//------------------------------// // Setting Up For A Date // Story: The Wind Under Your Wings // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// Much like simmering soup, The Lake of Outstanding Outcomes and Possible Solutions (commonly known as the Lake of Oops) gently bubbled and constantly mixed the different hues and threads of possibility in an everlasting emulsifying concoction that sloshed gently onto the coast of stars right under the roots of Yggdrasil, the almighty World Tree, spanning space, time and logic… where Discord had set up his and Fluttershy's beach towels, lunch basket, and drinks. "Oh my," Fluttershy said, drawing the Draconeccus' attention to her. "This is beautiful, Discord!" "Nothing but the best for you, my dear," he replied, grinning at her. "I did say that I was going to show you something absolutely stunning for our anniversary, and well, here we are!" He made a grand gesture with his lion paw, encompassing the lake, roots, tree, stars, chained (and muzzled) wolf and all beyond. Fluttershy giggled, a sound that not only made Discord blush with delight, but also managed to calm the growling wolf enough for it to settle down, tail wagging. The pegasus, noticing this, smiled at the wolf. "Who's a good boy? You are! Oh, yes you are! You're my good boy, Fenrir!" Fenrir thumping his tail against the closest roots echoed around them, rustling the leaves of the trees high above. Discord sat down besides Fluttershy in comfortable silence as they gazed upon the shifting stars, boreal auroras and the ever shifting realities reflected occasionally on them. Fluttershy rested her head on his shoulder. "Tell me about this place?" With her cuddling up to him, and the sheer magnitude of what they were witnessing, how could Discord ignore that request? "This, my dear Fluttershy, is a place very similar to my own being. In fact, you could say it is the center of me!" When she tilted her head, he almost melted, leaning in to give her a peck, making her giggle again, before continuing. "I know I am chaos incarnate, however, what is chaos but change? What is change but growth? What is growth but opportunity? All can start with something as simple as a wind blowing the wrong way, or walking however briefly into the wrong alley." Fluttershy looked back to the lake. "Can such a small thing really change that much?" "But of course!" Discord flew once around the root they sat on, floating up on her other side, and taking her hoof. "Haven't you ever heard of the Fluttershy Effect?" She blinked. "Okay, fine," Discord sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Twilight named it something different. The same principle applies." Fluttershy nodded, still smiling and glanced at the lake. "Can you show me?" "Dearest Fluttershy," Discord sighed, the mirth leaving his face. "Changing something, however small in the fundamental essence of reality, can have dire, dire consequences." He grinned, lifting her chin up with one of his claws. "I thought you'd never ask!" He took her hoof and helped her down the long root to the edge of the lake, where the root just about touched the water and went deeper into it, losing itself in its eternal depths. "What would you like to do first?" Fluttershy hummed, gazing in. "Oh! I always wondered… what would it have been like if I had been more assertive early on?" Discord shrugged. "Why don't we find out?"