//------------------------------//
// Feelings 
// Story: One Big Awkward Family 
// by PropMaster 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy jumped a little bit as Discord reappeared in front of her, a daisy sandwich and cup held in his claw-paw hands. He gave her a grin. "I met a nice mare. If you like her sandwiches, we should go and bother her more often."

"Thank you, Discord." Fluttershy smiled, taking the sandwich and drink. She rolled back onto her back in the grass, staring up at the clear sky, and took a sip of the mystery drink. "Oh! Sweet tea!"

Discord grinned and waved a paw, pressing his taloned hand to his chest. "Sweetie? Me? You're too kind," He said with a feigned blush, as he plopped down in the grass beside Fluttershy

Fluttershy giggled. "You're terrible," she said, giving him a little shove with one wing. 

"Oh, come on, you're the one laughing!" He said, elbowing her back, eliciting a squeak from her.

"Only because you're making it worse!" She said between laughs, giving Discord another shove with her wing.

"No, you!" Discord gave her a proper shove, making her nearly roll over, and she laughed harder, gasping for air.

"I'll... I'll... fight you!" she cried, sitting up and shoving Discord, knocking him onto his side as he started laughing, too.

"I'll win!" He gasped between hearty laughs, no longer resisting.

"Probably, but... it's the principle, really!" She gave him a few more shoves, rolling him up into a ball as his long body folded in on itself, and then she jumped up and landed on top of him.

Discord shook with helpless laughter. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Winning," she said, giggling as she reached over and grabbed her sandwich and drink from where they'd fallen in the grass. Luckily the lid of the tea had held on. She took a victorious sip and balanced the sandwich on her flank. "There. Now if you move, you'll make me drop my sandwich."

Discord snorted, his laughter finally subsiding. "I never figured you'd be the pony that would play dirty to win."

"You're a god. Somepony has to put you in your place," she said with a haughty air, before giggling at her own audacious claim.

"Oh, and that pony is you, you think?" Discord asked her, grinning up at her as she lay across his side and back.

She gestured to their position. Discord chuckled, "Hm. Clever pony."

"Puny god," she quipped back, before grinning at him.

Discord smiled back at her, resting his head on the grass. Fluttershy sighed happily. She wasn't wrong, either. She was the pony that put him in his place... but it was a good place. Not beneath her, but beside her. A friend. A companion. Maybe... well...

She'd saved him, and from her position atop the back of a god of chaos she surveyed what she'd accomplished. She'd turned him from a menace to society to a... nuisance to society. A significant downgrade. Not perfect, but she never expected perfection. For being a god, he was far from perfect, but that was good. She wasn't perfect either, no matter how Discord made her feel sometimes. He lifted her up, and she brought him down, and somewhere they'd found something special in the place where their personalities met.

She took a bite of her daisy sandwich, and her eyes widened. "This is very tasty!"

"Is it? Well, good."

"Would you like a bite?" she said, offering it to him.

Discord frowned. "You already took a bite."

Fluttershy stared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe you should have had a bite, first?"

"Fluttershy, dear, you don't know where my mouth has been."

Fluttershy giggled, "Oh, I let my animal friends take nibbles of my food all the time. It doesn't bother me."

"Well, now I really don't want a bite!"

Laughter filled the mountains. Fluttershy took another bite of her sandwich, savoring the flavor and texture. Extra petals, too. Discord knew what she liked. He always did that, in his own way. Playing the curmudgeon, but secretly making her life sweet and exciting and spontaneous. She swallowed, sighing happily, resting her cheek on Discord's back. "Discord?"

"Hm?"

She inhaled slowly. "I love you," she said, softly.

She felt Discord freeze beneath her. She lifted her head up. His eyes met hers. She tried to keep the fear out of hers, but his read plainly across his face. "Y-you... what?"

Fluttershy blushed, turning away. Discord slid out from beneath her, staring at her with his mouth agape. She couldn't look him in the eye. "Are you... you... feeling all right?"

He glanced around, and a slow smile broke out on his face. Fluttershy felt her heart soar as he began to laugh, her blush deepening. He threw his arms out wide, falling backwards in the grass as his laughter built to a roar of hilarious release. "Oh, oho, yes, yes, yes! This is rich!"

She didn't like his tone. A sudden fear built in her chest. "Discord, you—"

He sat up, suddenly, holding up a hand. "No, no, don't say anything more. I understand," he said, some unfathomable emotion in his eyes. He turned towards the crystal palace. "Cadance? Is this payback for the practical joke I played on you and Shining Armor? I know it was shocking, and nobody likes surprise children, but you've really outdone yourself!" His last words were a pained snarl.

"Discord!" she shouted, standing up.

"No!" he turned, looking at her, his eyes blazing with fire, even if there were tears building beneath. "No. This doesn't happen, Fluttershy. You don't fall in love with me. I'm not what you want."

She turned away, gasping, feeling as if she'd been slapped. "That's not true."

"You can't, Fluttershy. You mustn't. You don't know what you're saying. You don't really know what you're getting yourself into. What you're getting me into!" he said, slumping down before her and grabbing her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him.

She winced her eyes closed. "I don't care!"

"Don't you?!" he said, stepping away from her. "You're willing to take me on? You're willing to go through with dealing with me for the rest of your short, short, far too meager existence? You're willing to give up on..."

Fluttershy looked down, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn't remember starting to cry. She could feel Discord's eyes on her, before he sighed. "We can't have children, Fluttershy. Or, well, I can't. I'll live forever, and you'll fade away. There's so, so much wrong with doing this."

"I... don't know. I just know how I feel," Fluttershy said.

"I know. I know how you feel, too. I just never wanted to say it. I didn't want to curse your life. I still don't." his voice was hoarse.

"Isn't that partly my decision too, though?" she asked, suddenly, looking up at him.

He stared at her, and nodded slowly. He looked numb, blank. She steeled herself. "I know what I want, Discord."

"I know what I want, too, but I don't think you understand what it means, wanting..." he gestured to himself, "... this."

"I don't care," she said.

"You do care, though!" He laughed, suddenly, a dead and hollow sound. "You care so much. I need to know that you're sure, Fluttershy. You can't just make a declaration like that without considering it. I—" he swallowed hard, "—I can't make a declaration like that without considering it."

Fluttershy nodded slowly, reaching up and wiping her cheeks. "That's fair. That's very fair."

Discord slumped, sitting down in the grass across from her. "No, it isn't, not to you, but I need to think."

She exhaled shakily. "I'm sorry that I sprung that on you."

Discord held up a paw. "No. I'm sorry that I need time."

They were quiet, then. Discord stood up slowly, and offered her a paw up. "I need to go and think, but I don't want to strand you here. I can take you home, or somewhere, or... anywhere you'd like," he said, voice flat.

"I'd like to go home, now," she said. She needed to be home. She took his offered paw, and when she was on her hooves, he held her hoof in his paw for a moment longer, gaze lingering on her.

"Okay. Home it is." He snapped his fingers.