Chaos Inverted

It had been raining nonstop for the last few days. Usually, this kind of weather made Discord lethargic and moody. However, he was in an unusual chipper mood. His coworkers spent an extra second glancing at him, wondering what changed his attitude recently. Some even snickered and had a not so nice comment whispered behind his back. He didn’t care. For once, he was enjoying the company of another person. Even if that person is a magic-infused entity in the woods he was still figuring out.

Despite the bad weather, Discord and Fluttershy were hanging out every few days or so. They communicated through texts every other day. ”I’m not a caveman,” she said when Discord acted surprised she had a phone. Though said phone had a thick, green stem piercing the back. At the end of the stem was a peculiar white flower which twitched toward the nearest light source. His best guess for its purpose was to power the phone indefinitely.

When they weren’t texting, Discord would come by the forest during the off-hours. She was usually nearby and would take him to the clearing to stargaze or back to her home via portal. Her “home” was much like the room he stayed in, covered in different types and shades of nature. Animals of all shapes and sizes were inside the home, looking to Fluttershy for love and attention (including that snarky bunny which still glared at Discord).

Discord had seen the living room, kitchen, and an animal play area at this point. Fluttershy seemed to make a point to show a new section of her house every time he visited. It felt like she made a new room every time just to impress him.

This interaction had been going on for about a month now, but it still felt like they were still just getting to know each other. They only shared safe topics like work (numbers and spreadsheets for Discord, animal handling/tiny bits of chaos for Fluttershy), the weather/constellations, and small bits of activity happening in their lives. She offered strange tea concoctions he drank after some hesitation (most of them turned out pretty good). Fluttershy even showed off some bits of chaotic magic for him to marvel at.

Mostly, it was just nice. He didn’t find many people to talk to that didn’t also activate his fight or (mostly) flight reflexes. Sure, he had a few internal debates on whether he said the right thing or not, but she would continue talking to him like nothing was wrong. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, this has been filling his very empty social battery.

It was another Friday afternoon, and Discord had plans to do more stargazing with Fluttershy later that night. However, he still had to get through his usual amount of work. Luckily, it was the end of the month, so he was allowed an hour and a half lunch break due to a work perk from the company. He was about to log off his computer and head out when he heard the familiar ding from his inbox. Holding back a groan, he sat back down to skim it before moving on. Last thing he needed was one of his bosses thinking he was avoiding work.

The email was short and simple, thankfully. It came from Watson, one of the higher-ups he barely interacted with. It read:

Discord,

The new CEO of the Southeast Division would like to take time to meet with his new employees on a personal level. He would like to meet with you within the next week if possible. Please reply with your availability so we can arrange a proper meeting time.

Thanks,

Erik Watson, VP of Sales and Communication

Discord found it a bit strange, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He knew some newer bosses liked to be more personable when they’re first hired. It was supposed to create a better working relationship or trust for the company or whatever. He shrugged and rapidly typed the free time in his schedule. It was probably a meet-and-greet type of thing that would last five minutes. He would be most likely forgotten about, and he can move on with his work.

With that last bit of formality out of the way, he stretched, loosened his tie a bit and made his way down to the ground floor.

=================

The rain continued to pour at a constant rate while Discord made his way to a local deli. It was only a few blocks away, so he didn’t bother with an umbrella. Thankfully, since it was past 1PM, the wait wasn’t too bad, and there were even a few tables available to sit. Not wanting to go back to the office just yet, he sat down at a nearby booth with his modest meal.

He unwrapped his sandwich while pulling out his phone. No texts from Fluttershy yet. That’s fine; that’ll leave plenty of time to think about what to talk about later tonight.

He proceeded to his usual scrolling on his 3-4 sites when he saw a flash of something in the corner of his eye. It was...bright. And quick. Whatever it was, it disappeared just as fast. He ignored it and continued scrolling. Discord didn’t look up until he heard the familiar sound of scraping wood on tile. He glanced up.

The first thing he noticed was the pink. It wasn’t a soft, subtle pink like Fluttershy’s hair. It was loud, screaming for attention with its bold, radical color. The pink came from tight curls framing a petite woman’s face. The colors on her tank top and pants were in more bright shades of pink, yellow, and blue. She had a grin that seemed to encompass half of her face.

And she was sitting right across from Discord. Staring at him.

This was not a good start.

Thinking she must have mistaken him for someone else, he was about to say something when she grinned even harder and said in a sickening sweet voice, “Hiya there, stranger!”

Well, that was one question answered; he was a stranger to her. Doesn’t explain the close proximity and the smiling being used as a weapon. Discord averted her gaze but managed a weak, prolonged, “...Hi.”

The girl took it as a sign to unleash whatever was in her head. She pointed to his lunch and said, “Ooo! Is that a sandwich? Looks pretty tasty!”

If this was a way to beg for money for food, it was a tactic he hadn’t run into yet. He figured it was best to treat this as direct and plain as possible. Any emotion could lead to her using it as a weak point. Shrugging, he continued eating and said, “It’s just a Reuben sandwich. You can grab it over there.”

The girl squealed in response and prattled on, “Oh, you’re right! I should pick something for lunch. What do you think? Soup? A salad? Something with bread? Ooo, maybe one of those soups that come in a bread bowl. Best of both worlds, am I right? But maybe I should think of dessert first.”

Discord probably shouldn’t add more fuel to the fire, but the last line did spark his curiosity. “Dessert?” he said.

“Well, it’s the best thing to look forward to!” she exclaimed while slamming her hands on the table for emphasis. “Don’t you hate it when you have to wait until your finish your meal before you can have dessert? Who decided that? Wasn’t me, that’s for sure.”

As “enrapturing” this conversation was for Discord, he could feel his flight reflexes go into overdrive. He was hoping to avoid the office, but he could hang out in the break room if this woman was going to keep pestering him. He bagged up his food and said in a nonchalant tone, “I should be heading back to work. Have a good day, miss.” He then proceeded to walk as quickly as he could without going into a full sprint.

Discord was a block away before he turned back to check. No sign of hot pink anywhere. Thank goodness. He slowed down a bit and took a breath. Sadly, it was the wrong time to relax as the woman popped out of a nearby street corner. He almost dropped his sandwich in shock.

“Aww, you gotta go back to work?” she whined. “But it’s such a nice day!”

Okay, now she was making no sense. It was still gray and raining. He wanted to fight back on this point but saw no reasoning with her. He picked up his pace again.

The woman followed closely behind. “Sure, it’s a little rain, but we need the rain for flowers. And I heard there’s supposed to be sunshine later today! I can’t wait! You know what? We should have a time for recess, but for adults!”

‘Are you an adult?’ Discord thought to himself. She certainly didn’t act like it. He continued to say nothing and kept walking.

The woman seemed to bounce nearby as she chattered away, “I should open up a play area myself! Super Happy Fun Time Land and Park! I should look into trademarking it. I could- ”

That’s it. Discord reached his limit. He stopped in his tracks, turned to the woman and said, “Look, I’m sorry to interrupt, but is there something you want from me? I don’t carry money if you want change.”

“Oh, I don’t need anything, silly!” the woman said with a giggle. “I’m just serving as the distraction!”

“The what?”

As soon as he uttered the sentence, he felt strong hands pulling on both of his arms. He was slammed onto a brick wall of a nearby alley, hitting his head in the process. His vision swam as she tried to focus on his attackers. One of them put a hand up to his face. His vision must have been affected because the hand appeared to be glowing. The glow seemed to sap his energy as he effortlessly fell into an unconscious state.

=================

The first thing Discord focused on was his throbbing headache. It pulsed insistently behind his eyes. The next thing he noticed behind his head pain was the feeling of his arms and legs being restrained. They felt like they were tied up to a cold, metal chair. Finally, his eyes were able to focus on his environment and his current situation.

The room was cramped, possibly a converted storage room. There was a table and a couple of chairs shoved into a corner behind him, and boxes of hidden supplies stacked in random areas. There was a whiteboard on the wall with what looked like random articles, papers, and photos pinned to it. It was only missing the red string to be the stereotypical conspiracy board. The room had one door exit and no windows, the only light source coming from a buzzing fluorescent light above his head.

Discord wasn’t the only one in this room. The bubblegum distraction woman was behind him, sitting on a table and digging through one of the boxes. She would pull out some papers or a small knickknack, shrug, and continue with her search.

There were two other women on the other side of the room, talking amongst themselves. The two of them looked like complete opposites of each other. One had a simple outfit made up of a plaid shirt, ripped jeans, sneakers, and a beat-up cowboy hat. She fit the cowgirl archetype with her defined muscles and tanned skin.

The other was the definition of prim and proper. She wore a short, white, sparkly dress that hugged her curves. She accented her look with dark blue high heels, a small purse that most likely came from an expensive designer, and purple, stylized curls framing her face. The only thing that stood out from her ensemble was a small, cone-like horn protruding from her forehead.

“I think you knocked him out too good, Sugarcube,” the cowgirl said with a thick twang while adjusting her hat. Her hat hid thick, golden hair held together by a simple hair tie.

“How was I supposed to know what amount of magic I needed?” said the posh woman in another accent more more appropriate to a city landscape. “Seriously, Darling, it should have been you to do the nabbing. I could’ve broken a nail!” She held out her manicured hands to emphasis her point.

“You know I couldn’t,” the cowgirl said with a sigh. “I was busy with looking for any trace of Flutters nearby. You and Rainbow had to do it. Also, you had the knockout spell.”

“I still say we discuss our roles next time we have a plan like this. I felt like a thug for hire. So drab! So uncouth!”

Discord imagined she would have gone on about her complaints, but then the door to the room opened with a large BANG. Another woman around the same age as the others entered, holding her arms behind her covered head as if she had not a care in the world.

She looked like she crawled out of a gym workout with her running shorts, knee-high socks, running shoes, and an oversized hoodie. Discord apparently didn’t catch her attention as she said to the others, “Twi will be here in a minute. She said to go ahead with the questioning if he wakes up early.”

Discord should have stayed quiet to think of a clever escape plan, but his mouth moved faster than his brain. He muttered to himself, “Great, there’s more of them.”

Since the room was so quiet, his sentence was heard by all four women. They all turned to stare at him in different ways. The cowgirl looked relieved, the posh one looked surprised, and the gym rat glared as if he was hiding something despite being tied up to a chair.

The hyper pink one was the only one to seem happy about his presence. “Ooo, he’s awake!” she squeed and jumped off the table. She was up in Discord’s personal space again in a flash. Her attitude changed as she put on a scowl and growled, “Start talking, tough guy. Or else...”

“W-w-what?” Discord managed to squeak out. He was hoping the other girls in the room made more sense than this one.

Thankfully, the one with the cowboy hat walked over and said, “Don’t do that, Pinkie, you’ll scare the feller.”

“But I thought we agreed I would be Bad Cop!” the aforementioned “Pinkie” whined.

“You also need a Good Cop to make it work,” said the one in the hoodie. She pulled her hood down which showed a clash of primary colors on her head. She crossed her arms and stared at Pinkie as though this wasn’t the first time she had to be explained something.

“Ooo, great idea! Do you want to do it, Rainbow? How about you, Rarity?” the pink haired girl asked while still being a few feet away from Discord. She really must have wanted to play Bad Cop for some reason.

“Thank you, Darling, but I’ll pass,” the prim one said with a wave. “I mean, do you we need to play this game? I’m sure he will be willing to share if we ask properly.”

“If not, ya know I’m down to pull the truth outta him,” the cowgirl said with a smirk.

“Still weird he has any connection to her,” the rainbow-haired woman added. “You sure it wasn’t someone cooler or better dressed?”

“Rainbow, that’s no way to talk to someone who’s sittin’ right there.”

“Don’t see you doing anything useful yet, AJ.”

“Now see here, ya foulmouthed-”

Alright, Discord had reached his limit for the second time today. He was sick of people talking about him when he was still in the room. Trying to take control of the situation, he yelled, “Can any of you please explain what the hell is going on?!”

Everyone left in the room froze in place. Well, that certainly grabbed their attention. Riding on his earlier bravery, Discord said, “I don’t have much money, but you can have whatever I got on me if you let me go. I promise not to say anything to the cops.”

The one named Pinkie was the first to say something. She went back to her “Bad Cop” mode and sneered, “We don’t want your money, Old Man. We just want the facts!”

“I didn’t think he was that old,” whispered the posh woman (possibly Rarity, if Discord had to guess). “Some better tailored clothes could really help capture the strengths of his physique.”

He swallowed his pride and tried to focus on the bigger points. “Facts?” he asked. “On what?”

The rainbow gym one moved closer and also started to act aggressive. “Oh, come on! You know what we’re talking about!”

“No, I don’t! God, what does it take to have people who talk to their victims directly?!” Discord sighed and looked down. He had a pretty good feeling on what they wanted, so might as well confirm it. He stared up at the rainbow one and said, “Are you after any magic? Because I don’t have any.”

The answer made the woman’s eyes light up. “So, you do know about magic!” she exclaimed while adjusting her hoodie. Then, out of thin air, a pair of light blue wings seemed to pop out of hidden holes on her back. She extended her wings to full length, as if she was trying to make herself bigger and scarier. She leaned toward Discord and said with a smirk, “You better start telling us what you know, or else things might end up pretty-”

“GIRLS!”

All four of the women stood to attention at the voice. Discord leaned to the side as much as he could so we could see past the bodies. Standing near the door was yet another woman, but she carried an air of formality and authority. She wore a simple, purple blouse with sensible slacks and flats. She had broader, larger wings compared to the blue winged woman (most likely the “Rainbow” the others called her. Why they did call her that seemed pretty obvious). She also had a horn intrusion on her forehead, but it was longer and had a sharper, possibly deadlier tip.

Discord couldn’t help but gawk at the display. ‘Wings and a horn?’ he pondered. ‘Does she need both? Kind of seems like overkill.’

The rest of the group parted as the winged/horned woman trotted closer. “I see you haven’t properly started on the interrogation yet,” she said with obvious disappointment in her voice. The rest of them gave weak apologies and avoided her gaze. That just left her to stare at her current victim tied to a chair.

She grinned (thankfully, not as wide and creepy as the pink one) and said, “I apologize for the confusion. We’ll have you on your way soon. We just need you to answer a few questions for us. Let’s start with introductions.” She daintily placed a hand to her chest, bringing Discord’s attention to a purple gem on her neck. It appeared to pulse with an inner light. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. What’s yours?”

Discord ignored the question as he tried to piece together what he had seen so far. They appeared to have extra appendages like wings and horns. Did they also have draconequus blood? If so, why did Discord feel like they were completely different compared to Fluttershy? And why were other magic users looking for Fluttershy? They wouldn’t need her chaos magic if they had their own magic to use at their disposal. Discord highly doubted these women would give him the full truth, but maybe starting on the right foot will lead to some answers. He took a calming breath and clearly said, “Discord.”

The purple winged Twilight girl beamed with pride. “Thank you!” she said while placing her hands behind her back. She began pacing around the room as she said, “Now, as you might have guessed, we are affiliated with what you consider ‘magic.’ Also, from what I’ve caught outside the door, it seems you know more about magic than a regular human. Am I right?”

He looked off to the side to think. Best to start with bits and pieces and work his way up. “A bit,” he mumbled.

“Great!” Twilight was beaming again. “That will make explanations easier. You see, we’re looking for someone with powerful magic in particular. She goes by the name Fluttershy. Have you seen her recently?”

“I...uh...” Of course. The million-dollar question. He sure as hell wasn’t going to give her location to a bunch of strangers, especially after the last group of strangers tried to kill her and almost killed him. But what if they actually don’t mean any harm? Discord remembered how Fluttershy was so certain that everyone was out to get her. He was starting to see why.

The one named Rarity clicked over in her unpractical heels and said, “Are you sure this is the right course? We rarely get outside humans involved.”

“Don’t worry, I got this under control,” Twilight said in her strong, authoritative voice. She turned back to Discord and said, “Please, any information you can spare is very important to us.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you plan to do to her?”

“Oh-n-nothing, I promise!” she stammered. The strong authority force she carried melted away at the first sign of the unexpected. She quickly regained her composure and continued, “We do need to talk to her about something important and...complicated. Nothing for a non-magic user to worry about!”

Discord scoffed and looked away. “Consider me not convinced.”

“Hey!” the one named Rainbow said while spreading her wings again. “You don’t talk to her that way!”

“Rainbow, let her handle this,” the cowgirl lectured.

Rainbow turned to the cowgirl. “If he thinks he can sass my friend Twi, he has another thing coming!”

“Will it kill ya to control yer damn anger for one minute? You’ll mess things up again!”

“Of course you’d bring that back up you-”

“GIRLS!” Twilight bellowed with a shockwave that felt unearthly. The whole group silenced instantly as Twilight’s anger subsided. “I got this,” she repeated as though she was willing it to be true. She turned back to Discord who was shaken up by the fighting and yelling. “Please, sir, we really need to speak to Fluttershy. Whatever you can spare. We need her connection to the Elements of Harmony now more than ever. There’s something...we need to say to her. I need to say to her.”

The last line was barely uttered. Discord felt a wave of sadness encompass all the women. Whatever happened between them and Fluttershy must have still brought painful memories.

Still, this could be a trap to spill his secrets. He needed to just give enough info to get them out of his life. He’ll talk to Fluttershy about them later and figure out the whole deal. Discord broke the silence by saying, “I...I don’t really know her that well. I met her a couple of times and that’s it.”

Twilight and the rest seemed surprised. “That’s all?” she asked.

“That’s all,” he said with a restricted shrug. Maybe that will be enough to let him go.

Twilight shrugged as if to mimic him and said, “I appreciate your cooperation, but I’m afraid I need to make sure you’re being entirely truthful. Applejack?”

“On it.”

Discord felt two calloused hands press on his shoulders. The cowgirl (who he now guessed as Applejack) had walked behind him in a flash. The grip was firm but not painful. Instead, he felt a strange wave of energy flowing through the fingertips. The waves traveled down his arms and to the rest of his body. His muscles felt tight, and his jaw clenched out of reflex. What were they doing to him?

The earlier kindness Twilight showed earlier went away as a stern expression crossed her face. She leaned down to stare at Discord and said, “What you’re feeling right now is a truth spell. It won’t cause permanent harm on you, but it will make lying very uncomfortable. So, please answer these as best you can. What do you know about Fluttershy?”

Discord’s muscles tighten even harder as he tried to think of an answer. He experimented with a lie in his head, but when he tried letting the words out, his tongue didn’t work right. He felt the urge to spill his guts out, but he couldn’t do that to Fluttershy. Not until he knew who these Element people were and what exactly they wanted. He had to be creative with this. If he could only tell the truth, he had to work with those limits.

After a minute of tightening muscles that almost took his breath away, Discord settled on a truth. He rasped out, “S-s-she has draconequus blood. She controls chaos magic. Her bunny friend is a bit of a prick.”

Twilight nodded along. “Good start,” she said. “Now, tell me, do you know where she lives currently?”

“D-don’t know. I don’t know where her house is.” Which is technically true. He guessed it might be in the Everfree Forest, but since she created a portal every time he visited, he can’t pinpoint its exact location.

Twilight frowned. “Do you know her current whereabouts now?”

“N-n-n-no.” Also true. Fluttershy is a free woman and can be between Canterlot and the Swiss Alps by now. He hoped they didn’t ask more specific questions like if he plans to meet her.

Twilight’s frown turned into a scowl. She looked up to Applejack, but she just shook her head and said, “So far, nothing.”

“It’s very important to us you tell us what you know,” said Twilight. “She can’t be left to her own devices.”

This made Discord’s blood boil. What did they know about Fluttershy? Sure, he only knew her for roughly a month, but she had been fun and sweet and caring the whole time. Yeah, she liked to be a bit chaotic (the less said about the new paint job she did to his car, the better. She eventually changed it back), but it was all for fun, and no one got hurt. They were acting like she was a war criminal.

Discord raised his head to stare up at this Twilight leader. He said with no hesitation, “It sounds like you’re describing someone who’s dangerous and cruel. And I know no one who matches that.”

The two of them stared down each other for a few long seconds, neither one of them wanting to back down. The tension was broken when Rarity made a light gasping sound. She was looking at her phone she pulled from her purse and said, “Oh dear, it’s getting late. Someone might have noticed he’s missing by now.”

Twilight broke contact first and walked away. She sighed and said, “Fine. Let him go.” She looked over her shoulder, her eyes flashing with determination. “We’ll be keeping an eye on you. If you see Fluttershy again, tell her this: Twilight and the others needs her back. Best of luck, Discord.”

Twilight then threw her hand towards Discord’s direction. It glowed a neon purple color as Discord felt another wave of energy crash through him. He felt himself lose consciousness again and his vision faded to black.

=================

Discord felt someone push on his back as he stumbled to catch himself from falling. The blinding light of the late afternoon sun poked through the clouds above him. He adjusted his eyes to the light as he took in his surroundings. He was nearby the alleyway he was kidnapped. When he turned to look down the alleyway to see if the five ladies were still there, he saw nothing. Just garbage bins and trash littering the ground.

Figures, they ran away. He was hoping the whole ordeal was a weird dream, but his gut feeling was saying it wasn’t. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked the time. It was 4:55 PM. His lunch ended over two hours ago! God, his bosses were going to rip him a new one. Figuring out what exactly happened would have to wait. He made his way back to the office in a light sprint.

When he approached the large skyscraper that housed his job along with ten other companies, he heard a shrill yell, “Discord! There you are!”

Oh God. The magic women weren’t done with him yet. Discord raised his hands to fight/plea but was relieved to see Starlight Glimmer approach him instead. He switched his hands to a more friendly wave.

Starlight put her hands on her hips and said, “Erik was looking for you! I covered for you and said you had to meet up with a client. I emailed you five times, and you didn’t respond! Where were you?”

Shit, time to dig himself out of this hole fast. He said with only a slight stammer, “N-nowhere in particular. Sorry. To be honest, I’ve been overworking myself lately and headed out to take a small nap. It lasted longer than expected. Sorry again.”

Starlight sighed and brushed her hand through her hair. She looked up at Discord and said, “You’re lucky you got people like me keeping an eye out. You owe me big time.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you want,” he said while moving into the building. The sooner he can see Erik and get to work, the better. The routine will help him clear his head.

Erik Watson was nearby his cubicle when Discord entered his section. He wore a pressed suit and tie which gave an image of power and wealth. His eyes (and whitened teeth) sparkled as he saw Discord and went in for a handshake. “Discord, there you are, ya scamp!”

“Right, yeah, sorry for the delay,” said Discord. “I forgot to set up my email and everything.”

“It’s good, it’s good. I just wanted to follow up on that email I sent before lunch. Looks like the new CEO is delayed by a new project and won't be in town next week. Just wanted to pass that on directly.”

Sounds...simple. Too simple. “Oh, okay, sure, no problem,” Discord said while trying to find the right emotion to portray to this high executive. He had to find the right mix of not too eager and not too heartbroken about this canceled meeting. “Is there something he needs from me specifically?”

“He didn’t say much,” Erik said while walking away. Discord had no choice but to follow him to whatever destination he was heading to. “If you ask me, I think he sees great potential in you. Your last yearly review was pretty solid, and you helped us out with that Hub Station client not too far back.

“I would keep my wits up around the new Head Macho. I smell big promotion!”

Discord nodded and kept quiet during Erik’s speech. While a promotion would be nice, he didn’t want to get caught up in the work politics found in higher positions. He would have to think about it. Not sure why the new CEO would be interested in someone boring and plain like him though.

The break room wasn’t too far off now. If Discord planned it right, he could break off from Erik and return to work. He nodded once more and said, “That sounds nice. Well, let me know when he’s in town next time.”

As Discord walked into the break room and Erik continued walking down the hallway, he heard Erik bellow, “Of course, of course, I’ll be sure to set something up with you and Tirek next time he flies over Canterlot!”