"Act casual, you gorgeous bastard!" Discord shouted to himself as he spun around frantically, preparing for when Fluttershy would find him. He was under the exact same gnarly tree in the woods. He plonked himself down and tried to look busy. "Now what was I doing last time? Ah yes," he summoned a storm cloud. Right before she had turned up last time, he had been preparing to play a game he had learnt from an old coyote in Mexicolt. The original version involved tapping a knife between the digits of your paw. Discord loved the game almost as much as the disapproving frowns of the one-toed pony onlookers who couldn't play. He had gotten rather good at it, which is why he had switched from a knife blade to lightning: much less predictable.

Predictable! He was just a little chaos being, innocently playing in the woods. Anything untoward, such as order or patterns, could be regarded by Fluttershy as highly suspicious. He had to act natural! He dismissed the storm cloud with a snap of his fingers. He looked around, panicking, desperate to find something that he could nonchalantly be doing.

That was when his eyes fell upon the tabby cat chasing the brown mouse. Perfect! He clicked his fingers and the two swapped sizes. The cat-sized slavering rodent seized the moment and gave chase. The tiny cat swore at Discord and tried to puff himself up to a larger size. It didn't work and he fled for his life, the mouse hot on his heels. Discord clapped his "hands" together with excitement. He was enjoying himself so much doing this he didn't even have to think about pretending to be busy.

Click! Now there were two cats with mouse hind legs and tails. What cat could resist chasing that? Certainly not these two. Around and around they went until Discord felt positively dizzy. Click! The cat and mouse were their correct size and shape. The cat lunged for the mouse.

It was at this moment that Fluttershy walked around the corner.

"Hi," she said softly, tail swishing.

"Oh! Hi," Discord looked up, fighting to keep the 'I'm the dog that ate your hone-glazed ham' look off his face. He clicked his fingers absent-mindedly. The giant mouse turned around and hotly pursued the little cat that looked like a tabby dandelion clock.

Fluttershy watched the spectacle before her and bit her lip. "Discord, you ruined our picnic, didn't you?"

"Me?" Click! The cat chasing the mouse again, a look of relief on his face. "I expect such accusations from the bores in Ponyville but from you? That cuts to the quick!" He put his lion paw on his chest to add dramatic effect.

"It's ok if you did, Discord. I mean, it's not ok to do it but it's ok to admit to it. Does that make sense?"

No answer, just a click of the fingers and the chase resumed in the mouse's favour.

"Did you do it, Discord?" She pressed.

He froze. How much could the consequences of the truth hurt? Click! Normal cat and mouse. "Yes," he said, in a voice smaller than hers.

Fluttershy sighed with relief. "Thank you for telling me. I'm not mad at you. In fact, I think I understand." Fluttershy glanced over at Discord, whose dejected beard was trailing the ground. Behind him, the cat pounced. "If he's a jerk, he'll prove it on his own. If we aren't right for each other, it will become obvious on its own but I can't be sure whether we work if I'm ways wondering how much of what doesn't work is caused by you." Fluttershy took a deep breath. The cat grabbed the mouse between its jaws and sat up, looking pleased with himself. Fluttershy exhaled slowly. Now for the hard part. "Discord, I need you to give us some space."

"I just wanted... What?!" Discord looked up at her, terrified. Click! The mouse grew in a flash as the tabby cat shrank. Two beings trying to occupy the same space and time until... something had to give. There was a gut-wrenching pop sound, followed by a gasping for breath. The giant mouse shook himself like a wet dog, pieces of cat spraying everywhere.

"Noooo!" screamed Fluttershy in distress.

"I can fix this, I can fix this!" Discord's voice was a high quaver. Surgical scrubs had appeared on his upper half, a French maid's outfit on his lower half as he scooped up the pieces with a dustpan and brush and tipped them in a pile on the operating table. He snapped his fingers and the cat reassembled - mostly as it was. The paws of the back feet had toes from the front feet and the order of the tail bones seemed all jumbled up. The fur was thicker in some places than others and the feline jaws were interspersed with enlarged mouse teeth. All of these slight differences were nothing compared to the cat's complete stillness laying on the table.

"Oh, Discord!" Fluttershy buried her muzzle under his wing and sobbed.

"It all happened so fast I..." Didn't mean it? Wasn't looking? Am sorry? None seemed sufficient. He dropped his head, spread his wings, and took off without finishing his sentence.

Fluttershy watched him leave, her heart aching. If she had known where he was heading, she might have used the time to warn Hengst.

Author's Note

In which this story starts living up to its categorisation.