In the center of Chaosville stood a deceitfully ordinary house with a yellow roof, red outer walls, and a white picket fence. The front door, also yellow, was suddenly thrust open as a very unusual being, the owner of the home, magically appeared in the middle of the living room.
Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, removed a backpack from his shoulders. Twisting it upside down, he proceeded to dump the contents all over the floor.
"I definitely overpacked," he chuckled, as the last of the equipment, a tie dye helmet, joined a remarkably large pile of spelunking gear on the polka dot rug.
Leaving the mess right where it was, Discord drifted over to the door, intending to shut it. A small mound of the Ponyville Chronicle lay on the unwelcome mat. Scooping up the newspapers, he flashed over to his couch and sat down. Pulling off his goat horn, he shook it a few times before a pair of gold rimmed reading glasses fell out. Reattaching his horn and magicking the glasses onto his face, he unfurled a paper upside down from the pile.
“Let’s see if anything remotely interesting has been happening in my absence,” he muttered, flicking through the first few pages before chucking the paper aside and moving on to the next.
He ended up howling with laughter over a story where Rarity had stumbled upon a cursed book and painted the town in dark magic.
“Oh, I would have loved to see that in real life!” he chuckled, staring happily at the photo of a very golden bedazzled Ponyville.
The fourth paper he picked up showed a picture of two yellow unicorns being run out of town; charlatans with a fake ‘cure-all’ tonic. Of course their scheme was foiled by none other than Ponyville’s own Honest Applejack. Discord rolled his eyes before tossing the paper aside and randomly picking up another.
His eyes widened and his tail wagged with delight as he saw an adorable picture of Fluttershy with the Breezies on the front page. Summoning a pair of scissors, he immediately clipped and pasted it into his ‘Favorite Shutterfly Pics’ scrapbook.
He was reaching for another paper when the one to the left of it seized his attention. Fluttershy was once again on the front page except this time she looked to be caught in some kind of scandal. She was flapping near the lights of a stage with a horrified expression on her face. Above the picture, in bold black letters, the headline read: ‘Fluttershy or Flutterguy?’
“What have we here?” Discord said, his bushy eyebrows rising as he quickly read the article. The more he read, the further they climbed until they leapt right off his face. “WHAT?!”
Completely floored by what he'd read, he immediately teleported to Ponyville.
Reappearing right in front of Rarity’s Boutique, the draconequus barged through the door unannounced. Rarity, working at her sewing machine, screeched as it angrily banged against the wall.
“Discord?!" she cried. "What-? Oh, no!”
She quickly retracted her hoof from the machine's pedal but the damage had already been done; the line was completely crooked. She began festering over it, her magic pulling out the thread. With a scowl, Discord forcefully yanked her away from her project and shoved the paper containing Fluttershy’s scandal under her nose.
“Is it true?” he demanded.
“Is what true?” said Rarity, pushing the paper away.
“Did Fluttershy really go around for a week pretending to be Big Mac in your little singing group?” he snapped, waving the front page around.
“Oh, um, yes, she did,” Rarity said, finally noticing the front page article.
“And it was your idea?”
“Well, no,” she muttered, touching her hoof to her chin. “If I recall correctly, it was Zecora’s. After determining that Big Mac’s voice wouldn’t be cured in time for our performance, she suggested using Poison Joke to deepen Fluttershy’s voice.”
At the strange look on his face, Rarity hastily added, “It was only meant to be for that one performance! It was Fluttershy who insisted we accept every offer hoofed to us.”
“And her exposure?” Discord prompted, his arms folded and his tone dangerously low.
Rarity gulped. “Purely accidental. The poor dear got so caught up in the music that she bumped the curtain.”
Discord studied her with slightly narrowed eyes. “I believe you- for now. But if I discover that this was some elaborate scheme to help her get over her stage fright, I will personally turn you into a ponnequin and put you on display in a Canterlot window in the ugliest dress I can think of- for an entire day.”
Rarity paled, mortified at the very thought.
Before she could fully process this threat and further try to defend herself, Discord flashed away.
Moments later he found Fluttershy in her backyard, tending to her garden. Hiding in a nearby tree, he lay on a branch and listened as she happily sang for her animal friends. She really did have the voice of an angel. It was a shame she was too afraid to let everypony hear it; he knew very well about her terrible stage fright. And that was one of the reasons he was here: to know if she was alright after the Pony Tones ordeal. The other was so he could express his feelings on the matter.
The squirrels were the first to alert her to his presence. Discovering him in their tree, the little nuisances started chittering angrily and pelting the draconequus with acorns.
“Ouch! Stop it! Stop it, you little tree-rats!” he snarled, throwing up his arms.
“Discord?”
“Gah!”
Completely unintentional, he fell out of the tree.
“Oh, my goodness!” Fluttershy cried, her forehooves over her mouth. “Are you alright?”
Discord quickly got up and brushed himself off.
“Fine, fine,” he said, trying to appear nonchalant while silently berating his random clumsiness.
Fluttershy hovered close by, her eyes worriedly checking for injuries. That only added insult to his wounded pride.
Rolling his eyes, Discord grumbled, “I’m fine, Fluttershy; honest. This is me we’re talking about, remember?”
She still looked worried but respectively backed off, landing quietly on the ground. Discord discreetly snapped his tail, magicking the rest of the squirrels’ acorns to a neighboring tree in revenge.
“So, what brings you here, Discord?” she asked, plucking up her watering can.
“Oh, nothing much,” he said, rubbing two of his talons together. “I just thought I’d come see how my best friend was doing after being involved in a singing scandal.”
Fluttershy dropped the watering can and quickly twisted around to face him.
Discord was looming over her with his arms folded, an expectant scowl on his face.
She swallowed, picking up the watering can and releasing a weak laugh. “Oh, Discord, you didn’t miss anything.”
“Oh, really?” he said, drawing out the second word. Flashing over her, he pressed his face upside down against hers. “Are you sure?”
Fluttershy shrieked and reeled backwards, dropping the can and falling on her rump. Discord maneuvered around in front of her, his bushy eyebrows raised.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
She quickly got up using her wings. "Oh, I'm fine! Say, why don't you tell me all about your trip with Ahuizotl? Did you find that lost artifact?"
"We did," he said, amused by her futile evasive maneuvers. "Spelunking in ancient caves is always fun but I'm more interested in what happened here during my absence. Why don't you tell me all about it, hmmm?"
Fluttershy's wings drooped and she gave out a defeated sigh. "Do you really want to know?"
Discord teleported them into her cottage, snapping up a tea set complete with tea and cucumber sandwiches.
"I would be delighted to hear the tale!" he said, teacup already in hand.
Despite the touchy subject, Fluttershy managed a smile. "Okay."
She then shared exactly what happened, confirming that Rarity was telling the truth. She finished by showing off the Pony Tones outfit the fashionista let her keep. While it was adorable on her, Discord was having an internal struggle between amusement and frustration.
Trying (and failing) to keep the frustration at bay, he drained his teacup.
"I am glad to hear you made a baby step towards conquering your fear," he muttered, setting the teacup down. Fluttershy smiled. "However," he continued, his voice rising, "there is one thing that's still bothering me."
"O-Oh?" she said nervously, her smile slipping a little.
Discord's head suddenly shot forward, several red rings surrounding his pupils, making him look utterly deranged.
"You've been singing with a comically deep voice for days and YOU LET ME MISS IT?!" he shrieked, utterly appalled.
Fluttershy squeaked, her ears pinning back and her pupils shrinking from the sudden intense shout.
Discord continued to stare, silently demanding an explanation for such injustice.
In all honesty he was rather hurt that Fluttershy would exclude him from such a deceitful trick. It was devious and right up his alley! How could she not tell him about it?!
"You had a deep voice for days!" he repeated, turning his back to her. Ears down and arms folded, he muttered, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were on your trip, remember?" she said, her voice just as quiet.
The guilt in her tone satisfied his need for justice but didn't make him feel any better. Turning around to face her, he slumped down on all fours so he was closer to her height.
"I'm sorry for shouting," he muttered. "But you could have sent me a note. I could have left a double with Ahuizotl. I could have supported you."
Fluttershy's head was low, her mane hiding her face. "I did think about inviting you," she mumbled, "to the Sugar Cube Corner concert; the one where I was, um, unmasked. But I knew you were busy and… I didn't want you to laugh at me."
Discord frowned as he sat up and sighed. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't laugh; hearing a deep voice from you, at first, would be utterly hilarious! But the contradiction of a beautiful mare singing with a bass vocal range would be a delightful combination of chaos that I truly would enjoy and appreciate. "
Fluttershy's face burned a brilliant red. She mumbled something that Discord didn't catch.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing," she said quickly, shaking her head.
Discord stared at her strangely before shrugging. "Anyway, my point is, I feel like I missed out."
"I'm really sorry," she said sincerely, placing a comforting hoof on his arm. "I didn’t think it would upset you so much. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"
Discord pretended to think while stroking his beard before a mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Oh, I think I have an idea."
Fluttershy, knowing full well what he was about to suggest, bit her lower lip.
Discord frowned. He didn't want to force her into doing something she didn’t want to do.
"You know what, nevermind," he muttered, unable to hide the disappointment from his face. "We can just finish our tea and I'll let you go back to gardening."
"No, um, it's okay," she said, her face flushing as she peeked out at him from behind her hair. "I'll do it."
Discord tried to keep his excitement contained. "Flutters, are you sure?"
She nodded. "Every other pony got to hear it. I don't think it would be fair or right to exclude my best friend. Besides… for you… I want to…"
Truly touched, Discord smiled. "Well, then… shall we?"
He held out his paw to her and she shyly took it. In a flash, they disappeared.
The audience was quiet, each and every guest captivated by the beauty currently standing on a stage in the soft glow of a blue tinted light. She wore a gorgeous light pink and white dress that sparkled like diamonds. Her mane and tail were loosely curled, the waves falling beautifully with little white butterflies mixed in. Two long earrings fell down from her ears and she wore soft pink shoes on her hooves. She was the picture of perfection and her very appearance demanded the attention of every draconequus in the room. Even the bartender was leaning against his counter, the glass he was supposed to be cleaning sitting forgotten beside his paw.
The gentle chords of ‘What a Wonderful World’ filled the air. Flutterguy’s voice, rich and low, began to glide through the melody like butter melting on toast.
At the front of the stage, in a smashing gold and purple zoot suit, sat the original Discord. Like the other Discords behind him, he held his head in his hands, his red pupils shaped like hearts, pulsating in time with his irregular heartbeat.
Flutterguy reached a particular lyric in the song (“I love you”) and glanced at Discord before quickly averting her gaze. Discord blinked and his heart -surprisingly- skipped a beat.
Flutterguy kept going, determined to finish the song. She closed her eyes, getting lost in the music, her whole soul practically glowing as she sang.
Discord couldn’t look away. It was like she’d cast him under a spell; he was completely and utterly at her mercy.
Flutterguy’s voice drifted off with the closing chords and the whole room remained silent for three seconds of bliss before the Discords rose to their feet and began clapping, whistling, and praising her name.
Flutterguy chuckled and, in a daring moment, blew the original Discord a kiss.
The draconequus fell back in his chair, stunned.
Panicking slightly, he thought to himself: What was that? Could it be…?
He stared up at her but Flutterguy had already started another song like nothing had ever happened.
No, he was just imagining things. She'd done that because it fit the mood; like him being a captivated audience. It was all part of the environment he’d created. Yes! His heart skipping a beat was all part of the experience too. No need to assume it was anything more. No need to panic.
Shaking it all off and putting it behind him, he happily returned to basking in the beauty of his best friend’s voice.
After all, it was a voice anypony would fall in love with.
