//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Cakes and Chaos // Story: The Most Chaotic Night Ever!!! // by Azure129 //------------------------------// As he flew away from Twilight’s castle, Discord found himself in an odd position: he wasn’t sure exactly where to go next. He didn’t really feel like being alone at the moment, and he had just finished a visit with Twilight, and that had been preceded by a lengthier visit with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. He knew Rarity had Carousel Boutique under lock and key at the moment to keep her final Gala designs for everyone a surprise, so visiting her was out. For a moment, Discord naturally considered going to Fluttershy’s cottage, but then… ‘I’ll end up gushing about my new feelings for Celestia, I just know it. Better to give myself some time to sort out this mess in my head before I try talking to Fluttershy about it and say something I don’t really mean…or worse say something I DO really mean.’ Discord rolled his eyes to the side and did his best not to blush. Of course, honestly, if things had been nice and normal (relatively speaking) in his life, Discord figured he would have just popped over to Canterlot castle now to return Celestia’s book and bother the princesses…and maybe Celestia in particular. And by ‘bother’ he meant more like find an excuse to spend time with her and win attention from her just for the sake of the fun he had been starting to find in their conversations and encounters. “No, no…” Discord mumbled to himself, his look falling as he flew onward, “I especially can’t do that. I cannot handle being around that sunshiny mare right now. She’ll giggle about something or give me a warm smile or compliment me in an unexpected way or let that chaotic hair of hers get too close to me, and then I’ll fall all to pieces.” He shuddered a little (or was it more like quivering again?). “I need to brace myself first before I actually see her again, even for something as simple as returning a book.” Discord crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow deeply in concern. “I can’t believe this happened to me. It’s ridiculous really. Me with romantic feelings this bad…and for her! Ugh, why didn’t anyone tell me that opening my heart to friendship could open my heart even more to romance? Probably in the friendship fine print somewhere…I should really lodge a complaint with Twilight.” He sighed deeply. “I could use a cupcake or something. Sugar usually makes everything better…” Discord was about to snap his fingers to whip himself up a treat, but then he blinked and then he grinned. “Wait a minute! That’s it, that’s where I can go!” Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly he appeared on the stoop of Sugar Cube Corner. The draconequus grinned to himself. “Perfect. Pinkie Pie’s my friend, and she’s the most chaotic of the elements of harmony. If anyone’ll take my mind off of my problems and put a smile back on my face, it’s her.” He chuckled, knocked on the door, and then opened it himself and entered anyway. “Oh Pinkie Pie, your favorite friendly being of chaos is here!” he called out. His words were met with a bright giggle from across the room. “Silly Discord—you’re the only friendly being of chaos I know. And the only being of chaos in general. But you’re right, you are still my favorite!” And there was Pinkie Pie behind the kitchen counter toward the back of the shop, wearing a chef’s hat and half covered in flour. With one hoof she was mixing something in a bowl, with another hoof she was pouring chocolate chips into a measuring cup, and with her prehensile tail she was dusting some confections with powered sugar. Discord’s smile grew, and he flew forward into the kitchen. “Ah, I knew this place would make me feel better. You’re the best source of naturally occurring chaos in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie, I swear.” He chuckled. Pinkie beamed, continuing to do her three tasks at once (and also now reaching a rear hoof behind her to tap the timer on the oven which had just dinged). “Gee, thanks, Discord! You’re like the most chaotic guy ever, so that’s really saying something! It’s funny though—I’m not even trying to do chaos, I’m just trying to help fill as many of the orders as possible for the Cakes so that they can focus on the big Gala order they have to fill. If I really wanted to do chaos instead though, I’m sure it’d be a lot crazier than this—I could stack all the cake layers upside down, and dye the vanilla frosting to look like chocolate and the chocolate frosting to look like vanilla, and I could mix the ingredients while standing on my head and trying to play my one man band, and there could be party canons going off everywhere, and—” Discord reached forward with his tail and covered Pinkie’s (still moving) mouth. His was grinning completely now. “Okay, okay, Pinkie dear, enough showing off—if I ever need an apprentice or a fill in as master of chaos, you’ve got the job. I swear.” He removed his tail and chuckled at the bright smile and gasp that came from Pinkie. “Really?” Her big eyes shimmered and her grin went from ear to ear. “I’d love that, Discord! People always like a little chaos to go along with their parties for the sake of the surprise. Maybe in a few years we could try.” She sighed, her smile remaining but returning to a more normal pitch as she continued with her duties. “Right now though I already have a lot of work to do learning about baking from the Cakes. And also I’m sort of their full time live in babysitter for now. But when Pumpkin and Pound are older, I’ll definitely have free time to work on chaos too.” She closed her eyes and nodded with a big smile, making a little squee sound. Discord flipped on his back in the air, trying not to chuckle. “Chaotic yet responsible—I really do have to start spending more time around you, Pinkie Pie. Did anyone ever tell you that you make a great role model?” Pinkie opened her eyes to focus on her mixing again. “Well, the Cakes say that sometimes about me with the babies, but I’ve never been told that by a master of anything before. Aw, and I know, Discord, being responsible when all you want to do is have fun can feel weird. But in a way learning to be responsible is it’s own fun, and it’s never as bad as it seems, and either way the sacrifices you have to make end up making the fun you have later that much more special.” She brought her eyes up to his again and gave a nod. Discord twirled his fingers around his beard in thought and nodded in return. “Yes, I think I’m starting to understand that a little. Sort of a checks and balances thing.” He stretched and turned back over in the air, resting his head on his paw. “Right now though I’m definitely in need of fun, which is why I came here.” He smiled and shrugged. “I’ve had a harrowing time of Gala drama lately, and I’m exhausted too, and I naturally figured a good dessert would help cheer me up. And where better to get a good chaotic dessert than from the most chaotic element of harmony of all?” Pinkie smiled, glancing up as she zipped over to some more bowls farther down the counter to continue doing three things at once as part of her baking. “Wow, I’m glad you have so much confidence in me and my baking, Discord.” She pouted a little. “I’m sorry that ponies are still bugging you about the Gala though. And that you’re exhausted. Are you still having bad dreams that are keeping you up at night?” Discord raised an eyebrow, his smile dropping. “How did you know about my dreams?” Pinkie just shrugged. “Pinkie Sense. I can tell when a weird shift in how things normally are is about to happen. And incidentally, congratulations—ever since you became our friend and started hanging around here, I’ve had a whole new response sequence to get used to. It’s tail flick, eye wince, little shake, nose scrunch. That let’s me know something’s up with you. And then lately there’s been a compulsive snore and frown as part of the whole thing. That let’s me know you’ve been having bad dreams. Plus, I overheard Twilight talking to herself about your dreams the last time all of us were over at the castle.” She smiled brightly again. Discord just rolled his eyes. “So on top of everything else, you can sort of sense magical imbalances just like I can. I swear, either party ponies are some loose equine descendent of the chaos that created me or my pony wing is definitely that of a party pony.” He chuckled. “But anyway, yes, you’re right, Pinkie.” The master of chaos nodded. “My sleeping habits have been a little disturbed lately.” He sighed, but then smiled again. “But I know a classic bit of kooky confectionary from the element of laughter will cheer me right up.” Pinkie smiled and nodded. “I’d be happy to help, Discord. Just give me a minute to—Oh!” Suddenly a big tail twitch came over Pinkie Pie. She blinked several times as it finished. “Practically a doozy…” Suddenly Pinkie zipped away from the baking counter, leaving the mixing spoons still twirling for a few seconds and her apron and hat still floating in the air in the shape of her body before falling to the floor. She quickly wiped off the flour with a dishtowel and was suddenly standing alert right by the front door of the bakery. She opened the door. “Discord, I’m sorry, that was the Pinkie Sense I’ve been waiting for all day. We’re expecting a visit from Canterlot castle about our order for the Gala, and that sequence means it’s coming, and the Cakes wanted me to let them know right away!” Then she blinked and frowned. “Oh, but it might take me a while to find them in the market. But I’m still supposed to be babysitting.” She smiled and glanced to Gummy who was perched on the windowsill by the door. “Gummy, can you watch the babies?” Gummy just sat there. Then he blinked. Pinkie frowned a little again and put a hoof to her chin. “Yeah, maybe you’re not quite up to that on your own yet.” Then she turned to the master of chaos with a big grin. “Discord, please stay here and watch Pumpkin and Pound Cake for me, I’ll just be a few minutes!” Discord blinked and landed. “Oh please tell me you’re talking about desserts and not actual fillies and colts!” He scoffed and raised an eyebrow with a grin. Pinkie waved him off, smiling more. “Aw, Discord, they’re just baby foals, and they’re upstairs napping.” Then suddenly a bump and some giggles came from upstairs, causing Pinkie to glance up and then back down to Discord with a sheepish smile. “Well, they were napping. But they’re just babies, Discord, you can handle them. Pleeeeese!” She stuck out her bottom lip and looked at him with big, glistening eyes. Discord had to look away (Pinkie’s sad, pleading look wasn’t as endearing to him as Fluttershy’s but it was certainly close), and then he smiled uncomfortably but shooed her off. “Oh, just go. Babies I can work with a little better than actual kids anyway. And I’ll go check on what’s going on upstairs.” Pinkie beamed! “Thank you, Discord! I’ll make you the most chaotic dessert ever when I get back! Bye!” She hugged his tail, waved, and then pranced outside, the bell over the shop door ringing as the door closed behind her. “Randomness…utter randomness…” Discord chuckled to himself. “Okay, this was definitely the best place for me to pick to visit. I’m feeling better already.” Then the sound of another bump and more giggles from upstairs caught his ears again. He raised an eyebrow. And then with a grin he snapped himself to the upper floor. It wasn’t going to be easy for Pinkie to find Mr. and Mrs. Cake right away. The Ponyville marketplace was getting busier and busier each day as Gala time neared. Yet that fact didn’t mean the Cakes’ special visitor from Canterlot castle regarding the Gala baking order would be delayed, especially as she chose to teleport herself right over Ponyville and to drop down from the sky onto Sugar Cube Corner’s stoop only about twenty minutes after Pinkie had gone off to look for the Cakes. Princess Celestia entered Sugar Cube corner with a smile, the bell dinging as the door closed behind her. She glanced around. “Hello? It’s Princess Celestia. I’ve come to discuss the final cake order for the Gala. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a more exact time of when I could come by. Is anyone here?” She walked forward and glanced around, yet the place appeared empty. She raised an eyebrow, her voice lowering to its normal tone. “Strange. I know they were expecting me.” Then suddenly her ears caught the sound of a bump and some giggles from upstairs. Celestia raised an eyebrow and smiled to herself. She proceeded to ascend the steps. Once in the upper story hallway, she glanced around and then discovered where the sound was coming from—a closed door at the end of the hall with a light clearly on in the room behind it. The door was cracked open slightly, and Celestia slowly approached to take a peek within. ‘If Pinkie’s putting the foals to bed, I don’t want to disturb her…though I would love the chance to see them for a moment.’ She positioned herself in front of the door and peeked inside the room. Her eye remained at the door for a moment, then blinked…but then continued to look…and as she looked her smile grew in wonder. Indeed, the sight Celestia was seeing was most unexpected. Meanwhile, in the streets of Ponyville eventually… Pinkie Pie had been bouncing around and around and around and around for some time now, all the while calling out for the Cakes throughout the busy marketplace of Ponyville. Finally, though, a screaming, bouncing ball of pink pony managed to catch the attention of the two ponies she was looking for, even despite the fact that they were loaded down with saddlebags full of ingredients and right in the thickest part of the shopping crowd. “Pinkie!” Mrs. Cake blinked at the sight of her assistant. “What are you doing here?” “Yes!” Mr. Cake’s cakes eyes went wide. “And who’s watching the twins?” “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, there you are!” Pinkie beamed as she came to stand in front of them. “Well, I’m here because my pinkie sense told me that Princes Celestia was getting ready to drop down from the sky in Ponyville, and because you both told me to let you know as soon as I got a feeling she was arriving since she couldn’t give us an exact time because she was so busy.” She took in a deep breath to go on. “And don’t worry, I got a really good friend of mine to watch the twins while I stepped out to find you.” The Cakes both breathed sighs of relief. “Great, then we can head back right now to meet the Princess.” Mrs. Cake smiled. “Yeah.” Mr. Cake nodded, smiling as well. “And we just finished our shopping actually, so the timing’s perfect.” The whole group turned and started to head in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner, passing from the crowds to more open sections of the main street. Pinkie led the way, bouncing the entire time. Then a thought occurred to Mr. Cake, and he raised an eyebrow, still smiling. “Say, Pinkie, who did you get to babysit? Twilight?” Pinkie, still bouncing and still beaming, shook her head. “Nope!” “Fluttershy?” Mrs. Cake suggested, raising an eyebrow now too. Pinkie shook her head again. “Nope, but you’re getting warmer.” Mr. Cake put a hoof to his chin. “Applejack? Or Maybe Rarity?” “Nope and nope!” Pinkie announced, still with a grin. Mrs. Cake glanced to her husband, gulped, then looked back toward Pinkie Pie. “Uh…Rainbow Dash?” “Which is fine,” Mr. Cake instantly assured, trying to smile again, “Just so long as she understands not to encourage Pound to fly beyond his means, heh…” Pinkie chuckled. “Oh, I know that. But nope not her either.” Mrs. Cake raised both eyebrows now. “Well, then…who did you ask, Pinkie?” She blinked. “You didn’t leave Gummy in charge, did you?” “No way!” Pinkie shook her head, still beaming and bouncing. “I mean, I thought about it for like a second but then I realized he couldn’t handle all of the running around. Gummy’s more about observing and just taking things in, you know?” Mr. and Mrs. Cake breathed sighs of relief. Mrs. Cake smiled again. “So who did you leave the twins with, Pinkie?” Pinkie just shrugged. “My best chaotic friend ever—Discord!” “Oh, that’s nice then,” Mr. Cake replied with a nod. He and his wife walked forward with satisfied smiles for a couple of seconds. Then they stopped walking and their eyes went very wide. Mrs. Cake suddenly zipped forward right alongside Pinkie. “You left the twins alone with Discord?!” Mr. Cake zipped forward along Pinkie’s other side now. “And you left Discord as the only person to greet anypony there knowing the Princess was coming?! And you left him in charge of our babies?!” Pinkie just shrugged and glanced at them both. “Sure, why not?” The Cakes stopped walking again and their jaws fell. Then suddenly they were all but galloping homeward with their laden saddlebags, leaving Pinkie far behind them. Pinkie blinked at their sudden departure and started bouncing faster and faster to catch up with them. “Hey, wait for me!” Meanwhile, back at the Cakes’ house… For the last twenty minutes ever since Pinkie had left, Discord had indeed been the one upstairs watching the babies. And as he watched them he did what he did best—spread a little chaos, which worked out rather well actually considering how chaotic Pumpkin and Pound Cake could be. Right now the master of chaos had pretty rainbows sparkling all over the ceiling of the room, balloon animals frolicking about on the floor, glittering pinwheels sticking out of the bars of the crib…and Pound cake was busy playfully swatting down at Discord’s tail from a cotton candy cloud near the ceiling while Pumpkin was busy sucking on a cotton candy cloud on the floor and also using her magic to conjure the milk in her bottle into chocolate milk. And Discord, dear Discord, meanwhile, was floating on his back just above the floor, swatting back at Pound playfully with the tuft of his tail and looking at Pumpkin upside down with a big grin as she finished filling her bottle with chocolaty goodness. “Very good, Pumpkin. Now when you’re a little older I’ll teach you how to turn your healthy orange juice at breakfast each morning into cherry cola. Classic.” He laughed. Pumpkin put down her bottle and let out a big cheer, then came forward and hugged Discord’s whole head. Just as she did that, Pound saw and flew off of his cloud to hug Discord’s whole tail in the air. Discord just looked to both of them and laughed. “Well, it’s not quite as big an audience as I used to have for my chaos back in the day, but it’s definitely a more satisfied audience. And a much more understanding one.” He smiled more at them. “Do you want Uncle Discord to stop by more often and show you chaos? I’m sure you get your fair share from Pinkie Pie, but at least I can help you with stuff about flying and magic too? What do you say?” “YAY!” Both babies yelled at once, hugging and tackling him more. Discord laughed warmly. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” “Hmm mmm…” Suddenly someone standing in the now open doorway cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but may I play?” Pumpkin and Pound turned and gasped with big smiles at the sight of the big, pretty pony with lots of pretty hair now entering their room, and then they burst into cheers and giggles for the appearance of Celestia. Discord did not react as calmly. “Celestia!” He fell to the floor and sat bolt upright, forgot about the foals for one second, instantly remembered the foals and caught them in his grasp securely, placing Pumpkin on the rug again with her chocolate milk bottle and Pound in his cloud again with one of the balloon animals. “I-I…I…um…Hey, how’s it going?” He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look down as casually as possible, and meanwhile blushed absolutely furiously (and knew he was doing it and hated himself for it). ‘Celestia, it’s Celestia, Celestia’s here, and you’re here, and you’ve got this stupid crush on her now, and you’re talking to babies, and you must look utterly ridiculous, and if you get a second try to stop caring this much about what she thinks about you! Oh, this is a nightmare, and believe me lately I know nightmares!’ He was almost afraid to look at her on the off chance it would turn him into some grinning, stuttering version of himself that he wanted nothing to do with—or worse, some smooth talking version of himself that would start uncontrollably flirting and ‘putting the moves’ on her. He was very grateful to have the babies as a distraction for the moment. Celestia just chuckled softly and came closer. “It’s going very well, Discord, thank you. I was expecting to find Pinkie Pie babysitting. But I’m glad I found you doing it instead. They really seem to have taken a shine to you.” Celestia leaned close to the children. “Do you like your Uncle Discord?” The two foals cheered and clapped their hooves. “Di-ca! Di-ca!” Pound announced, pointing to Discord. “Kay-aw, Kay-aw!” Pumpkin shouted, trying to say the word ‘chaos’ as she pointed all over the place. Celestia laughed softly again. Then she noticed Discord’s continued blushing and lack of eye contact. “Discord, there’s no need to be so embarrassed. I’ve seen already how kind you can be just from your interactions with the girls. But I never knew you had such a way with children.” She smiled more at him. Discord meanwhile couldn’t help but smile at how the kids responded to him, and then at Celestia’s words he cleared his throat and looked towards the direction she was in (though he still avoided direct eye contact). “Oh, I don’t know if I’d really call it a ‘way’ with children.” He shrugged. “Though I suppose they have taken a shine to me, but it’s really just because they’re babies.” He could just see out of the corner of his eye Celestia raising an eyebrow and tilting her head to the side. He explained, all the while busying himself with playing with Pound using the end of his tail and gently ruffling Pumpkin behind her ears with his paw. “They’re very young, so their magic is still undisciplined—it still has a lot of its natural chaos. We can relate—we sort of speak the same language magically.” “I never thought about things like that, Discord.” Celestia’s soft reply was followed by the sound of her hoof-falls bringing her right next to him to sit alongside him on the floor. “There’s probably a little chaos in all of us then, isn’t there?” Discord swallowed at her new proximity. “Oh…I like to think so, yes. It just gets harder to find the older you get—unless you’re me of course, in which case it ferments into fine blend of insanity and hijinks for the amusement of myself and others.” Discord heard her laugh, and he laughed a little himself. Then the master of chaos finally let himself glance over at Celestia. She was just sitting there, admiring the chaos and how happy the babies were amidst the products of his magic. The sight made Discord feel warm inside. ‘I really like when she likes my chaos. She used to hate it so much…. It’s nice to see the change.’ Discord’s smile picked up a little on one side. “I’ve really enjoyed getting the chance to play with these two a little. Sometimes I almost forget that chaos doesn’t just naturally occur in me. It makes me feel less alone in this great, big, orderly world seeing little ponies like these, I suppose.” Celestia glanced over at him with interest at this reply, and as she did so Discord managed to make a little eye contact with her. She smiled softly. “I’m glad it’s been such a good experience for you, Discord. I’m very fond of foals too. I don’t have to worry about them worrying too much about me being a princess, and it’s sort of relaxing. I just wish I had more time to spend with little ones like these.” Discord grinned. “Well, you don’t seem to have too many duties to fulfill at the moment, and as long as the babies are here anyway, why don’t you take over amusing them for a little bit? They’re already practically mesmerized by your hair and your stature after all.” And indeed, Pumpkin and Pound kept glancing to Celestia with happy awe. Celestia smiled and looked down at Pumpkin, who stopped sucking on her nearly empty chocolate milk bottle and pointed with a big smile and a coo at the princess (or specifically at the top of her head). Celestia smiled more. “Would you like to play with my crown?” She used her magic to raise the golden tiara up a little. Pumpkin clapped her hooves together and giggled. Then Celestia gently lowered the crown into her grasp. Pumpkin looked at it with wonder and then instantly put the handle of it into her mouth, sucking on it and biting it like a big teething ring. Celestia laughed and then looked up to Pound. “And since you like being in the air so much, how about a little something that likes being in the air too?” She used her magic and created a little glowing phoenix made of light that darted around just above Pumpkin’s cloud. He smiled and cooed and rolled onto his back to playfully bat at the little bird. Celestia laughed softly. Discord smiled brightly at her efforts. “Not bad, Celestia. You’re a natural.” Celestia smiled at him in return. “Thank you, Discord.” She shrugged. “I had a little practice with Twilight, though she was several years older than this when she became my student. You would have liked her very much even at that age though. She had quite the potential for chaos.” She laughed. Discord raised an eyebrow. “Really?” Celestia nodded. “Oh yes. During her first magical demonstration she blew half the windows out of the schoolroom. In fact, I think her strong desire for discipline in her magic comes from an intuition that without all of that order, her magic would become a chaos that she couldn’t wield properly.” “Hmm…” Discord chuckled, tickling Pumpkin’s back hooves with the tuft of his tail and snapping Pound’s cloud a little bigger for him to play with Celestia’s phoenix on, “No, that can’t be right. If Twilight’s secretly chaotic, then I’m secretly an accountant.” He and Celestia shared a laugh. Then Pumpkin sat up, the crown still in her mouth and the chocolate milk bottle in one hoof, and crawled toward Discord, She gave him a big hug around his middle. Just then Pound flew down from his cloud to land on Celestia’s back and slid down it into her ethereal tail, which he hugged and snuggled too. Both the master of chaos and the princess of the sun looked down at their little charges and smiled. Celestia sighed softly. “Sometimes I hope very much that Cadance and Shining Armor have foals. I’d love to foalsit just like Cadance used to foalsit for Twilight. And now that I know how much you like babies, I’d love for you to join me sometime, Discord.” She gave him a playful grin. Discord grinned back at her just a touch sheepishly (trying very much to control his blushing). “It’d be sort of like playing house or something together—Auntie Celestia and Uncle Discord with the babies.” Feeling the heat build in his features he quickly cleared his throat and added with a shrug, “U-Until one of them needs a diaper change. Then that’s all on you, Celestia. I’m strictly good for magic tricks, tickle fights, and colorful chaos toys.” Celestia laughed and gave him a light nudge. “Whatever you say, Uncle Discord.” Suddenly there was the sound of hooves galloping up the stairs, and before Discord and Celestia knew it, the door had burst open to reveal a very frantic looking Mr. and Mrs. Cake (followed by a bouncing and smiling Pinkie Pie.) Pinkie grinned at the sight in the room. “Oh, hi Princess Celestia! Sorry to keep you waiting. Once I realized you were coming, it took me forever to find the Cakes in town. But once I did and I told them that you were coming and that I’d left Discord in charge of babysitting, they rushed right over.” Finished catching their breath, the Cakes looked to the two magical beings in the nursery and then to their children (who continued to cling to Celestia and Discord, though now they smiled and cooed at their parents as well). “H-Hello, Discord.” Mrs. Cake did her best to smile totally normally at the large draconequus. “Oh, and Princess Celestia, it’s lovely to see you.” She quickly bowed, and so did her husband, then they raised their heads. “So everything’s…fine then?” She glanced around. “Y-Yeah,” Mr. Cake nervously added, glancing around quickly as well, “No major problems or issues…other than all of these rainbows and balloon animals and that little firebird thing…” He took in the strange sights but then blinked and focused back on the smiling children. “And the kids are happy? Uh, great!” Mrs. Cake let out a deep sigh of relief and smiled at the sun princess. “Thank you so much for looking after them, Princess. We…” Then Mrs. Cake’s eyes went wide as the sight of her daughter (and specifically what her daughter was playing with) finally caught her eye. “Pumpkin is sucking on your crown…” she brought a hoof to her chest as her husband’s jaw fell. “P-Princess, we…I…we…” Celestia just smiled softly. “It’s all right,” she assured. “I gave it to her to play with for a bit. It really used to go through much worse with Twilight when she was a filly, I promise you.” She used her magic to replace her real crown with a soft stuffed one for Pumpkin to bite, then magically wiped off the drool and donned her crown again. “And you’re very welcome about looking after the foals, but I only just arrived a few moments ago actually. Discord’s been seeing to the children all on his own ever since Pinkie left, and he’s done a wonderful job. Just look.” She used her tail to move Pound in sight of Discord, and the little pegasus dove at the draconequus to hug him, and his sister did the same. “Di-ca! Di-ca!” “Kay-aw! Kay-aw!” The two children laughed. Discord chuckled and patted them both on the head. “Yes, ‘Discord’ and ‘Chaos’. I’ve taught you well.” He glanced up at the elder Cakes and shrugged. “Incidentally, Pound likes cotton candy clouds almost as much as I do, and Pumpkin has a knack for using her horn to whip them up as well as quite a few other desserts.” He raised his hand, giving the Cakes a little wave with his fingers. “Oh and also, nice to meet you both. I’m Discord, master of chaos, on the very off chance my reputation doesn’t precede me.” He grinned. The Cakes looked to each other and then looked back at Discord still with a touch of hesitation…but also with ever-relaxing smiles. “Well…the kids do seem very happy with you…” Mr. Cake offered. “It’s nice to meet you,” Mrs. Cake supplied, taking a breath and finally managing to smile as sincerely at Discord as she had been doing at Princess Celestia. “Pardon us, we were just a little…surprised at you being here. But thank you for looking after the children.” She looked down to her twins, her smile softening even more. “Mr. Cake is right—they do seem very happy with you.” Suddenly a smiling Pumpkin used her magic to make a little cotton candy cloud appear, and a smiling Pound used his wings to push it at their mother, causing the little puff of pink to stick to her nose. Celestia barely stifled a quiet giggle. (And Discord barely kept from blushing and grinning entirely at the sound of her enjoying chaos so much again). Mrs. Cake blinked as the kids laughed and then licked away some of the cotton candy from her nose. “Mmm!” She smiled and turned to her husband. “Dear, this is delicious. And Pumpkin made it all on her own. And Pound aerated it so nicely—it’s so light and fluffy.” She took some from her cheek and held it out to him. Mr. Cake took the confection, ate it, and smiled. “Hey you’re right, this is delicious.” He turned to the kids, leaning down. “Oh who are my naturally talented little bakers? That’s right, you are…” He looked up to Discord, hesitated just once more, but then managed a sincere smile to go along with his wife’s. “Thank you for teaching them something so fun, Mister Discord.” Discord shrugged and waved him off with a grin, holding his head up high in a touch of pride. “Oh just Discord is fine, and you’re quite welcome.” Mrs. Cake nodded to him. “Well, anyway, Princess Celestia…” she looked to the princess, “We should probably go over the Gala cake order with you now. I know you must be very busy today, after all. We’re sorry we kept you waiting as long as we did.” Celestia stood and shook her head. “Not a problem at all. But yes, let’s discuss the order.” “I’ll be right down with you,” Pinkie Pie added, stepping into the room and scooping up Pumpkin and Pound. “I want to put these two down for their nap first.” Discord smiled at the babies. “Oh, let me.” He snapped his fingers and magically floated a giggling and gurgling Pumpkin and Pound over and into their bed. Then he snapped away all of the colorful chaos he had made, snapped them up a fresh bottle of warm milk each, used his tail to cover them, and snapped to dim the lights (and to create some colorful little shooting stars whizzing over the ceiling above them). “There we go—sweet, chaotic dreams you two.” He gave them a wave, and the babies yawned and gave him a wave back. Pinkie smiled. “Wow, Discord, not bad for a first timer. Goodnight, Pumpkin and Pound!” She gave the babies a little wave too and then bounced over to the doorway. “Okay,” her voice was a loud whisper now, “Let’s go, everypony!” And she proceeded to trot downstairs. The Cakes smiled and shook their heads and then gestured for Celestia to leave first. She nodded to them and headed out after Pinkie (after giving the babies a last glance and a wave), then Mr. Cake gestured for Mrs. Cake to go and Mr. Cake followed after her. Discord left last, gently closing the door (and maybe giving a last snap to turn the milk in the babies’ bottles into chocolate milk). The whole party soon found themselves assembled downstairs, at which point two familiar figures walked in through the open front door (and each bearing several familiar…and slightly chaotic looking…apple pies.) “Oh howdy, Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” Applejack tipped her hat to the Cakes. “Oh and hi again, Discord. And hi, Princess Celestia.” She bowed, as did Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie smiled and turned to her friends. “Oh, hey, guys! What are you doing here?” Her eyes glistened and she licked her lips at the sight of what her friends had brought. “And where did you get those yummy looking pies from?” Rainbow Dash shrugged and smirked a little. “Oh, they’re just freshly made from Sweet Apple Acres.” Then she looked to the Cakes. “Sorry to barge in like this, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, but the front door was open.” Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiled, and Mrs. Cake nodded. “It’s perfectly all right, Rainbow Dash.” Her grin became a little sheepish. “We were sort of in a hurry when we got home, I guess we forgot to close it. Oh but everything’s fine now of course, and Pinkie’s been working so hard helping us with baking and the foals that I think it would be wonderful if she went and spent some time with you girls while we talked with Princess Celestia.” Rainbow Dash nodded and then turned her gaze to the Princess and waved. “And hey, Princess. It’s been great seeing you in Ponyville so much lately.” Then her eyes went to the master of chaos, and couldn’t help but grin in a slightly mischievous way. “And definitely interesting bumping into you too again, Discord—you’re here, Princess Celestia’s here…Did you two accidentally run into each other again?” She raised an eyebrow in interest. Discord’s eyes went very wide for a brief moment, then he almost glanced to Rainbow Dash in panic but stopped himself, almost pouted and scowled at her instead, but finally just let out a deep sigh. ‘She doesn’t know you secretly actually have the hots for Celestia now—she’s just being cheeky. Remember what you both agreed on—you and Rainbow Dash would be friends but you could still exchange catty jokes and witty barbs. That’s all she’s doing. Calm down before you blow everything out of proportion and make it the most obvious thing in the world that you’re smitten with Celestia.’ Celestia, while Discord took a few seconds to have all of these introspective thoughts, just smiled and nodded to Rainbow Dash. “Yes, we both just happened to run into each other here. It’s always nice to see a good friend though, especially when you least expect it. Don’t you think so, Discord?” She glanced to the master of chaos. ‘She called me a good friend. Not just a friend, a good friend.’ Discord wasn’t sure if it was the part of him that aspired to friendship or the part of him that aspired to her that was taking the compliment so strongly. He decided to sort it out later though, and for now just looked to Celestia and smiled and nodded. “Yes, I think it’s very nice to see a good friend too. And especially when you do really accidentally run into one—the whole thing’s quite chaotic that way.” He chuckled, and Celestia smiled more, and Discord wondered how he had never properly noticed all those years ago when they had first met how cute that smile could be. ‘Probably because she mostly frowned and scowled at me for controlling her ponies with my chaos, though that angered look has a certain fiery appeal all its own…’ He chuckled just a little more to himself at the thought. Celestia let her smile linger on Discord a moment longer before looking to the Cakes again. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I’m afraid I keep getting so distracted. Planning this year’s Gala has been a busier task than usual. But before I keep you any longer, let’s go discuss the Gala order.” “Of course, Princess Celestia,” Mrs. Cake assured with a nod and a smile. “Whenever you’re ready,” Mr. Cake added with a nod and a smile as well. “We’ve got all of our designs and plans right in the kitchen.” Celestia nodded. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, meanwhile, headed with their pies over to Pinkie, who eyed them eagerly again. “So…what are all those yummy pies for exactly?” Rainbow Dash grinned a little. “Oh, uh…well, Applejack and Spike and Discord and I were making pies earlier, and Discord made so many extra of his that we thought we’d stop by and share some with you.” She gave Applejack a little nudge. Applejack grinned and tried to stifle a laugh. “Oh, uh, yeah. We thought you’d really enjoy some, Pinkie. Here you go.” She held out one of the lumpy, chaotic pies. Pinkie beamed. “For me? Gee, thanks!” She took the pie and licked her lips. But then just as she was about to bite into it, she paused, considered, and turned around. Then Pinkie trotted over to none other than Princess Celestia and held out the pie with a smile. Celestia glanced to Pinkie with interest. “Yes, Pinkie?” Pinkie beamed. “Princess Celestia, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were baking pies with Discord earlier, and they brought some over to share with me, but you’re our guest here and you’re Discord’s good friend and he’s going to be your escort, so I think it’s only right that I offer you some pie first.” Celestia’s eyes lit up with interest and she glanced over her shoulder to Discord. “Discord, you bake?” (Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, eyes wide and jaws dropped, were just too paralyzed in shock for the moment to stop what was taking place). Discord, caught up in his own thoughts (and not really noticing what was going on), shrugged and grinned, admiring his paw a little. “Oh yes, as I’ve told you, I’m a man of infinite talents, Celes—” His eyes went wide and his smile fell as he finally looked to the sight of Celestia now taking the pie from Pinkie. “Princess, wait!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash suddenly found it in themselves to cry out at once. Discord blushed a little and flew forward, holding out his paw. “Celestia, uh, maybe—” But it was too late—Celestia had already used her magic to lift up a bite of the pie. SPLAT!!! And now Princess Celestia stood there in the middle of Sugar Cube Corner with a face covered in apple pie. And on the end of the spring that had launched the pie at her was a note that read. An apple to the face keeps order in its place! This message (and this pie) brought to you by the master of chaos! There was a collective gasp followed by total silence in the room. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just stood there with wide eyes, the Cakes stood there with looks somewhere between panic and terror, Discord was cringing a little at the sight he hadn’t been able to help stopping (and that he realized, being such a prankster, he wouldn’t have even thought about stopping unless he really did have a lot of awkward, mushy feelings for Celestia), Pinkie Pie just stood there with her usual perky smile, and Celestia herself just stood there with her eyes wide in surprise and pie covering and dripping from her features. Pinkie finally broke the silence. “Wow, a prank pie—what a great idea. Discord, you’ll have to teach me how to spring-load things like that sometime.” Then Rainbow Dash couldn’t help it—her mouth started to twitch a little, coming close to a smile. Then finally someone just plain started to laugh—and it was Celestia of all people. Her eyes closed, the sun princess smiled and laughed so warmly and fully that the sound couldn’t help but break the tension in the room. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie started laughing as well, falling all over each other in hilarity. And the Cakes smiled and laughed as well now finally, though in a much more nervous, ‘I can’t believe our pony goddess just took a pie to the face from the ancient master of chaos in our store, but let’s hope it all turns out to be okay’ kind of way…until they finally melted into normal laughter too, unable to help themselves. And slowly, Princess Celestia’s laughter couldn’t help but make Discord smile and laugh too, first slowly and then warmly and then just as much as she was and just as much as he had ever laughed at a well-executed prank against anyone. Celestia eventually made a towel appear magically and used it do dry her face, laughing the whole time, and then finally took and tried a bite of the pie. “Mmm, delicious!” She smiled brightly. Deep down inside, Discord lit up a little at the compliment. Applejack and Rainbow dash finally got their mirth a bit under control though and approached the princess. “Princess,” Applejack smiled up at her sheepishly, “We’re sorry, we meant that pie to prank Pinkie Pie, honest.” “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded, likewise looking sheepish, “We had no idea she’d give it to you.” Celestia just smiled and shook her head. “Girls, it’s all right. In fact, I think that was just what I needed. The Gala planning’s been a little more stressful than usual this year, so who could complain about a nice prank between friends to liven things up? Besides,” she glanced to Discord with a grin, “I should have realized a pie baked by the master of chaos would have something chaotic about it.” Discord just grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “I know, Celestia, really—you must have been in terrible need of a prank to let one by me get pulled on you so easily. You’re usually almost too clever even for me…sometimes even a bit more clever than me, though I’ll never admit that in any official way of course.” Celestia just laughed a little more and shrugged. “Maybe I was just curious about what form your chaos would take this time around. It’s always fun seeing the different ways you handle things, especially with food. The foals really did appreciate your chocolate milk bottle trick and cotton candy clouds after all.” “Ooo and that’s one of my favorite kinds of chaos too!” Pinkie beamed and then sighed, her eyes hazing. “So much chocolaty and sugary goodness.” Discord just grinned a lot, his eyes hazing playfully. “Yes, well…only the best in chaos from the master, after all.” Celestia laughed softly and then turned back to the Cakes. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I promise we’ll talk business entirely now.” The Cakes just breathed sighs of relief and smiled and nodded. “Yes, of course, Princess,” Mrs. Cake offered. “It shouldn’t take long—we know how busy you are,” Mr. Cake supplied. “Well, we should get going anyway.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof with a sheepish grin. “You guys have work to do, and we pretty much just stopped by to bring Pinkie some of Discord’s prank pies. We figured she’d appreciate them.” SPLAT!!! “Oh, I do!” assured a now pie-covered Pinkie after swallowing a big bite of prank apple pie. “This is so much fun!” She bit face first into another pie and had this one spring right into her face as well. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just laughed and shook their heads before turning and heading to the door. Applejack waved. “Bye, ya’ll! Great seeing you, Princess Celestia!” The bell over the door rang as they exited. The princess waved to them. “Goodbye, girls!” Everyone else waved their goodbyes as well. Then suddenly Pinkie sat up from her third pie and wiped some of the apples off of her face. “Oh, wait, before I forget, Discord,” she looked to the master of chaos, “You’ve been waiting for a chaotic dessert! Let me get you something!” Discord, however, just shook his head and chuckled. “Oh, that’s all right, Pinkie Pie, I think I’ll take a rain check for now. Those twins upstairs and all of this stuff with the pies has been more than enough chaos to perk me back up for the moment. And anyway, like Rainbow Dash and Applejack said, you seem to have work to do. I think I’ll just be off. I have some chaos to mull over anyway. But thanks for the offer. I’ll just take a raincheck and probably pop by one night at three in the morning to take you up on it.” He chuckled. “Okie dokie lokey!” Pinkie beamed. “I’m usually up counting the sprinkles around that time, so I’ll be here.” She winked and then bounced over into the kitchen. Discord just grinned and shook his head. “Of course you will.” Then he headed over to the Cakes and gave them a nod. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, nice to meet you, and thank you for not losing your marbles,” (he snapped and made a bunch of colorful marbles appear rolling all over the floor, which he then snapped away), “about me being left in charge of your children and for actually taking the time to see that we really were having fun together and enjoying each other’s company.” He sighed and glanced to the side. “I know it’s partly my own fault, but I don’t get that much benefit of the doubt from most ponies, so I really do appreciate receiving it in this instance.” His gaze returned to them. Mr. and Mrs. Cake just smiled at each other and then to Discord. Mrs. Cake spoke. “Of course, Discord. We may not know you well, but we know when someone makes our children happy. That’s how we discovered Pinkie could be such a good sitter.” She glanced to the pink pony who was currently back to doing three things at once in the kitchen with a smile on her face. “Some people might find her a little…impulsive, but we know that she just has her own way of doing things and that she’s really responsible when she needs to be, especially about the babies.” She looked back to Discord. “She wouldn’t have asked you to take care of them unless she trusted you could do it just as well as she can.” Mr. Cake nodded. “Absolutely. Thanks for entertaining them. It’s nice for them to see someone who can do magic or someone who can fly every now and again. And if you ever want to come by and see Pinkie and the kids again, our door is always open.” He shrugged, smiling sheepishly, and added, “Just…not too much chaos indoors if you can help it? Between the twins and Pinkie Pie, believe me, we already get our fair share on a regular basis.” Discord had to chuckle, and he nodded. “Fair enough.” He gave the couple a wave. “Well, ta ta, and say goodbye to Pumpkin and Pound from me.” “Bye, Discord.” Mr. Cake waved. Then out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the kitchen and started heading in that direction with a look of concern. “Pinkie, I know you’re capable of it, but try not to do six different things at once—that many always makes me nervous.” Discord, meanwhile, strolled a few paces away and then turned his sights to Celestia, the last person to take his leave of. She was smiling at him a lot, and of course he knew why at this point. ‘I’d like to think it’s because she’s captivated by my good looks and wit, but…’ “Yes, yes, I know, Celestia, I’ve just gotten so friendly and civilized and appreciative of my relationships with others, but let’s not rub it in, hmm?” He rolled his eyes. The sun princess just laughed and shook her head. “I didn’t say anything, Discord. But I am sorry we can’t spend more time together this afternoon.” She sighed and glanced to the side a little. “I had something I wanted to discuss with you.” Discord looked at her very curiously for a moment but then just shrugged and his grin picked up on one side. “Well, I was thinking of stopping by the castle soon to return your dream book to you. What about tomorrow, maybe before Twilight’s throne room unveiling? We could talk then if you have time.” Celestia’s gaze returned to his and she smiled and nodded. “Yes, that would be perfect actually, Discord. Come by late in the afternoon if you’re free—I should have some time then.” Discord nodded and gave her a dramatic bow with a flourish of his arm. “It’s a date then.” He winked and chuckled (and noticed how Celestia rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh in response). Then he straightened up and took a breath. “And maybe afterwards, since you’re going to Twilight’s throne room unveiling and I’m going to Twilight’s throne room unveiling and we’ll be leaving from the same place, we could head over to it together if you wanted—sort of like practice for escorting you to the Gala?” He raised an eyebrow. Celestia nodded. “Certainly, Discord. I’ll be looking forward to it.” Discord smiled. “Excellent! See you then!” He gave her a wave and then flew over to the door, but snapped his fingers at the last second and disappeared in a burst of light and smoke. Celestia just laughed softly and shook her head. Then she turned back to address her hosts. “Now, where were we? I…” She paused as she noticed Mrs. Cake smiling at her, an eyebrow raised in interest. Celestia raised an eyebrow in return. “Is something wrong? Oh, is there still some pie in my hair?” She smiled more and brushed some of her mane with her hoof. Mrs. Cake blinked and then glanced to the side with a sheepish smile. “Oh, no, it’s nothing Princess. I’m sorry. Come on, let’s just go to the kitchen to finish sorting out your order.” Celestia however only smiled more at her. “Mrs. Cake…?” Mrs. Cake sighed. “I don’t want to offend you. After all, Pinkie mentioned those awful rumors spreading around about you and Discord.” She frowned. “Personally, I think gossip is a bad enough hobby, but it’s just unacceptable about you, Princess Celestia. You’ve done so much for all of us after all.” She smiled a little again. “But still…just for a moment now, you and Discord reminded me of myself and Mr. Cake when we were courting. That’s all.” Celestia blinked and held back a small laugh. “Really?” Mrs. Cake nodded, a faraway look coming to her eye. “Oh yes—we kept bumping into each other, at first by accident but then a little less by accident. And he’d smile at me and make silly jokes, and he was always doing things with baking and food to try and impress me, and his smile sort of lit up the way Discord’s smile just did around you. Of course, that seemed to be about Discord liking that you approved of how friendly he’s gotten now, but still.” She laughed a little to herself. “And we’d meet just to ‘talk’ sometimes…” She shook her head at the memories. Celestia smiled softly. “I see.” She blushed just slightly and lowered her voice, sitting down to put herself closer to eye level with Mrs. Cake. “I’m really not offended, Mrs. Cake, I promise. And thank you for your consideration about the rumors. But from one mare to another, I have to tell you that there’s really nothing more than friendly going on between Discord and I. We’ve just both come to find the suggestion of us dating so amusing that we’ve taken to teasing each other about it in little ways, that’s all. I’m sure seeing us behave like that will only make things even more confusing for everypony, but we really do try to keep it private. And besides all that matters to me is that our friendship stays strong.” She smiled more. “And it really was nice of you and Mr. Cake to be us understanding of Discord’s presence here so quickly. Thank you—he needs that kind of acceptance, I think.” Mrs. Cake nodded. “Oh, yes, well…we’re just trying to learn how to become used to having very powerful and famous people as friends. Ever since Pinkie Pie discovered that she was one of the elements of harmony, it’s been something we’ve had to do.” She glanced up at Celestia sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof. “Sometimes I think we get so nervous about trying to impress you, for instance, that we end up making you uncomfortable. We’re trying to get better about that, and we don’t want to make a similar mistake with Discord, or with Twilight now that she’s a princess.” Celestia nodded. “Mrs. Cake, you are one of the kindest and most hospitable ponies I have ever known throughout my reign as a princess of Equestria. Please just keep doing your best to be such a good friend—that alone is more than enough reason for me to continue loving being welcome into your home. That and of course a chance to play with the foals.” She smiled more to herself. “They really are beautiful children.” Mrs. Cake smiled in pride and looked down. “Thank you, Princess. And please feel free to visit them whenever you’d like.” Celestia smiled more. “When the Gala’s finally over this year, I might take you up on that.” She sighed and stood. “But speaking of the Gala, I’ll have to return to the castle soon to see to more preparations for it. And I have some guests arriving soon. Let’s go join Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie in the kitchen, shall we?” Mrs. Cake nodded, “Yes, of course, Princess Celestia.” Mrs. Cake headed toward the kitchen and Celestia followed after her. “So we were thinking for the big cake you want for the end of the night that we might do seven layers swirling with frosting stars and moons with little gold sun-shaped candies and fluffy bits of marshmallow clouds.” Celestia nodded. “It sounds like it’ll be beautiful, Mrs. Cake. And maybe we could do a blueberry filling? That’s Luna’s favorite.” She leaned in closer and whispered, smiling more. “But I’d like that to be a surprise for her.” Mrs. Cake giggled and nodded. “Of course, Princess Celestia. Now, as for cake flavors…” And thus the two mares joined Pinkie and Mr. Cake in the kitchen to continue discussing the dessert plans for the Gala. And meanwhile, Celestia did her best to pay close attention to the details the Cakes were sharing with her about the order for the Gala…but she couldn’t help being distracted slightly by the image recurring to her over and over again of what she had seen peeking through the doorway upstairs earlier—Discord so happy and making the little foals so happy, sharing his chaos, helping the children learn and play, and himself clearing loving every carefree minute of it. And also there had been the sight down here of how friendly he had been with the Cakes and how good at he had been at showing his appreciation for their confidence in him with the children. Neither was a moment she felt she would never forget…and it made her wonder about some things. Later that day, one of Celestia’s guards (a grey earth pony) was walking through the hallways of the Canterlot castle with a brief message to deliver to the Princess. He knew she was in the ballroom working on some planning that everyone could only assume involved the Gala of course, and so that was the direction in which he was heading. As he approached the ballroom though, he was surprised to find that his two fellow guards stationed outside of the ballroom doors (a white unicorn and a brown pegasus) weren’t standing at attention at their posts as usual, but rather were peeking into a crack between the doors, clearly observing whatever was going on inside. “Hmm mmm…” the messenger guard cleared his throat. “Uh…guys?” he whispered, raising an eyebrow. “Everything okay?” The two guards jumped a little but then turned to face him, quickly (and quietly) letting the door close. “Uh…” the pegasus guard started, rubbing the back of his neck, “Well…technically yes. I mean…weird is still okay, right?” He looked to his unicorn friend. The unicorn guard beside him rolled his eyes to the side. “Come on, she’s not being weird—and I told you, we really shouldn’t be spying on her. I mean, she’s our princess.” He looked down uncomfortably. The messenger guard gave them both a curious half smile. “What’s Celestia up to in there exactly?” “It, well…” The pegasus guard raised an eyebrow but almost smirked a little. “Actually, I feel like you kind of have to see it to get the full gist of it.” “Hey, we are not trying to open that door again,” the unicorn guard insisted. “It was hard enough doing it without her noticing after she first came in there with that big chalkboard of hers and we carried in those books for her. I’m not getting caught spying on her.” The messenger guard just waved them off though. “Oh relax guys, I have to go in there anyway to deliver a message. I’m sure I’ll see for myself.” The pegasus guard sighed and nodded. “Okay, have fun.” He turned and knocked on the door, opening it slightly to announce his fellow guard. “Your highness? Pardon me, but one of the guards has a message for you.” “Of course,” Celestia replied kindly from within. “Please send him inside.” The pegasus guard nodded and then pulled his head from the room and gestured forward to the earth pony guard. “Go right in.” The messenger guard nodded with a curious smile and then stepped inside, the door closing behind him. He approached Celestia. “Good afternoon, Princess. I’m sorry to disturb you.” He bowed and then glanced up. In the large ballroom, well lit with daylight through the open windows, Celestia was standing in front of a large chalkboard magically writing some things (her hair blocking the view of the board’s contents). But then she put down the chalk stepped aside to turn to the guard with a smile. “Good afternoon to you too. And I promise, it’s not a problem. Now, what is your message?” The guard didn’t speak at first. His eyes were too struck by the contents of the chalkboard. There were lists about chaos and Venn diagrams about chaos and graphs about chaos and a full chalk figure of Discord with attempts to label the species origins of his different parts and specifically focused on the source of his magic. Celestia had clearly been in this room for the last hour all but obsessing over Discord. Indeed, all that seemed to be missing in fact were a few hearts here and there bearing cliché messages like ‘Celestia+Discord’ and ‘Mrs. Discord’ and ‘Celestia <3 Discord’ within them. Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Guard? Is something the matter?” The earth pony guard instantly blinked and snapped out of his surprise. “Oh, no, no, I’m sorry, Princess—I’m just a little tired from the extra shifts for the Gala planning.” He cleared his throat. “Erm, I just was sent to inform you that several of the delegates and party guests who will be residing with us in the castle for the Gala are due to arrive on an airship from the coast tomorrow evening by nightfall. The kitchen staff is already planning a special menu to accommodate everyone, and the maids will have all of the guest rooms ready by tomorrow morning. And if there are any other preparations you’d like seen to, please just let me know and I’ll inform everyone for you.” Celestia’s smile warmed. “Thank you for all of the information. And if you could just let the gardeners know that I’d like vases of fresh flowers put on the tables throughout the halls and a vase in each guests room, I’d appreciate it.” The guard nodded. “Of course, Princess Celestia. I’ll go let them know right now.” He bowed and prepared to make his exit. “Just a moment, please,” Celestia suddenly added. The guard raised his head. “Yes, Princess?” Celestia considered, looked down a little sheepishly for a moment, then glanced back to him again. “I’d like to ask you a hypothetical question regarding a project I’m working on.” The guard nodded. “Of course, Princess Celestia. Something about the Gala?” The sun princess smiled but shook her head. “No, no…it’s a bit more large scale than that.” She took a breath. “What do you think of chaos?” “I…” the guard’s eyes went very wide in a look clearly expressing that he was not sure how to field this one, “Uh…in what context, may I ask, Princess?” finally left him. Celestia smiled more and shrugged. “Well, it’s just that a thousand years ago, ponies didn’t seem able to handle any chaos, probably because they had just left behind a chaotic state prior to the founding of Equestria…and not to mention chaos was a little too rampant back then.” She glanced at the full blackboard before her. “But for several months now we’ve been living in a world alongside chaos ever since Discord was set free at. So I’m just wondering, from the perspective of a citizen, if the chaos we’ve dealt with ever since Discord’s reform has become a manageable part of pony life.” She looked back to the guard again. “Do you think the positive consequences of the different perspective chaos can bring has added to the harmony of our nation or does it still seem like more of a threat to it?” The messenger took on such a pitiable look of confusion and hesitation. Celestia’s tone softened and her smile warmed. “There’s not right or wrong answer. I promise. I’m just looking for an honest opinion. Please, speak as freely as you want to. I promise I won’t hold it against you. And I’d appreciate your help. I value the opinions of you and the other guards very much. In fact, outside of my sister and Princess Twilight and her court, the guards and the staff of this castle are the ponies I trust and respect the most.” Something in the guards’ look couldn’t help but soften too now. He let out a breath, relaxed his pose, and finally felt the confidence to express himself to the princess honestly. “Actually, Princess Celestia, ever since Discord’s reform, we’ve barely noticed the chaos much. I guess he goes somewhere else to practice most of it. Mostly I guess the staff and the people of Canterlot have just been uneasy about whether or not he would go back to his old evil ways. But as for the chaos itself, the way things are now, it’s nothing we can’t live with.” He sighed, but still smiled. “Sure, sometimes the sky might change colors or things might float away randomly or it might rain chocolate milk, but…no one gets hurt, and you’re still in charge, so…I guess there’s no harm.” Celestia nodded. “I see.” She put a hoof to her chin then glanced to her chalkboard again. The guard smiled a little more. “And if it makes any difference, I think that the ponies feel a lot better about having Discord around as an ally than not having him around at all, even if that does mean we live with chaos. As long as he’s loyal to the nation and loyal to you and your fellow princesses…and of course as long as you’re happy…we’re happy too. We trust you, Princess, and your judgment.” He bowed his head. When he raised his head, he saw that Celestia was looking to him again and that her smile had grown so much. “Thank you.” Her gaze was warm. “I appreciate your opinion very much. And I promise not to ask such serious questions of you or your fellow guards so suddenly like this in the future—I just wanted a perspective on chaos from the view of someone who wasn’t a close friend of Discord’s.” The guard smiled and nodded. “Anything I can do to help, your highness.” Celestia nodded. “Thank you. You’re dismissed.” The guard gave her a bow and then turned to go. Meanwhile, ever since the messenger guard had stepped inside of the ballroom, his two fellow guards outside in the hall had been standing close to doors, hoping to catch some words of whatever conversation was going on in there. “What’re they saying now?” the unicorn guard whispered. “I don’t know,” the pegasus guard replied and sighed, finally moving away from the door. “It’s times like these I wish Celestia was more like Luna—Luna’s voice carries anywhere even when she’s not doing that Royal Canterlot thing.” Suddenly the door opened and the earth pony guard exited the ballroom, a very curious look on his face as he walked past his two fellow guards and paused before them in the hall for a moment. “Well?” the pegasus guard asked. “What happened?” “And you saw the chalkboard too, right?” the unicorn guard added. The messenger guard nodded to them both. “Oh yeah, I saw it.” He sighed. “When I got in there, I gave Celestia my message. And then after I saw the chalkboard she asked me my opinion on chaos and how well I think having it in our world is going. And when I told her we at least didn’t think it was nearly as bad as it used to be anymore and that we all just wanted her to be happy, she smiled…a lot.” The two guards blinked, their eyes wide, and then they sighed deeply and looked down. “I know she’s a grown mare, but it’s so weird thinking about her dating….” The unicorn guard couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably on his hooves. “Or thinking about her getting married.” The pegasus guard raised an eyebrow. “And if they actually did that, what would that do to things politically? Would Discord automatically get to be a prince? I…I know this is a monarchy, but I feel like we should really get to vote on whether he gets to be a prince or not.” The unicorn guard’s eyes went wide. “And what would happen if they had foals?” “Okay, please stop, guys, you’re giving me a headache,” the messenger guard implored, bringing a hoof to his forehead. “All joking aside, I’m sure there’s a logical reason why Celestia’s in the ballroom obsessing over chaos and a big chalk picture of Discord…. And even if it does involve them having feelings for each other, maybe it won’t be so bad.” He cringed but shrugged and tried to smile. “She really did seem happy about the idea of ponies accepting chaos.” The pegasus guard just glanced around the hall and ceiling with a slight frown. “I know, but this place is going to be such a mess if he moves in.” The unicorn guard put a hoof to his temple. “If I ever walk in on them doing anything, I swear I won’t be fit for active duty for a month.” “Yikes, for castle guards, you three can act like such little colts sometimes.” These words (followed by a laugh) met the three guards ears and caused them to turn and look to its source. One of the maids was coming up the hall now, giving a yawn as she laughed and approached them. She was a pale yellow unicorn and wore a black and white hat and a white apron with a feather duster in its pocket. The unicorn guard’s eyes lit up a little and he smiled shyly in her direction. “Oh, uh…hey, Dusty. What’s up?” He waved. Dusty giggled softly, giving him a bit of a grin. “Oh nothing. I’m just getting ready for bed. My nightshift ran longer than I expected. I had to help mop and dust the ballroom after the princess’s were done with their sleepover.” “Heh, meanwhile, what I would have given to be a parasprite on the wall in this ballroom last night.” The pegasus guard grinned. “What do you think the three of them talked about?” He looked to his two fellow guards. Dusty, however, took the initiative to respond to his question. “Well, if the princess is as smitten as everyone thinks she is, I’m sure Discord was a topic of conversation.” She laughed and yawned. The unicorn guard frowned in a touch of concern. “Dusty, you’re just getting off your nightshift now? It’s practically the middle of the day.” Dusty just shrugged. “My shift can’t end until Luna goes to bed. And if you three think Celestia’s been acting strangely, believe me, Luna can top it.” “Oh yeah?” The pegasus guard gave her a dry look with a grin. “Celestia’s been in the ballroom for an hour obsessively plotting out the nature of chaos and Discord.” Dusty only grinned back at him. “Oh yeah? Well, the other nightshift maids and I were on he veranda overlooking the courtyard this morning a little after breakfast time and caught Luna out there with her head in a bush…and every once in a while she’d pull back, chuckle, glance around like she was making sure no one was nearby, and then put her head back into the bush…and once or twice balloons and confetti suddenly popped out of the bush…and she stayed that way for two hours. Then she finally left to prepare for bed, and we were finally able to get off duty.” Dusty yawned again. There was a long pause among the three guards and Dusty, but finally the pegasus guard blinked and spoke. “Okay, I don’t care what the lieutenant says about just taking things in stride. Sometimes lately I really worry about the state of our monarchy.” He scratched his head with his hoof. The messenger guard guard rolled his eyes. “Come on, the princesses are just exhausted from Gala planning—they’re allowed to do some odd things. Like investigate chaos and…talk to party bushes…” He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the sound of his own words. Dusty just giggled and rolled her eyes. “So Luna’s got her own way of doing things, and Celestia might be dating. Luna’s from another era, after all. And as for Celestia, personally the rest of the maids and I think it’s about time she did something for herself like taking a special somepony to the Gala. She deserves to have a good time. She might be the sun princess, but she’s still a mare just like any other mare—so why not date if a handsome, eligible suitor comes along, hmm?” The pegasus guard rolled his eyes. “Ugh, please tell me you and the other maids haven’t breathed a word to Discord about considering him handsome—he’ll never let us hear the end of it. “ Dusty smiled and shook her head. “Discord doesn’t need us telling him that. He’s pretty self-assured as it is, after all, and besides maybe Celestia tells him all on her own. Or maybe the talk that’s been going around about them lately really is just a rumor and they’re just friends. Either way though it’s nice to see Celestia having a new close friend, and one who’s a gentleman don’t you think?” She smiled at the unicorn guard. The unicorn guard grinned back at her dreamily at first, but then cleared his throat to regain his composure and smiled up at her. “Well, when you put it that way maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they dated…” The messenger guard smiled softly. “You know,” he looked to his friends, “In there, she told me that except for her sister and fellow princesses, she trusts us and values our opinions as her staff the most of anypony. So…I think, if she really does choose to be with Discord or with anypony, it would mean a lot to her if we supported them.” The two other guards smiled brightly at this information, considered, and then nodded. “We can try that, for the Princess’s sake,” the pegasus guard agreed. “Celestia really has been good to all of us all of these years. And hey,” he shrugged, “clearly Luna trusts whatever’s going on, and except for that bush thing she’s about as serious and quick as they come. I’m all set to follow her lead and to give the princess my full support” The unicorn guard nodded. “If what we think really means that much to her, I’m definitely willing to give her whatever she needs to feel good about whatever she chooses to do. And I know the other guards will be too if we explain things to them.” Dusty nodded. “And the other maids and I are one hundred percent ready to stand by her too, as long as Discord is as much of a gentleman to her as she deserves whether he’s just her friend or secretly her special somepony.” The messenger guard smiled and nodded in return to all of them. “I think that’s the best thing we can all do.” Then he sighed and took a step back. “Anyway, I’ve got to deliver a message from princess Celestia to the gardeners. See you guys, later.” He waved and turned. Dusty yawned and turned to head back to her own hallway. “Yeah, have a good day guys.” “Bye, Dusty!” the unicorn guard waved. “Yeah, bye, you two—we’ll let you know if things progress in there to Celestia filling the place with life size statues of Discord or something.” The pegasus guard chuckled. “Or if Luna’s party bush stops by.” The messenger guard just grinned and shook his head as he headed away. As he turned a corner and found himself alone again, he mused to himself and smiled more. Celestia was right, now that he really thought about it—the lives of himself and his fellow ponies really had gotten more chaotic lately, and not even since Discord’s reform but for a while now: rising villains, major shifts in power, new friendships…. And yet, it really did feel like a good thing. There had almost been too much peace and stability all these years, in fact. ‘I really do think she’s right. The ponies can take some chaos now now and enjoy it even. They’re ready. And especially if it’ll help Celestia feel happy about her new friend Discord…or even her new ‘more than friend’ Discord.’ And with that thought he nodded to himself with a smile and then trotted off along his way to complete his task.