It had been nearly an hour since her friends had left to try and find a way to restore Rainbow Dash's wing. Already Spike had scoured every shelf in the library at least a half dozen times culminating in a massive pile of books next to the studious alicorn.
"I can't help but wonder why you're going through all this trouble," Spike criticized.
Twilight looked up from her book. "What do you mean?"
"Isn't Fluttershy going to get Discord to fix Rainbow's wing? Not to mention Princess Celestia and Zecora." He counted the possible routes of aid on his claws.
"What else am I supposed to do, Spike?" Twilight questioned with a tinge of desperation in her voice. "Just sit around and do nothing until they let us see Rainbow Dash?"
Spike withered a bit as he fell silent a moment. "I'm worried about her, too," he sympathized.
As Twilight turned back to her book, Spike felt a churning deep in his stomach. He knew where this was going as his cheeks puffed up. Then, with a mighty belch, he coughed up a scroll.
"Twilight!" Spike announced, but before he could tell her that Celestia had sent a letter, the purple pony plowed him over and unfurled the scroll with her magic.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
My most faithful student, I am deeply concerned to learn of Rainbow Dash's accident and I pray for her wellbeing. I have sent physicians from the palace to Ponyville to help in any way they can. I would be more than happy to help in any other way I can. Please give Rainbow Dash my warmest regards when next you meet.
I have dispatched our best scholars to scour the libraries for any spell that will allow Rainbow Dash to fly as she had before. However, I regret to inform you that I am unaware of any such spell. I do not have high hopes for the scholars uncovering one, either. This is not the sort of spell to be lost to the sands of time.
While such magic is not inconceivable, I fear that no such spell exists. However, if such a spell were to exist, I am confident that you, Twilight Sparkle, will be capable of uncovering it. Even if it does not exist, I still have faith that you will find a way. You have enormous potential, a masterful understanding of magic, and many invaluable friends. Do not lose hope.
I believe in you,
Celestia
P.S. If you wish to find Discord, why not try asking Fluttershy?
Twilight stared despondently at the letter. Even Princess Celestia didn't have the magic necessary to restore Rainbow Dash's lost wing. Truth be told, the newest princess didn't hold high hopes for Zecora, either. Pinkie was a shot in the dark to begin with. That meant that the only hope left was in Fluttershy convincing Discord to help.
How did things get so bad so quickly? Twilight agonized.
"Is…everything okay?" Spike delicately prodded. "What'd the princess say?"
"She can't help," Twilight muttered, only having half-heard the question. "It's all up to Fluttershy now."
Meanwhile, in a land of impossibilities, Fluttershy was having a pleasant picnic with the god of chaos. They were in a shady meadow on a blanket of shimmering threads that seemed to be made of gemstones stretched out into strings. An open picnic basket was surrounded by a tea set and cakes as Fluttershy and Discord sat across from each other.
"Come, come now, Fluttershy, that frown doesn't suit you at all," Discord chided as Fluttershy rotated upside-down. Even then the frown didn't quite look like a smile, and the effort did little to ease the pain evident in the pony's blue eyes.
"Why?" Fluttershy asked desperately as she tried her hardest not break down and cry. "Why can't you heal Rainbow Dash?"
"Oh, I could heal her easily," he claimed as he outstretched an empty teacup and held it upside-down over the teapot's spout and let the tea flow against gravity to settle in the bottom of the cup.
"Then why won't you?"
Turning the teacup over in an attempt to bring it to his lips, the tea spilled upward onto the ground. Wait, wasn't Fluttershy the one upside down? Looking around, he found himself to be the one upside down. "This won't do," he muttered as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, he was back on his feet on the ground. Oddly enough, he was now dressed in a red plaid shirt and holding an axe. He turned to a nearby tree and felled it with a single swing.
The tree crashed right into the picnic, prompting Fluttershy to close her eyes as she recoiled. Suddenly, the yellow mare felt a comfortable, warm, and watery feeling. Peeking out, she found herself in a hot tub filled with a dark liquid. The tree and the rest of the picnic were gone. A strong, soothing odor tempted her to raise a hoof out of the water and lick it. It was tea. She was in a hot tub filled with delicious tea.
"Cannonball!" Discord's voice rang out, but for the life of her, Fluttershy couldn't find the god of chaos anywhere. The next thing she knew, an enormous splash rose up as Discord flew out of the hot tub wearing a monocle and top hat. He was pristinely dry. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was soaked in tea.
Leaning against the side of the hot tub, he produced a tea cup and dipped it in before bringing it to his lips in an overly-dignified manner. "Now, Fluttershy," he picked up the disjointed conversation as he eased himself into the tub, "let me ask you: have you tried to help your friend on your own?"
Fluttershy looked a bit ashamed as she ran a hoof idly through the bubbly tea. It was surprisingly comfortable and the smell was intoxicating. "Well, no," she bashfully admitted.
"Then why would you have me do it for you?" Discord challenged as he pulled a crumpet out of the tea and dipped it back down in before tossing it down his gullet. A floating tray of the treats appeared next to Fluttershy with a snap of Discord's fingers as he continued, "You and your friends were able to defeat me. Surely you are capable of anything I am."
It was a complicated and confusing conflict of ideas. Of course she and her friends were capable of amazing—even impossible—things, but there was no way they could fix Rainbow Dash's wing on their own…could they? "I don't know. Is it even possible?" she replied as she tentatively grabbed a crumpet and gave it a petite nibble. It tasted like taffy.
"Why don't you give it a try?" Discord coaxed as he suddenly appeared in a suit. "I'm sure that know-it-all unicorn has something up her sleeve." He emphasized the saying by pushing up one of his sleeves, causing dozens of small critters to flock out. There were chipmunks, birds, lizards, frogs, and even a bear. They all gathered around the hot tub as they joined the bizarre tea party with appropriately-sized teacups.
Fluttershy pushed the tray of crumpets, sending it floating around for the critters to enjoy. She didn't care much for Discord badmouthing Twilight, but she allowed the negative emotions to pass. There were more important things to worry about.
"Um…you really think we have what it takes to help her?" Fluttershy delicately prodded.
Discord rolled his eyes. "A better question would be if there was anything the six of you can't do," he chided as he snapped his fingers again, causing the hot tub to be filled with blackberry cobbler instead of tea. "If only I were so capable," he lamented as he lifted his top hat and pulled a fork from it so he could dig in.
While flattered, Fluttershy couldn't find the words to respond. Bringing a gooey, cobbler-covered hoof to her lips, she gave it a petite lick. It was delicious. The animals seemed to agree, considering all their faces were buried in the sweet desert.
"Um…Discord," she finally spoke up.
Sensing the sincerity in his friend's voice, Discord banished the entire hot tub from existence along with the conjured critters. "Now, can you tell me what's on your mind?" he asked from a plush lounge chair as Fluttershy appeared on a couch. The top hat and monocle were gone. Now all he was wearing was a pair of square-lensed glasses perched on the tip of his nose. In his claws were a clipboard and quill.
Fluttershy was a bit startled at the sudden change. Even if this sort of thing happened often with her eccentric friend, she was just too easily frightened. At least her fur wasn't sticky. In fact, she was as squeaky clean as if she had just taken a bath.
As her wave of anxiety dissipated, Fluttershy snuggled into the super-comfy couch. "Um, well, you said that we need to help Rainbow Dash on your own—and we want to—but we just don't know where to even start. That's why we are trying to get help from anypony that might know how. "
"Hmmm," Discord contemplated as he stared at the clipboard and adjusted his glasses. "But if you have somepony else do it for you, then how will you feel any sense of accomplishment? Where will the joy of discovering the answer be?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, I don't care at all about any of that. I just want Rainbow Dash to be all better."
"Tsk, tsk," Discord chided as he scribbled on the clipboard. "It's that lack of confidence that is holding you back. Why, I recently heard that Twilight Sparkle created new magic and was crowned a princess of Equestria. Even I can't do that…but why would I want to?" Discord adopted a silly sort of expression as his train of thought derailed. "Even 'king' is a step down from my current title." He chuckled a bit as a feminine crown appeared his head. "Princess Discord, could you imagine such a thing?"
Tossing the crown away, he showed the scribble to Fluttershy. "What does this look like to you?"
"Um, a tornado?" the meek pegasus guessed.
Discord looked to the picture with a quizzical look. "It was supposed to be a dust devil." He then turned the clipboard back to Fluttershy. "How about now?"
Even though he didn't scribble anything new, the picture was different—though just as crudely drawn as the last. "It looks like a cute little bug," Fluttershy honestly answered. "A firefly?"
"Close, but I don't think this is getting us anywhere," Discord frowned as he examined the clipboard again. "Looks like our time for today is up, too," he announced as he turned the picture back to Fluttershy to show a hand-drawn clock. The minute hand rapidly approached the top of the clock where the hour hand was waiting. As the two met, the drawing began to ring. Tossing the noisy clipboard carelessly over his shoulder, it exploded. The blast cleared away the chair and couch leaving just Fluttershy and Discord standing in the shady meadow.
"I still don't know what to do," Fluttershy pathetically whimpered.
"Isn't that the fun of it?" Discord rhetorically asked with a crazed smile as he handed Fluttershy a suitcase and placed a flower necklace over her head. "Now, go do whatever you can and don't give up!" he cheered as he kissed her on each cheek before stepping back and waving. "Come back soon! Toodle-oo!"
In a flash, Fluttershy was standing in the middle of Ponyville just a stone's throw away from Twilight's library. She glanced to the suitcase before knocking it over with a hoof. It popped open to reveal the bag she had taken with her meet with the god of chaos along with a single pinion—a fiery, orange-red feather that could only have come from a phoenix. It was her favorite ever since the first one she received from Philomena. She briefly wondered if she had told Discord about it or if he just knew as she reattached her saddlebag and stowed the feather as well as the weird necklace.
Head and ears down, Fluttershy shuffled towards Twilight's door. She had all but promised her friends that Discord would help. They were her friends and, given their attitude towards the bizarre creature of chaos, would completely understand. But still, Fluttershy felt as though she would be letting them down. Worse was the fact that she wasn't able to help Rainbow Dash. Her oldest and most faithful friend was in dire straits and she couldn't do a thing for her. It made her feel useless.
I let everypony down.