Author's Note
There's really only a little making out in the end that gets a teensy bit graphic, so for those who are sensitive to such things, please be aware. For those who are looking for something VERY graphic, look forward to being disappointed. Really, this is just a big ball of romantic fluff. Hope you enjoy!
The Talk
The air was still. The stars sparkled and the moon shone brightly, lighting Discord’s path. No one would ever believe it unless they saw it for themselves, but yes, he was walking. He wasn’t walking backwards, he wasn’t hopping or skipping or doing anything at all… except walking. His head was turned down and he was uncharacteristically quiet, obviously deep in thought. Tirek had been defeated only a week ago, and after all the trouble he had created, he couldn’t bring himself to face Fluttershy. Just thinking of her tear filled eyes made his heart ache, and the words rang through his head: 'Why are you doing this?' He hadn’t yet had a chance to explain why he had done what he did… he was still trying to put the right words together in his head. He didn’t want to explain it only to have her misunderstand him… that was one thing he didn’t want. Maybe he should just leave her to believe that what he had done was out of pure self-gain… that would be the easier of the two options, that’s for sure.
But no. He couldn’t live knowing that Fluttershy didn’t know the truth. After all… he loved her. It was hard to even think the words, his instincts (honed after years of being a chaotic villain) screamed at him to push her away and to leave Equestria behind. And yet he had stayed… why, he would never know. Maybe it was the scent of her mane, or the way her eyes flitted to the ground when she was nervous. He couldn’t tear himself away from her… why would he want to? She always made him feel like he was worth something.
He sighed heavily and looked up into the night sky, as if the stars would spell out the answers to all his questions. He sat down on a rock and held his head in his hands, looking at the ground dejectedly. If he wasn’t so damn proud, he probably would have shed a few tears. His ears perked up at the sound of somepony singing near the stream, the soft, melodic voice catching his attention.
‘Could it be?’ He thought to himself, slowly getting up from his rock and moving through the underbrush silently.
He pulled back a couple of branches to find the stream emptying out into a small pond, complete with lily pads and croaking bull frogs. The lily pads pink flowers were in full bloom under the moonlight, and gave off a sweet smelling fragrance. In the middle of the pool, humming to herself as she washed, was Fluttershy. The moon shone off the water in her mane and made her coat a paler yellow than ever. Her teal eyes were closed as she held the scrub brush in her mouth, trying to reach her back. Discord, without thinking, snapped his fingers and the scrub brush had a life of its own, scrubbing her back for her and making her squeal. Her eyes popped open and stared at the scrub brush, then they slowly shifted over to where Discord had just stepped out of the bushes.
“My apologies, my dear, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“D-discord! N-no, you didn’t frighten me- well I mean you did a little but it’s okay. I was having a hard time reaching my back anyway.” She flashed him a small smile.
He returned it before sitting down under a tree and leaned against it’s trunk, his arms behind his head. “So what brings you out here, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, well uhm… I come out here sometimes when I can’t sleep. Something about taking a bath makes me sleepy. I’m not interrupting some of your private time by being out here, am I? Because I can leave, if you want, I don’t want to intrude….”
“I was the one who stepped in on you, remember? You aren’t interrupting me in the slightest, my dear. I can think of nopony else that I would rather be with.”
“Oh. O-okay then. So… what’re you doing out here?” She had stepped out of the pool and shaken herself off (something that Discord found immensely adorable) and was now drying herself off with the towel she had brought.
He watched her as she moved around, wondering how she could manage to have so much grace in that one little body. “Actually, I come out here when I have some thinking to do. When I have a particularly difficult dilemma, I come out here.”
Fluttershy sat down in the grass next to him and looked up into his eyes. “You know, you can always tell me what’s bothering you if you need to. I am your friend, after all.”
He looked back at her gratefully, a small pang making his heart hurt a little. He sighed and looked down at the ground dejectedly. “Do you remember when I found you and the other Elements walking to the Castle of the Two Sisters, and I gave Twilight her journal, marked with those passages that allowed you guys to find the keys?” He looked over at her from the corner of his eye.
She simply nodded in response, not wanting to say anything in case it threw him off. Discord took a deep breath and continued to talk, surprised at how easy it was, despite his week of overthinking the issue. “I-I did that for a reason. Normally I wouldn’t have interfered and let Twilight and the rest of you girls figure it out for yourselves, but… well… I didn’t have that kind of time.”
Fluttershy frowned at him, not fully grasping what he was trying to tell her. “What do you mean, Discord? It’s not like you’re dying right?” Her eyes went wide and her voice raised an octave. “You’re not, right?”
Discord chuckled and patted the top of her head. “Of course I’m not dying, you silly pony! I’m immortal, remember?”
Fluttershy let out a huge sigh of relief and gave him a small smile before frowning again. “So what do you mean, then?”
Discord looked down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs and feeling tears start to well up in his eyes. ‘Come on, really? I haven’t genuinely cried in a thousand years, and now is the time I start again?’ He thought irritably to himself, reaching one hand up and wiping away the tears before they fell out of his eyes. He glanced at Fluttershy, wondering if she had seen the tears or if she thought he was just rubbing his eyes. She was looking at him patiently, not saying a word or giving any kind of sign that she had seen his tears. ‘Even if she did see them, leave it to Fluttershy to keep quiet about it…’
“I knew I wasn’t strong enough… I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist any offer that he gave me… So instead of leaving you girls completely defenseless, I read the journal detailing your adventures over and over again, trying to find something that may lead to opening that box. When I did find it, I knew I couldn’t reveal it just like that… I had to let you girls find it… So I just hinted, and the rest is history.” He shrugged his shoulders, looking nonchalant and unbothered, before bursting into tears, hands over his eyes.
Fluttershy went over to him and held him close, stroking his back and cooing to him. “It’s okay Discord… I understand. Sometimes when you force a change, it backfires on you. You spent so much time trying to be good that when you were presented with a chance to be evil again, you couldn’t resist.”
Discord shook his head and stood up, breaking her hold on him. “You don’t understand, Fluttershy... you were the first one to have faith in me, to even try and befriend me, let alone succeed in it… and what did I do with that friendship? I threw it away… I don’t deserve you as a friend.”
He started to walk away but her voice, soft and melodious, stopped him: “Do remember when we were all trapped in the bubbles, and Twilight told Tirek to release all her friends?”
Discord stopped in his tracks, and Fluttershy waited patiently for him to answer. He was so wrapped up in what he had done, how he had wronged everypony that he had forgotten Twilight had called him a friend. He heard Fluttershy sigh behind him, heard the faint flap of her wings and felt her hooves on his shoulders before he was turned around and face and to face with the most beautiful eyes in Equestria.
“Discord, is this why you’ve been avoiding me all week? Because you’ve been feeling sorry for yourself?” She looked sympathetically at him, her eyes wide.
Discord took a moment longer to lose himself in the big, teal orbs before closing his own eyes in shame and pulling away from her again. “I couldn’t face you, knowing I betrayed your friendship…”
She pulled his face back with her hooves, showing a surprising amount of strength. “And haven’t you noticed that you were facing me this whole time, right up until you mentioned what happened with Tirek?” He tried to pull away from her again but she held firm. “We have all moved on Discord. We have all forgiven you, and accept you for the Master of Chaos you are. We all know you can’t be perfect all the time, no more than the rest of us. You should’ve seen the time Twilight enchanted her old doll so that everypony in Ponyville fought each other to get a hold of it.” Discord had to hold back a laugh at the thought, and Fluttershy smiled back at him.
“Oh Fluttershy… you’ve proven my point. I don’t deserve you. You always make me feel like I’m worth something, and you’re always so nice… I love… the way you do that.” Discord mumbled the last part, not willing to admit the whole truth. What if she didn’t feel the same way?
“I love the way you do that too, Discord.” She smiled at him and a suspicious glint sparked in her eye.
Discord widened his eyes and looked at her in disbelief. ‘Did she just… is she…?’ He examined her face more closely. Her eyes were so beautiful… he reached his paw up and pushed a few rosy strands away from her face and stroked her cheek as she leaned into his touch, her eyes closing. His eyes flicked down to her lips, and felt his face unconsciously move closer to hers. His eyes closed, his paw moved to the nape of her neck and soon he felt his lips brush hers.
Fireworks set off in his chest, making his heart explode. Or at least that’s what it felt like to Discord. She sighed contentedly against him, and he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer and enjoying the feel of her body, still slightly damp from her bath. He felt her tongue brush his lower lip, and he opened his eyes in surprise, but only for a moment as he opened his mouth in response, wrapping his tongue around hers. Her wings fluttered rapidly behind her and he reached back to pet her wings down. Fluttershy wrapped her front hooves around his neck and murmured against his lips. He broke contact and looked down at her.
“Were you trying to say something, my dear?” He stroked her mane lovingly.
She shook her head and smiled shyly, “I was just saying… I mean if that’s okay, that I-I love you, Discord.” She blushed and hid behind her mane.
Discord smiled at her and put his claw under her chin, lifting her face up to make eye contact with him. “My dear Fluttershy, it’s more than okay. I love you too. I have ever since we became friends… I just didn’t know what it was until recently.” He kissed her again, and she melted into him.
When they broke their kiss, she nuzzled against his chest and he laid down on the grass. Discord wrapped his arms around her as he looked at the sky, which had changed from the dark blue, star speckled night to a beautiful dawn, streaks of Celestia’s sun brightening the sky and chasing away the stars. Discord looked down at the now asleep Fluttershy and smiled. He sighed contentedly and closed his own eyes to sleep.
‘It’s going to be a beautiful new day.’
