//------------------------------// // Hoofrest // Story: Domestic Drabbles of Discord's Dimension // by GeekCat //------------------------------// Fluttershy hummed to herself as she knit a sock while lying on the couch. She was only about halfway done with it, but didn't feel rushed to complete it—she didn't have anything specific in mind for it. Discord had headed out in the morning, declaring that he heard the call of adventure. She had gone to the sanctuary to make sure everything was running smoothly, and seeing that it was, headed back home for a day of relaxation. She had read, and knit, and baked a pie...She felt productive, but she found herself hoping that Discord would return home soon. As though summoned by her thoughts, the door slammed open, and she lifted her head with a smile, ready to greet Discord. But the greeting died on her lips and turned into a small yelp when she saw him. "What happened!?" Discord was covered head to toe in ice and snow. To her relief, he was at least wearing goggles and a coat that had kept his eyes and torso safe...though most of his body was still covered in frost, and icicles hung from his horns and beard. He peeled off his coat and goggles, then dropped to all fours and shook himself like a dog, scattering snow everywhere. "The Yakyakistan mountains!" he said cheerfully, strolling over to her. "Did you know there's a blizzard going on over there? Oh, I haven't had that fun of a hike in ages!" "Hike?" she said. She knew perfectly well that Discord could handle himself, especially when he had his magic...but still, she couldn't help but fret whenever he threw himself into some kind of danger. She hopped off of the couch and wrapped her foreleg around his arm. She shivered as she did so—his fur was freezing! But she gave it a squeeze and quickly guided him over to the couch. "I mean...I know it was dangerous, but it doesn't even make the top-ten list of the most dangerous things I've done," he said as he laid on the couch. Still, he didn't protest as she draped a thick blanket over him and started a fire in the fireplace they thankfully had in the living room right now. His eyes drifted closed, and he relaxed. "This is...this is nice," he mumbled. She smiled and stroked his forehead, wincing when she felt how icy cold his skin was. "I'll get you something warm to eat and drink," she told him. One eye cracked open to peer at her, and he slowly nodded. She placed a brief kiss on his cold cheek before heading into the kitchen. She quickly got to work by boiling a kettle of tea. While waiting for it to finish, she went to the pie she had baked earlier—a mix of blueberry and blackberry. It was still warm, and she cut out a large slice to put on a plate. Once the tea was done, she added lemon, honey, and sugar to it—hoping that it could help in advance if Discord had caught some kind of cold. She poured a cup and placed it and the teapot on a tray with the pie, smiling as she tried to tilt them to be at angles with each other. She headed back into the living room with the tea and pie...but stopped when she noticed another Discord standing in front of her prone husband. This one had a long blond mane and was wearing a nurse's white uniform. "Give it to me straight, nurse," Discord moaned as Nurse Discord inspected his feet, turning them over in his hands. "How bad is it?" Nurse Discord clicked his tongue. "Oh, it's terrible," he said in a soprano voice. "There's nothing else we can do. We're going to have to..." Suddenly, he whipped a chainsaw out from nowhere, pulling the cord to rev it to life. "...amputate," he finished. The chainsaw roared. Nurse Discord laughed maniacally. Discord moaned and cowered away, but seemed to be on the verge of laughing himself. "Discord!" Fluttershy yelled, catching both of their attentions. They both stopped laughing, and Nurse Discord tried (and failed) to hide the chainsaw behind his back. "I...have some shots to give!" he declared, his soprano voice cracking before he vanished in a flash of light. Discord grinned innocently, a halo appearing above his head as she approached with the pie and tea. "No telling who gets out of medical school these days," he said. "So...Doc, what's the news?" She was slightly startled when a white coat and stethoscope appeared on her body. But she quickly recovered from the shock and handed him the food before moving over to his feet. She carefully inspected them, rubbing them gently with her hooves and causing visible shivers to travel up his body. "Well...there are no signs of frostbite," she said, feeling relieved. "But they're as cold as ice, and I think you have rocks and pebbles stuck in your hoof and your scales." "Rocks and pebbles!?" he said as he took a messy bite of pie, looking aghast. "What would anyone say if they knew the impeccable Lord of Chaos had rocks get stuck in his feet?" She shrugged, not having an answer. She suspected that his worry was less about what others thought, and more about his desire to maintain a good image...and his discomfort at having things stuck in his scales. He frowned and shifted as he took another bite of pie. "Docter Fluttershy...they were cold and numb a few minutes ago, but now they're starting to feel uncomfortable. Is that a normal part of the thawing process?" "Well...yes," she told him. "Getting feeling back in your feet will probably feel unpleasant. But they're probably also sore because you just went hiking over rocky, snow-covered mountains..." "Ah..." he said, sipping at his tea. "I understand. Do you have any sort of cure or remedy?" She pursed her lips in thought. Her eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "I just might," she said with a grin. "Wait here...and no amputation!" "Aww, do you have to spoil my fun?" he said...though the grin on his face was wide. She snickered a bit, but quickly headed towards their bathroom. Her coat and stethoscope disappeared. It took a lot of digging around, but she eventually found a tin basin, one she would sometimes use to wash animals if she couldn't find any others. A bag of bath salt was much easier to find in comparison. She flew back to the living room and left the salt there. Discord watched her curiously as she headed into the kitchen with the basin. There, she filled it with hot water. She took her time to carefully go back to the living room (and managed to only spill a little bit of the water!) and placed the basin in front of the couch once there. She poured some of the bath salt in, then used her hoof to mix the solution. "Okay, I think it's ready," she told him. "I'll help you sit up, and then you can put your feet in." She carefully gripped his lion arm, pushing him up into a sitting position. He lifted himself with ease, leaning against the back of the couch, his feet dangling just over the hot water. Discord slowly placed both of his feet into the tub. He moaned loudly, his head falling back enough that his horns touched his shoulders. "Um...how does it feel?" she asked, not sure whether to interpret his reaction as positive or negative. "Wonderful," he moaned, his head slowly rising. "Oh, I can feel the heat sinking into them, the salt scouring away the soreness..." His dragon toes wriggled. "Fluttershy, you never cease to amaze me with the ideas you come up with." She beamed. "It's not completely mine," she admitted. "The spa does things like this sometimes...and other ponies do things to replicate it for their own at-home spas." "Well, you remembered it, and it works," he said. "Thus, you get all the credit for making this." With a snap of his fingers, a silver medal appeared, hanging around her neck. Spa Maker, it read, with a picture of a relaxing pony engraved on it. "Let me guess...you have the gold?" she said with a smile. "Exactly right!" he exclaimed as his matching gold medal appeared on his chest. "Oh, is someone aiming for the gold medal in correctly guessing things about me?" She laughed, and he chuckled. He patted the couch next to him. "Why don't you hop up?" he said. "Plenty of space to go around! But not enough blanket. That's all mine." She chuckled, and was about to sit next to him...but paused, glancing at his soaking feet. "Maybe in a minute," she said. "There's something I want to do, first." "Alright," he said, dipping his slice of pie into his teacup. She smiled and headed back into the kitchen, grabbing a washcloth. Discord eyed her curiously as she returned. She sat next to the tub, leaning her side against the couch, and soaked the cloth in the water. She gently took his dragon foot in her hooves, and carefully rubbed it with the washcloth. She added just enough pressure to massage his sore muscles, but not enough to possibly cause him more soreness. Discord sighed blissfully as she did so, his toes wriggling. She smiled...though still, as she worked, she couldn't help but notice the tiny pebbles that had stubbornly stuck between his scales. She frowned, and carefully began to pick them out, giving every spot a massaging rub after doing so. "...thanks," Discord said quietly, his eyes closed. "It already...feels better, without them there." She smiled and continued her work. "I think the water dislodged most, at least," she said. Looking at it, she could see a bit of dirt in the water, and a few pebbles at the bottom. "That's good," he said. He relaxed, his foot going completely limp in her hooves. His only movement was to occasionally lift up his teacup and take small sips. Eventually, she had cleaned his entire foot. His emerald scales sparkled, and his toes wriggled, free of any pebbles or specks of dirt that could impede them. She smiled and stood up, sitting back down on his other side. She lifted his goat hoof and repeated the process. She wasn't able to massage it, exactly, though she tried her best around his ankle. His hoof was easier to polish dirt off of, and only had one place for pebbles to get stuck—the split in between, which she quickly (but gently) cleaned out. Once it was cleaned, and almost back to its sparkling, glossy self, she gently set his hoof back into the water. She draped the washcloth over the side of the basin, then crawled onto the couch and leaned against Discord's side. "I could swap the water out for...cleaner water later," she said, snuggling into his fur. It was still cold, but not freezing. "I'm just going to rest for a bit." "Perfectly understandable," he said. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "...that was quite lovely," he said. "Thank you for that...I feel better already." He kissed her forehead. A soft smile spread across her muzzle. "I'm glad you liked it." "Of course..." he said, looking at her and stroking his beard. "One of these days, I'm going to use that remedy on you," he said with a grin, poking her nose. "Hoof massage and all." She giggled and beamed at him. "I wouldn't mind that," she admitted. "You give really good massages, you know." "I do know," he said with a smug grin. "And it's good that the most important pony recognizes it!" She laughed, wrapping her forelegs around him in a hug. He hugged her back, his paw gently stroking between her wings. "...why don't I return the favor right now?" he whispered into her ear. Before she could ask what he meant, he was suddenly holding both of her forehooves in his hands. He released his hold on one, and began to gently massage the other. She sighed as her muscles relaxed, both from the attention and the magical heat from his hands. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch. "That good, huh?" Discord said, a hint of smugness in his voice. "Better than good," she answered. His hands paused for a second before continuing...and when she cracked one eye open, there was a small blush on his muzzle. She smiled, giggling to herself. She closed her eyes and leaned back against Discord's torso as he continued massaging her hooves. From one of them relaxing to the other...she giggled a bit more at that thought. Discord's tail wrapped around her waist, and she felt him pull her closer. She smiled and corrected herself—they were both helping each other relax.