Celestia looked over her teacup and threw Discord a devastating look. “Have you thought about what you have done?”
“Actually no,” the draconequus answered, “I was awake all night, but I couldn’t think about our little disagreement.”
“Pray tell, what kept you up all night but from thinking about your wrongdoing?” Celestia was obviously not amused.
“Well, you see …”
---
Pinkie Pie looked out the window of Sugar Cube Corner and sighed. She knew this day was going to come sooner or later, but she had hoped it would be later. At least her Pinkie sense had warned her of what was coming. The bell over the door rang and one spirit of chaos walked into the cafe.
“Hello, Discord. How can I help you today?”
The spirit lowered his head down to her, sighed and said “Just make today not a Moonday, then I could crash at Fluttershy’s.”
“You of all should know how the Princesses feel about messing with the timeline,” Pinkie Pie said in a tone so businesslike, Discord actually considered the idea that she knew what she was talking about. “And why do you need a place to crash anyway? Didn’t Princess Celestia say you could stay at the castle?”
Discord put the tips of his claws together. “Ah, Canterlot isn’t the best place for me right now. You see, Celestia, Luna and I shared some memories from back in the old days. Celestia showed around Luna’s baby photos and the Moon Princess wasn’t happy about this. So I got one of my photo albums and showed her some pictures of Celestia. The Princess didn’t take it well. Especially the one with her bracers.”
Pinkie Pie grinned from ear to ear. “Princess Celestia with bracers? Show me, show me!”
“Oh no,” Discord shook his head vehemently. “If those ever come out I’m probably looking at another thousand years as a statue. On the moon!”
“Ah shoot,” Pinkie Pie kicked the floor. ”And why are you here? I know that you can’t go to Fluttershy on a Moonday, when she makes her big round to all the animals. But why did you come to the Corner?”
“Oh, I flipped a coin. The first throw came out Fluttershy, but after a bit of convincing the second throw wasn’t her. It was you. And so I’m here.”
“You have a coin with Fluttershy and me on it?” Pinkie raised an eyebrow.
“Oh no, it has everything on it.” Discord reached into a pocket of the trousers he didn’t wear. “That really helps to keep things random, see?” His eagle claw held a shiny bit. He turned it and Pinkie saw a banana, he turned the coin, now it was a donkey, another turn, a cloud, turn, two bunnies.
Pinkie’s eyes grew more excited with every turn. “Uhhh! Ask it what kind of cupcake I should make for the two of us!”
“You mean I can stay?” Discord looked hopeful at the pony.
“Well, duh! You’re a friend of Fluttershy, and any friend of Fluttershy is a friend of mine. Except for the skunks. It took a week before we could have customers in here again.”
Discord gripped the coin and flipped it. “Banana chocolate with extra pepper. The coin has spoken, so it will be!” He was just about to snip his claw to conjure the sweets when Pinkie stopped him.
“Magic Cupcakes?” she asked with an edge in her voice. “You’re in a bakery, sugarcube. Not even Princess Celestia would dare to conjure a cupcake in a bakery.”
“So you will bake them? And what do I do in the meantime?”
“You could play with the twins if you like. Just make sure Pumpkin doesn’t hit you with her magic. That smarts a bit.” Pinkie pointed a hoof at the stairs to the first floor. Then she disappeared into the kitchen. “Mrs. Cake, I need to bake a special order. And it’s okay if the god of chaos babysits the twins, right?”
A few minutes later the pained scream of Discord echoed through the house. “I told him it smarts,” she grinned.
Some time later the two of them sat in the park and ate their cupcakes. “Not bad,” Pinkie said, “not bad at all,” and took another bite. She watched the twins play with Discord’s tail. He had become quite good at dodging the little magic bolts Pumpkin fired from her horn and Pound could not escape, even on his fast little wings. To his immense surprise Discord quite enjoyed this little trip. Pinkie was a funny pony, she didn’t mind his tricks and was not afraid to try and prank him back.
The sun was slowly setting when they returned to the Corner. “So, what do we do now?” Discord asked.
Pinkie wrinkled her forehead. “We could go to Twilight’s or we could visit Rarity.” She grinned and snatched a bit from the tip-jar. “Head is Twilight. Tail is Rarity.” she announced. The coin spun in the air, Pinkie snatched it and slammed it on the table. “Heads, we’re off to the library!” The coin remained on the table.
The two met Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash at the library and told each other ghost stories until midnight. Discord hadn’t expected the little bookworm to be that good at it and even the pegasus pony wasn’t half bad. Only Pinkie always blew the scary part, she simply couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
When they returned to the Corner Pinkie offered Discord a couch, but the draconequus found a much more comfortable place under the ceiling. Pinkie just shrugged and was asleep a few seconds later. Just as Discord was about to drift off too, his eyes suddenly shot open. He sat next to Pinkie Pie and watched the sleeping pony for a minute. Then he slithered down into the bakery. The coin was still there and glowed in the soft moonlight.
When the first customers came in the next morning the draconequus was still there, staring at the coin.
---
“I see. You spend the day in Ponyville at Pinkie Pie’s, played with the Cake twins and traded ghost stories with Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” Celestia took another sip from her cup. ”I don’t see why that kept you from sleeping.”
Discord looked left, right, up and over his shoulder. Then he gripped Celestia’s head, stared straight into her eyes and whispered “Pinkie Pie is an earth pony. She has hooves. By the stars, how did she flip that coin!?”