//------------------------------// // The Perfect Marefriend [Romance, Sad?] // Story: Half-Hour Horses // by HoofAndQuill //------------------------------// (The prompt: Discord gives interesting romantic advice.) (Not really fond of this one, the time limit crept up on me and it ends a little abruptly. Also my Discord is maybe a little too Q.) Fluttershy hummed happily to herself as she floated gently around her bedroom, getting ready for the evening. It was all so new and exciting! She had never had a special somepony before, let alone a mare, and even more, one of her best friends. It was strange how perfectly everything had been going these past few days, she had never expected things to progress so smoothly. She giggled in gleeful bliss as she ran her brush through her mane, smiling at herself in the mirror. It would only be a few more minutes until she arrived at the cottage, and then they had reservations at one of the few trendy and expensive places in Ponyville. It wasn't the kind of place Fluttershy would normally visit, but when she was dating-- Fluttershy noticed that her reflection was no longer following her movements. A moment later, out popped a brownish, nearly-pony face, sticking out of the mirror as though there was nothing wrong with that at all. It was a testament to Fluttershy's calm bliss that she managed not to make a single startled sound. "Oh, hello, Discord. I'm sorry, but I don't have time right now. I'm preparing for a... a date." To Fluttershy's surprise, Discord didn't crack a joke or make any sort of sarcastic comment. Not right away, anyway. He looked almost sour. "Oh yes, so I've heard. You wouldn't believe how gossipy the royalty of Equestria can be about its most important citizens." Discord wiggled his way out of the mirror, wrapping around Fluttershy just far enough out that he didn't manage to actually touch her. "You know, dear Fluttershy, I'm quite hurt that you didn't tell me about this little relationship of yours. I thought we were friends." She couldn't help but flinch, just a little, at the dangerous drop in his tone at the end. "We are friends! But, well, none of my friends know yet. It's supposed to be a secret." Discord moved slowly around her, trailing an eagle talon along her cheek. "Oh yes, such a secret that I even managed to hear, all the way in Canterlot. But what I don't know is who the lucky stallion is. Some brutish farm oaf, sweeping you off your hooves and into a life of birthing foals to work the fields?" "Oh, well... it's not a stallion. It's a mare. It's..." Fluttershy's voice dropped lower, knowing she shouldn't be telling, but also knowing that denying Discord would only cause more trouble than it was worth. "… it's Princess Twilight." There was a strange momentary pause in Discord's taunting, before his voice grew much more serious. "Princess Twilight Sparkle? How long ago did this start?" Fluttershy's eyes narrowed at his tone. "Whatever it is you're thinking, you'd better stop, mister. She's been lovely ever since we started dating, and if you're really my friend at all, you won't mess it up." Discord rolled onto his back as he floated in the air, laying a paw over his chest as though offended. "Moi? Mess things up? Perish the thought. When did our dear, beloved Princess start showing you such affection anyway?" "Oh, well, we've always been close." Fluttershy returned to idly smiling, thinking back on her friendship with Twilight. "But it was only a few days ago that she finally told me that she thought of me as more than a friend. I can't believe she finally noticed, after all this time." Fluttershy flew upwards, fluttering about the room in a happy daze. Discord's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her, but his voice carried none of the suspicion in his glance. "Just a few days ago, you say? How convenient. Let me guess, you simply threw yourself into her embrace and told her you'd love her forever." Her cheeks burning, Fluttershy turned back toward her mirror. "No, not exactly. But I would never leave her, she's so amazing!" A knock at the door caused Fluttershy to gasp in happy anticipation, and Discord to glance over toward the sound. "Oh, she's here!" Discord trailed along behind Fluttershy as she sped through the cottage, downstairs to the front door. The door opened to reveal none other than Equestria's newest princess, and Fluttershy immediately threw her forelegs around her in a fond embrace. "It's so good to see you! You look wonderful!" The draconequus floated idly around the room as the ponies spoke for a few moments. It wasn't until he saddled right up next to Fluttershy and hooked an arm around the skittish pegasus that he was even noticed. Twilight's wings flared and her eyes narrowed. "Discord! What are you doing here? Have you been bothering her?" "Oh, please, Twilight Sparkle. Do you really think I'd be so rude as to bother my only friend in the whole, wide world?" Discord pinched Twilight's cheek between two talons, relishing the annoyance on her purple face. "Oh but do come in, we have a few things to discuss while little Fluttershy here finishes fixing her mane." "Her mane is fine." Twilight spoke in a flat tone. Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his claws, sending several long strands of Fluttershy's immaculately brushed mane in all directions, eliciting a startled gasp from the pegasus. "There now, she's got to go fix her mane. Give me a minute here, dear Fluttershy. You know I wouldn't harm your precious princess marefriend." A brief warning later, and Fluttershy left the two alone. There was a momentary standoff, an angry, determined looking alicorn princess locking eyes with a somewhat bored and disinterested seeming god of chaos and disharmony. The silence hung in the air for a few moments before Discord rolled his arm lazily, and pointed a talon directly at the princess. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but you're out of your league." Princess Twilight stamped a hoof on the floor, horn lighting defiantly. "I'm taking my marefriend out on a date! Don't you act like we can't stop you from causing problems, we may not have the elements of harmony anymore, but we've stopped you before." The slow smile on Discord's lips sent Twilight's horn flickering. "Oh, you're half right. The elements of harmony are gone, but you haven't stopped me before, have you? Oh don't act so surprised, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Discord nearly spat the title. "I don't know who you think you're fooling, but you're talking to an old master of the art. I've known from the start." Twilight took a step back, looking less confident, and glancing toward the staircase. "What do you mean? I'm not fooling anypony." The air grew a few degrees cooler as Discord frowned. "Oh, we're going to play this game, are we? Fine, you spend the next ten minutes explaining to your marefriend up there why you're suddenly black and shiny, and I'll flash away and dig the Princess out of that little cocoon you're keeping her in. I'm sure everything will go just swimmingly." In a panic, Twilight raised a hoof to look at it. Nope, still purple. But he knew. She went stiff as she felt him wrap his weird, serpent-like body around hers. "Now listen to me, very carefully. I only have one friend in this world, and I don't like seeing her hurt. You might think of her as simply a meal on the hoof, but..." Discord leaned in close, and his voice dropped to a dangerous, slow drawl. "Let me give you some advice, one friend of Fluttershy's to another. If you hurt her, being discovered as what you really are will be the least of your concerns." A few minutes later, with mane fixed again, Fluttershy trotted down the staircase to find Discord and Twilight both sitting pleasantly together in her foyer. Discord even smiled and wished her a good time on her date. Even if Twilight seemed a little nervous, she was certainly every bit as affectionate and eager to please as always. Fluttershy was in love, and everything was going to be just fine.