//------------------------------//
// An unexpected occurence and visit 
// Story: Romance is Chaos 
// by zackepic22 
//------------------------------//

11:06 AM, Ponyville

"Uggghhh, couldn't we have gone out later, Twilight? I thought today was supposed to be your day off!", said the small purple and green dragon, huffing a bit at having to do some actual work on a day like today. Twilight did feel for him, but-

"I'm sorry, Spike, but, Starlight really needs our help.", she told him, as they walked through town, toward the main market area. "I mean, I know how you feel, I thought was just going to be able to have mostly free time today too. But, as it turns out, not only does Starlight need some help today, but, Discord- Well, let's just say, he's been reading a book—one that I'm not even sure was all that well written—and, apparently, he thinks that he's in love with me..."

The little dragon paused, stopping to give Twilight an incredulous look of disbelief. "Very funny, Twi, there's no way that Discord would-" However, he stopped, once he noticed just how serious Twilight seemed to be about that. "You're not joking... But, Discord?" He paused...Then collapsed onto his back, and went into a fit of laughter.

"BWAAHAHAHAHAH! D-discord? Really?!" He went back into uncontrollable laughter. After a whole minute of this, it was only Twilight's stink eye that snapped him out of it, and got him back up onto his feet. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. B-but, you have to admit-" He snickered, unable to help himself. "Only you could possibly have luck that bad, Twi~"

Well, Spike wasn't necessarily wrong, though, she wasn't sure about luck. She alway seemed to get attention from Discord whenever he seemed particularly mischievious, or wanting to test her. But, now, he genuinely seemed to think that he was in love with her, and that he could apparently win her affections, one way or another. She thought he was delusional, but, a delusional Discord could still be pretty annoying, especially depending on how far he decided to take things.

"I know, I know.", she said with a heavy sigh. "And, honestly, if it weren't for Starlight, I probably wouldn't even be out today at all! But, worrying about Draconequus antics is no excuse for not helping out a friend in need. And, Starlight definitely seems to be a friend in need. ...I really shouldn't say anything about this, but, I think that maybe she wants to get even closer with Sunburst than she already is."

"Woah, really?" Spike looked genuinely interested. "I mean, I can remember her being genuinely terrified at the thought of her meeting her supposedly successful wizard friend. And, I know they're friends again now, but, it's kinda hard to imagine the two of them getting together right now. Maybe you're just imagining how it seemed, Twilight."

"Mmmmmm, I suppose that I might have.", said Twilight, despite looking unsure. "But, you didn't see the way that she was this morning. She was all nervous, and worried. But, then, after I told her I would do my best to help her, she started doing her own little hops, skips and jumps."

"You mean like Pinkie?", replied the dragon, who was actually starting to look a bit surprised again. "That's freaky...", he mumbled. "Maybe you're right. Maybe she does have some lovey dovey reasons for wanting you to help. Not that I would know anything about the subject..."

Twilight giggled. "Oh, Spike, I'm sure you'll definitely learn more about it one of these days.", she said with a hum. "Now, do you have the quill and paper for writing down all the books that we're going to get?"

The dragon nodded, pulling out both a potentially long list of paper, and a quill. "By the way, did you know that the sofas from that one store are currently half off? That's a real bargain, you know."

Twilight hummed, pausing and putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "I have been meaning to put in a new sofa for the library area, since one of the ones I already had was damaged, thanks to Discord and that party he threw in there with those Llamas."

"You mean Alpacas."

Twilight sighed, as she started moving along again. "Yes, you're right, they were alpacas. Either way, they were very fuzzy, and it took weeks to get all the fuzz off of the furniture."

Spike chuckled. "Well, look at it this way, Twi: With Discord around, you're rarely ever gonna be bored. One week, he's having a party with Alpacas, the next he's making your Smarty Pants doll all big and hug-crazy, and, then, the week after that, he's professing his 'undying wuv' to you. Seriously, Twi, crazy as he is, there's few ponies as exciting as Discord."

"I'm in agreement with him! Well, you know, except for the implication that there could ever been anyone as fun and exciting as I am~"

That voice- Twilight turned her head, and spotted what looked to be a suspiciously draconequus-like figure behind a newspaper and magazine stand counter, holding a newspaper right infront of his face. Narrowing her eyes, Twilight walked over to him, using her magic to pull the newspaper down, and sure enough-

"Well, hello, there, Twilight~" Yep, it was him alright, wearing somekind of cap. Suddenly, he started holding the newspaper right up. "EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALLLLL ABOUT IT! DRACONEQUUS PROFESSES HIS UNDYING LOVE TO PRINCESS!"

Twilight groaned a bit, especially as he started attracting a crowd. Some ponies looked curious. Others looked confused. And, there were even a few ponies who were snickering at this. Walking over to the stand, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this really your way of trying to be the 'draconequus of my dreams'?"

The Draconequus snorted in what seemed to be indignation. "Of course not! This is just my way of making sure that Ponyville knows we're going to be a thing. I'm just trryyyying to make sure that noone's too surprised once I break the news that we're a couple. A good newsperson always seeks the truth, after all."

Twilight couldn't help but narrow her eyes. Really. Just because he was currently working at a newsstand somehow—she imagined that he probably either scared or bribed the previous pony who was working there away—he was now under the delusion that he was somehow a 'newsperson', instead of just a person selling news. But, honestly, it made perfect sense that he would delude himself like this, especially considering how he was earlier.

Sighing a bit, she shook her head, and raised an eyebrow. "So, just what is your plan here then?"

Discord let out a 'hoo-hoo-hooooooo~!' "Wouldn't you like to know, Twilight~?" He then proceeded to clear his throat. "By the way, this newsstand is now having a sale on tons of newly acquired tomes of magic~"

"...What." How did he-? He couldn't have- Had he somehow been spying on the conversation between her and Starlight earlier? Well, apparently, she just couldn't fully trust a draconequus not to try anything like that, right? She let out a heavy sigh, and then asked, "Well, would you mind showing me all of the books that you have then?"

Discord nodded, and- Thaaaaaatttt was a lot of books. So many, infact, that she could no longer even see Discord anymore.

"That's an awful lot of non-newspaper merchandise for a newsstand.", she said, sounding heavily suspicious "Are these from all the other booksellers in town? Shouldn't they be selling these?"

"Well, let's just say they were feeling a little-" He chuckled sinisterly. "'Tied up' today~" ...He was rubbing his hands together while grinning evilly, wasn't he? Even though she couldn't see him, she could just tell that that's what he was doing. "But, anyway, all of these are seventy-five percent off."

"Well, that's...Very kind of yo-"

"Also, with every tome you purcahse, you get a free magazine!", he said, dracon-e-bamfing one over to them. Twilight looked over said magazine, and- ...It was a picture of the two of them smooching. She looked inside, and- Poems. It was almost all poems, addressed to her from him. 

"Every magazine also even has a different spell in the very back!", Discord pointed out, as if actually trying to give her a reason not to just take all the magazines, and outright toss them all in the trash.

"..." Twilight let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, fine, I'll take all of them."

...Was he squeeing right about then? "Excellent~! I'll make sure they're all delivered to the castle today by nightfall~"

Twilight facehoofed. She was going to have to deal with him for a while now. Every day. Wasn't she?

~ ~ ~ ~~

1:15 PM, Ponyville station

As the gamboge pegasus stallion, with a spiky sapphire mane and tail departed the train, saddlebags in tow, he took in a breath of fresh air, and let out a contented sigh. Yep, it finally happened: He, Flash Sentry, had finally gotten some time off! Honestly, it was like he couldn't do anything while on duty! And, it seemed like he was on duty all the time! Really, he was seeing her so often, yet, he didn't really get to interact with her at all! But, now? He was finally on vacation. And, where did he decide to go for his vacation? Ponyville, of course! He was finally going to get to really talk to the princess, not just make announcements, or little charming side comments, no! He was finally going to talk with her!

Of course, as he started walking into town, he knew he wasn't going to be one of those stallions who just tried wooing mares—or stallions—right off the bat. No. A good relationship involved getting to know someone, not pretending like it was love at first sight. Sure, she was definitely attractive, but, so what? He knew some ponies in the Crystal Empire who were attractive, yet could be despicable ponies, and giant pains in the flank. No, best thing to do while going forward was to just try and get to know her, see if they were even all that compatible.

...Of course, while he was thinking about it, he wasn't completely paying attention to the road. And, so, it was a bit of a shock to him to suddenly lose his footing over a bunch of leaves, and drop right into a fifteen foot hole, letting out a loud yelp as he did. He grunted at the hard landing, moaning a bit, as he slowly started to stand right back up.

"Well, it's certainly a nice day in the season of fall, now isn't it?"

Someone was up there. Looking right up, Flash couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "Discord! ...I think." He shook his head. "Anyway-" He narrowed his eyes up at him. "Are you the one who dug this hole?"

The draconequus snickered. "Guilty as charged~" He chuckled a bit, before his face turned a lot less humourous, and more frowny and disapproving. "I know who you are. You're the little pegasus who has twenty-four guard duty. The odd one out in the Crystal Empire military. The one who has dreams! Dreams of meeting the princess! As in, actually meeting her, not doing your adorable little 'charming'  things, without any relationship development whatsoever. You wanna be friends with her, and fall in loooveeee~" He narrowed his eyes. "Well, I have news for you, dear Flash, it's simply not going to happen." He grinned evilly. "Because, I won't let it~"

Flash narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah? And, just how are you gonna stop me from meeting her? I have wings! I can fly out of this pit!"

Loud booming laughter from the Spirit of Chaos. Flash started to feel uneasy, especially at the draconequus' disarming smile. "Oh, I'm sure you could, Flash Sentry. But, see the thing is-" All of a sudden, the Draconequus picked up what seemed to be a large green blob with a face, and dropped it right into the hole. "You'll have other things to contend with~"

And, queue the girly screaming from down in the pit. "AHHHHHH, MY HAIR! MY TAIL! MY WINGS!" Even as Discord started walking away, he could still hear the screaming. "OH, DEAR CELESTIA, IT'S STICKING EVERYWHERE!"

The Draconequus started humming, snapping his talon fingers to make a net appear over the pit, complete with tent spikes, to make it all the more difficult for the stallion to try and get out. Discord definitely didn't need the distraction of competition. Now, he just needed to meet a certain 'powerful' unicorn to prepare further for later that night~