Chapter Four

Discord froze in place at the familiar sound. His eyes quickly darted to the bedroom door to see Fluttershy standing there in horror. All the color had drained from her body. Discord wondered for a moment if he could teleport away or camoflauge himself quickly but he felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Oh by the gods, what do I do? He tried to think, his clear reasoning beginning to ebb away again in Fluttershy’s presence.

“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!! Oh my goodness!! You know! Oh my goodness! I can’t believe you know!!”

“I know?” Discord asked helplessly, watching the mare panic and pace helplessly.

“Of course you know!!” Fluttershy wailed, bolting toward her bed, Discord quickly dropped the book and carrot and backed away to the door to avoid the his freaked out friend. She threw herself on the bed and buried herself in the giant blanket.

The blanket trembled and Discord scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to proceed. He looked toward the bedroom door, considering making a break for it while Fluttershy broke down in front of him. Better not, he thought, Angel is still out there. He swore he could hear the rabbit trying to get up the stairs, so he shut the door. He heard a quiet, sad whimper from the sheets and his chest ached again at the sad little noise.

“I don’t wanna talk about it”

Discord chuckled at the quiet words. “Come on, you can trust me. I’m your old pal Discord. I’ve lived for thousands of years. I have heard everything. You can tell me anything and it won’t shock me.”

The blanket stopped trembling and the lump seemed to consider his words.

He’s got a point. I’m sure he’s at least heard something like this before.

Discord grinned, hoping she wouldn’t question how much experience he could really accrue when he had been trapped in stone for 1000 years. “Come on, what are friends for?” he prodded, rubbing the lump.

“I’m in heat”

Discord stuck his finger in his ears to try to clear them better. He shook out his mini devil and angel. “What was that?”

“I’m in heat”

Discord blinked. Did she just say..?

The blanket sighed and Fluttershy pulled off the blanket, exposing a tusseled pink mane. “I’m in heat,” she admitted softly.

Discord blinked again. “...Oh.” Oh?! That’s all you can manage to say?? His brain screamed at him. Add something to it you idiot!! “That’s...something,” he offered helpfully. You’re such an idiot.

Fluttershy looked at him, exasperated. “Do you know what that is?” she asked cautiously.

Discord cleared his throat and laughed. “Oh yes. Heats. Of course I know what heats are. Especially in cats.” His mind flickered briefly to images of Baast, a previous feline “friend” he acquired in ancient Egyptian ponylands. She laid sprawled in front of him, yowling and scratching the upholstery. “I think Baast had one once,” he lied. He instantly regretted bringing up the feline as Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed.

“I am not a cat!” she spat at him, huffing and looking away.

Discord waved his hands rapidly. “No no, of course not, my dear! It’s just well,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “I never really thought about ponies like that. Going through heat.” Well, it makes sense. Ponies are creatures, just like cats and dogs. Unfortunately, prior to his stony imprisonment, Discord never really invested in any opportunities to question and observe pony reproductive cycles.

Fluttershy sighed, understanding his reasoning. “No, no. You wouldn’t have realised. I doubt you even had a chance to find out when you had your chaos capitol.” It would probably be hard for any pony to get in the mood when their bed kept turning into noodles Fluttershy admitted internally. He grinned sheepishly, almost as he read her thoughts and she smiled in return, temporarily forgetting the effects of her heat. She relaxed and leaned into his paw unintentionally.

Discord felt that weird feeling again, but it was even more pronounced the moment her back leaned into his paw. He glanced at the door and cursed inwardly. In his attempt to keep Angel out, he had closed the main source of ventilation. Maybe I can magic open the door without Fluttershy noticing Discord thought, not wanting to break his contact with the little Pegasus. Her eyes were shut and her breathing seemed more shallow than normal. She looks so peaceful. He was about to snap his fingers when Fluttershy spoke softly. "I wonder what Angel would think if he saw us now?"

The name of the rabbit guardian sent a sudden chill down Discord’s spine. Angel. There was an angry rabbit possibly right outside. Who, upon seeing the state Fluttershy was in, wouldn’t think twice about trying to take down Discord. And then Fluttershy would be even more upset and I might not be allowed back for our Tuesday tea times until the mad bunny cooled his jets. Discord grumbled. He gave a toothy grin. Unless I won against Angel. Which I’m sure I would. His eyebrows furrowed. At, at least I think I would. It was getting harder to think straight, trapped in this room with that overpowering, enticing seductive, smothering scent-

Discord quickly regained focus when Fluttershy spoke. “Discord, you’re a really good friend.”

That word irked him the moment it left her lips. Why does the way she say friend really bother me? It didn’t before...did it? Discord grumbled. He couldn’t think straight enough to figure out if this had actually bothered him before and he quickly stood up to get some air and distance from his suddenly much more attractive...friend.

Fluttershy’s eyes shot open as the warmth from his furry paw abruptly left her shoulder. She watched him stiffly make some distance away from her. Was it something I said? Fluttershy wondered. She glanced around to see if she could spot another culprit to the sudden coldness and her emerald eyes fell upon the large carrot from earlier. Her eyes widened and she drew a sharp breath. Oh my gosh, he doesn’t think that?

Why wouldn’t he? That voice rebuked her in her mind. You go around telling your best friend that you’re in heat and he sees the carrot you almost considered earlier. If the roles were reversed, what would you have thought??

Fluttershy refused to articulate what she would have thought, instead blushing heavily at the insinuation. She watched Discord helplessly as he distanced himself further from her and chest felt a sharp, painful twinge at his actions. She opened her mouth to hopefully delicately explain the whole situation.

“I didn’t touch myself!” Fluttershy explained. In a heartbeat, you put her hooves to her mouth with a horrified squeak. I did not just say that she thought, her eyes turning as white and wide as dinner plates. This statement froze Discord dead in his tracks. Seriously. Fluttershy could swear she could see icicles hanging off his limbs. Did-did he hear me?

Discord swiveled his head around quickly. Did-did Fluttershy just say-be cool man! Be cool! He opened his mouth to respond intelligently but all that he could croak out was a “I um, what?”

“The carrot!” Fluttershy’s mouth open involuntarily. To her horror, words spilled out that she could not contain. “I was going to touch myself. Or use the carrot. I don’t know. But I couldn’t do it. I don’t know. I never did it before and then you came and I-” the words were falling out of her mouth so fast she didn’t know if they were even words or just a mix of babbled panic.

Discord blinked slowly, trying to process the flustered mare’s words. He like nonsense, but she wasn’t really making much sense. And it was hard to piece the madness together. “You didn’t touch yourself?” He ventured, trying to piece together her words.

His words went unheeded as Fluttershy continued, seemingly oblivious to his interpretation of her flustered speech. “Twilight loaned me the book because I didn’t understand. And I feel so hot and I just don’t know what to do and Applejack says that colts and pick up on the scent and I had to assert myself to them if I didn’t want to buck but I am so shy and I hoped locking myself in here and trying to keep reading to see what I can do but I don’t know how to do anything with-with-with THIS!”

Discord blinked again but slower this time, hoping it would would somehow refresh his situation. It did not. He shook his head trying to shake off the fuzziness that was melting off his comically placed icicles. Twilight? A book? Applejack said she had to assert herself? He paused and his ears perked up. What was that about not having never done it?

“Are you a virgin?” he asked, his voice trembling before his talon hand could clasp clamp his mouth shut. She didn’t hear that part- oh. of course she did.

Fluttershy’s voice died in her throat and the darkest hues of red colored her face from her chin to her ear tips. “YES!” She squealed in a voice barely above a whisper.

Discord looked at her in both shock and wonder. This beautiful, kind, benevolent creature...had never felt the touch of a male. This somehow excited him and the revelation kept him preoccupied long enough for Fluttershy to regain some of her composure. “There have been offers,” she admitted, turning an even darker shade of red than he thought possible. She quickly snapped her head back up to face him and he took a step back, startled, “I never said yes!” she insisted, “I’ve just..” her hoof came to twirl the end of her hair and a small, hopeful smile grew on her face as she turned her head to the side. “I’ve wanted to wait for the right special pony,” she admitted, a far away look in her half closed eyes.

Those words hit Discord like a ton of bricks and he felt his chest sag. “I-i see,” he stammered, inwardly slapping himself. Why does a special somepony bother me so much, he critized his reaction, I’m a god. A mix match of the most fantastic creatures. Why do I care about her romantic preferences? I’ve got the talons of a griffin, the paw of a lion, the legs of a deer and lizard and the head- His internal diatribe halted as his talon hand rubbed his skull. The head..the head of a pony.

A strange giddiness at this recently rediscovered revelation inflated the his sagging chest like a small filly blowing up balloons for a party. Technically, he could very well be somepony. Well mostly everything else, but I’ve got some pony in me.

Fluttershy observed his chest fall and rise and his face switch from disappointment to beaming. I don’t even know what he is thinking about. I wonder how he feels about this. Fluttershy admitted to herself. Her own chest was beating so fast that she was worried he could hear it. Maybe a hug would help him figure out how to feel. She smiled at the idea of a hug, especially a hug with Discord. I bet it would feel really good to have his body so close to mine in a warm embrace.

The image her mind conjured up at her thought made her blush and her smile disappear. Her thoughts were making it harder to breath in her tiny room. She thought about pushing past Discord to get to her door to bring in some air, but she didn’t trust herself coming too close to the Draconequus. There was something different about him. Something more alluring than she felt prior to today. Just maybe.

No, no. Reality reared its ugly head. He doesn’t think of me like that. He is a Draconequus. I think even some type of god? I’m a pony. That thought completely removed the warm comfort that had nestled in her chest. I’m just a pony. She reminded herself again, her bottom lip quivering ever so slightly.

The lack of fresh oxygen was finally getting to Fluttershy and she began to walk to the door. She resigned herself to not getting a hug, but decided to tempt fate once more and brushed against his side as she passed the silent draconequus with her wings once more.

Discord’s internal gloating came to a screeching halt the second those feathers came into contact with his fur again. The wave of fuzziness he had been fighting off crashed back down on him and he stood there befuddled. Why does this keep happening everytime she touches me?? He questioned himself. Wait. What did Applejack say? Something about heat affecting a colt’s mind?

He scoffed at the idea. That can’t be right. I’m only part pony. Not part colt. His eyes widened as a mental thesaurus appeared in mind and he realized, “A colt is a male pony!” he exclaimed, the color starting to drain from his already gray face.

Fluttershy stopped within a foot of the door and turned back carefully, internally beating down her own hopeful emotions at finally hearing him speak. “Yes...male ponies are colts. I thought holing myself up here would be the best way to avoid coming into contact with any colts.” She smiled, allowing the tiny spark of happiness that had started near her heart at hearing his voice. She shifted herself back toward the door and paused. “I guess I got so caught up in my problems, I completely forgot about our plans. Friends shouldn’t neglect each other. This was pretty selfish of me.”

Unbeknownst to Fluttershy, Discord had balled up his fists and was standing very rigid. Now that the realization that Fluttershy’s heat was indeed affecting him, he suddenly felt like he was drowning in the tide of fuzziness. He was having difficulty thinking. He could barely hear whatever Fluttershy was saying. They came out muffled against the pounding in his own chest. I need to get out of here he mentally groaned. Having grown up and lived a life with a serious lack of inhibitions, Discord knew he was quickly losing the fight to the enthralling, heavenly presence of-

No! No! He curled his tail in and as tightly as he could. He never felt such a power that could produce such a profound effect on him and he was starting to become fearful for Fluttershy. At least a regular pony would just resort to physically coercing Flutters into bucking. And then she could probably fly away even though she wasn’t that great of a flyer. The thought of another pony laying a hoof on Fluttershy almost sunk him back into the cold rage he experienced less than an hour earlier.

But, if I- Discord panicked. He had eons of power and magic available at the snap of his fingers. And whatever self control you have taught me, my dear, I am quickly losing when you are near me. It would be just so easy…

“You know!” Fluttershy’s voice rang above his inward struggle and he turned mechanically toward her, only to find her within inches of him. Everything became silent and he stopped breathing at the sight of her so very close to him. He looked down at her tiny frame and gulped.

“Even though you are not a pony..” she spoke, her voice soft, “I think you are one of the most amazing quasi ponies I have ever know. I’m glad that you did not make fun of me. That you understand.”

Fluttershy hesitated. That small voice of reason was screaming at her to turn around and cross the 1ft distance to the door now before she did or said something she regretted. But yet...maybe a quick hug should be alright. She bridged the distance between them and enveloped Discord in the biggest hug her fuzzy hooves could manage. “I am so happy that you are my friend, Discord.”

She thrust her sweet smelling mane against him and nuzzled his chest. Just touching him made her feel even lighter and happier than she had been a few moments ago. “I should hug you more often,” she cooed, “You just know how to make me feel-”

Fluttershy paused mid sentence as the sound of a lock clicking into place emanated from behind her. She quickly tried to spin to see the cause but found Discord’s lion paw pressing her gently but firmly against his body. She craned her neck to see witness Discord’s talon resting on the bedroom door key in the knob, having just locked it. “-safe?” she questioned, quickly looking back up toward his face. “Discord, what are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his eyes only half open. And with that, he quickly lunged toward her and kissed her.

Author's Note

The next chapter will have a warning on it...but for now, this! (sorry I was delayed a bit!)