Chapter 3
As morning sun lit up the cottage, Fluttershy went about her routine quietly. She fed Angel, refilled the bird feeders in the yard, and tended to the chickens. As she worked, spreading seeds and scraps from Angel’ s dinner around the run, a blue bird landed on her back, twittering excitedly.
“Hmm? What’s that?” Fluttershy asked.
The little bird whistled and tweeted.
“Oh wonderful! Thank you! That’s a relief.” She emptied her basket as the chickens gathered around and then trotted back into the cottage. She set the basket down on the counter, then picked up her saddlebag. As she opened the front door, a voice made her pause mid-step.
“Where are you going?” Discord was rubbing sleep from his eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said, turning back towards him, “I told you I was going to go try and find some books on the Tatzlwurm this morning, remember?”
“So early?” he asked, yawning.
“Don’t worry,” she told him, “I’ve got breakfast for you covered! Since you handled your dinner so well, I asked Pinkie Pie to come by with some fresh pastries from Sugarcube Corner. She should be here shortly.”
Discord’s eyes widened, the sleepiness gone from his face. “You…what?”
“Mmhmm!” she nodded, resuming her exit, “Have fun, but be sure to keep taking it easy. I’ll be back before lunchtime.” Then she left, the door shutting tightly behind her.
The draconequus blinked at the closed door, dumbfounded. ‘She said…but why would…what in Equestria could she be thinking??’ On a normal day, Pinkie Pie was the pony who’s presence he minded the least (second of course to Fluttershy), as she had a distinct appreciation for his sense of humor, but currently… He weezed and then coughed raggedly. Currently he didn’t have the energy that dealing with the peculiar pink pony required.
He reached for his handkerchief, mentally steeling himself, when the front door slammed open and in she bounced. “Gooooood morning, Dizzy!”
‘Dizzy?!’ “Ah, yes, good morning, Pinkie. Fluttershy mentioned you might pop in,” he said, forcing his grimace into a smile.
“Yep!” Pinkie bounded over, a bakery box balance precariously atop her curly mane, “She sent a bird to my window this morning saying she had to go to the library and check out a book about that giant purple worm that sneezed all over you, to find out how contagious you are, but she didn’t want you to be here by yourself so she asked if I could come over and keep you company for a while, and I said ‘No problem! We didn’t get to hang out when you were fake-sick so I really wanted a chance to hang out now that you’re real-sick!’ And then I thought, when you visit a sick friend you should always bring something and then I smelled the Cakes baking downstairs and so I rushed down and packed up a bunch of ‘em, fresh outta the oven, and told the Cakes, ‘Bye, I’m off to Fluttershy’s!’ and they said –”
“Pinkie!” he cried. She paused. “Remember what Twilight said about remembering to inhale?”
She blinked, wracking her brain, then smiled and sucked in a big breath. “Wow! Thanks, I felt like I was forgetting something!” She laughed, and took another deep inhalation. “So as I was saying…”
“I, er, I think I get the gist of that story,” he said, hoping to stop her before she started up again. “Now, you said you brought me something…?”
“Yeppers!” she said, undoing the magical zipper on his bubble and head-butting the box inside, “Help yourself! They’re all awesome!”
He caught the cardboard container deftly in both hands. Even with his nasal passages clogged he could make out the aroma, and he had to admit it was tantalizing. He opened the box and surveyed the goodies. Croissants, Danishes, donuts and muffins stared back up at him. “You realize that now you’ve given me these, I can’t share, lest I pass this wretched illness on to you,” he said, one eyebrow raised.
Pinkie laughed. “Aw, I know that! I already ate. Those are all for you.”
“Huh,” he said, bemused. “Well alright then. Listen, while you’re being so doting, can you refill this for me?” He pushed his canteen through the zippered opening.
She caught it, slipping her head swiftly through the strap as if it had fallen in slow-motion. “You got it!”
As she hopped away (it occurred to him that he rarely saw the earth pony move in any way that wasn’t bouncy), he returned his attention to his treats. He plucked out a raspberry Danish with his eagle claw and a chocolate chip muffin with his lion paw. Out of habit he tried to conjure an extra set of arms so as to grab more delectables. When his limb count went unchanged, he frowned. “Oh…right…” he grumbled.
“Who’s right? Mine or yours?” Pinkie asked, reappearing at his side so suddenly he actually gave a start.
“Nothing, never mind,” he said quickly, then moved to steer her thoughts in another direction. “For a creature with hooves, you move remarkably like a cat,” he said, stuffing the Danish in his mouth unceremoniously.
“Hmm? Well, my mom always said I was bubble-headed, so maybe I’m just lighter on my hooves than other ponies!” She laughed, then sat back on her haunches, watching him.
“Heh,” he smirked, “Yes, I suppose so.” He moved the muffin towards his open mouth, and then paused. She was still staring, and he felt a pang of uneasiness that he couldn’t quite define. “Do you mind?” he asked, “Surely you have other things to do today. I appreciate the breakfast, but I don’t need constant monitoring.”
“Aw, I know that.” She waved a hoof at him. “But when I’m sick, I like company. It gets super boring cooped up in my room all by myself. And we both know that you and boredom go together about as well as spinach and chocolate.” She raised a knowing eyebrow at him and he was uncomfortable all over again.
He turned his attention back to his food. Under normal circumstances that was true – it was what had gotten him into the mess in the first place – but in his current condition, he could go completely stir-crazy and still be no threat. At least no more than a mortal colt throwing a tantrum. The thought sent a shiver up his long, Slinky-like spine. He glanced up and she was still staring. He sighed. “Very well, Pinkie,” he said, “What sort of entertainment did you have in mind?” He only had to wait for Fluttershy to return. Surely this was a ‘taking shifts’ sort of arrangement. Then he could go back to his previous peace and misery.
“Glad you asked!” the earth pony said, hopping up. “I was thinking a change of scenery would be good for ya!”
Before he could ask for clarification, she was up on her hind legs, pushing at his bubble with her front legs. His cage began to roll forward. “Hold on, what are you–” He was cut off as he was suddenly flung onto his stomach, like a runner losing their footing on a treadmill, as Pinkie rolled the bubble in front of her at a fast clip, steering it towards the front door. Discord, having nothing to grab hold of, was forced to roll right along with it, head over tail, over and over until Pinkie brought them to an abrupt stop and gravity caught up with him. Having been glued to the top of the bubble by centrifugal force, he then dropped straight down to the floor with a THUD, the remaining pastries raining down around him. It was all he could do to remain still and hope the world stopped spinning soon.
“Much better!” Pinkie declared, “Don’t you think?”
He mumbled incoherently.
“I knew you’d like it,” she said, beaming.
After a moment the dizziness and nausea past and he was able to get his bearings. Still lying on his back, he could see a canopy of tree branches above him, birds flitting from branch to branch, apparently undisturbed by his arrival. He sat up, clutching his head, and glanced around. Pinkie had rolled him out to the backyard, where the menagerie was still enjoying their breakfasts. Reminded of breakfast, he turned his attention to the sorry remains of his. “I believe our little move was premature,” he sighed.
“Hmm?” Pinkie turned, and then gasped. “Omigosh! What have I done?! I’m so sorry, I’ll go get more, I’ll be right back – don’t you go anywhere!”
He couldn’t even begin to retort pithily before she’d zipped away, leaving a pink puff of dust in her place. “Huh…” ‘Wasn’t even trying to get rid of her…’ He chuckled, gathering up the crumbled baked goods and shoving them out of the zippered hole in his bubble, where they were instantly swarmed by the flock of chickens.
The chimera slumped back against the bubble wall, paw and talon folded over his stomach. Poultry eating pastries was amusing enough, but the rest of the scenery left a lot to be desired. The yard was entirely peaceful and orderly and boring. But the general animal din made for some excellent white noise and he found himself drifting off again.
“I’m BACK!” Pinkie’s announcement jolted him out of his half-sleep and he clutched at his chest, feeling his heart beating furiously beneath the fur. He whipped around to glare at her. She merely beamed back. “Sorry it took so long – there was a line at the bakery.”
He grimaced, but couldn’t hold the expression for long. She was pushing a fresh batch of baked goods in at him and he had to twist around to keep them from winding up like their former comrades. For an earth pony, she had unusual abilities, and as he ate, he mused over how she could have acquired them. He hadn’t noticed anything so unusual about her during their first encounter, but then again, he hadn’t been paying attention to more than their particular Element that he had to unseat. And once he’d accomplished that, he’d figured he was done with them. And once he’d been freed for the purposes of reformation, Fluttershy had been his main focus. Aside from the other day with Twilight and Cadance, he hadn’t spent any one-on-one time with the other ponies.
Discord watched Pinkie chase the chickens around the yard and pondered. There was ‘quirky’ and then there was ‘supernatural’ and he was curious on which side of the spectrum she fell. He licked the crumbs from his claws, puzzling. “Oh Pinkie?” he said.
“Hmm?” her curly pink head popped out of the cupola of the chicken coop (an opening that should have been much too small for her to fit), “What’s up?”
He raised an eyebrow. “A word, if you please.”
She squeezed out onto the roof of the coop, balancing on the peak like a tightrope walker. “Why just one? There’s so many awesome words! Today, I think my favorite is ‘humdinger’. What’s yours?”
He smirked. “Just…come down here a moment, won’t you?”
“Oh, OK!” she chirped, hopping from the roof to the nearest fencepost, then to the ground. “What can I do ya for?” she asked, trotting over to him.
“I was just observing that you’re a great deal more…agile than I’ve found other earth ponies to be,” he said. He paused to blow his nose. “Would you agree?”
“Hmm…whaddya mean?” She cocked her head to one side.
He gave a great snort, scowling. These blasted flu symptoms made carrying on a conversation difficult. Especially as he worried he wouldn’t be able to hold the hyper-active pony’s attention long enough to get the information he wanted. “I only mean that…well, like just a moment ago – you seem to be able to fit places other ponies might not. And you’re practically faster than a Pegasus.”
“Don’t forget the Pinkie Sense!” she added proudly.
“The, uh…the what?”
“Oh, it’s just this thing where I can tell when stuff gonna happen before it does – like falling things and stuff.”
Intrigued, he leaned in towards her. “You don’t say?”
“I do!”
“And you’re sure you’re a pony, and not some other, more mythical creature?”
She paused, taking a moment to look herself over: mane, tail, cutie mark, hooves. “Pretty sure.”
“Huh.” He sat back. “OK then. “
She grinned at him. “I’m pretty special though. Not that I like to brag or anything.”
The draconequus chuckled. “Of course not. Tell me, how long would you say you’ve been special?”
Pinkie sat down next to the bubble. “Oh, I think I’ve always been this way, but I didn’t realize it until I got my cutie mark. And,” she leaned in conspiratorially, as if the chickens or other birds might overhear, “to tell you the truth, I think I’ve been getting more special as I get older! I can do more cool things now than when I was a filly!”
“Really?”
“Yep! It’s pretty awesome!”
“It certainly would appear that way.” The more he knew, the more confused he was , but also more entertained. This little pink ball of energy might just call it ‘being herself’, but he’d bet anything there was something more interesting behind it. She might just be worth keeping a closer eye on.
“Of course, it’s not like I can make it rain chocolate or anything,” she licked her lips, “Now that’s awesome! And would totally hit the spot right now…” she eyed him.
He coughed roughly, then swallowed. “Oh, er…sorry, I’m sticking with water these days,” he said, fearing he sounded as lame as he felt.
“Aw, darn,” she pouted.
At that moment, they heard Fluttershy’s voice calling them from inside the house.
“We’re out here!” Pinkie hollered.
‘Close call…’ Discord thought to himself.