"-ling." Twilight finally finished, as she recovered from her period of glazing over at a sight which obviously had baffled her. Twilight slowly lowered her head, and locked her petrifying gaze upon the dilated, mismatched pupils of Discord. His heart lurched in reaction to the seemingly cold, emotionless look now smeared across her face.
"Discord." Twilight deadpanned dangerously, "what is the meaning of this? Are you toying with me again?" Twilight firmly, yet calmly demanded of the now quivering draconequus, making it clear how close she was to blowing her top,
"Well, You see..." Discord nervously ran the fingers of his paw through his beard, as he could sense himself slowly slipping away from the situation. He could almost feel the chances of his plans coming to fruition flowing through his fingers, as softly and easily as his well groomed beard currently slipped between his digits. Now all too aware of how he had taken far too long in coming up with a viable excuse, Discord began to sweat profusely, "u-umm, w-well, it's just, you know, umm..." Discord's eyes flickered left and right as he desperately searched for a distraction, a solution, anything to get him out of his current nightmarish situation. But he could find nothing. His mind betrayed him; he could not even think clearly enough to come up with a use for his magic to aid his cause. Since when had Discord, the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, been stuck for ideas with his chaotic magic?
After having teetered on the verge of oblivion for several moments, Twilight, of all things, was to become his saviour. Or at least that's how he felt at first, as he let loose a colossal sigh of relief upon hearing her voice.
"Discord, if this is some sort of ploy to mess with my mind, give it up now, you will not be fooling me again. We made our amends once Tirek was defeated, let's not ruin that of our friendship which we have recently rekindled. Now tell me, loud and clear, no more mind games. What are you trying to achieve with something like this?"
Discord was dumbstruck; this was not the reaction he expected at all, exactly what was going on in her head? Discord felt a fresh wave of worry wash over him, dousing him in a thick cuticle of paranoia. Is there a big misunderstanding going on here? How am I to make her understand my feelings without seeming too forward? Discord considered the challenge of getting the mare of his dreams to reciprocate these feelings for a brief moment, however decided to push it to the back of his mind. He had to focus on clearing up this misunderstanding first, whatever the nature of it was. He knew Twilight suspected him to be plotting against her again in some way, however what exactly it was she believed he was trying to achieve through this current situation was beyond him at the moment. She is giving off the impression that she does not know, however if she had no idea, there would be no suspicions or references to a time when we were enemies. Discord reasoned, as his mind began to cool off, his paranoia seeping away as a result of his reasoning.
This thought process was swift and sure, Discord now had another goal to aim towards, and he had to be careful about how he chose to proceed, as he was treading on thin ice at the moment, not to mention he was currently under her roof. Discord focused his resolve on the task at hand, and after having calmed down from his rather lengthy moment of weakness, he knew if this was to go anywhere, he would need to take a small risk, however he could not go too far. Discord answered Twilight in a steady tone,
"Why, Twilight, I do believe you are rather a large fanatic for books of all kinds. Surely you of all ponies, know of a kind, and romantic gesture when you see one?" Discord said with a roll of the tongue upon the word "romantic", and then, after having whipped out a large bouquet of flowers from beneath his hat, he offered them to the princess.
As Twilight tentatively reached across the table to retrieve the flowers, cautious of his every move, she squeaked and dropped the flowers as they coughed over her face in a comic fashion. Twilight awkwardly cleared her throat, blushing in embarrassment at her involuntary noise-making.
The delightful pangs of success tickled Discord's sides, along with a pleasant tweak in his recently revived heart. He felt overwhelmed with gratitude due to the adorable display he had just witnessed. He could tell his gamble had paid off when the room once again fell into silence. However this time, a more comfortable and much less tense silence than before. Discord is back in the game, no more hiccups will be made tonight. He cheered himself on.
The rest of their time together was short-lived but comfortable, and mostly involved both of them trapped within their own thoughts. After both had finished their wine, Discord wrapped up the night with a snap of his fingers, causing the room to revert to its original form.
"I do hope you had a nice time tonight, Twilight. Makes for a nice change from those boring old books, right?" Remarked Discord, with a slight smirk pulling at the edges of his lips.
"Yes, well, thank you Discord. This was not as bad as I thought it would be. I think I should hit the hay, busy day tomorrow... The storm is still raging outside by the looks of it, so you can stay in one of the guest rooms upstairs, just take your pick. I'll wake you up in the morning and send you on your way." Twilight looked worn down and deep in thought, as she slowly made her way towards the door.
Discord nodded and slowly lowered his head, tipping his hat to the princess and flourishing his arm as he held the door open for her. He stayed put as Twilight made her way down the hall leading from the dining room, she seemed to be staring at the floor and looked slightly dazed as she walked. Discord figured she really was just exhausted.
Yes! Discord internally screamed, as he began to strut off through the opposite doors, his swagger back in his step, as he made his way up the stairs to the guest rooms. He had a satisfied smile written across his face, feeling sure he had taken a step in the right direction. Twilight did not snap back at him after his latest advance, her reaction was a victory in his eyes. Since his risk was successful, he believed that this would serve as the match to ignite the flame which was his ideal romantic relationship. Discord went to bed with the firm belief that it was only uphill from here, and although it would most likely be an arduous trek at times, he would make sure he was prepared to handle this relationship with care, no matter how long it took.
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As Twilight walked lethargically up to her room, her mind was ablaze with thoughts following on from the events of this evening. What is he planning? Does he want to claim my heart, only to tear it out of my chest and destroy my resolve? Surely he has truly learned his lesson, and therefore would not do something so cruel? He seemed sincere enough about his apology for his betrayal... Perhaps, these advances are for real? No, they can't be, that's completely out of character for Discord. There is something going on, I know it! But what is it?
Twilight had been walking on auto-pilot, and thus had not realised she was now stood next to her bed. Suddenly realising where she was, and also how exhausted she was, she pushed these questions out of her mind. She could only hope that they would fade away along with Discord once he departed tomorrow morning. Feeling slightly more sound of mind, Twilight climbed into bed, closed her eyes, and let sleep overcome her as she thought of nothing but her desire to rest.