Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S3

by Banshee531

Keep Calm and Flutter On

Today's adventure opens up on the outskirts of Ponyville, where we find Flash, Springer, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow and Spike. The group there were waiting for a very special guest. Princess Celestia had sent them a message yesterday, explaining that she would be visiting along with somepony very important. Of course, this had gotten Twilight into a frenzy, which Flash had to talk her down from as usual.

Now, they were simply sitting there, waiting for her to arrive. Flash watched as his friends all did their own thing, like Twilight nervously pacing with Spike on her heel. Rarity was spraying herself with perfume, which Rainbow did not appreciate since it was splashing on her. Pinkie was bouncing around in her usual bouncy self. "I love it when Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville! I got my hooves shined just like Rarity for the occasion." She showed them to her friends, the shine enough for them to see their faces in it. "Ya like?"

Rarity looked at the hoof, which she then treated like a mirror. "I certainly do," she commented as she started adjusting her hair.

Flash however, was not so positive. "As much as I love the princess, I'm a little concerned. Her visits to Ponyville haven't gone...flawlessly in the past."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked as she flew overhead. "Her visits have been great."

Flash turned to her with a smirk. "Name one time her being here did not end in either the town under attack or something else bad happening."

Rainbow thought for a moment. "Well...there was...The Running of the Leaves?"

"You mean that event you and Applejack made fools out of yourself because of your competing?"

"That wasn't exactly Celestia's fault," Twilight told him with a smack of her tail.

"I know, I know." Flash added as he blocked a second smack. "But her coming her usually ends with one of us in a sticky situation. Remember Philomena?"

Twilight tried to create a counter, only to let out a small sigh. "Fair point. But I'm sure this time will be different....though I am surprised that she's not here yet."

Spike scratched the side of his head in thought. "I wonder what's taking her so long."

"Traffic?" Springer guessed.

"In the sky?" Flash asked him with a raised eyebrow, to which the jakhowl just shrugged.

Seeing this, Twilight started to impatiently tap one of her hooves, "And where are Applejack and Fluttershy?"

Rarity, who was still fixing her hair using Pinkie's hoof, explained. "Fluttershy's detained helping Applejack with a mishap at Sweet Apple Acres. I think Iron's there as well, just in case things escalate. They'll be along."

Spike continued to voice his concern. "I still don't get why the Princess would be so late though."

Twilight looked down at him. "She's bringing an important visitor, that could be part of it."

Springer, who was spinning an Aura Blast on one of his paws, turned to them. "You think this means we'll be on bodyguard duty?"

"It's possible," Flash told him as he scratched his chin in thought. "But if the pony's as important as Celestia made them out to be, I'm sure they'll have their own protection detail."

Rainbow let out a bored sigh. "Whoever this pony is, they're as slow as they are important! What's taking them so long?!"

Rarity finished her hair as she replied, "Maybe it's somepony so terribly important that they still had many more terribly important things to do before they got here."

Flash and Twilight shared a questioning look, until Flash just shrugged. "I guess that's a possibility? Seems kinda strange Princess Celestia would let that many coincidences pile up."

"I agree with that." Twilight said with a nod. "Whoever this visitor is, I doubt Princess Celestia would go to them with no plan."

Flash was going to add to this, only to hear Spike gasp as he blurted, "Maybe the visitor has a deer antler, a goat leg, a bat wing, and a snake tail!"

Flash's mental imagination put those pieces together, forming a shape that made him cringe. Twilight also made the same mental connection and rolled her eyes. "That can't be it Spike. That's Discord."

Rarity let out a giggle. "Why in the wide, wide world of Equestria would Princess Celestia bring along someone like that?"

They all turned to Spike, who was shaking on the spot. "M-m-maybe you should ask...her!" He pointed into the sky, the rest of them following his claw and seeing what he had seen...which made them all gasp. Princess Celestia was now flying towards them, riding on her guard drawn carriage. Besides her carriage was another, this one carrying a large familiar statue of the petrified draconequus, which both soon landed.

"Oh, this is not gonna be any fun," Flash said as he blinked at the sight. "I know I'm trying to be more positive recently, but please don't tell me that's what I think it is."

Twilight took a deep breath and stepped over to her mentor. "With all due respect, Princess Celestia...HOW COULD YOU BRING DISCORD HERE?!" She then cleared her throat and smiled up at the alicorn. "Your majesty."

Celestia smiled back as she watched Discord be unloaded. "I'm fully aware that the last time Discord was here, he created serious havoc."

Rainbow let out a forced laugh, her frown not once leaving her face. "If by 'serious havoc', you mean turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world!"

"And tricking almost all of us into being the opposite of our true selves," Rarity added before Pinkie hopped in front of her.

"And making yummy delicious chocolate milk rain all over the place without a single dollop of whipped cream to go with it anywhere in sight!"

Flash interrupted before she could continue. "And let's not forget, he almost KILLED ME!"

Celestia nodded at this. "Yes, I understand. But I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil. This is why I've brought Discord here, because I believe that you are the ponies who can help him do just that."

Springer raised an eyebrow. "You want them to try and reform a being whose one goal is pure and utter chaos?"

Celestia giggled under her breath before simply replying, "yes."

Spike started having a panic attack at this, soon yelling as he put his claws up to his head as his eyes shook like crazy, "This will never work! This is a disaster! How will we ever control him?! We're doomed!"

Celestia shook her head at this, "Need I remind you that you are the ponies who turned him back into stone like this in the first place?"

The five ponies, one jakhowl and dragon shared a proud look as Twilight commented, "I suppose we can just use the Elements of Harmony against him again if it gets out of hand."

Flash nodded in agreement. "Which, let's be honest, will probably happen in the first five seconds of him being free."

"Have a bit more faith young Sentry," Celestia told him as she turned towards her guards, who were carrying a familiar box. "But here they are just in case, and I've cast a spell on them so Discord can't take and hide them again." The box was magically opened, revealing the crown, five necklaces and one helmet that the Elements adorned. Celestia then stepped over to them. "Now where is Fluttershy? I believe she may know best on how to begin reforming Discord."

"Fluttershy?!" Rainbow asked her with a cocked eyebrow, "Really?!"

Celestia nodded again. "Yes. Her kind and welcoming spirit maybe the only thing capable of affecting Discord in the most effective manner."

"Makes sense," Springer added as he pointed to the rest of the group, "I mean, besides Flash, Fluttershy was the only one to prevent Discord from tricking her into changing...well, until he cheated anyway. At least that's what she told us happened. The rest of you all got turned into seriously unlikable ponies."

"Hey!" Rainbow barked back, "I'd like you try and go up against him."

Springer replied with a flat stare. "I did. While you were off relaxing on a cloud, I was fighting him and ended up caught in a weird ball, and then stuck in a cage!"

Before Rainbow could respond, Flash got between them. "Alright, before this turns into a full on argument...." Flash turned to Rainbow, "Rainbow, do you mind getting Fluttershy and Applejack?"

Rainbow let out a huff. "Fine." With that, she shot off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

The ponies waited for several minutes, only to eventually see the four of them appear over the horizon. "Princess?" Fluttershy spoke up as they got closer, "Rainbow said you wanted to talk to-AAAHHHH!" She leapt behind Iron when she spotted Discord. "W-w-what's he doing here?"

Twilight turned to Rainbow. "You didn't think to warn them, especially Fluttershy, that Discord was here?!"

Rainbow snickered under her breath. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. I wanted to see her reaction."

They all rolled their eyes as Celestia stepped over to Fluttershy. "I understand you are frightened, my little pony. But you don't have to be." She explained her plan to the shaking mare, who only began to look more terrified. "I realize that this is a tall order, but I wouldn't ask it if I weren't confident you could get him to use his magic obediently of his own free will."

Fluttershy looked down at the ground in an unsure manner. "And...you really think I'll know best on how to do that?"

Celestia smiled before gently placing his hoof under Fluttershy's chin, raising it until their eyes locked. "I do."

Hearing this, Fluttershy blushed as she smiled back at the princess. Seeing this, Iron stepped up to her and put his hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "And even if you can't, I'm pretty sure I can handle him."

"YOU?!" The others asked in disbelief, making Iron growl at them.

"Yeah right, this is way more then you can handle." Flash added, only to get an extra scowl from Iron.

Celestia chuckled at this exchange before spreading her wings, soon flying back towards her carriage. "Now, I must return to Canterlot for Equestria's royal summit. You may release Discord when ready." With that, her guards spread their wings and took off into the sky, pulling the carriage and princess behind them.

Once she was gone, everypony shared a concerned look before the silence was broken by Flash. "Remember girls, we can't let our guard down around this guy for even a second. Even if it looks like he's behaving, be on guard for anything he might be planning."

Twilight nodded as they all turned back to the statue. "Okay, ponies, guess it's time to get started." She levitated the Element chest over to them. "Let's just hope this releasing spell works."

Spike, still terrified, looked around from the back of the unicorn. "Or...let's not."

"I second that." Springer added, only to feel a smack of Flash's tail.

Twilight rolled her eyes before levitating the Elements out of the case and onto their bearers, Flash rubbing his head from the pain of the helmet being slammed onto it. "We'd best keep our Elements on at all times 'til further notice."

"Check!" The others agreed.

Flash sighed as he adjusted his helmet. "I can't believe we're using these things to release a villain."

"Don't worry," Springer told him as he, Spike and Iron stepped over to the side. "We're right here if you need us."

"Not that you need us," Spike told them with a huge gulp. "I'm sure you've got this. No need for us to even be here really."

Flash and Twilight both rolled their eyes this time.

Once the seven of them were all set, they took their position around Discord and readied themselves. The seven Elements of Harmony began to glow their respective color as the seven were lifted into the air. They then began unleashing a burst of light, which began to flow into the statue and slowly undo its magic. Finally, a ribbon of rainbow light flowed from both sides of the Elements and connected to form a rainbow circle as it spiraled around Twilight. Once the rainbow struck the Element of Magic, it unleashed a torrent of multicolored light that flew at Discord.

Slowly, the stone around Discord's body began to crack and chip. From them came a burst of light, as Discord's body was slowly freed from its prison. In one final burst of light, Discord was completely freed.

As his body finally moved once again, he unleashed a loud roar that caused them all to be on guard. But before they could act, his roar devolved into a yawn as he began to stretch his body out. "Oh! Ooh! Ooooh! Well, it's about time somepony got me out of that prison block. What a relief!" In that second, he snapped his fingers, causing them to notice a bright flash of light.

Everypony turned towards that light and gasped when they saw what Discord had done. A squirrel in a tree had been completely transformed, from cute and cuddly to a bulky bruiser with a mom tattoo on its shoulder. It growled before snapping off a branch of the tree and began gnawing on it.

Everypony gasped seeing this, Twilight glaring at Discord. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Nnnnnnnnngh," was all Discord said as he continued to stretch out his body. "Why stretching, of course. When you're a creature of chaos, stone bodysuits aren't your typical go-to fashion choice. Nnngh," he snapped his fingers yet again. This caused another flash of light, which they all followed to see a nearby bunny had been transformed in a similar way to the squirrel.

Flash grimaced at the sight. "Greetings nightmare fuel."

Pinkie turned to Discord, an angry look on her face. "Make that bunny cute again! Now!"

Discord replied with a laugh before moving over to the bunny, scratching it under the chin. "Oh come on, he's adorable the way he is." The bunny responded by trying to chomp on Discord's fingers, causing the chaos monster to pull back. Discord then folded his arms and turned towards them, spitting a raspberry as he did. "You know what else is adorable? You ponies truly believe that you can reform me." He moved over to Fluttershy, summoning a magnifying glass as he continued to stare at her, "And that you're putting your faith in this one here to make it happen." He disappeared and reappeared wearing a granny outfit as he grabbed Fluttershy by the cheek. "Makes me wanna pinch your little horsey cheeks."

Iron growled at this before rushing over to Discord, where he pointed Piecemaker at him. "Back off monster!"

Discord just smirked as he snapped his fingers again, this time summoning a small pin. With one tap of the pin on the weapon, Piecemaker popped and deflated like a balloon. "You were saying?"

"What the heck?!" Iron asked as he looked over his deflated weapon.

Discord snickered as he got back up and looked at the rest of the group. "To think, Celestia thinks you lot can reform me. Hilarious!"

Twilight let out a low growl as she pointed at Discord. "How'd you know about that?!"

Discord just waved a claw. "Being turned to stone doesn't keep me from hearing every word Celestia says." He pulled back before taking out his eyeballs and tossing them to the ground. "Although I admit, it makes rolling my eyes a challenge." The eyes rolled along the ground until they fell into two holes, which then morphed into Discord's face.

"Wait a minute. You were conscious the whole time you were stone?" Flash asked in a slight bewildered tone.

"Not feeling so much like the good guys now, are we?" Discord replied, his eyebrows hopping up and down before starting a hat and cane dance.

Twilight stepped in front of Flash, her crown shining along with her horn, "Well, unless you want us to turn you back to stone, you'll zap those animals back the way they were, pronto!"

Discord let out a quick laugh as he folded his arms once again. "Oh, you wouldn't dare turn me back to stone and risk disappointing your precious princess."

Rainbow spoke up this time. "Try us, Dip-cord."

Then Fluttershy flew up to him. "You think you can treat poor defenseless animals like that and get away with it?!"

"You go Fluttershy!" Rainbow told her as she flew right up into her face.

"You'd best watch your step, buster, or I'll give you...the Stare!"

Springer gasped before literally collapsing in a faint, remembering the one time he had been on the receiving end of that. It turned out, the 'Stare' was a more efficient method to stop the 'Wild Sugar Springer Incidents'. Discord however, seemed to be taking that idea in a different way. "The Stare? Oh no, please, not that! Anything but your disapproving eyeballs!" He then shot into the air and spun around as he laughed.

Fluttershy frowned at this before going through with her threat, unleashing the full power of her legendary stare.

Discord saw this and suddenly stopped before acting like her was in immense pain. "Oh no! No no no, stop! No, no!" He let out a strangled sound. "I can't!" But Fluttershy only poured on the power, making Discord cower. "Stop! I can't take it anymore! I'll do whatever you say! Because..." He once again burst out laughing. "You're hilarious!"

Springer, who had revived at this point, looked horrified. "He fought off that?! HOW?!"

Twilight stomped her hooves to get Discord's attention. "If it turns out we need to use our Elements against you, I'm sure we can convince Princess Celestia it was for a good reason."

Flash nodded in agreement. "And since you can't steal them or break up our friendship this time with your magic, you're at our mercy. So you'd better do as you're told."

Discord glared at them before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I suppose that's correct." He snapped his fingers and returned the furry critters and Piecemaker back to normal. He then turned back to them. "Well, it looks like I know where I'll be crashing while I'm being 'reformed'." Suddenly, there was a flash of light and when it faded, Fluttershy could be seen receiving a noogie from the chaos monster. "With you, Fluttershy." He let out a boisterous laugh as Fluttershy looked horrified at the thought.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy said with a gulp.

Iron once again pointed his weapon at Discord. "Put her down! Now!"

Discord glared back at him before letting out a huff, soon dropping the pegasi as he rolled his eyes, "Well anyways, what say we go 'hang' at your place?"

"Um...." Fluttershy tried to say, only to feel pat on the head from Discord.

"I'll be waiting for you there." With another snap of his fingers, he disappeared.

"Oh no...." Fluttershy gasped before flying off to her cottage.

The rest of them shared a glance, Iron growling as he rushed off after her. "I'm not letting her be alone for a second with that monster! Come on!"

"I couldn't agree more," Flash added as he motioned to this friends, "You heard the stallion, let's go!"

"Right!" the all replied in unison, all running towards Fluttershy's cottage.

---

One transition to Fluttershy's cottage later...

When the rest of the group arrived at the element of kindness's home, they found the pegasus mare cleaning up after what looked like a hurricane blowing through the building.

"Oh dear," Rarity gasped as she put her hooves up to her mouth. "Fluttershy, what ever happened here?"

"It looks like a nasty horde of paraspites made their way through here," Applejack added.

"Oh, hello everypony." Fluttershy replied while looking back at them. "It seems Discord's sudden arrival spooked some of my animals. They apparently, got a little overexcited."

Iron growled as he looked around the place. "And where is he now?!"

"Yoohoo!" They heard Discord's voice, making them look over at Fluttershy's couch. The master of chaos was currently laying out on it. "I must admit, this place is very cozy. Much nicer than the rock tomb I was stuck in."

Iron moved over to him and used Piecemaker to try and re-position his legs off of the couch, "Well, how about showing some respect and getting your feet off of the couch!" Discord's response was to snap his fingers, summoning a tiny boot to bat the backside of Iron's head, "Ow! Why you little-"

"Iron," Fluttershy said as she picked some books off a nearby coffee table and placed them up on a bookshelf. "Be nice. He may be horrible, but that doesn't mean we have to act the same way." She then placed a flower pot on the former coffee table. "We should at least try to be hospitable." It was here that she realized what Discord being on the couch meant and turned to her pet rabbit. "You don't mind giving up your favorite spot on the couch, do you Angel Bunny?"

Said pet rabbit looked horrified at this before rushing over to Discord and grabbing onto his foot, trying to drag him off the couch. Once it realized it was hopeless, it sulked and walked away. Iron patted the rabbit on its head as it passed by. "I know fuzzball, I know."

Fluttershy on the other hoof, was more focused on Discord, asking him if he was alright. The chaos master just shined a smirk as he replied, "Oh, yes. Thank you Fluttershy for your concern. If only your pony friends could be as considerate." He looked over at them, his smirk increasing as he did.

Flash spoke up first, a low growl coming out of his mouth, "Considering you're the guy who turned the girls into dark reflections of themselves and almost turned me into pulp, can you really blame us?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow yelled as she flew over to her buttercream colored friend. "Don't listen to him Fluttershy! He's just trying to drive a wedge between us like he always does."

Discord let out a gasp, pointing to himself, "Now why in the world would I ever try to do a thing like that?"

"So we can't unite and use the Elements of Harmony against you, that's why!" Rainbow barked back, shaking her hoof at him.

Discord summoned a tiny bulb over his head. "Gasp! I never thought of that!"

"You big liar!" Rainbow yelled again as she flew back to the others before turning back to him.

It was then that she saw he had changed his size, shrinking to a absolute tiny size. "Now look who's a liar. Anypony can plainly see that I'm not big at all." Angel took this opportunity to leap back onto his favorite spot, only for Discord to resize himself and knock the rabbit off the chair while also causing a nearby lamp to hit the ground and break. This caused Fluttershy to gasp, as that had been a Heart's Warming Present from her parents. Seeing he had gone too far, Discord put on an act. "Oops," he picked himself up and snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the lamp was fixed, or at least...the pieces had been put back together into the form of Discord. "There, all better."

The others grimaced at this, Applejack going so far as to pull her hat over her eyes. "Ah can't watch this."

They turned on their heel and headed towards the door, Rainbow responding as she shut the door behind them. "We'll be outside."

Soon enough, only Flash, Twilight and Springer remained. Twilight looked over at Fluttershy and Iron. "You sure you're okay with this?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I know its not gonna be easy, but Princess Celestia's counting on me." Fluttershy then showed off a small but noticeable smile. "And...I think I actually know what to do."

"Really?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow. "No offense, but this is a huge gap to leap over Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nodded again. "I know. I think the key is to befriend him. Being kind to him and letting him be my house guest is probably the best way to do that." While she said this, Springer watched as Discord and Angel waged a mini-war behind her, Discord unfortunately winning as he easily made the rabbit float in the air like a ragdoll.

"And you're sure that'll really work?" Twilight asked, disbelief obviously in her tone.

"I think its worth a try," Fluttershy replied.

Iron took this moment to step in. "And if anything does happen, I'll-"

"Rush to come and get us as soon as possible," Flash interrupted, tapping the magical helmet on his head. "Sorry Iron, but against this guy, you're no match. Let us handle this. Its why we're gonna keep the elements on at all times."

Iron sighed at hearing this, but nodded since he knew it was true. "Yeah, I know. Still, I'm staying here to help."

"We wouldn't have it any other way Iron." Twilight responded before turning to Fluttershy, "Now remember, if you need us, all you need to do is whisper 'help', and we'll be back here with our elements." She then turned to Discord. "So watch that goat-legged step of yours, pal!"

Discord, who was currently holding a flailing Angel by the tail, turned to them. "Wh-what?!" There was a flash of light and both Discord and Angel were now sitting in fancy chairs, Discord being dressed in a gentlemen suit and monocle. "Look at me! I'm practically reformed already."

The others turned to Fluttershy, who gave them a nervous smile.

"Ooookay." Flash remarked with a roll of the eyes, "That's all I needed to see."

Twilight nodded in response. "Agreed. I guess we'll see you all later."

"Of course," Fluttershy replied with a nod.

Twilight and Springer turned towards the door, but then stopped and turned back to Flash. The defender was standing still, staring at Discord as if he was lost in thought. Twilight walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, "You coming?"

Flash continued to stare at Discord, as something Fluttershy said before made him think. A small memory sparked in his head, causing him to turn to his friends and say, "Say...is it okay if I talk to Discord alone for a moment?"

Everypony looked at him as if he was mad. "Why?" Springer asked.

"I'll explain later," he turned to Fluttershy. "Please."

Fluttershy didn't hesitate to smile and nod before turning to head out the door, Twilight, Iron and Springer behind her. Before Twilight stepped outside, she turned to Flash. "Be careful."

Flash nodded before Twilight shut the door, leaving him and Discord alone. Before Discord could say anything, Flash reached up and pulled off his Element helmet, placing it on a nearby table. Discord literally twisted his head upside down at this in curiosity, "Taking off your Element? Isn't that a bit risky?"

Flash just let out a low chuckle. "We both know you can't steal it away, and your magic also can't touch me."

"That is true," Discord said as he readjusted his head, now pulling at his goatee as he asked, "You ever figure out why I can't do that?"

"You're the ancient demigod, you tell me."

Discord chuckled under his breath. "If only I knew. In fact, if it wasn't for that, I could have found a way to turn you against your friends, then I wouldn't have been turned back to stone."

"True." Flash admitted as he sat down on a nearby chair. "Oh well, I'll figure it out one day."

Discord leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs as he summoned a small glass of chocolate milk. "So, what was it you wished to speak to me about?"

"Well...I've been having problems being positive recently, and something Fluttershy just said made me realize something I need to say to you."

"Oh?"

Flash sighed, not able to believe he was about to say this. "I just wanted to say...thank you."

Discord's eyes suddenly went wide, only for his eyes to start blinking at such a pace, it looked like a film reel rolling. He then lifted one finger up as he said, "Excuse me a moment." He pulled out a handkerchief and literally removed his ears from his head, which he began to clean. "Just need to properly clean these, since they made me hear you say thank you to me."

Flash rolled his eyes at this. "I did say thank you."

Discord glared at Flash as he reset his ears. "And why, pray tell, would you thank me?"

"Do you remember when we fought and you told me about my blood type?"

"Triple Z. Not something most ponies would want to have, especially when it comes to your job." Discord replied as conjured several charts, all showing solider ponies with 'Triple Z' on their armor, all of them with X's on their eyes. He then turned back to Flash as he snapped the illusions away, "But what's that got to do with anything?"

Flash took a deep breath, he knew this would be a slightly tough pill to swallow. "Somepony else has that blood. My sister. She got poisoned and the only way to save her was a blood transfusion. If you hadn't told me what my blood was, she would have died and I would never have known she was my sister. So I'm thanking you."

For the first time since meeting Discord, Flash saw he was completely speechless. "Well....you're welcome?"

Flash nodded, a small wink following. "You see? You can do good things and you don't even have to change. You don't have to be evil."

Discord let out a loud laugh, waving his claw at the pegasi. "Of course I do. I'm Discord, the Master of Chaos. Chaos by definition is evil and destructive."

Flash snickered at this. He knew he was on to something, Flash could tell, as it was the same face Discord had went Flash got the upperhand against the chaos monster in their last battle. Taking the initiative, Flash pointed at the monster with a big smile on his face, "Wow, the only correct thing you said there was your name."

"Excuse me?"

"You sure you're evil? You do realize Princess Celestia wants us to reform you, right?"

"Oh please." Discord waved his claw again, "Like you want to reform me. You just want an excuse to put me back in my stone prison, right? You wanna get rid of the big bad chaos monster, right?"

"Not exactly." Flash replied while crossing his hooves. "After all, you're just chaos. That doesn't mean you're bad, or at least Celestia thinks so."

"Wait a minute..." Discord 'cleaned' his ears again, "What you do mean, 'chaos isn't bad'?! What makes you say that?"

"Just something my mentor told me after we beat you."

There was a sudden flash of light and when the pegasus blinked the spots out of his eyes, he saw Discord in a bed, complete with a nightcap on. "Ooooh, story time! Please, do go on!"

Flash rolled his eyes again. "Okay..."

---

The Past...

Flash and Grand were sitting at a table during the celebratory gala of Discord's defeat, Flash telling his mentor all about his experience against Discord. As he finished, Grand's face showed nothing but cringe as he said, "Yikes kiddo, sounds like you had quite the fight."

Flash let out a groan, rubbing his head in slight pain. "I did, and its one I hope I never have to repeat. Discord's magic was deadly, even if it didn't fully affect me. But then again, what'd you expect from Chaos Magic? That's stuff's pure poison." It was in that moment that Flash heard Grand chuckle. "What?"

"Sorry." Grand replied as he leaned back in his chair, "Just laughing at your narrow minded view on the subject."

"Narrow minded?!" Flash barked back. "I almost died to that stuff Grand! Discord almost destroyed everything with it!"

Grand shook his head at this, "You got a lot to learn kiddo, trust me on that one."

"So....you've fought chaos monsters before?" Flash asked, blinking at his mentor's sudden change in tone.

"No, but I've fought plenty of unicorns who use their magic for evil, just like Discord." He gave Flash a flat stare, something his student had not seen from him in a long while, "Let me ask you something. If some unicorn uses their magic for evil, does it make the magic they use evil?" Flash wanted to respond, but he had a feeling his answer would be deemed wrong. So instead, Grand continued, "Tell me, if somepony took Lightbringer off of you and used it to stab you, would that mean Lightbringer is evil?"

That was a question Flash could answer. "No, it wouldn't be evil."

"Exactly. Just because something is used for evil, doesn't make it evil."

"But he used chaos magic. Isn't that automatically bad with, you know, the whole destruction and madness that comes with it?" Flash asked, but before Grand could reply, the defender flashed his hoof at his mentor, "And before we continue, can I say that this sounds really smart for you? Like, more than usual? No offense."

"None taken. After all, I talked with Princess Celestia over this a bit when Discord first showed up earlier today. She kept telling me how she wished you all didn't have to fight him." Grand replied as he readjusted himself in his chair, "Now, about what you said with chaos being madness and all that. That is true, but that's not what all chaos is." Grand expected a reply from this, but got no response and decided to carry on. "Chaos is destruction, but that's only one half of it. The other half is so subtle, that barely anypony realizes its part of it. I bet even Discord doesn't know that."

"So what's the other half?"

Grand shined a small smirk. "Recreation."

"Come again?" Flash asked immediately, blinking at his mentor as he was still surprised at how deep his usually down-to-earth, simple-minded teacher was being.

Grand thought for a moment, trying to think up a good example. "Think of all the damage done that the Elements couldn't repair. Isn't Twilight helping to repair it and improve it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's it Flash. Because of the damage Discord did, everything that was damaged or destroyed will be remade to be better than before. But that only gets to happen because Discord created a need for it."

Flash was starting to get where he was coming from. "So, it's like a condemned building. Sometimes it has to be knocked down to make room for something better."

"Exactly," Grand said as he tapped the table with his hoof. "That's chaos. Fast mad destruction, followed by slow harmonic creation."

"But if that's the case, how come Discord only seemed to be about destruction? If he's the Master of Chaos, shouldn't he fit what you're saying?"

Grand shrugged. "Just goes to show that even after thousands of years, someponies still have trouble discovering their true abilities." Grand then began to chuckle. "I wouldn't call him the Master of Chaos. More like the...skilled user of chaos." Hearing this, Flash burst out laughing, Grand following suit. "Maybe someday, hopefully, Discord will realize his true potential."

---

The Present....

"Maybe that day, can be today," Flash said after finishing his story, his eyes now staring out a nearby window. Discord simply stared at him, actually looking like he was taking what Flash had said in as Flash continued, "You say your magic can only be used to destroy, but that's not true. If it was, you couldn't pull something into reality at a snap of your fingers. Creation is part of your power, you just need to embrace it."

Again, Discord said nothing.

"Maybe that's why Celestia wants you reformed and why she told Grand that so he could tell me. Not for her, or for Equestria, but for you. So you can grow into your full potential. To become the true Master of Chaos."

He turned back to Discord, expecting to see him thinking what Flash had said over. But instead, he saw Discord with a giant bubble coming out of his nose, signifying he had fallen asleep. This caused Flash to anime drop, moaning at his wasted effort before yelling, "DISCORD!"

The chaos monster stood straight up at the shout. "I'm awake!"

"Were you even listening?!" Flash yelled, his face turning red from anger.

"What?!" Discord asked, as he took out one of his eyes and 'rubbed' more sleep into it. "Oh, right...the lecture you were giving me. Sorry, but you were so boring that I couldn't stay awake. I'm not much for philosophies and other things that the author wants to me to hear."

"What are you...augh! Oh, just forget it!" Flash growled before grabbing his Element and sticking it back on his head. "All I wanted to do is help!"

"You did?!" Discord replied, causing Flash's eyes to twitch with rage.

"Yeah...I did." Flash hissed as he flung the door to the cottage open, exiting with a huff. There, Fluttershy, Iron and Springer were waiting outside, watching as he strode out with anger evident on his face.

"You okay?" Springer asked as he walked up to his partner.

"I'm fine," Flash replied, patting the jakhowl on the head. "Where's Twilight?"

"She and the girls headed back to the library. Said something about a backup plan."

"Sounds wonderful." Flash turned back to Iron and Fluttershy as Springer leapt onto his back. "I'll go help them. Will you two be okay?"

"We'll be fine." Iron said with a salute, causing Flash to nod before taking to the skies.

---

One transition to the library later...

As soon as they entered the library, they found Twilight and Spike searching through countless books. "No, no, no," she mumbled as she levitated several books in front of her face, all of them quickly shelving themselves in rejection. "No, no, no...where is it?!"

"What'cha looking for?" Flash asked her as he stepped inside.

"I'm trying to find a spell I can use to reform Discord," Twilight replied while not looking up from another book. "I know its in here somewhere..."

Springer raised an eyebrow at this, quickly lifting his paw in the air. "Err...question."

"Yes?" Twilight asked as she lifted her head up from the most recent book.

"You said reforming spell, right?"

"Yes. It reforms the target, making the being you targeted good again."

"So...you're planning on using a spell to force somepony to act against their nature?"

"In a way."

Springer gave Flash a blinking glance before turning back to Twilight, "I might have read too many of Flash's comics, but that sounds like brainwashing."

Twilight just gave him the bewildered look. "No. I'm planning to reform him."

"By using a spell to make him act different. Isn't that the very definition of brainwashing?"

"This is different."

"How?"

"It just is."

"He's kinda got a point Twi," Flash told her as he patted his partner's head. "I mean, we persecuted Discord for forcing us to change and now you're trying to do the same thing against him. Isn't there a word for that?"

"Hypocrisy," Spike replied as he walked by while carrying a stack of books.

"Thank you," Flash remarked before turning back to her. "Twilight."

The purple unicorn just gave him a flat stare, "This is different. We're changing him from bad to good, so its okay."

"Is it?" Springer asked, his head going back and forth from Twilight to Flash. "If magically changing him from evil to good was an option, don't you think Celestia would have suggested it? Heck, wouldn't she have done it herself eons ago?"

"That's true." Flash added, "I mean, that's what I would have done in her hooves."

"Flash, don't say..." Twilight tried to say, only to let out a long sigh, "Listen you two, this reforming spell is a backup plan, alright? We'll only use it if its necessary, got it?!"

Flash and Springer gave each other a knowing glance before nodding, "Okay. Though it does sound kinda wrong."

"I know it does." Twilight huffed as she closed another book. "And since when are you two so....philosophical and stuff?!"

"What does philo-something mean?" Springer asked back, getting a flat stare from Twilight.

"Its means we're being smarter than her." Flash chuckled, patting his partner's head. That is, till he felt a familiar magic tug to his ear.

Seeing this, Spike decided to chime in, "I have to agree with them Twi. Aside from the Elements, when has using magic to fix a problem ever worked? Remember the parasprites, Smartypants and time travel incident?"

Springer nodded at this. "Yeah. And it makes us sound like that changeling Chrysalis, or the trickster Shade. They forced others to do what they wanted, and we classed them as evil."

Twilight froze as she remembered those events, all of which involving her using magic as a solution to a problem and making it a thousand times worse. Then, she looked up from the next book, "I already suggested this as a plan B, and I'm sticking to it. But, if its so bad, what would you suggest we do if we can't force Discord to change?!"

They all just shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to trust in Fluttershy."

Twilight merely sighed at this. "Fine...I guess you're right. Not that it matters, since I can't seem to find any of the spells I was-OH NO!"

"What?"

Twilight showed them the book she was holding, which had pages torn out of it. "Princess Celestia didn't cast a spell protecting our books! Everywhere I thought I'd find the reforming spell-"

"Its gone, isn't it?" Flash replied, only to get a nod in return. "Now we really don't have a choice. Guess we have to do this Fluttershy's way."

"Yup..." Springer added, only to look back at his partner, "Wait a minute, did we just debate over nothing then?"

---

The next morning at Fluttershy's cottage...

When Fluttershy and Iron came downstairs that morning, (Iron refusing to leave yesterday and slept on the floor outside of her room) they found Discord on the couch eating out of a bowl. "Oh, there you are," Fluttershy said as they entered the room. "Listen Discord, I just want to make sure you know that if there's anything I can do to–" She stopped when she saw what he was eating. "Umm, are you eating...paper?"

Discord used a fork to stab into the pages of Twilight's magic book before shoving it into his mouth. "Am I?" He looked at the page covered fork, but just shrugged and shoved them into his mouth. "I am! Well what do you know...how odd of me."

"Well, he is part goat," Iron added.

Fluttershy shook her head before continuing to speak. "Well, um...I'm heading out, so you just make yourself at home while I'm gone." She turned and headed towards the door, only to look back and see Iron remaining where he was. "Iron?"

"You go on." he said before motioning his head to the chaos monster. "I'm just gonna stay behind and keep your guest company."

"Please don't do anything that might upset him. That'll have the opposite effect of what we're trying to do."

Iron nodded, shining a small smile, "I'll behave."

Fluttershy gave her own kind grin before leaving the cottage. As soon as she was gone, Iron suddenly felt a pressure on his head. Looking up, he found one Discord leaning onto him with his shoulders on top of the earth pony's head. "How touching. That mare must really mean a lot to you."

"Of course," Iron growled as he stepped away. This caused the perfectly still Discord to fall to the ground while making the sound a tree makes when it falls.

The chaos creature quickly recovered, appearing next to Iron in a flash. "Oh, I get why you're so hostile towards me. It's because you're scared if I become friends with her, she won't want to hang around you anymore. Is that right?"

"No," Iron grumbled back, stepping away again. "That would never happen. Fluttershy never forgets about anypony."

"If you say so," Discord said as he sat back down, head first into the seat before slithering into a sideways sitting position.

Iron just rolled his eyes. "I know what you're trying to do."

"Do you now? Pray tell, what am I doing?" Discord replied, his eyes popping out of his head, only to switch eye sockets. "Besides the usual nuttiness that is me, of course."

"You're trying to turn me against Fluttershy so she'll make me leave. Then you'll be able to pull your voodoo on her without anypony to get in your way."

"Moi?!" Discord remarked as he pointed to himself, along with three sudden wooden arrow signs appearing around himself, "I can't believe you would think I would do that. In fact, I'm offended that you would suggest such a thing!"

Iron shook his head while releasing a sigh. "Seriously? You really want me to tell you that I know you'll be cruel as soon as I leave?"

Discord smirked. "Oh please. Isn't it obvious what I'll do, mister big bad defender?" There was a flash of light and Discord now appeared to be wearing a brown overcoat, tiny tinted glasses, bowler hat, bucked teeth and carrying a cane. Music started playing as he began to sing. "It's a secret of survival in a very nasty world-"

"Alright, I get it!" Iron interrupted, putting his hooves over his ears. "Just don't sing, okay?!"

Discord's outfit disappeared because of this interruption, turning back to normal as he sat down with his arms crossed, "Anyways, the simple fact is, the only way to survive is to be mean. Being kind and-" he made a disgusted face, "make friends, only leaves you weak."

"Says the guy who was beaten by the power of friendship," Iron remarked as he pointed at the monster. "And you know, I used to be the same way. But then Fluttershy made me realize that no matter what you do or achieve, it's all pointless if you're alone."

"Oh? Are you sure its not you wanting to be with her and kick me out?"

"No." He immediately replied, the defender turning to go outside so he could check on Fluttershy's animals. "Hopefully, you'll figure that out someday."

Once he was gone, Discord continued to stare at the spot he had been. He let what Iron had said sink in, while remembering Flash's words from yesterday. "Huh. What do they know?" With that, he once again started eating the bowl of paper. It was then he had a brilliant idea, one that would keep Iron out of his hair for sure.

---

A little later...

When Flash, Twilight, and Spike headed over to Fluttershy's cottage to see how things were going, they did next expect to find what they found. Fluttershy's house was now floating in the air and spinning around, no doubt causing mayhem to everyone and everything inside. As they got closer, they spotted Iron standing below it and looking up at the building with hooves crossed.

"Well, I'll say this about Discord." Flash said as they arrived, "He sure can keep you on your hooves."

"This isn't funny," Iron growled at him.

"Sorry. Where's Fluttershy?"

"Inside," the earth pony responded, steam blasting out of his nostrils in frustration. "That creep did this so I couldn't get inside."

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out to the cottage. "Fluttershy, can you hear me?" A few moments later, Fluttershy flew out the cottage with Angel in hoof. "Fluttershy, what's going on? Are you okay?!"

"We're fine," Fluttershy replied as she placed a very dizzy Angel on the ground. "Everything's going great. Isn't it, Angel?"

They all watched as the rabbit walked off, with some degree of difficulty due to being so dizzy. Once he was gone, Twilight looked back at Fluttershy. "We came to see how everything was going with Discord." She then pointed up at the building. "But from the looks of things, he's completely out of control!"

"Oh, but you're wrong!" Fluttershy replied, a brilliant smile adorning her lips. "We're making great progress!"

The three ponies, and one baby dragon all stared at her, then up at the cottage, then back to her before asking. "SERIOUSLY?!"

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm earning his trust by giving him a little space to be himself."

Spike frowned before holding up Twilight's spell book. "Hate to break it to ya, but he used that 'space to be himself' to tear out all the reforming spells from the library!"

Fluttershy thought for a moment, rubbing her chin as she said, "Huh. That does explain the paper eating."

"HE ATE THEM?!" Twilight cried before rubbing her head, making an unintelligent noise as she moaned in frustration.

"Well, he is part goat," Flash added.

"That's what I said," Iron finished.

Fluttershy then continued. "But we aren't gonna need a spell. He's already really considering being reformed! He said so."

Flash snorted at this, rolling his eyes as he said, "Oh yeah. And a guy whose evil has zero capability of lying."

"If I'm going to be his friend, I have to start by giving him the benefit of the doubt!" She looked her friends over and saw that none of them had that same faith in Discord that she did. "Tell you what. Bring everypony over for a dinner party this evening, and I'll bet his manners will have really improved by then.

The others shared a glance before Flash asked, "I don't know Fluttershy. Is that really a good idea?"

Fluttershy nodded before flexing her wings and flying up towards her house. "I'll even get him to put the cottage back on the ground first." With that, she flew inside.

The rest of the group continued to stare up at the cottage, eventually causing a sigh from Twilight, "Alright. Dinner it is." She gave Flash a look as she said, "We're gonna regret this, aren't we?"

"Uh....want me to be positive or negative here?" Flash asked as he gave the cottage one last glance. "Because I am honestly not sure what the answer is."

"Doesn't matter. Let's go." Twilight remarked before her, Flash and Spike walked off to tell the others, leaving Iron to continue to stare at the cottage.

A few minutes later, there was a flash of light, and when it faded, the cottage had been returned to normal. Iron stepped inside and saw the place was a mess, half of the cottage still upside down inside. The sight made him growl at the one responsible for said mess. "I hope you're gonna clean this place up."

With a snap of the fingers, Discord was dressed as a maid and began using a feather duster on the place. "Why of course. Why wouldn't I? I'm a good friend to Fluttershy." And so, he got to work as Iron continued to glare at him.

---

Evening...

Flash and the rest of his friends were now making their way to Fluttershy's cottage. As they did, Rainbow let out a moan, "Ugh, I can't believe we're having a dinner party with Discord!"

Rarity, who was wearing a dress that was kinda tame considering it was her, agreed. "This evening is sure to be a disaster. Glad I didn't bother wearing my fanciest outfit."

Twilight let out a sigh before turning to her friends, "Fluttershy thinks this is the way to reform Discord and asked us to give it a chance. So stop complaining and let's help her, okay?"

The others nodded as Flash pointed to his helmet. "We will Twilight, and I'm hoping it happens soon. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get to sleep while wearing this thing?"

Before anypony could say anything else, the doors of the cottage opened up and Discord stepped out dressed as a butler. "Oh, our pony guests!" He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, which extended and change color so it became a red carpet. It fully rolled out at Twilight and Flash's hooves before Discord appeared in front of them and bowed. "We're so delighted that you've come," he spoke in a voice that would put Fancy Pants to shame. He then vanished and reappeared at the door, "Please, do come in."

Everypony shared a nervous glance before heading inside. The cottage's interior had been completely transformed, now looking closer to a carnival fun house. The sight alone made Flash want to roll his eyes, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Just looking at it is making my head hurt." Springer moaned, blinking.

"See what a beautiful job he did helping?" Fluttershy said as she showed them inside and to a table that was shaped more like a splurge of paint. "Discord set the entire table himself. I'm so proud."

Everypony cringed at Fluttershy's denial, but quickly forgot about it when a nearby wall mounted coat hook transformed into Discord. He reached out a hand, which was aimed for Twilight's crown. "May I take your...hum, hum, hum...hats, ladies?" He tried to swipe it away, but Twilight managed to duck.

"Hang onto your Elements," she told the others. "It's gonna be a bumpy night."

In that moment, Iron stepped into the room carrying a tray on his back. Discord then appeared next to him, "Ah! Allow me!" He picked up the tray and took it over to the table as the ponies, dragon and jakhowl found a place to sit.

Discord then levitated the plates in front of them, the group all wary at the food presented to them. Seeing this, Springer asked, "Did you make this?"

"Oh, heavens no," Discord replied with a wave of the claw. "I haven't cooked for myself in over a thousand years. No, Fluttershy made this lovely banquet." Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

Hearing that, they all shared a sigh of relief before digging in. As they began their meal, Fluttershy spoke up. "As you all know, Princess Celestia hoped we'd help Discord use his magic for good instead of evil." She turned to Pinkie, whose face was currently covered in cream. "Pinkie Pie, care for some gravy?"

Pinkie smiled and nodded. "You bet."

Before Fluttershy could indulge her, Discord stood up. "Allow me." They all looked over to the gravy boat, which was suddenly consumed by a flash of light. When it died down, they saw it was now alive with a sloppy gravy tongue and acted like a dog.

The gravy boat rushed across the table towards Pinkie, who seemed to be taking delight in this abomination of nature. "Oh, what a cute little gravy boat you are!" she said as she stroked it, "Yes you are! Yes you are!" The gravy boat happily gave her a sloppy lick before pouring gravy on her food and walking off.

As it got closer to Rainbow, she frowned at it. "That's one creepy little gravy boat if you ask me."

Fluttershy growled at her. "Oh, come on now Dashie. You're not even giving this a chance."

Before Rainbow could respond, the gravy boat raced up to her and poured gravy on her lap. "Hey!" She cried in pain as she shot into the air, "that's hot!"

"Whoops," Discord said as he hid behind Fluttershy, "I'm so sorry."

Rainbow glared at him, hissing, "He did that on purpose!"

"Oh, well, I don't know about that. Mistakes happen." In that moment, a bunch of moving candle sticks hopped along the table. "Oh look everypony, dancing candles!" The candles got into position and were about to start dancing, only for their flames to be suddenly put out by Rainbow.

"I'm not falling for that!" She landed on the table and turned to the others. "Discord's just trying to distract us from–" She didn't finish her sentence, as in that moment, the candles hovered above her. She looked up at them, only to get bopped on the head by one. "Hey! Knock it off!" She cried as more of them began to bounce on her head, soon glaring back at Discord. "I suppose that's another 'mistake'?"

The look on Discord's face made Flash think he hadn't been expecting that. He glanced back at candles, "No, I think you just made them mad."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "There's something fishy going on here. What is-" In that moment, a soup tureen shaped like a fish turned to her. It then spat thankfully cold soup into her face, which caused her to jerk backwards and fall out of her seat. It then turned to Spike and did the same thing, followed by Flash. Luckily, he managed to grab his empty plate and use it as a shield.

"Now what's happening?!" He asked as blocked a second barrage of cold soup. "Stop that!"

"Discord?" Fluttershy asked the chaos monster.

Discord chuckled nervously. "Well, its hardly my fault if the soup tureen finds the term 'something fishy' to be offensive."

The tureen then turned to Rarity, who gasped. "Not the dress! Not the dress!" It didn't listen, splattering her with soup before turning to Applejack and doing the same.

"That tureen's only doin' what you're makin' it do!" Applejack complained as she tried to find a napkin to clean her face.

"Now let's not jump to any conclusions," Fluttershy chimed in.

Flash interjected, still dodging the soup. "Sorry Shy, but I'm with the others on this one. Discord's obviously behind this."

"Yeah!" Rainbow cried as she kicked the candles away and turned to Fluttershy. "Can't you see what he's doing? He's playing innocent with you so you'll never agree to use the Elements of Harmony against him!" The soup tureen then turned towards her, forcing her to try and dodge its flying contents.

"Oh, well, that's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Discord asked.

"No, they're right!" Iron yelled as he tried to grab the tureen, only to get a blast of cold soup to the face, "You don't have any intention of changing your ways from the start, and you're just trying to keep yourself from being changed back to stone!"

Flash tossed a dinner dome to Rainbow, who used it to trap the tureen and stood atop it. "You see what we're saying, right, Fluttershy? Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy looked at all of her friends, who were either frowning at her or glaring at Discord. A small frown followed as she said, "You know what I see?" She turned and gave Discord a sympathetic smile. "I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see that none of you are giving him a chance!"

The others all complained about this in unison, Flash speaking up above them all. "I tried to give him a chance yesterday, but he wouldn't listen."

"So you try once and when that doesn't work, you just give up. Doesn't sound very knightly of you." She then turned to Iron and her glare intensified. "And you haven't let up on Discord since he got here. Did you ever think that maybe he's acting this way because he feels you're not even allowing yourself to believe in the possibility that he can change?!"

Iron glared back at her. "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"Well maybe I don't want you constantly babying me. I'm fine!"

Iron frowned at this, turning his glare on Discord. Looks like he did manage to plant a wedge between him and Fluttershy.

"What's gotten into you?!" Rainbow asked as the dinner dome beneath her rattled. "Why do you keep cutting him so much slack?"

To respond, Fluttershy placed her hoof around Discord's neck. "Because that's what friends do."

This state surprised not only them, but also Discord. He rapidly blinked as he looked down at her. "We're friends?"

Fluttershy responded with a giant smile. "Why, of course we are!" She flew up so their eyes were at the same level. "I can't remember my house ever being this lively before you came along."

For the second time in a week, Discord found himself lost for words. "Oh...well, I've...never really had a friend before."

Fluttershy's smile increased as she took his hands into her hooves. "Well, you do now."

In that instance, everypony else at the table went slack jawed. Thankfully, they didn't have much time to focus on this, as in that moment, a nearby window opened and Angel leapt inside. He then started trying to mime something. Seeing this, Fluttershy turned to her pet, "Now is not a good time Angel. We're having a dinner party."

"Hold up!" Applejack interrupted, pointing at the critter, "I think he's tryin' to tell us somethin'!"

"Let me see," Springer said as he leapt up onto the table and connected his aura with Angel's. They waited a solid second, only for the jakhowl to speak up, "I'm getting...Sweet Apple Acres...and...flooded."

They all gasped, Rainbow turning and glaring at Discord. "Flooding at Sweet Apple Acres?! And we all know who's behind that now, don't we?!"

"Who me?" Discord asked innocently as a halo appeared above his head.

"Don't even try it!" Flash told him as he leapt out of his seat, swatting the halo away. "Come on everypony." He said as he turned and ran out the door, Iron and Applejack on his tail as the others followed.

Rainbow, Discord and Fluttershy were the last ones to leave. "What do you think of your 'friend' now, Fluttershy?" Rainbow yelled as she flew out the door while Fluttershy turned to Discord. The spirit of chaos just shrugged at her.

---

One trip to Sweet Apple Acres later...

When the group arrived at the edge of the farm, they found that when Angel said there was a flood, he was not kidding. They had been expecting water at knee height at best, not so deep that a whale could take a bath in it. The cause of all this was the many beaver dams that covered the surrounding area, blocking off the streams and causing the water to build up into this amount. As Flash and Springer flew overhead, they spotted Big Mac, Applebloom and Granny Smith floating in buckets, trying to save as any apples as possible.

"I've never seen the floodin' this bad!" They heard Applejack say as they arrived at the edge of one of the larger dams. "They've built dams 'round here before, but never like this! What's goin' on?!" For that answer, they turned to Fluttershy, who was currently talking to the head of the beavers.

Said beaver spoke in his beaver speak to her, causing her to gasp. "Such language!" She then had to duck as a stick flew over her head, causing her to sigh and fly back over to her friends. "Its no use. They won't listen to a word I say!"

Rainbow flew up to her. "You see?! Discord's behind all this and-"

"Of course I know his is!" Fluttershy yelled, interrupting Rainbow as she turned to the others. "Do you all think I'm a silly, gullible fool?!" The response to this was a load of mumbling and unsure sentences, all seeming to reply as yes. Fluttershy rolled her eyes at this before pointing at the group in anger, "I was trying to prevent this! I've been trying to gain his friendship any way I can so he'd come to trust and listen to me!"

"And you really thought that would work?" Iron barked back. "I don't know if you've looked around, but this isn't trust or listening! This is-"

"Hey there Fluttershy!" They all turned towards the flooded orchid, where they saw Discord. He was currently water skiing, using the two soup tureens as his momentum. "You want a turn? The water's great!"

"Time to find out if I've earned his trust." Fluttershy responded to Iron's question, giving him one last glare before turning to the chaos monster.

Discord skied right up to her, jumping off his skates and stepping onto the bank. "Fluttershy! Oh, there you are. You're a sight for 'sore' eyes." he remarked as band-aids appeared and began rubbing his eyes.

Fluttershy continued to frown as she pointed to the farm. "As you can see, there's a big mess down here at Sweet Apple Acres."

As expected by...well everypony, Discord didn't seem to care as he dried himself off. "Oh, yes. Awful business, that. Mm."

Fluttershy flew up so she was eye level with him. "It is awful. This is Applejack's home, and its being destroyed by innocent creatures who would never be acting this way if it weren't for your reckless behavior." She then turned away from him. "You need to fix this."

Discord looked like he was actually considering it, then smirked. "Oh very well, I will fix it." His smile increased as he leaned up to her face. "I only ask one thing in return."

"Yes?" Fluttershy asked, only for Discord to point at her Element.

"I ask that you never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sign of out friendship of course." This caused everypony's eyes to go wide, as they knew that if she made that deal, she would hold it.

Fluttershy looked down at her Element, then to her friends. They were all shaking their heads no, but even so, she turned back to Discord before removing her necklace. "I will never use my Element of Harmony against you." She tossed it to Spike, who barely managed to catch it.

Discord's sinister smile appeared on his face. "Excellent!" With that he snapped his fingers and unleashed a power light, which Fluttershy expected to fix everything. But when she opened her eyes, she found that he had not fixed it. The water that once covered Sweet Apple Acres had now been replaced snow and ice.

"There, much better!" Discord called out as he skated along the frozen lake, "I do prefer ice skating to water skiing! Don't you?"

Fluttershy's shock, which was soon replaced by anger, appeared on her face as she leapt out onto the ice. "DISCORD! That's not fixing it!" As she neared the spirit of chaos, she tried to come to a stop. "Why, I oughta-" But instead, she kept sliding and flew right past him.

"Where are you going?" Discord asked as he skated over to Fluttershy, who finally pulled herself to a stop. "What's wrong, pal?"

Fluttershy continued to glare at him, putting all her effort into not slipping. "Don't call me your pal!"

Discord laughed as he caused a quartet of ice skates to appear. "Come skating with me, and we'll let bygones be bygones."

In that moment, Spike expertly skated over to her with the Element of Kindness in claw. "Here you go Fluttershy," he said as he offered it to her. "Game on!"

"He fixes this or he goes back to being stone!" Twilight yelled from the bank. "Princess Celestia will understand!"

"Do it Fluttershy! You have too!" Flash added, Iron yelling out the same thing as well.

Fluttershy looked between her Element and the skates, an internal struggle going on inside her head. As she did, she looked back up and said, "I made a promise to not use my Element against him, and I'm going to keep it." With that, she took the skates from Discord and walked off.

Pinkie gasped, Rainbow and Applejack groaned and Rarity looked like she was about to faint. Flash let out a low growl as he yelled out, "Come on Fluttershy! He didn't keep his side of the bargain! He said he'd fix everything if you promised not to use your Element. He didn't fix things, so you don't have to keep the promise!"

"Yeah!" Iron added. "Petrify his sorry behind!"

"No!" Fluttershy said firmly. "I won't use my Element!"

"Hahah!" Discord gloated as he skated by the ponies. "You see? She wants to have fun with me because we're friends. She can't use the elements against me because we're friends. I'm free forever!" All the time he was saying this, Fluttershy's anger had been building. All he had done was use her, not caring about her one bit. Finally, the anger peaked.

"Not...your...FRIEND!" She cried before tossing the skates away and walking off.

"Who cares? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm Discord, the master of chaos!" He disappeared and reappeared behind Fluttershy, craning himself over to look her in the eye. "You think you can boss Discord around? You think I'm just going to turn all this back because you say so? Because if I don't, I'll lose the one friend I ever had?"

"Yes. I do." Fluttershy replied, staring him right in the eye. "Because I believe in you. The others have tried and failed to either tolerate you or try to help you see, but I didn't give up. I still believe in you."

"You? Believe in me when just did that?!" he said as he pointed to the thrown away skates.

"Yes. Because I'm your friend, and you're going to lose me because of yourself." Fluttershy tapped her forehead into his, "I trusted you Discord."

"I..." Discord tried to say, only for his memories of what he had just said go through his brain. It was in that moment that he finally stopped, his and her words sinking into his heart. "I'm going to lose the only friend I have..."

"Yes." Fluttershy immediately replied, turning away as Discord just stood there, his brain still trying to function at what he just realized.

"What's going on?" Springer asked as they watched him just stand there.

Flash blinked at the sight, "I think....I think its working."

Discord looked back down at where the skates, causing him to frown. "Oh. Well played, Fluttershy. Well played." He skated over to the top of a nearby tree, which he sat on as a light flew off of him. As the light touched all he had done, it slowly reverted back to normal. When the light finally died down, everypony looked around to see Sweet Apple Acres was back the way it was meant to be. Fluttershy was shocked at what she was seeing, but soon forgot that when her friends rushed towards her, cheering as they surrounded her.

In that moment, Discord appeared beside them. "I like it better my way, but... I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?"

"Maybe, but it's a small price the pay." Flash replied before holding out his hoof. "Trust me. In time, you'll see that its worth it."

"We'll see," Discord said as he folded his arms, rejecting the shake. Everyone could tell he was far from being fully reformed, but they knew he was now firmly on his way.

---

The next day...

Twilight had sent a message to Celestia the previous night, and now they were waiting in the center of town for her. When she finally arrived, she asked for a full report on everything. Everypony told her what had happened, the flood and freeze making Celestia frown, but when they finished, she nodded before turning to Discord. "Do you truly believe you can use your magic to help Equestria, and all who inhabit it?"

Discord stepped forwards, bowing. "Yes, Princess. I'm ready to use my magic for good instead of evil." It was then that Flash's ears picked up something Discord said under his breath. "Most of the time."

Flash smirked, deciding to give him that one.

Celestia turned to them with a huge shining smile. "Congratulations on your success, everypony. I definitely sense a big change in Discord." She then moved over to Flash and Twilight, whispering in their ears. "I'll leave the Elements of Harmony with you two. Just in case." Discord frowned at hearing that, but he knew he couldn't blame her.

"You were right when you said Fluttershy would be the one to find the way to reform Discord," Twilight told her mentor. "By treating Discord as a friend, she got him to realize that friendship was actually important to him." This caused Fluttershy to blush. "And that's something that, once he had, he didn't want to lose."

"And now there's just one last thing we need him to say," Flash said as they looked up at Discord, all of them with huge grins on their faces.

Fluttershy took this moment to nudge Discord's side. "Go on. Say it."

Discord let out a huge, exaggerated groaned. "Oh alright....I'll do it." He said his next sentence very quickly, "Friendship is magic."

Fluttershy smiled as she took his lion hand in her hoof. "See? He can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him."

The look on everypony's face at this statement definitely showed they did not agree with her. With that out of the way, Celestia and Discord headed off to Canterlot so she could begin her own work with him.

Once they were gone, Iron stepped up to Fluttershy. "Sorry about babying you. I know you can look after yourself, but-" He stopped when he felt Fluttershy pull him into a hug.

When she pulled away, she gave him the kindest smile she could give. "I'm happy I have somepony special to look out for me. Just don't go overboard on it, okay?"

Iron chuckled back at her. "Alright."

Fluttershy's smile increased as she pulled him into another hug. "Good. And thank you for protecting me anyways."

"Of course."

Author's Note:

And so we have Discord reformation. How will this effect the story in the long run?

Comments

[Foxhelm]

Not bad, but it falls into the same pitfalls the episode fell in.
Namely the matter of 'The Stare' and the reform spells
But it was nice for Flash to thank Discord for in a roundabout way saving Scootaloo.
And Iron's Piecemaker getting popped....

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Well, you offically covered one of the biggest episodes of the series. I can't wait to see how Discord will turn out in this universe, especially since Iron and Fluttershy have already bonded with each other, which could lead to many jealous moments with Discord.

Either this is the halfway point of the story due to season 3 being half the length of other seasons, or you have a lot of extra stuff planned for this season and the story is only 25% done. Either way it is good so far.

[Godslittleprincess]

"Oh, this is not gonna be any fun," Flash said as he blinked at the sight. "I know I'm trying to be more positive recently, but please don't tell me that's what I think it is."

Yeah, that's not going to help his PTSD.

Iron once again pointed his weapon at Discord. "Put her down! Now!"

Somepony is jealous.

Said pet rabbit looked horrified at this before rushing over to Discord and grabbing onto his foot, trying to drag him off the couch. Once it realized it was hopeless, it sulked and walked away. Iron patted the rabbit on its head as it passed by. "I know fuzzball, I know."

Aww. I love it when pets get affectionate with their owner's love interests.

"Yup..." Springer added, only to look back at his partner, "Wait a minute, did we just debate over nothing then?"

Yes, and it was glorious.

[Jake De Poni]

I hope we get a backstory about discord from the show soon. I mean, I think that in his past is more simple and basic while the writers can add some detail to it to fill in the gaps. What if when discord was younger, he was bullied, laughed at, and ponies are afraid of him because of his appearance. So that way he had a reason why he has no friends. And I may be a Dislestia ship fan but, unlike ILoveKimPossibleAlot, I think Discord and Celestia's relationship in the past is more like friendship than a couple (not opposed to them being a couple, just want their relationship to just develop). Now, when discord said he never had a friend before and he Celestia used to be good friends, what if Discord meant that he thought he could trust her but thinks she's using him for her own selfish benefits (which is not true of course). See how easy that is? That would bring a message to kids and adults that bullying can affect people, even when they became adults. Also to show that we all make mistakes that we're not proud of, but as long we learn from them, and teach our younger generation to avoid that mistake, we could make the world a better place. Sounds naive and cliche, I know, but it works. Let me know what you guys think. Should Discord have a past or not?