AN: Moving forward!

As per usual, I don't own, claim to own, or try to make a profit off of My Little Pony or other references within this chapter.

Enjoy!

Ch 15: Confrontations

Fluttershy finally slowed down to catch her breath. Looking over her shoulder she saw that, to her surprise, Discord had not followed. Funnily enough she couldn't quite figure out if that was a bad thing or not.

With a sigh she went to lean up against a tree trunk to catch her breath only to wince in pain. Her wing, though still in the cast, was aching badly. She was almost worried that it might have broken again. Oh, Doctor Strong Bones was not going to be very pleased with her at all. Though maybe a party would help make her less angr-

Fluttershy stopped her train of thought right there. She had thought the pep talk with Princess Luna had stopped all these random celebration thoughts. Maybe it was just this one? Yeah, that had to be it. Just one thought about an awesome, amazing party bash that would be known throughout all of Equestria for years to come! They would decorate the whole town and have so many balloons and a parade in honor of-

"No, no, NO!" Fluttershy shook her head, "I can't think of that now. I need to concentrate on my friends. I just need to find my friends."

She was certain that one way or the other she would find her way out, find help, and return to Ponyville. And then they would have a celebration...no she would work to convince her friends that Discord was good. With their help she could talk to Discord again and then they could work towards making the most fun party that would rock his cabin…. No, she was going to apologize and they would explain the whole thing to Princess Celestia. And then they would have a gala complete with-NO!

It felt as if she stopped concentrating, if she let her mind wander for a second, her mind would push her back to these thoughts of "parties" and "songs." In a way, she was really getting tired of it all. Couldn't everything just quiet down and just be peaceful and calm?

With a sigh, Fluttershy stood back up. Curse or not, she needed to see her friends again before anything bad happened. With a determined glint in her eye, Fluttershy continued on into the forest. One way or another, she was going to solve this.

"Discord," Twilight called out, "Where. Is. Fluttershy!"

"Ahhhh, girls! Welcome to my humble little abode," Discord grinned darkly, only his eyes showing his annoyance at their intrusion. Waving his arms around as he presented his little cottage to the group before him, "Now as much as I would love to entertain you, I am a little busy at the moment. Perhaps we can reschedule your ultimate defeat at the hands of my sheer awesomeness for later? Perhaps three weeks after Tuesday?"

"Like we would do that, Dip-cord," Rainbow Dash called out as she hovered next to Twilight, "Just give us back Fluttershy and no one has to get hurt!"

"Then again," Rainbow smirked, "Don't. I wouldn't mind having an excuse to kick your butt!"

"Oh, I'm so scared! I am completely and utterly outclassed and done for! Oh, woe is me!" Discord cried with heavy amounts of sarcasm. Shaking his head, he turned to look at the pegasi, "You and what army Rainbow Dash?"

"We may not have an army," Applejack called as she emerged from the now landed balloon, "But you still have us to deal with!"

"Ooh! Is that house made out of gingerbread!" Pinkie hopped out of the balloon, destroying the tense atmosphere in an instant, "And are those marshmallows?! Ooh! And is that-"

"Yes, yes," Discord waved off her questions, "That is marshmallows and gingerbread and whipped cream and a candied bridge and so on. I did say that this is my house I believe."

"Funny how your house looks an awful lot like that of Fluttershy's cottage," Applejack drawled.

"In a very quaint yet cartoonish way, it does," Rarity observed.

"Either which way, I do believe that I asked for a reschedule. Now if you girls will excuse me," he turned to leave. He made it only a handful of steps before Twilight's voice made him stop in his tracks.

"You can't ignore us, Discord! We have the elements with us right now! The elements of harmony took you down more than once before," Twilight took a break from staring at him to smile at the forms of her friends that were taking position around her, "They can take you down once more!"

Discord looked at her with owlish eyes for a few seconds, then began to laugh deeply, "Really? And did you bring your pet dragon along again to be the...what was it again?" He put on some reading glasses and flipped through a small journal that he pulled from behind his back, "Ah, yes. The "new Rainbow Dash" I do believe you said!"

Flipping the book closed it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"But wait," he looked over at the group, making a show out of counting their numbers, "I do believe that the new Rainbow Dash is missing. And is that the old Rainbow Dash right there? So what does this make her now? Will she be our new Fluttershy? No-no, I do believe somepony already has that name...perhaps your group's Shutterfly?"

Thinking to himself for a second he nodded and pulled out a desk, donned a business suit and began stamping paperwork, "I do think we can make an arrangement here. Your group, Miss Sparkle, will get all rights and privileges to the one known as Shutterfly and my corporation will take over the rights to the one known as Fluttershy. Now if you would please sign on the dotted line?"

Pinkie Pie appeared before the desk with her own set of official looking glasses and read through the contract that Discord had written up. Tsking to herself, she shook her head and waved her hoof at the paper before her, "I'm sorry, but your contract will just not do! I do believe that our group already has all copyright to the name Fluttershy, and that you're corporation will just have to wait for that patent to run out! Not to mention that you're chocolate rain clause only calls for rain on Mondays and Fridays, when I believe I specifically requested it all days of the week!"

"Oh, I do apologize," he took back the paper, "How about this? Since you, Miss Pie, are representing one Miss Sparkle, I will offer you a deal with chocolate rains on every other weekend and I'll throw in a ice cream snow storm once a month and a candy lake, all with exclusive rights to Ponyville, for free."

"Ooooooo!" Pinkie squealed, eagerly holding out her hoof to shake, "I think you have yourself-"

A sudden purple force field surrounded Pinkie Pie and the contract, forcefully pulling them just out of the hoof-shake with Discord.

"No-deal, Discord," Twilight growled, "Like we would give up our friend for chocolate and candy!"

"What! It was a deal!" Pinkie gave an embarrassed smile as Twilight's magic set her down next to her now frowning friends.

"Ah well, can't blame a draconequus for trying," Discord shrugged, standing up and making the desk and apparel disappear once more, "I do believe that either which way, you are one pony short for your "Element of Friendship Cannon Rainbow Ultimate Attack." Or, you know, whatever you call that rainbow blast of friendship powers."

"Even if we don't have one of our group, I believe that they will help us to get Fluttershy back and defeat you," Twilight said with a slight hesitation.

"Dear, dear Twilight Sparkle," Discord muttered as he vanished from his spot and reappeared right next to her, lifting her chin up so their eyes met, "I do believe that a certain somepony made a certain promise pertaining to a certain element."

Rainbow growled and dived at Discord to tackle him once more, "Shut up!"

"Oh, because your head on attacks worked so well before," Discord rolled his eyes, melting into the ground. Rainbow Dash gasped and barreled Rarity and Pinkie Pie into the moat while Discord reformed his body once more.

"Stop doing that!" Rainbow fumed as she and the others flopped to the surface.

"My hair!" Rarity called out horrified, "What have you done to my hair!"

"Just what is this liquid anyways," the blue pegasus splashed about in frustration, "It sure doesn't seem like water…."

"Wait a minute," Pinkie pushed the other two to the side as she cautiously studied, sniffed, and finally tasted the waters around them. Discord chuckled softly while the rest of her friends groaned. Rarity turned a little green at Pinkie's actions before the party pony gasped out in delight, "Is this a chocolate moat?!"

"Indeed it is, Miss Pie," Discord clapped from the banks, "Now as I told those meddlesome Clunderbolts…" he changed form again into an old man, complete with high riding pants and a walking stick, "You kids get out of my moat!"

"Kids? But we aren't goats," Twilight whispered in confusion.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she retook her position next to her. "What I believe my friend here is trying to say is: Get 'im girls!" She pointed at Discord as all the group charged forward.

Twilight jumped forward shooting a blasting spell towards Discord, whom happily jumped to the side and watched as portions of grass and his cottage received burn marks from where the spells landed. Applejack, seeing the opening, tossed a lasso out. For a brief second she was hopeful she actually caught the beast, only for him to phase out from existence and reappear next to where he was moments prior.

Rainbow and Pinkie jumped at him from opposite sides, intent on taking him down. Discord gave an evil grin as he shrunk down to the size of a beatle, laughing as the two ponies flew above his head, missing their target entirely. The pegasus flew way off course, struggling to backpedal with the momentum she had gained, sailing over the forest on the other side of the cottage.

Pinkie meanwhile flew through the air and landed back into the moat. Seconds later the pink pony resurfaced from the chocolatey liquid. With a determined glare she stood on her hind legs, forelegs high in the air, ready to charge after Discord, only for the look to drop from her face when she saw where she had landed. Giving the area around her a paranoid glance, just incase her friends really were paying attention, she called out in a feigned desperation, "Oh no! I have fallen in and do not know if I can get out! I guess all I can do is drink all this hot chocolate!"

A quick glance around showed her that her friends didn't seem to mind. Or at the very least they weren't saying she couldn't. Taking the initiative, Pinkie dove right in to her own chocolaty paradise.

Back up on land, Applejack and Twilight had tried again to team up and herd Discord into Applejack's trap, only for him to either vanish or use some form of dodging that just could not be physically possible, like separating his top body from the bottom.

"Stop doin' that and fight fair!" Applejack called out in frustration as he reappeared with a mocking laugh for what had to be the tenth time in a row.

"Ah, but all is fair in love and war," Discord tisked as he ducked away from another spell from Twilight, "And I do believe that we now have a war on our hands!"

"One that you've lost!" a voice called from above, bringing a surprised look to the draconequus's face. For a few seconds he desperately tried to spot the only pony that flew to find nothing, when a speck blocked out the sun. He made to dodge out of the way, finding that his feet had been melted into the earth around him.

"Ah! Good show, Twilight," Discord whispered his congratulations. He had no time to fully think of a flamboyant retreat, as seconds later his world began to spin as he fell to the ground.

For what felt like forever Discord lay upon the ground before his vision returned to normal. Shakily looking around, he spotted Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash slowly enclosing on his downed spot as though he were some large, dangerous predator. Which he was, but that was not the point.

"Well, girls," Discord growled as he slowly sat up, the ground around his feet seemingly dripping off like water as he removed them one by one from where they had been melted in, "I believe this has been a great warm-up."

"A warm-up?" Applejack looked nervously towards Twilight.

"But I have already stated that I have business to attend to," Discord stood tall again, towering over the ponies.

Rainbow Dash charged forward once more, still feeling strong from her hit she had landed not moments before, while Twilight watched warily from the back of the group. It seemed like Discord was just standing there, waiting to be hit, but the gleam in his eye told her that something else was going on.

Twilight's eyes raced around, looking for whatever trap Discord must have lain. Seeing nothing in the immediate area in front of her she looked up and gasped.

"Rainbow! Get away from there!"

"Wha-" Rainbow looked back at where Twilight was making such panicked cries.

"Bad move," Discord chuckled.

Suddenly the earth around the ponies shook as a massive tornado touched down in front of Discord's form. Rainbow Dash cried out in surprise as she was sucked into the massive storm's pull.

Applejack desperately sunk her hooves into the ground, her hat flying off her head into the storm. Yet no matter how much she tried to keep to the ground, her body was slowly being pulled up. Closing her eyes in fear she began to scream.

"I've got you AJ!"

Applejack felt a slight tug on her person and opened her eyes to see that Twilight was using the same spell she had used on Pinkie Pie not even minutes before acting as a tether for the earth pony. Around the unicorn in question was a purple bubble that debris and rocks bounced off. With a quick look around she gasped as she watched the cottage as a whole being removed from the ground and becoming part of the chaos all around them.

Up above Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to get her bearings and get out of the funnel of the tornado. A sudden strike to the head dazed her, as her vision swam for mere moments. Shaking her head to clear it, she could only stare in shock as Granny Smith in a rocking chair floated by muttering something about it "being a bit drafty today."

Rainbow shook her head once more and tried to concentrate on the tornado around them, flapping her wings as fast as she could to keep up with the storm. Soon items that had been whizzing around her were now looking as though they were standing still. With a determined smirk, she began to make her way out of the storm. Taking a deep breath she pushed into the clouds that made up the tornado and tried to keep to her path as the winds threatened to take her down once more.

The sudden brightness of the sunlight on her face was like a breath of fresh air. Looking down, she saw the chaos that the sudden storm was causing her friends. Twilight's dome looked like it was threatening to fizzle out at any second while Applejack floated helplessly from the magical tether. The tornado had moved over to the moat, where it was sucking in liquid from the moat and threatening to take one pink pony with it.

Pinkie Pie however was happily doing a backstroke that kept her one step ahead of the funnel at any given point in time, laughing in delight the whole while.

"Rainbow!" Twilight's voice was barely audible over the winds, "Can't you do something about this!"

Rainbow nodded down at the unicorn, turning in mid-air to fly in the opposite direction of the winds. Faster and faster she flew until finally all of the storm was removed. All around them all of the debris seemed to magically fall back into their locations from earlier, the ground shaking as the cottage as a whole just fell perfectly back into its spot. Rainbow Dash flew around a few dozen more times for good measure, taking a tangent to her flight path to land once more by the balloon.

"Well, that was interesting," Discord muttered from where he was eating popcorn on a tree branch from where the forest encircled his small getaway.

"Discord!" Twilight glared up at the draconequus as Applejack was finally placed back on the ground again in a dazed state, "Were you trying to kill us!"

"Weelllllllll," Discord rolled his tongue, not meeting the unicorns harsh gaze, "Not really...I had hoped to send you someplace else. You know how that one story goes; where the girl gets sucked up into the tornado and gets sent over a rainbow and-"

His drawling was cut off by a spell that went right past his mane, turning a nearby branch into an apple.

"Ah, on to other types of fruit transmutations, are we Twilight?" Discord laughed as he floated on his back off into the forest as though he were floating down a stream.

"Come on girls," Twilight growled as she chased after the Chaos Lord.

Applejack shakily began to follow, only pausing to grab her hat that had landed near the tree line, "Wait up, Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash stood tall, giving a glance of disapproval as she glanced at Rarity who climbed shakily from behind the balloon, still dripping wet from her swim in the moat not even minutes before.

"Rarity! Where have you been! We could have used your help."

"But you don't understand! My hair," Rarity sobbed as she looked up at Rainbow with makeup running off of her eyes, "All those countless hours of grooming and preparing! Wasted!"

"No. You don't seem to understand," Rainbow flew up above her, her eyes looking furious as she stared down the unicorn, "If we let him get away now, we could lose our friend forever! If you aren't going to help, you might as well go back to Ponyville!"

Rarity looked up at Rainbow as though she had been slapped. It wasn't like she didn't know that…but it was just all those wasted hours…..

"Oi! Pinkie! Hurry up! He's getting away!" Rainbow didn't bother to look the unicorn's way as she chased after their friends.

"On it!" Pinkie sang out, giving a quick salute as she jumped out of the chocolatey waters and with a quick shake was free of all the liquids.

Rarity just gave a teary sigh as she glanced away. Rainbow was right, she wasn't trying hard to help with the recovery effort if she was sitting here worrying about her hair of all things. Perhaps Discord had been right. Maybe she was a bad friend and didn't deserve her friendship with Fluttershy…..

"Don't worry, Rarity," Pinkie Pie's voice interrupted her thoughts. Looking up, she saw Pinkie Pie standing right before her, toweling off with a large blue towel that Rarity had definitely not seen amongst the items they packaged. "Rainbow Dash is just upset and probably won't recognize how big of a meanie butt she's being till later. I'm sure that she will apologize once we have Fluttershy back!"

"Maybe," Rarity gazed down in sadness.

"No maybes about it!" Pinkie Pie looked serious as she pulled Rarity's gaze upward, "You and Fluttershy have been best buddies for, like, forever now! You both enjoy sewing and colorful fabrics and dresses. Not to mention your weekly trip to the spa!"

Rarity could only look on in surprise. Pinkie Pie, despite the way she normally acted, was abnormally observant and quite right. No matter what Discord or Rainbow Dash were saying, she was a friend of Fluttershy. And she would rather give up her collection of sequins dresses than give up on that friendship!

"Now if that's all done," Pinkie smiled at the now resolute unicorn before her, "I think we have a friend to rescue!"

Rarity gave a small laugh as she looked at her friend. Always trust Pinkie Pie to make you smile.

"Oh, and by the way," Pinkie added, her face still holding that serious look, "Do you need this towel? You're moving about like a wet cat! And don't get me started on that make-up."

Rarity gave her a scolding look, grabbing the towel from her friend. On the other hand, always trust Pinkie Pie to state the world as she saw it.

"Concentrate on my friends. I will find my friends. Keep on moving. There are no awesome parties complete with balloons and-NO! Concentrate on my friends."

The soft voice whispered through the leaves of an usually quiet forest. Small creatures would come out to see what was foolish enough to make such noises in this dangerous of an area. Many would scamper away from the creature, but some followed for a while, judging their chances against it. While its form was small, it would have been a bountiful feast for many of the animals that called this place home. But so far they had all deemed it an unworthy fight, and ran off in search of smaller, more manageable prey.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, felt like crying. Her wings were burning, her legs ached, and her hooves looked cracked and damaged beyond all hope. She was certain that Applejack was going to throw a fit...at least, if Applejack was still the one running the boutique. Her head hurt to try and figure that all out right now.

So far her determination to find the rest of her group was working well, as it kept her moving forward and out of whatever that state of mind that curse put her in. Though as time slowly wore on through the afternoon, she felt herself begin to slip back into moments of party-frenzy as she had taken to calling it. She had thus far been able to fight it off, but who knew how long that would last for.

Looking ahead, she spotted a small creek that bubbled merrily along with lots of rocks. With a small cry of relief, Fluttershy rushed ahead.

Ten minutes later and the pony had happily had her fill and was now resting some of her hooves in the water. It was a welcomed break from the woods around her. Now that she was feeling a bit more refreshed she felt like she could come up with a better game plan than wandering aimlessly. She could follow the creek to wherever it ended. The chances of a town or house along it were greater than if she just kept running in any one direction. At the very least she'd then have water!

Fluttershy smiled at the thought of finally getting out of the forest, before a small frown marred her face. While her ultimate goal was to find her friends, she was still worried about Discord. Would he forgive her for leaving like she did? He really wasn't a bad guy. More just a guy who made bad choices.

It was during these musings that a new set of glowing red eyes appeared from within the forest. The sounds of a deep growl finally shook Fluttershy back into the now, making her glance around in fear. She had already had to deal with timberwolves! What could it be now?

Shakily looking over her shoulder, she spotted the massive form of a Manticore revealing itself from the woods. And without a second thought, Fluttershy screamed.