Chapter 2
Chapter 2
In Aestas...
"Lumen no! I told you once, I told you a thousand times, not to nap on the request forms!" In the counsel room of the Nightmare queen's castle, Eve was trying to shoo her little pet dust bunny off the stack of request forms he'd been using as a bed. The Nightmare's face showed a disapproving frown.
"Now it's all dirty." she said, looking sternly at the dust bunny who was yawning. "You need to start behaving or else I'll keep you locked up in the bedroom." Lumen looked up at Eve with those cute button eyes and pouted, Eve's frown melted away. She couldn't stay mad at him for long.
"Alright, I'll let it slide. But just this once! And I mean it this time." she said. The living dust ball hopped up to Eve and she set him down to nap in the chair next to her, then turned back to the pile of forms she still had left to sift through. She heaved a sigh and blew the bangs of her pale, pastel green mane to keep them out of her eyes. There was a lot to get through, and now was not a time to stop and take a break. As punishment for kidnapping Fluttershy, and disobeying Queen Amalthea's orders (twice), she was sentenced to do hard labor around the castle, along with assisting the queen with royal paperwork. Most of which consisted of request forms sent in by the Nightmare subjects. After traversing into the dreams of dreamers, the Nightmares became inspired by what they'd seen, and wanted to have some of the same luxuries that dreamers had. The demands had turned into forms to fill out to cut back on the visitations to the castle.
The requests varied out between Nightmares, asking for theaters, bookstores, boutiques, parks, bakeries, one even requested their own personal statue (that one was Starla's request). All the reasonable requests were placed in the approved pile where they waited to be sent out for commission. The others that were unreasonable were thrown into the trash. After the paperwork, she'd have to finish off the last few chores the queen had assigned to her, which included scrubbing out the grime from the large cooking pots that hadn't been cleaned in weeks, and polishing all the castle floors. Needless to say, Eve scarcely had a moment to herself to relax. But as far as punishments go, there were worse she could've been given.
At some point, Eve looked up to see Queen Amalthea had entered the room without making a sound, how long she had been standing there, she couldn't say.
"Uh, can I help you your majesty?" Eve asked. The Nightmare queen was statuesque, her mere presence commanded respect and obedience from all Nightmares who beheld her. Not only that, but she was quite beautiful, her floor-length mane the color of pure gold and those golden eyes practically gleamed against her pitch black coat. A kind of Nightmare that everypony wished they could be (minus her cold demeanor). The queen remained where she stood, not needing to move as she said, "Come with me Moonlight Eve, there's something I want to talk to you about." Eve didn't ask for a reason why, but rather dropped what she was doing and followed Queen Amalthea out of the room.
It wasn't unusual for Eve to be summoned by the queen like this, over the course of the past few months, Queen Amalthea would check on Eve to see how things were coming along with her assignments and would on a few occasions have discussions with her. She wasn't exactly sure why the queen would want to talk about anything with the likes of her, then again the queen could be mysterious about her reasons why. Maybe she just wanted somepony other than Princess Luna to talk to or something. The first discussion had been on what Eve had learned while in the Garden of Shadows, and had nearly lost her friend as well as her true self.
The discussion after that had been what it meant to be a Nightmare and the duty they had to dreamers. 'While we may not posses dreams as they do, we still have a responsibility to see that their dreams are peaceful and not overtaken by fear,' the queen had said. 'What could she want to talk to me about this time?' Eve wondered as she followed the queen down the corridors to the balcony of the castle's highest tower. Once they reached the top, Eve couldn't help but sigh happily looking up the night and evening colored sky. It was always a breath taking sight to see, but up here on the high balcony, she felt closer to the twinkling stars that shined.
"I thought this would be an appropriate place for our discussion." said Queen Amalthea. Eve turned her gaze from the sky to find that she could see all of Aestas. The queen pointed a hoof out at the black smudge over the northern hillside that was, the Garden of Shadows. Eve couldn't help but gulp at the sight of it, too many guilty and terrible memories had been left there. Memories she'd rather forget.
"What do you think of when you think of shadows?" Queen Amalthea asked her. Eve thought for a moment and answered, "I used to be afraid of shadows, because as a filly I was scared of the dark. I always felt like there were things watching me and waiting to jump out and get me." Eve shivered, thinking back on those sleepless nights as a filly, having a candle always lit by her bed side. It had taken her forever to work up the nerve to face her fear, and even then she would still get the creeps from time to time. The queen gave a curt nod.
"The darkness and the shadows can be frightening things indeed, similar to the bad dreams that are plagued upon dreamers." she said. Eve tried her best to understand, but wasn't sure where the queen was going with this. "We push them away, afraid of what horrors they may bring if we let them near. But there is a trick to overcoming that fear." Eve listened carefully, wanting to know what the trick was.
"The trick, is knowing that the darkness is a part of life. Light and darkness, neither can be without the other. Does that make sense?" Eve scrunched her nose up and shook her head.
"Not really. What does that even mean?" Eve asked. But instead of answering, the queen looked off into the distance at the Garden of Shadows.
"You'll understand what it means one day. Until then, think about what I've said while you continue with those duties of yours." said Queen Amalthea. Eve sighed, why did the queen feel the need to be so cryptic and instead give a straight answer for once? She looked back up the sky and couldn't help but wonder what Fluttershy (and her newest friend Twilight) were up to. She hoped that they'd come by for a visit soon, goodness knows that she'd like other ponies to talk to besides the queen and Lumen. 'They're probably having so much fun together in Equestria. Having the best time of their lives.'
"This is the worst moment of my life." said Twilight, unhappily.
"Come on Twilight, it can't be the worst." said Sunset Shimmer. Twilight had been trying to project some of the spells from one of her books to show Sunset some of the new magic she'd learned since becoming a princess. But the spell had backfired in the worst possible way, causing a tremendous explosion of curds to shoot up from the book and cover her entire library, as well as her beloved books.
"I don't know Sunset, this is turning out to be a close second." Twilight said, feeling as if she was about to explode like the curds. "What I want to know is how that even happened! I mean, it doesn't make sense!" Sunset Shimmer inspected the book, and found a note tucked away in the back of it. She lifted it up with her magic.
"What's this?" she asked. Twilight took the note with her own magic and read it aloud.
Dear Princess Twilight,
Should you happen to find this, know that I borrowed your princess book from Princess Celestia, I was curious as to what sort of things might be in it. Unfortunately it's just as dry and boring as Celestia. I would have asked to read it, of course, but you just so happened to be out and I took the liberty of borrowing it any way. I knew you wouldn't mind, since we are friends. Just thought I ought to warn you, that it may have soaked up a little chaos magic while in my humble abode in Chaosville. Thanks again for letting me read it.
Yours in chaos, Discord.
Twilight crumpled up the note and let out a groan of frustration.
"Wait...the pony who wrote that is named Discord?" asked Sunset.
"In case you're wondering, yes, it is the same Discord, spirit of chaos and all."
"And you're...friends with him?"
"I try to be, but he seems to use it as an excuse for doing whatever he pleases. Well almost everything, but that's beside the point. He just does what he wants for his own amusement, and now I've had enough. I'm putting my hoof down!" she stomped her hoof for emphasis. Sunset Shimmer conjured up a broom and a dust pan.
"We should get this cleaned up before it ruins the books." Sunset said. At the mention of her books being ruined, Twilight frantically got to work with Sunset to clean it up. Together they used their magic to wipe every bit of the curds away until the room was as clean as it had been before the explosion.
"Thanks for the help Sunset." said Twilight gratefully. She keenly examined the books to see if there were any curds they had missed. "When I see Discord again, we're gonna have a long talk about this."
"Hey, we managed to get it cleaned up, and he did leave that note to warn you." said Sunset, doing her best to lighten up Twilight's mood. Sadly it didn't work.
"It's nice of you to say that Sunset, but Discord is just as troublesome as he was before he was reformed, though for some reason I keep on getting the backlash of all his antics." said Twilight almost bitterly. She was willing to forgive and to maintain her friendship with the Draconequus, but he needed to learn when enough was enough, and when a joke had gone too far.
"How about we do something else? Preferably something less stressful on you." suggested Sunset Shimmer, putting a supportive hoof on the Alicorn's shoulder. Twilight wearily smiled.
"Alright." she said. "How about I give you a proper tour of Ponyville? The day's not over yet and there's still a lot to see."
"Sure, sounds great."
Sunset Shimmer had almost forgotten how beautiful and peaceful Equestria was, and it felt good to be using her old magic again. While she'd never been to Ponyville before, she wish she had come here sooner. There were so many nice and friendly ponies to meet! Of course, a lot of them weren't unlike the students back at Canterlot High School, so in a way it felt like seeing familiar faces.
Twilight had begun the tour at Sweet Apple Acres, then they went to Carousel Boutique, the Town Hall, the Schoolhouse, the Hayburger place (where Twilight had a hearty helping of lunch), and were now heading down to Sugarcube Corner.
"I should come by more often." said Sunset Shimmer, waving to a passing pony. "This place seems great."
"It is a great place to live, but there can be an occasional monster attack, so you might want to avoid visiting on those days." Sunset laughed.
"I'll try." When they got to Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was there to jump out and greet them the only way she knew how.
"Hi guys!" she shouted, a smile on her face. "Here for anything special?" Twilight shook her head.
"I was just showing Sunset around and were just passing by." said Twilight. Pinkie Pie looked to Sunset Shimmer and asked with her brand of enthusiasm, "You wanna see my welcome wagon? I use it to welcome all sorts of new folks that come into Ponyville." Sunset Shimmer smiled.
"Why not?" she said.
"Yippee! Wait right here while I get it." In a millisecond, Pinkie was suddenly behind them with her welcome wagon. "Sorry it took so long, had to make sure I didn't put the confetti in the oven again." Sunset gave Twilight a look that asked, How does she do that? To which she merely shrugged. It was best not to think too hard of how or why Pinkie Pie does what she does. Pinkie started up the welcome wagon, and it began playing music, the pink earth pony broke out into a jig as she sang with the music.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome! I fine Welcome to you! Welcome, welcome, welcome. I say, how do you do? Welcome, welcome, welcome. A fine hip, hip hooray! Welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville today!" Pinkie Pie finished by sliding on her knees stopping a few inches away from Twilight and Sunset. "Wait for it..." she said. Suddenly, in a blast the welcome wagon shot out confetti and a cake shot out, landing in Pinkie's hooves. She held it out to the girls.
"Want some?" she asked. "It may not be frosted, but it's still got that cakey goodness!" The girls shook their heads.
"Thanks Pinkie, but we just ate, maybe some other time." said Sunset. Pinkie Pie shrugged.
"Oh well, more for me!" She stuffed the cake into her mouth, her cheeks bulging as she chewed. Twilight and Sunset couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight of it.
"Wha?!" asked Pinkie through her stuffed mouth.
"It's nothing Pinkie." said Twilight. "We'll leave you be."
"Enjoy that cake!" said Sunset. Pinkie waved goodbye, watching as the girls left to continue their tour of Ponyville.
Somewhere, in the abode of the spirit of chaos himself, Discord was cursing himself. Why? For acting like such an idiot in front of Fluttershy. He must of sounded like such a fool when he talked to her! Normally he didn't care much for other ponies' opinions, but Fluttershy was of a different case. Not only was the lovely pegasus his first and best friend, but he also....kind of...l-lov....liked her. A lot. He slapped the palm of his eagle talon to his forehead. If he had this much unnecessary difficulty saying the word to himself, what chance did he have of saying it to Fluttershy? He wasn't exactly sure when these feelings came into being, but he had only recently realized that he had a much stronger liking of the sweet, timid pegasus than regular friendship.
It wasn't like he wanted to shower her with all the mushy romantic crud that ponies seemed to go nuts for. He wasn't exactly a romantic type, due to the fact that he'd never really cared for anypony as much as he did Fluttershy. And ever since he'd come to his realization, he'd begun to notice all sorts of things he hadn't noticed about Fluttershy. Each time he saw her, she seemed to become even lovelier, both inside and out. Perhaps it was merely a part of his imagination, or that's the kind of thing that happens to those who are caught in the beginnings of love.
"Blech! At this rate I'll be spewing nothing but poetry and all that other gooey nonsense." said Discord. "I've put up with this long enough, it's about time I finally tell." Discord started pacing on the ceiling. There'd been a few times he'd wanted to just come clean, and tell Fluttershy about his feelings toward her. Except two things stopped him. One, he also wasn't one to sit down and have a talk about his feelings. He left that business to Twilight Sparkle and her fellow princesses. And two, what would Fluttershy's reply be when he finally does manage to spit it out? He'd gone over countless scenarios of what might happen. She'd laugh at how ridiculous it'd be. She'd reject him. She's just want to stay friends. She'd faint. She wouldn't want anything to do with him after that.
One the very very slimmest chance that she would take the news well, what would happen to their friendship? Their relationship already was pretty close, and they had some pretty good times together. And he'd done little things to show how much he valued their friendship. He'd even battled against that crazed Nightmare Eve to rescue her and bring her back home (which he'd debated with himself over being an act of friendship or love).
'It's not as if I want to marry her.' he thought. 'As far as I know, I don't want to. What to do? What to do?' There never really seemed to be a good time to pop in the three words that had been waiting to get out of him. How did one go about telling their best friend that they love them?
"This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed. "And I should know, I'm practically invented ridiculousness. It's only a few words. It shouldn't be that hard. In fact, I'll tell them to her at our tea party tomorrow. Get it out of the way, and things can go on." It seemed like a good plan. But love wasn't always an easy thing to confess, as he'd see just how difficult it can be.
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Why do I get so many down votes? Is it cause I added Sunset? If it is, stop hating on me! T_T
D'aww Discord loves Fluttershy!
And lol, I love seeing him torment Twilight: that is why Discolight is my second favourite shipping for Discord. But I hope that Sunset is in it means that you are shipping Sunlight or whatever that ship is called? 
Oh well, can't wait for the next chapter!
6803175
I'll tell you why you have downvotes...Most likely, it's out of pure bias. It could be the ship, it could be that it includes an OC as a major character. There could be those that have a more concrete reason, but I kinda doubt it. Every story gets downvotes. The more popular it is, the more it gets. The only time it really says something, I think, is when it gets more downvotes than up votes. This may not be true in every case, but basically what I'm trying to say is...try not to take it personally. Some probably didn't even read the story and just down voted it because they don't agree with your opinion. *sarcasm*Because how dare you have an opinion that differs from someone else's, right? (*end sarcasm*)
But I think you're fine. There are some grammar issues every once in a while, but I'm enjoying it regardless. Keep at it and you'll get even better! Also, I enjoy your Pinkie. XD
(Me to Discord): I Bet you WON'T tell her tomorrow