It was a dark and foggy night. Most ponies had gone to bed, with the few still roaming around quickly making their way home. Even the creatures of the Everfree forest were sleeping soundly in their homes. One particular pony who was content with this foggy night was Fluttershy. She was putting together a puzzle with her pet bunny, Angel.
As she sat on her couch putting together the puzzle, a small flash of light appeared in front of her and she smiled. Her close friend, Discord, teleported in front of her.
“Are you having much luck with your puzzle, Fluttershy?” Discord asked her.
She nodded. “Just a few dozen pieces to go!” Angel looked bored but was still eager to help Fluttershy.
The draconequus looked outside, staring at the foggy atmosphere surrounding the Everfree forest. He looked back at Fluttershy with a pondering face and walked into a nearby room. He exited it wearing a red sweater and mittens over his lion's paw and eagle claw.
“I think…I’ll take a bit of a walk, dear Fluttershy. Nights like these are so rarely seen nowadays.”
Fluttershy looked up from her puzzle as Discord walked towards the door. “Please be safe, Discord. It’s awfully foggy out there! You could get lost!”
Discord scoffed, amused by his friend's comment. “My dear, if I were to get lost, I could just snap my fingers and get right back here! I’ll be fine!”
He lowered his voice in a more gentle tone. “I promise.”
Fluttershy still looked hesitant. “Be back in an hour, at least?” Discord nodded and walked through the door.
The draconequus took a deep breath and began his walk. Usually, he could just teleport wherever he wanted to go, and loved to live a fast-paced life. This was a nice change of pace for him to spend some time with himself.
The Lord of Chaos admired some peculiar things about the forest. Some glowing mushrooms grew on some nearby trees, a patch of Poison Joke flowers occupied a patch of land near a puddle, and a few squirrels scampering out of the way as he walked by them. He smiled and waved at them. The squirrels timidly waved back before scurrying away.
He found a small secluded location with a small lake, a wooden log near the shoreline, and several small branches adorning the ground. He sat on the log and looked at the lake. Despite the foggy night, the light of the moon shone through above the lake, with the moon itself reflecting from the lake.
Discord looked at the various branches and hovered one of them over to him. He transformed the branch into a small wooden circle with a symbol etched into it: A tornado. He put the tornado into the sand. Then, he drew multiple spirals into the sand next to the tornado. He looked at the spirals and smiled tenderly. Then, the small tide from the lake washed the spirals away, with Discord grabbing the etching of the tornado to keep it from getting washed away.
Then, he grabbed six branches from the ground and transformed them one by one into different small shapes made from the wood. A lightning bolt, a butterfly, an apple, a balloon, a diamond, and a six-pointed star.
He put the symbols on the ground in a circle, with the six-pointed star in the center. The tornado was off to the side, but close to the butterfly. The draconequus Discord drew one line above the sand. And then another. And another. Until there were dozens of lines above the sand. The draconequus had a bittersweet smile on his face as he looked at the symbols below him.
Then, the lightning bolt faded away into the sand. Discord’s smile faded as the apple faded next. After that, the diamond dissipated, and then the balloon. He quickly grabbed the butterfly and tightly held it close to his chest. But as he opened his hand, the symbol had turned into sand and fell back into the shoreline. All that was left was the star and the tornado. Discord’s eyes started tearing up.
After a few seconds, even the star faded into the sand, but the tornado remained. The clouds covered the moon, leaving the lake and all its surroundings entombed by the fog. Discord picked up the tornado and squeezed it in his lion’s paw. He opened his hand and it was still intact. He squeezed in again, much harder than before, and it was still intact. He lit his paw on fire and squeezed as tight as he could. But when he did, the symbol of the tornado was encased in diamond.
Discord got up and looked at the sky. He looked at the tornado and threw it into the lake with burning anger. He covered his mouth with his arm and yelled into it, frustrated. As he let out an exasperated sigh, a few tears stained the sand before him. He dusted himself off and walked out of the area, back towards Fluttershy’s cottage.
As Discord spotted Fluttershy’s cottage, a warm smile returned to his face. He walked up to the door to Fluttershy’s home and entered. Fluttershy had finished her puzzle and was now reading a book. She looked at Discord and smiled happily. “Hi, Discord! How did the walk…” she paused as she saw Discord’s mournful expression. She got up from the couch and walked over to Discord.
“Discord, what’s wrong?”
Discord did not speak. He knelt down and gently hugged Fluttershy. He breathed heavily as he held her close to him. Fluttershy rubbed the back of his head affectionately and returned the hug.
“Did everything go ok?”
Discord sniffed and released Fluttershy from the hug.
He sighed and looked at the pegasus.
“Of course, it did! I just…got a little lost, that’s all.”
He looked over to the couch and saw the finished puzzle.
“Would…would it be alright if we could solve the next puzzle together? I won’t even use my magic.”
Fluttershy smiled and nodded, pulling out a smaller puzzle from a nearby cabinet. She and Discord walked to the couch and sat down next to each other. Fluttershy opened the box and placed the puzzle pieces on the table near the couch.
As Discord watched her do this, he gently put his eagle claw on her head and scratched her head for a little bit.
“I just wanted to say, Fluttershy…thank you.”
The pegasus looked confused.
“For what?”
Discord smiled and looked Fluttershy in the eyes.
“Everything.”
Fluttershy giggled as she and Discord began putting the puzzle together. As the night went on, the two fell asleep on the couch, Fluttershy cuddling with Discord comfortably. Before falling asleep, the draconequus looked outside at the foggy forest one more time. He then looked down at the sleeping pegasus and petted her gently with his lion's paw as he peacefully drifted off to sleep.
