Getting to Know Youby TheBookish_DisasterChaptersGetting to know himPutting it my way, but nicelyGetting to like you, getting to hope you like meYou are precisely, my cup of teaGetting to know himAnother day, another night. Another week, another month. It was finally time. Tis was the second Friday of the month, a night of wonder and joy, and Twilight Sparkle walked out of one of the castle kitchens, carrying two large pizzas, three bowls of chips, two small packages of dip and a couple of sodas. She casually strode through the long hallways until she reached two double doors. There it was. The room. A large room with a couple of beds, coloured dark walls and dark blue curtains. The Slumber room. The room in which the former beariers of the Elements of Harmony had their monthly sleepovers. Twilight slowed down her step, and cautiously stepped closer to the doors. The mare couldn't hear any joyful chattering from within. What was going on in there? The princess fixed a bit her cozy hoodie as she slowly opened the door with her magic. The snacks almost fell to the ground when a soft pillow collided with her face. The room filled with laughter as the other five mares came out of their hide-outs made of the five beds and a ton of pillows. All were just as casually dressed as Twilight. Now, you would ask, why does a species that usually walk around naked wear clothes? The answer is: the heating in the huge castle is freaking terrible, that's why. They had arrived in the Friendship Castle about an hour ago. Before all agreed on snacks, they had already started a rather heated game of Ponopily. Rainbow Dash owned one third of the board by the time Rarity was done braiding Fluttershy's mane, and would've owned the other two thirds if Pinkie wasn't so determined to win. Apparently, in their boredom while waiting for Twilight to return, they had started an even more heated pillow fight. And she was the victim of a secret, conspiracy attack. -"You know, this is called an assasination attempt on a princess, and is, in fact, highly frowned upon and extremely punishable."- the princess of Friendship said in a monotone voice, as she slowly placed the tray of snacks on a small table in the middle of the room. -"Heh, sorry Twi. It was an accident..."- Dash chuckled, as she flew down infront of Twilight. Ah, yes. Her first suspect of the terrible crime. Oh, it sure wasn't an accident. She chuckled too. Soon, all mares sat around the table and started munching on the still warm pizzas. With most of the mares having their own businesses and jobs to do, they didn't usually have any time to spend with each other. Lukily, with Twilight and Rarity's (mostly Twilight's) amazing organizing skills, the six mares got to meet each other as often as they can. Twilight herself had planned the monthly slumber parties and they had been doing them successfully for a couple of months now. It was usually a fun night and this night was no exception. Twilight's castle was the usual location for the slumber parties but there were times when they would stay somewhere else. (They still talked about the time they stayed in Canterlot castle during one visit that happened to align with the Slumber day. The real party started when Luna joined them for an all-nighter filled with games, jokes and pranks... Oh, the poor guards...) The mares were chatting happily and everything was fine, until Pinkie picked up a small box of chocolate milk from the tray that ,Twilight was sure, wasn't there before and giggled as she placed the straw in the hole of the box. -"Pf, hey, remember last week, when Applejack asked Discord to water a part of the crops and he instead made a toffu cloud raining milk!"- the pink mare giggled again as she took a sip from her drink. -"Oh, yeah!"- Rainbow butted in- "And Applejack was all like 'What 'n tranation are ya doin', Discord!? Ah told ya t'wateh tha crops!!!'" All mares, except Twilight, laughed at the flyer's attempt of a southern accent. -"Um, yeah, so?"- the unincluded alicorn questioned annoyedly. She really hated being unincluded. The others' laughter ceased as they all looked back at Twilight. -"Oh, sorry"- Fluttershy, who was sitting next to her smiled softly, placing a hoof on her shoulder. The feeling softer than usual because of the pegasus' long-sleeved sweater- "We forgot you weren't there..." -"Okay, let me finish!"- the noise completely fadded as Dash flew into the air with all eyes on her- "And then Discord said, ahem, 'Well, I'm sorry my dear Applejack, but I thought you meant me to milk the crops! You know, good for the bones and all that...'"- Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively to emphasize her Discord imitation. All mare, again, except Twilight, started laughing again, even louder. They stopped when their left-out friend groaned. -"That... that joke hardly makes any sence..."- she placed her hoof on her forehead. -"Oh, but it does, darling! Well, if you were there... It's all about context!"- Rarity tried her hardest to cheer her friend but to no profit. The young princess was now laying her head on the table with her front hooves spread atop of it. She mumbled something incohearent. -"Um, sorray, sugarcube, but what did ya say?"- questioned Applejack from her spot next to her. Twilight raised her head up, and to the surprised of the others, pretty much yelled her next words angrily. -"What in the name of Celestia is so, SO great about DISCORD!?" The room was silent. -"W-well... he can be really sweet when he wants to..."- the soft words from the yellow pegasus in the room triggered a massive reaction if every other pony starting their own little rant about the draconeques in question. Rainbow Dash couldn't stop talking about his 'surprisingly amazing flying skills' and how good he was at pranking. Applejack admitted that he knew well how to cheer up the situation and that his 'fancy magics' were extremely helpful on the farm. Rarity also took part of the conversation by also admitting admiration about his personality and skills. She even shared a joke he told her. Everypony laughed. Fluttershy only smiled. She was far more familiar with the draconeques than the others and enjoyed the sudden change of mind towards him. Pinkie Pie had had a trip to Joyland by the time he shared his first joke, or summoned his first cotton candy cloud. She was even slightly dissapointed by him not being able to show up. Darn politics. Twilight watched in slight confusion. She still didn't understand, why did her friends suddenly like Discord!? Meanwhile, in Canterlot castle, a dozen of royalties and political figures were seated around the table in the royal conference room. On one end was seated Princess Celestia, with her sister, Princess Luna on her right side, and the Lord of Chaos, Discord, seated on the left. The negotiation whether or not to start a stock exchange with the Yakyakistans was in full swing for nearly three hours now and Discord was completely and fully bored. As Luna was just suggesting her tradding ideas, something in the draconeques came up to him. He slammed his fist against the table, starting everypony and non-pony in the room, as he suddenly took deep breaths, closing his eyes and... "Ah-ah-ah-aH- CHOOOO!"- suddenly, confetti fell out of the rooftop as the lord scratched at his nose. -"Well... that was a nice, cheerful swing away from the serious conversation, Discord, but-"- Celestia was quickly interrupted by another sneeze. And another. And another. They ended up being five in total. And then, a final one, the loudest of all. The politics had to swipe off the piles of confetti off the table. After that, Discord simply layed back in his chair and smirked like nothing had happened. "Well, I guess somepony's talking about me~"- he chuckled softly. -"If you want to know THAT much about Discord, Twily, why don't you just schedule an outing with him or something?"- Pinkie suddenly said, interrupting the chatting of the others as she noticed Twilight's slumped form. The rest noticed it too. Twilight suddenly jotted up. -"How did I not think of that."- the purple mare whispered.- "Of course!"- she yelled.-"I have to go out on a meeting with Discord so I can get to know him as well as you guys have!" The mares in the room cheered in agreement. That was a good idea. -"But, um, how are you going to invite him? And when?"- Fluttershy questioned. -"Well, I could write him a letter?"- the alicorn thought out-loud- "I have my Monday free, so I guess I could schedule for then... But that leaves what are we going to do..."- the mare rubbed her chin in thought. The other mares looked amongst each other. Rarity stood up and walked towards her saddlebag at the foot of her bed, taking out a piece of paper and a quill. -"Do you have any ink, dear?"- the fashionista questioned as she walked back towards her friend. -"Um, yes, give me a second..."- Twilight quickly summoned a small jar of black ink and tossed to the unicorn. Rarity took it, opening the small cap and placing the stuff on a free spot on the table in front of Twilight. All mares sat around the purple mare and Rarity ushered her to start writing. -"Hm, alright... I will now start..." Dearest Discord, -"Um, is this alright, is it too formal? Is it too casual?"- all five mares rolled their eyes at their friend's already starting nerveousness. -"Hmm... Isn't it a bit tooooo affectionate?"- Pinkie Pie questioned- "I mean, you wouldn't want to send him the wrong message, do you? Haha, get it, because you are actually sending him a message!" A moment of silence followed. Then Twilight quickly scratched out the part. -"How about, 'Dear Discord'?"- she nervously asked. -"It's fine, Twi."- said Dash as she flew above her- "Go on." Dearest Discord Dear Discord, How are you?Heyyyy! How have you been? SO, the girls and I talked I was wondering if you and I could, you know, go out sometime? As in, like friends, I mean! I thought you wouldn't mind spending some quality time together, but I don't know, what would you say? Please say yes...Or no, that's fine! I was thinking this Monday might be a good time for any plans? Um, write back when you can, and just to be sure you know, you aren't obligated to accept! Your faitful stident, Your fellow princess, Lots of Love, I hope I hear from you soon, Twilight Sparkle Twilight signed her name on the bottom of the paper. True, the letter was short, but most of the paper was filled with scratched out parts and here and there small hoofnotes made by her friends. The writing took about twenty minutes and the alicorn quickly proof-read the letter, magically deleting the notes and scratched out parts, and rolled it up, placing a small seal of her own on it. After ten more minutes, Spike was in the room sending the letter and five more minutes later, Twilight was hiding under the table, summoning a book on how to return back a letter. Rainbow Dash had to quickly snatch the book, flying off into the air, causing Twilight to shriek in horror as she followed her across the room. The situation quickly turned into a small game of "Keep away the book from Twilight" which randomly reminded the princess about the first time she actually met Discord. Finally, Twilight gave up and everyone was tired enough to go to bed. Maybe after twenty more incouraging remarks from her friends, the former bearier of the Element of Magic managed to calm down and fall asleep. ... Unfortunately, her slumber was pretty short, as giant burst of pink flame blew infront of her bed, waking up the whole room, and decending on top of Twilight's head. It was a letter. The five other ponies jumped off their beds and quickly found their places around the still baffled alicorn who opened the letter. Discord was tired and that was an understatement. Spending four, or maybe five, hours in a room full with boring ponies was like a suicide attempt for a draconeques and everyone should be educated well enough to know that. Still, he had to, for the good of his reputation as a good creature and benefit for the country of Equestria. The lord walked in through the window of his asigned room and walked into the bathroom through the wall. He combed his teeth, brushed his bath and took his hair, as he got himself ready for a long night of naps. A total of seventeen naps, lasting twenty minutes each, with a ten minutes break in between each. (During that time, he had snacks and pranked the night guards.) He flushed himself down the toilet and his body appeared again on the small chair of his desk on the ceiling of the room. Just as he was about to walk to his bed hooked against the far left wall, a sudden flash of green fire surprised him. After the smoke cleared up, he picked down the piece of parchment that came along with the fire hazard. He summoned a pair of thin, pink reading glasses and started reading the text upside-down. Well, he, himself, was upside down, the paper was the right way up... After he had finished reading, his curious expression changed to a joyful surprise. -"Wouls you look at that, the Princess of Friendship has invited me on a date! Wait, no, there it is, the word 'friends'..."- the draconeques sighed hard, if he had sighed any more harder, he was afraid the sarcasm in the act was going to make him explode. So he looked back at the letter that now stood on the ground, and then at his desk- "Well, some fun with the bookworm wouldn't hurt, now would it, Discord?" From a framed picture on the desk moved a copy of him, that nodded and smirked devilishly. The real Discord gave back the same smile, as he rubbed his claw and paw, chuckling evily. The framed picture copied his movements. The lord snapped his talons and Twilight's letter appeared in another frame on the wall, a purple one with time red and pink hearts covering the wood. Yep, this invitation was a serious achievement from the stiff mare. He quickly took out a parchment of his own, quickly writting down how he agrees to go on an outing with her. After finishing up the letter with a small mocking "See you on Monday, Your dearest Discord~ <3" (Her hoof-notes were simply adorable and hilariously embarrassing all at the same time!) Discord rolled up the letter, sealing it with a picture of himself and sent it. He jumped off the ceiling and back to the wall in his bed, he yawned and clapped his feet together, causing the room to go dark. Oh, this was truely going to be an interesting Monday. Putting it my way, but nicely"Dearest Princess Twilight Sparkle, I would be positively honored to go out with you- eh, I mean, on a friendly outing, of course... Hah, and would you imagine that when Celestia kicked me out of the 'important meeting' I thought nothing else exciting would happen!? Well, see you on Monday, my dear! I can't wait to spend some good quality time with you, only the two of us~ Your Dearest Discord~ <3" The letter was short but she had to admit, the paper was really nice. Even the small drawing of herself and Discord on the bottom of the paper wasn't that annoying, compared to other things Discord had done. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when all her friends spontaneously started giggling. She looked up to find them all on their previous spots, Rarity and Applejack looking slightly suggestive towards her, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie almost falling off the bed from laughing so hard, and Fluttershy, she was trying to cover up her tiny giggles with her sweather-cloved hooves. -"What's so funny?"- Twilight raised an eyebrow. She only recieved more laughter. The alicorn rolled her eyes, as she pushed two of her friends off the bed, who, in conclusion, weren't very happy about that. -"What gives!"- Rainbow yelled, not laughing anymore. -"Why are you laughing! I mean, yeah, it's good that Discord accepted, but why is that funny!?" The mares looked knowingly amongs each other, each wielding her own little smirk. The whole exchange made the princess feel uneasy. -"Twilight... have you ever been flirted with?"- Rarity suddenly asked, causing the rest to snicker again. Twilight's face turned into beed-red shock as she stared back at her fashionista friend. -"W-what does that have to do with anything?"- she questioned, her expression turning into a scowl, trying to recover from the previous embarrassment. -"Dicord is flirting with you, silly!"- Pinkie blurted out. All ponies except the purple, blushing mess in the middle of them, started 'ooh'-ing facetiously. -"D-don't be silly, girls!"- Twilight started again, trying to brush of the obvious humiliation that was covering her up from head to hooftips- "Why would you think that? It says right here, we're only friends!" The lovely piece of paper got snatched by the spectrum-maned mare, who's eye immediately went wide and then a smirk appeared on her face. She turned to her friend Fluttershy, waving the paper in her hoof. -"Flutts, I didn't know Discord can draw!" -"What d'ya mean?"- questioned the apple farmer- "Discord, the other day, was talkin' 'bout everythin' by drawin' some fancey paintings in dark rooms!" -"Hmm, his first painting could have been considered a kind of amateur try, but the portrait he made later on was simply lovely!"- commented Rarity, enthusiasticly. -"For one thing you're right!"- exclaimed Pinkie, a paintbrush and paint in both her hooves from Celestia knows where... (Maybe Discord would know?) -"You're being ridiculous."- the alicorn complained, now clutching the end of her sheet. -"And you have a date!"- Rarity threw back, causing another roll of 'Ooh's. -"Regular, friendly outing!!!" -"Aight, aight, calm down, sugercube! We're jus' joking! Ain't that right, y'all!"- Applejack said, looking around her. The others nodded, their expressions changed to serious all of a sudden. Twilight sighed. -"How about we just go to bed already." The five agreed and soon, slumber fell atop the little ponies. Monday morning. 9:45 Twilight Sparkle was ready. She had already scheduled a meeting with Discord at 9:50 infront of the cinema. The princess' list was already made and checked at least 50 times that day. -8:00- Get up -8:10- Take a shower/Brush teeth and coat/mane -8:30- Have breakfast -8:50- Read a couple of my books on Friendships and Relationships -9:15- Send a letter to Rarity -9:18- Letter gets resent to the rest of my friends -9:30- Reconsider my life choises -9:40- Walk to the Ponyville cinema -9:50- Meet Discord -10:00- Movie starts -11:48- Movie ends -11:50- Say 'bye' and go home! Twilight rolled back up her list and looked around the hall. Surprisingly, even tho the movie was out for a long time now, a lot of ponies were there specifically to watch Deadpon. She didn't really know much about it anyways. She hadn't watched it. The general information on the princess' mind was that the movie was based on a popular Manevel comic and the main character, Deadpon, had a sort of 'chaotic-neutral' role. At least that's what she managed to make out of Rainbow Dash's enthusiastic rambles... The alicorn looked up at the clock stuck to the wall. 9:55 'Where is he!?' Suddenly, like an answer to her silent anger, the popcorn in the popcorn machine behind her started popping more rapidly than before. Twilight turned around, slowly stepping back, seemingly the only pony noticing the weird action. All out of the blue, the lid on the machine popped up, hit the ceiling and, with a loud bang, it fell right on the spot she had been a couple of seconds before jumping back. Out of the glass box, in a swirl of popcorn, came out a large, noodle-like figure. If this was the first time she ever saw him, Twilight was sure she'd mistake him for a tragically reathached ragdoll. There he stood, infront of her now lying form, the lord of Chaos, Discord. He smirked down at his 'friend', bowing low while taking off his tophat, more popcorn coming out of it. -"My dearest, Twilight~"- he acknowledged, standing up again and putting the hat back on his left horn. Twilight glared at him, then her eyebrows popped up in surprise as the top hat was now magically gone, then glared again, realising the stupidity of questioning Discord. -"Hello... Discord..."- she said, his name rolling down her tongue with consideration. A small drop of regret falling off as well. Discord quickly took out a small napkin out of a pocket in his fuzzy, brown furr and passed it to the princess, his smirk not washing off even in the slightest bit. -"You have a bit of regret left there, here you go..." Twilight raised an eyebrow. -"You're late." -"Oh, am I!"- the draconeques exclaimed, taking out a watch out of his ear and quickly placing it on his wrist, showing it to the alicorn. It said 18:27. Twilight stared at the watch for a moment, then looked back at Discord in confusion. He was quietly staring back, an expression of silent suffering taking over his features. -"Did... did I ever tell you how bad I am with time..." Even so, he was still late. The room had been left empty, in excludion of the weird duo. Both looked back at the clock on the wall. 9:59 Both immediately started shifting and the sound of claw-snapping and poofing was heard before Twilight's hooves touched warm, soft sand. Looking around, she saw the beach, a few tikki bars nearby, and Discord, who's leg was now stuck in a folding chair, as he jumped around in a panicked state. "Horseapples!"- he yelled, a couple of apple falling off the nearby coconut trees, as he snapped his talons again. 10:05 They were finally in the teather, watching the usual trailers. Discord offered Twilight popcorn from his own giant box. Twilight declined. 11:50 The movie had a slight... unexpected combination of drama and comedy... But she could see why Dash liked it so much. Twilight had to admit, some of the jokes made her snicker. And she had to also admit, Discord wasn't that unenjoyable during the movie, of course, as long as he stayed quiet, which, he completely broke after the movie had ended. -"So, Twily, did you like the movie? I found it extremely enjoyable! Especially the part with the spelling... So, anyways! When are we going to meet again!? How about right now!" Twilight snapped back into reality after the end of his sentence. -"Wait, um... I don't really think this would be a good idea..." -"Well, why not, Princess?" -"Well, um... you see... um..."- the alicorn looked anywhere but the draconeques by her side as she tried hard to think. As if fate herself wanted her to die, her eyes fell back on Discord, his large red and yellow eyes sparkling with anticipation as he awaited her answer. Darn it. -"Well, um... we could... go back to my castle and hang out... there- GAH!"- suddenly, the breath was taken out of her lungs, as she was lanched upwards in a bone-crushing hug, her back feet dangling at least 2 meters off the ground. -"I knew you couldn't resist me!"- he yelled in glee, suddenly dropping her back to the ground, his ears folding backwards, a sheepish expression showing up on his face as he kicked some dust off the ground- "Heh, I meant... Friendship, yaaay!" Twilight stared at him, face unamuzed, as she rolled her eyes, then smiled. -"Well, I have something planned~" Discord smiled too. This was going great! This was going terrible! -"What are we even doing now!?"- Discord yelled, as he glared at Twilight from his spot on one of the larger cushions of the library. Twilight was sitting on a cushion opposite of him, reading a book for at least 2 hours now, not giving her friend even the slightest bit of the attention. In the sign of being ignored, Discord turned around crossing his arms and angrily murmurring: -"Stupid mares. Stupid Twilight. Stupid 'Don't do any weird stuff or I'll kick you out of my castle!'..." -"What was that?"- for the first time in forever, the mare in question lifted her gaze from her book to raise an eyebrow towards him. The draconeques turned back towards her, glaring rather loudly. -"You aren't giving me any attention! You are ignoring your own friend!"- he screached in anger. -"I dunno. All my other friends can tolerate me reading in their presence."- she calmly answered. -"You, you..."- he glared down at the pony infront of him, who was reading again. How did it end up like this? She was the one desperate for his attention earlier! How did he end up begging for her's instead!? He frowned. -"How do you always manage to put things your way." In all shocks, the alicorn smirked. She lifted her gaze up, looking him straight in the eyes, that taunting smile still on her face. -"I do it nicely." Author's Note Here it is! New chapter! I am saying this now, I probably won't post any new chapters for the next week or so, since I'll be traveling, but I will try to write as soon as possible. Promise! Getting to like you, getting to hope you like meIn the early hours of the day, the sun shone brightly, basking the small town of Ponyville in its glorious light, the snow reflecting it making the town almost comparable to the Crystal Empire itself. Ponies walked up and down the busy streets, either doing chores or just taking a simple walk. There, in the centre of town, stood the baking glory that was Sugarcube Corner, filled to the brim with happy faces, eating sweets and drinking hot chocolate while happily conversing. And inside, at a table in the corner of the room, sat six ponies and a small dragon, talking amongst eachother. To Twilight's ears the conversation was slightly dulled out, as she was too busy reading from the large tome that layed infront of her. She didn't know why, but ever since her rather pleasant get-together with Discord a few days ago, she couldn't take her eyes off of the book they shared, even if the story itself had nothing to do with anything at all. Her thoughts were brought to a halt as she was shoved slightly in the shoulder by none other than Applejack herself. The alicorn didn't wince, as she was already used to the more physical sides of her friendships, and just looked up at the farmpony in a questioning manner. -"Gee, Twi. Yar muzzle's been stuck in that book o' yours since we came 'ere, what's so interesting 'bout it?"- the apple mare questioned. -"Yes darling, you didn't even answer my question just now." Twilight blushed in embarrassement. She usually wasn't so distracted. She closed the book, making sure she placed the bookmark on the right spot, and quickly pushed the reading material back into her saddlebag. -"S-sorry, girls. Heh, it seems I have been a bit too distracted these days, haha"- the bookworm chuckled nervously, as she tried her best to mutter an apology. Good thing her friends didn't seem to mind that much, after all, they were already used to her antics- "What was your question again, Rarity?" The mares at the table (including Spike) chuckled amongst themselves as Rarity continued the conversation. -"Oh, why, I simply asked how your date the other day went, dear~"- the unicorn said teasingly, to which Twilight's face turned the colour of a raspberry. Every creature at the table started laughing at the alicorn's expected reaction, to which she in return pouted, crossing her front hooves, in her anger almost spilling her tea. -"It was not a date."- she mumbled angrily under her breath. -"So it wasn't an event of two ponies getting together for an activity in hopes of getting to know each other?"- Pinkie Pie asked, her head tilting to the side in curiousity. Twilight froze. Welp, she really got her there. -"Technically.... it was just what you said..."- the princess admited, taking a slow sip from her cup of tea as the other mares and a drake exchanged a few looks and giggles, happy at their little triumph- "Alright, in that sense of the word, it was a date..." -"And how did it went?"- Fluttershy innocently asked, holding her hooves on the table. Twilight sighted, realising that this moment was going to come sooner or later, and taking a deep breath, she began her little monologue. -"Well, we went to see the movie, it was nice, and just when I thought we were gonna part ways, he managed to convince me to hang out a little longer. I took him back to the castle, but he didn't like it much, so then we went to the lake to 'ice-skate', but that didn't work out either. End." The ponies and non-ponies on the table stared silently at their friend who had just finished her rant. Twilight frowned- the silence not giving her a good sign. -"Nothin'... else happen?"- Applejack asked, her stetson almost falling off her head as she tilted it to the side. -"N-nope!"- the alicorn replied, hopping they wouldn't see right through her. If she told them what happened next, they might start getting ideas, ideas about stuff she herself wasn't even sure about... -"Are ya sure?"- Rainbow asked, slidding her half-empty bottle of coke from hoof to hoof. -"Heh, yep! Absolutely!"- she hoped they would drop the topic soon, as her face couldn't hold the awkward, wide smile any longer. The mares looked suspiciously between each other, then as if silently agreeing on their next course of action, they looked back at her. -"Really, because Spike told us he saw you hanging around in the library during the late afternoon."- Rarity said, a little smirk coming onto her lips with her next line- "He mentioned something about a fort made of books and pillows, and a really large book with interesting names, like the one you were reading earlier..." Twilght gulped, sweat dripping down her brow, as she hadn't even realised Spike had came back home probably around that time and saw what the two had been up to. -"Um..." The violet mare's gaze shifted from friend to friend. Now, instead of laughing, the rest were smirking knowingly, except Spike, who was sheepishly smiling and twiddling his thumbs, mouthing a 'Sorry' to her. -"That's..."- she looked down to the side, her ears folding down to try and cover her pink face, but to no avail- "... true. But!"- she suddenly lifted herself up- "We just had a fun time, that's all!" Her friends laughed, not in a mean way, but in a sweet, understanding way, helping her nerves ease up a bit. -"But why didja lie, sugarcube?"- AJ asked, raising an eyebrow- "Ah mean, why didnja just tell us you had fun?" Before Twilight could even try to answer the question she herself wanted answers to, a large puff of purple smoke appeared out of nowhere, causing the seven, includding a few ponies who sat on tables nearby, to cough rapiddly. When the smoke finally cleared, there was.... literally nothing there. -"What."- Twilght asked, not even directed to anyone. Since when did someone set up a 'dramatic-smoke-bomb-entrance' and not show up!? But everyone's confusion quickly turned into suprise when out of the flower vase on the table came out a small, mismatched lizard. The group all leaned down to see what this creature was, but it didn't give them the chance, as it suddenly decupled in size and floated around their heads. And there he was, the draconeques of the hour, Discord himself. -"Hey girls!"- he cheered, making a few flying circles around the group, then noticing Spike- "Oops, sorry! Hey girls and dragon!"- he corrected himself, patting the baby on his head, floating around yet another circle, patting Fluttershy softly on the head, and finally deciding to land. Unfortunately for Twilight, he chose to roll his long body around none other than his latest 'buddy', resting his paws and head on the top of her head, much to the mare's annoyence. -"So how have you been? Heh, I sure hope you aren't leaving me out of anything, are you?"- the draconeques with no knowledge of personal bondaries asked, a small tingle of anxiety in his voice. -"Oh, of course not, Discord!"- Fluttershy was the first to say-"We're just having an outing together." -"So what are you talking about?"- he said slyly, his talons tapping around Twilight's horn, his sharp claws, surprisinly gently, messing up her mane. -"Stop that."- she said through clenged teeth, not even bothering to look at him, not that she could. -"What was that, dearest?"- Discord innocently said, one of his talons tracing over the lenght of her horn, causing the alicorn to shiver. Horns were rather sensitive bits, an evolutional flaw, if she had to comment. -"Get o-off."- Twilight repeated, but her currant state caused a shake to her voice, her cheecks glowing in frustration, as she realised she couldn't push him off. As if the other mares and dragon hadn't even noticed Discord's suggestive teasing, they started up a conversation with him instead. -"So, Discord, we couldn't really get that much information from Twilight..."- Rarity began, taking a sip from her tea, then smirking- "So would you like to fill us in on the details of your little get-together?" After that she added a wink, to which Discord returned with a sly smile. Even if he had stopped touching her horn and instead started petting her bangs, Twilight couldn't help but choke on air. The draconeques had the nerve to look down at her, his smirk and half-lidded eyes unfased. The mare gave him a look, screaming 'Don't you dare!', which she hoped came across. He only stood up, unrolling his long, snake-like body off her chair, freeing her finally. Then he stood tall next to it, with his paws behind his back, like a child ready to announce a good grade. -"Well..."- he began, not noticing the small, purple pony who was pulling on his tail to tell him to keep quiet- "We went to the movies, then to the library (it was boring), and then to the lake! (But that was dangerous...) So we returned to the library and spend the day there!"- the noodle finished joyfully. Silence followed, including a reliefed sigh, coming from none other than the Princess. -"That's... it?"- Rainbow asked, her head tilted to the side, one eyebrow raised. -"Yep!" -"... huh. Ah guess no saucy details for ya, Rares~"- AJ first was confused, but then didn't miss the chance to tease the fashionista. -"Hmpf!"- the unicorn in question crossed her hooves- "You can't hide forever! I'm on to you." That followed by laughs and the topic was dropped, as the conversation continued. Twilight sighted in relief, happy that there were no more questions. She herself didn't know what her feelings towards the charming draconeques really were. 'Ugh'- she thought in annoyance- ''Feelings' is such a strong word... Why couldn't I call it something else? Like... wait. Did I just call Discord.... charming!?' The alicorn's moral confusion and offend were interrupted as she felt a thin, paper-like object being pushed over to her hoof. She looked down to see Discord slidding a small letter over to her, as he didn't take his eyes off of Pinkie, who he was now having a cake debate with. -"But Pinkie, carrots on cake just doesn't work! Why would you put anything healthy in a cake!?" The pink pony gasped. -"Don't you dare mention that infront of Carrot Top!" Curious, the purple mare sneakily took the letter and brought it on her lap under the table. On the back it read 'To Twilight' in nice cursive with little hearts drawn on the i's. Suspiciously looking around for anypony who might be watching her and finding none, she magically broke the seal (a simple red one with a 'Discord' written) and opened the letter. "Dearest, Twilight, Our last meeting has been lovely! I can't wait to see you once again. So I have decided to arranged yet another, ahem, meeting. What would you say? If your answer is 'no', I understand, but if it happens to be 'yes', well, I'll pick you up at 6 tonight. Hugs and pogo sticks, yours, Discord~" At the bottom layed a small doodle of an offly familiar draconeques and herself, laughing under a fort of books. She smiled warmly, her heart making a fluttering motion. As the alicorn gently and quietly dropped the paper in her bag, she looked up at the draconeques, who was now making yet another one of his jokes, wearing big, round glasses for some reason. She let a small smile slip, as she sighted, resting her head on one of her hooves. Suddenly, Twilight's eyes widened in realisation and confusion at the same time. Was she... falling for Discord? A question that she hadn't even thought of before made its way to the front of her mind. 'What's the problem?' What really was the problem, anyways? Would she be any less if she admitted she liked Discord, if she did? Of course not! But just then, another, not so pleasant question made its way over the last. "What if he doesn't like you that way?" Well, she had almost 10 hours to sort her thoughts out, and a whole night to figure that out. But right now, she pushed everything to the back of her head, instead taking part of the conversation, while also sharing a few glances with the charming draconeques. Author's Note Wow, I made no transition in this chapter, at all. It's all one scene. Woah! Anyways, that was that for this chapter, next we have: Date Night!™ Don't forget to leave a comment, see you all next time! Bye! You are precisely, my cup of teaDiscord walked up and down the eastern wall of the West wing of the second floor of the library of Twilight Sparkle's castle. His paw and claw were greedily clutching on each other, as they stood behind his back. A weird mix of an angry scowl and a thoughtful expression stood atop his face. If Twilight didn't know him, she'd think he looks exactly like an evil villain, plotting a scheme. The mare didn't understand what was wrong with him. They watched a movie together and they were supposed to part ways a few hours ago, anyways. But he insisted to stay together for longer. Not liking the idea of spending more time than planned outside, Twilight decided it was fine to just keep him in the same room, as long as he didn't interfere with her reading. (And she also secretly hoped he'd get bored enough to leave her be...) But he didn't! He doesn't like staying here, she could tell, but why isn't he leaving her alone!? Clank. Clank. Clank. Every time the draconeques' hoof or clawed dragon leg stepped on the purple, crystal wall, they made an annoying 'clank' noise. His grumbling, unnatural hissing and gawking didn't help ease the princess' headache either. Clank. Clank. Clank. Suddenly, sCREESH. Discord had accidentally made a rather large scratch on the wall, the reason of which was a bit too forceful move of his dragon leg. He shrugged it off and continued pacing again. Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. -"That's it!"- yelled Twilight, smashing her book closed. Both her yell and the sound of the innocent piece of literature being almost broken apart startled the draconeques out of his wits, causing him to loose footing and fall straight to the ground, like a giant noodle, waving its noodle limbs in all direction. Not even finding enough time to rub the sore spots on his body, the lord jumped back to his feet, taking a stance a model might have been jelous of, if his nervousness hadn't ruined the whole 'paw-on-hip-claw-on-back-of-the-head' pose. The sweat dripping down his forehead and his unabillity to hold his gaze on one thing didn't help either for his modeling career. -"You didn't scare me!"- he yelled looking anywhere, but the mare he was so scared of right now. -"Quit the fooling around Discord. And tell me what do you want." The draconeques quickly broke in a more confident stance, his paw and claw crossed infront of his chest. When his eyes fell again on the princess, his eyelind lowered in a flirtatious jesture, and a smirk automatically took hold of his mouth. -"Oh, is the lovely princess Twilight finally giving her dear friend some attention?"- he broke into chuckles and flew up, but quickly decended down to roll his long, snake-like body around the alicorn- "What are your demands, my dear?" His suddenly low and husky voice send chills down Twilight's spine, making her face light in a soft, pink hue. Her expression of surprise changed to a glare as she pushed to draconeques' head away from her face. -"Just... you want to spend time together, don't you!?"- she suddenly yelled, causing Discord to nervously step back and nodding timidly, as he fidgeted with his talons- "Then tell me what you want and we will do that, but then you have to leave me alone, capisce!?" -"Got it! Ahem. I-I mean... got it..." At least mildly satisfied with the response, Twilight stood up from her cushion and walked towards the other creature. All signs of anger had dissapeared from her face, which now took a pretty impressive poker expression. -"So. What would it be?" All bad things had cleared, winter wasn't as soggy, Celestia wasn't as annoying, his skin was cleared and his grades were good. Wait... Nevermind! He was happy. The odds were finally in his favour! Discord smirked evily down at the princess. -"Oh, you're going to love this!~" Twilight had the dignity to only gulp. Twilight Sparkle used to be a student of high stature. Even if she wasn't as snobby as most ponies who also called Canterlot their home, she still had a rather rich and well-put lexicon. If she had to describe a situation as particilary irritetable, she'd use words such as 'annoying', 'senseless', 'ludicrous' or even 'moronic'. But she would never say 'dumb', as her Equestrian teacher once said, 'The word 'dumb' is a word for ponies, who don't know any other words to describe themselves.' Well, she was kinda mean, but still... 'Dumb' wasn't a word Twilight Sparkle would use. -"This is dumb."- said Twilight, glaring at the draconeques laughing from the other side of the barely frozen lake- "This is extremely dumb." The news had arrived to her about a few days ago by Rainbow Dash during one typical flight session. Apparantly, the weather team of Ponyville had a bit trouble with the snow for this year. Somepony from the main weather factory in Cloudsdale had, in simple words, bucked up the snow package for Ponyville. So now the land was barely covered in small, melting patches of snow, it wasn't even that cold outside, even the lakes weren't completely and safely frozen. (Good thing Cloudsdale promised a new winter package for the poor town.) And now, Twilight Sparkle found herself trying her best not to fall through the ice of Ponyville's lake while also watching out for a certain draconeques who tended to snap his claws and completely change her attire from one sparkling dress to another. Or as he called it, 'ice-skating'. -"My dear, white is such a nice colour on you, you should wear it more often~"- she heard Discord say from a couple feet behind her. She frantically turned her head around to be met with yet another sparkly, white dress atop her flank. Dear Celestia, he even had placed her mane in a loose bun with a white fether sticking out. Twilight groaned loudly, throwing her front hooves in the air, and then realising her mistake as she almost slipped through the now cracked ice. Almost. -"Woah, there."- she heard the voice of Discord nervously chuckle from a lot closer than he used to be. The princess opened her eyes, only to notice a claw and a paw holding up her front hooves and slowly pulling her back, away from the now broken ice- "You don't wanna hurt yourself, do you?" Looking up, she saw the reason of the closeness of the draconeques' voice. He was right behind her, gently slidding himself and her as far away as possible. If it didn't crane her neck so much to look back for longer, Twilight would've sworn his expression seemed a little... worried. After a couple of seconds later, Twilight could swear she couldn't even see the crack anymore. Realising they weren't moving anymore, she awkwardly tried to wiggle her hooves free, but couldn't. Looking up again, the alicorn noticed Discord staring down back at her. His eyes were half lidded and hes mouth was forming an emotionless frown. She didn't even think he was actually looking at her. He seemed dazed, like he was half-dreaming at the moment. -"Um, Discord? I... I think I can manage from here..."- the mare slowly broke the silence. Suddenly, the draconeques jumped up slightly, his eyes widenning and mouth falling agape, he quickly let go of her and Twilight had to react fast as to not fall on her face. -"S-sorry, sorry! I was just, um... thinking..." -"Thinking?" -"Thinking." A slight shiver came up Twilight's spine. Not because of the cold, no... Discord was usually a cheerful and loud friend. Really loud... When he got quiet or aggressive, as silly as it sounded, it kind of... scared her... -"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"- Discord's now-cheerful voice came next to her ear with a purr. She yelped from the sudden closeness and jumped, falling on her rump, the cold ice colliding with her now-blue dress. Twilight stared at the little blue skirt as her friend frantically asked her if she was alirght. -"I don't understand." Silence. -"Understand... what?" -"Why did you want to go ice-skating? Why did you want to skate here, when you could make a MUCH better lake somewhere else? And what is up with the dresses!?" Discord sighed heavily. Almost as if giving up on his last breath. -"Gah, you just always have to be so complicated, don't you?" He snapped his talons and for the first time in an hour, Twilight didn't feel the skates on her hooves. Nor the random dress on her body. Even the chilly weather was gone. She opened her eyes, for a moment wondering when she closed them, and looked around, only to find herself in her library again. The second floor, West wing, the scratch still standing proudly on the eastern wall. Right under that wall, there, on a large red armchair, was laying Discord. His feet were hanging from one of the arms of the chair, and his head was touching the floor at the front of the chair, a book in his hands. A really large book. Twilight's pupils went small. A single strand of hair stuck out of her perfectly-combed mane, and one of her eyes twitched, next to her deep frown. -"Are. You. Serious."- she asked, each pause, she took a step closer to the chair- "We went ALL the way OUT, for you only to decide you wanted to READ THIS WHOLE TIM- What are yOU EVEN READING!?" The draconeques only took his gaze off of the book for a few seconds, only to look at the mare in an annoyed fashion, then he turned himself the proper way one should sit on an armchair and looked back down at his book. Without taking his eyes off of the large tome, he mumbled calmly. -"Wanna join me?" Twilight's whole body twitched, every single part at a different time from the one before. Three more strands poked out of her bun, and she almost looked like she was going to explode right there and then. Suddenly, the twitching stopped. She sighted, lowering her head down in annoyence as she walked up to Discord. -"Absolutely." Discord smirked, still not lifitng his gaze, as he made space for the princess to sit, turning the pages of the book back to the start. -"Do you want me to read?"- he teased. -"Sure. What are we reading anyways?" -"The Count of Manete Cristo." -"Neat." 'What a nice day!'- Spike thought as he entered the Friendship castle. After he placed his scarf on a hanger near the doors, he started his rather long walk to his room. The little drake was rather happy, he was given the whole day off when Twilight had told him Discord would stay with her for a few hours longer so he decided to go help a certain pretty unicorn with her new fashion lines. And it seemed that he made the right decision, as Rarity needed a lot of help with the needed preparations before her deadline came and she had to send the new designs to Canterlot's and Manehattan's boutiques. After that he had decided to take a walk through the town, where he stopped by the local comicbook store, and for his luck, the new issue of The Power Ponies had arrived! He couldn't wait to tell Twilight about it! Speaking of which... Spike had already reached the second floor of the castle, so he decided to check on Twilight where he left her with their, ahem, old friend. As the dragon walked through the doors, he was greeted by the unmistakeable, loud noises of arguing. 'Oh, no...'- he thought to himself as he rushed inside, following the sound. Turning around one bookshelf, he saw something he had to rub his eyes to make sure it was actually happening. There, in a rather large nest made out of books, pillows and blankets, layed the Princess of Friendship and the Lord of Chaos, playfully critisizing the large book in Discord's paw and their own oppinions. Discord seemed to be annoyed by the 'weak manipulation skills' some Danglars had tested over other names Spike couldn't remember on the spot, and Twilight's arguments consisted of "Stop magically changing the words in the book!" On first sight, the two seemed to be in a fight, but looking a bit more, anypony (and any dragon) could see they were having fun. Spike smiled knowingly as he backed away slowly, not-wanting to bother to duo. This day really was nice. -"I swear, if one more time you call Caderousse 'Calendar', 'Capacity', 'Carbon Dioxide' or any other 'C'-word, for that matter, I am going to hit you in the head with the book!"- Twilight yelled, but her aggresive tone went right over Discord's head, her laughing dulling out the original, serious meaning. In reality, both creatures were laughing so hard, their bookfort had a hard time not falling. When Twilight's laughter silenced for a bit, Discord managed to roll on his side, facing her, and with a serious expression looked down at the book, reading: -"At that point Cabbage had drank most of the wine bottle." He might've continued, but right then, he was smacked on the head by a bright purple hoof. The laughter from both parties increased, the whole rumble causing the books and pillows to fall right atop the two oblivious jesters. After a moment, from the pile popped out two heads. One of a purple, princess pony, and one of a gray, goat lord. The two slightly surprised creatures, immediately started laughing again. With tears in their eyes and pain in their bellies, the two slowly dug their way out of the ruins of their old kingdom. For a moment, Twilight had to lay on the ground for a bit, catching her breath, with her face burried in her hooves. After a couple of minutes, after the mare finally calmed down for a bit, she looked up, her eyes falling on the clock that stood proudly on the west wall, right above the Science section. 19:14 Twilight was surprised for a moment. When did time pass this fast? The alicorn slowly stood up to her feet, looking behind her, and finding the creature she was searching for. Discord was laying on the floor, his lower half still covered in a few books and a blanket, silently giggling in the crook of his paw. Twilight smiled softly. 'He looks cute when he's laughing.' Wait. Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she took a few steps back, folding her ears to the back of her head. 'What am I even thinking about!? I can't possibly... like Discord, can I? No, no, don't be silly, Twilight, this is ridiculous! You are just having fun, not falling for him! Right? Yes! I am just having fun with a friend! A friend...'- the mare smiled again, the thought of finally accepting Discord as a friend making her warm up inside. Friendship was defenetly the reason her tummy was filled with warm, soft butterflies. -"What'cha thinking about?~"- Discord's playful voice brought her back to reality. She looked down at the draconeques, who was now laying on his belly, his chin now resting on his paw and claw, as his tail swished playfully. Twilight smiled again. Funny, a couple of hours ago she would've probably rolled her eyes in annoyence at his antics, but she felt somesort of pleassure when he talked to her. It was pretty... weird. But in a good way... -"Just enjoying myself with you."- the princess said without giving the words a thought. Discord's pupils went small and he almost dropped his head. After a moment, Twilight realised what she had said, and her face quickly mimiced Discord's. -"I-I mean... um..."- oh no, this was bad. They were finally getting along and now she just had to blurt that out and ruin everything! Oh, why was she so awkward!? 'I am the princess of Friendship, for crying out loud! Why do I have to scare every single creature I make friends with!? Why can't I just-' -"Me too." Twilight's train of thought stopped. -"Wait, r-really?"- she stuttered in disbelief. The draconeques gave a smile as he stood up on his feet, dusting himself. It wasn't the grin of amusement he'd give when he tricked her, or the slight smirk he gave when something went his way. It was a simple, soft smile. He looked down at her. -"Really." Twilight smiled too. This was nice. After a moment or two, both creatures realised they were standing there, staring at each other for quit a while. The lord quickly looked at the clock above the boring bookcase and jumped a bit, realising his lateness. -"Oh, look at the time!"- he epclaimed- "I better go!" The alicorn let out a giggle, one that made the old goat's heart tremble. -"Well, I have to admit, it is getting rather late, so I guess that's a bye-"- the mare suddenly squicked as two large limbs brought her close to a soft, furry chest. At that moment, she realised Discord had hugged her. As strange as it was, it was nice. She hugged him back. -"I'll see you some other time."- Discord's smooth voice said, making his chest rumble, wich in conclusion made Twilight giggle. She lifted her head up to look at him and smiled. -"Au revoir~"- he said softly, snapping his talons. In seconds, Twilight found herself landing on the crystalline foor, Discord nowhere to be seen, only a trail of sparkles left behind him. She smiled. This was nice. Suddenly, her eyes widened in realisation. Something came up to her. As she used her magic to stack all the books and blankets on their correct spots, she started thinking. Yes, she was starting to like Discord. They were becoming really good friends. But was that all she wanted? Something urged her to want something more, but she didn't know what. What was there more than friendship? Maybe she wanted them to be best friends? No... it wasn't that... she never liked categorising her friends like that, anyways... So what was it? Maybe... she wanted a more... intiminate relationship between them? 'Don't be silly, Twilight!'- she thought- 'Being in that sort of relationship with Discord? That sounds ridiculous! That would never happen!' Nearly all the books, pillows and blankets were gone, except one large tome sitting on the floor. She picked it up with her magic, looking at the cover. 'The Count of Manete Cristo, Tome I' She smiled again. 'But still...' The princess yawned, deciding she was far too tired to go have dinner, she took a walk to her bedroom nextdoor, placing the worn-out by time book on her back. She could read a few more chapters before going to bed. It was after all, a pretty neat book. Author's Note And that was chapter three, everyone! Also, I am really, really, really sorry for taking so long to write it... You see, I was traveling, then taking a break from traveling, then traveling again, and it was quite the confusing expirience. For the past few days I have been writting, there was a new idea for a new long story that popped in my head, but you probably won't see it soon, and I really need to tend to my other story, 'Constantly Conflicting', too. While this story has an already planned number of chapters, 'Constantly Conflicting' is pretty long. So my plan for it, for those of you who are interested, is to write another chapter for it, then put the story on hiatus until 'Getting to know you' is finished. Well, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, and don't forget to like and review! Bye!
Getting to know himAnother day, another night. Another week, another month. It was finally time. Tis was the second Friday of the month, a night of wonder and joy, and Twilight Sparkle walked out of one of the castle kitchens, carrying two large pizzas, three bowls of chips, two small packages of dip and a couple of sodas. She casually strode through the long hallways until she reached two double doors. There it was. The room. A large room with a couple of beds, coloured dark walls and dark blue curtains. The Slumber room. The room in which the former beariers of the Elements of Harmony had their monthly sleepovers. Twilight slowed down her step, and cautiously stepped closer to the doors. The mare couldn't hear any joyful chattering from within. What was going on in there? The princess fixed a bit her cozy hoodie as she slowly opened the door with her magic. The snacks almost fell to the ground when a soft pillow collided with her face. The room filled with laughter as the other five mares came out of their hide-outs made of the five beds and a ton of pillows. All were just as casually dressed as Twilight. Now, you would ask, why does a species that usually walk around naked wear clothes? The answer is: the heating in the huge castle is freaking terrible, that's why. They had arrived in the Friendship Castle about an hour ago. Before all agreed on snacks, they had already started a rather heated game of Ponopily. Rainbow Dash owned one third of the board by the time Rarity was done braiding Fluttershy's mane, and would've owned the other two thirds if Pinkie wasn't so determined to win. Apparently, in their boredom while waiting for Twilight to return, they had started an even more heated pillow fight. And she was the victim of a secret, conspiracy attack. -"You know, this is called an assasination attempt on a princess, and is, in fact, highly frowned upon and extremely punishable."- the princess of Friendship said in a monotone voice, as she slowly placed the tray of snacks on a small table in the middle of the room. -"Heh, sorry Twi. It was an accident..."- Dash chuckled, as she flew down infront of Twilight. Ah, yes. Her first suspect of the terrible crime. Oh, it sure wasn't an accident. She chuckled too. Soon, all mares sat around the table and started munching on the still warm pizzas. With most of the mares having their own businesses and jobs to do, they didn't usually have any time to spend with each other. Lukily, with Twilight and Rarity's (mostly Twilight's) amazing organizing skills, the six mares got to meet each other as often as they can. Twilight herself had planned the monthly slumber parties and they had been doing them successfully for a couple of months now. It was usually a fun night and this night was no exception. Twilight's castle was the usual location for the slumber parties but there were times when they would stay somewhere else. (They still talked about the time they stayed in Canterlot castle during one visit that happened to align with the Slumber day. The real party started when Luna joined them for an all-nighter filled with games, jokes and pranks... Oh, the poor guards...) The mares were chatting happily and everything was fine, until Pinkie picked up a small box of chocolate milk from the tray that ,Twilight was sure, wasn't there before and giggled as she placed the straw in the hole of the box. -"Pf, hey, remember last week, when Applejack asked Discord to water a part of the crops and he instead made a toffu cloud raining milk!"- the pink mare giggled again as she took a sip from her drink. -"Oh, yeah!"- Rainbow butted in- "And Applejack was all like 'What 'n tranation are ya doin', Discord!? Ah told ya t'wateh tha crops!!!'" All mares, except Twilight, laughed at the flyer's attempt of a southern accent. -"Um, yeah, so?"- the unincluded alicorn questioned annoyedly. She really hated being unincluded. The others' laughter ceased as they all looked back at Twilight. -"Oh, sorry"- Fluttershy, who was sitting next to her smiled softly, placing a hoof on her shoulder. The feeling softer than usual because of the pegasus' long-sleeved sweater- "We forgot you weren't there..." -"Okay, let me finish!"- the noise completely fadded as Dash flew into the air with all eyes on her- "And then Discord said, ahem, 'Well, I'm sorry my dear Applejack, but I thought you meant me to milk the crops! You know, good for the bones and all that...'"- Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively to emphasize her Discord imitation. All mare, again, except Twilight, started laughing again, even louder. They stopped when their left-out friend groaned. -"That... that joke hardly makes any sence..."- she placed her hoof on her forehead. -"Oh, but it does, darling! Well, if you were there... It's all about context!"- Rarity tried her hardest to cheer her friend but to no profit. The young princess was now laying her head on the table with her front hooves spread atop of it. She mumbled something incohearent. -"Um, sorray, sugarcube, but what did ya say?"- questioned Applejack from her spot next to her. Twilight raised her head up, and to the surprised of the others, pretty much yelled her next words angrily. -"What in the name of Celestia is so, SO great about DISCORD!?" The room was silent. -"W-well... he can be really sweet when he wants to..."- the soft words from the yellow pegasus in the room triggered a massive reaction if every other pony starting their own little rant about the draconeques in question. Rainbow Dash couldn't stop talking about his 'surprisingly amazing flying skills' and how good he was at pranking. Applejack admitted that he knew well how to cheer up the situation and that his 'fancy magics' were extremely helpful on the farm. Rarity also took part of the conversation by also admitting admiration about his personality and skills. She even shared a joke he told her. Everypony laughed. Fluttershy only smiled. She was far more familiar with the draconeques than the others and enjoyed the sudden change of mind towards him. Pinkie Pie had had a trip to Joyland by the time he shared his first joke, or summoned his first cotton candy cloud. She was even slightly dissapointed by him not being able to show up. Darn politics. Twilight watched in slight confusion. She still didn't understand, why did her friends suddenly like Discord!? Meanwhile, in Canterlot castle, a dozen of royalties and political figures were seated around the table in the royal conference room. On one end was seated Princess Celestia, with her sister, Princess Luna on her right side, and the Lord of Chaos, Discord, seated on the left. The negotiation whether or not to start a stock exchange with the Yakyakistans was in full swing for nearly three hours now and Discord was completely and fully bored. As Luna was just suggesting her tradding ideas, something in the draconeques came up to him. He slammed his fist against the table, starting everypony and non-pony in the room, as he suddenly took deep breaths, closing his eyes and... "Ah-ah-ah-aH- CHOOOO!"- suddenly, confetti fell out of the rooftop as the lord scratched at his nose. -"Well... that was a nice, cheerful swing away from the serious conversation, Discord, but-"- Celestia was quickly interrupted by another sneeze. And another. And another. They ended up being five in total. And then, a final one, the loudest of all. The politics had to swipe off the piles of confetti off the table. After that, Discord simply layed back in his chair and smirked like nothing had happened. "Well, I guess somepony's talking about me~"- he chuckled softly. -"If you want to know THAT much about Discord, Twily, why don't you just schedule an outing with him or something?"- Pinkie suddenly said, interrupting the chatting of the others as she noticed Twilight's slumped form. The rest noticed it too. Twilight suddenly jotted up. -"How did I not think of that."- the purple mare whispered.- "Of course!"- she yelled.-"I have to go out on a meeting with Discord so I can get to know him as well as you guys have!" The mares in the room cheered in agreement. That was a good idea. -"But, um, how are you going to invite him? And when?"- Fluttershy questioned. -"Well, I could write him a letter?"- the alicorn thought out-loud- "I have my Monday free, so I guess I could schedule for then... But that leaves what are we going to do..."- the mare rubbed her chin in thought. The other mares looked amongst each other. Rarity stood up and walked towards her saddlebag at the foot of her bed, taking out a piece of paper and a quill. -"Do you have any ink, dear?"- the fashionista questioned as she walked back towards her friend. -"Um, yes, give me a second..."- Twilight quickly summoned a small jar of black ink and tossed to the unicorn. Rarity took it, opening the small cap and placing the stuff on a free spot on the table in front of Twilight. All mares sat around the purple mare and Rarity ushered her to start writing. -"Hm, alright... I will now start..." Dearest Discord, -"Um, is this alright, is it too formal? Is it too casual?"- all five mares rolled their eyes at their friend's already starting nerveousness. -"Hmm... Isn't it a bit tooooo affectionate?"- Pinkie Pie questioned- "I mean, you wouldn't want to send him the wrong message, do you? Haha, get it, because you are actually sending him a message!" A moment of silence followed. Then Twilight quickly scratched out the part. -"How about, 'Dear Discord'?"- she nervously asked. -"It's fine, Twi."- said Dash as she flew above her- "Go on." Dearest Discord Dear Discord, How are you?Heyyyy! How have you been? SO, the girls and I talked I was wondering if you and I could, you know, go out sometime? As in, like friends, I mean! I thought you wouldn't mind spending some quality time together, but I don't know, what would you say? Please say yes...Or no, that's fine! I was thinking this Monday might be a good time for any plans? Um, write back when you can, and just to be sure you know, you aren't obligated to accept! Your faitful stident, Your fellow princess, Lots of Love, I hope I hear from you soon, Twilight Sparkle Twilight signed her name on the bottom of the paper. True, the letter was short, but most of the paper was filled with scratched out parts and here and there small hoofnotes made by her friends. The writing took about twenty minutes and the alicorn quickly proof-read the letter, magically deleting the notes and scratched out parts, and rolled it up, placing a small seal of her own on it. After ten more minutes, Spike was in the room sending the letter and five more minutes later, Twilight was hiding under the table, summoning a book on how to return back a letter. Rainbow Dash had to quickly snatch the book, flying off into the air, causing Twilight to shriek in horror as she followed her across the room. The situation quickly turned into a small game of "Keep away the book from Twilight" which randomly reminded the princess about the first time she actually met Discord. Finally, Twilight gave up and everyone was tired enough to go to bed. Maybe after twenty more incouraging remarks from her friends, the former bearier of the Element of Magic managed to calm down and fall asleep. ... Unfortunately, her slumber was pretty short, as giant burst of pink flame blew infront of her bed, waking up the whole room, and decending on top of Twilight's head. It was a letter. The five other ponies jumped off their beds and quickly found their places around the still baffled alicorn who opened the letter. Discord was tired and that was an understatement. Spending four, or maybe five, hours in a room full with boring ponies was like a suicide attempt for a draconeques and everyone should be educated well enough to know that. Still, he had to, for the good of his reputation as a good creature and benefit for the country of Equestria. The lord walked in through the window of his asigned room and walked into the bathroom through the wall. He combed his teeth, brushed his bath and took his hair, as he got himself ready for a long night of naps. A total of seventeen naps, lasting twenty minutes each, with a ten minutes break in between each. (During that time, he had snacks and pranked the night guards.) He flushed himself down the toilet and his body appeared again on the small chair of his desk on the ceiling of the room. Just as he was about to walk to his bed hooked against the far left wall, a sudden flash of green fire surprised him. After the smoke cleared up, he picked down the piece of parchment that came along with the fire hazard. He summoned a pair of thin, pink reading glasses and started reading the text upside-down. Well, he, himself, was upside down, the paper was the right way up... After he had finished reading, his curious expression changed to a joyful surprise. -"Wouls you look at that, the Princess of Friendship has invited me on a date! Wait, no, there it is, the word 'friends'..."- the draconeques sighed hard, if he had sighed any more harder, he was afraid the sarcasm in the act was going to make him explode. So he looked back at the letter that now stood on the ground, and then at his desk- "Well, some fun with the bookworm wouldn't hurt, now would it, Discord?" From a framed picture on the desk moved a copy of him, that nodded and smirked devilishly. The real Discord gave back the same smile, as he rubbed his claw and paw, chuckling evily. The framed picture copied his movements. The lord snapped his talons and Twilight's letter appeared in another frame on the wall, a purple one with time red and pink hearts covering the wood. Yep, this invitation was a serious achievement from the stiff mare. He quickly took out a parchment of his own, quickly writting down how he agrees to go on an outing with her. After finishing up the letter with a small mocking "See you on Monday, Your dearest Discord~ <3" (Her hoof-notes were simply adorable and hilariously embarrassing all at the same time!) Discord rolled up the letter, sealing it with a picture of himself and sent it. He jumped off the ceiling and back to the wall in his bed, he yawned and clapped his feet together, causing the room to go dark. Oh, this was truely going to be an interesting Monday.
Putting it my way, but nicely"Dearest Princess Twilight Sparkle, I would be positively honored to go out with you- eh, I mean, on a friendly outing, of course... Hah, and would you imagine that when Celestia kicked me out of the 'important meeting' I thought nothing else exciting would happen!? Well, see you on Monday, my dear! I can't wait to spend some good quality time with you, only the two of us~ Your Dearest Discord~ <3" The letter was short but she had to admit, the paper was really nice. Even the small drawing of herself and Discord on the bottom of the paper wasn't that annoying, compared to other things Discord had done. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when all her friends spontaneously started giggling. She looked up to find them all on their previous spots, Rarity and Applejack looking slightly suggestive towards her, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie almost falling off the bed from laughing so hard, and Fluttershy, she was trying to cover up her tiny giggles with her sweather-cloved hooves. -"What's so funny?"- Twilight raised an eyebrow. She only recieved more laughter. The alicorn rolled her eyes, as she pushed two of her friends off the bed, who, in conclusion, weren't very happy about that. -"What gives!"- Rainbow yelled, not laughing anymore. -"Why are you laughing! I mean, yeah, it's good that Discord accepted, but why is that funny!?" The mares looked knowingly amongs each other, each wielding her own little smirk. The whole exchange made the princess feel uneasy. -"Twilight... have you ever been flirted with?"- Rarity suddenly asked, causing the rest to snicker again. Twilight's face turned into beed-red shock as she stared back at her fashionista friend. -"W-what does that have to do with anything?"- she questioned, her expression turning into a scowl, trying to recover from the previous embarrassment. -"Dicord is flirting with you, silly!"- Pinkie blurted out. All ponies except the purple, blushing mess in the middle of them, started 'ooh'-ing facetiously. -"D-don't be silly, girls!"- Twilight started again, trying to brush of the obvious humiliation that was covering her up from head to hooftips- "Why would you think that? It says right here, we're only friends!" The lovely piece of paper got snatched by the spectrum-maned mare, who's eye immediately went wide and then a smirk appeared on her face. She turned to her friend Fluttershy, waving the paper in her hoof. -"Flutts, I didn't know Discord can draw!" -"What d'ya mean?"- questioned the apple farmer- "Discord, the other day, was talkin' 'bout everythin' by drawin' some fancey paintings in dark rooms!" -"Hmm, his first painting could have been considered a kind of amateur try, but the portrait he made later on was simply lovely!"- commented Rarity, enthusiasticly. -"For one thing you're right!"- exclaimed Pinkie, a paintbrush and paint in both her hooves from Celestia knows where... (Maybe Discord would know?) -"You're being ridiculous."- the alicorn complained, now clutching the end of her sheet. -"And you have a date!"- Rarity threw back, causing another roll of 'Ooh's. -"Regular, friendly outing!!!" -"Aight, aight, calm down, sugercube! We're jus' joking! Ain't that right, y'all!"- Applejack said, looking around her. The others nodded, their expressions changed to serious all of a sudden. Twilight sighed. -"How about we just go to bed already." The five agreed and soon, slumber fell atop the little ponies. Monday morning. 9:45 Twilight Sparkle was ready. She had already scheduled a meeting with Discord at 9:50 infront of the cinema. The princess' list was already made and checked at least 50 times that day. -8:00- Get up -8:10- Take a shower/Brush teeth and coat/mane -8:30- Have breakfast -8:50- Read a couple of my books on Friendships and Relationships -9:15- Send a letter to Rarity -9:18- Letter gets resent to the rest of my friends -9:30- Reconsider my life choises -9:40- Walk to the Ponyville cinema -9:50- Meet Discord -10:00- Movie starts -11:48- Movie ends -11:50- Say 'bye' and go home! Twilight rolled back up her list and looked around the hall. Surprisingly, even tho the movie was out for a long time now, a lot of ponies were there specifically to watch Deadpon. She didn't really know much about it anyways. She hadn't watched it. The general information on the princess' mind was that the movie was based on a popular Manevel comic and the main character, Deadpon, had a sort of 'chaotic-neutral' role. At least that's what she managed to make out of Rainbow Dash's enthusiastic rambles... The alicorn looked up at the clock stuck to the wall. 9:55 'Where is he!?' Suddenly, like an answer to her silent anger, the popcorn in the popcorn machine behind her started popping more rapidly than before. Twilight turned around, slowly stepping back, seemingly the only pony noticing the weird action. All out of the blue, the lid on the machine popped up, hit the ceiling and, with a loud bang, it fell right on the spot she had been a couple of seconds before jumping back. Out of the glass box, in a swirl of popcorn, came out a large, noodle-like figure. If this was the first time she ever saw him, Twilight was sure she'd mistake him for a tragically reathached ragdoll. There he stood, infront of her now lying form, the lord of Chaos, Discord. He smirked down at his 'friend', bowing low while taking off his tophat, more popcorn coming out of it. -"My dearest, Twilight~"- he acknowledged, standing up again and putting the hat back on his left horn. Twilight glared at him, then her eyebrows popped up in surprise as the top hat was now magically gone, then glared again, realising the stupidity of questioning Discord. -"Hello... Discord..."- she said, his name rolling down her tongue with consideration. A small drop of regret falling off as well. Discord quickly took out a small napkin out of a pocket in his fuzzy, brown furr and passed it to the princess, his smirk not washing off even in the slightest bit. -"You have a bit of regret left there, here you go..." Twilight raised an eyebrow. -"You're late." -"Oh, am I!"- the draconeques exclaimed, taking out a watch out of his ear and quickly placing it on his wrist, showing it to the alicorn. It said 18:27. Twilight stared at the watch for a moment, then looked back at Discord in confusion. He was quietly staring back, an expression of silent suffering taking over his features. -"Did... did I ever tell you how bad I am with time..." Even so, he was still late. The room had been left empty, in excludion of the weird duo. Both looked back at the clock on the wall. 9:59 Both immediately started shifting and the sound of claw-snapping and poofing was heard before Twilight's hooves touched warm, soft sand. Looking around, she saw the beach, a few tikki bars nearby, and Discord, who's leg was now stuck in a folding chair, as he jumped around in a panicked state. "Horseapples!"- he yelled, a couple of apple falling off the nearby coconut trees, as he snapped his talons again. 10:05 They were finally in the teather, watching the usual trailers. Discord offered Twilight popcorn from his own giant box. Twilight declined. 11:50 The movie had a slight... unexpected combination of drama and comedy... But she could see why Dash liked it so much. Twilight had to admit, some of the jokes made her snicker. And she had to also admit, Discord wasn't that unenjoyable during the movie, of course, as long as he stayed quiet, which, he completely broke after the movie had ended. -"So, Twily, did you like the movie? I found it extremely enjoyable! Especially the part with the spelling... So, anyways! When are we going to meet again!? How about right now!" Twilight snapped back into reality after the end of his sentence. -"Wait, um... I don't really think this would be a good idea..." -"Well, why not, Princess?" -"Well, um... you see... um..."- the alicorn looked anywhere but the draconeques by her side as she tried hard to think. As if fate herself wanted her to die, her eyes fell back on Discord, his large red and yellow eyes sparkling with anticipation as he awaited her answer. Darn it. -"Well, um... we could... go back to my castle and hang out... there- GAH!"- suddenly, the breath was taken out of her lungs, as she was lanched upwards in a bone-crushing hug, her back feet dangling at least 2 meters off the ground. -"I knew you couldn't resist me!"- he yelled in glee, suddenly dropping her back to the ground, his ears folding backwards, a sheepish expression showing up on his face as he kicked some dust off the ground- "Heh, I meant... Friendship, yaaay!" Twilight stared at him, face unamuzed, as she rolled her eyes, then smiled. -"Well, I have something planned~" Discord smiled too. This was going great! This was going terrible! -"What are we even doing now!?"- Discord yelled, as he glared at Twilight from his spot on one of the larger cushions of the library. Twilight was sitting on a cushion opposite of him, reading a book for at least 2 hours now, not giving her friend even the slightest bit of the attention. In the sign of being ignored, Discord turned around crossing his arms and angrily murmurring: -"Stupid mares. Stupid Twilight. Stupid 'Don't do any weird stuff or I'll kick you out of my castle!'..." -"What was that?"- for the first time in forever, the mare in question lifted her gaze from her book to raise an eyebrow towards him. The draconeques turned back towards her, glaring rather loudly. -"You aren't giving me any attention! You are ignoring your own friend!"- he screached in anger. -"I dunno. All my other friends can tolerate me reading in their presence."- she calmly answered. -"You, you..."- he glared down at the pony infront of him, who was reading again. How did it end up like this? She was the one desperate for his attention earlier! How did he end up begging for her's instead!? He frowned. -"How do you always manage to put things your way." In all shocks, the alicorn smirked. She lifted her gaze up, looking him straight in the eyes, that taunting smile still on her face. -"I do it nicely." Author's Note Here it is! New chapter! I am saying this now, I probably won't post any new chapters for the next week or so, since I'll be traveling, but I will try to write as soon as possible. Promise!
Getting to like you, getting to hope you like meIn the early hours of the day, the sun shone brightly, basking the small town of Ponyville in its glorious light, the snow reflecting it making the town almost comparable to the Crystal Empire itself. Ponies walked up and down the busy streets, either doing chores or just taking a simple walk. There, in the centre of town, stood the baking glory that was Sugarcube Corner, filled to the brim with happy faces, eating sweets and drinking hot chocolate while happily conversing. And inside, at a table in the corner of the room, sat six ponies and a small dragon, talking amongst eachother. To Twilight's ears the conversation was slightly dulled out, as she was too busy reading from the large tome that layed infront of her. She didn't know why, but ever since her rather pleasant get-together with Discord a few days ago, she couldn't take her eyes off of the book they shared, even if the story itself had nothing to do with anything at all. Her thoughts were brought to a halt as she was shoved slightly in the shoulder by none other than Applejack herself. The alicorn didn't wince, as she was already used to the more physical sides of her friendships, and just looked up at the farmpony in a questioning manner. -"Gee, Twi. Yar muzzle's been stuck in that book o' yours since we came 'ere, what's so interesting 'bout it?"- the apple mare questioned. -"Yes darling, you didn't even answer my question just now." Twilight blushed in embarrassement. She usually wasn't so distracted. She closed the book, making sure she placed the bookmark on the right spot, and quickly pushed the reading material back into her saddlebag. -"S-sorry, girls. Heh, it seems I have been a bit too distracted these days, haha"- the bookworm chuckled nervously, as she tried her best to mutter an apology. Good thing her friends didn't seem to mind that much, after all, they were already used to her antics- "What was your question again, Rarity?" The mares at the table (including Spike) chuckled amongst themselves as Rarity continued the conversation. -"Oh, why, I simply asked how your date the other day went, dear~"- the unicorn said teasingly, to which Twilight's face turned the colour of a raspberry. Every creature at the table started laughing at the alicorn's expected reaction, to which she in return pouted, crossing her front hooves, in her anger almost spilling her tea. -"It was not a date."- she mumbled angrily under her breath. -"So it wasn't an event of two ponies getting together for an activity in hopes of getting to know each other?"- Pinkie Pie asked, her head tilting to the side in curiousity. Twilight froze. Welp, she really got her there. -"Technically.... it was just what you said..."- the princess admited, taking a slow sip from her cup of tea as the other mares and a drake exchanged a few looks and giggles, happy at their little triumph- "Alright, in that sense of the word, it was a date..." -"And how did it went?"- Fluttershy innocently asked, holding her hooves on the table. Twilight sighted, realising that this moment was going to come sooner or later, and taking a deep breath, she began her little monologue. -"Well, we went to see the movie, it was nice, and just when I thought we were gonna part ways, he managed to convince me to hang out a little longer. I took him back to the castle, but he didn't like it much, so then we went to the lake to 'ice-skate', but that didn't work out either. End." The ponies and non-ponies on the table stared silently at their friend who had just finished her rant. Twilight frowned- the silence not giving her a good sign. -"Nothin'... else happen?"- Applejack asked, her stetson almost falling off her head as she tilted it to the side. -"N-nope!"- the alicorn replied, hopping they wouldn't see right through her. If she told them what happened next, they might start getting ideas, ideas about stuff she herself wasn't even sure about... -"Are ya sure?"- Rainbow asked, slidding her half-empty bottle of coke from hoof to hoof. -"Heh, yep! Absolutely!"- she hoped they would drop the topic soon, as her face couldn't hold the awkward, wide smile any longer. The mares looked suspiciously between each other, then as if silently agreeing on their next course of action, they looked back at her. -"Really, because Spike told us he saw you hanging around in the library during the late afternoon."- Rarity said, a little smirk coming onto her lips with her next line- "He mentioned something about a fort made of books and pillows, and a really large book with interesting names, like the one you were reading earlier..." Twilght gulped, sweat dripping down her brow, as she hadn't even realised Spike had came back home probably around that time and saw what the two had been up to. -"Um..." The violet mare's gaze shifted from friend to friend. Now, instead of laughing, the rest were smirking knowingly, except Spike, who was sheepishly smiling and twiddling his thumbs, mouthing a 'Sorry' to her. -"That's..."- she looked down to the side, her ears folding down to try and cover her pink face, but to no avail- "... true. But!"- she suddenly lifted herself up- "We just had a fun time, that's all!" Her friends laughed, not in a mean way, but in a sweet, understanding way, helping her nerves ease up a bit. -"But why didja lie, sugarcube?"- AJ asked, raising an eyebrow- "Ah mean, why didnja just tell us you had fun?" Before Twilight could even try to answer the question she herself wanted answers to, a large puff of purple smoke appeared out of nowhere, causing the seven, includding a few ponies who sat on tables nearby, to cough rapiddly. When the smoke finally cleared, there was.... literally nothing there. -"What."- Twilght asked, not even directed to anyone. Since when did someone set up a 'dramatic-smoke-bomb-entrance' and not show up!? But everyone's confusion quickly turned into suprise when out of the flower vase on the table came out a small, mismatched lizard. The group all leaned down to see what this creature was, but it didn't give them the chance, as it suddenly decupled in size and floated around their heads. And there he was, the draconeques of the hour, Discord himself. -"Hey girls!"- he cheered, making a few flying circles around the group, then noticing Spike- "Oops, sorry! Hey girls and dragon!"- he corrected himself, patting the baby on his head, floating around yet another circle, patting Fluttershy softly on the head, and finally deciding to land. Unfortunately for Twilight, he chose to roll his long body around none other than his latest 'buddy', resting his paws and head on the top of her head, much to the mare's annoyence. -"So how have you been? Heh, I sure hope you aren't leaving me out of anything, are you?"- the draconeques with no knowledge of personal bondaries asked, a small tingle of anxiety in his voice. -"Oh, of course not, Discord!"- Fluttershy was the first to say-"We're just having an outing together." -"So what are you talking about?"- he said slyly, his talons tapping around Twilight's horn, his sharp claws, surprisinly gently, messing up her mane. -"Stop that."- she said through clenged teeth, not even bothering to look at him, not that she could. -"What was that, dearest?"- Discord innocently said, one of his talons tracing over the lenght of her horn, causing the alicorn to shiver. Horns were rather sensitive bits, an evolutional flaw, if she had to comment. -"Get o-off."- Twilight repeated, but her currant state caused a shake to her voice, her cheecks glowing in frustration, as she realised she couldn't push him off. As if the other mares and dragon hadn't even noticed Discord's suggestive teasing, they started up a conversation with him instead. -"So, Discord, we couldn't really get that much information from Twilight..."- Rarity began, taking a sip from her tea, then smirking- "So would you like to fill us in on the details of your little get-together?" After that she added a wink, to which Discord returned with a sly smile. Even if he had stopped touching her horn and instead started petting her bangs, Twilight couldn't help but choke on air. The draconeques had the nerve to look down at her, his smirk and half-lidded eyes unfased. The mare gave him a look, screaming 'Don't you dare!', which she hoped came across. He only stood up, unrolling his long, snake-like body off her chair, freeing her finally. Then he stood tall next to it, with his paws behind his back, like a child ready to announce a good grade. -"Well..."- he began, not noticing the small, purple pony who was pulling on his tail to tell him to keep quiet- "We went to the movies, then to the library (it was boring), and then to the lake! (But that was dangerous...) So we returned to the library and spend the day there!"- the noodle finished joyfully. Silence followed, including a reliefed sigh, coming from none other than the Princess. -"That's... it?"- Rainbow asked, her head tilted to the side, one eyebrow raised. -"Yep!" -"... huh. Ah guess no saucy details for ya, Rares~"- AJ first was confused, but then didn't miss the chance to tease the fashionista. -"Hmpf!"- the unicorn in question crossed her hooves- "You can't hide forever! I'm on to you." That followed by laughs and the topic was dropped, as the conversation continued. Twilight sighted in relief, happy that there were no more questions. She herself didn't know what her feelings towards the charming draconeques really were. 'Ugh'- she thought in annoyance- ''Feelings' is such a strong word... Why couldn't I call it something else? Like... wait. Did I just call Discord.... charming!?' The alicorn's moral confusion and offend were interrupted as she felt a thin, paper-like object being pushed over to her hoof. She looked down to see Discord slidding a small letter over to her, as he didn't take his eyes off of Pinkie, who he was now having a cake debate with. -"But Pinkie, carrots on cake just doesn't work! Why would you put anything healthy in a cake!?" The pink pony gasped. -"Don't you dare mention that infront of Carrot Top!" Curious, the purple mare sneakily took the letter and brought it on her lap under the table. On the back it read 'To Twilight' in nice cursive with little hearts drawn on the i's. Suspiciously looking around for anypony who might be watching her and finding none, she magically broke the seal (a simple red one with a 'Discord' written) and opened the letter. "Dearest, Twilight, Our last meeting has been lovely! I can't wait to see you once again. So I have decided to arranged yet another, ahem, meeting. What would you say? If your answer is 'no', I understand, but if it happens to be 'yes', well, I'll pick you up at 6 tonight. Hugs and pogo sticks, yours, Discord~" At the bottom layed a small doodle of an offly familiar draconeques and herself, laughing under a fort of books. She smiled warmly, her heart making a fluttering motion. As the alicorn gently and quietly dropped the paper in her bag, she looked up at the draconeques, who was now making yet another one of his jokes, wearing big, round glasses for some reason. She let a small smile slip, as she sighted, resting her head on one of her hooves. Suddenly, Twilight's eyes widened in realisation and confusion at the same time. Was she... falling for Discord? A question that she hadn't even thought of before made its way to the front of her mind. 'What's the problem?' What really was the problem, anyways? Would she be any less if she admitted she liked Discord, if she did? Of course not! But just then, another, not so pleasant question made its way over the last. "What if he doesn't like you that way?" Well, she had almost 10 hours to sort her thoughts out, and a whole night to figure that out. But right now, she pushed everything to the back of her head, instead taking part of the conversation, while also sharing a few glances with the charming draconeques. Author's Note Wow, I made no transition in this chapter, at all. It's all one scene. Woah! Anyways, that was that for this chapter, next we have: Date Night!™ Don't forget to leave a comment, see you all next time! Bye!
You are precisely, my cup of teaDiscord walked up and down the eastern wall of the West wing of the second floor of the library of Twilight Sparkle's castle. His paw and claw were greedily clutching on each other, as they stood behind his back. A weird mix of an angry scowl and a thoughtful expression stood atop his face. If Twilight didn't know him, she'd think he looks exactly like an evil villain, plotting a scheme. The mare didn't understand what was wrong with him. They watched a movie together and they were supposed to part ways a few hours ago, anyways. But he insisted to stay together for longer. Not liking the idea of spending more time than planned outside, Twilight decided it was fine to just keep him in the same room, as long as he didn't interfere with her reading. (And she also secretly hoped he'd get bored enough to leave her be...) But he didn't! He doesn't like staying here, she could tell, but why isn't he leaving her alone!? Clank. Clank. Clank. Every time the draconeques' hoof or clawed dragon leg stepped on the purple, crystal wall, they made an annoying 'clank' noise. His grumbling, unnatural hissing and gawking didn't help ease the princess' headache either. Clank. Clank. Clank. Suddenly, sCREESH. Discord had accidentally made a rather large scratch on the wall, the reason of which was a bit too forceful move of his dragon leg. He shrugged it off and continued pacing again. Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. -"That's it!"- yelled Twilight, smashing her book closed. Both her yell and the sound of the innocent piece of literature being almost broken apart startled the draconeques out of his wits, causing him to loose footing and fall straight to the ground, like a giant noodle, waving its noodle limbs in all direction. Not even finding enough time to rub the sore spots on his body, the lord jumped back to his feet, taking a stance a model might have been jelous of, if his nervousness hadn't ruined the whole 'paw-on-hip-claw-on-back-of-the-head' pose. The sweat dripping down his forehead and his unabillity to hold his gaze on one thing didn't help either for his modeling career. -"You didn't scare me!"- he yelled looking anywhere, but the mare he was so scared of right now. -"Quit the fooling around Discord. And tell me what do you want." The draconeques quickly broke in a more confident stance, his paw and claw crossed infront of his chest. When his eyes fell again on the princess, his eyelind lowered in a flirtatious jesture, and a smirk automatically took hold of his mouth. -"Oh, is the lovely princess Twilight finally giving her dear friend some attention?"- he broke into chuckles and flew up, but quickly decended down to roll his long, snake-like body around the alicorn- "What are your demands, my dear?" His suddenly low and husky voice send chills down Twilight's spine, making her face light in a soft, pink hue. Her expression of surprise changed to a glare as she pushed to draconeques' head away from her face. -"Just... you want to spend time together, don't you!?"- she suddenly yelled, causing Discord to nervously step back and nodding timidly, as he fidgeted with his talons- "Then tell me what you want and we will do that, but then you have to leave me alone, capisce!?" -"Got it! Ahem. I-I mean... got it..." At least mildly satisfied with the response, Twilight stood up from her cushion and walked towards the other creature. All signs of anger had dissapeared from her face, which now took a pretty impressive poker expression. -"So. What would it be?" All bad things had cleared, winter wasn't as soggy, Celestia wasn't as annoying, his skin was cleared and his grades were good. Wait... Nevermind! He was happy. The odds were finally in his favour! Discord smirked evily down at the princess. -"Oh, you're going to love this!~" Twilight had the dignity to only gulp. Twilight Sparkle used to be a student of high stature. Even if she wasn't as snobby as most ponies who also called Canterlot their home, she still had a rather rich and well-put lexicon. If she had to describe a situation as particilary irritetable, she'd use words such as 'annoying', 'senseless', 'ludicrous' or even 'moronic'. But she would never say 'dumb', as her Equestrian teacher once said, 'The word 'dumb' is a word for ponies, who don't know any other words to describe themselves.' Well, she was kinda mean, but still... 'Dumb' wasn't a word Twilight Sparkle would use. -"This is dumb."- said Twilight, glaring at the draconeques laughing from the other side of the barely frozen lake- "This is extremely dumb." The news had arrived to her about a few days ago by Rainbow Dash during one typical flight session. Apparantly, the weather team of Ponyville had a bit trouble with the snow for this year. Somepony from the main weather factory in Cloudsdale had, in simple words, bucked up the snow package for Ponyville. So now the land was barely covered in small, melting patches of snow, it wasn't even that cold outside, even the lakes weren't completely and safely frozen. (Good thing Cloudsdale promised a new winter package for the poor town.) And now, Twilight Sparkle found herself trying her best not to fall through the ice of Ponyville's lake while also watching out for a certain draconeques who tended to snap his claws and completely change her attire from one sparkling dress to another. Or as he called it, 'ice-skating'. -"My dear, white is such a nice colour on you, you should wear it more often~"- she heard Discord say from a couple feet behind her. She frantically turned her head around to be met with yet another sparkly, white dress atop her flank. Dear Celestia, he even had placed her mane in a loose bun with a white fether sticking out. Twilight groaned loudly, throwing her front hooves in the air, and then realising her mistake as she almost slipped through the now cracked ice. Almost. -"Woah, there."- she heard the voice of Discord nervously chuckle from a lot closer than he used to be. The princess opened her eyes, only to notice a claw and a paw holding up her front hooves and slowly pulling her back, away from the now broken ice- "You don't wanna hurt yourself, do you?" Looking up, she saw the reason of the closeness of the draconeques' voice. He was right behind her, gently slidding himself and her as far away as possible. If it didn't crane her neck so much to look back for longer, Twilight would've sworn his expression seemed a little... worried. After a couple of seconds later, Twilight could swear she couldn't even see the crack anymore. Realising they weren't moving anymore, she awkwardly tried to wiggle her hooves free, but couldn't. Looking up again, the alicorn noticed Discord staring down back at her. His eyes were half lidded and hes mouth was forming an emotionless frown. She didn't even think he was actually looking at her. He seemed dazed, like he was half-dreaming at the moment. -"Um, Discord? I... I think I can manage from here..."- the mare slowly broke the silence. Suddenly, the draconeques jumped up slightly, his eyes widenning and mouth falling agape, he quickly let go of her and Twilight had to react fast as to not fall on her face. -"S-sorry, sorry! I was just, um... thinking..." -"Thinking?" -"Thinking." A slight shiver came up Twilight's spine. Not because of the cold, no... Discord was usually a cheerful and loud friend. Really loud... When he got quiet or aggressive, as silly as it sounded, it kind of... scared her... -"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"- Discord's now-cheerful voice came next to her ear with a purr. She yelped from the sudden closeness and jumped, falling on her rump, the cold ice colliding with her now-blue dress. Twilight stared at the little blue skirt as her friend frantically asked her if she was alirght. -"I don't understand." Silence. -"Understand... what?" -"Why did you want to go ice-skating? Why did you want to skate here, when you could make a MUCH better lake somewhere else? And what is up with the dresses!?" Discord sighed heavily. Almost as if giving up on his last breath. -"Gah, you just always have to be so complicated, don't you?" He snapped his talons and for the first time in an hour, Twilight didn't feel the skates on her hooves. Nor the random dress on her body. Even the chilly weather was gone. She opened her eyes, for a moment wondering when she closed them, and looked around, only to find herself in her library again. The second floor, West wing, the scratch still standing proudly on the eastern wall. Right under that wall, there, on a large red armchair, was laying Discord. His feet were hanging from one of the arms of the chair, and his head was touching the floor at the front of the chair, a book in his hands. A really large book. Twilight's pupils went small. A single strand of hair stuck out of her perfectly-combed mane, and one of her eyes twitched, next to her deep frown. -"Are. You. Serious."- she asked, each pause, she took a step closer to the chair- "We went ALL the way OUT, for you only to decide you wanted to READ THIS WHOLE TIM- What are yOU EVEN READING!?" The draconeques only took his gaze off of the book for a few seconds, only to look at the mare in an annoyed fashion, then he turned himself the proper way one should sit on an armchair and looked back down at his book. Without taking his eyes off of the large tome, he mumbled calmly. -"Wanna join me?" Twilight's whole body twitched, every single part at a different time from the one before. Three more strands poked out of her bun, and she almost looked like she was going to explode right there and then. Suddenly, the twitching stopped. She sighted, lowering her head down in annoyence as she walked up to Discord. -"Absolutely." Discord smirked, still not lifitng his gaze, as he made space for the princess to sit, turning the pages of the book back to the start. -"Do you want me to read?"- he teased. -"Sure. What are we reading anyways?" -"The Count of Manete Cristo." -"Neat." 'What a nice day!'- Spike thought as he entered the Friendship castle. After he placed his scarf on a hanger near the doors, he started his rather long walk to his room. The little drake was rather happy, he was given the whole day off when Twilight had told him Discord would stay with her for a few hours longer so he decided to go help a certain pretty unicorn with her new fashion lines. And it seemed that he made the right decision, as Rarity needed a lot of help with the needed preparations before her deadline came and she had to send the new designs to Canterlot's and Manehattan's boutiques. After that he had decided to take a walk through the town, where he stopped by the local comicbook store, and for his luck, the new issue of The Power Ponies had arrived! He couldn't wait to tell Twilight about it! Speaking of which... Spike had already reached the second floor of the castle, so he decided to check on Twilight where he left her with their, ahem, old friend. As the dragon walked through the doors, he was greeted by the unmistakeable, loud noises of arguing. 'Oh, no...'- he thought to himself as he rushed inside, following the sound. Turning around one bookshelf, he saw something he had to rub his eyes to make sure it was actually happening. There, in a rather large nest made out of books, pillows and blankets, layed the Princess of Friendship and the Lord of Chaos, playfully critisizing the large book in Discord's paw and their own oppinions. Discord seemed to be annoyed by the 'weak manipulation skills' some Danglars had tested over other names Spike couldn't remember on the spot, and Twilight's arguments consisted of "Stop magically changing the words in the book!" On first sight, the two seemed to be in a fight, but looking a bit more, anypony (and any dragon) could see they were having fun. Spike smiled knowingly as he backed away slowly, not-wanting to bother to duo. This day really was nice. -"I swear, if one more time you call Caderousse 'Calendar', 'Capacity', 'Carbon Dioxide' or any other 'C'-word, for that matter, I am going to hit you in the head with the book!"- Twilight yelled, but her aggresive tone went right over Discord's head, her laughing dulling out the original, serious meaning. In reality, both creatures were laughing so hard, their bookfort had a hard time not falling. When Twilight's laughter silenced for a bit, Discord managed to roll on his side, facing her, and with a serious expression looked down at the book, reading: -"At that point Cabbage had drank most of the wine bottle." He might've continued, but right then, he was smacked on the head by a bright purple hoof. The laughter from both parties increased, the whole rumble causing the books and pillows to fall right atop the two oblivious jesters. After a moment, from the pile popped out two heads. One of a purple, princess pony, and one of a gray, goat lord. The two slightly surprised creatures, immediately started laughing again. With tears in their eyes and pain in their bellies, the two slowly dug their way out of the ruins of their old kingdom. For a moment, Twilight had to lay on the ground for a bit, catching her breath, with her face burried in her hooves. After a couple of minutes, after the mare finally calmed down for a bit, she looked up, her eyes falling on the clock that stood proudly on the west wall, right above the Science section. 19:14 Twilight was surprised for a moment. When did time pass this fast? The alicorn slowly stood up to her feet, looking behind her, and finding the creature she was searching for. Discord was laying on the floor, his lower half still covered in a few books and a blanket, silently giggling in the crook of his paw. Twilight smiled softly. 'He looks cute when he's laughing.' Wait. Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she took a few steps back, folding her ears to the back of her head. 'What am I even thinking about!? I can't possibly... like Discord, can I? No, no, don't be silly, Twilight, this is ridiculous! You are just having fun, not falling for him! Right? Yes! I am just having fun with a friend! A friend...'- the mare smiled again, the thought of finally accepting Discord as a friend making her warm up inside. Friendship was defenetly the reason her tummy was filled with warm, soft butterflies. -"What'cha thinking about?~"- Discord's playful voice brought her back to reality. She looked down at the draconeques, who was now laying on his belly, his chin now resting on his paw and claw, as his tail swished playfully. Twilight smiled again. Funny, a couple of hours ago she would've probably rolled her eyes in annoyence at his antics, but she felt somesort of pleassure when he talked to her. It was pretty... weird. But in a good way... -"Just enjoying myself with you."- the princess said without giving the words a thought. Discord's pupils went small and he almost dropped his head. After a moment, Twilight realised what she had said, and her face quickly mimiced Discord's. -"I-I mean... um..."- oh no, this was bad. They were finally getting along and now she just had to blurt that out and ruin everything! Oh, why was she so awkward!? 'I am the princess of Friendship, for crying out loud! Why do I have to scare every single creature I make friends with!? Why can't I just-' -"Me too." Twilight's train of thought stopped. -"Wait, r-really?"- she stuttered in disbelief. The draconeques gave a smile as he stood up on his feet, dusting himself. It wasn't the grin of amusement he'd give when he tricked her, or the slight smirk he gave when something went his way. It was a simple, soft smile. He looked down at her. -"Really." Twilight smiled too. This was nice. After a moment or two, both creatures realised they were standing there, staring at each other for quit a while. The lord quickly looked at the clock above the boring bookcase and jumped a bit, realising his lateness. -"Oh, look at the time!"- he epclaimed- "I better go!" The alicorn let out a giggle, one that made the old goat's heart tremble. -"Well, I have to admit, it is getting rather late, so I guess that's a bye-"- the mare suddenly squicked as two large limbs brought her close to a soft, furry chest. At that moment, she realised Discord had hugged her. As strange as it was, it was nice. She hugged him back. -"I'll see you some other time."- Discord's smooth voice said, making his chest rumble, wich in conclusion made Twilight giggle. She lifted her head up to look at him and smiled. -"Au revoir~"- he said softly, snapping his talons. In seconds, Twilight found herself landing on the crystalline foor, Discord nowhere to be seen, only a trail of sparkles left behind him. She smiled. This was nice. Suddenly, her eyes widened in realisation. Something came up to her. As she used her magic to stack all the books and blankets on their correct spots, she started thinking. Yes, she was starting to like Discord. They were becoming really good friends. But was that all she wanted? Something urged her to want something more, but she didn't know what. What was there more than friendship? Maybe she wanted them to be best friends? No... it wasn't that... she never liked categorising her friends like that, anyways... So what was it? Maybe... she wanted a more... intiminate relationship between them? 'Don't be silly, Twilight!'- she thought- 'Being in that sort of relationship with Discord? That sounds ridiculous! That would never happen!' Nearly all the books, pillows and blankets were gone, except one large tome sitting on the floor. She picked it up with her magic, looking at the cover. 'The Count of Manete Cristo, Tome I' She smiled again. 'But still...' The princess yawned, deciding she was far too tired to go have dinner, she took a walk to her bedroom nextdoor, placing the worn-out by time book on her back. She could read a few more chapters before going to bed. It was after all, a pretty neat book. Author's Note And that was chapter three, everyone! Also, I am really, really, really sorry for taking so long to write it... You see, I was traveling, then taking a break from traveling, then traveling again, and it was quite the confusing expirience. For the past few days I have been writting, there was a new idea for a new long story that popped in my head, but you probably won't see it soon, and I really need to tend to my other story, 'Constantly Conflicting', too. While this story has an already planned number of chapters, 'Constantly Conflicting' is pretty long. So my plan for it, for those of you who are interested, is to write another chapter for it, then put the story on hiatus until 'Getting to know you' is finished. Well, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, and don't forget to like and review! Bye!
