Discord's Student

by MlpFluttershy

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Discord, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Fluttershy
Length: 5730

Discord is sick of ponies trying to reform him. To everyone's shock, he decides he needs to deform someone in order to satisfy his need for chaos. He decides on his "reformer" Fluttershy.

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.

Fluttershy has reformed Discord... or so she thought. Discord has a growing need to spread chaos, and no one knows why. He would never do this to his friends, especially Fluttershy, after the whole Tirek incident. Would he? Until someone finds out and a way to stop him, Fluttershy must learn the ways of chaos as his student.

Cover art made by the talented: Swirlstar the Dedraeb

Published 2014-12-28 16:40:04 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-18 19:24:09 UTC

Prologue: The Deal

Fluttershy was in the garden watering the flowers. She was completely unaware that Discord was watching her from a tree above.

"She is beautiful," he whispered to himself quietly. "If only she wasn't so innocent."

"Hello, Discord!" Fluttershy said. "What are you doing up there?"

"Oh... um nothing, my dear!" He yawned. "Just relaxing."

"In a tree?" Fluttershy asked.

"I am the Lord of Chaos. I can relax anywhere I like," Discord said.

Fluttershy giggled and looked up at Discord. His eyes met hers and he got lost in their teal gleam. They were a void that seemed to go on forever. "Discord are you okay?" Fluttershy's concerned voice asked, bringing him back to reality.

He snapped out of his daze and said, "Of course, dear Fluttershy. Now, I'd love to chat but I have some work to do with Tia. Being reformed and all has made me quite the helper, and of course Tia can't do anything on her own. Who knows what she'll want from me this time?"

With that, Discord snapped his fingers and was gone. The thing was though, Discord had no plans with Celestia. He was going off to think. He needed to find a way to corrupt Fluttershy. No, he needed a way to deform her.

Fluttershy woke up to the sound of running water. She looked down to see water rising up from the floor. Terrified for herself and her animals, she scrambled out of bed and yelled for her animals to follow her. Then, she flew out of her house with her animals trailing her. She took the animals and put them all in trees to keep them safe.

"Stay up here, while I go find Twilight and the girls," she told them.

The animals chipped and chirped in protest, but Fluttershy assured them she would be fine. Fluttershy flew off to Twilight's new castle quickly.

As she flew, she saw many other ponies struggling in the rising water. She wished to help them, but knew it was for the greater good if she went to Twilight's as quickly as possible. She made a mental note to check back later, just in case.

As Fluttershy entered the castle, she noticed Twilight casting spells in order to keep the water out.

"Must...protect...books..." Twilight gasped, her spells not holding out the water for long.

"Twilight, what are we going to do? Where's Spike?" Fluttershy asked, helping Twilight by mopping up any water that got in.

"I don't know what's going on! Oh, and Spike is with Rarity." Twilight told her, while struggling with her spells. "This is just way to chaotic."

Both girls froze. Behind them they heard a deep, low chuckle. Fluttershy started weeping, knowing exactly who had caused this mess. She had thought that after the Tirek incident, Discord had changed for the better. She had hoped that he was finally completely reformed. Sadly, she was wrong.

"Took you long enough, Princess. I've been standing here for a full hour, waiting for you to figure out that it was I, Discord, the Lord of Chaos, who has turned Equestria into a swimming pool. Totally chaotic, right?"

Twilight glared at Discord, while Fluttershy continued to weep.

"We'll stop you with the Elements of Harmony!" Twilight told him. "We'll turn you to stone!"

"Wouldn't you need the rest of your friends to do that?" Discord asked with a smirk. "I'm afraid that by the time you reach them, they'll have been without oxygen for quite some time now,"

With those words, Fluttershy snapped. She flew up to Discord and glared at him. He just smirked at her.

"Why? Why are you doing this? I thought you'd changed," Fluttershy cried. Then, almost in a whisper, she muttered, "I thought we were friends."

"That's the thing!" Discord bolted at her. "You tried to change me. Why is it me who has to change? Why can't you change for me?"

Fluttershy was about to respond when Discord cut her off. "Now, this brings us to my little deal," he said as he softly ran his fingers through Fluttershy's mane. She pulled away him and hid behind Twilight, who was frowning at him.

"You want Equestia back to its boring old self. I want a student," Discord said, calmly.

"A what?" Twilight asked, her ears picking up at the idea of learning something new, even if it was from Discord.

"A student, someone I can train in my chaotic ways. Of course, I'd give this student some of my magic. Then, we'd go onto our own little piece of land in the Everfree Forest. There, I'd train my student, and we can spread our chaos freely."

Twilight stared in horror at Discord, while Fluttershy continued to hide behind her. Finally, Twilight looked up at Discord and asked, "How long do I have to decide?"

He responded, "Oh, I'd say you have five minutes before everyone drowns."

Twilight sighed, "Deal, I'll-"

"Take me."

Discord and Twilight turned to see Fluttershy come out from behind her. Fluttershy held her head high and stared at Discord. Then she turned to Twilight. "Twilight let me do this. I know him better than you do. I am the one who failed to reform him. I deserve this."

Before Twilight could argue, Discord snapped his fingers, and Fluttershy appeared in arms.

"Welcome to Discord's School of Chaos!" He snickered.

He snapped his fingers, and they were gone.

Author's Note

This is my first ever story. I know the chapter is really short, but I'm new at this. I'm open to constructive criticism and any typo errors. If anyone could help me by being an editor, please PM me.

Lesson One: What is Chaos?

"Where are we?" Fluttershy asked, fighting back tears.

They hadn't been gone for more than a minute, but she already missed Twilight and her friends. She thought of her animals all stuck in that tree. Hopefully, someone would be able to get them all down safely. The thought of any of them getting hurt made her want to cry.

"Oh, some random spot in the Everfree Forest," Discord replied, with a grin.

Fluttershy walked around slowly taking in what had all happened. She felt sadness, fear, anger, remorse, and shame. None of this would have happened if she had just reformed Discord successfully. Quickly, she shook her head. She had to stay strong for her friends. If she failed at this, who knew what Discord would do?

"I'm ready," Discord said, annoyed, breaking her thoughts.

Fluttershy turned towards Discord. He was wearing a graduation cap and had a pointing stick in his hand. Behind him, stood what looked like the setup for a school. There was a large teacher's desk, a chalk board, and a smaller desk, which she assumed was for her.

Slowly, Fluttershy made her way to the smaller desk and took a seat. Discord snapped his fingers and appeared behind the teacher's desk. With his stick, he started pointing to the chalk board. Fluttershy realized that the chalk board had writing appearing on it all on its own.

"Ok, Fluttershy, do you know what chaos is?" Discord asked in what Fluttershy guessed was supposed to be a stuffy, old professor's voice.

The word "chaos" appeared on the chalk board with a question mark next to it.

"Um, well...," Fluttershy trailed off.

"Oh come on, Fluttershy! Are you telling me you don't know what chaos is?" Discord asked in a way that caused Fluttershy to sink back in her chair, terrified. He had slipped out of his professor voice. "I only do it like every day. Did you pay no attention to me when we hung out? Did you just cope with me for Celestia?"

Fluttershy shook her head, vigorously.

She then whispered softly, "I spent time with you because I thought you were my friend, Discord."

Discord blinked. A look of surprise, wonder, and happiness filled his eyes. Then, almost as quickly as the look appeared, it was replaced with one filled with pure darkness.

"Friend?" He scoffed. "You thought I was your friend, my dear? What a naive, childish thing to believe!"

As he turned away, he missed the tears that filled Fluttershy's eyes at his words. She quickly tried to wipe them away, so he wouldn't notice. He had never once thought of her as a friend. The friendship with him that she had cherished was nothing more than a lie. At that moment, a look of pure determination filled her eyes. She would be Discord's perfect student. Not for him, but for her real friends.

"Chaos is a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order," she answered, reciting the dictionary definition perfectly.

"Correct!" Discord answered with a smirk. "I must be the best teacher ever! You only could have learned that from me."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes.

"Ok, now show me," he ordered.

"Show you?" Fluttershy responded, confused. "I don't have any magic. I can't."

"That's right!" Discord said, snapping his fingers. "Ok, I gave you some of mine. Try now."

Fluttershy looked around, confused. She had expected some magical lasers or explosions to occur when he gave her magic. Discord noticed her confusion.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Well, I was expecting something to happen when you gave me magic," she responded. "You know some magical lasers or explosions. Something chaotic. This seems kind of boring from your standards."

He stared at her.

"Maybe not," she mumbled, unsure.

"Did you just call me boring? Boring! I am the complete opposite of boring. You want some explosions and lasers? Fine," Discord was about to snap his fingers, but thought better of it. "You know what? If you want lasers and explosions, do it yourself."

"O-okay," Fluttershy stammered, about to try, afraid of his reaction if she didn't.

She thought of fireworks like the ones Discord used to make when he visited her at her cottage. He would always set them off when he appeared out of nowhere in an attempt to surprise her. Normally, the memory would have brought a smile to her face, but now that she knew her whole friendship with Discord was fake it made her want to scream and cry all at the same time.

"Not getting any younger over here," Discord said, interrupting her thoughts.

He transformed into a baby version of himself and started crying. On instinct, Fluttershy started to reach out to pick him up and comfort him. She quickly stopped herself and shook her head. He was trying to distract her. She needed to concentrate, but he was just so loud.

"Um... Could you stop crying now?" Fluttershy whispered.

He continued to cry.

"C-could you please stop crying now?" She tried again, a little louder.

If anything, he seemed to get louder this time. Then, he crawled over to her tail and yanked on it.

"Ow! Would you just stop it?" She screamed, stomping her hoof.

Instantly, a straight jacket appeared on the baby Discord. A pacifier also appeared and shoved itself in his mouth. All was quiet.

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at the sight, breaking the silence. The baby comically rolled his eyes, and with a flash, Discord appeared out of the straight jacket, fully grown. He still had the pacifier, though, which he was sucking on. Now it was Fluttershy's turn to roll her eyes.

Discord flashed away the pacifier and said, "Well, those weren't the explosions and lasers I was talking about, but it's a start."

Fluttershy gasped, "Wait, you mean I did that?"

"Do you really think I put myself in a straight jacket on purpose?" He responded.

"Well..." Fluttershy started.

"Nevermind, don't answer that," Discord scowled. "Anyways, I made myself that baby to annoy you. Magic comes from emotion, my dear. When you got mad and stomped your hoof, you set off your magic, just like me snapping my fingers sets off my magic. Got it?"

Fluttershy absentmindedly nodded. He'd called her my dear. Before he'd been reformed, he'd always called her that. The thought made her cringe.

"Something wrong?" Discord asked, surprisingly calm.

"Oh no! I'm just thinking," she responded, again absentminded.

Suddenly, there was a flash and Fluttershy found herself on a couch with Discord next to her on a leather chair. He wore glasses and a suit with a clipboard in his claw.

"Do you always think this much, my dear?" Discord asked, with a voice not unlike his professor one.

Fluttershy cringed again.

"No, not usually," she responded.

"Why do you think you're doing it so much today?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I was forced to leave my friends in order for you to stop flooding Ponyville," she responded, her voice thick with sarcasm.

"You weren't forced to," Discord responded, calmly. "Princess Know-It-All was just as ready to come here as you were."

"Don't call her that," Fluttershy shouted, stomping her hoof.

As soon as she stomped, a zipper appeared where Discord mouth should have been. Quickly, it zipped itself closed.

Fluttershy sighed.

Discord unzipped his mouth, and then flashed the zipper away.

"Fine, have it your way," he said. "We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow."

He then snapped his fingers and a door appeared in front of him. He opened it and was about to step through when Fluttershy asked quickly,

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"You have magic now," he growled, frightening her. "Make your own house. We wouldn't want any Timberwolves getting you before we even get started."

With that, he stepped through the door and slammed it closed.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and tried to imagine her cabin. No matter how much she stomped, it wouldn't appear.

"Magic comes from emotion," Fluttershy mumbled, remembering what Discord had said.

She thought about all the fun times she'd had with her animal friends at her cabin. The memory made her want to run to her bed and sob. With that thought in mind, she stomped her hoof once more, and her cabin appeared.

Without even thinking, she burst open the door, ran up the stairs, into her bedroom, and collapsed onto her bed sobbing. Realizing she would get no sleep this way, she got up, lifted the blankets, and snuggled under. She cried herself to sleep, not aware of the dreams that she would have to face.

Author's Note

Chapter 2! Well more like Chapter 1, the other one was more of a prologue. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you have a lot of fun reading it! Constructive criticism is welcome! Thank you to all the feedback I got on the last chapter, good or bad. I tried to make this chapter longer and more detailed. I know the last one was kinda short. I also know that many of you (I know I would) are wondering why Discord is acting this way even after Tirek. Hopefully, this will be answered next chapter. Once again, thank you for all the support. Please expect a chapter once a month. I would love to do more than that, but school gets in my way sooo much. For now, just know What is Chaos?

Lesson Two: Corruption vs. Kindness

His arms were wrapped around her tight. She knew this shouldn't be happening, but she didn't resist. If anything, she welcomed it.

They sat on the hill where they had their usual picnics. This meeting had started out as a friendly get together but had quickly escalated to something much more precious and beautiful to them both. How? Neither of them knew or cared. They were too caught up in this rare moment.

"You mean more to me than chaos itself," he purred in her ear.

She gasped at his words. A million thoughts rushed through her head as she wondered how to respond to such a beautiful comment. Then, almost as if she couldn't control herself, she brought her lips to his. She let out a burst of passion that had been building up inside of her forever. He returned the passionate kiss much to her delight. They sat there for what felt like forever, stuck in an eternal bliss that they hoped would never end.

Suddenly, he broke away, causing a disappointed moan to escape her lips. He chuckled at her with that smirk on his face that she loved. Then, he started to run his talons through her silky hair and caress her cheek with his paw. Another moan escaped her lips.

"I can't hold it back anymore, my dear," he began. "I love-."

"We will not let you finish that statement!"

The princess of the night burst through Fluttershy's dream with a blast from her horn. The dream rippled and then faded away, leaving a very dizzy and confused pegasus fighting to retain it. Unfortunately for her, it slipped out of her mind's grasp leaving Fluttershy to wonder why Princess Luna had interrupted her sleep.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked, still quite lightheaded. "Why did you interrupt my dream? Was it a nightmare?"

"You could say that," the dark alicorn murmured, trying to hold back the smirk that was forming on her lips.

"Oh well then, thank you so much princess! I am very grate-" Fluttershy said until Princess Luna interrupted her.

"To cease your...nightmare is not the only reason we are here, child."

"W-w-what happened? Discord isn't still flooding Equestia, is he?" Fluttershy asked, her voice full of concern. "Has he done something else? Have I done something? You see, he gave me magic, and well, I'm not in complete control over it yet, so I-"

"Hush," the princess said, comforting Fluttershy. "Equestria is fine. There are more pressing matters to talk about right now. First, we wish to thank you for the great sacrifice you made for Equestria. It takes great courage to do what you have done."

Fluttershy blushed and began, "Thank you princess, but if I would have just reformed him successfully-"

Princess Luna interrupted her once again, "Second, we have come to warn you about Discord. Do not blame yourself for his failed reformation. There is a much greater darkness here."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"When Tirek stole Discord's magic, we believe he corrupted it," Princess Luna sighed.

"What?" Fluttershy gasped.

"Yes, Discord has been corrupted," the princess of the night stated. "We do not know if Tirek did this purposely, but we do know that Discord is no longer in complete control of his actions. Be careful."

With that, Princess Luna opened her wings and flew out of the dream. Fluttershy sat there for a few moments, taking in this new information. Many ponies would have been terrified at this news, but it gave Fluttershy hope.

Her last thought before waking up was, Maybe we are still friends.

As the princess of the night was just leaving Fluttershy's mind, she heard the mare's final thoughts and smiled. In a whisper, she said, remembering Fluttershy's dream, "Or maybe something more."

Fluttershy woke up with a smile on her face. She knew that all the terrible things Discord had done were not his fault. This one fact was what led her to walk down to her lessons with the biggest grin on her face. The same schoolroom setup was there from yesterday, so she plunked down in her desk and waited.

Suddenly, Fluttershy's stomach growled. She realized that she hadn't had anything to eat since the day before... She couldn't hold this against him. It wasn't his fault.

Her stomach growled again, but she didn't know how to satisfy it.

I have to start thinking like Discord, she thought. What would he do?

An image of Discord snapping his fingers came to mind. A cotton candy cloud appeared over his head with chocolate milk raining down.

Fluttershy got up from her desk and closed her eyes. She imagined the tea with cucumber sandwiches that she would have with Discord on their picnics. Before this image would have made her cry, but knowing that Discord could still be her friend, it made her smile. With that, Fluttershy stomped her hoof. Opening her eyes, the meal she had imagined lay before her.

She sat down on the grass, picked up a teacup, and poured herself a steaming cup of tea. As the warm drink filled her, she sighed. Next, she picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite.

"Yum," she murmured, her mouth full.

"Well, I would hope so. It's my recipe, right? Funny, of all the things to eat, that's what you choose," a familiar voice remarked.

Fluttershy jumped at the voice, his voice. Closing her eyes, she counted down from ten, reminding herself this was not his fault.

"Oh, yes! This is one of my favorite meals," she responded, politely after opening her eyes.

"I prefer cotton candy and chocolate milk, but I guess everyone has their preferences," Discord commented.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, but then smiled up at him. She figured if she was extra kind to him maybe that would help knock him out of the corruption. Kill it with kindness.

Discord noticed her smile.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

With a snap, Fluttershy sat in a doctor's office. Discord, dressed as a nurse with scrubs on and a mask on his face, was pretending to fuss over her by stuffing a thermometer in her mouth and putting a blood pressure cuff on her foreleg.

"I'm fine," Fluttershy assured him, quickly, not wanting to see what else he'd do to her if she wasn't.

Either Discord didn't hear her or was just ignoring her. Fluttershy guessed it to be the latter. Nevertheless, she tried again.

"Really, Discord, I'm fine," Fluttershy said again, a little louder.

By now, Discord had given her five shots, checked her temperature three times, and done her blood pressure twice. When he didn't react to her comment on being fine, Fluttershy knew he was ignoring her because she had definitely been loud enough to be heard.

Knowing she would be punished or at least scolded for doing this, Fluttershy got up from the bed she had been lying on, while Discord prepared another a shot. Closing her eyes, she quickly imagined her and Discord back in the Everfree Forest. She thought about how angry he would be with her for doing this. With that rather scary image in her mind, she stomped her hoof.

Instantly, Fluttershy and Discord were back in the quiet forest in their little clearing. Fluttershy turned to Discord and put on a brave face. The instant he turned to her though, that face melted away. He looked furious.

"I was in the middle of something," Discord said, surprisingly calm.

"A rather unnecessary something, though," Fluttershy huffed.

"Well, you have no right to decide what is and what's not necessary," Discord retorted. "Plus, since when have I followed what's necessary? Let me answer that for you. Never!"

"Discord, stop...please," Fluttershy begged. "This isn't you! You never been this dark before. Where's the light, funny, mischievous Discord I lo-...know?"

"Gone, my dear," Discord snarled, "gone."

Fluttershy just say there, contemplating what had happened. She had almost said she loved him.

I can't love him, can I? When he said, my dear, though, I didn't cringe. If anything, it made me think of... She tried to recall the image that had flashed in her head when he'd called her, my dear. It disappeared quickly, just like her dream. He's just done such terrible things. Well, at least this corrupted Discord has. That's it! I love the old Discord. The fun, nice Discord.

"I can see why you're so antisocial," Discord said, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Ponies must hate to hang out with you when you completely ignore them."

"I can't do this right now!" She growled, stomping her hoof in frustration.

A zipper appeared on Discord's mouth. Unzipping it, Discord rolled his eyes and said,

"You really have to learn when and when not to stomp your hoof. It's really quite annoying when this happens. Oh, and you need to keep it original. This is the second time you've given me a zipper mouth."

"Says the guy who produces cotton candy clouds and chocolate milk regularly," Fluttershy retorted.

Discord unable to find a comeback, sighed, "Touché."

"Discord, please," Fluttershy whimpered. "This isn't you."

"Would you stop saying that?" Discord hissed at her. "This is me! It's just been covered up all this time because of Celestia's stupid reformation. If I were you, I'd get used to it."

"Never," Fluttershy defiantly whispered.

With that, she ran back to her cabin and thrust open the door. After entering and slamming it, she dashed onto her couch and sobbed.

After awhile, Fluttershy stopped crying and just sat there on her couch. Slowly, lamps, tables, chairs, and other pieces of furniture started to rise and swirl around Fluttershy. She sat with her head in her hooves, almost as if she didn't realize what was happening. As the objects spinning around her began to pick up speed, Fluttershy finally looked up. A smirk was forming on her face and her irises began to flicker between teal and crimson.

Author's Note

Not much to really say here. Comment on what you liked or disliked. Thanks for all the support. :twilightsmile:

Lesson Three: Convincing to Observe

"What a disaster! I love it! You really are becoming my perfectly messed up little protégé."

Fluttershy woke with a start from Discord's words. Her head felt so dizzy as she tried to contemplate where she was. Looking around through her blurry eyes, the half asleep mare was able to make out her living room. Or was it? All her furniture had been thrown around like a tornado had come through the room. This sight caused her to gasp.

"Oh no!"

"And she's back folks," Discord smirked at the bewildered mare, causing her to scowl.

"Did you do this?" she asked, accusingly.

"I wish," He replied with mock sorrow, "but alas, this is your work."

"What!?!" Fluttershy asked in surprise. She looked at her hooves in disbelief, as if they might hold the answers. "How do you know?" She whispered still looking down.

"Oh, pretty much the same way I tracked Tirek down: felt a major magical disturbance and followed it back to the culprit," Discord explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Fluttershy cringed at the name of the villan who had made Discord betray Equestria and had corrupted him. Being compared to him was just insulting. Really, he was the reason she was stuck here as a student to chaos.

"Then again, I wouldn't really call this major." Discord said, gesturing to the mess around them.

"Well, I'm so sorry I don't meet your standards in major chaos making," Fluttershy huffed. Inside though, for some reason, she was truly disappointed that he had called her chaotic act minor. Quickly, she tried to push that thought out of her mind. It scared her that she had a small part of herself that wanted to be chaotic. What was happening to her?

"And she's gone again," Discord sighed, bored.

"Maybe you're not exciting enough to keep my attention," Fluttershy mused to him, slyly.

"Oh, nice comeback," he cheered. "Well done, truly. I really am rubbing off on you. Wonderful!"

Yeah, wonderful, Fluttershy thought.

Noticing her frown, Discord smiled.

"Seeing how depressing our lessons have been and that you seem to be progressing nicely, I'd say you deserve a field trip," Discord told her.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious.

"How about we go and spy on your friends?" Discord suggested, merrily.

"No!"

"Why not?" Discord asked, genuinely confused.

"Spying is wrong," she stated simply.

"Well, so is making a mess of your house, but that didn't seem to stop you," he retorted.

Fluttershy sighed. That small part of her wanted to go and spy on her friends. It reasoned that she hadn't seen her friends for what felt like forever, though it was only two days. The other, more prominent part of her viewed spying as a wrongdoing. She wouldn't betray her friends' trust like that.

"Seriously Fluttershy, can you keep a decent conversation without drifting off? I would appreciate it ever so much."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just I can't spy on them. I'd feel terrible."

"They would never know," he said, trying to convince her.

"That's not helping your case," she replied, agitated.

Discord decided to manipulate her by going for her emotional side. "Don't you miss them?"

Silence.

"Well, do you?"

Tears streaked Fluttershy's cheeks. Instead of responding verbally, she merely nodded.

Discord knew how to play his cards well. In her state, Fluttershy would not be thinking clearly. This would allow him to sway her decision quite easily.

"How about this? Instead of spying, we can observe your friends. You know, like how you observe your animals in their natural habitat. Same thing, right?"

Fluttershy was still crying, but she was able to choke out, "B-but m-my animal friends know I'm th-there."

"I know! We can play a game," Discord answered quickly. "We'll leave them little clues to show them that you're there."

"I d-don't know-" Fluttershy began.

"What are you talking about? It's the perfect idea," Discord insisted. "You get to see your friends, and I get to teach you some new tricks. It's a win-win."

"W-well-" She began again, still struggling over the sobs.

"Tissue?"

"W-what?" she stared at him and then the tissue box he held, suspiciously.

"You're still crying. I don't like to see you crying," Discord said, then quickly added, "I'm no good with crying mares."

Fluttershy grinned up at him, and eagerly took a tissue in her hoof. She blew her muzzle hard and wiped the tears from her eyes. The smile returned to her face as she walked over to her garbage bin, which was on its side along with most of her furniture. Still smiling, she picked up the bin along with the trash that had fallen out. After inserting her used tissue into the bin, she turned to Discord, who was starting to get freaked out by the maniac grin that had stayed plastered on her face the whole time.

Who knew mares got so excited about tissues? he thought.

Noticing she was still grinning at him, the draconequus shifted uncomfortably.

"About that trip-" he started this time, but was interrupted.

"We're merely observing, right?" Fluttershy asked, the grin finally falling from her face.

"Of course," he assured her, glad she was back to her timid self.

"We'll leave clues, too?" she questioned.

"Yes, yes," he responded.

"I guess for a little bit will be okay," she said, still a bit unsure.

Discord chose to ignore her uneasiness, "Test One: Teleport us there."

"Are you sure?" the mare gasped. "I could get it wrong, and we could get separated."

"Don't you want that to happen?" Discord smirked at her.

"No."

Discord chose to ignore that, too. "Fine, I'll teleport us, but don't think you'll get out of your other tests so easily."

Snapping his talons, Fluttershy appeared in his arms. She gave a little squeak to this, to which he chuckled. With another snap, they were gone.

"We have reached our destination."

Fluttershy looked around at her surroundings, eagerly. She had missed Ponyville so much in the short time she had been away. A few tears started to fall, but she brushed them away quickly. This was a time for joy and happiness, not sorrow.

"Oh, thank you Discord," Fluttershy said to him with a hug. He seemed hesitant about what to do, so Fluttershy took his arms in her hooves and placed them on her back.

"Like this," she told him.

"We don't have time for that," he replied, blushing. With a swift movement, his mismatched hands were off of her, and she was teleported to the ground. She gave a frown to this, but reminded herself to be happy, for they were off to observe her friends.

"Before we go, you're going to need this."

With a snap, Fluttershy found herself dressed in a black ninja outfit. In her belt, she had a katana.

"Why do I need this?" Fluttershy asked, gesturing to the sword. "In fact, why do I need to wear this in the first place?"

"Well, you need to get in character with the whole sneaking around thing, so I thought that a ninja outfit was perfect. It also allows you to be invisible. Only I can see you," Discord explained. "The katana is just there to complete the look."

"Um...ok, I g-guess," Fluttershy said. "Can we get going now?"

"Sure," Discord answered. "Who do you want to sp- I mean observe first?"

"Well, we're right by Twilight's castle," she replied. "Let's go there first."

Instead of responding, the draconequus began to sing to himself, "We're off to see the Princess, the Princess of Ponyville."

"Actually," Fluttershy informed him, "she was never officially named the Princess of Ponyville. Her title is the Princess of Friendship. Now, it makes sense for you to thi-"

"Fluttershy, there is something that we need to make clear starting now," he said, very seriously, floating down to her eye level. "I don't make sense."

Nervously, the mare responded, "Oh, I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean it l-like that."

Discord put his face to hers, making her whimper quietly. He chuckled darkly at her reaction to his closeness. Then, he moved his mouth to her ear and hissed quietly,

"And neither should you."

Author's Note

Wow, that took forever. I know I said I'd try to get this out in April but I got sick a lot (fevers and coughing). At least I got it out before June.

I meant to have the ~~spying~~ observing happen in this chapter, but I felt you guys deserved a chapter right now. I made you wait long enough.

So I know Discord has major mood swings, but it plays into the unpredictableness of it. Fluttershy feels she's finally getting to Discord, and then he's gone again. (I'm such a terrible person.) Also, Fluttershy is starting to act a little different. Hmm...

Hope you guys enjoyed it!