//------------------------------// // Alliances // Story: Dreamers Beware // by ApplauseJunkie //------------------------------// Discord materialized on top of a mountain just outside of Ponyville. He turned to the north and squinted to the horizon, guaging the distances. After a quick calculation, he vanished and reappeared on another mountaintop several miles to the north. He continued mountain-hopping until he could see the glimmering tip of the Crystal Palace. Before the smile had finished spreading across his face, he was standing at the castle's doorstep, bowing dramatically to the guards stationed there. "I request an audience with Prince Shining Armor," he announced with a suave grin. The guards glanced at each other. Tirek's rampage hadn't reached the Crystal Empire, but they knew what had happened. The two armored stallions shook their heads. "It's important!" Discord insisted, but they still refused. His face fell. "Very well." He hung his head and walked away slowly. As soon as he was out of sight of the guards, however, Discord rolled his eyes and teleported himself directly to the throne room. He materialized behind a curtain, and immediately turned himself invisible to avoid further incident. Cadance was sitting on her throne, looking over a scroll that a crystal pony had brought her. "This looks fine. Go ahead with the builders and I'll make sure you get the funding you need." "Thank you, your highness." The crystal pony took the scroll and trotted out of the throne room, leaving Cadance alone. Discord took his chance and materialized in front of the princess, bowing low enough for his beard to brush the floor. "Your highness." Cadance screamed and almost fell out of her throne. "Discord! What are you doing here?" "Looking for your husband. Is he around?" He teleported to behind her throne and peeked around it at her. She squealed again and glared at him. "Why do you want to see Shining Armor?" "I need a favor." Cadance stared at him for a moment, trying to sort out what he could possibly mean by such a statement. "And why should he do a favor for you?" "Because I ask nicely?" The pink alicorn gritted her teeth. She knew what had happened the last time Discord had spoken to her husband. But she also knew the importance of forgiveness. She knew that Twilight had forgiven him, and she trusted the judgement of her sister-in-law. So she sighed. "Shining Armor is in the training field. I'll take you there." Discord followed eagerly behind Cadance, keeping his paw and claw clasped behind his back. It was difficult for him to be so docile, but he needed Cadance and Shining Armor to cooperate with him, so he bit his forked tongue and stayed quiet. The princess led him outside to a small grassy yard, where Shining Armor was taking a water break from his workout. Cadance trotted down to him and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, then said something that Discord couldn't hear. Shining Armor's eyes widened and he turned to look at Discord. The draconequus took that as his cue and teleported to directly in front of the couple. "Shining Armor," Discord said with another low bow, "I am in need of your assistance." The stallion stared at him for a moment, then blinked twice. "What?" "Just what I said. I need your help." Shining Armor looked to Cadance, who nodded. He looked back to Discord. "Um, what do you need help with?" "Well, I have heard that during the time that I spent encased in stone, you protected all of Canterlot with a magical shield spell." "Yes. And?" "How exactly does that spell work? Does it create an airtight seal or is it breathable? Does it deflect only enemies or can nopony pass through it? Does it require constant effort and attention or is it self-sustaining? Is it--" Shining Armor raised a hoof to silence him. "Slow down. The shield is breathable. I can allow ponies to come through, but only on an individual basis. It's mostly self-sustaining, as long as I strengthen it a couple times a day to keep it from fading. Why do you need to know all this?" "Can you teach it to me?" "What?!" "Can you teach me your protection spell?" Discord repeated patiently, then glanced at the sun, which was starting to sink. "And can you do it in less than an hour? I promised I'd be back for dinner." "Back for dinner?" Shining Armor repeated. "Promised who?" Cadance asked. "Well, Fluttershy, of course." The ponies exchanged a glance. "Is the protection spell also for Fluttershy?" Discord frowned. "Yeah. So?" Cadance smiled knowingly at him. "Do you l--" "NO!" Discord cut her off, feeling his face turn bright red. He hated that his subconscious could manifest in his magic; there was no way to hide that his entire head was now the color of a tomato. He stomped his goat foot in frustration. "Look, can you teach me the spell or not?" The prince and princess exchanged another glance, and Shining Armor smiled. "I can teach you, but it's going to take more than an hour. Why don't you come back tomorrow, say around ten o'clock?" Discord considered. That was one more night Fluttershy had to sleep unprotected, but he would still be there to keep her as safe as possible. And after that he would be able to keep her free from all harm during the night. He smiled down at the ponies. "Ten o'clock, then." And he vanished. The Crystal prince and princess looked at each other quietly. Discord and Fluttershy? The draconequus reappeared on the fringes of the Crystal Empire and pouted. How dare those presumptuous ponies accuse him of having feelings for Fluttershy! He was just trying to keep her safe! A miniature version of himself popped out of his own ear. "And why do you care about the safety of that pathetic pegasus?" "She's not pathetic!" Discord objected to himself, pulling his tiny self out of his ear and holding him in front of his face. The tiny Discord rolled his eyes. "And now you're defending her? I think those ponies are right! You do have feelings for her!" "That's ridiculous!" Discord grabbed his miniature self around the neck and by the tail, and pulled him taught like a slingshot. "I'm just trying to be a good friend!" He released tiny Discord's tail and launched him far into the Arctic North. The original Discord turned his mind to how he was going to get back to Ponyville. Long-distance teleportation took a lot of effort, and he needed his strength to defend Fluttershy from Alberich in the night. A series of small teleportations, like he had used on the way to the Crystal Empire, would take too long. An idea struck him, and he snapped his fingers. A beautiful winged chariot appeared before him. He smiled and settled himself on the seat, and the chariot began to flap its wings and took to the air. Back in Ponyville, Spike was pulling books from the library for Twilight when Flash Sentry opened the door to admit a beautiful white unicorn sporting a cashmere cardigan and her red cat-eye glasses. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and she looked rather stressed. "Spike, do you think you could help me with--Spike?" Rarity stopped short. "You've gotten so big! Have you been hoarding things again?" The dragon turned to look at her, putting down the book he had pulled from the second shelf. He stood eye level with the unicorn now, and he smiled at her. "Nah, I'm just growing naturally this time." He chuckled as his voice cracked. "What can I help you with?" Rarity blinked a few times, then shook her head to clear it. "I need you to help me deliver a shipment of dresses to Fillydelphia. I'm dreadfully behind schedule and I'm afraid that if I try to take them all by myself I won't make it!" Spike smiled. "Sure! Let me go let Twilight know and I'll be right with you!" The unicorn sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Thank you so much, my little Spikey-wikey." She kissed him on the cheek and turned to the door. "Meet me at the boutique as quickly as you can!" The dragon blushed and dashed upstairs as fast as he could. As Rarity trotted back to the boutique, she did not notice the large shadow that passed over Ponyville. The winged chariot flapped itself across town and landed in front of Fluttershy's cottage, just as the sun touched the horizon. Discord jumped to the ground and snapped his fingers, causing the chariot to disappear, then he walked the path up to the cottage and knocked at the door. "Come in," Fluttershy called. Discord let himself in and shut the door behind him, rolling his eyes as the animals fled from the sight of him. Only Angel Bunny wasn't afraid of him anymore. The white bunny hopped up to him and motioned for him to come into the kitchen, where Fluttershy was busy preparing dinner for all the occupants of the cottage. She smiled when she saw Discord. "Just in time!" she chirped, and handed him two bowls of green salad. "Can you give those to the bunnies? And this to the squirrels." Discord had to materialize a third arm to take a third bowl, this one full of acorns and nuts. Fluttershy smiled at him. "Thank you!" The draconequus sighed, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that the animals were probably too afraid to take food from him. He went into the living room, which was still empty of its usual occupants, and dejectedly put the bowls on the floor. Then he vanished and reappeared in the kitchen, watching the living room from the doorway. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, a single squirrel stuck its nose out from under the couch, sniffing the air. Slowly, it began to creep out of its hiding place and approached the bowl, lifting out an acorn and munching on it. The other creatures gradually congregated around the food, and all of them began to eat happily, their fear forgotten. Discord smiled softly. "Look at that," said a soft voice from behind him. Discord jumped; he hadn't heard Fluttershy approach. She smiled up at him. "I'm so proud of you." "Proud?" Discord repeated, confused. The pegasus nodded. "A few months ago you would never have agreed to feed the animals, and you certainly wouldn't be so worried about them being afraid of you." She nuzzled against him gently. He stared down at her blankly, all thought eliminated from his head as soon as she touched him. Finally, he just smiled down at her, trying to keep the blush from his cheeks. Fluttershy looked up at him proudly. "Would you mind setting the table for us?" "Not at all." A snap of the fingers and it was done. After dinner, Fluttershy put the animals to bed and tidied up the cottage. Discord helped as best he could, but most of the animals still didn't trust him, so he mostly sat on the couch and watched quietly. Finally, it was time for bed, and Discord trotted up the stairs much more eagerly than he had the previous night. While Fluttershy got herself ready for bed, Discord settled himself into his round cushion, silently plotting ways to keep Alberich from getting to Fluttershy. When she returned from the bathroom in her white night dress, she set her nightly glass of water on the bedstand and then glanced over at Discord. She didn't say anything, but her eyes went from her bed to Discord, to the floor, back to Discord. He understood. Uncurling himself from his cushion, he stood and went to the other side of Fluttershy's bed, smiling timidly at the pegasus. She beamed and pulled back the covers, crawling into bed. Discord also lay down, reassuring himself that it would be easier to protect her from such a close vantage point. Fluttershy nuzzled into his chest and closed her eyes. Discord stared down at her for a while, unsure of how to best protect her without getting so close that Fluttershy might get the wrong idea. Eventually he gently wrapped his arms around her and curled his neck over her head, setting his chin down on the other side of the pillow. Without opening her eyes, Fluttershy smiled into his fur and whispered, "Goodnight, Discord."