Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, just the plot. This has been written purely for entertainment, not profit.
Hello readers! This is the first story that I've written and been brave enough to actually publish, so any comments and reviews would be welcome! I plan to update once a week unless my readers ask for more chapters. I hope you enjoy my work and have fun reading it! If you have an idea of where you'd like to see the story go please feel free to let me know.
Chapter One
"Quiet grace surrounds you, and helps me find my own.
I can't tell you've helped me, and how much I have grown." ~ MandoPony, Kindness
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, the morning light bathing her pink mane in an angelic glow. As the young mare yawned and stretched there was a knock at her door, and before she could respond an exuberant Discord popped in her room with two plates piled high with daisy sandwiches. Her half-awake brain couldn't really comprehend his stream of hyper speech as he talked with four sandwiches shoved in his mouth at once, but Fluttershy was able to gather that he was excited to be in Saddle Arabia.
The Mane Six were on a diplomatic mission for the Equestrian princesses Luna and Celestia, and their first meeting with the local royalty was going to commence within the hour. The reason for their journey had been unclear, with Princess Celestia simply saying that they would find out when they arrived. As Fluttershy slowly gained complete consciousness and munched on a sandwich Discord had begun making random suitcases appear and then rummaging through them. He would take something out, shake his head, mutter to himself and then throw it away where it would disappear in mid-air. She had no idea what he was looking for until he pulled a powder blue tunic-like dress out of one of the trunks. The dress had a woven green belt to accompany it, and embroidered around the short sleeves and collar of the dress were tiny pink butterflies.
Discord knew that, despite her kind and intelligent disposition, Fluttershy often had a hard time speaking up in front of strangers, especially foreign royalty. He wanted her to have a small boost of confidence in knowing that she was wearing something pretty, though not garish. And it was a gift from him, which, if she liked it, would keep a smile on his face all day.
"My dear Fluttershy, I think this will look absolutely stunning on you! You will steal away the breath of all those who lay eyes upon you!"
"Oh, um, th-thank you…it's very pretty…I love it…"
The shy mare trailed off, a sweet little blush spreading across her cheeks. Though he would rather eat his own tail than admit it, Discord loved the way she did that. She was his best friend, and he would never want to do or say anything to jeopardize their relationship, but lately it had been getting harder and harder to control his impulses around her. Just the other day he had brazenly tucked a stray strand of her mane back behind her ear, and the smile she had given him nearly made him nuzzle her. He had pulled himself away just in time though. He knew she was still working on trusting him again after he betrayed her by siding with Tirek a year ago, even though he had had a very good reason.
She looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed slightly above her beautiful cerulean orbs. When he met her gaze he could see a question there, something important if her slightly tense body language had anything to say about it. He cocked his head to the said, waiting patiently. Fluttershy never minced words, and never spoke without reason, so even if she took a few minutes to pick her words it would be worth the wait.
"Yoo hoo, FLUTTERSHY!"
The two of them startled at the intruding noise, Discord jumping straight up and then remaining slightly levitated in the air as he conjured a gigantic pair of earplugs. He began muttering under his breath.
"Three, two, one…"
Just as he finished counting, a pink ball of energy burst through the door, galloping straight for Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie launched herself into the air, her tail twirling like a helicopter blade as she somehow managed to hover an inch away from Fluttershy's face. The pink pony was dressed in what could only be described as, literally, an upside down cupcake. The dress was complete with real frosting, which had even managed to make its way onto the mare's nose, and the hem of the dress had several bites taken out of it.
"GOOD MORNING SLEEPY HEAD! Twilight sent me to wake you, and I love your new dress! Where'd you get it? Huh? Rarity? Manehattan? Huh, huh, HUHHHHHHH!?"
Fluttershy smiled gracefully, even though most ponies would have hoofed the obnoxious pink mare in the face by that point.
"Discord got it for me this morning actually…"
Thinking that he was holding the dress Fluttershy turned to look at him, but he was reclining in the air, sipping the glass out from around some chocolate milk with a smug smile on his face. Fluttershy looked around in bewilderment for a moment, but saw nothing except the simply decorated room with the nightstand and silky pile of cushions on the floor. Then she looked down, and saw that she was wearing the dress. Discord had made it appear on her without her feeling a thing, and just as he predicted she began to blush.
"Well that's all good and great and AWESOME, but we've gotta gogogogo! Come on you two, Twilight and the others are waiting!"
"Two, as in both Fluttershy and I? Oh, hehe, that rhymed!"
"Yeah, both of ya! HURRY UP PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE!"
Pinkie bounced to the ground, then galloped out of the room like a streak of cotton candy colored lightening without waiting for them to actually move. Her tail ballooned out behind her as she left the other two to follow at a more leisurely pace, and Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at the hyperactive antics of her friend.
"Well, that was one way to start the morning. I almost shut her up by conjuring a giant gumball for her to chew on, but she would have liked it too much. Still though, if she had started blowing a bubble in the throne room, and it exploded all over…bahahahaha!"
"Discord!"
Fluttershy tried to reprimand her friend, but the image was too funny. After a minute she gave him a gentle head nudge, and they headed for the throne room. As they were walking Discord looked down at his friend, and he felt his heart constrict as he thought of the thousands of years he had lived without her, and he inwardly cringed as he remembered the look of utter betrayal on her face. The look that he had caused. He had vowed to do everything he could to never see her face contorted in misery again, especially since it was her kindness and unwavering friendship that had saved him from his lonely existence.
He had become a much, much better being since he met her. While his spirit of chaos would never diminish, he was starting to perform more acts of kindness for others, and for the first time in his long life he would wake up smiling. Discord shook himself out of his reverie, and began telling Fluttershy a joke about a bird and a bee as they made their way to the others. Although some of the palace guards gave the chuckling duo sidelong glances, the two were left undisturbed. After all, it's not every day that ponies got to see a draconequus, much less the god of chaos, walking and talking with a friend like a regular pony.
