Discord 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!