The Mark of the Soul

by Comicizzum

Revelations

The six Bearers of Harmony were in the library in Twilight’s castle, pouring over books. Well, everypony was except Fluttershy; she lay on a large pillow, her heart no longer in the search.

“I didn’t even know they kept a record of Cutie Marks,” said Rainbow Dash, tossing yet another volume aside.

“And who knew there were so many volumes of said records,” said Pinkie Pie, rapidly flipping pages.

“I did,” Starlight Glimmer confessed.

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” Applejack muttered.

Twilight’s friendship student blushed and stuck her nose back in a book, hoping the attention would soon turn away from her.

“Cutie Mark records have been kept since the beginning of Celestia and Luna’s rule,” said Twilight without looking up from her copy of Cutie Mark Records Volume 12. “They’re invaluable when it comes to scientific research as well as keeping track of genealogy. See the dates under each one? They represent the birth, Cutie Mark appearance, and death of every recorded pony. Isn’t it fascinating?”

“Quite, darling.” Rarity lied, glancing over at Fluttershy. Noticing the yellow pegasus’s lack of interest, she quietly wandered over and whispered, “Are you alright, dear?”

Fluttershy unconsciously rubbed her right ear. She knew the Mark was there but, like her Cutie Mark, she couldn’t feel any kind of change in texture when touching it.

“I guess I was just expecting to instantly know who it belongs to,” she muttered, afraid to voice what she was actually thinking: why had the mark felt like him when it appeared?

“That would have been incredibly helpful,” grumbled Rainbow Dash, closing another book. “I feel like we’ve been at this for hours! Can we please take a break?”

Before Twilight could protest (as everyone knew she would), Discord materialized into existence with a faint pop. The room stilled. Fluttershy’s heart leapt.

The draconequus was looking positively gleeful. Ignoring everypony else, he crossed the room and swept Fluttershy off her hooves, kissing her square on the mouth. He pulled her away before she could even respond.

“What do you think you’re doing?” cried Twilight at the same time Rainbow Dash snarled, “Get your filthy claws off her!”

“D-Discord?” Fluttershy stuttered, her head and heart somewhere in the clouds. “W-What-?”

But she was forcibly removed from his grasp by Rainbow Dash, the blue pegasus swooping in and carting her off just as Applejack bucked her back legs into Discord’s stomach. The draconequus grunted, clutching his abdomen and landing on one knee. Remarkably, he was still grinning.

“Wipe that smirk off your face, you ghastly beast!” Rarity commanded.

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie cried, putting up her front hooves. “Nopony assaults our friend and gets away with it!”

“Stop!” Fluttershy cried, wrestling herself free from Rainbow Dash’s grasp. The others watched in disbelief as she flew down and helped the Lord of Chaos back to his feet. “Are you alright?”

Discord scooped her up again and pressed her tightly to his chest. “I’m more than alright, Fluttershy. I’m wonderful!”

The room exploded in confetti.

“Pinkie!” Twilight complained.

“Don’t look at me!” she said. “My confetti doesn’t come in plaid, animal print, and polka dots!”

“Can anypony explain what the hay is goin' on?” demanded Applejack, brushing bits of paper from her stetson.

“It’s quite simple, really,” said Discord as he gently placed Fluttershy on a pillow. “I was simply embracing my soulmate!”

“SOULMATE?!” the ponies cried in unison.

“Wait a second!” Pinkie grabbed a glass of water out of nowhere and did a spit take. “Are you serious?!”

“One hundred percent!” Discord grinned, pointing at Fluttershy’s ear.

“I-I don’t understand,” she stuttered. “You don’t have a Cutie Mark.”

“I don’t,” he agreed, “but I do have a symbol!”

His body shifted into the exact symbol on Fluttershy’s ear before he returned to normal, this time with a cane in his hand. It looked oddly familiar.

Pinkie gasped. “I knew I’d seen that symbol before! It was on Discord’s cane at the Grand Galloping Gala! You know, the one where Fluttershy invited Tree Hugger instead of him and he got so jealous he invited the Smooze to make her jealous but it didn’t work and the two of them had to have a major talk about how it was okay to have other friends?”

“Yeees,” Discord cleared his throat as he and Fluttershy shifted awkwardly at the memory. It wasn’t one of their finest moments.

“Wait just an apple-pickin’ minute!” cried Applejack. “You mean ta tell me that Discord is Fluttershy’s-”

“Soulmate?” the draconequus interrupted. "Why, yes, if you must know.” He then turned to his heart keeper and said, “I do hope that doesn’t disappoint you, my dear.”

Fluttershy’s hooves were covering her mouth, her eyes staring up at him, wide and unseeing. It was as if she’d been carried off to some other plane. Incomprehensible joy was nearly causing her heart to burst.

Discord was her soulmate! She didn't have to give him up! She would have him by her side for the rest of her life!

The rest of her life…but his…

The elation she felt popped like a lead balloon as dread began twisting her stomach into knots. A sob suddenly escaped her and she began to cry.

“F-Flutters?” Discord prompted, the wind in his sails dying instantly at her distress.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight tried when she didn’t respond. “Are you okay?”

The yellow pegasus fell at Discord’s feet, wrapping her wings over her face. “I’m so sorry, Discord!” she sobbed, her ears flat against her head. “I failed you!”

The Spirit of Chaos looked around at the others and was thankful to see they were as just in the dark as him. Feeling incredibly awkward having his soulmate in such a position -like a peasant groveling before their feudal lord- Discord lowered himself to the ground and lifted one of her wings.

“Shy? May I come in?” he asked.

Still sobbing, she nodded. Shrinking down to the size of a butterfly, Discord slithered his way inside and lowered her wing. Rubbing her muzzle comfortingly, he asked, “I’m afraid you’ve stumped me, my dear. I was expecting tears of joy, not this.”

“I-I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m really happy you’re my soulmate -thrilled even!- but you weren’t supposed to be!”

Discord frowned. “I’m… confused.”

“The only reason I got my Soul Mark was to let you go!” Fluttershy revealed, sitting up. He remained small, looking up at her with furrowed brows. “Now you’re stuck with me!”

Discord blinked and then stuck a talon in his mouth. Blowing into it, he reinflated to normal size before scooping her up. Booping her on the nose, he gazed down on her with an expression none of the other ponies had ever seen before. His eyes were soft, his mouth lifted in a tender smile. Without a word, he bent down and kissed her, his talons gently caressing her cheek.

Rarity squealed into her hooves; Rainbow Dash gagged; Applejack lowered her stetson over her eyes; Pinkie Pie, starry-eyed, looked ready to burst; Twilight and Starlight’s jaws dangled somewhere near the ground; and Fluttershy sighed in happiness, wrapping her hooves around Discord’s neck and returning the kiss with all the love she possessed.

His snaggletooth pressed against the side of her mouth but didn’t bother her in the slightest. In fact, it somehow fit perfectly. The pegasus closed the remaining distance between them, wrapping her wings around his neck. Discord’s mismatched wings spread around and encased her body.

This was heaven!

This was bliss!

This was…

“GET A ROOM!” Rainbow shouted, bringing the two back to reality.

Discord broke the kiss but kept his eyes on his beloved. “What say you, my dear?” he asked, face red and eyebrows wiggling. “Should we find a more private setting to continue?”

Fluttershy started to nod but then shook her head, pushing herself back. She saw the hurt flash through his eyes and quickly tried to explain. “It’s not that I don’t want to!” she said as he let her go. “It’s just… I’m having a hard time believing all this is really happening!”

“You’re not the only one,” Twilight muttered.

“What?” Discord prompted. “That we’re soulmates?”

“Yes!” Fluttershy cried. “That and why all of a sudden me being mortal doesn’t seem to bother you!”

“Oh, that’s because you’re not anymore!” Discord said, nonchalant, as if he were announcing the weather.

There was a second of silence and then the room exploded with a collective “WHAT?!”

“What do you mean she’s not mortal anymore?” Twilight demanded.

“Did Fluttershy become an alicorn?” Pinkie asked, zooming over and inspecting said pony’s forehead.

The yellow pegasus gently pushed her away. “I don’t have a horn, Pinkie,” she said before freezing and feeling her forehead herself. “Do I?”

“Not to worry,” Discord assured with an amused grin. “You’re still very much a pegasus.”

“Then how can she be immortal?” asked Starlight.

“The moment the Soul Mark appeared, a portion of my immortality latched itself onto her," he answered. "A gift from my mother, bless her eternal soul.”

“Your mother?!” cried Twilight and Rarity together.

“Discord has a mother?” gasped Pinkie. “Is she a draconequus too?”

“You have a mother?” Rainbow Dash spluttered.

“Of course I have a mother!” he scoffed. “Where exactly did you all think I came from?”

“I guess we all sort of thought you’d just always existed,” Starlight nervously answered, speaking for everypony.

“I suppose you’d be right, in a way,” he mused, rubbing his goat beard. “I was one of the first children she had - and she had plenty! Of course, that’s no surprise, seeing as she’s Mother Nature.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Mother Nature?”

“Mother Nature is a creature?” cried Twilight.

“She’s a pony, actually,” Discord chuckled when seeing the stars in their eyes. “At least, that’s the form she chose shortly after forming this world with my father. Don’t ask me what he looks like. He changes his appearance so often I don’t even know what his true form is. I always figured that’s why I’m a mismatch of animals instead of a complete pony like yourselves.”

“And your father is…?” Twilight prompted.

“Someone I try to avoid at all cost,” Discord answered, “Insufferable old man. If you must know, his name is Abysm. Although you ponies would know him as Tartarus.”

“I thought Tartarus was a place,” said Rarity.

“The prison you call Tartarus is his realm and feeds off his existence,” said Discord while pulling a stray piece of confetti from his feathers. He looked at it for a moment before popping it into his mouth. “Best not to keep talking about him, though; might draw his attention. Anyway, I'm sure if you’re uncomfortable with immorality, Fluttershy, we can discuss it with my mother.”

“O-Oh,” Fluttershy stuttered, feeling slightly dazed. “Um, I’m not, um, sure how I feel about it yet?”

The draconequus bent down to her level and huskily muttered, “I might have a way to help you with that.”

Fluttershy blushed scarlet as he brushed a talon delicately down her left foreleg before lifting her hoof to kiss it.

Rarity cleared her throat. “I do believe it would be most opportune if the two of you continued your 'conversation' elsewhere, posthaste.”

“Please, before we gag ourselves to death,” Rainbow Dash said, her lips curled in disgust.

Discord grinned up at her. “Might as well get used to it, Dashie!”

“Just because you’re soulmates doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she snapped.

“Y-You don’t approve?”

Everyone stilled, having heard Fluttershy’s soft spoken question as if she’d shouted it.

“It’s not that we don’t,” Applejack began.

“It’s just a surprise,” Twilight finished, rubbing her foreleg awkwardly.

“He’s not even a pony!” Rainbow Dash voiced, throwing her hooves out.

“Hey, Rainbow, that’s not entirely true!” Pinkie cried. “He’s part pony!”

“I guess,” she muttered, crossing her hooves.

“I think the thing we all have to remember,” Rarity said, placing a comforting hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, “is that two of our friends have found happiness and we should be happy for them. Granted, I presently consider Discord more an acquaintance than a friend,” -she looked up at him- “But I’d like to change that. Would you be willing?”

Discord blinked in surprise before smiling down at the white unicorn. He held out his paw. “I’m game if you are.”

She placed her hoof inside and the two shook. Fluttershy sent her a grateful smile. The fashionista winked.

“Well, I have no problems with Discord,” said Pinkie, hopping over and slapping a sticker of approval on his chest. It had her face on it and said APPROVED in puffy pink letters. “I’m so super duper excited for both of you!” She froze and gasped. “We should totally have a soulmate party!”

“I think the two of them should have some time alone before we do that, Pinkie,” said Twilight, stepping forward. “Although I must confess I’m rather fascinated to learn more about your parentage, Discord.”

“I think some time alone would be best right now,” said Fluttershy, seeking intervention before the purple alicorn could give in to her thirst for knowledge.

Discord came to the rescue, materializing a piece of paper with something written on it. He handed it to the purple princess.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“A raincheck for this conversation,” he said, grinning. “Though I may choose not to answer every question you have, Sparkles. I do like my secrets, after all.”

Twilight smiled excitedly. “I’ll take whatever I can get! Now get out of here.”

“As you wish, Your Royal Bookness,” he laughed, holding out his paw to Fluttershy. “Shall we, my dear?”

She took it, her cheeks darkening.

“Have fun!” Pinkie shouted, pulling out her party cannon and setting it off.

A few pieces of confetti got caught in the teleportation, the little flecks of paper falling to the floor of Fluttershy’s living room. Grateful to be in a familiar setting, the tired pegasus weakly flew over to the green couch and collapsed. Discord summoned up a chair made of bubbles and nervously sat down across from her.

“Shy?” he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I… don’t know,” she said honestly.

Her head was spinning. So much had happened; she was having difficulty processing it all. It was revelatory enough to learn Discord was her soulmate. Learning that she was now immortal and had a possible visit with Mother Nature was almost too much to swallow. Her vision swam.

“I think I’m going to…”

She passed out.

Comments

[taterforlife]

My favorite part was honestly the part where Rarity offers him her hoof in friendship and he gladly and quickly agrees.

Because kissing in public makes me feel just as awkward with the Mane 6!

But ohhhh I love Discord flirting, Twilight needing, Pinkie hyping, Rainbow gagging, Rarity shipping, and Applejack defending!

Such good characterization! I love it.

[Marina Stars]

Wow, I never noticed that little detail about Discord's cane before. But that's actually a cool detail.

I love everyone's reaction and how they each have their unique responses. Really kept the characters real and showcased their personalities.

So happy to se Rarity extend the hoof of friendship as that's a comraderie not many writers focus on. And I'm sure the others friends will follow. Onward to the final chapter!

[Comicizzum]

11227765
Haha, maybe one of the reasons Discord was so forward was to cause some chaos. We all know how he feels about that.

[Comicizzum]

11227960
I really enjoyed writing Rarity in this fic. I think her taking the initiative to offer a hoof in friendship was a good opening for the others. Maybe I'll write some scenes later where the 5 have their own friendship adventures with Discord. Who knows? The future is full of opportunities.