Pony Tails

by Bluecatcinema

A Helping Claw

As the sun rose over Fluttershy's cottage, the soft-spoken Pegasus mare climbed out of bed, roused by the birds singing outside.

"Another beautiful morning." She smiled, birdsong being her favorite alarm call.

Fluttershy trotted downstairs, and set about feeding her animal friends her breakfast. Birds, rodents and other kinds of animals rushed over to her, eager to feed, but also happy to see their friend and caretaker.

"Okay, easy there." Fluttershy chuckled, as they pattered excitedly around her hooves and head, squawking, squeaking and chirping. "Good morning to you all. I'm sure you must be hungry."

Angel tapped his foot impatiently.

"I know you're hungry too, Angel." Fluttershy smiled, throwing her bunny a carrot. "Here."

Angel gleefully started munching on the vegetable.

"There's a good bunny," Fluttershy cooed.

As Fluttershy continued her work, she saw a group of birds landing on her windowsill. Their chirps were muffled, and Fluttershy could quickly see why; Their beaks had tiny corks embedded in them.

"Oh, my!" Fluttershy gasped. She quickly removed the corks. "You poor things. Who would do something like this to you?"

The birds twittered loudly.

"You just woke up like this?" Fluttershy frowned. "That's strange..."

A loud growling emanated from outside.

"That sounds like Harry." Fluttershy realized. "And he doesn't sound happy..."

Fluttershy flew outside her cottage. Harry the bear was there, growling plaintively.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Fluttershy asked.

Harry held up his arms, showing that his paws were covered by oversized oven mitts.

"How in Equestria did those get there?" Fluttershy, slipping off the mitts.

Harry hugged Fluttershy, glad to have his paws free.

"You're quite welcome, Harry." Fluttershy smiled. "Now, how about we get you some nice, sweet honey?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically.

"Wait here." Fluttershy told him. "I'll go get some."

Stopping to pick up a jar and spoon, Fluttershy flew over to a nearby bee hive.

"Hello, bees." She smiled sweetly. "I don't suppose you'd mind if I borrowed a little honey for my friend Harry, would you?"

The bees buzzed in agreement.

"Thank you." Fluttershy grinned.

As Fluttershy gathered up some honey, she saw that the bees all had sword-like sheathes over their stingers.

"What is going on around here?" She wondered to herself.

After giving Harry the honey, Fluttershy set about doing some gardening. While not the florist her mother was, she still had a way with plants. In fact, she was planning on bringing some nice bouquets over to her friends in Ponyville.

'Nothing like fresh-cut flowers to brighten up your day...' She thought.

As she reached to pluck a rose, Fluttershy noticed another oddity; The roses were all lacking thorns. In fact, their stems were completely smooth, as if the thorns had never even been there in the first place.

"What the...?" Fluttershy frowned. "Again? This doesn't make any sense!" He eyes suddenly lit up in comprehension. "Wait, doesn't make any sense..."

At that moment, everything fell into place. Fluttershy was now absolutely sure of what was going on.

"You can come out now." She declared. "I know you're here, Discord!"

As she'd expected, Discord appeared beside Fluttershy in a flash of light.

"Ah, Fluttershy." He smiled. "What a coincidence! I was just thinking about you!"

"Discord, what's going on?" Fluttershy asked.

"Not much." Discord shrugged nonchalantly, pulling a newpaper from out of nowhere and reading it. "What's going on with you?"

'So he wants to play it like that?' Fluttershy thought. 'Fine. Let's play.'

"Well, I was doing my morning rounds, when I saw something quite peculiar." She declared. "I noticed that all manner of sharp objects had been covered up. Bird beaks, Harry's claws, bee stingers. Even rose thorns."

"My, that is peculiar." Discord played dumb.

"Not peculiar." Fluttershy corrected him. "More like... chaotic."

"Are you insinuating that I had something to do with this?" Discord gasped theatrically. "Why, I never! I'm insulted you would think so little of me! I thought we were friends!"

"Come on, Discord." Fluttershy urged softly. "You can tell me the truth. This was all you, wasn't it?"

"Okay, fine!" Discord groaned. "It was me! I made a few... improvements to some things around here! Happy now?"

"Why did you do all this?" Fluttershy asked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to... protect me?"

Discord's eyes darted back and forth.

"That's what you've been doing?" Fluttershy asked. "Why?"

"Well, the day after that whole Changeling incident was all over and done with, I was sitting in the ol' thinking tree." Discord declared. "I was thinking about what happened to you and the others. You were snatched up by the Changelings, trapped in those vile cocoons... And worst of all, barely anypony knew you'd been replaced, even me! If I hadn't dropped in on Starlight and her motley crew when I did, I would have been none the wiser. I might not even have recognized the imposter for what it truly was, and you would have been trapped forever..."

"But that didn't happen." Fluttershy smiled. "Because you helped Starlight, Trixie and Thorax to save us all."

"That I did." Discord smirked proudly. "But still..." He face fell. "That whole experience really drove something home for me. You're not an invulnerable force of nature like me. You're a pony. You're extremely... vulnerable. You could very easily get hurt by even the littlest of things. And I won't let that happen. I can't let that happen. Not if I can help it... which I very much can, as a matter of fact."

"So you've been covering up everything that could possibly hurt me?" Fluttershy frowned. "Discord, I know I'm not the most bold and daring pony in Equestria, but I'm not completely helpless."

"I know, I know." Discord nodded. "But still, better safe than sorry!"

A flash of light later, and Fluttershy found herself wearing knee pads, a chest protector, a helmet, and bubble wrap around her wings.

"Discord, I know you're trying to help." She sighed. "But really, this isn't necessary. I've been living out here for years now. I've been fine, and I'll keep being fine. I don't need protecting from nature."

"Are you sure about that?" Discord asked. "There are some pretty nasty creatures out there. And you know that means something, coming from me..."

"I know this might sound funny coming from me, but as much as I may want to sometimes, I can't just stay inside my cottage and cower all the time." Fluttershy told me. "I love nature, even if it can be dangerous sometimes. You wouldn't want me to miss out on all its wonders, would you?"

"I suppose not." Discord said reluctantly, removing the protection. "But still, I don't want you getting hurt. if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."

"Nothing's going to happen to me." Fluttershy assured him. "And even if it did, it wouldn't be so bad for you. You'd still have Twilight, the girls, Spike, and all the other friends you've managed to make to keep you company. You wouldn't be alone. Not in the least."

"It's true, I do have a surplus of friends at the moment." Discord admitted. "But they're not you, Fluttershy. You're the pony who showed me the magic of friendship. No matter how many friends I may happen to make in the future, none of them will ever be able to compare to my very first, and very dearest friend."

"That's very sweet of you to say, Discord." Fluttershy blushed.

"If you were gone from my life, I'd probably just... shut down completely." Discord frowned. "I'd just curl up into a ball, and wallow in my own misery for a few millenia, maybe even longer. That's how important you are to me."

"I know I mean a lot to you." Fluttershy smiled. "But no one friend can be more important than all the others. You've made so many friends since I first befriended you. They all care about you, and you definitely care about them."

"Well, if you're going to get all sappy about it..." Discord rolled his eyes.

"And if anything did happen to me, I have no doubt they'd be willing to be there for you. In fact, they'd probably miss me as much as you." Fluttershy smiled.

"Doubtful..." Discord snorted.

"The point is, you'd still have friends to support you." Fluttershy told him. "And you'd have to let them be there for you. The last thing I'd want would be for you to lose them too, all because you lost me. If something did happen to me, I'd want you to be happy, and not put aside all the other friendships you've made just because you lost the first. Can you promise me that? Can you promise that you can be happy without me?"

"Well, er..." Discord muttered.

"Please?" Fluttershy pleaded.

"...Okay, I promise." Discord shrugged.

"Good." Fluttershy smiled. "But you know, I'm pretty sure nothing that bad's going to happen to me any time soon."

"How can you be so sure?" Discord asked. "Especially after you were just kidnapped by a bunch of bug-ponies?"

"Because I have great friends watching out for me." Fluttershy hugged him. "Especially you."

"Really?" Discord smiled hopefully.

"Really." Fluttershy nodded. "You may have gone a little overboard, but it's nice to know that you care so much about my safety. You really are a good friend, Discord."

"So true." Discord smirked returning the hug. "Now, might I trouble you for some nice, hot tea?"

"Of course." Fluttershy nodded. "I'm a little thirsty myself. Some nice lemon tea sounds like just the ticket. ...Just one thing first?"

"What?" Discord asked... just as one of the sheathed bees flew past his nose. "Oh, right."

With a snap of his claw, Discord undid all the "improvements" he had made.

"Thank you." Fluttershy nodded. "And I'm sure my animal friends will thank you too. Now, let's get that tea..."

"If it's too hot, I could whip up some nice, padded mitts for you." Discord offered.

"Discord..." Fluttershy frowned.

"Kidding!" Discord chuckled. "Totally kidding! But the offer's still up in the air, if you care to take it. Wouldn't want to burn those delicate little hoofsies of yours, would you?"

"I'll keep that in mind." Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "And thanks again for caring."

"Anytime Fluttershy, old buddy, old pal." Discord smiled, as they walked over to her cottage. "And I do mean anytime..."

Comments

[OmniFox]

Speaking of overprotective, what reaction Ember will have after the incident?

[Bluecatcinema]

7714304 Most likely surprise that all that happened. Let's face it, it's not like she could do much from all the way in the Dragon Lands.