Fluttershy woke up with a gasp. She quickly sat up, kicking the covers off of her, and took deep, heaving breaths as her head whipped around the room. It was dark, and the shadows made her want to shrink back and hide, but she kept searching the room.
Finally, she saw him at her side. Discord, who was fast asleep, his ears twitching as he smacked his lips. His lion arm wormed under the pillow, and he turned in her direction, snuggling into it with a few soft mumbles.
As soon as she saw him, she let out a deep breath, tears flowing along with it. She lunged forward and wrapped her hooves around his neck, squeezing tightly as she buried her face in his fur. "Thank goodness..." she said in a whisper. "It was a dream. Just a dream..." Still, she clung tightly to him, tears pouring down her face and soaking into his fur.
She whimpered a little, nestling deeper into his fur. He shivered when more tears landed on him, and she froze, covering her mouth with her hooves to keep herself quiet. With a groan, Discord suddenly sat up, and she squeaked and held on to him tightly before she could be knocked off.
He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, tiny Z's flung from them and out the window, and stretched, wrapping his arms around her. He looked down at her and frowned, his grip becoming tighter. "Why are you crying in the middle of the night?" he asked. "Did something happen?"
She glanced away as he used his thumb to wipe away her tears. "I...just had a bad dream," she said. "I didn't mean to wake you up...you can go back to sleep."
"Oh no," he said. "I'm not just going to lie down and do nothing when you're so upset by whatever happened in your dream." He placed his hands on her shoulders, adjusting her so that she was sitting comfortably on his lap, leaning against his stomach. "Now. Tell me what upset you so much in your dream."
She frowned, looking down and playing with her mane. He placed a hand on top of her head, stroking his fingers slowly through her mane. She took a deep, shaky breath, and said, "I-It was about you." His stroking stopped for a second. "You...you were a statue again."
She sniffled and snuggled into his fur. "I...I don't know why you were a statue, but you were. And you were crying...I tried to convince everyone to help you, but no one would listen to me. They all just walked away."
She sobbed. "And...and then someone was taking you away, and I tried to follow, to beg them to let me help you, but they wouldn't listen, and you just got further and further away, and—!" She let out a choked sob. "I woke up, and I was scared I lost you!"
She wept into her hooves, still shaking from the memory of the dark dream. Slowly, Discord wrapped his arms around her and began to sway, rocking her. "Shhh," he said. "I'm here. I'm here. Don't be scared, I'm not going to leave you."
She sniffed, her tears stopping, but her shaking continuing. With a sigh, Discord wrapped his fingers around her right hoof. "I'm right here," he said. She nodded, but still kept her eyes down, not really wanting to look him in the eye. With another sigh, he placed his paw under her chin and gave it a tiny nudge up.
"Please look at me," he said. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, and he brought her hoof up to his cheek. "Fluttershy, do you remember what you used to tell me when I was scared about being turned back to stone?" He blinked, and his pupils were wider, and instead of her in their reflection, it was a scene of the two of them, back in her old cottage—Discord's head drooping, as she tried to hold it up in her hooves.
"You're here, in the flesh," she said from memory. He nodded, and the Discord in his eyes perked his ears up. "This is real. You're not a statue."
"And?" he said. His reflection seemed just as interested in what her reflection was saying.
"And...I'm going to do my best to make sure that never happens to you again," she said. "As long as you're my friend, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you from that." He smiled and nuzzled her hoof, and his eyes showed how he clung desperately to her after that. He blinked, and the image vanished.
He wrapped his body around hers, placing his hands on her shoulders and nuzzling her cheek. "Dear sweet Fluttershy...the fate you dreamt about me is not going to happen. We're both going to make sure of that...and our friends wouldn't let that happen to me, either." He bent his neck and kissed the corners of her eyes, soaking up her tears and making her giggle. "And you know that I'm much too stubborn to ever willingly leave your side."
She sniffed, then gave a soft smile. "I...suppose you're right." She nuzzled his neck, and he kissed her cheek. "But I...that nightmare scared me. I don't know why I had it."
"Maybe it's because you've been sleeping less," he said, tangling his fingers in her mane, brushing his wingtip against her spine. "I mean, the last few days...you've been waking up early to take care of more tasks, and you've been going to bed late because of..." He looked guilty. "Me keeping you up, wanting you all to myself..."
"Or maybe...I missed being with you," she said. "Because I've been so busy, and only able to spend time with you in the evenings..." She nuzzled his cheek. "I'm always glad to spend time with you, even if it keeps me up late," she said. "But...maybe you're right. Tomorrow, I can figure out how to cut down on my tasks so I can sleep in a little more...and have more time in the day to be with you."
"Oooh, I'll help with that," he said with a grin. "Now...why don't we lie down and go to sleep together?"
She bit her lip and was about to say she didn't feel tired, but he tightened his arms around her and uncurled himself, laying back down. He wrapped his tail around her waist, pressing them close together, still keeping his arms wrapped around her.
She wrapped her forehooves around his neck and snuggled in, yawning slightly. "This is nice," she said. "But...I'm still a little too scared to go back to sleep."
"Do you want me to tell you a story?" he asked. She gave a small nod, and he grinned, snapping his fingers and making stars and constellations appear on their bedroom ceiling.
He launched into a tale of Old Equestria, before even Celestia and Luna were born, animating the stars as he did so. She watched in fascination as he described his travels, and how he caused minor and major chaos wherever he went. As he began talking about filling an ocean with giant goldfish and an island with strange birds, she felt her eyelids drooping, and found herself slowly nodding off, using his neck as a pillow.
Just as she was between being asleep and awake, she felt him kiss her forehead. "Goodnight, Flutters," he said. "I'll stay here, always. I hope this time you have pleasant dreams." She gave a soft smile and closed her eyes, snuggling into his fur and placing a light kiss there.
The stars faded away, and she heard Discord fluffing his pillow and laying down. He began stroking her mane slowly, still with his arms and tail wrapped around her, until she nodded off into peaceful dreams, filled with happy memories of her and Discord spending time together.
This is beautiful 💖💖💖💖
So sweet! Also nice to see a chapter from Fluttershy's perspective. It's usually Discord who's afraid of losing her.
I just pretty much went awwwwww the whole entire time. I'm so glad you had Discord mention that their friends wouldn't let it happen, either. Like I always say, even in a romance fic, if you include the canon elements, then you can't forget that friendship is important in this world, and to the characters.
Though his words that he's too stubborn to let the dream become reality gave me an interesting thought. Since he knows about friendship and love now, could he somehow combine that with his magic to bust himself out of his statue state? Hmm...
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That is an interesting thought...anything that tried to turn him to stone using Harmony might be less effective, too, since he's come to accept it and friendship. Kind of like...he's built up a resistance to it being used on him. And anything that doesn't use Harmony, his magic would probably easily break him out of...especially if fueled by the Power of Love and Friendship.
And I'm glad you liked the inclusion of him mentioning their friends! The Elements, I think, are the main (and maybe only) things that could turn him into stone. Of course he's going to bring up that the chances of them being used on him by their friends are now nil, to assure his Flutters that everything will be okay.
I'm not sure if you're the type of author who welcomes ideas in the comments section or not (please feel free to ignore this if you don't, by no means am I trying to tell you how to write your story), but I had a wonderful plot suggestion for a chapter.
Often times, we see Discord getting jealous/over-protective of Fluttershy, well what if that was reversed? Instead, it's Fluttershy who gets jealous. So often, its Discord who's the one upset/ in need of comfort, but you instead have Fluttershy being the one who needs consoling (outside of a nightmare or a bad day) and suddenly there's a growing tension, being that Fluttershy's not one for getting angry or releasing over-the-top negative emotions. (*Kind of like that one chapter where she and him have a fight over the diplomatic meeting.*)
Perhaps you have Discord bonding with another creature or pony who behaves similarly to Fluttershy. Obviously, it wouldn't be a romantic interest (Discord would have to be a moron to cheat on her), but it's caught with enough attention for Flutters to grow jealous/worried. Cue some sort of comical mischief or misunderstanding, and you have Fluttershy snapping at the climax, cueing the role reversal where it's up to Discord to save the day.
I know this is sort of different from your other chapters (and like I said, not trying to influence how you write at all, big fan in fact), but I feel like you could play with this concept either through my idea or through a self-created variant. (*Flustered Flutters receiving attention would be adorable*)
Alright, that's enough of my rambling. Love these chapters so much and I hope you continue writing!
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I actually do like the idea of Fluttershy being jealous! Flustered Flutters getting attention would be pretty adorable. I can't promise that I'll make it into a chapter in this story, but if I come up with a fleshed-out chapter idea I can use it in, I just might.
And I do enjoy reading the ideas people share. I might not always be able to write them, but I try to consider them, at least. I'm glad you enjoy my writing so much! Thank you!
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If you want ideas I have approximately 7 million of them. Only a few of them are ones I may keep for myself.