//------------------------------// // Spring Grooming // Story: Domestic Drabbles of Discord's Dimension // by GeekCat //------------------------------// Fluttershy yawned, stretching her wings as she woke up. She sat up and glanced around, searching for Discord. He was lying next to her, still fast asleep. She smiled and leaned over to rub her nose against his, brushing a hoof against his neck. He murmured happily in his sleep, smacking his lips as his eyelids twitched. While she giggled silently at his response, she withdrew her hoof...and saw that a clump of grey fur had stuck to it. She blinked and glanced at the bedsheet and blankets, seeing grey and brown furs scattered throughout it—not much, but enough to signal what was to come. Discord yawned loudly, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Hmmwha?" he muttered. "Zit morning already?" "Yes, it is," she said with a chuckle. "Good morning, sleepyhead." She leaned forward to nuzzle his cheek. "Humph," he said. "It's someone's fault I'm so tired this morning, you know. A certain yellow someone who kept me up late into the night..." She blushed brightly and buried her face into his fur. "Not that I'm complaining," he said. "In fact, I won't mind if we continued where we left off." Though her blush spread to her ears, she remembered something important. "Actually," she said. "There's something you should know." She pulled away from him and pulled back the covers, showing him the fur coating them. He stared at them for a few seconds, then looked back up at her. He reached up and rubbed at her muzzle, pulling his hand back and showing that a few strands of brown fur had been stuck to her face. He glanced between her, his hand, and the fur-coated covers, and then let out a heavy sigh. "That time of year again, eh..." "Mhmm," she said with a nod. He sighed again, seeming to deflate like a balloon. "Well, I'll...put these in the wash," he said. "Then we can eat breakfast and...take care of this." He gestured to his torso with an expression of disgust and annoyance. She patted his shoulder (which caused a few more strands of fur to drift down onto the covers). "Hey...maybe we can have a 'continuation' after we take care of it," she said with a smile. His own lips twitched into a smirk. "Well...that's something to look forward to, at least," he said with a purr. With a groan, he stretched out like a large cat, then rolled out of bed and onto the floor. She hopped out of bed after him. With a swipe of his claws, all of the blankets, sheets, and even pillowcases had been stripped off of the bed. Discord carried them away in a large bundle, waddling in the direction of the kitchen. Curious, she followed him...and watched him stop in the living room to dump all of the sheets into a wooden tub filled with soap and water. A washing board moved on its own and began to vigorously scrub the cloth, while he continued into the kitchen. She paused for a second to admire his creativity and magic, then followed him and helping him make pancakes with orange juice in the batter. Over the years, the two of them had discovered something interesting about Discord's fur—it grew thicker in the winter and began to shed in spring. Neither of them was sure if it was a biological or magical reaction to winter. Discord himself wasn't aware of it until she pointed out that he left clumps of brown and grey fur in their bed in the morning. It was a little embarrassing for him...enough that one spring, he nearly shaved all his fur off to prevent the shedding. She had eventually talked him down and assured him it was nothing to be embarrassed about...and after a while, they started a spring tradition. When he began shedding, he would allow her to bring out the fur brushes and brush him until he stopped shedding fur. It usually took a while, and though he enjoyed the attention, he would sometimes get bored. Some years they would do all of the 'spring grooming' at once, while other years they would take breaks, making the tradition last for days, sometimes up to a week. Which was why Discord laid on his stomach on their couch after breakfast, while she placed all the brushes she could find in front of her, trying to decide which to use first. He muttered and snapped up a neon green and purple vacuum with glowing pink lights on it...though after it hummed for a few seconds, it moved into a corner and became silent, the lights going out. "Thank you," she said. One of the first years of this tradition, they had just been so done after the brushing that they had left the room without cleaning up first...and woke up the next morning to see all of the fur they had left in the living room, whole piles and drifts of it. "Welcome," he grunted. "May I make a suggestion? Use the one with the green handle. It seems to pick up a lot more fur, and its bristles don't feel too rough." "This one?" she said, grabbing the first green one she saw and holding it up. "No, no, the lime green one, not emerald," he said. She switched brushes, and he nodded in confirmation. With her brush selected, she sat in front of him and began. She started at the base of his neck and stroked all the way to his tail, shaking the brush after each stroke. "Stupid fur..." he grumbled. "Why does it have to always embarrass me like this?" "This happens to a lot of creatures," she answered as she ran the brush through his fur. Yeesh, she was already picking up huge clumps. "Their coats get thicker as it gets colder, so they can keep warm. Then, when it gets warmer, they shed the extra fur so that they don't overheat." She pulled the fur out of the brush and ran it through his fur again. He muttered to himself about it, and she kept running the brush through his fur, often stopping to pull out large clumps. Even though he enjoyed her touch—she rubbed him behind his ears to make him feel better—he never liked feeling embarrassed. He sighed and visibly relaxed at her touch, sinking further into the couch as his tail lazily looped around her waist. She smiled and kept brushing, pausing every few strokes to pull the hair out of the brush. Everything was quiet, aside from the ruffling of his fur, the whir of the vacuum as it came to life whenever a fur touched the ground, and Discord's quiet, infrequent snorts and grumbles. Every so often, she would pause and stroke him behind the ear, or simply run her hoof down his back. And even while brushing, she rested her other hoof on him. Eventually, his grumbling died down, and he relaxed against the couch. She felt a bit sleepy...normally she would break the silence by talking to him, but she felt too tired to think of a conversation starter. And so she brushed and brushed and brushed, her eyes drooping closed as she fell into a rhythm. She didn't completely fall asleep, even if her mind grew fuzzy from the monotony, time passing by as she continued her chore. But then, there was something that startled her and made her blink awake—a sound from Discord. Blinking and shaking her head, she continued brushing, waiting to see if he would say anything. He didn't talk, but after a few moments, he made the noise again. It was a snorting, snuffling sound. "Sweetie?" she said quietly. "Are you bored? Do you want to take care of the rest later?" No response. Frowning, she set down her brush and moved towards his head. His eyes were closed, his expression was peaceful...and every so often, his lips parted enough to make that same snorting, snuffling sound. He had fallen asleep! She couldn't help but giggle a little at that. He really must have been worn out from last night...poor thing. She rubbed the top of his head, watching as a satisfied smile spread across his muzzle. Well, as tempting as a nap next to him was, his fur needed to be attended to. So she picked up her brush once again and stroked it through his fur. Eventually, she started picking up fewer clumps, and reached a point where only a fairly normal amount of fur stuck to the brush with each stroke. She took his shoulders and, being as gentle as possible, rolled him over so that he was lying on his back. He snorted loudly and smacked his lips, scratching at his stomach...but he didn't wake up. She smiled and placed a small kiss on his nose before getting back to work...this time on his belly fur. At some points, he would giggle in his sleep and stick out his tongue—probably thanks to her brushing his more sensitive spots. She chuckled to herself, but made sure to be especially careful around those areas, to avoid waking him. It came closer to noon, and she was finally finishing with his belly fur...for the most part. It was hard to tell where his fur was thick and where it had been thinned out, so she was sure that she had missed a few spots...but what mattered was the spots she did thin out in advance. She finished the brushing session by going to his head, scooping up a brush with soft bristles. She carefully ran it across his cheeks, muzzle, and ears, picking up and discarding a few clumps of grey fur. As she did this, Discord finally started to blink awake. "Wh...is it over already?" he asked as she ran it along the bridge of his nose. "Or are we just skipping ahead, and...we somehow jumped several hours forward in time?" She chuckled and stroked his cheek. "No...you fell asleep," she told him. "I think I got most of your winter fur...the rest should hopefully come off in the bath, or with some light morning brushing." "Mmm, yes," he said, rolling over and stretching out, shaking himself to remove a few strands of fur. "Thank you for finishing it after I fell asleep. Actually..." He rubbed at his eyes. "That was pretty restful. Maybe we should keep doing this in the future." "What, me brushing you while you nap?" He nodded, and she frowned in thought. "Well...I think I might have to tire you out first for you to fall asleep." He grinned widely. "I would not mind that one bit," he purred, leaning forward to nuzzle her cheek. "But speaking of tiring...sit down and let me pamper you!" He grabbed her shoulders, and the next thing she knew, she was the one sitting on the couch, while he presented her with a large daisy sandwich. "You've done something nice for me," he said, holding up a new brush. "Why don't I return the favor?" He ran the brush through her mane, and she sighed, relaxing and leaning forward to lie on her stomach. She smiled and nibbled at her sandwich as Discord continued brushing her mane. That felt nice...even if the attention was a little bit flustering. "Thank you," she said. "...anything for you," he answered, scratching behind her ear. "Anything for you."