Twilight emerged from her temporary room at Discord's place mid, yawning.
As she closed her mouth again and opened her eyes, she stopped in her tracks.
The mayor's office was covered with blobs of pudding all over the place, with pony tracks in the floor and Discord's tracks on the floor, ceiling, and walls.
"It's too early in the morning for me to have to deal with this sort of thing..."
"Good morning, Applejack!" declared Apple Bloom as she stepped outside. "What are you up to?"
"Good morning, Apple Bloom. Ah'm not doin' much, just enjoying the fresh air. Are ya ready to cook up some breakfast?"
"Ah'm always ready. What're we having?"
"Ah thought we could give jelly rolls a go. We won't have to go to down to the bakery to make em, we can just fix them up right here at our fort. Sound good to you?"
"Sure, but, ya know, most everypony else is still asleep in there."
Applejack gave Apple Bloom a quizzical look. "Yeah? They aint goin' ta wake up if you keep quiet."
"Yeah, but it's just... I've been thinking. We're not going to be here much longer, right?"
"One more week after today, if we've been keeping track correctly."
"Well, that just means that we won't have much time left to spend together like this. I don't mind doin' the chores with ya and cleaning up and all, but we do that every day, and I was hoping that today we could relax a little and have some fun doin' other stuff."
Applejack looked surprised. "That mean that ya don't want to help me make the jelly rolls?"
"Of course not, ah'll definitely help ya with that, but perhaps we could do it outside so that we can talk with one another?"
Applejack considered.
"Ah suppose there's nothin' wrong with that. We'll have to nab a table or two to bring out here, but that's fine. Here, lets go get what we need."
"Alright then!" answered Apple Bloom happily, following beside her sister as they returned to the gym. "Ah can't wait to tell you what happened yesterday. Scootaloo was off doing something else, so it was just me 'n' Sweetie Belle."
"Howdy y'all!" said Applejack to Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Discord as the group approached to speaking distance. "We was wondering where y'all run of to, 'specially when you didn't show up by nightfall. "Did you spend the night with him?" she finished, indicating Discord.
"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I thought," said Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow, you and Pinkie were laughing so loud all night that you woke me up three times!" Twilight pointed out. "I think you enjoyed your stay a little more than 'not bad'."
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash paused and grabbed a jelly roll from the table that the Apples had set out. "Pinkie and Discord are willing to do the craziest things in truth or dare."
"The game might as well have been just 'dare'," said Discord. "Almost nobody even bothered with truth."
"You want one, Discord?" asked Apple Bloom, indicating the jelly rolls.
"Oh, you don't have to feed me, my dears," answered Discord with a laugh. "It would hardly be fair of me to snarf up your limited resources, even if they are way more than you actually need. I'm perfectly content with my persimmon cookies."
"Hey," said Pipsqueak, who had broken away from the other colts and fillies (who were eating breakfast outside today) and had approached and joined in on the conversation. "Where were you last night?"
"We were just explaining that," said Rainbow Dash. "Scootaloo and I had decided to hang out, just the two of us, and we accidently stayed out for so long that we got stuck when it turned night time. And so we spent the night at Discord's place. And then it turned out that Twilight was already there because she wanted to ask Discord some stuff, and Pinkie Pie came with her just because, and so we just decided to turn it into a party."
"The kind of party that covers entire rooms with pudding" said Twilight in exasperation. "You know, I was really impressed by how mature everypony was capable of being lately. And then I wake up to that..."
"I did clean it up afterward," said Discord. "I was just waiting to see your reaction first."
"So Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo. "You want to try more crusading today? I know I was gone yesterday, but we're all three here now."
"Well, maybe," said Apple Bloom reluctantly. "That is, if we can find something that Applejack will do with us. Ah was going to spend some time playing with her today."
"Well, what does Applejack want to do?"
Applejack didn't answer right away.
"Uhmm... I don't really know."
"Come on, Applejack," whined Apple Bloom. "We're offering you a break from all of the work you do every day and you don't even know what you want to do?
"Er, no?"
"Well, this won't do," said Discord. "Applejack, have you not been enjoying your time here?"
"No, of course I have!" Applejack countered. "Ah just don't know what ah want to do, alright? Nopony ever asked me what to do when it comes to games. Ah just don't know what to say!"
"But you play games with us all the time," pointed out Pinkie Pie.
"True, but ah didn't have to choose! Ah have lots of fun playing games with all y'all! But ah usually just go with the flow!"
"If you don't know what to choose, I could choose for you," said Discord.
"Ah'm not sure I'd-"
Discord snapped his claws and suddenly a stage appeared out of nowhere.
This instantly grabbed the attention of all of the foals, who quickly gathered to see what would happen.
Discord inflated into existence atop the stage with a microphone in hand.
"Thank you all for being here!" he spoke into the microphone, amplifying his voice. "Even though I came to you. Let me ask you something. What is the deal with those thingies that you use to clean windows? A squeegee? Who even thought that up?"
His audience stared back in silence.
"Have you ever noticed how the sun comes out only during the day? Why can't it come out during the night when it would be so much more useful?"
More silence.
"Ahem. How about this: A red giant is a kind of star, right? But have you ever compared them to green giants? The green ones just seem so much more jolly, am I right?"
The foals all looked even more confused than ever.
Discord let a sigh and snapped his fingers.
A sizable rock appeared on the stage with a watermelon atop it.
"I just wanted to ask you water you going to do today?"
A large hammer appeared in his hands. He reared back and then brought the head of the hammer down on the melon, causing it to explode in a shower of bits and pieces and juice.
Some of the foals suddenly burst out laughing at this.
"What the hay is so funny?" asked Applejack in confusion.
"I don't know!" said Pipsqueak. "The watermelon was just sitting there and suddenly its just... 'splat'!"
"Ah can't believe he wasted a perfectly good melon like that," remarked Apple Bloom.
"Oh, relax, it was just one I conjured up," said Discord. "And if you liked that, you'll go bananas for this!"
A banana appeared on the rock and a moment later it too met a splattery fate.
"You're bananas!" cried Applejack, causing some of the other foals around her to laugh a bit.
"Well, yes, even I'll admit that I'm a little bit of a fruitcake."
A fruitcake appeared.
SPLAT
"How is this funny? This is dumb!"
"And this is the apple of my eye!"
SPLAT
"Oh come on, that one was aimed at me!"
"Well, I guess I'll just have to keep going until I'm plum out of fruits!"
SPLAT
"Your plum joke is dumb."
Several other foals laughed in agreement.
"Don't tell me you've got to go before you see this avocado!"
SPLAT
"Seriously... What is wrong with you?"
"Here is something else I'll smash durian this performance!"
Discord swung the hammer down again, but stopped it right before the impact.
"Just kidding!"
"Oh, thank Celestia!" groaned Twilight, to the confusion of the ponies around her.
"So that means yer done now, right?" said Applejack.
"Nope! Lettuce continue on with the show!"
SPLAT
"The only thing you're showing me is that some ponies laugh at the weirdest of things!"
"Wow, Applejack is so mean, but don't you hate her! Now lets flatten this tomater!"
SPLAT
"Okay, now I know yer pickin' on me!"
"Everypony say cheese!"
SPLAT
"... Yeah, that was sure cheesy alright."
"Don't take it for granted, here's a pomegranate!"
SPLAT
"How are you even thinking all of this up?"
"I could make a different joke here, but that would be really rude to Applejack and her kin. Next up is this Pumpkin!"
SPLAT
"Ah know what you were thinkin'."
"For now it's in its prime, but now it's over for this lime!"
SPLAT
"What am ah even watching right now?"
"I know you can't help but stare. Hey, look, a pear!"
SPLAT
"The only thing more puzzlin' than why y'all think this is funny is why y'all keep laughing at everythin' ah say!"
"What's the matter? Is this all a little too cucumbersome for you?"
SPLAT
"No, ah just can't believe that ah know you! Yer a quack!"
"Everything up here is just fine and peachy!"
SPLAT
"Actually, I don't suppose yer part duck? Yer definitely part coo-coo."
"I'm also part antelope. Time to flatten a cantelope!"
SPLAT
"You know, you'd make a good barn wrecker."
"Prepare to be peppered with even more juices!"
SPLAT
"This really never ends, does it?"
"Don't be late-o or you'll miss this potato!"
SPLAT
"I think you were late-o when they were passing out brains."
"Now pay berry close attention, here's a whole pile!"
SPLAT
"The snow is turning rainbow colored! Just look at this mess!"
"Orange you glad this act is at its end?"
SPLAT
"It is? Oh, thank Celestia, I was about to drown in both juices and your bad jokes!"
Discord looked around at his audience. Every single pony was laughing at this point. Well, except for Applejack, but she couldn't very well do her job if she was laughing too.
"Thank you for attending everypony! You've been a wonderful audience! But please also give my heckler Applejack your applause!"
Applejack looked around in surprise at her peers as they stomped in cheer. "Ah, thank you?"
When the applause ceased, Discord continued.
"Now then, I've been in your manes for long enough, and I suddenly have a craving for a mix-of-everything salad. See you later!"
The stage folded in half with Discord still inside and then shot into the ground, disappearing.
"Wow Applejack!" said Apple Bloom. "You were actually pretty funny!"
"Er, thanks..."
"So... We still have the rest of the day to do stuff together."
"Can't we do something simple, like build a snow pony or somethin'?"
"Sure, we can do that. Wait, you're suddenly able to make up your mind now?"
"I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't."