Like Fireworks in the Sky

by SpyroForLife

5. Finished Planning

It was a lazy morning and Tempest was very comfortable snuggled up in bed, not fully asleep but also not particularly eager to get up. So of course, it was on this warm and pleasant morning that her rest was interrupted.

“Good morning!” a cheery voice called overhead, and she jumped, rolling onto her back and seeing Discord's beaming face over her.

Tempest yelped and scrambled away, falling off the bed. She stared at Discord as he roared with laughter, her heart thudding. “What are you doing in my bed?!”

“Waking you up, of course! You ponies are so adamant about your personal space.”

Tempest cleared her throat, then gave him a smile. “Well yeah, we don't like it if you just get in our personal space without asking. But if you did ask... I'd probably say yes.”

“Haha... what?”

Tempest climbed to her hooves, idly messing with her mane. “Anyway, if you want to wake me up, just like... do the normal thing and stand next to the bed. Don't just lay on it and yell at me.”

Discord wrapped himself up in her blanket and just grinned. “You've known me for far too long to expect me to be 'normal'.”

“Two months is far too long?”

Discord dropped the blanket. “That reminds me! I'm here because this actually is exactly two months of us knowing each other! I want to treat you to breakfast!”

“Rainbow Dash was right, you have gone soft,” Tempest commented.

“Shush.” With a wave of his hand, Discord turned the entire room into a restaurant, where they were the only two customers.

Tempest was so used to him transforming the environment that she just accepted it, picking up the menu in front of her. “Oh, I never knew there were so many types of pancakes.”

“Indeed!” Discord read his own menu, and after about a minute, they were approached by another Discord wearing an apron.

“What can I get you to drink?” he asked.

“Oh, I'll just have a um...” Tempest turned to the drink menu. “Apple cider, thank you.”

“I'll take a margarita,” Discord said. “Surprise me.”

“It's morning!” Tempest exclaimed.

Discord raised a brow. “So?”

After a second, Tempest turned to the server. “You know what, make that a strawberry margarita for me instead.”

The server Discord grinned. “You got it.” He wrote in his notepad and walked away.

They went back to reading the food choices, and finally Tempest settled on the blueberry pancakes.

“Sounds good,” Discord said. “I think I'm going to have a simple but delicious egg and cheese skillet!”

Their server was back in seconds with the margaritas, which were both served frozen. Tempest's was strawberry as requested and the rim was coated with sugar, with an actual full strawberry on it. Meanwhile, Discord received a bright pink margarita.

“Cotton candy!” he exclaimed after sniffing it. He grinned at his counterpart. “Oh, you know me too well.”

“Ohoho, just a lucky guess,” the other Discord replied. “Are we ready to order?”

They nodded and ordered their meals, and rather than walking away to put the order in, the server just snapped his fingers and made the food appear right in front of them. Tempest jokingly clapped for him, and he bowed before disappearing.

“Alright, let's dig in!” Discord grabbed a fork.

The food was delicious, and Tempest was once again impressed by how Discord could just conjure up actual, well-made food. She's tried it a few times but didn't quite have the hang of it. She had found that she had more success making spicy things, but anything else just turned out bland. Luckily she could cook for real.

“So, heard anything from Twilight about that mission to help the storm creatures?” Discord asked as he speared some eggs.

“Hm, she said she's still doing research,” Tempest said, pouring more syrup onto her pancakes. “But I think she's almost learned what she needed. She's just trying to figure out who I should go with. Her other friends are pretty busy... she mentioned maybe sending Starlight along, or Sunburst. Oh, but Sunburst is also busy in the Crystal Empire with his duties there, I mean foalsitting Flurry Heart alone is a big job. Honestly, it might come down to me and Starlight, and maybe someone who's good at building...”

“Well, I hope she's able to find you enough teammates.” Discord was almost done with his food already. “But no matter who goes with you, I know you'll do a great job out there. You and Starlight are both very talented.”

“I guess so. I'm just a little nervous, this is going to be a big deal.”

“It's totally normal to be nervous. But don't let that stop you. Get out there and be awesome. You were totally cool and confident while invading Canterlot. Be like that again.”

Tempest smiled as she cut another piece out of her pancakes. “You're right. I have what it takes, and I can be confident. I just don't want to hurt anyone again.”

Discord reached over to pat her hoof. “And you won't. I know that.”

She looked up and met his eyes. He was being sincere, and her cheeks felt warm. “Thank you.” She looked back down, taking a few more bites from her pancakes before changing the subject. “So um, I was thinking of trying weather manipulation today. And I don't mean typical stuff like making it rain... I was imagining more along the lines of cheese tornadoes.”

Discord lifted his hand and laughed. “Oh, splendid! I would love to teach you how to wield power over the sky that pegasi could only dream of. We can get to it once we finish breakfast.”

“Alright. But I'm in no hurry.” Tempest lifted her drink. She's been sipping at it for most of the meal, but now she drank it more quickly. It was incredibly sweet, and the sugar clung to the fur around her lips. She lowered the glass and licked her lips off. “We have gotta have drinks together more often.”

“You like it? I'll gladly make more. You know what? Next time we hang out at my place, we can have drinks and maybe you can start making an O&O character!”

“Sounds great. I think I want to play as a sorceress.”

“Wonderful!”

They settled into a discussion about O&O, and Tempest found herself thinking that she was really going to miss Discord when she was sent on her trip.

Tempest found that she really had a talent for controlling the weather. It was something she's dabbled in before, but with Discord's guidance, she really got the hang of it. She could make clouds rain practically anything she wanted. Send pastel, grayscale, or inverted rainbows across the sky. She even managed to bring in clouds made of steel wool.

“The Storm King may have trademarked his title, but who do you think was the one actually bringing in his storms?” Tempest asked, as she lounged under an umbrella watching popcorn fall from the sky. “He gave that little assignment over to me. And I did it better than he ever could.”

Discord held out his hand, grabbing some popcorn. “I bet! He never really had his own magic anyway, he just used a magical staff. Stolen magic, had to keep replenishing it, seen it all before.”

“Yeah, he mostly used intimidation and charisma to get where he was. But I'm still glad he's gone.” Tempest leaned out from under the umbrella, shooting a beam of magic into the sky. After a few seconds, the popcorn stopped falling. She flopped back. “I'm sure someone else will come along and try to take over again, it never seems to end, but I'll be here to help defend Equestria in that case.”

“As will I,” Discord said.

They heard hoof beats, and then Twilight trotted up next to them. “There you are, I was looking for you!”

“Just follow the weirdness and you'll probably find us,” Discord said. “Popcorn?”

“No thanks. Tempest, I finally finished planning out your trip,” Twilight said.

“Oh, great! I've been looking forward to it.” Tempest hopped out of the chair. “When do I leave?”

“Will tomorrow work?”

“Tomorrow sounds great.” Tempest turned to Discord. “Heh, well, I'm gonna miss you. I'll be sure to keep practicing magic while I'm gone, though.”

“Oh, you won't have to miss him,” Twilight replied. “He's going with you.”

Both Tempest and Discord stared at her. “What?” they exclaimed.

“Well, sure. You two have bonded a lot recently and really seem to bring out the best in each other, I believe you'll both have exactly what it takes to get this done. And Discord has extraordinary magical ability that can do wonders in rebuilding cities.”

Discord drew himself up proudly.

“So, if you're okay with it, I'd love for you to go with her,” Twilight said to him.

“I would be honored to help out! Building up cities, huh? Oh I have so many ideas!” He rubbed his hands together.

“Heh, well, you can't just create buildings all willy-nilly,” Twilight said. “You'll need to listen to the storm creatures and to Tempest, find out how their architecture is supposed to be, and recreate it that way. They have their own ways of building homes down south, they won't exactly appreciate the kinds of homes we have in Ponyville.”

“Oh, I see. No matter, I can make whatever kind of house suits their fancy! I'll be up bright and early tomorrow morning to start our trip.” Discord conjured up a piece of paper and started writing on it. “I just need to get some things in order, say goodbye to Fluttershy, make sure Spike and Big Mac can carry on our campaign without me, oh so much to do.”

“Heh, that's fine,” Twilight said.

“What about Starlight, is she coming?” Tempest asked.

“Unfortunately she won't be able to. We need her help back at the school, plus she is still my student, I want her to stay close,” Twilight explained.

“Ah, got it,” Tempest said, nodding.

Twilight continued, “So, just meet me at the castle tomorrow morning at sunrise with whatever you'll need for the trip and I can give you more information.”

“Sounds good. See you then.” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared. Tempest cleaned up the area (she had spent a good amount of time learning spells here) and then followed Twilight back to Ponyville. She spent the rest of the day discussing the plan with Twilight and then packing. The Storm King's troops hailed from the land of Abyssinia, to the south of Equestria. They would be taking a train down to Klugetown, which had been recently connected in with the Equestrian rail system. There, they would help the first group of storm creatures who had settled there. As for the ones who traveled further away? They were walking to meet with them.

Really, there wasn't too much to pack. She mostly just gathered up books and first aid supplies, and then a couple sketchpads, just in case she felt like drawing. She tucked a pouch of bits away for buying food, and then put the saddlebags near the door. She would gather toiletries in the morning right before she left.

Taking a trip with Discord. She was looking forward to it. He had so much energy and this would be a good way for him to work through it. And she knew he would make the trip entertaining.

Once everything was packed, there was nothing to do but wait until bed. Tempest passed the time in the library going through notes with Twilight.

“Do you think Discord will make a good companion?” Twilight asked her. “He can be a little unpredictable.”

“That's part of what makes him so interesting. He seems really eager to help out with this trip though and I know he'll do his part. He's just going to make it fun too.”

“I'm sure he will. Well, alright then. Just don't let him get distracted. Discord tends to cause problems when he gets distracted.”

“Oh, don't I know it.” Tempest checked the time and yawned. “Well, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll see you in the morning.”

“See you then.”

Tempest climbed the stairs, returning to her room. She couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Comments

[Texus]

“Sounds great. I think I want to play as a sorceress.”

Now you should think about adding such a chapter as a bonus and please try to make it a big one or maybe do something like this for a sequel or as a side story.
It doesn't need to be perfect but I like such stuff, I could probably show you one or two stories that are mainly about this.

“Unfortunately she won't be able to. We need her help back at the school, plus she is still my student, I want her to stay close,” Twilight explained.

If you take the school thing a bit to seriously then they probably shouldn't be able to do everything, their job, having free time and the school, but maybe like in some stories a school day isn't so long for them.

Little Tempest is maybe already starting to experience her first crush, if she knows it or not.
How much did your Tempest here already learned about love and whatever? I had a story in which it looked like because of her live with the storm king she knew hardly anything that others would consider common knowledge or stuff like that.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Tempest cleared her throat, then gave him a smile. “Well yeah, we don't like it if you just get in our personal space without asking. But if you did ask... I'd probably say yes.”

“Haha... what?”

I like the fact she put Discord on the back hoof or claw in this case.