//------------------------------//
// The Healer's Touch 
// Story: Domestic Drabbles of Discord's Dimension 
// by GeekCat 
//------------------------------//

"Flutershyyyyy!" Discord cried from somewhere inside the house. Her ears flicked up, and she put her book to the side, jumping out of bed.

"Discord? Where are you?" she shouted back in response, her voice echoing down the halls.

"I'm in—ow—the art room! Hurry, please!" he called back.

She quickly galloped down the hall, searching for the door to the art room. The layout of the house was shuffled every so often, though she had becoming skilled in figuring out the new locations of rooms. Now, though, when she worried for her husband's safety, it was difficult to think of how the house was laid out this week.

Finally, she found a wooden door splattered with paint, the handle crudely carved out of wood. "Discord!" she cried, throwing the door open.

Discord was standing in front of the woodworking bench, cradling his claw in front of him. She quickly rushed to his side. "What is it? What's wrong?"

He turned to her, his eyes wide and shiny, a large pout on his face. He slowly held his claw out towards her, and said in a plantative whine,

"Splinter!"

Indeed, imbedded in his middle claw was a fairly large sliver of wood. Defintely not pleasant, but definetly not life-threatening, either. She sighed, dropping back to the ground. "Discord...you have magic and fingers. You're more than capable of pulling it out yourself."

"I can't!" he cried. He raised in claw delicately into a snapping position, showing it was impossible with the splinter in the way. He grabbed at it with his fingers, but winced and flinched away when he barely touched it.

"Why can't you snap it away with your other hand, or with your tail?" she asked.

He whined, "I don't know how much it's going to hurt when it disappears. That awful future pain is preventing me on focusing on getting rid of it!" He held his claw out again. "Please, Fluttershy! I know you know some way of getting this out without any pain!"

She sighed. "Alright. Come with me." She flew back down the hall towards the living room, and he floated slowly behind her. "Lay down on the couch, please. And make yourself comfortable."

He laid down on his back, using his paw to fluff a pillow while he kept his claw against his chest. She flew out and into the bathroom, grabbing their small first-aid kit. She came back into the living room and saw Discord pouting on the couch.

She set the kit beside him, then walked to their record player. She slid in his favorite record and adjusted the volume. Soft, screeching static filled the room. Next, she opened the curtains wide, showing the ever-shifting, multicolored sky outside. A living book flew past, waving a spindly appendage at her.

After waving back, she came back to Discord's side and opened the kit. "Okay, Discord. If I'm going to get out that splinter, I need you to do two things for me: give me your claw, and focus on that window and the...music."

He pried his claw away from his chest and handed it to Fluttershy. He kept it as stiff as a board, and had his eyes trained on her. "Sweetie, I just need you to relax and look out the window."

He snorted and turned his head, shifting so that he was lying on his side. She gently rubbed at his still-stiff arm. With a sigh, he pressed his paw against his shoulder, and his arm became as limp as a noodle. "Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you." She took the tweezers from the kit, but realized he was still watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Why don't you tell me what you were doing in the art room?"

His gaze shifted towards the window. "Well...I had just read about something interesting. Some unicorns at Twilight's school figured out how to used their magic to engrave wood!" 

Fluttershy grabbed the tweezers in her mouth, pinched down on the splinter, and quickly pulled it out in one swift motion.

"Really impressive designs, too. They need to use their magic at just the right amount of power to etch and cut through the wood, instead of just, say, burning it. I figured I might try my hand at it with my own magic."

She noticed a tiny drop of blood appear as she dropped the splinter onto a paper towel. She grabbed a cotton ball and a small bottle of disinfectant, softly dabbing at his injury. His claw twitched lightly.

"And things weren't going perfectly for me. I may have burned some wood, set a few pieces on fire...but finally, finally I figured it out! I was going to etch a picture of us, then cut out the shape of a heart, but then, a small part of the wood got burnt."

She dropped the cotton ball onto the same paper towel as the splinter. Fishing through the kit, she pulled put a band-aid with a cartoonish version of Discord's smiling face printed on it. She carefully wrapped it around his finger, making sure to not press down harshly where he had bled.

"So I figured I'd just brush away that burn mark with a little magic. But when I was doing that with my claw...something poked me. And once I pulled away, I felt an immense pain travel up my arm, coursing through me! Once I figured out what had happened, I called for you, and you know the rest."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "Thank you. I feel more relaxed now that I've gotten that off of my chest." He squeezed the pillow in his paw. "I...I think I'm ready now. P-pull it out, Fluttershy."

"I'm already done," she said, closing the kit.

He opened his eyes and sat up. "Wait...what? But—"

"You didn't feel it?" He nodded, and she continued, "I pulled it out when you first started talking. See? It didn't hurt that much, did it?"

He raised his arm, looking at his hand from every angle. Slowly, he brought his fingers into a snapping position, but winced. "It's still kind of sore," he said, giving his claw a disdainful shake.

"It just needs some time to heal," she told him. "You'll be better before you know it!" She gently took his claw in her hooves and gave his injured finger a light kiss.

A shiver traveled up his arm, his ears shooting up when it reached his shoulder. A wide grin spread on his face, and he clasped his hands to his chest as she pulled away and lifted up the kit, hovering into the air. "Thank you, dear Fluttershy," he said softly.

She smiled. "You're welcome, Discord. Would you like to come read a book with me? It'll take your mind off of your finger."

"I would like that," he said, following her out of the living room. He summoned a book and made himself comfortable in bed while Fluttershy put away the kit. A minute later, she climbed into bed and leaned against his side, opening her own book.

Leaning against each other, tails curled together, and with his hand on top of her head...Discord slowly forgot about the soreness of his finger.