animals at his advice.
"Aha! Incredible idea!" Discord complimented. "Maybe I should let you out every so often. You have some pretty smart ideas."
"Smart or an imagination run wild?" Aqua mumbled.
"Discord? Aqua? Kairi?" Down the aisle, to their surprise, they ran into Pinkie Pie. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked, then noticed Young Discord being held in Kairi's aura. "...And why is there a baby Discord?"
"Uhh, long story," Kairi said.
"Pinkie Pie! Just the pony I need!" Discord dismissed the glowing, flying, folding napkins, making Young Discord groan in disappointment. "As THE party pony and Fluttershy's close - but not best - friend, I need your advice. I'm hosting a tea party for her, and it has to be perfect. No! It has to be BETTER than perfect!"
"Then why did you force us to tag along if all you needed to do was ask Pinkie Pie!?" Aqua angrily exclaimed.
"Probably to help him set up the party?" Kairi guessed. Aqua looked at her, snatching Young Discord from her, then held out his tiny paw and claw, waving them around in front of the alicorn. "...Right. Magic." Kairi looked at Young Discord, who simply smiled innocently. "...Do you know why?"
"Because you two were left out learning more about us, and we do need your help with the party," Young Discord said.
"Like what?" Aqua questioned blankly. "Choosing the right color for doilies? Furniture arrangement?"
"A mare's touch," the young draconequus said, then gave a sinister smirk. "Plus, he wants to impress Fluttershy a lot...and I mean A LOT."
Young Discord snickered mischievously, the devious colt's exaggerated meaning making both mares curious. "Wait...you don't think...?" Kairi and Aqua looked at Discord, who was given advice by Pinkie about planning Fluttershy's tea party. "...Does Discord...like Fluttershy...?"
"Uh huh," Young Discord said with a nod.
"...As in...more than just friends?" Aqua added.
"Yup!" the colt answered with a giggle.
That surprised Aqua and Kairi. They did find it odd with Discord favoring Fluttershy more than anyone else, but they shrugged it off as her being the first friend he's ever made. It started making more sense after seeing how worried he was about her when the changelings kidnapped them. Even Ventus recalled how enraged Discord was at the mention of Fluttershy being taken away, even goading him to take them to the hive to rescue everyone with the small group they had. Discord may have trouble showing how he truly feels by acting up and getting miffed when things don't go his way, but from the cheeky grin on Young Discord's face, it appears the one part of him that came from inside his heart is showing a lot of his true feelings in the chaotic deity's place.
"...Did he ask us to set him up on a blind date with Fluttershy, and doesn't want to know it's a blind date?" Kairi asked.
"Hmmmmmm...not him, exactly," Young Discord said innocently, but his grin said otherwise.
Aqua turned the colt around to have him face her. "Are you sure you're really Discord's youth, or are you someone else?"
"What do you think?" he asked cheekily.
Aqua leered at Young Discord blankly in brief silence. "...You're like his devious little brother...and I hate that you're Discord's younger form, and as cute as a button with a smart little brain."
Young Discord giggled, wagging his tail as his cute charm worked on Aqua, Kairi joining him at the comment she made to him. "Hey, you three!" Discord called out, his little chat with Pinkie done as he pushed his cart of enchanted items along. "We've got a lot of work to do! Thank you again for your help, Pinkie Pie!"
"No problem, Discord!" Pinkie said. She waved bye to Kairi, Aqua, and Young Discord as they hurried after Discord, the draconequus snapping several bits around the cashier to pay for the items. Pinkie approached the confused cashier staring at the materialized money. "Excuse me, where can I find the glowing, flying, self-folding napkins?"
"Uhh...the what in the who-huh?" the pony uttered dumbly.
Discord transported Kairi and Aqua to his home bright and early the next day, shocking them when they saw the strange dimension Discord made for himself where he resided. The house seemed normal, were it not for the fact it was sitting on a floating island in the middle of a strange void, along with several other random islands connected by rickety bridges that didn't feel safe to walk across normally.
"This is where you live???" Kairi questioned, being wary of looking down at the curved hill Discord's abode was located.
"I think my PTSD is acting up again," Aqua uttered as memories of her seemingly endless wandering of the Realm of Darkness resurfaced. Focusing on Discord's nice house and not the warping void in the background, she approached the nervous draconequus. "So, what exactly did Pinkie Pie tell you the other day?"
"She said I was overthinking things and make Fluttershy feel comfortable in my home," he said. "I mean, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Both mares opened the door, but once they got a look inside, it was far from what Fluttershy would definitely see as "comfortable". Discord's house was topsy-turvy, with furniture on the ceiling, along with the active mini volcano Young Discord made yesterday, a stairway leading nowhere, a portal in the middle of the floor leading to somewhere, a small tree with books growing from the branches in the corner, and several other chaotic necessities the draconequus had. There were also the other items Discord got, like the flying teapot, the singing ginseng teabags floating around while singing their song with the flying, glowing origami napkins, and the living pinata hanging nearby, sneezing out more candy. Catching said candy was Young Discord, munching on the random sweets, turning to Aqua and Kairi and giving them a wave.
"Oh...wow," Kairi uttered.
"I may not be Fluttershy, but I don't feel comfortable being here, and I've lived in the equivalent of hell for over a decade," Aqua said, puttering her two cents in while trying to keep her composure.
"Maybe this is a problem," Discord mumbled.
"You think!?" Aqua and Kairi exclaimed.
Discord 2 suddenly appeared, the real Discord needing his own intellectual insight, looking up from his paper to let out an exasperated gasp in horror. "Is it that bad?"
"It's perfect!" Young Discord said.
"No, it is not!" Discord 2 exclaimed. "What were you thinking, me!?"
"I was trying to make the tea party different and special like me," Discord reasoned. "But all I did was make it chaotic and weird...like me."
"And dangerous! Need we mention DANGEROUS!?" Aqua shouted, pointing at the volcano seeping lava onto the ceiling, which thankfully had its own gravity and didn't drip lava on them, then at the portal. "And where in the hell does THIS lead to!?"
"Anywhere in the house!" Young Discord said. He took a running leap and cannonballed inside, phasing through the purple portal, then popped out from the kitchen from the refrigerator. His eyes spun in his head, but they were remedied with a shake of his head. "Again! Again!"
"Oh, no you don't!" Kairi quickly grabbed Young Discord before he jumped back in to reappear in a hole in the wall somewhere.
"Aww, no fair," Young Discord whined.
"Oh, what if those ponies at the tea shop and china shop were right?" Discord asked, beginning to panic while Discord 2 stared at him in disappointment. "What if Fluttershy sees how crazy this place is and realizes how different we are? And then she doesn't want to be friends anymore!?"
Discord started hyperventilating, hovering in the fetal position. His clone handed him a paper bag, letting his real self breathe into it to help with his anxiety, though the bag deflated when he exhaled and inflated when he inhaled.
"What are you talking about? Fluttershy's gonna love this!" Young Discord argued. Everyone stared at the child draconequus, baffled as he didn't feel the same way as the other two Discords. "...What?"
Kairi lowered Young Discord to the ground, trying to break it down gently to the child spirit of the draconequus. "Look, sweetie...I know you think this is fun, but I don't think Fluttershy would."
"But she likes when we do chaos," Young Discord said, trying to be reasonable with his innocent tone. "She even let us do chaos magic freely in her house when we were freed from stone again."
"I know, but she allowed Discord to do that so we could try to convert him to join us," Kairi said. "She gave him that trust and benefit of the doubt to see just how wonderful making friends is, and she was able to tolerate your chaos much more than the rest of us. But we're all friends now, and you can use chaos magic whenever you want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone."
"Then why is it bad in our house?" Young Discord questioned. "She isn't going to leave us as our friend. I know she won't."
"Did you not see how judgmental those two mares were in the shops when they questioned how we're friends!?" Discord shouted. "They found it hard to believe we were friends! Fluttershy's an innocent soul! She'll leave the minute she sees all this!"
"No she won't, you big dummy!" Young Discord screamed at his older self. "You're just scared of what she'll think because you're thinking ponies are going to treat us horribly again just like over a thousand years ago!"
"Don't you dare bring those memories up!" Discord scolded angrily. "I let Sora see after I constantly gave him grief during guys' night, and all the times I've physically harmed him from our first battle up until our Ogres and Oubliettes game!"
"Then stop bottling them up and let everypony else know so they understand how difficult our life was, and it wasn't our fault we became the Lord of Chaos to Equestria in the first place!" Young Discord argued back angrily.
Discord looked like he was about to clobber his younger self, but before he was able to jump the young draconequus, Aqua and Kairi used their magic together to hold him back. "Discord, relax! We don't want you blowing up your own house, do you!?"
"We can always rebuild it," Discord 2 stated.
"Not the time, 'brainiac'!" Aqua scolded, making the clone wince, backing away sheepishly before facing the unicorn's own wrath.
Young Discord pouted, turning away from his older self, crossing his arms across his chest. After Discord huffed and puffed himself into calming down, Kairi let Aqua keep him held back just in case, leaning down to try to help make the child understand why they needed to clean up the house of chaotic magic.
"I know you're a little bit upset, little Dizzy," she calmly said to the young draconequus. "It's not like we're going to let you stop doing chaos forever. It's just going to be for this tea party, and Discord really wants to impress Fluttershy with how well of a job he does. Remember?" She gave him a wink, hinting at what he hinted toward her and Aqua the other day at the store. Young Discord's frown lightened a bit, though he was still upset that all the fun stuff in their house had to go awhile, even if it was for just a while. "This is for Fluttershy, ok? It's just temporary, and once it's over, we'll have a little chaotic fun. Deal?"
The colt looked up at Kairi, then at Discord for a moment before looking back at her. "...Have adult me agree to not interrupt some belly rubs, and we have a deal," he bargained.
"WHAT!?" Discord exclaimed, his protest failing when Aqua gave him a warning glare, not willing to waste anymore time before Fluttershy finally arrives. He grumbled a bit before giving in with a grunt. "...Alright, fine. No more than five minutes of that, though."
"Make it ten," Young Discord said.
"Six!" Discord bargained.
" Seven!" Young Discord counter-bargained.
Discord muttered bitterly, seeing his younger self was being incredibly stubborn right now, and he would do anything to get him to agree with him at this moment. "...Deal. Seven minutes..."
Young Discord leered at Discord before looking to Kairi again, giving her a small nod in approval. "Thank you very much, Dizzy," Kairi said, giving the little draconequus a pat on the head. "Now, let's get to sprucing this house up."
"We're going to need a team for this job," Discord 2 said, a knock on the front door surprising Aqua and Kairi. The door opened to reveal another Discord clone, followed by three more after moving from behind the other after giving their individual gesture upon their entrance. "So, chief, what do you want us to do first?"
"First thing's first: get rid of all the new stuff," Aqua ordered. She noticed the walls beginning to ooze lava, the volcano above them filling the ceiling to the point where it's slowly crawling down to the floor. "And quick before that thing burns all of us to the third degree!"
"You heard the lady, boys!" Discord 2 said, all the Discords now wearing safety helmets: the original with an orange one, Discord 2 in red, the other clones in yellow, and Young Discord in a blue one. "Strike the new stuff!"
The clones all got to work cleaning up the house, two of them beginning work on the volcano "chandelier". They vacuumed up the lava, then scooped what was left near the small mound of earth back inside before carting it off to a safer environment. Another pair took care of the enchanted napkins, bottling them up in jars, and the flying teapot, taking off its wings and grounding it. One of them stood beside Aqua, Kairi, and Young Discord, all three of them watching the pinata bouncing up and down on the couch, the latter dreading getting rid of the animated paper donkey. The clone snapped his fingers after coming up with an idea to get rid of it, summoning a small group of fruit bats around the pinata, who barfed out some candy before jumping out the window, fleeing from the bats.
"Pinatas hate bats," the clone Discord stated, getting a collective groan from both mares at the horrible pun.
"And I'm going to take a wild guess that the blunt object would be too graphic for Young Discord?" Aqua grumbled. "Speaking of, can we give the kid a nickname? There's already too many Discords in here."
"I think Dizzy sounds like a good name for him," Kairi suggested after giving him that little nickname to help coax him into letting them tidy up Discord's chaotic home.
"Dizzy it is, then," Aqua said. She looked down at the young draconequus, who was staring at the candy the pinata left behind. He was clearly upset, but he wasn't whining and complaining like a normal child would if things didn't go his way. "Dizzy? Are you alright?"
"No...I don't like this," Dizzy said morosely. "I still think Fluttershy would have loved all this, and we're getting rid of it..." He picked a piece up, unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth. "...This candy's bitter."
The last thing to take care of was the singing ginseng. Discord snatched some while Kairi grabbed the rest with her aura, stuffing the whole case of enchanted teabags into a cardboard box with a random address posted on the side.
"Enjoy your all-expense-paid trip around Equestria!" Discord said, slapping a big stamp on the top of the box before teleporting it off to the post office. With all the new things gone, the clone Discords all gathered around for a lunch break, each with lunchboxes that had an assorted packed lunch for themselves. "Well done, everyone, but there's still more work to do." The worker clones all let out a grumble, denied their lunch break while one muttered they didn't get something they wanted for lunch today in their lunchbox. "We need to make this place more Fluttershy and less, well, me."
"Like what?" one of the clones asked.
"Well, for one, furniture is meant to be on the FLOOR, not the ceiling," Aqua pointed out, looking up at the upside down couch in the room.
The clones all murmured in awe, nodding in agreement as Discord swapped his couch from the ceiling to the floor with his magic. "And stairs should be leading somewhere," Kairi added, flying up to the top of the stairway, tapping on the solid wall where there should have been a hallway for the upstairs. "Not nowhere."
They all agreed at the insight, but Dizzy was forced to watch Discord change everything to a boring, normal house, not just their fun tea party decorations. With each thing Aqua and Kairi pointed out to change the chaotic house into a regular, non-chaotic house, Discord snapped his fingers and fixed those problems, trusting the two Keyblade wielders to help him make the best tea party he's ever hosted. Within seconds, the house went from mismatched and upside down to frilly, bright and colorful, and most importantly, comfortable to stay in. Dizzy didn't like the overly-girly touch, from the fuzzy blue carpet to the pink and white wallpaper in the living room.
"Now this is something Fluttershy's going to like," Aqua said.
"Well...it is quite..." Discord 2 stammered, trying to find the right words to describe the house now.
"It's boring," Dizzy grumbled with a scowl.
"But we're not done yet!" Discord said.
"I think we did enough," Dizzy said with a grunt. "Or, I should say, YOU did enough."
"Just one more thing," Discord promised, looking to his clones as they all had the same idea as him.
"MAKEOVER!!!!" all the Discords squealed, chattering and giggling like girls as they scrambled over to the dressing room one of them materialized.
"Does he really think all girls go nuts over giving each other makeovers?" Aqua questioned, both mares cringing from Discord's pals behaved like teenage schoolgirls going on a shopping spree as Discord tried on all sorts of outfits to dress normally for the party.
"Mhmm," Dizzy grumbled. A cane suddenly swooped over the young draconequus, sweeping him into the crowd of older Discords with a yelp. "Hey! What are you doing!?"
"If you're not going to go back inside, the least you can do is dress up as well so Fluttershy doesn't see my child self as a slob," Discord said. "Maybe a cute red bow tie with white polka dots! Or just red, perhaps? Polka dots seem a bit too wild."
"I'm not wearing a stupid bow tie!" Dizzy complained, but was unable to escape the Discords crowding around him.
Aqua and Kairi watched from the sidelines, Discord finally finding a decent outfit that wasn't a silly costume or mismatched: a pair of black slacks, a light blue dress shirt with an orange tie, and a red sweater over his shirt and tie. Even Dizzy was all dressed up, to his irritation, wearing light blue-gray shorts, a white dress shirt, a blue dress jacket, a red bow tie around his neck, and a pair of big rimmed glasses. After their outfits were picked, and Discord practiced some normal conversation topics with his clones, albeit incredibly awkward when Discord 2 was the one used for practice while wearing a Fluttershy outfit, Discord was finally ready to give Fluttershy the best tea party he'll host for her.
Aqua and Kairi set up the tea and snacks while waiting, setting them down on the coffee table while including a few more sets for themselves and Dizzy. "Alright, tea and sandwiches are prepared," Kairi said.
"The house is normal and comfortable to be in, too," Aqua added. "And the draconequuses...Draconequui? Draconumbrai?" She shook her head, confused by how exactly calling a group of more than one draconequus if Discord's the only one of his kind while including his clones. "Discord and Dizzy are looking quite welcoming."
"I feel like I'm ready to start my first day at a prestigious and very strict private school," Dizzy grumbled.
"But you look quite handsome in that outfit," Kairi assured, pinching the colt's cheeks with her magic aura.
"You know, it is a bit strange," Discord said. "For the first time in my life, I don't FEEL quite strange. In fact, I feel...completely normal."
As Discord put on a pair of smaller square-framed glasses to add to his normal outfit, Dizzy winced and clutched his chest in discomfort, which Kairi noticed. "Dizzy, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"I-I don't know," Dizzy said, his face starting to turn pale, his mismatched pupils completely shrinking to pin pricks. "I...I don't think I...feel so good..."
"Maybe because you ate that...upchucked candy the pinata expelled earlier as we got rid of it," Aqua figured, wondering how anyone would want to eat something that came from a living object made of paper mache from its orifices.
The grandfather clock in the room chimed, alerting them of the time and expecting Fluttershy's presence. The yellow pegasus stood outside the front door after learning of Discord's address, barely even startled by the strange dimension he lived in. She knocked on the door, and her friend came out to greet her.
"Hello, Discord!" Fluttershy said. "I'm so excited to finally see where you-!" She peeked around the draconequus, surprised to see Aqua and Kairi behind him. "Kairi? Aqua? What are you two doing here?"
"Uhh, kind of a long story," Kairi said with a nervous chuckle.
"Discord wanted our help to make sure his first ever hosted tea party goes perfectly," Aqua added. "Needed a woman's touch, he said after kidnapping us from the boys and Twilight while having a few sparring sessions."
"Hope you don't mind a couple extra guests joining what was supposedly a private party for two," Kairi said.
"Oh, I don't mind," Fluttershy reassured. "The more the merrier." Discord tapped his fingers nervously, looking down as he felt Dizzy slump against him, getting worse as his body seemed to be shutting down from his sudden illness. Fluttershy gasped when she saw Discord's younger self, confused, but elated to see him in person. "Oh, my. Discord, you made a little clone of yourself as a colt?"
"A-Actually, he kinda behaves like his own draconequus," Discord said with a light chuckle. "I usually keep him inside me, but he got out and refused to leave, so...he's joining us, too."
Fluttershy let out an excited squee, snatching up the young draconequus and hugged him. "Well, hello, Little Discord! Aren't you just the cutest little thing!?" Dizzy only groaned weakly in response, confusing Fluttershy until she got a better look at him. "Oh my goodness. You look sick."
"Yeah, he started looking ill not just a few minutes ago," Kairi said.
"Well, we should get you inside and have you lie down," Fluttershy said, carrying Dizzy and walked inside Discord's home. She was also eager to see what his home was like, but when she entered the living room, the small grin she had at the thought of what she would except quickly faded when she saw a very normal room. "...Oh..."
"Something wrong?" Discord asked.
"N-No, not at all," Fluttershy said. "It's just not what I expected. It's quite...lovely." Her concern for Dizzy outweighed her disappointment, moving over to one of the couches to let him rest. She gently rested her hoof over his forehead, not feeling a fever despite his pale face. "No fever, and not breaking out in a sweat. Do you sweat, Discord?"
"I do, although I'm just as baffled as you are with what's happening to younger me," Discord said. "Perhaps some green tea could pick him up."
"Green tea? Ooh, does it actually turn us green?" Fluttershy asked giddily, her odd response making Aqua and Kairi feel like Fluttershy was truly expecting to see Discord's home as more of a fun house rather than a nice, quiet tea party. "Or is it really envious of the other teas? What's it do, what's it do!?"
"Uh, well, it tastes delicious," Discord said. "And it's quite soothing." Fluttershy's ears drooped, disappointment setting in again. Everyone else took a seat around the table, Discord pouring everyone a cup of tea from a normal teapot in normal teacups. "What particularly nice weather we're having."
"Yes...Yes, we are," Fluttershy said, feeling a bit awkward with the dull conversation Discord started.
"It did rain the other day, however," Discord added after sipping a bit of his tea.
"Actually, it was really nice out all day," Kairi interjected.
"Yes, I guess you are right, but today's weather is particularly nice...as I previously mentioned," Discord said. Dizzy let out a groan in discomfort, but Discord wasn't feeling any sort of pain like his child self. Ignoring the young draconequus, Discord lifted up a plate of sandwiches to Fluttershy, and with his hands, not chaos magic or levitation. "Would you care for some milk toast, Fluttershy?"
"Discord, you don't seem to be yourself today," Fluttershy said worriedly. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Discord asked.
"Well, it's just...what you're wearing," Fluttershy pointed out. "And what you're saying, and the way you're saying it. Even little Discord looks really sick, but you're completely fine?"
"We just named him Dizzy not too long ago," Aqua said, putting down her teacup, her and Aqua feeling just as uncomfortable being around a well-behaved Discord. "And...this really is getting a bit awkward. I was waiting for something strange to happen in the silence, but...nothing."
"Well, you have nothing to worry about, Fluttershy," Discord said. "I can assure you that for the first time, I'm feeling perfectly normal." The instant he said that, Dizzy let out a pained gasp, curling into a ball with a grimace before whatever pain he was in made him pass out. His reaction concerned the mares, but Discord seemed to wave it off. "He must have gotten a stomach virus from some bad candy. Who needs to be topped off?" He reached for the teapot, which slipped out of his fingers once he lifted it up, falling to his feet while being spared from breaking thanks to the soft carpet. "Whoops! Butterfingers! How embarrassing."
As Discord went to pick up the teapot, Fluttershy saw that it didn't slip out of his hand; the ceramic pot phased through his hand, shocking her when she wasn't seeing things as his clawed hand went through the dropped teapot. "What's going on?" Fluttershy asked, now starting to feel terrified as she, along with Aqua and Kairi, saw the rest of the draconequus's body starting to fade as he looked at his own hand.
"I have...no idea," Discord uttered.
"Is he...fading away!?" Kairi exclaimed. She looked at Dizzy, rushing over to the unconscious colt, but when she tried to pick him up, her hooves phased through him, unable to even touch him. "They both are!"
"What's happening to them!?" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Aqua, what did you and Kairi do to Discord!?"
"Nothing!" Aqua quickly said. "We've been trying to help him set up this tea party with him, but there were some things he got that seemed a bit too...odd to your liking?"
"He's being normal, which is NOT normal for him!" Fluttershy said.
"Whatever do you mean?" Discord asked, his tone scaring Fluttershy as if he didn't seem to care about disappearing forever. "This is just me being me."
"No, it's not!" Fluttershy said. "You're acting like everypony else, which isn't the REAL you!"
Discord picked up his teacup carefully, which fell after losing his grip on it, fading away more as he leaned down to try to pick it up normally. "And the more Discord does anything normally, it gets worse," Kairi said, looking back down at Dizzy, the colt letting out a weak groan as he squinted his eyes open. "Why is this happening?"
Aqua looked at the two draconequus', her eyes growing wide as the events of yesterday began to add up to Discord's sudden fading. "...Chaos and order are like light and darkness," she said aloud. "Without order, chaos runs wild. Without chaos, order confines everyone. Both can't exist without the other, even though they clash for dominance. And if Discord gives up his chaos to be normal for too long...it starts to kill him..."
Despite the horrible news, Discord chuckled in amusement. "How interesting. That reminds me of something I heard at the market today."
Discord's body was beginning to turn translucent, killing himself more while Dizzy had the same experience, though with much more pain as his paw tried to reach for Kairi's hoof, a look of terror in the young draconequus's eyes. "Discord, cut it out!" Aqua shouted angrily. "Forget about what everyone thinks about you being so different! Despite your annoying antics, you shouldn't change yourself because you think everyone else doesn't care about your uniqueness! We were only trying to help you make the perfect tea party for Fluttershy, not change your personality into something you're not!"
"Yes! Please, Discord, you need to go back to being your not-normal self!" Fluttershy pleaded desperately.
"Do something chaotic before it's too late!" Kairi added. "Change my hair green! Pluck off Aqua's horn and use it as an ice cream cone! Anything weird so you can save yourself and Dizzy!"
"Do something chaotic?" Discord asked nervously. Seeing the look of fear in Fluttershy's eyes, he didn't want to upset the pegasus further. "Ok. I'll try..." Lifting a hand up, he tried to snap his fingers, only for his digits to phase through each other. It was obviously too late for him to cause any chaos magic, and it was getting worse with each moment that passed. "Oh no...This isn't good..."
"It's too late," Kairi uttered. "He's too far gone..."
"K-Kairi?" Dizzy weakly mumbled. "Am I...gonna disappear...forever?"
Kairi stammered, but wasn't able to answer in time. Dizzy closed his eyes as his body completely faded away. Fluttershy let out a horrified gasp, all three mares staring at the now empty couch. Kairi glanced over at Discord, still clutching to existence, but he was still fading.
"...No. There's still a chance," Kairi said. "If Discord can't cause any chaos to save himself, then we'll save him by creating our own chaos."
"Kairi's right," Aqua agreed, Fluttershy as well after recovering from the heart-breaking loss of Discord's childhood spirit. "I hate to say this, but let's turn this house around!...But where do we even start?"
Fluttershy had an idea, determined to save her friend before he disappears forever. She tipped her cup on its side, spilling out whatever tea was left.
"Oh no!" she said over-exaggeratedly. "I tipped over my cup! That's pretty chaotic, right?"
Discord yawned, barely finding it interesting or funny. "Not a great start, but it was a good effort," Aqua said.
Kairi looked at the plate of sandwiches, figuring she would ask herself what Sora would do that was silly and random. Snatching the plate in her aura, she spun it around and chomped into each sandwich, leaving a bite mark in all of them with her cheeks stuffed.
"Mmm! Talking with my mouth full after taking a bite out of every sandwich!" she said before swallowing, shaking her head wildly with her tongue lolling out. "How wacky is that!?" Again, not a laugh from Discord, or any sort of reaction, disappointing the alicorn. "Seriously? How was that not silly? Sora would have laughed."
"But Discord's not Sora," Aqua stated, beginning to pace around while brainstorming any ideas that could help. "We need to think like Discord! He bends reality, breaks rules, makes up rules he's already made up, makes imaginations run wild with a snap of his fingers! I bet if he was able to, he'd try bouncing around ideas to clones of-!" Aqua froze in place, finding herself an idea while ranting. "...I got one!" Summoning her Keyblade, combining both her unicorn and Keyblade magic, she formed five ice pillars behind her. With several swift slashes of her blade, she cut the pillars down to rectangular, reflective sheets, creating makeshift mirrors made out of ice. "And one last touch..."
With a flash of her horn, Aqua fired a spell at each mirror, her reflections changing as each Aqua was a different color, hair, fur, clothes, even eyes, each of them wearing a different expression with different personalities: red was scowling angrily, purple fidgeted nervously, yellow smiled happily, green sneered in disdain, and blue looked upset. The reflections were moving on their own, intriguing Discord while he and the others wondered what Aqua was planning.
"Hello, everyone!" the yellow Aqua greeted excitedly, waving her hoof to the others. "Ooh! Should I introduce us, or do you want to, Aqua!?"
"Ugh. Of course you'd want to," the green Aqua groaned. "Must you always be so happy all the time?"
"Well, that's what I am: joy!" the yellow-colored Keyblade wielder said. "I'm Joy, that's Disgust." The green Aqua rolled her eyes, mumbling a half-hearted greeting. "That one in red is Anger!"
"I think they could have figured that one out," Anger Aqua grumbled.
"The purple one's Fear," Joy Aqua introduced next, the completely purple reflection shrieking when it looked out the window.
"I just saw something out there!" Fear Aqua said. "That creepy dark void in this realm where Discord lives is horrible!...Wait, dark void? Realm? Realm of Darkness!?...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! THEY'RE CONNECTED!!!!!!!!!"
The purple reflection fell to the ground in the fetal position, sucking on her hoof. That got Discord to snicker at the terrified emotion's reactions, which slightly helped slow down his fading.
"And...I'm going to guess the blue one is...Sadness?" Fluttershy asked, Joy Aqua nodding at her guess.
"Nice to meet everyone," Sadness Aqua greeted, her tone heavily somber and depressing. "Or, mostly everyone, with Discord disappearing forever and all."
"He's not going to disappear," Aqua quickly said, clapping her hooves together to get her emotional selves' attention. "Now, time for a group brainstorm to find a way to save him, and so far, it's working."
"Uhh, are you sure, Aqua?" Disgust Aqua questioned, eyeing her normal self. "I think you need to save yourself from your wardrobe. Do you wear anything else besides...that?"
"Hey, focus!" Aqua said, already getting annoyed with her own disgusted emotion attacking her outfit. "Discord's life is more important! Now concentrate!"
"Oh! Oh! I have a good idea!" Joy Aqua said. "Discord would never have a flight of stairs leading somewhere! Would that work!?"
"Yes!" Fluttershy agreed, setting to work on making herself a flight of stairs in the room with no upstairs to go to.
Kairi and Aqua helped, moving around furniture while Fluttershy grabbed a tan and brown-striped curtain hanging in the room. The mares created their makeshift staircase, Discord's fading stopping as he grew amused, wondering what other creative chaotic ideas they could come up with to save him.
"Alright, any other ideas?" Aqua asked herselves.
"Giving up?" Sadness Aqua asked. "Like...wanting to give up after ten years with guilt while stuck in darkness, and losing Terra and Ven...forever?"
The depressed emotion's eyes welled up with tears, then started bawling, which irritated Anger Aqua, who seemed to radiate steam as her scowl deepened. "Oh, great! She's bringing THAT up again!" she shouted. "None of this wouldn't have happened if Xehanort didn't destroy everything! It's his fault he got us stuck in the Realm of Darkness!" Fear Aqua shrieked in terror at the mention of the dangerous realm. "When I get my hands on that old coot, I am going to strangle him, rip that stupid goatee off his chin, and break every bone in his brittle, old body!"
"Whoa, hey, settle down, Anger!" Joy warned, but that didn't help as Anger Aqua's eye twitched, then let out a monstrous yell, her hair catching on fire with a look of murder in her red eyes.
"SETTLE DOWN!? I'M NEVER GOING TO SETTLE DOWN UNTIL I SEE XEHANORT'S HEAD MOUNTED ON MY WALL AFTER I RIP HIS HEART RIGHT OUT OF HIS-!!!!!" Aqua quickly punched the ice mirror Anger Aqua was in, shattering it to pieces and interrupting the enraged emotion's tirade before revealing every other diabolically horrifying thing she wanted to do to Xehanort.
She slowly looked back at the others, knowing they were all incredibly startled by what went on in Aqua's head, especially Discord as he shrank a little bit into the couch he sat in. "...I...have a lot of issues...Which I still need to work out," Aqua timidly said, giggling sheepishly with a light blush in embarrassment.
"Including your wardrobe choice?" Disgust Aqua asked. Aqua turned to glare at her green self, making the skeptical emotion giggle nervously when she saw her raise her hoof. "Kidding!"
"Can someone move the couch over to my mirror?" Sadness Aqua asked. "I just want to lay down and wallow in self pity for the rest of my short existence until my mirror's destroyed."
"The couch," Fluttershy muttered, then gasped as Sadness Aqua gave her a chaotic idea. "I know! The furniture in here's all wrong!"
"...It is?" Sadness Aqua asked.
"It would be too predictable on the ground; Discord would rather have it on the ceiling!" Fluttershy stated.
"Then let's flip some furniture over!" Aqua said, both her and Kairi levitating a couch and a chair, enchanting them to reverse their gravity, keeping them placed on the living room ceiling. Discord laughed as he looked up, slowly turning tangible. "It's working! What else!?"
"How about a chaise lounge that chases after us!?" Kairi suggested, pointing to the lounging chair nearby, flying over to it and tapping it with her wing. "Tag! Can't catch me!"
As she ran away from the inanimate lounge chair, Discord wanted to make it come to life. He brought his digits together on his talon hand, finally feeling his fingers connect and snapped them, his chaos back and bringing the chaise lounge to life, making it act like a dog as it chased after the alicorn. He laughed harder as he returned to his old self, and with his power returned, so did Dizzy, but he reappeared upside down on the ceiling couch. He woke up confused, then when he looked up, he yelped and fell, Fluttershy quickly catching the young draconequus.
"Dizzy! You're back!" she cheered.
"I am?" Dizzy asked, his shock turning into a wide grin. "I am!"
Hearing Dizzy, Kairi stopped, happy to see the draconequus child back, only to be tackled by the canine-like chaise lounge chair, causing them to roll toward the other ice mirrors with Aqua's remaining four emotions. "AHH! ABANDON SHIP!!!!!" Fear Aqua screamed, neither emotions able to escape while confined in the reflections as Kairi and the couch knocked them over, making them shatter to the ground and melt away.
Kairi was pinned by the chaise lounge, getting licked before Dizzy leapt on its back, riding on it as it galloped around the room. "Let's have us some tea!" Fluttershy suggested. "But I think Discord would have a special kind of tea! Like a ginseng that could really sing!"
"I would!" Discord agreed, bringing back the package that held the singing ginseng teabags, which had several different stamps from all across the world.
He freed the ginseng as they sang their catchy song, freely floating about the house with their jingle livening up the room. "And it would be served on a floating table!" Fluttershy added. "I'm pretty sure Discord hates gravity boring up a fun tea party!"
"Yes! Screw gravity!" Aqua agreed. "Who needs it!?"
"Definitely not I!" Discord said, taking away the gravity of his home and made everything float about in the air.
"Yay! Zero-G freestyling!" Dizzy cheered as he swam around everyone, pulling off loops and twists to show off.
Everyone laughed as more chaos filled up Discord's home, but thankfully, nothing too dangerous like the miniature volcano. "Now THIS is exactly what I was hoping for!" Fluttershy said, her response startling Discord.
"THIS is what you were hoping for?" Discord asked in surprise. "But this is the complete opposite of what your tea parties are like."
"I wouldn't expect you to throw a tea party the way I would," Fluttershy said. "We're different."
Dizzy came floating by Discord, lazily spinning in front of him with a grin that said "I told you so". "I knew she'd love this kind of party, but nopony listened to me," Dizzy gloated, then floated up to Fluttershy to nuzzle her. "I knew what you liked all along!"
"Well, ignoring young me being a bratty know-it-all, being different was the problem," Discord said. "I was afraid that if you saw exactly how different we were, you wouldn't want to be friends anymore."
"What!?" Fluttershy gasped. "Why would you ever think that?"
"I think it was because of the owners of the tea and china shops," Kairi said. "They were a bit skeptical when Discord mentioned you two were friends. The rest of us thought so, too, when he was starting his reformation, and Celestia suggested you to befriend him."
"And bad memories of our past came up, too, making him a worrywart," Dizzy added.
"Well, that is true that we don't make sense to everypony else, but we make sense to me." Fluttershy's assurance shocked Discord. "You've opened me up to so many possibilities and impossibilities. Discord, I like you BECAUSE you're so different from me."
Discord was speechless, feeling a slight heat in his cheeks at the compliment Fluttershy gave him. "Y-You do?"
"Of course I do, silly!" Fluttershy reassured. She didn't notice Dizzy looking at Aqua and Kairi, giving them a wink as he silently conjured a heart behind the pegasus, making it pulse faster and faster to show what Discord was feeling. Both mares giggled quietly while Dizzy gave them a cheeky grin, quickly dismissing the racing heart before Discord noticed. "Besides, what's discord without a little chaos?"
"Well, in that case, I certainly don't need to be wearing this!" Discord laughed, ripping off his normal attire.
"And I don't need to wear this stuffy uniform either!" Dizzy added, floating away from Fluttershy and ripped away his own outfit. However, instead of stripping to nothing, he was somehow wearing a smaller version of a Fluttershy suit Discord 2 wore earlier. The sudden outfit stunned the girls until they started giggling at the silly costume. "Huh? HEY!"
"That's what you get for not getting permission to leave my heart, you little miscreant," Discord chided with a smirk.
"You're worse than me!" Dizzy argued, ripping himself out of the small Fluttershy costume, then leered at his older self.
"You are soooo cute, Dizzy!" Fluttershy cooed, snatching the young draconequus and began cuddling him. "And you looked cute in that little school uniform. I bet you would look even cuter as a little bunny rabbit!"
"Ooh, a bunny costume! I'd pay Munny to see that!" Kairi squealed.
"Nuh uh! No more costumes!" Dizzy protested. All three mares looked at Discord with pleading eyes. The draconequus chuckled darkly, cracking his knuckles as he hovered over toward them. Dizzy gulped, not liking the look on his older self's face. "Uh oh."
"If adorable is chaotic, I'd be happy to indulge in all of your wildest, cuteness adoring dreams," Discord said, raising his hand as he prepared to snap his fingers.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Dizzy screamed, now stuck in a bunny outfit after the echoing snap, being relentlessly coddled and hugged to death by three mares.
Once things had gotten back to normal, for Discord's standards, they restarted Discord's tea party, this time with his chaos twisting it up. Aqua and Kairi stayed to join in, poking fun of the casual conversation during the normal tea party, all while glowing, flying, folding napkins flew around, a winged teapot pouring tea to empty cups after snatching up a singing ginseng teabag, the living pinata sneezing out candy while frolicking around, and even milk toast turning into butterflies that needed to be caught with a butterfly net to snack on. It was a chaotic party, and Fluttershy wouldn't have wanted it any other way. And having Dizzy joining in to keep new ideas going, the fun would have been endless if the draconequus colt didn't burn out all his energy like one.
Fluttershy left for home after the party, hoping to have another one hosted by Discord sometime soon, while Aqua and Kairi stayed to help "tidy up", even though Discord could clean everything in the blink of an eye. While Dizzy was passed out on the couch, Discord escorted the Keyblade wielders to his front door as they began to head out, too.
"Thanks for the help, even if it was a tiny bit," Discord said.
"I'm actually surprised Aqua let out her own inner chaos while we tried to save you," Kairi mentioned, making the blue unicorn grimace.
"I'd...rather not go back to reverting to almost going insane like I had the last several years," Aqua muttered. "I'm still reeling from the days where I thought I would lose my mind talking to myself, struggling to survive, and losing hope as the days wound up turning into years in that place."
"Try being turned to stone for a thousand years," Discord uttered.
"You have no idea what it was like to lose everyone you loved and get tossed aside to somewhere dangerous," Aqua argued.
"Well, I had NO ONE but myself since I was probably a toddler, AND ponies resented me for the way I looked!" Discord countered.
"Ok, ok, we all get it!" Kairi quickly intervened, having just narrowly avoided losing Discord and didn't want a scuffle involving who had the worst past. "Both of you had some tough lives, but despite how they all turned out, you two at least have some pain you two share. And we just had a fun party, so let's not ruin it by arguing. Or wake up Dizzy."
Both mare and draconequus grimaced, Aqua sighing as she spoke first. "I'm sorry...It's...hard to let go of the past," she said. "...Especially when everything seems to be your fault."
"Or when everyone sees you're at fault for no reason," Discord added. "We both still have those fears and doubts, but, I suppose having a good friend being there for you can remind you of the joy in the present." Aqua nodded in agreement, then held her hoof out to Discord, whom he gladly took as the two shook respective limbs. "Oh, speaking of friends, can I trust you two with a secret?"
"And what would this secret be?" Kairi asked, feigning curiosity even though she and Aqua can take a guess on what it was.
"Well...It's just, Fluttershy and I have been friends for a while, and..." Discord cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck nervously while his cheeks began to turn red and sweat beaded down his forehead. "I-I, uhh...I care deeply for her. B-Being my first ever friend and all, mind you. I was w-worried sick when the changelings kidnapped her, a-and I-I-I..." He took a deep breath to control his stammering, his torso inflating like a balloon before expelling it in a near minute-long exhale. "...I think...I...l-like Fluttershy...more than...a friend?"
Aqua and Kairi looked at each other with smirks on their faces, the latter holding back her amused giggles with her hoof covering her muzzle. "Oh? Is that all?" Aqua sarcastically asked. "Why, I don't think any of us have ever noticed."
Discord's nerves deflated, staring at the two mares blankly, then pointed his thumb at his house. "Mini me told you, didn't he?" he asked.
"Seems like a part of you wanted to try to set you and Fluttershy up on a date," Kairi said.
Discord let out a heavy sigh, grumbling irritably to himself. "I'm gonna get that little..." Running his paw over his face, his efforts telling someone else his secret crush on Fluttershy ruined no thanks to Dizzy, he ignored his future plots to get back at his younger self. "Anyway, since you two already know, if and when I'm...ready to tell Fluttershy...can you two give me...relationship advice?" he asked. "Should I give Fluttershy flowers? Candies? Diamonds or jewelry?" While questioning how to win Fluttershy's affections, he materialized a huge assortment of flowers, candy, and jewelry around him, unable to choose which ones he was sure Fluttershy would like. "This is a whole new concept for me, and romance books don't really help when the stallion offers mares a gift, and they walk off in the sunset."
"I don't getting her all sorts of gifts will win your way to her heart," Aqua said. Discord dismissed all the random gift options he created, tapping his fingers nervously while biting his lower lip. "It's ok to get her something on occasion, just...try not to spoil her if you two do go out together."
"Ok, got it," Discord said, snapping his fingers to summon a notepad and pen, jotting down notes for whenever he asks Fluttershy out. "You don't think she'll say no because I'm old, do you? I mean, she like my unique chaos magic, but I'm over a thousand years old and she's...Hold on. How old are Fluttershy and her friends again?" The enchanted pen stopped writing, the draconequus tapping his chin curiously as he pondered the thought. "Are they young adults in certain years, or were they the same age as Sora? I also heard it was rude to ask a mare's age, otherwise it makes them feel too old. But, then again, I think I was maybe in my twenties or thirties before unleashing havoc, so I should have barely aged physically while in stone, yet I sound like an elderly man who played other roles involving breaking reality."
While drifting off in his tangent, Kairi snapped him out of it with a tap on his snout. "Discord, taking notes isn't really going to be helpful when you should only focus on everything you know about Fluttershy," she said. He dismissed his notepad and pen, but before he could bring something else, Kairi grasped his hands with her magic. "And not through memory-copied books about our lives you can create because of your magic."
"Then what do I do?" Discord asked.
"Just be yourself," Kairi advised. Discord raised a brow, confused by the vague answer he was given. "The one thing you do in a relationship, whether it starts out as friends and grows into love, or even while you're in one with the one you're with, don't ever change who you are. Both on the inside and outside."
"...That's it?" Discord questioned.
"I know it's a little hard to understand, and a little weird, but why do you think I love Sora so much that I want him to be my husband?" Kairi asked, pointing to her engagement ring to emphasize her point. "Like you, he's a bit of a goofball. Without the chaos magic, mind you. But despite how silly and immature he can be, he's kind, caring, brave, and willing to save everyone in need. I fell in love with him because of who he is, not what he could do to impress me. Sora already won my heart; he doesn't need to give me anything to show how much he cares about me when I've seen it in his own heart."
"...Oh," Discord uttered. He glanced at Aqua, who gave him a silent nod, not needing to say what Kairi already said. "...So...be myself around her...W-Well, what if my magic runs a bit too wild if I was being too much of myself?"
"Just trust your heart, Discord," Kairi said, gently prodding her hoof against his chest. "Since Dizzy's a part of your heart, maybe you should listen to his advice, too." Discord scoffed, rolling his eyes, imagining being dictated by his childhood self, even though he was right knowing Fluttershy would have enjoyed his ideas for his first tea party hosting. "Don't ever change, Discord," Kairi said, getting the draconequus's attention again. "I've said it to Sora before we got 'separated' when darkness destroyed Destiny Islands. And you already learned that lesson the hard way, so I suggest not doing that again."
"...Right," Discord said, ensuring his promise not to give up his magic and risk disappearing again. "I'll take your words to heart." He then materialized a book, featuring Kairi and her memories, though it didn't have a crudely drawn portrait of her like with Sora's. "Quite as optimistic as Sora is, too. Did that part of him rub off on you while your hearts were actually intertwined?"
"Maybe. Maybe not," Kairi answered cryptically.
After Kairi gave Discord a hug goodbye, surprising the draconequus, she and Aqua made their way out of Discord's dimensional realm to return to the castle. Discord walked inside, sitting down in his chair as he looked at the cover of Kairi's memories. He heard Dizzy snore slightly, looking over to see his younger self smiling as he napped. He raised his hand, hesitating slightly as he contemplated returning the young draconequus back to his heart where he belonged. After some thought, he shrugged and snapped his fingers, creating a blanket and gently wrapped Dizzy in it to make him more cozy.
"Ah, what the hay?" Discord uttered to himself. "I think he needed some fresh air, anyway."
Getting comfortable in his seat, he opened the book, reaching the part where Kairi mentioned the helpful bit of advice she told Sora back then. Instead of reading it, with a bit of his chaos magic, the scenery around him changed as he experienced the moment in person. Still in his seat, he was on Destiny Islands, where a younger Sora and Kairi sat at the end of a dock on their island as the sun began to set, the scent of the ocean and tropical climate reaching to the draconequus like he was really there.
"You know, Riku has changed," Kairi said.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked curiously.
"Well..." Kairi went silent, making Sora look at her, wondering why she paused.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Sora, let's take the raft and go; just the two of us!" Kairi suddenly said, startling Sora as he nearly fell over in exasperation. She giggled at his reaction, which made Discord laugh, never knowing Kairi could also be just as unpredictably playful as Sora. "Just kidding!"
"What's gotten into you?" Sora asked, slightly irritated. "You're the one that's changed, Kairi."
"Maybe," Kairi admitted. The two sat in silence for a little before she spoke up again. "You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here...Right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sora assured as the two looked at each other.
"That's good," Kairi said. The two looked back out to the sunset for a while until Kairi looked at Sora again. "Sora, don't ever change." Sora looked at Kairi quizzically, wondering what she meant as he watched her stand up to get a better look at the view. "I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."
Even though Sora was clueless as to what she meant back then, Discord could tell Kairi back then was nervous telling him how she felt. It was going to be a scary adventure for them, but it was more terrifying trying to tell someone their feelings for the other because of the unexpected response they might or might not get. She had him promise not to change who he was, regardless whether or not something happened to either of them, and through all the pain Sora went through after the start of his harsh journey as a Keyblade wielder, he ensured his promised and remained exactly who he was for Kairi.
"'Don't ever change.'" Discord repeated, ending the illusion of the past memory. Setting the book down, he stood up from his chair and looked outside. Memories of his childhood resurfaced, being mistreated for being so different to proving he wasn't as bad as he appeared, as well as his time as the Lord of Chaos, to a reformed villain, a traitor, and a now truly reformed draconequus. He went from being a scared, timid, and lonely colt to a helpful, sentient being who wished no harm, only to turn into a mad tyrant for ponies of the past seeing him as a monster. He remained cynical, but after his reformation, he began to open up more to Fluttershy, regretted his mistake in trusting Tirek to give him the freedom he already had, but even though he tries to use his chaotic magic for good, that lingering fear of being treated differently was still there, even though times had changed since back then. "I've changed so many times, I don't even know who the real me is anymore..."
"That's easy." Discord's ears twitched, turning around to find Dizzy was awake, sitting up while still wrapped in the blanket Discord conjured for him.
"Oh, is it?" Discord asked. "Well, if you're so smart, then you tell me who we are. Former Lord of Chaos? Freak of Nature? A-Backstabbing-Jerk-Who-Almost-Let-a-Magic-Munching-Centaur-Destroy-Equestria-and-Almost-Lost-the-Friends-He-Ever-Made-in-His-Entire-Life!?"
Dizzy silently unwrapped himself, then made his way over to Discord, leaping up onto the windowsill while looking up at him. "We are Discord," he said. "That's who we are."
"I know what our name is," Discord said with a frustrated groan. "Is this how it feels to everyone else when I give answers that are more like complex riddles?"
Dizzy sighed, shaking his head in disappointment before grabbing Discord's goatee, yanking him down to eye level. "Forget how many times we changed. Who we are, who we want to be to everypony else, is Discord," the young draconequus reiterated. "How everypony else saw us back then hurt. I know. But even with our pain, we look back on what we tried to be, and it failed because maybe it wasn't our time to feel wanted. Today, however, is so much different, and we're given the chance to be the real Discord; a draconequus who wants to prove that we're more than just a strange creature they judge before getting to fully know us." Discord blinked, surprised to hear what actually made sense coming from his younger spirit. Seeing he got through to his existential crisis, Dizzy grinned smugly, crossing his arms over his chest as he let his ego inflate. "Maybe I also got most of your brains than your heart if you can't figure out what it means on your own."
Discord scowled at Dizzy, snatching him up by the scruff of his neck. "You know what, you little cretin?" he said. Dizzy winced and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for something forcibly embarrassing to wear or get hurt by something. However, he felt Discord give him a boop on the snout, squinting an eye open curiously, his scowl gone and replaced with a calm smile. "Maybe you do have all the answers I needed after all."
"...Really?" Dizzy asked.
"Of course. You could be my more...reasonable side," Discord added, carrying Dizzy to the couch, settling themselves back down. "Well, reasonable with some chaos thrown in. Don't want to be normal again. What was I thinking?"
"You weren't," Dizzy said.
"Alright, you, don't push it," Discord said, giving Dizzy a noogie. "So, any ideas you want to share for our next tea party for Fluttershy when she comes over?"
"Oh, I have plenty of ideas to spare, me," Dizzy said, giving Discord a wide grin as the two brainstormed ideas for their next chaotic party, and maybe, when Discord has the courage, ideas for dates when he and Fluttershy get together.