Chapter 10

"Discord Goes Too Far"

Twilight could not believe what was happening around her. What was supposed to be nothing more than a relaxing night for Celestia had been turned upside down. The Grand Galloping Gala was now hijacked by Discord's "plus one," the Smooze, as it spread its ooze all over the floor and trapped many ponies in the gunk. The princess of friendship fired several blasts of her magic at the smooze in an effort to combat it, but it was no use.

"None of my magic works on this ooze," she cried, covered in ooze along with Celestia. "Can you stop it?"

Celestia was enjoying herself being covered in the ooze, but knew that she had a duty to protect her subjects. She attempted to activate her horn, but the ooze at the tip prevented her from doing so.

"I'm afraid not!" replied Celestia.

"Discord, how could you bring him here?" thundered Twilight as Discord floated by.

"Oh, he's not that bad," replied Discord, not seeming to care about the situation.

Twilight and Celestia gave him a glare as he floated by. With their magic rendered useless and their hooves glued to the floor, both Twilight and Celestia could only watch as their subjects struggled. Celestia was now beginning to panic slightly as the sounds of ponies crying out for help were heard.

"I've got to free myself somehow," thought Celestia to herself. "My subjects need me. What am I going to do?"

Twilight could see that Celestia was starting to become stressed and wanted to help her, but she too was trapped in the ooze. The last thing that both princesses wanted was for Celestia's anxieties to come back and reactivate the effects of the Shingles virus. Just then, the sounds of a strange noise were heard and Celestia and Twilight could feel the ooze leaving their bodies.

"Let go Smooze," said a pony in a pink frock with red dreadlocks. "Bliss out."

The noise continued for a few more moments and soon, the floor was freed of the smooze's ooze as well as the ponies that were also trapped. Twilight sighed to herself as the ooze pulled off of her body, feeling relieved that Celestia's anxieties were lowered before they got any higher.

"That was close," sighed Twilight. "If it weren't for Fluttershy's friend, Celestia would have been in pain again and I can't have that happen again."

With the smooze back to normal, it seemed like the rest of the night was going to go on without incident. However, Discord's anger was growing at Fluttershy's friend and he had gotten to the point where he couldn't keep his anger in any longer.

"Stop it! Stop it!" he snarled, peeking out from behind a disco ball. "That's it! I'm done with you, Tree Hugger!"

"Oh, man, you're really bumming me out," replied Tree Hugger, pretending not to be intimidated. "Can you just, like, lower your voice a skosh?"

This was the final straw and without warning, Discord clawed a hole in the window and dragged Tree Hugger towards a portal that led to another dimension. Twilight could see that Discord was going too far and he needed to be stopped.

"Come on, we've got to stop him!" she cried to her friends who confronted Discord, ready to take him down. "I can't let him do this!"

However, while Twilight had rallied her friends, Celestia could only watch with a sense of amusement at what Discord was doing. She knew Discord very well and could see that this was his way of expressing his frustration.

"He won't send her to another dimension," she thought to herself. "Discord knows better that friendship will prevail over almost anything. All he needs is to be told what he is doing is wrong."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy," called Twilight. "We'll stop him."

Seeing what they were about to do, Discord grabbed a disco ball and attracted the smooze to fetch it like a dog.

"Fetch the disco ball," thought the creature of chaos and the slimy creature went after the ball, absorbing Twilight and her friends into his body.

Seeing her faithful student in danger, Celestia suddenly felt her adrenaline rise as the Smooze followed the disco ball which was now rolling towards her and several other ponies. Using her magic, Celestia picked up the disco ball and pushed over to the left side, away from her and the other ponies. But, the Smooze wasn't falling for it and continued on its path.

Suddenly, Celestia felt a sharp pain in her back and knew that the effects of the shingles virus was starting to once again take its toll. This caused Celestia to get down on her left foreleg and groan in pain. Twilight saw her mentor in pain and tried to break herself free of the ooze prison she was in.

Fortunately for her, Discord reached his claw out and grabbed all of the jewels that the Smooze had consumed, reducing him to a normal size and freeing Twilight along with her friends. Once freed, Twilight ran over to her mentor and helped her get back up.

"Are you all right?" cried Twilight in a worried voice. "Let me help you up."

"Thank you," panted Celestia, wincing in pain slightly but trying to keep a positive outlook on the events that had just happened. "That was sure was enjoyable, wasn't it?"

Twilight smiled a little bit, but the well-being of her mentor was first and foremost on her mind. Twilight then led Celestia away to a corner of the ballroom where several guards came to their aide.

After a few moments, Celestia was checked out and after being given the all clear, was able to return to the Gala, standing at a far right corner in front of the stage much to the relief of everypony in the ballroom. Despite all that had happened, Celestia managed to maintain her positive outlook, but Twilight was concerned that the night was ruined and that Celestia had suffered briefly from the effects of the virus.

"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia," said Twilight as she and Celestia watched while Pinkie and the Smooze danced. "I thought I could give you a break tonight. But, it turns out I was in over my head."

"You have nothing to apologize for," replied Celestia, happily. "This has been the most fun gala in years!"

"I know," replied Twilight, somberly before picking up on what Celestia was thinking. "It was a…what? But, there was ooze all over the place and a guest tried to send somepony to another dimension."

Twilight's protests about the evening were ignored, for Celestia didn't seem to care.

"I know," Celestia replied, spreading her wings out as she spoke and pushing Twilight to the dance floor. "Can you imagine how dull it would've been if I hadn't invited Discord? Come on! Whoo! The night is still young!"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing and neither was Discord, thinking that he had harmed Celestia by doing what he did on this night. In his mind, he knew that he needed to apologize to Celestia for his actions, even though she would just brush them off…