Sunny Oasis looked just as good as it did when Tempest visited the other day. The houses looked rather sturdy and she only had a few notes on how to improve them, and the storm creatures were getting along well. Still, Dusty said there were some things she could help with, and she was prepared for it. He mentioned how there have been arguments over the best way to fish, and the worth of different items when it came to trading. They didn't quite have a standardized currency yet. They were interested in using Equestrian bits but it would take some time to get enough of them to run the economy with.
There was also discussion of how to provide entertainment to the citizens. Sunny Oasis was quite far from Klugetown so it wasn't convenient to go there for the club or a movie, and Equestria wasn't very close either. The jungle to the north and the dragon badlands blocked much of the land between the countries.
“I'll talk to Twilight about getting the train out here as quickly as possible,” Tempest promised them.
“In the meantime, we can certainly expand this town itself,” Discord said. He looked around, humming. “For starters, how about a bowling alley? You folks enjoy competition and bowling is fun and competitive.”
Dusty discussed that with Mary, and they agreed that it was a good place to start.
“Bowling's good, what else?” Dusty asked.
Tempest spoke up, “Oh, the bowling alley can also have a bar and pool tables. You can hang out there and socialize when not actually bowling. And there can be a snack bar of course, for nachos and sodas and other stuff to keep your energy up.”
Discord nodded. “Of course, those are a must! And you can get claw machines for the little ones! Once they're born, of course. You could host leagues, you might even get some tourism from Equestria, plenty of ponies like to bowl.”
“Like Jeff Letrotski and his team,” Tempest commented.
“Right!” Discord rested his hands on his hips. “And if ponies come here to bowl, they'll be bringing their bits and their appetites. They'll eat at your snack bar, buy your alcohol. And you'll get a steady income.”
Dusty nodded and patted at his pant pockets. “I need a notebook, I gotta write this stuff down.”
“I've got you covered.” Discord created a notebook and a pen, handing them over to him. Dusty hurriedly wrote notes.
“The bowling alley's good,” Tempest said. “And perhaps you could have a park, right... hm.” She looked around, and pointed toward the side of the lake. “Between the housing area and where you're raising those trees. Honestly I'd recommend building a walkway around the entire lake, and put piers in it. That'll make it easier to fish. Your park should have playground equipment for your kids. Oh, and build tennis and basketball courts. You want people to have a wide variety of activities to do.”
“Yeah, a playground sounds great!” Dusty added that to his list. “Tennis, basketball, perfect!”
“Could we have volleyball?” Mary asked.
“Of course!” Dusty wrote it down.
Discord said, “I know what project I want to work on right away. I want to help you guys get a building set up out by the water where you can store fishing supplies, provide bait, and things like that. If you're gonna have a town by the water, you gotta take advantage of the easy food.”
“We could really use a fishing outpost, excellent idea.”
Tempest felt like that was plenty to get started with. In time they would likely build a theater, restaurants, all sorts of places. But they had to go a step at a time. She didn't want anyone getting overwhelmed with work.
“I can help with the park,” she said. “I've seen plenty of them in Equestria and I have some ideas for the playground equipment. And of course I can help out anywhere else I'm needed.”
They only spent a few more minutes out after that, before Discord and Tempest were dismissed to do whatever they wanted until tomorrow, while Dusty and his wife returned to the town hall to start planning. Tempest wanted to go swimming, and Discord agreed to go with her. She trotted toward the lake, then began to canter, wanting to jump out as far as possible.
“I wanna see the biggest splash you can manage!” Discord shouted to her, and she snorted, lowering her head and galloping at full speed toward the water. Her hooves touched down on damp grass and she launched herself forward off her back hooves. She soared out over the water and closed her eyes, angling down to plunge beneath the surface. She exhaled as her nose hit, and managed to avoid swallowing water. The water was warm but refreshing, and she kicked her legs, swimming back up. She broke the surface and shook her head, laughing.
“Whoo! How was that?” She opened her eyes and looked around. “Discord?”
“Laughable,” he said from above her, and she craned her head back to see him hovering high above. “Watch how a pro does it.” He flew high and curled himself into a ball, hurtling down.
“Oh no.” Tempest hurried to swim out of the way, but she didn't get far before he was hitting the water and sending up a huge splash that knocked her back. She went under for a moment, and swam back up, coughing. Now she had water in her nose.
Discord popped his head up, grinning. “Any questions?”
Tempest wiped her eyes off and smiled back. “Yeah. Why do you have to be so dramatic all the time?”
“Me? Dramatic?” Discord gasped, pressing a hand to his chest. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Heh. Weirdo.” Tempest splashed some water at him.
He splashed her back. “You're one to talk.”
Tempest rolled her eyes, and ducked her head back, running her hooves through her mane. She could practically feel the sand drifting out of it. She lifted her head back up, and caught Discord watching her. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. Just appreciating how cute you are with your mane wet.”
Tempest messed with her ears, blushing. “Ah. You um, mentioned that before.”
“I know. But we weren't dating then.”
No, they weren't. But it was when Tempest had first started thinking about her feelings for him, she mused. She swam over toward him, and he got slightly defensive, wings fanning out. She just slipped into his arms and leaned up to kiss him.
“Oh.” He relaxed, laughing gently against her lips as he kissed her back. Her heart fluttered, stomach doing happy little flips. She leaned back, smiling as she stroked his cheek. He opened his eyes, meeting hers. “I'm really starting to like that.”
“Me too,” she replied.
“Heh, that was better than I was expecting, for a moment there I thought you were going to dunk me.”
“Actually, I'm still going to do that.” She threw herself forward and shoved him down underwater. He wrapped his arms around her and twisted his body around, throwing her under the surface instead. She grabbed onto his middle and clawed her way back up, taking a deep breath before pulling him down. He went down willingly, and she opened her eyes to look at him.
The water was quite clear, and she saw him looking casually back at her, utterly relaxed. She tilted her head, then realized his nostrils were flaring and his chest was moving. Her eyes widened, and she pushed back up, gasping for breath. Discord came up after her, snorting water out of his nose.
“Were you breathing underwater?” she asked.
“I sure was. Can ponies not do that?”
“Unless they're sea ponies, no,” she replied.
“Hah! Sucks to be you.”
Tempest moved to be a little closer to shore so she could rest her back hooves on the ground, but otherwise kept the water up around her shoulders, just relaxing. Discord joined her there, leaning against her. With the water supporting her, Tempest was able to rest a foreleg around Discord. He put his arm around her in return, and they watched the sky. There were wispy desert clouds flying overhead, and the Sun would be setting in a few hours.
“Once you get used to it, it really is beautiful out here,” Tempest said.
“It certainly is.” He nuzzled her. “The storm creatures picked a great place to settle down. And I hope they continue to build great towns like this, and that their people thrive. What the Storm King did to them was awful but I know they can bounce back from it. They're strong.”
“Yeah. They'll be okay. But I'm glad Twilight gave me the opportunity to help them. I like traveling like this, not under the Storm King's orders, but because I want to. I have time to just slow down and enjoy the sights.”
“Mm. I definitely found it odd at first that you'd choose to walk everywhere even though you can teleport. But I see the appeal of the journey now. It's the best time to forge memories together, wouldn't you say?”
“Definitely.” Tempest looked over at her partner. “I'm glad you're here.”
He blinked, then chuckled. “I'm glad you're here too.” He moved in closer for another kiss, which Tempest just couldn't get enough of. She liked everything about Discord, from the texture of his fur to the smell of his breath, and each time she kissed him he would run his claws through her mane, and it just felt so nice she wanted to keep her face against his so he would keep doing it.
He soon stopped though, just rubbing their muzzles together. “Kissing really is a weird pony tradition. But it's so delightfully tingly and warm, I wonder why that is.”
Tempest shrugged. “I don't know. Lips are just sensitive I guess.”
“I wonder who the first ponies to figure that out were. Just.” Discord let go of her, using both hands to gesture dramatically. “Who shoved their faces together and realized it actually feels good? Couple of oddballs they must have been. But... I'm glad they did it. Because now we know how nice it is.” He tilted his head so she could give him a small kiss on the side of his mouth. It tickled, and he almost laughed. “Okay, I'll stop over-analyzing it. Come here.”
They ended up just climbing out of the water to lay partway on the shore, letting the calm waves move over their lower bodies as they snuggled and traded lazy kisses. They wound up being more like nuzzles than proper kisses, but they didn't mind. It was enough just to touch each other.
Discord couldn't keep quiet for long, though.
“You ponies really have corrupted me,” he commented.
“Hm?” Tempest lifted her head with a yawn.
“You've corrupted me. At least by draconequus standards. I actually feel sympathy for you all now, I don't want to do anything that harms you, and I'm happy in your presence. Not because you can get me things I want, but because... you are what I want. It's so weird for me and honestly I'm still getting used to it but... but I'm glad Celestia gave me a second chance all those years ago. That Fluttershy offered me friendship and showed me how wonderful it was.” Discord stroked her back. “And more ponies opened up to me. They trusted me and chose to spend time with me. It was all so new, and I didn't want to lose it. Now here I am. So open and loving that I'm actually laying here with someone in my arms, kissing them and talking to them about my feelings! Hah, if another draconequus saw me right now they'd be laughing their tail off.”
“But I take it you don't care what other draconequus would think, right?” Tempest asked.
“Oh definitely not, I don't care. It's just funny, how much I've changed over the recent years. But I don't mind. It's a nice change of pace. Being feared was fun and all but... it wasn't satisfying in the end. Having friends? Being with you? Now this is satisfying.” He rubbed his head against hers. “You have corrupted me, but in the best of ways. So thank you.”
“Heh, I think you have Fluttershy to thank for most of that. I just came along and spent time with you like she did, she took care of laying the groundwork for me.”
“True. And yet you're the one I decided to date.”
“Only because I kissed you and asked you out. I doubt you would have started it on your own.”
Discord shrugged. “Probably not. I was starting to think about how I felt about you though. But making the leap to kissing you? Haha, it wouldn't have happened for a while.” He moved his hand down to rest over her hoof. “I'm glad you're so forward.”
“Ah, you know. I've learned to take risks. Most of the time they pay off.” Tempest shivered a bit. Her upper half has dried while the lower half was still getting covered in water, and the conflicting temperatures were starting to become uncomfortable.
“You're a very bold pony and I like that about you. You're not afraid to speak your mind and do what you want. It's very attractive.” Discord's voice lowered slightly as he nuzzled under her chin, and she blushed, liking it more than she expected. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. She let it go on for a while, but after a particularly chilly gust of wind, she had to move.
“Mm, can we go back to the cabin?” she asked regretfully. “It's getting cool out here.”
“Oh, alright.”
They got up, and Tempest shook the water off her legs. Discord copied her, and then they walked back. Their first stop once they were back in the house was to go to the bathroom, grabbing towels and drying off. Then they decided to go to bed. It was early, but they figured they would make up for it by getting up early tomorrow morning.
Tempest pretty much collapsed on top of the bedspread, yawning and gathering a pillow close to herself. Discord got up next to her, curling around her like a snake and letting her rest in the middle. She moved her pillow onto his neck and rested her head back down. He smiled, one hand going to its usual place on her side, while he closed his own eyes and reflected on the day. Other than the long walk, it had been splendid. Actually, even that had been fun. He liked talking to Tempest, she always had interesting input and she almost never interrupted him. Oh, he was so happy that she had kissed him yesterday.
Hoping that they continued to have wonderful days like today, he let himself drift off to sleep, completely happy with his companion's hide pressed against his.