When Discord saw the lifeless expression on Azure Gem’s face, he finally realized how much damage he’d actually done.

“Discord?” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I just came for a visit,” he said. “May I come in?”

Azure looked away from Discord for a moment. She really wasn’t in the mood for visitors, but she thought that talking about her troubles would help her. “Come in,” she said, stepping aside.

“Thank you,” Discord said gratefully as he entered the mare’s home.

“So, what is it you really want?” Azure asked in a monotone voice as she shut the door.

“Pardon?” Discord asked.

“You’ve never been over before, so I doubt you’re here just to visit,” the mare said perceptively.

“Alright, you got me,” said the draconequus, “I heard about what happened with you and Eric, and I just wanted to hear your side of the story.”

Azure sighed. “Fine.” She and Discord took a seat on her couch and she started to explain what had happened from her point of view.

“When I saw Eric last night, I noticed that there was something different about him,” she said. “When he talked to me, he was a lot more direct; it even bordered on abrasive at times. When my back was turned, I could feel him watching me, as usual. Normally, I didn’t mind it. In fact, I sometimes got a kick out of it, but that night… when I felt him looking at me, I felt really uncomfortable, like he was looking at me with intent.”

Azure took a moment to pause before continuing. “Then he started flirting me, and I was really put off by how forward he was. I tried dropping hints, hoping he would get the message, but then… he started to push me into sex.” The mare’s voice started to break at this point. “I told him no, but he just kept teasing me about it. He snatched my glasses from me, and I fell on top of him, and then he joked about how he knew I wanted him… and that’s when I decided that I had had enough.”

“So what did you do?” Discord asked, already knowing the answer.

“I gave him a hard smack across the face, that’s what,” Azure said coldly. “After that, he had the nerve to pretend that he didn’t know what he was doing and that you cast a spell on him to make him act to obnoxiously. The fact that he couldn’t take responsibility for his own actions angered me more than anything else.”

“And that’s when you kicked him out?” Discord guessed.

“Yeah…” said the mare. “It must suck, Discord, having Eric blame you for all his problems. I thought that he was different, but last night had me second guessing my view of him over the past year. Was the Eric that I got to know after all this time just some fake personality?”

“No, Azzy. It’s nothing like that,” the draconequus said reassuringly. “Eric really is a nice guy. Sure, he’s stubborn and he can’t admit when he’s wrong, but he’s really loyal and committed, and I know he’d never willingly do anything to hurt you.”

Azure scoffed at him. “If that’s so, then how can you explain his behavior last night?”

Discord sighed. He knew it was time to fess up. “When Eric was here last night, did you notice anything unusual about his appearance?”

Azure pondered the thought for a moment. “Well, he was overdressed, but aside from that… I did notice that his skin l looked a little gray.”

“There was a reason for that,” Discord explained. “Eric wasn’t lying when he said that I had cast a spell on him. It was a type of personality-altering magic that would make the target assume the personality that the caster wishes for them to have. I noticed how you and Eric hadn’t taken that next step in your relationship and I thought that it was because Eric was just too timid to ask. He tried to tell me that you didn’t like the aggressive types, but I didn’t listen.”

“So… he was telling the truth?” Azure asked, scared to hear the answer.

“Yes, Azure,” Discord said with a nod of his head. “Everything that happened last night happened because of me, and I came here not to just clear Eric’s name, but to apologize. You guys’ relationship was never any of my business, and I was meddling in something I shouldn’t have been meddling in. I hope you can forgive me.”

Azure took a moment to take everything in. In the few minutes that Discord’s been here, he made all of the events that transpired last night make so much more sense. If Eric really was telling the truth, then he wasn’t at fault, which meant that…

“I got so mad at Eric for something that wasn’t his fault…” she said, more to herself than to Discord. Regret was starting to take hold of her. “Even when I noticed that something was off about him, I didn’t even think about it. He must think I’m a total bitch for not listening to him.”

Discord shook his head. “Azzy, I know for a fact that that isn’t the case. If you ask me, he misses you, if anything. He loves you too much to even consider hating you. If he hated anypony it’d be me,” he said “I’m always causing trouble for him, and the one time I think I’m actually helping him, I end up making him more upset with me than ever. The least I can do for the both of you is to help you both make up. If you want, I can take you to his house so you can see him. He deserves a happy relationship.”

Azure looked up at him for a brief moment and finally let a smile form on her face. “Yeah. I’d like that.” She then paused. “What did you mean by ‘he deserves a happy relationship’?”

“Well, Celestia broke up with me for turning down a very important date,” Discord explained. “I had overslept, and she ended up waiting on me for an hour. When I saw you when I got here, your expression reminded me of Celestia’s when she showed up at my doorstep.”

“Oh…” said Azure. “Well, I hope things work out between you two. I’m sure she’d consider giving you another chance if she knew how far you were going for Eric and me.”

Discord smiled. “Speaking of ‘going,’ let’s get going.”

Meanwhile, Eric and Celestia started to feel a little better, reveling in their shared dislike for that abomination of chaos.

“So, Celestia,” Eric asked, “why did you keep this on-and-off thing with Discord going for so long?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a chuckle. “He just had something about him that made me take him back every time. It was like he had some kind of… charm to him.”

“Ha! Charm!” Eric said with a hearty laugh. “You’re hilarious, Celestia!”

“Actually…” she said, “as much as I’d hate to admit it, I’m not joking, Eric. It’s just that… even though Discord frustrates me to no end, he still finds a way to make me smile sometimes.”

“You’re serious?” he asked, receiving a nod of the head from Celestia as a response. “He always finds a way to make you smile, huh?”

Just then, there was a knock on Eric’s door. “Were you expecting anypony else over?” the princess asked.

“Not that I know of,” the human replied as he got up to answer the door. He curiously opened his front door, only to be taken aback by seeing Discord and Azure Gem at his doorstep. He wasn’t sure who he was more surprised to see.

Discord and Azure were also surprised that Eric had Celestia over, firstly because they expected her to be swamped with work, and secondly because Eric’s never had company over to his house. The four of them all stood and stared at each other in silence.

“Azure,” said Eric.

“Eric,” said Azure.

“Celestia,” said Discord.

“Discord,” said Celestia.

The one-word greetings were followed by another painfully awkward moment of silence. After what felt like a whole two minutes, Azure was the first to speak up.

“Eric… can we talk in private?” she asked.

He paused for a second and said. “Okay.” He walked upstairs and Azure quietly followed him, leaving Discord and Celestia alone on the ground floor.

“I’ll just… let myself in,” the draconequus said as he entered the house, shutting the door behind him.

Eric led Azure up to his room, where the late afternoon sun was sufficient enough to light the room without any other lights having to be on.

“You can take a seat, if you want,” he offered.

“It’s okay, I’d rather stand,” she respectfully declined.

“Fair enough,” he said, and then he took a deep breath before continuing. “So, what brings you here with Discord?”

“Well, he came to my house earlier today,” Azure explained. “He asked me about what happened last night, and he told me that you were telling the truth about him…” Her voice started to break towards the end of that sentence, and tears started to fall from her eyes. “I’m really sorry, Eric. I should’ve known better than to think you were actually that aggressive. I shouldn’t have hit you or yelled at you, and I should’ve had more trust in you. I really hope you’re not mad at me.”

Eric sighed. “No, you should’ve been mad,” he said. “Any self-respecting mare would react that way to that kind of person. Plus, you did have a point last night. I do blame Discord for all my problems, even when he has nothing to do with it. I guess I should give the guy more credit, considering that he went this far to fix his mistake.” He walked up to Azure and gave her a tight hug, and then he loosened the hug a little so he could look the mare in the eyes. “You mind if I take your glasses for a second?” he asked.

Azure shook her head. “Not at all,” she said.

Eric smiled and removed the mare’s glasses from her face. With nothing obstructing him, Eric used his thumb to wipe away Azure’s tears. Now that her face was dry, he took in her emerald colored eyes. The light from the sun combined with her still-moist eyes caused them to shine beautifully.

“You have amazing eyes,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said with a blush.

Eric returned the blush as he put Azure’s glasses back on her face. With her eyes dried and a smile adorning his marefriend’s face, he pulled her closer to him again.

“I love you, Azzy,” he said.

“I love you, too, Eric,” she said back.

The second Azure and Eric went up the stairs, Discord and Celestia started to awkwardly eye each other. Celestia was the first to speak up.

“So, what brings you here with Azure Gem?” she asked.

“I paid her a visit earlier today,” he answered.

“What for?” she asked.

“I caused a fight between her and Eric, and I needed to make things right between them,” Discord explained as he approached Celestia. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You were always telling me that I’m irresponsible, and you’re right. I always made the excuse that I was the embodiment of chaos and that it was in my nature, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been taking you for granted. I took advantage of all the chances you gave me until I didn’t have any more.”

Celestia was taken aback by Discord’s words; it wasn’t because of the words themselves, but because they came from him. She started to reconsider what she did last night. “When did you get so insightful?” she asked.

“I guess Eric’s starting to rub off on me,” he admitted.

Celestia sighed. “Well, maybe I could give you one more chance.”

“You mean it, Tia?” Discord asked with a hopeful smile.

The princess nodded her head. “If you went out of your way to fix your own mistake… then I guess you weren’t as irresponsible as I thought.”

Discord smiled and gave Celestia a hug. “Thanks, Tia,” he said.

“You’re welcome, Dizzy,” she said with a blush, and she kissed him on the cheek, which made him blush as well. “So, would you like to try that date again?”

“I’d love to,” he answered. “Maybe if things work out between Eric and Azure, we could make it a double date?”

“That sounds good to me,” said somepony from upstairs. Discord and Celestia turned their heads to see Eric and Azure Gem, coming down the stairs. “What day is good for you guys?” asked Azure.

“Friday night’s good for me,” Celestia answered. The two mares proceeded to plan the entire night, with Eric and Discord awkwardly standing there. Even after Azure and Celestia finished planning, said goodbye, and left the house, the human and the draconequus were still standing idly by, looking at each other the whole time.

Eric made up with Azure, and Discord made up with Celestia, but now Eric and Discord had to make up with each other, and that could prove to be the biggest challenge yet.

Author's Notes:

One more chapter after this (insert sad face).