One week later...
"What exactly happened that night? My head still feels weird," Fluttershy thought to herself, "I really hope I made the right choice inviting her. I just wanted them to get along, but for some reason I can't remember if they actually did or not."
"Um, Fluttershy?" a female voice said, snapping her out of her trance.
"Huh?" Fluttershy said jerking her head, "did something happen, Dr. Fauna?"
"Um, no. I was just gonna say that I think you've massaged Muriel's neck for long enough," Dr. Fauna said with a slightly concerned look on her face.
Fluttershy turned her head back and saw that she was up on a ladder with her front hooves on the giraffe's neck. She seemed to have really enjoyed that.
"Oh, right. Sorry. Your throat doesn't feel as bumpy now that I think about it. Good job, Muriel," Fluttershy said as she gently rubbed the giraffes neck.
She stepped down from her ladder to go check on her long list.
"Fluttershy, look out!" Dr. Fauna shouted.
"Huh?!" Fluttershy said as she stopped in her tracks and saw a small, red lizard beneath her hoof where she would've stomped.
"O-oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there," Fluttershy said as she picked up the slightly startled lizard and petted it, "its okay, I'm here for you."
It's belly glowed a slight red as it curled up warmly in Fluttershy's hoof.
She set him back down on the ground, letting him scurry around.
She sat down and continued looking at her list.
"You seem distracted lately. Are you feeling alright?" Dr. Fauna asked setting the list down gently with her hoof to look directly at her.
"Huh? Distracted? Oh...um...maybe work has been getting to my head lately. I think it might just be stress," Fluttershy said as she hid behind the list, trying to steer the conversation from going any further.
"Stress? From the one thing you love doing most? That's unheard of," Dr. Fauna said in a curious manner.
"Well, I mean...I have been losing sleep lately, but I should be fine. Don't worry about me," Fluttershy mumbled.
"Losing sleep? You're overworking yourself. You need a break," Dr. Fauna said worriedly.
"But...that would mean that you would have to fill in for my shift. I don't want to put too much onto you," Fluttershy said putting her list down.
"That's not too much. You covered for me last time. I really owe you one! Besides, I don't think my husbands back at home will mind," Dr. Fauna said reassuring her.
"Oh, I don't know. I just--wait...what did you sa--" Fluttershy said before she was interrupted by a pulsating, twinkling sound coming from behind her.
She looked back to see that her cutie mark was glowing. She instantly knew what this meant.
"Oh! Um...this is a bit urge--"
"You can go. I'll cover for you," Dr. Fauna said interrupting her.
"Thank you so much," Fluttershy said as she rushed home.
"Heh...I suppose I owe you now," Dr. Fauna chuckled to herself as she took the list.
As Fluttershy hurriedly entered Twilight's castle, she could faintly overhear conversation past the doors to the map room. She halted and slowly opened the door to listen in on the conversation. She could see Twilight pacing around the table talking to Discord who was seen sitting in Fluttershy's chair.
"There has to be a better explanation for this!" Twilight Sparkle said.
"I don't know what to tell you, Twilight! I didn't think that this was actually going to happen either!" Discord shouted.
Fluttershy finally walked into room and walked up to the table, but didn't say anything.
"I mean, out of all of the creatures in Equestria, it had to be me and...FLUTTERSHY!" Discord turned to her as his face became beet red. He fell out of the chair, making a loud thud.
"Uh, what's going on here?" Fluttershy asked the two.
"See for yourself," Twilight said as she pointed to a point on the map. Fluttershy could see her own cutiemark circling alongside another symbol that she hadn't seen before. It looked like a miniature version of a tornado.
"Wait, I don't understand. Who's coming with me on this friendship mission?" Fluttershy said as she looked to Twilight, who could be seen pointing at Discord's horns. They were giving off that noteworthy twinkle.
"You were summoned by the map?" Fluttershy said tilting her head.
"This is completely unprecedented. I should've known something like this could've happened," Twilight said as she sprinted into one of the rooms and grabbed a bunch of scrolls.
"I mean, Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were summoned by the map. But this?! How did I not see this coming? How do we know for sure if he's ready for a friendship mission?! The map makes no sense," Twilight shouted to herself as she fumbled through the scrolls, frustratingly tossing them in the air trying to find the perfect one.
Before Twilight would start Twilight-ing, Fluttershy went over to her and stopped her in her tracks.
"I don't really understand how the map works either. But there's one thing you know for sure, right?" Fluttershy said to her reassuringly.
"Yeah...I know. The map chooses those for a reason," Twilight sighed.
"It's just...for the first time in my life, I haven't come prepared for something. Plus," Twilight said as she got up and walked to the side of the table where Fluttershy's cutie mark and Discord's "symbol" was circling, " what's really getting to me is where it's sending you two. It's right over a part of Equestria that virtually nopony has been to. It's called the Undiscovered West for a reason."
Fluttershy walked over to the spot in question and gasped.
"Actually, Twilight. I've been here before," Fluttershy said with glee.
"You have?" Discord and Twilight said at the same time.
"I went on a trip to see the Breezies. There's actually a lot of ponies that live there," Fluttershy said.
"There are?" Twilight scrunched her face in confusion.
"Mhm. Their lifestyle is a bit different, but they're very friendly," Fluttershy said.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad then. Just me and Fluttershy going on a lovely old friendship mission to a place that basically nopony has gone too," Discord nervously chuckled as he tried to maintain his trademark kookyness.
"I'm sure it'll be alright, Twilight. Discord has changed and learned a lot over the years," Fluttershy said as she put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"Hmm...alright then. I trust that you two will do okay on this mission. Make sure you behave yourself, Discord," Twilight said half-joking.
After a long train ride, they finally arrived on the outskirts of Western Equestria. It was a sort of rural area. Well, actually, the land looked untouched. They were in between two mountain ranges that made a sort of valley. It looked like just a straight pathway into the unknown.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Discord asked as he floated alongside Fluttershy.
"Oh, yes. I came here a long time ago and met a lot of friendly ponies. Although, I am curious about what the friendship problem will be. What could possibly be happening here?" Fluttershy asked herself.
"So, you know some of the ponies here? That's a little reassuring. Although, this is pretty far away from most civilizations," Discord remarked.
"That's because these ponies live life a little differently. They're sort of on a path towards enlightenment and they live very organically. It's more like...a small community than it is a city," Fluttershy said.
"Oh, so basically a large town full of weirdos. Greeeaaaat," Discord said sarcastically.
"Oh, they're not that bad. I came here last year for the Breezie Pollen Festival. It was really beautiful. You have to see it. Oh, wait! I think they're having that today!
"Hmm..." Discord awkwardly said to himself as if something were on his mind. Fluttershy was quick to notice.
"I was wondering...did you and Treehugger get along back at the slumber party?" Fluttershy asked.
Discord nearly choked on his own spit at the sudden question, "I-I...uh yes! We did!"
"How so? My memory is a bit foggy," Fluttershy added.
Discord turned to her and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, we...uh...we played games and had a good time, that's all."
"You answered that rather quickly. We didn't play spin-the-bottle, did we?" Fluttershy teased.
"I...you...we...uh," Discord stuttered as he blushed at the thought of actually kissing Fluttershy. The imagery in his mind made his face even redder.
"Oh, I'm just teasing," Flutterhy giggled, "Oh, look! There it is!"
In the distance, they could both faintly see a large campsite that had lantern string lights and tie-dye blankets splayed out. There was a sign that read "The ESPRC Wildlife Preserve and Commune". There were no buildings in sight, almost as if where the ponies lived seemed to blend in with the animal habitat. The animals were nothing like Discord had ever seen before and there were ponies dancing around in a circle in a large field of different colored flowers. It looked like a sort of communal, interpretive dance that seemed very foreign to Discord. He looked down to see that Fluttershy was gently swaying along to the music that was playing, as if she were familiar with it. Discord felt as if he was entering an alien planet. The music stopped and all the ponies laid down to relax in their hammocks. As they entered the habitat, they heard a very familiar voice from behind them.
"Fluttershy? Discord?" the female voice said.
They both looked back to see Treehugger standing there in surprise. Discord froze in place at the sight of her.
"Treezy!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she tackle-hugged Treehugger. They laughed as they both fumbled on the ground.
"It's so good to see you!" Fluttershy said as she nuzzled under her neck playfully. She looked down at her, her pink hair sprawled around Treehugger's face as she layed in the grass.
Discord silently stood there like a lost child for a few seconds before blurting out.
"I'm here too, you know?" Discord said as he crossed his arms with an unsure look on his face. He so desperately wanted to keep his facetious composure, but he felt uptight even talking to her, let alone looking at her.
"Radical to see you again. Gasp! Oh right! This is your first time here! Everypony! Come and welcome our new friend to the family!" Treehugger shouted as she got up from the ground. Immediately, nearly the entire commune came up to him and showered him with affection by giving him handmade necklaces and offering him food.
"Hi friend. Would you like to try some of my soup? I've been working hard to perfect the recipe!"
"I made these necklaces from puka shells! Here, try them on."
"I love your hair! Can I braid it?"
Discord was overwhelmed with the amount of attention that he was getting. Despite the welcoming nature of these ponies, he still felt like an oddball.
"Wait, wait. I think we should--ack--I'm good thanks--oy!--you don't have to do that, but I appreciate it!" Discord said as he drifted along with the crowd to a different part of the camp.
"Hahaha! Oh, I'm sure he'll fit in just fine," Treehugger chuckled.
"Hey, Treehugger? There's something I wanted to talk to you about," Fluttershy said as she gestured her head to a patch of trees, prompting Treehugger to follow.
"What is it?" Treehugger asked as she walked alongside her.
"Well, me and Discord actually came here for a reason. The map sent us here to solve a friendship problem. Has anything happened lately?" Fluttershy asked as she looked at her.
"Nothing as of late, no," Treehugger said.
"Hmm...okay...," Fluttershy said as she stopped, looking a bit off. Treehugger quickly noticed.
"I know that look...something else is on your mind," Treehugger said as she laid a hoof on her shoulder.
They continued their conversation.. Meanwhile, Discord just finished being pampered by the other ponies from the commune. His mane and goatee were braided, he wore a rainbow tie-dye shirt and shell necklaces.
"I feel ridiculous," Discord said as he stood up and looked at himself.
"You look totally awesome," one of the ponies said to him.
Discord grumbled as he went to go look for Fluttershy. He fumbled through the foliage and trees and could faintly hear two ponies talking. He got closer to it and decided to hide in one of the bushes to eavesdrop.
"Are...you sure that'll work? What will he think once we tell him?" Fluttershy said as she looked at the ground.
"I'm sure he'll understand once we explain it to him. He must be really confused right now," Treehugger said as she put her hoof under her chin.
"Can we do it together then?" Fluttershy said as she had a half-smile.
"Of course," Treehugger saif before giving Fluttershy a reassuring kiss, letting out a gentle, loving sigh.
Discord's eyes widened in shock and he felt his eyes tear up a bit. He cared about the two of them and felt indecisive on who to choose. He stormed off in rage and walked outside of the patch of trees.
"You have GOT to be kidding me! Here I was thinking that I had the choice between the two. I guess the choice was already made for me," Discord thought to himself.
As soon as he walked out of the forest he heard a loud explosion from atop the mountain. Out of curiosity, he went to go investigate. He saw a bunch of construction ponies testing out fireworks and bulldozing trees. He went up to one of the ponies to inquire about what they were doing.
"Hey, what are you all up to?" Discord asked a blue stallion.
"Oh, hey! We're setting for a fireworks event for all the city folk. They're coming a long way just to come and see it," the stallion responded.
"How interesting. Tell me more," Discord said deviously.
"I really hope your plan works," Fluttershy said as they both walked out of the patch of trees.
"Don't worry, babe. We'll just talk to him and see what he thinks," Treehugger said as she nuzzled har nose into her neck playfully making Fluttershy laugh.
"Speaking of which, where is he?" Fluttershy said looking around.
"I'm not sure, I could have sworn he was around here somewhere," Treehugger said.
Suddenly there was an even louder explosion from atop the hill, scaring off all of the animals. The explosion was followed by a landslide that crushed a bunch of trees where rare birds were peacefully perched on. Many ponies panicked and rushed to the aid of the rare animals while some ran to the origin of the explosion.
"That...can't be good," Fluttershy said as they both rushed uphill.
They saw the construction ponies bulldozing trees and causing more landslides as Discord directed them where to go.
"Clear out the next acre over there. This is gonna be huge!" Discord shouted while still in his hippie attire, an ironic juxtaposition to him helping out the construction ponies.
The other hippie ponies whooped and hollered begging them to stop. Since the machines were too loud, they kept going until they had no choice but to wrap themselves around the trees so they wouldn't bulldoze them. The construction ponies stepped out and started yelling at them to move.
"What's the big idea? We're trying to do our job here!" yelled one of the construction ponies.
"I won't let you hurt our friends!" said one of the hippie ponies.
The chaos further ensued, even Treehugger joined the fray and wrapped herself around a tree. Discord teleported to her and started shouting at her too.
"What are you doing? Get out of the way!" Discord shouted.
"Discord, why are you doing this? That's destroying the environment!" Fluttershy raised her voice as she flew up to him.
"Who cares? It's not that bad in comparison to things that she has done!" Discord said as he pointed at Treehugger. She looked up at him with the same face she had when she saw how hurt he was back at the Gala.
"She cares! I care! Why are you still mad at her? I thought you two talked about this!" Fluttershy said.
"We tried to! Now all I'm thinking is how I should've sent her to another dimension when I had the chance!" Discord shouted, briefly causing everyone to stop arguing and listen to them.
"W-what? Why would you--?"
"It's okay, Fluttershy. I'll explain myself," Treehugger said as she got off from the tree. She walked up to him with a sorrowful look in her eyes.
"I want to apologize. What I did back then was totally uncalled for and not groovy. I know that you feel confused," Treehugger said before being interrupted.
"Confused? Ohoho no! I know what I saw! How could you both toy with my heart like that?" Discord said nearly in tears.
"Discord, what--" Fluttershy said.
"No, Fluttershy! I'm sick of having feelings for either of you! I wanted so badly to not feel anything for you especially, but I realized that I just care too much!"
Fluttershy gasped as he heard him revealing his feelings. She liked him, but she had no idea that he liked her back.
"Discord...I...I had no idea," Fluttershy said as she walked up to him to look at him.
Discord just looked at the two of them and started crying. He bawled so loud that everypony there couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.
"I just...don't understand why you two would do something like this to me," Discord said, sniffling.
"That's why Treehugger and I wanted to talk to you. You see thing is," Fluttershy said letting Treehugger finish her sentence.
"We both love you."
Discord shot his his head up and gasped. Everyone listening gasped.
"W-what?! Are you trying to confuse me even more?!" Discord shouted through tearful eyes.
"I know what you two have been thinking this whole week," Treehugger said as she wrapped her arm around Fluttershy.
"You two have been thinking that you have to make a choice. Well, I'm telling you that you don't have to," Treehugger continued.
"You don't?" Discord asked as he rubbed his eyes and tilted his head.
"We all know how we feel about each other. We could all be together and love each other equally. Fighting messes up the flow, you know?" Treehugger finished.
"So, that's what you meant earlier when said that everyone could be happy together," Fluttershy said as she remembered the conversation from earlier.
"Wait...that's an actual thing? I...think I'm starting to understand," Discord said stroking his goatee.
"As interesting as this conversation is, we would like all of your hippie friends to move out of the way so that we can finish construction," said one of the construction ponies.
"Now hold on a minute. You're saying you want to destroy the environment for a fireworks show? That's a bit selfish, don't you think?" Discord huffed.
"Selfish? But you were helping us--"
"Shhhh!" Discord said as he extended his arm to press his finger against the pony's lip.
"Don't shush me! We have about a hundred ponies coming from miles and miles to see an event! We can't just have them come here and see nothin'!" yelled the construction pony.
"Hmmm...I think I might have an idea," Fluttershy said as she looked at Treehugger confidently.
The sun came down and many city ponies arrived at the animal reserve...
"What is this place? I had no idea other ponies actually lived here," a random mare said looking at all of the hippies ponies and settling down for the event. Like Discord, they were offered food and accessories which they hesitated in taking.
There were canopies with dimmed lanterns underneath, giving off a warm, romantic glow. There were soft, colorful blankets laid out for all the ponies to sit and chat. Under one of these canopies was Discord with half of his body laying down and Fluttershy and Treehugger sitting close to him.
"What I want to know is when did you two start dating?" Discord asked the two.
"For about a year. She invited me here and I thought having our first date at the Gala would be nice," Fluttershy answered. Discord felt guilty as he remembered that night.
"Sigh...see this is normally the point where I would've gotten mad, but I really can't. Because now we could just be poly...uh... what is it called? Poly....ester? No, wait....polygon? Wait, wait! I think I got it! It's...uh...polyethylene?" Discord asked with his face scrunched in confusion.
"It's polyamorous, silly," Treehugger giggled.
"It means 'to love many'," Fluttershy finished.
"It's just...it never occurred to me. This whole time I was thinking that I had to choose between you two. And seeing you two kiss just...twisted me up inside," Discord said looking down.
"You saw us kiss?!" Fluttershy said covering her mouth, blushing.
"Oooooh! Now I understand why you acted that way. Don't worry, man. It's all cool," Treehugger said in her usual, calm demeanor.
"I'm sorry that I was being weird around you two for a while. Had I said something sooner, this whole fiasco could've been avoided," Discord said as he deflated like a balloon.
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I should've known that we wouldn't just magically be together just because of a kiss. We needed to have a serious discussion about our relationship," Treehugger said, rubbing his back.
"And I'm sorry that I didn't get to do this sooner," Fluttershy said blushing even more, as if preparing to do something.
"Didn't get to do wha--mMM!" Discord said before Fluttershy quickly pressed her lips against his, letting their muzzles touch. He re-inflated as they embraced each other. They let go with a satisfying popping sound, as if it were from a 1920's cartoon. Discord had spinning heart-eyes and had a goofy look on his face.
"I see candy canes and lollipops flying on rainbows," Discord said with his tongue sticking out being silly, making them both laugh.
"Everypony look!" a random mare said, pointing at the flowers. The buds opened up and gave off a magical, blue glow. Everypony blew out their lanterns to see it better. In the sky, there was a subtle twinkling that seemed to look like stars getting brighter and brighter. As they got closer to the flowers, it could be plainly seen that it was the Breezies coming to collect the pollen from the flowers. Three of the Breezies went up to Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy! Leng taz no kim! Kema durtsen zast?" said one of the Breezies.
"It has been a while hasn't it? I'm doing alright," Fluttershy said as she looked at the tiny bug-like pony.
"Treehugger! Mak bestie!" said another Breezie as it went up to hug her cheek, making her giggle.
"We knew you would be here again so we made you these crowns made from rare flowers that we found on our way here," said Seabreeze as he handed flower crowns out to each of them. Discord had a black one, Treehugger had a red one, and Fluttershy had a blue one, each representing the colors of the polyamorous pride flag.
"Th-thank you so much," Discord said as he watched them leave. After they had all collected their glowing pollen, they flew up in the air to spread their pollen all over Equestria. They lit up the sky as their pollen looked like fallen star bits sprinkled across the night sky. It was a truly magnificent sight, filling everypony with hope and joy. Discord felt so overjoyed that he couldn't help but squeeze the two close to him lovingly.
"I love you both so much," Discord said sweetly.
The two responded by kissing his cheek and blushing. They went on to enjoy the rest of the magical night together, marking a new milestone in their interesting journey towards true happiness.
The End.
