Twilight stood there, watching Discord revel in his chaos. She had known from the very beginning that Discord would totally abuse this privilege. A chance to spread chaos without anyone stopping him had to bring joy to the draconeques.
Despite the many chaotic aberrations being created, Twilight couldn't help but smile. She enjoyed seeing Discord happy, especially after everything that happened. After his betrayal, she didn't think she'd ever trust him again. How could she? He had turned his back on everything he had earned. His friends, his acceptance, his freedom. It seemed as if all of that had been flushed down the drain.
But, friendship is magic. After realizing that, Discord had proven that he was ready to be sincere in his reformation. Twilight couldn't be prouder.
Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a lemon meringue pie soaring past her head. She ducked quickly, avoiding the assault. She turned her head to see Discord, attempting to conceal his snickering with his paw.
"Not funny, Discord. I just took a shower. Besides, isn't a pie gag rather cliché?" She raised an eyebrow, giving a small smirk.
Discord gave a chuckle. "I suppose you are right. Though, it would have been funny nonetheless."
Twilight looked down at a pie on the ground, and her smirk grew slightly bigger. "Oh, I'm sure it would have been. Ha!"
Nothing happened.
"Uh huh," Discord looked down at the same pie, noticing it remained docile. "I don't see what's so amusing about a solitary pie. You have a poor sense of humor, Twilight."
Twilight was confused at first, but she remembered she couldn't use her magic. "Right, I forgot. No magic. Well, that was embarrassing." She gave a sheepish smile.
"I'm sure it was. Don't worry. I'm about ready to pack it in. Let's head back up." Discord said, trying not to think about how cute she looked when she was embarrassed.
She gave a nod and flew back up with a mighty flap of her wings. Discord quickly exited as well.
Once Discord was back out, Twilight sealed the room with her magic, covering it up.
Discord sighed, "I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. Haven't had the chance to spread chaos free reign for a looong time."
Twilight smiled, "I'm glad you're happy. I don't like having miserable attitudes in my Kingdom." She gently poked him in the chest.
"Huh, yah, well. I shouldn't have a problem following that rule," he chuckled.
She was about to say something but was cut off by the sound of the clock chiming, indicating that another hour had passed.
"Hey, what do you know. It's already noon. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Literally," Discord snapped his fingers, and the clock grew wings and began to fly away.
Twilight returned the clock to its stationary form before realizing something. "Wait, noon? I know I had something to do at noon. But, what was it?" She put a hoof to chin. "Let me check my schedule." She summoned a notepad and flipped to a page. Her violet eyes skimmed the page. A gasp escaped her throat.
"Oh no! I completely forgot! I'm supposed to be heading to Canterlot for a meeting with the Princesses. How could I have forgotten?!" She began to hyperventilate. Discord poked her head.
"Hey, what was that for?" She asked, rubbing her head.
"Don't get all worked up over nothing. It's very unbecoming of a Princess," Discord patronizingly wagged his finger at her.
"But, it's a meeting with the Princesses!"
"Don't you mean the other Princesses?" He crossed his arms. "You have got to start remembering your job, Twilight. You, Celly, Lulu, and Candy are all equal. Sure, you're not the main ruler of Equestria, but the point is, you're all princesses."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You're basically saying they won't care if I'm late, right?"
Discord chuckled. "If that's what you got out of it, then sure!"
Twilight gave a slight chuckle, "Well, I guess you're right. I should probably go," She headed towards the door but stopped.
"Oh, wait, the train already left. The next one comes at 1:15. I don't feel like draining my energy teleporting to Canterlot." She looked at Discord.
"Say, Discord?" He turned towards her. He knew what she wanted.
"Don't tell me. You want me to teleport you to Canterlot, right?" Discord raised an eyebrow.
"Well, that, and would you like to come?"
Discord's heart leapt. He sincerely hoped he was hearing her right. "Pardon?"
"Well, I don't like going to Canterlot by myself. Even though I grew up there, I really hate dealing with the uptight Canterlot society. Plus, me now being an official Princess might get me some unwanted attention. If you know what I mean," She gave a pointed look.
Discord was reluctant at first, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to Canterlot, especially since he was going with her. He shook his head at those thoughts. Still couldn't get rid of them.
"Very well, Princess. I shall escort you to our glorious capital. Don't expect me to shake off all of the paparazzi, though," Discord said in a joking manner.
Twilight giggled. "No, but I don't need a full crowd of fanponies gushing all over me. Let's go." Discord nodded, and with a snap of his fingers, they were gone.
With a flash of light, the pair reappeared in the beautiful city of Canterlot. No pony noticed their arrival due to their head in the air with closed eyes. Discord rolled his eyes. Two thousand years and the upper-class hadn't changed.
Though a Canterlot citizen by birth, Twilight desired no affiliation with high society. And, though she didn't like to admit it out loud, she ranked far higher than the average Canterlot pony due to her Princess status. She smiled at the thought.
Twilight felt something bump into her, or rather somepony. She turned around to see the rich couple Jet Set and Upper Crust dusting themselves off, eyes still closed.
"Would you mind watching where you are going? There are ponies walking these streets," Jet Set reprimanded standoffishly.
Twilight shared an amused glance with Discord. She enjoyed their oblivion of who they were talking to. She quickly summoned her royal regalia to further insinuate her humor.
"Yes, dear, I suggest paying attention to where you are going. You might have wrinkled my ensemble. This wasn't cheap, you know," She finally opened her eyes and gasped to see Princess Twilight Sparkle and Discord, the Lord of Chaos, standing in front of her.
"Upper Crust, what is--Princess Twilight!" Jet Set exclaimed after opening his eyes as well. They both fell to their knees in a bow, feeling ashamed for speaking towards a princess in such an ill manner.
"Forgive us, Your Highness. We did not realize it was you," Upper Crust proclaimed, trying to make up for their faux pas.
Twilight giggled, "Do not feel bad. I know you didn't intend on speaking to me in such a way. You didn't know. I do not hold anything against you." She tried to speak with regality as a princess is known for doing. It just added to her delight in playing with them.
Jet Set looked up and scrunched his nose in disgust at Discord. "My Princess, you certainly have an...odd taste in companions. I would have expected a lovely mare such as yourself to go out with a more sophisticated stallion."
Discord was taken aback by that statement. Did this guy really think they were here for...personal purposes? Twilight was also shocked at this stallion's assumption.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where'd you get that idea?" Twilight asked abruptly.
"Well, what other reason would he be with you? Unless he's planning to conspire against the crown," Upper Crust flipped her elegant mane.
Discord placed his hands on his hips, "Now, hold on there, missy. I gave up that idea a loooong time ago. I am simply escorting Princess Twilight to the Palace. Is that a crime?"
Upper Crust lowered her teal-shadowed eyelids, "Of course not. However, are those your true intentions?"
Twilight was about to rebuke that statement, but Discord defended himself. "Whatever my intentions were in the past, I have no desire to see them come to fruition now." His face was serious, unlike his usual playful expression. Twilight was surprised at the sudden shift of emotion.
Discord sighed, "I have done a lot of bad things, I cannot deny that fact. However, I can try to make up for them. I no longer wish to rule Equestria, too much paper work if you ask me. I am a changed draconeques. I am trying my best to make ponies see that. And you have the audacity to assume that is why I am here." He harshly poked both of them in the chest.
"I say!" Jet Set exclaimed, rubbing his chest as though he were shot.
"I am simply abiding by my friend's request. She asked me to escort her here, and who am I to say no to a Princess?" He winked at Twilight who proceeded to roll her eyes. She wouldn't deny that she was impressed by his speech.
Discord turned back to them. "So, do you want to stick to your assumption and call the guards? Even if you did, nothing would happen. But, just some food for thought for ya. Wow! Didn't expect that to come out of me."
"Neither did I," Discord looked down and saw Twilight smiling at him, which in turn, made him smile.
Jet Set cleared his throat, "Well, Sir Discord, we apologize for the misunderstanding. I do hope you won't hold it against us."
"Indeed. It would be just awful for our image. Imagine being known for wrongly accusing the innocent. We are sorry, Your Highness." Upper Crust and her husband bowed reverently.
Twilight and Discord rolled their eyes. "You are forgiven. Now, we have another engagement someplace else. We bid you both good day."
With that, Twilight and Discord began their walk towards the castle.
"I've got to say, Discord, I am impressed. You have a surprising way with words," Twilight complimented.
Discord gave a side nod. "Well, you pick up a few things over a thousand years."
They arrived at the Palace, looking just a magnificent as always. They greeted the guards and went in. There were a few court mages running around, probably running an errand for Princess Celestia. The two approached the double doors of the throne room and opened them.
It was empty for the most part. Princess Celestia must have canceled court for the rest of the day. The Princess herself sat atop her throne, holding an object with her magic. She sensed another presence in the room and lifted her head. Her eyes widened as her gaze fell upon the two.
"Oh, Twilight, Discord! What are you doing here?" She hid the object behind her back.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. Discord smirked, "You called us here."
Celestia lowered an eyelid, "If I recall, I asked for Twilight. Not you. You know, in some countries, you would be beheaded for this."
"Oh, Celestia, you know you're happy to see me," Discord casually walked towards the throne.
"Discord, stop. Princess, I asked him to come with me. I don't really like coming here alone," Twilight explained after trotting next to Discord.
Discord nodded but suddenly looked confused. "Wait, what about Spike?"
"He promised to spend a day with the Cutie Mark Crusaders in exchange for them helping him clean the basement." Discord and Celestia gave her a questioning look. "Don't ask."
Princess Celestia nodded her head, "Very well. I honestly didn't think you were coming. This isn't a formal meeting. I just wanted to spend the afternoon with my faithful student."
Discord gave a triumphant laugh, "See? I told you, you were getting worked up over nothing. And you didn't trust me. Hmph!" Discord turned and crossed his arms.
Twilight laughed, "Hey, I calmed down. And I-wait, what do you mean by 'spend time with'?"
Celestia looked up. She was fiddling with the unidentified object in her magic.
Discord smirked, "Tia, what are you hiding?"
She quickly hid the object behind her back and tried to produce an innocent smile. "Hiding? I'm not hiding anything."
Twilight and Discord exchanged glances and nodded. "I beg to differ!" Discord teleported to her throne and snatched the object from behind her back.
"Hey! Discord, I order you to give that back," Celestia tried to grab him, but he teleported back to Twilight's side.
"Since when do I obey orders from you?" He held out the object in a gloating manner. "Ha! I've got--wait, what the hay is this thing?!" Discord took a closer look at the object. It was a three-dimensional cube with different colored tiles spread all around it.
"It's nothing!" Celestia tried to snatch it back with her magic, but Discord blocked it.
"Yo! Keep your magic to yourself!" Discord turned away.
Twilight took the cube in her magic and inspected it. Discord was not expecting that.
"Hey, the same applies to you!"
Twilight recognized it, "Oh, I know what this is. My brother and I used to play with this all the time when we were young. I haven't seen a Rubik's Cube in ages. These used to be so fun. Shiny would always get frustrated whenever I figured it out, and he couldn't," Twilight giggled at the memory.
"How you figured it I will never know. That piece of plastic exceeds my millennia of knowledge," Celestia placed her hoof on the foreleg rest of her throne and laid her face on it.
"I am sorry, but this is new to me. What is a Ruby Cube?" Discord asked as he held the cube in his hand.
Twilight grabbed the cube with her magenta magic, eliciting a groan from Discord. "Rubik's Cube. It's a brain-teaser basically. The goal is to get all of the same colors together. One side red, another side blue, and so forth."
"Well, that's not very exciting," Discord was disappointed as his excitement began to go down.
"I know it seems that way. But, it's really hard. So much twisting and turning. Let's see if I still remember the strategy." She began twisting the sections of the cube with her magic, moving them up and down and side to side. After a few minutes, the sections were still as color-jumbled as before.
"Ugh! I can't remember the steps. It's been too long. Oh, well," Twilight placed the cube in her hoof.
Discord smirked slightly at her frustration. She looked cute when she was frustrated. He pounded his head at those incessant thoughts.
Discord teleported the cube back to Celestia. "Here you go. Enjoy your Rubo Cube."
"You're not going to try?" Celestia smirked, stashing the cube in a little box.
"You kidding? If she can't solve it, what makes you think I can? I'm not in the mood for having my brain teased right now. It's very sensitive," Discord joked.
Just then, the doors opened revealing the Princess of the Night carrying a box in her magic.
"Ah, Twilight Sparkle! Annnd Discord? Well, more the merrier, I suppose. Sister, I brought the supplies needed to have entertainment," Luna set the box down.
"Lulu! So nice of you to join us on this gorgeous day. And here I thought you were nocturnal," Discord started digging through the stuff that Luna had brought.
"Where did you get all of this?" Twilight asked, levitating a yo-yo and a bouncy ball.
Princess Celestia came down from her throne. "A family donated these to us a few days ago. They suggested we open a Foal Area here in the Palace. We are considering it, but for now..." She levitated a stack of cards. "Who wants to play Poker?"
After several hours of playing cards and other games, Twilight and Discord headed back home. Luna had raised the moon while they were there, so it was already dark. Discord teleported them in front of Twilight's room in the Friendship Palace.
Spike was already asleep in his new bed. Even though his basket hadn't been destroyed, Spike felt he was old enough to sleep in an actual bed. His old basket was now used as a crib for his pet phoenix, Pewee.
Twilight smiled as she lovingly watched her young assistant sleep. The Cutie Mark Crusaders must have knocked all of the energy out of him.
Twilight turned to Discord and whispered softly, "Well, Discord, this was a surprisingly fun day. We should do it again."
Discord was glad it was dark, otherwise she might have seen him blushing. He coughed, "I'll have to consult my schedule. Though, I'll definitely make a note of it. I had fun with you today." He bit his tongue after saying that.
Twilight smiled, "So did I. Now, " she yawned, "it's late. You'd better head home, wherever that is. Goodnight, Discord." She entered her room and closed the door.
Discord nodded. "Goodnight to you too, Princess." He teleported back home, feeling not so conflicted about his feelings.