The Prompt: Opposite Day
Princess Twilight Sparkle's eyes opened, and then closed again with a wince. She still wasn't quite used to how bright mornings could be in her new castle. Still, the alicorn smiled, and rubbed her eyes with a hoof, before stretching all for legs out and rolling over in her bed.
"Waugh!" Twilight Sparkle jumped backward in shock and fell off of the side of her bed with a thump. A moment later, her head appeared over the side of the bed again, and she glared at the intruder. "Discord! What in Equestria are you doing in my bed?"
Discord stretched himself out on top of Twilight's covers, his serpentine body laying languid on the nice blankets. "Oh come now Twilight Sparkle. You MUST know what today is, or rather, what it isn't."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Twilight's indignation disappeared in the face of Discord's casual taunting. The tone in his voice rarely exactly lead to anything good.
"Why it's Opposite Day, of course! Everything you'd normally expect, like waking up alone, is exactly not what you're getting!" Discord rose up from the bed, floating in the air effortlessly. "It's just terribly, awfully boring not being able to spread chaos, Twilight Sparkle, and so I have decided to take a day off from maintaining order."
Twilight stamped a hoof on the floor, with her eyebrows furrowed. "Discord! You can't just take a day off from that! What... what would Fluttershy think?"
Discord's eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh, let's go see, shall we? And by 'we', I do mean just me. Ta!"
In a blink, Discord was gone. Twilight stared blankly at the spot in her bed where he'd been laying, and then sighed and shook her head. It wasn't that she had any plans for today, exactly, but trying to find a way to combat Discord's craziness certainly wasn't something she wanted to do. "Spike! Spike, wake up, we've got to go!"
Rarity didn't look up from her sewing when the bell above her door chimed. "Just a moment!"
A few seconds more, and the stitching was in a place she could leave it for the moment. "Now, welcome to Carousel Boutique, what may I-- oh, hello Twilight, hello Spike. What brings you two to Carousel Boutique?"
Twilight spoke breathlessly after having galloped the entire distance to hear nearest friend. "Rarity? Is everything okay?!"
Rarity blinked at the condition of her friend, and then smiled disarmingly. "Why of course I am, Twilight. Whatever has you so upset?"
"Discord said--" Twilight paused, took a deep breath, and then let it out, before continuing in a more normal tone of voice. "... Well, he said that today was Opposite Day. I thought he might have done... something, here."
Rarity glanced at Spike, who was still riding on Twilight's back, but the dragon only shrugged. She smiled to Twilight. "I haven't seen Discord today at all, Darling. Maybe you should stay and have some tea? I know that always helps calm me during a difficul-"
"I don't have time for tea today, Rarity, sorry! I've really got to find out what he changed!" Twilight was already out the door as she finished her sentence, leaving a confused and somewhat annoyed Rarity in her wake.
"Opposite Day?! And nopony told me?!" Pinkie Pie theatrically gasped in shock, and staggered backwards on her hind legs as though struck.
Twilight gave the pink pony a flat look, such displays having become old hat some time ago. "Pinkie, I don't think opposite day is an actual day that you can miss."
Pinkie landed on all four hooves again, staying that way for nearly a quarter of a second before dashing off behind the counter and rifling through her bin of 'special' ingredients. "But that means that you DO think it's an actual day, because today is Opposite Day!" She paused, holding up a bag full of small green seeds. "Peas in cupcakes? Oh! Or should I not make cupcakes at all? That would be SUPER opposite!"
Twilight Sparkle sighed and shook her head. She glanced around the interior of Sugarcube Corner, but everything seemed to be more or less in place. Twilight ducked a flying box of rice as Pinkie continued digging through her ingredients. Things in Sugarcube Corner were quickly getting less 'in place' than they were before she came in, but it didn't seem to be any fault of Discord's. "Okay, well... looks like everything is okay here! Thanks, Pinkie!"
Twilight bolted out of the shop before anything got crazier.
(time limit)
"Uh, Twilight, seriously? Opposite Day?" Rainbow Dash paused, flying a few feet over Twilight with a cider mug hooked in her pastern.
Applejack chuckled, leaning against the barrel, with a mug hooked against her own hoof. "Sounds like you've been hangin' around with Pinkie too much."
Twilight glanced at the cider barrel, her mouth was feeling awfully dry after walking all the way out to Sweet Apple Acres. She quickly shook her head to clear the idea out, and smiled to her friends. "Well, when it's Discord, I can't very well just ignore it. There's no telling what he's up to!"
"It sort of looks like he's not up to anything, Twilight." Rainbow took a long pull at her mug, and then clapped it down loudly on top of the barrel, empty. "Ha! You'll never drink more than me, AJ!"
Applejack sipped at her own mug. "It ain't about drinkin' a lot, it's about enjoyin' it."
Twilight sighed and turned around to leave them to it.
"So, um... after Sweet Apple Acres, you came here." Fluttershy sat comfortably in her favorite chair, while Discord lounged all over the nearby couch. Fluttershy sipped calmly at her tea.
Twilight looked down into her own cup of tea, and then glanced at Discord, but decided that Fluttershy wouldn't likely let him do anything too strange to the tea right here in her own cottage. Twilight took a sip, and then smiled at the flavor (and the much-needed drink.) "Yes. Discord said he'd be coming here, so I thought... well, that he might be here."
"And I am! How wonderful for you, Princess. I'm just where you thought I'd be." Discord drank his cup, and set the tea back down unconstrained, where it sloshed out all over the table. "It sounds like Opposite Day was an absolutely brilliant success!"
"But nothing even changed!" Twilight stamped a hoof in frustration, and then set her magically-held tea down. "There's nothing opposite about it!"
Fluttershy's eyes widened, and she suddenly giggled. Twilight looked at her, and then to Discord. Discord just smiled at Fluttershy, with an almost proud bearing.
Twilight sighed. "Fluttershy, what are you laughing about?"
"Um, I'm sorry, it might not be funny to you, but um... everything today was the opposite of what you expected. Don't you see? Um.. it was an opposite Opposite Day."
Discord burst into laughter, reaching his lion paw around Fluttershy to hug her close. Twilight's eyes narrowed, as she went over the words.
Not for the first time, she considered whether the Tree of Harmony could go without the Elements for just a few more minutes.