“Are you really going to hang around here all day, waiting for me to cause trouble?” Discord asked.
The little group had relocated to the living room, where the chimera had reclaimed his spot on the couch and the blue pegasus had stationed herself directly across from him. “That was kind of the plan,” she said, planting her front hooves on the coffee table.
“Well, as I said, it’s wholly unnecessary,” he pouted. “I’ve been a model house guest, isn’t that right, Fluttershy?”
The yellow pegasus looked up from across the room, where she’d been trying to coax Angel into eating his breakfast. The rabbit, clearly miffed about the combined insult of being booted from the bedroom and then being served after the draconequus, was having none of it. “Oh yes,” she nodded, “He was patient with Pinkie Pie, and he didn’t fight with Applejack last night. He’s been nothing but well-behaved.”
“And that doesn’t strike you as odd?” Rainbow asked, incredulous, “I mean, even on a good day he’s switching up the seasons or founding animal biker gangs or something!”
Discord took that moment to cough. He’d intended it to be a short, indignant one, but the pile of phlegm in his lungs had other ideas, so it turned into a prolonged, painful fit that sent Fluttershy rushing to bring him the canteen of water. Gratefully he downed its contents, then inhaled sharply. “Ahem,” he finally said, blinking back the bit of water that had pooled in the corners of his eyes, “I’m right here, you know. No need to talk about me as if I weren’t. And let me ask you this, Miss Dash. When you’re ill, how much do you feel like performing aerial tricks, or bucking clouds or what have you?”
Rainbow Dash looked abashed. “Not that much, I guess.”
“I thought not,” he said, “So did it not occur to you that I might just not feel like playing with the fabric of reality?”
“No…” she said, picking at a ding in the table with one hoof.
“Well. You learn something new every day.” He stretched out across the couch, hands folded behind his head. “All I want is peace and quiet until this cursed disease is through. And Fluttershy,” he added, leaning back further to aim an upside-down grin at his friend. The little yellow pegasus leaned in to nuzzle her head against his. Discord cast a quick glance at Rainbow Dash. On a different occasion, he might have been embarrassed about the spontaneous display of affection, especially since they weren’t alone, but it had had the desired effect on their audience.
The blue pegasus wrinkled her nose. “Oh gross,” she muttered.
Fluttershy made a ‘tsk’ noise, shaking her head.
Discord smirked. “As you can see, things are very much under control here. Your supervision is wholly unnecessary.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “All right, fine, you’ve made your point.” She rose and flapped her wings a few times. “I still don’t trust you.” She jabbed a hoof in his direction, then turned to the other pegasus. “But I do trust you, Fluttershy. You sure you’re ok here alone?”
Fluttershy nodded, smiling. “We’re fine. You don’t have to leave though. You’re welcome to stay if you want to.”
The draconequus shot her a pointed look. They had just nearly succeeded in convincing the interloper to leave! What was she doing asking her to stay? Fluttershy either ignored him, or didn’t notice.
Rainbow tilted her head, “Hmm…I guess I didn’t really have anything else planned for this morning…I’m due to bring is some rain, but that’s not until after lunchtime.”
“Well,” Fluttershy said, “I need to get some work done in my garden before that rain. I could use a hoof with it, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Discord deepened the intensity of his stare. The pink-maned pegasus continued to not react.
“Chores?” Rainbow asked. She then noticed Discord gesturing at Fluttershy and smirked. “Sure! Always happy to lend a hoof for a friend.”
The chimera slapped his paw to his face.
“Wonderful!” Fluttershy said. “Thank you.” She turned, finally, to her houseguest. “I’ll lay out a blanket for you in the yard, ok? You can get some fresh air while we work.”
He sighed. “Fine.” At least she didn’t expect him to pitch in with the yard work.
A short while later he was spread out on a patchwork quilt on his stomach, arms folded under his chin, watching the two pegasi pull weeds from among Fluttershy’s flower beds. He comforted himself with the fact that Rainbow Dash looked thoroughly bored with the task. If she was going to be a nuisance and insist on hanging around, at least she wasn’t having fun.
Her appearance at the window that morning had been unpleasantly jarring – though at least she’d gotten scolded for surprising him. Knowing Fluttershy had taken his wishes to heart when it came to her friends made him happy. Happier than he’d thought it would. He’d never thought the words and deeds of a little pony could affect him the ways hers did. He watched her, in her silly, adorable sun hat, patiently explain to Rainbow what were weeds and what were not, and found himself smiling.
‘Damn it, Tia…’ he thought, though not as bitterly as usual. ‘You really knew which one would be able to get under my skin, didn’t you?’ From a distance, the whole thing was utterly embarrassing, that such a tiny, gentle, soft-spoken creature had tamed the wild beast, but up close, especially when no one else was watching, he was strangely content with the whole thing. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift back to the night before. Sleeping beside her had been – what was the right word? Wonderful. Foreign and strange and nerve-wracking, but wonderful. Did he dare hope she would invite him to join her again come nightfall? He decided he dared.
Eyes still closed, his ears perked up as the girls’ conversation turned away from weeds. Rainbow Dash was asking, “Sooooo, seriously, Fluttershy, how much of a nightmare has he been?” They must’ve thought he was asleep. He endeavored to keep still, curious.
“I wasn’t lying before,” Fluttershy replied. “He really has been fine. No worse than if you or one of the others was sick. For having never been sick before, he’s doing as well as I could expect. You missed a few over there.”
“Oh, sorry. So how’d he even really get sick anyway? Isn’t he supposed to be all-powerful or something?”
“Tatzlwurn Flu is more contagious among magic users, according to the book Twilight found for me. I think, because he has so much magic, it hit him really hard.”
“That cough did sound pretty bad.”
“It was worse yesterday, so I think he’s improving.”
“That’s good, I guess.”
“Of course I want him to get well soon, but I think I’ll miss him when he leaves. He really is very nice company.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Huh. I wouldn’t think you’d ever get lonely out here, what with all your animals and everything.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love my little friends, but that’s very different.”
“How so?”
“Well,” she paused, “they need me to feed them, or tend their injuries, or help repair their homes, but to be honest, another pony could do those things. With Discord, he needs me, and specifically me, to be his friend. It… well, it makes me feel pretty special. That’s all.”
They were quiet for a moment. Discord opened one eye, just a tiny bit. They had their backs to him, so he couldn’t see their faces. Fluttershy was sitting upright, while Rainbow was still hunched over the garden. A moment more and the blue pegasus had risen to join the yellow one. “I never thought about that,” she said, “I kinda feel that way with Scootaloo. It’s nice.”
“Mmhmm,” Fluttershy nodded. “Anyway, that’s why I’ll miss him.”
Discord decided that he had eavesdropped enough and yawned loudly. “Watching you ponies work sure is tiring,” he said, “I didn’t miss anything exciting, did I?”
They both turned to look at him, both smiling. “Nah,” Rainbow said. “Just girl talk. Didja need anything?”
He blinked. “No. No, thank you. Carry on.” He waved a talon at them lazily.
The morning passed uneventfully after that. He catnapped on and off while the ponies worked and chatted idly. Once or twice a few of the chickens came near him to investigate, but he found they steered clear if he gave them his best tooth-baring smile. Even Angel was keeping his distance, though the chimera did catch the rabbit watching him warily from the back stoop. Fluttershy must’ve noticed too, because she called him over to sample the carrots she’d been tending. This placated the animal, who chattered happily as he hopped among the green fronds in the garden.
Discord was surprised at the pang of jealousy that shot through him as he watched the pony and her pet. That was ridiculous. What cause had he to be envious of a barely sentient creature? None at all, and certainly not the attention the little furball was currently enjoying. Still, he couldn’t help but sulk, just a little bit.
Rainbow sidled over to him. “Kinda wishin’ you were Angel right now, huh?” she asked.
He rolled his eyes. “That’s absurd,” he muttered. “Don’t you have some rain clouds that need herding?”
“You just wanna get rid of me.”
“Goodness gracious, you’ve figured me out,” he said drolly.
The blue pegasus flapped her wings. “Maybe a little more than you know,” she said. She rose up a few feet off the ground. “Fluttershy, I’ve gotta head out. The rain should be rolling in within the hour.”
“Oh, ok!” Fluttershy raised her head. “Thanks, Rainbow! Have a good day!”
“You too. I’ll catch you later!” With that, she took off, vanishing over the treetops and leaving Discord more than a little disconcerted.
Fluttershy trotted over to him. “We should probably head inside. Why don’t you get settled while I clean things up here, and then I’ll make us some lunch.”
He nodded, pushing Rainbow Dash’s words to the back of his mind. “Certainly.” He stretched, catlike, and then got to his feet. “Thank you, by the way.”
“Not at all.” She shook her head, smiling. “I don’t exactly trust you in the kitchen, after all.” She giggled.
He smirked. “Well, of course for that, but I meant for earlier. When Rainbow Dash was pushing me about why I wasn’t using my powers. Thank you for letting me answer, even though it meant omitting certain truths.”
She reached out and touched his paw with her hoof. “I promised I wouldn’t tell, remember?”
He fought the instinct to pull away, and instead placed his eagle claw over her hoof. “I do. I’m just not used to promises being kept, that’s all. So…thank you, again.”
She beamed up at him. “You’re welcome. Now you head inside. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said teasingly. Her cheeks flushed pink, but she said nothing, only giving him a nudge towards the cottage. He obliged her, gathering up the quilt at his feet and returning to the house. Inside, he spread the blanket over the couch and settled in on top of it. Then, feeling like he’d laid around for too much of the day already, he got back to his feet. He scanned the room. His breakfast bowl still sat on an end table where he’d left it. Without much thought, he picked it up and carried it to the kitchen, depositing it in the sink. He turned to leave it there, then stopped, glancing back at it. ‘Well, you’ve come this far already,’ he thought. ‘Might as well finish the job.’
He was still scrubbing the dish – who knew oatmeal hardened like cement when left out? – when Fluttershy came into the kitchen, Angel on at her hooves. She let out a little squeak of surprise. “What are you- oh! Oh, you didn’t have to do that. I would’ve taken care of it.”
“I know,” he mumbled, keeping his eyes on his task. He hoped not turning to face her would hide the blush that he could feel creeping up his neck.
She came up beside him. “I guess this means you’re feeling a bit better, if you’ve got some energy, hmm?”
He shrugged. “I guess. A bit.”
“That’s wonderful!” she said. “I’ll start on lunch. We want to build your strength back up.” She turned with a little bounce and began rummaging through the pantry cabinets.
Discord gave her a sidelong glance. It was a good sign, hopefully meaning that the worst was past and he’d be back to himself soon. So why did he have a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach thinking about it?