The Most Chaotic Date Ever!!!

by Azure129

Chapter 2: If You Can't Stand the Heat...

Celestia gazed at the clouds above her. The pegasi didn’t control the weather out here over the Everfree Forest, so the white billowy masses were free to take whatever shapes they could manage. Naturally, they were the most excellent clouds for cloud gazing. Of course, the only way to see these free-spirited clouds was to be above the forest canopy…which was where Celestia and Discord resided now. The two friends were lying on their backs with their heads together atop a large pink cotton candy cloud (and with a lot of extra pink cloud around Celestia to help keep her steady in her reclined position).

Spending time together in this place had become a favorite private pastime of the sun princess and the chaos master, though a rare one. It was a tradition only used for when they needed to talk about very important, very private things—things that might be easier to share with a friend while gazing up at the sky instead of having to make direct eye contact.

So, to begin their date, the sun princess had taken the chaos master here. And then Celestia had calmly and directly explained to Discord everything about the recent strength of her feelings and her sleepless nights and how she had come to realize there was no other explanation than the fact that she wanted to be more than his friend. And after a moment of silence and a swallow he had quietly replied, “Oh, I see…”

Ever since then, there had just been quiet lingering between the pair. By now, Celestia was fighting the compulsion to voice even more of the growing thoughts tumbling around in her mind. But her nerves got the better of her, and so instead she just continued to bite her lip as she patiently let Discord take his time to respond further…and as she tried to ignore how all of the clouds above her looked almost like draconequus different pieces to her today. She could even swear there was a beard-shaped cloud moving into view now. The sun princess let out a small sigh, her look growing dry.

Luckily, with a sudden breath, Discord finally broke the silence for her (and brought her attention away from the teasing, wild clouds). “I think about you a lot too, Tia. Actually…I’m really glad you suggested coming out here for one of our cloud talks to start our date. These times, when it’s just you and I together…I feel like…”

He stopped, and there was a shy tone in his voice—a tone he only got when admitting something personal and embarrassing and ‘mushy’ as he liked to call it.

“Remember,” Celestia urged softly, “you can say anything during cloud talks. And no one ever has to know.”

He took another deep breath. “When it’s just you and I together, part of me feels like…I’m home. You know, the part of me that’s my heart,” he finally finished in a voice that sounded like a stubborn colt admitting a crush on a little filly.

Celestia had to laugh softly. “Oh, Discord…”

“I thought the ground rules made teasing explicitly forbidden during cloud talks,” the chaos master mumbled dryly. “And that ‘Oh Discord’ sounded dangerously close to breaking that rule.”

The sun princess’s smile only grew. “Discord, can I tell you something?”

“Another ground rule about cloud talks—we can both freely pick the topics…except, of course, for our traditional understood avoidance of romantic ones. But I suppose that restriction is almost ready to be overturned, in which case fire away about whatever’s on your mind, Tia.” Despite the stubbornness of his words, she could hear some of the smile returning to Discord’s voice.

Celestia’s eyes hazed. “When I saw Cadance yesterday, she asked me what it felt like to kiss you, and I told her it felt like coming home.”

“Seriously?” left Discord with a light crack to his voice.

Celestia laughed softly. “Yes, very seriously.” Then she let out a deep breath. “And you’re right; talks like these feel like coming home too.”

“Hmm…then we should do them more often. Especially if now we’re going to be, well…you know, whatever we’ll be at the end of this date.” He swallowed. “Whether that’s friends or…definitely more than friends.”

Celestia swallowed too as she recalled their conversation from the other day in the castle when they had been planning this date. They were going to go off together ‘just to see’ how they worked. No guarantees. But she knew now they were both hoping for more than friendship, and the notion brightened her spirits again. “No matter what though, we’ll always have cloud talks,” she whispered back to him.

“Yes, and we’ll always have each other…or something mushy like that,” Discord whispered as well.

Celestia smiled and knew he must be smiling too.

“So,” Discord went on, his tone resuming some of its usual sarcasm and wit, “is the surprise about where we’re going on our date that you’re going to keep us up here bonding over the Everfree Forest for three days? Personally, I’m okay with that if you are—plenty of fresh air, loads of cotton candy to live off of, charming company…but I have a feeling you intended something a little more interactive for our time together. Though I completely agree a cloud talk was a necessary starting point: subjects that are serious enough for them don’t pop up often. ”

Celestia nodded. “You’re right, it has been a while since we’ve had one. The last time I suggested a get-together like this was—”

“…Was when you had that Daybreaker experience in Starlight’s dream…” Discord finished for her. “And you wanted to talk to someone you trusted—and someone who would never be afraid of you—about your fear of ever losing your way.” He sighed with a light chuckle. “Personally, I still stand by my final opinion on the matter: evil you is kind of cute, but either way I’d never let you fall apart like that. I know what it’s like, I know the signs, and I’d let you know if I ever sensed anything bad about your magic. And I’d do anything to help you, no matter what. But just the idea that our friendship is so strong is probably enough of a sugar-coated thought to keep you out of any danger in the first place.”

Celestia’s smile was full now as she continued looking at the clouds, finally not trying to ignore how much draconequus her enamored imagination could see in their shapes. “I still can’t believe you convinced me to dress up as Daybreaker for Nightmare Night that year.”

“And I can’t believe you got me to cover myself in powdered sugar and go as ‘Statue Me’, but, well, we do bring out odd sides to each other,” Discord replied, a grin in his voice.

Celestia chuckled softly, then took another deep breath as she settled more against their cloud. “And the last time you called one of these cloud meetings together was when you were offered that job teaching for a year in Saddle Arabia at the National University by Jasmine Flower. And you thought you should let me know even though you said you’d never take the job.” She swallowed.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “And I, um…I know we never talked about it explicitly of course since it would have counted as sharing about our romantic lives, but Jasmine extending that offer to me wasn’t just about letting me have a chance at a new job. We only saw each other whenever she visited Equestria, so we never got the chance to try a relationship, but she wanted to progress things by having me come to Saddle Arabia for a bit.”

“Yes, I thought so.” Celestia only managed to maintain a small smile. “I really couldn’t have blamed you if you went, Discord. Not only was it a great teaching opportunity, but Jasmine Flower was the first mare you ever went out with after you and I decided to just be friends: she’s probably very special to you. And I’m sure there have been quite a few other mares who were special to you.”

“You’re most special of all though…”

The words sent a warm pulse through Celestia’s heart and made her smile complete again.

Discord went on, his voice deep and serious. “How could my feelings for you ever fade, Tia? Every time I look at you or talk to you or think about you, all of me knows the truth—you’re more to me than a friend.” He cleared his throat. “If I ever did make you jealous by always saying how much I was dating, I never meant to. But if it helps to know, I could never feel a romantic future with anyone else as much as you. You’re the lady who makes me happiest: dating so much only showed me more and more how true that fact was.” He sighed, his tone going dry. “Yikes, it really is a good thing cloud talks don’t involve eye contact: I’d never get all those sappy, considerate words out otherwise.”

A giggle left Celestia, her eyes still gazing at the draconequus-like clouds. “Well, I’m glad you were able to say all those words to me. And yes, I’ve been jealous, Discord. But as long as you were happy, I could be happy. Though I’ll admit it’s nice to know that I’m the one who makes you happiest.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d like that.” A small laugh left him too. “So…now we come to the fun part of cloud talk…” Celestia raised an eyebrow as he continued with, “We talk about the fact that you admitted I’ve been in your dreams.”

Celestia blushed and cleared her throat. “I-I just said you were in the one dream.”

“Yes,” he went on, his tone dripping with pride, “but you didn’t sound surprised about my presence. And you did mention having some trouble sleeping for a while lately. And now I know I’m on your mind enough that you like to ogle me in my teacher outfit during school hours. So you must have dreamed of me before.” He chuckled. “All of which leads us the big question: does Luna ever bug you about those dreams since you’re sisters or does she totally leave them to you like she does with mine? Just curious.”

Celestia let out a deep breath but couldn’t help still smiling a little. “She only ‘bugged’ me about the first one I ever had—after she admitted to spying on that one, I asked her not to go near any others, and she hasn’t ever since.”

“Hmm,” he yawned, “so when was that first dream? It doesn’t sound like you really admitted your feelings to yourself til recently, so I’m guessing…maybe three months ago, around when I left?”

“The first one was during the night after our first gala actually.” Celestia grinned at the stunned silence that met her ears at this admission. “I told you, Discord,” she went on softly, “there’s always been a special feeling inside of me for you. It was just complicated for me to accept it. I was scared and worried about liking you just because of how special your feelings for me made me feel. So I gave myself a chance to experience the romantic part of my life again as fully as possible for your sake and for mine; to see if my feelings for you changed and what they truly meant to me. I’ve never had a special friend like you before…and now I realize it’s because you’re more than a friend to me too.” She closed her eyes. “I feel like there’s something new and wonderful to discover in life when we’re together.” When her eyes opened she was blushing. “Do I sound as smitten as I think I do? Cadance says I tend to ramble about you… Luna agrees with her.”

Discord coughed a few times. “Sorry, I’m just…I’m still processing the ‘dreamed about you on Gala night’ thing. I…wow…. And you’ve been falling for me all this time.” His tone took on a warm, dreamy quality that Celestia still remembered vividly from their gala night when he had confessed to her during their final dance. She really hadn’t heard him get that tone since, but it was too special ever to forget. “You definitely sound smitten by the way,” he went on with a happy sigh. “And just to be clear before I let all of this go to my head, Cadance didn’t zap you with a love spell or something just for fun, did she?”

“I can assure you she didn’t,” Celestia replied, trying not to laugh. “In fact, after our first gala and our princess sleepover, she informed me that her diabolical plan for you and I was that she wasn’t going to lift a hoof to get us together. She wanted to make sure I knew that when I fell for you, it would be entirely my own doing. I’m afraid my heart’s all yours for real, Discord.”

The chaos master chuckled almost giddily. “In that case, want to bring this cloud talk to a close and resume eye contact? I already spent three months not gazing at your loveliness, and frankly it was far too long.”

Her eyes hazed at the idea of getting to see her actual dear draconequus instead of just some clouds that looked vaguely like his many interesting (rather well-toned, rather ruggedly-fur-covered, rather cute) parts. ‘Oh dear, I really have fallen hard, haven’t I? Somewhere I just know Cadance is sensing this and grinning away. I can only imagine the questions she’ll have for me when I get home.’ She nodded. “I’d like that very much, Discord. We have a lot to get to on our date anyway.”

“I’m sure we do, Tia.” He chuckled. “And in that case, hold on.” He snapped.

Celestia anticipated disappearing in a quick burst of magic and reappearing sitting up the cloud or the forest floor with Discord. But she did not anticipate slowly dropping on her back through the pink surface of the cloud that held them. However, before she could call out or try to fly up, she found air and light again as her head and the rest of her came up on the other side of the cloud on her stomach. And there was Discord, likewise on his stomach and facing her. Meanwhile, the ground was ‘above’ them which meant they were now both lying on the underside of the cloud.

Her eyes met his, and her smile returned at the sight of Discord’s own bright grin as he cooed to her with a chuckle, “We should meet like this more often—I love the way your mane looks sans gravity.”

Celestia blinked then glanced up—her hair was flowing in a mountainous stack ‘upward’. Her eyes came back to him and she chuckled too. “I could say the same thing about your beard.”

Discord blinked and looked down—sure enough, his beard was flowing ‘upward’ along the side of his mouth. His eyes met hers again. “Well, enjoy it while it lasts, because we have a date to get to. Where to first, darling Celestia?”

“Oh, any number of places.” She brought a hoof to her chin. “I thought we could have a lot of little adventures based on whatever we wanted to do together…”

“A chaotic game plan—I’m listening.” He leaned closer, head resting on his paw.

“But I did have a base of operations in mind,” the sun princess went on. “Somewhere nice and private we could go back to each day. Somewhere special to me. But it might be a little treacherous getting there. What do you say?”

The chaos master’s eyes brightened with a determined smirk. “I say bring it on, Princess. I’ll meet any challenge you can bring, not only because I’m the indomitable spirit of chaos but because I’m utterly determined as your date to show off all my natural prowess and skills to you.” He shrugged with a proud smirk. “This is what you’re going to be dealing with now, Tia. I hope you enjoy the fun.”

“I’m looking forward to it very much, actually.” Her eyes hazed a little. “And as your friend I’m determined as usual to make sure we have fun together and make good memories. And as your date, I’m determined to make sure that all of that fun also has a chance to become something romantic.” With a swallow, she reached out and touched his paw. “This is what you’re going to be dealing with now, Discord. I hope you enjoy the fun.”

He blushed pink like a little colt for a moment, and Celestia held back the urge to giggle. Then when he started lightly stroking her hoof with his fingers, she held back the urge to sigh deeply and cuddle against him on their cloud.

“I could get used to this,” he cooed in a low voice, his eyes hazed.

She swallowed, her voice light. “Me too…”

Discord took a deep breath. “Tia…remember yesterday in your dining room…you and I were interrupted right in the middle of something, so we decided to put it off until later?” His gaze shyly went down. “Well…now’s later you know…”

Celestia felt her heart beating in strange bursts of warmth as yesterday’s feelings of curiosity and excitement and romance came over her again. She remembered him cupping her cheek in his paw, brushing cake crumbs from her lip with his finger, saying nothing should ever come between them. “Yes,” she finally nodded, “now is later, Discord.”

The chaos master swallowed, and his eyes barely came up to hers. He looked so unsure yet so hopeful that it made all of the romantic giddiness possible bubble up inside of Celestia. She moved her head closer first, and then he seemed confident enough to do the same. Their eyes drifted shut as their mouths met.

For Celestia, sharing a kiss with someone tended to be a slightly awkward experience. There was always at least one little thing she wasn’t sure about like when to start or how long to linger or if she was doing things correctly or what the other person would think afterward. But with Discord, now, here, upside down in their own world, none of those little doubts came up: the lips of the two friends simply melted together. Even as Discord’s paw moved farther up her foreleg and Celestia’s other foreleg shifted to touch his claw arm, everything felt right. And his fang angled so gently against her lip, fierce but never hurting her, as her wings rose slightly and her mane shifted to give them privacy. The sun princess realized she could have gotten lost with him and spent the next three days up here embracing together.

Suddenly, the tickle of Discord’s floating beard against her nose snapped her out of the intoxicating daze of his kiss and made her giggle, effectively separating their lips. Celestia’s eyes finally blinked open slightly as did Discord’s, his breaths shallow. “Sorry,” she whispered, blushing, “your beard tickled.”

With a dazed grin, Discord chuckled softly. “If it’s a bother, I’ll consider trimming it, but only for you.”

“No!” Celestia all but squeaked, then, realizing her tone, she cleared her throat and went on with a blush, “I mean, never change for me Discord, ever—I like you just the way you are. And I like your beard very…very much.”’

Discord blinked, and the ends of his smile practically curled up to his ears. “Oh Tia…” left him in a low grumble as he suddenly moved closer, mouth approaching hers again…ready to bring her back to that euphoric state of their intimacy. Ready to make her lose all sense of time and reason and hesitation. Ready to lead her into a beautiful place of feelings her heart had never known so well.

Celestia’s mouth was already approaching his again…but then she hesitated and quickly blinked and pulled back with a dark blush and a loud clearing of her throat. “Erm…Discord, it’s getting late and we should really get going so we can set up where we’ll be spending the next few days. And then we can plan our first outing. Come on.” She gave his cheek a brief kiss and then flew off of the cloud.

Behind her Discord blinked a few times to snap himself out of his daze. He blushed distinctly but then smiled sheepishly as he touched his cheek then finally nodded and flew after her. “Excellent point, Tia. And I really am excited to see where we’re going. Would it help for me to snap us anywhere?”

“Nope.” Celestia glanced at him as he flew up alongside her. “Where we’re going is just up ahead actually.” She gestured forward.

Discord glanced out that way and blinked.

In the distance ahead of them at the far edge of the Everfree Forest was none other then the abandoned castle of the two pony sisters.

“But…then how is it treacherous getting there?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, you’ll see…”

---

“Okay, admit it—you and your sister were insane when you set up this place!”

“I liked to think of us as very young and free-spirited!”

“You made your home navigable via DEATH TRAPS!”

“We just added a little fun. Don’t tell me the chaos master isn’t up to it?”

Celestia glanced over her shoulder with a grin. Discord was currently sitting behind her on a rock slab while the two of them went rocketing down a stone luge waterslide through several shadowy levels of the interior walls of the old castle of the pony sisters.

Discord blinked and pouted. “Hey, I was fine with the trap doors and the paintings with secret holes for spying and even that hallway of fake severed pony heads—actually I was mildly impressed that you two got that creative and kooky with building this place.” He shook his head. “But right now we’re careening through dark catacombs with major drops on either side of us—and we’re picking up speed! And even if I wanted to use magic to help us, I can barely see in here. I love mayhem more than anyone, Tia, I just don’t want to spend the rest of our first date in intensive ca—ahh!” the chaos master yelled as the slab went off another jump, flew through the air, and landed on the next level of stone waterslide, now speeding along in another direction.

“Whoo hoo!” Celestia called out merrily, grinning as the slide accelerated even more. Her grin grew further as she felt Discord’s hands suddenly gripping her shoulders snugly. She glanced over her shoulder to see his eyes wide. “Discord,” she started softly as she reached up a hoof to put it on his hand, “it’s safe—just trust me, all right?”

His eyes met hers, and then a small smile came back to his own features. “I do. Always.”

She nodded. “Then hold on tight—we’re almost there.” She gestured forward to the end of the luge suddenly looming through the shadows…which would seemingly jettison them off into black nothingness.

Discord’s eyes widened at the sight. “Fine, but I’m buckling you in!”

His tail suddenly encircled both of them, which gave Celestia a warm feeling inside, though her attention quickly focused on the final jump. “Ready…set…” Suddenly they flew off the edge and went airborne.

“Sweet chaos!” Discord yelled.

“Whoo!” Celestia cried out with delight.

They flew through the darkness…and directly into a stone wall! But as they hit, the seemingly solid barrier suddenly flipped them through to a cozy room on the other side then sealed up again behind them.

The two friends landed in a heap on the floor, tangled up together.

Celestia laughed as she raised her head. “Oh that was wonderful! I haven’t done that in ages! You need a partner for it to really get the slide going fast enough for the jumps, but I usually just visit here alone. That was so much better than teleporting though!”

“Well, next time we’re wearing helmets but otherwise…yeah, I guess that was sort of fun.” Discord finally started chuckling as he raised his head too. “Oh you are a wild one, Tia. Absolutely.” He gazed down at her.

She gazed back up at him. “Well, the luge through the castle walls was Luna’s idea, but the jumps and secret wall at the end were mine.”

“The most thrilling parts from the most thrilling woman. Of course.” He winked.

She laughed softly, her eyes hazing a little. “Flirting already, Discord? You really are taking this date seriously.”

“You have no idea.” He let out a sigh, sitting up a little more as he leaned over her. “By the way, this date has just started and we’ve already managed to fall on top of each other. Really now, Tia, what cliché date thing is next? Shall we get locked in the same room for hours, accidentally get hoof-cuffed together, start to finish each other’s…?” He held off on the obvious last word, clearly waiting for her to take over.

Celestia giggled. “Sentences…?” she replied.

“I was going to say ‘songs’ since I like your singing so much, and since you and I really do need to do a duet one of these days, but I’ll accept ‘sentences’ for now.” He chuckled. “And as for the other things…”

“And as for the other things,” Celestia went on, “I’m not sure if a date between the two of us could stand being intense enough to include all of that.” The sun princess rolled her eyes as she blushed.

“Either way, we’re off to a good start here…” And though Discord’s voice had a playful tone, she could see the blush and shy glance down he gave: they really were all tangled up together. For a moment, Celestia had a brief mental flash to Cadance’s letter of advice for her and Discord from so long ago: specifically the pages with diagrams for the best way for a four-legged pony and a two legged draconequus to embrace.

The sun princess finally swallowed. “Well, um… ‘here’ this is just a pit stop, like I said. A place to come back to each night. I’ll, um…I’ll get up and give you the grand tour.” She shifted away from him and got herself sitting.

Discord floated up with a nod as he cleared his throat. “Yes, I was wondering exactly what part of your old castle this…was…” He had finally looked around enough for his eyes to take in their location: a large room with windows overlooking a small balcony, a cozy armchair and rug by the fireplace, a few bookcases filled with old volumes, some shelves full of knick knacks and, on the walls were paintings of a very young Celestia and Luna set over a door in the corner…

“This is my old room—well, part of my old room. I used to call it my parlor,” Celestia explained, glancing around. “My actual bedroom is through the door in the corner, but it’s very big and formal and stuffy. Since this room is brighter and smaller, I cleaned it up on my own a while ago. I visit here sometimes to relax and reminisce, so I thought we could camp out here.” She used her magic to create two ‘beds’ made of large stuffed cushions with colorful pillows, a pink blanket for her and a blue and pink checkerboard blanket for Discord. “We can sleep here, eat here…” She used her magic to turn an end table into a larger table with two chairs and candles, “and just come back here to relax and talk.” She used her magic to take down a few board games from her shelf as well as a pack of cards. Then she turned to Discord with a smile. “What do you think? I figured this way we could still have privacy from everyone but we also wouldn’t have to worry about anyone back home needing to get in contact with us in case of an emergency—we’ll be right nearby after all.”

He just floated there though, looking at her with wide yes and her head tilted. “So, we’ll be sharing a room together for the three days?”

Celestia blinked and instantly felt her white features warm with red. “Oh, well, um…I thought it would be the best way to get to know each other and to catch up since we’ve been apart for so long.” She quickly cleared her throat. “But if you’d be more comfortable with your own room, I could clear the dust out of my actual bedroom and one of us could go in there. It’ll only take me a little while to get it done.”

“No, no—this is fine, really,” Discord quickly assured as he sat on the edge of his bed and shrugged ‘casually’. “Kind of nice actually.” He smiled a little, looking down. “I never, um…lived with a lady before, even if it’s just for three days.”

Celestia sat on the edge of her own bed, her head tilted. “But you lived with Twilight for a few months after our first gala, and sometimes you spend weekends at Fluttershy’s—“

“I meant I never lived with a lady who was more than a friend—sharing a place and room and all that formal stuff,” he clarified quickly, turning to her.

“Oh.” She swallowed. “Really?”

Discord shrugged as he gave a single nod. “I was never much of the settling down type…” he blushed a little and added, “you know, in the past.”

Celestia looked down, still blushing slightly, then smiled a little. “Come to think of it, I’ve never lived with a gentlepony before…one who was more than a friend, I mean, since the guards and stewards who live in the castle wouldn’t really count.”

Discord’s usual warm grin returned. “Well, we’ll certainly be getting a crash course in becoming close during this date, won’t we?”

“Yes.” She nodded, smiling warmly too. “I’m looking forward to it a lot.” She laughed softly. “I’ll try not to wake you up in the morning when I go to raise the sun.”

“And I’ll try not to keep you up all night with my witty conversation and hilarious antics so that you don’t end up too groggy to bring the day to everyone,” he replied.

Celestia’s gaze warmed. “Well then, we better get to the first adventure of our date so we have plenty of time to come back here and talk before bed.”

“Excellent plan.” Discord nodded, his fingers clasped together with a grin. “So then, where do you want to go?”

“I…” Celestia blinked. “Oh, I…” she raised an eyebrow to herself, “I…I guess I thought you would pick.” She shrugged sheepishly.

Discord, however, just shook his head and wagged a finger. “Uh-uh-uh, I’ve been off doing all the adventures I want all summer while you’ve been stuck in that big drafty castle looking over everypony. You pick our adventure: I insist.”

She blushed a little and swallowed. “Discord, you’re always better at coming up with adventures for us, you know that, and especially for something this big—“

“Tia,” he interrupted gently, “my chaotic mind might dream up some of the most thrilling adventures, but you’re the best of thinking of adventures you want to go on.” He shrugged, grinning. “Come on: whatever you want to do, as long as we can do it together, I’m sure it’ll be more than fit for a king of chaos and a princess of ponies.”

“I…well…I appreciate the confidence, Discord.” Celestia was blushing now and biting her lip. She took a deep breath and looked at him, making her smile bright. “Er…how about…lava surfing?”

“Lava surfing?” The chaos master raised an eyebrow so high it left his head.

“Yes, lava surfing: like the dragons do.” Celestia nodded, glancing away. “I’ve always enjoyed lava—it’s sort of like liquid sun. And it would be nice to travel out of Equestria. And it would be thrilling; definitely a challenge for a chaos king and a pony princess.”

Discord’s smile grew and he nodded. “Very well, lava surfing it is, Tia.” He flexed his fingers and chuckled. “Lava—you never told me you liked lava or that you thought of it as liquid sun.” He snapped up two stone ‘surfboards’ with a high wall in the front and low walls at the sides.

“Well, you have been away for three months, visiting new places, new friends…new mares.” She smirked a little as she used her magic to create two stone helmets for them.

“Only because I didn’t know you were secretly pining away for me here at home…” He smirked back as he climbed onto his board and gestured for her to do the same with a sweeping motion of his arm. “And you still could have mentioned it in all the years of our friendship before then.”

Celestia smiled a little more to herself as she climbed aboard her board and used her magic to place both of their helmets on their heads. “Maybe I just enjoy being a mysterious mare, Discord.” She winked at him.

Discord raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

Celestia cleared her throat and powered her horn. “Shall we get going?”

He blinked a few times then smiled and nodded. “Oh…yes, of course.” He usual playful grin returned as he held up the end of his tail to snap. “Lava surfing. Talk about a first date that hits the ground running.” He snapped his tail, his board grew stone feet, then ran forward into a portal through which he disappeared.

Celestia giggling as he left, then bit her lip, took a deep breath, tightened her helmet, and disappeared in a flash of magic.

---

The happy couple hadn’t needed long to find a volcano on the verge of erupting in the dragon lands. And once the initial blast had taken place, they teleported on their boards to the volcano’s peak and started riding the currents down to the red hot lava lake below. As they neared the volcano’s base and jettisoned off crags into the awaiting magma of a lava lake, they picked up speed from the flow and were now riding the crests of lava waves over the lake at full throttle.

“Celestia, you’re brilliant!” Discord called out, riding over a flat rock sticking up through the ‘lake’ to get some air for a jump.

Celestia laughed, hooves on the edge of her board’s rock shield as she flew along with her rainbow hair streaming in the air behind her. “I never realized it would feel like this! You know, I’ve wanted to lava surf ever since I was a filly and got to know about dragons as part of my royal duties!”

“So why didn’t you ever try it?”

“Because recklessly riding waves of bright, hot molten rock didn’t seem like a very royal thing to do—whoo!” she called out with a smile as she caught a large swell.

“And is it royal now?” Discord called out with a smirk.

“Who cares? I’m not on duty now—I’m on a date!” Her board rode the end of the swell to sail her right past Discord.

“Hey!” the chaos master called out. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I think I’m going to reach the rock valley at the end of the lava lake before you do!” Celestia grinned at him over her shoulder.

“Oh yeah?” Discord angled his board, caught a couple small swells, got right near Celestia, then stuck his dragon leg in the lava and used it as a rudder to swerve around her.

“Hey!” she called out with a blink.

“What?” He glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “I thought you liked my dragon leg.” He stuck out his tongue then careened forward.

Celestia rolled her eyes and smirked, then shifted the board onto a fresh swell and ducked her head low to make her board more aerodynamic. She got right alongside him instantly.

“Hey,” Discord raised an eyebrow at the sight of her, “how did you get so close so quickly?”

“Another big swell.” She shrugged with a smug grin.

“But…the swells should only be getting smaller now that we’re getting near to the end of the…lake.” He turned his head and stopped talking, his eyes wide.

“Discord, what—“ Celestia hadn’t felt the tremors at first but now she heard the great boom—a fresh eruption and a big one. She quickly turned to see a cascade of fiery red lava pouring over the volcano’s side and building into a huge new wave that was starting to approach: fast.

Her mouth fell open a little. “Discord, we should…” Then there was another loud sound, and Celestia looked forward to see that a rockslide caused by the volcano’s tremors had cut off the flat stone edge of the lava lake and was sending large swells right toward them, ready to push them far away from safety. She gasped when her board wobbled as the currents of the lava started shifting them toward a large cliff wall instead…where the swiftly approaching lava tidal wave behind them would inevitably crash into herself and Discord in a matter of moments. Celestia blinked and tried to concentrate enough for a teleportation spell, but almost fell off of her board. “Oh!” She was half hanging off for just a moment until suddenly a strong arm pulled her away and she opened her eyes to see that she was beside Discord on his board now…with the rock wall of the cliff right ahead of them, and the lava wave behind now looming right above.

“Tia, hold on!”

“Discord…?” She blinked, blushing a little as he pulled her closer.

“Trust me.” He winked at her then looked forward with a determined scowl just as the shadow of the lava tidal wave behind them started to loom over their heads.

Discord kicked his leg into a shifting swell of lava, got them airborne for a moment, then wrapped himself around her, jumped up from his board, and snapped his fingers.

Celestia saw a flash then felt softness as darkness took over.

---

The scent of something sweet and delicious met Celestia’s nose and woke her up. She blinked a few times until her eyes adjusted to the dimness of wherever she was. “Discord?” His was the first name that came to mind.

“Tia…” she heard a gasp, “you’re awake!”

And suddenly she was indeed wide-awake as a familiar set of strong arms wrapped her up in a tight hug. He pulled back, eyes wide. “Are you okay?”

She blinked a couple times then nodded. “Oh…yes, yes of course. I’m all right.”

He let out a deep sigh and finally released her. “Wonderful.” The chaos master cleared his throat and shrugged. “Sorry for the bumpy landing. I would have just snapped us back to the Everfree Forest, but there wasn’t much time and I was afraid I might accidentally take some of the lava along with us. I hope you’re okay with the alternative though.” Discord gave a shrug, gesturing to what was around them.

Celestia eyed the location. It seemed like a cave but the walls were dark, and the floor looked white and felt so springy and…what smelled like cinnamon? She found the source to be at the mouth of the cave which was covered by a strange light brown door that looked like it had some…bites taken out of it?

Discord explained. “Smores cave: I snapped it up into the cliff and sealed us inside before the tidal wave hit. Marshmallow floor, chocolate walls, graham cracker door: you know, the basics. I figured it’d be appropriate considering all the heat we already have.” He grabbed a large chunk of graham cracker beside him, scooped some (already toasted) marshmallow from the floor, and then let a blob of chocolate fall from the ceiling right on top. “Plus marshmallows always make a great landing pad,” he added as he held out the smore to her.

Celestia took the snack from him, an eyebrow raised in wonder as she still looked around the cave. “You came up with all of this in the split second before the waves overtook us?”

“Hey, I don’t call myself the chaos master for nothing.” He smiled and scooped up some marshmallow on a graham cracker for himself and let a blob of chocolate fall on it as well. “Besides, I know we both like a snack after narrow misses with dangerous situations.” He chuckled. “And, hey, we’re still only on day one of our date, and now we’ve technically managed to get locked in the same room together. Next on the list of cliché shenanigans handcuffed—can’t wait to see what wacky circumstances bring out that situation, huh?” He smirked playfully as he finished “But the most important thing for now as that we’re all right.”

Celestia tried to smile in return but her eyes fell a little instead. “Thank you for saving us, Discord. And for the snack.”

“My pleasure, Tia.” He finished a bite of his smore, still glancing at her as she continued to look down. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Celestia’s brow furrowed. Then she frowned and she put down her smore for a moment. “I just…I didn’t mean for us to end up in a dangerous situation. I wanted our date to be about doing something fun together and enjoying ourselves.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “Well, Tia, in lava surfing’s defense, it is an inherently dangerous activity. I think we both did quite well for our first time though. So what if there was a little hiccup at the end?”

She sighed. “I know, but you and I have already done adventures together that involve saving the world or each other or getting into risky situations for fun. I wanted an adventure that would give us time to go beyond that: something that would let us get close for our first date, something that would romantic in a special way…something that would let us both feel…feel….” She took a small bite of smore and shook her head as she tried to smile again. “Never mind, Discord. I know I’m not making much sense.”

“Fortunately you’re talking to the king of not making sense.” He moved closer to her, an eyebrow raised, his tone gentle. “Tia, if you wanted a sentimental adventure like that, then why did you pick something as extreme as lava surfing?”

She blushed slightly. “I…I think didn’t want you to be bored.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed deeply and brought a hoof to her head. “You see, this was why I thought you should pick what we were going to do: you would have picked something chaotic, and it would have been exciting, and you’d think I was exciting…and chaotic…and you’d know that us being more than friends wouldn’t have to change anything about our time together; that ‘settling down’ wouldn’t mean settling down.” She laid her head against the marshmallow floor. “Cadance says I have a bad habit of getting myself very worked up about dates, and I think she’s right. But still…” her eyes hesitantly shifted to him, “I wanted us to have a date that was chaotic and romantic and unforgettable all at once—the kind of date that would mean a lot to you just like our first gala.” She blushed a little. “That night really could have been perfect if it hadn’t taken me so long to realize that you…and I…”

“Now wait a minute, Celestia…” Discord had just been staring back at her with wide eyes, but now he lay down on the marshmallow floor with her. “First of all, no matter what happened that night, it was one of the best of my life: you became one of my dearest friends on that night. And no one needs to try and relive it in any way other than it was.” His brow furrowed slightly. “And second, you’re wrong about something: us being more than friends changes everything about our time together. But not in big ways; in small ones. I already know there can still be excitement and fun and chaos even if it’ll be a little different now. I already know you can be exciting and fun and chaotic. And I could never ever be bored with you.” He smiled a little. “We just went lava surfing—that’s not boring. And now we’re having a nice talk in a cave, and that’s not boring either. And all of it is romantic and chaotic and fun and memorable. And I have no intention of letting you suffer through so many doubts again if I can help it. Okay?”

Blushing lightly, she nodded. “I know… Somehow I knew all of that already.” She sighed deeply. “Cadance also says that the more I like a suitor, the more flustered I get and the more I overthink things. I think it’s embarrassing, but she thinks it’s adorable.” She cracked a small smile.

“It kind of is,” he added with a chuckle, then moved closer. “You really should have said something about all of your cute dating quirks during cloud talk time.”

She smiled a little and shrugged. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice?”

“I notice everything about you,” he replied with an extra grin.

Her smile grew.

“So, did you actually want to do lava surfing, or…”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I wanted to, but maybe not at first. One day though… It really is something I wanted to try ever since I was young and I first saw the dragon lands and all the lava. I think the way Luna likes thunder and lightning is the way I like lava.” She rolled her eyes but then smiled warmly as she went on. “But for our first outing…I probably would have just chosen a quiet trip to Rainbow Falls or gazing at the canyons in the buffalo lands just outside Appleoosa or, I don’t know…”

“…A secret stroll through the Canterlot castle gardens—like the one we took during our first gala?” Discord suggested with a gentle smile.

“Yes!” Celestia smiled then blinked. “ I mean, yes…” her gaze softened, “not to ‘relive the moment right’ or something, but just to enjoy being together in some place special to us—making new memories.”

Discord nodded then sat up and held out a paw to her. “If you wanted to start simply like that for our date, it’s okay.” He smirked smugly. “We can start right here in this cozy cave actually. Just try to overlook the fluster my masculine charms create in you.”

She chuckled lightly. “It’ll be hard. You fluster me more than any suitor ever has.”

His eyes brightened and Discord’s smile became bright like a happy colt.

Celestia giggled at the sight and put her hoof in his paw to let him help her sit up but then winced and pulled back. “Ow!”

“Tia?” He blinked.

She removed her gold horseshoe to reveal that her hoof was a little red. She frowned. “This shoe must have gotten to close to the lava and the gold must have heated up. I didn’t even notice until now. It’s just a small burn though.” Her cheeks flushed as Discord suddenly took her hoof delicately in both hands.

“Still, a cold compress couldn’t hurt.” He snapped to make a compress appear around her hoof secured with a bandage. “It’s filled with frozen lemonade—great for burns and to drink later once it melts.” He smiled. “We can give it a few minutes to take effect and then we can head back to the forest castle.”

“Thank you, Discord.” Her eyes met his, and she suddenly became very aware of their closeness and the dimness of this place and the touch of his fingertips. “I won’t be worked up anymore about our date. I think it’s all out of my system.”

“Good.” He lightly brushed his fingertips over her hoof, back and forth. “Then…maybe I won’t be so worked up soon too.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You? But…you’ve seemed so calm this whole time…”

“I’m a master of trickery.” He smirked then looked down shyly. “How I’m worked up is a little different from how you’re worked up. But in the interest of letting us have as much time as possible to be close and open with each other, I’ll just explain everything to you instead of waiting for some dramatic time to reveal it all. Maybe tonight once we head back to your old castle? Just you and me and a cozy fire?”

Celestia swallowed, blushing warmly and hiding in her hair a little. “I’d like that.”

He claw gently played over her hoof…then his paw moved away. She watched as he raised it, heading toward her shoulder, but paused for a moment.

“Discord?” she whispered softly.

He replied softly in return. “Under my thinking tree all that time ago, you said I shouldn’t hold you because it would complicate things. Thinking too much about moments like that is part of how I’m worked up.”

The sun princess could have laughed. She shifted closer so that her shoulder came up under his paw and replied simply, “I want things to be complicated now.” She heard him let out a deep sigh and saw him smile more in the dimness. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he leaned his head near her ear. Suddenly Celestia was very glad she had chosen lava surfing for their activity especially as she felt their hips touch and Discord’s tail twist lightly through her own. Her ear shifted to his chest, and when she heard the funny fast rhythm of his heart, her own pulsed like mad. She had never simply touched someone so thoroughly—yet the closer they got, the more she wanted. And as she felt his paw start to shift across her back from one shoulder to the next beneath the cascade of her hair, she knew he wanted more too.

“Celestia, I…”

His voice was low and deep that it made her ears flick. “Yes, Discord?” left her almost breathlessly in a way she’d never spoken to anyone else before.

“I…”

There was no sense of time or day or night in this chaotic cave he had made for them. It was like sharing eternity together in a single moment.

“…I…”

She wondered if it would help him speak if she leaned up and kissed that silver-tongued mouth of his, but decided it might only make him more flustered. She would let him finish saying whatever was on his mind and then maybe in the heat of the moment she might give in and embrace his lips, probably still tasting of sweet marshmallow and chocolate and cinnamon. Silly chaos master…hiding from her heart in plain sight all this time… How had she resisted him for so many years?

She let her chest lightly brush his.

“I—“ He held her more closely, and all of her feelings grew.

But suddenly there was a loud crash, and Discord’s graham cracker cave door burst into crumbs and dust.

Celestia and Discord coughed and looked toward the entrance with wide eyes, where now in full of light and the sight of the sky stood the figure of Princess Ember.

“Attention, trespassers! I mean…” Ember swallowed, lowering her voice slightly. “Hello, potential new friends. My dragons and I heard your activities in this area when we were flying by to observe the eruption. We saw you overtaken by a lava tidal wave and saw the magic that created this cave. So we came to help you…or whatever!” She pouted a little.

Celestia blinked. “Princess Ember!”

Discord grinned. “Oh, Ember, thank chaos—I thought there’d been another eruption or something. Nice chaotic knockdown of that door, by the way.”

Ember blinked and tilted her head. “Discord? Princess Celestia? What are you two doing here?”

Celestia swallowed. “Oh, well, we were lava surfing. Heh…”

“Lava surfing?” Ember raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Dragons usually use that as a competitive form of battle. Are you two having a fight?”

“Form of competition? Fight?” Celestia blinked. “I didn’t know…”

“We’re not having a fight,” Discord rolled his eyes to the side. “Celestia and I were just doing it to have fun…together…on our, um…well…”

“On our date,” Celestia finished sheepishly, pressing her hoof a little more against Discord’s claw.

Discord smiled warmly at her for a moment.

Then the two of them realized they were still wrapped up together and quickly separated, blushing and clearing their throats.

Ember watched them with wide eyes for a moment. “Ohhh…” she finally said in realization, “So it’s like part of a pony courtship ritual?”

“In a way…” Celestia managed a small shrug.

“Well, yes, I suppose…” Discord twiddled his thumbs.

Ember turned around and called out of the mouth of the cave. “Hey guys!”

“Yeah?” a lot of dragon voices boomed back at her.

“It’s okay, it’s just Princess Celestia and Discord, and they weren’t fighting—they were doing a courtship ritual!”

“Oh…!” all the voices answered back.

Discord blushed and rubbed the back of his neck while Celestia just brought a hoof to her forehead and sighed.

Ember turned back to them. “Are you two still in the middle of the courtship ritual or are you done now?”

“Erm, done, for now,” Discord quickly answered as Celestia nodded.

“Great.” Ember smiled. “Well, then, want to come with us and maybe have something to eat? Spike taught me that offering meals is something friends do. Besides,” she grinned at Discord, “I told you you’re welcome here any time—with a chaperone. And it seems like this time you actually listened to me.”

Discord sighed and rolled his eyes. “Ember, Ember, Ember…still not over me turning the lava into melted nacho cheese last time I passed by here, are you?”

“And Discord, still not over me beating you out in a fire breathing contest, are you?” She smirked.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at him. “You can breathe fire?”

He held up a finger. “Only after I’ve had five alarm jalapeno salsa.” He grinned at Celestia. “I guess you’re not the only one who still has some mysterious secrets to share, lava lover.”

The sun princess blushed and tried not to smile too much…especially as she remembered the Ember was still watching (and that it sounded like a few dozen dragons were waiting for them just outside of Discord’s cave). She cleared her throat and looked to the dragon lord. “We’d love to have a bite to eat and get caught up, Ember. And I’ll be happy to act as Discord’s chaperone,” she added with a little extra smile.

“Great.” Ember smiled and flew up. “I hope you two don’t mind a small feast. It’s dragon tradition to entertain fellow royalty with everything we’ve got and to embrace new courtship’s in the same way, and there’s both to celebrate with you too.”

“Okay, but I’m bringing smores!” Discord called out as he snapped; instantly the large patch of marshmallow dribbled with chocolate and graham cracker crumbs rose up in front of himself and Celestia.

Ember raised an eyebrow. “What are…smores?”

Celestia and Discord looked at each other, then Discord looked to Ember. “A treat that a land full of endless fire sources should never be without. I’ll be happy to teach you all about them and to leave the cave here in case you dragons want to gather supplies in the future.”

Celestia nodded. “It’s the least we could do for all of your hospitality, Ember.”

“I’m just glad you two are all right.” Ember smiled at them, then she turned back to the outside of the cave with her usual scowl. “All right, guys, make way—princess and chaos master coming through with something called…smores.”

Celestia and Discord shared another small laugh as they followed after the marshmallow bubble floated out of the cave to meet the other dragons.

---

“Tia, this carrot and cream soup you whipped up is simply delicious. Are you sure that sun cutie mark of yours isn’t actually a vague hint that your special talent involves heating up savory dinners?” Discord grinned at Celestia as he snapped to lift the ladle from a cauldron before them near the lit fireplace in Celestia’s old parlor and refill his bowl.

The sun princess smiled as she finished another spoonful of soup. “No, I’m pretty sure the cutie mark is just about raising the sun. But thank you for the encouragement: if I ever retire, maybe I’ll consider opening a restaurant. And I’ll have you prepare all the drinks.” She sipped from a large glass of chocolate milk using a crazy straw. “Shaken not stirred with extra chocolate: I think it’s time I admitted that part of me may actually like this better than cake.”

Discord gave her a dry smirk. “Abandoning cake? Okay, what kind of rogue, still-evil changeling are you, and what have you done with the mare of my dreams?”

The two of them burst into warm laughter.

When they finally settled down, Celestia sighed and gazed at the balcony window. The moon shone high overhead, illuminating the room along with the flames of the fire before them (they had spent so long with the dragons that she’d only barely returned to the old castle in time to lower the sun). They were in such a peaceful moment. She sighed, considering something.

“Want any leftover smores to go with the chocolate milk?”

Celestia blinked, coming out of her thought for a moment, and turned to see Discord holding up his fingers to snap. She shook her head with a smile. “No, no, no…I think I had more than enough smores for quite a while with Ember and the other dragons.”

Discord nodded as he lowered his fingers. “Yeah, ditto. Can you believe an entire race of creatures with their own perfect heat source had no clue about that dessert? We certainly righted a grave wrong today, didn’t we, Tia?”

“Yes, I believe so. It was certainly an interesting date.” She swallowed. “It’s also very interesting that now the dragons believe we’re involved in a formal courtship after they burst in on us in your smore cave.” She took a deep sip of her chocolate milk.

“Are you uncomfortable about them knowing about our date?” Discord asked with a tone of understanding that made Celestia smile.

“No,” she shook her head, “I was just sad our date got interrupted so suddenly. We barely had a chance to enjoy your cave.” She blushed deeply; she could still feel the ghost of his paw drifting over her shoulders in the dimness, remember the funny rhythm of his heart, hear him trying to tell her something in that tone of his that had filled her with so much warmth and longing that she blushed to remember it now.

Discord’s eyes widened a little and he blushed too. “Oh…yes, of course.” He swallowed.

“It was nice,” Celestia quickly added, feeling her face heat up more and her smile grow as she glanced away for a moment.

Discord took a deep breath. “Tia? Speaking of the cave… maybe I should tell you now what I meant back there about being worked up about our date too in my own way. That way there won’t be any more misunderstandings, and we can just enjoy each other’s company completely.”

“I’d like that.” She nodded, glancing back over at him. “I was waiting for you to say something.”

He nodded too then looked to her and took a deep breath. “I’m not worried about boring you; I’m worried about overwhelming you.” She raised an eyebrow as he went on. “I…I’m good at acting charming and calm and confident with ladies for fun, but…it’s very hard for me to express my true, deep romantic feelings for them. This sort of wince goes through me—this worry about being rejected if I open up like that but it’s too much for the person I care about to handle.” He cringed a little but managed to finish, “I’m afraid of getting hurt.”

Celestia frowned. “I’m so sorry, Discord. Did someone you liked a lot hurt you like that? Do you want to talk about it?” She blushed more and looked down, torn between wanting to give him a chance to share but not wanting to hear about another girl he could have cared for so deeply.

The chaos master sighed, almost smiling. “It was just a result of a misunderstanding….” He looked down a little and shifted closer to her. “You see, once upon a time I went to a dance with the first girl I ever fell for and spilled my guts to her in the middle of a full ballroom thinking she felt the same way. But when she didn’t…” He stopped talking at the feeling of Celestia’s hoof on his paw.

She just looked up at him with wide, shimmering eyes.

He only smiled. “Tia, remember what I said: no matter what happened that night at the gala, I wouldn’t change a thing. That moment may have been difficult, but you were the best friend to go through it with me. You made me able to try at love again even if I was still scared.” He swallowed. “But part of me is still worried that…if I let myself open up all the way and show you just how much you mean to me, you’ll be overwhelmed again. But I also feel like I need to open up because this is my one shot—not just with you but to find someone to…to…” He bit his lip.

“Tell me.” She moved closer. “You can tell me anything about how you feel, Discord. I want to know it all.”

He looked into her eyes. “You’re the only one for me. So this is my last chance to find someone to spend the rest of my life with.” He blushed completely and looked down a little, shaking his head. “I know, I know, I know, that’s way too much to be thinking about on just a first date, but I can’t help it. I’m ready for everything with you, darling Celestia, even if all you’re ready for right now is just to have a date with me.”

She leaned up and lightly kissed him on the cheek then pulled back with a small smile. “Thank you for telling me. And I’ll make you a deal—I won’t spend any more of our date worrying about living up to your expectations if you won’t spend any more of it trying to suppress the depth of your feelings, okay?”

The chaos master nodded with a warm smile. “Deal.” And then he gazed dreamily at her, his eyes hazed. “In that case, is it okay if I just gaze at you like this from time to time? Resisting the compulsion is very hard. And you are quite a lovely sight to behold, especially in firelight.”

“Don’t you mean ‘in firelight, in moonlight, in sunlight—all the lights really’?” She smirked.

He chuckled. “Oh you’re so cute when you tease me…and especially about that first quite cozy Hearthswarming together.”

Celestia rolled her eyes, smiling and blushing more. Then she swallowed. “Discord? Back in the cave, before the dragons came…it sounded like you were going to tell me something. What was it?”

He blushed—the completely pink blush he only got in his most flustered moments. He opened his mouth, tried to speak, but then closed it and swallowed. “I don’t think I’m ready right now, Tia. I’m sorry.”

She ignored the small bit of curious disappointment in her heart and only nodded, her voice soft. “Don’t be sorry. There’s a lot to be said for waiting for the right time for something special.” She looked into his eyes.

He looked back at her with a tender smile, tail lightly swishing behind him. “I couldn’t agree more.” He took her paw and raised it to his lips but then blinked. “Celestia, your hoof!” He quickly cupped the delicate appendage (now back in its shoe) in both hands. “I almost forgot. Is it okay? Is the burn better? I’m sorry, I didn’t even think to ask you about it…”

Celestia’s smile warmed. “It’s okay, Discord. And yes, it feels a lot better.”

“Are you sure?” He bit his lip, hesitating.

She nodded. “Your frozen lemonade compress helped a lot. Thank you.” She blushed a little. “And thank you again for saving us from the lava wave—for saving me.” She cleared her throat. “I…I honestly can’t remember the last time someone saved me like that.”

Discord tilted his head at first but then smiled slightly. “Ah, I see. I didn’t bruise your royal ego at all, did I?” he asked with tender humor.

She blushed more and rolled her eyes. “No, of course not… Not much.” The sun princess smiled sheepishly. “Actually, it was a nice change of pace having someone take care of me like that.”

His eyes went down shyly, though his smile only grew. “I really couldn’t help myself. I like to keep you safe. Consider me at your service, my princess.” He raised up her hoof again and kissed the back of it.

“L-Likewise, mighty lord of chaos,” Celestia managed before a long giggle escaped her at the tickle of his beard on her hoof.

When Discord pulled back from her hoof, he chuckled, which made her giggle more, and for a moment the two of them shared a warm laugh by the fire as the night darkened outside and the cares and joys of the day washed through their minds.

Celestia wished that single joyous moment could have lasted forever—but she knew it was doomed to end the second a yawn suddenly escaped her amid the laughter.

Discord picked up on the yawn as his laughter slowly subsided. He gave a stretch. “You’re sleepy,” he observed. “Come to think of it, I am too. It really has been a doozy of a day after all. Perhaps we should turn in.” He stood up.

Celestia did her best to contain another yawn. “But it’s barely after sunset, Discord. And we only have the next three days for this date. We could explore the castle some more or take flight over the forest by moonlight or play a game or sing a song or…or…” The cursed yawn escaped her unfortunately, and right when Discord was looking at her with a particularly all-knowing grin.

“Or…” he continued for her, “We could get plenty of rest, probably have some fantastic dreams about each other, and then wake up early all refreshed and ready to tackle a brand new full day together.” He shrugged. “Or we could do your ‘stay up all night’ plan, I suppose, and end up cranky and sleepy all day tomorrow with no energy to go anywhere.” She smiled a little and rolled her eyes. He went on. “Or, this being a date, there is a third option—we could always neck.” He gave her a big grin and a wink.

Celestia blushed pink and gave him a dry look. “A flirt til the end, aren’t you, Discord?”

“Would you have me any other way?” He held his head high with a proud smile

“Never.” She didn’t hesitate. Then she blushed slightly as she added, “But you’re also a somewhat reasonable spirit of chaos from time to time. Would you settle for a goodnight kiss instead as the final part of our date today?”

He moved closer to her, features a little rosy. “A kiss with you is never settling, darling Celestia.”

They both blushed and smiled sweetly and then came forward and shared a small peck that lingered…and lingered…and lingered. Celestia tilted her head and felt her heart flutter as Discord let out a deep, pleased sigh through his nose. But as his paw came up and shyly touched her hair, she pulled back with a deep breath and swallowed, managing to keep a calm smile. “We really should get to bed.” She cleared her throat. “If you want to get cleaned up, the nearest bathroom is just two trap doors and a hall of mirrors away. I can show you how to get there.”

Discord blinked a few times and finally came out of whatever fluster that kiss had left him in. “Oh, uh…” he cleared his throat and resumed his usual charming smile, “that’s all right, Tia, you go on. I never leave home without my traveling washroom, you know.” He snapped—instantly he was standing in a floating bathtub with a full curtain around him, a show cap on, a rubber ducky held in his tail and a bath brush held in his claw.

Celestia nodded and chuckled. “Of course—how could I forget? It certainly came in handy for you that time we tried to have a magic-free cake baking contest in the castle kitchen and your oven accidentally exploded open with batter.”

Discord chuckled, leaning against the bar holding up the shower curtain. “And it came in handy that day you and I had the chocolate milk water balloon fight in the chaos dimension.”

Celestia laughed more. “Oh, and let’s not forget the time at the unicorn academy when we…”

They spoke in unison now, eyes brightening, “…led the students in an epic tug of war outside for their physical education final and ended up breaking the rope and falling in to the mud!”

They shared a hearty laugh.

When Celestia finally caught her breath, she used her magic to make a large white towel appear over her back and moved toward a wall with a candlestick holder attached to the brick. “All right, Discord, I’ll leave you to your traveling wash room and head to the bathroom. And when I get back, a nice early night’s rest it is.”

“Glad to hear it.” He yawned (a bit dramatically). “I’m even a little too tired for the necking option, come to think of it.”

They shared another small laugh again. Then Celestia pulled the candlestick, causing large trap door with stairs to open in the floor by the wall. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes slightly hazed. “I’ll see you soon, Discord.”

He gave her a little wave with his fingers, his own eyes hazed. “just try not to get lost in this death trap labyrinth you used to call a home.”

“I’ll do my best,” she replied with another chuckle then headed down the stairs and out of sight.

Alone now, Discord simply gazed for a moment at the last place she had been. Then he glanced around and suddenly ducked down into his bathtub, and finally (quietly) exclaimed to himself with a smile so bright that he felt he might sprain his face, “She likes me! We’re really here, we’re really doing this, and we…oh, she likes me! She’s a bit shy and maybe a little nervous sometimes and…maybe she’s a little hesitant about all of this in her own way…” he frowned slightly for just a moment but then his smile returned. “But the most important thing is that she likes me! I’m dating my darling Princess Celestia!”

The chaos masater snapped up a scroll and quill, quickly penned several lines, then snapped it away and finally let out a deep breath. “Okay, okay…now that I sent a quick, gushing note to Fluttershy, I think I’m all right again. Whoo…” He closed his eyes, still beaming. “I’m just so happy…and all thanks to you, sweet Tia.” He swallowed, gaze tender as he twiddled his fingers shyly. “And maybe before our few days together are over, I’ll even have enough courage to finally tell you…to tell you that I…” he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, “I love you, Celestia. I know you kind of know already, but I’ve never actually said the words to you. But I’m going to do it sometime on this date: I can feel it.” His features went a lovely rosy color. Then Discord nodded to himself in determination and finally turned on the water of his shower, steam starting to cloud things over in the room.

The chaos master proceeded to clean up quickly, then snapped away the washroom, got himself settled into bed, and snapped up some reading classes and some papers to distract himself until the return of his lovely companion to their room for the night.

---

Meanwhile, in Fluttershy’s cottage in Ponyville…

Fluttershy and Luna were enjoying an early night tea party together. Well…the tea itself was enjoyable, but the two of them were clearly quite preoccupied as they chatted and nervously played with their hooves on the table.

“Thank you for keeping me company, dear Fluttershy.” Luna drained yet another teacup. “But I know it’s getting late, and I’m sure you must want to get to bed. Please, do not let me keep you up: you’ve already done so much to help calm my excitement and anticipation about the results and Celestia and Discord’s date together.”

Fluttershy smiled, refilling Luna’s cup as she took a scone for herself. “You’re very welcome, Princess Luna, but really I’m not sleepy at all. Thinking about Celestia and Discord has me a little nervous too. I just hope everything’s going well for them.” She sighed, looking down at her scone but then frowning and not picking it up. “I’m not sure how I’ll sleep at all until they get back. I just wish I knew if things were starting out well.”

“Indeed.” Luna looked down a little. “I am sorely tempted to reach out to their dreams tonight, though I know they deserve privacy. But I too would at least like some sign that all was well.”

Just then a scroll appeared in a burst of confetti and glitter (and with a fanfare sound effect) and quickly unfurled itself in front of Fluttershy.

“Oh my!” the yellow pegasus exclaimed but then she gasped with a bright smile. “It’s from—“

“Discord!” Luna’s eyes brightened. “Oh read it, Fluttershy, pray do!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, it’s very short, but…” She cleared her throat and began.

Dear Fluttershy!

Dating is a fantastic invention, and whoever conceived of the idea of courtship should be worshipped as the most brilliant of all social innovators.

And just in case the implication I’m trying to make isn’t coming through, I am on a date with the mare of my dreams, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic!

I don’t have time to write too much now—Tia will be back soon once she’s done cleaning up. We had such an adventure today with everything from dragons to smores to secret water slides. I never want this date to end, but at the same time I can’t wait to come home and tell you everything…including, hopefully, some excellent news about the future for Tia and I.

Take care, dear Fluttershy. And I know you’re probably worrying yourself about me (and that Luna’s probably in a tizzy about Tia, and that Cadance and Twilight are probably the same way about both of us), but please relax and be happy. No matter what the end of this date brings, I promise there’s nothing to worry about: Celestia and I are friends forever no matter what the future holds.

Missing our tea parties already!

Love,

Discord, Chaos Master (and Dater) Extraordinaire!

Fluttershy looked up at the sound of Luna giggling. The moon princess beamed. “Huzzah! Discord is clearly enchanted, and he knows Celestia well enough to be able to tell if she wasn’t having a good time, so she must be quite happy with this arrangement too. Oh Fluttershy, all of this is wonderful!” She suddenly reached across the table and hugged Fluttershy, lifting her right up out of her seat.

Fluttershy blinked but then smiled. “Yes, Princess Luna, I think it’s wonderful too. And it makes me feel so much better to hear such good things from Discord. I’m calmer already.” She swallowed as Luna’s hold tightened. “Um…and I’m glad to see that you seem happier too, but…is there any way you could possibly put me down now?”

Luna laughed as she gave Fluttershy a final quick hug and then set her down and resumed her own seat. “Of course, of course, dear Fluttershy. I didn’t mean to be so enthusiastic; it is just such a great relief to me that the date is starting out well. And now I won’t feel such an awful temptation to peek at their dreams.” She chuckled.

Fluttershy nodded then considered. “Do you think I should write Discord back?”

Luna shook her head. “Nay, it sounds like he had a spare moment and chose to write to you, but I don’t think we should potentially interrupt anything between him and Celestia.”

“I think you’re right.” Fluttershy nodded and tucked away the scroll under her wing. “Besides, they’ll be back in just a couple more days and we can both talk to them then.”

“Very true.” Luna nodded, draining her teacup again.

Fluttershy took a bite of her scone then yawned.

Luna’s gaze became warm. “A great relief before bedtime often quickly leads to a sound night’s sleep. I think this is my cue to depart, Fluttershy.” She rose up from the table.

“Oh…okay,” Fluttershy replied, unable to protest as she yawned again. “But if you’d like some company for breakfast tomorrow since Celestia’s away, you’re more than welcome to stop here in the morning before you go to bed.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy.” Luna bowed her head graciously. “I shall see you in the morning then, and we can continue to keep each other company.” Her horn glowed. “Farewell and sweet dreams.”

“Bye Princess Luna.” Fluttershy waved.

Luna teleported away in a flash of magic.

Fluttershy stretched a little then stood up from the table. “Come on, Angel, time for bed,” she called out into the living room. “We can clean up the dishes in the morning before Princess Luna comes back.”

Angel hopped off the living room couch and onto her back as she headed toward the stairs. He eyed the letter tucked behind her wing.

Fluttershy noticed and smiled. “It’s from Discord. And don’t worry, Angel, he’ll be over here again soon to keep you company at night. I know you miss him a little.”

Angel rolled his eyes and pouted with a scowl…but then shrugged.

Fluttershy held back a giggled as she ascended to the second floor. “Come on, let’s get a good night’s sleep and we’ll see Discord in a few days.”

Soon the lights went out and the cottage went quiet as sleep descended over its occupants (and Luna made sure that a certain yellow pegasus within would especially have good, worry-free dreams).

---

Back at the Everfree Forest castle, Celestia found herself ascending the trap door steps and finally reentering her old parlor, feeling refreshed and sleepy and happy to have someone to come back to for the night.

Her eyes focused on her bed first, so cozy and inviting, and then went to the bed beside it…which currently held a reclining draconequus wearing reading glasses, a purple and white striped nightcap, and writing something on one of several floating scrolls. She bit her lip and tried not to blush as she approached. ‘Why is he so attractive to me in clothes? If he twirls his beard right now too…’

Just as the chaos master went to absentmindedly perform that action, his ears perked and his eyes went to her at the sound of her approach. He lowered his paw from his beard (which made Celestia release a small inward sigh of both relief and disappointment about the loss of witnessing the cute gesture) and smiled. “Welcome back, Tia.” Then he blushed slightly, gazing dreamily at her. “It’s nice to see you.” He blinked. “Again! It’s nice to see you again,” he managed awkwardly.

The sun princess raised an eyebrow then glanced down at herself for a moment. ‘Do I still have some chocolate on me from the smores? He’s acting like there’s something strange about how I look…’ Suddenly her violet eyes widened as she recalled that she wasn’t wearing her regalia anymore. She hadn’t even thought about the fact that she would be walking back into this room without it. She smiled a little. ‘I really must be perfectly comfortable with him now not to feel strange at all—the only one I usually ever let see me like this is Luna. Is Discord really that attracted to me that he would notice? That he would care so much?’ She blushed hotly but then quickly snapped herself out of it and managed to look up at him and reply, “I was only gone for a little while, Discord. Did you really miss me so much?”

“Enough that I was quite tempted to start writing love letters to you just like you almost wrote to me, my princess.” He managed with a little grin and actually winked at her.

She giggled and finally found the courage to move forward and climb into her bed. “What are you reading?” she asked as she settled under the covers.

Discord stretched. “Oh, I was just looking over some lesson plans for chaos class. Something about doing that always helps me relax whenever I’m nervous.” He blinked twice and then quickly snapped away the scrolls with a slight clearing of his throat.

Celestia smiled a little. “Why are you nervous, Discord?”

“I-I’m not nervous now,” he admitted with a blush. “But, waiting for you for the last few minutes, well…that made me nervous.” He shifted onto his side to face her more. “This is the first night of our date, and I was starting to overthink things, and worry, and get a little too emotional…so before I could hit the point of not being able to sleep a wink all night, I pulled out the paperwork. But between that and you being back here, I feel a lot better now.”

“I see. Well, I’m glad you feel better, Discord.” The sun princess smiled a little more, nestling into her pillow. “And I’m glad you decided you were comfortable with both of us sharing a room. It’s like a sleepover, and the other princesses and I don’t get to have those nearly enough. It’s nice to have someone to talk to at the end of the day though.”

“I agree, definitely.” The chaos master nodded, relaxing a little into his pillow too. “The guys and I don’t get enough of a chance for sleepovers either. And you and I hang out at night sometimes, but this is the first time it ever wasn’t just a midnight cake binge while telling jokes and reminiscing about fond friendly memories.”

“Yes.” She laughed at the memories. “Those times have always been nice. And this time we have together now is nice too.” Another yawn of sleepiness escaped her though her smile remained. “Discord? We’ll have a full day together tomorrow. How do you think we should spend it?”

He raised an eyebrow, yawning as well. “I thought you were going to pick our adventures since I already got to spend an entire summer gallivanting around.”

“But what I want to do most tomorrow is to find out where you would take me on a date.” She shrugged sheepishly. “I’ve always wondered secretly what you’d have us do in that situation…and now I get to find out.” Her eyes hazed. “Whatever you decide we’ll do, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful. And no matter what it is, I’ll feel special and safe as long as we’re together, my good friend.”

He was blushing with a big smile by now. “Well, when you put it that way…I did have some ideas in mind for what we could do together as long as we’re out here braving the wilds of Equestria, just you and me.”

Her eyes brightened. “Wonderful, Discord. Where do we start?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.” He stretched, snuggling completely into his bedding. “I want it to be a surprise.”

“Very well.” Celestia considered, then added, “In that case, to make sure we both have a something special to look forward to tomorrow, I think I’ll prepare us a surprise breakfast.”

“Sounds delicious. I can hardly wait.” He chuckled.

She giggled. “I can’t wait either, Discord.”

They shared a tender gaze for a moment, their eyes growing heavy.

“I’ll really try not to wake you up at dawn,” Celestia whispered.

“Don’t worry about it, Tia,” he assured in a whisper as well. “The more time I get to spend awake with you on this date instead of just dreaming about you, the better.” He winked.

She blushed and smiled more. “I feel the same way about you.”

They laughed lightly then yawned at the same time.

“Goodnight, Discord.”

“Goodnight, darling Celestia.”

They shared a final, tender look in the dimness of the room before closing their eyes to drift off.

Soon, from Discord, came light snores and silence…and maybe a few mumbles as he dreamed and cuddled snugly against his pillow.

Meanwhile, the princess’s mind drifted in and out of dreams set right in this location…except the draconequus a few feet away was right beside her—the two of them cuddled together in warmth and comfort.

Dawn approached far too quickly for her.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone!

Sorry for so much delay, my life's been very hectic lately Lots of people need me to do lots of things lol. And also I'm trying to do some things for myself. But anyway, I hope you liked this installment! And in case the length of this chapter hasn't made it clear, that whole 'shorter chapters' thing I mentioned at the beginning of this fic clearly isn't happening lol. No guarantees the rest of the chapters will be as long as this one, but there's a good chance : ) Anyway, there should only be three more chapters in Discord and Celestia's date before the big finale And the next chapter starts out really, really, really fun

Thank you guys so much for reading (and reviewing if you can)! My schedule is super crazy but I'll post when I can, and I appreciate your patience ^^

~Azure129

Comments

[nebulaegalaxy]

IT UPDATED
HALLELUJAH

imma read tomorrow it’s to late for tonight :’D

[Edit] hooohh mah gawd the way u write them is so cuuuutte

[Marina]

Beautiful!

[Astrid-Flavia-Dorina]

This chapter is so good! I couldn't stop smiling when reading it!

[lillytheomegawolf]

Lovely chapter.
Great to see this continued.

[TalkingCake]

omg how dare work take me away from reading the update to MCDE ;-;....other than that it was such an amazing adorable fluffy chapter...well worth the wait :)

[Azure129]

8458995
Thanks so much, glad you liked it!

8460082
Thank you!!!

8464531
Aw, thanks! I'm so happy you liked it

8469786
Thank you, and thanks for reading!

8471986
Thanks so much! And thanks for your patience, I just wish I could post them sooner ^^

[LittleDidTheyKnow]

8474942

They flew through the darkness…and directly into a stone wall!

Is that the first you've ever used a exclamation mark outside of a character's dialogue?
I don't know why, but that caught my attention for some reason!

[TalkingCake]

8341624
yeah i will....i just yknow...need to actually find one that i want to do...maybe suggest me one?

[Adalbert]

This story is great. I love what you did with Discord's character. Looking forward to the next update - please, make it happen!

[lazyreader19]

Hnnng, so cute