//------------------------------// // Party Time // Story: Breaking Habits // by Gosky3 //------------------------------// Just one day after another catastrophic event had threatened the whole country, Equestria was back to normal, with only Ponyville’s residents having been truly affected. And of course, wherever any opportunity arose near Pinkie, a party was soon to follow. Everypony was gathered in the ballroom at Twilight’s castle, which was decorated to the roof with streamers, confetti, balloons, and any other ornament you’d expect at one of her parties. Yet despite the festivities, a surly Discord sat off to the side, while the rest of the town was enjoying the sweets and entertainment that came with every celebration. He exaggerated a sigh. “May I ask exactly what has occurred that demands a party in my honor?” he asked when the party planner finally came near. “Because, silly, it’s your very first Went-Through-An-Existential-Crisis-That-Almost-Threw-Equestria-Into-Chaos party!” Pinkie declared with far too much enthusiasm. He merely rolled his eyes and jeered, “I wonder how many times you’ve thrown one of those....” “This happens to be the fourth one yet!” She gave a wide smile and then hopped along to cater to the other guests. Ignoring why she’d ever had throw more than one of such a celebration, Discord’s attention was drawn to the ponies still partying among cake and friends. He wondered if even they knew why they were celebrating. He hadn’t done much to deserve this. Right before he went into deep thought over the subject, his ears perked at the sight of Fluttershy drawing near, along with the rest of her friends. He wasn’t sure if he’d want to talk with the others, though, especially after yesterday’s events. Nonetheless, there was no escape at this point. “Why, hello, my dear,” he weakly smiled. It was at this time that he noticed the majority of them carried what looked like gifts. He almost gagged at the thought. “I’m assuming that those are for me?” Twilight stepped forward and levitated her gift within Discord’s grasp. He glanced lazily at the wrapped box, but wouldn’t take it off her hooves. She sighed. “We realized we don’t give you enough credit for just being you. And everypony deserves that much. So, what better way to show our gratitude than with gifts?” The draconequus pushed the box back toward her. “I appreciate the thought, but I hardly need gifts when I can create anything without thinking twice.” He snapped up a score of wrapped boxes all around the ponies. “That’s true, but you can’t create something that has meaning.” She pulled one of the gifts open with her magic to reveal that there was nothing inside it. There was nothing inside any of them for that matter. The fake presents then disappeared, but Discord still refused any offerings. Teasingly, Twilight nudged the present in his face. Again, he was reluctant, but ultimately decided to take it. Tearing the wrapping off in a single go with his talon, he opened it and pulled out - to no surprise - a book. Upon opening it, however, he discovered that there was nothing written on the pages. “I think this one’s defective.” He continued flipping through the dozens of blank pages, trying to figure what it was. The princess giggled. “It’s meant to be a journal. I was thinking, you could probably conjure and read any book that you want in all Equestria. But what if you got to write your own stories and notes?” She smiled. “...A journal?” She nodded. “For writing?” Her grin only grew in anticipation. Clearly she thought this was the best gift there was to offer. Although he had a lot of criticisms, he resolved to keep his mouth shut, lest disappoint them all. “...Thank you.” He hadn’t ever thought of writing anything for himself. That could prove rather interesting, considering he’d been around longer than any of the other princesses. Then again, it was highly unlikely he’d stay in one place wrong enough to write half a word. “Might I go next?” Rarity kindly asked before revealing her unwrapped gift: a long scarf with an erratic pattern of various colors and crystals on it. “I wondered what types of clothing might suit you, and once I got the idea of a scarf in my mind, I simply couldn’t let it go.” She took the liberty of wrapping the accessory around his neck. Of course, his immediate inclination was to take it off, but he decided to keep it on. At least until everypony left. The rest followed in the same behavior, stepping up and presenting their gift, each of which usually served little function to him - including Applejack’s basket of apple-related treats, and Spike’s action-packed yet rather unengaging comic books. The only one he remotely enjoyed was Pinkie’s gift of cupcakes. And there was no doubt that he’d enjoy whatever gift Fluttershy offered, but it did happen to be a homemade pillow that was surprisingly comfortable. After only a few minutes, though even that was far too long for Discord’s patience, the only one who hadn’t presented a gift of some sort was Rainbow Dash. She stood nervously behind everypony else, trying to shield herself as if they would forget she hadn’t given him anything. Unfortunately for her, Pinkie jubiously bounced over to her. “So where’s your gift, Dashie?” She jumped all around her, checking every corner of her body. “Ooh, ooh! Is it invisible?” “Rainbow,” Applejack pressed her friend. “You brought something, right?” Rainbow Dash meekly stepped out of the crowd of ponies. “Well...I had a gift. I mean, was going to…” So far, nopony was impressed with her excuse. After frantically looking around and finding no sympathy, she burst into a rant. “Okay, what in Equestria would you give to somepony who can make anything they want? If I knew he’d take comics, scarves, and an empty book, I’d have brought something!” “What about a hug?” Pinkie suggested. “No,” she and Discord replied in unison, with dead seriousness in their voices. “I think that’d be just fine,” Fluttershy said with a smile, condemning the two to make amends after everything that had happened so far. The two of them looked at each other unsurely, awkwardness already settling in before they even made a move. Discord glanced over to Fluttershy in hopes that she would change her mind. She didn’t. The two edged closer to one another, trying to put off the inevitable. A few more moments of sheer discomfort passed, until Rainbow broke. “Okay, this is ridiculous. Here!” She practically flew into the draconequus’ arms and embraced him for as long as the two could bear before suddenly letting go. "All right. Happy...existential...crisis...chaos thing." Rainbow angrily blushed. "Why, thank you," Discord smirked at Dash's embarrassment, ignoring his own. But he did appreciate the thought. There was some idle chatter among the group, discussing trivialities that only close friends would care to talk about. The conversations that lasted for what seemed like an eternity only drove Discord more and more mad. Whenever he had a minute to think, he considered whether or not he should keep his presents or throw them into some other dimension. He'd have to keep the pillow, of course. Then again, the scarf was getting rather comfy. And the apple themed desserts didn't taste that bad, either... After a while, everypony was starting to become bored of the small talk. Soon, Pinkie brought life back to their celebration. “Well, are we all just gonna stand here? C’mon, ponies, this party hasn’t even started!” She rushed over to turn on some music and liven up the party for the town. Not long after, everypony was back into the spirit of things. Before joining the rest of them, Discord took a moment to observe the ponies as they went to dance, play games and stuff themselves with cake. He couldn't understand how they were here all merrily, when yesterday he’d sent the entirety of the town into pure chaos. He didn't even comprehend why he himself was allowed anywhere near here. To be fair, though, he hadn’t had any spontaneous urges to turn the balloons into disco balls, or turn the streamers into snakes in quite some time. After creating a hideous world with no chaos, as well as reviving his chaotic playground that engulfed Ponyville, he wasn’t sure if his magic itself was safe to use. It didn’t seem possible for him to have a better roll in Equestria than the despot who ruined everypony’s lives. As he continued to look, however, he started to become bored with the lackluster party favors and cliché games that’d been used time and time again in these ponies’ parties. He couldn’t bear to watch it any longer, and yet was apprehensive about only causing more of a mess. But living like this - whether holding back chaos or letting it roam free in the world - wasn’t truly living for him at all. Resolving to find some odd compromise in a magic that was meant to be unpredictable and unbalanced, he snapped and added his own flavor to the party. Wilder decorations took form. There were impossibly-shaped balloons and floating streamers; the crystal walls became a variety of colors and were bouncy like gelatin. The treats were replaced with an assortment of odd-looking goods that didn't seem all that edible. The pony residents were immediately shocked and almost appalled by the sudden changes. Discord winced and started to regret having done anything at all. He closed his eyes, expecting an uproar of hatred from the crowd. Yet instead, he heard a roar of joy and elation. Much to his surprise, the ponies seemed to actually enjoy the unexpected liveliness added to the party. The fillies were the first to enjoy it, ricocheting off the gelatinous walls and stuffing themselves with the bizarre sweets on the tables. Others were mystified by the strange decor, inspired by the impossible geometry of the balloons, or toying around with the magic streamers. Soon everypony was making games out of their new chaotic playthings, and having even more fun than before. Discord had probably seen the majority of the universe’s untold secrets...and this had to be one of the oddest things he’d ever seen. “So when I cause a tsunami on a hot day I get chastised, but when I liven up a party it’s fine?” Discord defeatedly slumped down on the floor. “You ponies are ridiculous.” Ponies were legitimately enjoying some of his creations, things that he assumed only he could appreciate - maybe sometimes Fluttershy. It wasn’t that he’d never tried entertaining others, it’s just that it’d never actually worked before. But right here, right now, he was making others happy with his nonsensical sense of humor. Even if it was only for a little while, at this party he’d never asked for. Maybe there was a balance between chaos and reality? “Come on, Dizzy, are you gonna be a party pooper at your own party?” Pinkie yelled from across the room, where she was dancing with the rest of her friends. “Shake that tail of yours!” The others signaled him to come over and dance. He’d usually be annoyed by the thought of spending time with any ponies other than Fluttershy, but right now he was in the mood. He teleported next to the Mane Six and began showing off some of his silly and random dance moves, including his feet tap-dancing on their own and his body twisting in all sorts of illogical ways. And he was actually having a good time for once, along with everypony else. It was never a concept he could quite grasp. Him, coexisting with ponies? Living happily amidst both harmony and chaos? Something about that just didn’t make any sense to him. But then what fun is there in making sense?