Celestia stared out at the Canterlot skyline, 7 am, the time that was best for the world's clock. She reached out to the sun and it answered back with a steady glow of light that splayed out behind her as the sun begun to rise over Canterlot Mountain. The retreating shadows of night told her that Luna was also on the other end of things bringing her moon back from its place in the sky. Celestia and Luna had a great few moments every day where they were both awake and exerting their magic upon their respective orbs. Sure there was a scheduled eclipse at some point in the next few months. but those were rare thanks to the sisters' own needs. Luna was a night owl and Celestia loved the daytime. They reflected their own orbs- being not just the bringers of the night and day. but following the beauty standards of their own selves.

Luna tended to be the smaller one due to some belief of hers that since Celestia was the older one. she had to show some form of deference. Celestia chalked that up to Luna still following the old ways.

Celestia was broken out of her reveries as she felt a talon on her back tracing her spine. "Hello, Discord. How are you today?'

Celestia heard a snap of his fingers and her appeared, a pot of coffee in his lion paw and wearing a pink bathrobe. "I am just thinking of what mischief I can perform today? I mean I do have my weekly tea with Fluttershy and I can feel that today will be a fun little game." Discord sipped at the coffeepot, the glass slowly disappearing into his mouth like liquid. " Hard not to feel the chaos flowing nicely through the air like a perfume of madness. Though that may be because of our newest princess."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at her guest. "What do you mean?"

Discord laughed, his laugh echoing double out of phase, causing a feeling of discordant music linger in the air. "Oh nothing, dear. Just saying that for one of you types, Twilight does cause a wonderful amount of chaos. Though nothing like you or your sister could. Why I remember when you brought down the sun in our first encounter- Appleloosa's glass fields thank you Celly. I mean for a mare of order, I do so love when you get in one of your moods." Discord snapped his fingers again and he reappeared on Celestia. "But that's my weakness, I may be a spirit of disorder, but order is so much more appealing to me. It's different and exciting. At least the pony that embodies is does have some fine attributes." Discord slid down his favorite slide, Celestia's body providing him with a way to get onto the floor the easiest way.

Celestia shook her tail, her rainbow road shooting Discord into the air. "Discord, be good. I have ways to know when you are not working on constructive chaos like you told me you would do after you were reformed. And do be nice to Twilight, she was a wonderful student, but she does tend to overreact when you reappear in Ponyville."

Discord put an arm around Celestia, back to normal size again, he pulled her close. "So that's why you've never told her about us. I always wondered about that, cause one of her worried freakouts about how I 'mind controlled you' or 'will destroy Equestria' would be a fantastic present. But don't worry, as the only member of my illustrious race of myself, I promise I won't be hounding Twilight about her tasty chaotic ways. Anyway, with how you acted last night, I feel like you already know I don't need order magic to pull off that little trick that put all your subjects into a letter writing frenzy."

Celestia blushed, slight hints of color appearing and disappearing on her cheeks as Discord wiggled an arm at her. Connecting his arm again, he slinked off, backstroking through the air as he went back to bed. "I mean we did have fun yesterday if I remember our little bout of mischief."

Celestia shook her head and chuckled. "Yes, my dear and I know which one of us was the stallion last night." Celestia breathed in and looked into a nearby mirror. Slight muscle contractions showed that she was excited, but to the normal eye it just looked like her normal look of grace. Quickly pulling out some old feathers, she slid into her least favorite outfit. Her golden shoes, ceremonial armor, and crown feeling a little lighter as she walked through the door, seeing that Discord was holding up a paper sign with a large 10 on it.

"Do you want any food, Discord?"

Discord grinned and followed her out, snaking around her. "Well, I could eat. I mean I don't want to impose too much on my dear friend."

Fluttershy inched out of bed and quietly walked into her bathroom to take some more of the medicine Dash had got for her yesterday. Thankfully she didn't feel that bad and she stretched her blue wings. She looked in the mirror and saw her friend's face staring back. She glanced at the clock, noticing that her polychromatic hair was out of place. Grabbing a brush, she hummed slowly to herself some Sapphire Shores melody as she slowly swayed her hips as she began getting into the music. She heard a light laugh from behind her and she quickly turned around to see Dash laying on the floor, her forehooves holding her face as she laughed her best Fluttershy laugh as she could.

"Well I didn't expect me to be such a good dancer, Shy. I mean my dance move is standing near a punch bowl and crossing my hooves. Wonder why you don't dance like that outside of this room, I bet you would get all the ponies on the dancefloor." Dash rolled on her back and stared at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy blushed, her wings quickly fluttering. "Oh um, thanks. I mean I took some lessons from Rarity once. I don't think I'm all that good."

Dash rolled back up, her blue orbs staring at Fluttershy. "Well I think you can dance better than me and I think that's pretty awesome. But I was going to come in here to tell you that today you have to deal with some training exercises and later hang out with Scootaloo. Just maybe don't fly then; she idolizes me you know. Maybe later this week pull off something fancy or something- just do something easy and what you'd think I'd do."

Fluttershy smiled. "Well that's adorable."

Dash frowned. "No, I just meant like do something nice for her and later do something cool. I mean its only Tuesday. Like do cool stuff on Thursday or Friday. Like she needs somepony there and all. Totally not because I think she's a decent kid or anything."

Fluttershy stepped over her friend and sat down on her large back. "Well, I won't tell her that you care about her if you deal with Discord today. I usually have tea with him on Tuesdays." She snuggled close to Dash, feeling small and close. "And Dash? Thanks for saying I dance well."

Dash felt her cheeks redden with heat as Fluttershy slid off her back. "Yeah, no problem."

Fluttershy looked at her team for the day. Blossomforth lazed about, eyes half open and sweatband akimbo as she stared back at 'Dash'. Flitter and Cloudchaser were surrounding Thunderlane teasing him about his large physique for a pegasus. Fluttershy wondered if that was code for some flirting but she looked around to see Cloudkicker wave back at her, a closed smile on her lips.

"So what do you want to start off with today, Wonderbolt?"

Fluttershy remembered the list of activities and hastily chose one. "Um, let's see I think a quick warm up would be for the best since we all just got here. Don't want to strain anything."

Cloud Kicker pulled an arm around Fluttershy and leaned in close. "Well that's what I was planning on doing. Sounds good. Though I think since you did get that concussion and all, I bet that keeping us two here, right now would be a good idea. I mean us veterans do need to keep some of these ponies in line. And we can talk."

Fluttershy felt the hot breath of her second in command on her neck with that word, blue hairs standing up on end with worry. "Oh, that sounds wonderful. What about?"

Cloud Kicker smiled. "Well I don't know maybe why you've been acting so weird recently. Did you get laid? Cause if I think I know what's been going on between that huge mare and your little self, damn you seem way too friendly with her. I just thought giving you some pointers would be a good idea. Anyway better me than Blossomforth, cause she'd be all about the final act fuck buddy routine, not the romance kind of slow burn screw."

Fluttershy tensed up, feeling like she wanted to escape this kind of talk and also that her wings were aching. She quickly tried to flutter them to keep them from sticking out like two signs that showed how awkward she felt. "Sounds great. Maybe after we start the exercise routine?" Fluttershy quickly hobbled out of there, her legs feeling straight and unbending with nerves.

Cloud Kicker just smiled as she saw the noticeable left right left right of this new mare. If that wasn't Dash, at least she could have fun with teasing her. "Sounds good, yeah I'll just wait right here."

Cloud Kicker was going to get these two pegasi together if it was the last thing she did. At least it made her actual assignment better. Celestia had told her and the other two to keep an eye on the Elements of Harmony as a complete precaution against Celestia level threats. The Elements were powerful, but the ponies that wielded them were not. Or at least that was what Cloud Kicker got from the crap about how Twilight and her friends were special and needed to learn a lesson or two. She ran a hoof through her mane, quickly noticing the unregulated menage a trois between Thunderlane and the twins. Cursing her luck, she wished she could be back in the Solar Guards- at least there you could beat some sense into ponies without being called cruel or mean.

Dash quickly ran through the mini checklist Fluttershy had given her- the teapot, the basic technique of pouring tea, uh, the chairs, the-

A door interrupted her thoughts. Not a knock at the door, a floating door- tiny and ornate, floated into view as its design drew her attention. A tiny clawed hand reached out and waved at Dash, her yellow face trying to comprehend the fact that somehow this could be a normal occurrence for Shy. A long form snaked itself out and placed its head upon its shoulders. A grinning draconequus appeared with a bow. "Why hello there, why hello. I thought I was horribly late. See I was in my garden but I could not find the thyme."

Rainbow Dash laughed, her laugh worried and distant as she tried to figure out if that was a joke to keep the mood light or if it flew over her head.

"Oh well, that's not a problem, I just got done with the tea."

Discord smiled and watched her move lazily around the room, tasting the chaos and possibilities like aged fine wine. He was not going to ruin the fun surprise, since Fluttershy looked like a mass of pink and yellow butterflies to him bunching together and falling apart like her emotions changing slowly with the breeze. He knew something had to be up immediately when he saw Rainbow Dash's little signature aura, the rainbow neon lightning bolts dancing around like a hummingbird's wing. He always loved coming to see Fluttershy, the weekly meetings always bringing some kind of chaos, but this kind of chaos deftly spelled by Celly's favorite pony? Why thank you Twilight, how very chaotic of you. He might have to send her a few antimatter bits on her birthday. This just meant he could find a way to see the town a little and Rainbow would just have to go with it. Discord let his mind race, racecars zooming around his mental pathways with the possibilities.

"Not a problem, my friend."

Rainbow nervously began pouring tea, her focus entirely on pouring the tea slow enough to not overfill the cups while pouring fast so as to not burn her hooves accidentally. She tipped it too fast and it began to pool in the cup, then slowly filly the saucer, and then leak onto the table, the light tea smelling of orchids and blueberries as it started to soak into the table.

Discord watched as 'Fluttershy' started blotting the table with a nearby napkin. "Oh, no, sorry Discord. I guess I spilled some of your tea."

Discord feigned worry as he saw the aura of Dash bunch around in worry. He always wondered why ponies thought the world of theirs was a thing of order while their own bodies barely held together with worried chaos. "Oh well, if you haven't been feeling well enough to have our tea time, I can always suggest a different venue. I mean I don't always have to spend time in this cozy little hovel when we have an entire town to explore and food to taste." Discord watched as his idea worked on Dash's brain, the emotions ranging from worry, anger, amusement, and resigned agitation as she realized that there was a time and a place to act like his dear friend and a bad impostor.

"Fine, but don't cause too much of a stir. Ponyville doesn't really like you."

Discord held back a mirthful chuckle. "Why, that's their loss, I don't think they've had enough time to get to know me. I mean every time I get here I get stoned."

Dash groaned with that pun. Before she could respond, Discord grabbed a hold of her and walked right out the door. Rainbow opened her eyes as the idea of normal space folded in on itself, the image she saw was as if the world was a newspaper cartoon folded in and bent into a mobius strip, one area looping in and back on itself into a singular road branching off into different zones. To her left was a white void of nothingness and to her right was a square cube of pulsing color. Blinking again, she came into the world with a pop and was greeted by the ground outside of Sugarcube Corner.

Discord whistled to himself as Dash tried to keep down her breakfast.

"Well, I do love chaos magic, the fun reality warping kind where you guide it just enough to get what you want with a fun joke laid slowly within it like a sponge cake made of sponges." Discord walked into the bakery and Dash lazily followed.

Rarity looked over the notes that Twilight gave her about this wonderful new spell that she created. Glancing over the basic view of how she used gemstones to cause the recipient of the spell a gender change was rather exciting and wonderful. Though the bad thing about Twilight's notes was that they were unfinished and in shorthand alchemical notation- the periodic table of science mixing with transmutation circles and hexing with a slow line of scrawled chaos magic mixing the unstable with stable methods- it was impressive to say the least and Twilight's tinkering made the spell able to be used by all unicorns that had a knack with magic. And providing a new, hastily written warning to not mix the barely tested spell with other transformative magics was a nice addition.

Rarity looked over at the ideas that Pinkie's change gave her and wondered if there was a stable body type of males- Pinkie looked like a large impressive stallion, but there were about one or two types of stallions- the large, the medium sized, and the long legged almost feminine model types. The white unicorn may have focused her business acumen and skills in fashion for mares, but her interests in stallions did leave her mind with impressive designs that she never felt comfortable making.

She excitedly bounced in her seat as she fired up her horn. Feeling the magic begin to work, she hurried on over to look at the changes. Looking back was a long haired, and fashionable stallion that was her favorite body type for fashion- the skinny, androgynous type. She looked like her favorite models and that was perfect. Doing a ladylike curtsy, she introduced herself to the male version of her. Glancing under her undercarriage she looked at a respectable looking member of society. She chuckled at the thought, her having one of those. Well that was a normal addition if was was a stallion, she presumed. Or he. Rarity shook his head.

"Well that's going to take some getting used to but if I will need to woo Applejack, I guess I have to act more like the perfect idea of a stallion. Now where is my copy of Six Shades of Hay? I have to at least get into the mood of Speed Dazzler to make this experiment work wonderfully." Rarity laughed, his voice a high pitched tenor almost on the cusp of femininity but just enough to show a form of masculine depth. Rarity would later call it an elegant tone of voice bringing the two worlds between the course stallions she had dated once or twice and the world of mares the voice melding the two into a singing medium.

He walked up the stairs with a light bounce in his step ready to show Applejack a fine time. Working through his favorite part of the book, he thought about page 230 in the book he was searching for. A session of bondage turned sensual as Speed Dazzler tied up his mare in a display of both power and care- the book's scene only telling faint hints of the sexual tryst while spending a few pages talking about how important aftercare and safety words were, both parties spending time outlining what they wanted to happen.

Rarity wondered what excitement Applejack would want today? Perhaps the brocade straps and light exhibitionism? Or the silk gem cuffs? Options, options, options.

Fluttershy stared at Cloud Kicker, both expecting the other to talk. Awkward nervousness kept Fluttershy silent, the idea of talking to another pony about her feelings about Dash felt weird expecially when she was stuck in that very same body. Yes I have emotions for Rainbow Dash. 'That's stupid or that's idiotic', Cloud Kicker would curtly reply and then she'd counter with 'what Dash, are you a narcissist?'

Cloud Kicker decided to cut the silence by clearing her throat. This pony was kind of a wimp. And seeing one pony nervously squeeze themselves into a chair was impressive if one was at the circus. Waiting for a pony to talk for fifteen minutes was more infuriating.

"Well, how was your night, Dash? I mean I left you two alone and it didn't seem that you could fly after your little spill. I mean I sat on that pony's couch for like two hours to make sure you weren't dead and that was the worst couch I'd sat on and I went to boot camp where sleeping on rocks and shit like that was the norm. And that bitch is like a mountain for a pegasus like damn what did her family feed her, a bear?" Cloud Kicker watched her captain's features blush heavily at the mention of that. "But I wonder what her name was? Hard to forget a pony that yells at you for five minutes and rushes off to save the Luna damned night." Cloud Kicker glanced over to watch Blossomforth fly into the grass and awkwardly brush herself off. Probably was checking out a pony, the klutz.

"Her name is Fluttershy."

Cloud Kicker smiled. "Man, Dash I thought your name was the gayest accident ever. What were her parents thinking calling that mare Fluttershy? Like did they imagine her as a tiny little thing and puberty hit her like a two ton apple cart?"

Fluttershy blushed. "Well that is one way of putting it."

Cloud Kicker noticed the blush and pushed onward. "Well you two need to get laid. I kept thinking why would Rainbow Dash deal with this wallflower and I came up with the thought that you totally like her. I mean going to her house instead of being a smart pony and going to the hospital? There has to be something up there or else your an idiot."

"Uh well I had a concussion so I thought of the best place I could." Fluttershy pushed a lock of polychromatic hair as she felt sweat begin to form on her brow.

"Well sure that makes sense but I heard some of your cute shit talking you two were doing and I mean if you two want to pussyfoot around your little attraction thing that's all fine and dandy. But if I was you, I'd go seep that mare off her hooves- or maybe she'd pick you up since you're a midget. But get on that ass cause she's just being a hermit on the outskirts of this tiny town. Like she probably has the kinkiest shit ever in her closet."

Fluttershy smiled weakly at Cloud Kicker, the mare staring back with a knowing smile that unnerved her. "I'll get on it."

Cloud Kicker put a hoof on Fluttershy's blue shoulder and smiled. "Well I have an idea to get you two to know each other better- Berry Punch's little dance club has a girl's night in a few days. Get that mare out there and figure out how to get this Fluttershy-" Cloud Kicker quietly laughed to herself. "that pony, out on the dancefloor. Give her a good time. Maybe she'll reward your efforts. I mean if she hasn't already what with you acting uncharacteristically on cloud nine."

Fluttershy awkwardly laughed and didn't respond, her mind racing with worry.

Sugarcube Corner was uncharacteristically quiet when Discord burst into the establishment. Mr. Cake worriedly grabbed his wife and ran into the back rooms, worried that something horrible would happen if they stayed. His mind raced with thoughts that it would be worse than yesterday when Luna tried to kidnap him into her harem. At least she couldn't turn him into living desserts- Discord had and could. He didn't want to be a carrot cake again.

Other customers quickly fished out the recommended bits for their food and left as fast as they could. The throng of ponies deciding to give the spirit of chaos and disharmony a wide berth. Everypony that is but Pinkie, who rushed up and squeezed Discord with a large and powerful hug.

"Discord! How are you doing today? Cause I'm doing great, though I did wake up with a hard problem I had to solve before getting to work and then all the mares keep looking at me with really weird looks so that's a bit different than before but its fine since I have told one and all that I'm off the market when they ask and then Twilight's been worried about me but other than those weird things I'm fine. Hi, Fluttershy. You want your normal muffin? Though now since Discord's here I have to come up with a weird one for him." Pinkie knew Dash was there instead of the yellow pegasus but it was easier to keep up appearances for the moment since Pinkie knew when to kept a secret like that. He did create the idea of a Pinkie Pie promise after all; if he began blabbing everypony's secrets, they wouldn't be secrets anymore.

Discord slid out of Pinkie's grasp, his back cracking as he moved and slightly chuckling. "Oh don't worry give me your favorite, I can easily whip up the strange otherworldly flavors I like in a snap. Also you pull off the stallion look better than some. Or at least you react better than most of Celestia's ilk would." Discord snapped his fingers and switched his gender for fun. "I mean for me its so easy it's ridiculous." Discord snapped again and went back to 'normal' which for her or him depended on the mood of the day.

"Ooh that was the neatest thing ever. You mean you can always do that trick?"

Discord slid around and grinned, lazily sharpening a claw. "Well of course. Keeping a static form with a definite gender would be too orderly for the trademarked spirit of chaos and disharmony. Though I tend to stick with one until I get too bored with it."

Dash thanked Celestia when Pinkie gave her a blueberry muffin and Discord a dark chocolate one. "Thanks, Pinkie."

Pinkie happily saluted and began scooping up the bits that everypony left.

Discord wrapped a claw around Dash. "Now Fluttershy tell me about how my tea helped you get with your dear blue friend. Hopefully the aphrodisiacs helped. . ."
***

Fluttershy wondered about what Cloud Kicker had talked about during their workout- it wouldn't hurt to take Dash somewhere to have a sense of normalcy in their lives. They'd only done the required things they had to do to make their lives work. A chance to go out and at like their lives were normal. She'd have to ask Dash if she wanted to go out to the club she guessed but at least it sounded like a way to get their minds off of all this.

She quickly focused on her final task, finding Scootaloo walking out of Ponyville General. The orange filly stayed to one side of the street, looking both ways and inching her way down the road like there was something pressing on her mind. Fluttershy thought of Dash's quick tutorial in 'how not to crash' yesterday and pulled her wings close to her small blue body, searched for a hint of a downdraft and as she reached the point of freefall, she brough her wings out increasing the drag on them and coasting down towards Scootaloo. Step One of not crashing and looking like a fool completed, Fluttershy shifted into Rainbow Dash mode and aped a guess at what Scootaloo expected.

"Hey, squirt, you okay?"

Scootaloo looked up at her idol and honorary sister and ran towards her, Fluttershy noticing a slight limp that she hadn't picked up on before- probably due to her not being with the Cutie Mark Crusaders often enough. That or Scootaloo was good at hiding something wrong with her. Her orange wings buzzed along, barely being able to hold her aloft for more than a few seconds giving the young pegasus this awkward bouncing shuffle.

"I'm better now. So what did you do today?"

Fluttershy smiled and brought herself onto her back hooves, pausing for dramatic effect. "Well I was totally dealing with my team and we had to do a slightly boring but necessary team exercise and I hung out with Fluttershy a little bit but that was mostly cause of an accident."

Scootaloo looked up at her mentor. "You got into an accident? How was that possible, aren't you a Wonderbolt and generally awesome?"

Fluttershy chuckled, the childlike wonder surprising her. "I mean I can't always have a perfect landing."

Scootaloo blinked. "So even Wonderbolts can crash? Like Spitfire and Soarin and all of them?"

"Well I mean yeah, everypony has a bad day."

Scootaloo stayed quiet, her hoofsteps crunching fallen leaves underneath. Finally she spoke, quietly, Fluttershy trained in understanding near silent words picked up on what she was saying. "So Diamond Tiara was wrong."

Fluttershy stopped, unsure of what to do, since pressing the issue would be possibly uncharacteristic of Rainbow's way of doing things and yet her slight curiosity at what the orange filly could mean raced through her mind. And Fluttershy vaguely knew of Diamond Tiara through Applejack's and Rarity's continued mention of how horrible Diamond could be at times.

"What was that, Scoots?"

Scootaloo froze. "Nothing, I mean not much."

Fluttershy did her best impression of her Stare, not working because she was in the wrong body, but the practice of staring down large and intimidating woodland creatures could translate into an impressive look nonetheless. She turned and spoke quietly, loud enough for Scootaloo to hear her, but soft enough to keep things vaguely private. "Scoots, did something happen today? If something did, it would be nice to know so I can awesomely help you with it."

Scootaloo averted her eyes, kicking a hoof in protest as she stared at the ground. "Not really, its not just one thing like that just like a couple things."

Fluttershy walked up and bent down to stare calmly into Scootaloo's face. "Well, squirt, you know I'm here if you want to talk about it." She carefully hugged Scootaloo, gauging how the filly reacted to she if she was taking the idea too far since it wasn't like she had asked 'Dash' to hug her. She felt at least a little better when Scootaloo wordlessly returned the hug, small streaks of wetness pooling on the blue chest of her supposed mentor. She waited for Scootaloo to speak silently hearing the low rumble of the day move on around them, uncaring about this moment.

"I mean Diamond said how could I look up to the Wonderbolts when they are perfect athletes and I'm not anything. I mean I know you told me to not let her get to me, but its hard since words still hurt."

Fluttershy felt so incredibly small as she barely knew what to do. "I mean I think you're the coolest pony I know."

"Yeah but you are just saying that. I mean everypony else is normal and can do what they are supposed to do- sure few in my grade have cutie marks, but that's not the point. I mean what really counts, like flying, I can't fly. I don't know if I can fly and yet even both of the Cake Twins can fly if I can believe what Sweetie Belle tells me."

"What so you want to learn how to fly? I mean if you are coming to the most awesome, high flying pony in all of, at least, Ponyville, if not Equestria, then you've come to the right place."

Scootaloo sniffled. "I know, but what about if I have a problem that I can't actually fix. I mean I went to the hospital to check if I had a problem and they said there could be and handed me a note to hand to my guardians."

Fluttershy wondered where this was going, and then slowly connected the dots in her brain. It was a bit weird that Scootaloo was anywhere near Ponyville General since she didn't seem sick, and yet she had been weirdly limping. Dash hadn't told her what was wrong with Scootaloo just that she was a mentor and that was it.

"Well then we'd just have to work around it. I mean everyone learns how to fly eventually. Some just have some holdups that they have to overcome- like Ditzy or Bulk Biceps, I mean they can fly." Fluttershy's mind raced with possible ways to teach Scootaloo how to fly, with Dash helping on the flight skill and her knowledge in how to help animals recuperate after injuries it could be possible to have some physical therapy session to help Scootaloo fly better, maybe not the best pony ever in the world but at least enough to make this be okay.

"I guess. The doctor in there told me some thing that he wrote down." Scootaloo fished out a note that she handed to Fluttershy. Fluttershy slowly read the barely legible scrawl and got the point.

"Well if I'm reading this right, you have a chance to fly."

Scootaloo breathed in. "Yeah, but there's a chance its not going to work and everypony's going to make fun of me cause I'm a cripple. Like this gives Diamond more ammo to use against me to just bully me about how useless I am. She already calls me a dodo, an ostrich, and a penguin. Like I had to ask Twilight what those were sure, but they can't fly well."

Fluttershy hugged Scootaloo. "You aren't useless. And if you need help I can always ask my friends about this situation. Twilight would love figuring out some eggheaded way to make you fly. Fluttershy knows some physical therapy techniques, Applejack can help you learn how to defend yourself within reason, Rarity can help you figure out how to do some fashion, and Pinkie is Pinkie." Fluttershy didn't know what exactly Pinkie would do, Pinkie was organized chaos.

Scootaloo hugged 'Dash'. "Thanks."

"No problem, kiddo. Hey, you want to go get some doughnuts? Pinkie probably would give you some for free just if I asked nicely."

Scootaloo smiled. "Yeah, I could eat something. Hey, Dash. can I ride on your back? I mean if you don't want to I'm fine with it." Scootaloo stared up and Fluttershy tried to smile like Dash would, bringing her attempt at slight bravado back into focus, drawing her mouth into a slight grin and chuckled.

"Sure."

Fluttershy felt a mix of memories well up in her mind. She brought her wings down and Scootaloo tried to scramble up, her legs working to try to balance herself, a slight wobble accompanying her efforts as her body didn't have a stable hoof to stand on here. Fluttershy felt Scootaloo's smaller hooves wrap around her neck and she adjusted for the new weight and slowly glided into the sky with help from a nearby draft of air. She felt rain coming as she flew on, her vision slightly blurring with the moisture in the air. Or at least Fluttershy guessed that would be how Dash would put this feeling. Rainbow's and her memories mixed into a double memory that had an echo right here on her back.

"Hey, circus freak. How are you doing today?" Rainbow felt the insult and let it slide off her. Repeating words that Posey had told her about. Think of the words as a tightrope, walk one way and you fall into hatred, walk another way and fall into depression. Taking a deep breath, she turned away.

"Yeah leave, you must have learned that from your parents, I mean why else would you be near the circus?"

Rainbow breathed in and walked on. Don't react. She had better things to worry about. Her calm was broken when a sharp rock broke her concentration with a painful snap.

"Look at me, you idiot. What are you stupid?"

She breathed in, feeling her world go to the left into anger as she tried to step back into calm indifference.

"Yeah look at that, you must be stupid cause my mom tells me that ponies who don't answer to their names are mental idiots, see?"

Dash felt a scattered assortment of rocks hit her in the back of the head as she walked on. Ponyacci's rules of engagement sprung to mind. Step One- go about your day, ponies don't get the circus folk all that well. Step Two- if someone confronts you about it, follow Posey's rules of relaxation as long as possible. Step Three- tell them to stop. Step Four- if they persist, throw a fist. We protect our own and we have a reputation.

"Can you please stop?" Dash walked towards the turquoise pegasus, her hooves unsure and voice quavering with some worry. It was her first time dealing with this kind of problem since joining the circus. She felt a wetness start matting her hair and tipping a hoof to the back of her head brought back a small hint of sticky red and a tinge of pain.

The turquoise pegasus laughed, the alleyway bringing the sound echoing back like a multitude of ponies bearing down on Dash. "The idiot can talk. That's probably my favorite trick you have done. The magically appearing voice."

Rainbow felt small pools of tears start cascading down her face as the world became a blur. One moment she was calm and stoic, the next she was racing along the streets in this small town barreling towards a pony she probably would never meet again, ready to throw down with her. She brought her hooves up and used the momentum to strike a few blows. Feeling confident, she then ducked under a jab and was met with a surprise.

She turned into a hoof to the face, a quick jab to her head making her world run red. Her head shook as she tried to right herself as she used her wings to deflect some blows, her attempt at blocking providing more pain that it was worth. Her world slowly became a mess as she could see the turquoise pegasus stand over her- one of the last she could see in her vision. The memory ended as she could just feel hooves rain down upon her in a flurry. For a first fight, it was a good lesson. For Dash, it was more like the worst humiliation possible.

Fluttershy entered into the Ponyville Elementary School. Her world had changed ever since she fell towards the earth. Sure Fluttershy was glad that she had her cutie mark. It made her feel at least safe with the world that was so new and different. It was going to be fine. It was only the first day of school; how bad could it be? She breathed in as she saw Rarity quickly wave at her.

"Class, welcome our newest student, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy awkwardly walked up to the front of the room, seeing ponies whisper quietly as she quickly shifted her wings around her. She faked a smile, feeling her hooves slowly start to wobble. She looked up at the teacher, his face smiling. Fluttershy quickly said the sentences that she had rehearsed in front of Rarity's mirror.

"Hello, everypony. My name is Fluttershy. I am from Cloudsdale and I am happy to meet you all." Fluttershy tried to smile.

"Yeah, well where's your family? Aren't you that pony that fell out of the sky two months ago? Are your parent's dead or something cause else you got forgotten about." A voice in the back spoke up and Fluttershy tried to breathe. Her lungs barely bringing her air.

"Spoiled Milk, please be nice to our new student, else I have to send you to detention. . ."

"Fine." The pink earth pony quickly shut up and Fluttershy sat next to Rarity, her white unicorn friend offering a hoof as she stared intently at Spoiled Milk. She breathed in and looked at the clock. Five minutes of school down and many more to go. She could read the lips of her 'new acquaintance' as she glanced backwards. 'See you at recess.' Fluttershy quickly turned and looked back at the front of the class, trying to stay as small as possible.
"

Rainbow felt tired after meeting Discord. His kind of excitement wasn't what she liked to always deal with. Sure pranks were here and Pinkie's bread and butter, but he could do anything within limits. And dealing with someone that could pull off the tricks he did on a regular basis would make her ever more tired than normal. She looked into the sky and noticed the setting sun greet her eyes with a bit of glare.

Dash heard a small thump behind her and turned to see Fluttershy land pretty gently. Sure her form was still off, the wings at too harsh an angle to make landings comfortable but she wasn't crashing into the ground at full speed which was at least a blessing.

"So how did you and Scoots do?" Dash asked.

Fluttershy looked down at the ground and stayed quiet fishing out a scrap of paper that Dash barely noticed. Which even for Fluttershy was weird, Dash had a way to get the usually yellow pegasus to at least respond to her questions. Grabbing the random note she read the hasty scrawl.

"Fluttershy, I can't read egghead. Also this pony's hoofwriting is complete garbage. What is this celebration pals? I mean I'd love to go to a party but tell Pinkie to write better cause its impressive she can get ponies to her parties if her hoofwriting is this bad."

"It's Scootaloo's note from the doctor. I might have said we can help her fly. I haven't asked Twilight what exactly it means but I know enough scientific words from helping out my animals that its probably not great."

Dash chuckled. "Fluttershy, this is a good prank. You got me there. How in the world can Scootaloo have a problem? I mean she seems normal enough and like she can't fly well but otherwise she's fine."

Fluttershy kicked a hoof, the dust catching and spreading through the outdoor air. "We had a decently long talk. I think she was surprised I talked to her about her problems."

Rainbow stared at Fluttershy, Rainbow's borrowed yellow face unsure of what to do. "But how did she get that, that thing, like now? Don't hospitals fix ponies up to their best selves? I mean I go to the hospital a lot and I'm fine. And we have magic for the chance things can't be fixed easily. Like how did this happen? I don't think she was born with it and if she was the doctors sure didn't fix it."

"I don't know, Dash. I don't know."

"I mean- why didn't she talk to me about it, Shy, I'm her idol and we've hung out a lot cause I like the kid. I mean she seemd to like all my cool Wonderbolt stories. . ." Fluttershy thought she saw Rainbow's borrowed blue eyes start misting over as Dash was put into silence.

Fluttershy quietly spoke up. "Dash, maybe she didn't tell you about it because she sees you as her hero. She probably just enjoyed hanging out with you and getting away from her own problems. Remmeber when you met A.K. Yearling and how both you and Twilight were so excited about her stories being real? That could be what she sees you as." Fluttershy entwined her tail with Dash and sat there, the stars bringing the darkness over them as they watched the lights in Ponyville begin to turn on, illuminating the town in a dull glow.

"Did she at least enjoy her day?"

Fluttershy leaned on Dash's larger yellow shoulder. "Yes, Rainbow, she did. And she liked my idea for learning how to cope with this."

Dash wiped her face of a wet spot that totally wasn't a tear- just a leak of her awesomeness, that was all, and looked at Fluttershy. "Well, whatever it is, I'm in."

Fluttershy smiled. "I guessed you would be." She quietly informed Dash of the idea, Rainbow slowly shaking her head in agreement as the plan was fleshed out, Dash providing insights on how to possibly teach Scootaloo how to fly. Dash waved her yellow hooves excitedly as she got into the normal mood she had- driven excitement, almost a manic episode making Fluttershy almost want to laugh- seeing her own body act like an excited mess did have its own advantages from this angle.

They swapped stories of the day as they walked to Fluttershy's cottage, the walk seeming shorter than before.

As they entered Fluttershy's house, Dash quickly hugged Fluttershy and held her close for a moment. Fluttershy stood there, her heart exploding with worry as she waited to see what Dash was going to do. She heard a muffled answer from her now larger friend.

"Shy, thanks for being there for Scootaloo today."

Fluttershy felt her cheeks blush maroon. "No problem." Fluttershy felt her blue wings slowly extend from their comfortable folded state to painfully erect in what felt both like five seconds and yet like an eternity.

Dash chuckled, her voice sounding like clear glass. "Well I guess you need a bath. I mean I didn't really notice your smell when we were outside but Shy, you reek of sweat. Come on." Dash carried Fluttershy into the cottage and carefully shut the door with her back hoof. Carefully checking if Fluttershy's problem was gone with a tender touch of a hoof, Dash walked up the stairs into the bathroom and slowly turned on the water.

Fluttershy came back to her sense as she noticed Dash turn on the hot water in her shower. With a little flourish, Dash entered the shower as well making the shower for one normal sized pony feel cramped and almost too claustrophobic making each curve of their bodies accidentally touch.

Fluttershy looked up at a grinning Dash.

"So about that sexy tea you got from Discord. . .you know you didn't need to do that. I mean sure I don't know exactly what this is right now, but I prefer you not having to drug me to get into some situation like this."

Fluttershy tapped her blue hooves together. "Um, that really wasn't a good moment."

Dash raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, a bad moment. A really, really bad moment."

Dash smiled. "Yeah. So don't try that again. Seriously like isn't that some love poison level of bad ideas? Or maybe that got raised to a 'send directly to Tartarus' offence. I think you have to be taught a lesson to keep you from being such a bad pony. . ."

Fluttershy looked up at Dash, as she noticed Dash come closer. "Uh, Dash, this isn't a good time to do what I think your doing. I mean it's only been a few days and I really think we are totally going way too fast here."

Dash poked her in her side, running her hooves under her stomach as she aimed for what she was going for. A tickle spot. Dash knew every single one of her own, and since she knew how her body reacted to them she had the upper hoof.

Fluttershy's borrowed body locked up in a fit of tickles as the water pooled around the two ponies, both getting wet in the small space as Dash tickled Fluttershy. After a few minutes, Dash stopped and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at, Dash?" Fluttershy was on her back, blue legs splayed out, hair soaking wet and hanging loosely near her face, and upper half awkwardly jammed into a corner of her shower.

"Nothing, Shy. Just that you should have switched bodies with a unicorn."

Fluttershy was confused. "Why?"

Dash laughed as she tried to keep her footing in the wet shower. "I mean you do seem to be always horn-y. You'd fit right in with them." Dash booped Fluttershy on the nose and turned the shower off. Fluttershy blushed heavily as she looked at Dash.

"What about the whole cleaning off my workout smell that you were talking about before we got in here?"

Dash turned and smiled her best Fluttershy smile followed by a yawn. "I probably have to clean the sheets tomorrow anyway since we haven't really done any laundry, what's another day?" Dash wiggled her lower half as she walked away and Fluttershy quickly grabbed a nearby towel and dried herself off as fast as she could.

"Oh, um, okay. That's fine too." Fluttershy remembered the talk she had with Cloud Kicker this morning. "Hey Dash, So Cloud Kicker talked to me about this dance that's happening in a few days. . ."

"Shy, I can't dance, especially not in your body."

"I could teach you."

Fluttershy heard a quiet grumble from her bed. "Okay. But come to bed cause then I don't have to yell across the room."

Fluttershy walked on over and pulled her covers, finding a ball of yellow feathers and fur in her spot. "Dash, what are you doing on my side of the bed?"

"It's a small bed, sue your mattress, plus this side is much more comfier."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, the magenta orbs doing a quick motion as she climbed in the bed. "Okay, move over so I can get in."

Dash moved and quickly fell asleep- Fluttershy's routine being harder than she realized. A large, strong hoof hugged Fluttershy close. Flutttershy wondered how much Dash realized she was doing this unconsciously or if the pegasus was holding her like a stuffed animal on purpose. Fluttershy shrugged, realizing that the problem could be pushed to another day. She shifted a bit and fell asleep as well, wondering how much work teaching Dash how to dance would involve.