Chapter One: Saw it Coming
“I'm not saying that this is a terrible idea...but everything that follows will be your fault.”
Princess Celestia exhaled slowly at that, before glancing to the surly Changeling Queen at her side “Please don't be like that, Chrysalis.”
“If I am to participate in this farce, I reserve the right to be however I like.”
“If we are to humor Discord this day, I may too need to call upon this right, Sister.” Luna calmly called from Celestia's other side.
The Princess of the Sun came to halt, before closing her eyes “I understand that neither of you have any particularly fond memories of Discord-”
“And you do?” Chrysalis cut-in with an upraised eyebrow.
“-however, this might actually be a good, constructive idea of his.” Celestia finished without acknowledging the changeling's interruption.
“You do realize that you are trying to associate the words 'good' and 'constructive' with the very embodiment of malicious chaos, don't you? You really expect this to go well?” Chrysalis asked, still patently skeptical of their venture.
Luna took this moment to move a few steps forward before turning back towards Celestia “Sister, you know that I am fully ready to trust in your judgment; if you truly believe this to be a wise course, I shall endure his company.”
“Thank you, Luna” Celestia replied with a smile.
Luna could only briefly return the smile, before continuing “But, I too cannot entirely discount my own judgment in this matter nor my own experiences with Discord. Nor can I discount your lover's-”
Everything came to an abrupt pause, as a metallic klanging noise echoed throughout the hallway, it's source a an overly laden serving platter hitting the floor. Three Royal sets of eyes turned their attention towards the passing maid that had dropped the platter, along with it's contents.
The young mare, quietly squirmed under the otherwise neutral looks she was receiving from the trio, before quietly going about the process of cleaning up her mess “My apologies, Your Highnesses. The tray-...it slipped.”
Not a minute later, the maid was scurrying off with her load.
Luna was the first to respond, first with a shrug, then by clearing her throat “As I was saying, I can no more discount your lov-”
“I think, I understand what you are trying to say, Luna” Celestia calmly, though forcefully, interjected.
The younger of the Alicorn Sisters gave an easy nod at that “While I am willing to indulge in this idea of Discord's, I too would appreciate it if you could explain why you think I should.”
“That is more than fair, Luna, and I would be happy to explain my thoughts on the matter.” Her elder sister easily agreed.
“I am glad to hear that. And I should think that your lover's-” Luna began, her voice once again carrying throughout the hallway.
“I'm quite sure Chrysalis will be happy to hear my reasoning, as well.” Celestia again cut-in, her smile a bit more forced this time.
This gave the Moon Princess some pause, as she tried to stifle her consternation with being cut-off twice in quick succession. Furrowing her brow she was about to give voice to this thought, before Chrysalis chose that moment to speak up.
“She wants you to stop naming myself as her 'lover'.” The changeling blandly explained.
Celestia let out another sigh.
Meanwhile, Luna found herself glancing between the Changeling Queen and her sister, clearly trying to parse apart the situation “Why would she wish for this? As I understand it, the two of you are lovers now, correct?”
“Not yet.” Came Chrysalis terse reply.
“...That is quite to the contrary of my understanding of the situation.” Luna rather temperamentally asserted “Is it not the case that you hold intense feelings of love for my sister, ones of a distinctly romantic nature? Feelings that she reciprocates?”
“...More or less.” The changeling admitted, as she spared a glance towards an increasingly uncomfortable Celestia.
“Then I do not understand how the two of you could not possibly be lovers!” Luna sternly proclaimed. At that moment, just down the hallway, another of Canterlot Castle's many servants abruptly turned around and looked for another route to his destination.
Chrysalis took in a deep breath at that, before addressing the irate Moon Princess “...The term 'lovers' has a distinctly physical connotation to it, these days.”
Luna blinked “So...you are suggesting that it is a term for those that have engaged in-”
“Physical relations, correct.” Chrysalis replied.
“...But, you two are in fact in a romantic relationship, yes?”
“More or less.”
“And you two have not engaged in...physical relations yet?”
“Correct.”
“...Are you encountering some manner of physiological obstacle?” Luna asked, whilst pointedly casting her gaze over Chrysalis' form.
Celestia facehoofed.
“...Not yet.” Chrysalis answered, while sparing another glance for Celestia.
“Is there something about my sister that you find sexually unappealing?” Luna demanded.
“Well...I don't generally find ponies attractive, but in her case...”
Luna nodded, getting the gist of what the changeling was getting at. After a few more moments of consideration, Luna looked towards the rather mortified Celestia “Sister...you are familiar with the mechanics of-”
“Oh, for heaven's sake, Luna.” The Sun Princess eventually blurted out.
“I'm sorry, but what possible reason could be left for her not having yet seduced you?” Luna earnestly asked.
“Why am I the one that has to be seducing her?” Chrysalis interjected in a defensive tone, before gesturing towards Celestia “It could just as easily be her that is seducing me.”
“I suppose that could be the case.” Luna acknowledged with a tilt of her head “But, between the two of you, it does seem far more likely that it would be you that-”
“So, I do believe that this could be an excellent opportunity for the two of you to commiserate over some of your shared experiences.” Celestia suddenly declared in an overly enthusiastic tone, in a clear attempt to take control of the conversation.
Chrysalis quietly exchanged glances with Luna, before turning back towards Celestia “Subtle.”
The Princess of the Sun refused to be deterred, even as she reset the pace for their destination “Perhaps the two of you might even find some common ground with one another that you might not be able to find with myself. It could be a bonding experience for the two of you.”
Left with little choice but to follow, Luna quickly moved up alongside her sister “And we need to attend Discord's little...function to accomplish this, Celie?”
“Not at all. In fact, I would be more than happy if the two of you decided to spend more time with one another, on your own.” Celestia replied.
Luna made a humming noise at this, a bit dissatisfied with the answer, before looking towards the Changeling Queen.
“You know what I think?” Chrysalis asked Luna, earning a tilt of the younger princess' head “I think, Celestia is afraid that if we fail to humor Discord on this, he's going to throw a chaos-powered tantrum.”
“Oh?” The dark alicorn prompted.
“Yes. She's, in fact, quite worried that if we fail to provide the necessary encouragement he might fall out of his barely reformed ways and back into old habits.” Chrysalis explained with a nod.
“I see...so you are suggesting that we are merely caving to his desires, to avert the implied threat of Discord reverting back to his malicious ways.” Luna summed up.
“Precisely.”
“...This rather sounds like some manner of extortion then.”
Princess Celestia came to an abrupt halt, before turning back to her two companions, her expression stoic and focused “I won't suggest that this possibility hasn't occurred to me, and I admit that I shouldn't try to conceal my concerns from the two of you.”
Neither Luna or Chrysalis said anything, both watching and waiting for Celestia to continue.
The elder alicorn shifted under their shared gaze, before continuing “I understand that the doubts you both have about 'reforming' someone like Discord. And I often worry about the consequences that could follow if he were to...backslide.”
“But?” Luna prompted.
“But, we have already seen that even the Elements of Harmony cannot seal him away forever.”
“Only for a mere thousand years.” Chrysalis smartly pointed out.
Celestia nodded at that, not dismissing the point “A thousand years of relative peace, yes. A peace which was abruptly ended by his unexpected return and his almost instantaneous conquest of the world. And we cannot be sure how long it would have taken him to have broken out again, if left sealed. Only that he would eventually be free once again, and likely resent us all the more for leaving him in that state.”
Pausing to take in another breath, Celestia turned her attention to the doors they now stood in front of “We couldn't know when he would be free again, whether the Elements of Harmony would be at our disposal or not, or if we could stop him. So, I thought a different course was called for. And humoring Discord's latest idea, I do not deny, is just another step in what I hope will be his true rehabilitation.”
Again her two companions watched on silently, both waiting to see if Celestia had anything further to add.
After a few moments, a slow, somewhat awkward smile crossed her lips “And if by some miracle something good comes of it for you two, that too would hold no small value to me, as well.”
“...Well, I'm convinced.” Chrysalis declared after some brief thought.
“As am I.” Luna quickly agreed.
Celestia sported a look of surprise, as she processed their surprisingly quick acquiescence on the matter “What, really?”
Chrysalis shrugged “As long as we can all agree that he's a horrible being, who's only earning our tolerance through the power of fear...”
“Indeed, it seems a small price to pay to keep Discord at bay.” Luna said with a sagely nod.
“And of course there is always the hope that his reformation is genuine, correct?” Celestia pointedly asked.
“If that's what you need to tell yourself.” Came Chrysalis' casual reply.
“I, for one, was convinced at extortion.” Luna quickly followed up.
The Sun Princess seemed briefly disappointed by their answers, before turning to the set of doors that Discord should be waiting behind “That will have to do, I suppose...”
With that, Princess Celestia took a moment to brace herself before pushing the doors open and stepping through “Discord? We've arrived..."
To an entirely empty chamber.
Well, not entirely, for it was still a well-furnished room, quite suitable for meetings amongst nobility, dignitaries, and the like. But it was quite bereft of a certain, hard-to-miss dracoequus, much less any signs of his planned first meeting of Reformed Villains Anonymous.
“Discord?” Celestia called out again, not entirely certain that the wily chaos spirit wasn't here in some manner of non-descript form.
“It looks as if he's not here. What a shame. I suppose we'll have to leave and not try some other time.” Chrysalis said aloud, before turning to exit the way she had entered.
The doors quickly closed before Chrysalis could leave, the telltale golden glow of Celestia's magic fading a moment later.
Pointedly ignoring the scowl the Changeling Queen was sending her, Princess Celestia started poking around the side chamber.
For Luna's part, the Moon Princess did not seem much more eager than Chrysalis to actually search out the dracoequus. She spared only a single sweep of her gaze across the room before addressing Celestia herself “Not to seem too eager to abandon this enterprise, but Chrysalis does have a point, sister. Mayhap he's in another a part of the castle?”
The Sun Princess furrowed her brow at this, before stepping to the center of the room “I'm quite certain, that this is the right room...”
“The keypoint, I think, is that he isn't here. And this may be a rare case where I will suggest we follow his example.” Chrysalis declared.
“But, perhaps Dicord's...Discord!” Celestia suddenly rose a hoof to her mouth, as she called out for the chaos spirit.
“Ah, yes, that'll help our situation.” Chrysalis snarked.
“Discord!...I'm sorry Chrysalis, but I'm not going to just let this go so easily.” Celestia quickly replied, before taking in another breath “Discor-”
“What!?!”
The three rulers all failed to hold in their surprise, when Discord's disembodied, and irate, voice echoed throughout the room.
“Discord?” Celestia again called out, more quietly this time.
A moment later, what appeared to be a pair of window shutters formed along one wall, before suddenly being pushed open. There, leaning out of the newly created window, stood Discord garbed in a sleeping gown, a night cap, and a frilly sleep mask.
Forcibly pulling up the sleep mask, Discord soon sent a bleary glare out to the occupants of the room “Discord! Discord! Discord! It's a wonder anypony can get any sleep around here!”
Another snap of chaos fueled power and both Discord and the extra-dimensional window disappeared. In the next instant, the dracoequus reappeared in the center of the room with a mug in one hand and a toothbrush in the other. He was soon vigorously brushing his own mismatched teeth, leading to a seemingly excessive amount of foam to form up around the chaos spirit's mouth.
Talking around the toothbrush that was even now working it's away through his mouth, Discord addressed the trio, his irritation still apparent “Honestly, it's as if the whole lot of you have never heard of a little thing called beauty sleep. Though, I guess that's not exactly a shock...”
Celestia shook her head at this, not rising to the bait “You have my apologies, Discord. If I'd known you were still sleeping I would have found a...gentler way of getting your attention, I hope you know.”
Discord hummed to himself at this response, perhaps placated or perhaps only further annoyed. With a shrug, he abruptly tossed the used toothbrush over his shoulder before forcibly spitting the mass of foam around his mouth into his waiting mug “Oh, whatever. I suppose, I'm already beautiful enough as is...”
Stepping past the trio with his waiting mug, they turned just in time to see some manner of counter puff into existence, itself covered with all manner of cabinets, baskets, and appliances. Soon, Discord began casually rooting through the cabinets in search of something.
Something which, inexplicably, the nigh-omnipotent being seemed to be having trouble finding “Now who in their right mind would go about stocking nothing but decaf?!”
“If you would like, I can always send for-” Celestia began, before being stopped by Discord's upheld palm.
“Don't bother. I'll just have to get by on chamomile, I suppose...” In a snap, a tea pot formed mid-air, before adroitly pouring itself into Discord's waiting mug. The very same that he had just spit into, Chrysalis was disgusted to note.
A small flurry of pops and flashes started up, with each burst of magic adding something to the mug. A pair of sugar cubes, a small amount of milk, a couple of marshmallows, and lastly a small stirring spoon all contributed to his morning beverage. What was left was a steaming cup of tea, that the chaos spirit eagerly picked up, before taking a deep whiff of the smooth aroma.
“Ah, is there anything so relaxing after one wakes up in the morning?” Discord asked, mostly of himself. However, rather than taking a sip, he began peeling open the mug of tea, like some sort of reality defying, mug-shaped banana. In the end, all this revealed was a simple apple, which Discord promptly took a bite from.
Everyone waited for a few seconds, to see if this apparent apple would undergo any further unexpected transformations. Discord, now casually leaning against the wall taking bite after bite from the fruit, then looked over the trio in apparent boredom “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine morning?”
“We're here for your stupid club.” Chrysalis succinctly supplied, before Celestia could get the chance.
“Oh...Well, that just can't be.” Discord said, as he pulled out another coffee mug and began dipping the remains of his apple into it's contents.
“And why is that?” Luna asked this time.
Flipping both the mug and the apple into mouth as one, Discord hummed in pleasure before bringing his attention back to the question “Because, that was to be planned for this afternoon, dear Luna. Not the very break of dawn.”
“Discord, it's well past noon, as it is.” Celestia calmly pointed out.
The chaos spirit furrowed his brow at this, before responding “What? Are you quite sure about that?”
Princess Celestia settled for gesturing to herself with a hoof; if the Princess of the Sun couldn't tell what time of day it was, then who could?
“Ah, point taken...Well, that is strange. I could have sworn I set my clock...” Discord said to himself before reaching from somewhere unseen, and pulling back what looked to be a bedside clock.
Soon, the chaos spirit was fiddling with the clock, shaking it and holding his ear to it, as if he was genuinely trying to figure out why it had failed to wake him.
Everyone gathered nearly jumped out of their skins, when the clock started shrieking in bloody terror. The timepiece spontaneously sprouted a pair of arms and legs, which were quickly put to use escaping from the dracoequus' grip. The moment it hit the ground it began pointing towards Discord, before releasing another fear-filled scream. It repeated this three more times, once for each of the other occupants of the room, before running towards the door.
Letting out one more ear-piercing scream, the clock opened the doors before slamming them behind it, as it fled the scene.
A silence reigned over the group, before Discord shrugged “Always a high-strung fellow, that one...”
Chrysalis soon noted that Luna seemed to still be parsing apart what she had just witnessed. With a roll of her eyes, the Changeling Queen gestured after the fled timepiece “It's an 'alarmed clock'...it was alarmed.”
After a few moments of consideration, the Moon Princess gave a thankful nod at the answer.
“I hope you're not going to spend all day doing that. You're going to ruin the fun for everyone else, at this rate.” Discord teasingly pointed out to Chrysalis.
“What? Explaining your stupid jokes?...Wouldn't dream of it.”
Before he could take exception to the changeling's disparagement of his particular brand of humor, Celestia got his attention “In any event, I believe we're all ready to attend to this support group idea of yours, Discord.”
“Hm? Oh, right...That.”
“You don't seem very enthusiastic.” Celestia observed.
“No, no, no, everything's fine. It's just...”
“He hasn't actually bothered with preparing anything for this little idea of his.” Chrysalis supplied.
Another snap of chaos-based magic went off and suddenly Discord was at the Changeling Queen's side wrapping a companionable arm around her “Now, now, there's no need to start assailing me with things like facts, my little lovebug.”
He capped off that remark with a playful tap on her nose.
Chrysalis's glare could have melted steel, but she was steadfast in fixing her gaze forward “...Idiot.”
“Oh, now, now, lovebug. Is somepony not feeling very reformed today?” Discord continued to needle.
“Everyday. And you?” Chrysalis bluntly asked, briefly stymieing his attempts to aggravate her further by turning the question on him.
It wasn't hard to see, for Celestia, how Discord's mood briefly soured at that. It was subtle, but enough of a concern that she again felt the need to get things back on track.
With the same care and precision that had served her over the centuries, when dealing with both potential allies and enemies, Celestia again worked to placate and soothe “Well, then. This is a serendipitous occasion, Chryssie. As I mentioned earlier, Discord here has some thoughts on how he might help in that regard, that I'm sure he'd more than happy to share. Isn't that right Discord?”
And just as quick as could be, the dracoequus had again assumed his usual smarmy grin “Right you are, Celestia. Thank you ever so much for reminding me!”
“It's my pleasure, of course. So, Discord, what did you have in mind for today? If you do not mind my asking, that is?” Celestia pleasantly replied.
“Oh, it would just be ever so great a pleasure for me to explain-” Discord began, as he coiled his way through the air towards the Sun Princess.
“But, despite having nigh limitless power, you managed to oversleep, correct?” Chrysalis abruptly supplied.
This abruptly lead to Discord clutching his chest, as if he were suddenly struck by an arrow “Alas! It is true! The terrible, terrible truth! I had such a wonderful day planned out for all of you, but now I fear it will never be realized. Oooohhh, the shame...!”
Inexplicably, as always, Discord managed to swoon in mid-air, before falling through the air to lie limply over a bemused Celestia's back.
Everyone gathered calmly watched for several moments, waiting for the chaos spirit's continued melodrama. After a little bit of this, Luna tilted her head in thought, before muttering aloud “...I can't say that I ever actually witnessed him sleeping.”
Chrysalis shook her head at this before, again, marching towards the doors “I'm done.”
Without warning, Discord's jerked his arm and held it above himself “I don't blame you, Chryssie! There isn't a doubt in my mind that I've let you all down this day!”
To Celestia's apparent discomfort, Discord wrapped his claw around her horn before using it to hoist himself upright “But, it is far too late now! Not even I could possibly pull things together in time! Not without some help...”
Chrysalis let out a sigh, knowing that it was too much to hope that this little event could have been canceled.
“But, who? Who could possibly help me in this darkest of hours?!” Discord exclaimed, even as he planted his feet atop Celestia's head, and adopted an ideal speech giving pose “Not just anypony could save this day! We need a true leader amongst ponies this day! A pony that truly excels at turning even the most interesting of things into boring hum-drum! A dry, neurotic, pathologically well-organized individual, so utterly lacking in a social life that they would have to help us this day!”
“...Discord.” Celestia quietly lamented.
“But, where?! Where could we find such a dull, yet oddly helpful, individual? Where could we find somepony so utterly suited to middle-management? Alas...I'm completely at a loss as to where we could find somepony like that...” Discord lamented, before hanging his head, all while still standing atop Princess Celestia's crown. Looking up with a thoughtful expression, Discord rubbed his chin in consideration “Hm...Maybe Fluttershy knows somebody like that?”
“Is he speaking of Twilight?” Luna innocently asked.
Unseen by the others, the tip of Discord's tail took on the semblance of a pair of fingers, before snapping together.
A flash of chaos magic later, there stood Princess Twilight Sparkle, who seemed to be very much in the process of enjoying a meal. Her eyes closed as she savored the hayburger held in her magic, Twilight gave a hum of satisfaction “What did I tell you? The best hayburgers in all of-...Blueblood?”
“Twilight! You made it!” Discord suddenly exclaimed
“Discord? What-” The young princess was abruptly cut-off, as Discord suddenly dragged her up into an overtly cuddly hug. This had the unfortunate side-effect of causing her half-finished hayburger to fall to the floor.
“Just in time to save the day, as always! It's like you just have a sense for these things!” Discord continued to gush, even as the young alicorn struggled to escape from his grip.
“Discord! Let me-Ooomph!”
“Oh, I'm so sorry. You were about to say 'go' weren't you?” The chaos spirit asked, as he looked down upon Twilight, now splayed out on the floor.
Quickly forcing her hooves back under her, Twilight rose with a look of stern annoyance “Discord! I was in the middle of a very important lunch-date!”
“Come now, Twilight. No one believes that.” Discord replied with a wave of his claw.
Princess Celestia stepped over, before extending a hoof towards her student “I am so sorry about this, Twilight.”
“I'm not.” Chrysalis interjected.
This earned her a curious glance from Luna, which in-turn earned a shrug from the Changeling Queen “If I have to suffer through this-”
“I'll be more than happy to explain what happened to my nephew, Twilight. And, again, I'm so sorry to tear you away-” Princess Celestia continued to apologize, and even seemed to be making some headway in placating Twilight.
“Stop the presses!” Discord declared, before stepping from what looked to be a newspaper stand that very much was not there a split second ago. Pulling out a pair of reading glasses and putting them on, Discord leaned down by Twilight, while holding a newspaper “...So, apparently they're going to be renovating the Canterlot Theater next month. And it's all paid for by proceeds from a charity banquet! Isn't that interesting?”
Twilight gave a confused look at this, having expected something a bit less mundane.
Discord pursed his lips, as he noted the curious look being sent his way “Oh, right...and apparently on Page 3 there's something about you being out on a date. So, what's that about?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, before releasing a heavy sigh “Yes, I was out on a date with Prince Blueblood, alright? In fact, we were just about to discuss tri-spectral illusory lattices in the application-”
Chrysalis facehoofed.
The young princess frowned at this, before pulling out a small collection of notecards, and going over them “Wait, I have other topics...”
“Hold a moment, Twilight.” Luna interrupted with an upheld hoof “...how can you maintain such a broad array of magical sensates without running into cross-interference?”
“Oh, it's very simple- well, actually it's not. But-” Twilight began
“Stop.” Chrysalis interrupted.
“Why? This seems like a valid topic to me.” Luna replied.
“Well, unless Twilight has decided to aim her romantic intentions a little bit higher, it doesn't really matter what you think of the topic.”
Luna considered this for a few moments before nodding “I see your point. Such talk might not be particularly suitable for romantic banter, after all. At least, not when it concerns our handsome nephew.”
Twilight again frowned as she again looked down at her apparently useless topic cards. The frown turned to bemusement, as the cards spontaneously folded themselves into origami-...cows? Regardless, they still managed to fly from her hooves, while chirping away like birds.
“Enough of that!” Discord suddenly declared, again wrapping Twilight in one arm “Blah, blah, joke about Twilight Sparkle being socially awkward, blah! That's run it's course. It's now time to focus on how you can help me!”
Twilight glanced between Princess Celestia, her transmogrified notecards, before finally settling her gaze on Discord. Hanging her head, she gave in “What do you want, Discord?”
“It's not so much what I want, but what I need, Twi-Twi-”
“Please don't call me that.”
“-and more importantly, what they all need.” Discord continued with a flourish of his paw towards Chrysalis and Luna. He pointedly ignored Chrysalis' apparent scoffing at the notion.
“Right. And what exactly is it that they need?” Twilight pressed, still plainly skeptical.
“Well, I thought that I could do them a kindness and provide them with a- what do you call it? A sort of...meeting place for individuals with certain common experiences or concerns who could each provide one another with encouragement, comfort, and advice.”
“A support group?” Twilight supplied.
“A what now? Anyway, I seem to be having a dreadful time of getting things organized for our very first meeting. And I just thought to myself, who could I possibly turn to save the day once again? Who has the organizational skills to help make this a reality? Who-”
“We all know you're talking about Twilight, so get on with it.” Chrysalis irritably demanded.
Discord pouted at being cut-off from his dramatic grandstanding, before turning his nose up at the changeling “I'll have you know that I was actually talking about a friend of mine from accounting. Unfortunately, she's very busy this time of year, so I had to settle for Twilight...thanks for spoiling the surprise.”
“You don't have any-” Chrysalis began.
“Time. Time left to waste, I think is what Chryssie means to say.” Celestia interjected, before Chrysalis could say anything that might upset the nigh-omnipotent being.
“Yes...we've already wasted so much.” Luna observed.
“So, tell me Twilight Sparkle, are you ready to take pity on poor, little, old me and help rescue this little endeavor with your brilliant organizational skills?...Hmmmm?” Discord asked, his eyes turning starry and his lips pouting.
It was really more creepy, than endearing.
Even so, Twilight eventually gave a nod “I suppose, I can help. It shouldn't take too long to help you get things in order...And, I think I need to write-up some new topic cards anyway...”
“I'm sure Chrysalis would be happy to take care of that for you, while you help Discord.” Celestia helpfully supplied, whilst sending a pleading look towards the Changeling Queen in question.
“Happy? No. But this has proven to be a day for doing things that I'm not happy with.” Chrysalis sourly noted.
“Excellent! We can get started on things right away!” Discord declared, his arm still wrapped around Twilight. Soon, he began gesturing to the rest of the room “Soon, my vision, of a sanctuary for former villains, can be made unto a reality! There will be chairs! Tables! Snacks! The skies the very limit!”
“Sounds like you've already got most of what you need in mind.” Twilight observed.
“Yes! Together we shall achieve the impossible!” Discord continued on.
“But, it doesn't sound like it will be all that impossible.”
“Oh, no! With an event of this magnitude, there's no telling how long it could take to bring together!”
Another surreptitious invocation of chaos later and the preparations were done, quite literally in a flash.
The furniture of the room was cleared out and replaced with fold-out chairs and tables. Where once there was a mixture of marble flooring and thick, comfy carpeting, there was now nondescript linoleum. Overhead, where once hung a chandelier, there were now faintly flickering fluorescent lights. And, as promised, there was a table to one side of the room with what looked to be a collection of stale doughnuts, trail mix, and coffee laid out for everyone.
And hanging on the far wall was a banner with 'Reformed Villains Anonymous' emblazoned in what looked to be cheap red paint.
This elicited more attention from Princess Luna than anything else in the room “In what sense is any of this anonymous? I'm sure that we all know one another quite well, and it's unlikely that any of our visages could ever be lost amongst the populace.”
“First order of business!” Discord exclaimed, before extending a claw over towards Twilight, who was now sitting behind a poorly made desk. The young princess now seemed to be sporting a pair of glasses and now had her mane pulled back into a tight ponytail, with the look completed by a very dull, very plain, gray blazer.
“I'm starting to get the feeling that you didn't really need my help at all, Discord...” Twilight quietly griped while looking over the transformation that he had put her through.
Discord simply made a fake coughing sound, before again extending his hand towards Twilight “As I said...First order of business, Twilight.”
Twilight sighed before looking over the pile of papers, that had been set out in front of her. Picking up the first, she adjusted the heavy pair of glasses on her nose, before reading it's contents aloud “First order of business...Roll call.”
Turning towards the dracoequus' extended hand, the young alicorn unenthusiastically delivered the sheet with her magic “Here.”
“Thank you, Twilight. What would I ever do without you around?” Discord asked while giving her a pat on her head.
“That really is the question...” Twilight quietly agreed.
“Let's see first up is your widely beloved host...moi.” Discord said, while gesturing to himself “Just a formality, of course.”
“Of course.” Twilight repeated.
“Let's see, who is next? Ah, everypony's favorite changeling, Chrysalis...” Discord called out, while sending an expectant look towards the Changeling Queen. After several moments of silence from Chrysalis, Discord decided to add “...A simple 'present' or 'here' is more than sufficient.”
The silence wore on, as she stubbornly refused to play along with Discord's latest game; it was already readily apparent that the changeling was present, after all.
After almost a minute of this, Discord pulled out two long sticks and steadily began inching them towards Chrysalis' mouth. It's intent became apparent, as he started attempting to manipulate the changeling's lips whilst mouthing the word 'present' in what he likely thought was an encouraging manner.
Celestia quickly stepped between the two, using a hoof to gently pull the two poles away from Chrysalis “Discord, it's quite apparent that Chrysalis is, in fact, present. Wouldn't you agree?”
“Oh, I suppose so...Moving right along, then.” Discord finally conceded, with just a touch of disappointment. Throwing the the two poles behind him, he quickly picked up his roll call list again “Let's see. Next up is-...hmmm...”
Tilting his head to the left and right, as he furrowed his brow down towards the paper in his hand, Discord got up from him seat. A short walk later, he was standing beside an attentive Princess Luna “Tell me...just how do you pronounce your name?”
The Moon Princess gave a slightly annoyed look at that “...It's pronounced, Luna.”
“Ah, thank you so very much. And to think, I was going to say Lun-nay! That could have been embarrassing.” Discord remarked, even as he ticked off another name on the list, using a fountain pen pulled from nowhere.
“Well, that seems to be everyone. Perhaps now-” Celestia began.
“Now, now, no need to get ahead of ourselves, Missy Sunbutt.” Discord interrupted with a wag of his finger. A moment later he was waving the list under her nose “You'll find that we have a few more names to go, yet.”
“Oh...My mistake then. By all means, carry on.” The Sun Princess replied, though not without pointedly glancing about the small room.
“Thank you. Next up...Princess Celestia.” Discord declared, before pulling out a pencil this time.
Celestia blinked in momentary surprise at her name being called “Me?”
“Well, yes. This is a group for reformed villains, I believe. And you are present, are you not?” Discord smartly pointed out.
“But, Princess Celestia has never done anything villainous!” Twilight exclaimed while walking out from behind her desk.
“Is that so? So, I guess we'll just have to mark imprisoning someone as a statue for over a thousand years into the hero column, then won't we?”
“In this case?” Chrysalis asked aloud.
“You can mark me as present, Discord. I'm more than happy to be in attendance.” Princess Celestia interjected, far less bothered by being referred to as a villain than Twilight.
“Perfect. Now, moving on...Hm?” The chaos spirit hummed to himself as he looked over his list once more.
“Something wrong?” Luna asked.
“Hmmm...it seems one of our attendees is running just a bit late. And I just can't imagine what could be keeping her.” Discord replied, before holding up his claws and snapping his fingers once more.
Out of the ensuing flash, what looked to be the figure of a pony sleeping beneath a star-spangled purple blanket formed.
Or perhaps it was less a blanket, and more of a cape that was merely being used as a blanket. Or so Twilight thought to herself.
Again with his sticks, Discord went through the process of rousing the sleeping individual, before anypony else could think to investigate themselves “Wakey-wakey, sleepy-head...”
After only a few seconds of this prodding, there came some quiet grumbling, before the mystery individual stuck out an azure hoof to bat away at the annoying jabs. Soon, the figure was rolling over, before using that same hoof to slowly push herself up a bit.
This caused the improvised blanket to pull back a bit, revealing a horn and a lightly-colored mane in the throes of a terrible case of bedhead. But even as unkempt as she currently was, anyone that knew her couldn't possibly mistake the mare for anyone but...
“Trixie?”
There was a brief pause, as Princess Celestia and Twilight turned towards one another with questioning looks, each apparently wondering how the other knew the unicorn.
“Twilight? You know Trixie?” Princess Celestia asked with a curious tilt of her head.
“I-...Uhm...” The young princess hesitated, like a startled animal that had just been caught in a bright light “...Yes?”
The inquiring look being sent her way by her mentor made it abundantly clear that she was rather wondering how Twilight actually knew the showmare. Which, unfortunately, was a question that Twilight wasn't entirely ready to answer. While her first meeting with the boastful mare wasn't something that she felt too terribly about sharing, sharing the details about her second encounter with Trixie entailed some...difficulties. The events surrounding Trixie's amulet fueled takeover of Ponyville were among the few that Twilight had gone out of the way to conceal from Princess Celestia.
Not out of any sense of malice, of course. Quite the opposite, really, as it had only been out of a desire to actually help Trixie, that Twilight had gone about pulling the strings needed to keep word from spreading about those events. As manic and misguided as Trixie's ranting had been during their magical duel, Twilight had in fact been listening and had caught on to the troubles that had plagued the showmare after their first encounter. After Trixie's apology, Twilight had rather felt that it fell to herself to keep history from repeating once more, in order to really give Trixie a second chance.
So, Twilight had used her influence with Mayor Mare, to keep word of what had occurred from reaching Princess Celestia.
It wasn't actually that difficult to do, as apart from herself, the Mayor, and her friends, not that many ponies were all that willing to approach Princess Celestia. Even when it came to important matters. And when Trixie had started responding to the letters Twilight had sent her, she had really thought that her course had turned out to be the right one.
Though, now that the prospect of what she had done coming to light seemed imminent, Twilight suddenly wasn't so sure of herself.
It didn't help that Princess Celestia was still waiting patiently for answers.
Twilight couldn't help but squirm under her mentor's gaze, as she tried to look for a way to broach the matter-at-hoof.
She was broken from her worries, by the sound of a yawn coming from Trixie. Everyone turned their attention towards the azure unicorn, as she blearily panned her gaze over the room, still apparently more than half-asleep. Trixie finally rested her tired gaze on Discord, before loosing another yawn “...Nope.”
Trixie promptly rolled over again, pulled her cape up, and went back to sleep.
Luna quietly hummed to herself at this, as the unicorn muttered something incomprehensible to herself.
“Wait a minute...” Twilight suddenly spoke-up, garnering Princess Celestia's attention once more. After some small consideration, the purple princess turned a questioning look towards her mentor “...How is it you know Trixie?”
Princess Celestia blinked.
Twilight couldn't help but note that her mentor seemed to be having as much trouble as she had with that seemingly simple question. This didn't bring her as much comfort as one would think.
“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked again.
“Well-...you see Twilight...” The eldest alicorn hedged, in much the same way Twilight had just done.
Chrysalis glanced between the two alicorns, before smirking “Now, this is an interesting turn of events.”
“Pfft! Hardly.” Discord said, before snapping his fingers once more, sending the sleeping Trixie back whence she came.
This quickly got Celestia's attention, leading her to take several steps towards the dracoequus “Discord! I need you to-”
“Now, now, we'll have time for all of that later.” Discord replied, with a flippant wave of his paw. Looking back down upon his list “So, if you don't mind, we haven't even gotten through calling attendance and I'd rather not spend all night here. Some of us actually have a social life...”
Twilight furrowed her brow at this, before glaring at the dracoequus "I have a social life, Discord."
Princess Celestia seemed briefly intent on saying something more, perhaps to demand that he bring Trixie back, but settled for a mere frown. There wasn't much point in arguing with a being like Discord.
For Twilight's part, her attention returned back to this mystery, she couldn't tell if she was more relieved that the subject was being changed or more curious as to how her mentor knew Trixie. It almost seemed worth admitting her actions, if it meant she could get some answers about-
“Next up...Sunset Shimmer. What a goofy name...”
If Princess Celestia seemed surprised by Trixie's sudden appearance, her reaction at this latest name could only be called shock. Twilight couldn't help but notice that out of everyone else here, only Chrysalis also reacted with recognition at the name.
“Who's Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked, following her first instinct, when confronted with a question she couldn't answer.
Before anyone there could answer her, Discord made an exaggerated show of looking about the room “Hm. Guess she's running late too...”
A quick snap of his claws and yet another pony was dropped into the middle of the room, an amber-coated unicorn mare, with a striking mane and tail which each seemed to be the color of fire.
She promptly belly-flopped onto the floor with a yelp of surprise.
After having a surprising amount of difficulty getting up on to her hooves, almost as if she was confused to find herself with four legs, the mare began to take in her surroundings.
Sunset Shimmer seemed to be more shocked and confused than anypony else present, with her gaze noticeably lingering upon Chrysalis.
“Sunset...” Princess Celestia quietly called out.
“Princess Celestia! I-” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed, before starting to back away. Before Celestia could attempt to calm her or the unicorn could try to bolt, Sunset vanished in another flash.
“Sorry, sorry, my bad everypony.” Discord said with a casual wave of his paw.
Celestia, her patience quite completely drained away, whipped her head towards the chaos spirit “Discord! What did you-”
“Oh, don't get your knickers in twist. I'm working on it.” Discord replied, completely unimpressed by Celestia's ire, even as he walked past the livid alicorn. Reaching an arbitrary point in the room, he reached into the air, as if to grab at something. A moment later, Discord pulled down with his claw, as if he were pulling down a zipper in the fabric of reality.
Reaching his claw through the hole, that he had so casually ripped through space and time, Discord began rooting around in it, in a manner not dissimilar to how one would root around a purse. Having apparently found what he was looking for, he soon pulled his arm back to reveal what he had been looking for.
It was Discord.
Discord had pulled another Discord out of the hole.
This was a bit worrying.
But, surprisingly, nothing terrible seemed to come of it. There was some quiet muttering between the two Discords, before their own Discord waved his roll call sheet in front of the other Dicord's face. The second Discord took a moment to root around back in his own dimension before pulling out a similar sheet of paper and exchanging it for the other one.
With that, the two Discords shook claws, before the second ducked back into his side of the hole, pulling it closed behind him as he went.
“Sorry about the confusion everypony! Everything's been sorted out now.” Discord cheerfully announced as he held up the sheet of paper for all to see “It seems somepony gave me the roll-call sheet for six months from now, Twilight...But everything's in order now.”
“Six months from now?! What is that supposed to mean, Discord?!” Celestia sharply demanded, no longer concerned with placating the chaos spirit.
Discord gave a small huff at this response “I don't know what's got you worked up, all of a sudden. It was a simple mix-up. No fuss, no muss.”
“No fuss-” Celestia began again.
She was stopped, surprisingly enough, by Chrysalis. More specifically Chrysalis' hole-filled hoof brushing against her side. Meeting the Changeling Queen's gaze, neither said anything for sometime, with Chrysalis only responding to Celestia's anger with stoic calm.
Upon seeing that the elder alicorn was starting to regain her calm, Chrysalis made a nod of her head, so as to draw her attention towards something.
Twilight, specifically.
Seeing her confused, worried student looking up at her with such apparent concern, quickly drained the Princess of the Sun of the rest of her fury.
Twilight swallowed briefly, before taking a step forward “Who's Sunset Shimmer?”
There were several moments of silence, before Celestia slowly exhaled the breath she had been holding “Sunset Shimmer is-...this may not be the best time for me to speak on her.”
“It seems a good time to me, sister. If this Sunset Shimmer has such power to upset you, I would know why that is. And how I might deal with this matter.” Luna finally spoke up.
Celestia gave a small smile at her little sister's own brand of proactive concern, before nodding “Later, I promise. I just need sometime to organize my thoughts.”
“Ahem! If you don't mind, I'd like it if we could stick to the schedule?” Discord demanded in a petulant tone “I'm sure this is a bonding moment for all of you -you're welcome by the way- but I'd like to remind you that the heartwarming moment for the day is scheduled for after the slideshow.”
Everyone shared in a collective glare for the chaos spirit, that was only broken when Celestia let out a sigh and made a gesture for Discord to continue “My apologies. Do carry on, Discord.”
“With pleasure.” Discord said, perhaps failing to notice that he was the only one pleased with this, as he again turned his attention to the paper resting in his claw. Even so, Celestia made a point of taking her seat, prompting the others to slowly follow her lead.
For Luna's part, she couldn't stop herself from sending a look Chrysalis' way, all but questioning how she could seem so calm and measured, when Celestia was so apparently upset.
Noticing the questioning look being sent her way, the Changeling Queen gave a shrug “As if he doesn't know how much I dislike him, already?”
“Oh, you!” Discord said with playful wave of his paw.
“Just get on with it.” Chrysalis sourly replied.
With apparent glee, Discord pulled out a remote from nowhere “If you insist, let me introduce you to...”
Chrysalis realized her mistake, just a shade too late “Oh no...”
Discord's claw jammed down upon the sole button on his remote, causing the ceiling itself to split open like a trapdoor, releasing an inexplicably large torrent of slime to cascade down upon everyone. Thick, bright-green, and viscous, the gooey substances seemed to briefly fill the whole room as it splashed outward, engulfing and knocking down everyone in its path.
A sharp eye, would notice some confetti and popped balloons amidst the slimy downpour.
Apart from Discord, who seemed to be happily riding out the messy wave on a small dingy, whilst holding a fishing rod out over its edge. Within a few moments, the waves of slime settled down, depositing everyone back onto the floor.
Except for Twilight.
She was hanging from the wall, adhered there by no small amount of slime.
“Smoozie! Baby! You made it!” Discord exclaimed while disembarking from his little boat. Marching over to the largest lump of slime, the one that seemed to feature a slightly goofy smile, he quickly wrapped it in a hug, before playfully wagging a finger at it “Fashionably late, as always, am I right?”
The Smooze jiggled slightly, but otherwise didn't react.
"The Smooze? You invited the Smooze?!" Celestia blurted out, as she got her hooves back underneath her.
"I wanted it to be a surprise!" Discord declared enthusiastically, before sidling over to Princess Celestia "To show you just how far I've come along on this whole reformation-deal! I went and wrangled up good old Smoozie here and guided him through the long, arduous process of bringing him to the light."
"Really, now...?" Princess Celestia asked with apparent surprise, and a glance towards the placid blob of ooze.
"Oh, yes. It was quite the challenge, bordering on heroic, some might say. I couldn't in good conscience object if you felt the need to award me some manner of commemorative medal...Audible Wink-wink." Discord explained with no small amount of pride.
"That-...that's actually good, Discord." The Sun Princess eventually conceded, even as she tried to scrape away a bit of the slime.
"Isn't it though? Here let me introduce you to one another!" Discord enthusiastically 'offered' before physically dragging the pale alicorn over to the smiling blob. As before, The Smooze barely even seemed to react, only slightly turning to 'face' Discord and Celestia. Extending a claw out to the pile of slime, Discord gestured between it and Princess Celestia before introducing them "Smooze, Celestia. Celestia, Smooze."
Quickly leaning over towards The Smooze, Discord whispered conspiratorially, and audibly, into it's nonexistent ear "You know? The one I told you about?...Thousand years as a statue?"
The Smooze just gave a neutral sounding burble.
Briefly sending an askance glance towards Discord, Celestia gave a slightly awkward smile for the blob creature, before extending a hoof out towards it "I-...It's a pleasure...Smooze. I had no idea that-"
The Sun Princess came to an abrupt pause, as The Smooze abruptly turned it's attention to her outstretched hoof. Or, more specifically, the fine gold said hoof was shod in "...Is something wrong?"
"Oh, that's right. We're still working on this one lingering bad habit of Smoozie's." Discord admitted, with a mischievous glee that put Princess Celestia on edge "You see...he still has this unfortunate habit of-"
The seemingly benign slime creature smacked its lips briefly, before suddenly surging towards the shiny jewels and bits of metal sitting in front of it. Watching with amusement as Celestia loosed a yelp, before quickly trying to escape, Discord finished what he was saying "-Yes! That."
Meanwhile, Chrysalis was busy scraping off what ooze she could, alongside Luna "That, was admittedly my fault..."
"Indeed." Luna blandly agreed. The two were given some brief pause, as they watched Celestia run past, to be quickly followed by The Smooze. Raising an elegant brow, as she watched her sister's attempts to elude the slime creature, Luna turned back towards the Changeling Queen "I'm reminded of a topic, I've been meaning to bring up with you."
"What could this situation possibly remind you of?" Chrysalis sourly asked, as she shook off another glob of ooze from her hoof "I could see it, if you were a changeling. But, since you're not, I admit I'm left wondering about you."
Using her own hoof to scrape away a bit of slime, Luna nodded towards the changeling "It is really more something that concerns Celestia, that she wished me to bring up with you."
"Oh?"
The Moon Princess turned to focus back upon Chrysalis"Yes, she has voiced some...concerns about you. Concerns that she didn't wish to pressure you about, but that she thought I might-"
"Nooooo!"
Both Luna and Chrysalis paused, to calmly watch as Celestia was engulfed by The Smooze. Not a few moments later, the oozy creature seemed to shake a bit, before spitting out the alicorn, now stripped of anything made of precious metals or jewels.
"...I see you made a new friend, Celestia." Chrysalis observed.
Celestia shot a slightly sour look, towards the changeling from her place on the floor "...So nice of you to notice, Chrysalis."
Luna couldn't help but chuckle a bit, at seeing her normally unflappable sister so utterly disheveled. Her mirth was cut very short, as Discord popped up alongside the Moon Princess, before using an arm to drag her closer to The Smooze, just as he had done with her older sister "Luna! Come, come and meet my good friend, Smoozie. I've told him all about you and he's just so excited to meet you! Big fan of the nightsky, you see. Heard that little ditty, about diamonds in the sky, I think..."
Luna couldn't help but note where the blob creature's attention was directed, following it's gaze down to her own royal accoutrements "...Oh, dear."
Before the inevitable could happen, Luna suddenly burst into a starry-cloud, that quickly slid out of Discord's grip. And not a second too soon, as The Smooze quickly began pursuit. In another flash of magic, Luna reformed by the doors leading from the room "Stay back! Accost me not, filthy creature!"
Seeing how little this did to deter the slimy creature, Luna quickly fled through the door "Away from me!"
The Smooze quickly followed, leaving a trail of slime in it's wake.
No more bothered by this, than when it was happening to Celestia, Chrysalis carefully walked across the slime-covered floor to stand by Celestia. Without a word, she offered a hole-filled hoof to the fallen Sun Princess, helping her back onto her own hooves.
"...Thank you, Chrysalis."
"Mm-hmm." The changeling nodded.
"Yes, I know. It's all my fault. Terrible idea." Celestia conceded.
"I wasn't going to say anything." Chrysalis said.
Celestia gave a tired smiled at that "Yes, I know."
Splat.
The remaining two royals turned, at the sound of Twilight crashing back down to the floor, after finally freeing herself from the slime-covered wall. Slowly picking herself up, Twilight began rubbing her head in confusion, only stopping when she realized that she was rubbing more slime into her mane "Oohh-...What just happened?"
"You fell." Chrysalis supplied.
"...I picked up on on that, thank you." Came Twilight's irritable reply.
Chrysalis tilted her head at that, before considering the young princess once more "Also, I've been meaning to mention to you, you should try wearing your mane like that more often. Sans the slime, obviously."
"What?"
"It did look nice." Princess Celestia added a moment later "I bet my nephew would like it."
Twilight blushed a bit at that, only barely stopping herself before she reached a hoof up to check the pony-tail "Oh...thank you."
After a moment, Twilight noticed the heavily-soiled gray blazer that she was still wearing and, after that, the sad state of the rest of the chamber "This is-...This is a mess."
"Very observant." Chrysalis said.
Frowning at that, Twilight turned her attention back to the problem before her "Well, maybe we should do something about that."
"Maybe, you should." Chrysalis agreed.
Twilight rolled her eyes at this, not entirely surprised by this response from the Changeling Queen. Shaking her head, as she focused back upon the slime-coated room, Twilight began to concentrate on funneling the magic down her horn that would be needed to start cleaning things up, and-
Nothing.
"What?"
"Is something wrong, Twilight?" Princess Celestia asked with a bit of concern, her attention drawn from the process of scraping the slime away from herself.
"I-..." Twilight visibly tried concentrating on her magic once more, trying to force the energy past the slimy coating at it's tip, only to generate a small, unimpressive bubble.
The bubble gave out a small 'pop' causing the young alicorn to blink "This slime is suppressing my magic!"
Princess Celestia gave a small frown at her student's declaration, before concentrating on her own horn.
Pop.
The Sun Princess considered this turn of events, before taking in the devastated room for a few moments and hanging her head "That is going to make it a bit of a challenge cleaning up..."
Before Twilight could reply, Chrysalis rose a hoof up garner their attention "I actually have some thoughts on that."
"Oh?" Celestia said, curious.
"Yes...Give me your horn." Without waiting for Celestia to agree to anything, the changeling began reaching for the protrusion, leading the alicorn to back away out of reflex.
Sending a mildly bewildered look towards Chrysalis, Celestia sent a considerate look towards her own horn, before addressing the changeling "Just what exactly are you planning on doing?"
"I'm going to clean it, obviously." Came the Changeling Queen's matter-of-fact answer.
"How, exactly?" The elder alicorn asked, with apparent suspicion.
"How do you think?" Chrysalis asked, before snaking her tongue about.
"Chrysalis, no."
"Oh, come now. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to do something like this." Chrysalis argued.
"That is very much not the point, Chrysalis! And you know it!"
"Do you want that slime gone or not?"
"Not if it means you're going to-to-...assault me in public!"
Chrysalis gave a long sigh at that, briefly giving Celestia some hope that the changeling had given up on the idea "Fine, Celestia. Act like a child, if it suits you...Twilight? You hold her down."
"What?!" Twilight and Celestia blurted out at the same time.
"Did you mishear me?" Chrysalis asked, again, in an entirely to calm manner.
Unnoticed by everyone present, the door to the chamber was nudged open "Auntie? Twilight? I'm not sure what's going on, but I just saw Aunt Luna being chased-"
"You want me to help you clean Princess Celestia's horn with my tongue?!" Twilight demanded.
"I should have knocked! I didn't see anything!" Prince Blueblood shouted, before abruptly fleeing the room.
Chrysalis smirked a bit at this turn of events before turning back towards the shocked Twilight "Actually, I was suggesting we use my tongue, but-"
"Blueblood, wait! It's not what it sounds like!" Twilight shouted after the fleeing prince. Only with small amount of trouble she galloped towards the doorway "There's context! Context!!!"
Twilight briefly looked back in the room, more specifically at Princess Celestia and Chrysalis.
She quickly fled the room "At least, take me with you!...Blueblood!"
Chrysalis chuckled after Twilight's departure "She has such impeccable timing, doesn't she?"
"Chrysalis! Why would you do something like that?!" Celestia attempted to scold.
"Just to show how much I care about you, that's all." Came the Changeling Queen's easy reply.
"What?"
Chrysalis gave a smile, at that "Yes. Now poor Twilight will be far too mortified to even look at you, for the next few days, much less ask any difficult questions of you."
"Ask me- Chrysalis, I was perfectly willing to answer Twilight's questions. Questions that she has every right to know the answers to."
"Well, now you can tell her all about Sunset Shimmer, and that other pony, when you feel you're ready...You're welcome."
Celestia didn't know how to respond to that, torn between feelings of annoyance, exhaustion, and appreciation for Chrysalis' actions, or at least the sentiment behind those actions.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a bath." Chrysalis primly added, as she made her way for the door "You enjoy your evening, Celie."
Celestia almost jumped out of her skin, when she felt Discord wrapping his arm around her once more "You know? You two really do make a cute couple. There's just something about it that...works."
The alicorn had to sigh once more, realizing that she was the only one still trapped with Discord.
"Anyway, I think that just about covers the roll-call. Next up on our agenda-"
"I don't suppose you could work in a time to clean up this mess, into the agenda?" Celestia plaintively asked of the chaos spirit.
Discord briefly considered the request, before pulling out a pencil and a clipboard "Hmmm...I don't know. Perhaps we can fit in something after the slideshow...Oh, I'm just so excited! We're going to have so much fun together, Celie!"
"...I'm sure."
Author's Note
Well, this is a fun little story. Or at least I hope so.
Quite naturally, it follows after Advanced Lessons, as well as a Beginner's Lesson in Romance, and should let me segue nicely into some future stories I've planned.
As always, questions and criticisms are welcome. As per usual, you can expect some edits over the next couple of days, as I go over it some more. I hope everyone enjoys this little ride.
