//------------------------------// // Acceptance // Story: A Kind of Chaos // by Lola Dotz //------------------------------// The air was thick and silent, fog covered the ground and trail, but Fluttershy knew well to follow behind Discord. He knew where he was going. The forests of the Everfree were dark and hung over the path, casting a shadow over the draconequus and pegasus mare that ventured into its wicked thicket of trees. Sounds, cracks and low growls and howling timberwolves off in the distance could be heard from all angles. Fluttershy would squeak every now and again, with Discord glancing behind him to make sure she was safe. Discord would have insisted she stay in front or even beside him, but her mind was in too much thought to even respond. She would have declined him anyway, her face showed it all. He looked out in front of him, and instead of thinking about the present, he thought about his past. Cordwood glided on Discord’s right side, he had remained silent the whole way, but now his host was beginning to get depressed...again...and in this state, it would not end well. Discord thought of his life before he looked like a monster, before he had such powerful magic. He was considered a somewhat “normal” individual. A draconequus. He was one of the few dragon-pony hybrids, full of curious intelligence. A young prodigy, and his future was bright. He ventured from his homelands and to Equestria, to teach, to fulfill his dream of teaching the younger generation magic. In short, he found himself as one of the mentors for the council. Back then, the lives of both Princess Celestia and Luna were secret from the public for their safety, and their parents would’ve wanted it so till they were of age to rule. So Equestria had formed a council in the King and Queen’s place, one of them being none other than Star Swirl. In desperate measures, the wizard went seeking teachers for both Princesses. Discord just so happen to be one of them. It all began with a certain wizard walking into a teacher’s classroom, and his adventure was sent spiraling ever since that day. The chimera smiled slightly as he thought to himself, Cordwood looked grimly at him. The apparition could feel everything his host felt, he himself tried to always make them think of the positives about their life. No matter what happened. The magic of a chimera was hard to wield, and it could make one go mad if they beared the wrong emotions inside. Powerful magic that swirled inside uncontrollably, could tear apart a draconequus from the inside. This must be why most Chimera had a bad reputation, luckily for Discord, he was still a draconequus at heart. Cordwood looked back at his counterpart once more. Discord could not fall into this again. The chimera looked at the ground for a moment. So many memories. The council,Star Swirl, Celestia, Trance. It’s all his fault! He did this to me! He made me a monster...he deserved to die- Stop it, Discord! Discord looked up in shock at his counterpart who was staring at him firmly. They had stopped momentarily on the path. Discord paled in realization of his thoughts. He needed Cordwood back, or else he was going to become a true monster, and his magic would eat at him. “Discord, are you alright? Why did we stop?” Fluttershy asked from behind. Her voice was quiet, and filled with compassion and concern. She shouldn’t be losing him like this, she thought. “I’m fine-” Discord shook his head and walked on the path once again, Cordwood eyeing him down still, with a disappointed look. If we think like that we know what will happen… I’ll turn into a maniac and then die, not much to tell. It’s different this time. We felt it’s effects when the Tirek incident happened. The third time around will not be very pleasant either. I know. No, we don’t! No more freebies...we can’t even cast our magic anymore until we’re put back together. If you go on a rampage and try and use magic we don’t have then it will kill us! So stop thinking about him! It’s not just him… Stop it- He ruined my life, our life. He turned me into this-this thing! And I so foolishly believed I could use chimera magic to kill him! Oh, but he deserved to die! He killed her-he-he Stop it, we can’t do this! Not when we finally- “Is that how much May meant to you?! To just forget about her completely, and what happened?!” Discord shouted at the air, from what Fluttershy could see. What was wrong with him? She wondered. Twilight had informed her that there was now a counterpart unseen to the naked eye, considered Discord’s conscience, but, why was he so upset with it? “Discord, what’s wrong?!” Fluttershy shouted a little, trotting up closer to him. The chimera looked at her angrily, but then he softened. She always made him feel calmer. “I-I, um...sorry-I can’t really...control myself when I’m in two pieces...my thoughts are starting to get the better me-my memories…” Discord held his face with his claw and turned the other direction walking once again toward their destination. Fluttershy walked slowly behind. It was silent. It was always silent. But the silence was starting to get louder and louder. Fluttershy was fogged with questions of why’s and if’s. She wanted to help Discord in any way she could, because she didn’t want to lose him. He meant so much to her. She loved him ever since that day he told her she was worth more than all the magic in Equestria. In that moment. That one moment, she felt so much warmth in her heart for him. Recently, she had developed feelings even more so. He had become a stallion though, and it changed her. It angered her, it hurt her, and it confused her. Why would he do that to her? Why would he change himself to something he wasn’t? Why would Discord make her choose? She felt tears on the brim of her eyes, the salty droplets threatening to leak and slide over her yellow cheeks. I might lose him...for good. I had chosen the wrong side of him! Why would I do that when I-I I love him so much… Fluttershy sniffed a little, but then she thought. The pegasus tilted her head up and saw the black mane of Discord. She wore a concerned expression once again, but for a different reason. “Discord?” Fluttershy came up beside him. “What did you mean when you said you can’t control your memories?” The draconequus continued walking silently for a moment, before he looked at the ground, his ears folding back. “Fluttershy, remember when-that night that I walked you back home and you told me of the scars on your back and your past?” Discord looked at her for a moment, then back at the ground. She was probably still angry at him for doing such a stupid thing, pretending to be something he wasn’t. “Yes...I do.” Fluttershy looked at her back for a moment, in remembrance of Discord’s embrace. No matter what form he would take, she would always recognize his hugs and his compassion towards her. “Well, do you also remember when I told you about myself?” Discord looked at Cordwood too for a moment before returning to his depressed walking position. Fluttershy looked at him strangely, and oddly surprised. “That was your actual-but I thought you-” “I may have lied about my appearance but I didn’t lie about my past...well, part of it…” Fluttershy looked at the ground like her friend as they walked and everything returned to silence again. Discord was a little nervous to be talking to Fluttershy like this, and sharing his mistakes., but maybe, if he told her about it...he’d feel better. Discord stopped in the path once again, looking at the dirt and fog that seemed to be lifting as they neared the edge of an opening in the forest. Fluttershy stopped too and looked at her intrest, prepared to hear whatever feelings he wanted to pour out to her. “I lost everything.” He whispered low, his heart was aching, the cracks and scars almost visible to the naked eye. With those three words, Fluttershy felt her anger float away for a temporary time. She didn’t understand what he might have meant by that, what he truly might have gone through, but he still meant so much to her no matter what he might have done. “My magic...is controlled by how I feel and think...I-um-it’s hard to control at times. My past...how I became...when you're down in a rough place it tends to find you out and-” “I understand…” Fluttershy came up to him, she wanted to stay beside him now. She still wanted answers, but right now it was best to just forget about it and make sure that Discord was better, then she would ask him why he did what he did. All she wanted now was for Discord to be okay. Discord was facing the same turmoil inside. He wanted to tell her everything. His past, why he was like this, why he became a stallion...though he didn’t really understand fully...and how he felt about Fluttershy. He loved her. Discord realized that now, but now wasn’t the time. “Come on, we should hurry so we can fix this mess…” Discord said turning away slightly then gaining back his composure. He went on and walked toward the opening with Fluttershy by his side. He was quiet for a moment, not moving, then he stepped out into the clearing and stared forward. It had been awhile…since he was here… “The Castle of The Two Sisters...do you think Twilight was right, that we would find a spell in there?” Fluttershy nervously put her hoof to her muzzle and looked up at her chimera friend who looked like he was in a daze, but he answered back confidently. “I believe so...she would be right when she said that there were plenty of reverse spells here, and maybe something else that could help.” Discord began walking once more, on all fours toward the castle, he was acting very nostalgic at the moment. Fluttershy stayed quiet all the way to the door. The cracks and falling pieces of the castle gave it a creeping look. The vines and weeds on the sides cut through the open spaces and tore the brick in places, making a forest on the insides corners and creases. It made all sorts of sounds, trap doors being turned on and flipped as animals scurried through it’s halls. Fluttershy gulped nervously. A loud thunder overhead sounded off dramatically making the pegasus hide underneath Discord’s belly. “Um...Fluttershy, might I ask...what are you doing down there, hm?” Fluttershy peeked out from under her wall and saw the face of her draconequus looking down at her. “Oh, um...well, the c-castle j-just seems so-so...scary…” Another thunder and loud creak from the castle roared through the air, making Fluttershy hide once more, this time grabbing his tail. Discord blushed at her innocents, but he preferred not having the little pegasus grabbing his tail the whole way. “Alright, understandable...but perhaps you should stay on my back-” Discord bent his neck and lifted his lion paw to look at Fluttershy who cowered underneath him. She looked cute doing such a foalish thing. “I like it here actually…” She laughed nervously. “It feels more-more safe...down here.” Discord lifted it up his head to meet the eyes of Cordwood who was smirking mischievously at him. This apparition was beginning to get on his last nerves. “Fluttershy...it’s...uncomfortable when you grab my tail…” Cordwood held back a laugh, this image of the two of them was to comical to the floating draconequus. Fluttershy peeked out once again and looked at the chimera she was hugging for dear life. “It is?” “Very.” He monotoned. “Ohthen, what about-” Fluttershy walked slowly upward, her back rubbing against him, then her head poking out between his two front claws, “...here?” Discord looked at her momentarily with his eyebrow raised, then he gave a ‘seriously’ look at her, to which she just smiled nervously in reply. “I guess, just don’t be grabbing on to me the whole way-” “A-Alright...I’ll try…” She meekly whispered, then went back underneath her ‘haven’. Discord sighed, but continued walking up to the door, and opened the large barrier to reveal the interior. It was dusty and old, really old. The vines and weeds had really taken residence here. Animals scurried across the floor as the light of a storm came leaking through when two intruders walked slowly into their home. “Eep!” Fluttershy whimpered and shook underneath Discord as the thunder continued, now bringing rain with it. The weather would never be the same here as it was around Ponyville, Discord remembered. “M-Maybe we should just come back t-tomorrow...when nopony is h-home?” She shook once again, terrified of her own shadow. Discord rolled his eyes smiling and walked on, making Fluttershy quickly follow underneath him. The halls’ machinery were still fully functional, which they could see as animals would jump through holes or push buttons and levers to get somewhere. Discord fanned out his wings a little, making some mice scurry away from him. This was not how he remembered it. The walls were once shiny, the carpets perfectly scented and the shade of reds and blues. The tapestries were magnificent and a window would shine the sun in from every angle during the day, and shaded in the evening and at night, when candelabras would bring a lovely glow throughout the castle. Discord and Fluttershy went up the stairs to the rooms, closer and closer to the library. The castle was most definitely, in a word, huge, even in its ruin and disrepair. The yellow pegasus gaped at how large everything was, she had been there many times with her friends, but she’d never really tried to view the place. She was too scared too. Discord looked at the halls and their walls that were adorned with paintings and tapestries. It was lovely. Their steps could be heard as echoes throughout the castle, past all the rooms, still losing space between themselves and the library. Except for one room, Discord could not pass without looking into. The room called to him as he walked, and turned to see it. The door was still wide open, as it always was. The walls, orange...his favorite color. The desk was still stacked with books and papers, and a small potion bottle on the floor. The bed was clawed down on the posts and the sheets were torn. The floor still had claw marks etching pictures of sorrow and grief in them. “Discord?” Fluttershy called to him in a quiet whisper. “What are you-” He didn’t answer, instead, he walked inside. He looked at the room with a miserable face, Fluttershy’s was filled with concern. We need to get out of here! Cordwood hissed, hoping his counterpart would listen this time. Just a moment. No, we need to leave this place...its- My room. Cordwood stared at him for a moment, and then the room. He couldn’t help it, he felt it too, the nostalgia and familiarity of a time long past. I’ll grab what I want and leave when I want… Discord reached out to his once work desk and looked at all his books and papers he had been looking perusing over a thousand years ago. The ink was almost faded away to memory, but that’s all Discord needed. The papers were for a spell, the spell that gave a wielder magic, a theory, a lesson learned. It was his Chaos Theory. All his fault. It was all his fault...my fault...monster...spells, he hurt them, he killed her...I was so broken...he made me this way...I’m evil Stop! Tyrant- Quit it! Stop it we say! Heathen-I can’t… Yes we can! Fight it! Demon-I can’t stop this...I can’t stop myself- You’ll turn into the monster you dread you are if you keep this up! I am a monster. “Discord?” Fluttershy’s concerned voice snapped him out of his thoughts with perfect timing. “Huh? Sorry, I just-I need something…” Discord grabbed all the papers from his desk and began opening drawers that were a part of the desk itself. He flipped his claws through his work and searched, until he found what he was looking for. A leather journal. Fluttershy looked curiously at him then brightened a little. “Does have the spell we’re looking-” “No...it’s...my journal.” Discord interrupted before Fluttershy could have any far fetched hopes. “Oh-wait-your journal?” Fluttershy asked curiously. Why would he want his journal…wait, why is his journal here? Since when did Discord record things? These thoughts and more were straining to be heard, to be answered, but she asked none of them. The chimera stacked the papers neatly and shoved them into his journal, then knocked the books off the desk. Discord used only a bit of his magic, whatever he had left in there to send the journal back home, to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Where did you send that?” Fluttershy asked as Discord made his exit back to the hallway with his pegasus. “I sent it back home.” He inquired as they walked on closer to the library. “Oh.” Fluttershy sighed silently. Since Discord’s home was destroyed, they decided he should stay with Fluttershy. At least until he was better, which made it both awkward and sort of nerving. This whole situation had been really. Fluttershy wanted to forget about it till he was better, but the thoughts were fogging her mind and were desperate to be noticed. She wanted to ask him, and she wanted to tell him. Maybe...she should tell him first? Yes, then they could discuss why he used the spell in the first place! Maybe, he loves her too! Maybe not...Fluttershy hadn’t considered how that might play out. Would he reject her feelings and never be her friend again? Would they not speak to each other normally anymore, both knowing it was a one sided love? What if he did love her? What might happen then? Fluttershy knew that many still hadn’t fully accepted him. What would they do if they found out that they were each other’s special somepony? Where would that leave marriage?! Or foals?! Could he even have them?! What would he do if she wanted more than that? All these questions flooded through Fluttershy’s mind, fogging her vision. She didn’t even see the button she had just stepped on. “Fluttershy!” Discord cried, grabbed the pegasus he clung to her, curling up into a ball as the floor fell through to a lower level. Cough. Cough. Discord breathed in dust and choked slightly, then looked under him. There she was. “Flutters! Are you alright?! Anything broken?! I didn’t hurt you did I...let me check for any-” “I-I’m fine...thank you, Discord...for...helping me, again.” She flushed, still suffering from shock. Discord was quiet for a moment. They were in a very awkward position at the moment, and both were slightly dumbfounded by what had just taken place. Discord looked down at her, she was so beautiful when she looked up at him like that. Her mane tangled and flowing across the floor. Fluttershy looked up at Discord. His face was blushing and he looked almost nervous. His wings shielded her from the enchanted candles of the floor above them, and his ear perked up as if listening to something intently. Possibly the loud thumping in Fluttershy’s chest. “I-you're welcome…my dear...” Oh don’t say that when we’re like this! Fluttershy shouted nervously in her head. All those memories of him, and him as a stallion rushed in her mind. The talks, the rescue, that kiss he had given her...was that his first? It was her’s. Would it be their last? Discord shook his head and got up quickly, there was an awkward silence between them. “Are you alright?” Fluttershy spoke up after a time. “I wasn’t the only one that fell…” “I’m quite alright my dear, no need to worry.” Discord said rubbing the back of his neck and messing up his mane out of habit. Yes, don’t worry about him love...he’s just upset because he’s a virgin… Cordwood laughed, making Discord blush various shades of red. Shut up! This particular chimera was not handling his conscience very well today. “Oh, no…” Fluttershy came up to him, her head lifted to the sky, looking at the square shaped hole in the ceiling that had once been the strong floor of one of the many upstair hallways “How will we get to the library now?” Discord looked up at the sky and sighed. If only we had wings...oh wait… Count that out, can’t fly...I have no magic left now… Good job, we had to get the journal didn’t we? I had too...it needs to be destroyed. Sure, that’s why we grabbed it. “We’ll just have to figure our way around...I don’t remember most of the secret passages...but I think we can find a way to get up there.” Discord stated looking both left and right to see the long and dark hall they had fallen into. “Let’s go this way...and stay close.” Discord said that as if he wanted Fluttershy to just follow behind, but him resting his wing over her and walking beside her small figure crushed up against his side, gave a different message. “Alright.” Fluttershy smiled slightly at the serious protectiveness Discord was giving. They traveled up and down, sideways and backward, through walls and up stairs...but somehow didn’t manage to make it to the upper level where the library awaited them. Fluttershy was beginning to grow tired, and Discord was getting agitated. This huge mess! If I wasn’t this stupid chimera none of this would have happened! I would be perfectly fine and happy! We’d probably be dead somewhere and not walking beside our potential mate… She’s not my mate! She wouldn’t want somepony like me anyway...I’m a monster...it’s all his fault...all of it...I wish I could have- Stop it, now! Discord growled low as he thought and tried to fight his fears within him, which worried the meek little pegasus still hiding under his wing. Both weren’t paying attention to the path, instead one looked in another direction opposite to their partner. Both running into a wall. They both sent out their complaint noise, but then the wall started to crack and crumble. “Fluttershy move!” She stood still and covered herself with her wings as the rocks began to fall, lucky for her Discord reacted quickly. They were both breathing heavily as they stood up against the opposite, and more secure, wall. “You need to be careful! Why didn’t you move! Do you have any idea what would happen if I lost you?!” “No I’m sorry...I didn’t think to-” “Of course you didn’t, no one thinks about how I feel, no one ever bothers to think anymore!” Discord’s anger came through, his fear dulling into a different color, rage. Fluttershy had been fighting her own anger this whole time, her fears and grief being pushed down by her more gentle nature and her dear for Discord’s health. But now...she was exposed… “Well, you didn’t seem to care about how I feel either!” She shouted at him, which took the draconequus a little by surprise. Then he felt his feelings for her on the rise, and became even more outraged. Of course he thought about how she felt! That’s why he couldn’t tell her how he felt! He couldn’t make her choose a monster like him when she could be happy with someone else! “Of course I care about how you feel!” “Well, you have a funny way of showing it!” “No!” Discord banged his claws against the wall pinning Fluttershy to it, only giving his face for her to look at, “I didn’t tell you about how I felt because I knew what you would think! I’d be even more of a monster if I told you everything! Listen to me when I say-” “No! You listen! You didn’t think about how I felt! Because you went and lied to me for your own gain and you got yourself hurt so badly that-that now I might lose you forever!” “My own gain?! MY OWN GAIN?! You think I lied to you for my own pleasure?!” “Yes, I do! Because I haven’t heard any different!” Her tears came to the brim of her eyes, ready to fall down. Discord looked at her, his face pale, he didn’t think about it in that sense...he just wanted… “If there’s some other reason, I want to hear it, because I don’t want to think you used me like that!” “I-I didn’t...I just-I did-” “You know what you did?!” Her tears fell down her cheeks and her lip quivered, her eyes fogged with mist. She couldn’t hold back her thoughts any longer. “You made me choose which one of you to love and I chose the wrong you! And I hate myself for it because that’s not truly what I wanted! I just wanted you for you! I love you!” Discord slid his claws off the wall and let them fall to his sides. He had never heard something so hurtful and so beautiful at the same time. She had just confessed to him, her love for him...and he both loved and hated it. Because it hurt to hear it...because he was a monster...why would she love him? “Why do you...why would you love something like me?” He said so quiet, his body slumped and he sat on the ground and looked at the dirt and dust on the hall floor. Fluttershy whimpered, and her tears fell to the dust to be soaked up with the past. She was exposed now, a huge weight had been lifted off her chest, and now all she wanted to do was cry her heart out. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t kno-” Discord began, but Fluttershy couldn’t hear him. She wanted to cry. Her body moved on it’s own without her thinking. She got up quickly and ran forward into the dark with only the glow of enchanted candles to guide her through the castle's corridors. Discord followed with his eyes for a second, his mind still processing what just happened. Until his panic set in as he saw the yellow pegasus run off down an unknown hall. “Hey, wait! Fluttershy!” He got up and skipped towards her, trying to reach her, but he didn’t notice the button he pressed under his paw. He went face first into a wall, and landed with a low groan. That went splendidly! “No...no-no-no-no-NO! I have to get to her! She could fall, or break herself! I have to get out of here!” The chimera hit the wall repeatedly and then looked up skyward as if praying the door would magically open on it’s own accord. And then what? Do we plan on confessing our love too? “I-I don’t know…” Discord searched all around the new wall that had blocked his path. Patting every brick, testing the floor, repressing the button. Nothing. His worry for the weak little pegasus was beginning to wear him down, he even started making panicking horse noises. Which was something he tried to refrain from. We need to tell her, old friend. “No, no we don’t...she’s better off not knowing a monster like me…” We’re not a monster! When will we see that about ourselves! Yes, we are! And Fluttershy can’t be stuck with somepony like me...and what if it doesn’t work, huh? What then? She’ll leave! Eventually she’ll leave like everyone else will! Cordwood looked at him for a moment, a bit surprised. Cordwood is a part of you...and even I didn’t sense this… “Well, looks like you overlooked it.” Discord scoffed, then lit up as he found a loose brick that came to be a activation to a different wall to the side. The chimera leapt through and made his way toward the direction she had ran. Cordwood flew beside his counterpart and frowned, looking at Discord with a disapproving glare. She won’t leave. How do you know! We don’t. But we have faith. She’ll leave...they always leave...I’m meant to have no one! I’m meant to be alone! I just want her to be with me this way...because she might leave sooner if I- Discord, she won’t leave if we tell her what we fear. I-I can’t… Discord banked a corner and saw a yellow blur off in the distance, and picked up his pace. He ran on all fours like a predator, but he was pursuing the one thing he truly cared about more than all else. You can, and you will. Because what might happen if you do? She’ll leave! No, she’ll stay! And when she does, we’ll be put back together again! Discord was silent, fearful, undecided. All his life he lost, he never knew his real mother or father, his only kind of family was murdered in front of him, his co-worker cursed him to be a monster, his study made him posses magic that made his mind crazy, he lost his first friends to his own selfish acts, and now he was about to lose the mare he cared about more than life itself. So, what more do you have to lose? Discord looked at Cordwood as he ran, barely touching the surface of the ground, almost flying. There was truth in his words. Discord had lost, but he had also gained from his mistakes and his grief. He gained a friendship, no, he gained friends...and he found love. If he had never been turned to stone, if he hadn’t lost...he wouldn’t have met her. She was weak when he first had met her, but she grew strong, she was smart, she was creative, she was kind...and she made him feel complete. Everything they had done with their friendship, all the things they had said to one another, the letters they had written, the moments they had shared. He had cherished every one of them. He wanted that to stay...he wanted to keep loving her, he wanted her to stay with him, to stay like she was, he wanted her...no. I need her. That was it...he knew it now. He loved her. He loved her more than anything. His tears began to fill to the brim, they hadn’t fallen in a long time. Discord sped up faster than ever and ran closer and closer to the small, meek pegasus, breaking the distance between them. All this time, he truly loved her, he loved her unconditionally. And if he didn’t have her, what was there to live for? What do we plan to do? I’m going to tell her...how I feel. Why the sudden change then? Because, if I don’t have her…I’ll be broken...a-and...his tears fell for the first time in ages, falling down his cheeks. His face red from holding back all his feelings from before. I love her…All this time...she loved him for who he truly was. And he didn’t want to lose the one who accepted him that way. Finally… Cordwood flew toward Discord and passed into him shining brightly like a light at the end of a long tunnel. Discord’s emotions fell back into place and his mind was back together again. And now...his world was a blur, mainly because of his tears. Discord jumped, and landed on top of Fluttershy, both falling and skidding the dust, making a cloud. Fluttershy looked up at the chimera, who was once again on top of her. But something was different. The drops fell from his eyes and hit her face, falling off her rosey cheeks. Her eyes were cloudy and sift as well. “I was afraid!” He blurted out, taking Fluttershy by surprise. “I was afraid that you would leave me, I was afraid that you would just one day grow tired of me and leave me behind! I lied because-because I couldn’t bare the thought of losing you!” Fluttershy rested against the ground and looked at the spectacle before her. He was crying, he was opening up, and he was the most hoofsome stallion she had ever laid eyes upon in that very moment. “I’m sorry I lied...and I-I just...after everything that’s happened I had realized...how much I-” Fluttershy held her breath and looked up at her draconequus, as he too looked down at her. It was a beautiful moment to be in. Discord felt his heart race. She looked beautiful to him...she was so breathtaking, no matter what she might like. He couldn’t hold back now. The chimera closed his eyes and crashed his lips against hers, Fluttershy’s eyes went wide. This moment was what she had been waiting for. What they both had waited for. The time they realized how much they really cared for one another. This precious time, as Fluttershy slowly closed her eyes and sighed happily, was something they would want to relive again and again. Fluttershy let out a content, and quiet moan, to which Discord opened his eyes and lifted his neck back up. “Fluttershy...I love you.”