"Okay Fluttershy, just do it," mumbled Fluttershy to herself encouragingly. "There is nothing to be frightened of. All you're doing is stepping into your own home. You're not doing anything wrong."
Fluttershy finally built up the nerve to push the door open. She stepped into her home.
She had long since learned that the house was not, as she had first assumed, somepony else's property.
What then, she thought to herself, is there to there to fear?
She had returned to the building more than once since the first day, but every time, she had rushed herself and kept looking around nervously, as though somepony might catch her trespassing in her own house.
This time was going to be different. This time, she was going to walk through her home as a home owner, not as a trespasser.
She looked around the home, not looking for anything in particular.
Eventually, she discovered a small blue food bowl.
It had the name 'Angel' written on the side.
She tilted her head and simply said "Hmm," to herself.
She rubbed the inside of the bowl, which left the part that she had rubbed slightly more vibrant and colorful than the rest.
My, this whole place could use a good dusting, she thought, looking around.
Fluttershy hummed cheerfully as she waved the feather duster that she was holding in her mouth back and forth in time with her tune.
She had been at it for nearly an hour now, and had dusted most of the house.
Suddenly, she realized that she could hear another noise. She stopped humming and stood still and listened.
There sound was quiet, but audible to her ears. It was coming from outside.
She moved to a window and looked out, hoping to see the source.
Outside was Discord, marching through the snow using tennis racquets as snow shoes.
He was walking toward the Everfree Forest.
She watched him disappear into the trees.
Even though she could no longer see or even hear him, Fluttershy kept watching the spot where Discord had disappeared. Having him nearby was making her uncomfortable, and she didn't want to be unaware of his whereabouts if he was anywhere near her.
She didn't have to wait very long, however. Less than five minutes after he first disappeared, Discord came back out of the forest in exactly the same place where he went in.
After a moment, he stopped in his tracks and held out a clawed finger into the air, as though he suddenly had an idea. However, he immediately began shaking his head and he put his claw back down and began trudging off through the snow again.
He eventually passed rather close to Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy felt as though her heart had stopped for a moment when he looked in her direction. She didn't move a muscle.
Discord looked at her house for only a moment before looking off into the distance and stroking his beard, muttering to himself.
He started walking off again without giving Fluttershy a second glance, still talking to himself.
Suddenly, without warning, his expression turned into one of annoyance and he snapped his claws. A wooden mallet manifested over his head, which, to Fluttershy's horror, proceeded to bonk him on the head in rapid succession.
Discord snapped and dismissed the hammer, and then began to walk off once again.
Had he seen her?
When Discord was out of sight from the window she had been watching from, Fluttershy moved to the door and opened it a crack and watched him for a while longer.
The moment he was out of sight completely, Fluttershy actually opened the door and stared after him.
"What was that about?" she whispered to herself.
Fluttershy walked away from the door, but did not shut it; she would be back momentarily.
When she did come back, she had her scarf and hat on.
She stepped outside and closed the door, and then began walking toward the forest.
Toward the exact same spot that Discord had come from.
Fluttershy didn't get very far. Not long after she stepped behind the tree line, her muzzle unexpectedly and somewhat painfully collided with something invisible.
"Ow," she said to herself in reaction.
She looked and looked, but could not figure out what she had run into. She tried poking a hoof in front of her. It bumped into something immediately.
Whatever her hoof was touching, she couldn't see it. Fluttershy put her other hoof out and met the same results. She began to move both hooves side to side and up and down.
She never found an opening. Whatever it was that was stopping her, it was big, and flat.
Like a wall.
Oh, of course, she thought to herself. Discord said that there is an invisible wall all around Ponyville.
Why would Discord come here? Could he have walked through the invisible wall?
Considering who she was thinking about, it was a possibility.
Or maybe there is more that I am not seeing yet.
She began to walk along the wall, keeping one hoof leaning against it.
After just a short distance, she stopped and stared in confusion at what she was seeing further ahead.
There was a wooden boat.
The strange part wasn't that the boat was sitting at the edge of the forest.
The strange part was that it was sitting at a ninety degree angle, it's front sticking straight up into the air.
What in Equestria?
On the side of the boat was the sloppily painted white words 'Das Boot'.
She moved closer and realized that there was a double ended paddle sitting on the floor of the rowboat.
It shouldn't have been. It should have been falling out and into the snow at that angle.
The practical side of her brain told her that this was not especially out of the ordinary for Discord.
The rest was begging her to get a closer look.
She touched the boat with a hoof and suddenly felt a strange sensation.
She applied more pressure to her hoof and the rowboat began to tilt sideways, ever so slightly.
When she withdrew the pressure, the boat returned to it's original position.
She applied the pressure again, and then placed her other front hoof on the boat as well. The boat began to slide upward into the air slightly this time.
Fluttershy panicked and pulled her hooves away. She looked up and watched the boat continue to float upward, slowly.
Despite its slow speed, it wasn't slowing down. It seemed to be drifting away.
In fact, if she didn't know better (and she didn't), Fluttershy would swear that the boat was floating in the invisible wall. At a ninety degree angle.
The boat was still drifting away.
Beginning to panic once more, Fluttershy grabbed at the boat once more.
The moving of the boat caused her grip to slip.
For a moment, Fluttershy felt as if her stomach suddenly flew into her chest, and then she fell into the boat.
Fluttershy quickly regained her bearings and then looked back at where she came from. Her jaw fell open and she nervously looked upward. She tilted her head further and further back, staring.
The ground was much more imposing when it suddenly turned into a giant endless cliff towering above her.
Fluttershy realized that the boat was still drifting away.
She grabbed the oar, which wobbled uneasily in her hooves. She looked over the boat uncertainly at the sideways trees below and then lowered the oar.
It passed under the boat easily and the boat began to spin in response to the oar paddling against... something.
If the oar is going under the boat thought Fluttershy, confused, then that means it's passing through the wall too!
Fluttershy tried paddling again, watching under her as she did so.
The oar passed straight through a tree branch as though it didn't exist.
What is all of this? Fluttershy thought. To her surprise, some of her fear had disappeared. After all, as far as she could tell, she wasn't in any immediate danger, and she could always fly to safety if the boat drifted away.
In fact, some of the fear that she felt before was now replaced by amazement.
Unfortunately, Fluttershy had no idea how to actually steer the rowboat and for the most part succeeded in spinning it around in circles. And when she did manage to actually get the boat to move, it was in the wrong direction.
She could see over the tree tops now.
And she could see Discord. He was coming in her direction.
Upon realizing this, Fluttershy froze up with fear once again. Discord was sure to catch her. What if she thought that she was stealing from him? She had never stolen a thing in her life! Would the chaos lord believe her? What sort of penalty would an almighty and terrifying creature like Discord give her for stealing his boat anyway?
Oh no! Now he's looking up at me! Fluttershy thought in panic. I wonder if the others will try to ask him to go easy on me?
Suddenly, Discord appeared floating next to her in a poof.
"Fluttershy?" he said in shock.
"I- I- I- I- I-"
"Slow down, Fluttershy!" said Discord. "Any more 'eyes' and you'll turn into a spider!"
"Spider?" cried Fluttershy fearfully, not understanding Discord's joke.
"What has gotten into you?" asked Discord in confusion. "I know for a fact that you aren't scared of spiders."
"But- but- but- but- but-"
"Now you sound like a broken motor boat!" cried Discord.
Suddenly he stopped and stroked his beard in thought.
"Hmm, what an interesting idea," he pondered. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Please don't throw me in a dungeon!" Fluttershy whisper-cried. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong!"
"Hurgh?" cried Discord, his jaw falling off in confusion. "You? Do something wrong?"
Fluttershy stared at him in wordless fright.
"Ohhhhhh!" cried Discord, finally catching on. "The boat! Flutershy, I assure you that you have nothing to fear from me! Why, you could shave me bald in my sleep and I wouldn't throw you in a dungeon! For one thing, I would probabily deserve it..."
Fluttershy stared back at him in utter confusion.
"I'm not mad!" insisted Discord. "Really!"
"You're not?" whispered Fluttershy.
"I'm not!"
Fluttershy continued to stare.
"Alright, how about this!" cried Discord desperately. "Stay here with me on a little trip and I'll call it good!"
"O- Okay!" answered Fluttershy, eager to appease Discord's possibly hidden rage. "W- Where are we going?"
"Oh, I just thought we could park ourselves over Ponyville and take everything in, and relax... I'll be needing this, if you don't mind," said Discord, placing his paw on the oar in Fluttershy's hooves. She allowed Discord to slide it away from her hooves without resisting.
"Did you say over Ponyville?"
"The invisible wall is actually a giant dome over the whole town," explained Discord. "If we paddle out far enough, we'll end up upside-down over the whole town and we'll be able to see everything! I can't wait to show you!"
Fluttershy decided not to question it. Instead, she attempted to try to get Discord to forget about her transgression by distracting him with small conversation.
"So, um..."
Fluttershy found her mouth suddenly unwilling to speak.
"What is it, Fluttershy?" asked Discord. She didn't respond.
"Please!" he insisted, almost desperately. "I care about what you have to say!"
"Um... I was wondering," began Fluttershy. "When did you learn to speak Germane?"
"Germane?" asked Discord in confusion. "I can't speak Germane! You would think that after living for thousands of years I would take the time to learn, but I quite simply couldn't be bothered."
Fluttershy squeaked incoherently.
"What?" asked Discord.
"I just assumed, I saw the name of your boat and..."
"What does that have to do with Germane?" asked Discord in confusion as he tapped the side of the boat a couple of times.
The rowboat suddenly transformed into a literal giant boot, with Discord and a bewildered Fluttershy sitting in the heel, only the top halves of their bodies visible.