Discord makes a bet with Fluttershy which unknown to her involves the quiet pegasus learning a few new things and causing “a bit” of chaos. (Starts at the beginning of season 2)
Discord’s conversation with Fluttershy at the beginning of season 2 ends in a small bet being made. It was nothing to hard, just that Fluttershy had said, “laughter is more enjoyable when sharing it with others,” so Discord randomly decides to challenge her to prove it.
Fluttershy soon learns that sharing some laughter with Discord involves her learning a few things that in no way fit into her simple lifestyle. But the odd thing is she actually kind of started to enjoy hanging out and causing a bit of chaos with the draconiquis. Now if only she could find a way of helping ponies instead of bothering them.
(Any suggestions for a better description would be greatly appreciated)
Discord was haveing a wonderful time! Not only was he finally free of his stone prison, but had also already begun to turn Equestria upside-down, quite literally infact!
Several of the elements of harmony, or at least the ponies that used them, were already acting like a bunch of old grannies that had had run out of tea and coffee. It was priceless!
Discord was now flying around as tree pink butterflies as Fluttershy chased him around. It was going to be so much fun bringing up everything that should bother her until she snapped. He chuckled to himself as he imagined the look on Twilight Sparkle's face when she next saw her freind!
. . . Afew moments later Discord realized just how hard it was to get the yellow pegasus angry. She had a comeback for everything he said!
He brought up her weakness, her shyness, how she was like a doormat, and even how ponies would point out all these things. And she wouldn't even show a speck of annoyance!
She was glad her friends pointed out her fault's. She was weak and helpless. Who would just admit to being like that! It made him positively sick.
Discord turned back into his original form in a flash of light, "oh why do you have to be so boring!" He said. And was about to poke the top of her head and change that dull attatude of hers to something more interesting when she spoke.
"I'm, boring?" Fluttershy said, and Discord froze. He ALWAYS got the last laugh, the final word, the end jab in a conversation. Even when he had been turned to stone! If he changed her now the memory would haunt him for the rest of eternity!
"Yes boring!" He said, turning the poke in to a point. "Seriously, when was the last time you actually had fun?! And don't say the last one of Pinkie's parties, the closest to actual fun you came at any of those was "having a nice time". I'm talking about real fun! You know, where you laugh so hard your sides hurt and you don't have a care in the world! When was the last time that happened, hmm?" Excellent speech Discord! Though it could use a bit of work. It had been a long time since he had some clever banter, and he was out of practice. Perhaps this Pegasus could help him get his amazing talking skills back in shape, it's not like he was short on time or anything.
"I, I'm not sure if I've ever laughed like that" Fluttershy responded. Then she realized something odd about what Discord had said. "Wait, how would you know how much fun I have at Pinkie Pie’s parties?"
Discord leaned back and reclined in mid air, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, "oh that? It's not like I was asleep when I was a statue, only my body was frozen. And though most of my power was sealed with me I was still quite capable of traveling in spirit. Now that I think about it I should probably thank your friend for all those party's, they really got me out of being completely bonkers with boredom. Well those and your little outburst at the gala, that was priceless!"
Discord was of course expecting a response to that, and he got one. And though he really should have known the kind of response the element of Kindness would give, he was still a little surprised by what she said.
"You were awake all those years?! All alone with nopony to talk to? Oh you poor thi-i-ing!" Fluttershy cried, giving Discord a hug and started to pat him on the back.
"Hay, stop that! Get off!" It didn't take long for the draconaquis to resort to teleporting out of the crying pegasus's hooves. "Why are you crying? It's not like anything happened to you."
Fluttershy wiped her eye's, "I'm sorry" she said, still sniffling a little, "it's just that I can't even imagine what it must have been like. Being alone for all those years, it must have been awful!"
Discord inwardly twitched. She had hit the nail on the head so hard the hammer had gone through the bord. And it made him feel like he was losing control of the conversation. He really must be getting rusty if he had allowed it to get this far out of his control, and so fast to! He decided to shift the conversation in a different direction before it got even more out of hand.
"Well yes it was awful, but it probably wasn't as bad as what Celestia puts herself through. I mean, who willingly go's through such boring blah blah blah stuff just to make a few stuck up ponies happy? I honestly think her life could do with a bit more chaos, though I guess I think the entire world could do with more chaos, but that's besides the point."
Discord was curious to see where the Pegasus pony would take the conversation from here. Sure that if he spent a bit more time he would manage to get a proper rise out of her, not that annoying sobbing thing she had done.
Then Discord got the biggest shock of his life. He paused for a moment and blinked, trying to process what he had just herd. Had she really just said that? It didn't make any sense!
"Could you repeat that?" Discord said,"I don't think I herd you quite right."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Fluttershy responded, "I said, then why don't you? Give Celestia's life a bit more chaos that is."
Discord blinked again. He had indeed heard her right, but- "That doesn't make any sense! Which is perfectly fine with me, but aren't you supposed to be an element of harmony or something? You know, the opposite of chaos. And yet if I'm not mistaken you seem to be actually suggesting that I turn Celestia's world upside down. Not that I wasn't planning to of course."
"Um, that's not exactly what I meant." Fluttershy responded, "What I meant was why don't you do what you said and give her life a bit more chaos. Judging by what she said after the gala I think you may be right that she puts herself through to much, and that she could use a bit more fun in her life. As long as you keep it small I don't think she'd mind."
Discord held up his paw, now extremely curious, "Wait wait wait wait, what could Celestia possibly have said after the gala that could make you think that she wouldn't mind a bit of chaos?"
Fluttershy repeated the word's Celestia had spoken that night, which had honestly suprised her a bit as well. "She said, that was the best Grand galloping gala ever! And then she said that she was trilled we were all attending because she was hoping we could liven things up."
"Celestia actually said that?" Discord responded thoughtfully, stroking his beard. Then he waved his claw dismissively, "but why would I ever give up total chaos for a bit of chaos just because someone else might enjoy it? That's stupid."
Fluttershy just smiled, "well why do you cause chaos? It's to have fun and laugh right? Because you enjoy it?"
Discord rolled his eye's. Wasn't that obvious? "Well duh. Why else would I do something?"
Fluttershy simply noded, "I thought so. But you know what they say." She said with as calm a smile as ever, "laughter is more enjoyable when sharing it with others."
Discord was about to make a remark about that, but then a random idea suddenly poped into his head. Now usually he would immediately do whatever poped into his head, chaos and all that, but the idea that had just appeared in his mind was so absolutely crazy that even the spirit of chaos had to pause and think about it.
"Hmmmmm," Discord said wail stroking his beard and thinking for all of five seconds, a new personal record! "You know, this gives me an idea. It's not like I'm short on time, so how about we make a bet?"
Fluttershy was a little confused by this question, "a bet?" She asked, wondering what Discord could possibly have to gain from such a thing.
"Yes, a bet" Discord replied. "Nothing to big mind you, just something like this. If you can get me to enjoy doing a "little bit" of chaos and laughing along with somepony more then total chaos even once, and I mean a very noticeable amount, then I'll keep at it for about hmmmm, a week. But if you can't, then YOU have to do something chaotic. So how's it sound? If I lose I have to tone down my chaos for a week, but if you lose you have to go out and actually cause chaos! Kind of ironic really. Oh and I'll turn things back to normal wail the bet's on. If you lost and nopony noticed the chaos you caused because all my brilliant chaos was distracting them it would be kind of pointless wouldn't it? And after my week or your chaos is done, I can re hide the elements, and you can all try and stop me again. Or maybe you'll be able to teach me something about having fun and I'll end up doing something else. Who knows? So what do you think? Sounds fair right?"
Fluttershy thought about it. She knew that Discord probably had some sort of plan. However she had noticed his slight pause when she had responded to him calling her "boring". This meant that he probably hadn't been thinking of the plan he was thinking of now for very long. In fact, it was probably then or even later in the conversation that he had come up with any sort of plan other than the one that he had originally worked up. Whatever that was.
Fluttershy may have been shy, but she wasn't stupid, and she could usually tell when someone's ego was getting in the way. She had known RainbowDash for quite a long time after all. And though Discord was much more skilled than Rainbow Dash at talking, she could still tell that it was his pride that was keeping him here instead of doing whatever he had originally planned. After all, he didn't want to lose the conversation, as prideful ponies, and apparently prideful draconaquie, never do.
With all this in mind Fluttershy made her decision, "I'll do it" she said. After all, if she could stall the draconaquis long enough, her friends might be able to find the elements or another way of defeating him even if she lost the bet. And if she won the bet, she might be able to show Discord that while having fun by yourself was all well and good, joy was truly brought to life when you were with friends.
Then a thought suddenly struck Fluttershy. Had Discord ever had a friend? Even if he had one before, he had been turned to stone for over 1000 years, and once again she could only imagine how lonely that would have been. With this in mind Fluttershy made another decision. if a friend Discord needed, then a friend she would give him! And she would only use her element, once they found them that is, if absolutely necessary. There was no way she was going two sentence someone to that lonely of an existence unless everyone else was in danger. And even then she would make sure to talk to Celestia about it afterwards.
Fluttershy snapped out of her thoughts as Discord held out his claw, "well" he said, "should we shake on it?"
Fluttershy nodded, "oh, yes, sorry," and was about to shake his claw when she paused, "Discord," she said, "please uncross your hoof, and take your paw out from behind your back. We both know your quite capable of crossing that as well."
Discord quickly did as she said, "oh, woopsy! Doing that has become such a habit that I didn't even notice. There we are, much better!" Discord said uncrossing his hoof, then held out his claw once again. This time making sure his legs, arms, and even his tail were visible!
"Thank you." Fluttershy said, shaking his claw, "and don't worry about it. I've been so deep in thought before that I fed all the animals at my house without even realizing it!" Then she gave a small chuckle, " it's kind of funny actually. I wonder if you could go through an entire day without realizing it if you had enough habits?"
To her surprise the draconaquis chuckled a little himself, "that sounds dreadfully dull! I think we could both agree that if anyone like that existed they would need more then just a bit of chaos." Fluttershy chuckled a little as well. She had a feeling that those words of hers were going to be brought up several times during the next few days, or however long she had to show Discord how nice it was to have fun with a friend.
"Shall we get going?" Discord asked.
"Um, go where?" Fluttershy responded.
"Well that's up to you now isn't it? You're the one trying to show me that laughing with someone can be more fun even if I'm causing less chaos. So, where are we going?"
Fluttershy got a slightly worried look on her face, "oh, oh I'm sorry but I don't really know where the best place for causing "a bit" of chaos would be. Especially a place where ponies need "a bit" of chaos. Well other then helping Celestia actually relax and have a bit fun herself, but I'm not sure that's the best place to start."
Discord Shrugged, "not to worry, we have plenty of stuff to do in the mean time. Like turning my beautiful landscape back to the dull way it used to be for when woops I mean if you lose the bet." Discord snapped his claws and the cotton candy clouds disappeared as we'll as all the other random things around. The animals turned back to normal, and even Fluttershy's wings reappeared. She guessed the same had happened her friends, though she couldn't be sure, especially sense it was Discord.
"Well," Discord said turning around and waving his paw, "your friends are probably going to want to have some sort of boring get together to make sure you're all alright or whatever. Just make sure not to mention the bet. If you lose I want it to be a surprise! Hohoho! I'll drop by in a few hours, that should give you enough time to get through that. I haven't been home in over 1000 years you know! I bet the dishes have gone and cleaned themselves again." And with that, he got on the back of a flying pig, making Fluttershy wonder just how long that had been there, and disappeared in a small flash of light.
Fluttershy just stood there, thinking about everything that had just happened. Every one seemed to view Discord in a negative light, not that she could blame them. But now that she had actually talked to him a little, he didn't seem all that bad. To Fluttershy, Discord just seemed lonely, even though he himself probably didn't realise he was, and he was trying to fill the void with the one thing he knew he enjoyed, chaos.
"She's over here!"
Fluttershy snapped out of her thoughts and saw Rainbow Dash flying down towards her. The blue pegasus flew straight down towards her, pulling up at the last second while flapping her wings to slow down and landed as graceful as a feather on the ground. Well, a giant feather that kicked up a bunch of dust that is, but a feather none the less.
"Hay Fluttershy you alright?" RainbowDash asked as Twilight pulled apart a pice of the hedge with her magic and the rest of her friends came through.
Fluttershy gave a small nod, "yes I'm fine, and I'm glad to see everyone's wings and horns are back."
"Great!" RainbowDash replied, then got an annoyed look on her face, "what's Discord up to? First he takes our wings and horns for that stupid game of his, then just gives them back with no explanation and dissappears without a trace! It doesn't make any sense!"
"Well he is Discord, so maybe he's just tryin to confuse us." AppelJack offered as she walked over with the rest. "Or mabye princess Celestia and princess Luna found some way to stop him wail he was distracted with us."
Twilight tapped her chin in thought, "hmmmm, I hope so. But you're right that this could just be a trick to confuse us. Let's hed back to Canterlot and ask Celestia."
At Canterlot, Celestia told them that she did not know what had caused Discord to seemingly vanish. But she agreed with AppelJack that he was probably up to something.
After that everyone returned home and Celestia had the royal guard search the maze, the castle grounds, and the entire palace for the elements. Though eventually Twilight did find a note from Discord inside the libraries book on the elements which read, "I'll just be keeping these for a wail until I dicide to start up that little game we were playing before I got an interesting idea. Ta ta for now!"
When Twilight told Celestia about the note, she seemed worried. As little as she had actually talked to Discord in their confrontations, she couldn't recall him calling one of his chaotic ideas "interesting," It was always something like, "hilarious" or "stupendous." And the fact that he had admitted something was interesting enough to stop all the chaos going on was worrying. Why hadn't he left it?
The questions left unanswered, and Discord nowhere to be found, everypony did their best to look for the elements wail Twilight scoured the library for some sort of spell that might help whenever Discord returned.
A week later Fluttershy leaned back in her chair at the back of her house. Smiling as she looked up at the stars. All her pet's were asleep, and she could be alone with her thoughts. She had some planning to get done before tomorrow after all.
Fluttershy tapped her hooves together. There was a small flash of yellow magic, and she picked up the cup of hot tea and the saucer from out of midair before taking a sip and relaxing. "Time to cause a bit of chaos."
When Fluttershy got back from Canterlot she was feeling quite tired. And she collapsed onto her coutch, falling asleep.
"Good evening. Am I perhaps late for my appointment?"
Fluttershy jumped up, "ah!" Quickly composing herself she scooted to the side of the couch and offered the seat. "Um, hello Discord, would you like to sit down?" Just because he was the spirit of chaos didn’t mean she could forget about manners, he was still a guest after all.
Discord waved his paw dismissively as his suit coat, pink mustache, top hat and monical dissappeared in a quick flash. Don't bother, I'm actually quite comfortable," he said wail reclining in mid air. "Oh and don't worry about waking your animals up. I made sure any sound is going off into a desert somewhere. So when should we start training?"
Fluttershy tilted her head, "training?" She asked, "what are we training for?"
"Not us, you." Discord stated as if it should have been obvious. "And chaos magic of course!"
"Huh?!" Fluttershy said in suprise. Though Discord didn't seem to notice.
"You yourself said that things were more fun with others, or something like that," he continued. "Anyway, how do you expect to show how chaos is funner if done with somone if I'm the only one who can do it?"
Fluttershy paused before answering, "I thought I'd just give suggestions?" She offered.
Discord wagged one of his claws at her, "oh that won't do and I'm sure you know why. If I do everything I'll cause quite a lot more then just a bit of chaos. No, you'll need to learn how so you can show me how it's done."
Fluttershy thought about it for a moment. He did make a good point, as a one thousend year habit of causing absolute chaos would be hard for him to curb. She eventually nodded saying, "I guess I see your point. But how am I even supposed to learn it? Aren't you the only one who can? Being the spirit of chaos."
"Yes indeed I am." Discord said wail looking in a mirror, before making it dissappear in a small flash. "The spirit of chaos I mean. However let me ask you a question, dose it make any sense for you to be able to learn chaos magic?"
"Well I guess it doesn't make any-," Fluttershy paused as she suddenly realized what he ment and remembered what they were talking about. "Oh!" She said, "you're right! It doesn't make any sense. And that's why I can, am I right?"
"Precisely!" Discord said. "But anyway I assume you're rested, so let's get to it!"
"Hmmm," Fluttershy held her hoof to her chin in thought. "I doubt I'll get it in one day. And wail the best time to practice would be at night when nopony is around, I'm sure somepony would notice if I suddenly started taking naps in the middle of the day so you could teach me then. Hmmm, however if I had a good reason. . . Wait, I think I might know just what to do."
Discord raised an eyebrow, "you know, I never took you for a schemer."
Fluttershy got up off the couch and began walking over to the door, "oh I'm not, I'm just used to planning things out a bit because I have so many different animals to take care of. Please wait here, I'm going to ask an old friend to help. And don't worry, they won't say anything."
Discord had noticed the yellow pegasus didn't seem as shy or reserved as he'd originally thought. And wail he chalked it up to her trying to be less boring, which of course boosted his ego as he gave himself credit, little did he know that Fluttershy was trying extremely hard to be more outgoing. She had firmly decided to be as good a friend as she could to him, as she was sure that's all he needed, a friend to heal that horrible loneliness he must have felt.
Fluttershy walked back in with an owl on her back. Still steping softly, even though it seemed her hooves didn't make any sound thanks to Discord.
"This is Owsana. She's an old friend of mine, and I've asked her to pretend to have a hurt wing so I'll have an excuse to stay up late and take a nap in the afternoon. Everypony knows owl's sleep better during the day, so it should be fine."
Discord raised an eyebrow again, "are you sure that you're not a schemer?"
Fluttershy started getting some things to make a splint for Owsana. "Oh no, it's just that you asked me not to tell anyone about the bet we made. And I would like to be able to give my freinds a reason why I have to be up late, insted of making them worried."
Fluttershy finished putting the splint on the owl and helped them into a comfortable spot. "Thank you Owsana, I'll try to learn as quick as I can so you can go back to your tree." She then turned to Discord, "let's go then. . . Um, Discord? Are you asleep?"
Indeed the draconaquis was laying on his stomach breathing softly with his eye's shut.
Discord blinked and sat up stretching, "mmmm? Oh probably. You were taking so long I must have drifted off with boredom. Now let's see what we can do to help you improve that mostly dull attatude of yours!" He snapped his fingers and they appered out in an empty field. "You know, I'm quite surprised you're willing to lie to your friends like that."
"Oh I'm not," Fluttershy stated. "You see, Owsana is actually pretty stubborn, and kept insisting her wing wasn't hurt. I'm just glad I finally got her to let me bandage it up. I've been trying for over a week!"
"Well why didn't you just use that stare of yours? Probably would have worked." Discord Shrugged, "but enough about that, make a tea cup."
"Um, sorry, but I'm not sure where to start. How am I supposed to do this?" Fluttershy said. Reminding herself that she wasn't here to talk about an owl. And this wasn't the time to explain why she didn't use her stare at certain times.
Discord facepalmed, "ok look, just use the energy you use for flying and all that whether stuff to do something, whatever first pops into your head, ok? That's what I do."
For the first time Discord found himself wondering if doing whatever poped into his head was actually a good idea. He'd had the random idea of making a bet with this yellow pegasus as he was sure there was nothing funner then absolute chaos. But other then that he had just been making things up as he went, and now he was teaching chaos magic to a pony who could use an element of harmony! . . . Actually that sounded like it could end up being quite entertaining. And so, deciding his ideas were absolute genus as usual, he focused his attention back to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy for her part was in the air flapping her wings, creating gusts of wind as she did so. Eventually she stopped and turned to Discord, "I think I'm doing something wrong, though I've only ever used my wings for whether purposes."
"Hmmmm," Discord tapped his chin. That was true, and as far as he knew no ponies ever tride using a different type of magic from what they were born with. Well, time for that to change!
"Tell you what," Discord said, getting another idea. "I'll borrow you a tad of mine. That should help you figure it out." And before she could say anything, Fluttershy felt an enormous wave of power surge through her, "whwhwhwh whoa!" It may have been a lot of power, but it definitely wasn't as much as an element of harmony, and she had handled one of those before. Though it also felt vary different from the time she had used one of the elements. The elements had more of powerful but soft feel. This just felt kind of, buzzy.
After a bit, Fluttershy felt it calm down, but something was different. It was as if she could see her pegasus magic just by thinking about it, even though it was being dwarfed by a sort if black/purple/gold energy. Which was another thing, she could somehow tell what color her magic was, even though pegasus magic never took pysical form like a unicorn's did. It was all a little much to take in, though she did like the soft yellow look of it.
"A little to much?" Discord asked. "Hmmm, that's odd. I thought I barely gave you any, though I haven't actually done this before."
Fluttershy steadied herself, just now realizing she had been wobbling on her hooves a bit. "I think I'm fine. It's just I wasn't really expecting to suddenly, kind of, see my magic, in a way. It's a little, um, new."
Discord blinked, "wait, you couldn't do that already? Well no wonder unicorns are the only ones creating spells! They're the only one's who can actually see their magic to do things with it. Though if I were to guess they probably don't even do that right." He folded his arm and rolled his eye's, "no wonder it took the elements to stop me, nobody even knows how to use magic properly. Scratch chaos magic for now, I'm going to have to teach you the basics!"
To Discord's credit, he did think for a bit that perhaps teaching her proper magic might not be the best idea. But then he remembered just who he was talking to, and quick as that, thought of a way around that annoying bit of actual logic that kept poping up in his mind. "However," Discord continued, "you have to promise never to tell anyone what I teach you, or write it down. I don't want a buch of ponies suddenly thinking they actually stand a chance against me. That would just get annoying."
Fluttershy nodded, understanding Discord's request. "I promise," she said.
After talking to Discord as much as she had, Fluttershy felt that he was acting different then he had when he had first appeared. And she hoped that having somepony to talk to casually was helping him realize that having a friend was more important then being able to do whatever you wanted.
Discord snapped his claws and a chalk bored appeared with a picture of a unicorn on it. "Ok now listen up. Unicorns have a horn which naturally focuses magic, and that's why they can lern to control it with a bit of practice. However, every kind of pony dose have magic."
Discord waved his paw, "but enough about that," he continued as the chalk bored dissappeared. “For now just focus on that magic you saw in yourself earlier, imagine it moving the air around you. I’d suggest sending magic through your wings, as you’re already used to doing that, think of them as pegasi’s unicorn horns. We’ll get to hooves later.”
Fluttershy focused, and was slightly surprised that when she imagined her/Discord’s magic moving into her wings, she could actually feel it shift! Though it did take a bit of concentration.
Discord had mentioned just doing whatever popped into her head, and judging from how he always seemed to do absolutely random things, Fluttershy guessed that using chaos magic wasn’t based on a lot of practice, but was more about your ability to do things without stressing about them to much. Though she knew she might be wrong, she decided to just go with it for now. And with that thought in mind, Fluttershy opened her wings and flicked them to her left, releasing the energy she felt into the air.
Suddenly Fluttershy was swopped into the air by a huge gust of wind, a small tornado having suddenly formed around her!
Starting to panic as she was spun in circles, Fluttershy realized she could still feel the magic in the air. Squeezing her eyes shut and remembering her decision to be more outgoing, she forced her wings to snap out and she shoved the magic away from her on both sides. There was a loud BOOM on ether side of her as she fell to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Fluttershy lay where she was, taking a few breaths and waiting for her head to stop spinning. After a bit she managed to wobble to her feet, only to see Discord was, clapping?
“Bravo! Outstanding first performance I must say,” Discord said. He then stopped clapping and a small pink tornado appeared in his paw and he started twirling the mini tornado onto a stick, which was when Fluttershy realized he had made it out of cotton candy just like he had done with the clouds. “Not anywhere near my level, but it was good start,” Discord continued, handing her the tornado on a stick. “Have some sugar, it seems to help that pink friend of yours with her antics.”
Fluttershy took it, and he began making another one for himself. “I think you may have been right about it being to much.” She said. “Though now since I know a bit of what to do, I, I’d like to try it myself.”
Discord ate his tornado in one bite and tossed the stick over his shoulder, which left a rainbow behind it before growing wings and flying away. “Do whatever you want, that is one of the main points of chaos magic, being able to do whatever. Oh right, I should probably remove that magic I gave you.” He snapped his claws and Fluttershy felt her body relax a bit, as if it had been under pressure before. “There you go, now let’s see if you can pull of another tornado!” He then reclined in mid air again and put on a pair of tropical styled sunglasses as he popped himself in a cup of chocolate milk with a little umbrella in it, as well as making a mini sun appear above him.
Discord was honestly a little curious whether she could pull it off or not. He had long since decided to just roll with whatever happened or popped into his head, that’s how he did things after all, well aside from a few little plans he had done here and there, but he never had to do any sort of excessive thinking, and that’s the way he liked it. Over thinking things just wasn’t any fun.
Fluttershy took a breath and let it out, making herself calm down as much as she could, trying focus on the soft yellow energy she had felt earlier. It was definitely harder to feel this time, but she flicked her wings a few times creating a small breeze and tried to concentrate on the magic she knew was there.
It took a bit of time, but eventually she was able to pinpoint the feeling of magic flowing through her wings. Fluttershy flapped her wings again, and noticed she could feel magic leaving them. It was such a faint feeling that if she hadn’t already felt something like it with Discord’s magic, and hadn’t been actively looking for it, she probably would never have noticed. And she was practiced at noticing little details because of all her time spent caring for small animals.
After a bit more practice Fluttershy decided decided she was ready to try again. She took a breath, and let it out, ‘it’s up to you to show Discord the meaning of friendship, and this is the first step to doing so’ she thought, ‘you, can, do this!’
A few days later Fluttershy was returning from the marketplace with a pack full of vegetables when Twilight approached her. “Hay Fluttershy, have you been doing alright? I’ve noticed you’ve been looking a little tired lately, is something wrong?”
Fluttershy shook her head, “nothing’s wrong, I’ve been taking care of an owl friend of mine with a hurt wing, and you know how they like to sleep during the day. Though I guess that’s only part of the reason.”
Twilight paused a moment before responding, “your worried about Discord to aren’t you, everyone else is as well. It just doesn’t seem like him to stay quiet for even a few moments let alone A few days!”
“I suppose that’s probably it,” Fluttershy responded, “I just wish I could tell what he was thinking, but that’s probably impossible with him being the spirit of chaos.” She sighed, “I’ll talk to you later Twilight, I need to get these groceries back to my house.”
With that they said their farewells and parted ways, as Fluttershy silently apologized for causing everyone to worry so much. “I’ll be good enough soon” she thought, “it’s actually not as difficult as I thought it would be, and I’m getting the hang of it. I know you all will be confused at first, but I’m sure that once this is all over Discord will see just how much having a friend means, and how important it is.” And with that she stepped into a side ally, rounded another corner, checked the sky to make sure no Pegasi were around, and disappeared in a small flash of yellow light with a tap of her hoof.
Only A few days after their conversation, Fluttershy was sitting in back of her house sipping tea and looking up at the stars, once she was finished she got up from her chair and set her cup and saucer down. She looked over to a note book she had been writing in wail she had drank her tea. It had several different ideas written inside, but she had finally found one that she thought would be a good starting point.
There was supposed to be a Wonderbolts show in a couple of days, and hopefully all of her friends would go. She thought they all should be there for the after show party she had come up with, though it did involve A bit of chaos.
Fluttershy picked up her notebook and walked inside to her room, hiding her notes under her mattress. She sighed as hoped she was doing the right thing.
Shaking that from her head she gave A firm nod, “you are doing the right thing,” she whispered, “Discord needs a friend, and for now you’re the only one he’s got!” She may have been quiet and shy, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take action when she needed to! And with that firm resolution in mind, Flutershy climbed into bed, and fell asleep.
It began as just a normal day. Twilight and her friends were gathered in the Golden Oak Library, except for Fluttershy who was busy with her animals. Apparently several of them were still a little shook up from Discord's temporary "improvements".
"So RainbowDash, you said you had something important to show us?" Rarity asked after the five of them and had gathered.
AppelJack raised an eyebrow as she studied Rainbow's expression, "I think I already know what it is."
RainbowDash did indeed have her 'Wonderbolt' expression on. It was obvious by the she was grinning and vary noticeably excited like she could barely hold in the news. "I, got tickets, to the Wonderbolts! Eeeee! Isn't that awesome!"
She pulled six tickets out of her hair and set them on the table, "thanks for helping hide those Pinkie." Pinkie Pie grinned and gave a salute, "no problemo!"
RainbowDash continued, "we've all been so worked up about Discord that even I noticed. We all need some time off, and what better way then going to a Wonderbolts performance!"
Twilight counted the tickets and looked at RainbowDash, "I suppose you're right, everypony has seemed a little stressed. But is there any way to get one for Spike? He's been a lot of help, and I'd hate to leave him behind."
RainbowDash scratched the back of her head, “yeah, about that.” She went on to explain that Fluttershy had actually suggested that they all go together to the show, but had declined going herself. "I tried to convince her to go,” she continued, “but she just insisted that she had animals to take care of. And said not to worry about her.”
“Well,” Twilight said with a thoughtful look, “a lot of animals were a little shook up from all the chaos that Discord caused. And a few days ago I did mention to her that everypony’s been worried, so that’s probably where she got the idea.” She sighed, then looked up at her friends and smiled, “if Fluttershy wants us to go then let’s go, but how about each of us bring her back a souvenir to say thank you, I do think we could all use a brake.”
Agreeing on the plan, the five ponies each took a ticket and returned home to prepare for the next day, except for Twilight who took two and went to find Spike to let him know about their trip to Canterlot.
The performance was wonderful, and everypony agreed that they felt a bit more relaxed afterwards. Having something to get their minds off Discord seemed to help.
Of course, nothing lasts forever. The five ponies and Spike soon found themselves standing at the front of a large group of ponies, that had somehow all ended up in the middle of Canterlot, and were all looking a little confused as to how they had ended up there instead of home. Even Celesta was there! Though she looked more concerned then confused.
RainbowDash flapped her wings and hovered above the crowd, “ok, what’s going on here?” She said as she looked around, trying to spot some sort of explanation. And then an explanation occurred, in the form of a giant poof of smoke that smelled like dandelions for some reason. The smoke cleared and suddenly a stage was sitting in front of them with Discord striking a dramatic pose in the middle of it.
“Guess what? I’m back! Isn’t it wonderful!” Discord said, striking another pose. “Now who’s ready for some CHAOS.”
However, before he or anypony could do anything, a new voice spoke up. It sounded like Discord, yet somehow not, almost like it was a little softer or something. “Now now Discord, were just here for the announcement.” Then to the utter confusion and horror of every pony present, another Discord walked out from behind the first. Though this one didn’t have a beard for some unknown reason.
“Well will you look at that,” Discord said. Then the two of them did something nopony could have prepared for. They started singing.
[D1] "Isn't this a sight to see, not one but two of me!" [D2] "And what we are here to do you see, is to spread a little bit of chaos! [Both] “So let the laughter in. Oh what's the point of life if it's all just dull and grim." [D1] "You all like clowns don't you know, so why do you hate me so? After all, I'm the biggest clown of them a-ll!"
Discord spun around turning to three times his size and was suddenly wearing an extremely outlandish clown outfit.
[D2] "Not so fast there Discord one, you'll have them all on the run! And besides, as anyone can see you're not vary big at a-ll!"
The second Discord held the first one, who was now only afew inches tall, up in the air on their claw. The audience blinked and shook their heads a little in confusion as their minds tried to process the what and how of what had just happened. But before they could even start the first Discord was back to normal size and they continued to sing, this time in unison.
[both] “So come one and all! Have some cotton candy, chocolate milk, or just some pasta for your teeth!”
“We’re not here to cause harm, we’re just here to have some fun. And fun and joy we’ll spread around before these days are done!”
With that they both snapped their fingers. Carts filled with cotton candy, jugs of milk, and even pasta appeared in a flash.
RainbowDash stared at the ridiculous amount of stuff that had just appeared out of nowhere. “What the, what are you-“ she looked up to address Discord but found that him and his copy had simply vanished along with the stage.
“Pinkie stop that! He could have done something to it and is trying trick us!” Twilight yelled as the party pony bounced over and started eating the cotton candy.
Pinkie giggled as she looked back at Twilight, “that’s silly Twilight, the second Discord said they were here just for an announcement, and he didn’t do anything to the chocolate rain or the cotton candy clouds when he first got free, so why now? He’s probably just building up to something really big or whatever.”
“He’s the spirit of chaos! Who knows what plans he could have thought up in just- mmmmf!” Before she could finish her sentence, Pinkie made a few quick bounces over to her and stuffed some cotton candy in her mouth. “Aw come on Twilight, it’s fine! I know my candy, and there is absa-tootly nothing wrong with it!” As Twilight coughed and tried to spit out the fluffy candy, Pinkie took another bite and got a thoughtful expression on her face, “actually, his is better then mine! Remind me to ask him for the recipe next time!”
Twilight just stared.
“It just doesn’t feel right. It’s like we’d just barely started before we had to leave!” The two Discords were floating high above Canterlot looking down at the large group of confused ponies that were now slowly dispersing and trying to find their way home after the odd performance.
The second Discord clapped their paw and claw together, transforming back into Fluttershy. “But that’s the point you see,” She said as she straightened out her frazzled hair (her shapeshifting still wasn’t perfect). “Remember, we’re trying to cause “a bit” of chaos. Just enough to leave everypony confused, yet entertained. And besides,” she gave Discord a wink, “now since they’re expecting us to cause chaos, we can do something really unexpected.”
Discord raised a eyebrow, “what would ever require them to be expecting chaos to be really-“ he paused for a moment before giving he a pained look, “please don’t tell me it’s something boring!”
“Only in appearance,” Fluttershy stated. Then she smiled, “somepony once said that if you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. And RainbowDash dose like using sneeze powder.”
Discord smiled, then grinned, “while don’t want to admit it, something tells me this could actually be a bit fun.”
Fluttershy gave him a nod, “that’s exactly what I’m hoping for!” She then realized that she had said something similar once before. “Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn out like the Galla, though judging from the nature of what we’re doing, perhaps it would be better if it did! But just a little.”
As they both shared a chuckle at that little reference to, as Discord put it, “a wonderfully chaotic time”, Fluttershy couldn’t help but think about how much bolder she’d gotten since Discord had taught her magic. There was no way she could do anything as herself, but being disguised really made it so much easier! And perhaps, even a bit fun.
Fluttershy didn’t usually like pranks, but she knew that Discord would. And she was trying to show him that causing smaller amounts of chaos could be a lot of fun if he just had somepony to do it alongside as well as enjoy it with. Kind of like Pinkie and RainbowDash now that she thought about it.
On the subject of RainbowDash, their next little escapade was going to be aimed at the weather pony. The problem was that Discord didn’t want to pull one over on just RainbowDash, but eventually they came up with a plan that would suit them both. And though it wasn’t anything amazing, she hoped it would do.
It was two days after the unusual events in Canterlot. Fluttershy had awoken with a smile, humming to herself as she walked to her kitchen to make herself a quick dandelion sandwich. After she was done eating, she checked on her animals then opened her door and stepped outside, ready to head into town.
Fluttershy paused when she saw the bouquet of flowers sitting right outside her door. “Right on time,” she thought as she put on a confused expression, making sure to hide her smile. There probably wasn’t anypony around, but better to be safe then sorry.
The flowers were honestly quite beautiful and arranged in a lovely way. Fluttershy herself had spent a few hours the day before to make sure they were just so.
There was a note attached to the flowers, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but chuckle a little when she opened it and read what it said.
“To the kindly coo-coo mare, who really needs to lighten up and have some fun once in a while.” “Sincerely, D&D”
Discord had decided to sign them “D&D”, which Fluttershy had originally a thought stood for “Discord and Discord” (referencing their antics in Canterlot), but according to him while that was true it also stood for something else, though apparently she just, “wouldn’t get the reference,” and it, “wasn’t very interesting anyway.”
Fluttershy took a deep sniff from the flowers, which had quite the lovely smell! Though that was of course, the plan.
“Ah, ahhh chooo!” *pop pop pop* She rubbed her nose as she felt another sneeze coming on. “Here we go,” She thought, as she walked into town sneezing bubbles.
RainbowDash was not having a good time. She had been cloud busting, and thinking she was done she had been about to leave when she saw a cloud she’d somehow missed. Annoyed that she’d somehow missed one, RainbowDash had dived bombed it. And now she was sneezing bubbles.
The cloud hadn’t felt right when she’d blasted through it, like it was more of a powder instead of the usual fluffiness. And RainbowDash bet she knew who was behind that! Especially since a note had been somehow hidden in the “cloud” which read.
“To the crazy adrenaline loving weather pony of Onypay-illevay.” “Sincerely, D&D.”
“Onypay? illevay? What dose that e- even- Ahhh AH CHOOO!” *pop pop pop pop pop*
RainbowDash inched her muzzle, “this must be another stupid riddle of Discord’s.” “Ah choo!” *pop pop pop* “I’d better show this to Twilight. I guess being an egghead dose have some advantages.” And with that thought she took off flying towards the Golden Oak Library.
Twenty minutes later five of the main six were gathered in the library, all of them still sneezing bubbles. Rarity hadn’t shown up yet but they figured it was only a matter of time.
“To the stubbornish apple mad mare.” “Sincerely, D&D.”
“Ah Choo!” *pop pop*
“To the only sane pony of the elements. Keep up the good work.” “Sincerely D&D.”
“Eha, wa chooo!” *poppoppoppop*
“To miss nerd pony. You should really get out more, you’re likely to get a paper cut one of these dah daaaa Ah choo!” *POP* “days. Sincerely D&D.”
Twilight finally finished reading the notes that were spread out on her table, the intensity of her sneezing being sporadic. RainbowDash spoke up immediately once she was done, still being very annoyed by Discord’s antics, “so, any idea what he’s u- ah- Ah choo!” *pop pop* “up to now? And what dose my note even mean?!”
Twilight looked over at the note RainbowDash had received, “Onypay-illevay means Ponyville, it’s just an odd way of writing that involves sometimes rearranging the beginnings and endings of words and making every word end in a “ay” or “yay” sound,” she got an annoyed look on her face, “however he spelled Ponyville as two separate words! Couldn’t he at least have done a little research!”
Fluttershy watched as her friends tried to figure out what in Equestria Discord was up to. Little did they know that the main cause of all this was sitting quietly only a few feet away from them. Sure she’d told Discord he could write whatever he wanted on the notes, but the idea had been her’s. Discord had thought her plan was a little underwhelming, but had decided to go along with it because she “needed the practice”.
“Wait a minute!” Pinkie yelled, getting everyone’s attention, “if we’re all here because we all got thes- th- Ah Choo!” *popopoppopopop* “these notes with bubbly sneezing power on them, then where is Rarity?”
There was a moment of silence before RainbowDash spoke up, “we gotta get to the boutique!” And with that she flew though the door in a multi colored blur.
“RainbowDash wait!” Twilight called, but realized she was to late and her friend was already long gone. She sighed before starting to trot out the door herself, “she’s right, we- Ah choo!” *pop popop pop* “should probably check on Rarity. But she really shouldn’t go off by herself like that with Discord being involved in all this.” Everypony followed her out, Fluttershy taking up the rear as they stepped over Twilight’s now shattered door.
As soon as they were a little ways from the library Fluttershy glanced back and gave a flick of her tail. Hiding a small smile she continued trotting behind her friends. Twilight’s door was now reconstructed, but it now had a giant door knocker on it in the shape of Discord’s head, minus the beard of course as she didn’t have one when she made herself look like Discord.
Upon reaching Rarity’s boutique they found an annoyed looking RainbowDash and a worried looking Rarity who was holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers with an equally beautiful note attached to it in her magic.
“RainbowDash told me what’s going on,” Rarity informed them once they had trotted up, “I’m terribly sorry to hear about everypony’s condition, but I’ve been smelling these flowers all morning and haven’t had even the tiniest sniffle.”
“Not only that,” RainbowDash interjected, “listen to this!” Grabbing the bouquet from Rarity’s magic she sneezed again and began to read the note. “Ah-choo!” *pop pop* “To the wonderous fashionista of Ponyville. We thought you might like some ordinary flowers, as we know you’ve probably become a little weary of them due to a certain sneezing powder incident, so rest assured that nothing was done to these other then a bit of magic to help enhance the smell.” “Sincerely, D&D.”
Fluttershy smiled a little as RainbowDash continued. “Seriously, he stole my prank! You’d think the lord of chaos could come up with something better.” Twilight looked around, hoping to spot something out of the ordinary, “well I doubt this is all, it’s probably just a distraction from whatever he’s actually planning. So we’d better keep an eye out for anything that looks odd.”
As her friends kept talking and sneezing, Fluttershy’s expression became worried. Everypony assumed it was because of the Discord situation, and they were right, but for completely the wrong reason. RainbowDash was right, Discord could have done better, and even though he’d agreed to her plan there was no way he would be pleased with the current outcome.
Things weren’t going as well as Fluttershy had hoped ether, she didn’t know why she thought this had been a good enough idea, but what she did know was that things couldn’t stay the way they were! Hiding her newfound determination, Fluttershy checked to make sure no pony was looking, then she gave the ground a firm tap with her back hoof, letting lose her full power into causing the first most random idea that came to her.
A moment passed, then a coconut landed squarely on RainbowDash’s head before making a “sproing!” noise and bouncing off harmlessly. At the same time the coconut landed on her head Dash gave a giant sneeze, producing a large amount of bubbles that spelled “The Sneezels”. Everypony just stared at the coconut as it finished bouncing along the ground, coming to a stop a short distance away. “Well that was weird” RainbowDash commented, “but at least I don’t feel like sneezing anymore.” Twilight looked at her, “wait, are you saying that coconut stopped the-oof!” Another coconut dropped and landed on Twilight’s head causing her to sneeze out “The Sneezels”. Then another coconut dropped, and another, and another, and before long it was full on raining bouncing coconuts.
Everypony stared at the chaos around them after they’d all been hit on the head and subsequently stopped sneezing as well, the coconuts turning into bubbles after sitting on the ground for a few seconds. Pinkie was the only one who seemed unaffected, bouncing around laughing as she played in the bubbles that were rising into the air from the dissipating fruits/nuts (pony scientists still couldn’t make up their minds on which they were).
Fluttershy’s original plan was to make Rarity’s flowers cure the sneezing, her being the one to sniff them and “discover” this, if nopony else did. In hindsight that being the end of things for the day was rather dull, at least for what she needed to accomplish. On second thought, why had Discord even agreed to her idea in the first place?
As they watched, some foals started playing around as well, bouncing the coconuts off their heads and back and fourth between each other until they burst in a shower of multi colored shimmering bubbles, causing the foals to laugh as they played. Several ponies looked worried, but a few actually joined in, figuring that wail it was kinda weird it wasn’t as crazy as Pinkie’s “Crazy Day” party (a holiday she had made up herself).
Suddenly Rainbow Dash yelled in surprise as a giant bubble swept her up inside of it and swiftly carried her off through the air, the five ponies left barely had time to react before the same happened to them. Pinkie was the only one who seemed to actually enjoy it as Rarity was brought back inside her boutique and the rest were also quickly carried to their respective homes where a note would be waiting for them which read, “That’s all folks” with a picture of a tiny Fluttercord (what Fluttershy had taken to mentally calling her Discord form with the higher voice and no beard) in the corner winking and giving a claw up. She didn’t know why, but she’d found it a little fun to leave a tiny hint like that, kind of like how Discord had told them where the Elements were without actually telling them where the Elements were.
Fluttershy’s bubble zinged through the air, but instead of bringing her home it dropped down and zipped into a back alley where she quickly tapped her hooves together and vanished before anypony could see her.
Fluttershy appeared on a cloud made of coconut flakes next to Discord, who was munching on it while looking down at the ponies playing in Fluttershy’s chaos. “Congratulations! You passed!” He said as he stuck a gold sticker to her chest that read ‘Congratulations Chaos Graduate’. “I knew you could do it.”
Fluttershy blinked, “um, thank you but, what did I pass?”
Discord set a green army helmet on his head, “basic chaos. In other words you went out and completed the mission without me helping in the slightest. You also added in something that had no place, was completely unplanned, and in no way made sense being combined with the notes and the bubble sneezing powder. Wail adding all that stuff won’t always be necessary, being able to improvise like that shows you are worthy of that sticker on your chest. I salute you my dear.” Fluttershy returned the salute, “thank you sir, I will try my best to be worthy of such an honor.” She held the salute for a few seconds before she started to laugh (though her laugh was closer to a chuckle) before flopping onto the cloud looking down at the ponies below, “I’m so glad things worked out this time.”
Discord didn’t want to admit it, but he was actually a little bit jealous of fluttershy’s accomplishment. She had managed to get some ponies to enjoy the chaos she’d caused, and while he tried to convince himself he should feel proud because he was the one who’d taught her, or that he shouldn’t even care at all, it was still bugging him, so he just shoved it aside to deal with later.
“Discord” Fluttershy spoke up, “if something’s on your mind you shouldn’t just shove it aside like that. If it’s something you’d like to talk about-“ Discord cut her off with a wave of his paw, “I’ll do what I want, and it’s nothing important anyway. Now, what say we plan out how we’re next going to liven up the lives of these little ponies.”
Fluttershy gave a small smile, “I may have a few ideas, I don’t know how they’ll turn out, but I guess we’ll just have to roll with whatever happens won’t we.” “Exactly right” Discord responded as Fluttershy looked back down at the ponies playing in the now dwindling coconut storm.
She took a bite of their coconut cloud and chewed a few times before swallowing, “mmmmmm, cabbage flavored.”
Fluttershy hummed a cheerful tune as she trotted into Ponyville, saddlebags on her back and ready to do some grocery shopping. Trotting over to AppleJack’s stall in the market she started to pick some things out.
“Good morning AppleJack! I just need to get some groceries quick and- oh my! Those pink ones look lovely! Can I get a bag full of those?”
AppleJack stared at Fluttershy for a second before responding, “uh, Fluttershy, you did notice Discord turned my entire crop into brussle sprouts right.”
Indeed, AppleJack’s entire apple cart was filled with brussle sprouts of every bright color imaginable. There were pink sprouts, blue sprouts, orange sprouts, yellow sprouts, tan sprouts, green sprouts, even rainbow sprouts! And a myriad of other colors. Though what really confused AppleJack was the fact that they were all neatly sorted out.
Fluttershy nodded, “I knew it must be something like that, but at least brussle sprouts taste good and are good for you, and they look pretty to! I mean, it could be worse right?”
AppleJack shuddered, “Tell that to Pinkie, poor pony thought they we’re candy, and before ah could stop her she took a whole mouthful, last ah herd she was hiding up in her room. . . Also, um, not many ponies actually like brussle sprouts.”
Fluttershy blinked, “they don’t? But they taste so wonderful! Ponies really don’t like them?”
AppleJack shrugged, “well ah personally don’t think they’re so bad, ah just, yah know, prefer apples. But some ponies just can’t stand em.”
“Oh, oh my,” Fluttershy held a hoof up to her mouth realizing the mistake she’d made, then quickly scooped some of the brussle sprouts into her saddle bags before paying AppleJack and quickly trotting back towards her home, “sorry, but um, I need to get going.”
AppleJack just shook her head. Fluttershy was the type of pony to feel bad about something even if it wasn’t her fault. She’d probably been thinking that Discord’s most recent prank was actually kind of nice until AppleJack had burst her bubble by letting her know that most ponies didn’t really like brussle sprouts. Poor lass was probably upset even though she had nothing to do with what the spirit of chaos decided to mess around with.
Of course, AppleJack had no way of knowing that she was only partly right.
Fluttershy waited until she was a little ways from Ponyville before making sure no creature was watching then walking in a full circle around a tree and laying down on a cloud next to Discord high above the town where she let out a tired sigh.
Discord raised an eyebrow, “something wrong?”
Fluttershy flopped onto the cloud and buried her face in it, “oh you know exactly what’s wrong. You were practically hovering over me the entire time I was in town.”
Discord blinked in surprise, he didn’t think she’d actually notice as he hadn’t actually physically been there, only his mind had been floating around behind her, and for her to notice him was quite a feat, though he wasn’t going to admit that.
Discord picked Fluttershy up, popping her head out of the cloud and set her down facing him. “Fluttershy, do you think that something exists in this world that every single different creature likes? No, there isn’t. You’ll always be able to find somepony who doesn’t like what you do no matter how careful you are or how much you think something over. Now I personally just don’t care what ponies think, but something tells me that won’t do for you. And wail I’ve never tried it myself, I have been around long enough to know that you’ll never please everyone no matter what you do.” Discord waved his paw around in the air giving a slight roll of his eye’s, “Also don’t dwell on the past because you can’t change it and all that stuff.” He then clapped his paw and claw together with a grin, “now let’s forget about all this and start focusing on what you’re going to do next, what do ya say!”
Fluttershy looked at him and blinked, she had expected Discord to wave it off and tell her not to worry so much about what other ponies thought, but he’d actually been a little supportive, in his own way. “I-. . . You’re right, but I can still make things at least a little better,” clapping her hooves together she released a spark of magic, “there we go, now the different colors will at least taste different, aside from the rainbow ones, I left those plain. Oh and Discord, thank you.”
Discord raised his other eyebrow a little higher then the first, “thank me? What for?”
“Well, I had thought turning all the food into brussle sprouts was a good idea, it would be a little crazy and confusing but not something anypony would be to upset about because they taste good, but you saw how that turned out. I was just feeling a bit down because I made a mistake, especially after you made a big deal out of me succeeding last time. However you helped me see that I should put that behind me and focus on what’s to come. So that’s why I’m thanking you, because I needed somecreature to tell me what you did. Also you’re actually quite easy to talk to, and it’s been a long time since I’ve just been able to talk like this, so that’s another thing I’m thankful for.”
Discord paused for a moment, no one had ever thanked him for anything, not that he ever did anything for anycreature other then himself. But still getting thanked for something felt, how would he describe it, odd? Yes, it felt odd. “Well you’re welcome,” he responded waving his claw as if was nothing, “I’ve lived for so long it only stands to reason I’d be a great conversationalist. After all, it’s not like chaos is the only thing I’m good at.”
Fluttershy felt her curiosity peaked at Discords words, “really? I’m sorry, I was under the impression you used your magic for everything, though if you don’t mind I’d love to hear about what else you can do.”
Discord, who loved talking about himself, was quick to oblige. “Well for starters I know how to dance, and not just a couple of dances mind you, I know how to Polka, Square dance, Brake dance, Rhumba, Tango, Waltz, Pasodoble, Cakewalk, Cha-cha, Pony, Frug, Turkey trot, and a few others I picked up here and there. I also know how to bake believe it or not, I’m quite fond of things like cakes and pies, as well as-. . . What’s so funny?”
Fluttershy, who had been having a hard time holding in her laughter, had finally given in and started giggling. After taking a moment to calm down she finally responded, “I’m sorry, it’s just, imagining you dancing is just so, so funny! And I never imagined you would know how to waltz of all things! Oh, oh my!”
Fluttershy once again started giggling despite her efforts to hold it in. Discord just rolled his eye’s, “well for a few years watching ponies try and learn how to dance was basically one of the only forms of entertainment I had, so I learned how to just to prove I was better then them, and then learning a new dance every once in awhile became a thing I did to stave off boredom. Being turned to stone can make a creature do a lot of things they wouldn’t normally do.”
Discord noticed Fluttershy had stopped laughing and looked down at her. Not only had she stopped laughing, but she also had a hoof over her mouth with a worried look on her face. “Oh now you cut that out,” Discord said, “I know exactly what you’re thinking, it go’s something like “oh my! I shouldn’t have laughed about something that happened wail he was turned to stone! Oh dear oh my!” Just stop it. In fact, let’s fix this right now, I want you to promise me that you won’t keep getting all mopey every time me being turned to stone comes up, got that?”
To Discord’s surprise, Fluttershy actually cracked a bit of a smile, “you’re right, that was basically what was going through my head. And if it doesn’t bother you then I guess I can promise to try, it just, well it might take me a bit, so I can’t promise more then that. Oh and thank you, again.”
Discord gave her a look, “you know, I get the feeling you sometimes say “thank you” just because you like how it sounds.”
Fluttershy gave a small chuckle, “oh I do actually! Like how it sounds I mean.” She wasn’t about to admit to standing in front of a mirror practicing one-hundred and one ways of saying thank you. “A-anyway we got a bit off topic, and I think today could use one last finishing touch.”
Discord raised his first eyebrow again, “oh? What do you have in mind?”
“Well first you should probably return your eyebrow’s to their proper places, otherwise they might fly away again and I’m not helping you catch them this time. Secondly,” there was a flash of magic as Fluttershy turned into her Draconequus form and held out her paw, “would you care to join me for a dance.”
No-pony was really sure when the mysterious yet lively music had started, and somehow even less knew when the two Discords appeared and started doing the polka and other such dances in the middle of the town square. The first was wearing a bright orange suit and tie with a white shirt and an extremely long oval brimmed orange hat of the same color that had giant bright pink feathers poking out of one side. The second Discord had no beard and was wearing a bright yellow dress with white trim and a sun hat to match, which ponies had to admit looked quite lovely despite it’s occupant.
AppleJack was sitting in front of a house with her cart obviously trying to ignore the duo while tasting different multi colored brussle sprouts. Every few moments she would shift her position or unconsciously start tapping one of her legs to the lively music before noticing and making herself stop, making it obvious to those who knew her (which was most of the town) that she was having a hard time not joining in on the dancing.
Rarity and the three flower trio were sitting at a table with score cards for some reason, and by the looks on their faces they weren’t really sure why they were there ether. But Rarity being Rarity was still doing her best to hold up different score cards depending on how she thought the dancers were doing, the flower trio deciding to just follow her lead.
As soon as RainbowDash had noticed Discord she had tried to intervene, resulting in her hanging from a cloud by a string that was tide around her middle. She had her front legs folded and an annoyed look on her face as her mane and tail reflected the sunlight around the town square in beams of rainbow light.
Pinkie. . . Was being Pinkie. Her party sense had gone off and gotten her to stop hiding under her bed, and once she’d herd that Discord had at least fixed the brussle sprouts flavor she’d been willing to forgive that incident and had joined in with the dancing, grabbing a random pony from the onlookers as a dance partner every once in awhile before spinning them back into the growing crowd and grabbing a new one.
This was the scene Twilight had walked up on. She didn’t see Fluttershy anywhere, which wasn’t surprising at all.
Twilight wasn’t sure what to do, she was sure Discord had a some sort of twisted bigger plan in what he had been doing, but she had no idea as to what it could be, and at the moment he didn’t seem to be harming anypony. . . Aside from maybe RainbowDash, but knowing her she’d probably done something reckless and her situation was most likely as much her fault as it was Discord’s.
Walking over to AppleJack, Twilight sat down next to her. “So, what exactly is going on?” She asked, not at all surprised by AppleJack’s response, “Dash was bein reckless, ah have no idea when Rarity showed up or how they got there, Pinkie is bein Pinkie, and Discord is playen every song I enjoy dancing to! It’s all drivin me crazy Twilight, it’s all drivin me absolutely crazy!” AppleJack finished and pulled her hat down over her eye’s with both hooves and let her head fall against the side of her cart.
Twilight had known AppleJack for long enough and seen her at enough of Pinkie’s party’s that she knew how much the orange earth pony liked a good tune and dance, but she hadn’t thought it was quite this extreme. “AppleJack, do you know if Discord’s done anything to you? Or what he might have done to any other pony?”
AppleJack looked to the sky and threw up her hooves. “That’s what’s drivin me crazy! As far as ah can tell he an’t done nothin! Aside from what he did ta Dash, but honestly she was kinda askin for it. But aside from that, nothin! Ah just can’t figure out what he’s up to!” And with that AppleJack dropped her hooves and head back down onto her cart.
Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought, so far she’d been trying to figure out what big plan Discord had, but what if he didn’t have one? With this in mind she thought back over the few things he’d done after his disappearing for a week and quickly came to a conclusion that was so obvious she wanted to smack herself for not thinking of it earlier. “He’s messing with us is what he’s doing. He knew we’d try and figure out what he’s up to so he’s just doing random things for no other reason then to mess with us! Well that and probably to get some some new ideas for when he tries to spread total chaos again.” Twilight grabbed AppleJack’s hoof and pulled her up, “anyway come on, we’re not going to let him get to us that easily!”
AppleJack gave Twilight a worried look, just now noticing the dark circles under her friends eye’s which indicated that once again Twilight had stayed up far to late with her books. “Uh, Twi? You feelin all right? You look a might but tired.”
“Oh I’m feeling fine, in fact I’m feeling great!” Twilight smiled, it was true, she did feel great! Twilight was sure she’d finally figured out why Discord had stopped so suddenly and started just doing random little things here and there! Combine that behavior with the fact that he’d disappeared for a week and things finally made sense. It wasn’t like Discord had been conscious during his time as a statue, so at some point he’d realized that many years had passed and had decided to get some new ideas before spreading total chaos across Equestria, so he’d taken a week off to look around, then started trying out his ideas while simultaneously trying to mess with her and her friends. Well if he was going to mess with them, they were going to mess with him right back!
Twilight began trotting towards the dancing Discord’s and Pinkie. “Grab yourself a partner AJ, we’re joining the dance!”
As AppleJack watched her trot away, Twilight grabbed one of the Royal guards Celestia had sent to keep an eye on things after Discord’s first appearance in town with her magic and a “come here you! We’re dancing!” The poor young stallion seemed quite embarrassed and had a worried look on his face that simply read ‘this was not in my job description!’ yet he respectfully allowed Twilight to pull him into the dancing area.
Twilight for her part may or may not have been effected by lack of sleep and excessive over thinking about what Discord’s plans might be, though if anypony had asked her she would have insisted that she was thinking just as clear as she always did.
“Come on Rainbow! You can’t stay up there all day! I know you can dance, so show Discord who he’s messing with!” Twilight teleported RainbowDash out of the string she was hanging from down to the ground then used another teleportation spell to drop a surprised Thunderlane on top of her. Thunderlane was fast, so he would probably be able to keep up with Dash.
What Twilight failed to notice was the flick of Discord’s tail and the string that appeared tying RainbowDash and Thunderlane together.
Fluttershy raised her eyebrow and gave Discord a look. There was a flicker in the air around them as Discord created a bubble of silence before responding, “what? You didn’t think I was going to let you have all the fun did you? The only thing I’ve got to do all day was tie your friend to a cloud, you even made her hair all flashy before I was able to add improvements of my own.”
“I actually thought she might like the look because she likes being flashy.” Fluttershy admitted, “it only seemed to make her more upset though.” She sighed, “it probably would have been better to do that to Rarity’s mane, she enjoys it when she looks more eye catching.”
Discord gave a nod, “exactly, which is why you’re still learning. You may have passed the basics, but there is still much to learn, even I have learned something new just today! Watching you work, I realized that you have been trying to copy me in a minimal sort of way, but I’ve begun to think that you have your own style of chaos, perhaps you should take a bit of time to consider what that might be.”
Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, seeming to concentrate on the fast paced dance. “Ok I’m done, and you know what Discord? You were right, I’m not good at the same type of chaos as you. I don’t like to upset ponies by doing things to them, but I’m fine with doing things to myself, and I’ve found I don’t really mind doing something a little crazy in public as long as I’m disguised as another you. Um, no offense.”
Discord chuckled, “personally I take that as a compliment.” He blinked and looked at their surroundings, “when did we get up on this cloud?”
Fluttershy did a twirl under Discord’s paw then let go while stepping back with a small bow that was returned by Discord, ending their dance. “Just a moment ago.” She tilted her head in confusion, “You didn’t notice?”
Discord paused for a moment, then he began to chuckle, then he began to laugh, “so that’s what it feels like! Well done my dear! Anyhow it seems like Celestia decided to drop the sun again so I think I’ll turn in early and let you come up with what to do next on your own, have fun!” And with that he disappeared in a flash leaving Fluttershy alone on the cloud.
Turning back into her original form and laying down Fluttershy slowly shook her head and smiled as she got comfortable on the cloud. Looking down at the town she could see that the dance party was still going on, and that somepony (probably Pinkie) had set up a music box to replace the magic music she had caused as it was fading along with the sunlight.
Twilight was still dragging the poor guard around the dance area, though he was doing a remarkable job keeping up with the sleep deprived unicorn.
AppleJack had gathered up a small group of ponies and begun to do square dancing with Granny Smith being the caller for the group.
The flower trio had been asked to dance, and Rarity was simply relaxing by the snack table drinking a glass of punch. The table was most likely Pinkie’s doing as well, judging from the amount of sweets that decorated it’s top and the fact that it hadn’t been there a little while ago.
RainbowDash and Thunderlane were sitting on a bench trying to get the string off of themselves. With a flick from the tip of her wing Fluttershy made a scroll up roll from the string which read.
“This string will disappear at midnight.” “Discord&Co.”
RainbowDash looked at Thunderlane who shrugged, then Dash went back to trying to undo the string making Fluttershy sigh and teleport them into the dance area where they were immediately grabbed by Pinkie and pulled into a dance.
Fluttershy smiled, seeing her work was done for the day. She got up and stepped out from behind a tree after checking that no-creature was watching and began to make her way home. She wasn’t sure if she had been meant to notice, but wail she didn’t think he’d mention to be, Discord had actually been rather nice today, she had felt little touches of his magic subtlety helping her with her dancing. She new how to dance, but had always been a little to embarrassed to actually dance with a partner and so had no practice doing so.
Eventually Fluttershy started to think a bit more about what exactly her brand of chaos would be. Doing goofy things around Equestria could be fun, but she didn’t want to do just that. What she wanted to do is help ponies, but combining that and chaos could end up being a little difficult. She tried to think about who might be able to benefit from a bit of chaos. There was Celestia, but she wasn’t sure if Celestia was the best pony to start with. She should probably start with somepony she knew a bit better, but Ponyville didn’t really have any ponies in need of the type of help that could use the powers of chaos, there was just some small arguments, little misunderstandings and wail she hadn’t seen it herself she’d herd about the occasional bit of b-. . . Suddenly Fluttershy had an idea. She ran the rest of the way home, checked on her animals, then went to her room to lay down. After leaving a magic copy of herself behind to make it look like she was asleep she teleported to a cloud a ways outside of Ponyville and took a breath.
“Discord!” There was a few things she needed to ask the draconiquis before she could go through with what she wanted to do.
