//------------------------------// // The Morning Surprise // Story: Without Someone to Love // by The Abyss //------------------------------// Luna could not sleep at all. She tried all of her tricks: snuggling with a pillow, then staring at a single point in the wall until she fell asleep. She even tried tucking a pillow behind her back to simulate a pony snuggling her from behind. But alas, it was all for naught, for the constant worrying of what Discord had in mind kept her wide-awake. She could not slow her racing heart, so she chose to finish reading the saucy romance novel she kept hidden in her nightstand. The morning came faster than she anticipated. The sun’s light shined in through her many windows, bleeding through the curtains. She rolled over, facing away from the light just in time to see her sister trot inside her room. With her ears flicked back, Luna knew what she was going to do. She didn’t even have to look up as Celestia lit her horn, tugging open her curtains and flooding the room with light. Celestia did this every morning as part of her ritual, for she loved to sleep in late. “Wakey wakey, little sis...” Celestia murmured as she stalked towards her little sister’s bed. She couldn’t even get a hoof on the bed before Luna sat up, much to her disbelief. “Oh, you are already up? This is something I have not seen in many months!” she teased as she settled down beside Luna. Luna rolled her eyes and smiled as she pulled Celestia under the sheets. Rolling onto he back, she snuggled up against Celestia’s side like she used to do when she was just a little filly, laying her head on her sister’s foreleg. “Can we just spend some time snuggling? I had an... odd encounter in the dream realm last night.” She felt Celestia’s warm wing wrap around her belly. “We can snuggle as long as you want, Luna, but only on one condition...” Celestia felt Luna’s ear flick up against her side. “I would like it if you told me about your strange encounter. It is not often you speak of such things.” Luna took a deep breath, then said, “Well... you know how I can enter the dreams of ponies, right? Well... when I was in the dream realm, I heard someone moaning and groaning. That has never happened before, and I was perplexed. Much to my surprise, it was not a pony.” “So naturally, you went to investigate?” “Mhm. Turns out it was... Discord.” “I, um... I see.” Celestia lit her horn again and pulled over a pillow, which she promptly laid her head upon. “I did not know that I could go into dreams of creatures that are not ponies, so it was quite a shock. I am... not sure, but I think I was actually at his house.” Luna snuggled closer to her sister. “The odd part was that I think I was actually there, not in his dream. I’ve heard rumors that the realm he resides in is very hard to get to, so...” “You think you traveled to a different realm? Are you certain of this?” Celestia asked with a lifted eyebrow. “This is unheard of, sister.” “I know. I didn’t stop to think if it was dangerous or not, but I just had to find out where the sounds were coming from. I found him having a nightmare, one that I could not go into. I do not know why I was not able to see it or sense it, but...” Luna sighed. “I woke him up anyways, and I would by lying if I said that he wasn’t surprised to see me there.” Should I tell her that he’s coming here? No, that would not be prudent. That would only distract her from her busy schedule, and that cannot happen... Remembering the note and flower he left her, she glanced around the room, wondering where they went. “Looking for somepony? There is nopony else here but you and I, Luna,” Celestia said. “Yes. I know.” Luna sighed. “I’m sorry for bugging you with this little issue of mine.” Celestia giggled lightly at that. “Please, I want you to know that you can confide in me whenever you need it. It doesn’t matter if I am in the middle of a meeting or if I am in bed.” “Thanks, but I just don’t like bothering you with little things like this.” Luna rolled over onto her back, laying her head down on one of her many pillows. “I just wonder if I’d be able to replicate what happened last night.” She faintly heard a rustle come from across the room, making her lift her head up to look. Luna glanced around her room, eyeing a rather suspicious looking curtain a moment before she used her magic to lift it. Nothing... I could have sworn I heard something over there, though... With a sigh, she flopped back down onto Celestia’s leg. Celestia looked over towards the curtain that Luna had just tugged. With a sly smile, she nudged her sister’s shoulder with her own. “Is there somepony else here? A lover that you do not want me to know about? Hm?” “Ugh...” Luna rubbed her eyes. “I wish. I just can’t find anypony that can’t look beyond me being a princess. My dates from a while ago all moved too quickly, and... I trust that you won’t tell anyone, but... I think that they only wanted to become royalty by marrying me, so I always end up breaking things off. I do so enjoy the company of a special somepony, but I’m sure you know how hard it can be finding someone who can look past our titles. It seems like you, save for a couple of ponies, are the only one who I can really relate with in that regard.” “We are sisters, after all.” Celestia nuzzled the top of Luna’s head. She slid from the bed. “Anyways, I must be off if I am to keep my schedule. I trust that you will find the solution you are searching for.” Luna sighed, wondering if she was talking about her constant lack of a lover or about Discord. “Yeah... me too,” she murmured as she watched Celestia walk from the room, her mane and tail flowing as gracefully as ever. After a minute, Luna groaned and rolled out of bed, making her way to her private bathroom for her daily shower. Shutting the door behind her out of habit, Luna lit her horn and turned on the shower, eyeing her bedhead in the mirror as the room steamed up. Ugh... I hope Discord isn’t going to do anything drastic. She stepped under the shower head, ignoring the almost inaudible soft pop that echoed from her bedroom. The hot water soothed her, making her forget about her worries as it usually did. With a soft groan, Luna stretched and spread her wings wide, letting the water cascade down her feathers. I really should preen myself soon... My feathers aren’t looking as good as they usually do. Stepping out of the stream of water, Luna lathered up her coat, wings, mane, and tail with the same shampoo she always used, then stood under the shower head again. She thought to use her magic to speed up the process, but decided against it. Several minutes passed as she simply enjoyed the sensation, the warmth of the water a nice contrast to her usually freezing-cold bedroom. Stepping out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her mane, she thought, So what would be the easiest way to make Discord go away if he shows up? She used a spell to rip the towel from her mane, letting it assume its normal, shimmery style. Walking into the middle of her bedroom, she peeked under all of her curtains, then just as she was about to leave to go about her day, she noticed an odd-looking lump under her covers. With a lifted eyebrow, she lit her horn and pulled the sheets aside to reveal Discord napping away, her favorite pillow held tightly within his grasp. “D-Discord?” she asked, taking a single step towards the bed. He didn’t wake up, though he did mumble something that she could not make out. He snuggled closer to the pillow and curled up, more inaudible sounds slipping from his mouth. Luna walked up to the bed and gently laid a hoof on his side, then rocked him back and forth. “Discord...” she said, raising her voice slightly. He stirred awake, blinking slowly as he looked up at her. “What. Are you. Doing. In. My. Bed?” she asked, her voice hinting that she was annoyed. Luna huffed as Discord rubbed his eyes. “Um... isn’t it obvious?” Discord asked with a shrug and a sheepish grin. “I told you that I would see you in the morning...” He yawned, then licked his lips. “I must have gotten here as you walked into your bathroom to freshen up. You took so long that I fell asleep!” He propped himself up on Luna’s other pillows. “My, my... this bed is much more comfier than mine...” he muttered to himself. “And what, pray tell, are you doing with my favorite pillow?” Luna hated when anypony but her touched it. She didn’t even let the maids, or her sister, touch it. Discord glanced down at the pillow that he was clutching to his chest. “Oh! Uh... good question. I don’t know how that got there. I must have grabbed it in my sleep.” He snapped his fingers, making her pillow teleport from his hands onto Luna’s head, impaled on her horn. “So now that I’m here, featherbrain...” He chuckled as a few feathers drifted to the floor, ignoring Luna’s look of shock. “What do you have planned for us to do?” “There is no us!” Luna shook her head like a dog, flinging the pillow back onto the bed. With a couple of small spells, she returned her pillow to its former glory, then laid it on a chair far across the room. “And I do not have anything planned because I did not expect you to come.” “But I said I would,” Discord said pointedly. “Come now, shall we have some fun?” He held out a paw for Luna to take, but she merely pushed it away, rolled her eyes, then trotted from the room, leaving him all alone. “Well, well, well... We’re just gonna have to see what I can do to make her laugh!” “Come on...” Discord whined, hovering above Luna as she trotted to her next meeting. They’d spent the last six hours in meetings about crop harvests and taxation laws, driving him nearly insane from the boredom alone. He’d made himself visible only to Luna during those meetings, whispering jokes about whoever she was talking to without so much as a single laugh. “What?” Luna snapped at him, her tone revealing that she was more than irritated. “You’ve been distracting me all day! Why are you doing this to me, of all ponies?” Discord floated in front of her, making her stop. “Because I think, out of all the other ponies, that you’re the one who needs to loosen up the most! I can see why you don’t have fun anymore; you’re always stuck in those dreadful meetings!” “I still have fun!” Luna retorted, stepping past him. “Oh, really?” Discord chuckled. “What was the last fun thing you did, hm?” Luna stopped, then bit her lip. Her ears flicked back, and she knew that Discord saw that. “I, uh...” “See? I knew it! You can’t remember the last time you had fun!” Luna sighed, then turned around to face him head on. “Actually, I finished a really good romance novel last night,” she said with a confident grin. “And I had a lot of fun reading it!” With a triumphant humph, she turned around and resumed walking. Discord snorted, making Luna glare at him. “That’s not fun at all! That’s relaxing! Lemme show you how to have some real fun!” He got on his knees and clasped his hands together. “Pretty please with a cherry on top?” he said with the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could muster. He’s right, you know... A small part of Luna’s mind whispered. It has been much too long since you had some real fun. Why don’t you do whatever he has in mind? Luna sighed, her shoulders slumping. She reached out to him and helped him stand back up, her eyes averted all the while as her mind raced. “Very well, then. What do you want to do? I still have those meetings to attend to, so I won’t be done until after eight.” Discord scratched his chin, then snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up with an idea. “Aha! I know! I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty so we can go out to a nice bar tonight! And I know just the place!” With a grin, he waved at her. “Toodles!” And with that, he teleported away, leaving a white lily drifting down towards the floor. Is this the same flower from last night? Luna caught the lily before it hit the floor, holding it up to admire its beauty. Wondering what to do with it, she was struck with a terrifying revelation, one that stole her breath and made her eyes go wide. “Did he... just ask me out on a date?” she asked herself, her eyes locked on the lily. “And did I say yes?!”