"It's not fair!" Discord shouted, throwing his cards down onto the table. "Not fair at all!"
Fluttershy licked her lips. Was she a bad pony to enjoy this as much as she did?
Because, oh, she did enjoy it...
"Now, Discord," she said, clearing her throat even though she didn't need to. "We're playing with a completely ordinary deck, and—"
"And that's the problem!" He waved his lion paw. "Ordinary potato chips! Ordinary poker chips! Ordinary mugs of root beer! Ordinary playing cards! And so many rules to follow! Including ones that say I can't change the cards or make them dance or anything fun at all!" Little lavender-scented clouds of steam puffed from his ears, and Fluttershy felt the tips of her wings start to get a bit tingly. "So how is this even remotely fair?"
"It's just a friendly game, Discord." She managed to keep her voice light. "And since you lost the first round..." As hard as she tried to stop it, her next word came out all rough and rumbly. "Strip."
Raising his snout, he gave a sniff. "Very well. But only because you asked so impolitely!" He reached up with his eagle claws, grabbed his bushy left eyebrow, and pulled.
The ripping sound made Fluttershy's breath speed up just a bit, her eyes wide and fixed on him tearing a strip maybe as long as her foreleg from the side of his head. He wrenched the strip away, and the next two things happened at the same time as far as she could ever tell: instead of his head missing a chunk that size, his whole body shrank by that amount, leaving him smaller but entirely intact, and the strip dangling from his talons became a tinier version of him, a whole and complete Discord just the right size for cuddling and petting and cradling to her chest and—
"A-hem," the larger Discord said; the smaller just half-closed his eyes and folded his arms.
Her face going hot, Fluttershy realized that her wings had shot out on both sides, the first touches of something spicy and eager rising up in her usual daisy-like aroma. "Umm," she said.
"Umm, indeed." The smaller Discord's cute little voice shivered sweetly down her spine.
She did her best to ignore it. "As winner, then, I guess I get to deal?"
The larger of the two Discords gave a slow smile that sent Fluttershy reaching for her root beer glass. "If you can concentrate," he said, setting the snickering smaller Discord down on the table beside his chips.
Which was the real problem, she'd discovered when they'd begun playing this game a few years ago. Whenever she won the first round, she would start imagining how things might end up if she kept winning, and then the rules and the cards and the numbers and the ranks would all get slippery in her head and hoofs. Even more distracting, she would start imaging how things might end up if he began winning. Because then—
"Well, now!" Discord said, and Fluttershy blinked, realized that she'd somehow dealt, arranged her cards, and done some betting without really noticing. "Since you're calling..." He spread his cards face up on the table. "That's a flush, I believe."
Fluttershy blinked at the five hearts—none of them beating this time, at least—then looked her own cards, vague memories of the last few moments telling her that she had—
"Two pair." She set them down with a sigh and another shiver. "You win."
"And that means it's your turn to, as you so eloquently stated earlier—" His voice could always get rougher and rumblier than hers. "Strip."
Her breath growing a bit more ragged, Fluttershy reached her right front hoof around to her left front knee. She could feel the tingle of his eyes—both the nearly regular-sized set and the smaller-than-usual set—as well as the lovely, warm bubbling of his magic coursing through her, so she didn't even hesitate: she just grabbed and ripped.
The sensation of tearing her left front foreleg off crackled across her more like one of the spa ponies giving her a very thorough currycombing than anything else. And when Discord's magic continued transfiguring her, it was all she could do not to nicker in pleasure, her now-detached cannon and pastern melting and reforming into a miniature version of her standing on the frog of her hoof while she shrank on her cushion till all her legs were once again the same length, her whole body now proportionally smaller.
Which was why she really didn't mind losing this game. It was a lovely build-up and an even lovelier ending no matter which of them won...
"Okay, now," the mini Fluttershy said, echoing her thoughts. "Head in the game." The little version of her hopped off onto the table and burst into a blush at the mini Discord whistling and winking.
The cuteness of the scene made Fluttershy clap her hooves together and wiggle on her cushion, but Discord's chuckle and the rustle of the cards as he shuffled brought everything back into focus. "Round Three," he said, and dealt the cards.
And she did keep her head in the game, winning the next four rounds. It wasn't easy, though: she actually had to bluff her way through Round Six, something she wasn't very good at. But watching the five little Discords cavort about on the table while the not-much-bigger original struggled just to keep his cards straight made her realize how much she wanted the tickle of all those tiny claws caressing her hide tonight.
"Round Seven," she said, her miniature self helping her rake in the chips. She made a show of standing up to peer down at Discord, tearing another copy away and shrinking even further on his own cushion across the table. "Looks like you've got maybe one more round in you."
He pouted, Fluttershy's already-pounding heart speeding up. "It's not over yet," he proclaimed, a little military uniform appearing around him. "A little luck going my way, and I could still get you peeled down, too, y'know." The uniform vanished with a poof, and he winked. "Just don't get nervous, now."
"Nervous?" Fluttershy licked her lips, not caring in the least how husky her voice came out. "That's really the wrong word for what I'm feeling right now..."
Discord swallowed so loudly, she could hear the gulp.
Her insides practically sparking with excitement, she scooped up the cards and shuffled while mini Fluttershy and one of the mini Discords pushed in the ante for the round. "And how are you feeling?" she asked, starting to deal.
All twelve of his eyes shone. "Have I ever mentioned," the original of him said, "how much I love looking up at you?"
It took a good deal of effort not to flip the table and pounce on him right then and there. But the game had rules, after all, and she somehow kept her hooves steady as she alternated, flicking a card to one of the Discords, then a card to herself. Once each of the Discords had a card, holding them up for the original to squint at, she accepted her own from mini Fluttershy and spread them out in her pastern with the tip of her other hoof.
A pair of sixes, a pair of tens, and a three. She kept her expression under control, though, just nodding to her mini self when she flapped up from the table to take a look.
The Discords seemed more excited by their cards, but Fluttershy was feeling so completely in control, she only smiled when they pushed in ten chips for their opening bet. Matching it, she asked them how many cards they wanted.
"Just the one, please," the original said, his cavalier manner merely serving to make Fluttershy even more sure of herself.
She slid them a card, said, "I think I'll do that, too," and was absolutely unsurprised when she drew another ten to replace her three.
Across the table, the original Discord flicked his claws at the others, and they began pushing all his chips to the middle of the table. "I may have mentioned," he said above the clickety-clatter, "how the game wasn't over yet."
Fluttershy just nodded, watching the Discords finish their task and troop back to their place in front of their original. "Yes," she said, pushing all her chips to the center as well. "But it is now." Smiling had never felt so naughty. "Call."
They all blinked in unison, then the smaller ones popped over to take a card apiece from the original. "As you can see..." He waved, and the others each in turn set their cards down face up, all of them clubs. "We have another flush. And with a crown in it this time." He flapped up so he could tap the queen.
"Very nice." She leaned forward and straightened her pastern so the cards slid gently onto the table. "But I've got tens over sixes. And a full house beats a flush, it seems to me." She curled her smile further at the wide-eyed crowd below her. "Which means my house is about to get a little fuller."
The original Discord didn't even huff or roll his eyes or pretend he wasn't as excited as she was. Grabbing his antlers, he tore himself in half, number six and number seven flapping up to join the others on the tabletop. "Looks like you've won, my dear," one of them said, his cute little voice like a tiny arrow straight to her heart.
Taking a breath, she held out a hoof. Her smaller self hopped onto it, sank in, and the sensation of growing back to her full size made her want to stomp and whinny.
So she did, first making sure she wasn't in any position to knock the table over or anything that might spoil the mood. But she did add a snort as she swung her head around to look down at her Discords. "Well, then," she more growled than said, and leaping into the air, she flipped over so she was dropping toward them back first.
All their little hands cupped her from neck to tail, and she didn't bother hiding the pleasure in her groan. "How about you boys carry me upstairs to bed," she managed to get out, her eyes clenched to enjoy the feeling even more.
They shifted her sideways, and the sudden wiggle-wobbly motion told her that they were running across the front room with her held securely in their arms. "Oh, Discord," she panted then, "I love you so much!"
A laugh that was part giggle and part chuckle quivered her ears. "Let me show you how much I love you," he whispered.
The ride tilted, and Fluttershy let herself squeal, knowing they'd reached the stairway and were heading up.
Author's Note
Oh, and if anyone's wondering:
If I'm anal retentive enough to actually take the story and turn it into a minific of 750 words or fewer because the original Writeoff round was for stories of that length, do you really need to ask?
Mike
