Chapter 6
It had been a while since Luna had cried like this. The last time had been a month or two after the Tantabus incident. She had been getting better, doing better. She could actually get into arguments with her sister, playful or serious, without flashbacking to her fall from grace. She had finally approved the plans to remodel the throne room to have two thrones. She no longer felt like the mare formerly known as Nightmare Moon, but once more like Princess Luna.
But then again, she should have known Starswirl would never look at her the same way if he returned and discovered her dark past.
"Once a villain, always a villain, eh?" she murmured to herself, sniffing as she blew her nose on a tissue while lying on her bed. "And if Starswirl says it..."
"You always were a Teacher's Pet, Luna," Discord said, suddenly behind her.
Luna jumped in alarm, but not just from him. All her used tissues burst into black flames, instantly reduced to ashes and then even those burned into nothing. She sighed as she recollected herself. "What do you want, Discord? I am in no mood for your games," she warned.
Discord floated around her, and saw her shivering from the static in the air. "Do I look like I'm here for games?" Discord asked idly, tilting his head to gaze at her with one red eye.
Luna scowled. "Stop it," she ordered.
"And what would I be stopping, Princess?" he asked, crossing his arms in a bored fashion.
"Staring at me like that. You never look like that. So...serious," she said with a perplexed and uncertain tone.
"I distinctly recall you demanding me to be serious on many, many occasions," he said leaning towards her a bit. "Right, my dear enemy?"
Luna shivered again, for many reasons, glancing again at Discord's obviously larger body, the bed barely big enough to fit his top half with his lower legs dangling off and tail coiled on the floor. "What has happened to you?" she asked in bewilderment.
"This isn't about me, Luna," he retorted with a snort. "It's about your flankhole of a teacher."
"Don't speak of him like that," Luna demanded with a scowl.
"I'll speak of him and his party of gnats however I please," Discord stated with a scowl, the air rippling around his head into bats made of fire , eating away at moths of light forming for their delight.
Luna watched the display with rapt attention. It was...technically like Discord's usual behavior to cause such things, but this felt...different still, as did the rest of him.
His scowl disappeared into a neutral line, the light moths and fire-bats instantly swallowed by the head of Discord's shadow. "You know you're more than him, right?"
"What?" Luna asked, confused by the slight subject change.
"You forged a kingdom of peace and harmony with your sister after those lot vanished. The tribes co-existed with them. With you two? They merged, and they thrived," Discord stated, giving her a sideways look. "Why do you think I picked Equestria? I would not have settled for my Chaos Capital to be anything less than a place as grand as what you two made."
Luna blinked, twice, as she processed it. "You're...praising me?" she realized with wide eyes. "You're...comforting me?"
"It appears to be distracting you, at the least," he acknowledged with a hum as he waved his talons in her direction.
Luna looked down, and saw that there was a tray filled with food in front of her; more specifically..."Moon Pies, really?" she realized, having been asked to taste these before for...obvious, obnoxious reasons.
"I'm still Discord," he defended with a shrug.
Luna looked skeptical before sighing and taking a bite...before her eyes went wide in delight. "These are...pineapple flavored?"
"Your favorite," Discord confirmed with a smirk. "PineMoon Pies, I suppose?"
Luna swallowed, feeling some much needed relief. "Thank you, Discord. I...did not expect this from you," she stated honestly.
"And you shouldn't," he agreed with disinterest. "I do have a favor to ask though."
"A favor?" she repeated, feeling a bit let down that Discord had done all this just to ask for compensation.
"When your sister mentions that "I" was the one who told you what Starswirl said? Don't correct her," Discord requested.
Luna stared incomprehensibly before the only possible answer came to mind. "You're taking the blame for Twilight? Not that I find her to be at fault, but..."
"Your teacher bucked up. If it was just insulting me or even bragging about his hoof in creating that Weed, that would be one thing, but..." he trailed off with an unpleasant, near snarl.
Luna could see colors distorting around his mouth, but chose to ignore the phenomenon when it vanished. "What did Starswirl say to invoke such ire from you?" she asked curiously.
"He treated Twilight like dung ever since they got freed, so I decided to not play nice," Discord answered with a shrug.
"You were...angry on Twilight's behalf?" Luna asked in surprise.
"Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?" Discord retorted idly.
"It is, but that level or empathy is new for you," Luna answered curiously.
Discord smirked a bit. "I developed a good way of knowing when I should be upset about something happening to my friends."
"And that is?" Luna asked with a head tilt
"I imagine if they were Fluttershy and think how I'd react than," Discord admitted, waving his claws idly. "Then I dial it back by...half?"
Luna stared for a moment before snorting, bringing her hoof to her mouth to muffle her laughter. "I...I truly can't tell if you're serious or just trying to make me laugh," she said in between chuckles.
Discord just smirked softly.
"Still, while deceit isn't something I normally endorse, it is...very noble of you to take the blame until cooler heads and hearts may prevail," she praised.
"Don't think too much of it, Luna. I prompted her to do it then. I didn't force her, no, but it was a nudge in the direction I wanted," he admitted.
Luna frowned. "Manipulating your friends is...less noble," Luna conceded.
"Then it's a good thing I never claimed to be noble," Discord remarked meaningfully.
"No, I suppose you didn't," Luna agreed in acceptance. "...What happened, with Stygian?"
"Do you mean now or a thousand years ago?" Discord asked rhetorically. "Because we both know the former is Stygian's story to tell."
"Then today," Luna answered in acceptance.
"I ripped the Pony of Shadows from Stygian and ate it," he answered bluntly.
"...You ate it?" Luna repeated, taking another look at Discord's shadow...and she could feel it staring back at her.
"Like a hayburger," Discord confirmed, scratching his neck.
"Well, I suppose I should thank you for defeating such an enemy on behalf of-" Luna started, getting a groan of annoyance form Discord.
"Oh, save the spiel, Princess. I didn't do it for Equestria. I didn't even do it for my friends," Discord waved off with a snort.
Luna was momentarily surprised, Discord waving off praise. "Then...why did you do it? An old grudge with Stygian?" Luna guessed.
Discord turned his full attention to her and looked very annoyed. "Don't flatter him, Luna. I beat the Pony of Shadows to a pulp because I could. Because I wanted a punching bag, a warm up," Discord explained before looking at her pointedly. "Besides, I came here to make sure you were alright."
"I know, it is just...so bizarre, seeing you like this," Luna admitted, swallowing thickly. "It's almost like you're..."
"Putting effort into things?" Discord supplied with a hint of smugness. "I am. Lovely, isn't it?"
"I believe I can get accustomed to you like this," she admitted curiously. "...Thank you, for coming."
"Don't mention it. Ever," Discord said with a dismissive wave.
"I don't suppose you'll tell me why this change has taken place though?" Luna inquired.
Discord hummed, stroking his beard before smirking.
Luna's eyes widened as he leaned closer. "...Discord?" she asked uncertainly.
"Luna, can you answer me a question honestly?" he asked suddenly.
"Perhaps," she answered cautiously.
"Where were you?"
Luna was taken back by the question as he locked eyes with her and she suddenly felt much more like small filly than a powerful Alicorn princess. "What do you mean?"
"When I broke free and wreaked havoc on Twilight and her friends," he answered pointedly as her eyes widened. "When Celestia tried to reform me. When she came to see me admitting to wanting friendship with you ponies," he answered as he saw her become very alarmed and tense. "Where were you, Luna?"
"...You know the answer to that," she said with a scowl. "You can't NOT know."
"You've made it rather obvious, even now," Discord admitted.
"Then why do you want to hear me say it? Does it give you some...perverse joy to know I was terrified of you?!" Luna spat out.
Silence greeted her admittance. No mocking, no laughter, not even a snort.
Not even surprise.
"No, it doesn't. Fear's an appropriate response to facing me," Discord answered casually. "You want to know what I've been doing, but I think that answer might just give you nightmares."
"...That's not funny," she said in disapproval.
"I wasn't joking," he corrected seriously. "Tell me, Luna, how long do you think I trained before we first fought? How hard I had to work to get so powerful?" he asked in a low voice.
Luna swallowed thickly and she was somehow feeling unafraid yet still vulnerable. "I...I could never guess. A thousand years? Ten thousand?"
"And here is the scary part," Discord said, mouth to her ear, whispering softly. "I never trained before, Princess."
Luna froze as those words echoed in her head. Discord had never trained. He had never even tried to become powerful. He just...was. That was...almost incomprehensible. To imagine Discord beginning at that power, to know that he had never reached a peak...
She inhaled sharply as the full meaning registered. "Before?" she repeated warily.
Discord leaned back in amusement, the air thick with his power. He casually rose a talon, as if gripping the air, and then-
He was gone. No flash, no blur, just...gone.
Luna looked down at her Moon Pies to confirm that yes, that had been real.
Discord had just comforted her.
Discord had just taken the blame for Twilight Sparkle.
Discord had started putting effort into things.
Discord had...become even stronger.
Discord had been...training.
She swallowed thickly at the many emotions rushing through her veins.
A knock on the door brought her out of her musing. "Sister? May I come in?"
"J-just a moment, Celestia!" Luna called, needing a moment to...process all of that.
Meanwhile
"Phew. Alright. This should buy me a few hours at least," Twilight said, settling into a nice and cozy spot.
Or as nice and cozy as an attic can be; But a little magic to clear the dust, rearranging the boxes to give her a proper hiding space and a few spells to raise the temperature made it all a lot cozier.
"Really, Applejack's attic?"
"WHA!" Twilight exclaimed, seeing Discord peering over the wall of boxes. "Discord! You found me?! Already?!"
"Hmm? Oh, right, I was pretending to be mad at you," Discord stated idly, as if he had forgotten.
"Huh?" Twilight said intelligently. "So you're not going to, I don't know, turn me into a spider?"
"Twilight, I would sooner turn you into a lich," Discord retorted, phasing through the boxes and taking a seat across from her. "In any case, you are far too easily riled."
Twilight smiled sheepishly. "Well, what can I say, you're intimidating?"
"Yes, well, I am buckmothering Discord," Discord agreed smarmily. "But if I didn't leave a scratch on you as a villain, I'm not going to do it as a friend."
Twilight sighed. "Yes, I know I...overreacted, but that's not you. That's me in general."
"I know," Discord answered with a shrug. "So, did you want to talk?"
Twilight stared at him for a moment before nodding, taking a seat not too far from him. "I guess, yeah. I just can't believe how much of a flankhole Starswirl turned out to be," she said with a sigh. "I mean, I could take him being upset I unleashed the Pony of Shadows. Granted, I feel like he should have put a final note in his book about what they were planning. But he was just so..."
"Full of himself? Patronizing? Holier than thou?" Discord offered wryly.
Twilight mostly ignored how a heavenly view of the sky appeared above their heads, complete with divine rays of light and a distant chorus of angelic voices. "Honestly, he was what I thought you as a good guy would be like," Twilight admitted.
The chorus came to a screeching halt as the lights flickered out. "How dare you!" Discord said with a mock glare. Mostly mock. "I'm offended!"
"What, you both got the ego and think you're the greatest thing since...crap, I can't use any of the spells Starswirl created for that expression anymore," Twilight realized in annoyance.
Discord snorted. "Hard to believe he raised Celestia and Luna."
Twilight hummed. "I don't know, I think they got most of his good qualities and...mostly none of his bad," Twilight said sheepishly.
"Celestia can be patronizing without meaning to," Discord stated, knowing it was obvious. "Anyone that spends a day without sun-tinted glasses around her can figure that out."
Twilight nodded and decided to change the subject. "Discord? I have...a lot of questions about what happened earlier."
"I already did this dramatically, so I'll just be blunt this time: I've never trained in my life until I left to do so after the Chrysalis incident," Discord explained blatantly.
Twilight sat there, eyes widening before slowly fading into a look of deep thought. "Like...none at all?" she asked skeptically. "I mean, you had to learn the spells at least, right?"
"Not really," Discord answered idly. "My magic works in a different manner than what you're used to. But even discarding that, I've always been absurdly powerful. I exist, therefore I win. Or, that's how it used to be."
Twilight frowned in concern at his scowl. "Discord, are you...angry?"
"I was once the most powerful being in the world, Twilight," Discord reminded heatedly as liquid electricity danced along his arm. "And now, every day I felt more like I was old news. Like I was someone...something to just roll your eyes at and forget about. Like everyone forgot I can turn this world inside out on a whim."
Twilight swallowed as his bright red eyes leveled at her.
"Twilight, I'm not angry, I'm bucking furious."
"...I'm sorry."
The galvanic aura froze, dissolving into snow as Discord grunted and rubbed his head. "It's not your fault, Twilight. I got so used to everything being so...effortless that I never imagined ever needing to get stronger, let alone to try," he mused before smirking as he held up his talon that had in it...Nothing. Not an empty nothing, but a colorless and lightless ball of Nothing threatened to swallow the heart and soul.
He crushed it like it was a bubble, the Nothing popping out of existence, reality somehow feeling...fuller in its destruction.
"I was bucking furious, but now? I'm stronger than ever," Discord said with relish. "But to answer the other question you implied, no, I was never angry at you, Twilight. Or the Princesses for that matter. Because, if we're being honest, you lot were never the ones that rivaled me," Discord said darkly.
Twilight paled at the implications. "Discord, please, PLEASE tell me you're not going to do something to the Tree of Harmony?"
"Would you believe me if I said no?" Discord responded evenly. "If I told you I'd leave that weed be for now, would you actually take me at face value?"
"...Yes, I would," Twilight said with full seriousness.
Discord paused, giving her a considering stare before nodding. "Fine. It's too early for any pruning yet anyway."
Twilight sighed in relief, accepting that for now. "Thank you. I...didn't realize how upset you were about...things," Twilight said.
"Because I didn't want to admit I was upset. Because if I did, it'd mean admitting I really wasn't the one at the top of the world anymore," Discord answered with a sigh. "And you already know how easy it is for me to deny reality."
"Still, you trained for over a quarter of a year straight, and now you're..." Twilight paused. "Well, you wiped away an entire town from existence…and dropped a meteor."
"I know, I am pretty amazing," he said vainly.
"Ahh, yes, there's the Discord I know," Twilight said with an amused fondness. "I was beginning to think you removed parts of your personality."
"No such luck," Discord mused. "So, Fluttershy and Spike filled me in on everything that happened while I was gone."
"Oh, lovely. Let the teasing commence!" Twilight groaned in resignation, wiping a hoof over her face. "Which is it? My failed astrology moment on the Zeppelin, my day watching Flurry Heart, the disaster of publishing my journals?"
Discord raised an eyebrow. "I was going to mention Fluttershy almost turning into a tree."
Twilight blinked, looking around awkwardly. "Oh, right, that. The swamp fever. That...was a close call."
"Stop your sweating, Twilight, I'm not mad about Fluttershy. You girls get into dangerous situations all the time. I'm just surprised you didn't try to call me in during those three days she was unconscious," Discord remarked.
"Would you have answered?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No," Discord admitted. "Not at the time. But I've turned off the "ignore needy ponies" function, so you know..."
"I'll try to remember that," Twilight said, pausing briefly. "So, how close to turning into a tree would she have gotten before you showed up?"
"Probably the last six hours or so. Good thing for Zecora she figured it out," Discord mused before looking skeptical. "Rainbow really doesn't like pies?"
"I know, it's weird, right?" Twilight agreed. "I mean, I get not liking certain pies, or only liking a very specific pie, but I don't think I ever met someone that didn't like all pies besides Rainbow."
"I swear I remember seeing her eat pies before," Discord murmured.
"Spike fill you in on his mix up with Ember and Thorax?" Twilight asked wryly.
Discord shook his head. "I swear, if that little dragon goes evil when he's older, he'll have the whole world eating out of his claws. And all the dragon-wenches he could want."
Twilight paused before smirking. "Damn straight! My boy is a lady slayer," Twilight said in faux pride.
Discord blinked and snorted. "Okay...that was hilarious," Discord admitted between chuckle.
"Just don't repeat everything I say, please" Twilight request, already feeling embarrassed. "Though, I don't think I can imagine Spike going evil."
"Who can you?" Discord asked curiously.
"Not counting former villains? Myself, every one of my friends, Princess Celestia, Cadence, Shining,...not counting Flurry Heart yet, Sunburst, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Mayor Mare, Fancy Pants, Lyra Heartstring and Derpy Hooves."
Discord raised an eyebrow at the impressive list. "Even Applejack?"
"Especially Applejack," Twilight said with a nod.
"Not Blue Blood?" Discord tried in amusement.
"I'm not sure if he already counts as evil or is just too stupid to be evil," Twilight answered honestly.
Discord barked a laugh. "Ha! This is why you're my second favorite Alicorn."
"Second?" Twilight repeated with a head tilt.
"Flurry Heart," Discord answered with a smirk.
"...Granted," Twilight accepted in amusement. "So, what now? You vanish off into the aether until you're needed once more?"
"No," Discord said, clapping his hands as they vanished from the attic-
And reappeared in Twilight's castle, sitting onto of the Cutie Map. "Oh, you're dropping me off at home?" Twilight realized before giving him a flat look. "Is this just to pile on the joke about us being a thing?"
Discord snorted, sitting cross-legged on the map. Mist rushed from his nostrils, twisting and warping into a pile of wood, falling into a neat pile between them. Twilight watched owlishly as Discord reached towards the center of the magic map and plucked the miniature version of the Flames of Friendship out and chucked it into the wood, which suddenly ignited into purple-pink flames.
"Now we have s'mores," Discord said, pulling out sticks with marshmallows embed on them.
"Is that...really from the Flames of Friendship, from the Hearthswarming tale?" Twilight asked in concern even as she took her stick.
"Yes," Discord answered, short and simple.
"Should we worry about taking away from that...?" Twilight pointed out warily.
"No," Discord answered, smirking at her over the flames. "I am having S'mores of Friendship, cooked over Flames of Friendship and eating them with the Princess of Friendship."
"But what about-"
"I have spoken," Discord interrupted wryly.
"But-"
"I Have Spoken!" Discord said firmly, almost smiling. "Now watch your s'more, you're about to burn it."
Twilight relented with a small smile. Discord had his power and his pride, but he was definitely still Discord
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I have to commend how well you seem to have maintained Discord’s erratic personality while still making him seem like he’s actually learned to care.
He certainly seems to want to interact and engage with others more than one would usually expect of the spirit of chaos, yet he still seems more than willing to mess around a little as well.
The Smores of friendship have been amplified!
This is so chill...
its on ice...
Why isnt there a Twilight cool-mare emoji? Lol
even better reading it the second time (less adds in the way)
so that was a Slice of Life right there. Discord had a moment to comfort luna, messed with her head an gave her future nightmares while promoting being friends before leaving her to her sister
and made everything hunky-dory with her again..at least until he gets bored of Friendship Smores. and not even flirting with her...yet 
then in discord fashion, has a moment with twi
keep up the great work!!
Ah, theres no fluff like Discord fluff!
"I have spoken," - Well now... SOMEONE seems to have been watching the Mandalorian! Heh, I loved this chapter just as much as the others. Getting to see some real dialogue from Discord is just amazing. And it's interesting to see how he interacts with the others. Showing that he cares about them and will try to help, but he does so in his own unique way.
Spike the lady killer. Lol
This is a great story! I have spoken!
Nice to see Discord enjoy himself a bit in a way that doesn’t vaporize the landscape.
Love this chapter
This chapter was very heartfelt is so many ways!
My, how friendly
LoL, nice chapter. Glad to see he's still being catharticly powerful still, but can still be fun
Great chapter.
God damn i cant believe how good this fic is and it gets better with each new chapter.
Loved the Interactions between him and Luna but even more those with Twilight 😁 i could really see a little romance there ❤
Cant wait for more 🔥
This is fun. Twilight and Discord actually getting along and joking with each other.
I love overpowered Discord novels, pity there are so few good ones around, especialy ones where he is a good guy and among the main characters, playing a active role in the story.
I just realized something. After rereading the latest chapter, it got me thinking of some of the other Discord-fics that I remember fondly. And after not being able to find either one here on FiMFiction, I was wondering if they were deleted or if I was confused. So I checked FanFiction and found that two of the ones that I liked... were also written by you. But I had just come across them on a different site and this one here. Heh. Maybe I'm rambling a bit.
Just wanted to say that it's impressive in my eyes that I'm consistently coming across your Discord stories and finding them enjoyable completely by happenstance. Also, the two others were Discord's Rewrite and Muchitsujo no Konoha. You apparently do a GOOD job of making a God of Chaos relatable.
I am having flashbacks to that scene with Joker. Don't remember which Batman movie it was however
Discord the Arch duke begs to differ.
He forgot to say that they are sitting on the Map of Friendship, on the throne room of the Castle of Friendship, localized in Ponyville the most friendly town in Equestria. The aura of friendship there is so thick that a villain will be reformed if he stay there for too long like Discord.
Update?
i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/017/204/CaptainAmerica1_zps8c295f96.JPG
I love that by the third reveal to Twilight, Discord's finished (bored?) of being dramatic and just straight-up tells her he never trained before.