"It wasn't worth it!" Eris wailed as she came up for air. She plunged her head back into the pool of water and soap bubbles, rubbing her mouth vigorously.
Meanwhile, Discord was still dazed from Eris's kiss. He stood in the library, his eyes glazed over and his mouth agape.
"I can't believe she did that," he said out loud. Shaking his head to clear the clouds, Discord wandered up to Eris's room. He knocked on the door.
"LEAVE ME ALONE TO DIE!" Discord took a step back from Eris's dismaying cry.
"Uh, it's me," Silence. "I just wanted to say thank you." Still nothing. "I'll be outside, in case you're interested," Discord called.
Eris never came out. She skipped dinner, curled up on her bed, the cutains closed and the doors locked. Eris fell asleep several times, but her state of conciouness became permanent when there was another knock at her door.
"Eris? It's Luna, are you alright?" Forcing herself to crawl out of bed, Eris opened the door to let Luna in.
"Wow, you look miserable." Luna commented.
Eris closed the door. "I know,"
"So what happened? Discord said you missed dinner. He's worried about you."
"I kissed him," Eris whispered. it was barely audible, and Luna leaned closer.
"What?"
"I kissed Discord, alright! He kept hugging me and wouldn't let me go so I finally got fed up and kissed him!"
Eris pulled the sheets over her head an didn't move.
Luna opened her mouth and closed it. "Eris, I... I don't know what to say."
"And to make things worse, he's two hundred times my age!"
Luna stood there, deflated. "Well, uh, I'll talk to him, if you want me to." Eris shifted under the cover, but said nothing. "I'll send Celestia up when she gets here."
Luna left, and Eris found the strength to get out of bed and do a few things. She brushed her teeth for the second time and made her bed and re opened the curtains. Dawn was approaching and as Eris moved away, she gasped as she stepped on something thay alomost carried her off her feet.
Looking down, she realized it was a shard of glass. In her desperation to shut out the outside world, she must've knocked the vase off the windowsill. The water had long sinced dried up, and Eris carefully picked up the broken pieces and disposed of them, and collected the roses, leaving them on a table.
She couldn't bring herself to throw them out, and Eris sat in her desk chair staring at them.
All in all, she was confused about how she felt about Discord. He had tossed them into the pond, but it had been an accident. The roses had been a sweet gesture, but he was almost as old as Celestia! She pushed the thought aside, coming to the conclusion that it could never work out and looked back at the horizon. The sun was justmaking appearance over the distant hills, and with a flash of hope, Eris realized that Celestia would be home soon.
Eris opened a balcony door to let a warm breeze in. She sighed and prayed that today would be a good day.
Meanwhile, Celestia had just arrived at the castle. Luna was waiting just inside the castle doors and they hugged. "How have things been since you got back?" Celestia asked. Luna sighed. "I think you should talk to Eris. She might have a better look on this subject than I do."
Concerned, Celestia rushed up to Eris's room and pushed the door open. "Eris?"
The young chimera was standing on the balcony, but flew in at the sound of Celestia's voice. "Thank goodness," Eris said.
"Luna tells me that something has been troubling you." Celestia closed the door. "Would you like to tell me about it?"
Eris exhaled and told her everything.
"Even if I did like him, he's way older than me." Eris finished.
Celestia nodded slowly, absorbing Eris's story.
"I'll talk to Discord," Celestia decided. "But I will expect you at breakfast. I will send a guard to fetch you." Eris took a deep breath as Celestia departed from Eris's room.
Celestia continued on to Discord's room and knocked on the door. A moment later, he opened it. He sighed. "I'm in trouble aren't I?" Celestia shook her head. "Not at all. I would just like to have a word with you." Discord pushed the door open more and let Celestia pass through.
"I have spoken with Eris," She said. "And I think you two would be closer if you were a bit younger."
"That's the roadblock?" Discord folded his arms. "My age is the problem?" He scowled. "Can that be fixed?"
"I have a spellbook that contains a youth potion, but it is incredibly hard. It takes a year to create and the ingredients and requirements are very precise. One error and the entire thing could be ruined."
"So it can be helped."
"Are you willing to wait?" Celestia questioned.
"I will wait for as long as it takes." Discord replied solemnly, and he meant it.