Psychadelic

by Masterweaver

Agricultural Capacity Can Organize Radical Discussions Intellectually Of Note

Discord never had much truck with maps. To be fair, it was hard to truck anything in Equestria; the only motorized vehicles were either on rails or slow, massive machines used for construction. But no self-respecting spirit of chaos would let a little anachronism get in the way of a good saying. In this case, he decided against even looking at the map that Fluttershy had helpfully provided, instead homing in on Tree Hugger's presence and manifesting in a massive, smog-spewing vehicle outside what he assumed was her home.

While he did wear the traditional cap and overalls, though, Discord made sure the honk sounded like a french horn.

Tree Hugger exited the building with a small smile. "Yo, friend. Can you do me a blessing and turn off the smoke? Ruins the garden's vibe." She blinked for a second. "Oh, and yeah, smoke kills the flowers I think? Yeah, that's true too."

Discord grinned broadly. "Why of course Miss Hugger! With a snap of his fingers, the entire metal contraption disappeared, leaving him in midair. "I would never try to ruin you vibe."

The pony smiled at him lazily. "Yeah, that's a lie."

A frown formed on the Draconequus's face. "Excuse me?"

"Spirit of chaos, you are." Tree Hugger tilted her head. "Never isn't chaotic. It's too... solid. Not like you at all. I don't mind." Her smile turned into a smirk. "Besides, there was that one time you were, like, planning to dump me into another world, right?"

"Well, yes, but--I learn from my mistakes!" Discord protested. "I swear to you, Miss Hugger, I don't want to do such an awful thing anymore."

"No Miss."

"...what?"

"No Miss," Tree Hugger repeated. "I don't do titles. They ground ponies in duty, where duty should be enjoyed. Just Tree Hugger. Or Treezie. Or you can call me Embrace, I actually kinda liked that one." She ran a hoof down one of her dreadlocks. "You know, whatever makes you comfortable."

Discord stroked his beard. "Well... I suppose I can see what you mean. I'll admit, being The spirit of chaos and disharmony did put a lot of pressure on me to act in certain ways." He snapped his talons, a bouquet of blue flowers appearing in his paw as he bowed low. "But where are my manners! Consider these a humble thanks for inviting me to your abode."

Tree Hugger took the flowers with a giggle. "Oh, I don't sleep here. I just keep the place smooth when needed." She sniffed at the flowers and let out a little gasp. "These are still alive! Most bouquets are fresh, but these little yellow flowers--this is amazing."

"Ah...." The draconequus held up a talon. "They're blue."

"Maybe on the outside, but they're yellow on the inside." Discord watched in shocked fascination as she pulled a single flower out and rested it behind her ear. "I like yellow. I like all colors, but yellow... it's so active, ya'know? Just radical movement. Let me put the rest of these in a vase somewhere," she added as she waved a hoof at the building, "you can go round the side and pick out a bike."

She sauntered into the building, giving Discord a chance to look around his current location. From what he could tell, the building itself was but a functionary starting point for a series of gravel paths meandering through some rather lively looking trees. Flowers of every hue could be found growing wild between them, and through the woods he caught glimpses of odd... things simply standing still. There was actually a solid circle of white roses right outside the front door of the building, marred only by the red ones forming the silhouette of an odd two-wheeled device. As he slithered around the side, he found a small shack housing such devices, in varying sized and with a few having a few extra wheels.

Discord ran his paw over them, eventually settling on a red model with odd blue stripes and pulling it out of the shack. He wrapped his tail cautiously around the bar holding up what seemed to be a padded tongue, arcing down as he rested on the cushion and carefully put his hoof on one of the pedals. "How in the world do ponies use these things?"

"It's a matter of balance."

Discord's head twirled around so fast that it popped off of his neck. "What in--how did you sneak up on me like that?!" he demanded, his body leaning down as his talon scrabbled on the ground.

"Balance... is everything." The earth pony was still looking at the body sitting on the bike, a smile of genuine contentment on her face. "It's in the physical, where you have to keep from swaying one way or the other to not fall. It's in the mental, where excess of any emotion will draw into insanity. It's in the spiritual, where purpose and order intertwine with choice and chaos. The cosmos is balance, and we are the weights on the scale."

Her ear flicked for a moment, a frown forming on her face. "No, that's... not a good metaphor. It's too, like, binary. Maybe we're smaller tops on a larger top?" She shrugged, adjusting the floral-print bandanna on her head. "Whatever. The point is, I am balanced with what is, so if you're not looking at what is, you might miss what I am."

Discord scowled, partially out of annoyance that his talon had just missed his head. "Really? How fascinating. Could you maybe come out of your cosmic twirling and help me pull myself together?"

Tree Hugger chuckled, stepping forward. "I dunno, you seem pretty integraled to yourself--huh." She glanced down, her hoof feeling about. "Did you put a rabbit here or something?"

"That'th my fasche."

"Whoa, really? So, like, your head fell off or something?"

The spirit of chaos frowned as she picked his head up. "I'd have thought that would have been obvious!"

"Whoa." Tree Hugger sat down, carefully spinning the object she was holding. "That's strange, I can't feel any blood on you."

"I'm a physical manifestation of chaotic magic! Why in the world would I have blood?"

A small spongey squeak came from his horn as Tree Hugger prodded at it curiously. "If you're, like, a magical manifestation or something, can't you just remanifest your body down your neck?"

Discord rolled his eyes, scoffing as his body disappeared in a flash and reappeared coiled around the pony. "You know, Tree Hugger, there's such a thing as over-examining a joke."

Tree Hugger started running her hoof up Discord's antler. "You know, this branch you've got on your head is really dry, but I can tell it's not dead yet. Want me to water it?"

"It's not a branch, it's an antler!"

The earth pony gasped. "An antler on your head?! Discord.... that makes perfect sense."

She giggled at the spirit of chaos's sputtering, easily disentangling herself from his coils and walking over to the shed. "Alright, alright, I'll lay off harshing your mellow. Asides, fun as it is to see you twisting like that, I didn't ask you over to watch the pretty colors." Her form disappeared deep into the shed for a moment, but it wasn't long before Tree Hugger returned with a green bike whose thick frame was covered in multicolored floral patterns. A hoof casually wave to the hypnotic patterns painted on the wooden wheels. "Ol' spiral-spinner here is my personal ride. He and I are going to take you on a tour 'round the garden."

Discord watched her mount the device and start it moving with practiced ease. He slithered up to his own bike, balancing precariously on the tiny seat and pushing against the pedals. Soon enough, he was riding backward in front of Tree Hugger, his arms balanced on the handlebars as he rested his head in his hands. "So, aside from you trying to 'harsh my mellow', what are we supposed to be doing?"

That cryptic lazy smile on her face as she adjusted the blue bloom behind her ear was infuriating. "All I'm doing is leading you down the flow. What you feel when you do is not anything I can decide. Just take in the world, Discord, see what you can and feel your aura resonate."

She let one of her hooves lazily gesture toward the right of the path. Discord flicked an eye in that direction, turned to look back at Tree Hugger--and then looked again. There, built out of what appeared to be discarded hayburger wrappers, was a circle on its edge with many odd shapes in the lines between.

"The pony who made that called it 'the portal of gluttony.'" Tree Hugger let her head loll a bit as her bike wavered left and right. "Said it was supposed to represent the alternate world Equestria had become after the invention of mass marketable goods. Personally, I felt he needed to chill and learn how to reharmonize, but it was interesting enough to put out here."

"This... is this an art garden?" Discord asked, letting his bike move alongside Tree Hugger's for a moment.

"No, no no. This is a pedal garden." Tree Hugger patted the green frame beneath her. "You can only ride if you rent, ya'know? Of course, not many can actually ride, so they just walk along holding the bicycle."

Discord hummed softly as they passed what appeared to be a tree formed out of partially melted gears, frames, and pedals. "That's a rather... interesting choice."

"Filly's gotta make a living somehow," Tree Hugger replied. "As much as I want to just float my boat, lotta ponies expect me to earn value to trade value. So I thought, like, if I can get them to pay to look at a collection, I'd be able to balance in them." She flicked an ear. "Just have to set up a few flyers every month, ponies come when they can."

"Oh, it's a shame I left my bit bag at home," Discord said with a frown. "I do apologize, I'll just turn around and--"

"Discord." The earth pony pulled her bike to a stop. "I never expected you to pay."

"You... you didn't?"

"Nah. You're the spirit of chaos, right?" Tree Hugger rose a thick eyebrow as she hopped off her seat. "I didn't invite you expecting any value traded. This is a gift, from my aura to yours. Just ride with me and enjoy what you see, ya'know?"

Discord narrowed his eyes. "A gift."

"Yeah. No strings, no expectations, just something that comes free."

"You know, aside from Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, the only person I can remember ever receiving a gift from was Tirek." He frowned. "That didn't... turn out very well."

"Oh, yeah, bundle-bright." Tree Hugger glanced at the cobblestone path. "Yeah, I could feel his weight from miles off... When I saw what he was doing, going to be honest, I just ran to my basement and hid. Not my most cosmic day."

Discord dismounted, his glare softening. "...that day is something I... regret. And... I'm sorry."

"...the past is the past," Tree Hugger replied softly. "What was can't be changed. What will be can't be known. What is is all that matters."

The two of them stood there, standing next to their bicycles, letting the sound of the world around them flow.

"...You know, Miss Hugger, I... am genuinely honored that you'd let me in your pedal garden for free." Discord leaned down, raising the mare's chin with a talon and gave her a hopeful, awkward smile. "Maybe we should continue on our way."

After a moment, Tree Hugger managed to smile back. "That'd be righteous." She allowed it to morph into a smirk. "But don't call me Miss. Titles, remember?"

"Ah, yes. My apologies.... Miss."

With a shake of her head, Tree Hugger jumped on her Bike and led Discord further down the path. "Now, this piece is called 'the unfurled wing....'"

Author's Note:

are

Comments

[Craine]

You know the best thing about this story? Someone actually playing Discord like a flute. You've made Tree Hugger an absolute delight, and I urge continuation!

Craine...

[aleja08]

Discord is adorkable here. Love him, he is exactly the discord I imagined after tirek

[aleja08]

6123167
How is he being played?

[Craine]

6123445 Well, can you think of any other pony who 'harshes his mellow like Tree Hugger? 'Cause I certainly can't.

[Conred]

That is surely a fresh concept in Discord shippings

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

6123167
6123167
I don't think he'll get romantic with Miss Hugger, but they play off one another very well.
They seem like they'll be good friends.

[Masterweaver]

6126009

Tags.

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

6126076 Well, yeah. It's your story and you're writing a romance. I'm just thinking in the abstract.

[Captain Wuzz]

I'm enjoying this. I love the way you write Tree Hugger's isms.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Ah, I see. Ten chapters? I ask because that's how long "tambourine" is, though Dr. Wiki reminds me I've heard of taiko.

[Evowizard25]

You know, I just love this pairing so much. You're interpretation of her is so delightful and just shows how the two characters play off each other so well.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh, this updated. Well, that's what I get for putting it in the wrong shelf. In any case, I continue to love what you're doing with Tree Hugger. Her interactions with Discord are especially enjoyable.

[Grungar3x7]

ACCORDION: Are.