Fluttershy, peeking from inside a tree, spied on the unusual sight of a draconequus and a pony floating on cosmic clouds.
It’s been weeks since the second Galloping Gala disaster. While Discord apologized, Fluttershy could still feel the uneasy one-sided tension between her chaotic friend and Tree Hugger, her plus one from the Gala.
So, she decided to invite Tree Hugger to her usual tea parties with Discord, hopefully for the two to get along, mainly for Discord. It was difficult at first, as Fluttershy had a lot of fun talking to her about nature and animals, something the Lord of Chaos was uneducated on. Discord attempted to join the conversation, but it became more about him learning about animals than feeling included. Fluttershy, however, found it extremely sweet that he was willing to learn about animals for her. The thought made her heart flutter.
Were her feelings for the Lord of Chaos becoming romantic? It can’t be, he's a draconequus, and she’s a pony. He wouldn't have any interest in dating a simple pony like herself.
What amazed Fluttershy was that they eventually became great friends as the tea parties went on. It took some time, but Discord began enjoying Tree Hugger’s company. In fact, they became so close; they started hanging out without her. She was happy at first, but then came instances where she felt a bit upset.
She saw the two discussing topics even she didn’t get, something about being “one with the universe.” And then came the inside jokes, leaving her in the dust. Now she knew how Discord felt. She wanted to tell both of them how she felt but thought it would be rude even to show the slightest hint of annoyance. She thought just by smiling, and these feelings would pass.
They didn’t.
Now came this one anomalous activity the two always did, usually every Friday. On top of a small hill, where the view of the sun sinking was the most beautiful, Discord and Tree Hugger rested on galaxy-colored clouds fit for their size.
She didn’t understand what they were doing. Nevertheless, she wanted to get to the bottom of what this strange activity meant. And why both of them didn’t tell her anything about it.
“Hi, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy screeched and burst out of her cheap tree costume and met the face of her second chaotic friend.
“Pinkie,” Fluttershy got up, rubbing her head, “Can you please stop scaring me like that. You know I don’t like it, and why are you wearing… melty clown makeup?”
“Oh! I was just crying for 30 minutes because apparently, Petunia Paleo has a clown phobia, and I had no idea. So I might have ruined her party and traumatized her for life. Don’t worry, I released all my stress from it already… Though thinking about it now is making my eyes water again,” Pinkie rambled, her tears falling as she predicted.
Fluttershy reacted as any good friend would and embraced her. “Aw, there, there. It’s okay. Even when we’re professional in our jobs, that doesn’t guarantee we won’t make mistakes.”
Pinkie rubbed the makeup off her face; her eyes were almost bloodshot red from all the crying, making Fluttershy cringe upon seeing them. “Yeah, I know, but enough about me. Why are you here?”
Fluttershy cheeks turn red as a tomato, unsure what to say. Upon looking at Discord and Tree Hugger, Pinkie put two and two together, resulting in a romantic realization. “Aw, first Discord was jealous, and now you are. Gaw, you two are so made for each other!” With her sadness distracted from this exciting development, Pinkie began bopping Flutter’s nose teasingly.
Fluttershy gently stopped Pinkie’s hoof. “I’m not jealous.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t even try to deny when you just explained to Discord how dumb being jealous is at the Galloping Galla. Also, stalking them is pretty out of character for you.”
She had no way to argue against that as she sat down buried her face in her mane. “Ok, it’s true! I’m jealous! Discord is just so sweet when you get to know; his stories are so fascinating to hear, we like the same type of music, he researches animals just so he can talk to me about it, and he smells like lemon-flavored mints when we hug-“
“Ok, Fluttershy, too much sharing!” Nervously chuckled a blushing Pinkie. “Look, if you’re so curious about what they’re doing, why not just approach them and ask. And if he’s willing to do stuff you're into, why not do the same?”
She pondered Pinkie's words and realized it all made sense. Discord always engaged in what she liked, from feeding animals to participating in pony-like activities. And while she loves hearing his stories and letting him do any magic he wishes, she never attempted to join in on his interests. “How could I have not thought this sooner. I’m such a bad friend.”
“Fluttershy, you hugged me without hesitation when I was crying, and you wielded the element of kindness. I think every pony knows that’s horse apples.”
Fluttershy’s blush was all Pinkie needed to ensure her words got through her.
“Just go out there and talk to them. Maybe you might like whatever those two are doing with those clouds,” Pinkie said, pushing Fluttershy forward.
“You’re right! Thank you, Pinkie! See you later!” Fluttershy galloped her way to the top of the hill, leaving Pinkie by herself.
“Phew! Glad I saw Fluttershy today. I completely forgot what I was even crying about” a tear fell from her eye, “Nope, I remember now.”
Fluttershy was finally at the top of the hill, looking at Discord. He looked peaceful with that slight grin, so much so that she didn’t wish to interrupt their slumber. But remembring Pinkie’d words of encouragement, she began poking Discord’s cheeks.
He grumbled a bit until his sight was clear and rose from what seemed like a long nap. “Strange? It’s only been 39 minutes” Rubbing his eyes, he sees his favorite pony looking a bit guilty, “Fluttershy?”
A snap of his fingers causes Tree Hugger to wake up in a strange robotic way, yet she seems to pay no mind to it. “Discord, I told you that the best outerversal experience lasts 3 hours.”
“I know, I know. Fluttershy here woke me up,” Discord said, a bit tired. “What are you doing here, my dear?”
“I’m sorry for waking you up.” Fluttershy signed, “I-I was just wondering what you two have been doing lately. I see you always up here, and I wanted to know why I haven’t been invited. Also, I was feeling a bit jealous.”
Tree Hugger looked at Fluttershy, a bit confused. In contrast, Discord looked like he had heard the most beautiful poetry. “I thought you wanted me and Discord to get along,” asked Tree Hugger.
“I do! I’m sorry, and I just wanted to feel included and see what you guys have been up to,” Fluttershy said.
Discord, charismatic as a male peacock, wrapped his tail around Fluttershy, which caused her face to be redder than the sun, “Well, my dear, if you were so curious, all you had to do was ask! And to tell you the story, me and Tree Hugger learned that we share a similar ideology. That the best way to experience life is to be one with everything!” He jumped to his cloud and snuggled in its fluffy texture, “But the difference between us in that aspect was that I’m literally one with everything, but Tree Hugger can only reach that state on a metaphysical level given she’s an earth pony. So, I had the brilliant idea of creating these clouds that, when slept upon, will truly experience existence for what it is!”
Tree Hugger lied comfortably on her cloud, “It can be a bit intense at the beginning, but once you get the rhythm of it, it feels like swimming in harmony with a magical ocean.”
Fluttershy didn’t fully understand. It sounded a bit overwhelming, but she wanted to try it for Discord, whatever the case may be. “May I join?”
Both of them stared at the pegasus in amazement, not believing what their ears were hearing. “You want to try one?” Discord asked, concerned. “Don’t get me wrong, it would be outstanding for you to see how chaotic our very nature is! But, I think it might be a bit too much for you. Besides, you told me it’s normal to have different friends that you can talk about different things with.”
Fluttershy, a bit more assertive, stood her ground, “I know what I said. But it’s not about that. Discord, you always put effort into learning my interests, yet I feel like I don’t do the same to you.” She holds her friend’s hand. “If this is something you like to do, I want to try it at least! So please make me a cloud. If Tree Hugger can handle it, I think I can too!”
Fluttershy didn’t notice, but a rent tint took over Discord's ears. Tree Hugger noticed, and something the two didn’t know about her was the fact that during her high school years, she was known as the Ultimate Wingmare. “It would be super righteous if you joined us, Fluttershy. Discord here always talks about how radical it would be if you embarked with us on these dreamful journeys.”
Fluttershy smiled with excitement, “You did?”
“I never used the term: radical,” Discord corrected his lazy friend, “But yes, and I also suggested Spike, Twilight, Big Mac, and all kinds of ponies.“
“But none of them had like hour-long speeches on how her presence will transcend your soul to a state of bliss,” Tree Hugger lazily said.
As much as Discord wished he could zip Tree Hugger’s mouth shut, he and Fluttershy both would be confused for tomatoes if they were at the market.
The earth pony yawned, “See you two creatures on the other side.” She buried herself into the cloud as if she were sinking to the bottom of a cosmic sea.
With a snap of his fingers, a new cloud right for Fluttershy’s size came to be, and she quickly hopped on it. The extraordinary comfort of it was already making her tired.
Discord placed his paw on her shoulder, “If you want to wake up, just tell me, and I’ll put a stop to this”
Fluttershy nodded. Despite being known as a trickster, she knew him long enough to see when he’s serious and trusts him wholeheartedly.
Discord laid on his cloud, and she soon heard his snores. Fluttershy took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. Being around two friends, in the outdoors, on possibly the most comfortable cloud she’s ever been in–It was like a paradise for anypony deprived of proper sleep. She hopes to recommend this Pinkie and the others next time she sees them. This felt wonderful; she pondered why Discord was so concerned.
She was falling; no, she was being dragged from a force pulling her down. Her world was replaced with the emptiness of a cosmic sea. She tried to flap her wings to escape its grasp but was met with invisible movement by limbs that weren’t there. She saw her cutie mark is no longer the three iconic butterflies but now a broken bouquet of tulips.
She wanted to scream, but her voice ceased to exist. Soon she landed safely on an oversized tulip. Despite having no features, the flower spat her out in disgust, returning her standard pegasus form.
All this and yet she couldn’t spark a single word until she suddenly bumped into a planet, her planet. Or at least what looked like hers, because soon she discovered a sizeable school of many versions of her home planet of Equus, all marching forward. The little words were around the same size as a soccer ball, but touching it felt like holding a water balloon. “It’s beautiful, so many possibilities, each one more unique than the last. We claim to be special, but we are only tiny flowers in a vast forest where animals could eat us. In the end, we’re all we’ve got. Sweet Celestia, it’s horrifying but breathtaking.”
Without thinking, she took one out, causing the planet to drag her away from the cosmic structure. She stared at the many worlds once more, vaguely seeing gigantic octopus-like entities at both ends of the school of the swimming worlds. But that sight only lasted merely a picosecond, as her home continued to drag her across space and time at such a speed not even the Nano Sailfish could rival it.
The tiny planet soon took her to a massive wall of bluebell flowers, which shattered the earth upon impact alongside its inhabitants. Fluttershy swears she heard little screams but convinced herself it was all in her head.
Now able to fly, she saw that the wall had a sign that read, “Hello, we apologize for the inconvenience, but beyond this wall is the uncertain future of Fluttershy of Equus-FW3. This wall has been passed in many worlds, but this one’s time flux remains the same as those far south within the multiverse. According to the Grand Archives authored by Grendel, this wall shall remain until her 50th birthday. What’s behind this flowery structure? Who knows, it’s the future! There’s the possibility she might not even reach 50! Thank you for reading, come again, like and subscribe, you have a nice day.”
An invisible force pulled her once more; this time, she screamed. The pressure would have turned any pony into mincemeat, but miraculously her body stood still as if no wind was blowing.
She sees the faceless bodies of her friends all galloping like Pinkie Pie would in the days when it was some pony’s birthday, which would be every day! “You’re a great friend, Fluttershy!” was what they repeated constantly. Until the head of Rainbow Dash as a foal manifested in front of her. “If it weren’t for you, Fluttershy,” the head said, “I would have been miserable my whole life.”
The head then dismantled into butterflies, blinding Fluttershy. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” She shouted, resisting whatever was dragging her across this plane of reality. She ripped the space around her, revealing the white shining void that served as its canvas. She formed a ball from the paper-like material of space, “I will not be bested by a cloud!”
She tossed the piece of spatial paper with immense strength to tear reality apart, which it miraculously did.
It sucked her into the white void inside, meeting face to face with a cloaked skeleton, who held an hourglass with her name on it. “Your 87 years early,” its haunting voice said, “goodbye!”
He gently pushed her, ironically enough causing her to go back into the broken infinite of the unknown faster than light.
She had enough. She was scared and wanted to go home. She shouted his name, “DISCORD!”
Everything went blank, not because of another shift of this broken multi-complex reality, but because Fluttershy closed her eyes and tucked herself away from the chaotic mess.
Her nose then captured a familiar scent of lemon-flavored mints.
“I knew this would be too intense for you” The warmth of Discord’s body eased her so much that she opened her eyes and was met with a hypotonic arrangement of colors. She saw floating islands with beautiful castles whose architecture looked impossible to be crafted by ponies. And many tiny alicorns floating gently on top of them, eyes shut, with a warm smile at peace in this Enchanted Void.
“I’ll wake us up,” said Discord, but before he snapped his fingers, he was stopped by Fluttershy.
“Not yet. I want to stay a little further. It’s so beautiful.”
“Like you,” Discord teased.
“No, like you. It’s so odd but charming. It’s out of the ordinary, but that’s what makes it fascinating. I want to learn more about it. If this is all of existence, I’m happy to know I can go through with it as long as I’m with you. It really is a chaotic mess out there. Living with animals has taught me that chaos always follows me wherever I go. I love you, Discord. I would have been miserable my whole life if I hadn't met you. I hope you’re in my life till the end of times.”
Fluttershy felt tears landing on her head; that was the only response she needed.
“I-I,” Discord sniffed, “I think it’s time to wake up.”
“I’m ready.”
The moon shines brightly above our unlikely trio. Fluttershy woke up from her strange slumber. Despite her fuzzy memory, she felt fantastic, great even. It was like a proper 8-hour sleep one should customarily take.
“I don’t know why you two thought I couldn’t handle it. That felt amazing.” Fluttershy said, stretching her body. “I’m so full of energy. What time is it?”
Tree Hugger stretched her body to such impossible proportions, Flutter expected to hear the cracking of bones. “If my mental clock is correct, around the time birds tweet and call upon each other.”
“5 AM? Oh my! Perfect time to get some chores done early!” She saw Discord’s glance, which he quickly evaded once he noticed. “Discord? Is everything ok?”
Discord began rapidly snapping his fingers anxiously, which caused little butterflies to fly out of his stomach. “Oh, I’m fine. Just uh. Do you remember anything from the dream, Fluttershy?”
“Hmm, I remember traveling through space, and there’s a wall made of flowers” Fluttershy’s cheeks began to burn a bit. “Oh! You were also there. But aside from that, that’s all I can remember.”
“Alright, so no conversations or anything of the matter?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good, so tea party next Tuesday?”
“Yes, but are you leaving now?”
“Busy stuff today! See you on Tuesday, take care!” He teleported away.
There was a full minute of no spoken words. “The more I see you two, the more complimentary your chakras become. It’s almost like the universe was crafted for your eventual romance,” spoke Tree Hugger, done with her stretches.
Fluttershy sighed, not even hiding it, “This is the first time I ever felt this about somepony; it’s so confusing.” She fell to the ground, the wavy grass tickled her coat, and soon Tree Hugger joined her. Both stared at Luna’s beautiful moon surrounded by its starry sea.
“I’m sorry for coming off as jealous, Tree Hugger. I didn’t mean to intervene.” She buried her face on her hooves, “I told Discord how ridiculous he was at being jealous of you, yet here I am being a hypocrite.”
“It’s cool, dude. I should have, like, invited you in the first place. I didn’t mean to make this come off as something secretive.” Tree Hugger sincerely replied.
The pegasus smiled, happy that this problem of hers was resolved, “I’m just happy this is over with. I mean, it’s not like your keeping other secrets.”
Tree Hugger pondered for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. What’s the point of hiding it.
“There is one thing I should tell you,” Tree Hugger lazily said. “I’m dating your brother.”
“You’re what?”
Author's Note
Alright, out of all the stories I posted. I'm very much nervous about this one. Again, critique, also Tree Hugger's dialogue was hard to write.
Sorry, I'm taking so long with posting these stories for Fluttercord Week. College work has been ROUGH. I'll post the best I can, but I can safely say I will publish a story based on every prompt that this year's FW released.
