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Discord sat in Fluttershy’s cozy living room, a notebook open in front of him, a half-finished doodle of a rabbit in a tutu taking up most of the page. He was already losing interest, the equations staring back at him like hieroglyphs that had no business being there.
Fluttershy sat beside him, looking at him with that gentle patience he simultaneously adored and dreaded. Her teal eyes sparkled with kindness, and her voice was a melody as she asked
“Do you remember what we covered last time?”
Discord squirmed, scratching his head with the wrong end of a quill, somehow managing to turn it into a feather duster in the process.
“Last time… right. Well, last time I, uh, mostly remember the snacks.”
Fluttershy let out a small giggle, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Yes, I remember you enjoyed the cookies. But the lesson… maybe not so much?” she looked at him trying not to giggle.
He grinned, sheepish but trying to keep his usual charm intact.
“It’s just that math, my dear Fluttershy, is dreadfully… un-magical. All these numbers and symbols, they simply don’t dance like they should! They sit there, flat and lifeless.”
“Oh, Discord,” Fluttershy said gently, her voice like a soft breeze. “Math can be beautiful. Think of it like… a puzzle. It’s just waiting for you to unlock it.”
Discord blinked, still looking at her with a smirk as if she’d just spoken in a foreign language. “A puzzle, you say? Well, I do love puzzles.” His mismatched eyes darted back to the equations. “But this doesn’t look like a puzzle… more like a trap.”
Fluttershy laughed again, a gentle, melodious sound that seemed to melt some of Discord’s reluctance. She slid closer, her wing brushing his side as she pointed at the notebook. “Let’s start with something simple. Do you remember how we were working on solving for x?”
Discord huffed, a small pout forming. “Oh, yes. X… always so mysterious. What has x ever done for me?”
“Well, x is just a way to find something we don’t know yet,” Fluttershy explained, her voice soothing. “Think of it like a hidden answer, something special waiting to be found.”
He raised a bushy eyebrow, the corner of his mouth quirking up as he regarded her with newfound curiosity. “Hidden, hmm?” His expression shifted, playful again. “ Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’m all about secrets and mysteries, you know.”
“Then let’s uncover this one together,” Fluttershy encouraged, her smile warm.
She nudged his notebook back to the front of the table and wrote down a simple equation: 2x + 4 = 10. “Let’s start here,” she said softly. “To solve for x, we want to get x by itself on one side of the equation.”
“By itself?” Discord tilted his head, glancing at her like she’d just suggested the sky should be green. “And here I thought math was all about sticking things together in horrendously complicated ways.”
Fluttershy giggled. “Sometimes it’s about putting things together, and sometimes it’s about finding what’s been hidden beneath. First, we need to move the 4 to the other side of the equation.”
“Move it?” he asked, waving his paw in a showy gesture, only for the number “4” to literally hop to the other side of the equation and plant itself beside the 10. “Like that?”
She blinked, surprised, then gave him a patient smile. “Not quite,” she said, chuckling at his magical interpretation. “In math, we ‘move’ by using the opposite operation. So since we’re adding 4 here, we need to…?”
“Ah, ” Discord said, catching on. “Subtract it!”
Fluttershy nodded, looking pleased. “Mhm!!”
Carefully, Discord rewrote the equation with a new focus. “So… 2x = 6?”
Fluttershy’s wings fluttered softly, her smile proud. “Yes! Now, we just need to get x by itself. What’s the opposite of multiplying by 2?”
“Dividing by 2,” he replied, eyes brightening as the logic clicked into place. “ So… x equals 3!”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, beaming. “ You did it, Discord!”
“Huh…..I did!”
Discord’s smile softened as he looked at her, the way her eyes sparkled when she encouraged him, her sincere pride in his small success. It was such a simple equation, but the warmth in her gaze made him feel as though he’d solved the mysteries of the universe.
“See?” she murmured gently. “You’re not a lost cause.”
He chuckled, feeling a bit bashful under her approving gaze.
“Oh, I’m still hopeless. But maybe a bit less so with you around.”
They worked through more problems together, and Discord found himself slowly adjusting. Her quiet encouragement, her endless patience — it all softened him, leaving him eager to try. Every time he stumbled or grew frustrated, Fluttershy would soothe him with a kind word, always making him feel like he was more than the sum of his parts.
And in between equations and practice problems, Discord found himself stealing glances at her, but quickly looked away everytime she’d notice.
As they finished another set of equations, Fluttershy turned to him with that soft, admiring look again. “You’ve done so well, Discord. You should be proud.”
Discord’s mouth curled into a teasing grin. “Oh, I’m positively brimming with pride. Although…” His tone grew quieter, more sincere as he watched her. “It was more enjoyable because I had you by my side.”
Fluttershy’s cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. “Oh, heh….well…uh…” she hid her face shyly. Everytime Discord would speak to her like that she’d always get flustered and found herself hiding behind her hair blushing.
“I mean it,” he said, leaning closer. “I may not be the best student, but I’d honestly go through a thousand equations if it meant spending more time with you, you’re just really a great tutor.”
Her eyes shimmered, and for a moment, neither of them said a word. There was a warmth in the room that felt different from before, something soft and sweet, like the beginning of spring.
“Discord…” she began, her voice soft and uncertain, yet hopeful. “Would you like to meet again next week? For another lesson? B-but! If you don’t wanna….that’s okay….i just wanted to know if you wanna…..have another…..lesson” her voice grew more quiet.
Discord gave her a mischievous smirk. “If it means seeing you, my dear Fluttershy, I’ll be here every day of the week.”
Fluttershy laughed, and in that laugh, Discord found a harmony he didn’t know he’d been longing for.