Discord arrived with a quiet pop in the middle of Fluttershy's living room. She stood before him, ears down, face hidden behind her mane. He didn't know what to do or say, because there was nothing to be done. Not yet. His instinct was to pick her up and give her everything she wanted... how he wanted to do that. How he wished he could so lightly accept her feelings, or bring himself to reciprocate like he wanted. But...
"Goodbye, Fluttershy," he said quietly.
Fluttershy scuffed a hoof on the carpet, turning her face away from him. "Goodbye, Discord."
Discord walked out the front door, closing it gingerly behind him. He stared at the sun that hung high in the sky, still, mocking how early he'd messed up everything. There were so many hours left in the day, and he'd already broken something precious. Maybe irreparably.
He walked out to the chicken coop. Scootaloo sat atop the peaked roof of the coop, wings open and surveying the chickens as they pecked the dirt and grass below. He mustered a grin for the young mare. "I see somepony took her duties seriously."
"Discord!" Scootaloo hopped down from the roof, her wings buzzing and slowing her descent so she landed more-or-less gracefully in front of him. "I was starting to get a little bored, but it wasn't so bad."
"Great. Listen, kiddo, would you do me a favor?" Discord asked, leaning down to eye level with the little pony.
Scootaloo frowned, "Seriously? I just helped you out."
"Not for me, this time. For Fluttershy," he paused, giving Scootaloo a meaningful look.
Scootaloo took in his expression, her ears drooping slightly. "Is she okay?"
"No. Not remotely, but she's safe and not physically hurt," he said, wincing as Scootaloo's expression hardened.
"Discord, what did you do?!" Scootaloo said, stepping up to Discord and pointing a hoof in his face.
"Plenty. Not enough. It's complicated, kiddo, but she's not the only one hurting. I don't know what she's going to do here, but I want you to go get your crusader pals and come out here and make sure the animals get fed and taken care of," he said, pulling back from her.
Scootaloo slowly nodded, turning away from him to gaze at Fluttershy's cottage. Discord looked, too, hoping to see... well, he didn't know what he hoped to see. The young mare spoke up after a moment, "Yeah. I'll go get Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and we'll make sure that things get taken care of. But," she looked at Discord, now, her expression softening, "what about you?"
Discord smirked. "You're sweet, kid, but I have a lot to think about. Hard questions to ask myself."
"You'll be okay, though? You're not going to go off somewhere and mope, all alone?" Scootaloo said, giving him a gentle prod in the side with a hoof.
Discord chuckled. "That was the plan. Am I that easy to read?"
"Your guard is pretty down, Discord. I'm good at seeing things about ponies. That's why we help other ponies find their purpose." She stood up on her hind legs and grabbed him, giving him a hug. "You're our friend too, Discord. If you need our help, let us know. We may be young but we're really good at what we do. If we can get a griffon a cutie mark, we can help you figure yourself out."
"You know, you didn't actually get her a cutie mark?" Discord pointed out, patting Scootaloo on the head.
She snorted. "Yeah, well, that's not the point."
"I know," he said, chuckling. "You go get your gal pals and take care of things here, yeah?"
"Sure, we'll keep an eye on things!" Scootaloo stepped away and gave him a salute and a smirk.
Discord returned the salute, and then snapped his fingers.
THE FEELS THO.
Add in Scootaloo being the sweetest friend an ex-villain in love could have and you just tear the heart apart. And the chapter isn't even long and you managed to do this.
Quality and not quantity. So, SO true. Ah, my heart hurts.
7920836 I collect the MLP comics, and there's an issue where Discord hangs out with the CMC, and it's pretty much the best thing. Great emotions are expressed, and that codified for me how well Discord and the CMC could work together as characters.
7920875 I've read that comic and I agree with you 100000000%.
I want more please! Will Discord finally accept the love between them? Or will he decide to do something drastic and stupid (like using his powers to change Fluttershy so she doesn't have feelings for him)? I await your update.
This is great. Really great. I'm generally not big on DiscordShy, but this is some good stuff.
7924236 I think that they're both taking it as seriously as they feel they need to. I don't think that Fluttershy would say something like that to anyone lightly, without her whole heart behind it. Discord is, perhaps, also being far too hasty in his forward thinking, but he's a god, so this may just be a fault with the immortal to think ahead. Waaaaaay ahead.
aghhhh this is so feelsy
props
y u do dis
Love Scootaloo being such a good friend for Discord! I've always loved the idea of Discord and the CMC being so tight. Wish the show had an episode about that