Fluttershy spent the rest of the day at home, keeping herself occupied with reading and organizing, but still wishing she could have had the chance to say a proper goodbye to Discord. The hours went by, and just as it started to get dark, the handle of their front door twisted open.
“Dad!” Fluttershy said cheerfully, setting down her gardening magazine and hopping off the couch to greet him.
“Ah, sweetheart. How are you?” he said, putting his hat on the rack.
“I’m good,” she said. “How was your day?”
“Well, it was quite a busy day,” he said. “But mostly okay. How are you enjoying the place so far?”
“It’s...nice,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of new friends.”
“Oh, how about we talk about it over dinner?” he said, smiling. “I got us some takeout.” He held up a bag that a delicious smell was wafting from.
“That sounds good!” she said. Her smile wavered as she remembered one of her actions early, and scuffed the carpet guiltily. “And, um...dad? I kind of gave some of our food to one of my friends…”
“Oh!” he said. He smiled and patted her shoulder reassuringly. “That’s okay, sweetie. I needed to buy some more, anyway...I’ll just pick up a little extra.”
She sighed in relief. Her stomach growled, and she turned her attention back to the bag he was holding. “...what takeout did you get?” she asked, curious.
“Well, I got some rice with various steamed vegetables,” he said, setting the bag on their kitchen table. “And some vegetable egg rolls, too.”
“That sounds yummy,” she said. But those foods sounded...specifically Neighponese. She blinked, remembering something Discord had said. “Is it...from Neighpon Town?”
“Well, it was on my path back, and I stopped by there quickly,” he said. “It was a bit scary there at this time of day...very quiet and ominous…” He quickly stopped speaking, glancing over at her as though worried about her reaction.
“...a friend of mine said it’s not good to go alone,” she said.
“I see. I only stopped there for tonight, though,” he said to reassure her.
She nodded and headed towards the kitchen sink, washing her hooves. “Do you know where Zephyr is?”
“Didn’t he say he was going to study with one of his friends and have a sleepover?” her dad said. He began to pull their food out of the bag. “He’ll come back in the morning.”
“Ah...right,” she said, taking a seat once her hooves were dry. Hopefully that’s what he’s really doing…I don’t want him to get into trouble around here. Especially with what this town is like at night...
Her father smiled, sitting down and passing her a plate of food. “Thank you,” she said, looking at her plate. Rice, covered with mainly broccoli and carrots in a sauce. She slowly started to eat...but frowned, wondering if Discord would be able to get food like this tonight, or whether he would have to eat the food she gave him already…
“Is something wrong?” her dad asked, noticing her expression.
“Just...thinking of something.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“...a friend I’m worried about,” she admitted, playing with a small sliver of onion.
“Oh, is this one of your new friends?” he asked. She nodded, her frown growing a bit deeper. “Well, what is it that’s got you so worried about them?” he continued, putting his hoof over hers and smiling warmly at her. “I’m sure we can help them in some way.”
“I...told him he could come by for food, if he needed any,” she said. “He mentioned he has trouble getting some, sometimes. But, he seemed...very nervous about running into anyone besides me.”
“Ah, I see…” he said. “Wait… ‘he’?” She nodded. “This is the first time you’ve had a colt friend,” he said. “Are you sure you can trust him? Teenage ponies, especially male ones, aren’t always of...the best character.”
She frowned and shifted nervously. “He’s...not a pony,” she said slowly.
“He’s not a changeling, is he?” her dad said, taking a bite of food. “Or a griffon?”
“No…” she says. “He’s a, um...draconequus.”
“Never heard of that kind of creature before.”
She smiled as she took another bite of food. “He’s unlike any other creature,” she said.
“Well, as long as he doesn’t hurt you, then it’s okay,” he said. “He can have some food, as well...we’ll be getting plenty more.” He continued to eat, offering her one of the egg rolls.
“I’ll tell him that if—when I see him again,” she said, accepting the roll.
“I’m sure you will,” he said. “It is a small town, after all.”
“...yeah.” They ate in silence for a few minutes, polishing off most of the food. When she was done, Fluttershy stood up and began to put the remaining leftovers away, but her dad raised a hoof to stop her.
“How about you go get some rest,” he said, “You seem tired. And tomorrow you can see your friend.”
“Alright,” she said, setting down the food. “Good night, dad.” She kissed his cheek and headed upstairs.
“Good night, sweetie,” he said, putting away the leftovers and starting to clean the kitchen.
Fluttershy quickly got ready for bed—but instead of lying down, she headed over to her window and stared out at the night sky. “Discord...wherever you are, I hope you have a comfortable place to sleep,” she said quietly.
The night was quiet, the chirping of crickets her only answer. She sighed, and after giving her already-sleeping Angel Bunny a soft kiss on the forehead, she crawled into bed.
Meanwhile, Discord headed back into his apartment after his long, drawn-out afternoon of loitering and minor rule-breaking. He flipped the switch, but the room remained as dark as ever.
“Great, no light again,” he said with a sigh. He headed over to his bedroom in the darkness and plopped onto the old, worn mattress he called a bed.
Off in some other room, there was a couple arguing loudly about something. In another, someone was playing one of their records, maybe to try and drown out the noise. The cacophony drowned out any sound that might come from outside...and even the tiny snoring sounds he was sure his ‘roommate’ was making despite the din.
He sighed and sat up on his bed. He opened the bundle that...naive Fluttershy had given him earlier, to see what she had packed. Along with the cookies from earlier, there were apples, carrots, a few bags of chips—though they were the low-fat, low-salt kind—and some other healthy things.
“Huh,” he said, tearing open a bag of chips. “Guess she isn’t much of a sweets pony...or a bit of a health nut.” He munched on the chips and shoved the bundle aside, lying on his back and falling asleep...or trying to, at least.
The noise of the apartment continued, along with the bustle in the streets as the night life came out of hiding. As the noise continued, he managed to get an uneasy few hours of sleep. He sighed as he was brought out of his dreams again by a banging sound with itchy crumbs on his face.
He grumbled and swept them onto the floor, standing up and heading towards the door. It wasn’t a problem for him to go out at night—he knew how to take care of himself. And a walk could be just the thing he needed to actually get a good night’s rest.
With that in mind, he headed outside and down the streets. They were quieter than normal...there was certainly still some noise here and there, but it was easy enough to ignore.
He wandered into the park, which was silent, aside from the rustling of leaves in the wind. “Jeez,” he huffed, plopping onto one of the benches. “What messed-up town has a quiet park and noisy homes?”
This already messed-up one, he answered himself in his head. And the apartments aren’t really a home...more like a greasetrap.
“Heh,” he chuckled, closing his eyes. “That’s true…”
He slowly nodded off, catching himself and shaking awake a few times. After the third time he shook awake, he sighed and laid across the bench, closing his eyes. It’s a better resting place than that noisy greasetrap, he thought as he drifted off.
He slept there until the sun began to rise—a surprisingly restful sleep, though he jolted awake a few times.
Seeing the sunrise, he stood up and adjusted his jacket, heading back to his apartment. The more “peaceful” side of town was coming to life outside of the park, normal ponies leaving their normal houses to do their normal jobs...at least until the real side of town came back out after sunset.
He frowned, slicked back his thick mane, and shot a few glares at ponies as he continued down the street.
As morning arrived, there was someone knocking on Fluttershy’s door. “Sweetie, breakfast is done,” her father’s voice said.
Fluttershy stirred awake and yawned, slowly emerging from her cocoon of blankets.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” her father said. This was followed by the sound of hoofsteps, slowing quieting and disappearing as he headed into the kitchen.
“Mmm…” she said, rubbing at her eyes. With another yawn, she rolled out of bed and opened her door, heading downstairs.
Her father was already in the kitchen, putting out food. Just as she stepped inside, the front door opened, and Zephyr strolled in. “Gooood morning!” he announced cheerfully, plopping into his chair. “How is everyone today?”
“I’m good, Zephyr,” their dad said as he finished setting up the table with a platter of pancakes and bottles of syrup. “How are studies going?”
“They’re going great,” Zephyr said, loading his plate with pancakes and fruit. “Really great.” Fluttershy eyed him with a bit of suspicion.
“That’s good,” their dad said. “Good morning, sweetheart.”
“Good morning,” she said in return, sitting down and helping herself to some food, though not as much as Zephyr was.
“Did you rest well? Is your room comfortable enough?”
“Yes, very much so,” she said, nibbling on a slice of buttered toast.
“Oh hey, is my bed set up yet?” Zephyr asked as he poured syrup over his tower of pancakes. “I’ve just been so busy lately…” Fluttershy frowned and shot him an unimpressed look.
“Don’t worry, I’ll set it up today since I have the day off,” their dad said. He turned to Fluttershy and said, “Dear, would you mind going to get a few things in the market while I set up your brother’s bed? You don’t have to go until after breakfast.”
“...alright!” she said cheerfully, tearing her stare away from Zephyr. Her brother just shrugged off the dirty look, if he had even noticed it at all. “Do you have a list of things we need?”
“Yes, I put it on the fridge last night,” he said, pointing to the piece of paper there with his hoofwriting.
“Alright,” she said. “I’ll head to market...after I make sure everyone is fed this morning.”
“Of course, don’t rush it,” he said. “Oh, Zephyr, I’m going to need some help in the backyard today.”
“With what?” Zephyr asked, frowning a bit.
" Mowing the lawn and planting some new flowers, and also getting rid of some bad weed too" he say
"Sounds like...a lot of work," Zephyr says as it was clear from his expression that he didn’t want to do any labor work.
Fluttershy frowns and gives him a stern look.
"...I'll help, but I'll have to leave before lunch! I'm meeting up with some friends for a study session," he quickly says.
" I'm sure we can get it done before lunch as long as we work after breakfast." their father said as he ate his pancake.
"...yeah," Zephyr says, filling his plate again. "Mind if I have some coffee before we start?"
"Of course " Mr. shy said and took a sip of his orange juice.
"Thanks, dad! You're the best." He heads over to the coffee machine and begins making his brew, which includes lots of cream and sugar.
"Dad...would you mind if I got some more tea at the marketplace?" Fluttershy asks.
“ I don’t see why not if you're running low you can alway get it if you're doing the shopping for us. You'll need some extra bit, here you go.” he say and take a small bag full of bit handing it over to her
"Oh, t-thank you!" she says, accepting it. "I could...use some of my savings..."
“No, that’s your savings for the future,” he said. “I don’t want you spending it on anything we need.”
She looked down, then slowly nodded. “Okay...I’ll head out as soon as I get ready.” Her father nodded and started to clean the kitchen.
Fluttershy finished her breakfast, while Zephyr slowly sipped his homemade grande mocha. He ate a second helping of breakfast while skimming through some sort of manecare magazine.
“Anyway, you two go on and get ready,” their father said. “I’ll be heading to the backyard.” He finished the last bit of cleaning, scrubbing the pans.
“Sure, Dad!” Zephyr said. He seemed to be taking his sweet time finishing breakfast, though. Fluttershy finished her own breakfast and headed back upstairs to get ready for the day.
Mr. Shy head outside to the back yard and start to get out all the equipment, while Zephyr wasn’t in much of a hurry to no surprise to anyone.
Meanwhile Fluttershy has brushed her teeth and her mane and got dress putting on a simple white dress with blue trim, as she then grabs her purse and heads back downstairs.
"I'm heading out," Fluttershy says as she takes the list off of the fridge. "Zephyr Breeze...as soon as that coffee is finished, you should help dad. Please don't dawdle..."
“Alright I will” He say and sighs while drinking his coffee.
She smiles, then heads towards the door and leaves, waving goodbye to her dad as she goes.
He waved goodbye to her “Be careful out there okay!” He yells cheerfully
"I will!" She says, heading towards town.
As she headed out, she saw other ponies hanging out in and just outside of the town. They went into and came out of shops, going about their days as normal. “Right...what do we need?” she said to herself, reading the list as she walked forward.
The list was mostly full of basic food items, such as milk, cereal, and so on. It also had a few other things written at the bottom, such as cleaning products. “This should be easy enough,” she said, heading towards the area of town she was...fairly certain there were stores in.
As she moved forward, she spotted a bright pink pony with a poofy mane bouncing along, humming as she delivered cake boxes to different houses. “Oh hey, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, eagerly waving to her once they made eye contact.
“Hi, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, approaching. “How are you?”
“I’m good! What are you up to, shopping?” Pinkie asked. “Oh, let me see here…” She moved to peer at the list in Fluttershy’s hoof.
“Do you know where I can get all this?” Fluttershy asked. “If it’s no trouble, and you’re not busy now, that is…”
“No worries!” Pinkie said. “You, my friend, have come to the right pony! I mean, I came to you, but that’s beside the point!” She beamed and bounced on her hooves, tucking the rest of the deliveries into her mane, somehow. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can get these!”
She quickly bounced ahead, weaving through the crowd. “W-wait up!” Fluttershy said, hurrying after her. Pinkie just giggled, maneuvering around ponies with ease and quickly turning corners.
Fluttershy rushed to keep up. By the time she caught up with Pinkie, who had finally stopped, she was panting and out of breath. “Here we are!” Pinkie declared, turning to face her. “Oh...sorry, I forgot...not a lot of folks can keep up here!” She reached into her mane and pulled out a water bottle, offering it to Fluttershy.
“It’s fine…” Fluttershy said, taking a sip of water. “I’m just...a bit out of shape.”
“What? No you’re not,” Pinkie said. “You look great!”
Fluttershy flinched and looked away. “I mean...I don’t have a lot of stamina,” she said quietly, straightening up and giving back the water bottle.
“Oh, heh...sorry,” Pinkie said. “Anyway, we’re here!”
Fluttershy turned her gaze forward to see where ‘here’ was. Pinkie had guided her to a large brick building, with a blue sign with white lettering hanging above the doors. “Is this...a grocery store?” she asked.
“Yup!” Pinkie said. “And the best in town, I’d say. Sometimes even better than the farmers markets that ponies set up! Quantity-wise, I mean, because nothing beats fresh farm food in quality, except maybe this store has better toys and books and games—”
“You think they’ll have everything on my list?” Fluttershy asked before the rant spiraled out of control.
“Oh yes they have everything…..Okay maybe not a pony you can rent for a day, because that would be crazy. Did you know that's actually a thing, you can hire a pony to cuddle it sooo crazy but Yeah they have everything on the list” Pinkie said as she giggled a bit.
Fluttershy blinks confuse on pinkie quick change of subject. "Um...thank you? I'll just get started shopping, then..."
“Anyway I’ll see you around!” Pinkie says and bounces away.
"Bye!" she says, waving goodbye and heading into the store.
As she entered the store she saw lots of other ponies walking around with carts as they do their shopping and employees helping those that need help finding items. As classical music plays softly on the intercoms of the store.
She soon grabbed a cart and started to walk down the aisle trying to find where all the things she needed were but the store was so massive and confusing she ended up going up and down losing track of which aisle she was but to her amazement there was a familiar face.
He stood there looking at the shelf not noticing her at first.
"...Discord?" she calls out, slowly approaching.
“Huh?” He turned around to look for the voice that was calling him.
She approached, giving a small wave. "How are you?"
“ um hey...I’m okay I guess,” He say as he slid something into his pocket.
She watches this, and glances at the shelves. "Discord...what are you in here to buy?" she asks.
“Oh yeah buying something here and there you know” He says.
"Like...food?" she says, almost a little hopefully.
“ yes... you know a little bit of anything.” He says.
"Do you want any help--" She remembers that she's never been in this store, and blushes. "Um...never mind. I don't know my way around the store..."
“Actually how about I help you out.” He says, smiling a bit.
"Oh! Would you?" she says, smiling. "Dad sent me to get groceries...and I thought maybe I could pick up some tea, as well."
“Of course let's see what you need?” He says and looks over at the list.
"Here," she says, handing it over to him.
He looks at the list and nods “ okay follow me” he says as he start walking down the aisle with her.
“ So um you were sent here by yourself right?” He asked.
"Mhmm," she says. "Dad and Zephyr are setting up house right now."
“I see, so um tell me about yourself” He say as he takes something and slide them in his pockets in some blind spot of the aisle.
"...not much to say," she says. "I like animals and gardening...I... didn't do well in flight school..."
She glances over. "Will you, um... pay for those?"
He put a finger in against her lips “Look sweetheart ya nice and all but keep it quiet about that okay.” He say brushing his hair back as he keep walking down the aisle getting her stuff and putting it in her cart
She follows behind him. "It's...wrong to steal," she says, quietly and weakly.
“Anyway, animal huh do you have a pet?” He ask trying to change the subject.
"...just one. A bunny named Angel..." She's frowning at him, and reaches for the list. "Maybe I should...finish this myself."
"Alright then." He says and handed her the list. "See you around then" he says and puts his hand on his pocket walking away.
She watches him go, whining a little and looking between him and her list. "I...I want to know him...but do I want to know him if he's a thief?" she says quietly to herself.
He quickly made it out of the store without any trouble.
She bites her lip, looking at the half-full cart, glancing at the doors...and sighs, tucking away her grocery list and exiting, glancing around to see if she can spot him.
As she does she spots his tail as he walks through the crowd.
"Oh...I'm making such a mistake..." she says to herself. But still, she can't help but follow him.
He continued to walk around town taking some alley ways as fluttershy is unsure of where he was going and if she should even be following him.
She follows him, weaving through the crowd. As soon as it thins out a bit, she calls out, "H-hey!"
He doesn't listen and sigh as he continues off, and stops in front of a broken down building picking the lock to open the door, heading inside leaving the door slightly open behind him.
She freezes at the threshold of the building. Is this...where he lives? she wonders. Or did he just...break into someone's home?
She doesn't want to be scared of him...but despite her curiosity, she's suddenly frightened of what Discord's done—fought ponies, stolen things, maybe broken into a house—she took a few stumbling steps backwards.
Fluttershy breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. "It's...too big to be someone's home..." she said quietly. "Unless they were really rich...maybe it's one of those..." She frowns, trying to think of the word.
"A-part-mints?" she says. "So...does he live here?" She looked sadly at the broken-down state of the building.
She gulped and slowly approached the door, peering in to see what was inside. There was a small hallway that led to two doorways. One of them was blocked off by junk like old mattresses and trash bags. A couple mice scurried for cover at her presence.
“Oh, my,” she said, approaching the hiding place of the mice. “Um, excuse me, little friends. Do you know if a...draconequus lives here, in this building?”
A small mouse poked its head out. They nodded and pointed to a door on the left of the hallway, slightly ajar.
“Oh, thank you…” she said, sighing in relief. “So...he didn’t just break in.” She frowned. “But he still stole from the store...do I really want to know him? I’m just...so confused.”
The mouse shrugged and scurried back out of sight, sniffing out for food. “What to do…” she said to herself. “Maybe I should just...leave and forget…”
She sighed and stood up...but as she turned around and headed back towards the front door, she tripped over something discarded on the ground and fell, scraping her foreleg. “Ow!”
As Discord entered his broken-down apartment, a small blob of green slime moved forward to greet him, smiling happily at him. “Hi, Smooze,” Discord greeted warmly. He bent down enough to pat the smile’s head.
Smooze beamed, leaning up into his touch and leaving slime on his palm. “Okay, Smooze...here, I got you some stuff,” Discord said, standing up. He took off his leather jacket and shook it, spilling out a few canned goods.
The slime bobbed up and down in joy, and wrapped his mouth around the edge of one of the cans. “Hold on, now,” Discord said, pulling it from him. “Let me open it first.” He began to pull on the tab on top.
Just as he managed to start peeling it open, he heard something fall out in the lobby, and heard someone cry, “Ow!”
His ears shot up, and he quickly rushed to his door, throwing it open. His fur bristled, and he got ready to attack. “You have one warning—get out!” he yelled out at whoever was there.
He paused in his doorway, freezing when he saw the familiar yellow pegasus fallen in the hallway. “It’s you…” he said, letting his guard down slightly.
“H-hi…” she said nervously, quickly standing up. “I was...just going!” She tried to take a step forward, but winced in pain. “Ow…”
He rolled his eyes and stepped forward, helping to pull her onto her hooves. “Why did you follow me here?”
“I...don’t know,” she mumbled, not able to meet his eyes. “I was really upset that you stole those things...but I was really confused, since you offered to help me in the store…”
She sniffed. “I don’t...I don’t know how to feel about you!”
“I see. Look, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to be around—like I said, I’m fine on my own,” he said, brushing back his mane with a sigh.
Just as he said that, a whine came from behind him, making him sigh again. “Smooze, I’ll be there in a minute, okay? Head back inside.” Smooze ignored him, instead sliding forward and nuzzling against his leg.
“Oh, my!” Fluttershy said, bending down to get a closer look. “Who’s this darling little...slime?”
“That’s, um...my pet. Smooze,” Discord said, rubbing at the back of his neck. Fluttershy noticed that Smooze was carrying a partially-opened can of food in his mouth.
“Aww, someone’s hungry,” she said. She froze, noticing how familiar the can was...she had seen that pattern just a minute ago. “Wait...were the cans you took...to feed him?”
“Yes, it’s his one of his favorite foods,” Discord said, scooping Smooze into his hands and picking him up. “But you wouldn’t know that. You probably just thought I was a thief for fun,” he said snarkily.
She bowed her head. “I-I didn’t know,” she said. “And I still don’t understand why you didn’t pay…”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m pretty sure you’re smart enough to at least put two and two together. It should be obvious by now.” He opened the can the rest of the way, and Smooze began to gorge himself on the contents.
“Do you...not have the money to?” she said weakly. “Or...was the cashier somepony who didn’t like you?”
“Well...both, I suppose you can say,” he said, heading back to his apartment and setting Smooze inside with his food before closing the door. “I can make money with magic. But if ponies found out, I’d be in trouble, so I try not to do that too much. And a lot of ponies don’t like me.”
He looked back at her once his door was locked. “Anyway, you really shouldn’t be in this part of town.”
“...it’s one of the bad parts, isn’t it?” she said quietly.
“Yes, yes it is,” he said with a nod. “You really need to be more aware of where you go.”
“I know...but I can find my way back to the store from here!” she said. “And...I could get you and Smooze something nice, to make up for bothering you…” She began to slowly limp away.
“You can’t leave like that,” he said with a sigh, walking over to her. “Come on...let me just take you home.”
“But, the groceries…” she said. “And my dad and brother are home, weren’t you worried about them?”
“I’ll help you buy the stuff and walk you home,” he said. “I’ll, um...just drop you off a block away from your house.”
She smiled a bit. “...that sounds good,” she said. “And, um...I have the bits to pay for everything, so you don’t have to...you know…”
“You just get your things once we’re there,” he said, watching her slowly move forward. “Um...I’m not a doctor or anything, but, um...how bad does your leg hurt?”
She glanced down at her leg. “It’s just a little scrape,” she said. “I’ll put some numbing cream and bandages on it when I get home.” Still, she was limping slightly as she walked.
He sighed. “Here, let me help you,” he said, holding out his arm.
She paused, then slowly wrapped her injured foreleg around it. “Th-thank you?”
“Sure,” he said, carefully helping her out of the building. It felt a bit awkward for her, since he was so much taller than her...but it was less painful than walking on her own.
“This building,” she said, feeling awkward. “It’s an...apartment, right? I haven’t seen one before…”
“Yeah. It isn’t the best place, but it’s better than nothing,” he said. He glanced down at her. “This isn’t comfortable for you, is it?”
“...it doesn’t hurt,” she said, shifting and trying to balance on her back hooves. “But...you’re really tall…”
“Hmm. Okay, how about this?” he said. He let go of her foreleg and instead wrapped his tail around it. It was a bit easier on both of them, since it was closer to her usual height.
“That’s...much better,” she said, dropping to three hooves and propping her injured one in his tail. “As long as this isn’t too uncomfortable for you…”
“It’s fine,” he said as he started walking forward again.
She quickly matched his pace. “So...where is Smooze from?” she asked. “Is he from Canterlot, too?”
“Well...not really,” he said. “I’ve had him for a long time...um, since before I was in Canterlot.”
“Where was…?” She paused, then shook her head. “Sorry...I shouldn’t pry so much…”
“I’d rather not say much else about that,” he said with a nod. “Just that...he isn’t a regular creature.”
“Alright,” she said. She glanced down at her hooves and smiled. “He seems to really like you, though.”
“He’s the only thing I had for a long while,” he said. “We understand each other more than ‘normal friends’ would.” He walked towards the store.
She smiled. “It’s good that you have some creature who understands you.” She glanced away. “Especially if...you don’t fit in, and no creature wants to be your friend…”
“Why would I want friends if I have him?” he said, entering the store, holding the door open a little wider for her.
“Friends can be nice, too…” she said, gulping and trying to ignore some of the looks they were getting as she stepped inside. “You can talk, and share your lives, and...be happy together.”
“Pfft, yeah, sure,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Even if that’s true, no one want to be friends with me.” He grabbed an empty cart for her.
“...I thought I might…” she said under her breath.
He headed down the aisles with her, tossing the things he had helped her grab before into the cart. “This is it, right?” he said.
“Um...yeah, those are the right things,” she said, checking them against her list. “We also need...milk, butter, eggs, and cleaning solution...oh, and some tea!”
“Alright,” he said, steering through the aisles and grabbing the first four things she listed, dropping them into the cart. He then paused and looked at her. “...tea? Um, I’ll let you handle that.”
“...have you ever had tea before?” she asked, taking control and guiding both him and the cart over to a promising-looking ‘drinks’ section.
“Um, not really,” he said, “I thought tea was for rich folks.”
“Tea is for anyone,” she said, grabbing a box and setting it in the cart. “I’ll make you some tea, and you can decide if you like it! How does a rose hip green tea sound?”
“Hmm...well, I suppose I can try it sometime,” he said, staring at her.
“Trust me, it’s delicious,” she said, grabbing a box of ginseng. “Now, just one more thing…”
“Okay, what is it?”
She headed back to the isle of canned goods, grabbing one of the cans. “This is the kind Smooze likes, right?”
“Um, yeah...but, um, like I said, don’t worry about it,” he said, glancing away and rubbing the back of his head.
“No...you helped me, even after I...wasn’t the nicest to you,” she said, putting the can in her cart. “It’s the least I can do…”
“Look, it’s fine, really. I’m used too ponies not being nice to me.” he said, grabbing the can from the cart and putting it back on the shelf.
She grabbed another can and dropped it in the cart. “I want to...help you,” she said. “To show that I still would like to be your…” She trailed off, biting her lip and looking away.
He sighed and took the can again. “Like I said, I’m fine,” he said, sticking it back on the shelf. “Let’s just get these things and get you home.”
“...alright,” she said. He started to head for the register. She waited a second for him to walk ahead...then took another can and tucked it under the rest of her groceries.
He waited for her to come over “Okay, I’m gonna wait outside. You can use the cart to balance yourself for the time being,” He said, turning to look at her.
"Yes, I can do that," she said, using the cart to support her injured hoof. "Thank you for all your help..."
“Yeah, no problem, I guess,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets and heading outside.
She headed to the register, and began moving things from her cart to the counter. “Hi, there. Did you find everything okay?” the cashier asked, smiling warmly.
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy said, continuing to unload her things. “Though I did get a little help…”
“You did? Oh, that’s great,” the cashier said, starting to ring up the items.
“Mhmm…” Fluttershy said, placing the last item on the counter—the can of food for Smooze.
“Oh!” the cashier said as she rang out the can. “Do you have an exotic pet?”
“A friend of mine does,” Fluttershy said. “...are there a lot of ponies who buy these?”
“Oh, not as often, but they are pretty good for exotic pet owners,” the cashier said. “Actually...they’re the best for pets, in my opinion.”
“I’ll have to keep this in mind,” Fluttershy said. “Though...I don’t think my bunny would like this a lot. He’s very fussy about getting fresh veggies.”
“Oh, yes. I was talking about, like...really exotic pets. Like, eagles, bears, snowchilla,” the cashier said, bagging all of the groceries.
“...do ponies in town own those?” Fluttershy asked, feeling a bit awed.
“Not really,” the cashier said. “I know someone in Manehattan that does.”
“I’ve never been there…” Fluttershy said. She watched as her groceries were all bagged. “And, um...how much do I owe you?”
" That will be twenty bit, and I say it pretty nice there lots of store and folk they aren't so nice but they could be worse" She say.
"A-ah," she says, imagining bad ponies and counting out the twenty bits. If the ponies here are 'nice', what are the 'not nice' ponies there like…
The cashier put the bags in the cart and took the bits. " thank you and have a nice day" she say
"You too!" Fluttershy says, pushing the cart to its original place and leaving the store with the bags.
Discord leaned against the wall waiting for her as he blow a smoke of candy cane dust from his mouth.
"H-hey," she says, approaching with a smile. "Thanks for waiting for me."
" Yeah sure" he says and wraps his tail around her to help her walk again. " let get you home"
"Right...but first!" She digs into one of the bags and pulls out the can of food and holds it towards her, her face set in a determined expression.
He looked down at her to see what she wanted and saw the can of food. "I told you that you didn't have to buy it." He say rubbing the brim of his snout. " You are really stubborn to do what you want aren't you?"
"I want to do something nice for you!" She says. "I even used a little of my savings to get it, instead of the grocery money...please take it?"
He sighs in defeat. "Okay I'll take it but after that it's no more nice thing." He say taking the can and start to walk her home.
"What's wrong with me being nice?" she says, her ears flattening. "I just...want to help you...especially after you've done nice things for me."
" I just not use to it guess, and what nice thing the only thing I did is help you out because you follow me to my place, and Its only because I don't want something happen, don't need pony will suspects something." He say.
"...You helped me after I was rude to you, and followed you," she said. "That seemed nice to me..."
" That isn't nice. I'm just trying to cover my back, so you won't try anything against me after" He say almost like he's in denial.
"...I don't want to hurt you," she says quietly.
"I'll believe it not now but maybe someday but for now they are nothing but mean less word without action " He say as he soon stop a few blocks away from your home.
"...I see," she says. "What could I do to prove I want to be your frie--that I won't hurt you?"
He looked at her quietly as a breeze blew softly making his hair and jacked move along with the wind " Just go home please." He says slowly letting her go.
"...okay," she says quietly. "Goodbye, Discord..." She starts to head towards her home, groceries in hoof.
He nods and heads off into the distance.
"Um, tell Smooze hi for me! And I'm sorry for bothering him!" she turns around and says, before darting off towards her house.
He look back and nod “Sure I will” he say
"Thank you!" she shouts back before disappearing around the corner, leaving just a cloud of dust behind.
He soon walked away from the cottage. He had to admit that it did seem really nice that she had a decent place to live and that she was nice to give him the canned food that smooze dearly adored. He started to head over to town as many of the pony gave him dirty looks and whispered things at each other.
But the whispers and looks follow him as he walks away.
"I hear he burned part of a building..."
"I heard that he hurt poor Jeremy the other day."
"Did you see that mare earlier? Poor thing..."
He look down as he keep walk thinking to himself - I can’t have her around me anymore-
"Her leg was scraped..."
"Do you think he did that?"
"Of course he did. What else could have happened?"
Eventually, he manages to get away from the whispers and judgement.
“Finally I’ll just head home and never see her again” he say to himself and head to the apartment
Fluttershy quickly makes it home, and sets everything on the counter. "Okay...just need to find the numbing cream," she says, heading towards the bathroom.
She cleaned her wound and bandaged it up, after a while her father came back home she spoke with her father.
They both talk about her day as soon the night came by and the end of the day soon came as well.