"How dare you feign relations with Twilight!" Celestia's voice boomed at Discord. Her normally soft pink eyes were hot red with fury, and her usually peaceful flowing mane was blasting torrents of white-hot flame. "You didn't even consult me about taking anyone, let alone HER, here!"
"Princess Celes-" Twilight was halted mid-sentence as Celestia cast a simple sleeping spell on her formal pupil.
"Now what did you go and do that for?" Discord groaned, like a colt caught with his hooves in the cookie jar. He did, however, take a slightly more defensive stance by rising into a sitting position.
"I'd rather not have this sort of discussion in front of her, thank you very much," she hissed icily. She moved toward the younger alicorn, a single flame moving against the dark sky. Celestia looked at Twilight's sleeping figure with a softer gaze. "I'm sending her home." She lowered her glowing horn to Twilight's forehead for a few moments, and then the purple princess was gone.
"You just had to spoil the fun, didn't you?" Sneered Discord. His arms were crossed as he rolled his eyes.
"Ah, yes, fun," Celestia spoke, looking back to him. "It's fun for you, isn't it? To wrench out the hearts of us silly little mares for your own amusement? I thought you were done with that sort of thing. I thought you were learning the value of friendship. I thought you were a changed draconequus, Discord. I'd thought you you were becoming better!" She cried, coming closer and closer to his face. Her eyes were angry slits as she scowled at him, horn illuminated and mane a blazing rolling mass.
"Celestia..." for once, the talkative Lord of Chaos was rendered speechless.
"And yet, here you are, snatching away the young mare who is basically my daughter right before my own eyes! Do you not know how that feels? To see someone you care about in potential danger of getting her heart broken, just like your own? By the same damned bastard, too!" Her horn flared brighter than before, mere inches from his face. Her eyes bore through his skull like daggers.
"I-"
"No! Don't say it!" Celestia screeched, tears coming to her eyes. "How you managed to get Luna in on this... You turned my own sister against me... again! You, you," she huffed, the sheer amount of indignation she felt not being able to form itself into words. "I ought to lock you up in the pits of Tatarus next to that demon Tirek! Is this how you pay me back for turning a blind eye to your treachery? By toying with my dear Twilight? Trying to... trying to take another away from me..."
And that is when Princess Celestia of Equestria, Lady of the Sun, Heraldess of Harmony, began to cry.
Her horn dimmed slowly, until it snuffed out completely, and her mane returned to its regular aura. Her eyes never left Discord's as tears trickled down her cheeks. Her ears fell flat pressed up against her head, and her eyes seemed to scream a single question: Why?
Discord couldn't come up with a single word to say. He didn't even know what to think; should he comfort her? Ridicule her? Teleport to a different plane of existence in hopes to avoid whatever she had planned for him? He was frozen solid, so much that any passerby might believe him to be a statue once more. The only tell-tale sign of his life was that of his heart beating so very fast that it might burst at any moment.
"Sister," a soft voice glided out from behind the elder princess. "Halcyon thyself, and hark to our reasoning."
"Luna?" Celestia turned around to face her younger sister, tears still escaping from her tired eyes. "I do not... Luna, why didn't you tell me?"
"We believeth, nay our apologies, I believe in his reform. He hath learned his lesson since the battle with the demon Tirek, and we should believe in his true intent. Sister, I has't seen his dreams... he doest love Twilight Sparkle, truly. Discord came to ask for mine aid two days prior, and twas I who suggested that he bring her to this wondrous meadow. The censure is mine."
"Then why did I sense the blasted stench of that curse coming off my beloved student?" Celestia cried out. "He put it on her... he doesn't care, Luna. He tricked you, just like he always does."
"Curse? This is the first I hath heard of that. " Luna looked beyond her distraught sister into the eyes of Discord. "Is this true? Has't thee cursed the mare thee claim to love?"
"I'd never!" His chest puffed up defensively. "Why, I'm offended, Princess! I'd never curse her."
"I sensed it, Discord! The very same evil jinx that destroyed my mother!" Celestia shouted accusingly as she whipped around to face him. "Don't dance around words, beast! I don't care what you call it — curse, spell, enchantment — you did it! You cast it on her, admit it!"
"I... don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, trying to force an innocent look onto his face. Needless to say, it didn't work.
"Discord, doth thee know what thou has't done?" Luna's voice rose a few octaves to a tone of urgency. "Didst thee cast the Illusion of Love upon Twilight Sparkle?"
"I, uh." He shrank back. "...maybe?"
"YOU SCOUNDREL!" Celestia's voice exploded. A blast of light erupted from her horn, only narrowly missing one very terrified draconequus. "YOU INSOLENT FOOL!" She charged after him, taking uncoordinated shots at him as he sped away across the meadow.
"Gentle, my sister!" Luna called after Celestia. She took wing to the skies above, flying above the uncontrollable irate mess that was her sister. "One should not act this way!"
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE, DRACONEQUUS SCUM?" Celestia continued racing after her target, completely ignoring Luna, mane aflame once more. "YOU'VE DOOMED HER MIND TO INSANITY!"
"H-hey, can we talk about this, ohmygoodness I'm out of shape, over tea? Maybe some cake?" Discord pleaded as he ran. He couldn't teleport away. It seemed that although she was in hysterics, Celestia had not come unprepared. The barrier around the meadow had been strengthened, making it virtually impossible to leave until she lowered it.
"I'LL DRINK TEA FROM YOUR SKULL!" She shrieked in reply. "I'LL GRIND UP YOUR BONES AND USE IT FOR FLOUR!"
"Simple 'no thank you' would have sufficed!"
"Tia! Thee art acting most unpleasantly!" Luna shouted from above. "What would Twilight think? What would mother think?"
"MOTHER ISN'T HERE, LUNA! SHE ISN'T HERE BECAUSE OF WRETCHES LIKE HIM!"
"Thee art being unreasonable. I am done with this trivial violence. End thy madness, Tia!" And with that, the princess of the night dove from the sky like a falcon upon its prey, tackling her sister with enough force to leave an indent in ground. Luna stood and dusted herself off. Pollen flew through the air in thick clouds.
Celestia lay broken in the flattened grass and smashed flowers. She was silent.
Discord watched warily a few hundred feet away from atop one of the sparse trees, waiting for the Sun to come down upon him at any moment.
Suddenly, Celestia was gone. Barely a flash of magic signaled her leave.
Luna sighed. Her sister wasn't one to partake in dramatic acts, but when she was really worked up... well, this happened. It was unhealthy, she thought. But she couldn't do anything about it now. There were more pressing matters at hoof.
"Discord." She called out to the tree. "Come."
"I'm not a dog, you know," he complained, but he heeded her words anyway. He slunk toward her, an almost guilty-looking look on his face.
"Discord, wherefore didst thee compromise young Sparkle's mind?" She looked at him with sorrowful eyes.
"I just... I just wanted a chance, okay?"
“...and stir with a pegasus feather. Hmm, whoever wrote this didn't know what they were doing, did they?” Discord shook his head disapprovingly. All around him were shelves. Shelves and shelves of books. Books as far as the eye could see from floor to ceiling and left to right. It appeared to be a vast hallway, with no end to either side in view. “Not only does this breach the laws of magic, but a pegasus feather? To even attempt to concoct a potion like this, you’d have to at least use the feather of an alicorn. Pah, it’s like it was written in the pre-Equestrian era.” He studied the book more carefully, squinting a little. “Oh wait. It was. No wonder this recipe is so terrible. Only a pony wouldn’t know the difference between a potion and poison. Oh well.” He slammed the book shut and tossed it into the large pile of books behind him.
“Oh, I’ll never find anything, will I?” he shouted angrily. He fell into a heap on the floor, a heap of failure. He buried his face in his arms. “The laws of magic… they prevent anything like this from happening! There’s just silly illusion spells and…” he trailed off. His head shot up as a light bulb appeared over his head, and his eyes widened. “Illusions. Why didn't I see it before?” He dove into the mountain of books and popped out with a pitch-black tome. He immediately started flipping through it. “Ahah! Arbutus, fern, daffodil… yes, this’ll work just fine!”
“This is even better than what I was looking for,” Discord murmured as he continued to read. “She’ll just think she’s in love with me, which will give me a chance to make her fall for me for real! Let’s see, applications, applications… Ah! ‘How to cast’.” He read the instructions. And read them again. “...Ingestion? Really?”
"I do not wish to undermine thy devotion to Princess Twilight, Discord. But doth thee know the full implications of this spell? Celestia hadst full right to call this foul spell a curse." Luna shook her head. He was learning, yes, but this was far more complicated of a hiccup than she had expected.
"Only that she'd believe she had feelings for me..." he trailed off. "I assume that there is something else?"
"Aye, something most horrid." She looked upward to the moon. The storm of pollen surrounded them, pulsing in angry clouds. "Any mind magic is most dangerous, as thee know, but this specific spell is more vile than all mind manipulation magic combined. Any sentient creature hath its own set of feelings and beliefs, thee concur?"
The pollen faded into pitch black darkness, the only source of light coming from Luna's horn. Suddenly, a new light shown from far away. Off in the distance were two figures, a unicorn mare and an earthpony stallion. The stallion hoofed the mare a bouquet of flowers, and the mare took a delicate bite.
"At which hour a spell like this is cast upon any creature," Luna continued, "it begins to meddle with its mind in the most heinous ways."
The unknown mare seemed to be in pain as she clutched her head in her hooves. Suddenly, large wings flared from her sides.
Discord gasped. An alicorn?
"Based on how that creature may has't felt ere, t'will become obsessed with either the destruction or protection of the object of focus."
The alicorn thrust her head forward, piercing the stallion's chest in an instant. He crumpled to the ground, and the mare let out a blood curdling scream. The scene then faded, and the pollen fell to the ground. The meadow and the sky were visible once more.
"But... I can fix it, can't I?" His heart began to sink. Once again, he hadn't thought of the consequences...
"T'will be a difficult feat to accomplish. In all honesty, I has't never heard of any creature being cured of this jinx. For to be rid of such a curse, one must feel real love or hatred, depending on the obsession. And, sadly, tis very hard to feel anything at all while under the spell."
"I... I see..." Discord wondered briefly if his heart could sink any lower.
"I am afraid poor Celestia wilt not become any more level headed for a long while, for this is the same curse that befell our mother long ago. Some fool sought to win over our mother's heart and created the blasted thing. The poor nitwit didst not know what he wast doing, however, much like thee, and damned her to a life dedicated to his death. For, although he didst not know it, feelings for him wast already blossoming within her heart."
"But Twilight hasn't been out to get me, or anything of that nature," Discord protested.
"Only time wilt tell, Discord. The curse works slowly at first, gradually driving her most insane. She wilt begin to lash out at those around her, including thee. Especially thee." Luna closed her eyes and shook her head. "Tis of utmost importance that we search for a cure immediately. Tis thy responsibility, Discord, as thee art the one who cast the spell in ignorance. If 't be true thee very much care for fair Twilight Sparkle, then thee wilt not hesitate in aiding me in mine search." Luna sighed once more. "I also advise that thee avoid mine sister. Thee wilt not enjoy thy next encounter as much as thee didst the present day."
"Yes, of course I will!" He shouted. His bout of despair was washed over with a new sense of resolution. He was going to fix his mess, no matter the cost.