//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 - Rooted in Sentiment // Story: An Unprecedented Advancement // by GravelordNito //------------------------------// Twilight and Discord were now on their way to Carousel Boutique, slowly making their way down the path from Sugarcube Corner in another awkward bout of silence. Discord was munching on his cupcake in whatever way came naturally to him, mentally berating himself for making such a fuss over a damned cupcake; he held a defeated look on his face that could put even Fluttershy to shame. He couldn't help but think to himself, all it took was a cute little purple alicorn and a simple cupcake to bring down the Lord of Chaos... Lifting himself out of his rut, Discord looked over towards his companion as her gaze was locked straight ahead of the two, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Twilight was very clearly making an effort to keep a little distance between the two of them, which Discord ashamedly figured was likely due to his behaviour in Sugarcube Corner. Ever the opportunist, Discord decided to make the most out of this unfavourable situation to take in Twilight's beauty first-hand, marvelling at the sleek contours of her body, and the way in which she naturally carried herself with a certain level of grace that he felt was befitting for a Princess. Twilight was practically glowing in Discord's eyes, from the tip of her short, yet slender snout, to the glossy orbs of her eyes and all the way down to the round of her rump. Twilight seemed to notice this glow, stopping in place and shaking off for a second, subsequently shaking Discord out of his stupor as she did so, before shivering slightly in confusion and resuming her steady trot, not sparing Discord so much as a glance as far as he could tell. Cursing himself for inadvertently affecting her with his fawning, yet breathing a sigh of belief upon her apparent lack of suspicion, Discord began to feel uncomfortable staring at her in this way, as she had no idea he was doing it. As a result, Discord forced himself to look elsewhere for the time being. The silence was killing him, so he continued to let his mind wander in order to fill the void; he had always found mares physically attractive as far as he could remember, however he had always told himself that an objective recognition of beauty was only natural. Yet, at this very moment, although he did not doubt that Twilight was objectively beautiful; was his recognition for Twilight's beauty purely objective, or was it something more personal? Maybe I just have a thing for bangs...? Discord chuckled to himself, feeling his stress concerning the issue slowly melt away as he did so. However, his mind once again began to cloud, as he noticed that he had naturally gravitated towards Twilight during his musings; although, he took it as a good sign that she had made no further attempts to keep her distance from him. Just what exactly is it that is drawing me to this little bookworm? Discord's mind was picking up debris as it began to swirl around this issue in a chaotic typhoon of confusion. Once he heard Twilight yelp as a twig swirled past her head and towards his, he finally decided to take a leaf out of Twilight's book and order his thoughts. It's not really my style, but it'll be for just a moment, so as to put this issue to rest for the time being... He thought reluctantly to himself, as he put the leaf into a newly-formed pocket in his side, causing the swirling tempest around his head to subside as he did so. ---------- Twilight looked down at her hooves as she slowly made her way towards Carousel Boutique; she had been giving Discord the silent treatment ever since they left Sugarcube Corner, as she honestly couldn't think of anything to say to him, as things stood. It felt strange to her, as Discord was one of the few entities in Equestria that she considered genuinely intriguing in a sense she couldn't quite put her hooves on. After a few moments of thought, the closest thing she could compare it to would be her fascination for Pinkie Pie, as both were equally enigmatic in their adherence to logic, or lack thereof. But, for whatever reason, that conclusion just did not sit right with her... There was something else, something endearing about this draconequus that she could not for the life of her name. With a gentle sigh, she decided to drop the issue for now, instead reminding herself that she had come out on this trip for the purpose of exposing Discord for his usual scheming, and nothing more. Swivelling her ears towards her companion, Twilight could sense he was somewhat preoccupied at the current moment, likely with his own thoughts, just as she was. Twilight was fine with this for now, as it meant she could wait for conversation to flourish between them naturally; although, she felt committed to keeping her distance from him for a little while as well, as she feared he was still not in his right mind since the cupcake incident. After all, although she was a supremely powerful alicorn princess, she knew her limits when facing a Mad God with the power to leave her stripped of her powers with a snap of his talons, and so would rather not be on the receiving end of his temper. Nervously, Twilight instinctively lowered herself in an attempt to look as small as possible before glancing up at Discord, in the hopes that his facial expressions would seem a little more at ease than they were at the bakery. As her eyes rose, they met his, and she quickly cringed away, feeling embarrassed to be caught looking up at him. However, he said nothing, and upon second glance, Twilight noticed that he had not actually registered her attention at all, and seemed instead to be staring at her intently, with a lost look on his face that portrayed so many emotions at once that it actually conveyed absolutely none of them to her. Twilight flushed under his gaze, eventually returning her eyes to the floor and wondering why he was staring so intently at her; she had never noticed before today that he had a habit of staring at things for extended periods of time, although she eventually figured that it was just par for the course when Discord was concerned. Noticing her hooves were glowing for some unknown reason, Twilight stopped dead in her tracks in fright and shook herself in an attempt to fix the glowing. It seemed to work, as the glowing was gone; she shivered in confusion before setting off again, figuring it was simply a seeping of Discord's chaotic magic. Moments later, a twig flew past her head, making her yelp and duck for cover; upon returning to her hooves, she glanced in Discord's direction and noticed he had moved closer to her at some point. However, the tormented look he held in the bakery seemed to have been replaced by a much less sinister one since then, so she allowed the closed distance. Sighing softly, she continued on towards their destination, now feeling much more willing to make conversation with her companion, yet still deciding to wait and allow him to make the first move. ---------- Discord shuffled his thoughts around, deciding to start at the roots and work his way up. For starters, he just decided to bite the bullet and explicitly tell himself that he had fallen for Twilight Sparkle; he had fallen for her like a colt crushing on a filly. With that done, Discord muscled through his spreading blush and its accompanying warm, fuzzy feeling before trying to pinpoint exactly when he had fallen for her; however, said task proved itself to be quite difficult, for as far as he could tell, his falling was characteristically chaotic. He supposed he had admired her sense of forgiveness, as if he had been in her place, he certainly would not have given a former enemy another chance after spitting in the face of forgiveness the first time with an act of betrayal... But then again, that only happened recently, and he knew for certain that his feelings for this mare stretched back further than that, so he could not simply boil it down to an admiration of virtue. Scratching at his beard in contemplation, he decided to delve deeper into the vague and sentimental, an area where feelings prevail and things merely have to be accepted without logical explanation. Twilight held a certain aura of order around her that he had had endless fun poking fun at in the past, and although he still did enjoy doing that to an extent, he supposed that said aura served as a draw for him... This order was endlessly endearing to him, despite the fact that he had been sneering and wary of her at first. She was practically his antithesis, and so upon experiencing her distaste for him, it merely egged him on further in his patronising pursuits. However, Discord had come to realise ever so slowly that these pursuits of his may have mutated to become not so antagonistic as he originally considered them to be. Despite the fact that he, as far as he was concerned, was the most powerful and devilishly cunning being in existence, he couldn't help but admire Twilight's ability to handle herself in times of strife; he had experienced this in its purest form as he witnessed her defeat of Tirek. He liked to imagine that she was fighting for him, in order to save her dearest prince in his regrettable moment of weakness; however, he knew this simply was not the case. I can dream... Discord thought for a moment of his friend Fluttershy; he thought very highly of her and considered her a very kind friend who would always be there for him. However, what he felt for Fluttershy could in no way compare to his feelings for Twilight; Fluttershy was like a motherly figure to him, as she was to everyone else who she considered her friends or just a being in need. It was for this reason that Discord did not feel special upon receiving Fluttershy's attention, as she was like that towards all of her non-pony friends, and she offered it liberally. As he saw it, Fluttershy was a friend to confide in and talk to about your problems, while Twilight was like her attractive friend that constantly avoided you and made you want to follow her to find out more... She was like an enigma that constantly alluded him, drawing him towards her mystery like a banquet just waiting to be explored, yet he did not know where to start. Upon this realisation, he wondered just how far down the table he would have to work before he reached the meat and substance of it... To put it simply, he liked to imagine that she was playing hard to get. Although, he knew deep down that this was not the case, and it was most likely that Twilight simply continued to look at him as nothing more than a nuisance, just like she always had. With a downcast look and a long sigh, Discord felt content he had picked apart his feelings for Twilight as best he could, yet unintentionally dipped his feet into the freezing cold pool of a lack of reciprocation. He noticed Twilight stop in her tracks, and so impulsively followed suit, continuing to glare at the floor in gloomy dejection. "...-cord? Discord? Discord?!" Twilight shouted, "Wha... What? Oh, Twilight, my dear, I apologise; I was lost in thought there. Are you alright?" Discord stammered, picking himself up and smiling at Twilight in an attempt to save face, "Yes, don't worry, I'm fine. I was just trying to tell you we're here," Twilight chirped cheerfully, "at least you didn't walk into the door this time!" Twilight held up a hoof in a suppressed giggle as she said this, which Discord returned in kind, "Well, at least I'm not consistent in that, eh?" Discord's laugh escalated, which seemed to spread back to twilight once more. The two laughed together for a little while, feeling all of the previous awkwardness peel away as they began to feel comfortable in each other's presence. Twilight's laughing eventually died out along with Discord's, leaving a glowing, yet slightly goofy smile behind on her face in the afterglow of their mirth; Discord noticed this, and couldn't help but blush slightly upon seeing it, having to suppress an outward expression of his approval of her a-dork-ableness. In reaction to his blushing, Twilight's mouth formed into an 'o' shape and she let out a high-pitched squeak, which Discord felt sure she had meant to be a gasp; her goofy smile was then replaced with a shy, embarrassed one as she turned her face away and began to fiddle with her hooves, "We should, umm..." Twilight mewled in her best impression of Fluttershy, as Discord noticed her sudden fascination with the ground. Discord had noticed a pattern forming in their date, and as much of a pain as it was to take so long to get through the door of each establishment, Discord did not mind in the slightest if it meant he got to witness one of these adorable displays every time they did so. However, he could not help but feel concerned that his heart would not be able to handle this level of cuteness for much longer. Well, it sure seems I've softened with age... Since when does the word 'cute' even enter the vocabulary of the Lord of Chaos...?! Actually... I'm fine with this. "Yes, we should, my dear," Discord replied, as he knocked on the door and they waited for an answer, "Come in," a dignified, feminine voice answered, before the door was surrounded in a blue aura and gently opened. Discord held out his arm, signalling towards the door, before he put on his signature grin and said in a deep, gravelly voice, "Ladies first, my dear," "Oh, th-thank you..." Twilight once again muttered, finally ceasing her fiddling and trotting swiftly past Discord, still looking flushed and being unable to meet his gaze. Discord waited for a moment before he followed her inside; he actually considered this a step in the right direction, as he was able to get such a pleasant reaction out of his favourite mare, despite her moment of comfortableness immediately returning to awkwardness. This kind of awkwardness was much more comfortable, and was definitely going in a better direction than the one he was heading upon exiting Sugarcube Corner. Upon entering, the pair were greeted by Rarity, carrying herself with her usual elegance and grace; she pushed her mane over to one side with a hoof and flickered her long eyelashes before starting, "My, my, my... How unusual to see you two together," she looked between the two with a hoof to her lips in thought before continuing, "well, I've seen stranger things, I suppose. So, what can I do for you today?"