Sitting in time-out is never fun, especially with a metaphorical ‘jail warden’. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fluttershy pissed... and she still doesn’t look it now, but she looks less than happy. She’s almost got a scowl on her face!

“Well, I think I’m done with this. Sitting in a corner just because you say so is ridiculous.” Discord stands up and starts to walk away. Instantly, Fluttershy’s brow furrows, and she darts in front of him to bop him on the snoot.

“Oh, no, mister, you’re gonna sit down! And I don’t want to hear any lip from you, either!” Her indignant, angry shouts are more shocking than scary, and I don’t think Discord was expecting it in the slightest, either. Still... now I’ve seen her truly angry.

“Hey waitaminute! What am I doing here? Why am I in trouble? I was against the ‘paint cannon’ idea since the beginning, how is any of this my fault?”

“You know what you did! You encouraged him!” Fluttershy says accusingly.

“When? I recall saying they should not launch paint across Equestria!”

Fluttershy glares at me. “You sit down right now, mister!”

I sheepishly return to my seat. “Yes mom- er, F- Fluttershy...”

My little slip-up gets snickers out of Discord and the CMC, which are quieted instantly by Fluttershy whom I now deem one of the scariest of Twi’s friends, though how that is I’m just not sure...

It’s a few hours, but eventually Fluttershy lets us out... except Discord. He’s getting extended time because he fell asleep.

“My eyes were open, how could tell I was asleep?”

“You just told me!”

Discord doesn’t have a rebuttal. He apparently has trouble sitting in one place, unmoving and staying awake. I guess I’d be the same if I was literally chaos incarnate...

Oh well, my time is up, so I head off.

I get to thinking bout Clark and what’s wrong with him. I’d like to be able to talk with him, somewhere we can be open. Honest with each other, somewhere private. But where would we find a place where we couldn’t be seen or heard at all?

I sigh out loud. A place like that would probably have to be some other dimension. Oh well, guess we’ll have to make do without any assured privacy... I look up at the sky and try to judge how long Fluttershy had us sitting for. Most of the day has gone by! I mean, it’s not night yet by any means, but still.

Waitaminute... night... the dreamscape! If Luna can get in there... why couldn’t I? I’m gonna need some serious help though. It seems my only option is Twilight. She’s such a straight arrow it might be a bit difficult to convince her, but whether the ponies trust him or not, I’m going to fix my friend, and to do that I need to know where to start.

“I’m not going to just hoof over the keys to someone’s mind!”

“That isn’t what I’m asking at all, Twilight. I just wanna talk to him in his dreams!”

“But even that’s illegal! Luna only does it because she’s... okay, I always assumed it was because she’s a princess, but I’m sure there’s a better reason, she’s just trustworthy enough to do it!”

“And I, the only person who is even bothering to take his side isn’t trustworthy enough? And don’t say you can’t do it. I’m more than sure that you’ve looked through a book on mind magic before.”

“Wh- why would you think that?”

“Because you’ve studied just about everything else, so I’m not going to rule anything out. Besides, so far you haven’t denied ever knowing it, and with the way you worded your last statement about not handing over the keys to his mind, implies that you can, you just won’t.”

“I- that is- ugh... Yes, I could theoretically do it. But I don’t know how to have anypony there as more than an observer.” Twilight grudgingly admits, “The theory is sound for just viewing, but there’s no mention anywhere in Delving studies about actually interacting with the dreams. I suppose you’d have to ask Princess Luna about it.”

“Alright, just looking is fine for now. I just want to make him better. I don’t quite get why none of you even think about that and that killing him is your first solution. Aren’t you all supposed to be, like, super-peaceful, or does that stop when they aren’t ponies?”

“What? I’ve never advocated for killing him! I’ve been-”

“Well, that was Celestia’s first reaction, and she’s got her hoof so far up your rear I figured you’ll just repeat whatever she wants you to say like her ventriloquist dummy.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about the Princess that way! And I’m not a dummy, ventriloquist or otherwise.” She folds her hooves in front of her chest, resulting in a tiny poof of fur bunching up over them. It’s adorable, and completely undermines her frustration in my opinion.

“Still, I want to find out how to cure the corruption, and since I doubt amputation would help any, the next solution is to deprogram him. That requires knowing what’s in his head. And first-hand experience with anything is the most informative, right?”

“I, uh, guess so, yeah. Well... if you’re so set on this course, then I’ll help, because I can completely imagine you hunting down a dangerous warlock or hedge mage to do the magic instead and wind up missing kidneys instead.”

“Oh Twilight, you’re so silly. I’d just ask Discord.”

“I don’t think the outcome would be any better for your health, in the long-term.” Twilight says dryly.

“Oh whatever. So how’s this gonna work? We find him when he’s asleep and plug a cord into my brain, or what?”

“Eww, no! Besides, with interference between brainwaves, that’d just- er, that’s not important. Tonight, when he’s asleep, You’ll be put into a trance, and I use a spell to make you Delve into his mind. Because he’ll presumably be dreaming, that should be ‘where’ you end up in his mind.”

I nod. “Alright, so we have a plan. Well then... What now? We still have a few hours before it’s dark out, and I have a feeling he’s used to sleeping with one eye open. Scratch that, he always does.”

“Uhm... I have a Battleclouds set?”

“Seriously? I’d expect you to have something like Scrabble or Upwords. Heck, even Pictionary.”

“I have no idea what those are.”

I facepalm. “Alright, here’s the gist...” I sit us down and grab some paper. Might as well introduce more games to Equestria, right? Hmm... maybe I could teach her the Duke... Next Chapter: Chapter 149 Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours