//------------------------------//
// Adventure in Manehattan 
// Story: Discord's Family Vacation 
// by DraconequusMaximus 
//------------------------------//

After finding out that Rainbow had no guestroom to speak of (nearly every room in her home was full of exercise equipment & the top floors were all joined into an indoor flight racetrack) Discord linked a closet with their home once again. The night was uneventful, Rainbow had already left for training by the time the rest of them woke up, None of them were surprised but Draco was a little disappointed. Discord decided to transport them directly to their next destination, before Spike could object they reappeared in a quaint & cozy cafe already seated.
"Discord, were are we?" Spike asked picking up the restaurant's menu.
"We're in Manehattan of course, this is where our fashionista friend lives isn't it?" He said looking over his own menu. Draco, having grown up around Discord's shenanigans had already began browsing & had already made his decision.
"Well yes, but I assumed you were going to take us to her instead of a cafe with an admittedly pleasant atmosphere." Spike replied.
"Well excuse me for being hungry, It gets dull making your own food with magic sometimes you know. That, & our dear element of generosity would insist on making something for us herself. The last time I sampled her cooking two of my stomachs wouldn't speak to me for weeks." Discord said shuddering at the memory. Spike opened his mouth to defend Rarity's cooking & question Discord's other comment, but thought better of it. Even the near invincible stomach of a dragon wasn't immune to her terrifying cuisine.
After a moment the waiter who had been watching the door took notice of them & trotted over. 
"Terribly sorry gentlemen, I must not of seen you come in. What would you like this fine morning?" He said slightly confused as to how he had missed the group of unusual & tall creatures.
"I'll have the jumbo cheese omelet challenge & four sides of biscuits & gravy. I'd also like some coffee please." Spike said casually. The waiter was a bit concerned at this but after looking over the group he dismissed it. He turned to Discord next.
"Yes, id like six stacks of pancakes & as many orders of extra hay bacon. Do you have chocolate milk?" Discord said as if his order were nothing.
"Um... yes sir we certainly do. We might need a bit to make such an order but we will certainly do our best to get it out to you as soon as possible. & what about you little guy?" He said turning to Draco. Draco rolled his eyes at being called little but didn't say anything about it.
"Id like the grilled cheese foal's meal with extra hay fries, & I'd like orange juice please." Draco said as he handed the menu to the stallion. The stallion silently thanked Celestia that at least that order was reasonable.
"Alright then, I'll be back with your drinks momentarily." With that, the nervous stallion trotted off to give the large order to the chef. 
Draco's meal came first, not long after the drinks. After about an hour Discord's colossal amount of flapjacks arrived. Another half hour later they wheeled out Spike's monstrous omelet, to a pony it certainly would be a challenge. Draco was dwarfed by the thing.
"The rules state that if you can finish the omelet within an hour your table eats for free. Only two ponies have ever completed the challenge however." The waiter said pointing to the cork board behind the register. There was a picture of a morbidly obese stallion in one photo, in the other unsurprisingly was Pinkie Pie wearing an "I love Manehattan" t-shirt with a heart replacing the word love. Draco giggled at this, much to the stallion's confusion.
"Really? Well then, I suppose I accept then." Spike said while failing to contain an evil smirk. Regardless the waiter pressed the button on a timer & shouted "Begin!" 

15 minutes later

Spike, Discord, & Draco had finished eating, much to the astonishment of the entire restaurant. The manager nearly cried when he saw that he would receive no payment from such a large bill. Spike had his photo taken & placed directly next to Pinkie's. Upon exiting the cafe Spike slipped the manager a hefty diamond & whispered: Sorry for the trouble, the omelet really was spectacular. I just have trouble resisting a challenge sometimes, dragon thing I guess.
The manager was at a loss for words but smiled brightly at the dragon nonetheless. Spike walked out to see Discord trying to hail a cab with Draco perched in between his horns. Spike rolled his eyes at his husband's antics, but walked over anyway. After a few minutes he had had enough however.
"Discord, you know that none of them could carry the three of us anywhere, right?" Spike asked with a less than enthused tone.
"The thought may not of occurred to me until just now, no." Discord said sheepishly.
"Just teleport us to Rarity's, she's going to begin to wonder where we are." Spike said resisting the urge to facepalm himself. Discord said nothing but began looking around nervously. Spike knew what that meant & succumbed to his urges & facepalmed with a groan.
"You forgot where she lives, didn't you?" He said removing his clawed hand from his face.
"Auntie Rarity lives on the 14th floor of the Glamwood hotel, in the luxury suite." Draco said looking down into the eyes of his father from atop his head. Both of his parents looked genuinely impressed at their son's formidable memory. Discord snapped his fingers & they appeared in front of the aforementioned hotel. They walked into the lobby much to the surprise of all the posh ponies inside. Several did their best to make it to the exit without being seen. Draco waved at them causing them to flee faster, much to his confusion. Spike walked to the front desk to find a cowering mare hiding behind it.
"Ahem, we are the royal family of the Chimera Kingdom. I'm Spike, I sent a letter last week saying we would be here to see Rarity. We were promised the suite opposite hers for the night." He said handing her his obsidian credit card. Obsidian was the highest level of credit card accepted anywhere. Only royalty was allowed to possess one. It had no spending limit, international compatibility, & an absurd amount of rewards points per purchase. The mare reluctantly accepted it & ran it through the system, sure enough Spike's information & photograph came up on her screen. She looked even more nervous now, as she hoofed over a room key & three VIP passes for the hotel restaurant. 
"We're extremely sorry for your less than warm reception your majesty. We just aren't particularly used to... foreign dignitaries. We're honored that you choose to stay in our humble hotel." She said obviously nervous about having potentially insulted foreign meat eating rulers several times her size. Much to her surprise she was met with a smile.
"Eh, you get used to it. Being raised by ponies, I got a lot of weird looks growing up." Spike said taking his card, the passes, & the key before returning to his family. He handed each of them a pass & they headed to the elevator. Spike & Discord had to duck a bit but managed. After arriving they trotted right over to the luxury suite as they had no bags to speak of. Spike knocked on the door which was opened a moment later by a cream colored mare with a light blue mane. She looked at them for a moment before running back into the suite screaming.
"Well, I think we may have gotten the wrong room." Discord said poking his head through the still open door. After a moment Rarity trotted into the room with the scared mare doing her best not to be seen following her.
"Discord, did you do something to frighten Coco?" She asked in a clearly unamused tone. 
"Actually, we didn't do anything. She just kinda ran off screaming when she saw us." Spike interjected. Rarity's expression softened when she saw her old friend. Though they had been together for years now, Rarity was still less than fond of Discord's sense of humor. Draco floated over to her & gave her a hug.
"My my, it seems someone has been growing since last I saw them." She said to Draco with a warm smile. Coco was still unsure of the group but stepped forward warily. 
"I-I'm Coco, Mrs.Rarity's assistant. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She managed to say. Rarity rolled her eyes before trotting over to the nervous earth pony. 
"Coco, there's no need to be so worried. I've known these three for years. You've actually met Spike before, way back when we first met now that I think about it." She said pointing to the purple dragon in question. Coco thought for a moment before it hit her.
"Oh my, you were the little fellow with Rarity & her friends? But you're so tall now!" Coco said in disbelief. Spike & Discord chuckled a bit at that.
"Yes, I've grown quite a bit since then. A pleasure to see you again Coco." He said offering her his claw. Coco was a little worried that the claw was larger than her head but shook regardless. To her surprise Spike was remarkably gentle for his size. 
"Pleasure to meet you miss Coco, I'm Discord. Spike's husband, Draco's other father, & the god of chaos." Discord said bending to meet her face to face. Coco was immediately unsure of the mismatched creature. Draco however floated over to meet her. In her opinion Draco was adorable despite his strange father. 
"Oh, hello there what's your name." She said brightening at the little draconian's appearance. 
"I'm Draco, Papa just said that." He said oblivious to how nervous his father made her. "Are you auntie Rarity's marefriend? You smell like each other."
Coco & Rarity's faces both went red at the question. Spike facepalmed once again while Discord laughed himself silly. After Discord had calmed down & the mares composed themselves Rarity responded.
"Well, yes Draco. Coco & I are together. We met each other again after so many years a few months ago, & our relationship grew as time went on. We're trying to keep it need to know for the moment however." she said still blushing a bit.
"Okay, so... why don't I go make us some tea?" Coco asked nervously. Without waiting for a response she trotted to the suite's kitchen.
"You'll have to forgive Coco, she is nearly as bad as Fluttershy used to be. She really does love foals though." Rarity said looking at them & then to Draco. She showed them to the living room. Draco resumed his perch atop Discord's head while Spike & Discord took a seat on the couch. Rarity took her place on a plush loveseat adjacent to the couch.
"So, did you get to sample any of Manehattan's many attractions before you arrived?" Rarity asked the trio. 
"Daddy, ate a really big omelet reaaally fast & got his picture put on a wall with the other winners!" Draco said excitedly. Rarity frowned a bit before turning to Spike who was dreading her response.
"Spike! A king must be dignified & composed at all times! You should not be participating in extreme food challenges!" She said genuinely distraught.
"Rarity, our kingdom isn't as prim & proper as Equestria, we don't hold ourselves to any higher standard then the citizenry." Spike said rolling his eyes at her. Rarity was genuinely annoyed, but still relented as she supposed that treating yourself like the common folk was admirable. 
"Oh my, I wasn't aware that you were royalty, Rarity just told me you were old friends of hers." Coco said as she set a tray with tea on the table.
"We don't advertise the whole royalty thing unless necessary, especially with friends & family. Besides, we're on vacation visiting each of the elements & their families this week." Discord said handing Draco a teacup. Draco tried taking a sip but scorched his tongue.
"Oh, it's very hot just yet. You need to blow on it first." Coco said apologetically. Draco took her advice & inhaled a bit before blowing on it. To his surprise the tea froze, he turned the cup upside down to be sure. It slowly slipped out of the cup & fell onto Discord's face.
"Ow! Draco! What are you doing up there?" Discord said before picking up the offending object. His expression quickly turned from annoyance to confusion. "Draco? Did you use magic on your tea?"
All eyes in the room were on him now making him slightly nervous. 
"No, it was too hot. So I blew on it to make it colder." He said holding up the cup. Spike refilled the cup.
"Do it again, but genuinely try to freeze it." Spike said to his son. Draco looked around but shrugged. He took a deeper breath this time & thought cold before breathing out. A stream of frost shot & froze the cup & it's contents solid after only a few seconds. His hand was seemingly immune to the chill as the frost slid off him like rain. Spike had been pretty worried about his son's abilities but right now he could feel nothing but happiness at the somewhat relateable ability.
"Ah my little boy has ice breath!" Spike said excitedly grabbing his son off of his husband's head, pulling him into a hug. As soon as he let him go Draco floated around happily. 
"Certainly has been an interesting few days for you huh Dracums?" Discord said to his obliviously happy offspring. 
"What do you mean, exciting few days?" Rarity asked slightly concerned.
"Draco seems to be coming into his abilities, in the last few days he's learned to levitate, breathe underwater, camouflage himself, & now breathe ice." Spike said counting off Draco's abilities on his claws. Rarity raised her brow at this.
"Camouflage himself? What do you mean? Like a changeling?" She asked slightly unnerved by the idea. Draco had heard her so he floated in front of her & changed himself to a bright electric blue color.
"Ta dah!" He shouted before jumping to the coffee table & impersonating the wood. Rarity was genuinely giddy at this, her mind was overflowing with fashion ideas for the youngster, he could literally wear anything he wanted & make himself match. Rarity would give almost anything for an ability like that. She was eventually brought out of her fashion stupor by Coco.
"Sweetie? you're drooling." Coco said wiping the aforementioned spittle away with a hanky. 
"Oh yes, sorry. My mind got away from me for a moment. Now then since we're all here, I took the liberty of purchasing tickets for the latest show on Bridleway for the five of us. The show is tonight at 8 so we'll need to have dinner early to get there at a reasonable time." Rarity said happily. Discord groaned a bit but was silenced by Spike's glare.
"Is it at least a musical?" Discord asked begrudgingly.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. It's based around the story of Hearts & Hooves day. It's called Love & Loss." Rarity said slightly annoyed by Discord's reluctance. To her surprise Discord brightened considerably at this.
"Oh this will be wonderful! I can watch & tell them how wrong they've gotten everything! I was there!" Discord said laughing hysterically. Everyone looked at him in surprise, but decided it was best not to question it. They knew Discord was remarkably old so it wasn't very far fetched. 
For the next few hours the group played various board games, the most interesting was Pictionary which Draco found unfair as everyone could easily tell what he was drawing because of his skill. Rarity agreed. Drawing out all her designs had made her a fairly competent artist as well. Soon however the hour grew to late afternoon so the group adjourned to the swank hotel's restaurant. Their VIP passes garnered them the nicest table. 
After they ate they headed to the theater. It was admittedly even grander than the last time Spike had seen it. They had most definitely renovated. After Rarity hoofed the tickets to the usher they walked into the theater itself where what seemed like thousands of seats were everywhere. Luckily Rarity had gotten them balcony seats away from the multitude of ponies that were filing in looking for a good seat. After they walked up the stairs to the balcony they each settled into their respective seats. 
By the time the show had begun nearly every seat in the house had been occupied. To Spike's surprise, both Discord & Draco were watching very intently. Discord seemed to be paying attention for a different reason for excitement, he seemed almost sad while he looked at it. Draco was enjoying the play immensely, he loved the musical numbers & the skillful way the ponies danced. He'd need to remember to ask his fathers to take him to shows more often.
As the play ended & the curtain closed, the group made their way back to the lobby. Discord however seemed to be still rather upset.
"Hun, something the matter? Was the play that inaccurate?" Spike asked. Discord merely sighed.
"It was pretty close to the actual event honestly. But it upset me that I wasn't even mentioned. After all, I'm the one that gave the prince the love poison formula." Discord said sadly. Everyone looked at him with mixed expression on their faces.
"You're the reason for Hearts & Hooves day?" Rarity asked in disbelief.
"Of course, nothing causes chaos like love." Discord said as if it was obvious. The group thought on that for a minute, no one could really deny it even if they wanted to. After thanking Rarity for the evening they adjourned their own suite to spend the night in. Draco slept in the bed with them as the suite only had one. The group settled in, tomorrow was going to be interesting.