Oops!

You may have noticed the word count for Non-Entity went up. That's because I completely missed out a scene in the latest chapter! It's there now, but if you missed it before here it is. Sort of looks weird without it because I wanted to build up the bond between Discord and Fluttershy. I also padded out a few sentences because I felt they were "tell" rather than show, and IMO that makes for stilted writing.

Here's the scene:

Later that day after she had finished cleaning charcoal out of her bathtub and washing the porcelin with hot water, she began running a bath. She couldn't imagine that Discord felt very comfortable when he was covered in dirt, scabs, dried food and regurgitated charcoal solution.

When she entered the bedroom, however, he seemed timid.

"I smell lavender," he said.

"Yes, I'm running a bath," she said. "It should help you feel better."

He paused, then said "I'd like a bath, but I'd also like some privacy."

"I'm sorry Discord, but I can't allow that after what happened today. I need to help you, and the best way for me to do that is if I clean your wounds. I can also help you untangle some of your feathers and fur. It can't feel very comfortable to have them matted like that."

"It's not," he admitted. "But..."

She wondered what was bothering him. Like ponies, he went around naked so that couldn't have been the problem. Did he have a fear of water? Was he embarrassed about someone else washing him? She tried a different tact: "Discord, please. I only want to help you. And it might make your headache feel better." He hesitated. The lavender bubble bath did smell good, soothing even.

"'kay" he said, and hobbled out of bed and across the hallway into the bathroom.

Fluttershy checked the temperature of the water with her hoof and signalled to him that it was ready. Discord manouvered himself so that he was sitting on the edge of the bath tub, then turned his body so that he could sink into the water without hurting his goat hoof. As he sank lower into the water, he felt its warmth soak into and underneath his feathers and a low moan of satisfaction erupted from his throat.
"Oh, that does feel good," he said, tilting his head back and resting it against the side of the tub closest to the wall. His dragon foot and goat leg stuck out above the water and his tail, which was too long to fit the length of the tub, hung out over the edge and onto the floor.

Fluttershy began lathering up some bubble bath and used a bowl to pour water over the fur on his neck. Discord sighed happily. "I may need to get dirty more often," he said. A blush spread across Fluttershy's face. Why had that sounded like a double entendre? She pushed the thought out of her mind quickly and began shampooing his mane. She felt less worried when she peered down at him, and suddenly realized why he might have felt embarrassed about having a bath. Discord didn't look like a guy who was making dirty jokes. He looked like a bird that had just been plucked. Like most birds who got their feathers soaked, Discord's body looked smaller than it actually was under all that fur and feather, and she was reminded of how near death he had been (twice) over the past few weeks.

She began to wash him off with the shower head, making sure that the water that came out was still warm. When that was done, she went to the airing cupboard and looked for the biggest, fluffiest towel she could find, which turned out to be beach towel and was big enough to wrap around most of Discord's body after he had dried his mane and feathers with it. He began to shiver once they left the warmth of the bathroom and she quickly helped him into bed. He refused to let go of the towel and wrapped it round himself like shawl.

Fluttershy actually stifled a giggle. He looked like a strange monk.

"Feeling better?" she asked. He nodded. "See," she said. "Wasn't that worth it?"

"You ask a lot of questions," he said, giving her a sidelong view, "but I don't believe you've told me much about yourself..."

Oh. "Well, my name's Fluttershy..." she began.

"Yes, we've ascertained that," he said in an acerbic tone of voice. "I want to know why specifically I've been given to you so that you can be my caretaker, but since you're not going to tell me that, perhaps we could start with the basics. What's a pegasus doing living on the ground? I don't believe your kind tend to spend much time mucking about in the dirt. That's for earth ponies."

"Oh, well that's a long story," she said, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable that the spotlight had been turned on her.

"Well, then," he said, grinning and showing rows of sharp teeth. "I have all the time in the world to listen."

She really didn't want to talk about this with him. It was her personal and private life and he really didn't have any right to know about it, but she knew that if she didn't open up a little to him that she would yet very little in return. She took a deep breath."My parents died when I was a filly," she said, throwing herself in at the deep end. If he wanted to say anything nasty then she might as well get it over with. Discord, however, was silent, and still looking at her from his towel tee pee. She continued. "They were on a train to Canterlot while I was at flight school, and it derailed. Th-They didn't have time to get out." She swallowed hard; she wasn't going to cry, dammit. "I wasn't the only filly who lost parents on that train. There were a few foals who ended up orphaned. The Crown was very good to us. Pri...they ending up providing for our education and recompensing us. That's how I ended up here, when I realized what my cutie mark was telling me to do."

"Look after animals? Or the sick and needy?"

"Well, both. But I'm better at looking after animals, I think. I think everyone needs kindness in their lives. It can help with a lot of painful things."

He was silent again.

"What about you, do you...did you have family?"

His eyes were suddenly cold and hard. "I don't remember," he said. "And I want to go to sleep now. My head still hurts a little."