Decency
Discord peeked his head out from a completely different door than he had entered. "Certainly, I'll be just a—" he froze when he saw the magazine. "Oh. Oh, I... have an explanation?" Steam rose from his ears.
Fluttershy held up a hoof. "I'm sure you do, and I'm not angry. I just... wanted to talk to you about this, because I wanted to make myself clear on something."
Discord slithered out of the door, shrinking in stature as he moved, and stood across from Fluttershy, now small enough to be at eye-level with her while she was sitting on the couch. Discord rubbed a claw hand behind his head, scuffing a hoof on the carpet. "Listen, I... I found out that you'd been a model, and I thought that... it was very funny! Yes! It was very..." He trailed off, swallowing hard.
Fluttershy gave him a hard look. "Discord. Be honest."
Discord shuffled his feet. "I don't wanna."
Fluttershy gave him a wan smile. "I already told you I'm not upset."
He shrank slightly smaller, unable to look her in the eyes. "I know. It's just... embarassing."
"I appreciate that. It's embarassing for me, too," Fluttershy said, flipping open the magazine and scanning the pages. Her face peered back at her.
Discord looked up at her, eyes wide. "Embarassing? For you?"
"Yes," Fluttershy said, sighing and closing the magazine.
Discord stepped a little closer. "Why? That... doesn't make any sense. You were a model! You're... well..." Discord steeled himself, both hands clenching. "You're very beautiful, and Photo Finish did a lovely job making your beauty shine."
Fluttershy smirked, and put on an affected accent. "I vill make you shine across Eqvestria!" she said, before giggling. "Yes, that's what Photo Finish said. And she did do a lovely job... but that's not the point. This makes me uncomfortable because it is not the real me. I'm not this..." she gestured to the collection of magazines, "ideal. I'm not this pony in the pictures. That's something that Photo Finish created. I'm just a regular pony. And, while I can understand why you'd want to see these pictures of me, I hope that you understand when I say that I... wish you wouldn't."
Discord stared at the stack of magazines. They were neatly organized. The stack was flush, square with the end table's corner and edges. The pages were crisp and devoid of bending or marring. A perfect collection. "Could you... explain more? Because I don't understand," Discord said quietly.
"The pony here isn't how I want you to think of me. When you think of me, I don't want you to see... this picture-perfect pony. I want you to see me as I am. I'm just a regular pony, Discord," Fluttershy said softly.
"Not to me," Discord said, far below a whisper.
Fluttershy leaned forward, "What was that?"
Discord straightened up, returning to his regular size. "I said 'Silly me'! Of course I understand you're a regular pony, Fluttershy! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by having these silly magazines. They were just... very nice. I thought that maybe you'd appreciate that part of your life, but if it's a sore spot, why, then say no more!"
With a snap of his fingers, the magazines were collected. A cardboard box labeled 'To Burn' appeared, and the whole stack was unceremoniously jammed inside, the top was closed, and then set in the corner of the room. "There. Next chance I get, I'll get rid of them."
Fluttershy stared at the box in the corner for a moment. "Promise me you'll get rid of them, Discord."
Discord sighed, deflating slowly. "If that's what you'd like, then I'll absolutely do it. For you."
Fluttershy smiled. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I want you to see me when you look at me. Not... the fake me."
Nodding his head, Discord picked up the box. "I'll take care of this right now. Then... we can get back to our little break?"
"That sounds wonderful. You don't have to do it now. I trust you!" Fluttershy said gently, reaching out a hoof towards Discord.
"No, no. I'm going to do it now. I'll be back in a moment." With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared, leaving Fluttershy behind in his house.
With a flash of light, Discord appeared in Carousel Boutique's main showroom. The area was a mess, fabric and half-completed dresses on ponnequins everywhere. Rarity sat in the middle of the chaos, humming and sewing something with many petticoats. She yelped when Discord appeared, but quickly calmed down. "Oh! Discord. Goodness, you gave me a scare. What's this about?"
Discord dropped the cardboard box in front of Rarity. "Here. I figured you might appreciate some inspiration. I'd bet you'll get some use out of these... and if not, then do me a favor and burn them, will you?"
Rarity stared at the cardboard box. "What?"
Discord was already gone, disappearing in a puff of multicolored smoke. Rarity waved a hoof in the air, clearing away the cloud, and then opened the mysterious box. "Old fashion magazines! Oh, how thoughtful. I'm sure that there's... there's...."
She picked up a stack of the magazines in her magic and spread them out, covers facing her. "Oh, oh my. These are all the issues of Photo Finish's magazine featuring Fluttershy!"
She giggled, shaking her head. "How scandalous! Discord, having these..." she pulled more of them out, until the whole box was empty and spread before her. "My, my... this is the whole collection. I don't even have all of these issues!"
She stared fondly at the covers, before choosing one at random and flipping it open. "These are beautiful... and the clothing Fluttershy's wearing is so classy! She really brings life to those pieces..."
As she reminisced on the lessons she'd learned from this brief period in her life, warmth flooded her, and soon she was scanning the pages. "There's inspiration to be found, here. I can make a line... something about jealousy! Acceptance! Friendship overcoming misunderstandings!"
She squealed, clopping her hooves. "Ohhhhh, ideaaaaaaa!"
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Poor Discord, having to give up his collection. Oh well. Nothing can compare to the original I guess. Looking forward to your next update.
*SQUEEING AND MELTING INTO GOO AT THE SAME TIME*
Will Fluttershy be badass in this story?
7901985
I don't know. I have very little plan ahead of time.
Uh oh, Rarity is going to figure out Discord's crush!
Very cute, very funny, very thoughtful. Their interaction is so believable. I've never liked any hint of romance between Discord and Fluttershy, but the way he shrunk and struggled was adorable and felt very real. Great job.
Also, nice reference to Picture Perfect Pony.
I'm glad Fluttershy isn't creeped out by Discord having those magazines since it could've been a red flag in other circumstances.
Which she totally is!
Aw, Discord thinks she's beautiful!!
I like Discord giving them to Rarity. Him doing a random nice thing is great to see.