When Fluttershy awoke, it was dark and starry and the breeze had a small, refreshing chill. She felt too foggy and tired to party, but Tree Hugger and Bon Bon convinced her to come with them, even for an hour. They were still determined to hook her up with someone, and Fluttershy, at this point, was not much opposed to the idea.

The party was about a half mile down the beach from where they had spent the day, and Fluttershy could hear it before she saw the bonfires and shadows of people; there had to be at least a hundred. Fluttershy slinked to the party behind Tree Hugger and Astra Azul. The noise was overwhelming, the people too close, but after a few minutes Fluttershy could tune out most of the goings-on.

Everyone was moving, or laughing, or screaming, or doing a combination of all three. A young woman nearby was gyrating her body and every limb she had while standing on spindly-legged table. Her hair was an astonishing silver and gold, though Astra Azul later claimed it was a wig, and that she went by the ill-chosen name of Chastity Chains.

Tree Hugger fluttered her eyelids at a potential beau, but was so high and wasted by then that it came across as more of a set of spasms, and the man in question did not respond well.

And for a moment she thought she caught a glimpse of Discord from behind, but he was gone in the sea of people before she was sure. Flash Sentry, however, was doing a handstand on a keg while sucking the booze from it through a tube as people around him cheered.

“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy murmured to her friends, “I’m not sure Twilight will want to hear about this.”

Tree Hugger snorted a laugh. “Haven’t they been not dating for, like, three years?”

“Or ever?” Bon Bon quipped, raising her eyebrows slyly.

Lyra leaned close to them to whisper, “You think so? Well, I heard…”

Fluttershy, loathing gossip, propelled herself from the table and wandered again, tired and trying not to be morose. Her mind didn’t seem to be working right, and a young blonde-haired man with found her staring her staring, glassy-eyed at the bonfire. “Whoa,” he said as she swayed, and he plucked her drink from her. “Lost?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Just trying to see…”

“I can help you. What are you looking for?”

“I'm looking for someone.”

He laughed. “That’s me! The name’s Blonde Buckaroo.” He winked at her, but she just looked back at him, confused.

“Um-“

“Too much to drink? I know a place we can cool off.” He put his arm across her shoulders and steered her toward the waves.

Fluttershy stumbled along beside him, craning her neck around to see the party. “No, I think he’s back there.”

“’He’? Not keeping a good eye on you, then, is he?” He pulled her close to him, so she was tucked beneath his shoulder.

“Well, he doesn't know I'm here." Her eyes tried to focus on his cutie mark. She wasn't sure, but it looked sort of like his own face, winking at her.

“Don’t worry. You’ll feel better once we-“ He stopped speaking and walking when a shadow blocked their path. Looking up, Fluttershy made out the tense outline of Discord.

“Fluttershy, there you are,” Discord said, his voice serene. “Thank you, sir, for finding her for me. I was afraid she’d gotten lost.”

Blonde Buckaroo scowled. “Piss off, goat-boy! She needs some air.”

Fluttershy watched Discord, her mouth open. She was torn between relief and fear at what he might do to the young man whose arm was still twined around her. She did not need to wonder for long, however.

“Yes, she does, so she’s coming with me.”

“But she wants to come with me.”

“No,” Discord smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. “She doesn’t want to come with you.”

A second later, a loud ping sounded, and Fluttershy stumbled as Blonde Buckaroo disappeared. Well, she thought he had disappeared. A quiet, high-pitched scream coming from beneath her alerted her to a small red crab running in circles. When she bent down for a closer look, she was pretty sure she saw a tiny shock of blonde hair on its shell. It ran screaming toward the ocean, and Fluttershy sat down hard in the sand.

“All right?” Discord asked, the coldness in his voice erased.

“Maybe.” She caught her breath. “You’re not going to leave him like that, are you? I feel disturbed.”

“It’ll wear off in a while. Probably. Maybe.” Discord sat beside her, and as the silence stretched between them he began drawing designs in the sand.

Fluttershy tucked her knees up and lay her arms across them, then rested her chin. “You seem to be everywhere.”

“I swear, I didn’t know you’d be here. I’m just as surprised to see you.”

She moved her head a little so she could see him. “Thank you for helping us earlier.”

Discord shrugged. “They don’t pay me much. How long have you been here?”

“A week. I’m with Tree Hugger. Well, and Astra and Lyra and Bon Bon now.” She paused. “Why are you here? Working?”

Discord looked out across the waves. “I needed to get out of Equestria. I thought working would keep me busy.”

“It seems everyone is here,” Fluttershy said, sighing. “That is, it doesn’t bother me. But I came out here to be distracted, too.” She bit her thumbnail. “I should probably get back to the girls. They might worry.”

“Fluttershy, can we talk for a minute?”

Fluttershy stood up, brushing sand from her dress. “We are talking.”

“I mean, really talk. About what we’re going to do about-“

“I don’t want to have a fight. Not right now.”

“We’re not fighting.” He stood up beside her. “I’m not here to argue with you.”

“And I’ve been drinking too much to remember this tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

Fluttershy bit back another sigh. “Yes, maybe. Tree Hugger and I are going Gargonzyle hunting in the evening.”

“Gargonzyle?”

“A thing. Under the sea. Treesie knows about it.”

Discord’s eyes scanned the crowd up the beach, his eyebrows raised. “I see.”

“I’ve really got to get back,” Fluttershy began.

Discord gestured toward the crowd. “I’ll walk you.”

The walk was awkwardly silent, but soon they had returned to the party and went their separate ways. Fluttershy looked for her friends and for one more drink; then she would have to call it a night.

She found Bon Bon and Lyra cackling with some people Fluttershy didn’t know. Astra Azul was playing limbo with a coconut down her bikini top, and Tree Hugger was busy singing her latest song to the gathering crowd.

“I want you in me,” she sang, only slightly out of tune, her ukulele twanging away, “like a stick in a piñataaaaa!”

Fluttershy walked up to her and coughed. “Treesie-”

“Hump me with your rump, rump

Don’t you be a grump, grump

And if you follow all the way

I’ll make a baby so you stay~”

Tree Hugger continued belting out in this vein, and Fluttershy took a big swig of some pleasant, but bitter cocktail someone had just thrust into her hands. The song really didn’t sound so bad, and she thought she might have been enjoying the tune of it at least when she caught sight of a familiar form on the other side of the fire.

It was someone tall and stately, with pastel hair waving in the breeze. She thought, It can’t be! It can’t be! But when the figure turned to the side, she was sure.

“Princess Celestia?” she gasped.

“Oh, good evening, Fluttershy,” Celestia said, turning to face her and smiling. “I never expected to see you here.”

That makes two of us, you… you…! “Oh, well, I’m only on vacation here with Tree Hugger,” Fluttershy said faintly; she couldn’t bring herself to look at the princess.

“I hardly ever get to leave Equestria,” Celestia went on happily, as if nothing were the matter. “It’s a bit hot for me, but it’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?”

“I, er, yes.”

“Are you and your friend having fun? Are you feeling well, dear?” she added, looking down at Fluttershy with concern. “Your eyes are so red.”

“I, um, think it’s all this sand.” She rubbed her eyes for effect.

Celestia placed her hand on Fluttershy’s head in what Fluttershy figured was a comforting gesture, but at that moment all she felt was harassed. “Well, then, please take care of yourself. I hope to see you back in Equestria soon. I only have two nights left here. Oh! Take this, too." She held out a cocktail.

Fluttershy smiled thinly and took the drink. If she weren’t so godalmighty tall... “I will, princess. Thank you. And you, too.”

Celestia drew her hand away and gave a sort of giggle as she returned to her beer pong game. Fluttershy oozed away from the bonfire and into the balmy air, pressing her drink to her chest as if it were her armor and the darkness an enemy. Somehow she made it through the crowd, but the defiant energy she had felt earlier was now replaced with worry. She forced a smile when she found her friends again, however, and fixed her ruffled hair with her fingers.

"You look terrible," Lyra said when she saw her. Bon Bon seemed to give up on keeping Lyra's foot out of her mouth, and just looked at Fluttershy in sorrow.

“Celestia," Fluttershy croaked. She held out the drink as if it were poison, and turned to look at the bonfire.

Lyra followed her gaze. “You mean she’s here?”

Fluttershy nodded. “She must be on vacation, too.”

Lyra squawked. “‘Vacation’, my-”

“Lyra,” Bon Bon hissed. “Well, it is that time of year. For holidays. You know.”

Fluttershy dropped the drink and hid her face in her hands. “What am I doing here? If they want to be with each other, I shouldn’t get in their way. I don’t think it was meant to be. He’s so worldly; I’m just a baby compared to him. And he’s too tall.”

“You are kind of short for him,” Bon Bon agreed.

“Kind of?” Lyra began, but Bon Bon glared at her.

“Among many other things,” Fluttershy said, growing more despondent by the moment.

“Maybe he likes that about you.”

“Mm,” Lyra said, “I’ve always sensed a strong protective streak in him.”

“I don’t think he needs to protect Celestia,” Fluttershy said owlishly, and jumped when Lyra and Bon Bon both choked on their drinks, spurting vodka and gin from their mouths.

Bon Bon began cackling. “Oh, come on, Fluttershy! Celestia needs all the help she can get.”

Lyra was nearly hyperventilating from laughter. “Celestia, on her own?”

Fluttershy smiled slightly as her friends howled. “They just seem more evenly matched, that’s all. Maybe he’s resented having to take care of me.”

“He hardly takes care of you,” Lyra said. “I think it’s the other way around.”

“Oh, but he does, really,” Fluttershy said. “He’s always trying to make me happy. He does so many little things-”

“Stop,” Lyra said, holding up her hand. “No reminiscing. You’ll just be miserable another night longer. If he’s here banging the princess, then you don’t want to think about it.”

Bon Bon elbowed Lyra’s ribs. “Will you shut up?” she whispered.

“It’s fine,” Fluttershy said bravely. “I think I’ll just find Treesie and keep drinking.”

“Here,” Lyra said, holding out the rest of her cocktail. “You need this more than I do.”

“Anyway," Bon Bon said, "Celestia will be a shriveled hag one day, and you’ll still be young and nubile.”

Fluttershy hadn’t considered that. “I’ll be aging, too,” she countered.

Lyra was laughing. “Can you imagine Celestia looking like Applejack’s granny one day?”

“I think we’ll all look like her someday,” Fluttershy said and rubbed her eyes; she had a sudden headache. “Where's Tree Hugger?”

"Still singing," Lyra said. "Can't you hear her?"

Fluttershy listened carefully. Tree Hugger and most of the others had moved on to a new song, slightly more lilting than the first, but no less embarrassing.

“Your aura’s new, so is it you? Or did you eat my muffin, too?” they squawked, swaying arm-in-arm.

Bon Bon patted Fluttershy's arm. "Go on. We'll catch up in a minute."

Fluttershy returned to Tree Hugger and Astra Azul and listened to the last verse of the song. Despite her wide, crossed eyes and inebriated state, Tree Hugger was always acutely aware of Fluttershy. She set her ukulele down and held her hand out.

“He isn’t worth it, Flutters. No man is. Well. Mortimer McMimbelby was, but he died in that tragic accident."

Astra Azul covered her mouth with her hand. "Not the cow?"

Tree Hugger nodded and turned her attention back to Fluttershy. “Hey, if you want the creep back that badly, just do something wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“Throw a bucket on his head, or tie his shoelaces together. That'll show him you've got problems. He'd never abandon you if he knew you were nuts. Eh, maybe."

“I prefer the old toothpaste in his slippers angle," Astra Azul chimed in.

“Why not braid his hair to the headboard of his bed?” Lyra said as she and Bon Bon joined them.

“If he has one," Bon Bon murmured.

“Of course he-”

“I'll see,” Fluttershy said, mostly to herself.

“So you do want him back,” Lyra laughed. “I knew it.”

"No," Bon Bon said, "he broke up with her." She caught herself as soon as she said it and looked at Fluttershy in horror as Lyra continued laughing. "I'm sorry."

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t, I…” She clamped her mouth shut. She did want him back. But that didn’t mean their problems would magically be resolved. What would she do if he agreed? "I haven't even apologized to him yet."

Lyra's laughter disappeared. "You mean you broke up with him?"

Fluttershy did not like everyone looking at her, and placed her hands on her cheeks to hide her flush. "I said it was complicated. I think I need to go to the hotel."

Astra Azul and Tree Hugger grabbed her arms and began walking her toward the bonfire.

"You need to talk to Discord," Astra Azul said.

"Flutters," Tree Hugger drawled, "whatever the problem is, you've got to clear out your energy field, right? Unfinished business is the worst kind of emotional blockage."

"You'll never forgive yourself," Astra Azul insisted.

"Wait, stop," Fluttershy wailed, and with a remarkable show of strength, pulled her arms from the girls' grasp. "Celestia's in there, and I am not making a spectacle of myself. Really, ladies!"

Tree Hugger held her hands out. "Wait, wait. You're right. My most sincere apologies. We're going about this all wrong, girls. She can't just run into that zoo without defenses! She needs a plan!"

"Plan?" Fluttershy whispered.

"She's got to show him she means it. We'll set up a scenario, and-"

"Treesie, I appreciate your help, really, but a sweet word and an 'I'm sorry' aren't going to fix anything. Please, believe me."

Tree Hugger eyed her, though Fluttershy wasn't sure her friend could see her properly. "You know I do. Well. Well. Hm." She scanned the crowd. "See any boys you like? I found someone, but I think I'll be joining him in his suite tonight, if you know what I mean."

"No. No one," Fluttershy said, feeling sick. The image of Blonde Buckaroo was still circling her mind. "I think I'd just like to go to bed. Thank you for being with me today. I really appreciate it."

The girls mumbled their understanding, though all four of them looked disappointed. Fluttershy bid them farewell and slowly made her way up the beach. After a short time, she was aware of a presence behind her and spun around to either run from or confront whoever was following her. It was Discord.

"I'll take you to your hotel," he said simply. His hands were in his shorts pockets, and his stance slumped as if he had nothing better to do with his time.

Fluttershy nodded, and they walked side-by-side for a minute. Fluttershy stopped. "I'm sorry."

Discord's eyebrows rose. "For?"

"For losing my temper. In Equestria."

Discord's nonchalance was replaced with laughter. "An understatement. All right. I'll accept, if you accept mine."

Not this again, she thought. "I know you're sorry. Anyway, don't apologize. I threw the bowl at you. I want to bury myself under the sand every time I think of it."

Discord's cheerful face turned to worry. "Fluttershy-"

"No, please. Not here."

Discord nodded and snapped his fingers. A second later, he and Fluttershy were caught awkwardly upside-down in a palm tree.

“Ughh,” Fluttershy moaned, unable to move; even her hair was caught in the tree’s sharp bark. Discord snapped his fingers again and they were on the edge of the main street, leaping aside to dodge a cab.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry; my magic still isn’t quite right.”

“I’m… uh… fine,” Fluttershy panted. “Are you?”

Discord inspected his arms and legs. “I think I’ll live to see another millennia.”

"Where are we?"

"Near the cantina, I think. Your hotel's nearby, isn't it? Tree Hugger sang a song about it."

Fluttershy looked around them gratefully. The neon green facade of her hotel was several blocks away, though in the other direction. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Look, before you go, can we just clear the air about-"

“No." Fluttershy covered her ears. "Every time I get pulled back to you, something stops me. This won't work, Discord.”

“I'm not stopping you. Fluttershy, just talk to me.”

“I am. You're the one who left."

"You wanted me to leave," Discord said. There was an innocence about him, she thought. No anger. He reminded her of a dog shut out in the cold.

"Oh." She folded her arms across her chest, refusing to look at him.

"I said I was sorry, Fluttershy. I should have come back."

She shrugged one shoulder. "It was done. We were done."

"Really?"

"Could we just make a clean break of it this time, please?" she begged. She felt she was smothering under both the need to escape and the urge to cry.

A cacophony of sirens and yelling people drowned out Discord's answer, and they looked behind them toward the distant party. The police marched in in groups of three and four, breaking up the festivities and apparently arresting many.

"Oh, dear," Fluttershy said under her breath.

"You're fine," Discord told her. "You already left."

"But what about Tree Hugger and the girls? My hotel is back that way, anyway."

Discord tilted his head to the side, indicating they should head back, and they walked again silently down the sidewalk. Fluttershy strained her eyes, trying to see if any of her her friends were in handcuffs. She thought they might be in the clear by the time they reached the patrol cars, but then she saw Tree Hugger standing by a car and talking to an officer, though she didn't seem to be arrested. Yet.

"I'll help her out," Discord whispered. "Get some sleep."

Fluttershy shrugged her trepidation aside, inhaled deeply, and marched across the street to the hotel, passing Tree Hugger.

“But, officer, it’s not even my bong,” Tree Hugger murmured hazily to the cops, her pupils enormous.

Fluttershy relished the cool silence of the room, and fell asleep easily, dreaming of a giant crab-boy. She awoke with a start well after dawn and was relieved to find Tree Hugger sprawled on her stomach across the loveseat. Her bed was pristine, and when Fluttershy got up she took her friend's sandals off and covered her with a blanket.

As she dressed for breakfast, she thought about her conversation with Discord. Like a spinning wheel, it went around and around in her head, as if somehow thinking about it more would change the words in it. But despite her heartache, she believed what she'd told him. They were done, finished, over. Weren't they?

Author's Note

Tree Hugger got out of trouble... this time!

As usual, I will edit this throughout the continuation of the story.