//------------------------------// // Awkward // Story: An Unexpected Friendship // by LordLycaon //------------------------------// Tick… tick… tick… Glaive wasn't used to silence like this. He hated it when it was quiet. Back at the hive, there was always sound, even on the slowest night. This was just uncomfortable. Tick… tick… tick… He looked over to the white rabbit that was sitting on the couch. After touring Fluttershy's cottage a little bit (surprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot to see), he went back to what he guessed was the living room and sat on the couch with the rabbit who clearly didn't like him. After that, silence. Tick… tick… tick… He looked up to the clock that hung over the nearby fireplace. Fluttershy had been gone for about an hour now. He hated to admit it, but he actually would've preferred having her around. At least then he'd have someone to talk to, even if it was just him answering naïve questions. He looked back at the rabbit, who gave him a light glare. The changeling turned his attention away from the rabbit again. He clicked his front hooves together quietly, trying to get rid of the silence. He cleared his throat awkwardly, to which the rabbit rolled its eyes. "So…" Glaive said, feeling dumb for talking to a rabbit, who was just ignoring him anyway. He sighed heavily. "Is it always this boring around here?" he thought aloud. He'd considered going out for a little bit, get a lay of the land where he was evidently going to be staying for however long he was going to take to recover, but he quickly scrapped that idea. He doubted he'd be able to hold decent disguise for very long in his current condition. Just then, the front door opened, and in walked Fluttershy. She stopped about halfway inside, her wide eyes on Glaive. Suddenly, she turned around, closing the door shut. Glaive raised an eyebrow at this. Did she forget that he was here? Had she brought company for some reason? He could hear muffled voices outside for about two minutes before the second voice, clearly male by its tone and pitch, faded out. Then, Fluttershy came in again, a relieved look on her face and a small crate on her back. "Sorry about that," she apologized as she came into the living room. She set down the crate and her saddlebags just by the door, then focused on Glaive again. "I needed to show an acquaintance of mine to my house so that he could make weekly deliveries here." The changeling gave a tiny nod. "Doesn't bother me," he stated nonchalantly. He got up from his seat on the couch and walked around a bit. "Hope you don't mind, but I took a look around. This place is remarkably dull. It's too… safe." "W-well, I-I have a lot of small animals around here," the young pegasus explained. "It sort of has to be safe for them." She motioned to the little white rabbit. "I guess you've met Angel." Glaive gave her a slightly baffled look, then looked at the rabbit, then back to Fluttershy. "You named it 'Angel'?" She gave a nod. The changeling rolled his eyes. "Yeah. That's an impeccably fitting name." Fluttershy gave a small shrug and went over to Angel, nuzzling him lightly. "I'll admit, he has trouble living up to the name I gave him, but he's more than a pet to me. He's one of my best friends." "Gag," Glaive replied in a deadpan. To his surprise, the yellow pegasus actually giggled at that. That raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" "Oh, nothing," she replied with another light giggle. "I just have a friend who actually felt the same way about friendship. I was able to convince him to be a friend, though." Suddenly, she went pale. "Wait." She hurried over to a nearby calendar and scanned through it, stopping on the current date. Her face fell into an expression of panic. "Oh-no-oh-no-oh-no! I completely forgot! He's supposed to visit today! If he sees you, who knows how he'll react!?" Glaive raised an eyebrow at this yet again. "You realize I could probably just change into a different form for a little while and pretend to be another friend or relative of yours, right?" "Oh, you don't understand!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Discord could just see right through your-!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa," the changeling interrupted, placing a hoof over Fluttershy's mouth. "Hold on a second. Did you just say 'Discord'?" She nodded. "As in the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, Discord? That Discord?" Again, the pegasus nodded. Glaive just fell backwards onto his rump, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Well… buck me. Changelings don't exactly have a shining history with that guy." "R-really?" Fluttershy squeaked fearfully. "Why's that?" The changeling sighed and looked away from the mare. "It's a long story. And it was way before my time. Over a thousand years ago, in fact." He shook his head. "I guess I'll just have to hide somewhere then. Where's a good hiding place here?" "Um…" Fluttershy had to think on that one for a moment. Discord was always the rambunctious sort (and that was putting it mildly), and rarely stayed in one place for very long. He was constantly moving, never living in the same place for very long. Even when he visited her, he never stayed in one spot for too long, quickly moving from one point to the next faster than she could blink. There was, however, one room that he never went into, solely because she requested that he wouldn't. "You could hide in my bedroom," she suggested. "Discord doesn't go in there. You should be able to hide from him there." Glaive nodded somewhat gratefully. "When is he supposed to be here?" "Um… well, he doesn't really specify any particular time of day. He usually just shows up whenever he-" Knock, knock, knock. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden rapping on her door, eyes wide. "Oh, no! That could be him!" She immediately turned to Glaive, waving her hoof quickly. "Hurry! Hide!" The changeling nodded and hurried upstairs. Fluttershy gave a sigh of slight relief at this and turned to open the door, wearing a small smile. Her smile faded when she saw no one outside. She looked around, trying to find who knocked on her door, but could only see her animals going about their usual routines. At first, she was confused by this. Then, she sighed as she realized what was going on. Turning around, she found the infamous Spirit of Chaos himself lounging on her couch, sipping a drink from a coconut that had one of those tiny umbrellas in it. "Hello, Fluttershy," he greeted with a casual grin. "How's things?" "Good, I guess," the mare replied. She then gave the draconequus a scolding glare. "What have I told you about entering ponies' homes?" Discord groaned at that, but quickly relented. "'Wait at the door until they answer, then ask for permission to enter.' You'll forgive me for not following rules. Not really in my nature. Honestly, Fluttershy, you should know that by now." "It doesn't mean you shouldn't try." She closed the door behind her and went over to her schedule, silently hoping that Discord wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Her prayers fell on deaf ears, as Discord began sniffing the air, apparently having caught a scent. Not many knew it, but Discord actually had an amazingly sharp sense of smell. He scrunched his snout a little, almost making a gagging expression. "Something stinks," he complained, looking around to try and find the smell's source. Though internally screaming, Fluttershy somehow managed to stay relatively calm. "You probably just smell the new feed I have for some of my animals. It honestly doesn't smell all that pleasant, but-" "No. It's something else. It smells like somepony who hasn't properly bathed or showered in days." He raised an eyebrow at his young friend. "Unless, of course, you've been neglecting your personal hygiene, but I sincerely doubt that." Her face flushed at the slight implication. "I-I shower regularly," she said in a meekly defensive manner. "Well, then." Discord was suddenly behind her, wearing an explorer's cap on his head and a tan jacket, like what Daring Do would wear. "It seems we've got ourselves a mystery to solve! Let's find the source of that smelly stench! Onward!" He immediately picked her up and started flying around the cottage, following the scent that Fluttershy could only guess belonged to Glaive. 'Please don't find him, please don't find him, please don't find him!' she silently begged of her draconequus friend, who kept searching from room to room, opening doors and pulling quick investigations with a spontaneously generated magnifying glass. -o- Glaive paced quietly from wall to wall. He was beginning to get antsy. About an hour had passed since Fluttershy sent him up into her room. He still found it hard to believe that Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony and the bane of all changelings, was friends with the gentle pegasus who had been caring for him since he passed out in the Everfree. Something about that didn't seem quite right to him. 'Spirit of Chaos, kindhearted pegasus,' he thought to himself. 'Nope. Still a bizarre combo.' He paced for a few moments more before grumbling in boredom and sitting down by the bed, opting to stare up at the ceiling and count the cracks. He began tapping his rear hooves together, settling into a basic rhythm that actually helped him to pass the time a little bit. It also eased his nerves a bit. He could do this. All he had to do was wait until Fluttershy was done with Discord, and for the Lord of Chaos to leave and go… wherever he would go. No big deal. As he waited, he looked around Fluttershy's room, taking in details here and there that he hadn't really noticed before. He raised a curious eyebrow at a book on the dresser. He approached it, and read the single word written on the cover: Diary. A wicked part of the changeling deep down grinned mischievously. He had just struck gold! This could make his stay infinitely more entertaining! Oh, the secrets that pegasus could be hiding! Another part of him, however, screamed at him to ignore it. Fluttershy had shown surprising hospitality to him, taking him in and tending to his wounds. She could've just left him out of the forest to be killed and eaten by that chimera. As much he hated to admit it, even if just to himself, he owed the mare a great deal. Reading her diary would go against everything he personally believed in. He turned away from it, trying to push it from his mind. Despite his best efforts, it stayed in his head. Taunting him. Practically begging him to open it and take a look inside. He peeked over his shoulder, eyeing the diary again, before turning away once more. He was above invading the privacy of others… right? That mischievous part of him that all changelings had was on its knees, egging him on to read at least one entry in the diary. He shook his head, trying again to push away those thoughts. He considered leaving the room, but then he'd be putting himself at the risk of discovery by Discord, and he didn't like the idea of meeting the being who all changelings feared beyond all else. That, however, gave him an idea. It was a longshot, but if he played his cards right, it just might work. Fortunately, changelings are innately superb actors. -o- Fluttershy cringed every time Discord opened a door and screamed "Aha!" She knew Glaive was likely still hiding in her bedroom, but Discord was nothing if not persistent. He had already cleared the main floor and basement, and was now heading upstairs, claiming that the scent he had caught was coming from there now. He even assured her that he was totally, completely, absolutely, one hundred percent certain this time. "Um, Discord?" Fluttershy asked. "Are you sure we can't just – I don't know – ignore the smell? I-I can find the source and take care of it later." "Nonsense!" Discord scoffed with a laugh, suddenly appearing to Fluttershy's right and throwing an arm around her. "I'm going to help you find what's stinking up your place! After all, what're friends for, right?" "I… suppose," she replied reluctantly. "But still, I can-" She was interrupted by the sounds of hoofsteps from the upstairs hall. Her eyes widened in panic. Had Glaive left her room? Why would he do that? Did he need to use the bathroom or something? Oh, if she'd known that he'd have to do that, she would've at least given him a bucket! She began screaming internally, praying to whatever deities were looking down at her that he was at least-! "Uh…" said a dark blue pegasus with a messy, rust-colored mane and tail. He had bright green eyes that matched his colors surprisingly well. His cutie mark was an image of some sort of weapon that looked to be a cross between a spear and a sword. He stared at Discord, clearly at a loss for words. The draconequus stared back at the stallion, then to Fluttershy, then back at the stallion, then to Fluttershy again, this time with a sly grin. "Oh, Fluttershy, why didn't you tell me you had company?" he asked. "I would've given you two some privacy if you'd just asked." Fluttershy's face turned beet red, her cheeks burning with heat. "N-no! I-t's not like that! N-not at all!" She turned to the pony whom she knew could only be Glaive. "He's… um…" "I'm her cousin," he finished for her. Obviously, he had thought up a story to help them along. "I'm Glaive." Discord raised an eyebrow. He apparently wasn't about to buy it just yet. Fluttershy's mind raced as she tried to improvise. She was terrible at improvising. "Y-yes, h-he's my cousin! F-from Cloudsdale! He's part of the Cloudsdale Security Force!" She gave a nervous laugh. The Security Force was the first the first thing that came to mind when trying to think of a job that a pony named Glaive might have. "Er, yeah," Glaive continued with a nod. "I'm on leave, so I decided to pay a visit to my favorite cousin." Discord eyed him suspiciously for a few moments. Eventually, he started snickering, which soon grew into full-blown laughter. While Fluttershy and Glaive looked at each other in confusion, Discord kept guffawing until his laughter went into more controlled chuckling as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Is something funny?" Glaive asked, feeling a little insulted by the chaotic being's laughter. "Oh, nothing really," Discord answered when he managed to catch his breath again. He turned to Fluttershy, an amused look on his face. "Honestly, my dear, did you really think you could lie to me? I practically invented lying." "Wh-what do you m-mean?" the timid pegasus asked. Glaive was starting to sweat from nervousness himself. "Oh, trust me, Fluttershy." He scowled at Glaive and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Glaive's form was enveloped in a flash of light, which faded quickly, revealing his true changeling form, much to his and Fluttershy's horror. "I know a changeling when I see one."