I hum softly as a teapot flies by, pouring sugar cubes into my teacup. Luna giggles at the chaotic tea set, pouring tea from the creamer pot and plucking blueberries with mint leaf wings from the air to place into her cup.
We were sitting in the palace gardens, having a lovely little early evening tea party. I had only been at the palace for a month, spending nearly every minute possible with Luna, but it felt like a lifetime. Her and I got along fabulously, the only disagreement in how best to pull off a tricky prank.
Today was not a day for pranking, however. The palace was swarming with various delegates and representatives from all corners of Equestria and beyond. Some sort of summit going on. I had managed to pull away Luna, saving her from a particularly loud Yak Warlord. Now, in a secret corner of the maze, we drank and laughed.
Luna had launched into a story of a prank she’d pulled on her sister while they were traveling Zebrica.
“You didn’t.”
Luna’s sly smile told me otherwise. I laugh uproariously, “You actually got the Head Shaman of Zebrica to help prank your sister? Oh Luna dear, you are simply too much.”
She smirked and nodded. “He was wonderfully helpful. Sister and mine were walking to the royal hut for a feast, when a servant intercepted us. They pulled sister aside for an ‘emergency wardrobe change’. Some story about how what she was wearing was improper for a feast of such magnitude. Tia was so flustered she followed without question.”
I raise an eyebrow, giggling. “Oh ho ho, so devious...pray tell, what did she change into?”
“Let us just say, should thou mention a ‘golden goose’ to sister, she shall turn all shades of colors.”
I blink, before biting on my paw in an attempt to stem my laughter. The imagine of proud Celestia dressed in gold and feathered like a goose was simply too funny. My body shook, my limbs actually falling off as I let myself laugh. I wheezed and chortled, chuckled and giggled, guffawed and tittered, all the while my body parts were writhing on the grass.
Luna’s laughter matched mine, sounding quite unlike the demure giggling expected from a princess. She even snorted a couple times, quite adorably so, and that only served to make us laugh more.
After a solid minute we started to calm down, though gasping for breath with lungs burning and red faces might be a better way to describe it. We sobered up even quicker when voices rang out, searching for us. “Princess! Princess Luna where are you?”
I frowned softly as Luna sighed, “Alas, duty calls. We shall see thee at the banquet tonight?”
I stood up and bowed, taking her hoof in my claw and kissing it gently. “I shan’t miss it my dear. Now go, your kingdom needs you.”
She blushed softly at the kiss, but nodded and after some hesitation kissed my cheek before lighting her horn and teleporting off. I gently placed my claw against my cheek, blushing and giggling like a school filly.
~
“Hey Luna, how did you make the stars?”
My dear hummed as she looked up from the cloud we were laying on. “We actually don’t remember. They didn’t use to be there, but when we got our cutie mark they...appeared. We think it was a manifestation from our thoughts and magic. The moon looked so lonely up there, when it wasn’t being covered with a cloud. So, we thought, maybe there should be something up there with the moon. The next night, a few twinkling lights were up there. And so every night a few more would appear. Some believe we arranged them into the constellations ourself, but they just appeared like that.”
“Wow...Do new stars still appear?”
She chuckled softly. “Yes. We can look at any star and tell thou when they appeared. We’ve even named them.”
“All of them? Luna that’s amazing.”
She blushed and looked away. “We suppose it may be. If only our subjects thought the same.”
I sighed softly and nuzzle her. “They will darling, they will. I promise.”
She smiled softly. “We thank thee Discord, thou hast lifted our spirits again.”
I smile, “Of course my love, I always will. You deserve to be happy as well.”
~
Luna looked at me with a smile, her hooves over her mouth as she tries to hide her laughter. We were hidden behind a fake wall, waiting for a unknowing servant to walk by and spring our trap. There was a little block of cheese on the floor, that once picked up would release a horde of rubber mice on top of them.
I put my claw to my mouth is a shushing manner, though I was having quite the time keeping my own giggles from escaping and revealing ourselves prematurely. Both our ears perked up as a set of hooves come down the hallway. We eagerly turn and look through cleverly disguised peep holes.
My eyes widen as it is Celestia herself walking down the hallway, distractedly reading from a scroll. I’d been guest at the castle for 5 months now, but Celestia had yet to fall victim to one of our pranks.
She puts the scroll down in time to see the cheese, picking it up in her magic and releasing the rubber mice. She squealed and reared up, flaring her wings and seeming to prepare a spell until she heard our guffawing. I absolutely lost it, rolling forward out of the wall and laughing at her expression, Luna following suit.
Celestia sighed and looked at us.”I’d heard you two had taken to pranking the castle staff but…”
She shook her head, and I saw Luna look down, all laughter gone. “That said, I am glad I tripped it. We have important guests over for the week, and I need you two on your best behavior.”
A small smile graced her lips as she picked up a mouse in her magic, giggling softly before flashing her horn and teleporting the mice away. “Please do try to be more careful with your pranking sister. We are a young kingdom, and we need to secure good relations with others.”
Luna looked a little less downtrodden and nodded. “Of course sister, we shall ensure all is right for the dignitaries.”
“Thank you Luna. That goes for you as well Discord, you are representing the Hypogriff kingdom as well as Equestria.”
I nodded solemnly. “I understand Celestia.”
She nodded and walked past up, taking up her scroll again and mumbling to herself as she walked. As soon as she was away, I turned to Luna with a grin and boop her nose before scrambling up and running down the halls, laughing boisterously as she cried out, “Get back here thou heathen! We shall smite thee for thy acts!”
She chased me through the halls until we ended up outside, winding our way through a garden maze. She finally seemed to have enough of it and popped in front of me, “Huzzah! I have bested thee!”
I wasn’t able to stop myself in time, crashing into her and rolling a little bit before stopping with her on top of me. I pout softly, “Now that’s just plain unfair. I call a rematch.”
She giggled again, tossing her head back ever so slightly. My heart flutters as I realized this was as psychically close we'd ever dared to get. I could feel her heartbeat against my chest, her incredibly soft and warm fur pressing into me...My mouth suddenly dry, I lick my lips and am caught in her gaze. Her wide smile slowly fades into a gentle one, her lips slightly puckering ever so slightly.
My mind goes into overdrive, and I am utterly frozen. I gulp softly and shakily reach a claw up to cup her face, a blazing blush on both our cheeks as I dare to lean closer a little. She doesn’t move, and I can feel her breath quicken as I inch closer. Our breath intertwines for a brief moment before I press my lips to her.
She stills and I go to pull back, ashamed I had pressed myself onto her like that. I am unable to get far though, before her hoof wraps around my head and pulls me closer. I gasp shakily as our lips clumsily move together. A first kiss is never perfect, but even with our inexperience, I felt it was pure bliss. Slowly, we got into a gentle rhythm, my fang scrapes against her lip but she doesn’t seem to mind. We never part each other’s lips, but somehow that made it feel all the more intimate to me.
The sound of guards calling out for us interrupt us and Luna flashes an apologetic smile at me before lighting her horn and teleporting away.
~
I nuzzle Luna and sigh softly, sniffing her mane deeply and humming at the blueberry scent that always accompanied her. “Luna?”
“Mmm, yes?”
I smile as her eyes flutter open, her voice a touch groggy. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Her eyes closed and she snuggled deeper into my chest, her wings soft and fluffy against my side.
~
I drum my claws quietly on the arm of my chair. I was sitting alongside Luna as she and Celestia held Evening Court.
“Your majesty, we implore you, what would you have us do?”
Celestia nodded sagely as she listened to the stallions plight. His family’s farm was being pillaged by raiding groups of diamond dogs, but he was no fighter. Neither was his elderly father or young family.
“Farmer, thou hast been faithful to us, and we would seek to help thee. Sister, what say you of sending a small regiment of soldiers to send a message to the ruffians?”
Celestia hummed as she considered the thought. “I suppose we could do so sister. Farmer, do they attack during the day or night?”
“Always at night, your highness.”
“Well then, Luna, this is your domain. Why don’t you two go into a conference room to discuss the details.”
Luna stood up and nodded to the farmer before glancing at me. “Would thou mind if our betrothed joined us?”
“Discord can stay here, he and I need to plan for his mother’s visit next moon.”
I knit my eyebrows as I look sideways at Celestia. Lately, whenever I had an opportunity to be with Luna she always found a way to keep me with her. She’d even taken to seating me opposite Luna during dinner. Luna wore a sour expression before changing it back to a serene look expected of a ruler. “Very well, we shall see thee later Discord.”
I grunt softly in answer, not looking away from Celestia. I hear Luna’s regal steps clink away, her pace slow and controlled. The much meeker and softer steps of the farmer followed until a door closed, and it was just the guards, Celestia and I.
“Come Discord, let us adjourn to the grand conference room.”
I grunt again and wait until Celestia is nearly to the door before pushing myself off the throne. I say nothing as we enter the room, and stay silent as we sit at a table with scrolls and maps and books of Hippogriff customs. “Now, your mother’s visit will coincide with the autumn blue moon, but there does not seem to be any documentation of any special activities. Do the hippogriffs not celebrate it?”
I glare at Celestia. “Okay, what’s the deal. All this month you’ve been trying to keep Luna and I apart. You and I have been over this 5 times already! Let me guess, the scrolls ‘mysteriously’ disappeared again?”
Celestia looked at me coolly, a perfect poker face. “I don’t know what you are speaking of Discord, this is the first time I have pulled you to speak of this.”
I roll my eyes and stand up, pushing my chair away without a care for the loud screech it made. “No it’s not, and I shall not be made a fool of Celestia! I don’t know why you are trying to keep us apart, but it shall not work. You were the one to push for this engagement you know, but it seems you are taking every opportunity to keep us apart! ‘Oh Discord I need you to come with me to the Royal Flower Competition while Luna rests. Oh Discord, please come and sit in on this debate, oh Discord, sit across from Luna so the nobles may have closer seats to us.’”
My voice became high pitched as my face turned into a replica of hers. “‘Oh don’t worry about Luna, she’s sleeping. Come, join me at this concert. Your mother is coming to visit soon, we should prepare something special. Oh no, the scrolls were misplaced and my memory isn’t all that great as of late.’”
When I finish my performance her poker face was broken with a raised eyebrow. “Discord, I am the sovereign ruler of Equestria. You are but a prince of another land, betrothed to my sister. Do not question me again.”
I growled and flipped her off with my claw before snapping it, teleporting me to the roof just outside Luna’s room. I huff and start to pace, growling and muttering to myself.
I stayed up there for what felt like an hour or two before I heard my beloved’s voice from the balcony. I poke my head upside down and end up startling her, earning myself a soft bap on my nose.
“Hey, what was that for?”
I pout as I wind my way down, looking at Luna with concern. She giggled softly, but it sounded different than normal. Like it was fake, but she was trying to reassure me. “Luna, darling, whatever is the matter?”
Her smile faltered, tears filling her eyes and she throws herself to me. “Oh Discord...W-why is sister b-being so cruel?!”
I sigh and hold her close, cooing and running my claw through her mane, something I knew she loved. “Hey, shh, shh, it’s okay. I...talked to her a bit earlier, but she didn’t seem to understand. Maybe she’s just stressed? Equestria has grown exponentially, you are no longer a little kingdom.”
She sighed deeply. “Yes, we suppose we aren’t anymore. We only wish sister wouldn’t be so distant. We only see her at dinner and evening court anymore…”
“I know love, I know. It’s okay. Everything will get better, I promise.”