Author's Note
DisneyFanatic23 is the writer whose work got me interested in Fluttercord in the first place. Many of her works have stuck with me, and it only seemed fair, on a day where we appreciate our favorite Fluttercord works, to give one of her fics some love.
Heart of Gold
Fluttershy was currently resting on a picnic blanket in the park, staring up at the clouds drifting overhead. Her coltfriend "Delancy" was sitting right next to her, using his unicorn magic to assemble a sandwich out of everything in the picnic basket he had brought.
"...is anyone around?" she asked, ear flicking up as though to catch eavesdroppers.
Delancy lifted his head and looked around. "...looks like we're alone," he answered, biting into his sandwich. "And I don't sense any of your 'co-workers', either. We're probably in the clear."
She sighed in relief, sitting up. "Good...I have something important to talk to you about. And it'd be weird if I wasn't calling you by your real name."
"I-Important?" he said, quickly putting down the sandwich and looking at her with worry. Was this the dreaded break-up talk? But he hadn't made any attempts to steal his amulet since he had promised her he would stop, he was on semi-good terms with the Power Ponies after teaming up with them once to rescue Fluttershy...perhaps he had enjoyed too many nightly spars with Saddle Rager, and she was fed up with his antics!?
She scuffed the ground with a hoof. "So...Applejack is thinking about moving out," she said. "So that she and Pinkie can live in the apartment right above their new restaurant."
"Right..." he said, nodding along.
"Since there'll be an empty space in my apartment, I was just wondering..." She gulped, closing her eyes. "Discord...would you like to move in with me?"
He stared at her, jaw dropped. It took every ounce of effort to not transform back into his true self, envelope her in a big hug, and pepper her face with kisses. "...yes!" he finally answered. "Oh, yes yes yes!"
“Before you agree, I just want to make a few things clear,” she said, holding up a hoof before he got too excited.
He swallowed and sat with his forehooves between his back legs, leaning forward and ready to listen.
“First, this isn't a marriage proposal,” she said. “It’s also not an invitation for you to propose…again. I'm still not ready for that.”
That was still a bit disappointing, but he nodded in understanding. “Got it. We're just living together—no marriage, no funny business.”
“Related to that…we're staying in separate bedrooms,” she continued. “And even if I'm not in, please respect the privacy of my room.”
“Absolutely,” he said with a nod. It had taken him a bit of time to learn the morals of this modern time, but whatever Fluttershy wanted, he would heed.
“Also, even if you have to stay as Delancy in public…” She placed a forehoof on top of his. “If we're alone, and the apartment door is locked, it should be safe for you to be in your true form.”
His ears perked up. Already, he could imagine coiling his long body around Fluttershy on the couch, brushing his fingers through her mane, wrapping his dexterous tail around her… “That's some of the best news I've heard,” he said. Living alone with her, and he could be himself? That sounded delightful enough that he could wait for decades until she was ready for marriage.
He reached up with a forehoof to caress her cheek. “Anything else you wish to brief me on?”
“Just…the normal rules for roommates,” she murmured, leaning into his touch. “But they're mostly common courtesies, and I can give you a list later…”
“Understood,” he said. “I'd really like to kiss you now. May I…?”
“You may,” she said, already puckering her lips. His head darted forward, and he eagerly pressed his lips against hers, sighing in satisfaction.
As always, the electricity that passed between them and buzzed throughout his body made it hard to keep his disguise up. But he was getting better at maintaining control, even without his amulet—this time, only his mismatched wings sprouted from his back, wrapping around Fluttershy.
At least with them living together, he wouldn't need to make an effort to hide things like this.
It felt like an eternity before Applejack had gathered her things and moved to the new apartment, no matter how often Fluttershy kept reminding him that it had only been a few weeks…and that she had plenty of extra things she was being doubly sure to clean her room of. Discord suspected it had something to do with her moonlighting as a superhero.
Of course, even after she was gone, Fluttershy talked him into waiting another day or two—long enough that no one would raise an eye at him suddenly appearing as though from thin air. He agreed that she was correct…and that if he was going to act normal and ward off suspicion, he was going all-out.
And so, on the day they had agreed he would move in, Delancy trotted up to the apartment building, hitched up to a white moving cart.
He had made it himself, based on some of the same carts he had seen around town. Of course, he had also decorated it with Ancient Grecian letters written in gold. If anyone around had been able to actually read them, they probably would have grumbled or had an aneurism—it was nothing but gibberish.
Chuckling to himself, he unlocked the back, revealing all the cardboard boxes packed inside. He knew that most were empty, and a few held tiny versions of the furniture he was planning to put in his new room, but they were the universal sign of moving in in this era. So, he grabbed two with his magic, closed the cart, and headed into the building.
He already had an apartment key, so he unlocked the door and let himself in. Fluttershy was ready for him, since he had already called before he brought the cart over.
“Delancy!” she said cheerfully, jumping up from where she had been sitting on the couch. “Need any help with those?”
“I suppose it wouldn't hurt,” he said, carrying the boxes into the bedroom she pointed at. “There's more outside, but they're just for appearances, really.”
“Ah,” she said, nodding in understanding (and what he hoped was approval) as he dropped the boxes into what would be his room. She followed him outside when they left again, the two of them discussing the subjects that were safe to mention in public—her day work, his experience in modern times, and whatever book or show they were recently enjoying.
With each trip to the cart, Fluttershy would take a box or two in her hooves, hovering into the air as she carried them up, while he grabbed two or three in his magic. It took them less than five trips together to clear it out, and on the last one, he tapped the cart with his hoof, casting a small spell.
Once there weren't any eyes on it, it would vanish back to his dimension without any sound or spectacle. Most would assume it was taken away when they weren't looking. If he was lucky, maybe someone would notice something off about its vanishing act and become terribly confused. He allowed himself to smirk as he followed his love upstairs.
As he set the last of the cardboard boxes in his new bedroom, he sighed and looked around. It was rather plain, and he narrowed his eyes at a few places where the wallpaper was peeling, but a little magic would make this suitable.
"Is that everything?" Fluttershy asked from the doorway. He turned and saw that she was holding a plate of teacakes out to him with her wing.
"Yep," he said, taking one with his unicorn magic and munching on it. He immediately smiled. Fluttershy was perhaps the best baker he knew. "I still need to do a little decorating, but my magic should be more than enough to handle that."
"About that..." she said, setting the plate on a side table. "You...might want to avoid going too chaotic with decorations."
"What? Why?" he asked, brows furrowing.
She rubbed the back of her neck. "Well...I'm pretty sure Applejack is still a bit suspicious of you. Twilight is, too, though I'm not sure why she is." Discord grimaced. Of course only the caster herself picked up on his thinly-veiled hints of her using dark magic during one of their group hangouts. The others were still in the dark about the supposed hero's actions, and she was getting dangerously close to figuring him out.
"So...they might decide to drop by, just to see how I'm doing," she continued. "Rainbow might, as well...or Dr. Fauna. Or anyone, really." She gulped. "I just...I'm worried about how they'll react if they find out who you really are."
"That's..." He grimaced for a bit, then sighed heavily. "...understandable. I don't want my room to be boring, though."
"Oh, of course!" she said. "I don't want it to be too normal and for you to get sick from it. But...after you get settled in, maybe I could peek in and tell you if it's a little too chaotic and suspicious."
He nodded. "By the way, the front door is closed and locked," she said as she took the teacakes back to the kitchen. "You can be yourself, if you'd like."
As soon as the words left her mouth, his horn glowed, and he shed the appearance of a unicorn as a snake would shed its skin. He towered in his divine draconequus form, popping kinks out of his back and turning towards his new room with a determined glare.
Hours later, he poked his head out of his bedroom, and spotted his Fluttershy in the kitchen, rolling out some dough for a berry pie. "Flutters?" he called. Her ears perked up, and she turned to look at him. There was berry juice on her muzzle, and flour stuck in her mane and on her nose.
She was utterly radiant.
"I...think I'm satisfied with my room now," he managed to say, shaking himself out of the stupor she unknowingly put him in. "Do you have time to check it as you wanted?"
"Sure!" she said, quickly wiping her hooves off with a wet towel and approaching. He stepped to the side and bowed low at the waist, gesturing towards his door.
She stepped inside and looked around. The immediate thing that struck her was how colorful his room was. Each of his four walls was a different color—she worried for a moment that he had painted them, but it just seemed to be wallpaper layered over the previous colors.
His bed had rainbow sheets, his pillows were in gold-and-silver pillowcases, and there was a large pile of stuffed animals there, which she remembered him winning at a fair they had gone to. He had offered them all to her, but she insisted that he at least keep some, and they had compromised by each taking half of the prizes.
There were posters covering the walls, each at strange angles, ranging from abstract art to pictures of Gracian gods and buildings. Discord had brought in some of his own furniture, each made of a different material, or at least in a different style. A disco ball hung from the ceiling, sending light in all directions. The whole place was an interior decorator's nightmare.
"What do you think?" Discord asked from behind her.
"It's very...you," she said. "And it's very odd, but..."
"But?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
She glanced around the room one more time. It was unusual, and Rarity would have a panic attack at the sight, but... "I don't see anything that would suggest you're anything more than a unicorn with very unusual tastes."
"Success!" he declared, pumping a fist in celebration before running and leaping on top of his bed. Once he had plopped onto it, he coiled himself in the covers, only his gleaming eyes visible as he peered out at her.
She couldn't help but giggle, and his eyes lit up at the sound, pupils expanding until his sclera were only thin ribbons. "I'm going to get back to baking," she said. "I'll let you know when it's done, alright?"
"Sounds good!" he said, a hand emerging from the blankets to give her a thumbs-up. She smiled and headed back into the kitchen, while she heard the fluttering of pages behind her. Discord must have started reading a book to settle in.
A smile spread across her muzzle as she continued rolling out the pie dough.
Despite the embodiment of chaos being her new roommate, the two of them actually managed to settle into a sort of routine.
Discord, not needing that much sleep, was often awake before she was, and cooked breakfast for them both before she headed to the vet's office. Some days, he would swing by during her lunch break to take her out to eat. Others, he would pack her a lunch, but still send her a text to tell her that he loved her.
In the evening, when she got off of work, she would usually cook dinner for both her and Discord. If she was too tired, he insisted on taking her out, or at least ordering delivery for her. Either way, Discord would eagerly tell her what he had done that day, either as the god Discord or ordinary Delancy, trying to blend into pony society without being boring.
On the weekends and her days off, they would either spend the day inside together or go out for a date. Sometimes she would bake a dessert that could have lasted her and Applejack a week, but that Discord managed to devour in perhaps just days.
And then...the nights. If she wasn't on patrol or in charge of guarding the tower, she would simply sleep deeply through the night, maybe after watching a movie with her coltfriend.
But if she was working as Saddle Rager, there was a good chance that Discord would cause trouble that night, leading to a sparring match between them. Fortunately, she never felt anything more than mild annoyance about it, so she never transformed enough that she could hurt him.
Eventually, they had a very serious talk about it. Discord finally agreed that he wouldn't bother her if there was something actually important she had to handle as a hero, and he would actually ask her before the night began if it was okay to bother her during what he liked to call her "night shift".
She was relieved. But still...juggling what was technically two jobs, even without Discord causing issues and ruffling feathers, left her rather tired.
The Power Ponies had dealt with yet another villain the night before—someone obsessed with shoes, of all things. The victory high after they put her in prison carried Saddle Rager all the way back to her apartment...but it had vanished completely by the time she woke up the next morning.
"Ugh," Fluttershy groaned, eyes only opened to slits. Her head was throbbing, and nothing sounded better than sleeping the rest of the day away...but there were so many surgeries scheduled for today, not to mention the number of check-ups. It wouldn't be fair to foist all of them onto Dr. Fauna.
As she stumbled out of bed and into the main living area of the apartment, she remember that she also had to guard their tower tonight. She frowned, and not for the first time, wondered what she was thinking, becoming a superhero.
"Good morning, love of my life!" Discord called over from the stove. She opened her eyes just enough to see that he was wearing a frilly pink apron, which made her smile a bit.
"Morning," she responded, shuffling towards her seat at the counter that divided the kitchen and living room. Discord grunted, seeming a bit gruntled by her tired state.
He set a large mug of tea in front of her, plus a plate of blueberry pancakes. "Mm...thank you," she mumbled, still half-asleep.
"You're welcome," he said, sitting down next to her. He dug into his pancakes, while she slowly ate hers. "I was thinking of visiting you at your night job tonight," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "For a quick scuffle."
"Not tonight, please..." she said weakly. "I have so many appointments today, and I'm already tired...I just want to catch a quick nap while I'm watching the tower."
He froze...then reached out and patted her head. "Okay," he said. "But I'll still bring you lunch at your day job, okay?"
She lifted her head a little. "...apple fritters, please?"
"Of course," he said, leaning forward and lightly kissing her forehead.
Fluttershy came back to the apartment in the dark hours of the morning, a confused look on her face. Discord was lounging on the couch, frowning and examining the remote he was holding.
"Tonight was strange," she said. "A few alarms went off, but..."
"But?" he asked, pressing one of the buttons and frowning when it did nothing to the TV.
"You have to aim it at the TV, sweetie," she explained. "But—whenever one of us went to check, the criminals were already captured and being taken away by the police."
"Huh," he said, pointing the remote at the TV... backward. "Must be a new vigilante hero going around."
"But the oddest thing," she said, taking the remote and turning it the right way around. "Was that the villains were trapped in...maple syrup, of all things."
"A breakfast-themed hero, then?" Discord said. She looked at him directly, and caught the hints of a smirk on his face. He successfully managed to change the channel.
She smiled and wrapped her forehooves around his neck. "Thank you..." she murmured. "I got plenty of rest thanks to you."
"I...don't know what you're talking about," he said, not very convincingly. "But whatever it is...you're welcome." He wrapped his lion arm around her and buried his muzzle into her mane. With his body heat radiating into her, and a documentary about animals droning on the TV...her eyelids began to droop, and she nodded off.
The next morning, she blearily woke up, rising from her bed and stretching with a loud yawn. Discord must have carried her here after she fell asleep.
She managed to stumble out of the room and into the kitchen, groaning and rubbing her eyes. "Good morning, my ray of sunshine," Discord said from the stove, though he also yawned loudly. Dark circles were present under his eyes.
"Good morning," she said, taking a seat at the counter as he placed a plate of eggs covered in garlic and cheese in front of her. "...did you get any sleep last night?"
"No," he admitted. "But I can last far longer without sleep than most mortals!" He held up a mug of tea and chugged it down in one gulp, the bags under his eyes vanishing.
"Lucky..." she said with a sigh, taking a sip of the tea he offered her. She started to eat her eggs, humming in satisfaction. They were delicious, and she murmured a compliment.
Discord frowned. "I know that your work as a vet is important, and so is being a hero," he said. "But couldn't you take fewer shifts with at least one of them? I mean, between six heroes and a tagalong dragon, you shouldn't have to be working this many nights!"
"Well..." She paused, thinking about it. "...I'm sure the others will understand if I explain that I'm a little too tired to be taking so many patrols. And I'll still be on call."
He sighed. "Good enough. And...I'm sure some vigilante hero or another will pop up to defend the city if it's really in trouble." He spread some chocolate syrup on his eggs before eating them.
"I'm sure," she said, smiling knowingly at him. "Anyway...I'll talk to them as soon as I can. But since I don't have anything going on tonight, would you like to stay in and watch a movie together?"
His ears perked up. "Can we order a pizza?" he asked. He had gained quite a taste for greasy, modern food since he had spent more time creating the facade of Delancy.
"Why not?" she said. His grin widened, and he was humming happily as the dishes cleaned themselves in the sink. She smiled warmly at him. Who would have believed that an ancient god of chaos could make her feel so much like she was truly home?
As soon as she had eaten her (very, very delicious) eggs and brushed her teeth and mane, she was heading out the door, pulling on her vet coat as she went.
"Bye, Cordy!" she called just before opening the door. He beamed and waved, transforming into Delancy when the door opened.
Fluttershy headed outside with a bit of a skip in her step. Even if working as a vet and a hero tired her, even if she woke up groggy...just knowing she had a partner looking out for her, who she cared for dearly and would come home to at the end of each day and night, filled her with energy.
A smile spread across her muzzle, and she nearly flew to work.
