Awkward Celebrations

Chapters

The Morning After
An Awkward Tea Party 1
An Awkward Argument

The Morning After

Discord rarely had trouble sleeping. Tonight was an exception. He lay curled around his marefriend her sweat-matted, yellow coat reflecting a blue-ish tint in the moonlight. With each of her shallow, light breaths, she pressed her chest into his and blew hot damp air into his neck. Her tail had intertwined itself with his as they slept, the long pink hairs brushing against him occasionally.

It was all incredibly bothersome.

Regardless, he made no motion to disentangle himself from her. He’d found himself in this situation more than often in these three months since they started dating, and Fluttershy’s touch never kept him awake. On the contrary, it almost always served to knock him out or wear him out.

But sleep evaded him tonight, not for a lack of want, but instead for dread.

Tomorrow.

The future never usually bothered discord, so why on earth did he suddenly care about tomorrow? Tomorrow was Hearth's Warming day, a rather silly pony tradition in celebration of a rather silly pony fable. Unfortunately, it was also the day that the three month secret of their relationship would be revealed... to Fluttershy’s family.

He thought back on the past. The struggle to save Fluttershy from the changeling hive without his everpresent magic. And, his eventual realization.

He’d confronted her in the same way he did anything, rather suddenly, finding her alone in her room the night after the rescue.

For all his intelligence he never could manage tact around his feelings for her.

“Fluttershy, when I lost you I learned something about myself. I don’t know what to make of it, but I do think I’m in love with you.”

The pair had stood there for what seemed like an eternity. For the first time in his life, he’d run out of words. Finally, though, she flew up to wrap her forehooves around his neck and whisper, “Discord, I love you too” into his ear.

Discord smiled at the memory, running his clawed hand down Fluttershy’s spine, and smoothing out a particularly unruly tuft of her coat.

It was a good day, Discord thought to himself, he’d spent Hearth's Warming eve with Fluttershy and her friends, and most of the night with Fluttershy in her… their? Bed. She had loved his gift to her, and he had loved her gift to him, for these few moments, with his marefriend sleeping blissfully in his arms, all was right in the world.

But sleep had to come eventually, and with it, the morning.

Fluttershy was the first to wake. Her nose crinkled slightly at the scents of musky draconequus mixed with the caked and dry aftermath of last night's… activities. He always smelled different in the mornings. She chalked it up to chaos magic. This morning’s flavor was ash tree and molasses.

With some effort, she pried her eyes open, freeing her long lashes from the sleep-gunk that attempted to glue them together.

Her vision was filled with the gray fur of Discord’s neck. It was a familiar sight, and one she absolutely did not mind waking up to. Slowly she uncurled herself, pushing her head forward into his scent and giving Discord his good morning kiss.

Now, however, came the more difficult part of her morning: untangling herself.

She experimented at first. Tentatively unfurling her wings and probing about with her rigid flight feathers, feeling out the lion’s paw that had done its very best to blanket her midriff.

Fluttershy gently slid her extended wing under the darker yellow coat of his heavy hand, meticulously prying each finger off her. Slowly, she lifted her wing over her head and let the paw fall onto the pillow above her.

Discord groaned slightly in his sleep but offered no further complaint. Carefully, she rolled off the mattress and tiptoed to the bathroom, finding her way easily even in the half-light of the morning.

Fluttershy stepped into her shower and turned the knob. The hot stream of water was a blessing that served to wake her like no other.

She heard the poof of his magic as he materialized behind her. Apparently, her stealthy bed escape hadn’t been quite as stealthy as she’d thought. Any complaints she might have had were silenced as Discord applied one of the many bonuses of dating a draconequus: fingers.

Discord lathered his lion’s paw with conditioner and began to massage the base of her wings, his dexterous pads sliding around the ball joint and working out kinks and knots that she didn't even know she had.

“Mmmh, thanks Dizzy,” she sighed, pushing herself up against the encroaching fingers.
.
“You’re quite welcome, dear,” she heard him murmur, his voice almost inaudible over the sound of rushing water. “Although, I’m not sure I’ll ever get over how cold the bed was without you.”

She turned her head upwards, an apology forming on her lips and a blush tinting her yellow cheeks. Then, she saw his cheeky, sharp-toothed grin, and realized he was teasing her.

She spared a moment to give him her best pout. Then she pushed off the ground, and with a beat of her wings, brought herself face-first into the shower-head, pushing the flexible nozzle upwards and away from her.

Discord yelped as the stream of water arced over her to splash itself on his coat.

Then she was giggling, and he was giggling, and the shower was filled with the echoes of their rising laughter.

Eventually, though, it died down, and Discord resumed his cleaning. His fingers sliding along her spine, pushing soap suds down and off her coat.

“They know I’m coming right?” Discord, asked, pausing mid-rub.

“Of course, I told them I was bringing my special somepony,” she said, rocking back and forth on her hooves to rub her back against his paw.

His fingers stiffened momentarily in her matted mane.

“Discord, are you worried?”

“Fluttershy, I’m the god of chaos-” Discord began.

“Don’t worry, I know they’ll love you.” She saw right through him. She was getting annoyingly good at that.

“Twilight taught you a spell to see the future?”

“No Discord. I know they’ll love you because I love you.”

A moment of silence passed between them, Discord’s paw once again sliding into motion.

“Thank you, Fluttershy. I love you too.”

After toweling off, Discord made his way down to the kitchen and got to work on food. Fluttershy went out to check on her animals. It was a practiced routine. Soon enough, the animals were fed, breakfast had been enjoyed, and the dishes were putting themselves away. The couple stood together at the door.

“Ready?” Fluttershy asked, her voice as quiet as ever.

“Of course my dear Fluttershy. You said they’d love me after all.”

Fluttershy giggled, putting a hoof to her mouth. She flapped her wings and brought herself level with Discord’s cheek, giving him a light kiss. Together, they stepped through the door.

Discord had long since decided that he liked teleporting far more than flying. It just made more sense. why fight a long and annoying battle against gravity when you could just snap your fingers and be wherever you wanted to instead?

But, Fluttershy had insisted that the view was absolutely beautiful. And, although he wasn’t one for sightseeing, he did like the sight of Fluttershy’s smile.

So, they flew, hoof in claw.

Watching the Ponyville townscape grow smaller and smaller beneath their wingbeats was rather surreal for Discord. He hardly ever left Ponyville. He didn’t know how or when it happened, but Ponyville had, with all its charm, sunk its hooks deep into him, and forced him to call it home.

Not that he minded particularly. He was free to do whatever he wanted (within reason), he had a very loving marefriend, and, there was never a shortage of entertainment.

His train of thought was interrupted by a distant, “Fluttershy!”

They sprang apart, eyes wide, determined to look anywhere but at each other.

Rainbow Dash streaked to a halt in front of them, buffeting Fluttershy’s mane with a residual gust of wind. Scootaloo sat, a broad grin stretching across her face, in her arms.

“That. Was. So cool!” Scootaloo cried.

“I know,” Rainbow gave her an affectionate pat on the head.

“H-Hi there Rainbow, how are you doing today?” asked Fluttershy.

“Yeah. I’m good. I thought it‘d be fun to take Scootaloo up to see my mom and dad with me.”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you.”

“I know right, I’m SO EXCITED. Oh, hi Discord, why’re you here?” Scootaloo asked, her wings buzzing with anticipation.

“Same reason as you,” Discord replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Discord doesn’t have any family to spend Hearth’s Warming with so I invited him to join me,” Fluttershy explained.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rainbow asked, arching her eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” said Fluttershy.

“No offense, but Discord kinda has a terrible reputation.”

Discord glanced up from Scootaloo to Rainbow. “Ponyville ponies seem to like me just fine. I’d even go so far as to say that some enjoy my presence,” said Discord, snapping pictures of Big Mac, Spike, and an arrow pointing to Fluttershy into existence.

“Yeah, but that’s ‘cause Ponyville ponies know you, Discord.” Rainbow gave an exasperated sigh. “Look, I’m just saying Cloudsdale pegasi might treat you different.”

Discord’s brow furrowed.

“Well once they get a chance to meet him I’m sure they’ll love him,” Fluttershy encouraged, placing her hoof on his shoulder.

“Uhhhh, well, good luck with that. Scoots and I have to catch brunch with my family, so we’re gonna head out. And Discord, try not to turn Cloudesdale upside.”

Discord snapped his fingers and a dark green military uniform, complete with a round cap and golden trim, appeared on him. Slamming his legs together with a click, he gave Rainbow his very best salute.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at him and shot off. Turning her and Sootaloo into a rainbow blur with extra orange.

Once the wind of Dash’s retreat had died down, Discord turned to Fluttershy, snapping his fingers once more to remove the uniform. His eyebrows knitted together as his eyes met hers, “Do you think she’s right?”

Fluttershy thought about his question for a minute. “I think she’s partially right, Cloudsdale is different from Ponyville, but I think that once my parents see how nice you are they'll like you too.”

“Aside from you, I’ve never really cared about what other ponies thought of me. It's all very new. How do I make ponies like me?”

Fluttershy flapped her wings until she was eye to eye with Discord. Then, she put her forehooves on Discords cheeks, locking her eyes with his. ”Discord, you're wonderful. You don’t have to make anypony like you. I wouldn't be the mare I am today without you. Be yourself and remember that I'm here with you. It’ll all be fine.”

Discord gazed back at her, studying his reflection in her eyes and wondering what exactly she saw. Then, she closed the distance between them.

Their kiss was short. Shorter than he liked, at least. But in their brief moment of shared connection. He felt her warmth and her love.

I can do this.

Before Rainbow and Scootaloo could meet Bow Hothhoof and Windy Whistles, they needed to pick up some cloud cakes that the adults had ordered earlier in the week.

The door to the local bakery ‘Sky-High Pies’ jingled as Rainbow Dash pushed it open. The store itself was empty, aside from a bored-looking silver Pegasus in a ‘Sky-High Pies’ cap that pressed the matted red strands of his hair into an awkward pinecone.

Scootaloo zipped out from next to Rainbow to admire the confections shielded behind their curved glass displays.

“Woah, look at all this candy,” Scootaloo squeaked.

The clerk looked up to find the source of the noise, saw it was an excited filly, and put his head back down again.

“Rainbow Dash?” a timid voice called from behind her.

Rainbow turned, to see Fluttershy’s mother standing directly behind her in the doorway.

“Hey there, Ms. Shy,”

“Rainbow, I’m so glad I ran into you today. You wouldn’t happen to know who Fluttershy’s Special somepony is?” Asked the yellow Pegasus, her voice muffled as she turned her head to dig a bag of bits out from her saddlebags.

“Wha-“ Rainbow began.

Ms. Shy continued, oblivious to the stunned Pegasus in front of her. “Fluttershy wrote us a letter a week ago telling us that she was bringing her special somepony with her for our Hearth's Warming day celebration.”

Then, Rainbow Dash understood. As much as she wished she didn’t. There’s no way. Sweet Celestia tell me that this doesn’t mean what I think it does.

Scootaloo chose that exact time to interject. “Well I don’t know about special somepony but Fluttershy was flying up here with Dis-“

“NO IDEA! THANKS! BYE!” Rainbow’s hoof shot over Scootaloo’s mouth before she could finish that thought. In a flash, she’d scooped up the filly in one hoof, pulled the requisite number of bits from her saddlebags, and traded them in for a cake. She shot out of the store, practically dragging Scootaloo behind her.

“Well that was strange,” Ms. Shy momentarily pondered. But she had more important things on her mind: tea cakes. Whichever gentlecolt had been lucky enough to win her daughter’s heart deserved the very best the Shy family had to offer. She just hoped that the limited selection of confections on Hearth’s Warming day would be enough to make a good first impression.

Author's Note

Hello,
Vore Crimes here. I know it's been a while since I did anything on this site, but with the Bronycon freshly over and my love for fluttercord reinvigorated I figured it was time to come back to writing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
If all goes according to plan, next chapter next week.
Best,
~Vore Crimes

An Awkward Tea Party 1

Landing in Cloudsdale was awkward, to say the least. Rainbow Dash had been right. The few ponies walking the streets today were staring and hiding their foals as if he might spring out and attack them at any moment.

It irked Fluttershy.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She could have understood apprehension, even fear, but this, this was flat out disgust. Did Equestria really hold such a grudge against him?

Somewhere deep in the pit of her stomach, a seed of doubt sprouted.

Discord, for his part, was doing an excellent job ignoring the stares. He got looks all the time, whenever he was in Ponyville passing ponies would do a double-take when they thought he wasn’t looking. Honestly though, who were they kidding, he was Discord. If he didn’t know any better he’d consider it an insult to his perception. As far as he was concerned, this was just that, but more obvious. And, so long as Fluttershy’s parents were as understanding as she was he so no issue with what other ponies thought of him.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, seemed less happy with the attention.

Discord reached down with his clawed hand and ran it through her mane. Instinctively, Fluttershy pressed her head into his hand, letting him skritch behind her ear.

Skritch skritch.

“I can’t believe she’s actually letting him touch her.”

Fluttershy’s ear twitched.

“Yeah, isn’t she worried he’ll like turn her inside out or something?”

Skritch skritchy skritch.

“And look at those claws and fang. Isn’t she at all concerned with her safety?”

Fluttershy huffed, a stream of hot air blasting between her flared nostrils.

She upped her pace, hoping to leave their unwanted audience behind.

Discord kept pace easily, his cloven and clawed feet springing off the fluffy clouds.

Soon enough, they rounded a corner. The street that followed was blessedly empty.

“Well, well if it isn’t our old friend, Klutzershy.”

Or not.

The insult drew here eyes to a nearby cloud. At the top stood Hoops, his dark brown hair obscuring his eyes as always. Flanking him on either side stood his two friends. Guffawing at their luck.

Honestly, what were the odds? Why on earth did she have to run into these three today?

“Looks like she couldn’t decide which pet to bring this time. So she just brought all of them.” Another one, Dumbbell, teased.

Fluttershy darted behind Discord, pushing her forehooves onto his tail and using it as a shield.

“Ugh, who are these fools?” Discord scoffed.

“Bullies, from flight school.” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Oh, hmm” Discord contemplated using his magic. He could make this whole problem go away if he really wanted to. But, in well over a thousand years of magic use, he’d learned a few things. Solving problems like these with magic usually created more trouble than it was worth.

“Klutzershy, you’ve really set the bar low on this one. He’s got to be the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Time to get creative.

With a snap of his fingers, Discord turned his stomach into a mirror. Hoops was brought face to face with his reflection.

“I agree,” hummed Discord, “That creature is absolutely repulsive.”

“Hey-” Hoops started.

Discord plowed on, ignoring the pony, “I mean look at him: running around Cloudsdale on Hearth’s Warming day looking for ponies to pick on.”

“Shut up, weirdo, we’re not talking to you,” Dumbbell cut in.

“Weirdo? Is that the best you could come up with? Am I putting too much stress on your one communal brain cell? If you need words with fewer syllables please let me know. Or better yet, let me simplify this. I’m trying to help you.”

“Huh?” Dumbbell replied smartly.

“It says quite a bit about you that not even your parents want you around for Hearth’s Warming. Perhaps you should think before you act next time, you sacks of poorly packaged plant food.”

The three would-be bullies stood momentarily in stunned silence. Hoops' mouth worked furiously to come up with a response as he thought about Discord’s words. “Sack of poorly packaged… Hey! Wait a minute!”

Discord and Fluttershy were already gone.

“That wasn’t very nice of you, Discord,” Fluttershy scolded. Once they reappeared.

“They weren’t very nice either,” Discord replied sheepishly, palms out and shoulders shrugged.

“Still, don’t you think that was a little much?”

“Consider my meanness retroactively scaled for all the times they’ve been nasty to you, my dear.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Fine,” Discord conceded, “It was a bit much, but I’m not apologizing.”

“As long as you understand,” Fluttershy said, her smile returning, she could compromise.

They stood together on the empty street. The sounds of merrymaking and celebration, muffled by thick cloud walls, emanated from surrounding houses.

Together, they walked towards Fluttershy’s house. Discord felt like he was walking through molasses. Every bone in his body was telling him there was no way this could work. Fluttershy was, after all, a kind, good, and lovable pony, and he, he was Discord.

Fluttershy walked to the door and raised her hoof.

Discord did his very best to get behind her, trying to make his comparatively massive form squeeze into her shadow.

Fluttershy’s knock was timid and quiet, yet to him, it sounded like a chorus of a thousand drums. There was a gentle swish of hooves on carpeted clouds, followed by the click of an unlocking door. Fluttershy pulled the door open and swept a dark yellow pony with bright red hair into a hug.

“Hi, Mom.”

Two more ponies followed the yellow one out, both were colored green. One was tall and slender with a yellow mane.

That must be her brother. What did she say his name was? Zephyr Sneeze?

The second stallion was clearly older, he had pink hair like Fluttershy’s.

And this must be Mr. Shy.

The two new ponies moved to join Fluttershy in a group hug until the brother noticed him. “SWEET CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT?” He screamed, pointing directly at Discord.

The rest of the Shy family’s heads turned collectively to follow his outstretched hoof.

Mr. and Ms. Shy’s mouths fell open, their pupils shrank to pinpricks and both took half a step back. Mr. Shy reached out to his daughter in an attempt to pull her back.

Fluttershy resisted his efforts, gently shrugging off his hoof, and walking over to Discord. She spun around to face her awestruck family, plopping her rear down next to him.

Once she made eye contact with her parents, her nervousness caught up to her. Her ears flattened against the back of her head, her eyes darting desperately between the somewhat incredulous faces of her family members.

“Mom, Dad, Zephyr, this is Discord. He’s my colt friend.

Discord swore those ponies could dislocate their jaws, it was the only explanation as to how they managed to gawk even wider at her.

“Erm,” Discord said gracefully giving the family a shy wave of his paw, ”Hello.”

Zephyr was the first to reassemble his thoughts. He briefly ignored Discord to direct his attention at his sister.

“He isn’t exactly a colt, sis”

Fluttershy’s gaze dropped to the ground. This wasn’t the reaction she expected. Should it have been?

“Um. Special somepony,” she amended.

“Celestia’s sake Fluttershy, he isn’t even a pony”

Fluttershy felt tears prick into her eyes. It wasn’t fair, not do Discord and especially not to her. Why did they all go out of there way to look for flaws? She couldn’t even trust her own family to see how happy he made her and accept that.

She stamped her hoof, kicking up tufts of white cloud, and surging forward. She brought her nose level with her brother’s. Her glaring eyes meeting her brothers.

“No, he’s a draconequus, and he’s better than any pony.”

“Now now, let’s not fight outside,” her father intervened “your mother and I prepared tea, why don’t we all go inside and talk.”

“Yes, and I brought cloudcakes,” Ms. Shy added. She turned to Discord, her voice dropping ten decibels as she spoke to him. “Y-you umm. You don’t eat-“

She gave up on her question.

“Mom!” Fluttershy howled “Discord does not eat ponies.”

The Shy parents visibly relaxed.

Discord decided it was time to step in. “Cloudcakes sound wonderful, Ms. Shy,” he said.

As they walked back inside, Zephyr shot Discord a glare, squinting at him as if it would somehow magically make him disappear.

The inside of the Shy’s house was nice. A circular tea table sat at the center of the room. Four wooden stools sat neatly around it. A fifth made of darker wood had been drawn up. Around the assortment, various flora decorated every available windowsill and countertop.

The table itself was decorated with white porcelain teacups and plates, each with a frilly purple stripe painted meticulously around its edge.

In the center of the table, next to the tea kettle, lay a plate of white, fluffy, cloud cakes, each with ribbons of chocolate drizzled over the top.

“Oh Mom, this looks beautiful.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy. We wanted to make it special since you told us you were bringing your special-“ Ms. Shy suddenly remembered who she was talking about, and clammed up.

“Well, color me impressed,” Discord said, snapping his fingers and turning an angry shade of neon purple.

It was supposed to be funny.

Fluttershy giggled at least.

The rest folded their ears and gave him pained looks leaning away from him.

“Discord brought some food too,” Fluttershy said, trying to refocus her family.

“Oh! Yes, of course,” Ms. Shy said, not taking her eyes off it Discord.

Once more, Discord snapped his fingers, returning him to his normal color pallet. A silver platter of cucumber sandwiches appeared on his claw, each individual sandwich cut uniquely, ranging from a triangular slice to a perfect circle. It was a happy medium between his usual, flying, recipe, and the normality that almost erased him.

Fluttershy’s family eyed them, not sure whether or not they were safe to eat.

Fluttershy flapped her wings and brought herself up for the platter and grabbed a star-shaped sandwich from the center of the tray, and popped it into her mouth. Smiling at Discord as she did so.

Mr. Shy half-heartedly raised his hoof as if to stop her, but thought better of angering his daughter.

Discord laid the cucumber sandwiches in the center of the table, next to the cakes and the kettle.

After making sure that Fluttershy had not in fact been poisoned, everypony moved to sit at the table. Discord took the darkest of the chairs, pushing Fluttershy’s in before sitting in his.

He sat between Fluttershy and her father, Zephyr and Ms. Shy across from him. The first glaring daggers and the other trying her best to hide behind her teacup.

Mr. Shy cleared his throat. “So, umm, Discord, how did you meet our daughter.”

Discord chose his words carefully. She was the only pony I couldn’t corrupt with words alone. Seemed like the wrong answer.

“I met her while she was saving Equestria.” He said. Not technically a lie.

“From you,” Zephyr added, eyebrow raised.

“Beg pardon?”

“You met her while she was saving Equestria from you.”

“Well technically, yes.”

“There’s no technically about it! You were evil!”

“But he’s not evil now!” Fluttershy cried.

“How can you know that?”

“Discord did do bad things in the past, but he’s good now.” Fluttershy defended. “He saved me and my friends from the changelings.”

“Did you really?” Ms. Shy asked.

“I had help, but yes, I did.” Discord answered. “It would have been easier if Chrysalis didn’t have that magic rock of hers.”

And so, Discord launched into his long story of the changeling attack, talking about the former villains' quest to save Equestria.

Fluttershy listened to him with her usual rapt attention. Laughing when he’d made an image of Trixie ride a pig with wings. The rest of the Shy family paid attention as well. He was pretty sure he managed to eek the ghost of a smile out of Ms. Shy.

Yes! A win. Now, to press the attack.

“So, what do you do for work?”

“I used to work in a factory. I’m retired now, but my wife still works as a gardener.” Mr. Shy answered.

“Oh really? I must say, I was never really much interested in gardening until I decided to grow my own tea leaves.”

“You grow your own tea?” Ms. Shy perked up, gazing up at him.
Well, she’s not terrified. That’s a start.

“Well of course I do! No pony seems to be able to get me ginseng that actually sings. Rather uninspired if you ask me.”

He saw the hints of a smile tickle the corners of Ms. Shy’s mouth. “And what do you do for work?” she asked him.

“Well, I spend most of my time helping Flutters out with her animal sanctuary. But occasionally, my chaos magic is needed elsewhere.”

“Mom, Dad, don’t you get it? He’s a monster” Zephyr interrupted.

“No, he’s not!” Fluttershy shot back, defending her boyfriend. “And, I like him.”

“Well. Maybe you shouldn’t!”

Author's Note

Hello everyone
Here's chapter 2. Chapter 3 is in the works but it'll take some time as I'm getting bogged down in work. It should be out by next week. This chapter was proofread bye muwun so be sure to leave a thank you to them. I'm still testing out a few writing styles here so if my chapters feel less succinct, I'm sorry. I hope you guys all enjoy.

Also, I know there is no RD in this chapter, but she'll be back.

An Awkward Argument

Silence hung in the air like a water-logged blanket. Fluttershy felt tears prick against the corners of her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry, not here, not now. Except, she was. She felt the first tear trace a fat line down her cheek. Then, a second. It hurt. It felt like she had just swallowed a bowling ball.

“I-I t-thought you’d b-be better.” she managed before her vocal cords shut off. The weight of her emotions squeezing the use out of them.

Oh, how she’d wanted everything to work out, for her family to adore Discord for the wonderful creature he was. But they didn’t. For every step forward they took, they were forced back two.

Discord raised his clawed hand, growling low at the offending pony. He knew he was bashing his chances with her family but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He had wanted this to go well if not for his sake, then for Fluttershy’s.

She reached out with her hoof and tugged at Discord’s paw.

He understood immediately, and with a snap of his talons, they were gone.

“Well. Maybe you shouldn’t!”

Rainbow Dash winced as she heard the line leave his throat. Granted, she was eavesdropping on her best friend’s Hearth’s Warming party. But still, that was pretty mean.

On the other hoof, Fluttershy was dating Discord and had been for a while apparently.

“Rainbow? I thought we were gonna be spending Hearth’s Warming with your family.” Scootaloo piped up.

“Yeah, we’re gonna. I just wanna check on somepony first.”

Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings and prepared to set a new world record for the Cloudsdale to Ponyville flight.

Fluttershy sobbed quietly into Discord’s arms, letting his strong draconequus paw smooth out rogue tussles in her hair. Gently he brought her face up to his, gazing into her pearly blue eyes.

“Now now, Fluttershy, my dear. These things take time. We can’t expect everypony to like me straight away.”

“B-but they shouldn’t be so mean to you,” Fluttershy hiccuped.

“Not all ponies are as kind as you, my dear, you’re the element of kindness after all. In my time I’ve gotten my fair share of ridicule, it hardly phases me anymore. Also, I think your mother, at least, was beginning to like me.”

“Really?” Fluttershy sniffled, “But my brother.”

Discord’s response was cut short by a rapid knock on the door.

“Fluttershy! I know you’re in there.”

“R-Rainbow?” Fluttershy gasped, “Weren't you gonna spend the day with your family?”

“Yeah, but I kinda got sidetracked. Can I come in?”

Discord made no move to let go of his pegasus. Not that Fluttershy particularly wanted him to stop holding her.

“U-um sure.” she caved.

Rainbow Dash prepared herself.

Ok, your best friend is special someponies with the lord of chaos. Be nice, she doesn’t need anypony else judging her or him right now.

Rainbow did her best to plaster a smile onto her face, then pushed the door open. Scootaloo followed her in, staying behind her older ‘sister’.

Even though she knew the two of them were dating, she was caught off guard by exactly how affectionate they were with one another. Discord was holding Fluttershy in his arms, pressing her gently into the gray fur of his chest, and simultaneously combing his talon through the silky strands of her pink mane.

Rainbow Dash did her best to hide her grimace. She couldn’t help but feel some annoyance at her friend for hiding this from her. But more scowls were not what Fluttershy needed now.

Scootaloo, for her part, seemed completely unfazed by the couple.

Discord gazed at the two pegasi, fixing Rainbow Dash with his mismatched glare.

“Well, you were right,” he spat. “Here to rub it in?”

“Wha- No!” said Rainbow Dash.

“We saw Ms. Shy in Sky High Pies. We kinda figured out that you two were dating after that,” Said Scootaloo, bobbing up and down on her hooves.

“Wait,” Discord paused, his eyes narrowing. “How did you know we were here?”

“Well-” Rainbow Dash began a flimsy excuse.

“We were totally spying on you guys and overheard your fight,” said Scootaloo

“Oh really?” Discord said, his grey-haired eyebrow twitching.

Even Fluttershy pulled her red-rimmed eyes from out of Discord’s fur.

“Well, um, kinda.”

“But we’re here to help now!” Scootaloo jumped, her wings buzzing, with forehoof proudly presented. “Ooh, this’ll be my first real friendship quest! I'm so excited!”

Discord returned his talons to Fluttershy’s mane, pressing her into a hug. “Help? What can you possibly do to help us? And more importantly, why do you want to help me?”

“We’re here because we agree with you, dummy. And, we’re your friends.” Scootaloo said.

“Come again?”

“We agree,” Rainbow Dash practically shouted. “Listen, Discord, I didn’t really like you until yesterday.”

“Really? What a surprise?” He chided.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “But, you did show everypony how much you care about Fluttershy, and I think that the ponies of Cloudsdale treated you unfairly.”

“Like you did?” Discord teased.

“Don’t push your luck pal.”

He was technically right, Rainbow Dash knew, but her pride would never let her admit that.

“Oh! We’re pals now? How wonderful!” Discord said, snapping a multicolored hail of fireworks into existence behind him.

Rainbow Dash gave him thoroughly disapproving frown. But, she couldn’t fault him too much, his antics had squeezed a giggle out of Fluttershy after all.

Fluttershy for her part appreciated the momentary distraction from her family’s antics. She hugged his chest floof and gave him a quick nuzzle before turning back to her friend.

“T-thank you Rainbow Dash,” she said, her voice still hiccupy from her recent bout of crying, “I’m glad that you support me.”

“Ummm, I'm the element of loyalty remember? “

Fluttershy giggled, “I’m glad you’re my friend.”

“You should be, you’re lucky I’m the first one who found out, you know. Somepony else might have had a panic attack.”

Fluttershy and Discord giggled at the thought.

Sweet Celestia he’s rubbing off on her.

Rainbow Dash’s train of thought was interrupted by Scootaloo’s loud voice.

“Didn’t you kinda have a panic attack?”

Rainbow Dash groaned, everyone else in the room chuckled.

Fluttershy scooted herself around in Discord’s lap to face the room, her laughter dying in her throat.

“I do want my family to see Discord for how wonderful he is, but it just seems like nopony wants to even try to like him.” Fluttershy began.

“So? When has Discord ever cared about what other ponies think of him?”

“I care now.”

“Well… Why?” asked Rainbow

“What do you mean why?” said Fluttershy.

“I mean, why do you suddenly care, Discord? You’re obviously in love with Fluttershy, and she’s obviously in love with you. Do you really think the opinion of a certain stuck up pegasus from Cloudsdale, is gonna change that?”

“Well. No. Not really.”

Fluttershy raised her head look up at Discord, a smile forming on her lips. Then, she turned back to face Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow, you’re missing the point. I want everypony to stop being so afraid of Discord. He is wonderful and I just want everypony to see that.”

“Ok, let’s do that then,” said Rainbow.

“What do you mean?” Asked Fluttershy.

“As much as I hate to say it, you’re a good guy, Discord. And, I don’t think that Fluttershy should have to choose between her family and you. So let’s put Discord’s crazy brain to use and figure something out.”

The midday sun hung directly overhead, and, once again, Discord and Fluttershy found themselves together in front of her house. Only, this time, they were joined by Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. Fluttershy pushed against Discord’s goat’s leg, and Discord rested his paw on her head, scraping at the cartilage behind her ear with one of his padded fingers.

The way those two could understand each other so easily was starting to bug Rainbow. How had she not noticed sooner? Was she falling out of touch with her best friend? Now certainly wasn’t the time to worry about that. She pushed the annoying thought down and refocused on their plan.

“Alright, everypony let's go!” Rainbow Dash yelled, scooping up Scootaloo.

“Honestly, I don’t know what you’re getting all excited about. I have this remember?” Discord said, waving his talon slowly above her head.

“Ugh” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Fine, take the fun out of flying.”

“We don’t really have time,” Discord gestured to the sun overhead.

“Alright, fine, let’s go.”

With a snap of Discord’s fingers and a flash of blinding light, Fluttershy’s doorstep was empty once again.

The three ponies and one draconequus re-appeared in front of the quaint villa that Bow Hothhoof and Windy Whistles called home.

Rainbow, for her part, had to admit that teleportation was convenient. Discord’s ability to be anywhere with the snap of a finger had to have helped the two of them cover up their relationship.

I mean there’s no way it’s gone on for thaaat long, right?

“Oooh, I’m so excited to see them again,” said Scootaloo, her wings buzzing, doing their very best to pull her from Rainbow’s grip.

Rainbow Dash released Scootaloo from her hold, plopping the orange pegasus flank-first on the cloudy ground. Scootaloo made a mad dash to the doorbell before attacking it with all the ferocity of a woodpecker.

Discord and Fluttershy stayed back, listening to the excited swish of hooves on cloud as two parents raced to answer the door.

“Who’s our favorite Wonderbolt?”

Windy Whistles and Bow Hothhoof, practically trampled each other to get to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. The four horses collided into a Rainbow modge podge of fur, wings, and hugs, completely oblivious to Fluttershy and Discord standing less than a meter away.

Only after minutes of vigorous squeezing and complementing did Rainbow Dash’s parents notice the extra two creatures waiting nervously at the sidelines.

“Dashie, dear,” Bow Hothhoof began calmly, “what the hay is that?”

“That’s Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash, “and her special someone, Discord. He’s a friend of mine.”

Windy’s expression brightened instantly.

“Oh Fluttershy, it’s been ages since we’ve seen you. I mean it’s really been far too long. Did you know that our little Dashie grew up to be a Wonderbolt. I mean, how cool is that?”

“Um, yes I knew. And um, it’s very cool.”

“And you, you’re a very interesting creature, but a friend of Rainbow’s is a friend of ours. Would you guys like to come in for lunch? I hear Rainbow dash picked out the best cloud cake for us.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said Fluttershy, a hopeful smile returning to her mouth.

“Well, at least somepony gets me. I swear if all of Cloudsdale has been as uppity as Canterlot, I might just have followed your advice and turned it upside down,” Discord said, fixing Rainbow with his mismatched stare and following Fluttershy back towards the house.

“No! I said- argh, whatever!” Rainbow spat after him.

The four ponies and one draconequus sat around a rectangular wooden table. Blue and silver plates ladened with all sorts of loaves of bread and grains sat in front of them.

Scootaloo stuck her face into her meal, a brown ring of crumbs and oats quickly forming around her muzzle.

Rainbow Dash tried her damndest to eat slowly, like the mature mare she was supposed to be, but her parents’ food had always been irresistible and she ended up just as messy as Scoots.

Discord and Fluttershy, on the other hand, barely nibbled at their food, more interested in staying close to one another than actually eating.

Discord lowered his clawed hand below the table and wrapped it around Fluttershy’s hoof. Fluttershy pressed the soft pads of her hoof against his cold, hard scales relishing the sturdy feeling of him.

“So, why’d you two come over?” Asked Bow.

“Fluttershy’s family are having a hard time accepting Discord,” said Rainbow flatly.

“And we want you to help,” Scootaloo chimed in.

“How’re we supposed to help?” asked Windy

“Well,” Fluttershy started. “We were wondering if you guys wanted to come to my house for a hearth's warming dinner”

“Rainbow Dash thinks that if the Shys see other Pegasi accept me they might be more ready too.”

“Well, that sounds like a great idea. I’d love to have a big get together with everypony. I mean we haven’t seen Mr. and Ms. Shy since you two were in flight school,” said Windy, gesturing wildly between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

“Well then, it’s agreed,” said Discord, snapping his fingers. He was instantly covered in frilly maid regalia.

“Fluttershy and I will prepare the house, and Rainbow and Scootaloo will talk to the Shys together.”

Author's Note

Hello everyone, the new chapter is up. Hopefully I can publish a second one this week, as next week I'm moving back to college and will be up to my ass in work. As always I want to thank everyone for reading and commenting.

Best,
~Vore Crimes