When Fluttershy woke up, Discord was already out of bed, bouncing on his heels and glancing over at her. As soon as she yawned and sat up, he lunged forward, tackling her back onto the bed. "Today's the day!" he said cheerfully, nuzzling his cheek against hers.
She giggled, returning the nuzzle. "You're excited, aren't you?" He nodded eagerly, snapping his fingers and creating a giant plate of chocolate chip waffles. He began to gobble them down rapidly, while Fluttershy ate hers at a calmer pace, glancing over at the clock. "You know, they probably aren't open yet," she said. "So you can slow down a bit."
He chugged a glass of chocolate milk and grabbed two more waffles. "Well, I still want to get ahead of the lines and crowds," he said. "Besides, I've been waiting all week for this! I can't just 'calm down'!"
She giggled, leaning against his side. "I'm glad you're happy," she said. "We should write Twilight a thank you letter for getting us the tickets."
"Mmmm, I suppose," he said with a shrug.
They made their way through the pile of waffles, Discord throwing the plate out of the room like a Frisbee once it was licked clean. Fluttershy hurried into the bathroom, brushing her mane and teeth, while Discord laid on the bed and flossed his teeth.
Once she was out, he teleported to her side, flinging a whole waffle out of his teeth and looping his claw around her foreleg. "Ready to go?" he asked. She nodded, and he snapped his fingers, teleporting them both away.
They reappeared in front of a large sign reading Four Flags. Underneath was a banner that read, Equestria's newest and biggest amusement park—Opening Day Today! On each side of the sign were two flags each—one of a white and blue alicorn circling each other, one of a lone sun, one with half of a sun and a moon on a pinkish-purple fabric, and finally, a purple one with Twilight's cutie mark on it.
"Hmph," Discord said, crossing his arms. "No flag of my time ruling Equestria, I see."
Fluttershy frowned. "I didn't know you had a flag..."
"Oh, no," he said. "That would have implied some sort of order." He sighed. "Though I might have still made one out of boredom if my reign hadn't been cut short both times." He looked forward, then groaned, flinging his head back to glare at the sky.
She followed where his gaze had been, and saw a long line of creatures crowding before the closed gates...and still more were joining as they stood by. "Oh my...we should probably join that line, quick!" she said, grabbing Discord's paw and flying forward.
He grumbled and crossed his arms, mumbling about not wanting to wait in line. "I know," she said, nuzzling his neck. "But we have to. Just think of how much fun we'll have today once we get inside."
He grumbled again, glaring at the closed gates. She sighed and shook her head.
Just a few minutes later, the gates opened, and the line began to move. Discord's mood vastly improved the closer they got to the front, until he was chatting excitedly with Fluttershy about all the rides he had heard rumors about. Their talking passed the time, and once they were at the front, their tickets were taken, and they were given maps and paper wristbands in return.
"Well, where to first?" Fluttershy asked as Discord opened up his map, while she scanned the front plaza they were in, with a beautiful fountain and carousel.
"I know exactly where I want to start!" Discord said, snapping his fingers and teleporting them. They reappeared in front of a tall metal roller coaster with a long line in front of it. The track was painted red and black, and the fast-moving carts were painted white and black. When they came to a stop, releasing their disoriented passengers, she realized they were designed to look like cartoonish pony skulls.
"The Shrieking Skullcoaster!" he said cheerfully, holding his arms as he presented it to Fluttershy. "Currently built to be the fastest coaster of Equestria!" He leaned forward to whisper to her, "Though I've made some faster ones before."
Fluttershy looked up at the tall, twisting metal track and gulped. "Y-you want to ride that?" she said weakly.
"Yeah!" Discord said, bouncing on his heels. "Look at it! Twists and turns and high, terrifying speeds, loops until you lose all sense of gravity, screams of terror filling the air!" The coaster rattled by, its occupants shrieking. A wide grin spread on Discord's face. "It's perfect!"
Fluttershy rubbed at her foreleg. "I don't know, Discord...it looks really scary."
He tore his eyes away from the coaster to look at her. "Would you rather start with a slower coaster?" he asked.
"I'm not sure if I want to go on any roller coasters," she said. "I've never been on one. They've always looked...too scary for me."
He gasped, then threw an arm around her shoulder. "Well, today's the day to try it out!" he said cheerfully. "I'll make you a deal, dearest Fluttershy. I will pick from the map a good roller coaster for beginners. I'll ride it with you, right by your side. If you like it, we'll carefully work our way through the coasters until we can ride the most exciting ones together."
"But what if I don't like it?" she said.
"Then I'll treat you to a giant chocolate milkshake, and we'll go on all the rides that aren't roller coasters." He began counting things off on his fingers. "There's the teacups, the Ferris wheel, all of the river rides..."
"But what about you? I know you're really excited about going on all of the rides," she said, looking up at the screaming coaster of ponies. "I'd hate to keep you from enjoying the day."
He shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure I can squeeze in a few coaster rides in between the things we do together. Besides, I can make copies of these coasters at home whenever I like!" He snapped his fingers, and a miniature version of the Shrieking Skullcoaster appeared around his feet, complete with tiny pony dolls that squeaked like chew toys as the coaster went around the track.
He snapped his fingers and the replica disappeared. "But whatever happens, I will make sure we both have a fun day. I just want you to try something I like, to see if you'll like it to." He held his paw out to her. "Deal?"
She thought about it, then reached out and shook his paw. "Deal. What coaster do you want me to try?"
He hummed and pulled a folded park map from his ear. He unfurled it and snapped his fingers, making images of the rides rise from the paper. He narrowed his eyes at them, waving them all away one by one, until only one was left. "This one!" he declared, snapping his fingers.
They teleported in a flash of light, reappearing in front of a different roller coaster. This one had a blue metal track, with the carts painted a cheery yellow. This coast was closer to the ground, and though it had a few twists and turns, there were no loops.
"This seems like the perfect place to begin," Discord said, floating over to the line. "All we have to do is—ugh—wait." He landed at the end of the line and began tapping his foot impatiently.
Fluttershy came up to his side. "This line doesn't seem so bad," she said. "And while we're waiting, maybe we could figure out what we should do after this."
His face brightened at that, and he pulled the map back out, along with a handful of colorful markers. He flattened the map out on top of the air between them, pointing out attractions he thought were interesting, or that she might like. She pointed out a few places like the games boardwalk and the teacups ride, which he dutifully circled in marker, along with the things he had pointed out.
In just a few minutes, they were close to the front of the line. Fluttershy looked up at the coaster—especially the first tall climb. She gulped and shivered, shifting a little closer to Discord's side.
Discord had just crumpled up the map and tossed it down his gullet as she shifted towards him. He glanced down, looking down at her with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" he asked. "We could go on another ride first, or just not try a coaster today..."
She shook her head. "No...I said I would try this." She forced a smile on her face. "Who knows? Maybe it'll be fun!"
He looked doubtful, but all he did was sigh and place his paw on her head. "I'll be right next to you the whole time," he said, as they took a step forward, next to the measuring stick.
The unicorn attendant looked at their heights, nodded, and waved them on. Fluttershy's hooves shook a little as they climbed up the steps towards the coaster, but she made it. Discord placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her over to two empty adjacent seats. He took his seat, showing her how to pull the safety bar down in front of her.
She shivered as the seats continued to fill up under the watchful eyes of the attendants. "It'll be fine," Discord said. "Don't be afraid to hold onto me if you need to."
She smiled gratefully at him. Suddenly, the car jolted, and they began to move forward and up the first slope. She flinched and grabbed his paw. He held her hoof gently, giving her a reassuring squeeze just as they reached the very top of the slope.
Gravity took back control, and they plunged down. Fluttershy screamed.
On the table in front of one of the restaurants scattered through the park, Fluttershy slowly sipped on the large chocolate milkshake with whipped cream that was in front of her. She was still shaking, and Discord was running his fingers through her mane, staring down at a photo in his claw.
"I think we can safely say that roller coasters are not for you," he said, holding the photo a little closer to her. She glanced at it. It had been caught at a moment where she was clinging to Discord's torso, screaming, while Discord had an arm slung across her back, looking like he was trying to comfort her.
She hadn't seen when the camera had gone off, but she was pretty sure that moment summed up how that whole ride had felt for her.
"Sorry I ruined the ride for you," she said glumly, taking another sip of her shake and trying to stop her nerves from shaking.
He stared at her, wide-eyed. "Sweetheart...going on that ride was for you to see if you like roller coasters! It didn't matter whether I enjoyed it or not!" He patted the top of her head. "No more roller coasters for you today! Just take as long as you need to calm your nerves, and then we can go on a ride that isn't quite as..." He twirled his paw in the air, searching for the right word.
"Terrifying?" she suggested.
He paused, mouth turning into a squiggly line. "...Okay, that's accurate." He held up the photo. "I'm sending this home. I think this is scrapbook material!"
She groaned and buried her face in her hooves. "What?" he said, sending the photo through a portal. "There's plenty of embarrassing photos of me in there. Let's even the scales a little!"
She giggled. "I suppose you're right." She took another sip of her shake. "It might take a while for me to finish this. Maybe...you could go on a few coasters while I finish this?"
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I'd hate to leave you bored...this trip is supposed to be fun for both of us."
She pulled the map on the table closer to her. "Look, here...there's a duck pond and petting zoo," she said, tapping at the place. "I can wait there while you go on the coasters. That way, we can both do something we enjoy, then meet up after and do more things together."
"That does sound like a good idea," he said. "And I can check on you in between rides...and send a clone to wait for me in line..." He nodded. "Alright. I'll teleport us over there!" He tapped twice on the petting zoo on the map, and with a loud clicking sound, they vanished in a flash of light.
They reappeared on a bench right at the edge of the duck pond. "Let's see..." Discord said, looking at the map. He snapped his fingers, and Fluttershy looked around to see what had happened. "I sent a clone to wait in line for me," he explained. "That way, I can spend the boring time I would be waiting in line with you, instead!" He booped her nose.
She giggled, pushing his claw away. "Aren't you worried that the...you in line will be bored?"
He shrugged. "Oh, I can always find some way to entertain myself." He snapped his fingers and created a handful of brown pellets in his paw. "Now, would you like to feed the ducks?"
She smiled widely, her eyes glittering, as she took a pinch of the food and tossed it out into the pond.
It took her about twenty minutes to finish her shake. To be fair, she hadn't been drinking it the whole time, distracted by the cute ducks and animals in the petting zoo, as well as Discord's antics, between him going on coaster rides. And she had felt calm just a minute after seeing the ducks...but Discord was having so much fun, she decided to wait until her shake was done.
As soon as her shake was finished, Discord got onto his feet and pulled the map back out. "Well, I've satisfied my coaster quota for the day," he said. "Thank you for that, my dear. Now, let's figure out a ride that you would enjoy."
They poured over the map together. All of the coasters were scratched out, which was most of the rides. Anything involving heights was scratched out, so that eliminated quite a few more. "So, that leaves the teacups, all of the river and log rides, and...how do you feel about the swing ride?"
He snapped his fingers and teleported them over to the ride in question. Ponies and other creatures sat in swings that were being swung rapidly through the air, high above the ground. "No, I...I don't think so," she said with a gulp. "Maybe if I could sit with you..."
He nodded, a light blush on his cheeks as he drew a big red X through the swing ride. "Haunted houses are out...are fun houses in?" he asked. "Most of them are just mazes with mirrors."
She nodded. "Those do sound pretty fun." She glanced over at the map, and saw how much red ink there was on it. "Oh, dear. I hope I'm not taking all the fun out of this for you..." she wrung her hooves together.
He scoffed. "Please. I can make much more exciting rides anytime I want to. Besides, I've already gone on plenty of coasters. And don't forget...this trip is supposed to be fun for you, too." He noticed that she was still looking worriedly at the map. "Don't worry too much about it. Amusement park rides aren't for everypony. Besides, look," he pointed to the pathways. "There are booths along the walkways with fun games, and restaurants! It's not all about the rides."
"I suppose you're right," she said.
"Of course I am," he said, placing his paw to his chest with a smug grin. "Now, enough talk. Let's go on the teacups!" She nodded, and he snapped his fingers, teleporting them away.
Time passed quickly, as she and Discord went on rides like the teacups and the log ride over and over, Discord making his clones wait in line with their own small games or books to pass the time so that he and Fluttershy could just focus on having fun.
And she really was having fun, smiling and laughing so much her cheeks and stomach were starting to hurt. And what made it even better was that Discord looked like he was having just as much fun as her, a wide grin on his face with each ride they went on.
Right now, they were sitting on a bench near the log ride's exit, toweling themselves off. "That just as fun the fifth time," Discord said. "Want to try it a sixth?"
Her stomach growled before she could answer, and she blushed. "Well...maybe we should get some food first," she said. "And after that...could we take a look at some of the booths?"
He clapped his hands and grinned. "Oh, I'd love to get food! Do you know what we're going to get?" She shook her head. "Greasy, unhealthy, overpriced food!" he said cheerfully, whipping out the map. "Now, what sort of grease would you like?" he said. "We could also go the other route and get something sweet, but also overpriced."
"Is there anything...healthy and reasonably priced?" she asked, peering over his shoulder. He grinned and shook his head.
"Don't sweat it too much, we can eat some veggies tomorrow," he said. "Now...how does a hayburger sound?"
"Well...it has been a while since we've had fast food," she said. "It might be nice." He snapped his fingers, and they were teleported to a small building with the sign above reading The Hearty Hayburger.
"I'll get the food," he said. "The 'Hearty' in the name is either referring to the heart attacks from the grease or the heart attacks from the prices." He pulled out a large coin purse and marched through the doors. Fluttershy looked around, then flew over and took a seat at one of the outside tables.
Discord came back a few minutes later with a tray in his hands—two hayburgers, two containers of fries, and two soda cups. "I present you with—lunch!" he said, holding the tray out to her. She took one of the burgers, which sagged limply and dripped grease onto the table. She winced, then took a bite out of it.
"It...almost tastes good," she said, swallowing. He held a soda cup out to her, which she took a sip of. It was a combination of orange soda, lemon-lime soda, and a hint of cherry. "This is pretty good," she said, taking another sip.
"I thought you'd like it," he said, taking a large bite out of his own burger. "Myself, I went for a little bit of everything—orange, grape, lemon-lime, cherry, vanilla, and chocolate." He swallowed and frowned down at the burger. "You're right about the burger, though. Maybe it just needs some condiments."
He snapped his fingers, and bottles of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise appeared in the center of the table. He grabbed the bottles and poured the contents onto the burger until it was a dripping mess, while Fluttershy just added a little bit of ketchup to hers before taking another bite.
"Better," she said. Discord took a large bite of his, grease and ketchup dripping down his chin. He nodded in agreement.
Lunch was a quiet, if messy, affair. Discord's mouth and hands were absolutely coated with grease and condiments by the time he finished his fries, and though Fluttershy had fewer condiments, she had just as much grease covering her.
Discord wiped at her lips with a silk handkerchief, placing another in her hooves as he tried to wring the grease out of his beard. "Well, as far as meals go, I've had better-tasting ones," he said. "But you know? There's just something enjoyable about fast food."
Fluttershy patted her stomach, slurping down the rest of her soda. "At least it was filling," she said, handing the soaked handkerchief back to Discord.
"Too full for dessert?" he asked, pointing behind her with a grin. She turned and saw a cotton candy stand on the other side of the walkway. She looked back and saw that he had a wide grin on his face.
"Well...that does sound nice," she said. He cheered and flew past her, skidding to a halt at the end of the line. She sighed and shook her head with a smile, stacking their trash on the tray and discarding it before trotting over and meeting up with Discord.
A few minutes of waiting in line, and then another few minutes of Discord wanting more and more spun sugar for his cotton candy, resulted in the two of them carrying large bulks of cotton candy on tiny paper sticks.
It was almost too bulky for her, but he used a little magic so that it was perfectly balanced in her hooves. He then offered to take some from her if it was too much, to which she giggled and shoved him playfully. They started walking down the path, glancing over at the colorful stalls, Discord guiding her through, since the cotton candy blocked most of her sight.
She made surprisingly quick work of her cotton candy (though she was sure Discord had been helping himself to bites of it). Occasionally, they stopped to watch a show or two that was being put on, before turning and continuing down the path.
Eventually, she was full, and handed the cotton candy to Discord. He smiled widely, molding it onto his own, and continued down the path. She smiled, trotting to keep up with him as he took large bites out of his dessert.
As they walked through the colorful stalls, something caught her eye. She turned to look closer. It was a simple game stand, where the challenge was to knock over bottles with a ball. But what caught her eye was the displayed prize—a jackalope plushie.
"What's wrong?" Discord said, walking backward back to her side. She jumped and looked up at him.
"Sorry, I just..." she looked back at the stand. "That's a really cute plushie."
He took another bite out of his cotton candy. "Well, if you like it so much, let's go get it!" he said, pulling out a coin purse and marching towards the stand, Fluttershy following close behind.
Two familiar yellow unicorn stallions grinned and greeted them. "Flim and Flam?" Fluttershy said, tilting her head. "Why are you here?"
Flim chuckled. "Why, we're here to promote our resort, of course!" He pointed to the title of the booth: Bottle Knockdown, Sponsered by Flim and Flam's Las Pegasus Resort.
"And promoting our new, upcoming product!" Flam added, holding out a jackalope plushie. "Knock down a tower of bottles and win the all-new 'Flim-Flam Fuzzy Plushie'!"
"One try is five bits," Flim said, holding out his hoof.
Discord poured five bits into his hands. "Wait," Fluttershy said. "Why don't we both give it a try? It does look fun."
"Sorry!" Flam said. "There's only one bottle tower, so we can only allow one thrower at a time."
"You go first, my dear," Discord said, handing the bits to her. She smiled and placed the bits into Flim and Flam's outstretched hooves, and they gave her a small ball in return.
She carefully placed the ball in her tail, tossing it up and down a few times to get a feel for its weight. Discord stepped aside and watched, Flim and Flam stepping to opposite sides of their booth and gesturing to the pyramid of glass bottles in the back.
With a deep breath, Fluttershy cracked her tail, sending the ball flying towards the bottle tower. It struck the bottle in the bottom center dead-on, and the tower wobbled, leaning back a bit...but stayed upright as the ball fell to the ground.
Flim wiped sweat off of his forehead. Flam said, "Sorry miss. Better luck next time."
"Hmmm," Discord said, whipping out a magnifying glass and peering at the bottles. The one Fluttershy had hit had a crack in it...and there was a clear, almost invisible substance between all of the bottles, and between the bottles and the table. "I'd like to give it a try!" Discord said, tossing his five bits at the two of them.
They handed him the ball, which he tossed back and forth between his hands, charging up his magic. He reared back exaggeratedly and flung the ball towards the tower with great force, a fireball forming around the ball as it surged forward, blowing back the manes of the Flim Flam brothers.
Unfortunately, the ball didn't come anywhere near the tower, tearing a hole in the booth about a foot away from it. Flam gasped and ran out the booth after it, as it still flew through the air as a fireball, while Flim stuttered, "G-g-good try! Better luck next time, sir!"
Discord growled and turned away. "It's okay," Fluttershy said, hugging his arm. "You can always make me one, or I can knit one for myself. We don't have to win."
"But...it's the principle of the thing," Discord said. In a hushed whisper, he added, "They're scamming us. They glued the bottles to the table so they can't be knocked over. I'll be barbequed if I'm going to be out-conned by these guys."
She gasped, glancing over as Flam came back with the ball in his magic grip, panting and covered with sweat. "Well...let's try it one last time, then. Together," she said.
He blinked. "That's right...if we combine my magic with your throwing accuracy, we should be able to knock it over!" He pulled out five more bits and tossed them at the stallions. "One more try, fellas!"
Their eyes glinted gold as they scooped up the bits, tossing the ball in their direction. Discord tossed it back and forth between his hands, snapping his tail feathers a few times to add a bit of magic. "Careful," he said as he handed it to Fluttershy. "It's going to rocket off as soon as you toss it."
She nodded and carefully tucked it into her tail, shifting a little (but not tossing it) as she prepared herself. She turned and whipped her tail towards the bottles...and it rocketed forward in a fireball, directly hitting the bottom center bottle.
The bottle shattered, leading to a chain effect where the bottles on top fell down, also shattering on impact. The heat from the fireball melted the glue, which poured down the sides of the bottles as they toppled over onto the ground. "Knocked over!" Discord cheered. "Prize, if you please."
Flim grabbed one of the plushies in his magic, quickly handing it to Fluttershy. The crowd murmured, their attention drawn to the booth. "Er, Flim," Flam stuttered. "I think we may have gotten a bit more attention than we wanted."
"Well, we have more bottles," Flim said, pulling some more out from underneath the booth. "And they just proved this is winnable, so how is some attention bad?"
Flam pointed to a mare in a blue uniform who was marching towards them, a glare on her face. "Hey!" she said. "I thought my supervisor told you two that you weren't allowed to set up a booth!"
Flim and Flam jumped to her hooves. "Well, that's our cue to go!" they said together, grabbing the plushies, bottles, and sign in their magic before dashing off, the uniformed mare dashing after them.
"Well," Discord said, slurping on a soda. "That was exciting. Are you happy with your prize, dear?"
"Oh, yes," she said, snuggling into it. "It's so cute and soft!" There was a tearing sound, and one of the antlers fell off of the jackalope and onto the ground.
Discord paused and picked it up, using a magnifying glass to peer at it and the base of the other antler. "Those cheapskates," he sighed. "The stitching on these is awful. In fact, I think they just glued it together in most places." He tossed away the magnifying glass and shook his head. "It's probably going to fall apart before we even leave the park."
"Oh..." she said quietly, looking sadly down at her prize. "And I thought it looked good, for one of their products..."
He patted her on the head. "Don't worry," he said. "With a little magic, fixing this fellow is a snap!" He snapped his fingers, and silver needles appeared in the air, diving in and out of the plushie with brown thread trailing behind them. The fallen antler levitated off of the ground, and another needle began sewing at its base.
Moments later, the threads tightened and knotted themselves, and the needles disappeared in a flash of magic. "There you go," Discord said. "One properly stitched jackalope plushie for my darling Fluttershy!"
She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Discord," she said, flying up to kiss him on the cheek. "Now, why don't we see if there are any other good prizes here?"
"A fantastic idea, my dear!" he said, floating down the row of stalls. She smiled and trotted forward, staying by his side.
After winning a few more plushes and toys from booths, though none were as rigged as the Flim-Flam brothers' booth, they explored a few of the fun houses, including the House of Mirrors. Discord seemed to already know how to get out of the mazes—there was just that look in his eye—but he let her take the lead in guiding them both to freedom.
After that, and a few times riding the carousel, Discord's stomach began growling and rudely demanding food. He snapped his fingers, and they teleported to an ice cream parlor. "I know it's not much better than grease," he said. "But doesn't ice cream for dinner sound nice?" When he saw her unsure expression, he added, "C'mon, we can eat healthy tomorrow."
She paused. "Oh, okay," she said finally. "It'll probably be less messy than those burgers, at least." He smiled and grinned, then slid forward and into the line.
"Wait there, sweetie!" he said. "I'll get you something good!" She smiled and found a bench to sit on. A few minutes later, he floated back, with a plastic tub with two scoops of ice cream and a banana in his paw, and a plastic cup with a brown and green mixture in his claw, each with a pink plastic spoon stuck in them.
"A banana split with vanilla and strawberry ice cream for you," he said, placing the plastic tub in her hooves. "And a mint ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup and brownie bites for me." He took his seat next to her, clasping onto the plastic cup.
"Thank you, Discord," she said, taking a bite of her ice cream. She smiled. "This is delicious." He smiled and took a large bite of his own.
They enjoyed their ice cream without much conversation, Fluttershy leaning against Discord and letting her eyes drift closed with a soft yawn. Soon, they had polished off their ice creams, and Discord crushed their containers into a round ball and lobbed them towards the nearest recycling bin, which was across the pathway. It rolled around the rim twice before finally falling down.
"Now, how about dessert?" he said with a grin.
Fluttershy giggled and shook her head. "We just had ice cream!"
He smirked, holding his fingers up to snap. "Well, I think you'll like this flavor," he said, snapping his fingers. Single-scoop ice cream cones appeared in their grips, hers pink and his striped purple and orange. She took a small lick of hers and smiled.
"Strawberries and cream," she said. "I do like this flavor." He grinned, nibbling at his own ice cream.
"And I enjoy my orange and grape swirl," he said. "Why don't we take a walk while we enjoy these?" She nodded, and they both hopped off the bench and headed down the pathway.
They remarked on a few things as they passed by, Discord taking note of a few rides and games that looked interesting to him, while Fluttershy noticed prizes and crafts being sold. At one point, Discord stopped in place between two rides and pointed the horizon out to her.
The sun was setting, painting the edge of the horizon hues of red and orange. "It's beautiful," she said, stepping closer to him. He nodded, his tongue still stuck to his ice cream, and placed his paw on top of her head.
The loudspeaker near them crackled to life. "Attention, all guests. The park will be closing in half an hour. Please choose your final ride to go on, and prepare to leave the park." Discord flinched, almost dropping his ice cream cone.
"Shoot, I lost track of time!" he said, grabbing her hoof. "We have to hurry!" Before she could even ask him what he was talking about, he had snapped his tail feathers and teleported them.
She blinked spots out of her eyes as Discord rushed forward, carrying her under his arm. "Is it closed? Are we too late?" he asked the griffon attendant in front of them.
The young griffon blinked in shock, then shook her head. "Actually, you're just in time." She gestured past her. "Get on! The view from the top is beautiful at sunset."
Discord quickly thanked her and hurried forward, while Fluttershy took the opportunity to see where they were. Discord had brought them to the Ferris wheel, with white cars painted with rainbow stripes.
Discord entered the car in front of them, setting Fluttershy gently down on the seat next to him and handing back her ice cream cone. She flinched when the car creaked and began to move upwards, shifting closer to Discord.
"Sorry about that," he said. "I just...wanted to bring you with me on this Ferris wheel." He gestured outside the car, where the park and its glittering attractions were growing smaller and smaller. "It's a wonderful view, if a bit high up, and it's the perfect way to finish off a date."
She kept one forearm wrapped around his arm, but leaned over to peer out at the park. As they climbed higher and higher, she could see more and more of the park, which was being covered in an orange glow. "It's lovely," she said, leaning back against him and staring out at the view, nibbling on the last bits of her cone.
The rest of the ride passed in a blur, though she clearly remembered the ride coming to a stop, and Discord scooping her up in his arms and carrying her off. "Sorry...did I fall asleep?" she asked.
"You dozed off. We did do a lot today, didn't we?" he said. "I can't blame you for being tired."
She smiled up at him. "I had fun, though."
He smiled and kissed her forehead. "So did I, Fluttershy. So did I." He adjusted his grip on her and snapped his tail feathers, teleporting them back home.