It was the day after Pinkie Pie’s foal-welcoming party, which itself was the evening of the day Fluttershy and her foals had been released from the hospital. The last two days had been busy and exhausting, but rewarding in every way. All the excitement must still have been with Fluttershy, as she slept fitfully and finally got out of bed just as the first light of dawn was glowing in the east.
Fluttershy peered into the crib where her foals lay. Their cries were part of the reason Fluttershy hadn’t slept well, but she couldn’t blame them for that. Now, they were just beginning to stir again, and would probably be crying for breakfast in a minute or two. Their mother glanced out the window above their crib and saw that the clouds were rolling away to open the sky for a gloriously bright day. She winced. Lovely as sunlight still was to her, the long captivity she suffered only moons ago had caused her body to change profoundly in self-defense. Fluttershy still retained a few of her bat-pony traits, and as a result, she had a harder time functioning in bright light nowadays. This was the day she had told herself she would decide on names for her foals, but she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to give that important task the thought it would require if she was cowering and squinting uncomfortably in the shadows.
Fluttershy walked around to the other side of her bed and probed a hoof under the covers. “Discord? Are you up yet?”
The draconequus rose, rubbing the magically-induced sleep out of his eyes. “I am now. What do you need?”
“I was hoping you would take all of us to that pocket dimension. The really peaceful one? I want to name our foals today and I think it might help me think better.”
“Right now?”
Fluttershy glanced over at the crib when one of the foals began whimpering. “If… That’s okay.”
“It certainly is.” Discord rose into the air and moved to scoop both foals up and cradle them in his lion arm. Then he snapped.
Fluttershy sat and looked around. It was a little different this time. The oak tree under which she and Discord had sat together to watch the stars fall was now covered in flowers of every shape and color. At the other edge of the forest glade, near the banks of the stream, there were weeping willows swaying gently in the breeze. Fireflies blinked in and out above the grass, and the atmosphere smelled of crushed sassafras. As she was breathing it all in, Discord had set down the twins, and they were clumsily bundling over to her, mewling pitifully.
“Here, little ones,” Fluttershy purred, gently laying herself down and exposing her belly to the hungry foals. The pair wasted no time in tucking themselves in for breakfast.
Discord laid himself beside Fluttershy, curling his body affectionately around the whole brood. “It’s… amazing,” he said, looking on in wonder as the twins suckled.
“What is, Discord?”
“Why, them! A-and you!” He gave Fluttershy a brief nuzzle. “And I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it—you want me to be their father? To help raise these foals into ponies? Are you sure? What if they don’t accept me?”
“They will.”
“Okay, and what if they do? What, what if they try to emulate me and my crazy chaos? You’d have a household of maniacs on your hooves! How would you feel about that?”
“I think I would like that very much.” Fluttershy used her wing to pull Discord’s face down toward hers so she could kiss him on the cheek. “Your crazy chaos is part of what I like about you, you know.”
Discord didn’t respond.
“Discord, please, you know you can be honest with me. Have you decided you don’t want to be their father?”
In a flash, Discord had shot himself into the air and hovered and swirled over Fluttershy’s head in writhing anguish. “No, I do! Of course I do! I really, really want to be their father! I want to be right there beside you for the rest of your life.” He swallowed hard. “And, and mine. In fact, if I only have so little time left, there’s nothing in the whole multiverse I’d rather be doing! It’s just…” Discord trailed off into an exasperated moan and dumped himself back down into the grass. He pressed his paw down firmly for a moment, then lifted it, releasing a little geyser of irridescent leaves that squirted up into the air and then drifted off to blow in indolent swirls around the glade.
Finally, he turned back to Fluttershy and sat down beside her. “I’m just a little overwhelmed, that’s all.” He gestured toward the foals, who were just backing away from Fluttershy and sloppily licking the milk off their lips. “They’re so innocent, and pure, and wonderful, and I’m not sure I’m worthy of raising them. And I really don’t want to blow my last chance in life to do something meaningful.”
Fluttershy sat up and leaned herself over to hug Discord. “You old goofball,” she said. “I know you’re scared, but I also know you know how much is wrong with what you just said. You’ll make a wonderful father, and the twins will love you as much as I do. And there’s no one right way to be a parent, so don’t fuss so much about trying to be perfect. Also, you’ve already done so many meaningful things! You’ve saved Equestria, and you’ve saved me, you’ve taught at least a few ponies the truth that chaos and harmony go hand-in-hoof, and you’ve proven to the whole world than anyone can learn the magic of friendship and love.”
Then she released the hug and leaned back to look Discord in the eyes. “And you’ve won my heart. Isn’t that at least a little bit meaningful?”
Discord wiped his watery eyes with the tuft of hair at the end of his tail and smiled back at his pegasus. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
“We’ll have each other for the rest of our lives, Discord. I know there’s a lot to be uncertain about, but whatever comes up, we will always face it together.”
Fluttershy and Discord were still gazing at each other when a squeal caught their attention. They both looked down at the moment one of the foals launched himself at Discord’s cloven hoof. The foal collided with his target and bit down with his non-existent teeth, growling.
“Well, now,” Discord chuckled, lifting up the errant foal. “That’s no way to treat your old man, is it?” He booped the colt on his nose and then carefully set him back down next to his brother. “I think that little fella is anxious for his name.”
“Hmm.” Fluttershy studied the twins as they began to tussle. Her first-born had a glittery black swirl of a mane and a coat that was a dark, velvety red, the color of rich blood. His brother had a spiky mane of deep plum with faded pink highlights, and a coat that was a pale lavender-gray, almost like—no, he was rolling and squealing and full of life; it was not a deathly pallor. Fluttershy looked back and forth between her sons and was reminded with grief of their father. His influence in their dismal, morbid color palettes was obvious.
But she watched them wiggle and pounce on each other and smile with heartrending infant purity, and she was filled with hope. No, she told herself, they’re just little flowers. Yes, that’s how I’ll name them.
Fluttershy gently picked up the older foal, the red one, and hugged him against her chest. She gazed up at the infinite swirls of stars overhead as if to confirm her choice with them, and then smiled at her son. “Fiorello Garnet Dusk. My sweet little flower. And you,” she said, placing Fiorello back in the soft grass and turning to the foal who was now tugging at a lock of her tail, “what shall your name be?”
She picked up her second son and didn’t need to look up at the stars this time, for he was gazing at her with wide, soulful eyes that seemed to reflect the entire brilliant night sky back at her. “You are a blossom full of starlight, my love. Your name will be Coreopsis Stellurian Lux.”
Discord lifted Fiorello in one arm and then wrapped Fluttershy and Coreopsis in the other. “Fiorello Garnet Dusk and Coreopsis Stellurian Lux,” he repeated.
Fluttershy nodded. “Fio and Corey.”
“They’re perfect.” For a few moments, they sat comfortably together, Fluttershy leaning into Discord, and both parents gently stroking a foal as they watched the fireflies and floating leaves dancing in the glade.
But there was still another thought tugging at the back of Discord’s mind. “Hey, Fluttershy… You remember when we visited Twilight in the library for some research a couple weeks ago?”
“You never did tell me what you were researching while Twilight and I were off doing our thing.”
“Right, yes, well, I wasn’t really sure at the time I wanted to tell you. But now I think I do.”
“Well?” Fluttershy smiled up at him, expectantly.
“That was right after you reminded me how foals are a combination of their parents’ genetics. It got me to thinking—what a beautifully chaotic thing! There’s an awful lot one can make just from their own materials, but combine one creature’s resources with another? The possibilities for creation are almost endless! And you can combine the same two parents together over and over again and get something new and different every time, and each creation is simultaneously just like its source material and entirely novel! It’s amazing! It’s, it’s… It’s what chaos is all about, in a way!” Discord paused to pant in his excitement. In his arms, Fiorello was laughing in delight at his father’s impassioned rant.
Fluttershy looked on and felt herself warmed by Discord’s enthusiasm. “I see your research was pretty successful, then.”
Discord met her gaze. “No! That’s not even what I was looking into at the library!”
“Oh? What, then?”
“That’s the part I was hesitant to talk about,” he started, his voice much more reserved. “That whole process of making foals seemed so exciting, I got to wondering if I could… try it out for myself, someday.” He paused as if waiting for a response.
Fluttershy said nothing. She could see he had more to say and was nervously holding it back.
After a moment in which Fio started gnawing on one of his lion fingers, Discord continued. “I was looking up how well ponies are able to interbreed with other species. I thought maybe one day, somepony… Y-you… Might be willing to try it with me.” By now, Discord had hugged Fiorello much closer to him, as if subconsciously trying to hide behind the cheery little foal. “I know: it’s a silly thought. It’s probably not even possible anyway.”
Fluttershy regarded him for a minute, pausing in her stroking of Corey’s tummy. Then she reached up and gave Discord’s neck a gentle kiss. “It wouldn’t hurt to try and find out sometime, now would it?”
Discord flicked his ears in surprise. “Really?”
“Sure! But, let’s not bother with all of that until these two are a little older, don’t you think?”
“O-of course.”
Fluttershy tilted her lips up toward Discord’s and the two of them shared a kiss while the foals in each of their arms swatted playfully at one another.
And when they pulled apart, and set Fio and Corey back in the grass, and leaned into each other and entwined their tails, and watched their foals play together, Discord’s breath caught in his throat. He realized that for once, he was content. More than content. For the first time since he had discovered his own mortality, he thought, he might just be a tiny bit excited for what the future could bring.
.
.
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THE END