Never-ending Dream

-Fluttershy's Cottage-

The atmosphere inside the cottage was painfully awkward. It wasn't because of the animals; they were perfectly fine and as noisy as ever. No, what made everything so strained was the lack of conversation between Discord, Fluttershy and Frost. As soon as the trio had stepped inside and sat down, the two males had instantly made it clear how they felt towards each other. Frost was staring down Discord, as if the glare he was giving would cause the god to reveal knowledge that nopony else had known. The god, however, made sure to look everywhere but where the Pegasus sat in total mockery and defiance of the glare. Poor Fluttershy was stuck between the two; she couldn't decide if she should make friendly conversation with Frost or tell Discord to stop playing whatever prank was happening. What broke the three-way stalemate was the arrival of her pet Angel bunny.

Angel had been waiting for Fluttershy to feed him for some time since she had stepped inside with the other two males. He'd tried to be patient, but each passing minute made him more and more frustrated. Before long, he was thumping his foot on the floor in irritation, expecting her to get up and give him the salad that was way overdue. Fed up, he hopped over to where she sat, climbed up on the couch and tugged on her mane to get attention. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and glanced down to the bunny, who was pointing at his stomach with a scowl across his features.

"O-oh! A-angel! I'm sorry, you're probably hungry, right? I'll go fix your food right now."

She got up and made her way to the kitchen, secretly glad that she didn't have to choose between Frost or Discord that time. If it had gone on for any longer, there was a very good chance there would be a shouting match between the two, and would end with her having to choose a side. Just the thought of that happening made her shiver. As she began to relax and prepare Angel's lunch, she started to hum. Halfway through the salad-making, she peered out of the kitchen and asked, "Would the two of you like some tea? If that's alright.."

Both of the boys turned their heads towards her, smiled and replied, "Yes please," in perfect union. When they realized what happened, the smiles re-formed into scowls and the staring contest resumed.

After a long period of staring. Frost seemed to deflate and glanced out the window, as if he had slightly aged in those few moments. Turning his eyes back to Discord, he attempted to speak before letting out a loud sigh. Discord, on the other hand, knew what that sigh meant. That sigh, was the sigh of somepony realizing that they would not win, not matter what would happen.

"You won't," said Frost, "tell me a single thing. I get that much. Can you at least tell me why?"

Discord frowned and looked at the cottage's ceiling, as if he were looking for some sign. His expression twisted into a grimace before giving a short nod. Clearing his throat, he looked at the pegasus with a serious expression.

"I...well, I can't. I mean I can explain everything right now, but what you would understand from it would have some....serious consequences, to say the least. Even I'm not allowed to mess around with this one. What I can tell you for a fact, is that I didn't bring you here as a joke. You were meant to come here, courtesy of..."

At that point, the chaos god seemed to literally choke on his words, as if they were refusing to come out. His eyes bugged out, and his complexion took on different colors as he attempted to breathe. Clenching at his throat, a small white flag appeared next to him and waved in the air furiously. As soon as he was able to breathe again, he started to mutter curses under his breath.

"I said too much. Point is, you're important. That's all."

Before Frost could protest, Fluttershy stepped back into the living room, balancing a tray of tea in one of her front hooves with what he assumed to be a pot of honey on her wings. Smiling sheepishly, she placed the tea and the pot on the table in the middle of them and stepped away.

"Sorry for taking so long. I hope I didn't interrupt anything important..."

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-Twilight's Home-

Twilight was freaking out.

It seemed that it had become more of a daily occurrence after she officially became a princess. Depending on the situation, she would freak out a little and just pace, or act like the world was going to end. At that moment, her mindset was of a pony who knew they were about to die.

"Ohhhhhh! I'm so done for. This is bad, very bad. Luna's probably telling Celestia what I did right now! She's gonna banish me to the SUN! Nononono, too easy. I'll get launched into space...for...many...many...years..."

The longer she thought about the possible punishments Luna would deliver in Celestia's name, the more she panicked. She hadn't gotten a full night's rest, and she had kept Spike up with her as well. He was leaning against the wall and drinking from an over-sized mug of coffee to keep himself alert, while she ran around the room like a madmare. Her mane was a complete mess, bags were under her blood-shot eyes and her entire body twitched from time to time. Spike himself wasn't fairing any better; his eyes were just as weary as hers, but held complete irritation.

"Twi. I'm gonna be as blunt as possible. SHUT UP."

Shocked, the lavender alicorn froze in place and stared at the dragon as if she had just noticed he was there. Seeing that he'd gotten her attention, he continued to speak. "Sure, you royally bucked up. You seriously need to slow down and think about this though. I'm sure that Luna didn't say anything, 'cause she was too tired and was the one who found Frost. It's her business, not Princess Celestia's. Besides, she probably knew you'd do this to yourself and it's punishment enough from her. I know I can't deal with it. So please go get some rest. I've already done the chores and put up a 'do-not-disturb' notice on the front door. You'll need need the rest for later...I sure as hay will."

Not waiting for a response, he walked out the room and made his way down the hall, intent on getting as much sleep as possible. It wasn't everyday that he could actually sleep in, and it was for a good reason too. Twilight on the other hand, was slowly recovering from Spike's miniature speech. Thinking about his words, she realized that she'd blown things out of proportion once more, but that didn't excuse the language he used.

"Note to self: punish Spike later for foul language." He did help her calm down, but it was HER home and she wasn't about to let him off with cursing so easily.

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-Fluttershy's Cottage-

The tension between the Draconequus and the pegasus had finally died down and they were enjoying their tea. Rather, Frost tried to enjoy his tea, while Discord was eating the tea platter very loudly. Fluttershy herself, was giggling slightly at the sight and relieved that the two wouldn't rip each other apart.

"U-um, Frost? Since you don't remember much, where are you going to stay?"

When the question was asked, he started sputtering and wheezing in surprise. He'd thought of the problem himself, but what he hadn't expected was Fluttershy of all ponies to ask him such a thing. Shifting a few times in his seat, Frost tried to think of the best way to respond to her question.

"Well...I was gonna sleep on random clouds for now. I mean, I'm still trying to get the hang of my wings again...so when I do, I can get a job. That's pretty..."

Before he could finish, the words died in his throat. She was giving him the most horrified and pitying expression he'd ever seen in his life. "Oh, you poor thing.." she whimpered. Without warning, she launched herself at him and began to rub her muzzle against his cheek in an effort to comfort him. "I can't let that happen. You'll get sick. I'll make sure that you have a place to stay if Princess Luna doesn't give you one." As she continued to nuzzle him, his face steadily became red and his wings started to rise.

"R-right. Thanks Fluttershy, I appreciate it. Can you um, let me go please? Little bit awkward." As he spoke, he kept his eyes off of her and tried to think about anything but how soft and warm she was.....and the way she smelled...

She looked up at him, confused, before noticing his blush and how close they were to each other. Giving off a small "eep!", she pulled herself away and dashed to the kitchen in embarrassment. "S-sorry!" Her voice came from the kitchen even though she refused to let herself be seen. Discord watched the entire exchange with an amused smirk.

Frost himself, gave a small sigh and shook his head as his heartbeat slowed down. "It's fine Fluttershy. I appreciate the sentiment though." Glancing out the window, he realized how late it was becoming and stretched himself to get ready to walk once more. Getting off the couch, he walked over to the kitchen door and called out, "I think it's time for us to go. Didn't princess Luna say she'd come in the evening?"

It took a moment or two, but she peeked out the kitchen and looked through the living room window. Letting out a small gasp of surprise, she went back into the kitchen, only to come back out carrying multiple bowls of food and began to set them out. After repeating this two more times, she looked around and gave a satisfied nod. "Angel," she called out. "The food is out for all of you and you're in charge until I get back."

As she stepped out the door, with Discord and Frost following not too far behind, the bunny gave a small salute and started to march around the house as if he were a guard. With Flutershy far ahead of the two boys, Discord took the opportunity to flick Frost's snout with one of his talons. Quietly hissing in pain, he turned to glare at the Draconequus who gave a small smile. The god then leaned in and said, "Bit of magic to help with your dreams. Wouldn't want Luna seeing the human side of you, now would we?"