Operation TwiLunaby twilight the scribeChaptersPrologueSubtletyA romantic dinner under the stars. What could possibly go wrong?Chaos. What else needs to be said?Bonus: EpiloguePrologueIt was a quiet and beautiful night. Princess Cadence gazed out over the crystal balcony over her small kingdom, watching the last of the crystal ponies retire to bed. Humming a small tune, she happened to glance up at the sky, where her brow suddenly creased in confusion. “Huh?” There was definitely something new in the sky, something very familiar. Before she could do anything, however, there was a bright white flash, and she vanished from the Crystal Empire. Moments later, in the empty space where she had been standing, a white note appeared with a burst of confetti and landed on the floor. “gone to extremely private princess meeting, be right back!” =o=o=o Princess Celestia was having a good night. The day’s worries and stresses over, she lay on her favorite cushion beside the roaring fire, contentedly reading a scroll. She had removed most of her royal regalia, and was now relaxing completely. Suddenly, there was a loud trumpet blast and a bright flash, and she too vanished from her room. =o=o=o= The two princesses found themselves in a large, richly decorated council chamber, seated around a curved mahogany table. Celestia immediately recognized it as the Canterlot Castle Council Chamber, one of the most important and useful rooms of the castle - with some changes. For one, the traditional lamps had been removed from the ceiling, replaced by silver disco spheres that threw sprinkles of light everywhere. In vases placed at intervals around the room, bright blue bouquets of Poison Joke waved merrily. Celestia and Cadence instinctively scooted as far as possible from the vases. Discord had only recently pranked the entire Canterlot castle with a sack of Poison Joke. It had taken nearly a whole day before the Twilight had sent the cure from Ponyville. Some of the castle staff still hadn’t gotten over it. Speaking of which… “WELCOME, WELCOME, EVERYPONY, TO THE VERY FIRST MEETING OF THE DISCORD COUNCIL!” There was a loud thunderclap, and chocolate milk began raining down the room from no apparent source. At the head of the table, there was the brightest flash of light yet, and the Spirit of Chaos and Harmony himself, Discord, flashed in lounging on a huge cloud of cotton candy, to be met with canned applause from all corners of the room. Cadence rolled her eyes. “Discord. Why are we here again?” Discord grinned. “Well hello to you too, Cady, I’m fine, thank you.” Celestia tapped her hoof impatiently on the table. “Discord, you had better have a good reason for bringing us here on such short notice. What do you want?” Discord shrugged, then poked his head around furtively, as if checking for eavesdroppers, then coiled around Celestia’s shoulders and whispered into her ear. “It’s about your sister…” Celestia shrugged him off. “What is it about Luna?” Cadence suddenly looked interested. “Is it about the stars in the sky?” Discord nodded gleefully. “Exactly!” He threw some popcorn at Cadence, who dodged them unamusedly. He turned to Celestia. “Tell me, Celly, how is our dear Lulu recently?” Celestia frowned. “What do you mean?” Discord shrugged and shoved some popcorn into his mouth. “Has she been more withdrawn lately, spending more time in her room, gazing out her window towards a small town, been rearranging the stars...that sort of thing?” Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “Now that you mention it, she has seemed more distracted lately, and more eager to go to Ponyville. She seems especially interested in knowing more about Twilight. And why have you been spying on my sister?” “I didn’t” He retorted. “Those guards told me all I needed to know.” Celestia sighed. “Please get to the point, Discord.” Discord grinned and pulled out a scroll. “No. Now let’s talk about our dear Twilight Sparkle. She has been, and I quote, ‘Spending a lot more time looking up at the night sky, making lots of star charts, pacing around at night and not getting enough sleep. She also flushes whenever I ask her about it, but I’ve noticed she spends a lot more time awake when it’s the full moon. Do you think something’s wrong with her? Signed, Spike.”’He stashed the scroll back to wherever it had come from. Celestia’s mouth dropped open. “DISCORD! How did you even get into my letter safe?” Discord had an infuriating smirk on his face. “I have my ways. So what do you think? Have you joined together the dots yet?” Cadence gasped in realization. “You mean…Twilight and Luna…?” Discord blew a kazoo in her face. “Correct!! It’s obvious, isn’t it? You remember the coronation? How their eyes kept drifting to each other when they thought no one else was looking?” Celestia nodded slowly. “So you’re saying my sister has a crush on Twilight Sparkle?” Cadence nodded eagerly. “I think that’s the case, and Twilight obviously is fascinated by Luna!” Celestia frowned again. “I still don’t see why we are gathered here.” Discord facepalmed. “Oh Celly, don’t you see the very crux of the problem? Your sister is admittedly not very good with socializing. Why do you think she hasn’t asked little Sparkle out yet? And Twilight is obviously too oblivious to realize Luna actually returns her feelings. Those two adorkable princesses need a push!” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Adorkable?” Discord waved his paw dismissively. “So do you agree that those two need to be together and they are perfect for each other?” Cadence nodded and raised a hoof. “I’m always ready to help out where love and romance is concerned!” Celestia blanched. “Wait, what exactly are you asking us to do, Discord?” Discord spread his arms dramatically. “Isn’t it obvious? We shall give them that little push! Don’t you want your sister to be happy?” “You know, I’m pretty sure you’re in it just to see how much chaos you can cause to bring them together.” Celestia deadpanned. Discord snickered, “Oh Celly, you know me too well. But it is for a worthy cause, right?” Celestia let out a breath. “I suppose.” she agreed reluctantly. Discord flashed a thumbs up. “So the plan is simple. We just make Cady zap them both with her love spell and watch what happens!” “NO!!” Cadence and Celestia both shouted at once. Discord pouted. “Whyever not?” “That kind of magic only works for couples which are, or have been, truly in love. Right now we’re not sure how much Twily and Luna love each other yet, so we can’t take the chance.” Cadence explained. Discord sniffed. “I’m sure it would make no difference…” Cadence shoved her muzzle into his face. “Need I remind you that’s how the love poison incident started?” Discord shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe. Was that when the bluejay made his nest behind my ear?” “Oh, right. You were still stone then…The point is, it can’t be done.” Cadence stomped her hoof to emphasize the point. “Guess I could always use my chaos magic.” Discord mused, his fingers crackling. “NO!” Again, Celestia stopped his train of thought immediately. “If we are going to get them together, we are going to do it my way first. subtlety.” Discord pouted and folded his arms. “Oh, all right then. Go on. Knock yourself out. I declare Operation TwiLuna in motion!” “Operation WHAT?!” Author's Note Well, this is literally the first mlp fic I have ever written. I wrote this for the competition organized by the Twiluna group, just for fun. while this wasnt my first fanfic (I have another fanfiction in the Lord of the rings/percy jackson genre) it was still my first time writing a romance comedy fic. To me, it didnt flow as well as the other story, which was an adventure/epic. this felt kind of hard for me to write, but I'm going to do my best. :) Care to tell me how I did? Please? Subtlety Twilight Sparkle, My fellow princess, How goes things in Ponyville, Princess Twilight? I certainly hope you are coping well with your new duties and continuing to study the magic of friendship. However, I feel that you have been away from Canterlot too long, and I do not lie when I say that you are missed here. Why not come back to Canterlot for a day? I’m sure it would be an enjoyable experience returning to your old haunts and visiting your parents again. And who knows? Perhaps you could even help my sister Luna to come out of her room for once!Your Friend, Celestia Celestia had a satisfied smirk as she penned the last words neatly with her phoenix quill. She then used her magic to roll up the scroll and seal it with the traditional red ribbon. She picked up the scroll with her magic and held it up to Philomena, who sent the scroll away in a burst of fire. “There.” She then exited her room and walked to Luna’s room next door. The two Lunar Guards at the door bowed respectfully and stepped aside to allow her entrance. “Oh princess, just a fair warning. She’s not really wanting to speak with anypony at the moment, right Noct?” “Oh, indeed, Shadow, Her highness has been really busy lately.” The other guard replied. Celestia rolled her eyes and pulled the doors open with her magic. “Lulu?” she called. There was a groan from the covers. “It’s too early in the evening ‘Tia. Wake me up at 9” Celestia chuckled and softly poked the form huddled under the blankets with her hoof. “It’s 7:30, Luna. I wake at 6 every morning.” A dark blue head poked from the bed and stuck out her tongue. “That’s because the moon doesn’t need to rise that early. Perks of being the moon princess.” Celestia rolled her eyes and sat on the bed next to her. “Hey Lulu, you’ve been spending far too much time in your room.” “Not true. I go out every night.” “When everypony’s asleep? Luna, you need to meet other ponies and talk to them.” Celestia argued. “Your point?” She muttered, blearily rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Why don’t you join me tomorrow in a walk around Canterlot? We could just walk around and enjoy ourselves. Cadence could take over the court for the day.” She pleaded. Luna sat up and looked at her sister doubtfully. “I don’t know, Tia…” Celestia smirked and played her trump card. “Did I mention Twilight Sparkle would be coming along with us?” Luna’s head shot up at the name. “I might consider it…” Celestia grinned triumphantly. “8 o clock tomorrow morning?” Luna nodded. “I’ll be there.” The final piece was in place. Celestia carefully controlled her emotions until she was out the door and out of Luna’s sight before snickering and pumping her hoof, much to the bemusement of Shadow and Nocturne. Upon noticing them, she flushed. “The two of you did not see anything.” “What was there to see, Highness? Nothing at all.” “Nothing of interest. Utterly unremarkable.” Celestia hurried back to her room, where she immediately tripped over a wire and faceplanted into a pie strategically placed on the floor. “Ouch!” “Dang, I meant that for Cadey. but I suppose this is just as funny!” Discord chuckled, giggling madly as he snapped a photo of the Alicorn of the sun with her face covered in pie. He hurriedly danced out of the way from three quills and an inkpot that launched themselves at him, cackling all the way. Cadence rolled her eyes as she emerged from the closet. She picked up a cloth with her magic and used it to wipe off the mess on her aunt’s face. “So how did it go, Auntie?” Celestia wiped the last traces of pie off her face. Honestly, she would have found it funnier if it had been cake. Tastier too. “It went perfectly, Cadence. Tomorrow, Twilight and Luna will be able to spend the whole day together, alone.” She smiled happily. Discord pulled out a bag of bits. “Want to bet if they kiss tomorrow?” Cadence punched him in the side with her hoof, causing him to pout and stow away the bag. Celestia sighed and rubbed her head. “Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” Discord snapped his fingers, summoning an entire bucket of popcorn. “Good thing I have enough for tomorrow!” Cadence suddenly leaned in. “Wait, about tomorrow. We are following them, right? Celestia frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be minding the court?” “I thought that was just our cover story!” Cadence protested. Celestia rolled her eyes. “Alright, I was going to be at the court anyway. I suppose you two can trail them, but no inteference, okay? Discord, if I hear anything about some chaos disrupting Canterlot tomorrow, I’ll know where to look and who to fry.” Discord summoned a glowing halo on his head with a click, and a group of confused choircolts suddenly found themselves singing in Celestia’s bedroom. “Who moi?” Celestia gave him a deadpan stare. Discord shrugged and sent the colts back to wherever they had come from in the first place. “Oh, alright, fine. I won’t cause any major disturbances tomorrow.” Celestia sighed. “Why did I agree to this again?” The next morning, an hour after Celestia had raised the sun, she waited in the gardens of Canterlot. There was a bright pink flash, and Cadence arrived, dressed in a white trench coat, her hair tied up in a bun covered by a flamboyant brown hat. Before Celestia could comment on her strange appearance, there was an even brighter flash, accompanied by sounds of kazoos being blown and whoopee cushions being set off, and Discord appeared in all his glory, wearing a black tuxedo, a dark fedora pulled over his face, stylish sunglasses over his eyes and an elegant moustache on his face. “Cord, Discord. Ex-master of Chaos and disharmony, and current superspy.” He said in a faux British accent. Celestia facehoofed. “I don’t know whether to laugh or groan in despair.” Discord grinned. “Not to worry, Celly, we’ll blend in perfectly. OPERATION TWILUNA is GO!” Cadence glared. “I thought we agreed that was a stupid name!” Suddenly, they all heard the sound of somepony galloping over at a fast speed, and Discord and Cadence immediately teleported to another side of the garden, where they both peeked out from behind hedges, peering over their oversized sunglasses, giggling like foals. Celestia thought they were enjoying themselves just a bit too much. “Princess Celestia!” She was suddenly tackled by a lavender blur wrapping her wings around her. As she quickly regained her orientation, she returned the hug to the alicorn she almost considered a daughter. “Twilight Sparkle! You are certain early.” A slow smile crossed her face. “Did you gallop all the way from the station again?” Twilight flushed. “Yes, Princes - er, Celestia.” She smiled. “I was just so excited!” Celestia chuckled and then slowly ruffled her wings, her face teasing. Twilight noticed, and her eyes widened, before slapping herself with her hoof. “Oh, right. wings. I forgot.” She smiled sheepishly. “Not to worry, Twilight. Now, why don’t you tell me more about your life in Ponyville while we wait for the last member of our party?” She inquired. “I would love to!”Twilight beamed. An hour later, Luna arrived, blearily rubbing some sleep out of her eyes. Celestia didnt miss the way Twilight stiffened when she saw Luna arriving, nor did she miss the way Luna’s eyes lit up when she saw the purple alicorn. She barely repressed a giggle of her own. Perhaps this was a bit fun. The morning started out normally. A quick breakfast at Pony Joe’s, who barely lifted an eyebrow at three of the princesses in Equestria in his shop, and continued with business as usual. That was what Celestia and Luna often loved about the shop, where they were just treated as normal ponies. It was also why the shop had remained despite Blueblood’s constant complaints. They had a leisurely breakfast, talking about anything that came to mind. Twilight and Luna seemed to warm up considerably, and were soon chatting like old friends. She did her best to ignore the two figures huddled at a corner of the shop, who were obviously trying to spy on them over the top of the menus and were snickering at every given moment. Soon, as they exited the shop, they put the next part of the plan into motion. “Aunt Celestia!” Cadence teleported right next to them, thankfully remembering to take off the getup first. “There’s a problem in the Day Court. I need you there just for a moment!” She said in her best panicked tone of voice. “There’s this...pony...that said...stuff...about some thing!” She ad-libbed. Luckily, Luna and Twilight didnt suspect anything yet, and didn’t protest as she quickly took her leave and teleported back to the Day Court, bursting into laughter with Cadence as soon as they arrived. “That was surprisingly fun!” Celestia laughed. Cadence grinned. “I’m off to trail them, alright?” She vanished in a flash of pink. Celestia nodded to the guards to allow the ponies in to petition for their things, still indulging in the occasional mirthful chuckle. The morning went by fast, with most of the request being minor complaints and petitions that were easily solved and dealt with. Requests for farmland, complaints about low security, those were the mundane requests. There were a few ‘interesting’ cases, such as a unicorn asking to become a pegasus, which she had to deny, complaints about carrots which ran around and apples which danced from the market district, observations about bits laughing at their owners, and a particularly weird one about bowling balls stubbornly refusing to go anywhere near the pins no matter how they were thrown. There were also few downright irritating ones, such as Blueblood’s request for a statue built of himself to ‘boost morale’ and ‘increase respect for royalty’ in the town of Ponyville. Another irritating request was the frequent requests for more hours in a day by the Canterlot ponies. She’d usually just refer them to Luna’s night court for that. None of them usually complained again after facing the Royal Canterlot Voice. Finally, evening fell, and Celestia raised her sore rump from the throne to retire to her room. Perhaps she would ask one of her guards to bring her some cake. As she lay on her cushion, eating cake, she heard the sound of hoofbeats returning to the castle. She smiled expectantly and quickly walked out to greet her sister and her former student. They both had glowing smiles on their faces. “Well? How did your day go?” she asked. “You must tell me all about it.” “Oh Princess, it was a wonderful day!” Twilight gushed. “Luna and I had so much fun together!” Celestia leaned forward, eager to hear more. “OH YES, SISTER! YOU WERE RIGHT! TRULY IT WAS A FUN AND RELAXING DAY!!” Luna exclaimed. Seeing Twilight’s deadpan look, she quieted down to her normal tone of voice. “First we went to visit Twilight’s parents, then we had a cup of coffee at a stall. We shopped for some trinkets in the market district, and…” “And then we went to that new bowling alley in Canterlot! Luna was surprisingly good at it, and she kept turning heads by calling out -” “THE FUN HAS BEEN DOUBLED!!” “yes, and after that we spent the rest of the day at - “ “THE BOOKSTORE!” They both exclaimed, then burst into giggles. Celestia could only stare at them, wide-eyes as she tried to take in that overload of information. finally she understood it all and smiled at them. “Sounds like you had a great day! Did anything happen between the two of you?” She asked hopefully. Twilight and Luna exchanged confused looks, then turned back to her, their faces blank. Celestia tried to tamper down her disappointment. “Oh, never mind. forget I asked.” She smiled brightly. Did you take any photos?” “Of course!” After they had pored over the photos of the day, Twilight said her goodbyes and thank yous and returned to Ponyville. Luna nuzzled her sister happily and cantered off to raise the moon. When she was alone, Celestia sighed and groaned. Two bright flashes signaled the return of the ‘spies’, though much more subdued than this morning. “Well, that was a flop,” muttered Cadence glumly, taking off her hat and stowing it away. “They spent half a day in a bookstore! Still, I can’t say I’m really surprised at Twily for that…” “It was BOOOOOORING!” Discord wailed. “The market district and the bowling alley was fun, coz I could make bits jump around and make the goods annoy the customers, and cause the balls to perform dances in the alley, but one glance at me and the librarian chased me out with a stick.” He pulled out a cotton candy cloud and started munching it to cheer himself up. Cadence shrugged, also taking a hoofful of cotton candy. “I suppose being subtle doesn’t do much good with these two. They need a much stronger push for that.” Celestia laughed wryly. “I suppose.” Cadence smiled confidently. “Well tomorrow will be different. As Celestia is my witness, -” “Literally, in this case” Discord pointed out dryly. Cadence glared at him, then continued “II, the Princess of Love, shall get them to admit their feelings to each other by tomorrow night!” Celestia shrugged. “I witnessed it. Let’s see how you do tomorrow.” Discord flipped a thumbs up and teleported off in a flash to annoy the mane six in an attempt to cheer himself up. Cadence’s smile never wavered. “Don’t worry Auntie. What could possibly go wrong?” What indeed? Celestia wondered. A romantic dinner under the stars. What could possibly go wrong?For the most part of the next day, ponies all around Canterlot observed something pink flashing and/or flying around the city, seemingly in a great hurry. Being Canterlot ponies, they ignored it and went back to whatever they had been doing. With their noses held high, of course. But things were happening very quickly indeed. Building-In-A-Day.Co(a new building in just a day, guaranteed!), Canterlot’s foremost construction company (which had a very successful branch in Ponyville) was engaged to construct a gazebo in less than five hours on the top of Mount Canterlot, a reservation was made to the Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra to play tonight, huge bouquets of colorful flowers were taken to the castle. She even enlisted the help of Pinkie Pie (who didn’t know what it was for, but was happy to help out anyway) to decorate the entire gazebo with rose petals and some red balloons. Cadence was determined. This night was going to be perfect! Evening fell. Finally. As luck would have it, she had found that Luna had scheduled a meteor shower for tonight! The perfect excuse! She hurriedly found Discord, and the two of them came up with the forged messages. At the castle, she watched Luna getting up to raise the moon and decorate the night with the stars, then walk to the dining room, where she would find a note, presumably by Twilight, to meet her in the gazebo at the top of Mount Canterlot to watch the meteor shower. She had also borrowed Philomena from Aunt Celestia to send a quick message to Twilight with the same message, but in Luna’s handwriting. She was nearly ready. She quickly teleported to the top of Mount Canterlot, where she saw the decorated gazebo at the peak, with the open roof like she had requested. Everything seemed to be in order. The food, which was takeout (much to the owner’s consternation) from the grandest restaurant in Canterlot. The soft lavender and indigo cloth she had specifically requested from the Carousel Boutique spread on the floor. Comfortable cushions piled at the corner. Fireflies buzzing around softly, shedding their soft light on the gazebo and creating a much more romantic atmosphere than candles, in her opinion. The orchestra, complete with a piano, a violin, and a cello, hidden with a simple illusion spell. She had requested some soothing love songs to set the mood,and the sweet notes hung in the air, seemingly from nowhere. The bouquets of Poison Joke waved in the breeze on all four sides. Perfect. Wait, Poison Joke?! “DISCORD!!!!” “Keep your hair on, Cadey! Sheesh!” Discord turned the flowers back with a snap of his fingers and hurried back to where he had been hiding. Cadence hurried back to check her preparations. Time was going fast. Night had already fallen. They would be here any minute now. She restrained a soft squeal from escaping. She couldn’t believe Twily had already fallen in love. She was growing up so fast! Finally, she heard the soft beats of wings against the air, and retreated quickly into the rather thick bush Discord had conjured up to hide them. Soon, Aunt Luna flew over and landed lightly on the soft grass, casting a confused glance at the gazebo, with all the fireflies, the music and the decorations. Not a few minutes later, There was a purple flash, and little Twily appeared on the hillside, swaying slightly from the long-distance teleport. Cadence wasn’t very surprised to see she had brought a bunch of scrolls with her, and her portable telescope as well, though she resolved to get those scrolls away at the earliest opportunity. This was supposed to be date after all. They should have gotten enough reading yesterday already. Twilight, too, seemed really confused by all the decorations, then her eyes landed on the blue alicorn. “Luna!” Luna broke into a grin. “Hello, Twilight Sparkle, I am here, as you have requested. You have done an amazing job with the decorating!” Twilight looked confused. “I requested? Decorating?” Cadence and Discord shared a panicked look. Uh, oh… Luna nodded. “This is a truly beautiful spot to watch the stars fall tonight. It is great to see you again, Twilight.” Twilight giggled. “Likewise, Luna. But I certainly didn’t decorate all this.” Luna cocked her head in confusion. “You didn’t?” Uh, oh...Uh, oh! Cadence’s mind was whirling. She needed to come up with something quick! Twilight shrugged. “No, I didn’t. But this place is beautiful, isn’t it?” “Yes, it truly is. Let us dine, then!” Luna agreed happily. Both mares than sat down on the cushions, admiring all the beautiful decorations, and started to eat the choice fruits and vegetables all over the gazebo. Discord and Cadence exchanged an extremely relieved look. Unseen by the two mares eating, she quickly signaled the orchestra to stop playing for the moment. It would be better to wait til they were both too distracted by the meteors to question where the music came from. She quickly cast a glance down the mountain to see if anypony else was there. Apparently, several more couples had the same idea of watching the meteors on the mountain, albeit at a lower altitude. Now she needed something to prevent them from interrupting the couple on the top of the hill just in case they got curious. “Did you find the security like I asked?” She poked Discord lightly. Discord blinked. “Oh, right. sure.” He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Shining Armor appeared on the scene in a tuxedo. After getting over her initial shock, she glared at Discord, who shrugged nonchalantly. Oh well. Shiny would actually do quite well. “Oookay...why am I here again?” Shining Armor asked, slightly confused. His wife used her magic to quickly straighten his bow. “Shh, stay quiet! They can’t know we’re here! We need your help!” She hissed. Shining took a quick glance out of the bush and his eyebrows flew at the sight of princess Luna and Twily, who were apparently on a romantic dinner date together. Currently, they were giggling at some joke Twilight had told. He turned back to Cadence with a nonplussed expression. “I don’t get why we’re spying on Princess Luna and my sister together…” He muttered. “You’re not spying dear, I am. You’re supposed to make sure no one disturbs their little ‘date’.” “Wait a sec, date? Twily and princess Luna? What?” “Trust me, Shiny, you just have to sit at here, out of sight of the gazebo and stop anyone who might have a chance of interrupting the two of them.” Cadence whispered into his ear. “Please?” she pleaded with her eyes. Shining heaved out a sigh. “Okay…” Cadence kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Shiny!” Shining smiled stupidly for a moment before shaking himself and turning to watch the going ons downhill, though he still cast the occasional confused glance at the two alicorns up the hill. Cadence and Discord watched eagerly as the two alicorns talked and laughed together. They just seemed to relax under each other’s company. How sweet! If only they would just realize they were perfect for each other, then it would be even better! She just needed one of them to confess, and she was sure the other would follow. Nothing could go wrong with this night. Finally, the main event of the night started, and the stars fell. Hundreds of bright lights streaked across the sky, illuminating the dark night sky. Even the moon seemed to have dimmed in favour of allowing the shooting stars their time to shine. It was a beautiful sight. She saw a couple of the stars starting to jump around erratically and generally act chaotic, and had to punch Discord before the other couple noticed. Twilight had managed to set up her telescope in less than five minutes, and now Luna was looking through it at her own creations. Cadence noticed that Twilight did have one eye on the stars, but the other eye, to her immense amusement, was fixed on the alicorn next to her. “Beautiful…” Twilight murmured. “Hmm? Oh indeed, Twilight, the stars are magnificent tonight, are they not?” Luna replied, her eye still gazing into the telescope. “The stars? Oh, yes! the stars. they are beautiful!” Twilight hastily replied, not noticing the bush nearby shake with muffled giggles and laughter. Inside the bush, Cadence was peering eagerly outside, hoping for more conversation, while Shining and Discord ate popcorn and cotton candy for dinner. And played cards. Males… At any rate, the situation outside was definitely getting better! She signalled to the orchestra members, who had also been enjoying the view a little way off, causing them to pull out their instruments and start playing the soothing, soulful notes of a love song. If the two mares noticed, they gave no sign. “Your nights are always so beautiful, Luna.” Twilight sighed happily, taking another sip of her hay smoothie while her head rested on Luna’s side. Apparently none of them had really noticed the contact yet. Luna giggled. “Thank you, Twilight.” “No problem, Luna. This is great! I wish this night could last forever.” Twilight smiled. Suddenly realizing what she had said, she froze, as did Luna. The two alicorns exchanged a look, then burst into giggles. “I believe thou hast stolen my line, Twilight!” Luna joked, causing both mares to collapse in laughter. This was Perfect! They were already letting down their guard around each other! Soon, very soon! Cadence was close to squealing out loud. Suddenly, Discord’s head shot up with a worried expression. “Uh oh…” Her head whirled back to stare at him, horrified. “What uh oh?” Nothing could ruin this night, could it? “Something really unexpected is going to happen! I can feel it!” Discord remarked, watching his chaotic-o-meter (A statue of him with numbers on it, with its hand pointing to his head, where there was a number 9) he held in his hand vibrate crazily. The two ponies and one draconequus looked around as fast as they could to spot the potential chaos before it could disrupt this perfect night, but they were a little too late. A sparkling purple hot air balloon suddenly rose up the side of the mountain. As soon as the basket touched the ground, a pink blur shot out and tackled Twilight to the ground, followed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike, albeit at a much slower pace. Twilight managed to remove Pinkie off her face. “Pinkie Pie? How did you…where did you… huh?” “Oh, hello Twilight! You see Rainbow Dash told us tonight we were going to have a meteor shower, and I knew how much you liked those, so i immediately went to find everypony to make a ‘meteor shower night party’ like the one we had the night Spike spiked the punch, but then when we couldn’t find you anywhere so I moved all my party supplies into your balloon and we had a ‘Find Twilight so we can have a meteor shower night party party’ on the Balloon! So we started searching for you but couldnt find you anywhere but then Spike remembered you went to Canterlot in the evening so we flew all over here to Canterlot and then we saw you so we flew over here to have our ‘meteor shower night party’ with you so you could watch the meteor shower with your friends! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh huh huh?” The energetic pink pony said the last word and sucked in a deeeep breath, watching Twilight happily. Cadence, Discord and Shining’s jaws dropped open. ‘Information overload!’, their eyes spoke “Very surprised, Pinkie!” Twilight smiled and threw her arms around her friend. “I didn’t know you were looking for me!” “Oh dear, we’re not interrupting anything, are we, darling?” Rarity asked as she took in all the romantic decorations and the obviously ‘dating atmosphere’. YES! YES YOU ARE! NOW GO AWAY AND LEAVE TWILIGHT AND LUNA IN PEACE!!!! Unfortunately, Cadence had never learnt if telepathy was possible, and she couldn’t beam the thought into their minds. She had to settle for trying to burn a message with her eyes from the bush. “Oh, of course not Rarity! you’re welcome to join us, right Luna?” Twilight asked. SAY NO! SAY NO! “Of course! You are welcome to join our little party! If we knew you wanted to come, we would have invited you sooner!” Luna beamed. The sound of a hoof hitting a forehead is quite loud, but nopony quite heard it from the bush a little way off. The sound of a spirit of disharmony giving up and just laughing at the chaos is also quite loud, but nopony really heard it because of the loud cheer that Pinkie gave. "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STAAARTED!!!" In short order, Pinkie found the musicians (how she broke the illusion spell, Cadence would never know) and got them to play some more upbeat music, and the rest of the night was spent laughing, singing and dancing. =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= In the council room of Canterlot Castle, one pure white alicorn and a draconequus watched with mild amusement as a pink alicorn slammed her head against the table repeatedly. “I cannot believe it! I just cannot believe it! What were the odds? And they were both sooo close then! AAARGH!! Fate hates me!” Discord shrugged. “Well, you did say-” He summoned a screen and played a scene. It showed the council room of yesterday, with Cadence confidently saying ‘What could possibly go wrong?’. He smirked. “You’d think ponies everywhere would have learnt by now that saying that is just begging fate to do something to mess it up. Readers love that gag.” Cadence groaned and buried her head in a cushion. “It was going so perfectly too…” Celestia cast a quizzical glance at Discord. “Readers? gag?” Discord quickly waved his talon dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Well, both of you have tried and failed, no? So tomorrow is my turn!” He gave a full-blown, perfect villain laugh, with the slow dramatic cackling, getting louder and louder, until he was laughing at the sky with his arms outstretched. The cotton candy clouds around the room dumped their chocolate cargo on the two alicorns beneath with a flash of lightning. Abruptly, he stopped laughing and grinned. “I shall have to begin planning! This is going to be fun!!!” He teleported off in a loud flash. Celestia and Cadence exchanged an extremely worried look. Chaos. What else needs to be said?Discord cracked his knuckles like a concert pianist. “Heh heh heh. Time to throw subtlety out the window. Looks like we’re due for a good old storm of chaos!” He then pulled open a hole in reality and started tossing random stuff out. “Let’s see what we have here…” This went on for quite a while, and when Cadence and Celestia worriedly checked up on him, they found him considering a large pile of stuff ranging from pies and kazoos to a pink lawn flamingo and a grandfather clock. He was muttering furiously to himself. “Choices, choices...which method should I go with?” Celestia turned to Cadence and shook her head. “I’m almost afraid to ask…” Cadence nodded in agreement. Hearing them, Discord turned. “Oh, hi ladies!” He pulled out the pair of sunglasses he had worn on the spying mission and twirled his moustache. “Ready to watch the master at work? The fun shall begin!” “I think your definition of ‘fun’ differs a lot from ours, Discord…” Cadence muttered under her breath. Ignoring her, Discord pulled out a calendar and started ripping pages out. “Step one, we need a more romantic setting. heh heh…” There was a brilliant flash that whited out everything for a couple of seconds.” Celestia was immediately alert, her horn lit as she rushed to the window and glanced hastily around. “Discord, what did you do?!” Outside, nothing seemed to be wrong...except the number of couples who had apparently decided to have a date today and decorate the whole of Canterlot with pink hearts and glitter and stuff. Now that’s strange. Today isn’t a holiday...A sudden suspicion crept over her, and she gingerly peeked at the calendar Discord had been holding. The date was... Discord bounced into the air. “HAPPY HEARTS AND HOOVES DAY!! THE PERFECT DAY FOR COUPLES TO GET TOGETHER!!” There was a loud clang as two jaws hit the floor. Literally, thanks to Discord. He burst into another fit of cackles. “You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless! Well, Arrivederci! I’m off to work!” His tail turned into a spring as he bounced out the window with a whoop. Celestia rushed to the window to see him flapping around the streets of Canterlot and turning the trees into chocolate and creating lots of cotton candy clouds. Roses sprouted randomly from roofs, the pavement, walls and tables. For once, nopony seemed to mind...much. She muttered a quiet prayer. “Oh Faust, please let this place be still standing by tonight…” Discord whistled a merry tune as he summoned lots of pink flamingoes and buffaloes in tutus, then set them in positions. He whipped out a conductors baton and waved it once, causing the trees that lined the avenues to bow slightly. Perfect. The stage was set, now for the performers. He zapped himself into Luna’s bedroom. “Wakey Wakey! It’s time to rise and...shine?” The bed was empty. He frowned to himself, then shrugged and teleported to the breakfast table, where sure enough, Luna was enjoying a garden salad. She looked up in mild surprise when he appeared standing in the middle of the table. “Hello Luna!” She raised an eyebrow in an almost perfect imitation of her sister. “Hello, Discord.” Discord leant forward and picked up one of the greens on her salad, eyeing it sceptically. “Had your breakfast?” Luna half-frowned. “Half of it.” Discord grinned. “Good enough, let’s go!” He took hold of Luna’s horn and disappeared in a flash. They reappeared in the Royal Canterlot Gardens. Luna instantly zapped him with her horn the instant they reappeared, forcing him to let her go. “Discord. explanation. now.” She said calmly, her horn blazing. He wagged a finger. “Uh uh, just roll with it.” He snapped his finger, summoning the dress he had gotten Rarity to make and magicked it on Luna. Before she could say anything else, He teleported to the Carousel Boutique, where Twilight was just trying on the dress Rarity had made, grabbed her, and teleported back. While they were still getting their bearings, Discord checked his stopwatch. “How ‘bout that? I beat my own personal teleporting record.” A purple aura surrounded him, and he was suddenly pulled to earth by an annoyed alicorn. “Discord, what are you up to?” Discord reached to his mouth, and zipped it up, breaking the zipper and throwing it away. His free hoof turned into a hand, which clicked it’s fingers while a wooden signboard with the words ‘ACTION!’ appeared in his lion paw. Chaos erupted. That was the only way to describe it. In a flurry of colour, the trees swayed and tapped their branches against their trunks into drumbeats, their willowy voices raised. “Love is in bloom the two of you should get a room So much, sexual tension go on, just take action! Because Love is In Bloom! you really need to get a room Love is in bloom! The only word that rhymes here is broom! Pink lawn flamingos started dancing and singing accompaniment“Ooo….”, twisting their necks like professional dancers into a heart shape. Buffaloes in hot pink tutus twirled around. The trees swayed to the drumbeat. A confused white mare with purple shades appeared with a huge turntable. She soon got the message and had a wicked tune going, driving the performers into renewed motion. Discord wiped a tear from his eye while the two mares just stared stunned at everything going on. The trees launched into the second stanza, and the clouds above them started raining glittery red hearts. Love is in bloom, the two of you should get a room Moonbutt needs to kiss Twi! Just do it! No need to ask why Because Love is in Bloom! A pretty star, a pretty moon! Love is in bloom! Another word that could fit here is doom! By this point, both mares faces had turned a very bright shade of red, their jaws still hanging wide enough to catch flies. Discord cackled as his video camera continued to roll. Priceless, Priceless! The trees, flamingoes and buffaloes bowed to the sound of canned applause, then stiffened and went back to the original positions. The clouds disappeared as well, leaving the two mares knee deep in glittery hearts. Discord considered sending the buffaloes and flamingoes back, but they seemed happy enough here, so he left them to it. Oh, and he sent the DJ back to her date with that grey cellist too. Who said he didn’t pay attention to detail? “Discord…” Twilight’s voice spoke up. “Would you care to tell us what the hay just happened?” Luna finished the sentence. Discord stuck out his tongue and teleported away, nearly collapsing with laughter. When the two highly blushing mares tried to walk away, they found themselves stuck to one another. Just as they found out they couldnt step more than three steps away from each other, Discord remembered to send them that note. “PS, I meant what I said about that sexual tension. You two are stuck together for the day. That should give you enough time. happy hearts and hooves day! Sincerely, Discord, ex-spirit of chaos and disharmony and currently matchmaker extraordinaire” The two mares blinked, then burst into a fit of weak laughter, still overcome by what had just happened. Discord was on a high. He still couldn’t go five minutes without remembering that grand prank he just pulled off and snickering at the thought of it. He pranked a few more couples with some minor pranks, but didn’t do much else. That prank had satisfied his chaos needs for weeks. He sauntered around the Canterlot and Ponyville, munching on a combination of cotton candy sprinkled liberally with popcorn and soaked with chocolate rain, looking for unsuspecting couples to ‘spice up’ their Hearts and Hooves day. It was the perfect day. He really should do this kind of thing more often. He summoned a watch and checked the time. 4:00. He was going present his success at 9 to Celly and Cadey. Seemed a long way off. Discord hated waiting. hmm...this is taking too long . . . . . . well, why not? . . . Celestia paced worriedly in the Chamber of Harmony (where the elements of harmony used to be kept) as she tried not to think of the worldwide catastrophe Discord was probably unleashing right now. Suddenly, she felt the sun sink down the horizon, and the moon shoot up. Her horn ached a little from the sudden jerk the sun gave it. She closed her eyes in despair and checked the clock on the wall. 9:00. She sucked in a deep breath and trotted towards the Gardens. If it was still there…On the way out, she picked up Cadence, who was on a date with Shining Armor. He ended up coming along as well. Discord was waiting for them there, wearing the stupid outfit he had worn on the first day, with the tuxedo and everything. He had a pair of binoculars pressed to his sunglasses as he stared over a bush. He was muttering something to himself. Upon getting closer, she heard it was “Kiss, Kiss, Kiss Kiss….Why don’t they kiss?” She rolled her eyes and slowly peeked over the hedge. Her sister and Twilight were enjoying a simple dinner in the grounds, their wings extending and touching and the tips so they could still sit on opposite sides. They seemed happy. Ding!!! A chandelier lit up over Discord’s head. He threw away his binoculars, which turned into a bird and flew away, and extended a finger. “Just a moment. Theres just one last thing…” he clicked his fingers, and suddenly Twilight and Luna were sitting on chairs facing each other, and Discord was at a podium with a daisy he just plucked. Celestia, Cadence, Shining and a random gardener who had happened to be nearby found themselves on the audience. Spotlights swung around to illuminate the stage brightly, and several explosions of confetti went off. Discord bellowed into the daisy in a ringmaster’s voice. “Come one, Come all, Come to watch Equestria’s most popular show, ANSWER THAT QUESTION!!!” Shining leaned over. “I’m pretty sure there’s no such show” Discord wagged a finger, apparently having heard the whisper. “Yet, my dear stallion, yet.” He turned to the two bemused mares on the stage. “Tonight, I shall ask each of you some questions, and you shall answer honestly!!” He grinned. “Example. Twilight Sparkle, what is the worst score you have ever gotten?” Twilight’s eyes widened, and she shook her head, but then her mouth seemed to speak of its own accord. “Seventh grade Equestrian test, I got 99.5 because I misspelled a word!” She quickly tried to hide her face in her mane in embarrassment.” Celestia couldn’t restrain a giggle. Cadence smacked her lightly. “It was no joke, Auntie. I was the one who had to comfort her that night.” Discord shrugged. “Meh. But now that you know how this game works, let’s start with the real questions!!!” He rubbed his hands together in delight. “Luna, what are your feelings towards Twilight Sparkle!” “I love her.” She replied simply. Everyone cheered. Discord clapped his hands and turned back to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, what are your feelings towards Luna?” “I…love her too.” Twilight smiled. “AWWWWW….!” Cadence squealed, bursting into tears. Shining hugged her and patted her back. Celestia found her eyes wet too. This was such a sweet moment! Discord pumped a fist. “TARTARUS YES!! Now Kiss!” The two mares glanced at him in surprise, then apprehensively at the audience, but finally sweetly nuzzled each other, their wings rising to block the kiss. Then blushing lightly, they stepped down the stage. Celestia shook her head in grudging admiration “I can’t believe it.” She whispered to Cadence. “Discord’s plan really worked.” Cadence nodded, dumbstruck. “Who would’ve guessed?” “Discord’s plan?” Twilight asked from beside them. Celestia and Cadence shared a guilty smile, then they turned to Twilight sheepishly. “We...kind of had an operation where we tried to...get the two of you to admit your feelings to each other?”Cadence explained. “I PRONOUNCE OPERATION TWILUNA A COMPLETE SUCCESS, thanks to moi!” Discord crowed, to the accompaniment of several explosions of fireworks and confetti. He landed on the stage and started shuffling. Cheers erupted from an unseen audience. Luna gave her niece and aunt a confused glance. “You were trying to get us...together? to matchmake us?” Two heads nodded sheepishly. Luna and Twilight shared a glance, then burst into the giggles again. “Oh Faust, we thought you were trying to just give us the best anniversary with each other ever! If you were, then you certainly succeeded, you know.” . . . Discord’s ears caught the last word and he froze. “Anniversary?” Cadence eyes nearly popped. “With each other?” Celestia’s composure suddenly broke. “Anniversary?!” The two mares giggled uncontrollably. Twilight managed to wheeze out between gasps of mirth. “It was perfect, you know? The first day where you allowed us to spend a day together as marefriends was a great change from our usual nightly dates. That dinner was absolutely beautiful, and Discord is a great comedian! All in all, it was pretty much the best anniversary ever. Granted, it was a few days early, but it was still amazing, right Luna?” Luna nodded, still shaking with laughter. She lightly poked Celestia, who was frozen in shock. “Shall we leave them to recover while we take a flight alone?” She asked her marefriend. Twilight nuzzled her back. “Of course, Luna.” The two lovebirds spread their wings and flew off into the night sky, leaving behind a confused gardener, a surprised and highly amused stallion, two shocked alicorns and a flabbergasted draconequus. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Discord’s mouth still opened and closed like a fish. He managed to get it under control .”What...just...happened?” Celestia groaned, and started chuckling weakly at the irony of it all. “I can’t believe it…” Cadence got her laughter under control. “Never. again. This was a one time experiment. No more matchmaking for me!” Discord shrugged. “I don’t know…How do you girls feel about AppleDash?” The two alicorns gave him murderous glares. “Heh heh, forget I asked.” END Author's Note This has been absolute fun for me to write. Seriously, it was a blast. I hope I did Discord justice in this chapter, as he's really hard to write. If I did, this chapter should have you in stitches, clutching your sides in laughter. Wow! I cannot believe this is over. I started work on this on Tuesday and finished on Friday. This was literally written in four days, a chapter a day. On to acknowledgements. Thanks to Pearple Prose for organizing this Twiluna contest. It kinda gave me a kick from being a reader of mlp fiction to a writer. Thanks also to all you awesome readers who favorited this story. This story made the feature box just one day after it was submitted and approved! How awesome is that?! You guys are all amazing! I also hope you liked that little shoutout I gave you commentors. :) This has been an amazing experience for me, and I will definitely be writing more for fimfiction sometime in the future, if I can finish my other fanfic on fanfiction. Again, Thank you all for reading and I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Bonus: EpilogueSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
PrologueIt was a quiet and beautiful night. Princess Cadence gazed out over the crystal balcony over her small kingdom, watching the last of the crystal ponies retire to bed. Humming a small tune, she happened to glance up at the sky, where her brow suddenly creased in confusion. “Huh?” There was definitely something new in the sky, something very familiar. Before she could do anything, however, there was a bright white flash, and she vanished from the Crystal Empire. Moments later, in the empty space where she had been standing, a white note appeared with a burst of confetti and landed on the floor. “gone to extremely private princess meeting, be right back!” =o=o=o Princess Celestia was having a good night. The day’s worries and stresses over, she lay on her favorite cushion beside the roaring fire, contentedly reading a scroll. She had removed most of her royal regalia, and was now relaxing completely. Suddenly, there was a loud trumpet blast and a bright flash, and she too vanished from her room. =o=o=o= The two princesses found themselves in a large, richly decorated council chamber, seated around a curved mahogany table. Celestia immediately recognized it as the Canterlot Castle Council Chamber, one of the most important and useful rooms of the castle - with some changes. For one, the traditional lamps had been removed from the ceiling, replaced by silver disco spheres that threw sprinkles of light everywhere. In vases placed at intervals around the room, bright blue bouquets of Poison Joke waved merrily. Celestia and Cadence instinctively scooted as far as possible from the vases. Discord had only recently pranked the entire Canterlot castle with a sack of Poison Joke. It had taken nearly a whole day before the Twilight had sent the cure from Ponyville. Some of the castle staff still hadn’t gotten over it. Speaking of which… “WELCOME, WELCOME, EVERYPONY, TO THE VERY FIRST MEETING OF THE DISCORD COUNCIL!” There was a loud thunderclap, and chocolate milk began raining down the room from no apparent source. At the head of the table, there was the brightest flash of light yet, and the Spirit of Chaos and Harmony himself, Discord, flashed in lounging on a huge cloud of cotton candy, to be met with canned applause from all corners of the room. Cadence rolled her eyes. “Discord. Why are we here again?” Discord grinned. “Well hello to you too, Cady, I’m fine, thank you.” Celestia tapped her hoof impatiently on the table. “Discord, you had better have a good reason for bringing us here on such short notice. What do you want?” Discord shrugged, then poked his head around furtively, as if checking for eavesdroppers, then coiled around Celestia’s shoulders and whispered into her ear. “It’s about your sister…” Celestia shrugged him off. “What is it about Luna?” Cadence suddenly looked interested. “Is it about the stars in the sky?” Discord nodded gleefully. “Exactly!” He threw some popcorn at Cadence, who dodged them unamusedly. He turned to Celestia. “Tell me, Celly, how is our dear Lulu recently?” Celestia frowned. “What do you mean?” Discord shrugged and shoved some popcorn into his mouth. “Has she been more withdrawn lately, spending more time in her room, gazing out her window towards a small town, been rearranging the stars...that sort of thing?” Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “Now that you mention it, she has seemed more distracted lately, and more eager to go to Ponyville. She seems especially interested in knowing more about Twilight. And why have you been spying on my sister?” “I didn’t” He retorted. “Those guards told me all I needed to know.” Celestia sighed. “Please get to the point, Discord.” Discord grinned and pulled out a scroll. “No. Now let’s talk about our dear Twilight Sparkle. She has been, and I quote, ‘Spending a lot more time looking up at the night sky, making lots of star charts, pacing around at night and not getting enough sleep. She also flushes whenever I ask her about it, but I’ve noticed she spends a lot more time awake when it’s the full moon. Do you think something’s wrong with her? Signed, Spike.”’He stashed the scroll back to wherever it had come from. Celestia’s mouth dropped open. “DISCORD! How did you even get into my letter safe?” Discord had an infuriating smirk on his face. “I have my ways. So what do you think? Have you joined together the dots yet?” Cadence gasped in realization. “You mean…Twilight and Luna…?” Discord blew a kazoo in her face. “Correct!! It’s obvious, isn’t it? You remember the coronation? How their eyes kept drifting to each other when they thought no one else was looking?” Celestia nodded slowly. “So you’re saying my sister has a crush on Twilight Sparkle?” Cadence nodded eagerly. “I think that’s the case, and Twilight obviously is fascinated by Luna!” Celestia frowned again. “I still don’t see why we are gathered here.” Discord facepalmed. “Oh Celly, don’t you see the very crux of the problem? Your sister is admittedly not very good with socializing. Why do you think she hasn’t asked little Sparkle out yet? And Twilight is obviously too oblivious to realize Luna actually returns her feelings. Those two adorkable princesses need a push!” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Adorkable?” Discord waved his paw dismissively. “So do you agree that those two need to be together and they are perfect for each other?” Cadence nodded and raised a hoof. “I’m always ready to help out where love and romance is concerned!” Celestia blanched. “Wait, what exactly are you asking us to do, Discord?” Discord spread his arms dramatically. “Isn’t it obvious? We shall give them that little push! Don’t you want your sister to be happy?” “You know, I’m pretty sure you’re in it just to see how much chaos you can cause to bring them together.” Celestia deadpanned. Discord snickered, “Oh Celly, you know me too well. But it is for a worthy cause, right?” Celestia let out a breath. “I suppose.” she agreed reluctantly. Discord flashed a thumbs up. “So the plan is simple. We just make Cady zap them both with her love spell and watch what happens!” “NO!!” Cadence and Celestia both shouted at once. Discord pouted. “Whyever not?” “That kind of magic only works for couples which are, or have been, truly in love. Right now we’re not sure how much Twily and Luna love each other yet, so we can’t take the chance.” Cadence explained. Discord sniffed. “I’m sure it would make no difference…” Cadence shoved her muzzle into his face. “Need I remind you that’s how the love poison incident started?” Discord shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe. Was that when the bluejay made his nest behind my ear?” “Oh, right. You were still stone then…The point is, it can’t be done.” Cadence stomped her hoof to emphasize the point. “Guess I could always use my chaos magic.” Discord mused, his fingers crackling. “NO!” Again, Celestia stopped his train of thought immediately. “If we are going to get them together, we are going to do it my way first. subtlety.” Discord pouted and folded his arms. “Oh, all right then. Go on. Knock yourself out. I declare Operation TwiLuna in motion!” “Operation WHAT?!” Author's Note Well, this is literally the first mlp fic I have ever written. I wrote this for the competition organized by the Twiluna group, just for fun. while this wasnt my first fanfic (I have another fanfiction in the Lord of the rings/percy jackson genre) it was still my first time writing a romance comedy fic. To me, it didnt flow as well as the other story, which was an adventure/epic. this felt kind of hard for me to write, but I'm going to do my best. :) Care to tell me how I did? Please?
Subtlety Twilight Sparkle, My fellow princess, How goes things in Ponyville, Princess Twilight? I certainly hope you are coping well with your new duties and continuing to study the magic of friendship. However, I feel that you have been away from Canterlot too long, and I do not lie when I say that you are missed here. Why not come back to Canterlot for a day? I’m sure it would be an enjoyable experience returning to your old haunts and visiting your parents again. And who knows? Perhaps you could even help my sister Luna to come out of her room for once!Your Friend, Celestia Celestia had a satisfied smirk as she penned the last words neatly with her phoenix quill. She then used her magic to roll up the scroll and seal it with the traditional red ribbon. She picked up the scroll with her magic and held it up to Philomena, who sent the scroll away in a burst of fire. “There.” She then exited her room and walked to Luna’s room next door. The two Lunar Guards at the door bowed respectfully and stepped aside to allow her entrance. “Oh princess, just a fair warning. She’s not really wanting to speak with anypony at the moment, right Noct?” “Oh, indeed, Shadow, Her highness has been really busy lately.” The other guard replied. Celestia rolled her eyes and pulled the doors open with her magic. “Lulu?” she called. There was a groan from the covers. “It’s too early in the evening ‘Tia. Wake me up at 9” Celestia chuckled and softly poked the form huddled under the blankets with her hoof. “It’s 7:30, Luna. I wake at 6 every morning.” A dark blue head poked from the bed and stuck out her tongue. “That’s because the moon doesn’t need to rise that early. Perks of being the moon princess.” Celestia rolled her eyes and sat on the bed next to her. “Hey Lulu, you’ve been spending far too much time in your room.” “Not true. I go out every night.” “When everypony’s asleep? Luna, you need to meet other ponies and talk to them.” Celestia argued. “Your point?” She muttered, blearily rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Why don’t you join me tomorrow in a walk around Canterlot? We could just walk around and enjoy ourselves. Cadence could take over the court for the day.” She pleaded. Luna sat up and looked at her sister doubtfully. “I don’t know, Tia…” Celestia smirked and played her trump card. “Did I mention Twilight Sparkle would be coming along with us?” Luna’s head shot up at the name. “I might consider it…” Celestia grinned triumphantly. “8 o clock tomorrow morning?” Luna nodded. “I’ll be there.” The final piece was in place. Celestia carefully controlled her emotions until she was out the door and out of Luna’s sight before snickering and pumping her hoof, much to the bemusement of Shadow and Nocturne. Upon noticing them, she flushed. “The two of you did not see anything.” “What was there to see, Highness? Nothing at all.” “Nothing of interest. Utterly unremarkable.” Celestia hurried back to her room, where she immediately tripped over a wire and faceplanted into a pie strategically placed on the floor. “Ouch!” “Dang, I meant that for Cadey. but I suppose this is just as funny!” Discord chuckled, giggling madly as he snapped a photo of the Alicorn of the sun with her face covered in pie. He hurriedly danced out of the way from three quills and an inkpot that launched themselves at him, cackling all the way. Cadence rolled her eyes as she emerged from the closet. She picked up a cloth with her magic and used it to wipe off the mess on her aunt’s face. “So how did it go, Auntie?” Celestia wiped the last traces of pie off her face. Honestly, she would have found it funnier if it had been cake. Tastier too. “It went perfectly, Cadence. Tomorrow, Twilight and Luna will be able to spend the whole day together, alone.” She smiled happily. Discord pulled out a bag of bits. “Want to bet if they kiss tomorrow?” Cadence punched him in the side with her hoof, causing him to pout and stow away the bag. Celestia sighed and rubbed her head. “Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” Discord snapped his fingers, summoning an entire bucket of popcorn. “Good thing I have enough for tomorrow!” Cadence suddenly leaned in. “Wait, about tomorrow. We are following them, right? Celestia frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be minding the court?” “I thought that was just our cover story!” Cadence protested. Celestia rolled her eyes. “Alright, I was going to be at the court anyway. I suppose you two can trail them, but no inteference, okay? Discord, if I hear anything about some chaos disrupting Canterlot tomorrow, I’ll know where to look and who to fry.” Discord summoned a glowing halo on his head with a click, and a group of confused choircolts suddenly found themselves singing in Celestia’s bedroom. “Who moi?” Celestia gave him a deadpan stare. Discord shrugged and sent the colts back to wherever they had come from in the first place. “Oh, alright, fine. I won’t cause any major disturbances tomorrow.” Celestia sighed. “Why did I agree to this again?” The next morning, an hour after Celestia had raised the sun, she waited in the gardens of Canterlot. There was a bright pink flash, and Cadence arrived, dressed in a white trench coat, her hair tied up in a bun covered by a flamboyant brown hat. Before Celestia could comment on her strange appearance, there was an even brighter flash, accompanied by sounds of kazoos being blown and whoopee cushions being set off, and Discord appeared in all his glory, wearing a black tuxedo, a dark fedora pulled over his face, stylish sunglasses over his eyes and an elegant moustache on his face. “Cord, Discord. Ex-master of Chaos and disharmony, and current superspy.” He said in a faux British accent. Celestia facehoofed. “I don’t know whether to laugh or groan in despair.” Discord grinned. “Not to worry, Celly, we’ll blend in perfectly. OPERATION TWILUNA is GO!” Cadence glared. “I thought we agreed that was a stupid name!” Suddenly, they all heard the sound of somepony galloping over at a fast speed, and Discord and Cadence immediately teleported to another side of the garden, where they both peeked out from behind hedges, peering over their oversized sunglasses, giggling like foals. Celestia thought they were enjoying themselves just a bit too much. “Princess Celestia!” She was suddenly tackled by a lavender blur wrapping her wings around her. As she quickly regained her orientation, she returned the hug to the alicorn she almost considered a daughter. “Twilight Sparkle! You are certain early.” A slow smile crossed her face. “Did you gallop all the way from the station again?” Twilight flushed. “Yes, Princes - er, Celestia.” She smiled. “I was just so excited!” Celestia chuckled and then slowly ruffled her wings, her face teasing. Twilight noticed, and her eyes widened, before slapping herself with her hoof. “Oh, right. wings. I forgot.” She smiled sheepishly. “Not to worry, Twilight. Now, why don’t you tell me more about your life in Ponyville while we wait for the last member of our party?” She inquired. “I would love to!”Twilight beamed. An hour later, Luna arrived, blearily rubbing some sleep out of her eyes. Celestia didnt miss the way Twilight stiffened when she saw Luna arriving, nor did she miss the way Luna’s eyes lit up when she saw the purple alicorn. She barely repressed a giggle of her own. Perhaps this was a bit fun. The morning started out normally. A quick breakfast at Pony Joe’s, who barely lifted an eyebrow at three of the princesses in Equestria in his shop, and continued with business as usual. That was what Celestia and Luna often loved about the shop, where they were just treated as normal ponies. It was also why the shop had remained despite Blueblood’s constant complaints. They had a leisurely breakfast, talking about anything that came to mind. Twilight and Luna seemed to warm up considerably, and were soon chatting like old friends. She did her best to ignore the two figures huddled at a corner of the shop, who were obviously trying to spy on them over the top of the menus and were snickering at every given moment. Soon, as they exited the shop, they put the next part of the plan into motion. “Aunt Celestia!” Cadence teleported right next to them, thankfully remembering to take off the getup first. “There’s a problem in the Day Court. I need you there just for a moment!” She said in her best panicked tone of voice. “There’s this...pony...that said...stuff...about some thing!” She ad-libbed. Luckily, Luna and Twilight didnt suspect anything yet, and didn’t protest as she quickly took her leave and teleported back to the Day Court, bursting into laughter with Cadence as soon as they arrived. “That was surprisingly fun!” Celestia laughed. Cadence grinned. “I’m off to trail them, alright?” She vanished in a flash of pink. Celestia nodded to the guards to allow the ponies in to petition for their things, still indulging in the occasional mirthful chuckle. The morning went by fast, with most of the request being minor complaints and petitions that were easily solved and dealt with. Requests for farmland, complaints about low security, those were the mundane requests. There were a few ‘interesting’ cases, such as a unicorn asking to become a pegasus, which she had to deny, complaints about carrots which ran around and apples which danced from the market district, observations about bits laughing at their owners, and a particularly weird one about bowling balls stubbornly refusing to go anywhere near the pins no matter how they were thrown. There were also few downright irritating ones, such as Blueblood’s request for a statue built of himself to ‘boost morale’ and ‘increase respect for royalty’ in the town of Ponyville. Another irritating request was the frequent requests for more hours in a day by the Canterlot ponies. She’d usually just refer them to Luna’s night court for that. None of them usually complained again after facing the Royal Canterlot Voice. Finally, evening fell, and Celestia raised her sore rump from the throne to retire to her room. Perhaps she would ask one of her guards to bring her some cake. As she lay on her cushion, eating cake, she heard the sound of hoofbeats returning to the castle. She smiled expectantly and quickly walked out to greet her sister and her former student. They both had glowing smiles on their faces. “Well? How did your day go?” she asked. “You must tell me all about it.” “Oh Princess, it was a wonderful day!” Twilight gushed. “Luna and I had so much fun together!” Celestia leaned forward, eager to hear more. “OH YES, SISTER! YOU WERE RIGHT! TRULY IT WAS A FUN AND RELAXING DAY!!” Luna exclaimed. Seeing Twilight’s deadpan look, she quieted down to her normal tone of voice. “First we went to visit Twilight’s parents, then we had a cup of coffee at a stall. We shopped for some trinkets in the market district, and…” “And then we went to that new bowling alley in Canterlot! Luna was surprisingly good at it, and she kept turning heads by calling out -” “THE FUN HAS BEEN DOUBLED!!” “yes, and after that we spent the rest of the day at - “ “THE BOOKSTORE!” They both exclaimed, then burst into giggles. Celestia could only stare at them, wide-eyes as she tried to take in that overload of information. finally she understood it all and smiled at them. “Sounds like you had a great day! Did anything happen between the two of you?” She asked hopefully. Twilight and Luna exchanged confused looks, then turned back to her, their faces blank. Celestia tried to tamper down her disappointment. “Oh, never mind. forget I asked.” She smiled brightly. Did you take any photos?” “Of course!” After they had pored over the photos of the day, Twilight said her goodbyes and thank yous and returned to Ponyville. Luna nuzzled her sister happily and cantered off to raise the moon. When she was alone, Celestia sighed and groaned. Two bright flashes signaled the return of the ‘spies’, though much more subdued than this morning. “Well, that was a flop,” muttered Cadence glumly, taking off her hat and stowing it away. “They spent half a day in a bookstore! Still, I can’t say I’m really surprised at Twily for that…” “It was BOOOOOORING!” Discord wailed. “The market district and the bowling alley was fun, coz I could make bits jump around and make the goods annoy the customers, and cause the balls to perform dances in the alley, but one glance at me and the librarian chased me out with a stick.” He pulled out a cotton candy cloud and started munching it to cheer himself up. Cadence shrugged, also taking a hoofful of cotton candy. “I suppose being subtle doesn’t do much good with these two. They need a much stronger push for that.” Celestia laughed wryly. “I suppose.” Cadence smiled confidently. “Well tomorrow will be different. As Celestia is my witness, -” “Literally, in this case” Discord pointed out dryly. Cadence glared at him, then continued “II, the Princess of Love, shall get them to admit their feelings to each other by tomorrow night!” Celestia shrugged. “I witnessed it. Let’s see how you do tomorrow.” Discord flipped a thumbs up and teleported off in a flash to annoy the mane six in an attempt to cheer himself up. Cadence’s smile never wavered. “Don’t worry Auntie. What could possibly go wrong?” What indeed? Celestia wondered.
A romantic dinner under the stars. What could possibly go wrong?For the most part of the next day, ponies all around Canterlot observed something pink flashing and/or flying around the city, seemingly in a great hurry. Being Canterlot ponies, they ignored it and went back to whatever they had been doing. With their noses held high, of course. But things were happening very quickly indeed. Building-In-A-Day.Co(a new building in just a day, guaranteed!), Canterlot’s foremost construction company (which had a very successful branch in Ponyville) was engaged to construct a gazebo in less than five hours on the top of Mount Canterlot, a reservation was made to the Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra to play tonight, huge bouquets of colorful flowers were taken to the castle. She even enlisted the help of Pinkie Pie (who didn’t know what it was for, but was happy to help out anyway) to decorate the entire gazebo with rose petals and some red balloons. Cadence was determined. This night was going to be perfect! Evening fell. Finally. As luck would have it, she had found that Luna had scheduled a meteor shower for tonight! The perfect excuse! She hurriedly found Discord, and the two of them came up with the forged messages. At the castle, she watched Luna getting up to raise the moon and decorate the night with the stars, then walk to the dining room, where she would find a note, presumably by Twilight, to meet her in the gazebo at the top of Mount Canterlot to watch the meteor shower. She had also borrowed Philomena from Aunt Celestia to send a quick message to Twilight with the same message, but in Luna’s handwriting. She was nearly ready. She quickly teleported to the top of Mount Canterlot, where she saw the decorated gazebo at the peak, with the open roof like she had requested. Everything seemed to be in order. The food, which was takeout (much to the owner’s consternation) from the grandest restaurant in Canterlot. The soft lavender and indigo cloth she had specifically requested from the Carousel Boutique spread on the floor. Comfortable cushions piled at the corner. Fireflies buzzing around softly, shedding their soft light on the gazebo and creating a much more romantic atmosphere than candles, in her opinion. The orchestra, complete with a piano, a violin, and a cello, hidden with a simple illusion spell. She had requested some soothing love songs to set the mood,and the sweet notes hung in the air, seemingly from nowhere. The bouquets of Poison Joke waved in the breeze on all four sides. Perfect. Wait, Poison Joke?! “DISCORD!!!!” “Keep your hair on, Cadey! Sheesh!” Discord turned the flowers back with a snap of his fingers and hurried back to where he had been hiding. Cadence hurried back to check her preparations. Time was going fast. Night had already fallen. They would be here any minute now. She restrained a soft squeal from escaping. She couldn’t believe Twily had already fallen in love. She was growing up so fast! Finally, she heard the soft beats of wings against the air, and retreated quickly into the rather thick bush Discord had conjured up to hide them. Soon, Aunt Luna flew over and landed lightly on the soft grass, casting a confused glance at the gazebo, with all the fireflies, the music and the decorations. Not a few minutes later, There was a purple flash, and little Twily appeared on the hillside, swaying slightly from the long-distance teleport. Cadence wasn’t very surprised to see she had brought a bunch of scrolls with her, and her portable telescope as well, though she resolved to get those scrolls away at the earliest opportunity. This was supposed to be date after all. They should have gotten enough reading yesterday already. Twilight, too, seemed really confused by all the decorations, then her eyes landed on the blue alicorn. “Luna!” Luna broke into a grin. “Hello, Twilight Sparkle, I am here, as you have requested. You have done an amazing job with the decorating!” Twilight looked confused. “I requested? Decorating?” Cadence and Discord shared a panicked look. Uh, oh… Luna nodded. “This is a truly beautiful spot to watch the stars fall tonight. It is great to see you again, Twilight.” Twilight giggled. “Likewise, Luna. But I certainly didn’t decorate all this.” Luna cocked her head in confusion. “You didn’t?” Uh, oh...Uh, oh! Cadence’s mind was whirling. She needed to come up with something quick! Twilight shrugged. “No, I didn’t. But this place is beautiful, isn’t it?” “Yes, it truly is. Let us dine, then!” Luna agreed happily. Both mares than sat down on the cushions, admiring all the beautiful decorations, and started to eat the choice fruits and vegetables all over the gazebo. Discord and Cadence exchanged an extremely relieved look. Unseen by the two mares eating, she quickly signaled the orchestra to stop playing for the moment. It would be better to wait til they were both too distracted by the meteors to question where the music came from. She quickly cast a glance down the mountain to see if anypony else was there. Apparently, several more couples had the same idea of watching the meteors on the mountain, albeit at a lower altitude. Now she needed something to prevent them from interrupting the couple on the top of the hill just in case they got curious. “Did you find the security like I asked?” She poked Discord lightly. Discord blinked. “Oh, right. sure.” He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Shining Armor appeared on the scene in a tuxedo. After getting over her initial shock, she glared at Discord, who shrugged nonchalantly. Oh well. Shiny would actually do quite well. “Oookay...why am I here again?” Shining Armor asked, slightly confused. His wife used her magic to quickly straighten his bow. “Shh, stay quiet! They can’t know we’re here! We need your help!” She hissed. Shining took a quick glance out of the bush and his eyebrows flew at the sight of princess Luna and Twily, who were apparently on a romantic dinner date together. Currently, they were giggling at some joke Twilight had told. He turned back to Cadence with a nonplussed expression. “I don’t get why we’re spying on Princess Luna and my sister together…” He muttered. “You’re not spying dear, I am. You’re supposed to make sure no one disturbs their little ‘date’.” “Wait a sec, date? Twily and princess Luna? What?” “Trust me, Shiny, you just have to sit at here, out of sight of the gazebo and stop anyone who might have a chance of interrupting the two of them.” Cadence whispered into his ear. “Please?” she pleaded with her eyes. Shining heaved out a sigh. “Okay…” Cadence kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Shiny!” Shining smiled stupidly for a moment before shaking himself and turning to watch the going ons downhill, though he still cast the occasional confused glance at the two alicorns up the hill. Cadence and Discord watched eagerly as the two alicorns talked and laughed together. They just seemed to relax under each other’s company. How sweet! If only they would just realize they were perfect for each other, then it would be even better! She just needed one of them to confess, and she was sure the other would follow. Nothing could go wrong with this night. Finally, the main event of the night started, and the stars fell. Hundreds of bright lights streaked across the sky, illuminating the dark night sky. Even the moon seemed to have dimmed in favour of allowing the shooting stars their time to shine. It was a beautiful sight. She saw a couple of the stars starting to jump around erratically and generally act chaotic, and had to punch Discord before the other couple noticed. Twilight had managed to set up her telescope in less than five minutes, and now Luna was looking through it at her own creations. Cadence noticed that Twilight did have one eye on the stars, but the other eye, to her immense amusement, was fixed on the alicorn next to her. “Beautiful…” Twilight murmured. “Hmm? Oh indeed, Twilight, the stars are magnificent tonight, are they not?” Luna replied, her eye still gazing into the telescope. “The stars? Oh, yes! the stars. they are beautiful!” Twilight hastily replied, not noticing the bush nearby shake with muffled giggles and laughter. Inside the bush, Cadence was peering eagerly outside, hoping for more conversation, while Shining and Discord ate popcorn and cotton candy for dinner. And played cards. Males… At any rate, the situation outside was definitely getting better! She signalled to the orchestra members, who had also been enjoying the view a little way off, causing them to pull out their instruments and start playing the soothing, soulful notes of a love song. If the two mares noticed, they gave no sign. “Your nights are always so beautiful, Luna.” Twilight sighed happily, taking another sip of her hay smoothie while her head rested on Luna’s side. Apparently none of them had really noticed the contact yet. Luna giggled. “Thank you, Twilight.” “No problem, Luna. This is great! I wish this night could last forever.” Twilight smiled. Suddenly realizing what she had said, she froze, as did Luna. The two alicorns exchanged a look, then burst into giggles. “I believe thou hast stolen my line, Twilight!” Luna joked, causing both mares to collapse in laughter. This was Perfect! They were already letting down their guard around each other! Soon, very soon! Cadence was close to squealing out loud. Suddenly, Discord’s head shot up with a worried expression. “Uh oh…” Her head whirled back to stare at him, horrified. “What uh oh?” Nothing could ruin this night, could it? “Something really unexpected is going to happen! I can feel it!” Discord remarked, watching his chaotic-o-meter (A statue of him with numbers on it, with its hand pointing to his head, where there was a number 9) he held in his hand vibrate crazily. The two ponies and one draconequus looked around as fast as they could to spot the potential chaos before it could disrupt this perfect night, but they were a little too late. A sparkling purple hot air balloon suddenly rose up the side of the mountain. As soon as the basket touched the ground, a pink blur shot out and tackled Twilight to the ground, followed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike, albeit at a much slower pace. Twilight managed to remove Pinkie off her face. “Pinkie Pie? How did you…where did you… huh?” “Oh, hello Twilight! You see Rainbow Dash told us tonight we were going to have a meteor shower, and I knew how much you liked those, so i immediately went to find everypony to make a ‘meteor shower night party’ like the one we had the night Spike spiked the punch, but then when we couldn’t find you anywhere so I moved all my party supplies into your balloon and we had a ‘Find Twilight so we can have a meteor shower night party party’ on the Balloon! So we started searching for you but couldnt find you anywhere but then Spike remembered you went to Canterlot in the evening so we flew all over here to Canterlot and then we saw you so we flew over here to have our ‘meteor shower night party’ with you so you could watch the meteor shower with your friends! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh huh huh?” The energetic pink pony said the last word and sucked in a deeeep breath, watching Twilight happily. Cadence, Discord and Shining’s jaws dropped open. ‘Information overload!’, their eyes spoke “Very surprised, Pinkie!” Twilight smiled and threw her arms around her friend. “I didn’t know you were looking for me!” “Oh dear, we’re not interrupting anything, are we, darling?” Rarity asked as she took in all the romantic decorations and the obviously ‘dating atmosphere’. YES! YES YOU ARE! NOW GO AWAY AND LEAVE TWILIGHT AND LUNA IN PEACE!!!! Unfortunately, Cadence had never learnt if telepathy was possible, and she couldn’t beam the thought into their minds. She had to settle for trying to burn a message with her eyes from the bush. “Oh, of course not Rarity! you’re welcome to join us, right Luna?” Twilight asked. SAY NO! SAY NO! “Of course! You are welcome to join our little party! If we knew you wanted to come, we would have invited you sooner!” Luna beamed. The sound of a hoof hitting a forehead is quite loud, but nopony quite heard it from the bush a little way off. The sound of a spirit of disharmony giving up and just laughing at the chaos is also quite loud, but nopony really heard it because of the loud cheer that Pinkie gave. "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STAAARTED!!!" In short order, Pinkie found the musicians (how she broke the illusion spell, Cadence would never know) and got them to play some more upbeat music, and the rest of the night was spent laughing, singing and dancing. =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= In the council room of Canterlot Castle, one pure white alicorn and a draconequus watched with mild amusement as a pink alicorn slammed her head against the table repeatedly. “I cannot believe it! I just cannot believe it! What were the odds? And they were both sooo close then! AAARGH!! Fate hates me!” Discord shrugged. “Well, you did say-” He summoned a screen and played a scene. It showed the council room of yesterday, with Cadence confidently saying ‘What could possibly go wrong?’. He smirked. “You’d think ponies everywhere would have learnt by now that saying that is just begging fate to do something to mess it up. Readers love that gag.” Cadence groaned and buried her head in a cushion. “It was going so perfectly too…” Celestia cast a quizzical glance at Discord. “Readers? gag?” Discord quickly waved his talon dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Well, both of you have tried and failed, no? So tomorrow is my turn!” He gave a full-blown, perfect villain laugh, with the slow dramatic cackling, getting louder and louder, until he was laughing at the sky with his arms outstretched. The cotton candy clouds around the room dumped their chocolate cargo on the two alicorns beneath with a flash of lightning. Abruptly, he stopped laughing and grinned. “I shall have to begin planning! This is going to be fun!!!” He teleported off in a loud flash. Celestia and Cadence exchanged an extremely worried look.
Chaos. What else needs to be said?Discord cracked his knuckles like a concert pianist. “Heh heh heh. Time to throw subtlety out the window. Looks like we’re due for a good old storm of chaos!” He then pulled open a hole in reality and started tossing random stuff out. “Let’s see what we have here…” This went on for quite a while, and when Cadence and Celestia worriedly checked up on him, they found him considering a large pile of stuff ranging from pies and kazoos to a pink lawn flamingo and a grandfather clock. He was muttering furiously to himself. “Choices, choices...which method should I go with?” Celestia turned to Cadence and shook her head. “I’m almost afraid to ask…” Cadence nodded in agreement. Hearing them, Discord turned. “Oh, hi ladies!” He pulled out the pair of sunglasses he had worn on the spying mission and twirled his moustache. “Ready to watch the master at work? The fun shall begin!” “I think your definition of ‘fun’ differs a lot from ours, Discord…” Cadence muttered under her breath. Ignoring her, Discord pulled out a calendar and started ripping pages out. “Step one, we need a more romantic setting. heh heh…” There was a brilliant flash that whited out everything for a couple of seconds.” Celestia was immediately alert, her horn lit as she rushed to the window and glanced hastily around. “Discord, what did you do?!” Outside, nothing seemed to be wrong...except the number of couples who had apparently decided to have a date today and decorate the whole of Canterlot with pink hearts and glitter and stuff. Now that’s strange. Today isn’t a holiday...A sudden suspicion crept over her, and she gingerly peeked at the calendar Discord had been holding. The date was... Discord bounced into the air. “HAPPY HEARTS AND HOOVES DAY!! THE PERFECT DAY FOR COUPLES TO GET TOGETHER!!” There was a loud clang as two jaws hit the floor. Literally, thanks to Discord. He burst into another fit of cackles. “You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless! Well, Arrivederci! I’m off to work!” His tail turned into a spring as he bounced out the window with a whoop. Celestia rushed to the window to see him flapping around the streets of Canterlot and turning the trees into chocolate and creating lots of cotton candy clouds. Roses sprouted randomly from roofs, the pavement, walls and tables. For once, nopony seemed to mind...much. She muttered a quiet prayer. “Oh Faust, please let this place be still standing by tonight…” Discord whistled a merry tune as he summoned lots of pink flamingoes and buffaloes in tutus, then set them in positions. He whipped out a conductors baton and waved it once, causing the trees that lined the avenues to bow slightly. Perfect. The stage was set, now for the performers. He zapped himself into Luna’s bedroom. “Wakey Wakey! It’s time to rise and...shine?” The bed was empty. He frowned to himself, then shrugged and teleported to the breakfast table, where sure enough, Luna was enjoying a garden salad. She looked up in mild surprise when he appeared standing in the middle of the table. “Hello Luna!” She raised an eyebrow in an almost perfect imitation of her sister. “Hello, Discord.” Discord leant forward and picked up one of the greens on her salad, eyeing it sceptically. “Had your breakfast?” Luna half-frowned. “Half of it.” Discord grinned. “Good enough, let’s go!” He took hold of Luna’s horn and disappeared in a flash. They reappeared in the Royal Canterlot Gardens. Luna instantly zapped him with her horn the instant they reappeared, forcing him to let her go. “Discord. explanation. now.” She said calmly, her horn blazing. He wagged a finger. “Uh uh, just roll with it.” He snapped his finger, summoning the dress he had gotten Rarity to make and magicked it on Luna. Before she could say anything else, He teleported to the Carousel Boutique, where Twilight was just trying on the dress Rarity had made, grabbed her, and teleported back. While they were still getting their bearings, Discord checked his stopwatch. “How ‘bout that? I beat my own personal teleporting record.” A purple aura surrounded him, and he was suddenly pulled to earth by an annoyed alicorn. “Discord, what are you up to?” Discord reached to his mouth, and zipped it up, breaking the zipper and throwing it away. His free hoof turned into a hand, which clicked it’s fingers while a wooden signboard with the words ‘ACTION!’ appeared in his lion paw. Chaos erupted. That was the only way to describe it. In a flurry of colour, the trees swayed and tapped their branches against their trunks into drumbeats, their willowy voices raised. “Love is in bloom the two of you should get a room So much, sexual tension go on, just take action! Because Love is In Bloom! you really need to get a room Love is in bloom! The only word that rhymes here is broom! Pink lawn flamingos started dancing and singing accompaniment“Ooo….”, twisting their necks like professional dancers into a heart shape. Buffaloes in hot pink tutus twirled around. The trees swayed to the drumbeat. A confused white mare with purple shades appeared with a huge turntable. She soon got the message and had a wicked tune going, driving the performers into renewed motion. Discord wiped a tear from his eye while the two mares just stared stunned at everything going on. The trees launched into the second stanza, and the clouds above them started raining glittery red hearts. Love is in bloom, the two of you should get a room Moonbutt needs to kiss Twi! Just do it! No need to ask why Because Love is in Bloom! A pretty star, a pretty moon! Love is in bloom! Another word that could fit here is doom! By this point, both mares faces had turned a very bright shade of red, their jaws still hanging wide enough to catch flies. Discord cackled as his video camera continued to roll. Priceless, Priceless! The trees, flamingoes and buffaloes bowed to the sound of canned applause, then stiffened and went back to the original positions. The clouds disappeared as well, leaving the two mares knee deep in glittery hearts. Discord considered sending the buffaloes and flamingoes back, but they seemed happy enough here, so he left them to it. Oh, and he sent the DJ back to her date with that grey cellist too. Who said he didn’t pay attention to detail? “Discord…” Twilight’s voice spoke up. “Would you care to tell us what the hay just happened?” Luna finished the sentence. Discord stuck out his tongue and teleported away, nearly collapsing with laughter. When the two highly blushing mares tried to walk away, they found themselves stuck to one another. Just as they found out they couldnt step more than three steps away from each other, Discord remembered to send them that note. “PS, I meant what I said about that sexual tension. You two are stuck together for the day. That should give you enough time. happy hearts and hooves day! Sincerely, Discord, ex-spirit of chaos and disharmony and currently matchmaker extraordinaire” The two mares blinked, then burst into a fit of weak laughter, still overcome by what had just happened. Discord was on a high. He still couldn’t go five minutes without remembering that grand prank he just pulled off and snickering at the thought of it. He pranked a few more couples with some minor pranks, but didn’t do much else. That prank had satisfied his chaos needs for weeks. He sauntered around the Canterlot and Ponyville, munching on a combination of cotton candy sprinkled liberally with popcorn and soaked with chocolate rain, looking for unsuspecting couples to ‘spice up’ their Hearts and Hooves day. It was the perfect day. He really should do this kind of thing more often. He summoned a watch and checked the time. 4:00. He was going present his success at 9 to Celly and Cadey. Seemed a long way off. Discord hated waiting. hmm...this is taking too long . . . . . . well, why not? . . . Celestia paced worriedly in the Chamber of Harmony (where the elements of harmony used to be kept) as she tried not to think of the worldwide catastrophe Discord was probably unleashing right now. Suddenly, she felt the sun sink down the horizon, and the moon shoot up. Her horn ached a little from the sudden jerk the sun gave it. She closed her eyes in despair and checked the clock on the wall. 9:00. She sucked in a deep breath and trotted towards the Gardens. If it was still there…On the way out, she picked up Cadence, who was on a date with Shining Armor. He ended up coming along as well. Discord was waiting for them there, wearing the stupid outfit he had worn on the first day, with the tuxedo and everything. He had a pair of binoculars pressed to his sunglasses as he stared over a bush. He was muttering something to himself. Upon getting closer, she heard it was “Kiss, Kiss, Kiss Kiss….Why don’t they kiss?” She rolled her eyes and slowly peeked over the hedge. Her sister and Twilight were enjoying a simple dinner in the grounds, their wings extending and touching and the tips so they could still sit on opposite sides. They seemed happy. Ding!!! A chandelier lit up over Discord’s head. He threw away his binoculars, which turned into a bird and flew away, and extended a finger. “Just a moment. Theres just one last thing…” he clicked his fingers, and suddenly Twilight and Luna were sitting on chairs facing each other, and Discord was at a podium with a daisy he just plucked. Celestia, Cadence, Shining and a random gardener who had happened to be nearby found themselves on the audience. Spotlights swung around to illuminate the stage brightly, and several explosions of confetti went off. Discord bellowed into the daisy in a ringmaster’s voice. “Come one, Come all, Come to watch Equestria’s most popular show, ANSWER THAT QUESTION!!!” Shining leaned over. “I’m pretty sure there’s no such show” Discord wagged a finger, apparently having heard the whisper. “Yet, my dear stallion, yet.” He turned to the two bemused mares on the stage. “Tonight, I shall ask each of you some questions, and you shall answer honestly!!” He grinned. “Example. Twilight Sparkle, what is the worst score you have ever gotten?” Twilight’s eyes widened, and she shook her head, but then her mouth seemed to speak of its own accord. “Seventh grade Equestrian test, I got 99.5 because I misspelled a word!” She quickly tried to hide her face in her mane in embarrassment.” Celestia couldn’t restrain a giggle. Cadence smacked her lightly. “It was no joke, Auntie. I was the one who had to comfort her that night.” Discord shrugged. “Meh. But now that you know how this game works, let’s start with the real questions!!!” He rubbed his hands together in delight. “Luna, what are your feelings towards Twilight Sparkle!” “I love her.” She replied simply. Everyone cheered. Discord clapped his hands and turned back to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, what are your feelings towards Luna?” “I…love her too.” Twilight smiled. “AWWWWW….!” Cadence squealed, bursting into tears. Shining hugged her and patted her back. Celestia found her eyes wet too. This was such a sweet moment! Discord pumped a fist. “TARTARUS YES!! Now Kiss!” The two mares glanced at him in surprise, then apprehensively at the audience, but finally sweetly nuzzled each other, their wings rising to block the kiss. Then blushing lightly, they stepped down the stage. Celestia shook her head in grudging admiration “I can’t believe it.” She whispered to Cadence. “Discord’s plan really worked.” Cadence nodded, dumbstruck. “Who would’ve guessed?” “Discord’s plan?” Twilight asked from beside them. Celestia and Cadence shared a guilty smile, then they turned to Twilight sheepishly. “We...kind of had an operation where we tried to...get the two of you to admit your feelings to each other?”Cadence explained. “I PRONOUNCE OPERATION TWILUNA A COMPLETE SUCCESS, thanks to moi!” Discord crowed, to the accompaniment of several explosions of fireworks and confetti. He landed on the stage and started shuffling. Cheers erupted from an unseen audience. Luna gave her niece and aunt a confused glance. “You were trying to get us...together? to matchmake us?” Two heads nodded sheepishly. Luna and Twilight shared a glance, then burst into the giggles again. “Oh Faust, we thought you were trying to just give us the best anniversary with each other ever! If you were, then you certainly succeeded, you know.” . . . Discord’s ears caught the last word and he froze. “Anniversary?” Cadence eyes nearly popped. “With each other?” Celestia’s composure suddenly broke. “Anniversary?!” The two mares giggled uncontrollably. Twilight managed to wheeze out between gasps of mirth. “It was perfect, you know? The first day where you allowed us to spend a day together as marefriends was a great change from our usual nightly dates. That dinner was absolutely beautiful, and Discord is a great comedian! All in all, it was pretty much the best anniversary ever. Granted, it was a few days early, but it was still amazing, right Luna?” Luna nodded, still shaking with laughter. She lightly poked Celestia, who was frozen in shock. “Shall we leave them to recover while we take a flight alone?” She asked her marefriend. Twilight nuzzled her back. “Of course, Luna.” The two lovebirds spread their wings and flew off into the night sky, leaving behind a confused gardener, a surprised and highly amused stallion, two shocked alicorns and a flabbergasted draconequus. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Discord’s mouth still opened and closed like a fish. He managed to get it under control .”What...just...happened?” Celestia groaned, and started chuckling weakly at the irony of it all. “I can’t believe it…” Cadence got her laughter under control. “Never. again. This was a one time experiment. No more matchmaking for me!” Discord shrugged. “I don’t know…How do you girls feel about AppleDash?” The two alicorns gave him murderous glares. “Heh heh, forget I asked.” END Author's Note This has been absolute fun for me to write. Seriously, it was a blast. I hope I did Discord justice in this chapter, as he's really hard to write. If I did, this chapter should have you in stitches, clutching your sides in laughter. Wow! I cannot believe this is over. I started work on this on Tuesday and finished on Friday. This was literally written in four days, a chapter a day. On to acknowledgements. Thanks to Pearple Prose for organizing this Twiluna contest. It kinda gave me a kick from being a reader of mlp fiction to a writer. Thanks also to all you awesome readers who favorited this story. This story made the feature box just one day after it was submitted and approved! How awesome is that?! You guys are all amazing! I also hope you liked that little shoutout I gave you commentors. :) This has been an amazing experience for me, and I will definitely be writing more for fimfiction sometime in the future, if I can finish my other fanfic on fanfiction. Again, Thank you all for reading and I hope you have enjoyed the ride.
