“Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, meet me in the observatory!”
Following this fierce order from Luna and her disappearance, Twilight and Cadance had remained very still with uncertain looks. Gradually, they had started to the observatory until a scroll had appeared—this one with a more formal invitation telling them they would spend the evening in the observatory while Luna completed her night’s work, and then she would see them after dawn. Dinner and sleeping arrangements were already made for them. And with this information, Twilight and Cadance continued to the observatory tower.
Normally the two princesses would have spent their brief journey through the castle chatting and laughing. But right now Twilight did not look at Cadance and Cadance did not look at Twilight. Both mares frowned—Twilight bit her lip and Cadance had her brow knit slightly.
The two princesses entered the observatory to find the room filled with tables bearing books, some astronomical tools, and of course Luna’s telescope. There was also a fire in the hearth, and two covered plates on a table. A single large had been stuffed into one corner across from the telescope, clearly just for them. In begrudging silence the two princesses ate their dinner then got into bed, each stationed as close to her own side of the bed as possible. Eventually they both fell into an uneasy sleep.
Just before dawn, a sleeping Celestia could only be pulled from a very enjoyable dream about dancing with Discord on clouds by the rich scent of good coffee and tart apples in the air. She blinked twice then smiled as she inhaled deeply through her nose. With a pleasant sigh, Celestia turned over and opened her eyes.
Through the windows she could see the pale dark sky of the Everfree Forest at this time between day and night. And just to the side of the windows was Discord wearing a chef’s hat and apron. On a floating tray he had two mugs filled with steaming, fragrant, chocolate-brown coffee and a platter of baked apples covered in honey, raisins and…was that rock candy? Celestia giggled at the sight of the colorful specks.
Discord turned around at the sound, and his eyes brightened. “Tia, good morning!” He teleported near her and grinned.
Celestia sat up, and tilted her head. “Discord, you’re already awake?”
“Thought I’d surprise you.” He floated around her. “We want to get our day started early, so I figured I’d get cooking and we could have breakfast together after you raise the sun. I was just worried I wouldn’t get the timing right since your internal clock about whole ‘day’ thing is so exclusive.” He winked.
Celestia’s smile grew. “Discord, that’s so…I…” She blushed. “I’m usually alone for my sunrises except when Luna happens to be nearby. And I never get to share breakfast at dawn with anyone. I just hope you got enough sleep…”
He moved closer and gently rested a finger of his paw on her lips as he looked into her eyes. “I am perfectly refreshed, my darling Celestia. And here to share sunrise or sunset or high noon or the middle of the night with you. Whatever you desire…”
He said the words with perfect sweetness yet Celestia still blushed warmly and felt her heart flutter a little. As he slipped his finger away though, she quickly regained herself. “And I’m happy to have you, Discord…” left her softly, “as long as you’re sure you don’t need a rest after breakfast.”
“On a normal day, yes, but not today.” He flew back over to his bed and eagerly sat up tall on the blankets. “Now then, onto the sunrise!” Then he added with a shy shrug, “Unless, of course, you want to give me an interactive demonstration like you did last night with your sunset?”
Celestia felt like she was flushing clear down her neck and was grateful for the dim light of the room to hide some of it. She smiled softly and looked to the window. “Sunrises are a little different than sunsets for me, Discord. I think it might be a little too much for me to share one with you right now. I hope I haven’t hurt your feelings.”
When she glanced at him again, he just smirked back at her with an eyebrow raised and his tail swishing. “Ooo, being mysterious, huh? How intriguing.” He chuckled and his smile softened. “I don’t mind at all. You do whatever you’re ready for, dear Tia. I understand.”
She nodded, her smile growing, and then moved to the window and powered up her horn. “Then I also want you to understand that one day I think I will share one with you. And I’m looking forward to the experience.” She glanced over her shoulder to see him blushing a little and looking at her with a curious smile. She giggled and finished raising the sun. When it was up and the light began to fill the room she smiled to herself with her eyes closed. But then she blinked as Discord’s magic teleported her onto the balcony: he had placed them both in their beds on the balcony with the mugs of coffee and baked apples on a table between them.
The chaos master took a sip of his coffee and smiled as he looked to the sky. “Beautiful work as always, Celestia.”
Celestia felt a sense of warmth come over her as she magically took up her own mug. “Just as beautiful as your chaos always is, I hope.”
He nodded. “Yes. We’re both capable of lovely things, separately…and together.”
And then his hand was touching her hoof.
Celestia looked down at their hand and hoof, and then back at Discord but he was still just watching the sky with a happy smile.
She smiled again too and returned her gaze to the sky as she magically created some plates and served them both some of the apples. “We really are very nice together…”
They sat in silence for another moment.
Then Discord grinned. “After this, want to have some fun trying out pony disguise forms? I can’t wait to see the couple we’re going to make today when we’re in public.”
She laughed. “I’d love to. Besides, it’ll be cute watching you try to prance around on four legs long-term.”
“And it’ll be cute seeing you short for once.”
They shared more laughter as sunlight filled the Everfree Forest from overhead. And then they made their plans for the day.
At dawn, Cadance woke up to the sound of pacing and realized it was Twilight. At first she was confused until she remembered Luna would show up any moment. Then she got out of bed as well.
As soon as light appeared over the horizon, Luna appeared in the room. “Good morning,” she said simply.
Though they both started in a little surprise, Cadance managed to hold her head high and Twilight tried to smile.
“Sit down.” Luna went on, her gaze stern.
Cadance’s ears fell and Twilight’s smile dropped. Both princesses came forward and sat.
Luna paced once in front of them, then back the way she’d come. Then she stopped, head high, towering over them in a way that made both princesses’ eyes widen.
Luna’s voice was cool but firm as she spoke: like a compressed Royal Canterlot voice, full of power subdued (for now). “Let me be clear about something. My sister’s method of dealing with misguided young ponies is to let their behavior run it’s course until said ponies learn their lesson, then she comes in with some comforting advice. That is not the way I handle problematic ponies and especially not problematic princesses.” Her gaze narrowed. “If I see an issue, I make sure it is corrected immediately. And I am neither doting nor affectionate during the process if I do not believe those traits are useful. Do you both understand?”
Twilight swallowed and nodded. Cadance frowned a little but finally nodded too. Then she opened her mouth to speak.
Luna held up a hoof and went on. “For the last three days, I have taken on the responsibility of both princess of the day and night so that my sister may have a brief window of time all to herself and a very special creature. Do you know how long it has been since Celestia took a vacation? Too long. Far, far, far too long. Longer than you can imagine. My point is I am busy, and I am busy for the sake of a pony the three of us love dearly. I do not have time to referee the squabblings of two grown mares who should know better—who should have learned already by example.”
In a flash of magic, Luna transfigured herself to Nightmare Moon. But in a breath she was back to her normal self.
Twilight and Cadance’s heads sunk a little.
Luna took a deep breath. “Now, since I had multiple interruptions to my sleep yesterday thanks to your shenanigans, I am going to have a brief breakfast then take a nap. You two will stay here and await further instruction. Breakfast will be sent to you. As of last night I have taken care of arrangements for rooms for each of our loved ones and friends whom you roped into this altercation. Until I return, take this time alone to consider deeply a solution to your problem.”
Without waiting for an answer, Luna teleported away, sounding a grumble of thunder in her wake.
Twilight and Cadance watched her go and didn’t move.
“Ah that does it! I have made myself look as ‘me’ as I can while still being able to pass as a normal pony!”
An hour or so after breakfast, Discord stood proudly in the center of the room. He had transfigured himself into a moderately tall stallion with a grey coat (the usual color of his head), brown hooves (the usual color of his body), a mane and tail of red, black, and white, and a set of very prominent wings, one dusted blue on the wingtips and the other dusted purple. His eyes had normal whites but with red irises. His cutie mark was his classic tornado.
From behind the slightly ajar door that led from their cozy parlor to Celestia’s old bedroom came an amused laugh from the sun princess. “Oh really? After a dozen different transformations, you’ve finally settled on something that’s both believable and chaotic?”
Discord trotted around, head held high. “Oh yes! And I’m quite proud of myself for it. Have you seen my wings?” He spread them out a little more and grinned in the direction of the doorway.
A shadow moved in the dark space between the door and the wall. “Yes, I have. Very impressive. Especially since it took you so long just to pick between pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony. But are you sure you won’t miss your magic?”
“Oh you know me,” he grinned more, “as long as no one’s looking, I can always snap my tail.” His tail lifted up at the end and snapped. He chuckled. “Now then, are you ready to finally let me see how you look? I think I’ve been quite good about not prying into your privacy even though I’m bursting with excitement at this point.” He snapped his tail and made a piñata version of himself appear which instantly ballooned up and exploded.
Celestia sighed. “Yes, I’m ready. But don’t laugh. I decided on a unicorn version of a much, much younger me. It was the only time in my life I was ever the size of an average pony.”
“I wish I could have known you back then,” Discord grinned as he sat down, his gaze hazing. “I wish I could have known you forever,” he added, pouring on the charm with a chuckle.
Celestia snorted. “No, you don’t. I’m afraid I was impossible at this age.” And then she pushed open the door and stepped out.
Celestia took a deep breath and looked down at herself at first, feeling a blush tinge her features. She was still a bit tall but not much more than the girls though she was slightly older-looking. Her mane and tail were pale pink—long and wavy but not cascading behind her and flowing. Her coat was white. Her eyes were violet. Her wings were gone, her horn was a normal size, and her usual cutie mark was now a sunflower. She finally looked up at Discord and shrugged. “Well…what do you think?” She blushed and quickly cleared her throat. “I mean, erm…did I forget anything?”
He just watched her with wide eyes for a moment, his head tilted. Then he replied, “I take it back…that thing I said about wishing I’d known you when we were both young.” Celestia’s brow furrowed and she tilted her head, but then he went on. “I never would have gotten a single chaotic thing done with a girl like you around.” He cleared his throat and blushed as he rolled his hoof in the air. “Chaos knows I would have tried, but I would have been stumbling all over myself trying to show off for your praise.”
Celestia’s smile returned and she held back a laugh. “I’m afraid you would have had a difficult time.” She strode past him, her head held high with a proud smile. “I loved attention as a young mare from anyone, but I’d never let anyone know that. So I would never have let you see that I was impressed by anything. But if you’d stopped paying attention to me, I would have cooked up any scheme I could to make you start again.”
Discord scoffed. “Are you serious?”
Celestia sighed and shrugged, glancing back at him. “I told you, I was a hoof-ful—willful, proud, bossy, and far too clever. I’d have wasted so much time playing around about getting your attention instead of just enjoying spending time with you.”
“Well then,” he shrugged, “I’m glad to know the modern Celestia instead, I suppose. Though I would like to hear some stories about ‘uppity young Celestia’ one of these days.”
“I have many, and Luna has even more.” She stood before him with a warm smile, finally observing the details of his form up close. “You really do still look like you. Good… I like the real you best—mismatched wings and all.”
He blushed, which made her giggle and quickly set them both to laughing.
Eventually they just shared a warm smile. “So then,” Celestia started, “for the rest of the day, whenever we’re like this around others, I’m ‘Tia’…”
Discord nodded. “And I’m ‘Dizzy’.” Then he held out his foreleg to her. “Shall we head to our first stop then, Tia?”
She took his foreleg and nodded. “I’d be honored, Dizzy.” She blinked as Discord suddenly pulled her close with a smirk.
He grinned down at her. “Today is about letting you know what it would be like if the two of us were together—not just friends, not just mercilessly flirting, but in that very long-term relationship we both keep hinting at.” His smile grew. “I intend to make sure we are the two happiest creatures on the planet by sunset.”
Celestia felt her features burn rosy. But then her eyes hazed and she grinned back up at him. “Not if I make sure of it first, chaos master.”
He blushed and his eyes widened—she held back another giggle.
Finally, the chaos master rolled his eyes to the side. “Very well, princess. Let the games begin.” And with that, he snapped his tail, and sent them away in a shower of sparks and light.
“First stop…” Discord started with a smirk as Celestia smiled to find them sitting in the front row of a wooden arena, “the rodeo at Dodge Junction for entertainment and a delicious post-breakfast snack of…Chimicherrychangas straight from Cherry Hill Ranch!” He pulled out a platter from behind himself and presented it to her—full of the steaming, delicious pastries coated in cinnamon sugar.
Celestia’s eyes and smile brightened as she inhaled deeply over the platter through her nose.
Discord grinned. “I think we made an excellent choice for our first stop, don’t you? Plus, Pinkie Pie talks a lot about how she invented these Chimicherrychanga things and I’ve been dying to try them.”
“And I’ve been dying to try them ever since she brought them up in a letter to me five years ago,” Celestia replied as she used her magic to remove one of the pastries and bit into it. She ate with a perfectly content smile as cherry juice stained her lips and she didn’t care at all.
“You’re cute when you’re a mess.” Discord replied as he swallowed a whole Chimicherrychanga in one bite, staining his face with cherry juice too.
She blushed then returned his smirk. “And you’re still always somehow cuter in clothes. So I think we need hats.” She used her magic to make them each a Stetson—hers tan with white stitching, his bright orange with purple and yellow stitching.
Discord grinned at the hat. “Ooo, how chic! Both Rarity and Applejack would approve.” He used his front hoof to tip his hat down at Celestia. “Ma’am…”
She nudged him with an eye roll and then they both shared a laugh as the announcer pony came out into the ring. “Howdy, fillies and gentlecolts! We’ve got a wild show for you today! Who’s ready for some rope tricks?”
The crowd stomped their applause, and Celestia and Discord joined in. Celestia even gave a big whoop for the show. And at a surprised look from Discord she only smiled more and gave him a small, cherry-flavored kiss on the cheek.
They both shared a happy look then turned to watch the show together. The feeling of joining with some of her subjects to enjoy such a lively event made her happy beyond measure. And she felt the happiness even more deeply by having Discord here to share it with her. When the applause stopped, she touched her hoof to his on the bench. His face brightened and then he leaned his hoof a little more against hers.
They spent the next hour cheering with the crowd, gasping at amazing rodeo feats, and eating every warm Chimicherrychanga they wanted.
“This second stop was an inspired idea, Tia!” Later, Discord (still in his pony form) grinned as he trotted down a sidewalk, glancing at skyscrapers and billboards. “I haven’t had a chance to visit Manehattan since I was reformed, you know. I’ve always meant to have a little fun with Rarity here one day at her boutique but it just never worked out. Oh this place might seem orderly with the carefully laid out streets, but it’s just brimming with natural chaos!” And indeed, ponies were dashing in every direction, chariots careened down the streets, there were lights flashing and horns honking and creatures talking.
Celestia (likewise still in her own pony disguise) laughed as she increased her pace to keep up with him: he seemed as enthralled as a colt on his first big trip to the city. “I know, aren’t modern cities amazing? I rarely make it to Manehattan myself. Canterlot is lovely of course, but this place is so full of life and progress—it feels like anything could happen here.” She held her head high, admiring all of the ponies living their lives around her. “Now then, our theatre tickets are for the matinee, but for now I thought we could get to know the city a little better.” She glanced up at him as they paused at a crosswalk.
Discord grinned down at her. “Sightseeing it is. Let’s do all the cheesy tourist stuff. Let’s paint the town neon plaid then get some entertainment! We’ll snap photos as we visit the Statue of Limpizanarity and the Empire Gait Building, and the Hooflyn Bridge! I can’t think of anything more fun than escorting the prettiest mare in Equestria through the liveliest city in the nation.” He held out his foreleg to her.
Celestia giggled as she hooked her foreleg with his then added with a blush, “And I’ve never been escorted around town by a handsome gentlepony before.”
“You mean around Manehattan?”
“No…around any town.” Celestia blushed a little more and looked down. “Ever since I was this young, whenever I had suitors and we went somewhere it was to some high society function. And even if we just tried to go for a walk through the city or even the castle grounds, guards would follow us and ponies would stop and wave. I’ve never gone on a date like this, Disc—Dizzy—where it’s truly just us.”
When he moved his head closer to hers, she glanced up at him, her eyes wide. He smiled gently. “You have sacrificed so much for your people. But from now on, we’re going to date however we want to date—I insist. And if there’s anything you’ve secretly always wanted from a relationship but never had the chance to try, I’m here for all of it. As long as you want to share all of that with me too.”
She didn’t even hesitate. “I want to share everything with you. You’re my very dear friend, and more than that, Dizzy.” She chuckled. “Sorry, it feels so strange calling you that.”
He sighed dreamily and they began to cross together as the light changed. “I don’t mind. It’s sort of growing on me.”
Her eyes hazed. And then they reached the corner and a delightful smell entered her nose. “Would you be up for some hay dogs with the works?”
“Yes—two actually. You’re hungry already too?” He led them over to the food cart. “It’s these full body transfigurations, am I right? The energy it takes to keep this up is draining.”
She sighed with a grin. “I know what you mean. Luna can manage it better than I can but even still, after we’re done here we should probably go some place where we can just be ourselves for a bit.”
Discord nodded to her then looked to the vendor pony. “Four haydogs please, with the works, and two bottles of apple cider.” He glanced at Celestia. “If that’s all right with you, Tia. You and I do tend to share similar tastes…”
“Yes, that sounds delicious!” She nodded. Then Discord removed some bits hidden mysteriously in his mane and paid the vendor pony who then handed over their food and cider.
Celestia raised an eyebrow with interest. Discord just looked at her as they took the food and he shrugged. “What, you’re the one who insists on giving me a salary for teaching at the school of yours. And you can’t very well put things on the royal tab when we’re like this.” He smirked. “And besides, if you don’t think I have every intention of being able to take care of you in every way for all the time we’re together, you are sadly mistaken. You take care of everyone else so well, Tia—I insist on reciprocating.”
Celestia just sighed, gazing at him as he ate his haydogs with vigor. “If you’ve been this caring with every lady you’ve courted, I really don’t know how any of them have left you, you know.”
He shrugged. “It’s because I left all of them. I know what I want.” He looked into her eyes and winked.
She smiled a little more to herself and started eating her own hay dogs. “I finally do too, I think.”
They still held forelegs as they walked along, eating and admiring the scenery around them. Manehattan couldn’t possibly have seemed nicer.
“I wish I could visit here for hours all the time, Discord!” Celestia cried out joyfully now as she careened through shapes and colors she couldn’t quite name. She was back to her true form for, as was Discord—after all, there was no one around who could recognize them in the chaos dimension.
Discord flew right on her tail. “I know, you only ever come by for half an hour at the most just to visit my garden or take a gander at my home improvements or to give me advice on lessons for the school. You never get to see most of this place, but isn’t it grand?” He twirled in the air. “Are you sure you’re not dizzy at all though from flying in here? You get so little practice after all…”
Celestia grinned over her shoulder. “I can manage. But clever trying to convince me to slow down so you can catch up with me.”
Discord blinked then smirked. “Oh, it’s a race you want, huh? Bring it on, princess!” And then he was off like a shot.
Celestia laughed and rocketed herself forward with all the power of her large wings, banking off of random shapes and clouds of nonsense patterns to give her extra momentum. She caught up with Discord, though she was just shy of matching his speed.
He smirked at her. “Ready to give up?”
“Never, chaos master.” She laughed until he flung himself even farther ahead and then used his signature move of spinning his body in a tight circle to somehow zoom forward like a launched wheel. She watched for a moment in amazement at the tactic and then powered her wings as fast as a parasprite’s and tucked in her legs for extra aerodynamics. She was gradually gaining, and smiling more the closer she got, especially as she heard Discord’s chuckling.
Then a herd of flying pigs rose up seemingly out of nowhere right in their path. Naturally, Discord plowed into them and was knocked sideways as the pigs scattered with oinks of annoyance. Several dozen strongly flapping pig wings batted Celestia before she spun out of control too and then finally floated in the ether. She saw Discord resting on his back on a cotton candy cloud and landed beside him.
He sat up on his arms, catching his breath with a sheepish grin. “Well, that was certainly one of the top ten most fun ways I’ve ever crashed. Sorry, guys!” he called out to the pigs who only oinked in annoyance before flying away.
Celestia smiled and came closer to him. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Oh yes, yes,” Discord brushed away a few feathers and waved her off, “Come on, you know me—practically indestructible. And how about you?” His eyes hazed as he looked at her. “By the way it’s nice to be seeing the real you again.”
Celestia blushed and smiled more. “Thank you. And yes, I’m perfectly fine.” She fixed a few misplaced strands of her hair. “And it’s nice to see the real you too.”
“I know, aren’t I just fabulous?” He chuckled, and she laughed. Then he sighed. “This has been wonderful—I’ve never had a chance to explore my dimension with anyone else before like this. I mean, Smooze comes along with me sometimes, but at heart he’s a homebody. And I wouldn’t want to make Fluttershy nervous by bringing her too far from my cottage. But you just take to this dimension like an oddly orderly duck to chaotic water.”
Celestia nodded. “That’s because I’ve come to understand you more. And you’re chaos, and this place is chaotic: I’ve learned to trust it more from trusting you.”
“Hmm…” He flew up and around her, “I know, I can feel it—your magic doesn’t resist the magic of this place anymore.”
“Are you trying to make me call you irresistible, Discord?” She almost smirked.
He blushed but shrugged with a little smirk of his own. “Maybe I’m trying to say that this place can’t resist you…and, as you pointed out, this place is chaotic and I’m chaos so…”
She came forward and set her lips gently to his. Discord inhaled deeply through his nose then relaxed completely as he kissed her back.
Celestia separated from him after a moment, eyes hazed. Then she blinked blushed more as she tucked her head a little against her mane with a shy smile.
Discord watched her with a warm grin, his tone gentle. “You know, whenever I know you’re stopping by the cottage—even if it’s just for a moment to deliver me an invitation or something—I spruce up all the chaos in that area. I like to impress you.”
Celestia’s blushing subsided a little and she glanced at him again. “You’re impressive enough on your own, really…but seeing all your creative chaos doesn’t hurt.” She let out a breath and looked down. “Whenever I know you’re coming by the castle, even just for something small, I…I spruce myself up a little. I’ve been doing it for years.” She closed her eyes and shook her head with a smile. “I’ve never told anyone that before—Luna observed it on her own and teased me sometimes, but…it really sounds silly now that I say it out loud.”
“That’s okay.” She opened her eyes as he moved closer to her with a caring smile, his words confident and warm. “In case the flying pigs and upside-down raining pies and total lack of physics haven’t tipped you off, I’m very partial to silly things. And I’m especially partial to you too of course. So, you see, it all works out.”
Celestia’s sheepish smile gradually melted into a sincere one. She blushed lightly. “Yes, it all does seem to be working out very well.”
His smile grew and his eyes hazed more in an almost all-knowing way.
After a moment, he flew off of the cloud. “Come on, let’s go do something lighthearted and silly and carefree. Ooo, I know! Let’s go find the flying pigs again and see if some of them will let us ride them! Or at least if they’ll race with us. What do you say?”
Celestia finally came out of her fluster enough to nod. “Oh, why not? It does sound like fun.” She spread her wings.
“Want to race to see who can catch up with the pigs first?”
“Loser has to have the flying pigs over for tea sometime this month to make up for crashing into them just now?” Celestia smirked.
“You’re on!” Discord winked. Then he and Celestia took off together out into the zany ether of the chaos dimension.
The Canterlot castle observatory had been very quiet as afternoon came. And it could feel like such a small room when two ponies were sharing it who weren’t too happy with each other at the moment. Apparently Luna’s quick post-breakfast nap must have extended into several hours of sleep, because though lunch had been sent up for them from the kitchen neither princess had heard from her yet. Right now both princesses had settled into stale silence and some simple activities to ward off boredom as they sat by the fire (the best source of light even if it left them uncomfortably close). Twilight was attempting to read an astronomy book while Cadance was attempting to study a dusty globe of constellations. And, as a side activity, each princess had slowly inched closer to the center of the rug to claim more warm space while still keeping distance between them.
Finally Cadance’s wing accidentally brushed Twilight’s book as Twilight’s hoof accidentally tapped Cadance’s globe.
“Hey!” they said at once, frowning at each other. And then their voices matched again. “What? I didn’t mean it! Just move over!”
Finally the two of them let out deep breaths. Pouting, they turned back to their respective tasks though neither of them was clearly very invested.
Finally Cadance sighed. “I’m leaving.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “What? You can’t leave! Princess Luna said—“
“Twilight, I’m a grown pony—I’m the leader of an empire. I’m a mother and a wife. And I’m a princess too. Luna cannot just give orders like that.”
Twilight bit her lip. “Actually… she can. She’s princess of Equestria. I’m princess of friendship within Equestria, and you’re technically a guest since the Crystal Empire isn’t part of Equestria. So unless you can prove something’s affecting her judgment, she can order both of us to do something if she wants.” Then her look went dry. “Besides, do you really want to be the one to wake her up?”
Cadance considered very deeply. Then a small swallow clearly showed she remembered Luna’s words to them this morning and their serious tone. She finally settled back down on the rug. “Fine. It’s nice to get a break anyway. The empire takes up a lot of time.”
Twilight rolled her eyes to the side subtly. “Friendship does too.”
A light giggle barely left Cadance.
Twilight glared at her.
Cadance just cleared her throat and returned to her normal poised smile.
“It does,” Twilight added. “I’m running a school and an entire field of magic, and somehow I still end up having to save Equestria.”
Cadance pouted a little again. “I’d save the empire if the Crystal Ponies needed me to.”
There was silence again.
Then Twilight swallowed. “I guess maybe Luna didn’t have to talk down to us so much. An order is one thing but…maybe she did go a little far.”
“She talked to us like we were fillies in magic kindergarten,” Cadance added dryly. “I’ve never even spoken to Flurry Heart like that.”
Twilight’s smile flickered to warmth for a second. “Well, Flurry heart doesn’t have an opposing princess around yet.”
Cadance almost smiled warmly a little too at the joke. But then their eyes met, and their smiles fell again. They looked away.
“Maybe when Luna calms down and comes back, we’ll have a word with her about her disciplinary tactics,” Cadance added with a sigh, going back to her globe.
“Yeah, maybe.” Twilight nodded and brought her eyes back to her book.
Silence reigned again except for the fire crackling. But neither princess was trying to take up more space on the rug than the other anymore at least.
“Tia, come in, the water’s great!”
Celestia giggled softly at the sight of Discord in his pony form waving to her as he swam in the waters of Horseshoe Bay. In her disguise as well, she shifted on the blanket they had spread out on the sand though she didn’t move to get up. “I’m sure it is,” she called back to him, “but I’m enjoying some sun right now.” She stretched out in the late afternoon light—she never got a chance to just bask in her sunshine like this, appreciating it for herself instead of only for what it could do for her ponies. Still, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t like some company. “Come join me when you’re done!” she added.
Discord brought a hoof to his chin then grinned at her. “I have an idea—sort of a compromise.” She raised an eyebrow and watched him glance around and made sure nopony was looking (thought this late in the season there were only a few tourists walking farther up along the beach). Then he raised his tail up from the water and snapped the end. He appeared floating on one large raft with a glass of lemonade—an empty raft with a glass of lemonade appeared in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at Celestia and grinned more.
Celestia smiled at the sight. Then she stood up, let the sand fall from her coat, and teleported herself over to the empty raft.
Discord chuckled as she appeared. “See, this way we can enjoy the water…” he swirled the water with his hoof, “and the sunshine all at one.”
“It was a wonderful idea to come here.” Celestia’s smile smile grew. “I haven’t been to the beach on a summer day in ages. The sea air, and the soft sand, and the bright sky.” She laughed. “And it’s nice that I’m in this smaller form with no wings because now I can do this.” She turned on her back to let the sunshine warm her stomach as she gazed at Discord upside down with curls of her mane drifting in the water.”
He laughed. “Remind me to snap us up a beach house one of these days if a little sea air will make you this playful.”
“And I can make us a boat,” she mused, watching faint wisps of clouds high overhead. “And then we can enjoy the sun and the water at the same time even more.”
“Sounds like a nice retirement plan.”
Celestia blinked and watched as he gazed up at the sky with his chin resting on his hoof. “Are you proposing we actually do run off together one day, Discord?”
“Depends…”
“On?”
“What your answer would be?” he turned his warm, charming gaze upon her.
Celestia felt her features warm. “I....” Somehow she had the sense of almost being proposed to again, and the feeling sent a burst of confusion and curiosity through her all at once.
“Unless you have someone else in mind you’d like to run off with...” he added cheekily.
“No…” She turned back on her stomach and rolled her eyes, smiling. “In fact, I’d miss you if you ran off without me—very much, in fact.” Her shy glance met his warm gaze. He’d had a confidence all day that was slowly overwhelming her. But she also liked it, and him, and all of their time together.
“Okay then, it’s a plan.” He chuckled then looked out to the shore, eyes bright. “I could snap us up a nice little bungalow just past those trees—put it on stilts so we’d have a great view. We could come in the off season when no one else is around and just be ourselves.” He snapped the end of his tail: suddenly to the surprise of the few ponies walking along the beach, a raised bungalow appeared right on the spot. It had bright green walls and a yellow balcony and a ceiling composed of pink and blue tiles alternating in a checkerboard pattern with a big sunroof at the center. And to top things off, there was a weather vane with a pie on the end of one of its arrows and a cake at the end of the other arrow.
Despite all the attention the bungalow caused, Celestia had to laugh. “If ponies during the busy times of year start seeing that place, I think it might raise some questions. Then we’ll have an entire paparazzi here trying to snap pictures of us.”
“Well, then I suppose I’ll just have to hide our happy home when we’re not using it.” He snapped, and the place disappeared in a burst of light. Then he gestured to the surface of the water with his hoof. “Look down.”
Celestia glanced down—sure enough there was the bungalow tucked safely deep down below the water.
“I figure no one will mind it there—we’re pretty far from Sequestria, and regular ponies don’t swim that far down.”
“I see.” Celestia felt her smile grow as her eyes returned to meet his. “I like it. It’s nice thinking about having a place like that for ourselves, especially if we want to go away for a few days again sometime.”
“Yes, well,” Discord’s gaze softened, “since we’re stuck living far apart, like we talked about yesterday, I kind of like the idea myself.”
It was a topic they had gone over yesterday during their long talk about the future. Celestia had to live in Canterlot for her duties. Discord had to live in his chaos dimension because it suited his nature best. They didn’t expect each other to change that part of their lives no matter what happened between them even if it was more usual for couples eventually to live closer…or together.
Celestia felt her features heating and quickly cleared her throat. “It’ll be a nice place for long day trips or even overnight for a weekend. I’ll re-create our beds from the castle.”
“And I’ll make up some furniture too,” Discord added. “That place I made might look small but it’s got seven rooms inside—or eight depending on what the physics feels like on any given day. We’ll have plenty or space to spread out or even to invite friends over if we want.” His warm smile only grew. “And our vacations line up since we both work at the same school, so it’s all very convenient.”
Celestia’s eyes went wide.
“What?” Discord raised an eyebrow, his grin picking up on one side in an intrigued way.
“Oh…” she shook her head with a sheepish smile, “Nothing, I just…hadn’t even thought about the school.” She cleared her throat slightly. “Once we get home, we’ll have to let the rest of the staff know that our relationship’s changed so we can assure them our new situation won’t affect us professionally. It’s a silly thing, I know, but it’s part of the EEA guidelines.”
“Oh, is that all?” Discord waved her off. “Well, sure, you’ll break many hearts on your staff when you tell them you’re crazy for me, but otherwise I think we’ll manage.”
Celestia laughed. “Discord, you can stop flattering me.”
“Oh please.” He rolled his eyes. “You know me, I’m the king of eavesdropping. It’s how I let out the little bit of naughtiness still inside of me. I’ve listened in on dozens of private teacher’s lounge conversations about how intelligent and beautiful and so very approachable you are these days. Some of those teachers you hired admire you for more than just your teaching experience, princess. And they’re convinced you would make quite a lovely extracurricular companion.”
Celestia’s features burned because she could always tell when Discord was lying, and this time he wasn’t at all. “Um…but you weren’t part of these conversations?” was all that suddenly popped out of her. And then she realized how eager for his interest that sounded.
Discord laughed. “They always clam up when I come into a room and they’re talking about you. That’s why I eavesdrop. It’s like they think I might have some reason to be jealous over their appreciation of you.”
Celestia watched him with interest, considered her options, then asked as casually as she could, “And…are you ever?”
His smile curled up at the ends. “I don’t envy an astounding lady her many admirers. Actually I respect their fine judgment in mares. Frankly I would only be jealous if you returned those affections.”
Celestia glanced down humbly but then she raised an eyebrow at him, her smile faded for a moment. “Does that mean you were jealous when I would date?” She cleared her throat. “I know we avoided the details of our romantic lives these last few years, but I’d still mention to you sometimes that I was going out with someone if I couldn’t make plans with you. And the Canterlot press liked to announce my dates in the society column. And you did comfort me when I had a bruised heart a few times…” Her lack of smile turned into a frown. “I wasn’t sure if you still had feelings for me all this time, but I am sorry if I ever made you feel uncomfortable. Really.”
“Says the mare who had to read all my teasing jokes about me making so many lovely female friends in my travels,” Discord simply finished for her. And then he rolled on his side to gaze at the shore, stretching in the sunshine. (Celestia tried not to focus on the action too much—her sunlight extending over all of him, though she couldn’t help imagining for a moment the sight of the sunshine extending over his fascinating draconequus body instead). Discord went on. “I did have a few bouts of jealousy: I’m afraid Fluttershy bore the brunt of them.” He sighed. “I could never feel bad about you feeling happy. But I have to tell you, my standards for you are ridiculously high. So if I thought anyone you were seeing was questionable or if they upset you, I’d go to her and fume for an hour or two. I’d rant about every glorious trait you have, and unfairly ridicule everything about your suitor. Then eventually I’d calm down, Fluttershy would feed me tea and cookies, and I’d sleep it off.” He glanced at her again. “I learned from my second gala not to let jealousy hurt one of my friendships—it almost cost me Fluttershy because I couldn’t accept her friendship Tree Hugger. I’d never take the risk of losing you too. No matter what you wanted to do, you had my support.”
Celestia’s soft smile returned.
Suddenly she wanted to be on the same raft together.
And so, in a rare bold moment, that’s what she did.
With a burst of magic, her raft was gone and she was beside Discord on his raft on the shore side so he could face her. She looked into his wide eyes. “Discord, there’s something you should know.”
“Hmm? Yes, what?” he swallowed, he suaveness breaking only for a moment before he managed a casual grin again.
She blushed and shrugged. “Some of the teachers at the school have made very…flattering remarks about you too.”
“Celestia, however much I’m sure you know I like it, you don’t have to stroke my ego…”
“I’m serious.” Her eyes hazed. “Do you know how many conversations I’ve half overhead about how funny Discord is, how charming, how magically talented? How strong and clever and smart he is? How many of them have hoped you’d invite them to be your date for the gala, or how many of them have even wanted to ask you for just one dance at the unicorn prom…”
Discord watched her with wide eyes for a moment then blinked twice. “You…say you only overheard these conversations? Were you eavesdropping too?”
Celestia blushed. “I’d hear someone say your name and pause for a moment—at first because you’re my friend but later because…hearing your name makes me feel something special.” She cleared her throat. “And I’d hear the beginning of the conversation and listen for a few lines but, well… if I ever entered the room they’d all stop talking about you. I suppose they thought I might be jealous…”
“And were you ever?” He frowned a little, resting his head on his hooves. “I really did send you a lot of letters. And you’ve mentioned before how it distressed you a little.”
“If you had returned their affections, then yes, maybe I would have been, just like with you,” she replied quietly, resting her head on her hooves as well. “But mostly I was just frustrated—with myself…for not having the courage to tell you how I felt. How I didn’t want to be without you anymore. How I realized I was ready now to try.”
His look softened. “You’re worth waiting for, you know. You always have been. You always will be.” He winked at her with those mischievous eyes she’d come to take peace in.
“You too.” She felt her smile grow.
On an instinct she went to extend a wing over him but then realized she didn’t have any in this form. When Discord raised an eyebrow at her slight movement she explained. He shrugged. “Is that all again? I can help with that.” Then he reached out a foreleg and placed it over her back.
Her heart echoed wildly and all of her flushed as she shifted onto her side facing the shore along with him and relaxed against his touch.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked near her ear.
“Yes…” left her in a light sigh. She tried to maintain at last some degree of composure as they settled in close together. “No one’s held me like this ever since…that Hearthwarming night we spent together, right after our first gala.
He chuckled low. “I remember. That was one of the best night’s sleep of my life—and not a whisper of a nightmare.”
“I loved that night,” left her softly, surprising even herself. Then she swallowed and added with a small smile. “I mean, I slept very well too.” Wrapped up warm and safe and happy together with no doubts or confusion between them, just like now.
“Maybe sometimes I could hold you like this when we’re our usual selves…?” left him shyly.
“I’d insist upon it, but I don’t want to seem like I’m coming on too strong.” Her smile grew.
Discord chuckled warmly behind her. “Cheeky princess.” He snuggled in a little closer to her.
Celestia had a brief daydream about how it would feel to have a soft paw lightly resting on her shoulder instead of a hoof. How he might move his fingers caressingly through her hair like he’d done the other night when she’d had a bad dream.
Eventually Discord let out a happy sigh. “Want to think up fun ideas for our little bungalow while we continue to bask in your sunshine?”
“I’d like that.” She nodded.
“Good. And not that I don’t worship your sun, darling, but after this maybe we could go someplace to cool off? It’s gotten a little warm out here.”
A sparkle came to Celestia’s eye and her grin grew. “I know just the place actually. I wasn’t sure if we could fit it into our routine, but, well…Cadance has always offered me use her chalet in the Crystal Mountains for dates.”
Discord smirked. “Ooo, mountains, snowball fights, access to a lot of Cadance and Shining Armor’s stuff—let’s do it.”
They shared a laugh. Then Celestia glanced down at the bungalow under the sea. “Could we have a small library in the bungalow? I like libraries.”
“Absolutely—I won’t snap up the books just yet though. Don’t want them to get wet. Ooo and maybe we could use a slide to get down from the balcony to the ground?”
“Yes, please. That sounds a lot more fun than flying or teleporting down. Besides, I haven’t been on a slide in ages.”
“Well, we’ll remedy that soon enough.”
They smiled and talked and whiled away another hour in the sun. Discord never let Celestia go, and Celestia never wanted him to.
From the castle courtyard, Shining Armor gazed up at the observatory tower and bit his lip. “Maybe one of us should go up, just to check on them. I could teleport in and out really quickly.”
Fluttershy frowned a little. “Shining Armor, I know this is probably very hard for you. But Princess Luna asked us to leave them alone before she went to bed, and I think she might be right. They need some time to work things out themselves.”
Shining Armor sighed and looked down at his plate of untouched food from the lunch the staff had brought out to them (his loss of appetite a rarity). “Yeah, I guess. I mean, Luna’s a princess of Equestria—she knows what she’s doing. And they’ll have to make up soon.” He smiled a little and glanced over to where Spike was playing a game of flying tag with Flurry Heart and Owliscious. “Besides, Spike and Owlisicious are doing a really good job of distracting Flurry Heart so she doesn’t miss Mommy.”
Fluttershy smiled and glanced over at them as well. “Yes, it looks like they’re having a lot of fun.”
“Discord and Celestia are pretty good with her too.” Shining Armor swallowed then looked down with a touch of distress. “Hey Fluttershy, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” She nodded.
He sighed. “Do you think…Twilight would be mad at me if she knew that I think Discord and Celestia would be happier in love than as just friends?”
Fluttershy blinked. “Of course she wouldn’t be mad, Shining Armor. Why would she?”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed his temple with his hoof. “Because now after everything she and Cadance have been through the last couple days it feels like betraying Twilight to admit that’s how I feel. But she’s my sister—and Cadance is my wife. They’re both important to me, so I don’t want to hurt either of them.” His eyes widened. “And what about Flurry Heart? Since I’m Twilight’s brother and since Cadance is Flurry’s mom, that makes Flurry Heart part love and part friendship. What if she ends up with some kind of identity crisis?” He took a few heavy breaths.
Fluttershy smiled gently. “Shining Armor, Flurry Heart is going to find whatever’s important to her when she grows up—love or friendship or something else. And if she does ever have questions, she’ll have a lot of strong ponies around to help her.” She glanced to the observatory tower, still smiling. “Deep down Cadance and Twilight appreciate both those kinds of feelings—friendship and love—even if one of those feelings can end up meaning more in a relationship with somepony sometimes.” She looked back to Shining Armor. “I think all of us are hoping Discord and Celestia find something special together, even Twilight—and I think she’s just happy she was part of guiding their friendship to the place where it could deepen to whatever works best for them.”
Shining Armor’s smile returned. “Thanks, Fluttershy. I think you’re right about all of that. Aw, come here!” He gave her a big bear hug. “My sister’s so lucky she found friends like you and the rest of the girls when she came to Ponyville.” He gave her a small noogie.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy squirmed a little from the tightness of the hug but then laughed as they separated.
“Sorry, did I get carried away?” He shrugged sheepishly. “That’s always how I’d play with Twilight.”
“No, it’s all right.” She straightened her hair with a warm smile. “I’ve just never had a big brother before—I’ve always been the big sister. But it was nice to try something new.”
He laughed.
Then Spike came over, a little out of breath. “So, what’s up? Are we gonna bust out our princesses or...?”
Shining Armor and Fluttershy shared a smile then Shining Armor looked back to Spike. “I think we’re going to go with Luna’s advice and leave them alone for a bit. Some time to work things out on their own might be exactly what they need.”
“Sounds good to me.” Spike collapsed on the grass with a tired sigh and Owliscious landed near him. “But could someone else take a turn with Flurry Heart now? I need a break—I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Fluttershy laughed softly. “I’ll go. I like babies. They’re quiet and sweet just like animals.” She trotted over to Flurry Heart and engaged her in a very spirited game of peekaboo.
“Hey, Shining?” The small dragon sat up in the grass.
Shining Armor glanced at him. “Yeah, Spike?”
“Twilight and Cadance…they really are going to make up soon, right?” He looked down nervously.
Shining Armor nodded. “I was worried, but I think so.”
“Oh, good.” Spike smiled again and patted Owliscious's head. “And after all this blows over can we have another guys night? I think we’re overdue.”
“Definitely.” Shining Armor nodded. “Plus we’ll have to grill Discord a little about his four-day date so there’s that.” He chuckled.
Spike laughed too. “True.” He raised an eyebrow and added dryly, “But no more plugging up my ears sometimes when you’re all talking about love and flirting and girls and stuff, all right? I’m not a baby dragon anymore: I’ve got wings and everything.”
“Okay, okay.” Shining Armor nodded. “I promise, no plugging up your ears.”
“Good.” He rested back on the grass with a smile then glanced at the picnic basket contents. “Hey, any of those sandwiches have gems?”
Shining Armor’s horn glowed. “Some do now.” He floated a few over to Spike.
“Thanks!” Spike chomped down on one hungrily as he settled against the warm grass.
Shining Armor settled in too with only one final wistful glance at the observatory as Fluttershy and Flurry Heart continued to play.
In the observatory, Twilight had moved on to reading a third book, and Cadance was now glancing at maps of the tides and seas. But neither of their attentions was quite focused. Every once in a while one of them would frown just slightly and glance at the other. But then the glancer would quickly turn back to her chosen distraction. She might pout and puff up a little but eventually her look would soften and she would steal another glance at her sister-in-law and fellow princess. Only once their glances coincided, and for a moment a look of mutual sadness was exchanged, but then both mares pouted again and turned away once more.
It was going to be a long day (or a long ‘banishment to the observatory’—whichever way one liked to think about it).
Celestia’s current situation reminded her somewhat of her battles in the past against Discord. Not the heat of the final attack, but the build up when he had first begun to unleash his chaotic reign on Equestria. Discord had always been an unusual foe: he didn’t attack suddenly, but he didn’t slowly work his way into power secretly then strike: unlike every other villain, he always took a strange middle route. He would openly tease his attacks, letting tension build and linger, and then suddenly she would turn around and the world would be slipping into neon colors and mismatched animals and pies raining skyward.
Apparently, even though he was reformed, old battle styles died hard because they were an hour into this snowball fight outside of Cadance’s chalet in the Crystal Mountains and Celestia felt practically under siege with anticipation though seemingly not much was going on around her. Then again, maybe his extreme evasion had to be expected. The rules of this snowball fight were simple after all: first hit would win.
From one of her snow bunkers facing Discord’s mighty snow tower she observed the terrain—quiet. Too quiet. She kept a snowball levitated at the ready. One of their ground rules had been no invisibility. But somehow, despite his unusual features, Celestia knew Discord could find a way to blend into the snowy scenery around them.
Celestia smiled a little. Though she would never admit it to him for fear of causing his ego to absolutely burst at the seams, Discord had not only been one of the most difficult villains to beat, he had also been the one to leave her feeling most challenged as a tactical leader. She used to sit around tables for hours pouring over maps and trying to predict the movements of a creature who was pure unpredictability. And here she was again, only this time there was no risk of anyone getting hurt. She could savor the pure thrill of their looming encounter.
And just maybe she could directly pelt a snowball right at that enticing beard of his too.
Celestia stifled a chuckle at the idea. And then she came around the side of the bunker, keeping herself low, letting her coat blend with the snow. Her hair couldn’t be helped, but she had a knit white scarf around her neck that managed to cover enough of the rainbows in her mane. And her purple boots had white trim. She came around the bunker’s corner to observe the landscape fully. No movement appeared near Discord’s large mountain of snow. Celestia let the snowball fly at the mountain.
A direct hit near the top.
Celestia waited, her tail swishing.
But no snowball returned fire, no draconequus appeared. Was he really not there anymore or was he only pretending not to be there or was he right behind her?
Or was he already inside Cadance’s chalet, sipping hot cider and watching her fight a non-existent enemy? With a dry look and for good measure, Celestia glanced at the chalet once more—no smoke came from the chimney, no candles or lamps lit the windows. If he was in there, he was freezing in the dark just to trick her. Even Discord wouldn’t be that ridiculous, at least not on a date.
For just a moment, thinking of her date and Cadance made Celestia think about using her ‘feminine wiles’ to lure Discord into the open. She blushed and stifled a laugh all at once at the image of herself enticing like that. Though if Discord insisted on drawing things out much longer, she might try it as a last ditch effort—she was getting cold at this point, and hot cider with a roaring fire really did sound nice.
But maybe she could do something else first to move things along. Celestia gave an imperceptible glance upward then looked back at the terrain around her. If she could just catch sight of him, she knew her plan would work. He just needed a reason to come out.
Maybe the chance for a little banter would do the trick? Celestia gathered another snowball with her magic then held her head high. “Show yourself, Discord!” It was a sentence she would have yelled sternly in the past though now she said the words with a small smile. “We should settle this battle once and for all!”
Silence continued as she surveyed the snowy landscape. For a moment, she thought she heard the snow crunch, like a step against it, but the sound had come from in front of her and there was no one there. She cleared her throat, using her magic to hold her snowball a little higher. “Come on, Discord…we’re both probably freezing by now. Let’s settle things by just taking one good shot at each other. Then we can go inside—I’m sure Cadance has plenty of snacks we can pillage…”
Still no response, though that sound like a step in the snow came to her ears again. She raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Discord, we said no invisibility, remember?” She took aim at the area in front of her where the sound had come from and threw—but her snowball just soared through the air and landed on the ground near Discord’s snow tower. She blinked in surprise. Then her eyes widened as she heard some (seemingly) disembodied laughter.
The sound grew, and then—
“WINNER!” Discord yelled as he exploded up from the snow just beneath her, effectively dousing her entire stomach, chest, and legs, and neck in an icy coating of whiteness.
Discord, bundled in colorful coats and hats, flew out of the settling cloud of snow, observed her, then burst into raucous laughter as he landed on the ground. “I did it! I win! Yes! Oh, I had tunnel through that snow painfully slowly so you wouldn’t hear and so the tunnel wouldn’t collapse, but it was totally worth it! You should see the look on your face!”
Celestia could almost imagine the look: an agonized shock at being suddenly frozen solid throughout all the lower parts of her body. She just stood there shivering with her mouth slightly open, her muzzle covered in snow.
“Great ‘battle’ though, Tia.” Discord grinned with pride, arms crossed. “I haven’t had a good game of strategy in…well, practically since I took the girls through your little labyrinth once I first got out. Ah, fun if evil times.” He chuckled then glanced at Celestia’s still levitating snowball with a raised eyebrow. “You insisted on taking the direct approach with how to get me this entire time? Really, Celestia, I thought you had learned how to be more unpredictable these days.”
Celestia shook off whatever bit of the snow didn’t cling frozen to her coat. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smile. “This?” She brought the levitating snowball forward. “Oh I wasn’t going to hit you with this, Discord.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then what—“
Celestia made a slight gesture upward with her head. Discord glanced up.
A particularly large snow cloud loomed high above him. And then it bulged out at the bottom with about fifty round bumps—clearly snowballs in hiding.
Eyes wide, he lowered his gaze to Celestia, opened his mouth and raised finger.
Celestia’s horn was already powered up though. With a smirk she let the snowballs drop.
Her draconequus instantly found himself buried under a mini hill of snowballs, his raised hand the only thing still visible.
Celestia burst into laughter. “I’ve been filling that cloud up this entire time—gradually so you wouldn’t sense my magic. Oh Discord, you should see the look on your face!” She laughed more as Discord finally dug himself to the top of the hill, a snow beard covering over his real beard.
“I kn-knew you must have had a real plan up your sleeve,” He replied with a grin, shivering. Then the ground beneath the snowball pile shifted. He blinked, his eyes wide. “Uh oh. My tunnel.”
Laughter subsiding, Celestia raised an eyebrow. “What do you—“
And then the ground caved in beneath both of them. Ice and cold surrounded Celestia as she found herself buried in the remains of Discord’s snow tunnel. He was across from her, likewise looking snow-ravaged. They were both shivering and a little blue at this point.
“O-Okay,” Discord’s teeth chattered, “Fun’s over—truce?”
Celestia nodded. “Let’s go inside—n-now.” She teleported them.
They appeared in the dim chalet’s den, still coated in snow.
“One cozy chalet coming up.” Discord held up his shivering hand and snapped—the fire roared, and all of the candles and oil lamps lit.
Celestia powered her horn—blankets appeared by the fire and steam came from the kettle over the fireplace, filling the room with the scent of hot cider.
Then they both used their magic to remove their snow-encrusted clothes. Celestia teleported the rest of the snow off of her body and sent it outside. Discord removed the snow from his body, formed it into a snow draconequus, and teleported it outside as well.
The two of them quickly buried themselves in the blankets and filled their mugs with the hot cider. They took deep sips then sighed.
“Ah, much better.” A smiling Discord snuggled into his blanket more. “I love a good snow day, but not with so much emphasis on the snow.”
“I know what you mean.” Celestia sipped deeply. “I tend to prefer a warm, sunny summers day anyway. Actually, the most fun I ever have doing a winter activity is when we ice skate in the summers.”
Discord chuckled. “Happy to provide you with the best of both worlds, Tia.” He glanced around the chalet. “So, I believe you said there were snacks in here we could pilfer. Were you just trying to lure me out of hiding or…”
“Oh, no.” Celestia shook her head. “Cadance has her own sweet tooth: she has a stash here.”
“Of what?”
“Chocolate.” Celestia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. “Actually, make that two or three stashes—I can smell it from all directions.” When she opened her eyes, Discord was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged. “I enjoy desserts. They provide a lot of energy. And after a few centuries you get pretty good at sniffing them out.”
“You know, I could just snap us up some chocolate.” Discord grinned.
Celestia grinned back, a glint in her eye. “But where would the fun in that be?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He chuckled. Then the two of them got up.
Celestia walked from one room to the next, inhaling deeply. “Hmm…there’s one in the kitchen.” Her eyes bright, she opened a high cabinet but then frowned. “Baker’s chocolate—unsweetened. Let’s try the next one.”
She walked down the hall and opened a side drawer of a cupboard. “Hmm…” she tilted her head, “candy bars. No, no, she has the good stuff somewhere. This is probably Shining Armor’s stash.”
“You’re basically a sugar bloodhound.” Discord grinned, still floating after her. “I’ll have to hide things extra good if I get you candy for any holidays we have together—and clearly I’ll have to remember that you demand high quality.”
He talked about future holidays together with a warm confidence that made Celestia blush more as she continued down the hall to return to the den. She inhaled. “Yes, it’s in here. But how would she keep it from melting with the fire so close by?” She walked over to the hearth and looked at a small wooden box on the mantle. She stuck the tip of her horn into the small round keyhole. The box glowed with magic as she removed her horn. Then it opened.
A blast of cold air shot out and hit her in the face, leaving icicles dangling from her chin.
Discord laughed.
“Of course,” Celestia had to smile, “Cadance booby trapped it with a cooling spell. Very clever.” She shook off the ice that was already melting from the heat of the hearth and glanced inside the box. Her smile grew—rare chocolates from the Crystal Empire, each one flecked with different colored crystal fruits and nuts.
Discord cleared his throat. “Is Cadance going to go pink bananas if she find out we got into the good stuff? I know how you get about cake, so—“
Celestia laughed softly as she turned to face Discord with the box. “I think it’ll be okay. Whenever she offered this place to me, Cadance always told me to make myself at home. As long as we don’t eat all of it, I’m sure she—“
And then the box glowed one more time and a huge scroll appeared in the air that read the following (and ended with a little cartoon drawing of a winking Cadance).
Dear Auntie Celestia (and her very special draconequus friend, I’m assuming),
I’m glad you decided to stop here on your first official date! Feel free to stay for as long as you like. This cabin is the most private place in the Crystal Mountains. You’re welcome to the chocolate. It’s a natural aphrodisiac, you know.
-Love Cadance.
“Wow.” Discord blinked. “She has really taken off the kid gloves when it comes to us. I guess now that we took the first step, we’ll be at her mercy, huh?” He chuckled though he also blushed with an awkward glance at her.
Celestia sighed, smiling and blushing to herself as she made the scroll disappear and shook her head. “Oh this is quite tame compared to what I’ve seen from her toward me ever since our first gala.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “But I thought you said she maintained a ‘non-interference’ policy to make sure you knew you fell for me all on your own?”
“She maintained a non interference policy about you and me,” Celestia explained. “But when it came to just me, there was interference and plenty of it. She was actually very clever. She’d never explicitly say that she was doing things for one day when I might date you, but I could tell she was. But I couldn’t accuse her or it would prove to her that I had started thinking about you like that all on my own.” She sighed, rolling her eyes to the side in amusement. “She’s sent me articles about relationships changing from friendship to romance, she’s suggested romantic books where the leads start out as enemies and fall for each other, she once sent me a perfume because it was called ‘chaos’. She’s even suggested…” And then Celestia stopped herself and cleared her throat. “Well, you get the idea.” She decided she wouldn’t bring up the ‘fashion to attract that special someone’ Cadance had suggested during their brief visit together following her confession to Discord (maybe she would tell him far in the future of whatever relationship they could have but not now).
Discord was blushing considerably. But then he looked down and smiled a little to himself. “Wow, I guess I got off easy. All that happened to me is Shining Armor would pull me aside sometimes during guys nights and ask me if everything was okay. He’d never be more specific but I knew what he meant. And the girls have been very good about never bringing up what they know…except for Fluttershy of course, but she only does it when we’re alone.” He chuckled gently. “Though I guess now we’ll be dealing with much more active questioning from our friends once we get home.”
“Yes, probably…” Celestia felt her features warm as her gaze went down toward the fire for a moment.
She could feel Discord’s gaze on her. He spoke again, his voice softer. “But I’m sure they wouldn’t pry too much if they knew anything might be embarrassing for us to talk about.”
Celestia took a breath and glanced back at him again. “I wouldn’t say ‘embarrassing’. And I don’t mind letting them know that we’re dating and enjoying each other’s company. I can just be a private pony about some things, Discord, that’s all.”
“I understand.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. “I’m pretty open about most parts of my life but even I have some things I’d like to keep private.” He cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter. “We can let our friends know we had a good time without sharing…everything.”
Celestia smiled a little though she still felt flushed. “The special details can stay between you and me…like how funny your heartbeat sounds when I rest my head against your chest.”
He blushed deeper but smiled more as well. “Or that little satisfied sigh that escapes you whenever I scoop you up to carry you.”
Celestia’s heart fluttered as she remembered the feeling of those arms of his hugging against her back and making her exhale in peace. “Yes, those things can just be for us.”
“I like having special stuff that’s just for us.” He placed his paw on her hoof then levitated two pieces of chocolate out of the box with a snap of his tail. “Chocolate, darling?”
Celestia nodded and took it with her magic. “Thank you…” Part of her felt like she should call him something in return, but nothing came to mind that didn’t either feel silly or forced.
The two of them lay down and settled in their blankets, eating chocolates. “By the way,” Discord went on, “how do you think they’re doing back home with the little spat between Twilight and Cadance? I mean, do you think The Crystal Empire and Ponyville are at war yet or…”
“I think Luna’s got things handled.” Celestia sipped her cider. “She’ll help Twilight and Cadance find their ways back to each other. She’s good at emotional things like that. And I’m sure having Fluttershy and Shining Armor and Spike and Flurry Heart there will help too to bring Twilight and Cadance back around.”
“I just hope Fluttershy isn’t too stressed.” Discord’s smile fell a little. “She doesn’t like conflict between ponies. I want to be there to give her something to smile about in between the fights.”
“I understand.” Celestia moved her hoof to his arm. “I know Luna can handle this but I wish I could be there for her too. What’s going on must remind her of how it was when we were young and we fought. I want to remind her it’s okay.”
Discord held her hoof in his paw. “She knows—from your last letter she does, I’m sure.”
“And I’m sure Fluttershy thinks of you to feel better whenever she’s felt overwhelmed.”
They shared a small smile.
Then Discord chuckled. “Remember when I tricked Rainbow Dash into catching that snow critter for me so it could attack Twilight’s castle and I could give Fluttershy the chance to be a hero as her Hearthswarming present?”
“Yes.” Celestia smiled more. “Remember when Luna was fighting the tantabus and she didn’t even wake me up to help because she wanted to take responsibility for it. After she explained everything, I was so upset and worried, but then she just crawled into bed with me and hugged me. We fell asleep together—we hadn’t done that since we were fillies.”
“What about when the girls got mad at me for tricking them into a cutie mark map mission so I could run Twilight’s school for a bit with Starlight? I hadn’t seen them so frustrated ever since I first came back. But then her students had so much fun that she had to forgive me.”
“Or when Cadance brought Flurry Heart to Ponyville to watch Trixie’s magic show, and then when she visited me in Canterlot all Flurry wanted was for Cadance to pretend to do magic tricks over and over. And I had to be her lovely assistant until Flurry finally went down for her nap.”
“And let’s not forget the time Big Mac got into that non-existent love triangle over Sugar Belle.”
“Or poor Spike going through his molt—I couldn’t send letters through him for a week.”
By now they were warm and smiling and laughing, full of chocolate and cider.
Discord glanced at the fire, his smile a little weak.
Celestia noticed. She whispered to him. “It’s okay, Discord. I know it’s only been a couple days but…I miss them all too.”
He squeezed her hoof again. “It’s been a little longer for me—the whole summer. Though I’ll admit, I did pop in on Fluttershy a few nights just to make sure she was sleeping well.” He shook his head and glanced at her. “I guess you and I really wouldn’t work out running off together. We’d be homesick after a long weekend.”
“That’s because we have a wonderful home to go back to.” Her gaze warmed a little.
“I’m just glad we’ll be going back to it together.” His gaze warmed even more.
Celestia blushed a little. That new confidence of his now was so alluring. She worked up her courage then cuddled up alongside him, resting gently against his side. “Let’s stay here for a while,” she whispered, gazing to the fire.
He rested against her a little too. “We didn’t want to go to the carnival in Rainbow Falls until sunset anyway to see the fireworks. Let’s stay until then.”
She nodded. “And can we talk more about our friends?”
Discord nodded. “I’d like that,” he whispered back. “Also, the girls do the strangest and most amusing things sometimes, and it’d be nice to have someone new to share them with.”
“Stories about the girls are my favorite—I don’t hear enough of them ever since Twilight stopped sending me her student letters. Please share, Discord.” She refilled their mugs, and they sipped their cider peacefully again.
“And if you have any new ones about Luna or Cadance or Flurry Heart from over the summer please share too,” Discord added. “Especially about Flurry Heart—I like that chaotic little kid. She’s always exploding something new. Takes after her Uncle Discord, you know.” He held his head high.
Celestia grinned. “Maybe, but she’s still going to call me Auntie Celestia before she calls you Uncle Discord. We made a bet, and I intend to win it.”
“We’ll see about that,” he replied in that deep, dragged out tone he could use when he was scheming, but he said it with a smile and then they both laughed.
Then Discord blinked and grinned as he pointed over Celestia’s shoulder. “Ooo, look, it’s snowing!”
She turned; sure enough a light snow had begun to fall outside the window.
“Granted, it’s normal snow and not coconut flakes or something chaotic, but I suppose it’ll do,” the chaos master added.
“Yes, it’s lovely. I’m glad we came here. Maybe we’ll visit again sometime.”
“Let’s take a picture!”
“What?” But before Celestia finished the word, Discord had teleported them. Now he was beside her with the two of them facing forward and the window behind them. He had a camera held up in front of them with his tail.
“With the snow in the background, it’ll look great!” he explained.
Celestia’s smile returned and she nodded. “All right.” She felt herself blush lightly as Discord pulled her close to fit into the frame. The flash went off.
“Now, let’s see!” He snapped—the camera disappeared and the photo appeared in its place. Snow fell through the window onto the white, mountainous landscape in the background as the two of them looked forward, Discord winking with a grin and Celestia blushing with her eyes and smile bright. “Perfect.” Discord beamed at the photo. Then he snapped, and a large banner with the photo on it appeared in the air with the caption ‘Discord and Celestia were here!’ underneath in bright pink letters. He snapped again—the banner folded up into a tight square and tucked into the enchanted chocolate box. “A little surprise for Cadance next time she opens up this thing, to thank her for her amusing letter.” He winked.
Celestia laughed. Then she saw Discord’s attention turn back to the original picture still in his hands. “And what will you do with the original picture?”
He blushed a little and shrugged. “Well…you know my nightstand with my picture of me and Fluttershy on it? I…figured it might be nice to add a picture of you and me—like this, as more than friends.”
Celestia’s smile grew and her features heated up more. She looked down a little. “That’s a lovely idea Discord. May…I have a copy?”
She glanced at him to see him blush more, eyes wide, but then he quickly snapped his fingers. A duplicate of the photo floated before her. She glanced at him one more time to see him smiling to himself, then sent her picture away to her room back home with her magic. Discord sent his away as well.
Celestia’s eyes lingered on him. In tender moments like these, she could see a part of him that she liked to think was just for her—especially since he brought out a part of her that she had decided was just for him. She didn’t know what to say.
Discord finally floated back over to the blankets, hovering above them and gesturing down. “So then, back to cider and chocolate and reminiscing?”
Celestia blinked and let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “Oh, yes. I almost forgot. “ She laughed a little to herself then stood up and walked over to the blankets. Her eyes widened when Discord tucked her in a little.
Then he settled down into his own blankets with a charming grin. “Now then, back to amusing friend stories. It’s the best way too keeps up from missing those crazy kids too dearly for the rest of our date.”
Celestia laughed and nodded and felt warm inside as Discord started a story about Twilight and as she felt herself remembering so many fun and amusing stories to tell about Cadance, and Flurry Heart, and Shining Armor and Luna and so many others.
If a sign of a good friend was that he could make you feel closer to all of your other friends, Discord was certainly proving to be one of the best.
Luna had tried to best to catch up on sleep after breakfast, but instead of a brief deep nap she had managed a light sleep for most of the day. Once she became aware of how much time had passed though and the fact that sunset wasn’t too far off, she sat up in her bed and used her magic to make a cup of tea for herself. Then she sighed deeply and let her glance go to the window where she could just see the tower of the observatory. It wasn’t that she feared her plan for handling the two rogue princesses wouldn’t work. She was just impatient to see the final result. Even if her methods were twice as fast as her sister’s for resolving conflict (a result of being twice as potent), she still didn’t like the waiting.
And perhaps a small part of her felt a little guilty for a few of the moments she had let slip into her conversation with them. “Maybe I overdid it by turning into Nightmare Moon. After all, this is the first spat they’ve had about their domains…” Yet still she knew she wouldn’t have forgiven herself if she hadn’t said something firm before fights like these possibly became frequent or escalated. The two mares needed to work through this issue properly right from the start. And they also needed to do it fast because Celestia and Discord would be back sometime tomorrow morning, and Luna refused to let her sister come home to the need to fix this problem.
Luna settled a little more deeply into her covers. “Tis not moonrise just yet. I’ll wait until then to check up on them. But still, how to do it in a way that will not disrupt them if they are in the middle of a crucial moment—nay, in a way that may bring them even closer together?”
Then there was a knock on her door. It was not followed by a guard apologizing for disturbing her, so Luna called out curiously, “Yes?”
A stallion cleared his throat, then she heard Shining Armor’s voice. “Princess Luna? It’s Shining Armor. Uh…do you know if Cadance will be back soon? And maybe Twilight? Because Fluttershy and Spike and I are having trouble getting Flurry Heart to bed without a kiss goodnight from mommy or at least a hug from auntie. And we’re pretty tired too. Oh—“
Luna used her magic to open the door.
Shining Armor, holding Flurry Heart and flanked by Fluttershy and Spike, frowned. “Oh, sorry, did I wake you up? We just thought—“
“Nay, do not worry. I have been awake for some time.” Luna smiled and focused on the giggling baby in a tiny nightcap in Shining Armor’s foreleg. “And my apologies—I forgot my little grand niece might miss her mother and aunt.” Luna frowned lightly and approached. “Is she quite upset?”
Shining Armor shook his head as he cradled the baby with a smile. “No, just a little fussy.”
“She’s probably just used to a certain bedtime routine,” Fluttershy added.
“Yeah.” Spike nodded. “When I was just hatched, Twilight said I could get like that whenever she was doing homework late in the library and couldn’t tuck me in.”
Shining Armor shrugged. “Maybe Flurry Heart could visit the observatory for a little bit? Unless—Oh!”
Flurry heart had zipped right out of his forelegs and was now clinging to Luna’s mane, gurgling and cuddling into it. Then she yawned. Luna’s eyes widened.
Shining Armor’s jaw had fallen. “Or, uh…maybe some time with Auntie Luna could help her? Heh…” He grinned sheepishly. “And sorry about that, she really likes snuggling long manes.”
Luna cleared her throat then used her magic to bring Flurry Heart (along with most of her mane) in front of her to look at the baby. “Well, er…I am not very experienced with children—my sister is the schoolteacher, after all.” She bit her lip, looking hesitant. But then she blinked and smiled. “Oh, but I have become more familiar with foals from these modern Nightmare Nights.” She smiled more at Flurry Heart. “Shall I gobble you up, tiny one?”
Flurry Heart laughed and hugged Luna’s whole head.
Luna blinked then laughed too. She used her magic to slip Flurry Heart into her foreleg then turned her attention back to Shining Armor as Flurry Heart nibbled her ethereal hair. “I have an idea. I still have some time before my duties, and you’re right of course—the young one should see her mother and aunt. So--Shining Armor, Fluttershy, Spike--why don’t you get some dinner? Perhaps it is time Flurry heart and I did some bonding, and as part of that I’ll have her visit Cadance and Twilight to say goodnight. Then I can put her to bed myself. And I’ll make sure she has sweet dreams.”
Shining Armor blinked. “Oh, Luna, that’s nice of you, but you don’t have to. I mean, I know you’re busy….”
“Never too busy for family.” She smiled warmly (a little glint in her eye as she turned back to the baby). “Isn’t that right, mini princess?”
Flurry Heart cheered.
Shining Armor tilted his head. “Uh…if you’re sure.” He glanced to either side of himself. “Spike, Fluttershy, you up for an early dinner and bed?”
“Oh that sounds nice.”
“Yeah, definitely!”
Shining nodded then looked at Luna again. “I’ll ask a guard to bring you some dinner and Flurry Heart her warm bottle.”
“Thank you.” Luna nodded as she used her magic to conjure a blue crib and placed Flurry inside. “And the three of you,” she glanced at them, “thank you for your continued support about my tactic with our beloved princesses earlier. I believe we shall see good results soon.”
The three of them nodded with trusting smiles then left Luna to Flurry Heart.
The baby smiled up at her, cooing and energetic though a small yawn escaped her.
Luna grinned. “Thou hast been a very mature little princess in the midst of your aunt and your mother’s bickering—I approve. I believe you will grow into a most sensible and kind leader.” Flurry Heart gurgled. “And we shall have many fun Nightmare Nights together in the future. I insist. But for now, as long as you’re still wide-awake, you can assist me. And in return you shall see your mother and aunt.” Flurry Heart giggled, and Luna laughed too. “And then, sweet dreams for you courtesy of Auntie Luna—do we have a deal?”
Flurry Heart just gave her a big smile.
Luna returned the smile. Then she used her magic to write up a scroll, rolled it up, and attached it to Flurry’s nightcap. “On your way then, Princess.” Luna’s horn glowed, and in a flash Flurry Heart disappeared.