Eris took a deep breath and descended down to the ballroom. Ponies were dressed in elegant gowns and dashing tuxedoes, conversing amongst themselves. Eris looked around uneasily, unsure of what to do.
"Eris!" Eris turned at the sound of her name to see a group of six ponied headed towards her."hello Eris, my name is Twilight Sparkle," A purple unicorn introduced herself. She was wearing a purple dress, with rhinestone star patterns across the fabric.
"Ah, yes Twilight," Eris suddenly remembered. "Celestia talks of you often."
"That's nice to know," Twilight said. "Allow me to introduce my friends. This is Fluttershy," the purple unicorn nudged a soft yellow pegasus forward, wearing a flower in her hair and a simple green gown. "And Rarity, she made these dresses by the way." Twilight nodded to a white unicorn looking elegant in a fashionable red dress, hemmed with matching sequins, who was talking to a very high up looking stallion. "My friend Pinkie Pie is around here somewhere- ah there she is, over by Applejack's apple stand buying an apple fritter." a pink earth pony with a fluffly magenta mane was emptying her sack of bits into a bucket, ready to take what looked like the entire stand. "Come one, I'll take you to meet them." Eris followed Twilight to a stand where a line was forming behind Pinkie Pie.
"Now Pinkie, Ah thank you should save some treats for everypony else," The orange earth pony was trying to reason with her magenta maned friend. She noticed Twilight and Eris and added. "Twilight, if you and your friend want somethin' ya'll will have ta wait at the back of the line."
"Oh, I'm not interested in purchasing anything right now, I just want you to meet my new friend Eris. She's an advisor to the princess."
"Well it's nice to see a new face 'n all, but ah kinda have mah hooves full..." She gestured to Pinkie Pie, who was chattering on about some random story.
"Then let me help you," Twilight turned her attention to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, I think you should get the pony polka going on. It was a hit last year." Pinkie Pie stopped talking.
"That's a great idea Twilight. Does your friend want to also?"
"I think I'll pass on that," Eris said.
"Okey dokey!" Pinkie Pie bounded off to the dance floor, where Octavia and a few others were playing various instruments.
"Thank ya kindly Twilight, and it's nice ta meet ya Eris, but I've got business ta take care of."
"We'll see you during the Wonderbolts performance," Twilight responded. She turned to Eris. "My friend, Rainbow Dash is performing with the Wonderbolts this evening, so you'll see her then. This is her first show with them, so it should be exciting."
"Sounds fun," Eris said enthusiastically. "Do you have seats reserved already?"
"No, we were planiing on getting there early and choosing seats in the front row."
"What if I get you up in the VIP box?"
"Oh, there's no need for that," Twilight replied as they walked over to a table. "Besides, rounding up all of the girls will be super hard, and it's almost time to go over there anyway."
"Okay then," Eris took a drink from a nearby waiter and sipped from it. She frowned at the taste, peering into the contents of the glass. "Hmm," she murmured
"Something wrong?"
"Oh nothing," Eris reassured her. "It's just that I don't think I've ever tried this before ."
Twilight stared at the gold liquid and smiled. "It's apple cider," she told Eris. "Non-alcoholic from the looks of it."
"Oh,"
"So where are you from?" Twilight asked, casually changing the subject.
"Canterlot." Eris said simply, taking another drink from her glass of cider.
"Really?" Eris nodded, wondering why Twilight sounded so shocked.
"Where are you from?" Eris countered.
"Ponyville. You can see it from some parts of the castle." Twilight noticed that the ballroom was starting to empty. "It's time for the show. I'll see you later, Eris."
"Goodbye Twilight Sparkle." Eris watched her depart and set her glass on the table. She stood and walked back out to the entrance, where Celestia and Luna were waiting.
"Having fun?" Celestia asked.
"I met Twilight Sparkle and her friends." Eris answered.
"That's wonderful," Celestia walked down a few stairs. "Would you like to go to the Wonderbolts show?"
"Sure." They departed for the stadium in a carriage, just as a certain statue in the gardens, now webbed with cracks began to break free of his prison.
Discord splayed the fingers on his left hand, wriggling them around until his entire hand was free. The stove covering his arm , and he was now free to push off the rest, working the chunks off his face.
With one final groan, Discord tossed a chunk off his face and stretched.
"It's good to be free again," He declared, hopping off his pedestal. "Now, to unleash chaos once more!" he rubbed his hands together and watched as a carriage flew overhead.
"Well now, the princesses are on the move." He spread his wings and began to follow them, making his body blend in with the sky, turned orange from the setting sun. Discord finally found a hold on the carriage, clinging to it as it began to spiral downwards. He snapped his fingers and teleported to the royal box, where he pulled a disguise from a nearbye guard and stood at attention inside. how odd it is to stand on four legs, he thought to himself. I don't know how the ponies can stand it.
He waited as Celestia and Luna stepped in followed by...
Discord gasped. The female him turned and gave him a funny look before taking a seat on the right of Celestia.
"She created another me," he murmured, barely audible. leaving the husk of his disguise behind, he slithered invisible to stand in front of the female version of himself. She stared right through him for a while until casting her eyes off to the left, as if bored by the display in front of her.
So pretty... Discord thought. He suddenly shook his head violently What are you saying? He scolded himself. He floated away, back into the guard disguise. Although he fought against it, Discord's mind had other ideas.
Though he hated to admit it to himself, he was in love with Eris.