Dreamers Beware

by ApplauseJunkie

Research

When Discord opened his eyes, he didn't remember where he was. He was about to sit up in panic when something warm moved against his chest. He looked down and froze. Fluttershy was still sleeping peacefully against him, with one hoof looped gently around his neck. Discord blinked, then blinked again. What did he do now? Just stay still until she woke up?

He decided not to move, and set himself to thinking about the events of last night. Something strange was definitely going on with Alberich; he should have been dead over a thousand years ago. The alp must be artificially prolonging his life somehow, which meant that there was probably a powerful dark magic involved. Discord frowned, and glanced down at Fluttershy protectively. The thought that she was being attacked at night by some form of dark magic made his mind burn.

Stretching his neck so that he could examine the room and the bed without moving the rest of his body, Discord made a quick assessment of the situation. Her bedroom had one window, which constantly stood open to allow access for birds and bats and other flying creatures. He knew she would never agree to shut that window, for the sake of her little friends. He would have to find a way to protect her without sealing the house.

At that moment, a tiny sigh alerted him to his bedmate. He shrunk his neck back to its natural length and smiled down at Fluttershy as she slowly opened her eyes. She smiled back up at him and leaned against him appreciatively. He hugged her gently. "Did you sleep well?" he asked.

Fluttershy nodded, causing her face to graze against the fur of his chest. Discord had to employ his magic to prevent his fur from noticeably standing on end. Her touch was electrifying.

The pegasus yawned daintily and slid out of bed, adjusting her rumpled white nightgown. Discord realized too late that he was staring at her, and hurriedly hopped out of bed himself. He used his magic to straighten the covers and tuck them in, even fluffing the pillows. Fluttershy smiled gratefully at him, then trotted into the bathroom to brush her mane and take off her pajamas.

Once alone, the draconequus took a few deep breaths and smoothed his mane. He scolded himself quietly and shook his head to clear it. When Fluttershy reappeared, groomed and ready for the day, Discord tried to smile as naturally as possible. For a while, silence ensued. Discord cleared his throat, and Fluttershy looked at her hooves.

"T-thank you for staying here last night."

"Oh, no trouble at all!" he coughed as he realized how quickly he was speaking.

"Do you think that thing will come back?"

Discord frowned. "I don't know. He might decide you're no longer an easy target because of what happened last night, but I'm not sure, especially since he's obviously using some kind of dark magic."

"D-d-dark magic?" Fluttershy's eyes widened. Discord flinched. That had been the wrong thing to say. Now she was frightened.

"W-well, if he's using dark magic, m-maybe we ought to tell Princess Twilight about it..."

Discord blinked. He hadn't thought of that. He still wasn't used to asking for help when he needed it. "Good idea," he said, nodding. Fluttershy trotted down the stairs.

---

Across town, Pinkie Pie was singing her usual cheerful tune as she bounced down the street. She greeted every pony she passed in her own special way, recalling tiny details of their lives and counting down the days to their birthdays. She was so busy admiring the produce in one of the market stalls that she almost didn't hear a low, masculine voice from behind her.

"It's been a long time, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie froze. She knew that voice. She turned to see a figure leaning against a wall, a dark hat pulled down over his eyes, a poncho draped over his shoulders, and a party noisemaker dangling loosely between his lips.

"CHEESE!!" Pinkie squealed, tackling him with a hug. "What brings you back to Ponyville?"

Cheese Sandwich stood up, tossing his hat back to reveal a brown mane that was almost as curly as Pinkie's. "I missed you, kid!" he replied in an exuberant shout, bouncing into the air with a grin.

The pink earth pony tried to blink the stars out of her eyes. "Really?"

Cheese nodded, then bowed his head as he placed his hat back over his eyes. "You see, little filly," he said in his low, mysterious voice, "As I was moseyin' along the lone, open road, lookin' for another party to plan, I looked up into the sky, and there was the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. And it reminded me of a certain mare I had left behind. In Ponyville."

Pinkie gasped. "Meee?"

"Yes indeedily!" Cheese exclaimed, putting a hoof under her chin. "How could I forget the pony that made me who I am?"

Pinkie Pie blushed, and Cheese Sandwich picked her up and swung her around, then squeezed her tightly to his chest. "I realized that no matter how many parties I plan, no matter how many rubber chickens keep me company, my life will still be empty if you aren't with me!"

Pinkie could hardly believe what she was hearing as she returned his enthusiastic embrace. She had never dared to hope that she would see this pony again, let alone that he might feel this way about her. In fact, she had been trying to get over her own feelings for the super party pony ever since he left Ponyville. "Y-you mean it?" she whispered.

"Swear on camembert!"

She stared up at him with shining eyes, and he returned her smile without taking his arms from around her. Pinkie opened her mouth to say something, but Cheese silenced her with a sudden, forceful kiss. In that instant, Pinkie Pie had fewer bones in her body than the rubber chicken he had given her on his last visit. When he released her, both were blushing hard.

A small cough made both of them whirl, and they giggled awkwardly to see Lyra Heartstrings and BonBon looking at them with questioning eyes. Maybe behind a market stall wasn't the best place for such an emotional reunion.

"Do you know someplace...quiet we can go?" Cheese whispered. Pinkie grinned and took him by the hoof.

---

As they reached the center of Ponyville, Discord noticed a few other ponies out and about and stopped walking. Fluttershy looked back at him in concern. "Aren't you coming?"

The draconequus hung his head. "I'm not sure it's the best idea for me to just waltz into town, if you know what I mean."

Fluttershy studied him curiously. She hadn't thought about that. Since she had already forgiven Discord for his alliance with Tirek, it sometimes slipped her mind that other ponies might still see him as a villain. She walked over to where Discord stood and sat down next to him, thinking.

"Well...you can change into anything, right?"

"What?"

"Like, with your chaos magic. Can't you shapeshift into any shape you want?"

"Yeah. What does that have to do with--"

"Could you make yourself look like a bunny?"

The idea didn't sound very appealing to Discord. Bunnies were cute and fluffy, two things that he wasn't keen on being. "Why on earth would I want to make myself into a little fuzzball like that?" he huffed childishly.

Fluttershy tactfully ignored his last comment. "Well, if you looked like a bunny, nopony would notice you. They're used to seeing me walk around with a bunny or some other small creature."

Discord blinked. She was smarter than he'd thought. But he still didn't want to be a fluffy old rabbit. "Can I be a dragonfly instead?" he asked.

Fluttershy giggled. "If that would make you more comfortable."

In a flash of white, the draconequus became a tiny dragonfly with mismatched wings. He buzzed once or twice around Fluttershy's head, then landed gracefully on her ear. "Ready to go!" called a high-pitched voice in her ear. The pegasus giggled a little and started through town to Twilight's castle.

They made it through town without incident, and a familiar member of the royal guard held the door for Fluttershy as she went inside. Celestia had sent a small troop of royal guards down to Ponyville to work at the new castle, and this particular one nodded politely at her as she trotted patiently through the door.

Discord waited until they were safely in the throne room to transform back into his normal self. The last thing he wanted was to deal with the guards. Twilight was lounging casually on her throne, holding a book with her magic. Her horn had gotten longer since she had become a princess, and she was getting a little taller, too. Alicorns naturally stood a little taller than ponies, and Twilight was almost as tall as Princess Cadance now.

She wasn't the only one. Spike had hit puberty a few months ago, and he was already almost twice his original size. He had given up trying to fit in the little throne that sat beside Twilight's and was sprawled on the floor reading another Power Ponies comic. Spike saw them come in first, and grinned. "Hey guys."

Twilight glanced up from her book and immediately jumped to her feet. "Fluttershy!" she squealed, dashing to give her friend a hug. "Hi Discord," she added with a friendly smile. Discord was surprised that she didn't so much as flinch when she saw him. "What brings you two around today?" Twilight asked, motioning for them to have a seat. Fluttershy took her own throne, and Discord borrowed Pinkie's.

"Well, we've had a little...problem," Fluttershy started, but she wasn't sure exactly how to explain it. She looked to Discord for help.

"There's an alp on the loose," Discord stated bluntly.

Twilight raised her eyebrows. "An alp? But alps are peaceful."

Fluttershy shuddered. "Not this one."

"He also shouldn't be here. This particular alp is one I've known since before I came to Equestria over a thousand years ago."

"Alps aren't supposed to live that long!" Twilight insisted.

"That's why it's a problem."

"He keeps giving me nightmares...."

That in itself was enough reason for Twilight to want to get rid of him. She turned to Discord. "You say you know this alp?"

Discord nodded. "His name is Alberich. Back when I knew him he was just a normal fellow, liked to feed on silly dreams of flying goats and the like. But something's happened to him to give him a taste for nightmares."

Twilight was up and pacing now. "So we're dealing with some unknown factors, here."

Discord and Fluttershy nodded. Spike frowned.

"Tell you what," Twilight said. "I'll do as much research on alps as I can, and see if we can find out something useful. Are you going to be okay sleeping tonight, Fluttershy?"

The yellow mare glanced up at Discord, silently asking if he was going to stay with her. He nodded. She smiled. "Yes, I'll be fine."

Twilight glanced between the two of them curiously, but dismissed it. "If either of you think of anything, come tell me right away."

"We will."

Fluttershy started heading for the door, when Discord appeared beside her as a dragonfly again. "I'm going to run a quick errand before dark," he whispered in her ear. "I'll be back before dinnertime, I promise." Fluttershy nodded and he disappeared.

As she turned to the door she remembered something and trotted back to Twilight. "I didn't realize that Flash Sentry had been sent here," she commented.

Twilight blushed. "Oh.Yeah. Cadance sent him specifically. Something about wanting us to spend more time together or something."

Fluttershy smiled knowingly, and the two girls giggled together.

Comments

[taterforlife]

YES!
YOU DID IT!
YOU GOT ON FIMFICTION!
Yes!
I'm so excited for you!
I'm so glad you did this, I just know you'll get a lot more feedback this time!

[Twilight Sparkle KAPOW]

OMG!! I'm loving this!!

[Marina Stars]

Wowsies. Fluttercord and CheesePie! Those are my two most favorite shippings. And I am sensing a bit of Flashlight.
I think the necklace that thing is wearing is what maked him live longer. Just guessing. I need to continue this now so yah.

[Featherclaw]

Lots of other fimfics all have this weird feeling to them, as if it were fictional, you know?

This one, on the other hoof, feels very real, as though we are in Equestria and we are behind a clear wall, instead of watching a re-run, like other stories.

[HeyAreYouListening]

Woah.

THIS IS AMAZING.

And that CheesePie was beautifully written! (I should know, I've read more fanfiction of that pairing than is healthy )

But I like this! You're a really great author!

[TwibraFlattercordlover]

Pinkiebutter and Cheese!

[Coco Candy]

8275537
Yes, you are a very good writer! Keep doing your stuff!