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!