//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: The Truth  
// Story: The Melody of Love 
// by Sapphire Rose 12 
//------------------------------//

   "Now, it's time to cook dinner," Fluttershy said. "We're going to make the fillies the most simple meal out of all of them. Grilled Cheese."

Discord sighed, annoyed and nodded. He could be doing anything he wanted right now, but instead he was stuck cooking a sandwich with a nanny. "Alright. Where do I start?"

"Turn the stove onto high," Fluttershy instructed. "Just turn the knob right there to HI."

Discord reached for the knob, but his small arm attached to his claw didn't reach that far. He couldn't turn it on with his paw either. It kept slipping around the knob and wouldn't hold a grip to it. "Oh, for the love of choas!!" 

Fluttershy giggled and turned the knob on for him. She placed a frying pan on the spot that she turned on. "The next part is a lot more simple. Just get the bread and cheese from the fridge."

Discord snapped his claw and the bread and cheese appeared in front of them. 

"Wow," Fluttershy said. "Okay, that works too. Now, get two slices of bread."

Discord snapped his claw again and two slices of bread floated out of the bag and onto the table in front of them. 

"Discord, let's make a sandwich without magic please," Fluttershy begged him.

"How do you cook without magic?!?! That's impossible!"

"It's not impossible. Let me show you."

Fluttershy got two more slices out of the bag and placed them on the table. "Now you."

Discord grabbed two slices with his claw, but the fingers on his claw impaled the slices of bread. Discord growled.

"Great start," Fluttershy said using the slices that she got on her own. "Now put some cheese on both slices."

Discord got two slices of cheese without his magic and carefully placed them on the bread.

"Great job!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Now, put one slice of bread on top of the other."

Discord put one slice of bread on top of the other slice of bread. 

"Put it in the pan," Fluttershy told him. 

Discord put the sandwich in the pan, but then yelped in pain. "YOW!!"

"Oh, goodness! What's wrong?!"

"I think... I burned myself," Discord admitted embarrassed. He didn't like admitting to others when he got hurt.

"Can't you heal yourself?" Fluttershy wondered.

"It hurts when I snap!" Discord whined. 

Fluttershy giggled. 

"Why are you giggling at my pain?!?! Why did I hire you to care for this family?!? I let you let me get a third degree burn!!" 

"That is not close to a third degree burn," Fluttershy said. "I learned first aid to be a nanny, too. I would consider this a mild first degree burn."

"Well, it hurts just as bad!" Discord yelped. "Just do your thing!"

"Do you have any aloe vera?" Fluttershy asked.

Discord shook his head. He didn't even recognize the word. 

"It's okay," Fluttershy said. "Ointment creams work well, too. Do you have any ointments?"

"In the medicine cabinet," Discord said. 

Fluttershy flew up to the medicine cabinet and opened the cupboard. Since Discord would not show her around the house, she learned her own way around and knew which cabinet contained the stuff that she needed. She got out some ointment for burns and flew back over to Discord. "Now, let me put it on your claw." 

Discord was reluctant to let the pegasus touch him, but he held out his claw and Fluttershy rubbed some of the ointment onto his claw. He realized it felt a bit better as the white cream soothed his burn. 

"Let me finish making the sandwich," Fluttershy said. "I'll give you full credit at dinner time. Thank you for trying your best."

Discord nodded. He watched Fluttershy as she finished making the sandwiches. 

A lot of thoughts ran through his mind as he watched her. Why would she care enough to soothe him when he got a burn? He had shouted at her every time she tried to play with the triplets for longer than 5 minutes. Discord looked at her. Was she really a pony who had a heart to care for a monster like him?







Dinner time came quickly. Discord had dreaded it as he didn't want the triplets to be upset again, but dreading it only made time speed up and it happened fast.

The triplets sat down at the table and Discord took a seat across from them. Fluttershy sat down. She was about to distribute the sandwiches when she heard a knock on the door. 

Fluttershy went over to go answer it. She opened the door and she was surprised to see Rarity standing there.

"You're not needed back until next Tuesday," Fluttershy said, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," Rarity admitted. "But I feel like I have a reason to be here. Do you mind if I only go home on the weekends?"

"You mean, like stay?" Discord asked.

Fluttershy looked at him with pleading eyes. Fluttershy felt like she could talk to Rarity whenever she needed another pony to vent her feelings to. 

Discord looked at the mare's eyes and felt something strange. His heart skipped a beat. That was weird, he thought. Must be a chaotic feeling. "Why not?"

Fluttershy grinned. "Oh thank you, Discord!" 

"Thank you," Rarity said setting down the tall pile of suitcases with her horn. 

"So, what is the reason you feel you have to be here?" Discord asked. 

"Oh, I don't know," Rarity said. "But when I earned my cutie mark, my heart pulled me towards things that would help me fully achieve my destiny! This is the first time it called me somewhere since I was a filly! That's at least 8 years."

"What is your destiny?" Fluttershy inquired. "Cleaning?"

"Oh no," Rarity replied stifling a laugh. "It's fashion design!"

"Then, why are you a maid?" Sweetie Belle asked her. "Why aren't you a famous fashion designer in Canterlot or something?"

"I didn't do my best work," Rarity said, sadly. "I ruined my dreams. But I feel something here may help me at least design just a little. I know my dreams of being a sensation are crushed, but I still love to design!"

Fluttershy, Discord, and the triplets all exchanged a look with one another. 

"Well, come in and have some dinner," Fluttershy invited.

Discord sighed and groaned. "Yes, there's plenty of room."

Rarity took a seat at the table. "Is this grilled cheese?"

The triplets nodded eagerly.

"It sure is," Scootaloo said. "Fluttershy makes the best grilled cheese."

Fluttershy looked at Discord with a smile. "Actually, Discord made the grilled cheese tonight... without any magic."

The triplets now looked skeptical on eating the sandwiches. 

"How can we be so sure?" Apple Bloom asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Because I was there," Fluttershy replied.

"Girls, no," Discord said. "That's not the truth. I impaled bread and put cheese on the slices. Then I burned myself."

The triplets giggled.

"It was all Fluttershy," Discord continued looking at Fluttershy.

"Discord---"

"No, that's the truth," Discord said. "Now let's eat."

The triplets and Rarity began to eat.

Fluttershy and Discord looked at their food. They just couldn't eat. They had too many things on their mind and felt a little weird to their stomachs.

"Ore yu gon' eat dat?" Scootaloo asked mouth full of grilled cheese.

Fluttershy and Discord shook their heads simultaneously. 

"More for us," Apple Bloom said.

Apple Bloom took Fluttershy's sandwich and Scootaloo took Discord's. 

Fluttershy quickly excused herself from the table and Discord did the same. 

Fluttershy rushed to her bedroom and Discord rushed to his. 

Rarity looked at the two confused, but then sighed and returned to eating. She knew that the two had different things on their mind, but the same strange feeling in their heart.






Fluttershy thought to herself in her room. Why did Discord still seem to not like her? She was trying her best to change Discord. She thought her actions spoke louder than her words. She didn't want to tell anyone how she felt. She wanted to show it by trying to help Discord. But was she wrong? 

She knew there was only one way to sort things out. Talk to Discord.






Discord was thinking to himself in his room as well. He was a monster. He knew it was all he would ever be. Discord knew the only reason he had an aversion to Fluttershy is because she could do everything so much better than he could. She could calm the triplets down when the triplets wouldn't even let his words fill their ears. Why did Fluttershy have the heart to care for a monster like him? Someone who was so different and would never be beautiful? Never be beautiful. He let those words replay in his mind for minutes. He finally faced it. Discord knew he would never be loved by anyone.

He knew there was only one way to sort things out. Talk to Fluttershy. 




The two ran into each other in the hall and they jumped startled. They laughed in relief when they realized who it was.

"I need to talk to you," they said in unison. 

They were both surprised. They did not expect that at all. 

"Let's go to the garden," Discord said. "It will be easier to talk there."





They arrived out in the garden and heard the birds chirping. 

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash looked out from the bushes and watched.

"Oh, what's going to happen?" Pinkie Pie asked quietly.

"Shhh," Rainbow Dash shushed.

"The anticipation," Pinkie Pie whispered.

The two spies became silent as they watched.

"You first," Fluttershy said.

"Alright," Discord replied. "When I was a young draconequus, I had a crush on a mare named Sweet Melody. She was beautiful and had the prettiest voice I've ever heard. Well, up until now. I thought she had the prettiest voice until I heard you sing. Your voice is so angelic and sweet. I really can't think when I hear it."

"Aww," Fluttershy said. "That's so sweet of you."

"Anyway," Discord continued. "Sweet Melody fell in love with my brother and my brother got her instead. That was the day I knew no one would ever love me."

Fluttershy was shocked. "D-D-Discord---" she started.

"So, the triplets were actually Sweet Melody's and she disowned them. I did all I could to take care of them, but they hated me and never listened to me. So I asked for your help." He paused, then continued. "Then, I got jealous. The triplets loved you very much the way I knew they would never love me. So I tried to stop it as much as I could. But I didn't want to kick you out because the triplets were happy for once. They'll never have a mother and that's why they think of you as their mother. I don't want to send you home, Fluttershy. The triplets would hate me even more than they already do. But tonight I realized the truth. I'm just a monster. No one will ever love me and I have to face the truth."

"Discord," Fluttershy said. "I thought you didn't like me because you thought I was annoying. And you are not a monster."

"How can you look at me and not think 'monster'?" Discord asked.

"Because you're not truly a monster," Fluttershy said. "Discord, look. There's a difference between a monster on the inside and a monster on the outside. A monster on the outside looks very scary, but he's not even actually a monster at all. A monster on the outside shouldn't even be called one. Because his heart is in the right place and all he wants to do is make others happy. A monster on the inside is the real monster. They could be the most beautiful pony in the world, but they are the monster. That's because their heart is full of true hate and not the hate of jealousy. A monster on the inside is the true monster, but a monster on the outside is the true friend."

Discord just looked at her. Could she really think he's not a true monster? 

"Discord, looks don't make a monster," Fluttershy said. "Actions do."

They went inside finally both relieved. 






Discord was nicer to Fluttershy. He wanted to be kind, so he let the triplets play with Fluttershy as long as they wanted. He asked nicely when giving them a command. The triplets looked at each other when he did, but listened reluctantly. 

He listened when Fluttershy sang to the triplets to help them sleep. Her voice was beautiful, soft, and sweet. 

As Fluttershy asked for his help, Discord was shocked but always rushed in to help her. One day, they got into a cleaning race seeing who could clean their room faster while they gave Rarity a break to fashion design. 

Discord wasn't allowed to cheat with his magic, so Fluttershy won. Discord was disappointed, but they laughed and had fun. 

Soon, Fluttershy became more and more beautiful to Discord. In two more weeks, his heart began to pound whenever she talked to him. He began to blush whenever she complimented him. 

He realized that the triplets even started liking him and hugging him whenever he did something nice for them. He started to do acts of kindness of his own and the triplets were quickly lightening up on him. 

Discord sat in his room one night. He had to admit something to himself.

And he did. "I can't hide it anymore. I've fallen in love with her."







Fluttershy realized the draconequus was doing much better. He did acts of kindness on his own and was interested in learning to cook.

They got into a cleaning race and Fluttershy won, but Discord didn't even shout. They just laughed and Discord cheered for Fluttershy.

Discord was giving her compliments on everything she did. Fluttershy smiled as she realized the triplets were finally seeing him as their father.

Fluttershy began to have more fun with Discord every day. Soon, she realized she felt really strange when he walked by and waved. She blushed whenever Discord gave her a compliment.

The same night Discord sat in his room, Fluttershy sat in hers. She had to admit the same thing Discord did.

"I can't hide it anymore. I've fallen in love with him."