An Unprecedented Advancement

by GravelordNito

Chapter 10 - Checkpoint Bravo

Discord and Twilight held to a gentle pace as they made their way towards Sugarcube Corner, uttering not a word to one another in the afterglow of recent events. Feeling utterly baffled by his inability to figure out how Twilight was feeling in response to said events, Discord internally screamed in dismay at the resulting lack of control he held over the situation. Twilight awkwardly glanced over in his direction, before swiftly turning her head elsewhere, lest he catch her in the act. Unbeknownst to the purple mare, Discord had in fact noticed this, and reflexively began to tug on an invisible collar as he broke out in a nervous sweat.

Discord underestimated his own strength, as the collar broke off of his neck, causing him to jolt and almost topple over onto his date. Luckily for him, Twilight didn't notice this, and so he safely disposed of the collar to the floor on his right, as its invisibility makes doing as such inconsequential. The journey continued on in silence, causing Discord's mind to desperately journey elsewhere for a brief moment of respite from the agonising trek across town.

Why in Equestria is Sugarcube Corner attributed to the Element of Irritation, when its name suggests it should instead be associated with the orange farm pony, on account of her speech patterns...? After considering whether his nicknames for the elements are a little harsh, he decided that was not the case, yet figured it would be safer to never use the terms in person with said ponies. Then, holding a claw to his chin in the deepest of profound thoughts, Discord screwed up his face in frustration over the issue of Sugarcube Corner before he was suddenly hit by an epiphany,

"Aha! I understan-" he shouted, as he simultaneously collided with the front door of Sugarcube Corner, stumbling and falling onto his back, scaring the purple alicorn to his left out of her wits as a result. He had aimlessly been following Twilight on their expedition and not noticed they had already arrived at their destination. Getting back upright, he turned on the Element of Autism with unprecedented vigour, spewing his rampaging thoughts in a sloppy, yet sophisticated slurry, "I got it! There's no sense in the naming of this place in the context of characteristic attribution, yet that's what makes it so endearing and chaotic! The pink catastrophe belongs around her sugary treats, yet the issue with the name's explicit content pointing elsewhere is of little consequence!" After a moment of silence, Twilight looked at Discord in shock, not fully understanding what he said, but desiring to give him a sense of closure lest he lash out or something of the sort,

"Umm... Okay?" Twilight carefully questioned, lifting a hoof and pulling away slightly in an adorable display of apprehension,

"Oh... Ahem, forgive me, my mind was elsewhere for a moment there..." Discord flushed, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with a paw, regretting his outburst,

"No, no, it's okay, Discord... Should we, erm...?" Twilight delicately pointed a lavender hoof towards the building they had been approaching, her facial features holding a similar flush of red beneath her coat,

"Should we...?" Discord's eyes followed the direction of Twilight's hoof, as he froze for a moment before perking up in realisation, "oh! Yes, of course; we should hurry along inside now, methinks..." The pair then turned back to the door, and instead of being greeted by the mechanism they are used to, they instead are met with a hyperactive bundle of pink,

"Aww! Aren't you two just the cutest together! I know just how to celebrate your relationship... A party!" Shouted the Element of Irritation as she reared back on her hind legs while an inexplicable explosion of confetti masked her frame, causing all nearby ponies to at least point their ears towards all the commotion,

"Pinkie! What are you talking about?!" Twilight whined in embarrassment, "we're just here for some food on our dat- day out!!!" Twilight practically screamed her correction immediately, and after a few seconds of silence she looked around at the stunned ponies, shrinking to the floor and covering her head with her hooves in shame at her outburst. Twilight felt as though she could just die right where she was, however the pony spectators soon resumed their activities, mumbling quietly to each other as they did so. Pinkie was a little taken aback by her friend's reaction to her teasing, before a knowing smirk crossed her muzzle for the briefest of moments,

"I'm sorry, Twilight, I misunderstood! But that doesn't mean we can't still have a party!!!" A considerably smaller explosion accompanied this second outburst, as Discord looked on in a stunned stupor at the situation that had just unfolded in front of him. Eventually, Discord decided he had best come to his date's aid, lest she be scarred from this experience, which could well foil his chances with her forever,

"Well, we all know Pinkie Pie is always on the lookout for an excuse to host a party, my dear," said Discord, as the purple alicorn looked hesitantly up at him from her little bundle on the floor, "I'm sure this party needs as much reason to exist as any of her other parties: for the sake of having a party." Discord smirked at Twilight with his usual mannerisms, which seemed to encourage her recovery as she stood up and dusted herself off with a wing, attempting to act natural after her outburst,

"Yes, well, let's get going, then. I don't know about you, but I'm still pretty hungry," Twilight chirped, lifting her chin and closing her eyes in a feigning of confidence as she trotted into the establishment ahead of the other two. Discord smiled softly before following her inside and settling down at one of the tables alongside his favourite mare. Pinkie closed the door before bounding over to the immortals, her usual bubbly nature brightening the mood instantly,

"Sooo, what can I get for you?" Pinkie sang, gently bobbing up and down as she awaited a response,

"Well, I think I'll have a daisy cupcake, please," said Twilight quietly, using her hoof to fiddle with the grooves of the table in front of her as she did so,

"Oki doki loki, Twi! And how about you, Discord?" asked Pinkie, her bobbing refusing to cease, ever to the irritation of the Lord of Chaos,

"I'll have the same, please," said Discord, glancing over to see twilight's reaction to this, which he was immediately rewarded for, as her face contorted slightly in confusion,

"Alrighty, done and done! I'll be right back!" Pinkie blurted before dashing off towards the kitchen in a trail of pink. The two sat in silence for a minute or two before Twilight finally spoke up,

"Why did you order the same as me? I'd have expected you to pick the most unusual thing you could find, in any unusual number, with any amount of unusual requests accompanying it..." Twilight almost sounded disappointed that Discord had acted seemingly against his, as Twilight considered it, exceedingly interesting albeit frustrating nature. In response to this, Discord smirked and chuckled quietly before snapping his claws and summoning a book that read 'Draconequus Basics for Purple Dummies' across the title, featuring a caricature of Twilight's face on its cover. Twilight frowned at him for that, although she did see the humour in it. Pretending to flip through to a relevant page, Discord pointed a claw towards the page he landed on and sagely began,

"Well, Twilight, in order to answer your question, let me first ask you this: something unusual is what you expected from me, correct?" Twilight nodded, holding a deadpan expression as she did so, "and thus you would surely consider it usual for me to be so unusual?" Twilight nodded again, although a little more slowly this time, her eyes lighting up slightly in gradual realisation, "well then, my dear, would it not therefore be more unusual for me to adhere to your standards of usual instead?" Twilight gasped as the pieces clicked into place, the resulting puzzle being a recurring issue she had encountered concerning the paradox of chaos, its frustrating nature being endlessly endearing to her logical mind. After all, what was more logically discordant than a paradox? Twilight looked up towards the draconequus with a hoof to her mouth, wanting to say something without knowing what it was she wanted to say. Discord chuckled once again at her reaction, before their conversation was interrupted by a pink maelstrom returning to their table with a couple of fresh cupcakes held on a tray across her back,

"Here ya go! Can I get you anything else?" Asked Pinkie, who was skipping in place happily,

"No thank you, Pinkie, we're fine," replied Twilight, giving the pink mare a warm smile,

"Alrighty, well, enjoy!" Shouted Pinkie, before she bounded off back towards the kitchen once more.

Discord looked down at the cupcake in front of him, wondering awkwardly how to approach its consumption in front of the mare he loves. Next to him, said mare was dealing with a similar dilemma, however instead she was concerned with what exactly she should talk about with him as they ate. The resulting situation had twilight munching away on her cupcake with her hoof to her chin in thought, looking down at the table as though searching for an answer, while Discord continued to simply stare at the cupcake as though it might bolt at any second. After a few moments, Twilight stopped eating and looked over at Discord, noticing his wide-eyed stare and shrinking into herself as a result; she had never seen such a focused expression on his face before, and it was a little intimidating to be around.

Eventually, Discord reached out his paw and picked up the cupcake, continuing to stare at it as though it had just murdered his family. Now... Do I eat it from the top down to the bottom, or from the corner and inwards? Perhaps I should unwrap it? Maybe I should just bring the wrapper slowly down as I eat it from the side... No, no, twilight would think I'm eating like a pig... Do I unwrap it fully before I begin eating and then eat it from the bottom upwards, saving the icing and daisies for last? Discord felt overwhelmed by the number of possibilities, agonising over which approach would be best. Should I just eat it the same way she does? He glances over, noticing she isn't eating it anymore, but missing the terrified look on her face at the same time. Well, maybe I should just wait until she begins eating again and observe her strategy... Wait, should I even eat it in a 'normal' way? She might not be expecting the chaotic approach this time, since I flipped the paradox on her last time... But then again, that line of thought follows a sense of logic, and therefore that might be what she's thinking I'll do, and will thus be unimpressed if I do so? Or maybe she'd be surprised by me doing what she expects because that would be the chaotic thing to do?! Discord began quaking with anticipation and frustration over his musings, before realising he is getting helplessly tangled within his own characteristic paradox. No, Discord, don't worry yourself with that; just eat it in a 'normal' way. That's surely the safest option... Right?!

Sensing Discord was doing nothing anytime soon, Twilight looks away from the train wreck written across her date's face and begins eating her own cupcake once more, leaning away from Discord in case he frightens her with an outburst. Finishing her cupcake with a satisfied sigh, she once again chanced a glance at Discord. She was rather taken aback by the look on his face; he looked exhausted, and looked towards her slowly before smiling weakly. Twilight gave him a broken, nervous smile in return before the draconequus turned his attention towards the kitchen,

"Excuse me, Miss Pie?" Discord said loudly, his voice cracking at the end of the sentence,

"Yeeeeeees?" chimed Pinkie happily as she poked her head around the corner of the door behind the counter. Discord's face slowly formed into an awkward, exaggerated smile as he hesitantly said,

"Would I, by any chance, be able to take this cupcake to go?"

Author's Note:

Well, here you go! A slightly longer chapter than normal, and I actually wanted to make this even longer, but... I dunno; do you guys like the idea of longer chapters, or should I keep them short and sweet? Anyway, let me know what you think! I hope this story is going in a direction you find entertaining... It's tough to make the story somewhat realistic yet keep a cutesy tone at the same time, but I love cutesy things, so I'll try my best to make it work!

I have a new story coming out soon, so look forward to that!

Love from Lord Nito,

Comments

[PuzzleMaster98]

Whatever works for you is fine with me

[GravelordNito]

9056627
Ah, alright, as long as it's working, I guess.

[The REAL Mister Pkmn]

As long as you're satisfied with how the chapters are written, I'm okay with however long they are.

[GravelordNito]

9058600
I like to think I'm satisfied with them, as I'm writing to the best of my ability... But, I'm my own editor, so I'm sure it's far from perfect. By the way, I always read your name as The REAL Mister Pikmin, for some reason.

[Nerfyy]

i LOVE long chapters <3 <3 <3
but as @PuzzleMaster98 said, of course everythings fine for me too as long as you feel comfortable enough to work that way :)
but if i'd HAVE to choose i'd take the longer ones hihi

[GravelordNito]

9064413
Hiya, Nerfy!

Well, I'll certainly try my best for longer chapters! Hope you're still enjoying the story.

[GravelordNito]

9064413
Oh, and I have to ask... Did I go overboard with Discord's internal dialogue in this chapter? I have no idea if it's working the way I intend it to, haha.

[DovahkiinMaster]

9064983
Nah, it was actually hilarious. Quite the conundrum for our chaotic pal.