//------------------------------// // Cocoa Cuddles // Story: Domestic Drabbles of Discord's Dimension // by GeekCat //------------------------------// The door to Fluttershy's old cottage was flung open with great force, slamming against the inside wall. Cold winter winds screamed and howled, already pushing their way into the house and dropping icy sharp snowflakes onto the carpet. A pair of mismatched arms, hidden under layers of fabric, quickly ushered a shorter bundle of winter clothes inside. The bundle shivered, wrapping two wing covers around itself and turning back to look at its partner. The owner of the mismatched arms hustled inside, slamming the door closed behind them with great force and snapping their fingers, creating five different locks and a bolt to keep it shut and the winds out. "Phew!" they declared, tugging two scarves away from their neck and muzzle. "I wasn't expecting the winter storm to come quite this early. Sorry about that, Shyfly." The bundle of winter clothes started pulling itself apart, a hat and a scarf pulled away to reveal a yellow muzzle and long pink mane. "It's okay," Fluttershy assured him. "We got in safely, didn't we?" "That we did," Discord said, shivering and shedding his coat, hats, mittens, and boots like a snake, leaving them sitting in a pile on the now-damp carpet. After taking a moment to smooth down parts of his fur and mane that were sticking up, he snapped his fingers and made a roaring fire spring up in the fireplace. "Still, it's probably best we take plenty of time to warm up." Fluttershy nodded, relaxing as warmth quickly started to fill the room—Discord must have been using magic to speed it up. Not that she could blame him. Even bundled under a thick coat, and multiple scarves and hats (Discord kept adding more as they had pushed through the wind and snow back to the cottage), she could still feel sharp icy flakes stabbing any open skin they could find, the wind's cold fingers threatening to pick her up, tear off her protection, and toss her into a snowbank. Not that Discord would have allowed that to happen to either of them. He teleported over to her side as she kicked off her boots and fumbled with the cold zipper of her coat. He helped her unzip it and pull it off, and then began to pull off the other clothing articles he had added to her ensemble. She wouldn't have normally worn so many hats and scarves (there were at least three of each) or wing bling, but he had made a good argument about the day getting colder as they spent time outside. At least he hadn't tucked all those offered hot water bottles into her coat...she had to draw the line somewhere. Once she had been freed from the bundle, Discord tossed all her clothes into a pile next to his own. "Don't worry, I'll clean everything up later," he said, going through the motions of the Pinkie Promise in a blink of an eye. "Thank you," she said with a smile. He smiled and nodded, heading back over to the fire and poking at it with a staff. Each prod made it change color, shift into shapes, or make the room just a little bit hotter or colder. She smiled, watching him work for a few minutes before heading to the nearest window. The glass was so dark that she had to lean her muzzle close to the glass before she could begin to see anything outside, even though it was in the middle of the afternoon. "I hope all of our snowcreatures will be okay," she said, placing her hooves against the windowsill and peering outside. The snow was so thick in the air that it was impossible to see even a foot away, and her breath fogged the cold glass. "Of course they will!" Discord declared. She glanced over just in time to see him snap his tail feathers. "They're an army created by us, after all. There's no way a little storm like this will be enough to take them out." A smile flickered onto her muzzle, and she stepped away from the window, closing the curtains. She heard him snap his fingers, and a thick gold ribbon appeared to tie them shut. "So, how about some hot chocolate?" he asked. She turned and saw him standing in front of a red-and-yellow fire, a steaming pitcher of bubbling brown liquid in his paw. "That sounds wonderful," she said with a smile, approaching and taking a seat on the couch. A bit of hot chocolate would be just the thing to banish the chill that still clung to her ears, hooves, and the edges of her wings. Discord smiled and snapped his fingers. Two mugs appeared in midair—one black and crisscrossed with colorful lines, with the words #1 Chaos Entity in front, and one yellow with a pink rim, and the pink words Best Pony on the side. Carefully, he poured equal amounts of hot chocolate into both mugs. Fluttershy took a deep breath—she could already smell how chocolatey and delicious the drinks would be. Discord set the pitcher next to the fire with his tail, sprinkling a bit of cinnamon onto both drinks before summoning a bag of marshmallows. One handful went into his mug, and two went into hers. He plopped next to her on the couch. "Here you go," he said, handing her the steaming mug. "One hot chocolate, with extra marshmallows for the sweet marshmallow." He patted the top of her head, snickering to himself. She stuck her tongue out at him, taking a sip of the hot drink. It was sweet and delicious. Her eyes flicked over to the bag of marshmallows, then to him slurping his own drink. The marshmallows. Him. The marshmallows. "Something wrong?" he asked, setting the mug in his lap. She shook her head, reaching into the bag. She grabbed a large hoofful of marshmallows...and plopped them into his drink. "Extra marshmallows for the marshmallow," she said, parroting back his words. He stared at her blankly for a few moments...then dramatically reared back, gasping and placing his claw against his chest. "Oh, you did not," he said, eyes wide with feigned shock. She had to bite her tongue before she started giggling. "I did," she countered. "Oh, it. Is. On," he said, his eyes gleaming as his pupils narrowed into slits. He reached into the bag, grabbed another handful of fluffy marshmallows...and tossed them at her. "You're the marshmallow here!" he declared as they bounced off of her muzzle and forehead. She blinked, leaning backward in shock. Discord cackled, pausing to take a quick sip of his cocoa before grabbing another handful of marshmallows and tossing them at her shoulder. She laughed, ducking her head and raising her forelegs to try and shield herself from the onslaught. Discord snapped up an armful of jumbo-sized marshmallows, laughing and tossing them at her one at a time. She giggled as they bounced off of her forelegs and shoulders. But as fun as this was, her mind was racing, trying to figure out some kind of counterattack. Her eyes landed on the open bag of marshmallows. With his new ammo, Discord wasn't paying as much attention to the smaller sweets...which gave her the perfect opportunity. Carefully setting her mug on the side table, where it was out of the way, she dropped onto her stomach, ducking just underneath three large marshmallows. While her husband was still blinking in surprise from her sudden dodge, she used her hind legs to push herself forward on the couch. She grabbed the bag, stuck her hoof inside, and blindly threw as many marshmallows as she could grab at him, aiming in the general direction of his face. To her surprise, he easily snapped the marshmallows out of the air, his jaws snapping shut with a loud click. "Mmm, delicious," he said, licking his lips. "...though I can see a much more delicious marshmallow right in front of me." Heat rose in her face, and an embarrassed gasp escaped her. He gave her a wide, toothy grin, which did not help her embarrassment in the slightest. Only one thing to do...she grabbed another hoofful of marshmallows and tossed them at him. They bounced off of his nose, which twitched as he blinked, rearing back a bit. His lips wobbled, and he started to snicker. "You still think you can win?" he said, chuckling. "Me, the champion of food fights? I ask you, who won our snowball fight earlier?" "...me," she said quietly, sitting up and trying to puff her chest out the way he did when he boasted. He paused, seeming almost frozen for a second before he shook his head. "...we'll say it was a tie," he said. Even though he had been the one pinned to a tree, surrendering to her greater number of crudely formed snowballs and her great accuracy with them. "But this is an area where you won't win, treasure!" His chest puffed out. He still held an armful of large marshmallows, much more ammunition compared to her crumbled and depleted bag. Still...even if it was silly, doing this was just too much fun. And so, Fluttershy pulled out a single tiny marshmallow, set it on her tail, and flicked it at him. It bounced off the center of his forehead, landing on the couch and rolling to the floor. Discord followed it with his eyes until it was out of sight. His gaze then flicked back to her, and he gave her a grin that made his snaggletooth gleam, its sharp edge very obvious. "You asked for it," he said. His tail moved to the side, just enough that she could see it...and watch his he snapped his tail feathers. A flash of light appeared above her head, bright enough to draw her attention and make her look up. A swirling white and brown portal had appeared above her...and as soon as she had looked at it, marshmallows of all shapes, sizes, and even colors began to pour from it and on top of her. After a few moments, the rushing sweets stopped, but she was already buried under a pile of marshmallows. She munched on a few pink heart-shaped ones, then shook herself and sat up. Enough marshmallows fell away that at least her head could emerge. Discord grinned smugly, especially when he saw she was munching on a few of the sweets. "Give up yet?" he asked. He pointed above her, and a quick glance told her that the portal was still positioned above her. Well, there was no beating his magic. She sighed dramatically and held a hoof out to him, spilling even more marshmallows on the floor. "You win this round," she said. "...but I won the snowball fight." He snorted. "Fine, if you must insist," he said, dramatically rolling his eyes and shaking her hoof. He glanced around the room, huffed again, and snapped his fingers. The marshmallows she was buried in, and all the others that had ended up scattered around the room during their antics, shuddered and floated towards the back of the couch. She turned to watch curiously. The marshmallows all congregated into several oddly shaped statues, though a few were recognizable as ponies and Nirik. "I think I made a few too many to roast, but at least I can do something interesting with them," Discord said, leaning closer and nuzzling the top of her head as she giggled. For a moment, she felt his body temperature rise, radiating a burst of warmth just for her. With their food fight finished, she reached out with a wing to grab her mug of hot chocolate, bringing it back into her hooves and taking a sip. Still as perfectly hot as when he had given it to her. She caught him smirking smugly as he took a sip of his own cocoa. She raised a hoof to her lips, hiding a smile of her own. She leaned against his side, looking into the fire as it made shapes reminiscent of dancing Nirik. She felt comfortably warm now, almost sleepy...especially when she pressed her cheek against Discord's soft fur. Right now, he smelled strongly of chocolate and marshmallows. It was pleasant. Discord wrapped an arm around her, draping a knit blanket around her as he did so. "Comfy?" he asked. "Very," she said, nuzzling his side and taking a long drink of her hot chocolate. "That's—" Discord yawned loudly, showing off all of his fangs. "—good to hear." He smacked his lips and blinked, taking a sip of cocoa. Fluttershy couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Feeling a little worn out?" "Chaos does not get worn down or defeated," he said proudly, stirring a little more cinnamon into his drink. She smirked and rose an eyebrow. "...but chaos does get tempted to take it easy and rest with the bestest, favoritest pony in the world." He bent his neck and gently nuzzled the very top of her forehead, placing a brief kiss there before pulling away. She smiled, grabbing the edge of the blanket and pulling it over so that it rested over both of them. Discord blinked, then smiled warmly, snapping his fingers and creating a few more blankets for them to share and huddle under. With a bit of shifting, they were completely shielded from any potential cold air, with only their heads and forelimbs poking out. Fluttershy yawned widely, leaning more of her weight against his side as she felt him wrap his tail around her waist. She closed her eyes, basking in the heat of the fire as she took another long sip of hot chocolate. She could feel Discord's breath slowing and becoming heavy, and glanced up to see his eyes half-lidded. She leaned up enough to kiss his neck, right underneath his cheek, and saw him smile softly. With another yawn, she laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes and holding her steaming mug close to her. She was pleasantly warm, and with Discord next to her, she could almost forget about the raging winter storm outside.