Better Days

A small unicorn filly walked across the floor of a large, empty, stone room. The echoing sound of her hooves clopping against the cold, hard floor was the only sound that filled the big, empty room. The little pony had a pure white coat and a flowing pink mane. Her flank was blank and devoid of a cutie mark.

When she reached the centre of the large room, she simply stopped where she was and took in a relaxing view of her peaceful surroundings. She then closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and then breathed out. She wasn’t doing anything and yet she had never felt more at peace with the world.

Her moment of peace was cut short, however, as she was suddenly drowned in a large amount of torrential water being dropped on top of her from above. As soon as it had all passed, she was completely soaked from horn to hoof, her little body shivering all over.

Her eyes popped open in surprise; her whole body was dripping wet. She then looked up at where this sudden burst of water had come from. Directly above her, there was a large, white raincloud that hadn’t been there before. While the unicorn was trying to figure out what was going on and where this raincloud had suddenly come from, she then heard a loud cackling of laughter coming from on top of the cloud.

The little filly stepped out from underneath the raincloud in order to get a better view of who the source of the laughter was. Her face then shifted in expression as she saw a young Draconequus, sprawled out on top of the cloud, clutching his stomach and laughing his head off.

The unicorn filly simply rolled her eyes at the sight of him and gave a sigh of derision. “Discord!” She yelled in a tone of annoyance and scolding, the likes of which only an annoyed little child can do.

The Draconequus continued pounding his clenched fist against the cloud as he continued laughing hard, tears in his eyes. He then righted himself up on his front claw and paw, so that he could face her, and flicked away the tears in his eyes with his eagle claw. “Oh calm down, Tia. It was just a harmless prank. You should really learn to lighten up and not take everything so seriously.”

Celestia continued glaring at him, as Discord went back to laughing hysterically.

Suddenly, the juvenile Draconequus was struck from above by a small thunder bolt. The sudden shock jolted him upright, leaving a blank expression on his face. It wasn’t enough to cause any serious harm, but it did leave him charred in a comedic way, with black ash covering most of his body. Celestia dropped her annoyed glare and gasped in surprise.

Discord snapped back to attention quickly and shook himself clean, the thin layer of smoke and soot that lightly coated his body peeling away easily.

He and Celestia then both looked up to see just where that thunder bolt had come from. Hovering to the side, just slightly higher than Discord’s own cloud, was a black thundercloud, with a small pegasus filly riding on top of it. She had a light blue coat and a light azure mane. Like Celestia, she also bore no cutie mark on her flank. She then started laughing, just like Discord had earlier. “You were right, Discord. That was funny.”

Shifting his eyes over to the pegasus filly, Discord simply gave an exasperated huff and then stood up on his cloud and dusted himself off, with a look of annoyance on his face, just like Celestia had moments ago. “Yes, Lulu. Very funny.” He replied sarcastically.

When he was finished dusting himself off, he then lightened up a bit and turned to face Celestia. “See, Celestia? Luna can see that it’s all in good fun.” He said, gesturing to the pegasus filly on the cloud above him.

Celestia snickered at the sight in front of here, though she raised her hoof to her mouth to try to avoid showing it. Luna then lowered her own cloud so that it was at the same height as Discord’s. The two then turned to each other briefly, and also broke out into a small fit of laughter.

After they were done laughing, Luna then took a closer look at her twin sister beneath her, and she saw that she was still soaked from Discord’s earlier prank. “Don’t worry, sis. I got this.”

With that remark, and with a strong look of determination on her face, she then stood up on her cloud, unfurled her wings and zoomed down towards Celestia. With a sudden burst of speed, she was immediately upon her and quickly started spinning very fast in a circle, whipping up the wind around her to dry her off.

When she was finished, she flew off to the side and hovered in place in order to get a better view of her handiwork. When the small whirlwind had subsided, Luna saw that her sister’s normally perfectly groomed pink mane was now all big, fluffled and uneven, with split ends everywhere.

At the sight of this, Discord quickly bit his lip and held his mismatched fists up in front of his face in an attempt to keep himself from bursting out laughing again. However, sadly it was a losing battle. He burst out laughing, even harder than before and fell back on his cloud, clutching at his stomach, bawling in laughter.

Luna simply raised both of her front hooves up in front of her mouth, trying to suppress her own laughter; only a few snickers found their way out.

Celestia simply gave them both a stern look and rolled her eyes and huffed quietly to herself. Her horn then lit up in a bright, golden aura, and her mane started fixing itself.

After a few seconds, her mane was back to the way it was when she first entered the room; long, flowing strands of bright and lustrous pink, gently flowing in the slight draft that had drifted into the big, stone room.

When she had finished fixing her mane, she cast her gaze back to the other two in the room with her. Luna had mostly calmed down, and now had only a light smile spread across her lips. Discord, however, was still spread out on his cloud, laughing his head off.

Nudging her head slightly towards her, Celestia smirked and simply said, “Luna.”

Luna then lowered her hooves from her mouth and gave her sister a knowing nod. She then gently floated back up to her cloud and gave it a casual kick. The resulting kick released another small thunder bolt that struck Discord again.

The juvenile Draconequus was once again caught off guard because of his howling laughter, and the shock caused him to jump in surprise. As he jumped back up, he approached the edge of the cloud. He futilely waved his arms about as he lost his balance and fell off. He crashed against the cold, hard floor, hard on his tail.

After seeing him fall and checking a moment first to see if he was alright, Luna started giggling slightly again; lighter than before. She was soon joined by Celestia.

Looking between the two of them, Discord just harrumphed in annoyance, crossed his arms, closed his eyes and looked away.

Five seconds later, the giggling stopped and he peeked one eye open again to look at them. He glanced at Luna first, who just gave him a warm smile in return. He then turned to Celestia who reciprocated in kind. After another five seconds, he then started to smile as well and also giggled slightly; the quietest of the three. The other two then joined him again in a good laugh between friends.

After everypony had had their moment, Celestia walked over to Discord and gave him her hoof. After just a second’s hesitation, he returned a small, forced smirk at her gift. He then took her hoof in his eagle claw and stood back up. Celestia smiled at him warmly as he got back to his feet. Luna then floated back down, closer to the ground; her wings flapping making the only noise in the big, stone room.

When all three friends were all close together, Discord, with a real smile on his face now, reached out with both hands and pulled his friends into a group hug.

Celestia and Luna both returned the gesture warmly and then all three of them let out another round of laughs.

When they were all finished with that, all three of them then lay down, in line, on the floor of the room, staring up at the ceiling. Discord had his arms folded behind his head, while Celestia and Luna both simply lay on their backs. They all looked happy and content, with smiles on their faces.

“Ooohh, ooohh, check this one out,” Discord suddenly blurted out, jolting upright in a burst of enthusiasm, looking between Celestia and Luna as he spoke. The unicorn and pegasus both simply turned their heads towards him in curiosity.

The juvenile Draconequus then looked up at the ceiling again, closed one eye and bit at his tongue and raised his claw and paw up to the ceiling, each in interlocking L shapes, creating a rectangular shape with his hands. He then tore his hands apart, and suddenly the room’s ceiling became transparent.

The twin sister’s faces both changed to a happy surprise, with bright smiles forming on their lips. They then picked themselves up on their front hooves, and stared unblinking at the beautiful, cloudless, blue sky above them; the Sun shining particularly bright today. “Wow,” they both said together in unison.

Discord looked between the two pony sisters again and then adopted a smug smile on his face. “Yeah, I know. I’m pretty awesome, huh?”

The unicorn returned her gaze to her Draconequus friend and simply gave him a knowing look. She then shook her head playfully at him.

Luna, still transfixed at the beautiful, clear blue sky that she could now see from inside, unfurled her wings and slowly started flying up towards the ceiling.

Celestia and Discord turned their attention to Luna and kept an eye on her as she flew higher and higher, gently listing about in the air, swirling around as if she were performing a graceful dance routine as she got closer to the ceiling.

While the ceiling was see-through now, it was still very much tangible. When she brought her hoof up to touch it, she felt as if she were touching the sky. The very notion of this sounded so unreal, and yet, as she hovered there, doing just that, or at least close enough, the pegasus filly was in awe. She then closed her eyes and beamed brightly.

Back on the ground, Celestia and Discord both simply watched Luna dance in the air. She was both fast and graceful as she moved about.

“Wow, that looks amazing. I wish I could fly.” Celestia uttered; more to herself, than Discord.

Discord glanced over at Celestia when he heard her utter that line. He then raised his claw to his chin as if in contemplation. “Hmmm.”

Celestia heard him make that sound; in a sly tone that she was all too familiar with and turned to look at him, as Luna returned to the surface, hovering next to her sister.

The Draconequus then suddenly changed his tone to a somewhat snide one. “Yeah, I guess I can see that.” He then lifted himself off the ground; only a few inches though. He then did a quick backflip in the air and smiled smugly back at Celestia. Celestia caught the tone that he was exuding towards her and simply returned the gesture with one of her own.

Discord then floated up, higher into the air. Luna followed him with her gaze, gave him a sly smirk and then flew up to join him. The two of them then floated around each other as they moved higher and higher into the air, moving as if they were dancing together.

Down on the ground, Celestia simply smiled warmly while watching them. She then closed her eyes peacefully in thought, deep down wishing that she could be up there in the air with them.

Suddenly, Discord broke away from Luna and quickly swooped down towards the ground, grabbed Celestia from behind by her shoulders, and flew back into the air. Celestia was caught off guard by this action and her eyes suddenly opened wide in surprise. She looked down at how high off the ground they were, and she suddenly tensed up, and got a worried and scared look on her face. “Discord…”

“Don’t worry, Celestia. I won’t drop you.” Discord interrupted her, speaking in a casual tone, no different than if you were simply saying hello to somepony. Her fear vanishing instantly, Celestia looked straight up to see Discord simply flying along, face forward, holding her tight.

The calmness in his attitude brought a smile to her face, and her earlier anxiety vanished completely. She knew that she was in good hands. Being with Discord, she always felt safe; like no matter how often they joked around, he would never let anything bad happen to them. That close bond was what she liked most about him. It was what she…

“Hey, sis.” Celestia’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and she faced forward again, seeing her sister hovering in the air, just a few inches in front of her, with a big smile on her face. Celestia soon remembered where she was and returned the smile with one of her own, and then both sisters were smiling together. A few moments later, Discord joined in as well, though his was more forced and smug than the others.

“So Tia, how do you like flying?” Luna asked.

Celestia gave a nervous look down at the ground before responding. “Errr… it’s alright, I guess. Although I don’t think that I’ll ever really get used to it.”

Luna giggled slightly in response. “Well, maybe you’ll be able to fly on your own someday.”

Celestia suddenly turned back up to face her sister for a moment, and then giggled to herself as well. “Me, fly? Sure Luna; and maybe someday you’ll get to visit the Moon.”

The two of them then burst out laughing again, joined shortly by Discord, who laughed the hardest. “Hahahaha, visit the Moon. That’s priceless.”

When the three of them came out of their giggling high, Luna turned to address her sister again. “Well,” she said, still giggling a little. “Until that day comes, want to see another technique that I’ve been working on? It’ll be good for you to see what an experienced flier can do.” She spoke with pride in her voice. “And I bet that it’ll look even better from up her.”

“Sounds good, Lulu,” Celestia replied, smiling back at her twin sister.

Luna then smirked smugly in response. “Well then, watch closely, Tia.” She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

She then decreased her altitude further away from the two of them before beginning her routine. As she flew, she moved about at high speeds, much better than any other pegasus her age, but also moved about gracefully and fully controlled in the air.

Celestia watched her sister fly around the large room, with a proud smile on her face. She then looked up at Discord again, and saw him watching Luna as well, while still holding Celestia firmly in his grip, not letting go in the slightest. He too seemed honestly riveted by her performance, watching her intently and being genuinely impressed.

Looking at Discord now, Celestia thought back to what she was thinking about earlier. This was what she liked best about Discord; his free-spirited yet caring attitude.

He would constantly play pranks and laugh at you for the silliest things, but they were all in good fun, and he never took them too far. He would drop a cloudful of chocolate milk on you, or turn the ground beneath your hooves into soap and watch you trip up, but he never meant any real harm. His laughing was playful and not hurtful at all; and he would happily take as well as he got, without a fuss.

Despite his almost bi-polar attitude, he was a true friend and would always be there for you and wouldn’t let anything happen to you. His unique personality was what she liked best about him.

It’s what she… loved about him.

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Celestia and Luna walked together across the discorded plains of Equestria. Everything was wrong. The ground was divided into squares of light and dark blue and light and dark pink, split right down the middle. Fish swam through the air, the sky was purple, buildings floated in mid-air, and the Sun and the Moon were both in the sky at the same time. In summation, nothing was as it should be.

Celestia and Luna both walked straight, each wearing a saddlebag over their flanks. They did their best to ignore their strange surroundings and just walked forward. Their destination was right in front of them. On top of a small hill that jutted out of the earth, which was of course itself a different colour to the rest of the ground, sat the back of a large throne.

Celestia and Luna both came to a stop several feet from the base of the hill. Celestia fought as hard as she could to keep a straight face. Luna, however, openly wore a look of annoyance on her face.

Suddenly, the throne atop the hill spun around, revealing a very familiar Draconequus. When he had turned around to face them, he immediately let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, this is so much fun. How about a game of 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'?” He then lifted up his lion paw, holding up Celestia’s actual tail.

Celestia suddenly gave a very awkward look and her wings flared up at her sides. She then threw her gaze back at her flanks to see that her tail was gone. She gasped. Funny; at one time, she would have found that hilarious.

Celestia then took several steps closer to Discord, now looking much more serious. She was then joined by her sister, Luna, at her side. “Play time is over for you, Discord.” Celestia said.

Discord didn’t seem to take this little ultimatum all that seriously and just lazily started spilling seeds from a bag that he poofed up. “Oh, I doubt that.” He then popped a seed into his mouth, enjoying the delectable little treat, outwardly salivating, or perhaps just as a joke.

“Hungry?” He said, holding a large clump of seeds in his eagle claw, while spilling several seeds, gently hitting against the two alicorn’s faces.

Celestia and Luna didn’t say anything as the seeds lazily hit their faces. Celestia had to try even harder to keep herself in check, while Luna openly showed her disdain at Discord’s uncaring attitude.

When Discord saw that he couldn’t get a rise out of either of them, he simply shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourselves.” He then took another clawful of seeds and popped them into his mouth.

With a moment’s hesitation, and trying to hold back a wince, Celestia turned her head back towards her saddlebag, and levitated out three ornately coloured jewels. Luna also levitated three jewels out of her saddlebag and floated them out to her side, matching her twin sister.

Upon seeing the six jewels in front of him, Discord suddenly dropped the bag of seeds, spilling seeds all over the ground; some of them immediately sinking into the earth. “Oh! What have you got there?”

“The Elements of Harmony.” Celestia responded immediately in a straight tone, inwardly struggling against herself to stay calm.

“With them, we shall defeat you.” Luna added.

All six Elements then started spinning around the two sisters, combining their power together. Magic, Loyalty and Laughter for Celestia. Honesty, Generosity and Kindness for Luna.

Discord simply fell on his side, laughing at their pathetic display, as unbeknownst to him, the Elements power grew stronger. “You should see yourselves right now. The expressions on your face. So intense. So sure of yourselves.”

Celestia and Luna both simply stared back at him with strong looks of determination on their faces. Luna even smirked slightly. Celestia, however, was still fighting to keep herself composed.

The two sisters then touched their horns together as the Elements finished charging up. A swirling rainbow then shot out of the Elements field around the two alicorns and shot right towards Discord, whilst he continued to laugh uncontrollably.

“Hilarious!” He said as the rainbow came down on him. He then struck a pose as if he were singing, his body quickly turning into a stone statue.

As Discord turned to stone, Celestia shed a single tear for her fallen friend.

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