Just outside the Carousel Boutique, Spike handed Rarity and Fluttershy two buckets filled with gems.
“Are you sure about this, Spike?” asked Rarity. “I feel awful taking gems from your own personal stash.”
“No, it’s okay,” said Spike. “Getting Sweetie Belle back is more important. I can always get more gems.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Spikey-Wikey,” said Rarity as she leaned down and gave Spike a small kiss on the cheek, which made the small dragon blush.
Rarity then used her magic to lift up all of the gems and count them all up. When she was finished counting, she let out a disappointing sigh.
“With these gems, and the ones I have in my shop, I only have 433,” she said. “Looks like I’m going to have to think of some way to get more.”
“That won’t be necessary,” said a nearby voice.
The three friends turned to where the voice was coming from and saw a smiling Discord looking at them. Rarity was about to ask him what he meant by what he just said but didn’t have to as she looked and saw who was with Discord, which caused her to smile.
“Sweetie Belle!”
“Rarity!”
The two sisters ran to each other and embraced in a huge hug. Rarity had tears of joy pouring out of her eyes as she repeatedly kissed Sweetie Belle all over her face.
“Oh, Sweetie Belle, I thought I’d never see you again,” said Rarity as she let go of her little sister. “All you all right? Those monsters didn’t hurt you, did they?”
“No, I’m okay,” said Sweetie Belle. “Thanks to Discord. You should have seen him. He took out all of those dogs in seconds.”
Rarity looked at Discord and smiled at him. She then walked up to him and gave him a small hug.
“Thank you, Discord,” she said. “Thank you of saving my sister. She means everything to me.”
“It was my pleasure, Rarity,” said Discord who retuned the hug.
Just then, a group of ponies saw Discord and Rarity hugging and looked shocked and a bit disgusted.
“Rarity, why are you hugging him?” said one pony.
“Yeah, that’s Discord,” said another.
Rarity was a bit offended that the ponies would say something like that.
“And what is wrong with that?” she asked. “I’m just showing my gratitude. Discord rescued my little sister from a group of Diamond Dogs.”
“And you believe that?” said one pony.
“He probably paid those dogs to kidnap your sister and then backstabbed them so he could look like the hero,” said another.
Discord was almost on the verge of tears as the insults just kept on coming.
“Discord can never change.”
“Why is he even here? He should be a statue.”
“He is nothing but a monster.”
The group kept on saying more and more hurtful comments until they heard a loud “That’s enough!” They all turned to see who shouted that and were shocked to see that it was Fluttershy, who was giving the group the biggest Stare she ever made. Even Discord, who was never effected by the Stare, took a few steps back.
“You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” Fluttershy said to the group. “Discord has been trying his best all day to prove that he has reformed, and you won’t even give him a chance. He has done nothing but do good deeds all throughout this town.”
“Discord? Do good deeds?” said a confused pony. “That’s pretty hard to believe.
“Actually, it’s quite true,” said a voice.
Everyone turned to see Twilight walk up and join them all with another group of ponies following right behind her. The group consisted of all of the ponies that Discord had helped: Granny Smith, Zecora, Zipporwhill, with her puppy on her back, Scootaloo, who had some of ice cream smeared on her face, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom.
“Each of these ponies came to me today and told me that Discord had done something nice for them,” said Twilight.
“That’s right,” said Granny Smith. “Discord helped me get my purse back from a no good thief.”
“He gave me the last of his money, so that I may buy my jar of honey,” said Zecora.
“He saved my puppy,” said Zipporwhill.
“He made me the most delicious banana spilt I’ve ever tasted,” said Scootaloo, licking the ice cream off her face.
“And he helped my big brother get his apple cart unstuck,” said Apple Bloom.
“Eeyup,” said Big Mac.
As they heard this, the group of ponies started to feel very guilty for saying all of the hurtful things to Discord.
“We’re sorry for the things we said, Discord,” said one pony.
“I guess you really have changed,” said another.
“Oh, that’s okay,” said Discord. “I know it’s not easy to believe someone like me can really reform.”
Each pony in the group gave their own apology to Discord before walking off. Twilight then walked up to Discord with a smile on her face.
“I would like you to come with me,” she said. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Really? Oh, I love surprises,” said Discord as he snapped his fingers and a blindfold appeared, covering his eyes. “Don’t want to spoil anything.”
Twilight let out a small chuckle before grabbing hold of Discord’s lion paw and moved him through town until they stopped in the middle of town square.
“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”
Discord removed the blindfold and what he saw made a big smile appear on his face.
He was surrounded by hundreds of different ponies, who were all cheering for him. Discord also saw some of them were holding signs above their heads. He saw a few that said “Discord #1” and others that said “Discord’s my hero.”
A group of young foals then ran up to Discord, holding onto photos of him and writing quills, asking him for his autograph.
After signing all of the photos, Discord made his way to the front of the town hall and saw a large banner tied to it. The banner was a light blue color and in the center of it was a picture of Discord inside a big red heart.
“Do you like it?” asked Pinkie Pie, who popped up right beside Discord. “I made it myself.”
“Yes, Pinkie,” said Discord. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Discord then saw a small podium underneath the banner and the mayor standing on it.
“Discord? Could you kindly come up here please?” she asked.
Discord flew up onto the stage right next to the mayor, who turned her attention to the audience.
“Today, Princess Twilight came to me and told me about all of the wonderful things that Discord has done all over Ponyville. So now we gather here to congratulate him for his amazing good deeds.”
The mayor then then turned to Discord and pulled out a small gold medal.
“Discord, it gives me great pleasure to present you with this. The Ponyville Medal of Kindness.”
Discord bent down as the mayor placed the medal around his neck. Soon the entire crowd erupted in loud applauds and cheers.
Discord looked at all of the ponies cheering for him. He had finally gotten them all to forgive him for all of the terrible things he had done, and it felt really good inside.
Tears of joy poured down Discord’s face as a flash of light appeared and when it vanished, he was wearing a silver tiara on his head and a purple sash around his torso that said “Miss. Ponyville” on it, (The I and the two S’ were crossed out and a big R was in its place) and he was holding onto a bouquet of roses.
“You love me. You really love me,” Discord said as he waved to all of the ponies and blew them kisses.
The next day, Discord was at Carousel Boutique enjoying some tea with Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle. Rarity was busy in her sewing room working on a new dress and she wanted them all to see it. While waiting, Discord was looking at a newspaper and saw a huge photo of him during the thank you ceremony.
“I think they got my good side,” he said. “Then again, every part of me is my good side.”
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at what Discord just said.
“Okay, it’s finished.” Rarity said as she entered the room, using her magic to levitate one of her mannequins and place it on the ground so everyone could see it.
The mannequin was wearing a pink dress which had little purple butterflies and flowers all over it.
“Isn’t that the fabric I spilt my grape juice on?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Yes it is,” said Rarity. “But thanks to Discord, he made the stain into something wonderful.”
“Happy to help,” said Discord.
Sweetie looked at the dress and was quite happy that the mistake she made turned into something great.
“Do you like it?” Rarity asked her sister.
“I love it,” said Sweetie Belle. “I think it’s one of the most beautiful dresses you’ve ever made.”
“I’m glad you think that, because I made it just for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes. It’s my way of saying sorry for yelling at you yesterday.”
Sweetie Belle had the biggest smile on her face as she ran up to Rarity and embraced her in a great big hug.
“Have I ever told you you’re the best big sister ever?” she asked.
“Many times, I believe. I think I’ve lost count,” said Rarity. ¬¬¬
After Sweetie Belle let go of her embrace she then looked at Discord.
“Wait right here. I have something for you,” she told him as she left the room.
When she came back, she was holding onto a small wooden statue shaped like Discord and handed it to him.
“I made this myself,” said Sweetie Belle. “It’s my way of thanking you for saving my life.”
“Aww, why thank you, Sweetie Belle,” said Discord as he eyes the little figurine. “I must say, you did quite a good job at this. It looks exactly like me. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got a cutie mark in sculpting.”
“Speaking of which, I have something for you as well, Discord,” said Twilight.
Spike then walked up to Discord and handed him a purple book which had a big horseshoe and a bunch of multi-colored gems on the cover. Discord recognized it as the journal that Twilight and her friends wrote all of their lessons about friendship. He remembered looking through it and using it as a way of helping Twilight and the others discover what their keys for the mystery box were.
“I would like you to write the friendship lesson you learned into our journal,” said Twilight. “After all, you are our friend.
“Twilight, I would be honored,” said Discord as he opened up the journal and flipped to the last entry.
“Care for a quill?” asked Spike as he handed out a purple feather.
“That’s okay, I got my own,” said Discord as he snapped his fingers and a large peacock feather appeared in his hand, which he used to write his entry.
Yesterday I came to Ponyville to make up for all the terrible things I had done. It wasn’t easy as many ponies still saw me as the monster I use to be. But I had many good friends, like Fluttershy, who really believed that I had changed. And even though I know that there are still ponies out there who still think I’m evil, I am just glad that there are many others who consider me a friend and are willing to give me a chance.
As Discord finished his entry, Spike saw something outside the window that made his eyes widen.
“Uh, this might sound strange, but I just saw an armchair with wings being chased by a barking footstool,” he said.
“Whoops, I forgot all about those,” said Discord as a cowboy hat appeared on his head and a lasso appeared in his hand. “Better go round them up.”
Discord then flew out the window and the others watched as he lassoed the arm chair, which tried to fly away, with Discord being dragged by it.
“Who else but Discord?” said Spike which made the others laugh.