//------------------------------// // Chapter 12-F Is For Friends // Story: The Reign of Chaos: Discord's Story // by MisterEdd //------------------------------// Princess Celestia's hooves slid gracefully across the harpsicord's keys, creating a lovely tune that nearly moved her music teacher to tears. She become lost in the music, allowing it to sweep her away far beyond the castle and Equestria. Past the stars and beyond the moon she traveled, wrapped in a cloak of melodious wonder. Celestia was so enraptured by her own playing that she failed to notice the envy that radiating off of Luna's eyes as she held her shaking hooves tightly behind her back. Once Celestia lost herself to the music, nothing else existed. Not time, princess training or striving to be the perfect daughter. There was only her and the music. "Brava! Perfezionare, mia cara!" Cheered the music teacher, a cinnamon-colored unicorn mare with a dark brown mane styled in a large bun. Cantata Arpeggio was a famous music instructor from Bitaly and had been teaching the girls since Celestia was six and Luna was four. She folded one foreleg to hold her riding crop so that she could wildly clap and praise her star pupil in her thick accent. "'onestly, at tis point, you don't need me!" "That's not true, Signora Arpeggio!" Celestia protested. "After all, practice makes perfect and you aid in my practice." "Si, tis is true." Cantata smiled and cupped Celestia's face. "Very well! I will stay!" "Ahem." They turned to find Luna impatiently tapping a hind hoof. "Shall I get started, Signora?" "Si, si, go ahead," Cantata replied rather irritably. "Same song, per favore." When it came to her students, Cantata was warm and excitable with Celestia but bored and disinterested with Luna, even sometimes forgetting the younger sister's presence altogether. Although Celestia didn't appreciate Cantata's gruff treatment of Luna, she didn't want to lose her teacher's favor. Cantata Arpeggio was the best around and had powerful connections, connections that could land Celestia a suitable husband for her mother to fawn over and her kingdom to adore. It was not ideal, but it was the life of a princess, especially one of all of Equestria. Which someday I'm going to rule over, Celestia thought with much forlorn trepidation. These thoughts were interrupted, however, with the clank of discordant notes, filling the air with sounds equivalent to the screeches of dying cats. Luna smiled sheepishly at them, Cantata only frowning sourly and rolling her pastern and hoof in a get-to-it motion. Celestia, meanwhile, smiled and gestured for her to take deep breaths. Nodding with understanding, Luna inhaled deeply and carefully placed her hooves above the keyboard, collecting herself and bracing for the right moment to begin. Come on, Luna. You can do it. The hooves descended and slowly, but surely, sweet music filled the air. The melody was slower and the song was played with sharper keys but the music was still beautiful nonetheless, embodying the pain, but also hope, of somepony looking for her place in the world. The dark unicorn swayed back and forth on the bench like a reed in the wind, her movements stiff but also graceful as her head bobbed to and fro. Heel, toe, heel toe, Luna played, her lips parting as she hummed along, her soubrette soprano softly encircling those listening to it and wrapping them in its embrace. She began to sing an aria, her voice like a caged songbird just begging for freedom to spread its wings and fly. Celestia may've been better when it came to musical instruments but Luna just proved that she dominated when it came to singing, sending both Celestia and Cantata soaring before letting them plummet just as she finished up. Standing up to take a bow, Luna was greeted with wild applause from her sister while Cantata nodded her head politely and lightly tapped the tips of her hooves together in a dainty hoof-clap. Luna wasn't used to this kind response from her music teacher and smiled broadly. "Your playing skills arrre still soobparrr boot yourrr voice? Magnifico!" "Thank you, Signora-..." "'owever, I did not ask you to sing! You do not follow instrrrooctions, joost doing whatever you feel like. You still 'ave a lot of worrrk ahead of you. You're dismissed!" Lowering her head, Luna slowly cantered away. Celestia looked sadly at her sister's departure, feeling that their teacher's treatment was much ruder than usual. "Um, Signora?" "Si, my star pupil?" Cantata asked, her demeanor gone from ice queen instructor to sickly-sweet best friend. "Don't you think that you were a teensy bit...harsh?" Cantata crossed her forelegs. "I don't tink so. Tough love makes forrr strrronger stoodents, no? Luna 'as mooch potential boot does not apply 'erself. Si, she needs a good poosh." Before Celestia could protest further, Cantata kissed her on both cheeks and scampered out of the room, saying something about a meal with an off-duty guard. Celestia shook her head and sighed before trotting off to find Luna, hoping that she wasn't too downtrodden. Discord exhaled deeply and stretched his back, feeling the shingles scratching his fur and sighing with contentment. Beneath the sun's warm rays, Discord's quasi-reptilian body soaked up the heat like a sponge, purring slightly as the warmth heated up his insides, He watched the clouds roll on by, figuring out the shape of each and giggling when he pictured them in his head. Bicycle. Pegasus with a top hat. Sailboat. His ears perked up as somepony approached him. Looking up, he spotted a dark blue filly standing over him, her head tilted inquisitively. "Hey." "Um, hey," Luna replied. "What are you doing up here?" Discord shrugged, "Sunbathing, watching the clouds. Wanna join me?" "Er, s-sure." Luna paused to inspect the draconequus, noticing the way he kept his serpentine body casually laid out on the roof of the tower, fascinated by the mix of avian, equine and reptilian in his anatomy. She laid down three feet away from him and followed his gaze, finding a very lumpy and puffy-looking cloud. "That one looks like a cragodile with a full stomach," she observed, noticing Discord's expression of consideration. Unconsciously, Luna then scooted herself over a little closer, watching the way his chest rose and fell with every breath. "I suppose you're right. And look! He's even bent over like, 'Oh! I shouldn't have had seconds!'" Luna giggled at the sound of Discord's deep-voiced imitation and added, "Yeah! 'Curse you, Ma's cooking! Why can't I say 'no?!'" She sounded cartoonishly deep, her voice coming off as backwoods dopey. The two burst out snickering, with Discord even slapping his goat leg and Luna snorting very unladylike, which only prolonged their laughing fit and literally had them rolling. Once it finally subsided, they stopped to stare into each other's eyes, almost hypnotized by what they saw when they looked at the other's pupils. Luna's cyan eyes met Discord's yellow and crimson eyes and suddenly, the whole world melted away, leaving only them. Discord was the first to break the silence. "So, erm, does this mean...that we're...friends?" "Friends?" It wasn't exactly what Luna was expecting but she delightfully accepted it, since it meant that the two could spend more time together and, more importantly, it meant that Discord wanted to be around her. No pony ever wanted to be around Luna, she was just "Celestia's little sister." Noticing Discord's outstretched hand, Luna beamed at Discord and took it in her hoof. "Definitely!" Her heart thundered away in her chest when Discord curled the fingers of his lion's paw around her hoof to shake it, the warmth traveling from his hand and into Luna's chest. "Great! I'm so happy I met you, Lu-Lu!" "'Lu-Lu?'" "Yeah! Since we're friends, we can give each other nicknames, right?" Lu-Lu. She nearly sighed it aloud. "Okay, but only if I get to call you...Dissy." "Great! Dissy it is then!" Unbeknownst to either of them, this was the day that their fates were intertwined. Once they had started down this road, there was no going back. From then on out, neither Equestria nor either of them, would ever be the same again.