Chapter 1: A Great Loss

Fluttershy lay on the branches of a tree outside her house, tears relentlessely pouring down from her lifeless eyes.

They would not stop. No matter how hard she tried, her tear ducts continued to produce gargantuan amounts of salty water. She couldn't will herself to move, to fly away from the chaotic reminder of the events that occurred just two hours before.

"I'M NOT. YOUR. FRIEND!" Fluttershy screamed, tossing her ice skates at Discord - failing to hit him by miles.

"Who cares? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want; I'm Discord! The master of chaos!" He teleported behind the pegasus, who was awkwardly trying to storm away whilst not falling over on the slippery surface of the ice - not an easy task. "You think you can boss Discord around? You think I'll change all this back, because you say so? Because if I don't, I'll lose the one friend I ever had? Well, I've got news for you, missy." Discord said, blocking Fluttershy in her path, aggressively lifting her off the ice with her front leg and bringing her face right next to his. "I don't care about any friendship anypony has to offer. I've got far more important things to occupy myself with than friends!" He paused as a devious grin crept onto his lips. "Such as...oh, I dunno...TAKING OVER EQUESTRIA!" He laughed maniacally before teleporting to Celestia knows where, leaving Fluttershy to slam face first onto the ice.

Her muzzle still ached profusely from where it had smacked into the hard, freezing surface. But the physical pain wasn't what was bothering her: it was the emotional pain.

As much as she hated to admit it, her heart was heaving with more than just guilt - though that was a large part of it. She had let her hopes get up, let herself believe that Discord could be her friend. That optimistic hope had soon turned into her own desire; she had found herself wanting to be his friend more than she had originally anticipated.

And it hurt so bad.

The tree she sat on provided shelter from the chocolate rain pouring down from the cotton candy clouds.

On any other day, in any other circumstances, she would have relished in the chocolate milk rain and scoffed the cotton candy clouds.

But not that day.

Not like this, when she knew who was behind the abnormal weather.

When she knew that it was all her fault.

Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony spotted Discord, sitting on his throne, in the center of Ponyville, wreaking havoc as usual.

"Now girls," the purple unicorn said, "we need to sneak up on him, so he doesn't get the chance to teleport away."

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity - in that order - replied.

"Ma'am yes ma'am!"

"Darn tootn'!"

"Mission impossible style. Got it!"

"Let's end this, once and for all!"

Fluttershy, however, could only nod her head, which she held low in shame.

The butter-coloured mare had her Element back on.

Oh well, she had thought, It doesn't matter if I break a promise if he's not my friend...right?

Never in her life had she broken a single promise and, though Discord had presumably spread his chaos across all of Equestria, she couldn't help but feel bad.

What's more, she had lost a potential friend. Now, she wasn't as anxious about making and loosing friends as Pinkie was, but...for a moment, it looked...it looked as if...it looked almost as if he had wanted to be her friend.

She guessed that was one of the reasons the feelings had been supposedly mutual.

There were so many ponies running about that they were concealed - for the most part - as they made their way over to the draconequus.

It wasn't that easy, however: walking through a stampede of ponies and multiple other random and inexplicable beings is not your normal everyday task.

As they neared Discord, who was now only a few meters away, a dog in a pink ballet dress danced past; Pinkie had to hold her breath in order to stifle her laughter.

Her friends let out a silent sigh of relief, but then an adorable bunny hopped in front of her with its arms crossed. The pink pony stopped in her tracks in surprise and the bunny said, in the squeakiest of voices, "I am your master. Bow down before me!"

Pinkie couldn't help it. At first she just snorted loudly, then giggled a liitle, but that soon turned into uncontrollable laughter, earning disappointed glares from her friends - save Fluttershy, who was still staring gloomily at the ground.

She only sighed, letting a few tears loose that she had been holding back for no apparent reason. .

The noise alerted the draconequus, making him turn round. Upon seeing the six ponies in a semi-circle around him, he rolled his eyes.

However, as he prepared to teleport himself elsewhere, he had an idea.

A cunning smile crept onto his lips.

So, instead of escaping, he stood in front of the six as is he hadn't even noticed them.

Twilight, unfortunately, didn't notice the smile that he had flashed, so she used her magic to ignite and unite the Elements.

Two thin strips of rainbow-coloured light wove in and out of the six, until they reached Twilight's crown. The two rainbows became one and shot up into the sky, before arching straight back down at Discord.

When they felt the magic from the Elements dissipate, they opened their eyes and looked at each other in triumph.

"We...we did it!" Twilight exclaimed, failing to notice the damage done.

All six five ponies whooped in triumph

Rainbow was the first to spot the difference. "Uhh...guys? Where's...where's Fluttersh-AHHHHH!" She screamed as she caught sight of the statue standing before them.

The other four followed her eyes, up to...

"Ahhhhh!" they all screamed in unison, Rarity fainting at the sheer sight of it.

For there, in the arms of The Lord of Chaos, was Fluttershy:

Turned to stone, just like the draconequus beside her.

Fluttershy opened her eyes again, only to find that she was somewhere quite different to where she was before.

She felt the tears that were running down her cheeks and looked up, only to see Discord's smirking face.

She recollected herself, remembering what had happened. She and her friends were just about to turn Discord to stone, when...when the draconequus snatched her up into his arms in the last second.

She had tried to push away, but she was too weak and he was too strong.

Fluttershy had her eyes closed again and she suddenly felt a hard, cold surface smashing against her for the second time that day.

The surface...cold and...hard? Like...like stone...the Elements turn Discord to stone...he had grabbed her before the rainbow hit him...it had...it had...

Sweet Celestia.

It had hit both of them. Her friends and...herself...had turned her and Discord to stone.

They were now in an almost pitch black room, with only a few flickering wall-torches to serve as light sources.

There were two beds on either side of the room. Clearly, when Discord said he was trapped in a stone prison cell, he really wasn't joking.

She decided to break the silence, which was becoming a little awkward. "Discord?" She asked, voice cracking.

"What?"

"W-why did you bring me here?"

"Isn't it obvious? While I'm in here, I can't wreak my beautiful chaos on everypony, so I decided that I could bend the rules. Being trapped in stone for an eternity wouldn't be so boring if I wasn't confined to solitude. This is meant to be a punishment, but it isn't if I continue to cause chaos upon somepony within these walls and you seemed the perfect option." He replied.

"Why?" Her eyes filled up with tears.

No answer.

"Why?" she repeated, more demanding this time.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, just go and take a wild guess, will you?"

She immediately burst into tears, not caring what the answer actually was because she knew it would only make her more upset.

Discord grumbled. "That doesnt count as guessing, and if you're going to do that, at least be quiet about it!" He snapped his fingers, making her lips zip shut.

This action ceased her tears and she set to tackling the zip, which proved difficult with hooves.

"You know the worst part?" Discord taunted her. "You were ever so horrid to your friends today. Did you even say sorry before you...'left'? I don't think so. Maybe they'll think you wanted to come here, with me, because you're so naive it wouldn't be surprising."

Fluttershy suddenly felt a rush of fury. She could normally keep calm in difficult situations better than anypony, but Discord was poking her in the wrong places, so to speak. Finally unzipping her mouth, she retorted, "You haven't the slightest experience in friendship, which is why you still don't get it: I know my friends will forgive me, no matter what. Whereas you, you will never be forgiven! And you know why? Because you're a MONSTER!"

She gasped, covering her mouth in shock of her own words.

Even the draconequus was slightly taken aback at her suddenly harsh use of language.

As an unexpected and unwanted wave of guilt washed over the pegasus, she collapsed to the floor in uncontrollable tears.

His expression reverted back to its original one. "That's right." He whispered to himself, behind gritted teeth. "Show me your pain. You deserve it, just like the rest of them."

Ponies were still screaming, even though the chaos had stopped. Many had returned to their homes, but five mares sat around a rather abnormal statue.

The pegasus, Rainbow Dash, looked as though she was having a mental breakdown as she flew frantically about the place.

Pinkie Pie's eyes could easily rival waterfalls in the amount of water that flowed from them.

Rarity still lay unconscious on a fainting couch that Twilight had conjured up for her.

The purple unicorn herself was curled up on the floor and stroking her tail, hyperventilating and letting out choked sobs.

Applejack was the only pony who didn't look crazy. Tears were flowing from her grass-green eyes, but quietly, stunned by what stood before her.

Fluttershy and her had been very close friends; she had been like family to the earth mare. Now she was gone, most likely until long after her friends had died.

Possibly even forever.

They could not break her out of her stone prison, for they needed all six Elements to do so and Fluttershy had hers frozen around her neck.

Whats more, she now had to spend an eternity with The Lord of Chaos.

"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. We all are."

Author's Notes:

I know, I know. some parts don't make any sense whatsoever, right?
Don't worry; they'll all be explained later, but you'll all have to stick around to let that happen!

Chapter 2: Gone Forever

Fluttershy lay on her prison bed, sobbing into her pillow.

Discord sat on the bed opposite, throwing various abnormal objects at her and tranforming some of her body parts into those of different animals, but none of these got any sufficient reaction so he just made it rain chocolate milk directly onto the pegasus.

This too had no effect, but at least it blocked out her annoying sobs and it'd be a pain in the rump for her to attempt to clean out later.

Just moments after the brown liquid started to fall, ponies' voices echoed inside the stone walls.

Startled by the abrupt noise, Fluttershy's crying stopped. She lifted her head up, listening intently for it again.

Silence.

Then came the slightly muffled voices - and sobs - of Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack, expressing their feelings as they saw a stone statue of their friend.

Rarity, Fluttershy guessed within seconds, would probably be lying on a fainting couch, unconscious instead of vocalising her reaction.

Then Applejack croaked something - quietly, but easy to make out - that sent Fluttershy into a river of tears again.

She said that they were sorry.

They felt it was their fault she was here.

"No, girls, please: it's my fault." She croaked between sobs. "I should've listened to you. I should have trusted you all instead of Discord. I shouldn't have abandoned the fact that he's a heartless, evil monster."

This word made the draconequus say, "You know, I'm sitting right-"

"I know p-perfectly well where you're sitting Discord, and m-my point st-still stands." She interrupted, sticking her muzzle in the air because her attempt to assert herself failed.

"They can't actually hear you, by the way. You look and sound like an idiot."

Fluttershy sniffed "H-how does that work?"

"I don't know. It doesn't make sense, does it? But, then again, where's the-"

"Just answer the question."

He finished nonetheless. "Fun in making sense?" He hesitated, considering the option to leave her question unanswered. But telling her will definitely make her even sadder! part of his brain reminded him, and the decision was made. "Time is frozen in here, so you won't age another day unless there's some annoying yet convenient way to break out."

"So...they'll d-d-die, but...I won't? I'll be pretty much immortal whilst I'm in here?"

"Precisely."

"And...I'll never have contact with my friends..." She gulped. "Ever again?"

"You're catching on."

"That's so...so..."

She burst into tears, yet again, still not taking notice of the chocolate rain above her.

Discord only made it rain harder, one to reflect her heavier emotions, and two to muffle her increased volume

Pinkie Pie had returned to Sugar Cube Corner. She had thought the best way to relieve her sadness was through sweets - that usually worked.

However, this time it didn't. She was so confused at why that her mind drifted out of reach from other ponies.

"Pinkie? Pinkie! Pinkie, can you hear me?"

Mrs. Cake's voice was a faint echo bouncing around her brain. The pink pony couldn't look at her, for then she would also see the stone cookie jars.

The cotton candy machine.

The chocolate milkshakes everypony was drinking.

At the moment, Pinkie felt sick at the sight of sweets; highly unusual for a mare like her.

But anything sugary or sweet would remind her of Discord.

And that would soon lead her to the memory of the statue.

She didn't want to provoke any more tears. Her main goal in life was to make everypony happy, which she couldn't do by erupting a waterfall on all of them.

Pinkie was the very opposite of her happy self - her hair had even lost some of its poofiness - which made ponies avoid her throughout the course of the day.

They all knew what could happen if any one of them tried to talk to her when she was in this sort of state. It wouldn't end well, to say the least.

For she had lost something she held so remarkably dear:

A friend.

Fluttershy had no idea how long she'd been crying.

But she'd been doing it long enough to know things weren't going to get much better than this.

She could still feel the chocolate milk raining down on her; it was heavier than it had been before.

But tried not to pay any attention to it.

Eat some of it. Go on, you know you want to, said a little voice in her head.

Now's really not the time, she said back to it; she didn't want an internal war going on inside her head on top of all her thoughts.

But really. What harm would it do? You're gonna be stuck here forever.

I don't want to, she huffed back at it.

Yes you do.

Okay, fine! I do, but I'm not going to.

Why not?

Because he's evil and...what if it's poisonous?

Do you honestly believe that? I mean, didn't you see the way he looked when you offered your friendship to him?

He was faking!

You sure about that? What if-

Stop!

Oooooo getting snappy, are we?

"Just SHUT UP!" she screamed, covering her ears.

She noticed that Discord suddenly looked confused, and realised that she had said that out loud.

Fluttershy also noticed that he grinned evily and then snapped his fingers, making a cuboid with buttons on it appear in his claw.

As she grew more and more confused, he cleared the cotton candy cloud above her head and pressed one of the buttons on the cuboid, pointing it at her and saying, "No, YOU shut up."

She didn't know how else to respond, so she just said, "What?"

Except she didn't say it; she mouthed it.

The pegasus tried again, but to no avail.

She began to look around to room frantically, then set her eyes on the draconequus opposite, who wasn't making any effort to stifle his laughter.

At first, she considered using her 'Stare' on him, but shook the idea away as it was pointless.

Then she had the idea to negotiate, but that went the way of the first for it was impossible.

In the end, she just gazed directly at him, eyes wide and pleading, begging him to unmute her.

She didn't expect it to work, but he stopped laughing and stared back at her. For a moment, his expression softened and...

Was that a look of...pity, on his face? She only saw it for a second, a mere moment, but it felt so much longer. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he did want to be her friend, but felt stuck in his current predicament of playing the 'bad guy'. Maybe...

But then that moment ended.

He sniggered, then bent over as his laughter increased.

Oh well, she thought with a sniff, I guess I was right the first time.

The mare was about to turn around - tears were brimming in her eyes again and she didn't exactly want to look at the cause of it - when something caught her eye.

She saw the weird cuboid with buttons on it, and had an idea.

While the draconequus was occupied with laughing his head off - literally - she picked up the cuboid, pointed it at Discord, and slammed her hoof onto the many buttons.

Nothing happened.

In fact, with the amount of times it took before she hit the right button, she was very lucky Discord didn't notice anything.

That is, until he abruptly stopped laughing.

In utter confusion, he looked up at her just in time to see her smashing the remote on the floor.

He quite understandably got angry and started shouting at her, but the fact it was inaudible was quite entertaining, so Fluttershy couldn't help but silently laugh a little.

This only made the draconequus get even more annoyed, so he eventually summoned another one of the cuboids and unmuted them both.

Fluttershy rubbed her throat, then sighed. "That wasn't very nice of you," she remarked, though she could think of numerous other ways to word it.

"You told me to 'shut up'," he huffed. "Element of Kindness indeed."

She opened her mouth to explain why she obviously wasn't making any effort to be kind to him, but stopped herself: was there any point in doing so?

Not that she could fathom.

She sighed once more and laid her head on her hooves.

She was tired. Oh, so very tired.

But could she sleep?

No.

Author's Notes:

I am so grateful for all the good feedback I am getting on this story!
Thank you all sooooooooo much!
And yes; the 'cuboid with buttons' was a TV remote.

Chapter 3: Pushing Onward

"Ah really appreciate ya'll comin' here. Ah need all the help Ah can get."

Applejack had asked what was left of her friends, Spike and the CMC over to help her get all Fluttershy's animals to Sweet Apple Acres. They all thought the farm pony would be the most capable to take responsibility over them, now that the butter-coloured pegasus was gone.

"Oh, it's no problem AJ," Pinkie said. She had been in need of something to do other than wallow in sadness that wouldn't make her even more sad. The pink pony noticed something and cocked her head in thought. "Hey; where are Twilight and Rainbow Dash?" she wondered aloud.

Rarity spoke up, "I went over to the library earlier today, and she seemed in no condition to go out." She lowered her voice, "She isn't coping well at all, and she really needs somepony to comfort her, but every time you approach her...it's like...it's like..."

"It's like you can sense she wants to be alone," Spike finished for her, earning a grateful smile from the white unicorn.

"Exactly! Like she doesn't want anypony near. It's strange...maybe she put up a spell, or something..." She shook her head. "Anyway. As for Rainbow Dash, she's probably just late, as usual."

The others nodded in agreement.

After waiting a few awkwardly silent minutes that passed far too slowly, Applejack broke the silence, "Maybe we should just get started without her; it's not like she's not gonna miss out on anything important." She said impatiently.

They nodded again and got to work.

Even with all seven of them, the sun was setting by the time they had finished.

"I'm hungry," Scootaloo moaned; none of them had eaten since lunch.

"Me too," Sweetie Belle admitted.

"Me three," Apple Bloom nodded, her stomach grumbling right on cue.

Applejack wiped some sweat from her brow and said, "Ah think we should all get some grub. We sure have earned it."

Angel hopped up to Rarity and started to tug on her tail. "We should get some food for the animals too." She turned to the farm pony. "Applejack, are you completely sure you can take care of all these animals? I mean, after the...events of last week, your farm isn't in it's top most state, to say the least."

"Well, y'all could come n' help again tomorrow, if you're offering." The cowgirl replied with a tired smile, yawning as she did so.

Pinkie and the CMC nodded immediately, but Rarity bit her lip, eyes darting around at all the mud. Finally, her generous nature got the best of her and she said, "Of course we will. Shall I tell Rainbow and Twili-"

Applejack snorted. "If them gals can't get their flanks over here to help me for one day, what're the chances they'll come any other time?"

They all gasped at the mare in unison.

"Ah am sorry, but admit it: all of ya were thinking it; Ah just said it, Element of Honesty and all."

"That's not an excuse," Rarity growled, though she couldn't deny that the thought had crossed her mind.

The farm pony now had a look guilt on her face. "Admitted, Ah may be goin' too harsh on Twi, 'cuz she can be real insecure sometimes," She forced a laugh, but soon had a deadpan expression again, "But Rainbow ain't one for lockin' herself in her house. Ab'm guessing she's already back to constantly practicing her flying."

"Or maybe...maybe she's just so upset that...that she just doesn't wanna come out of her house...?" Scootaloo suggested, trying to defend her beloved sister but only succeeding in trailing of into another awkward silence. It would be a reasonable point, had it been anypony other than Rainbow Dash that they were referring to.

Luckily, a loud grumble of Pinkie's stomach reminded them all of their earlier topic of discussion.

"So," Applejack said, as if nothing had happened, "Who's for a round of zap apple jam on toast?"

Fluttershy lay on her bed, as usual.

She wasn't crying. She was too tired to make the effort.

Even her Element of Harmony seemed a heavy burden for her neck.

Frankly, she was so tired that she should've been asleep hours ago, but other goings-on kept on shaking her awake.

Her obnoxious roommate was satisfying his chaotic impulses by bouncing an object against the wall that changed form every time it hit something whilst also changing the cell's center of gravity every now and then.

The pegasus lifted her head up - or down; she had lost track of which way was the right way up now.

It felt as if the cell was shaking. Granted, Discord was changing it's center of gravity and she was so dizzy from it that it may just be her mind playing tricks on her, but something about the movement seemed non-magical and very real.

Discord must have noticed it to, because he stopped abnormally affecting the cell and put it back to normal.

Luckily, the center of gravity wasn't changed; it must have already been in it's original state. Thank Celestia, for otherwise Fluttershy might have really hurt herself.

She didn't stay in one place for very long though; the cell shook violently and she ended up on the floor.

She had been correct about the cell being moved by non-magical forces, and would've laughed, had it not been for the sore bump arising on her head.

The pegasus sat up, rubbing the bump to reduce to pain.

Once again, something that stromgly resembled sympathy came accross Discord's face, for more than just a fleeting second. However, the difference to the initial instance was that Fluttershy didn't see it.

He sighed silently, then forced the pity out of the way so that his 'normal' expression.

"Well would you look at that; your friends want to forget about you so much that they can't even bear to look at your statue anymore," he jeered.

So that's what's happening; the statue is being moved Fluttershy thought.

For once, something he said was actually believable. And, as Fluttershy suddenly realised, that meant all of what he said.

She knew she shouldn't let it get to her. He was just saying that to spite her.

The day in the Canterlot Labyrinth, when he had tried to manipulate her into being cruel, he hadn't come close to succeeding. Sure, in the end he had just cast a spell on her to make her the opposite of her Element, but up until then she had been able to discard his words as false.

So why was it almost working this time around?

She kept trying to tell herself to ignore it, but he had planted a permantent seed of doubt in her mind and, no matter how hard she tried, she knew it would stay so decided to leave it that way. After all, his verbal manipulation didn't work on her before, so why should it now?

This managed to comfort her a little, so she smiled - making the draconequus very confused.

He rolled his eyes and resumed bouncing various objects against the wall.

Fluttershy would've liked to continue her train of thought, to make new ways to comfort herself. But, yet again, the cell lurched upwards, making her do a complete 180 and land with her hind legs dangling awkwardly over her head.

Discord, who was unaffected because he had been hovering in mid-air, immediately saw her new position, and he laughed.

And he laughed.

And he laughed, digging up old memories from the back of Fluttershy's mind.

Of colts and fillies sniggering as she failed to fly.

Of landing in similar awkward positions that removed the little dignity she had.

Of leaving all that she knew behind to move to a seemingly alien new town.

She knew she missed her friends dearly. She knew she wanted to go home.

But she felt something disappear: her hope. She hadn't even realised it had been there until she felt it dissipate.

Fluttershy didn't like giving up, especially not on other ponies - or, in this case, draconquuses. But, though she hated to admit it, she could now easily accept that he was evil, and that he didn't wish to be her friend.

This relaxed her mind, no longer having any conscious trace of responsibility to reform him. Fluttershy lay her head on her hooves, wondering if she could finally get some sleep. She looked around, and fortunately saw no signs that would prevent this.

She smiled a little, before finally allowing her mind drift into sleep.

Author's Notes:

Well done to anyone who spotted the 'Lord of the Rings' reference in this.
I know I said this chapter would be longer than the others, but I had to divide it into two because otherwise it would have two separate 'topics'.
Forgive me if I don't update for a while however I will post a one-shot around Christmas.

Chapter 4: Cure Mystery Magical

Author's Notes:

What? I have a thing for rearranged titles and backwards stuff! (Swirlstar the Dedraeb. DUH)
Sorry it took so long for this to arrive!
Wow. I just realised how long this chapter is (in comparison to the others). I'm so proud of myself
Minor spoiler: There's a little bit of fluff strewn throughout this

Twilight hadn't left the library since she returned to it.

Many of her friends had come round to attempt to comfort her, to connect with her in any way, but none prevailed.

They all eventually left, assuming Twilight either couldn't hear them or wanted some time alone.

But she could hear them, and she didn't want some time alone.

However, her constant rushing thoughts overruled her ability to respond accordingly to any of her friends' sympathy.

She was concentrating so much on her thoughts in fact that she didn't even read the letter Princess Celestia had sent her until the morning after it arrived.

"Dear Twilight,
I hope you're alright. I imagine you must be limiting yourself to your thoughts in our current situation, so here is something to take your mind off it for a while: the unfinished spell of Starswirl the Bearded.
I have moved the statue back to Canterlot, as you and your friends requested."
Yours sincerely,
Princess Celestia."

Twilight vaguely remembered her friends asking her about moving the statue away from Ponyville and she was grateful they had done it, even though she hadn't replied.

She levitated the mentioned book, read aloud the spell - noticing how it didn't even rhyme - and hurled it across the room.

Why was the Princess doing this? Did she not realise what she was going through, and how much she was hurting right now? It was obvious to anypony that she was in no state to return to her studies, yet Princess Celestia was pretty much forcing them back upon her!

Twilight gasped; she was astounded that she had thought that. She blinked and shook her head, mentally scolding herself; the Princess was just trying to help her, and she really did need to occupy her mind with something different if her trains of thought were getting this out of hoof.

She sighed, levitating some ink, a quill and paper over to her and beginning to write.

"Dear Princess Celestia,
I am very grateful for this task you have set me. I really needed to clear my head, and I look forward to completing it.
Thank you very much for moving the statue back to Canterlot.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle."

She teleported the now scrolled paper to Spike, who was at Rarity's for comfort. He would get the message and send it to the Princess.

She rubbed her head, as it ached from lack of fresh air.

Twilight truly did want to make a start on finishing that spell, but she needed to take a walk and properly clear her head first.

Upon opening her door, she noticed that everypony was scowling at each other and just looked downright grumpy.

This made her wonder about how her friends were doing. She really should see how they were getting along, and how they were coping with...

She shoved the oncoming thought aside and closed her eyes; she had come out here to rid her head of those dreadful thoughts, not let them wander freely about her brain.

Twilight breathed in deeply, hoping the fresh morning air would refresh her, but coughed and spluttered as she breathed in a cluster of cloud.

What?

She snapped her eyes open, and there it was: a cloud, floating approximately a meter above the ground.

And - as if that wasn't weird enough - Rarity then came out of nowhere, charging straight into it.

"Rarity, what in Equestria are you doing?" Twilight asked, because frankly she couldn't think of anything else to say.

The unicorn got up from lying askew on the floor and answered, "Oh...well...you see...everypony's been so down since...well, you know and...I thought I'd clear the sky, even though there's a large storm that's supposed to occur today."

"But...why? Why are you clearing the clouds?" Twilight asked, flabbergasted.

Rarity looked a little surprised. "I know I'm supposed to obey the weather program, but I didn't think anypony would mind. Why? Do you want it to rain today?"

The unicorn opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted when Spike ran into view and said, "Hi Rarity! Did you get the rest of them? I can't find any others, but I also still don't get why you suddenly need to clear the clouds!"

Now, the unicorn just looked plain offended. "Okay, why is everyone overreacting? What did a little change in the weather do to hurt anyone? It's not like it'll change to world!"

"Rarity, you don't-"

"Twilight..." Spike said as he noticed something.

"Change the weather! You never-"

"Twilight." He repeated.

"Have and you never will! It's not-"

"TWILIGHT!"

"WHAT?" She shouted.

He flinched a little, but continued, "Look at her flank."

Now both unicorns were confused. "What? Why would I need to-"

"Twilight. for goodness' sake, just look at it!"

The purple unicorn rolled her eyes and did as he said.

She gasped; the cutie mark that it bore wasn't hers, but Rainbow Dash's.

"Rarity, what were you doing last night?" Twilight demanded, regretting her tone but the situation was too urgent to matter.

"Why the sudden interest? Are you feeling alright? Is-"

"Please, Rarity!"

"Alright, alright! Fine! I was...I...was...actually, come to think of it, I cant really remember." The unicorn replied uncertainly. "Sorry." She added, as Twilight groaned.

"Okay then; what is Rainbow's cutie mark?" She questioned.

"Why, three butterflies of course."

"Pinkie's?"

"Three apples."

"Applejack's?"

"Three diamonds."

"No, Rarity; that's your cutie-" Her speech ceased when her friend looked at her as if she were crazy. Sighing, she continued her mini interrogation. When she realised the only pony left to ask about, she gulped before speaking again. "Fluttershy's?"

"Three balloons."

Twilight couldn't hide the expression of surprise on her face, for Rarity looked dead serious about her answers.

"Spike?"

The dragon looked at her.

"Come."

Without another word, she galloped off. Before following, Spike hugged Rarity, then let go after a few seconds in case she found it awkward.

Only she didn't find it awkward, but he failed to notice the small blush that appeared on her cheeks.

Fluttershy sat up straight as she awoke from her sleep.

Her suddenly cold body was shaking, breathing heavily. Clutching her thin sheets to her chest to provide some warmth, she closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to recall her dream.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember anything about it, only that she didn't want to return there ever again.

It confused her, as she couldn't fathom a reason why. She felt so scared, so alone, but still didn't have an answer to why; there was nothing to be afraid of, except maybe the draconequus who was doing Celestia knows what on the other side of the room, which also meant she most certainly wasn't alone.

The pegasus massaged her forehead. It was just a dream; nothing more nothing less.

She laid her head back onto her pillow, grateful for the fact she wasn't as tired as she had previously been. It made it a lot easier to think clearly.

Glancing at Discord for a second, she considered trying to make him laugh again. The memories of the times she had tried and failed to successfully do it seemed oddly distant to her now.

Sighing, she took off her Element and looked at the blue balloon-shaped gemstone embedded in it. Why bother? Just because she was the Element of Laughter didn't mean that she constantly had to try to spread cheer.

Element of Laughter indeed. All she ever seemed to be able to do was making herself a laughing stock, not make others happy as she intended to. Still, was it worth a go? She was going to be confined here for a ridiculous amount of time, and the only other pony - draconequus - was trapped there with her.

It was her special talent, to make everyone smile. Her destiny.

If she didn't do that, then she had no apparent purpose in the world. Now that was a negative way of looking at it. So what if she couldn't make him laugh for the right reason? Her Element of Harmony shouldn't define her, and he seemed alright with entertaining himself. Why should she want to anyway? It wasn't as if he deserved it, after taking her away from her friends and all that she held dear...

She put a hoof to her cheek; it was wet.

Fluttershy hadn't even realised she had been crying, but was now completely aware of the fat tears rolling from her eyes.

It was so quiet in the cell - too quiet. Curious as to why, she looked around and saw Discord, eyebrows furrowed, mumbling to himself and studying her flank.

"Discord?" She said.

He was so engrossed in whatever he was thinking about that he didn't answer.

She cleared her throat and tried again. "D-Discord? W-why are you staring at m-my...my flank?"

He didn't answer her, just continued to mumble to himself. "Very strange..." He grinned suddenly. "And so chaotic! I love it!"

Fluttershy became slightly curious about what he was talking about, but was so confused and terrified that she only managed to utter, "What...?"

Still not looking up at her, he explained. "Your cutie mark's changed." He stated flatly, still grinning.

Alarmed, the pegasus looked at her cutie mark. She breathed out a sigh of relief; it was still three balloons: one yellow, two blue.

"No, it hasn't." She replied, wondering whether it was just a prank.

Finally, he made eye contact with her, bearing the confusion she had possessed earlier. "Yes, it has. It was three butterflies before, and now it's three balloons. Entirely different."

What was he on about? Her cutie mark had always been three balloons.

He must've changed it. He was just putting on this act so he could humiliate her later on. Again.

She noticed Discord was peering at her again and, mere seconds later, she was centimeters away from him, holding her element with his paw. Her hooves weren't that far away from touching the floor but she didn't like hanging in this way as it made her afraid of his intentions.

He gawked at something and dropped her. Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck where her Element's clasp had dug into her coat.

Discord smiled like a goofy idiot. "Your Element's been changed too!"

Now Fluttershy was genuinely scared. He was so excited by this, so convincingly happy about this that it rang true. That her Element and cutie mark had changed. That he wasn't faking this...

But, then again, those were the exact same thoughts she had when she first called him a friend.

She turned away, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Loosing his interest, Discord poised his claws to teleport her back onto her bed, when he noticed something.

"It's glowing."

Fluttershy tilted her head at him, before a white glare of light caught her eye. Looking down, she saw that her Element gem was, as he said, glowing.

She started to involuntarily lift off the ground, a light pink aura surrounding her.

She looked at Discord, and stuttered, "W-what's h-h-happening? Are y-you d-d-doing this? H-how...oh my..." She put a hoof to her head, before loosing consciousness.

Discord, who had been watching all this with great interest, could easily she was about to slam painfully into the ground.

Absentmindedly thinking on his feet - even though he wasn't actually standing up - he snapped his fingers to make her bed slide beneath her, just in time to end her fall safely.

Had he really just done something...constructive with his magic?

This made him gag. Lord of Chaos indeed: a Lord of Chaos who had just done something completely NOT chaotic.

Fluttershy opened her eyes, not remembering anything that had happened since she woke up, just feeling an empty space in her memory. "What did he do to me this time...?...I don't remember..." She murmured grimly to herself, but Discord heard nonetheless.

He put a paw to his chest, as if offended, batting his eyes for emphasis. "I can't believe you would accuse me of doing something as treacherous as cast a spell on you!" He chuckled and looked at her. "That was your friends' doing, I'll have you know." As much as he would've loved to take all the credit for the spell - which, he had to admit, was brilliantly chaotic - he could hear hoofsteps and Twilight Annoying-Pants' voice getting quieter as she walked away. There would be no point to it, supposing she could hear them too.

"Why do you do that?" She asked, firmly yet with a clear hint of the oncoming sadness.

"Do what?" He said with an innocent pout, because he really had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

She glared at him, teal eyes full of tears. "Is this some kind of sick joke to you?" She said, louder than intended.

Discord didn't have a clue how to answer. He found it hilarious when he rendered others confused and dumbstruck by answering their rhetorical questions, but he couldn't fathom a single clever or sarcastic way to answer hers. It actually wasn't the first time he had been struck momentarily speechless; the first time was when she had...

He cut off his train of thought before it got even crazier and looked up at the pegasus. She continued. "W-why do you just...I mean...I don't remember anything since I woke up, so you obviously cast some sort of spell on me that made me forget everything up until now. I know you brought me here as your own personal chaos toy," She spat those three words out with anger bubbling within, but calmed down as she continued to speak, "But you always blame everything on my friends, just to make me feel upset." She looked up at the ceiling, wiped the tears from one eye and sniffed. "Do you like making everyone else upset? I mean, that's all you ever do: make others' lives a misery while you turn the world that they love upside down." She drew a deep, deep breath in, then turned to face him, voice shaky. "Look, I g-get you're The Lord of Chaos and th-that's what you do...y-you create chaos in everypony's lives, and...I get that you wanted to continue d-d-doing so, even when your in stone and not supposed to, and that that's why you brought me here...I get that, I don't know why you do want to make everypony live in a senseless world of disharmony, but I understand, in a way..." Her growing anger and sadness rose in her voice, her efforts to keep calm no longer being that effective, "But what I don't get is why you blame it all on somepony else. I mean, y-you do something that blatantly has your name written all over it, then you inexplicably point at someone else. I don't...just...why?" She asked, though she knew she would never get an actual answer. She hung her head and let her tears flow freely, accompanied by some sniffs and sobs.

It became apparent to him now that she obviously hasn't heard the voice or hoofsteps, so he slapped himself for not trying to take advantage of the possibility.

Discord bit his lip. He knew he should do something, for he felt oddly uncomfortable as a result of her tears. Funny, they didn't affect him before. But her sobs, for a reason unbeknownst to even himself, had an awkward impact on him, so he felt compelled to stop them falling in some way.

He considered muting her again, but what good would that do? She would be completely silent and completely boring and, to be completely frank, it wouldn't prevent her from crying. Henceforth, he discarded the idea.

He could just make them disappear with a snap of his fingers, but then again tears were kind of renewable.

Becoming impatient for a good idea, Discord looked at Fluttershy herself for inspiration. Nothing really came to mind, but as he continued to stare at her, he felt an alien urge just to brush them away.

He slapped himself in the forehead. Of course! Why hadn't he thought of that sooner?

Leaning forward, he lifted her chin up with a claw so that he could see her face properly. Using his free paw, he wiped her tears away, careful not to accidentally harm her closed eyes in any way.

He expected her to flinch. He expected her to immediately bat his hands away. He expected her to be terrified.

She did none of those things. Without really meaning to, she leaned against his paw, opening her eyes gently to look up at him.
He stared back, all the awkward tension he had previously felt sliding away.

Looking into her eyes, he was reminded of the look she had given him a couple of days ago. That look was similar to this one, except the pleading had been replaced with content.

He couldn't help but smile as he remembered when she had tried to use her 'Stare' on him. He had thought it silly that she thought a single look could intimidate him, yet here he was: locked in her gaze.

She smiled too: the soft, caring smile she wore around he friends.

With her tears gone, Discord could clearly see her large teal eyes. They were so adorable. No, no...more than that, they were...oh, what was that word he had heard other ponies use to describe something they found aesthetically or visually pleasing...

He racked his brain, and soon found the word he was looking for: beautiful. It defined them perfectly, though he had never though to use the word before, let alone use it in this context, describing a mare, in a positive way at that.

It felt odd. It felt weird. It felt alien.

It didn't make sense.

But, then again; where's the fun in making sense?

Discord repeated the motion he had used when moving her tears away, caressing her cheek softly.

Maybe this action alarmed her. Maybe it was that she suddenly came to her senses. But, whatever the reason, Fluttershy suddenly snapped out of her daze.

Blinking, she shook her head and her breath quickened. Her pupils dilated and looked at his paw. In a sudden spur of fear, she pushed it away and turned around.

Discord retracted his paw and looked down, drawing a sharp breath in through his teeth and mentally kicked himself for doing that, albeit kind of unintentionally. He crossed his arms, pushed her bed back against the wall with his foot and sat down on his own, scowling.

Fluttershy felt the sudden jolt of her bed, and saw it was next to the wall once more. Why had it even been in the middle of the stone floor anyway? Probably happened in the space of time she couldn't remember. Resting her head, she breathed against her hooves and thought about what had just happened.

It was as if, for just a few idiotic seconds, she had forgotten who he was, what he had done.

She hadn't meant to relax into his paw. She hadn't wanted to let hope flutter into her heart once more.

She had thought, after she let her optimistic wish of still being able to befriend him fly away, that that would've been the end of it. She hadn't thought she would be internally fighting to keep it that way, just as she was now.

In the end, Fluttershy halted her efforts to stop herself from strangely wanting to be his friend. She couldn't deny that it was true; somewhere in her heart, she did.

It was as simple as that.

Just an silly little wish. A completely hopeless minor desire.

She couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit sad that it was something never to be fulfilled, but managed to convince herself that she didn't care.
Because, really, she didn't.

Twilight stood outside Canterlot Castle.

She took a deep breath as she made her way through the main doors, catching the feathers of her new wings on the handle as she did so.
Walking through the large halls, she looked at the stained glass windows. The night sky outside provided little light besides the glare of the moon, but she could still easily make out the commemorated feats of her and each of her friends from the magenta glow of her horn.

The unicorn turned alicorn deliberately avoided looking at the one which held the memory of them all defeating Discord. She didn't need any more tears welling up in her eyes that day, for it had been hard enough to change her stone friend back to the Element of Kindness.

It confused her as to why Starswirl's spell had even affected the statue, so she added that to her mental list of things she would ask Princess Celestia - once she found her.

She wanted to ask why, of all the possible times to choose, the Princess had chosen now to turn her into an alicorn.

She wanted to ask how she had inexplicably come to the conclusion that they should attempt to reform Discord.

She wanted to talk about a lot of topics, some of which she found hard to talk about, but wanted to discuss nonetheless.

Twilight was so lost in thought that it took the sound of two familiar voices to bring her to her senses.

She had stumbled upon a room in the castle she had never explored before. It was smaller than most, with a warm fire providing the only light.

She could see both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia talking in the middle of the room, and decided to keep silent until they finished.

Twilight knew very well that it's rude to eavesdrop, but found it hard not to listen in as she waited patiently in the doorway.

"Luna, are you sure of what you saw in your vision?" Princess Celestia said.

Luna replied quickly, "Quite. Are you saying that I lied to you?!"

"No, of course not. I'm just saying that it could be a possibility that you may have not remembered it correctly, or it may have been wrong..."

What were they talking about? What vision?

"I'm sure! I swear, that's what I saw!" The Princess of the Night retorted, with just a hint of sadness and despair.

"Would you be so kind as to remind me of what it was you did see, exactly?" Celestia answered, not raising her voice to match her sister's.
Twilight's ears perked up at this, curiosity growing inside of her.

"Well...I didn't see much, but I'm sure it meant something...I just...I just know. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I just know, for sure, that the Element of Kindness was meant to reform Discord."

So that's where Celestia got the idea to set Fluttershy that fateful task Twilight thought.

"You can use their proper names, you know." Celestia joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Does it matter? She is suffering from the same horrid fate as Discord, regardless what title or name I use." Luna replied, anger and sorrow simultaneously raising her voice.

"Now, now. There's no need to raise your voice."

The navy alicorn sniffed. "I-I know..." She said guiltily. "And I'm sorry. Th-this was all my fault."

Celestia laughed. "Now I know that's not true, for it was I who suggested to release Discord from stone in the first place. You must remember that nothing is only ever your fault, and that not everything you see is true."
"I guess..." Luna admitted. "But...it just felt...so...so real, that's all."

Twilight had only once before heard Princess Luna this upset, this...informal. It felt a little strange, to be honest, for she had grown used to her impressionable and royal figure.

"Do not be disappointed. Now, I'm going to go to bed, alright?"

Luna murmured a 'goodnight' before Twilight heard hoofsteps retreating up a staircase. She chose then as the time to enter.

The Princess of the Night did not acknowledge her presence by hearing her hoofsteps, so Twilight cleared her throat. Luna turned around and Twilight could see the remains of tears in her eyes, wearing a saddened expression upon her face - which reverted back to the one she usually bore, with an aspect of forced happiness.

"Hello Twilight. Or Princess Twilight, as you now are. What brings you here?" She asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but then reassessed her words. She didn't think it wise to admit she was eavesdropping on her conversation, so she chose to use her original motives that brought her here. "I just wanted to ask how Princess Celestia came up with the idea to set Fluttershy the task of reforming Discord."

Now it was Luna's turn to pause before speaking. "I can understand why you would want to know that, and I have to be honest with you; the idea was originally mine, and for that I apologise."

"I-it's fine. And how did you...come to that conclusion, exactly?" The lavender unicorn asked, trying not to sound too inquisitive.

"I-I had a vision." She replied, slightly sheepishly.

"Of...?" Twilight pressed.

"Of the Element of Kindness and Discord...on a picnic together."

"Is that all?"

"It is, I'm afraid."

Twilight groaned.

"I'm sorry. I just thought Discord-"

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Pardon?"

"Why do you keep using his name as if you know him...you know, personally? Do you know him personally?"

"Well...sort of. I mean, back before he was in control of Equestria, I accidentally entered his dreams. I spoke to him, and he seemed...normal, all things considered. I was astounded when I found out he was responsible for Equestria's state of chaos that occured a few years afterwards. When I saw that vision, I really thought...I mean, I just hoped..." She looked away, obviously embarrased about her slightly childish behaviour.

Twilight was unsure of what to do. Only once in the past had Luna acted this way, and that was when she had blatantly been extremely sad. Memories of that particular Nightmare Night flooded back to Twilight and she instantly felt an incompressible urge to comfort Luna. She decided to pull the alicorn into a hug, that she returned gratefully.

When they broke the embrace, Luna smiled and said, "Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

She was about to shake her head when something new came to mind. It was pretty much pointless asking, but if there was any chance, Twilight would take it. She took a deep breath. "Can the effects of the Elements be undone by anything beside the Elements themselves?"

Luna thought for a while before replying. "Yes."

Twilight's eyes widened and shone as a large grin spread across her face. "Really?!" She said, making no effort to contain her happiness.

Luna yawned. "I seem to remember reading about it in a spellbook...I think it was at me and my sister's castle, in the Everfree Forest."

Twilight smiled and batted her eyelashes, "Princess Luna, would you mind...comingwithmetolookforthisspell?" She asked, trying to maintain a calm-ish voice but in the end spilling he words out like Pinkie Pie would.

The aforementioned mare nodded. "Tomorrow."

Twilight glanced at the wall-clock, then back at Luna. "As in tomorrow tomorrow, or tomorrow as in today?" When the Princess didn't catch on, she added, "It's already past midnight."

"The latter. But I must get some sleep first, and you too. It's been a long day, for you especially."

As if her words had set off some sort of sleep-trigger in her brain, Twilight yawned as coincidental evidence for Luna's point.

"Alright then. Tomorrow midday?"

"Of course."

Chapter 5: Discoveries

Lying on your bed doing nothing is boring.

It's a well-known fact.

But, for Fluttershy, it felt like the best thing in the world.

Discord had fallen asleep at some point during the previous day, and still thankfully remained that way.

Despite insomnia almost inevitably being the result of chaotic goings-on, Fluttershy chose to remain awake and relish in the peace and quiet, feeling herself become properly, genuinely calm for the first time in days.

She took a deep breath in through her nose, then let it out through her mouth; doing this always made her feel refreshed, which was a wonderful feeling, given her circumstances.

However, just outside the cell, she heard hoofsteps approaching, followed by the sound of somepony sitting down. This interrupted her train of thought, but the pegasus got up anyway and listened intently for speech.

Soon afterwards, she heard the distinct voice of Twilight on the other side of the stone walls.

"Hi, Fluttershy..." She said, and the aforementioned mare struggled to contain her happiness and was about to yell, 'OH MY GOODNESS!' when a snore reminded her that that might not be the best of ideas. Instead, she pressed her right ear up against the cold surface in hope that it would enhance the audibility of her friend's voice.

Twilight forced a laugh. "I don't even know if you can hear this. I mean, I shouldn't trust that Discord was telling the truth, but how else would he have known that Princess Celestia assigned you to reform him? And what if...sorry, I'm rambling. Anyway, if you can hear this then that's great...if Discord is listening too that's less great, but..."

Fluttershy failed to stifle a small giggle as Twilight continued to talk.

"...I just wanted to say that your friends miss you. I...miss you...we all miss you, a lot. I mean, up until today - well, yesterday to be exact - I hadn't even left my library, not until the Princess set me the task of completing 'the unfinished spell of Starswirl the Bearded.' Oh, and that's another thing: I'm a Princess now."

Fluttershy gasped.

"I've got wings, a crown, and I think I'm even a couple of inches taller. I don't feel like a Princess though. I mean, how does somepony adjust to something like this?" She let the question hang awkwardly unanswered in the air until it sounded almost rhetorical. "I hope you're alright. It must be horrible, stuck in stone. If you remember, I was once turned to stone by that cockatrice, but it just felt like I was asleep, and I wasn't conscious of any sound at all, so it must be different if you're able to hear this...I guess I'm just concerned for you.

"Everyone of us is dealing with it in their own way. Spike and Rarity are helping each other. Pinkie shifts from one mood to another with a wave of a hoof. Applejack is constantly occupying herself with work and Rainbow is pretending she doesn't care. Everything's been so abnormal lately, even without Discord free to wreak havoc. Nothing really makes sense anymore. Speaking of which, Starswirl's spell - the one I completed - it affected your statue...which doesn't really make sense but...I suppose, if it affected you too..."

This caught Fluttershy's attention. In what ways could it have affected her? What if it had happened during the section of her memory she couldn't recall?

"...then maybe, but I'm not sure. I should be sure soon however, because Princess Luna told me about a spell that could set you free and we're going to look for it tomorro-today, but you might not even remember it. I mean, Rarity thought it was a dream that somehow became reality, and Pinkie simply remembered nothing since she woke up. Then again, you might remember, or you just have no idea what I'm talking about, so I'm gonna stop here."

She heard Twilight yawn before continuing.

"I need to get some shut-eye; it's been a really long day. Goodnight, Fluttershy."

"Night." Fluttershy replied for no reason, before sliding down onto her haunches.

She would've loved to be sad that she could no longer hear the sound of Twilight's comforting voice. But, try as she might, a different, unwanted topic barged its way into her mind:

She had been wrong.

To the average onlooker, she would have sounded extremely cocksure, but Fluttershy was no stranger to being incorrect, and it wasn't that particular fact that bothered her. What bothered her was that she had wrongly accused Discord of casting a spell on her.

Now, Twilight had said that memory loss didn't occur with any of her other friends except Pinkie. But it seemed unlikely for it not to be the case, for she shared the exact same symptoms as her pink earth pony friend - she couldn't remember a thing since the moment she woke up.

Fluttershy didn't trust Discord. She hadn't forgotten nor forgiven him for bringing her here, and they most certainly weren't friends.

But that didn't provide as a barrier for the surprising amount of guilt that flooded the poor pegasus as she glanced at him.

Not to say that he deserved all of it - Fluttershy was just one to feel emotion such as this deeply - but it in no way felt out of place.

And then she felt a pang of dislike for him making her feel this way. He had torn her away from her friends, just so he could have someone to play with.

Yet still the guilt remained, feeling like it belonged even though it didn't.

It was an odd mixture, guilt and dislike. A very odd mixture.

"Twilight, can you please stop pacing around the floor!"

The purple alicorn had returned to her library and was frantically awaiting for Princess Luna to arrive, so they could search for the spell.

"Spike, don't you get how important this is? The spell Luna was talking about can reverse the effects of the Elements of Harmony...we could get Fluttershy out of stone!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm equally as happy...I mean we all miss her, but don't you think you should calm down a bit? I hate to be a party pooper, but...what if you can't do the spell? What if you can't even find it?"

The damper put on Twilight's mood was abrupt and Spike immediately wished he hadn't said anything.

He began to apologize, "Sorry, I just-"

"No, you're right," She interrupted, "If I let my expectations get too high, any disappointment will only be greater. Thank you." She ruffled his spines before hugging the little dragon.

He returned the hug, then pulled away and turned towards the door. "Well, I'm going to Rarity's. See ya."

"You two have been getting along so well recently." The lavender alicorn grinned.

Spike gave a grin back before shutting the door behind him.

Just minutes later, Twilight heard a knock at the door and didn't hesitate to answer.

Both princesses smiled at one another as soon as the doer was open. Twilight trotted outside as Luna spoke. "Are you ready to go?"

"Quite."

A thought occurred to the alicorn. "How are we getting there, exactly?"

Luna paused to think before replying, "Well, we could fly there. If you're feeling up for it, that is." She added after a moment's hesitation, remembering that one day isn't an awful lot of time to grow accustomed to two extra limbs.

Twilight bit her lip, glancing at the Everfree Forest. If nothing else, it would be better than walking through it.

She nodded.

"Are you quite sure?" Luna asked uncertainly.

Twilight repeated the action.

"Alright then, but first, just practice flapping your wings simultaneously." The navy alicorn said.

Twilight did as she was told. It was surprisingly hard at first, but she soon got the hang of it. She looked at Luna to confirm this.

"Now, you need to run, then leap as high as you can."

Again, Twilight followed her demand. She felt very subconscious while galloping and jumping childishly about the place, and the fact she was now a Princess made it feel even weirder.

A laugh rose in her throat and came spilling out her mouth. And, as she continued to giggle, she realized that she was enjoying herself.

Her laughter spread to Luna, like the contagious disease that it was. They laughed so hard that it hurt, and they had to sit down.

They only quietened down when it became hard to breathe. "So, what's next?" Twilight beamed.

Luna grinned too. "Do both at the same time!"

Both got onto their hooves. The young alicorn made sure she was focused before galloping forward, wings flapping furiously. As she bounded upwards, her eyes squeezed shut. It had been a big leap and she was unsure about the impact it would have when she hit the ground.

Except she didn't hit the ground.

She opened her eyes again, to find herself hovering two meters or so above the ground. This motivated her to beat her wings harder, so she soared even higher.

The fear of falling didn't bother her. When Luna flew up to join her, she felt just a little bit safer. She didn't need an explanation on how to go forwards, backwards, side-to-side, up or down because - the latter two she had already experienced, and it all instinctively came to her when needed.

They both set off over the Everfree. Twilight still had to concentrate profusely on flying, but it was a wonderful feeling; the wind ruffling your mane, the clouds beneath you wings. Suspended in the air felt - to her, anyway - like being free.

Not to say she was trapped in any way when on the ground, of course.

Sooner than expected, The Castle of the Two Sisters came into view and the two princesses made their way down to the ground.

Descent in flight proved a little difficult, and Twilight did pretty much a crash-landing. But she wasn't hurt and her good mood remained.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked, clearly concerned.

Twilight realized how deprived of air flying had made her and sucked in a deep breath. She nodded.

It felt nice to have somepony concerned for her well being, albeit unnecessarily. The responsibility recently dumped onto her shoulders that came with being a princess had made her feel like there was no one to look after her; only those for her to look after.

For once, she felt grateful that she had been wrong.

Fluttershy stood in the Everfree Forest, with no recollection of how she got there.

Despite living on the doorstep of the very same forest, she could feel fear growing inside her as her breath quickened. Looking around, she spotted a clearing and ran towards it. However, as she neared a large cave, an all-too-familiar creature emerged from it's mouth:

Discord.

As her heart started to beat even faster, Fluttershy backed away into the trees as quietly as she could. She sincerely hoped he hadn't spotted her, and it appeared that fate was working in her favour.

She watched the draconequus yawn and stretch his arms; he must've just woken up. He was mumbling to himself; something about a dream-mare telling him to go to Equestria and make some friends.

She noted how he said 'friends' as if it were an alien upon his tongue, and realized the 'dream-mare' must have been Princess Luna. It was common to have others appear in dreams, but the way he said the word friends implied that he didn't have much knowledge of ponies.

And the fact he was living in the Everfree meant this could be from the past.

A sudden flash of light made Fluttershy realize that he had teleported elsewhere, and - to her immense surprise - she teleported along with him.

They now stood just outside their previous destination. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief; she was still concealed by some trees.

Where Ponyville should be, there was nothing but plain, flat, desolate land for miles around. Though odd, it confirmed about this happening sometimes during the past and - by the looks of things - it was quite a large amount of time ago.

The mare snapped out of her thoughts as the scene around her changed once more. This time they were in a familiar-looking place: Canterlot. The buildings were a little different, but recognizable nonetheless. Seeing ponies walking past the alleyway where they stood, Fluttershy wanted nothing more but to run up and talk to one of them, despite not necessarily knowing any of them.

However, her hooves were stuck to the ground, and not just by her fear of Discord spotting her; some unknown force was preventing her from moving from that spot.

Because she had little else to do but stand there, Fluttershy decided to observe what the draconequus - who was now cautiously approaching one of the snobbish ponies.

He sauntered over to a unicorn who was trudging home bearing countless bags and started to talk to her.

Quite understandably, his appearance startled the mare and made her drop all her bags. Then, to both the unicorn and Fluttershy's surprise, Discord snapped his fingers to make the bags appear as they originally were in his arms, before handing them back to their rightful owner.

Fluttershy couldn't hear a word of what they were saying, but it looked like...it almost appeared as though...as though...

As though Discord was offering to help her with her bags.

It confused and shocked Fluttershy, the latter accompanied with guilt.

If she looked really closely - which proved a little difficult, for they were on the opposite side of the street - she could just about see the look in Discord's eyes.

And they shocked her too.

They weren't teasing, gloating or evil, they were...calm and...sincere, exactly like the look she saw in most ponies' eyes when they were performing an act of kindness.

As soon as Discord stopped speaking, the unicorn forced a smile whilst she blatantly declined his offer and pushed past him.

Fluttershy would've felt sorry for him, if she hadn't known she would've most likely done the exact same thing.

Although...

The unicorn mare didn't know a thing about what he'd done - because he hadn't even done it yet. She had only turned his offer down based on his appearance, and possibly his magic, too. That wasn't fair at all. More than ever now, Fluttershy wanted to move forwards, just so that she could erase the sad expression Discord bore.

She continued to watch as he tried and failed time and time again to help somepony in some way, each time her pity for him growing.

It wasn't fair for him. He hadn't done anything bad. This wasn't that same creature Fluttershy knew in the present; the one who had taken over Equestria a total of three times.
Granted, his magic and species was weird, but everypony he talked to denied him only because of that, not one of them giving him a single chance.

Suddenly the ponies around Fluttershy started to speed up. The sun was hastily approaching the horizon, the moon soon taking its place and journeying rapidly across the night sky.

Time reverted back to it's standard speed once the sun was once again in the sky, hanging directly above Equestria; midday.

To her right, Fluttershy could hear the sound of two mares chatting, so she peered round the corner of the alleyway. There, sitting outside a posh cafe, was the unicorn she saw yesterday - moments before - and another she didn't recognize. She was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Gorgeous day today, don't you think, Cassandra?" said the unfamiliar unicorn.

"Certainly beautiful," the other - Cassandra - replied.

"My, that hat you're wearing is simply divine. Where did you get it?"

Cassandra levitated the teacup in front of her and took a sip. "I bought it yesterday when I was shopping. The oddest thing happened to me on my journey back home."

"Oh yes? Do go on."

Fluttershy's heart began to beat quicker as she realized what Cassandra was talking about.

"As I returned, the strangest creature came up to me and deliberately made me drop my bags!"

The yellow pegasus pursed her lips. Discord's appearance may have startled the unicorn, but he surely didn't intend for that to happen.

She shook her head; why was she defending him? It was in her nature to defend creatures regardless of who or what they are, but...surely Discord was an exception?

"Strange?" The unnamed mare asked, looking puzzled. "How so?"

"Well Josephine, if I do remember correctly, it - whatever it was - had a eagle claw, a lion paw, a snake tail, a leg with a cloven hoof, a dragon leg, a bat wing, a pegasus wing, a freakish grey pony head, a deer antler and an odd blue horn." She started laughing; the sound of her laughter was snobbish and forced, sounding like somepony had pinched her nose.

Her companion - Josephine - laughed along with her, and her laugh sounded eerily like Cassandra's. "My goodness, that definitely does sound incredibly freakish!"

Fluttershy gritted her teeth in order to prevent herself from shouting at the two mares. It didn't matter who Discord was; they were making fun of his differences, and Fluttershy didn't tolerate that sort of thing.

She heard the sound of a chair scraping on stone from another cafe table. Turning her attention towards the noise, she saw a grey stallion with a black mane and tail getting up from his seat. He was looking at the two mares, and - just for a second - his eyes flashed red and yellow:

The stallion was Discord in disguise.

Fluttershy fought back tears as he walked away, his head lowered. He had obviously overheard their conversation. Discord had most likely realized that his appearance was startling for other ponies, which was why he had transformed into a pony. And yet these two unicorns were criticizing his natural form even when he wasn't in it.

They might as well have been saying that to his face.

Having been bullied repeatedly as a filly, Fluttershy had first-hoof experience of how it felt to be the odd-one-out. That feeling was brought to the front of her memory, perfectly remembered in every detail.

Then another, real emotion bubbled forwards; she felt undeniably sorry for him. Fluttershy couldn't help it.

While getting lost in thought, her eyes had slid shut. Upon opening them again, she noticed she was once again in a completely different area. This one, however, she held no recollection of at all.

It was a small town not all that different to Ponyville, with mares, stallions and foals wandering about the streets. The pegasus stood between two thatched-roofed houses; the draconequus only hoofsteps away.

He was watching the ponies pass by just as she was, intently observing before acting.

Fluttershy noticed a colt talking casually to a filly, and another creeping up behind. The latter roared and jumped on the filly playfully as she screamed, clearly startled.

They all started laughing, then the filly held her hoof out to the colt who had scared her. He took it and was immediately zapped with electricity, which - as the filly then revealed - came from a shock hoof buzzer she was wearing.

Their laughter resumed as they walked away, and Fluttershy smiled at the adorable playfulness of them. But then something caught her eye. A literal idea lightbulb had appeared over Discord's head, hovering like a halo before disappearing again.

She could only guess what his idea was. But she knew, no matter what it was, it would end badly.

He only started by doing a few harmless pranks, similar to but a little bigger than the ones the foals had played.

The first few times, the ponies on the receiving end laughed as a result, though still noticeably cautious due to his appearance.

However, as he continued, the laughter ceased and quickly turned into insults. Fluttershy had long since looked away, unable to bear watching any longer. But she could clearly make out the shouts of 'freak' and 'weirdo' and even the occasional 'monster'.

She dreaded to think of how he must've felt, what sort of expression he was wearing. It would be hypocritical to say she wouldn't dream of calling him that herself, for she had done so directly only a couple of days before, and she had really meant it then.

But suddenly she couldn't summon a reason why she would now.

He was only trying to have fun. Sure, he had no sense of boundaries, but he blatantly thought this was the way to go about making friends, if that was his aim.

Which would seem odd, but once again Fluttershy compared the Discord she knew to the one here and they didn't appear the same creature. The target of making friends seemed rather fitting for the latter.

Something made her look up at him, standing alone as ponies walked away bearing revolted expressions.

She saw the playful, harmless look in his eye change to the one she was used to seeing, his expression following their lead by contorting with anger. However, for the first time ever, Fluttershy saw some things behind the fury: pain; sadness; despair.

Because she was stuck on the spot, she was forced to watch this friendly yet friendless draconequus transform into the Master of Chaos she knew in a matter of minutes.

And it was heartbreaking.

The land around her hastily became more disorderly, more chaotic, and all she could do was stare, forehooves frozen in a silent, prolonged gasp of pure horror, while tears streamed down from her eyes.

She wanted desperately to be elsewhere, and her wish was unexpectedly granted. She was standing in front of an all-too-familiar flooded-and-frozen apple farm.

She spotted her friends at the base of the hill, and willed herself to move forwards to join them, but once again remained in the exact same place in which she started.
The sound of her own voice made her jump and turn her attention towards the center of the ice rink.

Seeing herself toss ice skates at Discord then stomp away made her dizzy with déjà vu, and it wasn't long before he had teleported away and dropped her onto the ice.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of light emitting from between some nearby trees that hadn't been swallowed up by the flooding.

Discord was looking back at the scene he just left, his expression so devastatingly sad that it stabbed at the heart - which was exactly how Fluttershy felt once she laid eyes on him.

The image surrounding the pegasus faltered and faded into black, and she sat up immediately to find herself back in the stone cell.

All that she had just witnessed became hazy and threatened to disappear entirely, but Fluttershy clung onto it until it settled into her memory.

It had been a dream. A crazy, abnormal dream.

But the memories didn't feel like they really belonged. They were obviously her own, but the place in which she gained them didn't ring as her own brain.

She heard a noise to her left. Turning towards it's source, she saw Discord stretching his arms, having just woken up.

The draconequus she saw in her dream and the draconequus before her were indeed like two separate creatures, but - as she continued to look - they started to bleed into one.

As his eyes snapped open, the draconequus caught her staring. He gazed back for a second, contemplating whether to stare longer but opting against it in the end.

"What are you looking at?" He snapped, causing her to flinch.

Fluttershy averted her eyes from him, but her thoughts refused to do the same. All that had happened in her dream, everything that was supposedly produced by her own imagination, it felt real, as if it genuinely had occurred at some point during the past.

And, despite the creature of topic barely ever seeming to do so, it all made perfect sense.

Author's Notes:

I had way too much fun writing and describing the Canterlot ponies
Not much further to say about this. I hope you enjoyed chapter five!

Chapter 6: Seeking Answers

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at the familiar building in front of them. Their tired, drooping eyelids made it hard to see properly, but several rubs later and both were able to hide their exhaustion as the door to the structure swung open.

"Hi Rarity! Have you seen Apple Bloom anywhere?"

The aforementioned unicorn felt slightly dizzy from the way her sister and Scootaloo were gazing up at her expectantly from her doorstep.

"Err...no, I'm afraid not. Hold on a second and I'll ask Spike for you, alright?"

The two fillies giggled, but Rarity seemed not to notice. "Spike, have you by any chance seem Apple Bloom lately?"

The purple dragon walked within visual range of the two Cutie Mark Crusaders, holding a ice-cream tub in one hand and a spoon loaded with the frozen treat in the other. "Sorry, haven't seen her. Are you sure I can eat this Rarity? I don't want Twilight to get annoyed."

The unicorn ruffled his spines. "Of course you can, darling. Im sure Twilight won't mind. Enjoy!"

Dropping the spoon into the tub, Spike embraced Rarity with his free hand. She placed her foreleg on his back, paying no attention to the sticky, sweet substance he was accidentally plastering onto her pristine white coat.

Sweetie Belle, awaiting no further comment on their search, closed the door because she was feeling uncomfortable and impatient.

"So...should we check the apple farm again?" Scootaloo suggested.

The unicorn yawned, nodding; if nothing else, at least they could crash at the farm and continue the search tomorrow.

"What's the deal with Rarity and Spike, then?" Scoots prompted, jostling Sweetie with her elbow.

"Oh, nothing really. Their just..." She yawned again. "Friends. One-way dragon-crush thing, as always."

"You okay? Do you need carrying?" The flightless pegasus joked.

Sweetie considered the offer anyway, but opted to shake her head.

There was no further conversation on the way to Sweet Apple Acres, just the occasional yawn or stumble in the dimming light.

As they approached the barn, both fillies were startled by a small crashing sound close by. Automatically curious, they investigated.

To their relief and disappointment, it was Apple Bloom who, by the looks of things, had just climbed out her window and conveniently landed in a hay stack.

Scoots lent her a hoof to help her get up and asked, "What's that about?"

Apple Bloom sniffed, tilting her head as if her shoulders couldn't muster a shrug.

And that's when they saw it: glistening in the light at her head's movement, tears stained her cheeks. She had red eyes from crying and a messy mane and bow. She looked absolutely exhausted.

"Wh...what happened?" Sweetie whispered, not daring to raise her voice over the quiet.

The farm filly opened her mouth to answer, but her lower lip wobbled and she sucked her teeth to fight back tears.

Scoots put her foreleg around her. "Hey, it's alright. You don't have to tell us right now."

The earth filly shook her head.

"You sure? No offence, but you look like you're about to burst into tears."

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Apple Bloom began to speak, "I was helpin' my sister in the orchard today from the crack of dawn. She tried to reject me and Big Mac's help, but we did it anyway and she eventually accepted it. Whenever I accidentally tipped over a bucket of apples or got in the way of her buck's aim, she shouted at me. I didn't really like it, but I knew it was just a result of her grief and insomnia. By the end of the day, we were all tired out, especially AJ. She hadn't done much work, dozin' off every now and then, which she denied of course. But...then I told her I was sorry about what happened. About Fluttershy. I...I meant to try and ease her conscience, but...she yelled at me. Worse than before...do y'all remember that day we went to the Canterlot Sculpture Garden?"

They simultaneously nodded.

"And...you know the statue was..." She gulped. "Discord, right?"

The two repeated the previous motion.

"We were...I-I mean, AJ said that...that...that we were the reason he escaped." She blurted. "She said the argument we had fuelled his magic and...allowed him to break free...and she said...she said it was our fault, th-that it would never have happened if we didn't..." She trailed off, tears and sobs choking her words.

The other two looked like they might start crying as well; the impact of Apple Bloom's information was sudden and unexpected.

The earth filly swallowed so she could continue. "My sis...she locked me in my room, so I-I couldn't cause anymore trouble, she said. An' she was right, too, if you think about it..."

Apple Bloom averted her eyes to the ground. Sweetie Belle, walking over to the filly, gently moved her head to face her. "Don't blame yourself for what happened. None of us interfered with anything that day, so we had absolutely nothing to do with it. It's Discord's fault." She smiled grimly. "I think I'd rather spend a day with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon than Discord."

The farm filly sniffed. "Really?"

"Yeah. We can take them, and neither of them have the capacity of power that Discord does. It is his fault, that big bully, not ours." The two embraced.

Scootaloo looked unimpressed. "So your sister's blaming you, and you're blaming Discord. Is anyone gonna blame Fluttershy?"

They stared at her in disbelief.

"Come on, think about it! From what I can tell, Fluttershy paid no heed to anyone's warnings, not even Rainbow Dash's; her best friend! It's her naïvety and obliviousness that got her put in stone."

The other two had their mouths hanging open, gaping incredulously, until Sweetie suddenly burst out laughing. "Looks like your vocabulary has improved since we went to the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. Dodo." She smirked.

They giggled along with her. "Know what that means now?" Apple Bloom asked. "I think we ALL need sleep, otherwise we'll all become grumps like Applejack."

Scoots grinned. "Better crash soon, because I'm already half way there. How's your place, Sweetie? RD's is up in the sky, and I don't think Apple Bloom fancies the idea of returning to her bedroom."

The unicorn yawned. "Rarity will be fine with that, even if it adds two to the list of three guests sleeping at Carousel Boutique."

"Three?" Apple Bloom said as the three got going.

"Oh, yeah." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Spike's staying at Rarity's 24/7 these days. But, you know, they're 'just friends' aren't they?" She jostled Sweetie.

The filly's head snapped up straight from its drooping position. "Huh? What?" She asked sleepily, obviously having zoned out and therefore not heard the question.

"Nevermind." The pegasus replied, sucking in a giggle while Apple Bloom failed to do the same.

She was staring at him again.

Ever since her dream, her eyes focused on him whenever possible, as though trying to analyse the draconequus from the new perspective her mind had given her.

It was incredibly confusing. She didn't know why she was putting so much faith in her dream. It could have easily been just that; an abnormally realistic dream.

But it seemed so...so right, somehow. It worked, it explained a lot, and it gave her hope.

So much hope.

So she kept staring - partially fascinated, partially pondering on how she could figure out the truth.

And, quite understandably, Discord was beginning to be weirded-out by it.

Her eyes were intent, like they were seeking an answer from an unvocalised question. He tried to force her to look away by giving her a piercing, threatening look - which she paid no attention to -, then moved his claw in a circular motion to make her bed levitate upside down, Fluttershy remaining on the mattress.

Discord honestly hoped that she would scream or cower or flit around frantically, but none of these expectations came even close to being met;

All she did was smile, like she had somehow proven a point.

Turning the bed the right way up and slamming it back down, he demanded, "What in Equestria is wrong with you?"

This time, she did flinch, finally averting her eyes.

He continued. "I took you away from your friends! Your family! Your life!" As he spoke, he ignored the small amount of guilt creeping into him. "I brought you here as a thing to play with for the next eternity, and what do you do? You smile. You...you just...smile." He threw his arms in the air, asking an explanation. "Congratulations, my dear. You've officially baffled The Lord of Chaos." Discord crossed his arms and pouted, turning away.

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves, forcing worried thoughts out of mind. "Can I...can I ask you something?"

He spun around, looking like he was going to yell at her, but unexpectedly relented. "You know what? Fine. Ask me your stupid question; humour me."

The draconequus sat down, awaiting her question.

The mare fumbled with her words. "Well...I-I was just wondering...why did you take over Equestria?" She glanced up at him briefly.

He raised an eyebrow. "That really is quite a stupid question. It's blatantly obvious that I did it for fun."

She but her lip. "Really? Nothing...pushed you into doing it? Nothing prompted anger, enough to want to take over the land?"

He hesitated. "You're being quite specific. And no, of course not. I'm simply a creature born to wreck havoc." He replied grandly.

Her face fell in disappointment, her mane tumbling over it. "Oh..."

"Why? I know you were supposed to try and reform me, but anypony with any sense whatsoever would've give-" He was distracted when he heard a sniff. "Are you...crying?" Discord hoped not. Her tears, for whatever reason, made him feel weirdly guilty and uncomfortable; two feelings he despised to associate with.

"N-no!" She assured, wiping her cheeks, grateful for her curtain of hair. "I-I just...I had th-this dream...I mean...nevermind." Fluttershy tossed most of her hair out of her face, though a few locks remained stuck to her wet cheeks. "C-carry on with y-your chaos."

"Okay." He poised his hands, about to do just that, but paused. "Dream, you said?"

The pegasus sucked on her teeth. "Y-yes, well...it...it doesn't matter."

"Tell me."

"Why do you care?!" She retorted, suddenly defensive.

He pursed his lips. "I don't. I'm just..."

"Curious?" She finished tersely, looking at him wearing a deadpan expression. "Yeah, figures."

She sniffed again, hanging her head. She had been so sure that her dream meant something. A sign, of some sort...

Fluttershy gasped, and her eyes shot back up to him. "When we first got trapped here, you said...you said I 'deserve it, just like the rest of them.'" She knew she was being desperate, grasping at hopeless pieces of evidence, but she didn't care.

He paused before responding. "Yeah...so?"

Her eyes narrowed. "So you obviously think I - and other ponies - deserve to suffer for something. For affecting you in some way."

He shook his head, laughing. "You ponies and your desperate little theories. So naive, so blind, so stupid."

Her heart began to plummet, yet another pretty-much-hopeless idea stopped it. "What did you dream about last night, Discord?"

"Nothing of your concern."

"Please tell me." She pressed. She usually hated being persistent, but knowing the truth could change everything.

"No."

"Please?"

"Not even with a cherry on top."

Fluttershy felt her bottom lip begin to quiver. "Fine then." She mewled, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't tell me. It's not like I want to reform you, or befriend you, or anything. It's not like I want to see good in you. N-no, of c-c-course n-not..." She failed to keep a steady tone as sobs strained her voice.

Discord watched as the crying mare curled up into a ball and faced away from him. He blocked out the painful sound of her sobs as best as he could and contemplated what she had said: did she actually want to befriend him? It was possible, since she was the only pony to ever show any kindness to him...

No, no. She didn't want to be his friend. She had said so herself, and even tried to throw ice skates at him while at it. She hadn't really cared, she just saw it as an opportunity to prove her worth to her friends and the Princess.

She hasn't looked back, saddened and dismayed at the site of their tarnished 'friendship'.

Not as he had.

Twilight's head hung close to the pages of her book, her hooves half supporting its weight and half stretching her heavy eyelids open.

Luna sat, poised elegantly next to the consecutive bookshelf, seemingly unaffected by their long day of reading; Twilight guessed the Princess was far more used to being awake this long than she was.

Letting out an exasperated breath, the lavender alicorn used her magic to hastily flick through the remaining pages of her book, too frustrated to read them.

It slammed shut, and the princess moved it aside as she searched for yet another potentially useful book. A thick, blue book with silver bands wrapped around its spine caught her attention. After levitating it over, she read the title, 'The Legends of the Elements of Harmony.'

Twilight rolled her eyes, for she had already read this countless times in her own library beforehoof, and it contained nothing of use.

She got up on her hind legs to place it back, and couldn't help but caress the pink embroidered gem on the cover as she did so. The mare found herself staring, an unanswered question she had pondered upon before coming to mind.

She slotted the book back, then turned to Luna. "Princess..." Luna looked up at her. "How do the Elements...work, exactly? It's confused me for quite a long time, for none of my theoretical explanations for their use have been completely consistent, nor felt accurate."

The Princess of the Night smiled. "I had a feeling you would ask that sooner or later." She composed herself, recollecting her thoughts. "As you probably already know, the Elements' job is to restore Harmony to Equestria. As well as that, they search for harmony in the source of the disharmony. If said source has enough good inside it, the Elements will bring it forth and 'reform' it. If there is not enough however - or even none at all - they will find a way to contain the source, giving the Element bearers enough time to figure out a hopefully non-magical way to reform the source of disharmony. They may also contain it if the bearers themselves do not share complete harmony between one another, and will give them time to resolve their disharmony."

Twilight nodded, slowly devouring the new information and arranging it in her mind, a question slowly forming. "Discord was turned to stone three times. Do you know the causes of each time?"

Luna nodded a once. "I don't know for sure. But I think the first time around, I had already started to become jealous and envious of my sister. When you turned him to stone, well...the only explanation would be some hidden form of disharmony, or...the Elements couldn't find enough good in Discord to give him a chance." Her expression was grim, showing she sincerely hoped the latter was false. "The third time, however..."

Twilight had caught on and finished for her. "There wasn't complete harmony between us. I think we all felt a little betrayed by Fluttershy."

The Princess of the Night half-smiled. "Please know that it is in no way your fault; there is no way we can know what would've happened even without the small mistrust."

The lavender alicorn narrowed her eyes a little. "But...how do you know that Discord wouldn't have been turned to stone even without disharmony?"

Luna sighed. "One can only hope for the best, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight smiled with one cheek, not fully agreeing. "Luna, what Elements did you represent?" She asked.

The princess smiled. "Laughter, Honesty, and...Kindness. Previous bearers of the Elements feel a certain...connection with the next, corresponding bearers, and vice versa, which is one of the reasons I feel so obliged to help Fluttershy. It is also what drew Celestia's attention the day of your entrance exam."

"Huh. Everything makes a lot more sense suddenly."

"Twilight, do you understand that...consequences may accompany the spell?" Luna inquired.

"Of course!"

The navy alicorn beamed as Twilight began to turn away. "Oh, and Twilight?"

She looked up, awaiting further speech.

"I've found the spell."

Author's Notes:

Does anyone else completely LOVE Fluttercord arguments?
Then I hoped you enjoyed this one!

Chapter 7: Unconditional Succour

Discord watched the mare opposite him, her back rising and falling with every even breath she took.

She lay - asleep - on her bed, the thin sheets bunched up beneath her in places she had moved around. Her body was sprawled out across the mattress, though she didn't look untidy.

Her position was comfortable-looking, the placement of her hooves purposeful and almost elegant. Her mane was arranged gently across her forelegs, soft and neat despite everything.

She had her chin resting on her hooves, an almost-smile placed on her lips. He face was calm, eyelids laid delicately over her eyes.

She looked so innocent, so relaxed, so...so...

So beautiful.

The word rang through Discord's mind as he stared. He tried to shake it away, but it lingered like a ghost. Grumbling, he tore his gaze away.

She wasn't beautiful. She was his prisoner, his plaything. She was the same as any other mare - no, pony. She was a plain, puny, petrified pegasus who bore no significance, except how...

Except how she had touched his heart while trying to reform him.

Discord threw his head into his palms, not wanting to go over it in his mind yet needing to simultaneously.

She had been kind. She had tolerated his antics. She had given him smiles; a hug - albeit half-hearted -; a warm look in her eye; hospitality; the benefit of the doubt.

She had given him a chance.

Discord let his eyes move back onto Fluttershy. For one moment of regret, he felt guilt exploding within him. He wanted desperately for her to genuinely want to be his friend.

But she wanted nothing more than to break out of there and return to the rest of her old friends, not to acquire a new one.

Especially if the said friend was the very reason she and her friends were apart in the first place.

The draconequus could see, from the longing in her eye, that she was being pulled at by the strong rope of friendship binding her to her friends.

Even if they miraculously did somehow bond, she would most likely forget all about him once reunited with them; it wouldn't be long before she would persuade him to find a way to get out.

He sighed. They were both trapped here, both prisoners. They might as well be equal. The thing that divided their level of power was the fact he had an intimidating attitude and chaos magic, even though her annoying Element of Kindness put a damper on it's capacity.

His eyes darted towards the cursed necklace, the magically enhanced gemstone embedded within it.

Something drew the draconequus closer to the mare. Unexpectedly opting to walk over instead of disturbing her slumber by teleporting, Discord sat down on the edge of her bed, being involuntarily careful not to hurt her.

Up close, he could see her lips were ever so slightly parted. The feathers of her wings were ruffled, the wings themselves partially unfolded. Her tail looked as though it could definitely use a good brush, some of the strands refusing to keep in formation with the others.

She actually looked a little chaotic.

Although he strongly sensed the potential option to disturb the tranquility of her figure, and was about to do just that, the idea seemed abruptly unappealing.

Less unappealing, that is, than simply continuing to stare at her, since he was so bored it was the only vaguely interesting thing to do.

So he did.

Her head tilted forward, a collection of the strands from the front of her mane dropping over the centre of her face.

As he used his claw to move the pink lock behind her ear, she turned away; it seemed she hated him even when unconscious.

Discord retracted his hand, dismay occupying his heart.

He was about to turn away, when she started to fret, struggling against an unseen force. Fluttershy writhed and screamed, yelping "No, no, no!" over and over.

The draconequus was far too used to seeing ponies this way in his presence, albeit never because of a nightmare.

"No! Please, don't take my friends away!" She sobbed, and he froze: he was in her nightmare. For whatever reason, the pity he usually kept locked up for only himself rose as a result of acquiring the knowledge.

He couldn't help himself. Discord gingerly placed a hand on her back and hesitantly started to run his paw down her body.

After just a few strokes, she settled down, making Discord feel strangely proud of himself; nopony had ever accepted his help and, even though she didn't exactly accept it - asleep, as she was -, he had still calmed her and been rewarded with contentment.

It was a good feeling, and he liked it, though it occurred sparsely because only the pegasus mare seemed to give him a sense it in few and far between circumstances.

Strange, how somepony who had hurt him so much could make him feel this great in just a matter of seconds.

Rarity sat in front of her vanity, attacking the knots in her tangled violet mane.

She hadn't bothered to curl nor care for it in days - having been too busy sobbing for Fluttershy, eating buckets of ice cream with Spike and then clutching her stomach as the tummy ache kicked in - and had now become such a nuisance that she just couldn't get the darn knots tamed.

The unicorn wasn't used to tangles this big. She was used to dealing with the physical aftermath of her admittedly melodramatic meltdowns, but this was stupidly different and harder in an incredibly frustrating way.

"Ow!"

Complaining about her own violent tugs was newly-acquired tendency she had gained during the process of her seemingly useless combing.

Making one final exasperated sound, Rarity threw the brush down and rolled her eyes simply to emphasise her frustration.

"Do you want me to help?"

Rarity jumped at the familiar voice of Spike, but smiled warmly at her mirror immediately after, his offer making her heart feel warm.

"Oh, darling, I-I appreciate the offer, but...I-I really don't think..."

"I don't mind doing it!" Spike assured, and Rarity's instinct to oblige to him and generous nature overwhelmed her instantly.

"...Alright, of c-course you can."

The little dragon hopped onto the vanity and picked up the brush. Rarity spun around on her chair so she was facing away from him as he picked up the first few locks of her mane.

Spike worked expertly in silence, Rarity following his lead until a question she had formed couldn't remain unanswered any longer.

"How are you so..." She gulped, hoping she wouldn't offend him in any way. "So...so good at this?"

"Twilight." He explained simply, then elaborated. "With the amount of times she spends poring over books relentlessly, you'd be amazed she finds any of her own time to untangle her mane. She fiddles with and pulls at it quite a lot while studying, so her hair can end up a monstrous mess despite it's inability to hold curls."

"...Okay, that makes sense." She went over what he said in her head again, ensuring she hadn't missed anything.

His claw moved in front of her ear to collect loose strands, stroking the very top of Rarity's jaw on it's path back to the rest of her mane.

For a few precious seconds, his hand was in the perfect position for her to lean against, so she took advantage of it and relaxed into his palm, before he moved it away.

Rarity closed her eyes, ignoring the slightly miffed feeling that had appeared. She was far to focused on cooling the reddening blush on her cheeks.

Ten minutes later, Rarity's naturally wavy hair was back to it's tangle-free, silky standard. She ran her hooves over and through it countless times, mentally admiring it's softness.

Meanwhile, Spike was quietly clearing the hairbrush of the many strands pulled out while brushing and placing them in a bin. Afterward, he placed the hairbrush back on it's position on the vanity.

Both were trying to think of something to say to break the silence when a tumbling mess of Cutie Mark Crusaders came to their rescue, each one entwined in a way similar to how Rarity's hair strands had been minutes before.

They collapsed down the stairs, Rarity immediately running over once her moment of stunned paralysis had passed.

Once they reached the bottom, the unicorn briefly checked for injuries using a quick x-ray scan spell that Twilight had taught her.

Nothing was broken or cut; the were just mildly bruised in places. How they got in that situation was a mystery to both Rarity and Spike, which begged the question:

"Girls, what were you doing?" The prior asked.

Scootaloo rolled over onto her back before replying. "Cutie Mark Crusader...anthro...pologists." She groaned.

Apple Bloom, who was in a better position and condition than the other two, explained, "We were...trying to...stand on our hind legs. We saw this unicorn mare attempting to do it in town the other day and we wanted to give it a try...it didn't work out." She smiled sheepishly before helping Sweetie Belle to her hooves.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Why on earth were you doing it at the top of the stairs?" She inquired.

"We weren't! We accidentally stumbled out of my room and somehow ended up in a heap on the floor. The momentum carried us down the stairs!" Sweetie said it like a silly accusation, then she retreated back up the stairs before her sister could argue further. Scoots and Apple Bloom scampered after her.

"Those fillies." Spike laughed, shaking his head.

Rarity half-laughed, shaking her head too before it turned into a giggle. "I'm sure they'll get their cutie marks some day. Some day soon, hopefully, because they can really trash the place when they're Cutie Mark Crusading at home!"

"I know!" Spike chortled, reminding Rarity of the amount of times he had been the one to clean up the vast majority of those messes.

The sense of humour confined in a simple smile now, Rarity pulled Spike into a hug. "What would I do without you..." She sighed as he returned the hug, failing to answer.

Frankly, she was okay with that, since she didn't want to ever find out what the answer would be.

Fluttershy was in a sitting position, and the ground beneath her haunches was dusty and rough.

She didn't know where she was, because she hadn't opened her eyes. They remained closed simply because she was afraid of what could greet them once opened.

She buried her head in her hooves, the thought that this would make any possible danger go away suddenly seeming logical. There was fear creeping through her, seeping from an unknown origin. She knew to be afraid; she just didn't know why.

The pegasus tried to imagine happy surroundings, a place that she liked and would feel comfortable in, but her mind was clouded.

Unusual for her, her patience ran out after just a few...seconds? Minutes? Hours?
How long had she actually been there?

She shook her head and lifted her sealed eyelids. She could see houses, with thatched straw roofs; an eerie-looking forest to her left, and to her right...

The town hall; she was in Ponyville.

The mare stood up so abruptly that her forehooves collapsed under the enthusiasm of her hind legs. Her chin smashed into the dust, a small segment of her mane falling across the centre of her face.

Once she got to her hooves, it was gone. She hadn't even registered her hoof moving it behind her ear.

"Fluttershy!"

The aforementioned pony gasped and spun round; that was Rainbow Dash's voice. She gasped again once she caught sight of her friends, tears forming in the corner of her eyes:

They were tied to one of the lamp posts standing tall on the side of the dirt road, wings, legs and bodies bound tightly together with rope.

An eternity seemed to pass before Fluttershy came to her senses. She ran towards her friends, galloping with a speed previously unbeknownst to her hooves.

If I get the quickly, I can untie them an we can -

Something smashed into Fluttershy's muzzle, knocking her to the ground.

She mentally scolded herself for paying too much attention on her thoughts and not enough on where she was going.

The mare blinked. But she had been looking where she was going.

Confused, she placed a hoof up against a wall to aid her to her hooves.

A wall?

Fluttershy darted her eyes to where her hoof connected with the surface. Beneath it was a red, glowing, semi-transparent barricade, blocking the path between her and her friends.

"No." She breathed in utter disbelief. She pounded he hooves against the force-field, each connection sending a ripple of translucent crimson across the dome.

"No, no, no, no, No, No, No, No, NO, NO, NO, NO!" She screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks.

And, suddenly, a monstrous creature came into view.

It had appendages from various reptiles, mammals and birds, a menacing smile and threatening, glowing, red and yellow eyes:

Discord.

Or, rather: a Discord whom of which had grown considerably more petrifying and intimidatingly large since the last time she saw him.

Fluttershy cowered, staring in absolute horror as the monstrous draconequus strode towards her friends and clicked his fingers.

For a second, nothing happened.

But then Fluttershy noticed the absence of Spike.

Another click; Rarity disappeared.

Another; Rainbow Dash was gone.

Fluttershy realised what he was doing and resumed her sob-choked yelling, "No! Please, don't take my friends away!"

Click. Applejack.

"No! Stop, no!"

Pinkie Pie.

"No, no, No, No, NO, NO!" She cried, collapsing against the force-field. Her shoulders shook violently with her sobs.

But then Twilight darted forwards and embraced the poor pegasus and calmed her uncontrolled movement. The alicorn's hoof ran down her back in an almost-ticklish yet firm way. It felt so soft, so real compared to everything else.

She was warm, calmed down and relaxed within seconds.

Fluttershy shut her eyes and locked her mind onto the memory of Twilight's hoof stroking between her wings, touching her in such a calming way. She barely heard the final click of the princess dissipating.

Fluttershy dropped her head to the ground. She didn't know how long she lay there. Hours? Days? Weeks?
Months? Years?

She lay, only with the wonderful, comforting memory to occupy her mind and satisfy her lingering and minuscule yet ever-growing impatience.

At some point, she was brought out of her hazy, half-asleep somnolence by a familiar teleportation noise accompanied by a flash of light.

She stood up, groaning and struggling to anticipate what the...thing might be.

As she opened leaden eyelids, she focused on the direction from which the sound and light came from, and saw...

Discord. This time, he was his normal-sized draconequus sel -

Fluttershy jumped as a terrifying roar emitted from outside the force-field. She turned, slowly, towards the sound and saw the monster erupting disorder unto her home town.

Her eyes darted back to the Discord standing within the dome, and, all of a sudden, it was too much. She was just so fed up. "Oh, that's just perfect. Of course you're here! Because not only is there that...thing over there," she gestured in the general direction of the monster, "taking my friends away from me, but there's another you here to torment me for it! Because, nowadays, nothing that happens to me is ever good, oh no, everything just doesn't make sense!" She stared at Discord accusingly. "But I suppose that's just fine because you just don't make sense anyway." Her eyes stung as tears started to brim over her lashes.

She collapsed onto the ground. The Discord inside the force-field was staring at her in confusion, a look of disorientated bafflement on his face.

"What?" Was all he could think to say.

She just continued to cry.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, will you just stop with the tears!" He roared. "I mean, why in Equestria are you here in the first place? And why, just why, are you crying? And, also, what the heck are you going on about!?"

She glared at him from underneath her hooves and stood bolt upright. "This is what I'm 'going on about!' Sweet Celestia, you don't make sense in my head or in the outside world! And, despite what you may think, not making sense isn't always the best thing. In fact, it rarely is! I don't like it. I hate it. It makes me upset, which is why, Discord, I am crying. Oh, sorry, does that make too much sense to you? Apologies." She grit her teeth as she spoke, accenting the sarcasm-laced words.

"Yeah, that's pretty much why I do it." Discord admitted.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because you just love to spite everypony, don't you?" She spat. "Seeing ponies frustrated and annoyed with you is all that matters to you, isn't it? Not friendship, not compassion, just irritating others. You know, there really is something quite appalling about that. So I can now freely say that you..." She paused to narrow her eyes. "Are truly a monster."

Discord flinched, automatically trying to mask it. This isn't real, a voice in his head told him. It doesn't matter.

"You almost look like you enjoyed that." He laughed, shaking his head. But do you know how utterly wrong you are? is what he wanted to say, but he just couldn't do it.

"Monster!" A voice taunted, and Discord grit his teeth and glared at Fluttershy, for it was her's.

"Monster, monster, monster!" She repeated, and he realised that it hadn't been her, because her lips weren't moving.

"Stop it!" He whined, covering his ears as the word echoed around his mind too.

Fluttershy looked at Discord, her ears flattening. Always, she thought. This is always where assertiveness gets me. Well done to you, 'Element of Kindness.'

"Monster, monster, monster, monster, monster!" The invisible walls repeated, but it was her voice, her voice, her voice.

And it just kept on going. She bit her lip and blocked it out, unable to draw her eyes away from the tormented draconequus, until she couldn't bear the building guilt any longer - which didn't take an awfully large period of time.

"Okay!" She whimpered. "I get it! I'm sorry!"

The voice was no more.

"Took you long enough!" Discord exclaimed incredulously.

"You should at least be grateful." She mumbled.

"Grateful? It was you who started it in the first place!"

"Yes, and I darn well ended it too!" She stomped her hoof.

Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh, whatever." He leaned forward and poked her in the muzzle, causing her to blink a couple of times. "Thank you, Fluttershy." He said in a mock tone.

She pushed him away and walked in the other direction, sitting down after a few metres.

Discord crossed his arms. He strolled off.

Fluttershy heard his footsteps and realised it was only so much time until his smashed into the force-field. She braced herself for the noise, but it didn't come.

Curious and confused, she turned around and spotted the draconequus walking well beyond the approximate radius of the dome.

"H-how did you do that?" She wondered aloud, making him turn.

"Do what?"

"Walk through the force-field." Her voice was calm, floaty, as a result of her mind going foggy and unfocused.

He blinked. "What force-field?"

"Th -," she paused, "never mind." Looking around, she noticed that Ponyville was no longer distorted, the reason for it's previous state of chaos vanished too.

With a sigh of relief, Fluttershy looked around her home.

It seemed admirably more beautiful now, if she thought about it. It was possible, of course, that she simply missed it so much - which she did - that it appeared better than ever.

But, then again, the sun was shining like it had never shone before. The mare realised just how much she really missed sunlight, or simply it's gorgeous blue backdrop which was displayed with an array of white, fluffy clouds.

Her eyes followed a cloud until it resulted in her falling backwards onto the ground, letting out a small "oomph!" afterwards.

Slightly dazed, she caught sight of the local florist who she knew rather well, since she was a regular customer. Nearby her patch of growing tulips, there was some long, soft grass sprouting from the ground.

Soft grass. The very idea felt heavenly.

Fluttershy rushed over and leapt onto it, pouncing onto the blades like predator on prey. She giggled, breathing in deeply to smell the sweet aroma of spring.

Discord watched her with great interest at how happy she was. It had occurred to him that he had been the one to deprive her of the simple joy that she had now rediscovered.

He wandered over and crouched down beside the pegasus, who then turned her attention towards him.

Her smile didn't even falter

"Hey...you do know they're staring, right?" He pointed out, referring to the townsfolk.

"Are they?" She said, finally noticing the ponies looking at her. She ducked her head bashfully and blushed in the most adorable fashion.

Her grin was gone. And she didn't look happy anymore.

The Lord of Chaos looked at her. Her sad, teal eyes were half-covered by her drooping eyelids, her lips pressed together in a devastatingly disappointed frown.

She had her mane flowing down half of her face and was cowering to the ground, looking smaller than one would've thought she could ever be.

She was trembling. And looked on the verge of tears.

It occurred to him that she wasn't afraid of him, for once. She was afraid of all the eyes glued to her, judging her every move like blood-thirsty hawks...

Or, at least, that's how he guessed she saw them, judging from his own experience.

She was a very, very shy pegasus. She was also perpetually good at involuntarily making herself insurmountably pitiful, in the draconequus' eyes.

Carefully, he moved her hair out of her face. Gently, he stroked her nearest cheek, to calm her from shaking.

Her head turned towards him, pupils dilated. She was still utterly terrified, and this time it was because of Discord.

He could tell.

She was eyeing his claw, drawing herself nearer and nearer the conclusion to slap it away, and he knew it.

If I don't comfort her, she would still be scared. If I don't comfort her, she...she won't be happy.

Discord felt an urge calling for...her. He really, really did want her friendship. How badly, however, he had not realised until then.

Wordless, he picked her up - she was completely limp now, so didn't fight against him - and laid her chin softly on his shoulder, holding her close and secure with his arms.

Fluttershy's eyes snapped open. She felt Discord surrounding her, he was everywhere. She contemplated trying to squirm free, but could feel she was tightly trapped.

She suddenly wondered if this was how her friends had felt when tied to that post.

Biting back tears, she tore her eyes around. Sure enough, Discord had his arms firmly encased around her, in...a...hug?

For a moment, that thought was illogical, stupid, and idiotic. But then he began to stroke her back, for whatever reason, and the mare melted under the tenderness of his touch.

Her heart rate slowed a little, and she relaxed. It was still rather awkward, but she didn't mind.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. She didn't know what she was apologising for exactly, but the words felt right on he tongue at this particular moment.

And then, unexpected to both of them, Discord replied in the same sincere, hushed tone:

"Me too."

Author's Notes:

Would y'all believe me if I told you that I wasn't originally planning for Discord and Fluttershy to hug and apologise at the end?
No? Ah well.

Chapter 8: Facing the Facts

Applejack stood outside Sugar Cube Corner, anxiously waiting for Pinkie Pie to open the door.

After what seemed like hours, the door swung open, revealing the pink party pony standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Appleja -!"

"Have ya seen Apple Bloom?" the farm pony inquired, interrupting.

Pinkie blinked, then shook her head.

AJ groaned. She was about to go when Mr. Cake's voice boomed out the door, "PINKIE! COME BACK HERE AND HELP US! WE NEED THIS ORDER DONE IN HALF AN HOUR!"

The pink mare flinched an put a hoof to her mouth, motioning for AJ to be silent. As soon as Applejack had clamped her lips shut, Pinkie took her hoof and led her up the stairs, moving quicker than a speeding bullet.

She opened the door to her bedroom and AJ followed her in. She carefully closed it behind her, not daring to make a sound.

"What in the hay was that for?" the farm pony inquired, in the loudest whisper she could bother to muster.

Pinkie hopped onto her bed before replying. "They're making a cake."

"Ah know that."

"Yes, and they want me to help."

AJ rolled her eyes. "Ah know that, too."

"But making cakes includes sweet things, sweet things that go into bowls, bowls that always have mixture left behind, mixture that needs to be cleaned out by a professional!" she elaborated, gesturing towards herself.

"...Huh? Pinkie Pie, it ain't compulsory fer ya to eat the leftover mixture."

"What!?" Her eyes widened in genuine surprise. But, then again, it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't when it came to Pinkie. "Oops. Oh well." She turned away. "I don't want to be near sweet things anyway, because then I'll just eat them without meaning to."

"Whad'ya mean? Why can ya suddenly not eat sweet things?"

"Because! Because...because I like them!" the earth mare sobbed, while the other just wore a blank expression.

"...Yeah. That's why ya eat 'em in the first place," she stated flatly. "Look, I'm sorry, but I really need to go and continue mah search fer mah sis." She started towards the door with an urgent stride.

"Why? Apple Bloom's at Rarity's."

Applejack stopped, then turned. "What? I thought ya hadn't seen her!"

Pinkie started laughing in bubbling snorts. "Well of course I haven't seen her, silly! Spike and Rarity just came round earlier with a big order of ice cream, and she explained it was required to cheer the Cutie Mark Crusaders up."

The orange mare let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, that's great...ah...ah was so worried...oh, dang it!" She stomped her hoof. "I bet she's real angry with me 'bout what ah did yesterday...I need to see her...but she probably needs time to go over it, or else she'll be too upset to talk things through prope -"

Pinkie interrupted her friend's argument with herself by covering her mouth. She pulled her into a hug.

When they broke away, Applejack vocalised a pressing question, "Why ain't y'all eatin' sweets 'n' stuff anymore?"

"Oh, well...they make me happy, and I can't be happy, not when Fluttershy's stuck in a rock-candy prison and - oh, there I go again. I don't wanna be happy when one of the most important things in my life isn't here. It's taking all the will power I have to not revert back to my moody Pinkamena alter-ego. I keep all you guys in mind, but...Fluttershy was so lovely and...sometimes I...I just...snap." She had tears in her water-blue eyes. "I shout at ponies who did nothing to me, all because I don't have one of my friends...I keep telling myself that she is just one pony, but...oh, Applejack, I miss her...so...much!" Tears stained her cheeks, straining her voice. She gulped, trying to clear her eyes. "So I'm stopping myself from indulging things I like until I can enjoy them with Fluttershy, when she comes back! I'm thinking of writing a letter to everypony in Equestria for her returning par -"

"Wait, you actually think she's gonna break free?" AJ looked astounded, but Pinkie nodded all the same. "That ain't gonna happen any time soon, sugarcube. Ahm sorry, but it's true."

Pinkie ruffled her friend's mane. "Aww, don't be so glum, Applejack! Everything always works out, in the end! Just like you and Apple Bloom - she won't hate you forever!" she assured, then cocked her head. "Speaking of her, what did happen between you two yesterday?"

The earth mare darted her eyes to her hooves, ashamed. "Sh-she brought up the subject of Fluttershy, and...ah...ah blamed the fact she was gone on her, the poor filly. Ah told her it was her fault, and...ah got carried away, and locked her in her room. At the time, it seemed like that best thing, keeping her confined so she couldn't go causing more trouble...ah was real tired, hadn't slept properly for days, so Mac and Granny stood guard of mah own room to ensure I got some well-needed shuteye. Then, this mornin', ah straightway rushed to let mah sis out, but she was gone. Curtains flyin' in the wind."

Pinkie giggled. "Don't worry, you aren't the only who's got problems with dealing with current stuff."

"Yeah, and insomnia don't help much."

"Neither does anorexia, but oh well. The sun'll come out, tomorrow!" Pinkie sang, beaming a grin far too wide for her face. She changed tunes,

"My name is Pinkie Pie,"

She stood up, her voice bolder.

"And I am here to say:
I will make AJ smile and I
Will brighten up her day..."

She clasped AJ's shoulders, hauling the pony to her hooves too.

"Try to forget recent...
...Events that include stone.
Cuz' I'll show you you're not meant to
Stand in this all alone."

The party pony burst into a crazy jig, holding a hoof out to show her friend was welcome to join her - all the while managing to maintain balance, Celestia knows how. Reluctant, Applejack followed her friend onto the makeshift dance floor and copied her moves, even joining in the song, for she had heard it before. The high-pitched hyper voice and deep, county accent merged wonderfully for the chorus.

"Cuz' I love to see you smile, smile, smile,
Yes I do."

They pressed their hooves together so they were able to stand on their hind legs and dance.

"It fills my heart with the sunshine coming tomorrow,
Yes it does."

They simultaneously changed the lyrics, both on the same wavelength for once. Pinkie was never one for being predictable, but those close to her had learned a thing or two about the way her mind works.

"Cuz' all I really need's a smile, smile, smile,
From a happy friend of mine."

They would've continued, but AJ stumbled on her two legs and fell right on top of her pink dance partner. They were laughing, regardless.

As soon as the bubbles of hysterics had quietened down enough to speak - for Applejack, anyway -, the orange mare did so, "You'd better get a head-start on those party invitations, Pinkie Pie."

She was able to stop giggling to answer, "Really? I thought you said there wasn't any point to it."

AJ chuckled. "What can I say? I'm feelin' optimistic. C'mon, I'll help you."

"Really?!"

"Yup. This party is gonna be the biggest and bestsest in all of Equestria!"

It took Discord a matter of seconds, after waking up, for him to realise that all that had happened between him and Fluttershy - everything said, done and discovered - had been a dream.

He dragged his paw down his face, clearing the sleep out of his eyes.

A dream. Why, Luna? Why couldn't it have been real?

His eyes moved to the real Fluttershy. Coincidentally - though she was lying perfectly still with a slow, steady breath - he caught her taking a fleeting glance at him, betraying her act of somnolence.

In a perfect world, the moment their eyes met would've been longer - or, at least, feltlonger - so Discord could enjoy her gaze for a second or two.

It didn't.

Oh, for goodness' sake. Hypothetically, the dream could become reality, for he could easily reenact it. Kept just as an idea, it was brilliant; simple; easy.

He could have her as a friend in no time.

His previous doubt lingered, however. Having doubt was limiting, and Discord hated to be limited, what with his seemingly limitless chaotic magic and all. Willing them to leave didn't work - not that he had expected it to, anyway.

He felt that pang of longing, a want for her kindness, a need for her compassion. The fact he had previously been too caught up in his own game to truly relish in the open-hoofed welcome she offered to him had been stupid. Idiotic. Blind.

For Equestra's sake, he wanted her friendship so darn much. He found her interesting, something he had never before felt about a pony. He couldn't help by adore her rare acts of courage, one of which had been displayed to him the first one he had spoken directly to her.

That day in the labyrinth, Fluttershy had struck him as unusual. Discord had expected a pony so naïve to succumb to his manipulation with the wave of a hand that preferably hadn't been temporarily magically empowered by it's owner.

But no. She had stood up to him, despite him being her enemy. She had shown bravery and faith in her core belief that her friends loved and accepted her for who she truly was.

Later on, she had stood up to them when they doubted her method of reforming. They were darn right to have, but she had been so wondrously hopeful back then that she defended him anyway.

It looked as though the reforming had worked after all.

In one momentous spur of optimism, he was positively certain she would accept his offer of friendship if he gave it to her.

It will work. It will.

He took a deep breath. "F-Fluttershy?"

Only her ears naturally moved in response to the sound and, aside from that, she remained motionless.

"I know you're awake, so don't bother trying to pretend you aren't."

Fluttershy's dreary eyes opened and focused on him.

"I've been doing some thinking..." He gulped; this may have been that hardest thing he'd ever had to do. "And...I've decided to...to let you reform me. Properly, I mean. And, in due course, possibly even...befriend me." He bit his lip, watching her eyes grow wider with his every word. "Maybe I'm not wording myself correctly: I...I want you to reform - no, to befriend me, Fluttershy. I want to have you as a friend. P-p...lease?" Discord waited for her answer, the last of his hopeful confidence eradicating.

Fluttershy met her eyes with his. Goodness, he really looked like he meant it. But she knew all too well how he had played this card on her before, and she didn't want to believe it a second time.

"No." His immediate reaction was strikingly poignant, but she forced herself to continue, already feeling her eyes sting, "I...I can't. As much as I might want to, I...I just...can't. The reason I'm here," she gestured around the cell, "the reason I haven't seen my friends in over a week, it's all because...because I believed that lie. I...can't, and...don't..." The tears streaming down her cheeks finally got the best of her, halting the pegasus' speech. However, Discord was able to finish for her:

"You don't trust me."

Fluttershy shook her head sadly. "No." She sniffed. "I don't..."

The draconequus turned away harshly. He felt betrayed, as if this was all somehow unfair for him. But, alas, it wasn't. She had every right to deny his offer, every reason not to accept it.

He felt crushed, wanting to be elsewhere, or asleep, or dead...just anywhere, anywhere but with her.

"Yet."

The sound of her voice made him jump; she had walked across to 'his side' of the cell without him even noticing. He looked at her in confusion.

She explained, "I don't trust you, yet. If what you say is true, and you do in fact want to be my friend, then you'll be willing to figure out a way to earn my trust first. I cannot deny that I would love for that to happen, therefore I am willing to give you a second chance."

"But...you already...you already did..."

"Did I give you a chance to redeem yourself before the Princess assigned me to do so?" He shook his head. "Well, there you go then. I'm sorry that I can't trust you now, I mean...you really do look like you mean it, but...I can't. I'm sorry."

Sweet Celestia, she was brilliant.

Discord scooped her up in his arms and held her tightly to his chest. "Me too," he murmured, not just to get a tingling déjà vu sensation running down his spine, or to recreate the dream. He meant it. He regretted bringing her here. Truly, sincerely, honestly; he meant it.

Fluttershy pushed herself out of his grip to face him. "What did you say?" she inquired, urgent.

"Me too," he said, blinking. "I...I'm sorry, too."

A look of terror came across her face. She shook her head. "Coincidence, coincidence, coincidence," she muttered, beginning to pace as she reassured herself.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and stood up.

Fluttershy looked at him, calmer from the concern in his voice in spite of the fact it could very well have been faked. "Oh, nothing really...it's just...y-you said exactly the same thing, with exactly the same meaning, in exactly the same position in the dream I had last night...or whatever time I was sleeping last." She forced a smile.

Now it was Discord's turn to be confused. "W-what?"

"It doesn't matter!" Fluttershy exclaimed, in a little too harsh a manner.

"No, no; it really does." This caught her attention and gaze. "You see...I had that dream, too."

Her eyes widened. "B-but...I...y-you..."

"The one where you called me a monster and your voice kept echoing around, and then you started playing in the grass like a schoolfilly?" The draconequus crossed his arms.

The mare confirmed with a nod, blushing slightly. "So...we can share drea -" She gasped. "Oh. Oh." Fluttershy beamed at him. "Then you were provoked into taking over Equestria! You weren't just bad all along! You...you did look back with that heartb-breaking expression..." The last sentence was barely audible.

She took a leap, aided by a flap of her wings, to wrap her hooves around his neck.

"You know what? I'm beginning to trust you already."

"To undo the effects of any Element bearers, previous or current - without using the Elements themselves -, two(or more) separate and powerful magical sources must form a strong bond between one another, a harmony stronger than that shared by the Elements of Harmony," Twilight read aloud the moment her eyes found the spell.

She turned to Luna, who was sharing the same seat she was sitting on. "What does it mean by..." she checked the page, "'Two or more separate and powerful magical sources'?"

"What do you think it means, Twilight?" Luna replied, answering her question with a question.

"I...by 'magical sources', it of course means objects, whether they be animate of inanimate, that are able to do magic. And...errr..." She checked the spell again. "By 'separate' it means...uhh...magical sources that aren't already connected, which eliminates the possibility to just use two Elements of Harmony, and...those magical sources must have strong magical powers," she analysed.

Luna stared at the other princess in admiration. "I can see why my sister considered you as her star pupil; when you're assigned a task, you rush to finish it as quickly and efficiently as equinely possible!" she exclaimed. "But, also, you sounded like you were in an entrance exam. You're a princess too, now. I'm no longer your royal superior. Frankly, I shouldn't have even been 'your royal superior' beforehoof, for," she paused while she took two majestic flaps of her wings and raised her voice to her Royal Canterlot one, "WE TREAT ALL OUR SUBJECTS AS EQUALS TO OURSELVES!" she boomed, then replaced herself on the chair.

Once Twilight recollected herself from her stunned surprise, she spoke, "I have a strong feeling that you only brought that up so you could use your Royal Canterlot voice."

Luna laughed. "You may be right. But seriously: you need to relax. I'm not your headteacher," she paused. "Or, maybe I am, and I'm just using this opportunity to asses your ability to behave accordingly!" Her voice ascended to a shout as she leaned towards the lilac alicorn, eventually provoking her to fall to the floor. They laughed again.

"Honestly now. Focus," the Princess of the Night said with mock seriousness. Seeing that Twilight immediately got back to work regardless of her joking tone, Luna decided to take action on this issue. "Okay, I want you to pretend I'm...Rarity."

"Oh, ummm...all...alright...Hello there, Rarity," Twilight waved, picturing Luna with Rarity's curled mane in her mind's eye.

"Twilight, darling, how lovely to see you!" Luna chimed, in an eerily good impression of the real Rarity's voice.

"H-how's Spike doing?"

"Oh, the darling little dragon is lovely, as always."

"N...nice to hear, Rarity."

"Twilight, darling, are you alright? You seem a little...on edge. I actually remember that Princess Luna informed me about it the other da - oh, look!" Luna shook Twilight gently as she pointed at...nothing in particular. "There she goes now. One seco - Princess Luna! Oh, Princess Luna!" The navy alicorn sang, then stomped her forehooves on the ground - soft at first, then gradually louder - to mimic the sound of a pony trotting towards them. Luna returned to her own voice, "Greetings, Twilight and Rarity." Her voice reverted back to the said latter's, "Twilight, just as you told me, is indeed acting strangely around us...almost like she's...intimidated by us...Twilight dear, are you okay?" Luna asked as she watched the lavender alicorn collapse in hysterics, desperately trying not to do so herself. Why? She didn't know.

And, because of that, she started laughing.

At some point during their fit of giggles, Luna hauled them both back onto the one chair. She briskly moved a hoof to he forehead, inaudibly telling Twilight to do the same. "At ease, soldier," she instructed, before they simultaneously saluted one another.

Twilight sighed happily. "I needed that. Now; spell stuff."

"Right! Yes, of course; 'spell stuff'." Luna grumbled, "Ugh. Boring stuff. Work."

"Sorry Wuna," Twilight pouted, patting the Princess' head. "It istime for work."

The Princess of the Night huffed.

"Now, Wuna, do you think you can tell me what this," she gestured to the line, 'a harmony stronger than that shared by the Elements of Harmony', "means?"

"A strong bond between the two magical sources, of course," Luna said, having given up her childish demeanour.

"What have you done with my Wuna?!" Twilight whined, grasping the alicorn's shoulders and smiling.

"I can assure you; she's fine."

"What magical sources can we use?"

"Hmmm?"

"You said about the magical sources. Which do you have in mind, preferably the closest and easiest for us to obtain?"

"Us? Who said it had to be us? Fluttershy and Discord have two magical sources; she has her Element and he has his chaos."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Of course! But...isn't harmony stronger than chaos?"

"Indeed, Twilight, indeed. However, the bond - or 'harmony' - they must form will even out their respective magical source's power."

"Luna..." Twilight began, unsure of what answer she would get once her question was vocalised. "Wh-what sort of...'strong bond' has to form?"

Luna sighed. "Well, as it stands, either a friendship stronger than the one you share with your friends - but that would most likely take longer, since you and your friends have been building your friendship for years. Which brings me to the other option..." She trailed off, her eyes drifting elsewhere.

Twilight was able to finish for her, however, "Love. They...they'd have to fall in love."

"Hypothetically, only Discord would have to fall in love, but...yes, I'm afraid so. And...if he doesn't, and the spell is cast, then...only she will break free."

Which is absolutely fine as far as I'm concerned, Twilight thought, but she didn't dare say anything. Instead, she brought up a different issue: "How will we be able to tell if they're even close to liking one another yet?"

Princess Luna thought for a while. "So full of questions, Miss Sparkle! When Discord was first turned to stone, and I was still connected to the Elements, I was able to enter his dreams like any other. I have faith that they'll come around even without our," she coughed, "aid, but...I suppose, i-if I transferred some of that power to you, th-then I could accompany y-you...Twilight, do you give me permission to hijack your connection with the Elements to get inside either your friend or a draconequus' head?" she asked dutifully, and Twilight nodded to play along.

She gasped. "Cadence showed me a spell once, one that allows you to analyse someone's emotions towards others...I'm sure I could find the book in my library, and...since we are entering minds, I expect the spell will work just as well when inside their dream, correct?"

The Princess of the Night nodded, and Twilight felt a weight fly off her chest.

Maybe this will turn out to be simpler than I originally thought.

Author's Notes:

Wooo! I got this chapter done fast!
Hope y'all enjoyed it!

Chapter 9: Unexpected Developments

Fluttershy stared hard at the stone ceiling above her, willing her eyes to close but not succeeding.

For the last ten minutes or so, she had been lying there, desperately trying to get to sleep, since she had suggested it would be nice to have a change of scenery less desolate than their current one.

Discord had agreed enthusiastically.

But it had barely been an hour since she was last asleep, and she wasn't the slightest bit tired.

Her...his...their most recent dream had left her in a happy mood, of which she had clung on to for as long as it deemed possible.

Initially, she had hoped dreams such as these might reoccur, preferably without forcing her to endure a horrific nightmare first. Maybe, she had thought, my dreams will give me some insight as to how I can get out of here.

Fluttershy sighed at the thought and turned to face the wall, dragging the thin sheets over her bare shoulders.

She kept on expecting that Discord would burst into fits of laughter at her naïveté, profusely humiliating her, again. However, he seemed to be going along with the Trust Trial he had been set, wholeheartedly at that.

While the fact remained that sharing dreams with The Lord of Chaos was rather creepy, the pegasus had managed to convince herself that it was no different to how Princess Luna entered dreams. If the Princess of the Night can share somepony's dreams to relive them of problems, then why shouldn't The Lord of Chaos be able to do the same to befriend that said pony?

Because he's The Lord of Chaos.

Fluttershy scowled at herself. When she had first taken on the task of reforming him, it didn't come across as a chore; if she succeeded, yays for days; if she didn't, back to stone for the draconequus.

But now the idea felt daunting. She really did want to believe his proposal held honesty, but she was scared. Her own offer had been nothing more than a way to show she wasn't falling for it just like that.

If she failed again, what then? Would she spend the next few centuries frozen as a statue, continually losing bits of her old self, Discord eventually driving her to insanity?

And even if it did work, and she did befriend him, would they find a way out? Would they work together in a desperate alliance caused by the need for their freedom? How long would it take for them to work themselves free? It could easily end up being too long. Too long, so that when she emerged she wasn't herself. Too long, so the world had changed around her.

Too long, so her friends didn't recognise the mare she had become.

A tear slipped out of her eye. An exasperated sigh, the first sound to break through the eerie wall of silence in ages, leapt at her ears and sent a scared, surprised jolt through her body. "Are you sleepy yet? Like, at all?" Discord murmured mere moments afterwards.

"No," she replied, discarding the extravagantly sincere apology that instinctually came to mind.

"Okay then," he bounded up onto his legs. "I was going use that time to come up with a way to start this whole trust thing," he said, flicking his talon carelessly, "but I'm really bored, aren't you?" He didn't wait for an answer. "So I'm suggesting we resort to magic."

Fluttershy blinked in horror. "What? No!"

"What? It's not that bad."

"You are NOT using a spell to force me to trust you!"

"Ye - what? No, I meant for the falling asleep part!" He paused to think. "Actually, that isn't such a bad ide -"

"Don't you dare," she warned, giving him the Stare to emphasise it and provide herself with confidence. She was shaking, unsure of whether she appeared to be angry or absolutely terrified. She hoped it wasn't the latter, though that one was more truthful. Maybe this was where it all went downhill. Where he gained complete control over her and she was lost forever. Her breath quickened to match her rapid heartbeat, fighting back tears.

Discord rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Sheesh!"

"Don't act like its nothing. For goodness' sake, the first thing you ever did to me was corrupt me! It's not nice, Discord, and i -"

"I was joki -"

"LET ME FINISH!" she screamed, her cheeks hot. She barely realised how quickly her fear turned into anger, though she was shivering like mad and her eyes stung. "In my opinion, nobody should have the power to do such a thing. It is horrible, evil. Monstrous, even. I do not care if it's what your used to doing, nor that you were joking, because it. Isn't. Funny!" she concluded, nodding her head as if to approve of her own point.

Discord coughed deliberately. "Reforming spell." He coughed. "What? I didn't say anything. I don't know what you're talki -" cough, "Reforming," cough cough, "spell," cough. "Apologies, my dear. I appear to have acquired a terrible," cough, "reforming spell," cough, "cough. Do you have," cough, "any -"

"You've made your point."

"Were you aware that Twilight wanted to use a reforming spell on me? Hmm. Funny. I don't think I have ever," cough, "mentioned that -"

"I had no say in that operation. And, while I might be close friends with Twilight, I would still disagree with it," the mare stated patiently.

"Paper's delicious, by the way. You want some?" He summoned a bowl of Shredded Paper and offered it to her.

"No, thanks. I...I'm not part goat," she declined sheepishly.

"Pffft. Yes you are."

"Meh meh mehh," Fluttershy bleated in confusion before realising she hadn't said anything Discord could understand. Funnily enough, Fluttershy herself did understand what she had said, because she had, in the past, had to deal with goat-demolition problems of her own and other ponies'.

"There you go, that's the spirit! Eat some!"

The goat-pony narrowed her eyes at him, but took a mouthful nonetheless. She blushed as she chewed, discovering that it was, in fact, rather marvellous.

Then she remembered it was made from trees and spat it out in disgust, barely managing to do so as she had been about to swallow.

"Oh. Ew." Discord wrinkled his nose. "Okay, so you don't like paper."

"No," she replied, which was only half-true but she was glad to see that he had turned her back from...whatever pony-goat hybrid she had been beforehoof; she hadn't thought to take a moment to look.

"Right then. Sleep spell. Oh, wait...ugh, I'm gonna regret this..." he moaned as he prepared to snap his fingers.

Fluttershy froze.

Click.

She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the worst. But nothing happened.

The mare looked at Discord quizzically and saw he was frowning. "What was that?" she asked.

He groaned distastefully. "Conscientiousness enhancement. It makes you more aware of what you see, do and hear in dreams," he explained.

"You sound like you've done this before."

"Well, I have. But, unfortunately, it also makes you more..." he shivered. "Attentive of every decision you make."

"That doesn't sound too bad," she smiled.

He scowled at her. "Not for everyone!"

There was a moment of silence.

"Sleep spell. Makes you instantly fall asleep the moment it's cast," Discord said, and Fluttershy saw he had half-moon glasses resting on his snout and was reading from a spellbook. He snapped it shut. "Okay. That sound alright to you?"

She hesitated. "Y-yes..."

"On the count of three, okay? One, -"

And then Fluttershy collapsed, a barely acknowledged click echoing faintly in her ears, felt herself hit something soft and secure then drifted into unconsciousness.

Twilight turned to lie on her left, snuggling into the warmth that greeted her.

As she move her head, however, her abnormally hard pillow made an uncanny ripping sound. A ripping sound that didn't quite sound like fabric tearing, more like...

Paper.

The alicorn jerked awake, sitting up to attention.

Her head had been resting on an open book. Dread filling her, she checked its cover. Letting out a sigh, she saw that it wasn't the spellbook. In fact, it was a book of fairytales.

Twilight blinked, forcing her mind to remember what had happened before she slept. She recalled that...that she had already been half asleep, when requesting Luna...to read to her.

Luna's wings were still wrapped around her, cradling her body in a blanket of feathers. While they were warm and comforting, the acknowledgement of them led to Twilight feeling awkward, blushing because of her silly, foal-like behaviour the previous night.

With a swoop of her unsteady wings, Twilight was free of the Princess' grasp and could breath again. She could feel that her cheeks were still flushed, but as she took off, the waves of refreshing air cooled them down.

When she landed outside her library, she wondered where her friends were. She knew Spike would still be at Rarity's, but otherwise she was clueless.

She opened the door to Golden Oaks, peering in just in time to see Rarity use her magic to dump all of the books in sight onto the floor.

Her jaw dropped open, her presence becoming noted by Rarity - and Spike, who was standing in a corner - soon after.

Just about to speak, to ask for an explanation, Twilight watched Spike run across the floor and hop onto Rarity's back, saying, "C'mon, Rarity." He tossed a baby-blue blindfold over her eyes and tugged the ends into a secure knot. "Maybe we can do this quicker this time. Then I won't have to re-shelve this library again for months to come."
While the unicorn laughed at Spike's comment, he turned his attention to Twilight, jumping down to the ground. "We're playing a game whe -"

"Spike was bragging about how he could re-shelve this place blinded," Rarity interrupted, grinning, "and, to prove it, he blindfolded me. I levitate a book to him, he directs me to its rightful place."

"And thus, Blind-Mare's Marco Shelvo was born," the dragon finished.

"Blind-Mare's Marco Shelvo?" Twilight arched an eyebrow.

"Yup."

The alicorn rolled her eyes, but couldn't help a smile. "Alright, you two get to tidying up. Spike, where are my letters from Cadence?"

"Your bedside drawer, third draw from the bottom."

"Thanks."

She hadn't taken more than a step, when Rarity zoomed a random book across the room and hit Spike with it.

"Ow," Spike groaned. "Sabotage! Unfair play!"

"Oh, darling, are you alright?" Rarity asked, directing her head in the vague direction of the dragon. "Darling, that's going to keep on happening if you keep moving! Look - come here." She searched for him with several swings of her hooves, then eventually made contact with his scales. She tugged him towards her, crossing her forehooves over his shoulders. "There we are. Much better."

Twilight rolled her eyes again before retreating up the stairs to her bedroom.

She rifled through her letters from Cadence before pulling out the one she needed. Her eyes skimmed the page. It read that thoughts corresponding to the particular emotion being analysed would be heard in the spellcaster's mind; she hoped this wouldn't happen when she casted the spell on Discord.

She memorised the spell easily, then skipped to the bottom, where a colour guide was inked.

The colour red was love. Next to it, was pink which identified as a crush. She had no need for the latter, but...

Curiosity stirred inside her. She wondered what exact emotion Spike felt for Rarity, and whether it had lessened into friendship, or...no, no. He was too young to be in love. Properly, anyway.

Still...it would be best to see if the spell worked properly, just in case. Yes, she would test the spell, for professional reasons only.

Biting her lip, she grabbed a hoof-held mirror and cast the spell, closing her eyes to sense the strongest emotion radiating from the room below. She found it, and settled the emotion-check onto her assistant. She knew he wouldn't feel anything besides maybe a shiver, so he would never know she had been invading his privacy.

For professional reasons.

She held up the mirror and gasped, strangled for air: the aura around her horn was red. Spike was in love with -

Oh my sweet Celestia, I'm positively certain he can feel my blush. I shouldn't've pulled him this close...

Twilight's mouth dried up, her body turning to ice; that was Rarity's voice, Rarity's thoughts in her head.

The darling is so handsome...oh my word...

Hyperventilation found the alicorn's lungs. She double-checked the mirror: it was still red. A bold, defiant, passionate red.

She doused her horn immediately, suddenly desperate to get away.

Rarity is in love with Spike Rarity is in love with Spike Rarity is in love with Spike.

She trumped down the stairs, her face flushing.

"Twilight, you okay? You're -"

She needed to be outside. She needed air. She needed to fly.

"Darling, what's the matter? Twilight, come -"

The door burst open, and she soared up into the sky.

Fluttershy blinked her eyes open standing up shakily.

She looked around and quickly spotted Discord directly next to her. He was awake and alert too, and therefore prone to being questioned. "Why did you do that?"

He blinked. "Do what? Catch you before you hit your head on the floor?"

"No, why...y-you caught me? Umm...th-thank you..." A light blush played on her cheeks. "What I meant was...I...didn't like it when you casted the spell without warning," she concluded.

"But I did warn you!" he protested.

"No, you...yes, but...you did it before three."

"It's four p.m."

"Yes, lets break everything down to its literal sense so we can avert the real message!" she exclaimed sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

He waited a while before responding, "You were scared to fall asleep instantly. If you were expecting it the moment it happened, your fear would've shaken you awake again."

The mare nodded, then smiled. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Making sense."

"Pffft, nonsense."

"No, sense." Her grin widened. "You're making sense - sense that I can understand, too."

"Are you saying that me making sense doesn't make sense?" She nodded. "But doesn't that ultimately makes me not make sense again?"

"You just made sense out of you making sense not making sense, though, didn't you?" she pointed out.

"And me making sense out of me making sense not making sense doesn't make sense, does it?"

"We could go on for hours."

"It's a paradoxical concept, me making sense, isn't it?"

"Not if you make a habit out of it."

"But that wouldn't make sense, now would it?"

She laughed. "No, I guess not."

"Like I said: paradoxical concept."

Fluttershy inhaled and exhaled deeply, resting her head against the tree that was behind her. "Where do we start?"

Discord opened his mouth, looking as though he was trying to think of an answer on the spot. No more than a few squeaks escaped his throat. "I...don't know," he admitted.

Fluttershy nodded. Frankly, she wouldn't be able to herself. "I'm more than willing to help you - since it's compulsory for me to cooperate anyway - and...I want to make it clear that...I really do want to trust you, Discord. I want to reform you, to befriend you, to...get to know the...the you you don't show." She stared wide, sincere eyes up at him, taking his paw in her hooves.

He turned his head. The intertwined shadows of leaves and branches patterned her face, forming a tattoo from the blocked sunlight.

The draconequus sighed and caressed her cheek. At first, she flinched away, but then decided to give it a chance. She shivered a little, but the tender touch was nice nonetheless.

"As of now, you can only take my word for it, which I know you can't do, not wholeheartedly. But..." He pinched the bridge of his snout. "I...I find you interesting, okay? You're nice to me, you're willing to give me at chance. Darn it, you even resisted my manipulation, which I have to admit is impressive. I..." He gulped. "I guess...this is my way of giving you a compliment."

The pegasus couldn't help but blush. She opened her mouth and searched her brain for an answer, but found nothing worthy of use. Instead, a tear slipped down her cheek, more following in its path. "Please," she said, voice shaking. "Please, don't. Just...don't, okay? Please. I don't like flattery, nor compliments, nor praise. I don't handle them well, even if they're due."

Instantly, he was wearing a gas mask. "Oh my, is your modesty contagious?" he asked, obviously muffled because of the mask.

"I'm not -"

Discord pressed a finger to her lips. "It's okay, you can tell me if you have the Modesty Disease. I'll just have to wear this mask from now on."

She rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"Well, catching Modesty is never good for one's self-esteem, is it? I just can't risk it. Where would I be today if I had low self-esteem?" he jokingly mused.

She laughed, cheered up, and shook her head. Silence fell soon after, and Discord took this opportunity to try and think of some way to get her to trust him - without using a spell, of course.

But he found nothing. Nothing, that is, apart from a question that whined for vocalisation. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know it's a personal question, but...why don't you ever mention anyone other than your friends? What about your family?"

There was a silence, one that seemed to last an eternity before Discord broke it. "They aren't...dead, are they?" he whispered, dreading that he had pressed on a touchy subject for the sensitive pegasus.

"No!" she assured, then sighed deeply. She answered his question, "M-my parents kicked me out as a f-filly."

"What?!" he exclaimed. "Why in Equestria did they do that?!"

She ran a hoof over her Element of Kindness, then over her flank. "My...my cutie mark. You see, Cloudsdale are known for their brilliant fliers. Both my mom and dad were excellent at it; they'd even take me on their backs sometimes. They tried their best, but...I-I was barely able to get my hooves off the ground properly. And...w-when I go my cutie mark, they...they knew I was a..." She gulped. "Lost cause. They gave me an afternoon to pack, and...I haven't seen them since."

"But where did you -"

"Rainbow Dash," she interrupted. "Since she was my best and only friend - and the only one who knew how it felt to be bullied by the colts at flight camp -, her parents took me in. They were nice enough, but...ungrateful as it sounds, they didn't empathise with me anymore than my own parents did. They had the perfect daughter, one who's special talent was...well, flying."

Discord gawked at her. "Oh my gosh, you total reject!"

The face she wore in response said what she needed - but didn't have the courage - to say for her.

"Rainbow was you're only friend, huh?" She turned away from him. "Have you realised that you're my Rainbow Dash?"

"What?" she asked. Big surprise: she had the cyan pegasus' voice. Her mane was still pink, her coat still yellow and her cutie mark remained as three butterflies.

She noticed that Discord was studying her closely, and she shrank. "Hmmm. Nah, you look prettier with teal eyes." He clicked his fingers. "Yeah, you're my Rainbow Dash. My first and therefore best fr - well, almost friend. You're the only one ever to defend me, the supposed 'Lost Cause'. Am I not right?" He pouted and batted his eyes pleadingly.

Fluttershy's lips parted. She really was his Rainbow Dash. She bit her lip, for this made her involuntarily pushed towards trusting him.

The mare sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, forget the trust thing."

"Really?"

"You don't have to figure out a clever way to make me trust you. I have to admit: it is rather difficult. We're friends now, alright?"

"Officially?"

"Yes."

"Write-it-down official? In-permanent-marker official?"

She giggled. "Yes."

He hesitated. "Can I write it on your hoof then?"

The pegasus paused too. "O-okay." She gingerly offered her left hoof to him.

He scribbled something that was illegible while upside-down. He wrote with his talon; he was left-handed. Once finished, he proceeded to do supposedly the same thing on his paw.

Curving her hoof round awkwardly, Fluttershy saw the words: 'I am write-it-down-in-permanent-marker officially Discord's first and best friend.'

The draconequus paused after he wrote 'Fluttershy's best friend' on the back of his hand. Erasing those words with his magic, he replaced them with 'Fluttershy's friend.'

Possibly, some day he would be able to confidently say she considered him as one of her best friends, if he got lucky. But he knew she could never rank him above her other friends.

He would never be that great a friend, however badly he wanted to be.

Author's Notes:

Lol. To those of you who don't ship/hate/ship Spike/Rarity with someone else, I'll bet you related to Twilight so darn much in this chapter.

Chapter 10: Unusual Lessons

Twilight closed her eyes as a particularly strong current of wind rushed passed her and ruffled her mane.

For a second, she was motionless in the air, gliding on her outstretched wings. Then she reopened her eyes and dived down to where Princess Luna was flying.

"Enjoying the higher altitude?" Luna beamed with a graceful beat of her wings.

The other alicorn said nothing, only smiled. She looked at the world around her: above and below. Far, far down was the ground which was carpeted with forest. She spotted a campfire near the centre of it.

They were very near to Canterlot now. Its deep blue backdrop was decorated with stars and glowing white clouds. To her right, there was the moon, casting a perfectly dim light across the land below.

For a night who's events gave Twilight so much hope, it certainly didn't disappoint.

"Your night is...beautiful," she breathed.

Luna laughed. "Yes, it does seem more appealing when you're suspended between the land and moon, rather than if you see it from one or the other."

Twilight's eyes searched for Luna's but they were directed at the nearing Canterlot Gardens. The two swooped downwards and stopped directly in front of the statue they were looking for.

The lavender mare couldn't take more than a glance at the statue before her eyes stung. She looked down as the tears fell.

Luna approached her slowly. "Twilight, a-are you...do you want to wait a while, or..."

"No." She sniffed. "Seeing the statue reminds me of why I'm here. Of who I'm doing this for." She touched Fluttershy's stone hoof with her own. "Let's go."

There was a flash of light, and then they were standing in front of a lake. Luna instinctually dived behind a bush and Twilight did the same.

"Who's dream are we in?" She said, her voice hushed even though there was no immediate reason for it to be.

"I don't know," Luna admitted. "I would hope it's Discord's, but I can't tell."

Silence. Then,

"There he is."

Discord walked into their view and, to their surprise, so did Fluttershy.

"There they are," Luna corrected herself. She slapped her forehead. "Of course! That makes sense now!" She turned to Twilight. "I can't tell the difference between their two dreams because their is no difference."

"Huh?"

"They're sharing a dream," she whispered. "It makes sense; physically, their statue is - on the outside - one thing, one connected 'being'." She paused. "I don't know about you, but I think that's extremely romantic."

The other mare grimaced. "Well, I don't. I think it's creepy."

"Suit yourself."

They turned their attention back to the lake, where Fluttershy and Discord were standing. No, no; they were...they were...

"They're dancing," the two princesses realised in unison.

"Ha. So it isn't romantic at all, you say?" Luna grinned mischievously.

Twilight scowled, but smiled soon after. "Maybe it is teeny bit romantic. Shall I cast the spell now, or..."

"Wait until the climax of their dance," Luna advised, "then check Discord's emotions; they're sure to be at their clearest then."

So they continued to watch. It wasn't a graceful dance, nor a very interesting one since there was no music playing, but it enticed an unwelcome train of thought back into Twilight's head.

"L-Luna..." The princess turned. "When you enter ponies' dreams on a nightly basis, do you...do you find out about secrets or...more specifically...hidden love interests?"

A pause. "Yes, I do."

"Does it go down well with the pony in question if they find out?"

Another pause. "No, not...not always. But the outcomes are positive...most of the time. It generally just depends on how hard the pony takes those sorts of things."

Twilight gulped; the pony she was talking about was often a bit of a drama queen. "And...have you ever found out about love interests that you rather not have?"

"Of course. But I do the best I can to help, regardless. Twilight, which one of your friends did you test the spell on?"

"Huh?"

Luna giggled. "It's obvious to me that you only brought that subject up because you were in need of indirect advice. So tell me: which one of them was it?"

She hesitated to answer. "Rarity," she clarified finally.

"Ah, yes. Heartbreaking, isn't it?" Luna said solemnly, but she was grinning.

"Which of my other friends have romantic feelings for somepony?" Twilight inquired, trying hard not to let on how desperately curious she was.

"Shhh. Oh goodness, cast the spell; cast the spell now!" Luna exclaimed, for Discord was dipping Fluttershy. It was, indeed, the perfect time.

Twilight ignited her horn, diminishing her curiosity. She'd find out eventually, anyway, and hopefully with that particular friend's permission.

"What colour is my horn?" she asked, smiling.

"It's..." Luna peered closer. "It's...a faint crimson."

"Faint? But why would..." She gasped. "I bet it means he will. He..."

Twilight trailed off as Discord's voice came into her head, I wonder if I dare try to kiss her...

"Okay then!" Twilight forced a smile. "Good news: the spell says he will fall in love with her...ugh."

Luna sighed. "Oh, dear Twilight, you really have no taste when it comes to romance, do you?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, seeing as I've never been in a long-term relationship, I've never experienced real romance firsthoof."

Twilight began to stand up, gesturing for Luna to do the same, as if to say, "come on, we've seen all we need to see."

But Luna was hesitant. "What? Why? That's ridiculous."

"No, it really isn't," Twilight said. "It isn't weird. Frankly, I don't mind."

Luna sighed. "Oh well. I still think it's silly, because I would want to date you if I were a colt, or interested in mares."

Twilight blinked. "R...really?"

"Really really. You're an amazing, intelligent, beautiful mare, Twilight. I can relate to not wanting a romantic relationship with anypony, but I cannot fathom why you've never experienced the likes of it."

"Have you ever 'experienced the likes of it'?" Twilight arched an eyebrow, half-expecting the answer to be 'no'.

But, alas, it wasn't: "Yes, I have. Once, a long, long time ago." She dropped the subject like it was too warm to hold. "Let's go. I have other subjects to tend to tonight."

Fluttershy stared in amazement as Discord wandered carelessly out onto the surface of the lake, as though the water was a solid path.

Turning around, he offered his paw to her. Shying away from it, she declined, "No thanks. I-I'd rather not."

He scowled. "Come on! It's a dream, remember? What's the worst that could happen inside your - well, our - imagination?"

She raised an eyebrow, as if to remind him that he was, in fact, The Lord of Chaos. Biting her lip, she placed her hoof gingerly into his still outstretched paw. He instantly pulled her out onto the lake, making her squeak in fright as she stumbled across the strangely firm liquid that resembled the texture of jelly.

She smiled, looking up at him. She had to crane her neck to properly see his face, because they were so close together. She stepped back a bit, still having to look up but not completely vertically anymore.

Discord caught her staring. "What is it?"

"Hmmm? Oh, nothing." She cocked her head. "I'm just...you naturally walk on your hind legs, and I find it interesting."

"Yeah, well I'm just a different - very different - species to you. That's all there is to it."

She nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

He coughed deliberately.

"Sorry. But it does. Can you walk on all fours, too?"

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to?"

She shook her head. "That's not what I me-"

"I know what you meant." He rolled his eyes. "And yeah, I can." He fell onto his hands. "Ta da." He said it so sarcastically that it sounded like a question.

He looked odd, hunched over on his four appendages.

"Y-you look...different that way." She admitted, and silently confessed that it looked extremely painful, with his long body bent at those awkward angles.

Lord of Chaos, she reminded herself. Fluttershy noticed that he was standing upright again.

He was stroking his beard, pretending to think deeply. "Since you got me to stand on four legs, how about we do the opposite with you?" he suggested, looking genuinely entertained by what this idea of his could result in.

The pegasus' eyes widened. "Oh! Ummm...I-I don't really think I can..."

"Nonsense!"

She looked up at him uncertainly.

He rolled his eyes. "Look, how abowt I hewp you, since you're too wittle to do it on your own?"

Fluttershy would've glared at him for treating her like a little foal, but the way he gently took her hooves in each of his mismatched hands made her irritation disperse.

It could've just been her imagination, but it seemed the draconequus was being so careful that he was moving slower than he normally would've.

The mare had forgotten to breathe. She inhaled so quickly that it sounded like a gasp, causing him to look up at her in confusion. "What is it?" he asked

His concern eased the slight tension writhing in her stomach, so she smiled and replied, "Nothing."

"You aren't even wobbling," he stated, clearly admiring her stability.

As soon as her concentration flicked to her hind legs, she became unsteady. Not fancying the idea of falling over backwards and hitting her head, she made sure she fell forwards, so at least she could get her hooves down.

But her hooves were trapped.

Fluttershy panicked but her head fortunately found a softer surface than she expected. Sighing in relief, she pushed against the uneven forces encasing her hooves so she could get up.

And she caught sight of two familiar red and yellow eyes.

Gasping, she realised that she had fallen onto Discord, and also momentarily forgotten he was standing there.

A thousand things ran through her mind. "S-sorry, I...I just..."

"Lost your balance?" he finished, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded, feeling her cheeks warm.

"Well, of course you did! Make a pony conscious of what they're doing easily and they're sure to mess up!" He beamed.

She laughed uncertainly, a bit of embarrassment melting away.

"Anyway. You feel like walking? It's easy as pie!" A pie with legs danced past.

Nodding and laughing again, Fluttershy awaited instructions.

"Okay: you know that thing you do when walking on all your hooves? Well, it's exactly the same as that, except you don't need to move your forelegs." He grinned, mockingly proud of delivering such blatantly obvious information.

She didn't share his expression. Hers consisted of a hint of worry, probably from the fear that he would let go of her hooves any second now.

"It's okay! I won't let go!" he assured upon realising this. "Right then. I'll put my leg back a step, and you try to follow it with your opposite hoof, okay?" Not waiting for an answer, he placed his goat leg a few inches back.

Fluttershy took a few shaky breaths before slumping her hoof forwards, steadying herself using his hands.

"Now do the same, but with the other," Discord instructed.

This time was easier, but no less clumsy.

Foot by foot, hoof by hoof, the two moved around the lake. Their pace quickened as the mare for the hang of it, though she tripped into the draconequus every so often.

"How about backwards now?" The Lord of Chaos suggested, and watched as she wordlessly placed her left leg back with a surprising amount of ease.

He followed with his right foot, then his left, then right again, then left again.

She grew accustomed to the new method quicker than the first time. Discord surprised her by occasionally switching the direction they went in, sometimes causing her to stumble a bit before continuing.

As they continued their steps, both Fluttershy and Discord noticed it was like a dance, the former blushing upon her own realisation.

At one point, the draconequus twirled Fluttershy round with one hand until she lost her balance; admittedly, she was only supported by one of her hooves.

Her heart was racing; half from exertion, half from the nervous alarms coursing through her. She looked up at him, immediately catching his eye because he was looking downwards.

Her heart rate only increased.

It thumped against her chest. They were so close together. She was used to physical contact with friends but despite the few hugs it felt...different.

Because it was different. The gap between them held a possibility of closing. She never knew what to expect with him; at any second he could easily -

Fluttershy yelped as she trod on her tail and slipped inevitably backwards.

Stepping forward and letting go of one hoof, Discord caught her with his paw. Her eyes opened in relief, locking with his.

He found himself lost, once again, in the alluring oceans that were her eyes.

He smiled, soon receiving one back from her. She was red, flushing the most atop her muzzle and cheeks. He couldn't help but lean forwards, staring longingly into her eyes.

He had never kissed a mare before, let alone pony. At that moment, he wondered deeply what it felt like, and considered the possibility of finding out.

He could easily apologise and explain himself to her afterwards, and he would discover how kissing felt in the process. On the other hand, however, she would have less reason to trust him and he had a feeling that the whole trust thing still mattered to her. Not wanting to ruin their fresh friendship before it even began, he decided against it.

He scowled; it seemed the conscientiousness enhancement spell was getting the better of him.

Discord stood them both up properly and placed her hooves back onto the water's surface, and Fluttershy could breath properly again. She expected an awkward tension in her chest to unwind, but all she felt was the lingering feeling of terrified butterflies in her tummy.

Discord's voice caught her attention, "You did well, for a pony. Congratulations!" Suddenly, she was on a stage with roses being thrown at her by various Discords sitting in the audience. Some whistled and cheered whilst others clapped. She kept her eyes on the real, original Discord, the only one who wasn't clapping or cheering; his happy expression said everything he needed to say.

There was no spotlight hanging over her head, thankfully. Instead of trembling, a familiar feeling bubbled forwards - one she fist experienced on the day she helped Ponyville's other pegasi create a hurricane. It was pride, despite it coming from such a small accomplishment.

She wasn't overwhelmed by the praise she was receiving. She laughed gratefully, picking up a nearby rose and even curtseying a few times just to go along with it.

With that, the stage and Discord clones disappeared and they were back to standing, staring at one another. Both happy, both beaming and neither uncomfortable.

They embraced one another simultaneously, each wrapping their arms or forehooves firmly around the other.

And Fluttershy still held the rose in one hoof.

Rainbow Dash glided over Ponyville, her eyes scouring the ground for the building she was looking for.

She was in a rush, but knew if she went too fast she would crash into her destination, earning herself a few architecturally-induced injuries and a scolding from its inhabitants. And she needed to be on Rarity's good side if she wanted to accomplish her mission.

Finally, Carousel Boutique was detected on her optic radar and she zoomed towards it, ensuring she aimed to land outside a one-metre radius of it.

Clouds of dust kicked up from the ground when her hooves made contact. Shaking the funny feeling from them, one by one, the cyan pegasus trotted up to the door.

She stopped a moment before she knocked. Would Rarity laugh at her? Dash knew Applejack would have laughed if she had picked her, and Rainbow didn't fancy getting humiliated by the farm pony that day.

Pinkie Pie wouldn't have laughed, but she also wouldn't get the sincere meaning of Dash's request.

And Rainbow didn't want to endure an egghead's speech, so Rarity really was her only remaining candidate.

Sighing, she raised her hoof again and knocked. Moments afterwards, Rarity's voice sang out from inside, "I'm dreadfully sorry, but Carousel Boutique is closed now. Please return tomorrow, darling."

Rainbow knocked again. Stomping hooves, then the door swung open to reveal the white unicorn who - to Rainbow's surprise - wasn't wearing makeup and hadn't curled her hair.

"Rainbow Dash! Darling, how lovely to see you! Do come in."

The mare walked inside and the door shut behind her. She spotted something lying on Rarity's fainting couch and trotted over to it.

It was the necklace made from the ruby Spike gave to Rarity on his birthday.

The unicorn saw her inspecting it and said, "I don't think Spike knows I still have it."

Rainbow smiled. "That day was so weird. I think you should wear it, to remind him about it. It looks good on you." Rarity moved her hair aside so Dash could fasten the necklace around her neck.

"Thank you, darling."

"No problem."

Spike walked in, saw Rarity in the necklace and ran over to her. "Y...you're wearing the ruby I gave you..." He stroked it. "I thought you lost it somehow...I haven't seen it since..."

Rarity laughed. "Darling, why would I ever misplace an object as valuable to me as this?" She gestured to the gem.

Rainbow tuned herself out of their nostalgic conversation and looked around the room.

It wasn't as spotless and pristine as it usually was, with clothes and crayons scattered about the place. And ice cream tubs. So many ice cream tubs.

She sniggered."You know ice cream doesn't solve your problems, right? It just gives you a stupid stomach ache afterwards."

"That is true," Spike admitted, ending his chat with Rarity. "Trust someone who learnt the hard way."

"Yeah, see? Even Lover Boy here agrees with me!"

Spike's eyes widened in surprise.

At the term 'Lover Boy', Rarity shot her friend a look that could easily pierce the skin if it was tangible.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and held up her hooves. "I'm just speaking the truth!"

"Did you come here about something actually worthwhile, or purely to criticise an embarrassing topic for Spike? Because, if it is the latter, I have no intention of contributing to that argument and I highly suggest you leave instantly," Rarity said defensively from behind gritted teeth.

"Thanks," the aforementioned dragon whispered.
Rainbow bit her lip. She had come here about something worthwhile - well, worthwhile to her, at least - but she knew Rarity wouldn't respond in the way she wished whilst she was mad at her.

So, thinking on her hooves, she came up with an alternative - one which she initially hoped would lighten the mood, "I came here to be taught in your melodramatic ways of fainting and unnecessary sobbing." Rainbow pretended to faint, throwing a hoof to her forehead.

"You're calling me a drama queen? OUR FRIEND IS A STONE STATUE, RAINBOW! A STONE STATUE! You're the one who's not reacting accordingly! What, do you think your reputation is more important than your BEST FRIEND? OR DO YOU FEEL THAT CRYING FOR HER ISN'T THE RIGHT THING TO DO!?" Rarity screeched.

Rainbow mentally slapped herself, before staring at the unicorn with narrowed eyes and taking a threatening step closer to her. "You'd better not be questioning my friendship with Fluttershy, because if you are, you're in for it girl."

Rarity glared right back at the pegasus, pressing a hoof to her chest. "So she's your best friend, is she? Fine then! Prove it!"

Dash laughed harshly. "Oh, so I have to prove that I love my friends now?"

"I don't know, Rainbow! Because right now I've no idea what's going through your head! So yes, I'm afraid you do!"

For a second, the pegasus looked calm, her face nonchalant. But then she inhaled furiously and smacked Rarity right across the cheek.

"Rarity!" Spike exclaimed in shock. "Are you okay?"

The mare rubbed her jaw. "Yes, I'm fine, darling." She shot a demanding glare at Rainbow.

"You're right, Rarity," she snapped. "You don't know what's going through my head. You have no idea what's going through my head. Because to you, and most other ponies, I'm just this clumsy, arrogant show-off that thinks of nopony but herself. The mare you see when you look at me isn't kind, nor compassionate, nor considerate, is she?

"No, she isn't. And that's how everypony sees me. Everypony, that is, except Fluttershy. She knows that I care, that I hurt, that I feel, just like any other mare would. I just don't like to show it. I like being the awesome, rowdy pegasus, however clumsy or arrogant she may be. But I hate myself for it. I hate that can't show you guys that I really, really do care about these things, just because I can't bear to be the insecure wimp that I would become if I did."

She looked away.

Rarity was astonished, gawking like an idiot as she had no immediate way to respond accordingly to her friend.

The unicorn laid a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Rainbow, I...I had no idea..."

Dash spun around, aggressively batting her hoof away. "Of course you didn't. You just assumed, like everypony else, that I was just a selfish, emotionless jerk."

Dash was staring into Rarity's eyes.

At first, the white pony saw eyes filled with aggression, sarcasm and arrogance, just as she was used to always seeing on her boastful friend.

However, as they both continued to stare, all that wore away. In its place, she saw sadness, fatigue and sincerity beyond the mare's comprehension.

And there were tears. First only a few, but more came and soon her eyes were brimming with the salty substance. Rainbow Dash was crying, and all Rarity could do was stare in disbelief as it finally dawned upon her exactly how much Dash truly cared.

"No, I-I didn't, really..." she started, but Rainbow had already flown out the door.

She had all the reason to, because there was no excuse for Rarity's assumptions. The image of Rainbow's eyes was still clear in her mind and, with each moment that it lingered, she felt all that more guilty.

Spike was clinging to Rarity like a scared little foal and he sighed when Rainbow flew away. He could feel the tension between the mares still in the atmosphere of the room, but made an effort not to show his discomfort.

Rarity felt his claw stroking her back. As much as she wanted someone to comfort her right now, there was somepony else that was in far more dire need of comforting than herself.

She was determined to do all she could for Rainbow, as it occurred to her that she was the only pony who would have even the slightest idea of how to talk about their current situation and get adequate, truthful results.

Rainbow needed a friend. And Rarity decided that she would be that friend, no matter what.

Author's Notes:

Wooo! Tenth chapter! Now I can put this in hiatus and forget about it!
I'm kidding, I'm kidding!
Sorry in advance to those of you who are TwiLuna shippers. I am not going to ship them, I'm only going to bind them with a powafuw fwendship. They are the best spies ever.
And now I'm seriously being reminded of MlpFluttershy's 'Fluttershy's Crush'. Y'know what? Why don't y'all go and read that story?

Chapter 11: The Why And The Why Not

Fluttershy knew she was awake.

She had been conscious of her consciousness for a while, but she refused to let herself open her eyes. The mare was comfortable in her sleeping position and she wasn't cold at all, so there seemed no immediate need for her to get up. If anything, she was too warm, but a warmth like that had not been experienced by the pegasus in far too long.

She could feel that her ear was pressed awkwardly forward by something, so - though it was comfortable like that for now - if she moved she would invite an ache into it.

As she breathed, her duvet slipped down her back, leaving her shoulders bare. She shivered, then took hold of the blanket and placed it back in its rightful position.

It was thicker than she remembered. And softer. Softer, like...like feathers.

Fluttershy racked her brain, willing for it to remember whether she was on her stomach, her side or her back. Eventually, she gave up and snuggled further into her pillow, turning he head so her muzzle wasn't suffocated in it.

Which, as she came to realise, meant she was on her side.

Was her wing bent backwards over her back? She panicked briefly before ruffling both her wings, just to check. They were still folded, so how was there a wing lying across her...

Oh.

Realisation hit her so hard that her eyes opened on instinct, and all of a sudden there really did seem to be reason for her to get up.

His paw caressed her neck, confirming her thoughts and giving her the last mental push she needed to sit up. Fluttershy had been right; her ear did ache when she removed it from underneath Discord's chin.

Her hind legs were say on the leathery surface of his bat wing. Now that she was sitting up, her hocks were touching the cold stone floor.

Her forehooves were more fortunate, as they were wrapped safely in each of the draconequus' hands - or less fortunate, depending on which way the blushing pegasus decided to look at it.

Oh my sweet Celestia I was sleeping next to him!

Something else dawned upon her a few seconds afterwards: she didn't feel tired - at all. She felt wonderful. Which, in other words, meant that she had enjoyed sleeping with her friend.

And, judging purely from the unusually peaceful look planted on his face, Discord had more or less enjoyed it as well.

Fluttershy pleaded with her heart to get it to calm down, but it was no use. She was cold, now that she wasn't lying under the wing of the sleeping draconequus, and his embrace had certainly been far more comfortable than any amount of bedsheets were.

The mare exhaled in defeat as she slid back down to her belly and positioned her head underneath Discord's chin once more.

The moment she closed her eyes, he whooped triumphantly and sat up. "I knew it!" he declared. "I knew it I knew it I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Fluttershy asked, though she already had a pretty good idea of what he was referring to.

"You liked sleeping next to me, didn't you?" When she stayed silent and gave a blush as her only response, he knew he was right. "You did! You did you did you did you did you did!"

Fluttershy knew there was no point in denying it, but she felt embarrassed and humiliated and red hot all over, so she blurted, "And what's so bad about that, huh? Why is that so unbelievably funny?! Yes, I admit, I did! I felt wonderfully comfortable and relaxed when I slept next to you! Admittedly, that is the first time I have ever slept with anyone and, though it may seem weird, it's not at all indecent! In fact, I think I read somewhere that it benefits your health and happiness if you sleep with those you -" She cut herself off before she said something she knew she would regret later. "With those you hold close! I do not mean to ask you to let me sleep with you again, but..." Fluttershy finally noticed that she was having no dampering effect on the draconequus. If anything, she was making him laugh harder, and she fought hard to maintain her confidence. "I am expressing why you should have stopped laughing by now, which you haven't, and you aren't even listening to what I'm saying so I'm going to stop now." Her voice had reduced back to its usual self, and she felt her eyes sting. Before she could cry, however, she closed her eyes.

Discord had stopped laughing. He was completely silent, so Fluttershy took this as an opportunity to apologise, "I'm sorry. That was silly, childish and foolish of me to say. I was just embarrassed, and...your face is right in front of mine, isn't it?"

Discord blinked. "How do you know?!"

"It's just the sort of thing you would do while my eyes are closed. And I can feel your breath on my face."

"That's funny, as it seems your face is far too flushed right now to feel anything."

Fluttershy opened her eyes. "And who's fault is that?"

"Yours; you embarrassed yourself."

"Fair enough."

"I apologise for laughing at you, my dear. I was just a bit surprised."

Fluttershy arched an eyebrow. "About..." she prompted.

"About the fact you enjoyed sleeping next to me, and owned up to it. Congrats; you just earned yourself a gold star." He stuck it to her forehead.

She bit her lip and scuffed her hoof on the ground. "Did you..." she began sheepishly, then gulped. "Did you...like it, t-too?"

"Why, of course I did! You're my friend, remember? My best friend! You said it yourself: it benefits your health and happiness if you sleep next to those you love."

Silence.

Fluttershy blushed for the umpteenth time. "I...I didn't say that, though."

"You were originally planning to though, weren't you?" Discord crossed his arms and leaned closer to her. "Do you love me then, Fluttershy?"

She opened her mouth, but she couldn't find her voice.

"No? Ah well. If I was in your position, I wouldn't love me either. However," Discord added, putting his arm round her shoulders, "I do kinda love you."

Fluttershy was stunned, and she couldn't stutter anything but a, "W-w-why?"

The draconequus raised a mocking eyebrow at her. "To put it simply? You're amazing."

"But..."

"What, I need to elaborate? Fine then! You're kind, beautiful, admirable and my best friend." He paused. "Wait, is it not called love? The thing you feel towards your best friends - or best friend, in my case?"

"N-no, it...it's perfectly normal to love your friends, and..." Fluttershy blinked. "D-d-did...did you just...call me...y-you think I'm...pretty?"

"Yes."

Her pupils dilated. "You're...you're lying!" she declared.

He held up crossed fingers. "Ah, you caught me. No, I don't think you're pretty."

The mare sighed - half from relief, half from disappointment - and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes met with the now upside-down Discord's.

"I think you're beautiful," he whispered, like the words were sacred.

"But...I'm not -"

"Right! That's it! I'm diagnosing you with Modesty! Honestly! Do you not think your friends are beautiful?"

"I do, but that doesn't -"

"Well, there you go then! I think you're beautiful. I don't care if you don't agree with me, because that is my opinion, and I'm standing by it." He crossed his arms defiantly as the words 'my opinion' appeared beside him.

The quiet that followed wasn't uncomfortable at first, but - as many silences will - it developed into an awkward one.

"So...you were alright with sleeping next to me?" Discord asked.

Fluttershy turned to him and nodded.

"Phew! I was worried you'd be angry at me. Yay that you weren't."

She decided to repeat him, "Yay."

He burst out laughing. "Do that again!"

"What, yay?"

"Yes, yay!"

She rolled her eyes, but obliged. "Yay."

"Again!"

"Yay!"

"Louder!"

"YAY!" Then, she added, "You remind me of Rainbow Dash."

Discord blinked. "Haven't we already established that you are the Rainbow Dash here?"

"Yes, but a while ago Rainbow wanted me to support her by cheering for her," Fluttershy explained. "All I could manage was 'yay' when she was coaching me."

Discord smirked. "If I was her, that'd be all I'd need!"

"M-my 'yays' aren't very loud...they aren't good for cheering, either," Fluttershy said, hiding behind her mane.

"Are you kidding me?" He cleared the hair from her face. "They're completely and utterly adorable! They're supporting enough, I think."

Fluttershy looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. One more thing, though: say 'yay' again."

She giggled. "Yay."

"Pinkie, why in Equestria do ya own so many saddlebags?"

The first nine-saddlebags-worth of invites had been cooperatively written by Pinkie and Applejack, the latter progressively losing her patience more and more frequently. It had taken them about a whole day to finish, but Pinkie had thankfully reminded the farm pony that there were "more where those came from."

Applejack had already suffered from countless hoof cramps, one of which she was trying to shake off as she helped Pinkie load the letters into saddlebags. There were only eight, so the pink material's seams were practically bursting by the time each clasp was fastened.

As she strapped her half of the eight to her back, Applejack continued, "Ah mean, don'cha have a cart, or a more efficient way of carrying things?" The two earth mares began their journey down the stairs. "Judging by the design, all these saddlebags belong to you and you alone, and Ah don't think you'll ever need all of 'em at once. Ah've had plenty experience with pullin' carts, so it's not like it'd be a chore for me to pull one for ya."

They were silent until the door to Sugar Cube Corner had shut behind them and they had started walking in the direction of the nearest mailbox.

"Applejack, if we didn't use saddlebags, how would we get the letters downstairs?" Pinkie asked, arching an eyebrow a the farm pony.

Applejack laughed. "Throw 'em."

Pinkie snorted with laughter too. "You're a silly pony, Applejack." She bounded a few steps in front of her, the weight of her four stuffed saddlebags seemingly having not effect on how high she could jump.

They arrived at a mailbox and unfastened the straps of their saddlebags. The fabric clenched between their teeth, they hauled them closer - or at least Applejack did. Pinkie picked them up effortlessly and carried them over with a hop, then efficiently entire the entire contents into the mouth of the mailbox.

"Mailmare's gonna have a whale of a time deliverin' all these letters," Applejack mumbled as she copied the party pony.

When the two mares moved their heads in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner, they heard somepony clear their throat behind them.

They turned in unison and saw an orange stallion wearing a black and white poncho and a rubber chicken on his back, his face shadowed by the hat atop his head. He was leaning against the mailbox; he hadn't been there a second ago.

Seeing he had their attention, he approached. "Excuse me, ladies, but do you know where I can find this town's party pony?" He asked monotonously. "My Cheesey Sense picked up a doozy of a party being held here, you see, and -" He stopped to peer closer at Pinkie Pie. "...Pinkie Pie?!" His eyes widened.

The mare looked behind her to see if there happened to be any other Pinkie Pies in the area. Deciding that there weren't, she pointed a confused hoof at herself. "Yes?"

The stallion leapt into the air, his poncho, hat and chicken flying off his body. "Oh my goodness it's you!" He dived for Pinkie and tackled her with a hug so tight it could rival her own.

"It's me!" Pinkie exclaimed, unaffected by the tightness of his embrace like most would've been. "Who am I exactly?" she asked.

"Oh! I'm sorry." He pulled away. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cheese Sandwich, the certified party pony of Equestria." Cheese bowed gracefully then stood upright again. "And you? Pinkie, you are my idol!"

"Thanks!"

Applejack looked at Pinkie. "Do ya know him?"

"Nope!" she admitted cheerfully. "But he knows me! And he's a party pony, just like me! I thought I was one-of-a-kind!"

"As far as I know, we are one-of-a-kind!" Cheese exclaimed, leaning towards Pinkie. "But you were the first, and you were my inspiration! I thank you very much for that, Pinkie!"

Applejack laughed. "So you two are the only two of yerr kind. Maybe you should get married and have kids to increase the population of yerr species," she joked, elbowing Pinkie in the side.

The mare cocked her head to the side, staring hard at the other party pony. "Hmmm. AJ, I only just met him. This isn't a filly's fairytale, you know. But maybe!" With that, she started bouncing back towards Sugar Cube Corner. "C'MON, CHEESE! COME PLAN THIS PARTY WITH ME!" she yelled.

Applejack was frozen in shock, then shook her head, reminding herself that it was Pinkie Pie. She turned and saw that Cheese had gone bright red, no doubt as a result of the farm pony's comment.

"Ah'm deeply sorry about...what Ah said," she apologised, feeling her own cheeks warm as well.

"It...it's...fine. It's fine. Don't worry about m-me..." He stared after the party pony. "Have you ever met your idol - if you have one, that is - and she's even more awesome than you remembered she was the day you experienced your first party?"

AJ shook her head, giggling. "Nope. But that's quite a specific example." She paused. "Pinkie threw you yerr first party?"

He didn't move his eyes from Pinkie. "Yes. When I was a colt, I ran away from my home in Manehattan and ended up in Ponyville one day. There was a celebration going on, one that led me to getting my cutie mark and becoming an official party pony."

The mare looked at Pinkie, who had stopped and was beckoning them. They started walking towards her, and she continued her bouncing. "And Pinkie was the one who threw it?"

Cheese smiled to confirm. He shook his head, laughing. "I can honestly say that it's still the best party I've ever been to."

"Honesty is the best policy!" Applejack declared, stopping to stomp her hoof. They carried on walking. "Sounds like ya got yerself a crush there, sugarcube."

Cheese laughed nervously. "He he...yeah. We'll see about that."

"And then ya can get married and have kids to create yerr own species of party ponies, just like Ah said ya could." Applejack laughed.

Cheese blushed again. "C-come on, Pinkie's calling us."

"43.56....44.38...45.1! READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!" Discord declared, removing his hands from his eyes.

For whatever reason, he expected to spot Fluttershy immediately, inefficiently crouching behind a bush as a hiding place.

He shook away his initial surprise and started searching for her. A tree nearby was hollow, and perfectly wide enough in diameter to fit a small yellow pegasus inside. However, Discord discovered that wasn't her hiding place when he peered inside. Looking up, he saw no telltale locks of pink or dangling hooves amidst the branches and leaves.

Sighing, he teleported to another tree and did the same again. Just like last time, he spotted no mare concealed by the foliage and she definitely wasn't inside it. As he drew his head out, there sounded the soft clonk of a mane-cushioned back-of-the-head coming in contact with a tree trunk.

"Ow," Fluttershy whispered from somewhere above Discord's head, a few inches above the approximate point where the tips of his horns were.

"Ah ha!" Discord triumphed and grabbed the pegasus round the stomach, tickling her a bit so she loosened her grip on his horns.

The draconequus brought her down and held her in his arms like a newborn foal, curled up into an adorable little ball.

"I found you!" He poked her in the nose. "Where you really hiding on top of my horns the whole time?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Mmmm-hmmm. I kinda figured you would relieve yourself of your conscientiousness enhancement and therefore you wouldn't really be able to feel it if I hid on your horns."

"Well, you're not exactly heavy, now are you?" Discord chuckled, throwing her into the air. She screamed in petrified delight until he caught her again and hugged her.

"You're too clever. You aren't aloud to be tactful when you're playing 'Hide-and-Seek' with me."

"Oh, really?"

"It's against the rules."

"But it isn't against the rules to teleport away when I'm about to find you or make yourself invisible?"

"Nope. Why would anyone think to make up a stupid rule against something entirely fair like that?"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, giggling. "I have no idea."

"Good." He set her down on the ground again. "I'm bored of playing 'Hide-and-Seek'. What do you wanna do?"

Fluttershy looked up at him. "Well, what else do you wanna do?"

Discord looked around for inspiration. He had been hoping she would suggest something else that they could do as his own ideas were often too chaotic.

There was a tall, bare tree standing only a small distance away. "You feel like climbing?" Discord asked, gesturing wildly at the tree.

She drew circles in the ground with her hoof. "I...I'm not sure I can..."

"Oh, come on." He bent backwards until his upside-down face was level with hers. "That's exactly what you said about walking on your hind legs. Just remember how well that turned out!"

There wasn't a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Yes, with you nearly deciding to kiss me," Fluttershy reminded him with a roll of her eyes.

"Ah, yes." He coughed. "Well, you see...I've never kissed a mare before, and...I know you don't kiss friends, but...I'm sorry." He drooped to the ground, doing an impression of a deflating balloon.

"It's okay." She sighed. "Alright, I'll climb the tree."

Discord inflated again, bounding to his feet. "WOOO-HOOO!"

"I'm trusting you to catch me if I fall, though, okay?"

He waved his hand carelessly. "Pshhht. You'll be fine, I can assure you. I mean, who knows? Maybe this time, instead of dancing, I can get you to hang-glide!"

"What?! No!"

"Or what about parachuting?"

"Discord!"

"I'm kidding!" He snapped his fingers and teleported them next to the tree. "Now climb, my fair lady," Discord said with an elegant bow.

Fluttershy crouched down and leapt at the branch nearest to her. She grabbed on with all her strength she had but the momentum carried her hind legs further than she wanted.

One of her hooves lost its grip and she was hanging by only one limb for a second. Though the ground was close, the strain on her shoulders made the distance seem utterly terrifying.

The mare screamed again and swung her three dangling legs over the branch. She clung on, upside-down, wishing she had the claws of a sloth as that would make it so much easier.

After what seemed like hours passed, Discord carefully unfolded one of her wings to inspect it. "These are actual wings, right? I mean, you are a pegasus and not an earth pony, aren't you?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to answer but the draconequus continued before she could speak, "Are these just sewn on of something? Hang on..." He peered closer to the base of her wing. "I think I can see...ah ha!" he exclaimed. "I've found the seam!"

With that, he promptly pulled both of her wings off.

It was entirely painless, but Fluttershy still screamed. "D-D-D-Discord, I...put my wings back on!" she demanded the moment her initial horror dissipated.

"But...they're fake," he defended, pouting and batting his eyelashes. He was smirking, however, as he dangled the disembodied feathered appendages in the former pegasus' face.

She gave him a flat stare for as long as she could. Just as she thought she would either let go or pass out from the amount of blood rushing to her head, Discord gave in and placed them back under her shoulder blades.

When she went limp and her grip existed no longer, he caught her easily. His eyes caught with hers and she felt his scarlet pupils piercing her coat with goose bumps. Her heart rate increased, from instinctual fear...or maybe from something else, because she wasn't scared.

A blinding flash of light later, the sky was closer. Fluttershy turned round to see they were at the top of the tree. The ground was nowhere in sight; there was only the everlasting void that she would tumble through if she fell.

She clung onto Discord as right at she possibly could. "Fluttershy, relax; it's a dream." he reminded her as he sat down on the branch.

Her hooves loosened a little, but only enough so she could look at him. As she soon found out, she could only be at a safe distance if she let go completely. She was frozen in place, unable to decide.

"Fluttershy?" He broke her out of her train of thought. "If I...if I had kissed you, would you have been...mad at me?"

"What do you think?" she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Friends don't kiss friends. You said it yourself."

He sighed. "Thought so. I'm sorry i was just...y'know...curious."

"Well, that's fine. Just...please don't...please try not to be curious again. At least, not to the point where you consider acting upon it," she added, noticing he was about to argue that one does not simply eliminate curiosity.

She rested her head on his shoulder again. Eventually, she relaxed and let herself slide down onto the branch. It was sturdy, strong and thick, but she still wrapped her tail round as a precaution.

"Say I had decided not to take over Equestria," Discord began, "and I had unfrozen the orchard. Would you have forgiven me?"

"Which point in time do you mean?"

"Umm..." He racked his brain, trying to remember a way to describe the moment he was referring to. "Uhh...after you tossed your ice skates at me."

Fluttershy darted her eyes to her hooves. "I'm sorry about that, Discord, I -"

"Shut up. I had it coming," he snapped.

She flinched, then took a prolonged breath to compose herself. "At that point...I think I would've. I would have forgiven you."

He blinked incredulously. "Really?"

"Yes. By the time I found out you flooded Sweet Apple Acres, I...I wanted to be your friend. I was really quite...upset when you said you didn't care."

Discord groaned. He mumbled that he was sorry before slapping himself in the forehead. The minuscule amount of force pushed him back, so far that he ended up upside-down.

"Discord!" Fluttershy shrieked, leaning as far over the centre of the branch as she possibly could. To her absolute relief, Discord had wrapped his scaled tail around the branch. His head poked into view. "Care to join me?" He grinned. "It's kinda exhilarating, hanging upside-down like a bat. Try it!"

Her eyes widened in disbelief, her heart thumping wildly in anticipated terror.

"Come on, you don't even have to be part bat to do it!" He stretched out his bat wing. "Pwease? I'll catch you."

Fluttershy was going to shake her head and politely decline his offer. While this was a dream, she could still feel fear and the conscientiousness enhancement spell did nothing but aid that.

However, she had been leaning so far forward to see Discord properly that she became unbalance before she could respond. She toppled forward, screaming like she was on a roller coaster.

Her hooves flailed around wildly, searching for something - anything - to hold on to. After a few seconds, she knew it was hopeless. She didn't - couldn't - wouldn't open her eyes, so she had no way of even knowing if there was anything to -

Her hooves made contact with something. It was easy for her to wrap her hooves round and cling onto for dear life.

Once she stopped swinging, she heard Discord's voice, "I didn't expect you to be so enthusiastic, my dear Fluttershy!"

She could feel a tiny vibration on her face when he spoke, along with a thumping sound that was getting louder and louder and...

Fluttershy looked down at Discord. Discord looked up at Fluttershy.

"Oh," was all she could say.

"Oh indeed, my dear." He ruffled her mane, which proved to feel rather odd as gravity was pulling her hair downwards.

The mare didn't let go. She would feel safe if she let go. She felt safe exactly where she was: in the embrace of The Lord of Chaos.

"Discord? Can you promise me something?"

"Anything, my dear."

"Can you look for a way we can escape? I'm not saying you have to find it soon, I just..."

"I know."

"So will you?"

A deathly pause. It took a second, but time had gone on vacation for that particular moment. Then, at long last, "Yes."

Author's Notes:

Fluttershy and Discord, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I- oh, wait...they didn't kiss...ummm...oh! T-A-L-K-I-N-G!
There we go!
In case any of you are wondering, 'hocks' are basically the equine equivalent of heels, or the top of your calf(difficult to explain on a human. Go search it up, you have the Internet!)
Bet y'all can tell I've never ever been horse riding in mah life by mah fancey schmancey knowledge of horse body parts
And Cheese Sanwich! Weird Al Poneh! Yay! To be honest (honesty is the best policy!) that was basically how I envisioned them meeting, if I had the chance to remake 'Pinkie Pride.' It fits in better with his backstory and yada yada...you get the picture.
...
Nooooo......I'm totally not shipping CheesPie in this......
(Yes I am)

Chapter 12: The Love We Share

Luna's hooves made no sound against the red carpet as she walked through her castle's corridors.

She realised that, for the first time in forever, she had not put her royal shoes or collar on. Without them on, she felt somewhat out of place in the castle, and yet it was relaxing for her not to bear the physical weight of superiority.

The carpet felt both rough and soft to the touch. She rarely walked like this, and even then it was only in her bedroom. The alicorn hadn't walked barehooved on this carpet in...years, really. The texture of it was a nice reminder.

She could allow her train of thought to wander wherever it wanted and dominate her centre of attention because - despite the enormous network of rooms and corridors that would easily get any other pony lost - she could navigate herself around that place with her eyes closed.

When she felt she was nearing the door, she hastened in pace and stopped just outside it. Her hoof raised to knock, and she smiled; it had been over a thousand years since she had last knocked on her sister's bedroom door.

"Luna? Is that you?"

"No, it's the other sister of yours who wants to begin the day with you." Luna beamed. Celestia laughed and opened the door moments later. "So, are you ready to manipulate Equestria's main celestial bodies?"

The white alicorn laughed again. "Come on, Luna," she said and started walking down the hallway. Her sister trotted after her.

With the moon and stars currently being the only natural light sources, the castle was dark. Though Celestia was used to waking at this time, she could never quite get used to the foggy blackness of the shadows.

Her sister, however, had the eyes of a cat. They were rather sensitive to light but thrived with vision in the darkness. When they passed the occasional window and a faint light was shed across them, Celestia could see simple delight glinting from them. The mystery of night was where she belonged, where she most felt comfortable.

This was why Celestia never lit her horn to provide light for herself, for it felt as if she was washing something precious and vital away from her sister.

Even from separate balconies, the alicorn saw the slight dismay when she lowered the moon. It hurt Celestia as well, but then the sun would appear and their faces would light up again.

They reached the balcony. Luna's horn started to glow immediately. Celestia waited the usual amount of time before igniting her own horn to move the celestial body she was assigned to.

When the sun peaked over the east horizon, Celestia slowed it down, so that the others who were fortunate enough to be awake could marvel at the display of dazzling colours now in the sky.

As soon as the sunrise was over, Luna started talking. "Sister, why did you choose to crown Twilight a princess just after one of her best friends was turned to stone?" She spoke as if this had been bothering her for a while now.

Celestia sighed; she knew this topic would find her sooner or later. "Luna, may I ask you again what you saw in your vision?"

"Fluttershy and Discord, talking to one another," Luna began tiredly, and Celestia join in for the second part, because she had heard it before, "It was clear they were in love, simply judging from the way they spoke to one another."

"Yes, I know, Luna. But what of the evil you sensed? Can you not remember anything more specific than just it being evil?"

The Princess of the Night shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. I know nothing more about this oncoming evil than you do."

Celestia bit her lip. "But there's still the...ahem...possibility that...that it could've been..." She gulped; Luna was touchy when it came to things like this. "Incorrect?"

To her surprise, confusion and relief, her sister laughed. "Now, that's where I know you're wrong. Discord, in all certainty, is going to fall in love with Fluttershy."

Celestia's mouth opened in vague disbelief. "But how do you -"

"Can you honestly say that you didn't think I'd search for a way for them to get out as soon as I could?" Luna raised an eyebrow. "Twilight and I found the spell a few days ago. She used a spell Cadence gave her and it showed us that it was certain."

"I never thought you wouldn't." Celestia beamed, wrapping a wing around her sister. "Which is why I crowned Twilight a princess. I know what she's going through is hard, I know I could've waited, but her magic is now better than it was when she was a unicorn. With Discord and Fluttershy gone and that evil lurking just around the corner, we need all the power we can get."

Fluttershy sipped her tea quietly, trying not to notice that Discord was staring a her.

The liquid trickled down her throat like lava with a bearable temperature, warming her belly the moment it touched it. The sun was directly above her head, covering the pegasus in a coat of heat. The warmth both within and without her spread towards each other, so for a moment her body was a little too warm for her liking.

The blush in her cheeks did not help.

Fluttershy moved her legs into a different position, one in which it felt more natural to be facing away from the draconequus.

The hills around her were bright green, daffodils and daisies blowing amid the blades. The sky was blue with a perfect number of clouds flying across it, and the breeze was cool and comforting, and, and...

And the beauty of the dreamt-up nature surrounding her wasn't distracting in the slightest.

She slammed her teacup back down onto it's saucer, the sudden clang of china startling Discord. "Why are you staring at me?" she demanded.

He grinned sheepishly. "Oh, no reason. Just..." He rolled over and lay spread-eagled, on his back, staring into the pegasus' teal eyes. "Admiring how much prettier you look in natural light."

Fluttershy tried to avert his gaze, but his seemingly glowing red pupils were hard to ignore now she was staring at them.

She could feel her heart thumping with embarrassment, but knew it was pointless to voice her disagreement. As a kind of last resort, she flicked her mane down in front of her face, blowing a soft gust of cool, refreshing air into her face.

"I swear, if I got one bit for every time you did that..." Discord sighed. "I could make a fortune. You know; if I had any interest in money and I didn't already have totes amazing magic." He moved the hair aside. "Is there any particular reason why you do it or is it just 'cuz you're scared?"

Fluttershy gave a half-smile. "B-both. My hair colour reminds me of something I like, something that...that calms me down." Her grin evolved into a whole one. "You'd never guess what it is."

He raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Is that a challenge?"

"I do believe it is."

"Is it pink rabbits?" Her hair was quickly changed to a fuchsia bunny.

"No."

"Pinkie Pie?" A miniature version of her aforementioned friend appeared on her head, dancing and blowing raspberries. "No, wait; she wouldn't calm you down. Like, ever."

He stopped to think. Then, his face lit up. "AH-HA! I've got it!" Her entire head was now covered with a swarm of pink butterflies. Only her eyes were visible.

She made them wide, pleading. Fluttershy didn't want to move her head in fear that she might hurt the fragile creatures, so this was pretty much the only form of communication she was okay with using.

When Discord didn't get the message, her top lashes dropped halfway down, forming a dead-straight and unimpressed' line across her eyes.

He removed the butterflies.

"Keep trying."

His eyes lit up hopefully. "Am I close?"

"Nope."

He grumbled. "Can't you just tell me? Because, y'know, you're my friend and friends need to know important stuff about each other? Cheese?" Fluttershy guessed he actually meant 'please', but had no idea why he replaced that simple word other than for the sake of being random. To be fair, that was the reason for a lot of his actions.

She looked down at her hooves, her beaming cheeks blocking some of her vision. "Cotton candy."

There was a slight tug on her mane. She turned, already knowing that Discord had turned her hair into the fluffy substance and had started eating it.

"Oo wike cotton cangy?" he said with his mouth full. Taking a piece for herself, Fluttershy nodded enthusiastically.

He swallowed. "Awww, I wish you'd told me. There would have been no way I would've taken over Equestria, had I known back then."

Fluttershy's smile faltered and she started concentrating on moving her hoof round in small circles on the picnic blanket.

"Not to say it was your fault, of course!" he assured upon realising his mistake. When her facial expression didn't change, he placed his paw on her cheek.

She let out a small sigh, but her face still didn't change.

Discord rolled his eyes, then held the other side of her face with his claw and wrenched her head up to his.

Fluttershy was forced to look him in the eye. The tears that had initially formed in her eyes were now gone, because although his eyes were sharp and meaningful, she saw the true intention of concern as he spoke, "Now, you listen to me: I took over Equestria. I took you away from your friends, I did this. And I'm not going to let you sit in a pool of guilt that isn't your own."

The pegasus was smiling. She could tell he genuinely felt responsible for their predicament, and it was both sad and touching at the same time.

Since his grip has loosened, she was able to move freely. Leaning forward, she planted a long, soft kiss on his cheek.

Then she lay her head down on his shoulder and whispered, "I know."

"But...I though you said friends weren't allowed to kiss friends!" Discord whined, folding his arms like a foal throwing a tantrum.

Fluttershy sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, I did say that. But I was talking about kissing on the lips, which is reserved purely for romantic relationships. Surely it can't be that hard for you to figure out which is which."

The draconequus squeezed his mouth firmly shut and waited. And waited. And waited, until he thought he was going to have to be the one to break the silence, but then, "I-I would understand, though, if it was, seeing as you've never experienced friendship before -"

He laughed. "I know the difference between signs of affection. I'm not completely uneducated in that area, you know."

"But why -"

"I just love seeing you get frustrated and then apologising for it. It's quite entertaining to watch, if you ask me."

She rolled her eyes, sipping her tea again. In her peripheral vision, she saw Discord staring at her again, but this time she didn't mind so much.

If he thought she was worth staring at, then that was nothing more than a compliment. And it was one she knew she was going to have to take.

Rarity's horn stopped glowing, and she suddenly felt a lot lighter on her hooves.

She turned to Spike. "Darling, a-are you sure you can..."

"I'll be fine, Rarity," he assured, carelessly waving a hand at her. "I'm more worried about you. I mean, I know Rainbow's an awesome pal and all, but...be careful, okay? I don't know what to expect from her and I certainly don't want her to slap you again."

The unicorn sighed, pulling him towards her. "Spikey, she needs my help. She needs a friend, and I'm not just going to sit around and wait for somepony else to be that friend."

"I know. Come back soon though, okay? There's only so much CMC I can handle on my own."

She laughed. "You're right. I'll be a few hours at the most, alright?"

"Okay."

His head rested over her shoulder as she crossed her hooves over his back, barely noticing the spines digging into them. She moved her head slightly so her muzzle was pressed against his head, breathing in his scent.

Then, without a second thought, she kissed him firmly atop his brow. He let go of her in surprise.

"Bye, darling!" Rarity sang as she closed the door behind her.

She blocked out the indefinite sound of her beating heart and looked around for the nearest cloud.

There was one a few metres away, hovering only just within jumping reach of an average pony. Rarity trotted over and leapt at it, dragging it down as much as she could.

The cloud seemed to prefer the altitude it was used to, so it fought against Rarity's grip, but she didn't let go as she hauled it across town to where Rainbow's cloud house was.

Rarity positioned herself just in front of it. With one final tug, she pulled herself onto the cloud. She half-expected to fall through, but the spell had worked and her hooves stood firm.

She nearly lost her balance when it zoomed up to the height it had originally been in. Steadily as she could, Rarity grabbed another cloud from nearby and repeated the process.

She repeated until she was within close proximity of the door. Her hooves landed neatly in front of it, and the mare promised herself that she would never, ever, do that again.

The door was open. Inside, there were countless trophies and Wonderbolt posters lining the walls and a statue of a flying pegasus in the corner.

It was welcomingly bright inside, but Rarity couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't be there. Maybe Rainbow wasn't home; maybe she was somewhere else. Rarity didn't like to think how Dash would feel about somepony inviting herself into her house.

"Rainbow Dash?" No answer.

Something made Rarity climb the stairs and open the door to Rainbow's bedroom, however. And there she was; drooping over the side of her bed.

Rainbow looked up the moment she walked in. "H-hi," Rarity stuttered.

"Hey. What's up?" came her nonchalant reply.

The unicorn sighed and looked down at her hooves. "Look, Rainbow, I...I'm sorry that I..."

"That you what, thought I didn't give a hoof about my best friend? Yeah. Figures." Rainbow covered her face with a pillow.

"I am sorry, darling. I was just...I didn't mean it. I promise I didn't really mean any of it, I was..."

"You were so mad about one tiny thing that you forgot about everything else for a moment and let every single instinctual retaliation spill out your mouth? Yeah. I get that too." She rolled over to face the unicorn. "Look, Rarity, I'm not mad at you. I can't exactly blame you for assuming that."

Rarity smiled sheepishly and scuffed her hoof on the ground.

"...Do all of you think that? Did you somehow come to an agreement that I didn't care?" The questions sounded sarcastic in the way they were spoken, but Rarity knew they were genuine so she nodded.

"Even...even Applejack?"

"Darling, Applejack was the one who first started the topic of discussion. I'd say she believed it the most."

"O-oh..." Rainbow turned away and hung her head. Maybe in shame, maybe in sadness; Rarity didn't know, but it looked more like the latter.

"W-why do you ask?"

"I just thought that...I dunno." She made eye contact once more. "Applejack's such a tough pony, like me, so I just thought that maybe...maybe she would understand, y'know? That she'd get it without me having to tell her."

"...Oh, alright. I...I'm sorry, darling, and if there's anything I can do to make it up to -"

"What?" Dash at arched a joking eyebrow. "You don't need to do anything. I already said I don't blame you for thinking that, and I've already forgiven you, anyway."

Rarity stared at her. "R-really?"

"Yeah. And plus I need to focus on writing a letter to Spitfire."

"Oh yes? Why's that?"

"She sent me a personal invite to her birthday party! Soarin's throwing it for her, and I think he's putting on a special show for her, too."

"That sounds..."

"Awesome? I know right!" Rainbow flapped into the air. "It's gonna be the best. Disco. Ever!" she squealed. "I mean, I know it's gonna be on the more romantic side of discos, since Spitfire and Soarin are dating, but I don't mind because..." She trailed off into an anxious silence, her cheeks flaring.

Rarity bit her lip. "Soarin and Spitfire? Really? Wow."

"I know!" Dash exclaimed, back to her perky demeanour. "It's awesome times a kabillion though, because I can bring you guys along too! For free!" Rainbow covered her mouth and blushed even harder, like she'd just said something absolutely dreadful. "Oh, shoot..."

"What is it?"

"Never mind. Look, I'll go get the invite right now." With that, she zoomed downstairs and left Rarity on her own.

The unicorn looked around at the room. It had a few of the same posters decorating the downstairs, and a window that had a perfect view of Ponyville and a rainbow waterfall cascading down the wall outside.

Rainbow apparently decided that the letter wasn't, in fact, downstairs and sped back into her bedroom. She rummaged around on the one an only shelf in the room, one that contained the whole Daring Do book series.

Rarity realised she had never actually been in Rainbow's bedroom before, seeing as she had never been to her house for a sleepover.

While on the train of thought of sleepovers, she looked over at Dash's bed. It had a mattress made out of cloud, and Rarity found herself rather envious of how comfortable it must be to lie on.

Edging closer, a glare of refracted light caught her eye. Rarity blinked and peered under the bed. There was an emerald-encrusted box hiding beneath it, one which was undeniably gorgeous.

It didn't take her more than a second to realise why it wasn't on display like supposedly every other one of Rainbow's possessions. A box like this wasn't really the cyan pegasus' style - or it wouldn't seem to be, from the perspective of an average onlooker.

Rarity knew she was one of the only ponies who was aware of this...private side of Dash, so she gave in to the urge to take box out from beneath the bed. If she was going to understand Rainbow, she may as well start with this.

"My goodness, darling," she started, admiring the glimmering box in the light. "Wherever did you get a box like this?" Rainbow turned round, slowly. "I must say: I'm rather envious of you right now." Rarity began to lift the lid, extremely curious about the box's content; it was so dazzling that it must have something worthwhile insi -

Rainbow tackled Rarity and grabbed the box, hauling it away from her and slamming the lid down...directly onto her hoof. The unicorn screamed briefly before Rainbow snatched it right out of her reach, wrapping all six of her limbs around it.

"Rainbow, what in Equestria..." Rarity trailed off as soon as she saw Rainbow's face: bright red. Not with the sort of blush one gets if somepony stumbles upon one's secrets, but the sort one gets...about somepony.

"R-Rarity, tell me someth-thing," Rainbow stuttered. She dropped the box. "Did you look inside?"

"I..."

"DID YOU LOOK INSIDE!" Dash hollered, her face mere inches away from Rarity's.

"No."

"Pinkie Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye. But Rainbow, I'm just trying to understand...well, what you feel. In detail. I want to know you properly."

Silence.

"And that includes your crush."

Rainbow looked up at her, assuming she had, in fact, seen inside. But then she remembered who she was talking to. The unicorn was admirably perceptive when it came to emotions. If Rarity already partially knew, then it would be easiest if Dash just told her the whole thing.

Or...showed her.

Rainbow bit her lip. Nopony apart from her had seen the interior of the box, not even Fluttershy. Dash had told her best friend about her feelings towards the pony in question, but the box was something so personal she had never even spoken of it before.

Rarity was the most romantic of her friends. She understood and empathised with a pony's feelings more than anypony else. For the same reason Dash had ended up picking her for her earlier task, she decided Rarity would be the first other creature to see inside her precious box.

Her face still aflame, Rainbow offered it to the unicorn. The moment it was out of her hooves, she cowered to the ground, her hooves crossed over her head as if she was bracing herself for a bomb.

Then, out of the quiet, the bomb dropped. "To Rainbow Dash," Rarity read aloud, "I know this one'll look good on you. You owe me ten bits now. From your dare-partner, Applejack."

Rarity looked at Rainbow, who was scrunched up in the tightest ball she was able to be in. She stroked the pegasus' back. "Darling, are you...that is to say, is AJ your..." She gulped. "Are you in love with her?"

Rainbow peered out from under her hooves, revealing her face which was still refusing to return to cyan. "How should I know? You're the love expert; you tell me."

Rarity sighed. "So it is her. I..,I'm sorry to...what's this?!" she gasped, her eyes sparkling as she pulled out a necklace from its refuge of lilac tissue paper.

It was a single, thin band of metal, from which hung a dozen irregularly-large amethysts, each of them sporting a magenta-tinted glow from the sunlight.

"Gift from AJ," Rainbow murmured, finally deciding to sit up again, but her gaze was plastered to the floor.

"Oh, I remember this! I was so confused when Applejack asked me to help her find a -"

"You helped her?! That dirty little cheater!" Dash laughed. "I bet her ten bits she couldn't find an accessory that I think looks good on me. I gotta go ask for those bits back!"

"Darling," Rarity giggled, "I went along with Applejack to the jeweller's, but she thought every accessory I suggested was too extravagant. She was the one who picked the necklace."

Rainbow sighed happily. "I still cannot believe she found a necklace that I liked."

They went quiet for a long, long time. Rarity recalled their earlier discussions to mind, and she spotted a few hints of Rainbow's feelings that had previously been dismissed by the unicorn, including when...

"You were planning to take Applejack to Spitfire's party, weren't you?" Rarity guessed, earning a nod from the pegasus. "Darling, you can't feel obliged to take -"

"What about you?" Dash demanded, suddenly not wanting to talk about her feelings anymore. "Do you have any embarrassing topics we can discuss?"

The white mare ran a few options of response through her mind. The one she settled on was one she didn't really want to talk about, but she guessed that was exactly how Rainbow had felt about showing her the box.

And, embarrassing as it was, she owed the pegasus for pressing her into showing her the box.

"Spike," she stated simply.

"Ah, the hopeless little dragon crush. Excellent ch -"

"Not about his crush on me." Rarity began to blush, the colour in her cheeks clear against her pale coat.

"So...about, what, your crush on him?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow jokingly, chuckling.

"Yes, actually. Although, it's not a crush." Her cheeks had abandoned their salmon tinge for an even clearer crimson.

Rainbow blinked at her. "You're not serious, are you?"

Rarity closed her eyes and nodded.

"You are?! What? Then why haven't you told him and, more importantly, why is this so embarrassing? He has a crush on you, so...I mean, it's not like you don't know that...right?"

Rarity opened the barrier between her eyes and the world, letting the persistent little tear inside free. "I know he has a crush on me."

"So why haven't you told him? Rarity, I'm so jealous of you right now, you know."

The unicorn bolted to her hooves and yelled, "IT'S BECAUSE HE HAS A CRUSH ON ME! A CRUSH, AND THAT'S IT!"

Rainbow tried to look as though she understood, but her lack of interest in the specific meanings of words kicked her in the flank. All she could manage was befuddlement.

Luckily, Rarity continued, "Crushing isn't the same as loving, Rainbow. It isn't as strong, nor is it as true. I know real love when I feel it, and currently I only feel it around Spike. But it's hopeless, because all he feels for me is a stupid crush." She sniffed.

Dash started to catch on. "Okay, so he's too young to love. So what? Wait a few more years; he'll come around, I'm sure."

"Oh yes, darling. How kind of you to remind me that I'm in love with someone younger than me," Rarity spat through gritted teeth. She sighed. "I'm not saying he's too young to love. He's old enough, mature enough and clever enough to be in a proper relationship. What I'm saying is that he doesn't. His feelings for me will die one day, because he doesn't love me. Unless I'm deeply mistaken, which I doubt I am."

She turned away. Rainbow frowned at her back, then smashed her hood into the ground to grab her attention. "No," she stated sharply with a curt nod of her head.
Rarity sucked on her lips, drying her eyes. She didn't reply, as she feared any words would only be choked by tears.

"I can't let you do that, Rarity," the pegasus continued, "not if there's a chance. However tiny it may be."

The unicorn blinked, her eyes wide and glassy.

Rainbow began to smirk. "Which is why, Rarity, I'm taking you both to Spitfire's birthday disco."

Rarity shook her head. "Darling, no. I co -"

"I was not finished," she interrupted, making the mare shut her mouth. "In return, you teach me how to be a gentlemare. Sound fair?"

Rarity nodded. Then, something occurred to her - the something that had gotten them in this situation in the first place. "Darling, why did you come to mine earlier on?"

Rainbow blushed, smiling sheepishly. "T-to ask for..." She laughed nervously. "For...something."

Rarity arched an eyebrow. "What sort of something?"

Gulping, Dash gave in, "A...hug."

She squeezed her eyes shut, half-expecting laughter to follow what she said. However, what she did receive was different.

It was surprising. It was unexpected. It was...exactly what she needed.

"Rainbow," Rarity said softly, tightening her embrace. "You don't need to feel embarrassed about that sort of thing. You know I would never laugh at you for wanting a comforting embrace."

"Why?"

"Because it's a sign of true affection."

Author's Notes:

*hides under baking tray*
Yes, now y'all know: I ship Appledash. I plead guilty, an' Ah'm proud of it. I just love 'em, 'kay?
OKAY?
Good.
This is a FANDOM, people. Ya can't expect yer faves to appear everywhere.
Now please: no hate fer these two.

And, as some of y'all may have noticed, I deleted the prologue.
Why?
Because it didn't work with the story. It worked at first, but then I altered the storyline. Then I altered it some more. And before you know it, Ah've got myself a completely different storyline on ma hooves.
The prologue no longer pays contribution to the story, and if it did it'd just turn out completely LAME. And don't ask what it originally was in the comments, because its really laborious and complicated and I'm lazy so...Fluttershy kissed Discord on the cheek in this chapter for consolation? No? Ah well.

And I've got exactly 5000 word in this chapter! Wooo!

Chapter 13: Questions

Discord wasn't a fan of swimming. Even though he could swim perfectly fine, he hated the way the water moved around his long body, and it was still just as tiring now as it was when he first went swimming. He would never have agreed to go swimming as a leisure activity, except...

This time, he had someone do it for.

And who would've though that the Element of Kindness would be such an excellent swimmer?

"Hey! Discord, it's not fair if you use your magic!"

The draconequus pushed his palms forward again, sending another wave of water over the pegasus. "Who said I was using magic? Maybe I'm just incredibly strong."

Fluttershy clawed her sodden mane out of her face, spitting a strand out of her mouth. "Do your wrists tend to have the strength to create a tsunami?"

He paused. "Of course."

She laughed, then ducked her head under the water. This was barely acknowledged by Discord before he too was tugged under.

When he opened his eyes, Fluttershy was giggling with her mouth closed, sending hurricanes of bubbles out through each nostril. She peddled herself around Discord, watching with a grin as he twirled his gaze after her. The moment she had sone a full loop around him, she held his hands and used all six of her limbs to propel herself up to the surface.

The mare was weighed down by Discord, so she barely got half of her wings out of the water.

As she bobbed up and down, slowly steadying herself, he eased her nearer. He grinned as she looked up at him and slinked his tail out of the water so his body was horizontal. The pegasus was caught in the middle, so she ended up lying belly to belly on the draconequus.

She locked eyes with him for a moment, then dragged her eyes down to the water, taking her body with them.

She made a subtle splash when she went under and planned to curve back up to the surface. However, she was hauled out of the water again by her tail.

Her black pupils met with red ones again as she dangled, water dripping from every inch of her body. "Didn't you...didn't you want me to get off?" she asked.

He laughed and propped himself up on his free arm, treating the water as a solid surface. "No, of course not. Why would you..." His eyes widened. "Wait...oh, I get it now!"

"Get what?"

"You really are optimistic, you know that? It's kinda admirable."

Fluttershy smiled gratefully. "Yes, well...I mean, thank you, but...I still don't know what you mean..."

"You think we're going to get free, right?" Discord arched an eyebrow.

She nodded slowly. "I would assume so, as you promised me you would search for a way, didn't you?"

He blinked and processed the question. "Oh, of course!"

"Alright. What are you getting at?"

"You're worried your coltfriend will get jealous if he finds out!" he declared, poking her in the chest and making her swing a little.

"What? I --"

"Or marefriend? Sorry, I'm not psychic."

"Discord, I don't have a coltfriend."

"Ah. So you have a marefriend!" He stroked his beard. "Who is it? Rarity?"

"Di --"

"Or Rainbow Dash? In which case, we may have to seriously reconsider the concept of you being my Rainbow Dash."

"No, it's --"

"Wait, is it Pinkie? No, no! It's Applejack, right?"

"DISCORD!"

He jumped, dropping her into the water again. After a gurgled yelp, she resurfaced and said, "Discord, I don't have a special somepony, full stop."

"What?!" he exclaimed. "You're kidding!" He looked at her jokingly, earning a serious stare back as he helped her back onto his stomach.

"You aren't kidding," the draconequus whispered, eyes incredulous. The pegasus gave a sheepish smile and he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

She sighed. "I don't have a special somepony. I-I never have, not really...I wish I did, but I just haven't met the one yet."

Discord ran a claw through her mane and pulled her into a hug. "That's just completely stupid. You are a wonderful mare." He felt something wet against his fur; tears. "Shhh, now. Don't cry." She sniffed. "You know what? That'll be our first task as friends when we get out."

"Wh-what will?"

"Finding that one special, lucky stallion slash mare." He kissed the top of her head, hard. "I'm certain they're out there, somewhere."

"Discord, did you say 'slash mare' just so that statement would rhyme and therefore make you sound insightful?"

He hesitated. "No..."

Fluttershy giggled and nuzzled him. "What makes you think that special somepony will be lucky? I've only ever come across one pony with a luck symbol as their cutie mark, and she was really mean to me...w-why are you laughing?" She sat up and stared at the draconequus in confusion.

"I'm not saying that luck will be their destiny, my dear." He paused to compress his hysterics and stroke her hair, which was surprisingly dry.

It was also surprising how smooth Fluttershy's mane was, despite her having not cared for it in over a week. The locks of pink were soft as silk, the sort one could caress for hours and not get tired of its texture. There was so much of it as well, not the thin and wispy strands his own hair was made out of.

He weaved his claws through her mane, positioning his wrist low enough so it was tickled as he ran his hand back in a circular motion. His talon moved slowly, cautious of the tangles that could potentially hurt the mare.

"I'm saying they'll be lucky to have somepony as amazing as you as their marefriend."

She blushed and looked into his eyes. Her heart, that had already quickened in pace started sprinting like it was racing towards a goal.

Fluttershy placed her hoof on his talon to stop it moving, then slowly brought it downwards. He held it tenderly, in a way that caused her eyes to close for a moment.

In that moment, everything felt right, like she was suddenly back home again and she wasn't missing her friends to death or feeling desperately homesick despite her efforts.

Like she wasn't putting on a brave face so she and Discord could be friends instead of her weeping all the time.

Like she wasn't confused about whether she should be hating or liking Discord, since she doubted he was actually searching for a way to get them out of there and not just lying his way into her good graces.

However, when she opened her eyes again, she didn't - couldn't feel anger.

Because he was smiling that wonderful, goofy smile that she wished he would wear twenty-four-seven.

Because he was looking at her like she was the only thing precious to him, holding her hoof like he never wanted to let go.

And I didn't want him to, she realised. It didn't bother her that all this was his fault, nor that he wasn't making an effort to fix it.

Guilty though she felt to admit it, she didn't care about that.

But one thing was certain: she cared about him.

"Angel, ugh - hold still!"

The bunny kicked some dust into Applejack's face, causing her to cough. The earth mare continued to tackle his tail, her hooves fumbling at the half-dozen rollers curled up tightly in them.

Angel yelled something that Applejack couldn't completely understand, but she was able to tell that it was rude nonetheless.

"Don't ya go shoutin' at me, mister. Ah ain't the one who wound the rollers so darn tight!" She glared at Pinkie Pie, who was leaning on an empty apple crate and staring at the barn, where Cheese was introducing himself to the rest of the Apple family. She was muttering things to herself, things Applejack could not make out.

"Hold still, now, sugarcube...ugh..." She pawed at them repeatedly, her patience hurriedly pestering out. Under her breath, she whispered, "Ah don't even understand why ya need these dang things to get yer dang tail so dang fluffy. It's not like that's gonna fix our problems...AAGHHH!" she raised her voice. "Stuff this. Pinkie, get yer flank over here and untangle this gosh darn mess!"

Pinkie replied in a distracted demeanour, "Mmmm...hmmm? Oh!" She trotted over and spun the rollers out with a single hoof, Angel's tail making an audible poof as it fluffed out in every direction.

The bunny hopped away without uttering anything as thanks. "Ugh, you're welcome," Applejack murmured, scowling. "Now, Pinkie, can y'all go and round up the critters, so we can..."

"Do you need a form to be a certified party pony? I don't have a form. He has a form. Why don't I have a form?"

"Pinkie..."

"I mean, it's not as if he was the original party pony! Oh no! That was me. And all of a sudden, he just waltzes into town, claiming that he's Equestria's best party planner!"

"Sugarcube..."

"With all his fancy schmancy modern-day party stuff, and his technical party terms and his Cheesey Sense..."

Pinkie jerked out of her rant the moment Applejack bucked the tree she was leaning against, causing shudders to course throughout her body and apples and leaves to rain down upon her. She gazed up at the farm mare, looking slightly disorientated.

"Pinkie Pie, Ah love ya, but can y'all shut up for just a moment?!" she deadpanned. "If y'all are jealous of Cheese Sandwich, then don't -"

"I'm not jealous of Cheese," Pinkie interrupted behind gritted teeth. "Why in Equestria would I be jealous of him I'm not jealous of Cheese I mean it'snotlikeheposesathreattomyreputationohnothat'snotitit'smphmmmm."

Applejack held her hoof firmly over the pink mare's mouth. "Do ya really think that Cheese would ever replace you? You're his idol, Pinkie. Ah don't think he'd have the heart to do it, if ya ask me."

Pinkie tilted her head in a way that said, 'Well, when you put it that way...'

"And besides," Applejack continued, grinning and removing her hoof, "if yer jealous of him, you'll never get close enough to marry."

The moment after she spoke the last word, water sprayed over her and Pinkie sounded as if she was blowing a raspberry. When AJ looked up, she saw that the mare had apparently been drinking a glass of water and then spat it out in surprise.

The non-soaking-wet earth pony exclaimed, "Applejack! How did you know I thought he was cute?!"

"Ah was talkin' about earlier when..." She blinked. "Wait...y'all think Cheese is...cute?!"

She nodded slowly. "I-in the handsome way, yes. He could be considered adorable, but I think the former is more significant."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, then Pinkie broke it, "B-but that doesn't mean anything, because I think everypony's cute."

"Ah-huh."

"I do! I think you're cute."

Applejack blushed. "A-Ah am not!"

Pinkie chortled. "You're so silly, Applejack. I swear, you just might be the silliest pony I've ever met."

"Aside from Cheese Sandwich?"

"Silliest mare."

"Yourself?"

She paused. "I've never met myself, Applejack. Well, I mean we could hypothetically go to the pool of mirrors and make a duplicate of me, but then that duplicate might go and make more duplicates, and those duplicates might make more duplicates, and before you know it I won't be able to tell if I'm the real Pinkie or not!"

Applejack stared at her as she gasped for breath, trying to make sense of what Pinkie said. She shook her head. "Them critters need feedin'. Feel like helpin', or are ya just gonna stand there and babble nonsense for the rest of the day?"

Pinkie tapped her chin in thought. "Actually, I could go and make just one duplicate, which would make this a whole lot ea -"

"Just go and get Cheese, please?"

"Oki-Doki-Loki!" She started bouncing down the hill. "That rhymed, y'know!"

"Ah, know, Ah know," the earth mare muttered, rolling her eyes and turning to look over her orchard for signs of any loose animals scampering about.

Pinkie hummed a random improvised tune as she bounded over to Cheese, who had started wandering the orchard. It took her next to no time to find him.

"Oh! Hello there, Pinkie! Y'know, I was just looking for you!"

"Oh really?!" she exclaimed. "That's funny, because I was just looking for you! We're so..." Her happy face fell into a scowl. "Similar..." she growled, narrowing her eyes.

"Huh? You alright?"

She pressed a threatening hoof to his chest, eyeing him closely. "Are you planning something, Mr. Cheese Sandwich?"

"Wha -?"

"You're not thinking of taking my place as Ponyville's pink pony party planner by dying your poofy mane and coat pink, are you?!" Her eyes narrowed even further.

He laugh nervously and gulped. "Of course not, Pinkie! Why would I wanna do that? I wouldn't even be able to do half the job you do, even if I tried."

She narrowed her eyes so much that they squeezed shut. "Am I supposed to buy that explanation, Mister Innocent-Pants?"

He grinned sheepishly, a head of sweat forming on his brow.

"Oki-Doki-Loki!" She beamed, watching intently as he sighed in relief. Pinkie promptly started giggling. "You were so scared."

Cheese joined in the laughter. "Yeah, well...you looked pretty serious, Pinkie. And plus I can't help it if I'm nervous around you."

"You nervous around other animals?"

"No, not at all!"

"Then come help feed some!" She grabbed him by the leg and sped back up the hill without another word.

Author's Notes:

Don't know why, but I felt little to no motivation when writing this chapter, which is why it took long even though it's short. I'm sorry! I promise, the next chapter is loooooooong and feeeeelsAAAAY!

Chapter 14: Started Out Socially...

"Luna?"

Twilight ascended the last few steps leading up to the balcony, whereon the Princess of the Night was perched. The navy alicorn was seemingly unfazed by the lavender alicorn's as she continued to stare out to the east, where her moon was peeking over the horizon.

The turquoise glow of Luna's magic dissipated. She held her gaze on the celestial body for a few more seconds before turning her head and smiling at Twilight. "Yes?"

Twilight walked up to the balcony's railings and looked out over the now dark city of Canterlot. "Fluttershy and Discord are doing well. Discord's nearly fully in love with her."

Luna laughed. "Come on, don't tell me you're still not used to the fact that love is their only path to freedom."

"Oh, no!" Twilight assured. "Really, they're getting along great...it's quite beautiful, the friendship they've formed. No, I'm fine with the fact he's falling in love with her. I encourage it, even."

The navy alicorn arched an eyebrow. "But...?"

Twilight but her lip. "Fluttershy, she...she...SHE'S FALLING FOR HIM TOO!" she blurted.

Surprisingly, Luna didn't react in the way Twilight had expected - grimacing, frowning, looks of disapproval. Instead, she looked mildly confused. "That's a good thing, isn't it? That way, they'll be able to form a strong romantic relationship, rather than have Discord wallow in the unrequitedness of his love."

"Stop it!" Twilight screeched. "Stop acting like you know him! He hasn't affected you in the personal way he's affected me, and Fluttershy, and all of my other friends!"

Luna shook her head. "No, he hasn't. But surely love does not count as a negative effect?"

"It does when it concerns The Lord of Chaos!" Twilight insisted, her voice lower but not completely calm. "Fluttershy is so, so fragile when it comes to emotions. I fear that if they do expand on their relationship, he'll only break her heart."

Luna nodded solemnly. "True, true. But everypony - slash draconequus - deserves a chance. And the effect he had on your friends is not all bad."

"Oh, yeah?" Twilight sniffed. "Like what, exactly?"

Luna grinned. "I will not specify more than this, but it is not only Fluttershy who has found someone to love."

Twilight narrowed her eyes jokingly at the princess in a small attempt to get her to spill more details, but Luna stuck her muzzle in the air and turned away. She began to walk down the steps, beckoning for Twilight to follow.

They remained silent until they reached the room that Twilight had been staying int for the past week, so she could easily journey back and forth to the statue when needed. The door opened, making a squeak that sounded unbelievably loud in the quiet.

Twilight moved to her bed and Luna sat down beside her on the quilts. "Why do you know so much about love?" the lavender alicorn demanded.

Luna smirked. "I would pin it to spending way too much time with my niece, but I have to say...it's from experience."

"Who was he?" Twilight asked softly.

"He? What is this uncanny and offensively judgemental assumption you have made of me, Miss Twilight Sparkle?!"

"You said you weren't attracted to mares," Twilight deadpanned.

Luna opened her mouth to retort, but closed it again in defeat. "That's very observant of you, Miss Sparkle. Well done."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm not being observant. You said you weren't while telling me the thing that's been bothering me for the past week."

"What, that I would go out with you if I was interested in mares?" Twilight shot her a glare, as if to say 'Well, obviously.' "That was a compliment, Twilight. Please treat it as such." The younger princess rolled her eyes. "Anyway. 'He' was a...a colt I met when I was...oh, about your age, I think? He was having troubles with his marefriend, so I entered his dreams to help him.

"I gave him advice, time and time again, but it never seemed to work. I kept on coming back to him, as there was nothing else I could do in the way of helping the citizens of Equestria. As time went on, we got to know each other on a more personal level. He was my best friend after a small amount of time, and...then I realised that it was more than that.

"For me, anyway. Eventually, he gave up on his marefriend, so that was when I decided to meet with him in...in real life. I'll spare you the details, as even now I remember it all so clearly, but..." She scratched he head awkwardly, blushing. "He...I b-became his new marefriend.

"For a while. Then, his ex came back to him, and he found a renewed love for her. He dumped me, in possibly the most horrid way there is."

Twilight bit he lip. "What..." She gulped cautiously. "What...'way' is that?"

"Telling me that it was never real, pointing out how evidently desperate I was, offending me in ways only he could because I share myself with him, and...well, carelessly breaking my heart." She smiled unhappily. Twilight hugged her, unable to believe that she was the one of the two alicorn's who was crying. "Looking back on it now, I can't say it was true love. But that's what it felt like, and the pain I went through...I swore to myself that I'd never allow anypony else to go through it, not if I could help it."

"But who will help you," Twilight croaked, "if you 'go through it' again?

Luna smiled into the mare's mane. "The thing about having the job to watch over and aid the lives and dreams of all of your subjects is that it comes at your own expense. I just have to pull myself through the best I can. And I don't intend on falling in love any time soon."

Twilight gave a sob in response. "You c-can't control who or what you love, or even when you love."

Luna laughed. It wasn't a joyous laugh. "Would you like that responsibility, then?" She felt her nod.

"Nopony should face their problems alone..." Twilight whispered, then she started going limp. Luna gently laid her tired head down on her pillow, then rested her chin onto he hooves and closed her eyes. She lifted a wing over Twilight, just in case the warmth from outside wasn't enough.

Twilight had only slept for half an hour when she was jerked awake by the sound of voices and objects colliding. She yawned unceremoniously and focused her eyes on the only light within her visual reach. There were two, one bigger than the other. The smaller one outlined a familiar navy-blue horn, and the other outlined the tail of a pony.

An...upside-down pony.

The pony was a mare, a unicorn with something in her mouth. Twilight soon recognised that something as her crown.

"Gveh off ve!" the mare yelled, struggling under Luna's hold.

"Sorry, what was that?" Luna asked mockingly. "I couldn't hear you through the crown you were trying to steal."

Twilight gasped, letting the two mares know that she was awake. The unnamed one rolled her bright aqua eyes and spat out the crown along with a spurt of saliva. "Oh, great," she snapped. "This is juuuuust great."

"Sunset," Luna said faux-sweetly, "why don't you say hello to Princess Twilight Sparkle." She levitated the still upside-down unicorn over to Twilight.

"Princess Twilight my hoof," Sunset muttered. "What's up, book-butt?" Twilight continued to look dazed as she stared at the unicorn. He hoof idly pointed towards the ceiling. "Oh, ha-ha."

"Sunset Shimmer here used to be a student in Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns," Luna jiggled Sunset's tail, "before she abandoned her studies from impatience and fled to an alternate dimension."

"And you're, what, Nightmare Moon turned good?" Sunset glared at Luna, then tried to attack her with her hooves. "Lemme go!"

"What's that? You want a private meeting with Celestia to explain yourself to her? Okay!" Luna trotted over to the door and off down the corridor. She returned ten minutes later with a cheeky grin on her face. "Boy, is that mare in trouble." She shook her head.

Twilight remained speechless.

"Oooo, is that a blush I see on your cheeks?" Luna teased, flicking her wing-tip under Twilight's jawline.

Finally, she spoke, "No! No!"

"If you say so." Luna shrugged. "It is rather hot in here, isn't it? That would explain the sheer redness of your cheeks at this moment. You aren't going to spontaneously combust, are you?" Twilight shook her head. "Alright. Now sleep." She poked the alicorn in the forehead, causing her to fall back down to her pillow and lose consciousness.

Luna chuckled. "Looks like Fluttershy isn't the only one who is going to have to reform someone."

Discord had his wings wrapped around Fluttershy, his paw resting on her mane-cushioned head. He felt a constant urge to wake her up, but since his current position was so nice he found it easy to disobey that compulsion.

He wanted her to wake up, so he could talk to her, maybe make her laugh and blush about the string of dribble crawling out of her parted lips and making its way down to his fur. She was absolutely adorable when embarrassed, so long as the cause wasn't so big it got her angry.

And if the cause was small, then she would be able to laugh about it too. Discord loved to hear her laugh. He had grown bored of his own maniacal laughter being the only genuinely positive response to his actions. Screaming was the sound that usually met his ears and though he didn't necessarily find it off-putting, he had grown tired of the sound of that, too.

But Fluttershy's laughter was a gorgeous new sound that Discord wished he heard more often. Even a soft giggle could make him want to beam his teeth out.

The pegasus let out a soft moan and snuggled into the draconequus' neck, and he felt his cheeks warm.

He didn't want her to be cold, but his admittedly small wings couldn't stretch over her back any more, and he couldn't be bothered to use his magic to move them. And besides: he had a better solution.

As he crossed his arms over her back and hugged her tighter to his chest, he felt his heart beat faster. Her wings unfurled and curved around his shoulders, making his heart rate increase even more. He still felt a blush in his cheeks, and he smiled.

Fluttershy yawned into his neck, casting humid breath over his fur. She opened heavy eyelids, then focused on the accidental pool of dribble she had made. The pegasus' eyes darted to Discord's in alarm, but his face was totally calm. He waited silently.

"D-Discord...I-I am s-so, so sorry for that...I...I..." He arched an eyebrow at her. "You're fine with it?" Discord grinned. "Right. Umm...o-okay, then."

He sat up. "So what do you feel like doing? This place is really bland and boring. Do you wanna decorate?" The draconequus didn't wait for an answer. He stood behind her and picked her forehooves up, making her stand on her back legs. She smiled at the memory of where she did this before. He pushed her hooves out, sending a visible jet of magic out against the wall, seemingly coming from her hoof. The wall turned turquoise instantly.

"Let me show you something." He grinned, walking her over to the wall. His claw guided her hoof to the aqua surface. "What can you feel?"

Fluttershy furrowed her brow as she concentrated on the nerve endings in her left hoof. It felt as though the wall was...buzzing, like an imaginary mouth was constantly making a 'v' sound. It was like an unnatural current of electricity was coursing through her, making her hoof have pins and needles. Usually, she hated that feeling, but now it was a nice, warm, fuzzy sensation.

This, she guessed, was the feeling of chaos magic.

She leaned forward to press her ear against it, wondering if it produced any sound. As she did so, she turned her head and saw Discord looking at her quizzically. To her surprise, the moment before her ear and the wall made contact, his eyes widened and he warned, "Don't do that!"

But it was too late. Her ear was next to the wall, and she felt...exactly the same thing as before. Except this time, there was a soft hum like bees buzzing that accompanied the feeling.

Confused, she looked at Discord, frowning for an explanation. He was grinning. "What is it?" she asked.

His smile lessened a bit, but his expression remained happy. "Wow...you didn't get an electric shock, did you?" She shook her head and sat away from the wall. "Peculiar..." He saw that she wanted an explanation, so he cleared his throat. "Your Element of Harmony...it touched the wall, and...well, lets just say that harmony doesn't really mix well with chaos." He beamed again. "The fact you didn't get hurt when they touched means..." He touched the wall with his palm. "Means..." He shook his head. "Anyway. It's a good thing that you weren't hurt by it." He ruffled her mane, strode past her and began decorating the cell. Fluttershy's 'side' had floral patterns, foliage and natural colours, whereas Discord's 'side' was upside-down and disproportionate and seemingly impossible.

Fluttershy stepped over the line between their 'sides' of the room an suddenly flopped up to the ceiling. Discord moved his bed to catch her. She sat up, disorientated and opened her mouth to ask what it had meant, but opted against it as she didn't think he would answer. Instead, she asked something else that had been on her mind for quite some time, "Does chaos magic have limits?"

Discord paused in his decorating to assess the question. "Yes, it does," he replied as he resumed.

"D-does this place limit your magic? I mean, it would explain why you haven't exactly been very...chaotic, lately."

The draconequus froze and floated over the the bed. He hung his head. "Yes. But...it's not really this place. More...you."

Her ears drooped. "M-me?!"

"It's not your fault! It's just...your element puts a damper on my powers' capacity, and my powers put a damper on your element's magical capacity. Not that it'd work anyway, seeing as you need all six elements for them to work."

She looked down at her hooves. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"No really," she took his paw, "I'm sorry. You're...you're trying so hard to be good, all for me, and...I don't feel like I'm returning the favour."

He scoffed. "Oh, puh-lease. Do you think I would be your friend if you weren't 'returning the favour'? Do you think I would grit my teeth and stop using my magic just to make you happy if you weren't?"

She frowned. "I-I thought you said it was my element that made you do that."

"Partially! I meant partially! I was chaotic before you became my friend, wasn't I?!" She nodded. "These things don't just stop, you know! Constantly, half of my mind is telling me to be chaotic, whereas the other half is saying that I'm in..." He blinked and blushed slightly. "Well, never mind the other half.

"Look, the point is...I consider myself so lucky to have you, and the fact you even vaguely like me is a miracle. You know before, when your element touched the wall? Well...the reason it didn't hurt you is because...because of the bond between us. And...judging by how happy you looked, i-it's a strong bond." He smiled sheepishly. "If that isn't proof enough that you're returning the favour, then I don't know what is." The draconequus blinked. "Hold on, why am I telling you how much you care about me?" She blushed. "Isn't it generally the other way round?"

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "Yes...and I do care about you, Discord, just...not enough, I think."

He laughed. "Shush. You have many-a-reason not to like me. And, Mrs. 'I'm-So-Experienced-In-Kindness-And-Friendship-And-Rainbows-And-Sparkles-That-I-Can-Reform-And-Befriend-The-Lord-Of-Chaos'," he paused to breathe and listen to her laugh, "it would seem that I love you more than you love me."

"But...that doesn't really make sense."

"Exactly."

She giggled again before smirking and saying, "No, actually, it does make sense. I'm far too amazing to love someone like you." She held her breath, ready to spill out an apology if he took offence from her sudden spur of assertiveness.

He snapped his fingers. "Aww, man! That's right! I made..." He shivered dramatically. "Sense...what are you doing to me?!"

"Oh, nothing," she pursed her lips in a firm smile to stop herself from laughing. "Just infecting you with the harmonious ways of Equestrian kind."

"When did this happen?!"

She tapped her chin, as if she was racking her brain desperately. "A couple of days ago, when I turned into a friendship-crazy-bat-pony."

He shook his head. "No, I meant when did you become so...confident?"

She blushed.

"Nah!" He wagged a finger at her. "Nope! Nuh-uh, missy! You ain't slipping back into coy-land, however adorable the transition may be!"

Fluttershy burst out laughing and fell off the bed with an audible plonk. A pillow slid under her before she hit the ceiling, just in case. "Oh, Discord you're so funny!"

Discord twirled a moustache that had appeared on his upper lip as he replied grandly, "Hmmm...yes, I suppose I am."

The pegasus clutched her sides and sat up, still in a relentless fit of hysterics. Between gasps of giggle-filled air, she said, "I'm so...so glad you're my...my friend, Discord." His ears and heart dropped suddenly, and his smile ceased to exist. "And...t-to answer your question...I feel more confident around you. You're always telling me how amazing I am and - though I don't fully agree with you - I can't deny that there is some truth in what you say about me.

"Arrogant and selfish as it sounds...you are right, in some ways, when you tell me that I'm...I'm incredible or p-pretty..."

"Beautiful," he corrected.

She nodded. "Beautiful. It feels nice, however overwhelming it seems at first. It makes me feel good about myself, and...I'm less...afraid."

Discord picked her up and threw her in the air. Once he caught her, he hugged her tight. "That's good to hear. I'm surprised, though, that you don't hear the same from your friends. I feew sow speciuw now."

Fluttershy smiled into his chest. "Well, I also feel special because you're so wonderful to me."

"I feel specialler than you do."

"Nope. I'm more special than you are."

He laughed. "You're special because, unlike me, you have instinctually perfect grammar. However, I'm more special in the se - nonsense that you actually like me." He kissed her forehead. "I'll keep on making you feel confident though, so you'll be fooled into thinking that you're somehow special to have me."

"You speak too lowly of yourself."

He coughed.

"Point taken."

Discord chuckled. "I love you, you know that? You are so awesome in so many ways."

"That's because I'm Rainbow Dash, right?"

"Yes. No. Sort of? I dunno. I love Fluttershy. Not Rainbow Dash."

"You haven't really met Rainbow Dash."

"Yes, I have. She's right," he pushed her head back to look her in the eye, "here."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, grinning. She knew what he meant; he was just saying it cryptically to make it seem like it was nonsensical. He did that a lot.

The real message made her blush. Rarely did Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow or even Pinkie say that they loved her, so this was somewhat uncharted territory to the pegasus. Discord said he loved her so sincerely that she was unsure of whether it was implied as platonic or romantic, and -surprisingly - either way seemed fine to the mare.

As she continued to ponder over it, she even found that she was slightly partial to the latter, and there was no questioning as to why.

Fluttershy beamed at him and kissed his cheek. "You are so weird sometimes, you know that?"

"Yup, I know."

Spike couldn't wait to go to Spitfire's birthday party. He was thrilled that Rainbow had decided to invite both him and Rarity to the event, and even more thrilled when he found out that it was on the more romantic side of discos.

He was no fool: he knew a little and seemingly childish dragon like him would never have a chance with a such an enchanting and inspiring unicorn. But the party would be his excuse to dance with her, even if it was the first and last time he would do it. Spike had even bought a rose for the occasion, which he had tucked out of sight for the moment.

He paced the floor, anxiously waiting for Rarity to come out from behind her dressing screen. She had insisted upon wearing something nice, even for such a casual event, and for that Spike was grateful. Though she was perfectly beautiful without curlers or make-up, the fashionista never ceased to amaze him when it came to enhancing one's appearance.

Rarity herself was nervous. Did this technically count as a date? Rainbow had promised her that she would keep out of their way as much as she could, seeing as there would be Wonderbolts and fellow fans for her to occupy herself with.

It would be just to two of them - so to speak.

She didn't want to overdo her accessories, as it would make her embarrassingly out of place among a crowd of partying pegasi, yet she wanted to look amazing at the same time. She still found it frustrating when she had to be simplistic and effective simultaneously, even though Rarity had had many years worth of needing to do just that.

Rainbow Dash could tell they were both nervous; neither were good at hiding emotions, even their supposedly mutual romantic ones. While she was happy for her friends, and she had every confidence that they would get together - she still didn't fully get why Rarity was so hesitant -, the pegasus couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous.

As her own feelings towards Applejack were unrequited, the jealousy of how un-unrequited their relationship had appeared, as expected.

But there was also the difference in gender that bothered her. Rarity was perfectly allowed to be 'the mare' in their relationship, because she was literally the mare.

However, both Rainbow and Applejack were mares, the latter being the slightly girlier of them. Dash didn't mind acting like a stallion, but Applejack was the one pony who made her want to be a mare: to receive flowers, to look nice, to be...not a tomboy.

Rainbow didn't have a clue on how to be a colt when it came to her, let alone a gentlecolt - if she ever racked up the courage to take it that far.

Which is why she had asked Rarity to teach her. Such a romantic pony would know those sorts of things, and then...maybe Rainbow would finally have a chance.

"You ready yet, Rare?" she called, the unicorn in question appearing moments afterwards.

Both Spike and Rainbow's jaws dropped.

Rarity wasn't wearing a dazzling frock, with sparkling gems in her hair or extravagant make-up on her face. She didn't have an intricate manestyle or polished hooves.

She was just...normal.

In a sense. Her loose, wavy mane was cleared from her face with a black bandana. Her eyes were topped with long, fake lashes and from her ears hung diamond earrings.

Spike spoke up first, "Y-you...you look..."

"Beautiful," Rainbow breathed. Usually, she didn't like Rarity's appearance - not to much extent, anyway. Her formal gowns were too up-tight for Dash's liking. But the unicorn now looked nothing short of breathtaking.

"Why thank you, darlings." Rarity beamed, and for a moment neither of them could move. Then, Spike cleared his throat and said, "Are we ready to go?"

"Hold on," Rainbow piped, then turned to Rarity. "You sure you don't want to get a foalsitter? I know one on the Ponyville weather team who owes me a favour."

"Darling, they're old enough to be on their own for a night. And besides," she lowered her voice, "I want to get going."

"Alright, alright."

The moment they were outside, Rarity realised something, "How are we going to get there? It is in Cloudsdale, right?"

Rainbow smirked. "Yup. And I'm gonna fly ya there."

"Huh?" Rarity and Spike responded in unison.

"You," Dash jabbed a hoof at Spike, "get on her." She pointed at Rarity. Once he had done this, she pointed at her again and continued, "You, get on me." She gestured to herself.

Rarity laughed. "Rainbow, I'm too heavy for you."

"Are you saying I'm weak?!" she retorted.

"Umm..."

"Didn't think so. Now get on." Rainbow jerked her head to the left, indicating her back. Rarity gingerly but firmly wrapped her hooves around the pegasus' neck, and then they took off. Rainbow showed almost no signs of strain from the two extra creatures she had to carry.

For that, Rarity was grateful, because if she was worrying over her friend she wouldn't have been able to enjoy the view, which was truly exhilarating. Rainbow wasn't a shaky ride, as Rarity hade feared, and she allowed herself to relax a bit.

A bit.

"Word of advice, Rainbow," Rarity yelled over the wind. "Take Applejack flying."

"Why?"

"It's amazing."

"You like it?"

"Like it? I absolutely love it! Goodness, you'd win me over if you were a stallion, and if I wasn't..." She trailed off as her eyes wandered to her back, where Spike was clinging on for dear life. "You alright back there, darling?" she asked softly.

"Fear...of heights," Spike squeaked and he clung tighter. Rarity smiled and ignited her magic, forming an aura around the little dragon that secured him firmly to her back. "Thanks," she heard him whisper, and she blushed a little.

No problem, My Little Spikey-Wikey. No problem at all.

The remainder of the trip took no less than five minutes. Because of Rarity's protective aura, Spike had racked up the courage to open his eyes. The moment Cloudsdale was in sight, he yelled, "Clouds, ahoy!"

"Alright down there, Captain?" Rarity asked, referring to Rainbow, who was starting to pant discretely. She had forced her breathing to be steady and slow, and it was clear that her lungs protested otherwise.

"I'm fine," she growled. "My wings just aren't used to carrying more than one pony, and a dragon, albeit a baby one."

"I'm not a baby!" Spike protested.

"Physically, you are, darling," Rarity reminded him sweetly. "But that's a good thing, as otherwise you wouldn't be such a selfless, kind dragon."

She felt him smile, so she smiled too. Rainbow rolled her eyes as the contagious grin infected her lips as well. She hissed under her breath, "When arguing with your underaged dragon crush, just add flattery; he's completely head over heels for you, so you'll win."

"He's not underaged!" Rarity insisted. "And we weren't arguing! How would you feel if you were considered a child as a result of your appearance?!"

"Okay, okay! You don't need to get so defensive! And besides: we're here."

Rarity scowled as they landed. She dismounted herself, following Rainbow Dash inside.

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary; just a normal disco hall, with a disco ball reflecting multicoloured lights across everypony in the room. There was a band set up against the wall farthest away, and they were playing average disco music.

"I expected it to be more..." Rarity thought for a moment. "Stunning."

"Oh, you." Rainbow jostled her with her elbow. "You're never satisfied when it comes to looks, are you? Now come on!"

The unicorn grumbling under her breath, they wandered over to the drinks table. The humidity of the room was a large contrast to the cool, night air outside, so Rainbow immediately poured herself a glass of water. She drank it in three gargantuan gulps then poured herself another.

Rarity rolled her eyes and turned towards the dance floor. She spotted Spitfire and Soarin' jiving next to one another - a normal, casual, insignificant dance. But what got her attention was Spitfire.

Gone was the leader, and in her place was a gorgeous pony. Her mane wasn't slicked back to a point, it was hanging loose around her shoulders. She wore no dress, but her ears were adorned with hoops so fitting even a pony as formal as Rarity couldn't hate them.

She smiled and glanced back at Spike, who was gawking at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had stopped drinking, but there was one less jug full of water on the table now.

The lead singer of the band announced they were going to play a special song for the birthday girl, and immediately the mood of the room changed at everypony took a dance partner.

Dash cleared her throat, "Right, I might just conveniently need to go to the bathroom at the moment of this ever so romantic dance. Bye!" She sped out of sight without another word.

"Umm..." Spike began, and Rarity turned round, knowing he wanted her attention. Her heart was racing, and it increased in pace when she saw his outstretched, scaly arm holding a rose. "M-may I have this dance?"

Rarity beamed, tucking the rose behind her ear. Then, she took his hand and replied, "You certainly may."

They spun onto the dance floor, stepping in time to the music. Despite his height, Spike managed to lead the dance as well as he could, looking so adorably nervous that Rarity couldn't bear to correct him when he took an incorrect step.

The song was relatively short, and it ended far too soon for their liking. However, by the end the crowd parted for the birthday mare and her coltfriend. Rarity could just about see what was happening, and her mouth flopped open in surprise:

"He's proposing," she whispered as everyone burst into applause. The unicorn was still in the dragon's arms, so she couldn't clap as well. She only stared into Spike's wonderful, emerald green eyes, feeling the blush in her cheeks grow hotter and hotter with each second that passed.

"Spike, I..."

"Hey, you lovebirds!" Rainbow called, causing them to break apart awkwardly. "What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing, just..." Spike's eyes locked onto something on the snack table. "Is that a...jewel cake?!" He immediately rushed over.

Rainbow stared nonchalantly at the crowd. She wished AJ was there, because that would make her vaguely interested in participating in the post-proposal dance, which was even more romantic than the previous one.

Then, all of a sudden, Rarity grabbed Rainbow's forehooves and dragged her back onto the dance floor.

"What're you doing?" she hissed as she started to involuntarily dance.

"If you want to know how to be a gentlemare, you'll need to know her to lead a dance," Rarity explained. "Now, put your left hoof on my shoulder..." Rainbow hesitated before gingerly following her instructions. "...and your other hoof round my waist."

"Alright." Dash slid her forehoof around her waist as told, then stood there, waiting for further instructions.

"Dance, you numbskull!" Rarity exclaimed. "Lead me around in time to the music!"

As Rainbow did she she was told, she began to get the hang of it. Rarity, being experienced in this area, was a great dance partner, albeit a bossy one. She worked smoothly with Dash's movements, as she was clearly used to being lead around by a stallion.

It wasn't that different with a mare, as it turned out. Rainbow couldn't bear to imagine what it would feel like to not lead a dance, and how Rarity seemed to cope with it so well. Rainbow would feel as though she was trapped, had she been in the unicorn's position.

She smiled, imagining what it would be like when she danced with Applejack.

As the song drew to a close, Rarity suddenly demanded, "Dip me."

Rainbow was surprised at her request, but the mare was completely serious so she obliged. She was shaky, but her hooves supported Rarity efficiently, and she was locked in her friend's cerulean and slightly dazed eyes.

Dash was aware that, in this particular part of a dance, the leading partner was supposed to kiss the other. In her peripheral vision, she saw many ponies watching, waiting for her to do it.

And, for a moment, Rainbow thought she was going to. She leaned forward without a second thought, not breaking eye contact. What did it matter, anyway? Rarity wasn't protesting, and Dash figured she might as well practice this as well as the dancing.

And Rarity really did look great tonight.

Grinning, she inched forwards, and -

Crash.

Both mare's heads jerked towards the source of the sound: a broken plate, cracked amid smashed pieces of...jewel cake.

Rarity froze as she realised who that cake had belonged to. She shoved Dash off her with all her strength and galloped after the little dragon. His short legs didn't get him very far in that short amount of time, so Rarity caught up with him easily. He slowed down, knowing that continuing to run from her would be pointless.

Spike had his back to the unicorn, but as his claw flicked out from above his cheek Rarity knew he was crying. This very thought made her want to weep as well, but she forced herself to remain strong.

She placed a hoof on his shoulder, which he promptly slapped away. Her ears flattened. "Spikey, I -"

"Don't say it," he growled, spinning round. "Don't you dare say your sorry, Rarity!"

Her bottom lip began to wobble. "B-but darling, I..."

"You what? You pity me? Because you know you've hurt my feelings, right?" She nodded slowly. "Well, yeah, you did!" he shouted harshly. "You know I like you though, don't you? I know you know. I'm not exactly discreet about it. I'm fine with you knowing, it's just..." He grit his teeth to fight back more tears. "For one second there, I thought that maybe, just maybe, you were dancing with me to make me feel like I actually meant something to you," he spat the words out like poison, "and not to play around with my feelings and then ditch me at the first opportunity so you could go dance with your girlfriend!" He pointed accusingly at Rainbow Dash, who had been cautiously approaching the two.

The pegasus shook her head vigorously. "We aren't dating!"

"You aren't dating, hmm? Okay, then what in Celestia's name was that?!" He turned to Rarity again. "Are you trying to make my heart break?" he whimpered, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. "Are you trying to drive me away? Because, if you are, you could've just said it to my face. I'm not a baby. I know I have no chance with you, I'm just...why rub it in my face? I thought we were friends!"

Rarity's eyes copied Spike's. "I am your friend."

"Then why? Why do you lead me on like this, then make me jealous using somepony completely random?"

Rarity stayed silent for a long, long time, just staring at the dragon with wide, glassy eyes. She wished that Rainbow would butt into their conversation and save her, but the pegasus stayed silent. Then, Rarity whispered in a barely audible voice, "I was teaching Rainbow how to -"

"How to kiss mares?!" he snapped, unable to believe that that was her excuse. "Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting on that oh-so-compulsory life lesson." The dragon stomped away, muttering that he'd find his own way home, thanks.

Rainbow bit her lip and inched over to the unicorn. "Rarity, I -"

"Don't talk to me!" she whimpered, pushing at the empty space beside Dash. "I don't...I don't wanna speak to you...right now," she decided with a sniff and a curt nod. Her certainty lessened a little, due to her tears.

"Alright, then," Rainbow stated calmy, "don't talk to me. I'm taking you back to my place though, so you'll have to learn sign language if you don't wanna sleep on the floor." She said this in a joking demeanour, attempting to lighten the mood. It brought a temporary smile to Rarity's lips, but that was washed away when the wind caught her face. The feeling of flying wasn't delightful any longer.

It was cold, unrelenting and harsh. Her hooves went numb around Rainbow's neck, so Rarity had to cast a quick spell in fear that she would let go and fall.

The intermittent beating of Dash's wings wasn't comforting or warm; it was confining. It seemed horribly ironic that something as free as defying gravity would be so imprisoning.

But, worst of all, it was a reminder. Of the empty space on her back, and in her heart. Of what she had potentially lost as a result of an initially fun and romantic event.

Rarity couldn't pay attention to the wonders of flight. She was far too focused on the sick feeling in her stomach, the tears in her eyes, and the wrenching of something that she hadn't felt in years:

A breaking heart.

Author's Notes:

Okay, okay! Hang me! I ship Sunlight!

Chapter 15: Another Side To You

Spike was glad that Rarity and Rainbow hadn't followed him when he stormed away for the second time, as it would have only lead to humiliation.

The dragon had only one way to get home, and that was to hang around in the disco hall until the party was over, and then ask a kindly-looking pegasus to give him a ride.

He sincerely hoped that Twilight wouldn't be back from Canterlot when he arrived at Golden Oaks because he really didn't feel like verbally going over that night's events again.

Once he had ensured that Rarity and Rainbow hadn't returned to the disco, he made his way in and leant against the drinks table.

Somepony had cleaned up his cake, he discovered as his eyes wandered to the vague spot of the incident. He sighed, his anger petering away.

He was upset. Sweet Celestia, his heart was shattering. He didn't understand it. Rarity - or the Rarity he knew, anyway - was always so considerate of others, so generous, so kind-hearted that it was almost unbelievable that she would...

Oh, who was he kidding: it was entirely believable. She had flirted with stallions in front of him numerous times, and it certainly wasn't the first dance she'd had. But what Spike couldn't fathom was why she would choose Rainbow Dash, of all mares - let alone ponies - to dance with?

He was sure Rainbow wasn't that great a dance partner, despite never dancing with her himself. However...judging from the snippet of their dance that he saw, this wasn't the case at all. Rarity was a bit nit-picky even at the best of times, and she had shown no look of discomfort or irritation on her face.

But how would Rainbow be able to accomplish that?

When he had been dancing with Rarity, he knew that he messed up in places and - though she had not acted verbally upon it - Rarity was had never been one for concealing immediate reactions and he could tell that it had annoyed her.

For a second, Spike thought that maybe Rarity had been telling the truth. He hadn't exactly let her finish her sentence; what if she had been teaching Rainbow how to dance?

But...why would she? Everyone knew that Dash wasn't into girly stuff, especially romance. That's why Spike liked her so much; she was into comic books and sport, just like he was.

It was so confusing that he wished he had asked more. Maybe then he wouldn't have had to hang around the party for a ride home. Maybe then he wouldn't have fallen out with the love of his life.

Maybe then he wouldn't have had to endure the feeling of his insides being ripped to shreds.

"Hey...Spike, isn't it?"

The dragon dragged his eyes up to see Spitfire looking at him, standing with Soarin' beside her. "Yeah, that's me."

"You okay, buddy?" Soarin' asked, taking a step forward.

"I'm fine."

"Cool. The party's over now though, so you might wanna go find Rainbow Dash - hey, where is she?"

Spike did not want to answer. Luckily, Spitfire piped up, "She and her friend...uh..."

"Rarity," Spike told her nonchalantly.

Spitfire nodded. "Yeah, Rarity...they left about an hour ago. Hey Spike, doesn't that mean you'll need a ride home?"

Spike smiled half-heartedly. "Well, if you're offering..."

"Great. Hop on." The Wonderbolts leader gestured to her back and flexed her wings.

Soarin' intervened. "Wait, baby, I thought we were going straight back to my place!"

"This little guy can't get home if I don't help him."

The pegasus stallion bit his lip. "I guess...but...at least let me carry him for you!"

Spitfire glared at him. "Soarin', I'm not some princessey damsel. I'm, like, twice as strong as you are."

Soarin' grumbled as she turned and walked out the door. "You're welcome to fly with us if you want," she called as Spike ran after her. Without need of looking back, she outstretched a wing for him to climb up. Then, she leapt into the sky.

In the dragon's second flight that evening he felt safer, despite the definite increase in speed. He saw Soarin' in his peripheral vision, flying a few meters behind them. He still looked a little annoyed.

It was next to no time before Spike spotted Ponyville's Town Hall. Spitfire spotted it too. "Where d'ya wanna go?" she yelled over the wind.

The dragon opened his mouth to say 'Golden Oaks Library', but shut it again to contemplate his choice of destination.

While he wished to see a friendly face, Spike did not want to see Twilight, for she was irritatingly perceptive at times and would most likely get him to tell her everything that happened, hence bringing him to tears again. He sort of wanted the whole night to be undone, which led him to his next option.

He had spent so much time at Carousel Boutique in the past month the it felt like the more comforting place to go. Rarity and Rainbow would undoubtedly be there, so maybe he could talk things out with them - though he didn't particularly want to.

"Carousel Boutique," he decided, and immediately Spitfire curved perfectly down towards that building. Spike clung on for dear life as the rush of freezing wind made his eyes water.

She landed softly, to his immense relief. Once he hopped off, Spitfire trotted over to Soarin' - who had landed a few meters away - and pecked him on the cheek. "Bye," they said in unison then took off once more.

Spike turned round and forced his legs to move towards the door, though they protested otherwise. With a shaky claw, he took hold of the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he turned it and stepped inside.

The lights were on, and it was a complete mess - probably from the CMC's late night CMCing. Presumably, they were now upstairs in bed, but - as for other two mares supposedly in this household - there was nopony -

Spike's hands slammed on the ground, the instinctual reflex of him falling. What he fell from, as he figured out, was...Sweetie Belle?!

"Girls! Girls! It's Spike!" she chirped, calling Apple Bloom and Scootaloo from their hiding places.

"What happened?!" Scoots asked.

"Did ya dance?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

Sweetie gasped. "Did you kiss?!"

Spike inhaled and exhaled shakily, clenching his teeth and forming firm fists with his hands. "Yes," he said to Apple Bloom, then he turned to Sweetie. "No."

"Aww, come on!" she whined, throwing her hooves in the air.

Spike furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. "Well, some of us nearly kissed," he mumbled to himself.

"What?!"

"Really?!"

"What stopped you?!"

Their voices were all so high-pitched from their clear hyper-activeness - probably a result of exhaustion - that Spike couldn't tell who had asked what.

"I never said it was me," he stated flatly.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Wha'd'ya mean?"

His face crumpled, making his eyes squeeze shut to block out the tears their words accidentally provoked.

"Awww...guys, look he's heartbroken..." That voice had a country tinge; it belonged to Apple Bloom. She wrapped a hoof around his shoulders as he sank to his knees.

"Poor guy," said Scootaloo, joining in the hug.

"I never knew my sister liked mares," Sweetie thought aloud, following their lead.

"She doesn't," Spike snapped, bringing his face out of his palms. They flinched away from him, and he felt guilty. "Sorry." His voice was muffled because it was back in his hands. "You guys should go to bed," he added, but none of them seemed to notice.

"So...where is she now?" Sweetie wondered.

"Duh: at my sister's place," Scootaloo answer. "Hey, wait: why would you come back here? I mean...don'cha want to get...I dunno...some sort of revenge on her?"

"No," he grumbled. "And plus you guys need to be looked after, no matter what you say."

That earned a 'hmph' from all three of them. "Still...why would you want to?" Sweetie asked.

Spike replied in a voice so muffled-by-his-arms that even the acute hearing of a gossipy filly couldn't make it out.

"Sorry?"

He repeated himself. It was clearly the same thing again, and this time louder, but still might as well have been in a different language.

"Say again?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" Spike roared, the scales on his cheeks flushing red.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders' eyes widened. They just stood there, frozen and speechless, until Spike couldn't bear them staring any longer. "I thought I told you to go to bed!" he demanded, earning a simultaneous nod from them. They turned and ran upstairs without another word. Spike heard Sweetie's bedroom door slam, and he finally relaxed into...well, a waterfall of tears.

He wondered if he sounded stupid, like a child crushing after somepony they barely even know. True, at first he only liked Rarity because she was beautiful, but it hadn't been long before he saw that there was beauty on the inside, too.

And she wasn't perfect, either, which was awesome most of the time. She had mental breakdowns every so often.

Spike couldn't remember exactly when he realised that he was in love with her. Acknowledging it had taken a long time; it was a slow progress. He hoped it was real, and yet...

A side of him hoped it wasn't. That way, he would be able to move on. That way, he would learn from his mistakes and be able to tell the difference next time.

That way, it would stop hurting.

"Discord?"

Fluttershy prayed that her voice wasn't as nervous-sounding as she thought it was. She could feel her heart thumping in her ears, and her throat. She was scared; oh Sweet Celestia she was terrified. She did not know at which point during the past few hours this idea had come to her, or indeed why it had come to her in the first place. Eventually, she had come to the decision to carry it out, and yet still she found it hard to maintain her stance of confidence.

The draconequus looked down at Fluttershy. He watched intently as she crossed the boarder between their sections and the messed-up gravity pulled her up to the ceiling. Discord caught her with one outstretched arm then rolled her onto his chest. She landed upright, making the nearness of their faces - or lips, Discord thought - was impossible to ignore.

For a few stunned, prolonged moments they held their gaze on each other. Then, Discord stuttered, "Wh-what is it, m-my dear?"

Fluttershy shook herself back to reality. "Hmm? Oh!" She inhaled deeply. So deeply, in fact, that she forgot to exhale until her lungs screamed at her. After that, she took another deep breath for good measure. This is it, she told herself. "Well...I couldn't help but notice that...I mean, I haven't eaten for a couple of weeks now, and..." She sighed at herself impatiently, already annoyed at her shyness. "First of all, will eating effect the way things work in here? I remember you telling me how your life is preserved for the duration of you captivity. Will resuming the eating aspect of survival effect that in any way?"

Discord failed to stifle a laugh. "How much have you rehearsed this, exactly?" As she blushed he rushed to amend his mistake. "Sorry. And no, to answer your question. You don't need to 'resume the aspects of survival', but it takes a while for your body to adjust, which is why aspects such as sleeping remain...like a sort of habit, if you will."

She nodded. "Okay." Her head didn't stop nodding. "Okay," she repeated, completely aware that she was making a fool of herself.

Discord stroked her mane. "Hey," he tilted her head up by the chin, "it's okay. What's the matter?"

She shook her head. It occurred to her that this action was a substitution for 'no' and not 'nothing' or 'it doesn't matter', which is what she actually meant. Replying 'no' to 'what's the matter?' wouldn't make sense.

Oh, but where's the fun in making sense?

This thought brought a smile to her lips, and she found the confidence to continue, "Would it be completely silly to ask if...if we could have a meal together? I miss the taste of real food, and..." Fluttershy gulped; she knew this part was going to be hard. Pausing for a few seconds to gather up her courage, she forced herself to finish, "And I would like to have a meal with you."

She sucked on her lips as she waited for an answer. Her teeth pressed hard against her gums, and it hurt, but this only made her bite harder. She could feel tears coming, even though there wasn't an immediate reason for them.

Discord arched and eyebrow at her. "Are you asking me on a date, Fluttershy?" he asked jokingly, even though he inwardly wished it was that.

The pegasus took a glance at him, and in that second she felt a strange but strong compulsion to be completely honest. She looked down, and suddenly there seemed like there was a reason to cry. After a moment of hesitation, looked at him with large, honest eyes, silently confessing 'yes'.

Discord caught on to that fact. He was so surprised that he was speechless, despite having a chaotic brain that constantly rushed with activity. In that moment, he could find not a single adequate word to vocalise.

His silence was all the answer she needed. Moments after her tears fell she sniffed and whimpered, "I'm sorry," then flew back down to her bed.

She stumbled in the air when the gravity changed, removing the last speck of dignity she had - one she hadn't even known was there.

Discord was still stunned. Somewhere in his brain, he was thrilled, but he barely acknowledged that over his sheer surprise.

As much as he loved it when she was assertive, he never would've thought she'd ever have the courage to make so bold a move. It wasn't usually the mare who made a move, even if that mare wasn't held back by frantic worries or an overpowering shy attitude. Coming from Fluttershy, of all mares, was particularly remarkable. He grinned: this pegasus never stopped amazing him.

Suddenly, he remembered what his answer was, and he leapt up from his bed.

Fluttershy was annoyed at herself for getting snot and tears all over the soft cotton pillow Discord had made for her. Of course, she was mostly upset because of what she had done, but realising this mare her weep harder.

Why hadn't she been able to deny it, like any smart pony would've? She had known right away that it was a joke, so...why hasn't she just laughed? She always - well, almost always - laughed at his jokes.

The worst part was that she couldn't hide away. There was no way she couldn't face him, and she figured he would eventually face her inst -

She heard a bang that caused her to jump. The mare spun round to see Discord lying in a heap on the floor. "Ow," he beamed once he saw he had her attention.

With an unceremonious sniff, Fluttershy stopped her tears and running nose and looked at the draconequus in mild confusion.

He stood up and strode towards her, and for a moment of blind peril she thought he was going to slap her.

However, this was not the case as he leant down, placed his paw tenderly onto her cheek and kissed her softly on the lips.

When he pulled away, he sat next to her and stared into her wide, bewildered eyes. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and gently pulled her towards him. She closed her eyes as her wet cheek came in contact with his soft, brown chest. She could hear the wondrous sound of his breath and feel the intermittent beating of his heart, which was...strangely fast.

At first she wondered why, but then she remembered the taste of his lips on hers and allowed hope to flutter into her heart. "Apology not accepted," he stated firmly.

Fluttershy sat up slightly. "Huh?"

He explained, "You said 'sorry'. I can't accept your apology."

Discord grinned in hope that she had caught on, but the slight tilt of her head showed him he needed to elaborate further. "You said you wanted to have a meal with me. Then, you apologised for it without waiting for an answer. That was incredibly rude of you, you know. Which is why I can't accept your apology."

"Whu..." Fluttershy was still confused. She loved it when he spoke cryptically, but now it was just downright annoying. "W-what do you -"

"And also, you had absolutely nothing to apologise for."

The pegasus wiped her eyes and sniffed again. "B-b...but I asked you...I mean, you obviously didn't -"

"Oh, come now, do you honestly think I was going to say no?" He looked her in the eye. "Fluttershy, I love you. I keep telling you this. What, do you have a sieve for a brain or something?" The aforementioned object appeared on her head. The weight of the handle pulled it down over half of her face. "Nice hat. But I told you...what was it, three hours ago?"

"More like three seconds," she murmured to herself, but he heard nonetheless.

"Exactly!"

"But Discord...you said before that...that you meant it..." Another tear fell down her cheek. "In the friendship sort of way."

"What did you tell me before? It was something like...oh: 'friends don't kiss friends'." He promptly pecked her on the lips again. "I only realised it properly when I...well, when I joked about it being a date."

Fluttershy laughed - a real, genuine laugh. "There we are, happy faces all round!" Discord exclaimed, beaming.

There was silence for a few seconds. Not an awkward one, just an empty one.

"I love you, Discord."

The draconequus' ears perked up, like he was hearing his yet-to-be-favourite song in all of the world for the first time. He looked down and saw she was looking up at him, almost like she was expecting...

Oh.

Discord couldn't help but wait a few more seconds though; he waited until she showed even the smallest sign of disappointment, then, "I love you too, silly." He ruffled her mane and kissed her, slowly. "However," he added, drawing his head back slightly, "can you remind me to never again kiss you when you have snot on your face?" He handed her a hankie. "It's kinda disgusting."

Fluttershy gave a bashful giggle and blew her nose. After drying her entire face, Discord sent it back out of existence. "Better?" he asked.

She smiled, then kissed him on the nose. "Much better."

Twilight's hooves became shakier and shakier as she neared the door of the room where Sunset Shimmer was being held.

Memories from the previous night were playing out in her mind's eye. She had been so stunned, so lost for words. Twilight had definitely been surprised that there was another pony in her room when she awoke, and really quite alarmed when she discovered the reason why.

But - even though the room had been uncomfortably warm at the time - that hadn't been the reason why she had been speechless, nor why she had been blushing.

If she allowed herself to be inwardly honest, she could admit that she had found Sunset...rather pretty. Even in the dark, she could see the striking red and the lightning bolt yellow rocketing through her mane. And her eyes, the brightest of turquoise, had practically drowned Twilight in their sheer beauty.

The alicorn shook her head, desperately reminding herself that her mind had been foggy and her vision clouded at that time. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted by these things, or she wouldn't be able to connect with Sunset in the way she wished.

Gulping, she raised a hoof to the door and knocked. "Sunset? Mind if I come in?"

The unicorn inside snapped her resting eyes open; it had been a long, long time since anyone had bothered to ask her permission of something, at least...not without cowering before her with terrified eyes. She recognised the voice as Twilight's, and became intrigued as to why the princess was being so polite.

Scowling at herself, she replied, "Yeah, whatever."

Twilight took a deep breath and stepped inside. Her eyes immediately locked on Sunset's, which - though they were half-lidded and bored-looking - were already focused on the alicorn. She put a hoof to her face after several eternal seconds of staring, murmuring, "Oh, for crying out loud..."

"What, were you expecting a different Sunset to be trapped in here?" she snapped in reply.

Twilight looked up again. Nope, it hadn't been her foggy mind and clouded vision; Sunset was beautiful. It annoyed her that the unicorn was supposedly evil, and that she was physically attracted to -

"You do a heck of a lot of blank staring," Sunset commented sharply, crossing her hooves and leaning against the wall.

Twilight shook herself out of her thoughts. "So...you went to CSGU?"

"Yeah. I'll have you know that I was top-of-the-class..." She lowered her voice, "Well, before you came along, that is."

"I beg your pardon?" Twilight frowned. "Sorry, do you mean to say I...'stole your spotlight', as it were?"

Sunset looked at her wearily. "Oh, what do you think? You were Celestia's favourite from the moment she saw you."

Twilight coughed awkwardly. "W-well, that was because...sh-she could sense that I was..."

"That you were connected to the Elements, that your magic held great potential, yadda yadda...don't you think I've heard that all before?" Sunset retorted. "You were a complete legend throughout the school. Nopony hadn't heard of you."

Twilight blushed sheepishly. "R-really?"

Sunset laughed harshly. "Oh, don't go all blushy and modest. Honestly, you are so darn spoilt..."

"I am not spoilt," Twilight protested. "You completely abandoned your studies before you even got a chance to know me, am I right?" Sunset narrowed her eyes at the princess. "You have no idea what I was like, only heard the drift of a rumour."

The unicorn rolled her eyes.

"You may not believe me, and frankly I don't expect you will, but I hated being the Princess' favourite. I hated the nonstop attention that was thrown at me whenever I left my apartment -"

"Your ever-so-special apartment in Canterlot Castle," Sunset interjected.

"Yes, that. I hated how much special treatment I got, because I kinda just wanted to be normal."

Sunset scoffed, "Yeah right."

"I wish I wasn't a princess," Twilight continued, unfazed by the unicorn's disbelief. "Heck, I would give these up in a heartbeat." She gestured to her wings.

"Mind giving 'em to me?" Sunset asked blandly, not expecting an answer.

But, alas, she got one, "I would if I could. You seem like you would enjoy having them far more than I do. But I can't. Even if I knew a spell that would enable me to do so, I can't. Because, unlike me, you aren't worthy of them." Sunset glared at her. "I don't view myself worthy of them either. But I trust the Princesses, and if they think I'm worthy then I trust that opinion."

"And you're telling me all this because...you what, want me to feel guilty about my actions and join 'the good side'? Dream on, Sunshine."

"Nope." Twilight shook her head. "Sunset, have you ever had an incredible amount of authority thrust upon you without your permission?"

Sunset paused and cocked her head. "Kinda. Back in my world I'm top of the school, and sometimes it's tough to maintain that properly. What's it to you, anyway?"

Twilight frowned, avoiding the question. "'Your world'? What in Equestria - or outside of Equestria - do you mean?!"

"What, didn't Celestia ever tell you about the mirror portal?" Twilight shook her head, eyes wide with confused curiosity. "Huh. Odd. Hey, guess that means she trusted me with a secret she didn't trust you with," Sunset teased.

"Or maybe she just didn't want a repeat of what happened with you," Twilight snapped, beginning to get fed up of Sunset's attitude.

"Oooo, kitten's got claws." The unicorn smirked, seeing Twilight's annoyance increase as she poked her in the muzzle. "Awww, can wittle Sparky-Warky not handle some verbal fire?"

The alicorn cleared her throat. "Do you have any friends?" she asked bitterly.

There was a stunned silence.

"No," Sunset decided, her cocky tone nowhere to be found.

"I wonder why that is," Twilight replied sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "Can't have anything to do with the fact you're a thief, or you've got a sharp, mindless tongue."

"Hey!" Sunset furrowed her brow. "It's not my fault that insults are the only way to get any sort of respect from teenagers."

"Respect isn't the same as fear," Twilight explained softly. "Have you..." She gulped. "Have you ever had friends?"

"Of course I have!" Sunset laughed. "What kind of person hasn't?!"

Twilight smiled sheepishly. "For the longest time, I had no friends...well, aside form my assistant Spike. It was only when I moved to Ponyville three years ago that I met the other five Elements of Harmony and my best friends in the entire world." Twilight's eyes wandered, but then focused back on Sunset. "What about you? When did you become friendless?"

"Oh, ages ago," Sunset replied grimly, "but my boyfriend broke up with me last summer. He was the last thing close to a friend I had."

"Oh." Twilight touched the unicorn's hoof comfortingly. "Do you...do you miss him?"

Sunset tore her hoof away and spat, "No, of course not," as if it was the most preposterous suggestion in the world. She rubbed her hoof, as if Twilight's touch had hurt her somehow. The alicorn figured it wasn't actually the physical touch.

"I was planning to break up with him soon, anyway," Sunset added in further defence, not wanting the purple princess to pry any further.

"Might I ask...why?"

She scowled. "I dunno, I was bored of him. And plus I didn't want him to get in the way of my plan - why am I telling you this?!" she demanded suddenly, causing Twilight to jump. "Who are you, some sort of psychiatrist?!"

The alicorn shook her head hastily. "No, Sunset...I-I was just trying to -"

"Since when are alicorns so nosy?! You lot think so darn highly of yourselves! Do you think everypony's business is yours too just because of your gosh darn wings, and gosh darn horn?! Who the heck do you think you are?!"

"I only wanted to -"

"I don't want to speak to you. Get out." When she didn't move, Sunset hollered, "NOW!" Twilight scampered for the door like a hurt puppy.

However, as she emerged from the room, she smirked. She had found a weak spot in Sunset, one that she figured would be the only way to connect with her further.

From what Celestia had too her beforehoof, she knew that Sunset had always had a bit of an attitude about her, but was overall a rather sweet mare. Twilight was determined to penetrate through her arrogant act and see who Sunset was inside.

She decided to leave the unicorn a day to calm down, and then she would return and see if there was any change in Sunset. If not, then she would only try and try again.

Twilight's patience varied, and often she was very impatient, but she felt as if Sunset was worth it.

Beautiful ponies tended to have that effect on the alicorn.

Author's Notes:

Woooo! They finally get together! I bet y'all are partying, wherever you are. Seriously though, it's been SO DANG HARD not to make them kiss in these last few chapters. Now I can write full-on Fluttercord Fluff in these chapters to come
Random thought: A blatant title for the middle (Fluttercord) section in this chapter: 'Fluttershy Breaks The Conventions Of Romance Like An Absolute Boss.' If you want, you can name the other two sections or rename the Fluttercord one. Up to you!

Chapter 16: Confrontations

Sunset Shimmer sat on the floor, shoulders hunched, as she hit her head repeatedly on the wall she was in front of.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."

By no means did it hurt, but she had reacted in this simple, conventional way when she had first started to hit her head, and she had decided to continue to do so, for Celestia knows what reason. The word 'ow' had long since disconnected from its meaning, and after two hours of intermittently repeating it, the basic sound seemed hard to pronounce, since her mouth had over-salivated.

Every time her head and the wall collided, her horn would prevent anything other than the top of her brow from coming in contact with the surface, so Sunset had taken to permanently furrowing her brow so she didn't have to keep switching between a surprised facial expression and an angry one.

To be completely honest, she was halfway between the two. Surprised, because in a small amount of time Twilight Sparkle had coaxed out a sensitive secret of the unicorn and nearly brought her soft side out with it.

This was also why she was angry. Why had she been so open about nearly everything the alicorn had asked her? Twilight might as well be her arch enemy and Sunset was generally very secretive about her personal thoughts.

Somehow, Twilight had gotten Sunset to trust her, even if it was a small amount. Maybe it was the fact that she and Twilight were pretty much strangers, and the princess seemed more than happy to listen to her. As much as she hated to admit it, Sunset wanted to discuss her feelings instead of keeping them all to herself.

I really, really hope she doesn't come back any time soon.

"Sunset?"

Darn it.

"Can I come in?" Twilight continued.

"Go away!" Sunset whined, her voice raspy from repetition-of-'ow'-induced dehydration. This, she realised, made it sound like she had been crying. She cleared her throat and repeated herself, "Go away."

The door opened, as Sunset had predicted. She turned to face Twilight as she stepped in, closing the door behind her, wearing a stupidly sympathetic smile on her face.

"What?"

"You feeling okay?" Twilight asked as she took a step towards the unicorn.

"Yeah. Except, y'know, boredom." Why had she said that? It only invited Twilight to stay longer.

Twilight sat down next to Sunset, her back against the wall, and the unicorn glared at her. "Anything...anything on your mind? Anything you wanna share with the class?" The alicorn gestured around her, giggling at her own joke.

Sunset stared at her. She could tell that the princess was emphasising the fact that they were the only two there, meaning that Twilight was the only other pony able to hear her, thus implying that everything said in there would stay in there.

From that thought, Sunset had an idea.

"Anything about...your ex-boyfriend?" Twilight prompted.

Sunset nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, duh! And I don't miss him, before you even ask."

Twilight grinned in triumph. "I wasn't going to." Sunset looked at her in confusion. "Which would imply that you actually do miss him."

The unicorn looked at her hooves, and Twilight knew she had hit the truth. "Well...yeah, but who wouldn't? Everypony knows that love is...kinda awesome, I'll admit."

Twilight took Sunset's hooves in her own. With a genuinely sweet smile, she said, "I can be your friend, i-if you want." She held her breath, waiting for the sarcastic remark or humiliating laughter.

But Sunset only nodded. She looked at Twilight with grateful, sincere eyes and stuttered in a nervous manner that reminded the alicorn so much of Fluttershy, "C-can we go somewhere else? I...I really don't like being...locked up."

"But of course!" Twilight beamed, the tight knot wound in her chest suddenly unwinding. She took Sunset by the hoof and led her to the door.

Once they were out in the corridor, Twilight loosened her grip on the unicorn's hoof to let her know that it was okay to let go. Walking with three legs was clearly challenging for both mares, even though they tried their best to walk naturally.

To her surprise, Sunset didn't pull her hoof out of hers. In fact, the unicorn tightened her own grip like she was afraid that Twilight would run away if she let go. The princess ruled out the possibility that Sunset didn't like physical contact, and a smile was brought to her lips as they pushed open the castle doors.

They got some funny looks as they wandered through the streets of Canterlot, all of which they noticed. "Seriously, what is the deal with Canterlot folk and seeing anything even slightly different to their high-class society?" Sunset hissed as she spotted their seventeenth onlooker.

Twilight giggled in a manner quite unlike that of a normal princess. "I've been questioning that for quite some time and I still haven't come up with anything."

She saw Sunset smile at the ground before turning to face the alicorn. "You're not really a princess, are you? I mean, I can see you're an alicorn and you've got a crown everything -"

"You would know, since you tried to steal it," Twilight reminded her smugly.

The unicorn laughed awkwardly. "Yeah...but, as I was saying...you're not all uptight and official like Celestia and her sister."

"You'd be surprised, actually. Not two years ago, Celestia pretty much told me and my friends to mess up the Grand Galloping Gala."

Sunset froze. "Wait, what?!"

"It's true!" Twilight insisted. "And last year Luna came to Ponyville on Nightmare Night and acted like a foal."

Sunset's mouth was open. She shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Do you believe the fact I never wanted to be a princess?" Twilight questioned, tugging Sunset back into the motion of walking. They were nearing the fancy Canterlot train station which was slightly less upper-class than the streets of Canterlot.

Slightly.

"Eh," Sunset shrugged, "sort of." She looked away as a train entered the station and ponies started to board it. "I'm kinda glad you caught me," she admitted.

Twilight chuckled. "Only kinda?"

Sunset jostled her. "Don't push it."

She jumped as the train's engine burst to life and the doors started to close. Once they were shut, the wheels started moving, so Sunset let go of Twilight's hoof.

Without another word, the unicorn galloped over to the last carriage and leapt over the barrier. She landed on the little platform right at the back of the train and slid into the other side.

She stood up and took a glance back at an incredibly stunned Twilight, and she smirked. Some more ponies were looking at her from the train station platform, but none did anything. To her surprise, neither did Twilight.

When Sunset was no longer in sight, Twilight sighed. She looked down at her hooves, blinked, then trotted down the steps that led back to the road.

She could feel the impression of Sunset's hoof still on her own, and she smirked too. But hers was a knowing smirk, instead of a triumphant one.

She hoped Luna would understand.

"Fluttershy, I've just realised something."

The pegasus looked up at Discord with a smile on her face. For the past half hour, her cheeks absolutely refused to relax from that position, making it difficult to eat the food on the plate in front of her. From what she could tell, Discord was having the same problems.

"You know the term 'I love you'? It's used to express love between friends, family, and couples, despite the fact that being in love with someone is reserved only for romantic relationships. Why?"

Fluttershy swallowed the food she had been chewing before replying, "It's just like physical signs of affection. As I said before, kissing somepony -"

"Body. Seriously, we need to fix your terminology, especially when what you're talking about concerns me. Not everypony's a - for goodness' sake, now you've got me saying it!"

The mare rolled her eyes. "Anyway. Have I answered your question?"

"No. You've reinforced my confusion. You see, kissing somebody - thank you very much - on the lips is considered a sign of being in love with that somebody, right? So romantic relationships kinda have their own special type of physical signs of affection, since the love between them is often the strongest. Why doesn't that apply to verbal signs of affection as well?"

Fluttershy giggled. "Don't ask me, I'm not the Princess of Love."

"Okay...but do you see my point?" Discord propped his elbows up on the table, chewing a forkful of paper. When he had conjured this up for himself, he had insisted to Fluttershy that it was made out of chaos magic, not actual paper.

"I feel like you brought up this point to get me to say that you love me again," she said quietly, taking a sip from her glass of water.

"In love with you," he corrected. "You see? Even after I've explained this to you, you still stick to the conventional terms of ponykind. Well, my darling, I can assure you that from this point onwards, I will use the phrase 'I'm in love with you,' rather than your average, unoriginal phrase of affection."

Fluttershy giggled. "Alright. And I assume you would like for me to do the the same?" He nodded once and grinned. "Okay." She paused for a moment to run over the thing he had just said. Fluttershy's smile faltered and her heart started to thump wildly when a particular word he had used reminded her of a particular friend she had. "Discord, are you actually searching for a way to get us out of here?" she blurted before she could stop herself.

Seeing his rather surprised reaction, she continued, "I-it's alright if you're not, I'm just...I'm sorry to nag you about it, but I really, really want to see my friends and I don't want to stay here for much longer."

Discord tapped his claw on the table, musing over what to say. "Not...not really," he decided, earning a disappointed nod from the pegasus. "Fluttershy, I haven't exactly had a lot of time to do it - I mean, the majority of my time I've spent with you. I...I do try my best to make you comfortable here, but I..."

She sniffed. "N-no, it's...it's fine, I understand." She attempted to inconspicuously wipe her eyes, behind a curtain of her hair.

But he noticed. He teleported over to her and draped his arm across her shoulders. She let out a loud sob as she tried to relax into his warmth. "I just...I r-r-really, r-really want..."

"Shhh, I know," Discord soothed, gently holding her head and stroking her mane.

"No, you don't," she whispered, forcing herself to look him in the eye. She couldn't see him clearly through her salt tears. "I'm sorry, but you don't. They've been my seven best friends for years, a-and...I feel like pieces of me are missing without them. P-please Discord, don't try to empathise with me. I love you, but you have to understand that I...I love them, too."

There was complete silence between the two, with the only exception being Fluttershy's strangled, raspy breaths. Discord continued to caress the soft locks of her mane with one hand, holding her close with the other.

"Okay," he said after a while. He felt her nod into his chest and clasp at his fur. "Do you..." She looked up. "Do you want to help me look for a spell?" Again, she nodded.

He made the table disappear - they were finished anyway - and slipped his eagle arm underneath the mare's bent forehooves. He then sat down on her bed and conjured up a book about the Elements of Harmony.

A book which, if it turned out not to have specific instructions, Discord would be able to generate his own spell from the information - he did that a lot anyway.

He would also be able to learn exactly how they work, and therefore understand the bond between Fluttershy and her friends to the extent she wished.

When one lies in silence for a long time, one starts to hear things one wouldn't normally have heard.

Rarity found this out as she lay, motionless and unsleeping, on Rainbow's couch. She had discarded her optimism for getting some sleep hours before, since she knew it would only frustrate and tire her further.

She stared up at the cloud ceiling and once again acknowledged the clouds she was lying on. As it turned out, clouds weren't nearly as soft as she thought they were. At least, for ponies who did not have the luxury of wings and had to cast a spell to make the clouds tangible. This also made them hard and uncomfortable.

The unicorn tried not to notice it. She focused on the sound of the wind, and the rainbow trickling down outside the house. She was pretty sure she could hear Tank's propellor buzzing away somewhere in the house. Aside from that, it was quiet.

That is, until Rarity's ears twitched to the sound of carefully placed hoofsteps. For a pegasus, the texture of a cloud was light and fluffy but, thanks to their biologically lighter weight, this did not cause them to fall through like any unicorn or earth pony would've.

That's how silent the room was.

"Rarity?" Rainbow called in a clearly dehydrated voice. The unicorn sat up and looked at the bedraggled pegasus with tired eyes. "Sleep well?" she yawned.

"Nope," Rarity groaned.

"Me neither."

"Do you have any tea, by any chance?"

Rainbow nodded. "I actually do," she said and walked into her kitchen.

There was a distinctly loud sound of a kettle boiling, then Dash returned minutes later with two steaming mugs of tea, one in each hoof. Her wings flapped lazily from lack of sleep; she was barely an inch off the ground.

Rarity took her mug and sipped it. Too hot, but she kept on sipping.

"You have to go speak to him, you know," Rainbow said. Rarity wished she hadn't spoken. "And soon too, or he'll think you don't care."

"I don't want to come off desperate," the unicorn mumbled into the rim of her mug, her lips contemplating whether to take another scorching sip.

"No, that's exactly what you want." Rarity glared at the pegasus in confusion. "Look, the way I see it, he thinks you don't actually give a flying feather about him. Being desperate to be his friend again will show him otherwise. If you want to be on his good side that badly, what he gonna do? Turn down the mare of his dreams?"

At that precise moment, Rarity's mug slipped out of her clammy hooves. They were boiling hot, so she started waving them in the air. Rainbow didn't even look at the now broken mug.

"You know what? Fine! Lets go!"

They rushed out of the door. Rarity threw her hooves around Rainbow's neck, then remembered something. "Oh! But first we have to go and pick up my sister and her friends. I can't leave them alone for any longer."

Dash shrugged and took of, curving down to Carousel Boutique. The moment they slammed into the ground, Rarity hopped off Rainbow's back and rushed inside, despite the disorientating impact.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine..."

Rarity froze in the open doorway.

"One-hundred! Ready or not, here I..." The now uncovered eyes of Spike locked onto the unicorn's. He stood, blinking, waiting for her to say something.

After what seemed like hours, Rarity stuttered, "Y-you..." She gulped. "You c-came back here to...to..."

"To look after the CMC?" Spike finished, glancing a the fillies who were emerging from their hiding spots.

"You're the worst at this..." Sweetie started to complain, but trailed off the moment she saw Rarity. The three fillies simultaneously darted upstairs.

Rarity cleared her throat and took a step forward. The dragon reassumed their previous distance by taking a step back, like they were the same side of two magnets.

Rainbow Dash trotted in behind them and closed the door. She nonchalantly acknowledged Spike and went to lean against the wall, quietly listening in to their conversation.

Rarity gulped. She was shaking. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to think clearly. "Spike, I am sorry."

As she expected, he wasn't impressed. She focused on the wall behind him, to seem as though she was looking at him but deliberately avoiding eye contact.

"I don't believe you -"

"I know you don't believe me," Rarity interrupted. "It sounds like a poor excuse, doesn't it? That I was teaching Rainbow how to...how to dance."

"Please explain." Spike folded his arms.

"Rainbow..." She looked at the pegasus, who nodded in confirmation. "Rainbow wants to learn how to be a gentlecolt. I was showing her how to lead a dance, and we got caught up in the moment. It means nothing, I promise."

"Ah-huh?" The dragon's expression did not change. "And why, might I ask, does she want to be a gentlecolt? She already pulls off 'colt' just fine. Why the sudden formality?"

The unicorn glanced at Rainbow, who nodded and smiled grimly. She raised her eyebrow at the pegasus, who nodded insistently.

Spike observed their silent conversation, beginning to guess the reason for himself. No, he told himself. It's impossible.

"Rainbow's in love with a mare," Rarity blurted, finally getting Spike's face to change. It was a surprise, but he forced himself to remain doubtful. "Oh yeah? Who?"

Rarity gulped and took a step back, allowing Rainbow to answer for herself. Dash clear her throat and looked a the dragon as honestly as she could. "Applejack."

Before he could answer, the door swung open to reveal that very earth mare. "Did Ah hear somepony say mah name?"

Rainbow's heart fluttered, and she didn't hesitate to tackle her with a hug. "AJ! It's been a while!"

"It...certainly has," she replied awkwardly, patting Dash's shoulder. She looked over at Rarity. The unicorn mouthed, 'she knows,' at her, turning the mare's expression to one of guilt and concern. She pushed Dash away and cleared her throat. "I-is Apple Bloom here? Ah really need to talk to her." AJ decided she would apologise to Rainbow later, after she had apologised to her sister.

"She sure is!" Rainbow exclaimed with a grin on her face. "Hey, Apple Bloom! Somepony's here to see you!" she hollered.

Applejack once again looked at Rarity. The unicorn shook her head. "I haven't told her what you did," she whispered.

Apple Bloom came running down the stairs, excited, but she froze when she saw her sister. The filly backed up a few steps in instinctual fear. "Apple Bloom, please, A-Ah wanna talk to ya," Applejack pleaded, cautiously nearing the staircase.

The farm filly sighed and turned to her sister.

"Ah..." She gulped, removing her hat. "Ah'm sorry Ah shouted at ya, that Ah treated you and Mac's help like dirt. Ah'm sorry Ah..." She gulped again, glancing at Rainbow, who was slowly growing more and more confused. "Ah'm sorry Ah locked ya in yer room. Ah was tired and upset, but that's no excuse. Ah shouldn't of treated y'all in that way. Ah...Ah...can ya ever forgive me?" She looked up at her sister, who looked back down at her.

Applejack could feel her friends' disapproval as well as her sister's. She wished she could do this alone, but it occurred to her that she had given her sister enough time to think it over and waiting any longer would seem careless.

A hoof rested on her shoulder. "Apple Bloom, we all do stupid things. I assume you know that it was technically your fault Discord escaped in the first place?" The filly pursed her lips. "Yeah. That was because you and the CMC had a stupid little fight. You didn't know how bad it would get, because you didn't know that Discord is real, the gosh darn chaos spirit.

"I hate him too, y'know. He took my best friend away from me. That could be viewed as your fault, but I'm not gonna blame it on you. We all make mistakes, and really we can all share some of the blame.

"Maybe you shouldn't have bothered your sis. I'm not saying you had it coming, but even I get ticked off if Scoots bothers me about something. I shout at her, and y'know: I feel bad after. I see that she was only excited about that particular thing, and she wants me to be excited about it as well. Excitement is great.

"Just like help. You tried to help your sister, even though she can be a stubborn little rat. You wanted her to be happier. I know that being excited makes me happier, and being helped makes AJ happy too. She's just too proud to relent, or even show her gratitude.

"But she knows, like I know, that the intent was good. She feels bad, just like I do with Scoots, about what she did. Maybe you won't forgive her straight away. Judging by your expression, it's gonna take a while. Heck, Scootaloo and I can go days without talking to one another, all because of the fact I couldn't acknowledge what she was really trying to do. And even when we do speak again, it takes a while for things to repair themselves. But you work thought it together, and right now that's all you can do."

Rainbow grinned as her words sunk in, taking a visual effect on Apple Bloom - and Sweetie and Scootaloo, who had appeared at the top of the stairs.

Applejack hugged Dash, to her surprise. She wasn't crying, she was just making a happy-sad-grateful face that often came with tears. Rainbow hugged her back.

Apple Bloom sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, fine," she said and leapt in to join their embrace. Soon, everybody in the building was hugging one another - even Spike and Rarity; the dragon had decided that Rainbow had, in fact, been telling the truth.

When they felt it was time to pull away, the CMC returned upstairs. Eventually, the other four let to as well.

Applejack looked into Dash's eyes for a long, long time. "Rainbow, why...Ah mean...Ah said such horrid things about ya...why would ya..."

"I was making a point about forgiveness. Couldn't do that if I hadn't forgiven the mare I was doing it for, now could I?" Rainbow grinned coolly. "I have to ask, though: why didn't you come to apologise earlier?"

"That is a good question," Rarity admitted, breaking from her and Spike's conversation.

"Ah've been busy organising a 'Welcome home, Fluttershy!' party with Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich, Equestria's two best party planners."

"I thought Pinkie was the only one!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Me too!" Spike and Rarity said in unison. The unicorn turned to nuzzle him gently.

Applejack grinned. "And that brings me to why Ah'm here today. Pinkie and Cheese are on a date."

"WHAT?!" all three of them screamed in unison.

"From what Ah can tell," Applejack added.

Rarity noticed that Rainbow was blushing at how close she and AJ were, and at the mention of dating. She caught the pegasus' eye and made a subtle flapping gesture with her hooves.

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Oh! Right!" She turned to Applejack. "Hey AJ, you wanna come flying with me?"

The farm mare blinked, thinking it over. "Umm...sure, why not."

"Great! Come on!"

As the two mares walked towards the door, Rainbow turned to mouth a 'thank you' at Rarity. The unicorn beamed and wrapped a hoof around Spike, as if to say, 'no, thank you.'

Author's Notes:

Guys...
There's only two chapters left...
Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What am I gonna do? WhatamIgonnado? WHADDAMIGUNNADO?!
Uhhh...uhhh...AH-HA! I'll make the next two superlong, and put superlarge amount of effort into them.
Okay?
Okay.

Chapter 17: The Truth

Author's Notes:

Hey, look at me! I'm an Author's Note at the top!
I'm sorry this took so long, guys! I really hope it'll be sufficient. The next (and last!) one's gonna take a while too, so don't expect it any time soon!
Again, sorry!

"Hmmm...okay, I guess that makes sense," Celestia admitted

"Yes, it does sound like you genuinely got through to her," Luna agreed, nodding her head. "I do see why you let her go."

Twilight sighed in relief. "That's good. I'm glad you understand. By the way, I checked Fluttershy and Discord's emotions again last night, and they're now fully in love with one another. They're searching for a spell, too, so I'd say it'll only be a week or so until I see Fluttershy again!" the alicorn exclaimed, bouncing up and down like Pinkie Pie.

Luna acknowledged the similarity, reminding her that, "Oh, Twilight? Your friends are here to see you."

"Pardon?!"

"They're waiting downstairs."

"Okay!" She started bounding down the corridor, giggling. "This is fun!" she called right before she turned a corner.

Luna chuckled. "What?" her sister asked.

The Princess of the Night waved a hoof carelessly. "Nothing, just..." She smiled. "She's been so tense lately. It's nice to see her bouncing back into a positive demeanour - literally."

Celestia nodded. "I agree. I was worried that she would take alicornhood as a barricade from being able to enjoy herself."

"Well, it isn't the first time you've been wrong."

Twilight arrived at the top of the staircase that led down to where her friends were waiting, only slightly out of breath from her bouncing. She thought twice about bouncing down the stairs as well; she didn't want any injuries and she doubted her wings would be able to save her if she fell. Sighing, she trotted down the stair as fast as she dared then bounced into the hall at the bottom.

Her friends looked at her as soon as she entered. Pinkie's eyes followed the motion of Twilight's bouncing for a minute, then she shouted, "Applejack...I-I swear I didn't use the mirror pool. She looks nothing like me. In fact, I'd say she looks more like Twilight."

The alicorn promptly stopped bouncing. "I am Twilight. And your duplicate wouldn't have wings and a horn, anyway."

"She sounds the part, too," Pinkie added. She looked round at the three other ponies approaching her and Twilight, and the latter noticed that she did not know one of them.

"Who are you?" she inquired.

"This is Cheese Sandwich! He's the only other party planner in Equestria except he's Equestria's official, certified party pony but I'm the original party pony which evens it out and I'm his idol, and now I'm also his special somepony so we're both very happy." Pinkie beamed in a way that seemed physically impossible, and she didn't gasp for breath.

"Okay," Twilight said, mildly irritated that she hadn't been around to witness her friend finding a special somepony. "So...where are Spike and Rarity?"

"They're in the gardens, taking a walk," Rainbow explained, pointing to the door that Twilight knew led to the area Dash was referring to. She winked at Twilight, who then beamed in realisation.

"Oh, I'm so happy for them - wait, so that means three of my best friends are falling in love?!" she exclaimed.

Thankfully, nopony noticed the small blush in Rainbow's cheeks as she stuttered, "Th-th-three?"

"Oh." Twilight reassessed what she had said. "Oops." She looked down, scuffing her hoof on the ground as she figured out what to say. In the end, she decided to start with the good news. "Hey, guys? Guess what? Fluttershy's gonna come back in hopefully a few more days!" she sang, earning the wide, disbelieving eyes she had expected.

Cheese turned to Pinkie. "That's the friend the party's for, right?"

The three mares who knew what he was talking about nodded with a simultaneous 'mmm-hmmm'

They were silence core a little while longer, before each of them started celebrating in their own way. For Pinkie, it was bouncing; for Cheese, it was dancing with the boneless chicken Twilight hasn't noticed beforehoof; for Rainbow it was soaring about squealing, 'ohmigoshohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh' over an over; and for Applejack it was bucking and rearing while cheering.

Since the princess had heard this information hours prior to that moment, Twilight confined her excitement to a smile. It was a wide, wide smile that was occasionally broken by uncontainable bursts of laughter.

It dawned upon her once more that she would have to break the truth to all of them sooner or later, and she figured it would be better to do the former rather than the latter. That way, they would all have some time to think it over and while Twilight herself had taken longer than a few days to accept it, she had pieced it together bit by bit.

Each 'bit' had seemed like it was the last and largest of the whole truth, so she had taken her time about each of them.

But they would have the whole truth from the start, meaning they could wrap their heads around all of it preferably before Fluttershy and Discord broke free. And if they didn't, then the pegasus and draconequus themselves could talk to that pony (or those ponies), namely Rainbow Dash.

Whom of which, as Twilight sadly spotted, was by far the happiest of everypony combined. The alicorn wasn't sure if she had ever seen a happier face on the pegasus, or even a happier face, period.

Rainbow wasn't one for displaying emotion. She got overly excited about her likes and interests, but things like love, pity, sadness or fear rarely showed visibly or verbally.

And though she was clearly more excited about her best friend coming back than supposedly anything else in her life, this simply translated as the love and friendship they shared.

Twilight's heart sagged in her chest. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bear to destroy something so rare, so precious.

So the princess decided that she would tell them:

Tomorrow.

The four ponies had started a bubbly conversation during Twilight's train of thought. She trotted over to see what they were discussing.

"- but she thinks it's a lost cause, all because she assumes that his feelings won't last," Rainbow finished with a knowing shake of her head.

The others copied her action in agreement. It looked to Twilight as though they were only doing it to play along with how wise Dash felt, as if she had been right all along.

"Hey, Twi?" Rainbow called to the alicorn. "What do you think's gonna become of Spike an Rarity's relationship?"

"I dunno," she replied with a shrug, "I guess that's for them to decide."

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "Uh, sugercube?" Dash turned to the Applejack. "Are ya sure Rarity's in love with Spike? Ah mean, he's a great friend and all, but...Rares? Seriously?"

Rainbow sighed, as if she was thinking deeply about what the earth mare was referring to. "Applejack, you and I both know that Rarity is a romantic. She knows love when she feels it, and even when she sees it - which is why she's so darn set on believing she and Spike will never work out. And, as they say: you can't help you love." Rainbow winked at AJ, who in response furrowed her brow at the pegasus. Dash cleared her throat and awkwardly looked away.

Twilight sighed. She knew Rainbow was just spouting all the insightful phrases and famous quotes she knew of, but it seemed at that moment that she did understand that you can't control your emotions. If she believes that, Twilight thought, then maybe she'll be more accepting of Fluttershy and Discord's relationship than I originally thought. It was rather far-fetched, but the idea gave the princess hope nonetheless.

"Wait, what?!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Rarity can tell if somepony's in love?!"

"That's what she told me," Rainbow shrugged, as if it wasn't her job to separate the truth from lies.

"Do you think she could tell if Cheesy and I are in love?" she asked, taking the stallion's hoof. "I mean, no offence Cheese, but I wanna know if this is gonna work out."

"Maybe." The pegasus shrugged again and let the room fall into a silence of seemingly deep thought - for her, at least. After a minute or two, Twilight blinked herself vigilant as a reminder went off in her brain like an alarm-clock.

She half-raised her hoof to get their attention. "I-I know a spell that can detect one's feelings towards other ponies." Pinkie and Cheese instantly looked a thousand times happier.

"Yes, please!"

"Yes, Cheese!" they said.

Twilight shrugged and approached them. She ignited her horn and scanned each of their emotions, then briefly conjured up a mirror. She announced, "As of now, you two only have what can be described as a mutual crush..."

As she paused to arrange her thoughts, Pinkie's eyes grew more and more insistent and impatient as they stared at the lavender alicorn. "But...?" she prompted.

Twilight cleared he throat. "But, from what I can tell, your relationship can potentially grow into something more than that."

Pinkie squashed herself down then sprung back up, and like a powerful spring she leapt up higher than even Applejack could jump. "YES!" she screamed. As gravity caught up with her, she positioned her poofy tail underneath her to cushion her fall.

She and Cheese attacked each other with a two-way lung-squeezing embrace.

"Hey, Rainbow," Applejack hissed, "Ah dare ya to get yer emotions scanned."

As coolly as she could, the blue pegasus replied, "Oh, puh-lease. I could do that any day," she boasted with a careless wave of her hoof. "How's about you do it first to prove you ain't a chicken?" This was the first time Rainbow realised how hard it was to act casual while indirectly asking for exactly what you want.

The earth pony shrugged in acceptance and Dash inwardly hoof-pumped. "Hey, Twi! Rainbow here has dared me to have mah feelin's checked!" she called, and Dash's heart thumped with anxious anticipation as Twilight walked over to the pair.

Applejack smirked and closed her eyes as Twilight's horn started to glow. Rainbow saw this, and suddenly she had a horrid suspicion that completing a challenge was actually the only reason AJ was doing this.

No. No. No, no, no, no, no no no no no no nononononononononono -

Twilight sighed. "No significant signs of conscious emotion," she reported.

"W-wow, way t-to spoil the fun...AJ," Rainbow attempted to sneer as her ears unwillingly drooped. She bit down hard on her cheeks to stop herself from bursting onto tears.

Applejack smirked at Rainbow. "It ain't over yet, sugarcube."

"Whad'you me -?" Dash began, before she remembered that now it was her go. "Oh, horseapples."

Before she could panic, however, she remembered that when the spell was cast on Pinkie and Cheese, there was no visible magical indicator as to who their feelings were directed at. Sure, it was possible that Twilight's spell had shown its user who their emotions were towards, but she had already known that.

And the worst case scenario would be that one more of her friends would be aware of who Dash (thought she) was in love with.

And her relationship with AJ would be completely unaffected.

Gulping hard, she shot a determined look at Twilight. Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut - but despite what she assumed, it wasn't out of fear. It was because Twilight's horn was glowing brighter than before, and the light was getting in the pegasus' eyes.

The red light;

Rainbow figured that this was the indicator for being in love.

Twilight didn't need a mirror this time. She stumbled back from Rainbow, and the pegasus remembered - too late - that Twilight was terrible at keeping secrets.

Sure enough, the princess gasped and poised her forehooves in front of her mouth. She stared at the pegasus with deep, sympathetic eyes as a few tears fell. Rainbow felt envious of Twilight, because she was allowed to cry while the pegasus wasn't.

"Dash, I...I'm so sorry," she whispered, and - just to top it all off - she couldn't stop herself from taking a glance at Applejack.

The farm mare caught on, needless to say. And all of a sudden, Rainbow didn't need to be envious of Twilight anymore.

She ran out of the doors into the gardens before anypony could stop her. She heard hoofsteps behind her - the kind that were used to running, used to racing. Dash hoped she could lose Applejack as she fled, because she wanted to get to the only two mares - and one dragon - that she wanted to talk to were in the gardens too.

But Applejack caught up, expertly following Dash at an increasing pace. When she grabbed hold of her rainbow tail, the pegasus knew she had no option but to face her.

"Rainbow..."

"WHAT?!" Rainbow demanded, in a voice that sounded for all the world like a whimper trying to be brave. She could feel her dampened face being observed by the mare in front of her.

"Dash, is it...Ah mean, do ya really...?"

Applejack left the question uncompleted, so Rainbow finished it for her, "Do I really what, love you? You saw the spell. You saw Twilight's reaction. Why would she look at you that way if I WASN'T IN GOSH DARN LOVE WITH YOU?!"

Applejack flinched, accidentally allowing Dash time to start running away from her again.

And she chased her. But this time, she kept her distance.

If Rainbow wanted time alone, then she would eventually give up on running and take to the skies, leaving Applejack unable to follow.

But - as AJ suspected she might be - if she even vaguely wanted to talk things out, she would keep running until she was tired out. Exhausted and drained, she wouldn't have the energy to be angry.

And - being the rodeo champion she was - Applejack would be able to speak with her properly, since she wouldn't be nearly as tired.

She could hear the raspy sniffs and sobs of Rainbow over the sound of their thundering hoofsteps. If her normal mental state wasn't enough to keep her running for long enough, then surely the sound of her best friend in pain would be.

"How about...uhhh..." Discord flicked through the book he had conjured up until he found the page he was looking for. "This one!"

Fluttershy's heart quickened in wide-eyed anticipation as he scanned the open book. She followed the movement of his pupils as they zipped across each line; left to right, left to right, left to right. She was still mildly surprised that Discord read from right to left.

"Nope, not this one."

She didn't even sigh. Fluttershy had long since lost count of how many spellbooks they'd tried, not one of them containing anything relevant to the thing they needed. It irritated her that it seemed hopeless, and she was fighting hard not to cry.

Discord noticed this. Fluttershy noticed that he noticed, and she also noticed how quickly he searched through each book they tried. She knew he was losing his patience but trying hard not to show it.

As he conjured up yet another book and began to flick through it, the mare sighed and rested her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and focused in the sound coming from beneath his ribcage.

Thump thump, thump thump, went his heartbeat, and caused Fluttershy to feel immensely tired. The soothing feeling of the simple sound of life was suddenly the best thing in the world.

Discord audibly stopped searching to look down at the pegasus. Replacing her head with her hoof, she opened lazy eyelids. The mild cluelessness of his facial expression was a beautiful thing for her to see. She smiled as one of his hands abandoned the book for her cheek and he kissed her.

She felt both of their hearts quicken, and she started giggling. He grinned and said, "I am in love with you."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, the laugh still alive on her tongue. "I'm in love with you, too." It felt really, really odd to say that. It would definitely take some getting used to.

The draconequus looked back at his book. "To undo the effects of any Element bearers, previous or current - without using the Elements themselves -, two(or more) separate and powerful magical sources must form a strong bond between one another, a harmony stronger than that shared by the Elements of Harmony."

Fluttershy's still-not-normal heart rate promptly started doing a marathon. That was it. The spell they needed.
"Do it," she blurted, even before her brain ordered her mouth to do so. "Oh my gosh, Discord. Please, cast it now!"

She was crying, crying with joy as his claw started to glow with the yellow aura of his magic. Another light caught her eye when that one dissipated, but this one was white. It shone from the tip of her tail and was gradually spreading up the hairs.

She spotted the same thing occurring on Discord's tail, and abruptly wanted to scream with excitement. Her happiness came out in little squeaks of giggles. Maybe this was what it felt like to be Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie. That thought caused her to attack Discord with as tight a hug as she could muster. He curled his glowing white tail around hers and closed his eyes to enjoy her warmth. He was slightly reluctant to let go when she gently pushed herself free.

The draconequus furrowed his brow in the most serious expression he could form. He conjured up a card with an orange earth mare on it and held it up to Fluttershy. "Who's this?" he demanded.

"What do you mean? That's Applejack."

"Ah-huh. And what's her sister's name?"

"Apple Bloom. B -"

"And her brother's name?"

"Big Macintosh. Why?"

His eyes widened like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, we have to check you still remember everyone, don't we? Can't have you returning with no recollection of who your friends are."

She giggled. "I think I can manage. It's only been three weeks and I tend to have the memory of an elephant."

"That would explain why you have such massive ears," Discord observed, stretching out her left ear and closely inspecting it. His faux-sincerity broke down as he grinned in response to her gorgeous laughter.

Initially intending to only take a glance at her, Discord found that Fluttershy was grinning at him and couldn't help but keep on staring.

She wrapped a hoof around his neck to bring his head down to hers and touched their foreheads together. They could feel the rim of silver magic making its way up their necks - and see it, too, though their eyes were shut.

Fluttershy suddenly wondered what Discord was feeling. Surely, he wasn't nearly as excited as her. There wasn't anything he cared about waiting for him in Equestria, and frankly he wasn't really welcome himself.

He was only happy because she was happy. Then what was he feeling? Uncertainty? Nervousness? Worry?

Fear?

These were all the emotions Fluttershy felt on a regular basis. They were logical, and while Discord had never been a logical being that did not mean he was incapable of the instinctual feelings of any other pony.

He was part pony, after all.

Just before the magic reached their noses, Fluttershy found his hoof and held it as tightly as her fingerless appendage could.

Rarity - like most other ponies - hated awkward silences.

They were similar to birthday gifts that you disliked, but you liked the pony who gave it to you too much to throw it away or stuff it at the back of your closet and forget about it. You just have to make do and use it as much as you can, purely out of respect for that particular mare or stallion.

Awkward silences were so empty that they tended to empty out your brain as they fell on you, depriving you of logical and sensible ways to break them.

But most of all they disconnect you from the other(s) the silence is affecting. You no longer know what they are thinking, how they are feeling. And more often than not you're irrationally scared of finding out, like you've suddenly become a goldfish and cannot remember anything six seconds after they occur.

Rarity looked back down at the dragon walking beside her. For him to keep his normal pace, the unicorn had to slow herself down to a blatantly uneven rate, one of which she was uncomfortable in doing.

She cleared her throat to get him to look at her. Previously, he had been looking around at the blindingly green foliage, presumably hoping to look as though his mind was occupied. Rarity had summoned his attention for practically the same reason: to seem like she had thought of something worthwhile to say.

But - just as the dragon's charade had been - her desperation was noticeable. She looked down in shame - though she wasn't certain of why - and clamped her mouth firmly shut.

Spike sighed. "So," he began, then paused, probably to reassess his idea of speaking. "Rainbow Dash has a crush on AJ."

Rarity laughed, glad that the topic was something relatively time-consuming. "Yes, she really does, doesn't she? Poor girl."

"Poor girl," the dragon agreed, then wrinkled his nose. "Why?"

The unicorn pursed her lips, thinking of a way to word herself without being personal. "I highly doubt that her feelings are mutual."

Spike tilted his head and answered, "True, true. But then again," he added after a few seconds, "I never saw Rainbow's feelings coming in the first place. There's no way to tell whether Applejack returns the feelings or not."

She looked at him, wondering if he was speaking on a mildly personal basis as much as she was. It sounded like he was. The unicorn had to look away when he caught sight of her staring but this, for whatever reason, only caused more hope to flit around in her heart.

In looking away, she realised for the first time just how spectacular the greenery around them was. At was all so natural, with birds chirping at one another and beating their wings against the leaves as they landed on branches, causing a disturbance in the peace.

The two places in Ponyville that were truly teeming with wildlife were the Everfree Forest and Sweet Apple Acres, both of which Rarity did not like visiting. They were muddy and unnerving in ways only an admittedly fussy unicorn like herself could know.

But that side of nature was nowhere to be seen in the Canterlot Gardens. It was all so beautiful. Rarity now understood why Fluttershy adored it so much.

Coincidentally, they were approaching a junction in the path, from which one of the forks led to where that pegasus was. So, instead of continuing a straight line, she turned left and waited for Spike to follow.

She looked up at her stone friend, and scowled at the draconequus holding her. Hanging her head as her heart began to sink, she felt Spike's arm draped across her neck.

"Rarity?" Upon the calling of her name, the unicorn turned and noticed how nervous Spike suddenly looked.

"Yes, what is it darling?" she replied in a voice that held no humour or insincerity; she wanted to let him know that he could ask anything of her and she would not scoff at it - even if it included getting dirty.

"Do you find it awkward to be around me?" he blurted. "I mean, you know I have feelings for you, and...are they irritating? Am I irritating?" This was clearly something that had been on his mind for ages but he had only just racked up the courage to say.

Rarity's expression fell. "Spikey, darling...o-of course not." She spotted tears forming in his eyes and quickly pulled him to her chest, feeling the salty substance rub from his cheek onto her fur.

"I...I'm so sorry, Rarity," the dragon whispered. "I'm sorry I like you so much and I'm not selfless enough to hide it. You're...you're amazing, Rarity. I've seen many-a-stallion gaze at you in town, and even a few other mares. It's no secret that you're beautiful on the outside.

"But you're beautiful on the inside, too. You're generous, artistic, stylish, determined, unique...the list goes on. It doesn't take a genius to identify your every strength. And your flaws, too.

"You aren't perfect. You're dramatic; you overreact; you have a strange intolerance of dirt. It's a little hard to see, but sometimes you're even a little too generous.

"And that's just why you're so brilliant; if you were perfect, you'd be boring. You wouldn't improve; you wouldn't develop; you wouldn't ever discover new things about yourself. You can't evolve when you're already top-notch. That's what everyone sees in you. Everyone who has the pleasure and privilege of knowing you is aware of how magnificent you are. I am one among hundreds.

"And I've realised that...that I may have been selfish. I've come to see that my feelings for you are keeping you from finding The One, because we're friends and you know you would hurt me if you did that. That's what happened at Spitfire's birthday.

"Even though you aren't with Rainbow, that is how I realised that...I'm not the only one who knows of your fabulosity, and I'm certainly not the only one who wants to be with you. I fear that I'm standing in the way of you finding that special somepony, since I know that that pony can never be me."

The dragon drew his head back to look at the mare he loved through salt water lenses. Her deep pools of cerulean that were surrounded by white-sanded beaches gazed down at him sadly; sincerely; sympathetically. There was a lump in his throat that he could not swallow, and a cardiological thump that he could not shatter.

He wished she would reply, and end the deathly silence. And that she did, eventually, "Spike...that might just be the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me." Only then did he realise, from the strain in her voice, that her eyes were shining with tears being fought back. As she closed them to lean forward and kiss him on the forehead, her top eyelids collected the liquid in their way down, so when they finally closed a single drop fell down each cheek.

Rarity took a few long, deep breaths to slow her racing thoughts. If there was ever a time to confess, it would be now. She had to do it, and it was what he was secretly wanting to hear. And even if her suspicions had been correct and all he felt for her was a crush, she couldn't bear to let him feel like he was an obstacle between her and her future.

"Spike," she began, and paused to regain her courage and look into his green, expectant-looking eyes. They were awfully bright, all of a sudden. Maybe it was the Sun reflecting off of them. Yes, she decided: it was definitely reflected light. Only, they were sitting in the shade. So where was it coming from?

Spike noticed it too. Since it was his own eyes the the light was catching, he had a better idea of its origin. He turned round. Rarity followed the tilt of his head, feeling a sense of déjà vu for something that she hasn't quite acknowledged yet, up to...

Fluttershy and Discord. Together. And not in stone.

"Yes, we did it!" the pegasus squealed, letting go of Discord's hand that Rarity and Spike only then realised she had been holding and flinging her hooves around his neck. He buried his snout in her mane and held her tight, clearly smiling by his raised cheeks that arched his closed eyes.

They opened again, ever so slightly, the thinnest line of sclera and pupil showing. The two dots of red suddenly moved directly onto the unicorn and dragon standing, frozen, a metre or so away.

He lifted his head up in surprise. Confused as to why the hug had ended so quickly, Fluttershy searched Discord's face for an answer. When she saw it was pointed elsewhere, she turned her own eyes to that approximate spot.

And her heart immediately did a somersault.

She zipped forwards to hug them with admirable speed for a pegasus who didn't fly much of the time or very well. It was only once one of her two icterine forehooves was wrapped around each of their necks that they were finally able to relax and get over their shock. They started talking simultaneously.

"Oh, Fluttershy, darling, it's so wonderful you're -"

"I missed you so much, Flutters! I was -"

" - back! Oh, I was -"

"- so worried that -"

"- I'd never -"

"- see you -"

"- again!" the two finished together, causing them to look at one another and giggle. Fluttershy joined in the laughter and whispered, "I've missed you guys too."

"Ah, yes, but you've had a different...being to occupy yourself with, haven't you?" Rarity arched an eyebrow at Discord, who was standing awkwardly a couple of hoofsteps away.

"Oh!" Fluttershy blushed and looked at the ground. She drew circles in the dirt with her hoof as she thought about what she was going to say. Before she could, however, two pairs of thundering hooves became audible and she deliberately averted her attention to that.

As they neared, Fluttershy could make out the sound of somepony sobbing. The closer they came, the clearer the sound was and it wasn't long before the pegasus identified a sound that only she was familiar with.

Who the other pony was was revealed when she spoke, though Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike already had a sneaking suspicion of who it was. "Rainbow, stop! Don'cha know that this is the way to -"

Both Rainbow and Applejack skidded into view. The cyan pegasus had tears on her face and sweat all over her body. She wasn't used to galloping for such a long time.

Rarity guessed the situation immediately. She ran forward and hesitantly hugged the wet, sticky pegasus. "She knows," Rainbow wailed into the unicorn's shoulder.

It was then that Spike and Fluttershy caught on. "Oh, you poor, poor thing," the latter sympathised and joined in the embrace, driving Spike to follow.

"Wait, so do all of ya know?" Applejack realised aloud in disbelief. "How come..." Her eyes drifted to the impatient-looking draconequus leaning against a hedge.

He caught her looking. "I don't really know what's going on either, Applejack. Join the club."

"What in tarnation...?" she ridiculed, her mind elsewhere, then repeated. Louder. "WHAT, IN TARNATION?!"

Everyone looked at her, then followed her furious gaze to Discord. Rainbow blinked, then crouched down and snorted like a bull. She leapt at him - or, at least, she tried to but was hampered by a weight attached to her tail.

She looked down to see Fluttershy, of all ponies, with a frown on her face as she bit as hard as she could on the multihued locks. The poor mare was being dragged along by the cyan pegasus since she was not as strong as some.

When Dash realised this was because she was still straining against her friend, she muttered an 'oops' and dropped to the floor. Her tail was released, but Fluttershy had to spit out some of the hairs that had snapped off.

Everypony - and dragon, and draconequus - had their eyes on the yellow pegasus. Rarity noticed, after a few eternal seconds, that eyeing the mare was only making her cower in fear and certainly not getting her anywhere closer to speech. She stepped forward and laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Darling, it's okay. But I do believe you owe us all an explanation, don't you think?"

Fluttershy nodded and gulped, but remained silent. Her friends waited and waited, but not a single word escaped her lips.

Discord contemplated intervening. He could tell Fluttershy was in need of assistance, but he did not feel it was in his place to step in. He was the cause of her current situation, after all. Even so, he kept on taking steps forward then retracing himself, his brain working fast with indecision.

Rainbow was aware that the pressure of her eyes was quite intimidating, especially when the recipient was as timid as Fluttershy. So she had long since averted her gaze.

She felt like shouting. And crying. And destroying something. And going to bed for a thousand years. Celestia, was she tired. She spotted a lone cloud in the blue blue sky, one that wasn't too far away.

It wouldn't hurt if she left to take a nap, would it? She looked back at her best friend. Leaving would only make her go through this again when the time came round for Dash to hear what Fluttershy was still racking up the courage to say.

In the end, she just stretched her head up towards the cloud as far as it would go without taking off, her eyes flicking between Fluttershy and the cloud.

Only, after a few moments, the cloud wasn't there any more. In its place was the faintest glimmer of yellow magic, and it seemed to be making its way down to the pegasus. It curled around her frozen hooves and then suddenly turned back into a cloud, the plush surface springing up beneath her hooves.

She was about to settle into her favourite, most comfortable sleeping position when she realised something and sat bolt upright. "Discord's reformed!" she declared.

"And Pinkie Pie has officially been out-psychiced," Discord commented. Fluttershy failed to stifle a giggle, earning back the eyes of her friends. She bit her lip and hung her head.

Discord sighed exhasperatedly and teleported himself around the pegasus. "Will you stop? You of all ponies," he paused for Spike and the others to notice that the dragon was now a pony, "should know how unconfident Fluttershy is." He turned to the mare in question and tucked a few loose strands of pink behind her ear. "You alright?"

She 'mmm-hmm'ed in response, then took a few shaky breaths. Facing her friends, she stood up straight and stated, "Rainbow Dash is right. Discord is reformed. He is also my boyfriend. I understand if you disapprove, and please: feel free to express it.

"But I will not change my mind about the fact that he," she stepped back and put a hoof round his neck, "he is a wonderful creature. I love..." She looked at him, then corrected herself, "I'm in love with him, and I hope that in time you'll be able to accept and support that fact."

When she finished speaking, she clearly had to control how fast her breath was, as the air she inhaled and exhaled made a distinctly loud and uneven noise as it entered her nostrils and exited her mouth.

Everybody stayed silent. Eventually, Rainbow got tired of the silence and flew up to her bestie. "Can we please have a round of applause for that admirable act of pure bravery!" She started slapping her hooves together and cheering wildly, which proved to be difficult when one of he forelegs was curved round Fluttershy's neck.

"Darn right!" Applejack yelled and stomped her hooves. Dash glanced at her with a tinge of pink in her cheeks.

"Yeah! Go Fluttershy!" Spike punched the air.
"Simply extraordinary, darling!" Rarity exclaimed.

When the whooping and clapping died down, Fluttershy stammered, "I-I thought you'd be angry."

"Me? Nah," Rainbow waved a hoof. "I mean, it's gonna take some getting used to, but I wouldn't put it past a mare like you to win the heart of The Lord of Chaos!" she roared, shaking her clenched hoof in admiration. "Oh, and by the way I'm sorry I was so unsupportive of you the first time around."

The others nodded in agreement. "You had every reason to," Discord cut in. "I was a complete jerk, I know that."

"Yeah, well so were we," Applejack laughed, then looked mock-horrified. "Oh dang, did Ah just relate with Discord?!"

Everyone burst out laughing. It died down quickly, catching Rainbow in the process of muttering, "You're so darn cute, AJ."

The words were out before she could stop herself. She looked at the ground, but drew her eyes upward again when she felt a hoof across her shoulders.

"Hey, Dashie," Applejack said comfortingly. "I'm still your friend, y'know that, don'cha? Whad'ya say Ah take ya to Fluttershy's 'Welcome Home!' party?"

Magenta irises locked on to emerald ones. "What, as a date?"

AJ nodded. "Sure."

"But the spell...you don't..." Rainbow sniffed. "You don't love me."

"Don'cha remember what Twi said? 'No significant signs of conscious emotions'. Now, Ah'm not sure, but Ah'm willin' to try." She leaned forward and softly pressed her lips against her cheek.

They flared up with heat the moment her lips touched it, causing the others to laugh.

Discord then surprised Fluttershy by attacking her with pecks on her own cheeks - and neck. She squealed with embarrassed delight and eventually had to kiss him full on the lips to get him to stop.

And all of a sudden, Rarity remembered what she had wanted to but never finished saying earlier and turned to Spike. "Darling, I..."

"I love you, Rarity," he said quickly then brought her head down to his and closed the space between them. To his relief, pleasure and surprise, she did not politely push him away. Instead, she wrapped her hooves around his neck and kissed back.

When they pulled away, she smiled down at him, so happy she was nearly crying, and said:

"I love you too, Spikey."

Chapter 18: The Biggest And Bestest Party In All Of Equestria

A week or so after Fluttershy and Discord returned to Equestria, it occurred to Pinkie Pie, Cheese Sandwich and Applejack that they had not included a specific date for Fluttershy's 'Welcome Home!' party in the invitations and would need up to another two months to get it properly finished.

And Applejack made a very strong argument as to why she would not copy out another single invitation and no one - she repeated, no one - would convince her otherwise.

So, after a not-very-large amount of deep thinking, it was decided that they would make posters instead of personal invitations and make them with magic rather than by hoof. Once the several thousand posters were printed and ready to be distributed around Equestria, the matter of where the party would take place came to mind. Or mouth:

"Great news, ponies - and draconequi, and dragons! My sister and I have decided to allow you to organise your party in the Great Hall of Canterlot Castle, where the Grand Galloping Gala usually takes place!" Luna announced as she flew into the room where the aforementioned beings were lying sprawled amid scrunched-up plans and half-eaten baked goods.

They all groaned in appreciation - except for Pinkie and Cheese, who were the only two hyper enough to still have energy to react accordingly even after all the constant planning and preparation - despite having done most of the latter themselves.

"Twilight? D'ya mind quickly adding that to the posters?" Pinkie asked the half-asleep alicorn.

She moaned. "Ugh...get Discord to take the dancing bear off the carousel..."

"Dancin'...bear? Wha...?" AJ shook her heavy head. "Sorry. Yeah. Discord, could ya do that for us?"

Discord narrowed his eyes at her with an arched eyebrow. "Where are your manners?" He opened a newspaper with the headline 'Disappearance of AJ's manners'.

The earth mare glared at him. "Ugh...please?"

The title of the newspaper promptly changed to 'AJ's manners found!' as he grinned and snapped his fingers. When she rolled her eyes, '...for now' was added to the end of the headline.

Fluttershy nuzzled him. "That's brilliant. But...don't you think that even all of Canterlot isn't big enough for all of Equestria, let alone just Canterlot Castle's Great Hall?"

Luna nodded. "I doubt all of Equestria will turn up, but...you make a valid point. Ideas, anyone?"

The room stayed quiet for a while, but eventually all conscious eyes turned to Discord. "Oh, wow," he snapped sarcastically. "Just rub in the fact that everyone hates me, why don't you?"

Fluttershy reached for his paw. "We don't hate you. Do we, guys?" A few of her friends said 'yeah' unenthusiastically. As the draconequus bent down to kiss his marefriend, he snapped his fingers again.

"Get a room, you two," Rainbow complained, causing Discord to teleport them both elsewhere.

Pinkie slapped Dash lightly on the shoulder. "Dashiee-eeee," she whined. "Why did ya have to make them go?"

"We can't ask Discord to teleport all the posters around Equestria now," Cheese yawned.

Luna raised her hoof immediately. "I could do it!" she offered, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

"Okay."

The princess left the room, failing to close the door quietly and subsequently shaking Twilight awake again.

Even with The Lord of Chaos on their team - admittedly only agreeing to help on a few occasions -, it took the entire provided two months to perfect every aspect of the party. Twilight had completely refused to stop at just a sufficient amount of organisation.

On the night before the party, Twilight trudged through the door of Golden Oaks, groaning. She used her magic to unintentionally slam the door behind her, making her and Spike - who was standing in front of a full-length mirror - jump.

The dragon was clearly concentrating on fiddling with the bow tie he was trying to tie, but even so he asked, "Long day?" She nodded unenthusiastically. "All done now?"

The alicorn sighed, mildly happier. "Yep. So where are you going, Mr. Tuxedo?" She giggled an poked her assistant in the chest.

He blushed. "I'm taking Rarity on a date. Nothing special, really. Just a restaurant in Ponyville."

"Oh, well that's really sweet of you." Twilight smiled.

"Hey, Twi? Are you interested in getting a special someone? You look like you could use one. You've kinda been a bit...down in the dumps, lately."

The princess went silent for a long, long time. True: she had been acting a little miserable - but she hadn't thought it was noticeable. But, seeing as distraction was what got her looking and feeling that way in the first place, it didn't surprise her too much.

She was, however, surprised at the other part. The possibility that the distraction was there because of something more than simply finding it - or her - aesthetically pleasing.

But there was a chance that it wasn't just that.

Admitted, she had spent very little time with Sunset. But she knew she missed her. Was that just her heart, yearning to see that pony again because of...love?

Surely, it couldn't be that. Ponies couldn't fall in love that quickly. She barely knew Sunset; all she knew about her was that she was secretive, yet sensitive, and interesting, and gorgeous in a way that Twilight couldn't really explain...

She shook her head. In a few days time, maybe she would have to go and visit Sunset, to get her feelings worked out. But for now, there was a party to look forward to.

"Ugh...darn bow tie..."

And a dragon who needed to go on a date.

"Here, let me help," Twilight offered and she used her magic to quickly tie the fabric in the way she had seen and helped her brother do multiple times.

Spike was stunned and a little bit annoyed at her for doing it so fast. "How did you..."

She ruffled his spines. "Go have fun on your date."

He smiled up at her and wrapped his arms around her. He found he was barely able to do so, since she had her new wings as an extra obstacle. "I love you, Twilight."

"I love you too, Spike. Now go on: you don't wanna be late!"

"I know, I know!" he exclaimed, urgently rushing to the door. "But Twilight?" His hand was on the door, ready to close it, and his foot was already outside. "I'm serious about the special somepony - sorry, someone. If you're not bothered: fine, I totally get that. But...I want you to know that...we'll support you, even if you decide to go and be with Iron Will of Gilda or whatever. Just so long as they make you happy, y'know?"

Twilight knew.

"Bye."

She waved, even after the door was shut firmly behind him.

"Rarity, when're ya gonna be done?" Rainbow whined anxiously, shifting her wait from hoof to hoof as Rarity crouched over her sewing machine, making the finishing touches to the dress she was making.

"Nearly there, Rainbow," the unicorn reminded her for the umpteenth time that minute. After a while, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Dash. I tried to get it done yesterday, but I just didn't have time with all the last-minute preparations, and after my date with Spike I was too tired to -"

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with the darn thing, for Celestia's sake!" the pegasus exclaimed impatiently. She bit her lip, her eyes zipping back and forth from the clock on the wall, as if she thought that time would suddenly decide to move forward to eleven o'clock - the starting time of the party.

Suddenly, the needle on the sewing machine stopped with a subsequent satisfactory silence and Rainbow glared unblinkingly at her now finished dress.

Rarity took it out and examined it for a minute, then decided it needed no significant adjustments and levitated it over to Rainbow. She grabbed it and dashed behind the nearby dressing screen.

Five, patiently waited minutes later, Dash emerged. A grin spread across Rarity's face. She circled the pegasus to check that everything fitted. "You look gorgeous, darling," she said, marvelling at her own work. She placed a gentle hoof on Rainbow's cheek.

"Well, duh!" she exclaimed after a second of basking in the wondrous feeling of the compliment. "It's made by the best seamstress in all of Equestria!"

Rarity giggled, rolling her eyes. "Oh, wait one second!"

Dash watched the unicorn rush over to a chest of drawers and pick something up. It took her a second to remember what it was. She lifted her mane off of her neck as the mare trotted back.

"Finishing touch!" Rarity whispered as she fastened the amethyst necklace around her friend's neck.

The moment Rainbow turned to look in the mirror, the door audibly opened and shut with impressive speed. When the two mares turned to see who it was, they spotted Fluttershy sitting down against the closed door.

"Morning Rarity," she greeted, then spotted Rainbow and leapt to her hooves. "Oh my goodness, Rainbow! You look beautiful!"

She blushed as her friend embraced her. "Heh heh...thanks, Flutters. Why are ya here, anyway?"

"To pick up your dress, I assume?" Rarity guessed before she could reply, trotting over to a dress hanger from which was suspended the dress she was talking about.

Once it was levitated into Fluttershy's hooves, she nodded towards the dressing screen and asked, "M-may I...?"

"Go ahead!" Rarity confirmed.

While the timid pegasus was changing, Dash complained in a hushed tone that Rarity had made Fluttershy's dress before hers.

The unicorn explained that since Fluttershy was the main mare at the party she had started working on her dress before Fluttershy herself had asked her to do so.

"How do I look, girls?" Fluttershy giggled as she stood in front of them and twirled in her new dress.

"Marvellous, darling!"

"Gotta say, Discord's a lucky guy." Rainbow jostled Fluttershy with her elbow and laughed when she blushed.

"Th-thanks."

Rainbow couldn't help but continue, "Seriously though: he's gonna drop dead when he sees you."

"Hearts will form in his eyes," Rarity added, going along with it, "and he'll float simply by the power of your beauty."

"You're just recreating what happened when Spike first saw you."

"I know."

"You're kinda being vain."

"Look who's talking."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, laughing. "Touché. But yeah, you look amazing, Flutters. Where is Discord, anyway?" Dash looked around the room, half-heartedly thinking the draconequus was hiding somewhere in Carousel Boutique. "I swear, he never leaves you alone."

Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Oh, well...I-I got him to go pranking with Cheese and Pinkie, so he'd be occupied while I got myself ready for the party."

"What?! Why wasn't I invited?!"

"I did invite you. But you said you had more important things to do than spend time with my, and here I quote you directly, 'out-of-control boyfriend.'" The pegasus crossed her hooves and shot an unimpressed look at Rainbow.

"Uhhh..." Dash scratched the back of her head awkwardly and gulped. "Mmm-sorry," she mumbled. Then, under her breath, she added, "But he is out-of-control."

Applejack was the first of her friends to arrive in the Great Hall of Canterlot Castle, as she had prepared most of the food. She was surprised that Twilight wasn't there, checking and double-checking that everything was immaculate and perfect.

There was a long table on each side of the hall, on which she carefully laid out all the different dishes she had brought.

As the time drew steadily nearer to eleven a.m., each of the other Elements of Harmony entered the hall.

Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich came in first, both adorned with balloons and streamers and ridiculous clothing, and the moment they entered they zipped under the table that Applejack was standing next to. The farm mare didn't bother to question them, even when she heard the sound of guns - supposedly paintball ones - being unloaded.

Precisely a minute later, Discord teleported inside and cause AJ to jump. "Good morning, dear Applejack," he greeted with a greatly exaggerated bow. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where your fellow earth ponies Cheesy and Pinkster are, would you?" He bent forward and smirked as she struggled to form an answer.

"Ah...uhh..."

"ATTACK!!!" Pinkie screamed and skidded out from under the table so suddenly that she was able to catch Discord with a few paintballs from her actually-not-unloaded-but-really-very-fully-loaded paintball gun.

Cheese did the same, failing to hit him as many times as Pinkie but hitting him nonetheless.

The draconequus was stunned for a moment, before he regained focus and tipped buckets of neon-green paint over their heads.

The two party ponies reacted in the exact same way for the exact same amount of time, before the three pranksters all collapsed onto the floor in fits of hysterics.

"I would appreciate it if you'd clean up, you three," a voice stated with just a hint of amusement. Four heads turned to see Twilight and Spike standing in the doorway. The princess was wearing her crown for the first time since her coronation. "The party starts in fifteen minutes!"

"Oh, relax, Twi," Pinkie giggled. "We've got Discord on our team!" Without warning, she leapt at the draconequus, tackling him with a hug.

Discord was so surprised that he couldn't hug her back - at least, not before she had let go again, completely unfazed by the unreturned embrace.

Twilight approached him, laughing. "Discord, you do know that Fluttershy isn't the only pony in the world who can like you, right?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, why?"

She smiled at him. "We're your friends now, Discord. You don't have to act like that's impossible."

He stood with his mouth slightly open, thinking of how to respond properly. Finally, he gulped and said, "You speak so highly of yourself, princess." He folded his arms while she rolled her eyes. Discord cleared his throat. "So, umm...when...when's Fluttershy gonna be here?"

"She, Rarity and Rainbow are all coming together at the exact time of the party, because they want to surprise their dates with what they're wearing." Twilight wiggled her eyebrows at the draconequus, which resulted in them both bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Pinkie asked from the other side of the room, where she, Spike and Cheese were laying out the baked goods they had brought. They had tried to be inconspicuous about sampling a bit of each sugary food, but a telltale smudge of whipped cream was on the pink mare's upper lip.

When the two failed to answer as they kept giggling uncontrollably, she shrugged and resumed the process of accidentally needing to rearrange the decorations on one of the cakes so there was coincidentally a spare sugarcoated adornment.

A mere five minutes later, guests began to arrive.

As expected, nowhere near to the whole population of Equestria turned up. Most of Ponyville took up the majority of the rest of the visitors, and the rest consisted of the families of the Elements.

Twilight and Spike greeted everyone at the door for a while, until three particular mares showed up - one of which proved so distracting for the dragon that he abandoned his post at the main entrance.

He and Rarity didn't wait a second to start dancing, quickly convincing Cheese, Pinkie and the ponies around them to do the same.

Discord - who had been chatting to Cheese and Pinkie - no longer had anything to do so he decided to mingle with the rest of the crowd. To ensure he didn't stick out like a peacock among pigeons, he transform into a pony for the meantime and even then he go some funny looks.

He wasn't tempted to dance at all - that is, until somepony tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"Umm...e-excuse me, sir?" He turned to see Fluttershy, in a stunning white and green gown, looking deliberately faux-nervous.

"I-I was wondering if you might have seen my boyfriend, uh...he's very tall, and he's not your average pony. Actually, he's not really a pony at all. H-he goes by the name of 'Discord'...you seen him?"

The stallion scratched his head and looked around. "Hmm...nope I don't think so. I have no idea why he'd want to miss out on seeing a gorgeous thing like you, though." He smirked, stepping closer to her.

"Oh, I'm not that pretty." She gazed up into his red and yellow eyes as he held her head and drew them closer, muzzles inches away.

"I'm sure Discord thinks you are," he whispered as he leant forward and kissed her. He caressed her cheek - suddenly really missing his fingers - and felt her blushing, just as he was.

Applejack rolled her eyes and looked away. She had only just figured out who the stallion was.

The earth mare craned her neck to look for another one of her friends or family - one that wasn't otherwise occupied. In doing so, she spotted a beautiful mare, wearing a dress perfect for her and her alone.

She looked disorientated, almost like she didn't yet have an immediate meaning to be at the party, or as though she had forgotten the purpose of her wearing a dress, of all things.

Applejack felt it was her duty to remind her.

She weaved through the crowd as fast as she could. When she reached the pegasus she stopped, and stared, and waited.

When Rainbow finally noticed AJ, her bewildered face lit up. She began to say, "Applej -!" but was unexpectedly cut off by AJ's lips.

Her wings and eyes flew open even wider as she felt her face heat up. On all of the dates she had been on with this mare, the mare of her dreams, never had they shared a kiss. Rainbow had desperately wanted to numerous times, but did not feel it was in her place to make a move.

And it was her first, proper kiss.

So what the hay? she thought, only half-noticing the eyes glued to her. The mare she loved was kissing her, and she sure as heck wasn't going to stand there and do nothing.

Twilight was well aware of how many ponies were staring at her as she danced - if one could call what she was doing dancing.

She didn't care.

Her friends - including Discord - were all jiving next to her; some partnered up with one another, others partying solo.

She knew she would never be looked at the same way again when walking through Ponyville; it was one thing for a student of Celestia to be drastically unable to dance, but something completely different for an alicorn princess to do so.

Oh well. Celebrating the return of her friend was more important to her than her reputation.

When the song ended, she was thoroughly sweaty from the relentless movement and thus decided to get herself a drink.

Over at the refreshments table, she downed a pint of water and stood there, looking out over the crowd as she slowed her heart rate and breathing.

She waited until the next song had finished before she thought herself ready to return to the dance floor. However, as she lifted a hoof to begin trotting back to her friends, someone cleared their throat behind her, and it seemed like it was directed at her.

Despite this, she did no more than stay still. A few moments later, the someone said, "Uh, hello? Equestria to Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

The alicorn's heart suddenly did a backflip. She turned, just to make sure, and - yes: it was her!

Sunset levitated a piece of paper that Twilight soon recognised as the posters they had stuck around Equestria two months prior.

"Care to explain this?" She spat, but there was a genuine grin on her face.

Twilight took a step closer to peer at it. "Where did you get this? I assumed you went back to Canterlot High."

"Somepony's been doing her research," Sunset laughed. "The funny thing is, this was given to me by my world's Fluttershy. She just found it lying around near where the portal is. You see, she always hands out fliers for the pet shelter so she originally thought she had just dropped one of her own fliers. But then she saw it wasn't and specifically had my name on it." Twilight noticed the unicorn's name scrawled at the top for the first time.

Of course. That was why Luna had wanted to distribute them herself.

They remained silent. It occurred to her that Sunset was expecting something of an explanation, but Twilight had nothing to give. She idly listened to the music, glancing at the gorgeous mare every now and then.

Sunset cleared her throat again. "Did you...did you really miss me?"

"Excuse me?!" Twilight exclaimed - how did she know that?

Sunset looked hurt by her unexpectedly harsh tone, so Twilight rephrased herself. "I'm sorry, but where exactly did you get that idea?"

"It says it right here," Sunset pointed to the bottom of the paper. 'P.S. Twilight misses you' it wrote.

Again, Twilight had no clue how to respond and looked at the unicorn apologetically. Luckily, she had more to say, "I-I know it won't mean much to you, but...I...I kinda missed you too."

The princess could see she wasn't joking, and her heart started beating faster.

"You were so nice to me, and you...you wanted to be my friend. I..." She gulped, then stepped closer to her. "Please, can we..."

Twilight beamed and pecked her on the cheek. "Of course."

Author's Notes:

It...it's done.
How......what......when......why......

...

Umm...

...

I'll...I will post other stuff, but they'll probably just be oneshots, I guess. And before y'all ask: YES, I AM planning to do a sequel. No idea how long it'll be or when I'll start it, but it's certain that I'll make one at some point.
I hope this was a sufficient ending, I love you all so much!
Well...until next time, guys!