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SUMMER SNOW

"Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end."

Anonymous

—

"DISCORD!"

He grinned at the sound, the beautiful sound of her ire. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw her approach.

"Why, yes, my dear?" he asked playfully. "Whatever could be the matter?"

"You are not a fool," she said firmly. "You know what the matter is."

He curled his body around her, bringing his face close to hers. "Oh, but I'd simply love to hear you tell me. You always enjoy scolding me for my messes, don't you?"

She snorted angrily. "I would enjoy it better if you stopped making messes at all, Discord."

"But that's no fun at all." He pouted. "Come now, Celestia… whatever did I do this time to evoke your divine wrath?"

She stomped a hoof, then jabbed it in the direction of the problem, out the great window. "It's snowing!"

He put a finger to his lips, feigning innocence, and flew over to the window. "Why, it is!" he exclaimed. "How delightful. Wouldn't you like to go for a walk through the lovely, unsoiled snow?"

"It's summer."

"Mm, is it?" He looked out the window again. "It sure doesn't look like summer to me."

"That's because you're making it snow!" she shrieked.

He scowled at her. "Calm down, Princess. You're truly no fun at all. Can't you break the rules just this once?"

"Discord…"

"Come for a walk with me, and I promise, I'll put everything back the way it's supposed to be. It won't even be a long walk; one hour, no more. All right?"

She bristled, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. He'd got her.

"Fine," she hissed, "but only for one hour. Then everything goes back the way it's supposed to be."

"Splendid!" He twirled around her, then zapped them both into thick winter clothes. He sidled up next to her. "There we are. Cozier, isn't it?"

Despite the huff she let out, he could see her blushing.

They went for a walk. Celestia did not protest to disturbing the pristine, newly-fallen snow with her hooves as she walked. Discord was delighted, and he dove in and out of the deeper snow as if it were a pool of water.

"See? Isn't this exciting?"

She said nothing, and they continued on along. Other ponies working the castle grounds glanced at them, puzzled. Some called out to their princess to demand an answer, but she merely ignored them. Inside, however, she brooded.

"My people are confused," she told her companion. "They do not see why I have allowed this chaos from you. They will find me a weak ruler, swayed by your influence."

"My, my, being a princess sure sounds difficult. Have they no faith in your abilities? Your goodwill? They know you'll fix them up right as rain soon enough. Besides, those blasted ponies should be enjoying the snow as we are."

"How can they enjoy the snow if it is summer, and they are concerned for the fate of their crops?" Celestia asked, shaking her head. "This was a terrible mistake."

"You promised me an hour," he reminded her. "And in any case, they know you'll fix it. Or are your subjects so dimwitted?"

She did not reply. Her silent brooding annoyed him.

"Come on, let's go someplace more private," he suggested, lifting into the air. She scowled, but opened her wings anyway and they flew off together.

They dropped down eventually into a quiet, snowy meadow, and leaned against a lone tree. The flakes were falling steadily here, and the sky was grey and choked with clouds.

"Discord, you know my court does not approve of you," Celestia told him as they settled in, close as they dared. "They do not know what my game is by letting you stay."

"Whatever would be the alternative, my love? Banishing me to the skies?"

She hesitated, then asked him, "Is that where you come from? The skies?"

He was startled by the question. He hadn't thought of his life Before in so long. Life was so different here, in Now, with her. He glanced upward, and had to blink to bat away the snow falling in his eyes.

"The sky did not exist when I came to be," he told her. "It was I who made the sky. I do not know where I come from. I have simply always been."

She glanced at him. "You made the sky?" She scoffed.

"I did," he insisted. "And the earth, the moon, the sun, and all other stars and worlds."

Her eyes widened. "But why would you do that? You are not a creator… you are a destroyer. You destroy everything."

He sighed heavily. "My sweet Celestia… Chaos does not create or destroy. Nothing can be created or destroyed. Things simply change form, or are made into new things from an old thing. Everything that is, was, and will be, long after time has ended."

The look in her eyes was at once in awe, bewilderment, and even fear. Yet there was something else in her he could only sense: a hunger, clawing its way into her heart, for power as immeasurable as his own. He knew, at that moment, she respected him, though she did not understand him. He knew that she loved him, even as she despised him.

"Celestia." He took her face in his paw and gazed into her eyes, wrapping his body around hers, their breaths visible in the cold air. "You gave me this form, and I wear it unwillingly… yet in it is the beauty of touch in a way that is different, fuller, more concrete than when I simply was. You named me. You have forced your Order in my life. I should hate you for it. I should have destroyed you for it. I meant to steal your magic and change myself back. But I've learned; and so, for you—for you—I will try to suppress my nature."

"Discord," she whispered, breathless from his speech. A hint of a smile touched her lips, but it was smothered when he brought his mouth down, and the snow melted away.

—

"I never knew you and the princess had such a… torrid romance," Twilight says, blushing at the thought.

I laugh loudly. "Is that how you see it? Oh, Twilight, it was neither torrid nor a romance. The princess loved me at that time, with the summer snow coming down on us. In the midst of my Chaos, I swore myself to Order. I loved her far more deeply than she loved me; but, she knew that my love for her could sway me to be someone else, someone more acceptable to her." My expression darkens.

"What happened? I assume it didn't work out for long, since you eventually were turned to stone."

"Yes… Your assumption would be correct. For you see, it is unnatural to go against one's own nature for long. And I saw through her, in time. I saw through how she used my love to tame me… and she rued the day I did."