Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, everypony!
Yes, I have returned! Been busy, and not had a lot of time to work on my fanfics, but I was working on this one here and there, and got it finished when I realised Valentine's was right around the corner. So serendipitous!
Synopsis: Pinkie is distressed when she realises the Mane 6 will be split up on Fluttershy's birthday, so she won't be able to have a proper celebration. Fluttershy understands, but Discord is determined not to let the day go to waste and wants to spoil her.
"EMERGENCYYYYYY!"
Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were knocked aside like skittles as a pink cannonball hurtled into them.
"Ugh, Pinkie, what's the matter?" Rainbow groaned, who'd been the unlucky one to land underneath her.
"An emergency!" Pinkie repeated, her blue eyes blazing with uncharacteristic urgency.
"What is it?!" chorused the other girls at once with concern.
"More parasprites?"
"Another villain?"
"Is someone sick?"
"Worse!" the pink pony wailed. "Fluttershy's birthday!"
The other five blinked at her, before Applejack said, as gently as possible, "Aw, honey, Fluttershy's birthday isn't for another month or so. What's the big emergency?"
Pinkie actually swelled with indignation before pulling a huge scroll of paper out of her trans-dimensional mane and slapping it on the table which they'd all just been gathered round. "Look!"
The others all shifted closer, allowing them to see that it was a large, colour-coded calendar of all their schedules.
"Rarity is in Manehattan for a fashion show for Fluttershy's birthday. Rainbow will be on tour with the Wonderbolts, and Twilight is going to see Celestia in Canterlot. Only Applejack and myself will be here!"
Everypony studied the calendar and realised she was right. The friends looked at each other, biting their lips in consternation. (It said a lot about how much they loved Pinkie that they were more worried about the birthday party they knew she desperately wanted to throw rather than her stalker-level ability to keep track of their schedules.)
"Pinkie, it's fine, I don't need a big party," Fluttershy tried to assure her, but Pinkie was having none of it.
"What do you mean?! We need to celebrate! And we can't do that properly unless we're all together!"
"Well, what if we don't have the party on Fluttershy's birthday?" Rainbow suggested. "We can have it another day."
Pinkie did not seem much cheered by this idea, but nevertheless agreed it would have to do. She immediately started poring over the calendar for an appropriate date. "Hmm…that's Applejack's family reunion. No, that's too soon; this needs to be properly prepared!"
"Really Pinkie, I don't need anything elaborate. Even having a picnic this afternoon…" Fluttershy tried again, but Pinkie waved a hoof at her impatiently and the timid pegasus fell silent once more.
"What about this weekend?!" the pink pony cried triumphantly, jabbing her hoof at the upcoming weekend.
Everyone glanced at the calendar and then at each other. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all nodded their agreement.
"Sure."
"Sounds good!"
"Lovely idea."
Fluttershy smiled her agreement as well, then they all looked at Twilight. "Twilight?" Pinkie queried.
"Umm…actually…" the alicorn said awkwardly, blushing slightly. "I was planning on having a book-sort-cation that weekend."
Pinkie was visibly disappointed, and Rainbow let out a groan of frustration. "Alright then," sighed Pinkie, turning back to her schedule.
They all perused it for another minute before Applejack said, "Geez, we've all gotten so busy lately. Looks like the only time for Fluttershy's party will be after her birthday."
"We can't do that! We can't celebrate her birthday late!" Pinkie positively sobbed.
"Don't worry, darling, I'm sure we'll figure something out," Rarity soothed. The white unicorn looked at Twilight helplessly. "Twilight, are you sure you can't reschedule your book-sort-cation?"
Twilight blushed even harder. "I'm sorry, Rarity. It's just…it's been so long since I've been able to have a weekend to myself, and I had enough trouble working it into my own schedule. It would be a nightmare trying to rearrange it all now. Besides, Starlight will still be away on tour with Trixie this weekend."
Her friends couldn't help but be convinced by this little speech, passionate as it was. Twilight was more dedicated to keeping order than anypony, and so none of them attempted to further persuade her to change her plans. Like Pinkie's…quirks, it was simply part and parcel of being Twilight's friend that they allow her time with her books.
After numerous assurances that it didn't matter to her when they celebrated, or how big the party was, Fluttershy eventually managed to cheer Pinkie up some, and it was agreed to host the party a week after the birthday. With that settled, Pinkie was quickly back to her cheerful self and happily joined them for milkshakes, even offering to replace the ones she'd sent flying when she first arrived. The others thanked her and accepted happily.
By the time she'd reached her castle after her milkshake date with her friends, Twilight had still not managed to completely banish her feeling of guilt. She didn't like lying to her friends. Even if it hadn't been completely a lie, but still.
The weekend arrived, and Twilight sent Spike off to enjoy some time to himself as well.
"Really? You don't need my help sorting the books?" the dragon asked, astounded.
"I think I can manage," the alicorn smirked.
Spike shrugged and raced off before she changed her mind. "Have fun, Twilight!"
Twilight waved, then shut the door, squashing another – though considerably smaller – wriggle of guilt. She knew Spike didn't really want to spend two or three days locked inside a dark library like she did, and he deserved a bit of a break, so she didn't feel bad about sending him away. Just for lying about the reason.
Again.
Twilight walked slowly to the library, standing in the very centre and beginning her usual ritual for the book-sort-cation. She closed her eyes and powered up her horn, making all the curtains close at once. Candles burst into flame all around the room. Then, as one, the hundreds of books on shelves slid out and hovered for a brief moment in thin air.
Crack!
With a shriek, Twilight let the books drop. The resulting crash was enough to shake the floor.
From behind her came a snicker. "Wow. Usually, I only make a pony drop one book. I've never managed to make them drop a whole library."
"Discord!" Twilight shouted, whirling angrily to face the smug draconequus.
He grinned.
"You did that on purpose!"
"Of course I did," he scoffed. "As I said, I've never managed to make somepony drop a library. Now I can cross it off my bucket list." He summoned an impressively lengthy scroll from nowhere, along with a quill, and ticked it, rather like Twilight would check something off a to-do list.
Twilight glowered, not appreciating the purple horn, wings and pink-streaked blue mane he chose to don while doing this.
Thankfully, Discord decided to stop teasing her and vanished the scroll and accompanying costume. "Right, down to business."
Twilight nodded and turned to face her books again, beginning to circle the first mountain around herself while still talking to Discord. "Yes. Fluttershy's birthday. Pinkie was rather upset that we couldn't all be here for it, you know."
"I'm surprised it took her so long to realise."
Facing away from the draconequus, the alicorn rolled her eyes. Pinkie's knowledge of her friends' lives might reach a somewhat disturbing level, but when it came to Fluttershy, even she was no match for Discord's obsession.
"Which is why I plan to make the day spectacular!" Discord finished grandly.
Twilight glanced at him just long enough to raise her brows mockingly. "But you need my help to do it?"
"Yes," he admitted, wilting. "I have no idea what to do!"
Twilight shook her head, half-wearily, half-indulgently.
"I mean, it's Fluttershy! If I make a huge fuss, she'll just get embarrassed or anxious and say I shouldn't have gone to the trouble. But if I just do something small and simple, that I know she'll like, how will it really be that special? It's her birthday! It needs to be celebrated. Loudly and proudly and with a boatload of confetti and sparkles to go with it!"
While Discord continued to ramble in this manner, Twilight sent each book that passed before her onto its determined shelf, or into a quickly-growing pile that she would sort through more carefully later. (Most of the books were sent here; Twilight was already working on the second stack, while a scant half-dozen had been replaced back on shelves.) She was keeping one ear tuned to Discord, waiting for the point where she would actually be required to suggest something.
"So, basically, you want something big and grand that will allow Fluttershy to stay in her safe little comfort zone?" she clarified.
"Yes," he huffed. "But how do I manage that when Fluttershy's comfort zone is a mile away from anything hinting at big or grand?"
Twilight chuckled. "Yeah. She suggested just having a picnic in the park…"
Discord suddenly popped himself to within a few inches of the alicorn's face, a heavy scowl twisting his bizarre features. Finding herself suddenly at such close range to an angry draconequus, Twilight instinctively jumped backwards, and the still-flying books danced crazily through the air for a moment.
"Don't do that!" the princess shouted.
Discord ignored her. "That's just the problem!" he hissed. "A picnic in the park?! That's no way to celebrate Fluttershy's birthday! We did that the other week for our morning tea!"
"Would you please move, Discord? I can't see where these need to go!"
The pony shoved the draconequus out of her line of vision as the books resumed their circling.
Discord scowled. "You said you were going to help me!"
"I also said I'd help if you let me actually get on with my book-sort-cation."
"Fine."
The draconequus crossed his arms sulkily, waiting for his friend to speak.
She didn't for the next minute, frowning at each book that floated in front of her, apparently concentrating hard on each one. But for the clever alicorn, such a task as sorting books was restful rather than mind-numbing, and her brain was whirring, trying to brainstorm ideas to fit with the Chaos Lord's criteria.
"What you need is an activity…or activities…that you can do with few people, or just the two of you…"
"I can always summon more of me," Discord pointed out.
Twilight blinked, then gave a nod. "Good point." Then she returned to her train of thought. "But no pony else around, probably. Probably close to Ponyville, seeing as Fluttershy doesn't like travel."
"Fluttershy likes to travel."
The princess shot him a bemused, disbelieving look.
"She just doesn't like strange or scary places."
"How is that different?" she wondered.
"Going somewhere you know isn't strange or scary," he pointed out.
"Right…but you still need to have travelled to them before to know them."
"So? Once you do that, they're no longer strange, and Fluttershy's been to lots of places on Friendship Missions and such."
"Most of those places are still pretty scary, especially to Fluttershy."
"But I'll be with her, so she won't be scared."
"Why not? It's Fluttershy."
"What? Fluttershy's not brave?" Discord huffed indignantly.
"Of course she is," Twilight replied gently, surprised at the draconequus' anger. "Believe me, I've seen her face down all manner of dangerous creatures – including one crazy Chaos Lord –" she added pointedly, "but that doesn't mean it's her idea of a good time."
Said Chaos Lord frowned but grudgingly agreed.
"So you want to take her somewhere where she'll feel safe so she has no cause for anxiety?" Twilight queried. "How about something with her critters?"
Discord tapped his chin with his eagle talons. "Fluttershy's critters and I don't really get on…"
"Which will prove how much you care."
He grunted. "I suppose. But there's still the issue of doing something she does on a regular basis."
"Maybe some unusual critters, then?"
They argued back and forth in this manner for quite a while, Twilight continuing to keep one eye on her book-sorting as they went. When one particular volume went past in her peripheral vision, she turned and then smiled.
"I just thought of an idea!" she sang, as she floated the book into its place. She described her plan to Discord, who, by the end of it, was beaming.
"That's perfect!" he cried, throwing out confetti in a Pinkie-style celebration. "Fluttershy will love it!"
Twilight beamed. "Glad I could help."
"You did. Thank you, Twilight! I'll let you get on with your book-sort-cation." With a pop, the Chaos Lord vanished.
Twilight chuckled and returned to her shambolic library.
One month later, Fluttershy got up and began to feed her critters just as usual, humming happily under her breath. Once Angel and the rest were fed, she wandered outside to check her mail. Her mailbox was stuffed full, almost overflowing with birthday cards from friends, family and various ponies in Ponyville or other places she'd helped at one point. Fluttershy teared up with gratitude as she read all the birthday wishes. This was capped off by Angel appearing at her side with a posy of wildflowers he'd just picked and proudly delivered.
"Ooh, thank you, Angel!" Fluttershy gushed as she stepped back inside her cottage. "Goodness, I can't believe how many ponies sent me a card. Just for my birthday, can you believe it? I should write each of them a thank you note."
She took the bundle of cards to her table to do exactly that, now taking the time to read through them more carefully, then penning a thank you note for each sender.
"I'll need to go get more stamps," she mused aloud, as she opened yet another card.
This one sprayed her in the face with confetti upon opening it. Fluttershy jumped back in shock, but she'd already seen who it was from and wasn't too surprised.
Dear Fluttershy, it read.
Have a wonderful, splendiferous birthday! I know we couldn't organise to have your party until next week, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake agreed to host a small celebration for you tonight at Sugar Cube Corner, with your choice of a free cake!
I'll see you around six,
Love Pinkie xxx
Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. She was pretty sure Pinkie's definition of 'small celebration' would include all of Ponyville. But going to town would give her the opportunity to buy some stamps. Plus, free cake.
There was a knock on her door.
She got up and trotted across to open it. She found Discord on the threshold. "Discord!" she said in surprise and delight.
"Happy birthday, Fluttershy," he greeted her. He magicked a bouquet of flowers into his hand and presented them to her with a bow.
Fluttershy giggled, accepting them with a thanks. "You didn't have to get me anything."
Discord grinned. "Oh, those aren't your present. Just a little birthday token."
"Oh. Well, thank you."
"So, you don't want your actual gift?"
The draconequus' mischievous grin was infectious, and Fluttershy found herself giving him a coy smile in return. "Well…I wouldn't want to act ungrateful."
Discord chuckled and held out his eagle claw. "Alright. Close your eyes."
Intrigued, Fluttershy quickly put the bouquet in the vase with the one from Angel, then took his hand and closed her eyes. She had no idea what Discord was doing, but she felt a tingle of magic run over her body, then the odd sensation that always came when he teleported her somewhere, like she was somehow being stretched and compressed at the same time. Then the sounds and smells of her cottage were gone, replaced with a busy hum of voices, bright and high-pitched. Somepony close by gasped.
Fluttershy opened her eyes and gasped herself. "Seabreeze?!"
"Fluttershy!" the breezie exclaimed in delight. He zoomed over and squeezed her into a hug.
Fluttershy realised her body had been transformed to that of a breezie, just like when she and her friends had helped Seabreeze get home. A glance to her left showed Discord – in his original form but the size of a breezie – grinning at her.
"I remember how you always said you wanted to stay in the breezies' world for longer," the draconequus explained, a bit of nervousness in his smile. "Ponies don't usually get to see it at all, but I thought…I could go there and bring you along. So…um…" His blush was growing redder and redder as he continued to ramble on.
Fluttershy was beyond speechless. She could only stare at him in wonder. Tears welled in her eyes.
Discord saw them and immediately panicked. "Oh! I'm sorry! If you want to leave—"
"No!" the pegasus gasped. "I'm just…so…so touched, Discord. I can't believe you did this for me."
"Of course," Discord murmured.
Seabreeze decided to interrupt. "Fluttershy, would you like to meet my family?"
Fluttershy looked away from Discord, still blinking back her tears, and nodded, beaming at Seabreeze. "Of course!"
Seabreeze led the two visitors through the world of the breezies, several of whom remembered Fluttershy and flocked to greet her. She met the families of those she had helped and sheltered, including Seabreeze's wife and foal.
They also explored through the rest of the world, which was full of extra-large flowers and entirely safe from any outside threats, making it the perfect environment for both the breezies and Fluttershy.
Discord had never had much interest in visiting the breezies' home world, but he tagged along after the rest and listened happily to Seabreeze's explanations of all the places they saw. Mostly he was watching Fluttershy who, after her initial tears when they'd arrived, had not stopped smiling once. Despite being the centre of a crowd in unfamiliar settings, Discord had hardly ever seen her more relaxed.
He was so caught up with watching her beatific expression he didn't even notice his own sappy smile was attracting a few giggles from the surrounding breezies.
Fluttershy was so caught up with the breezies, she didn't notice the time slipping away, so Discord eventually had to tap her on the shoulder. "My dear, it's almost six o'clock. If we stay any longer, we'll be late to meet Pinkie at Sugar Cube Corner."
"Oh…" Fluttershy realised. "…yes."
"Come back any time," Seabreeze told her. He was immediately echoed by the rest of the breezies.
"Yes! Soon!"
"I'll try," Fluttershy promised. "Goodbye, Seabreeze." She gave him a hug, which he returned with great warmth.
"Goodbye, Fluttershy," chorused the rest of the breezies, crowding around her for their hug.
As soon as he could, Discord extracted her from the group hug. "Ready, my dear?"
She nodded.
With a pop, the two of them vanished from the breezie home world.
Now back to their usual size and form, Discord and Fluttershy strolled through the main street of Ponyville towards Sugar Cube Corner.
As the hum of expectant voices of the waiting ponies reached their ears, Fluttershy paused.
Discord turned toward her, puzzled.
"I just wanted to say, Discord," the shy pegasus murmured, looking at her hooves. "That was the nicest present anyone's ever given me. I…I wanted to say…thank you."
Discord gave her an affectionate smile. "You're most welcome, Fluttershy."
"Actually…I-I wanted to give you something in return."
"You don't have to—" Discord started to say, but stopped abruptly as Fluttershy peeked up at him, huge teal eyes shining imploringly through the curtain of her hair.
"Please, Discord?"
"Well…s-s-sure," the draconequus stammered, trying to remember how to speak.
Fluttershy took in a deep breath. "Will you close your eyes?"
He obeyed, curious. He heard the gentle flap of her wings, then felt the brush of air as she hovered in front of him. Next second, something warm and soft and incredibly sweet touched his lips. Discord's eyes popped open just in time to see Fluttershy backing away, a ferocious blush covering her entire face and most of her neck. She was practically glowing red-hot.
The draconequus was no better off. His entire body turned the same colour and steam erupted from his ears. His eyeballs spun crazily in their sockets and his hair fizzled into ash and fell off.
Both of them looked away from each other while they tried to collect themselves.
There was a very long, very awkward pause.
Finally, Discord let out a cough. "W-well, w-we should…g-go."
"Uh-huh." Fluttershy nodded her head vigorously, not yet able to meet his eye. She was just able to peek in his direction from the corner of his eye, and saw his eagle talon move in a meaningless gesture towards Sugar Cube Corner.
She guessed that meant 'After you,' and darted in that direction, practically running in her effort to get away from him.
Discord watched her go, his mind still rebooting and trying to process what had happened. Finally, he grinned and snapped his lion's paw.
Far away in Canterlot, Twilight had just returned to her room when a bang and puff of smoke made her jump and let out a shriek of fright.
Spike yelled, too. "What was that?!"
A scrap of paper had just materialised and floated down onto Twilight's hoof. She read the message and smiled.
Spike stared at her. "Why do you look so smug?" he asked warily.
"Oh, nothing," Twilight replied airily, vanishing the note. "Just that someone owes me a huge favour."
The End.
Hehe, hope you all enjoyed. Please review to let me know what you thought!
To be honest, the main reason I wrote this story was to focus on Discord and Twilight's relationship. I love the chemistry between them, because - to me - they come off as really close, but they like to constantly antagonise the other. Kind of like a brother and sister. And that relationship is arguably just as important to Discord as the one he has with Fluttershy. So I wanted to show that.
Also, a bit of background trivia: the book that prompted Twilight's idea to take Fluttershy to the breezie home world was the friendship diary. As in, the book Discord read through and marked six particular friendship lessons in order to help Twilight, one of which was Fluttershy's experience with the breezies.
Anyway, that's all for now. I do still have a couple stories in the works, but I'm not sure when I'll get the time and motivation to finish them, so can't say when they'll be posted. I still don't know exactly how long they'll be, either.
Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, everypony.
Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina xo