Flurry Heart

by Buttery Biscuit

Inferno

Wow, this place is so great! The field is so bright and green. I leaned my head down to smell one of the millions of lavender plants that surrounded me. It smelled so great, so calming. I looked up and in the distance, I saw Shining. I waved to him and he waved back. I ran straight to him and smiled, we pranced together among the lavender plants. They kicked up behind our hooves as we moved.

Shining is so handsome, I love him so much. How lucky could one mare get? A stallion like him. What...What is that smell? It smells like...smoke. Why does the field smell like smoke? Suddenly flames surrounded me, the field of green turned into a raging fire. FLAMES! I awoke with a start and I still smelled smoke. I knew what the dream meant, fire. I grabbed the whistle that Discord gave me with shaking hooves. I took a moment to calm myself and I blew into the whistle. It felt like forever before they got here.

When they did show up, I didn’t even have to say anything; they seemed to smell it too. I could see it by the looks on their faces. The ‘is that smoke’ face. Yes, there is a face for that, I know it all too well. I wish I didn’t have to. I watched as they made a mad dash out of the room. I quickly got up and ran after them, not stopping to get ready for company. Now was not the time to look the pretty princess part.

I ran straight into the room and, to my relief, Sombra had put out the fire, and Discord was calming Flurry. I watched as he snapped his fingers and the room was back to normal. It was so easy for them, they did it so quickly. Just like that the fire was gone, proof of the fire was gone. All that time, all that hard work, all the cover-up I ever did. Just a snap, a single snap, and everything was fine. Everything was fine, everything was fine, everything was fine, everything was-

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"Cadence...don't cry. What;s wrong? Cadence please stop crying, we...we...we’ll do anything! Please stop. We don’t know how to handle crying mares." Sombra said as he started to panic.

Discord looked down at a crying Cadence. He lay Flurry back in her crib and, in a panic, put up two sound shields, grabbed Cadence, and pulled her into a hug. Sombra soon joined them as he wrapped his hooves around Cadence's back.

“It’ll be ok Cadence,” Sombra said, “just please...how do we help you?” He wasn’t met with any words as he just felt Cadence shake beneath him. “Should I get Shining?” He went to get up but felt Cadence just bring him back into the hug with her magic. “Ok.” So, he couldn't leave, that he knew. What he didn't know was what to do next, but he did his best to push his panic down. To remain focused on her.

Discord rubbed the part of Cadence’s back that Sombra wasn't hugging with his paw and scratched Cadence behind her ears with his claw. He didn’t know what else to do. He wasn’t all that great at this, neither was Sombra. Since his hands were busy, his eyes glowed with magic. He focused hard on what he wanted to do and pushed Shining out of his bed. He needed to be here, to help. While Discord and Sombra were doing their best, Shining was Cadence's husband, she needed him right now. Discord could hear his hoof-steps running, he probably should have called him sooner. If Discord hadn’t put up the shield he would have heard Cadence right away, but he didn’t want any other pony or creature hearing this. He had a feeling that this needed to be kept secret.

“WHAT!” At first, Shining was angry, “what” then he was confused as he ran into something odd. There was a shield and behind it were two creatures comforting, or at least trying their best to comfort, his wife. Who was currently sobbing her eyes out. He knew why he’d been flown out of bed. “Cadence.” He said as Discord waved him in. He easily walked through the sound shield.

“Shining,” She said, she had heard him in the single moment Discord let go of the shield, so Shining could get inside. She used her magic to pull him into the hug and turned his way, sobbing into his chest instead of Discord’s.

“We uh...don’t know what we're doing.” Discord said honestly, as he turned to Shining, “sorry for kicking you out of bed.” As soon as Shining had entered the room, Discord used his magic to put the sound shield back into place.

“No, I'm glad you did. Cadence, my love, are you ok?” Shining asked, but he got no answer; he only felt the shaking of his wife. He lifted his wife's head and kissed her lips lightly; and she calmed down, her shaking reduced, and her crying lessened.

Discord didn’t know what to do, so he panicked. “Should I do that too? Would it make you feel better if I kissed Shining too?” He joked, it was the only thing he knew how to do. It was what he knew best, it was familiar ground.

Cadence snickered lightly.

“oH, sHiNiNG i WuV yOu” Discord made kissy faces at Shining. Joking is what he was good at. Joking and lightening up a situation is what he knew best, and he got a laugh out of Cadence. So he continued.

“Don’t make me do it. I’ll do it. I will! Here I go, I'm gonna do it. Pucker up, lover boy.” Discord said to a worried-looking Shining. But he hadn’t made a single move toward him. Cadence was hiding behind her hair and Discord was sure she couldn’t see him. “Are you gonna make me do this?” He briefly wondered if he would end up kissing Shining, well it would be worth it. Not just because it would cause chaos, though that was part of the reason. It would make Cadence happy, and get her to stop crying. A triple win in his book.

“No,” Cadence answered; she had stopped crying and shaking completely. She briefly shot Discord a small smile as she shook her head. “You are ridiculous.”

“Thank you!” Discord said as he bowed, “you honor me with your praises.”

Cadence snorted again as she looked to Shining, she rested her head against his chest. “Sorry, I would let you but I'm not good at sharing.” She smiled further, her panic coming to a complete halt. She felt better, not good, but better.

Discord gave his own snort as he found her answer quite amusing. “I understand.”

Sombra couldn’t help it, he needed to know. He just had to know. “Cadence are you….are you upset at us?” He asked as he pointed a hoof at himself then at Discord. "Did we do something wrong?" The thought had bothered him since he witnessed Cadence's breakdown.

"NO!!” Cadence said quickly, “No it wasn’t….it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t either of your faults.” Why would they think that? She was flummoxed. “Of course it wasn’t,” She reassured them.

“Then please tell us, why are you upset? Maybe we can help?” Sombra suggested, still worried, but he felt slightly better knowing that he was not the issue. At least not this time.

“Its….it’s just all so much.” Cadence started to say but then she stopped.

“What is?” Discord asked as he tried his best to encourage Cadence to tell them what was wrong. He tried his best to focus on Cadence and not causing more chaos. It was harder than he thought it would be.

“Everything! It’s- it’s- it’s so much! I am a ruler, I am a mother, I am a wife and I AM OVERWHELMED!” Cadence said. She sniffled but no creature interrupted her. “Shining does what he can to help me, but he is a ruler, a father, leader of the guard, and a husband. We do what we can together but there’s so much! THERE IS JUST SO MUCH. And now that both of us have Flurry’s….outbursts we’re just so tired all the time. It’s getting harder and harder to cover her tracks.”

She let go of Shining, turning to Discord and burying herself into him, “Discord...what if they take my baby’s magic? What if they clip her horn or her wings, or they put a dampener on her? It could be a permanent one too, what if that makes her lose her destiny, her cutie mark? What if she never gets one?”

She turned to Sombra, hugging him next, “not that there's anything wrong with having no cutie mark, I meant no offense.”

“None taken, please continue,” Sombra said, he knew she wasn't trying to be offensive, and he wanted her to continue.

“Sombra what if she has to live without magic just because she was a powerful baby? What if they drain her of all her magic?”

She turned back to her husband and stayed there as she collapsed into his arms. "She’s just a baby Shining, she’s our baby. What if they hurt her?"

A silence came over the room as Cadence quietly started crying over her husband again. Discord thought through this, what was he to do. What could he do? What could be done? Is there something that he could….HE COULD! He smiled as he turned to Flurry's crib, and he picked her up. His eyes glowed and things floated around him, He drew a circle around her horn; it glowed a bright yellow. Then he was done, his eyes stopped glowing and things dropped.

“What... What did you do?” Cadence asked confused as to what happened. Because of that confusion, her crying lessened as her attention was drawn once again to Discord.

“There, all done. If one hair on her head is so much as touched in a harmful way, I will be summoned to the spot. Don’t worry, it won't let me know of good intentions like kisses from her parents... But let's say some pony tried to clip her wings. I will be there.” Discord said, as he put Flurry back down in her crib. He had put a shield around her, so she wouldn’t hear her mother cry. Of course, he had to release it to put the spell on her, but he was careful not to disturb her. He put the sound shield back on as soon as he was done. “Will that be-” He felt a sudden hug around his waist. “I’ll take that as a good thing?”

“Thank you, Discord.” Cadence smiled up at him. "That’s very sweet of you. I feel better knowing you're there to protect her, too." She felt a tap of a hoof on her back, and she turned to see Sombra.

“I can’t do that….but maybe I can have a word with your advisor? I think you might need a better one.” Sombra said.

“We uh… don’t have one. We don’t have anyone keeping the books either; Shining and I do that too. I try to keep the staff down to a minimum, because of Flurry Heart. The only ponies left are a few guards and maids.” Cadence added.

“You do all that by yourselves?" Sombra asked, more shocked than anything else. "Maybe I can have a go at it. I'm good at organizing. I mass organized all my slaves, from most complain-ey to least complain-ey." Sombra said as he attempted to joke with Cadence. He saw DIscord do it, so he assumed he could do it too.

Cadence smiled at both of them, no longer did she feel hopeless. Here were two creatures who backed Flurry wholeheartedly, and that made her happy. “That means a lot, thank you, both of you, but I think I could use more of the two of you. I need help. Please….come live with us. I’m so overwhelmed, it doesn’t have to be forever... maybe just a couple of weeks?”

Discord and Sombra looked at one another then back at Cadence. They took a moment to look over at Flurry. Looking at her smiling face tugged on their heartstrings even more. She was so young, so defenseless, so chaotic, so mischievous. They just had to help. It would be a friendly thing to do, isn't that what Twilight was always preaching? Do kind things, help ponies, yadda-yadda-yadda. This was a time to be a friend and to help make up for the past, especially Sombra. He did enslave these ponies, which he felt bad about mind you. Discord personally felt he messed up too much in Ponyville. He’s glad they gave him another chance, but he felt off there. Something he couldn’t put his claw on, but he knew it was amiss. Maybe a vacation away would help that situation.

“Ok. I’ll stay and help you keep this tiny, cute bundle of secrets.” Discord smiled; he couldn’t just leave this tiny bundle of chaos to fend for herself! Discord was one for freedom and choice. He could never let something so amazing be kept in a cage. It just wouldn't be right, or chaotic.

“I will also stay and help. We shall get our things and meet you back here tomorrow. Keep that whistle close by. Call us as soon as anything is an issue.” Sombra added. He too, couldn't leave the bundle of mischief alone, doomed to fend for herself. She reminded him of himself when he was young. Fending for himself and....all those memories. If he stayed he could help prevent a similar fate from befalling Flurry. He felt more determined than ever as Discord snapped the two of them away.

Cadenced buried her face into Shining. “I’m sorry we need the help, and I know they need this. I hope Flurry’s phases don’t last long.” She truly hoped that would be the case, and in a few weeks, everything would be fine… But when would everything be fine?

Shining just nodded. He wasn’t sure what to say, so he just held his wife close and hoped that Sombra and Discord could help them. What Cadence said about Flurry hit him hard. What if they did hurt her, took her magic? At that moment, in his head he fully accepted Discord and Sombra into their little family, it was the least he could do. He felt in his bones Cadence and him were going to owe them big time after all this.

Author's Note:

I finished early this time since this was rather short. I tried to make it longer but it just felt forced.

Comments

[The Sleepless Beholder]

I love this story.

Sombra and discord are adorable, especially Sombra, and it really feels genuine instead of just for laughs.
Also, Cadence is great, she's just under so much stress I'm surprised she didn't have a heart attack before this, but she satill tries to do good for others. Clearly the princess of love at heart.
And Shining finally accepting them due to their willingness to protect Flurry was perfect.

I will be waiting for the next chapter.

[Buttery Biscuit]

10285840
Thank you, that means so much. I worked very, very hard on it. So it makes me happy you are enjoying it so much. Thanks. :D

I hope you like the next chapter just as much.

[Nailah]

This chapter felt like it moved much too quickly, but I can sense the struggle of Cadance to try to fix the problems around her, while being stressed out from everything that is going on. It's a nice story so far.