Ice Skating
Oh, he'd certainly promised the princess... Princesses, as it were, that he would only use his powers for good. Of course, what is for good and what is for evil is up for interpretation. He likely could have easily bent his promise to breaking point with that sort of logic. He even had half a mind to. He snapped his tail and giggled as a group of ducks suddenly gained very long necks and some blue and purple spots. He started slightly as he heard a soft voice clear. He pretended to ignore it for a moment, flicking his tail once more, causing the ducks necks to return to normal, but now their feathers were puffed into bright yellows, pinks, blues, and greens. He chuckled lightly, and turned to the mare who had made her presence known next to him, smiling. “Hello Fluttershy,” he said lightly as he made a handful of bread crumbs appear out of thin air. He tossed the crumbs into the water. The now overly fluffy ducks swam over, picking them out of the water with their barely visible beaks.
The soft yellow mare spoke out with just as soft a voice, “you should change them back Discord.” She looked at the puffball ducks with some minor distaste. She preferred it when Discord left her woodland friends alone. No matter what she said though, he seemed to hold on tightly to his habit of transforming them however he pleased when he came over.
He gave a small frown, the one he always gave when he was disappointed, or sad. She turned her head away, trying not to be dissuaded by that look. He looked at the ducks, then back at her, still frowning, sincere in his sadness this time. He shook it off though, sadness wasn't becoming of him, not when he could change the world around him with the blink of an eye and the twitch of his tail. “Dearest Fluttershy,” he intoned gently, “when have I not put your creatures to rights before I leave?” He chuckled, though a bit forced, “I rather thought you would like them. If not then,” he couldn't help letting a little sadness permeate his voice, “I will change them back. It just wouldn't do to have you upset with me on such a fine day, now would it?”
Her ears twitched slightly, and she looked at the ducks, one of which had waddled up to her. An absurdly fluffy pink one, it's little eyes beady in all the fluff. It gave a quack, and she picked it up, just grinning despite herself. It was adorable. She couldn't help giving a little giggle, “maybe they can stay like this for just a little longer.”
Discord grinned, but wondered if maybe he was just a little too happy that she suddenly liked his little creations. Then again, they were just a tad cuter than he'd intended. Not usually his style. He frowned thoughtfully to himself, giving his tail a flick. If cute was what it took to let him get away with some of this, well... Maybe it was worth it.
The little mare gave a start as she heard a loud screech. She turned quickly to see Discord with a sheepish look on his face, blushing almost, in front of what seemed to be various animals... or instruments, or some disturbing combination of both. The commotion seemed to be coming from a very small violin, or perhaps a rather large grasshopper. Discord grinned, trying to dispel the look on Fluttershy's face. His grin was failing, however, so he decided to try a bit of charm. “Care to dance?” He crooned, offering his lions paw to the young mare. Holding a baton with his tail, he tapped it against a nearby rock. He gave the baton a little sway after he was sure he had the instruments attention, watching Fluttershy with a mischievous look in his eyes. She turned away, an air of disdain about her. The ducks were one thing, but this was entirely different.
“Oh come now Fluttershy... I'll change them back after just one dance. Surely that's not too much, is it?” Discord kept a smile on his face, though it threatened a frown that was beginning to show in his eyes.
Fluttershy turned just in time to catch a glimpse of that look, her face slightly red, “n... no thank you. Please just turn them back to the way they were.” Her voice quiet and sheepish as always. It held some slight authority, but not nearly enough to ever sway the draconeques unless he already intended to listen to her. Not that he hardly ever listened to anyone.
He put an arm around her, looking her in the eyes, “oh come now,” he started, pausing for a moment as he looked at her eyes. They were an unusually pretty color. He smirked, giving his tail a flick, wondering how soon she would notice his newest “improvement.” He began again, “come now Fluttershy, surely one little dance won't be so bad?” He smirked, “what have you got to be afraid of?”
She looked away, blushing more. She scratched at the ground with a hoof, “I... I don't dance.”
“Oh dear,” he said, sitting up straight and giving her a stern look, “whyever not? Afraid you're going to trip?”
Fluttershy kept looking at the ground, murmuring out a faint “yes.” She blinked in surprise as a translucent sea green butterfly landed in front of her. She knew immediately that Discord had done it, but the little butterfly seemed so downright mild compared to normal, that it caught her off guard.
“Do you like it?” He asked, leaning in close and looking at the butterfly as well, nearly cheek to cheek with her. “Very pretty color, if I do say so myself.” He gave a dramatic sigh, “of course, I would understand if you wanted me to change them back. They just aren't the same as normal butterflies.”
She shook her head, “n... no. I like them,” she said, looking up to see a few more flitting about the field.
Discord gave a smile and snapped his claw, turning almost all of the instruments back into the animals they had been. He picked up the last one left unchanged, the grashopper-violin. He grabbed the bow off the ground and looked at the mare, “we're friends, aren't we Fluttershy?”
She gave a nod, still looking at the butterflies. Discord smiled, resting his lion paw on her shoulder, “well then... Why not one dance?”
She turned, frowning at him, “no Discord. I don't dance.” She blushed and went back to watching the butterflies.
He sighed, “oh come on Fluttershy... Surely you can share a dance with a friend?”
She gave him a stern look, then frowned, turning and looking out at the pond. The fluffy ducks and little butterflies were quite out of character for him. She liked it though... It was peaceful. For once. Though something seemed out of place now, without some random creation of his, or himself, hopping and running about the place.
Discord gave a tragic sounding sigh of defeat, “oh alright.” He snapped a claw, and the ducks suddenly gave shocked quacks, as the pond froze solid. Fluttershy gasped in surprise, as he snapped again and the ducks appeared, unharmed, though irritated, at the edge of the now frozen pond. “How about this, then?”
“Discord! What are you doing!?” Fluttershy stared at him, obviously shocked and upset.
He frowned again, this time just outright letting her see the hurt in his eyes. “I thought maybe some ice skating would be fun... It's been quite a while. It seems I've overstepped my bounds once again, however. Don't worry... I'll change everything back before I leave, as always.” He raised his claw, looking at his perfectly frozen pond for a moment.
Fluttersy leaped at him, grabbing his claw, “no wait!” She flushed red, letting go and backing up a couple steps, “uhm... Ice skating sounds like fun.” She looked out over the pond, “s... sorry... You just surprised me. I would really like that, though.”
Discord cheered up immediately, a wide grin now replacing the frown. He snapped his tail and ice skates suddenly appeared on both of them. He grabbed one of her front legs, cheerfully pulling her out on the ice, while laughing. “Well now this is fun!” He let go of her and she slid a little ways away, and he spun on the ice. She giggled, happy to see him having fun. It had been a long time since they had last gone ice skating. That seemed to be one of Discords favorite activities with her.
He skated over, and picked up her two front legs. He took off the two ice skates on her front hooves, “come on, I want to try something.” He grinned and pulled her to the middle of the pond, “okay, now just follow my lead. Don't worry about falling, for this I've got to hold your hooves. I can't do it alone, of course, so if you would help me please Fluttershy?” He met her eyes, grinning and pleading at the same time.
Fluttershy smiled back, it was impossible to say no, not when he was being this cheerful. She grinned bashfully, “okay Discord... I trust you.”
“Okay... First now... Shut your eyes. No peeking!” He let go of one of her hooves for a moment to waggle a claw at her, then quickly grabbed it back up as Fluttershy shut her eyes tight. Discord smiled, “good... Now, just skate with me. No opening your eyes though!”
He suddenly started skating, and the movement jerked her slightly, surprising her. She almost opened her eyes, but kept them closed tight. After the initial movement, everything became smooth and flowing. She giggled, skating towards him, and breathing a gasp as he suddenly spun her around. She giggled again, as he alternated between just skating in simple patterns with her, and suddenly spinning her around. She wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but it was fun. Suddenly he stopped, and she fell into him. Her surprise not only forced her eyes open and wide, but caused her mind to register music coming from the edge of the frozen pond. Discord smiled down at her, “there... That wasn't so bad, now was it?”
She blinked, suddenly realizing, “y... You!”
Discord looked worried for a moment, wondering if perhaps he really had gone a little too far this time. She had seemed awfully opposed to dancing... He blinked in surprise as he felt her front legs wrap around his body. He looked down at her, and she had her eyes shut again, “no... no actually, I think I liked it.” She scrunched her face up, hiding her blush against his chest.
Discord felt warmth spread across his cheeks, and once more found himself blinking in surprise. He gently moved her away from his chest, “keep your eyes closed. I think I have one more surprise for you.” Discord looked at her for a moment, then planted a small kiss on the mares nose. “Thanks for the dance, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy opened her eyes wide in surprise, but he had already disappeared, leaving her on solid ground and with everything back to normal. Except maybe one small thing. A translucent cerulean blue butterfly flitted up, and landed on her nose, right on the spot where he'd kissed her.
