//------------------------------// // Unfinished Business // Story: Unfinished Business // by Godzillawolf //------------------------------// Unfinished Business Warning! Spoilers for Magical Mystery Cure and Season 3! “That was some coronation!” Rainbow Dash announced in excitement, flying into the library the moment the door opened. “Though it’s no fair you can already fly…” muttered the pegasus somewhat bitterly, then cracked a smirk. “I was lookin’ forwards to teaching yah myself.” Twilight followed, flanked by her friends, a sleeping Spike on her back. She blushed slightly with an embarrassed look. “Well…I actually have no idea how I flew at the coronation. I think it might have just been like the flight instincts in baby pegasi. You might still get your chance…” Rainbow gave another smirk. “Well, it doesn’t matter; I’ve still got a new flying buddy!” “Yeah, looking forwards to it,” the lavender mare replied, but her smile seemed a little more forced than it should have been. She took off her barding and set it aside. It’d take a long time to get used to wearing it; she wondered how Celestia stood it. Even having Rarity custom make it for her didn’t help. She looked into her reflection in her new horseshoes…and her smile disappeared. “Well I know one thing! This calls for a PARTY!” Pinkie announced as she hopped in with her typical excitement. “I don’t know if that’s necessary,” Twilight responded, a somewhat uncomfortable look in her eyes. “I did just have a gigantic coronation, there’s no need-” “I know! But I want to give you one! And I did say earlier we‘d have an Alicorn Party!” Rarity and Fluttershy entered last. The white unicorn looked to her friend, noting the pegasus‘ rather disappointed expression. “Fluttershy, darling, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy startled a little bit. “Oh…well…it’s nothing…” “Fluttershy, if something’s bothering you it isn’t ‘nothing’ to your friends,” the fashionista gave a sympathetic look. “Now tell me, what’s wrong?” “Well…I know a lot of ponies haven’t forgiven him, and I understand why, but…” the shy pegasus looked down. “I was hoping Discord would be at the coronation…I’m sorry it’s just…” “He’s your friend,” Rarity finished, giving a small smile. “There’s nothing wrong with that, darling. Even if I haven’t entirely gotten over what he did, I can respect you wanted to see him there.” Fluttershy returned the smile. “Thank you, Rarity; I’m glad you understand…I just wonder where he is.” “Oh…probably somewhere far away…having (hopefully) harmless fun…” Rarity stated, a bit hesitant. As if waiting for an introductory cue (which wasn’t entirely unlikely), a flash of light suddenly exploded in the center of the room. Standing before the ponies was a mariachi band with the Draconequus standing front and center with a poncho hanging over his shoulder and a sombrero on his head. “Au contraire mon petits poney! He‘s back!” he announced, causing the mariachi band to start playing while he played a trumpet. “Hahaha! Oh, I’ve always wanted to do that!” “Ahh!” yelled Spike, the baby dragon jumping awake and falling from Twilight’s back. “Discord!” yelled Fluttershy, flying over and hugging the Draconequus. “Hello, Fluttershy,” Discord replied, returning the hug with a genuine smile that the others still found hard to believe from the former sadistic, evil overlord of Equestria. “It’s so wonderful to see you again.” “Oh yes, I agree! I missed you!” the timid replied, looking rather overjoyed. Discord actually blushed. “Really? Huh, gonna take awhile to get used to ponies being happy to see me…” “Discord? What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked, blinking in confusion and giving a small glare. Discord gently set Fluttershy down. “Well I missed Celestia’s invite to the coronation, so I decided to stop by to congratulate Twilight Sparkle in equus.” he said teleporting over to the rest of the group. “Kind of a shame, I haven’t had the chance to use formal wear in centuries,” he said, snapping his fingers and manifesting an outfit consisting of a red robe covering black clothing, a golden necklace around his neck, and a strange black hat connected to a hood wrapping around his head. “And darling, that outfit doesn’t quite suit you, covers up all your best traits, and looks far too…orderly,” Rarity remarked, looking Discord over. “Color doesn’t particularly suit you either…and it looks like it‘s meant for someone less thin, doesn‘t fit you well,” she stated, analyzing the dress. “…Was this even made for a Draconequus? It looks like you cut the holes for your tail and horns with scissors.” “Yeah, I know,” said Discord, tearing the outfit off as one solid piece. “But isn’t formal wear supposed to look ridiculous? I mean did you see what Celly and Lulu were wearing? I think pictures of those outfits caused more chaos than I did.” “Yes, Princess Celestia didn‘t particularly look good in pink, at least not that shade of it…But we‘re digressing from the real question; however did you miss her invitation?” asked the white unicorn, cocking her head in confusion. “Well…” Discord road down a mountain on skis (one made of candy canes and the other a fence post) wearing a pair of prank novelty glasses and a tutu. It was presently snowing ice cream, much to the delight of the foals also on the mountain. “So I had to turn off my pager, didn’t want to get distracted. When you get distracted skiing; a tree always pops up out of nowhere, which isn’t so funny when it happens to you….What? You think genre savvy only applies to when I’m the bad guy?” Discord asked, ignoring the confusion over his description. “Okay…” Twilight said, shaking off her confusion, remembering this was Discord. She looked over, seeing the Elements exactly where she left them (since her ascension, she felt more in tune with them, so she knew they weren‘t fakes). She may have accepted Discord could change, but she still didn’t completely trust him. She looked back to the Spirit of Chaos (and Formerly Disharmony). “…Where did you get the mariachi band?” “Same place as the robe; borrowed them from this wonderfully chaotic chap I met a few eons ago,” said the Draconequus, snapping his fingers and sending them away. “He used them to annoy a starship captain. Anyway, lets get to the real reason I‘m here, huh?” Discord cleared his throat. “Congratulations, Princess, becoming an Alicorn is an impressive feat,” he said giving a smile that seemed somewhat proud, then a look of confusion and tapped his chin. “I think…I was stone when…whatever resulted in Cadence happened. She was out of the country when I was freed, so I didn’t bother checking. Met her by the way, nice girl. Didn‘t try to blast me in the face upon seeing me…Anyway, I have a gift here for you…” “Oh…really…you shouldn’t have…” Twilight said, swinging her leg back and forth nervously. Discord reached behind his back and pulled out a Mickey Mouse plushy. “Here you go…oh, wait, that’s the souvenir I picked up for Fluttershy in Disneyland,” he handed it to Fluttershy, and gave a smile as she hugged it adorably. He tried again, this time pulling out a familiar giant rock. The spirit gave a sheepish smile as Rarity leveled a glare at him. “…Ok, I seriously have no idea how he got in there…” He set Tom down. “Get out of here, Rarity doesn‘t like you anymore,” he ordered, the rock rolling out the door making crying sounds, somehow managing to avoid causing damage. About five minutes later, a pile of random junk set next to Discord, including a battle axe, a futuristic, red motorcycle with a gemstone motif (which Rarity started fawning over), several dozen My Little Pony figures (no one knew what that was about), and Derpy munching on a muffin among other things. “You see, this is what happens when you don’t clean out your pocket dimensions-ah! Here it is!” Discord finally produced a book thicker than most ponies’ heads. “Star Swirl the Bearded’s Autobiography, first addition, autographed.” Twilight looked liked she was going to pass out from surprise as he handed the book into her telekinesis. “B-but h-how is that possible?!” “I was there,” Discord stated, with a proud stance, leaning on a nonexistent wall. “You forget, I may look handsome and young, but I’m several eons old.” “Now wait a minute,” Rainbow interjected. “Not that we’d rather have ‘sadistic evil overlord of Equestria’ Discord back, but why are you being nice to Twilight? I thought Fluttershy was your ‘only friend,’” the pegasus questioned with a cautious look. “Well if making one friend was that much fun, isn’t the more the merrier?” asked Discord, snapping his fingers and producing a chair for himself so he could sit down; his old throne. He looked to the others, noticing the nervous stares he was receiving. He then looked at himself and scratched his chin. “Huh, you know I forgot how menacing this thing looked. What was I thinking? The evil overlord having a menacing throne? That makes sense! Though I am a good guy now, so I guess it’s now chaotic.” While Discord continued to question the chaoticness (or lack of thereof) of his throne, Twilight looked at the book he’d given her. She wondered briefly why Discord had kept it all this time. Considering he’d known the exact location of all the reforming spells in the library, she secretly wondered if he was a booklover too. She flipped through it to check its authenticity. There was no prank jumping out at her, no explosions, no…hypnotic rings…just a book she never in a million years thought she’d have…but… Discord teleported the throne away and manifested a rocking chair. “There, that’s better…Now where was I? I‘m chaos, my train of thought tends to get derailed from time to time,” he stated, hitting the side of his head and letting a toy train come falling out of his ear marked ‘Discord’s Thoughts.’ “Explaining why you were nice to Twilight,” Rainbow filled in, still not looking convinced. “Oh yes…Well, I feel like I owe her a little bit for the whole ‘emotionally break her using her own friends’ thing,” the Draconequus explained, manifesting some chocolate milk and drinking it AND the glass. “And now seemed like a good time to try and make amends, considering she’s ascended to Alicornhood and all.” Twilight pinned her ears. “Discord…this is a wonderful gift but…really, I don’t think I deserve it…” “And considering I put you through Tartarus, I didn’t deserve Fluttershy’s friendship, did I?” asked the Spirit of Chaos, letting Fluttershy hug him. He then looked to Rarity. “I’m new to this whole generosity thing, am I doing it right?” “Rather well all things considered,” the Bearer of Generosity replied, giving a somewhat proud smile. Twilight forced a smile. “Well…thank you…It actually is nice to see you trying to be a better Draconequus.” “You’re quite welcome Twilight Sparkle,” Discord said, getting up and making his chair vanish. “Well, I’ve finished my business here; I suppose I should be going.” “Um…Discord…” said Fluttershy, tapping the Draconequus‘ tail lightly. “We were…going to have a party…would you like to come? I mean if you want to…” Discord bent backwards to look into Fluttershy’s pleading eyes. He then gave a small smile. “Oh you and your pleading eyeballs. Sure, I guess I can. I’m chaos, I don’t even have a schedule.” “Hey, this all reminds me,” said Pinkie Pie, hopping over to the Spirit of Chaos with a cheerful look. “Were you ever a pony? Or were you always a Draconequus?” “I hope I was, or else My Dad has some explaining to do,” Discord replied, smirking. “I’ve been a proud Draconequus since I was hatched,” he then gave an exaggerated salute, suddenly wearing a ‘Draconequi Rules!’ t-shirt. “Wait…you have a Dad?!” Rainbow Dash asked, eyes widening in shock. “Yeah, doesn’t everyone?” Rarity blinked. “What are your parents like?” Discord vanished then reappeared on a therapist‘s couch. “Well, Dad has always been kind of fun, didn‘t hesitate to let us make our own mistakes though. Mom on the other hand is the single most apathetic being in creation…we checked,” the Draconequus explained, thinking back with a slightly nostalgic look. “Not really Her fault honestly, considering She’s the personification of Nothingness…I’d show you a picture, but They’re kind of Eldritch Abominations, just Dad’s voice would leave you unable to sleep for a few decades…at best.” Rarity gave a nervous look. “Wow…must have been an odd childhood…” “Daddy! Look what I made!” “Hahaha! Alien Clowns? Why Didn’t I Think Of That? Two Of The Scariest Things Known To Mortals Combined! That’s My Boy! Honey! Look At What Discordance Made!” “WHY SHOULD I CARE?!” “You Know, Honey, You Should At Least Try To Have A Hand In Parenting For Once.” “YOU DARE ORDER ME?! YOU DON’T EXIST!” “___dy?” “Don’t Worry Son, She Does This All The Time, I Just Need To Will Myself Back Into Existence.” “Eh, I guess it was by pony standards,” Discord remarked casually. “Now, are we going to have a party or not?” “Yep! Lets PARTY!” yelled Pinkie, pulling out her Party Cannon and firing several shots, after which the room was perfectly decked out for an ‘Alicorn Party’, complete with oddly specific decorations and a fitting banner, all in the time it took for Discord to prepare to snap his fingers to do the same thing. “How did…” Discord gawked, jaw dropping as Pinkie gave a proud smile. “She’s Pinkie Pie,” said Rainbow, patting the party pony on the back with a smug smirk. “It’s what she does. We stopped questioning it.” “I see…Well I still bet I can drink more chocolate milk than her.” Pinkie got a smirk. “Oh you’re on!” the pink mare replied, the two looking intense in preparation. As the party started, Twilight looked around the room. The sight of her friends enjoying a party in her honor didn’t bring a smile to her face. Instead of enjoying the festivities, she set aside and watched Discord and Pinkie try to out-drink the other from a cotton candy cloud Discord created with Spike acting as official. Pinkie Pie tried her hardest to buck apples, but was met with failure, her main and tail straight as could be. …She turned to see Rainbow hoof wrestling… “Hey! Get back here! Listen to me you stupid little animals!” …Applejack forced Rainbow‘s hoof back up and turned the tide.… Applejack boarded up the now ruined Carousel Boutique with a dower look on her face. …Rarity took the purple wings and began trying to pin the wings on the Alicorn… Rarity stood in the rain and snow, trying desperately to get the weather right…and doing nothing more than make it worse and worse. …Fluttershy kept trying to offer the fashionista hints to find the poster in her quiet little voice… Fluttershy set alone, watching the ponies around her argue and fight, wanting more than anything to get a laugh out of them, but having no idea how. “STOP!” The music stopped, everyone froze and looked in the direction of the guest of honor. The lavender Alicorn had tears streaming down her face. “Please…just stop…please…” she begged, finally breaking down sobbing and burying her face in her hooves. “Twilight?” asked Spike, coming up to her with a worried look. “What’s wrong?” The mare didn’t move. “I don’t deserve this…” “Of course you do!” said Rainbow. “You’ve become an ALICORN! That‘s nothing to sneeze at!” Twilight jolted up, tears flowing freely. “I don’t deserve that either!” she yelled, taking everyone back, even Discord. “Um, Twilight, I know I’m the last Equus who‘d ask this question,” said the Draconequus, actually looking a little concerned. “But why?” “Because I messed up! I completed Star Swirl’s spell because I messed it up!” the mare yelled, and then rage gave way to one of the most guilt ridden expressions imaginable. “And I…and I…” Twilight once more broke down sobbing. “And I messed all of you up…I hurt you, I scrambled your Cutie Marks, I ruined your lives…Why am I being rewarded for this?!…Why?” she pleaded, her tone desperate. “What I…I did was horrible…I should be in the dungeon…not made an Alicorn Princess…” “Twilight, yah’ve done a lot more good than bad,” Applejack stated, trotting over, the others joining her. “Ah don’t want tah think what our lives would be like without yah.” “But that doesn’t change the fact I did something like this!” the broken mare replied. “…What if I hadn’t figured it out how to fix it?! You’d all still be miserable! Ponyville would still be miserable! And it’s all my fault! I did something every bit as bad as Discord!…N-No offense…” Discord rubbed the back of his head. “None taken, I probably would have…I’m not helping, am I?” “No,” the mane six plus Spike answered in unison. Twilight slammed her head into the desk in front of her and continued sobbing. Discord looked to Twilight, watching Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder to try and console her, but not seeming sure how. The Spirit of Chaos sighed and teleported to Twilight’s side. “Um…Look, I‘m not exactly good at this kind of thing…In fact until a month or two ago, I’d be laughing my tail off right now…But, there is one difference between the things I did and the thing you did; I enjoyed it,” the Draconequus admitted, a look of guilt on his face. “Until Fluttershy showed me that you ponies are every bit as real as I am, I used you all as my playthings. I’d be a worse liar than I made Applejack into if I said I didn’t enjoy watching the six of you crack and suffer at my claws…But you didn’t enjoy what you did. And you fixed what you did. What did it take for me to finally realize the horrific nature of my actions? Getting turned to stone by a friendship powered wave motion gun to the face, TWICE, spending several thousand years a stone statue, and having the only friend I’ve ever had threaten to leave me if I didn’t. I know that doesn’t mean much coming from the former sadistic monster, but you aren’t like I was, don’t you DARE pretend you are.” This got a look of shock from everypony in the room. “D-Discord?” asked Twilight, looking up at the Draconequus. “You’re…helping me?” “Yeah, I know…it feels weird to me…in a good way, actually…” Discord admitted, with a sheepish smile. “I guess…I know how you feel, now…but if you think this is bad, imagine having done stuff like that every day for a thousand years and a day, THEN realizing you were the bad guy…Anyway, point is, you realized you did something bad on your own, it took me eons to clean up my act,” he stated, suddenly appearing in a bathtub, scrubbing himself, in the process getting Twilight to actually give a chuckle. “And Star Swirl himself messed up that spell, hence why it’s unfinished. At least you were able to fix the mess you made.” “T-thank you…” Twilight said, her tears still clinging to her eyes. She sniffled and looked into the others’ concerned eyes. “…Girls…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry for what happened…can you forgive me?” A group hug answered her question. “All’s forgiven, Sugar Cube.” Rainbow gave a nod of agreement. “Yeah! How could we hold a grudge on our best friend?” “We forgave Discord, didn’t we? And…well…no offense, but…,” Fluttershy asked in her normal timid fashion. “My list of things to apologize for reached Appleloosa…Literally,” the reformed villain clarified, rubbing the back of his head. “Took longer than I expected to get through it.” “Yeah, Twilight!” chimed in Pinkie, giving a wide smile. “We’re friends! We don’t hold grudges with each other! Except that one time when Rainbow and Applejack got obsessed with winning!” Rainbow and Applejack whistled innocently. Rarity nodded. “Quite right, darling. And I was forgiven for…certain wrongdoings…Besides it was an accident,” she continued, looking briefly guilty. “…And some good actually did come out of it.” Twilight blinked as the hug dispersed. “W-what? How?” Rarity got a shrewd look. “Spike, be a dear and take a letter,” she stated, the little dragon producing a scroll and a quill. Rarity cleared her throat in a lady-like manner. “Dear Princess Celestia; today I learned a valuable lesson about friendship. You don’t really appreciate the hard work a pony does until you walk a mile in their horseshoes. Today, I learned Rainbow Dash’s job is harder than I could have imagined. The weather is tricky business; it’s not something anypony can do. Rainbow isn’t weather team captain because her job is easy; it’s because she makes it look that way. It’s not. After spending time trying to do it, I can safely say, I appreciate the hard work my friend does to give us the weather we require!” Twilight gave a gasp. Rainbow trotted up next to Rarity. “And I learned something too. Fluttershy may enjoy taking care of all her animals, but today I learned just how hard she works to keep them all in line, and keep them all happy and healthy. Fluttershy is a lot stronger than I ever thought she was.” Fluttershy joined her friends. “And I learned just how important Pinkie Pie’s laughter is to all of us. Ponyville would be a sad place to live without her, and it isn‘t as easy as it look to keep a smile on all their faces.” Pinkie hopped up next. “And I learned that Applejack works really hard! I mean REALLY hard! Taking care of a farm isn’t easy! I use her apples all the time to make goodies at Sugar Cube Corner, but I never thought how much work goes into it!” Applejack put a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “And Ah learned to appreciate just how stressful Rarity’s job is. It ain’t easy makin’ designs or meetin’ quotas. As much work as it is to run a farm, her job ain‘t easy, not by a long shot. And now Ah understand that.” “We learned how to appreciate one another more after walking a mile in one another’s horseshoes,” finished the white unicorn. “And that appreciation has brought us even closer than we already were.” Twilight’s eyes filled with tears…this time of joy. “…I’m…I’m glad some good came out of all this…Thank you…” “No prob, what are friends for?” asked Applejack. She then looked back to Rarity. She gave a few moments of though. “…Yah know, Rarity, could yah…maybe…teach meh how tah sow? It’d help a bunch on the farm…Ah realized that tryin‘ tah do yer job.” Rarity chuckled as Applejack looked so sheepish asking. “Certainly Applejack, I would love to…I think if there’s one thing this has taught us it’s we have a lot we can learn from one another.” “Yeah, we probably can…You know, maybe I could give you a ride above the clouds sometime?” Rainbow offered. “You haven’t lived till you’ve seen that view! It wasn‘t fair for you to have to control the weather but didn‘t get wings! You missed the best part of being a pegasus!” Rarity tapped her chin, looking thoughtful. “Yes, I suppose so…It might give me inspiration for my designs, after all, a new perspective brings new ideas!” Fluttershy listened to her friends talk and timidly came over to Rainbow Dash “Um…maybe…Rainbow Dash…if you don’t mind…I could teach you how to take care of animals? You were…kind of…I mean…” Rainbow chuckled and ruffled ‘Shy’s mane. “I know I stunk at it, Fluttershy,” she replied, then gave a moment to think it over. “Sure! Sounds like a good idea; it’d let me take better care of Tank! And it‘d probably be a big help come Winter Wrap Up!” “And I could teach you some jokes, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, hoping over. As if the pink pony would be left out of anything. “I know your shy, but maybe it‘d help you open up a little!” Fluttershy looked nervous at first, but looked to Discord, seeing the Draconequus giving her an encouraging look…and wearing a pair of prank sunglasses, making her laugh. She looked back to Pinkie with a tiny grin. “That’d be wonderful, thanks, Pinkie.” “And how about Ah teach yah how tah take care of trees the right way?” asked Applejack, turning to Pinkie. After all, why should she be left out? “Or bake a great apple pie?” Pinkie’s face lit up. “Really! I‘d love to, Applejack!” Twilight nodded as her friends all offered to give the others a hand with their own talents. However, the Alicorn still looked uncertain. “This means a lot. But…I still don’t know if I really deserve these wings…” “Um, Twilight,” Discord interjected, teleporting over. “I think you’re forgetting a few small details, allow me to jog your memory.” The Spirit of Chaos walked into the center of the room and cleared his throat, then took a deep breath. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” he announced, miming his own defeat near perfectly, even turning to stone…and then popping out from behind his own statue and leaning on it. “Ring any bells? Only the best of the best could defeat the Great and Really Great Discord!” he announced in the most over the top manner possible, lightning and thunder roaring. “And you did.” Twilight gave a little blush. “Well…I guess…” Discord teleported next to her. “Twilight, here’s a little history lesson,” he said, producing a chalk board from nowhere and beginning to draw on it. “It took Celly and Lulu a thousand years to beat me before, you beat me in a day or so. In those thousand years, not one of my Discordings was ever undone except by the Elements being used against me,” he explained, turning from the board and blinking at the drawing of himself singing in the shower he’d somehow ended up drawing. He whistled and kicked the board, sending it rolling out the front door. “Point is, you beat me in a day, and found a way to break my signature spell, something even Celestia and Luna never did. I’d say that’s pretty darn impressive.” Twilight’s blush shined through her coat. “Yeah…I guess…” “And you lead us to beating Nightmare Moon!” Rainbow Dash added in, flying over to Twilight. “We couldn’t have done that without you!” “Twice, I might add,” Rarity corrected, looking a little guilty remembered that whole affair. Spike put a comforting paw on her leg, getting her to smile. “And yah were the one who let Princess Cadence go so she and Shinin’ could kick Chrysalis’ flank,” Applejack added, and then put a comforting hoof on Rarity’s back. “Heck, second time yah kicked her flank yerself! We just gave yah some encouragement is all!” “Yeah! And me and Cadence may have finished that maniac King Sombra off, but I’d never have gotten to the Crystal Heart without you!” Spike added, jumping on Twilight’s back with a smirk. Discord blinked in confusion. “Ok, I have clearly missed a lot…I’m assuming you purified Nightmare Moon again, but what about Chrysalis?” The still bandaged up Chrysalis beat her head against the wall of her castle as that accursed pink demon kept singing. “Make it stop!” Discord rolled on the floor laughing. “Hahaha! Classic!” “Um…I think what we’re trying to say is…” Fluttershy continued, in her usual timid tone. “Is that you’ve done more than enough to deserve this, fixing Star Swirl’s spell was just the last test.” Twilight couldn’t help tearing up. “…Thank you, everypony and dragon…and Draconequus…I guess I did earn this…” she said, looking back at her new wings. She finally smiled with pride looking at them. “…Spike, don’t send that letter yet…I have something to add.” Spike unrolled the scroll. “Alright, what?” “…Today, I learned that a friend always helps a friend in need, no matter what their problem is,” Twilight recited, she smiled to Discord. “Even friends you don’t know too well.” The Draconequus actually blushed a little bit. “…P.S. Princess Celestia…thank you for believing in me…I think that’s everything, thanks Spike.” Spike nodded, he put his head out the window and blew fire on it, sending it out. “Hey, Discord, you didn’t know about Chrysalis’ attack? Where were you when the Secretariat Comet passed?” “Ugh, sick in bed, darned thing screws with my powers,” Discord lamented, suddenly in a bed with an ice pack on his head. “Still ended up getting a call from Celestia asking me to protect Fillydelphia from giant magically mutated Parasprites since she was busy, which I did epically,” he explained, shooting out of bed wearing a Superman costume in a dramatic pose. “What were you doing? You go with the others?” Spike looked smug. “Helping Princess Celestia fend off giant magic cockatrices attacking Canterlot. I got to use a trident and wear an eye patch!” Discord’s jaw literally dropped to the floor. “Yeah, that actually happened!” Rainbow Dash admitted, patting Spike on the head. “Wish I could’ve seen it!” Discord manually put his jaw back in place. “Well, technically we can, since, you know, reality warping Spirit of Chaos and all…but could we play twister first? I’m a wiz at it! Haven‘t got to play it in eons!” Twilight finally smiled. She looked around at her friends, yes, even Discord. The guilt was gone, all that remained was pride and who she was and the friends she’d made. And she wanted to enjoy every second she had with them…which reminded her she had some other friends she hadn’t seen for awhile. “Sure, that sounds great…But could you maybe go see if one other pony would like to join us?…I think I want a magician for my party…”