• Published 15th Sep 2018
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The Reign of Chaos: Discord's Story - MisterEdd



How did Discord become the Lord of Chaos? Was he always the only draconequus? What made him turn evil?

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Chapter 15-Hearts and Hooves Day

The majestic city of Canterlot, the crown jewel of Equestria, was abuzz with activity as its citizens swarmed the streets like a colony of ants. There wasn't a street corner or storefront that wasn't decorated with red and pink streamers or heart-shaped banners. Amidst the sea of pink and red, couples of different backgrounds, sizes, shapes and colors flocked the bustling streets, eating lunch or going for romantic walks. Others openly exhibited their romance with garish matching sweaters or hoof-holding, the kind of public displays of affection (PDA) that made the more cynically-inclined sick to their stomachs from the sweetness outload. A bowtie-wearing earth pony stallion locked forelegs with a cross-eyed Pegasus mare as he led her away from their blue box transport, marveling at the scene of vast romance occurring all around them.

Meanwhile, up in Canterlot Castle, a certain young draconequus watched all of the activities from the window, a sigh escaping his lips at the sight of so many couples with their special someponies. Discord was never really fond of the holiday, due to the obvious nature of his bizarre appearance, which was not aesthetically pleasing to the young fillies back at the orphanage. As was the tradition, he spent the holiday with Miss Violet, helping her with the decorations and happily munching away on the caramel apples she'd share with him as they watched the fireworks in the distance. His sad fondness of the memory was shoved into the corner when Discord's gaze met the back of Luna's head, watching almost mesmerizingly as her dark blue mane flowed in mid-air, enticing him to reach out and touch it. He fought the urge to run his fingers through its silky surface, his nostrils flaring at its jasmine-infused scent.

MY GOODNESS, THE LITTLE VIXEN'S REALLY GOT YOU UNDER HER SPELL, HASN'T SHE?

Don't talk about Luna like that! She's...nice. And pretty and-and smart!

YES, SHE'S THE WHOLE PACKCAGE, ISN'T SHE? THEN AGAIN, THE CHEESE ON THE MOUSETRAP LOOKS INVITING TO THE RODENT, IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT.

Discord rolled his eyes, his patience slowly ebbing. Ever since his discovery of his attraction to his new friend, he had to put up with the Voice going on and on about how Luna can't be trusted and that Discord's affections are wasted on the alicorn. As much as Discord enjoyed the Voice's company and appreciated its insistence on protecting him, he could not abide its snarky, disrespectful tone towards his platonic-for-now-but-hopefully-one-day-marefriend-friend.

Just please knock it off. For me?

There was silence and then:

VERY WELL THEN. FOR YOU, I WILL...NOT BADMOUTH THE ALICORN.

Thank you...

Something white appeared in Discord's peripheral and he found Luna leaning back in her seat, trying to appear innocent while peering at him naughtily, like a kid that just snuck a snickerdoodle out of the cookie jar. Quickly grabbing the object, Discord slid it across his desk and onto his lap, being careful to appear attentive to Star Swirl's lesson as the old unicorn demonstrated the correct way to stir and mix a paralyzing potion. The object in question was a piece of notebook paper and upon unfolding it, Discord found that it contained a swirly pink and red border with little hearts and arrows dotting the inside. A neatly-penned message was inscribed in the very center:

Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Discord!!

Lu-Lu


It was the sweetest gesture that a filly had ever extended to him. Hearts and Hooves Day was a time for romance and love, something that, despite Discord's external optimism would tell you otherwise, he was absolutely certain that he would never experience from a member of the opposite sex. The note was cheap paper but the detail that went into the artwork and the flowing calligraphy moved him to his very core, his heart hammering away in his chest as he fought the urge to start crying. Thankfully, the tears stayed where they were; Discord didn't need Luna to see him as a crybaby, have Celestia point and laugh at him or awkwardly explain his outburst to Star Swirl. He jotted down a quick little message and covertly slid the note into Luna's satchel, giving the alicorn a little grin and a shush motion before they both returned to the lesson, unaware that Celestia had been watching the whole exchange and was not pleased with it.


Ignoring the pile-up of clothing on the floor, Luna frantically threw open the doors of her wardrobe, tearing out dress after dress and tossing them over her shoulders. That night was the annual Royal Hearts and Hooves Banquet and Luna wanted to look her best, not for the hundreds of guests she didn't know and didn't care to, but to catch the eye of a certain draconequus. How else was she going to work up the courage to ask him to be her special somepony? I want Discord to think that I'm pretty! She dipped forward to glance at her reflection in her vanity mirror, taking in the dark blue face and star-littered hair. Celestia was the pretty one, the mare that commanded all of the attention and had scores of colts flock over to her like moths to a torch. Meanwhile, Little Sister Luna was just...plain, barely a spot on the map.

Sinking to her knees, Luna looked disparagingly at all the dresses littered around the room, each one of them elegant or colorful but not representing what she wanted to say, what she needed to say. Her gaze found Discord's note, which lay opened and propped up on her vanity, its simple but neat handwriting sprawled across the page in big letters:

RIGHT BACK AT YOU, LU-LU

DISSY

P.S. Check under your bed. I "borrowed" something from the kitchen to give you. Hope you like it!

When Luna returned to her room, she discovered a small box of caramel-filled bonbons-her favorite sweet-and, to her own shame, devoured the whole box in one sitting, finding the creamy chocolate flavor much more deliciously pungent than normal. Despite the fact that she discouraged Discord's need to steal, she was nonetheless touched by the gesture and realized just how much he actually listened to what she said. With that in mind, she was still bombarded with the matter of finding the right dress. Inspiration struck and Luna, despite being only an average artist, hastily began working on a series of sketches to show to Corsage du Roux, the royal fashion designer. She only hoped it would not only capture Discord's attention but also his heart as well.


That night, Canterlot's elite crowded the grand ballroom and grounds of the royal palace, everypony from prominent business owners to the exceedingly wealthy attended. Amongst the garishly-colorful masses, Discord stuck himself in a corner, dressed in a red evening jacket with golden buttons and a pink bowtie and cummerbund. Queen Concordia insisted that the draconequus was to be formally dressed for the occasion, not out of the kindness in her heart but to ensure that he didn't embarrass the royal family by coming to the banquet unprepared. To his credit, Discord mostly kept to himself and said very little, which didn't matter seeing as how none of the guests either noticed him or preferred not to be seen conversing with an impoverished chimera. So there he stood, silently and quite miserably sipping punch and mentally shaking his head at the snatches of hoity-toity conversations he picked up from the privileged masses.

LISTEN TO THEM. THEY'RE ALL SO STUCK-UP AND DULL. I BET HALF OF THEM DIDN'T EVEN EARN THEIR FORTUNES.

Yeah, but that's the way of the world. Most ponies only see gold or fancy titles.

IT'S TOO STAGNANT, TOO ORDINARY. TOO...ORDERLY.

Discord could practically feel the Voice gagging its words and a spike of revulsion shot up through his stomach. He ignored this and went to refill his punch, catching the occasional (or frequent) stares of the partygoers, with or without sideways murmuring to their dates or associates. He noticed Celestia across the room chatting it up with some sharply-dressed colts and he had to admit, she really looked good, dressed in a flowing carnation-pink gown with lacy shoulder straps and a large fake flower pinned to her bodice. Her normally flowing rainbow-colored hair was gathered up in an intricate chignon with diamond hairpins, giving her the appearance of being a proper lady. She's neither "proper" nor a "lady." Discord snorted, raising his cup to take a drink but then froze when he saw her descending the staircase, all time seeming to stand still for him.

A dark blue goddess gracefully floated down the stairs, her body wrapped up in a ball gown that resembled that painting of the night sky by Van Gait: swirling azure blue and black vistas dotted with stars of various sizes. She had her sapphire and Persian blue mane tied in a side braid and worn a silver tiara made up of several glittering stars. The top of her gown was dominated by a sweetheart neckline and ended in a flowing transparent trail, giving her the appearance of actually gliding across the ballroom. While she acknowledged each and every guest, her cyan eyes were fixed solely on Discord, her smile small but sweet. Wait, is it just me or is she fluttering her eyelashes?

"L-Luna?" Discord's voice came out in a squeak and he instantly wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment. "You look...um...wow?" Yep, crawling into a hole and dying sounds good right about now. Then again, there's a nice window over there I can jump out of. Less work and much quicker. To his relief, Luna half-giggled and did a little curtsey, which made all of the tension in Discord's body vanish as he recalled that he was just talking to his friend. His nicely dressed, very beautiful friend.

"Thank you, Discord. You look very 'wow' yourself."

"No, I mean, you look b-beautiful! I mean, you always do but, wait, scratch that I-..." The more that Discord talked, the more he wished that he'd stayed in his room instead of coming to the banquet. He clamped his mouth shut and nervously scratched the back of his neck, sweat pouring out of nearly every orifice as the words exited his brain. Oh great, what now?! I look like an idiot!

THAT CAN EASILY BE REMEDIED: ASK THE FILLY TO DANCE. FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD AFTER ALL.

"Would you like to dance?" The words shot out of his mouth faster than he had time to fully comprehend them. From Luna's shocked expression, Discord feared that he'd made a grave mistake and felt his chest ache from the sight. Great. Thanks a lot, Voice. He turned away and was ready to leave when he heard three words that never sounded so beautiful before:

"I'd love to!" Before he knew it, Discord was dragged onto the dancefloor and stood uncomfortably close to Luna, her hooves settled on his chest as she balanced herself on her hindlegs. He gulped, placing a shaking claw on her waist and taking her hoof with his paw. Miss Violet had shown him how to dance but he'd never danced with a filly before, especially not when they looked like this and gazed into his eyes. Drawing in a deep breath, Discord began to lead, being careful to avoid stepping on Luna's dress and ruining their evening. The guests were all staring, some even starting to whisper amongst themselves and he wished he was somewhere else.

"Discord?" He peered at Luna and was nearly melted by her soft, lovely eyes. "Ignore them," she said with a gentle smile. "It's just you and I tonight." And with that, all of Discord's fears were alleviated as the two became lost in one another, just two stars encircling one another in their own private galaxy.

Author's Note:

Can you feel...the love...tonight?

Man, what an ear-worm!

The Disluna ship has set sail! Toot-toot!