Thousands of years ago, Equestria was a dangerous place for Ponies. They dared not leave their homeland into the unexplored and uncharted wilderness that was said to be full of hostille creatures, such as the Dire Wolves to the North, the Deer to the East, and the Griffins to the South. However, there was one direction that the ponies feared most of all, which was the West, as it was home to their biggest enemies yet, the Draconequui. Hopefully though, Draconequui wouldn't come to the home of the Ponies.
Hopefully.
***
It was early in the morning in the grasslands of Greenhill, a region in the West of Equestria. The tall flowers and grass rose up to 2 feet off the ground, so it was easy for little fillies to get lost in there. No filly was told to go there, as dangerous things were said to lurk in the tall grass.
However, one of them disobeyed those rules, and that one filly was wandering through the grass. She had a light pink mane and a white coat, and she was an alicorn, meaning that she had both a unicorn horn and pegasus wings. Her name was Celestia, heir to the position of the bringer of the sun in Equestria. She was trying to prove that she was brave enough to navigate through the grasslands of Greenhill, despite reports that dangerous creatures lurked there at night.
While Celestia was smelling the flowers, she was unaware of another creature that was sneaking up on her. She just sat, smelling a flower, when all of a sudden, something pounced on her. Celestia shrieked as she was forced to the ground by a paw and a talon, but the creature that had pounced was harmless. She looked into the creature’s eyes. It was a young male Draconequus, still small and harmless, too young to mean any harm. To Celestia’s surprise, the Draconequus stood up and reached out his paw to greet her.
“Hello, what’s your name?” he asked in a friendly tone of voice.
“Hi, I’m Celestia” said Celestia, shaking his paw with her hoof. “And you?”
“Oh, I have a long and funny sounding name, but they just call me Discord. You can call me that too.” Discord pulled a Daffodil from the earth. “Can we be friends?”
"Wow, thanks! Daffodils are my favorite flowers!" said Celestia, taking the golden flower from his hand. "Yes, I will."
“Good” said Discord. “Come, let’s sit down together. Say, where do you come from?”
“I come from Canterlot, for I am the daughter of Master Lauren. Know of her?”
“No, I don’t” said Discord, pointing to the west. “My family lives that way, just behind those mountains in the distance.”
“West of Greenhill?” asked Celestia. “Why, Greenhill is the westernmost part of this known world. It’s on all the maps I see. That is why it’s considered too dangerous to be here.”
“There is the land of the Draconequus this far west” said Discord, standing up and beginning to run towards the mountains off in the distance. “Let’s go!”
“No! I can’t!” shouted Celestia.
Discord stopped running and looked back at her. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because I’m not supposed to go too far west! It's far too dangerous over there!” she shouted. “Master Lauren says no! And that means no!”
“Really? You can't?” Discord said in disappointment. He seemed rather sad as he slowly walked back towards Celestia, looking down.
“Aw, that’s OK, please don’t be sad” she said. “Hey, would you like to come over to my palace in Canterlot? After all, Master Laurens great with guests.”
“Sure I would!” he said, and then they walked together back towards Canterlot. As they walked through the fields, they continued to talk and get to know themselves better.
“So, do you know anything about the eastern part of Equestria? Or do you just live in your hideout behind the mountains?” Celestia asked.
Discord said, “No, I never knew that. The farthest east place that I know is here in Greenhill.”
“Do you wonder what life is like on the eastern part of Equestria?”
“No, I don’t” said Discord, still looking east toward regions he’d never been to. “Is it good?”
“Yes, it’s great!” said Celestia, and then she took a piece of gum out of nowhere. “Want this? It’s mine, but you can have it.”
Discord took the gum but put it in a pocket somewhere on his fur. “Nah, I’ll save it for later.”
Celestia spread her wings and said, “Hey, it’ll take days just to get to Canterlot from here. I can fly much faster. Can you?”
Discord looked at his still fairly small wings and flapped them as hard as he could, but he couldn’t lift himself off the ground the slightest bit. “No. Can I ride your back?”
“That’ll be very painful. Here, hold my hoof. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you won’t fly off.” Discord help Celestia’s hoof, and then she took off into the sky at astonishing speed.
“Wooooooooooahhhh!” yelled Discord as the wind beat against his face as he went flying through the air at 700 mph, but then Celestia created an invisible bubble around them that protected him from falling down toward the earth.
As they flew through the air, Discord looked down at the land, which lay thousands of feet below them. He saw wonderful sights: a mountain range, a river, a deep forest, and roads and towns in parts of Equestria that he had never even thought existed. This was like landing on another planet for Discord. For all his life he had lived in the foggy, steep, slopes of the Ooo-Aaa Mountain Range, known to the ponies as the Foggy Mountains, in which the Draconequui lived in a city carved into a mountainside. Now he had been seeing the land east of Greenhill, the land that he was never told about or shown to. When he had gone to Greenhill previously and looked to the east, he saw nothing but low, grassy hills for miles and miles, the rest of Equestria too far out of sight. The feeling he got when he looked to the west was a feeling of safety and comfort at home, but the feeling he got when he looked to the east was a feeling of new opportunity and adventure, a place where he was very eager to explore, and now he finally had the chance to do so. This felt so great!
After about an hour of boring flying, Celestia and Discord landed in Canterlot, which was a place that Discord had never seen before. He looked around and saw that everywhere, there were creatures that were the same type of animal as Celestia, just in different sizes and colors, and some had different features too. Most of them had either a horn, wings, or nothing- none of them had both wings and a horn, like Celestia did.
“Come, let’s go to the palace in Canterlot! I can’t wait for you to meet Master Lauren!” said Celestia enthusiastically, running down the street. Discord went walking after her. At the end of the street and into the distance, he saw a big and magnificent castle built along a mountainside that overlooked a river. He guessed that that was where Celestia lived.
After several minutes of walking and running, Discord and Celestia got to the main entrance to the Canterlot Palace. Two guards stood at the door. “Princess” one of them said, “Where have you been? It’s been almost six hours since you’ve left.” looking at Discord, the guard said, “and who’s this you’ve brought with you?”
“I’m Celestia’s new friend!” said Discord enthusiastically.
“Let him through, I want him to meet Master Lauren” said Celestia, and so the guards obeyed her words.
“So, who is this ‘Master Lauren?’” Discord asked Celestia. “Is she nice?”
“Lauren is my mother, and she’s a very nice mare. She’s the ruler of Equestria, and she raises both the sun and the moon every day and every night! And here she is!” said Celestia, opening the colossal door to the throne room.
The bedroom of the two sisters was locked with Master Lauren's spell in which only Celestia was unable to open it for one hour. Celestia sat on her bed, looking down, thinking that it was unfair to be grounded after "Playing" with another species that was forbidden from residence in Equestria. She was afraid that that experience was the only time she'd met Discord, and that she would never see him again.
Luna walked in, with the ability to open the door that was under a spell. She noticed that Celestia was feeling down. "Hi sis, what's the matter there?" she curiously asked."
Celestia turned her head to Luna. "I almost made a friend."
"Almost? What do you mean almost? What happened?" asked Luna.
"I was in Greenhill, and I met a Draconequus whose name is Discord."
"Aren't Draconequui our enemies?"
"Exactly" said Celestia. "We said hi, and he wanted to be my friend. And I said yes."
Then Luna asked, "If you said yes, then why did you say you almost made friends with him?"
"To make friends with somepony is to get to know them very well and talk to them on many occasions" said Celestia. "We only saw each other once."
"So why not see him again?" said Luna.
"Because Master Lauren says it's dangerous to talk to a Draconequus, as Discord could tell his parents what I said, and they would find out what we're doing, making it easier for the Draconequui to take over our dominion. Now she's keeping an eye on me at all times."
"So then why not try doing it when Lauren's not looking?" Luna suggested.
"Then I'm breaking the rules!"
"C'mon, it's not the end of the world" said Luna. "Just do it, get it over with and see your pal again."
"Well... OK... fine." said Celestia, falling for her younger sister's advice.
"Go ahead then" said Luna, smiling.
"Oh no, not today" said Celestia, "I'm supposed to stay in my room all day because that's what Master Lauren says! And she's locked the door for me too! And even if I do try to escape, she'll feed me to her pet Cracken!"
"Please relax" said Luna, "she's not really gonna feed you to her pet Cracken, she really loves you, and she won't do that!"
Celestia rolled her magenta eyes. "Still, I have the point, I just can't do it today because I'm punished!"
"Then will you wait till tomorrow morning?" Luna suggested toward her older sister.
"I'll be on my way!" said Celestia.
"Way to go, big sis!" cheered Luna as she jumped on her bed, congratulating her older sister.
This was the first time that Celestia had taken advice from somepony younger than her, as Master Lauren had told them that it is always best to take orders from somepony older, and therefore smarter, than them. But this was another breaking of the rules that Celestia had done. All that Celestia wondered was, "Am I doing what is right, or what I think is right?"
For that question that she would face would haunt her through the rest of her life, as it would become bigger, and would become extremely hard to decide on. Hard enough to possibly destroy all of Equestria.
Discord sat below a large cherry tree on a grassy mound, the only tree in Greenhill aside from a large old tree stump a few hills away. He looked into the distance, past all the rolling green hills in the direction of Canterlot, the place where his jewel lived, the young mare he had hoped would had been his love, but their relationship had lasted for only less than a day. "Damn that red maned mom of hers!" he muttered to himself, remembering Master Lauren's extremely rude and aggressive attitude toward him.
As he looked into the distance, he wondered if he would never see his love again. He wondered if later in his life he would completely forget about Celestia and their short-lived relationship, or if he would cry over her every night for the rest of his life. Was this the end of it all? Or would she come back? Discord had hoped she would. In fact, it was the reason why he came back to Greenhill, to see if Celestia would come looking for him again.
"Dang it, she'll never come back" said Discord in misery as he still looked beyond the hills, just to see more and more hills for miles without a view of the land beyond. A relationship that had lasted only a couple of hours was now over.
Or was it?
While walking back west towards home, he saw something moving through the tall grass toward him. Could it be? Discord, overjoyed, ran towards the creature moving toward him, in hopes that he would see his love again. A few seconds later, and he was staring into the eyes of a squirrel.
"Go away you nasty squirrel!" said Discord in disappointment and anger. He charged toward it, chasing it back off into the grass. Picking up a rock, Discord threw it at the Squirrel that was running away from him. However, he was unaware that somepony was walking up behind him.
"Don't hurt animals!" said a familiar voice.
Discord turned around in shock. "Celestia! It's you!" he said, overjoyed. He gave her a big hug and kissed her on the cheeks multiple times. "I missed you! I knew you would come back!"
"I knew I'd see you again too!" giggled Celestia as she received more kisses on the cheek from the young Draconequus.
"So, how'd you get back here?" Discord asked Celestia. "Didn't Lauren tell you that she had her eye on you?"
"I took my sister's advice and sneaked away when Master Lauren wasn't looking." answered Celestia.
Discord all of a sudden became a bit worried for Celestia. "Aren't you breaking the rules?" he asked.
"No" said Celestia, "I'm fine. You see, Master Lauren thinks I'm in my room in Canterlot right now. Truth is I escaped through my bedroom window and now I'm here with you."
"OK" said Discord, "but you're still being very risky there."
"Don't worry, it'll be alright! I'm just keeping it a secret."
"I hope they don't find out."
"I'll be very careful." Celestia looked up and saw the beautiful pink flowers of the cherry tree. She had never seen a tree like this before, as there were none in Canterlot, or any in the Dominion of Master Lauren, for that matter. "What is this tree called?"
"Why, it's a Cherry Blossom!" said Discord. He climbed up the tree and sat on a branch. "Come join me up here. Can you climb?"
"I can't climb" Celestia told Discord unfortunately, "but I can fly!" Celestia flew up to the branch and sat down on it next to Discord.
Discord gave Celestia a pat on the back. "It's so nice and quiet here right now. I feel so peaceful."
"I know, Discord, I like it this way" she said, smiling. "Too bad it's not always like this where I'm from."
"Really?" asked Discord. "Then what's it like over there?"
"My little sister Luna is sometimes a pain to deal with. Canterlot is also a very busy place. What's it like where you are?" said Celestia.
"Oh, it's quiet where I live, but with a more empty feeling."
"Do I fill in that emptiness of yours?"
"Yes, yes. you do." Discord spread out his arms for a hug.
"OK" said Celestia, and she wrapped her arms around his.
"I'm so glad you filled up that emptiness in my heart. I know this is only the second time we've met, but already I feel that you're my true love."
"Aww, that's sweet. You know, I really gotta go now, it's almost dinnertime." Celestia flew down from the branch and started walking back towards home.
"Hey, when are you gonna see me next?" Discord called over to her.
"Next week, I hope!" called Celestia back, and then she flew off.
Discord watched as she faded off into the distance. Then he climbed back down the tree and started walking back home. As he walked, he thought about Celestia's return in a week. He's have to sleep another six nights before he could see his love again. Although it would be hard to deal with being away from his love for so long, he knew he'd get used to it. He knew that he couldn't always be with his love at first, but he'd see her more and more as their love became stronger and stronger.
***
A week had gone by. Discord was sitting on the branch of the tree again, waiting for his girl to arrive. He definitely knew she was on her way this time. And there she was now, flying right towards him. "Hey Discord, look!" exclaimed Celestia as she sat down on the branch next to him, waving her butt in his face.
"Wow Celestia, what is it?" asked Discord as he examined the sun that had appeared on her flank.
"I got my cutie mark yesterday!" said Celestia, jumping up and down with delight, which caused the branch to wobble.
"A cutie mark? What's that?" he asked.
Celestia then explained, "When you discover your true purpose, a mark that describes your main purpose in life appears on your flank! Mine is the sun because Master Lauren told me that when I get older, I will be able to raise and lower the sun each day! Won't that be fun?" she smiled, showing off her white horse teeth.
"Guess so" said Discord. "I'm a Draconequus, and Draconequui don't get cutie marks, sadly."
"Please don't be jealous" said Celestia, putting her hoof around his back. "Jealousy can lead to conflict, and I don't want to start one."
"I'm not really jealous. I know that I'll never get a Cutie Mark because I'm not a pony, so I don't feel any jealousy."
"OK, OK. That's all right with me. Hey, even though you won't get a cutie mark, do you know who you want to be when you're older?"
"I hope I can become good when I'm older" said Discord. "I'm gonna be kind and help people out when they're in need! I'll give everyone a helping hand, and make sure that nothing will make the world fall apart into chaos! I will be a peacekeeper!"
"Good luck on that" said Celestia, smiling. However, she felt a feeling of suspicion, she looked into Discord's red eyes and saw a feeling of promising, but also felt a feeling of suspicion. What if he couldn't keep that promise? Sometimes promises might not be kept. She wanted to trust him, but what if something went wrong? What if she had to make the decision of what was right or what she thought was right again? Oh, well. Celestia knew that she was thinking about it too soon and hoped that Discord would keep his promise to be a leader of world peace. "How will you keep world peace?" she asked suspiciously.
"I will make sure all the creatures in Equestria feel very happy" said Discord. "And I will make sure nothing bad ever happens to you, Celestia."
Celestia asked a question that would help her determine if Discord would be able to keep his promise. "That's nice, Discord. Who will you pay more attention to while keeping peace, all the creatures in Equestria, or me?"
"I will pay more attention to you because I love you most of all!" Discord gave Celestia a kiss on the cheek. Celestia responded by giving Discord a sudden kiss on the lips, which surprised him, but he accepted the kiss, and they pressed their soft, warm lips together for a few seconds before letting go. "Thank you, I really appreciated that" said Discord, wiping her saliva off his lips.
"You're welcome, I love you." said Celestia. However, the fact that Discord would save her rather than the rest of Equestria made her feel that Discord, although keeping his promise now, wouldn't keep it in the future. She figured he would do anything to save her. And that anything could be something violent, which was not part of Discord's peaceful promise. For all Celestia knew, Discord could destroy Equestria just to save his love for her. Finally, she asked, "Are you sure that you can keep that promise, Discord?"
"Yes, I'm absolutely super-duper sure!" said Discord enthusiastically.
"That's nice. Sometimes, you just can't keep a promise. I'm not saying you won't, I just want you to be careful. I know how much you love me, but you should show respect for all the other creatures in Equestria, too. We weren't created for each other. We should be nice to others aside from ourselves." explained Celestia.
"But I love you more!" said Discord, thinking that she didn't want to be his love anymore.
"Don't worry" said Celestia, "I will still be your love! I'm just saying, care about others too. It'll help you gain your reputation as a peacekeeper."
"OK, I'll remember!" said Discord, and then he climbed down from the tree and ran back west toward home.
***
Lightning flashed and thunder cracked loudly as the heavy rain beat on Celestia and Luna's bedroom window. Luna was sound asleep, as she had gone to bed early before the thunderstorm, but Celestia, who was too busy thinking about Discord, was kept up, hiding under the covers whenever lightning flashed, followed a few seconds later by thunder. Luna was always calling Celestia a big chicken for being scared of the thunder, and this really annoyed Celestia, as it made her seem less mature than her younger sister. This thought also kept her up, too.
While she was looking at the ceiling, trying to get to bed, Celestia was startled by a loud knocking on her window. She looked out the window and saw Discord, his hands on the glass. Celestia used her magic to open the window and let him in. "What is it, Disco?" asked Celestia.
"Celestia, I can't sleep. Can I crawl into bed with you?" asked Discord desperately.
"Why, sure" said Celestia, "Come on in. I'd be more than happy to let you sleep here. Why can't you sleep? Is it because of the lightning?"
Discord didn't leave an answer, but he jumped through the window and got into bed with her. Closing the window and pulling the covers over them, Celestia lay down and snuggled next to Discord. Discord put his lion's arm around her body. Celestia, feeling the warmth of Discord's fur, was able to quickly fall asleep. A few minutes later and Discord fell asleep while spooning Celestia, and they slept together in bed, just like lovers do.