After the interview- including the subsequent online portion- came to a close, some audience members stuck around to see if they could have a word with Fluttershy off-camera. These were mostly veterans who knew that sometimes a guest would be willing to stay longer if only to please the fans.
Unfortunately for them, the second it was clear that the show was over the pink haired pegasus immediately rushed backstage like a dog being let back in after a cold day out. Jon followed close behind, turning to shrug to the leftover crowd who were already being escorted outside.
After turning a corner, leading him back to the main office area where most of his staff worked, he spotted Fluttershy standing just outside the dressing room on the other end of the opposite hallway.
“Nice job today,” Jon commented as he snuck up behind her as she was catching her breath, causing her to jump slightly in surprise.
“O-oh um… I… that is… thank you very much… f-f-for saying so,” she said sheepishly.
“Now I hope you remember what I said earlier,” Jon reminded, “about how if you didn’t enjoy your stay here…”
“Yes, you um… y-you said if I had any… complaints about how I was treated t-that I should send them to Brian Williams at NBC,” she recalled. “But don’t worry, because I won’t… I actually… I had fun today. T-that was my first time on television… I hope it wasn’t too obvious.”
“Not at all,” he fibbed as he opened the door to the dressing room to let her in. “You were great out there!”
“Indeed she was,” a voice said from behind the two. Both turned to see Jon’s assistant Selina standing at the entrance, pointing to her tablet. “Just got the numbers back from corporate. The ratings are through the roof.”
“Ya see? You’re a natural!” Jon complimented, leaning over to scratch her behind the ear.
“Awww, you’re just saying that,” Fluttershy cooed while avoiding their line of sight to hide her blushing face.
“It’s true! In fact, you were so good out there I think I’ll have you back on tomorrow for a follow-up interview!” Jon offered. Although it was clearly meant as a joke, the implications were enough to make Fluttershy’s face go ghost sheet white. “Wouldn’t that be just fun?”
Both humans looked over at the seemingly traumatized pony who was mumbling to herself. Jon leaned in to address her, stopping just short of waving his hand in front of her face.
“What was that, dear?” he asked which made her mumbling only slightly increase in volume. “Could you please repeat that for m--”
“I said no!” she shrieked loud enough to send Jon tumbling backwards on his butt while Selina dropped her tablet in shock.
Now back in the right mindset to see what she had done, the young pegasus- who had launched herself eight feet into the air- noted that, as well as Jon and Selina, most of The Daily Show staff were now outside the dressing room, looking in to investigate her sudden outburst.
This sudden attention made her slink back down to the ground where she met face-to-face with Jon who was still sitting on the floor, making him at direct eye-level with the standing Pegasus.
“I um… I mean… w-w-w-what I meant to say was… n-no thank you,” she answered in a tone so soft Jon could barely hear her despite being so close. “… I’m sorry.”
Jon, finding the humor in all this, began to chuckle which in turn made the meager pony do the same. Her reaction only spurred Jon further till eventually both parties were hysterically laughing at each others’ predicament.
The only one who wasn’t taking part in their merriment was Selina who was annoyed that Fluttershy’s sudden yelling made her drop her precious device. Jon noticed this as he got up by how she was dusting off the surface furiously, her knuckles white by how iron-tight her grip on it was.
He never did understand why she was so protective of it- especially considering the fact that she had a protective casing around it, a smudge-proof filament protecting the actual screen, and a multi-year warranty protecting it from internal damages.
“Oh my… uh, not to sound rude or anything, but did you want something from me Selina?” Jon asked as she sighed a breath of relief when she found that her tablet could still turn on.
“Yes,” she answered coldly as she reached to the side of her, just outside the doorway, and picked up a basket of fruits. “This came in for you. For both of you, actually.”
With one hand on her device and the other on this gift, she handed it over to Jon who noted how heavy it was, and extended it outwards to get a better look.
“Oh, well, isn’t that nice! Look at this Fluttershy!” Jon pointed as she hovered just over his shoulder. She could now see what he was referring to. Nestled between a pair of apples, attached to a metal clip holder, was a greeting card with both their names written across it. “Seems like we’ve already got some fan mail.”
Reaching forward, he plucked the card from the holder and, using his thumb, turned it over to read the message on the back.
“We get these all the time. Ahem… ‘Dear Jon and Fluttershy, congratulations on tonight’s show. You two were hilarious and I enjoyed every second of it. Yours truly, a huge fan!” Jon read, pausing before reading the post script. “‘P.S. Look out behind you’… wait, what?”
Confused, Jon shared a worried look with Fluttershy before they both turned to look over their shoulders. What awaited them was what they expected; just the other half of the dressing room with nothing out of the ordinary save a small mess at one of the makeup tables suggesting that someone had ducked in here for lunch but didn’t clean up after themselves.
Satisfied that nothing was wrong, least from what they could see, both returned to what was present in front of them.
“My, how… odd,” Fluttershy commented.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Jon responded, turning to see if there was more on the card that he had missed. “Eh, probably just some prank or--”
“Hello Jonathan,” someone said from out of sight.
Immediately Jon’s head jolted to the source of this new voice. It came from the letter which for the briefest of seconds made him believe it was one of those automated novelty cards with mini speakers in it.
However, what he saw was nothing of the sort. His heart leapt into his throat when he realized that he was no longer holding that once simple card, but instead the severed head of Discord, who had magically supplanted himself into his hand.
There was nothing to indicate that something like this had occurred; not a shift in weight, sound of magic, or any change in the texture of what he was holding, leading Jon to believe that this wasn’t real, but rather his mind playing tricks on him- that is, until Discord started talking again.
“It’s so good to see you!” he continued as he arched himself back to get a good view of the basket of fruit still cradled in Jon’s other arm. “I see you got my gift.”
“FUCK!” Jon roared as he dropped everything he was carrying while desperately trying to get away, only to trip over his own feet. Once again he was flat on his ass.
At first the contents of the basket spilled out onto the floor, but slowly, one by one, each fruit began to move as they rhythmically jolted upwards and bounced towards the center of the room, collectively stacking themselves atop each other before taking on the rough shape of a body.
That is, until after a brief shimmer of light fused each sentient food item together to reveal Discord’s headless body standing in a “ta-da” pose. This display continued onwards as it bent over to grab its head and spin it atop a talon like a basketball.
By this time, everyone in the office was watching from outside the room at exactly the right time to see him throw it up in the air before it landed on his neck stump, spinning into place like a light bulb in a socket and returning him to his normal appearance.
No one who witnessed this had anything to say, for they were all stunned silent with mixed reactions of being either impressed or disgusted- all except for Fluttershy who was unfazed, suggesting that she was used to such things.
“Discord!” she exclaimed as she flew into his outstretched arms.
“Fluttershy!” Discord said back, putting emphasis on the last syllable. “So glad I could make it here today! You were great out there!”
“Thanks!” she said, accepting his praise much easier than with Jon. “I was a little nervous, but… it helped knowing you were close by, watching over me.”
“Wait, what?!” Jon said, half back up to a standing position, though slightly off balance since he was using one arm to point at Discord. “H-h-he was here the entire time?!”
“But of course Jon!” Discord said as he snapped his fingers to teleport in front of his friend, now wearing a black suit, matching sunglasses, and an earpiece like he was secret service. “You don’t seriously think I would let Fluttershy travel to such a world without protection, do you? There are dangerous people here!”
“Yeah, and one of them is standing right in front of me,” Jon commented as Selina shooed away the nearby employees to get them back to work.
“Now Jonathan, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say!” Fluttershy scolded, now looming over him. “Say you're sorry.”
Part of why Jon disproved of Discord being here was because he liked conducting his show with full transparency to what is going on around him. Part of the reason he felt comfortable teasing Fluttershy on stage was, among other things, assumed knowledge that Discord couldn't will himself onto scene to protect her.
But, as he stood there locking eyes with a stern looking Fluttershy, who was waiting for an apology, the idea occurred to him that maybe it was the other way around. Her willingness to protect her friend seemed genuine enough. Jon didn’t want to push it if it could be helped.
“Well?” she reminded.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jon said, turning to a snickering Discord. “Sorry, Discord.”
Next on Fluttershy’s agenda was to get her chaotic friend to return the gesture and apologize back for scaring Jon the way he did- something which she had to remind him not to do more times than she could recall. Just as she was about to do so, Jon continued speaking, prompting her to remain silent, not wanting to interrupt.
“So when Fluttershy said you were close by,” he began, “exactly how close is… ‘close?’”
“Would you believe I was at the desk you two were sitting?” he proposed with Jon’s eyes widening and his mouth trying- and failing- to form words. “Just kidding… I was watching here the entire time through a live feed… or was I?!”
A slight wind wafted across Jon’s face as Fluttershy flew in front of Discord to place a hoof against his mouth.
“He was here the entire time,” Fluttershy assured him. “He wanted to come and support me and I said it was okay if he stayed on his best behavior. Isn’t that right, Discord?”
“Sure is!” he replied as he made a halo appear over his head, only to eat it like a donut the second Fluttershy turned her back on him.
“I certainly hope you don’t mind him being here,” Fluttershy said to Jon.
“Who, me? Nah, why would I care if the God of Chaos was here in New York?” Jon shrugged. “We handled King Kong; we can handle him.”
“King who?” Fluttershy asked.
“He’s a giant gorilla… things didn’t end well for him,” Jon said, his mentioning of an animal perking her up only to have her express worry by the end. Not feeling up for an explanation, he turned his attention to his new guest. “So, Discord… not to sound rude, but how are you even here?”
“Why it’s quite simple my homosapien friend!” Discord began as he reached into the air to bring down a chalkboard out of no where. On it were pre-doodled sketches, depicting a crudely drawn Draconequus and pony going from one bubble to another. “As you can see from this graph, Fluttershy was teleported here by Celestia and I followed close behind when I teleported myself to--”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how teleportation works,” Jon said, without a hint of how odd a statement it was. “What I want to know is how you managed to bring yourself here… doesn’t Celestia have a protective field between our worlds? To make sure people like… you don’t get here without her permission.”
The implication that Discord was one of the bad guys, though not without its warrant, made Fluttershy take notice once more. She resented this accusation, but for Discord he was entirely used to it.
“Well yes, and believe me, it has done wonders for your world! After Chrysalis’ attack, others have tried to gain entry into your domain for better or for ill,” he explained with Jon just giving him a look. “But when it comes to yours truly, a barrier spell, such as the one that now separates our two worlds, is easy enough to bypass… you just need to know where its… weak point is.”
For emphasis, he snapped his fingers to make an expensive looking vase appear from the aether and lightly flicked it, causing it to shatter into hundreds of little pieces. Jon looked a bit nervous by the demonstration, though this didn’t concern Discord as much as the look he was getting from Fluttershy, obviously disappointed at how he was bragging about something like bypassing the Princess’ orders.
“B-but, in regards to right now, I assure you I got permission from ol’ Sun-butt before coming here!” he said more to Fluttershy than anyone else. “I gave her notice that I’d be here so she wouldn't freak out or anything.”
Fluttershy looked ready for another scolding, but like before she was caught off guard by Jon sliding between them to put an arm around Discord’s shoulders- much to his surprise.
“Buuuut, going back a bit… you could have gotten here without Celestia’s approval, or even without her knowing quite easily, right?” Jon asked. “I mean, your magic is that strong… right?”
Sensing that he was being lead on, Discord snapped his talons to teleport into mid-air, idly using a live beaver’s tail to sharpen his claws.
“Of course; I’m every bit as strong as she is,” Discord bragged, which only made Jon smile. “If you’ll recall, it took both Celestia and Luna, as well as The Elements of Harmony, to imprison me the first time around. What’s your point?”
“Well, first of all, let me ask you something,” Jon began, grabbing his tail to bring him back down to his level. “We’re friends, right?”
Never before had Discord been asked such a loaded question.
“And friends do favors for each other, right?” Jon continued with Discord only nodding back in agreement. “Because, if I recall, you said you’d ‘owe me one’ for having Fluttershy on my show.”
To Jon’s credit, Discord did actually say this- though he meant it more figuratively than as an actual obliging contract.
“Well, now I have. Which means there is only one thing left to discuss. Discord,” Jon said, pausing to lean in for a whisper, “you now owe me a favor.”