Cést La Vie

  The rain poured quietly, drop by drop, slowly leaving dark marks on the pavement. Thunder groaned in the distance and webs of lightning stetched over the purple clouds, giants, slowly and lamely making their way through the orange sky.

Ponies walked past, some sneering, some shivering in fear. Some smaller, bright-eyed, stopped to look at him curiously, others pulled them along to keep going. They weren't just passing. Name after name was thrown at him. Accusations, mocking, anger. Each word was meaner than the last. But all the mismatched creature heard was the clopping of hooves on the pavement and the thunder. Lightning flashed again, covering the town in yellow, the black shadows of the buildings creating almost unnatural figures on the ground.

Who were they to judge, anyway? Who were they to speak... of what is wrong and what is right... Chaos was a part of him. Not just the top of his horn or the shine in his eyes. It was his lungs, his heart, his soul. Chaos was a part of him. A means of life. He had fallen for Chaos. He had followed the mysterious, tall figure into her bed. He had started an affair... And now the world knew. They knew and they despised him for it. But that didn't bother him. That only turned his hot Desire into warm Love. But the world saw his Love as something dangerous, disgusting, worhtless. The worst of all was that they pitied him for it. But he didn't care. He didn't need their approval or their words. All he needed was to let it go and then, he was sure, Love would set him free.

So he stood, sticky, brown nectar covering his furr, making it damp. He didn't care. From then on, the world was not the one in control.

-"Play time is over for you, Discord!"

Who knew they'd arrive this fast. The heroes. The ones who thought it was their job to stop him. Still, it entertained him. The thought of sombody finally deciding to face him off. To challenge him and his Love for the lives of ponyhood. It made him ecsatic.

The two winged unicorns talked and talked. Dreadful, he thought. It really was. The creature considered another attempt of patronising the two, but his breath hitched when the blast hit him. His vision was filled with white and everything was too bright to be alright.

He was not fine. His limbs ached and his body felt stiff. His head was spinning like a peg top and everything was too bright, too loud; everything was just... too much. His body turned to stone and there was nothing he could do. For the first time in his life, he met something his Love could not fix. Cést la vie pour lui...

The rain poured quietly, drop by drop, slowly leaving dark marks on the dirt ground. But he didn't care, as he lazily took a sip from his tea of cup, turning over to face the inside of the cottage.

-"Thank you so much for inviting me in, Fluttershy! I don't know what I would have been doing still outside... I hope I won't be a bother..."- a familiar voice sounded from the door of the small home. Strange how the list of familiar voices was becoming longer and longer...

-"Don't talk like that, Twilight! You're never a bother!"- the shy pegasus had exclaimed deffencively- "You can always come here when in need!"

-"Or when in rain."- the draconeques joked. At first the alicorn in front of him was surprised at his presence. A reaction he was so used to... But then she smiled brightly, an action still catching him off-guard no matter how often he saw. The good thing was he had learned to cover his own baffleness.

-"Hello to you too, Discord!"

As the two mares took their seats near him, he sunk deep in thought. For how long had he been free? Two years? Three? He didn't know... But he wasn't done yet. His life kept going and going. He wasn't really sure whether that was a perk or not. Immortality was still both a blessing and a curse. But his love for Chaos never changed. The only difference from long ago was his other loves. He didn't love only Chaos anymore. The lonely creature had discovered Freedom. He had had a taste of Rightfulness. He now knew Friendship...

He chuckled to himself. Love had set him free...

A creaking noise suddenly brought the draconeques back from his spot deep in his thoughts. When he looked up from his margarita, he noticed the absence of his yellow companion and the seeming nervous fidgeting of Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes weren't focused on anything in particular. Meaning, they were running around every surface of the room, as if they were participating in a marathon. Discord frowned at the way her body seemed as if it couldn't stay still any longer, like she was about to zoom out of the room like a firework any minute now. He knew the mare long enough to simply know something was eating her up inside.

-"You feeling alright there, Twilight?"- just as he expected, she jumped at the sudden disturbance of the silence.

-"Just fine!"- she squicked. Discord only sighed. Then he reminded himself to make a joke or something.

-"Really, fine? Why, my dear, you seem more on edge than usual!"- he cheerfully laughed, whilst transforming his usual smooth body parts into a mosaic of sharp, edgy forms. Cheesy, indeed, but he counted it as a success when the mare stopped shaking for a moment and playfully rolled her eyes.

-"Hilarious."- she ran her hoof through her mane, ruffling it a bit.

-"Twilight, what is wrong?"- he cursed himself mentally. Always quick to cut to the chase when the issue wasn't about him, wasn't he?

-"N-nothing, really..."- she said, over-done, fake smile and the fidgeting in her hooves returning.

-"Please, I can read you like a book. No joke intended."- the creature said, whilst holding up a tiny book with the alicorn's face on it. Then he threw it over his shoulder.

-"Ugh, honestly, Discord-"- suddenly, the mare was interrupted by a talon gently placed on her lips, silencing her imediately. When Discord was sure she won't quip anything else, he removed his paw, then leaned back, looking at her expectantly.

He allowed himself a small smirk when Twilight finally seemed to realise she was not getting out of this and let out a small sigh.

-"Alright, I'll tell you. On one condition."- she paused. When he only looked back at her, the alicorn took it as an agreement- "I am allowed to withhold any information I want."

-"Sheesh, no need for formalities, princess. I'm not as nosy as you might assume~"- he considered making his muzzle larger for the joke, but then quickly scratched it. It wouldn't work for the serious mood.

With one final sigh, the princess began her story. She told him of a meeting she had had with Celestia the night prior, about a discussion of responsibility, specifically, how the younger pony would be required to gain more of it. She didn't tell him about any specific tasks her mentor had mentioned, but that didn't really stop him from making his conclussion. More things to do, more things to think about. It's no wonder such stressful and important tasks quickly became too heavy for the poor child. When she finally finished baring her heart to the older semi pony-kind, she looked at him expectantly.

"How do I say this now, Twilight..."- he began, inside his brain storming for the right words but they just couldn't seem to come. His mind was ruled by chaos and maybe, he considered, at least this time it was problematic- "Look, I'm... I'm not the best to give advice... But! I've been learning... Sometimes... Sometimes you will fail. And that isn't bad! It only means you are trying! And feeling bad proves you care..."

-"B-but..."- Twilight started, her tail and mane fuzzy from running her hooves through the hairs so often- "What if I make a huge mistake! One to risk the whole of Equestria! I... I could never live with something like that on my concious..."- she looked down to her hooves.

-"Twilight, look at me."- when she did, he sighed- "Nobody's life is filled with only success. You will fail and it will be grand and chaotic, and I will be proud of it!"- he chuckled.

-"Easy for you to say, mister Lord of Chaos."- even so, she smiled.

-"But! That is only natural! Like the griffins say, Cést la vie!"-  the draconeques cheered loudly, halfway standing up from his spot, almost dropping his coffee.

-"Cést la vie? As in, 'This is life'?"- Twilight Sparkle asked, general curiousity taking hold of her features- "That... wow."

Comfortable silence followed for a bit. Discord took a sip of his orange juice, he could practucally hear the small gears clicking into place inside the little pony's mind. Just then, in the room trotted none other than Fluttershy, taking her previous spot in between the two.

-"I'm really sorry I took so long, Twilight and Discord!I hope I didn't leave you hanging there... Angel bunny just wouldn't cooperate with his meal for lunch."- ah, so that's where she had gone.

-"No worries, my dear, me and Twilight were just... catching up and things."- he said, motioning with his hand that it was really not a big deal.

-"Oh, I'm really glad to hear that!"- the pegasus chirped with a smile. When her gaze moved from the draconeques to her other friend, Twilight quickly responded with a sincere smile. Good, Discord thought.

The three spend the rest of the afternoon chatting and soon the rain outside driffted off and finally stopped. Just as he noticed on the termometer taped to his ankle that it was way past his time for a visit, Twilight stopped him at the door while the other mare was occupied cleaning up the left off two teacups and one wine glass.

-"Thank you, Discord."- she only said, but he knew it wasn't only that. He knew her. He knew that her eyes shined when she was in the middle of one of her researches, or when she was on the right path to solve a friendship problem. They also shined when she had so much to say, but so much less knowledge of how to express those words. And woe and behold, they were shining right now as she gave him a quick hug and a smile, then trotted down her own way.

Strange. Thousands of years ago, heck even 2 years ago, he would've laughed if somepony told him he could read a pony from head to hooftips without using any magic. And yet, he still laughs now. He, the spirit of Chaos, lonely, one-of-a-kind beast, had learned so much. Had even gained so much. Cést la vie pour lui, after all.

He hadn't even realised he had started walking down the lawn, until he felt something around his ankle that was not a termometer. A bucket. His foot was now stuck in a bucket. He sighed deeply. Cést la vie. Cést la vie, indeed.