One Shot: Rolling in Clover
One Shot: Rolling in Clover
It was late in the afternoon and Fluttershy was on her way out to tend to several more needs of the animals.
"Oh, why don't you just leave them be, Fluttershy?" Discord asked, as soon as she reached the door. "That animal stuff is boring - here; why do you and I play a game, together?"
In a flash of magic, Discord held a board game in his claw and held it out in Fluttershy's direction.
"Oh no, Discord. Tending to my animals is not only what I want to do, but what I have to do." Fluttershy asserted, quietly, "And it isn't boring; not when I can surround myself with my little friends all day."
"Oh, phooey! Fine! You go play with your little animals, see if I care!" Discord curled himself up on the couch, his face turned away from Fluttershy.
"Now, Discord," Fluttershy said, approaching her friend, "I know you're upset and I promise; as soon as I get a few things out of the way, I will certainly spend time with you."
Fluttershy rested her hoof on Discord's dark-colored pelt a few moments and then turned to go. As soon as she reached the door, she heard Discord stir.
Raising his voice little over a whisper, Discord said, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy... It's just... sometimes I don't know who I'm even upset at, anymore... I keep think of... well, you know, that time and it just bothers me, toys with my emotions..."
"I understand, Discord." Fluttershy said, "But we've already had that talk. You take as long as you need to adjust yourself. Meanwhile, I'll always be here for you."
Discord snorted, "You really are too nice."
Fluttershy smiled and knew that a response from Discord was actually an improvement. For see after the events of Tirek, he really hadn't spoken to her.... or she, him. But after a while, she went to amend the bonds – and every kind word turned Discord to even more wretchedness. He had even left for a while...
A thumping on the base of Fluttershy's foreleg brought her out of an affectionate trance. She looked down. An irritated ball of fluff glared up at her.
"Well, we're off, Discord! Fluttershy said, "Help yourself to lunch; I'll be back, soon."
Discord nodded; he knew Fluttershy probably wasn't going far, but he wished she'd stay... At least into his little phased passed on.
~ ~ ~ ~
A little while later, Discord was still curled up on the couch when a loud noise could be heard from outside. Discord startled, raising his head and straitening his ears. Muffled speech could be heard right outside the door...
"Is that you, Fluttershy?" Discord wondered.
On opening the door, Discord was met with a rather funny sight. A grey-flanked mare was squished into Fluttershy's small, blue mailbox, her hind legs tugging and pulling – and all to no avail. A couple letters were scattered on the ground and a carrier-bag hung loosely from its wearer.
Discord considered what he was looking at for a moment, debating whether or not to help the poor creature. It wasn't as though had met everypony since his betrayal, so he didn't know everypony's opinion of him... Just that most had been... well, poor.
Muffled noises and the tugging of legs continued as Discord pondering what he should do.
"Ah!" In a snap Discord had the gray mare standing right-side up and on all fours. Her frizzled mane was immediately assembled itself and her carrier-bag just the way it should be. Only she wasn't standing on Fluttershy's doorstep, but had appeared all the way at the beginning of the path that led up to it.
"Hey..." Turning herself around, Ditzy-Doo made her way back up to the cottage mailbox.
By this time, Discord had already disappeared into the cottage and settled himself back down onto the couch.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was actually losing my touch." Discord thought to himself, "Instead of making things go all topsy-turvy, I'm doing the exact opposite!"
Before these thoughts could intensify, there was a knock at the door.
"Oh, go away." Discord mumbled, bringing a pillow firmly down onto his head. But the knocking didn't go away. Whoever was knocking decided to keep at it, persistent and monotonously.
Eventually annoyance got the best of his and Discord decided to confront the knocker, pony or not.
Swinging the door open, Discord was about to inform the individual that Fluttershy was not home when his eyes met wild gaze and a smiling face. And of course, it was Derpy.
"And just what do you want?" Discord asked, folding his arms.
"Just wanted to say thank you," Derpy smiled, flapping her wings.
"Whatever for?" Discord asked.
"For helping me, of course!" Derpy said, "What else?! I'm sure if it hadn't been for you, I'da been stuck in that mailbox for a while!" The mare continued to smile, but a bit more sheepishly, now.
"Yeah, well, you're welcome." Discord said, ”Now go on - shoo! I've got things to do." He ushered his claw and paw at the mare, urging her to get a move on.
"Oh, really?! I don't! I usually get around to Fluttershy last – leaving whatever mail is there for me – so I'm free. What things do you gotta do? Anything I can do to help?"
"No. And what's it to you?" Discord asked, entering back into the house and slumping onto the couch.
"Well, it really isn't any of my business, but I'd like to know!" Derpy said – rather too excitedly for Discord's taste.
"Well it's just stuff," Discord snapped, "Now are you going to get going or not?" Laying onto his side, Discord turned his back to the mare. After a little while, he perked up an ear and cracked open an eye... Was she gone, yet? A little while longer - with no noise to prove the presence of another individual - Discord decided he's get up and close the door.
Rolling over, he didn't have to take one step to see that the mare was still there. She busied herself starting downwards and scrapping her hoof against the ground. Raising an eyebrow, he was about to inquire of her when she spoke up.
"Look, I know you might not find my company worth anything but I really don't have much to do, right now and... and I was kind of wondering if you wouldn't mind my staying here, awhile…"
"What are you suggesting exactly?” “That you want to spend time with me? Discord asked, although he was clearly aware. “Don't fool yourself, my dear; it's the Lord of Chaos you're speaking to, betrayer of Flutter - I mean, friendship. If you're found around me, I'm sure you'd hear no end of it..."
"But that's what making friends is all about!" Derpy pressed, "Taking chances! Meeting somepony new!"
With a quick shake of the head Discord said, "Wait. What? friends? How could you and I possibly become friends?"
"Well, why not?" Derpy asked, brightening and stepping a little ways into the cottage, "If nopony wants to be around me and you've nothing to do then why not?"
"What – ? Wait. I – Who told you that, anyways? I didn't say that. I said I have things to do, not the other way around." Discord folded his arms.
"Well, you don't seem too." Derpy rubbed a foreleg, cautiously, "I've been here a while and you don't seem busy with anything."
A few moments later, Discord sighed in defeat. "Oh very well, You got me. I really do have nothing to do... But so what? Do you really have nothing to do?"
Derpy shook her head, "Nope! Besides, making friends is much more important than anything else, right now... Nopony should have to be lonely..." She looked way from Discord, smiling sadly.
"Nopony, huh?" Discord said.
"No one! Derpy corrected herself, "Not even you."
"Not even me, huh?" Discord mono-toned.
Derpy shook her head, smiling.
Brightening a little, Discord asked, "Well what do you want to do, then?"
* * * *
"I win, I win!!" Derpy cheered.
"Beginner’s luck." Discord said, dismissively. "Here. How about we try this game?" Discarding The Game of Ponopoly into a large pile of other games, Discord reached for another and began to set it up.
"Hey, I know! Derpy said, "Wanna play pick up sticks, again?"
"Hmm? Oh, no, not that game.... Not sure how you even won that, if the first place." Discord mumbled the last part to himself as he returned to setting up another game.
There was a soft "pluff" noise as the winged mare fell flat onto her back. Looking over at her, Discord realized that - since earlier - her expression hadn't much changed. She was still wearing that silly smile, her wild, golden eyes making her expression look all goofy-like.
Discord realized that it was hard to take his eyes off the mare, with her always looking like that.... But he eventually managed to finish setting up.
"Well then. Are we ready to play?" Discord asked, gazing over at the mare. He would have almost surprised himself with his own eagerness, but it was the "twist" that he added to every game that made them more interesting....
He waited a moment or so and called out to the mare, again... and then again... She didn't respond. She just lay there, that goofy smile on her face; her eyes, closed. Seemingly touched by concern, Discord was soon at the mare's side, studying her features…
"Derpy?" He said, holding her hoof, "Derpy Hooves? Huh. I wonder what's wrong..." He enlarged his ear so that he didn't have to bend over. The steady beat of her heart was evident... and so was her breathing. They were both calm and normally-paced....
"Now, I wonder... Did she just fall asleep?" Discord asked himself, stroking his chin.
Just then, the mare stirred, her eyes slowly beginning to open. Discord quickly replaced her hoof at her side.
"Are you.... a-alright?" He asked, choking over his concern.
"I'm alright." The mare smiled, dreamily. "I'm sorry if I worried you..."
"Well I didn't say that," Discord shrugged indifferently, as the mare sat up. "What happened? Did you fall asleep?"
"No." The mare shook her head, "I don't even feel tired... It's just... something I do every now and then..."
"Oh? And what's that?" Discord asked, surprising himself at his interest.
"Well it's nothing, really," The mare waved her hooves, dismissive and hurriedly.
"Well I'm listening." Discord said, comfortably positioning himself, on the couch.
"Oh, well.... if you insist...." Derpy lay herself back down onto the floor and closed her eyes. Casting an eye down at her, Discord waited for the mare to speak.
Derpy took signed and began saying, "It's sort of like day-dreaming... Well actually I guess it is day-dreaming, but a lot more...dreamlike. I can't really control it, you know?" She couldn't see Discord nod, but she continued once he had, saying, "Once I "get into the zone", so-to-speak, I kinda don't wanna come out... My mind takes me to this whole other world where I become whatever I want to be.... No more mistakes, no more clumsiness, no more messing up... I am perfect in this world. Almost like a princess of sorts..."
Discord couldn't see the mare's smile, for his eyes were now closed. She giggled shyly at her last statement and then sighed.
"But it doesn't last forever... nothing does. Eventually I "wake up" and I am back here. Back in my own, real body just the same old Ditzy-Doo..." The next sigh was much heavier... and much more depressed.
Discord opened his eyes when he figured the mare was done. He saw that she was already on her hooves.
"But sorry to bore you," she said, "Guess we better get to that game, now, huh?"
After a moment of so of thought, Discord said, "So just how much would you give to live in that dream-like world of yours, anyway?"
Taken aback by the question, Derpy didn't answer right away.
"Oh... well... almost anything, I guess." She finally answered, "But I mean it's not like my life's not already fine the way it is, I just... I don't want to be such a klutz all the time..." Her voice lowered.
"Hmm. Well as you might not know, this sort of thing isn't really my style, but –
In a flash Derpy and Discord had vanished from the cottage.
~ ~ ~ ~
Moments later, he and Derpy were transported to a sea of green. It was a field. A field that went on as far as the eye could see...
"Woah..." Derpy rocked back and forth on her hooves, her eyes rolling around in her head. "Where are we? A field? Why'd you bring me here?"
"A magic field, mind you," Discord informed her, "One that will be the answer to all of your – well. To your one problem."
"Huh??" there was no hiding Derpy’s confusion.
"Do you doubt the Lord of Chaos?" Discord asked, folding his arms.
"Well..."
"Oh, alright, just tell me what you see," Discord said, rolling his eyes.
"I see... clover. Lots of it! This is a field of clover!" Derpy exclaimed. "But what's that got to do with anything? I'm not hungry, right now..."
"Oh, you ponies." Discord scoffed, "Always thinking about your stomachs."
"Hey, that's not true!" Derpy retorted.
"Nevermind." Discord said, "Just...listen to me. This is how you'll solve your... problem."
"How?" Derpy asked, shifting, uncomfortably.
"First off, you need to lie down." Derpy obeyed.
"Now, you need to raise your arms." Discord instructed, raising his own, in demonstration. Derpy followed.
"And lastly, you... roll!!" Appearing on the ground besides Derpy, Discord began to roll around in the clover.
"Whoo-wooo! Haha! I never realized how fun this was, until now!" After rolling around a little while longer, Discord stopped and looked towards Derpy. She was on all fours, again.
"Well? Aren't you going to join me? This is for you, after all-
"No!" Derpy stomped a foreleg, glaring at Discord.
"Well, why not?" Discord asked, "Didn't you want to-
"I thought you were going to help me!" Derpy exclaimed.
"Well I was - I mean I am....What's biting you, anyways? I don't see any bugs, here." Discord raised an eyebrow, annoyance overriding his surprise at the mare's outburst.
"Then what's all this about?!” Were you just trying to play a prank on me or something?! Was this all a joke?!!" Derpy began to get furious.
"Now, hold on; are you accusing me?" Discord asked, getting up off of the ground.
"How can I be?!" Derpy yelled, "This is obviously some kind of a joke - there's only so much a mare can take, ya know!"
Discord's expression was awkward as he pondered what he had done wrong.
"I want to go home." Derpy said, quietly. "Please take me back to Ponyville." She turned from him, waiting.
Discord sighed. "In case you didn't know," he began, "I brought you here as a sign of my gratitude. I wasn't feeling the best when you came to Fluttershy's house and I wasn't very nice to you...was I?"
Derpy sniffed but didn't respond, otherwise.
"But all you wanted to do was make me feel better," Discord continued, "I know that, now... You wanted to be my friend..."
Derpy slightly turned her head in his direction.
"And... after we played a few games, talked and all... I kinda felt sorry for you... I wanted to help you... Because it's like you said... Nopony should be alone. You deal with rejection everyday - I am persuaded - and yet you couldn't see fit to leave such a burden to me..." Discord trailed off, waiting for a response.
Derpy turned back to him, "But so what?" She sniffed, "Wasn't this all a joke? I mean... you can't really fix your problems by...rolling in clover...
"On the contrary," Discord said, a bit hoarsely, "Take a look at the clover."
Derpy stared at Discord and then slowly lowered her snout to the earth.
"What do you see?" Discord asked, quietly.
"Clover... these clover they're all - Derpy gasped, "They all have four leaves! All of them!" She then began frantically searching every inch of the small patch of field on which she stood. "Four, four, four, four - they're all fours!"
"Precisely." Discord announced, "And I have enchanted them."
Breaking away from her frantic search, Derpy snapped her attention to Discord. "Enchanted?" Despite her ignorant response, Derpy had a pretty good idea of what Discord meant and, in her head, she was easily putting two and two together.
"Yes," Discord said, "Any creature that rolls around in the clover – in doing so, every inch of their body that the clover touches will in no way bring them bad luck. Which is part of the reason they’re all four-leafed, you see. I mean - it's not like anypony is clumsy on purpose, you know. Tip a can of paint, here; trip somepony, there... You never use your whole body for things such as that, yet one part of your body always seems to stray from your supervision... Don't you agree?"
"Oh, yes." Derpy nodded, knowingly, "So that means if I were to roll around in the clover..."
Discord moved out of the way as Derpy threw herself onto the ground and began to roll around. Soon enough, she was laughing and crying, sprawling herself all over the field as if it were the softest pillow.
~ ~ ~ ~
After her little frolic in the clover, Derpy asked Discord to take her back to Ponyville.
In a snap, they were both teleported home. "Done." Discord said, "Now that that's over -
"Discord?" Fluttershy entered into her house, a number of critters at her hooves. "Oh… Hello there Ditzy... What are you doing here?"
"She was entertaining me." Discord said, before Derpy could respond.
"Entertaining you?" Fluttershy said, tilting her head to the side.
"Why, yes, my dear Fluttershy!" Discord said in a-matter-of-fact tone of voice. "We played a few board games and - sure hope you didn't mind my touching your stuff. A few of the games didn't seem touched so I took the liberty of opening them."
"Oh, well I don't usually use them..." Fluttershy began. Then to Derpy she said, "Thank you very much for spending the day with Discord; I sure hope he didn't cause you any trouble. If he did then I’m certain he didn't mean too..."
“No, we had a good time, together." Derpy smiled, reassuringly.
“That’s wonderful!” Fluttershy exclaimed, cheerily. “I'm glad you had fun.”
Derpy nodded and with a wave to Discord, she proceeded to the door. Discord’s eyes followed the grey mare as she made her way out… and then landed on Fluttershy.
“I am glad to hear that you had a good time, Discord,” Fluttershy began, "I -
"Hold that thought, Fluttershy, I'll be right back." Discord vanished and was soon standing outside.
He spotted Derpy just at the end of the path and immediately went after her. Derpy heard him coming and turned to meet him.
"Yes, Discord?" She said, looking up at the draconequus.
"I just wanted to let you know that the effects of the charm are not permanent. You must "renew" the spell every now and then." Discord instructed the mare, "I apologize for not saying so, sooner."
"No problem!" Derpy squeaked, "I don't mind coming back. As many times as it takes, I am sure I don't mind at all." She grinned.
"Well, that's.... good to hear." Discord said, mildly taken aback. "Of course, I'll expect something from you, in return."
"What's that?" Derpy asked, flapping excitedly.
"Simple." Discord said, "You just need to spend time with me... like before. But willingly, of course, and act as if you're in no rush for the renewing of the spell. Can you do that?"
"Sure thing, Discord!" Derpy said, "And I won't rush it because I know that the one I'm spending time with won't judge me like all others... almost as if I am truly being myself and you don't even mind it..."
Discord didn't know how to respond so he was grateful - as well as surprised - when the mare picked herself up, quickly embraced him, and with a wave, went on her way.
~ The End ~
