The not-so-Grand Galloping Gala
Fluttershy yawned as she entered her home, Discord following behind her in a flash of magic. The air was unusually still, though was filled in by the sound of animals running around outside.
"What a night..." Fluttershy said with a sigh, moving to her chair and placing her mane accessory on it. "I'm exhausted."
Discord would typically make a snarky quip about it, but he wasn't feeling particularly cheerful. He'd gotten yelled at by Fluttershy once before, but it didn't feel like that. He never thought it'd feel like that. Maybe it was just his chaos magic stirring up his emotions as they tended to do, but he felt particularly vulnerable. Making so many apologies in one night wasn't something he took easily, and the fact that he'd ruined Fluttershy's night didn't help.
"Discord?"
He glanced up, noticing Fluttershy staring at him. Immediately, he tilted his head up, swelling with false pride. "Oh, I was just thinking about our next get-together; perhaps I'll tamper with our little cucumber sandwich recipe this time!"
Her snout scrunched up. "I-I see."
"Why do you ask?" he questioned, trying to play it a bit more cool than usual.
"O-oh, just... I thought you were upset," she replied. "You're making that face you make when you're thinking about something, and usually you only get lost in thought when you're upset."
He chuckled. "Do you even know who I am, Fluttershy? I don't get upset!"
He frowned as she made a face at him. "...Okay, I admit, that doesn't sound nearly as convincing after what just happened."
She exhaled, but a weak smile followed. "It really doesn't."
He squinted, disappearing in a flash of light and reappearing behind her. "Now who's making a face?"
She was startled, jumping a bit before turning to him. "W-well, I..."
"Don't tell me you're still upset?"
His delivery hadn't come out like she'd expected; she imagined him sounding annoyed, but instead, she only heard concern and... fear?
"It's... not like that. I'm not upset with you, Discord," she assured, moving past him to climb up onto her chair while pushing her accessory aside. "This..." she pursed her lips, trying to find the right word, "...experience, has just given me some things to think about, b-but it doesn't involve you like that, I promise!"
Discord's face came down to meet hers, and she recoiled as if he was looking into her soul.
He wasn't entirely sure if he believed her, but he also felt as if he'd lost his privileges to pry for the day. He stood up, straightening his bowtie before his outfit vanished completely. He waited to see if she'd say anything else, then floated upwards and went for the door.
"O-oh, please wait!"
The sound of a carriage screeching to a halt played as Discord stopped, landing on the floor and turning towards her. Her forelegs were crossed, and she seemed nervous.
"Um... do you still have our Tuesday teacakes?"
His perked up at that, a snap of his fingers summoning the tray of them. "Of course I do!"
He was at the couch in an instant, placing them on the table and staring at Fluttershy with a toothy grin. "Want to finish where we left off?"
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so she opted to nod instead.
The sat in silence for a while, eating the teacakes one by one. Discord enjoyed the time despite typically hating dull silence, because it meant that she probably wasn't still mad at him if she bothered to call him back inside. He knew that there really was something on her mind though, but he just couldn't figure out what. He wondered if maybe that was what made Fluttershy such a delight for him; she was unpredictable at times. She had other quirks that he loved too obviously, but he could never fully predict what was on her mind.
"...I'm sorry," she said suddenly.
He blinked, ears turning to face her. "Hm?"
"T-the party. I was thinking about it on the way back here. It's all on me, isn't it?"
Now he was thoroughly confused; usually he'd welcome the feeling because it led to intrigue, but not this time. Hadn't she been yelling at him previously? Why the change? "Whatever are you talking about? You literally did nothing but..." His voice trailed off as flashbacks of the day returned to his mind.
Fluttershy not hearing him until his throat clearing was absurdly loud.
Fluttershy never catching onto him.
Fluttershy talking to Tree Hugger and placing her hoof on the earth pony's shoulder.
His jealousy.
His sadness.
His rage.
"D-Discord, you're crushing the teacake..."
He looked down at his fist, which had been shaking and was now covered in pieces of a squished teacake. He clenched his teeth, knowing he'd been caught. "I...I'll have you know that I like my teacakes this way!"
He snapped up a tombstone for the teacake's remains, then slurped up the remains with his tongue, grabbing the tombstone afterwards and eating it like a chip.
She wasn't buying it, her eyes directed at the floor.
"I... shouldn't have assumed that you had a ticket. I-I know you ended up having one later, but I really should've asked first. I just remembered hearing about you giving those flowers to Celestia and thought that you two had made up." She was shaking a bit at that; Discord didn't understand why.
"And you were right. You are new at friendship. You did a lot of bad things, but it's not all your fault. I-it's mine too."
A small sniffle came from her, her foreleg moving up to her face to wipe away an unshed tear. "I...I ignored you. I really did. I saw that you were upset and didn't say anything."
"You noticed...?" Discord asked; in retrospect, he figured that he may have been a little obvious.
Fluttershy nodded, the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "I-I'm supposed to be the sensitive one, but I never t-thought that you might've been jealous." Her hooves came up to her heart as she looked at him. "I couldn't believe that you c-cared so much that you'd be upset."
He blushed at his feelings being called out, but tried to put his focus on making Fluttershy feel better. He reached out to touch her, but she pushed him away.
"I..." He cleared his throat, looking away. "I didn't think that'd matter to you." He tried his best to suppress his remaining rage over the event, but it was difficult. "After all, you'd never know anyone funnier than your dear friend Tree Hugger, right...?"
Fluttershy brought her hooves to her mouth, eyes shimmering with realization and sadness. "O-oh..."
"I heard you." It was hard to admit when he knew she was in tears. In fact, he hated himself for talking, but it was killing him inside. He had to know.
"No... n-no, oh, Discord." She shook her head, covering her face. "Tree Hugger just loves compliments. I-I didn't mean it, really..." Her sniffling got louder. "T-that...that makes me sound terrible, doesn't it?"
"I love compliments too," Discord stated bluntly, though his tone saddened from looking at her tears.
"I know. I-I know..." She looked up at him. "You r-really are... you really are the funniest I've ever met. I-I mean it..."
Great, now his blush was back. Her voice was laced with sincerity.
"I-I snap easily. I couldn't f-figure you out. I didn't know what w-was wrong, a-and it j-just came out w-when—"
He raised a hand, letting her know she could stop. She covered her mouth, but still seemed apologetic.
He was touched; he really didn't know she felt that way, especially after what'd happened. Her tears, her tone... she still cared about him and wasn't even mad anymore. He'd never been so happy to be wrong.
"...Fluttershy."
She seemed about to say something, but turned her head away at the last second, trying to calm herself down.
Discord wasn't sure what to do, and guilt was grinding at his heart. She felt so bad; he never would've guessed she did, but maybe all that rage she let out really was just pent-up sadness. He certainly knew the feeling.
He paused, then took a breath, groaning mentally as he reached over, placing his lion hand on Fluttershy's head.
She stiffened, eyes meeting with his.
He breathed up. "You're my oldest, bestest friend," he said softly, in a tone he didn't often use.
Her eyes widened. "W-what?"
His blush reddened with embarrassment. "I know you heard me!" He crossed his arms and huffed. "You're not going to make me break into a song over it, are you? Because I won't do it!"
She was quiet at first, re-absorbing what he'd said. Then, little giggles started leaving her mouth. She smiled, her tears flowing faster as a blush came to her face, as pink as her mane.
Suddenly, he felt as if his embarrassment was worth it. He recognized those happy giggles. His amusement that had seemed to be lost all day long returned. "Oh, Fluttershy, you really are too easy to please! If I knew this whole time that all I had to say was that, I would've done it when we first entered your cottage!"
Her giggles turned into laughs, her tears finally slowing down. Discord smiled and used his magic to give her a box of tissues, which she was thankful for. They didn't say it, but they knew that they were in mutual agreement that both of them had made some mistakes that night.
The tense atmosphere in the room vanished almost instantly, completely drowned out by Fluttershy's laughter. Discord remembered exactly why he liked her so much.
Soon enough, they were relaxed, occasionally moving back to the tray of teacakes to have another. Fluttershy was resting against the arm of the chair, eyes a bit puffy and half-lidded. Discord was laid out across the couch, just pleased that his guilt and fears had been eased. He was watching her quietly, her dress having been removed due to it now a bit wet with her tears and just general discomfort. Honestly, he didn't think she needed it anyway.
Though, despite his previous silence, one question still lingered in his mind...
"Discord?" Fluttershy called out suddenly, though a bit tiredly.
He gave her his attention.
She pouted. "You're making that face again..."
He snickered, slipping another teacake off the tray with his tongue. "Haven't you had enough for today?"
"No! ...I-I mean..." Fluttershy blushed as Discord let out a laugh. "Y-you can tell me! Is it something that's still bothering you?"
She was curious, though unsure of if whatever it was truly troubled him or not. She debated on whether or not to take her offer back, but decided against it; she was going to give him the attention he deserved.
Discord leaned up, stroking his beard and trying to find a way to bring up the subject. Having been away for a thousand years, he didn't know the exact terms.
"Well, you two seemed so close when you were walking together, and at the gala too."
"Yes? What about it?"
His eyes became a bit distant. "I was merely going to ask if you...you know."
Fluttershy furrowed her brows, trying to gauge what he meant. After a long moment, only proving her innocent nature, recognition clicked as her face turned red. "A-are you asking f-for my orientation?!"
He found her reaction amusing, but tried to keep a straight face. "You never told me."
"I-it's not something I ever talk about!" She gasped and directed a hoof at him. "A-and don't laugh!"
He had tried to hold it back; he really had. "I'm sorry. It's just too priceless!"
She pouted, as he didn't sound very sorry. Still, he always had a way of lightening her mood, so she couldn't stay mad.
She lowered her gaze to her hooves, shifting one over the others. "...B-besides, I don't know."
He raised a brow. "You... don't know?" he asked, a bit disbelievingly.
"I-I mean, I've found both stallions and mares a-attractive before, but," she covered her face, not able to fully believe she was actually having this conversation just yet, "I've never been actually in love before, so it's too hard to say, b-but I'm certainly not in love with Tree Hugger! She's just a good friend."
She watched his face to see what kind of reaction he'd give. His eyes had noticeably softened... relief maybe, but why? Why would he ask such a thing?
Regardless, it was obvious to her that he was still amused. Her wings flared out at her embarrassed state. "A-and what about you?"
"What about me?" Discord inquired, not understanding.
"Y-you seemed so surprised that I didn't know what my orientation was, s-so let's hear yours!" Her defiance was adorable. She wasn't sure why, but she felt curious now that she'd demanded him to tell her.
"Hmmm~" he teased, pretending to think about it.
"D-Discord!"
"All right, all right!"
He legitimately had needed to think about it though. Not that he didn't know, because he did, but he didn't think he had a way to describe it. Words found in dictionaries were too plain, and couldn't accurately portray him.
He was hesitant to say anything at all for a moment, but realized that, knowing her, it'd probably go right over her head, wouldn't it? He smirked at the mere thought; she was so naive.
"You could say I'm... Flutteromantic," he told her casually, watching her response just as she had watched him.
He stiffened at first as she stared blankly, fearing that she'd caught on, but felt relief once she tilted her head. "I've... never heard of that. Is that a term from a long time ago?"
Yup; right over her head, onto the floor, and rolling out the door.
He grinned. "I made it up."
"That's cheating!" she huffed.
"Too bad! That's my answer!"
He wasn't technically lying. Just as he'd never had a friend before, he'd never crushed on anyone either. His love life was devoid of anyone for so long, unless he counted himself of course, which he surprisingly didn't. There wasn't a word for how he felt, so he made one up.
Because he only had eyes for her, and no one else. No one else was good enough for him.
The only one he'd ever loved was Fluttershy. As far as he was concerned, she was his orientation.
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Oh god...that ending was so adorable!
The story itself felt like the perfect add-on to the end of that episode (honestly, I don't know why you stuck the AU tag on, it really doesn't need it), and the characterization felt spot on...but that end bit was really the top of the top!
And now I'm picturing a follow-up where Discord arrives for their next gathering, and notices that Fluttershy is beet red and unable to meet his eyes, barely able to speak...and then he sees Angel Bunny looking smug. Pretty sure that bunny would be able to explain 'Flutterromantic'.
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Awww, thank you so much! >////<
And thanks for reminding me about the AU tag! I clicked the tag out of habit because I have a few unsubmitted AU stories, so that's my bad~
Yeah, that's probably exactly how I'd write a bonus chapter to this, though it'd probably not be Angel and Discord calls Fluttershy a name that's like "Flutter[something]", which she's confused by at first but then everything clicks together and Discord wonders loudly to himself why her face is so red all of a sudden.
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That would be absolutely adorable.
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Please please make that bonus chapter!!!!!
For the love of the stars please just make it!!!!
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Ah dunno, that's one seriously smart bunny, and he's pointed the obvious out to her before, so it certainly wouldn't be out of character.
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Oh, I'm not saying it would; I'm just saying that I prefer Discord to be there when she figures it out, and I want her to do so on her own.
*SCREAMING*
I laughed out loud when Fluttershy finally asked, "are you asking for my orientation?!" I just pictured it so perfectly in my mind, with her embarrassed and Discord just busting out laughing. That is SO Discord. And then I laughed AGAIN when he teased her. "Hmmm~"
XD They are so well in-character, and I can see your point of view about the episode because I feel the same way. Discord was the biggest jerk, without a doubt, but Fluttershy should have read the signals a little better.
But this was such a fun little fic. So refreshing to read, I haven't read a well-written, in-character (VERY in-character, especially Discord, you did him perfectly), fun, cute fluttercord fic in such a long time. Thank you for the treat.
And you ended it so cleverly and it gave me all the right fluffy feels. Ahhh. Definitely adding to favorites and reading it again in the future.
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*ROLLING ON THE FLOOR BLUSHING REAL BAD*
YOU'RE TOO KIND, REALLY, JKNGJSDNGDG! <3 <3 <3
I'm just so so soooo very glad that people love it because I don't really see anything addressing this so I'm just... extremely happy that it's getting love. TuT
Keeping in-character was also definitely important to me, and it was a daunting task because of how Fluttershy was characterized in the episode. I had to try and find some sort of balance between the Fluttershy from the episode and what I believe Fluttershy to be. The fact that people find it to be believable makes it all the sweeter.
Since people have been asking in the comments, I might as well ask you as well; would you want a bonus chapter where Flutters figures it out? You know your opinion is important to me, friend~
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SWEET CELESTIA, I COULD NOT BE MORE INTERESTED EVEN OF YOU PAID ME! IN FACT I WOULDN'T LET YOU BECAUSE THE BONUS WOULD BE ALL I WANTED!
AND gawrsh, now you're making ME blush. Your opinion matters to me, too. You noticing my stories, when you wrote my favorites in my newcomer days....squee!
And it deserves the love, because your fluttercord is LEGIT! In every way! It would only be more legit if it were canon! But it's as legit as a fic can be!
Aw, Flutters! CAN'T YOU SEE HE LOVES YOU????!!!!!
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Aww, thank you! >u<
It's nice to hear that someone else disliked the episode too. It just... it feels like they just wanted to write an episode about Discord getting jealous but didn't put any actual care into the characterization.
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Well, we already know that Discord and Fluttershy love each other. They can't make it TOO obvious~
Under her feet and down the street to look for interesting people to meet. Across the square and over there, without a worry or a care. Over a mile, there's no denial, it'll keep on going for quite a while.
KEEP IT GOING!
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IT'LL GO ALL THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD AND MAKE ITS WAY BACK TO HER EVENTUALLY.
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...I do believe you missed the trick, old bean. I was intentionally internally rhyming each sentence and had hoped others could come up with similar, silly soliloquies. A for effort, though.
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I planned on re-replaying later since I was just too tired when I read that.
Sorry I'm a massive idiot haha.
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Up the back of an old haystack, it rolled along with simple knack. Over trees and under bees, it rolled along as slick as grease. Into bins and through broke tins, it tumbled and fell making great dins. It rolled into houses, frightening spouses, and scaring the crap out of little mouses.
Carry on...
Yeah, sometimes even Hasbro's cartoon division screws up.
Example: nopony believed Twilight in A Canterlot Wedding, because she seemed 'clingy' and 'possessive' of her brother. This is despite Lesson Zero, where Twilight DID have a mental breakdown due to a silly reason, and her friends supposedly 'learned' not to dismiss Twilight's fears. For buck's sake, this is even highlighted in the second part; Chrysalis (or 'Changeling Queen', as she's not named until later) points out that things wouldn't have gone so badly if the others HAD believed their purple friend!
Or heck, despite Rainbow Dash being the personification (ponyification?) of Loyalty, she did not remain loyal to Twilight, one of her best friends, in ACW. Instead, Rainbow switched her loyalty to Chrysalis!Mi Amore Cadenza, who she just met! Oooops.
Then there's the beginning of the series - Dragonshy. Rainbow Dash continuously insults Fluttershy for being a coward, and for not being much of a flyer. This is later contradicted by Call of the Cutie, where it's shown that Rainbow and Fluttershy went to the same Flying Academy, where Dash stood up to Fluttershy's bullies, and thus the blue mare would know how sensitive the yellow mare is about her sub-standard flying ability.
Sure, this is an example of 'later canon screwing up previous events', but still a major 'oops' on the cartoon division's part.
Or how about One Bad Apple? Why didn't Applejack tell the CMC about Babs Seed's history with bullying, over her blank flank? Why didn't Applejack intervene when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon turned up? The farm mare was standing right there! Then there's another example of
'later canon screwing up previous events': the CMC threaten to tell Diamond's mother about her poor behaviour. However, in Crusaders of the Lost Mark, it's shown that Diamond's mother, Spoiled Rich, is where the filly got her stuck-up attitude from in the first place. So why would "telling her mother" scare Diamond at all? Oops.
For buck's sake, the entire episode could've been avoided if Applejack had informed her younger sister about why Babs had arrived. Stupid writers.
So yeah, the writers behind the show aren't perfect - they do tend to forget past 'lessons' and events, or do something then explain another thing that bucks up the first thing they did, or just cause out-of-nowhere OoC moments.
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I try not to blame them, because I do understand that not every writer can keep track of every episode, but sometimes it feels like they write episodes just to write episodes, and not because they care deeply about the story they're writing.
As an example, here, they wanted to write a Discord episode where he got jealous of Fluttershy's friend, completely ignoring the fact that Fluttershy would understand how he feels and reassure him before it could escalate, and NOT be so shallow as to tell Tree Hugger (who she hasn't known as long) the exact same sweet that she'd told Discord not even that long ago.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JMia0OLJ40o
I just think those two make the cutest couple
Very squee, my good pony, very squee indeed.
Holy shot this is cute!
I'm so happy to come across this fic because I never saw anyone else talk about this before and eventually I just thought to myself that I was being too picky. Friendship IS something between two people (at least), so it was frustrating to see the blame being put solely on Discord. And I can't describe my happiness to finally see someone address the situation through such a beautiful fanfic!!