The Taxonomy of the Lower Reaches of the Discordian Dimensions

Discord slowly opened his eyes and was met with the sight of the soft pink tousled mane of Fluttershy laying next to him. It took him a few moments to process what was going on.

Did we?

He remembered the sweet, broken, delightfully chaotic cries she had uttered when he pleasured her, and the feel of her soft skin underneath her fur as he ran his paw and talon across it.

Yes we...did.

As his eyes came into focus they gobbled the sight of her up. She was asleep, but her cheeks were rosy -- the look of a satisfied, content mare. Discord mentally patted himself on the back for still being able to keep the ladies happy in that department. He softly stroked her mane and tenderly ran his paw along her jawline. Part of this was affection, but part of this was also to convince himself that this was actually happening and he wasn't dreaming or hadn't created some facsimile of her and was going mad.

Panic suddenly gripped him and he leapt across the bed to the window and opened the blinds with his claws.

The jelly beast still sat in its magically reinforced glass prison. It still looked unconscious. The draconequus sighed with relief and lay back down on the bed. He had been certain that was going to be the thing he screwed up.

Guess not.

He shifted his body so that he was facing the snoozing pegasus. She was still asleep.

He knew in another day they would be home. He sighed. He wished they had more time together.

He kept telling himself that this wasn't going to be a long term thing. She was sure to reject him once she was home. She had been in heat, after all.

All of a sudden Starswirl's words crashed down on him mentally.

The unicorn had told him not to get involved with any of the girls, and he had just gone and done that. He wasn't sure how Fluttershy felt about the situation, but he was certain he was smitten with her and how was Starswirl going to respond when he found out the two of them had been intimate?

He doesn't have to know about us.

That was true enough. Fluttershy didn't seem to be the type of girl who would just walk up to someone and tell them about her sexual encounters. Starswirl could remain ignorant about this whole situation and no one would get hurt.

Fluttershy was the most loving, caring, trusting pony he had ever met, and part of him was still baffled as to why this beautiful creature had come into his life, and was not only his friend, but had just gone to bed with him. He told himself several times that he was awake and not actually dreaming.

"You're an amazing mare, you know that?" he whispered.

He wrapped his lion arm around her body and curled up against her. Soon he was asleep too.

All was right with the world, for now.

An hour later Fluttershy rolled over onto her side gently and opened her eyes.

As they slowly came into focus, she realized she had a draconequus paw draped around her and she could feel and hear the sound of him breathing as he slept. She could also feel his heartbeat- it was slow and calm, in contrast to last night when she felt it pounding as he pressed his body against hers. Her face felt hot at the memory, but it was not an unpleasant one.

Oh my she thought.

It had been wonderful, but now that she was awake she had a lot to think about, and the rainy smell of Discord's feathers was distracting.  She realized her heat wasn't over, but she was now thinking with a clearer head.

The first question she supposed she needed to ask herself was did she regret anything?

No, she didn't.

The second question, and the one that seemed far more difficult to answer was: how did she feel about her friend?

How would I classify him?

She watched him as he slept. He was attractive, in an odd sort of way. Not conventionally so, by any means, but then nothing about Discord seemed conventional. He was not the sort of person that would immediately strike a casual onlooker as attractive, but if he spoke, or moved or his face lit up with mirth then everything suddenly seemed infectious, as if there was a secret he wasn't letting you in on, but you were intrigued enough to stick around in case you found out what it was.

And he's smart, she thought. She reached out with her hoof and stroked the feathers on his chest. He was a very brainy person. Once again his intelligence was not at all conventional, but he seemed to know a lot and was extremely adept at using his magic.

And he's sweet. He was definitely this, though he seemed to show it more when he was alone with her rather than around her friends, so understandably they seemed a bit skeptical about it. But yesterday he had managed to comfort her with his words; managed to comfort her enough so that she felt comfortable being in this bed with him with his paw around her body.

Do I love him?

She realized with surprise as she continued to stare at him that the answer was "yes".

But can I tell him that?

She sighed to herself. Yes, she found Discord attractive and intelligent, and he was very sweet to her, but he was also extremely jealous, sometimes rude to people she cared about and--perhaps the biggest obstacle--he had once betrayed her.

She was afraid she might not be able to overcome that last one.

He had amazingly admirable qualities, but amazingly bad ones too- he was multidimensional. Perhaps it was best not to risk bringing up her feelings until she knew more about the situation.

She loved someone who wasn't nice, but who also wasn't a bad person. And here she thought her first time was going to be rather uncomplicated!

She realized her muzzle was buried in his chest feathers and she nuzzled against him.

"Mornin', Darling," said the draconequus. She could feel the grin in his voice.

"Good morning," she whispered.

He shifted his body so that he was face to face with her.  His face fell when he saw that she wasn't smiling. He felt like his chest was imploding.

“You...you regret what we did...?” he began.

“I don't regret it,” she said softly. “But I need time to think.”

He turned away from her on the bed.

He felt her arms wrap around him from behind and his ears flattened against his head.

"We'll figure it our, okay?" she whispered, her head resting on his long neck. "We're friends."

"Friends who just slept together." Oh god, what am I going to do?

"I know! I just...I need a clear head right now and I don't have one, Discord! I can hardly think straight."

"So you weren't thinking straight when it happened after all," he said softly.

"That isn't what I meant...I've got so much to think about, okay? Please believe me when I say I care very much about you."

Discord almost winced at the irony. In his long life, he'd had many awkward conversations with stallions and mares he'd woken up to after a night of fun. After a while he just stopped listening to them entirely and either teleported or made them vanish. He'd had no need for sex to get overly complicated--if someone wanted to touch him that way then he'd happily go along with it, but he refused the idea of more. Part of it was the idea of being tied down. It made him feel suffocated. He also wasn't entirely sure he could stop being that kind of person for Fluttershy. And yet the irony was he didn't want her to kick him out of bed. He didn't want her to tell him it was a one-time-only thing. He didn't want to be without her soft embrace. He loved her, and it was different to all those other times with other creatures and other ponies precisely because she cared about him. On the other hoof, there were many things he thought he'd never do for a pony that he had done for Fluttershy.

He was vaguely aware that she was nuzzling his neck. Of course, she was still in heat.

"Flutters..."

She pulled back quickly. "Sorry! I'm sorry."

He smelled so nice. Why had she never realized how beautiful the smell of his coat was?

Discord wasn't sorry. He wasn't sorry at all. He wanted her.

He turned to face her. Her face looked flushed and he immediately thought she looked incredibly gorgeous just lying there with her mane pooled around her.

"I should probably go make breakfast or something," she was saying. "I don't mean...to..."

"You're right." He was moving closer to her and his paw snaked around her middle. "It would be a bad idea for us to proceed..."

"Definitely..."

"We don't want to complicate things," he said, running his fang down the length of her neck.

"No," she gasped. "We...don't."

"Or do anything either of us might regret..."

"Certainly not..."

"I can stop anytime I want..."

The rest of the morning was spent with considerably less chit chat and more action. A few times Discord knocked over the bedside lamp and some books with his tail. Fluttershy bumped her head on the headboard. Discord fell off the bed in his haste, dragging the pegasus with him.

There were times when Fluttershy was surprised at how powerful she felt, especially when he was beneath her saying things like "Fluttershy...please..."

It would have been hilarious but they were both too caught up in each other to notice.

Celestia had spent the morning fretting after reading Scriptum's letter.

She had her doubts about the message, but she also had fears about it too. Why hadn't Twilight Sparkle contacted her directly? Something seemed off, but she couldn't put her hoof on it.

As for Discord, as much as she wanted to believe Scriptum was mistaken about him horsenapping Fluttershy, she had misjudged the draconequus before—twice. The first time she had believed he was capable of being mature about the fact that she had to enter into an arranged marriage because of politics, and the second she had believed he was trustworthy enough to capture Tirek. She had been wrong on both counts.

Celestia quickly penned a letter to Twilight care of Spike:

Dearest Twilight,

Your archivist has contacted me about a grave situation regarding Discord. I would like to discuss this matter more with you. Please respond soon.

Princess Celestia.

Exactly fifteen minutes later came the reply:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am aware of the situation and I agree with Scriptum. I think Discord could be dangerous at the moment and we may need to take drastic measures to get Fluttershy back. I worry that he's been driven to madness. We have devised a way to travel in the chaos dimension but will need back up.

Princess Twilight

Celestia felt an unwelcome but familiar emotion: panic.

Fluttershy sighed happily. Her heat was dissipating, but she felt warm and content.

She sat at the bow of the ship with a mug in her hand and sporting a bathrobe Discord had conjured up for her. She didn't exactly need it, but it felt comforting against her fur.

Discord was still in bed. He said he felt sore after the day's physical activities. When she asked him if he was okay, he chuckled and said:

“I'm more than okay. It's the good kind of ache.”

She smiled. “Oh...I hope I wasn't too rough.”

“You can do whatever you like to me,” he said, grinning. Then she had left him to snooze.

Fluttershy sipped her tea and thought about the situation. Her first time had been wonderful, and it had been with someone she cared about and loved, but that didn't change the fact that reality would hit soon when everything went back to its regular routine. That wasn't to say she hadn't felt incredibly nervous at times, but Discord seemed to know what he was doing. Better than that, he had been gentle with her while still being incredibly passionate. She realized he must have had the benefit of thousands of years of sexual experience. And yet he was terrible with interpersonal relationships. She wondered why this was. Discord was still a loose cannon. She didn't want to think about her friend that way, but he was. She trusted him enough to have her first time with him, but did she trust him enough to have a relationship with him?

After a while she decided she would ask Twilight for her advice when this was all behind them. Maybe even speak to Princess Cadance. If anyone would know what to do it would be the Princess of Love. Discord hadn't brought up the subject so she assumed there was no urgency. She smiled, her head feeling clearer. Night was falling on the Hydaspis and she decided to go check on Discord and ask if he wanted a cup of tea. She walked up to the door of his bedroom and pushed it open.

“Discord?”

“Mmph?” He sat up. She giggled. His feathers and mane were sticking out at odd angles everywhere. She felt the urge to smooth them down for him – preen him.

“Hey, Pretty Lady,” he grinned. “I'm feeling mighty sore still and I think my old bones could use a good...boning.”

Fluttershy burst out laughing at the not-quite-innuendo She knew they were both too tired to continue what he was suggesting.

“Yeah, you know me only too well,” he chuckled. “Truth is I'm so sore that the thought of any sort of exercise feels impossible right now. You really did a number on me, Fluttershy. If I had known you were such a powerhouse I'd have worn protection.” He was suddenly wearing armour and brandishing a sword.

“I thought knights were supposed to rescue fair maidens?”

“Well, I'm not a knight. And...” he waggled his eyebrows, “...you're no longer a maiden.”

She blushed a little at this. It made Discord's heart tug at his chest. Even after everything that had transpired she was still blushing.

“Are you too tired to hold me?” she said softly.

The armour vanished and she climbed into his lap. He ran his talon through her mane and kissed the top of her head.

“I'm not kidding though, Fluttershy,” he said. “I feel so exhausted. I hope I haven't picked up the Tatzlwurm Flu or anything.” Even conjuring up the armour felt like it had taken effort.

She rested her head against him and stroked his feathery chest. “Well we'll be home soon and delivering the creature to the hospital, so maybe they can check you over there?”

“Have nurses stick me with needles and poke things up my bum? No thanks. I'm sure I'll be fine with a bit of bed rest and some soup.”

He sighed. He suddenly felt like it was a tremendous effort to sit upright, so he lay back down on the bed, pulling Fluttershy with him. Truth be told he felt a little sad. Her comment about them being home soon had made him think about the fact that they'd be going back to Scriptum.

Though if getting this monster to the hospital ends up saving that pony then I can just fire him.

Would firing him be enough though? Part of Discord still believed Fluttershy was only snuggled up against him because of her heat. Still, it felt so good to hold the small mare against him. He had so many conflicting emotions, and he felt far too tired to think about them any more. He felt his heavy eyelids close slowly and he drifted off.

Discord came awake with a start when he heard and felt a large crash. The ship was jolted sideways for a second and he heard Fluttershy cry out as she fell off the bed.

Then he was surrounded by ponies; large stallions holding him down, or trying to anyway. Discord's snake-like body was not easy to still as he thrashed about in surprise. It took him a few moments to realize he was under attack and the stallions trying to pin him down were royal guards.

Screw this.

He quickly ordered his magic to fling them off and turn them into field mice. Nothing happened.

Aw, buck.

He decided to continue to physically resist them. Even this was hard. His muscles felt like they were on fire and his head was pounding. Nevertheless, he put up a decent fight.

He rolled off the bed and across the deck with five guards shouting and continually trying to pin him down.

“Geeze, he's like a slippery eel!” one of them shouted.

“What's going on?” shouted Fluttershy through the commotion. “Why are you doing this?”

“It's okay Miss Fluttershy,” said one of them. “You're safe now.”

“Safe? What are you talking about?”

“We're rescuing you from this ruffian!” said the guard.

“I don't need rescuing!”

“Ma'am, I think you may be too overwhelmed by everything to understand the gravity of the situation.”

“I most certainly am not overwhelmed! Why are you doing this? Discord's harmless!”

A stallion cried out as Discord sank his fang into his hind leg. Then the draconequus whipped his tail outward, causing the remaining ponies to fall flat on their flanks like living dominoes.

“What the hell?” he shouted at them, feeling very confused. His teeth were bared, his hackles up, his claws unsheathed as he faced them. He looked ready to pounce and inflict damage at any minute. At that moment he felt a blast of magic hit him in the chest and he was blown across the deck. Before he passed out, he looked up to see Starswirl looking down at him.

“I'm so disappointed in you boy,” came the sad and bitter voice.

Discord gave in to exhaustion.