Sunny though the morning was, the warmth went unnoticed by Fluttershy, who was busy inside her home. The windows had been left open that night, letting in the night breezes that could almost be described as cold. She closed them upon awakening, letting the temperature linger for awhile as she made breakfast for herself and then those under her care. Two buckwheat pancakes with some honey drizzled into the batter soon found their way onto her plate, with a good helping of peach slices and a heap of whipped cream on top. Though normally quite reserved, she dug into her meal with abandon; she saw it as unfair if she was eating in front of the animals that resided in her home before they had a chance to eat, but she had to have something in her stomach before she started her daily labors. The last time she’d tried to work hungry, she ended up forgetting half of what she was supposed to do that morning.

As she wolfed down her pancakes, the most audacious occupant of the entire property, let alone the house, hopped up to the table, giving an efforted leap to get to the chair first before jumping onto the tabletop itself. The resident in question was a pure white rabbit, and a rather small one at that, named Angel. He gave an inquisitive sniff at Fluttershy’s breakfast, which was now more than half gone. His black eyes went to the remaining two peach slices, and then up to Fluttershy’s own teal ones, furrowing his brow in annoyance. She glanced down at him, swallowed her mouthful of pancake and cream, and then cut another piece out of her meal to offer to the demanding lagomorph, who devoured it quickly.

Finishing off her breakfast, Fluttershy drank down a glass of orange juice and gave a stretch as she stood from her chair. Like all wingfolk, her back muscles were notably large so as to be able to use her wings, but she had a build much all-around softer than either of the princesses did. She was relatively tall, and her body sported a matronly hourglass shape, one that gave the impression that she could birth twins easier than most others could have one child. Nearly everything about her screamed ‘mother’, save her youthfulness, but even that could still be interpreted otherwise. She reached behind her head, pulling her hair back not into a ponytail, but letting it rest between her wings, before going about her daily rituals.

~♪~

Fresh suet with bird feed put out? Check.

Salt brick for the deer? Check.

Blueberry pemmican for the bear’s visit today? Check.

Water troughs emptied and refilled? Check.

The list went on and on, and it wasn’t any less than four hours before she had finished everything. By then, she was already starting to get hungry again; thankfully, she planned to have lunch with her friends in a short while. Done with her work for the day, Fluttershy walked back inside to change into something more suitable for a venture into town. She came downstairs from her room in a pair of flare jeans with faded knees, a banana yellow top which was essentially just a long, billowy piece of linen that was attached to a strap that went around her middle, and wicker sandals with three-inch cork heels. Her leather haversack slung over her shoulder, she set off for the day ahead.

Fluttershy’s footsteps were just as soft as her features, hardly being audible while on the packed dirt pathway to Ponyville. The gentle winds and caressing sunlight of the late morning granted her some extra comfort as she somewhat lazily preened her wings with one hand while heading towards The Hayburger. While the citizens of Equestria were not dedicatedly herbivorous, the population largely subsisted on vegetable fare. It was less of a cultural phenomenon and more that, unless one lived in a place where farming or even horticulture was nearly impossible, it was simply easier to meet one’s daily needs with the crops of the season, seeing as the lands were quite fertile. The thought made her tummy growl even more than it already was; red appaloosa beans were in season, and they made for a great patty for a veggie burger. Mild, sweet, a little mealy… decorate the sandwich with a thick slice of cheddar cheese, a couple leaves of clomaine lettuce, some juicy tomato slices and pungent shredded onions, topped off with the acid of pickle slices, ketchup, and mustard, all on a sesame seed bun…

She gave a frown as she caught her mind drifting more towards food than her friends, friends with whom she aimed to have some casual get-together time. They didn’t seem to have much that was actually planned for their gathering, just that they were going to be in good company for an afternoon after a bit of news was delivered by Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy ran her fingers through her long, rosy hair to complement the work the wind had been doing to keep her locks out of her face while she thought of what may come to pass. She imagined that Rainbow Dash would give an elaborately detailed breakdown of her latest aerial achievements, Rarity would go on a loquacious tirade about the state of things in the fashion world, Applejack would either drivel on with some familial tall tales or snap up some challenge that Dash cooked up, and Pinkie Pie would…

Fluttershy paused for a moment. What would Pinkie do? Even Discord, an insane god of chaos, was more predictable than her. It was a wonder that the two of them hadn’t stained the world with the colors of madness when they’d last met.

That Twilight was the one who arranged for the event- quite suddenly as a matter of fact, letters had been sent just the day before- made Fluttershy wonder what she had planned. After all, she was a princess now, and princesses have responsibilities. Such a frivolity in her time budget, especially with one so tightly organized? Something terrible must have happened! And the Elements of Harmony were going to be needed for the prevention of a catastrophe unknown to all but Twilight and the other princesses! They’d been able to solve all kinds of problems before, but what if it was something else? What if they failed somehow? What if-

Fluttershy felt a slight pain in her fingertip and tasted earth. She hadn’t realized that she was nervously biting her somewhat dirty fingernails over her irrational anxiety, and when she looked at her hand, she saw that she had gnawed on the quick of her middle finger. Oh.

~♪~

Another five minutes of walking before a glance was made at her surroundings, and Fluttershy was made aware that she was standing in front of the Hayburger. She shook her head, flinging her hair away from her face and her earlier thoughts out of her noggin before stepping inside. There was a polite yet enthusiastic “Hi there, Fluttershy! Over here!” that came from her left, and Fluttershy turned to see Twilight sitting at a sizable corner booth, giving a wave. Her indigo and violet hair shook a bit as she did so, her bangs parting for a purple horn that stuck out from just an inch below her hairline. Fluttershy smiled humbly before walking over to the booth, sitting next to Twilight, who wore a mauve halter top, blue slacks, and a casual pair of walking shoes.

“You’re here a little early. I wasn’t expecting you all for another five, maybe ten minutes.”

Fluttershy bunched her wings up to accommodate her back, not unlike what Twilight had done. The princess, having grown a pair of wings herself, had yet to truly get used to the additions, but she was doing good enough at it; with how much she was flying ever since she had acquired them, her back muscles were already more toned than Fluttershy’s.

“Oh, um, I hope that… that I didn’t mess up any orders you made,” replied Fluttershy.

“No worries, I promise. I got a vanilla milkshake to tide me over until the others get here.”

Twilight lifted the paper cup, wiggled it a bit, and then went crestfallen when she heard the hollow patter of the straw hitting the inside of the cup.. “Huh. Already gone.”

There was a shrug from the purple princess’ shoulders, having broadened since her acquisition of a fifth and sixth limb. “You can always go and get one yourself if you want. I’m paying for it all.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I think I’ll be fine until the others get here.” She looked around for a bit before asking quietly, “So, um… what are we all getting together for? I-if you don’t mind my asking.”

“Well, for one, because I like to have everyone meet once in awhile, you know? It’s fun to get together and just enjoy everyone’s presence once in awhile.” Twilight gave an eyes-closed smile. “Also because there’s been something that may or may not be a subtle threat to the well-being of all in Equestria, but that’s nothing to worry about.”

Fluttershy’s own eyes widened immensely at the news. ‘Oh my gods, I was right! We’re all going to probably die in some fiery, magical explosion, or everyone will be turned into glowing frogs, or Twilight is going to come up with some scheme to make us into liches, or or or-!’

“Darling, are you well?”

A palm waved in front of Fluttershy’s face, long nails protruding from the fingertips. Fluttershy blinked rapidly as she snapped out of her anxiety attack in the making. One of her other friends stepped into view; tall, spindly, and flat-chested, her pale complexion made her glow like a candle, even in the dimmer lights of the eatery. Her violet, cartoonishly curly and elaborate coiffure dangled partly over her own visage, falling to the left of a white horn that jutted from her forehead, though both of her ultramarine orbs met Fluttershy’s own with a look of concern that was far from cartoonish. “Rarity? I-I’m sorry for making you worry like that, I was just… jumping to conclusions I guess, and-”

“Oh, don’t get your feathers in a ruffle over it, there’s nothing to fret over. No need to have a panic attack, I assure you.” Rarity turned to Twilight, her long, white horn emphasizing just where her gaze was pointing. “Isn’t that right?”

“Hm? Oh, I guess it’s not anything to worry about yet-”

“Yet?” Rarity said with an inquisitively raised brow. Twilight was about to explain when Rarity put her forefinger to Twilight’s lips. “Not now, dear. At least wait until the others get here before you turn us all into worrywarts, hm?”

Twilight gave a muffled “Mhmm,” before Rarity took her finger away from Twilight’s lips. She gave Rarity a glance up and down and said, “You didn’t need to dress so extravagantly.”

Rarity gave a flip of the wide, foot-long curl that spiraled from just over her forehead down past her jaw. Placing her spidery hands on her slender hips, she struck a somewhat flirtatious pose. “And why not? I wanted to show you all a dress that I finished but a few days ago, and what better a time than our little rendezvous?”

Although extravagant may not have been the best word for it, Rarity wore a dress that was at least rather elaborate. A strapless, tight-fitting top- one hiding a snug corset- hugged her slim body, made of a silken, pearl white fabric that had a dull sheen. The bottom flared out just above her hips, from which there was a burst of pale gold, the first layer of many. The outermost part of it sat rather stiffly over many, many lacy ruffles, slightly lighter than the first layer, that stopped just above her knees; the thinness of the cloth and great volume made it look like she was wearing clouds just before the earliest hour of dusk. The entire getup had itself riddled with intricate embroidery, typically in floral patterns, accented with the occasional small rhinestone or superficial ribbon. Combined with the white hose and lustrous high heels she wore and her fair skin tone, Rarity’s look was so sheerly radiant that if she stood in the open sun, onlookers were sure to be on a painfully beautiful route to blindness.

Rarity gave a broad, toothy smile. “Well? What do you think?”

Twilight and Fluttershy each gave an impressed “Ooh, nice!” and soft “I-I think it’s gorgeous,” respectively. From between Rarity’s legs came a loud, high-pitched “Woooow, this is even prettier than your last one, and that’s really a high bar you set with that piece, the ivory highlights on crimson made me think of this one red velvet cupcake I made that was the most DELICIOUS thing I’d had all week, maybe all month, but not all year, that was this one cheesecake I got in Manehattan that was five inches tall and-”

“Whaa!” yelped Rarity, skittering away towards the booth, where she quickly took a seat. “Pinkie Pie! Just what do you think you’re doing under my dress!?”

On her hands and knees, just behind where Rarity had stood, was a slightly chubby young lady with thick, tightly curled hair that was so brilliant a magenta that it looked like bubblegum stained with raspberries. She was paler than either Twilight or Fluttershy, but not so much as Rarity. Her round jaw and high cheeks made for a bright grin that gave her caeruleum blue eyes bit of a squint. Pointing a finger at a slick, red mess behind her, Pinkie explained, “Oh, I slipped on a ketchup packet that someone dropped on the floor, haha! Silly me!”

Pinkie shot to her feet, spreading out her arms. She was dressed simply, a blue denim jacket and skirt with a white tee shirt and pink, white-toed sneakers sufficing to cover her properly. “Hi there, everybody! Where are Applejack and Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but the door answered for her.

“You’re just not getting it, Applejack!” shouted a voice with a fine gravel to it. “Vinyl Scratch’s eyes are red, I’m telling you!”

A thick, throaty drawl replied, “And Ah’m tellin’ you, no, they’re not! With how long I’ve been workin’ in an apple orchard, Ah know every kinda red there is. Vinyl’s eyes’re purple.”

Flinging open the double door was a rather boisterous duo, a wingfolk and an earthbound, bickering over some trivial matter that was somehow of utmost importance to them. Fluttershy knew it was less about the subject and more about the principle of being right, but then again, she supposed pretty much everyone who knew the two of them were aware of the fact already.

The wingfolk, Rainbow Dash, was a somewhat short lady, being just short of five and a half feet tall, but her body was the finely sculpted masterpiece that a dedicated flyer such as herself should have. A shaggy, prismatic mess of hair rested atop her head, hanging just below her shoulders, its brightness contrasting with the soft tan of her skin. Her attire was unremarkable, being little more than a backless cyan tank top that matched the color of her plumage, a pair of black shorts that fell just below her knees, and navy blue running shoes. Her blue-black eyebrows furrowed at the other’s argument.

In a manner both same and different, the earthbound, Applejack, was very fit and notably toned. However, where Rainbow Dash was sleek and refined, Applejack was bulky and rough. She was easily the tallest person in the restaurant, her impressive six-foot-three height made even higher by the brown stetson hat she was never seen without. Having a darker tan than Rainbow Dash, Applejack could immediately be recognized as a field worker because of it, her freckles barely visible in some spots, and her arms in particular. Adorned in an orange plaid button-up, hip-and-thigh-hugging faded jeans, and well-worn leather boots, her steps clunked loudly on the smooth tile floor. She closed her grass-green eyes, shook her head, and with it a loosely bound flaxen mane before slapping her callused palm to her forehead in exasperation.

Before any other words between the two could be said, Rarity gave a loud “Ahem!” to get their attention, smiling widely when she was acknowledged. “So glad you could make it, darlings!” she said cheerfully. “Come now, take a seat, and Twilight can get everyone’s orders.”

Their argument seemingly forgotten, Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat down next to each other, letting Twilight Sparkle slip out while Fluttershy scooted over to accommodate her two other friends. Unfortunately, she found herself sandwiched between Applejack’s muscular posterior and Rarity’s bony hips. She felt no innate discomfort about being in the middle of the two of them, but the awkwardness of her legs squishing against those of two of her best friends that she admittedly found somewhat attractive was not lost on her. Orders were voiced by all at the table- Applejack and Rainbow Dash both getting what may have been excessive to most, but they burned calories faster than the majority of people could consume them- before finally getting to Fluttershy.

“And you?” asked Twilight.

Fluttershy could say nothing, her face steadily growing far, far rosier than her hair.

Twilight gave a concerned look. “Fluttershy, what’s wrong? Do… do I have something on my face?”

Fluttershy shook her head. By then, her cheeks had gone red. “I-I-I… um.”

Applejack looked at the blushing mess beside her. “You alright, sugarcube? Y’re gettin’ awful red there-”

It was then that Applejack noticed how close she was. “Rarity, we oughta give her some breathin’ room, don’tcha think?” she suggested as she scooted away. The fashionista made an ‘o’ of her lips and followed suit. There was a sense of appreciation at the coolness on her thighs once they had some space. Though her face refused to lighten, at least Fluttershy’s stammer had shown mercy. “I’ll have, um… a large beanburger meal with cherry soda,” she finally said to Twilight, who offered her a comforting smile.

“Got it,” said the princess before stepping up to the counter.

Upon everyone receiving their meals, Fluttershy determined that her earlier predictions about everyone’s behavior- save that of Pinkie Pie, who was eerily silent for someone with the energy to be eating a bag of cheese fries with such gusto- were more or less correct. Dash and Applejack largely kept going back and forth at each other over the pettiest of subjects, which culminated in the two of them agreeing to have a race on foot from town square to the borders and then circle it once before finishing at the square again. Rarity, meanwhile, rabbited on about what of contemporary fashion was changing, what to expect, and a few of her projects. Twilight did at least show some interest, although she dedicated her attention to her food whenever possible. On the other hand, Fluttershy, who mostly just wanted to eat in peace before they all got whatever news the Princess of Friendship was about to offer, had a hard time swallowing whenever Rarity got her bashfulness to show by elaborating over how wonderful a model the poor wingfolk was when Rarity had a project in mind.

“Oh, please, darling,” said Rarity with a slightly dismissive wave of her hand, “Enough with the false modesty. We all know that you’re dead gorgeous when you want to be, and you shouldn’t let your humility get in the way of that.”

Even when Rarity would half-flirt with Fluttershy over her beauty, there was no convincing her that she could, let alone should, make a career out of being pretty. Ah, well. There were more important aspects of life to worry about.

Having finished their meals, everyone’s attention gathered on Twilight Sparkle, who interlocked her fingers with each other while resting her hands on the table. “So, I came to talk about a strange magic impression that I’ve detected. It comes in waves and ripples that emanate from somewhere around the Everfree Forest during night hours, causes interference with space-time, and distorts the leylines of magic that surround Equestria in ways that simultaneously condense and thin the fabric of reality based upon the waves’ movement patterns.”

Applejack scratched her head under her hat and Rainbow Dash’s eyes glazed over. Rarity gave a short cough. “Be a dear and speak in layman’s terms, please.”

Twilight opened up her mouth to speak, but Pinkie Pie cut in. “So, what you’re saying is…” she said, waving her fingers around a bit to emphasize her speech, “...it’s all magic waves of wibbly-wobbly… spacey-wacey… stuff.”

There was an awkward silence, and a few surprised blinks from Twilight. “Erm… in the barest essence, yes.”

The occupants gave a collective “Oooh,” all around the table.

“What threat is this to Equestria, anyway? It seems kinda weird to me, but I’m not seeing anything worth worrying about,” said Rainbow Dash.

“That’s the interesting part, actually. You know how Discord’s powers are all about chaos and randomness and manipulation of probability for bending reality?”

“Uh… I guess.”

“Well, it’s kind of like that, with all the reality warping it can probably do, but it works in the opposite way that Discord’s magic does. Instead of rearranging different aspects of the universe in ways they aren’t supposed to, it strengthens and emphasizes the laws of reality to change things. For example, we know that over time, an iron stove eventually oxidizes and breaks down into its base components after many years, even without catalysts or external stimuli. If we could control this kind of magic, we could concentrate that temporal facet of reality and force the stove to corrode on an atomic level at an accelerated rate, to the point that centuries pass for it in days, hours, minutes, or even seconds, if the magic is applied heavily enough. The stove would crumble into dust right before your eyes. There are all kinds of possibilities with it, things like locally manipulating gravity to make something nearly weightless or do the exact opposite to make it impossibly heavy, or even repulse objects. Accelerated growth in plants and animals to either make them bigger or older or go in the other direction to slow or even stop their aging altogether. You could even-”

“Ahem.”

Twilight paused for a moment. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” she asked, to which Rarity nodded.

“Basically, you turn the dials of the rules of the universe with it. I haven’t found a way to control it though, which is what makes it so dangerous.”

“So why are you telling us this?” Rainbow made to quaere. “It’s not like we can do anything about it.”

She looked around at her friends. “Can we?”

Twilight gave a shrug. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t. I’m mostly telling you this to ask if you’ve seen anything going on that’s out of the ordinary, especially in the aforementioned area. The more we know, the better our chances of figuring it out.”

“Ah ain’t seen nothin’ like that around the orchard, or at the edge of town.”

“Me neither. I fly over the Everfree once in awhile- the uncontrolled winds can be wicked for stunts sometimes- and I haven’t seen anything weird.”

“Not a thing from me either, but then again, I haven’t even left the middle of town for over a week now. Being flooded with orders has kept me locked up inside the shop for some time.”

“There was this one time that I was skipping around the outskirts of Ponyville here and was eating a fresh box of chocolate muffins that I got from Mrs. Cake for doing a bunch of overtime at about four extra hours a day through my whole work week to get stuff ready for five different weddings, and I was just a few blocks from Fluttershy’s house when I took a bite of one of the muffins and it was a rock hard lump filled with stale chocolate chips that were absolutely disgusting and could have only got that way after a few years of sitting open in a cupboard.”

Pinkie Pie’s long-winded response was to be expected. Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “She said she was by your house when it happened Fluttershy, and you live in the closest proximity to where the waves are located. Have you been seeing anything strange lately?”

Fluttershy put a forefinger to her chin and gave a thoughtful look. “Hmm…” she said, wracking her brain. “None of the animals were behaving funny, and none of them looked like they were getting any older than they should be. All the plants were fine…”

A wrinkle formed between her brow as she thought harder and harder, but soon softened, and then her eyes widened upon a sudden realization. “Twilight, you said that, um, this magic could make things grow old? Very, very fast?” she asked, and was answered with a nod. “Do you think that it could, well, affect someone’s mind?”

Twilight needed only a moment of thought to decide. “Of course it could, if they’re applied right. I don’t know about any ambient effects it might have, but that’s one of the most important aspects I’m researching. Why do you ask?”

The usual rosiness of Fluttershy’s cheeks began to pale. “I… I’ve been… oh, nevermind. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Come now, Fluttershy! We both know that’s utter hogwash.”

Hovering above Fluttershy’s shoulder, sitting in a tacky chintz armchair was a tiny, vaguely serpentine figure with a mishmash of myriad animal parts, a lion’s paw holding a saucer while a raptor’s talons held a teacup. “Excuse me a moment, I need to finish my tea,” said the creature in a clever, wily man’s voice. He sucked down the contents of the teacup with a loud slurp, and smacked his lips. “Even in the middle of the day, breakfast tea never fails to please.”

“Discord?” Fluttershy yelped. “How did you get here?”

Discord turned his caprine head, mismatched horns and all, to look Fluttershy in the eye. A snap of his fingers later, and the cup and saucer disappeared. “I could give you about fifty different methods I may have used, being a god of chaos and all, but teleportation has always been more practical for me than not.”

“Oh.”

“I hid in your hair instead this time. A nice mane indeed, although you may want to brush it out when you get home.”

The pink of Fluttershy’s face came back in full force and then some, and she was rendered speechless.

“Whaddaya even want, Discord?” said Applejack with a dark scowl. “Ah still ain’t forgiven you fer when y’turned ten bushels o’ apples into fish, even if it was just fer a day. Still can’t get the smell outta the crates.”

Discord, remaining both small and in the chair, waved it off. “I’ll make it up to you later, Fluttershy needs to have a bit of a pep talk right now.” He turned to Fluttershy. “Out with it now, girl. Twilight hasn’t got all day.”

Fluttershy gulped down a mouthful of nothing, trying to regain her composure. “Are you sure it’s important? I wouldn’t want to impose, or make this all about me-”

Discord held up a silencing finger from the lion paw. “If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t have thought of it.” He placed a reassuring hand on her jawline before adding, “Besides, we’re all friends, aren’t we? I’m sure that we’d all be willing to listen, even if it’s so trivial as a bad dream or somesuch.”

Despite him still having kept so much of his habitual trickery after his reformation, the other six present had forged a friendship that, while occasionally vitriolic, was still true in every sense. Of them all, Fluttershy had grown closest to him; his lapse of judgment during the fiasco with Tirek had ended with all parties being hurt, but that was a wound already stitched together, and simply needed to have the time to close itself the rest of the way.

Steepling his hands together, Discord pointed his fingers at Fluttershy. “I’m listening.”

It took a moment and a deep breath for Fluttershy to ready herself properly, but she finally relented. “Well, I just thought of it because you mentioned making things age, and I’ve been having nightmares lately. Princess Luna has had to come and help me through them twice this month now.”

With a loud bzzzap sound came a notepad and a pen, appearing in Discord’s hands, and he scrawled something down on the pad. “Mhmm, mhmm, continue.”

“The dreams are… horrible. I’m in the fields between my house and the Everfree Forest, and I open my mouth to sing with the birds, but my own voice is gone. It’s replaced with… I don’t know how to describe it. It sounds like incomprehensible noise, but whenever I make the noise, it looks like the world falls apart.”

“Singing… noise… cannot describe… falls apart. Got it.”

“Um, th-the ground gets dry and cracked, all the animals disappear, and the plants are gone, just… gone, and the sun turns red, and… it’s h-horrible, and…!”

By that point, the recollection was starting to bring tears to Fluttershy’s eyes, but she fought to keep them down. Discord patted her shoulder. “It’s alright, I’m here. Since this part seems a bit hard on you, how about you tell us how Luna fixes it?”

Fluttershy gave a sniff, her expression looking less sad and more comforted. “This last time, she started by making little weeds come from the ground, and then it starts raining. The plants and animals start coming back, and soon the forest is even bigger than when the dream starts. It’s really beautiful, I wish you all could see it.”

By then, Fluttershy’s visage was one of mild awe, her eyes sparkling with wonder in place of tears. Scribbling down the last of whatever he was writing, Discord folded up the notepad, and made it and the pen disappear in a puff of smoke. “So,” Twilight Sparkle inquired, “Discord, do you have any idea what it might be?”

“Nope!” replied the draconequus cheerily. “Can’t say I do. It’s very unfamiliar to me.”

Twilight sighed. “Well then, I’ll just have to study it when I can. Thanks for talking about it though, Fluttershy. If anyone finds something strange, don’t hesitate to tell me, alright?”

There was a collective nod.

“I thought this was supposed to be a casual visit?” Rainbow Dash said in a bored drone that she didn’t even bother trying to hide. “All this mumbo-jumbo about magic waves and bad dreams is gonna wreck everyone’s mood, so how’s about we end the day with something fun, yeah?”

“I’d love to come along, but I have some bedlam to attend to, dancing the fish sticks and such. It’s a very delicate state of mind, that,” said Discord, who floated in the air for a brief moment as his chair disappeared. “Toodle-oo!”

And with another poof, he was gone. “Ah guess that went better‘n mosta his visits,” drawled Applejack. “Nobody’s got parts switched around, no colors got changed, no chocolate milk’s fallin’ from the sky-” Pinkie Pie frowned in disappointment- “and we know that he’s hidin’ somethin’.”

Rarity raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

Applejack adjusted her hat. “It’s just one o’ those things I can tell. He knows more’n he’s lettin’ on, but I don’t think buggin’ him about it’s gonna get us anywhere.”

“How can we get what we need from him then?”

Pinkie Pie’s hand shot into the air above her head. “Oh! I know! He’ll tell us all on his own.”

“He will?”

“Yeah, but only when it’s funny. It has to be good for a laugh, and then he’ll spill the beans, and we can all crack up and freak out about saving Equestria at the same time! That’s comedic genius, right there!”

Said Twilight, a look of both confusion and understanding decorating her face, “That’s… oddly logical.”

“I know, right!?”

There was a brief silence, and then Twilight spoke up. “So, where do you all want to go for today? I’m thinking… the bookstore.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Really, Twilight?”

The princess nodded. “Of course! I heard that there’s a new volume of Daring Do coming out, and they’re doing preorders.”

One may have thought that Rainbow Dash’s chest was about to explode from the force of her gasp. “WeneedtogonowIthinkIhavemywalletwithmeyesIdookaynowlet’sgetouttahere-”

Applejack slapped Rainbow Dash on the back. “Breathe, Dash, breathe. We all know how much you like those stories, you don’t need to give yerself a hernia just thinkin’ about it.”

Rainbow Dash coughed a bit, but recovered with a nod. Meanwhile, the others were all being reminded of things that would actually be of use to them there.

“...they do have the most up-to-date and widest selection of fashion magazines…”

“...Ah suppose Apple Bloom’s in need o’ some readin’ material, she’s been gettin’ pretty deep into this one series…”

“...Angel could probably use, um, a new book of bedtime stories, I’m starting to run out, so, um…”

“...and I’ve always been interested in this thing they do that involves dipping peanuts into batter made from rice and sesame seeds so I’ll be needing a few recipe books for cross-referencing, and…”

“Alright then!” Twilight beamed. “To the bookstore it is.”

As they all stood and made for the door, Fluttershy began to have second thoughts, and stopped before stepping out. “Erm… I think that I should go home, i-if that’s okay with you.”

Twilight’s smile faded only slightly. “Oh, that’s fine. We can take you along next time, okay?” she said, to which Fluttershy nodded. “See you later!”

~♪~

Though seemingly alone, Fluttershy’s walk back home was a calm one, her taking comfort in the sight of many small creatures that flitted, scampered, or scuttled about. The corners of her lips stayed curled almost the entire way back.

The soft knocks of her shoes on the packed dirt just before her front door heralded her return, but the place was unsettlingly quiet. Usually, at least a few of the other household inhabitants came to greet her, but the most that she saw were two birds silently hopping from tree to another. Her hand went to the doorknob and turned it very slowly, peering inside with suspicious eyes.

“Good afternoon!” came Discord’s shrill, croaking voice, making Fluttershy jump so hard that she almost fell over. “I have something to talk about with you.”

Fluttershy stumbled inside, shutting the door with more of a slam than anything else. “W-What do you want to talk about?” she said, trying to slow her heartbeat.

Discord slunk up to her, offering a hand to walk her over to the sofa. “So, I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m out of my league by a league when comparing my honesty to Applejack’s, but I feel that I need to come clean about something.”

His tail shaped itself into something of a leg rest, and he crossed his ankles before setting them upon it. “What you said happened in your dreams is actually something I’m more than passingly familiar with. If I were to hazard a guess based on your description, I would bet my teeth that you have the Sound.”

Fluttershy, who had just sat down, straightened immediately. “The Sound? Um, what’s that?”

“It’s a sort of magic, far older than either Celestia or Luna, or even myself- there is an awful lot more to the universe than Equestria, you know- that was used to help make the earth you walk upon.” He looked at her wings. “Or fly over. Whatever.”

“Is that… the magic that Twilight was talking about?”

Discord nodded. “Most thought that the Sound died with the Old Gods, but it tends to pop up every ten to twelve thousand years in some hapless mortal who has no idea what they’re doing, and they usually get themselves killed over it.”

Fluttershy’s eyes shot open, wide with fear. “A-Are you saying that I h-have it?”

Another nod. “I’m not saying that you’ll die because of it, though,” he said, slinging an arm over her shoulder. “Not with me around, at least!”

By that point, Fluttershy was shivering out of anxiety. “D-Do you know a way to help? I just want the dreams to go away…”

Discord guffawed. “Fluttershy, my dear, the potential you have within you because of the Sound dwarfs the Elements’ power by a long shot, and I couldn’t possibly waste an opportunity this rare to help a friend. With my coaching, you’ll never have to worry about much anything, let alone bad dreams, ever again.”

“I don’t know… are you sure that you can let me get this under control?”

“Of course! I’d Pinkie promise you, but she’s not around. You have to make a promise to me, though.”

“What would that be?”

Discord leaned in and pointed a talon at her nose. “Don’t tell anyone about it. Not your friends, or even the princesses. This has to be kept secret, for the sake of everyone. Do we have a deal?”

“...Yes.”

Author's Note

Told you that I don't update often. Next chapter should have more Luna in it.