Talons of the Storm

by Storm Talon

Chapter 6: Deal With Discord

After the captain had left, Twilight turned to Spike. “What's our schedule look like for the next few days, Spike?”

Jogging over to a scroll resting nearby, Spike brought it up to face level as Twilight resisted the urge to laugh at his chocolate mustache. “We've got that dinner tomorrow, and the day after that we have a meeting with Princess Luna and Mayor Mare to get ready for nightmare night celebrations. Then, this weekend...” Spike paused as he unrolled the scroll a bit more. “There's your monthly meeting with the other princesses, and some sort of ambassador after that. Then the next thing is a meeting with the Mayor on Monday to get ready for a presentation after school starts.”

“Boy, time sure flies. It seems like just yesterday was the Summer Sun Festival. Which... could have gone better.” Twilight shuddered at the memory this dredged up. “That reminds me, though, could you set aside some time on Tuesday to meet with a changeling representative from Thorax? We wanted to start seeing if we could find some places willing to accept changeling immigrants.”

“Sure thing, Twilight. Not like anypony has moved in recently anyway, so maybe this'll keep Pinkie busy.”

---

Angel glared at the guards from his perch on Fluttershy's back as they followed her and Talon down the path to her cottage. Fluttershy held a bag in her mouth that contained the anti-mite soap, nutrition supplements, special instructions for Talon's diet, and healing potions. He couldn’t eat most leaves or grass, and she had a schedule to acclimate him to foods rich in fat or sugar. There were some exceptions, but that's why they had made a list for her to take home.

As they approached the cottage, Day Break turned to Fluttershy. “So, we're gonna set up a perimeter around your cottage, ma'am, that way we won't bother you or any of your animals too much.” She turned to Emerald Cut with a smirk. “C'mon, Greenie, let's get to it; you never know when an enemy will need bathroom help.”

Sighing, Emerald trotted after her. “You're never gonna let that go, huh?”

“Not as long as it's still funny!”

“Well, Talon,” began Fluttershy, causing him to jump and tear his attention away from the antics of the retreating guards. He followed her into the cottage as she continued. “Here we are. I have a guest room set up for you, and I got some books from Twilight so you have something to read if you'd like. They're, um, not very advanced. I didn't know whether you knew how to read yet, sorry. Oh! I can introduce you to some of my animal friends after dinner, if you'd like.”

Talon spotted a few birds resting in various places around the cottage, and narrowly avoided stepping on a mouse as it scurried to some unknown destination.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Fluttershy exclaimed suddenly. “Everypony, this is Talon. I'll introduce you properly after we eat, but try not to rub up against him. He has some mites, and we don't want anypony catching those. He'll be fine in a couple of days, though.”

Walking into the kitchen at Fluttershy's behest, Talon noticed the birds watching him warily. “Whatever Mites are, they must be pretty bad,” he thought. Fluttershy made some cucumber sandwiches for their dinner, omitting dill from his until she could find out whether he was allowed to have it. Maybe she could talk to Twilight about a way to find out what foods he could eat safely.

As they ate, she watched his attempts to bite off chunks of the sandwich. It didn't really work; he would bite through the bread just fine, but would inadvertently pull the cucumber slices out entirely. After the third time he got a slice stuck on his sharp teeth, she offered him a fork and knife, showing him how he could cut the sandwich, and by extension the cucumbers, into chunks.

Afterward, he helped clear the plates off of the table. Of course, he merely copied Fluttershy's actions as best he could, but still managed to get his plate into the sink. She thought he would have trouble reaching the sink, but he simply hopped up and plopped his front paws onto the counter next to it.

As they walked back out to the main room, Fluttershy saw Harry lumber into view. Suddenly, it occurred to her that if Talon was afraid of ponies, then surely he must be... happily trotting up to Harry? Fluttershy froze,. He was afraid of ponies, but not bears?

As Harry and Talon exchanged a few grunts, Fluttershy turned to Talon. “You can talk with animals?”

“Not talk lot.” Talon looked away, his ears folded back.

“How did you learn to talk to animals at all? I've only met a few other ponies who can do that.”

Talon's look of shame faded as he stared at the floor. “Animals cages, with Show Stealer.” Suddenly, he looked up. “Where Show Stealer animals?”

“Oh, well, they went to Canterlot so somepony could take care of them. I suppose I could ask Twilight if she can find out how they're doing, if you'd like.” Talon nodded, a small smile on his muzzle. “Well, then you can come with me on Saturday. Twilight wanted us there for some sort of meeting anyway, and we still need to figure out what we're doing about lessons for you.”

Talon cheered up at the prospect as he followed Fluttershy up towards a different room.

“Here, this will be your room while you're here,” explained Fluttershy as she pushed open the door to her guest room. “Well, sometimes Discord stays here, but then it'll be more like a sleepover.” She looked over to Talon, who had a blank look on his face, and realized that her entire previous sentence had completely gone over his head. “Anyway, it's getting pretty late, so we should get to bed. I actually set you up a spot over in the corner with a lot of pillows if you'd like that better.” She gestured over to the corner with a hoof, where a basket full of pillows was tucked against the wall. “I thought it might feel more familiar than a bed.”

Talon looked around the room as he meandered over to the spot Fluttershy had mentioned. There was a bed that looked a lot fancier than the one in the hospital set up by the window. The room also had a set of shelves with rows of books, and a set of drawers along one wall. He lay down among the pillows in the basket, briefly adjusting himself to get more comfortable.

“The, um, bathroom is down the hall if you need it tonight, alright?” After nodded to her, Fluttershy smiled and bid him goodnight.

---

Luna sat with Celestia in the royal dining hall as they shared a breakfast of blackberry crepes. “So,” Celestia began, “Any news on that new arrival, sister?”

“No, though that is fortunate in this case. Last night his dreams were unusual, but benign.”

“Unusual?” Celestia wondered. “More so than usual dreams, Lulu?”

“Well, Tia,” replied Luna, jabbing back at the nickname, “Many dreams are unusual. An empty hallway filled to knee level with cottage cheese and various fruits qualifies as unusually unusual, however. The fruit even swam about like fish would.”

“Huh,” interjected the older alicorn, “that does sound quite odd. Like you said, however, it does at least seem rather benign.” Sipping at her tea, Celestia continued. “If what you said is true, I would like to meet this Talon at some point. Perhaps while we are in Ponyville this weekend I could speak with him.”

“Perhaps, sister. I would hope to see him after he became more coherent. From what he said in that first dream, he does not speak Equestrian very well.”

“Maybe so. I would still like to meet him, if for no other reason than to assess his mental state more accurately myself. We have that trial coming up for the one who treated him so poorly, and I'd like all the ammunition I can get to ensure that he is brought to Justice. It would certainly be more enjoyable than coming back here early to listen to petitioners for the new building code in the market district.”

“Fair enough, but we already have a dozen rabbits, three weasels, a dog, and five birds as 'ammunition'” Luna argued, taking a sip of her coffee before continuing. “Besides, I'm more worried about this Griffonian ambassador.”

“I thought you said he was agreeable when you met.” Stated Celestia , one eyebrow slightly raised in a questioning stare.

“Yes,but that's not why I'm worried. I'm more worried about my ears falling off from overuse.” Luna smirked over her coffee as her sister very nearly choked on her tea.

“Victory is sweet,” thought the princess of the night.

---

After she woke him up and he had breakfast, Talon watched intently as Fluttershy went through the routine of caring for her animals. He stayed away from them for now, heeding the warning from Fluttershy that he might give some of the animals mites.

“After you've taken the treatment for the mites, you can help me take care of the animals if you want,” Fluttershy said after she had filled a feeding tray for the birds who were soon to migrate. “You seem to get along with them pretty well.”

As she finished up, she turned to Talon. “Was there anything you wanted to do today, Talon?”

Talon looked over from where he was examining the feeding area for some rabbits. “Uh... not know. What Fluttershy do?”

“Oh, well, normally I have tea with Discord on Fridays,” Fluttershy suddenly went wide-eyed. “Oh my gosh, our last tea was moved to Tuesday, and I forgot all about today's! I need to put on some water to get ready! Oh dear...”

As Fluttershy started to rush off into the kitchen, she bounced off of something, landing with a soft 'oof'. Talon watched, frozen, as part of the room shifted. The moving piece of the room, however, soon turned out to be a strange, tall creature who was colored to blend in with the room unnaturally well.

“Sorry about that, Fluttershy, but you know how I like to make an entrance.” The strange creature's coloring ran off of it until it was a chaotic mess of browns, grays, and otherwise. “No harm, no foul, right?” he asked as he picked Fluttershy up, dusting her off and pulling a duck out of her hair before tossing it aside.

As Talon watched the events unfolding before him. All he could do was think to himself, “Where did the duck come from?”

“And, I was in such a rush to meet your little guest, I just lost track of myself.” The strange being's body started to walk into the kitchen as his head floated in midair. “You see, there I go again. Get back here, you!” he exclaimed as his beard and eyebrows shot out to wrap around the wandering body's torso. The arms on the body made a motion as if reeling something in, and the body was towed back into place.

Fluttershy looked to see Talon was more confused than frightened, much to her relief. “Uh... what is?”

“Oh, how rude of me.” He walked out of her back door and down her stairs to stand next to Talon. “I'm Discord, embodiment of chaos, friend of Fluttershy, former villain and part-time vending machine impersonator. It's nice to meet you...”

“Uh, Talon,” he responded slowly, staring at the paw that Discord had extended towards him.

“Um, Talon?” Interrupted Fluttershy. “He's offering a hoofshake. You grab each others' paws and move them up and down. It's a way of saying hello.”

As Talon took the offered paw and shook it. As they finished, it came straight off of Discord's arm. Discord turned to Fluttershy, sans one paw, and shook his head. “It just sounds silly when you put it like that, Fluttershy.” Talon hobbled over on three paws, keeping his balance as best he was able.

“Uh... Discord?” he asked softly as he reached them. He reached out his occupied paw towards the draconequus. “Is you.”

“I suppose it is. But we can't have you drinking tea while you're talking like that. Here,” Discord responded, snapping the fingers on his tail.

Discord, Fluttershy, and Talon were suddenly seated around her coffee table, which was covered in a lacy tablecloth. Each of them wore an immaculate tuxedo, top hats and monocles. Each of them also had a comically out-of-place mustache.

“I say, good sir, this is quite odd.” Talon went cross-eyed looking at his muzzle. “Well, this is quite unexpected. Although involuntary, this change could be convenient for some situations, at least in the foreseeable future.”

Fluttershy spoke up next with an exaggerated Canterlot accent“Truly, Talon, I prefer your normal lack of loquaciousness. While this facilitates communication and understanding, I feel that it is disconcerting to speak in such ridiculously exaggerated vocabulary.” Fluttershy looked sheepishly at the draconequus. “Dearest Discord, would you mind terribly allowing us to return to our previous mannerisms?”

Discord looked over as he sat sipping his tea. “Very well, Fluttershy, if it shall please you then I shall refrain from what would otherwise be an enjoyable session of facetiousness.” Discord's tail snapped once again, and the tuxedos vanished without a trace.

“Uhh, Discord?” Fluttershy asked, gazing down at the mustache still on Talon's face.

“Oh, let me have a little fun, Fluttershy,” Discord answered, a mustache still adorning his own face. “Besides, he doesn't mind, see?”

“Huh?” Talon queried. Fluttershy looked over to see that Talon wasn't bothered by the mustache at all. On the contrary, he was trying to reach it with his tongue, which froze in place before he slowly withdrew it as the others watched him.

Fluttershy shrugged and returned to her tea. It wasn't that big of a deal. “Hey Discord?” Fluttershy asked as an idea formed in her mind. “While you're helping him with his personal grooming, would you mind doing me a favor?”

“Sure, what do you need?” asked Discord as he watched the mustache lift off of Talon's face and run away, using its ends as tiny legs as it skittered away.

Author's Note:

Emerald, Day will drop it as soon as something else happens to embarrass you. Shouldn't take too long.

Writing Discord for me consisted of “write stuff down as my ADHD runs off with my thought process.”