Discord leaned in closer to Fluttershy. “Do you mean it?” he said softly. “After what I've been…and all I've done…you…?”
Fluttershy nodded, a light blush on her cheeks. “Yes,” she answered, just as softly. “I love you, Discord.”
Silence was in the air as the stars shone down of them. Then, Discord cupped his paw under her chin, tilting it up to look her in the eyes. They slowly, cautiously came closer to each other—
“SPIKE!”
“Gah!” The young purple dragon quickly threw his hands over the parchment he had been writing on, before turning to his surrogate sister. “H-hey, Twilight. What's up?”
She raised an eyebrow at his behavior, but shrugged it off. “Sorry. I knocked, but you didn't respond! I just wanted to tell you that the girls and I are going to go on vacation next week. Do you want to come with us?”
Spike hummed in thought. “Maybe not. You all deserve some time together before the coronation happens. Besides, it's been a while since I've spent some time with the guys.”
Twilight smiled. “I know it's been busy lately. And it's definitely going to get a lot busier soon! Besides, the girls think a vacation is just what we need after taking down three villains at once!” She rubbed at the top of his head affectionately. “You can hang out here in the castle, if you'd like.”
Spike smiled. “Thanks, Twilight. If you want, I can help you pack! Just…give me a few minutes.”
She laughed. “Thank you, Spike. But don't rush! We do have a whole week to pack.” And with that, she exited his room, closing the door behind her in a magenta aura.
Spike sighed and pulled his claws away from the scroll. Fortunately, none of the ink had smeared. He would have hated to restart this story—He felt it had been going very well, and he wasn't sure if he could replicate that.
But being interrupted like that had made him nervous. That didn't seem like the right mood he should be in to write “the kiss". He carefully rolled up the scroll and carried it over to a chest under his bed. He unlatched it and spared a few moments to glance inside.
It was full of unlabeled scrolls, all stacked neatly in piles. But each without labels, he could remember what was on every scroll. It the corner was his first attempt at drawing the two of them, holding hooves (well, hoof and paw). On the top was the last story he'd written. He quickly unrolled it and nodded. That story had turned out pretty well. A simple, domestic thing, about the two of them spending a day together.
He rolled it back up and put it back, placing his newest creation next to it. Fortunately, Discord didn't seem interested in snooping into all of his chests and reading any of what he wrote.
(Probably because all of the ones he had snooped in only had comic books, and nothing “juicy", as he would say.)
Spike wrote two quick, identical notes to Big Mac and Discord, sending them both away with a puff of green flame. Hopefully they were free as well, and Guy's Night would go smoothly.
“Have a nice trip! Stay safe!” Spike called, waving as the six best friends in Equestria peered out from the train windows. They waved back, and soon, the train was out of sight.
Spike sighed with a smile, and looked up at Big Mac. “You ready for Guy’s Night?”
The stallion nodded. “Eeyup. Got ma new character made.” He smiled. “I was talkin' with Sugar Belle as I made it…she might be interested in joining a game sometime.”
A deep voice from above commented, “Maybe then we could stop calling it ‘Guy's Night' and pretending that everypony in town doesn't know what we're doing?”
Spike and Big Mac glanced up. There was Discord, lounging on the roof of the train station and inspecting his claws. “But only if the game doesn't suddenly turn into a romance drama between you two. Or a romantic comedy.” He stuck his tongue out, shivering.
Spike crossed his arms and gave him a look. “Is your character ready, Discord?”
The draconequus scoffed. “Of course!” A large pile of papers appeared in front of Spike, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. “There's my backstory. Though honestly, why are we making new characters? I know we're high level, but it's not that hard for me to make a challenge…” he said with a gleam in his eyes.
Spike sighed. “The new story I made is designed for low-level characters. It's not just about challenges, Discord, it's about the story.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes, and I'm sure you chose to play another wizard traveling the lands to learn about magic. Wonderful story.”
Spike huffed, “I chose a different school this time…and I have a new background. And what about you? Another archer?”
“Technically a sorcerer cursed to be without magic mascarding as an archer. From the future, trying to stop the curse from happening to his past self.” He flicked his tail towards the stack of papers. “More details in there.”
Spike thumbed through some of the papers. “I…wow. You did a good job making this one.” As Discord smirked smugly, he continued, “You can snap up all these details and the story of the world, right? Without reading everything?”
“Yeeees…though I don't understand why I can't read any of your stuff. You can read mine! You're doing it right now!”
“Because you're terrible when it comes to metagaming. Now, are you guys ready to start?”
“Eeyup!” “Whenever you are, mon capitan.” Spike grinned and started to fly in the direction of Twilight's Castle. A flash of light blinded him, and next he knew, he was close to slamming into the castle's front door.
He quickly braked in midair, shooting a glare at Discord. “Didn't I tell you to warn me when you do that?”
A wide grin spread on Discord’s face. “Yes, but now we're here sooner. Now, didn't you say earlier you wrote some backstory for this world?” He started to polish his talon.
Spike nodded and flew up to his room. On his desk were piles of scrolls, each one detailing some event in the plot or character they would meet (or fight). He gathered them all up in his arms, including the one he managed to spot on the corner of his desk.
He carefully waddled back to the foyer, the large pile of scrolls blocking his eyesight. Still, he made it without any trouble, though he did jump when the scrolls disappeared with a soft puff of air. Discord smirked, and he sighed.
Discord's fingers were poised to snap. “Ready?,” he asked. Spike and Big Mac nodded, and with an echoing snap, the room around them melted into a fantastical world.
Hours passed by in a blur of color and action. The campaign was going well, and the group's reputation as heroes was starting to spread through the imaginary land. Spike knew most of the NPCs and enemies by heart, but easily managed to stay in character and act as though they were meeting for the first time.
The one time he almost dropped character was when the village of druids they encountered had one less citizen than he remembered. But this was easy to shrug off. Maybe Discord’s magic had glitched, or maybe the character was moved somewhere else a druid needed to be. It wasn't a terribly important NPC, anyway.
They went on some more missions, weakening the power the end boss held in the land. Spike forgot about the missing druid entirely. The town they had just saved was willing to give them some interesting information.
“There's an old sorcerer in that tower up there,” somepony explained. “He's not the friendliest, but he is very powerful. Maybe you three can get him on your side, or at least learn some magic from him.”
Discord and Spike grinned. “I like the sound of a new spell,” Spike said, twirling his staff between his claws.
Discord added, “I like the sound of a potential lead on…my target.” Spike internally cheered. Three hours and he had managed to not say his character's entire backstory. Little by little, Discord was becoming skilled at the role-playing part of the role-playing game.
The three of them talked to more creatures and bought some supplies, then headed towards the medium hill with a large tower placed on top of it. They traveled through a thick forest, fending off strange plants, and chasing off a hooded figure before finally reaching the bottom of the hill.
They stopped for a short rest, and Big Mac decided to speak up. “Are you sure it was a good idea to chase off that figure?” he asked, “We don't know if they're connected to the sorcerer…”
Spike shrugged. “Well, the townsfolk said that the sorcerer is unfriendly and doesn't leave the tower often. That figure was probably a spy of some kind.”
“Speaking of spies, why don't we take a peek at what's happening?” Discord asked, pointing towards the tower. “Don't you have a scrying spell prepared?” Spike nodded and pulled the spell components, quickly casting the spell. The three of them peered at the image he had created on a small hand mirror.
They were looking at an…interestingly furnished room. Nothing matched anything else in the room in color or style. The walls were painted a deep red color, clashing against the neon green sofa pushed against it. In front of the sofa was a table with mismatched legs, holding a white tea set. And in front of the table was a pacing draconequus wearing purple, star-patterned robes.
Spike and Big Mac glanced at their own draconequus companion. He shrugged. “Don't look at me! Oh, look, something's happening!”
They all looked and realized it was true. The door to the room was opening, and in rushed a hooded figure who quickly closed the door behind them. “You're late,” the sorcerer said gruffly.
The hooded figure whimpered. “I'm sorry. Three adventures chased me off in the forest. I…I think they thought I was following them.”
The sorcerer sighed. “Well, you're here now. May I take your cloak?” He moved behind her, whisking the cloak off of her and flinging it towards a surreal coat rack in the corner.
The party's eyebrows shot up. The figure was a yellow-coated pegasus with a pink mane, with wide, shining teal eyes. She was wearing green and brown robes, and had white lilies woven into her mane—a similar style as druids they had met in the past.
The two beings in the image sat down on that hideous sofa and began drinking tea together. Something clicked in Spike’s mind. “Pause!” he yelped. Immediately, the world around them froze in time, becoming more grayscale.
Discord grinned and snapped his fingers, summoning a small hill of snacks in front of them. “It's about time we stopped for a break,” he said while taking a bite out of an oversized chocolate bar. He offered Big Mac an apple tart and Spike a large emerald.
The dragon resisted the urge to dig in and asked, “Discord, can I take a quick look at the scrolls I gave you?” With a quick snap, glass shelves appeared in front of him, holding scrolls of various sizes. Spike quickly counted them and found there were sixteen in total.
He had only written fifteen for the campaign.
With a gulp, he carefully unraveled one of the smallest scrolls, taking a peek at what lay inside.
”Oh Discord, there's nothing I enjoy as much as our Tuesday Teas!” Fluttershy said happily, taking a sip of tea.
“I have to agree,” Discord replied softly, keeping his attention on the sweet pegasus that was the real reason he enjoyed the little get-togethers.
Spike quickly closed the scroll, making sure no pony had read any of it over his shoulder. This was bad. His story had been integrated into the world as it best could, with Discord as the sorcerer and Fluttershy as one of the missing druids. And if he remembered the end of the story correctly…
They were going to kiss.
He took a deep breath, trying to hide his panic. But if they kissed, Discord would see. He'd realize that Spike had written that scene, and he'd…Spike wasn't sure what he'd do, actually. But he probably wouldn't like that he was writing stories about him kissing his best friend.
He cleared his throat. “Hey, Discord?” Discord's ears twitched, and he pulled his head out of the bag of candy he was devouring. “Could I…remove one of the scrolls? I accidentally gave you one extra.”
Discord floated over to the shelves, staring at them in thought. “Weeeell…looks like if you take one out, the world will collapse in on itself due to the lack of information, we'll be booted out forcefully, and we'll lose all our progress. How much does the extra scroll affect?”
Spike twiddled his fingers. “Just…some small things.”
“I don't think removing it is worth losing over three hours, then,” Discord said as he gulped down a pudding cup. “I suppose we'll just handle the extra when it comes.”
“Yeah…sure,” Spike mumbled, taking a bite out of the emerald. It was delicious, but it couldn't help him with his problem. He needed a plan, to either stop the kiss or keep Discord (and hopefully Big Mac) from seeing it. Taking a handful of tiger's eyes, he mulled over the problem.
Once everyone had stuffed themselves with snacks, Discord snapped his fingers. The world around them was filled with color and started to move again. The scrying image showed the sorcerer and druid laughing together, the draconequus shifting closer to her.
Spike quickly dismissed the image. “Well, we know he's there!” he chirped. “How about I head up there to talk to him, and you two…can be my backup in case things go wrong?”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn't we all go up in case things go wrong? I mean, how are we supposed to know if something comes up if we're down here and you're up there?” Big Mac nodded in agreement.
Spike gulped. “Well, uh, I mean…” He sighed. “Alright. But let me do the talking. I have Arcana knowledge, after all.”
“And terrible Persuasion,” snorted Discord. “Look, who here has the highest Charisma?” He pointed at his grinning face with his thumbs. Big Mac grumbled about immersion, while Spike could only bite his lip, beads of sweat forming on his neck and brow.
“A-alright!” he squeaked. “But, uh, before anything, maybe we should separate the two of them? I mean, the sorcerer won't listen to us if his…friend tells him it was us who chased her off.”
Big Mac nodded. “That's true. But how can we get one away from the other, before they both see us together? And that won't land us in hot water?”
Discord stroked his beard. “Say, do you have…” The three of them poured over Spike’s list of spells. Soon, they figured out a cantrip he could use to open the door, getting the attention of the two inside. Hopefully just one would come to the door, where they would either talk to the sorcerer or push past the druid.
“This is a terrible plan,” sighed Big Mac as they marched up the hill.
“Oh, but that's the best kind of plan!” Discord said cheerily.
“No. It really isn't.” He glanced down at Spike. “C'mon, you don't really think this is a good idea, do you?”
Spike gulped. It was an awful plan. But if he didn't do something soon, that kiss would happen…”Well, it's the best plan we have,” he answered with a shrug. Big Mac raised an eyebrow.
“Alright. I'll just prepare an explanation with my moderate Charisma,” he huffed.
“Moderately abysmal!” snickered Discord. The others couldn't help but chuckle along with.
Soon, they were at the top of the hill. In front of them was the looming tower of dark stone, the doors in front of them made of a dark oak and covered with creepy carvings. The three snuck around to just beside of the door, hiding from view. Spike gulped and quickly cast the cantrip, reaching out towards the door handle and throwing it open.
Nothing happened.
Big Mac whispered, “They're probably further in.” They sighed and nodded, creeping forward to take a peek inside.
Big Mac was first, and made a kind of sputtering noise, his eyes almost bugging out of his skull as his jaw dropped. Spike hurried forward, dread forming in his stomach, but the ever-curious Discord shoved past him and peeked inside, as well. His jaw literally detached from his face and fell to the ground with a loud clang, the world around them suddenly freezing up.
Spike quickly rushed over, looking between the two of them. His heart dropped to his feet when he saw the frozen site before him. Though they were just two-dimensional drawings, the picture was as clear as day. Somehow, they had merged into one sheet of paper, as the sorcerer wrapped his arms around the druid’s frame. Their lips were locked in a kiss, both of their eyes closed in bliss.
He groaned and covered his eyes. He had failed to stop them from seeing this. Big Mac sputtered again, his eyes somehow growing even wider. Discord’s jaw snapped back onto his face, and his head snapped towards Spike.
“That's me. That's Fluttershy,” he said, jabbing his finger at the drawings. “What is this.”
“K-kissing,” mumbled Big Mac.
Spike gulped, fiddling with his claws. “Well, uh…” Discord stared at him for a second, then turned away, pulling the glass case of scrolls out of nowhere. He grabbed each scroll one by one, opening them and scanning for just a second before tossing them over his shoulder.
“Wait—!” But it was too late. Discord had already grabbed the scroll and read through it. He froze, his expression blank as he skimmed through the entire thing.
Everything was silent. “Did you write this?” Discord asked quietly, his face hidden behind the scroll.
Spike sighed, “Y-yeah. I didn't…mean for you guys to see it.”
For a moment, everything was still. Big Mac was still gawking at the entwined drawings, Discord was staring at the scroll, and Spike was sweating, just waiting for the situation to blow up in his face.
He was actually surprised at how calm it all was. The game world melted around them with the sound of drizzling rain, fading back into the map room of Twilight's Castle. Big Mac was still staring off into space. Discord dropped the scroll and marched towards the door, expression neutral.
“Discord, wait!” Spike called. He turned his head towards the dragon, raising an eyebrow. “I know it's weird, but…can you forgive me? For writing stuff about you and—”
Discord placed a finger on his lips, shutting him up. “Not now,” he said, a low growl in his voice. “I have…things to take care of.” He turned away again, shrugging a leather jacket onto his shoulders before summoning a motorcycle and riding out of the castle.
Spike slumped to the ground with a deep sigh. “Well…I guess Guy's Night is suspended.”
“K-kissing,” said Big Mac, still staring off into space.
Spike didn't see Discord for the next few days. Once Big Mac had recovered, they continued playing smaller games, not mentioning the…incident. Still, Spike would forlornly glance at where their third player would be every so often.
“I think I upset him,” Spike said during a round of Friendship: The Gathering. “I mean, he left so suddenly…maybe he didn't like the idea of doing that to his best friend.”
Big Mac played a few cards. “Well, I thought he always knew you paired him with her. Maybe he was just shocked to see it in a game.”
“Then why hasn't he come back yet?” asked Spike, taking out some of Big Mac's creatures. Big Mac sighed, not having a response to the question or the attack.
They both looked up as the door opened, Spike's face lighting up with hope. His face fell when he saw it was Twilight, carrying her luggage with her.
“Hey, Spike! How'd Guy's Night go?” she asked. Spike’s only response was to groan and place his forehead on the table. Twilight set down her luggage and flew to his side. “Is everything alright?”
“No,” he moaned. “I think I upset Discord. He left, and he hasn't been back since.” Big Mac nodded, and Twilight frowned.
“I'm sorry things didn't go well. If it makes you feel any better, the vacation didn't go perfectly, either,” she said, patting his back. “Rarity lost some of her luggage, Applejack and Rainbow went a little too crazy with their cider, and Fluttershy kept disappearing to Celestia knows where!”
Spike lifted his head up. “What do you mean?”
“Well, Applejack and Rainbow decided to compete to see who could drink the most…”
“No, no, about Fluttershy disappearing.”
Twilight sighed. “It was just the craziest thing. After the first night, she would sometimes leave for minutes or hours, and we couldn't find her! And she went to bed early, and slept in! Fluttershy almost never does that!” She stood up, picking up her luggage. “I'm going to unpack. I hope you can solve things with Discord!”
As soon as she left, Spike turned to Big Mac. “Do you think that…”
“Eh…maybe,” said Big Mac, shrugging.
“Only one way to find out,” said Spike as he walked towards the door.
The journey to Fluttershy's cottage was quick. As they approached, things seemed normal, but that didn't mean anything. Spike rushed to the door, knocking frantically.
The door slowly opened. There was Fluttershy, her eyes wide and her smile soft. “Spike! Big Mac! Please, come in.”
They did so. They blinked when she saw Discord lounging on Fluttershy's couch, his attention solely focused on the pegasus. He didn't even seem to notice them enter. Fluttershy flew over to him, nuzzling against his side.
Discord nuzzled the top of her head, then blinked, finally noticing the other creatures in the room. “I thought we'd have the day to ourselves,” he whined into her mane.
She sighed. “Isn't there something you want to say to Spike?” She got off of the couch and grabbed his paw, pulling him to his feet.
He stood there awkwardly, twiddling his thumbs while staring down at the two of them. Fluttershy placed a hoof on his side, giving him a gentle nudge forward. He smiled at her, then cleared his throat. “Spike, I have…something important to say to you.”
Spike tried to hide his wince, thinking of how terribly Discord must think of him, after seeing he'd— “Thank you,” Discord's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Spike blinked. And blinked again. “W-what?” he asked, cleaning his ear.
“Thank you,” Discord repeated. “I…was dealing with some confusing feelings. Ones that I wasn't sure how to act upon.” He reached down and began to stroke Fluttershy's mane. “Somepony had become my entire world. I would do anything to keep her happy and safe. Her needs became more important than my own wants and happiness.”
“It seemed stronger, deeper than friendship, but I wasn't sure what it was or how to explain my exact feelings to her.”
His hand lifted from Fluttershy's head, and his focus was on Spike. “But that story of yours…it described my feelings perfectly. It called them ‘love', and I expressed them by telling her how I felt about Fluttershy, and then kissing her. As soon as I read it, I knew what I had to do.”
Fluttershy spoke up. “He suddenly appeared in my hotel room, shaking me awake. I was worried something was wrong, but then…he said he loved me.” She nuzzled his side. “I'd been waiting for so long to have some sign that he loved me back.”
“I'm not sure which of us started, but then we were kissing. And after we'd pulled apart, Discord stayed with me through the night…and every night after that.”
Discord nodded. “I even stayed around during the day, just to keep an eye or her…and also in case she had any free time to give to me.”
She gave him another nudge as he paused. He gulped and continued, “Thank you, Spike. For helping me learn what my feelings were and how to express them. I…I owe you.”
Spike gulped. “Um…It was no trouble, really. I'm just glad you two are happy together.” The draconequus and pegasus smiled, looking at each other fondly. Discord scooped her into his arms and floated back towards the couch, waving at the two of them over his shoulder.
Big Mac tapped at Spike's shoulder, then pointed his hoof at the door. Spike nodded and started to follow him. But as he closed the door, he couldn't help but take one last peek.
Fluttershy had her hooves wrapped around Discord, who had coiled his body around her. Just as he looked inside, their lips met in a passionate kiss, their eyes slowly closing shut as they sighed in bliss.
The door suddenly shut in front of him. He glanced up and saw Big Mac with his hoof placed against the door, raising an eyebrow at him. Spike chuckled, then started to fly back towards Twilight's Castle, waving goodbye.
The image of them was still at the front of his mind, making him grin happily. His claws twitched, eager to grab some paper and write down what he saw.