All's Fair, In Love and War

"Checkmate."

"No way.

"Super-duper-turbolicious-yes way! Read it and weep, Dashie."

Rainbow Dash observes the layout of the chessboard, erected from cloud stuffing and cumulus, and scowls. She points at Pinkie Pie's queen and snaps.

"Hey! I took out your queen ages ago, how'd you get her back?"

Pinkie Pie pokes her tongue out.

"Everypony knows that you can promote pawns to queens, silly!"

"What?! Hey, egghead," Rainbow Dash gathers up a small ball of cloud and lobs it at the nearest unicorn's head. "Pinkie's cheating at chess, there's no way that's a real rule! You gotta be with me on this!"

Twilight just glowers at them.

"Excuse me," the unicorn bites back, a brow raised high in challenge. "Fate of Equestria lying in the balance? Discord reaping havoc? Are there any bells ringing at all? Oh, and no, that's a rule. It happens when a pawn reaches the end of the board."

A heartbeat passes in tense silence.

"Aw, man," Rainbow Dash deflates, folding her forelegs against her chest with a huff. "Fine, Pinkie! You win."

The earth pony jumps to her hooves, bouncing around their cloud haven in glee and victory. "Yippee! What do I win, what do I win? Oh, oh! Do I get a cupcake? Cotton candy? Chocolate rain? All of the above, plus balloons?!"

Rainbow Dash stares at her.

"No."

Pinkie Pie deflates like a sad pink balloon. "Oh..."

"Girls!" Twilight cuts in, and it's enough to snap the two mares out of their theatrics as they come bumbling over. "Come on, there has to be something that we can do!"

"I 'unno, Twi," Applejack sighs, playing with a bouncy ball fashioned out of cloud stuffing. "I reckon we're stuck playin' the waitin' game. Ya' heard Discord; no helpin' Fluttershy. If we try 'n do anythin', it might get her hurt."

Rainbow Dash's ears pin back and a snarl pulls at her lips.

"If he hurts her, I'm gonna send him packing one way to Tartarus!"

"Oh, me too!" Pinkie Pie giggles. It's a very ominous giggle. "He can spend time with my Uncle Timmy!"

The three mares turn to regard her with a steady, almost healthy amount of concern. Then, as one, they all mutually decide it's probably not worth getting into.

"Right," Rainbow Dash continues. "Anyway... What can we do?"

Twilight lies back down with a huff.

"I..." She sighs, burying her face in her forelegs. The admission that slips out is quiet and soft; as if she would've preferred if she hadn't spoken at all. "I don't know."

"Oh, sugarcube..."

Applejack settles down next to her, pressing their sides together in comfort. A muscled foreleg is placed across her withers, giving the unicorn a gentle squeeze.

"There has to be something we can do," Twilight declares after raising her head, giving the earth pony a grateful glance. "Fluttershy won't be able to evade Discord forever. You saw him! I've never seen any creature with magic that strong, not even the Princess! The fact that she managed to put game rules in place is a miracle, and I don't know how many miracles she has left."

There was a solemn silence amongst them as they recalled their lost friend. Rainbow Dash purses her lips and looks away, glaring at a patch of cloud in silence.

"So, we can't help Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie thinks aloud, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "And we can't go below the cloud cover, or else it's game over for Flutters, right? Well, that's an easy fix!"

Twilight and Applejack look at her, unblinking.

"How?" The unicorn demands, staring with intensity.

"Well," the party pony giggles, resuming her gleeful bouncing through the air. "If you can't go down to the ground, you gotta bring the ground to you! Duh!"

Applejack rolls her eyes. "Pinkie Pie, that ain't--"

"Of course!"

Confused green turns to regard bright, dazzling purple. A grin stretches its way across Twilight's face, one so wide that it almost looks painful. Upon seeing it, Applejack can't help but cringe away, her question eloquently put as a simple:

"Eh?"

"We can't help Fluttershy, and we can't mess with Discord, right?" Twilight asks her; when the earth pony opens her mouth to reply, she keeps talking and barrels right over her. "But, that doesn't mean we can't use magic at all!"

"Uh, well sure," Applejack nods along. "But how's that gonna' help anypony, anyway? Unless ya' want us to start throwin' apples at the back o' his head."

And Twilight beams.

"We can find the Elements of Harmony! So, my first guess about them being in the labyrinth was wrong, but that just means he kept them someplace else! He wouldn't have had time to find a new hiding spot; so, chances are, they're still in the first place he put them! If we can figure out the riddle while he's distracted with Fluttershy, I can try and contact Spike to find them and get them here, and then it wouldn't matter when Fluttershy gets caught--!"

Rainbow Dash cuts in, scowling at her. "'When'? What do you mean, 'when'?"

"Well," Twilight starts and then stops, before shaking her head with a vexed exhale. "Oh, come on, Rainbow. We've already talked about this!"

"Uh-huh," Rainbow Dash drags out, glowering. "Wanna repeat it?"

Unicorn and pegasus stare at each other, on opposite ends of a stand-off. One has her wings flared out in barely restrained anger, whilst the other stubbornly looks away.

Applejack looks warily between them before turning to her fellow earth pony, nudging her head towards a wayward Rarity. The unicorn is currently occupying a lone gap in the clouds, squinting down at things on the ground.

"C'mon, sugarcube," she whispers to her, "let's give 'em some privacy, aight? Reckon's they got some stuff to work through."

"Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie Pie replies, sparing a quick look back before hopping after the farmer.

A long, drawn-out silence settles into place between the two mares. It's just as awkward and awful as it sounds.

The unicorn breaks it with a groan, turning to her with the patience of somepony who's been asked this question many-a-time already.

"Rainbow Dash..."

"No," the pegasus demands with a hoof-stomp. "Tell me what you meant, Twilight. Go on, give it to me plain and simple, since you just have so much to say."

Twilight Sparkle stands firm, even in the wake of her close friend's ire. "I love and trust her just as much as you do, Rainbow Dash, but it's just...! You know as well as I do, that Fluttershy doesn't stand a chance down there with him! And, as much as I want to believe otherwise, there's more at stake than just her, or me, or any of us. This is the fate of Equestria, for crying out loud!"

"And I get that!" Rainbow Dash shouts back, wings flared out in agitation. "No, trust me, I get that, Twi! But why are you talking about her like she's already lost, huh? Fluttershy's always pulled through when it mattered and you know it!"

"Oh, come on," the unicorn groans, barely pushing the words out between her grit teeth. "Aren't you listening to me?! I trust her! I trust her with my life, my bits, and, more than all of that, I trust her with my books! But this is more than just us, Rainbow. Princess Celestia is counting on us, on me, and--"

Rainbow Dash just gives her a long hard stare.

"So," she snorts, "this isn't really about Fluttershy; it's about you being the best student you can possibly be to the Princess, and not about our friend that's stuck facing the greatest bozo Equestria has ever seen."

Twilight looks at her, lips parted in shock and hurt tears welling up in her eyes. Her heart throbs at the unexpected blow, and she can't help but take a step back.

"You..." She swallows thickly. "You really think that little of me?"

And, with an aggrieved sigh, all the anger drains out of the pegasus in a great burst of air.

"I-- no, Twilight, of course not, it's just..." Rainbow Dash kicks at the ground, kicking up tiny puffs of white. "You're talking so much about- about contingencies, and backups, and planning around Fluttershy, it's just... You're talking about her like you've already given up on her. You're talking about her like she's-- like she's a liability, Twilight. You've never done that before, never!"

The unicorn stares at her before, with a guilty look in her eyes, she turns away.

"I-- I know, and I hate myself for it, I think," Twilight admits quietly. "It's just that-- Fluttershy is amazing; she's so kind, so compassionate, and so gentle that I can't imagine her having what it takes to come out on top of somepony like Discord. He's going to take advantage of her, Rainbow Dash. She's so unfalteringly good, but... she's not..."

Rainbow Dash trots over, taking a seat at her side.

"She's not a fighter," the pegasus finishes, staring grimly over the chaos-stricken lands beneath them. "She doesn't have confidence in herself that she'll win."

The other mare throws her forelegs out in a frustrated motion.

"Exactly! And it's not just her, or me, or us that are going to pay the price for that; it's going to be everypony on all of Equus! It's just- how am I meant to have faith in her, when she doesn't even have faith in herself? I've always believed in her; I believed in her with the dragon and Nightmare Moon and, when she found me petrified in the Everfree, I just knew she'd save me! But this..."

Far beneath their hooves, they watch with melancholic despondency as trees dance the tango, birds feast on rocks and pebbles, and spiders the size of houses scamper through abandoned cities.

"How do I believe in her," Twilight whispers, a choked sob lodged in her throat. "How do I believe in her, the pony who's scared of everything, when the friends that make her strong aren't even there anymore? The whole world's against her, and there's nothing any of us can do about it."

Rainbow Dash stays quiet, wing stretching out to wrap around her in comfort.

"I've known Fluttershy for a long time," she says, carefully. "She's stronger than you think she is, remember? You're the one that taught me that. You always told me to trust her and to trust her to pull through for us. You said yourself, that you believed in her time and time again, and that she never once let you down. What makes this any different?"

Twilight bows her head.

"I-I don't know," she murmurs, sniffling. "Maybe it's because, while she's stuck down there with some horrible crazy monster, we're up here drinking chocolate milk and eating cotton candy? Usually, we're in these messes together; but we're not together, not this time. It's just her. It's just Fluttershy, the sweetest, gentlest, and most tender-hearted pony alive, and I... I'm so scared for her, Rainbow. What if... What if Discord k-kills--"

The pegasus' face hardens. "He won't."

"B-but what if--?"

"He won't," Rainbow Dash snaps, and that's that. "Listen, Twi: and you better know that I'm telling the truth because when it comes to Fluttershy, I'm always brutally honest. Is she the smartest? No. Is she the most athletic? No. Is she the best flyer? No. Is she even an average flyer? Also no--"

Twilight frowns, rubbing at her wet cheeks.

"Gee," she deadpans. "This makes me feel so much better."

"-But," Rainbow Dash continues, "I've never known a braver pony in my life-- hey, I'm trying to be serious here, so stop laughing!"

The unicorn's incredulous giggle cuts off, replaced by an abrupt clearing of her throat.

"Uhm, right. Sorry."

"-Listen," the pegasus tells her, disgruntled. "I'm being serious for once, Twi! She's scared of everything: and she's always been like that. She's walked on eggshells her whole life, terrified of the clouds, the wind, the grass; heck, she used to be scared of the rain! She runs away, yeah, of course. But, when it comes to the stuff that matters; to the stuff that needs somepony to fight, she stays. And she always stays, and I think she always will. That's how I know when something's serious-- because if Fluttershy decides to stay instead of run, then it has to mean something, Twilight."

Twilight looks down at her hooves, a contemplative quiet settling between them.

Eventually, she speaks.

"Down in that maze," she begins, staring at a strange shape fleeing down a Canterlot street. "She wanted to run, didn't she?"

Rainbow Dash snorts. "Of course she did, it's Fluttershy!"

"But... she stayed."

"Well, duh."

Twilight frowns. "Why? She... she has to know, right? She has to know that she doesn't really stand a chance against him. She was afraid of him, Rainbow. I saw it in her eyes. She was terrified."

"Of course she knows that, and of course she's afraid," the pegasus replies, rolling her eyes. "But that doesn't matter, because Fluttershy's always afraid, and every day she has to work through those fears. It doesn't matter what shape it is or form it takes: it's all the same to her. It's just that sometimes she can run, and other times, she knows she has to stay, because if she doesn't, then nopony else will."

Twilight looks at her, head tilted.

"How do you know so much about her?"

Rainbow Dash only shrugs. "We grew up together, egghead. We went through Flight Camp together, went to school together, and eventually went to the ground together: her to stay, and me to make sure she didn't get stuck hiding in some bushes."

A soft hum hangs in the air between them, gossamer-thin.

"We should get back to the others," Twilight finally suggests, pushing herself to her hooves. "And, um... thank you, Rainbow Dash. Really. I think I understand her a lot more than I did before."

The pegasus follows her up, stretching her wings with a great big groan.

"Don't sweat it, Twi!" Rainbow Dash yawns, shaking her mane out. "Always here to put you girls back on track; I mean, c'mon, Element of Loyalty, remember? Somepony's gotta stick by you guys through thick and thin, and I'm just the pony for the job. Now, c'mon! I wanna see if Rarity saw anything new!"

Twilight brightens and, with a tiny laugh, follows after her.

Together, they trot on the plush bounciness of the cloud cover. In the comfort of her mind, the unicorn can't help but liken it to an endless sea of mattresses; full of downy and cotton.

"-Twi, Dash, you guys gotta see this!"

Twilight shakes off her reverie, with the pegasus leaving her side and hurrying towards the rest of their friends.

"What's happened?! Is Fluttershy okay?"

"Oh, she's more than alright, darling," Rarity demurs, smiling up at Twilight as she joins them. "In fact, she's headed in this direction!"

Twilight's eyes nearly bulge out of her skull. "She's what?!"

Applejack frowns, looking past their heads to pick out the yellow speck that's, gradually, growing bigger and bigger. "Ain't that against the rules?" She suggests. "We ain't meanta' help her!"

"Weeeeeell," Pinkie Pie drags out, waving a hoof in the air. "We aren't helping her, right? She's coming up to us and, if she just wants to talk and hang out, what's lil' ol' Cordy gonna do about it? Loopholes~!"

Twilight blinks owlishly.

"Huh."

"Yeah, go Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cheers, hovering above them all. "She's got this in the bag!"

"Girls," Fluttershy manages out between pants, seated on a cloud that hovers just below the rest of them. "G-girls, I-I don't know what to do!"

Twilight gives Rainbow Dash a meaningful look; the pegasus just gives her a painful-looking grin.

"Oh, but darling!" Rarity tries, looking down at her with wide eyes. "You're doing so well, whyever would you think or say such a thing?"

She swallows; the bakery is far behind her now, and yet, the shadow of the encounter looms over her like a phantom. It had been so close-- so horribly close.

"B-but I'm not doing well, Rarity! I nearly got--!"

"Did he hurt you?" Rainbow Dash cuts in, her eyes narrowed into a pair of angry pink slits. "I'll give him a Sonic Rainboom to the back of the head if he has!"

Fluttershy blinks, lashes fluttering in confusion. "O-oh, n-no, not at all, he's been..."

She trails off into silence. The rest of them look at her, wide-eyed with eagerness.

"Horrible? Mean? Awful?" Twilight tries.

"-A bushel o' apples so rotten, ya' can't even use 'em for compostin'?"

"Oh, oh! A great big horrible meanie-pants with fangs and evil eyes and a witch? He's an evil enchantress and he does evil dances--!"

"-I believe what they're all trying to say," Rarity continues, speaking over the rest. "Is, 'has he been a ruffian'?"

Fluttershy stares at them all, lips pursed in thought. Enthusiasm drives them to lean closer and closer, staring unblinkingly.

"Actually," she admits shyly, retreating behind her mane. "He's been... very nice. I-I just... I don't know how much longer he'll be nice."

Rainbow Dash stares at her. "He what."

Next to her, Rarity gently pushes Applejack's and Twilight's jaws back up. Their mouths close with a quiet, simultaneous click. "It's rude to stare," she admonishes. "That's, erm... Well, actually, I'm not sure what that is, but it's definitely something."

"Has he been giving you cupcakes?" Pinkie Pie asks her, curiosity twinkling like tiny stars in her eyes. "Oh! I know! Is he going through his character redemption arc, early?! That's still meant to be a whole season away!"

"Oh, um," the pegasus mumbles, trying to brush out the tangles in her mane to little avail. "Before I get started on that, do any of you girls have something I can try and tie my hair with? I'm... I'm worried that it'll get caught."

All of them look at each other, caught lacking, until Applejack starts pulling the ties in her mane and tail out. Warm yellow tresses tumble out from their binds, wild and voluminous, before the pony steps towards the cloud's edge.

"Ah, what the hay," she shrugs, gathering them up in her mouth before tossing them down to Fluttershy. "Don't lose 'em, aight, sugarcube?"

Fluttershy squeaks out in alarm, mumbling a quick thanks before catching them in her trembling hooves. With a slow breath of relief, she settles back down and begins the process of tying up her hair.

"So..."

Twilight clears her throat, staring at her meaningfully. "You were saying about Discord?"

"O-oh," the pegasus stutters out, struggling to bunch up her tail in a bun. When that fails, she settles on braiding it instead. "Well, he's been very nice to me, but... It's made me aware that I'm just, well; I don't think that I stand a chance."

"Really," Twilight squeaks out, voice pitched high in nervousness, and the oddity of it is enough to cause Fluttershy's ear to twitch. "Um, and why do you think that?"

"He caught me before," comes the quiet admission, and the prospect itself is horrifying enough to shock all ponies present into complete silence. "I went into a bakery; it looked like a nice bakery, with sunshine and light and lots of delicious pastries. It... reminded me of Sugarcube Corner, I think that's why I went inside. And... and, somehow, he knew I'd go in there rather than anywhere else. And he..."

"...Cornered you," Twilight finishes with a grim expression. "He knew where you'd go, and he set a trap."

Fluttershy nods hesitantly, the familiar burn of humiliation etching its way across her body. "He closed the door and shut the windows; it went from light to dark so quickly, I couldn't see anything, and I was too scared to move in the dark because if I touched him... You know. And by the time my eyes adjusted, he was already there, and I couldn't move."

"Oh, darling," Rarity whispers, sympathy dripping from every syllable. "That sounds terrifying."

The pegasus shrinks, retreating from their stares with wings arched high enough to hide beneath. A shaky breath rocks her small form, and her whole body trembles with the force of her shudder.

"It was," she admits quietly. "I-I... I couldn't take it anymore; the running, the paranoia, the pressure, and I..."

She trails off. A quiet settles between the six mares, dragging on and on, until she finally shifts.

"I thought it was over," Fluttershy tells them, tying off the braid for her tail. Then, she begins the arduous process of putting her mane in a bun. "But then he got up, gave me something to clean myself with, and just..."

Rarity stares at her, thoughts dancing like minnows in her endless blues.

"What did he do then, darling?"

Her hooves pause, a gentle wind blowing through and dragging cool fingers through her fur. It feels like a blessing.

"He let me go," Fluttershy whispers, her veiled gaze drifting down towards Canterlot. "And I don't know why. I asked him, but he just said that he felt like it."

"Probably didn't want his 'game' to end too early," Twilight grumbles, scowling. "The books always described him like a puppet master."

The pegasus raises her head, wanting to protest; but then Applejack speaks instead, and her voice is lost to the breeze.

"I don't trust that varmint for a minute! I reckon he's just toyin' with ya', just like Twi said! He's a no-good, two-timin', snake o' a critter, that's for sure!"

"Well," Pinkie Pie pipes up with a giggle, holding a puff of cotton candy in her hooves. "I think some of his ideas are great! He can't be all bad, if he's making the world so yummy and sweet!"

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash groans, "Pinkie! Be serious for like, two seconds, would ya'?!"

Fluttershy looks up at them, a hint of yearning catching her breath in her throat. She watches as they devolve into lighthearted bickering, clumps of smoky white kicking up when Rainbow Dash starts chasing Pinkie Pie around the cloud cover. Applejack and Twilight watch over them with exasperated stares, careful to navigate the pair away from the clouds' edge.

Her lips quiver.

She watches, and watches, and watches. It feels like there's a gulf between them; one that she can't cross, no matter how much she wants to. For the first time in a long time, for the first time since she was first introduced to the wonders of friendship, Fluttershy feels like an outsider.

"Fluttershy," Twilight speaks up eventually, looking towards her. There's a semblance of privacy to this conversation, and the pegasus can't help but feel a little bit nervous. "I've got a plan, and... and I wanted to talk to you about it."

The mare lights up, nodding along before the unicorn had even finished speaking.

"Of course, Twilight," Fluttershy smiles at her, grateful for even the slightest hint of aid. "You're the smartest pony I know. Have you come up with something to help win the game?"

"Not... exactly."

She blinks up at her, confused. "I... see?"

"I was thinking about trying to find the Elements of Harmony while Discord is... distracted," Twilight explains, and it feels like she's being more careful with her words than she usually is. "We can't help you in the game, and we can't do anything to mess with him while you guys are playing either. The next best thing is getting a back-up plan. If we can find the Elements of Harmony, then we won't have to worry about the outcome of the game."

In other words, a mean voice in her head sneers, she doesn't want you dooming all of Equestria.

Oh.

For a brief moment, she wonders if this is what heartbreak feels like.

Fluttershy stares into the abyss before her eyes, some strange oblivion taking hold of her mind. There's a dull ache that lingers between her ribs, constant and steady, and it builds higher and higher with every second that passes.

Twilight doesn't believe in her.

Terrible emotions flood her mouth with acid and ash, and she hates them with a passion. She knows, logically, that Twilight is just desperate to help; Fluttershy can't imagine how her friend must feel, stuck miles and miles above the ground, knowing that the fate of her entire country is completely out of her hooves.

And yet, it still hurts.

And of course it still hurts; it still hurts because feelings are illogical, and Fluttershy has always been more sensitive than most. She understands why Twilight has said the things she's said; but it doesn't stop the pain from digging in deep, and raking cruel claws across her soul.

It never does.

But she blinks and wills herself back into the present nonetheless, because Twilight is trying her best in a horrible situation, and she understands.

"Of course," Fluttershy tells her with a gentle creasing of her eyes. "That would be wonderful! I don't think I can outrun Discord forever. I've been very lucky, so far."

"Great!" Twilight grins, clapping her hooves together. "You do your absolute best, Fluttershy, and I'll try to get a message your way if we need your help with anything! Otherwise, you're doing an amazing job with Discord. You'll do great!"

"Thank you," she manages to say, a kind expression practically welded to her face. "I'll, um, do my best."

"That's all any of us can ever ask for," the unicorn tells her kindly. For some reason, the words sting. "Just remember; we're always here to help you out-- oh, Pinkie! Be careful, you'll fall off the edge!"

With that, Fluttershy can only watch as Twilight hurries away, her magic grabbing hold of a flailing Pinkie Pie. The mare was inches away from becoming a pancake before the unicorn intervened.

Fluttershy stares.

She stares as Twilight leverages the earth pony with an exasperated stare, and she keeps staring as Applejack chases a laughing Rainbow Dash around the cloud. She stays staring, longer and longer still, until she can almost convince herself that she's fine.

"Darling?"

She blinks the burning out of her eyes, quickly wiping at her face. Fluttershy rises to her hooves, strength restored after her rest, and turns her gaze up to meet Rarity's. The unicorn is looking down at her, sweet understanding shining from every corner of her eyes, and the pegasus can only smile weakly in return.

"I'm... okay."

"No," Rarity tells her, soft and sure. "No, you're not."

Fluttershy looks away, guilt burning hot and horrid in her chest.

"No," the mare admits. "I'm... I'm not." She inhales, a deep and calming breath, only to find that she still feels just as unsteady as before. "Rarity, do you... do you trust me?"

"Of course," she tells her, confused. "Why wouldn't I? You're the kindest pony I know."

"No, n-not, um, that. Do you," Fluttershy pauses for a moment, considering her words. "Rarity, do you trust that I can win this game of Tag?"

Rarity blinks down at her, nothing but bewilderment shining through her expression.

"Fluttershy," she says slowly, "why are you asking me this?"

"J-just because," the pegasus mumbles, scuffing her hoof against the cloud. "I, um, wouldn't blame you. For... for not trusting me, I mean."

"Fluttershy," Rarity speaks, and her tone drips with a firmness that pins her ears back against her skull. "What is going on in that head of yours? I demand to know why my friend is speaking so..! So lowly of herself, this instant!"

She droops and lowers her head, looking away to stare at some distant shape in a desperate bid to avoid her friend's eyes.

"I-I, um," Fluttershy whispers, caught somewhere between cowering and crying, and she can't help but hate herself for her cowardice- just a little. "I..."

Crystal blue narrows, slimmer and slimmer still, until only thin slits peer out at her with an unnerving focus.

"Tell me. Now."

The pegasus whimpers and shuts her eyes tight. Then, she lets it all out in one go and simply hopes that she speaks too fast for Rarity to catch on. "I'm scared that all of you are worried that I'm going to lose the game and that none of you believe in me, and I don't blame you for not believing in me, because I don't believe in me either! But if you guys can't believe in me and I can't believe in myself, then of course I'm going to lose against Discord because he's Discord and I'm just Fluttershy. I'm going to lose because I'm slow and predictable and t-terrified, and no one's going to be surprised about it, and you're all not going to want to be friends anymore because the end of the world as we know it is going be all! My! Fault!"

By the end of it, she's panting with duress. Her throat feels raw from how loud and frantic her words were, and the unicorn's unrelenting stare is doing nothing to ease any of it. A glimmer of purple catches her attention for a moment. Then, misery sets in, and she's drawn back into the solitude of her own mind.

I shouldn't have said anything, Fluttershy bemoans, flopping to the ground and throwing her hooves over her face. Usually I'm good at not saying anything! What happened!

Seconds pass, on and on, until time transitions into minutes. For once, she hates the quiet.

"No," her friend eventually decides, and she's never been more thankful to hear her voice. "No, it wouldn't be your fault, Fluttershy. And do you know why?"

She blinks up at her, hesitant. "Why?"

"Because," Rarity tells her with a wry smile, "we all fell for the same tricks, now didn't we? Oh, sure, perhaps Twilight was under his thrall using magic; but, in the end, I got tricked by a giant rock, of all things! Applejack and Pinkie Pie were felled by their insecurities, and Rainbow Dash was forced to choose between two loyalties. And yet, amidst all of this tomfoolery, only you reached the end."

"That's only because I got lucky!" Fluttershy protests. "He saved me for last because I'd be the easiest to deal with, and we all know it!"

"Certainly, that might be his reasoning," the unicorn agrees. "But, that doesn't mean it's going to be true, now does it, darling?"

Fluttershy stares up at her in shock. "Rarity, have you seen me? I'm doing horr--"

"-what you're doing, my dear friend, is making a creature of chaos, disharmony, and all things vulgar," Rarity cuts in, looking at her meaningfully, "hesitate. Fluttershy, darling, I've been watching you this whole time; since the second we got banished to the cloud cover, I've been watching the chase. You think that you're the wrong pony for the job? Well, that's pish-posh! Of course you don't have the same strengths as us; but, even if you did, you wouldn't need them."

Words fail her and she's left fumbling for words. Something sparks to life in her chest, something soft and fuzzy and sweet, and she's desperate to put out the hope before it can truly take root.

"W-well, um, I-- I don't think..."

"Nope! I'll stop you right there!" Rarity huffs, waving her hoof through the air in a frigid motion. "No one may sully my dearest Fluttershy's name, not even the mare herself!"

She meekly retreats, nodding behind her forelock.

"O-okay..."

"Fluttershy," the unicorn sighs, smiling with a fondness that she can't help but feel like she doesn't deserve. "If you saw things the way I did, you would know exactly why I have total and complete faith in you. You are beautiful, darling; and not because of your looks, though that does help, but because of your unending kindness. If there is anypony, any force on all of Equus, that can stir empathy in others... well, Fluttershy. It's you."

She can't help but look away, the praise dying her cheeks red with embarrassment. That strange feeling grows into something resembling the sunrise, golden sunlight settling over her anxious and bleeding soul.

Still, Fluttershy can't help but try one last time to stem it: to say something, anything, that'll stop her from believing in herself too much.

"O-oh, but I..."

"-and I believe in you," Rarity tells her, and the pegasus stills. "And, when you win, I'll be expecting you at the spa post-haste."

'I believe in you.'

She says it with such certainty, with such conviction, that the only thing Fluttershy can do is accept it.

Fluttershy turns to her, a genuine and heartfelt smile unfurling with a brightness that could rival the stars. She didn't realise how much she needed to hear it; to hear that somepony, anypony, believed in her.

It's like a fresh dawn, spilling sunlight over darkened lands. It's like the taste of water, after months of drought. It's trust, simple and divine, and she couldn't be more thankful for it.

"Rarity," she chokes out, tears causing her voice to rasp and choke. "Thank you."

"Sometimes," Rarity gentles, "all we need is somepony in our corner. And, darling, never forget: I'll always, always, be in yours."

It's a sweet and tender moment; one that they let themselves sit in, soaking in each other's company, for as long as the world allows. Which, of course, is for all of thirty seconds.

A trumpet appears between them in a plume of smoke.

"Um," Fluttershy begins, blinking.

Then, the trumpet blows: a tiny Discord pops out, a scroll unfurling in his hands and tumbling down, down, down...

Both mares watch as it smacks against the edge of a tree and continues unwinding, carving a tiny off-white track through the landscape. Tiny Discord clears his throat, equipped in the fittings of an ancient town-crier, and the sight is bizarre enough to render them speechless.

"Riveting," Rarity finishes flatly, glowering at the draconequus. "The court clown has made an appearance."

"Hear ye', hear ye'!" He cries, and his voice claims the attention of the rest of their wayward crew. "A new rule has been decided upon!"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash snaps, throwing a ball of cloud at his head. "You can't add rules on while the game's playing, that's cheating!"

The tiny tuft of white bounces harmlessly off his head. Tiny Discord snaps his fingers and the pegasus is promptly buried under an avalanche of cloud-stuffing.

"Well," he sniffs haughtily, "there's no rule against making new rules, now is there? Your little friend should've thought about that before accepting the deal. Besides! We're playing house-rules, aren't we, my dear?"

She just blinks. "I, um, guess?"

"Fluttershy," Twilight groans, running a hoof down her face.

"Fantastic choice," he purrs. "Oh, and first order of business: house-rule one, Discord can use his magic if it means communicating new rules!"

Twilight, who had her hoof raised in declaration, wilts.

"Oh, horse apples," she swears. "This is just evil."

"Self-serving, not evil," Tiny-Discord corrects, poking his serpentine tongue out. "And so, as I was originally saying: hear ye', hear ye'! Every minute that Fluttershy spends in the sky, she has to spend that same amount on the ground!"

"Oh," Twilight tentatively brightens. "That's not so bad--!"

"-Time in the safe-zone doesn't count, and periods of flight can't be more than thirty minute periods at a time," he tacks on smugly.

Twilight goes quiet, and the rest of the mares just give her a meaningful stare. She laughs nervously before petering off into a sigh.

"Sorry I asked," she grumbles.

"Oh, um, excuse me," Fluttershy pipes up uncertainly, tapping the tips of her hooves together. "I, just, um, I wanted to ask... well, if you didn't mind answering, Discord..."

"But, of course, Fluttershy!" Tiny-Discord flutters his eyelashes. "Anything for you, my dear."

"D-does flying close to the ground still count as being on the ground? Like, um," she lowers a hoof, holding it only a few inches above the cloud's surface. "Like this?"

Tiny-Discord taps his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, why not. It'd be no fun to have you completely helpless."

Then, he pauses, giving the idea some thought.

"Or maybe it would be more fun?"

"Let's have a rule that you can't change rules already in place," Fluttershy hurriedly adds on, giving him a nervous look. "I, um, think we should have a new rule too. I-it's f-fair, because you've added two rules t-that help you, so I should... you know..."

"Ugh, fair," Tiny-Discord groans, spitting the word out in disgust. It drops to the ground far beneath their hooves, where it explodes into thousands of paper cranes. "But, fine, let it be known that I'm a generous and kind soul. What boring thought have you come up with?"

"You can't add anymore rules on," Fluttershy tells him. "That's my rule."

"Ah yes, boring as expected-- wait," Tiny-Discord interrupts himself with a scowl, glaring at her. "What did you just say, my dear?"

She stands firm even if every part of her wants to cower and hide.

"You can't a-add anymore rules onto the game," she repeats, staring unerringly into his eyes. "You've already added on two, nearly went back and changed one, and that's on top of the rules we had before. D-don't you think rules are boring a-and stifling? Less rules is better than, um, more."

He crawls out of the trumpet horn and, with a snap of his claws, enlarges to his original size. A score of gasps ring out from behind him.

"Fluttershy!"

"-Darling, are you--"

Discord ignores them and wraps himself around her little clump of cloud, around and around, until all she can see is coils of red and brown. With a calming breath, Fluttershy raises her head to meet his eyes. Ruby shines bright; a million tiny lights gleaming through polished facets, and she stares into them with no small amount of wonder.

"You look happier. Good," he observes quietly. Then, he preens. "Of course, not as happy as I, surrounded by all this glorious chaos! But, well, close. Just a bit. A smidgeon, if you will!"

She smiles; a tired, exhausted smile, but one nonetheless.

"I am," Fluttershy tells him, picking out the sentiment between his purple prose. "Thanks to you."

He sticks his tongue out, gagging. "Bleugh, gratitude. I don't know how all you ponies do this disgusting platitude mumbo-jumbo; it's so droll! Add some vitriol in there! Some napalm! Some pizazz!"

Far beneath them, a forest catches aflame. Instead of burning the lumber to a crisp, it spreads out and leaves small saplings in it's wake.

Fluttershy blinks owlishly, and absently hopes that it doesn't affect the local eco-system too much.

"Discord," she asks shakily, fiddling with her braided tail. "Is the new rule... okay?"

Discord huffs, blowing smoke and fire out of his nostrils. His beard catches fire, and he puts it out with a pinch of his claws. "Oh yes, it's fine," he declares with a wave of his paw. "Like our dear old Grimcess always says: less is more! Less rules, means more chaos!"

She tilts her head. "Grimcess?"

"Oh," the draconequus cackles, "that absolutely boring Princess of yours, of course! She's always so grim; you know, she was much funner back in her heyday."

"Um," Fluttershy shuffles her hooves nervously, wary of invoking divine retribution. "T-that's... well, not very nice."

He just rolls his eyes.

"My dear, I believe we've long agreed that I'm not a very nice creature. Who needs nice? Everypony expects each other to be nice; therefore, it's ten-times funnier to be mean!"

She looks away, frowning.

"I never agreed that you're a mean creature," she murmurs, finding the cloud beneath her hooves to be particularly interesting. "You just say mean things, that's all."

A silence falls. And falls. And keeps falling, right up until it smashes like glass against a distant mountain.

"Right," Discord coughs, shuddering for some reason or another. "Regardless. Fluttershy," he continues, lowering his head to look at her meaningfully. "It's time to return to the ground now, there's only so much boredom I can suffer before I start dimension-shifting. And, trust you me, nopony wants that."

Fluttershy slumps because yes, as much as she wants to stay with her friends, she doesn't particularly want to see what happens when Discord gets bored. Especially when said boredom entails inter-dimensional portals.

"I-- I know. Can I say goodbye?"

"Ugh," he groans, for the umpteenth time this encounter. "I don't know why you'd want to talk to such awful ponies; I mean, the blue one hasn't stopped glaring at me since I got here. I'm an angel! What could she possibly hold against me?"

Fluttering his exaggerated eyelashes at her, a tiny halo flickers to life above his head. It creaks, a corner of it unhinging, before it falls off its invisible railing and clatters to the ground.

A smile stretches across her lips before sweet, melodic laughter fills the air. Fluttershy tries to ask one last time, slightly breathless from her giggles.

"Please, Discord?"

Discord grumbles. "Killjoy. Fine!"

He uncoils himself from the cloud, revealing her friends from where they were hidden behind his mass. The draconequus settles his forearms on the cloud beside her, the rest of his body floating free in the sky.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight sighs in relief, "you're okay!"

Rainbow Dash scoffs. "Of course she's okay, there's no way Discord would be that much of a jerk."

"Ya' sure about that?" Applejack drawls. "We're talkin' 'bout the same guy whose idea of fun is a game o' killer tag."

"Sheesh, they know that I'm vegetarian, right?" Discord grumbles in her ear. "They're talking about me like I'm a cannibal."

"They're just worried," Fluttershy tries to mediate, careful holding back the urge to flick her ear. She doesn't want to accidentally touch him, after all. "Don't mind them, they're sweet and kind, they'd never hurt you."

Maybe, her mind tacks on gracelessly. Usually, under different circumstances! They'd never hurt anypony.

He just stares at her, expression flat and deadpan. Over his shoulder, she can see Applejack holding back Rainbow Dash, who's trying her darndest to escape the earth pony's hold and presumably pummel the draconequus into a fine pulp.

"...Usually," she amends, bowing her head. "They're, um, usually sweet and kind. They're a bit tense?"

Pinkie Pie joins the game of Tug o' War, pinning the pegasus' wings to her sides. Applejack's nursing a black eye, and Rainbow Dash's eyes are bloodshot from barely restrained rage.

"Tense," he repeats with incredulity. Embarrassment heats her cheeks, and she chooses that moment to retreat behind her mane. "Right-o."

She just nods silently, because she knows a losing battle when she sees one.

"Well, as much as I like theatrics and hijinks," he regales her grandly, snapping his claws. Behind him, the sun turns a pretty shade of rosy pink. "Our game truly must recommence! And, because I'm such a merciful and magnanimous ruler, I'll give you a few minutes to say goodbye; free of charge! Gosh, I really am earning those gold stars, aren't I?"

Another bubble of gratitude rises up in her heart and she scuffs the ground with her hoof.

"I-I feel like I keep saying this to you, but," Fluttershy chuckles shyly, looking up at him through the gaps in her mane. "Thank you, Discord."

His stare lingers for a few seconds more before he looks away with a grumble.

"Ugh," Discord hisses. "Ponies are so mushy. I'm going back to my misshapen den of snacks, big red buttons, and uranium canisters, where everything makes unsense! Arrivederci!"

Then, with a snap of his claws, he disappears; presumably, to whatever location he was at before his little intervention. She turns back to her friends, meeting their bewildered stares with a sheepish one of her own.

"He just wanted to talk," Fluttershy clarifies. "He was, um, checking up on me."

Rarity stares.

"Him? You mean that one?" She points a hoof at where Discord once sat, the indication clear. "The one that just came up here to terrorize, vandalize, and all things between? Darling."

"Um," she squeaks. "Y-yes?"

"...Huh," Rainbow Dash mutters quietly. "Who woulda' thunk?"

"He's a real sweetheart," Fluttershy tells them with a smile, eyes crinkling in mirth. "A little, um, strange? But sweet."

"Right," Twilight says with a wry look, disbelieving. "I'm sure. Anyway, I'm guessing it's time for you to return to the ground? It's the only reason I can think of for him coming up here and dropping those rules."

The pegasus dips her head in a slow nod, edging towards her cloud's precipice. She stares down at the rolling hills beneath her hooves, mentally tracing the paths in her mind and committing them to memory.

"He told me I was predictable back in the bakery," she says thoughtfully. "So I need to, um, figure out a way not to be."

Rainbow Dash steps forward, chest puffed up.

"Well, that's easy!" She tells her, grinning. "You just gotta' do the exact opposite of what you'd normally do!"

A rare deadpan expression crosses Fluttershy's face; she can't help the way she raises a single brow at her fellow pegasus, a sarcastic edge to her voice.

"No, really?"

"Really," the racer confirms, either willfully ignorant or willfully stubborn. "You gotta' make a switch from total wimp to total pimp."

Fluttershy slumps over, sighing.

"Um, right," she says instead, electing to just... figure that part out herself instead. "I'll do that. Thank you."

"I'm serious, Flutters. C'mon, just listen to me for a bit, okay?"

Fluttershy turns, looking at Rainbow Dash with vague suspicion.

"..Alright."

The pegasus points at her wings, squinting at them. "You know you've got elliptical wings, right?"

"Oh, um," she blinks, perplexed and uncertain. "Yes? I-I mean, yes, I do."

"Then you'll do good in a forest," Rainbow Dash tells her, crossing her forelegs over each other. "I know flying tires you out and that you're clumsy at best, but still. Flying is a constant battle of attrition. Pegasi with wings like you don't do sustained high speeds; you gotta' fly like a sparrow, or a pigeon, or whatever. Stick close to branches, dive between wing flaps, and when you need a rest, fly above his reach and glide for a bit before diving back in."

"D-dive?!" Fluttershy stutters out, cowering at the mere thought of it. "O-oh, I couldn't! It's... It's too much..."

"You can," her childhood friend jabs, "and you will. Remember? The way to winning is by not being a wimp. You can do it, because you have to do it. No one else can win this game but you, 'Shy, not even us."

She peeks up at her shyly through her mane, gaze wide and uncertain.

"Do you really think I can? I..."

Fluttershy looks away. A snort brought her stare right back, fixed on glistening garnet eyes.

"Do I think you can? Fluttershy," and Rainbow Dash grins with all of her teeth, with confidence so apparent that it just seems to ooze off of her. "I know you can."

Rarity joins in, stepping up beside the pegasus with a twinkle in her eyes so beautiful, that it'd outshine any diamond.

"You've heard my piece already," she tells her, a dry humour twisting the corner of her lips upwards. "I shan't bore you with repeating it."

"Go on, Sugarcube," Applejack pipes up, her mane and tail flowing freely in the scant winds. "You'll be right as rain down there; you're a lot cleverer than ya' think. 'Sides, ya' got my lucky ties with ya'!"

"Cleverer's not a word," Twilight points out as if deeply offended. "That can't be a word."

Pinkie Pie giggles.

"Cleverer is the comparative adjective of clever," she sings, clapping her hooves together. "Silly Twilight!"

The unicorn scowls at her.

"Anyway," she continues eventually, huffing. Her emotions temper and ease when her gaze settle on the pegasus below, and Fluttershy can't help the sudden nervousness that flares up in her. "You got this, Fluttershy. And, um..."

Fluttershy stares up at her, head tilting.

"Twilight?"

"For what it's worth," Twilight spills out, a hot flush dying the skin beneath her fur a dark lavender. "I... I was, um, wrong before. When I was talking to you about... about the back up plan."

The pegasus blinks up at her, shell-shocked and a little bit confused.

"Oh, but you weren't, Twilight. I totally understand and agree with--"

"N-not the plan!" Twilight interrupts quickly, and all that does is make Fluttershy even more confused. "I... I think it's a good idea to have a plan like that in place because I don't trust Discord at all. But I am sorry for the way I worded it... Fluttershy. You deserve friends that believe in you. And I do believe in you, I do. It's just that, with how horribly everything went so quickly, I... forgot that. I forgot that, just like me, or Applejack, or Rarity, or any one of us, you're strong enough to see this through. And then I heard you and Rarity talking, and I just..."

Fluttershy stares up at her, eyes wide and slack-jawed.

Twilight clears her throat.

"I believe in you," she finishes lamely, even if every word is genuine and heartfelt. "I really, really, do. And when you win, I'm going to take you to get milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner, and I'll write a friendship lesson to Princess Celestia about believing in your friends, all of them."

"Oh, me too, me too!" Pinkie Pie joins in, grinning down at her with a bright gleam in her expression. "I want to hear all about how you'll win, so you gotta' promise you'll tell us all about it!"

Applejack joins in with a sigh, pulling her hat off her head and holding it to her chest.

"Ah, what the hay," she continues with a dry smile. "Count me in too! I always got a hankerin' for the Cakes' sundaes. Even better if it comes with a good ol' story or two!"

Fluttershy stares up at all of them. There's static in her head, mingling with the bright glow of gratitude, hope, and sheer adoration that's building up inside of her. Her lips twitch, wobbling with barely withheld tears, and her throat wobbles.

"Y-you girls are s-so nice," she whimpers, wiping away a tear. "I-I don't know what I'd do without you girls."

"Well," Rainbow Dash cuts in, evidently spooked by the appearance of waterworks. "I've got one idea."

She sniffles, cleaning her face with a foreleg.

"W-what?"

"I do believe," Rarity takes over, nodding her head in the direction of the distant earth beneath them. "That you have a game to absolutely decimate the opposition in, darling. I expect you to wrangle Discord into physical, mental, and spiritual submission. I'll accept nothing less than total victory!"

Five pairs of eyes regard her with some degree of shock; Rarity just scoffs, tossing her mane.

"What? I am a lady," she retorts to their wordless appraisal, eyes half-lidded and sharp. "Mild bloodlust is to be expected."

"Right," Pinkie Pie nods. "That makes total sense!"

Twilight blinks. "...Does it?"

"Who cares!" Rainbow Dash interrupts with a shout, waving her hooves around. Then, she jabs one at the mare of the hour and screams. "Now, get outta' here! You've got a loser to crush!"

"O-oh, um," Fluttershy stutters, stuck somewhere between saluting and freezing in place. "R-right, that--"

Rainbow Dash stomps her hoof and launches into the air.

"Go!"

And, more out of instinct than anything else, Fluttershy goes tumbling out of the sky with a cry and begins barreling to the ground. The group of mares watch with mild horror as she shoots to the ground in a frenzy of flailing limbs.

Somepony coughs.

"Ah," Rainbow Dash groans. "Buck."