//------------------------------// // Lesson Three: Convincing to Observe // Story: Discord's Student // by MlpFluttershy //------------------------------// "What a disaster! I love it! You really are becoming my perfectly messed up little protégé." Fluttershy woke with a start from Discord's words. Her head felt so dizzy as she tried to contemplate where she was. Looking around through her blurry eyes, the half asleep mare was able to make out her living room. Or was it? All her furniture had been thrown around like a tornado had come through the room. This sight caused her to gasp. "Oh no!" "And she's back folks," Discord smirked at the bewildered mare, causing her to scowl. "Did you do this?" she asked, accusingly. "I wish," He replied with mock sorrow, "but alas, this is your work." "What!?!" Fluttershy asked in surprise. She looked at her hooves in disbelief, as if they might hold the answers. "How do you know?" She whispered still looking down. "Oh, pretty much the same way I tracked Tirek down: felt a major magical disturbance and followed it back to the culprit," Discord explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Fluttershy cringed at the name of the villan who had made Discord betray Equestria and had corrupted him. Being compared to him was just insulting. Really, he was the reason she was stuck here as a student to chaos. "Then again, I wouldn't really call this major." Discord said, gesturing to the mess around them. "Well, I'm so sorry I don't meet your standards in major chaos making," Fluttershy huffed. Inside though, for some reason, she was truly disappointed that he had called her chaotic act minor. Quickly, she tried to push that thought out of her mind. It scared her that she had a small part of herself that wanted to be chaotic. What was happening to her? "And she's gone again," Discord sighed, bored. "Maybe you're not exciting enough to keep my attention," Fluttershy mused to him, slyly. "Oh, nice comeback," he cheered. "Well done, truly. I really am rubbing off on you. Wonderful!" Yeah, wonderful, Fluttershy thought. Noticing her frown, Discord smiled. "Seeing how depressing our lessons have been and that you seem to be progressing nicely, I'd say you deserve a field trip," Discord told her. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious. "How about we go and spy on your friends?" Discord suggested, merrily. "No!" "Why not?" Discord asked, genuinely confused. "Spying is wrong," she stated simply. "Well, so is making a mess of your house, but that didn't seem to stop you," he retorted. Fluttershy sighed. That small part of her wanted to go and spy on her friends. It reasoned that she hadn't seen her friends for what felt like forever, though it was only two days. The other, more prominent part of her viewed spying as a wrongdoing. She wouldn't betray her friends' trust like that. "Seriously Fluttershy, can you keep a decent conversation without drifting off? I would appreciate it ever so much." "I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just I can't spy on them. I'd feel terrible." "They would never know," he said, trying to convince her. "That's not helping your case," she replied, agitated. Discord decided to manipulate her by going for her emotional side. "Don't you miss them?" Silence. "Well, do you?" Tears streaked Fluttershy's cheeks. Instead of responding verbally, she merely nodded. Discord knew how to play his cards well. In her state, Fluttershy would not be thinking clearly. This would allow him to sway her decision quite easily. "How about this? Instead of spying, we can observe your friends. You know, like how you observe your animals in their natural habitat. Same thing, right?" Fluttershy was still crying, but she was able to choke out, "B-but m-my animal friends know I'm th-there." "I know! We can play a game," Discord answered quickly. "We'll leave them little clues to show them that you're there." "I d-don't know-" Fluttershy began. "What are you talking about? It's the perfect idea," Discord insisted. "You get to see your friends, and I get to teach you some new tricks. It's a win-win." "W-well-" She began again, still struggling over the sobs. "Tissue?" "W-what?" she stared at him and then the tissue box he held, suspiciously. "You're still crying. I don't like to see you crying," Discord said, then quickly added, "I'm no good with crying mares." Fluttershy grinned up at him, and eagerly took a tissue in her hoof. She blew her muzzle hard and wiped the tears from her eyes. The smile returned to her face as she walked over to her garbage bin, which was on its side along with most of her furniture. Still smiling, she picked up the bin along with the trash that had fallen out. After inserting her used tissue into the bin, she turned to Discord, who was starting to get freaked out by the maniac grin that had stayed plastered on her face the whole time. Who knew mares got so excited about tissues? he thought. Noticing she was still grinning at him, the draconequus shifted uncomfortably. "About that trip-" he started this time, but was interrupted. "We're merely observing, right?" Fluttershy asked, the grin finally falling from her face. "Of course," he assured her, glad she was back to her timid self. "We'll leave clues, too?" she questioned. "Yes, yes," he responded. "I guess for a little bit will be okay," she said, still a bit unsure. Discord chose to ignore her uneasiness, "Test One: Teleport us there." "Are you sure?" the mare gasped. "I could get it wrong, and we could get separated." "Don't you want that to happen?" Discord smirked at her. "No." Discord chose to ignore that, too. "Fine, I'll teleport us, but don't think you'll get out of your other tests so easily." Snapping his talons, Fluttershy appeared in his arms. She gave a little squeak to this, to which he chuckled. With another snap, they were gone. "We have reached our destination." Fluttershy looked around at her surroundings, eagerly. She had missed Ponyville so much in the short time she had been away. A few tears started to fall, but she brushed them away quickly. This was a time for joy and happiness, not sorrow. "Oh, thank you Discord," Fluttershy said to him with a hug. He seemed hesitant about what to do, so Fluttershy took his arms in her hooves and placed them on her back. "Like this," she told him. "We don't have time for that," he replied, blushing. With a swift movement, his mismatched hands were off of her, and she was teleported to the ground. She gave a frown to this, but reminded herself to be happy, for they were off to observe her friends. "Before we go, you're going to need this." With a snap, Fluttershy found herself dressed in a black ninja outfit. In her belt, she had a katana. "Why do I need this?" Fluttershy asked, gesturing to the sword. "In fact, why do I need to wear this in the first place?" "Well, you need to get in character with the whole sneaking around thing, so I thought that a ninja outfit was perfect. It also allows you to be invisible. Only I can see you," Discord explained. "The katana is just there to complete the look." "Um...ok, I g-guess," Fluttershy said. "Can we get going now?" "Sure," Discord answered. "Who do you want to sp- I mean observe first?" "Well, we're right by Twilight's castle," she replied. "Let's go there first." Instead of responding, the draconequus began to sing to himself, "We're off to see the Princess, the Princess of Ponyville." "Actually," Fluttershy informed him, "she was never officially named the Princess of Ponyville. Her title is the Princess of Friendship. Now, it makes sense for you to thi-" "Fluttershy, there is something that we need to make clear starting now," he said, very seriously, floating down to her eye level. "I don't make sense." Nervously, the mare responded, "Oh, I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean it l-like that." Discord put his face to hers, making her whimper quietly. He chuckled darkly at her reaction to his closeness. Then, he moved his mouth to her ear and hissed quietly, "And neither should you."