Faith and Fluttershy stood side by side, looking over the open hole in the ground that was soon to be a well. Faith, having finished the garden yesterday, had opted to assist in finishing the well with her, despite her protests and insistence on doing it herself. He had over ridden her protests by stating simply that it would be finished much faster with the two of the working together. Apart from the obvious fact that she didn't quite feel comfortable being this close to him and the fact that they were bound to bump into each other with such a small workspace, she didn't want to be finished so soon, it meant that she'd have to go home and she hadn't yet figured out how to help him open up to the world outside the forest.
She looked over to the wheelbarrow full of mortar and the stack of bricks that he had left over from when he built the house and had gathered for repairs like this. There were a couple of trowels as well, but Faith had said that if it got too difficult for her to do to let him handle the rest of it. She couldn't help but feel that this particular task was a fair bit over her head but she was determined to do her best.
Fluttershy moved past Faith and began to pick up the bricks for the well, grasping them in her teeth carefully and placing them in a special saddlebag meant to carry them. The sudden initiative left Faith a little off guard but he recovered quickly and lugged the wheelbarrow with trowel over to well, beginning to lay down mortar as soon as she dropped off the first load of bricks.
The movements were seamless once a rhythm was established, Fluttershy bringing over very full packs of bricks and Faith rapidly slathering the mortar onto bricks and set new ones into place. Within an hour the well was a quarter of the way done, Fluttershy's back and shoulders aching from her rapid burst of exertion. Faith on the other hand was grinning broadly, as if the fast pace had done nothing to damper his strength. She frowned to herself and redoubled her efforts, ignoring the aches as best she could. After another two hours of fast paced work, the well stood completed, just as pristine and perfect as it had originally been.
Both Faith and Fluttershy were breathing hard and dripping with sweat. Fluttershy ran her hoof across her forehead and took a deep breath, smiling at the completed structure. Despite feeling proud of the work they had done, she also felt sad that she now had no reason to stay anymore. She looked over at Faith who was still breathing heavily, his face showing a look of satisfaction on it, He was obviously happy with the job.
Faith turned and headed into his house, returning a short while later with a small tray clenched in his teeth, two large mugs resting on it, full to the brim with cool water. Fluttershy eagerly took the proffered mug and drank down the water, her dry throat relishing the feel of the drink. After Faith had downed his water, he wiped his forehead and looked over the completed well,
"We certainly made good time, It took me a week to build it the last time."
Fluttershy felt a glow of pride at this, a glow that immediately faded as Faith continued,
"I suppose there's no reason for you to stay anymore, all the repairs are done now..."
Fluttershy looked somberly at the ground as Faith looked at her, he couldn't help but feel that in some way he had crushed her spirits. Faith sighed and said,
"I suppose you can stay another day or two, to see if the well sets up correctly."
Fluttershy immediately perked up again and thanked him greatly. Faith smiled brightly as he lifted the end of the wheelbarrow up and started pushing it off toward the usual dump site. Fluttershy walked over to the well to admire the work again when her hoof made a funny squishing sound. Looking down, she saw a lump of the mortar they had used on the well, she sighed, fully intending to wash up from the days work. She lazily tossed the mud off her hoof and her eyes went wide as she watched its trajectory, right at Faith. She opened her mouth to warn him but the ball of mud splashed across his backside with a resounding splat.
Faith yelped and turned around sharply to see the cringing pony, Fluttershy had curled up tightly against herself, her mouth working in an attempt to apologize for what had happened. He remained stoic for only a moment before a smile split his face, he scooped up a hoofull of the stuff and flicked it at her, the mud splashing on her back as it had with him. Fluttershy yelped as the cold mud hit her, she sat for a moment stunned as Faith chuckled eventually losing her shyness and giggling as well.
Fluttershy started giggling madly as she ran past Faith and scooped some of the mud out from the wheel barrow, throwing two hoofulls at him before dodging quickly to one side to avoid being pelted again. The mud war between the two of them lasted for ten full minutes, finally culminating when Faith caught hold of Fluttershy, lifted her off the ground while she kicked playfully, laughing with joy, and dumped her into the wheelbarrow full of mud, resting his mud caked forelegs on the side as Fluttershy giggled herself into silence.
She stared up into her hosts eyes, seeing her own tremendously filthy body reflected in them. Faith let out a half chuckle as he shook his head and said,
"You know, I think this is the first time I've had this much fun in years. I'd almost forgotten what it was like."
Fluttershy smiled a little broader, feeling hopeful that maybe he'd opened up a bit more to others. She reached up and wiped some mud from his face, giggling a bit more before saying,
"You know, I really think we should go wash up, we're filthy!"
Faith chuckled and responded with mock indignation,
"Well, what did you expect to happen from flinging mud at one another for the past ten minutes."
She giggled again and opened her mouth to respond when another voice entered the clearing.
"It certainly looks like you two are having fun."
Faith's disposition changed from cheerful to stoic so fast that Fluttershy flinched, He slid off the edge of the wheelbarrow and turned to greet his new guests with a straight face, as if all humor had left him. From the trees came a unicorn with a purple coat, followed by a pegasus, who had a cocky smile and bright blue coat and rainbow colored tail. The last of the group who came from the trees was a tall curiously disfigured being, having the tail of a dragon, the hind legs of a goat and lizard, the arms of a lion and gryphon, the wings of a pegasus and bat, a veritable walking menagerie of oddities.
Faith immediately grew wary of this new group of people, mainly because he recognized Discord, creature he knew was to be feared and hated. Twilight smiled at Faith warmly and introduced herself,
"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I'm one of Fluttershy's best friends."
Faith nodded to her, not taking his eyes off of Discord. Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash, who stepped forward, trying her hardest to keep a straight face, due to how ridiculous both of the ponies in front of her looked. Clearing her throat in a determined manner, she said,
"I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm also one of Fluttershy's best friends."
Faith spared a glance to her and nodded in acknowledgment before staring back at Discord. Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance and muttered,
"Rude much..." under her breath before Discord walked towards Faith.
He glanced over at Fluttershy before hitching a smile on his face and offering his gryphon claw to Faith as a Sign of friendship,
"And I'm Discord, I just wanted to say how grateful I am that you saved Fluttershy's life."
Faith didn't move a muscle as he stared from the claw to Discord's face, his powerful gaze boring into the creatures eyes. Finally after a full awkward minute Faith finally spoke,
"I know you, Discord the deceiver, the One Who Brings Chaos, and the Bane of Order. I know you very well..."
Discord shifted a little before looking over at Fluttershy,moving instead towards her, letting his arm drop back down to his side.
As he moved towards Fluttershy, something altogether unexpected happened. Faith reared onto his hind legs and grabbed Discord's arm, kicking sharply at his knee, causing him to drop to the ground. With great strength and skill, Faith wrapped his left foreleg around Discord's neck and flipped him over his back and onto the ground where Faith pinned him with Discord's arm and tail pinned against his back. Faith looked with disdain at the stunned creature below him speaking with a voice of clear anger,
"And where do you think you were going?! I won't let you within ten feet of my house let alone Fluttershy."
He looked back over at Fluttershy who wore a look of distinct horror, which Faith initially took as due to Discord's presence, that is at least until She jumped out of the wheelbarrow and charged straight at him. He did nothing to stop her, instead stepping down off of Discord and backing away from him. Fluttershy ran straight past Discord and skidded to a halt in front of Faith, anger filling her eyes and voice as she screamed,
"How dare you attack my Friends!"
She stomped her hoof into the ground in anger before turning back to check on Discord, who was gently massaging his arm and knee in equal regards. Fluttershy moved over to him, checking each limb for damage leaving Faith to stand there at a complete loss for what was going on. Every single one of his instincts was telling him that Discord must be beaten, that he must be stopped, and yet here was Fluttershy, codling him.
He didn't know whether she was mad or if her love for all animals stretched to include him. After another moment or so, she turned and glared back at Faith who's confusion only grew until Twilight stepped up and explained the whole story of his reformation due to Fluttershy's kindness and his abandonment of the ways of chaos. Faith was left more confused than before, mainly because this new information clashed with all that he knew of the creature. After a few more minutes of silence Faith shook his head and said,
"I don't believe it, everything I know about Discord says that he should be despised and feared, that he causes all kinds of disasters in his wake and that he is never to be trusted, I thought that Celestia was still fighting him."
This last comment made everyone look at him. After sharing a few confused glances Twilight said,
"Celestia defeated Discord a thousand years ago, he escaped about seven years ago and was defeated by myself and my friends, a few months later Celestia asked Fluttershy to reform him, and her kindness succeeded where all others failed."
At this Faith looked back at Discord and Fluttershy, his jaw worked up and down a few times, with no sound produced. After a few more moments Faith sighed and walked over to Discord, bowing to him and offering his most sincere apology. Discord nodded and said,
"Its okay, I don't blame you for being wary of me, most people outside of Ponyville are. Just in future, let the story be told before you react."
Faith looked back over at Fluttershy before standing up straight and nodding to him. He turned back to Fluttershy and said,
"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was your friend. Please forgive me."
Fluttershy's anger held for a moment before it dissolved into a faint smile, "Its alright, but in future, don't attack others unless you are provoked first."
Faith nodded and turned back to Twilight and asked, "So, you are Fluttershy's friend, Twilight. Its good to meet you, I generally don't get visitors."
Twilight smiled a little and motioned to the clearing, "Well, given your location, I can see why you wouldn't."
Faith shifted a little before turning to Rainbow Dash and nodded to her,
"And you are Rainbow Dash, I've not met many Pegasi in my memory, its good to meet you as well."
Rainbow Dash offered her hoof to him with a smile though to her surprise, he didn't shake it, instead he took it and kissed it gently, causing a blush to rise in her cheeks. Faith stood a bit straighter and motioned to his house and said, "I know it doesn't look like much, but you are welcome to come inside for a bit."
Twilight smiled and said, "Thanks, but I don't think now is the best time, both you and Fluttershy need to bathe and I'm sure you don't want to sit and talk while being caked in mud."
Only now did both Faith and Fluttershy become aware of the fact that both of them were still very filthy. Both of them smirking slightly as they looked each other over, Fluttershy nodding before trying to scrape some of the mud from her forelegs,
"If you'd be so kind as to come back a bit later, when we've had a chance to clean up a bit, then we can have a nice time together."
Twilight nodded in understanding and motioned for both Discord and a still red faced Rainbow Dash to follow her, calling back over her shoulder as she trotted off into the woods, "We'll see you later, next time I'll bring the rest of the others with me."
Fluttershy waved at her before she disappeared into the trees with Discord and Rainbow Dash. Faith turned to look at Fluttershy again, he still felt bad about having struck one of her friends, he didn't want to upset her. He opened his mouth to apologize and she forestalled him with a raised hoof. "Faith, I know your sorry, I am not mad at you so lets go on with our day like it never happened."
Faith closed his mouth and nodded with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back as Faith turned and went into the house, heading over to the bathroom to clean up. She wasn't strictly mad at Faith, as secluded as he was, it was understandable as to why he wouldn't know about Discord's reformation. Only one thing about what he had said hadn't made any sense, how could he know about Celestia's battle with Discord, and yet not know that he was defeated. After a few more undecided moments, she shook her head, in time, the answers would come, until then, she would continue to stay with Faith, that is if he wouldn't mind, though something inside told her, that he wouldn't mind in the least.