//------------------------------//
// Something There 
// Story: I Found Love: Discord and Twilight (Rewrite) 
// by MLP Fangirl 
//------------------------------//

Twilight landed near the steps of her castle, a content smile on her face. She had just visited Discord in his interdimensional home, simply to hang out.

Ever since her first visit, they had arranged several days of the month to visit each other, alternating between each other's homes. 

If this had been before Tirek, Twilight probably would not have even considered doing such a thing. But, now, they were on much better terms.

She entered the palace and began trotting towards the library. 

When she arrived, she spotted Spike sitting in a beanbag chair, reading a Shadow Spade novel.

Twilight smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Since when are you a fan of Shadow Spade?"

Spike's eyes widened at the sound of the alicorn's voice. He blushed, quickly closing the book. "Uh, w-well, Rarity's a fan of the series...so I thought I'd give it a shot."

Twilight giggled, "You didn't start reading it to impress Rarity, did you?"

Spike's cheeks turned a darker shade of red, "N-not at all. It's actually really good. You're not the only one who can enjoy a good book."

Twilight rolled her eyes, a teasing smile on her face, "Sure, Spike. Whatever you say." She trotted over to a bookshelf.

"So, how was your visit with Discord?"

Twilight chuckled, her smile never wavering, "It was really nice. I never thought I'd say this, but Discord is actually really good company. I can talk to him about magic, and he understands me. I love my friends dearly, but I could never get into philosophical or magical discussions with them." She let out a content sigh, "It's been really great."

Spike's eyebrows furrowed as he detected a different tone in Twilight's voice. It was the same tone he took whenever he was around Rarity.

"So, you enjoy spending time with Discord?"

Twilight nodded as she grabbed a few books off of the shelf with her magic, "I do. He's definitely not the same Discord I turned into stone. And, I like this new Discord a whole lot better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some reading I'd like to catch up on."

With that being said, Twilight trotted out of the library, her books floating right behind her.

Spike sat up in his beanbag, looking at the door. "Does...does she..? Nah." 

Dismissing his thoughts, Spike picked up his book and continued reading.


-----


The day after, the girls were having lunch at Fine Dining, the classiest restaurant in Ponyville.

It had been awhile since they had gotten together to simply hang out. It seemed as if most of their time spent together involved battling some villain or talking about some villain. But today, they were going to enjoy each other's company.

Rarity took a bite of her salad. She levitated her napkin to her face and dabbed it lightly. She placed it back on the table then turned to her fellow mares.

"So, what's new with you, ladies?"

"Always eager for gossip, eh, Rares?" Applejack smirked.

Rarity narrowed her eyes slightly, "I beg your pardon, Applejack. Is it wrong of me to question how my friends are doing?"

Pinkie Pie bit into her breadstick, "It's not wrong at all. I love talking about what I've been doing! Yesterday, I was baking a cake, and I accidentally put Pumpkin Cake into the batter. Good thing I realized it before I put it in the oven."

The other mares looked at each other, unsure of how to respond to that.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, "Well, that's a...very interesting story, Pinkie."

Pinkie grinned, "Thanks."

Rainbow Dash scoffed, "That's nothing. Guess who's going to be flying in the air show in Manehattan?"

"Let me guess. You?"

Pinkie let out a pout, "Awww, Applejack! I wanted to answer."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her hoof against her fur, "Well, either way, you'd be right. One of the leading members of the Wonderbolts had to take a sudden leave of absence and won't be back in time for the show. Soooo, being one of the best fliers in the Reserves, it was only natural that they'd pick me to fly with them."

Twilight smiled, clapping her hooves, "Wow, Rainbow Dash! That's great. Hopefully, one day you'll get to live your dream as a Wonderbolt."

The cyan pegasus blew a strand of her rainbow mane away from her face, "That's what I'm counting on, Twi. Eventually, they'll have to recognize my awesomeness."

Applejack rolled her eyes, resting her head against her hoof, "Ah'm sure they've already recognized yer ego."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the farm pony and stuck her tongue out.

Rarity coughed, "Anyway, how about the rest of you?"

Twilight sipped her iced tea then pushed the glass away from her. She smiled, "I had a really nice visit with Discord yesterday."

Fluttershy turned to her, "Oh, I'm so glad. Glad that you and Discord are becoming such good friends."

Applejack raised an eyebrow, "You actually enjoy yer visits with Discord?"

Twilight nodded, smiling warmly. "I do. He's actually very good company. I no longer have to worry if our friendship is real or not. Because I know for a fact that it's real."

The girls all looked at each other.

Rarity put her hoof on her chest, "I've never heard you talk so fondly about Discord, darling."

Twilight chuckled, "That was before I got to know to him. Now, I can easily call him my friend."

Rarity sat back, pondering the princess's words. They sounded sincere, and yet, there was a hint of something else mixed in with them. She couldn't place her hoof on it, but there was definitely something else there.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Pinkie grinned, jumping slightly in her seat, "I can call him my friend, too! Do you think he'll make chocolate milk rain again? I love chocolate milk rain! Rainbow, why can't we have chocolate milk instead of normal rain? I mean, I love water rain as much as the next pony, but would it hurt to have different flavors of rain every once in awhile? Like lemonade, or cider, or - or - "

Pinkie's ramblings were cut off as Rainbow placed her hoof over the pink mare's mouth.

"Thank you, Pinkie. That'll be all."

Rarity shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder how we are all friends." A smile graced her lips, "But, I wouldn't ask for better friends."

Fluttershy nodded, pushing her plate away, "Neither would I. I wouldn't trade our friendship for all the gems in Equestria."

Twilight smiled, "Yes, our friendship is quite valuable." The purple alicorn stood up, levitating a small purple bag. "I'm going to go pay our tab."

"Now, there's no need for that, darling. You must not have been listening when the manager stated that our meal was free."

Twilight blinked, "He did?"

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings as she got down from her chair, "Yup. Being friends with a princess definitely has its perks."

The alicorn's ears drooped, "But, I don't feel right not paying. I may be a princess, but I'm still just a pony. I should abide by the rules."

Applejack chuckled as she swiped Twilight's bag of bits from her magical hold, "Hun, we respect that, but we'd be foals to turn down a free meal like this."

Twilight turned her head, letting out a small huff. Without turning her head back, she glanced back at Applejack, "Can we at least leave a tip?"

Applejack rolled her eyes but consented, taking a few bits out of the bag and placing them on the table.

As soon as that was done, the Element Bearers headed out.


-----


They arrived back at the Palace of Friendship not long after that. They entered the throne room and found Spike wiping off some crumbs from the Cutie Map.

Upon seeing them approaching, Spike stopped cleaning and ran to meet them, "Hey, girls. Welcome back."

Twilight patted Spike on the head, "Did you have fun with Big Mac?"

Spike grinned, "Yeah, totally."

Applejack walked forward, an eyebrow raised, "What do you and mah brother do exactly?"

Spike waved a claw nonchalantly, "Ah, you know, guy stuff."

"Ah wouldn't know what that is."

"Never mind." His eyes perked up, "Oh, Twilight! I found this box sitting on your bed. I don't know where it came from." Spike ran to Twilight's throne and grabbed a medium-sized box, covered in red and yellow polka dots.

Pinkie's eyes widened at the oddly-decorated box. "Oooooh. I wonder what's inside it."

"It could be a bomb. Don't open it!" Rainbow shielded her face with her wings.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "I don't think there's a bomb in it, Rainbow." She levitated the box and shook it with her magic. 

Fluttershy took a cautious step towards it, "It sounds hard. What could be in it?"

Spike groaned, "Why don't you open it and find out?"

"Alright, alright!" Twilight lifted the lid off of the box and looked in. Her eyes widened as she spotted the contents, or rather, content of the box.

"The Abridged Theory of Disharmony? How'd this get here? I brought this with me when I visited Discord yesterday." She opened the cover of the book and found a sticky note with a message on it taped to the front page.


I enjoy our visits, Ms. Sparky. But, don't leave your books behind. I felt organization radiating from it. In fact, I think it might be the cause of the strange odor in my house. That or I haven't done laundry in thirty moons. Either way, don't forget your books. How you managed to do so, I have no idea. Discord. 


A smile crept across Twilight's lips as she read the message, "Oh, Discord."

Rarity peaked over the mare's shoulder to read the note, "Darling, you actually forgot a book at Discord's house? How?"

Twilight levitated the book onto the Cutie Map and shrugged, still smiling, "I don't know. I originally brought it in case we didn't have anything else to do. But, it never came to that. We were having such a good time talking and playing games. I guess it slipped my mind. But, I'm glad he returned it to me."

There it was again. There was something mixed in Twilight's words. A different tone. It sounded happy, but Rarity could tell that it wasn't just happiness.

Twilight was happy around her friends, but Rarity never heard that tone in her voice when she was around them.

It was something different. 

"Discord certainly appears to be changing, doesn't he?"

Twilight beamed, "I know, right? I much prefer this Discord to the old one." She walked over to her throne and sat down.

Rarity gave the alicorn a strange look. "Perhaps a bit more than you know."

Spike walked over to white unicorn, "Hey, Rarity. What's up?"

Rarity wrapped a hoof around Spike, bringing the little dragon in close. "Spike, have you noticed anything...different about Twilight?"

Spike brought a claw to his head and scratched, "Uh, not really? She seems a bit...happier, I guess. Other than that, nothing's really changed. Why do you ask?"

Rarity took her hoof away, shrugging, "I'm not sure. There's something different about her. I can't put my hoof around it. Something about the way she's speaking and acting. I'm sure I've seen it before, but I'm not quite sure where."

Spike raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

The white unicorn brought her head down slightly, "Well, she seems to light up every time she mentions..." She looked from side to side. "...Discord."

Spike's eyes widened as he pointed a claw at her, "You noticed, too?"

Rarity put a hoof to her chest as she drew her head back up, "Noticed what?"

Spike crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowing, "For awhile now, she's been mentioning how great her visits with Discord have been. And, like you said, she practically lights up every time she says his name. I've never seen her do that talking about any other pony."

Rarity pondered his words before finally understanding. A small gasp escaped her lips as the facts all started to come together.

"No...that can't be it! But, that would explain..." She held her head, trying to process her latest development.

"What?"

Rarity turned her head to look at the Princess of Friendship, who was talking with the other mares.

"Is it possible that our dear Twilight...likes the Spirit of Chaos?"





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