"You have got to be kidding me…" Rainbow said while facing Applejack and Fluttershy in one of the castle hallways as she and Rarity were working on the tapestries.
"I know it's strange for me to say this, but… you can trust him." Applejack stated.
Rarity accusingly pointed, "Obviously he's placed some kind of spell on you because we know you would never say those things about him!"
Applejack frowned, "Would I be dumb enough to let him do such a thing to me? I've lived here all my life! I know how his tricks work and this wasn't one of them!"
Fluttershy mentioned, "He also added on to my deal with him that for every night I sing with the Pony Tones, a servant gets a day off."
Both Dash and Rarity gawked at that with the former exclaiming, "No way!"
Applejack stated, "Alright then, just wait until tonight when Fluttershy finishes singing and the king chooses a servant for that day off."
Rarity declared, "And so we shall! I will see it to believe it before I ever trust his highness."
Rainbow agreed, "You said it!"
The unicorn told Fluttershy, "Well if you're going to sing with us from now, do you know anymore songs that we can do?"
The rosy-haired pegasus blushed, "I might have a few more…"
The two went off to discuss song selections leaving Rainbow and Applejack to themselves.
Applejack started, "So… anything you want to talk about?"
Dash sighed, "I know what you're thinking, yes, I have come to terms with my pregnancy. Soarin was really happy but I am a bit upset that you and Spike told him ahead of time."
"Hey, we had to prepare him in case you refused to acknowledge your condition."
"And what about your condition? The least you could have done was tell the rest of your friends, then we could have avoided the king from finding out in the first place."
"Maybe you're right. But at the time I was thinking about all of you's safety."
"Ugh, you were always so stubborn…"
"Look, I am sorry for keeping this a secret for so long and it was a big mistake for not saying anything, but now you can use this as a chance to correct my mistake and tell our friends and in turn they will keep it from the king, to keep your child from the same fate as mine."
"Wow, for all your talk about the king being more than we thought, he still wouldn't let you go to raise your kid from here."
The kitchen maid sighed deeply, "It's complicated. Yes, I wish he would let me and my family go but I know his reasons now and it's more than enough for me."
Dash huffed, "If you say so."
Fluttershy and Rarity had finished going over the new song they would sing tonight and the maid left the room to share it with the other Pony Tones.
Fluttershy went about her business in her room before sitting on her bed and thought deeply of all that she and Discord had done this past month and prayed that he would keep his promise of giving a servant a day off every time she sang.
Suddenly a note popped up and it floated to her face so she could read it, "His Majesty, King Discord the Magnificent, Stupendous, Impressive, Outstanding, Superb, Amazing, and Great and Powerful has requested that Miss Fluttershy, the most beautiful and kindest of ponies to have dinner with him tonight. You may give your answer by writing on the back of this note."
Fluttershy found a quill and turned the paper over to write.
Miss Fluttershy would be happy to have dinner with his majesty. But Miss Fluttershy also requests that she spends time with the king before dinner.
Once she stopped writing, the letter disappeared and soon a new one took it's place.
Meet me on the third floor. It said.
Fluttershy jumped off her bed and ran out the door, she found the stairs that would take her upstairs and soon she spotted him waiting by a colored door that was bright white.
King Discord smiled when seeing her.
She smiled back and inquired, "Is that one of the rooms that you don't let the servants see?"
"That's right. But as you are not a servant, I can show you." he used his horn's aura to turn the door knob and it opened.
Fluttershy suddenly felt a coldness coming out and was confused before she got closer and realized it was snowing inside a completely white room! She gawked at the sight.
He chuckled at her expression and said, "This is one of my favorite rooms with the weather being inside the castle." he pointed, "See? It even has its own frozen pond to skate on." he confessed, "You know, I was surprised by your reply, I thought you wouldn't accept my invitation let alone want to spend time with me."
She said, "You have made a great step last night by telling Applejack what you felt with her parents and now she's trying to convince everyone else that you are good. Hopefully by getting more approval, everyone won't tell me to stop being with you. Last night, was one of the best nights of my entire life because you made it that way. I want to get closer to you, Discord."
The cursed king was stunned by her declaration, it wasn't love she was admitting to him but it was close, so, so close.
He said with a smile, "I'm happy you feel that way, my darling." then asked, "Tell me, have you ever been ice-skating before?"
Fluttershy blushed, "I… I'm afraid I haven't…"
"Would you like me to teach you?"
"Oh! Yes! I would like that very much!"
"Excellent!" then he used his magic to have them wear scarves and hats then gestured toward the room while bowing, "Ladies first."
She giggled as she went inside feeling the snow crunch between her hooves. Discord shortly joined her after closing the door behind him and they made their way to the icy pond. Then he used his magic to conjure up ice skates for them to wear.
He told her, "I'll go first then I can help you get onto the ice."
"Okay."
He went closer to the ice and began to skate on it like a professional and did a couple of twirls in the air.
Fluttershy shook her head in amusement knowing he just wanted to show off.
Discord skated back to her and held out his hoof to her. She took it as he slowly moved her to the ice. Fluttershy wobbled a little and clung onto him.
"Just relax, you're doing great." he assured her.
"Don't let go!" she eeped.
He whispered tenderly in her ear, "Never…"
She blushed while looking at his smiling face. Slowly but surely they skated around the pond. Neither knew how long they had been on the ice but they didn't care, this moment was too special for them to want it to end. Suddenly Fluttershy felt she was losing her footing but Discord caught that and quickly held her side up by standing on his back hooves. Fluttershy ended up wrapping her front hooves around his neck and the two started spinning in a circle like they were dancing.
"Discord…" she uttered out.
"Yes, my darling?" he inquired with half-lidded eyes.
She asked, "Why you do keep the rooms to yourself? Why not share them with the others?"
He sighed, "When I was first cursed, I made the rooms so I could keep a part of my chaos close by to remind myself of who I was. I don't like the idea of my servants coming in and ruin that."
"But… you were willing to share this with me…"
"You're different, Fluttershy. Since we first met, I was entranced by your beauty and loving nature but the more I got to know you and discovered your attraction to my true self, I find I can't keep away from you and I want to show you everything in my world."
Her eyes went soft, "Oh Discord… I feel the same… I want to tell you everything about me… I cannot lie, but when you first came to me as your real self, I felt a pull that wouldn't go away."
His eyes slightly widen and questioned, "Is that why you were asking to court me after we would finish turning the straw into gold?"
"Yes! And I was scared that I frighten you away that you wouldn't want to come back…to me…"
He smirked while using his hoof to touch her cheek, "Darling… you could never scare me away…" he twirled her around and added, "I shall always come back to you…"
She gasped happily at his words and held him tighter, embracing him.
He welcomed the warmth radiating from her as they kept spinning around.
Rarity had finished talking to her fellow Pony Tones and was heading back to Rainbow Dash to finish the tapestries. But who should she see rummage around in the hallway, but…
"Capper?" she voiced out.
The tall cat quickly ceased with his search and faced the unicorn with an uneasy look, "Rarity!"
"Did you lose something?"
"Uh… I was just… admiring the architecture! Yeah, I couldn't help but notice the style resembles the late neoclassic baroque period."
Her heart pounded wildly from those words, "You know of the neoclassic baroque period?"
Capper was surprised by this and said, "Well, I dabble. I like learning about different art styles of different times." while part of that was true, the other part was that he had to study this due to him trying to impersonate a count.
She exclaimed, "So do I!"
"Really?"
"Oh yes, once I learned about neoclassicism and rococo designs while working here, I became fascinated with the subject so much that I had to know about other art styles that have been done. For who knows maybe I can use them for fashion once I get out of here."
Capper smirked at that, "That's very clever."
"I can show you more of the architecture if you like. I know where some of the best designs are."
Capper was about to politely refuse when he ended up staring into her hopeful gorgeous sapphire eyes and gave in.
"I would be honored." he bowed.
She nearly let out a squeal before clearing her throat and led him away.
Spike was going about his duties when he spotted Twilight in the throne room making another list for the king. She saw him and the two briefly glanced at each other. Slowly he went to her and rubbed his neck, going, "Hey…"
She slightly smiled, "Hey…"
He started, "We haven't talked since well… you know."
She nodded.
"I just want to say how sorry I am and Applejack told me about what the king showed her. If you're still trying to get Fluttershy and the king together, I want you to know you have our full support in the matter."
Twilight's smile widen before she extended her arms out and the dragon gladly embraced her.
A country voice spoke out, "Glad to see you two worked things out."
They turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash enter the room.
Twilight asked, "How is everything with the baby?"
Applejack replied, "Just fine, but you should also ask Dash that same question."
The unicorn gawked and turned to the flushed pegasus, "Are… are you…?"
Rainbow nodded.
A loud pitch voice shouted out, "Oh my gosh, Dashie! You're going to have a baby too?!"
They saw Pinkie had showed up out of nowhere.
Applejack inquired, "Pinkie, how long have you been here?"
"Just long enough to see Spike and Twilight reconciling and hearing the good news!" she squealed.
Rainbow pointed, "Well keep in mind it has to stay a secret, got it?"
Twilight asked, "Does Soarin know?"
"He does, no thanks to those two." she gestured to the couple.
Applejack explained, "Dash's a bit miff that we had to spoil the news ahead of time."
Spike said, "Well we had to say something, we knew she was pregnant even if she didn't want to admit it."
"We couldn't keep my pregnancy hidden so it's important we help Dash hide hers."
Twilight stated, "Well I'm glad you came forward with this." then she sighed, "I suppose it was too much to expect a married couple to not experience the joys of wedded bliss."
Rainbow motioned, "Hey! Soar and I were being very careful! This all happen because we got drunk one night!"
Spike mentioned, "AJ and I thought it wouldn't matter because we were different species."
His wife added, "It's true. We thought it was safe enough to try."
"And boy did it ever backfire on us." then his eyes went soft as he looked at his wife, "But… I'm glad it happened."
She lovingly smiled up at him, "So do I…"
Twilight beamed at them and slowly said, "Well okay, I guess I can see how it could have been an accident if anything, I thought for sure this would have happened to Pinkie and Cheese first."
Pinkie screeched, "WHAT?! Are you saying Cheesy and I are just too carefree that we would end up having a baby for the heck of it?!"
They gave her exasperated looks and deadpanned together, "Yes."
The pink mare sighed, "Okay, maybe you have a point. Cheesy and I do want a baby but we worry like everyone else, don't you think we would wait until after our contracts are up so we have a family?"
Their eyes widen in surprise with Twilight commenting, "Wow, Pinkie, that's amazingly smart of you considering you and Cheese do have the shortest of contracts compared to everyone else."
"Exactly!" she grinned.
Rainbow declared, "Oh sure, it's easy for her to wait, but Soarin is stuck here and there wouldn't be any chance for us to have kids. Sure we figured it was for the best but now… we really like the idea of our own baby coming into the world…" she touched her abdomen.
Applejack nodded, "It's an amazing feelin' isn't it?"
Dash smiled warmly, "Yeah…"
Pinkie questioned, "Are you going to tell Fluttershy?"
The cyan mare's eyes widen and stammered, "I… I don't know… I want to tell her because she's my best friend but if she's becoming more involved with the king, I don't think it would be a good idea."
They exchanged unsure looks. Rainbow's reasoning was valid so it was hard to say what the right answer was to give.
Twilight was feeling sorry for her friend, in her quest to turn the king over she didn't realize this could hurt an old friendship between two childhood pals. With Rainbow Dash being pregnant and Fluttershy getting closer to the king having witness the reply that he got from Fluttershy in his note this could indeed ruin their relationship forever.
I have to make this right for them… but how…?
Hopefully time will give her what she needed.