Getting to Know You

by GeekCat

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Fluttershy, Comedy
Length: 12474

Fluttershy and Discord swap bodies to understand each other better.

Discord finds himself unable to explain to Fluttershy exactly how it feels to have chaos magic. He still manages to think of a way to show her, though: switching bodies so that she can experience it for herself!

Day Ten of #FluttercordWeek2022: Swap

Published 2022-01-28 13:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-01-28 13:00:01 UTC

Understanding

Fluttershy sighed, feeling relaxed and content as she leaned against Discord's torso with a hot cup of tea in her hooves. It was a lovely autumn day, made even better by the fact her special somedraconequus had dropped by for a surprise tea party, bringing a platter of her favorite cucumber sandwiches with him.

“…and so I told Lady Frou-Frou Pumpernickel that she would have to try better than that if she wanted to impress me with her bread, and I created a feast of bread shaped like and flavored like different fruits just to show her how boring she was being by trying to force traditions on others…”

She smiled and took a slow sip of tea. Discord's stories were always so fun to listen to. But today, a question she had been mulling over for a while entered her mind, and it still bothered her even—no, especially as he told his story.

“…and so, I used a little bit of magic to give the Lady some slices of tea bread, and I think I might have actually inspired or annoyed her enough that she might try to replicate my recipes,” he finished. “And if she does, well, at least there'll be another interesting baker in the world. I'll still have my volcano chocolate lava brownies that no one else can beat.”

“They are delicious,” she said with a nod. “Pinkie’s probably the only one who could make a dessert to rival them…or at least the only one who could come close.”

“Mhmm!” Discord smiled and held out his hand. A vine dropped from her ceiling, scooped his teacup off of the table, and carefully placed it in his palm. Once again, the question entered the front of her mind.

“Um…Discord?” she said. He sipped at his tea, though his eyes were open and focused on her. “Could I ask you something?”

“Sounds like you already did,” he said with a chuckle. As he spoke, a few bees flew over to dollop honey into his tea. “But in all…ugh, seriousness…yes, you can ask me anything.”

She nodded and took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts together. “What's it like to have chaos magic?” she asked, leaning her head back to better peer up at him. “Or…magic in general?”

Discord blinked, eyes slowly widening. “Oh?” he said. “What makes you so curious, dear Fluttershy?”

“Well…you just always seem to do all these amazing things, and so effortlessly,” she explained. “That magic is a big part of who you are, and…” She looked away, blushing a little. “…I feel like if I understand it better, maybe I can understand you better.”

He was silent for a few moments before he smiled softly at her. “Fluttershy, I don't think there's anyone else in the world who understands me better than you.” He kissed her forehead. “But I'd be more than happy to satisfy your curiosity.”

With a flash of light, he was wearing a lab coat and glasses, using a ruler to point at a blackboard behind him. “You see, having chaos magic is…” He paused, and Fluttershy swore she could hear his brain squeaking and whirring as he tried to think.

He glanced at the board behind him, but there was only a chalk drawing on himself shrugging. “Um. Well…” He turned back to her, clicking his tongue. “What's it like being able to fly?”

Fluttershy furrowed her brow and tilted her head. “But…Discord, you can fly…”

“Correction: what's it like flying as a pegasus?” His finger stroked down the side of her wing, making her shiver.

That made her pause, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well, I…I haven't thought of it,” she said. “I might not be great at it, but it's…kind of like being able to speak with animals. It's just…a part of who I am.”

The sound of recorded, tinny cheering filled the room, and confetti showered down on her. “That's what chaos magic is like for me!” Discord declared, applauding her. “Something so natural and accessible that words seem impossible to describe it.”

“Oh,” she said, blowing a piece of confetti off of her nose. “So…do you think I'll ever be able to understand your magic?”

He held up a hand and shook it in an unsure motion. “Well…no one besides me understands it. And maybe Pinkie. Because we're the only ones who've been able to use it,” he said. Her ears lowered, and a tiny Discord began to pace on top of Discord's head. “In order to understand chaos magic, you'd need to be a draconequus. But I can't just…”

His eyes lit up, a lightbulb appearing above his head. “…I could make you a draconequus,” he said. “Or rather, I could slip your mind into that of an already-existing draconequus.”

She tilted her head in confusion. Discord grinned and slowly sat up, gently lifting her off of him and setting her on the next couch cushion. “I mean, you ponies like to talk about seeing things from each other's point of view,” he explained, though it seemed to be partially to himself. “This spell would just be a very very easy way for us to do that.”

“…what spell are you thinking of using?” she asked.

He grinned and held up a small whiteboard. On one half, an outline of himself was drawn in grey, and the other had an outline of her in yellow. Two small markers appeared and drew a butterfly in the head of the Fluttershy silhouette and a jumbled mess of lines in the Discord silhouette.

“The spell I'm considering is a simple body-swap one,” he said. “Or maybe it's more accurate to call it a mind-swap. Anyway, the spell will basically do this.” With magic, he peeled the butterfly and doodle drawings off of the whiteboard, then crossed his arms and placed them in the other outline.

“And…when do we switch back?” she asked. “I mean, I don't think I'd get a strong enough grip on magic to switch us back anytime soon…”

“Well, the cliché way of doing it would be to go back to our normal bodies once we fully understand each other,” he said. Fluttershy nodded, remembering her experience with Angel Bunny. “But that's old hat. And we already understand each other pretty well, so that isn't going to work as a reversal signal.”

He stroked his beard. “I won't say it's terribly original, but I could just give us a time limit. Something like…oh, we'll switch back to our original bodies at sunset. What do you think?”

She hummed, frowning in thought. She had been curious about chaos magic, and this would give her a chance to understand it (and Discord) better. Discord made it sound perfectly safe, and she trusted him fully.

“I…suppose we could at least give it a try,” she said.

“Great!” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Let's see…just work a little magic to make sure we'll switch back, and prevent any side effects on your mind from my magic…” Neon electricity sparked between his horns, and his grin widened. “We're in business! First, please close your eyes.”

She did so, shifting in place on the couch. After a few seconds, she felt Discord press his forehead against hers, and she could feel his warm breath on her muzzle.

“I'm going to count down, and swap our minds on one,” he said. “Ready?”

“Mhmm.” She gave a tiny nod in response.

“Good. Three…two…one…” She heard him snap his fingers, and felt one of the most peculiar sensations in her life. Her entire brain tingled, a cold, numb feeling spreading down her body. It didn't last long, though, before it felt like something in her was being sucked away, poured into something else. The numb feeling in her body and the tingling in her brain slowly faded, though she still felt a bit of vertigo.

“…and done,” she heard her own voice say. But she knew she hadn't spoken. “You can open your eyes now.”

She did…and then blinked, reeling back. Her body was sitting right in front of her, a mischievous grin on their face and a familiar twinkle in their eye. Their grin only widened when she gawked, lifting her head to glance around the room.

It took her a moment to reorient herself. Not only had her position suddenly changed, but she was now so much taller, as well. Once she had gotten a little more used to her height (her own body seemed so tiny next to her), she finally looked down at her forehooves.

Discord's hands greeted her field of vision, and his fingers twitched at a thought from her. “Well,” she said in Discord's voice. “I'd…say your spell worked.”

“Of course it did!” he responded. The voice was hers, but the jovial tone was all Discord's. “You didn't doubt me, did you?”

“No, no!” she insisted, planting her hands on the couch cushions and trying to push herself up into a standing position. “It's just…it feels different than the time I switched places with…” She clamped her mouth shut, and her arms wobbled before she fell back into a sitting position.

Discord gasped. “Fluttershy! Did you go on a body-swap adventure without telling your good pal Discord?” He batted his eyelashes at her, which seemed so much different when he couldn't use magic to make them longer.

“It was a while ago,” she said, twitching her fingers and curling her tail. “Angel Bunny and I ended up switching bodies thanks to one of Zecora's potions so that we could understand the other's point of view.” She flapped her wings, rising off of the couch and wriggling her long body to try and get into a standing position.

“Oh…so you went through the cliché version,” Discord said. He hovered up and placed his hooves on her back, the physical contact making shivers travel down her spine. “Well, don't worry about having to learn any life lessons today. I mean, take the opportunity to learn about me, but don't worry about having to work to switch us back.”

“That's good,” she said, wings slowing down as she descended, feet touching down on the floor. Discord landed near the couch, and she felt accomplished—it had taken some unusual maneuvering, but she had managed to stand up!

But as soon as her wings stopped flapping, Fluttershy's new legs wobbled underneath her...And just moments later, they crumpled under her weight, sending her sprawling to the floor. “Ow…”

“Hey, please do be careful with my body,” Discord said, taking shaky steps over to her. His walking became a little smoother as he came closer, and he held out a hoof to help her up.

She accepted it, and they both wobbled a bit as she stood up, but neither of them fell again. “So…we just spend the rest of the day like this?” she asked, gripping the arm of the couch to keep herself propped up.

“Yep!” Discord answered, nodding. She couldn't help but stare for a moment…it was so odd to see what felt like a double of her. One that was so much shorter than her. “Hey, I know your body is good-looking, but don't you want to go have some fun instead of just ogling it?”

She coughed, feeling heat rising in her face as she looked away. “R-Right!” she said. “What exactly do you want to do when we're like this?”

“Walk around a little, see what it's like to be each other,” Discord said with a shrug…only to stumble on his hooves for the second as the action threw him off. “P-Perhaps see if anyone can figure out if something odd is going on with us?”

“Pinkie will know,” she said, taking a shaky step forward. “The others…I'm not sure. I’m not the greatest actor.”

“Says the mare who played the lead role in Twilight's play, and knows me better than any other creature,” Discord said, flapping his pegasus wings experimentally. “Ooh, maybe we should go and grab lunch! In town, I mean.”

“I don’t know…”

“Hey, the worst that can happen is that someone figures out we switched,” he said. “And…well, it’s a shame to lose and not be able to try and trick them anymore, but after that? The day continues as normal!” He paused before adding, “As normal as it can get with us in each other's bodies.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Her stomach quietly gurgled, and she placed a hand there. “I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Goodness, Discord, did you skip breakfast? I'm very hungry.”

Discord chuckled nervously, heading towards the door. “Must have slipped my mind?”

She huffed and followed behind him, stumbling along on two legs (and occasionally dropping onto all fours to help balance herself). “It's a bad idea to skip meals, you know,” she said. “If it'd help you remember, you can always come have breakfast with me.”

His ears perked up, and he hovered into the air shakily as soon as they were both outside. “Well…I might have to take you up on that offer,” he said. “What do you usually eat for breakfast?”

He held a hoof out to her, which she took. With him pumping his wings and holding her hand, it was a little easier to stay up on her legs. “Usually I fix something quick but filling,” she answered, taking a few slow steps forward. “Like toast, or scrambled eggs…”

While he distracted her with their conversation about breakfast, she quickly fell into the rhythm of how his legs worked. Walking became easy for her, so much so that Discord didn't have to hold her hand, and was free to fly above and beside her, testing out his pegasus wings.

“I think I'm really starting to get the hang of this!” Fluttershy said, walking further down the dirt path into town. She could feel her tail wagging behind her from the happy pride she was feeling.

“I think so, too,” Discord said, bobbing up and down in the air. “Now, why don't you actually try a little bit of magic? That was what you were so curious about, right?” He flapped his wings and soared higher into the sky, twirling as he ascended.

She paused, looking down at her hands. Slowly, she stroked one of her lion fingers with her eagle claws. “…you promise nothing bad will happen if I try?”

He stopped twirling, hovering in place. “Anything you cause, I can fix when we're back in our bodies,” he said. “Besides, you're way too good-hearted to make something bad happen.”

After a few more moments of thought, she took a deep breath and nodded. “So…how do I use it?”

Discord grinned, rubbing his hooves together (it was so odd seeing that familiar expression on her own face). “Just think of something, anything, that you want to happen, and snap your fingers,” he instructed.

“Right…okay.” She closed her eyes, slowly moving her fingers into a snapping position, like she had seen him do before. What did she want to do? Something small for now…like some blooming flowers. Roses sounded nice. She focused on the idea she wanted and snapped her fingers.

As her fingers slid past each other, she felt a tingling feeling rush through her, starting in her head and chest before a portion of it flowed down her arm and out of her. But she could tell it wasn't lost, and for a brief moment, she could feel it as it seeped out into the world.

She opened her eyes…and smiled in delight, clasping her hands together. On the side of the path, a large patch of roses now grew, their petals vibrantly red, yellow, and white…though none of the flowers was a solid color as she had pictured.

“Not bad for your first spell!” Discord said, landing next to the patch and smelling the roses. “Not bad at all…other than the color, these seem like perfectly normal roses. And getting colors perfect took me about ten years and some college art classes, anyway.”

She smiled, rubbing her arm. “I guess I should have been more specific when I thought about red, yellow, and white flowers,” she said sheepishly.

“If you ask me, I think they look better this way,” he said. “Ah…is it normal that these are making me a little hungry?”

“Yes,” she said. “I don't eat roses often, but if you can avoid the thorns, they're pretty tasty.”

“Hmm,” he said, leaning forward a little and nibbling on a single petal. “Hey, not bad. Though ponies probably have more of a taste for these, so that might be why...”

Curious, she leaned down and plucked one of the petals. A bit of magic, and a pink one grew in its place, which she deemed good enough. She popped the petal into her mouth and chewed experimentally.

She still liked the taste, but in Discord's mouth, it seemed much more…bland than she remembered it. Though there was a faint tingle on her tongue… “You're not allergic to roses, are you?” she asked, suddenly worried.

“Oh, please. It'd take more than a flower to take me down,” he said. “If it's an odd feeling, it's not an allergy. You're probably just…tasting the magic, for lack of a better term.”

She swallowed. The tingling feeling had been faint, and it was already gone. “That was…odd,” she said. “Not bad, but odd.”

“Oh ho, just wait until you try an ice spell!” he said. “You know the cold tingling in your mouth after you chew spearmint gum?” She nodded. “It's just like that, but…well, I'll give you the chance to experience it for yourself without me spoiling it.”

“Would I even get the chance to find and try one today?” she questioned.

He frowned in thought, reaching up to his chin and wobbling when he found no beard to stroke. “You make a good point…but I'll try to figure something out.”

“Thank you,” she said. “…now, roses taste good, but the parts that aren't thorny also aren't filling. Should we keep heading into town?”

“Oh, yes!” he said, leaping into the air and prancing a bit down the pathway. “I want to try and see how well we can pretend to be each other! Hey, prancing is actually kind of fun.”

She giggled, jogging to keep up with him. “It is, isn't it? A lot of ponies only do it when they're very happy.” She paused before adding, “Do you really think we can act like each other long enough to fool everyone in town?”

“Everyone but Pinkie,” he responded, slowing down so she could catch up. “In fact, what if we made a deal? First of us who gets us called out—by anyone except for Pinkie—buys a round of treats at Sugarcube Corner.”

“What if Pinkie calls us out and gives it away?” she asked. “Or if neither of us gets called out?”

He clicked his tongue. “Well…Pinkie might give us deserts on the house if we explain the game. But that wouldn't be nearly as much of a fun ending. As for if we don't get called out…we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

He held his hoof out to her, his wings flaring to balance himself. She paused, stroking her beard (Oh, that was soft. He kept it well-groomed), then leaned down to grab and shake his hoof.

“It's a deal,” she said. “Or a bet, I suppose. Whichever.” Discord grinned, and the two of them continued heading towards town, talking about everything and nothing.

They soon made to the edge of town, though they had gotten enough practice that the movements of their new bodies felt a little more natural. Fluttershy had also taken the chance to practice some chaos magic, and was juggling an egg, an apple, and a rubber ball in the air while she walked, each one changing color whenever she lobbed it into the air.

“This is getting easier,” she commented as they walked over the bridge to town. “Even though I don't even know how to juggle.”

“Must be my body's muscle memory helping,” Discord said, flexing his wings and feeling the air. “As for the magic, it's just like walking. You've started a loop that will be easy as pie as long as you don't think about it too hard.”

“So, then…how do I stop juggling and changing the items?” she asked, brow furrowing.

“Oh, that's easy,” he said. “Just think about the egg in your hand.”

She focused on the egg as she tossed it up into the air. Her eyes followed its motion for a few moments…up until she realized that by doing so, she had forgotten to catch and toss the other two objects in the air.

The ball landed on her head and bounced off, followed by the apple, and finally the egg, which broke and splattered all over her face.

"...this is why you insisted on one of them being an egg, didn't you?" she asked the snickering Discord.

Another few snickers escaped his throat, and he nodded. "I'd take a photo, if it was your body with the egg on your face and not my handsome one."

"...do you really want that?" she said with a wicked grin.

He turned to her and shook his head. "Oh, no. Don't you dare."

"I have to get in character as you!" she said, grabbing the egg yolk and pulling it out of her mane, strands of egg white following it. She quickly leaned over and dropped it into Discord's mane.

"Agh, yuck, that's cold!" he complained, trying to paw at it but only succeeding in making more of the whites trickle through his mane and down his neck. "I can't believe you'd do something I would totally do to an unsuspecting pony!"

She smiled, crossing her arms. "Just getting ready, since we're in town. I don't want to be the one to lose our bet."

He grinned, shaking the yolk off of his head. "Well, I think I know you pretty well," he said. "And I'm determined not to lose, either."

She closed her eyes and focused for a moment, then snapped her fingers. The egg disappeared off of both of them. "Thanks," Discord said, patting his mane back into neatness. "Now, where exactly should we head for lunch?"

As they weaved through the small crowds in town, Fluttershy hummed and looked over some of their options. Most ponies gave them (mostly her) a wide berth, but thankfully no one was shooting her any mean looks. Ponyville seemed to have, even if begrudgingly, accepted the often-visiting chaos spirit.

"Rarity told me about a lovely cafe just off Main Street during our last spa...the other day," she said, quickly correcting herself in case of any eavesdroppers. "Sunshine and Salad, I think."

"How drol...I mean, lovely," he said, batting his eyelashes at her. "I suppose we could grab a bite there if they aren't too busy."

"Great!" Fluttershy said. She stepped in front and led the way, forging an easy path for them through the crowd. Even weaving a path through the busy market was a breeze.

“Excuse me…pardon me…watch it, please!” Discord said behind her. She glanced back and saw that he was being swallowed by the crowd, most ponies seeming surprised that he was there when he spoke up. He galloped forward until he was right behind her. “Is this a regular thing for you?”

She slowly nodded. “Ponies don't tend to notice me if I'm not happening to do something that draws their attention.” She carefully wrapped her tail just above his forehoof. “If you stick close, it shouldn't be a problem.”

“Shouldn't be a problem in the first place,” he grumbled under his breath, giving her tail a light squeeze. She started moving forward slowly again, Discord right behind her. “I can come with you on your next market trip. Nothing could get their attention more than myself.”

“Well…” She pursed her lips and thought. Ponies were giving her plenty of space now that she was in Discord's body. And Discord himself didn't seem to be having any trouble with the crowd now that he was sticking close to her. “…that would be pretty nice, actually.”

They headed deeper into town, and the crowd got a little louder. Fluttershy winced, flattening her ears back. She didn't enjoy the sound of crowds in the first place, but the noise seemed so much sharper today.

The crowd wasn't getting any quieter, so she grumbled and pressed her hands over her ears. Discord gave her tail a gentle squeeze, and her muscles relaxed a bit. She did start to move a little quicker through the street, though, and felt Discord flap his wings to hover behind her.

Thankfully, she could soon dart off of Main Street, and thanks to Rarity's directions, she found the Sunshine and Salad just as quickly. She let go of her ears and Discord’s forehoof.

“Yeah…my hearing can be sensitive,” he explained sheepishly. “I should have warned you, since you're…”

“Sensitive to noises,” she finished for him. She reached over to pat his back—it was a bit of a reach, but she was flexible enough that it felt easy. “I'll just have to make sure to remember that through the rest of today.”

He smiled at her, and his gaze flicked over to the café. “So…are we going to go in?”

She glanced between him and the sign. “…maybe you should go first,” she said, “I mean, would ponies be suspicious if you,” She gestured at her long, serpentine body, “Suddenly wandered into a place like that?” She gestured at the restaurant's sign. It was a perfectly nice sign—shaped like the sun, with its name in cursive yellow writing, decorated with flowers.

He pursed his lips. “…I have varied tastes,” he said. “But yes, this isn't the first place a random pony would consider me a patron of. And we don't want to make them suspicious right off the bat.”

He stretched his wings, cracked his neck (Fluttershy winced), and stepped forward. Fluttershy followed…only for her horns to get caught on the top of the doorframe. She sighed and backed up, ducking her head this time as she moved through the door.

“Ah, Miss Fluttershy,” a cream-coated unicorn addressed as they walked in. “Sir Discord. Welcome, welcome. Shall I bring you to a table for two, or will others be joining you?”

“It's just us today,” Discord said with a bright smile. The unicorn nodded, grabbed two menus with his magic, and ushered them to a small table by a window.

Fluttershy looked around as she sat down. The décor was nice, and the view outside was lovely. But the chair…she shifted in it as the unicorn placed the menus in front of them. It felt small, and her tail always seemed to be in an uncomfortable position no matter which way she angled it.

They both ordered water to drink, Fluttershy still shifting in her seat. “Having trouble?” Discord asked when their waiter had left.

“Yes…do you always have this kind of trouble with seats?” She tried to lay her tail along her spine, but that strained the base too much and just made her back uncomfortable.

“Only most pony ones,” he said, tapping his hooves together. “You're going to have to use magic on the chair, unless you want to take off your tail.”

She had to weigh her options. She didn't want to change their chair too much, but…a part of her was worried that she could hurt herself trying to remove a limb. Or what if she was successful, but lost it!? She tried tucking her tail under her thighs, but after a few moments, realized that continually switching positions wasn't a good option.

“What do you suggest?” she asked.

He began to draw a picture in the air with his hooves. It wasn't quite as easy to interpret when he didn't have fingers or magic to add clarity. “The main problem is that there's not enough space between the back and the seat for my, your tail to slip through comfortably. So…”

“I've got to widen that gap.” She looked over her shoulder, gripped the top of the seat’s back, and pulled, thinking about extending chairs and a large gap. Her magic flowed into the chair, and the back slowly raised up until she could slip her tail under it.

“Ah,” she said, leaning back as her tail flopped to the floor and curled around the chair legs. It still felt odd, since the back of the chair only came up to her lower back, but she felt more comfortable now.

Discord clapped his hooves, scooping up the menu with his wings. “Good work,” he said, using his feathers to turn the menu around and flip it open. “Ooh, these are pretty handy. Though not as much as real hands.”

She chuckled and picked up her own menu, thumbing through it. “These are especially handy,” she said, wriggling her fingers at him. He cackled, his eyes still scanning the menu.

Their waiter came back, placing their water in front of them. “Are you both ready to order?” he asked. Fluttershy realized that they had been sitting for a few minutes, and began to quickly scan her still-mostly-unread menu.

“I'll take a daisy sandwich, please,” Discord said. “No mayo, please, but extra honey if you have it.” He apparently knew her favorites so well he could recite them after only a minute of looking at the menu.

“Of course, miss,” the waiter said. “And you, sir?”

“Hrrmm,” Fluttershy said, biting her claws as her eyes flicked over the menu. There were options she liked, and that Discord might like, but if she didn't order something chaotic, ponies might start to get suspicious of her…

Discord had pressed his hooves together and was smiling innocently at her from across the table. Oh, was he enjoying seeing her sweat? She took a deep breath, glanced back at the menu, then at the waiter.

“I'll take the same sandwich,” she said. “But please replace the clovers with onions, and add the hottest hot sauce you have, plus caramel sauce.” She snapped her menu closed and held it out to him.

“…right away, sir,” the waiter said, taking their menus and making a note. She felt a little guilty, since he seemed a little squicked out by her order, but she promised herself she'd leave a good tip to make up for it.

She glanced across the table and met Discord’s eyes. He grinned at her and held up a hoof…then retracted it sheepishly a few moments later. “I can't give you a thumbs-up with hooves,” he said.

She smiled. “So…does that mean you approve of my order, then?” She held up her hand, curling her fingers and pointing her thumb towards the ceiling.

“Show off,” he said, rolling his eyes teasingly. “But yes, that sandwich doesn't sound too bad. I might have gone a little more chaotic, but you did just enough to convince ponies that you're…” He glanced around to confirm there were no eavesdroppers. “…me.”

“I'll glad I make for a convincing you,” she whispered. She reached forward to pat his head, and—

Oh. She suddenly understood why Discord seemed to love playing with her mane so much.

Her—his silky pink tresses slipped easily between her fingers, feeling wonderful against her skin. Discord's sense of touch seemed higher than her own, and her body's soft mane teased and pleased it all at once.

Discord sighed as she twirled a strand of his mane around her fingers, closing his eyes. Fluttershy grinned, hand diving through the pink sea of hair to scratch behind his ear. A cooing soft came from the back of his throat, and his feathers fluffed up.

“Oh, that…that feels nice,” he said. “Mmm. Remind me to do this more often.”

“I can give you some hints here and there,” she said with a grin, moving her fingers around to hit right where she knew her sweet spot was. A soft gasp escaped Discord's throat, and he practically melted into the chair, head falling out of reach as his mane slid easily out from between her fingers.

She was about to stand up, to better reach him, but a quiet cough from the side distracted her. Both of them turned to look and saw their waiter standing there, not quite looking at either of them. Fluttershy felt her face heat up, ears going limp as she smiled sheepishly and retracted her arm.

“Your…your sandwiches, miss. Sir,” he said, sliding plates in front of both of them. “Please do enjoy.” His job done, he turned and quickly scurried back to the kitchen.

Fluttershy let out an embarrassed sigh, her breath transforming into pink smoke as she wished to be rid of her embarrassment. “Well.”

“Well,” Discord said. A glance across the table told her he had brushed his mane to partially hide his face from the waiter’s view.

She chuckled a little. He used to playfully tease her about doing things like that, but it seemed like that action came naturally to him, too. He blushed slightly, sweeping his mane back behind his ear and clearing his throat.

“Well, well, welly well well,” he said, rubbing his hooves together. “Why don't we…forget we were just caught in something embarrassing for all parties and see if this restaurant lives up to Rarity's praise?” He picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

“Sounds good to me,” Fluttershy said, still trying to will away her blush. She felt a slight chill of magic on her face, so she was probably successful.

She picked up her sandwich and inspected it for a few moments. It was exactly as she had ordered it, caramel sauce and all. Her now-powerful nose could pick up all the scents, and it was…less than appealing to her.

But even if she didn't understand or care for it, Discord ate chaotic meals like this most of the time. And she had to do her best to stay “in character" as him. And so, she brought the sandwich to her muzzle and took a small bite.

Oh, oh. She could taste everything on her sandwich at once, and at the same time how they all blended and clashed together. That wasn't too unusual, but everything that clashed somehow managed to dance against her palette, singing out to her magic.

"Mmm," she said, closing her eyes and taking a large bite out of her sandwich. Sauce dribbled down her muzzle, and her magic welled inside her, rising to her lips and flowing through her ears before dropping back to the pit of her stomach, tingling and fizzing all the while.

"Enjoying the taste of chaos?" Discord asked. She opened her eyes and saw that he was grinning widely at her.

"Mhmm," she said with a nod. "It feels very good. The magic, it's..." Electricity crackled all along her fur, making it stand on end.

“That's an apt description,” he said with a chuckle. There was honey smeared on the side of his lips.

“Do you…?” Before she could ask him anything, he held up a hoof.

“As a helpful reminder,” he whispered. “We haven't been figured out yet. But your little lightshow means a few more eyes are on us.” He raised a wing and gestured in the general direction of some other tables close to them, which had been slowly filling up. She swallowed and glanced over. The ponies there weren't looking at them, but they seemed to be intently and hurriedly focused on their own meals and menus.

…I'll ask later, she thought, taking another slow bite of her sandwich. “So…mm. What should we talk about, then?”

Discord's face brightened, and he opened his mouth…then paused. “Well, I'm sure that…you've had a lot of fun adventures recently,” he said. “And I'd love to talk…hear about all of the fun things that I, you! You have been doing.”

Fluttershy blinked for a moment, wrestling with his words until realization hit her. “Oh…oh, of course! Because I just…love to talk about my adventures. Would you like to hear about the experience I just had in Canterlot with one Lady Pumpernickel?”

Discord's eyes gleamed, and he leaned forward. “I would just love to.”

“Well, it began when you, I! Was skulking around Canterlot, looking for a decent bakery…”

Fluttershy went through the story as best she could remember it, Discord nodding along in encouragement and looking impressed. She changed a few small details—gave less bite to some of the things he said to Lady Pumpernickel, and downplayed his magic use. There were possible pony eavesdroppers around, and she wanted to paint Discord in the best possible light.

Discord beamed when she finished the story. “So…what other tales do you remember?” he asked with a wink.

She grinned…no, smirked. “Want to hear about my adventures in the land of Ponyfinder? Or the dimension inhabited by puppets? Perhaps how I explored a coral reef, or the time I joined a Breezie migration?”

His eyes gleamed. “Tell me as many as you can.” She smiled and launched into the tale of how he (or rather she, in the way she told it) explored a whole coral reef.

A couple more short stories later, they had both polished off their sandwiches, and the bill had been dropped off at their table. Discord sheepishly grinned and patted himself down. “I…seem to have forgotten my coin purse,” he said.

She went pale, and leaned forward to whisper, “W-Where do you get your bits from? I've seen you summon them before, but…”

“Could I get a crayon?” he requested. She nodded, and after focusing her magic, felt her ear start to itch. When she reached up to scratch it, she felt a crayon stuck inside, which she pulled out and handed to him. He jotted something down on his napkin, then passed it to her.

“That's the coordinates of where I keep most of my bits,” he explained. “Close your eyes and try to narrow in on that spot.”

She read the numbers he had written (with a couple of squiggles and shapes in between), then closed her eyes and repeated the sequence in her mind. She felt it drifting…somewhere. “Once you’re focused in,” Discord said. “Just snap your fingers and open a hole.”

It felt like she was pretty focused on the sequence, so she snapped her fingers. Magic whipped out of her and tugged at the air, like it was uncorking some sort of plug in space-time. She opened her eyes to see the result.

Golden bits poured onto the table from nowhere, forming a huge pile. Discord had reached up and was trying to stop the flow with his hooves, but only managed to scatter a couple of the coins. “Close the hole, close it!” he hissed as bits bounced off of his face.

Fluttershy looked at what he was doing, then reached up and slapped her paws over the nothing the coins were pouring from, squeezing nothing between her palms. The coin flow stopped, though she could feel more of them pressing on the other side of the nothing. A bit more squeezing, and the nothing sealed up.

“Phew,” Discord said. “No coin flood this time. Much better than my first try opening it when it was full.”

She just stared at the huge pile of coins. “So…”

“We've covered the bill without a doubt,” he said, already heading towards the door. It might have seemed unusual to the other ponies, if they weren't all busying staring at the pile of bits with wide eyes. “And isn't it normal to tip at restaurants, anyway?”

She wanted to say this was bigger than most tips, and that this could take a while to gather up…but they had no place to store the excess, aside from wherever Discord got his coins from. And she had a feeling trying to shove the coins back in would be like trying to shove water back up through a running faucet.

So, with a shrug, she pushed the back of her chair to its normal proportions and followed Discord outside. “That was a good lunch,” he said. “We'll have to thank Rarity for that recommendation.”

“Yes,” she said, stretching both of her arms. Her joints cracked, and though it felt good, it was a reminder that Discord's body was older than her own (though certainly not fragile). “…where are those coordinates at, anyway?” she asked.

He made a zipping motion over his lips. “Top secret,” he said. “Besides, I'm not going to your bank and giving myself an in to your savings, am I?”

“Point taken. Sorry for asking.”

“No, no, don't you dare stifle your curiosity! There are just a few things I may or may not answer.”

She nodded in understanding. “So…where to next?”

“Let's hit the library,” he said, already heading for Twilight's castle. Until a new library could be built to replace the Golden Oaks, Twilight and Cheerilee had taken equal responsibilities to provide temporary public libraries to the town. “I can try to pick out your favorite books, and see if Twilight notices something's up!”

“And I could try to pick out some of yours,” she said, smiling. He chuckled, ears flattening. She rose an eyebrow and gave him a suspicious look.

“About that,” he admitted. “I just remembered that I might be…temporarily banned from the library. I'm still allowed in the castle, though.”

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Do I want to know what you did?”

“No, and if you pull the innocent act to follow me in, you don't need to!” he supplied.

She shook her head. “No, breaking the rules could extend your ban. I'll stay out of the library.”

He nodded in understanding and knocked on the castle's front doors. “Just don't get me banned from the rest of the castle, as well.”

She tilted her head. “Why would I do that? I don't want to cause trouble.”

“Might be harder than you think,” he mumbled. Before she could ask what he meant, Twilight opened the door, smiling at them.

“Fluttershy, Discord, it's good to see you!” she said. “What brings you over here?”

“We were just hoping to check a few books out of your library,” Discord said with a normal, Fluttershy-like smile.

“Of course you can check some out, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, gesturing him inside. She turned to Fluttershy with a sharper look. “Discord…”

“I'll just stay out here,” she said, holding her hands up and following Discord in before leaning up against the crystal wall. “I can find something non-troublesome to do.”

Twilight looked at her suspiciously. “Sure you will. Right this way, Fluttershy.” She guided Discord towards the public library area, and he waved back to Fluttershy before disappearing down the hallway.

Fluttershy was left alone with her thoughts. She tapped her dragon toes against the crystal floor, then rapped her knuckles on the crystal wall. It had been less than a minute, yet she had trouble standing still.

The longer she just stood there, the more she could feel the chaos magic buzzing inside of her. She started to pace, which helped mollify it a bit, but it still flowed through her. Ideas popped into her head like a force whispering in her ear—ideas about big renovations to make to the castle, or small changes that Twilight might not even notice for weeks.

“No,” she told herself. What was something she had seen Discord do before when he was bored…? She carefully used her magic to summon a bit of yarn, though it pressed to do more, more, more. She wrapped the string around her fingers and began to form patterns with it, letting her magic bleed into it and change its color whenever it started to whisper ideas to her again.

Just as the string’s distraction was starting to wear off, Discord and Twilight returned, Discord carrying a bag of books in his mouth. “Enjoy your reading,” Twilight said. “Remember to return them by—”

“Great, you got them? Let's go!” Fluttershy said, dropping the string and pushing Discord along. “Bye Twilight!” She rushed out like her tail was on fire, Twilight giving her a curious and suspicious look.

As soon as they were a good distance from the castle, Fluttershy stopped, breathed deeply…and let some of her buzzing magic leak out of her. The grass around her turned bright pink, the soil beneath it to blue soap, and butterflies made of light peeled from her skin and flew off into the distance.

“Wow, you were going through it bad,” Discord said. “…though Twilight is probably going to spend the next hour looking for something you didn't do, which is pretty funny.” He paused. “Did you do something?”

She shook her head. “The…magic? It wanted me to, but I didn't. Do you always feel like that in her castle?”

“No, no!” he assured. “That only happens if I'm alone and-or bored, and especially if I'm in a clean and organized place.”

“…I don't think I want to feel like that again,” she said.

“Staying outdoors should help,” he said. “Maybe we could go to the park?” She nodded, stepped forward…and almost slipped on the soap she had created. She quickly flapped her wings and hovered into the air before she fell.

Though she snapped her fingers to try and make the soap go away, all that happened was it changed colors and formed puddles of liquid soap on top. “Don't worry, I'll fix it later,” Discord assured. With a sigh, she landed on normal ground and led the way to the park.

“…so. Did Twilight suspect anything of you?” she asked on the way.

He laughed and shook his head. “Not a thing!” he declared. “I mostly just grabbed some animal guides I know you don't have at home, plus some manga. I slipped in one thing that would be unorthodox for you, but she had gotten so in the rhythm of checking out the books that she didn't notice it right in the middle!”

“What book was that?” she asked.

“I'll show you once we get to the park.” They continued walking, Fluttershy occasionally hiccupping and causing something small and chaotic to happen. Thankfully, her magic had settled down by the time they reached the park, appeased.

The chill autumn air meant that the park wasn't terribly busy. There were some passerby, of course—ponies taking a shortcut through town, couples huddled together against the cold, friends enjoying one last picnic before winter would keep them from doing so.

The two of them claimed a lone bench near a tree. Fluttershy's tail fit comfortably between the seat and back, and she folded her hands on her lap as Discord began to dig through his bag of books, occasionally holding up a guide of some kind, which she nodded in approval of. He knew her pretty well.

Eventually, he pulled out a leather-bound book—A Novice's Guide to Spells. “Well…thank you, but I don't think I'll get much use out of it by the time the day is over,” she said.

“No, no, it's not to teach you spells,” he said. “Though it does have several different types of spells you might like to ‘experience’.” She tilted her head, brow furrowed.

Discord grinned and held the book out to her. “Including dozens of pages on ice spells,” he said. “Plenty for you to try…” He mimed the motion of using a fork and chewing.

Fluttershy flinched, then crossed her arms and gave him a Look. “No…I don't want to eat one of Twilight's books. That's mean.”

A passerby glanced at her oddly, and she flinched. “I mean, um…” Before she could say something more Discord-esque, they had already moved out of earshot. She sighed. “I know you want me to try new experiences as a draconequus, but I don't want to go too far.”

Discord frowned in thought, glancing between her and the spellbook. “You could always make a copy,” he suggested.

“Really?” Her ears perked up.

“Oh, sure! It's not my favorite thing to do, because the magic that copies over tastes a bit plain, and the chaos magic in it can be distracting from the natural magic flavors, but it's most certainly something you can do,” he explained.

“So…how do I do it?” she asked. “…I don't have to memorize the book to make a copy of it, do I?” He shook his head.

Discord reached over and lightly tugged at her hands. She obeyed his unspoken instructions until both of her hands were held in front of her, palms-up, with the spellbook resting in her lion paw. “Now, close your eyes,” he ordered. She did so, and he continued, “You are a scale, and magic flows through your veins. One side is heavier than the other. Let the chaos divide it evenly, without dividing a thing.”

Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand the instructions. The spellbook was heavy in her paw…and she had to divide that evenly to her claw, without dividing a thing?

Perhaps…yes, she could feel the magic flowing through her, like and yet unlike blood through her veins. With a little focus, she could direct a clear path from the palm of one hand to the other. A little more focus, and she could push a little bit of the magic into the spellbook itself, then let it seep back into her hand.

The bits of the spellbook were in her magic, now. Not the actual, physical book, but something about it…its essence. If she focused on it too much, her magic quickly overwhelmed it, tearing it to pieces and dissolving it to nothing. So instead, she focused on continuing to direct her magic towards her other hand.

Once enough had pooled over there, she focused on squeezing the spellbook essence back out. Her magic rushed out, and she felt a heavy weight suddenly appear in her eagle claw.

“Oh, well done!” Discord said, clapping his hooves together. She opened her eyes to see the result. An almost identical copy of the book was in her eagle claw. The cover looked a little warped, and the color was slightly off, but… “That's the best first try at a copying spell I've seen in quite a while.”

She smiled and handed him the original spellbook, which he tucked into the bag with the others. “Why, what happens when others try to do it?” she asked, half serious and half joking.

“A mangled mess,” he said, leaning over and tapping the cover. “But enough about poor unfortunate mages in training! There's an ice spell with your name on it somewhere in here.”

“Oh, right!” she said, opening the book and flipping through the pages. Eventually, she came across a section full of different ice spells. She prepared to tear out one about making an ice wall…and paused.

“Twilight would be heartbroken if she saw this,” she mused.

“What she doesn't know can't hurt her,” Discord pointed out. “Plus, she'd think it's me eating the book, which she's adjusted to at this point. And it's not the original library book, so…”

…she couldn't argue against any of that. And so, she closed her eyes and tore the page out in one quick motion, folding it up and popping it into her mouth.

At first, all she could taste was the paper, though it was saturated with magic eagerly pouring through the walls of her mouth and back into her veins. But then, she started to chew, and felt the tingling as she detected more magic.

This was much different than the roses she had made earlier. This was flavorless, but felt cold, tingly…refreshing. Plus, she could taste bits of her chaos magic, easily popping up against the flavorless ice spell with flavors like chocolate, orange, and sauerkraut before vanishing. She breathed in, then out, shivering at the feeling of the air becoming freezing cold in her mouth.

"It really is like the feeling of minty gum," she said, swallowing the paper as ice crystals wafted around her muzzle. "But with the chaos magic, it's like...it's like..."

She felt her magic shiver and surge, and with a flash of light, a pack of gum appeared right above Discord's head. He caught it and looked over the cover. "Cold spearmint gum, with a surprise flavor in every stick," he read.

"...that's a pretty good description," she said. "Sorry, didn't mean to make that."

"It's perfectly fine," he said, tucking the gum into his bag of books. "I mean, the whole point of chaos is that it's unpredictable. Sometimes it'll refuse to listen to you, other times it'll act on its own with barely a thought from you."

"But that doesn't seem to happen to you," she said. "...because you've had lots of practice and can keep your magic under control?"

"Bingo," he said, winking at her. "Helps that my magic and I tend to want a lot of the same things."

"I think I get it," she said, tearing out another page and nibbling on a small corner of it.

He nodded, leaning against her side and looking at the spellbook. He reached over and started to flip through it, pausing every few spells. "This kind tastes light and airy. This was dry and dull for my tastes. Oh, this one has a bit of a kick."

He flipped the page again, stopping on a collection of glyphs. "Ooh, these are like candy," he said, licking his lips. "I haven't had a good, salty water glyph in a while." He tore off a corner of the page, inspecting the glyph inscribed on it for a few moments.

He then popped the piece of paper into his mouth.

"Discord!" Fluttershy said in surprise.

"What?" he said, chewing slowly. "I'm just curious what spellbook paper tastes like to you." After chewing a few more seconds, he announced, "Boring and dull. That's what it tastes like."

"Yes, because I can't exactly taste the magic in it," she said. "...please don't get papercuts inside my mouth."

"I'm bein' careful," he assured, still chewing slowly. “…might have trouble later digesting it, though, so I'll stop at one.”

“Thank you,” she said, tearing out a page detailing an organization spell and taking a bite. It tasted sour and bitter. “You're sure the pages I'm eating won't give you trouble later?”

“Whatever my body doesn't use as fuel, my magic will,” he said, waving away her concerns. “Besides, a draconequus's digestive system can handle a lot more than a pony's.”

Well, that piqued her curiosity. She opened her mouth, about to ask just how many differences there were between their biology, when she saw a flash of rainbow overhead. “Fluttershy!” she heard a familiar voice say.

Not even a second later, Rainbow landed just in front of them and screeched to a halt. “Finally! You weren't at home, so I've been looking all over town for you!” she said. “Rarity wanted me to ask you something. She's still too busy to talk, but she was wondering…when…”

She paused mid-sentence, staring at Discord, who was mid-chew. She glanced over at Fluttershy, who stuffed the rest of the page into her mouth self-consciously. Rainbow’s gaze went back to Discord. “Fluttershy…are you…eating paper?”

“…maybe,” Discord said. “F—Discord is, too.”

Rainbow stared at him for a while longer before shaking her head. “…really?” she said with a heavy sigh. “I know he's your coltfriend, or whatever you call him, but that doesn't mean you have to let him convince you to do weird stuff like that.”

Discord swallowed the wad of paper in his mouth. "Well, how could I resist?" he leaned over and wrapped his forelegs around Fluttershy's waist. "I mean, Discord's just so handsome and persuasive..."

Fluttershy froze up, posture stiffening as she stared straight ahead and tried not to blush brightly. Rainbow looked between her and Discord, brow slowly furrowing as her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"...alright, what's going on?" she asked, eyes focusing on Fluttershy. She gulped, Adam's apple bobbing as she sheepishly chuckled.

"It's nothing!" Discord blurted. "Nothing wrong with a couple going out on the town and having some fun together, right?"

Rainbow's gaze flicked to him, eyes narrowed, and he beamed innocently at her. "...that's the tone Discord uses when he's done something he doesn't want us to know about..." Her gaze shifted back to Fluttershy, who flinched and felt beads of sweat appear on her forehead. "...and that's how Fluttershy reacts if she's feeling guilty."

"...are you two pranking me or something?" she asked.

Fluttershy bit her lip, glancing over at Discord. He was also biting his lip and glancing over at her, face a bit red. "...well..."

Rainbow looked at them with suspicion for a few more seconds before a wide grin spread across her face. "...hey, Fluttershy. Wasn't your first fillyhood crush on—"

"No!" Fluttershy yelped, quickly leaping forward to slap a paw over her mouth, a bright red blush covering her face. Rainbow's eyes widened, but then she relaxed as she slowly grinned, and...

Fluttershy sighed, her arm dropping to her side. "I gave it away, didn't I?"

"Pretty much," Rainbow said with a nod. "Good try though, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy frowned, crossing her arms. "Trying to say that was a cheap trick, though."

"Yeah, sorry," Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'll make it up to you later."

"Soooo..." Discord said, looking back and forth between the two of them. "Before I start gloating about winning, who was Fluttershy's first crush?"

Fluttershy quickly hid her bright-red face behind her hands. "I-It's a secret!" she said.

“Okay, I won't press the matter,” he reassured her. “But on that note…hah! You owe me a round of desserts at Sugarcube Corner! And I think you know by now that I have a sweet tooth with a big appetite behind it.”

“Yeah…” she said, sighing. “Tomorrow, maybe?”

“Tomorrow works,” he said with a nod.

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh…doubly sorry about that, Flutters,” she said. Discord flinched, feathers bristling for a moment before he relaxed. Fluttershy reached over with a wing, realized it barely grazed the top of his head, then placed her tail against his back in a mollifying gesture. He still got jealous rather easily, though he was doing his best to work on it. “Didn't realize you had a bet going on with him.”

“It's okay,” Fluttershy said. “Now, you said something about Rarity?”

Rainbow's face was blank for a moment before her eyes lit up with realization. “Oh yeah! She wanted to know if you had any time to groom Opal this week.”

Fluttershy frowned in thought, stroking her beard. “Well…I'm a bit busy this week. I have to help some birds prepare for their migration and make sure the pond algae isn't overgrowing anywhere in town. But I should be able to groom Opal sometime this weekend.”

“…it is so weird hearing you say stuff like that in Discord's voice," Rainbow said, wings unfurling. “I'll tell Rarity what you said. You two have fun with…whatever you're doing.” With that, she flew into the sky and disappeared into the distance.

“…so, what now?” Fluttershy asked, turning to Discord. “Twilight didn't figure us out, Rainbow did, Pinkie probably would right away…and Applejack and Rarity are both busy right now with their work for the fall season.”

“Spike said he was working on a new O&O campaign, so he's a little too busy to talk…especially with me, after that one time I tried to sneak an early look,” he said. “And Big Mac is probably just as busy as Applejack.” He sighed, crossing his forelegs.

“We really should do this when more of our friends are available to play along with,” he said. “I-I mean, only if you wouldn't mind doing this again!”

“I wouldn't,” she said. “Though they might figure us out more quickly if we do it too often.” He nodded in agreement. “Do you…want to grab some ice cream? Then maybe go for a walk near the Everfree?”

His ears perked up. “Sounds delightful,” he said, hopping off the bench. She grabbed the bag of books and stood up, as well. “Have any recommendations for where to get some good sweet cream?”

She nodded and started to lead the way, snapping up a small pile of bits to pay once they got there. Discord followed along, trying to guess what her favorite kind of ice cream was

He got it on his third try (strawberries and cream), while she got it “close enough" on her first (everything on one cone). They both got each other's favorite, though Fluttershy only got three scoops of random flavors instead of every one, and they headed back to her cottage, enjoying their desserts and trying to guess some of their other favorite flavors.

The rest of the afternoon was a delight. Fluttershy found herself enjoying the heightened senses of Discord's body, able to easily hear and spot wildlife moving around in the forest during their walk. She was also delighted to discover that animals still trusted her, and that she could fully understand all of them.

Discord also seemed to enjoy the afternoon…even if he ended up tripping over his hooves a few times when he galloped too enthusiastically. And got a throbbing brain freeze from eating his ice cream too fast. “I'm fine,” he assured her as she used magic to will away a few scrapes from his latest tumble. “And, ah…whatever you don't fix or heal, I promise I will once we change back.”

“I'd appreciate that,” she said. “Though you're not hurt that badly, and I think I got most of them.” He relaxed, wings drooping.

She glanced up at the sky, where the sun was starting to sink lower and turn the horizon pink. “Looks like evening's coming,” she said. “Should we eat dinner before we switch back?”

“That's a great idea!” he said. “One last experience. And…you can make dinner with chaos magic!”

“Wait, um…” She was getting the hang of using chaos magic, of course, but she certainly wasn't a master at it. Making a full dinner could go terribly wrong. What if the food came alive and bit back? What if trying to make cooked food set the cottage on fire? What if the food was so bad it gave them both food poisoning?

“Last chance to experiment," he said. “Besides, if you have a clear image…”

“That'll create exactly what I want,” she mumbled, nodding along. “…you're an expert, though, and I'm barely a novice. How do you know I won't mess up a big thing?”

“You haven't messed up yet,” he assured, already headed back to the cottage.

“…how do you do it?” she asked. “Even without your magic, you seem so…confident.” She looked down at her hands. “I have it, and…I still keep having doubts and asking questions.”

Discord paused and flew up to her eye level, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “That's because you're Fluttershy,” he said. “You're the safe one who thinks things through and keeps me in check. I'm the crazy one who pushes your limits to get you to try new things…like switching bodies for a day. We balance each other out!”

“But, do you ever wish I wasn't so…” Cowardly? “…safe?”

He rested his head in the crook of her neck. She shivered as his warm breath breezed through her fur. “Being safe is what makes you Fluttershy,” he murmured. “Of course I might wish you’d go on more adventures with me. But I'm sure you wish I wouldn't always run off into danger.”

“I…” She couldn't fully deny it. “…I just worry too much, that's all. You're more than capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Yes, but it's nice to have someone who worries for me,” he said. “I've…never had that before.”

His wings started to droop, but before he fell, Fluttershy wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her chest. “And it's nice to have someone who introduces me to adventures and new experiences,” she said. She smiled and tapped her nose against his. “Like you do.”

He smiled, and he nestled into her fur. She shivered a little, her wings flaring out for a moment. She began to stroke his mane, carrying him the rest of the way back to her cottage.

Once they were there, Discord wriggled and hopped out of her arms like a cat, landing nimbly on his hooves. Her ear twitched up when she heard his stomach growl. “I’d better make dinner quickly then, huh?” she said with a chuckle.

“No rush,” he assured her, sitting at the table. “But, if it helps…I've found the more confidence or creativity you pour into the spell, the more agreeable chaos magic is.”

Confidence, huh? She thought about that as she sat down. Her chair wasn't as uncomfortable as the restaurant's had been, but she still vowed to buy a better chair for Discord, since she hoped he would come for meals more often.

But that was later. Right now, she focused on different foods to make for the two of them. "Consider dinner...served!" she declared dramatically, raising her hand into the air and snapping her fingers with flair.

She felt a large burst of magic rush through her once again, and she couldn't help but shiver with delight as it started to take form. Platters of food appeared in midair, falling onto the table. A few of them broke when they landed, but fortunately most just dislodged some of the food on top and made a bit of a mess.

Discord applauded. "Well done! This looks like an excellent feast." He licked his lips and started scanning the selection, piling his plate with chocolate strawberries, magical hybrids of carrots and celery, and tiny scones with different flavors of jam.

"I'm glad you think so," she said, selecting some deviled eggs and pickles she had unintentionally covered in different types of jam. "I think things might have gotten a little mixed up, though. I mean, I wanted the jam to be on the bread..." She pointed at some pieces of toast, soggy with vinegar.

"Eh, that tends to happen when you create a large group of things," he said, dipping a carrot-celery stick into some ranch and taking a bite. "Intentions get muddled, and the bigger something is, the more likely things are to be a little off. It doesn't happen to me so much because I've learned how to rein in my magic."

"I see," she said, starting to eat. The deviled eggs were good, but the pickles in jam tasted even better to her chaotic palette, and eating both at once was even better. She licked her lips, wondering what else she could combine.

While she started mixing sweet scones with sour lemon slices, Discord was leaning heavily on trying fruits and vegetables, especially the chocolate-covered strawberries. "You have a very healthy palette, you little health nut," he said as strawberry juice trickled down his chin. "Mmm. Remind me to try chocolate strawberries more often." He popped about five into his mouth and slowly chewed.

"Don't eat too quickly," she warned, taking a bite of two scones, sandwiching samples of nearly everything between them. She sighed, closing her eyes. A pure, chaotic blend of flavors danced across her tongue, singing to the chaotic magic whirling inside her and stoking it like a fire. As she experimented, she found that different combinations led to different events, and she could control whether the magic flowed to her eyes or toes, or whether it felt burning or electrifying.

“I'm being careful,” he insisted. “But look at you. You're having a fun time, aren't you?”

She nodded, popping a chocolate strawberry into her mouth and letting the magic calm itself, slowly slipping back to some core part of her. “Do you really feel like this every time you eat?”

“A lot of my senses are heightened, especially after…those thousand years in stone,” he explained. “I'm used to them, but I suppose they're much more vivid from your point of view. Being so new and all.”

“Oh, yes,” she said. Her sense of smell, taste, hearing…they were greater than what she was used to. “Does it throw you off, having weaker senses?”

“Hey, your senses aren't bad, not at all,” he assured. “Besides, one of the things I did before switching us was a spell to mitigate side effects…like sensory overload. Or underload.”

“I see,” she said. “What were the other things you did before switching us?”

“Oh, standard stuff. Making sure you could access my magic without it being a drain on your mind. Warding off the dysphoria of being in the wrong body. Making sure our sense of balance wouldn't be too hampered, since we walk in different ways…”

He started explaining the minor spells he had performed, and she listened intently. Maybe it was all the magic buzzing inside her, ready to be used, but…his rambling about magic actually started to make a bit of sense to her. She nodded along, trying to absorb as much information as she could, so that she could try and remember some of it after they switched back.

They ate until their bellies were full, and there was still plenty of food left over. Fluttershy got to work putting things away in her fridge, summoning Tupperware and plastic wrap for everything, and marking some of the more chaotic dishes as Discord's. Discord was filling the sink with soap and hot water, playing with the sudsy bubbles.

She couldn't help but smile when she tucked the last of the food away and started helping Discord with the dishes. This was so nice…it made her feel warm and fuzzy, and even the chaos buzzing in her seemed content to rest for a while rather than shatter the peace.

Though Discord complained about the toughest stains, and the two of them briefly splashed the dish soap bubbles at each other, eventually, all the dishes were polished. Discord stacked the last one in the rack to dry, then looked up at her.

“We have a few minutes left,” he said. “If you have any last few ideas, now's the time.”

“Nothing very big,” she said. “And I know it's not a very special last thing to do, but…would you like to watch the sunset together?”

He thought about it, then smiled. “Could be a good way to end this little adventure.” He headed outside and sat on her lawn. She wasn't too far behind, and eventually managed to get into a position where she could sit and sling her arm around his shoulder without too much discomfort.

They sat and watched the sun sink towards the horizon, turning all the clouds around it a brilliant pink as the sky turned a shade of orange. “…you know,” he said after a few minutes. “There's one thing we haven't tried yet in different bodies.”

“Oh?” She glanced over, and he smiled and tapped his lips with a hoof. “Oh!”

“If we time it juuuust right, we can do it as we switch back,” he said. “If you want to, that is.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she answered. He grinned, wings fluttering, and tilted his chin up towards her, closing his eyes and puckering his lips.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. Her body's lips were soft, and her breath was warm…she could taste a hint of the chocolate strawberries Discord had been eating earlier. She felt the chaos magic inside her swell into a crescendo, a sweet symphony that made her feel lighter than air.

The sun slipped below the horizon, and she felt the chaos magic whirl inside her, triggered by the celestial movement. Her body tingled as her mind was pulled forward…and like a rubber band snapping back into place, she could feel her mind jumping back to her body.

Slowly, and a bit disoriented, she opened her eyes and pulled out of the kiss. Discord was also pulling back, spirals in his eyes for a moment before he closed them and shook his head.

“Brr. Moving back into the right body always feels weird. Right, and good, but weird.” He tapped the side of his head, maybe to help his…mind settle? “How do you feel?”

She blinked. Brushed her mane with her hoof. Twitched her wings. Everything felt as it should. “…I feel fine,” she said. “A little tired, though.”

Discord loudly yawned. “Same. That's either a spell side effect, or we've worn out each other’s bodies.”

“Either way, a good night's sleep should be enough to fix that, right?” she said. He nodded in confirmation, reaching over to scratch behind her ear—perfectly hitting her sweet spot. She sighed and leaned her weight against him, practically melting.

“…did you have a good day, doing this?” he asked quietly.

“Oh, yes!” she said. “Seeing and feeling things from your point of view was amazing! And you're right about your magic being hard to describe, but…I think I understand it a bit better, now. How did…you feel about being me for a day?”

“No offense, but I think I prefer being me, with all the magic it entails,” he said. She nodded in understanding. “But…I'm glad we did this. Because now I know more about you. And you know a couple of new things about me.”

She nodded, reaching up to brush her hoof through his mane. He lowered his head to make it easier for her, coiling his long body around her. For a moment, the two of them basked in each other's warmth.

A chill breeze swept by, making both of them shiver.

“Why don't we head in?” Fluttershy said. “You can stay the night, if you'd like. Or at least share a cup of hot cocoa before you head home.”

“That sounds delightful,” he said, scooping her up and carrying her inside. “I can summon some mint leaves for an extra sweetness in your mug.”

“And I have some chili powder I can add into yours for a chaotic kick.”

Discord smiled down at her, tapping his nose against hers. “We make a good team, don't we?” She smiled and nodded, pressing back against his nose. “Mind if I give your mint cocoa a sip or two?”

“Only if you don't mind me trying a little bit of your chili one,” she said. His grin widened, and they headed inside to find warmth from the autumn chill in hot chocolate, under blankets, and with each other.