'Well, you're the famous bear-killer Fluttershy, right?' the draconequus asked.
Fluttershy blushed.
'Just… it's okay, Fluttershy! Discord isn't that bad!' Pinkie said, and gave Discord a Manly Stomp on his Shoulder.
'Ouch,' said Discord.
Fluttershy muttered something and Pinkie tilted her head. 'What? I didn't catch that.'
'He… he is so big… and look at all those TEETH!' Fluttershy whispered.
Pinkie chuckled. 'Oh, don't be scared! He isn't dangerous, I promise!'
Discord tried to smile, but it turned out as a pretty creepy grin. Fluttershy did 'YELP!' and hid under her dining table.
Discord turned to Pinkie. 'What did I do wrong?' he asked. 'Did I…'
Pinkie nodded. 'Yup. You scared her. Again.'
The draconequus sighed. 'Well, I totally give up. If they don't want to accept me… they don't HAVE to. It's t their decision. Goodbye.'
With those words, he walked away. Pinkie stared at his back as he walked over the small bridge next to Fluttershy's house, his shoulders seemed to be stuck in a shrug.
She turned back at Fluttershy. 'C'mon, get out. He's gone already.'
Fluttershy shook her head. Pinkie stood up. 'Well, I have to get back to my draconequus, I'll see you later, okay?'
The yellow pony didn't reply.
'Angel, you'll take care of her, right?'
Angel nodded and crawled up against Fluttershy's shoulder.
'Discord! Hey, what's up!' Pinkie yelled, galloping at her friend.
Discord didn't even turn around. 'What do you THINK there's up.'
Pinkie jumped in front of Discord. 'Hey, stop. It's hard talking while you're moving, you know.
'Says the pony who can sing, dance and synchronize everypony to her at the same time,' Discord growled. 'Don't bother trying it again, Pinkie. It's useless.'
The pony took a deep breath, and with a new and unknown anger, she yelled: 'No, it's NOT! You MAKE it useless for yourself. How dare you! How DARE you to give up! I'm doing ALL these things for you, so you can become an inhabitant of Ponyville, and YOU tell me it's USELESS?'
Discord didn't know what to say, and that's a good thing folks, because if he'd said something at that moment, Pinkie would have exploded again.
'Hey! What in the world is happening here!'
Pinkie turned around. 'Well, hello Rarity. Maybe YOU can convince my "friend" over here not to give up?'
Rarity smiled. 'And what seems to be the problem?'
'Nothing,' Discord growled, but before he could walk away again, Rarity placed her hoof on his foot. 'If there was nothing, then Pinkie wouldn't have showed so much… temperament. Right?'
Pinkie snorted.
'Well, we're going to talk this over with a nice cup of…' Rarity tried, but Discord bumped Rarity away and spread his wings. 'Forget it,' he said, as he ascended.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie watched him fade in the distance. Pinkie sighed. 'I… I NEVER get angry at somepony. What's wrong with me?'
Rarity smiled. 'It's probably because Discord isn't a pony?'
'Head of a pony, so he is a pony,' Pinkie replied and rolled her eyes. 'What do I have to do now?'
'Just give him some time, I guess,' said Rarity. 'Come over at my place, you could help me finishing a dress I'm making.'
Pinkie shrugged and followed Rarity, since she had nothing else to do.
'Hey, sis!' Sweetie Belle shouted.
Rarity and Pinkie turned around. 'Hey Sweetie Belle,' they said in unison.
'What are you making?' the filly asked. 'It looks like a dress…'
'Maybe because it IS a dress,' Rarity replied. 'Look, don't you love it?'
Sweetie Belle forced a smile. 'Uhm, it's… beautiful,' she muttered.
The dress was a strange combination of brown, gray, yellow and red, with little flacks of green on it.
'Pinkie Pie's friend inspired me to stand out of the line,' Rarity said. 'You know, for one time…'
'That Discord-guy?' asked Sweetie Belle. 'You know, the…'
'Yes, the Discord-guy,' Pinkie said, in an almost toneless voice.
Rarity whispered: 'Don't talk too much about him. He hasn't been very nice to Pinkie, you know…'
'Says the one making a dress that looks like him,' Sweetie Belle replied. 'Well, whatever. See you later!' She hopped away.
'Tss, that little, overreacting filly…' Rarity muttered.
'I heard that!'
'Uhm, hey Pinkie…'
Pinkie Pie turned around and saw Fluttershy, with Angel on her back. He pulled her hair.
'Yes, Angel, you are right… Eh, I'm here to apologize for… you know… that I was scared and stuff…'
Pinkie smiled. 'It's okay, Fluttershy. I can't force you to be friends with Discord.'
'So… you forgive me?' the yellow pony asked.
Pinkie nodded. 'Yeah, I do. I mean, why not?'
Fluttershy smiled. 'Well, eh, I have to go now… I guess… Angel's getting hungry…'
The bunny nodded and waved at Pinkie as Fluttershy walked away.
'Fine. Now what?' Pinkie said to herself. 'The whole town expects me to help Discord finding his place here…'
'Maybe you should find that weirdo first, then explain to him what's on your mind?'
Pinkie looked up and saw Rainbow Dash, lying on a soft, cuddly cloud.
'Maybe I should do that, indeed,' Pinkie sighed. 'Since everypony thinks he listens to me. '
'He does listen to you!' said Dash, and she landed next to Pinkie. 'C'mon, you know that yourself.'
But Pinkie shook her head. 'Absolutely not. He doesn't listen to me at all! And even if he did, I have no idea where he is now...'
'But that's what I'm for,' Dash replied, and gave Pinkie a stomp on her shoulder. 'You know, I'm the fastest flyer of Ponyville! I can find him for you!'
'I thought you didn't like him…' Pinkie said.
'Ha, I definitely DON'T,' Dash said. 'But I like YOU, you know. I do this for you.'
Before Pinkie could answer, Dash had already lifted off.
As she headed for the Sugar Cube Corner, Dash landed in front of her. 'Booh. I'm back again.'
'Did you find him?' Pinkie asked.
Dash nodded. 'Yup, he's closer than you think he is.'
'Where?'
Dash lifted her front leg at some point in the distance. 'He's at home. With Screwball.'
Pinkie felt pretty stupid, because she didn't even look there first. She whispered a 'Thanks,' and galloped away, heading straight for his house.
Luckily it was Screwball who opened the door, because Pinkie was pretty sure Discord would've slammed the door straight in her face.
'Hey, Auntie Pinkie, what are you doing here?' the purple pony asked. 'If you come for my Daddy… he's being sick so you can't speak to him.'
Pinkie thought for a moment and then said: 'Yeah, I know. That's what brings me here, honey. To cure your Daddy.'
Screwball squinted, not sure what to think, but then she opened the door so Pinkie could come in.
Pinkie smiled. 'Oh, thank you, sugar cube.'
She went straight to Discord's room, but she only opened the door to find it empty, the pillows lying everywhere in the room.
She sighed. 'Oh, what did happen?'
'Daddy isn't here,' Screwball said. 'He's upstairs, I have no idea why.'
Pinkie turned around, quite scared because Screwball had crept up from behind. 'Eh, why, thank you,' she said, and forced a smile.
The thing she found upstairs was nothing like she'd expected and definitely NOTHING like the Discord she knew, fierce and strong and… big.
What sat in the room was more like a middle-sized pile of not-washed clothes, stitched together improperly and then being left behind there to die.
Pinkie couldn't help but shouted: 'Discord!'
The draconequus didn't even bother to turn around. In fact, he didn't react at all. As Pinkie came closer, he crumbled, as if she wanted to kill him or something.
But all she did was stand there, not even daring to put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him.
Then, after quite a while, he actually did something. But again, not like anything Pinkie expected.
Discord growled.
As she ran away, through the Everfree Forest, not knowing where to go, she had only one thought. Discord had changed, and like I said, he wasn't anything like Pinkie expected, and this time, she wasn't even sure she could get him back to normal again.