• Published 24th Feb 2024
  • 2,197 Views, 865 Comments

Other Duties As Required - Hiver



It might not be rain season in Nocturnis, but when it rains, it pours.

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Chapter 2

I'm not entirely sure what Rarity and Coco did to me, it involved some kind of oil I think, but my coat almost seemed to catch the light as I moved and every gust of wind caught my mane and tail, making every strand seem to float through the air.

I suppose there are still some kinds of magic I have no idea about.

Or it was just a lot of effort, it took two ponies brushing me for forty minutes to get the effect, so I'm not sure it's actually worth the effort, but... then again, the way both Sparks and Sunny's ears perked up when they saw me felt nice.

Maybe I'll look into doing it more often, especially for special occasions.

There had of course been a speech expected of me today. But of course ponies also were here to have fun and not listen to me waffle on, so my speech in total had been 'Welcome everypony! Now go have fun!'

I think that got me the most applause yet, so I guess it worked?

Now we made our way slowly across the main square, stopping what seemed every couple of hooves to talk to or greet other ponies when I finally spotted Midnight and Tempest, "You two look quite good tonight," I said with a smile.

"Thank you, your majesty," Tempest said, shifting slightly with a small bow.

She was not one for dressing up, but she was wearing a pair of horn rings, one close to the tip and one by the base, connected via silver filigree following the grooves of her horn. She also had her mane brushed back in a style similar to Midnights.

Midnight smiled, "Thank you," she said, "You look very nice too. All of you."

She was dressed identically to Tempest, wearing the same kind of horn jewelry.

"Have you seen Rarity yet?" Twilight asked her and shifted a wing to show off the silver feathers, "Look at these!"

"Very pretty,"Midnight agreed with a smile, "And no, not yet."

"She should be somewhere at the other side of the square," Sunset supplied, "Last time I saw her anyway. Rainbow was assisting Applejack with their food stand around there."

Twilight nodded, "Have you seen Fluttershy?"

Midnight nodded with a grin, "Yeah, they're over by the old tree. See you later," she said and continued past, Tempest quickly trotting along.

The old tree was a bit of a misnomer, but it was the largest tree that poked up through the large platform from the forest below, so it had caught the name. We started in that direction and it didn't take long before I spotted a flash of yellow through the crowd.

Not long after, Discord came into view.

He kind of stood out in a crowd, but honestly... I might not like the chaos spirit, but I no longer felt like punching him anytime I saw him. He may still be chaos incarnate, but getting together with Fluttershy had mellowed him out by a lot.

Fluttershy looked up and got to her hooves when we got close, "Wow, you all look so amazing!"

She was one to talk, her pink mane had been turned into what seems to be a hundred narrow braids, each one incorporating what seems to be dozens of shiny things, glowing and flaring brighter as she moved and she was wearing a green dress that almost seemed to be hovering around her rather than be worn..

Fluttershy had always been one of the most beautiful mares I knew and that was without even trying.

Today she had put effort into it and ponies were having trouble keeping their eyes off her.

Not me, of course.

"You're the one that looks amazing," Sunset said with a grin, "What are those things in your mane?"

Fluttershy flicked one ear a bit shyly, "..Stars," she admitted, "Discord got them for me," she said before she looked up at him fondly, "But he even asked Princess Luna first and will put them back by the morning."

Discord smiled and ran his claws through her mane, "You should have seen her face," he said, his familiar smirk on his face, "Last thing she expected."

Even the dracogenus seemed to have put some effort in, wearing a neon orange tuxedo and what looked like neon chemical lights hanging from his horns.

"Besides," Twilight said and glanced around, "I bet you have enough chaos in your life right now anyway."

Discord actually laughed, "If I knew how much, I would have tried years ago."

Fluttershy smiled up at him, "Oh really?" she asked innocently.

His cheeks flushed but didn't answer, instead looking around anywhere but at her.

Fluttershy actually smirked slightly, showing a bit of sharp fang before the batpony looked around, "Where did she go though?" she asked, "Eris! Eris, come to mommy!"

There was a second before the universe seemed to turn inside out in a small patch next to her and a young batpony filly jumped out. She had the pale yellow coat of her mother, but the yellow eyes and black mane of her father.

Fluttershy quickly scooped her up with a smile and a wing, depositing the little filly on her back, "There you are!"

I raised an eyebrow, "...How much chaos magic does she have exactly?" I asked, looking up at Discord, "Last I knew, she could barely knock her playing blocks over."

He smiled and reached to brush her mane, "Only slightly more than Pinkie Pie," he said, "About as much as a pony can have."

"It's like a unicorn," Fluttershy explained, "She's in her magic boost phase right now, if a little later than usual. It'll settle down. I doubt she'll be able to go into the 'underneath' as Discord describes it when she gets older.

Sparks looked like she had a million questions, but finally shook her head, "She may have to go to magic school."

"Wouldn't help," Discord said, "She's not a unicorn, Purple Smart."

I nodded, "Maybe we should leave this to Discord," I told her, "He is the expert in being him."

"I am!" Discord agreed, "Very good suggestion, Batman. Now, bat off to somewhere else," he said before scooping Eris up, "It's time for snacks!"

"Snacks!'' The little filly cheered and both of them disappeared in a flash of light.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, "Discord!"

She disappeared in a flash of light as well.

Sunset sighed, "This is going to be trouble," she commented.

"Eh," I said and shrugged my wings a bit, "We've dealt with worse. At least they're happy and Discord isn't actively causing problems. I'll take the wins where I can."

"He'll likely be busy for the next decade at least," Twilight agreed with a small smile.

Sunset smirked, "You saw how Fluttershy looked at him, right? I suspect significantly more than a decade myself."

Twilight smiled wider, "True. I'm so glad for her, she always did want a big family."

Sunset moved around us to next to Twilight again with a smirk, whispering something into her ear. They both then looked at me.

"...Am I missing something?" I asked, one hoof a bit nervously off the floor.

Sunny smiled, "Oh, just commenting how somepony looks good today."

Sparks looked me over, "And maybe thinking about some more private celebrations later."

Yay.