Discord was taking a stroll through Ponyville, hoping to get his mind off things, when he saw Applejack running toward him.
"Whoa there, cowgirl!" Discord said, stopping her with his paw. "What's the rush?"
"Oh shoot," Applejack muttered under her breath.
Of all the folks she could bump into, it had to be him! She put on her best poker face, which was not very convincing.
"Oh, uh, howdy partner! I was just, uh...I have to, uh...I left the bath water runnin'! Yeah, I gotta get home, see? So, uh...bye!"
She thought she was free until the draconequus picked her up by the tail.
"Element of Honesty, huh?" he smirked. "So what's really troubling you, AJ?"
"Uh..." Applejack gulped. "I don't really wanna talk about it!" She started sweating. "Plus, it doesn't concern you!"
Discord shook his head in amusement. "You know I can always just peek into your head and discover what you're hiding?"
"No!" the cowgirl shouted, kicking her legs desperately. "You're not gonna like it!"
"Ooh! That juicy, huh? This is gonna be fun!"
"Discord, trust me on this! You don't wanna..."
"The more you say that, the more I do wanna!"
Applejack had no chance against the Lord of Chaos. He tapped his claw on her head and accessed her most recent memory. The scene shifted and he found himself standing beside Applejack in an alley. She stood there slack-jawed, staring intensely at something in front of her.
Discord looked in the pony's direction and soon his expression matched hers.
An orange stallion was pressing a mare against the wall, kissing her passionately. The mare had her forelegs around his neck as she returned his kiss with pleasure. Discord had never felt more disgusted about anything in his life.
For that mare was his wife.
"Fluttershy?" Applejack uttered.
The pegasus pushed the stallion away to look at the stunned cowgirl with those once innocent teal eyes. She rolled them in annoyance.
"Uh, hello?" she said in a tone that was very unlike her. "Do you mind?"
She was about to pull the stallion in again when Applejack cut between them.
"What is this?!" she demanded. "Who is this?! What about Discord?! And Screwball and Zany?!"
Fluttershy scoffed. "They'll be fine, so long as they don't find out. And if they do, they'll get over it."
Applejack could not believe it. "What's come over you?! Do ya have any idea what Discord will do if...?"
"Move aside, will you?" Fluttershy snapped, shoving her friend. "We were in the middle of something!"
Discord had seen enough and flashed back to reality. Applejack was still hanging from his paw. The shock in his face struck fear in her heart.
"I...I'm sorry!" she stammered. "I...I wanted to tell ya but...I didn't know how to..."
She yelped as he dropped her. She rubbed her head and sat up.
"Discord, are you...?"
The draconequus screamed as his body erupted into flames. In a few seconds, there was nothing left but ashes. Applejack knew he had not really burned to a crisp, but it was not a good sign. The cowgirl buried her face in her hooves.
"Oh, Fluttershy! What have you done?!"
Once she was sure Applejack was gone, Fluttershy wrenched herself away from her lover.
"Hey, Stinky! Ever heard of a breath mint? You smell like a Timberwolf!"
The stallion scoffed. "What about your horrible acting skills? You really think that's how the wimpy pegasus would act?"
"Hey, it worked, didn't it? In a matter of minutes, that cowgirl will be spilling the beans to Discord. Since she's the Element of Honesty, he'll believe her."
"Queen Chrysalis will certainly be pleased."
They both laughed as they changed into their changeling selves.
"Now let's get out of here before things get ugly!" the male said.
The female nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I wouldn't want to be Fluttershy right now!"
Meanwhile, the real Fluttershy was in the steam room with Rarity.
"So have you talked with Fancy Pants yet?" Fluttershy asked her friend.
The unicorn sighed. "I was going to, but..." She stomped her hoof. "The minute I walk in...she's there! Oh, she was all over him!"
The pegasus gasped. "Oh, goodness! What did you do?"
"What else could I do? I threw the divorce papers at him and left!"
"Oh, Rarity! I'm so sorry! What did Fancy Pants say?"
"Heck should I know! Pardon my French. I stormed out before he could say anything!"
"You didn't give him a chance to explain himself?"
"There was nothing for him to explain!"
"Maybe he had nothing to do with it."
"Maybe..." Rarity's face fell. "Huh. I hadn't thought of that. Oh, I screwed up again, didn't I? I have to make this right. How are your troubles working out?"
"Screwball and Discord still won't talk to each other, but we're going to sort it all out tonight."
When Fluttershy got home, a chocolate rain storm was brewing above the castle.
"Oh goodness," she uttered. "I hope they haven't gotten into another fight."
She opened the door to find her husband sitting in a circle of fire in the middle of the room.
"Discord?!" she asked in shock.
The draconequus turned at the sound of her voice. As soon as he caught sight of her, the flames extinguished. Fluttershy cautiously approached him and gingerly put a hoof on his shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
He jerked away from her. Discord stood up and clenched his fists. He tried so hard to keep his anger contained that all he managed to say was:
"Why?"
Fluttershy tilted her head in concern. "What?"
Discord gritted his teeth. "I gave up everything for you. I devoted myself to you." He spun around, his eyes burning with fury. "And when we made the vow to love and honor each other for all eternity, I assumed you would do the same!"
His wife blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"But that was never enough for you, was it?! WAS IT?!"
"Discord I don't..."
She squealed as he grabbed her foreleg.
"Who is he?!"
"Discord, you're hurting me!"
"WHO IS HE?!"
Fluttershy was taken aback. He had not raised his voice at her like this in a long time.
"He?"
"That stallion! The one that you were playing tonsil hockey with!"
Her eyes grew big. "What?! Discord, I don't know what you..."
"You were kissing him! I saw you!"
"Discord, I...no! You're the only one I've ever kissed!"
"Don't play innocent with me! I saw you! Applejack saw you! You calling Applejack a liar?!"
"What...I..."
He let go of her forleg and lifted her by the diamond and gold rings around her neck.
"Does this mean nothing to you?!" he bellowed. "After everything I've done for you, after having my children, this is how you repay me?!"
"Discord, please!" Fluttershy begged. "There is no other stallion! My heart belongs to you!"
"Oh, is that so? Well, how about the rest of you?!"
"Discord!"
Tears formed in her eyes. She did not understand what was happening. How could Discord have seen her with another stallion when she was at the spa all day? She had not even talked to another stallion on her way back!
"Discord, you have to believe me! I love you and only you!"
She squeaked as he dropped her to the floor and turned away. He could not bear to look at her.
"Apparently, you didn't love me enough!" He removed the gold band from his finger and threw it at her. "You will regret this. YOU ALL WILL!"
He burst into flames and vanished from sight, leaving Fluttershy in a saddened and confused state.
Screwball sat on the park bench, her brother in the baby buggy beside her. She reached in and tickled his stomach. He giggled, which made her smile a bit.
"Sometimes," she said, "I think you're the only one who understands me, bro."
A pink ball rolled up to her feet. Screwball glanced down as a filly rushed up to retrieve it.
"Hey, Prism," she said.
The multi-colored filly looked up and grinned. "Hey, Screwy! Whatcha doing?"
"Just...taking Zany for a walk."
"But you're sitting."
"Well, I'm resting. What are you doing here?"
"Playing catch with the Tri-Pies and," she grimaced, "Gemstone. Well, not so much with her, cuz she's afraid she'll break a hoof if she touches the ball. Our parents are all busy today, so we decided to hang out."
"Where are the twins?"
"They're having a race somewhere. They didn't invite me along because..."
She brought out her wings. Even though Prism was nine, she could not fly yet. It was embarrassing for her, considering every pony in her family was an accomplished flyer.
"I see," Screwball said.
"Well, I gotta get back now. See ya!"
"See ya."
The pegasus filly was about to leave when a drop of water splashed on her nose.
"Hey," she said. "It's not supposed to rain today."
The two looked up at the sky as it clouded in pink. A few seconds later, it started pouring down chocolate milk.
"Not funny, Screwball!" Prism exclaimed, placing a hoof on her hip.
"I'm not doing it!" Screwball insisted.
She looked at Zany, but he was huddling under the buggy's canopy and sticking out his tongue in disgust. Strange, he loved chocolate milk.
"Hey, Screwy?"
She glanced up to see a gray stallion in front of her.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"I'm," he cleared his throat, "MB?"
Screwball saw his eyes flash green. It was Mothball.
"Prism, I think you'd better get back to the others and go home."
The filly raced back to her group. The Tri-Pies were sticking their tongues out and collecting as much rain as possible, while Gemstone was squealing under a tree.
"What are you doing here?" Screwball asked the disguised changeling.
Mothball glanced nervously at the stroller. "I need to talk with you alone."
"We can talk here. It's only my brother."
"No, you don't understand. That baby is..."
He was interrupted when Discord materialized in front of them. Mothball yelped and ran away from him.
"Wait!" Screwball called, but he was gone in a flash.
"Why hello there, Screwy!" Discord said in a crazy tone. "You like what I've done with the weather?"
The young mare looked at her father curiously. "You okay, Dad?"
"Oh, I'm fine! Hey, honey! I'm sorry about our little fight last week! How about we make up over some father-daughter bonding? You want to help your daddy make a cola storm in Manehattan?"
Her eyes lit up. "Cool! But...wouldn't Mom get mad?"
Discord tensed. "Forget about your mother! She's of no concern to us anymore!"
"I, uh...what?!"
He scooped her in his arms. "But we don't need her! We don't need any pony! All we need is each other! We can be one big happy family without your mother! You hear me? ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY!"
Screwball cringed. "Uh, Dad? You're really starting to creep me out."
He held her in the crook of his arm and gestured to the ponies running from the chocolate rain.
"We will rule this world together, my dear! I will be King and you," he turned her hat into a tiara, "will be the princess! And this little scamper," he picked up Zany and made a tiny crown appear on his head, "will be a prince!"
The infant gurgled in delight while Screwball's stomach churned.
"But Dad, you promised you wouldn't..."
"Our first order of business will be to have revenge on those colts who bullied you in school!"
With that idea in mind, Screwball's mouth broke into a devious smile. "What are we waiting for then?"
Discord laughed in a way he hadn't in a long time. "That's my girl!"
"Though Dad...I just have two things."
"Anything, my dear."
"First, you promise we won't seriously hurt any pony?"
He batted his eyes innocently. "Well of course not, sweetie!"
"Second..." She tapped her tiara and turned it back into her propeller hat. "Don't ever touch my hat again."
Discord laughed maniacally. "Come, my little abominations! We have chaos to wreak!"
Mothball had watched the entire scene from behind a tree. He hung his head shamefully.
"I'm too late!"