A disaster. It was a disaster, all of it. The draconequus muttered to himself in frustration, pacing back and forth along the floor.
“Now Discord, please try to relax,” coaxed the yellow pegasus beside him. “Zephyr is my brother, and besides, he’ll only be here for an hour. Just...try to make this work for once, okay? I know you two haven’t gotten along in the past, but remember, friendship is -“
“Magic, I know,” Discord grumbled. “But Fluttershy, dear, your brother is perhaps the most annoying, self-centered, witless pony I’ve known. And that’s saying a lot considering how you and the girls acted when I corrupted you in the past.”
“I know he’s said some not so nice things about you, but so has everypony else at some point of time, including me. And yet you hold no grudge against them, or me. Why Zephyr?”
“He said those things straight to my face, with the full intent to hurt me! I mean, others have murmured things while I was around, but-“
“Discord, that’s enough, now,” Fluttershy ordered. “Oh look, Zephyr’s here!”
The two siblings engaged in a moment of hugs and playful teasing. Zephyr then looked up and noticed Discord.
“Oh, you didn’t say he was gonna be here.”
Fluttershy sighed. “Zeph, if I had, you might not have agreed to come. But you two need to settle whatever differences you have with each other, so...come, I’ve made tea and sandwiches.”
The trio sat down and ate, staying quite silent for a time. Fluttershy tried to break the silence.
“So, Zeph, why don’t you tell Discord and I about how you’ve been doing at that mane salon job of yours?”
Zephyr chuckled in delight. “Oh, quite wonderful, indeed! Of course, I do have you and Dashie to thank for it! Speaking of which, Fluttershy, does she ever mention me at all?”
“Zephyr, I’ve told you, Rainbow Dash isn’t interested.”
“Why would she be?” came a snort from the draconequus across the table.
Fluttershy ignored him. “But there are many more mares out there, I promise.”
“Oh, Fluttershy, you’ve got to be kidding yourself. Why in Equestria would anypony desire to be with this idiot?”
“Discord!” came Fluttershy’s scolding exclamation.
“Well, some could say the same about you. Why would my sister ever actually want to be with you, huh? She’s just being kind so as to not hurt your feelings, which is quite typical of her!”
“Zephyr Breeze!” Fluttershy gasped.
Discord was now starting to get angry. “You take that back!”
“Or else what? You’ll send me to another dimension, you...you...?”
“You what?” Discord’s pupils turned to glowing slits. “Go ahead, Zephyr, insult me. Insult me and see what happens, I dare you.”
At that point, Fluttershy was fully convinced the confrontation was going to end in Zephyr getting terribly injured, sent to another dimension, or both, so she screamed.
“Stop it! Both of you, stop! All I wanted was a nice meeting with the three of us, but now I see that can’t happen! I’m so disappointed in both of you! Especially you, Discord!”
Discord and Zephyr went silent at Fluttershy’s outburst, but what Fluttershy had said weighed on Discord’s mind.
She’s...disappointed in me?
As the yellow pegasus sobbed and ran off, Zephyr turned to Discord.
“I -“
“Don’t even start.”
Zephyr snorted in annoyance and headed out the door, and Discord teleported himself back home. He went about his day there for a bit until he noticed something...off.
Am I...glowing?
Indeed he was. In a panic, he teleported back to Fluttershy’s cottage, hoping she had returned and would be able to tell him what was going on. Instead he found Zephyr, cutie mark aglow, who had likely come back for the same reason...to figure this thing out.
“Oh, it’s you again.”
“Yeah, I can’t say I’m too pleased about it either, Mr. Lord of Chaos. My cutie mark began to randomly glow, so I came here to find Fluttershy. Instead, I found you. Now what am I supposed to do?”
“Twilight would know what to do about this,” Discord said.
“Great, does that mean we’re going to have to fly all the way to Canterlot?” came Zephyr’s groan.
“I have magic, of course. I can take us there in an instant.”
“Oh, yeah...right.”
The two of them teleported to the castle, right in front of Twilight. She was surprised to see them so suddenly.
“What do want, Discord - Discord?!”
“Hey, Twilight!” Zephyr exclaimed
“Zephyr Breeze, you too?! Both of you are glowing!”
“Yeah, that’s kind of why we’re here,” Zephyr shrugged.
“This is going to be one of those things where you solve a friendship problem, isn’t it?” Discord groaned.
With that, Twilight sighed in annoyance and teleported herself, Zephyr, and Discord to the Ponyville castle.
“So what’s the deal with the glowing flank, huh?” Zephyr asked when they arrived in the throne room.
Twilight nodded to the table in the middle of the room. “See the map? It’s showing that there’s a friendship problem here in the castle.”
Zephyr took a moment to think. “Oh, Fluttershy told me about those before! So if the friendship problem is inside the castle, and there isn’t anypony here right now except for us, then...”
He and Discord came to the sudden terrible realization at the the same time.
“Then that means the friendship problem is ours!” Discord groaned. “Oh Twilight, come on! As the ruler of Equestria, can’t you do something about this? I do not want to be forced to make friends with...him.”
“When the map calls, you must answer, I’m afraid. Now, I must head back to Canterlot. I’m counting on you two.”
“Great,” Discord muttered as Twilight teleported away. He flopped down onto a couch he had materialized out of thin air.
Zephyr took a risk to put a pillow on the floor for him to sit on, next to the couch. He was tense at first until he realized the draconequus wasn’t going to hurt him.
They sat in silence until Zephyr broke it. “I...I know I can seem like a big jerk sometimes...but deep down, I love my sister, y’know? And although she’s gotten better at doing so, she’s not always perfect at sticking up for herself. Her kindness gets taken advantage of sometimes, and it always hurts her feelings afterwards. And I don’t want to see her feelings hurt.”
“I don’t either,” Discord sighed.
“But you’ve been the cause of that a few times before. That’s why I act the way I do toward you, because I’m upset with that. How can I be sure it won’t happen again?”
“It won’t. I promise, for good this time. All I want is for Fluttershy to be happy. I...I love her, Zephyr. I really do.”
“So do I! Wow, it looks like we have something in common after all.”
“Yeah,” Discord chuckled. “Yeah, we do.”
“I think I’m feeling a little better about you two...being together. I just wish I could have the same thing with somepony.”
“I never thought I’d have such a relationship with any creature, much less a pony. And now look where I am. If love can find a creature like me, you might just have a chance...eventually.”
Zephyr chuckled and held out a hoof. “Y’know, usually when Fluttershy and the girls make up with each other, they hug. But that’s sort of a girly thing, so...hoof bump? Or hoof, paw, claw, whatever.”
“Oh, alright. Fine. Hoof bump.”
Zephyr and Discord did so, and as soon as they did, they got the glowing indication that their friendship problem was solved.
“Now come on,” Discord said to the pegasus beside him, his new friend. “Let’s go find Fluttershy. I think we need a do over on that tea party.”
