//------------------------------//
// Healing a Draconequus 
// Story: My Nonsensical Draconequus 
// by Xutiepops 
//------------------------------//

Discord rested his head in his paw while the tapping of his talon against his glass throne was the only noise ringing in his head. He looked around the horribly normal surroundings, the bright orange fish fading to blue when they swam under the frozen roof of the pond were the only things close to chaotic. The pond didn't even belong in these woods, and the half-frozen part of it definitely didn't.
He was bored, utterly, completely, and absolutely bored. And he couldn't do a single thing about it! As he looked at his talon and paw, he felt the unequal and unstable magic flowing through him. And he didn't have a single idea why his magic was malfunctioning, and his weak memories of how he got in this forest wasn't much of a help. 
He was in some sort of mountains when... he groaned and looked up at the sky with a scowl. He couldn't even recall what had happened clearly. He saw mountains... but were there mountains around here? He didn't know and he couldn't go look!
He decided his magic was best if it was used sparsely until it was back to normal. He wouldn't want something to go wrong and draw the attention of something that could hurt him in his already hurt state. And if they did find him, he wouldn't be able to trust his magic to get him out of the situation! 
He was shocked he was able to keep with his word, not much had changed to his surroundings. The glass throne was one he'd done when he was awake. The burnt leaf roof, the small patch of a checkered floor, the nonexistent trees, and the pond were all things he'd done while he was unconscious. Or at least blacked out. He didn't remember doing any of it. The only other thing he had done was the thin and purple roof of leaves to replace the last ones.
He decided it was necessary, the sun was a monster worse than him. And he could only imagine a goddess ruling over the sun making it even more painful for him simply because it disliked him. That retched sun had been keeping him from napping his time away, the most he could do was rid himself of one issue. 
Though two others weren't that easily solved. The rocketing pain in his side slowly became more and more unbearable the longer he was awake with it, the pain even kept him from sleeping it away. And every time he tried to heal it with his magic, it erupted into a new state of pain that he didn't know how he was taking. It was burning and the bandages around it tinged red more with his repeated attempts at fixing it. 
It pulsed and sent that pain slowly through the rest of his body with each wave. And his lack of sleep didn't make it feel any better, or the horrible bandages he refused to take off for multiple reasons. He had no idea how he'd put them back on without his magic, and that girl made it sound as if they were crucial to whatever healing process he'd obviously have to go through. 
He sunk into his throne. Fluttershy was the other problem. He looked up at the purple canopy and held his breath as he snapped, waiting for something to go wrong. The entire canopy vanished when he only wanted to move it aside. He groaned as he crawled his way off of his throne, attempting to hide from the horrible sun goddess.
The sun hung over him slightly to the left. Of course, it was still early in the day, but she had left early yesterday, he simply assumed she'd be back soon. She seemed enthusiastic enough to pull him out of his failed sleep at six in the morning. He sighed and sunk his way down the side of his throne. She did seem enthusiastic, didn't she?
He grimaced, maybe she wasn't as innocent as he thought. Maybe she was just a little actor that, after realizing he was a threat, snuck her way out without angering him. He stroked his beard and raised an eyebrow at the world. It did seem sensible, he was a jerk to her, revealed he could do anything, and she didn't know the way back. He ground his teeth together and growled. 
"That little witch..." he said, debating on whether or not he should summon a statue of her and a sledgehammer to smash it with. He shook his head, that little drama student didn't deserve the risk of him using his magic. He crossed his arms and fumed, it wasn't that he was upset she wouldn't show. He was simply upset she wouldn't fix him, he was an almighty god that would haunt her for the rest of her days, and she threatened not helping him. Especially after she said she would. 
He couldn't believe her or that sun goddess. He wanted to ruin both of their lives, he sighed, if only he could use his magic, and he would do it now. But that wouldn't stop him from complaining and belittling her right here and now. He kept himself from making other versions of himself appear around him in a circle as he opened his mouth to list of his first complaint: that horrible hair of hers.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he heard a quiet voice call. He whirled his head to the small step of a cliff and saw even more yellow than he did yesterday. Instead of a pink bag, she had a pastel yellow one, similar to her sweater that seemed to fit her the tiniest bit better. Maybe only two sizes too big instead of three. Other than that he was thankful she took off those repulsive green tights and replaced them with high-waisted blue jeans that led down to the same black boots. "Were you waiting long?" She asked again, her voice dripping with innocent concern. 
He rolled his eyes and snapped, feeling his magic grow in stability the smallest bit. He appeared behind her, towering over her with a smug grin. How could he ever think this little girl was capable of fooling him? The pain must've been getting to him. "Not at all, dear," he responded, seeing her smile up at him before slipping off her bag and bending down to look through it. He shook his head. "You really aren't scared of me, are you?" He asked.
He heard her giggle and had no idea why it almost sounded nice, nice enough to make his pain lessen. "Not really," she said, standing back up with that pure smile of hers and a white bottle in her hand. 
He didn't understand and watched as she opened the bottle. He tilted his head in confusion. "How? I understand I'm not exactly one of the prettiest things," he started with disgust. "To your kind."
She slowly looked up at him, examining his body for some reason before she knocked four, small, and red pills into her hand. "I don't see how," she said, holding her hand out to him. "I think you're fascinating."
He cowered away from her. How could a little, normal girl like her not be scared of him, much less find him fascinating? He grabbed the pills from her hand and looked at them. "What are you-- these?" he asked, looking over them and wondering what good they'd do. They were small, but maybe they helped magic. As he looked over them, they didn't look like it. 
"Painkillers," she said, picking up her bag and looking in awe at his glass throne. Her awe ended as she whirled to his confused face. "Unless it doesn't hurt anymore." 
He shook his head. "These four, small pills are supposed to get rid of pain?" He asked with an amused smirk before throwing his head back in a laugh. He didn't get to appreciate the amazed look on her face as he wiped the tears from his eyes after the howls. "My dear, I never expected you to be this funny," he said through snickers. 
She smiled up at him, after shaking something from her thoughts. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she rocked back on her feet, tucking her hands behind her back. "Well, two do a lot to a person... and since you seem like you'd be two of a normal person, I just assumed a double dose would work," she said, avoiding his intent stare as she cowered into her hair. "But if that doesn't work, maybe a triple dose?" She asked, trying to make out the logic herself. 
She heard a snap and jumped out of her thoughts, seeing the lid of the pill bottle simply screwing off. "My apologies, but I doubt four measly pills would help a wound that's only hurt worse since you left," he said as he looked into the bottle. His body jumped back as he noticed every pill was just as small, it reattached to his legs that didn't move. He couldn't believe that these would help a full grown human. "Why don't we just air on the side of caution?" He asked, noticing her slightly worried stare. 
"Well, I suppose so," she said, one of her boots pulling back until it rested on the tip. Her hair fell in her face, but she didn't think she had the courage to raise her hand and move it. She didn't know what it was, but she felt so inferior around this creature, that was injured. She assumed it was because he was the draconequus that had plagued her thoughts for weeks, and she was worried she'd run him off. 
She heard a snap and felt something on her head, and she looked up as much as she could, which wasn't a lot. She saw him standing over her and assumed his talon was rested on her as he took most of his weight off his feet. "Perfect," he purred and opened his mouth. Fluttershy gasped when the pill bottle floated over him and poured like a waterfall into his mouth. 
She didn't have time to stop him before the bottle fell into his paw. "Um... that's not really a, um, good thing," she said nervously, looking away from him as he looked down at her. 
He moved his stare from her to the forest around them. It was quiet until she showed up, now it was full of his and her's voices. "Don't worry, my dear, I'm a god, a few pills can't hurt me," he said, snapping and appearing in his throne. He grinned confidently at her amazed stare as he raised his arms to draw attention to him and the throne before he rested them on the arms. "I'm usually never hurt," he said with a glower down at his wound. "Usually."
"A god?" She repeated with bright, curious teal eyes and a wide smile. Her hands clasped together in front of her chest as she walked over to his throne. She rocked on her feet like a child waiting for candy. She flinched before he could respond and leaned over him and his throne with upturned eyebrows. "I'm so sorry, I totally forgot. You said the pain got worse?"
As much as he loved a little amazed groupie, he'd rather see if she could do anything about his wound. "Yes," he grumbled, sinking into his throne. "It's even prevented me from my beauty sleep," he growled before shooting up and whirling to her. "And I don't understand why I can't fix it."
He fell back into his chair as anger moved with the pulses of pain. "My magic may be messing up, but I've tried millions of times," he said, watching her worried stare become even more worried, which he didn't think was possible. He curled into the corner of his throne and cowered from her as she put her hands on the arm and leaned over it more. 
"That's horrible," she said. She noticed her invasion of his personal space and backed up, clearing her throat. "Do you know when it would start hurting worse?" She asked nervously, tucking her hands behind her back again as she looked up past her hair. 
He sat up as he thought, whatever he told her might lead to a solution, so he decided to comply with her wishes. He hummed as he stroked his beard, ignoring that concerned look directed at him. He sat up straight as a light bulb appeared over his head. He leaned on the arm of his throne she had recently just contaminated and cupped his head in his paw. "Whenever I tried fixing it."
She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Then why did you keep trying?" She asked, almost rudely, something he wasn't expecting. He never thought he'd be slightly scared by an innocent girl like herself... lecturing him.
He shrugged, sliding and maneuvering on his throne until his feet and tail hung over the top of it, his head falling off the seat. "I thought it was just my magic malfunctioning. There's nothing that should be keeping my magic from working," he complained, attempting, and failing, to fight her stern stare. He rolled his eyes. "It's fine, my magic will be working in no time."
She rolled her eyes before noticing that his bandages were slightly more red than before. "Maybe I should take a look at it," she said quietly, hoping he'd agree. She didn't want to force him to do something he didn't want to, especially when his theatrics and speech kind of insinuated he wouldn't be the most cooperative, and she still wanted to learn more about him. 
She smiled slightly when he snapped, appearing on a hospital bed. She wondered why his bandages were still on when he bowed. "Whatever will help you fix it faster," he said appreciatively.
She picked up her bag and walked over to him, setting it down on the bed next to him. She spoke as she looked through it, wondering if a hospital bed was what he meant to summon if he said his magic was malfunctioning. If that was how it worked anyway. "I might not be able to do a lot, a gash like that takes time to heal," she said, making his ears drop. She smiled up at him as she pulled a pocket knife out of her bag. 
He cowered away from her, his tail coming up to block most of her access from him. "You're not going to cut me again, are you?" He asked, looking at her warily as sweat dripped down his face. It was hot outside, she was terrifying, and those pills didn't seem to be helping his pulsing pain. "Because as much as I'd love to conduct a scientific experiment as to why I can't use my magic on it, I'd rather not be cut again."
She felt her heart swell at the idea that he deduced the knife down to a scientific experiment to help him figure something out. She giggled as she gently grabbed his tail and pushed it aside. "No, I'm cutting off the bandages," she smiled, watching his body fall with relaxation. He comically wiped the sweat off his forehead as she reached for the bandages, his tail slid in her way again. She looked up at his worried expression with a raised eyebrow. 
"Can't you just... unwrap them?" he asked sweetly, wondering why a cut was worrying him so much. He assumed the intense pain radiating from one was great motivation. At least her and her sweet smile were comforting, he don't know how much more worried he'd be if she was a terrifying veterinarian from Germany. 
She moved his tail aside again, trying not to admire the red scales compared to the brown fur on his body. "I tucked the end to the bandages near your wound and then taped it to make sure it'd heal better when I wasn't around, so it'd be easier to cut it off," she explained, watching him reluctantly move his tail out of her way. She grabbed a part of the wrappings around his waist and looked up at him for confirmation. When he nodded, she sliced through it. 
He tried to do something to keep his mind off of it, he couldn't trust the girl, so how could he trust her to not cut him and leave him with another wound he couldn't heal himself? He didn't want to think about it as her words rang in his head. He looked down at her as she unwrapped him. "When you weren't around? Were you planning to leave?" He asked, curiosity bubbling inside him at this soft girl that was being exceptionally gentle. 
She nodded. "I thought you were just some animal that would be out for a couple of days," she said as she reached behind him to avoid simply pulling the bandage around. His fur looked incredibly soft, and it was from what she remembered of stitching him up. "So I was going to leave you the fruit I had and try to find my way out before you woke up and come check up on you later," she explained as she pulled all of the bandages off, wondering why he was curious. She smiled up at his confused stare, expecting some response. 
She didn't expect a smug grin and a snap, a light blue lab coat and light blue pair of gloves appearing on her. He growled. "It was supposed to be that pink," he said, pointing at her hair. "And just when I thought I was starting to get control of it!" He pouted as she set the dirty bandages aside. She remembered that they should've been changed every day. She really did had a lot more to learn about animals. But if his wound healed correctly, she would be ecstatic she did it. 
She looked back at his wound and tilted her head at the clean stitches. He followed her stare and jumped, seeing the hairless patch on his side. His neck bent so his head hung lower, letting him see the monster on his side easier. "You cut off my fur?!" He asked, guessing his magic wouldn't grow that back either. He only guessed because he was too scared to try. 
She shook her head. "It was already gone, it looked like it was burnt off. But I would've needed to anyways to stitch it," she explained, wondering why his fur wasn't charred at the edges like it was before. Maybe his magic fixed that, but couldn't get any closer to his wound? She furrowed her eyebrows as she moved his paw to get a better look. "Do you have a fever?" She asked. 
He shook his head, wondering why she questioned. He knew he would've complained if he did, though the sun beaming down on him was hot enough to make him feel as if he had a fever. She stood on the tips of her toes and grabbed his jaw, pulling him down with her as she stood on her feet. He raised an eyebrow as she brought her hand up to his forehead, putting the back of it to him. She hummed in concentration as she tried the other side of her hand.
She let go of him and he kept his head that low for a few moments before declaring she didn't necessarily need him at the moment and sat up straight. She brought her thumb to her mouth and bit on it as her other hand cupped her elbow. She stared at his wound intently, counting the twenty-three stitches as her mind ran. He refused to find her species adorable, but she was an exception. A rather adorable one. 
"Well, doc?" He asked playfully, trying to not think her focused stare meant something bad. He tapped the claws of his talon and paw together as he smiled nervously. "It's not that bad, is it?" He asked, realizing the pulsing, excruciating, waves of pain lessened. Maybe an entire bottle of pills did work. 
She shook her head and he smiled as the tension left his shoulders. "It looks completely fine," she said, silently thanking him for the gloves as she moved his paw again and ran her fingers over it. He jumped and tensed for a few runs over it before his tail flew in her way. He would've made a glass case appear around it with half of her hand inside, but he was scared to use any magic near his wound. He felt something magical around his injury, but he didn't know if it was his own or the thing that caused the injury. He assumed the latter. 
He didn't need to ask for further information as she spoke again. "I thought the bleeding and worse pain would be from an infection. But it looks okay, great even," she explained, wondering what could be causing his pain. An infection made the most sense, and if his magic was maybe irritating it more to make the pain worse... She groaned, she didn't understand and she wanted so desperately to help him. 
She didn't want to disappoint him and have him find her useless. But she couldn't lie and tell him she had something to help him other than painkillers and regular methods to help it heal faster. She sighed, looking up at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Discord. I have no idea why your pain was getting worse, or how to stop it."
His shoulders fell with hers, though he watched as she pulled a roll of bandages and a pair of scissors out of her bag. He made sure his arms were out of her way as she covered his waist with more bandages. "Um, Discord..." she mumbled as if she wasn't sure she needed to be talking. He couldn't believe that humans were this sweet and timid. Every human he'd ever met had pitchforks and torches. Or guns.
"Yes?" He asked, wondering if she had some risky thing that could help him, but had many down-falls. He'd take anything at this point, thought an entire bottle of painkillers seemed to be working. His pain was fading away, slowly, but still fading. 
She took a glance up at him as she tucked the bandage in a place over his stomach instead of his wound after cutting it off of the roll. She put the roll and the scissors in her bag as she spoke, avoiding meeting his stare. "Do you, uh, still have things to do?" She asked, stealing a glance up at him warily. She looked away from his confused look.
He assumed she wanted her end of their deal, but before he could say he was a draconequus of his word, she spoke. "It'll heal a lot faster if you change the bandages every day, well, it has a lower chance of getting infected," she said, zipping up her bag and finally looking up at him. "Plus, those stitches need to come out at some point."
He couldn't believe her, had she already forgotten his end of the deal? Just because he was... hurt, and she didn't know how to fix it quickly? Maybe he had to rethink what he thought about humans if this girl was apart of the crowd. He shook his head. "I can just remove them myself when the time comes, darling," he said confidently, ready to snap his paw to show her. 
She quickly grabbed his paw with wide eyes. "Um, maybe... don't do... that," she said, her voice slowly getting quieter as she let go of his paw. He raised an eyebrow at her to continue and wondered why she couldn't meet his stare. "It's just um... I think I have an idea about why your magic isn't working."
He snapped and the entire hospital game disappeared, he held her up in front of him and narrowed his eyes on her. "What is it?" He hissed. "Did you do something?" He didn't know what else could've hurt him or limit his magic other than her. 
She shook her head desperately. "Well, I, um..." she said, looking down at her feet as she moved them in front of and behind the other to keep herself busy. "I, um, don't exactly know why... but I, uh, think I have an idea of something... about it," she said nervously, looking up at him and hoping he'd believe her. He sighed and dropped her. 
"So, Fluttershy," he asked rudely. "What was it you thought?"
She swallowed as she stood up nervously, feeling anxiety twist in her stomach at his shut eyes as his head turned away from her and he crossed arms. "I, um..." she said before taking a deep breath, trying to use what Pinkie Pie always said calmed her down. "I think your magic only works until a certain area around your wound," she said calmly, smiling to herself in pride. 
His eyes shot open and he whirled to her, his neck bending so his face was in hers. "What do you mean?" He asked, somewhat nicer than before. What was he kidding, this little girl couldn't hurt a fly if she wanted to.
She looked away, took a step back, and cowered into her hair and sweater. "Well, your fur around it was burnt when I first saw it," she said, sneaking a glance up at him and seeing his interest. She smiled, maybe he wasn't so mad anymore. "But just now it was healthy."
He stood up straight and stroked his beard, considering what this girl had said. She had to be at least a little off, since his magic did make the injury worse, so it was affected somehow, but maybe she was onto something. He snapped, appearing in her place with her in his arms. "My dear Fluttershy," he said to her pink face. "You are a genius."
Maybe this human wasn't so bad. And maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't be bad company while she helped him figure out just why his magic couldn't heal himself. 
She cowered into his arms with a smile, and a red face he could very clearly see, though he assumed it was the compliment. "Oh, um, not really... But thank you though!" She said nervously, looking to the ground. He took that as a sign to let her down, so he snapped and she appeared standing in front of him. 
"Of course you are! So now! You're going to help me figure out just why my magic doesn't work," he explained, seeing her light up. Though it fell with her shoulders. 
"Um, actually..." she said, taking a glance down at the ground. "I was hoping if you'd stay here so I can help your cut," she said with a point at his bandages. He snapped again and appeared next to her with a paw draped over her shoulder and pulling her closer to him. He didn't know what it was, but he felt like he had more control of his magic around her, or the longer she had been there.
"Sure! It is going to take a bit to figure out what the hell is happening to my magic anyway," he said, wondering how her hair was so damn soft as it fell onto his already incredibly soft paw. "Besides, we can keep that little deal up," he said, letting go of her and snapping as he marched over to a chart with an anatomical drawing of a draconequus.
"Deal?" She asked, following him with wide eyes full of adoration up at the chart. The phrase 'Head of a pony and a body made up of all sorts of things' ran across the bottom as a floating light blue marker started drawing lines throughout the blank character. They ran like a nervous system.
"Yes, our little deal," he said nonchalantly, watching and controlling the light blue marker as it drew what would be circuits of his magic through him. He actually had no idea, but he assumed the diagram of magic flow where he could have stops and passages would help. "You come back here and look at my injury today, and I entertain you with telling you all about draconequui." The marker also would jerk in one direction due to his lack of control, he decide to leave it.
She stood up straight. "Oh, yes. I completely forgot," she said, running her hand through her hair in shock. He looked down at her. 
"Really?" He asked, totally unconvinced. But those teal eyes couldn't hold a lie as she nodded. He rolled his eyes and drug his paw down his face. How could a girl of such a violent species be so selfless. He didn't understand. 
She clasped her hands together and smiled. "Thank you for remembering, but if you don't want to tell me anything, that's okay," she said sweetly, watching a comically big eraser appear and erase a huge portion of the marker on the left side of his body. She assumed that was meant to be his injury, but it was erased on the wrong side. 
"What do you mean? Isn't that what you wanted?" He asked, watching her as she grabbed the floating marker away from his control and started drawing back in what he had erased. "What are you doing?" He asked, wondering how her version would help them at all. Did she even understand what he was drawing?
"Your wound's on the other side," she said, pulling away from the chart as she looked for the lid of the marker and didn't find one. She smiled up at him. "And yes, it is what I wanted," she continued, making confusion blossom in him again that he didn't necessarily want. "But spending time with you is just as amazing."
He shook his head. "Why are you so amazed by me? I mean, sure, I'm great, but a girl like you shouldn't be interested in an amalgamation of things," he said, hoping she didn't lecture him for his 'a girl like you' statement. 
She giggled and he almost wished she wouldn't. It didn't help that he disliked reconsidering his thoughts on an entire species because of her, or that her hair was the softest thing he'd ever touched, but she could at least not giggle like an angel. 
"I found a list of a bunch of mythological creatures and cryptids," she said as she grabbed the comically big eraser from his magic and erased the same shape he had erased before on his right side, the left of the drawing. "And when I came to a draconequus, I found nothing on it."
She smiled sadly as she obviously delved back into her thoughts. She also didn't need to be so pretty. "I don't know why, but it bugged me, and I really wanted to know something about it."
She turned and looked up at him with the most gorgeous smiles he had ever seen. And he thought psychopathy was the best traits of humans. "But I got to meet one," she said, her grin beaming. "And you're so much better than I imagined."
He simply stared at her as the sun shined on her and declared that at some times, he could like the sun goddess, if she could light up and already perfect image. But he also declared his dislike for this girl again. She didn't need to be this heavenly, sweet, gorgeous... or completely mind boggling.