In a familiar cottage in the rural outskirts of Ponyville, the chaos master Discord at a small table in the living room sofa alone with four scrolls magically unfurled in front of him. He grinned as he finished looking over the final lines on each. “I’ve really gotten the hang of this ‘OOREV President’ thing. Hatching friendly get-togethers has become almost as fun as hatching evil schemes…especially when I enchant the invitations to pop up where a person will least expect them.” He chuckled. “Oh, I bet the ladies are going to give me quite a talking to for this. But really, mischief is to be expected when dealing with the lord of chaos.” He snapped; each scroll rolled up and disappeared with a dramatic flourish.

Discord sighed and reclined back in his chair, mumbling to himself. “I just hope those girls manage to stay on track about reformed villain talk this time. The last few meetings have gotten a little off-topic.” He rolled his eyes. “And after everything lately, I could really use a chance to—”

“Discord, I have the tea all ready now!”

The sound of Fluttershy’s voice coupled with her hoofsteps as she approached the living room from the kitchen made Discord stop his mumbling and quickly sit up straight with his usual charming grin. “Wonderful, Fluttershy!”

She entered now, a tray balanced on her back bearing a teapot, a sugar bowl, and two cups. She smiled at him. “Is everything okay? I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

Discord snapped to float the tea tray onto the center of the table. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. I was just mumbling a witty observation to myself about something. Now then, shall we officially start our Tuesday tea?” He snapped to make a high tray of cucumber sandwiches appear on the table as well.

Fluttershy nodded and took her seat. “Oh yes, I’d like that very much, Discord.” She started to pour their tea. “Um…I know it’s a lot to ask again for this week, but would you tell me the story one more time about you and Starlight and Trixie and Thorax saving everyone from Chrysalis?” She swallowed, her eyes going down a little.

Discord raised an eyebrow as he took a sandwich with his paw and took another one with his tail that he placed before her. “Fluttershy, I’ll tell that story as many times as you’d like, but are you really sure you want to hear it again? It seems to frighten you each time…and I’m giving you the tame version as a courtesy already.” He took a deep breath, looking down a little too. “And I know the whole experience must have been upsetting for you at the time, of course…”

Fluttershy’s usual smile returned. “Yes, hearing it does scare me a little, Discord. But it also makes me really happy. I feel so proud of you every time you tell me again what you did: how you came for me and helped all of our friends too. You’re my hero, Discord.”

He was quiet for a moment, eyes wide. “You saved me from my past so I could save you in the present,” he finally replied as his gaze met hers. “You’re my hero too, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy blushed with a big smile. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” The chaos master’s smile warmed. “Now then, I’ll be glad to tell you the Chrysalis story again, but first let’s try sharing something a little more lighthearted, okay? For example, is anything going on in your little pony life that you’d like to tell your good buddy Discord about?” He polished off his sandwich in one bite.

“Oh, well, I suppose there is.” Fluttershy sipped her tea. Then she bit her lip and started, “Um…Twilight and the rest of the girls and I got invited to a tea in Canterlot next Wednesday after lunch…”

“How potentially boring yet very safe-sounding. I approve” Discord nodded as he snapped his tail and made a brown bottle appear that squirted chocolate sauce into his tea. “I’m sure you’ll have a nice time. Make sure to fill up on fancy food, and try not to let the hustle and bustle of the capital overwhelm you.” He sipped his tea.

“Thank you, Discord.” Fluttershy smiled a little as she touched her sandwich with her hoof then added, “Actually…it’s a tea with Princess Celestia.”

“Oh.” Discord instantly looked down into his cup as he snapped away the bottle of chocolate sauce. “How nice.”

“Yes.” Fluttershy cleared her throat. “And, um…the Princess told Twilight to tell me to tell you that you’re invited too.” She shrugged. “Princess Celestia would really like you to come, I think. She says you haven’t dropped by in a while.”

“I see.” Discord cleared his throat then managed a sheepish shrug. “But I’m afraid I have an engagement booked that Wednesday evening.”

She frowned a little. “Discord, are you avoiding the princess? Did something happen? She even sent me a letter a week ago asking if there was anything wrong with you.”

“What—avoiding her?! No, no, pfft, no…” Discord waved off Fluttershy with a forced smile.

Of course, she sighed and lowered her eyelids: the look that suggested she was seeing right through his lies.

The chaos master dropped the smile and sighed, hunching over his teacup a little. “Okay, fine, I’ve been…sort of not seeking out her company for a couple months now. I just…I…it’s nothing, really. There’s a silly thought that came into my head that I need to get over, but I’m simply not ‘there’ about it yet.” He rolled his eyes. “But, either way, I really do have plans that day, I promise. Before you came into the room, I sent away some scrolls confirming the date.” He smiled again.

“The date for what?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.

Discord frowned a little again. “I…Oh, Fluttershy, I wish I could tell you, but we’ve all made a promise to keep it a secret. It’s something just between me and some friends, and I—”

“Discord?” Fluttershy interrupted with a smile.

“Yes?” He bit his lip.

She sipped her tea again. “As long as whatever you’re doing makes you happy and isn’t dangerous, I’m glad for you. And if you made a promise to some friends to keep it a secret, I wouldn’t want to ask you to break it.”

Discord smiled again. “Thank you.” His smile grew. “It’s a secret that’s good for me. And I know you want me to take care of myself: that’s the only reason I would ever put this special secret thing over spending even more time with you, dear Fluttershy.” He swallowed, blushing lightly. “It helps me, in ways I never thought it would actually.”

“I understand.” She smiled warmly up at him.

Discord chuckle. “Fluttershy, you’re the greatest. Have I mentioned that lately?”

She blushed and looked down into her tea. “Oh, I’m not that special.”

“You are a treasure,” he assured with a nod as he topped off both of their cups from the teapot. “And speaking of that fact, how about we cut right to me telling you again about my heroic attempts to stop Chrysalis and save you. You and I really are two of my favorite subjects after all.” He winked.

Fluttershy nodded, her smile bright. “Okay, Discord. I’d like that.”

Discord leaned back in his chair, teacup in hand, and began. “So it all started with my phenomenal sense of timing as I realized I needed to pop into Ponyville and see what Twilight’s little student was suddenly complaining about. And would you believe she was suggesting the notion that all of the powerful beings in Equestria were gone when I was still quite safe and sound? But of course, all insult got put aside when she revealed that you—oh, and our other dear friends too—had been captured! So that’s when I made the—pardon the pun— ‘snap’ decision to rescue you no matter what.”

Fluttershy took a bite of her sandwich, her attention fully engaged in his tale as Discord went on and their Tuesday tea continued.

Meanwhile, in the science lab of a certain human high school, a familiar yellow and red haired student (wearing goggles and a lab coat) leaned toward a beaker filled with green liquid. She carefully positioned a beaker of red liquid over the top and bit her lip as she slowly poured out the contents. “Come on, come on…Yes!” As the red liquid hit the green one, a rainbow puff of smoke escaped the beaker. Sunset smiled brightly as she straightened up. “Ha! I knew it! Distilled juice of red and green apples in this world can be induced to make zap apple juice! My favorite.” She sighed, admiring the now rainbow-hued liquid in the beaker. “Sometimes I really do miss Equestri—AH!”

Suddenly the contents of the beaker turned into a pink and blue checkerboard pattern and squirted up onto her goggles. Sputtering, Sunset wiped away the mess with the sleeve of her lab coat. “What in the—huh?” She blinked at the sight of a scroll now stuck to her goggles and then noticed the single word printed on the outside. “OOREV…”

Sunset unfurled the scroll, pulled off her goggles, and sighed. “Discord has got to stop sending these meeting invitations via pranks…though that was a good one, I guess.” She smiled a little as she read the scroll. “Yada, yada, yada…our next meeting date is Wednesday…it’ll be at his cottage, as usual…a reminder that he’s still the president…instructions for me to just toss my reply scroll into the portal at the statue and he’ll take care of the rest…and…oh!” She blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Hmm: a ‘Spread the Reform’ theme—bring a new formerly evil friend to the club meeting.”

Sunset lowered the scroll and brought a hand to her chin, looking up. “A new formerly evil friend? Discord, seriously, there aren’t a ton of true villains in this world. Where would I find a newly reformed friend? Principal Finch is still horrible last I heard, the Sirens have disappeared. I guess there’s Gloriosa but I don’t really know her well and she’s so far away. Plus I think she would kind of freak if I just brought her to Equestria…” She slipped off her lab coat.

“Sunset? Oh, there you are!” Twilight Sparkle suddenly popped her head into the science lab with a smile. “Are you still up for helping me with apartment hunting?” She pushed up her glasses and shrugged sheepishly. “I’d really like to find a place soon. It’s been months now that you’ve been letting me stay with you, and I want to let you get back to your privacy.”

Sunset’s whole look brightened as her eyes came to rest on Twilight.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Uh, Sunset? Is something wrong?” She glanced down at herself then back up just as Sunset came forward and hooked arms with her.

“Oh, no, of course not!” Sunset grinned, a twinkle in her eye. “And hey, you’re welcome to stay with me as long as you’d like. But for now, sure, let’s go look at apartments. And while we’re browsing, I have an interesting magical proposition for you…”

“Really?” Twilight raised an eyebrow as they started to head down the hall.

“Yup.” Sunset nodded. “Just promise to hear me out completely before you answer. I think it’ll be really good for you.”

“Well…all right, Sunset.” Twilight nodded. “I’ll listen.”

“Great, great…” Sunset lead her around a corner, and the two girls headed out of the school doors together.

Meanwhile, back in Equestria (at the lake just outside of Ponyville, to be precise), two pony friends wearing sunglasses rested on lounge chairs with cups of cider magically floating beside them.

Trixie Lulamoon yawned and stretched against her chair. “I’m so glad you got the afternoon off from studying with our ‘illustrious friendship princess’, Starlight. It’s too beautiful a day to spend it locked up in a drafty crystal castle.”

Starlight Glimmer sipped some cider and smiled. “The castle’s actually pretty great—once you get used to all the rooms. And I like studying. But you’re right, today is too beautiful not to be outside enjoying it. And Twilight does tell me that spending time with friends is very important.”

Trixie nodded and turned over, stretching a little. “It’s just a shame we can’t go for a swim too.”

“I know.” Starlight shrugged as she used her magic to make a reflective tanning board appear in her hooves. “But spring only just started—the air might be warm, but the water’s still too cold. By next month it’ll be great though.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Trixie magically raised her cider glass. Starlight raised hers too. Their glasses clinked, and the two friends giggled.

And then they heard a loud sound as a shadow rose over them.

They only had a moment to stare up in wide-eyed surprise as large wave of lake water arched through the air and finally dropped, soaking them completely.

As the water receded back into the lake, Starlight and Trixie just sat on their chairs shivering, their manes heavy with water, their cider and sunglasses long gone. And now they each had a scroll in front of them imprinted with one word on the outside: OOREV.

Trixie scowled and ground her teeth. “I am going to get that klutzy draconequus for this!”

Starlight sighed, her look dry as she raised up the scroll, wrung it out, and unfurled it. “Not if I get him first.”

Trixie shook off some water and unfurled her scroll too.

Starlight’s eyes scanned the invitation. “So let’s see…hmm…all the usual info…”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “And yes, Discord, sheesh, we remember you’re the president…” She blinked and smiled again. “Oh, hey, he actually compliments you and I on not bringing up the club in front of others even during a time of crisis when we were fighting Chrysalis…”

Starlight smiled again too. “That wasn’t easy—glad he at least recognized that fact.”

Then Starlight and Trixie blinked and read the next line aloud at the same time.

“A ‘Spread the Reform’ meeting!”

“A ‘Spread the Reform’ meeting!”

They looked up at each other, eyebrows raised.

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “But Discord already picked out all the reformed villains at our first meeting.”

Starlight shrugged. “Okay…well, instead of thinking of villains, let’s think of any new friends we’ve made since the first meeting and then figure out if any of them could count. After all, we’ve been through a lot since our first get together.”

“Okay…” Trixie nodded and considered. “Hmm… well, Flurry Heart was born since then, but she’s a princess, not a villain.”

“Unless you count all of her antics that Sunburst writes me about as villainous.” Starlight chuckled. “And speaking of Sunburst, he’s sort of like a new friend, but I guess he doesn’t count. He was never evil.”

“There are those friends of yours in your old village, but none of them were ever bad guys.” Trixie wrung out the water from her mane.

Starlight wrung out her tail. “And there’s all those friends Twilight and the rest of the girls have made in their adventures for the cutie map, but none of them were really bad guys—most of them just made some mistakes.”

Trixie pouted. “Come on, we need a new person in our lives who’s been part of something bad but who’s turned things around. I’m sure there must be someone.”

Starlight nodded, her brow furrowed. “Yeah, someone who’s been through a lot and would really benefit from having others to talk to.” She brought a hoof to her chin as Trixie did too. “New good guys who used to be bad…”

They remained in through a moment longer. Then they blinked, sighed, faced hoofed, and said at the same time:

“Of course! The changelings!”

“Of course! The changelings!”

Trixie grinned and magically made her cape and hat appear on herself. “Quick, let’s claim them before Luna or Sunset get the same idea!”

“But we can’t just bring the entire changeling hive to the meeting.” Starlight smiled a little. “I don’t think Discord’s cottage has that many chairs.”

“No, but we can bring a very specific reformed changeling to the meeting.” Trixie’s eyes hazed as her grin grew. “One we became good friends with last month during our adventure to stop Chrysalis….”

Starlight blinked then smiled more, her eyes hazing as well. “Well, now that you mention it, it would be pretty impressive to show up to the meeting with royalty.” She raised an eyebrow. “But he’s so shy, do you think he’ll go for it? And could bringing one person count for both of us at the meeting?”

Trixie shrugged. “I think we can coax him. And like you said, it’d be for his own good. And royalty would totally be impressive enough to count for both of us…” She nudged Starlight.

“Well…” Starlight nodded. “All right, let’s go ask him!”

“Okay, then!” Trixie magically wrote a quick reply scroll, sent it away, then dashed over to her wagon, harnessed herself, and grinned back at her friend. “Road trip! Come on, we’ll have just enough time to make it to the afternoon train north!”

“Coming!” Starlight laughed as she magically sent off her own reply then hopped aboard the wagon. “And on the ride we can rehearse what to say to him. And I’ll write to Sunburst and see if he can go to the hive and cover for him for the day.”

The two mares drove off, chatting and giggling in excitement.

In Canterlot, meanwhile, Princess Luna slept soundly on this bright, warm afternoon. As other ponies frolicked in the daylight, she lay nestled safely in the dark tones of her bedding with blue curtains surrounding her canopy bed and heavy shades drawn against her windows. She turned in her sleep with a smile as she dreamed.

And then with a burst of magic, her shades whipped open, her bed curtains flew up, her blankets all disappeared, and just for good measure a spotlight suddenly beamed down on her.

Luna’s eyes popped open as her pupils dilated. She sat up, cringing as she tried to block the light with her hoof. “What in the name of the stars?! I—Oof!” Nearly blinded, Luna went to turn over and accidentally fell to the floor where she found herself exposed to even more direct sunlight from the windows. She blinked a few times and then watched as a rolled-up scroll bearing the word ‘OOOREV’ slowly wafted down and landed on her nose. She glared at the paper. “Discord…”

The moon princess sat up and unfurled the scroll. “I will haunt his nightmares, I swear…” she mumbled as she read to herself. “Next meeting…same time, same place… At least he’s keeping the time just after sunset for my sake. And yes, Discord, we know—you’re still president. This meeting’s theme: Spread the Reform…?” Luna’s eyes widened. “I am to bring a new formerly-evil friend to the club meeting.” She frowned a little as she looked down in thought then sighed. “Yes, well, I’m sure I can think of someone. Of course, I can. I’ve come a long way with making friends after all.” She made the scroll disappear and then started restoring her room to its normal state. Just as she climbed back into bed though, there was a knock and Celestia’s head appeared around the edge of her door.

“Sister?” the sun princess said softly. “Are you all right? I was passing by, and I thought I heard a crash.”

Luna smiled as she snuggled back down against her pillow. “Oh, twas nothing—I just fell out of bed, but I’m all right now. Thank you for checking though, sister.”

Celestia smiled. “Of course. Have a good rest, Luna. I’ll see you at dinner. Shall I make any special requests from the chefs?”

Luna shook her head. “Nay, I have no preference this evening. I’m sure any specialty they make will be fine.” She blinked. “Oh, but could you let them know I won’t be home for dinner next Wednesday? I have an engagement.” A proud smile came to her features.

“I see.” Celestia’s smile picked up on one side. “Is it another super secret mystery engagement?”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Celestia, you make it sound like I’m a filly going off to play with friends. Yes, it’s a secret, but nothing ridiculous. Just a private matter.”

“Well, you’ve been very cagey about not sharing any details, and very insistent that it’s an important engagement every time whatever it is has come up.” Celestia shrugged and smirked a little. “I’m just trying to figure out whether you’re an undercover spy or just dating some stallion you don’t want to bring home yet.”

“Celestia!” Luna blushed, her eyes wide. “We do not have a secret coltfriend like a teenager, and we are royalty—not a spy.” She nestled into her pillow with a pout. “I’m just spending some special time with special friends again, that’s all.”

“I know.” Celestia’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to tease you. I’m just glad you’re getting out a little more and that you look forward to these meetings so much. And if anyone we both know is there, please say hi to them for me.”

Luna’s smile softened too. “Okay, sister.”

Celestia nodded. “Goodnight, Luna.”

“Goodnight, Celestia.”

Celestia closed the door, leaving Luna in soft darkness again.

Once she heard her sister’s hoof steps recede down the hall, Luna turned over in bed and sighed. “A new reformed friend—some sort of now non-evil being…” She bit her lip slightly but tried to smile. “Yes, of course, that really shouldn’t be too hard for me.” She magically penned a quick response and sent the scroll away.

The moon princess tried to close her eyes and fall back asleep with that assurance, but instead she remained half awake in thought until she finally rose at sunset to begin her nightly duties.

As the afternoon finally wore to evening, Discord found himself flying over Ponyville with a smile. “Tuesday Tea always perks me up.” He swallowed and added to himself in a low voice, “It’s nice to see Fluttershy safe and happy again. And I’ll tell the story about me helping stop Chrysalis every week for the rest of eternity if it makes her feel even safer and happier.”

His smile fell for a moment but he quickly cleared his throat and resumed his usual grin as he landed on a path near the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Anyway, it’s been a few hours since I sent out my OOREV invitations. Time to check my magical mailbox for replies.” He snapped up a colorful mailbox, reached inside, and pulled out several responses.

He quickly read each scroll with a grin. “Sunset says she’ll be there and also says she’ll drag me through the magic mirror if I don’t stop pranking her—she’s not sure what species I would turn into in her world, but her bet is on me turning into the school statue. Oh how, droll… Ah, but yes, she’s definitely coming and with a friend!”

Discord flipped to the next couple of scrolls, which happened to be attached. “Starlight and Trixie both say Wednesday works for them and promise to bring someone very special along. And they also promise to pummel me with magic if I ever cover them in cold lake water again. Intriguing…”

He chuckled and went to the next response. “Luna threatens to give me orderly nightmares if I ever surprise her with daylight like that again. And she says she’s coming…and that a ‘Share the Reform’ meeting sounds like an interesting idea. So I guess that means she’s bringing somepony too.”

He shrugged and went to a fifth scroll. “Ooo, and a reply to the very special invite I sent to my own reformed buddy.” He grinned as he unfurled it. “Nothing but a check mark made in green ooze. I’ll take that as a yes. Perfect.”

He snapped the scrolls and the mailbox away. “Yet another meeting of OOREV is officially ready to go!” He sighed. “And just in time too.” His eyes went down a little. “I can only tell Fluttershy so much about what happened to me in that hive and how I feel—I don’t want to scare her. But at least the others—they’ll understand.” He cleared his throat and raised his head with his usual smirk. “Now to head back home.”

He was about to snap up a portal for himself back to Chaosville but paused. “But I suppose, to be polite, I ought to do one more thing first as long as I’m sorting the mail anyway.” He snapped up a scroll and a quill, and mumbled to himself as he wrote.

“Dear Celestia,

Got your invite from Fluttershy for Wednesday, but I’m afraid I can’t make it. I’m a very busy master of chaos. Thanks for thinking of me though, and enjoy the tea party. If I have time, I’ll send some chocolate milk rainclouds over to surprise you.

—Discord.”

The chaos master sent the scroll on its way with a snap of his fingers. “I’m dealing with my villainous issues at the moment—my Celestia issues will have to wait until later. One emotional landmine at a time.” He suddenly clapped his hands together. “Time to start making party plans for the meeting at my cottage. OOREV all the way!”

He pumped his fist in the air with a big grin and disappeared in a burst of magic, ideas bouncing around his chaotic head already for their special get-together next week!

Author's Notes:

Hi everyone!

Hope you enjoyed the prologue :) I'll try to post the main story before the season premiere this weekend (I think the main story is also going to take place prior to the premiere). Then after the premiere there'll be a small epilogue.

Thanks so much for reading!

~Azure129