My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos

by taterforlife

Of Letters, Flutterburritos, and Magnets

The Night Before Chapter Four

“You’re…You’re not leaving, are you?”

Fluttershy was in a panic. Her chaos was acting on her anxiety, causing the light bulb in the kitchen to spark on and off in an erratic manner. Oddly enough, the lights in the living room weren’t affected. Then again, odd was normal for a Draconequus, so Discord wasn’t overly concerned with it.

“I wish I wasn’t, trust me,” Discord said, making a disgusted face at the thought of returning to that boring, prissy castle back in Canterlot, forced to stay in a room that influenced nothing but his own dark, dreary thoughts. “But unfortunately, trust is the very thing that keeps me from staying. If Celestia and Luna found me gone, they would search for me at once, and who knows what horribly boring punishment they would inflict on me? As if my guilt wasn’t punishment enough!”

“B-But…”

“And let’s not forget that you don’t want anyone to know of your new form. I’ll admit, at first I really didn’t understand the reasoning, but upon reflection of the day’s events…” A pair of glasses and a smoking pipe appeared on him. He blew on the pipe and soda bubbles fizzed out from the opening. “…I have changed my mind! You are stressed enough already, and your powers are strong, but not even close to being harnessed yet. Not that you can really harness chaos, but you get my point. And if the Princesses found out, then they’d probably force you to come straight into Canterlot so they could ‘look after you’”, he said, making quotation marks with paw and claw in a mocking tone. “You wouldn’t be able to come back into Ponyville or your cottage until you changed back, and who knows when that would be?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and a gasp escaped her throat at the thought. “I wouldn’t get to see the animals!”

Discord shook his head. “Nope.”

She shrank down. “But then again…” she murmured, taking steady steps with her two legs and looking outside the window, the moon in sight as it shined down on her face. “The animals don’t even want…to see me…” She sniffed, and her eyes were already getting shiny with tears.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” Discord took the pipe out of his mouth and tipped it over his open maw, soda pouring out of it as he took a few hearty gulps before snapping it away. “They’ll be back eventually. They’ve grown so dependent on you that I highly doubt they even know their noses from their backsides! And besides, what of your…precious….” He almost lost his dinner saying the word. “…little Angel? He’s still here, right?”

Both he and Fluttershy turned their heads to glance at the bunny, who was passed out on the green couch, his stomach large from dinner and all the plants he’d munched on outside.

This put a small smile on Fluttershy’s face, which relieved Discord’s concerns a bit. “That’s true,” she murmured, going back to the couch and softly, gently rubbing the bunny between the ears. “He’s such a good, sweet little boy. I don’t know what I’d do without him…” She bent over and kissed the sleeping rabbit on the forehead.

Unable to help himself, Discord snorted. Lucky little rat. “Yes, yes, yes, he’s absolute perfection on a stick, hoorah,” he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster, rolling his eyes. “I’ll just let myself out.”

He turned to the door to twist the knob, only for it to turn into a tiny-sized balloon and float up to the ceiling. It was Fluttershy's powers acting out—and she was freaking out again.

“N-No! Please! You can’t go! Don’t leave me!”

He sighed as he watched the apple-sized balloon bump against the ceiling before he turned back to her. “Fluttershy, dear,” he said, looking at her with pleading eyes. “I really do apologize, but I can’t. Do you have any idea what your little Princesses will try to do if I don’t come back without some sort of explanation? They might make me paint the walls white! And not even a bright white, but off-white, which is even more dull than the former! They might ask me to polish their thrones, or make me attend some boring delegate meeting!” His eyes swirled with the possibilities of punishment.

“And while normally I would just scoff at them and turn down any assignment those two give me, I’m afraid I just can’t right now! With my recent history, I’ll have to make myself go through every torturous thing Sunny and Moony want me to do! If I don’t, then Equestria will just continue to make my life as miserable as possible until they decide to turn me back to stone.”

“No!” Fluttershy argued, shaking her head. She approached him and put her hands on his shoulders. “That…That wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.”

As touching as those words were meant to be, Discord only gave her a deadpan look. “Fluttershy, I apologize, truly, but I just don’t think you have the influence. Especially after what I did.”

Her ears folded back as she considered his words. He was right. If Discord disobeyed orders, then Equestria’s already-high level of mistrust in him would grow to the point of no return. And as much as she cared for him, as much fame as she had as the Element of Kindness—she wouldn’t be able to save him, if it came to the worst.

She whimpered. “But…I’m so scared.”

“Scared?” Discord repeated. “Of what?”

“M-My magic…” Her eyes glanced at the balloon knob above them. “W-What if something happens overnight? What if my chaos goes off, and I-I do something horrible because of it? I’ll only get more panicked, which will set off more chaos, and then Angel and I could get hurt! Or, or what if it spread to Ponyville? A-And hurt ponies in town?!? Wh-What if--?!?”

Before she could continue, Discord wisely put a lion paw over her mouth, muffling her words and getting her to stop talking, before she set off her magic again. As an afterthought, he turned the balloon back into a doorknob.

“…You have a point, Fluttershy. I myself remember having that problem as a kid. Hmm…” He scratched his beard in thought, pursing his lips in a funny way as he squinted at her. “I suppose there is a basis to your worry. And if it did reach Ponyville, well, then keeping it a secret would have all been for nothing.”

She nodded her head, only able to mutter, “mmm-hmm!”

After thinking for a moment, an idea popped into his head, and he slapped himself in the face. “Of course! It’s so simple, why didn’t I think of it? Sometimes, I swear there are spider webs in my head.” He stuck his claw through his ear, then brought it back out with ripped cobwebs and tiny black spiders crawling over him. Fluttershy gathered them in her hands and set them outside.

“What is it?” she asked as she watched the arachnids crawl from the doorway into the grass, happy to see that at least spiders didn’t seem to mind her.

“You could write to the Princess!” Discord said, pointing at her as she shut the door. “They know I was supposed to visit you today anyway. So you could tell them that we’ve made up, we’re bestest buddies again, and that you want to spend more time with me as a way of making sure I don’t go off the mend again.”

She froze, and swore she could feel her heart stop and her blood turn cold. “You…You want me to…lie to them? The Princesses?” Her voice had gone so high that she sounded as if she had chowed down on a tube of Helium.

Discord blew a raspberry, waving his paw as if her concerns were nothing. “Oh please! This is barely even a lie! It’s just leaving information out. And besides, it’s not like it isn’t true. The whole reason you made the wish was to understand me, right? And the only way to do that is to spend time with yours truly!” He gestured his hand towards his chest with a smirk. “You couldn’t have made a better wish to go with this! The letter will practically write itself!”

She sighed. She should have known he wouldn’t understand. He either had no idea that withholding information was still lying…or knew perfectly well that it was, and just didn’t care.

Applejack would be able to explain this better…

That simple thought was enough to nearly make her flinch. Her friends…When would she see her friends again?

“Fluttershy…?”

Would she get to see them soon? But what if the spell didn’t reverse soon enough? What if it took days, weeks, years? What if it never happened at all? Would she never get to see them again? Would she have to run away to avoid them at all costs? Would she have to—

“Fluttershy, what are you thinking in that noggin of yours?”

No. No…She couldn’t allow that. She would miss them. She would miss her friends, her animals, and her old way of life too much. She was being too difficult, and she knew it. The only friend she could rely on at that point was Discord, who was currently trying to help her. She was being selfish, asking him not to only help her change back, but also asking to stay with her until she was safe enough to manage on her own—and who knew how long that would take? No…She couldn’t be picky now. As scary as the thought lying to royalty was—to the Princesses that relied on her and her friends so much—she knew she had to make one decision or the other, and revealing her secret was just too high a price to pay right now.

Fluttershy swallowed, but stood straight up. “H-Help me write it?”

She wrote it the pony way—with a quill in her mouth, to keep her handwriting recognizable. It was polite and short, giving as much information as it could without mentioning anything about her new makeover. She addressed it to both of them, and when Discord asked why, she told him she always did it that way.

“I know it goes directly to Celestia, but…I don’t want Princess Luna to feel left out…”

Discord only rolled his eyes, but the hint of a smile could be seen, crinkling his eyes ever so slightly. “Of course, I forgot who I was talking to,” he teased.

Fluttershy, used to his friendly jabs now, only smiled back as she reread the letter.

Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,

Hello. I hope you two are doing well, and Philomena too. It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you. I know you’re busy a lot, and I don’t mind that and I understand, but it’s always so nice seeing you.

I wanted to thank you for letting Discord come visit me today. I was so worried about him after all that happened, but luckily we had a wonderful time together. I wanted to ask your permission for Discord to stay with me for a while at the cottage, please, if it’s okay. I hope you don’t mind. I know I’m being selfish, but I really want to have him with me so we can strengthen our friendship. If you can’t, I understand, but it would just mean so much to me if he could stay. I don’t know for how long he’d be with me, but I don’t mind that. He can stay as long as he wants, and I enjoy his company. I hope that’s okay, Your Highnesses.

Thank you for reading this. If you could please let me know if Discord can stay, I would be so grateful. Only when it’s convenient to write back, though, of course. Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Fluttershy

With the snap of his fingers, Discord sent the letter to Celestia herself. It was only a few minutes of waiting, but Fluttershy paced back and forth the entire time, nervously biting the nails of her rabbit paw as she walked back and forth, back and forth…

He couldn’t do anything to calm her down, and sighed in relief when a reply letter magically appeared in the room. Fluttershy grabbed it so fast that he swore she had hopped like a kangaroo just to get it first.

Dear Fluttershy,

Hello! Thank you so much for you letter. Luna and I are doing very well, thank you for asking. Philomena is doing well, too, though I’m sure she misses you. After all, you are one of the best animal caretakers I know of!

I’m delighted to hear that Discord’s visit went well. I’ll admit, I was worried about how it would go. I could see that Discord’s apology had been sincere, but I knew that there would be complications. It’s a relief to hear that he’s still able to have a good time with the pony nearest and dearest to him.

Which brings me to my next point. I have never known a pony that Discord cared about more than you. He respects you and listens to you. He may have forgotten that for a moment, but he was worried about you the most after what had happened. His mood was low and quiet, and I know I don’t have to tell you how out of character that is for him. And he is very unhappy here in the castle. My sister and I have tried our best to make him comfortable, but we can only give him so much freedom, especially after the incident. He will be much happier with you, and I know that you can handle him. As I’ve said before, he actually listens to you and enjoys your company. I completely trust that the two of you will be just fine together. He is free to stay with you.

I would like to ask a favor from you. If you could send me daily reports on his progress, I would appreciate it very much. Not only that, but I would love to hear more from you and how you’re doing. I know it may be quite a transition for you, but I was hoping that we could address each other as friends. What do you think?

Thank you,
Celestia

“She’s okay with it!” Fluttershy gasped. “She’s really, really okay with it! Oh my goodness, and she wants us to be friends! Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness…”

She felt a mix of joy, relief, and guilt. She had lied, in writing, to a Princess! No, both Princesses!

But he can stay!

She felt the letter slip from her grip as Discord grabbed it from her, scanning the pages himself.

“A report?!?” Discord said, obviously offended by Celestia’s request. “Sheesh! I know you ponies question my level of maturity, but I don’t need a foalsitter to tell Sunny and Moony how I behave! Ugh.”

Fluttershy gave him a tentative smile. “But at least you get to stay with me for a while…That’s good, isn’t it? You…You like staying here, don’t you?”

His expression of disgust changed into a look of incredulity, before his eyes softened ever so slightly.

He placed the letter back in her hands, crossing his arms. “You read what Celestia wrote, didn’t you? Isn’t that enough of an answer for you?”

“Huh…?” She glanced back at the Princess’ beautiful script before remembering what she wrote about Discord. “O-Oh, yes, of course! Um…” Her ears folded back and she bit her lip. “If you don’t mind me asking…Is it true?”

Discord turned and went to the now Angel-less couch, snapping up a blanket with the words'HOME SWEET HOME' with his face stitched on it. Angel had gone up to bed, so it was all his now. “Is what true?” he asked her.

“That you…worried about me?”

That you worried about me the most? That was the question she really wanted to ask…but there was no way she could have said such a thing. No, that would have been far too arrogant for a low Pegasus-Draconequus like her to say, surely. At least, that’s how she saw it.

Or maybe she was just afraid of the answer.

Now with his rump against the cushions, the blanket over his shoulders and covering his front like a shawl, he titled his head back and groaned, “Fluttershy, please. I’ve already said so many things today that are far out of character for me, and from what I’ve told you, isn’t it obvious what the answer to that question is? What do you think?”

Her first reaction was to apologize—oh, of course he would be so frustrated from answering so many questions for her in one day! It had been a long day for both of them, and surely he was tired. How selfish could she be? Had she always been like this?

But before she could voice these thoughts, she found herself smiling at him tenderly, making her friend raise a bushy brow in confusion as she made her way over to him.

“Discord, I think...maybe you weren’t as out of character as you think you were.”

Blushing and leaning over the couch, she hugged him and quickly kissed him on the forehead before she lost her confidence. She nuzzled his cheek for a moment before finally letting go.

Once she did, he just stared at her, blinking a few times. Fluttershy bowed her head, suddenly nervous from her actions and the quietness that seemed to overwhelm the room. Her hair fell over and covered half of her face, hiding her from him.

“I’m going to go write one more letter to Celestia…Do you think you could please send it for me before going to bed?”

Discord visibly relaxed, taking a deep breath. “Yes, of course, of course! And then you had better head off to bed yourself! You’ve got a lot to learn, and you need that brain of yours up and ready to go by morning.” He stretched his arm out and knocked against her forehead. “So make it quick and then skedaddle off to sleepyland.”

This time, Fluttershy really did giggle, covering her mouth with her frog hand. “Okay…Are you sure you don’t want to stay in the guestroom?”

Discord gasped dramatically. “And leave my precious love behind?!?” he said, grabbing a cushion and holding it against his heart. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your couch, far too long! I think she missed me, I know I certainly missed her.” He stroked the cushion as if it were someone in need of comfort, and cooed at it. “Hush, darling. It’s fine now, we’re together again. I won’t leave you for the guest bed, I promise!” he said to it, burying his face against it. “No bed can ever pull us apart!”

Fluttershy giggled yet again and shook her head. “Oh Discord…”

She wrote a quick response to Celestia, agreeing to send in a report, before wishing Discord goodnight and making her way upstairs. As she opened the door, she smiled to see that Angel had moved and was now sleeping at the foot of the bed, as always, then gasped at seeing the window still open, curtains tucked at the sides. She quickly closed it and drew the curtains in, making sure no one could see her world from the outside.

And to think, I had been a pony the last time I went to bed…

It had been a long time since he had been kissed anywhere.

And by kissed, he meant an actual lip kiss. Not a lick from a cat, like when he had taken Fluttershy and the Crusaders out on a time-travel adventure. Though, did it really matter? Because ironically, Baast had been the last one to press her lips against him.

The only one, actually.

So while he had grown used to Fluttershy’s hugs, the kiss to the forehead was rather new. He was still thinking about it when he was trying to sleep, lying across the couch with his blanket over his stomach.

He’d never been kissed on the forehead before. As far as he knew, a kiss on the lips was usually reserved for romantic affection. A kiss on the cheek could be platonic, but it could be romantic too. What about the forehead? Wasn’t that a thing mothers did to their children? Kiss their kids, tuck them in bed, read them a story, and tell them goodnight? That sort of thing?

Was Fluttershy his mother now?

He scoffed at himself for that thought. As if I’d know what it was like to have a mother, or a family of any kind.

His lion claw slithered out from the blanket and settled against his forehead, touching the place where Fluttershy’s lips had brushed him. He swore he could still feel it. He didn’t understand why it bothered him so much.

She was always so unsure of herself. He had said explicitly that she was his best friend, that he didn’t want to lose her, that she was the kindest pony he had ever met. He had apologized, and had told her how guilty he was over what he did. He even groaned at the thought of going back to Canterlot, right in front of her!

So why did she still feel the need to ask if he worried about her, if he minded staying in the cottage with her? Why could she not see these things?

“Is it because of me, or because of her…?” he muttered, stroking his chin as he stared intently at the blanket. “She’s got such low confidence in herself….It’s not that strange that she would constantly need reassurance…But it’s possible she might not trust me. But if she didn’t trust me, then why let me stay here…? And if she didn’t trust me, then she wouldn’t have been so comfortable with me earlier…Wouldn’t have kissed me. But kissing my forehead was bold for her, so perhaps she’s not as hard on herself as I may think? Or perhaps…Ugh!”

He picked up the pillow and groaned, the fabric muffling out his anguish.

He wished he understood her better.

The thought made him smile ironically at himself.

I’d better be careful, or I may just wake up as a pony.

“Um, Discord…Help…?”

“Heh?” He raised his head, looking over by the stairs, and nearly laughed at what he saw.

Fluttershy stood there, though it was hard to tell due to all the blankets around her. One eye poked out of a sheet that somehow got pierced by her moose antler. A quilt covered her back, ruffled around where her small wings lay. One blanket wrapped around her as if it were a scarf, and all of these things reached the ground, making it hard for her to walk.

He must have been in such deep thought that he didn’t even notice her struggling down the stairs! How odd, he thought. Normally he was so good at keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Snapping a finger, all the blankets and sheets flashed away, only to reappear beside her, folded and stacked.

He raised a brow. “Having problems in bed, Fluttershy?”

He smirked at her blushing face.

“Uh, um…” She shuffled and kept her eyes on the floor. “S-Something’s wrong.”

“Wrong?” He sat himself up, pushing the blanket off himself. “What do you mean, ‘wrong’? Are the blankets tired of being your servants and planning a rebellion? If so, I recommend a pillow army.”

She shook her head. “No no no, nothing…nothing like that. I can’t…Oh, I just can’t get comfortable,” she groaned. “I don’t feel right. I feel like…like I’m tingling all over, or like there’s ants all over me, but on the…on the inside…Oh, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true! I can’t stand still, and it aches and it hurts and I’m so tired…Oh!” Her eyes widened as she realized that she had barged downstairs as he was trying to sleep. “I’m so sorry, did I wake you?!?”

He stood up, and waved his paw and claw at her. “No, no…I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, don’t worry about that. My my, you just get worked up over every little thing, don’t you?”

She blushed further and returned her gaze to the floor. “Yes…”

“Well, luckily, I know exactly what you’re talking about!”

She jumped a bit and looked at him. “You do?”

He gave her a smile. “I do! Though, the situation’s a lot more different from yours. I had the same thing happen to me when I was going through, well…Let’s just call it the ‘awkward years’,” he said, making quotes with his fingers. “I shot up like a rocket—sometimes quite literally—and the growing pains really took a toll on me. I imagine that’s similar to what’s happening to you, only it’s because you changed form, so now your body’s trying to make sense of it. But no matter! I can fix it!”

Grabbing the biggest sheet from the floor, he laid it flat in front of her. “All you need is a little bit of stimulation!”

“Stimulation…?”

“Yes, you know…” He got on his knees, smoothing the sheet out. “Pressure, the feeling of something against you. Now, be a good Draconequus and lay down right here.” He pointed to one end of the blanket, near to where he sat.

“What? Why?”

“Just do it, why don’t you? Trust me, this will most definitely work!”

She seemed hesitant, but eventually she did as he wished and laid down where he told her to, on her back.

“Now either cross your arms or lay them to the side.”

She crossed them, as if hugging herself.

“Good! Now, don’t scream.”

“Wha—ahh!”

Before she knew it, Discord had tucked his paw and claw under the blanket where she was, slightly lifting her before effectively rolling her across the blanket. Using his magic, she rolled across faster than normal, the blanket rolling tightly around her until she ended looking like a long, skinny burrito.

Fluttershy instinctively started to struggle, only to stop when Discord put a lizard foot gently on her.

“Struggling will get you nowhere!” he said dramatically, grinning as if he had just caught a criminal and trapped her. “I’ve used magic to keep you nice and snug. You won’t easily be getting out of there!”

“Discord!” she said, still trying to wiggle out of her blanket pod. “What is this for?!?”

He crossed his arms. “Well, if you stopped struggling, maybe you’d figure it out, my dear! I did this myself when I started growing. It helped relieve my nerves! I’ve no doubt that they’ll do the same for you, so just hold your horses for a moment, hmm?”

Despite the bad pun, she did as she was told and stopped struggling. The blankets were wrapped around her tightly, but not too much so. It almost felt as if she were getting a firm hug from somepony, but not so tight as to make it hard to breathe. It pressed against her so that she couldn’t easily move, but that’s what made it better. Her nerves were soothed by the constant pressure of the blanket. It was warm…comfortable.

Discord could tell just by watching her face that she felt a lot better. “~I told you so~!” he sing-songed. “Honestly, why does anyone ever doubt me?”

He bent down and picked up his Flutterburrito, putting her over his shoulder and making her screech.

“Discord! What are you doing?”

“Oh, don’t be so surprised. You can’t move. I’m going to take you back to your bed!’

“But how will I be able to get out? What if I wake up thirsty or need to use the bathroom? What about in the morning?”

He stopped. “You have a lot of good points tonight, Fluttershy. Kudos to you.”

He snapped his fingers, and Fluttershy looked around as much as she could with her limitations. “What did you do…?”

“I just cast a spell. If you need to get out, just say magic words and you’ll be free! And when you need to be wrapped up again, say it again!”

“What are the magic words?”

Discord kicked off from the ground, getting a squeak out of his passenger, floating upwards until he landed on the second floor just outside her bedroom.

“The only thing you need to say for the spell is ‘magic words’.”

If she were Twilight, she imagined she’d groan in frustration. Luckily, Fluttershy was always too kind for such things. “Which are…?”

He smirked, knowing he confused her. “Magic words. Just say the phrase ‘magic words’, and you’ll be free.”

“O-Oh! You mean I have to actually say—“

A talon landed on her lips. “Don’t say it! That will undo the spell, and then you’ll risk falling from my shoulder. And that would be just tragic.”

She gasped and kept her mouth shut tight, only for a yawn to stop her from doing so.

Even as a completely different creature, there was something about his best friend that just made everything she did completely adorable. He smiled at her yawning, and used his free arm to open the door to her room.

He’d never been in there directly before the morning he found her draconified. He had seen in through the windows when flying around and whatnot, but that had been all. He wasn’t completely without manners, and had only invaded her privacy in every other inch of the house besides those of her bedroom. But this time, he would see to it that she was in bed, tucked in and ready to sleep.

Walking in, he took his bundle in both arms and laid her gently down in bed, which looked just as fluffy and comfortable as he imagined it—perhaps even more comfortable than his beloved couch downstairs.

She smacked her lips a few times, yawning again, and smiled as she was laid down. She didn’t even notice the situation, too tired to be uneasy by having a male in her room. All she thought was how nice and snug the blanket burrito was, calming her senses, and how sweet it was to have her friend tucking her in bed.

But to Discord, it was the perfect opportunity for revenge.

He was pleased to see her sleepy eyes awaken in surprise as he ducked down and placed a kiss directly where she had kissed him before, smack dab in the middle of her forehead.

It only lasted a second, but that was still long enough to make Fluttershy’s face burn. Discord couldn’t have been happier with the results. With a triumphant grin, he straightened back up.

“~Goodnight, my little Draconequus! Sleep tight! Literally!”’

She blinked, wishing she could still bend her neck down to hide in her hair, only to giggle at his joke, at ease again once more. Of course…We’re friends. There’s nothing wrong with what he did. It was sweet, actually…

She gave him one more sweet smile before wishing him goodnight. “See you in the morning.”

Despite himself, he returned the smile. “Of course, Fluttershy. Of course.”

He closed the door and slept soundly that night. They both did.

The spell worked just as Discord said it would. She squeaked out “magic words” each time she needed out and again when going back to bed, and was pleased with how well she slept, thanks to Discord.

Of course, waking up, she was nearly startled again as she looked at the bathroom mirror, seeing her Draconequus self yet again. It was odd, how quickly a night’s rest could make one forget what had happened the day before. But yesterday’s events played through her head like a video on fast-forward, and she couldn’t help but feel relieved when she saw Discord downstairs, making tea for the two of them.

“~Good morning, Flutterbuddy!~” he sing-songed to her, steeping a bag of breakfast tea in a mug, another cup of hot water ready for Fluttershy with a bag already there for her. “Did you sleep well as I predicted?”

“Good morning, Discord,” she greeted back with a wide smile, walking to the counter and joining him in tea preparation. “I slept very well, and the spell was a really good idea…”

She leaned over and nuzzled the side of his head. “Thank you so much.”

“No problema, mi amiga,” Discord said, taking a drink and conjuring up a plate of waffles for the two of them. Hers was the shape of a butterfly and his the shape of his snaggletooth. “So…Ready to hear about today’s lesson, my protégée?”

She blushed at the title. “I-I’m not sure prodigy…”

“Not prodigy—protégée. The second one is fancier and therefore sounds more important.”

She laughed. “Either way, I’ve only had one lesson…and it wasn’t even on magic!”

“And yet…” he added more sugar to his tea and stirred it. “Look at you! You didn’t wake up and turn the roof into a waterslide filled with jelly or turn the floor into sinking sugar sand.” He paused. “Those are really good ideas, though.” He wrote them down mentally in his head while Fluttershy raised a brow at him.

“You’re not going to…?”

“No, no. Not here, anyway.”

She shook her head at him. “Just make sure—“

“No one will get hurt, I swear!” he objected, before sitting at the table and taking a bite of waffle. “Anywho, who is the teacher here? As I was saying, you haven’t had a magical panic attack. You’ve been in control all morning! That’s pretty good for your second day. And you’re walking like a pro now. You’re going to be the best prodigy I’ve ever had!”

“I thought you said—“

“Oh, potato, po-tah-toe. Prodigy, protégée. Sit down, dear.”

Always full of contradictions, Discord was. She wondered if that was going to be a lesson too as she sat next to him at the table. “Thank you for breakfast and the tea, Discord. I almost forgot to thank you! I’m sorry.” She blushed with an apologetic smile.

“Yes, well, that’s going to be the routine around here!” Discord said. “I’ll make the meals and whatnot, and you’re going to do nothing but focus on your lessons and magic and spreading havoc wherever you go! Syrup?”

“Oh, no. You don’t need to do that, Discord! You’re my guest!” Fluttershy argued, not wanting to overburden him. “You’re already teaching me, and helping me understand you and your magic, and, and, and…”

“—And it’s going to make your life more exciting than ever before!” he interrupted. “Which means you won’t have as much time for such everyday things like making meals, so I’ll do the easy thing and just conjure them up for us! It’s really not much of an effort, Fluttershy. Eventually you’ll know how to do it anyway, so really, it’s not a problem.”

“That’s still so much to ask, though…” she said with a frown. “I just feel that I’m asking so much from you.”

“Stop worrying,” Discord groaned. “Fluttershy, please. Just let me decide how things will go for a while, hmm? Cordy’s going to take care of you. It’s an honor for the both of us! Now, syrup?”

Deciding that it was useless to argue, she nodded, and a bottle of syrup floated over to her, pouring a generous amount before Fluttershy thanked it and assured it that she had enough on her plate. It stopped, sprouted an arm and gave a salute, and then continued to pour a river of syrup on Discord’s plate, the waffle quite literally swimming in it by the time the bottle ran out.

“Thank you…”

He groaned inwardly. Now he felt bad, as if he had barked at her instead of giving her reasonable advice. “You’re welcome,” he said, stretching his tail out and patting her head, making sure not to touch her delicate butterfly antenna as he did so. “Now, as I was saying…Today’s lesson.”

Fluttershy took a sip of tea.

“I think now that you’re walking so efficiently already, that it’s about high time you learned how to fly! Ha! Get it?!? High time?!?”

He laughed while Fluttershy spit the tea out in shock. “F-F-F…!”

Her emotional reaction triggered the spit-out tea to explode against the floor as it landed, making her jump out of her seat and hit the ceiling. “Ah, ow!”

“Fluttershy!” He snapped her chair to turn into a soft beanbag to land on. “Are you all right?”

A massive bump on her head showed at the top of her head, and Discord was quick to bandage it with the snap of his fingers, the boo-boo covered in a large band-aid decorated in yellow and white ducklings.

“Oh no…” Fluttershy groaned. “I did it again…” Her lip quivered but tears were not shed, and sniffled as she got up. Her stress made her nearly fall back to the ground, but Discord was quick to grab her arm and help her back on her feet as he returned the chair back to normal.

“See? I can’t even drink tea without getting myself hurt. And Discord, I could barely fly as a Pegasus. Why should I fly as a Draconequus? This just…it isn’t…”

He covered her lip with a talon again. “There you go again, getting all excited over nothing. It’s just a bump on the head, Fluttershy. If I had a bit for every time I’ve done that, I’d be richer than Sapphire Shores! So there’s no need to get worked up. Besides…”

He smiled excitedly at her. “I think you’re going to like flying as a Draconequus.”

She wasn’t so convinced, but asked him anyway, her curiosity getting the best of her. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as you meet me outside! I’ll make sure it’s clear so you don’t get embarrassed and keep our little secret safe. Oohoo, secrets amongst friends is a real treat, isn’t it? It’s kind of exciting.”

She gulped. The thing was that Discord didn’t know just how big of an issue flying was for her. He knew that she was a weak flyer, but he didn’t know enough of her past. He didn’t know how much pain her wings had brought to her life—and made it her biggest weakness in more than just a physical way.

But he had already thrown the rest of his waffle down his gullet and was making his way out the door.

“Come on out when you’re ready, Flutterbuddy! Oh, this is going to be fun.”

She wasn’t so sure about that.

The animals were still avoiding the house, and Discord could see the disappointment in her eyes as she finally stepped outside. She looked around the yard, and it was painfully obvious that she had hoped her forest friends would return soon. He could see her eyes dim as she found her grass barren and without animal prints.

Her frown was heartbreaking, so he put on a smile. “Well, it’s about time you came out! I know flying isn’t your favorite, dear, but I was waiting forever.”

Her focus on the yard broke as she turned her elegantly long neck to look back at him. “Oh...I’m sorry. I was just…thinking.”

He stroked his chin with an all-knowing smirk on his face. “And let me guess—it was about how afraid you are about learning to fly?”

Her small wings flapped out in surprise, but she nodded.

“Yes, well, I thought as much. But Fluttershy, I’m telling you, you’re really in for a surprise. You’ve already got walking down, for the most part. That means flying for you will be…”

He snapped a finger, and a gust of wind, sparkling in different colors, flowed through Fluttershy’s pink tresses, making her gasp but eventually sigh as it fingered her hair, helping her relax.

“…a breeze!” he finished.

The soft wind ended, making Fluttershy frown again as she opened her eyes back up. “Discord, flying has…has never been ‘a breeze’ for me.”

“As a Pegasus, maybe…Though, you know, you seem to keep forgetting that you did learn to fly. Just because you prefer the ground doesn’t make you any less of a Pegasus than anyone else.”

She was surprised to hear this from him. “You don’t—“

She was about to say 'you don’t understand', but she stopped. What he had said was amazingly considerate. It was something many Pegasi still had trouble understanding, hence…

My childhood…My father…

“I don’t what?”

Her attention snapped back to him. “Oh, um, I’m sorry. Never mind on that.”

He gave her a blank look. “Mmm-hmm,” he grunted. “So. Flying. You’re going to do that today.”

“…And you…You really think I can do that?”

“Fluttershy, even I wouldn’t waste my time teaching something I thought you couldn’t do. I’m not that bored or illogical. You’re going to have to start believing me when I say that you can do things. You may not believe in yourself, but you can believe in me believing in yourself.”

As sweet as it was, she didn’t catch his last sentence. “Huh?”

He ignored her. “Now, my dear, if you could please just sit down and make yourself comfortable. I need to draw a picture of you.”

“W-What?!?” Her face turned to a blush instantly. “Draw me? But why?”

He snapped his fingers and a striped turtleneck, a beret, and a fake mustache appeared on his upper lip, long and thin and curly. An easel appeared in front of him, with a finely sharped pencil in hand. “Because, mon chérie, eet eez critical zat we go over zee basics of your magic first and foremost.”

His fake Prench accent did not deter her. “But what does that have to do with—“

“You will zee! Now, just seet zere like a good leetle mare and let me draw…ze magicks!”

He said it with such flair that she had to laugh a few times. “Okay. How do you want me to stand?”

“Just stand like zat, eez perfect!"

So she stood there very woodenly. It was awkward, and she wasn’t used to somepony looking at her so much, but she did her best to put it in the back of her mind so Discord could do his thing. If he says it’s needed…I’ll trust him.

I will trust him.

It felt good to think that, without doubting her own mind.

“Yes, yes, I can zee eet now…!” he said ecstatically, his eyes somewhere different every time he looked up to see her. His claw rapidly started to draw, moving so quickly it was as if it were a film of him put into fast forward.

Fluttershy imagined his magic had something to do with it.

“And voila! We are done! Eez amazing! You are such a bee-yoo-tee-ful subject to draw, hauh hauh hauh! Now!”

He snapped his fingers and all his Prench apparel disappeared, and he turned the easel around. “Now, let’s have a look-see, hmm?”

She gasped at how good it was. He had managed to get down every last detail of how she looked. Her eyes, the light and soft aspect of her hair and the way it covered part of her face, the shine in her frog hand and the softness of her body...

But the curious thing was that it wasn’t just a picture of herself. She peered at it closer.

“Um, what are these lines and dots you’ve drawn on me, Discord? They’re…supposed to be there, I guess?”

“Yes, they’re the very reason I drew you! Sit down—“ He conjured up a chair for her. “—and I’ll explain.”

She laughed. “Yes, Professor Discord.”

“Heh,” he grinned as she sat down. “I’m glad you remembered! Gold star for you! Keep this up and you’ll be at top of the class!” A gold sticker once again appeared on her forehead.

“But I’m the only—“

“Okay! So!” He clapped his paw and claw together. “What you see here, Fluttershy, is the pathways of your magic. The dots are your magical…’pores’, we’ll call them. The lines are how they get to the pores. Got it?”

“So it’s like blood vessels?”

“Sort of. It’s more like…a train track, really. You see, with chaos magic, it doesn’t like to be contained much. You and I are already producing the magic within ourselves, and it, of course, wants out. It’s constantly moving inside of us, never really sitting still. You can’t really feel it if you don’t want to, but it can have its side effects if you’re not used to it. It’s probably one of the reasons you struggled sleeping last night.”

“Oh, really?” She leaned forward. She had never been really interested in how magic worked, for the most part. The most she knew was whenever Twilight talked about it, but she never really understood any of it. That, and it never applied to her before.

But now…all of it mattered.

And it will help me get closer to Discord. It will help me understand him. I don’t know if flying will really help, but…I have to learn. For him. For us. For our friendship. Maybe even…a little for me. Is that selfish…?

Discord continued. “Yes. Not only is your body completely different, but it’s soaked in magic. Even a Unicorn or an Alicorn would have faced problems, but you were a Pegasus! You didn’t use your magic directly at all, so your body was quite unused to it.”

“You mean, if Twilight was like me right now…?”

He snickered. “Twilight the Draconequus? Oh, if only the day would come! She would go about it the entirely wrong way, I’m sure. Diving into her books, digging for an answer! Ha! As if she can learn how to use my kind of magic that way. She thinks she knows how to do it all, but she can’t. Now I’m hoping she really does turn into a Draconequus! It would be the kind of wake-up call that little mare really needs to—“

“Discord!” Her eyes hardened as she frowned at him. “That’s no way to speak about your friend. Especially the one that saved you!”

He winced. “Ah….Well…Right. Of course. I take it back.” He cleared his throat, his face slightly red from embarrassment. “This time, at least. Can we get back to magic talk now?” he whined.

Fluttershy smiled, nodding for him to go on.

“Phew,” he wiped his brow dramatically, clearing the sweat off. “Good. Apologies really take too much out of me. “

“Then you’ll have to make sure to be more careful,” she hinted sweetly.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

With you, I’ll be more careful. And mayyyyybe Twilight. We’ll see just how much she meant her offer of friendship the second time around, he thought.

“Anywho, you’re right. Even Twilight would be having trouble right now, not just you. My magic is different from hers, and all the other Princesses. Though, I’m assuming you knew that already? I mean, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” he asked, bending his neck to the side and tilting his head. “I’m not even a pony, anyway.”

“I know. I just…wanted to make sure,” she said, her blush lessening but still bright on the apples of her cheeks.

“Ah, okay. Well, Fluttershy, any shortcomings you have, won’t be anything I didn’t go through myself.”

“…Really?”

“Of course! Even immortals have to grow up and gradually learn their magic.”

This sparked her interest, which Discord could see by the widening of her eyes. And…were those stars he saw in there? Stars in her eyes? Could ponies do that naturally? Or was it because she was a Draconequus?

“Are you going to tell me about how you grew up?!?” she quipped, leaning forward even more with her hands clasped together, with the biggest, most expectant smile on her face.

Oh NO. He grimaced. No no no, not today, not today.

“No!”

The outburst made her jump and squeal, making her seat turn into a whoopee cushion. But Discord had freaked out so much from the question that he couldn’t laugh as the familiar sound emitted from under Fluttershy’s behind, and she just stared at him, wide-eyed. “I-I’m sorry. I just…”

She deflated a little. “I just want to know so much…”

He gulped. “Listen, Fluttershy…You’re not going to cry now, are you?”

Blinking at his question, she managed to smile a tiny bit, and gained the courage to meet his gaze again. “I don’t cry all the time, you know…”

He gave quite the audible sigh, and not for the first time that day. “I know, but you do cry an awful lot. And I already told you how fond I am of that.”

He dipped his head a little and Fluttershy found this to be the perfect moment to copy him. She put a paw on his chin and tipped it to look at him. The action made him horribly confused. What was she doing? He wasn’t used to being on the other side of the coin. Most ponies couldn’t even reach that part of him!

“I just want to know more about you, you know that,” she soothed. “I hope you tell me those things, someday.”

He twiddled his fingers. “I’ve never told anyone those things. Not in detail, anyway. Not anyone who didn’t know already, like Tia and Lulu.”

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“I’m not ready yet.”

Another surprise of the day, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Since when was Discord a creature that needed to be ready for things?

He lifted his chin away from her hold. “All in time, Fluttershy.” He pat her head. “All in time. Can we please just talk about magic right now? No past stories, no sob stories, no anything?”

Sob stories…He had said ‘sob stories’. Was he talking about himself? Did he just reveal something without even knowing it? How sad was that story…?

She looked at him curiously for a few seconds, before hesitantly nodding her head.

Instantly relaxing again, Discord let out a breath and then tapped the picture again. “Now, look closer here. See how the dots—the ‘pores’—are scattered around, but unevenly?”

Perking her ears, she followed his instructions and looked at the diagram. It was true. In some areas, like her stomach, there were less pores, with more space between them. In other areas, such as her hands and fingers, there were much heavier concentrations of them.

“They are,” Fluttershy confirmed. “What does that mean?”

“It means that more magic flows out of those areas—and therefore can be used to guide it. As you can see here, you find the most in your hands and paws, the tip of your tail, and the left side of your chest.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Where your heart is.”

“Oh, bleh!” Discord groaned, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “See, that’s why I phrased it that way! So I wouldn’t have to say it. I knew you’d bring it up!”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “What’s wrong with--!”

He waved his hands in protest. “It’s just cheesy, okay? It’s something a pony would notice, not me. I hardly ever use that area to summon my powers. I prefer snapping my fingers.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy gasped. “I…I see! That’s why you snap them. Because the, um, pores…?”

“Right!” he smiled. “See, you’re catching on! Oh, another gold star for you!” This time an even bigger sticker appeared, right over the pouch on her stomach.

“But you sometimes use your tail too, and once you used your heart.”

Once again, Discord bent his neck backward so his eyes were facing the sky again and groaned. “Ugh, yes. I can snap my tail or use the end of it as a substitute hand to use my magic. And…wait.” He brought his head back up and raised a brow. “You’ve seen me use my magic from my chest before? I hardly ever use that one.”

She nodded, her eyes glittering once again as she smiled. “Oh, yes. When you turned the beaver pond back to normal, remember? When we first became friends. You touched your chest, and a glow emitted from it. That’s when you melted all the ice.”

“I did…?” He blinked, and stopped to stroke his chin and remember the fateful day he realized he wanted friendship. He remembered Fluttershy getting angry, yelling ’Not. Your. Friend!’ before throwing her skates across the pond. He had gotten angry, thinking she was just trying to play him the fool, when…

That’s right…She had won my little game, and I changed it back. But I didn’t snap my fingers, nor my tail…

“Hmph. Okay, so I used it once,” Discord said, crossing his arms with an indignant look on his face. “Once. There’s nothing you need to take from that other than the fact that what I’m saying is true. You can summon your magic from there, along with your fingers and tail. However, it doesn’t always have to be used that way.”

He circled the entire diagram, eager to continue his explanation with no opportunity for Fluttershy to further talk about his heart, or whatever other sappy thing she wanted to talk about.

“For flying, you’ll need to summon magic from every single pore you’ve got! After all, it’s a spell where you’re using it to lift up your entire body. If you tried to use it from just one of those three concentrated areas, then you’d end up flying by the tail or your hand, with the rest just dragging behind!” He laughed at the thought, remembering a few times back in his childhood where that had been exactly what had happened to him.

Fluttershy shrunk in on herself, her hair falling over her face and her long draconic tail wrapped around her, wringing the hair around it.

“Th-That sounds…so hard…Are you sure this is the spell we should start with?” she mumbled, her nerves getting to her again.

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, my little Draconequus!” Discord corrected, wagging a finger at her. “Just because you’re going to be using magic with your whole body doesn’t make it harder. In fact, it’s easier because you don’t have to direct your magic to a specific area of your body! Which is why I’m starting with it. Come now, Fluttershy, give me a little more credit. I am capable of planning things out in an effective manner, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

He waved it off. “Quota used! No more apologies for today! And it’s only—“ His watch materialized on his wrist. “It’s only 10:30! Goodness, you have a long time before you can apologize again! Poor you! But, that’s how it goes sometimes!”

The watch poofed away and he set his drawing on the easel again. “So now you know that part of the process. Let’s start putting it in motion!”

“What?!? But I don’t even know how to…’summon’ it,” Fluttershy said, making quotes with her fingers. “How can you expect me to do that?”

“I’m getting to that, my dear. I’m not going to throw you into the sky just yet. But the boring explanations are over, for the most part. Now you can put some of your own effort into it.”

He joined her side again. “And the first thing you need to do—“ He poked her muzzle. “..is relax. Which I know is hard for you, but that’s why I’m here!”

He disappeared in a poof and appeared from behind her, his paw and claw already on her shoulders, massaging them with his fingers. “So tense. You’re always so tense. That’s not going to help you out if you want to succeed as my lovely apprentice! Don’t that Aloe and Lotus pair know how to properly relax you at that spa of theirs?”

“Of course they do!” Fluttershy said, though she didn’t move. His fingers felt so good on her stiff muscles. Was he using magic to heat his fingers? They were so warm. She could just feel her muscles starting to loosen up a bit… “I just don’t always get the massage. It’s one of their more expensive fees…”

“Well, considering how tight your muscles are, perhaps you should reconsider. Sweet heavens, Fluttershy, I don’t think even my muscles were this tense when I was a garden gnome! There’s no way this is from your transformation. Tight muscles like these take years.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Well…I’ve always been easily stressed.”

“I should say so!”

She sighed and closed her eyes when he said no more, and instead focused on his touch instead. Within a few minutes, she felt more relaxed than she had felt in years. She imagined she was turning into liquid as Discord loosened all the knots on her shoulders, her long neck, and her upper back.

“Phew…There!” Discord said, wiping his brow. “How is that, my dear?”

“Mmm….” She opened her eyes slowly, a serene look on her face with a large and wide smile. “That was wonderful. Thank you, Discord…”

His chest puffed up in pride again, more than pleased with the results of his skills. “You're welcome. Ha, perhaps I should start a spa myself. Give Aloe and Lotus a run for their money.”

“Discord—“ It was her warning tone again.

“Joking. I’m joking. I’ll save my massages for only you, how’s that?”

“Okay,” she smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Of course you would, I’m a fantastic masseuse! Now, I need to keep you relaxed so you can focus. “

He joined her again sitting on the ground. “Now, I simply want you to close your eyes. Just like you were when I was working on those muscles of yours. Close them.”

Fluttershy had no idea where he was going with this. Like always, he was just going all over the place. He would teach her for one second, and on the next, he would do something else, like draw a picture of her or massage her. Couldn’t he have done all of this with his magic? Why was he doing it all the manual way? Perhaps even he liked doing things himself, sometimes. But what was going to happen now?

Nevertheless, she closed her eyes, taking a calm breath as she did so.

“Good, Fluttershy, very good.”

Her ear had twitched at the warm breath that caressed it. Oh my, she thought. Is he whispering in my ear? Her face grew red.

“And there you are, getting nervous again. Relax. It’s just Cordy, your best buddy. I’m not going to eat your ear or anything. I’m just speaking with you, helping you out. Relax.”

…He was right. No need to panic. He was just talking to her. That was all. And she liked the sound of his voice. There was nothing wrong with it.

She took another deep breath.

“There, good. Now, the first thing I want you to do is to turn your attention from the outside world, to within. Think of yourself. Think of your magic. It’s aura is turquoise, just like your eyes and antenna. Think of it, and reach for it with your mind. Imagine it flowing through you, just as I had drawn on your diagram. Think of it tossing and turning inside of you, just waiting for you to call on it and let it free…Waves of chaos, just dying to cause something to change, something to happen….”

This time, his warm breath and silky smooth voice soothed her further, though her heart seemed to be thumping a bit hard. Then again, it often did that when others were incredibly close to her, even her good friends. It was nothing but an old nervous habit, one that was improving. But this time, it would not go away.

But she didn’t mind. She still was able to relax. But…

“Is thinking about it really enough? When Twilight conducts a spell—“

She felt warm lion pads touch her lips closed. “No speaking, Flutterdear. Just thinking. Forget about the outside world, remember? Stop thinking of other things. I’ll answer it later.”

An apology very nearly left her throat, but she gulped it down. Darn that quota…

She wasn’t sure how to imagine herself reaching for magic inside of her. Sure, she had seen the purple aura of Discord’s and her own turquoise magical glow, but could she imagine it inside herself? She thought of the ocean, and tried imagining the magic inside.

She had no idea how a pony would look on the inside, so in her mind’s eye, she saw waves of her magic, crashing against her, receding slowly before building up into a gorgeous glowing turquoise wave and crashing into it yet again. It glowed in the darkness of its captor, of Fluttershy’s body.

Suddenly, rivers of warmth seemed to flow through her. It was warm, and tingly. The magic…!

“I…I can--!”

She gasped and covered her mouth with her paw. Oops, I can’t talk!

And she lost the rivers of warmth. “Oh…Oh no!” she moaned. “I lost it!” She opened her eyes. “I had it, Discord, I know I did. But, oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have opened my mouth…Oh, and I said I’m sorry again! Oh….”

Discord watched Fluttershy’s antenna uncurl and limp to the side as her ears fell and her neck sagged. He snorted.

“Fluttershy, it’s fine. You’re getting tense again, too. You did it! I could sense it with my own magic, and I could tell from your reactions. That was pretty good for a first try. Good job!”

He gave her a hard slap on the back, making Fluttershy wince, but she felt better from his words. “Really?”

“Yes! Now try again. And no talking! I know it’s hard, as I love to hear the sound of my own voice too, but try again.”

So she did. She imagined the waves again, and this time the warmth flowed through her yet again, only after a few moments. She concentrated only on the feel of the magic, flowing through her like her life’s blood. She could feel the warmth in her stomach and chest, spreading and flowing through her limbs. Even her frog arm could sense it, the warm flow turning cold as it hit her slick amphibian shoulder, matching her arm’s body temperature as it trickled down to her fingers.

Back in the real world, Discord could see that it was working by the way she started to glow. He grinned at their success. "There, good! Open your eyes Fluttershy, you've got it flowing freely out of your body now! Hoohoo, I knew I'd be able to teach this!" he said, punching a fist against the open palm of his taloned hand. "Really, I should be getting so much credit for this!"

Before listening to any more of Discord's self-flattery, Fluttershy hesitantly opened her eyes and gasped at the turquoise glow of her body. It wasn't that she hadn't seen it before; being an Element of Harmony tended to get a pony glowing a lot. But this glow....shapes and swirls and different shades danced inside of it. It reminded her of when Tirek sucked out Discord's powers, revealing it to be a magic that wasn't quite the same as any pony's. But while that moment of history had been terrifying to watch, this was...pretty.

"So...What now...?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly, looking over at him. "I'm...doing this right, right?"

"Haha, yes!" Discord said. "Of course you are, didn't you hear me? My teachings can't fail you!" he said with a bright, smug grin.

"I know," she said warmly, a smile on her face.

Discord's smile grew more genuine, trying to ignore the extra warmth in his stomach from her honest compliment. He cleared his throat, trying not to let the moment grow too sappy.

"As for what to do now, we need to move on to the next step: getting you in the air!"

She gulped, which Discord promptly ignored. She was such a worrywart. She'd be fine. At worst, she'd fall, and all he'd have to do was catch her, which he had done all of yesterday anyway. Piece of cake.

"Get in the air...?"

"Yes," Discord nodded. "And to do that, you have to guide your magic. Guide it...with your mind!" He tapped his temple. "The mind is a powerful place indeed, where all imagination roams wild. Chaos embraces the mind, and you must embrace it back.”

Somehow, she was able to speak without breaking her hold on the magic, and kept her eyes closed. ‘’How can I do that?’

Discord smiled, sitting in the grass and twiddling idly with the tip of his tail. “That’s a good question, one that took me years to figure out in my earlier years. There are numerous ways to get started, and the one that worked best for me was imagining myself and the ground as magnets.”

“But Discord, what do you mean by imagining myself like a magnet? I thought I was supposed to imagine waves?”

Discord shook his head. “You’re not supposed to do anything particular, Fluttershy. There are no concrete rules as to how you use your magic. You can’t put rules on such a thing, That would be a contradiction in itself! I’m only giving you these suggestions to help you use your magic. Imagining your magic as waves is useful when you’re getting it to flow out of you and into the physical world. But for you to guide it to help you fly…You’ll need a different approach. Like magnets, as I said.”

He snapped his fingers and a horseshoe-shaped magnet appeared. “You remember learning about these in school, right?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face, gingerly taking the magnet from him as he handed it to her. “I mean, I don’t know anything but the very basics, but…it’s an invisible force, with two different poles, north and south…and the same poles repel each other, but the opposites attract. Right?”

Discord huffed through his nostrils. “With magnets they do,’’ he grumbled under his breath, a certain sunny Princess suddenly coming to mind, a memory from the past.

“Huh?” she asked, blinking at him. ‟What did you say?”

Blast it, I spoke too soon. Realizing his mistake, he shook his head for a second and plastered on a fake grin.

"Nothing, nothing. But hey, guess what? You're correct!" A neon sign appeared above him, flashing the word 'WINNER'. "Congratulations, Flutterbuddy, you won the grand prize!" he said in an overexaggerated host's voice, a purple suit and polka dot bow tie, complete with thick-framed glasses, now on his body.

"Grand prize?"

"The Shellmet 500!" He snapped his fingers and a helmet appeared, the words 'Shellmet 500', engraved in silver on the side. It was white and covered in glitter. He fastened it on her and tightened the chin strap.

The game show garb and sign went away. "You'll be totally fine, there's no chance of you splattering to the ground at all whatsoever, but this is the finest helmet there is, and truly, it's more for your peace of mind."

She didn't know whether he was telling the truth or just joking around with her, but she gulped even harder than before. "Discord..."

Her words were cut off when she felt a hard slap in the back, meant to be a friendly pat from Discord. Sometimes, her friend really didn't know his own strength. He was lanky and skinny, but he could really pack a punch sometimes. But she said nothing and instead let out a cough.

"Now, remember that imagination I mentioned earlier, with your mind and all that jazz?"

"You mean what you talked about a minute ago?"

"Thatta girl!" he said, and slapped her back again, making her cough. "Exactly! I need you to use that mind, right here and right now! After all..."

He flexed his right lion arm, and a teeny tiny bulge of muscle appeared. "Being a creature of chaos isn't all just good looks and brawn! You must have brains!"

Magnets appeared in his paws again, these ones just short and rectangular, both labeled with an 'S'. He let them flow freely, and the two magnets repelled each other.

"Basically, I want you to act as if you and the ground are two poles of a kind. This one here," he tapped the one being repelled upward. "Is you. And this one here is....?" He prompted her to answer by whirling his pointer talon in circles, looking at her.

It took her a second to realize what he was trying to demonstrate, but his explanation was quite simple and easy to understand. I guess chaos doesn't have to be complicated...unless you want it to be?

She wasn't sure if that was something like an epiphany, but didn't want to interrupt the lesson to ask him about it. Instead, she gave him the answer. "The ground?"

"Right again! Baby, you're on fire!" he said, the magnets suddenly on fire and making Fluttershy yelp, her magic reacting and turning the fire into magenta-colored smoke that smelled of raspberries and cream.

"My apologies, not my best material," Discord said, stroking his beard. He snapped his fingers and the smoke dissipated, the magnets turning back to normal.

"So, do you think you can do that, my dear? Imagine yourself as magnets?"

"Oh, well...maybe..." she said hesitantly, staring at her glowing frog hand as she said so. "I mean...I got this far."

"That's the spirit! So, go ahead." He pat the ground. "This is the south pole, and you're a south pole. But that stubborn ground isn't going anywhere, so the only way you can go...is up."

He began to glow himself in his familiar purple aura as he gently floated upward. "So come join me."

She blinked up at him, wondering to herself how he had come up with such a way to fly. It seemed too easy. Twilight never made learning any spell easy, and it was hard for Fluttershy to comprehend that she could just pretend herself a magnet and start flying. As for flying in general, it took a Pegasus years to learn to fly safely, sometimes even longer than that.

Or sometimes they don't improve at all...she thought sadly. An image of a golden Pegasus with a shock of bright yellow hair grimaced at her in her mind.

What if I can't do it? What if I disappoint him? What if...?

"Fluttershy, don't be afraid, hmm?"

She looked up at Discord.

"Just give it a try. I'm not going anywhere, for once."

Her eyes opened slightly wider.

I'm not going anywhere. The Lord of Chaos, a being that was constantly on the move, always with itchy feet, promised he wasn't going to leave her. They had even lied to Luna and Celestia to make sure he wouldn't.

Her glowing grew slightly brighter as she closed her eyes again.

I am a magnet. I am a south pole. The ground is a south pole. We can't be together. We're too alike, there should be a force to pull us apart...

Discord watched as her aura started to flare.

The only way to go is up...!

She yelled this in her head, and suddenly she felt her body careen upwards, the wind whipping against her face so much that it hurt.

"Gah, too much, too much!" Discord yelled, watching as Fluttershy flew upward so fast that she broke through the clouds as if they were nothing.

She began to scream, unable to open her eyes from the pressure. "I can't stop, I can't stop!" Her eyes watered as she tried to see where she was going.

This isn't how it was supposed to work! This isn't flying, am I going to--??

Fwump.

She gasped in a painful breath of air, realizing that she had not breathed the entire time she had been tearing through the sky like a torpedo. She bounced as she hit the surface, before realizing that she had landed into a floating trampoline that had broken her upward fall, only for her to land on a fluffy cloud beneath it, with Discord lying right beside her, leaning on his elbows.

"While that was far too powerful for what you were going for, I have to say, I'm impressed. Just how big of an imagination do you have in that head of yours?" Discord said, knocking lightly on her head. "You know, I'm starting to think you had more chaos in your blood than we thought, before you were a Draconequus!" He grinned.

But Fluttershy was shaking, and she hugged her legs to her chest. "That was so scary! I thought I was going to...to...!"

He snorted. "What? No! I saved you, didn't I? Come on now, this was good! You got yourself to fly!"

Suddenly he felt her two hands dig into his shoulders, the nails of her rabbit fingers digging slightly into his skin. Her face was one of terror, with eyes wide open and her mouth a deep line. "I got myself to turn into a rocket! No no no..." She shook her head. "P-Please, take me to the ground. I want to go to the ground, the ground is where I belong, it's where I always belonged..."

She let go of Discord and hugged herself again, memories going through her mind.

"Come on, Fluttershy! I'm not the one failing here, I've always been able to teach this! Get it together!"

"Why isn't this natural to you?!? Why are you so weak? Your wings should be stronger by now!"

"...You're no daughter of mine..."

"Fluttershy...? Are you having a, erm, moment again?"

The memories suddenly stopped, Fluttershy snapping out of her past and back into the present. "S-Sorry..."

He quirked an eyebrow up. "Quota, Fluttershy, quota. You've already already used all your apologies for the day."

"S-Sorry..."

He sighed, and put a paw to her back, gently massaging her shoulderblades. "You're still so tense..."

He stiffened when she suddenly leaned into him and buried her face into his fur. "Flying is scary."

She sounded like a filly seeking comfort from her mother after a nightmare. Discord started wondering what Fluttershy's inner demons were. He certainly had plenty of them, one he almost revealed not just a few minutes ago.

"It doesn't have to be," he said. "You just focused on getting away from the ground too much. An easy enough fix," he said, shrugging his shoulders with a lazy smile. "All you have to do is slow it down a bit."

"Slow down..." Fluttershy repeated. "That doesn't seem very, um, chaos-like."

"My dear, my dear..." he chuckled. "Applying things like physics and speed to chaos? Haha, no. That's the very thing you must defy."

He held his hand out. "I have no idea what childhood memory you're reliving right now..."

She squeaked, and he chuckled. It wasn't hard to figure out what had been going on in her head. He didn't like to read minds (it took the surprise out of everything), but with her, he didn't even have to do that.

He continued to hold his hand out. "...But why don't we defy it together, hmm?"

It's what I'm always trying to do, he thought as she gaped up at him.

Defy my memories...she thought. It sounded...uplifting.

Sort of like a magnet repelling from the ground.

If anyone could do it, surely the two of them could?

She took his hand.

"Now get up here with me," he said, gesturing for her to come up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Fluttershy asked, looking at their intertwined fingers. "If I shoot up again, you'll come with me."

"Sounds like fun!"

"Oh, Discord, no. It's not," she said, shaking her head. "Not at all!"

"Oh, it wasn't that bad! Besides, you'll get it right this time. You were just thinking of the repulsion too much, of getting away from the ground! Silly girl, don't you know that the force of the magnets weakens as they go farther apart? It doesn't have to be strong repulsion, you know. It can be more gradual."

He had a point. Fluttershy pushed a lock of hair away with her free hand before looking hesitantly back at him.

"So, I just have to imagine...getting away from the ground more slowly?"

"Pretty much, yes," Discord nodded. "A weaker repulsion, if you want to talk magnets." A thought then occurred to him and he scrunched his face up. "Ugh, I'm starting to sound like a bookish Twilight Spark--"

But Fluttershy had not paid attention as he had spoken. Instead, she had closed her eyes yet again, called on her magic as she had before.

Defy my memories...I want to slowly drift up from the cloud--a magnet just like me.

She slowly drifted upward, her grip on Discord loosening as she came up to his level in the sky, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

She opened her eyes and gasped. "Discord! Look! Look at me!"

He laughed in delight and opened his arms. "Look at you! See, I told you! You're always doubting me, but I know how this works! I'm the best professor in this business, and now look at you!"

Fluttershy then peeked at her small mismatched wings. "And I'm not even using these!" she speculated, flapping them.

"You can use them to help you a little bit with direction, but you don't really need to," Discord said. "Now that you've got yourself up at a comfortable pace, you can pretty much just turn and pivot as you please."

"So I don't have to constantly think of being a magnet, or...?"

"Nope! You've used your desire for flight and the magnificent forces of thine mind to compel it to get you into the air. Basically, you got your magic to want what you want, and now you just take the lead. Of course, flying is easier," Discord said. "Sometimes it takes a little more convincing to get your powers to do what you want when it comes to other things--at least, that's how it is when you're a beginner. Conjuring up objects out of thin air took me a lot longer to master, and opening portals to certain places even longer! Oh," he waved a hand. "And don't even get me started on shapeshifting! That took me at least 500 years."

Fluttershy's ears flicked back in thought. "But if I want to..."

In response, Discord's ears perked in interest. "If you want to...what?"

Defy your memories...

"Go faster..." she murmured

Then it happened. Suddenly, the possibilities in her mind were endless. This magic, these Draconequus powers...They didn't test her physical abilities at all. It was all about her mind and all of the things she could do, what she could possibly do and what she wanted to do. Her muscles weren't burning from exertion, her wings were tucked against her back, and yet she was in the sky.

Discord smirked, a challenge in his eyes as he could see the cogs of her mind grinding, just from looking at her.

This is only the beginning, my little Draconequus.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" he asked.

She whipped past him into the clouds; that was her answer.

"Whoa!" Too fast, too fast! Her wings flared out as her magic responded to her desires and she skidded in the sky to a halt. It hadn't been at rocket-speed that time, but still. "Just a nice glide..."

Whoosh.

She flowed with the wind at a speed she was comfortable with, one that she was able to keep up with for as long as she wished. Before she knew it, she was tossing, turning, somersaulting, even diving.

"Is...Is this what it's like to be Rainbow Dash? Is this how...how effortless it is for her...?" she asked herself. She had no idea where Discord was, as she was too lost in the idea of being a good flier, for once in her life.

Just the thought of calling herself a good flier brought a smile to her lips before a laugh bubbled up. She burst through a small fluffy cloud as the other Draconequus in the sky watched her with a lazy smile on his face.

"I can't believe how much easier this is!" she said.

She began to twirl around as if dancing, laughing as she felt the wind against her mane and the sun radiating down from above. She never knew she would enjoy the sky so much. The ground would forever be home for her, but now, the sky held more promise than it ever had before.

She felt like she could do anything. She had never felt so free before.

Her eyes caught Discord's as she turned towards him in a twirl and smiled. Her happiness was intoxicating, and he found himself warm as he gazed back at his friend--

Only for a very familiar voice to bring an end to the moment.

“Hi Fluttershy! It’s me! Pinkie! And the rest of us! Hiiiiiiiiiii!”

Discord could only watch as Fluttershy froze and looked down on five equally familiar faces.

"G-G-Girls!"

Oh no. She was losing her focus. The look of horror on her face was enough to trigger her magic.

Or, in this case, turn it off. She began to fall, her body no longer glowing, and no longer in flight.

"Fluttershy!"

Discord snapped his fingers and vanished.