“Hm.” Eris closed a blue book titled ‘Magical Studies’. “Well, that’s all the practical things done with.” She tossed the book and snapped a talon, the book flying to its place on a shelf. She then took off her reading glasses and gave a flick of her wrist, the glasses disappearing after. “All that’s left would be books on socializing, but books about that never really help.”
Discord was snoring on the ceiling, curled up in a fashion similar to a snake. Eris got out of her beanbag seat and went for the exit of the Royal Archives. “Listen to the music, the music will make it right.” She hummed to herself as she pulled out a pocket watch from her hair.
Dusting excess that stuck to the watch, she quickly read the time. “Noon. That’s around lunchtime for the Princesses, right?” Eris shrugged and tossed the watch into the air, bumping against Discord’s nose with a squeaky sound effect.
The noise and impact woke Discord from his sleep, leaving him to stretch as Eris opened the door that would exit into the castle halls. Although instead of halls, the dining room was on the other side.
Inside were the Sun and Moon Princesses, peacefully munching on their meal. Luna was the first to notice Eris' arrival. “Afternoon, Eris.”
“Afternoon Luna, Celestia.” They all exchanged nods as Discord flew through the door, closing it behind him with a stretch of his tail. Eris took a seat opposite Luna and to the right of Celestia, and Discord took a seat to Eris’ right.
Eris set her lion paw on the table and lifted it, revealing a steaming mug of hot chocolate underneath. She slid the mug to Discord, who took it and summoned a glass of chocolate milk with a snap of his talons. Eris took the glass and had a sip before speaking. “So, anything interesting so far?”
“Not exactly.” Celestia responded. “Luna‘s now awake so we can get some more work done and that’s about the most interesting thing worth mentioning at the moment.”
“We really should make all that paperwork more compact.” Luna bemoaned. “I know we have ponies that help with the paperwork, but they should really make a more simplified version of the papers while filtering out the more ridiculous or unimportant ones.”
“Luna, they are already simplified.” Celestia rolled her eyes.
“Lies.” Luna tiredly glared. “They are as complex as the running magic theories are to earth ponies.” She took a large gulp out of a mug full of coffee. “The land is lucky that coffee exists now, or I would already be close to having a fit of rage.”
Eris chuckled. “Yikes. Hopefully the paperwork will be a bit more mild today.”
“Alas, we still have leftover paperwork from last night I have to go through. I miss when Cadence was helping me with this.”
“Who’s Cadence?” Eris asked.
“The Princess of Love,” Discord answered. “Mi Amore Cadenza is her full name. Bleh, love.”
“Ooo, she sounds nice. Where is she now, if not in Canterlot?”
“She lives in and rules the Crystal Empire,” Celestia replied. “You should meet her sometime. I’m sure you would get along great.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
A door into the room opened and a butler poked his head in. “Apologies, Princesses, but the second session of Day Court is starting soon.”
“Of course.” The butler left the room as the princesses stood from their seats. “Also, congratulations. It looks like your magic is back in order.”
“More back in chaos, but yes. See ya!” Eris gave a cheerful wave as the princesses left for their duties. “Now, Discord.” The mentioned brother turned to Eris. “Gimme a rundown, I need to get my bearings with Equis after being absent for a thousand years.”
Discord gave a “Hm” of thought. “Well, there is a new Dragonlord and the griffin civilization is pretty much in shambles. Luna was banished for a thousand years as her host was overcome with envy. The entirety of the Crystal Empire disappeared for a thousand years but it’s back now. Oh! And there’s a new member!”
Eris stared at Discord with wide eyes. She took out a pair of glasses and placed them on before reading a set of invisible text. “Oh-kay. Definitely different when you hear it come out of the horse’s mouth. Also, Luna, Luna?”
“Yes, Luna, Luna. It’s a wonder she’s still using the same pony as a host.” Discord put his talon to his chin in thought. “From what I was told, the thousand year imprisonment helped her calm down, but Harmony had to undo the corruption itself afterward. Would’ve been counterproductive to purify while the source was still there.”
“Do the princesses still not know?”
“Yep. They are completely clueless.” Discord winked. “Haven’t told them a word.”
“Good, good. We both know what would happen if they found out.”
Discord gave an audible shiver. “Don’t remind me. I’d sooner somehow off myself than deal with that.”
“Don’t say stuff like that. That’s my thing.” Eris shook her head. “And who’s this new member?”
“Her name is currently Nightmare.” He rolled his talon. “I’m sure you can guess what she rules over.”
“Yeah. I guess she hasn’t given herself a name yet.” Eris stood from her seat. “Anyway. I have a feeling we should go to Ponyville. I haven’t met the rest of Harmony’s Conduits yet and I’d love to see what kind of ponies were picked.”
“Okay.” Discord snapped his talons and the two vanished in a flash of light, reappearing on top of an apple tree. “Welcome to Honesty’s home. Mostly known as Applejack.”
Eris followed a pointed lion paw and saw the pony in question. An earth pony with orange fur and a blonde mane and tail. “I like her hat.” Eris idly commented as Applejack used her hind legs to kick a tree, apples falling into barrels that were set underneath.
“Now, Twilight is the conduit for the Magic in friendship.” Discord began to list. “Fluttershy is Kindness and Pinkie Pie, the pink mare that was defying physics, is Laughter.”
“Who’s Loyalty and Generosity?”
“Loyalty is a blue pegasus named Rainbow Crash.” Discord chuckled. “And Generosity is a white unicorn named Rarity.”
“Rainbow Crash?” Eris raised a brow. “I have a feeling you’re messing with me on that one.”
“Me? Messing with you?” Discord put his lion paw on his face dramatically. “Unthinkable.”
“Uhuh.” Eris said, unamused. “Anywho, let’s go say hi to Applejack.” She teleported with a snap of her talons and, reappearing on top of the next tree Applejack was about to buck. “Hi there!”
Applejack jumped before turning and looking up at Eris. “What is it Discord? Ah’m tryin ta work here.”
“Ooo, I love your accent.” Eris complimented. She teleported again, appearing next to Applejack with her lion paw put to shake. “But I’m not Discord. I’m Eris.”
Applejack looked at Eris with a raised brow, but took the offered paw to give it a shake. “Applejack,” she introduced herself. Maybe if she played along, Discord would leave her to go back to work.
“Hm,” Eris rubbed her chin. “You don’t believe me. Oh well.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I can assure you I’m not Discord, but I’m sure Twilight will tell you all about me sometime today. Thanks for freeing me, by the way. See ya!” She disappeared in another flash, Discord following from his perch with his own teleport.
“Hey Applejack!” Applejack turned to the source of the voice. Pinkie Pie was hanging from a branch. “Hurry up, the party’s gonna start soon!”
“Ah know, I was just finishing up here before Ah got goin.” Applejack responded. Pinkie Pie disappeared in the apple tree and Applejack started trotting to town in a hurry.
The twins met up on a random cloud above the orchard. “So, where can we find the last two ponies?”
“Let’s see...” Discord pulled out an old map, unrolling it and looking it over. After reading it for a few moments, he took out a telescope and gave it to Eris. He directed her view to a carousel looking building. “Carousel Boutique is where Rarity works and lives. She makes clothes for a living and sells gems on the side.”
“As for Rainbow Crash,” Discord chuckled. “She could be in one of these clouds napping. Or she could be training, she doesn’t keep a very consistent schedule.”
Eris smirked. “Alrighty. I’m guessing she’s a weathermare like most pegasi?”
“Correct.”
“Hiya!” The twins jumped into the air and turned around, seeing Pinkie Pie bouncing off a trampoline. “I need-“ She fell, before bouncing back up. “-you to-“ she fell and bounced again. “-follow me!”
Eris flew down to the ground and Pinkie Pie allowed the bounce of her trampoline to lessen, quickly allowing her to hop off of it safely. “What’s up, Pinkie Pie?” Eris asked.
“I need you to come with me!” She cheerfully answered. “It’s super duper important and I need both of you for it.” She trotted in place, ready to get moving.
“Okay.” Eris shrugged. “Lead the way.” Pinkie went straight to it, hopping with an unnatural bounce to her. The twins followed from behind, able to keep up with the excited mare’s pace.
Eris waved at ponies the trio passed, which was met with returned waves from rather confused ponies. The group eventually stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner. Eris offhandedly remembered Pinkie Pie running into this building after the first time they met.
“Come on, it’s just right in here!” Pinkie hopped through the swinging doors and disappeared into the darkness.
“Hm.” Eris squinted at the darkened doorway. “I smell a surprise.”
“At least it isn’t a bad surprise.” Discord said with a shrug.
“True. There’s a distinct lack of blood or manic glee.” Eris floated over the swinging doors and landed in front of the doorway. With a flick of her tail, the lights came on, surprising everyone hiding inside. Eris took in the decorations of the bakery’s insides. Streamers, a banner saying ‘Welcome Back’ and tables covered in baked goods.
“Dang it!” Pinkie Pie was stationed by the light switch, just about to flick it. “Surprise foiled. Welp! Let the party commence!” The party quickly went into swing, ponies going to socialize and eat food while Pinkie hopped to Eris.
“Hi Eris! Welcome to your ‘Welcome back to Equestria and congrats at getting free from imprisonment’ party!” Pinkie continued to hop excitedly in place as she spoke. “Remember yesterday when we saw each other on that cloud and I was all like-“ she made a dramatic, familiar gasp. “-and then ran away? Well, I got to planning as soon as I left. I got a list of all your favorite stuff from Discord and drilled Twilight with questions about you, but she couldn’t tell me much so I had to go back to Discord to ask him! And then I got a sudden idea to just make a bit of everything, since you’ve been gone for so long and haven’t been able to try out any new foods-!”
Eris used a lion paw to close Pinkie’s mouth, stopping her from continuing her long explanation. “Thank you for the party, Pinkie Pie. I appreciate it.”
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically before Eris let go of her snout. “You’re very welcome! Just let me know if I missed anything!”
“Well,” Eris looked at the party participants. “Do you know if a unicorn named Rarity and a pegasus named Rainbow are here?”
“Yepperoonie!” Pinkie pointed toward the food tables. “Rainbow’s over there and Rarity is probably somewhere close by. Just look for a rainbow mane or a curly purple mane.”
“Thank you Pinkie. Now go and enjoy the party, you’ve earned it after setting it up.” Pinkie nodded and bounced away from Eris, who floated over to the food table. She was quick to find a rainbow mane, due to how much it stood out from the rest.
“Yo.” The owner of said rainbow mane looked up at Eris.
“Yo. I’m guessing that you’re Eris?”
“Indeed I am.” Eris landed next to Rainbow ‘Crash’. “Quick question, is your name Rainbow Crash? Discord told me it was that but I’m assuming he was trying to pull my leg.”
“It’s Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in Equestria.” Rainbow corrected with a small boast. “Feel free to just call me Rainbow though.”
“As you wish.” Eris nodded.
Rainbow squinted her eyes to Eris. “You sure you’re Discord sister? You act nothing like him.”
“The exact details are…complicated, but I’m most certainly Discord’s sister.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Meh. Want a cupcake?”
“Sure? The word doesn’t seem to ring a bell though.” Eris tapped her chin as she started to think. Rainbow handed one to Eris, stopping her before she would go down the rabbit hole that’s her memory. “Ah, the name speaks for itself.” She took a bite out of the blue frosted cupcake and gave a hum in thought. “Baking has definitely improved over the last millennium.”
“Well, I’m gonna leave you to meet everyone else.” Rainbow stated. “I gotta go talk to Twilight about something.”
“Alright, see ya.” The two exchanged a small wave before Rainbow Dash trotted off into another part of the bakery. “Now to find Rarity. Then I’ll meet whatever other pony approaches me.” She mumbled to herself. Continuing to munch on the cupcake, Eris looked over the ponies and soon found a curled purple mane on the other end of the table.
With a snap of her talons, Eris teleported to the other end. Turning to a unicorn with the purple mane she spotted, she was quick to introduce herself. “Hello there, may you be the lovely Rarity I’ve heard about?”
Thoughts filtered into Eris’ mind, allowing her a small look into the pony’s inner chaos. ”Ah yes, suffered from Inspiration Manifestation. Like Twilight, she can get stressed when a deadline is coming up. Considering that she runs a business by herself, it makes sense. All in all, not too many flaws that fall into my category.”
“That would be me. And I assume you are Eris, darling?” The two exchanged a shake of each other’s appendages.
“Correct.” Eris nodded. “How might your day be?”
“My day has been going swimmingly, darling.” Rarity looked out into the crowd. “I’m currently trying to keep an eye on my sister and her friends but,” she shrugged, “fillies. They can be a hoofful.”
“Yes, they most certainly can.” Eris chuckled. “By the way, I love how your mane is styled. How long does it take to make it look like that?”
“Oh, this little thing?” The unicorn flicked her mane with a hoof. “It can take all night for my mane to get this shape. I sleep with curlers in to make sure it looks like this in the morning.”
Eris nodded. “Well I must say, it certainly looks lovely on you.”
“Aw, thank you Eris. I love how your mane is styled as well, it fits you perfectly!”
“Why thank you!” Eris smiled. “It’s not much really, all I do is comb it back.”
“Really?” Rarity raised a brow. “I must say that I’m jealous. It takes so much work to look as presentable as I am right now.”
Eris shrugged. “I’m sure you look great without the curls and makeup.”
Rarity shook her. “Oh no. I would be unrecognizable without at least my curls.”
“Hm, true. The curls are a big indicator to who you are without looking at your cutie mark.”
A child’s yell was heard somewhere in the bakery, followed quickly after by laughter. Rarity looked toward the sound and sighed. “Sorry to cut this short darling, but I should see what’s going over there. That was most certainly Sweetie Belle.”
“Of course.” Eris gave a nod of understanding. “I should make sure Discord isn’t causing trouble anyway. Knowing him, he’s probably thinking up some kind of prank to pull on everyone.”
The two parted ways with a farewell and went on with the party.