Ch.8: Whose Fault it is

"Oh, how could I've been so stupid?" Discord growled to himself as he, Daring, Spike, and the other Ponies of Harmony charged through the Everfree Forest. "How could I have let this happen to my best friend?!"

"Discord, don't blame yourself," Spike said to him as he rode on his back. "None of us could've noticed that Leon was really Ahuizotl in disguise."

"But I should've!" he snapped. "I can sense magical imbalances. How could I've not sensed that from Leon or Ahuizotl or whatever the hay he's called?"

"Well, from the description of that charm Twilight saw on Ahuizotl's collar," Daring answered, "my guess is he used the Talisman of Mudar. Not only can it change you into whatever you wish; it can also block out any magic-users from detecting its powers, even magical imbalances."

"But what does he want with Fluttershy?" asked Twilight.

"My guess is he wants to turn her into FlutterBat again so as to use her in his revenge against me," she stated with a growl before muttering so the others wouldn't hear her. "If he's trying to make me jealous, he's doing a darn good job at it." Fortunately, they didn't hear that last part.

"I'm still blaming this whole mess on you, Applejack," Discord snapped at the Earth Pony.

"Me?!" she snapped back.

"Well, technically, if you just listened to her sooner instead taking your own stupid course of action just because it's 'faster', Twilight wouldn't have used her spell to make Fluttershy into FlutterBat in the first place, and she wouldn't be caught in this mess."

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Rainbow yelled at him in anger. "You can't just go and—"

"No, he's right, Rainbow," Applejack sighed, stopping slowly and looking down in shame.

"He is/I am?" the two of them replied simultaneously as they all stopped to look at her.

"Discord was right. I should've listened to Fluttershy 'n' make that sanctuary for them vampire fruit bats sooner so FlutterBat never happened. Not only that; I was also inconsiderate of her feelin's because I was thinkin' more 'bout my farm, my cider, and my large apple for the contest in Appleloosa rather than how to stop those bats more peacefully. If I wasn't, we never would've pressured her. I'm so sorry, Discord. I was stupid, stupid, STUPID!" She then slammed her hoof hard into the ground that even made the Draconequus jump with surprise.

"Whoa there, AJ," he said to her before she could beat herself up more. "I didn't mean to scold ya like that; I'm just worried about Fluttershy that I opened my mouth without thinking."

"Yeah, so am I," the cow-Pony sighed before turning to Rainbow Dash. "And I think Rainbow should apologize to ya too."

"Me?!" she replied indignantly. "For what?!"

"Of course, for taking Applejack's side over Fluttershy's and pressuring her into that mess all because of Applejack silly cider," Rarity answered with a scolding glare before turning to Applejack apologetically. "Uh, no offense, darling."

"It's ahright," she answered. "I deserved that anyway." She then turned back to Rainbow. "'N' if ya don't apologize to 'im, then no more cider fer a whole year." Rainbow's face paled with a gapping mouth before she sighed in defeat.

"Fine…" she growled before turning to Discord. "I'm sorry, Discord, for also getting Fluttershy into this whole mess with my cider obsession."

"It's alright," he replied with a nod. "I forgive ya." Rainbow just looked at him with a smile before Pinkie cleared her throat.

"I hate to interrupt your moment," she said to them, "but we still need to save Fluttershy. Plus, I left my party cannon back home, so I can't celebrate this moment."

"Pinkie's right," Spike agreed. "Any ideas?"

"I have one that Discord might like," Daring answered with a smirk. "Discord, you can use your powers to change anything into something else, right?"

"Yeah, but why?"

"What about changing one Pegasus into another Pegasus?" she asked slyly. Seeing the glimmer in her eye and getting what she's thinking, Discord returned the smirk with a chuckle.