Testing The Boundaries

by Cryssy-miu

Rating: everyone
Tags: Fluttershy, Discord, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Applejack, Comedy, Angel
Length: 10415

Discord's taken advantage of Fluttershy's door mat-ness one too many times

Discord loves living in the cottage with Fluttershy, where he can get away with almost anything with a guardian that's too timid to stand up to him, but when Fluttershy decides to take some assertiveness training from Applejack, and a prank of Discord's nearly costs lives, the hapless draconequus is in for a rude awakening when he pushes his guardian's buttons one too many times.

Set in the events of "Broken Spirit", shortly before Discord moves back into the palace.

Published 2012-08-27 21:54:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-30 07:16:43 UTC

Applejack's Training In Being Assertive

It was early morning in the cottage. Most of the forest's inhabitants were still sleeping, and that included the animals in the cottage. It was one of those lazy mornings where no one wanted to come out from under their warm, cozy comforter.

Well, all but one that is.

Accompanied by the warm, soft fibers of her quilt and the rays from the sun, Fluttershy let out a happy sigh of contentment—up until a freezing cold, totally not comforting tidal wave of water drenched her. Fluttershy bolted up in her bed with a shriek of surprise and stumbled over the mattress. She darted up her angry eyes at the hysterically laughing spirit above her.

“Ohohoho, Fluttershy! You look like one of those wet, shaggy dogs you see at the salon! Or Rarity's cat after I used a fire hose on its face.”

The pegasus pursed her lips and shook off the freezing water droplets, which caused them to fly into the laughing draconequus's face. His squeal of surprise at least made her feel a little better about everything. “Discord, have you at least set the table for breakfast? Angel's turn was yesterday, and today it's your turn.”

“Oh yes, Angel...about him...” the spirit drawled. His talon pointed lazily over towards a fairly....bunny sized roll of toilet paper. At her horrified look he shrugged. “What? I haven't even gone to the bathroom yet! Oh, don't give me that look. That stupid fuzz ball kept poking and even biting at me to get me up!”

“Because it was your turn to set the table!” Fluttershy exclaimed, trying to give the spirit a purposeful glare. “Now please turn him back!” Discord was already attached to the ceiling and swinging the wooden rails like monkey bars. One look at her pleading face and his face seemed to soften. He loved tormenting the girl, but he knew that doing things to her animals was taking it too far, so he never did it for long. With a snap, Angel was once again a fluffy, miffed little bunny.

Well, that was at least a small victory anyway. “Now please set the table.” She gave an uncomfortable blink and sighed in exasperation as the spirit transformed the plates into pizza and tossed them on the table. “Discord, please...?” He was completely ignoring her.

Oh, to get that brat to listen. A brat, that's what he was. He may be old enough to be her great (times infinity) grandfather, but he was a spoiled, childish brat. He'd probably remain that way forever. The pegasus just wished that maybe for once he'd behave. Fat chance.

The problem was that he couldn't take her seriously and she couldn't either. She remembered the time she was fed up with being a doormat and sought out a - quite frankly – monster to teach her how to be more tough. Thankfully, this was during a week Discord was with his palace family. Fluttershy was quite certain that if Discord had been with her she probably would have beaten him up.

The aftermath of it all, (after having to apologize to nearly the entire town for her appalling behavior) was that the pegasus did learn how to be assertive without being unpleasant. She knew how to be stern and could say a firm “no”. With Discord, however, being stern was not enough. You needed to shout, you needed to snap, and you'd probably have to get physical to get his attention, but Fluttershy could never do that.

And so the pegasus would always be Discord's doormat.

“Discord, it's breakfast,” she said quietly. “It's time for eggs and toast, and oat-” She was cut off as a random bowl of oatmeal was poofed up, and slammed right into her face.

“-meal?” the spirit finished for her and rolled back in the air with an obnoxious cackle.

One might wonder why Fluttershy put up with all this abuse; getting doused by things daily, and having her animals turned into a menagerie of props, but the simple answer was that she loved him. Sure, he was the draconequus that made life chaos, but he was also the draconequus that rescued her from a basilisk, protected her when she stumbled into a bee hive in the woods, and frequently helped her cope with nightmares. Of course he pranked constantly—he was chaos!

“Well, I guess I was hungry,” the pegasus muttered as she mopped the goo from her face and ate a few hoof-fulls of it. “Wash up your face, because we have to be at Applejack's in less than a half hour.” She groaned as the spirit splashed cream soda onto his face. “Not with pop!”

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Arriving at Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy needed to stop several times on the way to give Discord a tug on his tail as he bothered some hapless ponies, and turned the leaves on trees into pieces of construction paper. Fluttershy's face flushed with embarrassment as the golden mare waiting by the barn gave a distant frown, and the pegasus desperately tugged again at Discord's tail.

At last, the impish spirit complied and obediently followed his guardian up the path. Hear ears back, Fluttershy approached Applejack (who was busy glaring as Discord pet Winnona, certain he would do something to her).

“Morning, Hon. How are y'all doing?” Applejack fondly slipped a hoof around the pegasus's back and giggled as the girl happily leaned against her. Yet, despite the smile on Fluttershy's face, Applejack noticed...something. Before she could ask though, Fluttershy had slipped away from the hug.

“So where are they?” the tired pegasus asked. Applejack hesitated, but she decided to ask what was wrong later.

“Well, they're over here. Ah chased away a few of the varmints eating at my lettuce plants only a few minutes ago.” She trotted towards the garden, where plenty of vegetables seemed to have been considerably gnawed at to their very core.

“Oh, they really have done a number to your garden,” Fluttershy sighed, watching as close by, fuzzy heads that thought were so perfectly concealed from the vegetables bobbed about as they continued feasting.

“Yes, they have. This time of the year is when we get crows and insects, but never bunnies!”

“Bunnies go where there is food,” Fluttershy said, “And if these bunnies have been born close to the farm then the farm is where they'll go to feast.” She smiled at her friend. “Don't worry though, I have plenty of Angel's favorite food with me, and they'll definitely want this over your vegetables.”

Fluttershy slipped a container out of her saddlebag and let it plop into the grass beside her. Instantly, about five bunny ears perked up at the sound, and their noses raised at the scent wafting from inside the plastic.

“Come here, you sweet little bunnies,” Fluttershy purred softly, bending her neck down to the dirt and crouching to seem less intimidating. “I have some delicious, Parmesan sprinkled cucumbers and spinach here!”

At that, snow white and smokey gray heads poked out through the bushes, and the hungry creatures immediately galloped up to the plastic container. Applejack and Fluttershy's mouths hung agape at the sheer number of bunnies they're really were. After about thirty seconds there were at least fifteen bunnies feasting away at the container.

“Alright, you cute little bunnies,” Fluttershy crooned lovingly, giving one of the bunnies a gentle nudge against his tiny little snout. “Now I'm gonna take you back to my cottage, okay? There's lots of vegetables, and places to nap and play.” She smiled and rubbed her cheek against one of the fluffy creatures. “And it's really qui-”

BANG! BANG! Discord slammed two cymbals together, inadvertently causing the panicked creatures to take off, into the forest. “THUNDER! THUNDER! A STORM IS COMING—RUN FOR COVER!” With a flash, he was gone.

The pegasus stared blankly for a few moments, watching as the little cotton tails immediately disappeared into the distant forest. Fluttershy only stood there for a few seconds, and then gave a furious whinny and bucked the container back several feet.

Shocked, Applejack stared at her. “Hon....are you alright?” She laid a gentle hoof over the pegasus's back, but Fluttershy furiously shrugged it off.

“Ohhhh, he just makes me so mad at times!” Fluttershy cried. “I just can't take anymore of this! He's such...a...BRAT!”

Applejack only stared at her, not understanding this. “So do something then!” she exclaimed. “I don't see you laying down the law with him!”

“Well...what am I supposed to do?”

“You're supposed to lay down the law!” the country mare growled, “I don't see you ever giving him any consequences! You're his guardian, and you allow him to do so much!”

“Applejack, he's chaos,” Fluttershy sighed, “I can't just ask him to not do chaos...it would make him miserable. He might even get depressed because of it.”

She had a point, but even Applejack knew that some things he did he could stand to keep to a minimum. “Well...some of what he does he needs to stop; like what he just did right now.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement with a sigh. “Well, I suppose...”

“If ya want, Ah can teach ya how to be more assertive. Now, it ain't gonna be anything like the kind of training that darn Iron Will gave you, but Ah can promise it'll be effective. He won't be stepping all over ya after it.”

The pegasus hesitated for a few moments. On one hoof, if she took this training perhaps she would have better control of this miscreant. However, every time she thought of “assertive training”, she thought of Iron Will. Inner turmoil written all over her face, she vigorously shook her head. “I-I really need to get back to the cottage, actually. Later today I need to get more groceries for my animals...and Discord will be looking after them.” She shuddered.

Applejack frowned. She trusted that Discord would never harm any of the pegasus's animals, but she still worried that he'd torment them and prank them to their limits. Still, there wasn't much she could do. “Well, alright. If ya change yer mind just give me a holler.” She laughed lightly. “It ain't like Ah'm gonna turn you into a killing machine or anythin'.”

“No, I know,” Fluttershy responded with her own awkward giggle. “I'm just...well, you know me.” She gave what looked like a sheepish smile and a look of shame as she slowly trotted away from a very worried Applejack.

Discord was probably already at the cottage, doing...oh, Celestia knows what. The pegasus pondered over Applejack's offer. Perhaps things wouldn't end up a complete disaster like she feared. Maybe Discord might actually respect her by the end of it (fat chance). The last thing she wanted to do was make him fear her. Of course, this was an ancient spirit—he probably wasn't afraid of very much.

It wasn't as if she'd become a monster after Applejack's training. Iron Will was just an unpleasant beast, and Applejack was a gentle pony raising her younger sister. She'd keep the country mare's offer in mind.

Finally reaching the cottage, Fluttershy pushed open the doors. It bumped into something, and she heard a gelatinous, wobbling sound. Her eyes widened and she shoved against the door as hard as she could. The bottom of the door sliced through the goop, and eventually, Fluttershy managed to squeeze in through the very small opening.

Jiggling, transparent, gelatinous furniture gummies were everywhere, taking the place of where her couch and chairs used to be; her lamps, her ornaments....and one certain fluffy bunny.

“Oh, Fluttershy!” Discord sniggered, “Don't you adore the way I spruced up the place~? Everything is so delicious!”

Running a hoof slowly down her face, the pegasus heaved out a shuddering sigh. Yep. She needed Applejack's help. Without saying anything, glaring, or getting out the duster, Fluttershy walked up to Discord and gave him a slight nuzzle. “I'll be longer than I originally planned in town today. In addition to shopping, I need to go back to Sweet Apple Acres for a while. Please look after the animals until I come back, and make sure they get their lunch.”

The spirit scowled, disappointed that he didn't manage to rile her like he wanted to. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” he muttered, crossing his arms petulantly over his chest and watching with a raised eyebrow as she exited back through the now-gooey doors.

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“Applejack? Um...is it too late to take you up on your offer?”

The southern pony turned, absolutely delighted to see her friend standing there again with a look of determination on her face. She grinned and happily bounded over to her friend and took her hoof. “Heck naw! It ain't too late! So what did he do now?”

“Turned all of my furniture into gummy candy; my bunny included.”

Applejack rolled her eyes and muttered obscene things about the pesky varmint as she lead Fluttershy to the back. “Well, ya have mah word, he'll be a little more bearable if ya try some of mah tactics on him.”

Fluttershy timidly followed Applejack out into the orchards, where she finished the rest of her day's harvesting and joined the girl under one of the trees.

“Alright, Fluttershy! Pretend Ah'm Discord, and Ah just grabbed a large cheese grater and shredded yer couch cushions. What would ya say to me?”

“He's actually done that once,” the pegasus said miserably, but snapped to attention with a squeak as Applejack slammed her hoof.

“Fluttershy!”

“Oh, right! Um...” The pegasus took a deep breath, swelled out her chest, and started to 'shout.' “Discord, you naughty thing...! Those were brand new couch cushions...!”

“Louder!”

“Those were brand new couch cushionsss...!”

“Ah'll do what Ah want, when Ah want,” Applecord responded. She then took a taunting step towards the pegasus and gave the most smug smirk she could muster. “What are you going to do about it?”

At a loss for consequences, Fluttershy backed off.

Applejack shook her head. “This ain't workin'. We need a guinea pig.” That got a weird look from Fluttershy.

“Well...umm...guinea pigs are the one animals I don't have. I have a few mice if that will help.” Blinking her perplexed, cyan eyes, Fluttershy watched as Applejack rounded up Applebloom and brought her next to the two.

“Applebloom, we're doing some hypothetical discipline situations, and we need ta test them on ya!” The filly was more than confused, but she gave an awkward nod. Instantly, Applejack flew into a rage at her. “Now Ah thought Ah told ya ta eat your alfalfa! Y'all best do what Ah say or ya ain't goin' ta crusade with yer friends tomorrow!”

The little foal was taken aback, her sunset eyes wide and blinking. “But Ah did, sis! Just an hour ago—Ah ate it all!”

“And don't y'all sass me either!” Applejack barked, glaring at her trembling sister right in the eye. Judging by the look of anguish on the kid's face, something was up. “...Um, Hon, do ya know what 'hypothetical' means?” Applebloom shook her head. “Ah! Sorry, Hon—it means...uh...a 'what if' situation, and it means none of this is really real. I ain't mad at ya for nothin'.” She gave her sister a gentle poke in the tummy.

Applebloom nodded in understanding and gave a giggle. “Oh, alright then.” She cleared her throat. “No, Ah didn't eat mah alfalfa! And ya can't make me!”

“Oh, Ah darn well can!” Applejack growled, finding it very hard to keep from giggling. “Get your little hinders up stairs! There'll be no dessert for ya tonight, and no friends tomorrow! Got it? Now git a move on!”

Applebloom was laughing and snorting from behind her hoof, but it didn't ruin it for Fluttershy, who was incredibly impressed with the display. “What would you have done if she refused to go to her room?”

“Oh, no way would she have then,” Applejack assured, “But if she did...well, that's another lesson entirely. Now, you give 'er a shot! Applebloom is Discord and she's just refused to go ta' bed!” That had the little filly fall to the ground laughing, while Fluttershy screwed up her face.

“Applejack, he isn't five! You...you need to think up an actual Discord scenario.”

“Hm...” Applebloom tapped her chin thoughtfully. With a grin, she abruptly swiped some sand at Fluttershy. Right when her sister was about to actually scold her, she grinned. “That was strawberry syrup! Ah'm Discord and Ah just flung syrup at ya, and yer expensive coffee table!”

The pegasus found it hard to be serious when Applebloom had dissolved into giggles again, and Applejack's lips were twitching, but she forced on a purposeful frown. “Discord, I told you...not to mess with expensive things...!”

The two southern sisters exchanged awkward looks and shook their heads. “Louder, Fluttershy,” Applejack told her. The pegasus said it again, but it was extremely quiet. Applejack tapped her chin thoughtfully and then changed the scenario. “Alright, instead of the syrup thing, Discord has just turned one of yer birds into a feather boa.”

That seemed to flare up rage in the saffron pony, and she gave an impressive shout. “Discord! What have I told you about messing with my animals?”

“Well, Ah'll be!” Happily, Applejack hugged her friend. “Seems like ya don't have a problem being firm when it has to do with yer animals! Now that we've mastered the voice, it's time for what you're best at: the stare!” Demonstrating, she gave Applebloom a fierce, wide eyed glare. The filly stared at her for a few moments, before doubling back in laughter. Closing her eyes with a sigh, the older sister started laughing too. “Ya knuckle head! Ya ain't supposed ta make me laugh!”

“Pfft-hehehe-Ah'm sorry, Sis!” Applebloom giggled. “It's just so hard ta take ya seriously when Ah know ya ain't really mad!”

With a chuckle, Applejack rolled her eyes and turned back to the quiet Fluttershy. “Alright, yer good enough at the stare so we don't have to work on that. Time fer threats! What normal threat would ya give Discord?”

“Oh...um....usually the duster,” Fluttershy said quietly, shifting her hooves in the dirt. “He hates being tickled...”

The mare shook her head. “Wrong! Ya don't give tickles as punishment! Well, sometimes, but it really depends on the scenario. For what he's done to yer animals, he needs an actual punishment. Think of one!”

“W-well,” Fluttershy stammered. Noticing the sisters were waiting expectantly, Fluttershy straightened with another breath. “Discord, I'm not taking you to town with me today! I-I've told you to keep my animals out of your chaos! You can just stay here...and clean up the mess you made with the syrup!”

Applejack stared at her, agape. After a few seconds, she gave her sister a huge grin. “Whoa nelly! Ah think she's got it! That was perfect, Fluttershy! See? Ya can be assertive without bein', well, dangerous! Now, Ah think it's time for the last part of our assertiveness training.” She looked at her younger sister. “Ya can go in for this, Applebloom.”

When the little foal was back in the house, Applejack led her friend over to one of the trees and targeted one of the lowest branches. Fluttershy felt her stomach doing flip flops when she realized what this last part was.

With a powerful kick, Applejack had bucked off a fair sized, thick branch and swished it through the air a few times. “Sometimes, rarely, y'all need to resort to the last thing you'll want to resort to in order ta get yer point across.” She gave the switch a grim look. “This is something Ah have rarely needed to use.”

The thought of physically harming Discord made Fluttershy feel sick. Other than a smack or two maybe once or twice in warning, Fluttershy had never raised a hoof or an implement on the draconequus. “Applejack, he isn't a kid,” she practically whispered.

“Now that don't matter! Whatever the age, a crime is a crime. It needs an appropriate punishment, and if that punishment is a firm whipping then so be it! You're his guardian, and the deal ya made with Celestia is that ya'd keep him in line. He has ta listen to ya, and he has to accept whatever fate ya give him. Those were the rules that allowed him to live in Equestria. He has ta listen to us.”

“But I couldn't!” Fluttershy whimpered. “Yelling at him is one thing, but beating him—I just couldn't!”

“It ain't a beatin'. Applebloom has felt this on her hindquarters twice, and Big Mac and I got our hides tanned for all sorts of things when we were foals. And as ya can see, Discord has been a little more cautious around mah farm.”

“I don't have it in me,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“That's what y'all will think for a while,” Applejack said, and anger seemed to have leaked into her tone. “At least until your five year old sister decides to make sparklers in the barn with matches, and tree branches.” As Fluttershy stared at her, mouth hanging, Applejack nodded. “That's right. Oh, Ah'll never forget that day...”

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It hadn't taken long for Applejack to realize the matches were gone, since she had placed them right beside the fire logs that night. She knew her sister was upset that they had run out of sparklers, and even more upset that her older siblings had refused to go out and buy some more this late at night.

“Applebloom, where in Celestia's name are ya? Get out here this minute, young lady!” The younger Applejack darted around frantically, while her brother went to search in the house, and their Granny checked in the gardens.

Sighting a strange, dim orange glow emanating from the open barn doors, Applejack very cautiously approached. “Applebloom?” Her jaw dropped and she would never forget the sight before her.

A flaming stick in her mouth, the five year old grinned up at her big sister. “Hi, A'bble'vap!” she mumbled around the stick. “Ah vade s'varklers!” At that second, a wind drifted through the barn and caught an ember. The two emitted startled gasps and watched as the bale went up in flames.

“By Celestia!” With a loud curse, Applejack grabbed her sister in her mouth and pulled her to safety. A gawking Big Macintosh ran in, while his sister desperately shouted, “Git some water!”

Buckets of water doused the flames as the older mare darted out of the smoking barn with her crying little sister. The fire was out within moments, and with only damage to one hay bale, but the fear was still anew.

“APPLEBLOOM! WHAT IN TARNATION DID Y'ALL THINK YA WERE DOING?!” Applejack roared at the shaking little foal. “WERE YA TRYIN' TA SET THE FARM ON FIRE?!”

“Ah-Ah was tryin' ta' make sparklers,” the five year old sniffled, cowering from the absolute rage on her older sister's face.

“We told ya no!” Applejack snarled.

“B-but-”

“No buts! Go and git yourself a switch right now! And meet me in yer bedroom!”

The terrified foal stared up with a look of tearful confusion. She had no idea what a switch was, but she figured it wouldn't be very pleasant. Wasn't it...a piece of wood? Giving her older sister a meek nod, she miserably walked away to do the task.

Applejack waited upstairs, angrily pacing away on the floors and waiting for the little filly to come into the bedroom. At last, the door slowly opened, and Applejack could only gape at the sight. “Dear Celestia!”

Little, sniffling Applebloom stood at the doorway with a giant piece of firewood draped over her back.

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Recovering from the laughter, Fluttershy and Applejack gave a few more guffaws before stopping completely.

“Applebloom would kill me if she knew Ah told that story,” Applejack laughed. “Ah had to fight with all Ah had in me ta keep from laughin'. Ah didn't want her thinking any of it was a joke, but gosh, that was too darn funny! Ah waited until after she had left to laugh. Ah really have no idea what she thought Ah planned on doing with a piece of firewood.”

The seriousness taking back over, Fluttershy cleared her throat. “So...that was the first time you used...”

“Yep... Now, tell me honestly...if Discord had accidentally set your animal dens on fire what would you have done?”

Fluttershy completely stiffened and felt her body grow ice cold. Eyes glazed over with a cool look, they narrowed. “I...I'm not sure.” But she did know he'd probably be a pile of animal parts.

“Anyway, Ah think we've done enough of your discipline training for now,” Applejack said, leading her friend away. “How about we take a break and have some fresh, just picked strawberries and lemonade?”

Making their way back to the garden, the two skidded to a halt as they watched a swarm of fluff crowd the table. The fluff turned to them, and the hoard of fuzzy bunnies quickly scurried off with strawberries in their mouths.

“Or,” Applejack tutted, “maybe we outta take care of them varmints first.”

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(I just couldn't shake this idea from my head for some reason. When an idea nags me enough, I have to write it. That's what happened with "Broken Spirit". I always wondered in my time of writing "Broken Spirit" if Fluttershy ever would finally get officially fed up with Discord, so I got this idea in mind. Heh, I dunno. It might be a while before I post the last part, since I'm trying to decide how to write it.

Little Applebloom is just so cuteohmahgod. I love writing her and Applejack--especially her as a young, young filly. I'll probably do more of that. Ah yes, and the whole flashback with teh sparklers was not an idea from the top of my head, it was from my own personal experience as a kid (minus the barn).)

Authority Hurts Like A-

“Now, yell at him!” Applejack ordered with a harsh stomp of her hoof. Harsh enough to make Fluttershy cower, before straightening and glaring at little 'Disbloom'. “He just wrapped Angel up in toilet paper ta make 'im look like a mummy! What are ya going to do?!”

The sweet, reluctant look lingered in her eyes for a moment longer, before her face twisted sternly as she glared at the giggling Applebloom. “Discord, I've had enough of you tormenting Angel...”

“Louder!”

“Discord, I've had enough of you tormenting Angel!” Fluttershy shouted, and felt a smile cross her face as the apple sisters beamed with pride. She kept scolding. “You are to stay in your...er...” He didn't actually have a room. He slept on a pull out bed in the middle of the living room. “Um...”

“No 'umm's! Confidence, Fluttershy!”

“You are to stay in your bed! You won't be getting dessert tonight or tomorrow, either!” She giggled as the girls exuberantly tackled her into a tight hug. “So do I sound like a stern mother?” she teased.

“Oh hay, I'd say so!” Applejack laughed, slapping her friend's back playfully. “He'd be a fool to defy ya now, girl! Now...let's work on getting some traps for those varmints!” At the horrified, squeaking gasp, she turned towards the pegasus. Realizing how that sentence sounded on the ears of a pony who spent her life with bunnies, she rephrased with a wince. “Ah, humane traps, Sugar cube. It just catches them so we can release them somewhere.”

Fluttershy made a distasteful grunt, but she decided not to say anything. It wasn't her preferred way to catch a bunny, but she didn't want to risk anything else scaring away the little critters. “Alright then, we need to find some suitable bait for the bunnies. They really like lettuce. Can I borrow a few leaves for them to nibble, Applejack?”

The country mare gave her a strange look. “Oh sure; ya can borrow them on one condition...”

“Oh? What's the condition?”

She grinned. “Don't give me back the leaves when the bunnies are done with 'em.”

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Taking care of dumb, fuzzy animals was not Discord's preferred cup of tea, and he lay there on one of his clouds just above the ground, and glared at the sky. He had just fed the fuzzy critters, and they were now shewing away on their gross vegetables. One of the baby bunnies had made himself comfortable on his chest without his permission.

“Oh, what are you looking at?” he growled as the baby bunny's hungry button eyes targeted his cotton candy, chocolate milkshake. “No, I don't think so.” He held his paw up to the baby's face to block his view from his drink. “Discord does not share his drinks with baby bunnies.”

The bunny stared at him...and he teared up.

Throwing a claw to his face and sliding it down in exasperation, Discord offered the fuzzy vermin a sip. “Oh, I've become such a softy! Now go on—get!” Tummy full of milkshake, the bunny happily hopped off the cloud.

Rolling his eyes, Discord felt around the cloud for his plate of cinnamon cookies. There was one left. He blinked as his talons grazed over the empty plate. All he felt was a few little crumbs! The spirit launched himself to the edge of his cloud and gaped at the bulging-with-cookie face of the baby bunny. Little thief!

Growling, Discord immediately bolted after the bunny and into Everfree Forest. “Hey, fuzzbutt, how do you fancy being turned into a bowling pin?” Discord asked with a malicious grin as he conjured up a bowling ball.

The bunny glanced back and squealed in terror as he picked up the pace and darted through the trees like a blur of ivory. The little guy could move fast, Discord would give him that credit. They were far from the cottage now and getting deeper into the forest by the second, but Discord wasn't going back home until he had avenged his cookie! Finally, somewhere in a misty part of Everfree, the bunny managed to escape. Discord caught movement in a nearby cave through the mist and incorrectly guessed it was the bunny.

Fantastic hiding spot, you ratty little beast, Discord thought venomously as he glared at the cave. You're toast now. Actually....I prefer maple syrup! Giggling maniacally, the draconequus ignited his talon and sent a torrent of maple syrup into the cave.

“Take that, fuzzy!” he laughed. “No one steals Discord's snacks!”

Twin snarls erupted from the cave, and Discord instantly hopped back in alarm, staring at the cave opening in shock. Well...that bunny had lungs! Of course, there was the matter of the echo helping it along.

The twin heads bared their ugly, yellow teeth and roared at him, so loud that Discord had to dig his claws into the earth to keep himself grounded. He whirled around in horror and realized he was by the swamps. How could that bunny be so incredibly stupid?

“Whoa! SOS, somebody help me!” Discord squealed as he bolted from the spot, and only left a cloud of smoke behind. “Equestrian gods, I guess you hydras don't like maple syrup!”

His answer was a splintering snap as the great, two headed beast pounced on a tree and destroyed it as if it was kindling. Through his flying, Discord spotted that stupid baby bunny pathetically hopping as fast as his barely developed feet could carry him, and he quickly scooped him up.

He'd probably be able to fight the hydra and possibly scare it off, but it would be best if he just left its territory so they wouldn't have anymore issues.

Bursting through the trees and tripping into Fluttershy's garden, Discord bolted to his feet and brushed off as much of the dirt as he could. “Okay, you dumb critters! That's enough of the outdoors for now, so why don't we all just head in-”

Just then, there was a thundering roar as the hydra savagely lunged where Discord had just stood, and effectively crushed the rest of Fluttershy's beautiful garden into mulch.

The draconequus gasped and spun around to the hideous beast—just in time to have its tail strike him viciously across the face and send him slamming into the side of the cottage as he dented the wood. “Gack! Ow—dear Celestia!” Gasping, the spirit stumbled to his feet. His paw gingerly explored the new welt across his face, and he growled.

Oh, you're going down, scaly! He charged a powerful spark of lighting and hurled it at the monster. The hydra screeched and convulsed on the spot, before whipping its tail once more. Discord easily dodged it and blasted again.

Frightened and thrown in a state of utter panic (as it's prone to happen with animals), the frenzied creatures began hightailing it out of there and stampeded towards town. The hydra lost interest in Discord and gave chase.

“Oh no you don't!” Discord shouted, “If something happens to Fluttershy's animals I'm doing to be the one to do it—not you!” He leaped on the hydra's back and sunk his teeth into it. The hydra reared its ugly heads and threw them back with a furious snarl, clocking Discord right in the snout.

The draconequus bounced off and landed harshly on his rear as he clasped his hands to his throbbing snout, and muddled curse words into them.

Back in town, the ponies were peacefully going about their business; shopping, selling, and hanging out by diners, when they noticed the ominously familiar cloud of dust and silhouette of doom-bringing animals.

“Stampeeeede!” Lyra screeched. Everypony's head shot up, but by now the more deadly form of the hydra was visible, which only heightened the terror as the screaming began.

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Fluttershy had been enjoying a relaxing afternoon laying on hay bales with her friends when the distant screaming was heard.

A wheat plant in her mouth, Rainbow sat up and looked at the direction of town. “What in Equestria is with all the screaming over there?”

“Is there any laughing?” Pinkie wondered, and then her eyes bulged and her mouth hung. “There better not be a party over there without me knowing about it!”

“Whoa!” Rainbow flapped back in alarm when she saw the brief flash of a tail. “Some sort of dragon or something! Or...” That's when she saw the double heads through the trees as it bent down to devour a galloping pony. “It's a hydra!!”

“A what??” Twilight gasped. She was already fumbling with her bag to get her inkwell and paper so she could write to Celsetia.

“This has Discord's name written all over it!” Applejack growled.

Fluttershy's eyes widened, before they viciously narrowed. “If it does, then something else is going to have his name written all over it...”

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Discord stood between the hydra and the Crusaders, his talons poised and viciously flickering. He enveloped the kids with a golden bubble and pushed them to safety with his tail as the hydra lunged for them.

“Hey, I wonder if we can be Cutie Mark Crusaders, hydra wrestlers!” Scootaloo wondered. Her friends all put on battle faces and began to charge for the beast. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HY-” A feline arm swooped them up abruptly as Discord quickly took off with them.

“Nope, nope, nope! Not today!” he yelped, dodging another swing of the hydra's tail. It slammed into, and detonated several vendors' carts, and sent the vegetables contained inside rolling.

Snarling, Discord turned and focused his magic to try and teleport the beast away. His talon gave a crackling, fizzing pop and sent him flying into one of the broken carts. It was just no use! Without his full power he couldn't teleport a beast that big!

Tripping on a tomato of all things, Discord went sprawling over his heels and crashed into the ground. He could only stare in horror as the hideous monster leered down at him and prepared its mouth to devour him fully. Right when the malicious jaws nearly snapped him in half, a tremendous blast of power from above slammed into the monster's back.

Stunned, Discord watched as Celestia sent another cascading blast of shimmering magic careening into the hydra's face.. He was too busy watching the beast screech and dance around in agony that he didn't even notice six certain ponies were helping him up.

“How did this happen?? Twilight demanded. She knew she didn't even need to ask to know the idiot had something to do with this.

“O-oh, it turns out hydras don't like maple syrup,” the dazed Discord responded. There was a screaming chorus of “WHAT?!” from the girls, but the thundering explosion from Celestia's horn drowned everything else out.

In the midst of the smoke from the final blast, the injured hydra gave a last shriek of agony and scurried back to the forest, yelping like a wounded puppy. This time was taken to survey the damage.

Cheese....curds.... Thankfully, miraculously, there were no injuries, although the devastation was widespread. It was mostly vendor carts that had been destroyed, and wagons. Thankfully this part of the town the hydra had been in had more vendor stations than houses, and so nopony was homeless. Still...there was wreckage everywhere.

The draconequus could hardly believe this had happened. He was still in a great state of shock. He moved his mouth to try and say something—anything, and nothing but silence came from him. Discord could see the heads of six distressed ponies as they spoke to Celestia. Suddenly, all eyes were on him. The most livid, seven pairs of eyes he had ever seen!

Honest to the gods, he nearly lost control of his bladder in fear as the enraged alicorn walked, eerily calmly up to him. Discord backed up quickly, getting lower with every step until he was on all fours like a chastised little puppy.

Celestia said nothing for a few moments, and even though the two of them were now very close again, Discord was still terrified. “...I will deal with him when we get back to the palace.” She turned away from him and began walking back to the carriage. Without being told, the draconequus began to reluctantly hover after her. He was just about to step into the carriage when Fluttershy stepped forward.

“Your majesty, wait.”

Celestia turned to the little pegasus, and was startled by the fire she saw in the girl's eyes. Yeesh, what a scary sight. “What is it, dear?”

“I will take care of him,” the pegasus said, and in such a sharp tone it made everypony wince. “You have my word that he will never do this again.”

Celestia studied the pony's face carefully; she was absolutely seething. Normally, Celestia would be reluctant to say yes, thinking that the timid little sweetheart would not give an adequate penalty, but that did not seem to be the case today. She directed her stony gaze at Discord. “...Fair enough. Discord, in addition to whatever Fluttershy gives you, I expect you to clean up this mess first thing tomorrow morning. Plus, you are going to use your magic to re-create the things you've ruined.”

The spirit gave a grunt. He had been given enough of his power back that he could mend some of the things he damaged, but to do so with the meagre portion of power he had would lead to draining his magic supply, for at least a few days. There would be no chaos at all! “...Yes, Tia.”

Celestia's face then softened in the way his father's did to let him know that no matter how angry she was, she still loved him. “I'll see you at our visit tomorrow evening.” With that, the carriage took off, and all of the tired, and still shaken ponies retreated back to their homes—save for Discord and the girls.

Every harsh glare by the ponies made Discord feel more and more uncomfortable. Geez, it was supposed to be a joke! He did not mean to nearly get the entire town eaten. He did not mean to anger a hydra of all things. They should look at the bright side: It wasn't a basilisk! A silver lining if there ever was one.

“Sugar Cube, if ya want I can figure out what to do with 'em,” Applejack told Fluttershy. The angered pegasus only moved away and stood beside Discord.

“Thank you, but we're fine,” she said in a short, clipped tone.

Glaring the mismatched creature daggers in the eye and hovering nearly right in front of his face, Rainbow Dash didn't look so certain. “I don't know, Flutters; maybe you should have let Celes-”

“I said we're fine!” the pegasus snapped. Right then everypony fell silent, and Rainbow Dash faltered in the air in shock. Fluttershy didn't even look back at them once as she began to very silently walk away. She didn't ask Discord to follow her—she expected him to follow her. Follow her he did.

It was silent among the five shocked ponies for the next few moments, until Rarity finally spoke. “Was that our sweet little Fluttershy?”

Applejack was the only one who wasn't shocked to the core. “Ho boy,” she breathed, “He is in fer it.”

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It was total, stone cold silence walking back to the cottage. It reminded Discord of when he was young and had pushed his parents so far into anger that they didn't say anything, and only tortured him with the foreboding silence. The silence was uncomfortable, but Discord wasn't as tense. It would be annoying being condemned to the cottage for the next few days, but he preferred that sentence in comparison to whatever Celestia would do to him. She'd probably tattoo him with bruises!

Little did he know, a 'grounding' was not what the pegasus had in mind this time.

They reached the cottage, where Fluttershy could easily see her darling animals cowering everywhere; bushes quivered with bunnies behind it, and sweet, frightened eyes peeked out behind trees. As incomprehensibly enraged as she was, it melted immediately when she saw her animals.

“Oh, my babies,” she said softly, and opened her hooves for the trembling critters to climb into them. They did, and soon Fluttershy was cuddling and kissing them as she tried to calm their fears. “Let me take a look at everyone.” She examined each of her animals thoroughly and was relieved to find no serious injuries. There was a scratch or a small cut here and there, which she treated with medicine.

With her animals tended to, calmed down, and a bit of few-second repairs done, Fluttershy looked briefly at Discord (who she had ordered not to move an inch from under a tree near the door or make a single sound).

Giving one last encouraging look to one of her youngest bunnies and coaxing him home, she finally turned to Discord. All the rage came flooding back, and her chest seemed to swell as she prepared it to either a) scream at him, or b) take a few deep, deep breaths.

Discord, amazingly had obeyed and hadn't moved a muscle, nor made a single sound until the pony finally turned to him. He had that classic the-cat-that-ate-the-canary look on his face as he stared up at the seething pegasus. There was no smirking or jokes, or any attempt to try and sweet talk her. He seemed too stunned to even apologize yet. At last, he spoke very quietly. “Well....that could have ended in disaster.”

“Yes, it could have!” Fluttershy shouted. Her shout alone was enough to make him hop back in shock. She rarely raised her voice to him. “You—I don't even—how could you do such a thing?!” she finally yelled. Sweet little Fluttershy had gone away to play for now, and Flutterrage was here to stay it seemed. Discord had no idea that the scolding was just the beginning. “You nearly got yourself, the town and my own animals killed! You were all nearly eaten!”

Discord hesitated. He wasn't used to his chaos having such deadly repercussions. Nearly turning all of Fluttershy's furry little friends into a full coursed meal wasn't exactly what he had in mind. “Well, if the hydra hadn't-”

“Oh, don't even try!” the pegasus snapped at him. “Don't even try to give me that! It was not the hydra's fault! It was not my animal's fault-”

“Well, to be fair I was never going to blame your anim-” Discord started to protest, but was cut off by the pony's slicing voice.

“It was your fault!”

The spirit had no idea what to say. He was utterly baffled by this point, and felt a twisting, ominous feeling in his stomach. Something about her anger was a little concerning. He truly couldn't remember the last time she had actually screamed at him.

Fluttershy took a few moments to collect herself and calm down. She had been told by Applejack that the most important tip to remember when delivering any sort of punishment was to be calm when you approached the miscreant. If you didn't remember, you could end up saying, or doing something you'd regret. She already felt the urge to slap him across the face. Sweet little Fluttershy wanted to slap someone.

Fluttershy searched for a good tree, and targeted one close to the tree Discord was sitting under. She walked over to it and positioned herself under a branch to snap it off. Before doing so, she turned to Discord. “Get inside.” He did so without argument!

Applejack was right; being firm and mean when you had to be was greatly effective. She couldn't remember the last time he had been so obedient. Hopefully it would stick for a while after this ordeal (but it was Discord, after all. She'd be lucky if he behaved for ten minutes after his punishment).

The nervous spirit waited inside and anticipated his sentence. He'd probably have to deal with one monstrous lecture, and it looked like she'd be yelling the entire time rather than using her soft, timid, but still firm voice. He wondered what his sentence would be. He'd probably get no dessert for a while (honestly, he'd be surprised if she decided to feed him for the next few days), and he'd probably be on a week's house restriction. ...He wasn't entirely sure; his pranks had never nearly caused the deaths of who knows how many ponies, and animals alike.

The door finally opened, and when Discord saw what was tucked between his guardian's teeth he nearly blacked out. Just as quickly though, he felt the urge to laugh as he stared at the switch. She had been spending way too much time with Applejack. He knew there was obviously no way she was going to go through with this, but he decided to let her act big for a while. It was the least he can do when he made the girl's life so chaotic.

Fluttershy's heart was absolutely pounding, and her breath came out in little, shaking gasps. She felt ready to black out herself, and she wasn't even going to be the one receiving the terrible punishment. I can't do this, she realized with a surge of fear. But then...where would the victory be if she didn't do this? She would not have accomplished getting his attention, or taking control, or going through with her discipline again. For both their sakes, this had to be done.

Discord learned abruptly fast that she wasn't joking with him, as she ordered every animal in the cottage - Angel included - to leave, before shutting the doors and windows. His eyes grew increasingly wider as the saffron pony came towards him.

Gotta teleport, gotta get out of here! Come on, body—do something! Discord's mind pitifully squeaked, but he could only stand there, eyes fixated on that terrible switch that flooded him with unwanted memories. He was frozen for one second too many though, as he suddenly found himself tummy down on the couch, with Fluttershy behind him.

The switch tasted bitter in her mouth, like sour cream and old coffee beans. The prospect of what she was about to do with it just made it taste even worse. She lowered the stick, and Discord, if possible, froze more when it lightly rested against his flesh. He was actually scared, legitimately frightened. That switch was not a pleasant experience...he knew from experience. His body wouldn't act, and therefore wouldn't dart off of the couch.

Fluttershy raised the switch high in the air. Her heart pounded and her hoof faltered. With a small whimper, she barely tapped it against his backside. She just couldn't do this!

Discord relaxed in a mixture of relief and confusion, his head tilting up to stare at her in the eye. He turned away and felt the urge to snicker into the couch. I knew she couldn't do it. He laid there patiently, waiting for her to drop the facade and tell him to get up.

Fluttershy's eyes slid shut in dread and turmoil, and she squeaked out a sob as a single tear rolled. Ready to slide the spirit off the couch and just condemn him inside for a few days, images suddenly crossed her mind. The hydra, the screaming, seeing her animals nearly killed, and seeing...Discord nearly killed. With that, her eyes slowly opened, and they had hardened completely.

WHACK!

His smirk was gone like that, body giving a shaking gasp as his eyes contracted wildly. There was a whistling sound, and then the stick snapped against his rear again, and again. Discord cried out in pain, as his claws tore into the cushions and he gritted his teeth Fluttershy wasn't going easy, and she wasn't backing out like he was certain she would.

Okay, enough of letting her act big! Get me out of here! Desperately, the god fumbled to snap his fingers. However, like tickling always left him too consumed with the sensation to be able to concentrate on his magic, this switching did as well.

Fluttershy kept up the steady smacks, her cold eyes glaring down at the creature. She didn't bother to lecture (really, it was taking all of her toughness to administer this punishment); getting your bottom swatted at like a colt was more than enough to get the lesson across.

The draconequus bucked and twisted, mortified at the indignation of having a pony a thousand times younger than him smacking him, but also, honestly, emotionally shaken to have sweet little Fluttershy hitting him. “A-alright, I've learned!” He grit his teeth as the switch kept coming down with strokes that felt like fire, falling in random places on his rump and the base of his tail.

Discord whimpered as the pain intensified and the seconds ticked by. He realized he wasn't getting away until she said so. He heard a terrible sound, buried his face into the cushion and hugged it until a part of it burst, sending feathers everywhere. It took Discord a while to realize the strange, strangled noises were his own sobs, and that he had tears rolling rapidly down his face.

Hearing his muffled crying, Fluttershy instantly dropped the switch. The 'Flutterrage' part of her gone, and the timidness back, her hooves flung to her mouth in horror when she realized she had actually made Discord cry. Not even Applejack had accomplished actual sobs!

Rather than wither in guilt and berate herself for this, and run off and cry, Fluttershy followed through with Applejack's teachings and began tenderly rubbing his heaving back. She leaned down and began gently grooming his face with her tongue, lapped down a few messy curls, and nuzzled his ear.

Slowly, Discord lifted his soggy, tear-drenched face and looked up at her. He was having a hard time keeping his own head up. He closed his eyes miserably as the pony continued licking his face, his soggy cheeks, and smoothing out his eyebrows. The touch was soothing (well, anything was soothing compared to the blistering pain), and he found himself becoming a little more coherent after she kept grooming him.

Fluttershy had done the job well. Swollen, scarlet welts adorned his skin, from his backside down to his tail, each burning more than the last. He wouldn't be sitting for a while. Perhaps he wouldn't be walking comfortably for a long time either.

“Discord, you could have caused a lot of deaths today,” the pegasus said gently as she lifted him up enough to rest his face against her chest. He didn't move (whether or not it was because he was too distraught to get up or he actually enjoyed the comfort she didn't know). “You could have killed my animals, half the town, and worse, you could have gotten yourself killed...”

At that, tearful, confused scarlet blinked up at her. 'Worse'? He was more important to her than her animals? He was still in too much pain and too distraught for that to truly impact him. His face obscured by the saffron of her chest, he scowled furiously, but he wasn't sure what he was scowling at. He wanted to be furious with her, and he wanted to hate her for how she treated him, but he was pretty certain what he was most angry at was himself.

The true realization hit, and although he did feel terrible he nearly killed half of Fluttershy's animals and the town, that wasn't what he was thinking of. The one thing lingering in his mind was the last time he did something this appalling stupid without thinking...and what had resulted.

He squinted his tearful eyes shut as a flash of his dead parents went through his mind, and he tiredly rubbed at his burning eyes and tried to get control of his tears. By Chaos, that hurt like a pine cone pie!

Within seconds the draconequus was absolutely exhausted, and Fluttershy could tell, barely able to keep his eyes open. The combination of his ordeal with the hydra, and his punishment had made him a very tired draconequus. So tired, in fact, that he fell asleep laid across her lap.

Fluttershy smiled lovingly at the sleeping face smushed against her. He looked so sweet and innocent as he slept, and she beamed as he unconsciously shifted to curl more into her. Pressing a final kiss to his forehead, she wriggled out from under him and tenderly laid him tummy down on his bed. He gripped his pillow between his claws and sent another puff of feathers everywhere.

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~Epilogue~

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Fluttershy woke Discord up at seven in the morning to begin the repairs, so he ventured out into the town by himself while the pegasus remained at her cottage and worked on the damages around her area. Discord cleaned up some of the wreckage by hand, and alone, he dragged away some broken equipment and tidied around town. Kindhearted as they were, and having pity on the creature, many ponies approached the spirit to help him out, and what was supposed to be Discord's task turned into a community project.

There were no hard feelings for the incident, and all seemed to be forgiven. Really, this was a usual thing for Ponyville: their town gets destroyed, usually as an accident (like when a baby dragon goes on a rampage, or a student afraid of being tardy turns everything to chaos), so it didn't shake anyone up to badly.

With the town tidied, Discord made the final touches. Golden magic flowed from his talons and encased some of the wreckage as it mended back together. Just as he bitterly expected, the repairs drained the limit on his magic and left him with barely any power. Still, other than that small detail, everything was right in Ponyville again.

Things returned back to normal almost immediately. Discord was back to his impish, mischievous self, with the only evidence of his ordeal being the marks concealed underneath an old, red housecoat, and the wince if he didn't move carefully.

Notably, Discord had been timid around the pegasus for the first little while, having no idea what to expect from the same stern nature that thrashed him. He quickly learned, however, that the only thing that had really changed in his life was that if Fluttershy took that stern, and angry tone to her voice, he listened!

The very last bit of wreckage was being tidied up around Fluttershy's cottage that afternoon, as well as the garden being tenderly replanted once again. The ponies stood back and examined their work with pride.

“Can't even tell a hydra tramped through here!” Applejack grinned, “Everything looks so perfect now!” She turned to Discord, and he was surprised to hear true compassion in her voice. “Thanks fer usin' your last bit of magic to fix up some of the dens, Discord.”

Stomach down on a pink cloud above the ponies (and covered in a long, brown coat), Discord shrugged. “Uh, yeah...whatever.”

All the ponies knew what had happened to him. When they came over that day and saw that housecoat draped over his shoulders, and the way he winced at every movement (plus his still puffy eyes) it was no mystery. However, the girls kindly didn't mention a single thing about it as they all went to help tidy around the cottage. Applejack had flashed Fluttershy a knowing, proud look, and the pegasus had flushed and smiled. Discord, of course, just scowled.

“Well everypony, I'd say our work here is complete,” Twilight said happily as she regarded the new and improved cottage and garden with pride. “Great job, everyone!”

“Oh yes, I couldn't have done this without all of my wonderful friends...” Fluttershy said softly, a grateful twinkle in her eyes as she pulled them all in for a group hug. She tried making a grab for Discord as well, but he stayed clear out of her reach.

“Yech! Can't we just get on with our picnic and forget this heinous love fest?” the spirit demanded sourly. The girls all laughed and unfurled the picnic blankets.

Rarity rolled her eyes and tossed back her mane as she took a seat. “Discord, dear, the mushy-gushy hugs are done, so you can take a seat—oh no, you can't, can you?” She gave a single embarrassed laugh, and the rest of the girls giggled a little at the spirit's expense.

Discord's deadpan expression deepened, and he watched as the ponies went back to chattering amongst themselves. He felt a single spark of power in his talon. It was weak, but it was enough. With the snap of his fingers, a large bucket of water had appeared over the ponies.

The girls shrieked as the bucket of water drenched them, and for a moment they could only stare stupidly as it dripped off their bodies. Finally, the six pairs of angry eyes darted up to Discord, who was laughing hysterically across his cotton candy cloud.

“Applejack,” Fluttershy asked, almost too quiet for anyone to hear. “What should his punishment be this time?”

A playful sneer crossed the country mare's face as she pulled over Fluttershy's saddlebag. “Oh, Ah think THIS will do just fine~” Pulling back with the dreaded feather duster, she plopped it into the pony's lap. By this point Discord had become aware of what was going on and stared in horror as the six angry glares turned into vengeful smirks.

While he was distracted, Rainbow Dash flew up to the cloud and shoved him off it from behind (taking care to make sure he landed on his stomach), and caused the draconequus to tumble to the ground, From then on, the ponies swarmed him like a tickling rainbow, while the spirit was reduced to hysterical laughter and humiliation yet again.

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Usually loving his weekly visits with the princesses, Discord dreaded going there that night, as he knew Celestia was probably eagerly waiting to lecture him and add to his sentence. He was instead surprised to be greeted with a loving hug the moment he saw her, and not one word was said about the hydra incident. It was as if it never even happened.

Luna had teased him, like sisters were apt to do, but a stern warning shut the night princess up and (to Discord's delight), she was sent to her room.

Discord got to enjoy a night of love and pampering from Celestia. He even got extra portions of dessert! Honestly, if this was what he had to look forward to after a switching, he.....no, scratch that, he never wanted to endure that again!

Half an hour after dessert, the familiar dragon portal appeared beside Celestia and spat out a letter. With Discord occupied with smearing a gravy stain across the floor, Celestia started to read.

Dear Princess Celestia

First I want to thank you for helping everypony with the hydra. I think we all know he would have eaten all of us if it weren't for you! I am not mad at him though. I'm not mad at Discord anymore and I hope you aren't either. As you can see, he paid his dues.

Through this ordeal I've learned a small lesson about friendship. I was always afraid to be authoritative because I thought everyone would hate me. I've learned though, that without authority nopony will respect you.

“...And Discord learned,” Celestia read aloud, “that not taking someone seriously could wind up with serious consequences.” She flashed the embarrassed draconequus a knowing smirk.

His backside propped up on the most comfortable cushion in the palace, Discord scoffed. “Ain't that the truth.”

Your loyal subject, Fluttershy.

The End

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(It's always fun to see a villain - er, ex villain - put in their place in some way. I'm not sure if it's because I'm sadistic in that way, or it just makes for interesting story material. XD I loved writing the hydra part. I tried to keep Fluttershy in character as I possibly could, but in this scenario that automatically makes her seem OOC, it was hard.

Ever gotten the switch? Hurts. Like. A. Bitch! This whole thing just brought back memories of my own childhood thrashings. XD *shudder*

Next chapter of "Distorted Worlds" may very well be up this weekend. Also, did you guys see my latest blog with previews of both that fic and this one? I don't think it went through...)