//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 ~ just chapter 14 
// Story: The Matter Of Friendship 
// by HeartShieldFiM 
//------------------------------//

'Look what Daddy made for me!' Screwball mumbled, holding the puppet in her mouth.
'Show me,' Pinkie said. 'Oh, that's great indeed! How did he do that?'
'A little bit of magic,' a deep voice said. Pinkie turned around, looking straight into Discord's glowing red eyes. 'Nothing wrong with that, right?'
'As long as you won't create chaos with it,' the pony replied. 'Then  it's okay, I guess.'
Discord took a bow. 'Well, I am the King of Chaos, so I don't know if I can keep this order up for long…'
'Oh, yes,' Pinkie said. 'I was still looking for a place where it'd be safe for you to… use your imagination. I haven't thought of anything yet.'
Discord stared in the distance. 'Well… it was hard not to make that puppet come alive… Maybe the mountains would be a good idea indeed…' he said with a pretty sad facial expression.
'No!' Pinkie yelled, and grabbed his leg. 'No,' she said again. 'I won't let you live there alone. If you'd go, I'll go with you. And that would be a problem, because Gummy should come with us and Screwball of course and maybe my friends or at least Madame LeFlour and it would be overcrowded and…'
'Breathe,' Discord said, putting a hand on her mouth. Pinkie calmed down a bit.
'Well,' she concluded. 'Nopony is gonna move, okay?'
'It seems,' Discord replied. 'Not that you'd even let me move.'
'Nu-uh,' Pinkie said. 'I ain't gonna drop my friends somewhere in the mountains! Oh, I really have to go. I promised Rarity to help her in the boutique.'
Discord squinted. 'Want me to come with you? I mean, Rarity has done so much for me…'
Pinkie thought about the proposition, and about Rarity's remark. Then, she said, 'Fine. But if Rarity acts strange to you, just ignore it, okay?'
'Why would she…'
But before Discord had finished his sentence, Pinkie already had hopped away. Without really knowing what he was doing, he hopped after her.
Pinkie looked behind her when she felt the ground shaking. She tripped over a rock, but Discord caught her just before her cheek would hit the ground.
'Sorry, did I scare you?' he said.
Pinkie grinned, laying in Discord's arms in some sort of dance position. 'Not at all. Thanks.'
'If we fly, we'll be much faster,' Discord said. 'Wanna try it again?'
'Your wing is healed yet?' Pinkie asked surprised.
Discord smiled shyly. 'Ehm, not entirely, no… but I can fly short distances…'
'Then don't mind it,' Pinkie said. 'Rarity will understand it, I guess.'

'You're late.'
Pinkie rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, like three minutes or so! By the way, you owe Discord ánd me an apology!'
'A…apology?' Rarity muttered. 'I have no idea what you're talking about. Come on in, I made some tea.'
'What is she talking about?' Discord whispered.
'Nuffin' really,' Pinkie replied.
'Hey, Pinkie Pie,' Rarity called from the kitchen. 'Have you heard already about the new residents?'
Pinkie grinned. 'New… friends! Where do they live?'
'I heard they live just downtown,' Rarity replied. 'Near Ice Cube. They share that empty cottage. I think they are a couple…'
Pinkie bit her lip. 'Oh, I'm… I'm just SO exited! I can't wait to meet them! But I promised to help you first.'
'Oh, yes,' Rarity said. She walked out of the kitchen, being followed by a teapot. 'And what brings our friend Discord here?'
'After you helped him reading all those books, he wanted to do something back for you,' Pinkie replied.
Rarity smiled. 'That's so kind of you,' she said. 'The thing is… I need my buttons sorted and all by myself it's gonna be a huge job.'
'Good thing you have us,' Discord said. 'How hard can it be?'
'Eh… well, here it is…' Rarity opened a door and in the room stood six or seven barrels, filled to the top with all colors of buttons.
'Oh dear,' Pinkie muttered.
Discord grinned. 'Well, everything for a friend… right, Pinkie Pie?'
The pink pony nodded
'It shouldn't be that hard…' Discord said spontaneously.
'What do you mean?' Pinkie asked.
Discord grinned. 'I can make the buttons sort THEMSELVES,' he said.
Before Pinkie or Rarity could protest, the tiny buttons were actually climbing out of the barrels. Pinkie saw they had tiny legs and arms. Buttons with the same color held each other's hands and looked for more of their kind.
Rarity squeaked. 'Eek! Make it stop!'
'Just… wait… a few more seconds…' Then, Discord snapped his fingers and the movement stopped immediately. 'Tadah. Saved you a lot of work, see?'
The ponies were astonished. The buttons were sorted in six piles: green, yellow, red, purple, blue and orange.
'That's just… wonderful…' Rarity muttered. 'And most certainly one of the scariest things I've ever seen, but still… You sorted my buttons!'
She couldn't help it and gave Discord a kiss on his cheek.
'Heh,' he said. 'Spike's waiting for that since he met you!'
But Rarity didn't hear it. She was too busy putting the buttons back in the barrels.