Fluttershy snuck shy glances at Eris as they flew toward the more densely populated part of town. "Umm...so...Eris..."
"Yeah Mom?" Eris replied, not looking up from her phone.
"Umm...why don't you tell me more about...yourself? And...your parents...I mean, if it's...if that's okay with you."
Eris' brow furrowed. "You want me to tell you about...you?"
Fluttershy blinked. "Oh. Well. I guess...that...sounds pretty silly, doesn't it?" She laughed sheepishly. "Why not...just tell me about yourself?"
Eris shrugged. "I'm fifteen, you're my mom, my dad is the god of chaos, I go to school, I hang out with friends...there's not much to tell."
"Friends! That sounds good, tell me more about that."
"Ehh...I dunno. Most of them haven't even been born yet, and I don't want to risk screwing up the timeline..." Eris' muzzle crinkled. "Assuming they'd even be born in this timeline." She paused. "Oh. I guess I could tell you about my friends from other dimensions, though."
"Other dimensions? Goodness..."
"Yeah," Eris said. She showed Fluttershy her phone. While Fluttershy didn't understand the device or what it was (though she'd heard of 'phones' from Twilight), she could at least read a number of names which appeared in a list on the phone's tiny screen:
Earth Turd
Giffany
Q.M.
Spidey
Star Butterfly
The Other Maud
Vanessa D.
"Oh my," Fluttershy said. "Your friends have...such interesting names..." She shook her head. "So how did Discord and I...I mean..."
Eris floated in front of her and held up a paw. "Ground rule #1. The big one. You and Dad? You do NOT ask. Not something I like to think about, you know? I mean, do you like to think about your mom and dad doing you-know-what?"
Fluttershy turned very red. "O-oh my," she said. "Wh-when you put it that way..." She smiled gamely. "So, umm...this is Ponyville, and—"
"I know all about Ponyville, Mom," Eris said. "I grew up here. Well...mostly here. And Dad's place. And a few other places."
"Oh my," Fluttershy said. "I've only ever lived here and in Cloudsdale."
"Cloudsdale blows," Eris said.
Fluttershy gasped, pinning her ears back. "Cloudsdale doesn't, umm...blow!" she said. "Cloudsdale is a very nice city! Why, I...I was born there, you know!"
"And you left."
"Well...yes, because I liked living on the ground better."
"Because Cloudsdale blows."
"No, it...I never thought Cloudsdale...blowed. Blew?" Fluttershy crossed her eyes in confusion.
"Well I hate it," Eris said. "The Wonderbolts are jerks, the weather factory ponies are idiots, and the mayor does so many stupid things on an almost daily basis..." She coughed. "Sorry. Anyway, Dad got banned from there when I was visiting Grandma one time."
Fluttershy frowned. "What...did Discord do?"
"He got mad at the mayor because her new plan to completely automate Winter Wrap-Up for all of Equestria was really heartless and called for waking up all the animals really fast. You cried for an hour when you heard it."
"Oh my," Fluttershy whispered. "What...what happened then?"
"Dad let everypony in Equestria know exactly why Mayor Lightning Dust was kicked out of the Wonderbolts Academy, completely trashed her public reputation, then let the Smooze out in her office."
Fluttershy blinked. "L-Lightning Dust?" She frowned. "Well...good for him."
"Anyway, after that, Dad got banned from Cloudsdale, and..." Eris shrugged. "I mean, it's not like you can just ban Dad from someplace and make it stick unless you're Aunt Twilight, but...he promised to abide by the ban on his own." Eris snorted. "Besides, Cloudsdale is such a boring place, who'd want to go there?"
Fluttershy blinked. "Twilight can...?"
"That younger Aunt Twilight back there at the picnic? So not the Princess Twilight Sparkle I know." Eris shook herself. "I've only seen Aunt Twilight mad once. I don't ever want to see that again."
Fluttershy tilted her head. "Why, what did she...?"
"Long story short, Equestria got a brand new river out of it."
Fluttershy's irises shrank to pinpricks. "Meep."
"And lost a couple of mountains."
"Oh my..."
* * * * *
Lyra and Bon Bon sat on a bench, pony-watching. "Hey, Bon Bon," Lyra said.
"Yes?"
"Am I seeing things, or did Discord...shrink? And...doesn't look right?"
Bon Bon frowned. "Huh. I'm...not sure that's actually Discord."
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure there's only one creature in Equestria that looks like that."
"Well, true, but..." Bon Bon shook her head. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that looks like a cross between Discord and..." She trailed off. Her eyes widened. "Ooooooh my gosh."
"What?"
Bon Bon grasped Lyra excitedly. "Don't you see it?" she whispered loudly. "That...whatever it is...doesn't it look an awful lot like Fluttershy?"
Lyra blinked and stared at the strange draconequus...and the butter-yellow pegasus flying beside her. "Sweet Celestia...!"