//------------------------------// // Jealousy // Story: When The Wind Changes // by Symphony //------------------------------// A/N: Edited by frieD195! This chapter took a while because I was focusing on other projects, and I had an injured wrist so writing stuff was a lot slower than normal. But I did have the time to squeeze out a one-shot fic that you can find HERE. I divided the Gala Chapter into two pieces, so you won't have to wait for the entire thing. Now, onto to the chapter! Celestia and Luna were sitting in one of the many conference rooms in the castle, idly chatting and planning with some advisor for the upcoming Gala which was happpening this very same evening as they were just going through the last details of the event; such as guests who they know will arrive and guests who had yet to amswer their invitations. The two planners glanced at eachother momentarily until one of them, a brown earth pony stallion, thorougly cleared his throat and spoke up. ’‘Princess Luna,’’ he began. ’‘forgive us if we’re being rude, but we know of the stallion that you hold dear.’’ ’’Oh?’’ Luna said, interested of what they had managed to find out about Discord that she didn’t already know. Celestia shook her head gently, slightly annoyed that the conversation would strike out and get on the subject of that Spirit. ’‘Pray tell.’’ Luna motioned with her hooves for the stallion to continue. ’’We already know that Sir Discord can be quite the troublemaker. But if you would take a glance at the damage reports of the castle, we can rule out the possibility that the Gala will be very...’’ The stallion stopped and made a circular motion with his right forehoof, indicating that he was looking for the correct word to use. ’’...peaceful’’ ’‘Excuse me?’’ Luna said, slightly flabbergasted. ’’I can assure you that Discord will be behaving, so long as I can keep him under my watch.’’ Luna glared at the stallion, who shrunk back significantly. Celestia placed her left hoof on her agitated sister’s right hoof, successfully calming her down. ’’O-Of course, your Highness.’’ The brown advisor nodded firmly once and tugged his tie once. Luna took a deep breath and leaned back into the chair she was sitting in. Celestia shifted uncomfortably in her seat and focused her magic to help herself to a slice of cake. A sudden blast from outside the closed doors made Celestia groan painfully and Luna grin. ’‘Nope! Not here!’’ An all to familiar voice spoke up, making Luna smile even wider and made Celestia sink even deeper into her seat. The two advisors tensed up immediately as they heard the voice of the former draconequus. ’‘This is the last room in the hallway, so I guess that they should be in here then...’’ Another voice spoke. Celestia recognized it to be the voice of the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor. ’‘Well then, I guess we’ll try this one more time. Ready?’’ Discord spoke again. The advisors were shaking in their seats as they imagined what horror the Embodiment of Chaos was bringing to them. Celestia turned the back of her chair against the wall ever so slowly, so if they would blast anything inside, she wouldn’t be hit. For once. ’’‘Course I am!’’ The cocky voice of Shining Armor spoke up. ’‘Alright. In three.’’ The advisors were clinging to eachother, not daring to let go of one another. ’‘Three...’’ The sound of a spell winding up echoed through the halls, making Celestia hold her breath. ’’...Two...’’ Celestia raised her forelegs to her ears and covered them, she was almost lying beneath the table at the time being. ’‘One!’’ The apex of the spell winding up was heard, but a fizzling sound was all that was heard, followed by silence. ’‘Aww man!’’ Shining exclaimed. Celestia sighed in relief. ’‘Don’t worry ‘bout it, I got it!’’ Discord exclaimed happily. Celestia cursed herself for relaxing too early. A shattering thunderclap was heard from the corridor and the enormous door flew off the hinges with a fresh pony-sized dent in the middle of it. Discord held his forelegs over his head and whooped. Shining Armor trotted up to him and gave him a highhoof. ’’‘Discord...’’ Celestia groaned and rubbed her temples. The Spirit in question stretched his neck and looked at the solar princess while grinning. ’‘I’ll fix it...’’ Discord waved a dismissing hoof and rolled his eyes. ’‘Later...’’ He stood up and trotted around the table, where the advisors were staring at his every move, almost too scared to even breathe. As he reached Luna, he bent his head down and nuzzled her cheek, making her giggle. ’‘Shining Armor...’’ Celestia hissed through gritted teeth. He gulped and stood in attention, waiting for whatever punishment he would recieve for helping the Spirit with crashing almost every door in the castle open. ’‘You may leave us. I have some words to exchange with the... Charming gentlecolt here... She glared at Discord. Shining could have sworn that the temperature rose momentarily. He complied immediately and left the room. ’’Oh hey! Cake!’’ Discord threw himself onto the table and scooped up a big piece of the cake with his right hoof and devoured it. Celestia felt her eyes start to water as she witnessed the brutal assault on the poor cake. She closed her eyes and counted silently to ten. ’’So what are you gals doing?’’ Discord hopped off the table, much to Celestia’s relief. ’‘Stuff?’’ ’‘Yes... Stuff...’’ Celestia spoke from behind her hooves, as she was holding them up on her face. The advisors had calmed down significantly as they had realized that the Spirit was just childish. ’‘Royal stuff?’’ Discord asked again while leaning over the table. Celestia groaned and Luna giggled at how annoyed Celestia was becoming from Discord’s antics. ’’Oh awesome, guest list!’‘ Discord reached out with his left hoof and snatched the parchment containing the guest list. ’’Da...De...’’ Discord was looking for his name. ’‘Here we go! He ran a hoof down the list until he was on the middle of the list. ’‘Discord...’’ He muttered and frowned. ’‘What’s wrong, Discord?’’ Luna asked as she glanced over his shoulder on the list. Discord’s frown turned into a childish pout. ’‘You didn’t get my title right.’’ Discord flicked the list with his right hoof and laid it on the table. Luna cocked her eyebrow. And the advisors started sweating bullets, as they were the ones who had composed the guest lists. ’‘Well... what is is then?’’ Luna nuzzled his shoulder, making the advisors raise their left eyebrows in unison. ’‘Lord Discord. Not Sir Discord..’’ He spoke matter-of-factly. Celestia leaned back into her seat. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. If it really was his title, he would have said so earlier. ’‘Is this some kind of joke, Discord?’’ Celestia deadpanned. Discord turned towards Celestia and gave her a cold glare, making her gulp. ’‘Titles are important, Celestia. I almost expected you, of all ponies, to know that. You see, I am not a sir, seeing as I’m not wearing a top hat, a monocle, nor do I my head too far up my behind to realize where I’m going and what I’m doing.’’ He huffed. ’‘Lord Discord...’’ Luna gigglesnorted. Discord pouted and gave her a pleading look. ’‘Please don’t do that.’’ Luna snickered as Discord begged her to not make fun of his title. ’‘Discord, if you would mind. My sister and I were sitting here with our advisors talking about the Gala, in private.’’ Celestia spoke up ’’Twilight Sparkle and her friends should be arriving shortly to make themselves ready for the evening. You can go and meet them.’’ Celestia waved her right hoof towards the door, showing the spirit the way out. The two advisors didn’t say a single word, as they were a little frightened from the troublemaker’s entrance. ’’Oh... shouldn’t they know the lay-out of the castle by now?’’ Discord said, slightly annoyed that he had to leave as soon as he had made such a ’successful’ entry. Luna nodded in agreement. ’‘It’s rude to leave guests to fend for themselves, so you’re going to meet with them.’’ Celestia said with finality, making Discord pout like a young colt. Luna’s shoulders slumped slightly. ’‘Yeah, yeah... I’m going...’’ Discord stretched his wings and walked out through the gaping doorway, turning to the left. Celestia sighed and cleared her throat loud enough for him to hear. Discord turned around and trotted past the doorway, but this time he was trotting to the right. ’‘Shut up.’’ He was slightly embarassed that he had went the wrong way. Celestia turned back towards the advisors and cleared her throat.’‘So, as I was saying-’’ ----- Seven ponies and a baby dragon were sitting on a royal chariot, heading straight for the capital. All of the ponies, except for one, were mares. The silence aboard the chariot was awkward, nopony said anything unless they had to whisper something to the pony sitting next to them. Nervous glances were being shot every now and then to the pair sitting in the front of the chariot. The two responsible to the silence on the chariot was none other than Twilight Sparkle and Big Macintosh. The latter was nervously biting his lip and trying to avoid the glare from his younger sister. Twilight Sparkle was recieving glares from Rarity and Fluttershy, who were obviously jealous of the lavender mare. ’’So...’’ Spike spoke up, glancing between the three mares who were all staring at the huge red stallion. ’‘Let’s hope that nothing too bad happens tonight, right?’’ He chuckled dryly, recieving glares from all the six mares. He gulped and shrunk back in his seat. ’‘Nevermind...’’ To the relief of the two males on the chariot, Canterlot Castle was now in plain view and they were going in for the landing. Big Macintosh reached out with his right foreleg and held it around Twilight, to keep her from falling over. Rarity and Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed instantly. Twilight looked up to Mac’s face and smiled sheepishly. Mac just held her closer. After a bumpy landing, the ponies and the dragon walked off the chariot and began their walk to the castle proper. Big Mac’s jaw was almost dragging along on the ground beneath him. He had never seen such luxury! He heard Twilight giggle from somewhere beside him. ’‘You know, the castle has staff that sweeps the road.’’ Mac heard a familliar voice from just behind him. He panicked slightly and whipped around to see Discord flying upside-down just in front of him. The rest of Mac’s company also jumped when they heard the voice of the Spirit, who stopped flapping his wings, did a barrel-roll and stomped to the ground. He imitated applause and bowed a few times. ’‘Thank you, thank you! I’m here... For... However long I’ll be in Canterlot...’’ He tapped his left hoof to his chin. ’‘You...’’ Rainbow growled as she saw the amused Spirit. He just grinned as an answer and mock-bowed to the rainbow-maned pegasus. ’’Me?’’ Discord batted his eyelashes and lifted his left hoof to his chest. Rainbow snorted through her nostrils and prepared to charge the cocky spirit. She hadn’t really forgiven him for turning her into a glorified garden decoration. Big Macintosh moved and positioned himself in front of Discord. All of the mares and the dragon’s jaws dropped in unison. Rainbow was the first to compose herself. She shook her head and spoke up. ’‘Get out of my way, Mac!’’ She warned him, but her tone wavered just a little, as the stallion was much bigger than her and would probably be able to take a hit from the much smaller mare quite easily. ’‘Nnnope.’’ Big Macintosh answered after a while. ’‘Discord helped me wi’ askin’ Twilight an’ now Ah’m helpin’m with you.’’ A gasp rang from all the Elements of Harmony except for Twilight, who shrunk back. They stared first at Macintosh, then at Twilight and finally at Discord, who was busy inspecting his right hoof and polishing it to his chest. ’’No way...’’ Rainbow slumped back onto her flank and stared at the Spirit, who stuck out his tongue at her. Rainbow growled and charged towards Discord, who sidestepped just before Rainbow could crash into him. Discord tsked and lifted a hoof to his mouth to conceal his laughter. Rainbow gritted her teeth and charged towards him again. Discord sidestepped again while making a whooshing sound. The ponies who weren’t involved stared at the progress between the Spirit and the pegasus. Rainbow screamed in rage as she charged again one last time. Discord rolled to the left and Rainbow barely missed him. Now, Discord decided to join in on the fun. After the roll, he dug his hooves into the ground and gave his wings a powerful thrust, making a thunderclap as he charged off towards Rainbow Dash, who’s eyes widened significantly. Discord slowed down just before he would crash into her and pushed her onto her back. He stood on top of her and gave her a crooked smile before he walked away from her and flicked his tail on her snout. Rainbow barely registered it. ’‘You shouldn’t challenge somepony who defeated both of the princesses. But then I had my full magic and not just a tiny snippet of it.’’ Discord said nonchalantly as he started trotting towards the castle. ’‘Come on. Suneshine’s waiting.’’ As soon as Twilight heard that, she ushered her friends to move faster. Rainbow trotted closer towards Discord and scanned his features. He was by no means an ugly stallion. He was actually pretty handsome. Rainbow noticed what she was thinking and shook her head to diminish those thoughts. ’’So, Discord...’’ The Spirit’s ears perked. ’‘How did you do that back there?’’ She asked, genuinely interested in how he had managed to evade her like it was nothing and then strike back like he did. ’‘Easy.’’ Discord blew an annoying strand of hair from his face ’‘You my dear, are very predictable.’’ Normally, Rainbow would have said something against him for saying that, but she was much too interested in what he had to say. ’‘You rely on nothing else but brute force and speed. You go in a straight line, so I just had to figure out where you were going before you charged. And with all that speed, you made yourself tired and when you took a moment to rest, I charged and made you fall off your hooves.’’ Discord grinned. ’’If I wouldn’t have put on the brakes, you would have made a nice little trip through the air.’’ ’‘Woah...’’ Rainbow said, breathtaken from the Spirit’s explanation. He had read her like a book, and not the egghead books that Twilight usually reads. An awesome book, like Daring Do but 20% cooler. ’‘Just because I preach chaos doesn’t mean I don’t know tactics.’’ Discord chuckled. ’’It takes more than good looks and strong magic to make life chaotic, you know.’’ He said, completely serious. ’‘Now come on, slowpokes!’’ He started trotting even faster, making the rest of the ponies and the young dragon groan. ----- Celestia was sitting in her throne room, enjoying a nice cup of tea brought to her by her loyal servants. It was a nice, quiet past time that she had made for herself to enjoy everyday. That is, until Discord came by. She heard some shouting coming from the other side of the huge doors, she recognized some of the voices to belong to Twilight Sparkle, her friends, Spike and some stallion that she didn’t know the voice of. And Discord, of course. The doors flew open and Discord was standing on his forelegs with his hindlegs extended from a buck. He had an smirk on his face. ’‘Told you...’’ He smiled to the other stallion, who was a big, red piece of pure muscle. He was almost as big as Celestia, but he was much broader than her because of his muscles. Celestia felt some drool tickle down her chin, but she wiped it off swiftly. ’‘Hiya Shiny!’’ Discord chirped as he trotted inside, followed by the rest of his merry crew of ponies and a dragon. Celestia forced a smile as Discord helped himself to sit in Luna’s throne. ’‘Where’s Luna?’’ Discord looked around the room, behind the throne and even beneath it. ’‘She’s in the ballroom, preparing it with a few servants to help her.’’ Celestia stood up from the throne and walked down the steps leading up to her and her sister’s throne. She walked up to her student, leaned down to her and gave her an affectionate nuzzle, which Twilight answered to immediately. Celestia turned her attention to the red behemoth, who bowed clumsily and almost tripped on his own hooves, which Twilight and Discord found to be hilarious. ’‘Princess.’’ Macintosh bowed. Celestia motioned for him to stand back up again. ’‘There’s no need for that when you’re with the Elements of Harmony, you know.’’ Celestia smiled softly. ’’A friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine. So, what’s your name?’’ ’‘Mah name’s Big Macintosh, yer Highness. Ah’m AJ’s brother an’... An’...’’ Big Macintosh took a deep breath to calm his nerves. ’’An’ Ah’m gonna be Twilight’s date tonight.’’ He hoofed the ground nervously while looking down at the floor. Twilight however, was blushing profusely. ’‘Ooooh~’’ Celestia cooed, making Twilight blush even more and forcing Mac to drop his jaw. Discord just cocked an eyebrow and clicked his tongue. An awkward silence fell onto the throne room, Discord stood up and stretched his back. He trotted down the steps from the throne and went down the hall, heading straight for the ball room where Luna hopefully still was. Rainbow Dash turned around to watch him leave, just to see his fla-... ’’No! He’s with Princess Luna for Pete’s sake! Stop thinking like that. Plus, he’s kind of mean!’’ Rainbow chastised herself ’‘But he does look good...’’ Rainbow bit her lip and shook her head, clearing her head from those thoughts. ’’I have to go and make the last adjustments to our dresses. Fluttershy, darling, could you be a dear and help me with it?’’ Rarity excused herself and turned to leave. The butteryellow pegasus nodded and trotted up to the fashionista. But just before Rarity left the room, she pouted and gave Twilight a good-old fashioned stink-eye. ’’Ah think they’re a lil’ jealous of ya, Twilight...’’ Macintosh pointed out the obvious. Twilight sighed and leaned towards him. Mac leaned down and nuzzled her cheek, making her giggle cutely. ’‘Yeah...’’ Twilight sighed again. She wanted to be with Macintosh, but jealous friends was not a funny thing to deal with. oh shit rainbow what are you doing