This is War

It had been three months since that memorable night when princess Twilight Sparkle had defeated the mighty Tirek, and the country was peaceful. After many, many months of hard labor and a fair bit of magic, Equestria finally finished repairing the damage that was caused by the battle. The three pony races started to move on from the pain of losing their magic, and the knowledge that their home was almost stolen from them.  As life slowly returned to normal, Princess Twilight was finally getting a chance to relax, until the mischievous Lord of Chaos appeared at her side…

Discord thought hard, trying his best to decide on a proper description for his current mood. Unamused? No that was too much. Frustrated? That sounded strange. The simple truth is, he was bored; extremely, and utterly bored. He was glad that all of Equestria had forgiven him—well, most of them at least—and recently, he’d been enjoying his new found friendships.

However, under Celestia's orders, he wasn’t allowed to use his powers to help the ponies with the repairs. He had been upset at hearing that, having hoped that if he offered his services, maybe the remaining few would be more likely to forgive him. By their reasoning, the chaos magic he welded was far too unpredictable, and would likely cause more harm than good. He had sulked off after accepting that fact, seeking some form of entertainment.  The most entertainment he found these days came from pulling pranks with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, or the odd crusade with the CMC.

"But that just isn't enough anymore!" Discord exclaimed. "That’s why I'm personally inviting you all to my wonderful home and we’ll play this wonderful board game that I myself have created." He snapped his fingers, a strange old gray box appearing, suspended in midair beside him.

Twilight studied the box carefully, every detail of it under her scrutiny.  She took note of the slightly worn edges and the mismatched patterns along the front. This was a 'Game of Chaos' no doubt. And, by the looks of it, it had been played a few times before. Discord gave a dramatic sigh, pulling a pocket watch from thin air and tapping his foot impatiently. After several minutes of studying the game, Twilight turned towards him. "Alright Discord."

Discord fell to his knees giving the largest puppy eyes he could, the sound of a sad violin playing from nowhere. "Oh, Pllleeeeeaasse!” he begged. "It’s been forever since we’ve..." The music stopped with a crash, he blinked twice as he thought about Twilight’s words. "Wait, what?" he asked, surprised.

Twilight gave him a friendly smile, and before Discord could reply, said, "I needed a break from all the work that’s been going on. Besides we're friends, right? What’s the worst that could happen?"

Discord, jaw still hanging, stared at her. Then he frowned as if disappointed. "Oh phooey! And I spent all of that time putting that sad speech together too,”  he said in a mock pout.

Twilight giggled; she found herself doing that a lot since their friendship had blossomed. "I'm just going to plan a date with my friends, then let them know what’s going on. Why should any of them miss out on the fun?” She turned and levitated the nearest calendar, Discord suddenly popped in front of her in a mailman's uniform, startling her. She thought she would be used to his antics by this point.

"No need dear princess, I have already sent out the invitations." As he spoke, six mini Discords out of the bag and through the window, each one carrying a small envelope in its mouth. Twilight watched as they vanished off into the distance before turning her attention back to Discord.

Discord then grabbed Twilight's calendar, a marker in claw. "I've already booked you for a day's off for next week," he said as he returned the calendar to its owner with a date circled in red ink.

After looking at the date, Twilight turned to Discord eyebrow raised. "I’m sure I had a meeting scheduled for then with the Canterlot nobles. How did you manage to re-schedule that?" Twilight asked curiously. Then, rolling her eyes with a slight chuckle, she added, "Not that I was looking forward to it..."

Discord shot her a devious grin. "Do you really want to know?” he asked as a cream pie popped into existence.

Twilight looked blankly at the pie floating above her. “On second thought, I think I can guess." She giggled lightly before breaking out into a big yawn. Looking through the window she could see the sun slowly setting below the horizon.  "Sweet Celestia! Luna is already raising the moon. I’ve got to get some sleep so I can stay focused in the tax meeting tomorrow with the mayor." Before she started to walk off, she returned her gaze to the draconequus, "Good night, Discord."

He waved while popping into his blue with pink cotton candy clouds pajamas "Good night, Twilight." Then he walked to the window, opened it like a door, jumped on a cotton candy cloud, and laid on it as the cloud floated away into the night sky.

Twilight walked to her bedroom where Spike was sleeping soundly. She glanced at her reading desk and saw an envelope on it. Spike must have gotten an invite too, she thought as she crawled into her bed. wondering about what she had gotten her and her friends into with Discord’s antics.

Discord looked up at the night sky, planning. However unlike previously, this planning had no malicious or evil intent behind it. Ugh, how am I supposed to tell them?! He gave a long yawn, settling deeper into the snugness of the cloud. Never mind, I need to get some sleep, got a boat load of pranks to pull tomorrow... He gave a small smile. I can deal with it all… tomorrow. He turned on his side, sinking deeper into the cotton candy, and allowing the darkness to lull him to sleep.