The Taxonomy of the Lower Reaches of the Discordian Dimensions

Twilight couldn't help but feel pleased that she'd been assigned the task of scouting the perimeters of Canterlot with Starswirl. The others had been informed, of course. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were making sure everything was fine in Ponyville, while Rarity and Applejack were on their way to the Crystal Empire. Starswirl felt that no stone should be left unturned with regards to finding the creature or potential extra portals opening. It could be anywhere by now.

While the creature was their number one priority, Twilight was hoping to learn more from Starswirl. She was still amazed that he was here in the present; there just hadn't been time to process it all. She had spent much of her fillyhood and higher educational years reading about Starswirl, his writings and publications on amniomorphic spells, time travel and transformation. She'd read the historical notes in the library about how he and several other unicorns used to raise and lower the sun and moon before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had taken on their respective roles. He had taught Princess Celestia almost everything she knew about magic. There was so much she could potentially learn from him once this escapade was all over! One thing still bugged her, though. How did Starswirl know Discord? Surely they should have been enemies? According to her history books, Starswirl had still been alive when Discord was encased in stone.

She decided to ask.

“Um...Sir?”

He looked up sharply but his eyes were soft. “It's just Starswirl, Princess. Remember?”

“Ah...of course. Starswirl. I was just wondering if I could ask you some things about your life while we search for this creature.”

“I don't see the harm. We don't seem to have come across anything so far. It's been a rather dull afternoon by the looks of things! Let's hope the others are having better luck.”

Twilight breathed an inward sigh of relief. She had been worried that such a request would make him think she wasn't serious about the mission, but there wasn't much they could do from this angle. Either they came across a portal or they didn't.

“So,” drawled Starswirl. “What was it you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, I was just wondering how you knew Discord. All my history books state that you were alive when he was turned into a statue by the Elements. Yet you two seem to be on good terms with one another.”

Starswirl seemed to consider this.

“Twilight, there is much I wish to tell you about how I know Discord, but I'm afraid I can't.”

“Why not?”

“Don't get me wrong. I would have no qualms about telling you the story, but I'm afraid it intertwines with that of a pony whose private life I wish to keep confidential.”

A shiver shot down Twilight's spine. Could Starswirl be talking about one of the Princesses? And if so, what did that have to do with Discord? She suddenly felt embarrassed for bringing the subject up.

“I didn't mean to pry. I had no idea it was a sensitive subject,” she said, feeling rather dejected. She was worried she had offended him somehow.

“Oh, no need for that,” said Starswirl. “Like I said, I have no problem talking about my past, but I can't divulge too much because of second parties.”

Twilight nodded. She wished she hadn't brought it up.

The first thing Discord had done when they had separated into teams was scry for the creature. Since he was connected to chaos he should have been able to find it with ease. He had found nothing, which meant it was very likely the creature had found another open portal and crawled back into it.

Now he floated along Fluttershy as they got ready to enter his own dimension. Fluttershy had been there before, but only to Discord's home. She had never explored the chaos dimension beyond the borders of his garden.

"Ready, Flutters?"

"Um, I think so."

She looked concerned.

"You've been to the chaos dimension before,” said Discord.

"Yes, but, we weren't looking for a dangerous monster then."

He smiled at her. "It's just an animal, Fluttershy. Once we find it I'm sure we'll be able to figure things out. Besides, there are ponies that think I'm a dangerous monster."

Fluttershy did not think Discord was a dangerous monster, but she didn't think she could tell him that she understood why other ponies might think so. He had handed them over to Tirek, and while she had forgiven him she was sure there were citizens of Equestria that hadn't. She was also fairly certain that some ponies looked at her and thought she was utterly stupid for putting her trust in Discord. She winced when she thought about it sometimes. Ponies often viewed her as gullible and overly nice, but they had especially done so since Discord's betrayal. She tried not to let it get to her, but sometimes it grated on her nerves. Sometimes she felt like everyone handled her as if she was a filly about to break into a million pieces.  Yes, she was nervous about a lot of things, but she could think and act for herself. She wasn't stupid!

"Flutters?"

She realized she had been lost in thought.

"I'm ready," she said, steeling herself.

She felt the air around her change, and all of a sudden she was floating as if gravity had vanished. She whinnied in surprise.

"Oh, yes. Sorry, I forget you ponies aren't used to that," said Discord. He snapped his fingers and Fluttershy suddenly felt a firm solid, wooden floor beneath her. The uncontrollable sensation of floating in nothingness also vanished as she realized she could walk across the floor and wasn't in danger of floating off into the ether.  She gasped as she realized what she was standing on. Discord had conjured up a boat!

Not for the first time, she had a sense that anything could happen around her friend.

She looked up and realized Discord was dressed in the garb of a pirate, complete with wooden leg and a parrot on his shoulder.

"Yarrr! Avast, Fluttershy, me matey!" he exclaimed, jumping onto the mast and wrapping part of his body around it." Shall we sail East or West?"

"SQUUUUAAACCK! East or West?" repeated the parrot on his shoulder.

Fluttershy giggled.  "I'll leave it up to you," she said. She couldn't feel completely serious around Discord. He seemed to have that effect on her; She had meant it when she had said he was one of the funniest ponies she knew.

“South it is then!” said Discord, and the boat moved downwards through the ether.

There was no point in Discord scrying in the chaos dimension. They were surrounded by chaos, therefore trying to sense one magical creature in this particular realm would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Instead, there were going to have to keep a watchful eye as they sailed though the rippling sky.

It wasn't long before Fluttershy was marvelling at some of the sights and sounds.

Several types of brightly coloured flish swam/flew past the boat. Large worm like creatures that spiralled upwards then vanished glowed in the distance. Fluttershy was strangely reminded of moving barber poles. A huge beast the length of the boat gently glided past. It had feathery gills and made noises like a whale.

Discord was now looking through a spyglass and appeared to have changed costumes. He now wore a purple top hat and was muttering something that sounded like "there's no earthly way of knowing which direction we are going..."

Creature that resembled plants wriggled past the boat; a square creature that seemed to move forward by putting block-like legs one in front of the other skittered past, but there seemed to be no sign of the creature the pony in hospital had described.

“No luck so far,” said Discord. “Maybe we should have gone the other way. Hmmm.”

Fluttershy was busy recording her observations in a small field notebook. Discord noticed this out of the corner of his eye and smiled. He loved watching Fluttershy observe things, whether she was reading a book, birdwatching or writing. She got a focused, intense look in her eye that he found irresistible.

Of course, there were many things about her that he found irresistible. It had all started shortly after his supposed reformation.

Discord had woken up one evening on Fluttershy's couch in a near panic. He had opened his eyes and it was completely dark. Of course, the reason it had been so dark was because it was Luna's night off, there was no moon in the sky and the curtains were drawn, but none of that occured to Discord. For a terrifying moment, he believed he was back in his stone prison, and he cried out in fear.

Fluttershy had been at his side within the minute.

"It's alright," she had soothed at him. "You're okay." Her hoof had caressed his long face. Discord had pretty much given up on the idea of a mare touching him in such a caring fashion ever since he had been released from the statue by the Elements of Harmony. He knew no pony would want to touch him after all the things he had done, so he was surprised when Fluttershy not only touched his paw and face willingly, but gave him hugs as well.

There were days when Discord had trouble accepting that he had been released from the statue. She had helped him through those as well. Slowly, he began to trust her, and before he knew it, he was going to sleep at night hugging his pillow and pretending it was Fluttershy. He felt excited at the prospect of spending the day with his new friend.

But then, Discord was never one to put the brakes on a good feeling, and before he knew what was happening, he had fallen in love with her.

Discord was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts as he coughed and a purple flame shot out of his mouth, along with a singed scroll. He unrolled it and read the written contents:

Dear Fluttershy and Discord,

Princess Twilight and Starswirl request that you return to Castle Friendship immediately.

We think we  may have a lead on the creature.

Scriptum.

For some unfathomable reason, Discord found himself scowling when he saw who had written the note. He was also perplexed. The creature was back in Equestria? Why had he not sensed that?

“Okay, Flutters. We're heading back to Casa de Sparky.”

Fluttershy braced herself for what she knew was coming, and she felt the universe shift around her once more.

“What happened?” said Fluttershy, running up to Twilight. “Did you find the animal?”

“We found traces of it,” said Starswirl. He held up a flask that contained a jelly-like substance. Discord levitated it out of Starswirl's grasp and brought it up to his face was examination. He poked at it with his chaotic field and nodded. “Definitely one of mine,” he said.

“One of yours?” said Starswirl, raising an eyebrow.

“As in a chaos being. We're made from the same thing. Question is how do we find the rest of it?”

“I take it you haven't had much more luck than we have.”

“Do I look like I've just come back from a hunting trip? No, we didn't see any sign of it. But we did get descriptions of other animals.”

“Other animals aren't the focus right now. We really need to find this thing. Twilight and I will work on testing the sample and we'll see if we can find an antidote to whatever is causing the pony in hospital to be sick. In the meantime try to stick to the plan at hand, eh?” He glanced at Fluttershy then gave Discord a meaningful look. “Anyway, we should get some food, rest and reconvene. The hunt continues tomorrow.”

“I'm sorry,” said Fluttershy, as Starswirl turned and walked back indoors. “I thought getting extra descriptions would be useful somehow.”

“Oh, don't worry about him,” laughed Discord. “He can be an old grump sometimes. He's probably grumpy because there hasn't been anytime to do fun things,” he grinned.

Fluttershy managed a smile, but then her face fell again.

“Discord, I'm really worried about that pony in the hospital. What if we can't find the creature in time?”

“Don't fret Flutter-Butter. We'll find it, and give it a good stern talking-to.” Discord's feathers fluffed up and then he said, using Fluttershy's voice: “You've been a bad Eldritch abomination of an amorphous blob of jelly! What would your mother think? You should be ashamed, Mister!”

Fluttershy laughed, and Discord placed his griffon arm around her. They walked into the castle together.

Spike and Pinkie were in the kitchen making everyone some supper- hayburgers and mashed potato with gravy. The smells of the food permeated the rooms of the castle, and soon everyone's bellies were rumbling.

“I challenge you!” announced Discord, pointing at Rarity.

“To what, exactly?” she asked.

“To a belly growling competition. Loudest belly gets a medal.”

“How uncouth! As if anypony in this room is going to make rude bodily noises as well as you.”

Discord grinned and Rarity's stomach let forth  a growl so loud the nearby coffee table shook.

“Oh I bow to you, good lady. You certainly have me whipped.” He put a medal around Rarity's neck. It was so heavy she nearly fell over.

“That wasn't me! You used your magic!”

“Excuse, excuses. You're so modest, Rarity.”

“Dinner's ready!” shrieked Pinkie, and the contest was quickly forgotten as everybody's bellies started growling in anticipation, though Discord noted that Spike's was probably the loudest.

Everyone sat around the cushions on the floor in the dim light sharing plates of food and discussing the day.

"Hey Flutters," said Discord softly. He sat down next to her with a plate of food in his talon. The candlelight flickered off his fluffy eyebrows and beard as he looked down at her.  He grinned at her and he could have sworn she blushed, but she hid behind her mane before he could confirm it to himself. It was hard to tell in the dim light, and at the same time, something about the low lighting and being in close proximity to the pegasus made him not want to use magic to illuminate the room. He deftly used two of his talons to part her mane, and a blue eye peered  up at him.

"I'm really glad that you're doing this to help us," she said.

Discord had to stop himself from swooning and dragging out Rarity's fabled fainting couch right there and then. She was so lovely. Everything she said in her soft voice made him feel good. He wanted to tell her everything.

"Hey, Flutters. I'll let you in on a little secret..."

"Oh?"

He moved closer to her. The light made the situation seem almost dreamlike in quality. It glowed off her mane and her eyes shone as she looked up at him.

I'm doing this for you.

The words were almost out of his mouth and their muzzles were almost touching, when the sudden sound of a stallion clearing his throat interrupted him.

"Uh, Fluttershy?" Scriptum asked tentatively.

"Yes?" she almost shouted, jumping at the sound of his voice.

Discord barely suppressed a groan as he looked up in annoyance at the unicorn.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Well, actually it's Fluttershy I wanted to speak to,” said Scriptum.

Once again suspicion reared in Discord's mind. He remembered what Rarity told him. Her voice seemed to echo in his ear: You must learn to control your emotions. He looked up to make sure she wasn't actually standing next to him and saying this. Nope, she was across the room having a conversation with Applejack.

He inwardly winced and managed to croak "'kay" at Scriptum. Fluttershy smiled at the draconequus. "I really enjoyed seeing the chaos dimension today," she said, then she walked off with Scriptum.

Discord's chest felt like it was at war. He was delighted that she had enjoyed the boat trip, but now she was walking off to talk in secret with the archivist pony. Another horrible thought tugged at his heart. Discord had no qualms about his own physical appearance, but he was well aware that most ponies had aesthetic standards and preferred the symmetrical, boring forms of a non-chaotic body. Scriptum was a normal looking stallion. Maybe that was what Fluttershy wanted.

No no no, they're just friends.

But deep down, he still felt paranoid.

Discord angrily shoved the mashed potatoes into his mouth, crockery and all.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” said Fluttershy.

“Well...um,” began Scriptum. “I...worried about you today.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Don't worry about me. I was with Discord the whole time.”

That's what I'm worried about thought Scriptum.

“Doesn't he...doesn't he...?”

“Yes?” said Fluttershy.

Doesn't he frighten you? Doesn't the thought of a near all powerful being with sharp teeth and claws set off the herd instinct in you to run away? Doesn't the fact that he sold us all out to Tirek make you doubt him? Doesn't the fact that he is clearly interested in you as more than a friend unnerve you? You're a nice girl, and I don't want anything to happen to you.

But of course he said none of this.

“Doesn't he know what this creature is?” Scriptum settled on.

“Discord hasn't seen all the creatures in his dimension. He knows a lot of them, but new ones are being born every day.” She got out her notebook.

“Look, I made some of my own descriptions of some of them today. I thought they might be helpful.”

Scriptum looked at Fluttershy's hoofwriting. Unlike Discord's it was neat and beautiful.

“I'd be honoured to add these to the list,” he said.

She gave him her winning smile and handed him the notebook. He took it from her and his hoof brushed against hers. Fluttershy's heart pounded.

“By the way,” said Scriptum, "I noticed a book on inter-dimensional magic when I was looking through one of the library stacks today. You and Twilight might find it useful. I mean, I know you have Starswirl and Discord around, but it could still be good for reference. I can show you in a bit, but I think I need to eat something first. My day hasn't been as exciting as yours, but I'm still pretty hungry.” He chuckled and patted his belly.

“Oh, not to worry. I can go and grab it myself then I can join you. What stack is it in?”

“Number 3, I think.”

Discord sat in the corner continuing to have his existential crisis. He really, really wanted to follow Rarity's advice and not let his emotions get the better of him, but he was in agony. How did other people go through life not feeling intense jealousy and worry over these kind of things?

He glanced up at the staircase that led to the library. Surely it wouldn't hurt to just go check on Fluttershy? Maybe she wanted seconds for dinner? Yes, that was a good enough excuse. He teleported to the top of the stairs and headed for the library. He was disappointed to find she wasn't there.

"Well, let's see how Scripto is getting on," he muttered, walking over to the archivist's desk. It was a mess, which actually pleased him. Normally Scriptum was so neat and orderly Discord almost felt tempted to knock over a pot of ink just to make things a bit more off. He knew Scriptum had been hired to give the manuscript more order, but the idea was almost anathema to the draconequus. He glanced down and saw the note he had written about Fluttershy. Blast! He had forgotten to pull that one out when he'd handed over the species sheets to Scriptum. He reached over to pick it up when he noticed the hoofwriting of a pony that he was very familiar with.

What makes you think I'm out of your league?

Fluttershy. Fluttershy had written that.

Don't get too excited his brain warned him. It doesn't necessarily mean what you want it to mean.

He tilted his head as he looked down at Fluttershy's writing. Maybe this was something mares did--playing hard to get and then going full speed ahead when they thought it was safe to proceed? He had no idea. Apart from Celestia, most of his interactions with them had been pretty straightforward- go to bed with them then part ways in the morning.

His heart did a literal back flip. Was she teasing him? Was the fact that he was working on this project something that had made her change her mind? He shakily picked up a quill and  wrote with slight trepidation:

Because you are all the things I'm not. I'm not sure why you wouldn't think you were out of my league, but I'm glad you wouldn't. You are...the nicest pony I've ever met. My life would be completely different if it weren't for you. I know I've only known you for a relatively short time, but I know it's true.

Was that too much? Oh well, he'd written it now.  He winced. He wasn't very good at expressing how he felt in words, or indeed in any format. He put down the quill and floated down the stairs back to the common room, feeling much lighter than before but no less anxious. He had to find Fluttershy.

Unbeknownst to Discord, Fluttershy had been in the library the whole time and had just missed him. She was hunting for the book, when she suddenly remembered the note she had written that morning to Scriptum. She hurried over to the table to check and gasped when she saw the note. She had never had a stallion say such nice things about her! Why did he think she wasn't interested, especially now? She suddenly was having thoughts about what Applejack had said to her about choice and the heat cycle again. Scriptum was a nice stallion, he was cute and smart. Could she trust him with that kind of intimacy? Could he be her choice for her first time?She suddenly blushed at the thought even though there was no one in the room to see her. She was surprised at how quickly the thoughts had overwhelmed her.

She quickly went over to the bookstack again, found the volume on inter-dimensional travel and hurried back to find Scriptum. Halfway there she collided with him.

“Oops! I'm sorry!” she said.

“No, no. No harm done,” he said. He got up and offered her a hoof, which she gratefully took.

“I see you found the volume, I...”

Middway through his sentence he was suddenly aware of Fluttershy's soft lips on his. She pulled back and looked at him steadily.

“I...I've never asked a stallion this before. But would you like to be my special somepony?”

Scriptum gaped at the beautiful pegasus before him. What the heck had he been worried about? He shut his mouth then opened it again and said “yes.” He was amazed that a creature as gorgeous as her had never been with a stallion. For some reason that made her even more desirable to him.

She flew into his arms and embraced him and his hooves wrapped around her. He stroked her mane.

“Where are you sleeping tonight?” she whispered softly.

He looked at her in amazement.

"Fluttershy, are you sure?"

She nodded.

"I want to be with you."

Discord was curled up in his own spare room,  up on one of the giant cushions, his heart pounding with excitement.

He knew he wasn't going to get much sleep that evening. All he could think about was Fluttershy. When this whole thing was over he resolved to tell her once and for all how he felt about her. There was nothing to lose now that she seemed interested in his advances. And Starswirl couldn't complain if he waited until they found the creature to tell Fluttershy about his feelings.

He had been unable to find her after leaving the library. Rarity suggested that maybe she had gone to bed early. Unfortunately for Discord, Rarity had been right.