Chapters Author's Note
I have done some editing tell me if I have missed anything.
Chapter 1
Discord’s eyes snapped opened. Quickly, he sat bolt upright. A cold sweat had accumulated on his back. Startled and breathing heavily, he looked about the dark surroundings of his room. For a second he was disoriented by the darkness, then, letting out a sigh of relief as reality set in and laying his head back down on his pillow, his breathing returned to normal.
“A dream," he murmured, "only a dream, nothing to get concerned about…. right?”
Discord closed his eyes and tried to reassure himself. He might have succeeded if this specific dream had not been a recurring event for the past month.
Discord tried to get the sheets adjusted to be more comfortable, as he usually did after the dream. He could not help but wonder why he was so scared of this dream.
No, not scared! He was the Lord of Chaos! Of course, he was not scared of a simple dream, something that could not hurt him. He was just……. shocked. Yeah, that was it! He was shocked that this dream kept on recurring. That was all!
Discord gave up on trying to get comfortable. He realized he would never get to sleep after that dream. He got out of bed and snapped his fingers to draw back the curtains. Early morning sunlight came through the windows and illuminated his room, revealing to him the residual effects of his dream.
Discord let out a groan at his new surroundings. His once chaotic room with floating furniture, ever changing coloured floor, concave mirror and bed attached to the ceiling, was now normal. Everything had reverted itself to its normal, bland, state as if the Lord of Chaos, himself wasn't living here.
The first time this had happened he had thought that Celestia or Luna had turned his room back to its normal state as a joke, or they had moved him to a different part of the castle. When he had confronted them about it, though, they had no idea what he was talking about. He had eventually put two and two together and figured that somehow his dream, or himself while he was dreaming, undid his chaotic magic.
Discord conjured a cuckoo clock to check the time: 7:50. He still had just over 2 hours before he had to go to the throne room to receive his duties for the day. He had a pretty good idea of what they were going to be.
He would have to go to the Canterlot museum and help provide security, cleanup, and anything else that the princesses wanted him do to help out with the Lunar Convergent Celebration.
Discord gave a sigh, “Being reformed can be such a drag sometimes."
He could not use his full magical potential for his own chaotic needs on a regular basis, and he got bossed around constantly by two prissy, pony princesses. In fact, the only constant and regular plus to being reformed was his reformer and best, closest friend, Fluttershy.
Discord sighed dreamily as a smile began to form on his face. His heart quickened its pace at the thought of her. Strangely, it had been doing that for a while now and it only seemed to happen when he thought of or was around Fluttershy, among other weird side effects.
He wondered if the dream and the irregular heart beat were linked somehow. He doubted it .
CUCKOO!!!!!
CUCKOO!!!!!
CUCKOO!!!!!
CUCKOO!!!!!
Discord's thoughts were interrupted by the cuckoo clock striking 8:00. He snapped his eagle talon making the clock vanish.
“Well, time for breakfast!”
Discord snapped his lion’s paw and a glass triangular table appeared in midair. He rubbed his mismatched hands together in anticipation,
“Now what to have, brain food or junk food?” he mused to himself, pulling his goat beard in thought. “Well, since I did eat the last few pages of that Daring Do book yesterday, I guess that means it's the noggin's turn for nutrition."
Discord snapped his eagle talon and a bowl full of paper with words beginning with the letter “A” appeared in it. Discord summoned a fork and sat down in midair at the triangular table. He was about to dig into his meal but then reconsidered.
“Well, while I am at it,"
He snapped his lions paw and the white marble floor changed into a checkerboard -like pattern, with multi -colored squares, which changed color at random periods of time. Discord's bed reattached to the ceiling now hanging upside down. The furniture started to float around and his dressing mirror turned convex.
“On second thought,” he said out loud, “I think concave.”
Another snap of his talons and the mirror formed into a concave shape.
The only thing that remained normal in Discord’s now chaotic room was a picture of Fluttershy and himself on a little table floating next to his bed.
Satisfied with the remodeling for the day, Discord dug into his breakfast.
After eating all of the “A” section of the dictionary, Discord summoned a pink crazy straw and sucked up the bowl like it was a liquid. Once the bowl had disappeared, he slurped up the pink swirly straw as well, like a strand of spaghetti.
"That handles the dishes," He thought to himself.
Discord snapped his lion’s paw and the triangle table disappeared.
Letting out another sigh, he lounged back in midair, putting his lion paw and eagle talon behind his head. He snapped his tail feathers, and a grandfather clock appeared.
The clock read 8:45. He still had an hour before he had to be in the throne room.
Casually, he floated over to the window, giving him a good view of the Canterlot Castle gardens. His eyes lazily wandered over the grounds and the pony gardeners walking around tending the plants or cleaning the statues. Discord’s eyes stopped wandering when they locked onto a familiar pedestal, and a shiver crawled up and down his back, as he looked at the spot where he had once stood frozen.
Whether the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna put his room in plain sight of the pedestal, as some sort joke or as a warning that if he ever reverted to his old chaotic ways, they would still have a spot in the gardens waiting for him, he had no idea .
The elements of harmony may be gone but he would not put it past Celestia and Luna to have a contingency plan that would revert him back to his sedentary life. There was also Twilight’s new rainbow power thing to think about, though it was still unclear to him if she was able to use it again.
Either way, Discord had no intention of reverting to his old chaotic ways. Not because he didn't like chaos, but because he did not want to hurt Fluttershy and his other friends ….again.
Discord's mind wandered back to the Tirek incident and how he betrayed all of Equestria. Worse than all that though, he had betrayed Fluttershy. The one pony that stood up for him and the only one that ever saw the good in him.
It had been months since his betrayal but he still felt the guilty sting of his actions. The image of Fluttershy in the cage, with tears running down her yellow cheeks, was still fresh in his mind. Knowing he was the reason for those tears filled him with so much pain that he knew it would never leave him and would forever serve as a reminder of what he could have lost.
Why have they forgiven me? Why has she forgiven me? The questions had plagued his mind constantly after his betrayal.
It was only on one of their get togethers that he got his answer, and when the strange new feelings for Fluttershy had started.
It was late in the afternoon on a green hill, littered with flowers, overlooking Twilight Sparkle's new castle. Discord had transported Fluttershy and himself to the spot to have their get together.
“Discord, is everything okay?” Fluttershy asked.
Discord tensed at Fluttershy's voice, but his eyes remained glued to the cup of tea he clasped in his mismatched hands.
“Hmmmm?” Discord said, pretending he hadn't heard the question.
“Is everything okay?” Fluttershy repeated. "You haven't been acting like yourself all day.”
Discord didn't respond. He just looked at his tea, thinking himself unworthy to gaze into the teal eyes of the pony in front of him. The reflection of the beast in the tea was the only thing he could look at, and he hated it .
“Fluttershy, can I ask you a question?” Discord asked in a soft voice.
“Of course, Discord, you can ask me anything, but can you ask your question while looking at me.” Fluttershy replied.
Discord slowly put down the cup and looked and the yellow pegasus properly, for the first time that day.
“How?” Discord asked.
Fluttershy's brows furrowed in confusion, “How what, Discord?”
“How can they forgive me? How can you forgive me, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy still had a confused look on her face, unsure of what Discord was talking about.
Discord turned away from Fluttershy, unable to look into her eyes any longer.
“I should be turned back to stone, locked up with Tirek, or at least banished from Equestria for what I did.”
Horror and realization dawned on Fluttershy at what Discord was talking about.
“Discord," she softly said.
Discord continued, not hearing Fluttershy.
“I helped Tirek in his attempt to take over Equestria, hurting so many ponies in the process." Discord's voice was rising in volume as he continued his rant.
“Discord," Fluttershy repeated a little louder.
“But the worst thing of all was that I hurt you, Fluttershy ” Discord said.
Time seemed to stop then. Nothing moved, and silence seemed to last an eternity.
“I hurt... you, Fluttershy," Discord repeated softly, “and all because I believed that I was under another imprisonment.”
Discord turned to face Fluttershy, looking into her teal eyes. Discord's face was a mask of full of woe. “But here we are, just having a picnic like nothing ever happened. I should be punished for what I've done. The ponies of Ponyville should despise me the most for all my actions just like the Canterlot snobs. But no... it’s the complete opposite. Most of the ponies of Ponyville now accept me, and the princesses have rewarded me with land so I can relieve my chaotic needs. Sure it's a wasteland, and I am supposed to turn everything back to normal when I am done, but I don’t deserve a thing.”
Discord turned away from Fluttershy not having the strength to look into her eyes.
“Ponies have called me a monster before, but I have never seen myself as one until now. A monster does not deserve to be forgiven, a monster shou-”
“Now, you stop using that word right now, Discord!!!” Fluttershy yelled, her usual quiet timid voice gone. “You're not a monster, Discord, and any pony that says otherwise does not know you at all.”
Discord turned to face Fluttershy again, startled at the change in her attitude .
“But..But.... Fluttershy how can you say that after what I did to you? ” Discord said, shock evident in his voice at what she was saying.
“You made a mistake, Discord. Everyone makes those, but that does not give you or anyone the right to call you a monster.” Her usual quiet voice returned.
“But Fluttershy, that mistake of mine hurt so many ponies… it hurt you," Discord repeated, in a whisper.
There was a moment of silence.
“Discord, I forgive you for what you did. Every pony forgives you for what you did.”
“But why or how can you, Fluttershy," Discord cried, “after what I did to you?”
Another moment of silence passed before Fluttershy spoke.
“You did hurt me, Discord ...when you betrayed us.” Fluttershy said.
Her eyes were misting up and Discord could see tears starting to form in them at the memory.
Discord felt his heart fall as Fluttershy said those words. He had closed his eyes trying to rid himself of the memory of her in the cage.
“But how did that make you feel, when you betrayed me... us?" She added that last word quickly as she wiped her face of the loose tears.
Discord opened his eyes and automatically said the first word that came to mind, "Regret... the minute I put you in that cage, Fluttershy, I regretted it. I couldn't even bear to see your magic be drained by Tirek an-.”
Discord was cut off by Fluttershy putting a hoof on his lips. A smile was forming on her face, which made his heart rise for some reason.
“I know you did. Do you know why I knew you regretted your decision, Discord, without you telling me?” Fluttershy asked.
Discord shook his head slightly, entranced by her radiant smile.
“When you said I was worth all the magic in Equestria, that's when I knew you regretted everything you did.” Fluttershy moved her hoof away from his lips. "Oh, and Discord, you're forgetting you helped us defeat Tirek, as much as you helped him.”
“How do you figure that, Fluttershy?” Discord asked, after finally finding his words.
“Well, you were the one that figured out what the keys were to open the box, and you were also the one that gave Twilight the final key. Though more importantly, I find, is that my friends consider you as one of their friends as well." Fluttershy finished.
“Even Rainbow Dash?” Discord asked.
“Even Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy replied.
“How about Angel?”
“Even..” she paused, “well, he might need some coaxing, but I am sure he'll come around."
Discord smiled, but it soon fell.
“I don’t know, Fluttershy. I still feel that I was let off too easy. What about that land the princesses awarded me? Seems to me like I am getting rewarded for negative behavior.”
“Discord, you should have received that land to spread your chaos in the first place. It was wrong of us to stop you from using your chaos magic. Chaos is a part of you and for us to stop you from using it was completely wrong of us.”
“I never felt like I needed to use my magic when I was with you, Fluttershy.” Discord quickly moved his head away. He could feel his cheeks going warm. Why had he said that?
Out of the corner of his eye, Discord could see Fluttershy blush as well, but her face was soon obscured by her mane, so any other expressions were lost behind a curtain of gossamer pink. An awkward silence overcame them before Fluttershy tentatively cleared her throat. Discord turned his head to the pegasus. Her mane had been cleared from her face.
“You said you thought you were getting let off too easy, but I don't think that's the case. The only pony that’s still being rough on you and still has not forgiven you for your actions is yourself, Discord," Fluttershy said.
“If you won't forgive yourself for what happened, it won't make a difference. Every pony in Equestria does. If you don't forgive yourself, you're doing a lot more harm to the ponies that are closest to you.”
Fluttershy took Discord’s paw in both of her hooves and looked Discord in the eye. Fluttershy’s teal eyes sparkled in the setting sun and Discord could feel his paw getting a bit sweaty and his heart getting warm for some odd reason.
“ I know it's not easy to forgive yourself, Discord.” Fluttershy said. “Believe me, when I hurt Pinkie Pie and Rarity, I shut myself away from the world because I felt so guilty about what I said to them. That only made things worse for myself. If Rarity and Pinkie Pie hadn't come back, I would still be in my cottage, locked away from the world, wallowing in my self pity.”
Discord had been listening to Fluttershy's words so intently, that he hadn't realized how close his face had gotten to hers. He was about to pull his head back, but then Fluttershy removed one of her hooves from his paw and placed it on his cheek. The act seemed to paralyze him and forced him to look into her teal eyes, not that he minded!
“I don't want this gloomy, moping Discord. I want the one I know," Fluttershy said, "the confident, chaotic, fun one that always makes me laugh. I want the Discord that I know back. I want the Discord that I lo-…”
There was a sudden pause as Fluttershy pulled herself away from him and seemed to find something very interesting in the grass which seemed to captivate her. Her mane had fallen and was now obscuring her face, but Discord could have sworn he had seen Fluttershy blush again.
She misses me? She misses the old me, the chaotic me. How is that even possible? Discord looked at Fluttershy. How was she possible? All of his life he had been persecuted because of his differences from society. In the end, it finally drove him to turn into what society viewed him as, a monster.
But this pegasus saw through his appearance and his past actions and found something in him that he never knew he possessed.
Discord absentmindedly put his claw over his heart, it seemed to have warmed up and increased in pace for some reason.
It was then he came to a conclusion. For her, for Fluttershy he would do it. He would do anything for her.
“Are you sure you want the old me back, Fluttershy? ” Discord inquired.
Fluttershy looked at Discord and nodded “Yes”.
Discord grinned.
“Well then..” Discord said as he stretched out his arm and snapped his fingers, a plane ticket
“Then consider the boring me on vacation," Discord said.
“He better be going on a permanent vacation!” Fluttershy giggled.
“If that is what you want my dear, then, you can be sure he is.”
Discord clicked his fingers and a ring of blue coloured clouds encircled the hill. Then, there was a rumbling sound that came from the clouds and caramel popcorn hailed around the two of them.
“Not cotton candy and chocolate milk?” Fluttershy asked.
“I felt like a change, you don't mind do you?”
Fluttershy’s smile seemed to brighten the whole field.
“No, I don't," she said.
Fluttershy felt perfect in his arms, as though she always was meant to be apart of them, just like a piece fitting into place in a jigsaw puzzle. Discord closed his eyes, happily enjoying the fragrant smell of Fluttershy’s mane. He did not know how long the embrace lasted, a second, a minute, or an hour. He didn't care. All he knew was that he never wanted it to end.
He felt Fluttershy slowly pulling her arms back. Reluctantly, Discord did likewise. He felt Fluttershy move slightly so that her face was facing the side of Discord's head. He felt a pair of rose petal-like lips make contact with his cheek briefly. An electric shock seemed to go through Discord and he felt his cheek heat up at the spot where Fluttershy's lips had made contact.
Discord opened his eyes expecting to see Fluttershy sitting in front of him, but instead was greeted the sight of an angel. Her coat seemed to radiate a yellow glow in the setting sun, shining like that of a crystal pony. Her pink mane seemed to be flowing in a breeze which did not exist. A pair of dove like wings were furled at her sides and Discord started to wish that she would unfurl them so he might see their true beauty. Most striking of all were her teal eyes, that stared into his; they seemed to sparkle like that of stars in Luna's sky, and enticed him to come closer to the most beautiful mare that he had ever laid eyes on.
It was as though some spell had turned Fluttershy into the most beautiful creature to ever walk or fly in Equestra.
Did a spell turn Fluttershy into this? Discord thought, or I am that ignorant, that I did not see the most beautiful mare in Equestria.
Their gazing was interrupted by a few petals that had driffted into their line of sight.
Both turned at once to see where the petals had come from. They were surprised to see that the blue coloured clouds that had recently hailed caramel popcorn, had now turned snow white and red, yellow, pink, and white rose petals gently drifted down from the white clouds.
Discord was awestruck, not by the sight as much by the fact that he had not meant to change his clouds.
“It’s beautiful," Fluttershy said softly.
Discord turned his head back to Fluttershy. Her face was averted away from him, still looking at the clouds.
Some of the petals had landed on her mane, which only seemed to add to her beauty.
“Yes, you are.” Discord said softly.
“What was that, Discord?” Fluttershy said, as she focused on him.
“O.. Uhm..the clouds ….you're right ...they’re beautiful.." Discord quickly lied.
“O...I thought that...never mind," Fluttershy replied, looking back to the clouds.
Fluttershy's ears had fallen slightly and, was it his imagination, or was that disappointment in her voice?
He shook his head to rid himself of the idea. What would Fluttershy have to be disappointed about?
Himself, just holding her in his arms; the sweet scent of her luxurious pink mane in his nostrils.
His heart seemed to turn into butterfly, just like the one that made up her cutie mark, simply by recalling the action.
“I should really get that checked out” he murmured to himself .
BONG!
BONG!
BONG!!
BONG!
Discord turned his head to look at the grandfather clock striking in the new hour.
He was a little shocked, he had completely forgotten that the clock was there.
Discord floated over to the clock. It read 9:00. He had one more hour before he had to be in the throne room.
“What to do? What to do?” he muttered to himself. “I could play a few pranks on the gardeners or guards or maybe I can go to my chaos grounds."
But he didn't really feel like doing any of that for some odd reason.
“I know," he said, snapping his fingers, as a light bulb appeared between his horn and antler for emphasis, of his bright idea ..
“I’ll write to Fluttershy.”
With that said he floated up to his bed. Snapping his fingers, a sheet of paper appeared along with an ink well. Then plucking one of his blue feathers from his wing to use as a quill, he proceeded to write.
Dear Fluttershy,
I know this letter might come as a little surprise seeing as how we are going to be seeing each other tomorrow, so I will try to make it brief.
The reason I am writing to you is just for the fun of it, as writing letters to you is the only source of enjoyment I am allowed to have on a regular basis by the two prissy pony princesses here, but I do enjoy writing letters to you just as much as I enjoy causing chaos. But both writing letters and causing chaos pale in comparison to when I am with you. I value that time above any other.
Anyway, I won't tell you all that has transpired since we last met or else I won't have anything surprising when I see you tomorrow.
With love,
Discord
Discord stopped writing and inspected the “with love”.
He had never composed a letter " with love" at the end of it.
Why did those simple words make him confused, and make him feel funny inside.
Could I be in love? Discord pushed that thought out of his head.
Impossible, he was the Lord of Chaos and Master of Disharmony, he could not be in love.
Then again, he used to think that way about friendship, and now he could not imagine living
Discord's heart felt like it did a somersault and tripled it's pace just by thinking of Fluttershy’s friendship.
He continued to stare at the word "love", totally oblivious to his chaotic surroundings. He did not even hear the grandfather clock striking in the new hour .
“Why is this a problem?” He finally said to himself.
Then something dawned on him, “Could.. could ….. I….be….. in ..love…with….Flutter-”
“DDDIIISSSSCCCCOOOORRRDDDD!!!!!!!”
His train of thought was interrupted by a familiar Princess of the Night's royal Canterlot voice.
“O what could they want already?” he mumbled in an irritated fashion.,
“It's not even time for me to be there yet” . He looked at grandfather clock at his bedside; the cloak read 10:15.
His eyes widened in surprise, “Wow, time flies when you are contemplating your writing!”
He turned the grand father clock into a green envelope and slid his note inside. He wrote on the envelope “To Fluttershy” and sealed it.
He then scratched his chin in thought. "Better send this by rush delivery if I want the letter to be there by the end of the day”
Discord produced another piece of paper from thin air, and folded it a few times, trying to make it into a paper airplane. Instead, he got an origami crane.
“It has wings at least," he mumbled.
He teleported to the window and breathed on the crane. It started to flap its wings and turn its paper head to Discord.
Discord handed it the green envelope, which it took in it’s paper beak.
“Take this to Fluttershy, she lives in Ponyville."The crane nodded and saluted with its left wing. It flew from Discord's hand and made for the window.
“Wait!” Discord cried “Let me…” The paper crane slammed into the window and slid down, “Open the window." He finished.
“Bird brain," he muttered to himself, “I knew I should've gone with the airplane." The crane did not seem to hear his words, or if it did, did not seem to care.
Discord opened the window. The paper crane flew up, stopped, turned to Discord did another salute and started flapping in the direction of Ponyville.
"Well... its a better flyer than the average mail mare." He thought to himself as he closed the window. “The sooner I get this day over with the sooner tomorrow starts, and I get to spend it with Fluttershy."
His heart, as usual, skipped a beat at the mention of her name.
Discord teleported outside the doors of the throne room. Arriving in flash of white light and startling the two royal guards in the process, Discord grinned at the startled guards. They were both pegasi, one had a snow white coat with dark blue eyes, the other pegasus had a dark chocolate brown coat with mint green eyes.
“ Hello gents, I believe I am expected.”he said with a grin.
The guards recovering from their initial scare, scowled at the draconequus.
“ The princess expected your presence 15 minutes ago.” The white Pegasus stated.
“Well, I needed to make sure that my mane was presentable for the graaaaand princesses of Equestria” Discord replied, snapping his fingers to produce a brush, and proceeding to comb his short mane.
“I shall notify your arrival to the princesses.” The green eyed guard stated.
The guard disappeared behind the door, but Discord could hear the guard’s voice stating his arrival.
The guard soon reappeared motioning to Discord. Discord snapped his eagle talon, making the brush disappear, and went into the throne room.
When Discord entered he saw the two sisters on their thrones both wearing deadpan expressions. They motioned for all of the guards, courtiers and royal staff to leave.
When the last of the castle staff left the throne room, their full attention moved to Discord.
“You’re late ” Luna stated flatly .
Discord grinned “And you’re astute, but I believe the term is fashionably late.”
Discord snapped his eagle talon and a black tuxedo with a crimson bow tie dressed him.
“ I thought I should look my best if I am in the presence of royalty ”
Luna glared at Discord in response.
“Discord you are expected to be here at ten o'clock, to receive your duties unless Luna or I, say otherwise” Cleasta stated sternly.
“Oh, come on! I know what my duties are today, they are going to be the exact same duties I have been doing for the past 2 weeks. Go to the Canterlot museum, help and I've to do one of these three things,”
“ Organize” Discord summoned his waiter suite.
“Clean up” he changed into his French maid attire and made an act of dusting with his feather duster.
“Or provide security” he then appeared wearing his police officers guise.
“Or all three” he appeared wearing ,a mismatch of all, three of the outfits. His waiter’s uniform with the French maid's skirt, with the police hat and holding the feather duster in his eagle talon .
“Discord” Celestia said sternly, already tired of Discords shenanigans, “ You are wasting time that could be used for the preparation for the Lunar Convergence
Celestia could not help but smile a bit at the look of shock and fear that was now on creeping onto the draconequus face.
She rarely used suspending his free day as a threat , because she knew all too well that he spent that day with Fluttershy. Sometimes both the sisters thought that Discord and Fluttershy were something more than friends.
But when Discord was being stubborn, or a bit too much of a prankster she knew that threatening his day off would always confine him. Discord would never risk the time he spent with Fluttershy.
Discord’s chaotic costume disappeared and in its place a was a face of wide eyed terror.
“Y-y-you can't do that” he stuttered, “We had an agreement that if I did whatever job that needed to be done, I could have 1 day off a week which I could use to do whatever I wanted.”
There was the odd time where he could sneak off to do his own thing for a short time, but that was usually after he finished his jobs for the day.
“As long as that day does not involve spreading chaos throughout Equestria; say for your appointed areas” Luna added.
“That goes without saying.” He replied, rolling his eyes.
“That rule only applies if you have finished all your jobs, Discord” Celestia stated “ and it looks like that may not be the case if you keep on bickering and delaying time.”
Discord surrendered at this point. “ All right! All right! What would you have me do your Highness?” Discord surrendered at this point.
“ You will go to the Canterlot Natural History Museum!” Celestia said.
“Big surprise there,” he thought to himself.
“ Once there” Luna continued “ You are to find Prince Shining Armorer, he will give you instructions on what to do ”
“OOOOOOOO, When did the princes and princess of the crystal empire arrive?” Discord asked.
“Princess Cadance shall not arrive until later this day,” Luna said, “The prince however, arrived early this morning and went straight to the museum to do his
Discord rolled his eyes and raised his mismatched hands in surrender.
“ All right , I can take a hint I am going , I will give your regards to the prince then. ”
And with that Discord snapped his lion paw and was gone.
The Canterlot Museum was a large, elongated, white building with intricate symbols covering the outside pillars that lead to the entrance. It had 4 floors, not including the basement, with wide windows on each of the floors.
Ordinarily the museum was a quiet place where tourists, school groups and professors would mill about.
It was currently host to a number of work ponies going about their various jobs of moving flood lights into position, carrying banners to hang on the museum's entrance, and other such jobs for the celebration.
Discord appeared outside the Canterlot museum doors, startling several pony workers.
A number of the work ponies shot Discord an assortment of stares, which raged from shock to fear to loathing .
Discord had been used to being stared at like this ever since he was a young draconequus , but since his betrayal, the stares increased in frequency. Even with the announcement of his reformation both before and after the his betrayal, most ponies still did not trust him .
He often had to go in disguise as a pony to avoid persecution from most ponies. The only reason he did not disguise himself all the time was because it limited most of his powers and there were always some parts of his mismatched anatomy that stayed through his transformation.
Although he could not blame the Canterlot ponies for their distrust, he had done little to earn their trust in the first place. Most of the ponies left him alone anyway and besides, he did not really want to be friends with a group of snobbish, self centered aristocrats; Discord would take Fluttershy or any of her friends any day of the week. Particularly Fluttershy!
His heart felt like it did a little somersault as the thought of Fluttershy came into his mind again.
He ignored the stares that the ponies gave him and walked through the museums wide mahogany doors (literally walked through).
Once inside the museum Discord took in his surroundings.
The atrium was full of ponies milling about moving, display cases, tables ,chairs and setting up what looked like a podium, where most likely one, if not all four, princesses would give a speech.
Discord looked up, hearing a tinkling , he saw a team of pegasi flying what looked like the head of a huge magnifying glass, into the museum's glass cupola like ceiling. At the center of the atrium calling out orders, was none other than prince Shining Armor himself.
The prince seemed fully focused on ordering the team of pegasi and a hoof full of unicorns, that were under the strange optical lense with their horns ready.
Discord snapped his fingers and was at the prince’s side in a flash of white light.
“ My, my, that must be the second biggest lens I have ever seen.” Discord said
“Discord?” the prince cried out.
“ The one and only.” The draconequus said with mocking bow.
“You’re late” Shining Armor stated flatly
“My! It seems Luna is not the only one that is astute to day”
A look of confusion spread across Shining Armor face, but he shrugged it off.
“ Any way now that you’re here ,we could really use your help with attaching the lens to the ceiling, Discord.”
Discord looked up at the team of pegasi holding the lens right under the cupola roof.
“Looks to me like they’re doing a good job of it so far”
“Yes so far. Although I doubt the pegasi can hold the lens for much longer, let alone attach it safely ,which is why this team of unicorns and myself are here to catch the glass if anything goes wrong.” He made a gesture with his left front hoof pointing to the group of unicorns before pointing his hoof at Discord, “ And the reason we need your help right now is in fastening the lens safely in place”.
“ Is that all?” Discord said flexing his fingers “ well that shouldn’t be a problem.”
With a snap of his lions paw, the lens was safely attched to the glass sealing . Leaving the pegasi holding nothing .
“Well, does that conclude my duties for to day ?” Discord asked hopefully, even though he already knew the answer.
“You wish!” Shining Armor chuckled.
“ Yes well, you can’t blame me for trying, what’s next on the agenda ? ”
Shining Armor levitated a small scroll over to Discord.
“That scroll will tell you everything you need to get done today”. Shining Armor stated.
“O this doesn’t seem to….” Discord voice trailed of as he unfurled the small scroll , only to have at least 6 feet of it hit the ground and roll off .
“I think these jobs will keep you busy for the day” The prince said cheerfully.
Discord turned to Shining Armour after getting over his initial shock.
“So did Twilight make this for you to give to me, or does list making just run in the family ? ”.
Fluttershy was out in her garden, she had just finished feeding her chickens and was now tending to her lush garden. She was softly humming a song to herself as she flew over her garden, water can held in her front hooves, gently pouring the contents over her blossomed flowers. She heard a soft twittering and turned her head to see a turquoise colored hummingbird.
“ Oh, why hello there Mr. Hummingwing, how are you today?”
Hummingwing gave a few chirps in response.
“I am happy to hear that you’re having a good day as well ”. Fluttershy replied,smiling brightly.
“Would you like to drink some of the nectar from my flowers?” Fluttershy asked, “ I know you normally drink sugar water from the hummingbird feeder, but I thought
Hummingwing gave few cheerful tweets.
“You're welcome, but be sure to leave some flowers for the bees. If you don’t mind that is .”
Hummingwing dive-bombed a group of tulips and happily started sucking away.
Fluttershy looked happily at her hummingbird friend, before turning her attention back to watering the rest of her plants.
Fluttershy landed in front of the white rabbit
“Hello Angel bunny, is everything ok?”
Angel made a motion with his front paws, of holding some thing and biting down on it.
“ Are you hungry?” she inquired.
Angel nodded his head vigorously.
“Well I guess it is almost time for lunch ”
Fluttershy placed the watering can down. “All right would you like a big yummy, carrot and daisy salad?”
Angel rubbed his chin, with one of his white paws in thought, and then nodded vigorously, causing his ears to flop about wildly.
“All right !” Fluttershy said with a bright smile lighting up her features.
Fluttershy walked up the path that lead to her cottage, Angel hopping right behind her.
Along the way to her cottage Fluttershy gave cherry hellos to her animal friends.
“Now Angel, while I am in the kitchen getting your lunch ready, you can get me your bowl. ” Fluttershy said as she opened the door.
Angel nodded his head in response and hopped inside, Fluttershy walked in after her white bunny and shut the door behind her.
Fluttershy turned her head and gasped in horror. A small bird like swallowtail was flattened against her window and slowly sliding down it.
“O MY GOODNESS I AM SO SO SORRY,I DIDN’T SEE THERE, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?! O PLEASE TELL YOUR NOTE HURT MR……bird? ”
Fluttershy’s voice trailed off as she got her first good look at what slammed into her window, and was now rubbing its head, with a white wing.
Her first guess of it being a bird was not that far off, but it was unlike any of the birds she knew. This one was not made out of feathers and muscle, instead the bird looked like it was entirely made out of paper , like an origami crane.
In fact, Fluttershy realized, that’s what it was; a living paper bird, spread out on the ground in front of her.
“Hm, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked she took a step forward and heard a soft crackle from under her hoof. She looked down to see a green envelope.
“Oh, is this yours?” She asked taking the her hoof of the envelope.
The paper crane shook his head and shot forward, grabbed the green envelope in its beak, and flew up to Fluttershy’s eye level and started gesturing with its beak.
“Mmm, Is the letter for me?” Fluttershy asked more tentatively.
“Thank you then” Fluttershy said as she took the green envelope in her mouth. Once the envelope was out of the cranes beak, it did a salute and reverted back to it’s lifeless form, and fell lightly to the ground.
Fluttershy looked at the now lifeless crane and then the letter in her mouth wondering who could have sent them .
She shrugged the crane seemed harmless. Fluttershy gently picked up the crane in her front hooves and fluttering back inside to her couch, she lay the crane down and examined the envelope.
Fluttershy gently turned the envelope over in her hooves until she saw her name in all too familiar writing .
A smile spread across her face “Discord.” She said, “Well that explains the crane” she thought to herself.
Fluttershy eagerly tore open the green envelope, to read the contents.
Discord had been sending letters far more frequently, but she did not care, on the contrary she loved reading his letters but she loved seeing the draconequus far more, though she wouldn't say that to him out right .
Fluttershy’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink at the thought of Discord as she unfolded the letter.
Dear Fluttershy
I know this letter might come as a little surprise seeing as how we are going to be seeing each other tomorrow, so will try to make it brief .
The reason I am writing to is just for the fun of it, seeing how writing letters to you is the only source of enjoyment I am allowed to have on a regular basis , by the two princess ponies presence here, but I do enjoy writing letters to you just as much as I enjoy causing Chaos. But both writing letters and causing chaos pale in comparison to when I am with you. I value that time above any other.
Fluttershy smiled inwardly, the smile soon spread to her face, and her heart did a little flutter of enjoyment at the compliment.
Any way I won't tell you all that has transpired since we last met or else I won't have anything surprising to say when I see you tomorrow.
With love
Discord.
Fluttershy eyes fell upon the last two words, Love Discord. Her pink tail lightly wrapped around her body.
Of all the times Discord and she had been sending letters, this was the time she had seen love at the end of one his letters. He usually sent some thing like ‘friendly neighbourhood draconequus” or something like that but never love.
Fluttershy blushed at the thought of that single word.
Could Discord feel the same way as she felt about him?
Fluttershy sucked in a breath as a hope, that she only had in her dreams came to light.
Could..could ..could it be possibly that Discord...
Fluttershy’s thoughts were interrupted by a rhythmical tapping. She looked away from the letter to see Angels front paws crossed, thumping his back paw on the floor.
In response Angle pulled his food bowl out behind him and threw it down, making a resounding clatter.
Fluttershy pulled back from the sound, and gave a confused look at her white bunny. Then it dawned on her, she had been so caught up with Discord’s letter , she forgot to get Angel his lunch.
“O my goodness Angel I am so sorry!” She put down the letter, picked up Angel’s bowl and flew off to the kitchen.
After Angel and all her other animals were fed, Fluttershy went up to her room taking Discord’s newsletter with her. She lay on her bed carefully rereading the letter.
Thoughts of Discord and his new letter to her, were running through Fluttershy’s mind.
Did he even know what he was writing? Did he know her true feelings for him? Is this his way of returning those feeling?
The questions made Fluttershy’s heart pound even faster and she could feel the start of a blush coming to her cheeks.
Does Discord l-….?
Fluttershy shook her head, trying to clear her head of the thoughts.
“O come on Fluttershy! This letter proves nothing” she said speaking softly to herself, “and besides what would Discord ever see in you, you’re just a shy, wimpy pegasus and even if Discord wanted some pony to love him he could probably create the perfect one with a snap of his fingers.”
Fluttershy shoulders and ears fell as these new thoughts filled her head.
All though, Fluttershy considered, Discord has been sending more letters to her recently. When he was just reformed he sent messages once a week but he had increased in frequency to sometimes 5 times a week, and he has made quite a few unscheduled visits, not that she minded Discord’s unscheduled visits, and increasing letters, on the contrary she loved them, even though he sometimes appeared at awkward times.
Fluttershy knew some ponies still considered Discord a pain and other still judged Discord by his past action, seeing him still as the cruel creature.
But if they gave him a chance, they could see how sweet, gentle and kind he could be, as he was to her.
Fluttershy looked down at the letter again, more precisely she looked at the word love again.
Fluttershy didn’t know when exactly she had developed a crush on the draconequus..
Whether it was Discord’s confidence she loved, or how he would always listen to what she had to say, or how Fluttershy felt so comfortable around him, or maybe it
Fluttershy knew, deep down, that the letter wasn’t really proof that Discord shared the same feeling for her, but she couldn’t help hoping that perhaps Discord felt the same way about her as she did for him.
Fluttershy hugged the letter close to her chest and her tail wrapped around her “A girl can dream can’t she?”
“Angel!?” Fluttershy cried, shocked that her bunny was standing there. “ I-is everything okay?”
Angel nodded his head and pointed a white paw at Fluttershy, and the letter she held to her chest and then back to her.
“O, are you wondering about this letter?” Fluttershy said.
Angel nodded his head.
“ Well um …it’s a letter from someone dear to me.” Fluttershy finally said, she hated lying but she also knew that Angel might not understand her feeling toward Discord.
Angel raised an eyebrow, and looked at Fluttershy skeptically, but then shrugged it off turned around and hop down stairs.
Fluttershy waited till the sound of Angel hopping downstairs disappeared.
She placed Discord’s letter on the bed and walked to her desk , where she did much of her writing to Discord. Fluttershy opened one of the top drawers and pulled out a green rectangular box with pink lace binding. She then walked back to her bed with the box in her mouth.
She lightly placed the box on the bed next to Discords newsletter and crawled back onto the bed.
She then delicately untied the ribbons that held the top of the box together, and lifted the lid to reveal all of Discord’s past letters he had sent to her, all neatly filed by the date when he had written them.
“This one’s my new favorite” Fluttershy softly said to herself with a warm smile placed on her lips.
She gave the letter another read, then hugged it, imagining she was hugging the writer who sent it and put it in the green box.
“Mare can dream” Fluttershy said again, with a bit more confidence in her voice this time “ and you never know that dream could become reality”.
A thought struck Fluttershy. Even though she was seeing Discord tomorrow, perhaps it might be a good idea to send him a letter just to test the water to see if he truly felt the same way as well, and it was only polite, right?
But the letter would not make it for tomorrow-- unless.
“I hope Twilight and Spike won't mind if they send it for me?” She said softly.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Discord and Shining Armour descended the steps that lead down to the natural history museum forum, their trip was done mainly in silence and they did not see any other work ponies about.
When they got to the forum the prince stopped and turned to Discord.
“ah... Discord” Shining said casually “I don't want to seem rude but you should probably change before we go any farther”
“You’re absolutely right, Shining Armour I should ” Discord agreed. A click of his talons, and a dark blue suit with and white dress shirt appeared on him . “ I am going to be with a prince and princess after all, have to look my best, and probably smell my best ” he added.
Discord clicked his talons again and a cologne bottle appeared and floated about him ,spraying him with strong smelling pink mist.
“Discord ..that’s.. not ….. what …I meant!” Shining Armour said between coughs, as he tried to clear the air with his hoof of the noxious fumes.
Discord snapped his lions paw, and the suit as well as the fumes were gone. “I know, you want me change my form” he said with a slight melancholy tone.
Shining Armour lowered his head in shame “ Yes,…. but you should know” he quickly added “that Cadence and I don’t mind your true self , in fact most ponies don’t mind your true self its just…. well” he trailed off.
“The rest..” Discord said. He had a hard time believing Shining Armour’s word, that most ponies did not mind his true self.
The only ponies that he knew who could stand him and see him as a friend were twelve individuals plus one dragon.
There was a silence between the two.
“Well” Discord finally said. “ We would not want to keep your miss waiting”
And in a flash of white light the draconequus was gone, in its’ place was a unicorn with grey coat, a black mane and a cutie mark of a tornado. The only thing that remained of Discord’s true form were his eye coloring and his horn was blue, like that of his goat horn.
The prince looked Discord over in his new pony form.“ You're going to need to cover up the horn or lose it, Discord.” he finally said.
Discord raised his eyes to his horn.
“Fine” Discord said . His horn glowed blue and a black top hat appeared covering his horn. “ Anything else , or can we go to lunch?” he asked a little hotly.
“ Na, we’re good” Shining Armour said, turning on his hoofs, making his way to the doors. Discord trailing behind him, getting used to the feel of his pony form.
They opened the doors and were greeted by the warm sun. At the foot of the steps, that lead up to the museums, they saw a pink Alicorn.
“Cadence!” the prince cried excitedly, and ran down the steps to embrace his wife.
Cadence, looked up to where the voice was coming from and grinned at the site of her husband , galloping down the steps toward her “Shining” she cried .
“How are things at the museum ?”she asked
“The preparations are going great,” Shining Armour said. “
“Surprisingly ye-“ the prince was cut off.
“Ah, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, such an honour to meet you”
Cadence looked away from her husband, at the new speaker.
Descending the steps was a grey pony, wearing a top hat and sunglasses, a grin plastered on his face.
He walked up to her so casually which was unusual, though she did not mind, most ponies were uneasy approaching her due to her high class.
The stallion walked up to her and gave a deep bow, “ It has been a while, Cadence, but I am sure you remember me?”
Cadence’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion and was about to apologise to the pony, about not remembering . Until he lowered his sunglasses revealing a pair of yellow and red eyes and, slightly raised his top hat revealing a blue horn.
Cadence expression of confusion changed instantly turned to one of recognition .
“O how could I ever forget about you, Dustball” Cadence said cheerfully.
It was Discord turn to mimic Cadence’s earlier confused look, “ Dustball?” he said.
Shining Armour and Cadence, shared a laugh at the confused expression on the lord of chaos, it was not often Discord was the one confused.
“Dustball?” Discord repeated.
“Your undercover name.” the prince whispered in his ear.
“You couldn't have let me choose my undercover name.” Discord muttered.
“You probably would have chosen such a strange name , that everyone will know it’s you” Shining said bluntly.
“Still you couldn't have chosen something that goes with my cutie mark, like,” Discord, put a hoof to his mouth, in thought. “Like, Tornado, or Whirlwind, perhaps Cyclone, or can I at least be cold Dust Devil.”
“Discord”. Cadence said, in a stern tone. “ Do you want to go to lunch with use or not, because if so Dustball is your given name.”
Discord eyed Cadence ,behind his sun glasses. Becoming a regular princess this one is , Discord thought to himself.
“Great” Cadence said in a now cheery tone, clapping her hooves together. “lets get going to lunch or we might take the rest of the day away”
0000000
The couple tried to get Discord involved in the conversation. But he had retreated into the deepest parts of his mind, thinking of the best way to phrase his question of love to Cadence.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he was starting to trail behind the princess and prince, and did not see them stop.
“Ugh” Shining Armour said as Discord walked into his back, causing them both to lose their balance and fell on top of another in unceremonious spill.
“Shining” Cadence cried, rushing to where the two unicorns lay sprawled. “are you two okay?”
“ I’m good” Shining Armour replied as he extracted himself from the mess of limbs and bodies and got shakily to his hooves.
“Dustball, how about you?” the prince asked as Discord dusted himself off
“Who?” Discord said
Cadence and Shining looked about uneasily as some ponies stated to gather at the spectacle.
“You, Dustball,” Cadence said “ are you okay”, she said slowly and methodically.
It took Discord a moment to remember that Dustball, was his undercover name.
“O ya I am good, well except for …..”
“Except what?” Shining Armour asked.
“ Everything is upside down” Discord said.
Shining and Cadence shared a deadpan face.
“That’s because you're on your back” Cadence stated.
“O.. well that would explain it” Discord said, as he got up off his back quickly, and dusted himself off, feeling more than a bit embarrassed.
“ And here I thought some handsome, smart, charming, hilarious, draconequus, was having some fun, in flipping the world upside down, for the enjoyment for all ponies” Discord said with a grin.
Cadence and Shining Armour expressions immediately turned to one of amusement.
“ If said draconequus were to do such a thing, Dustball, then he would lose his vacation time and spare day.” Cadence said.
Discord blinked in bewilderment “I have vacation time?”
“O look we’re at the Pivoting Pegasus ” Shining Armour quickly said , before Discord could blow his cover any further.
“Remember this place Cadence, we used to come here when we dated in at the Canterlot Academy.”
Cadence turned to her husband, and smiled “ How could I forget Shining, this is where you brought me the night when you proposed to me.”
“One of, if not the best thing that I did” , Shining Armour said. He then leaned over and kissed his wife on the lips.
Discord rolled his eyes at the couple’s affection. And looked around to see a small group of ponies forming around them. Most seemed focused on the royals of the Crystal Empire
Discord cleared his throat, “ Well if you two are done reminiscing, can we go in? I am starving.” And with that said he turned and made his way to the door of the restaurant.
Once inside the Pivoting Pegasus they were greeted by receptionist, behind an ivory-coloured desk.
The stallion was an earth pony, had a golden mane and emerald green eyes and his coat was a deep shade of indigo. He was dressed in a waiter’s uniform, but in Discord’s opinion he did not wear it well at all. He could have worn it infinitely better.
The receptionist’s eyes glinted with excitement, and a warm smile spread across his face which he directed at the three newcomers; more precisely, Discord noted, at the prince and princess.
“Welcome your majesty to the Pivoting Pegasus ” said the receptionist as he gave a deep bow.
Cadence smiled “No need for formalities please, my good pony” Cadence said “My Husband and I are here on our lunch break, and that means no royal titles. You can call us, Cadence and Shining Armour.”
“O-of course your magist-, Royal, Ah I mean Princess Cadence” Reception said, his head lowering. The pony face had changed from its natural colour of purple, to a remarkable shade of red. Discord noted that pony’s face resembled Spikes whenever he did something embarrassing in front of Rarity.
Cadence just gave a gentle smile at the embarrassed pony, “ That will do,” she said, “but in future you can get rid of the princess part, okay?.”
“Of course Prin-” the pony caught himself “Of course Cadence” he finally said with a sheepish smile.
Cadence face broke into a wider smile “ Now if you don’t mind, Penny Shine could you please show the three of us to a table”
The Stallion, now known as Penny Shine blinked in surprise. “You know my name” Penny Shine said.
“Of course I do” Cadence said “ it’s the duty as princess of Equestria to know, guide and guard, her fellow ponies and...” Cadence continued.“ it’s on your name tag”. Her bright blue magic glowed around Penny Shine’s golden name tag.
Penny Shine blushed again. “O well.. um where would you like to sit? booth or table” he said quickly.
Cadence turned to Shining Armour and Discord “ Any personal thoughts?” she said.
“I dont mind where we sit” Shining Armour said.
“I am good with either or.” Discord agreed.
Cadence turned back to Penny Shine. “ Either is fine” she said.
“please follow me then” Penny Shine said, regaining some composure as he lead the small group to their booth.
Once there, Shining Armour and Cadence took one end of the booth, leaving Discord to the other.
“A waiter will be along “ Penny Shine said with his composure full restored.
Cadence smiled, “Thank you, Penny Shine.”
A slight blush appeared on Penny Shine’s cheeks. “You’re welcome…Cadence” and he hurried away.
“Well,that wasn’t awkward at all” Discord said sarcastically, once Penny Shine was out of earshot.
Shining Armor and Cadance scowled at him.
A waitress soon came with their menus .
“and guest” Discord muttered to himself.
The waitress either did not hear him, or did not pay any attention to Discord’s words, and continued to address Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour.
“ Might I just say on behalf of all the staff of the Pivoting Pegasus, it is a great honour and a privilege to have you having lunch at our establishment.”
Shining Armor grinned. “ The honour is all ours, that you can make time for us here for lunch at your fine dining establishment ” he said.
Discord made a quick sweep of the room, yeah, they were simply overflowing with customers. He thought cynically.
No doubt the scarcity of customers would change once ponies realized that the guardians of the Crystal Empire were eating here. Discord also noted that they were in the booth farthest away from any window, most likely to avoid any ponies disturbing them.
While Discord was making these silent observations, the waitress kept on talking.
“Our specials for today are a daisy, cheese, green pepper toasted panini, a tomato soup sprinkled with chives and basils and a dollop of cream, and Cranberry, goat cheese, pecan nut salad with the option of added sliced apples or sliced tangerines.”
“Could you please give us a few moment to look at our menus and decide, because it all sounds great” Cadence told the waitress.
“O... of course princess but may I interest you in some beverages while you make your decision?”
“What type of drinks do you have?”
"We have , tea, coffee and a variety of juices and soft drinks.”
Cadence turned to her Husband
“A pot of tea? “ she asked her husband.
“Works for me” Shining Armor said.
“One pot of tea?” the waitress asked.
Cadance nodded her consent.
Discord pondered this as he really only drank tea with Fluttershy; his heart increased its pace at the thought of her name reminding him of his mission at hand, or in his current form hoof.
He also doubted they sold chocolate milk, and even if they did, Cadence or Shining Armour might call him out on it saying it will arouse suspicion as to his true identity.
A thought struck him then, and a sly grin crept across his face.
“ Thank you Cadence but no” Discord said, as he turned to face the waitress.
“ But if it’s not too much trouble,” he said to the waitress, “could I have just .a glass. of.water?”
Discord noted ,out of the corner of his eye, Cadence raise her menu to cover her face, and Shining Armor give a look of confusion between his wife and Discord.
“One pot of tea and one glass of water coming up.” the waters said spinning on her hooves and walking off to the kitchen.
Once she was gone, Cadence lowered her menu and shot Discord a glare. “ Don’t you dare start singing or dancing or whatever you did at Twilight's house, Disc… Dustball!” Cadence quickly correcting herself.
Discord , feigned a look of surprise, “ Cadence, I would never. I am supposed be undercover!” he said with a grin.
Cadence just rolled her eyes and raised her menu .
Discord and Shining Armor followed suit.
The waitress soon returned with the pot of tea and glass of water the group had ordered.
Cadence placed down her menu , “Shining, have you chosen?” she asked her husband.
Shining Armor placed his menu down following his wife, “ I think I will have the special panini of the day , how about you, Cadne?”
“I think I will have the Tomato s soup, how about you Dustball?”
The couple braced for what chaotic concoction Discord might ask for.
Discord lowered his menu “ I am going to have the creamed daisy noodles, without the daisies”
“All right “ the waitress said , pulling out a pen and notepad, “that will be two specials and one on the daisy noodles without the daisies, is that right?”
“Yes thank you.” Cadence said faintly, surprise on her face that Discord had asked for a reasonable dish.
The waitress scribbled down a few things on the notebook. “ Right.” she said “they will be out in a moment.” And with that done quickly strode off to the kitchen.
Once the waitress left, Discord noted the surprise that the couple shared.
“What? Can’t a guy have some noodles?”
Shining was about to reply but then thought better of it, better just count our blessings, he thought.
Discord absent mindedly started to drink from his glass.
“Dustball” Shining Armour hissed.
“mmmhm ?” Discord said, his mouth full.
He made a gesture with his hoof “Your glass”
Discord looked down at his glass, though he had taken and huge sip from it, the water in the glass had stayed completely untouched; nor did it slosh about as Discord levitated back to the table with use of his horn. It seemed the water had turned from a it liquid state to that of a solid one.
But the glass itself had significantly changed, at least half of the glass had disappeared.
Discord looked and the glass and then the substance in his mouth and then at his companions.
“Meren mrea mround”, he mumbled
“Excuse me? “ Cadence said.
“Mmteren… mmau …mmround” Discord repeated slowly.
The couple seemed to get it this time, And turned their heads away.
Discord made a quick check to see if anyone was watching and spewed the liquid glass out; the glass magically took on its original shape around the water.
“Sorry about that” Discord said as Cadence and Shining Armour turned their heads back to face him. “Force of habit”
Cadence smiled “It’s okay,Dustball, no need to apologize.”
“Yeah” Shining Armour chimed in, “no harm, no foul.”
Discord smiled a little, at their kind words
“But Discord I have a question for you, if you don’t mind me asking” Cadence asked.
“Fire away ” Discord said cheerfully .
“ Well, it’s not that we don’t mind your company but, I have to say that am surprised to see you come for lunch with us, I thought you usually went off to play pranks on the Canterlot ponies; don’t try and deny it, Dustball” she quickly said as she saw him about to protest. “I know your little antics.” she went on “or you go to visit Fluttershy and or the others in ponyville. ”
Cadence and Shining Armour used their magic to lift their tea mugs up to drink all the while watching the now silent lord of chaos, for a response.
Discord pondered telling the truth to Cadence as to why he was really here to ask about his odd feelings to Fluttershy, but, he couldn't not with the Shining Armour hanging about. He trusted Shining but the fewer ponies who knew what he was asking, the better. Wouldn’t want them making any hypothesis that could be the truth.
Discord shrugged “ Thought I might have a change, since you two rarely leave the Crystal Empire , why not hang out with two friends I don’t get to see much of.” This was true, he did not see much of either of them and he did regard both Cadence and Shining Armour as friends.
Both Cadence and Shining Armour gave Discord a wary look before, in Discord opinion, accepting what he had said.
“ I will try to the best of my abilities, Dustball.” the white Unicorn stated, as he took another sip of his tea.
“What was the point of that big lens you needed my help in moving into place? Was it for making sure you didn’t miss any dirt streaks on the glass ceiling or are you, planning on zapping ponies like ants?” Discord saidin joking manner.
This got a little bit laughter from around the table.
“It actually is so we can get a better view of the eclipse, the glass is to show the eclipse like it’s in the same room” Shining Armour explained.
“And it’s specially enchanted, so we don’t have to wear goggles while we look at it” Cadence continued
“Yeah, kind of ruin the celebration if every pony went blind from looking at the eclipse.” Shining Armour jokingly continued.
The group had little laughed at that. Until afterthought popped into Discord’s head.
He had been helping set up for the Lunar Convergences celebration but knew next to nothing about. Actually, he thought again, he knew nothing about it.
“Actually” Discord asked “you two would not mind answering another question about the Lunar Convergence celebration would you?”
“Sure, what are you interested in, Dustball” Cadence said.
“What is it exactly that we are celebrating?.”
“ No one told you what the festival is about?” Cadence asked.
Discord raised his hoof under his chin, in thought “I can’t honestly say that anyone told me” Discord finally said.
“ Not even Twilight?” Shining said. “ I thought she might have given you a whole speech on the subject.”
“Honestly Shining, I know Twilight means well and I appreciate that, but sometimes ...her speeches can be a bit uhm….well … dull. But in my defence” he quickly added “ I stay awake through them”.. most of the time Discord thought to himself. “But I always see Rainbow Dash sleeping at the end of Twilight’s speeches.”
For a moment there was silence, and Discord thought he might have said too much and might have offended his companions, then there was soft chuckling from the prince “ Yeah.. well I guess my sisters’ speeches can get a bit repetitive after a while but it’s good to see that you’re listening, to most of Twilights’ speeches , not long ago, you would not listen to what anyone had to say.”
“Not true,” Discord blurted out, “I always listened to what Fluttershy says sh…..” he stopped himself from saying ‘ she means a lot to me’ because the whole reason he was here was to figure that out. He didn’t know why he had that sudden outburst, he just felt like he had to say it.
Cadence raised an eyebrow at Discord’s outburst “Fluttershy means what ?” Cadence asked prodding him on.
Discord fell silent, maybe now he should ask Cadence if his feeling for Fluttershy were now past friendship and now into a romantic feeling.
“Fluttershy means what, Dustball?” the prince echoed .
No, he could not ask while the prince was still here; the fewer the ponies who knew the better.
“We’re getting off topic” Discord finally said “ what is the Lunar Celebration about, I believe was my question?”
The two ponies gave Discord a questioning gaze.
“You’re right Dustball, we have been getting a bit of topic.” Shining Armour said, letting Discord’s previous statement go.
Cadence nodded in agreement, looking at Discord with a curious look, which he could not interpret as to what she was thinking.
“ The Lunar celebration, is a special celebration; it’s when the moon comes the closest to the earth and where the shadow of the earth turns the moon a dark red an-,” Shining Armor stopped as he saw the Unicorn's eye slowly falling .
“Dustball!!” Shining cried “were you falling asleep!? “
Discord his eye flew open at the loud tone of the unicorns voice; he hadn’t meant to start dozing, in fairness to Shining he was doing a better job than his sister, Twilight would have gone into all the detail of the pony who discovered it and what shade of color the moon turned, but the nightmares he had been having were taking a toll on him.
Discord shook himself out of his stupor, “Who me? I was merely resting my eye.”
“Then what did Shining say?” Cadence said.
“Shining Armour said that the Lunar festival was, when Lunas moon was supposed to be as close as it possibly can get to the earth and changed color” Discord repeated “ all I can say is kind of... well…. under welling, I could easily do that with a snap of my finger” he raised his arm, only remembering when he looked at his hoof that he was not a draconequus but a pony and quickly lowered it.
“ But I haven't finished explaining” Shining Armour protested. “I was about to say the most unusual thing that happens is that every, magical creatures powers increase by 10 times their original strength .”
This piqued Discord interest.
“All magical creatures?” Discord enquired.
“All.” Cadence confirmed “ but it’s said it will only be really noticed in creatures who wield magic constantly, like unicorns and alicorns. Earth ponys and pegasi will be affected but in a differnet way.”
“What about changeling?” Discord said.
“Their powers will increase but, they gain their main strength from feeding on the love of others , so we should not have to worry about any party crashers this time” Shining Armour stated.
“All the same security will be tight” Cadence added
Discord was silent for a moment before tentatively asking another question. “And the prisoners in Tarters, …will they be affected by this ? ” Thinking of Tirek and how he escaped.
There was moment of silence.
This bit of news eased Discords thoughts
“And besides, the effects of the moon are only temporary, they only start when the moon hits it zenith at midnight and ends soon after, around half an hour to be exact.”
“Midnight?” Discord said “why is it always midnight with these types of things?”
Before any pony could answer Discord’s question, the waitress arrived with their food.
“I am so sorry it took so long,” the water said between gasps, her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her yellow mane slightly disheveled.
She carefully removed their plates from her back with her mouth. To their respective owners.
“One special of the day for you, princess Cadence” the waitress said as she placed Cande’s order in front of her.
“And one daisy noodles, without the daisy, for you sir” placing Discord’s plate down.
The trio said their thanks, and the waitress departed.
The group ate in relative silence, well most of the group.
Discord was, playing with his food, using his fork to lift and twist his noodles, deep in thought about how to ask his question.
“Are the noodles to your liking Dustball?” Cadence inquired.
“huh, o.. no ah they’re good, but if you will excuse me, I got to use the colts room.” Discord said quickly thinking up an excuse, and quickly excusing himself from the table made his way to the restroom.
Cadence eyed Discord curiously as he navigated his way to the restroom through the islands of seats and chairs.
“Odd” she mumbled to herself.
The princess of the crystal empire paused before answering.
“Chaotic ?” Shining Armour offered in the same quiet voice.
“yes”
“I have to admit, Cadence, I have been too occupied with my jobs at the museum to pay much attention to Discord.”
“ He just seems a little off to me”
“ Maybe this is just his newly reformed self.” Shining suggested
“Maybe, but I don’t think so. It’s more like he’s in his own world, thinking about something, other than chaos”
“Like what?”
That’s the question, Cadence thought to herself.
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Discord was sitting in one of the lavatory stalls with the door locked.
He had reverted back to his normal form and was gently swirling his top hat between his mismatched hands, trying to think of a way to get to talk to Cadence alone.
What if I ask to talk to Cadence alone, he thought to himself, he quickly shook his head dismissing the idea.
He might as well give up asking Cadence any of his questions and flush them down the toilet.
His thought trailed off as a light bulb sprang up between his horns.
“That’s it ” he looked up at the light bulb. “wow two in one day am doing good with bright ideas to day.” He quickly snapped his fingers, whether it was because of the place he was in or it was because of the stalls he had cleaned to day, Discord did not know, but it was the only idea he had.
A small yellow pill bottle appeared in his paw, with a white tag that said ,Ex-Lax super speed, super effective .
“No hard feelings, Shining ” Discord whispered under his breath.
He then in one swift movement placed the pill bottle in his hat, placed it on his head, turned himself back into a pony, and walked out of the stall.
000000000
“Well that didn’t take that long,” Shining said. As Discord returned from the restrooms.
Discord shrugged “Guess it was a false alarm.”
Discord took his respective seat at the table.
“Hope you two..” his voice trailed off as he seemed to look past the two of them and his expression turned to one of shock.
“Discord, is everything alright? “ Cadence asked him. A concern for her chaotic friend
“Is, that .. Is.. Is that Sapphire Shores!!!” Discord cried.
Every one in the Pivoting Pegasus turned to the window in excitement, to see the famous Sapphire Shore.
Discord stealthily used his magic to remove his top hat and produce the pill bottle: he quickly unscrewed the white cap of the bottle with his magic and, plopped one white oval pill into the prince’s tea mug, that should be enough, he thought to himself
“ Where is she? ”
“ I don’t see her.”
“Was that her over there ?”
The ponies were still looking for the diva. I still got it, Discord thought to himself as he replaced his hat back on his head with the vial safely underneath.
The Prince and Princess turned back to Discord with confused expressions on their faces
“Are you sure you saw Sapphire Shores, Dustball?” Cadence asked.
“Of course I am sure” Discord replied, “ she’s one of the one of the pegasi that’s part of the wonder bolts right, rainbow dash favorite if I am not mistaken”
“and she’s not there either” Cadence added
“ well SpitFire ,Sapphire easy mix up” Discord said.
“hmmm, I guess?” Cadence said, eyeing Discord suspiciously.
Shining Armour just shrugged the whole situation off, and took a sip of his tea.
Cadence could not help but notice Discord, watching her husband’s cup, like a hawk watching a field mouse.
“Everything okay Shining Amour” Discord inquired.
“Yeah, I think so” he said “ though we might need a new pot of tea. I think this one might have gone cold”
He bit into the rest of panini, when a grumbling sound came from his stomach and he quickly reacted.
“Is everything okay, Shining ?” Cadence asked her husband worriedly
“You need any help?” Discord asked with concern in his voice as well. He truly did not want to hurt Shining Armour, he just needed privacy for a little while.
“Yeah. I’m good” he said puttng one foreleg on the ground. His stomach announced another grumble in protest.
“But ” he quickly added “if you will excuse me I got to go” and he quickly made his way to the washrooms.
“Make sure you use the second cubicle.” Discord called after him. Just as Shining dived into the stallions washroom.
And then Discord and Cadence were alone in the booth.
“So, that was sporadatic, but when you got to go I guess” Discord said trying to lighten the mood.
Cadence rewarded him with a small smile and nod but her eyes still showed concern for her husband’s health .
Well no point in beating around the bush Discord thought.
“Cadence, I have another question” he said hesitantly
Cadence turned her eyes away from the restrooms and looked at Discord.
“My,my, you are asking a lot today, Dustball” she said
“Yes, well I feel like you are the best qualified to answer” he replied honestly.
Cadence raised an eyebrow “Is the question about the festival?”
He took a deep breath “ I was wondering If you could take to me about… “ he trailed off
“go on Dustball, I’m listening.” Cadence said, giving him a warm smile of reassurance, it was odd, thought Cadence what question did Discord need answering that would give him such a difficulty.
Discord looked at the pink Alicorn
“Cadence” he started again “ can you explain love to me ...?”
Author's Note
Sorry for the late up date, I was hoping to get this up a few weeks ago but life got in the way. But if it eases your worries I have perfect idea where I want my story to go, Its just a question of finding the time to type them up.
I am also looking for a new beta reader if you're interested leave a comment below, for this story or my other one "How far would you go"
Chapter 5
Cadance blinked in surprise, had she heard right? What did Discord want her to explain?
“E-excuse me” Cadance stuttered, “ what did you say?”
The disguised draconequus, took a deep breath and repeated his question. “Can you explain what love is...please? ”
Cadance blinked again, trying to let her brain process the information in Discord’s words.
“You ..want.. me ..to ..explain love ?” Cadance repeated
“Yes” replied Discord, nodding consent.
An awkward silence seemed to descend between the two in the restaurant.
“Ahem” Discord broke the silence; swaying uncomfortably on his seat. “Cadance, if this is too much of a personal question then you ..don't have to answer it.”
“Oh, no.. no Dustball,” Cadance said quickly, “ I am more than happy to answer your question; although you must forgive me Dustball for my surprise. Of all the questions you could have asked,this one is certainly not the one I would have expected ”.
Although, Cadance thought to herself, what else could she expect from the spirit of chaos.
“ Well, I honestly don't see why not.” Discord said “ You are after all the princess of love, you must be used to questions like this.”
“Well, I am more used to protecting and guiding the ponies of the Crystal empire” Cadance stated. “ But you are right. I am the princess of love and it is my duty to aid anyone who asks for my help in any way ….although….” Cadance said as she slowed her speech.
“Although what?”
“Well your question isn't exactly an easy one to answer”
“And why pray tell is that?”
“Well,.... because the answer still remains elusive, even to me.”
Great, Discord thought, not even the princess of love knows what love is.
“Can you at least give me your interpretation of love, please” Discord asked.
“ I can” Cadance said, “but that depends on which interpretation of love you would like to hear.”
“There's more than one?”
“Of course Dustball, love is not a one way path there are many variants of it, for instance-.”
O great! Discord thought, another lecture from a princess! Like I haven't heard enough of those.
“There’s the sort which is the love you have for family.”
“Something I never had!” Discord muttered
“What was that, Dustball?”
“ Nothing, Cadance; please continue.” Discord replied hastily.
“Any way” Cadance said slowly “ the next form of love is Agape, which is a selfless form of love like how a pet loves its’ owner or the love for species, country, or perhaps in your case, chaos.” Cadance added quickly, seeing she was losing Discord. “then there's Philautia which is love for one’s self”
“ You mean like how your cousin Prince Blueblood loves his own reflection?” Discord replied trying his best to hold back his laughter at the thought of the pompous unicorn.
“ Well I wouldn't call Blueblood my cousin” Cadance quickly replied “ but he is an extreme example of philautia, a better example, however, is Rainbowdash and how she prides herself on her sonic brain boom.”
Discord was tempted to ask what family relation Cadance had with Blueblood,but decided to drop the idea. There will be time for that question later, he thought.
“Finally there’s Philia, which is actually a type of love that you learned quite recently; any guess on what it might be?” Cadance asked, trying to prompt him.
Discord’s heart pace quickened; did Cadance know something about his newly developing feelings toward Fluttershy, he thought to himself.
“Haven't the foggiest” Discord stated hesitantly .
“ You sure ? Somepony became a prince of it and gained a castle by it.”, Cadance hinted.
Discord heart slowly returned to its normal beat, and he let go a mental sigh of relief. His thoughts turned to the question Cadance was asking him, if it's a pony who became a prince and gained castle, Discord reasoned to himself, then that could only mean...
“Friendship.” Discord guessed.
Cadance smiled “Correct Dustball, Phila is the love you feel for your friends.”
“ And I take it the most powerful form of love” Discord speculated. “Judging by how many times friendship has won the day for Equestria, against the countless dark forces.”
“Really?” he said sceptically, “even Philuan...Phian-even blueblood love ?”
She nodded.“Yes Philautia, if one can't love oneself or actions, then how can they have any hope of loving another.”
Discord rubbed his chin in agitation; this was intricate information, he never thought there could be so many interpretations of just four words; but it wasn’t what he was looking for and he could not but think that Cadance was missing a form of love.
“Ah... Cadance I don’t want to seem that I know more about love than you do, you being the princess of it and all . But I cannot help thinking that you may have missed a form of love.”
“Oh, and what form might that be?” Cadance replied.
“ The type of love married couples, or the type of love that special somepony’s have. That type of love seems to have been skipped over in that list of yours .”
Cadance grinned at Discord, “There is a reason I didn't include that type of love on the list.”
“and that reason being?” Discord said, pressing her to continue.
“The reason being is that type of love isn't a single love that makes it , its usually two or more loves that make that form.”
Discord frowned “Are you telling me you can create other forms of love just by mixing different types of love?”
“That’s precisely what I mean, Dustball.” Cadance said. She smiled to herself, I think he is finally starting to understand it, she thought.
Discord closed his eyes and brought his hoofs up to his temple, gently massaging the sides of his head,“Think all this is starting to go over my head, or horn as the case is” as he looked up at his blue born.
“It can be a bit much to take in all at once!” Cadance admitted. She moved her head around the room, doing a quick scan, so that no pony in the restaurant would overhear the use of Discord name. “ But if you allow me, I can help you understand love, Discord. If you want to continue that is?.”
Discord looked at Cadance for a moment and nodded his consent, bringing his hooves down from his head.
“Well if you recall,I just explained some types of love to you.”
Cadance gave out a quiet sigh, well,as long as he understands their meaning, it doesn't matter what he calls them.
“Right, those four types of love, but if any of them combined with one another, they can branch off into other forms of love. The two most common definitions and actions of love, most ponies think of is marriage or special somepony s, are actually two forms of love that fused.”
“So what are the types of love that make up the two of them.” Discord asked.
“Well the love that makes the bond between special somepony is a very deep and intimate form of Philia and sometimes Ludus, which is a playful flirty type love.”
“and the..” Discord’s question was cut off by Cadance.
“The next level past special somepony s is marriage, and the love that makes up marriage requires both Philia and Storge, ...the love of family and friends.”,Cadence clarified.
“but why those to specific loves? I mean I can understand the love of family; that's the whole point of marrying someone after all, to start your own family; even I know that, but what does friendship have to do with the two, marriage and special somepony?”
“It has a fair bit to do with it!” Cadance replied, “ You wouldn't want to marry a total stranger, would you Discord? Because I sure wouldn’t,and didn’t . I married someone I trusted, I can be myself around, who makes me happy and when I see him happy I am happy, and who I know will always be there for me and will always love me no matter what happens, and I would do exactly the same for him….speaking of whom, I wonder what's taking so long?” Cadance asked as she turned her head to the bathroom doors.
Discord didn't hear Cadance last words he was too busy processing what the pink alicorn had previously said, and how those worlds seemed to reflect Fluttershy and himself.
"Discord" Cadance said whispered. She used his real name to gain his attention.
It succeeded as he turned to face her
She beckoned him to lean in close which he raised his eye brow at. But did so.
"If you take any thing away from this take remember this" She whispered " All love is the same in these ways its to care deeply for some one,or thing, else. To see that persons happy even if it may make you unhappy in the process. and to excpet that person difference to one self ,and patly see the beauty in them"
Cadance then pulled back signing she was down .
However Discord was far from being down the topic. His mind was still boiling out question that he hoped he'd get the awser to.
Before Discord knew what he was saying he blurted out “What does love feel like?”. As soon as he said that, he immediately regretted it.
Cadance attention on doubled Discord. “You want to know what love feels like Discord?” shock and confusion fighting for supremacy in her voice.
“ Well.. um a..er.. yes ” Discord finally consented.
Cadance eyes narrowed, What was his game? she thought, first Discord wanted to know what love is and now he wants to know what it feels like. For the spirit of chaos, he seemed very hung up on the topic of love; what is his game? Cadance didn't know, but she was determined to find out. And the best way was to do that was to answer Discord’s question.
“Well, like your previous question, Discord, it's not exactly the easiest question to answer; it’s more something…...well love is more something you feel.” Cadance said, smiling brightly.
Discord frowned, not satisfied with Cadance’s reply. How corny an answer can you get, he thought.“But what is the actual feeling you have when you're in love?”
“I told you Discord, it’s hard to explain; even the feelings you'd have if you’re in love, because it differs for everyone.” Cadance repeated
We’re going around in circles, Discord thought and I hate circles, too orderly . Discord took a moment to think up a different way of asking his questions.
“ Can you at least tell me how you felt when you were falling in love with Shining Armour?” Discord finally asked.
“ I... ummh, don't think you would find Shining’s past and mine that interesting, Discord, too long and uneventful.” Cadance said, a little too quickly.
“Really? I thought you two had quite an interesting past, with Shining Armour trying to win your heart with his crazy schemes, that he and his friend concocted. Although I could understand why you wouldn't want to talk about the whole parade event, must have been so embarrassing for you when Shining started singing. I would have paid anything to see it for myself.”
“It wasn't embarrassing Discord, it was really sweet and… wait a minute Discord! How did you know about the float event? You were still in stone at the time!”
Discord gave wicked grin, “True; but I I still have ears even as a statue and they work extremely well even without magic. I managed to pick up all the gossip that was going around the gardens and for a while that little stunt Shining Armour pulled at the academy was widely talked about.”
At hearing this Cadance’s face had turned to one of shock and embarrassment, whichever one was dominant was hard to say.
Discord let out a roar of laughter. The few ponies that were in the establishment turned their heads to the commotion.
“What’s so funny?” Cadance hissed, looking around the restaurant.
“Your reaction Cadance; just priceless!” Discord said as his thundering laughter turned slowly to a soft chuckle.
“I don't understand why you're so embarrassed Cadance. I mean it’s in the past, and you even married the guy; everyone in Equestria knows that.”
“It’s still embarrassing to know that it was such a big topic back then though.” Cadance replied.
“If it makes you feel better, I heard all about yours and Shining Armour’s pasts from Fluttershy, not when I was a stone statue.” Discord said, when did I become merciful he thought.
“She did?” Cadance asked.
“She sure did, does that make you feel better?” Discord stated cheerfully.
Not exactly, Cadance thought.
“And I must say Cadance, I always thought Shining Armour was one those popular ponys in school; one that was head of some team or another, not one that played dungeons and dragons in their parent’s basement. However you Cadance, I knew you would be a popular mare in school you being an alicorn princess and all.”
An idea dawned on Cadance. “ You and Fluttershy share a lot, don’t you.”
Discord grey cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, “O..of of course we do, Fluttershy tells me things and I listen and I tell her things and she listens.” Discord replied, a little flustered. “Anyway, we’re getting off topic, Cadance.”
“So we are, Discord.” Cadance agreed. “You asked me what love feels like and I will do my best to give you an answer. Just give me a moment to assemble my thoughts.”
Discord consented and waited patiently as Cadance lifted her tea cup, with her magic, and took a sip. It only took a Cadance a moment to speak again, but it felt like hours to Discord.
“Love is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, emotion anypony can feel. Love not only makes the one who feels it happy and joyful but it also can make them feel sadness, anger, jealousy, frustration and a rainbow of many other feelings as well.”
“Are you sure you're still talking about love,Cadance?”Discord interrupted, “ Because for one word to mean so much and to contain so many conflicting aspects,...Well it sounds more like you're talking about chaos, which if you have forgotten would be my expertise.”
Cadance grinned at Discord. “ Admittedly, Discord I don’t know much about chaos, but I must say that love does seem to have strong similarities to chaos; they both seem to work in work in mysterious ways and ponies will do crazy things when they're in love.”
“And how would one know if they were in love?” Discord questioned; probably should have asked that sooner, he thought to himself.
Cadance chuckled a little “My,my…. Discord, first you wanted to know what love is, than you wanted to know what it feels like and now this, if I didn't know any better I would say you were in love with someone.” Cadance teased.
Discord could feel the start of a blush occur, and turned his head, to avoid the pink alicorn from noticing, that’s what I am trying to find out, he thought.
“Now like most of what I said about love today, it differs for each pony, but there are some symptoms that ponies in love have. One is attention, if someone is in love, they will devote their full attention to that one person; no matter how many others are present, they will focus completely on the pony they have a crush on. ”
Discord hadn't really thought about it much but, if there were any other ponies present when he was with Fluttershy, he would often notice their presence. Like last month, he had decided to drop in a couple days early to see Fluttershy, his first instinct was to go toward Fluttershy, he hadn't even noticed that his fellow cutie mark crusaders were there.
“Also, another way you can tell is pleasure; if the pony that you're in love with is happy then your own pleasure does not matter, only his or hers . One way most ponies would show their affection is by giving gifts to the pony they love.”
Discord pondered this and found it was true as well, whenever he was around Fluttershy, he always wanted her to be happy. Even if that meant he could use his magic he didn't care; as long as she was happy that was all that mattered.
“Another way you can tell somepony has a crush, is an increase of trust, they will share personal information, like their history, or other secrets.”
“Oh and an increase in heart rate is known to happen when you're close to the pony you have a crush on.”
This last one made Discord snap out of his contemplation.
“An increase in heart rate, Cadance?” Discord questioned.
“Yes” Candace replied, “But these are only a few ways to tell if some pony is in love. There are countless other like…..”
Discord disconnected from what Cadance was saying, and drifted off into his own thoughts.
Maybe his weird heart beat was something more medical than anything else, his brain reasoned, but then why did it only seem to happen around Fluttershy, his heart rebutted?
“I’m in love with Fluttershy”
“What was that, Discord?” Cadance asked.
Discord cheeks turned a bright shade of red, which would see more common on an apple, realising he had spoken out loud.
“Nothing.” Discord hastily said. “nothing at all.”
Only it isn't nothing, Discord thought; I’m in love and the mare I’m in love with is Fluttershy. I should be shocked, in fact I am shocked that I am not shocked, I’ve never been in love before.
But instead of shock Discord was feeling joy, happiness, and many other emotions he could not begin to describe. I wonder if some part of me already knew I was in love with Fluttershy.
And now just as one question was answered, a new one was starting to form, does Fluttershy feel the same way about me.
“Discord, perhaps you can answer question of my own?” Cadance asked.
Cadance’s voice snapped him back to reality.
“Of course Cadance, would you like to know how you get the jam inside the donut, which came first the chicken or the egg, if a tree falls and no pony’s around to hear it does it make a sound? Or do you want to know about the mysteries and intricacies of chaos; I actually have a whole speech on chaos theory planned out for such an occasion and all I need is a glass of water...”
“ As interesting as all those topics are, Discord, my question is none of those.” Cadance responded. “My question is simply why?”
“Why.. why what?”
“ Why are you taking such an interest in love all of sudden?”
“Oh!.. Well... uhm... I thought since I learned about the magic of friendship, I thought perhaps you could teach me the same thing about love. Which I am happy to say, Cadance you have.”
Cadance raised an eyebrow. “ I thought you had a thinking tree for that type of thing, Discord.”
“About what?” Cadance asked.
Discord looked around the restaurant, as though he was afraid someone was after him. Then he leaned forward across the table, in a conspiratorial manner.
“Cadance” Discord whispered, “what I’m about to tell you cannot be told to anyone else.”
Cadance leaned forward as well and whispered in the same tone back to Discord. “You have my word, Discord that I will not breathe a word to anyone else.”
“Pinky promise?”
“Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Cadance repled, making the appropriate gestures for the pinky promise.
“All right. What you’ve just told me about love and how to identify if some one’s in love. Well, I have just realised that the symptoms have been staring me in the face all this time and I didn't even realise it until now.”
“Yes.” Cadance repled, a little excitement had entered her voice.
“ well I believe that…” Discord made a second glance around the room, to check if any one was listening “that Spike has a crush on Rarity.”
For a second nobody moved
“No!! really!!!” Cadance said, her voice laden with sarcasm.
“O yes!!” Discord replied “ It all makes sense now, why Spike spends so much time with Rarity, why he gives her so many gifts. It all makes sense now, he has a crush on her.”
Cadance took a moment to look at Discord trying to figure out if he was serious about not knowing about Spike’s crush on Rarity or if he was covering something up.
“ Was everything to your liking?”
They both looked up to see that their waitress had returned.
“ Everything's delicious, thank you.” Cadance replied.
The waitress smiled, but it soon faltered when she saw Shining Armour’s half eaten panini.
“Did the prince find his panini unsatisfactory?” The waitress asked.
Discord’s face palmed himself, I completely forgot about the prince.
“No, he seemed like he was in goi…”
Discord abruptly got up from the booth, interrupting Cadance in the process. “ Why don’t I go check on Shining Armour?” Discord quickly said, while backing slowly up to the restrooms. “ He’s been in the bathroom for quite some time now and I would hate to think that anything bad has-”
Discord words were cut off by the bathroom door as he went into the bathroom.
“If I may say Princess Cadance, and forgive me if this is offends you, but your friend….is..well..a little...strange.” the waitress stated.
Cadance smiled at the waitress. “You have no idea how right you are.” Cadance agreed.
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Discord soon returned, with a disheveled looking Shining Armour.
“ How are you feeling honey?” Cadance said, to her husband. “you were in there for quite some time.”
“You know, it was the strangest thing, Cadance” Shining said while he took his seat. “There I was in complete discomfort for, Celeasta knows how long when, suddenly as if by magic I was cured.”
“Well maybe it was the magic of friendship that cured you?” Discord offered.
“Maybe...” Cadence said, slowly “Or more logically, what ever Shining ate was purged from his system.”
Or drank, Discord thought.
“ Whatever it was, I just want to forget about it.” Shining stated as he reclined comfortably into the booth.
“You two talk about anything interesting while I was away?” he inquired.
“Well now that you mention it,” Candace started. “ Discord and I had qui-”
“We had quite the heated discussion of what shade of red the moon would turn during the Lunar Convergence Celebration” Discord hastily interrupted. “Candace says rose red, I support more of a ruddy beige colour.”
Shining gave a confused look at the disguised draconequus then to his wife, who hesitated and then nodded in agreement.
Shining accepted the answer, trusting that Cadance would tell him what truly transpired later.
“Sorry Cadne we’ve got to get back to the museum and finish the preparation.” Shining said.
“PPfff... speak for yourself, Shining I am halfway finished my job.”
“Really?” Shock was evident in Shining’s voice. “But, you started so late, how did you get so many of those jobs.”
“Please I’m Discord, spirit of chaos, master of disharmony, Th-”
“ The disguised draconequus that’s going to blow his cover.” Cadance hissed.
Discord shut his mouth not realising he was yelling.
“Let’s see your list Discord” Shining said, holding out his hoof.
“ Oh, it sound’s like you two don't trust me”
“Yes” both Cadance and Shining Armour said bluntly.
Discord shrugged in agreement “ I wouldn't trust me either,” he said, pulling out the scroll that listed his jobs and handing it, with his magic, to Shining Armour.
Shining Armour, unfurled the scroll and inspected keenly. Discord noticed that a frown was beginning to form on the prince lips as he went down the list.
“What’s the matter, surprised that I told the truth?” Discord asked.
“I would be surprised if you had finished half of your jobs Discord.” Shining admitted “but by the look of this list it looks like that you're barely over a quarter way down.”
“what?! how is that possible?!”
Shining turned the list back to Discord and used his magic to show a second page under the first.
How did I miss that,? Discord thought.
“You know Discord if you don’t get thes-”
“If I don’t get these jobs done then I will have to finish them, tomorrow which is my day off, I know, I had my ears talked off about this by Luna and Celestia.” Discord said hotly.
To emphasise his point, he let his ears fall off onto the table making a dull thud.
“DISC!!!!...” The couple cried, before they caught themselves.
“You’re not supposed to use magic.” Candace hissed.
“I’m not using magic” Discord repled as a new set of ears sprouted from his head. “ I’m merely making a point.”
“With your magic.” riled Shining Armour.
“Well it’s best I get going, anyway” Discord stated, ignoring Shining’s question. “Will you be accompanying me back your princeliness?” as he made his way out of the booth.
“I think I am far enough along on my list that I can afford to spend a few minutes with my lovely wife.” Shining said, wrapping an arm around Cadance.
“But if I were you, Discord, I would start hustling to the museum?” Shining stated,handing the scroll back to Discord with his magic.
“And why would that be?” Discord asked, accepting the scroll.
“Because the museum closes in about 2 hours and you have quite a few jobs to finish off, if you want to have tomorrow free.”
“Why is it closing so early?” Discord asked.
“ Celestia, Luna and I are doing a practice warm up on our speeches for the celebration.” said Candace.
“Why wasn't I told I was under a time limit ?”
“Because we all thought you have done everything we assigned you” Shining stated.
Discord sighed, giving up the argument, “Well, I best get to finishing those jobs then” he said as he swiveled on his hooves.
“You know, I can always lend you a hoof on those jobs?” Shining offered.
“Thanks Shining, but I think I will be fine; I am , if you have forgotten, the master of chaos, I’m pretty sure I can finish a few chores.”
Shining Armour shrugged “The offer will still stand.”
Discord nodded his thanks and turned away. He had taken only few steps before he stopped. “Remember to tip the waitress for me” he cried over his shoulder, then he continued trotting out to the door.
The couple watched the grey unicorn to go through the doors; as soon as he exited the building, Shining Armour turned to his wife.
“So did you two really talk about what shade of red the moon will turn?” The white unicorn asked his alicorn wife.
Candace shook her head, her eyes still glued on the restaurant doors. “No a far more.. peculiar conversation than that.” Candace slowly said.
“What about?” Shining asked.
Candace turned to face him. “ We had a conversation about love.”
There was a period of silence while Shining’s mind tried to process the information. “How did you get on to that topic, Cadance? ”
“That was one of the strange things about our conversation, Discord was the one that asked about it.”
“What sort of questions? Did he ask about love. ?”
“ Well, he asked what it was, then he asked what it felt like and perhaps strangest of all, Discord asked how someone would know if they were in love. Got any idea why Discord may be asking those questions?”
Shining Armor, gave a helpless shrug. “ Sorry Cadney but I haven’t the foggiest. Discord was acting a little stranger than usual at the museum, wouldn’t break eye contact at one of the display cases, but other than that, I’ve got nothing. Perhaps he just wanted to know what love is.” Shining Armour offered.
“Maybe” Cadance replied, unsure. She doubted that Discord had asked about love from out of the blue or for the reason he gave.
Candace noticed a grin starting to form on her husband's lips.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“I was just thinking that Discord could be in love” he chuckled.
Shining then started to laugh “How crazy would that be? the spirit of chaos in love!”
Candace stared at her husband wrapped in thought, at what he had just said.
Shining Armour caught his wife's concentrated gaze and his laughter slowed down and stopped.
“What's wrong honey?” Shining questioned.
“Nothing Shining, it's just what you just said....” Candace stopped and looked to the doors to the restaurant. “Maybe it's not that crazy...maybe...”
00000000000
Discord dragged his mismated feet through one of the Canterlot castle main halls. He had managed to finish all the jobs at the museum, with a little help from Prince Shining Armour.
But, now he was exhausted from his work. The last few hours at the museum had completely drained him, even with Shinings assistance.
Discord would like to think that he was simply tired from all the dull work he had done at the museum; that, at least, could be cured with a hot cocoa bath with marshmallow duckies, he would like to think so but he knew it wasn't true.
Ever since he had the conversation with Cadance, his mind had been filled with thoughts about Fluttershy: how was she doing, did she miss him,did she love him.
It was crazy, Discord thought, he had never thought he would think about something so intently that didn't involve chaos. He smiled to himself “You really have changed me Fluttershy.” he whispered softly.
The thought of Fluttershy gave Discord a boost of energy, which allowed him to increase his pace down the corridor.
“O what do you want?” Discord cried. “ I have done everything you and your sister subunits have wanted so can’t you just leave me alone.”
“Usually ponies start with greeting, instead of jumping straight into questions” Prince Luna said
“My apologies your formalness; hello Luna or would you prefer Lulu or perhaps Moon but or..” Discord teased.
“No Luna is fine, Discord” Luna said bluntly.
“Great! now that greetings are out of the way what do you want Luna, shouldn't you be at the museum?”
“I thought you might be interested that Tia got message from ponyville to today.”
Discord rubbed his eyes tiredly “Though I may be vaguely interested in what Sparkle butts wrote to Sun butts, I am much more interested in my bed at the moment.” he said tiredly
Luna grinned “ Assuming Sparkle butts is Twilight Sparkle, then you would be wrong. The message was sent by Spike but the hoof writing is different to Twilights and the message wasn't addressed to my sister it is addressed to you.”
This caught Discord’s attention. “What did the letter say exactly?” Discord asked.
Luna shook her head. “ The letter wasn't addressed to me or my sister, so we didn't open it.” She then unfurled her wing and used her magic to levitate a white envelope in front of them. “ the letter is addressed to you, Discord.”
Discord did not hear last part of Luna’s sentence he was too focused on the letter that hovered between them. More precisely he was focused on the familiar hoof writing that, so elegantly, spelled out his name.
Discord stretched out eagle talon to ensnare the letter. Only to grasp air.
He reached for the letter again, the same result happened . Discord brows furrowed in confusion.
Discord repeated the action twice more, the letter eluded him twice more.
He was about to reach for letter for a 5th time, when he heard the restrained snort of laughter.
Discord looked up to see the prince of the night trying and failing to keep a calm passive expression.
“Luna stop that.” Discord snorled
“Stop what?” Luna said through a snort of laughter.
“You know what.” Discord said as he made another lunge for the letter.
Luna used her magic to levitate the letter over Discord’s head.
“Say please” She teased.
Discord didn't respond he just hopped up and down trying to get the letter that was floating just out of his reach.
“Actually don't say please, this is much too fun to watch, oooh you almost got it that time just a little higher.”
Discord stopped his leaping, and instead snapped his eagle talon. teleporting himself at eye level with the letter and quickly snatching it up in his hands. Then glued himself down to the front of his door.
“Thank you Lulu.” Discord said scarcely.
Luna sneered at him “ No, no Discord! Thank you! I needed some entertainment before I went off to the museum.”
Discord snorted “Well I am happy I could be of service, but shouldn't you be going now? ”
“I was just about to; enjoy the rest of your evening Discord.” The alicorn said as she turned and walked down the hallway.
“That was what I was trying to do” he mumbled, reaching for his door knob to the room.
“O and Discord” Luna said “ Say hi to Fluttershy for me tomorrow.”
Discord whirled around, wondering how Luna knew he was seeing Fluttershy tomorrow. But she had already turned the corner down the hallway and disappeared from his view.
000000000
As soon as Discord entered his room, he flew up to his bed and ,with the eagerness of a colt unwrapping his presents on hearts warming eve, tore open Fluttershy’s letter. And began to indulge in her writing.
Dear Discord.
I admit I was a bit surprised at hearing from you so soon, seeing as how we are getting together tomorrow, but it was a good kind of surprised . Recently we haven’t had many opportunities to see each other, so I cherish every letter you send me and the time we have together.
I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, everyone’s been so busy lately preparing for the Lunar Convergence Celebration that we haven’t had much time to talk to one another. Twilight’s been working on the speech she’s supposed to present, Apple Jack has been busy baking for the celebration, Pinkpie has been busy planning decorations , Rainbow Dash has been biss practising some of her flying movies to in press the wonder bolts that are showing up at the celebration; but between you and me I think she is trying to impress one in particular, and Rarity is busily making all of use new dress for the occasion. I think I am the only one that has had any free time lately, I don’t mind though I have been I am awfully busy tending to my animals, but it does get lonely even with my animals company and it makes me feel like I am not pulling my weight for the celebration.
I won’t tell you anything else until tomorrow. Just because I would rather tell you face to face.
Until tomorrow Discord, and with all the love in Equestria
Fluttershy.
Discord reread the letter three more times, before placing the letter beside him on the bed. ( for some strange reason the letter didn’t fall to the ground.)
“She said love .” Discord said, a goofy grin beginning to spread across his face. “Fluttershy does love me.”
His eyebrows furrowed and the goofy grin disappeared.
He had figured out his feeling for her. But he had no idea her feelings for him.
He tried to recall every word he shared with Cadance to see if anything applied to the letter.
Discord flopped his head down on the pillow in frustration and groaned. Out of all the questions he had asked the prince of love, he hadn’t asked how to identify if somepony was in love with you.
He could read Fluttershy’s mind to see if she loved him, but as soon as the idea came into his head he shook it loose, he could never do such a thing to her.
“What am I going to do?” He whispered, he looked down at the letter from Fluttershy, and a longing for her came to him.
Now that he knew his emotion for her he desperately wanted her to feel the same way about him.
Discord gaze fell to the floor ( his bed was on the ceiling)
His interest and hope rekindled, he tentatively snapped his lion paw and was struck on the head by a book which neatly fell on to his lap. Rubbing his head, where the book had struck him, with lion paw, he picked up the book, with his eagle talon, and examined it carefully.
The book had a yellow cover and had a black template which enclosed the words “How to Court for Dummies.”
“ Wow! They really do make one for all scenarios?” Discord mused.
Placing the book down beside him, he picked up Fluttershy’s letter and leaned over the bed where a floating cabinet sat with a picture of Fluttershy and himself He smiled at the image of the pegasus before drawing open one of the drawers and pulled out the contents.
In his hands was a Yellow and Pink polkadotted rectangular box; round tightly around the box was a green and pink striped ribbon.
Discord undid the ribbon and pulled of the top of the box to reveal, his precious treasure, all the letters that Fluttershy had written to him, all were neatly placed adjacent to one another, organised by the dates at which they were sent.
He placed the newest letter from Fluttershy at the front of the pile. He smiled at the collection happily. Before placing the lid back on and tying the ribbon securely together. And finally putting his precious box back into the door and shutting it.
Discord then turned his attention back to the yellow book beside. and let out a sigh, “What have you done to me Fluttershy, things used to be so much easier before you came into my life.”
But they sure were better he thought.
He then picked up the book and began to read its contents.
Chapter 1
So you think you’re in love?
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. It is dark in this cave. At least, that’s where I assume I am. There is a crack of light shining into the dark through a roughly circular opening that looks like someone has punched their fist through it. The light shines down onto my face, dazzling my eyes, which contrast with the darkness that engulfs me.
It is cold. I can feel it seeping through the uncomfortable wicker basket I am in. The blankets that I am tightly wrapped in do little to keep out the cold. My eyes focus on the light. I can not hear a thing save for my soft shaky breathing.
After a few moments, suddenly, I hear something, soft and far away, but distinct. I hold my breath and carefully listen, hoping that I am imagining the noise.
Then, I hear it again. The sound is familiar but out of place. I can hear it a little more clearly now, and it sounds like it is coming towards me.
Clip, Clop, Clip, Clop, Clip, Clop,
The sound is still far away, though. Fortunately, there does not seem to be anything scary about it, but then, why does it send shivers down my spine?
Clip, Clop, Clip, Clop, Clip, Clop,
Maybe there is no sound. Maybe it is just part of my imagination?
The sound grows closer and closer. I am scared, but I don't know why. I do not dare breathe in, in case it hears my short, panicky breaths.
Clip, Clop, Clip, Clop,
I am sure that the sound is steadily getting closer.
Clip, Clop, Clip,
I am rooted to the spot. I start to shiver uncontrollably from my tail to the tips of my horns. My eyes start to water. Fear stops me from crying out.
Clip, Clop, Clip, Clop, Clip,
Hastily, I start to move, but then stop. I strain my ears, but I hear nothing. Maybe whatever it was has left.
Then, I hear something murmuring and muttering. The light suddenly disappears, and when my eyes finally adjust, I see a blue eye blocking the hole.
I stare at the eye. The shock and fear in my face seems to be matched by the same emotions in the eye, but then, the expression in the eye turns to rage.
I start shivering again and am on the verge of tears. There is no point in holding the sobs back anymore. Just as the first tear starts to fall, I see the expression in the eye change to one of pity, and I hear a deep, gruff voice say,
“You’re on your own, kid."
The eye then pulls away to be replaced by a faint, blue glow. A rock of some sort then covers the hole, leaving me in total darkness...
Author's Note
First time writing. Constructive criticism welcome.
I own nothing.