Fluttershy’s head ached. She took painkiller and filled up a large bottle with water before creeping out into the late morning sun. She kept her eyes well-shaded beneath her mirrored aviators and wore pink shorts and a thin yellow hoodie over her bathing suit. She kicked on her flip-flops and headed out the door for breakfast.

She did not have a particular place in mind, wandering the mostly abandoned roads and alleys of that part of town, stifling yawn after yawn. She bought a breakfast roll with vegetables and avocado to nibble on as she walked. She hoped to run across Lyra and Bon Bon; she wasn’t even sure if they’d escaped the police the night before but had no way to contact them.

She found herself outside of a neon-signed doorway in an alley, consisting of a rearing pony. She was mesmerized by it and considered Tree Hugger’s claim of psychic ability, wishing she had the talent if it were true. She hadn’t brought her phone with her on the trip, though it seemed she needn’t have bothered, what with half of Ponyville there already.

The sky was partly overcast, and a cool breeze made her shiver when the door beneath the neon sign opened. She stepped aside and did a double-take. Discord was walking out of it, Daisy wrapped around his arm, slumped against him and eyes closed. He stopped walking when he saw her, looking frightened.

Fluttershy looked at the moving sign again. Colas Rosadas, it read. A large pink heart was stuck to the bottom, not neon, but it signified a Love Hotel. They were common enough there, but Fluttershy had never been in one before. She looked again at Discord and wasn’t sure what expression she was making, but Discord was upset enough that he dropped Daisy from his side. The door opened again and out walked Celestia, smiling but impatient. She looked surprised to Fluttershy, but not at all concerned, lifting her hand to wave.

Fluttershy kept her distance as Discord tried to peel Daisy, now obviously unconscious, off the ground, and was walking away when he called out to her, but she ignored him and turned the corner.

Somehow, she made it to the beach, but if anyone had asked her how she’d gotten there she would not be able to say. She settled near the waves for a little while, near the harbor, watching each pull and push of the water and not thinking of much at all.

Lyra and Bon Bon met her on the beach about an hour later, both looking about as haggard as Fluttershy, but tree Hugger had invited them along for the hunting trip and they talked about nothing else. Tree Hugger joined them shortly after but didn’t seem to be adversely affected by yesterday’s exploits at all. Fluttershy pushed aside any offerings of alcohol or weed from her and stayed curled up on the sand like a shrimp.

The relative quietude was just what she needed, and she could have fallen asleep right there, but before she had the chance she felt a presence on her left shoulder and then heard a harsh whisper in her ear, “Fluttershy.”

She screamed, crawling backward until she fell onto her back, now at the mercy of whatever was on her. Tiny claws gripped her flesh as the thing on her shoulder tried to hang on.

“Fluttershy, stop!” the whispering voice said, more harshly. “It’s me.”

Panting, Fluttershy looked down to see a miniature Discord in draconequus form perched near her collarbone and looking piously up at her. “What are you doing?”

Tree Hugger hadn’t noticed anything was going on, as she was busy licking a rolling paper, but Bon Bon and Lyra were watching her, confused. “You all right?” Bon Bon asked.

Fluttershy nodded and rolled to all fours so she could stand. She walked several yards away and hissed, “Get off of me.”

“It wasn’t what you think it was,” Discord said quickly. “I know you-“

“You have no idea what I’m thinking,” Fluttershy snapped. “Anyway, it’s none of my business who you spend time with!”

“I was helping them out, honest-“

“You cannot pop in on me like this anymore.”

“I know, but I had to-“

“Please, go away.”

“I didn’t sleep with them!” he roared. Fluttershy spun around to see if the girls had heard. Bon Bon and Lyra were watching her again, eyes wide. Lyra leaned close to Bon Bon and whispered something.

Fluttershy turned away again. “Now see what you’ve done.”

“Fluttershy, this is ridiculous. Will you just talk to me?”

“We are talking. I told you I don’t care what you do.”

Discord’s eyes glistened and she felt a little sorry. Then she remembered how Daisy was plastered against him and her sorrow evaporated.

“I know we’re not getting along, but I don’t want you to think the worst of me,” he said. “Just ten minutes, Fluttershy, that’s all I’m asking.”

She closed her eyes, determined to ignore him.

“You’re not the only one in this break-up,” he said testily. “I should have come right back when I left, and I’m sorry, but by Twilight’s crown, I’m going to talk to you now!”

Fluttershy rounded on him. “I told you I wanted to make a clean break of it."

“Then we will,” he shot back. “But it has to be today, Fluttershy.”

She sniffed. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Not here. The girls are here.”

“Then after your hunting trip."

“I’ll be too tired-“

“Then I’ll wake you up.”

Fluttershy glared at him and cleared her throat, and Discord grew still. But in an instant he had disappeared completely and Fluttershy was left staring at her shoulder.

Lyra walked toward her. “What was that all about?”

“I, uh... a psychic message from Treesie.” She looked around wildly, locked her eyes on Tree Hugger, marched over to her and threw her case of joints into the waves.

“Dude,” was all Tree Hugger said.

“She can’t stop herself,” Fluttershy told them. I want to smoke something now, she thought, but quelled the urge. “Our boat’s coming soon. Don’t you want to be sober for the hunt, Tree Hugger?” She looked at her friend so hard she thought she could bore holes into Tree Hugger’s skull.

Tree Hugger’s eyes crossed and uncrossed, perplexed, before she lifted her towel to pull out her small bong.

Fluttershy looked around for help, and suddenly realized someone was missing. “Where’s Astra?”

Tree Hugger was squinting at the bowl. “Hnn?”

“Astra Azul. Where is she?”

“Jail,” Tree Hugger said, and stretched out her leg before picking sand from between her toes.

Fluttershy spluttered, but Lyra yawned and said, “How’d she end up there?”

“She was hauled in,” Bon Bon said, also yawning. “Don’t you remember her screaming? I never heard such foul language.”

“Shouldn’t we try to get her out?” Fluttershy asked, worried.

“Yeah,” Tree Hugger said, as if she hadn’t thought of it until just now. “You can tell Discord to post her bail.”

Fluttershy was appalled. “He can’t. It isn’t up to him to pay for someone he doesn’t know. Aren’t we her friends?”

“I don’t got no cash,” Tree Hugger rasped, her throat choked from inhaling.

“Gee, Fluttershy,” Lyra said hesitantly, “I don’t know what we can do.”

“Not without self-implication,” Bon Bon agreed, her voice decisive.

“You could try, maybe, since you left before the police got to us.”

Fluttershy was considering it when the whirring of a boat engine came up to them. It was an average size passenger boat, its white paint worn, but it looked capable. The skipper was rotund and middle-aged, with a bushy red beard and beer belly. His first mate was the opposite of him in every way, but they were friendly and civil.

As they boarded, Fluttershy kept a little to herself and didn't feel like talking to anyone. Tree Hugger danced about the deck and cabin as their excursion began, but tripped into someone who came out of the side-door in the cabin and was holding a silver tray of canapes.

Discord was dressed in black slacks and a white collared shirt. He fought to keep the tray on his palm when Tree Hugger fell onto him. She burst out laughing as the other girls looked at him, stunned.

Fluttershy was furious. Oh, you are kidding me.

Discord looked just as displeased to see her. They looked away from each other simultaneously and did their best to ignore each other as the boat puttered out across the water. Bon Bon, Lyra, and Tree Hugger were not so dissuaded, however.

“How many jobs do you have?” Lyra cried as Discord tried to avoid her gaze.

“Seven,” he told the wall.

“Seven?” Bon Bon said. “That’s impossible.”

“If you recall, I can warp time. I make it work.”

“Woooow,” Tree Hugger said. “Could you, like, send me to a time where I can be a gazelle? I’ve always wanted to be a gazelle. Or maybe a gourd. You know, like for Nightmare Night?”

“Time, not matter,” Lyra said.

“But he can do it. Can’t you, Discord? You turn into that... whatever you call it. That thing with the horns. I want to be one of those.”

Discord couldn’t think of a suitable reply and just stood still, holding the tray. Bon Bon and Lyra dutifully took one canape each, but Tree Hugger was suddenly mesmerized by the gathering clouds outside and was lost to them.

"Heard anything abut Astra Azul?" Bon Bon asked Discord after a while. "Tree Hugger said she was arrested."

"I heard something," he said just above a whisper. "But her record's too extensive for me to be of any help."

Bon Bon sighed and joined Lyra on the deck. Fluttershy sat at a port hole for the entire trip. She knew she was being a bit childish, but then again, she’d come to Puerto Caballo to get away from Equestria, and Discord, and now here he was yet again. It was too bizarre.

A crash of thunder made her yelp and she got up to join the others who were looking at the storm outside the cabin door. Sticky heat washed over her, only cooled a little by the rain that was starting to fall. The wind was whipping her hair around as if it were alive; she pressed it against her head and covered her ears as another crash of thunder echoed across the sky.

“This wasn’t part of the plan, was it?” she asked in a small voice.

Lyra and Bon Bon looked a little seasick and made their way inside, the skipper and first mate were leaping around to roll up the sail and keep the boat going in the right direction, but Tree Hugger had her arms opened up to the sky, her head back. A gust of wind ripped her flowered scarf right off her head, but she didn’t notice. Fluttershy moved toward her to bring her inside, but Discord reached her first. He guided her to the cabin, her eyes still closed.

“Should we be in here?” Lyra asked, as scared as Fluttershy felt. “What if we sink?”

“I feel so awakened,” Tree Hugger cried, spinning around and throwing the water droplets from her body onto everyone else.

“Tree Hugger!” Bon Bon braced her arm against a wall in front of Lyra, as if to protect her from anything else Tree Hugger might do.

“A little rain is good for the soul, and the skin! Can’t you feel your body come alive?” On her last word, a fork of lightning reached down to the water and blinded them all through the windows. Fluttershy, Bon Bon, and Lyra all screamed, but Tree Hugger was just as clueless as ever, and Discord, now hunched over on a chair, was focused on the waves.

The water grew rough, rocking the boat from side to side, until one enormous wave swept over them and the boat capsized. Fluttershy struck her head against something- the wall or a chair, she had no idea- and inhaled water. The lights in the cabin created an eerie orange glow, but then faded into darkness.

When she was next aware, she had a vision. She was outside the boat, still underwater but unable to move. In front of a bright golden light the shadow of a giant squid-like creature swam past, toiling the water in gentle whirlpools. A frightening face with a mouth filled with impossibly long, sharp teeth came into view. The creature looked at her, and she it.

She came to on something rough and hard and cold. As soon as she opened her eyes she was overcome with the urge to vomit, and two sets of hands helped sit her up enough to do so. She hacked and coughed and spat up water for what seemed like ages, but at last she felt more like her usual self. She touched the side of her head and started at the tenderness there.

“Oh, whew, we’re all alive,” Bon Bon said gratefully, collapsing beside Fluttershy. “I did not want to have nightmares about this for the rest of my life.”

Fluttershy slowly got to her feet, though her legs were like jelly. Lyra and Bon Bon helped support her and walked her over to a smooth rock where she could sit. She looked around and made sure everyone was accounted for: the skipper and first mate were huddled on a rock close to the water; Discord was sitting on another rock, his head in his hands; Tree Hugger was on her back, gargling handfuls of seawater and shooting it out of her mouth into the waves.

“How’s your head?” Lyra asked.

“It hurts, but I think I’m all right,” Fluttershy said softly. She peeled off her hoodie and shorts to let them dry beside the other clothes that were strewn across the rocks.

“Discord and Tree Hugger saved us. Skipper and the sailor made it out all right. They swam up just as Discord pulled you from the water.”

Fluttershy looked around again, this time to see where they were. The island was no more than thirty yards in any direction and completely made of rocks. Most were black and sharp, but some were light and smooth, rounded over many years by the sea and rain. Several large rocks stuck up, acting like boulders and blocking part of the view toward Puerto Caballo, though they were too far away to see it now.

“We’re all okay,” Bon Bon said. “Lyra hurt her knee.”

“It’s not bad,” Lyra said, settling beside Fluttershy.

“Hey,” Tree Hugger said, “trust in nature to get you where you need to go.”

“It was nature that almost killed us all!”

“Nah, man. I saw him.”

“Who?”

“The Gargonzyle. He was beautiful. I’ll have to paint a picture when I get home. Or make a mosaic. Or carve his likeness into a log.”

Fluttershy perked at her words. “What did it look like?”

“Like a merman,” Tree Hugger sighed, stretching her arms out to embrace the dying wind. “Long hair, silvery scales, like a dream!”

Fluttershy’s interest evaporated. She gently touched the bump on her head and closed her eyes. Her frightening vision must have been a result of her head injury.

“I didn’t see anything,” Lyra sniffed. “I’ll never get on another boat as long as I live!”

“Yes, was this creature even real, Tree Hugger?” Bon Bon demanded. “Maybe you just saw a merman.”

Tree Hugger started to laugh, but it turned into a coughing fit. “They aren’t real. He was like a god of the sea. I can't believe you didn't see him.”

The skipper limped to them, his legs shaking as much as Fluttershy's had. "We sent a distress signal before we went down. We should get help soon."

The girls thanked him, and Lyra opened a beer. By a miracle, stroke of luck, or Tree Hugger’s tenacity, the beer cooler and all of her drug paraphernalia were salvaged. She lay out her two bongs to dry in the sun and eyed the rocks near the shore before springing to her feet and running to them. “Tidepool time,” she wheezed. She moved with such graceful ease that Fluttershy just looked at her in wonder. Bon Bon joined her and Fluttershy and Lyra watched them with mild interest.

“Look!” Tree Hugger cried, jumping onto a rock and pointing. “A crayfish!”

“That’s not a crayfish,” Bon Bon laughed.

“Why not? It looks like one to me.”

“It can’t be one if it’s in the ocean, silly.”

“Hey, Lyra,” Tree Hugger called, ignoring Bon Bon. “Isn’t this a crayfish?”

“I don’t know,” Lyra called back tiredly, settling her blue shades on her face. “I don’t really care about fish.”

“Whoa, no, a crayfish isn’t a fish,” Tree Hugger said. “It’s like a lobster thing.” She wiggled her fingers in what Fluttershy could only assume was an imitation of a lobster.

“I, um, dunno,” Lyra yawned.

“Oh, leave her be, Tree Hugger,” Bon Bon said, springing up on an adjacent rock and testing her balance before stepping to another. She peered into the tide pool and snorted with laughter. “That’s not even a crustacean. I thought you were part of the ESPRC?”

Tree Hugger’s smile faded, but she decided to ignore the barb and focused her attention on some other unwitting tidal life form. “The Gargonzyle is my expertise.”

Fluttershy wanted to join them, but her headache and general malaise, combined with the fear of running into Blonde Buckaroo’s frightening crab form, kept her glued to her rock.

“Well, that was all a bust,” Lyra shouted. “The whole Gargonzyle thing.” She then whispered to Fluttershy, "Did you see anything?"

"Not what she saw."

"You did see something?"

Fluttershy shook her head tiredly. "Not really." The storm was breaking, revealing slivers of orange, red, and pink light as the sun set. She kept shifting on the rock to stay comfortable, but her bottom was getting sore.

“Look,” Tree Hugger said, her voice sounding distant on the wind. She was crouched low over a tidepool, her face nearly submerged in the water. “A mussel. What have you found?”

“Just sea anemones,” Bon Bon said, her hands on her hips.

“Oh, some barnacles and a starfish,” Tree Hugger added, reaching into the pool to lift something out.

Bon Bon plucked a hermit crab from Tree Hugger’s cupped hands. “A starfish!” she shrieked with laughter.

Tree Hugger finally looked annoyed, though her eyes were still unfocused. “I don’t get out to the ocean very often. It’s not really my vibe.”

Bon Bon continued laughing but stopped abruptly before reaching down to a pool. “Tree Hugger, come look at this- ew!” She tossed whatever small creature she’d had back into the water.

Tree Hugger took her time joining Bon Bon, but her eyes widened when she saw what was in the pool. “Whoa-ho.”

“What is it?” Bon Bon asked, worried.

“A new species?”

She and Bon Bon inspected the creature for a while, debating whether or not it was indeed a new species, but quickly Tree Hugger became distracted by the spangles on her bikini bottoms sparkling in the setting sunlight. She focused on her left butt-cheek and squeezed it. “You know what? I was thinking about tatting my cutie mark down here.”

“What good would it be there?” Bon Bon asked.

“Not good. Cute. And what if I lose my arm? I just wouldn’t be me without my cutie mark.”

“You can tattoo it there if you lose your arm, then.”

“But I want it now.”

Fluttershy tried to tune them out. Her long sigh alerted Lyra, who shifted her seat on a rock to get closer to her. “What’s the matter?”

Fluttershy’s eyelids were drooping. “What is he doing here?”

“Discord?” Lyra looked over her shoulder at him. “He’s not so bad.”

“But don’t you think it’s odd?” Fluttershy rested her cheek on her arm.

“What, that he’s decided to live a life of servitude?”

“That he keeps showing up.”

“It could be some cruel joke from the universe.”

Bon Bon laughed and sat with them them, wiping her hands on her bathing suit. “Maybe it’s a sign, Fluttershy. You both look miserable; if you don’t mind me saying so, it’d be a shame if you couldn’t work things out.”

Fluttershy looked at her in surprise. “Shame?”

Lyra leaned onto Bon Bon’s shoulder. “Everyone thought you’d get married. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna placed bets-“

“Bets?” Fluttershy whispered. “Celestia?”

“They were sure you’d tie the knot by the end of the year.”

“I think they lost a lot of money,” Bon Bon mused.

“Cheese Sandwich bet against you, though. Pinkie was pretty mad.”

Fluttershy absently brought her hand to her cheek, digesting this new information. Princess Celestia? She could scarcely believe it.

Lyra grabbed another beer from the cooler. “He’s been besotted with you since you reformed him. Every time he looked at you his eyes were practically hearts.”

“It was very cute,” Bon Bon said, pulling Lyra up with her to look at the tidepools again.

“He was just…” … being nice? Fluttershy thought. She supposed she could believe them, but she hadn’t really noticed. When did they find affection for each other? For her, at least, it must have been a gradual thing. Even when they kissed for the first time, slept together for the first time, she hadn’t been in love with him. Had she?

She loved him now. She loved him so much sometimes she thought her heart would burst. But a relationship required a lot more than love. She’d finally understood it, but Discord still seemed lost, stuck in an adolescent vision of what he thought romance was. How could she explain it to him? She was no better than he was about talking out their problems.

But if Discord didn’t understand there was more to building and staying in a relationship than just feeling something, was it something he would ever be able to learn? He had lived for so long, it was disheartening at times to think about how much growing up he still had to do. She didn’t want to dash his feelings for her, but she didn’t want to, and shouldn’t have to, carry the relationship for the both of them.

She was brought back to the island from her thoughts by a loud wail. She looked toward the water and saw Bon Bon and Lyra wrestling on the shore.

“Stop flinching,” Bon Bon was saying, holding Lyra’s arm down. “It’s only a fish hook. I’ll spit on it and pull-”

“No,” Lyra squealed.

“Stop movin’ around,” Bon Bon said as Lyra squirmed from her grasp and tried to crawl away. Bon Bon grabbed Lyra’s leg and sat on it. “Just let me take it out. It’ll hurt more the longer it’s in.”

Lyra let out a pitiful whine and tried to claw her way across the rocks again, but Bon Bon threw herself onto Lyra’s back and wrapped her arms around her waist to keep her still. “Ly-ra!” Bon Bon gasped, her chin digging into Lyra’s back so she could barely say the name, but Lyra only wailed again.

Fluttershy hid her smile and looked out across the red, glittering waves to leave her friends to themselves. She reminisced about a similar incident with Discord, recalling a late night and a broken window pane that a piece of had embedded into the palm of her hand. Discord had been so gentle, so calm. He mended her right away and she had scarcely ever felt so loved.

Then again, it had been Discord who had broken the glass in the first place while performing a magic trick. He’d even tried to repair it, but the objects he fixed never looked quite the same as they used to.

Fluttershy covered her face with her hand. How can I care so much about someone and feel so... so peeved at the same time? Am I going to feel like this forever?

The commotion stopped. Bon Bon had her arm around Lyra in a tight embrace, but Fluttershy caught their somewhat exasperated murmurs of, “What, you wanted to be called ‘Lyra “Hook Arm” Heartstrings’ for the rest of your life?” and, “I was going to sit still, but then you grabbed me.”

I suppose even they annoy each other, Fluttershy thought, and a pressure inside her lessened. She thought again, trying to remember something, something Tree Hugger had said yesterday, she was pretty sure. But what was it, exactly? Something about doing something wrong?

She couldn’t relax. She needed to speak to Discord privately, though she’d avoided it so deftly, and now that they were marooned on an island without any privacy it at least seemed to fit the current pattern of ending up in situations she didn't want . Back then, she hadn't been able to pinpoint the problem, and she still wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she knew she couldn't ignore him forever. And at least they could, as Discord had asked to earlier, clear the air between them and perhaps settle things once and for all.

Author's Note

Hmm, could there be a reason for all of this... luck?

Also, if you ever get knocked out, please go to a hospital.