Winter that year was cold. Cold and gray and dreary. The holidays did their part to liven up its earliest days, but the weeks beyond held no comforts. Only a vague celebration of love broke the bleak late winter gloom, but Discord did not remember it.
Twilight and her friends were busy planning for the day, however.
“Hearts and Hooves Day,” Twilight said. "Ponyville will decorate as usual, but I thought it might be nice to fix up the castle for some added romance. Maybe ponies could drop by for a treat and some music?”
“I love that idea,” Pinkie Pie cried.
Twilight looked at the others for their approval. Rainbow dash shrugged, indifferent; Applejack was grinning; Rarity's eyes were sparkling with the prospect of new craft and clothing creations, and Fluttershy sat as she always did, still and reticent, but she was smiling, too.
"I think it's a lovely idea, Twilight," she said.
"Then it's settled. Next week, this castle won't know what hit it!"
The week went by in a blur for all of them, save Rainbow who weakly agreed to help with the weather. Rarity was working on a new cape for herself, as well as making new jeweled ornaments and banners for the castle. Applejack was working on cider deliveries. Twilight was busy with the announcements and menus, alongside Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy sought out the flowers.
It was at a flower stand in Ponyville, in a line she had waited over half an hour to get to the front of, where Discord found Fluttershy filling two large baskets strapped to either side of her back with red roses.
“Hi, Discord,” she said cheerfully, wiping her hooves of dirt and bits of rose stem on the grass beside the stand when she was done. “Just the god I wanted to see. You’ll join us at Twilight’s castle for our Hearts and Hooves Day celebration, won’t you? That is, if you don’t have other plans.”
“Hearts and Hooves Day?” Discord said, with a curled lip. “Ugh, I think Spike showed that one to me a while ago.”
She smiled. “Then you’ll attend? I'm heading over there now to help.”
His eyes made a circle as he looked at the ceiling, trying to think of a reply that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. “Eh, um, of course. I’ll be there. In a minute.”
“Great! Maybe you can help me decorate with Rarity. Come before dusk if you can.” She was already trotting off.
Discord watched her until she disappeared around the corner of Sugarcube Corner and felt his heart jump once with a sickening feeling that permeated his entire body. A moment later, he appeared inside Sugarcube Corner and right in front of Pinkie Pie, who was just taking out a pan of cupcakes from the oven.
She was so startled, she dropped the pan and the cupcakes flew here and there, but with a snap of his claws Discord fixed them and returned them to their rightful place.
“Pinkie?” he asked. “You’ve got to help me. Fluttershy’s roped me into some Hearts and Hooves Day thing with Twilight and her friends.”
Pinkie giggled and set the pan on the counter. “Relax, Discord. I’m sure you’ll get to spend plenty of quality time with Fluttershy, even if you are roped into decorating the castle.”
“What? I’m not decorating a castle. I just realized, after Fluttershy invited me, that… that…” His oxygen seemed to vanish as his throat tightened.
“You’re not cut out for socializing?”
“No! I mean, yes. I mean, I am, but… I want to spend time with Fluttershy, too.”
“She’ll be there, silly,” Pinkie laughed. “She’s the one who invited you.”
“Pinkie, I want to be with her and not you. Or anypony else.”
“Oh!” Pinkie cried, understanding. “I see… oh, I see. You like her.”
He lifted his chin. “Well, of course I do. She’s my best friend. My first friend.”
“But you like her more than a friend. Now it all makes sense. The puppy dog eyes. The flowers you put in her mane every time you have your tea parties. The way she has you whipped.”
Discord was taken aback and felt the color on his cheeks rise. “Whipped? She does not have me whipped.”
Pinkie looked at him pragmatically. “You said yes to the party, didn’t you?"
“I was merely being polite.”
“When have you ever said no to Fluttershy?”
“I…”
Pinkie leered at him. “See? I know all that goes on in Ponyville.”
He cleared his throat. “You do?”
“You’ve got it bad.” She patted his talon with her hoof. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
His obvious relief might have embarrassed him in front of anyone but Pinkie. “Th- thank you.”
“Now, what do you have in mind?”
“I haven’t thought about it. I always thought this holiday was a joke, or for the married type, you know. Although, I did help Big Mac with Sugar Belle a while ago."
“You haven’t even made her a card?” Pinkie gave a small gasp. “Never mind. We can fix it. Let’s see Rarity. Come on, quick!”
She pulled Discord with her as she raced from the shop and down the streets to Rarity’s boutique.
Rarity was just finishing bejeweling the neckline of a beautiful silk cape when the two burst in, and she almost choked on the needle she was holding between her teeth. “Why, Pinkie, Discord... whatever brings you here? Is something wrong?”
It took Pinkie a moment to catch her breath. “Discord wants to woo Fluttershy for Hearts and Hooves tonight, but he hasn’t even made her a card.” She turned slowly to eye him. “Tell me you at least have flowers.”
“Of course not.”
"One flower?" Her voice rose at least one octave.
"No."
Pinkie’s gasp was sharp and loud. “Rarity, you’ve got to help us.”
“Uh,” Rarity said, catching up with the story, “of course. I have some beautiful things for you to use, Discord.” She gestured to a trinket box behind her by the back wall. “Please take whatever you’d like from there. I think I have some paper… aha, here it is.”
Discord gingerly took the red paper from her and held it up to his face as if he’d never seen paper before. “I have to make it? Me? A card?”
“Every declaration of love should start with something heartfelt and sincere. It’s always a nice touch to have something homemade, too.”
“Declaration of… of…” Things were moving too quickly for him. “Hold on. I didn’t say I was going to declare anything, I just-”
Pinkie and Rarity rounded on him at the same time, staring at him with equal disapproval. “You do love her, don’t you?” Pinkie asked.
“I don’t know,” he cried, panicking. “I just want to have some time with her alone tonight.” He dropped the red paper as if it were poisonous and watched it float to the floor.
Rarity at last took pity on him and smiled, retrieving the paper. “Let’s start over, shall we? A nice bouquet of flowers, a starlit walk just outside of town, and a lovely dinner should do the trick. What do you think?”
Discord could hardly keep up with her list, but nodded numbly.
“Whipped, I tell you,” Pinkie whispered harshly to Rarity from the corner of her mouth.
“And a pretty dessert,” Rarity added, glaring at Pinkie for one terrifying second. “You’ll help Discord with that, won’t you?”
“Leave it to me,” Pinkie said, hopping out the door.
“There." Rarity let out a breath. “Feel better?”
Discord was still gathering his composure. “Maybe. Yes.”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy adores you. Anything you do for her, she’ll love.” Her smiling face fell slightly. “You don’t need our help with any of this, do you. You don’t need red paper and jewels or a dessert. You can make anything on your own.”
He considered her words. “Very true.”
“So, why not make her something of your own? It can say a lot more than any declaration… or not… of love.”
Discord’s panic-stricken face cleared. “She does like me, doesn’t she?”
Rarity smiled her warmest smile, closing her eyes, and nodded.
“Thank you.” He held his talon out to her, and she squeezed it.
“If you don’t mind, though,“ she added, “do let Pinkie make you dessert. It will at least keep her occupied while you figure out what you want to do.”
Discord grinned at her before snapping his claws and vanishing. He reappeared a second later on a fluffy white cloud above the boutique. He didn’t care that much for clouds, but as far as Ponyville went it was a quiet and secluded option.
He lay down, considering Pinkie’s words concerning his affections for Fluttershy, at first dismissing them. Of course he cherished her, but that didn’t mean…
“Whipped, huh,” he murmured. Fluttershy took Pinkie’s place in his mind's eye: her gentle smile; her sweet voice; the fun they had. He felt a fluttering in his chest and touched it absently. It wasn’t a happy, giddy feeling; he felt a pressure and tightness in his body and around his eyes, and to his horror he felt a brief urge to cry.
He left the cloud, shaking his head, and reappeared on top of the Apple family barn. It would have been a peaceful place, too, away from the emotional manipulation of the clouds, but Applejack and Big Mac were just outside it and saw him appear with matching gasps.
“Discord,” Applejack called, "what’re you doin’ up there?”
He did his best to hide the rolling of his eyes and a seconds later appeared on the ground with them. “Why, hello.”
“You lost?” she asked, cocking one eyebrow.
“Er, no. Hi, Big Mac.”
“Ee-yup.”
“No,” Discord, sighed. “I was just looking for a place to think.”
She shielded the sun from her eyes. “Why not up there in the clouds?”
He shuddered involuntarily. “No, thanks. Although, Big Mac, do you have a minute?”
Applejack raised both eyebrows now, but left them behind to push a wheelbarrow of hay to the pasture. Big Mac was nearly as nonplussed by Discord’s appearance, but they’d been friends for some time now and he owed it to the Lord of Chaos to hear him out.
“You love Sugar Belle, don’t you?" Discord asked. "I mean, I remember a couple of years ago-”
“Ee-yup,” Big Mac said with considerable energy, a grin plastered on his face. Discord tried not to look up.
“And I remember, back then, you had all these ideas…”
“Fluttershy?” Big Mac asked.
Startled, Discord dropped the chicken he’d just picked up. “Wh-why, yes. You see-”
“Tell her how you feel.”
Even Discord was not used to Big Mac speaking more than one word at a time. “Tell her? What am I supposed to tell her? How? I thought the whole point of this holiday was to throw gifts at your partner and gaze into each other’s eyes.”
“Ee-yup.”
“But I don’t have a partner. We’re not dating.”
Big Mac sighed, and Discord felt sheepish. “Discord,” he said, sounding rather angry, “you may live forever, but she won’t. Stop dragging your… hooves.” He glanced at Discord’s amalgam of animal parts.
“But I don’t love her. I thought helping her would make her happy.” His voice drifted off and he focused on the ground beneath him, dejected. Maybe I do, he thought. But how can I know?
“Then don’t say you love her. Just tell her how you feel.” Big Mac reared on his hind legs and began pushing Discord away from the barn. “Go on, now. The sun’ll be setting in another hour. Don’t make her wait.”
Before Big Mac could humiliate him by pushing him into the pig pen, Discord disappeared once more and reappeared in the sky above Twilight’s castle. As he began taking in his surroundings, Rainbow Dash ran headfirst into him, knocking them both down as if they were ping pong balls cartwheeling through the air.
“Ow,” Rainbow said through gritted teeth, rubbing her head. Her eyes darted around for the culprit, and she let out an exasperated sigh when she saw Discord hovering nearby, holding his wounded arm in his opposite talon. “What’s the big idea?”
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know where you were.”
“I’m shaping these clouds into hearts. What are you doing up here?”
“Well, I was up in the clouds,” he said piously, “but they were too sentimental, so then I visited Sweet Apple Acres, and now I’m here.”
“Yeah, well, Fluttershy said you’d help out, so you’d better get started. They’re waiting for you in the castle.”
“Fluttershy’s here?”
“Duh,” Rainbow said, folding her forelegs across her chest as her wings flapped with irritation. “We’re all helping, and the guests are gonna arrive in less than an hour. What?” she added, when he inclined his head.
He twiddled his thumbs. “How do you feel about… declarations of emotion? Of- of love?”
Rainbow recoiled and cried, “No! Discord, no way in hell do you do it for me. But, uh… thank you for, uh-”
“Not you,” he yelled back, just as disgusted. “Why would I want you? ”
“Then who the hell are you talking about?”
“Fluttershy! Who else? ”
He saw her mouth, “Oh, brother”, and, shaking her head, she zipped away into the stratosphere to find another cloud to shape.
“Down here,” he heard a voice call a second later. He looked directly beneath his feet to see Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy waving up at him. Mortified, he sank lower and lower, slowly, until he hovered just above the pavestones of the front entrance to the castle.
“Discord, just in time,” Fluttershy said. He did his best not to stare at her, agape at the knowledge she could somehow not know all of the inner turmoil he’d been suffering. “You can help me hang these heart banners across the front doors.”
“It’s so nice of you to help us out,” Twilight said, equally oblivious to his torment. “In fact, I…”
She was unable to finish her sentence, for Discord took hold of her shoulder and they disappeared, reappearing halfway up the main stairwell of the castle. Twilight was startled, but luckily didn’t ask him any questions.
“I’ve got a problem,” Discord said breathlessly. “A big problem.”
“Uh, if you’ve turned those hamsters into pigeons again, then there’s nothing else I can do. We had this conversation last time, right?” she added in a loud whisper.
He waved his lion paw impatiently. “No, not the hamster-pigeons. It’s about Fluttershy.”
“Is something wrong?” Twilight looked down the stairs to the open front doors and saw Fluttershy peering inside.
“I… I….” He let out a tortured groan before hanging his head. “How do you know if you’re in love with some… thing?”
Twilight blinked. “In love? You mean in love?”
“Yes, I mean in love,” he shot back. “Why is that so hard to believe?”
She glanced at Fluttershy again, who was now just inside the threshold of the castle. “Fluttershy?”
“Who else would it be?” he roared, then covered his mouth, aghast at his loss of temper. “I mean, yes.”
Twilight’s confusion turned into a small smile. “Well, I don’t know; I’ve never been in love. But I think if I were, I’d feel happy when I saw him. His happiness would make me happy. I’d want to spend a lot of time with him. We’d respect each other and listen to each other and be there for each other.”
At her words, Discord’s stricken expression morphed into something almost eager and delighted. “You mean you'd be whipped?”
“Whipped?” Twilight blinked again.
Discord gripped the sides of her face and pressed them together in what she thought was an affectionate gesture. When he let her go, he said a quick “thank you” and disappeared again. She looked around her and then back down the staircase where Discord now was with Fluttershy. They spoke for a second before walking outside together.
For such a sensitive and astute pony, Fluttershy did not notice anything amiss where Discord was concerned. She held out one end of a glossy garland of pink and white hearts to him. He hesitated before taking it, and held her hoof with it.
“Can we step out of the way for a moment?” His steady voice hid his nerves.
Fluttershy agreed, as he knew she would, and with a snap he transported them to a large branch in a bare oak tree. His relief was short-lived when he saw her smile falter as she looked around them, and his nerves returned with a vengeance.
“Can we talk?” he asked gruffly. He kept his distance, almost cowering at the end of the branch while Fluttershy sat nestled against the trunk.
“Of course,” she said sweetly. “Uh, here?”
Discord shook his head. “There are too many ponies around. I can’t hear myself think. And you like trees, don’t you? But we’re not too high up in the air, because I know you don’t like that.”
“Um, yes, I do, and no, I don’t.” She gave him another perfectly warm smile when he met her gaze.
He felt more relaxed after the smile and rubbed the back of his neck, hoping his fear would not best him. “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day.”
“Happy Hearts and Hooves Day.”
Her smile did sinful things to his body, and he did his best to ignore both. “I was going to make you a card,” he choked out. “And give you flowers. And take you to dinner… that is, if you wanted. I haven’t asked yet.”
“Well, of-”
“And I don’t want to ask anymore, so…”
Her smile vanished then, but she held her composure. “Oh.”
He could tell things were going awry, and in his panic he lunged toward her, attempting to clasp her hoof in his paw, but the movement startled her and she fell off the branch with a tiny squeak. By the time he was at her side to save her, her wings had done so already.
She delicately sat on the branch again. “I’m sorry, but you scared me,” she said, her cheeks pink from exertion. “Is something wrong?”
Don’t look at those eyes! his mind screamed as he craned his head from side to side to avoid looking directly at her. He peeled open one eyelid halfway, looking down at her from an angle and then cleared his throat.
“I mean, I wanted to give you those things, but then Twilight said…”
“Twilight?”
He felt it rise in him, knew it might undo all he’d worked for, but he burst out, “ Love... that was… was…” He caved and looked at her again, and her evident confusion made his courage disintegrate. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“About what?” Her smile was returning. “Discord, I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, but here. This is for you.”
He felt her press something into his talon and looked down as if he’d never received something from another living soul in all this life. It was a small red card cut into the shape of a heart and trimmed with white paper lace. Shaking, he opened it, and read Fluttershy’s elegant writing.
“Th-thank you,” he stammered, his voice barely audible. His face flushed and he closed the card lest he read it again and lose all strength in his legs.
“Are you all right?” she asked, concerned.
“Of course.” He refocused his gaze on her. “Sorry.”
“Shall we get back to the castle? Twilight must be waiting for us.”
“O-okay!” he cried with renewed energy, clasping her hoof. “D- d’you like it here? Should we... come back sometime? Talk again?”
“I’d like that.”
He was almost lyrical with joy, his mind racing, Is this… a date? Did I ask her out? Did she say yes? She did, didn’t she? He managed to transport them back to the foyer of Twilight’s castle, fighting the urge to set fireworks off from his body. She stepped away from him, already focused on the forgotten garlands, but he was dumbstruck and dazed.
Whipped, he thought, smiling.
"What did you say to him?" Twilight whispered to Fluttershy when she'd returned to the doorway. "He looks like he's about to take off into the sky."
She and Fluttershy were watching Discord, Fluttershy with mild concern. "I didn't say anything, I just gave him a card."
"Oh, Fluttershy," Twilight said, grinning. "You, too?"
"'Too'?"
Twilight coughed. "Well, whatever it said, he’s over the moon.”
Fluttershy looked fondly at Discord, who was floating on a pink cloud and hanging up all the heart garlands at once, and said, "All I wrote was, 'Happy Hearts and Hooves Day'."
Author's Note
I wrote this story in maybe an hour and half today. See, I can be fast... once in a blue moon. Of course, this story is very simple, but I hope you enjoy it. Happy Valentine's Day!