Alright, he chided to himself quietly, multiple things could have happened. Perhaps you were delirious, and weren't recognizing what you were seeing. He swallowed, trying to ease the sting of acid from his throat.
But he knew that feeling, and he had felt it only once before.
He felt that same thump, that same light fluttery feeling in his chest, the dizzying spinning around him, that same exact feeling the time he first saw Celestia.
But everything fell in love with Celestia at one point, nopony could blame him for that. She was the goddess of the sun, blessed with eternal beauty. Even Starswirl had a torch for her.
Twilight Sparkle was indeed a princess, but a klutz and an OCD thick head with a book obsession.
But when he looked at her, that feeling burst out and it hurt but it was wonderful at the same time, and Discord despised it. Discord hated love more than anything!
Of course he would be the one cursed with it.
He didn't even find Twilight attractive.
But as he thought about it, she did have some of Celestia's attributes, perhaps by being in such close quarters with her in a long period of time.
When she had to be, Twilight did have some grace, in her quirky way. And her wings were so magnificent, held only below Luna's. She was intelligent, though it was a little excessive at times and dear maker he was admiring her.
He snorted, glancing around the garden.
It was early morning, though not so early that the sun was not up. Instead it graced the garden with gentle beams, the fauna and flora bright and colorful. He saw a small squirrel skitter up a tree, and an inchworm slowly going up the same tree.
He sighed. Perhaps he should talk to a doctor.
All this happened after drinking that wine, he realized that. Someone had slipped something into his drink.
A dark anger fired in system.
The black stallion he had seen must have done this.
Twilight was having breakfast with the courts this morning, and that pony was obviously a part of them. He would confront the pony before then.
But he couldn't be too violent, as his actions might imprint onto Twilight's and that wasn't good and I'm trying to help her, what is wrong with me? He buried his face into his talons, sighing with a groan. He wasn't in the mood for this sort of prank, not now or ever. Before he could storm off and effectively turn half of Canterlot into an intricately layered cake, he heard a gentle sigh from his right.
Turning, he spotted a mane of tender pinks and white gold wings. "Fluttershy?" He asked absently. She turned to him with a shy smile, the many animals of the garden flooding around her.
"H-hello, Discord."
"What're you doing here?"
She looked up, both of her eyes revealing themselves. "Watching the sunrise, and visiting the garden animals." She glanced at him, another sweet smile on her features. "And to check up on you, of course. You took a hard fall last night. Are you alright?"
He nodded, before stopping and shaking his head. She cocked her head, and her mane fell over her snout. "What's wrong?"
"A lot of things at the moment, but I think I can deal with them." Fluttershy seemed to study his features for a moment, before turning her attention back to the animals. "…what?" Discord asked quietly, feeling a little unnerved.
Fluttershy was silent for a long moment, and Discord was sure his question would not be answered. That was not so. "It's terrible of me to think so, but I'm actually glad you fell behind those tables." Discord opened his mouth to ask why, but was cut off. "Because Twilight was being bullied by those awful court members only moments earlier. It was a good way out, for her."
Discord lifted an eyebrow. "Bullied? What is this whole thing about the courts anyhow?"
Fluttershy cleared her throat, and a few animals ceased their chattering movements. "'A princess' duty is to protect and serve the nation she councils over. When a princess rules a kingdom, she is a princess no longer, but a tyrant.' These are the words of the court." She turned to Discord, green eyes shimmering. "Do you understand the implications of Twilight being a princess?"
Discord shook his head.
"Twilight has no kingdom to rule, Discord. The first rule to being a Princess is to protect her kingdom, therefore, she is not a Princess according to the paradox the council is using." Fluttershy passed a carrot over to her darling rabbit, who ate at it greedily. "Except Celestia's word is stronger than the court, and she insist Twilight become an official princess of Equestria."
"But Equestria already had three princesses, why would she want another?"
"Why indeed," Fluttershy mused, a strange sad tone to her usual mild voice. "I am afraid of what might be true."
"What might be true?" Discord pressed, confused and curious.
Fluttershy did stay silent this time, nodding a goodbye to Discord as she trotted away with a menagerie of animals following her every movement. Discord could have stayed in the garden and mull over her words, but he realized his initial task.
Rising up and stretching himself out, he flapped his wings and glided out to the main hall. Peering inside, he could see that the party from the night before had already been cleaned up, and that breakfast was being held in another hall. He slithered inside, silent as death and just as terrifying to the maid who was passing by.
She whinnied and fully reared up in fear, and Discord rolled his eyes at her dramatics. "Excuse me, if you're quite finished, I'd like to know where the Court's breakfast is being held." The maid composed herself, taking several deeps breathes before telling him that it was in the third dining room in the west wing by the main courtyard. Discord sighed, shaking his head slightly. Why did they have to make the castle so huge? A tiny one would have worked just as well.
As he turned to exit, he spotted a strange spot on the floor, darker than the rest. Approaching it, he could see it was a splatter shaped burn on the tile, searing the glossy marble a dry black. "Maid," he asked again "what is this from?"
"The bottle you drank last night. We figured it was normal for you to drink such things that would leave this sort of mark."
With a sour feeling in his stomach, he continued over to the west wing.
xXx
"You!" Discord nearly screeched when he came upon the black unicorn, sitting in his room before breakfast started. "I need to have a word with you- wait a second, did something change?"
The black unicorn, who was now a sort of dark bottle-green, turned to him wearily with a smile that looked like it took effort. "I'm sorry, I know I can't help you."
"Excuse me?" Discord asked with obvious sarcasm.
"He really can't," a voice came from the doorway. Discord turned around to spot a nurse walking in with a bag of ice, setting it on the stallion's forehead. He winced from the contact. "He's had intense amnesia since last night."
"I don't remember a single thing I did last night," he replied doggedly. "I wish I could help you, but-" The bag of ice slipped on his forehead, and he hissed from the pain, blue eyes hidden beneath tight lids. Discord knew there was something very wrong here. Weren't his eyes reddish last night? And more-so…
"What happened to your horn?"
The stallion blinked. "Excuse me?" He asked with genuine surprise.
"Your horn. You are a unicorn, right?" Discord could plainly see that the colt had no spiral horn protruding from his mane.
"No, I'm an earth pony. I come from Fillydelphia, the agricultural division." He looked confused. "Why did you think I was a unicorn?"
"Because," Discord replied with a hint of anger snaking into his voice "you were. I know because I spoke to you." The stallion looked at the nurse, and both of them were at a loss for words. Discord stormed out after a pleasant goodbye, and he held his face in his mismatched hands.
What was happening? Something was not right; he could feel it in the pit of his stomach, tugging at the edge of his senses just beyond his sight. He let out a shaky sigh, trying to calm his nerves.
"Discord?" A crystal clear voice said, and it pulled his entire attention. Twilight was standing in front of him, her eyebrows knit with worry. Just what he needed, the one pony that started this mess. "Are you sure you're alright?" He could practically feel her concern for his well being, and that foreign emotion welled up in his chest.
He wanted to say yes, something was wrong and if it wasn't for her stupid princess party then he would be fine. But that would hurt her feelings, and he didn't want to upset Twilight before a very important meeting, more-so a meeting with the iron clad council.
It was easy to lie to her anyway, much easier than he thought it would be.
"No, I'm actually fine Twilight. Thank you for your concern." She smiled up at him, albeit it was a little askew from her anxiety for the meeting. Her smile was beaming up at him like sunshine and moonshine and every other shine that came to mind, and it made his knees feel weak.
He hated it.
Not that he could say it to her. She turned from him, and he sighed from relief as the pressure from inside his chest was calmed slightly. Twilight seemed to be observing the court members piling out of their rooms, going toward the dining hall for breakfast. One of them veered from the group and neared toward Twilight, a cold mask over her expressions.
"I am to presume there will not be another incident from you, Discord?"
The mare's tone made him want to break her neck and throw her into a ravine filled with timberwolves, but Twilight replied "No, there will not be." Was it just him, or was Twilight's tone just as cold as the court member's? The mare cast a glare at Twilight, which she returned with gusto.
"Do not think you can hide behind your powerful friends, Miss Sparkle."
"That is Princess Sparkle to you," Twilight nearly hissed. The mare sneered at her before turning tail and going to the dining room.
Before either of them could relax, a clawed hand grasped Twilight's shoulder. A griffon court member was beside her, a grin curling her beak. Discord could tell from her golden feathers and high collar that this one was important.
"Don't worry about her, Princess," the griffon reassured. "She's just a hard-ass. I'm sure Celestia has everything under control." Twilight stuttered out a thank you as the griffon trotted away, her tail swinging with pride.
"Who was that?" Discord asked quietly, nudging Twilight with his elbow.
"Who-? Oh, that was Duchess Bullion. She's pretty friendly to me, like the rest of the Griffon Guild."
Discord scoffed. "Duchess Bullion?"
Twilight shrugged. "Anyway, I guess I should go to the court meeting now." She scuffed her hoof-gauntlet on the floor, making an attractive metal echo. She glanced up at him with a slight frown, before sighing and walking to the Dining Hall door.
Discord smacked his face with his paw. "Ugh. Do you want me to come?"
Twilight seemed to crouch slightly, ducking her head. "Would you? Please?"
Discord physically could not say no to her.
And he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, as he shuddered with pleasure when her hoof linked around his arm as he escorted her forward.