"I-I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but in the end, we were simply fabulous, if I do say so myself."

"Well how else am I gonna describe something that was stupendous, terrific, and wonderful at the same time?"

The Rainbooms all found themselves in incredibly high spirits as they congratulated each other backstage. Outside, they could still hear the cheers of the crowd calling their name. Only Sunset was reserved in her enthusiasm, as many conflicting thoughts and emotions weighed heavily on her mind and heart.

"I reckon we all deserve a pat on the back," said Applejack, tipping her hat to the Sirens. "Especially you two. You really surprised us with that there light show."

"I know, right?!" Sonata gushed, floating about with her Equestrian magic. "I mean, did you hear 'em, Aria?! They were cheering! For us!"

"Y-yeah. I-I guess they were," said Aria, looking over at her silky fins. "But, how did that happen? I thought our magic was destroyed."

A voice coming from seemingly everywhere echoed around the Rainbooms. After a brief search, they found Discord coming out from below a dimensional trapdoor.

"All ponies from Equestria, whether they be from the land, sea, or sky, have Equestrian magic within them," Discord explained. "That magic cannot be destroyed; merely diminished. When the Rainbooms defeated you, all they did was deny you access to your dark powers."

"Pretty much," said Rainbow Dash with a shrug. "At least, that's what Sunset believes. And she knows more about this stuff than we ever will."

Sunset looked up at Discord. "I-I don't understand. Why did you set all this up?"

Discord smiled. "After our little argument, I discovered that something was amiss with these two," he said, gesturing to Sonata and Aria. "Instead of storming home empty-handed, I decided to stick around and get the full story. I overheard your conversation with Aria, and then it hit me."

"The ultimate way to prove that I'm a changed draconequus. As you know, I have a reputation for destroying friendship. So, I figured if I used my powers to create friendship, there would be no way for you to dispute my word."

Sunset looked over at the Sirens, and then back at Discord. "So, you invited them to join our band because..."

"I see you're catching on, Sunset Shimmer," said Discord with a nod. "Not only have I exposed these lovely ladies to the magic of friendship, but I've done away with their sole reason for hating the Rainbooms. Now we can all be friends!"

Aria blinked. "W-wait, wait. Time out," she said, gesturing with her hands. "Th-there has to be a catch to this. I mean, you wouldn't just give us our magic back just so that we can all get along. That's not you."

"It is now," said Discord. "A lot has happened in Equestria since your banishment, Aria. Although I suppose there is a slight catch in your case."

"The magic you used on that stage is not the dark magic you're used to. You can no longer hypnotize others or feed off of negative energy."

Sonata tilted her head. "But if we're not feeding off of negative energy, where do our powers come from now?"

"Why, from the magic of friendship, of course," said Discord with a wink. "That and music."

Aria frowned. "So, what? You expect us to go against everything we ever knew and change overnight? We've been creating conflict and feeding off of negative energy since the beginning. That's all we understand. This magic is great, sure, but we could never use it on our own. Besides, without our dark magic controlling what people think, everyone hates us. You can't exactly use this precious magic of friendship without friends."

A sudden epiphany hit Sunset like a ton of bricks. Aria's words caused a cascade of painful memories to flood her mind.

But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart. I don't know the first thing about friendship.

The turmoil and confusion disappeared from her mind. In its place was a sharp pang of guilt. With a deep sigh, she approached the Sirens.

"Listen, I understand how you guys feel," she said, casting her eyes downward. "You just discovered a new way to be strong without causing suffering to others. It goes against everything you've done up to this point. You're scared, and you don't know what to do."

"Oh, please," Aria huffed. "I-I'm not scared. I just don't think this'll work. No, I know this won't work. W-we can never get anyone to listen to us without our powers."

"You sure about that?" asked Applejack, arching an eyebrow. "Sonata here had the guts to try."

"And Discord was defeated by the Elements of Harmony; the ultimate weapon of friendship," said Sunset plainly. "Aria, maybe you don't want to admit it, but I've been in your position before. For the longest time, I had to endure everyone being cold and distant to me because of what I did at the Fall Formal. Sometimes, I even wondered if I'd ever be accepted."

She then looked up at Aria, tears welling up in her eyes. "Well, I'm here to say that I'll accept you two. And as someone who can truly empathize with you, I'll help you through this if you'll let me."

"That goes for me as well, girls," Discord said somberly. "Everything Sunset here has said applies to me, believe it or not. That's why I wanted to become her friend in the first place. It's nice to have a friend who knows what you're going through."

Sonata twiddled her fingers. "Y-you mean, people will adore us again? For realsies?"

"Not just that," said Sunset with a warm smile. "They'll adore you because you're good people, not because you force them to."

"Don't forget about us!" Pinkie chimed in. "We can teach you loads of stuff, too! Right, girls?"

Sonata's eyes watered. "Aria, I-I feel weird again. I-I'm so happy right now. S-so, why am I c-crying?"

"And what's wrong with that?" asked Discord with a sly smile. "From what I heard, you're pretty sappy yourself when it comes to Sonata."

"No, I can vouch for him," said Sunset with a giggle. She then held out her hand. "What do you say, Aria? Friends?"

Aria looked at the hand for a moment, then at Sonata, then back at Sunset. Finally, she sighed.

"I suppose this is better than not having magic at all," she said, taking Sunset's hand. "Alright, I'll give it a shot. But I'm just doing this for Sonata."

"Yay! People will like us again!" Sonata cheered, throwing her arms around Aria and Sunset.

"Not only that, but we're all besties now, too!" Pinkie chirped, joining in the fun. "This calls for a celebration! Slumber party at my house!"

A sharp, angry voice interrupted the festivities. Everyone turned around to see a battered and bruised Adagio Dazzle. Egg yolk, tomatoes, and bits of cream pie decorated her hair, and her clothes were ripped and torn. She glared daggers at Aria and Sonata, her hands clenched into fits.

"I knew you morons were a lot of things, but I never thought you'd be traitors!" she spat, pointing an accusatory finger at the two.

"Eep!" Sonata squeaked, hiding behind Aria. Aria herself had a smug grin on her face.

"S-stop laughing! You're the one in trouble here!" Adagio screamed. "After everything I did for you idiots, this is how you repay me?! By joining our greatest enemy?! You two must really be braindead!"

"Me?" Discord asked innocently, casting his gaze upward as a halo appeared above his head.

Discord furrowed his brow and stroked his goatee with his paw. "I don't follow."

"Well, I heard about what you did to Sunset Shimmer this morning, and from that, I pieced together how you led me astray," said Discord simply. "I couldn't have you ruin my last chance to get in Sunset's good graces, so on the off chance that you didn't accept my generous offer, I took a few precautions."

"B-but I did accept!" Adagio bellowed. "You set up those traps to sabotage the Rainbooms so that they wouldn't be able to use their magic against you!"

Discord sighed and shook his head. "Tsk tsk tsk. You really don't get it, do you, Ms. Dazzle? I just told you what the traps were for. And if you had just put your petty revenge scheme aside and joined your friends on stage, you would've gotten your magic back, too."

"Why do those, those turncoats deserve their magic more than I do?!" Adagio howled. "I'm the one who dedicated myself to your will! I was priming Sunset Shimmer for corruption the entire time!"

"That's just it, Adagio. I don't want to corrupt Sunset Shimmer," said Discord. "My only goal in all this was to become her friend. I've long since retired the status of a tyrant, and I've discovered that friendship truly is magic."

Adagio's face lost all color, and her entire body trembled. "Th-that's impossible. Y-you're— Th-this doesn't make any— Sh-she was— But I— Th-they— Ooooh~."

Aria stifled a laugh. "Heh heh heh. I-I knew it was gonna be hilarious to see this bite Adagio in the butt."

"We're still gonna help her, though. Right?" asked Sonata. "I mean, this new magic would make her act a lot less crazy."

"Yeah, I suppose," Aria conceded. "Adagio might be a pain in the neck, but she's our pain in the neck." She then smirked. "Besides, it's about time she followed my lead for a change."

"Let her know that we're extending the same courtesy to her, then," said Sunset.

Applejack arched an eyebrow. "You sure 'bout that, Sunset? I mean, she almost drove you and Discord apart."

Sunset let out a self-mocking chuckle. "If people like me and Discord were given a second chance, why not her?"

Aria looked down at Adagio and scoffed. "I think we need to get someone home, don't you?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "Of course you did," she said. "C'mon, help me out here. She's probably a bit heavy."

With that, Aria and Sonata hefted Adagio off of the floor and over their shoulders. Aria turned to the Rainbooms and smirked.

"Yeah, bye!" Sonata said with a wave. "Looking forward to that swim team thing!"

"Just remember that you have a bathing suit for a reason, a'ight?" said Rainbow Dash, waving back.

The Rainbooms and Sirens exchanged goodbyes. As Aria and Sonata left, they began talking.

Aria chuckled. "You're telling me. I never knew I was so good with the saxophone."

"Hey, maybe we should find an instrument for Adagio, too! Then we can have our own Equestrian magic band!"

"If it'll stop her from pestering us about getting revenge on the Rainbooms, I'm all for it."

"Hey, I have taste! I had enough taste to try and befriend the Rainbooms, didn't I?"

The two of them continued to bicker and argue all the way out the door. The Rainbooms watched in stunned silence before Rarity cleared her throat.

"Those two have an, um, interesting way of displaying their affection, don't they?" she said.

Rarity stopped herself mid-sentence when she caught sight of Applejack's knowing grin. "Ugh, I almost walked into that one."

Sunset giggled. "I think those Sirens know more about friendship than they think they do." Her smile faded, and she hung her head. "That's more than can be said for me."

She looked up at Discord and heaved a great sigh. "Discord, I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have been so hostile towards you. Especially since now I know that you're telling the truth about your reformation."

Discord shook his head. "No, Sunset. I'm the one who should be sorry. I appeared before you without any sort of warning or indication that I had changed; you had every reason to doubt me. What's more, I didn't really bother to listen to you and find out what you really wanted. I just acted on my own initiative, thinking that at long as my intentions were noble, and they were, you'd be fine with it. It was wrong of me to make that assumption."

"That doesn't excuse what I did, though," Sunset mumbled. She hung her head again as a few tears fell from her face to the floor. "You were right. I was acting like a hypocrite. I should've been more patient with you, but I was too worried about being corrupted or backstabbed. I-I didn't want to go back to..."

Sunset nodded. Discord pulled on the powder puff at the end of his snake tail and tore out a handkerchief, using it to dry Sunset's face.

"If it makes you feel any better, Sunset, I'm not offended," he said warmly. "In fact, it's all the more reason I should share the blame for what happened. I honestly thought that us being similar was a good thing, and I didn't take your feelings into consideration. I really should work on that."

"B-but you didn't really do anything wrong," said Sunset. "I'm the one who should—"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Pinkie growled. "You were both wrong, and you already apologized to each other! So stop kicking yourselves and make up already! I don't host pity parties!"

Discord couldn't help but laugh at Pinkie's choice of words. Sunset let out a chuckle of her own.

"She's right, you know," said she. "We still have a lot to learn about friendship. It's only natural for us to make mistakes along the way."

"Indeed," said Discord. "Which is why I came here in the first place. This road is a lot less treacherous if we tackle it together." He then extended his paw. "So, what do you say, Sunset Shimmer? Friends?"

Discord's face lit up as he coiled his body around Sunset and gave her a big hug. Sunset returned the gesture as she felt a great weight tumble from her shoulders.

"H-hang on, I got something in my eye," said Rainbow Dash, brushing away a single tear.

Rarity giggled. "Of course, darling," she said. Suddenly, she looked down and discovered that her keytar was strapped around her shoulder. "Oh my! Wh-where did that come from?"

The tender moment was interrupted by Vinyl poking her head through the curtain. She hastily cleared her throat.

"Um, not to interrupt, but the grand piano on stage suddenly went missing," she said. "I don't know where it went."

The Rainbooms looked at each other, then at Rarity's keytar, and then at Discord. Discord cast his gaze upward and whistled innocently.

"Wait, so Rarity's keytar was the piano the whole time?" asked Fluttershy, scratching her head. "Th-that doesn't make sense."

Discord let out a hearty laugh. "Oh, Fluttershy. What fun is there in making sense?"

Dear Princess Twilight:

Well, it turns out you were right about Discord. He really did change his ways in the time I was gone from Equestria. I'm very happy to call him my friend now. Not only that, but he actually helped us reach out to the Sirens as well. It's a bit of a long story, and I'm sure Discord will give you all the details himself. For now, I want to focus on a few lessons that we all learned today.

Discord learned that while it's great to take initiative, you can sometimes get a bit carried away if you're not listening to the person you're trying to help.

Sonata Dusk learned that friends can always guide you through new experiences, especially when they're frightening.

Aria Blaze learned that showing concern for someone you care about is not a sign of weakness.

Adagio Dazzle...

Okay, she didn't really learn anything. At least, not yet. We're gonna be working on that.

As for me, well, I learned a little something about trust. I knew all about Discord from Equestria's history, and that's all I knew about him. Seeing him pop up without any prior notice and claiming that he had changed had me suspicious. And I was right to take his word with a grain of salt. But that didn't mean I was justified in latching onto any excuse I could to oust him when he was genuinely telling the truth. Being skeptical about the extraordinary is perfectly healthy and natural. By the same token, however, you can't just assume that you're in the right.

Very truly yours,
Sunset Shimmer

Twilight looked over the page in her magic book and smiled. Nestled between the pages was a little postcard depicting a picture of Discord, Sunset, Aria, and Sonata. All of them wore large smiles, except for Aria, who settled for a half smirk. Sonata was also giving Aria bunny ears behind her back. On the back read the following:

Told you I'd send a postcard.

~Discord

Twilight chuckled. "I guess this is how Celestia felt whenever she got stuff like this from me," she mused. "Y'know, I could really get used to that. Well done, Discord. And congratulations on your new friend, Sunset Shimmer; my most faithful student."

Reformation Buddies

by Metool Bard

The More the Merrier