Chapter 4, Twilight Trying To Be Sneaky
Twilight closed the book with a heavy thud and a sigh. She had just finished reading Chimera Complex for the third time. She looked down at her collection of notes. The chapter hadn't been nearly as helpful as she thought it would. Twilight picked up a page of her notes that summarized everything Discord related.
"Chimera: once a name for a specific kind of creature, (A lioness with a goat head growing out of her back and a serpent for a tail), the word is now used to describe almost any creature composed of many others. Some are intelligent, like the Gryphon, Hippogriff, or Minotaur. Others, such as the Manticore or Cockatrice, are of little more than standard animal intelligence. Silver Quill goes on to speculate that if Chimera's exist in both animal and pony levels of life, why not also at the level of the Alicorns? How Alicorns are born is a great mystery. It has been speculated that the world itself gives birth to them, giving them great magical powers and influence over nature. Some believe that Alicorns are beings from the world beyond our own like angels or gods.
Silver Quill hypothesizes that Chimeras of equal power may exist in the world or the worlds beyond. He calls this theoretical creature a Draconequus."
And that was all she could find. She sighed and rested her cheek on her hoof in thought. Discord, an all powerful being? Twilight smiled. There was no way that Discord had that amount of magical power. Both the princesses were incredibly wise and kind from the eternal life that their magic had given them.
Discord didn't strike her to be much of either. Still, Starling said that he'd been there long before any of the other professors, but exactly how long? She shook her head and illuminated all her supplies. All the notes stacked themselves together and packed into her saddlebag.
"I'll just have to do some field research," she said.
Twilight was one of the first students to arrive in Alteration class, but Discord wasn't there. She took the opportunity to open her research journal and turn to a fresh page. She had time to scrawl down the date and a few notes before the creature in question glided into the room. He took his usual place in the air by his desk and lounged there with a bored look on his face.
Twilight wondered if she'd ever get to see him walking on the ground, then wrote that thought down. Eventually the bell rang and everypony found their seats. In order not to arouse any kind of suspicion, Twilight covered her desk with her textbook and a few pieces of blank parchment.
Fortunately for Twilight, she had already read the chapters associated with the lesson, so she was already well-rehearsed enough on the material to spend most of the time observing Professor Discord like a creep. Or, rather...an investigator.
Once in a while she'd make some notes about the lesson on her parchment. When the bell rang an hour and a half later Twilight had a healthy amount of observations in her research journal. She started to pack all her things away without magic, but once everypony had gone, she illuminated everything with her signature purply-pink aura and neatly tucked it away.
"Still showing off, I see," Discord said from his airborne perch.
"I'm not showing off," Twilight insisted, then paused. Observing wasn't going to be enough. If she wanted to learn more about Discord, she'd have to talk to him.
Unfortunately, she thought, he doesn't strike me as the type of pony- I mean Draconequus that would be willing to share anything about himself....
"Professor Discord," she began. "I had a question that I wanted to ask you."
He didn't answer, but instead looked at her with disdain. Mind racing to find a suitable question, Twilight pulled out her Alteration textbook and flipped through the pages.
"This here," She trotted over and showed Discord the page. "Alteration Vectors. It says here spells that manipulate and object's structure, not just the appearance, use the object's structural vectors. In order to use these spells do you have to know the structure of that specific object's vectors so you can alter them properly?"
When Discord took the book in his eagle claw and pulled it from the pink cloud it floated in Twilight noticed two things: when his claw entered the cloud and tore the book from it she felt a strange fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She had spent enough time around Princess Celestia as her apprentice to recognize the feeling. It was the sensation of a much smaller or weaker magical entity brushing against a monumentally larger one.
It reminded Twilight of when she felt Princess Luna's magic brush against hers.
The second was something on his eagle palm. She glimpsed only just, and it was so quick that Twilight thought perhaps her eyes were just playing tricks on her. From she saw, though, it looked like a tiny mark in the center of his palm.
All of this registered in Twilight's quick mind in less than a moment, and Discord's reply drew her out of her thoughts immediately.
"You don't need to know the vectors. Most spells are constructed to do that kind of work for you."
"Ok...Is...that all?" Twilight said with uncertainty. She couldn't think anything else to ask him.
"Well, if you're planning on making your own Alteration spells then it will be necessary to know the vectors, but I think we both know you're not capable of that." He closed the book and held it out to her.
"Not capable!?" She took the book again using magic, whipping it away and holding it close to herself. "I'm perfectly capable of weaving my own spell!"
Discord blinked slowly. "I seriously doubt it."
"OH, do you?"
"Yes, I do. You may be a prodigy, Twilight Sparkle, but you're no where near advanced enough in magical arts to be able to weave your own spell. Few unicorns are."
"Well you'll see." Twilight turned away and walked out of the room, distracted from her field research now by Discord's jab at her. "In a few years I'll be spellweaving without a second thought."
"I'm sure," he replied sarcastically.
Twilight exited the room as she was putting the book away. When she was safely outside, she removed her research journal and scribbled down her most recent observations.
Underneath she noted: Perhaps it isn't so impossible that Discord is, in fact, on the same magical level as Princess Celestia.
Eventhough Twilight was dedicated in her pet project, she did not neglect her studies. In fact, she became so enthralled in her studying sometimes that she forgot about her Discord research. She would always try to find opportunities to talk to Discord, hoping that if he became used to her presence he might be more willing to give up information.
The day after her question about Alteration Vectors Twilight took her time packing up her things after class. For once Discord was nearer to ground level at his desk, glaring at piles of paper stacked on it.
"You don't look very happy," Twilight said, hoping to spark conversation.
"Would you be happy if Celestia forced you to do all the paperwork you've refused to do for the past six months?" He said. "Oh wait, what am I saying? Of course you would."
"I certainly wouldn't mind it as much as you." She got up from her desk and put on the saddlebag.
"Why don't you do it all then?"
"I don't think so. Princess Celestia would certainly recognize my writing style - wait, Princess Celestia?"
Discord raised an eyebrow. "Yes. What's it to you?"
"Nothing it's just...I always thought Princess Luna dealt with all those kinds of things. I mean, Princess Celestia is off running Equestria isn't she?"
Discord looked at the door for a second then back at Twilight. He said, "I don't think any of it really concerns you, does it?"
"Oh...well no, I guess not. It's just curious, that's all."
"Why are you still here?"
"I'm just..." Twilight replied. "Taking my time. I only have lunch next and-"
"Well maybe you should get there before all the food is gone," he interrupted her sharply.
She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded and started toward the door. Then and idea struck her. She looked back at her professor.
"Professor Discord, is it okay if I come in here later to study?"
He looked up from his paperwork with a confused look on his face. "Why?" he asked in a heavy tone.
"Everywhere else is too crowded."
The paperwork in his claws sank slightly with a rustle. "The library is too crowded?" he asked doubtfully.
Twilight smiled sheepishly. "The library is too dim."
He looked at her suspiciously for a moment then looked down again at his work. "If you must."
She smiled. "Thanks Professor."
As Twilight trotted down the hall, she couldn't help adding a happy bounce to her hoofsteps. Back in the classroom, Discord wondered absently what the little purple unicorn was up to. Then he face-palmed. Why did he say she could come and study in his room?
"Ugh. I really am tired."
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Finally! An update!
I really enjoy how the characters bounce off each others
it is really amusing 
have some mustaches
i wonder how this is going to play out
update!!! yaaaaay!
I expect more.
I wonder how this will all play out? c: So curious~
Discord really is tired if he did not notice that Luna passed her work of on to him ...
Yay! This reminds me of Hogwarts, at first I thought Dicsord would be like Snape but nah...keep on!
Update in the near future, perhaps?
1864232 Maaaaaaaaaaaaybe
Heh, I really enjoyed this chapter. It was quite amusing.
A 1-point adopt that I just sold on Deviantart was named Silver Quill, and her special talent was writing. o_0
*Inception music plays*
You have caught my attention.
SO AWESOME!!!
Eventhough Twilight was dedicated
Forgot your spacing.
Something about that sentence just bothers me so much for some reason. It's like it's trying to sound sophisticated, but ends up just being dumb and pretentious instead. What on Earth is "standard animal intelligence," even? Is a fly as intelligent as a cat? And how are they more than that, if even only by a little? If I saw that sentence in a real publication, I'd call the author a hack and toss in the garbage.
I mean, really, what's wrong with "Others, such as the Manticore or Cockatrice, are simply clever animals?" Sounds better and is factually correct.