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// Chapter 18: The Pursuit of a Dream 
// Story: The Most Chaotic Night Ever!!! 
// by Azure129 
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“Oh my, that’s dawn, isn’t it? It seems I’ve kept you up all night, dear Fluttershy.” Discord sipped his hot chocolate, and as he lowered his cup a small smile came to his lips. “I’m sorry for that too.”

“You don’t ever have to be sorry for something like that, Discord,” Fluttershy assured with a smile, touching his arm with her hoof that wasn’t holding her own hot chocolate. “I’m always here for you, and it’s never trouble to talk to a friend in need.”

The two friends were currently sitting on Fluttershy’s sofa, where they had been stationed most of the night while they talked with an intimacy only best friends can share.

Discord smiled just a little more to himself at Fluttershy’s sweet reply. “Thanks.” He took a deep breath as he set down his mug on the coffee table before them and then clasped his claw and paw together. He twiddled his thumbs and glanced up. “Erm, Fluttershy…might I ask you a teeny tiny favor? This whole evening of me showing up here in utter distress, all the big talking, the emotional confessions, the occasional tear or two or a few dozen that might have been shed, um…that thing where I got lost in a dramatic rant about how I think tea parties must be the greatest tool of diplomacy ever conceived and how if I ever act like a selfish jerk again just say the words ‘cucumber sandwiches’ and I swear that will snap me out of it…. Can, um…can we just keep all of those details to ourselves? I’ve never been that vulnerable with another person before, and it’s not something I’d care to have become public knowledge if I can help it.” He shrugged, looking down and blushing a little. “I’ve got a reputation to maintain, after all.”

Fluttershy smiled and removed her hoof from his arm. “Of course, Discord. It’ll all just stay between you and me. I’m just glad you got everything off of your chest and that you felt comfortable enough to come to me. I didn’t realize you’d been feeling so bad lately.”

Discord shrugged, smiling a little more. “Yeah, I’ve been letting myself get pretty worked up—probably a little too much. I do tend to be a bit dramatic, after all.  And what happened with Tirek was sort of a dramatic situation anyway.” His grin picked up on one side as he took up his mug again. “And of course you’re the one I come to, dear Fluttershy—if I’d trust you with the knowledge of my loopy new attraction to Celestia, I’d trust you with anything.” He chuckled and sipped his hot chocolate again.

Fluttershy smiled more. “I’m happy to know that, Discord.” She took a sip of her own hot chocolate and then glanced at him hesitantly. “Um…speaking of Princess Celestia…do you think you’ll go talk to her and Luna next? I’m sure they must be worried about you.”

Discord let out a deep sigh and frowned a little. “You’re right. I should go talk to them. I’ll leave soon to do that. It’s just…” he swallowed, “Celestia found me alone with Luna, and I’d just hurt her sister, even if it was an accident. What if Celestia doesn’t trust me anymore? Or what if she’s disappointed in me? Or what if she doesn’t want me to be her escort now? O-Or, um…” he blinked and smiled sheepishly as he added, “or, uh…what if…Luna’s upset? Heh, um…you know, either one of their opinions concerns me.” Discord cleared his throat and looked down with a light blush.

Fluttershy’s gaze warmed. “Well, you won’t know what their opinions are unless you go talk to them. But I think they’ll understand it was an accident. I can’t imagine Princess Luna would hold a grudge against someone for having a bad nightmare. And Princess Celestia is a very good judge of people. She’ll know you meant well, and she’ll probably just be glad to see you’re safe. And if it’ll make you feel even better, along with apologizing to Luna for hurting her, you could apologize to Celestia for worrying her. I’m sure she’d appreciate that.”

Discord nodded. “I suppose you’re right. I’m just getting myself all worked up again, and the point now is to get myself past all of these doubts and to a better place. The best thing to do is to face the music, apologize for my actions, and go from there, just like I’ve done with you now.” He finished another sip of hot chocolate and nodded to himself.

“I think that’s a very good idea, Discord.” Fluttershy sipped her own hot chocolate again.

Discord sighed and slumped back into the sofa a little. “Then that’ll just leave the problem of Twilight. How, oh how, to apologize to Twilight.” He twirled his beard around the fingers of his claw in thought.

“Discord, I don’t think you need to actually sit down and formally apologize to all of the girls individually for what happened with Tirek,” Fluttershy suggested with a shrug. “I understand why you want to apologize to the princesses, and I know you apologized to me because we’re best friends, but I think if you just said something to all the girls the next time we’re all together, that’d be just fine.”

Discord smiled and nodded. “That’s what I was planning, actually. As I said, I don’t want to risk a repeat of the complete basketcase I became here last night. But, um…I need to give Twilight a personal apology.” His eyes lowered. “It’s complicated. I’ll have to think about it a little.”

“I see.” Fluttershy smiled.” “Well, if all else fails, you could always write her a letter.” 

“A letter?” Discord looked up and raised an eyebrow.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. Twilight loves letters. She would always write them to Princess Celestia when she was a student, and she also liked helping us with our letters to Princess Celestia sometimes. And now Twilight has us all keep our friendship journal, and those entries are kind of like letters.” She put a hoof to her chin. “I think that since Twilight loves her friends and loves reading, reading something that connects her with a friend is a very special thing to her. And besides, you always write very colorful letters to me, so I’m sure you could compose a very good one to her.” She lowered her hoof and smiled at Discord again.

Discord glanced up in thought. “Hmm…interesting point. I’ll consider it.” His grin picked up a little on one side as he looked to Fluttershy again. “You know, my dear Fluttershy, if you keep being this brilliant at helping me, I’m just plain going to have to make you Queen of all Equestria the next time I conquer this place. Really, just let me overthrow everyone, set you up with a throne and castle, and then the nation is yours, and I’ll just pop in for visits and tea parties sometimes. What do you say?”

“Discord…” Fluttershy grinned at him a little, her eyes hazing in warmth.

Discord just sighed and chuckled to himself. “Just a hypothetical, Fluttershy, just a hypothetical.” He held up his fingers to snap. “One more hot chocolate refill each before I hit the road?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you, Discord.” 

The chaos master snapped, and their mugs magically refilled complete with chaotic-looking marshmallows on top. Both friends drank together.

Then the pegasus and the draconequus let out content sighs as they watched the horizon get lighter through the cottage window across the room.

“Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Discord?”

“…You’re okay.”

“You’re okay too, Discord.”

Discord chuckled. Then he swallowed. “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy’s smile picked up on one side. “Yes, Discord?”

He took a breath. “…I love you.”

She blinked. Then she smiled so much. “Oh, Discord, I love you too.” The young pegasus suddenly gave the master of chaos a hug.

Discord smiled at her embrace. He spoke again as she separated from him. “Fluttershy, just, um…one last little thing. On the off chance the pony sisters don’t forgive me and I suffer their wrath, please promise you’ll come visit me in the statue garden sometime? I’ll be the only stone draconequus, of course. And I’ll be sure to strike a good pose—wasn’t terribly happy with the two poses from the last two times, to be honest. This one will be great though, no question. Third time’s the charm after all.” He winked.

Fluttershy laughed warmly. “I’ll visit. And I’ll bring the cucumber sandwiches.”

There was a moment of silence, and then both friends couldn’t help sharing a laugh as they sipped the rest of their hot chocolate together while dawn grew into day.





The raising of the sun and the lowering of the moon had been seen to for the morning, leaving Celestia and Luna with some free time before their Gala guests would awake and breakfast would begin. And considering the traumatic events of the previous evening, the princess of the day insisted upon using this free time to bring the princess of the night to her room to continue practicing healing spells on her injuries as she had done for quite a while last night after Discord’s departure and the sisters’ return to the castle. 

And so, right now, the two sisters sat upon Celestia’s bed while the elder sister did her best to care for the younger.

Luna sighed, looking down as Celestia touched her white horn, glowing with yellow magic, to the mark on her midnight blue wing. “Sister, I told you, it is but a scratch. And you already performed this spell twice on me last night. Already I don’t feel a thing. And my horn is feeling a little better too, even if it still looks a little singed.” Luna glanced up at her horn, which was indeed still a charred black slightly around the top and edges. “I know that will take longer to heal entirely, but really I’ll be better in a day or so and absolutely before the Gala. You don’t have to worry so much.” She smiled.

Celestia finished her spell and sat up, smiling too. “I know. But I do worry. You may be the powerful and commanding Princess of the Night, but you’re also still my little sister.” She nuzzled her gently. “I care about you very much.”

Luna nuzzled her in return, then pulled back. “I know. And I appreciate that. But you’ve done all you can. The rest of the healing will be up to me.”

Celestia sighed but nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”

Just then there was a light knock at the door.

Celestia blinked and glanced across the room. She cleared her throat and raised her voice. “Unless it is an emergency, I’m afraid Princess Luna and I must not be disturbed. I have already told most of the staff, but please share my request with any other guards who haven’t been told yet. Thank you.”

However, rather than receiving an expected ‘Yes your highness’ in reply, there was just silence for a moment, and then the door creaked open slightly. Celestia watched in further interest as a familiar red tail with a white tuft made an entrance, holding up a white flag which it was waving. “Erm…actually, it’s me, Discord.” Discord’s eyes barely peeked around the door. “May I come in? Please. It’s very, very important.” He cringed just a little and pulled back. “Unless you’d rather not see me right now, of course. I’d understand.”

Celestia frowned at the sight of his disappearing form. “Please come in, Discord. It’s all right.”

Discord let out a deep sigh and then slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Luna.” His eyes found the night princess’s. He went right up to her and took one of her hoofs in his hands. “I am so, so very sorry for any harm I caused you last night. You’ve done nothing but go out of your way to help me for nights and nights now, and I’ve been stubborn and selfish and secretive and just the worst possible dreamer to deal with, I’m sure. I know that you’re the reason my nightmare didn’t get the better of me last night, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. Or how sorry I am again. I mean, I feel really, really bad about this—like really bad.” A sheepish grin came to his concerned features. “Like, now’s an excellent time to ask me for literally anything, and if it’s in my power, you’ve got it. I mean anything—a new chariot maybe?” He released Luna’s hoof and snapped to make a dark blue and silver chariot appear in the corner of the room. “A new tapestry for the throne room?” He snapped again and made a large tapestry bearing a flattering and commanding image of Luna hang in the air for a moment before falling to the floor. “An unlimited supply of nighttime fireworks?” He snapped and made some small fireworks go off near the ceiling. “A puppy?” He snapped yet again, and a blue jay flying outside suddenly disappeared and then reappeared at Luna’s feet as a little blue dog for a few seconds before turning back into a bird and flying off. “We could even overthrow your sister for a week, temporarily rename this nation Luna Land, and you can be the mighty queen and I’ll be the court jester. What do you say?” Discord smiled more and shrugged.

Luna just blinked several times and grinned even more than she had already been doing at the end to this speech. “Hmm...” she actually put a hoof to her chin in mock thought, “…anything I want. Luna Land…. Discord as court jester….”

“Luna,” Celestia chided, smiling more.

Luna chuckled. “I was just thinking about solar eclipses and how it would be nice to go from half a dozen or so of those a year to half a dozen per month….” She raised an eyebrow at the master of chaos. “Discord, you could set up something like that, right?”

Celestia just rolled her eyes to the side.

Discord grinned and nodded. “Standing on my head.” He snapped once more, and indeed his body was now standing on his actual head on the floor.

Luna laughed, and Celestia couldn’t help a small chuckle too. 

Discord snapped again to turn himself back to normal. He sighed. “Really though, Luna, seriously, please let me do something to make up last night to you? I know you were just doing your job as ruler of the night and that we’re friends, but you really went above and beyond the call of duty.” He looked into her eyes. “Just something small? I’d have just gone with flowers like I did for your sister after Tirek, but you don’t strike me as the ‘colorful plants that thrive on sunshine and warmth’ type.” He grinned sheepishly.

Luna smiled again and replied simply, “Discord, I assure you, tokens are unnecessary. Your sincere concern for me is more than enough.” She sighed. “Though if you could just assure my sister that I will indeed be fine, I would appreciate it. I’m afraid she has barely left my side since last night, and that she will continue to dote on me for who knows how many days at the expense of her duties and seeing to our guests.”

“I’m just being careful,” Celestia assured her with a gentle smile. “Are you sure I can’t do one more healing spell on your wing? Please?”

Discord sighed. “Oh Celestia, don’t coddle her: she’s tougher than you realize. I’m actually quite impressed with her for having enough physical stamina to stand up to me in the state I must have been in last night.” He leaned down and examined the crescent cut on Luna’s wing. “Oh, this’ll be fine, it just needs to be left to itself. But just as a final touch….” Discord held up his paw and snapped: a single drop of dark and purple and green magic fell into the slight wound. “Chaos hurt her, she’s going to need a touch of chaos to heal her too. Bit of a failsafe of my magic—that’s why I can turn things chaotic and snap them away with ease, but it used to take you both weeks to even put a dent into cleaning up my messes.” He smiled a little more.

And indeed, now before the three of them the crescent scar glowed a little and then suddenly faded to almost nothing.

Celestia’s eyes brightened. “Discord,” she looked to him, beaming, “thank you.”

Discord blinked and then looked up as well. “Oh, erm…it’s nothing, really. The least I could do.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his paw.

Celestia’s smile warmed, and Discord’s grin grew all the more.

Luna watched them both with pleasant interest and was really not sure whom she wanted to tease more—her sister or Discord. She let out a breath though and settled on leaving them both alone for now, then cleared her throat lightly and addressed the chaos master. “Erm, I do feel much better. Thank you, Discord.”

Discord blinked a few times to come out of his slight daze and then looked to Luna. “Oh, oh yes, yes…you’re welcome.” Then his eyes caught sight of her horn, still charred. “Oh dear, that won’t do.” He glanced at Celestia. “Have you started trying to heal that yet?”

Celestia shook her head. “That’s a magical wound, Discord, and to her horn. Luna can try some spells herself to help its recovery, but otherwise it will just simply need time and rest to get better. She can still use her horn, but I’ll help her with the moon for a night or two until she can make her magic work at full strength again.” She smiled again. “But luckily the scarring isn’t too bad. She should be completely back to normal in time for the Gala next week.”

Discord, however, rather than smiling in satisfaction at this reply, just raised an eyebrow and then he shook his head. “Oh, no, no, no, that’s not acceptable, I’m afraid, Celestia dear.” He snapped his fingers, and suddenly he was sitting on the edge of the bed between the two sisters. “Honestly, the way you ponies have to deal with magic is just so inefficient. Horns conducting magical intention into physical reality…” He tisked and shook his head. “Now let me see what I can do about this horn situation. The rules of reality area little different for me, after all, Celestia.” And then the chaos master reached out and suddenly popped Luna’s horn right off of her head.

Luna’s eyes went wide, and Celestia actually had her mouth open to object, but her sister blinked and reached out a hoof and stopped her. “Erm…it’s fine, sister.”

“Oh, of course, it’s fine, it’s not like I’m going to keep it or anything.” Discord grinned and snapped his fingers to make a pair of bifocals appear on his nose. He examined the horn closely. “Like I told you, I think these huge things would be such a bother to cart around. And you two have alicorn horns: it’s like huge spears sticking out of your foreheads. I’m surprised you two don’t impale ponies on a regular basis.” He snapped his tail to make a small soldering iron appeared in his paw, which he used to start making little tweaks at the horn, causing brightly colored sparks to fly from it. “That’s why I like my magic better—no muss, no fuss, no wacky appendages, just anything I want right in the palm of my hand whenever I want it and however I want it. And if I want to be able to heal pony horns in a flash even if ponies can’t, well, I’ll do just that and I’ll do it with style.”

The chaos master snapped again to make the soldering iron disappear. Now he had a thermometer in hand, which he stuck near the horn’s tip, and then he snapped up a stethoscope which he against the horn to listen to it. “Hmm…Mmm hmm…” Discord nodded and snapped again to make these items disappear and to make the horn appear suddenly resting in a nice, soothing mud bath with a small towel wrapped at its base. Then the chaos master snapped once more, set the horn before him, and gave it a quick polish with a rag. Finally, Discord smiled and snapped once more. Suddenly the horn was back on Luna’s head but underneath a white cloth. “And now for the grand unveiling—voila!” Discord reached up and pulled the cloth away.

Luna looked up to her horn with interest. “Oh…” she smiled—the horn practically sparkled! “Discord, it’s…it’s perfect!”

“And it also feels better for magic along with looking so much better…?” Celestia asked, an eyebrow raised at the sight of the suddenly healed horn.

Discord turned to the sun princess with his hands on his hips. “Hey, hey, I do quality work, Princess! That thing is showroom new now.” He grinned and winked at her, and then looked to Luna again. “Try it out.”

Luna smiled and considered, and then her horn glowed with magic. She teleported herself over to the door and back to the bed, she teleported away Discord’s gifts, she filled the room with silver and blue balloons for a moment and then made them disappear again, and then, with a little extra smile, she levitated her sister’s vase of flowers from Discord off of the nightstand and brought them over to rest in Celestia’s hooves.

“Oh!” Celestia blinked, smiling down at the flowers and then smiling at Luna. “Luna, that’s wonderful.” She looked to their guest, her smile beaming. “Discord, I don’t know what to say, I—”

“Shh….” Discord held up a single finger over her lips and smiled warmly. “Don’t say anything. We’re friends, and it was my pleasure.” He removed his finger…and then his eyes went to the flowers. His grin picked up a little on one side. “Um…still saving those, I see. I’m glad you like them so much.”

Celestia blinked and looked down at the vase in her hooves. “Oh, of course, Discord. I love them. Like I told you, flowers…no one ever did anything like that for me after a battle.” She couldn’t help giving Luna a smiling look over Discord’s shoulder for presenting the flowers to her like this, but Luna just sat there innocently admiring her horn. 

Celestia smiled more and then magically set the flowers back to their place by her bedside. 

Discord, meanwhile, sighed and looked forward at Celestia’s words. “Yes, well, I can be a pretty surprising, amazing, gracious and generous person when I want to be. And that is who I want to be now.” He swallowed. His voice became a bit more serious than usual. “Ladies, um…I need to say something now…not just for you but for me.” The pony sisters looked at him with full interest. Discord took a deep breath and went on. “What’s been bothering me lately to give me such horrible nightmares is how guilty I’ve felt about everything I let happen with Tirek. I know everyone forgave me, I know I did the right thing in the end, but still…I…I betrayed all of you—my friends. And it was a bad thing to do. That’s why I haven’t wanted to talk about it: I’ve felt too ashamed.” He looked down a little more. “But if I don’t talk about it, it’s just going to keep eating me up inside, and I don’t want that. It’s not just hurting me anymore, it’s hurting others too now.” He glanced at Luna and then looked down again. “I need to forgive myself so that I can move on, not just bury everything that happened in denial. So I just wanted to say to you both…I’m sorry.” He sighed deeply and raised his paw to rub the bridge of his nose as he shut his eyes and cringed. “Ugh, I could try explaining my actions, but frankly, looking back, I have no idea what I was doing.” 

“Yes,” Luna nodded and raised an eyebrow. “My sister and I were wondering about that ourselves at the time.”

Celestia nodded. “We were surprised by your actions, Discord. But we tried to accept the choice you had made.”

Discord lowered his paw and almost scoffed. “It wasn’t a choice: calling it ‘a choice’ implies I actually put a degree of thought behind it. I think I just convinced myself that Tirek could be my friend but a friend who was a fellow villain instead of a friend who needed me to be a good guy. But I’m an idiot, and I forgot that villains don’t have friends; they just have partners at best, and they almost always betray them. I mean, that’s lesson one, villainous kindergarten stuff!” He threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know, he just saw I was going to capture him for you ponies and started laying into me. ‘Discord, you’re friends with ponies? Ew!’, ‘Discord, you are legend, why aren’t you acting like it?’, ‘Discord, do you really want your role in this world to be pony errand boy?’” He rolled his eyes.

“He called you a pony errand boy?” Celestia blinked.

Discord looked down with a touch of sheepishness and nodded.

“How rude and utterly unacceptable!” Luna announced, holding her nose in the air. “Clearly he was just jealous of all that you’ve accomplished regarding friendship.”

“You know, I’ve started thinking the same thing.” Discord nodded to the sisters. “But still, at the time, I’d never thought about what the other villains would say about me being reformed and helping all of you—the idea that they would actually make fun of me….” He rubbed the back of his neck with his paw. “And, well, you know how much of an ego I have. It stung. It felt like I had to prove some thing to him.”

“I’m sorry, Discord,” Celestia replied with a deep frown. “I never thought about what your experiences with other villains might be like after your reform.”

Discord lowered his paw and smiled again. “Celestia, even you can’t foresee and prepare for everything. But even still, him mocking me wasn’t quite what got to me finally…”

“What did get to you finally?” the sun princess asked, her look softening even more.

Discord blinked, and a touch of pain came to his eyes. He looked down “I don’t mean for this to sound like I’m laying blame anywhere. You and I have already been over that after all, Celestia. But…what got to me was…he said friendship was just a new form of imprisonment for me—another stone suite. And he said that he was offering me true freedom instead.” Discord sighed and looked up again. “It’s not the same now of course, but before, between Fluttershy reforming me and when the Elements went back into the Tree of Harmony, it did sort of feel like I was ‘caged’ a little; like I always had the threat of ‘be good or we’ll turn you back to stone’ hanging over my head; like you’d take away my ‘mobility’ privileges if I didn’t behave. It could be frustrating at times…and it would cause me to act out a bit.” He smiled a little. “But I have a much more mature and enlightened understanding of our relationship now. You weren’t trying to control me or use me, you were just trying to teach me that there’s a deep satisfaction in helping your friends and that when you’re part of a…community, I guess…you have to respect others and control yourself in certain ways for the benefit of everyone, yourself included.” He frowned again. “Still though…there’s a part of me that learned to enjoy being evil a long time ago. That was the part of me Tirek got to. And that’s the part of me that it’s going to take a while for me to come to terms with and to let heal. But now that I’ve admitted my doubts to myself, I think I can handle it, especially since I have my friends to talk to.”

Celestia smiled so warmly and moved closer to him. Her voice was gentle. “I know friendship’s been complicated for you, Discord. But you really have made excellent progress with it. And I’m so very proud of you.”

“Indeed,” Luna added with a nod and a warm smile of her own. “I have been very impressed with your accomplishments myself. You are more healed already than you realize, Discord.”

Discord smiled and looked from one sister to the other. Then he sighed and went on. “All the more reason for me to feel guilty about how far I let myself slip with Tirek. I abused your trust, caused you great pain, and almost got you two and Cadance and Twilight and Fluttershy and the rest of my friends…very hurt. But that experience has helped me realize that I’ve become a better person than I used to be and that I want to be an even better master of chaos in the future, and I’m just happy we can start all over together like this.” He smiled more and shifted back on the bed to look at both ladies at once. “It might sound crazy, but I consider you two my oldest friends in a way. We go back very far. Your forgiveness means a lot to me.”

Luna and Celestia just smiled so warmly at each other and then at him.

Then Celestia got a little idea and gave Luna a meaningful (and playful) look.  

Luna raised an eyebrow at first, but then another small gesture or two from Celestia made her sister’s intentions clear.

Discord just raised an eyebrow as the two mares on either side of him remained silent. “Uh…so I spilled my guts and apologized, and now this is the part where you two say something sappy and sentimental and we end the scene on a light gag.” He glanced from one sister to the other again and finally noticed the looks they were giving each other. “And…why are you two looking at each other like that?”

Luna laughed. “Oh Discord…we forgive thee!”

“Yes, we do!” Celestia assured with a nod and a bright smile.

And then suddenly before he could stop them, Luna and Celestia each dove at Discord from either side in a big, tight hug that knocked them all down on the bed!

Luna and Celestia just laughed warmly as they held to the draconequus tightly.

Discord blinked several times in shock! “Hey! N-Now wait just a…! What in the…! This is highly irregular! If anyone finds out about this, I’ll be the laughing stock of— Hmm…Hmm, hmm…ha, ha, ha!” He suddenly started writhing in laughter. “No! Your hair! It tickles! Stop! Ha, ha, ha!!!” 

Luna opened her eyes to raise an eyebrow at her sister. Celestia just laughed and looked at her. “Apparently our ethereal hair is very ticklish to draconequui.”

“This is worse than being in the hedge with Celestia!” Discord called out, practically crying now he was laughing so hard.

Luna raised her eyebrow even higher, and her smile picked up on one side as she continued to look to her sister. “In the hedge?” 

Celestia just smiled and glanced to the side. “Oh, it’s…a long story.” She looked back at Discord and hugged closer to him. “Besides, you love laughing, Discord. You know you do.”

“N-Not like this!” Discord tried to insist, though he was clearly enjoying himself as he squirmed against their inescapable manes. “And eww, I’ll have alicorn princess cooties now for life! Stop trying to kill me with kindness, you’ve won, you’ve won!! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!” 

Luna and Celestia just laughed more and finally did ease up their holds on him a little though they still remained close.

Discord’s laughter managed to subside into a low chuckle now, and he even got his eyes open. He let out a deep sigh, grinning. “What in the world am I going to do with all of you ponies?” He glanced at Luna—so sweet and happy. He had grown to like having her as a friend very much. And then he glanced at Celestia…so caring and wise…and beautiful…and funny…and special…and maybe even more perfect than in his dreams. ‘Maybe I’m falling in love with her. Maybe I really truly am. Oh dear…oh dear…Forget what I’m going to do with these ponies: what am I going to do with myself?’ He sighed softly and made the lightest move closer to the sun princess, just savoring being so near each other—the warmth and how she made his heart thump and how he found himself just giddy enough to suddenly wonder if…if escorts to Galas automatically got kisses goodnight, or if that was something he would have to negotiate later on. Perhaps during a moment under the moonlight, Celestia smiling up at him, his paw on her yoke drifting down to the soft coat of her shoulder; and then their mouths would meet in a moment delicious with curiosity and romance and with the irony that all of their fighting and anger from the past had come to this—a simple kiss.

Discord let out a deep sigh. “Um…can I stay for breakfast?” he suddenly asked.

Celestia nodded to him. “Of course.”

“And will you finally start spending the nights here in the castle so that I can keep an eye on you, and because sleeping in the rain is dangerous and unwise?” Luna asked.

Discord smiled more. “I, um…I was actually thinking of taking up Twilight on her offer and staying with her for a bit. I like you ladies very much, and I’m sure I’d love the royal treatment I’d get here, but…I think Twilight needs me more. She’s still trying to figure out some things about her place in the world now, and I think she gets bored when her friends have to leave her for the day and she doesn’t have homework or anything anymore to distract her. But I’m excellent at distracting people. I think she’ll like that until she gets more on her hooves as a princess.” He shrugged. “Besides, she needs some kind of security at that place until she gets some guards, and I figure I’m better than nothing, so…yeah.” He looked to Luna. “But if I could pick your brain about one or two other minor things regarding my dreams in the future, I’d appreciate it.”

Luna smiled. “I think that is very wise of you, Discord. And of course I would be happy to give you advice.”

Celestia nodded. “And I’m sure Twilight will appreciate your company.”

Discord’s smile grew. “Thanks.” Then a small chuckle escaped him. “Now, not to be off color, and I never thought I’d ever ask this question in my entire life, but are you two ladies going to unpin me from the confines of your embraces and cuddles and let me off of this bed anytime soon?”

Celestia just sighed deeply at the question and shook her head with a smile.

Luna laughed. “We’ll let you go by breakfast, Discord,” she assured with a wink.

Discord chuckled. “Good.” He snuggled in more against them. “I’m afraid if we went down to the dining hall all locked together like this, people might talk.”

There was silence, and then all three friends couldn’t help sharing a laugh. And for the moment, Discord just settled into his nice warm hugs of friendship, especially savoring Celestia’s.





A little later in the day, a smiling Twilight Sparkle took a quick walk around her throne room once more to make sure everything was all cleaned up after the latest gathering of her court. “Well, maybe that wasn’t the most productive meeting the girls and I have ever had, Spike. But at least it was fun for everyone,” Twilight remarked to her dragon friend who was sitting in his little throne beside her larger one. 

“Yeah.” Spike nodded. “ But I guess the conversation couldn’t help going from the Rainbow Power to the Gala pretty quickly. The big night is less than two weeks away, after all.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, you’re right, Spike.” She sighed, magically using a cloth to polish her throne a little. “For now, I guess being a little distracted by the Gala won’t hurt, and then after it’s over we can really get down to business with figuring out where to go from here with this castle and our new magic. And maybe I’ll be able to take on some more princess duties too. I might even think about starting to find a staff for the castle, like Luna said.” She smiled a little more.

Spike shrugged and smiled too. “Sounds like a plan to me, Twi—Ah!” Suddenly a burst of green flame left Spike’s mouth, and two letters fell onto Twilight’s throne room floor.

Twilight made the cloth disappear and looked down at the sight with a raised eyebrow. “Letters from Celestia?” She smiled and took up one of the letters with her magic but then blinked as she read the envelope. “Huh, this one says to forward it to Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance as soon as convenient.” She took up the other letter. “And this one just has my name on it but not in Celestia’s hoofwriting.” Twilight magically unsealed the letter for herself and took out the scroll inside.  

“What does it say?” Spike asked.

Twilight raised an eyebrow again. “The first thing it says at the top is, ‘Please slowly walk up to your library while reading this, Twilight Sparkle. I’m going for an effect.’ ”

Spike raised an eyebrow now too. “Um…oookay.”

Twilight smiled at him. “Spike, do me a favor? While I’m going up to the library with my letter, can you bring the other letter to Owlowiscious and tell him to fly it to the Crystal Empire right away? I think it must be important.”

Spike nodded and smiled again. “Sure thing, Twilight.” 

“Thanks, Spike.” Twilight nodded in return.

Then the baby dragon hopped down from his throne, took up other letter, and dashed down one of the castle hallways.

Twilight watched him go and then went back to her letter. She magically held it in front of herself to read while she headed upstairs….





My Dearest Twilight Sparkle, 

Usually I only grace Fluttershy with the skillful prose of my letters, but in your case I’ll make an exception. This is Discord writing, by the way, in case my colorful way of composing my thoughts hasn’t already given me away.

Anyway, I am writing this letter to you because after a great personal crisis, I have come to realize that while my friends may have forgiven me for betraying them to Tirek, I have not forgiven myself. And the guilt—which I’m capable of feeling now that you perfect little ponies fully reformed me—has been taking a toll on me, to say the least. I’ve had quite a few nightmares about it, actually, which is part of why I’ve been having trouble sleeping peacefully. And my guilt has been hurting me, my friendships, and now even my friends themselves.

But no more. The ‘reformed reformed’ Discord is taking matters into his own hands. So as of today I have started apologizing to those I have most grievously wronged, and that includes you Princess Twilight Sparkle. (Fluttershy suggested I do it in a letter, which I agreed with: let’s just say when I apologized to her in person, things got a little ‘emotional’, and for both of our sakes I’m using this letter to avoid you having a seven foot tall, teary-eyed master of chaos ranting apologies and laments to you for an evening).

Before I begin though, let me explain the letter I included with my own, the one addressed to your brother and Cadance. I owe them a rather large apology too. However, I’m afraid my last meeting with your brother went so badly that my letter might be better received coming through you, so if you cold pass it along, I would appreciate it. I’m sure he’s just as forgiving a pony as you are (and as forgiving as I know Cadance is), but I did sell out his sister, endanger his wife, and see to the crippling of his entire empire in person…and to his own crippling in person. So I completely understand if it takes him some time to come around about me.

Now then, regarding you: I could go into a long speech about my stupidity in being manipulated by Tirek, the weaknesses in me he exploited, how awful it was of me to put Celestia and Luna and Cadance in the position of having to give up their magic, how cruel it was of me to sell all of you out after you’d put up with so much from me and believed in me…but I think we all know already that I feel bad about those things. And you’ve already assured me in so many small ways that you do forgive me about my betrayal, the greatest way being you saving me from Tirek, an event we’ve already gone over, so why bring up all of those details again? No, my apology to you involves something a little more specific.

Twilight Sparkle, I’m sorry I made you lose your home.

I told Tirek that you lived in Ponyville…I even told him that you lived in a library. And while the danger I put Equestria in can be healed and moved past, and while the struggles I put you through ultimately helped you find a new power for the good of Equestria and your destiny as a princess, and while I even contributed to your new castle being built, I also stole something very important from you that can’t be replaced and that you loved dearly—your home, your library, your books. I made you lose those things far too early in your time as Princess, and for that I truly and sincerely apologize.

If anyone understands the pain of being thrust into the world without a place to call their own or anything familiar, believe me, it’s me.

So I’ve made a little surprise for you in your library as a token of our friendship—a special spell. It’s not payback for the window you made for me, it’s not a gesture of guilt, it’s not even a bribe for your forgiveness. It’s just something I wanted to do. I do something for you and you let me do it, and that’s friendship, right?

Okay, now, and this is important, DO NOT go into the library just yet. Just wait: like I said, I’m going for an effect.

Anyway, if you don’t mind, I’d also officially like to take you up on that offer of yours for a place to stay. Just for the time being, of course. You really do need some security, and I really do like admiring my window, so it’s a win/win situation for both of us. Besides, Angel Bunny won’t let me take his spot on Fluttershy’s sofa permanently, and the Canterlot Castle is getting a little too crowded with Gala guests these days. 

Okay, now, ready for the surprise in the library? Are you in front of the door yet? Good. Now pause, take a breath, and then I want you to enter. And only after you’ve entered and seen what I’ve done do I want you to look at the final page of this letter. And…go!





Twilight had been in front of the library for several moments at this point as she finished up Discord’s letter. She paused now as per his instructions and looked up at the door with a smile. “Okay then…” she let out a deep sigh, “I’ll just cross my hooves that the new chaos capital of the world isn’t in there, and go from there.” With a nod to herself she opened the door and stepped inside.

Twilight paused instantly and was so shocked she actually took a step back. Her mouth hung open, and tears almost filled her wide purple eyes.

It took her several minutes to recall Discord’s letter and to resume reading it.





Ta da.

Do you like it? This castle library is just as big as the main section of your entire library tree house was; the measurements were almost perfect actually. And I spent so much time in your house that time I was ‘sick’, how could I help but remember how you kept things? So I made a spell that can change the whole interior of your friendship castle library to look just like Golden Oaks complete with wooden inset bookshelves, a wood floor, a cozy fire, the same furniture and everything. And if you look on the table at the center of the room you’ll see about two dozen books—copies of some of the ones you lost when your old home got destroyed. I zapped those up myself. I recalled their contents from that time I had to go through your spell books to find all the reform spells so I could steal and eat them. I just wish I had bothered to read more of your library so that I would have a few other books in my memory bank that I could whip up. On top of the books you’ll also find a piece of parchment with the spell I made so that you can make your library look like this or change it back to its crystal form any time you want.

Of course, if you don’t like this set-up for whatever reason, please just let me know and I’ll take back the spell. It’s your new home, after all. But if you do like it, I hope I’ve managed to brighten your day, Twilight Sparkle. And also I’ll be over after sunset to officially spend my first night in your castle if you’d like to shower me with your appreciation.

Or you could just come by Canterlot castle before then. Luna and Celestia and I are going to have a picnic together in the statue garden this afternoon, and we’d love for you to come. I promise it’ll be fun! I know you want to! 

Sincerely, Discord.

P.S.

I promise I only booby-trapped two or three things in here at most—otherwise it’s totally safe and fun!

~Master of Chaos





For a long while Twilight sat upon the familiar wooden floor and gazed around at her familiar library with such a smile. There weren’t words, and she didn’t want to leave.

Eventually, Spike was heard dashing up the stairs and down the hall to the library after having completed his task with Owlowiscious. “Twilight? Are you still up here? What did Discord’s letter sa—Whoa.” Spike stopped dead in his tracks and just stood beside Twilight, his jaw dropped and eyes wide in wonder at the sight before him. “Wh…What…? It’s…It’s our home, Twilight. But how…I…”

Twilight smiled so warmly and put a hoof over his shoulder. “It’s a gift from a dear friend. He made a spell so we can make it look like this any time we want to. And don’t worry,” she laughed a little, wiping a tear away from one of her eyes, “Discord swears he only booby-trapped one or two things in here.” 

“Discord did this?” Spike blinked and looked at Twilight, who nodded to him. Then he looked back at the familiar library. “It’s…It’s perfect!” He dashed forward into the room happily, looking here and there. “Look, it’s even got the curtains and the rugs…and my bed! And there’s a place for you to sleep too, Twilight, set in this window here if you want it! And Owlowiscious’s perch! And your telescope! Wow!!!” 

Twilight laughed more as she stood up now. “Spike, you keep enjoying the library. I have to go visit Canterlot Castle for a little while.”

“Can do, Twilight!” Spike dashed back over, gave her a thumbs up, and then raced over to some of the bookshelves. “And my ladder for getting you books is here too!” He started to climb the familiar fixture.

“Just one other thing though, Spike, before I go.” Twilight hesitated but still smiled. “I offered to let Discord stay with us for a little while, and he’s accepted. He’ll take one of the rooms in the castle until he decides to leave. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind?” Spike grinned at her from his place at the top of the ladder. “Are you kidding? I’d love it! He can snap up jewels for me anytime I want them, and he can help us map out the castle, and I can ask him more about dragons, and now that we’ll have two guys in the house we can take votes on what we do on the weekends.” He rubbed his claws together with a mischievous grin. “Hoofball and snack time it is!!! Whoa!” Spike suddenly lost his hold on the ladder and grabbed at a book on one of the shelves on instinct…and as the book dislodged from the shelf, half a dozen pies flew out after it and landed on the floor along with Spike, both cushioning his fall and covering the baby dragon in various berry compotes and chunks of flaky crust. 

“Oops.” Spike pushed a pie plate off of his head and grinned sheepishly.

Twilight just laughed and used her magic to clean up Spike and the remains of the chaotic booby-trap. “I’m sure Discord’ll like staying with us too, Spike.” She smiled. Then the friendship princess came forward and gave her dragon friend a little hug before leaving him to enjoy the library while she departed for Canterlot.





Sometime later, in a familiar little valley the statue garden of the Canterlot Castle, there was a large pink and blue checkered tablecloth laid out with a spread of lovely fruits and sandwiches and cider and tea. And also upon this blanket sat three familiar magical beings who were sipping tea and enjoying each other’s company as they laughed together and shared stories, which they had been doing for almost half an hour now ever since coming out here.

Luna grinned as she came to the end of her tale. “…And then I found my dear sister in castle the kitchen covered in chocolate cake and with her white coat and pink hair full of frosting! Apparently, as one of her first acts as princess, she had ordered the staff to make as many cakes as possible just to see if they would actually do it…and then during the night she proceeded to eat them all with wild abandon until I caught her. I suppose she was just working off nerves about our new titles, but still I have never seen another creature consume baked goods with such vigor, at least not until Pinkamena. Celestia was barely half way through the cakes when I caught her and insisted she at least share and also use utensils, but she still had crumbs in her wings for a week.” Luna laughed heartily at the memory. “I will never understand your obsession with cake, sister. Even when we were but small fillies you had one just as you have one today no matter how much you try to hide it.”

“Luna…” Celestia rolled her eyes to the side and blushed a little, though she couldn’t help smiling as well. “Perhaps we could move on to another topic of discussion?”

“Oh, no, no, go on, Luna dear,” Discord urged with a grin. “In fact, I’m so glad your sister made you stay in bed most of last night so that you could be here regaling us with charming and embarrassing stories about her that she’s conveniently never mentioned before. I always just figured Celestia was perfect; I never realized she made mistakes and had hilariously awkward moments just like the rest of us, or that a borderline fanatical love of cake was her ‘deep, dark secret’. And you say she’s had an obsession with that dessert ever since she was a teeny tiny little pony? With pink hair…” He turned to Celestia and gave her a little nudge with his tail. “In fact she must have been just adorable at that age.” A mischievous look came to the chaos master’s features, and he raised his fingers to snap.

“Discord, if you use an age spell on me, I’m afraid I’ll be forced to use one on you,” Celestia calmly let him know, a small smile on her lips as she magically sipped from a teacup.

Discord paused and considered. “Hmm…that would just leave Luna and Twilight of age and in charge. Life would basically become a giant slumber party filled with compulsory reading.” He sighed and lowered his paw. “Okay, fine, you win this time, Celestia.” He shrugged and gave a chuckle. “Oh, but would it really be so bad, all three of us under an age spell and frolicking together? I’m sure you two really were just precious at only a few centuries old, and I was sort of cute myself,” he added, his nose held in the air. “I was quite the ingenious little rapscallion, actually.” 

Celestia smiled more. “Speaking of magic and spells, Discord, I was wondering…the magic you used on Luna’s horn, you couldn’t possibly teach me how to do that, could you? It’s nothing I’ve ever come across in my magical studies.”

Discord sipped some of his tea and smiled more. “That’s because it’s chaos, my dear Celestia, and only I have a mastery of that magic.” He put his claw to his chin and considered. “I could try to teach you, but I’m not sure if it would translate well...but maybe it would work with alicorn magic since that’s so powerful. A unicorn might be tricky, but an alicorn might get it.”

“You really must be feeling better Discord,” Luna remarked with a grin. “Your lack of modesty is returning in full force.”

Discord chuckled and shook his head. “Ah, but just this once, Luna, I’m serious. It’s not a matter of talent or raw skill. We’re just talking about a compatibility issue. My magic is very different from pony magic…and it all goes back to those horns of yours.” He pointed to Celestia’s horn. “For your magic, you consider how you want to affect reality, combine that desire with knowledge of your careful studies of how magic works, then you channel all of that thought through your horn as a medium for bringing the magic from inside of you out into the world, and finally you affect whatever it is you’re trying to affect. And the better talented at magic you are, the more accurately your desires will come to take place in the world around you.”

Luna raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side.

Celestia looked to the chaos master with great interest and smiled. “What an interesting way to put pony magic Discord. Please go on.” She sipped more of her tea.

Discord nodded, his grin growing at her attention. “Anyway, my magic is different simply because there is no medium I have to go through. My thoughts get directly expressed in reality at my will: no concentration, no intense study, no inaccuracies. It’s a perfectly direct communication.” He considered, then smiled. “Take those flowers I made you, Celestia. I didn’t have to go through thinking of a conjuring spell for them, getting an ideal image of flowers in my head, and just being satisfied with whatever my skill might allow me to produce. Those flowers are simply a direct expression of my thoughts about you as my friend but in flower form.”

“A direct expression of your thoughts about me? How so?” The sun princess raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I…” Discord blinked. He quickly cleared his throat though and went on as casually as possible. “Well…I wanted to express my gratitude for all of the effort you put into giving me a chance to be reformed, so I wanted to give you something special, something that was uniquely you. I wasn’t about to just give you any old flowers though. So I thought about you and friendship, and I made flowers from that thought. So you see, your bouquet is, um…colorful and bright and sweet and, um…you know, not entirely terrible-looking…and everlasting just like you and just like how I hope our friendship will be.” He let out a very deep breath now and raised his teacup for a sip again. “And if either of you ever tells another soul that I ever said or did anything that sappy, so help me, I’ll booby trap all of Canterlot.” How finished his sip and lowered his cup, then a few seconds of silence passed before he had the courage to glance to the pony sisters once more.

Luna’s grin was distinctly higher on one side.

Celestia was looking at him with a big warm smile, her eyes full of happiness. “Is that why they never fade, Discord? The flowers I mean?”

Discord smiled just a little more. A touch of flattery came to his tone. “Those flowers will stay blooming and beautiful for as long as you do, princess. You have my promise as your escort.” He gave her a mock bow.

Celestia couldn’t help laughing warmly.

Luna couldn’t help raising an eyebrow, her smile growing.

Just then a guard approached the party and came to the crest of the small hill overlooking the valley. “Pardon me, Princesses, Discord.” He bowed and smiled at the party. “I wanted to let you know that Princess Twilight has arrived at the castle.”

Celestia smiled up at him. “Wonderful.” She started to stand. “I’ll go meet her.”

“Er, no, no, sister,” Luna suddenly encouraged. She stood up herself and stepped forward. “I shall go meet Twilight. I get to see her so rarely, and besides, erm…a few moments alone will give Discord the chance to practice more for being your escort at the Gala.” She smiled more.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at first but then nodded and rested down on the blanket again. “If you insist. Thank you, Luna.”

Luna nodded. “Of course, sister.” And then she departed along with the guard.

Discord lowered his teacup and sighed. “Tell me, did I just lose all credibility as a formidable foe to you by explaining the flowers thing, or is there still at least a part of you that doesn’t see me as just a big, cuddly draconequus doll now?”

Celestia laughed a little and looked to him. “You’ll always be a formidable foe to me, Discord. Though the ‘flowers thing’ really was very kind and sweet of you. I think they’re even more special to me now than they were before.”

Discord grinned sheepishly. “Hmm…well, that’s worth any slight damage to my reputation then, I suppose. And I’ll be happy to whip you up a flower or two for the Gala too if you want.” He looked at her again and shrugged.

“I’d like that, Discord,” Celestia assured, sipping some more of her tea.

Discord sipped some more tea as well. “Yes, well, speaking of which, I’m planning to go all out for this royal shindig now that I’m not going through an emotional roller coaster of a personal crisis, just so you know.” He gave her a smug grin as her set down his cup on the blanket and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll show all of your pony friends: I am going to be the best escort for a princess in the history of the Gala!” He held his head high.

Celestia laughed softly. “I’ll be interested to see what you have in store, Discord.” She smiled with interest.

Discord floated up, the smug smile still on his features. “It’ll be just magical. I’m planning to sweep you off your hooves actually. You work too hard, Celestia.” He rested on his stomach in the air to look at her. “And that’s not just from my lazy perspective; ask even the tenacious Twilight Sparkle, and she’ll agree. So you are just going to relax that night and leave everything in my capable claw and paw for your enjoyment. I intend to give you the best night ever.” Then he rolled his eyes, resting his head on his paw. “I’d say I was going to treat you like a princess but, well…that goes without saying, does it not?”

Celestia just looked back at him with an amused grin, her eyebrow raised. “I’m never going to forget this particular Gala, am I?”

“Not if I can help it, dear Celestia.” The chaos master’s eyes narrowed, and his grin grew mischievous. “Not if I can help it.”

The sun princess’s eyes narrowed playfully a little bit too.





“Luna, I’m excited to see all of you too, but why are we galloping over to the statue garden? Oh!” Twilight almost tripped forward as she continued trying to keep up with the speed of the night princess, though Luna’s magic quickly righted her so that they could continue without delay. They finally came to the area just before the crest of the hill leading down into the valley, and suddenly Luna used her magic to make them both come to a dead stop. 

Twilight almost fell forward again but managed to regain her balance again. She raised an eyebrow at Luna. “And why are we stopping here?” 

“Shh,” Luna cooed softly, keeping down and out of sight as she glanced over the crest of the hill. She kept her voice low as she addressed her companion. “Twilight Sparkle, I need you to give me your take on something as the princess of friendship. I’m trying to determine whether my own interpretation of a situation is accurate, and knowing what you think might give me some insight.” She put a hoof to her chin. “I believe Princess Cadance might be able to give me the best insight, of course, considering the nature of what is occurring, but your specialty and hers are related enough that I believe you can help me just as well.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Of course, Luna. What is it?”

Luna gestured for Twilight to raise her eyes and look over the crest of the hill now too. “Just do me a favor and look at my sister and Discord down there in that valley, and tell me what you think of how they are together.”

Twilight blinked at the question but nodded. “Okay, Luna, I’ll do my best.” She peered over the crest of the hill now, and then her smile picked up on one side at the sight which met her eyes.

From what she could see, the two beings in question were just residing a little apart, Discord sitting suspended in the air and Celestia lying on the picnic blanket. Each was sipping from a teacup. And then Discord made a comment that made Celestia smile and nod, then Celestia made a comment that made Discord roll his eyes and say something slightly sarcastic back from the look on his features, and then Celestia smiled again and said something in return. Discord made another quick comment, Celestia made one more, and then the two of them broke into warm laughter together.

Twilight Sparkle smiled more. “They seem very happy, like very close friends,” she provided.

And then Twilight watched as Discord, a sneaky look on his features, suddenly raised his tail and gave Celestia the lightest touch on her side that was closest to him. She blinked and looked there. Then Discord pulled his tail away innocently, snapped his fingers, and finally gestured with a jerk of his thumb to Celestia’s other side. She glanced over with an eyebrow raised…and then her eyes went wide. A six-tier, lopsided, chocolate cake covered in yellow frosting with rainbow decorations sat at her side. Discord started chuckling heartily while Celestia looked down for a moment with a smile and a slight blush. But then she looked up at the cake with a happy determination and used her magic to serve herself a large slice, which she quickly dug into. 

Twilight tilted her head to the side, very invested in the scene before her now. “It’s like they’ve known each other and felt close for years, not just days or weeks.” She raised an eyebrow. “Wow, Celestia really likes cake.”

Luna sighed, smiling a little. “Yes, she does indeed, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight continued to look on.

Discord’s laughter subsided, and he wiped a tear of mirth from his eye before letting himself come to sit back down on the blanket. He snapped to refill his teacup and took a sip…and then glanced over at his companion out of the corner of his eye. Celestia was still smiling to herself and looking in the direction of the cake as she ate her slice happily. Discord glanced the other way but then finally let himself look to her fully now while she continued not to look at him (and while, to the best of his knowledge, no one else was looking at him either).

Something in his eyes became hazed, something in his grin became dreamy, and even from this distance it seemed the lightest blush must be present in his features. And his gaze lingered on Celestia in a most delighted way.

Twilight’s eyes went wide, her jaw fell, and a light blush came to her features too.

Luna noticed the response. And she had been watching the scene as well of course as she stood beside her friend. “You see it too then, Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship?”

Twilight swallowed. “I, um…I…”

“About their ‘friendship’ together…” Luna prompted softly. 

“Discord’s very…intrigued by Celestia,” Twilight supplied shyly. She looked down for a moment, her brow furrowed. “I thought he might have been having dreams about—” She blinked, then looked back up and cleared her throat. “Um…never mind.”

Luna’s eyes suddenly went very wide (like something was clicking inside of her head), and the lightest blush appeared on her own features now. Then she just let out a deep sigh, closed her eyes, and brought a hoof to her forehead.

“Um…” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and glanced forward one last time to confirm once again the look of doting Discord was shyly and secretly casting Celestia’s way. There was no mistake: it was the same look her brother used to give Cadance when she would come over to foalsit, the same look Spike gave Rarity whenever she showed him extra affection. Twilight knew it well. “Should we…say something to him or her or them, or…” She looked at Luna hesitantly.

Luna shook her head though as she looked toward the valley again. “No, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia is a grown mare and Discord is a grown…draconequus. And he is a gentleman. I think we should leave them to themselves.”

Twilight nodded to the advice, then swallowed and had to ask, “Do you think…Celestia feels the same way?”

Luna smiled and looked down a little. “My sister is a very private person, Twilight.” 

Twilight raised an eyebrow but did not press the question. Instead, she asked another one. “What do you think she would do if Discord…um…told her his feelings?”

“Honestly,” Luna glanced at her, “I do not have the slightest clue.” She smiled more at the younger princess. “But come, enough speculating. I support allowing them time to work out whatever’s going on between them in privacy, but I also wouldn’t mind some cake myself. Let us join them.” Then she moved over the crest of the hill.

Twilight nodded and followed her.

“Announcing the Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Luna called out with a grin as the two mares approached picnic blanket.

The sun princess looked up from her cake, and the chaos master looked forward as he sipped some tea and resumed his normal, laidback manner.

“Hello, Twilight. I’m so glad you could come,” Celestia assured with a smile.

“Oh yes, the more the merrier at a party, I say,” Discord threw in with a smile in their direction.

Twilight smiled and addressed her mentor first. “I’m so happy to see you and Luna too, Celestia.”

Discord blinked and almost did a spit-take with his tea. He set down his cup on the picnic blanket, and a big grin appeared on his face. “Hey, you two actually got her to stop being uptight and just call you both by your first names?” He raised an eyebrow. “Impressive.” 

Celestia just rolled her eyes and laughed.

And on that joke Twilight’s gaze moved to her chaotic friend to greet him now. Her eyes narrowed a little, and her smile grew. “And as for you, Discord…” And then suddenly the friendship princess dove at the master of chaos and caught him in a big hug right around his middle! “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She beamed, still attached to him.

“Whoa!” Discord reeled back a little and then glanced at Luna and Celestia and raised an eyebrow. “What is with you alicorn princesses and hugging, and especially hugging me today?” He glanced down at Twilight with a grin. “It’s a good thing I didn’t deliver that letter to your alicorn sister-in-law myself, otherwise she might have ended up hugging me today too, and that would have been a whole new mess to explain to your brother.” He chuckled.

Twilight just laughed and pulled back with a warm smile and her eyes still narrowed playfully. “Oh no, you are not going to use sarcasm and gags to get out of this one. You did a wonderful, nice, incredible thing! And I am never going to let you forget it for the rest of your life!” She stood in front of him now and pointed at him defiantly with her hoof.

Discord just sighed and rolled his eyes. “And here we go—the consequences of doing something for you involving books.” He raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, when I’m your indefinite house guest, are all of our conversations going to consist of this topic? I just need to know how much to brace myself for pony enthusiasm.”

“Twilight,” Celestia smiled at her former student and raised an eyebrow. “What are you two talking about?”

Discord sighed. “Ugh, Twilight, can you keep the story to a minimum or at least not announce it out loud or something?” He shrugged and picked off a piece of his cup to eat. “It’s really not a big deal…” He looked down in a way almost shy, though his look remained as dull as he could manage as he munched on the piece of porcelain.

Twilight gave him an understanding nod and then she smiled brightly and trotted over to the princesses to whisper to them everything about Discord’s letter and spell.

When Twilight was done and had pulled back, Luna had a proud smile on her face…but Celestia just sat there wide-eyed for a moment. Then she blinked once and looked to Discord (who was still just sitting aloofly and distracting himself by dipping more of his cup into his tea to eat.)

The sun princess couldn’t help herself. She smiled, stood up, walked over to Discord, and then she gave him a deep nuzzle against his shoulder and under his chin. “Thank you, Discord.” She pulled back to smile warmly up at him.

The master of chaos just sat there, eyes completely wide, his whole body almost as perfectly still as when he had been stone.

Luna blinked, then stood up and walked over between them now. “Er, sister, please, you’re embarrassing him. Discord likes attention and likes being affectionate to his friends, but the one form of attention he doesn’t seem to care for is excessive praise for that affection.”

Twilight took a step forward now too and glanced down sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Discord, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by sharing what you did. I promise, except for the girls, I won’t tell anyone else. And you’re right anyway: I asked you not to praise me all the time for the nice things I’ve done for you, and I should just accept the nice things you do for me too in the same way.” She smiled up at him.

Celestia considered, and then nodded and stepped back a little. “Of course.” She gave Discord a gentle smile. “I’m sorry, Discord, I didn’t mean to get so carried away. I just know how much this must mean to Twilight. But why don’t we talk about something else.” She walked over to the large cake. “I didn’t know you could bake like this, Discord. Your cake is simply delicious.” She took a little of the icing on her hoof and put it into her mouth. “Is that coconut in the lemon frosting?”

“I…I, um…” Discord blinked a few times. “Yes—a-and some cherries and marshmallow in the chocolate cake itself. You know, when I first thought of putting all that in, I was just being chaotic, but, hey, it actually turned out to be good too, right?” He shrugged, suddenly resuming his normal smug grin and attitude. “Adds just the right amount of sweetness and texture. Food needs texture.” Then he picked up a fork, reached over, scooped up a bite of cake, and proceeded to eat the bite of cake and the fork entirely. “Why do you think I eat half of my dishware, hmm?” He chuckled.

All three princesses had to laugh at the joke.

“Yes, well, I’m just glad Twilight Sparkle and I returned in time to get some cake for ourselves,” Luna remarked with a grin.

Celestia grinned back at her. “I would have shared.”

“Mmm hmm…” Luna gave her a skeptical smile in return.

“Wow, Discord, this really is a good cake!” 

All three looked over to see Twilight Sparkle now eating a big slice of the cake. “Fluttershy’s right, Discord,” she added as she swallowed a mouthful. “You should cook more often. I hope you’ll prepare something like this one day when we’re having a meeting at the castle.” She took another bite of the cake and considered. “Interesting proportions of moisture and sweetener…. And high quality cocoa too.”

Luna just raised an eyebrow, a small laugh escaping her. “Oh yes, she is definitely your student, sister.”

Celestia just shook her head and smiled.

“She also clearly has great taste in chaotic cuisine: in a way, she could just as easily be my student,” Discord joked with a grin.

Celestia’s smile grew, and something in her eyes brightened as she glanced at him.

Twilight just sighed as she finished another bite of her piece of cake and lowered her fork to her plate. “Suddenly, I’m very grateful that I’ve already graduated from the unicorn academy.”

All four of them shared a laugh.

“Say,” Discord’s eyes brightened, “how about before we keep going with dessert as the start to our chaotic picnic, we take a break and play a little game?” His gaze went to Twilight, and his smile grew. “The hedge maze is right behind us…”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Uh…”

Discord chuckled. “Oh, come on, Twilight. Look, I’ll tell you what; it’ll be the opposite rules from last time we played in there. Instead of no wings and no magic, only those who have both wings and magic can play. We’ll make it an all out free for all, pranking and teasing each other, and the last one standing wins. And I won’t be the game master this time; I’ll just be a player too. And we’ll split into teams because otherwise, as the youngest and least experienced, you’ll definitely be picked off first.” He tapped her on the head with the tuft of his tail.

Twilight straightened her mane and just rolled her eyes but smiled. “Okay, Discord. I guess it could be sort of fun, especially if we had teams this time.”

“I call Twilight Sparkle!” Luna suddenly announced with a big smile as she suddenly put down her cake and dashed alongside Twilight. “The two youngest versus the two eldest! We shall soundly best you both!” She looked to Discord and her sister with a determined glare.

Celestia laughed warmly, then put aside her own cake for now as well and walked over to stand beside Discord. “We’ll see about that, Luna.”

Discord just blinked and looked to Celestia. “Wait so…I’m on your team?”

Celestia nodded to him. “Yes. I’m sorry, Discord, we sort of decided this without you—at our slumber party, actually.”

Discord’s eyes went wide. “You talked about me at your slumber party?” Discord suddenly blinked several times and then cleared his throat and added, trying to grin, “I mean, erm, what, were you ponies gossiping about Equestria’s most eligible bachelors or something?”

Celestia opened her mouth as though to explain, but Luna spoke now instead. “Yes, we did discuss you, Discord, but I am afraid we can reveal no details: that is the rule. No one but mares are privy to the party, and that includes after the fact.” She smiled proudly. “Though I assure you, the topic of conversation that led to you was hardly that farfetched.” She gave him a little playful smirk.

Discord just rolled his eyes with a smirk of his own.

Celestia sighed and explained a little to Discord anyway. “Luna just likes the idea of serving as sort of an older sister to Twilight; she wants to not be the younger sister for once. So that leaves you and I together, as long as that’s all right with you, Discord.”

“Oh…of course, of course.” Discord nodded, his normal smugness fully returning as he flew up to rest on the air beside Celestia. “I just think it’s such a pity how unbalanced the teams are: the master of chaos and the wise and illustrious sun princess versus the predictable rookie and the dramatic night watch.” He shrugged. “Not much of a challenge.”

“Predictable Rookie?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Dramatic Night Watch?” Luna raised an eyebrow too.

Discord only grinned more, narrowing his eyes at them.

Twilight and Luna looked at each other and then to Discord and then back to each other once more. 

Twilight smiled. “Luna, let’s win this, for younger siblings everywhere.” She held out her hoof.

Luna took it and shook (so enthusiastically that she just about lifted Twilight off the ground as she did so). “That we can do. Come along, Twilight Sparkle, let us begin playing now!” And then suddenly the night princess dashed into the maze entrance, pulling Twilight along with her. “Last pony standing wins for their team!”

Discord just watched them go, resting his chin on his paw. He addressed his teammate. “Should we go easy on them?”

Celestia smiled but shook her head. “No. Don’t underestimate either of them, Discord; they could beat us. So let’s give them our best, and even if they lose, they will certainly grow from the experience just as we could.”

“True: I lost several times, and I definitely ‘grew’ from the experience.” The chaos master snapped his fingers and suddenly made himself twice the size he normally was. He floated in a ring around Celestia, and then he snapped again and returned to normal to resume resting on the air. “You know what I mean.” He shrugged.

Celestia just smiled more at the antic.

“Art thou ever coming sister?!” suddenly sounded out from within the maze.

Discord leaned close to Celestia and whispered, “You know, we could just ditch them and go get some cupcakes and a malted from sugar cube corner. Pinkie Pie owes me a favor.”

Celestia tried very hard to stifle her laughter. She shook her head. “Maybe some other time,” she whispered back. Then she called out into the hedge. “Just wait, sister! Thou shall see us soon enough!” 

“Did you two really used to talk like that?” Discord couldn’t help but ask with a scoff.

Celestia shrugged. “Alicorn culture is a very traditional and ancient one. And we were raised as royalty from our youth. Besides, it’s fun to talk like that sometimes, just like using the Royal Canterlot Voice can be fun sometimes too.”

Discord rolled his eyes to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes, well, in the interest of not ‘bringing anyone to their knees’ or anything, instead of you slipping into your version of that royal voice now, let’s get going before we lose this game by default, Celestia.” 

Celestia nodded. “You take on Twilight, and I’ll get my sister?”

Discord shook his head with a grin and landed beside her. “Let’s switch it up: the student suddenly being ambushed by her trustworthy mentor, and the formerly fallen princess being crushed by her kindred spirit formerly fallen counterpart? They’ll never see it coming.”

Celestia’s smile grew, and so did Discord’s. The friends nodded in agreement and then entered the maze together.





“Luna?”

Luna gasped at the familiar sounding voice of none other than the master of chaos, and then turned, her horn glowing. “Have at you, Discord!”

“No, no, wait, wait,” Discord held up his hands. They were in the middle of the hedge labyrinth after almost half an hour of gameplay, and Discord had just popped up behind the moon princess as she had come around a corner. “Truce for a second. Then we can go back to chasing each other around the hedge maze along with Twilight and Celestia. I just wanted to ask a question as long as we’re alone.”

Luna stopped the glowing of her horn but raised an eyebrow. “Is this a trick, Discord?”

Discord smiled and shrugged. “It’s about my dreams.”

Luna’s features became serious. “Of course, Discord. What is it?”

Discord sighed. “I feel a lot better, but…I’m still concerned that a nightmare or two could come back to haunt me. Like that dark, shadowy figure from my subconscious—you know the one.” He looked down, shuffling his hoof into the ground. “The one that reminds me of a younger…eviler me.”

Luna nodded. “Discord, I think you’ve resolved things enough by admitting your guilt and forgiving yourself that you will not need my help to conquer that nightmare anymore. If it does come back, just calmly face it and consider the things that turned you from evil to good, and apply those same conditions to the nightmare. Anger and fear will only fuel it, Discord. You’ll need something else to ‘kill it’, as it were…. Something kind.” She looked at him with meaning in her eyes.

Discord raised an eyebrow at first but then he blinked. “Oh! Oh…hmm…yes, I…I see. To ‘kill’ it. Kindness. Okay then.” He glanced at her hesitantly. “Will you still be on call if I need you though? Just for the nightmares of course: any other kinds of dreams I’d still prefer to keep to myself.” He shrugged sheepishly.

Luna tried very hard not to blush. She just smiled and nodded. “Of course, Discord. I will always be there for any subject or friend who needs it.” 

Discord gave her a nod in return. “Thanks.” He smiled at her for a moment…hesitated…raised a finger and opened his mouth …hesitated again…then cleared his throat.

It was more than obvious to Luna that he had at least one more thought on his mind to share. “Discord, is there something else?” she prompted gently, still smiling.

Discord let out a very deep breath, then nodded. “Yeah…I just…I-I know you said I didn’t have to do anything for you to make up for hurting you, but…I feel like I at least owe you an explanation about something.”

Luna raised her eyebrow. “An explanation about what, Discord?”

“About…um…” he took another deep breath, “about exactly why I haven’t wanted you traipsing around in my sleeping head…especially since me making you keep your distance like that is probably why my nightmares were able to get as strong as they did.”

Luna’s eyes went a little wide, but she betrayed no suspicions. “Yes, Discord?”

Discord looked into her eyes, his own searching. “You’re sworn not to tell anything I might tell you since it occurred during my sleep…right?”

Luna nodded once more. “Absolutely. And I give you my word as your friend on top of that to keep your confidences, as I have done before.”

Discord nodded again as well, his look growing a little dull. “Very well.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t want you getting near my dreams because sometimes lately I’ve been dreaming about…a lady friend. That’s all.”

It took all of Luna’s will not to giggle at his little confession and especially at his choice of the phrase ‘lady friend’. Besides, by playing it cagey she could use this conversation to try and confirm some things. “Discord, I didn’t know you had a marefriend. How sweet,” she offered sincerely.

“Shh!” Discord shushed her and glanced around. “Not so loud! And I don’t have a marefriend.” He scoffed and looked away, arms crossed over his chest. “I’ve just… had somebody on my mind lately…and my dreams about her are a bit on the personal side.”

Luna nodded. “Ah, so there is no relationship then? You’re just…having some perfectly natural dreams about sharing intimacy with another adult being.”

Discord blinked and blushed so scarlet Luna really wasn’t sure how she kept the giggles in. “N-No!” He held up his paw and claw. “I mean…yes…I mean…No, there’s no relationship, but it’s not just about… ‘intimacy’.” He rolled is eyes to the side, still blushing. “I’ve just been thinking about this person a lot lately: I care about her very much as a friend. So I’ve been wondering about caring about her as more than a friend. I’m not sure about how a real relationship with her would work out. But I just have my confusing feelings, and I like them, and sometimes I dream about them and her. That’s all.” He finally let out a sigh and just glanced down with wide eyes.

Luna’s smile and look warmed. “I see. Well…dreams are a good outlet for such possibilities, Discord. They allow you to explore new paths for your life without real world consequences, and the same goes for new emotions.” She took a breath. “I appreciate you telling me this, Discord. It…makes many things make a lot of sense now. And please know that now that I know what kind of dream of yours you’d like me to avoid, I would never intrude upon your nightly privacy with your ‘lady friend.’ Dreams are a place to explore our private thoughts without judgment or fear, and I’ll leave you to that freedom, Discord.” She gave a slight bow of her head.

Discord bowed his head slightly in return, still blushing considerably as he raised it. “Thanks, Luna. I’ll try to make the most of that freedom now that there’s a chance I won’t be having any more nightmares soon.”

Luna smiled more. “I think you’ll do well, Discord.” She considered. “May I ask one question about these dreams though, Discord?”

Discord sighed. “As long as it doesn’t involve me naming the ‘lady friend’ or you using the word ‘intimacy’ again, shoot.”

Luna’s look became serious. “These dreams…have the been a source of anxiety for you at all?”

Discord’s eyes went a little wide. He thought for a moment, hesitated, and then chose his words carefully as he replied. “At first…yes. They came on very suddenly, and I didn’t exactly like the feelings they were associated with. It was a very uncomfortable and unexpected experience, and it frustrated me. But now…” he shrugged, “…now I like them. And the only anxiety I have is about…understanding exactly how deeply I feel for my lady friend and deciding whether or not I should tell her one day.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and not a lot of time to sort out this particular situation and its consequences. And I wouldn’t want her to know unless I was sure of my feelings for her and sure she could have those feelings for me too.”

Luna nodded. “I see. Thank you, Discord.” She smiled. 

Discord nodded in return. “You’re welcome, Luna.” Then his look went dry. “And of course, for future reference, this conversation we’re having right now never happened. There will be no cheeky comments on the side, no all-knowing looks, no impromptu advice about females, that pesky word ‘intimacy’ will never ever be brought up again…”

Luna’s smile and gaze warmed. “As long as you do not wish to discuss this matter with me further, Discord, then we will not discuss this matter further.”

Discord smiled. “Good. I’m glad we’ve reached an accord.” He sighed. “Oh, and just one more thing before we get back to our afternoon of fun and frolicking.”

“Yes, Discord?” Luna raised an eyebrow.

Discord grinned and snapped his fingers: suddenly Luna’s horseshoes were marshmallows and a net of black licorice lifted up from the ground beneath her, trapping her magically in the air. The chaos master chuckled. “Along with me needing some real advice and wanting to come clean to you a little, this was also a trap, yes. Never let your guard down around Discord!” He gave a proud bow.

“Discord!” Luna called out as she struggled, though with how sticky the net and her horseshoes were, her efforts were to no avail.

Discord straightened up. “Now, hurry up about getting out of there, Luna dear, because if you don’t then in five minutes that net will fling you right out of the maze and into the clouds over Canterlot castle.” He winked.

Luna’s eyes went very wide.

“Luna, I’m coming!” Suddenly Twilight Sparkle dashed around a corner of the maze and came into view: her mane was mussed and colorful, fuzzy feathers dotted her coat and wings. She zapped Luna free, then turned to Discord and zapped him with her magic as well! 

The chaos master instantly found himself trapped between the pages of a giant closed book with only his head sticking out!

“Hey!” he called out, trying to struggle free.

Catching her breath, Twilight helped Luna up and free from the remains of the licorice netting.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Luna remarked with a smile. “How do things fair with my sister?”

Twilight let out a deep breath. “Pillow fight…big, big, big pillow fight back that way.” She smiled and held her head high as she brushed some of the colorful fuzzy feathers off of her shoulder. “But I got out of it! Now let’s go regroup!”

Luna nodded with a determined grin. “Yes, let’s!”

“Hey wait!” Discord called out. “I’m not about to spend the rest of the afternoon as a bookmark!”

Twilight laughed and paused for a moment to call over her shoulder. “I think there’s some kind of ironic thing I could say about ‘light reading’, Discord, but I’m not as good at jokes as you! So I’ll just say, see you later!” Then the friendship and moon princesses ran off laughing.

Discord just sighed deeply. 

Just then Celestia entered the scene, grinning and breathing heavily, her mane quite tousled and many colorful fuzzy feathers dotting her coat and wings as well. She looked to the chaos master and raised an eyebrow, grinning. “Twilight?” was all she asked at the sight of him.

Discord sighed, giving her a dry look. “I’m in a giant book. What do you think?”

Celestia just laughed and used her magic to free him. “Shall we catch up to them and offer a truce, Discord? I’m starting to get hungry, and I wouldn’t mind another slice of cake, and maybe some of those dandelion and sweet potato sandwiches we brought with us. And I could definitely use a cold glass of cider.”

Discord shrugged, smiling warmly. “I suppose. I could use a bite to eat too, now that you mention it.” He bowed and gestured forward. “After you, Celestia.”

Celestia bowed in appreciation. “Thank you, Discord.” She stepped forward but then paused. “Discord?”

The chaos master straightened up. “Yes?”

The sun princess looked down, then looked up and smiled more. “This has been so much fun. And I probably don’t have as much of that as I should, so I just wanted you to know and to thank you.”

Discord’s eyes hazed and his smile grew. “Glad to be of assistance, Celestia. And you have excellent taste; I think this is fun too.”

Celestia laughed. “Come on, let’s get going.” Then she galloped off with a bright smile, and Discord flew after her, beaming quite a bit himself. He had never seen as delightful a sight as her dashing about with her hair and mane flowing behind her while she laughed in pure fun and happiness. And he felt joy at knowing he was part of bringing her that fun and happiness as part of this special memory they were all making together.

Everything seemed just a little brighter for everypony. And the Gala was barely more than a week away.