//------------------------------// // The Connection // Story: A Discordic Adventure // by GeekCat //------------------------------// The sun slowly rose, making the whole forest glitter with dewdrops. A yellow hoof slowly drew back the vine curtain, and the pegasus princess slowly poked her muzzle out into the open. She glanced around the area. Discord and Pinkie were lying on the ground a good distance away from her small shelter. They were both fast asleep, with Pinkie curled up on top of Discord’s chest as he snored loudly, his mouth hanging open. The sight made a small smile flicker across her muzzle. Her stomach growled. Maybe breakfast would be a nice gesture, she thought. I’m sure there are some more berry bushes around here...maybe some roots, too. With that thought in mind, she fully left her shelter and headed into the forest. As she searched the undergrowth for bushes, her ears flicked up. Birdsong was in the air...it had been so long, too long since she had met a bird! She smiled widely and headed in the direction of the song. She soon found a small tree with white flowers, bluebirds flitting between the branches and trading bits of food and branches, which they used in their nests. “Um...hello,” she called softly, taking a step forward into the clearing. The birds flinched at her presence, a few of them flying away. Some of them stayed behind, though, landing on the branches and watching her warily. She took a few cautious steps forward, doing her best to avoid making them uncomfortable. She paused a few feet away from the tree. After a few moments of hesitation, one of the birds tweeted something at her—a question about who she was. “I’m...Fluttershy,” she said with a smile. “I’m just...exploring the area and looking for some food. I didn’t mean to scare all of your friends away…” That’s okay, one of them tweeted. They’ll come back. “That’s good,” she said with a smile. After another few moments where they all regarded each other with some curiosity, she took a breath and whistled a few high notes. The birds seemed pleased, and a few of them whistled the same notes back to her. She smiled and kept whistling, and a few of the birds dropped from the branches to circle around her. Eventually, with the birds whistling and chirping along with her, her whistling began humming, and her humming became singing. “There’s music in the treetops, and there’s music in the vale,” she sang, fluttering her wings to join her new bird friends. They began to slowly fly away, guiding her somewhere. “And all around the music fills the sky!” As she continued her song, the birds showed her plenty of places—a bush full of juicy ripe blackberries, an old tree whose roots a wild raccoon was willing to help her dig up, as well as a few bulbs of garlic and a hoofful of nuts. By the time her song had reached simple vocalizations, she had an armful of food to prepare for breakfast. Slowly, she finished her vocalizations, bringing the song to a close. The birds all chirped, complimenting her on her voice. “Oh...thank you, friends,” she said with a smile, brushing a bit of her mane in front of her face to hide her faint blush. “And thank you for helping me find all of this!” It was no trouble! they assured her. Are you sure you have enough? “I hope so,” she said. “Actually...I’d better get all of this ready before my friends wake up.” We understand, they chirped, flying back into the tree branches. We hope they like it! “Oh, I hope so, too,” she said. “Thank you again for all of your help!” She smiled and headed back to where they had made camp last night. Thankfully, Discord and Pinkie were still fast asleep. It was easy enough to portion enough food for all of them on some flat rocks, but...she frowned in thought, biting her lip. Serving breakfast uncooked wouldn’t be much of a nice gesture, she thought. But… She glanced over at her two rescuers. They were both fast asleep, and it didn’t seem like they would wake up anytime soon… Still biting her lip, she glanced around the area. She headed over to the small, flat rock she saw about a foot away. Glancing once again at the sleeping duo, she placed one of her forehooves on the rock and closed her eyes. After a few seconds of focusing, she felt the rock heat up, smoke pouring from its surface. She quickly pulled her hoof away and set her foraged foods on top, looking over at Discord and Pinkie. Still asleep...so they couldn’t have seen her. Letting out a sigh of relief, she began to cook the roots, mixing in other things for flavor. A wonderful smell reached Discord’s nostrils. It was...new, but had some elements that he recognized. There were some roasting nuts, definitely...not that many, though. And was that...a bit of garlic? He smacked his lips, sniffing at the air and slowly blinking awake. Once he opened his eyes, he saw a bright blue sky above him, a few puffy white clouds overhead...and a faint wisp of smoke. Blinking, he turned his head in the direction of the smoke’s source. Princess Fluttershy was sitting just a few feet away, behind a flat rock of some kind, tending to something on top of it with a soft, tired smile on her face. As though she knew there were eyes on her, she lifted her head and locked eyes with him. To his surprise, an amused smile spread across her muzzle, and she giggled slightly. He frowned, furrowing his brow. “What’s so funny?” he asked. She just kept smiling, and lifted a hoof to point at his chest. Discord blinked, and glanced down to where she was pointing...and his eyes widened as he realized there was a pink ball of fur curled up on his chest that should not have been there. “Pinkie!” he yelled, trying to shove her off. “Get off of me!” Pinkie snorted, lifting her head slightly, her eyes bleary and a bit of drool dribbling from her mouth. “Five more minutes?” she moaned, not even waiting for a response before snuggling back into his fur. “No! I am not a bed!” he yelled, sitting up and shoving her off and onto the ground. He wrinkled his nose and summoned a towel to wipe a spot of drool off of his chest. “Awww,” Pinkie moaned, slowly getting onto her hooves. “But you’re so warm and soft! I had to curl up by you!” He froze, staring at her. “Never call me that ever again,” he said, frowning deeply. He opened his mouth, already preparing another lecture about draconequui to be quoted for centuries, but stopped when he heard melodic giggling. He and Pinkie both glanced over to see Princess Fluttershy giggling. “I’m sorry,” she said with a smile. “It’s just...you two make quite a pair.” She giggled more, turning her attention slightly back to whatever she was doing. Discord shoved Pinkie another few inches away with his paw, sitting up and leaning forward. His nostrils flared, again picking up the smell of…something cooking. “What are you doing?” he said, moving to get up. Princess Fluttershy approached, holding two flat rocks. “I...I thought I’d make breakfast,” she said a little bashfully. “I know it’s not much, but…” She set the rocks in front of them both. Discord leaned forward, scrutinizing the contents. Both his “plate” and Pinkie’s had an equal amount of food—a good-sized pile of blueberries and blackberries, a few large yellow flowers, and some slightly steaming...roots, maybe? They were whitish, and a little bit cooked. Pinkie sniffed her food and began to nibble at one of the flowers as the princess brought a third plate over (with the same amount of food as theirs, Discord noted). “I know it’s not much,” she said. “But my friends told me it should all be very filling, and…” She blushed. “I wanted to make up for how I treated you yesterday…” “Friends?” Pinkie said, her ears perking up. “Where?” The princess smiled and pointed to one of the nearby trees. They both looked up and saw a small group of bluebirds flitting around some of their nests. Discord turned back to the princess, raising an eyebrow. She blushed, avoiding his gaze. “I-I know it sounds crazy,” she said. “But...I’ve always had a connection with animals...enough that I can understand them.” She whistled a small tune, and one of the bluebirds flew over to land on her hoof. She smiled and lightly nuzzled them. “Great,” Discord muttered. “Of all the princesses I have to rescue, I end up stuck with the wannabe Disneigh Princess.” Pinkie nudged his side. “Be nice!” she hissed. “She made breakfast for us!” Discord rolled his eyes and picked up one of the roots to start nibbling on it. To his surprise, it actually wasn’t that bland. “Is that...garlic?” he said, eating a bit more of the root. “Yes!” she said happily. “I found a little bit of wild garlic...I thought it would be better to add it as a seasoning than to just cook bland roots…” “Good idea,” he said, quickly eating another of the roots. “Mmm. I’ve never thought of eating roots before...it’s slightly chaotic, I suppose.” “Always chaos with you!” Pinkie said with a chuckle, eating one of her roots. “By the way, Princess, how did you manage to cook these? I don’t see a fire anywhere…” The princess’s face went blank, and she looked away. “Um, I...I found a rock...that the early morning sun warmed up! Enough to cook the roots. I-I wouldn’t know how to start a fire, or heat things up…” Discord raised an eyebrow. He had met liars, and was often one himself, but he didn’t think he had seen a creature with a worse poker face before. The princess sat down and began daintily nibbling at her own food. He shrugged it off and continued eating. She’s a princess. Maybe she has some secrets, but they’re probably boring ones, he thought. Really, how interesting could they be? After breakfast, the three of them set off into the forest. Discord decided that carrying the princess was too much strain on his back, anyway...and that he supposed he trusted her enough to not randomly run off into the forest. He summoned a toothpick and began picking roots out of his teeth. “I must say,” he said. “That was a surprisingly good meal. I didn’t expect that you would know how to cook, being a prissy princess.” “Discord!” Pinkie hissed. “That’s rude!” But Fluttershy just smiled. “I didn’t really learn how to cook until...after I was locked in the tower, away from home.” She looked a little sad. “I had to take care of myself...especially since all Cheese knew how to make was nachos.” “Nachos are delicious!” Pinkie said. She looked away guilty. “...I don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy nacho cheese as much ever again, or if it’ll just taste vaguely of guilt.” “I’m...sure they’re delicious,” Fluttershy said. “But I couldn’t really eat them. I’m lactose intolerant, so...there are actually a lot of things I can’t eat.” “You must be good with making food from plants and vegetables, then,” Discord said. “Is there anything else you can even eat?” “Oh, there are dairy-free substitutes for milk, like soy,” she said. “If those are used in a dish, I can eat it.” Her ears lowered. “Though...I couldn’t really get any of that in the tower,” she continued. “I had to keep my own small garden to grow food, if Cheese couldn’t scavenge something…” Discord blinked, staring at her as she continued forward. “Cooking, gardening…” he said. “You...you’re not really what I expected a princess to be like.” Her ears lifted a little, and she looked back at him with a smile. “Maybe you should be careful to not judge ponies before you know them,” she said. He blinked, his brow furrowing. The words stuck into his mind, and he frowned a bit in thought. He opened his mouth to say...something in response as she kept walking ahead—but before he could, a net trap suddenly shot up from under the princess’s hoof, scooping her up and into the branches of the trees! She yelped as her hooves left the ground, dangling limply from the holes of the net. “Um, help?” she squeaked, struggling in the trap. He stepped forward, but before he could move very far, a voice called out, “Not one step further, beast!” He paused for a moment, looking around the clearing...and noticing the small herd of goats appearing from the bushes and stepping into the clearing. For some reason, these goats all had bows and quivers full of arrows slung over their backs. A moment later, another creature stepped out of the brush, this one nearly as tall as him—a great and muscular blue minotaur. When it came down to height, including horns, though, Discord had him beat. He was aiming a crossbow at Discord. Discord growled, getting his tail feathers into a snapping position behind his back. The minotaur turned his attention to the captured princess. “That necklace...that dress…” he said, his eyes gleaming. “You are some sort of noblemare, are you not?” “U-um…” the princess said, shifting in her net. “Something like that…” “Well then!” The minotaur gestured to one of the goats. They pulled out a small knife, and with one quick motion, they cut the supporting rope and let the princess fall to the ground. “Oof!” she said, landing in a heap. Discord stepped forward, but that minotaur was still aiming that crossbow at him. “Iron Will apologizes for catching you in our trap,” the minotaur said, helping her back onto her hooves. “Iron Will is glad to save you from the clutches of a beast, though. You can call Iron Will ‘Iron Will’.” He bowed low at the waist. “Um…” Princess Fluttershy said, inching away. “That’s not...quite...why did you have a trap set up, anyway?” “Oh!” Iron Will said. “Well, you see...Iron Will’s goats and Iron Will are quite skilled archers. But there’s no jobs or money to be had in towns for us. We are simply a humble group, living in the forest and trying to make ends meet—” “They’re robbers,” Discord said bluntly. Iron Will and the goats all flinched, and Pinkie gasped in shock. “Oh, come on. The only thing a trap on a path like this would catch is passerby, passerby you try to rob.” “W-well!” Iron Will said, his face red. “We may have to do...some unpleasant things to make our ends meet, but no more!” He held up the princess’s hoof. “By saving a noblemare from a beast and protecting her, we’ll be heroes! Rich heroes!” The goats gave bleating cheers. “Hey!” Discord snapped. “That’s my princess! I found her first, so go get your own!” “A princess?” Iron Will said. His eyes gleamed, practically shining the color of golden bits. Princess Fluttershy frowned and started to pull her hoof away, but the minotaur’s grip was tight. “We’re going to be incredibly rich!” “I, well…” the princess said, still trying to tug her hoof away. “I’d be willing to help you, but I’m currently going somewhere with Discord right now…” “I’m sure there’s a peaceful solution to this!” Pinkie said. “We can find a way to get you the bits you want without you having to hurt anyone, and we can leave and continue on our way—” “Just hand her back over!” Discord snapped, interrupting her. He grimaced and stepped forward, putting his fingers into a snapping position. “Stop right there!” Iron Will shouted. The goats all snapped to attention, grabbing their bows and arrows. They stood on their back hooves, arming their bows and pulling back the drawstrings to aim at him. “Wow! How can you all do that?” Pinkie asked. “Don’t you ever lose your balance, or accidentally let go of the string, or—” “They’ve all gone through rigorous training for weeks on end!” Iron Will shouted. “Iron Will made sure to teach them well. Now stop throwing off Iron Will’s bandi—professional archers!” A few of the goats seemed a bit unsure of themselves at Pinkie’s words, stumbling on their back hooves. “Feh. Arrows don’t phase me,” Discord said, brushing invisible dust off of his shoulder. “You’re probably all terrible shots, and I have magic, so why don’t we just cut to the chase, with me leaving with the princess and leaving you stuck to a tree with strawberry jam?” Iron Will’s eye twitched. “You dare insult us!?” he said. “My loyal guard goats—no mercy! Teach this beast a lesson on what happens to monsters that cross our path!” Pinkie’s hooves started shaking, and she blinked rapidly. “Uh oh,” she said, freezing in place as the goats drew back their drawstrings. A second later, they all fired at Discord. Discord ducked, barely dodging the arrows. He dropped to all fours and rushed to the cover of the surrounding undergrowth. “I’m starting to get very sick of having arrows pointed at me,” he grunted as he pulled Pinkie under the cover of the bushes with him. “Find them!” Iron Will shouted. “Don’t hesitate to bring down that draconequus!” Princess Fluttershy was still standing by him, shaking, her face covered by shadow. “Oh man...what are we going to do, Discord?” Pinkie whispered, shaking just as much. “Use magic, obviously,” he said, holding his fingers into a snapping position. “I just hope I have enough to take out all of these goats before I run out.” I hate being away from home, he thought grumpily to himself. With a snap of his fingers, he teleported behind one of the goats. “Guess who?” he said, right before whacking them with a rubber mallet. The goat stumbled away, dropping his bow and quiver as stars circled above his head. “Get him!” Iron Will yelled. The rest of the goats aimed their bows, but Discord snapped his tail feathers again, teleporting behind the closest one of them. “Too slow!” he said happily, swinging the mallet again. As soon as he made contact, he teleported away again, just barely avoiding a volley of arrows. Another two strikes, and he teleported into the bushes again, watching as the goats either stumbled around dizzily, dropping their weapons, or firing arrows in random directions in hopes of hitting something. He allowed himself to smile slightly. Ahh...sweet chaos. “Stop, you fools!” Iron Will said. “You’re just wasting your arrows!” The goats slowly stopped firing, and a few of them even stopped stumbling about, leaning against tree trunks to support themselves. Discord frowned, already missing his precious chaos. “You can’t just fire randomly!” the minotaur continued. “Search the area and find him before you do anything else foolish!” The goats hung their heads and split up, heading towards the edges of the clearing and searching the bushes. “Got any other plans?” Pinkie whispered, suddenly right next to him. All of his fur bristled up, and he just barely stopped himself from jolting into the air. “Don’t startle me like that!” he hissed at her. He frowned, watching as the minotaur took even more control. Under his barked orders, the archers paired up, watching each other’s backs as they searched the bushes. And he was still tightly holding onto the princess’s hoof, meaning it was probably impossible for him to steal her out from under his nose. Discord grit his teeth. “How’s this?” he hissed. “You go distract them, I’ll snatch the princess, and then we’ll run until we lose them.” “What if they shoot at me?” Pinkie asked. “Use your uncanny ability to dodge,” he said. “Or, alternatively—start running, and keep running.” Pinkie glanced between him and the slowly approaching goats. “...alright!” she said. She took a deep breath, stretched all of her legs...and then jumped out of the bush. The goats all jumped, turning their bows to her...but none of them fired. Pinkie took another deep breath, then ran across the clearing, dashing around and swerving past each archer. They each followed her with their eyes and aim, and one almost fired— “Fools!” Iron Will shouted. “Keep looking for the beast—don’t shoot at innocent ponies!” The goat stumbled, quickly gripping onto the drawstring to keep from firing. Pinkie hesitated for a few more seconds, then dove back into the bushes on the other side of the clearing. “Discoooord!” she yelled, heading further into the undergrowth (and away from him). “We need a new plaaaaan!” A few of the goats followed behind her, making Discord relax a little...but that leading minotaur was still standing in place, watching his followers and keeping his grip tight on the princess’s hoof. She was still standing quite still, shaking slightly and keeping her face downcast. Well. Pinkie’s distraction had lured a few goats away, but it probably wouldn’t work long. And that minotaur seemed to only care about getting rid of him and using the princess to get bits...he sighed. He was the most distracting creature he could think of… With another sigh, he stood up to his full height and stepped out from the bush. The few goats left in the clearing bleated and turned their bows to him. “Hold on just a minute!” he said, holding his hands up. “I’m sure your leader would like to take a shot at me himself, wouldn’t he?” The goats paused, glancing back at their leader for confirmation. Discord took a few quick steps towards Iron Will while they weren’t looking. “He’s just trying to trick you!” he snapped. “It doesn’t matter who does shoot him, just that he stops being an obstacle!” “Oh, I see,” Discord said. “You’re just trying to hide the fact you’re a terrible shot from your followers.” The goats’ eyes all widened, even the few who had just returned after briefly following the pink terror. Iron Will’s face turned red, and he snorted, steam pouring from his nostrils. “You...you dare!?” he shouted. “Everyone, stand back! I’ll take care of this beast myself.” Discord had to fight to keep from grinning. He would probably get a second between when the minotaur grabbed his weapon and when he fired...hopefully enough time for him to grab the princess and skedaddle. Iron Will reached behind his back as the goats backed away. “Your pelt will look lovely on my wall,” he growled, pulling out a large crossbow...and a huge wooden bolt. Discord almost swallowed in nervousness. “In the tacky hut you probably have?” he taunted. “I don’t think so. My pelt is far too rich for your blood.” A vein bulged in the minotaur’s forehead, and with a growl, he armed his crossbow. Discord tensed up, getting ready to run and trying not to think about what a huge bolt like that could do to his body. Iron Will slowly raised the crossbow and pointed it at him—letting go of the princess’s hoof. Discord grinned, his fingers getting into a snapping position. He just had to wait for him to fire... “No!” the princess shouted, head snapping up. Both Discord’s and Iron Will’s attention shifted to her as her wings flared out, her eyes blazing. Discord was about to take the opportunity to teleport, grab her, and run while the bandits were distracted...but something unexpected happened. A beam of pink light shot from her chest, striking Iron Will...and causing him to disappear. The goats bleated in horror. Discord wasn’t worried—he knew a teleportation when he saw one—but rather, he was amazed. His eyes widened as Princess Fluttershy flew into the air, shining with a halo of magic. A few of the goats tried to aim their arrows at them both. But they were struck by the same pink light, and teleported away. Some tried to flee, but vines shot from the ground and tied them up, leaving them helpless. In a matter of seconds, the remaining bandits were either gone or incapacitated. Princess Fluttershy wobbled in the air, slowly descending as the magic disappeared. With wobbling legs, she stumbled further down the road. “Let’s, um...continue,” she said, trying to sound as casual as possible...as though Discord was going to forget that amazing spectacle! He rushed up to her, which wasn’t difficult, as she was still regaining her footing. “You have magic!” he said, walking alongside her. “A pegasus with magic...how delightfully chaotic! Why didn’t you say anything?” “I...I couldn’t,” she said, letting some of her mane fall in front of her face. “It’s...not normal...I shouldn’t have magic.” “Pssh,” he said. “You think Pinkie and I would judge you for not being ‘normal’? Look at me. I’m about as far away from normal as you can get, and Pinkie barely bats an eye at me anymore, so…” “But...don’t you care about why I have magic?” she asked, brushing a little bit of her mane away to peer up at him. “Frankly, I should have seen it coming,” he said. “You princess and royalty types are just brimming with magic...even if it’s just the really corny, ‘power of love and-or friendship’ type of magic.” He stroked his beard. “I guess a few years in a tower gave you some time to practice and channel it, even though you’re a pegasus.” “...you could say that,” she said quietly, her eyes darting back down to the ground. “Though that’s...not entirely why…” “Hmm?” he tilted his head, staring at her with curiosity. She glanced back at him...and gasped, pointing at his lion arm. “What?” he said, following where her hoof was pointing. There was an arrow sticking out of it, just below his shoulder. A bead of blood dripped from it. “Oh...I guess I didn’t feel that. Adrenaline is a powerful thing, I suppose.” “D-don’t be so...are you in shock!?” she asked. “W-we need to treat that wound, quickly!” “I’ve got this,” he said, waving off her concerns...even if it was a little touching to have someone be concerned for him. Huh. “Princess, Discord!” Pinkie said, jumping up and out of the bushes. “I saw everything! The magic, and your magic, and they all disappeared! That was—” She froze and stared at the arrow in Discord’s arm, her mouth agape. “Is...is that blood!?” she said, her hooves flying to her mouth as her face became pale. “It’s just one arrow,” Discord said, grabbing the shaft and yanking it out. He hissed as a stab of pain shot through his arm. “One of them got a lucky shot…” “Oh my stars, Discord’s bleeding out!” Pinkie yelped. “I don’t know what to do! Discord’s going to die! Um, maybe there’s some herbs, or a healer in the woods, or...” She whirled around in a frenzy. Discord just rolled his eyes. “Pinkie, calm down,” Princess Fluttershy said. This did nothing to stop the pink pony’s panicking. “Pinkie...Pinkie!” She grabbed onto Pinkie’s shoulders, stopping her in place and looking her in the eyes. “If you want to help Discord, I need you to get me some very specific flowers,” she said in a stern but even voice. “Blue flowers with red thorns. Do you think you can find those for me?” “Blue flowers, red thorns,” Pinkie said with a nod, turning to head into the forest. She paused and looked back. “Remember, Discord, keep your wound elevated, and don’t go into the light!” “Pinkie!” the princess reminded her. Pinkie quickly nodded and leapt into the underbrush, mumbling to herself about the flowers. “What are the flowers for?” Discord asked. “...to keep Pinkie distracted,” the princess admitted. “Your wound needs to be cleaned, and if she’s panicking...what are you doing!?” “Cleaning the wound,” he said, his tongue sticking out of his mouth and almost touching the wound. “Don’t give me that look, I’m part cat! You know enough about critters to know this is how cats quite literally lick their wounds, right?” “Well, yes,” she said. “But you’re not fully a cat, and I can tell that’s not a cat’s tongue.” She pulled a bottle of some clear liquid out of her dress and flew up to him. “Where did you get that?” he said, backing away suspiciously. “And what is it?” “It’s something to keep your wound from getting infected,” she said, flying ever closer. He took a few more steps back. “And...I’ve had to learn a lot about medicine, and growing plants on my own. I usually extract this from plants like those.” She pointed over his shoulder. He instinctively turned to look, realizing a second later that there was nothing behind him but trees and random underbrush. Before he could turn back around, something wet was dabbed on his wound, causing a prickling pain. He hissed. “Sorry!” she said. “I didn’t want to trick you, but it’s important to clean your wound.” He growled. “It’s okay, I’m almost done.” She finished and pulled away after a few more seconds. He scowled and shook his arm, which was still tingling painfully. “I can’t believe you got me to fall for the ‘behind you’ trick,” he grumbled. “I thought princesses were supposed to be bad liars…” “I usually am…” she said, landing and tucking away the little vial of pain. “I tried to hide it by rambling about the truth first...I guess it worked?” “Well, consider it the first and the last time,” he said. “I won’t fall for a trick like that again.” She nodded. "I know...I figured it would only work once. You’re...pretty clever.” He blinked and stared at her. Was that...flattery? He didn’t want to get his hopes up that it was, but he did enjoy a little flattery and praise now and then... “We need to bandage the wound now," she said, snapping him out of his thoughts. She searched her dress, pulled out a white handkerchief, and moved forward, but paused. "Don't eat this one, okay?" "Why do I even need it bandaged?" he said. "It can heal on its own!" "It could get infected!" she said. "Now, just let me wrap this around, it won't hurt—" "That's what you said about cleaning it!" he said, taking a few steps back. "You're just lying so that I accept it and you can put me through more of that torture!" “It won’t hurt this time, I promise!” she said. She darted forward, but he dodged. “Hey! Let me—” She moved forward a little faster, but he darted to the side, covering his wound with his hand. She huffed and pouted, then closed her eyes, frowning and squeezing her wings closed. He could feel the soft thrum of magic in the air, but before he could react with his own, she shot towards him, a yellow-and-pink blur. Unfortunately, she apparently didn’t know how to stop, and ended up ramming into his side. He yelped in shock, pinwheeling his arms and trying to regain his balance, while she squeaked, wobbling on her hooves. Gravity took hold of them both, though, and they fell to the ground, the princess landing on top of his chest. She groaned, trying to shift off of him, but was moving sluggishly, her eyelids drooping. “I am not a pillow, so don’t you dare fall asleep on me,” he said. He tried to grab her shoulders, but moving his arms caused his wound to twinge in pain again. “Gah!” “Discord?” he heard Pinkie say off in the distance. “Hold on, Cordy, I’m coming!” He heard hoofsteps coming back, and quickly turned his attention back to the princess on top of him. She seemed much more alert, now...and even more focused on his wound, if that was possible. “No!” he said, trying to shield it as she reached for it. But it was a futile effort. She maneuvered past him and wrapped her handkerchief around his wound, to which he greatly protested. His protest died down into grumbles as she tied the final knots, as he realized that though it wasn’t exactly pleasant to have something pressed against his wound, it wasn’t nearly as painful as he was expecting it to be. The princess finished tying the makeshift bandage into a bow (rather quickly and skillfully for a creature without fingers, he had to admit), a small, pleased smile on her face. And then, to his surprise, she leaned forward slightly and kissed his wound. It was a very small gesture, her lips barely brushing against him, and not even touching any skin. But the action still made him gasp, his ears shooting up as tingles ran up and down his arm, centered around where she had touched him. She backed away, blushing a little. “S-sorry,” she said. “It’s just...whenever I treat my animal friends, I give them a kiss to make them feel better...I guess I forgot that you’re not an animal…” He blushed, rubbing his arm, still being careful around his wound. “I...think it might be working,” he admitted. He saw that the blush on her face only grew at his words...and that a sunbeam on both of them made her eyes glitter like gemstones, her pink mane perfectly framing her face… “Princess,” he said, before his tongue suddenly tied itself into knots. What is wrong with me!? he thought. Ponies aren’t pretty! Nothing should be this pretty! The knots in his tongue multiplied as she glanced back at him, and he swallowed thickly, trying to recall what he had been trying to say… “Ahem.” The clearing of a throat shook them both out of the moment, and both of their heads whipped in the direction of the sound. Pinkie stood there, watching them with a smug grin on her face, and began shaking a bouquet of blue flowers at them. “You know,” she said. “If you two wanted some alone time, you could have just said something…” Princess Fluttershy squeaked, a bright red blush covering her face. She quickly started to scramble off of him, as he tried to stand up. “It’s not like that!” he said. “I just...she wanted to bandage it, and she knocked me over…” He was about to spring up to his feet, but paused to give her a second to crawl off of him. As soon as she was off, he was on his feet, dusting himself off and looking away. “And I think we’ve wasted enough time! We should get moving if we want to make it back to Tired-Wreck soon.” “If you say so,” Pinkie said, bouncing forward on the path, still with a grin on her face. “Are you two sure you don’t want me to ‘search for flowers’ for a few more minutes?” “Pinkie!” both he and the princess snapped at the same time. They blinked and stared at each other for a second, then glanced away quickly. “It really wasn’t like that,” Princess Fluttershy said as she walked beside Pinkie. “I just wanted to make sure that his wound was taken care of properly, and…” Discord tuned them out, walking a few feet behind them. He reflected back on the moment when he had been so tongue-tied...and now, he couldn’t even remember what he had been trying to say in the first place! He scowled a bit, twisting a nearby branch with his magic to cheer himself up a bit. But as soon as he tried to push that moment out of his mind, a new one popped up—the one where she had kissed his wound. For a second, he smiled, and carefully touched his wound, remembering what the gesture of affection had felt like… He glanced up and noticed that the princess was looking back at him, an almost-worried expression on her face. He quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts and grinned at her, taking several quick steps forward and catching up with the pony duo. “Now, those bandits were interesting,” he said. “But did I ever tell you two about the time someone tried to mug me...in my own dimension?” “Really?” Princess Fluttershy said with a gasp, her eyes widening. “How did that happen?” Discord grinned and straightened up, preparing his magic to launch into an enrapturing tale. “...and then I lifted the disguise and revealed who I was,” Discord said with a chuckle. “The look on his face was priceless!” Princess Fluttershy bit her lips, but a few giggles still managed to escape her. Discord grinned. Pinkie laughed at his story, though not as much as he had been expecting—she seemed too busy giving him and the princess that Look, the same one she had been giving when she found the two of them while Fluttershy was cleaning his wound. “What happened after that?” the princess asked, bringing his attention back to her. “Well, he was frozen for a few seconds,” Discord said. “Then he bolted. I haven’t seen him since—the whole thing probably scared him out of my dimension for good!” The princess giggled a little more. “I bet that made him think twice before trying to mug someone again,” she said with a small smile. For a brief moment, he was once again struck by how pretty she was… The thought made him freeze in place as the others kept walking forward. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the sudden thoughts. Ponies were not cute, they were not pretty...except for this one, apparently. Darn it, he thought, huffing to himself. Whenever he thought he was rid of the thoughts, another one popped right back up. “Discord?” the princess said, a couple feet ahead of him. “Are you alright?” “Never better,” he quickly said, jogging to catch up. “Just...checking to see if any bad weather is going to come our way. That’s all.” He sent out a quick tendril of magic to find out, so it technically wasn’t a lie. She paused, then lifted a wing into the air, letting a slight breeze ruffle her feathers. “It doesn’t feel like a storm is coming,” she said after closing her eyes for a few seconds. He blinked, looking at her in shock. His magic confirmed that she was absolutely correct. “How did you do that?” He hadn’t sensed any sort of magic from her! She blushed, scuffing a hoof against the ground. Pinkie grinned at the two of them, bouncing ahead to leave them alone. “I...picked up a few things in that tower,” she said. “Like figuring out the weather, gardening, sewing…” She glanced away nervously. “And other...things.” Ah. She was still evasive about her magic, though he couldn’t fully understand why. To him, it was chaotic and wonderful, even if she was a pony monarch! Maybe if he played his cards right... “So,” he said conversationally, polishing his claws. “...how strong is that magic of yours, princess?” Princess Fluttershy froze up. “Um,” she said, biting her lips and glancing away. “Does it...matter?” “I suppose not,” he said. “But I am very curious. And...wouldn’t it be nice to use your magic, try a few things?” He gestured to the quiet, thinning forests around them. “No one’s here to spot us.” “But…” She frowned, looking down at her hooves. “M-my magic is...dangerous. What if...I did something that hurt you, or Pinkie?” He chuckled, making her flinch. “I have my own magic to protect me,” he boasted. “And besides...I’m half-convinced that Pinkie’s partially made of silly putty.” He pointed to the pink earth pony, who was hanging upside-down from a tree branch up ahead on the path, trying to grab a piece of fruit. “Besides,” he said. “Magic might be dangerous, but it can also be useful.” Pinkie began to slip from the branch. With a snap of his fingers, a small trampoline appeared under her, sending her back into the tree. Her limbs tangled in the branches again, and she snatched the fruit. “See?” “I...suppose so…” she said slowly. “And...my magic has been useful for things before...but, I...I shouldn’t…” He placed his paw on her back. “Just a few spells?” he said. “You don’t have to worry about what you should or shouldn’t do as a princess. I promise I won’t gossip about it. And...Pinkie probably won’t, either.” He made a zipping motion over his lips. Princess Fluttershy lifted her head enough to look up at him, and gave a small, grateful smile. He couldn’t help but smile back… “What are you two doing?” Pinkie said, suddenly appearing behind them. They both flinched, and Discord quickly pulled his paw away, as though he had been burnt. “N-nothing!” Princess Fluttershy said, taking a few quick steps forward. “Just...talking, that’s all!” “About what?” Pinkie asked, taking a bite out of the apple she had managed to find. Her face scrunched up. “Pleh! Sour.” “About...me using...a little bit of magic,” Princess Fluttershy said slowly. “Pinkie...if I used magic here, would you...promise not to tell anyone else that I did? Or...that I have magic at all?” “Of course!” Pinkie said. “I think it’s a really cool thing, and you should totally brag about it, but I’ll let you take the honors of telling anyone!”  “That’s not quite…” Princess Fluttershy started to say, before pausing and shaking her head. “Nevermind. Thank you.” Pinkie beamed, setting her sour apple aside. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Discord and Princess Fluttershy blinked, watching in confusion as she went through the motions of her...chant. “My patented Pinkie Promise!” Pinkie explained with a smile. “It’s unbreakable! I won’t breathe a word to anyone.” “Thank you,” Princess Fluttershy said. “Um...what sort of magic were you thinking, Discord?” He froze. “I, um...whatever you’re comfortable with,” he said awkwardly. He hadn’t really thought past convincing her to cast a spell. She paused, and started to look around. Her eyes briefly settled on Pinkie’s apple, and she tapped a hoof against it. Its skin became a bright, deeper red at her touch, though she wobbled slightly on her hooves as she stepped back. Pinkie picked the apple up again, peering at it curiously. She took another bite...and closed her eyes, smiling widely. “Mmm! Tasty!” Princess Fluttershy beamed. “I’m usually pretty good at using magic on food,” she said. “Mostly seasoning it...it’s been a while since I’ve tried to ripen a fruit or vegetable, though. I usually stick to small things.” “Well, I’d say you did an excellent job,” Discord said, gesturing towards the apple...or what was left of it. Apparently, it had been so tasty that Pinkie devoured it in a few seconds flat, leaving just the core behind. “Mhmm!” Pinkie said with a rapid nod. “That magic must be so useful! You could use it to keep pastries fresh longer, or make frosting a little sweeter, or make a cake a little fluffier…” She babbled about magic’s possible uses as she continued bouncing down the road. Discord sighed, shaking his head. “I swear that pony’s brain is either made up of fluff or sweets,” he said. “There are plenty of other uses for magic besides doing things to food.” Although most of the fun things he could think of doing with his magic probably weren’t to the princess’s tastes. “Oh, I’m sure magic can do a lot of good things,” she said with a smile. Her face slowly fell, and she looked away. “I’m just...not the pony who should be doing those things with magic.” Drat, her concern was back again. Before he could think of something to say that would jolt her out of it and see how being a little odd was a good thing in his books, Pinkie called from over the hill. “Fluttershy, Discord, there’s a river in the path!” “A what?” Discord said, furrowing his brow and jogging ahead, the princess trotting alongside him. They made it over—and indeed, there was a river flowing across the path they were heading on. “Huh, would you look at that,” Discord said, stopping a foot away from the bank. He had decided to go on a slightly different path on the way back, for a little more variety and a possible shortcut, so he wasn’t completely surprised that they were running into new obstacles. The river was wide and clear, probably waist-deep in the middle. He looked left, then right. The river stretched in both directions, and there was no bridge, natural or ponymade, in sight. “Hmm. Well, just standing here isn’t going to get us across,” he said. He started walking towards the river, fully prepared to wade right through. “Wait!” Princess Fluttershy said suddenly, reaching out and grabbing his wrist. He froze in place, shocked, and turned his head to look at her. After a few moments, it finally seemed to sink in what she had done. “I-I don’t know if wading right through it is safe,” she said, quickly letting go of his paw and looking down at the ground. “I mean...it’s wide enough that there could be a sudden deep spot, or a sudden rapid current, or…!” She paused, taking a deep breath. “I just...don’t want to see you get hurt,” she said, almost in a whisper. Discord’s heart skipped a beat. A pony caring for his well-being, not wanting him to rush into danger? ...maybe it was a holiday. Or a once-in-a-century celestial convergence. Either way… “If you insist,” he said with a shrug. “Would milady like to search for a shallower crossing spot, or want a bridge built?” He paused, glancing between her and the river. “Or...would you like to try your hoof at making a bridge yourself?” he said. “W-what?” she said, her head whipping up to look at him. “I-I don’t...I haven’t made anything that big before…” “...Princess Fluttershy,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Saying something nice and complimentary wasn’t his forte, but...she deserved it. “I think that you have some great magic potential. Something like this will be a snap for you.” As emphasis, he snapped his fingers, causing a small white flower to bloom between her hooves. Fluttershy stared at him for a few moments as he grinned, still looking somewhat nervous. Despite his comments about magic potential, he hadn’t seemed to figure out the source just yet...and she had already performed a few feats of magic in front of him. So… She swallowed and stepped a little closer to the riverbank. “I’ll try,” she said, her voice not exactly filled with confidence. “That’s the spirit! ...sort of,” Discord said. “But I think you’ll do well, your highness.” He took a step back, pulling Pinkie with him to give her some space to work. She smiled gratefully...who knew if her magic would go haywire around her? She took a deep breath, planting her hooves into the ground and closing her eyes. She focused deep inside of herself, feeling the magic well up inside of her. The thought of using magic out in the open made her shiver, almost losing focus...but then she remembered Discord and Pinkie were with her. They wouldn’t judge her for this, especially since neither of them were questioning why she could do this yet...and this would help them. After a few more seconds of focus, her eyes snapped open, and she let the magic flow through her hooves and into the ground. Almost immediately, thick, green vines sprouted from the ground, twisting around themselves and stretching, growing towards the other side of the stream. In just a minute, they burrowed themselves into the ground on the other side. She shivered, and another burst of magic escaped her, causing small flowers of all colors to bloom along the vines. With a deep breath, she stepped away, withdrawing her magic. The vines and flowers all stayed stable. Nervously, she glanced back at her watching audience. Pinkie seemed stunned, while Discord’s expression was, for a moment...unreadable. For a second, she worried...and then he smiled, clapping enthusiastically. “Very nice!” he said, taking the first step onto the bridge. It held steady under his weight. “I kind of like the nature theme you have going with your magic...though the flowers are a bit...not to my taste.” “Those...were kind of an accident,” she admitted, following along beside him. “Those happen sometimes when I use magic…” He looked down at her, eyes wide. “You must have quite a bit of magic,” he said. “I mean...to create so many of these small things by accident. It’s…” He looked away. “...kind of impressive, actually.” “You...think so?” she asked, feeling a bit stunned. He nodded. “It looks like you’re a natural with nature magic,” he said. She blushed and looked away, feeling a bit of pride filling her chest. “I...thank you,” she said shyly. “I...maybe it has to do with me liking plants and animals…?” “Oh, probably,” he said, stepping off of the bridge. He offered her a paw, and she smiled and accepted his help stepping onto the shore. “Magic tends to be connected to your emotions, your passions, your desires…” “I see…” she said. “So...does that mean you’re passionate about...chaos, then? Is that why you’re so good?” Discord had to blink for a second. He hadn’t been expecting that question, much less the compliment. Ponies usually considered his magic bad, awful, terrifying...even Pinkie hadn’t specifically called it ‘good’. “That...is a part of it,” he said with a nod. “But I’ve also put a lot of time and practice into it.” He snapped his fingers, creating a glowing emerald and cyan dragonfly, whose buzzing wings made a kazoo sound. The princess gasped, surprised. The dragonfly flew around her head, and she turned around and around to follow it with her eyes. It finally flew off into the distance, disappearing into the woods and only leaving streaks of fading neon light behind. She kept her eyes on the place it had disappeared, a wide grin on her face. “That was amazing!” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Can you create anything? Just...make life anywhere?” He couldn’t help but puff out his chest a bit. “Well...there are a few small limitations outside my dimension,” he admitted. “Even so, I am still powerful enough to create simple forms of life and perform a few small tricks.” Even after admitting he wasn’t at full power, the princess still looked at him with awe. It made his insides feel all warm, gooey, and tingly. He shivered a bit, rubbing his finger and thumb together, his magic swirling as he tried to think of something that would keep her attention (and that amazing, intoxicating look she had) on him. “So can you make things like...plants? Outside your...dimension, I mean?” she asked, briefly glancing back at the vine bridge that was now a good distance behind them. Before, he would have kept hurrying them onwards until it was out of sight and they were closer to his goal, but now… “With ease!” he boasted, standing a little taller. With a snap of his fingers, a group of flowers bloomed right in front of her. They were irises, each of them a different color of the rainbow. She gasped in delight. “They’re beautiful,” she said. She carefully bent down to sniff them, and she raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Is that…?” “Candy,” he said with a nod. He bent down next to her, loudly sniffing at the blooms. “Gummy candy, if my magic has worked right...which it has!” “Ah,” she said. “It’s nice, but...I think I really like the usual smell of flowers. Like…” She frowned in thought and tapped a hoof against the ground. A neon-pink iris sprang up at her touch. Even from a good foot away, Discord could smell it. She giggled nervously, her ears lowering. “That...wasn’t supposed to be that bright a color,” she said. “I think that it’s...good,” he said with a nod. “I mean, it’s certainly more interesting than a ‘normal’ flower, isn’t it?” “...I guess it is,” she said. A butterfly flew gracefully past her, landing on her brightly-colored flower. A smile flickered onto her muzzle. “And the butterflies seem to like it.” A few more of the insects were already flitting around the two of them, a few of them landing on Discord’s set, while others landed on the stem of Fluttershy’s flower and waited their turn. “Hello, little friends,” she said, humming a little. A few of the butterflies flew circles around her, some of them even landing on her ears and back. She giggled, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, dear, that tickles…” Discord couldn’t help but smile a little watching her. One of the smaller butterflies flew up and landed on the tip of his nose, and he went cross-eyed trying to stare at it. Princess Fluttershy giggled. “It looks like you’ve made a new friend, Discord.” He grinned. “Not as many as you.” At least five or six butterflies had landed on her by now, and even the butterfly on him left to land on her mane...though it was soon replaced by another one on his ear. She giggled again. “They always seem to like me.” That was as plain as day. But what surprised him was that she raised a hoof, allowed a few of her insect buddies to gather on it...and then held it out towards him. “Why don’t you say hello to Discord, little friends?” she said quietly to the colorful bugs. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re the princess here, not me,” he said. “I think they’d prefer…” But before he could finish speaking, a couple of the butterflies she had spoken to took off, landing on and exploring his horns. He blinked and tried to turn his eyes upward enough to see them. Princess Fluttershy laughed. Not the smug laughter of nobles thinking they were better than anyone else. Not the forced laughter of someone trying to schmooze up to him. No, this laughter was genuine, light...and made a smile spread across his face. “See?” she said as his eyes lowered to look back at her. “They do like you. They just needed to get to know you a little better.” His smile widened. “Alright, alright, you may have a point there,” he said. “Still, I think you’re their favorite.” Any butterfly that wasn’t feeding off the flowers or had been introduced to him was perched on her mane, wings, and shoulders. She giggled. “Butterflies always seem to like me,” she admitted. “Other creatures, too.” A bird chirped and flew over, landing on her shoulder. A snake slithered up to her and rubbed against her hooves. She smiled down at gently stroked its head. He grinned. “...for a wannabe Disneigh princess, you’re not that bad to hang around with,” he said. “You’re actually...kind of fun to be around.” He rubbed the back of his neck as she looked up at him. Compliments like that felt...weird to him. “...I think you’re fun, too,” she said, giving him a warm smile. His heart started racing, and Pinkie gave the two of them a knowing grin. It’s not like that! he thought, wishing telepathy was one of his powers. But she just kept grinning, and the princess looked so beautiful… “So!” he said quickly, stepping forward and trying to shoo away his thoughts. “What’s your favorite animal, then? You seem to like feathers and scales, and I’d imagine fur…” As he spoke, he snapped his fingers and summoned a colorful bird of paradise, a chameleon, and a small white cat, all of which cuddled up to the princess. “Oh, hello, all of you!” she said happily, beaming. “And I don’t know if I could ever have a favorite animal. There are so many wonderful creatures…” He smiled and listened to her chatter about all the animals she knew. Her voice was so lovely, and she was so interesting...for a while, he just let himself listen and occasionally chip in with a fact or two. He could ignore Pinkie’s knowing looks and just revel in this warm, fuzzy feeling for a while.