Discord smiled to himself as he cleaned up around Fluttershy's cottage, simultaneously feeding several of the animals. He'd been living here... That was something to think about. Living here. This was home now. And it had been for three months now. Three months of the happiest time of his thousands upon thousands of years of life. Waking up curled up to Fluttershy, spending the day together, sharing their meals, talking about anything that came to mind, tending to the animals side by side, and then falling to sleep curled up to and around each other. Of course, there were also the 'nighttime activities', but Discord had managed to convince Fluttershy to limit themselves to 7 rounds at a time, and only once a week. She had agreed that there needed to be more to their lives - and their relationship - than that. The way she had said it, and the look she'd given him, had tried his resolve to the utmost limits. However, he was determined to spend the time they had together to the fullest.
Time...
He paused briefly in his movements, a frown crossing his face. Time, the one foe he could not conquer. Life and death, the one power beyond him. Time would eventually steal away Fluttershy's spark, wash her away on its endless flow, and death would take her away from him evermore. He couldn't change that, no matter how much he wanted to. The only life extension he could do was to leech the chaos out of the world completely, trapping everyone in the time loop of a single day, everyone living the same day over and over again into eternity. But that was no life, not for anyone. He wouldn't do that to her. He could only face the truth that one day she would be gone-
He shook his head violently. He wasn't going to think about that tonight. It was their three month anniversary, and he was going to make them both a special dinner, and they would spend the night just the two of them. Towards that end, he flipped his head open, pulled that unpleasant thought out, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the garbage disposal. "I'm not thinking about it," he said firmly as he switched it briefly on, snapping his head back shut. Finishing cleaning up, he put the last finishing touches on the special dinner he had prepared and lit candles for romantic lighting. Smiling as a more pleasant thought occurred to him, he snapped his talons. Romantic music began playing from the walls, providing the perfect ambiance.
The door opened as Fluttershy returned from her spa date with Rarity. Discord wasn't sure how it was possible, but she seemed even more beautiful than ever, despite the thoughtful frown on her face. She did smile when she saw everything he'd set up for her.
However, that smile faded as she sat down. "Discord," she said calmly, "we need to talk."
At those four words, Discord's brain went into overdrive. His common sense fled to the farthest reaches of Saddle Arabia, his panic set off every single alarm in his head, his sense of foreboding took a nosedive into a sea of doubt, and a metaphysical manifestation of the last vestiges of his pre-redemption persona that only he could see or hear appeared on his shoulder.
"Wuh-oh!" mini Discord proclaimed. "You're in trouble now, buddy!"
Discord gulped. "What is it, Fluttershy?" As much as he enjoyed the playful nicknames they'd come up with for each other, he could tell now wasn't the time.
Fluttershy sighed. "I was talking to Rarity at the spa today, and it got me thinking. Now, to explain, I need to share what we talked about." She locked eyes with him. "However, no one is to ever learn you heard about it from me, nor are you to act on what I share at all, alright?"
Discord smiled, performing the proper motions. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Fluttershy smiled sadly. "Rarity's trying to have a child with Spike."
"Well, you're screwed," mini Discord piped up. "If she's talking about babies, it can only mean her-" mini Discord transformed to add emphasis to his point, "-clock! Is! Ticking!"
Reaching up, Discord crushed the mini Discord into smoke, not needing the distraction just now. "Really? Is she now?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. See, she knows that Spike is going to outlive her by a good margin-" A strange noise came from the garbage disposal. "What was that?"
Discord waved his paw. "Nothing to worry about. You were saying?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Well, given how long dragons live, and the fact that they sometimes nap for a century or more at a time, she's worried the time might come where Spike might think what they had was...nothing more than something he dreamed up to stave off loneliness. So she wants to leave him a family born of their love, both to keep him company and to prove forever that they were real."
Discord nodded. "So very like her. But how does this lead to us needing to talk?"
Fluttershy looked up at him sadly. "Because when I go, you'll be even more alone than Spike, and-"
The garbage disposal exploded.
Fluttershy yelped, leaping into Discord's arms. "What was that?"
Sighing, Discord snapped his talons, repairing the sink and garbage disposal. Catching the stray thought, he stuffed it into his ear. "An unpleasant thought. Go on."
Sitting back down, Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "You really need to be more careful with those. They give the animals tummy aches." As Discord chuckled, she continued. "Well, I was just thinking. When...when Rarity dies, Spike will still have Twilight, and Celestia, and Luna, and he'll have made lots of friends amongst ponies, and maybe he'll have made friends amongst other races as well, so he'll still have company, even family. But, you've only really bonded with me. You don't really have a strong relationship with Twilight, or Spike, or the Princesses, or anyone else. When I die...you'll be all alone again." She closed her eyes against tears. "And...that was what made you go wrong before. I don't want you to be alone...ever again."
Discord floated over to beside her, dinner forgotten. "Fluttershy..." He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him. "There isn't really anything that can be done to change that. That's the unpleasant thought I didn't want to cloud tonight."
Fluttershy looked up at him, smiling. "But Discord...there is a solution."
Discord blinked. "There is? What?"
"The same one Rarity's using."
Discord's brain was not responding well. He kept getting error messages. He made a mental note to stop using Windows. "I'm not sure I follow."
Fluttershy smiled seductively up at Discord. "Discord...I'm saying I want to have your baby."
Discord's brain chose that moment to abandon him completely, climbing out of his skull to run away. Unfortunately, Fluttershy snagged it on its way out and stuffed it right back in. He managed to gather his thoughts. "Fluttershy, I don't think you really understand what you're asking-"
"That's because I'm not asking, Discord," Fluttershy replied, her eyes becoming very intense, much like when she used the Stare. Unlike then, however, the power of the gaze seemed to reach right through his eyes to the part of his brain keyed into his more primal impulses and play them like a lute. "I'm in heat today, Discord. Do you know what that means?" Discord shook his head dumbly. "It means I'm going to go upstairs. You are going to join me, soon, before I start without you. Then, you're going to rut me, and get me pregnant. Understood?"
The heat in her voice, the way her eyes stared into him with such hungry intensity, and the way her hoof was trailing circles on his chest as she spoke, left him only one real response. He nodded dumbly.
"Good," she said, turning towards the stairs, dinner forgotten. Halfway there, she turned back. "Don't keep me waiting too long." The only thing that kept Discord from fainting dead away was seeing the beginnings of a furious blush forming on her cheeks, although that just made his heart almost give out.
As she headed up the stairs, he turned and sighed at dinner. "Well, not what I'd planned for our anniversary," he said quietly, going around to pull curtains down on all the windows. "Then again, you don't get anywhere telling your mare 'no'." With a last smile, he pulled one last curtain down over the fourth wall.
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Discord lay back, breathing heavily as he smiled up at Fluttershy. He had done as she had asked. He had guaranteed it.
She looked down at him lovingly, but there was a bit of a frown on her face. "Are you alright, Discord? You're normally nowhere near this tired after only the first round."
He smiled up at her. "That's probably because this time took more out of me. Literally."
Fluttershy blinked, confused. "I...don't understand."
Discord chuckled. "It's a long story." Seeing her looking at him attentively, he smiled. "How much do you know about a creature named..." He hesitated, unsure he even wanted to speak the name. "...Tirek?"
Fluttershy tilted her head. "Not much. The name comes up in a few of the darker stories I've read at the library, but there's nothing concrete, except that he was a great evil from the era before the creation of the Elements of Harmony."
Discord nodded. "That's right. But there's more to the story." He conjured an image of the planet. "See here? This is modern Equestria. Up here in the north, where the Crystal Empire is now? That's where Hurricane, Platinum, and Puddinghead had their rule. The blizzard described in the history is what created the northern wastes." He then gestured to an area to the far, far south. "This is Celestia and Luna's homeland...and where I originally came from. A kingdom thrived here in peace and tranquility, ruled by Celestia and Luna's parents, King Starfall and Queen Earthsea." He sighed. "Peace and tranquility...until Tirek attacked. He wielded magic the ponies could not comprehend, and transformed many of them into half dragon servants that he turned against their friends and loved ones. However, King Starfall called out to the stars for aid, and an artifact of immense power came to him...the Rainbow of Light. Using it, the transformations were reversed and Tirek was driven back."
Discord conjured up images of the struggle, sugar coating the battles so as to spare Fluttershy the true brutality of the conflict. "This cycle continued for quite some time. Starfall and Earthsea, guiding their ponies, turned the Rainbow of Light against Tirek, forcing him back time after time. However, he found an opportunity when Earthsea went into labor with their second daughter. He brought forth his magic, but did not strike at the ponies. He struck at the Rainbow of Light itself. The overload of magic shattered it, and the backlash slew Starfall." Discord made the images vanish. "The ponies who had been transformed previously found themselves back into their transformed states, although they were no longer bound by Tirek's will. He also lacked the power to transform more ponies, as that had been consumed by the backlash of the Rainbow of Light's destruction. Amongst the ponies were now creatures who were part dragon, part pony...an entire new species, practically. Ponies called them Kirin. However, they called themselves...draconequui,"
Fluttershy gasped. "You mean...your people?"
Discord shook his head. "Not exactly. See, even without that magic, Tirek was still a very dangerous threat. And without the Rainbow of Light, the ponies had no defense. Then, during one of his assaults, several draconequui wielded their power together against him...and he was driven back, forced to flee. The draconequui's magic was a fusion of the power he'd wielded against them and the magic left behind by the Rainbow of Light. However, it wasn't strong enough in small groups. ...so they chose to act differently.
"The draconequui gathered, and discussed the situation. At the end, they came to a conclusion, a way to join all their power to fight Tirek. The entire race agreed unanimously. And so, they drew the circles, prepared the magic...and when the time came, every stallion, mare, and foal amongst them drew forth the ritual dagger...and plunged it into their own hearts."
Fluttershy gasped in shock and fear. "How...how could they do that?"
Discord sighed. "Because it was the only way to join their entire race as a single entity, an amalgamation of every life force, every soul, every drop of magic amongst them, bonded with the magic of the world itself, into an entity that could not be bound by any laws, be they physical or civic. An entity capable of meeting Tirek on his own terms and destroying him. An entity...of pure chaos."
Fluttershy stared at him. "...you?"
He nodded. "Yes. That is how I was born. I have within me the soul of every draconequui. It's why I called myself the draconequues. I am the entire race, in singular. However, because of that nature, I can't have children in the usual way."
Fluttershy blinked. "Then...how can you?"
Discord smiled. "The way we did. I took a piece of my spiritual energy - a small piece, mind, I'll barely miss it - and embedded it into your womb, to grow into a new child. The child will be draconequues, but not as I am. He or she will most likely resemble you, but with a few of my features, and a good amount of my magic."
Fluttershy leaned into him, lost in thought. "Wow..." She started to doze off. "You'll have to tell me more about all of this some time."
"There's one thing I need to tell you now, actually," Discord continued, somewhat nervously. "See, because of the magical nature of the child, he or she will take...a mite longer to develop than normal. An...extended pregnancy, if you will."
Fluttershy's eyes snapped open. "How much longer?"
Discord ran through a few mental calculations. "Umm...two years, total. That's not too bad, right?"
Fluttershy stared at him, her eyes going wide. "What?"