Author's Note

I have done some editing tell me if I have missed anything.

Chapter 1

Discord’s eyes snapped opened. Quickly, he sat bolt upright. A cold sweat had accumulated on his back. Startled and breathing heavily, he looked about the dark surroundings of his room. For a second he was disoriented by the darkness, then, letting out a sigh of relief as reality set in and laying his head back down on his pillow, his breathing returned to normal.

“A dream," he murmured, "only a dream, nothing to get concerned about…. right?”

Discord closed his eyes and tried to reassure himself. He might have succeeded if this specific dream had not been a recurring event for the past month.

Discord tried to get the sheets adjusted to be more comfortable, as he usually did after the dream. He could not help but wonder why he was so scared of this dream.

No, not scared! He was the Lord of Chaos! Of course, he was not scared of a simple dream, something that could not hurt him. He was just……. shocked. Yeah, that was it! He was shocked that this dream kept on recurring. That was all!

Discord gave up on trying to get comfortable. He realized he would never get to sleep after that dream. He got out of bed and snapped his fingers to draw back the curtains. Early morning sunlight came through the windows and illuminated his room, revealing to him the residual effects of his dream.

Discord let out a groan at his new surroundings. His once chaotic room with floating furniture, ever changing coloured floor, concave mirror and bed attached to the ceiling, was now normal. Everything had reverted itself to its normal, bland, state as if the Lord of Chaos, himself wasn't living here.

The first time this had happened he had thought that Celestia or Luna had turned his room back to its normal state as a joke, or they had moved him to a different part of the castle. When he had confronted them about it, though, they had no idea what he was talking about. He had eventually put two and two together and figured that somehow his dream, or himself while he was dreaming, undid his chaotic magic.

Discord conjured a cuckoo clock to check the time: 7:50. He still had just over 2 hours before he had to go to the throne room to receive his duties for the day. He had a pretty good idea of what they were going to be.

He would have to go to the Canterlot museum and help provide security, cleanup, and anything else that the princesses wanted him do to help out with the Lunar Convergent Celebration.

Discord gave a sigh, “Being reformed can be such a drag sometimes."

He could not use his full magical potential for his own chaotic needs on a regular basis, and he got bossed around constantly by two prissy, pony princesses. In fact, the only constant and regular plus to being reformed was his reformer and best, closest friend, Fluttershy.

Discord sighed dreamily as a smile began to form on his face. His heart quickened its pace at the thought of her. Strangely, it had been doing that for a while now and it only seemed to happen when he thought of or was around Fluttershy, among other weird side effects.

He wondered if the dream and the irregular heart beat were linked somehow. He doubted it .

CUCKOO!!!!!

CUCKOO!!!!!

CUCKOO!!!!!

CUCKOO!!!!!

Discord's thoughts were interrupted by the cuckoo clock striking 8:00. He snapped his eagle talon making the clock vanish.

“Well, time for breakfast!”

Discord snapped his lion’s paw and a glass triangular table appeared in midair. He rubbed his mismatched hands together in anticipation,

“Now what to have, brain food or junk food?” he mused to himself, pulling his goat beard in thought. “Well, since I did eat the last few pages of that Daring Do book yesterday, I guess that means it's the noggin's turn for nutrition."

Discord snapped his eagle talon and a bowl full of paper with words beginning with the letter “A” appeared in it. Discord summoned a fork and sat down in midair at the triangular table. He was about to dig into his meal but then reconsidered.

“Well, while I am at it,"

He snapped his lions paw and the white marble floor changed into a checkerboard -like pattern, with multi -colored squares, which changed color at random periods of time. Discord's bed reattached to the ceiling now hanging upside down. The furniture started to float around and his dressing mirror turned convex.

“On second thought,” he said out loud, “I think concave.”

Another snap of his talons and the mirror formed into a concave shape.

The only thing that remained normal in Discord’s now chaotic room was a picture of Fluttershy and himself on a little table floating next to his bed.

Satisfied with the remodeling for the day, Discord dug into his breakfast.

After eating all of the “A” section of the dictionary, Discord summoned a pink crazy straw and sucked up the bowl like it was a liquid. Once the bowl had disappeared, he slurped up the pink swirly straw as well, like a strand of spaghetti.

"That handles the dishes," He thought to himself.

Discord snapped his lion’s paw and the triangle table disappeared.

Letting out another sigh, he lounged back in midair, putting his lion paw and eagle talon behind his head. He snapped his tail feathers, and a grandfather clock appeared.

The clock read 8:45. He still had an hour before he had to be in the throne room.

Casually, he floated over to the window, giving him a good view of the Canterlot Castle gardens. His eyes lazily wandered over the grounds and the pony gardeners walking around tending the plants or cleaning the statues. Discord’s eyes stopped wandering when they locked onto a familiar pedestal, and a shiver crawled up and down his back, as he looked at the spot where he had once stood frozen.

Whether the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna put his room in plain sight of the pedestal, as some sort joke or as a warning that if he ever reverted to his old chaotic ways, they would still have a spot in the gardens waiting for him, he had no idea .

The elements of harmony may be gone but he would not put it past Celestia and Luna to have a contingency plan that would revert him back to his sedentary life. There was also Twilight’s new rainbow power thing to think about, though it was still unclear to him if she was able to use it again.

Either way, Discord had no intention of reverting to his old chaotic ways. Not because he didn't like chaos, but because he did not want to hurt Fluttershy and his other friends ….again.

Discord's mind wandered back to the Tirek incident and how he betrayed all of Equestria. Worse than all that though, he had betrayed Fluttershy. The one pony that stood up for him and the only one that ever saw the good in him.

It had been months since his betrayal but he still felt the guilty sting of his actions. The image of Fluttershy in the cage, with tears running down her yellow cheeks, was still fresh in his mind. Knowing he was the reason for those tears filled him with so much pain that he knew it would never leave him and would forever serve as a reminder of what he could have lost.

Why have they forgiven me? Why has she forgiven me? The questions had plagued his mind constantly after his betrayal.

It was only on one of their get togethers that he got his answer, and when the strange new feelings for Fluttershy had started.

It was late in the afternoon on a green hill, littered with flowers, overlooking Twilight Sparkle's new castle. Discord had transported Fluttershy and himself to the spot to have their get together.

“Discord, is everything okay?” Fluttershy asked.

Discord tensed at Fluttershy's voice, but his eyes remained glued to the cup of tea he clasped in his mismatched hands.

“Hmmmm?” Discord said, pretending he hadn't heard the question.

“Is everything okay?” Fluttershy repeated. "You haven't been acting like yourself all day.”

Discord didn't respond. He just looked at his tea, thinking himself unworthy to gaze into the teal eyes of the pony in front of him. The reflection of the beast in the tea was the only thing he could look at, and he hated it .

“Fluttershy, can I ask you a question?” Discord asked in a soft voice.

“Of course, Discord, you can ask me anything, but can you ask your question while looking at me.” Fluttershy replied.

Discord slowly put down the cup and looked and the yellow pegasus properly, for the first time that day.

“How?” Discord asked.

Fluttershy's brows furrowed in confusion, “How what, Discord?”

“How can they forgive me? How can you forgive me, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy still had a confused look on her face, unsure of what Discord was talking about.

Discord turned away from Fluttershy, unable to look into her eyes any longer.

“I should be turned back to stone, locked up with Tirek, or at least banished from Equestria for what I did.”

Horror and realization dawned on Fluttershy at what Discord was talking about.

“Discord," she softly said.

Discord continued, not hearing Fluttershy.

“I helped Tirek in his attempt to take over Equestria, hurting so many ponies in the process." Discord's voice was rising in volume as he continued his rant.

“Discord," Fluttershy repeated a little louder.

“But the worst thing of all was that I hurt you, Fluttershy ” Discord said.

Time seemed to stop then. Nothing moved, and silence seemed to last an eternity.

“I hurt... you, Fluttershy," Discord repeated softly, “and all because I believed that I was under another imprisonment.”

Discord turned to face Fluttershy, looking into her teal eyes. Discord's face was a mask of full of woe. “But here we are, just having a picnic like nothing ever happened. I should be punished for what I've done. The ponies of Ponyville should despise me the most for all my actions just like the Canterlot snobs. But no... it’s the complete opposite. Most of the ponies of Ponyville now accept me, and the princesses have rewarded me with land so I can relieve my chaotic needs. Sure it's a wasteland, and I am supposed to turn everything back to normal when I am done, but I don’t deserve a thing.”

Discord turned away from Fluttershy not having the strength to look into her eyes.

“Ponies have called me a monster before, but I have never seen myself as one until now. A monster does not deserve to be forgiven, a monster shou-”

“Now, you stop using that word right now, Discord!!!” Fluttershy yelled, her usual quiet timid voice gone. “You're not a monster, Discord, and any pony that says otherwise does not know you at all.”

Discord turned to face Fluttershy again, startled at the change in her attitude .

“But..But.... Fluttershy how can you say that after what I did to you? ” Discord said, shock evident in his voice at what she was saying.

“You made a mistake, Discord. Everyone makes those, but that does not give you or anyone the right to call you a monster.” Her usual quiet voice returned.

“But Fluttershy, that mistake of mine hurt so many ponies… it hurt you," Discord repeated, in a whisper.

There was a moment of silence.

“Discord, I forgive you for what you did. Every pony forgives you for what you did.”

“But why or how can you, Fluttershy," Discord cried, “after what I did to you?”

Another moment of silence passed before Fluttershy spoke.

“You did hurt me, Discord ...when you betrayed us.” Fluttershy said.

Her eyes were misting up and Discord could see tears starting to form in them at the memory.

Discord felt his heart fall as Fluttershy said those words. He had closed his eyes trying to rid himself of the memory of her in the cage.

“But how did that make you feel, when you betrayed me... us?" She added that last word quickly as she wiped her face of the loose tears.

Discord opened his eyes and automatically said the first word that came to mind, "Regret... the minute I put you in that cage, Fluttershy, I regretted it. I couldn't even bear to see your magic be drained by Tirek an-.”

Discord was cut off by Fluttershy putting a hoof on his lips. A smile was forming on her face, which made his heart rise for some reason.

“I know you did. Do you know why I knew you regretted your decision, Discord, without you telling me?” Fluttershy asked.

Discord shook his head slightly, entranced by her radiant smile.
Fluttershy's smile grew and her eyes seemed to twinkle, which only made Discord's heart beat faster.

“When you said I was worth all the magic in Equestria, that's when I knew you regretted everything you did.” Fluttershy moved her hoof away from his lips. "Oh, and Discord, you're forgetting you helped us defeat Tirek, as much as you helped him.”

“How do you figure that, Fluttershy?” Discord asked, after finally finding his words.

“Well, you were the one that figured out what the keys were to open the box, and you were also the one that gave Twilight the final key. Though more importantly, I find, is that my friends consider you as one of their friends as well." Fluttershy finished.

“Even Rainbow Dash?” Discord asked.

“Even Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy replied.

“How about Angel?”

“Even..” she paused, “well, he might need some coaxing, but I am sure he'll come around."

Discord smiled, but it soon fell.

“I don’t know, Fluttershy. I still feel that I was let off too easy. What about that land the princesses awarded me? Seems to me like I am getting rewarded for negative behavior.”

“Discord, you should have received that land to spread your chaos in the first place. It was wrong of us to stop you from using your chaos magic. Chaos is a part of you and for us to stop you from using it was completely wrong of us.”

“I never felt like I needed to use my magic when I was with you, Fluttershy.” Discord quickly moved his head away. He could feel his cheeks going warm. Why had he said that?

Out of the corner of his eye, Discord could see Fluttershy blush as well, but her face was soon obscured by her mane, so any other expressions were lost behind a curtain of gossamer pink. An awkward silence overcame them before Fluttershy tentatively cleared her throat. Discord turned his head to the pegasus. Her mane had been cleared from her face.

“You said you thought you were getting let off too easy, but I don't think that's the case. The only pony that’s still being rough on you and still has not forgiven you for your actions is yourself, Discord," Fluttershy said.

“If you won't forgive yourself for what happened, it won't make a difference. Every pony in Equestria does. If you don't forgive yourself, you're doing a lot more harm to the ponies that are closest to you.”

Fluttershy took Discord’s paw in both of her hooves and looked Discord in the eye. Fluttershy’s teal eyes sparkled in the setting sun and Discord could feel his paw getting a bit sweaty and his heart getting warm for some odd reason.

“ I know it's not easy to forgive yourself, Discord.” Fluttershy said. “Believe me, when I hurt Pinkie Pie and Rarity, I shut myself away from the world because I felt so guilty about what I said to them. That only made things worse for myself. If Rarity and Pinkie Pie hadn't come back, I would still be in my cottage, locked away from the world, wallowing in my self pity.”

Discord had been listening to Fluttershy's words so intently, that he hadn't realized how close his face had gotten to hers. He was about to pull his head back, but then Fluttershy removed one of her hooves from his paw and placed it on his cheek. The act seemed to paralyze him and forced him to look into her teal eyes, not that he minded!

“I don't want this gloomy, moping Discord. I want the one I know," Fluttershy said, "the confident, chaotic, fun one that always makes me laugh. I want the Discord that I know back. I want the Discord that I lo-…”

There was a sudden pause as Fluttershy pulled herself away from him and seemed to find something very interesting in the grass which seemed to captivate her. Her mane had fallen and was now obscuring her face, but Discord could have sworn he had seen Fluttershy blush again.
“The Discord that I like, I want him back.” There was a pause, then Fluttershy turned to face him again. “I want him back, because it hurts me the longer he is away.”

She misses me? She misses the old me, the chaotic me. How is that even possible? Discord looked at Fluttershy. How was she possible? All of his life he had been persecuted because of his differences from society. In the end, it finally drove him to turn into what society viewed him as, a monster.

But this pegasus saw through his appearance and his past actions and found something in him that he never knew he possessed.

Discord absentmindedly put his claw over his heart, it seemed to have warmed up and increased in pace for some reason.

It was then he came to a conclusion. For her, for Fluttershy he would do it. He would do anything for her.

“Are you sure you want the old me back, Fluttershy? ” Discord inquired.

Fluttershy looked at Discord and nodded “Yes”.

Discord grinned.

“Well then..” Discord said as he stretched out his arm and snapped his fingers, a plane ticket
appeared in his eagle talon.

“Then consider the boring me on vacation," Discord said.

“He better be going on a permanent vacation!” Fluttershy giggled.

“If that is what you want my dear, then, you can be sure he is.”

Discord clicked his fingers and a ring of blue coloured clouds encircled the hill. Then, there was a rumbling sound that came from the clouds and caramel popcorn hailed around the two of them.

“Not cotton candy and chocolate milk?” Fluttershy asked.

“I felt like a change, you don't mind do you?”

Fluttershy’s smile seemed to brighten the whole field.

“No, I don't," she said.
The next thing Discord knew, he was in one of Fluttershy's embraces. Her nose was nuzzling into his fur. Discord, more than happily, wrapped his mismatched arms around Fluttershy, returning the hug tightly.

Fluttershy felt perfect in his arms, as though she always was meant to be apart of them, just like a piece fitting into place in a jigsaw puzzle. Discord closed his eyes, happily enjoying the fragrant smell of Fluttershy’s mane. He did not know how long the embrace lasted, a second, a minute, or an hour. He didn't care. All he knew was that he never wanted it to end.

He felt Fluttershy slowly pulling her arms back. Reluctantly, Discord did likewise. He felt Fluttershy move slightly so that her face was facing the side of Discord's head. He felt a pair of rose petal-like lips make contact with his cheek briefly. An electric shock seemed to go through Discord and he felt his cheek heat up at the spot where Fluttershy's lips had made contact.

Discord opened his eyes expecting to see Fluttershy sitting in front of him, but instead was greeted the sight of an angel. Her coat seemed to radiate a yellow glow in the setting sun, shining like that of a crystal pony. Her pink mane seemed to be flowing in a breeze which did not exist. A pair of dove like wings were furled at her sides and Discord started to wish that she would unfurl them so he might see their true beauty. Most striking of all were her teal eyes, that stared into his; they seemed to sparkle like that of stars in Luna's sky, and enticed him to come closer to the most beautiful mare that he had ever laid eyes on.

It was as though some spell had turned Fluttershy into the most beautiful creature to ever walk or fly in Equestra.

Did a spell turn Fluttershy into this? Discord thought, or I am that ignorant, that I did not see the most beautiful mare in Equestria.

Their gazing was interrupted by a few petals that had driffted into their line of sight.

Both turned at once to see where the petals had come from. They were surprised to see that the blue coloured clouds that had recently hailed caramel popcorn, had now turned snow white and red, yellow, pink, and white rose petals gently drifted down from the white clouds.

Discord was awestruck, not by the sight as much by the fact that he had not meant to change his clouds.

“It’s beautiful," Fluttershy said softly.

Discord turned his head back to Fluttershy. Her face was averted away from him, still looking at the clouds.

Some of the petals had landed on her mane, which only seemed to add to her beauty.

“Yes, you are.” Discord said softly.

“What was that, Discord?” Fluttershy said, as she focused on him.

“O.. Uhm..the clouds ….you're right ...they’re beautiful.." Discord quickly lied.

“O...I thought that...never mind," Fluttershy replied, looking back to the clouds.

Fluttershy's ears had fallen slightly and, was it his imagination, or was that disappointment in her voice?

He shook his head to rid himself of the idea. What would Fluttershy have to be disappointed about?
_____________________________________
The rest of that day, was spent as normal; well, as normal as Discord was accustomed to.
But for some reason, that day was one of the happiest he could remember, Perhaps because it had one happiest moments he could ever think of as well.

Himself, just holding her in his arms; the sweet scent of her luxurious pink mane in his nostrils.
Her soft lips on his cheek, Discord's paw absentmindedly went to the spot were Fluttershy had placed her kiss.

His heart seemed to turn into butterfly, just like the one that made up her cutie mark, simply by recalling the action.

“I should really get that checked out” he murmured to himself .

BONG!

BONG!

BONG!!

BONG!

Discord turned his head to look at the grandfather clock striking in the new hour.

He was a little shocked, he had completely forgotten that the clock was there.

Discord floated over to the clock. It read 9:00. He had one more hour before he had to be in the throne room.

“What to do? What to do?” he muttered to himself. “I could play a few pranks on the gardeners or guards or maybe I can go to my chaos grounds."

But he didn't really feel like doing any of that for some odd reason.
Discord’s face light up.

“I know," he said, snapping his fingers, as a light bulb appeared between his horn and antler for emphasis, of his bright idea ..

“I’ll write to Fluttershy.”

With that said he floated up to his bed. Snapping his fingers, a sheet of paper appeared along with an ink well. Then plucking one of his blue feathers from his wing to use as a quill, he proceeded to write.

Dear Fluttershy,

I know this letter might come as a little surprise seeing as how we are going to be seeing each other tomorrow, so I will try to make it brief.

The reason I am writing to you is just for the fun of it, as writing letters to you is the only source of enjoyment I am allowed to have on a regular basis by the two prissy pony princesses here, but I do enjoy writing letters to you just as much as I enjoy causing chaos. But both writing letters and causing chaos pale in comparison to when I am with you. I value that time above any other.

Anyway, I won't tell you all that has transpired since we last met or else I won't have anything surprising when I see you tomorrow.

With love,

Discord

Discord stopped writing and inspected the “with love”.

He had never composed a letter " with love" at the end of it.

Why did those simple words make him confused, and make him feel funny inside.

Could I be in love? Discord pushed that thought out of his head.

Impossible, he was the Lord of Chaos and Master of Disharmony, he could not be in love.

Then again, he used to think that way about friendship, and now he could not imagine living
without it, specifically Fluttershy's friendship.

Discord's heart felt like it did a somersault and tripled it's pace just by thinking of Fluttershy’s friendship.

He continued to stare at the word "love", totally oblivious to his chaotic surroundings. He did not even hear the grandfather clock striking in the new hour .

“Why is this a problem?” He finally said to himself.

Then something dawned on him, “Could.. could ….. I….be….. in ..love…with….Flutter-”

“DDDIIISSSSCCCCOOOORRRDDDD!!!!!!!”

His train of thought was interrupted by a familiar Princess of the Night's royal Canterlot voice.

“O what could they want already?” he mumbled in an irritated fashion.,

“It's not even time for me to be there yet” . He looked at grandfather clock at his bedside; the cloak read 10:15.

His eyes widened in surprise, “Wow, time flies when you are contemplating your writing!”

He turned the grand father clock into a green envelope and slid his note inside. He wrote on the envelope “To Fluttershy” and sealed it.

He then scratched his chin in thought. "Better send this by rush delivery if I want the letter to be there by the end of the day”

Discord produced another piece of paper from thin air, and folded it a few times, trying to make it into a paper airplane. Instead, he got an origami crane.

“It has wings at least," he mumbled.

He teleported to the window and breathed on the crane. It started to flap its wings and turn its paper head to Discord.

Discord handed it the green envelope, which it took in it’s paper beak.

“Take this to Fluttershy, she lives in Ponyville."The crane nodded and saluted with its left wing. It flew from Discord's hand and made for the window.

“Wait!” Discord cried “Let me…” The paper crane slammed into the window and slid down, “Open the window." He finished.

“Bird brain," he muttered to himself, “I knew I should've gone with the airplane." The crane did not seem to hear his words, or if it did, did not seem to care.

Discord opened the window. The paper crane flew up, stopped, turned to Discord did another salute and started flapping in the direction of Ponyville.

"Well... its a better flyer than the average mail mare." He thought to himself as he closed the window. “The sooner I get this day over with the sooner tomorrow starts, and I get to spend it with Fluttershy."

His heart, as usual, skipped a beat at the mention of her name.
“Maybe I should get this checked out sooner rather than later.” With that said, he teleported out of his bedroom.