//------------------------------// // Sour Milk // Story: Sunbeams and Chocolate Milk // by Turtwig-Tales //------------------------------// As the last of the colorful bursts faded into memory, Celestia sighed, and snuggled up closer to her new mismatched lover. After what had seemed like a blissful eternity, they had broken their tender kiss, and settled into the hillside to watch the breathtaking display that had taken place in the heavens. For the first time in her life, she felt like someone understood her. Cared for her. Well, her parents had, but they had abandoned her years ago. And she supposed Luna did too, but she was her sister, so she didn’t count. “Ooh, that was amazing, Dissy-dear!” she cooed. Discord didn’t seem to paying much attention. He was still looking out at the sky, looking quite satisfied with himself. Certainly he was reveling in their shared experience. Certainly. Even though she herself was still feeling the tingling sensation that was most certainly love, she did want to talk to her soulmate. To learn more about him, and how he could do the amazing feats he had performed. “Dissy! Did you hear me?” she said, poking him gently in the side. His eyes quickly snapped into focus, and glanced in her general direction. “Hm, yes. Amazing.” He grunted, and resumed his gaze out into the void. “Dissy, you’re not paying attention to me!” Celestia pouted, puffing her cheeks in a huff. A dim memory of Luna doing the same thing when she was a filly and didn’t get a treat when she wanted surfaced briefly, before fading away again. “Dear, don’t do this.” He groaned. But underneath the groan resided something else. Was it…a threat? No, it couldn’t be. “No Dissy I will! It’s a beautiful night and want to talk with you! Like, how you do what you do, or who you really are-” Discord’s head snapped around, as if not attached to the rest of his body, his eyes casting a glare that would make an Ursa Major turn tail. Celestia shrank back, suddenly fearful of her new lover. Was he angry with her? Had she said something wrong? She only wanted to talk, to whisper sweet nothings to each other until the unicorns lifted the sun. Was that so wrong? What was he going to do to her? She received her answer in the form of a sharp strike of his paw on her cheek. Fortunately he hadn’t used the claws residing within, although the blow caused her eyes to lose focus briefly. Everything went blurry. When she had recovered from the blow, she couldn’t help but stare at him, and a hoof drifted to her jaw. Discord’s gaze met hers, as hard as stone. And after a tense moment, it softened. He brought his paw to her cheek to join her hoof. She flinched, fearing another strike. However, he gently caressed her stinging skin, his touch as light as feather, and as soft as velvet. “I’m sorry I had to do that my dear.” he said in a voice that somehow was both a comfort and threat, “But you should know, I have quite the temper. Please understand, I know what is best for you. So you must do as I say.” “B-but…” Celestia sputtered, her eyes beginning to well with tears, “W-why…? I just wanted…” She was unable to finish her thought, and broke down in a mess of sobs. For a moment, that same hard look of frustration appeared on his face, but was quickly replaced with a whimsical grin. “Oh, my dear…How about this?” He snapped his talons, and with brief flash of light, a small pink cloud appeared. Discord’s grin grew wider. “A peace offering.” Celestia managed to stop her heaving shoulders for a moment in order to see what he was referring to. Perplexed, the alicorn inspected the little cloud, whose color bore an uncanny resemblance to her own mane. It appeared to simply be a pink cloud, which was not exactly a groundbreaking achievement in the arcane arts, but the longer she looked at it, the odder it became. Firstly, she detected a sweet, fruity aroma wafting from it. And Celestia had stood on clouds before, and this was nothing like that. This had a fluffy, spongey texture, and yet was a bit sticky to the touch. For some reason, she was compelled to take a bite, and she found it was indeed sweet, and instantly melted in her mouth. She had never tasted anything like this before! Discord chuckled. “I call it ‘Cotton Candy.’ And if you think that’s good, watch this.” He then removed his horn, which was apparently hollow inside. He positioned it underneath the cloud, and tapped the top of the fluffy oddity. With a surprisingly loud clap of thunder, it began to produce rain. Only this rain was…brown? The draconequus offered the goblet(?) to her. “Please, take a drink.” Celestia was hesitant, but curiosity won out. After all he knew what was best for her, didn’t he? She took the container in her magic, and lifted it to her lips. A sweet, rich flavor greeter her. A flavor she recognized from long, long ago. She licked her lips. “Is…is this…chocolate…?” She stuttered, simply astounded. She could almost feel her eyes sparkling. “Indeed, my dear. Chocolate milk to be precise.” replied a rather smug Discord, casually brushing some of the sparkles off of his coat. Celestia let out an audible gasp, awestruck at this marvelous feat of magic. To be able to combine milk, and the rare delicacy chocolate? Incredible! She herself and Luna had only had the luxury of tasting it once before, not long before their parents had vanished. They had just returned from a trip from the Jaguar jungles, and had brought it back as a gift for them. It had been a wonderful day! …Hadn’t it? She found herself having difficulty remembering the details. How could she have trouble remembering one of her most cherished memories of her own parents? Celestia frowned, doubt bubbling up from beneath the surface. She felt as if she could almost remember, but then the memory would just slip from her grasp. Discord seemed to notice. “Is…something wrong, my dear?” He sounded…genuinely concerned, didn’t he? Weren’t those lines of worry etching themselves across his face? “Oh it’s nothing, just having a bit of trouble remembering…certain things.” the alicorn said, not wanting to worry him. But wasn’t she mad at him just a moment ago? No, certainly not. Whatever could she be mad at him for? “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing important if you can’t remember it.” Discord said with a pleasant smile, taking his horn from her magical grasp. With a quick motion, the horn had become a handkerchief, a new horn having appeared on his head. He used the small piece of cloth to gently wipe away her tears. Had she been crying? Odd, she hadn’t even noticed. “Yes, I think you’re right. Nothing important at all.” Celestia replied. She sighed. “You know, for a moment, I thought I was angry with you for a moment.” Discord tense slightly. “I can’t for the life of me figure out why though…” He relaxed again. “I believe you were cross with me because I wasn’t paying attention to you. And you were absolutely right, so I conjured this little beauty,” he patted the cloud affectionately, “to make it up to you.” “Oh yes, that must be it.” As soon as she said this, she was struck with realization and immediately adopted her puffy-faced pout again. “And don’t think a small monumental feat of magic the likes of which the world has ever known is going to make me forgive you so quickly.” Internally, Celestia was ecstatic. Their first lovers quarrel! How wonderful! She had always found references to these in some of the romance novels in the extensive library back at the castle, she had never thought she would be able to experience one! She was so enraptured by her thoughts, she didn’t notice Discord’s serpentine form wrapping itself around her until it was too late. She was swept up in a tight embrace, her face and his mere inches from one another. “Oh, is that so?” He sounded so smug. What was he planning? “Then…how about…” He lifted his talon to the tip of her horn. “…this?” Her face fell. She knew exactly what he meant. Her breath became quick and ragged. She broke out in a cold sweat. Her wings flared out, and her tail began rapidly swishing back and forth. A small part of tried to resist, tried to hold back. She couldn’t let him win so easily! She wouldn’t! But she did. “YES YES I FORGIVE YOU! PLEASE DO IT PLEASE!!!” She surprised herself with this display. She wanted this, she needed this. Her patchwork partner grinned. “Very well, my dear.” He touched her horn again. The now-familiar rush of electricity surged through her body once again, exciting every nerve in her body. “But we must be careful.” As it had done before, his talon began its slow decent towards her forehead. “We wouldn’t want you getting addicted to this, now would we?” Despite his voice returning to the world-consuming rumble it had during the first time, Celestia did not hear his words. Or rather, she heard them, but she just didn’t care. She would do whatever it takes do experience this again and again, whatever it takes to please him. Because she was in love.