The door to Fluttershy's cottage was flung open with more force than it usually ever saw, and two creatures hurried inside—one a fair pegasus, the other a chaotic draconequus who had to duck to avoid getting his horns caught on the doorframe (again).
The pegasus, Fluttershy, nervously looked outside before closing the door. "I don't think any of them followed us," she said, wings sagging in relief.
"Of course not," Discord said. With a snap of his claws, vines dropped from the ceiling and began to swing Fluttershy's groceries into her kitchen. "They might have been mad, but they weren't quite 'angry mob' levels of mad."
He sighed wistfully. "It's been a while since I've actually seen a decent angry mob..."
He reached up to rub his temples, maybe to ramble about some of the mobs he had seen...and stopped, frowning when his hand touched something wet and sticky.
Pulling it back, he saw his fingers covered in red liquid and a few white seeds. He snorted through his nostrils, and Fluttershy made a quiet, sympathetic noise.
It was a lovely, sunny day, with a light breeze carrying the scent of distant rain. Fluttershy had been doing her usual shopping, and Discord had been wandering through Ponyville, wondering if he could get away with more pranks now that there wasn't a Princess in the town.
Of course, he decided to tag along with her as soon as they ran into each other. They talked, they laughed, and it would have been a lovely trip.
If only some citizens weren't still sore about Discord's role in kickstarting the most recent villain takeover.
As they walked through the market, somepony had been bold enough to throw a rotten tomato at Discord's head. Discord had been too distracted making Fluttershy laugh with his impressions to see it coming.
And after that...the thrower, some stallion with a caramel coat, chocolate mane, and teacup cutie mark had started yelling at him. Calling him a monster, demanding to know why he had betrayed them all, shouting that he ought to leave town and never return...
A few others had joined in, though most of the crowd simply stood by and watched. Looking back on it, most of them were probably too shocked to react, but at the time, it felt like thousands of judging, piercing eyes were on him.
Discord was so shocked ~~and hurt~~ that all he could do was...stand there.
Fortunately, his best friend in the world was by his side, and had a burst of beautiful confidence.
Fluttershy absolutely tore into everypony shouting at him, telling them all off for assaulting and insulting him. She let them know that the villains taking over was an accident, told them everything Discord had done to help them...
And let it be known that anyone who wanted to hurt Discord or banish him was going to have to go through her, first.
Her outburst was enough to take the wind out of the angry group's sails...especially when her words spurred others in the crowd to suddenly speak up on Discord's behalf, letting the angry party know just how in the wrong they were.
Discord would have loved to stay and watch, but once most eyes were off of her, Fluttershy seemed to...deflate.
His shock immediately melted into concern for his favorite pony, and he had placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her away from the market. She had followed, leaning against his side and glancing warily over her shoulder. But the crowd was already breaking up, and the remaining members were too busy arguing to notice their retreat.
Once they were far enough away, Fluttershy had taken charge again, gently holding his paw and leading the way to her cottage. Discord hadn't complained, though he did offer to teleport them right there.
An offer she had thought about and accepted, leading them to the present moment.
"Tsk," he said, wrinkling his nose. "That tomato wasn't even that rotten, yet. And he couldn't even hit me with the rest of the vegetables!" Not that the stallion had tried to throw that many more, but still.
"Oh..." Fluttershy said, upset as she took in the tomato juice covering a good portion of his face. "Here, let me..." She flew into the kitchen, soaking a washcloth in warm water before flying back to him. She held it out to him, but hesitated before touching him.
"It's alright," he assured her. She gently pressed the washcloth to his cheek, carefully wiping away the tomato juice. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.
It would have been child's play to just snap the mess away. He could have done it right after the tomato had hit him—or before, if he felt like breaking the natural flow of time. But moments like this were nice in a way his magic never seemed to capture.
"There we go," Fluttershy said, pulling the cloth away and reaching down to wipe his fingers clean, too. "...better?"
"Loads," he said, wriggling his fingers at her. They popped free, inched around his wrist once, then hopped up and reattached themselves. "Everything works perfectly fine!"
She giggled, but...her smile was a little sad. She placed the washcloth back in the kitchen, and Discord snapped his fingers, creating flowers with root-legs that began to put her groceries away for her.
"Everything alright?" he asked. "...none of them hit you, did they?" Ooooh if they did, someone was going to have an angry draconequus haunting their nightmares.
"No!" she said. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm just..." She scuffed a hoof against the ground. "...worried about you, is all."
"About me?" he said. He teleported the two of them to her couch, sensing that he might want to get comfortable.
"Mhmm," she said with a meek nod. "They were just...so mean, and I'm sorry I couldn't stop them sooner..."
"Fluttershy, I'm just grateful you stopped them!" he assured her, placing his hands on her shoulders and making her look up, finally meeting his eyes. "You did what nopony else did, or has done, for me. I'm sorry you had to see all that, but I'm glad that you helped me."
"You...really mean that?"
"Of course! Would I lie to you?" He paused, then looked away, frowning guiltily. "Well, I might in some cases, but I'm not lying about this!"
"...thank you...or...you're welcome?" she said. "But I'm...still worried about you. I can't help it."
"Oh, don't worry too much about me," Discord said, waving off her concern. "I'm not mad at all! I'm as cool as a cucumber." With a flash of light, both of his horns turned into said green vegetable.
"...Discord," she said quietly, placing a hoof on his shoulder.
He shivered, the cucumbers wilting off of his head and his usual horns growing right back in their place. "...okay, fine, I'm a little mad," he admitted. "But I'm not going to do anything to those ponies."
With a sigh, he leaned back. "After all, I do know lashing out is just going to make things spiral out of control. Which would be fun, if I wasn't at the heart of all the issues it would cause."
"It's okay to be mad," she said, rubbing a circle on his shoulder. "I-I'm a little mad, too. But what I'm mostly worried about is...are you hurt?"
Discord blinked and tilted his head at her. "...Flutternutter, I've faced horrors that would drive ponies mad as an afternoon pastime. It's going to take a lot more than old fruits and yelling to take me down."
"Not...physically hurt," she said. "I want to make sure you're not hurting in here." She leaned over and tapped his chest, laying a wing over his shoulders.
He blinked at her again, stare becoming blank as he soaked in her words. It...still threw him off, sometimes, to have somepony who cared about him this much.
"I'm perfectly alright!" he said, grinning. "My skin's much thicker than any dragon's, after all!"
This time, she just gave him a soft look. His grin faltered.
"...it's not the first time I've had comments like that thrown at me," he said. "And believe me, I've heard worse. Why, some insults and bad words I've faced in the past would make even today's wannabe mob freeze in shock!"
Fluttershy's lip trembled, almost forming a smile. Discord gave a genuine smile in return—making her happy always made him feel a little lighter. But she was still gazing at him with pity, still waiting patiently for him to be honest.
And for her, he could stand to bear his heart.
"...but that doesn't make it hurt less," he said. "Trust me, in a little bit, I'll be able to really laugh it off, and we'll forget this ever happened outside an inside joke between the two of us!" He nudged her shoulder with his elbow.
That made her giggle a little, but she was still giving him that Look. Ugh, if any villain spent more than a minute around Fluttershy's Look, they'd probably melt into a puddle and beg to be reformed.
"But, right now, even if it's already getting better, it's...not...pleasant," he finally fully admitted. "Like a stinging thorn in my side that I can't quite seem to pull out yet."
"Thank you for telling me," she said. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Welllll..." He pursed his lips, tapping his fingers together. "Could I...stay here? For a little bit? With you?"
"Oh?" she said.
"It's just...being with you is the best feeling I've ever felt," he quickly explained. "You're a walking source of warmth and light and safety, and that incredible feeling has to cancel out the minor bad feelings I have right now, right?" A second Discord appeared behind him, holding up a big green checkmark.
Fluttershy paused, as though to think...but as he anticipated, she didn't take very long to think at all. She leaned upward, pressing her nose against his and closing her eyes. "You can stay for as long as you like," she said. "I promise, you will always be welcome here."
His heart fluttered, and he quickly pressed a paw over his chest before it decided to leap out. He returned Fluttershy's gesture, pressing his nose to hers and giving a quick nuzzle.
A smile—a real smile—ghosted onto her face at that, and stayed on her muzzle even as she pulled back. "I know it isn't Tuesday, but would you like some tea?" she said. "I just picked up some new leaves, after all."
"Flutters, I'd love to have tea with you no matter what day it is," he said. "You didn't happen to grab some chili powder, did you?"
"I did!" she said happily. "And pineapple juice!"
"Oh, happy day!" He picked her up and spun her in a circle, making her laugh. "Fluttershy, my dearest pegasus, my bestest friend, light of my life! Never forget how amazing you are!"
"Okay, okay!" she laughed, tapping his shoulder. "But you're going to have to let me go if you want me to make some tea."
"Ah, there's always a tragic catch to life," he joked, setting her carefully on her hooves. She laughed and walked into the kitchen, while he leaned back on the couch.
With a blink, one of Fluttershy's blankets floated over to him, and he made himself a cocoon inside of it. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and took a deep breath. The cottage smelled of flowers and tea, the scent of animal fur lingering deep under it.
Nowhere else in Equestria would smell just like this, he thought. This cottage was simply the best, the safest place to exist in this dimension, and that was pure fact.
Not that he would tell that to anyone besides Fluttershy. He didn't want his favorite, one-of-a-kind spot overtaken by curious looky-loos!