Episode 62 – Keep Calm and Flutter On
I felt myself cough a little, bringing myself back to conscious. I looked to the other side of the bed. It was empty. Fluttershy must have gotten up early… My throat felt extremely parched. I felt a little warm. Not only was I thirsty, but my throat felt stuffed up as well, along with my nose.
"Oh, you're awake." Fluttershy mentioned from the entrance towards the room. She lightly flapped her wings, bringing me something on a tray. "Here you go, sweetie. I made this just for you." There was a white and fragile cup on the tray. Steam protruded from it. It must have been her hot tea. I lightly grabbed it and blew on it a little. Afterwards, I took small sips from the tea, feeling it clear up both my throat and nose.
"Thank you, Fluttershy…" I expressed.
She placed the tray down on the nightstand nearby and flew to my side. She placed a caring hoof on my chest and rubbed it gently. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
"…fine…" I responded.
"Princess Luna brought you to me. She said you weren't doing so well and that you were heading to my cottage. I'm glad she did…" She placed a hoof on my mane and softly removed it away from my eyes and to my side.
"…I had this crazy dream last night…" I told her as I stared at the bed sheets.
"What dream?" She questioned.
"I…don't remember…" I remained silent for a moment. "All I remember was…" I sighed. "It's something I didn't like…"
"Well, everything is fine now…" She pushed her head towards mine and pressed her lips on my cheek, leaving them there for a nice few seconds. We suddenly heard a frantic knock downstairs, startling Fluttershy a bit. "I'll get that…" She removed herself from my side and flew downstairs.
As she went to go answer it, I continued staring at the sheets while cautiously taking a sip of the tea every once in a while.
"Fluttershy!" I heard Applejack's voice exclaim.
"Oh, why hello, Applejack. Is something wrong?" Fluttershy answered.
"Hay yeah, somthin's wrong! Your darn beaver is flooding my trees with its dam!" Applejack replied.
"Oh no… Give me one moment, Applejack. I'll be right out." Fluttershy closed the door and flew back upstairs to me. "I have to go to Sweet Apple Acres, Alex. Why don't you go outside and meet the others? Or you can stay here if you want… Just do anything you're comfortable with." She placed a kiss on my lips. "I love you."
"I love you too." I expressed back.
Afterwards, she flew back down and out the door to walk with Applejack.
I finished the tea and placed it back on the tray. I removed myself out of bed and picked up the tray with my magic. I traveled down the steps towards the kitchen. I washed the cup and left it out to dry. I was about to place the tray away when something suddenly occurred with my horn. My magic was interrupted unexpectedly. It formed some kind of crackle on it, causing me to place a hoof on it while gasping in pain. The tray created a loud cacophony as it crashed on the floor.
"Ugh." I released, shaking my head with strained eyes.
When I opened them, I looked at the tray on the floor. Instead of using my magic, I picked it up with my hoof and placed it on the counter.
I walked outside as I had decided to get some fresh air in my lungs. Moving along the dirt path, I could see Ponyville in the distance. That's when I heard my name.
"Alex!"
I looked to see who it was. It was the lavender mare, Twilight.
"Twilight?" I questioned.
She trotted towards me. "I'm glad I caught you! I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Oh… Sorry. I stayed at Fluttershy's. I wasn't feeling too well…"
"Is everything alright?" She asked with a slight look of worriment.
"Yeah… I'm fine now. What's up?" I asked.
"Princess Celestia is bringing an important visitor." She explained. "I got the letter just this morning. Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Spike are not too far away." She gestured with her head to follow her. "C'mon!" She began walking as I stayed behind her.
She led me to this wide green field. Spike was walking in circles, staring at the ground from boredom. Rarity was too busy spraying perfume on herself while Rainbow could only watch and cover her mouth with her hoof. Pinkie bounced over to Rarity. "I love it when Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville! I got my hooves shined just like Rarity for the occasion." She lifted her left hoof towards Rarity for her to observe. "Ya like?" She asked, presenting a hoof that was shined so brilliantly that it casted a reflection.
"I certainly do!" Rarity answered with glee.
"Huh?" Twilight looked around. "I'm surprised she's not here yet."
Spike sighed. "I wonder what's taking so long?"
"And where are Applejack and Fluttershy?" Twilight questioned.
"Oh." I spoke. "She went with Applejack to take care of something at Sweet Apple Acres…" I answered. "Something about a…dam…and beaver."
"But, I still don't get why the Princess would be so late." Spike added.
"She's bringing an important visitor. That could be part of it." Twilight offered.
"A visitor who's important and slow." Rainbow Dash flew hastily towards us, continuing to flap her wings in impatience.
"Maybe it's somepony so terribly important, she still had many more terribly important things to do before she got here." Rarity offered her own explanation, walking towards us.
Spike looked the other way and suddenly gasped, tugging at Twilight's tail. "Maybe the visitor has a deer antler, a goat leg, a bat wing, and a snake tail!"
His description caused me to form a confused expression on my face.
"Yeah, right. That's Discord." Twilight responded.
"Why in the wide-wide world of Equestria would Princess Celestia bring along someone like that?" Rarity added into the disbelief among us.
"M-m-maybe you should ask...her!" Spike pointed out, revealing Princess Celestia, who was escorted by her royal guards to our location. Her carriage wasn't the only one… Another group of royal guards were bringing something else… It was… Discord…
All six of us could only stare at the frozen stature in confusion and disbelief.
Wow… I haven't seen him in a long time…
Princess Celestia removed herself from the carriage and stood before us with a warm smile, especially at me. I walked towards her with an agape mouth directed at Discord. When I reached her, I looked at her eyes and began to speak. "Princess Celestia, please tell me you brought that statue here in order for us to break it into pieces."
"I must say, I didn't." She answered.
Twilight walked to my side to speak with the Princess as well. "With all due respect, Princess Celestia…" She began, "How could you bring Discord here?!" She screamed out loud, clearing her throat afterwards. "Your majesty."
"I'm fully aware that the last time Discord was here, he created serious havoc." She answered as she turned her head to see the royal guards removing him from the carriage.
"If by 'serious havoc' you mean 'turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world'..." Rainbow Dash countered.
"...and tricking us all into being the opposite of our true selves..." Rarity included.
"And making yummy delicious chocolate milk rain all over the place without a single dollop of whipped cream to go with it anywhere in sight! Not a single dollop!" Pinkie finished unnecessarily.
"Including being a major annoyance who tried to use me for his chaotic control…" I mentioned.
"Yes, I understand. But I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil." Princess Celestia explained. "This is why I've brought Discord here, because I believe that you are the ponies who can help him do just that."
"This will never work!" Spike immediately began panicking. "This is a disaster! How will we ever control him?! We're doomed!"
"Need I remind you that you are the ponies who turned him back into stone like this in the first place?" Princess Celestia assured.
Twilight looked back at the other ponies with a soft smile. All of them were smiling back except for Spike, who released a face of fear. However, I continued eyeing Discord's statue aggressively. "...I suppose we can just use the Elements of Harmony against him again if it gets out of hand."
"Uh," Spike stammered. "W-w-we probably need a volunteer to run away from here right away to get them. I'll do it!" He was ready to leave until Princess Celestia stopped him.
"No need, Spike. I have them right here." Two royal guards placed the chest holding the elements down. "And I've cast a spell so Discord can't take them and hide them again." She opened the chest with her magic to reveal them. I haven't seen them in such a long time either… "Now where is Fluttershy? I believe she may know best how to begin reforming Discord."
"Fluttershy? Really?" Rainbow Dash questioned, holding no faith in her.
I sent an irritated frown at Rainbow, catching her attention. She sighed and looked away while crossing her forelegs. "Fine. I'll go get her and Applejack." She dashed away after.
As I watched her fly away, I heard Princess Celestia call my name. "Alex?" I looked towards her. "A word with you, if I may?"
"Sure…" I answered. She began walking me away from the other mares as she stretched out her wings and placed one behind me. "What is it?"
"…My sister told me about you…"
"Huh?"
"She told me that she was worrying about you. I just wanted to know if everything is alright with you… Have you been experiencing any…odd…behavior?" She inquired.
I sighed, beginning to feel a little irritated that every mare seemed to be worrying about me. "No, Princess. I'm fine."
"Are you absolutely sure?" She questioned, leaning her head towards me a bit more.
"I was just a little sick. I'm fine now, Princess."
She paused for a moment. "…Just let me know if you do…I want you to be safe…"
"I will."
"They're on their way." Rainbow's voice sounded, causing us to turn to face back at the girls.
"Good." Princess Celestia responded.
When Fluttershy and Applejack arrived, Fluttershy was really surprised to see the Princess.
"…Princess Celestia!" Fluttershy softly exclaimed with widened eyes.
"Hello, Fluttershy." Princess Celestia sent a warm smile in order to calm Fluttershy's nerves a little. "I was hoping you would know the most in reforming Discord to good."
"…reform him…?" Fluttershy questioned. "…to good? I…I don't know…"
"I realize that this is a tall order, but I wouldn't ask if I weren't confident you could get him to use magic obediently of his own free will."
"And...you really think I'll know best how to do that?" Fluttershy lowered her head and lightly looked away.
Princess Celestia placed a hoof under her chin and raised her head a little in order to meet eye to eye. "I do." Fluttershy immediately blushed and turned away. "Now, I must return to Canterlot for Equestria's royal summit." Princess Celestia flapped her wings and landed back on the carriage. "You may release Discord when ready." Afterwards, she returned one last look at me before her royal guards began taking her back to Canterlot.
Once she was gone, Twilight turned around and began leading the others towards Discord's statue as she held the chest holding the elements close to her. "Okay ponies, guess it's time to get started. Let's just hope this releasing spell works."
"Or... let's not." Spike appeared from behind Twilight's tail.
"We'd best keep our elements on at all times 'til further notice." Twilight advised, placing each of the elements on the other girls, including herself.
"Check!" They all responded.
"Alex, are you ready?" Twilight asked.
I sighed, already feeling irritated that I'm going to have to release this troublesome nuisance in our town. "Let's see if I still remember how to do this…" I joined them in their circle.
Twilight nodded her head and began focusing her magic. Soon enough, she activated her element, which immediately focused ours. I lifted into the air along with the other girls, feeling the element within me activate from such a long time. All of our colors mixed together, going through Twilight's tiara to complete the process. Discord's imprisonment began cracking and breaking. As soon as he was released he screamed out loud, which soon turned into a yawn. "Oh! Ooh! Ooooh!" He expressed as he wobbled himself around. "Well, it's about time somepony got me out of that prison block. What a relief!" He snapped his finger, making the squirrel nearby into a monstrous one. It tore off the branch it was on and began biting it.
The girls released a gasp while I already knew he was going to start doing mischievous things like this.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Twilight scolded.
Discord continued 'stretching'. "Nnnnnnnnngh- why, stretching, of course. When you're a creature of chaos, stone bodysuits aren't your typical go-to fashion choice. Nnngh..." He folded his arms/forelegs back behind his head and quickly snapped to pretend it went along with his stretching. A nearby bunny, which was sniffing a flower, was immediately turned in a monstrous bunny as well. It roared and hopped away.
Pinkie gasped. "Make that bunny cute again! Now!"
"Oh..." He sniggered. "He's adorable the way he is." He petted the bunny under its chin as it growled at him. It tried chomping at him, but Discord pulled back his head and blew a raspberry. "You know what else is adorable? You ponies truly believe that you can reform me, and that you're putting your faith in this one here to make it happen." He emphasized towards Fluttershy, causing me to narrow my eyes irritatingly. "Makes me wanna pinch your little horsey cheeks..." I growled when he pinched Fluttershy's cheeks as so.
"How'd you know about that?!" Twilight demanded.
"Being turned to stone doesn't keep me from hearing every word Celestia says." He explained, regarding the time he spent in stone. However, he removed his eyeballs, shook them, and threw them to the ground like dice. "Although I admit it makes rolling my eyes a challenge."
"Well, unless you want us to turn you back to stone, you'll zap those animals back the way they were, pronto!" Twilight warned.
"Oh, you wouldn't dare turn me back to stone and risk disappointing your precious princess." He responded.
"Try us, 'Dip-cord'!" Rainbow Dash provoked.
"You think you can treat poor defenseless animals like that and get away with it?!" Fluttershy pointed out, flying towards Discord in order to scold him face-to-face.
"You go, Fluttershy!" Rainbow cheered.
"You'd best watch your step, buster, or I'll give you the Stare!"
"The Stare?" Discord reacted frightfully in a mocking way. "Oh no, please, not that! Anything but your disapproving eyeballs!" He immediately laughed as he rolled around in the air. Fluttershy took this in and instantly released her signature stare. "Oh no! No no no, stop! No, no!" He began making strangling noises as if he was choking, but I knew it was all an act. I merely rolled my eyes and waited for him to finish with his childish behavior. "I can't! Stop! I can't take it anymore! I'll do whatever you say! Because..." He laughed out loud, ending his mock. "You are hilarious!" He continued laughing.
"If it turns out we need to use our elements against you, I'm sure we can convince Princess Celestia it was for a good reason!" Twilight mentioned.
"Mmm..." Discord thought twice and decided to give in. "I suppose that's correct." He snapped his fingers, immediately turning the animals back to normal. Once he was finished, he looked away and muttered something under his breath, causing an eyebrow to rise on my face. "Well, it looks like I know where I'll be crashing while I'm being 'reformed'." He added the quotation marks with his fingers. "With you, Fluttershy." He teleported her to him and held her as he messed with her mane playfully.
He laughed evilly as Fluttershy could only stare at me in horror. "Oh, dear."
I growled and flew towards him, taking Fluttershy back and pushing him away from her. "You keep your hooves off her!"
"Oh, why if it isn't good ole' Alex?" He commented, observing me. "It looks like you got some pretty wings and a horn there. Did you get some lipstick with that too?" He laughed as I huffed out an aggressive breath from my nose. "You 'Alicorns' think you're so high and mighty just because you have both of the special gifts to ponies."
I pointed a hoof towards him. "And you need to learn when to shut the h—"
Fluttershy interrupted me, pushing me away from him and shaking her head. "We don't have time for arguing, Alex. If we have any chance of turning Discord to good, then we have to start by being friendly towards him."
"Fluttershy! Look at him!" I pointed towards him, who continued to mess around like an ignorant child. "You really think you can reform that to good? He's a lost cause!"
She shook her head once again. "Nothing's a lost cause…" She looked at me carefully. "Do you believe in me…?"
I could only gaze back at her. I sighed and stared at the ground for a moment, and then I turned back to her. "…yes…"
"Then please give me a chance to do this…"
"…okay…"
She flew over to Discord and began leading him over to her cottage. "Come on, Discord. I'll get you nice and cozy at the cottage!"
"Well, it's about time!" He added as he followed Fluttershy.
I bit my tongue in anger and began flying behind them, keeping a close eye on Discord while the girls were a witness to my feelings and walked behind me.
Discord planted himself on the couch and seriously presented no sign of respect or consideration as he stretched himself in comfort. I literally could not find a moment of relief in my body ever since he was brought back from his frozen state.
"Fluttershy, are you really going to be treating him like this?" Twilight asked, clearly not wanting Fluttershy to go on with her plan.
"He may be horrible, but that doesn't mean we have to act the same way." Fluttershy responded as she began tidying up the place, placing a book back on the shelf and replacing it with a vase of flowers. "We should at least try to be hospitable." She noticed Discord and then faced Angel. "You don't mind giving up your favorite spot on the couch, do you, Angel Bunny?"
Angel quickly jumped, wanting to disagree on her question. He dashed over to Discord and began pulling his hoof in order to attempt to remove him from the couch. Discord merely looked at him struggle with a smile. After Angel realized it was no use, he gave up and walked away with a grumpy mood. Looks like he has someone new to hate in this home…
"Oh, I'm sorry about Angel. Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked Discord.
"Oh, yes. Thank you, Fluttershy, for your concern. If only your pony friends could be as considerate..."
Rainbow Dash flew up into the air in order to respond. "Don't listen to him, Fluttershy! He's just trying to drive a wedge between us like he always does."
"Now why in the world would I ever try to do a thing like that?" He asked, trying to sound innocent.
"So we can't unite and use the Elements of Harmony against you, that's why!" Rainbow answered boldly.
"I never thought of that..." He replied, staying in the same tone.
"You big liar!"
"Now, look who's a liar." Discord shrunk himself in order to make Rainbow Dash look like the liar instead. "Anyone can plainly see that I'm not big at all." Angel noticed that since he was small, he could get back on the couch. However, when he did, Discord reverted back to his size and pushed Angel off the couch, along with pushing the lamp near him.
I caught it with my magic and carefully placed it back on the table. "Watch it." I warned him in an unfriendly tone. There was so much more I wanted to say, but I couldn't if I wanted to help Fluttershy…
Applejack tilted her hat over her face and spoke. "I can't watch..." She turned around and began walking out.
"We'll be outside." Rainbow Dash assured and flew out.
Twilight began walking out as well, but stopped to speak with Fluttershy. "You sure you're okay with this?" She asked.
"I know it's not gonna be easy, but Princess Celestia's counting on me. And... I think I actually know what to do." Fluttershy returned.
"You do?" Twilight questioned with her hopes raised up.
"I think the key is to befriend him." As Fluttershy explained, I noticed Discord messing with Angel. Angel continued to try to take back his spot on the couch, but Discord would purposely move the couch so Angel couldn't get on. I decided I could help Angel, so I picked up Angel with my magic and threw him at Discord's face. Angel took this gesture and began trying to attack Discord's face, keeping him busy for while so I could pay my attention towards Fluttershy. "Being kind to him and letting him be my house guest is probably the best way to do that."
"And you really think that'll work?"
"I think it's worth a try!"
"Okay, but if you need us, all you need to do is whisper 'help', and we'll be back here with our Elements." Twilight whispered.
"Don't worry, Twilight." I added. "I'm staying here with her." I squinted my eyes towards Discord to see him struggling with Angel. "There's no way I'm leaving him with Fluttershy. I'm keeping a close eye on him and I'm not letting him do any funny business…" I ended by facing Fluttershy's eyes.
Unexpectedly, I felt Angel thrown back at me, causing me to fall to the floor while bringing Fluttershy down with me.
"Watch that goat-legged step of yours, pal!" Twilight warned and scolded.
"Wh-what?!" Discord asked, bringing Angel from the ground and placing both of them on a chair with a cup of tea, appearing to look sophisticated. "Look at me! I'm practically reformed already."
I released a heavy breath and helped Fluttershy up while glaring angrily at Discord. "Sorry, Fluttershy…"
"Don't worry about it." She replied and faced Twilight. "We'll see you later Twilight." She escorted her out and closed the door.
When we turned around to face Discord, he began grabbing Angel and purposely moved his lips in order to make him appear to be talking. "Look at me, I'm Alex." He spoke in a high-pitched tone. "I can fly around and cast magic at the same time!" He began moving Angel around in mid-air. "I think I'm so cool and I'm totally jealous of Discord's good looks!"
"Fluttershy." I pushed through clenched teeth. "Can I speak with you in the kitchen?" As he continued to mess around with Angel, I walked with Fluttershy in the kitchen. "Fluttershy, I know you're trying to 'reform' him but…does he really need to stay in your cottage? The thought of it makes me so very uncomfortable. I literally just want to throw him out the window."
She sighed. "Alex, please. I love you. I really do. But we…or at least I…have to be as friendly as possible to him. He's only going to become more a nuisance if we get after him. He pretty much feeds off of our anger and it's only fun to him when people get upset. It's all a game to him. But maybe he'll realize how…awful…he is when he's treated so very nicely."
I released another heavy breath through my nose. "Fine…"
"Come on." She kissed me and smiled. "Why don't we get some cupcakes for all of us? I'm sure that's a good start."
"Okay…"
She poked her head out of the kitchen and looked at Discord. "Discord?" She called. I walked out of the kitchen. "Listen, Discord, I just want to make sure you know that if there's anything I can do to—" She stopped to see him chewing blissfully on a bowl of paper. "uh, umm. Are you eating... paper?"
He swallowed and answered as he poked his fork onto another piece of paper. "Am I? Huh, how odd of me." He started chewing on another piece as I lightly squinted my eyes.
"Well, um... I'm just heading out, so, you just make yourself at home while I'm gone." She began leaving as I stuck by close to her, eyeing back at Discord as we left the cottage.
"Buh-bye, have a nice time!" He waved as he already appeared to have a robe for wearing at home. He also held a cup of coffee. "Everything is fine here, bye bye... Bye bye..." He went back inside and closed the door.
"...You really think it's a good idea to leave him alone in your cottage?" I asked Fluttershy as I just finished staring at the house.
"Well…why wouldn't it be?" She questioned my question.
"He's Discord. The whole place can be out of order by the time we get back."
"Oh…well…whatever makes him happy. I'm sure it won't be that bad."
"I hope so…"
It didn't take us too long to get the cupcakes. After all, I wanted to get back to the cottage as soon as possible because I didn't trust Discord staying there by himself, so I may have rushed Fluttershy a bit.
As soon as we arrived back near the bridge outside the cottage, we surely were in for quite a surprise. There, in front of us and high up in the air was the cottage. It was spinning round and round slowly in an endless motion. Fluttershy's mouth became agape, dropping the bag of cupcakes to the floor. She spread her wings and began flying towards the cottage. I looked at the bag of cupcakes and decided I could bring them in for her. I grabbed them with my magic and began flying towards the entrance of the cottage…which confused me for a while…
"Discord… Why is the cottage like this…?" Fluttershy asked politely as I flew inside.
"What?" He asked, eating the napkin he used to wipe his mouth. "This isn't overdoing it, is it? You said to make myself at home while you were gone, but I wouldn't want to overstep my bounds."
"Nngh..." Fluttershy hesitated as I flew to her side, beginning to glare at Discord again. "I did say that, so... if this makes you more comfortable... by all means, please feel free."
"Oh. Well, it does, very much so. You're so very kind, my dear Fluttershy." He placed his claw and paw on her shoulders, but I quickly pushed them away.
"Don't touch her." I ordered boldly.
He merely shrugged, unaffected by my statement. Nonetheless, he didn't place his claw and paw back on her again. Instead, he wanted to prove his point. "I always knew that you were the understanding one, not like those nasty friends of yours." He explained to Fluttershy, directing the "nasty" part towards me. "Especially him."
My face burned with anger, as I wanted to hit him so hard again, but I couldn't let him win by annoying me.
Fluttershy gasped. "My friends aren't nasty!" She flew closer to me to grab my hoof. "And neither is Alex! You only think he's nasty because you're annoying him!"
"Well, of course you'd say that, it just goes to show how understanding you truly are." He responded. Analyzing Fluttershy's face, I could tell that she was becoming annoyed as well, but she couldn't let it distract her from her objective. "You know, I think Princess Celestia is right when she singles you out as the one who could reform me. You're off to such a good start I'm seriously considering actually being reformed." This caused Fluttershy to form a soft smile, but I wasn't buying any of it.
"Fluttershy! Alex! Can you both hear me?" We heard Twilight's voice outside of the cottage.
"Goodness! I hear Twilight!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She was about to leave, but she remembered about Angel and held out her hooves to catch him. When he landed in them, she brought him outside. I gave one last glare at Discord and threw the bag of cupcakes at him before I flew after her.
"Alex, Fluttershy, what's going on? Are you two okay?!" Twilight asked us in an urgent way.
"We're fine, everything's going great. Isn't it, Angel?" She asked him as she placed him down on the ground. However, he didn't answer and walked off in a dizzy motion away from the cottage.
"Hmph… If you count the cottage spinning in mid-air and ruining everything inside, then yeah, I guess it's fine…" I muttered. Nonetheless, I looked at Twilight. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"We've come to get you away from Discord! He's just terrible and, from the looks of it, completely out of control!" Twilight mentioned as Spike agreed with her by nodding his head and holding angry eyes.
"Oh, but you're wrong! We're making great progress!" Fluttershy answered delightfully.
"Seriously?!" Twilight, Spike, and I questioned her.
"I'm earning his trust by giving him a little space to be himself." Fluttershy explained.
"Hate to break it to you, but he used that 'space to be himself' to tear out all the reforming spells from the library!" Spike held up a book to reveal that pages have been ripped apart from it.
Fluttershy placed a hoof to her mouth and looked down to the ground in thought. "That does explain the paper eating..."
"He ate them?!" Twilight yelled out in question. "Ugggghhhh!" She groaned while rubbing her hoof to her head aggressively.
"But we aren't gonna need a spell. He's already really considering being reformed! He said so." Fluttershy included.
"And you believed him?" Twilight asked the obvious question.
"If I'm going to be his friend, I have to start by giving him the benefit of the doubt! Tell you what. Bring all the ponies over for a dinner party this evening, and I'll bet his manners will have really improved by then." She rose up into the air and pointed towards the cottage. "I'll even get him to put the cottage back on the ground first." Afterwards, she flew back inside.
Twilight sighed. "Alright. Dinner it is."
I released a soft sigh of myself. "I know how you feel, Twilight. I really want to support Fluttershy with her mission to reform Discord, but he's just been getting under my skin lately. You don't know how irritating it is to even be near him. I just want to…" I growled and clenched my teeth. "But I have to hold my anger in. I don't want to disappoint Fluttershy…"
"I understand, Alex. I just hope Fluttershy really can reform him soon. I don't know if I can last more than a day with him running around like this…"
"Me either…" I paused as I looked towards the cottage. "Well, I better go watch Discord and make sure he doesn't pull any tricks up his sleeve…"
"Alright. I'll go tell the ponies about the…" She stopped, placed a hoof on her forehead, and shook it with her eyes closed. "…dinner party…" She walked off as Spike followed her.
I flew towards inside of the cottage to catch Discord in his sentence as he ate the cupcakes noisily. "Why, of course, Fluttershy. You bought me these delicious cupcakes. I suppose I can put the cottage back down for you in order to show my appreciation."
As the cottage began to stop moving and lower itself, I narrowed my eyes. "It's not even your cottage. Why are you acting like you own it?" I asked, hinting my anger beneath the sentence.
"Was it not Fluttershy who said to make myself at home? This is what I'm comfortable with. Do you wish to make your guest uncomfortable and angry?" He questioned, wanting to have me let him do whatever he wants.
"That doesn't mean you should do whatever you want. Fluttershy is letting you stay here and you should respect her for doing so. She's the only pony who is actually trying to be nice to you. You're only doing all of…" I looked at all the mess inside of the cottage. "…this…because you like to tick ponies off."
"Who me?" He placed a paw to himself with his little 'innocence' game once again. I only rolled my eyes and shook my head, not even wanting to talk to him anymore. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'm putting the cottage down because I want to respect you for letting me stay here." He mocked. When the cottage was finally back in place, he looked around. "Why, I'll even spruce this place up a bit for you!"
"Actually…" Fluttershy spoke. "I was hoping we could have a dinner party with the other ponies this evening…"
"A dinner party!" Discord immediately perked up. "How wonderful! That's a perfect idea, Fluttershy! I have a setting for just the occasion!"
"Good!" Fluttershy expressed, lowering herself back on the ground. "You set everything up. Alex and I will go make dinner."
"But, of course." He bowed.
I released another angry breath through my nose and landed on the floor, hanging my head down low as I followed her in the kitchen.
Fluttershy began humming delightfully as she began preparing the dinner. I just couldn't see how she could handle Discord so much. She's able to handle Discord… She's able to handle three energetic young fillies… She'd possibly be able to even handle the Cakes' babies! Wow… I bet she'll turn out as a great mom…
I immediately snapped myself out of that thought and blushed a bit. I had been lost in thought for a while...
"Are you hungry yet, sweetie?" Fluttershy asked me, seeming to bring me back into reality.
"Oh, uh…" I looked around, noticing that I had been sitting in the corner. "…yeah, I guess."
"Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you make sure the girls are already on their way here?"
"Alright." I responded, standing up.
I walked out of the kitchen, not paying any attention to the living room. I placed my hoof on the handle until Discord interrupted me. "You like?" He asked. I turned my head to see him in a fancy waiter's outfit. There was a somewhat hourglass-looking table in the middle of the room, except it had round ends instead. The living room was completely redone, and I couldn't offer any piece of what I really thought about it. As I finished observing the huge chandelier on top, the plates, glasses, and food utilities on the table, and the pillows on the ground for all of us to sit down. I merely rolled my narrowed eyes. "Sure." I responded briefly. I opened the door to already see the girls coming with their elements. Huh… I guess I don't have to go out after all…
"Oh, our pony guests!" Discord suddenly cut through me. He released a loud belched and unrolled a red carpet in front of the cottage to welcome the girls. Ugh… Being Discord, he appeared at the end of the red carpet surprising all the girls. "We're so delighted that you've come." He spoke in an upper class voice. "Please, do come in." He teleported by me and welcomed them inside.
Continuing my glare at Discord, I turned around and began walking towards the table.
Fluttershy poked her head out of the kitchen. "Oh!" She flew over to the table as well, noticing the new changes, which she took to be positive. She faced all of the other girls and pointed towards the new look inside her cottage. "See what a beautiful job he did helping? Discord set the entire table himself. I'm so proud."
After that compliment, Discord teleported to where the hat rack was, having his paw already over Twilight's element. "May I take your..." He cleared his throat as he tried to politely snatch Twilight's tiara away. "hats, ladies?" However, Twilight quickly moved her head to avoid the snatch and walked backwards, closer to the others.
"Hang on to your elements, girls." Twilight advised, holding her tiara with her hoof. "It's gonna be a bumpy night."
Spike was among them, as he still looked fearful as ever.
Nonetheless, they joined us at the table. I sat by Fluttershy as Discord was on the other side. I could only detain from removing my glare towards him. When I wasn't looking at him so angrily and to make sure he wasn't doing anything behind his back, I kept him in the corner of my eye.
"As you all know, Princess Celestia hoped we'd help Discord use his magic for good instead of evil." Fluttershy reminded. Discord nodded his head in agreement. Pinkie Pie immediately dove her mouth into the mashed potatoes, catching Fluttershy's attention. "Pinkie Pie, care for some gravy?"
Pinkie lifted her head, revealing a beard of the food. "You bet!"
"Allow me." Discord responded with that same high class tone. I quickly kept my eyes glued on him, not trusting him one bit. He faced towards the gravy boat and snapped his fingers. The gravy boat became alive and began panting like an excited dog. The tongue was the…gravy… Using the stands on the bottom as its legs, it ran over to Pinkie Pie, continuing to pant happily.
"Oh, what a cute little gravy boat you are! Yes you are! Yes you are!" She rubbed the glass part of it playfully. The gravy boat returned a lick of gravy on Pinkie's face and then filled her mashed potatoes with it.
"That's one creepy little gravy boat if you ask me." Rainbow Dash commented.
"Oh, come on now, Dashie. You're not even giving this a chance." Fluttershy returned.
The gravy boat ran over to Rainbow and released hot gravy on her. She immediately jumped into the air and began flying. "Hey! That's hot!"
"Whoops!" He chuckled, causing me to squint and narrow my eyes at him. "I'm so sorry!"
"He did that on purpose!" Rainbow accused.
Fluttershy formed a suspicious-like expression on her face, seeming to hesitate whether to believe Rainbow Dash or not.
"Oh, well, I don't know about that. Mistakes happen." He mentioned and then looked towards the table. "Oh, look, everypony, dancing candles!" Lit candles began to move around the table. The more things like this he did, the more suspicious I became of him. However, Spike, ironically, seemed the only one to be fascinated by the show of the candles.
Rainbow protested by blowing them out. "I'm not falling for that! Discord's just trying to distract us from—" The candles interrupted her as they started poking her annoyingly. She grunted as she tried to speak. "Hey! Knock it off! I suppose that's another 'mistake'?"
"No, I think you just made them mad." Discord responded with narrowed questionable eyes.
"There's something fishy going on…" Twilight brought up.
As soon as she mentioned that, the soup tureen, which looked like a fish, immediately spat out soup from inside towards Twilight, causing her to fall to the floor. It faced Spike and repeated the same action.
"Discord?" Fluttershy scolded as I widened at my eyes at the fish's action.
"Well it's hardly my fault if the soup tureen finds the term 'something fishy' to be offensive." Discord explained, wanting to point the blame on something else rather than himself.
The soup tureen slowly angled towards Rarity. She immediately gasped and flinched, placing her hooves in front of her. "Not the dress! Not the dress!" She cried out as the tureen was ready to spit out some more soup. However, I quickly used my magic to grab a pan cover nearby and place it on top of it, preventing it from doing anything else.
"Stop it, Discord!" I exclaimed, having enough of his shenanigans already. "We all know it's you! You're the only one who could make inanimate objects move like that!"
"Yeah!" Applejack joined. "That tureen's only doin' what you're makin' it do!"
"Now let's not jump to any conclusions." Fluttershy spoke as Discord was trying so hard to hide a chuckle. He had placed his paw and claw in front of his face to hold in a snicker until Fluttershy faced him. He quickly removed the smile. "Come on everypony, why don't we just enjoy our dinner together like we're supposed to do?"
"Fluttershy's right." Discord agreed. "Bon Appetit." He mentioned as he bowed 'graciously'.
"Come on, everypony! Let's dig in!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed cheerfully as she threw her hooves up into the air.
I merely rolled my eyes, annoyed by Discord's "innocence" and presence. Everypony, including Discord, began consuming their food as I could barely do so. I didn't let my guard down as easily as Fluttershy did.
"So..." Discord began, catching my attention. "You've been kicking any other ponies in the face lately, Alex?" He asked me, instantly turning on the aggression switch in my heart.
"No, I haven't. But now that you've mentioned it, I think I might be doing so right now." The tone of my voice began becoming solid.
"Oh, come on." Fluttershy tried to intervene. "That was in the past. Let's all just try to enjoy our dinner. Right, Discord?"
"Yes! Yes! Of course!" He responded heartily. "Assuming that I don't get kicked in the face while eating my mashed potatoes!"
"Discord!" Fluttershy scolded.
"Oh no!" I began raising my voice and straightening myself out more. "Unless you're an obnoxiously ignorant slug that needs to learn a thing or two about good manners and discipline, you don't have to worry about getting a good kick to the face!"
"Alex, please!" Fluttershy pleaded.
"Oh, what? A good Draconequus can't have some fun around here without getting punished for it?"
"Not when you try to make Ponyville the chaos capital of Equestria and screw up our friendship!"
"Oh, please, like you would care. You weren't much of a lively fellow anyway. In fact, you were my least favorite of all of these other ladies."
"Mmmm." Pinkie moaned during our discord. "The food is so good!"
Discord looked around innocently when he used his destructive magic to have the tureen come out from the cover and spit out the soup towards me.
I grew angrier by the second. I stood up in an aggressive matter, which Discord followed the same way. I grabbed the tureen with my magic until Discord used his power to counteract it. We both tried getting it on our side, but it suddenly flew up in the air.
This caused Fluttershy to gasp.
"Discord!" Twilight scolded him.
"Alex!" Fluttershy pleaded.
"Fluttershy!" I stretched my hooves towards Discord.
"Fluttershy!" Discord repeated the same manner.
"Discord!" Fluttershy switched her attention towards him.
"Discord!" Applejack joined.
"Applejack?" Rarity questioned.
"Rarity!" Twilight caught her eyes and pointed to Discord.
"Discord!" Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves on the table.
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy called.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash switched, directing at Discord.
"Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie yelled out happily.
Immediately after, the tureen landed harshly on the table, spitting out its soup on everypony.
Discord noticed this and laughed loudly. I could only have my hooves firmly placed on the table and glare at Discord as if he was the only pony to have ever made me this angry in silence, all while the liquid was dripping off my mane.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry…" Discord tried to apologize in a bogus manner.
Rainbow Dash shook her mane to remove the soup and began intervening in his rude behavior. "Fluttershy! Can't you see what he's doing? He's playing innocent with you so you'll never agree to use the Elements of Harmony against him!"
"Oh, well, that's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Discord responded.
"You see what I'm saying, right, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy couldn't say anything, remaining quiet. "Fluttershy!"
"You know what I see? I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see none of you giving him a chance!" Fluttershy replied.
The other girls instantly returned with complaints, even Spike and Pinkie.
"What's gotten into you?! Why do you keep cutting him so much slack?" Rainbow Dash demandingly questioned.
"Because that's what friends do." Fluttershy assured, surprising me and widening my eyes.
"We're friends?" Discord asked, seeming to be as surprised as I was.
"Why, of course!" Fluttershy answered, lifting herself up into the air and flapping her wings. "I can't remember my house being this lively before you came along."
"Oh. Well, I've... never really had a friend before." Discord began to look as if he was growing emotional, which surprised me even more. Well, it's no wonder you've never had a friend…
"Well now you do!" Fluttershy assured. Discord could only slightly look away gleefully while the other girls and Spike returned shocked faces. The moment was interrupted when the window opened and Angel jumped in, hopping frantically in front of us. "And now is not a good time, Angel. We're having a dinner party."
Angel continued his loud worried chitter, catching Applejack's attention as she was trying to decode the message. "Hold up! I-I think he's tryin' to tell us somethin'!"
Angel poured a glass of water on himself and began splashing around.
"…drowning…?" I threw out.
He pointed at me and hopped towards the plate of apples. He grabbed an apple and held it up.
"Apple!" The girls exclaimed, leading Angel to point towards Applejack. "Applejack!" He narrowed his eyes in order to send us the message that the girls didn't get the guess right. He slapped a paw on his forehead and strained his face. He pushed another jar towards us, with what looked like tea, and threw the apple inside.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Rarity exclaimed, analyzing the jar that held the apple inside of the liquid carefully. "Sweet Apple Acres?"
Angel bounced happily on the table, granting us with an expression that revealed the girls were right.
"Flooding at Sweet Apple Acres!" Rainbow pointed out. "And we all know who's behind that now, don't we?!" She directed at Discord.
"Who, me?" He asked, providing a halo above his head.
"Oh, give it a rest!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the other girls had already walked to the door and began leaving. "What do you think of your 'friend' now, Fluttershy?" With that she stormed out of the cottage while Fluttershy faced Discord with a significant change in her expression. Discord shrugged while Fluttershy appeared to have realize the mistake she made in labeling him as her 'friend'.
I scoffed. "I knew it. You just don't know when to quit, do you?!" I pushed myself away from the table. "If you excuse me, I'm going to help the others clean up the mess you made!"
As I angrily fumed out of the cottage, I could hear Discord behind me try to persuade Fluttershy. "Oh, come now, Fluttershy. You don't actually believe I flooded Sweet Apple Acres, do you?"
Fluttershy remained silent for a moment. "I do now." Then she flew away from him and caught up with me. As she walked by me, she stared at the floor and sighed sadly. I looked at her and placed a caring hoof on her back, sorry that her attempt to reform him didn't work.
When we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, I widened my eyes and opened my mouth in shock as Fluttershy gasped and placed her hoof to her mouth. From what I could see, the entire area had been completely flooded! The water was so high that it reached the leaves of the trees! And the rest of the Apple family was on buckets, trying to retrieve floating apples! And the source of what was holding all this water were the beavers nearby. There were about four beavers that were just about to finish their third dam.
"I've never seen the floodin' this bad!" Applejack commented on the sight. "They've built dams round here before, but never like this! What's goin' on?"
Fluttershy quickly attended to the problem by flying over to the beavers to speak with them. When she calmly and politely tried to persuade them to cease what they were doing, they only angrily chittered and chattered at her, one of them waving a stick around. Fluttershy gasped. "Such language!" The beaver that spoke back threw the stick he was holding at her. She flew out of the way and towards us, sighing. "It's no use. They won't listen to a word I say!"
"You see Discord's behind all this, right?" Rainbow asked again.
"Oh, of course I do!" Fluttershy surrendered her trust towards Discord. "Do you all think I'm a silly, gullible fool?"
"Only in the sense of being silly and gullible..." Rarity mentioned as the other girls simultaneously spoke in broken sentences and muttered words.
"I've just been trying to gain his friendship any way I can, so he'd come to trust and listen to me!" Fluttershy explained her efforts.
"And we understand that." I replied, holding a hoof up. "But there are just some things we can't change. Discord's just one of those…things… that are stuck in their own world and are too stubborn to come out and see what damage they're causing to other ponies. Maybe it's just best to turn him back to stone…"
"…maybe…" Fluttershy returned softly.
"Hey there, Fluttershy, you want a turn?" We heard Discord's voice echo from a distance. We all turned our heads to see him waterskiing in the flood like it was all just fun and games. Of course… "The water's great!"
Fluttershy looked back at us with pleading eyes. "Just give me one more chance."
"Fluttershy, oh, there you are." He jumped off his…soup tureens…and ran over to Fluttershy. "A sight for sore eyes."
"As you can see, there's a big mess down here at Sweet Apple Acres." Fluttershy pointed out towards all the water in the farm.
"Oh, yes. Awful business, that. Mm." He responded, obviously not caring about the serious manner as he wiped himself dry with a towel.
"It is awful. This is Applejack's home, and it's being destroyed by innocent creatures who would never be acting this way if it weren't for your reckless behavior. You need to fix this." Fluttershy ended by turning her body away from him and shutting her eyes boldly.
Discord thought for a moment as he placed a finger below his chin. "Oh, yes, very well, I will fix it. I only ask one thing in return." I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?" Fluttershy asked, growing happier.
"I ask that you never use your Element of Harmony against me." He pointed at the necklace. "As a sign of our friendship."
I scoffed again. "Fluttershy, you're not going to believe him, are you? He's the one that caused all this trouble and has so far shown no signs of friendship to either of us! It's obvious he only wants to stay free to do whatever he wants!"
Fluttershy opened her mouth, stuck in predicament, as she heard my warning. She looked at the other girls who only shook their heads in agreement with me. After, she turned to face Discord with narrowed eyes. He tapped his pointed fingers together in patience. Fluttershy sighed and placed her hooves behind her neck to remove the necklace. "I will never use my Element of Harmony against you."
I became shocked as she threw the element towards Spike to catch.
"Excellent!" Discord exclaimed and snapped his fingers. This is bad… Fluttershy was expecting him to remove all of the water, but instead he created a huge ice rink instead, shocking her. "There, much better! I do prefer ice skating to water skiing! Don't you?" With his magic, he created three clones of himself to give him a perfect score each as a nonexistent crowd cheered.
"Discord!" Fluttershy scolded, sending out a cold puff of her breath. "That's not fixing it!" She jumped off towards the slippery ice.
"Fluttershy!" I ran after her, realizing that she could really hurt herself if she slipped. Before I left, I made sure to get her element from Spike.
Discord noticed Fluttershy's angry attitude and stopped in his tracks. "Why, I oughta..." Fluttershy continued running towards him until she lost the movement of her hooves and slid past him.
"Where are you going?" Discord asked in a flippant manner, skiing towards Fluttershy."What's wrong, pal?"
I growled and quickly maneuvered to Fluttershy while using my wings to stay off the ice.
"Don't call me your pal!" Fluttershy returned angrily as I landed in front of her, having to steady my hooves like she was doing.
"Oh, pfft, come skating with me…" He began touching her face. I raised my hooves and angrily pushed him away from her. However, during this process, I slipped and fell to the ground. Discord was only pushed a few steps away from Fluttershy. He released a breath through his nose and didn't pay attention to me as I struggled to bring myself back up. "…and we'll let bygones be bygones." He created ice skates for Fluttershy's hooves, dangling them in front of her.
"Fluttershy, come on!" I grunted as I finally pushed myself up, but continued to stumble on the ice. "He's going to continue acting like a spoiled brat! We have to turn him back if he's never going to learn when to stop!" I mentioned as I held the element near her.
"He fixes this or he goes back to being stone!" Twilight yelled out from where we previously were. "Princess Celestia will understand!"
Fluttershy looked at the element and then at Discord's skates. She turned her head back to the element and then back at the skate. I could only remain there in suspense as Fluttershy didn't automatically decide to use her element. She strained her face very much in the decision she had to make. After a few seconds of holding it in, she made her decision. "I made a promise not to use my element against him and I'm going to keep it."
Discord grinned gleefully as Fluttershy took the skates from him and walked away with an expression on her face that sent a message that even she was disappointed in keeping the promise. I returned a shocked expression as I watched her walk away with the skates.
Back where the other girls were, Pinkie Pie gasped as Rainbow Dash groaned. Discord teleported next to Fluttershy and laughed out loud. "Hahah! You see? She wants to have fun with me because we're friends." As I switched my view towards Fluttershy, I could see her eyes lightly shaking as if the anger inside began growing immensely. Her ears flopped down and she began growling, stretching her irritated frown across her face. "She can't use the elements against me because we're friends. I'm free forever!"
Fluttershy growled. "Not. Your. Friend!" She screamed out loud, throwing the skates so fiercely away from her, causing me to gasp. She then turned away and began walking by me as she held both her ears and head down in calm anger. I quickly moved to her side and stayed by her as I frowned at her non-cheery nor soft expression.
"Who cares? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm Discord, the master of chaos!" He teleported behind Fluttershy, remaining on his skates as he stretched his neck to look over her. I could tell he tried so hard to prove the nonexistent point he had, but Fluttershy didn't pay any attention to him. She only looked forward in silence, slipping slightly once in a while. "You think you can boss Discord around? You think I'm just going to turn all this back because you say so? Because if I don't I'll lose the one friend I ever had?"
Fed up with this jerk's behavior, I grunted and pushed him away from her once again, almost slipping like last time. "You just don't get it, do you?!" I asked as he stopped to listen to me with selfish eyes. "I've met other ponies like you before! Normal ponies! And all they would do is just purposely act like a child to make others angry! They enjoyed the way other ponies would react to them because they found it funny, just like you do! But guess what? After they went home, alone because nopony would ever like them due to their behavior, they wept in silence as they realized how meaningless they were! And that's exactly you! Sure, you may be having your little 'freedom' and 'fun' right now, but just wait until you realize how nopony likes you! Then you'll especially realize how the only pony who actually offered to try to befriend you, despite all your childish acts, turned away from you because of your childish behavior! All in taking her for granted! So enjoy your little 'paradise'. Soon, you'll realize how alone and pathetic you really are…" After releasing as much anger as I could through speech, I turned away to begin helping Fluttershy out from the ice.
Discord surprisingly didn't say anything after that. There was a moment of silence before he softly expressed something. "Well played, Alex. Well played…" He then skated gloomily towards the top of a tree and sat there. Soon, everything was reverted everything back to the way it was before.
When the other girls realized how Applejack's farm was back to normal, they all cheered and raced towards Fluttershy and me. Discord appeared before us and offered to spare a few words. "I liked it better my way, but... I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?"
"Exactly…" I responded. "Was that so hard to understand? In order to be friends, you have to sacrifice a few things, which you may not enjoy doing…but it's all worth it in the end. You could have all the freedom in the world…but not having any friend to do those things with really ruins everything…" I shared a look towards all the girls as they placed warm and understanding smiles on all their faces.
"I suppose a huge sacrifice I'll have to make is…using my magic for good…"
"You can still have fun. Just don't do anything drastically horrendous like last time." I offered.
"Perhaps, you're right…"
When we finally got all that mush out of the way, Twilight sent out a letter, calling Princess Celestia to our location back in town.
She stood before us, smiling as if she was already expecting Discord to come clean. Her royal guards were waiting behind her with her carriage ready.
"So," She began. "I see you've all completed your task."
"Yes, Princess," Discord walked towards Princess Celestia. "I'm ready to use my magic for good instead of evil." He bowed but then muttered something under his breath. "Most of the time."
I narrowed my eyes, but decided to let it slip.
"Congratulations on your success, ponies." Princess Celestia told us. "I definitely sense a big change in Discord." Then she placed her head near Twilight's to speak softly to her. "I'll leave the Elements of Harmony with you, Twilight. Just in case."
Twilight nodded her head in agreement. "You were right when you said Fluttershy would be the one to find the way to reform Discord." She explained on who the real credible pony was. "By treating Discord as a friend, she got him to realize that friendship was actually important to him." Fluttershy revealed a flushed face after I grabbed and held her hoof with a smile. "And something that, once he had, he didn't want to lose."
"Go on. Say it..." Fluttershy nudged Discord.
He groaned and hesitated, just like a little foal. "Alright." He closed his eyes and turned away. "Friendship is magic." He quickly announced, looking around afterwards.
"See? He can be a real teddy bear once you get to know him." Fluttershy mentioned.
The other girls, including Spike and Princess Celestia, turned away in embarrassment as my smile grew a bit.
"Well…come along then." Princess Celestia spoke after recovering from her shade of embarrassment. "We should get you to Canterlot."
"But of course." Discord answered and began walking to the extra carriage.
As Princess Celestia began settling herself in, she looked out to all of us and congratulated us again, even though it was really Fluttershy who handled all the work. Before they left, Discord called me to him. Despite feeling a little odd as he did so, I walked over to him anyway.
"So…I guess you still hate me, don't you?" He asked, rubbing one of his many…arms.
Never before have I seen him so fragile and child-like. "Well… I'm not going to go ahead and immediately call you my friend…" This caused him to frown. "…yet…" I continued, perking him up a bit. "After all the mess you had me put up with, it should be understandable. But hey…" I shrugged. "At least you're at a good start, I suppose."
"I guess you're right." Discord returned. "Maybe I'll change more the next time I see any of you ponies."
"Well…" I answered, beginning to walk back to the girls. "Until then."
Afterwards, Princess Celestia waved and the royal guards escorted both her and Discord to Canterlot. We all watched as the both of them left.
"Well, I guess we all deserve some rest after that." Twilight offered to all of us. "Right?"
Every one of the girls agreed, even giving sighs of relief.
I was delightfully left with escorting Fluttershy to her cottage. I opened the door for her, seeing everything back the way it was before this short catastrophe.
"There's something I want to say before I go, Fluttershy…" I mentioned, surprising her a bit. I stared at the floor in silence and then faced her. "I'm sorry for not exactly showing my support as I should have. It's just that…you know how Discord aggravates me. Especially when he's near you. I love you Fluttershy. And I'm so protective of you. I'm protective of all the other girls, but with you…it's much more enforced. That's why I didn't even want him touching you… You pulled through on reforming him and I'm so proud of you, even when I was rooting for using your element. Once again, I'm sorry."
"Aw…" She placed a hoof under my chin and planted a soft meaningful kiss on my lips. "It's alright, Alex. I understand how you feel…and… I guess I love you so much to where I'm protective of you too…only I'm not so aggressive because of how I am…"
"You're perfect just the way you are." I stated.
"As are you." She returned.
I smiled and chuckled a little inside me. "Goodnight, Fluttershy."
She smiled as well. "Goodnight, Alex. I can't wait to see you again."
"Then, I'll be sure to see you again as soon as I can."
We shared one last kiss before we both departed to bed.
Princess Luna caught up with me before I headed inside my home.
"Hello, Alex."
"Oh." I turned around to see her. "Hey, Luna…"
"…is…thou alright?" She asked.
"Yes, I'm fine… Thank you, Luna." I expressed.
"For what?" She questioned.
"For taking me to Flutters. I really appreciate that."
"But, of course. It was only right to do so."
"And that's why I love you, Luna."
She widened her eyes in shock and surprise. "Love?" She placed a hoof to her heart.
"Heh, yeah." I answered. "Just how I dearly love every one of my true friends."
"…you really mean that?"
"Yeah." I returned in soft confidence.
"I…I see…" Luna responded, seeming to be blown away by my comment. "…Thank you for that."
"You deserve it." She surprised me when she suddenly embraced me. As she wrapped her forelegs, even including her wings, I could feel something completely different about this expression. It felt…a lot more meaningful, like she threw every one of her emotions inside. When I returned the favor, I could hear her mutter something quietly. "Huh?" I asked.
"N-nothing…" She pulled away and seemed to be a little embarrassed. "I'll…let you rest now. Goodnight, Alex."
"Goodnight…Luna…" I reacted.
She began flying back to Canterlot while I slowly headed to bed.
As I laid down, I was curious to why Luna was so…embarrassed all of a sudden. Hm…maybe "love" was new to her all of a sudden. She spends most of her time by herself and this was pretty much the first time I ever expressed the word towards her. I sighed. Well, I just hope I didn't have her worrying about it or anything.
I faced the ceiling.
It's just that… I really connect with her so much. I could probably talk to her with deep things that only she could most likely understand, especially since we've shared the same experience in a major part of our lives.
I looked out the window to see the fully visible moon staring back at me. I turned to my side and gently placed the soft blankets over me, allowing myself to grow comfortable enough to sleep in the bed. I closed my eyes and released a soothing breath through my nose, beginning to enter that rhythmic breathing I enter every time I go to sleep. My remaining thoughts seemed to be with Luna and her character, including the close and deep bond we share with each other. There was one more breath in my conscious state. I'll see her again soon.
As will I.