Fluttershy was heading home, feeling tired after a Saturday of volunteering at the pet store, when she saw something lying on the sidewalk.
At first, it seemed grimy enough and…abandoned enough to be some sort of litter. So she had headed towards it, planning on recycling it. But as she got closer, she realized that it wasn't a normal piece of left-behind litter, but a stuffed animal.
She bent down and picked it up. It was a stuffed animal she recognized—one made up of mismatched animal parts. She had seen it at a fair, once, as a prize, but didn't like it because of…the aura it gave off. It felt creepy, like it was staring right at her.
It still had that creepy aura, but…she felt kind of sorry for it. It was covered in grime, there were clear footprints on it, as well as bite marks from dogs. There was a tear in its side, and its eagle-like arm was hanging on by a thread.
The thought of leaving it in this state made her feel…bad. Even if it was creepy, and wasn't even alive. Maybe, if I fix it up and wash it… she thought to herself. I can find someone else who would want it.
She smiled a bit, and opened her backpack, carefully tucking the strange stuffed animal inside. Its loose arm flopped about, in danger of falling off, but it just barely managed to stay on. She zipped her backpack closed, stood up, and continued on her way home.
As soon as she made it home, she dug out her sewing kit, then brought out the stuffed creature. Before she washed it, she would have to stitch it up so that it didn't fall apart inside the machine.
It took her twenty minutes to undo all of the damage. After she had sewed its arm back to its body, she realized she would need some stuffing before she could fix the largest gash. So, she had filled the torso with cotton and then sewed the hole in his side.
After that, she was constantly finding more holes, tears, and bites. But finally, other than the grime covering it, the stuffed animal was in good condition. Hopefully, it wouldn't fall to pieces in the washing machine now.
Still, she put it in a mesh bag, just to be safe, and dropped it into the washing machine along with a load of towels and a detergent pod. Setting the machine to ‘delicates', she pressed the start button and let it do its work.
With that done, she washed her hands and began to prepare supper.
After a simple but tasty supper, she moved the load of laundry into the dryer. Once that was done, she brought the whole load into her room and began to fold the dry, warm towels, resisting the urge to use them as a warm nest to curl up in.
Once those were put away, all that was left was…it. The stuffed animal.
She still felt like it exuded a creepy aura, even though it was very clean and vibrantly colorful. With shaky hands, she used her phone to take a few clean pictures of it at all angles, saving them into a specific folder for later.
With that done, she picked up the stuffed animal and set it in her closet, on top of a pile of other stuffed animals. She closed the closet door and breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling better since its eyes weren't on her.
Now to finish some homework, she thought, pulling out her textbooks and finishing a few more of the assigned problems. Math was a little tricky, but biology and literature were easily and quickly finished.
A bit less than an hour later, she was becoming too tired to work (which she realized after mixing up a negative exponent with a fractional one). She yawned and closed her books, leaving them on her desk for tomorrow.
She got up and stretched, about to get ready for bed…but froze when she heard a voice.
It wouldn't have worried her, and she might have just brushed it off as being her parents or Zephyr—but it couldn't have been them, because they were gone for the weekend. Touring different hairstyling schools, and other trade schools, trying to convince Zephyr to pick at least a potential major before reaching his senior year.
She swallowed and closed her eyes, trying to listen closely. “…used an emerald green on my leg, but it's closer to lime,” she heard the unfamiliar voice say. It was coming from her closet, which she slowly approached and opened.
The voice continued, coming from…the stuffed animal. “I mean, if you're not going to match colors, you could at least use an entirely different one!”
She yelped and backed away from the terrifying stuffed toy. “You…you talk!” she squeaked, pointing an excusing finger at it.
“Of course I—wait, you can hear me?” the toy said.
Fluttershy took a deep, shaking breath. No matter how many adventures she and her friends went on, finding magic items was always a shock. “I can't believe I just…picked a living toy up off the street,” she said in disbelief.
“Well, the toy isn't alive per se, but I'm a living being,” the stuffed animal said. “But if you can hear me, that must mean the curse is finally starting to wear off!”
“C-curse?” she asked, still keeping her distance.
The stuffed animal's head flopped to the side. “How should I say this…? I'm extremely powerful. I was one of the few things in this reflection of a world that actually had a shred of my own magic. Perhaps what I'm a reflection of was powerful enough for me to have a fraction of his.”
It let out a sigh, and flopped to the ground in a heap. “Anyway…I wasn't exactly popular with your ancestors. And someone gathered enough magic that they cursed me into a deep slumber.”
Another sigh. “So, I've been sleeping for a few thousand years. I briefly woke up once, a few years ago, and used what little magic I had to make a second body. It wasn't supposed to be so…limp. Or soft. Or unable to move.”
She shifted a little closer. “But…you can talk,” she said. “And flop around.”
“Talking is a new development,” he said. “And the flopping around isn't any good if I can't pick myself back up. What am I supposed to do, roll around until I snag on a piece of shrapnel and turn all my insides into outsides?”
“But, um…the curse can wear off?” she said. She picked it up by one of its horns and quickly lifted it into a sitting position before retreating.
“Thanks. And yes, that's in the nature of curses,” he said. “They either have ways you can break them, or the magic runs out and the spell snaps like a weak copper wire.” He paused. “Theoretically, of course.”
“And…you being able to talk means the curse is wearing off?”
“Yep. It means that this secondary body is getting enough magic to speak and actually be heard. Me getting more access to my magic means that I'm starting to wake up, which means I can go back to doing things as my true self instead of watching as I lie around, seeing people's feet coming but not being able to move away at all…”
She stared at him for a few moments. He still seemed like a very creepy toy, but knowing he was actually cursed…it made her feel a small twang of pity. “So you've been asleep for thousands of years…and this second body is helping you wake up?”
“Well, sort of,” he said. “It would have worn off with time anyway, but having this form I can kind of…focus my magic in has helped shave off some time.”
She didn't understand this at all. But it seemed wrong to ignore a revelation like this. “Would you, um…would you like help breaking the curse?” she said.
“I'd love that,” he said. “Plus, you can do things like move around and pick things up. You would be a great boon.”
“Alright,” she said. “I can…try to help out as best I can. Um…what's your name?” It felt rude, to have talked so much without even asking for his name.
“The name's Discord,” he said. “They call me the Spirit of Chaos. As for my true form as a real draconequus, which you are surely curious about, well…it basically looks like the stuffed animal you see before you. Except that I'm about…two feet taller than you, and not nearly as cuddly.”
“I'm…Fluttershy,” she said, trying not to think of a scary creature that would tower two feet over her. “They call me—I mean, I'm a high school student, nearly ready to graduate.”
“Wonderful to meet you, Fluttershy,” he said. His lion arm, the one a bit more firmly attached, flopped out towards her. “Let's shake on this! To you, helping me…and me, finally being able to talk.”
“That sounds…a bit more like a toast,” she said. Still, she took his flapping lion paw and gave it a gentle shake.
“Eh, when you can't drink, you have to mix up your toasts and your shakes,” he said. “Though honestly, toasts and shakes together do not make for a bad meal.”
She chuckled. “I'll…keep that in mind.” She scooped him up and glanced around her room, deciding to set him down on her desk. “Is this comfortable?”
“More so than the closet,” he said with a nod…one that made him fall over onto his stomach. He let out a long-suffering sigh, and she gently picked him up and set him back into a sitting position, leaning him against her math book.
“I'm going to get ready for bed now,” she said. “Um…do you…?” She hesitated, wondering if her question would be rude.
“Technically, I'm already asleep, and controlling this…unsatisfactory ragdoll through my dreams,” he said. “But, if I do get bored with watching my surroundings, I can…focus more on my actual dreams.”
“So…you'll be okay for the night?” she asked as she grabbed her pajamas.
“Yes, perfectly fine,” he said, his arm flopping to wave away her concerns. “Maybe a little bored, but it'll hardly be the worst night of my life. Not even top-ten list material.”
After looking at him for a few moments to check that he was sincere (which he seemed to be…though with his unchanging expression, reading him was difficult), she left and headed into the bathroom.
As she prepared for bed, everything seemed to hit her. She had found a cursed, living stuffed animal by chance…and had offered to help them. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming…and then she prayed that she hadn't gone crazy.
The weight of all this still weighed on her mind as she laid in bed, Discord bidding her good night, something she returned. Thinking about all of it meant it took a while for her to finally fall asleep.
Sunday passed by without much incident…if one didn't consider interviewing a living toy anything exciting.
“So…you don't know where your real body is,” she said.
“Nope,” he said with a sigh. “I can…feel it, in a way. But not in a sense that I know what direction it’s in. Besides…whoever cursed me probably just dumped me into a hole somewhere and didn't even bother to mark it was the resting place of a powerful spirit, the…” He continued grumbling about the human that slighted him, his eyebrows shifting just slightly, enough to convey his annoyance.
She bit her lip. “So, um, to get everything clear—you don't know exactly what the curse was, or how long it will last. You don't know when exactly you made this…second body. And you don't have any idea where your real body is.”
“It was near a village that, well…probably isn't there anymore,” he said. “And the name didn't even matter to me, so that's hardly a clue.”
He sighed. “But…essentially, yes. All I know is that the curse is wearing off, and that I have very little information besides that.”
She frowned. “Well…tomorrow, I can introduce you to some of my friends! We know…a bit about magic, so maybe we'll be able to learn more about how we can break you free.”
He seemed to perk up a bit at that. “Yes…and we know from your family's reaction that it's not just a one-to-one communication.” He chuckled to himself.
She chuckled, but it was a bit more forced. Once her parents had returned with Zephyr mid-morning, she had introduced Discord to them (which he decided to do via a sonnet in old English, for some reason). Her parents were a bit freaked out, but reminded themselves that she got into magical situations that she and her friends got out of regularly, and that they shouldn't hover over their daughter or her…odd new item. Zephyr was still convinced it was a prank.
But the greeting had proved one thing—she was not the only person who could hear Discord. Which proved, in turn, that she had not gone crazy.
So, her friends wouldn't give her odd looks. Well…at least they would stop once Discord started speaking and proving her right.
“So…” Discord said, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Any other questions you have for me?”
She thought for a second, then shook her head. “What now, then?” Discord asked, leaning against the wall.
“Now…” She glanced at the items he was lying next to. “Now, I have to finish my homework.”
“Those words don't sound like they belong together,” he said as she sat down, shifting him a few inches to the side so that she could open her textbook. “Isn't home supposed to be a safe space where you can simply relax and not do anything at all? …not that I would know.”
“Well…no,” she said. “There are chores to do at home, and work to finish for school.” She grabbed one of her pencils. “All I have left is this math homework.”
“Math…” he muttered, leaning forward and watching her. She put all of her focus into the problems, puzzling them out one by one.
It couldn't have taken more than half an hour, but the problems still tired her by the time she was finished. She glanced over and saw Discord staring at her work…though that could have just been because he couldn't turn his head.
“I didn't know you could play with numbers like that,” he muttered. “Though…it's all the same type of play.”
She blinked, trying to understand what he meant. “Well…we do the same types of problems to get better at this specific thing,” she explained. “But on a test or quiz, we'd have to do many types of problems from memory.”
“Hmm,” he said. “I'm guessing I can't watch you take the test?”
“It'd…be odd if I had a stuffed animal with me. And if I tell them you can talk, they might think you're trying to help me cheat.” She gathered all of her homework and textbooks and set them inside her backpack.
“Um…would you like to read something with me?” she offered. “I have a collection of Saddlemon manga…” Maybe he wouldn't like them, but she felt tempted to reread the series today.
“What in the world is that?” he asked.
“It's…” she paused, then picked him up from the desk. “Maybe it'd be easier to just show you.”
She sat in her armchair, with him leaning against her stomach. She reached over to her bookshelf and grabbed the first issue of her collection. She made herself comfortable in her chair, then opened the book to show the first page.
“Manga's read from right to left,” she explained to him, her finger tracing along the page. She paused for a few moments, giving him a chance to absorb the information. “Ready? I'm going to read this…if I need to slow down, please tell me.”
“Got it,” he said with a nod. She placed a hand on his stomach before he flopped forward, and leaned back in her chair as she began to read silently. The two of them worked their way through the series until supper, then watched a movie with the rest of Fluttershy's family right before bed.
There was a shifting in Fluttershy's backpack. She reached into it, brushing Discord's head with her fingertips. “I'll bring you out in a little bit,” she promised. “Once I'm in homeroom.”
“I have to wait a full day!?” he hissed. “Until you're home!?”
“No, homeroom is the first class of the day,” she whispered. “I can introduce you to my friends there.” She withdrew her hand and continued to class.
All of her friends were already in the classroom. Sunset and Twilight were discussing something the other Twilight had sent to Sunset, Rainbow and Applejack were boasting about something, Rarity was sketching in her journal, and Pinkie…appeared to be building a mansion out of cards.
“Good morning, everyone,” she said. They all returned her greeting. “I, uh…found something interesting over the weekend.” She pulled Discord out of her backpack and set him on her desk.
The group stared at it for a few moments. “That looks…familiar,” Sunset said. “I swear I've seen something like that in a book before…”
“I think he looks very interesting,” Pinkie said, jumping up without knocking over any of her cards. “Kind of cute, in a really weird way. Is he a new pet, Fluttershy?”
“Pet!?” Discord squawked. “She'd better not see me as a pet. I am a living…er, not really breathing…person, thank you very much.”
The girls stared at him for a few moments, their jaws dropping. Fluttershy nervously rubbed at her arm. “That's, um…why he's interesting,” she told them. “I think it's a little bit of a long story…”
They all erupted with questions and exclamations before she could continue. Pinkie was wondering if all toys could talk, Twilight was asking several questions in a row without pausing for breath, Rarity was wondering aloud if the fabric he was made of her something to do with it, and Applejack and Rainbow questioned loudly if this was yet another magic incidence they had to take care of.
Fluttershy took a step back. “Everyone calm down!” Sunset said, holding up a hand. The others slowly quieted down. “Fluttershy…you said it's a long story, but can you explain it to us?”
“I think he could tell it better,” she said, giving Discord a nod. He straightened up, staring at the confused group in front of him.
“Thank you for the rather chaotic welcome, ladies,” he said. “You can call me Discord, maestro of all things chaotic and disharmonious.” He explained the situation about his curse, and the false body he had created.
Sunset and Twilight seemed most intrigued by his tale. “So, you're this world's Discord,” Sunset said as Twilight inspected his stitching. “That explains why you seemed familiar…I learned about you, or him, back in Equestria during history class. It wasn't my best subject, but Discord's Era was…memorable.”
Now Discord's interest was piqued. “You've been to the other world?” he asked as Twilight lifted his lion arm.
“I was born there,” Sunset said. “But I came here a while ago, and decided to stay…it's a bit of a long story.”
“Ooh, I can tell it!” Pinkie said, plopping on the desk in front of Discord. “SoitstartedwhenSunsetwantedmorepowerandcameheretogetit—” She began talking a mile a minute, losing Fluttershy within seconds. Discord didn't seem that confused, though.
The others were still staring at Discord, as though trying to figure out if they were dreaming or not. “…and now, Sunset has a book to talk to the other Twilight, and the portal is in the school statue if we ever need to visit!” Pinkie said, slowing down as she finished.
“I see…” Discord said. “I'd like to know more details later. You really found magic rocks at a summer camp? Sounds a bit far-fetched…I like far-fetched.”
“I'd like to know more details about you,” Twilight said, looking at one of his wings. “You really formed this whole false body through magic? Wouldn't that violate the laws of physics?”
“Violating physics isn't new when it comes to magic,” Sunset supplied. “Just making objects, though…that's only in very specific fields of magic. Our geodes can't do any magic like that…though Harmony magic does seem to be an easy fix-all to villain problems…”
“Ahem,” Discord said, making Twilight blush and back off. “Fluttershy mentioned how you two might be able to better figure out how to break my curse. Especially since I'm short on information…what I've told you is all I know.”
“We can try,” Sunset said, frowning. “I haven't studied curses in forever…it was just theory, nothing applied!”
“I can do some experiments and run a few scans,” Twilight said. “I brought some of my equipment with me for Robotics and Computers class…I can use them to study you—to break the curse, of course!”
Before they could discuss further, the bell rang. Many of the students in the classroom sighed and groaned, picking up their backpacks and trudging towards their first real class of the day.
“What? What's going on?” Discord said as Fluttershy picked him back up. “Are you doing the scans now, or…”
“That's going to have to wait until after school,” Twilight said. “I'm busy until then. Even my free periods…I have to make sure Spike gets outside and gets his exercise.”
“Oh. How long will it be until then? One hour? Two?” he asked. Fluttershy quietly told him that school didn't end until three-thirty in the afternoon. He sputtered. “I have to wait that long?”
“Hey, at least you don't have homework,” Rainbow said. “See you guys later.” She disappeared in a rainbow blur, running towards her first class of the day.
The group broke apart and headed their separate ways. Fluttershy slid into math class with Professor Cranky, taking her seat near Trixie, who was busy folding a piece of paper into an origami crane. She set Discord in her backpack as she dug out her textbooks and notebook.
He grumbled, staring at the chalkboard. “School…bah. Isn't dealing with a magic crisis more important than school?”
“We've never really put a magic crisis completely above school before now,” she whispered to him. “Though…during most of them, we weren't in school, or there was something going on that interrupted school for a bit.”
He continued grumbling, though she couldn't pay attention or answer, as the second bell rang and Cranky began collecting their homework, reviewing the material they had covered.
“So gracious of you to finally run your scans,” Discord said as Twilight placed him on some kind of scale, setting up devices around him.
“Discord, please be nice,” Fluttershy said. She was sitting at one of the desks in the computer lab, her last bit of homework in front of her. He grumbled a bit more, but all she could do was sigh.
He had been in a bit of a sour mood, impatiently waiting, though watching her classes seemed to distract him for a little while. But when lunch came around, and Twilight said that no, she wasn't going to eat her lunch and run expensive equipment at the same time, his sour mood returned, lingering through the afternoon.
The only ones in the computer lab now were Fluttershy, Sunset, and Twilight. Sunset had apparently been exchanging messages with the other Twilight throughout the day, and gave Fluttershy the short version—the pony world's Discord had befriended their Fluttershy after dealing with a magical punishment of his own, but had never been under a sleeping curse like this.
Before she could ask for details, Sunset began helping Twilight run tests and scans. Discord actually remained politely quiet as they worked, while Fluttershy worked a little more on her homework.
Once she was finished, she glanced up and saw that Twilight was looking at a heart monitor-like machine, with a green line forming spikes. Twilight held a stylus between gloved fingers as Fluttershy approached. “Have you found anything out?” she asked.
“Well…” Twilight said as she poked at him with a stylus. Her machine beeped. She poked him with her gloved finger, and received a slightly louder beep. “Discord, can you say something?”
“Your bangs are crooked,” he responded in a deadpan voice. Her machine beeped again, a spike of magic appearing. It was the highest so far, with the contact with her finger in second, with a stylus just a small spike.
Twilight gave him a deadpan look, then read the results. “Well…physical contact gives him extra magic, and talking to others gives him more. I've never considered that one could obtain magic just by talking…”
“I'm not obtaining it,” Discord said. “It's my magic in the first place! It's not new stuff, it's just been locked away from me by those…by those…!” He growled under his breath, shaking so much that he fell over.
He gave a frustrated cry as Fluttershy picked him back up. Sunset looked at Twilight's readings. “Well…I have a hypothesis,” she said. “If your magic is blocked by the curse, then interacting with others is helping break the curse.”
“Really?” Discord said, raising a fluffy eyebrow. “I know the curse wears off with time, but why would just talking wear it down?”
Sunset frowned in thought. “Sleeping curses aren't designed to withstand interactions,” she said. “That's why they try to keep you from dreaming, so that no one could dreamwalk in and break your curse from the inside.”
“But he's doing the opposite of dreamwalking, right?” Twilight said. “I mean, I only know what you've told me, but it seems like he's walking in the real world via his dreams.”
“Right,” Sunset said with a nod. “Which would wear down something in the curse…most likely the ‘dream-set:null’ conditions. Possibly the magic-lock conditions, or maybe even interfering with the primary foci…”
“Ugh!” Discord groaned, rolling his eyes (and falling onto his back). “Would you ladies quit the nerd chatter? It's giving me a headache.”
Sunset and Twilight sighed, then exchanged a look that screamed ‘why does no one else get this stuff?’. As Fluttershy nudged a grumpy Discord back into a sitting position, Sunset said, “Look. Talking and physically interacting with others is wearing down the magical components of the spell, which makes the curse wear off faster. Or is that too much nerd chatter for you?”
Discord growled, shaking. “Oh, emotions also cause a magic spike,” Twilight said casually as she stared at her screen.
“So…if he talks to others, has physical contact with people, or feels strong emotions, his curse will break sooner?” Fluttershy said.
Both Twilight and Sunset nodded. “We could take shifts, working to break the curse,” Sunset said. “You don't have to do it all by yourself, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy blushed and looked away, thinking guiltily that that had been her plan. “Ooh,” Discord said. “Will I spend the night at some of your places? Maybe your folks will freak out more…Fluttershy's didn't, at least, not for long.”
Twilight frowned. “My parents would freak…I could keep him in my lab, but after the last time I had magic in there…” She shuddered.
Sunset narrowed her eyes. “I…still need to think before you can come over to my place,” she said. “No hard feelings, buuuut…your ‘other' is a bit of a controversial being.”
“You've met them?” Discord asked.
“Not personally,” she quickly said. “I've just heard news, and studied history. And the other Twilight told me about him.” She glanced between him, Twilight, and Fluttershy. “But…you should be judged based on you, not some other version of you. Still, I want to know you a little better before you can come over.”
“Fine,” he said. “What about the others?”
“I think their families might freak out more than mine,” Fluttershy said. “Rainbow’s been avoiding telling her parents about magic so they don't fuss over her about it, and the others…I think us being involved with magic is still a bit of a shock to them.”
“It is,” Sunset confirmed.
“Which is why I should go!” he said. “Because causing panic is a mild form of chaos, which will be extremely helpful in breaking the curse!”
“There's no data indicating that,” Twilight quickly said.
Fluttershy sighed. “And those are all reasons why they might not invite you to stay over. That, and…I think they all need to get used to you themselves.”
“Fiiiine,” he said with a sigh. “I still can't believe that your folks only freaked out for a couple of minutes! There was such good, promising panic…”
Twilight glanced at her watch. “As…interesting as examining your…false body has been, Discord,” she said, “It's four o'clock. We should probably leave before we get in trouble.”
“Trouble?” Discord said, sounding intrigued.
“For staying late in the school, and not for some kind of school activity,” Sunset explained as she helped Twilight pack up her equipment. “Though I really doubt we'd get much more than a slap on the wrist…metaphorically,” she clarified as Fluttershy rubbed her wrist.
“Still, I don't want to take any chances,” Twilight said. “Not this close to graduation!” With everything gathered in her backpack, she slung it over her shoulder and headed out the door. Sunset and Fluttershy were close behind.
Fluttershy tucked Discord into her bag, leaving it open just enough that he could peer out and talk to them. “How close is graduation?” he asked.
“Two months,” Fluttershy told him. “It's…a little nerve-racking. I hope I have all of my class credits…”
“I'm sure you do,” Sunset said. “Someone would have caught it long before now if you didn't.”
The three of them made it out the front doors and parted ways. Fluttershy sighed and glanced back at Discord, who was sitting still in her backpack, watching their surroundings.
“…would you rather stay with someone else?” she asked him quietly.
“I…don't know,” he said after a few seconds of hesitation. “I guess I just…want to see what other houses are like. If I could cause more chaos there just by existing. But…your place is nice. I like talking with you, you seem to care for my comfort even though I'm just a stuffed animal…and I'm glad you were the one to find me and pick me up off the street.”
She released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. “I…can talk to the others and see if they can help you find a little…variety with them.” It felt odd to say they would look for chaos. “Is there anything I could do to make my home more comfortable for you?”
He hesitated. “A little chaos wouldn't hurt. Even if it's just a pile of items whose colors clash…”
“I think I might be able to do that,” she said, thinking of a few items lying in her room. She thought and planned for the rest of the walk home, while Discord quietly watched their surroundings go by.
After just ten minutes, she entered her house and headed upstairs to her bedroom. She pulled Discord out of her backpack and set him on the edge of her bed. “I have an idea,” she said, opening her closet and digging around. After a while, she procured a small pillow, only a few inches longer than him. It was soft, pink, and featured an advertisement for some kind of gum on one side.
“Hmm. Odd, but not completely chaotic,” he said.
“I have more things,” she said with a grin. The next item was a dark green, knitted swatch, one too small to be a normal blanket but too wide to be a scarf. The stitches were wide and uneven in some places.
She laid it on top of the pillow, and he nodded with approval…flopping onto his stomach. “Just…keep going,” he said with a sigh as she reached to set him back up. She nodded and continued to dig through her closet and desk drawers.
There were small, collectible stuffed toys. Shiny babbles she found in the bottom of her desk drawer. A glow-in-the-dark bouncy ball. She arranged them on and around the pillow and blanket, forming a sort of nest. “Oh, one last thing…” With a bit of searching, she found a particularly soft, purple ring box cushion.
She laid it at the head of the pillow, then smiled and turned to Discord. “It…might not be the most comfortable bed,” she admitted. “But…does it make for a nice chaotic nest?”
“It does,” he said approvingly. He shifted forward and began flopping towards it. She quickly grabbed him and carried him over, setting him on the pillow and tucking him under the blanket.
“This is quite nice,” he said. “Relaxing enough that I'm tempted to dream here…”
“How does…that work? Focusing on your actual dreams, I mean.”
“I let go of my control of this body, at least temporarily. That lets me see more of my actual dreams. If I see or hear something interesting, or this false body is touched, my control snaps right back to it.”
She nodded in understanding, even though she still found it quite confusing. Discord rolled around in his makeshift bed, glancing to his side. “Ooh, a bookshelf space for things!”
She nodded. “You can put things in there to look at, or use…or I can move some books to be within grabbing distance.”
“…maybe later,” Discord said. “Are we watching a movie tonight?”
“I'm not sure,” she said honestly. “I can ask my family over supper. Are you okay up here by yourself?”
“Yes, I'll be fine,” he groaned. “I won't set your room on fire or anything, so go…eat dinner and stuff.” She nodded, and headed downstairs…feeling satisfied that she had made a pleasingly chaotic nest for him.
The rest of the week just seemed to fly by. There was a semblance of a routine forming, which Discord grumbled about…though it seemed to be working, if Twilight's scans were correct.
Fluttershy would bring him to school in the morning, then hand him to one of her friends. Discord would be swapped between them between classes throughout the day, seeing for himself the different kinds of classes they all took. Fluttershy would take him during her free periods, to either do a little reading and research with him, or to just spend some time in the courtyard.
He would practice his magic, and could do things like levitate objects for a short time…though he swore to her that his full power could do much more than simple things like that.
“I mean, take that brush I used last period,” he said. They had hung out in the art room during her free period, Fluttershy working on her homework as he messed around with the art supplies. “If I had more magic, I could make it bigger! I could make it seem more alive, doing things like making its own paintings, or defending its paintings and territory from passerby!”
“Mhmm,” she said, munching on the salad she had brought from home. School lunch regularly had meat, so it was too much of a gamble to rely on them if she wanted to stick to her vegetarian diet. Discord was sitting on the table in front of her. The others were coming, but running a bit late, it seemed.
Though Discord got a few odd looks, the other students had generally accepted the weirdness around their school, especially around the seven of them…and so practiced the skill of focusing on their own lunches and not getting too involved.
“I'm just saying, I'm dying to have my full power back,” Discord said. He shifted to look down at his hands—he was becoming a little more dexterous and mobile as more of his magic returned to him.
“I understand,” she said sympathetically. “But you can already do quite a lot…” As she spoke, shadows darkened the table. She glanced up, expecting to see her friends…but instead, saw two boys, with two different tones of brown skin. Her smile immediately shifted to a frown.
“Hoops. Dumbbell,” she said. She grabbed Discord and moved him to her edge of the table before they could snatch him. Fortunately, they didn't seem interested in repeating taking her items.
“Hey, Klutzershy,” Dumbbell said with a smirk, placing his hand on the table and leaning forward. “How are your classes going?”
“Fine,” she said, continuing to eat her salad. When had she last talked to them? Must have been in middle school…Rainbow had been there, telling them to back off. But Rainbow wasn't here right now. “Why are you here?”
“Couldn't miss this opportunity,” Dumbbell said. Hoops smirked.
“Say…are you sure you've taken all the classes you have to?” Hoops said, a chuckle in his voice. Fluttershy felt a chill spread through her. “It'd be awful to have to graduate as a thirty-year-old.”
“Yeah, Klutzershy,” Dumbbell said. “It'd be just like you to fail an easy class and get held back. You sure you haven't missed that happening while talking to your dolls?” She swallowed and looked down, remembering Rainbow’s advice to not let them see how they were affecting her.
The two of them chuckled meanly. She scowled, gathering her courage and getting ready to tell them to go away…but before she could say anything, a wad of spaghetti was suddenly flung into Hoop's eye. She blinked, stunned.
“What the…?” Dumbbell said. But he was interrupted by a pile of green beans flying right into his mouth. As he reeled, more food flew at them—mashed potatoes for Hoops, and a slice of greasy pizza for Dumbbell, hitting them right in the middle of their faces.
The two of them shielded themselves with their arms, but the barrage of food continued. A small crowd was actually starting to form, watching as the two were assaulted with food from unknown assailants.
As a few chuckles began to come from the crowd, the bullies turned tail and fled, food chasing them and sticking into their hair. A few people clapped as the bullies were chased away by a volley of cooked carrots, a few of them looking around for the source.
The group slowly dispersed when the assailant wasn't immediately obvious. Fluttershy, confused but having a hunch, glanced down at Discord.
His arms were pointed at where the two bullies had just been standing. He shivered, and they fell back to his sides. “…that was quite a burst of magic,” he said to himself. “I didn't think I had enough to move that many things.”
He fell backward, and she quickly caught him before he hit the ground…he seemed even more limp than usual. “Ah…guess I didn't have the magic,” he said. He went fully limp, and she felt his aura disappear.
She gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. She held him close to her chest. “Oh…please just be asleep…” she said, worry filling her.
“Uh, Flutters?” Rainbow said as she approached the table with her lunch in hand. “Is there a reason why two of your old bullies just ran out of the room with gravy dripping down their shirts?”
Fluttershy glanced up, and saw that Rainbow and Sunset had arrived together, though Rainbow's knees were bandaged up. She quickly explained what had happened, ending with, “And now…Discord's asleep. Or…fainted.” She held the limp toy out to Sunset.
Rainbow growled. “Those jerks…if they think they can start pulling this stuff now, because the sports seasons are over for them at this school, they can think again. Coach won't give letters of recommendation if…” She grumbled furiously, devouring her carb- and protein-loaded pasta.
Sunset gingerly took Discord, turning him and looking him over. “I think he'll be okay, Fluttershy,” she said with a smile. “This is a pretty common side effect of using more magic than you actually have—falling unconscious. Once he's recovered his magic supply, he'll wake right back up.” She passed him back to Fluttershy as she sat down.
“You're sure?” she asked a little anxiously. Sunset nodded, patting her shoulder to reassure her.
Fluttershy tucked Discord carefully into her bag…though even as her other friends arrived, her mind kept drifting back to the stuffed draconequus.
It wasn't until she got home and ate supper that Discord began to move again. “Ugh…having actual magic limits is not a fun experience,” he groaned. “How long was I out?”
She scooped him out of her backpack and sat on the edge of her bed. “For…several hours,” she told him. “It's almost seven, now. My parents are in their room, and Zephyr's out with friends right now…”
“Good to know,” he said, flopping around in what might have been a stretch.
“Are you…alright?” she asked. “Sunset said you fainted because you used more magic than you had…”
“Unfortunately true,” he grumbled. “But the magic in this false body is replenished…ugh, normally animating food like that would take only a fraction of my magic! This curse…” He shook his head. “Though I should be asking…are you alright?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Those…brutes upset you,” Discord said. “I could tell. Do you want me to cause more chaos for them, or was the fighting food enough of a lesson for them?”
“You don't have to do anything else, it's fine,” she quickly assured him. “That's the first time they've bothered me in years. Rainbow is going to talk to them, use her connection with the coach to remind them that they should leave others alone…”
He nodded in understanding. “What were they talking about, anyway? About…making sure you took your classes?”
She frowned and looked away. “It's…embarrassing,” she said with a sigh, brushing her hair in front of her face. “I actually got held back a year in elementary school for failing a class. So I'm a year older than most of my classmates. Nineteen instead of eighteen.”
Discord's head flopped over. “What class was it? Because I've seen you excel in math, biology, and literature…”
“…it was P.E.,” she said quietly. “I was really bad at it, so instead of participating in anything, I would just hide under the bleachers, or on the playground, and hope that nobody would notice me.”
“Oh, and then you lost out on the easy participation points,” he said. “And those two started teasing you about it…” She flinched and crossed her arms, biting her lip. It still stung, to be reminded of that.
“Hey, I mean…don't sweat it. You're still graduating high school, only a year older than your classmates,” he said, perhaps trying to make her feel better. “I didn't fully gain control over my magic until I was at least three decades old!”
Her lips twitched into a smile. “Really? I thought you always had your magic.”
“Yes, but it took me years to fully master it,” he said. “So, I mean…you're not even two decades old. You have skills, and a life direction you want to take. Sounds like you're pretty successful.”
“Huh,” she said. “I guess I've…never thought about it like that.”
“Yes, I know, I'm very wise,” Discord said a little smugly. “Now are we going to watch a movie tonight, or do you have some other, brand new idea?”
“No new ideas…so a movie it is,” she said. She picked Discord up and carried him into the living room, holding him up to the bookshelf so he could read the movie titles.
“Mmm…this one,” he said, his arm flopping towards a Saddlemon animated movie. She smiled and took it from the shelf, sliding it into the DVD player and grabbing the TV remote.
“So…have I converted you into a Saddlemon fan?” she teased as she sat on the couch, Discord on her lap.
“I have no idea what you're…talking about,” he said. She had started the movie in the middle of his sentence, making his attention shift from ‘denial' to ‘Saddlemon movie'. She had to bite her lip before he giggled at how obvious he was.
The movie was good, though Fluttershy was sleepy by the end of it. With a yawn, she scooped up Discord and headed back upstairs to her bedroom.
Discord himself even made a yawning sound. She chuckled a bit. She didn't understand why he made sounds like yawning and breathing when he didn't have lungs, but he seemed to enjoy making noise.
“Good night,” he said as she placed him in his nest. “Off to the land of dreams I go…” He went fully limp and became silent, and the aura around him was gone. For now, he had given up at least some control over his false body.
She smiled and tucked a blanket over him. It was…odd, seeing him sleep. It felt more like…he was lifeless. The thought made her shiver a bit, but she knew he would come back, just like always.
She got ready for bed, telling herself that he would come back in the morning. She fell asleep slowly, drifting off into peaceful dreams.
She woke up the next morning with a loud yawn. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and cast a glance over at Discord, who was either still dreaming, relaxing in his nest, or simply didn't have the energy to move.
After eating a quick breakfast in the kitchen, she went back to her bedroom and tapped his shoulder. The reaction was immediate—his aura returned, and she knew he was back. Still, he took his time yawning and stretching.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said with a smile. “Did you have good dreams?”
“Oh, they were fine,” he said with another loud yawn. “Could have done with an extra pinch of chaos, but you know how dreams are.” She lifted him up so that he was in a sitting position, which he thanked her for.
“So…no school on Saturdays,” he said. “What crazy plans do you have for today, then?”
She giggled. “Nothing much, really,” she said. “I'll just visit the library in the morning, to do a little research about your curse, then volunteer at the pet store in the afternoon.”
His head flopped over. “The library? But I thought the school closed over the weekend? Unless you're planning on breaking and entering just for little old me…” He sounded much too enthusiastic for that possibility.
She sighed and shook her head…though she couldn't hide her smile. “No, no,” she said. “I won't go to the school's library. I'm talking about the public town library, which is open today. No breaking or entering.”
“Oh, a public town library?” he said, not disappointed by the lack of crimes. “I bet that it's even bigger than the school's, with even more books, and even more people inside…”
Fluttershy froze, remembering when she had taken Discord into the school library. He had ‘accidentally' knocked over stacks of books by leaning on them, and had talked up so much of a storm that they had been asked to leave…with a request that the stuffed toy learn how to speak more quietly.
“You know…” she said slowly. “Maybe it's best you stay here. Don't you have a few books and toys the others loaned you?”
“Yeah…” he said. “Sunset and Twilight got me books. Rainbow got me a paddle game I can't use. Pinkie…okay, to be fair, the nesting dolls are a bit fun,” he said. “But after the fiftieth time, you just kind of wish that your arms were dexterous enough to do anything else.”
“Do you think you can turn book pages?” she asked, reaching past Rarity's tiny outfits for him, and Applejack's Polaroid camera, to grab two books. One was about history, and the other was about the development of technology. “I'll open the covers for you.”
“I guess I can do that…sit and read by myself,” he said, a little begrudgingly. “I'll take the technology book, thanks.” She set it in front of him and opened the heavy cover.
With a bit of effort, Discord managed to shimmy his arm under the pages and turn them. She smiled and watched him for a few moments, then bid him goodbye and headed out the door. He waved to her as she left.
Her purse slung over her shoulder, she headed down the street and towards the library, enjoying the warm spring air.
She quickly situated herself in a sunny corner of the library with a tall stack of books. While she had grabbed some Saddlemon manga for her and Discord to read at home, she had mostly selected books about magic—anything from witchcraft to fables of magic.
She scanned the tables of contents of each one, turning to any sleeping curses she could find. Ones with information, she slid back into her pile, while ones without were set aside. Unfortunately, most of them ended up being set aside.
One of the last few books was an old one of fables—a bit less about magic, and more about frightening creatures that may have terrorized humans in the past. Still, she read the table of contents to see if anything would catch her eye.
The Changeling Fey, The Vengeful Tirek, The Spirit of Chaos— The last one made her freeze. Wasn't that the title Discord used?
Maybe it tells what curse was put on him, she thought, flipping towards the page with his story. Still…all of the other legends that were in this book seemed to cause…danger and pain for humans. There was a bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.
She eventually came to the right page…and felt her blood run cold. The first thing that caught her eye was the illustration—one of a town thrown into chaos. Buildings floated off of the ground, living fire ran in the streets, and people fled as far as they could.
At the center of the image, sitting on a throne and laughing, was a familiar draconequus.
She didn't want to know more, but…she had to know. So, she read the legend, of how the Spirit would suddenly appear, throw a town into chaos, and leave before he could be caught. He would soon reappear in yet another town, causing a different flavor of chaos.
The legend ended by saying a hero managed to stop his reign once and for all, but it didn't say who they were or how they had done it. Not that it mattered…this book had information that seemed more important than exactly what his curse was.
She checked the book out, along with a few others, and ran home.
She quickly unlocked the front door and practically threw it open. No one was home right now, except for…him. Unless he somehow snuck out to cause chaos, she realized as she relocked the door.
With that terrifying thought, she quickly rushed to her room, throwing it open in the same way. Discord was still sitting in the middle of the floor, right where she had left him. He seemed to be making slow progress through the book on technology.
“Ooh, Fluttershy!” he said, lifting his head to look up at her. “I just had a wonderful idea. I can put a part of myself on the Inter-nets and allow thousands of people to interact with it…more talking and exposure means less curse!”
She closed the door behind her, shaking with some combination of rage and terror…though terror was very much winning. “Um…Flutterbutter?” he said as she dropped the bag of library books by her bed, digging through it to find the book of fables. “You don't look so great…are you sick?”
“No,” she said, pulling out the book. “But I found something at the library. Something about you.”
Discord just sat there and stared at her, not saying anything. She turned to the section that was about him, shuddering when she saw that…awful image of him doing terrible things.
“You're…dangerous,” she said with a gulp. She held the book of legends out to him, showing the image of the draconequus causing chaos. “That's why humans cursed you. You're too dangerous to be awake.”
He stared at the book…and for a moment, she wondered if she really had just been going crazy. If he was a normal stuffed animal. “Fluttershy,” he said quietly, startling her. “I had a good reason to not tell you.”
Her grip on the book tightened, her knuckles turning almost white. “Oh? Because if you told me, I wouldn't help you? You decided to keep quiet so that you could…could just trick me into letting you free?”
“Yes and no,” he said slowly. “If I told you, you wouldn't have agreed to help me. You're clearly having second thoughts now. But…”
She raised an eyebrow, withdrawing the book.
“…would you believe I don't want to do that?” he said. “Not anymore, at least. I only did it back then because something was missing, and I thought causing chaos was the only way to get it.”
“And what was that?” she asked, somehow keeping her voice steady.
“The being I'm a reflection of,” he said simply. “Since they're the original, I wasn't sure that they were aware I existed…or if there was a way for them to get here. I figured that causing chaos would signal to them that…I was here, and wanted to meet them.”
“And…your ‘original',” she said. “If they're like you, or were attracted by the chaos…would they have done this, too?” She pointed again at the picture.
He was silent for a long time. “I never met them,” he said. “But if I had to guess…they were probably doing the same thing in their own world. Maybe for different reasons.” He shrugged. “Reflections follow the person, so I might have gotten the idea in the first place because they were doing it. And what your friend Sunset said…it seems pretty likely that their past isn't any lighter than mine.”
She dropped the book, clutching her fists closed. “And…why exactly don't you want to do that anymore?”
“Because!” he said. His arms shifted, enough that he could wring his hands. “Oh, how to say this…I don't need to do that anymore. I don't need to get my other's attention.”
The portal, she thought with a chill. How could she be so foolish? She showed him exactly where the portal was, after he had asked…once he was awake, he could go through it and find his ‘other'. He would bring him back to this world, or stay in that one…either way, a world would be plunged into chaos.
“Um, Flutters?” he said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “You look…really pale. I don't think I said the right thing, give me a second and I'll fix it.”
“No need,” she managed to say, her hands trembling. She had to hide him. Keep him from talking with anyone, prolong the curse breaking.
She remembered that in the attic, there were several large, heavy wooden chests. And the attic was almost never cleaned out, so…she grabbed the stuffed animal by the torso and quickly rushed down the hallway.
He babbled a few things about needing a second to think, how he was bad at talking on the spot. “No,” she said, interrupting him. “You lied to me once. I'm not going to give you another chance to…to think and trick me again!”
That made him silent. The stuffed animal dangly limply in her hand. With a huff, she headed upstairs and into the dusty attic.
After a few moments of looking around, she found it—a very heavy chest with a metal clasp in front. She opened it (geez that lid was heavy), sending up a cloud of dust. Old books were inside, too worn with time for her to read their titles.
“Fluttershy,” Discord said once again as she tucked him into the chest. “Please…”
She felt sad for a moment, almost a little guilty. But then she remembered what he had done in the past, how he had hurt people and lied to her. She glared at him, shaking her head.
“I trusted you,” she said. “I helped you, and you hid something…that big from me.” There was prickling in her eyes, and she blinked rapidly. “I have to stop you.”
Before he could say anything else, she let the lid fall and clasped the chest shut. She quickly stood up and walked away, closing the door to the attic behind her.
She had expected to miss Discord after…locking him away. She had considered him a friend, after all, and knowing that he had been hiding such a secret from her…that hurt.
What she hadn't been expecting were her vivid dreams.
They had been closer to nightmares, really. It usually took on one of two forms—of other people getting angry just at the sight of her and driving her away in angry mobs, or of finding herself in a dark, enclosed space, unable to move even if she had the space to do so, and grasping desperately in her mind for something that was just out of her reach.
Sometimes the dreams blended together, and the angry mob shoved her into that space, trapping her there. It was most vivid on the third day, and she woke up with tears staining her cheeks.
It must have been Discord doing it, she thought. She wasn't completely sure, though, and even if it was him, it could have been a trick to make her open the chest and question him, letting him escape. So she had decided to ignore them as best she could, waiting for whatever the source was to give up.
But after this last dream, she couldn't stand it anymore. She crept up to the attic, towards the chest she had shoved Discord in. She felt a pang of guilt, but she forced it down. He was evil, and he had tricked her—locking him away was the right thing to do.
Slowly, she unlocked the chest and lifted the lid. Discord wasn't positioned in the way she had placed him in…in fact, it seemed more like he was curled in a fetal position.
But as soon as the lid was opened, he weakly lifted his head. “Flutters?” he said quietly.
Pity came back to her, and she could almost feel her heart breaking for him. But she pressed her lips together and steeled her resolve. “I just…came to say…” Oh, dear, she hadn't really planned this out. “That giving me nightmares isn't going to make me release you.”
He stared at her for a few moments, then unfurled himself. “I didn't realize you were seeing them, too,” he said slowly. “Maybe we've made…an empathetic connection. Or you're seeing them because you're the only person close enough to see them…”
“You expect me to believe that you haven't been doing it on purpose?” she said.
“Yes!” he said. “Because the only lie I've ever told you was a lie by omission…which I was apparently right to do, because you learning the truth led to me being locked in yet another small, dark space!”
She flinched, but did her best to hold her ground. “Still…if you aren't going it on purpose, then why would I be seeing them?”
“Because they're my nightmares! The ones I've been having in this dusty tomb!” he snapped at her.
She froze, feeling a chill run down her spine. “Are they…your memories?”
“Based on them, at least,” he grunted. “Are you going to listen to me, and not freak out this time?” She meekly nodded. “You want to know about my nightmares, and why I wanted to get the attention of my ‘other'?” She hesitated for a few seconds, then slowly nodded, not looking him in the eyes.
He was quiet for a few moments. “The reason I wanted to meet them,” he said quietly. “It was because, ah…I figured an exact copy of myself would understand me. Be willing to…interact with me.”
She felt a surge of pity, and she desperately tried to keep it clamped down, not wanting to be tricked. “What about the humans?” she said.
He chuckled ruefully. “Oh, I was unpopular even before my…takeover. Even when I tried to be helpful, they didn't appreciate it. Tools that moved and worked on their own were demonic, any food I gave was cursed, etcetera.”
“…they formed angry mobs and chased you away,” she said quietly, recalling her—or rather, his—nightmares.
He nodded slowly. “I figured that…there was no way another version of me would reject me like that,” he said. He paused and looked down. “I thought of…a better way to explain why I don't need to attract his attention anymore. May I say it?”
Still feeling pretty guilty about her actions, she nodded. He looked back up at her, and made a sound like he was taking a deep breath.
“I don't need him because…” For a moment, she caught a ghostly image of him—at least two feet taller than her—looking away shyly. “I have you, now. You care and understand in ways I never imagined a human had the capacity to.”
She blushed, and the image faded away. “I'm…sorry,” she said. “That I didn't take the time to listen to you sooner.”
“…it's fine,” he said. “You did come back, after all. But oh, please don't toss me in here again. There's so much dust I wish I could sneeze!”
“Sorry,” she said, scooping him up. “I can put you in the washing machine if you want.”
“Only if you use good detergent,” he said. “Perhaps something fruity, with maybe a hint of tropical breeze…or evocative of a fair, hot summer day.”
“I'll try to find something like that,” she said. “In the morning, okay?” She rubbed the top of his head, holding him close to her chest. “I'll still dust you off right now.”
She began to brush his fur, stirring up clouds of dust. There was still some that clung stubbornly to him, but he looked a little better…and he wasn't nearly as grimy as when she had first found him.
“…can I stay on the bed with you?” he asked. “I just need…a little bit of assurance that this is happening. That the curse or my own imaginative brain isn't setting me up for a very, very cruel trick.”
“Of course you can,” she said. Once they were in her bedroom, she laid him down next to her pillow, pulling up a corner of her blankets to cover him. She laid down, placing one hand on his side.
“…thank you,” he said quietly. “I'll…try to keep my nightmares from affecting you. Even if it means not turning to dreams.”
“Thanks,” she said, smiling softly at him. “And…sorry, again.”
He was silent for a few moments. “Don't worry about it. Just…rest for now.” She nodded, tired enough that she was already starting to drift off to sleep.
After a quick cycle through the washing machine, all was forgiven. Fluttershy still felt quite guilty about what she had done…and though Discord repeatedly insisted that he couldn't completely blame her for the miscommunication, he still seemed very wary about boxes, or being left alone.
But as the weeks went by, their friendship was re-forged. They were able to relax, talk, and laugh together without any lingering worries or ill intent.
The two of them discussed his past with Sunset. She was appalled at first, but quickly understanding. The three of them agreed that if the others asked for details, they would tell the truth…but that all they needed to know was that even if his path might not have always been a good one, he now had good intentions overall.
But, it was the stepping stone that made her agree to let him spend the night at her home. That, in turn, led to the others taking him home…where they all said their families freaked out, just as suspected.
Though Discord spent a few nights at the others' places, and was taken to events such as Rainbow’s soccer matches and Twilight's science fair…he spent most of the day with Fluttershy, and her home was his regular place to spend the night.
She was…very happy to have him around. He was funny, and could be helpful in his own way if he tried. She could safely say that after the Incident, she considered him one of her closest friends.
Which was why she was dreading a coming conversation as the month went by…for various reasons.
“What do you mean, I can't come?” Discord whined.
She sighed. She wasn't happy about it, either, but showing that would only encourage him to fuss and complain more. “You can't come in person to graduation,” she said. “My friends and I will be too busy, and won't have any pockets or bags to hold you in. My parents will be too busy taking photos and videos, and Zephyr still thinks you're not really alive.”
“Bah,” he said, crossing his arms. “Set me in the bleachers or rafters somewhere! I don't need a babysitter.”
“But then someone could grab you and take you away,” she said. He kept frowning at her. “Look…we can set up a camera there and a screen here so that you can still watch the ceremony. But you have to stay here, so that you'll be safe.”
“Oh, and you're not worried that someone's going to snatch the camera?”
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I'm…well aware that could happen. But…a camera is something we can track and find if it's taken. And…”
She sat to be at his eye level. “You're more important to me than any camera. I just…don't want to lose you.”
He was silent for a few seconds. Then, he turned away and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I…guess I can't argue with a heartfelt argument like that.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “You can still watch, of course,” she said, placing her hand on his side.
“Through the camera,” he grumbled, sounding much like a sulking child. “…can I at least talk with your friends while they're setting up the camera? I want an actually good angle, not just an angle they decide is good enough for a stuffed toy.”
“Of course,” she said. “You can still come to school with me…at least until finals start.”
“I can't come to those, either!?” he bemoaned. She sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.
Though he grumbled about it for days, he understood that he wasn't allowed to come to finals or graduation. He even grumbled as the seven of them were rehearsing for their last performance as students, which they were using as an opportunity to set up the camera.
“Does that pick up sound?” he asked Twilight. “Because an image of this without sound is like noodles without sauce…although neither would be pleasant if you found your bed turned into them.”
Twilight sighed, adjusting the camera slightly. “Yes, it had a built-in microphone to pick up sounds,” she told him. “And yes, the image will be good. This is a high-quality camera, and I just cleaned the lens.”
“Can it actually pick everything up from that distance?” he said. “Or is it all going to be a blur?”
“Well, that's one thing we're going to test today,” Twilight said.
Sunset and Fluttershy both stepped towards Discord. “Hey, is there anything you want to do besides…antagonize Twilight?” Sunset said, doing her best to sound patient. Fluttershy gave him a look that asked him to drop it.
“Well…” Discord said. “Bothering Twilight is fun, but I also need to bother The Pink One. Could I have a little assistance, Flutters?”
Fluttershy nodded and scooped him up, carrying him over to the warming-up drummer. He was working on using his magic to walk and levitate as a stuffed toy…but it was still a work in progress, and he found it embarrassing to just suddenly fall over. She personally thought that the way he levitated, too, could be…a little creepy.
She set him on one of the drums after getting Pinkie’s attention, and the two of them began whispering rapidly to each other. “They're hitting it off well,” Sunset commented as Fluttershy stepped away. “Though I do wish he'd quit annoying Twilight as much.”
“He's just…frustrated about a lot of things,” Fluttershy said, shaking her tambourine. “I think he does it because he's bored, and maybe a little upset about not being able to watch graduation.”
“You'd think then he'd be nicer to the person setting up the camera…” Sunset said. She shook her head. “What am I doing, trying to understand the Spirit of Chaos?”
Fluttershy shrugged and smiled. Twilight climbed down from her place in the bleachers, dusting off her hands. “Alright. He should have a good angle, no one should be able to snatch the camera from where it is, and…I'll run a test to make sure it's transmitting properly.”
“Sounds good,” Sunset said as Twilight set up the computer. “Time to rehearse, then?”
Twilight nodded as a picture of the seven of them appeared on her screen. Fluttershy went back over to Pinkie and picked Discord back up, carrying him to a seat in front of the stage. He and Pinkie exchanged nods, which she didn't think about as she set him down.
She rushed to her place on stage, and everyone took their positions. “Alright,” Rainbow said. “The song list is the school song first, then our new song ‘Last Rainboom'. Everyone have their music?” Everyone nodded, holding up their sheets and arranging them in a position they could be easily checked if needed.
Rainbow counted them off, and Fluttershy held her tambourine high. She caught Discord's eyes…and for a second, she saw that ghostly image again, of him wearing an enthusiastic grin.
Then, she had to focus on the song, and the image vanished after she looked away.
They went through the new song several times, tweaking and improving it in several places, then ended by playing the school song (which was basically muscle memory at this point). “Alright,” Rainbow said with a grin. “How did we sound to our audience!?”
“You sounded great!” Spike said enthusiastically, wagging his tail.
“Was…pretty good,” Discord said. “Could use a little more disharmony, a few sour notes tossed in…but it's good for humans with ‘usual' tastes, I think.”
Rainbow pumped her fist. “I will take that as a compliment!” she cheered. She turned to the others. “Let's end for today, and practice again at my place tomorrow. This is our last performance here, we need to make it as awesome as possible!” They all cheered in agreement.
“Shakes at Sugarcube Corner on me?” Sunset offered as everyone packed up their instruments. Fluttershy tucked Discord into her backpack next to her tambourine, in his favorite position—one where he was able to poke his head out and watch things go by. Everyone accepted, and they headed out, discussing their future colleges and planned majors along the way.
Discord mostly listened, though he prodded the group with a few questions about their planned futures. No one minded, all of them answering—from Rarity explaining how a business degree would help her open her own boutiques, to Sunset explaining her end goal of becoming a therapist with a psychology degree.
They all filed into Sugarcube Corner, each of them ordering a different shake. Fluttershy handed Discord the cherry stem as she munched on her cherry topping. He twisted it into different shapes, watching the group enjoying their shakes with…perhaps a little envy.
“I'll get you a shake once you're free and can drink it,” Sunset told him.
“And I'll get you cupcakes!” Pinkie said. “And pancakes, and spongecakes, and even chocolate cakes!” The others chuckled, and Discord seemed to brighten up at both offers.
They all hung out until the sun was low in the sky, at which point they all headed in different directions. Fluttershy yawned, patting Discord's head with a soft smile.
Everything seemed to be going pretty well, even with a small Spirit of Chaos by her side.
It felt…moving, to be on this side of graduating. She had seen other students go through this process before, but standing up here herself…it was incredible. She had to remember not to cry in front of everyone's parents and the underclassmen.
The graduating class walked in to a song played by the school band. They walked across the stage and were given their diplomas, then stood in a line as the valedictorian (Twilight) gave a moving speech. Fluttershy occasionally glanced up at the hidden camera—both to check that it was there, and assure Discord that she knew he was watching, and glad for it.
Finally, once Twilight's speech was finished, she and the other Rainbooms ducked out of the line and filed over to the stage. Behind it, they pulled off their graduation robes, revealing their new outfits underneath, but left their hats. They grabbed their instruments, then headed onto the stage, taking their positions.
As usual, her heart raced when she saw how many people were watching them—watching her. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that her friends were by her side, and that people she cared about were watching her, cheering her on.
Rainbow counted them off, and she lifted up her tambourine, ready to play.
Their performance was incredibly well-received. Everyone cheered as they took their final bow and headed off the stage, slipping their robes back on.
Fluttershy found herself lost in a sea of limbs as everyone rushed outside, moving their tassels to the side and preparing to throw their hats into the air. Fluttershy's head ended up landing somewhere over to the side instead of going straight up, but fortunately, no one else stepped on it.
Everyone hung around talking for some time. A few tears were shed, but not many—not with the knowledge that there would be more good-byes at coming graduation parties.
Eventually, Fluttershy headed home with her family, after one last group hug with her friends. She sagged in the backseat of the car as her mom drove, her energy drained.
Once they were home, and after her parents snapped a few more photos of her, she headed to her room. She opened the door, already peeling the robe from her shoulders. “Discord? Did the camera work?”
“Yeah, it did,” he said from the shadows, somewhere around her desk. “Wonderful performance on the song, by the way. Hey…could you turn on the light? I want to see how you look in person.”
“Oh, right,” she said, reaching over and flipping the light switch.
The room was lit, and she turned to Discord—only to blink in surprise. It wasn't just him and a computer on her desk anymore, but also a bouquet of flowers in a vase, a small cake, yellow and pink balloons tied to the corners of the desk…and a confetti popper in Discord's hands, only slightly shorter than him.
“Happy Grad-day!” he said cheerfully. After a few moments of struggle, he managed to pull the string on the popper, showering her with confetti.
She laughed, a hand flying to her mouth as she looked at him with awe. “Thank you…how did you even…?”
“With a great deal of difficulty,” he said, grunting and pushing the cake and flowers a little closer to her. “Plus the magic of credit cards and delivery services.”
“…whose credit card did you use?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Pinkie's,” he said. “Hey, don't give me that look. I asked her, and she was the one who ordered everything and helped set everything up for this little party.” He sighed. “And I promised to pay her back once I was free, by making her her own personal candy land for a day.”
Fluttershy found it surprisingly easy to imagine Pinkie asking for (and frolicking in) a real-life candy land. “I did all the planning, though!” Discord quickly said. “I picked out the bouquet I knew you would like, and I remembered your favorite flavor of cheesecake!”
She blinked, and now that her surprise was waning, she could really take everything in. The cake was indeed a cheesecake, a strawberry swirl one. The flowers were pink tulips, one of her favorite kinds…and there were nineteen of them.
“I…this is amazing,” she said earnestly, her hands flying to her mouth. “I wasn't expecting a party, and I…” It may have been a small one, but that made it perfect to her. Especially since everything about it was picked out just for her.
“Is it…good?” he said. “I felt bad about only being able to watch through a camera…I wanted to do something special for you.” She smiled softly at him, and for a second, she saw a ghostly image—one of him, still taller than her, but looking meek and bashful.
“Thank you,” she said. “You didn't have to do all this…but it's made me happy.” Feeling emboldened, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his plush snout. “This was very sweet of you.”
Discord was silent, staring at her in shock. She blushed and glanced away, feeling awkward and flustered. “I…um,” she said. “I'm going to get a plate and silverware…so I can enjoy the cheesecake.”
He nodded dumbly, and she quickly hurried out the door, the blush on her face growing. He was left alone with his thoughts and feelings…his very chaotic thoughts and feelings, swirling and threatening to drive him madder than he already was.
What was this? He could feel his heart racing in a way that…it hadn't in centuries. He felt his body, his real body, begin to stir…and he felt some magic flow through him.
For just a second, his eyes flared open, surging with magic.
Author's Note
Will the relationship between these two be romantic or platonic...? Up to you!