A brown steam train with colorful-roofed cars sped through the tracks through many rocky tunnels and passageways. The sky was blue and cloudless, providing a beautiful reflection from a lake that the mountains surrounded. The early morning sun mottled the sky with a touch of orange and pink, providing a truly spectacular eve for the Summer Sun Celebration.

Inside the train’s cars, Twilight and her friends were sitting beside their human friends as they made pleasant conversation and looked out the windows, enjoying the scenery before they would arrive in Canterlot.

“If you thought my house looked cool,” Rainbow Dash told Eren, “…well, of course it is, but just wait until you see Canterlot.”

“I’ve been looking forward to it ever since you told us about it during the Battle of Trost,” Armin said.

“Trost?” wondered Eren. “When did she…”

Eren suddenly remembered Rainbow Dash’s words as she spoke to him inside the neck of his titan form.
________________________________________________________________________________________

“There are cities made of clouds, a castle on a cliff, dragons, manticores, hydras! It’s so cool in Equestria! I’ll take you there!”
________________________________________________________________________________________

“That’s right,” Eren sighed. “I almost blew it for everyone that day, didn’t I?”

“But you certainly didn’t, did you?” asked Twilight. “You saved a lot of people that day, Eren.”

“But if it wasn’t for all of you coming,” Armin said, “we’d all probably be dead, yet alone, not be here with you in Equestria.”

“Well,” said Spike as he walked up to the four of them, “we’re glad we did it, and we’d do it again.”

“Not that that would happen again, of course,” Twilight chuckled nervously.

“Of course not!” Spike assured them, waving his hand dismissively. “I was just saying that we were happy to do that for you guys.”

“We sure were. We even got some really cool friends out it.”

“I’ll say!” exclaimed Twilight, leaning onto Eren’s side, who received a firm pet of her coat from Eren.

“You haven’t even met everyone yet,” responded Twilight. “Shining Armor is coming with his wife, Cadance, and I’m sure you’ll get to meet my parents at some point.”

“Shining Armor is coming?” asked Petra, leaning in from her seat towards Twilight and her friends.

“Yep. As rulers of the Crystal Empire, it’s practically customary for them to attend.”

“Oh,” she sighed, sitting back in her seat. “I see.”

The train passed through the mountains, and Twilight, glancing out the window, smirked at the sight she saw.

“Well,” Twilight told Petra, her volume raised to address the rest of the car, “you’re not going to need to miss him for much longer, because ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Canterlot!”

The humans, minus Levi, scrambled to the left side of the car and looked out the window, completely floored by the sight they were looking upon. Not far off into the distance was a massive white city and palace with gold spires perched along the side of the mountain.

Gasps and sighs of, “Oohs,” and “Ahs,” were all that could come from the human’s mouths as they marveled at the majesty of Equestria’s capital city.

“Isn’t this awesome, Eren?” asked Rainbow Dash.

The lack of Eren’s response confused Rainbow Dash, and as she flew to the middle of the car to search for him, she found not a trace of him inside the car.

“Eren?” Rainbow Dash called, flying to the front end of the car. “Eren?”

Rainbow Dash flew to the back of the car and through the walkway into the next car. As she looked around, the sound of feet on the roof brought her to stop and realize where her friend was. With a chuckle, she flew out of the car and out from the side of the catwalk.

Flying up towards the roofs, she sighed with relief to see Eren trying to stand out of his kneel and keep his balance with the rickety train. After failing once again, Eren gasped as he felt a pair of arms grab him under his armpits and lift him to his feet.

“Hey,” she told him, landing on her hooves, “if you want to go onto the roof, let me know next time, okay?”

Eren giggled, happy to have his friend next to him for the breathtaking view of the castle ahead. Rainbow Dash jumped up, the train moving faster than her before she began flapping her wings and kept up with Eren and the train. Eren continued to look ahead to their spot as Rainbow Dash flew alongside, both enjoying the cool summer mountain breeze.
________________________________________________________________________________________

The train pulled up to Canterlot station and slowly screeched to a stop. Once the doors opened, Eren, Twilight, and all their friends poured out of the exit, wondering where to go from there. It didn’t take Eren and Twilight long to see Shining Armor standing at the end of the station, waving at them with an alicorn mare beside him.

The pony was very slender with a pink coat and wings with faded purple tips. Her mane was a long billow of light-yellow, fuchsia, and purple. A teal, crystal heart with gold lace made up her cutie mark.

“Shining Armor!” called Twilight. “Cadance!”

Twilight galloped towards her brother and the other mare as Petra broke through her friends to see Shining Armor gleefully greeting his sister with a snuggling hug. Petra, overjoyed to see Shining Armor again, ran towards him, who was completely unaware as he continued to greet Twilight.

“Shining Armor!” Petra cried out, wrapping her right arm around Shining Armor’s neck.

Shining Armor let out a loud laugh, both surprised by the newly added weight to his body and also glad to hear Petra’s voice.

“Petra!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “It’s great to see you too!”

“So this is that girl you were telling me about?” asked Cadance.

“Oh, right!”

Petra slid her arm off Shining Armor’s neck and faced both him and Cadance. From behind, Levi approached her, leading the other humans and ponies with him.

“Petra,” Shining Armor introduced, “this is my wife Cadance. Cadance, Petra.”

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you!” chirped Cadance as she let Petra shake her hoof. “I heard about what happened to your arm. You must be very brave to go off into battle and lose it.”

Levi came to Petra’s right side, slightly surprising Cadance.

“And you must be Levi,” she greeted, putting her hoof to her chest and bowing in reverence. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

Petra, enamored to see Cadance give such respect to him, clasped his left hand, surprising him greatly. Shining Armor noticed the gesture, smiling upon realizing what it meant.

“Well,” he chortled, “look at two lovebirds here.”

“Not just that,” Petra spoke, Levi looking a touch embarrassed at the news that was about to come, “but Levi and I… well, we’re engaged!”

Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other with truly stunned expressions. Twilight and the other ponies, Spike especially, were just as surprised. Cadance and Twilight squealed with delight as they both walked up and hugged Levi and Petra, Spike running up and hugging Levi’s leg. The other ponies cheered the joyful news, but the humans merely smiled, having already known this before.

“Congratulations!” Cadance responded to Petra. “That’s wonderful to hear.”

“I’ll say!” Shining Armor added. “Do you have any idea when you’ll be married.”

“Huh?” Petra questioned, looking a bit flustered. “There’s… no need to rush, but I’ve always wanted a fall wedding!”

“Fall weddings are beautiful,” Twilight advised, “and I think it’s a perfect time for a couple like you to tie the knot.”

“Perhaps we can talk a bit more about it at the palace,” Shining Armor said. “Celestia and Luna actually sent us here to escort all of you there.”

“That sounds great,” Petra added. “What about our luggage?”

“Oh,” sighed Rarity, “I have someone for that.”

Weakly coming up behind the ponies and humans was a mountain of luggage being carried all on the back of a grey, homely unicorn stallion with a natural red mane and tail in a red concierge uniform. The humans, seeing the agony and strain on the unicorn’s face, looked somewhat mortified with his load, each one walking up to the luggage and grabbing a suitcase and their 3D Maneuver Gear cases.

“Don’t worry,” Arrmin told him, “we’ll manage our own luggage.”

“Th…” the concierge wheezed, “thank you…”

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them all, Lyra and Derpy Hooves stepped of the train from one of the back cars and looked to the group with scrutiny. Without wanting to draw more attention to themselves, the two stepped away from the station and into the streets of Canterlot.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood in the middle of the grand foyer of their palace, guards walking about the halls and keeping their tight patrol. Standing beside the two of them was Annie Leonhardt, keeping eye on the door and the visitors that would be coming through any moment. Sure enough, the doors slowly swung open, and Shining Armor and Cadance led the way for the ponies and humans entering inside. While the ponies were happy to see both the princesses and Annie, Eren and Armin were overjoyed to see her, having not done so in a year.

“Annie!” Eren called as he and Armin quickened their pace away from the group to greet her.

Hanji and Petra, however, had their eyes glued to Celestia, who neither have seen in their lives. Hanji let out a victorious whoop and dropped her bags while she and Petra ran to greet Celestia.

“This is amazing!” Hanji squealed, excitedly shaking Princess Celestia’s hoof with both her hands. “I’m actually getting to meet Princess Celestia at long last!”

“Well,” Princess Celestia giggled, “I can share your sentiment. Hello, Hanji, and welcome to Canterlot.”

Celestia turned to Petra as Levi finally made it over and took his place beside her.

“Ah, and you must be Levi and Petra,” she addressed, “it’s an honor to meet you both.”

“Likewise,” Levi said as he gently took Celestia’s golden slipper in his hand.

“I can’t believe this is only the first time that either of us has met,” Petra responded, shaking Celestia’s hoof.

“It certainly has been far too long,” Celestia agreed.

“It’s so good to see you,” Armin said, hugging Annie around her arms and waist. “How have things been since you were with the Royal Guard?”

“It’s been alright,” Annie figured.

“Rainbow Dash and her friend Gilda were telling me all about that journey you and Gilda had last winter,” Eren brought up. “You’re alright, though, right?”

“More or less,” Annie said, lifting her jacket and hoodie up to reveal the scar on her side.

“Well,” Armin added, trying to change the subject, “it’s good to hear you’ve been making a living and making friends.”

“Yeah,” sighed Annie. “Me too…”

“Ponies,” Celestia gently called out, “ladies, gentlemen…”

The humans and ponies, minus Annie, stood back in a group with each other while Annie stood back in line with the princesses.

“Tomorrow morning is the Summer Sun Celebration,” explained Celestia, “and I’m very happy to see all of you attending as our guests of honor. Since you are not privy to our holiday, I wish to explain the nature of which the festivities will occur.

“At three o’clock, there will be a tremendous feast that I’m inviting all of you to attend. And I have even had our chefs prepare meat selections for all of you for just this occasion.”

Sasha took a deep, slow inhale, extremely excited by the prospect of dining on meat.

“There’s no need to worry,” continued Celestia, ignoring Sasha’s reaction. “The meat is generally reserved for the more… exotic wildlife pays visit to Canterlot now and then, but I digress. Afterwards, you will be permitted to sleep until this evening, in which there will be a wonderful fair that will last throughout the night. For the next step, I’d like you to follow me…

Celestia walked away down the hallways of the palace, leading Luna and Annie, followed by the other ponies and humans, to head to the same destination as they.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Coming outside, Celestia and Luna led the humans and ponies to a very sizable park surrounded by the buildings of the city. At the city’s edge was an elevated marble platform with two metal staffs with two shapes upon them: a yellow sun on the left and a crescent moon on the right.

The area before the stand was very open and spacious with no obtrusions. Further back, however, were a slew of colorful stands and tents with many ponies setting them up, either as food vendors or carnival games. All about the park around the stands were carnival rides, including a ferris wheel, a small roller coaster, a zipper, and much more.

“Golly!” exclaimed Applejack. “They’ve outdone themselves again this year.”

“Wow,” Conny said, “you guys really go all out on this thing.”

“Of course we do, Conny,” spoke Luna. “The Summer Sun Celebration is only one of the most important Equestrian events of the year.”

“It looks a bit too colorful for my tastes,” commented Levi.

“Just wait until dark,” Rainbow Dash joked. “Once all of the lights come on, it will be even more colorful!”

Levi stifled an annoyed grumble.

“The reason we brought you here,” Luna continued, “is because we wish to rehearse the pre-sunrise presentation with you. We have already prepared what to say, all we need you to do is stand where we need you and to salute the audience when we are finished.”

“That sounds easy enough,” Hanji responded. “Either way, we’re more than willing to help.”

“That sounds wonderful,” replied Celestia. “Now, the faster we can get this done, the more time you can spend perusing the castle before our feast. Let’s waste no more time. Follow me.”

Celestia walked up towards the platform, leading the humans and ponies to the platform, where they obediently followed.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Armin walked through the hallways of the living quarters of the palace, his luggage no longer with him, browsing the very many stained glass murals that made up the windows along the walls. Walking past a door, it opened, alerting Armin and stopping him. Hanji and Twilight emerged out, with Twilight closing the door behind her.

“Hey, Armin,” greeted Twilight. “I was just going to look for you. Would you like me to give you a tour of the palace?”

“That sounds great, Twilight,” Armin said. “I’d love to.”

“Great! I’ve spent a lot of time in this castle during the better part of my foalhood, so I know this place like the back of my hoof.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Come on!” Twilight finally called, leading the way. “We’ll start at my favorite place. The library.”

“Yes!” exclaimed Hanji. “Let’s!”

Twilight gleefully trotted down the hall, Armin and Hanji briskly following her with equal enthusiasm.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Jean twisted the faucet of an in-ground tub off, stopping the flow of steaming water. His clothes were strewn about the floor, the only article of clothing was a pair of undergarments. Testing the water with his big toe, smiling in comfort at the perfect warmth, he slid his underpants off his waist and kicked them at his pants.

Fully nude, Jean carefully stepped into the tub, slowly sitting in and letting the water immerse him up to his neck. Gently pushing off the front wall, he floated himself to the back and laid his arms around the pool’s rim.

“Ah,” he sighed, “now this is the life.”

Jean closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles fully as his body slipped further into the water, his chin dipping on the surface. The only sounds he could hear were the water gently sloshing on the edge of the tub as well as Fluttershy’s voice humming on the other side of the doors.

One noise brought him out of his tranquility not long after: a quack. Cracking his eye open, Jean peered at what appeared to be a bright-yellow rubber duck floating about the water over his stomach. Jean, confused at the toy’s appearance, opened his eyes and observed it with suspicion.

“Where did this thing come from?” he wondered aloud.

As he continued pondering, the rubber duck opened its mouth, a row of razor sharp fangs growing out of them. The duck quacked again, but in a much lower and threatening tone as its entire body seemed to jiggle and grow.

Jean shouted loud as he quickly took his hand out of the water and swatted the duck out of the bath where it bounced on the floor and onto the wall. Once it hit the wall, a bright flash came from it and grew out into an entirely new creature, which lied on its upper back with the rest of its body against the wall and curling out away from it, its back legs dangling above the floor.

The creature appeared to encompass a variety of creatures: a grey, furry draconic head and neck with an enlarged right fang and a long white beard, bushy white eyebrows, bright, yellow eyes, an antler and a blue, bulbous horn on its head, donkey ears and mane, a long and skinny brown fuzzy body, a polydactyl right lion’s arm, a left eagle’s talon, a bat-like right wing and a blue, feathery left wing, a green draconic right leg, an antelope’s left leg, and a red dragon’s tail with a furry tip along the end.

Jean scrambled out of the water as if he were a cat, screaming as loud as he could in fear of the malformed creature in the same room as him. The creature slid down the wall, lying on its back before arcing its body up to a standing position, almost as if it were ignoring gravity itself.

“Definitely a screamer,” the creature commented in an aged, but goofy voice as he picked his ear with his pinkie talon.

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Fluttershy, bursting into the room. “Jean, are you al–”

Fluttershy gasped as she watched Jean run to the side of the room for his towel, his bare buttocks clearly visible to both Fluttershy and this creature. As Jean wrapped a towel around himself, covering his private areas, he panted as he looked to both Fluttershy and the creature. Fluttershy, extremely flustered with having caught Jean in such a position, blushed profusely as she tipped over to her side, her legs stiff as boards.

“Oh see,” the creature chided, “now look what you’ve done.”

With a snap of its talons, a ball of water appeared over Fluttershy’s body and splashed all over her, awakening her with a jolt as she jumped to her feet and gasped for air. Another snap of its talons, produced a flash over Fluttershy, her damped-down mane and soaked coat now dry and restyled.

“Discord,” spoke Fluttershy, looking up at the creature, “what are you doing here?”

“And why are you spying on me while I’m bathing, you fucking freak of nature?” demanded Jean as he stepped closer to the two of them.

“I think the better question is,” Discord responded nonchalantly and gentlemanly, “what are you doing in Fluttershy’s bathroom?”

“We’re sharing a room, you god-damned freak!”

“Jean!” Fluttershy shouted, running in between the two. “Discord! Don’t fight!”

“I wasn’t fighting,” Discord pouted while clasping his hands together, his eyes growing wide and sparkly. “I’m always good.”

Fluttershy gave Discord a despondent stare, breaking Discord out of his act as he settled down. Jean did not let his guard down for an instant.

“Alright,” Discord sighed, “to whom, who swatted me out of the bathtub, I might add, do I have the pleasure of acquainting myself with?”

Jean furrowed his brow harder, knowing this thing was only trying to antagonize him further.

“Discord,” Fluttershy greeted, “this is my friend Jean Kirschtein from Earth. And Jean, this is Discord. He was once the malevolent being of chaos and disharmony, and now, he’s one of my best friends.”

“Very best,” Discord added, slinking up to and hugging Fluttershy, who looked genuinely happy beside him.

“Hmph,” Jean huffed. “You certainly do have a way with animals, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, come now, Jean,” he responded, a hurt expression on his face, “I didn’t mean anything by that back there. I’m willing to let our first meeting be water under the bridge…”

Discord then morphed into a brick bridge over Jean’s head which changed back into Discord who landed in Jean’s arms.

“…if you are.”

Jean let Discord go, only for Discord to hang on to Jean’s neck and weigh him down. Before Jean could fall, a rocking chair appeared under his rump which caught him and Discord as they both swayed back and forth.

“You see,” asked Discord, snuggling himself towards Jean, “isn’t this nice? I can be a good friend to you if you do the same for me. What do you say, pally?”

“I’d like to get back to my bath now,” grumbled Jean.

“Well, suit yourself.”

With a snap of his talons, the back of the arched legs disappeared, and on the back rock, Jean, Discord, and the chair dipped back towards the tub. Discord and the chair both disappeared right above the water while Jean fell in with his towel on. Fluttershy flinched and covered herself as the water splashed out and near her. However, a brown umbrella with a green handle appeared and opened up from the side, shielding Fluttershy from the splash.

The umbrella’s canopy folded out as the shaft transformed into Discord’s head while the rest of the contraption changed into the rest of Discord’s body.

“Well,” Discord said, “you heard the man. He wants his privacy back, and who are we to deny him that? Toodles!”

With a spastic wave of his lion fingers, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jean swam to the edge of the pool, coughing water from his mouth. Fluttershy, seeing his towel floating on the surface of the water, blushed once again and backed away towards the doors.

“I’ll just…” said Fluttershy, “get you a new towel.”

Fluttershy darted out of the room as fast as her legs could carry her. Jean looking about the room and realizing he was alone, finally relaxed his muscles, submerging himself fully into the tub.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight stood in between the aisles as Hanji and Armin slid about the shelves of the expansive Canterlot Palace Library on wheeled ladders. As Hanji flipped through the books contents, quickly absorbing select words on every page, Armin stood still for long periods of time as he took his time on each book he found. Twilight could only smile, happy to see others who shared her love of learning.

“Did you find any winners?” asked Twilight.

“I’m not sure,” Armin said, putting his book back. “There’s so many here that I don’t know which to read first.”

“Well, you just let me know, and I’m sure the princesses will be fine with you borrowing them.”

“That’s great to hear,” he responded back, picking another book out with brown spine and cover with silver edged pages.

Looking upon the cover of the book, Armin blew the dust covering its title. It only consisted of three large words: Watch Your Step.

“Watch your step?” wondered Armin, flipping the book open and revealing an image of Discord on one of the pages. “I wonder what that means.”

“Perhaps if you read it,” the image responded, its mouth and body clearly mobile, “you’d learn.”

Armin, overwhelmed with shock, tossed the book up. Realizing what he’d done, he leaned back to try and catch it, only to realize once again that he was now falling off the ladder. The commotion and terrified yelps of Armin were caught by Twilight and Hanji, who watched as their friend fell with the book in his grasp.

“Armin!” Twilight shouted.

Appearing on the floor in a flash of light was a trampoline angled diagonally down the hall, which Armin’s back landed on. Even as he was thrust to the floor, landing on his back and sliding to a stop, the book remained clung to Armin’s chest. As Twilight ran down the hall and Hanji leapt from the ladder to check on Armin, the shrill cry of a whistle brought Twilight and Hanji to a screeching halt.

Armin looked up to see Discord walking in from the shadows, wearing a black-and-white striped polo and a matching cap, the whistle in his mouth. He held his arms straight up beside his head as he looked dead into Twilight and Hanji’s eyes. Hanji was frozen stiff at the sight of Discord, having not seen anything quite like him before.

“Discord!” shouted Twilight. “What did you do? You could have really hurt Armin!”

“Oh,” Discord responded, his referee outfit puffing off of him much to Hanji and Armin’s surprise, “I assume you’re talking about Blondie Bowlcut below me.”

“Yeah, and I said his name is Armin!”

“Could you give me a hand?” Armin weakly groaned.

“Sure thing,” Discord obliged, extending his lion’s paw out, “just be sure to give it back.”

Armin took grasp of Discord’s paw, but upon pulling it, the arm slid out of Discord’s socket like a glove from a hand. Armin shrieked and convulsed as the dismembered arm fell on him.

“Armin!” cried Twilight.

Discord laughed heartily, keeping his balance by leaning against a bookshelf. Twilight picked up Armin and the book with her magic. Unbeknownst to Armin, Discord’s right arm was still in his hand.

“That reminds me,” Discord said, regaining his composure and approaching Armin and Twilight, “could you give me my hand back?”

Armin looked down to see Discord’s arm still in his hand. Freaked out, Armin impulsively whipped it at Discord, who managed to catch it in his talons.

“Much obliged,” he thanked.

As Discord screw his arm into place back in its socket, Hanji couldn’t withhold her joyous excitement any longer. With a deafening shout, she ran to Discord, who looked confused by her demeanor, as she began to examine the bases of Discord’s limbs, wings, tail and neck.

“Unbelievable,” she panted, running her fingers from the side of Discord’s hairy waist down to the thigh his green dragon’s leg. “There’s no signs of stitching or cauterization!”

Discord, genuinely in shock by Hanji’s feeling him up, stayed perfectly still as Hanji moved on to the left bicep and bird-like arm.

“These parts are completely natural looking!” continued Hanji, her excitement rendering her observations to screams. “This is a perfect animal hybrid!”

Discord, realizing the positive attention she was giving her, let out a smug chuckle.

“Well,” he admitted with his paw to his chest, “I am a sight for sore eyes!”

“Yeah,” Twilight hissed under her breath, “that’s if you want them to stay sore.”

Armin looked at Discord as Hanji began to bombard him with questions about him. It was then that Armin took a good look at his eyes, noting a striking resemblance to something in his memories.

“Wait a minute…” whispered Armin.

Peering around to the backside and his tail, Armin noticed the color of his tail and the furry end upon it. It was then that Armin gasped and realized who he thought Discord was. As Hanji took a deep inhale to continue her interview, Armin took his opportunity.

“Discord,” Armin called out.

“Yes, Armin?” Discord called out, glaring at Twilight.

“Does the name Beryl mean anything to you?”

Armin noticed as Discord betrayed his knowledge with a nostalgic glimmer in his eyes, a limp droop in his ears, and a slightly agape mouth. Discord looked at Armin and Twilight, who could tell that Discord knew exactly what Armin alluded to.

“Beryl?” wondered Hanji. “Who’s that?”

“I…” Discord began, “I haven’t been called by that name in over a thousand years.”

“I still don’t understand. Who or what is Beryl?”

“Hanji,” explained Twilight, “you do know how Spike is my assistant, right?”

“Yes?”

“Much like Spike is my assistant, and Hunter was Luna’s assistant, Beryl used to be Celestia’s draconic assistant.”

“But how?” wondered Discord, scratching the back of his head. “How did you know I was… him?”

“On the final day of the War on Titans,” Armin explained, “Hunter used magic crystals to show us his childhood that led to his banishment. I saw a dragon with eyes and a tail just like yours beside Celestia. He even called you by name and told us who you were.”

“So you were once a dragon?” asked Hanji. “How did you become a… whatever you are now?”

Discord looked off to the side, unsure if it would be a good idea to let them know, even if they knew as much as they did. Discord relented with a sigh and a deep inhale. Cupping his hands together, he slowly spread them out, creating a glassy sphere that grew in size the wider his hands spread apart.

Appearing inside the orb, was what appeared to be a young, red dragon with yellow eyes like Discord’s, running and playing with Princess Celestia, whose body and age resembled Twilight’s. Hanji, Armin, and Twilight peered into the orb.

“Celestia and I were the greatest of friends,” Discord explained. “She was like an older sister to me.”

Through the glass, both Celestia and Beryl aged considerably each taking on adult forms.

“As the many, many years together went on,” Discord continued, “I began to see her more than just a friend, and even more than a close family member.”

Twilight gasped, realizing what Discord was getting at.

“You were in love with Princess Celestia?” she asked.

“Shh!” Discord hissed, sloppily covering Twilight’s mouth with his paw before letting it off. “Yes, I was in love with her. I knew she would never return my feelings being that she was a pony and I was… a dragon. I wanted her so bad… that I made possibly what was one of the worst decisions of my life.

“I had acquired Hearts Desire from a tribe of zebras who made their home deep within where the Everfree Forest is now. After taking it, I had gained the ability to wield magic on my own.”

Inside the glass ball, Beryl snapped his fingers, causing a technicolor spark to fly from his claws. As his snapping continued, the sparks became bigger until they actually began emitting auras.

“Using my new abilities, I practiced in secret, hoping I could master them enough that I could transform myself into a pony so she could reciprocate my love.”

“I’ve practiced transformation spells in the past,” Twilight said. “They’re difficult enough on inanimate objects, but to transform a creature as complex as a dragon to that of a pony? On yourself, no less?”

“Yes,” Discord admitted. “And I found that out the hard way.”

Armin gasped slightly, having put many of the pieces together. He remained quiet, wanting Discord to tell his point of view. Appearing in the ball, Beryl’s body morphed into that of a dashing red alicorn with a pinkish-red mane.

“My first transformation was actually successful,” Discord said, “but Celestia had discovered who I was, and by extension, what I was doing. She had demanded that I change back immediately.”

In the sphere, Celestia scolded Beryl’s pony form, who shamefully cast a spell to change himself back. However, he had instead transformed into a lion with draconic back leg and a bird-like tail. Another poof had turned Beryl into a winged deer, one of its wings black and bat-like. The transformations continued in fast succession as even more random parts as Celestia backed away fearfully as Beryl convulsed violently, glowing brighter and brighter with each transformation.

A bright burst of light came from Beryl’s body, shrouding the sphere in light. Hanji and Twilight peered closer to see the light fade away to reveal Beryl, now in the form that everyone now knew him as Discord, but with a much shorter beard and smaller eyebrows. Beryl looked at himself in his monstrous form, making him collapse to the ground in misery as tears rolled off his face.

“So you were the result of magic having gone awry,” Hanji admitted.

“Yes,” answered Discord. “Celestia never thought of me the same way again, and she had far less trust in me. I knew that we had no chance at that point. All I had left was my magic, and I continued to practice it once again.”

Discord, his younger self, a ladle floating between his hands, watched as it changed into more random items: and oboe, a vase, and even managed to transform it into a miniature elephant.

“My powers grew stronger, and it overjoyed me what I could change and accomplish with my magic. I then suppose I… went mad with power, and began a rampage all over Equestria, changing it in the warped vision I saw it in. I no longer wanted to be known as Beryl, the dragon that foolishly thought he could woo a princess. I renamed myself Discord, the spirit of chaos. It had a nice ring to it, I remembered.”

Discord placed his hands on the sphere and clamped his hands shut, the sphere shrinking into nothingness inside. Twilight, Hanji, and Armin looked into Discord’s eyes, prepared to hear the rest of the tale.

“It was then that Celestia and Luna first sealed me inside the Elements. And about a thousand or so years later, you and your friends defeated me again before freeing me not too long after, and then Flutter…”

Discord gasped and turned away, knowing he probably said too much. Armin, knowing who he was talking about, stepped up to approach Discord.

“What about Fluttershy?” asked Armin. “What did she do to you?”

“She…” Discord spoke, his eyes wetting and his nose sniffling, “she showed me a friendship that reminded me of the one that Celestia had given me so long ago. I remembered what I had lost by choosing to wield magic, and I no longer wanted to give that up. I guess I’m only telling you this because… you were the first to find out, and that I’d much rather stay friends with Fluttershy than possibly repeat the past by admitting my feelings like this.”

Twilight, finding herself surprisingly moved by Discord’s story, looked down, unsure what to say to him at that point.

“So,” Twilight wondered, “if you cherish your friendship with Fluttershy, why don’t you act as kindly around the rest of us?”

“Pfft,” Discord chortled, wiping his nose, eyes, and somber expression from his face nearly instantly, “it’s not like using magic isn’t still fun, isn’t that right, Element of Magic?”

Discord underlined his points by pinching Twilight’s cheek with his paw.

“But you don’t have to be so abrasive about it!” Twilight frowned.

“Baby steps, my dear Twilight,” he said as he began to walk away from her and down the hall of shelves. “Baby steps…”

With a flash, Discord had vanished from the library, leaving Hanji, Armin, and Twilight alone.

“Eh?” exclaimed Hanji, pulling her hair with worry. “There was still so much more I wanted to know from him!”

“It’s okay, Hanji,” Armin spoke, putting his hand on her shoulder. “I’m certain this won’t be the last we see of that guy.”

As Armin continued consoling Hanji, Twilight stared out at the space where Discord had disappeared, amazed at the whole new light she now saw him in.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Inside the ornate, stained-glass window-laden dining hall of the palace, Celestia and Luna sat on both ends of a long, mahogany table dressed in candelabras, festive flora, and plates of food, including platters of shaved, cooked meat closer to the center of the table. Sitting on both sides of the table were Eren, Rainbow Dash, Mikasa, Applejack, Armin, Twilight, Jean, Fluttershy, Conny, Pinkie Pie, Sasha, Rarity, Spike, Levi, Petra, and Hanji.

As the others began placing food on their plates, Sasha already nibbling slivers from the meat platter, Fluttershy, a small salad on her plate, looked about her before she slid herself from the table and carried her plate in her mouth.

“Hey,” asked Jean, “where are you going?”

Fluttershy placed her plate back on the table.

“I was going to have my feast with Discord,” she explained. “I don’t want him to dine alone if I can help it.”

“Come on,” egged Jean, “I think he could use the alone time.”

Armin, Hanji, and Twilight couldn’t bring themselves to continue their meal after learning of Discord’s past.

“He gets plenty of alone time in here,” argued Fluttershy, “and now, I’m going to give him some company.”

Without waiting for Jean’s response, Fluttershy carried her plate with her mouth to the doors of the chambers. Feeling guilty about seeing Fluttershy walk alone, Armin, Hanji, and Twilight all pushed themselves from the table and grabbed their plates, napkins, and silverware. Celestia and Luna watched them all begin to leave without the slightest hint of restraint.

“What?” Jean nervously chuckled. “Not you too.”

“You know,” Armin said to Jean, stopping beside him, “Discord isn’t as bad as others seem to make him out. I think you should give him another chance.”

“Have you even met him?” Jean asked, but dithered off once he saw Armin continue his path to wherever Discord was. Finding himself between two empty chairs and getting odd looks from the others at the table, Jean winced, his mind made up.

“Damn,” he nearly-inaudibly hissed as he grabbed his own plate and utensils.

As he stormed past Celestia, she gave the faintest of smiles, happy to see Jean’s truly kind nature shine through. The others, unsure of what to do next with the awkward atmosphere hanging in the room, all looked at each other.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Discord sat at a square-shaped table alone in an otherwise small, barren room. With a gold goblet filled with chocolate milk beside a plate of meat, mashed potatoes, and green assorted vegetables, he wrapped a napkin around his neck and prepared to eat.

As he grabbed his silverware, the sound of hooves entering inside brought his attention to whomever entered, smiling at the sight of the yellow pegasus as she set her plate on the table.

“Fluttershy,” he greeted, “how nice of you to join me.”

“Well,” she admitted, “I felt really awful about you eating by yourself, so I came to give you some company.”

“So did we,” Armin spoke.

Discord’s smile grew a bit wider as Armin, Hanji, and Twilight entered the room, Twilight seating herself next to Fluttershy.

“Guys,” said Fluttershy, “what are you all doing here?”

“You see, Fluttershy,” explained Discord, “your friends and I had a really interesting talk in the library later this morning.”

“Discord,” spoke Twilight, “do you really want to tell her?”

“Thinking it over, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to tell her.”

“Then you might as well wait for me to hear,” called Jean’s voice.

Upon seeing Jean enter the room, Discord’s sincere smile became even happier with his arrival.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Jean said. “I came to keep Fluttershy company. Now, what were you going to tell her?”

Discord, without his visual aid, explained the story to both Fluttershy and Jean. While Fluttershy was in near tears by the tale’s end, Jean’s condescending glare turned to one of acceptance and understanding.

“I care for you very much, Fluttershy,” Discord finished, “but I don’t want to make any more mistakes. We’ll always be friends, right Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy, a tear streaming down each eye, hopped onto Discord and gave him a hug, which everyone minus Jean seemed touched into smiling by.

“So, what do you say, Jean?” asked Discord, extending his paw towards Jean. “Let’s start again?”

Jean, not wanting to ruin what appeared to be a sincere attempt at an apology, reached over and grabbed his paw.

*BZZT*

Jean jerked his hands up, spilling bits of his food onto the floor. Upon revealing the joy buzzer hidden in his paw, Discord began laughing, followed by Armin, Hanji, and Fluttershy. Twilight rolled her eyes, having expected some joke to occur.

Jean, knowing that no harm was meant, but still annoyed about his spilled plate, sat on the floor and began shoveling his food into his mouth.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Nighttime had already come to Equestria, and the humans were sleeping in their beds, still in their casual day wear. The lights from the festival below were dancing through the windows and onto the ceiling. Eren, in particular, looked nearly dead strewn out over his covers, a thin trail of drool escaping his lips.

Just then, his door slammed open, with a peppy and lively Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Conny outside his door. With a spastic jump, Eren sat up in his bed to see the three of them waiting.

“Come on, Eren!” called Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah,” called Conny. “The fair’s starting up soon.”

“I want to ride all the rides!” cried Pinkie Pie.

“Alright!” called Eren, stumbling out of bed. “Just give me a–”

Tripping over the back of his heel, Eren landed upon his stomach, groaning weakly as he tried to get over the pain.
________________________________________________________________________________________

The doors opened up from the palace to the park, the entirety of the humans and their pony friends coming out of it. Overlooking the bright, colorful decorations and lighting, the ponies were just beginning to arrive and liven up the festival.

“The Summer Sun Celebration,” sighed Armin, wowed by the festival’s surprising majesty.

“I know!” cheered Pinkie Pie. “Let’s go!”

Conny and Pinkie Pie ran off and towards the fair, weaving through the ponies that had begun to gather.

“Yeah!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “It’s time for a good time!”

Both she and Eren ran after Conny and Pinkie Pie while the others calmly walked down the stairs and took in the festivities for all their worth. Observing them blend in with the crowd were Lyra and Derpy Hooves both on opposite sides of the park. Lyra’s horn kept a faint glow, which didn’t seem to be noticed or acknowledged by anyone.

“Where are they heading?” Lyra asked.

“Eren, Rainbow Dash, Conny, and Pinkie Pie are heading into the fair,” Derpy Hooves’ voice reported, “the others seem to be wandering around the open area.”

“They’re still getting used to everything. Just be my eyes in the sky for me and report back in an hour.”

“Roger that. Over and out.”

Lyra looked up as Derpy Hooves flew up towards other pegasus ponies, keeping up her happy oblivious demeanor for the ponies who knew her that way. Lyra blended into the crowd, joining the others ponies in their merriment.

Unbeknownst to anyone, along the top of the tallest spire of the palace, Sunset Shimmer, fully dressed and in her Maneuver Gear, gripped the flagstaff that nearly pierced the sky, providing her with a complete view of the park and the celebration.

“Enjoy the night, guys,” she playfully whispered. “It’s the last one you ever will.”

Letting go, Sunset Shimmer fell from the tower and back towards the cliffs beneath Canterlot. Sunset Shimmer enjoyed the freefall, knowing that she would finally receive a better, long-awaited adrenaline rush the likes of which she would never forget.