5) Sleeping Issues
Twilight Sparkle woke up early. So early, there were still a few stars left in the sky left. Not that she could help it. Beside her bed, in his little basket, her assistant was snoring contently, not aware of his friends', well... awkward little problem. She was sitting on her bed, staring with a certain dose of disbelief at her most recent diary entry.
"What in the world was I thinking."
Mentally, she tried blaming it on the way too many of way too sweet cupcakes Discord and her shared last night. (She had to challenge him to a game of Chess Mess to be able to get them though; the Spirit obviously still hasn't learned of the "magic of sharing'. Still, the evening was fun.) She tried laughing it off as a result of not having a proper crush in quite some time. At one point, she even decided she was dreaming.
But Twilight Sparkle couldn't deny it anymore. Something changed and it changed significantly. It might not have been a great change but it was an obvious shift she hated to admit but simply had to - because denying it would be pointless. And she couldn't define it any way else. Once again, she looked at the last words on the bottom of her diary page.
"... I think I'm starting to like Discord on more than a friendly level."
The purple pony frowned. Her head flopped onto her pillow as she let out a worn our breath.
"Think, Twilight. Think. This simply can't be happening." She muttered into the pillow, stressed to no end.
Indeed, how was it possible. That question had been mingling all over her head for half of the night and once she finally fell asleep, she had the oddest dream that involved her being a statue in Canterlot's garden that now belonged to Discord; then Pinkie Pie came before her and with the angriest frown she ever saw, offered her cupcakes, laughing with a hysterical joyless laughter; as one can easily tell, a completely illogical, senseless and she had to be honest, pretty terrifying dream. Pinkie laughing without smiling was twisted. And while she made none sense whatsoever out of those dreams, it was usually a situation like this where the dreams like that would appear would usually appear; when she wasn't entirely sure what was going on or what should she do.
Once again, she tried to put it through rational thinking; ever since Discord lost his powers, he started showing the side of him that was pretty much hidden. Until then, his powers were his personality.
But now... he made her laugh, instead of worry. He showed her his playful, teasing side, instead of the one that was cruel and sadistic. He became more talkative about the silliest of things, instead of just bringing speeches of chaos and rule of entire Equestria and generally annoying the heck out of everypony with his puns. Small things he did even seemed to suggest he did have a friendly disposition towards her.
Still, that couldn't erase all the chaos he did, both back when he ruled Equestria centuries ago and his recent escape from his stone prison; not to mention what he did to her best friends. Simply denying his chaotic deeds would be irrational and she still felt a sting of anger when she recalled the horrible treatment he gave everypony.
The purple mare shook her head, trying to clear her mind.
"He will probably give me a reason not to like him soon, anyway." She finally concluded, this time putting on a determined face. So what's the big deal? That... crush, was just that - a crush, nothing more. She wasn't even completely sure of it. Sure, right now it felt like she was falling for him - but what if it was just a product of her - there was no point in denying that either - pretty desolate love life? Yes, that must've been it! Another thing to put in a research of emotional states of a pony during a complicated time of life!
"Gosh, I'm acting like such a silly filly." She finally laughed to herself, feeling quite better than before. With newly discovered confidence, she slammed the diary shut, locked it up (just in case) and put it back into the nightstand. Snuggling back into her blanket, she almost wanted to laugh out loud.
She couldn't wait for the morning to come to finally prove to herself that she was right. Seriously, how could she even for a moment think that what she wrote was true?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Wake up, sleepy head!" And a loud horn he pulled out who knows from where. What a beautiful sound to be woken up to. She made a mental note on "reason not to like him, number #1", already feeling better about herself but that feeling didn't last long as she tried to get the annoying ringing out of her ears. Next to her, she heard Spike screaming with surprise as the Spirit lifted his bed into the air, high above his head.
"Discord, what the hay are you doing?!" He demanded angrily. The Spirit but laughed, spinning around the room and making Spike hold onto his basket for dear life.
"I'm-!"
"Let me guess - bored." Twilight finished for him.
"Oh, you know me so well!" The Spirit responded sweetly as he finally let the baby dragons' basket fall back on the floor - with the mentioned baby dragon still in it. He silently cursed to himself as he tried to get out of knotted blankets but loud enough to earn a parenting look from Twilight. He grinned innocently.
"Sorry, Twilight, hehe. Um, I'm--"
"Going to make some breakfast?" Discord offered the rest of the sentence. Spike gave him a weirded-out look.
"Y-yeah, how did you--?"
"It seems to be your recurring role in these chapters... of your life."
"...?! What are you--"
"Hmm, I'm not too hungry..." Twilight pondered out loud, not paying half the mind to Spike's confusion and Discords knowing, teasing stare. "...but I guess some eggs would be nice." She ended as he got out of the bed-
Spike gave her a short glance before looking at Discord again, who looked distinctly pleased with himself. "Y-yeah, um, on it..."
"Oh, Spike, wait!" Twilight called for him before he had a chance of going down, with a questioning look on her face. "Aren't you going to ask Discord what he wants for breakfast?" She suggested. The dragon rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed at Twilight's not-very-subtle attempt to make the two get along but Discord seemed to be perfectly fine with it.
"Oh that is fine, I can get my own-- oh wait." The Spirit stopped moments before he almost clicked his fingers, planning on summoning his by now well known glass of chocolate milk along with with something to eat. Twilight grinned sheepishly. He was probably used to making his own breakfast each morning... or summoning food whenever he wanted, more like.
"... same for both, gotcha." Spike mumbled, still annoyed about being so rudely woken up and wondering what the heck was the previous conversation about.
Once again, the awkward silence fell between the two, as Discord once more reminisced about his once available powers that allowed him to summon all the chocolate milk in the world he wanted.
"Ugh, the mornings in here are always so boring. So regular! So... so..." The Spirit was trying to find the right word as he slowly flew downstairs, followed by Twilight. His brain-storming spree lasted for a good few minutes and sent him into the unbelievably prolonged period of silence, until they were in the middle of a meal. Then he suddenly burst into a triumphant laughter, making Twilight jerk so hard her snout sank into her scrambled eggs.
"I got it!"
Twilight looked over the table at him, the expression of obvious disapproval on her face. When he noticed the pieces of yolk on her face he snickered mischievously. Twilight sighed.
"You 'got' what, Discord?" Spike added annoyingly, gently rubbing his back in pain, having fallen of his chair at the booming sound of the draconequus' voice.
"My brilliant mind managed to realize exactly why do I feel like the mornings in here lack the level of excitement I'm used to!"
"Oh really?" Twilight automatically responded with a drop of sarcasm, wiping her face softly. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the inability to conjure yourself a cotton candy cloud bed, now would it?"
"Not necessarily." The Spirit replied indirectly and then finally explained: "You see Twilight Sparkle, unlike you ponies who just so love sleeping with the same old feeling of cotton fabric embracing you, looking at your ceiling before falling asleep and wake up to absolutely the same thing you fell asleep to, I prefer something different."
"And what might that be?" The unicorn asked, by now confused. It was now the draconequus' turn to frown in disapproval, as he apparently expected of her to get his point.
"The location, my dear. I never sleep in the same spot twice. Not that I even tried to avoid having a permanent sleeping facility but apparently it feels really unnatural for me."
"Oh." Twilight suddenly realized what he was talking about - even around here, he never slept on the couch more than once. Just last night he was sleeping on the floor. She wondered how she never noticed that during this past week.
"Therefore, I will probably be leaving your humble tree tonight to sleep in some more attractive place, but don't worry I'll be back by morning - I wouldn't like Celestia to personally come and give me a lesson on magic of safety." He mocked. "The Everfree forest sounds like a nice change of surroundings." He proceeded to say.
It took several moments for Twilight to register his words. "Yes, that sounds like a-- wait, what? No way, Discord! I am not letting you go into that forest!"
Not being too careful with what she was saying, she realized instantly she sounded much like an egghead he saw in her, for the Spirit started laughing right into her face, making it crimson with both anger and embarrassment. Spike muttered a quiet 'here we go again', seeing an argument coming from a mile away.
"My dear, I think you're forgetting who're you talking to here; I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Not to mention," he flew over the table, looking a bit tauntingly into her eyes, "you're not in charge of me. I go where I please."
Twilight stubbornly stared into his mismatched eyes, his slightly frightening and personal space-invading vicinity not throwing her out of tact.
"You are right; I am not in control of where you go; but I do know that right now your chances of surviving by yourself in that forest are much smaller than when you had your powers. So I simply can not let you go."
Discord furrowed a brow.
"And how exactly do you plan on stopping me?" He asked, the look in his eyes positively devilish.
...Was he just pulling her leg? Twilight still had her powers, there was no way he could've overpowered her... well, not magically speaking. He was much stronger physically than all of the ponies in Ponyville , if not even Equestria. But he wouldn't hurt her or Spike... Right?
"By whatever means necessary." She replied firmly, not revealing the sudden wave of insecurity.
The Spirit laughed once again, positively gleeful.
"We'll see about that, Twilight Sparkle! I will be leaving after sunset, so feel free to either to bid me good night, or try and stop me. The latter would be so much more amusing though."
"Again with the games, Discord?" Twilight angrily asked as she got up from the table.
"Oh, this is no silly game, Twilight Sparkle." Discord answered through a ominous chuckle. The unicorn's frown finally disappeared, replaced with a pretty obvious expression of concern. Discord merely continued laughing as he passed by her and opened one of the windows and not paying half the mind to the half formed question formed on her lips that she lacked the nerve to ask. As he stretched, preparing to go for a morning flight, he continued with a sinister:
"You asked for a challenge and you'll get one! See you for lunch, then! And please, no more daisies, I'm sick of those." He added cheerfully with a sudden shift in his attitude, then flew out through the window.
A few very silent moments passed when a sound of broken ceramics was heard. Twilight jerked and noticed a broken plate on the floor. Right next to it stood Spike but like she never saw him before - he was practically fuming with rage.
"Spike, what--"
"How dare he?!"
"Spike, calm down!" Twilight caught him by his shoulders, preventing him from grabbing a half filled glass of milk. It broke her heart to notice the tears in the young dragons' eyes. He kind of helplessy tried to hide them, staring at the floor, teeth gritting with suppressed rage.
"He- he practically threatened you, Twilight! How could he?! I am going to beat him up once and for all, I swear I will!" The tears were gone, replaced with a determined look on his face that, although slightly commendable, Twilight was sure wouldn't scare Fluttershy, let alone the draconequus.
"Spike please, just calm--" She fell silent when the dragon turned towards her and launched at her, pulling her into comically tight hug and sounding quite panicked.
"I won't allow him... I won't let him take you away." Twilight was choking up; seeing him like this was just too much for her but a part of her felt unbelievably touched at this display of affection. She smiled.
"Oh Spike, I will never leave you; I would never do that to my number one assistant and the best friend a pony could ask for." She gently nuzzled his cheek. "You mustn't let him get to you; that's exactly what he wants!"
"B-but Twilight--"
"Enough of that now; please don't worry, I'll think of something. I always do, don't I?" She smiled.
This time Spike didn't answer. He seemed to be thinking of an answer to that question.
"Well~"
"Oh shush!" Twilight smiled as the baby dragon finally gave a small giggle. "Come on now, don't worry about those things. We have studying to do."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Twilight and Spike spent much of the afternoon filling in the new found information on various researches, which luckily resulted in Spike relaxing completely, him being totally indulged into his everyday tasks. (when Twilight told him to pull out the, by now quite old research of emotions in life of an average pony, she earned a pretty suspicious look) But Twilight couldn't stop thinking of the troublesome Spirit.
She recalled that sinister look in his eyes, the way he shrugged off her warnings without a care... she even wouldn't be that much under the impression of the threatening draconequus if he didn't made Spike worry so much.
What was he planning on doing? Would he really hurt her? Or maybe do something to Spike? That was probably what Celestia expected Twilight to take care of; that was probably what she was supposed to stop by teaching Discord of the Harmony. She simply couldn't ask the Princess for involvement. The thought of asking her friends for help did cross her mind but she didn't want to ruin what little progress Discord made with others - and she especially didn't want to see Pinkie Pie disappointed after the lovely afternoon they spent together.
It was so sudden, Twilight mused in ager! So far, they got along pretty well, practically resulting in, she recalled a bit uncomfortably, her crushing on him. This sudden turn of the events unpleasantly surprised her.
With no idea of what to do, she concluded she could only wait for the evening to confront him.
Feeling a burst of inspiration, she called for Spike.
"Spike, bring me the 'Spells for Pranksters, vol 3., please.' "
"Sure but, why?"
"I just need to repeat a few spells... just in case." She added in the end, making sure Spike couldn't hear her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Twilight? Are you OK?"
"I'm fine Spike, why?"
"Well... it's almost sunset." Spike whispered, both concern and fear audible in his voice. Twilight tried giving him a reassuring smile, at the same time glancing at the Spirit who in the meanwhile returned to her home; he was sitting in the middle of the library and, oddly enough, busy with practicing origami for some time now. Even with all the commotion, she couldn't help but wonder where in the world did he get the idea or inspiration for making origami so suddenly; or how did he even find the book on origami without her help. She would have to ask him if he stole it, she made a mental note.
"Spike, I'm sure he didn't mean anything serious." Twilight tried to comfort Spike - unfortunately, the act Spike completely lost his cool this morning had been sitting on her mind the whole day and she found herself much more concerned than she initially was - perhaps even more than Spike was - fretting as she repeated all the spells that could possibly help her to face whatever Discord had in store for her. "Look, he probably won't do anything but... I need you to go out and inform anyone if by any chance something happens. Not that it will," she added quickly "but just in case. So, for now, go up to the bedroom, okay?"
The little dragon listened to her with heavy heart and went upstairs but not being able to contain his worry or curiosity, peeking in from behind a corner. Twilight took a deep breath as she approached Discord from behind, peeking over his shoulder. She couldn't help but grin as he tossed the half finished paper box aside, crushing it.
"You know, you should start with easier shapes." The nerdy pony couldn't resist but to try and help.
"Mm?" Discord absentmindedly asked, not taking his eyes off the paper he was trying to turn into a fancy tall vase that demanded way too many folds for a beginner.
"You should start with shapes such as a boat, a paraglider or an envelope. They are much easier."
"These shapes are so much more interesting." Discord protested.
"And complicated! It will take you a good amount of practice before you'll be able to make those." She watched as his short-fingered lion paw accidentally squashed the corner of the shape. Impatient as he was with things like origami, Discord finally gave up, throwing the shape aside and mumbling out: "I forgot you need to practice these things."
As he got up, Twilight remembered why she was here.
"Discord, we need to talk!" She started off confidently. "About what you said before..." she went straight to the point. The draconequus looked at her, now looking amused.
"Indeed, Twilight Sparkle. So what have you decided? Is the challenge still on?"
Having no idea what she was getting herself into, Twilight gave him a firm nod. The Spirit grinned, apparently happy with the development of the situation.
"Excellent then! Prepare yourself, for there is no way you can outdo me in what I do the best!"
Huh? What was he talking about?
Twilight watched with utter confusion, petrified as the Spirit flew into the air and circled her a couple of times, finally dramatically stopping in the mid air to utter two simple and for her extremely baffling words:
"Riddle challenge!"
. . . somewhere in the background, a faint sound of little dragon falling down with surprise was heard, but Twilight didn't register it.
"... excuse me?"
"I see you're shocked; I would be too if I realized just how utterly hopeless the situation wa-- OW! What did you do that fo--OW! Calm down, for Chaos' sake!" Discord desperately flew as close to the ceiling as possible to avoid another one of the unicorn's surprisingly strong kicks into his flank.
Twilight was raging, the magic of her horn literally complying to her sudden, strong mood change; she for a few very long seconds turned into a fiery ball of rage, her coat as yellow as the sun, her eyes and her mane literally fiery as she was burning with anger. Discord seemed positively horrified by the display of magic he felt he didn't earn nor deserve.
The flames soon extinguished though and now the very angry, regularly purple Twilight Sparkle was challenging the Spirit to descend. Spirit noticed the vengeful spark in her eyes he knew so well - heck, he practically invented that spark.
"Come down, Discord. I just want to talk."
If that tone was any indication, she had far more planned than just talking.
"No thank you, I, err, I think I'll stick around the ceiling for a while. This chandelier... such an art." he pointed to a regular lamp that hanged in the middle of the ceiling, smiling sheepishly.
The unicorn immediately put him under a spell that dragged him down to her, putting him on her eye level, violently pressing her muzzle against his, the mismatched eyes comically staring into the purple ones. If she were any less angry, she probably would have noticed the slightly confused horror on his face.
"Discord... how dare you." She echoed Spike's words, liekly feeling about the same amount of rage she felt that morning.
"I-"
She never let him continue.
"How dare you put me into such a stressful situation?! Do you have ANY idea what I went thought this afternoon? Do you have any idea what your stupid, pointless talk about the 'challenge at the sunset' caused to both me and Spike? Do you have ANY idea just how concerned I was?!" The last question came out louder than she expected but she didn't care one bit. The Spirit didn't have a comment, so she continued, "I even prepared a few new spells just in case. I couldn't relax; I was on my wits ends as I was asking myself if you're really that cruel to hurt me or Spike!"
"Hurt y-"
"Shut up!" Twilight unexpectedly rudely yelled out. The Spirit blinked. This was the side of Twilight Sparkle he didn't know. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt like it was the side of her he wasn't supposed to know.
"When you said this wasn't going to be a silly game, I took your words literally! Don't feign confusion, I know this was you plan, wasn't it; poor little Twilight breaking down in tears and scared for your amusement, huh?! Well that isn't-- isn't gonna... h-happen..."
Discord observed with growing insecurity the purple pony who suddenly fell silent. The expression on her face was a familiar one, but he couldn't quite place it; it didn't look good though. Then it twisted into a grimace.
"Twilight! Happy place, think of a happy place!" Suddenly Spike burst into the room and threw his arms around her, then held her in a tight embrace, looking half concerned and half alarmed. Twilight's grimace fell and Spike silently thanked Celestia he was quick enough to stop her from going into the same manic mood she experienced when she first forgot to write a friendship report. She looked at the floor, a somewhat dying look in her eyes. Spike eyed Discord with doubtless hate, who in return started at the newly developed scene with confusion.
"You know, if there even was a slightest hint of hope I had invested in you, I think I just lost it." Spike said through gritted teeth.
"What did I do?!" Discord finally asked, upset. Spike sighed as he felt the unicorn tremble in his arms.
"Ugh! Never mind that, just-- help me put her into her bed. NOW."
While not liking being ordered around, the situation seemed slightly more serious than the everyday shenanigans. Without a word, Discord picked up the trembling Twilight and in matter of seconds flew up and put her into her bed. Spike followed, and sat next to her, at the same time silently ordering the Spirit to get lost.
Discord growled at the insolence of the baby dragon but decided he would worry about it later. Spike was saying something to the mare but he couldn't hear nor was he too keen on listening. The draconequus descended down into the library and unwillingly played with pieces of origami paper that were left on the floor, trying to realize what the heck did he just witness. After several of the longest minutes ever, he heard footsteps and noticed the baby dragon approaching him.
"Well, I hope you got what you wanted. One more pony is troubled because of you. You must be SO happy. Well of course you are, there is no such thing as being of Chaos actually regretting something!"
Spike's tone was the final straw and the Spirit got up.
"I've had enough of this," he replied angrily, "I have no idea what is going on; I know I can be a bit annoying, which I should mention I'm definitely not sorry for and in fact take a particular bit of pride in but I've done nothing to deserve this! I challenged her to a riddle game!" His voice turned into a mockery. "Did she have a bad experience with riddles when she was a filly? What happened, was she not able to figure out what the eye on the blue and green face was?"
"That was not what she-- what WE expected!" Spike fumed. "The way you so--- the way you told us we should expect a challenge, we though you would do something... something horrible!" Spike was struggling with finding the right words.
Discords' eyes almost popped out. "Horrible? What did you expect of me to do, feed you both to the Timber Wolves or something?"
"YES!" Spike finally exploded, deciding the example Discord proposed was close enough to how worried they were. The Spirit finally seemed to have realized what was going on. "You said it was no silly game!" Spike continued.
"That's right - no SILLY game! But still a game!" Spike facepalmed, wondering if the Spirit was by now mocking him or not. He did look quite confused though.
"What's with-- what as all that? I mean it was obvious she was upset, but... what's the thing with all that?" He repeated as he pointed toward to second floor where still shook up Twilight was trembling in the sheets.
Spike sighed. "Sometimes, when Twilight is overly stressed or under great pressure, she has a, well... a nervous breakdown of a sort. I was lucky enough this time to stop it before it completely took over her, so she'll be fine but usually she kinda sorta loses it." he shivered before shooting the Spirit another angry glare. "It doesn't happen often, so I guess you can be proud." He added sarcastically.
It took Discord a few pretty self discovering moments to realize a couple of things. For one, and this worried him the most, he didn't find her breakdown any fun at all. Usually breakdowns were pretty fun to watch. He decided to put that problem aside.
Second, he never realized his 'challenging' offer was so...
"So you're saying that when I 'challenged her' this morning, I was looking--"
"You were looking like you were prepared to seriously harm us, yes." Spike finished for him, finally finding the right words. To the little dragons' surprise, Discord looked insulted as he raised his eagle hand to dramatically rest on his chest.
"Seriously! And there I thought I made my chaotic intentions clear!" he flew closer to the little dragon, who eyed him carefully. "I don't know if you noticed, dragon boy but I do prefer less physically painful chaotic deeds. One of the first things I told your dear friend, along with the other Elements of Harmony and Celestia herself was that I do NOT. Turn. Ponies. Into stone." There was a weird amount of determination in his words. "I thought hurting them was included in my statement, but I guess I wasn't clear enough."
Spike now couldn't keep the expression of suspicion of her face. "...wait a minute there; so you're trying to tell me you've never hurt a pony?"
"What kind of barbarian do you take me for?!" The Spirit replied, in such a tone Spike felt he was talking to Rarity for a second.
"OK, fine, let's say I trust that one... but you still owe Twilight an apology!"
Spike waited with a frown for Spirit to finish his sudden laughing fit.
"My oh my, you are such a cute little funny delight sometimes! Twilight Sparkle's misunderstanding of my intentions is her problem, not mine."
Spike threw his hands in the air, uttering a resigning 'fine' before stomping into the kitchen to make some tea for Twilight.
The Spirit realized he really could use a change of scenery tonight, especially after what happened. He needed to think this through - which was new for him; usually, he knew what he wanted and what to do in certain situations.
Without another word, he flew out to find an appropriate sleeping place under the stars.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Spike?" Twilight slowly awoke after a short nap. Spike was sitting on her bed right next to her.
"It's okay! I'm right here and the tea is ready."
"Ugh, my head... what happ-- oh." The unicorn remembered the events before finished the question and was once again enraged. Jumping out of the bed and nearly tipping Spike over, she snapped: "Oh, I remember what happened, alright! Where is that big jerk?! I'm going to give him a lesson he's going to remember!"
"He's gone." Spike silently said. "He probably went to Everfree forest."
Twilight growled angrily. "I can't believe he was doing that to me! I can't believe that I actually allowed myself to break in front of him; oh how happy he must've been! I should've known he was nothing more but a mean schemer!" She spat as she came back and sat on the bed, pouring herself an angry cup of tea and spilling some in the progress.
"It didn't seem like it was his plan actually... but well, he actually had something to say about everything."
"Oh really? Please do tell; I want a reason or two more to leave a hoof mark on his flank!"
Spike told her of his short but informative conversation with Discord. Twilight's rage slowly melted away as he finished talking.
"What? He didn't think he sounded threatening?! How in the world could he-- ugh!" Twilight's frustration almost got the best of her, until she felt a scent of tea - Spike gently held the cup in front of her and its soothing scent and radiating warmth already made her feel better. Once she actually sipped it she felt a wave of relaxation flowing through her body.
"Thank you Spike. You're a life saver." She drew him into a close hug and then yawned. "I think I'll crash early tonight. This entire evening just... wore me out."
"I'm not surprised." Spike mumbled. "I won't be up for too long. You just get a nice, long rest."
"Right... I just hope Discord will be OK."
Spike sighed. "Still worried about him?"
"Just because he upset me doesn't mean I don't have a reason to worry you know." Twilight sighed heavily as she crawled back into her bed. "That forest is so dangerous, Spike."
"Come on Twilight," Spike spoke as he took the now empty tray, "Discord may not have his powers anymore but he's not stupid. I'm sure he'll be just fine."
"I guess you're right. I can't even imagine Discord getting lost or something, anyway." Twilight smiled softly, now a bit calmer but still feeling restless because of everything that happened. "So, Spike... he didn't seem proud of what happened? I mean... I kind of thought that as what he wanted."
"Well, I was more concerned about you but from what I saw, I'd say he was kind of... alarmed. In fact, now that you mention it, it was the first time I saw him distressed."
"I see..." She yawned and snuggled into her pillow and slowly closed her eyes, wishing Spike goodnight.
Fifteen minutes later her thoughts were still racing. The quiet and peace of the evening, interrupted with nothing but Spike who was robing the fridge downstairs gave Twilight an idea and she decided to do something a bit risky. It may not succeed but she had to try. After all, Princess Celestia was always understanding and she could be up for the plan.
She summoned a parchment and a quill, and started writing...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Discord swiftly climbed the highest tree he could find. It took him quite some time finding a tree tall enough to separate him from everything that crawled bellow him and strong enough to support him. Once he did though, he laid lazily on one of the huge branches, making himself comfortable.
"Much better." He commented to himself. The lack of energy kind of bothered him - during the time he had his powers, he didn't require as much sleep, for whatever reason that might've been. Maybe all that chocolate milk was what kept him so hyper and awake all the time.
The Spirit took the opportunity to ponder about everything that happened that evening. For one, he couldn't believe that anypony actually thought he might seriously cause somepony any physical harm. Well...not still, that is. He liked to think he long since grew out of that phase. Not to mention it wasn't nearly as fun as messing with somepony's mind.
But what really worried him was the fact he seemingly liked Twilight Sparkle, that silly egghead, enough to not enjoy seeing her in such a distressed state. Now that he thought of it, he also felt like him and the pink one could get along fabulously well in the future. He didn't like that one little bit. Was it possible he was getting soft? Lack of his powers threw his confident, arrogant persona aside, which made him vulnerable. And if he hated anything, it was being vulnerable.
As he was slowly falling asleep, the draconequus wondered if there was anything he could do to get at least some of his powers back. Little did he know, he wouldn't have to do anything; because he already did.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Wakey, wakey!" A familiar voice called, then interrupted by a loud, deafening sound of cymbals. Twilight literally jumped into the air, frantically looking around, her purple eyes stopping on the draconequus. In each of his hands, a cymbal. Being completely awake but still slightly disoriented, she didn't have much to say.
"... ha?" She tried to process the scene in front of her.
"Discord?! You jerk, what are you doing back here, acting like everything is fine and dandy!?" Her assistant's voice echoed through the house.
"Now, now, there is no need to raise your voice." Discord said calmly, only making Spike even angrier. But the little dragon didn't seem to want to start another over-the-top fight, not in front of Twilight at least so he simply stood there and fumed in silence.
"Now, why don't you go downstairs and prepare the breakfast as always? This chapter - of our lives - can't continue if you just stand there, blocking our lives from progressing."
"... what?!"
"Spike, just... just leave as alone for a moment." Twilight said with as much elegance as she could produce getting out of her bed. Spike mumbled something angrily and marched down. A short silence enveloped the bedroom.
"How was your night?" The purple mare asked, almost too calmly to the Spirits' surprise.
"It was refreshing." He politely said.
"Good then. I'm glad to see you can take care of yourself despite the lack of your powers." Twilight proceeded with the calm treatment and descended slowly down the stairs. The Spirit flew up, slowly following her.
"While I would like to think," he started, "that you are no longer upset with me, Twilight Sparkle, because I really couldn't stand another kick in the flank, I can not help but think you're not over our little feud."
Twilight furrowed her brow, before replying: "I am not angry, Discord. Spike explained everything to me, I know you didn't have any... sinister intentions."
"Ah, I'm glad the little guy was of some use in the end."
"But Discord, let me ask you a question."
"Oh, fine."
"When I started to... well, you know...when Spike came and calmed me down.. because I was--"
"Yes, yes, now get to the point." The Spirit hurried her up. Twilight took a breath of air.
"Were you glad to see me like that?"
Of all the question she could've asked, she had to ask the most embarrassing one. Did she seriously expected him to answer that honestly? Oh sweet, sweet Chaos, by that serious look in her eyes, she probably did. Discord stared at her, becoming angrier with every passing second.
"What a stupid question. I mean seriously, what do you think? It was probably the first good thing that happened since I came to live in this sorry shack. Seeing an organized egghead such as you in her weakest moments was the most satisfying sensation ever!" He spoke sinisterly, putting as much of sweet bitterness into his tone and smirking evilly at her. He felt a burst of pride as he told off the nosy pony - that would teach her to ask such trivial things! But to his horror, she smiled.
"Excellent!"
Discord decided not to question her logic much though was dying to do so anyway. Did she believe what he said? He was pretty sure he was as convincing as any other time he lied about something.
"Now that we got that confession out of you, I have a present for you."
"Confession?! I made no confession!" The Spirit spat.
"Fine, fine, just be silent already, I have something to give you. You're going to love it."
"I sincerely doubt it." The Spirit rolled his eyes.
"Oh I know you will." She smiled. The pony used her horn to summon something to herself that seemed to be a very tiny and thin red gem, landing into his paw.
"Ta-da!"
The expression on the draconequus' face turned into annoyance. He studied the gem trying to figure out what this was about.
"Oh joy, that is definitely something I wanted for EVER." He sarcastically remarked.
"You don't know what it is?"
The Spirit stared, bemused. Twilight stared, looking almost a bit disappointed.
"Strange... I thought you'd-- well, never mind. Be still." Her horn shined and filled the room with colorful light. The Spirit blinked into the blinding light but in the next moment it was gone. The gem disappeared too.
"There you go. You got your present."
"Huh?" The Spirits' face was priceless at that moment. Twilight laughed.
"Still don't get it? If not, well-- how about that delicious chocolate milk of yours? While I don't facny chocolate milk rains, I can't deny it was tasty."
"... is this your idea of mocking me?" He asked through gritted teeth - by now he was pretty angry.
"I am serious." The pony replied. Discord was about to tell her off, pretty angrily too but there was that disgustingly sweet and honest look in her eyes. It took him a few moments to realize what she might've been talking about.
"You're kidding." He started, his voice slow and careful, his eyes studying her face, his eyes never leaving hers as he tried to read them, as he raised his hand. Then he snapped his fingers.
His eyes got as big as plates as a glass of chocolate milk appeared in front of him. In his shock he let it fall on the floor.
Twilight looked giddy as she clapped her hooves.
"Ooh, I wondered forever how am I going to give it to you! Of course you got only a little part of your powers back, I am not silly enough to ask Celestia to return all of it to you and, to be honest, you absolutely didn't deserve it. But I thought you deserved this at the very lea--" the unicorns' words were lost in a yelp, as the draconequus picked her up and span her around the library like a doll or a small filly, causing her to shriek with surprise. She dared to open her eyes to see the overly happy draconequus laughing like there was no tomorrow.
Spike observed the situation as he flipped the pancakes. If he wasn't sure before if giving Discord part of his powers back was a good idea, it may have changed slightly now; he definitely felt relieved now that he knew the Spirit was capable of gratitude.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dear Princess Celestia,
Sorry for contacting you this late but I have a matter that I want to settle urgently.
Recently, I seemed to have made progress with Discord; apparently he slowly but surely started to learn of what it means to be a friend. He quite possibly showed signs that lead me to a conclusion that he started to think of me more and more as a friend.
Another thing I noticed though, is that he can easily fall into fits of deep sadness due to the absolute lack of his powers. A single day I spent without entertaining him by trying to involve him into activities he might like threw him into a state of near-depression. Therefore, I have made a small plan.
Since you did tell me he was going to get his bits powers back if he shows any progress, I'd like to test him if he has changed. If he passes the test I have for him, I'd like to give him, with your permission of course, the basics of his magical powers back.
Please respond as soon as possible.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
That night, Twilight had to wake up Spike only once to send a message; Celestia responded very soon, seemingly excited about the news:
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am glad to hear that you've made progress with Discord and I am more than eager to hear the result of the test you're going to put him through; therefore, I am sending you a specifically chosen array of Discord's powers I encased into this little gem. A simple spell of release should easily bring him those back; just make sure he holds on to it.
I believe that you know what you're doing while performing this test, but just in case I put in a measure of precaution; if Discord shows signs of hostility after getting his powers, the scroll I attached contains an advanced spell of power imprisonment which will aid in taking them away; I'm fully convinced you are knowledgeable enough to use it.
Good luck with your progress,
Princess Celestia
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Twilight definitely wasn't planning on using that power imprisonment spell. Not today.
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Don't worry, I think most of us enjoy long chapters.
Don't worry, long chapters just means more of this amazingness! very nicely done, and that was a clever title
To be honest, i love long chapters. Helps me procrastinate!
342189
I totally know what you mean.
I love long chapters makes for a longer story and the title was good.
Ah, this reaction of Twilight's is more believable. Backing away from the growing feelings within her and observing it under a lens of logic and analysis, coming to a more sensible conclusion. Very good save.
I'm glad you're proofreading your stuff now. But next time, to truly diminish the number of spelling or grammar mistakes, try to proofread with the help of a friend or family member. I find they usually catch the stuff you missed; four eyes are better than two, after all!
Not to mention, they can sometimes suggest a better way to construct a sentence, so keep in mind that they can help you in more than one way.
342536
Thanks, I am glad you liked Twilight's reaction in the end, I must say I had a bit of a hard time explaining her current state; in fact I was looking forward to your comment, you always offer me some constructive criticism. ^^
The construction of a sentence is often my biggest problem, I'm pretty sure it is kind of obvious.
My family speaks English worse than me though, so there's no help from them, hahhha. As for friends... as if I'd show this to anyone I know. Except to the people online. 
342649
I... kinda wish I'd known, I'm sorry if I came off as too harsh before.
So English isn't your first language?
But you might want to show this to your friends in order to get it proofread. And if they ARE your friends, I don't think they'll mind if you wrote a shipfic about cartoon characters. If they ARE your friends, they'll be more interested in the fact that you are attempting to build a talent. If they ARE your friends, they'll support you in any way they can.
That's just what friends do.
So don't be afraid or discouraged, OK?
342836
Nope, it isn't.
Haha, sorry, I probably should've pointed that out. Oh, no need to apologize, I want you to be harsh! I want to get everything right, so don't let that stop you, hehe. 
You make it sound like friends in real life are much like friends from My Little Pony, hahaha
They would think I'm the weirdest chick ever. 
If I was writing a Naruto fanfic (God forbif), they may understand, but when it is about MLP, it is a whole other story. 
I do have a fellow writer on the Internets though, so I might ask her for help. Thanks for the support!
342864
You do that.
)
(Is it really that weird that a girl is interested in a chow about cute little ponies? I mean, if it were a dude, I could see why they'd think it's weird, especially if they aren't bronies themselves.
342876
Trust me, here where I live, if you're a metalhead you're already kind of an outcast in certain social circles.
I personally think I'm the only person in my country that watches this show, hahahahah
EDIT: Not counting the little kids, though we aren't even airing MLP.
This is very intertaining, my friend, please keep up the good work!
-smith,smith
343636
Thank you, I surely will do my best!
Nice that him being given a present happened today (March 20).
Why? Because it's Jon de Lancie's birthday. :)
346117
DUDE. NO WAY.
Color me amazed! This is just getting better and better!
Thanks for the info, hahaha 
"I find myself enjoying long chapters for some reason, but I'm sure you don't. Sorry. xD"
How dare you! i love long chapters gives me time to do somthing!
346840
Wow, people really responded to that comment of mine.
It is just that I noticed many people prefer a single long chapter broken into more short chapters - but I obviously noticed badly.
It is a relief to hear ya'll like long chapters, because I have a feeling they can only get longer.
This, this is the reason I love the internet. Take ALL my love!
353249
I will! Take some of mine!
Thank you for a nice comment!
i doe enjoy long chapters of a good story
Love this story.
a kind way of a over-joyed discort... its so heart warming... i dare to say i left a tear only for sugh a momend... respect how you can play with emotions v-.-
if i was in twilights shoes where discord mutterd about finding a differnt place to sleep i would of tied up him in a bedsheet and hang him from the the ceiling by his tail
>not aware of his friends' pretty
>Twilight Sparkles' misunderstanding
>messing with someponys' mind
>her assistants' voice echoed
>another one of the unicorns' surprisingly
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_RageFace.png
>That question has been mingling
I've noticed that you like to mix tenses like this
>sound to be waken up to
Shouldn't that say woken? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_unsuresweetie_flip.png
>Spike gently held the cup in front of her and it's soothing scent
When used possessively, "its" does not have an apostrophe dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Twilight_Sparkle.png
>I feel so confused
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lupb490hcW1qc5eem.gif
>"... is that your idea of mocking me?" Se asked through gritted teeth
Se? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/discord.png
I'm always a fan of having a slightly mentally unstable Twilight. This level is perfect.
Twilight and Spike spent much of the afternoon filling in the new found information on various researches, which luckily resulted in Spike relaxing completely, him being totally indulged into his everyday tasks. (when Twilight told him to pull out the, by now quite old research of emotions in life of an average pony, she earned a pretty suspicious look) But Twilight couldn't stop thinking of the troublesome Spirit.
The part between brackets should be a sentence on its own, with proper punctuation and a capital letter.
but usually she totally losses it."
*loses
the Spirit obviously still haven't learned of the "magic of sharing'
lasted for good few minutes
but this shapes are so much more interesting
to see the grateful smile on Spirits' face
1. Hasn't.
2. Lasted for a good few minutes.
3. These.
4. To see the grateful smile on the Spirit's face.
What could he have done to them? She knew his powers were gone!
Weird, i could have sworn, that there were less typos, when i first read this fic.