//------------------------------// // Family Ties // Story: A New Era // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// The Equestrian holiday of Family Day was drawing near. All over the country, ponies and other races were preparing to celebrate their families. Several ponies were in the Ponyville market with the specific goal of buying gifts for their family members. And a certain six were among them. "Oh, hi, Applejack." Starlight smiled. "What brings you to the marketplace? Need some new farm equipment?" "Not entirely." Applejack shrugged. "Ah'm mostly looking fer sumthin' special for Family Day. Extra special actually, considerin' the family's jest a little bit bigger these days..." "How about that?" Starlight chuckled. "I'm doing some Family Day shopping myself. Sure, my dad may drive me crazy sometimes, but he's still my dad, and I love him. The least I can do is send him something to show I appreciate him." "I feel the same way about my brother." Fluttershy remarked as she joined the conversation. "As irritating as Zephyr can be, I can't imagine life without him." Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up out of a basket (one that was nowhere near big enough to contain her mass). "I couldn't imagine life without my sisters!" She exclaimed. "And I've usually got such a great imagination..." "Hey, gals!" Rainbow Dash swooped down on them all. "Talkin' about Family day?" "Yer darn tootin'." Applejack nodded. "It does seem to be quite a popular topic of discussion." Rarity declared, rounding out the group with her arrival. "I was just pickin' up something for my folks." Rainbow noted. "With my Wonderbolts schedule bein' what it is, it's a good thing I could find the time..." "I know what you mean, darling." Rarity agreed. "Between our work at the school and our respective careers demanding so much attention, our lives can be quite chaotic as of late..." "Did somepony say 'chaotic'?" A disembodied voice asked. "Oh, boy..." Rainbow rolled her eyes, well aware of what was about to happen. Discord materialised overhead. "You rang?" He grinned. "Hey, Discord!" Pinkie smiled. "My, aren't you all busy ponies today?" Discord observed. "What's all the hubub about?" "Just gettin' ready fer Family Day." Applejack said matter-of-factly. "Let me guess: another schmaltzy, feel-good pony holiday?" Discord rolled his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that..." Starlight frowned. "It's a day where we celebrate our families, and how much they mean to us." Fluttershy explained. "Oh, I see." Discord mused. "Yeah, it's the best!" Pinkie cheered. "Because even if we're too busy to actually spend time with out families on the big day, we can still let 'em know we care by sending a card or a gift." "That's the marvellous thing about family." Rarity smiled. "No matter how far apart you are, you know that they're always there for you." "That does sound advantageous..." Discord muttered. "Ah know Ah'd be lost without mah family." Applejack declared. "So the least Ah can do is let 'em know how much Ah appreciate 'em." "Ditto." Rainbow nodded. "Do you have any family, Discord?" Pinkie asked. "Well... of course not!" Discord, briefly flustered, stood up tall. "I'm one of a kind! There isn't anycreature like me in all of Equestria and its adjoining dimensions!" He scoffed dramatically. "Family, indeed!" "Huh. I'd think that would get kinda lonely. Especially at times like this." Pinkie mused innocently. "I mean, today's all about celebrating and appreciating family, and you don't have any." Discord's face quickly shifted from a look of pride to one of dejectment. "Pinkie!" Starlight hissed. "What?" Pinkie frowned. "Did I say something wrong?" "I'm sorry, Discord..." Fluttershy began, attempting to comfort her friend. "Sorry?" Discord scoffed falsely, putting on an act of bravado. "For what? I'm just fine being the only Draconequus around! That means there's nocreature around to cramp my style! So what if I can't celebrate a day like this?" His facade cracked slightly, a frown forming on his face. "It's a small price to pay for being the one and only, most handsome Draconequus Equestria has ever seen!" His bottom lip quivered slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have important, solo, non-family-related activities to get to. Enjoy your little holiday!" With that, Discord vanished in his usual flash of light. "...Call me crazy, but I think he might have been a little upset." Pinkie mused. "Gee, what gave you that idea?" Rainbow said sarcastically. "Poor fella." Applejack shook her head sympathetically. "Ah can't even imagine what it must be like to not have any family at all. Especially on a day like that this." "But Discord doesn't have to imagine." Starlight pointed out. "Must be tough to be the only one like you around. I never really gave it much thought before..." "None of us did." Fluttershy sighed shamefully. "Even I never thought of it... What kind of friend does that make me?" "I agree that this is very sad." Rarity frowned. "But what matters now is finding some sort of solution, darlings." "Like what?" Rainbow frowned. "It's not like we can just conjure up an entire family of Draconequui for Discord. Got a feeling a trick like that's beyond even Starlight's power..." "Way beyond." Starlight agreed. "I don't know." Pinkie chipped in. "Maybe if I had some papier-mache, some felt, a few mismatched googly eyes, and a very elaborate pully system, we might be able to pull it off." "Let's call that Plan B." Applejack said awkwardly. "Fluttershy, you know Discord best. Any thoughts on how tah get 'im outta this funk?" Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin as she racked her brains. Then an idea began to form. "I think I may have something." She mused. "It's a long shot, but it might just work." "For this group, the long shot is usually the best shot." Rainbow pointed out. "So let's hear it." "Okay." Fluttershy beckoned the others closer. "Here's my idea..." Fluttershy's presentation was short but sweet. But her friends found it most intriguing." "I think you may have something there, darling." Rarity smiled. "It's one crazy idea... and I like crazy!" Pinkie grinned. "With all of us playing our parts, we should be able to pull it off no problem." Starlight nodded. "You can count me in." Rainbow declared. "It'll take sum doin', but Ah'm with ya all the way." Applejack agreed. "Great." Fluttershy smiled. "We'll all meet at my cottage tomorrow afternoon, and get started." "Sounds like a plan." Rainbow nodded. "See you then." The group parted ways, still out to finish their Family Day preparations, but now with a second, equally important, set of preparations in mind... Days later... Over at Fluttershy's cottage, the preparations for Fluttershy's plan were almost finished. Fluttershy and her friends were just putting together some finishing touches. "Okay, we're almost ready." Fluttershy declared. "Now we just need our guest of honor..." "And how do you suggest we get him here?" Rainbow asked. "None of us have seen him for most of the week." "He must be in Chaosville." Fluttershy surmised. "He always stays there whenever he's upset about something." "Then how do we get him to come out of there?" Rarity asked. "That's easy." Fluttershy smiled. I'll just send Discord a letter. He always responds, no matter what kind of mood he's in." "I've often wondered just how you get mail sent to a dimension of pure chaos." Starlight admitted. "Think you could fill in the blanks?" "It's actually a pretty interesting method." Fluttershy admitted. "I'll tell you all about it later. But for now, we should stay focused on the plan at hoof." "It's your plan." Starlight nodded. "Just tell us what to do next, boss." "First, you can get cleaned up." Fluttershy instructed, aware that their efforts had left their hooves and coats a little messed up. "Then take your positions. If I know Discord, it won't take him too long to respond to my letter..." While Fluttershy wrote and sent her letter (by her as-yet-undefined method), the others washed up, and readied themselves for Discord's arrival. As Fluttershy surmised, they didn't have to wait long; a flash of light briefly illuminated the area outside, and was followed by a knock on the cottage door. "You think that's Discord?" Pinkie whispered from being her hiding place. "Either him, or a pony taking picture of cottages." Rainbow snarked. Fluttershy moved over to the door and opened it, revealing that it was indeed Discord. "Called it!" Pinkie whispered. "Hello, Discord." Fluttershy smiled. "So glad you could make it." "You know me." Discord chuckled, bending the upper half of his body so he could enter the cottage. "I can never say 'no' to one of your oh-so-gracious invitations..." "Now!" Starlight hissed. Before Discord's eyes, confetti and streamers dropped from the ceiling, and the others leapt out from behind their hiding places. "SURPRISE!!" They all cheered. "What's all this?" Discord frowned, turning to face Fluttershy. "I thought you invited me to a special tea party, just the two of us." "That was just a little fib." Fluttershy admitted bashfully. "We needed to get you here, and I know you're always up for some tea." "Well, I can't say I'm pleased at being tricked like that." Discord pouted. "I never expected such deception from you, Fluttershy." "Cut her slack." Rainbow scoffed. "We needed some way to get you here." "Which leads me back to my original question: what is all this?" Discord repeated himself. "Well, we all noticed how much the idea of Family Day gotchya down in the dumps." Applejack admitted. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Discord huffed, folding his arms dramatically. "So Fluttershy had an idea that she thought might help ya." Applejack continued, dismissing Discord's bravado. "And what is this idea, exactly?" Discord asked skeptically. "Even if you don't have family that you can share times like Family Day with, I thought of a way you could have the next best thing." Fluttershy smiled. "Starlight, if you would?" "My pleasure." Starlight nodded, he horn lighting up. From out of the nearby bag, objects resembling Draconequus heads floated out. Bathed in Starlight's magical aura, they floated over to the ponies, and placed themselves upon their heads. "Ta-daaa!" Pinkie cheered. "Whattaya think?" Rainbow grinned. "I, er..." Discord gaped, not quite sure what to make of the situation. "I have no idea what's going on here.And I'm usually the one making with the confusing and wacky acts..." "It's a Draconequus party, of course!" Pinkie grinned. "Can't you tell by our stylish chapeaus?" Rarity smiled. "A draconequus... party?" Discord gaped. "For me?" "Of course." Starlight beamed. "We know you felt left out after we mentioned Family Day. And thanks to Fluttershy's big idea, we put all this together." "This is our way of showing that, while there may not be other Draconequui out there, it doesn't mean you're alone." Fluttershy declared. "And if there's one thing Ah've learned in mah time, it's that friends can be as good as family." Applejack added. "You may not have any relatives, but you can still have something akin to a family." Rarity smiled. "I'm referring to us, of course." Discord felt himself tearing up. "You did all this... for me?" He whispered. "Of course we do." Fluttershy hugged him. "You're our friend, and we all want to see you happy." "Thank you." Discord removed his feathered wing and used it to mop away his tears. "All of you." "Who wants cake?" Pinkie brought over a large cake. It was covered in multi-colored icing, with multiple cartoon-like images of Draconequui. "Aw, yeah!" Rainbow grinned. "First slice goes to the guest of honor." Fluttershy offered a piece to Discord. "Don't mind if I do." Discord turned his right claw into a scoop, and shovelled the cake piece into his mouth. "Mmm, my compliments to the chef." "That's me, of course." Pinkie smirked proudly. "Once we're done, how about a game of 'Pin the Body Part On the draconequus'?" "Sounds like fun!" Starlight grinned. "Boy, howdy!" Applejack added. "Dibs on the tail!" Discord declared. The next few hours passed in a rush of fun and frivolity. alas, like all parties eventually do, it started to wind down. "Thank you all for this." Discord smiled. "I know it was Fluttershy's idea, but clearly you all chipped in." "Anything for a friend, darling." Rarity nodded. "This may actually be one of the best days of my life." Discord admitted. "And considering that life spans millenia, that's really saying something." "If you like the day so much, why don't we make it a regular thing?" Pinkie suggested. "Hey, now there's an idea." Rainbow grinned, adjusting her Draconequus cap. "We could make it our own little regular celebration." Starlight nodded. "But what should we call it?" Applejack asked. "Ooh! How about 'Friends Are Family Day'?" Pinkie suggested. "It's got a nice ring to it." Discord admitted. "Then it's settled." Fluttershy smiled. "This time every year, we'll have our own little celebration." "Sounds positively marvelous." Rarity declared. "Oh, it does." Discord grinned. "I'm already cooking up ideas for draconequus-related games for next year. Ooh, the infinite possibilities, all with my handsome facade on them..." "Oh, Discord..." Fluttershy chuckled. "I think we might have just created a monster." Rainbow joked. "Ah, let 'im have this." Applejack chuckled. "One day outta the year won't hurt." "As long as there's cake involved, I'm down for anything!" Pinkie cheered. It had been quite a day for all involved. One that would serve as a reminder that somepony is only as alone as they allow themselves to be. As long as they had those who cared for them, they would always feel a warmth akin to the closest of families.