Keep Calm and Chaos On

by Azure129


Midquel 9: The One with Chaos and the Moon

Night was fully fallen over the land of Equestria, and Princess Luna sat upon a cloud high in the air over Canterlot Castle with her eyes closed just savoring the cool evening breeze and the glow of the moonlight overhead. Despite any past regrets about ponies not staying up to admire her nights, Luna had to admit that she did like the peace and quiet of nighttime in a way…and she had especially come to savor such times of serene solitude ever since Discord had moved into the castle.

Luna took in another deep inhale of the night around her and sighed. She opened her eyes and began to speak softly to herself. “It’s nice to have some freedom from Discord during my time on duty. I cannot imagine how Celestia gets any work done with him pestering her throughout her days. I suppose I should feel grateful that he hasn’t yet focused such attention on me.” She considered, looking down a little. “His tendencies must be partly a matter of convenience of course—Discord tends to sleep at night like most creatures, after all. And yet…even when I am awake during the days or late at night and even when he is pulling some late night shenanigan, he seems most interested in spending time with Celestia, which suggests either that he feels less comfortable trying to become friends with me…or that he feels unusually comfortable around her.” Luna almost smiled a little. She let her eyes drift in the direction of Celestia’s tower as she continued to ponder. A surprising sight met her eyes, however, and she blinked.

There, floating near Celestia’s window, was none other than Discord himself reclining on a lounge chair in the air with a pair of sunglasses and a straw hat on. And he was grinning distinctly and occasionally glancing into the window in question.

Luna raised an eyebrow and descended from her cloud to investigate. She swooped in and came to rest on a cloud near the chaos spirit. The night princess cleared her throat. “Good evening, Discord. I’m glad to see you’re feeling better enough from your illness to spend some time outdoors again.”

Discord glanced away from the window and grinned as tilted down his sunglasses to look at Luna. “Luna! My favorite nighttime princess friend and fellow appreciator of a well-bothered Celestia—how nice to see you. And yes, I’m feeling right as chocolate rain again.” He chuckled as he snapped away the glasses and the hat.

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help smiling a little. “Discord, what are you up to?”

The chaos master rolled his eyes to the side ‘innocently’. “Oh I was just catching some moonbeams. Good for the complexion you know.” Discord snapped away his lounge chair, replacing it with a pink cotton candy cloud to reside upon, and shrugged. “But then I got to thinking, gee, it’s been hours since I made Celestia prove to me that we’re really friends by having her endure one of my little pranks, and so I’ve just been keeping an eye on my latest one. I’m really excited to see how it works. If you promise not to tell Celestia about it, I’ll show it to you.” He leaned forward with a smug grin.

Luna blinked. “It doesn’t involve anything that could potentially harm her, right? Nor any dark magic vines?” Her look went dry.

Discord shook his head. “Nope! Perfectly safe chaos only. Look.” He gestured to Celestia’s chamber window.

Luna moved closer to look inside. She saw the room aglow in the light of the fireplace and her sister sound asleep…though not in her bed: instead, Celestia was resting upon a nearby cotton candy cloud that was hovering over the floor.

Discord chuckled. “The second she wakes up from her peaceful little slumber, that cloud plops to the floor and then bursts into chocolate milk. It’ll take her hours to get the stains out of her fur, let alone the rug.” He laughed more.

Luna just grinned a little and shook her head. “Truly, the sophistication and wit of your pranks knows no bounds, Discord.”

Discord waved her off. “Oh, it’ll be funny and you know it. And I plan to camp out right here until dawn to watch that angry look that’ll flash over her face for the few seconds after my prank happens.” He nodded triumphantly with a grin and crossed his arms over his chest.

Luna glanced from Celestia to Discord and had to smile a little more. “You enjoy interacting with her very much, don’t you, Discord?”

Discord shrugged. “Well, she’s my 'friend', after all.... “ He smirked. “What’s not to enjoy?”

Luna grinned more. “Indeed. In fact, I think you’ve come to place a special personal value on any attention she gives you, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative.”

Discord just scoffed and rolled his eyes, waving her off. “Oh Luna, that’s ridiculous.”

“Me thinks the draconequus doth protest too much.” Luna’s grin grew.

“Me thinks the night princess ought to quit overanalyzing my chaos.” Discord stuck out his tongue.

“She’s special to you, will you at least admit that?” Luna smiled all knowingly. “I mean, it’s obvious, of course, but it might be nice for you to admit it. She seems to have some kind of quality that…attracts your interest.” Luna watched Discord carefully out of the corner of her eye.

Discord sighed and suddenly snapped up an emery board and made a little show of ‘casually’ filing his talon. “Luna, really, I have no idea where you’re getting these wild theories from.” His eyes remained down.

Luna sighed, held up a hoof, began counting. “Well, there’s that whole ‘date’ overnight in her room that you orchestrated when you first came here, there’s how you insisted upon dancing with her on two hooves at your first house party, there are your frequent cake dates together, there’s pretty much everything about how you interacted with her during our movie night, there’s the fact that you’re watching her sleep right now…”

Discord cleared his throat loudly and pouted with a sigh. “The ‘sleepover’ thing was a gag to break the ice when I moved in, the dance at my housewarming party was part of a wager to get me to clean up after myself the next day, our cake dates are just between friends, I’m afraid I refuse to recall anything unusual about your movie night, and I told you what I’m watching right now is a prank—the fact that it also involves watching your sister is mere coincidence.” He snapped away the emery board and crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes finally came up. “And anyway, what’s your point, Luna?”

Luna did her best not to chuckle. ‘Celestia is the only one I know who can look more stubborn than he can when she’s bothered.’ “Well…” she went on, “you seem to pay her much more attention than you do to me…and you seem to joke with her and prank her much more than you do to me…and you seem to gravitate much more toward her company than to mine. You both just seem to get along very well. Certainly better than you and I do at any rate.” She took a breath and glanced out to the night. “This I the first night I’ve seen you about, after all. And I think this is the first conversation we’ve ever had alone since you moved in here…besides of course the one where you strolled into my chamber when you first arrived and just thought you could announce yourself as my new roommate without consequences.” Some of her smile returned.

Discord raised an eyebrow. Then a relaxed smile returned to his features. “Oh Luna, is that what this line of questioning is all about deep down? Don’t seriously tell me you’re jealous of Celestia’s friendship with me.” He scoffed. “I like you just as much as I like Celestia.” He grinned as he added for good measure, “Of course, I’m not admitting to liking either one of you much at all no matter what wild presumptions you two have made about me actually enjoying my time here. But the point is, I value your friendship just as much as Celestia’s. In fact, I…” he glanced away and took a deep breath, “…I actually find it sort of comforting having you around. I mean, it’s just nice not to be the only one in the castle who’s been punished for a thousand years, you know?”

Luna blinked and instantly brought her attention back to the chaos master, her eyes wide. “Discord…why did you never tell me this?”

“Honestly?” Discord shrugged with a half smile and looked to her again. “I think I was trying to be sensitive, but I’ve never tried that before, so I can’t swear to it.”

“Discord, what are you talking about?” Luna tilted her head to the side.

Discord sighed deeply and rolled his eyes as he reclined back on his cloud a little. “Look, Luna, maybe part of the reason I torment Celestia as much as I do is that I figure, well…considering the whole Nightmare Moon thing, you probably get enough guff each day in little ways from people already, so you don’t need me adding to it. Believe me, I get guff myself. But Celestia’s always just trotting around as perfect as ever—she needs a little resistance in her life, she needs someone to engage her on equal terms, and I am more than willing to fulfill those needs. She is the ideal subject for the magic of chaos.” He chuckled and looked to Luna again. “And besides,” he smiled a little, “I don’t much like when people insensitively bring up my statue days, so I figured you wouldn’t like me willy nilly bringing up you moon days. Simple as that, really.”

“Discord, you actually cared enough about me to put all of that thought behind your actions towards me as a friend?” Luna’s eyes widened.

Discord crossed his arms over his chest. “Hey, it was just as much for my benefit as for yours. I just didn’t want to end up blasted into a wall again with your Royal Canterlot Voice or something if I said anything the wrong way. Actually…” his grin picked up on one side, “I have to tell you, when I was a statue and first realized the Nightmare Moon thing had happened…I was pretty impressed.”

Luna gestured to herself with her hoof. “You were impressed…with me…about that?”

“Of course.” Discord nodded and raised an eyebrow. “I always figured you and Tia were the stuffiest princesses ever. But then you go and show that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows—you go and show that there’s something complicated in your perfect sisterly reign. You go and show that sometimes people can’t just tow the orderly line! You changed everything!” His grin grew and his eyes brightened. “Celestia might have the perfect royal reputation, but you’re the one who’s had the truly fascinating life. I mean, in the future, if someone has to pick a biography on one of you to look at, do you think they’re going to want to read about Celestia faithfully doing paperwork and holding court for centuries or you battling loneliness and rage under the influence of dark magic due to the most epic banishment in history?” He smiled more, and his voice lowered a little. “I mentioned this to Celestia just after my ‘reform’, and it was mostly to bug her, but it was also the truth: you’re the ‘fun’ princess, Luna. You’re passionate and quirky and have a sophisticated sense of humor, your holiday is the best one in my opinion with all the scaring people and crazy costumes, and you're in charge of all the nightlife and dreams too! You’re liked more than you give yourself credit for, Luna, by me and others, no matter how much attention Celestia ‘attracts’.” He rolled his eyes and then looked to Luna again, his arms crossed over his chest.

The night princess was smiling so much by the end of this speech. “Discord…thank you. Truly.” She considered for a moment then added, “You know, I think you fascinate people as well, Discord. Your history is even more colorful and fantastical than mine. Except for, well…the stone time.” She frowned a little. “But your experiences there could be just as interesting as mine on the moon.”

“Hmm…” Discord sighed, glancing up at the celestial body (looking like a large bit of stone itself with its cool, gray color and rocky texture). “Maybe we should compare banishment notes sometime.”

Luna’s gaze couldn’t help but fall to the statue garden below, bathed in moonlight, and she nodded. “Indeed, perhaps one day we should.”

There was a momentary peaceful silence between the two friends.

Then Discord spoke again. “You know…that’s kind of another reason I find it easier to be around Celestia, Luna.” He cleared his throat, just looking up at the night sky in general now. “After all, with the Nightmare Moon thing and the girls helping restore you to your true self…well, you’re like the greatest and most impressive ‘reform’ story ever. And if I spend too much time with you then people might start expecting me to live up to your glory about the whole thing. I mean, one moment of friendship, and you were perfectly back to the side of good. And now look at you—a beloved princess serving her people with strength and grace…even if you do use the word ‘thou’ and the royal ‘we’ way too much.” He smiled a little more as his eyes drifted back to Luna.

Luna blinked, then looked at him again. “Discord, my case was unique. I was under the sway of dark magic, and that one spark of friendship from the Elements instantly purged it. I wasn’t a villain making a conscious choice and effort to gradually change my ways.” Her brow furrowed. “…You’re considering taking this reform seriously, aren’t you? As in something long term?”

Discord grinned and opened his mouth like he was going to give one of his usual cheeky replies. But then he paused…and then he thought…and then he sighed. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and just a touch serious. “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t decided yet.”

Luna’s eyes went a little wide but she remained quiet and just listened with interest.

Discord went on. “I’m still very aware of my ability to rule Equestria with chaos. And I’m still not too happy about all of that time in stone….” He scowled a little. “And I’m still a rather selfish lord of chaos when you get right down to it.”

Luna raised an eyebrow.

Discord went on, and his look softened as he did so. “But…I do sort of like this easy, relaxed life I have now…and I do like tea parties with Fluttershy…and—I won’t admit this in the morning light but—I do like you and dear Celestia too. I’m not sure what I’m going to end up doing exactly.” He looked to the moon princess and let his voice lower a little. “Luna, I’m only being this blunt with you because I think of anyone you’d understand the most what this ‘reform’ thing must be like for me, and I think you can handle some hard truth from me. But don’t tell Celestia what I just said to you. I think it would…disappoint her a lot to hear that this whole experience hasn’t been a great big bed of cotton candy and chaos flowers for me.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s just…I know she’ll blame herself somehow, but it’s really not her fault. You two and the girls have been bending over backwards to tolerate me with friendship. Any of my doubts are on me. Plain and simple.” He sighed and looked forward again, his gaze a little dull. “It’s nothing personal. In the end, I just…might not turn out to be a good guy deep down, that’s all.”

There was silence for a while.

Then Luna spoke, a look of deep concentration on her features. “Discord, I understand your doubts, and I appreciate you sharing them with me.” She tried to catch his eyes with hers. “We want to be your friend, Discord—and by ‘we’ I mean all of us.” She almost smiled a little, but then looked serious again as she added, “But you must know, if you attack, even without the Elements, we will have to fight you for the safety of the nation.”

Discord looked back at her. He considered, then gave a single nod. “Fair enough. But I don’t think I’d attack. Maybe I don’t even want to rule Equestria anymore exactly. I think I’d just want to be free to let my chaos and selfishness reign, so I’d quit putting a lid on it like I’ve been doing, that’s all. I’d probably be more of a nuisance than a threat.” He quirked his mouth and crossed his arms over his chest, looking forward again. “It’s just so pesky that all of you believe in me so much though, and that you keep caring about me no matter what. It’s…unexpected.” He scoffed. “I thought after a week of my shenanigans you and Tia would have kicked me out of your castle and declared war, but you just keep smiling and coming back for more. And the girls too.” He smiled a little again, unable to help himself.

Luna smiled again as well. “That’s part of how friendship works, Discord. We work through our differences, and never abandon each other no matter what.”

“Yeah, well…” Discord squirmed and pouted a little, “It just feels funny, is all. I don’t know. And I also don’t how I’ve gotten so attached to Fluttershy and the girls and you and Celestia in such a short amount of time.” He sighed. “There’s just a lot to think about. And I’m very old to start changing now.”

“Take your time, Discord,” Luna assured, shifting her cloud closer. “Even if my reform was technically quick, I still needed some lessons when I got back on how to be a good friend.” She looked down. “After I first returned, when I tried to socialize with the ponies and go among them, they all feared me. And it hurt me, Discord, the assumption that because I made a bad mistake once, it meant there was something bad about me and something bad I might do again. It’s taken a great deal of patience and time for the ponies to understand me and put aside their unease. And Twilight Sparkle helped me very much when it came to trying to make friends. But still I feel a little feared, and I know most ponies take more comfort in Celestia’s rule than mine. But maybe the reminder of my bad past is a good thing—maybe it is what I need to make sure I am ever Nightmare Moon again.” She hung her head humbly.

“No. It’s not, Luna.”

Luna looked up, an eyebrow raised. Discord remained looking forward and spoke more. “You feeling bad won’t change anything in the past, and it’ll only make the future more difficult to get through. I know I can’t stop you from going through a grand spectacle of mushy guilt if you really want to or feel you have to for now. But it’s really overrated. I hurt far more people than you ever did and for far longer. But I don’t dwell on guilt because I don’t think it’ll change anything for the better. Besides, my problem isn’t that ponies fear me—it’s that ponies don’t trust me. No one believes in me completely except Fluttershy…and that includes myself. People want me to fail at this reform and go back to stone, Luna, people want me to prove I’m bad so they can feel safe again.” He scowled a little. “Half of what’s keeping this reform going is me wanting to prove them wrong just on principle.”

Luna frowned, but moved a little closer and tried to smile again. “Perhaps I do dwell too much on guilt, Discord. And I’ll bear in mind your opinion against it. But I hope in turn that you’ll heed some advice from me and dwell less on the negative thoughts of others. All that matters is what you want for yourself, Discord. And I’m sure you’ll understand what you want better soon enough. And for what it’s worth, you’ve done a very good job earning the trust of all of us as your friends so far.” Luna blushed slightly as she continued. “I started trusting you from the moment I learned that you had spent the night in my sister’s room and hadn’t let any harm or distress come to her. You’ve made more progress than you realize…wouldn’t you agree?”

Discord shrugged, his gaze still a little dull (and a light blush on his features now too). “I suppose…”

“I believe you’re a ‘good guy’ deep down, Discord,” Luna offered softly, her smile warming. “And I know my sister believes that more than anything as well. She sees something in you—why do you think she wanted so very much to see you reformed?”

Discord only blinked though, and appeared even more confused and distressed at this assurance. He swallowed. “Yes, well…she…I suppose we’ll all see what happens, Luna, Celestia included.” Then he cleared his throat, smiled and changed the subject as he suddenly snapped away his cloud and flew close to Celestia’s window. “And speaking of Celestia, oh look, she’s yawning! Maybe she’s waking up….” He grinned in excitement.

Luna wanted to discuss Discord’s feelings more, but she knew that Discord could be just as stubborn as she could be, and she knew it had taken her a while after her return and ‘reform’ to discuss her feelings of the past openly with Celestia, and she also knew it was progress enough that he had confided in her like this without her prompting him. Besides, even if he was struggling, at least it seemed like he cared about the fact that he was struggling, and that was something. And there really was no rush… So she smiled and moved her cloud over to the window to look inside with him at her slumbering sister.

Discord’s smile beamed. “Ooo I really can’t wait to see the look on her face when she wakes up covered in chocolate milk….”

Luna just rolled her eyes and went back to watching her sister.

Celestia indeed yawned and turned in her sleep, but then she just let out a sigh and continued slumbering.

Discord pouted. “Oh, pony feathers! At this rate I’ll have to wait til dawn to see her pranked.”

Luna couldn’t help herself—she smirked a little. “Would you like some help rousing her now instead, Discord?”

Discord blinked and raised an eyebrow at Luna.

Luna explained. “As the princess of the night, I have certain privileges. Besides, I’m always having to get up during the day for official royal meetings and such. Staying up a few minutes at night won’t harm Celestia.”

An intrigued grin came to Discord’s features. “Hmm, very well.” He gestured forward toward Celestia. “Fire away then, Luna.”

Luna nodded. Then she closed her eyes and opened them again to reveal a cerulean glow. She remained in this state for several seconds, looking to her sister, then blinked a few times until her eyes returned to normal. She smiled. “There we go.”

Discord moved closer to the window and looked to Celestia again. “What did you do?”

Luna grinned. “I gave her the most disturbing dream possible short of a nightmare. That should certainly wake her up.”

And indeed Celestia was stirring now in her sleep.

Discord chuckled lightly and raised an eyebrow as his gaze remained on Celestia. “You can control dreams that much? Interesting. What did you make her dream about?”

Luna held back a small laugh, her eyes likewise never leaving her sister as she replied simply, “Being married to you.”

Discord blinked, and his eyes flew open wide.

Celestia tossed once in her sleep…then she giggled (Discord’s eyes went even wider and his jaw fell slightly), but then suddenly the sun princess awoke with a loud gasp! “I—Oh!” Instantly, Celestia’s cloud fell to the floor and she found herself sprawled on her rug covered in bits of cotton candy and a fair amount of chocolate milk!

Celestia just lay on the floor for a moment, blinking, obviously stunned (and looking quite a chaotic sight indeed—the picture of Discord’s hopes for his prank.)

Discord practically beamed, then flew forward, gave a rap at her window and waved. “Here it comes, here it comes…” he mumbled to himself and Luna. “Her angry face—the grim Celestia glare! Oh, it’s fantastic, like a work of art! The crowning potential effect of my chaos!”

While the chaos master chuckled more in anticipation, Luna couldn’t help laughing a little too (and also eyeing him slightly with an eyebrow raised at the strange compliment before turning her own attention back to her sister).

And, sure enough, that stern look of hers so rarely seen was upon Celestia’s sunny features was visible now. As she looked to her window, her eyes focused in on a smug-looking Discord staring down at her. She pursed her lips, angled her head downward and darkened her brow into a slight scowl—there was no anger but a definite sense of sudden seriousness about her in the wake of her poise being broken.

Finally, Luna couldn’t help moving closer into the frame of the window and giving her sister a cheeky wave (if only to save Discord from having to take all of her wrath).

Celestia blinked at the sight of a second prankster…then clearly processed something (regarding a certain induced dream)…then her stern look became even sterner. But then she just stood up, dripping chocolate milk, and smirked a little. She approached the window and magically opened it to look up at her two surprise nightly visitors.

She was met with the sight Discord now contorting in the air while laughing hysterically and Luna unsuccessfully trying to stifle some chuckles behind an ‘innocent’ smile.

Celestia sighed, her smirk continuing. “You know, I’ve been hoping you two would find more common ground to relate over to improve your friendship—I just didn’t think that common ground would involve pranking me.” She looked to her sister. “Luna, that dream had you written all over it. You know we shouldn’t use our powers for silly things like that.” Still she smiled.

Luna smiled as well and rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, this coming from the former filly who once tried to concentrate the rays of the sun on a single pan of batter to secretly bake herself a cake when Master Starswirl forbade them to her for one moon for sleeping in late a fortnight straight.” She raised an eyebrow. “You nearly set the castle on fire, if I recall correctly.”

Discord’s grin widened, and then he rolled in the air in even more laughter.

Luna laughed softly and added dryly with a smirk of her own, “Really, sister, we ought to have you talk with somebody about this cake obsession…” Her smile grew. “And as for the dream I just gave you, I couldn’t help myself. Discord popping out of a wedding cake and making you his bride: I think it was a work of art, personally.” She brought her hoof to her chest in pride.

Celestia blushed a little but couldn’t stop smiling. “Yes, well…it was more in the details that the dream wasn’t fair,” she mumbled. Then she cleared her throat and her gaze quickly turned to Discord (and she changed the subject). “And I’m assuming, of course, that I have you to thank for the chocolate milk and cotton candy, Discord.” She brushed aside some of her flowing hair to remove a particularly large gob of pink and brown stickiness.

Discord got his laughter under control, wiped a tear from his eye, and took a small bow in the air. “Naturally. You sleep too soundly, Celestia dear. I just figured if I pranked you like this, it would make you more alert at night. Just trying to be a good friend.” He grinned ‘innocently’ and tapped his fingers together.

Celestia just sighed shook her head as a laugh finally escaped her now. “You two are really too old for this. I can’t believe you actually did this together.”

“Jealous?” Discord smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t worry, I assure you there’s nothing going on between me and your sister. We’re just friends. It’s just that you’re never too old for a good prank, Celestia. And who could resist that little grumpy face of yours anyway?” He chuckled again and leaned in close to the window with a grin. “Isn’t it just such fun being friends, Celestia? Of course, it must pale in comparison to that lovely dream of being my main squeeze that Luna whipped up for you…” He rolled his eyes to the side (and kept them to the side very deliberately for a moment). “But still at least we have our friendly bond here in real life, hmm?” His gaze went back to her a little.

Celestia sighed (and faintly blushed), and then finally smiled at him and shook her head. “Goodnight, Discord. I’ll be more inclined to continue our ‘friendly bond’ in the morning after I’m all cleaned up and have finished my night’s sleep.” She glanced to her sister. “And Luna…this prank was amusing, I’ll admit that, but…no more dreams for tonight, please?” She gave her a slight look as her blush continued.

Luna nodded with a warm smile. “Of course not, sister. Have a pleasant sleep.” She flew up and looked to her draconequus friend. “Discord, let us leave her—your prank was a success.”

Discord sighed but nodded. “Yes, I suppose part of being friends is knowing when to quit.” He flew up too. “Farewell, Celestia, until our next hilarious meeting…which will probably be over breakfast. But maybe I’ll be a nice master of chaos and just make your pancakes taste like actual cake or something fun like that.” He winked and gave her a wave with the fingers of his paw hand. “Ta ta, Tia.”

Celestia just shook her head at the two of them with a smile. “Goodnight, you two.” Then she closed her window and proceeded to her bathroom to clean herself up before returning to sleep.

As Luna and Discord came to rest upon clouds high above Celestia’s tower now, they laughed warmly together beneath the moon and starlight.

“Luna, you were great. You can prank with me anytime,” Discord assured her with a big grin. “You see, I told you that you were the ‘fun’ princess.”

Luna smiled considerably and nodded. “Thank you, Discord. It was nice to work with someone on a nightly caper like that, and I too enjoyed the fact that the one I got to work with was you.” She shrugged. “I suppose you really do consider me as close a friend as you do my sister.”

Discord sighed, still smiling at her. “Of course I do, Luna. Besides all that stuff I mentioned about Celestia needing my chaos more and all the complicated reform stuff, the explanation about why I give her more attention than you is really quite a simple one: I really do like you as a friend just as much as I like Celestia as a friend, Luna. I just like bothering Celestia more than I like bothering you, that’s all.” He chuckled a little and grinned mischievously. “But if you’d like, I could prank you with more frequency just to make things even.”

Luna shook her head, grinning as well. “No, no, perfectly all right, Discord. Keep the pranks in reserve for Celestia. I think you’re right—she does need them as a little fun disruption to her days. In fact, I think your form of friendship might actually be good for her…and for yourself as well.” She smiled a little more. “You two make a very unusual but sweet pair of friends.”

Discord rolled his eyes but then smirked a little and let his gaze fall down to the glow coming from Celestia’s tower window. “Hmm, well…I suppose our friendship works on a very strange level. And I suppose our way of relating has kind of grown on me too, pranks and all.” He was quiet for a moment but then cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Luna. “Although I may up the pranks against you now just a bit—to be fair, of course, you understand, and so you don’t feel jilted, Miss Nightmare Moon.” He winked and smirked.

Luna smiled more. “Very well, Discord. But you should know I prank back…and with dreams sometimes.” She chuckled softly and then shrugged as she added, “We could relate more in other ways though. Perhaps if you are not too tired some night, you could accompany me on some of my nightly duties like how you intrude upon some of Celestia’s duties each day. I wouldn’t mind the company, and you might enjoy the activities more. Celestia usually just holds many meetings and sessions of public court and often does a great deal of paperwork.”

“Ugh, do not remind me about the paperwork.” Discord cringed a little. “Three hours of watching her do it when I was in the sick bubble. For a while there I couldn’t tell if it was the fever or the orderliness making me delirious, I just knew that I was actually starting to miss fighting the tatzulwurm.” He rolled his eyes.

Luna laughed more and shook her head. “Yes, well, as I said, my nightly duties are a little more ‘interactive’.”

Discord raised an eyebrow, his tone a little dry. “You mean like when you two punished me for the plunderseed vines by leaving me sitting guard outside of the forest all night while you did princess things in there? Luna, that night beat out the paperwork, but not by much, I’ll tell you that.”

Luna grinned. “Oh, Discord, I made the punishment of helping that dull on purpose. And besides, I was frustrated with you about the vines, and so I was certainly not about to let you get near the royal activities of my night until you had learned your lesson.” Her eyes hazed, and she raised her head a little in pride. “Actually, most nights once I’m in the Everfree Forest or any wild place in Equestria, I make flying patrols overhead and sometimes engage rogue magical beasts in debate or even fighting if necessary to protect the ponies. And I wouldn’t mind some help in those tasks from a friend. And I’m sure after all of the restraint you’ve had to exercise lately with your chaos that you’d relish the idea of a good magical duel.” She raised an eyebrow as her grin picked up distinctly on one side.

Discord’s smile perked up entirely, and he flew into the air and closer to Luna, twisting his body a little in his excitement. “Magical duels? Ooo, I knew you were the fun princess, Luna, but I didn’t know you had the fun job too! Ugh, and I’ve been dying for a chance to flex my chaos a little, and inside the Everfree Forest is perfect—it’s the most chaotic place there is. I can actually be myself!” He was practically giddy! But then he hesitated for a moment and added, “But we don’t cause any undue distress to the creatures in there though, right?” He grinned and raised an eyebrow, which caused Luna to raise an eyebrow at him in return. Discord shrugged. “A new concern of mine brought about by spending a lot of time with Fluttershy. I wouldn’t want her to be disappointed in me for failing to consider the feelings of animals.”

Luna smiled in understanding. “I only engage creatures who willfully pose a threat against populated areas regardless of my warnings against such actions. And even then we cause no harm, Discord, I promise.”

Discord grinned brightly. “Wonderful! So let’s go!”

“Right now?” Luna blinked and smiled more.

Discord nodded. “Of course! Come on, the night is young, and I slept enough during that thousand years in stone thank you very much. Why not?” He shrugged.

Luna laughed and nodded. “Why not indeed? Very well, Discord, let us depart!” Luna took to the air as well and turned to lead the way to the Everfree Forest. And Discord, with a clap of his claw and paw together, soared after her.

As the two flew side by side, Discord chuckled lightly to himself.

Luna glanced at him. “Discord?”

The master of chaos just shook his head. “I still can’t believe you gave Celestia a dream like that. Me popping out of a cake…married to her.” He paused, then asked casually, still smiling, “What were those ‘unfair details’ she mentioned though?”

Luna smiled a little more and then shrugged. “Well, it was an induced dream as opposed to a privately constructed one, so I believe I can tell you. After you popped out of the cake…you suddenly took on several werepony attributes including a cape which you quickly took off. And then Celestia might have found the both of you standing upon a hill similar to the one Blue Jay and Swannie kiss passionately on in the Eventide movie, that’s all.” There was silence for a long moment. Finally, Luna glanced over at her friend. “Discord?”

Discord was just looking forward with wide eyes, blushing slightly.

Luna smiled a little more and softly added, “I think both the details coupled with the suggestion of marriage is what overwhelmed her. Celestia’s never been very outgoing with courtship.”

Discord blinked and cleared his throat to finally speak again. “Oh, er…yes, well, no one could help being overwhelmed by the idea of being with me like that. Not that she’d ever stand a chance. Pfft!” He grinned and waved Luna off with a roll of his eyes. “She is completely not my type—so grim, so perfect, so cheerful, so…sunny. I’d drive her insane in a day. I’m actually surprised I haven’t driven her insane already even with us just being friends—very, very surprised in fact.” He shrugged casually. “I guess she’s made of tougher stuff than I give her credit for.” He sighed…and considered. Then his smile fell away to a raised eyebrow and half smirk. He glanced to Luna. “Has she really never been that outgoing about stallions?”

Luna looked at Discord with interest out of the corner of her eye. “She’s a very private person, Discord. And very modest. Seeking suitors isn’t her strongest talent, no. And after all, she’s spent most of her studies familiarizing herself with the art and magic of friendship alone.”

“Hmm…” Discord gave a yawn and looked forward again. “Well, Twilight can take care of friendship now. And Celestia doesn’t give herself enough credit. She really is sort of okay for a mare. I mean, she amuses me, and that’s saying something.” He chuckled.

Discord expected Luna to chuckle along with him, but he heard nothing from her. He glanced to the princess flying beside him…only to find her eyeing him with a strange smile. Discord blinked and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Luna smiled more and looked forward again. “Nothing, Discord.”

“Luna…” Discord prompted.

Luna sighed. “I get lost in thought sometimes at night when I fly. It’s nothing. Really.” Yet she eyed him once more with a strange smile. “Celestia’s attention has found a special place in your heart, will you at least admit that, Discord?”

Discord sighed deeply. And then he finally gave Luna something. “I’ll admit that I like attention from everybody, but if I can get it from the woman who left me a statue for a thousand years, you can bet I’m going to take it. And that’s as far as I’m going to go with these sappy sentiments about friendship with the princess of the sun, even for the hero of all reformed villains, my banishment buddy Luna.” He grinned and winked at her with a laugh.

Luna rolled her eyes and laughed a little too. “Fair enough, Discord. But enough talk of my sister for now…if you can help it.” She smirked slightly then flew up higher. “We hear the hunting howl of the Timberwolf faintly on the night air. Come along—we shall engage the beasts forthwith to keep our land and the ponies safe!” With a proud smile she then swooped down toward the Everfree Forest. “And perhaps we shall engage an ursa major too if we are fortunate!” she called out over her shoulder.

Discord chuckled and swooped after her. “Yea and verily!” he mocked. “Let us join the fray and relive the moon princess’s days of yore!” Discord broke into laughter as he came to fly beside Luna again, the top of the Everfree Forest coming more and more in sight. “Oh Luna, you’re too much…” He waved her off.

“I’m too much, and yet you’re the one who’s starting to truly flirt with my sister…” Luna mumbled very lightly to herself with an eye roll.

Discord raised an eyebrow and cocked an ear up. “Did you say something, Luna?”

Luna smiled more and let out a sigh. “Nay, Discord. I was just agreeing with you that I cannot wait for the battle to start either—it shall be a glorious evening of nightly duties, and wonderful to share it with a friend.”

Discord grinned. “Glad to see we’re on the same page then. And I’ll try not to upstage you too much with the timberwolves, Luna.” He smirked and held his head up proudly.

“Ha!” Luan scoffed, holding her own head up in pride as the two came to hover just above the tops of the trees (and indeed just down below the howls and growls of some ferocious beasts could be heard). “We’ll see who upstages whom. Have at them!” And with that she descended directly into the forest.

Discord flew right down after her into the treetops with a laugh. “Tally ho!”

And thus the two friends embarked upon a night of bonding together.

Needless to say Discord was a little tired at breakfast, but he still got off a few good werepony jokes at Celestia’s expense…though he made up for it by really making her pancakes taste like actual cake (and Luna was pretty okay with that spell too). All in all it was another fun, slightly awkward, always hilarious, and never dull breakfast for the three immortal friends. And Luna found herself much happier with her friendship with Discord…even if she also did find herself more concerned about him as her friend.

Luna hoped his reform would indeed turn out to be a true and permanent one for all of their sakes.