• Published 16th Jul 2016
  • 8,437 Views, 449 Comments

The Fugitive Draconequus - Ironskull



Discord is brought to Ponyville to be reformed. As a safety precaution, he is deprived of his magic before his release. Naturally, he is upset by this, but... No one thought that the powerless spirit of chaos would actually run away!

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Cuddles

I gaze down at the notebook on my desk in frustration. The seemingly random and inane markings on the current page seem to be mocking me. They hold the secret to something very important, I am sure, but they refuse to make their data known.

Think, Twilight! I scream at myself in my head. There must be something to this that you're just missing!

I put my front hooves into my face and slouch into the desk.

Somehow, I manage to knock the notebook to the ground.

"Ugh!" I complain to myself, already frustrated.

I reach down to grab the notebook.

Unbelievably, the notebook chooses that moment to suffer from an extremely sudden case of spontaneous combustion.

"Ah! My notes!" I scream.

I surround the notebook in the smallest magical shield I can manage and the flames quickly die out.

As soon as the fire is gone, I pick the notebook up in my magic so that I can see the extent of the damage.

While the fire could have caused far more damage than it did, the page it was flipped to is irreparably damaged.

I can feel myself about to burst into tears on the spot.

"No... why?" I ask nopony. "How could such a thing have even happened? There was no good reason for it at all!"

"You're awfully upset about losing something so stupid and meaningless," said a voice behind me.

I don't recognize this voice. I gasp and whirl around to face this intruder.

The intruder turns out to be a brown unicorn with a black mane.

"Who are you?" I demand. "What are you doing in my room?"

"So, you're the mare that started seeing things that nopony else can," he says, ignoring my question.

I can barely believe the sheer audacity of this stallion.

"I asked you a question!" I cry. "Who are you?"

"I'm what's wrong with the world. I'm the reason that things always go wrong," he answers simply, not intimidated in the least.

I don't say anything for a moment. As I'm looking this crazy stallion over, my eyes find his cutie mark.

I'm almost positive that it is an explosion.

Well, that's not confidence inspiring...

"Did you just combust my notebook just now?" I demand, not even attempting to conceal my anger.

"Yes."

"Why? Why, why, why? Do you have any idea how important this was to me?"

"What else am I supposed to do? And, besides, why should I care? I'm just like that oddball friend of yours. Nobody can see me."

I feel a wave of shock at this.

"How do you know about that? Who are you?"

"I already told you. Any time a good plan goes wrong, any time when a machine malfunctions, even any time somepony simply trips, I probably had something to do with it."

I feel my eyes go wide in recognition.

"Wait," I cry. "Are you saying that you are-"

"AH AH," the stallion says, cutting me off. "You know that if you say my name, you'll just make yourself even more of a target of myself."

"It is you!" I scream accusingly. "Why do you do this to me? Why do you do this to everypony!? Why do you always have to ruin everything?! We haven't done anything to you!"

"I have no other reason to exist," the stallion responds. "Much like your draconequus friend, I have been cursed, and, also like him, the only thing that I am good for is irritating every last soul on this planet!"

"Discord isn't like that! He isn't some devil that delights in torture! He can be a childish prankster sometimes, but that doesn't fully define who he is! Not like you!"

"He tried to turn Equestria upside-down twice," retorted the stallion.

"He isn't like that anymore!" I insist furiously. "He didn't used to care about anyone other than himself because he thought that co-existing with ponies in peace was impossible, but he doesn't think that way anymore! I've proved that we can get along! But you... You are nothing but a jerk!"

"You do realize that it is only a matter of time before Discord winds up just like me?" answered the stallion. "Sooner or later, he's going to lose his mind, and you will be the only one who will even know it. But you won't be able to stop it. No single pony can stop that creep."

"This creep has creeped up on you when you weren't paying attention," says Discord's voice, causing the stallion to frown and look around, unable to find Discord.

My heart lifts, eagerly awaiting liberation from this terrible entity.

"Oh, now you've done it," I say. I'll admit, I said it with some degree of glee.

"I can see you too, you know," continues Discord's voice. "Here is some advice for the future: stay away from my buddy and things won't happen to you like this!"

There is a blinding flash of light and the angry stallion vanishes.

A moment later, I hear knocking on my door.

"C-come in!" I stutter.

The door flings open and Discord comes strolling in.

"Thank you so much for getting rid of him," I say. "I don't know why he seems to specifically target scientists and engineers and magicians and other ponies of logic, but I'm getting sick of it! Where did you send him, anyway?"

"Oh, some island somewhere," answers Discord. "Somewhere near Manehattan, I think." He shrugs.

"Discord, he destroyed my notebook!" I say. "Look at this!" I gesture at the remains of said notebook.

He looks at it for about two seconds and then looks at me and raises an eyebrow. A couple seconds later, he holds his claw up and snaps his fingers, triggering a flash of magic.

And just like that, my notebook is back in perfect condition.

I start blushing in embarrassment.

"Oh. Right. I forgot you can do that. Thank you. You know, I can't use magic to repair objects quite like you can. Too much original data is lost in the process of destruction."

"It's not a problem at all, my friend. Speaking of friends, I was supposed to meet one shortly."

"What?" I ask, confused. "A friend? Who is that?"

"Oh, you know, Cuddles."

"Cuddles?"

"Yeah, Cuddles. The sheep?"

"Umm... Yes, of course. Have fun!"

"Don't I always?"

Discord snapped and once again disappeared.

I gaze at the spot where he stood for about fifteen seconds, and then finally turn away with a sigh.

Back to attempting to understand this garbled picture...

But then, quite unexpectedly, there is another knock on my bedroom door.

"Discord?" I shout toward the door. "Is that you again already?"

There are a few seconds of silence.

"Who is Discord?" says a new voice.

I gasp, and then leap to my hooves and hurry to the door and open it.

"Princess Luna!" I cry in astonishment. "What are you doing here? Not that I mind your visiting, of course, but you should have written me a letter so that I could prepare for your arrival! I mean, look at this place!" I gesture at my room. The bed is unmade, my telescope is out of its case, and there are papers all over my desk.

"I did not have the opportunity to send you a letter, Twilight Sparkle. This is a dream," says Princess Luna in a matter of fact tone.

It's as though all of the pieces of my brain are a puzzle and are suddenly coming to place.

I groan in embarrassment.

"Of course this is a dream!" I cry at myself, upset that I didn't realize this sooner. "I'm back in the library! And Discord was using magic! It should have been so obvious!"

"There is no need to become upset, Twilight," says Luna. "Your mind frequently desensitizes itself from evidence of experiencing a dream. It is completely normal."

"It may be normal," I say, still unhappy, "but that doesn't mean that I like it."

"True. I would estimate that you find nightmares to be even less pleasant. I was prepared to offer you assistance, but it appears that the matter has been handled."

"You came into my dream to help me?" I ask, humbled that Princess Luna would go out of her way to help me.

"Yes, although it is clearly no longer necessary. However, it is fortuitous that I find myself here, as I have been meaning to speak with you."

"You have?" I ask in confusion. "What about?"

"Can an old mare not spend time with a good friend? I could use some relaxation after the stress of filling in for my sister."

"Well- yes of course! I don't know what I should talk about though, this is all so sudden!"

I look around my room, looking for something, anything that I could use to interest the Princess of the Night.

I look at my telescope.

Perfect!

"Could I perhaps interest you in my star gazing hobby?" I ask hopefully.

Princess Luna's eyes twinkle at me and she laughs in amusement.

"Yes, I would like that very much. Unfortunately, your subconscious has not seen fit to shroud the world in a blanket of night at this moment in time."

I look out the window where my telescope is in embarrassment. It is definitely day outside.

There I go, missing the obvious again! I can't worry about that just yet, though. I have to cover that little blunder up.

"That's okay, we can just point the telescope at the sun instead!"

"Oh!" says Luna in surprise. "I... suppose that it should be safe to do so from inside a dream. But will we truly see anything that isn't already visible to our own eyes? One hardly needs a telescope to behold my sister's sun."

"Actually," I begin, "it wouldn't be safe to look at the sun in my dreams. Most of the time, they tend to reflect reality as accurately as possible, and while I'm sure looking at the sun won't actually cause any actual damage, it would still hurt. But, well, we can use a special filter to keep it from hurting our eyes. Let me just..."

I trail off and run to my telescope case and dig out one of the less frequently used components.

"This is a hydrogen alpha narrowband filter," I inform her, holding up the red lens so that she can see. "It will let us look at the sun without burning your eyes, but it will also let you view prominences and other solar phenomena that are impossible to see without the correct filter."

"I did not know that that was possible," admitted Princess Luna, sounding impressed, surprised, and confused all at once.

This makes me feel a little bad. Far be it from me to try to show off to the Princess of the Night! Unfortunately, this technology was developed during her absence, so she clearly just did not know about it.

I don't say anything. I don't want to embarrass myself further in front of the Princess. Instead, I focus on installing the filter.

Suddenly, everything goes dark and I look up.

"How unfortunate," remarked Princess Luna in disappointment. "I was looking forward to your demonstration, but it appears that the dream has other ideas."

"I'm sorry!" I squeak out. "I didn't mean for it to turn to night time. It just sort of happened! Can you change it back?"

"I could..." says the Princess halfheartedly. "But, I must confess that something else has piqued my interest." She is gazing out the window, but at the ground instead of toward the sky.

"What are you looking at?" I ask, moving to see.

The sight outside is not at all what I was expecting. The library is no longer situated in Ponyville. Instead, it is now in the middle of a forest, although there is a clearing directly in front of it.

"Where are we?" I ask in confusion.

Princess Luna turns to me with surprise apparent on her face. "Do you not know? This is your dream."

"I don't know where we are."

"It is of no consequence," answers the Princess. "Most likely, we are nowhere at all, except for a place fabricated by your own imagination. Do you recognize those two ponies?"

"Ponies?" I repeat, looking back again, intrigued.

"Would you care to explore the dream?" asks Princess Luna.

"Why, certainly!"

"I will take us to meet them," says the Princess. "Do not be alarmed."

Her horn lights up with magic, and then the world around us seems to shift around us. I do my best to not be alarmed, just as instructed, but it was slightly shocking to phase through the wall of the library and to the darkened outdoors.

The Princess gently sets us down near the two ponies.

"Now, do you-" Princess Luna begins, turning around to face me, but then cutting herself off when she looks toward me.

"What?" I ask, worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Twilight," she says. "What is this... image?"

"Image?" I ask in confusion, turning around.

My notebook is sitting in an easel of unknown origin beside me. For some reason, it is enlarged. In order to fit the easel, I suppose. It's open to the page with Discord's confounding drawing.

I inwardly groan. How am I supposed to explain this to Princess Luna?

"It's a present from a friend," I answer uncertainly.

"Is it especially important to you?" asks the Princess without hesitation.

I feel myself clench up in surprise, and I am certain the she caught on.

"How did you know that?" I ask in wonder.

"I saw it in your bedroom, but I did not transport it. Your dream caused it to be brought it with us. It looks like... a mess of... abstract."

"I know," I say in agreement. "But I am certain that there is some sort of a secret message, or a symbol, somehow buried inside."

Princess Luna took a few moments to examine the picture, and then back to me with a skeptic look on her face.

"Unless this represents senseless disorder, I must confess I don't see anything. Come." She begins to walk toward the two ponies.

Disorder.

I automatically follow Princess Luna, but my eyes unfocus as I think this over.

Could that be the 'secret message'? Is this simply supposed to represent disorder, or chaos? I wouldn't put it past Discord.

No, hold on. He did promise me that there was something meaningful in the image. Even if it does represent chaos, it couldn't possibly represent SENSELESS chaos.

Unless he was just messing with me...

...

No, I don't think he was messing with me. He wasn't acting right for that.

I'm pretty sure he was nervous about something.

"Oh my..."

I look up at Luna's strange statement. The two ponies are close enough now that I can make their basic features. They are sitting in the grassy clearing and looking into the night sky. Both are mares. One has a white coat and a pink mane, the other has a very dark blue coat and a relatively lighter blue mane.

I easily make the connection between that mare and the Princess at my side.

"Princess, is that... you and...?"

"I dare say it is," agreed Princess Luna to my partially unspoken words. "Particularly so, since it is your first conclusion."

I look back at the pair in wonder.

"Look at all of the stars, sister!" said the darker of the two. "There must be hundreds of them!"

I really could not help what happened next. I really couldn't.

I burst out laughing, right in front of Princess Luna!

I managed to turn the laugher into a cry of "Awwwww! Princess, that is adorable!"

Princess Luna is positively blushing.

"It is not 'adorable'!" she complained halfheartedly. "I was an ignorant, naïve young filly!"

"I always thought it was one of your sister's better stories," said Discord.

Luna and I both whirl around to face the sneaky draconequus.

"Hello, Twilight!" he said, waving.

"Discord!" I cry. "I thought you... Weren't you going to spend time with your 'Cuddles' friend?"

"Yes, but I can't remember when I left him. I'll keep looking. Say hello to Lulu for me!"

He waves at Princess Luna too.

" 'Lulu'?" asks Princess Luna.

Discord snapped and disappeared.

The dream-version of Celestia and Luna seem to fade away too.

"Who was that?" asked Lulu- Princess Luna, her voice conveying her bewilderment.

I give her a confused look.

"Umm... That was Discord, remember?"

Suddenly, I freeze as I realize something.

"Wait, you could see him?" I cry out in astonishment.

"I see a dream as it truly is," answered Princess Luna uncertainly.

"But... but... Even Princess Celestia couldn't see Discord! She couldn't even hear properly when I said his name!"

I gasp when I suddenly remember that Princess Luna herself had asked the question 'Who is Discord?' when she first walked into my dream.

Princess Luna nods in understanding.

"I see. I believe I understand. My sister showed me a very peculiar letter from you a few days ago, and before she left on her trip, she explained as best as she could. It was extraordinary tale, and a highly concerning one. Indeed, I must confess that I had an ulterior motive for visiting you on this night, besides relaxation. I wished to speak about the matter with you directly."

"Oh!" I say. Of course Princess Luna would be concerned about this, especially if Princess Celestia is concerned too!

"Alas, it appears that there will be no relaxation for me on this night," said Princess Luna, half amused. "So, if I may ask, this Discord character... He is who you wrote of in your letter?"

"How are you not remembering who Discord is?" I ask in amazement. "For some reason, you can suddenly see him and hear him, but you don't remember anything about him for yourself?"

"I do not," answers the Princess, frowning. "But do remember that this is a dream."

"... Actually, that might explain it," I say uncertainly. "I mean, you are not perceiving the real Discord, you are perceiving my perception of Discord. Only, that still doesn't explain why it was that I couldn't describe Discord in any way to anypony in the real world! Do you think... Hmm... Um, do you think that it might have something to do with the fact that you are... sort of... sharing my mind, and since my mind is able to make sense of him, you can too?"

"It is possible," mused Princess Luna. "We may not be able to find the answer to that question at this time. Why should I recognize this 'Discord'? I do believe I would remember meeting somebody like him..."

"I know what you mean," I answer knowingly. "Discord is... an immortal creature that you have known for millennia. He used to torment ponies with his chaos before your sister and yourself used the elements of harmony on him and turned him into stone. Does that sound familiar at all?"

"Yes, yes!" cried Princess Luna immediately, but I can tell that she is unhappy. "We used the elements of harmony to- to- to save Equestria from... From... AUGH! It is at the tips of my memory, but I cannot recall the details! Twilight! I must assume that you speak the truth and that 'Discord' is what is missing from my memory. I would never forget such details naturally, and I am of course aware that the problem appears to be universal. Yet, through a stroke of luck, I have acquired some understanding of the matter. Is 'Discord' under control?"

"Under control?" I ask, surprised. "Well, he isn't imprisoned against his will... I befriended him."

"You befriended a creature who torments ponies?"

"He doesn't do that any more!" I exclaim. I have a feeling that I'll be saying these words a great many times to a great many ponies, soon enough. "He didn't believe that ponies like us could even be friendly with someone like him, but now that he has given friendship a chance, I know that he has changed his outlook. Also, Princess Celestia asked me to."

"You speak truly?"

"I do. Originally, she intended for Fluttershy to take the lead in reforming him, but... Well, then, there were complications and Discord somehow managed to damage his fundamental identity, and then everypony stopped being able to see him, so I had no choice but to attempt it all on my own! I'm sure that Fluttershy could have done the job better than I, but I have been making quite a bit of progress. I wouldn't say that Discord is fully reformed yet, but that will probably take weeks. Probably longer. I just wish Princess Celestia had been able to return him his powers before everypony stopped being able to see him. He really hates not having his powers, and I had decided that they should be returned to him. And furthermore, I think we can undo the change that caused him to be unseeable to everypony, if only we just had his powers!"

"I remember this!" says Princess Luna suddenly. "I remember that my sister told me that she was keeping a very powerful magic hidden away until the time was right to return it... To Discord, surely! My attempts to remember are torture upon my mind, and therefore who else would it involve?"

"You know where Discord's power is being contained?" I ask hopefully.

"I... I do not, but I am quite sure that information is locked away in some inaccessible part of my mind. But I have full power in place of my sister, for the time being. If this is what you require to set things right, then for both his sake and mine, I will do what you tried to ask of my sister and find Discord's power. It is possible that I will forget all about Discord and the specifics of why this must be done, but I assure you, I will not lose sight of the fact that it must be done all the same. This, I promise you, Twilight Sparkle, and to your friend Discord as well."

I gaze back at Luna in awe.

"Do you mean it, Princess Luna?" I ask, hardly daring to believe my luck.

"I do. I am deeply grateful for an opportunity to help you in any way that I can."

"Thank you, most sincerely, Princess."

"Do not thank me yet; I have yet to fulfill my promise."

"Well, thank you for trusting me then."

"You are most welcome."

Before either of us have any time to say anything further, the sun suddenly came up, as abruptly as it did during the time Discord turned Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world.

"Hello Twilight!" cried Discord's happy voice once again. "Hello Lulu!"

Somehow, we're back in Ponyville again, and it is once again day. However, we are still outside of the library, standing instead in the street.

Discord walks straight up to us.

"Say hello to Lulu for me Twi," he says to me.

"Umm... Princess Luna can hear you say it for yourself."

"Hello Discord..." says Princess Luna uneasily.

"You can see me?" says Discord in surprise. "That's fantastic!"

Princess Luna hunches down to level her head with mine.

"Why is he calling me by that name?" she whispers.

"I... don't know," I answer. I could tell her that he's probably teasing her in a good natured way, but I don't want to risk the chance that she would misunderstand and take offense.

"Hey, Cuddles! There's somepony here I would like you to meet!" shouts Discord. He reaches behind him and seems to produce a strange looking sheep from thin air.

"Cuddles, you've already met Twilight Sparkle. And this... is Princess Lulu!"

"... It's a pleasure," says Princess Luna, managing to not sound awkward.

Fortunately, the Princess doesn't seem too startled by the sudden turn of events. I suppose that anypony who spends as much time in the dreams of other ponies as she does must get used to randomness.

That doesn't seem to be stopping her from staring at the sheep in confusion however.

I don't blame her. I can't stop staring either. There is something about the sheep's wool that is just seems odd. Besides the fact that it is a little darker than usual. It looks... shiny.

"So, what are you two up to?" I ask awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm taking Cuddles here over to the spa," says Discord.

"The spa? Are... you going to get a treatment?"

"Ugh, no. As if either of us would do such a thing."

"It wouldn't be that baaaad," says the sheep.

"It will be for the masseuse if you stick around. But, if you really want to, I won't stop you," Discord says to the sheep. Then he turns back and starts speaking to me again. "But, to answer the next question that I'm sure you are just dying to ask, they just need our help cleaning something."

"Cleaning something?" I repeat. That doesn't sound like Discord at all...

"Oh no, we're not going to be doing any of the cleaning. It's just that somehow one of their drains have gotten all clogged with this nasty scum. Some ponies, am I right? And they just need a clipping of steel wool to get the job done."

Discord produces a pair of shears from thin air and snips them together a couple of times.

"Take care, you two!" he says as he begins to walk away.

Cuddles gives Princess Luna and I polite nod and follows after him.

We watched the pair walk away until they turned a corner and went out of side.

"That was not normal..." muttered Luna.

"It was for Discord..." I answer back.

"No, I mean it is not normal for elements of your dream to recognize and interact with me. My very presence should be disconnected with the rest of the dream because your subconscious does not hold any power over me, and therefore cannot plan for my presence."

I frown.

"That is odd..."

"Does Discord really behave this way in the real world?" asks the Princess.

"Yes."

"I see. I am no longer as surprised that someone like him would give you something like that," she says, indicating the oversized notebook.

"There must be something important buried in the image somehow," I insist, as much to myself as to Luna. "Discord wasn't acting like himself when he gave it to me. Which means that it's something serious."

"Hmmmmm..." muses the Princess, walking toward the notebook and inspecting the picture more closely. I follow behind her.

"Have you noticed how certain clusters seem to repeat across the page horizontally?" she asks.

"That was one of the first things I noticed about it. But they don't repeat exactly, the copies are flawed."

"Indeed. Perhaps if you assigned a numerical value to the changes between segments and decode the numbers, you would have your answer?"

"I've tried that," I answer. "But it hasn't gotten me anywhere. I don't think that's the sort of solution I should be looking for either. It just doesn't seem like something Discord would do. My best theory is that it is an optical illusion of some sort, but I can't get anything to happen no matter how long I stare at it."

"Maybe it has more to do with how you stare at it?" suggests Princess Luna.

"It's possible. But what about the repeating patterns? They must figure into the equation somehow."

"Maybe they are a false lead."

"I suppose that's also possible... Unless..."

Suddenly, I remember something I once encountered in school.

I crossing my eyes at the picture, repositioning one of the repeating patterns in my vision until I have two copies of the pattern occupy the same spot in my vision.

"GASP!"

I barely take note of the world around me dissolving into whiteness as my brain reallocates thinking power away from maintaining the dream and to a far more important task.

There's something IN there! I think to myself frantically. Something unbelievable. Something outrageous. Something incredible. Something the likes of which I have never seen before in my life!

I think I've fallen over.

"Twilight!" Luna cries in shock, her voice sounding to me like an echo. "Twilight, you're literally melting! Are you okay!?"

What does this mean? Did this really just happen? Is this Discord's idea of a funny joke?

But how could it be? Discord was my friend. He respects me too much to tease me like this.

Does he? Doesn't he?

How can I know for sure?

Let me start over and look at this logically: Discord has changed in a big way since this whole ordeal began. I know that he is genuine because it reflects in subtle changes in his behavior.

And I know that his behavior is genuine because he can't afford to NOT be genuine. He may tease me in small ways, but he can't risk lying to me about our whole friendship because he needs me to get his powers back. It's harsh, but true.

So could Discord POSSIBLY be genuine NOW?

"Twilight! Speak to me! What is happening?"

I really should answer Princess Luna... She's really worried...

"I figured it out..." I manage to moan out of my partially liquefied body.

"You figured out the secret in the madness that is this picture?" asks Princess Luna bewilderedly.

"Yes. It resembles a special technique of depicting images in three dimensions. You take a picture of a subject from two slightly different angles and then, after you have the prints of both, you set them next to one another and cross your eyes to merge the two images. They're called stereograms."

It was strange, but explaining that to the Princess helped bring me some degree of stability.

"This image is different though," I continue. "It's all by itself, and instead of crossing two different images, you have to cross the patterns. And the result is like nothing I have ever seen... ever."

"I'm supposed to cross my eyes?" asks Luna.

"Yes."

"... By the moon..."

"You see it?" I ask.

"Beyond doubt!" utters Luna in equal parts amazement and confusion. "Flawless in form, and seemingly engraved four centimeters deep into a flat paper less than a millimeter thick! 'Tis the form of a heart!"

That's exactly what it was. Not an organ-heart (thank goodness), but the sort that one sees all over the place on hearts and hooves day. It had no color of its own, but was textured as the very same mess of lines and dots that had so baffled me so recently.

Discord began acting super evasive the very moment he gave me that notebook. He was EMBARRASSED, wasn't he?

Discord... really FEELS that way about me! After everything he's put me through! After I had already long since determined that this would never happen!

But how should I react to this? I'm a puddle of emotions right now! How can I make a decision like this?

Should I throw myself into the deep end and see where this takes me? Should I politely decline? Should I rudely decline?

No. I'm shooting that idea down right now!

Should I act like nothing happened?

No. I can't. I would explode.

What do I do?

Should I accept and use my position to make Discord act the way that I want?

NOOO!!! I try to shake my head violently, only to remember I'm still a puddle.

But if I do accept, how can I keep from influencing his behavior? And would he become a bad influence on me?

No, too late, we're already influencing one another. All I can do is try my best to give and take good influence.

Should I avoid the problem altogether and avoid Discord?

I could never bring myself to do that. Even if he offends me, a person is still a person, and he has need of my help. I can't abandon him.

Discord isn't even what I would call HANDSOME!

Wait... That's a good thing! It means that I could learn to love who his is without getting infatuated with how he looks!

IF I DECIDE TO DO THIS...

And he already told me to my face that I'm not his idea of 'beautiful'...

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THAT IS A GOOD THING!

Why does he like me in THAT way anyway? He thinks that I'm...

He thinks that I'm smart. He thinks that I'm interesting. And he enjoys my wit.

But... Do I really like Discord? I mean, he's ridiculous, but he is kind of funny, once you get used to him.

He is kind of irritating... but I think he secretly hides a more concerned side.

In fact, I KNOW he does. He's already shown that side of himself for me several times!

Just how long has he felt this way, anyway?

I don't know. Can't figure that out, not here, not right now.

But I do think that he understands me... kind of...

And I do think he understands me... kind of...

I think...

I think that I'm systematically determining something that I already know...

I already kind of liked the big goof!

And there is absolutely no denying one more thing.

I manage to arise from puddle form back into pony form without even really thinking about it. I cross my eyes and stare into the picture one more time. I just want to see it again.

And there it is. This picture is breathtaking. Amazing. A marvel of geometry and trigonometry and vision, all three.

I have a vague idea how it actually works, but... well, I don't think anything quite like this has ever been created before. The process of making the thing is another matter altogether.

And Discord made this in about three minutes just on a whim! I didn't have any clue that Discord had this kind of genius in him!

And he made it for... me...

He knew that I would adore this...

I can't take this any more.

My heart is telling me to return his feelings. My mind is telling me to return his feelings. And to top it all off, he's done something that no other pony trying to flirt with me (few as they were) has ever attempted. He gave me a present.

That's an understatement. This is the most jaw-dropping present I could never conceive of.

"Princess," I finally whisper.

"Twilight?" she says.

"I... I need to speak with him!"

What little that remains of the dream immediately starts to collapse around me, and Princess Luna takes notice.

Before I'm fully awake, I hear her voice one last time.

"I- I shall attempt to contact you again tomorrow!"


The moment I'm conscious, I throw my eyelids back and snap wide awake.

It's very dark out right now, probably well past midnight. But I still manage to catch a glimpse of movement.

He's awake!

"Whoa now!" he cries in amusement. "I get that you're eager to see what Celly is up to today, but she hasn't even raised the sun yet."

"Discord... You... you big goof!"

He hesitates, and then sputters out a confused, "What?"

"I figured it out. I figured your drawing out. While I was asleep. I never would have believed that something so chaotic and messy looking could hide something so astounding, but, then again, it's you!"

It's so dark that I can't see Discord's expression at all, and he doesn't make a sound. He doesn't even move.

He's too paralyzed with embarrassment and shock. I'm sure of it.

And so I throw my front hooves around middle, throwing my blanket off of myself for the most part (but I don't care about that), and then I nuzzle him.

"This... this is a good thing, right?" he asks uncertainly.

"Yes, you ridiculous draconequus, you... Yes, it is."

A few moments later, I feel his paw settle on my side, and I unashamedly let out a sigh of joy.