//------------------------------//
// More Than Friendship 
// Story: More Than Trust 
// by TheTalentlessPony 
//------------------------------//

	He had done this before. Today, actually. Only this time, it was much different.

Discord walked through Ponyville, eyeing the ponies that passed him by. Many gazed back, some looked at him worriedly, and a few actually asked him if he was feeling alright.

Truthfully, he couldn't be sure of the answer. In a normal sense for himself, he supposed that he wasn't alright at all. His powers were gone, and he was walking to the Carousel Boutique; honestly, flying was completely out of the question anymore, what with his small mismatched wings.

In another sense though, he had never felt more alive. He was tired, even to the point where his legs were just barely carrying him across the ground. He could hear ponies in the background comment about how he didn't look like himself, but that didn't perturb him in the slightest. To feel tired like this... it moved him somehow, and pushed him forward. How? He didn't know. He was sore everywhere, and yet he felt cheerful about it.

Perhaps it was the leaving of his chaotic energy. Since it had gone, he noticed that he could no longer feel the rapid swarming of chaos inside him. He got tired before, sure, but there was always something feeding his mind; always something that constantly had him wanting to snap his finger over and over again to cause widespread chaos.

Don't get him wrong though. He still loved chaos with a passion. Even as he walked, he stared at all of his surroundings and thought of how interesting it would be for this-or-that to happen.

But this time, he had no choice on the matter. In a way, it was a relief. His chaotic tendencies were quelled without needing to take action upon them. After all, what would be the point of stressing how chaotic things should be if he couldn't do a thing about them?

He shrugged to himself, one of his wings stretching slightly in hopes to cure a cramp. He flexed his fingers as he reflected on his current state, then chuckled. If only the Discord of the past could see him now...

"That pony who you couldn't corrupt? Yeah, we're... nevermind, you'll figure it out."

He stared up at the sky, slightly amused. Really, where had all of those built up emotions went off to?

He paused, then shook his head. It didn't matter; just so long as things were okay.

And speaking of things being okay...

Discord gazed up at the Carousel Boutique as he arrived. Admittedly, he had no idea of exactly what he'd say to Fluttershy, but he had a feeling that he could pull at her heartstrings just right.

He walked forward, reaching a hand out to knock.

However, the door suddenly opened before he could hit it. Rarity stood in the doorway, staring at him with a rather blank expression.

"Twilight told me," she muttered.

Discord leaned to the side. "So you know that you'll have to let me in yourself then, Queen Generous~"

Rarity blinked, her mouth twisting for a moment before she turned and walked over to her couch.

He followed, but was quickly knocked over by a sudden pillow thrown at his face. He shook it off, giving a confused gaze at the unicorn.

"That was for being so ridiculously overdramatic," she told him, though with a gentle smile.

Discord shot her a smirk. "I do believe I got it from you, Miss Rarity."

The unicorn stared at him, her cheeks turning a tinge of red before she directed a hoof upstairs. "S-she's in my room..." she muttered, not making any response to his comment.

He tried his best not to look too excited as he gazed at the staircase. He nodded to Rarity, then headed for them.

"Discord."

He stopped, looking back at Rarity with slightly impatientness; he had already been waiting too long. "Hmmm~?"

The corners of the mare's mouth slowly twisted upwards. "...Thank you."

He blinked at her, unsure of how to respond. She giggled, then motioned her hoof towards the staircase again. "Did you expect a hug? Not with that fashion sense. Run along~"

He raised a brow, then smirked with amusement and traveled upstairs. While usually not so childish at the thought of seeing someone, he admitted to himself that he had been waiting all day to set things right; maybe even longer.

He went up to the door, but flinched as the sound of a lightly-sobbing Fluttershy was heard from the other side of it. His ear twitched in discontentment, so he quickly turned the knob and pushed the door open.

And there she was. Curled up at the foot of Rarity's bed, she had shrunken in on herself, making her already delicate form look as small as possible. Her forelegs were over her face, also holding on to her long pink tail, which was wrapped around her body in a somehow-gentle manner.

Discord felt a twinge of concern, but that was okay; he could fix things, for sure. He moved up to the shy pegasus, kneeling down as he hunched over her small form.

Then, he touched her. Lightly, but nevertheless a touch. Fluttershy twitched severely, nearly jumping, then waited a moment before she slowly moved her hooves away from her face. Her eyes locked with his, gentle tears making their way down her face. Almost instantly, she curled back up, though trying to do so even more despite that being a physical impossibility. Her hind legs shook from her shaky position while her forelegs went back up to her face.

Discord smiled softly, his arms coming down and wrapping around her. "I'll have none of that."

Fluttershy squirmed as she was lifted from the bed, being placed firmly against his chest once he sat down on the floor, leaning against Rarity's dresser.

She hid her face, trying hard to stop sobbing, which inevitably led to more of it. Discord rolled his eyes, but with a small smirk on his face. "Discord to Fluttershy; you're drowning my fur and it's about to riot."

Fluttershy flinched, her hooves moving away her face again as she stared down at Discord's chest, which was positively soaked at this point. She looked at him apologetically. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean—"

"—If you wanted me to get a bath, all you had to do was ask," Discord joked. "Honestly, Fluttershy, I never know what's going on in that head of yours."

The pegasus managed to giggle weakly, one of her forelegs wiping a few of her tears away. "I-I told you not to come..."

"Ah, and yet here I am," he pointed out. "Funny how that works, hm?"

Fluttershy blinked, gazing at him. Her mouth twisted and her ears flopped about; he relished her adorable confusion.

"...Why?" she whispered, tilting her head.

"Well, it's funny because—"

"D-Discord..."

He chuckled. "I'm here to reclaim my Fluttershy."

Her reaction in that moment was utterly priceless for him. Her ears shot up, as if she thought that she had heard him wrong. "W-wh—"

"—Yes. My Fluttershy. I've become rather possessive these days, you know."

A large blush covered the majority of her face, at which point she gazed downward, her expression faltering. "...R-Rarity told you... didn't she?"

"You should know as well as I do that there are no secrets between friends. Does going deeper suddenly negate that rule, or have you forgotten the lessons you've taught me?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "N-no, of course I haven't! I-I just..."

She brought a hoof up to her forehead, averting her eyes to the ground, seeming to find the pattern on the floor very interesting all of a sudden.

Discord shrugged slightly, though not daring to touch her and force her to be more uncomfortable than she already was. That could wait. "You didn't want to see me."

"No! No, no, that's not true!" Fluttershy said insistently, pounding her hooves on Discord's chest; he hid the wince that it caused.

He then smiled at her, one of his ears flopping down. "Oh? Then you just wanted to worry your ol' pal Discord half to death?"

"No! Never!" Fluttershy shouted, her eyes wide and glistening. She let out a soft sob, then hid her face back in Discord's chest. "I...I was scared to tell you. I didn't deserve a friend like you. I... back then, I couldn't help you. I couldn't reform you enough. I didn't try hard enough..."

Discord watched as she began to cry again, her hooves wrapped around him as she muttered "sorry" over and over again.

He paused to consider his response, then brought a hand up, caressing Fluttershy's back as he sighed.

"Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't," he said. "Perhaps I was possessed by my own greed or was being pressured into it by my chaotic energy." He shrugged, then ran a hand through Fluttershy's mane, ruffling it up slightly. "I can't change that, but I can assure you that it won't happen again."

Her ear twitched at the seriousness of his words, and she looked up at him, her eyes filled with curiosity. "W...what do you mean? Nothing's changed," she muttered. "A-and I barely talked to you in the past few weeks. How could you—"

Discord sharpened his gaze at the guilt in her tone, but kept a small smile on to assure her that he wasn't angry with her. "I was getting to that, dear Fluttershy."

The yellow pegasus blinked at first, then quickly covered her mouth, nodding her head to give Discord the signal to go on.

The draconequus grinned, almost deviously so, then gazed up at the ceiling. "Tell me, Fluttershy. Do you remember Tirek's ability?"

She shuddered at the thought, but nodded again. "Y-yes. H-he sucked out everypony's magic."

"Alright. Now, if someone, say... your princess friend, had the power to do that—"

"—DISCORD, YOU DIDN'T!"

Fluttershy was frantic suddenly, her hooves going up to hold her head as she shook it. "No, no... you didn't! You couldn't have! Not—"

"—For you, yes," Discord interrupted, a smile crossing his lips. As he expected, she teared up and hugged him, not willing to believe his story just yet.

"T-that...that was you, Discord. Your powers... you...you..." She failed to speak anymore words, sobbing into his chest.

"Fluttershy."

She didn't respond, her ears dropping as she continued to cry.

He frowned. "Fluttershy."

The pegasus sniffled constantly, trying to force herself to stop. She brought her gaze up to him, and he gently stroked her ear.

"If I might ask... do you think I'm shallow?"

Fluttershy shook her head instantly. "O-of course not! You might go overboard sometimes but...but never...never shallow..."

Discord tilted his head at her. "Then maybe you could explain to me what good it would do to have all the chaotic power I'd desire, and yet have no one to share it with."

"B-but... you...you didn't have to do that."

"But I did. And I couldn't regret it any less. I needed a way to prove it to you," he explained as simply as he could.

He watched as multiple emotions flashed through her eyes. Sadness. Confusion. Guilt. Regret. Joy.

Love.

He looked away, gazing at the wall. "I know what you're thinking. I knew what I was doing. I already realized the consequences. I'm fully-aware that this makes me worthless in many tasks, but I—"

He stiffened as he turned his head back towards her. Suddenly, her snout was a mere inch away from his, and she was gazing at him intensely.

"You're not worthless to me. Never."

He didn't respond, watching as her stern expression remained locked onto him.

After a moment, he smiled. "I know."

A silence followed, and Fluttershy slowly began to realize how close they were. She could hear him breathing, a warm breath wafting over her face. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. Her eyes were slowly widening, the closeness of their faces causing her to turn pink at the cheeks.

Steadily, her mouth moved again, though her voice was quiet and wavering.

"...Are you going to kiss me?"

Discord shared her expression, swallowing slightly at the question. He tried to calm himself however; he was not the one who needed comforting right now.

"No, Fluttershy. I'm not. But you are going to kiss me."

Instantly, the pegasus pulled back, a hoof over her mouth and her wings flaring out in surprise.

"NO! I couldn't!"

"Ah, but you must. You are the one who is afraid of this; not me."

Fluttershy shuddered, her wings closing back up despite their constant shaking.

"B-but... but..."

She shut her eyes tight, stunned by his insistence.

"W-well...well, FINE."

Discord froze as Fluttershy's lips suddenly collided with his. He hadn't been as ready as he would've liked, but he still accepted the kiss, despite how sudden it was.

Fluttershy held it for only a little longer, almost seeming to melt into it, then fell back onto Discord's chest, curling up shyly as she wrapped her hooves around him. He didn't stop her, knowing that she was completely embarrassed and he shouldn't disturb her.

Instead, he placed a hand on her back and relaxed. For a moment, they just laid there, enjoying each other's company like they always had, though in a much more content condition than before.

That's when Discord remembered something.

"...Fluttershy?"

She looked up at him, her face entirely red. "Y-yes?"

"I have something for you."

He smiled at her, then looked down at one of his wings, which was folded tightly against his back. It opened, revealing a white rose without its stem.

Fluttershy's eyes instantly lit up. "I-is that—"

"—I know that you like the white ones."

He grabbed hold of the delicate flower, reaching up and placing it in between Fluttershy's mane and ear; another blush formed on her cheeks. As he began to pull away though, she suddenly took his hand in her hooves.

"W-wait! Your hand... your hands."

Discord gazed down, frowning as Fluttershy began to notice the multiple cuts across his hands. He brought his free hand over to her, stroking her cheek.

"Silly Fluttershy. You know as well as I do that roses have thorns."

The pegasus gasped, though it was barely audible. "B-but you could've just—" She stopped abruptly, the realization finally hitting her. "...Your powers."

She directed her hoof towards his hand. "Snap your fingers!"

Discord smirked slightly, amused at her denial. "Didn't we just go over this?"

"Snap your fingers!"

He rolled his eyes at her insistence, then brought both of his hands up to her, snapping his fingers as he always had. The sound echoed throughout the room, and Fluttershy's ears vibrated in response. She looked around, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, she cuddled into him. "Oh...oh, Discord..."

His expression softened as she began to blush again. He'd say that she did it too much, but then again, he was certain that his face was red as well. After all, it was the first time in his whole life that he had someone who'd he'd call "his", and she was hugging him affectionately.

He gently petted her mane, and she ran her hooves over his fur in response.

This. This was the most unchaotic thing he could've ever participated in.

And yet, not only did he not mind, but he wished for it to go on.

Fluttershy nuzzled her head into his chest, her voice going into low murmurs.

"Mmm... Discord?"

He sat up slightly, hearing a sense of need in her voice. "Yes?"

"...Can we go back home now?"

Discord blinked, watching Fluttershy as she shyly looked away from him. He paused, then suddenly burst into laughter, causing the yellow pegasus to jump up in surprise. "W-what's so funny? What did I say?"

He tried to calm himself, though the amusement in his tone failed to leave. "Ahah! You see?"

Fluttershy tilted her head, confused. Discord shook his head with a smile, then wrapped his arms around her, earning a tiny squeak from her as he stood up, carrying her towards the door. She was shocked at first, then slowly melted into his embrace, her tail wrapping around his waist.

Discord breathed, feeling her warmth against him and his heartbeat resonating with hers. His voice then lowered; lowered to being even softer than hers.

"I don't need magic to do that."


THE END