It was dead in the night and a tall figure with glowing green eyes moved through the dark hallways before making it to the front doors and went out to cross the grounds that lead to the gates and snuck out of them. The figure soon found himself in the village and went toward an alleyway to meet up with another tall figure with glowing blue eyes.
Then that figure inquired, "Well?"
"The place has all sorts of goods but I've yet to find something that can settle our debt."
"You better hurry. We don't have much time."
"I know… I know…"
"You sound upset, why?"
"It's nothing…"
"Come on, this is your old friend, Chummer. You can tell me anything."
The figure with green eyes sighed before admitting, "I… I met someone…"
Chummer's eyes widen.
"She's a pony but she's one of the most beautiful creatures I ever met… But she's not just a pretty face; she's also generous, sweet, and hardworking… She's just amazing in her own right…"
"I'm going to have to stop you there. You know it's not a good idea to get involved with this pony, especially since you're about to commit an act of thievery."
"I know that… but maybe… I don't need to steal if I can just raise enough money, maybe we won't have to-"
"Are you crazy?! We don't have time for that sort-of thing! And since when do you care about getting money the honest way? Why when we first started this scheme you couldn't wait to play the role!"
There was a pause before the figure said, "You're right. But I don't want to be a thief forever. I just want to find a place where we can just… be…" he could see Chummer was glaring at him.
"You know it can't be done. Even back in Abyssinia we were always stealing to survive, ducking the guards, and living our lonely lives together. Why should we change that if it's the only thing we're good at?"
The figure sighed, "I guess you make a good point…"
"Because it's the truth. Now, you only got twenty-three days left before Verko comes after us and I don't need to tell you what will happen when he does…"
"I know, Chummer. And I promise I won't let you down."
"I know you won't. Capper…"
King Discord could see from one of his palace windows that the object of his affections was wandering around the gardens in sorrow in broad daylight.
He thought miserably, It's been one whole week since she found out the truth… She refuses to come to lunch and every time I try to visit her, Rarity would bitterly tell me she doesn't wish to see me… It amazed me that she hasn't decided to leave yet but Twilight told me she doesn't want to leave her friends like this. So I still have some time to turn her around but it hasn't been easy to approach her…
With a deep sigh he decided to try again.
He went into the gardens where he could see her sitting on a stone bench as she began to feed the birds and squirrels. He slowly walked up to her and cleared his throat.
She was slightly startled by the sound until she saw him and frowned.
He uttered, "May I have a seat?"
She said nothing for awhile till she merely nodded her head and scooted over for him.
"Thank you." he said as he sat down.
There was an awkward pause between them until he started.
"Fluttershy, I…"
"Don't. Please…" she sadly said.
"Well how else am I supposed to make this right, if you won't talk to me?"
"I'm not the one you should be making this right for…"
He lifted his brow up, "What does that mean?"
She sighed and turned her head away, explaining, "You can't regain my respect until you earn everyone else's…"
His eyes widen.
She kept speaking, "You need to see that you're making everyone miserable in this place. So you need to show that you can care for their wellbeing and to let them have some freedoms of their own…"
"But… but Fluttershy…"
"I'm saying this because I don't like the idea of abandoning my friends at this time and I…" she turned back to him and stared straight at him, "I hope with all my heart that you can be good to them… I saw genuine kindness from you once Discord, I know it's in you somewhere. So if you really want to change my mind and for me to start caring for you again, you have to do this… if not for me then at least for yourself and everyone around you."
His mouth went ajar before uttering in disbelief, "You still have feelings for me?"
"It depends. I want to have feelings for you again but until you show me that you can gain respect from others… I can't be with you…" she got up from the bench and walked back to the castle.
Rainbow Dash walked slowly to Soarin's room though technically it was hers too since their marriage began and spent a great deal together in that room only now she realized that was a bad idea especially since it resulted with her having baby…
Our baby… she thought and touched her stomach. It was now or never, she had to let him know. With a deep breath she opened the door and called out.
"Soar? Are you here?"
Soarin' was taking off his armor for the day when he spotted her.
"Hey babe, come on in."
She did and received a peck on the cheek.
"How was your day?" she asked him, hoping to soften him before laying the big news on him.
He sighed, "Same old, same old… Got up, ate, reported for duty, ate again, trained for a little bit, ate again, and then reported to duty again before getting off," he slightly smiled at her, "In fact, this just may be the only time of the day I look forward to…" he slowly began to wrap his arms around her but she quickly dodged them making him confused.
"Uh, Soar, there's something I need to tell you…" she sadly looked down.
His brow went up as he inquired, "What?"
She sighed, "I… I don't know how to tell you this… but I…"
"Yes?"
She gulped, "I want you to promise me you won't freak out…"
He slowly replied, "Well I'm afraid that depends… Is it something bad?"
"No! No! Far from it!"
"O-kay… what is it you're trying to tell me?"
She sighed again and closed her eyes, "I… I'm…" then she quickly shouted out, "I'm pregnant, Soarin'! You're going to be a father!" she kept her eyes closed as she waited for the freak out but to her surprise it never came. She gradually opened one eye to see if he fainted but was shocked to find that he was smiling! She opened both eyes and questioned, "You're… you're not upset?"
He shook his head in amusement, "Not in the least."
"But… but…"
He chuckled, "Spike and Applejack told me of the possibility a couple of weeks ago. I was stunned at first, but then I started to watch you carefully and I started thinking they were right. They told me you were in denial so I decided to wait until you were ready to tell me, after all it would have been obvious later and we would have found out eventually."
She muttered, "No kidding…"
"Of course, I was shocked to learn they were expecting as well."
She chuckled this time, "Yeah, me too." then she frowned and stated, "But I do feel sorry for them…"
Soarin' nodded sadly.
Dash continued, "It's just not fair… why does he get to have the last say in their child's fate?"
"Which brings up the question if he'll do the same thing to our kid if he finds out…"
Rainbow scowled and declared, "No way! I refuse to let that happen!"
Soarin' proclaimed, "Agreed. But how can we make sure?"
She bit her lip and admitted, "I don't know…"
Discord met with Twilight, Pinkie, and Cheese in one of his studies as he told them what Fluttershy said to him.
Twilight touched her chin, "Hmm… that's going to be a difficult thing to do…"
Discord rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it…"
"But it's not impossible."
"So what do you suggest then?"
"For starters you could tear up everyone's contracts…?"
"Absolutely not!"
She scowled, "Well Fluttershy did say you should give everyone the freedom to come and go. That would make you very well respected."
"And then this castle would become haunted with all sorts of ghosts including one headed busts!"
Pinkie pointed, "That would be singing, 'Grim Grinning Ghosts'?!"
"Exactly!"
The pink mare told Twilight, "Eh, he's right."
Twilight muttered, "Oh bother…" she sighed, "Okay then, Plan B… You start gaining your servants' respect by befriending them and giving them something to their heart's desire."
Discord seem doubtful but said, "And pray tell, who do you think I should befriend first?"
Pinkie declared, "But kingy, you've already befriended me and Cheese!"
"Really? I was under the impression we recruited you."
Twilight said, "He's right. In order for him to truly befriend you he has to give you something to your heart's desire."
Cheese gasped, "Like a party?!"
Discord frowned, "But haven't you given parties while I was away on trips?"
The party couple froze to his statement.
Pinkie started to sweat, "What… what made you think we threw parties while you were away?"
Discord deadpanned, "Fluttershy told me while I was hiding my true self."
They gulped while Twilight was looking fearful for her friends.
The unicorn king rolled his eyes, "Oh would you all relax? I'm not going to punish you. I would like to but I'm already on thin ice with Fluttershy so I can't."
Cheese and Pinkie sighed in relief and so did Twilight.
"And to prove how sincere I am here, you may throw any party you like from now on."
They gawked, "Really?!"
He rolled his eyes again, "Yes…"
The party ponies began to act like jumping beans around the room with the pink one saying, "Come on, Cheesy! We got one giant 'coming out' party to plan!" she started bouncing out.
"Right behind you, Pinkie-Winkie!"
Once they were gone, Discord stated, "I'm so going to regret this, aren't I?"
Twilight sucked in her teeth, daring not to give away the answer.
Rarity was walking one way down a hall while Capper was walking down the other way. When she spotted him she put on a smile, greeting him.
"Count Capper, we really must stop meeting this way."
Capper slightly smiled, thinking, You have no idea… and greeted back, "Miss Rarity, I haven't seen you in over a week."
"My apologies, but I was very busy attending to Miss Fluttershy, the poor dear has been through so much."
"So I heard. The king even showed me his true self much to my surprise."
"Yes, it was quite a shock to all of us. We knew he had a curse but we didn't think it was of him being a unicorn."
"Life is full of surprises…"
She agreed, "Indeed. Like when the chandelier crashed and glass flew all over, cutting your arm. How is it, by the way?"
"It's getting better and I have been changing the bandages like you said."
"Good! Very good!" then she said, "At least with the arm it's easier to keep track of it but had the glass pierced your heart; that would be very bad…"
"It certainly would have…" but he thought, The glass may have not pierced my heart, but I can think of somepony that has… He ended up staring into her sapphire eyes. Those shined so bright whenever she talked about her dreams, her sister, and friends. What he told Chummer was the truth. Everything about this lovely pony had him drawn to her and he wished things between them were completely different. Mainly that he wasn't thief and that she wasn't with somepony else.
Rarity sighed, "Well, I must be on my way to get Miss Fluttershy's dinner and to help her relax afterwards, now that she doesn't need to worry about turning straw into gold for the master again now that he has revealed himself."
Capper's ears twitched up when he heard the word, 'gold' and inquired, "She was able to turn straw into gold?"
"Well it wasn't her per say, she told us that because she had a golden heart, the master was able to use her to spin the spinning wheel while he turned the straw into gold."
Capper was intrigued by this new information, "Fascinating… Do you know where they did this?"
"It was in one of the towers I think, but I doubt the master would let anyone near the room given the amount of gold he and Fluttershy have conceived."
He chuckled, "I'm sure you're right."
"Well… I shall see you later then…" a small smile played on her lips as she went on.
Capper timidly waved, "Yeah… I'll see you later too…" with a guilty thought, Maybe… With a sigh he kept thinking, I shouldn't do this… but I have to… Chummer and I won't be free until we pay back every last penny to Verko… As for the dazzling beauty that snuck into my heart, I must let her go so that she can have everlasting happiness with the pony that she loves…