Matters of his heart

  Discord heaved a long, exasperated sigh as he trudged through the streets of his village. It was a freezing cold out on this particular night, just a few days before Hearth's Warming Eve. Normally what would go on in his mind on a daily basis is when the heck he would get out of work to spread some chaos -even though it was limited... to an extentby the powers of Celestia- and hang out with his lovable, completely and utterly random marefriend, Pinkamina Diane Pie.

   He smirked at the name. Where she would snap at most ponies who called her that, she let it slide just for him. Being called "Diz" on a daily basis made up for that.

  Shaking his head, he tried to get his thoughts back to where they were previously. Right, so it was a few days before the Eve. And he had absolutely nothing to give her. He couldn't fathom why. I mean, shouldn't the Lord of Chaos be able to whip something out of nowhere, create a time paradox if he needed to, just to find the love of his life the perfect gift?

  Just this time, though. He drew a blank.

  Discord shrugged his shoulders as he conjured a sofa in the middle of the road, putting his claw to his chin in thought. The snow was getting higher as he did so, but he was too lost to even make sense of what was surrounding him....

"I'm sure the elements would help you get settled in, Discord, now that you were able to finished the tasks I demanded of you." Celestia promised him, nodding to the village ahead. "Even though I am a little skeptical myself, there is no reason for there to be strife among us. You could agree to that at least, can't you Discord?"

  Discord wanted to groan over how many time's she said that, but he only bit his lip. "Of course, Celestia. I will behave perfectly." He grinned and had a halo appear over his head.

    She smiled back. "Ah, yes. You wouldn't want to look like a fool in front of your favorite element, right? Pinkie Pie.... I can see why you would fancy her."

His eyes bulged wide and let out a dramatic gasp, sweat coming down his forehead. "I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about!"

     The princess giggled. "Sure you don't. You're completely oblivious to love, and hide in your dark, scary cave all the time." She shook her head, her beautiful mane flowing in the wind. He gave her the harshest glare he could ever make.

  "Quit being a joker and leave me be, Trollestia."

"Fine. Fine, I'll go. I've worked out everything with the Mayor, there's a separate room in Sugar Cube Corner where you could stay." With a small smile, she lifted up her wings to fly...

     Finally, Discord uttered, "U-uhm, wait." He looked down at his claws. "Thank you."

Celestia smiled at him once more. "You're welcome, old friend."  And she flew into the heavens.

    He settled in just perfectly since then, much to his surprise. Even though quite a few were suspicious about his actions since then, Twilight and her friends were almost willing to stand up for him. They caught on pretty quickly about his growing crush on Pinkie Pie; it resembled how Spike first met Rarity; the unicorn was catching on to his quirks somewhat

during this time.

    It wasn't until one late fall evening when a grizzly bear got into Sugar Cube Corner, driven by the smell. Mr. and Mrs. Cake couldn't call Fluttershy or anypony else, since it was too late and they were out of reach. Discord couldn't remember the last time he felt so terrified- the bear launched himself onto Pinkie, who was trying to get the food out of it's claws. Her scream alerted him, and he dropped whatever he was doing to teleport himself downstairs. He immediately came up with an idea, and conjured an immense amount of chocolate rain onto it, forcing the bear off of her and run away. Pinkie Pie was so grateful for the help, that she jumped on top of him and gave him one big, fat kiss on the lips. Needless to say Discord was a very happy dragonquus that night.

    Since then, things changed for the better. Ponies stopped passing rumors about him, now that he and Pinkie were an official couple. They were too afraid to since Twilight threatened them a banishment to the moon.

   He smiled at the memories. Those were the ones he looked at now; forget the thousand year banishment in stone. He had to keep his promise to Fluttershy, and it wouldn't be fair to Pinkie if he suddenly went nuts over power.

powerful...

Alicorn...

...Celestia! She could help me out!

  A grin spread across his face as he snapped his fingers, and disappeared to Canterlot.

******

   The princess of the sun was busy writing something when he arrived. She had her thinking look on; her faced scrunched up in a thoughtful frown as uncertainty could be seen in her eyes.  Discord shrugged his massive shoulders and folded his claws, putting them behind his back. He peered over her head.

  "Whatcha doin'?" He asked innocently, smiling when Celestia freaked out and slammed the book shut.

   "Nothing you should be concerned of," She snapped at him, levitating it back onto the bookshelf. Discord flew over to it anyways.

"Ooh, are you writing in a diary~?" He squealed, and grasped the book in his claws.

    Celestia did whatever she could to not facehoof right then. "What do you want?"

"A look in this book." He lied, grinning as he oh-so-slowly turned it open.

"No."

   It was levitated towards Celestia now, and Discord slumped his shoulders down with a pout. "You're no fun..." When she didn't answer him, he sighed and fell onto the bed. "Okay, okaaaaaay, fine. I need help."

  "With?" Celestia pressed on.

He bit his lip. "I don't know what to get my mare for Hearth's Warming. It's in a few days, and I can't... I just don't know what to give her. She means the world to me, so it must be special... Celly, quit laughing!"

     She giggled and wiped a tear from her eye, looking incredulously at her friend. "I'm sorry, I just find it funny. The Lord of Chaos has no clue what to get his marefriend." She let a smile fall onto her lips. "Listen. Do you love her?"

Discord gave her a flat look. "No, I hate her guts and she's terribly annoying to the fact that I can't stand being around her. Of course I love her, you know that!"

   Her smile didn't fade. "Do you want to prove your worthy of her? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with her, start a family, and be so certain that both of your futures is rested strongly in good hooves?"

  "Always, Celestia." He practically moaned, the weight of her words baring down on him.

"Then make something to prove it to her. That's all I can tell you."

    He stared at her oddly for a few moments, until a thought came to him. He remembered... way back when Celestia, him, and Luna were no older than the age of schoolfillies, they used to play in a cave crowned with rubies and diamonds. If he could get his claws on one of them... and form it into a necklace, a promise, it would be the perfect gift for his love.

   He grinned. "That's all I need to know." He teleported out of the throne room, leaving Celestia to smile at his efforts.

    "Oh Pinkie, would you make these last few orders for me? My husband and I are busy out here wading tables." Mrs. Cake called, and the cheerful mare responded with a pleasant smile. Sugar Cube Corner was always crowded during the holiday season. It happened to be Pinkie's favorite time of year- now more so than ever.

  She hummed a tune as she bounced into the kitchen, her thoughts drifting to what her Discord was up to. He wasn't normally gone for this long, and she worriedly wondered if he was with another mare for a split second. Her spatula fell to the floor as she gasped, mentally scolding herself for thinking of such a thing. Discord had only admitted her love for her, and only her. After everything they've been through... it'd just be foalish of him.

   Her thoughts were calmed as the sweet smell of frosting filled her nostrils, and she smiled a little bit. Baking always calmed her... it wouldn't fail on her now. She picked up the spatula, going right back to work again.

  She knew just what to give Discord for Hearth's Warming this year. A charm, hoofmade by her so he could remember her by. It was a charm of a cupcake -his favorite, red velvet- with every single tiny detail. She knew she would love anything she gave him, and this would've been on the top of his list. It would be one of those items that you just have to have, hold onto, to calm yourself down.

   She was almost finished with her final order, when somepony screamed outside, and she rushed to go see what the corruption was about. Discord was crouching over in pain, while Mr. Cake tried to soothe him. He had bite marks that looked oddly familiar on his neck, blood gushing onto the floor. Oddly enough Pinkie was the calmest one in the room.

   "Mrs. Cake, I need towels pronto. Mr. Cake, an antibiotic to stop the infection." She ordered, and with the help of a few willing stallions, brought Discord up to his room.

  She gave him a deadpanned look as she tended to his wounds for the next few hours. "What were you thinking, Dizzy?"

  "About you," He replied, staring into the fire. "I think about you all the time."

"I-I know that, but..." she shook her head, "Going into a mysterious-super-pretty crystal cave in the middle of the night? You almost got killed by Diamond Dogs! Diamond Dogs, Discord!"

   "I only let my guard down this time-- ahh," He cut off gasping when Pinkie put the peroxide in his wound. "--and that was only because I knew you would be able to heal me."

  "Y-y-you almost... y-you...." She inhaled a deep breath as she tried her hardest not to cry. Discord winced at that; he hated seeing her upset. He turned to face her, lifting her chin up.

    "... I'm sorry that I scared you. I promise that I won't do something as silly as that. Am I forgiven?"

She pursed her lips together. "Pinkie Pie Promise?"

  He smiled at his love, and recited the pledge.

They fell into silence again as Pinkie mended to his wound, every now and then the fire making a popping noise as it flickered. There was the occasional sound of a bird flying past, and there was no missing the howl of snow that beat hard against the window. Pinkie shivered while smiling at her work, kissing his boo-boo just to make it feel better. She didn't say anything as she went over to the bed and pulled off a blanket, wrapping herself and cuddling up next to Discord's body. It was cold out, the temperature dropping to less than thirty degrees, but the couple felt perfectly warm inside here.

    Right then, Discord felt such pride in his marefriend, that he couldn't hold it in any longer. He knew Hearth's Warming Eve was just a few days away, but he had to tell her now. "Pinkie?"

  "Hmm?"

"I-if I asked you, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, for better or for worse, what would you say?" He looked down at the floor.

   "D-discord..." she gaped at him, her cheeks flaring a beautiful shade of crimson.

  "That... say this time next year, we would be wed, and I'll make sure to do whatever is in my power to keep this promise secure?" A necklace was now in his claws. A crystal blue gem that flickered in her eyes, matching the color of the balloon on her cutie mark. He blushed under the nerves. "I was... going to give you this on the Eve, but... I can't wait until then."

   Pinkie was speechless. She felt like she was gonna cry. Laugh. Scream. Anything! The love of her life just proposed to her, basically! But no words came to her. The only thing she could to was pull a mistletoe out of nowhere, and pull him close, sealing the deal with a kiss. She smiled tearfully when they broke apart, allowing him to place the necklace on her.

"You had my answer before it was even said, Discord... I-I never thought you'd work up the courage to ask. I could've gotten my party cannon to force it out of you."

  He scratched his head at the comment, but resulted in saying nothing. He could only smile at her; a smile that he never displayed for a long time.

The End