A/N
Just a quick warning that this thing is technically a draft and completely and utterly unedited.
I wrote this thing a year ago and it hasn't been touched since. Now that I'm somewhat leaving the fandom I thought I would dump all my pony works somewhere so I can come back and cringe over them someday.
What I'm trying to say is it's pretty terrible.
But sometimes the trash'll do.
To a certain school janitor’s dismay, it was another perfectly ordinary day at Canterlot High. The same nerdy kid vomited in the school gym after being too afraid of playing dodgeball, or whatever sport he had been instructed to do. It had become a weekly affair ever since he joined the school a month ago. There were a couple of swirly events that took place in the boys bathroom too, leaving the floors completely flooded. Admittedly, the janitor rather enjoyed these so called events. So much so that he didn’t mind cleaning up the mess they left behind. He even went out of his way at times to let the bullies he had familiarised himself with know who was an excellent next target, or pointing out where their victims had hidden themselves. He’d become somewhat of a go to source, a god he would even say, to the predators of the school.
The bell had rung a mere few minutes ago to indicate that the lunch period was over and it was time to make way to class. The halls were now deathly silent as the lessons began to take place, save for a tuneful whistle making it’s way down the hallway. Discord, the world's most brutish, untrustworthy and uncaring janitor, made his way towards his sanctum, or as others called it; ‘the janitor’s closet’. As unappealing as it may sound to any other average person, it was Discord’s very own definition of luxury.
His stomach growled while he continued his stroll, a tune still playing on his lips. He smiled toothily and gave his stomach a pat. Now that the students lunch was over, it was time for his.
At last he arrived at the door to the closet, unlocked it with a key that was hung around his neck, and opened it up before shutting it behind him. He carelessly threw a broom he had been carrying into a corner of the room and fumbled around to find the light switch. After cursing under his breath in annoyance he located the switch and flicked it on before turning around with the intents of finding the tool box he stored his lunch in. What he wasn’t expecting however, was to find a female student huddled up in the corner farthest from him. The only clothing she adorned were her undergarments and pink polka dot socks that reached her knees. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself in a desperate attempt to hide as much of her exposed self as she could. She was crying and whimpering as her body shuddered, she had acknowledged her roommate, but refused to look up at him.
As soon as Discord noticed her lack of garments a rush of heat made it’s way to his cheeks before he abruptly spun around and pressed his face against the door.
It was deathly silent for what seemed to feel like a life time, save for the whimpers from the girl, before Discord broke the ice. He cleared his throat, “Shouldn’t you be in class?”
“...Right. But, pray tell, why exactly are you naked in my closet?” he said almost too casually. The question made the girl curl impossibly smaller into a ball, her breath getting sharper with each intake.
Discord sighed audibly, realising that he most likely was never going to pry an answer from her. He reached for the door handle, “I’ll go get Tia- ...Principal Celestia.”
“No! P-please, d-don’t.”
He was taken aback by her sudden outburst and had to force himself not to spin around and tell her that she had no right to raise her her voice at him. But considering the unique situation he relented.
Discord released his grip from the handle, “Fine. Okay. But what exactly do you want me to do about this hmm? I have an extremely busy schedule to attend to I’ll have you know.”
The girl hiccuped, “T-they took.. they t-took my clothes a-and I h-hid in here. I’m s-sorry.” Even in her dire situation her kind hearted nature made her feel guilty for wasting somebody's time. Even if that somebody was just some school janitor.
“Although it wasn’t exactly necessary, I accept your apology.”
By now the girl’s cries had calmed down and were replaced by only an odd sniffle every now and then.
Discord thought something over for a moment then reluctantly slipped his large coat off of his shoulders and held it out as far as he could behind his back. Why he was wearing such a heavy coat in summer was anybody’s guess. “Here, take this,” he said in an almost forceful tone.
He heard an awkward shuffle behind him as the girl got up slightly, shakily reached over, grabbed the coat, and swiftly put it on. The coat was large on her slim figure to say the least. The length reached down to her knees and her hands were completely hidden by the long sleeves, it hung over her more like a thick blanket more than anything else.
Discord turned around to finally face the student. She was standing up now, although her knees were still wobbly and she was still refusing to make any sort of eye contact with him, but it was a start. Her face was hidden behind her long locks of hair, but it was still easy to see the smudged tears over her cheeks.
“May I say you look rather dashing, my dear,” he teased, slipping back into his typical demeanor now that a majority of the awkwardness had subsided. His words to lighten the mood however only managed to make the girl’s already burning cheeks grow darker.
Discord stared at her face for a short moment, disregarding or just not even understanding that it was making her extremely uncomfortable. “Oh!” he suddenly proclaimed loudly, making the girl jump and squeak. “You’re that one the hot head was picking on not that long ago, ah what’s your face!? Something… something beginning with uh ‘G’ right?”
“It’s right on the tip of my tongue!”
“Fluttershy?” the girl whispered almost inaudibly.
“Ah no no, it was um. It was…. AH! Fluttershy! I told you I’d get it, there’s a reason I’m known for my far knowledge and dare I say, irresistible good looks,” he brought a hand to his chest, striking a pose, and wiggled his bushy eyebrows to prove his point.
Fluttershy didn’t share in his enthusiasm to Discord’s dismay as she shuffled awkwardly on the spot, still looking away from his direction.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go grab a teacher... or generally any other person but me, or something? I’m afraid I’m rather clueless with what I’m supposed to do with you now. I don’t know about you, but I’m new to this.”
She softly shook her head, “I… I just want to go home.”
Discord sighed, all hopes of digging into his thought to be well deserved lunch were fading away and fast.
“I guess I can give you a ride home if that’s what you want.” He got another soft nod and took it as his cue to get going. The quicker he got this over with, the better.
He swung open the closet’s door and strided outside, heading in the direction of the doors that lead to the carpark. He abruptly stopped however when he realised his new companion wasn’t following in suit. Discord released an audible sigh and headed back.
“What are you doing?”
Fluttershy gazed down at herself then away shyly. Discord rolled his eyes, “There’s no one out here if that’s what you’re fussing about.”
She still didn’t budge.
“Look, if you’re not gonna move, I’m gonna carry you.”
Fluttershy thought for a moment as she weighed her options out. It wasn’t too long before she started moving forward.
The two spent far longer than they anticipated as they navigated through the school's halls. They had had to avoid and conquer multiple obstacles that posed a threat, such as classrooms with large windows on the doors or a stray student or teacher here and there. But they finally made it to the car park without any unwanted attention.
Discord hadn’t even noticed that at one point Fluttershy had slipped her hand into his.
Fluttershy wasn’t exactly sure what she expected when it came to what Discord’s car would look like. In all honesty she hadn’t really had that much time to think about it. She wasn’t sure whether she had expected or was surprised when she saw the vehicle that stood before her. The car was what appeared to have been a deep red shade that had faded over a long period of time and now resembled more of a grey colour. It was patterned with rust patches, and kinks and large dents decorated the outside. Anyone would think that it had been pulled straight out of a scrap yard.
“She’s a beauty isn’t she?” Discord said with pride as he gave the car’s roof a hearty pat after he realised Fluttershy had been staring at it.
“Oh, um yes.”
Discord let go of her hand and strolled over to the car’s passenger door, opened it with a hard yank to release it from the rust, and gestured for her to take a seat. “M’lady.”
Fluttershy got inside carefully, making sure to hold on to the coat lest it slipped or moved out of place. She almost slipped when her foot came in contact with a pile of empty fizzy drink bottles. The entire floor of the car was littered as such, including empty, crushed cans and a large assortment of sugary condiment wrappers. It was as if the the Crusaders had been let loose with three hundred pounds worth of sugar in there. There was also a row of rather odd ornaments lined up along the dash board. All of them unique in their own special way. They were all different shapes and sizes and were mostly animals that had some of their rightful anatomy parts missing and replaced with other animals features that were glued on. One for example was a goose with a bear’s arm instead of a wing, and another was an otter with a lizard’s tale.
Fluttershy debated in her head whether she should question his choice of decor, but decided against it in case she ended up sounding rude or invasive. Though that didn’t stop her curiosity.
Discord got into the driver's seat beside her and began starting the car up. It took a few impatient turns of the key and some vulgar language from Discord before the car started.
Sitting so close to him suddenly made Fluttershy feel incredibly uncomfortable, even more so with her inappropriate attire. What would people think if they saw them? More importantly what would her friends think if they found out that she went home with a man she didn’t even know? Granted, everybody who attended Canterlot High somewhat knew who the janitor was; a creep old brute who should mind his own beeswax, according to Rainbow Dash. But none the less, everyone knew of his presence, though never cared enough to get to know who he was truly like beneath his rough exterior.
A dark, embarrassing blush formed on her cheeks as she went over in her head what people might start saying if they found out. It almost made her want to jump out of the car and sprint as far away as she possibly could, but considering her situation she couldn’t decide which option was better. Though she knew it was unlikely, she also wondered whether Discord had thought the same thing too.
“So where to then? Clocks a ticking” Discord said in a rather upbeat tone, bringing Fluttershy out of her thoughts. If he had noticed her blush, he didn’t show it.
Fluttershy carefully instructed him on which directions he needed to take to get to her home, before they set off.
The car ride started off with an uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable for Fluttershy at least. She wished that the car’s radio was on to help null out the silence, plus she thought it would help her keep up to date with the popular songs her friends listened to. But a quick glance at a large gap where the radio should have been told her that she won’t be listening to any music any time soon.
“They played a song I didn’t like so I threw the thing out the window” Discord said casually after noticing her disappointed frown at the missing radio. The sudden ice breaker almost made Fluttershy jump out of her skin.
“Oh.”
“It was easier at the time.”
No matter how much she tried, Fluttershy couldn’t fathom how completely removing the radio from its sockets and launching it out the window instead of simply changing the station was easier. She began to think that that sort of thinking probably isn’t healthy.
Another silence fell over the car.
The car stopped a red traffic light and Discord cleared his throat, “So. Who exactly did, well, that to you?” He tried to touch the subject gently and muster up as much sincerity as he mentally could. It’s easy to understand that dealing with his own emotions let alone other peoples wasn’t his forte. But he didn’t particularly want Fluttershy to start crying again, lest she ruined his upholstery, of course.
Fluttershy gazed expressionless out of the window beside her, continuing her previous refusal to look anywhere in Discord’s direction. “I don’t know,” she mumbled, with a hint of pain to her words.
“Right, of courses you don’t,” he rolled his eyes. “You know, you’re not much for company. I’ve had more interesting conversations with a broom stick.”
Fluttershy instinctively brought her knees up inside the oversized coat and against her chest, latching her arms around them as she did before she leaned her head sideways on top of her hidden knees. Her hair flowed down her form and masked any traces of her face.
Discord sighed deeply at her folding into herself, releasing most of his frustration along with it. “Please don’t cry again. I wouldn’t know what to do if you did.”
The car stopped at another red light and Discord took the opportunity to jump over his seat and into the back. Several wrappers, bottles, and even a broken printer were thrown aimlessly into the air as Discord rummaged through the clutter before he let out a hearty ‘Ah hah!’. He scrambled back to his seat and turned to Fluttershy, who had lifted her head to see what was happening, and shoved a teddy bear in her face. At a first glance it was difficult to tell that what was being waved in front of her face, but upon closer inspection she could make out it’s traditional features. The bear had no eyes, was missing it’s left ear and both forearms, and stuffing spouted mercilessly from almost every seam.
Fluttershy took it gently from his grip, worried that the bear might crumble to dust with any sudden movements.
For the first time that day, Fluttershy made eye contact with the janitor.
“His name is Balthazar… or was it Lucifer? I can’t quite remember. Potato potata,” he shrugged, turning his attention back to the road and driving past the red light.
Discord said nothing more to which Fluttershy turned her gaze back to the unusual bear in her hands. Although he had a multitude of imperfections, he felt soothingly soft, and with that revelation she kissed the bear’s forehead and brought him to her chest in a tight hug.
Discord would never admit to it, but a soft smile, almost unnoticeable but still there, managed to grow onto his face.