When morning had come the next day, Discord had met Fluttershy to tell her there's been a change in plans.
As they were walking up to the tower, he told her, "We're going to have to put off the queen lessons for now as we have to spin the straw into gold one more time."
"But why?" she inquired.
"I made a deal with Mister Dapperpaws by allowing him to go free and offered him all the gold we made."
Fluttershy was stunned and uttered, "You… you did?"
"Yes. I thought since we had no use for the gold why not just give it away to a stray cat that needs it more."
"Discord… that's…" in one swift move she embraced him tightly with him welcoming the hug.
Soon they arrived in the very room that started their journey together with him saying, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get to work." he sat down next to the spindle.
Fluttershy realized something and said, "But wait, what about planning for Rarity and Fancy's wedding?"
He merely said, "Oh… I got a feeling we won't need to worry about that for much longer."
Fluttershy was confused by that and took her seat next to him as he told her everything about his find from last night.
Rarity was going about her duties alone since Rainbow was a knight now and no longer had to do chores with her. The unicorn was melancholy as she worked. She had been dusting when she ended up sneezing but in a lady-like way.
"Gesundheit." said a familiar voice while offering a lace handkerchief.
Rarity saw who it was and took the handkerchief from him, "Thank you." she sniffed and blew.
Fancy made a small smile before turning serious and stated outright, "Rarity, I know you love him."
The mare's blood ran cold before she turned to him with a stammer, "W-what…? What are you talking about?"
"That Abyssinian who claimed to be a count."
She released a small gasp while sputtering, "What?! D-don't be ridiculous! We're just friends! You're the only stallion I've ever loved!"
"Yes… I was the only stallion you ever loved but as it is… you come to love someone else, someone who's not a stallion…" he stared straight at her waiting for her to come clean.
Rarity felt cornered, as it was there was no way around it and with a heavy sigh she finally confessed, "Yes… it's true…" a tear fell from her eye, "I… I never meant to hurt you… I was going to break it off after your return…" her voice slowly broke, "But then the truth came out about Capper and my heart couldn't take it and shamefully I used you to save me from my heartache… I went to Capper for answers about his true intentions and well you know what happened and we started to talk and admitted having feelings for each other…" she sobbed, "And then we kissed!" she couched down and held her hooves over her eyes all the while crying, "I am a terrible pony! I don't deserve you Fancy! I'm so sorry!" she kept on weeping.
Fancy said nothing and carefully approached her and gently patted her back then softly said, "I suspected as much…" he sighed, "I cannot lie and say it doesn't hurt to know that your feelings run that deep to him… but… at the same time… I only want your happiness…"
She stopped crying when hearing those words and slowly looked up with tear-stain eyes, "What…?"
Fancy took out her contract making her gap, "Where… where did you get that?"
He explained, "Discord gave it to me and he showed me a very interesting thing." he unfurled it to show her the paragraph and read it, "Miss Rarity will serve His Majesty, King Discord until she has earned the Marquis de Fancy Pants' love and he will have to ask for her hoof in marriage in order for her to be free."
When he finished saying that, Rarity blinked in bewilderment and had to read the paragraph again just to be sure it meant what it said. There was long period of silence before Rarity started to faint and Fancy had to use his magic to catch her then when she came to, he handed her the parchment.
The mare was so excited and happy that she cried out tears of joy while shouting, "I'm free! I'm free! I am freeeeeee!" she squealed in delight before using her aura to tear the contract into a million pieces and threw them in the air as they floated back down.
Fancy was smiling for her.
When she calmed down she faced him again with guilt and uttered, "I… I don't know what to say… I know that I cannot be forgiven for what I done… But I hope against hope that we still be very good friends… Your company has always meant a great deal to me and I can never forget what you had done for me when we had first met. If things had gone differently, we would have been together forever but… it just wasn't meant to be…"
He beamed at her, "I know exactly what you mean… I believe we came close but it wasn't true love."
She whispered, "Yes…"
He took her hoof and kissed it, "I wish you nothing but the best…"
She sadly smiled and quietly said, "As do I… And thank you…" another tear came down.
He slowly departed leaving her the happiest mare in world.
Fluttershy was shocked by the whole thing as Discord finished telling her.
"I knew it had to be done but it certainly wasn't easy all the same. No doubt by now Rarity has torn up the contract and is packing her things up as we sit here."
"Oh goodness, I hope she won't leave without saying goodbye. I've come to enjoy her friendship so much that I'll miss her…" she sighed, "But still I am so happy for her."
Discord motioned to the straw, "Well my darling, shall we?"
Fluttershy nodded and using his horn the straw went to the spindle as Fluttershy turned the wheel and the straw turned into gold just like the other two times they've done this.
As time went on, they produced more gold than ever while having a sweet exchange. The two had never had a happier moment making their hearts swell.
By then the straw was gone and the room was surrounded by nothing but gold making the room glimmer.
Fluttershy marveled at the sight as Discord exclaimed, "A job well done, wouldn't you say?"
She agreed, "Very much so."
"Perhaps we should celebrate with some celebratory tea, would you like that?"
She giggled and nodded.
They left the tower and went to the drawing room where he ordered for some tea to be brought to them.
Pinkie had arrived with a tea set, sandwiches, and tea cakes then she gave them a quick wink before leaving them alone.
The couple was enjoying themselves with Discord telling a few jokes and Fluttershy laughed but then… she felt a strange sensation happening in her chest and she held it in pain.
Discord noticed immediately and fret, "Darling! Are you alright?!"
Fluttershy gasped, "I-I don't know what's going on! My heart! It's feels like it's growing heavy!" she clutched her torso while falling to the ground and to both their surprise her chest was slowly turning into gold!
She screamed, "Discord! What's going on?!"
Discord panicked, "I don't know! This has never happen before!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, "TWILIGHT! GET IN HERE NOW!"
Thankfully the unicorn had heard his plead and rushed in, "What's going on?" but she got her answer when she saw Fluttershy in her condition. She questioned in anxiety, "How did this happen?!"
Discord yelled, "We don't know! All we did was go back to the tower to make more straw into gold and then…" his eyes widen in realization and uttered, "Oh no…"
Twilight caught on and voiced incredulity, "Your heart… it's not stone anymore… it's just as gold as hers now… and when you performed the spell…"
He finished, "Instead of bouncing it absorbed right into her…" he looked at his beloved with guilt and uttered in sorrow, "Oh… oh, Fluttershy… I'm so sorry… I never meant…"
The gold kept spreading onto her body but she was still able to talk, "It's alright… you didn't know… if anything… I'm so proud of you! You've finally changed for the better!"
"But at what cost?! You're turning into a golden statue!"
Twilight quickly asked, "Can you just reversed the spell?! It's your magic!"
Discord shouted, "I need my full powers to do that! And I'm currently trapped in this other form! By then it'll be too late!"
At this point others had heard the commotion and ran in to see the scary sight that was Fluttershy turning into gold.
Rainbow was panicking the most, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! We need to do something!"
Rarity voiced in agreement, "Anything!"
Applejack added, "Hang in there, Fluttershy! We'll save ya, somehow!"
The gold had spread over the pegasus's forelegs and wings making it's way to the back legs and tail. Time was running out.
Spike declared, "Twilight, you got to do something!"
Everyone else agreed and encouraged the unicorn to try.
Twilight gave in and powered her horn and pointed her dark pink aura at Fluttershy's chest to stop the spreading at the source. But then she started to sweat and she fell back panting heavily. She explained between breaths, "It's too strong! The power has been doubled by the good of Fluttershy's and Discord's hearts. Nothing can stop it!"
The room became somber as everyone watched on helplessly of Fluttershy turning into gold.
Discord went to her and tears started to form, "Fluttershy… I'm so… so.. sorry… I never wanted this for you… I only wanted you to be my queen, my best friend, my love… I love you, Fluttershy! I love you with all my heart!" he desperately shouted out.
Everyone was in utter shock by his declaration but not as more shocked as what happened next…
The moment Discord declared his love for all to hear a white glow surrounded his unicorn self and slowly was lifted into the air. The glow grew more that it eventually enveloped him and when it disappeared in a flash, there he was… floating in his true draconequus form. The curse had been broken.
There was a giant gasp as everyone stared at him in awe and then they looked at Fluttershy to see the spreading had stopped and the gold had reverted from her body, making her normal again.
Everyone rejoiced as the girls quickly hugged Fluttershy, happy that everything was alright now.
Fluttershy smiled brightly as she turned to her beloved but it faltered the moment she saw him sulking away and quickly went to him.
"Discord… Aren't you happy? You broke your curse! You're finally free!"
Pinkie pointed, "Yeah! You should be celebrating Kingy!"
Discord faced them and stated, "It's doesn't matter."
Everyone gawked at his words.
Fluttershy voiced in concern, "What? What do you mean?"
He leaned down to her while sadly saying, "I put you in terrible danger today… Without even realizing it… I thought I couldn't hurt you with my magic if I was good enough but… I was wrong… It's seems good or bad, my powers are too chaotic to handle around anyone else. I don't deserve you…" just as soon as he said that, he became transparent making the entire room gasp.
He kept saying, "I refuse to use my powers anymore." he started to fade out more.
Everybody gapped to this development while Fluttershy was fretting and yelled, "Stop it! Please! The more you give up the more you fade!"
He emotionless said, "That's the point." and becomes closer to fading from existence.
She started to cry, "Discord! No! Please! I can't lose you!"
He shook his head, "I am a monster. I don't deserve to be here."
Suddenly Applejack shouts out, "Would a monster have given me a sense of peace of what happened to my parents?! No! But you did that for me, my brother, and sister! Not to mention you let my brother be with his sweetheart!"
The others joined right in with Rainbow telling him, "You finally gave me the chance to be a knight! I've been waiting for that my whole life!"
Pinkie gestured, "You let me and Cheese have more parties with your permission, that's more than enough for us."
Rarity motioned, "You gave me the opportunity to pursue true love and happiness by letting Fancy know that there was a loophole in my contract. I will forever be grateful for that."
Fluttershy took a deep breath and said with passionate words, "And Discord… If we had never met I never would have found a part of myself that I had been missing all along… You had made me into a better mare than before… What is happening to you now is breaking my heart so much that I know that you disappear now I'll never be able to live again without you… You mean so much to me, Discord… Because… I love you too, more than anything… I never wanted to be queen for the crown, the jewels, or the throne for that matter. No, I wanted to be your queen and nothing else…"
Discord was speechless utterly speechless. The mare of his dreams finally told him she loved him! And when he looked around the room to the worried faces of his servants, servants that had once hated him to no end now only care for his wellbeing and wanted to stop him from going extinct.
But when the fading still happen he quickly told them, "You'll have to help me, I cannot cast a chaotic spell in this state but if you can cause the chaos yourself…"
Twilight exclaimed, "Say no more, we're on it."
Everyone got to work, making the room a mess. Pinkie and Cheese went as far as to get paintbrushes and started coloring the walls in different colors and patterns including the ceiling and floor! Rainbow, Soarin, and Flash used some furniture and things to make stairs that led to nowhere. Rarity used different mirrors to make multiple reflections of herself and started talking to them like they were living copies. Twilight levitated most of the furniture and made them upside down. Spike and Applejack took bites out of the tea cakes and sandwiches leaving them disproportionate. Spike even bit out of the cups!
Fluttershy watched the chaos unfurl and looked back to Discord to see if any change was made and to her complete joy it did! Discord was slowly coming back to being physical and told everyone, "It's working! Keep going!"
Discord was trying his hardest to snap but his fingers were still transparent but as the others kept making messes and doing crazy things he finally got a solid feel and when he snapped the chaise lounge came to life like a puppy dog and started to playfully chase Fluttershy around the room.
He then used his magic to make the furniture float on it's own, made the tea bags sitting with the tea set sing, the left over sandwiches into butterflies, basically any little chaotic thing he could think of to fully restore to his anarchic self.
When they were sure the danger had passed, Discord returned the room back to normal with the exception of the new paint job. He faced Fluttershy and kneeled down on one knee while presenting her with a ring, "My darling, sweet, beautiful Fluttershy… I cannot express the words of how happy you have made me by telling me you love me… Ever since we met I have waited for you to say those sweet, sweet three words to me. Our time together has been nothing but joyous and I want that always be like that from now. So I must ask you… will you, Fluttershy be my wife, my queen, and my true love for the rest of our days?"
Fluttershy smiled at the proposal and quickly looked over to her friends who also had smiles on their faces and were urging her to accept. That thrilled her to no end and faced her lover with a radiant smile and proclaimed, "Yes."
They wrapped their arms around each other and had their first ever kiss while their friends cheered on.