Ordinarily, Celestia would have taken her time in the trek between the castle and her little hilltop, but not tonight. She was far too excited to see her Dissy-Wissy again to dawdle on some simple path. She rushed through the overgrowth and mud puddles, eager to see what wonders he would enchant her with this time.
Only once she reached the hill, no one was there.
“Dissy? Dissy-Wissy? Where are you?” she called. For what could have been minutes or hours, she continued to call out, but no one answered her. With each passing moment, her calls became more and more like agonized wails.
Where was he? Could he have stood her up? But why would he do that? Tears began to well in her eyes.
Well, we did have an argument yesterday…Didn’t we? I think we did. But we made up, so why would he still be mad at me…?
As sobs began to quake through her body, she sank to the ground, and tried to staunch the wet flow of her misery by covering her eyes with her hooves. She only succeeded in smearing the mud left from the journey all across her face.
“Why?” she wailed. “Why would he-whuh?” Her lament was interrupted by a realization that her flank suddenly seemed much lighter. She raised her head to glance behind her…to find that her tail had vanished without a trace.
“Hello, my dear.” Said a deep, melodious voice beside her.
Celestia gasped, and whirled a head around to source of the voice. And there he was! He hadn’t abandoned her after all! And…he was wearing her tail…as a gaudy feather boa…? Oh well, that didn’t matter, her Dissy-Wissy had come back for her! She leapt into his waiting embrace, her tears now those of joy. Well, his embrace wasn’t exactly waiting, as he was engrossed in posing with her tale wrapped around his shoulders. As a result, he couldn’t quite catch her, and they both tumbled down the side of the hill, coating themselves in mud and twigs.
Not that Celestia cared. All was right with the world, she had her scrambled sweetheart back. She hugged his thin body tightly, and buried her face deep into his chest.
“Dissy! I was so scared, I thought you had left me forever!” she cried between her ecstatic sobs.
Discord didn’t immediately reply. Instead, he gave her an annoyed glare as he snapped his talons to clear himself of the debris, causing Celestia to pull back, giving a nervous laugh to try and dissolve whatever situation she had created. Her cheek tingled, remembering the strike she had received the previous night. Instead, he smiled. He began to chuckle. Then, exuberant laughter! Celestia began to laugh with him, no longer fearing his retaliation. After a few moments of mirth, they began to calm down.
“Oh my dear, I am so sorry I kept you waiting. I had to make sure everything was in place for tonight.” Discord said, looking deep into her eyes,
“And in a way, I’m glad I did! If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have found out you could be so strong!” He cackled again, causing nearby trees to lose a sizable portion of their leaves.
Celestia giggled a bit more as well. But then she remembered something.
“Dissy, didn’t you say that we were doing something special tonight?”
His eyes lit up with a devilish glee. He leaned in close, and guided her head towards the tree line. She realized they were near the very edge of the forest. In the distance, the lights of the town could be seen.
“Have you ever been to town?” he said with a grin.
Something deep in Celestia’s mind stirred. She pushed away.
“B-but…I was told…to keep hidden.” Discord’s grin fell slightly.
“Oh, come now dear. Surely you can be naughty this one time?” He said, grabbing her hoof, and pulling her towards the edge of the forest.
The stirring increased, causing her to dig in her hooves into the ground. Her head began pounding, and she wrapped her hooves around her ears in a futile attempt to stop it.
“No, no! I can’t! I promised my parents I wouldn’t go to town!”
Discord frowned. A chill ran down her spine, and her cheek tingled, fearing what he might do next. After a few moments, he sighed.
“Very well, I suppose I can’t ask you to break a promise.” He snapped his talons, and Celestia was surrounded with light. When it faded, she found that her appearance had changed. She was now a dark brown pegasus with a red mane.
“How…?” she said her now blue eyes widening.
“It doesn’t matter. If no one will know that you’re an alicorn, it wouldn’t be breaking your promise, would it?” He tapped his chin. “No no, this won’t do. Let’s try again.”
He snapped his claws again. Now her coat had become a creamish color, and her mane had become much longer than before, and was now a slightly different shade pink. Her horn was gone, three pink and blue butterflies had become her cutie mark.
“Oh, my…” she said in a soft voice.
“Oops. Spoilers.” Snap.
A black earth pony, with a crimson mane.
“Too edgy.” Snap.
A stallion version of herself. It felt weird.
“…” Snap.
This went on for several minutes, and Celestia passed through several more changes, including violet unicorn, a grey pegasus with a crooked eye, and so on. Eventually, Discord settled on a simple white pegasus with a bright yellow mane and a sunflower cutie mark.
He appeared behind her, and started pushing her towards the tree’s edge. “Perfect! Now let’s go, let’s meet the townsfolk!”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
About an hour later, Celestia sat rather large mushroom (that had previously been a windmill), sipping a glass of chocolate milk, watching Discord spread merriment and whimsy across the town. The townsfolk where running around like mad, yelling with joy. They had to be. Everything was so much better this way, wasn’t it?
His pink clouds filled the sky as they rained down their sweet, rich goodness, and the land was a blue and green checkerboard pattern. The trees were covered in polka dots. Waterfalls from the nearby mountains flowed upwards, which were now lime green. A few cottages spun slowly in the air, as fish flitted about amongst the pegasi attempting to free the trapped occupants. As they should, all deserved to join in this marvelous time.
And Discord himself was overjoyed as well! He was happily skipping around the town, casting his magic wherever he thought needed a bit an improvement. A purple squids on some sort of shoes with wheels on them stumbled past, causing Celestia to giggle, and almost choked on her milk. They were clumsy yes, but they would learn. After all, this was better than way it was before.
Wasn’t it?
Yes, of course it was. Dissy wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t for the best. He would never.
“Isn’t it wonderful, my dear?” said Discord, appearing behind her in his usual fashion. Celestia sat her glass down beside her. It promptly sprouted legs and leapt into the air, landing on a fish that happened to be flying by, and rode it off into the fifth or sixth sunset of that night. Or was it seven? She had honestly lost count. She smiled.
“Yes Dissy, it is! So much more exciting than it ever was before.”
“And this little village is just the beginning! Soon I will spread this new age throughout all of Equestria!” He began to cackle.
Then, he took her hooves in his hands, and gazed deep into her eyes. He raised a new talon that had appeared from nowhere, and snapped it. The mushroom shifted itself into a glorious outdoor cathedral. A few more snaps, and Discord was wearing a crisp suit with matching gloves and a top hat. Celestia herself was in her own form again, now wearing magnificent white gown that fit her perfectly. Discord produced a small box from withing his collar, and presented it to her. She took it in her magic, and opened it.
Within was the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen.
“With you by my side, of course.”
Celestia couldn’t move. Was he actually…?
She leapt into his arms and kissed him.
“YESYES OF COURSE!” she squealed once she finally pulled away. “This is greatest day of life! I can’t wait to tell Luna!”
Discord gave a cocky grin.
“Oh? And here I thought you had never met anyone outside of your castle before myself. Who might this ‘Luna’ be?”
“She’s my younger sister!”
His grin fell like a stone.
“…Sister…?”
Suddenly Celestia felt…nervous. She took a step back.
“Y-yes…I must have forgotten to mention her before now…” She felt so stupid! How could she have forgotten to mention her own sister?
Discord glowered at her for a moment, then smiled again. But she didn’t think it was his usual grin. This one seemed more…sinister. Must have been her imagination.
“Well then, I think it’s time I meet my future sister-in-law.”