//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Return // Story: Groom of Eris // by Autistic Writer //------------------------------// The Gala was well under way with guests that were coming near and far. It was the biggest party anypony had ever seen. The décor was outstanding and the food was delicious. The Gala could be marked as the largest turnout of the century, even the Canterlot snobs were appreciating the turnout, while adding their own opinions and remarks about the smaller fillies and colts in attendance. Bubbleberry was entertaining the guest with a little song until he saw a sight that most of the colts and fillies were already staring at. "RAINBOW BLITZ," Bubbleberry screamed over the microphone, leaving most of the guests with ringing ears. The pink stallion ran over to his Wonderbolt friend and gave him the biggest hug in the world. "Bubble Berry,” Blitz managed to get out before being hugged by the party pony. The grip in Bubble Berry’s hugs rivaled a boa constrictor. “I missed you too, Bubbles.” "You made it," Dusk Shine said as he and Applejack raced towards their two friends. "Of course I did, I wouldn't miss this for the world, you guys are my best friends. I will always be there for you guys, regardless if I was with the Wonderbolts or not," Rainbow Blitz smiled. "Where are Exclusive and Butterscotch?" "Well Elusive is getting the CMC's ready and Butterscotch is practicing for the big song for tonight," Dusk Shine answered. "Wait, wait a minute hold the phone…now give the phone to me," Blitz stopped his friends for a moment, "Butters is doing what?" "Butterscotch is going to sing tonight," Applejack cheered. "And he is going to sound awesome," Bubbleberry added. "Butterscotch," Blitz was trying to understand what he was hearing, "You're kidding, right?" "We thought it would be a great confident boost for him," Dusk Shine said, smile strong as ever. "Sure, like keeping a Parasprite as a house pet," Rainbow Blitz wasn't too confident about his other best friend singing. Blitz knew about Scotch's stage fright and was afraid that Butterscotch wouldn't be able to handle a task like singing in front of an audience. How could his friends even suggest something so ridiculous? Though, he probably wouldn’t put it past them either. Barbara was wearing a sparkling green dress and was looking upon the appearance of the white stallion that was in the ball room. "Elusive" Barbara sighed lovingly, her eyes quickly forming hearts. It was obvious to everypony that Barbara loved the fashion designer. Her heart could just burst out of her body. However, she reeled it in. "Oh, there's Regal Splendor," Elusive flew past Barbara to greet the mare that would soon be taken by him. "Wait, Elusive," Barbara tried to stop him, but he slipped through her fingers. Her eyes glared at Elusive and Regal greeting one another. A stallion stood behind Barbara as he attempted to speak. "You know Barbara if you want to dance, I could…" Applejack gulped looking down at the dragon trying to hold the confidence to ask her to dance. "You mean it, Applejack?" Barbara smiled hopefully. "Well, umm yeah" Applejack nervously said, sweat beading down the side of his face. "Could you ask Elusive to dance with me?" Barbara looked hopefully at Exclusive silently praying that Applejack would help her out with her crush. "Now Barb, that wasn't what I…" Applejack tried to tell Barbara, but there was no fighting the hopeful dragon that was begging for his help. "I will do my best" he sighed, and with one last look, he started on his way towards Elusive. "Hey Elusive, you got a minute?" Applejack poked the stallion by his shoulder. "I am in the middle of talking to Regal" Elusive hushed his friend. Applejack was apparently throwing off his game. "It's important," Applejack pushed. Elusive knew it probably wasn't important, but he looked to Regal. "I am sorry, this will only take a minute my dear," He said kissing her hoof and walked over to Applejack to get some privacy. He was irritated that Applejack called him away from such a fancy mare. "I am here, now what is it Applejack?" Elusive had an annoyed look on his face. "Barbara wants to dance with you," Applejack pleaded. He really didn't want to ask Elusive this, because he knew the end result. However, Barbara had asked him, and he wasn't going to turn down Barbara at all. "Don't ruin this for me," Elusive said "Regal just got out of a relationship, so she is a bachelorette. If she thinks that there is something that is going on between Barbara and me, she won't make me her coltfriend." "Wait, you and Regal are...?" Applejack said and also felt a hint of sadness for Barbara as well. "Well, not exactly, but this could be my once chance to land the mare of my dreams," Elusive looked ecstatic as he said this at the moment. "What about Barb, the poor thing will be heartbroken," Applejack said, worry written across his face. "We are just friends, I am sure she will be just fine," Elusive said, "If you will pardon me, my date awaits." Applejack saw Elusive disappear in the crowd of ponies and stallions. A tap on his hoof surprised Applejack. He looked down seeing the dragon smiling. "Well, how did it go?" "Umm well, it went… You know dear, umm" He looked down as he couldn't let her down. As much as he wanted to comfort her, he couldn't risk seeing Barb in such a state of sadness. It was like an adorable puppy that a pony couldn’t take in. Applejack couldn’t do it. "He might save you one teensy little dance." "Oh really, that's wonderful" Barbara gave Applejack a hug. The breaking of his heart was getting a little bit to much for Applejack. He had to lie to himself in order to see Barbara's own happiness. "Yeah, it definitely is." Applejack was pouring juice into small cups for some of the guests to drink. “What were you thinking Applejack? Of course, she wouldn’t notice you, I doubt she would if you went as far as to have a sign saying ‘I love dragons.'” Applejack was enraged at Barbara and Elusive. However, the one he had to blame was himself. Why couldn’t he just tell her? “All you have to do is confess your feelings. I love you, how is that so hard?” Applejack growled. He then took a deep breath. “Don’t let it bother you AJ. Maybe you still have a chance. You just need to wait it out.” AJ soon noticed Rainbow Blitz and Dusk Shine came over by the table. He faked a smile to mask his true emotions. "Have you seen Butterscotch? We haven't seen him anywhere," Dusk Shine asked Applejack. "Well, I haven’t really seen him, but why don’t you check the garden. I think I remember him practicing his singing," Applejack suggested "I'll go," Rainbow Blitz smiled before zooming over to the gardens. Applejack saw Barbara going up to Elusive and Regal as he gave out a sigh. What does that stallion have that I don't have? "Are you ok, Jack?" Dusk Shine sensed a great sadness within his friend "Yeah, everything's fine" He wore a fake smile as he lied to his friend. He couldn't let the other know how deeply unhappy he was at the current moment. "If you say so," Dusk Shine said, smiling, as he went back to greet more guests. “You know, I feel so bad for Barbara.” Applejack turned face him as Dusk continued, “I know that Elusive doesn’t like him in that way, but I don’t want to see Barbara heartbroken either. I just hope some stallion will gain the courage to ask her out.” Applejack felt guilty. He knew he should say something, but he couldn’t. How would Barbara react to such words? “Well, I am going back to greet the guests, you take care okay?” Dusk Shine said before teleporting back to the front area of the castle. As the Prince of Friendship appeared, he immediately heard a commotion in the front halls. It clearly needed his attention, as it sounded like it was getting louder. "What do you mean I can't get in? I thought everypony near and far was invited to this event. That is very rude. Where is your supervisor?" a voice growled at the doors. Dusk Shine noticed the guards were barring a gray coat mare from entering and he flew into action. "Hey there, this is a party. Everypony is invited." "But sir," One of them protested. The guards felt something was off about this particular mare. "Ahem" Dusk Shine glared as Prince Tempo stood at the side of him "Is there a problem here?" "Umm no Prince Tempo," The guards bowed down as the mare flew past them and bowed before Dusk Shine and Tempo, "You are too kind your majesties." "No need to be too formal, everypony is invited to this gathering," Prince Tempo smiled. Dusk Shine waved as well as the mare stepped inside the party. "Thank you for showing up," The mare smiled with yellow eyes. She couldn’t believe how easy it was to infiltrate the castle. 'No, thank you for letting me in; Even though I am not what you think I am. What a fool.' "It's ok Butters, it's going to be ok," Butterscotch breathed in and out, preparing himself for when he was called up for his turn to sing. He hit his hoof into the water in frustration, "Argghhh, who am I fooling, I can't sing. Why should I even try?" "Why? I think you sound great," a voice called from behind the Pegasus. The stallion turned to find Rainbow Blitz standing a short distance from him. Butterscotch quickly ran over and hugged him when he recognized his old friend. "How have you been?" Butterscotch smiled. "I have been fine" Blitz nodded to his nervous friend, "how about you?" "About the same," Butterscotch sighed. "Really? Because that's not what I have been hearing from the rest from our friends" Blitz said "It's the nightmares, they just won't go away," Butterscotch shook his head thinking about his nightmares with every passing moment. "I am just concerned that Eris might return." "What? Do you think Eris is in there, cleverly disguised, and waiting to make her move? Don't be ridiculous; she is gone for good. It’s just bad thoughts trying to get to you. We are at a party; you need to cut loose. Speaking of which, your song is up next." "It's ok; I don't feel like singing," Butterscotch said, hoping to avoid having to sing in front of ponies he didn't know. "Hey, you aren't chickening out of this one," Blitz stood in Scotch's way. "What about the time you handled those hurricanes?" "Flying is very different from singing. Everypony isn't watching you waiting for you to fail" Butterscotch said "Ok, what about the time you sang that pet song with me" Blitz remarked "That was when it was only you and thousands of animals and critters. This is a whole room full of ponies, colts, fillies, and stallions, I am not sure if I can sing in front of all of them; I'm scared" Butterscotch cowered in fear. "Hey, you won't be all alone. I am here to support you. You'll be just fine" Blitz smiled leading Butters back into the party. "Yeah, I guess. Let's do this" Butterscotch said half-heartedly before looking away towards the gardens. With a finishing sigh, he followed his friend into the party. "Oh, this party is so incredibly dull," Eris said in her pony disguise. It was one thing that she had to take the form of one of these creatures, but it was a whole other thing that she had to wear a dress. Eris, the goddess of Chaos wouldn't be caught dead wearing a death trap like a dress. "I will give these ponies credit, they managed to liven up this party," Eris said, shaking her head as she talked to herself. "How are you supposed to hold anything with these hooves," Eris said as she tried to grab a drink, though every time she brought it up, it would slip through her hooves. Eris saw some colts and fillies running from under her. "Do you mind? You winged spawns from Tartarus. Geez, who invited these brats here anyways? Note to self, never have kids." "If there is something I hate more than ponies, it's younger ponies," Eris shook her head in distaste "Watch where you are stepping" She growled. She couldn't wait until Equestria was within her fingertips. Then, she would put all the brats in cages. Eris saw some ponies getting punch, and she decided to have a little fun her own way. She snapped her finger when nopony was looking. A rabbit appeared and started to run across the table where the food was laid. As the animal ran, it knocked over many of the bowls and plates that scattered the table top. AJ ran off to catch the rabbit when it jumped away from it. The chaos that had ensued at the serving table made Eris laugh. "If I knew a party could be this much fun, I would have returned years ago" She snickered as she pranced off to cause more mischief. "And you reach your right hoof in and you reach your left hoof out" Bubbleberry continued to distract the audience until Butterscotch was found. Dusk Shine smiled and grabbed the microphone. "Thank you, Bubbleberry" Dusk Shine said, glad that his friend was able to stall everyone. "You're welcome, Dusk" Bubbleberry smiled as he went offstage. Eris shook her ear; finally that stallion does something right for once. "Mares and Gentlecolts, I would like to welcome you to the Grand Galloping Gala" Dusk Shine smiled. "Blah blah blah" whispered Eris. "We have so much fun planned for tonight. Including an air show from the Wonderbolts!" Everypony cheered, though Eris couldn't care less about the things going on that night. "But, first we are going to hear a song from a very close friend of mine. The bearer of the Element of Kindness himself, Butterscotch." "Wait, that wimpy Pegasus is going to sing?" Eris held down a laugh. She couldn't believe they were going to let him sing. “He is probably going to get too scared to even stand.” Many of the female unicorns, Pegasi and earth ponies were gasping in awe, leaving Eris confused. What was making all these ponies gasp? It sounded like they were looking at a town christmas tree for the first time. "Ok, I'll bite, what is everypony staring at-" Eris froze, looking at what everypony else was looking upon. What she found caused Eris to immediately drop her chocolate milk glass that she had been drinking. It was Butterscotch in a suit that seemed to leave Eris star struck. The stallion looked incredible in his green suit. Her eyes couldn’t help to follow the young stallion on the stage. Eris moved a bit closer in order to get a better look. The stallion looked divine. His mane was distinguished; his eyes sparkled like gems, his coat shined like lemonade on a hot, sunny day. Eris was dumbfounded. Oh my goodness, he is so….so…. The sound of a record breaking in her mind wakes her from her trance. She used the excuse that it was a momentary relapse and she kept repeating it to herself to break herself out of what she was feeling. Butterscotch approached the mic, licking his lips. He felt incredibly nervous about singing. He had done it before, but there were many ponies and stallions watching him. Would he do well or would he be terrible? A part of him wanted to walk off stage, but he saw the faces of his five friends and smiled. He raced to the mic and sighed. He took a deep breath and started to sing the song. Hearing Butterscotch's voice beginning to fade, Eris felt lifted by Butterscotch singing such a heartwarming tune. Was this the same stallion that entered the labyrinth with his friends? The same stallion she has watched most over the years that she has known him. Where has he been all her life? She quickly snapped out of it, "I have to stop this madness." A puff of magic came from the stage, which made all of the guests in attendance give a gasp of surprise. Dusk Shine, Elusive, Bubbleberry, Applejack and Rainbow Blitz were clearly dumbfounded, unsure on what to do. Everypony had looked upon the sight of the goddess of Chaos onstage with unsuspecting Butterscotch, who was still singing. He hadn't the ponies stares and in turn, didn't realize his nightmares were becoming a reality. He flew up in the air as he felt all of his troubles were melting away by the sounds of his voice. For the first time in a long time, Butterscotch was happy. An unknown partner had twirled around Butterscotch, and he had dipped his partner down. He wanted to get a good look at his partner. When he opened his eyes, the object of his nightmares was staring back at him with a smile. "Oh Butterscotch, I didn't know you were such a great singer... and dancer" Eris giggled. Butterscotch was frozen in fear upon staring at the Goddess of Chaos. Rainbow Blitz soon came to the defense of the frightened Pegasus. "Get away from him" Rainbow Blitz glared at Eris. He managed to grab his best friend from the slithering draconequus. "What? We were only dancing" the draconequus smiled "Eris" Dusk Shine glared. He couldn’t believe she was back. "What are you doing here?" Prince Tempo added. "You're highnesses" Eris smirked as Prince Tempo and Prince Dusk Shine realized that Eris was the mare they had let in through their doors. "It was such a good chance to see you all again. Sorry if I didn't send a message of my arrival. I wanted to give everypony a surprise," Eris spotted the Crusaders who hid behind Elusive, Applejack, and Bubbleberry and smirked: "Why if it isn't my three little saviors?" "What do you want, Eris?" Dusk Shine was beyond enraged. "Oh, will you put a sock in it" Eris snapped as a pair of socks was stuffed in Dusk shine's mouth. He tried to spit out the pair, turning away from the conversation. "Seriously, give him wings and a crown and its all 'I am better than everyone else,' Geez, it's so boring," Eris shook her head in distaste. "Why are you here?" Dusk finally got the socks out of his mouth, though he had to deal with the horrible taste of hooves stuck in his taste buds. "Well, I am a party crasher of course. While I am at it, I am here to take over Equestria," Eris smirked. Everypony has gasped. They all feared the worst of what Eris could do. “She could turn us into chocolate,” One said. “She could take away our wings and horns,” “She could summon the pink elephants. Anything but the pink elephants!” As Eris grinned, Dusk Shine began to laugh with confidence, “What’s so funny?” "You should have stayed in hiding. Now, you are going to get turned back into stone where you belong." "Umm, I would mind embarrassing you here, but don't you need the Elements of Harmony to do that?" Eris pointed out the fault in Dusk’s plan. "We have…"Dusk Shine shouted, before promptly realizing that he and his friends had stopped wearing them years ago, "We don't need them to beat you." Dusk Shine was prepared to fight against Eris. Her response was yawning and waving her hand in her mouth, while effortlessly snapping her fingers to make Dusk's horn disappear. "Hey, give it back" Dusk Shine ordered "You are really a stick in the mud" Eris snapped her fingers to match her words to the situation. Bubbleberry couldn't help but laugh as Dusk Shine tried to get out of a large puddle of mud that had appeared. Rainbow Blitz couldn't take it anymore "No one makes fun of my friends and gets away with it!" Eris chuckled seeing Rainbow Blitz speeding up. She snapped her fingers to change her clothes into a matador outfit holding up a red blanket up to tempt Rainbow Blitz. "Toro! Toro!" She said playfully. This left Blitz even angrier, and his speed increased as he charged towards the goddess of chaos. Just before Blitz hit her, she flew backward, revealing a pillar that Rainbow Blitz met with full force. Eris cheered "O le!" before turning back to the others. "Have you all learned nothing from our last encounter?" She laughs manically "You all thought I was gone for good. Except for you my little Butterscotch." "Wait, how?" Butterscotch asked "I have been watching you" Eris interrupted him. "By the way, if you ever want a dancing partner, I'm available." "You touch him one more time; I will give you such a pounding." Blitz glared at Eris "You wait until the Princes come back," Dusk Shine glared "Ahh, does Dusky need Daddy Solaris need to come bail him out again?" Eris smirked, "I am afraid Solaris can't help you in his current…" She used air quotes "Predicament," "What do you mean" Dusk Shine darted his eyes back "See for yourselves" Eris snapped her pretty little fingers again as she showed everyone that Solaris, Artemis, and Gleaming Shield were in a cell together. "Those are the princes!" Barbara cried out "What have you done with my wife?" Prince Tempo bared far more hatred for the draconequus than anything he had met before. "Nothing I assure you. The foal is perfectly fine. However, it would be a shame if something were to happen to his mother before birth," Eris looked down "What" Prince Tempo's eyes widened "Blah blah, you are having a boy, congrats." Eris shook her head in disgust "I swear, if you hurt Gleaming Shield," Prince Tempo growled, readying to attack Eris "I wouldn't dream of it. Though, if any of you decide to be a hero and stop me, the princes get it, and that includes the unborn one," Eris made the image of the princes disappear. "Now for the weather" Eris smirked, she wore business attire showing a broadcast of the weather. "It will be cotton candy cloudy with a chance of chocolate milk. Seriously, it will be raining cats and dogs. Hope everypony gets home safely. Or not. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA" Everypony heard her laughter and started to panic. Whiting a few seconds, there was an uproar throughout the castle. "Everypony calm down. The situation is under control." Dusk Shine shouted, attempting to calm the situation. "They're not listening to me" Dusk Shine looked at the chaotic room that was full of screaming ponies and stallions. "We're listening to you" Applejack smiled "OK, Blitz and Applejack. I need the both of you to get the orphans to safety" Dusk Shine stated "Gotcha, will do," both of them said as Blitz zoomed to gather the colts and fillies. Applejack followed. "Butterscotch, you keep an eye on the Crusaders" Dusk ordered "Alright" Butterscotch nods "I will round up the guards to keep everyone inside their homes" Prince Tempo nods before racing down to gather up each of the guards. The rest of them would handle leading the crowds to safety and to assist Tempo if they needed to. They would meet up at the Throne room in an hour after everything was settled. Dusk Shine looked at the chaos that Eris had created. His eyes eventually landed on the spot where his horn usually resided. He sighed. Eris had managed to make it disappear all within twenty seconds of her being at the castle. "Some prince I turned out to be,"