“Oh dearest Fluttershy, thank you for taking the afternoon to escort me all the way back to Canterlot. Truly you are a treasure among ponies. Achoo!” Discord, colored green and encased in his quarantine sick bubble, sneezed (causing several soap bubbles to appear floating in his sick bubble for a few seconds before disappearing). He sighed and blew his nose with a hanky.
“It’s no problem at all, Discord, I promise.” Fluttershy smiled up at her friend. She had just rolled him off of a royal chariot sent especially by the princesses to pick him up from Ponyville and bring him back to the castle in Canterlot. The master of chaos, in his weakened state, had been staying with her at her cottage in Ponyville for the last week ever since his awkwardly backfiring misadventure with Twilight, Cadance, and a certain Tatzulwurm. But now finally Discord was better enough that Fluttershy as well as all of the princesses felt he could make the trip ‘home’ to Canterlot. Besides which, everyone had agreed that the master of chaos could get better fastest at the Canterlot castle with its round-the-clock available care and its two powerful alicorn princesses on hand capable of advanced healing magic.
And so, albeit reluctantly, Discord himself had finally agreed to the move as well. Still though, that concession didn’t mean he wouldn’t miss his best friend caring for him.
“And…you’ll come visit me here this weekend, right?” Discord asked Fluttershy with a dramatic (if slightly sincere) frown. “And you won’t stop visiting on the weekends until I’m all better? And you’ll write me every day in between?” He blinked and glanced away with a casual shrug. “I mean, it’s just so boring being in this bubble and still having my magic a little on the fritz. Having something to read would be helpful.”
Fluttershy smiled more and nodded. “Of course, Discord. I’ll visit each weekend until you’re all better. And I’ll write you as much as you want. I’ll have Spike send the letters so they can get to you right away.”
Discord smiled a little as he slouched in his bubble. “Yes, well…that’s something to look forward to then, I guess. Achoo!” He sneezed (and this time he gave himself blue polka dots for about ten seconds). Discord pouted, and a very dry look came to his features. “I really wish these magical sneezes would stop. Chaos isn’t fun unless I’m in control of it. Otherwise, we’re just dealing with pure anarchy—how uncouth.”
Fluttershy held back a giggle. “Oh come on, Discord, it’s gotten better. The effects only last a few seconds now.” She turned to lean over into the chariot and removed a satchel, which she placed on the ground near Discord’s bubble. “Now, all of the medicine I’ve been giving you is in there along with some soothing herbal tea and a letter about the progress of your health for the princesses. And I’m sure they’ll be very happy to have you back.” She hesitated but then asked cautiously, “Um…do they know exactly what you were doing that led to you getting sick, Discord?”
Discord sighed and nodded with a dry look. “Yes, I’m pretty sure Twilight filled them in on the colorful details of my shenanigans. Ugh, I just know that as soon as Luna wakes up, she’s going to rub this in my face—she loves when I get my comeuppance.”
“Aw, Discord,” Fluttershy put her hoof against the bubble and smiled, “I’m sure the princesses will realize you’re in a delicate state and won’t tease you too much.”
Discord shrugged, glancing away with a stubborn scowl. “Yeah, well…we’ll see.” He swallowed and looked back to Fluttershy, his eyes widening and his voice softening. “Are you sure I can’t stay with you just a little longer, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy smiled more but shook her head. “Discord, this is best for your recovery. Trust me. And as soon as you’re better we’ll have a tea party at my house. I promise.”
Discord frowned in a touch of disappointment but then couldn’t help smiling a little. “Well…all right, a tea party does sound nice as soon as I’m out of this ridiculous bubble.”
“Announcing, the princesses!” a guard suddenly called out near the castle entrance as he gave a salute.
Fluttershy’s eyes brightened and she moved past Discord’s bubble to greet Celestia and Luna as they entered the courtyard now. She bowed before them. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna.” She rose. “It’s so nice to see you again. And I know Discord’s happy to be home, aren’t you, Discord?” She glanced over her shoulder.
Discord just sat stewing again in his sick bubble, arms crossed over his chest. “Yes, I suppose.” Then he blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Luna? What are you doing up at this hour?”
While Celestia just stood there with her normal poised smile, Luna was grinning distinctly at the master of chaos. “Oh, I would not miss this for anything.” She sighed and shook her head. “A tatzulwurm Discord, really…?”
“Oh, like I’m supposed to know they live under giant magical flowers and have diseases communicable to Draconequui.” Discord rolled his eyes.
“Luna, come on, don’t tease him,” Celestia chided her sister. She smiled at Fluttershy. “We’re very happy to have Discord back and to see you as well, Fluttershy. Thank you for escorting him here and for taking such good care of him this last week.”
“Oh, it was no problem at all,” Fluttershy assured. She picked up the satchel and put it in front of the princesses. “This has all of the medicine I’ve been giving him in it and some notes about his symptoms and care too. I’m still not sure what his disease is exactly, so I’ve been treating him with a combination of things and it seems to be helping. He’ll have to stay in his sick bubble until the green color and the magical sneezing goes away though.”
“Magical sneezing?” Luna raised an eyebrow.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. When he sneezes right now, he makes little bits of chaos happen. They only last a few seconds though.”
Luna’s smile grew and she did her best to cover up a laugh. “I see. Excellent to know.”
In the background, Discord rolled his eyes.
“We’ll keep an eye on the sneezing, Fluttershy,” Celestia assured. “And I’m sure I have some spells that can add to your remedies to get him better in no time.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I thought you might. Oh, and please make sure he gets plenty of sleep and drinks plenty of water, but not the glasses too—they’re too rough on his tummy right now. And try not to let him use his magic too much—it still wears him out a lot. And no matter what he says, he has to stay away from eating sweets as much as possible. They definitely make him sneeze more.”
Celestia smiled more. “We’ll keep a very close eye on him, Fluttershy.” She winked.
“Uh, hello? Can we all stop talking about me like I’m not here? And like I’m a newborn foal?” Discord called out from the background.
Fluttershy sighed and leaned close to the princesses to whisper. “He’s a bit of a stubborn patient. He really does want to get better though so he can get out of the bubble—just keep at him, and he’ll listen eventually.”
Celestia and Luna tried not to giggle and just nodded.
Discord just scoffed and sighed dramatically again.
Fluttershy turned and walked back over to him with a smile. “Discord, I have to head back now. Please do everything the princesses say. They want you to get better just as much as I do. Promise?”
Discord slouched more in his bubble but nodded. “Very well, Fluttershy, I promise.”
Fluttershy’s smile brightened. “Good. I’ll write to you tomorrow. Bye for now, Discord.” Then she reached her hooves into the sleeve attachments of the bubble and gave Discord a hug. “I hope you feel all better very soon.”
Discord blinked at her hug, and his eyes went wide. He glanced at the princesses.
Luna and Celestia smiled, but then Celestia turned away and gave Luna a little nudge to turn away too.
Finally having a small amount of privacy, Discord looked down to Fluttershy who was still hugging him and, awkwardly, he hugged her back (or, to be more accurate, he hugged her arms in the bubble sleeves). “Thank you, Fluttershy,” he replied softly. “And, you know…thank you for taking such good care of me.”
Fluttershy smiled up at him. “I was glad to, Discord. That’s what friends are for.” She gave him a little extra squeeze and pulled back with a smile. She waved as she re-entered the chariot. “Bye Discord, Bye Princess Celestia, Bye Princess Luna!”
“Goodbye, kind Fluttershy!” Luna called out with a wave as she turned to face forward again.
“Goodbye, Fluttershy, and have a pleasant ride home!” Celestia called out with a wave of her own, then turned and faced forward once more.
Discord gave the little yellow pegasus a small wave too (and did his best to cover up a frown at her leaving).
The chariot departed.
Celestia and Luna were left with Discord in a sick bubble.
Luna couldn’t help herself. She approached him with a grin, looking the bubble over. “Now this we really must commission a stained glass window of, sister—I think we should entitle it ‘Diseased Draconequus Gets his Just Desserts’.”
“Didst thou stay up all morning thinking up that one, Luna?” Discord asked dryly, scowling at her.
“Didst thou realize that green is not thine color, Discord?” Luna smirked.
The master of chaos frowned and scowled more. “I knew I should have saved the ‘I’m sick, help me and prove you’re my true friend!’ bit for you two instead of for Twilight and Cadance. Then at least I would have had the fun of spreading some chaos to you insufferable pony sisters before getting ill and being stuck in this stupid bubble.”
Luna grinned and poked the bubble, ignoring his lamentation. “Does this mean we get to roll you around the castle from now until you’re better?”
“Oh, if I wasn’t in this bubble, Luna…” Discord pouted (though he almost smirked a little too at her joke).
“Ah, but you are in the bubble, Discord, you are in the bubble.” Luna winked.
Discord held his nose high in the air. “I shouldn’t even be dignifying this conversation by respond—ACHOO!” Discord sneezed and was instantly covered with pink feathers. His eyes went wide.
Luna blinked and then smiled so very much. “Oh, this is too rich…”
“Oh shut up, Luna.” Discord pouted and scowled as the feathers disappeared.
“Oh come on, I’m just teasing you. I promise, this whole thing really isn’t that funny…really…” Luna put a hoof to her mouth and stifled a laugh as best she could.
Discord just sighed and rolled his eyes. “You know, you can feel free to go to bed any time, Luna.” He grinned a little and moved his bubble to right in front of the sun princess. “I’m sure dear Celestia is all set to take care of me for the rest of the day. Incidentally, in my terribly weakened state I enjoy foot massages, excessive compliments, and being sung to. Oh, and Fluttershy was definitely lying about the ‘no sweets’ rule, so how about a nice big cake to celebrate my return home, hmm?” He grinned more.
Celestia blinked a few times but then just smiled warmly at him. “Your feet seem fine, Discord, especially since you haven’t been on them for over a week; you’ve gotten enough compliments from kind Fluttershy lately I’m sure; and I think you’ve had enough singing for a while considering that musical performance I heard you put on at Twilight’s house. And I’m a little more inclined to believe Fluttershy’s opinion about the sweets than yours.” She grinned a little as she spread her magical aura around Fluttershy’s medicine satchel and Discord’s bubble to pull them along after her. “Come on, Discord, I’ll prepare you some nice soup for lunch and look after you until tonight. Luna,” she glanced over her shoulder and paused for a moment, “would you like to join us? Provided you and Discord can hold off on the insults until after the meal, that is?” She smiled.
Luna chuckled but shook her head. “I’m afraid I shall have to decline, sister. I’m tired from staying up waiting for Discord’s arrival all afternoon. I think I’ll take a nap before my duties start this evening.” She spread her wings to head up to her balcony. “Have a pleasant meal. And Discord?”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes…what gag do you want to end on, Luna?”
Luna smiled but shook her head. “No gag, Discord.” She shrugged. “I just wanted to say that I hope you’re well soon. I hate being sick myself—all cooped up and confined. I promise my sister and I shall do our best to make you well again as quickly as possible.”
Discord’s eyes went a little wide. “Oh…well, um…thanks then, I guess.” He smiled a little in return, though couldn’t help raising an eyebrow as well.
Luna chuckled softly, nodded, and then flew off in the direction of her tower.
Celestia chuckled softly too. “Come on, Discord, we’ll have a nice quiet meal together, and then we’ll look over everything Fluttershy left for you. And it’s very good to see you again. We really do miss you when you’re gone…though it’s nice you got to spend some time with Twilight and Cadance.” She led them through the castle entrance.
Discord smiled and chuckled. “Yes, well, I have to say, however badly it ended for me, the chaos I put those two through was worth it. They went through every stunt imaginable for me. And they still think of me as a friend.” He half smiled and twirled his beard around one of his fingers.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Do you see how strong the magic of friendship is now, Discord?”
Discord blinked then pouted and slouched again. “Celestia, do you really have to rub in a moral lesson right now? I’m sick.” He gave a dramatic sigh.
The sun princess just laughed and shook her head. “Fine, we’ll save it until later then. For now you can just rest and keep me company while I spend all afternoon doing paperwork.” She eyed him. “Won’t that be a nice, straightforward, orderly change of pace for you after your chaotic little escapades at Twilight’s and Cadance’s expenses?”
Discord’s eyes popped open and then he collapsed back dramatically in his bubble and sighed. “No, not paperwork! Ugh! I knew you wouldn’t let me get away with what I did without some silly punishment!”
Celestia held her head just a little higher and her smile grew. “Oh Discord, there’s no need to be so dramatic. And who knows—you might even learn to like paperwork. You won’t know until you try…for a few hours.” She eyed him again with a smile almost like a smirk and then turned down the corridor leading to the kitchens. “Now let’s go get you all set up with that hot soup I promised you.”
“Mmm…” Discord groaned in annoyance, a dull look in his eye and a pout on his features as Celestia pulled his sick bubble along.
Later that evening long after the soup and Discord’s paperwork-watching ‘punishment’ and enough time for Celestia to finish her affairs for the day, the sun princess and the master of chaos found themselves alone in Celestia’s study as they prepared to complete the most difficult step of all in Discord’s daily treatment regimen.
“Discord, you have to take your medicine.” Celestia was firm. And her magic steadily held up the spoon of medicine in Discord’s sick bubble.
“Oh come on,” Discord rolled his eyes at Celestia and at the medicine. “I’ve been taking that stuff every night for a week now, and mostly to be polite to Fluttershy. But frankly it’s awful! It tastes like pureed vegetables and burnt toast! And besides, I’m close enough to better now—I’m sure my body can handle fixing me up the rest of the way on its own.” Despite the conviction in his tone that there was no chance he was going to let the medicine in his mouth, Discord still eyed the floating spoon of liquid with a touch of worry as he pressed himself back more against one side of his bubble and held up one of his blankets in defense.
Celestia shook her head, though she still smiled patiently. She was seated at her desk chair and facing him. “Discord, you have to finish the whole regimen, even if you’re feeling better. Otherwise you might have a relapse. Come on now, please…for me.” She smiled a little more. “I know I’m not Fluttershy, but I hope I’m a good enough consolation prize as a friend.”
Discord pouted all the more though, and his look went dry. “Celestia, I have my limits, even about humoring you.”
Celestia let out a soft sigh but still continued smiling patiently. “Very well, Discord.” She smiled more. “By the way, considering the very unfair trick you played on Twilight and Cadance, we’ve decided the best course of action as part of your reform is to banish you to the Crystal Empire for a while. The Crystal Heart there should dull your magic quite a bit, and you’ll be Cadance’s personal servant. Have fun.”
“WHAT? I—Mmph!” Discord’s jaw had naturally fallen open at this announcement, and as he had begun to cry out in protest, Celestia magically pushed the spoon forward and right into his mouth.
The sun princess grinned triumphantly. “Gotchya.” She laughed softly and magically made the spoon disappear, leaving only the medicine in Discord’s mouth. “Now swallow. It’s already in your mouth, Discord, you might as well let it help you.”
Discord just remained sitting there with his eyes bugged out and his mouth full for a moment but then finally swallowed, a shiver going through him as he did so. “Ugh, dreadful! I swear, I—ACHOO!” He sneezed and suddenly his bubble was full of flowers.
Celestia tried very hard not to laugh.
Discord huffed and stewed until the flowers disappeared. “I really hate being sick,” he mumbled with a scowl. “And I hate even more when you get tricky.”
Celestia smiled and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I had to, Discord. And you’ll be better soon. Besides, all I’m doing is trying to provide the care for you that you requested when you first moved in here—food, clothing, shelter, remember? Right now medicine is the food you need, for clothing there’s all of your blankets to keep you warm, and for shelter there’s your bubble. I’m just trying to help you maintain the status quo of all of that.” She sighed as she magically made another blanket and pillow appear in the bubble for him. “Discord, I really still can’t believe you brought a tatzulwurm into your prank. That was irresponsible, even for you. You’re lucky you just got a flu from it.” The sun princess frowned.
“Hey,” Discord pouted, “look, just to be clear, the tatzulwurm was a surprise even to me. I’m into pranks and gags, not dismemberment, and that thing was ready to tear me and the girls apart.” He shivered. “Incidentally, if you ever need any help with anything on the edges of Equestria, please count me out—I never want to get anywhere near one of those things again.”
Celestia smiled a little. “Oh Discord, I know you didn’t mean to bring the tatzulwurm into this.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
Celestia nodded as she magically put away Discord’s medicine bottle in Fluttershy’s satchel. “Yes. Like you said, violence isn’t really your style. And besides, with your response to the worm’s appearance as Twilight and Cadance described it to me in their letters, I can tell you were genuinely surprised by its presence. My disappointment is in the fact that you didn’t research those flowers a little better, Discord. Almost everything that grows in Equestria has magic or some kind of magical creature attached to it. Please, in the future with pranks, take more time to look into things, hmm?” She smiled and shrugged.
Discord sighed and nodded. “Fine, fair enough. I’ll research my pranks a little better next…next…ACHOO!” Discord’s bubble instantly filled with balloon animals. They soon popped though. “Ugh, you know what I mean…” He blew into his hanky and then collapsed back against his pillows again. “I’m exhausted. You have no idea how draining it is to have chaos actually pulled from you, Celestia.” He sighed and then glanced at her, pouting a little. “Tia, can I have some of the tea Fluttershy sent over?”
Celestia smiled softly and nodded. “Certainly, Discord.” She used her magic to make a nice steaming mug of the special blend appear floating in the air.
Discord pouted more. “And can you put lots of honey in it? Fluttershy’s been depriving me of sweets, but I need to get sugar from somewhere.”
Celestia nodded and made a jar of honey appear. “Of course, Discord.” She added several spoonfuls to the tea.
Discord still pouted though, and his eyes became bigger and more pleading. “And just a drop of cream too?”
Celestia sighed and nodded once more. “Of course, Discord.” She made the honey disappear and made a small porcelain pitcher appear which she used to pour the cream.
“And could I have just a dash of hot sauce in it for the sake of chaos?” Discord grinned innocently.
Celestia blinked and shook her head with a grin. “Don’t push it, Discord. Hot sauce isn’t for sick people no matter how chaotic they are.
Discord rolled his eyes and shrugged with a half smile. “Fair enough, I suppose. And in that case, I suppose you can send it in now, Tia.”
Celestia nodded and teleported the cup in to the bubble. Discord quickly took it up and sipped with a big smile and a sigh of relaxation.
Celestia smiled at the sight of him. But then she frowned a little and raised an eyebrow. “Discord, you’re really going to be okay then…?”
Discord nodded as he finished another sip of tea. “Oh, yes, yes, of course, I…Why?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
Celestia smiled a little sheepishly and looked down. “Oh, it’s just…honestly, I never thought you could get sick. You’re so powerful, after all. But I always assumed if you did get sick it would be a very serious thing.” She frowned again.
Discord lowered his teacup and almost chuckled. “Oh please, Tia, nothing’s serious with me, you should know that.” He watched her smile again and had to add softly, “You…really care that I’m okay even after everything I put your student and niece though?” His eyes were a little wide.
Celestia smiled and nodded. “Of course I care about your well being, Discord. And you might have gone a little too far, but I know you were just trying to relate to the girls and explore friendship in your own way. I’m just glad to hear you’ll be better soon.” Her smile brightened. “Is there anything else you need before bed, Discord?”
Discord blinked, almost frowned a little, and then glanced to the side and cleared his throat. “Well…never mind, it’s silly.” He sipped is tea again.
Celestia’s eyes narrowed playfully and her smile grew. “Discord…”
Discord sighed dramatically. “Fluttershy would tell me a story each night before bed. It helps me sleep.” He pouted, his tone going a little dry. “But don’t tell Luna that I like bedtime stories, she’d never let me live it down.”
Celestia laughed softly. “I won’t. And I’d be happy to tell you a story myself, Discord. I used to tell stories to Twilight all the time when she’d sleep over here when she was a little filly.”
Discord blinked. “Really? You will?”
Celestia nodded. “Shall I teleport us to your room?”
Discord sighed and had to shake his head. “No, I can’t sleep there in this condition. It’s pretty chaotic in there, and I can’t really regulate chaos at the moment. Could I spend the night in here?”
Celestia blinked and tilted her head to the side, her smile growing. “In here—really? Not in my room?”
Discord blushed a little, but was grateful for his green coloring and the sick bubble probably hiding it. “Well, I…I…ACHOO!” He sneezed again—this time the bubble filled with pies that flew out and crashed against the inside. They disappeared a few seconds later. Discord sighed, his tone dry. “It’s better I don’t. I might accidentally sneeze up something that’ll pop this thing, and then before I can get it up and running again I could spread whatever I’ve got to you. And I’d rather not let that happen.” He blinked a few times, and then quickly added, trying to keep things as casual as possible, “A-After all, I think Twilight would not respond well if I got you or Luna sick, so, you know…” He held his teacup with his tail and twiddled his fingers together.
Celestia smiled so much. She didn’t say anything though, just nodded. “Very well. You can stay in here, Discord. And I’ll stay for a little while and tell you a story until you fall asleep.”
Discord couldn’t help smiling in response, though he did his best to hide it. “Yes, well…as my hostess, that’s the least you could do.” He shrugged.
Celestia rolled her eyes and laughed softly. Then suddenly she stood up and approached his bubble, put her hooves through the sleeves, and wrapped her forelegs around Discord in a bug hug, pulling him close and smiling happily!
Discord’s eyes went wide and he straightened up in a near panic. “CELESTIA!!! What are you doing?!?!” His blushing was unconcealable now, even against the green veneer of the sick bubble.
Celestia just laughed softly. “I’m afraid Fluttershy’s instructions said to include hugs when appropriate in your treatment regimen. Now seemed as good a time as any.”
Discoid sighed deeply, his look going dry (and his blush deepening a little). “Oh for the sake of chaos…”
Celestia laughed more and hugged him for a moment longer before pulling back. She removed her legs from the bubble sleeves and did her best not to laugh at the look of fluster on his face. “So, what story would you like to hear, Discord?”
Discord blinked a few times and cleared his throat to snap out of his awkwardness. “Hmm…” He smirked a little, settling into his blankets. He took up his teacup in his hands to sip from it once more. “Well, as I told you once before, Celestia, my favorite stories are ones about me and ones where I come off really good.” He chuckled.
Celestia grinned…but then she considered and nodded. “Very well then.” She lay down on her sofa by Discord’s bubble and cleared her throat to begin. “Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria…there was a great and mighty lord of chaos who met two magical princesses. The chaos sprit and the princesses didn’t get along, I’m afraid…and in the end everyone may have gone a little too far, and the three couldn’t be friends. But luckily one day, when the princesses started to understand the magic of friendship much better, the master of chaos returned…and the princesses, particularly the one who loved the sun, started to wonder if they really could all be friends and happy together.”
Discord actually scoffed at this point. Celestia glanced over at him and noticed the slightly distressed look on his features that he was trying to hide. Discord rolled his eyes. “Celestia,” he interrupted, “really, I know you’re doing your best to make me ‘come off good’ here and all, but…well, that particular story doesn’t even have an ending yet! Wouldn’t it be better to just make up a story instead and insert me in it?”
Celestia only smiled more. “I’m better at telling stories than at making them up, I’m afraid. And besides I do love taking my time with telling a story, so you might fall asleep before I even get close to finishing it. But of course…if you are still awake by that time, I’m open to suggestions for how the story should end.” She let her eyes meet his.
Discord blinked and looked down, his eyes a little wide. “I…” And then he cleared his throat and shook his head. “Yes, well, I-I can’t be expected to narrate right now. I’m sick… Just…Just keep going for now and we’ll cross the bridge of the ending when we get there.” He settled more into his blankets once again and looked down into his teacup.
Celestia nodded. Then she went on. “So the sun princess asked a very magical and generous and loyal and honest and laughter-filled and kind group of girls to help her show the chaos creature the magic of friendship. And soon they were all able to start living together, trying to find harmony in their differences…as well as trying to find the beauty of the disharmony their differences could sometime create. And the sun princess was very happy as their adventures were only just beginning. And she hoped most of all that the chaos lord was happy too, and that he knew deep down, no matter what happened, that she would do anything to keep the elements or her own powers or even some new magic in a special chest from causing him distress or harm. Because she liked him very much, and thought sometimes that he perhaps liked her very much as well.”
Celestia smiled a little and let her eyes meet Discord’s. Discord’s eyes went a little wide, and then he looked back to the safety of his tea, waiting for her to go on.
Celestia did go on, and she really told a beautiful rendition of the events of their friendship up until now. As she got close to the present though, she glanced over to see Discord with his eyes closed and snoring lightly. Despite a touch of disappointment, she left off in her story for the moment, stood and whispered a goodnight to him quietly, and then lowered the lamps in the room and left.
Discord wasn’t exactly asleep. He just hadn’t wanted to cross the bridge of ‘so what do you think will happen next in the story of the draconequus and the princesses Discord?’ It was an awkward bridge…and it would have been made more awkward for both himself and Celestia since he had to admit that he wasn’t quite sure anymore how it would end—happy or sad, good or bad, tragedy or comedy. So he had taken refuge in the present by pretending to be asleep and then eventually dozing off a few minutes after Celestia finally left. He’d been through a lot with his illness, he figured he deserved the small cop out.
Still, this whole experience had given Discord a lot to think about. After all of his shenanigans ever since his reform, even after the chaos symphony that had been his ‘blue flu’ routine, all of these ponies could still…care about him. And even after an all out war a thousand years ago and his chaotic threats only a few month ago during his initial break out, Celestia somehow liked him, she really and truly did. And he really and truly…maybe…possibly…sort of did like her a little (though he wouldn’t rule out that that conclusion was just his slight fever talking right now). None of it made any sense, but not in any way he was used to. All he knew was that he clearly didn’t quite understand something yet about friendship, but he had this feeling he was going to understand soon. And he sincerely wasn’t sure what would happen when that moment came to pass.