You open your eyes, and blink at the ceiling of your room, a small smile on your face as you yawn. Poor Luna. Even as old as she is, two mares having fun with each other was too much for her.
Hilarious.
You look over at your alarm clock. It was pretty early, nine in the morning in a few more minutes. You really were getting used to getting up when you needed to. You hopped out of bed, stretched, and looked to your portal door.
“Ahh, Anon, good, you’re awake.” You hear Discord’s voice from behind you.
You look back at your floor door as he begins to phase through without opening it. “Eager for that challenge, I see.”
“Yeah well, I’ve been working up to this moment, y’know? Ponies need to know that it’s not just the horn that gives me strength.” You said with confidence, ready to destroy the course. “And besides, there are quite a few ponies relying on me right now. So, y’know, gotta be ready. You mind getting me a quick breakfast? Just a pill that expands into a meal in my stomach or something.”
Discord snaps his talons “Or we can just skip that and get to the point” He walks over to the portal door with a grin, and opens it to the town fall. “However, I have some business to attend to before I take my seat at the colosseum.”
Woah, you suddenly felt filled and full of energy. Discord could really be amazing sometimes. But business? What kind of business could he… oh wait. “You’re going to Twilight’s to see if she’s found out about the course, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. With her being unable to do anything about it, how could I not? I won’t make a physical showing this time, however. True, it’s fun to tease her now and again, but I’d rather not risk the chance of her shutting everything down. You, however, should head over to that colosseum. I’m sure there’s quite a few things you’ll need to be prepped for before things actually begin. Speaking of which…” Discord points to you, and zaps you with a spell. Mismatched leg guards appear on the knees of your legs, and a helmet with a vague resemblance to Discord on your head poofs right onto your noggin.
It didn’t take any amount of thought to realize why he’d give you safety gear so early on, especially after what Luna had told you. It made you want to talk to him about it. Because you knew deep down, Discord was worried. Yes, he wants to see Twilight spaz, but probably only to help get his mind off any danger you might possibly be in. To you however, you also felt all this fear about injury was unwarranted, it was just simple fire, how bad could it be? “Hey, Discord, before you go. Can I tell you something?”
Discord stops, and looks at you, he seemed… a little shaken. For just a second, he wasn’t his usual jovial self. “Oh, well. Of course you can. What is it?”
“If you’re worried about me, then don’t, ok? Remember. I’m Anon! The prince of chaos! The Hero Colt! Your pal! As if some exam can take me down. I’ll make you proud! Dad!” You hold your hoof up and wiggle it a bit, until you realized one thing “O-ok, I was trying to raise a thumb there but… Y’know.”
Discord let out a quick choking noise with a rapidly vanishing smile. He turned away, and waved his paw at you dismissively. “Well, I knew that. Seriously, Anon, I don’t know why you were-...ahrm.” Suddenly he stopped himself. He still looked away from you, but his tone became a little more worried when he continued “Well… what I mean is… I appreciate your reassurance, and I have no doubt you’ll succeed perfectly. You’re right, it’s a simple exam. I mean, you’ve dealt with sooooo much worse.” His tone starts to return to his smuggish self as he chortles “You’ve nearly even been destroyed a few times. So why would anypony worry about this? I mean, it’s not as if you not being able to use your horn has nearly led to your end or anything like that… Haha…” Discord gulped, and started to step through the portal door “I’ll just be going now, you’re making me waste precious time…”
Discord…
He really was worried. You had to hope that Twilight’s worrying would help calm the guy’s nerves. Sometimes, you really would like to have a glimpse inside his head, to see what he truly thought of you. Given how looking inside heads in this universe works, you imagined some kind of candy land where Discord was actually happy to be your pal twenty four seven.
After rummaging through your thoughts, you grab your saddlebag and head out through the portal door. You take a look up at the morning sky upon stepping through, and breath in the clean air. “Another beautiful DAYAGH!”
Suddenly, you are tackled from behind as you feel a nuzzling on the side of your cheek. “Anon! My prince!” says a familiar cheery voice from behind you. Seems Diamond was anticipating you...somehow. Was she just waiting near the fountain all morning?
You just laid there, allowing her to cuddle on you. You weren’t mad. Hell, after the initial knockdown, her nuzzling was quite welcome as it warmed your soul. “Hello, my princess, what’s up?”
“You know what’s up.” She says as she nuzzles you “It’s your final exam! To show everypony just how great you truly are!”
You continue to lay there as you absorb her loving cuddles. “I’d think they already know after the whole Storm King thing, don’t you think?”
Diamond slowly stops nuzzling and gently rests upon your back, placing her head on yours as she looks forward in a dreamy haze. “But everypony always says you do these things with your horn. Even beating that dragon can be explained by your horn. I mean, ok, they still think you’re great and all. And I know you’re perfect! But some of mother’s friends think you’re just a big cheater. Well, today, you’re gonna prove them all wrong, right?”
Heh…
You nod, letting her head feel the movement of yours. “Yeah, of course!”
“And you’re gonna be careful too, right? T-that’s real fire, you know?” She begins to poke at your helmet, her voice becoming a little meek and shaky. “Mother wanted the course to be kind of dangerous so there wouldn’t be any doubt. But erm, thinking about it now, it’s kind of scary knowing a really big mess up can make you end up being burned.”
“It’s gonna be no problem, trust me. I’ve dealt with worse, and I’m not gonna let a statue beat me! But erm… Hey, Diamond, did you see my dad pass by just now?”
“Mr.Discord? Yeah, I said hi, he said hi, and then he told me you were about to show up. So I got ready to hug you for when you did!” She giggled as she nuzzled right along your neck, her tone becoming a little ‘sultry’. “Eventually, I’ll be able to predict whenever you’ll show up. And I’ll always ready to be there for you...Always.”
Oh, you felt a pleasurable tingle down your spine in the way she said that. But… Did you want that tingle? Did you want her to have the ability to track you down to the ends of Equestria? No… probably not, not at an age where she can’t fuck you yet. Because as much as you enjoy her affectionate company, you don’t think you could handle her when she gets abrasive, not when she can pop out in any place you might be hanging out at. “O-oh yeah...erm, I’d really...erm. That’s pretty cool, I guess. Erm, Diamond? Aren’t we supposed to be going somewhere?”
Suddenly, she jumps up, smashing your back with her hooves as she hops off and gasps in surprise “How could I forget?! How can you impress everypony if we’re still wasting time here!” Diamond suddenly rams her head at your butt as she began to push you along, forcing you to your hooves as you tense up from the quick, yet sharp, pain in your back. “Come on, Anon! You can’t waste any time here! You have an exam to pass! Come on, move those legs! One two, one two!”
Ogh, she didn’t have to smash your back like that. You let out a little bit of a pained groan as she pushes you through town. “O-ok, geez, slow down, a-are we really that short on time?”
“No!” Diamond said as she pushed you along “But I wanna get there before Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight show up! I want a chance to talk to them!”
N-ngh, of course that was worth a slightly aching back. “A-alright then, b-but can you stop pushing? I-I can walk…”
“I know.” Diamond stopped and trotted to your side, looking ahead as you both walked through town. “But what if the princesses get there before we do?”
“Well, I think Twilight is still at her castle, so we already have a good start. Even then, how do you plan to get to them through the crowd?”
Diamond gave you a slick smirk “Anon, did you forget who I am? The princess entrance to the colosseum is closed off to everypony but them… and me.” Diamond giggles “One of the advantages of being a rich pony. If there’s something I want…” She nuzzles her head against yours, giggling softly “then it will be mine”
You try to focus ahead as you spot the train station. Beyond that, several yards beyond the tracks, was the colosseum. However, if Diamond kept her cuddling and sly attitude, you may have to make a beeline back home for some “alone” time with yourself. Even the ache in your back was soothed at this point. “S-sure, so, Diamond… can I ask you a question?”
“Pfft” She chuckles as she gives you a nudge. “As if you couldn’t. You are my coltfriend, afterall. You can ask me anything” There was a slight tenseness in her voice as if she was expecting something wonderful… or terrible.
There was something on your mind as you gazed upon the colosseum’s normal entrance. Ponies entering, in a line that weaved left and right, it made you wonder a few things. “Well, you said there was a Princess entrance. And over there is the normal entrance. So uh, what other entrances are there?”
Diamond hesitated, as if there was a huge weight off her shoulders, and answered accordingly. “A few, there’s also another normal entrance on the other side for ponies who don’t want to wait for this one. Then there’s the princess entrance, as I mentioned. My mother’s personal entrance… Which is also for my father and their friends. Oh, and of course there’s the entrance you and Scootaloo will be using. I know Scootaloo has already gone inside, so really, things won’t start until you and the princesses are ready. Speaking of ready…” Diamond rushes ahead of you, and looks at you as she walks backwards in front of you “What kind of cool move are you going to use to save me? Well...erm. The doll of me” She said, with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“Cool move?” What did she mean by that?
“You know, one of your cool moves. Like that Showyoucan… Thing… That you do. What? You do have one lined up to wow my mother’s friends, right?” She asked, looking quite pouty as she awaited your answer.
The Shoryuken. Oh god, she thought that was cool? Hell, you did a long time ago. But you’ve used it so many times, usually ending in failure, that you had finally stopped trying to do it unless magic was involved. And even then, she wanted a super cool special move out of you. She wanted to see you be as spectacular as possible, as well as making sure her mother was pleased.
What could you even come up with for a rescue maneuver?
Well, you could just lie…
“It’s gonna be a secret surprise.” You give her a confident yet sly grin as you boop her nose with your hoof, making her stop in her tracks with a heavy blush “Just for you.”
She just stood there for a few moments, giggling and gurgling, most likely imagining you beating up a real dragon to rescue her from her prison. “Oh, Anon, I bet it’s going to be the most amazing thing ever!”
“Oh, I’m sure it will.” Said a snobbish voice from behind… Oh shit.
“M-mother?!” Diamond shook away her love filled haze and immediately stood up straight as she cleared her throat “Mother… Erm, where did you come from? I mean…” She did a curtsy “Hello.”
You felt a dead chill in the air. She managed to sneak up on the both of you.. Somehow. You wondered what she thought of your last words. Was she happy that you could make Diamond smile like that? Or did she not like you basically managing to spirit her away with such simplistic tactics?
You slowly turn, and do a quick bow to her “Mrs. Rich! Good morning! How are you?”
“Bored and miserable… Had to step away from those cretins who think themselves superior. I’m actually glad I ran into you, Anon, there’s a few things I’d like to discuss with you in private before the exam begins.”
S-shit...