In the blinding darkness below the castle floor, Discord and Fluttershy heard a storm of stomping hooves above them. The stomping made pieces of dirt and dust fall gently upon the top of their heads. Along with loud muffles sounds of their friends's screams and the musical number taking place. This made Discord look up to the ceiling with slight annoyance and asked "What in Equestria are they doing up there?"
Fluttershy glanced up to the ceiling as well and answered "They uh…must be meeting with the scary attractions in the haunted house. Maybe some other visitors just showed up as well?"
Discord replied with slight suspicion "I suppose so." But then he complained "Hopefully we'll get to experience those scary attractions too."
That made Fluttershy whimper with fear. Discord almost forgot about Fluttershy's initial hesitations about this place. He slapped himself in the face for his inconsiderate statement. He comforted her with "But we can still have fun just…exploring this hallway together! Who needs those fearful bumps in the night to have fun? Not I!"
Fluttershy then replaced her whimpering with a soft giggle, she was so thankful for Discord's consideration for her feelings and for his optimistic nature. Fluttershy decided to turn on her flashlight given by Derpy. However, no matter how many times she turned the clicker on and off, the flashlight didn't come one. She even tried shaking it, but this shaking caused some glass pieces to fall on to the floor.
Discord raised his lion paw proudly in the air and proclaimed "Not to worry my dear, I shall light our way!" He summoned a bright green flame to float gracefully and beautifully in the air above Discord's palm, showing his control over the mysterious and chaotic flame.
During Discord's process of summoning the green fire, Fluttershy decided to turn the light bulb part of the flashlight towards her face. She lightly poked her hoof at the light bulb to see what fell out of the flashlight. She cried out "Ouch!"
Discord immediately lowered down to one knee, looking at Fluttershy at her eye level. While still holding the green flame in his lion paw, he took Fluttershy's hoof with his eagle claw and saw a tiny piece of glass on the inside of her hoof. Luckily it wasn't in the frog. Fluttershy gasped at the sight of this glass in her hoof. Fluttershy closed her eyes, while Discord quickly and lightly pulled the glass out.
Once the glass was out, only a tiny dot of blood come out. Fluttershy still had her eyes closed, expecting that sharp piece of glass to come out at any moment. And once it was out, it would cause her agonizing pain and numbness to her hoof. If Fluttershy saw this small amount of blood, she would have fainted into Discord's arms. Discord smirked happily at Fluttershy's predictable but adorable predicament.
Discord activated a healing spell through his thumb, and used his thumb to smoothly massaged over Fluttershy's little wound on the inside of her hoof. The thumb had a faint but radiant glow to it. When the spell was done, the hoof was clean of any scars or dots of blood. Even though the spell took only a second to heal Fluttershy's wound, Discord continued to massage the inside of Fluttershy's hoof with his thumb. He noticed how soft and plushy it was. Discord didn't know why he was mesmerized by this, but it seemed like the more he ran his thumb over the inside of her hoof, the more entranced he was. He wondered if Fluttershy's cheek was soft like this. He figured No, it's probably twice as soft as this. Based on how soft her…lips were…I wonder…what it would feel like if I…
Fluttershy felt this soft massage by Discord's thumb, with her eyes closed, she gladly stated "Oh thank you Dis…"
But her thank you was interrupted a sudden moist brush on the inside of her hoof. It sent a rapid and tingling feeling up her spine. It made her open her eyes immediately, and she saw Discord…kissing the inside of her hoof! She screamed inside her mind What? What is he doing?! Why is he…? Her mind soon became rumbled and jumbled with so many thoughts and feelings all at once that she couldn't think. Not to mention that immense heat was building in her cheeks, and it somehow leaked to the inside of her head. And the heat certainly didn't make the thought process inside her mind any easier.
It took a minute for Discord to realize what he was doing. He sharply opened his terrified eyes, and glanced up at Fluttershy while still pressing his lips against the inside of her hoof. He saw the deep red blush across her face and her giant confused eyes looking at him. He nervously removed his lips from her hoof, and then swiftly released her hoof from his grip. He quickly turned his back to Fluttershy, to hide his blush that was immediately spreading all over his face and neck. He immediately covered his face with his eagle claw. He may have been holding a warm fire in his paw, but it wasn't its heat that made him feel like he was on fire. He screamed to himself Don't this! Don't this! Don't this! Not now! And how…how is my neck blushing? Neck! Stop it!
His tail robotically picked up Fluttershy from the waist, and removed her a foot away from the glass piece area. Discord squeaked "Moving on!" This initiated Discord to immediately walk forward into the darkness.
Fluttershy stared at Discord for a moment before following him. She was thankful that her blush started to die down once Discord released her hoof from his claw.
Discord mentally pondered Why did I do that? One moment I was healing her little wound…and the next thing I know…I'm kissing her hoof! Okay Discord, let's think this through. First, I activated the healing spell. Then, I noticed how nice and soft the inside of her hoof was under my thumb. Naturally, I caressed it. Nothing wrong with that. I only did it for a couple of seconds. She didn't mind it. So it has to be okay…right? Okay, then what happened? Um…the inside of her hoof was plush and sweet like…how her lips were…that day…when she…No! Don't finish that thought or else this blush will never go away! I hate this stupid blush! What's its purpose? To make you look like a fool?
But then Discord discovered Although her blush was simply…precious. Wait a minute! She blushed too! She's feeling embarrassed too! But…why? She didn't do anything wrong. Maybe she felt awkward about it? Probably terrified by the whole experience. Wait…no Fluttershy doesn't blush when she's terrified. So it was probably because she felt awkward about it. Ugh that's even worse! She shouldn't feel that way! I'm an awkward idiot! Not she! Oh anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I was thinking how her soft hooves reminded me of her soft lips. It made me wondered if her cheeks were that soft. But no…soft cheeks wouldn't make me kiss her hoof. Well, I do want to…kiss her cheeks. What?! No I don't! I can't! It wouldn't be me! It wouldn't be moi!
Discord then questioned himself But it was okay when…Fluttershy kissed my cheek. So why wouldn't it be okay if I did the same? Oh why did she have to do that in the place?! I was perfectly content and satisfy with our hugs and embraces, and now…I can't enjoy them without thinking about what happened that day! Hold on…did I kiss her hoof in order to get back at her? Did I do it in order to give her a taste of her own medicine? Make her go through what I went through? Argh! Do you even hear yourself?! Why would I want to punish Fluttershy? Especially over an act of kindness! Besides, even if that was my intention, wouldn't I just go for the cheek instead of the hoof? Ugh this is so confusing…in the most unpleasant manner. Let's just settle with I was caught up in the moment and was curious how the inside of her hoof would feel against my lips. Ugh for some reason, that sounded so wrong.
Fluttershy was worried about her dear friend as she was walking behind him. He was mumbling to himself in words and syllables that she couldn't understand. Yet he hasn't said a single word to her ever since the…just the thought of it made Fluttershy nervously hide her blushing face in her hooves. But Fluttershy knew she couldn't think about that now when she has made her friend Discord feel awkward and guilty as if he committed a crime. In which, he didn't. Fluttershy didn't mean to make him feel this way and this made her feel guilty. She knew that he didn't do anything wrong. Actually, he showed a very sweet gesture of kindness. Strange…for some reason…it reminded her of that day…when she…kissed Discord on the cheek.
The thought of that day gave Fluttershy's a warm and comforting buzz inside her heart. And this warm yet comforting feeling made her smile again. She looked back at Discord, and knew that if she brought up what happened earlier to him, it would only make things worse. But she also couldn't let this silence go on any further. She had to think of something else to talk about. Wait, is Discord…? "Discord, are you…using your magic?"
Discord perked his ears at this, and then let out a relaxed sigh. He thanked the heavens for the change of subject. Discord replied "Oh Fluttershy, did you honestly think that little magical scanner can take away all of my glorious chaotic powers? Please! That little machine only blocked out 1/18th of my magic. Maybe even less than that!"
Fluttershy was about to respond that, but Discord added "And I meant what I said at beginning. I never back on my promises Fluttershy. Especially when it comes to good illusions and tricks."
Fluttershy smiled at that comment. She was happy to see how just the thoughts of a well-executed trickery brought Discord such joy. Fluttershy started to catch up with Discord, making her walk side by side with Discord. She then said to him with joy in her voice "You know, maybe having something scary appearing around the corner…might be fun?"
Discord's wide grin returned to his face, but didn't notice Fluttershy by his side. He was ecstatic that Fluttershy is finally joining in the spirits of this holiday. Yet, this made him curious about one thing. "Fluttershy? How come…you hate Nightmare Night?"
Fluttershy widen her eyes at this question and hesitantly answered "Oh no, it's not like I hate Nightmare Night. It's just that…I'm just a scaredy pony. A pony who gets scared easily…who gets scared of everything. Let's just say…I celebrated Nightmare Night a lot as a filly…with my family. I wasn't able to enjoy this holiday like my family did…due to my…easily frighten nature."
Discord was so surprised when Fluttershy mentioned her family. They have never discussed that subject before. He wonders why she has never brought them up before. Then again, he has never asked about them before. Discord was curious on what they were like. It sounds like Fluttershy is the black sheep of her family, such a strange thought for Discord to wrap his head around. But based on Fluttershy's tone about her family, Discord decided not to question Fluttershy right now about it.
Fluttershy then explained to Discord while walking in front of him "But now, because of my friends…and you…I get to see that Nightmare Night is fun with and without the spooky things. I also see that it's okay to be scared on a night like this because every pony is scared like me." She then added a little smile after that last statement, showing that last thought gave her a peaceful and tranquil comfort on her mind.
Discord looked at Fluttershy with a small but peaceful smile. He was enthralled in her innocent happiness and her moment of bravery. He felt he was in a dream…watching her skip lightly into the dark hallway before them. In this dream, he just realized how fascinating her skipping was to him…how fascinating her movement was to him. Just overall, how fascinating she was to him. He began to sing himself harmoniously while still keeping his sights on Fluttershy…
Sweet little Fluttershy, fascinating.
Sipping coffee, dancing
Sweet little Fluttershy, you are a wonder
Sweet little Fluttershy
Sitting in the window
Or standing on the stair
Something in you cheers the air.
Sweet little Fluttershy, silhouetted
Stay within me, glancing
Stay forever, breathing lightly
Sweet little Fluttershy, Sweet little Fluttershy.
Blowing out the candles
Or combing out your hair
Even when you leave,
you still are there, you're there
Sweet little Fluttershy, at the mirror
In the gardens, letter-writing
Flower-picking, weather-watching
How you make me sing!
Proof of heaven as you're living
Sweet Dear, yes sir, Little Fluttershy,
Yes!
Sweet little Fluttershy!
Yes!
Sweet little Fluttershy!
Discord's song in his head was abruptly ended when he accidentally bumped into Fluttershy as she stopped at a fork in their road. They two splitting hallways, one for the left and one for the right.