After seeing Fluttershy's generosity taken advantage of by a particularly spiteful local pony named Thistle Burr, Discord decides that it's time she received some assertiveness training. Whether she likes it or not.
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Tropes found in this story include:
- Cruel to Be Kind: Discord's basic motivation; he could simply force Thistle Burr — and, indeed, everypony who refuses to pay their bills to Fluttershy because they know she won't fight for it — to give the pegasus what she's rightfully owed, but that won't solve the immediate problem of Fluttershy not being willing to stand up for herself. So he keeps publicly pushing her to challenge him over a simple, obviously wrong statement, hoping that eventually she'll muster the will to push back.
- Everyone Has Standards: Discord cheerfully admits he's a liar, but he finds the specific kind of lying that Thistle Burr does to be very offensive.
- In fact, he doesn't seem to like Thistle Burr himself very much either, pointing out that, among other things, the pony has trained his dog to be aggressive towards everypony and he only brings it to Fluttershy because he really dislikes the Bearers and he keeps hoping he'll see Fluttershy bitten in the process.
