In Which Discord Comes to Visit
Fluttershy twitched her ears at the sound the knife made as it cleaved through the zucchini and hit the cutting board each time. Today really was just going to be a quiet day. She'd promised Discord that she would have a picnic with him today, and,so, here she was preparing zucchini sandwiches for it. She inhaled deeply. The permeating smell at the moment was, of course, the crisp and cool smell of the vegetable, but there was the faint, chocolatey aroma of the brownies Pinkie had baked for her earlier. The exhale came as a contented sigh. She really was grateful to have such considerate friends.
She was humming softly to herself when she felt something furry rub against her leg. She looked down to see a mischievous ferret chattering at her. She giggled and gently patted it on the head. Through her hoof, she could only barely feel how warm and furry the little creature was. The tiny weasel chattered at her once more and darted away. She resumed her preparations. Now that the zucchini was taken care of, she turned her attention to a loaf of bread sitting on her counter.
She was assembling the last sandwich when she heard a knock the the door. Her ears pricked up at the sound. She knew what it likely meant. She trotted happily over to the door, her hooves making soft steps as she crossed the living room floor. She wrapped the agile feathers of one wing around the door's handle and pulled it open. She looked up at the draconequus standing there. The only surprising thing about this was that he was on time. Usually he was either late or early.
Discord craned his neck down at the much smaller pony and grinned, his mismatched teeth gleaming. "Hello, Fluttershy, my dear friend!",he greeted enthusiastically. He held up his lion's claw and his eagle's talon in a salutatory gesture. "Are you quite prepared for our little get-together today?", he inquired.
Fluttershy chuckled at her friend's anticipation. "Not quite, I still need to pack!", she replied.
Discord huffed playfully. "Alright, I suppose I shall wait here," he floated over to rest on her couch, ignoring the glare he got from Angel, who had been sitting there, "while you finish the preparations for today." He pretended to look ever so slightly annoyed at the delay.
Fluttershy huffed back in jest, smiling. She trotted back into the kitchen and expertly pulled out a woven picnic basket from one of the cabinets beneath the counter.
She gently placed the wrapped up sandwiches inside, along with the tin of brownies and a comb. Whenever she and the draconequus got together, funnily enough, like two schoolfillies they often ended up grooming each other. Usually Discord would run the comb through her mane as he chatted at her animatedly about life in his little dimension, and Fluttershy would tell him about life in Ponyville.
Fluttershy took the woven handle of the basket into her mouth and placed it carefully onto her back, shifting her shoulders to balance it. She called quietly from the kitchen in a way only she could, "Discord, I'm ready to go now!"
Discord lifted himself up off the couch, tail wagging slightly in anticipation, and replied, "Then let us be off!" He held the front door open as Fluttershy stepped outside. Fluttershy smiled up at him, craning her neck up at the spirit of chaos, who was many times her height. She was proud of how Discord was slowly learning how to get along with others. The days where she cringed at the mere mention of his name as her mind flooded with memories of the maze were long, long gone. True, he hadn't perfected it yet, but he was surely making great progress. All he needed was patience, kindness, and a firm hoof now and then.
The air was crisp and sweet, heavy with the scent of blooming flowers as the duo strolled past the garden and toward a small clearing Fluttershy had long since decided was their picnic spot. The cool shadows of tall trees, dappled with sunlight, fell across the two as they reached the clearing and Discord took the basket from the small pegasus' back. Discord had to bend down to below half his height to even reach the handle.
It was fascinating to him how small ponies were, and this one in particular. Fluttershy was ever so slightly shorter than the average mare, and a bit thinner as well. She was just small in general, and somehow this was just so very endearing, in the way the sheer tininess of a kitten or a bunny or other small fluffy animal was endearing. And, in an odd way, Fluttershy was like a kitten or bunny, and yet she was more. He couldn't quite place it, but, sometimes, when he looked at her, his heart melted into a sweet and warm soup and he just wanted to hold her the way a father held his newborn child and coo endearments at her and call her Georgette forever and wanted to bury anyone who would dare even look at her wrong. And those were the times when he wondered why he'd never seen her this way before. Like she was just his little, tiny, adorable baby sister.
He snapped two claws on his talon, and a checkered blanket billowed onto the ground. She lowered herself onto a corner while he sat on his haunches and rummaged through the basket just a few inches away. He held out a sandwich to the usually shy mare. "Care for a sandwich?"
There was a giggle from her end. "Of course. Thank you."
The two just ate in silence for a bit, relaxed and content in each others' company. Discord was a spirit of chaos, but even he just needed a break sometimes, and Fluttershy was not a very conversational pony by nature. That was alright, after being alone for a very, very long time, and missing something he didn't know he needed, simply having company was a new and welcome pleasure, almost as good as a chocolate rainstorm with cotton candy clouds on top.
When the sandwiches were gone, Discord yawned a great, jaw-cracking yawn and settled onto his stomach, lion's paw tucked under his chest in the way that cats did, his talon splayed to the side. His eyes were half-lidded in a lazy way. Fluttershy looked at her friend and felt a great peace settle over her like a warm quilt on a winter night. It was rare to see Discord so calm, so relaxed, because, like Pinkie, he was extraordinarily hyperactive, constantly moving, gesturing, dramatic and energetic, but when he was like he was now, he was a steadying and stilling presence, a reprieve from her anxiety, and only partly because he wasn't being so very mischievous, as he continuously was.
Fluttershy let a small smile ease onto her face and reached into the basket with a hoof, slowly poking through the basket, finding the warm brownies there. Her smile grew by a fraction, and she worked her hoof underneath the bottom of the pan and slowly lifted it out of the basket. She noticed that the smell had gotten the draconequus's attention and he had glanced over out of the corner of his eye. Fluttershy, feeling just a smidge dramatic herself, whispered a musical "Ta-dah~," and snickered, and she felt light, like she could float, when a deep chortle answered.
She removed the cellophane from the top and went back into the picnic basket, looking for the pie lifter she brought along. Finding it, she levered a pre-cut brownie and, holding the handle in her mouth, offered the dessert to Discord. He took it in his talon and hummed in appreciation as he bit into it. " 's delicious, 'id Thbinkie make it?", he inquired through the chocolatey mess in his mouth.
Fluttershy giggled and responded, "Yes," and she bit into her own brownie between her hooves, "she did. She's talented."
"Mm," he replied, swallowing gruffly.
A few minutes later, the empty tin found it's way back into the basket and the two reveled in silence for a space of minutes, though it felt like blissful hours to the Pegasus. Then, she pulled the comb out of the basket, handle in her mouth. She looked to Discord, asking with her eyes what her mouth was too busy to say, and Discord, again glancing from the corner of his eye, simply nodded, completely satisfied and amiable.
She scooted over so that she was directly next to her much larger companion, and, shifting herself into a sitting position, began to work the teeth of the comb through his charcoal-dark mane, starting at the bottom of the hairs and working her way up. He sat still, but a low, barely audible rumbling note began to echo off the trees in the clearing, and Discord's throat vibrated slightly as he purred, arms stretching, eyes closed. He almost looked ready to take a nap right then and there, his expression was so peaceful and content.
It occurred to Fluttershy that Discord was very similar to a very large, very mischievous cat. She supposed it made sense, he did have a lion's paw, but she wondered just how far the similarities went.
She decided to experiment, just a bit, like Twilight might do, and slowly, cautiously, raised one hoof and rested it just below his incongruous wings. Discord apparently felt the sudden pressure there and turned his head slightly toward her, eyebrow raised, curious but not very concerned. Fluttershy gave Discord an "is this okay?" look, eyebrows knitted together and eyes inquisitive. He grinned and nodded his head, turning his head back. Happy that permission was granted, Fluttershy set the comb down on the blanket and slowly began with full, tentative strokes, running her hoof down his back like she was petting one of her furrier friends back at the cottage ( oddly enough, the texture was almost the same), and jumped an inch when Discord's purring kicked up a notch and he arched his back into the touch. " He really is just like a giant, sentient cat ," she thought, and continued running her hoof down his spine.
He surprised her again when he flopped onto his back, wings spread, chestnut belly exposed, and semi-curled his body into a c-shape, eyes half clouded with nictating membranes* ,and his eyes half open. She sat there, looking almost stunned, and he chuckled, "You don't need to stop, you know." She was silent for a moment, then asked, "Oh, you want me to...?"
He replied, "Yes, that would be just fine."
She resumed her petting, this time focusing on his abdomen, noting how the fur there was a bit sleeker and softer, but just as thick as the fur on his back, and the low, rumbling purr returned, but louder, and the tension in her shoulders melted. She let a smile settle onto her face at the familiar noise.
Then, she heard a contented sigh, and the body beneath her hooves went entirely slack, and minutes later, she heard deep, rhythmic breathing, and giggled despite herself. The quilt settled over her again, and yet she felt elated, and she heaved a contented sigh of her own, removing her hoof and nestling herself into the long, warm curve of the draconequus' body. She wasn't going to sleep if she could help it, since she would have to be awake when they began the walk back to the cottage and she would have to care for her animal friend, but she was truly and deeply pleased in this moment. She giggled again, very softly. " And haven't I learned something new today?", she thought, closing her eyes. Unsurprisingly, sleep claimed her.
Author's Note
I would like to give a thank you to The Great Zoroark, who took the time and effort to correct many of the mistakes that were here, previously.
(*Also, for those of you not very familiar with the anatomy of animals, nictating membranes are sort of like a "third eyelid" located in the eye of cats and some lizards and birds, along with dogs. It's that weird milky covering you see when your dog or cat opens their eyes sometimes.)
