“So, let me get this straight. Discord is planning on proposing to Fluttershy and he needs the park to do so?” The mayor asked, her glasses slipping down her nose.
“That’s pretty much it?” Violet said, hoping that the mayor would let them use a small area of the park.
“How are you so calm? I mean, it’s Discord? Aren’t you afraid that he’s going to hurt her, she’s your cousin isn’t she?”
“Yes, but Discord is not the evil villain you may think, he might have been before, but that was a thousand years ago.”
“But how do you know he loves her?”
Violet glared at her. “You’re kidding right? I have lived with him under the same roof for over a year now, he’s my best friend.”
“You live with him?!” the mayor gasped.
“Never mind about my personal life, this is about whether you are going to let me rent out a small area of park for one evening.”
The mayor sighed. “Fine, but it’s going to cost you 150 bits to rent out the right side of the park for two hours.”
Violet landed a bag of a coins on her desk. “Done!”
The mayor took the money and handed her some paperwork. “Sign here please.” She pointed to a dotted line. Violet signed her name on the line and handed the paper back to the mayor.
“You may go now.” she said. Violet got up and left. Outside the door to the mayor’s office, Discord was propped up against the wall. He straightened up when he saw her. “How did it go?” he asked.
“Great, we have the entire right side of the park to ourselves for one evening.”
"Excellent, now we have a few minutes to spare before we have to pick up the girls from the train station. What's say a trip to Sugar Cube Corner?" Discord grinned.
Violet grinned at him. "What do you think?"
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The two best friends were seated at an empty table, talking while sipping lemonade. Violet looked up from her drink and saw Discord playing with his straw. "You okay?" she asked.
"Sorry, i just can't believe this is happening. i'm just not sure how I feel about this." he explained.
"How so?"
"Well, I feel excited, but also nervous. What happens if I screw up?"
As he said that, Mr. Cake walked past carrying a tray of dishes. He stopped when he heard the conversation. "What are you two talking about?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing." Discord said quickly.
"Didn't sound like nothing, what's going on?"
Discord sighed and gave in.
"I'm planning to propose to Fluttershy on our anniversary. Violet's been helping me." he explained.
Mr. Cake's eyes widened. "You serious? Dude, that's quite an achievement. I'm guessing you've got a case of the wobblies."
Discord stared at the yellow stallion. "Yes, how did you know?"
"I'm already married silly, so I've been in this situation before. I remember when I proposed to Cupcake," he sighed at the memory.
"How did you propose to her?" Violet asked.
"We went to this baking festival because she had just entered one of her best cupcake recipes in the competition and she won. When the judges called her up to collect her ribbon, I walked up onto the stage and proposed right there. Best decision of my life, that was three years ago and now we have two beautiful foals." Mr. Cake explained.
"How did you do it without throwing up?" Discord demanded.
"I knew she loved me as much as I loved her, so there really wasn't anything to worry about, as soon as I said those four little words, she screamed with joy at a volume that could be heard all the way to Canterlot. Just focus on how much you love Fluttershy, because I guarantee that she loves you too." he asked.
Discord looked away. "I still don't know,"
"Hey, what your feeling is just nerves playing tricks on you. You'll be fine and even if she says 'no' is doesn't mean she doesn't love you, it means that she's not ready for that kind of commitment yet, so you could try again in the next year or months." Mr. Cake gave him a pat on the back.
Violet smiled and looked at the clock. "Look at the time, we've gotta go pick up the girls from the train station."
Discord slapped himself in the face and teleported them both to the station, leaving Mr. Cake grinning. "Who knew that the Lord of Chaos would be so worked up over a proposal."
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Not even two seconds of being there, the train rolled into view. Discord summoned a bouquet of flowers for Fluttershy. The doors opened at the Mane Six trotted out, one by one.
Violet spotted her cousin and ran up to. “Fluttershy!” she said, embracing her only living family member. “How was the Crystal Empire?”
“It was great; Flurry Heart is doing well.” At the end of the last summer, Twilight’s sister-in-law Princess Cadence had given birth to a foal, named Flurry Heart. Discord stepped forward and presented the flowers to his marefriend.
“Welcome home, my dear.” he said, bowing.
Fluttershy blushed and took the flowers. “Oh Discord…” she then gave him a peck on the lips, making Discord’s tail switch.
“Hey, I know. Why don’t you all come over to our house for lunch?” Violet offered.
“Sounds good to me!” Rainbow Dash said.
“I’m down with that!” Pinkie chimed, bouncing on the spot.
A minute later, they were all sitting at Fluttershy’s lengthy dining table, eating salads and talking about their day. “My perfumes are getting more and more popular by the minute.” Violet said.
“Really? You know it’s hard to believe how much has happened in this past year. Especially for you Violet,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, seems like only yesterday I was dressed in rags in the kitchen. Now look at me; I have a nice home, a loving family, caring friends, a boyfriend who loves me more than anything and a power beyond my imagination.” Violet said.
The group of friends laughed as they reminisced about the past year and how much has happened. Violet saw the look in Discord’s eye and winked.
“What are you two winking at?” Applejack asked.
Discord turned a pale grey. “Nothing!” he then started shoving the salad down his throat.
The friends all looked at each other, sharing confused looks.
They all turned to Violet. “Violet, what’s going on?” Twilight asked.
Discord turned to her in a panic. Violet held her hooves up in defence. “I can’t tell any of you.”
“Ohhh, a secret!” Pinkie cried.
The pink pony appeared in Violet’s face. “What are you hiding?!” she demanded.
Violet shoved Pinkie back into her seat. “Nothing!”
“Sugar-cube, I know that you’re lying. What is it?” Applejack smirked.
Violet groaned and rubbed her forehead, forgetting that Applejack was a living lie detecter.
“All of you, just drop it! We can’t tell you at all! Deal with it!” she snapped.
Her outburst caused the mares to scoot back into their seats.
“Sorry, Violet. We got carried away.” They said.
Discord breathed a sigh of relief.
The rest of lunch was awkward as the mares kept glancing at Violet and Discord, still curious to what they were hiding. Once everyone had finished, they left in silence, leaving the three roommates standing there.
“Violet, can I talk to you?” Fluttershy asked.
“Sure!”
The two mares went upstairs to their room. Once the door was shut, they sat down on Violet’s bed and Fluttershy stared at her. “What was that all about?” she asked in a low tone.
Violet hid her face in her hair. “Nothing,”
“Violet, are you and Discord…”
“NO!” Violet screamed. “I would never do that! I would never betray you or Comet.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Fluttershy’s face softened, knowing that no pony could break a Pinkie Promise. “Okay, then what’s the secret?” Violet looked away from her cousin.
“It’s…something for your anniversary…but Discord wants it to be a surprise.” She hadn’t told her cousin that Discord had been planning to propose to her.
“Really? Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
The cousins chuckled.
“Okay, I’m satisfied.” The yellow pegasus said, smiling.
“That’s cool. Now I’ve got a date with Comet tonight.” said Violet, getting up.
For at least a year, Violet had been dating a stallion named Comet Blitz. He was a pegasus of nineteen, who worked in the weather factory, where he made rainbows. Violet tied the necklace he gave her for her sixteenth birthday, grabbed her purse, filled with bits and walked out the door. Sure enough, her coltfriend was waiting for her.
He had a golden yellow coat, vibrant blue hair and his eyes were an icy blue. “Violet, you ready to go?” he asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” The pegasi couple walked out the door, leaving Fluttershy and Discord behind. Fluttershy had come downstairs and was facing Discord.
He put on his cheeky grin that he knew drew her crazy. “Now that we’re alone…” he surprised her by dipping her and welcoming her in a passionate kiss.
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Meanwhile, Violet and Comet were sitting by a lake, talking and gazing into each other’s eyes. “It’s beautiful out here.” she said, watching the suns reflection on the water.
“I’m glad you think so, I used to come here every day with my dad.” Comet noticed her tense up. He put a comforting hoof around her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Nah, it’s fine.” she said, brushing her hair out of her face. “What's he like?”
“Who?”
“Your Dad, what's he like?”
“Oh, he's a great guy. Always there for me, we would always come down here and camp here for the night. As a colt, we would go swimming in the lake, sometimes he would dive under and grab me by the tail and try to pull me under,” he paused to chuckle. “Oh he was the biggest crack-up then, drove Mom mad.”
“How come I have never met him?” Violet asked.
“Yeah about that, I have arranged for them to meet you tonight, see the reason you’ve never met them is because they live in Fillidelphia. But I was able to get them to come for a visit, they’ve been wanting to meet you for a while now.” he explained.
“Really, where?”
“There’s a local restaurant in town that I’m taking you to, they’re going to meet us there.”
“I can’t wait,” Violet said, snuggling into his neck. Comet wrapped a wing around his marefriend. ‘Sweet Celestia, I love her so much.'
When the sun started to set, Comet led Violet over to the restaurant. It was cosy winter cabin themed, with beautiful woodworks for the tables and chairs. A fireplace was burning on the far side of the room. Violet spotted a mare and a stallion, both pegasi.
The mare was coral red with her blue greying mane tied into a short curly up do that looked like something from the 80’s. She had a few wrinkles under her eyes and wore a pearl necklace. Her eyes were the same icy blue as Comet’s.
The stallion was slightly chubby and was the same golden yellow as Comet, but his eyes were brown and his short cut mane and bushy moustache was red. He also wore a green dress shirt.
“That’s them.” said Comet. They walked over to the older couple.
“Comet!” the mare cried and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Hey Mom,” Comet said.
“Hey Pop,” he said, playfully slapping his father on the back.
Comet pulled out a seat for Violet and pushed her in, before sitting now next to her. “Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend Violet-Rose. Violet, these are my parents.”
His mother leaned over to shake her hoof. “Bless you, Violet. My son has told us so much about you.”
“Thanks, what’s your name?”
“Oh where are my manners, I’m Sunny Skies, that’s my husband Golden Wing. We’ve heard so much about you.”
“All good things I hope.” Violet chuckled.
A conversation started. “So, Violet. What do you do for a living?” Golden asked.
“Well, I’m a perfume maker. I make all sorts of perfumes and beauty treatments, all from natural ingredients I grow in my garden.”
Golden simply nodded his head.
Sunny noticed the necklace around Violet’s neck. “That’s a beautiful necklace.”
“Oh this, your son gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday last year.”
“Haha, well my boy. You got yourself a good girl.” Golden chuckled.
A waitress came over to their table. “Are you ready to order?” she asked.
“Yes, I think I’ll have the potato soup and what about you, hun?” Golden asked his wife.
“I think I’ll go for the pasta.”
“I’ll have the casserole.” Comet said.
“And I’ll have the pumpkin salad.” Violet said.
“Any drinks?” The waitress asked.
“Just a bottle of Zap Apple Cider.”
The waitress jotted everything down on her notepad. “Your food will be ready soon.” she said.
“So, Violet. Comet’s told us that you are friends with the Mane Six, is this true?” Sunny asked.
“Yes, I’m even related to Fluttershy.” “The Element of Kindness?!” They cried.
“She’s my cousin, on my mother’s side.” Violet explained.
“And, don’t you live with her too?” Golden asked.
“Well, she’s family isn’t she? Her coltfriend lives there too. He’s a very sweet guy, I even see him as a brother.”
“Really?” Sunny marvelled. “Who is her coltfriend.”
Violet paled at this. How were they going to react when she told them about Discord?
“Well, he’s…not exactly popular with some ponies, but my cousin, my friends and even the princesses like him.”
“Who is he?”
Violet bit her lip. Here goes…
“Discord…her coltfriend is Discord the Lord of Chaos.” she said. Sunny and Golden looked at her shocked.
“And you’re okay with this?!” Golden snapped.
“I’ve lived with him for a year now, I’d trust him with my life.”
“But…aren’t you afraid he’ll turn evil again?” Violet and Comet rolled their eyes.
“This again! Mom, that was a thousand years ago. Fluttershy was the one to bring out the good in him.” Comet explained to his startled parents.
“But…he’s…”
“My best friend.” Violet interrupted. “He would never hurt me, my cousin, my friends or anypony for that matter. He’s actually quite a nice guy, he even helped me with my deliveries.”
Once their food arrived, no one said anything for a while. Violet wasn’t too sure about how her boyfriend’s parents felt about her being friends with Discord.
It was Comet who broke the silence. “So…Violet, why don’t you tell them more about yourself?”
His parents looked up from their food. “Yes, tell us.”
Violet gulped. “Well, apart from my job I really enjoy walks in the park and flying. I just love the feeling of being lighter than air.”
Sunny just nodded.
Golden leaned forward. “Well I think those are amazing hobbies for you, but what about your patchwork friend. Don’t you hang out with him?” he asked, venomously.
“Gold, please…”
“I’m telling you Sunny, that ‘Discord’ is trouble and I don’t want my son to be around him. He’s bad news.”
Violet nearly choked on her cider. “Excuse me?! Do you even know what he's been through?”
“He went on a rampage! He’s dangerous! And I don’t want you to come anywhere near my son!” he pointed at Violet.
“Wha...what?”
“You heard me! You either end your friendship or end your relationship!” he shouted.
“Dad! Stop it! I’ve seen it with my own eyes, Discord is not as evil as he used to be!” Comet snapped, slamming his hoof onto the table.
“Comet, what’s gotten into you? Your dating a girl who lives under that same roof as that ‘Freak’!”
Violet couldn’t stand it anymore and broke down crying.
“Gold, that’s enough. You’ve gone and made the poor girl cry.” Sunny got out of her seat and went over to Violet.
“Sunny, stay away from that girl!”
“Gold stop this foalish behaviour right now, you’re making a scene!”
“To Tartarus with that! She can’t be around my son!” he roared.
Comet had had enough. “That’s enough! Come on Violet, we’re leaving.”
He grabbed Violet by the hoof and started to lead her out the restaurant.
“COMET STREAKING BLITZ! YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” Golden Wing roared.
Comet stormed out of the restaurant and didn’t stop walking until they were at Fluttershy’s cottage. They burst inside to see Fluttershy and Discord making out on the couch. The couple broke away seeing Violet crying and Comet looking ready to kill.
“What happened?” Fluttershy asked, running to her little cousin.
Violet sobbed into her mane.
“It was my jackass of a father.” Comet spat.
“What did he do?” Discord asked, concerned for his friends.
“He said that I can’t be with Violet because she lives with you.”
“What!” Discord snapped.
“He…called you ‘patchwork’ and a ‘freak’. Saying that I can’t be with Comet because of this.” Violet spluttered.
Discord shrank back in shock and rage. “He what! But…but that’s not right, what did you do wrong?”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into him, that wasn’t the same stallion who raised me.” Comet muttered.
The four friends sat down on the couch and discussed what happened. “Maybe you should talk to him?” Fluttershy said, her hoof still around Violet.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, he was pretty cranky.”
They all jumped as there was a frantic knock at the door. Comet got up to open the door and saw… “Mom? How did you find this place?”
“I followed you here, I’m so sorry for how your father reacted, he’s been having a hard time at work lately.”
“That doesn’t change the way he spoke to Violet.”
“Please honey, he regretted those things the minute you guys left. He really does like Violet.”
Comet looked back at his friends. “I still don’t know, I just told Fluttershy and Discord and they’re not too impressed.”
Sunny Skies put her hoof on her son’s arm. “Please Comet, just give him a chance, he’s your father and he loves you. Besides we’re already here.”
Comet looked past his mother and saw his father standing there, a look of guilt on his face. Comet had to admit that he felt bad for his father.
“Fine, you can come in, but any funny business, you’re out.”
“Thank you Comet.” Comet pulled the door open and the older couple stepped inside.
“Sunny? Golden? What are you…” Violet began.
“These the ponies who gave you grief Violet?” Discord asked.
“So you’re the infamous Lord of Chaos?” Golden marvelled, looking slightly confused. “I thought that you’d be much more terrifying.”
“And you’re the guy who called me a ‘patchwork freak’.” Discord said, glaring.
“Yeah…sorry about that…it’s just your past…and I thought…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know what I did and lemme guess. You thought Violet must have picked up a few things from me.”
“That’s pretty much it…” Golden muttered.
“Well you should know that you have nothing to be worried about because I’m not like that anymore, thanks to Fluttershy here. And incase you were wondering, I am the last of my kind,” Discord explained. "Long Story, let's just say that my parents were killed along with my kind."
Golden Wing collapsed onto an armchair. “Celestia…I have been such an idiot. The minute I heard that Violet lived with the spirit of chaos, I thought that Comet was going to be put in danger. Seeing this in front of me proves that I was wrong…”
He turned his head to Violet. “I am so sorry Violet.”
“It’s okay, I understand that you were just looking out for your son.”
“Thank you, I think Comet has picked a fine mare.”
“Well, now that’s been taken care of, who’s up for some tea.” Fluttershy said.
“Yes please, I could really use some tea right now.” Sunny smiled. Discord snapped up a large pot of tea, seven tea cups and a plate of cakes and biscuits.
Violet eventually took a liking to Comet’s parents. Sunny was everything a mother should be; kind, loving and caring. Just like her own mother. Golden Wing turned out to be a rather nice guy that Violet took a liking to very quickly. She was happy when he and Discord started joking about random things. Fluttershy just listened politely and poured out the tea.
Violet and Comet shared a look of relief and satisfaction. “I think they like you Violet,” he said.
“Is it that obvious?” she smirked, planting a kiss on his lips.
They broke away blushing. Once all the tea and nibbles were gone, it was time for the parents to leave.
“Tonight was great, a few hiccups but it was great.” Violet said.
“Glad you think so.” Sunny said, pecking her on the cheek. “You know; I’ve always wanted a filly. You might be the closest thing I’ll ever have to a daughter.”
Violet then remembered her own mother, she hadn’t known how much she missed her. The mare who sacrificed herself for her daughter. “Well I hope to see you two again soon.” she said, trying to hide her sadness.
Once they left, Violet finally let her tears out.
“Violet? What’s wrong?” Comet asked.
“It’s just…meeting your parents has made me realise how much I miss my own.” she sobbed into her boyfriend’s embrace.
“Oh Violet…” Fluttershy said, wrapping her arms around her cousin. Discord joined in and wrapped his serpent-like body around them all, since it worked better for him.
Violet enjoyed to warmth of their bodies, sealing her in a protective shield. She felt the tears slow down as the comforting warmth entered her body. She pulled away, sighing. “Thank you guys,” she murmured, her cheeks glistening with her tears.
Violet slept peacefully that night.