Discord looked down at Twilight Sparkle, "So it's just the new princess and me, huh?" The chimera turned his head to the other princesses who just entered the throne room.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, just you and Princess Twilight. Luna and I will be otherwise occupied. I trust you remember the meeting, Discord."
"Of course, Tia dear. Just because I'm the master of chaos doesn't mean I don't know how to organize a household. Your little list will be complete when you return." He snapped his paw (which got him a curious raised eyebrow from Twilight) and a scroll appeared in front of him, unrolled as it dropped to the ground and hid the door of the throne room with a solid Thunk a few seconds later. Then it magically furled up again and sprang back into Discords paw who then stuck it under his bat-wing.
Twilight pouted, "There was a meeting and a list and nobody invited me? Not fair!"
"Yes, there was a meeting and a list and it was two months ago," Luna rolled her eyes. "You were still a unicorn at that time and would have burned."
"With all due respect Luna, you have no idea what kind of meetings I can take. The discussions at professor Electric Sky's lecture were quite heated and ..."
Discord smirked as Celestia walked up to her former student and wrapped her into her wings to appease her. "Not that kind of heat Twilight. We met in the heart of sun. It's the best place to discuss more sensitive topics and to discourage eavesdroppers."
Twilight nodded sheepishly and tried to apologized to Luna, but the Princess of the Night stopped her with a wave of the hoof. "It's nothing Twilight Sparkle. You are as a sibling to me -," she looked to her sister, who smiled and nodded, "to us now. Don't fret over something so trivial."
"Just don't include me in the grouphug," Discord stuck a digit of his claw into his maw and made gagging sounds. "Let's just get this over with, please."
Now it was Celestia's time to grin. "You can be the embarrassing crazy uncle if you want to. I hear every family has one of those, it's practically tradition." Then she waved her horn and inscribed a circle into the air with its point. As she completed the magic there was a sound like a wave breaking on the beach and inside the glowing ring a shimmering surface appeared, like a pond, but vertical.
Twilight Sparkle looked at Celestia with the greatest set of puppy dog eyes the mistress of the sun had ever seen on an adult mare.
"A gateway. Yes, I will teach you," she said, "in due time."
The youngest princess smiled like a child that had just learned that this year would have two Hearth Warming Eves.
Discord meanwhile just sighed, this whole ordeal was rapidly getting on his nerves. "Just remember that I do this as a personal favor to you, Celestia. This goes against my very nature. "He didn't even wait for a reply and stepped through the gate, his mismatched form creating ripples on the shimmering surface.
Luna nodded to Twilight. "You can trust him, he has given an oath of loyalty. Just look out for his little jokes."
Celestia grinned, "Don't be a spoilsport Luna, Twilight is here for the learning experience. And we can't dilly-dally any longer either." With that the two elder princesses pushed the newest member of Equestria's royalty through the portal.
As Twilight stepped out of the transfer a seventh sense activated and warned her of a danger she had not faced since magic kindergarten. The bucket of paint aimed for her face was deflected and hurtled towards Discord who snapped it from the air, magiced a spoon and started eating. "Mhm, LightGoldenrod. I love my yellow with just a hint of blue. Want some?" He licked the spoon, then poked the point of his tail at the bucket and it popped away like a rainbow bubble.
Meanwhile Twilight had taken in the scenery: She and the draconequus stood on the stage of some kind of amphitheater, around her rows and rows of pedestals stretched out in all directions.
"What is this place?"
"This, little girl, is a pocket dimension and the princesses' treasure chest. Or at least one of them. And it is my test for good behavior and your test for not-freaking-out today. Hm, we might as well dress for the occasion."
He clicked his dragon talons on the stone floor and a waiter's uniform appeared on him. He looked at Twilight who found herself in a maid's dress, complete with bonnet and a feather duster. She just sighed.
"What is the task Discord? What is that list for?"
"We are to catalog some part of this heap of,” he made air quotes, ”treasure, tidy up the hoard a bit and make sure that everything is at its place. We're spring-cleaning, if you will. Now, lets make this dump sparkle." He wiggled his bushy eyebrows.
Twilight groaned at the joke, then her magic grabbed the scroll from Discord and unfurled it. "The first item is ... the cane of the Moochick? What or who is a Moochick? Porkina's magic mirrors? The gates of Paradise Estate!?" Her voice grew more excited with every item.
Discord looked around himself again and his shoulders slumped. "Celestia, you are such a packrat."
---
Luna took in the view of the hills and plains. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up to her sister and her voice gained a certain edge, "Celestia, in the thousand years of my exile, did you ever come here? Because I'm standing up to my fetlocks in moon dust!"
---
Princess Cadence grinned and kissed her husband. "Dear, do you know what I love most about the Crystal Empire? It's always clean and shining!"