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Fridge Case1,449 words
Apple of Discord1,702 words
Monster All Her Own1,727 words

Monster All Her Own

Fluttershy flew as fast as her large bat wings could carry her, trying to evade Discord as much as possible.

Though, fleeing from the Spirit of Chaos wasn't exactly feasible. A flash of white appeared in front of her, and she didn't have the power to stop before plowing right into Discord's brown fur. Before she could escape, his eagle arm snaked its way around her, trapping her against him.

"You're an enigma, Fluttershy! You react to my lack of reaction taking it as an actual reaction after you reacted to us being here by specifically telling me not to react! I'm all for not making sense but there has to be a line somewhere!"

She blushed in embarrassment, hooves over her mouth. "I-I'm sorry."

"Yes you are. Now..." He landed on the grass below, then set Fluttershy down, crossing his arms. "This is what you were afraid of me seeing?"

She lowered her head, ashamed. "I-I...I'm scary, Discord."

Her blush reddened as Discord suddenly burst into laughter. He floated upwards slightly, clutching his chest and practically howling. Fluttershy bent over, hooves over her face to hide herself.

"Oh, that's priceless! Don't tell me you honestly think that some fangs and bat wings make you look like a—"

His voice trailed off as he noticed her hunched over. He sighed, then sat down on the grass, lightly tugging at one of her ears.

She squeaked slightly, but peeked out at him, her red eyes meeting with his own.

"How did this happen exactly?" he asked, both out of curiosity and trying to help her vent. He wasn't good at comforting others, but he tried.

She looked down, not responding. He wondered if maybe he'd asked too much, but then felt her shuffle onto his lap.

Neither said anything about it, but were silently glad to be so close.

"There were some vampire fruit bats that invaded Sweet Apple Acres. I-I didn't want to - I tried to offer other solutions - but they had me use my Stare so Twilight could cast a spell to stop them from eating all the apples."

"Magical refraction..." Discord muttered, already seeing where this was going.

"Oh, I wasn't conscious for it, but they told me what happened! I turned into this, but I wasn't myself; I ate so many apples and..." she sniffled, "I ruined Applejack's chances of winning that apple contest, because she had to sacrifice her biggest apple to stop me..."

"Implying that she wasn't the one who got you into that situation in the first place," Discord said bluntly.

"I know, but..." she put her hooves over her face again, "if I'd been stronger... maybe I could've controlled myself."

Discord let out a snort. "Desire magic is very finicky, especially if it was so strong that it physically transforms. Ponies are extremely weak-minded when it comes to such things. Anypony would've fallen prey to that."

Fluttershy took in his words, but had nothing to reply with. She glanced up, seeing that Discord's eyes seemed to be encouraging her to continue her story.

"...Once they stopped me, Twilight cast the spell to get rid of the... desire, I suppose, but I still change when I eat apples at night. I keep my free will, but..."

"And just what's wrong with a little change every now and then?" Discord asked. "After all, we still match by a wing, see?"

She looked as he spread his bat wing, looking extremely proud of the fact. She stared at her own wings, then giggled. His other wing was more of an alicorn wing, but it was hard to argue against his smile. "Y-yes, I suppose so."

"No supposing!" he said, lightly pressing on her snout. "You just agree with me."

"Okay." She couldn't help smiling, but it didn't last for long. "...Discord?"

"Mm?"

"Desire magic... would a transformation take any of the pony's personality?"

She noticed that he didn't fully understand what she meant.

"L-like... if it were to be transferred to a pony who was really mean; would they be meaner in a transformation than a nice pony would if they transformed instead?"

"That depends on so many different factors, Fluttershy..." he answered, unsure of where she was going with this. "Why do you ask such things?"

She mumbled something under her breath. Discord was patient with her, holding her muzzle and bringing her head up to face him.

Her eyes closed, and she let out a pained sigh.

"I...I'm a monster."

Discord frowned. "I thought we had reached a mutual agreement that I wasn't bothered by this."

Her hooves came up to hold the hand that had been gripping her muzzle. "T-that's not what I mean."

The tears started. "I... I've said a lot of bad things; things I didn't mean to. I've lost my temper so quickly and easily. I've driven some of my friends to tears." She placed a hoof on her chest. "I get scared seeing myself like this b-because... it's like this is who I am inside. I-I'm afraid that p-ponies will see me for who I really am..."

Discord's eyes went wide. "You don't really believe that... do you?"

He almost sounded offended. She glanced up, and it was clear that he didn't like what she was saying. She averted her gaze again, voice lowered.

"M-maybe..."

She winced, afraid of how he'd react, only to then feel his lion hand on her head, stroking her mane and earning a confused squeak out of her. "D-Discord?"

"You are far from a monster."

A blush briefly passed over her muzzle; he said it with such belief... such sincerity, and when she didn't respond, he took her face in his hands and brought her gaze up to his. He seemed frustrated.

"I'm speaking from experience, Fluttershy! I've been a monster; I am a monster! I've met countless monsters in the thousands of years I've been alive, and you have certainly never counted as one of them!"

His eyes sharpened. "You gave me a chance and reformed me because everypony makes mistakes, yet you blame yourself for everything and never forgive yourself for any of it. Where's the logic in that?"

He side-glanced. "Not that I would know much about the matter, but my point still stands..."

Her eyes shimmered faintly as her blush reappeared. Discord frowned at her lack of response, then pulled into a hug. She inhaled sharply from surprise, partially because he was squeezing her fairly tight, but also because she felt how tense he was. His body was rigid, and his arms seemed intent on not letting her go.

"D-Discord..." Her voice was so quiet that she could hardly hear it over the sound of her own heartbeat. He was so much sweeter than he gave himself credit for, and he gave himself credit for a lot of things.

She swallowed shyly, then brought her hooves around him, embracing him in return.

He said nothing, but she could feel his muscles relax, his lion hand running up and down her back. She shuddered a bit, flustered by the sensation. Discord pulled his hand away, wondering if she disliked it, but Fluttershy clung to him tighter, disproving that.

"You're not a monster either," she noted, conviction in her tone, "a-and even if you were, you'd be the most wonderful monster I've ever met."

She could hear him stifle a laugh at how utterly cheesy she sounded, but she was sure he was grateful too. She didn't regret saying the truth.

"Why thank you~" he said with a bit of exaggerated pride. "And look at you; you actually managed to surprise me with how fast you flew back there!"

"I-I did?" Her bat wings fluttered underneath Discord's touch. "W-well, these are a bit more useful than my normal wings."

"I should take you flying sometime," he mused. "We could go over the Celestial Sea and you can meet all the little sea critters."

The thought excited her. A night out with Discord, flying low over the water with Luna's beautiful sky reflecting off the surface. She sighed happily. "That'd be wonderful..."

She hummed quietly to herself, then tightened her hold on him. "B-but not now."

"Hm?" He pulled her away with a bit of effort; it wasn't like her to turn down an offer like that.

She looked at him, noticing how close they were. It wasn't like Discord to sit still for so long, but the idea that it was for her warmed her heart.

Though hesitating at first, she leaned up, her snout touching his. Not for long, and not with any sort of intent to kiss, but it was a motion of deep affection nonetheless, like she had channeled all her feelings through it.

Discord could feel his face heat up as she hid herself back into him, returning to their previous hug. He could feel her heart beating rapidly against him, his magic swarming around inside his body from the rush of emotions. It was a tantalizing feeling that he silently hoped to have again sometime soon.

He smiled, then brought his arms around her again. They'd hugged before, but it never felt so enticing, though not that he was complaining.

So, they sat there together, remaining silent in the embrace and not needing to say a word.

They both had a feeling that they knew what the other would've said anyway.

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