Author's Note
Yes, I know I did delete this story, but I keep all the words for it, so, here it is again for the....fifth time this year, hope you enjoy. I'm not keeping this story in junk box anymore. And this is for the people that wanted it back.
Old Editor: Ashi
Please, Leave Comments.
Discovery
“All right, Celestia,” Discord said, the weary-sounding words drifting into the throne room a half-second before the draconequus himself appeared in a blinding flash of white light. “I'm done clearing out those sandstorms in Saddle Arabia. Though, if you ask me, those stuck-up bores could do with a little bit more excitement in their lives.”
“Those sandstorms would've destroyed the royal palace if we'd allowed them to grow any bigger,” Celestia replied, taking a sip of her tea.
“That's exciting, right?” Discord shrugged his shoulders. As much as he'd come to love and respect the ponies over the last couple of years, they could be very stuffy when it came to chaos still. “Anyway, can I go now, or is there a fire somewhere you need me to put out?”
“You may go,” said Celestia, inclining her head in a formal bow. “Unless you want to help out with the rat infestation in Manehattan?”
“Why not ask Fluttershy? She's pretty handy – or hoofy, I guess – when it comes to animals? Speaking of which, I should drop-in on her, say hi.” The thought of having rodents up to this horns was not a pleasant one, and the draconequus would much rather be being sand-blasted in the middle of the desert again than deal with that. Speaking of which: Discord unscrewed the horns from his head and emptied grains of sand that had become lodged within.
“Didn't you see her already this week? Wasn't it just yesterday, as a matter of fact?” asked Celestia, a slight edge of teasing in her lilting, sing-song voice.
“I couldn't possibly say,” replied Discord, his face would've been the picture of innocence were it not for the naturally-roguish slant of his muzzle. “Between sandstorms and the threat of storms of muroidea, my mind is too busy to recall such minor details.”
Celestia merely took another sip of her tea. “Okay.”
That knocked Discord for a loop. “What? What d'you mean Okay?”
“Nothing.” Unlike Discord, Princess Celestia had considerably more practice at playing innocent and not the slightest tell registered on her face.
“You go on and see Fluttershy. Send her my love.” Using her magic, she levitated a sheaf of documents in front of her and muttered something under her breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Discord still standing there, looking dumbfounded. “Is something wrong?”
“What could possibly be wrong?” asked Discord, affecting calm, but there was the smallest trace of something in his voice. Something Celestia had never heard before.
Doubt? Maybe. “You can talk to me. We're friends.”
“...” said Discord.
“I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that.”
“Promise you won't make fun?” There was a startling amount of seriousness in Discord's tone and it rather unsettled Celestia to hear it.
“I promise.”
“Okay. I, um, I think I might be in love with Fluttershy.”
“Oh.” That was surprising. “To be honest, I wasn't expecting that. How long have you felt this way?”
“Well,” Discord said with a mischievous grin forming on his muzzle, “I think you deserve to know the whole story, don't you?” He snapped the talons of his claw together, and Celestia suddenly found herself sitting in an armchair with a pencil and notebook in her hooves, while Discord himself was stretched out on a therapist's bed.
“Is this your way of asking for help?” asked Celestia, rolling her eyes.
“You said you wouldn't make fun.”
“Sorry.” Celestia held up her hooves in mock-surrender. “Go on, then.”
“All right, cue flashback harps ...”
It all happened after the, er, incident in the Everfree Forest. I was on my way to Fluttershy's cottage – after helping to clean up the mess I'd made, of course – to apologise to her for not telling anypony about my plunderseeds. Once I got to her door, I was distracted by a sweet smell. I thought she was baking, but it turned out to be her. She's so nice it practically radiates from her, you know? I, um, she opened the door and just smiled at me. Despite everything that had just happened, Fluttershy was still smiling at me. That heart that I don't have felt like it had just run a marathon!
I just stared at her for the longest time. It felt like I was seeing her properly for the first time, if that makes sense? I saw more than just a good-natured yellow pony. I saw … I saw … I dunno what I saw, to be honest, but it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before.
“Hello, Discord,” she said, polite as ever.
“Oh, hello, Fluttershy. Sorry, I was spacing-out there.”
“What brings you here? Would you like to come in?”
“No, no, I can't stay, my dear. I, ah, I just wanted to apologise for what happened.”
“What for?”
“The plunderseeds. Almost destroying Equestria. You know, that old chestnut.”
“We all make mistakes. I forgive you.”
Wait, what? It was that easy? “Fluttershy, I know that you're the Element of Kindness and all, but … nopony has ever forgiven me for anything.”
“Have you ever asked a pony for forgiveness before?”
“Well, no.”
“It's what friends are for, Dissy."
“Dissy? Did you just call me Dissy?”
“Don't you like it? I thought it sounded like a cute nickname. I can stop using it if you'd prefer?”
“The only nickname I've ever had in my life is Ugly Chimera.”
“You're not ugly".
“So. She calls you Dissy now?” Celestia asked, a smirk creasing her muzzle.
Discord felt the blood rush to his face. What did ponies call it now? Embarrassment. “Yes, but only she gets to call me that, understand? No special rules for princesses.”
“Fair enough.”
“Anyway,” the draconequus said, resuming his derailed train of thought, “I had this horrible feeling in my stomach all the way home. I couldn't put my talon on what exactly was different. Why had I been staring at her like that? I mean, I'm not unable to appreciate physical beauty, and she is certainly very beautiful, but I've seen plenty of head-turners in my time and I've never been affected quite as much as this. It wasn't until I was in bed that night that I figured out what was wrong. Or what was right. I was in love with my best friend.”
“If there's one thing I've learned from Cadance, it's that love has no boundaries. You were bound to run into this eventually, the more you learned about friendship, Discord.” The Princess of the Sun ruminated thoughtfully for a bit. “But why do you need my help?”
“Isn't that obvious? I need your help to, er, woo her. To win her heart. Please?” Discord's eyes had grown slightly too large for his head as he favoured Celestia with the saddest pout that he could muster.
Princess Celestia took a deep breath; she was about to list a half-dozen reasons why it was a bad idea, but she quickly faltered. Love was a grand, unifying thing, and it was wrong to stand in its way just because she had misgivings about the potentiality of the match. “I'll help you, Discord, but … it won't be easy. Fluttershy is the sweetest, shyest mare in the land, and I don't want you taking advantage of her for your own amusement. If I find out that you're just screwing around, the consequences will not be pleasant. Understood?”
“Understood,” Discord replied, nodding.
“Well, in that case, I think our session is over.”
“Sister!” Luna said, barging into the throne room in some concern. “Have you seen my … oh, I do apologise for interrupting. I didn't realise you had company.”
“Luna,” said Celestia, greeting her sister. “I was just helping Discord with … a problem.”
“His feelings for Fluttershy?” the Princess of the Moon asked.
“How did you …?” they asked in unison.
“When the Tantabus escaped and I was plugged into everypony's dreams, I happened to catch a brief glimmer of one of Discord's. It was, er, quite interesting,” said Luna, her face reddening slightly. “Especially the wedding one, though I did not need to see what you had in mind for the Honeymoon.”
“All right, Lulu,” Discord said, his voice barely above a strained grumble, “you can stop baring my innermost soul now. Or would you like me to remind everypony ...”
“Enough!” Celestia's voice was so loud it echoed off the room's walls. It wasn't often she got to employ the Royal Canterlot Voice, but her sister and Discord acting like squabbling children seemed to warrant it. “Princess Luna,” she said in a formal tone, “you are in charge while Discord and I attend to business.”
“Of course,” said a contrite Luna. Once they were gone, she used her magic to conjure up a parchment, a quill, and a jar of ink. She parked her rump on the throne and started writing.
He was a fool to believe that she could ever be happy with him, for who could ever love a monster?
“All right, I think that's chapter fifteen done,” Luna said with a happy giggle. “If only I could think of a title for it.”
