All six of them sat on their beds the minute they got out of their monkey suits and fixed their manes back to normal. They laid around in despair and anger.
"What a bunch of hooey!" Rainbow yelled, "Telling me to just sit around like a good little wife! Yuck! With my luck, I probably would have ended up with a husband that's too boring! At least Soarin' likes to have fun and doesn't care I do things!"
Rarity shouted out, "And how dare she tell me I'm too beautiful that it might send the wrong message! The very thought! Fancy Pants knows I'm more than that!"
"I can speak up if I wanted to… Discord seems to like it when I talk…" Fluttershy pointed out.
"I can have parties as much as I want to! Cheese and I both know a party makes every pony happy! I bet you a thousand bits that a party can make her happy and not be a grouchy pants anymore!" Pinkie declared.
"Keeping up appearances…" Applejack muttered, "So what if I don't dress up fancy or put on makeup that much? I like how I look! Spike likes it when I dress simple…"
"Can a guard count as a lesser noble?" Twilight questioned.
The girls gave her confused looks until Rarity said, "I'm not sure, darling… Maybe, but it's hard to say. Why do you ask?"
"Because if I am going to stay here and have to marry a noble who isn't in line for a throne, then could it be possible I can… marry Flash?" her cheeks went pink.
Immediately, her sisters gave her sly grins and Rainbow said, "Oh, you so got it bad for the guy!"
"No! Uh, maybe! Ugh, I don't know! I was just curious!"
"Right…" AJ smirked.
Rarity cleared her throat, "Infatuation aside… I have to say… What are we going to do?! We have just been looked over to make sure we're proper brides! And it is most likely we'll be separated!"
Fluttershy whimpered, "She's right… We'll never see each other again!"
"We already lost Papa! I don't want to lose my sisters, too!" wailed Pinkie.
At the mention of their father, the room became quiet. Twilight lowered her head and looked down at the tiles that led them to the magical world for the past few days. It was their sanctuary and now she knew why the place felt familiar to her, because it was like their father was with them again… Twilight thought of Flash and of how he reminded her of Sombra. The other girls, too, thought that the colts they loved were like a piece of the unicorn king they knew as their father.
Twilight then proclaimed, "You know…" She moved on top of the cutie mark tiles, "This place came to us right when we are forced to marry some pony else. At the same time… we all came to love a colt…" She turned to Fluttershy and Applejack and added, "or creature… and to me, I think it's a sign that we need to bring them to this place so we can love them out in the open… What do you think?"
They were speechless for a moment until Rainbow drew out, "That... is… totally… awesome!" she twirled in the air.
"Oh, my gosh!" Pinkie jumped, "She's right!"
Rarity's eyes twinkled, "She is… Oh! It's brilliant!"
Fluttershy gasped, "Twilight, you really think so?"
"You bet she does!" AJ cheered, "It's the best idea I ever heard!"
Twilight motioned, "But you do realize that once we show this world, it won't be a secret anymore."
"True," said Fluttershy and she decided to quote the same words Discord used on her, "But it'll be our secret with them and ours alone…"
The others nodded towards her.
"Alright, then… We'll bring them here, tonight."
Flash walked up the steps without wearing his armor since it was late at night. He had received a note from Twilight telling him to meet her in front of her room. He found it odd, but he'd take any chance to meet with the mare he really liked, especially since she was the princess. When reaching the top, he was surprised to see Fancy Pants, the Head Butler, there along with the page-dragon, Spike.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, "I must be in the wrong place."
"Say, Flash," said Spike, "You won't have happened to have gotten a note too, did you?"
"As a matter of fact, I did." He showed him the small piece of parchment and it was magically taken by Fancy.
"No doubt about it; it's the same message."
"Same… message?" Flash questioned.
Spike said, "I got one from Applejack."
"And I got one from Rarity."
"Twilight gave me that one."
"Twilight?!" That surprised Spike, "Wow, I didn't take her as the knight in shining armor type… and why couldn't she tell me she was seeing you?!"
"I take it you've known her for a long time?"
"More than you know. She practically raised me!"
"It's true," gestured Fancy, "Spike has been here as long as the princesses have been young fillies. I didn't know that until I was hired on when the last Head Butler retired."
"Whoa, I've got a lot to learn around here."
"Ah, well, now what I like to know is…" Spike turned back to Fancy, "How long have you and Rarity been going on?!"
Fancy raised his eyebrow, "And what does it matter to you?"
"Well… I was… just wondering." He tried to hide the fact he had a thing for Rarity first before moving on to Applejack, luckily before he knew about this. It made him realize more that Applejack really was better for him.
"It did take a while, but we have only discovered our feelings for each other as of late."
"That's good to know," he went back to Flash, "And how do you know Twilight, anyway?"
"We met when I first arrived to fill my commission. Since then, we've been seeing each other every night before we go to sleep."
"I just can't believe she wouldn't tell me…" Spike slumped.
"I'm sure she never meant to hurt you… She had a good reason, I'm sure of it. Why, when we met, she didn't even tell me she was the princess!"
That got the two servants' interests as he recapped that night.
Meanwhile, just outside the castle close to the princesses' balcony window, Cheese was going all spy-mode, ducking around and hiding in shrubs. When Pinkie came back to him that afternoon, she told him to meet her by the balcony later that night. He figured with Pinkie, she was throwing a surprise party of sorts and kept on ducking to get there. Soarin' was flying through the air, confused on what Rainbow had told him to do, but he knew it had to be important if she wanted him to meet her in the dead of the night.
Discord was the first to reach the balcony as he conjured up a grappling hook and threw it to hang on to the rail. He climbed up and reached over the window, opening it.
A sweet voice greeted him, saying, "I thought you were going to teleport in."
"Now where's the fun in that?"
"That doesn't make any sense!" Princess Rainbow Dash flew to his face.
He lowered her down, stating, "Now what's the fun in making sense?"
Twilight whispered to Fluttershy, "Are you sure we can trust him to keep the secret?"
"I'm sure." Fluttershy replied, knowing all too well that Discord liked secrets. Since this secret would benefit him and her by being together more, it was most certain that he would keep it.
"Alright…" Twilight breathed.
Soarin' arrived next through the window with Rainbow escorting him in.
"Wow, so this is what a princess's room is like." Then, he waved to the other girls, who returned the wave.
"Hi-ya, Soarin'!" Discord did a wave, also.
"Discord? I didn't even see you there!"
He chuckled and patted the Wonderbolt's head, "Don't worry. I'm used to it."
Rainbow looked back and forth between the two and asked, "How is that you two know each other?"
"When you travel around Equestria," started Discord, "you tend to watch a few Wonderbolt shows."
"Plus, he offers us free pie!" Soarin' licked his lips.
Fluttershy swooned, "Aw, that's so sweet…"
Suddenly, they heard a grunting coming from the balcony and saw a hoof reaching over. Cheese Sandwich lifted his whole body over, panting.
"Cheesy!" Pinkie rushed over to help him in.
"You didn't tell me it would be that high!" He turned to the rest of the princesses, "Hi, girls!"
"Hi, Cheese!" they responded.
"Soarin'." he nodded his head to the Wonderbolt.
"Cheese." he returned the nod.
"Cheese, my main colt!" Discord hoof-bumped with him and then, they both did a secret hoof-shake.
The girls were pretty surprised at this and Pinkie said, "How do you have a secret hoof-shake with Discord?"
"Well, next to you, Discord is my best customer!"
"I order some things from his joke shop about every Friday, which reminds me, did you get my request for…" he whispered the rest in his ear.
"I did, but we're still waiting for a few more parts."
That led confusion throughout the rest of room until Twilight decided it was best they moved on, "Well, it's great you already know each other. We thought we would have to do introductions."
"But what about Spike?" said Applejack.
"And Fancy Pants?" pointed Rarity.
"If my hunch is right, they should be outside the door along with Flash." the purple unicorn magically opened the doors wide open, seeing the three of them laughing away with Spike saying something.
"…And one time Twilight had her muzzle stuck in the…" he stopped as he saw a fuming Twilight glaring at him. He nervously chuckled, "Oh, hi, Twilight…"
Twilight cooled down, remembering her crush was present and used a calming method to ease herself. She used a low tone to the dragon and said, "I'll deal with you later…" she composed herself and addressed all three of them, "Glad you guys could come."
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Flash told her.
She gave a slight blush and escorted them in. She talked to Fancy and Spike, "You guys already know Soarin' and Cheese and-"
"Discord?!" Spike shouted, "What are you doing here?!"
"For your information, I was invited, believe it or not!"
"You're right, I don't believe it." he crossed his arms.
"It's true, Spike," said Fluttershy, "I asked him over here."
"Just like I invited you over." said Applejack.
"But why?" questioned Fancy, "Why bring the being that causes chaos in his wake?"
"Still upset about last time, I see…" Discord countered.
"I am not one to hold a grudge, but it is strange that the princesses would welcome you back inside the castle."
"Not to worry, Fancy," reassured Rarity, "It's just for tonight. I mainly agreed at Fluttershy's expense."
Twilight went back to introductions, "Now I would like for you to meet," She saw he was hiding behind Fancy and Spike, "Flash Sentry."
Flash wasn't typically shy, but he was a bit intimidated by Discord and the fact he was meeting other colts with the princesses.
"Ooh! We have a new guy!" Discord motioned.
"Sweet!" Cheese went to him and violently shook his hoof, "Howdy, the name's Cheese Sandwich!"
Flash vibrated, "Ni-nice to-to meet you!"
Soarin' flew above him, "Name's Soarin', but I'm sure you recognize my awesomeness as a Wonderbolt!"
"I thought you looked familiar."
Then Discord popped to his side, which caused him to jump a little, "And I am Discord, Spirit of Chaos, Disharmony, Confusion, yada-yada, you get the gist…"
"Wait… didn't I see you as a statue in the Canterlot Gardens when I was a colt?"
"You might have, but…" He teleported to Fluttershy's side and grabbed hold of her, "Were it not for this cutie, I would still be one!"
Her cheeks started blushed, "Oh, you don't need to go into that…"
"But it's such a good story!"
"Yeah…" Spike whispered to Flash, "One that nearly ends in disaster."
"Well," Twilight spoke up, "I like a good story as much as any pony else, but we are on a tight schedule, so let me start by saying why you were all brought here."
"I was so hoping you would…" Discord rolled his eyes.
"Uh-huh. Anyway, we're about to show you something we've discovered about a couple days ago, but you all have to Pinkie Promise not to breath a word of it."
"Whoa!" all the colts said except Flash, who was confused by the reaction.
"What's… the Pinkie Promise?" he asked.
"Oh, right, almost forgot. Pinkie, would you like to explain?"
"You betcha!" Pinkie went to Flash, making the promise gesture while saying it, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! And you can never, never, never, never break a Pinkie Promise!" She slit her eyes and got into his face, "or else…" She hummed back to her spot.
"Why? What happens if you break it?"
"You don't want to know." they all told him.
"The point is, do you Pinkie Promise to keep this a secret?" Twilight asked the guys.
There was brief silence until Spike started them off, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
When Flash was the last to do his, Twilight smiled and went, "Girls…?"
On cue, the boys got blind-folded by their mares. There were shouts of puzzlement.
"And no peeking!" Pinkie said, "Okay, Twi, go!"
Twilight stepped on the tiles with Cheese saying, "Does any pony else hear chiming?"
The girls had to contain their giggling as the portal opened.
"Alright, now," Twilight grabbed Flash's hoof, "We'll have to go slowly because we're walking down the stairs."
"Stairs?!" the boys shouted out.
"Yup." Applejack said as she got Spike on her back.
When the princesses had helped them down, they were at the cave entrance and Twilight said, "On the count of three, you can remove your blind-folds. One…"
"Oh, for goodness sakes!" Discord ripped his off, "I'm supposed to be the one playing mind games! And…" His jaw dropped at what he saw.
The others had taken theirs off and saw the same thing, matching the expression he gave off.
"Isn't it the trendiest, niftiest place you've ever seen, Cheese?!" Pinkie jumped to him.
"It is…" he gapped.
"But what's it doing inside a castle?!" Spike pointed out.
"Yeah, it's a castle within a castle!" Discord used his clever word play, "How ingenious is that?!"
Fluttershy wrapped her arms around his neck, "I knew you would like it."
Flash was still gawking when Twilight approached him, "Isn't it incredible?"
"It's amazing… I can see now why you don't want any of us to say anything."
"You got that right!" Rainbow flew between them.
"Come on!" Pinkie bounced, "Let's get to the other side already!" She jumped into the boat.
"Ah, Pinkie?" said Applejack, "There's only room for six."
"Then allow me to make it bigger!" Discord was about to snap when Fluttershy stopped him.
"Actually, we got this one…" She went to some nearby golden flowers and said, "I wish for the boat to be bigger, please."
The guys gave her confused looks while the girls just smirked at them. In an instant, the flowers gave off their magical dust and surrounded the boat, making it huger. The colts' jaws dropped once again.
Pinkie, wearing a sea captain's hat, said, "All aboard!"
When the shock wore off, Fancy Pants, remembering he was a gentle-colt, said to his lady love while offering his hoof, "Shall we?"
"Let's…" she took it as he helped her into the boat and he sat by her.
Cheese jumped into the front row where Pinkie was sitting. Rainbow and Soarin' flew down behind them. AJ and Spike climbed in next, and then Twilight and Flash while Fluttershy and Discord sat in the back. The boat began moving as they took in the sights surrounding the gold and silver castle. Once they reached the castle doors, they opened and the guys were astounded by the bright golden ballroom much like when the girls first came to the place.
Rarity had thought out loud, "You know for such a formal occasion like this, we should all be properly attired!" she squealed as she said, "I wish for all the guys to wear black tuxedos!"
"Excuse me?!" Discord exclaimed and the next thing he knew, he was wearing a tux. He was about to snap it off when Fluttershy's sweet voice said.
"Oh… Discord… you look so handsome…"
He looked at her in surprise, "You… you think so?"
"You do…" her cheeks went pink.
He then conjured up a hand mirror, "Yes, I suppose I do look good, don't I?"
She giggled.
Fancy told Rarity, "I say, Rarity, this is quite nice."
"I was hoping you would like it and you do look so good in it!"
Rainbow told her coltfriend, "I hope you don't mind my sister's need to fashion everything…"
"That's okay. When you're a Wonderbolt, you get used to dressing up when making an appearance at someplace important."
Pinkie kept bouncing up and down, "Oh, Cheesy! You look so great!"
"I do my best." he smiled at her.
"Now, don't you look all gussied up?" Applejack told Spike.
"Think I look okay?"
"More than okay… you're fine-looking…"
"Aw, thanks…" he rubbed his neck.
Twilight nearly gawked at the sight of Flash, "Flash… wow, I almost didn't recognize you…"
He slightly blushed, "You're just saying that…"
"No… I'm not…" she stared at him and he returned the stare until Rarity announced out.
"Now it is our turn, girls! I wish that we would all wear gowns that make us look gorgeous and that they match our personalities!"
The flowers obeyed and in a magical dust storm, all six of them began glowing so bright that the guys had to avert their eyes. When the glow had died down, Spike shouted out, "Whoa! You all look…"
"Amazing…" all the guys said.
The princesses looked at each other's gowns in awe.
"Rarity, you look so lovely…" Fluttershy said, admiring her sister's magenta jeweled dress.
"So do you!" She looked at Fluttershy's simple nature-designed gown.
"I can get used to this!" Applejack looked at the saddle green dress she was wearing.
"I guess this is pretty cool." Rainbow noticed the cloud-like gown that had rainbows on it.
"Mine looks good enough to eat!" Pinkie jumped in her pink dress with candy corn and lollipop designs on it.
"It is pretty…" Twilight twirled in the blue gown with white stars she was wearing.
"Why, they could be our gowns for the Grand Galloping Gala that's coming up!" declared Rarity.
"That would be nice, but I don't think they're going to stay like this all night." pointed Twilight.
"So let's make use of them and part-ay!" Pinkie grabbed Cheese as her dancing partner and shouted out, "I wish for all the music that you got!"
Once again, the instruments showed up and created the music for them to dance to.
"Shall we, my lady?" Discord bowed to Fluttershy and offered his arm.
She tittered and accepted as he moved her to a nice waltz.
One by one, the princesses were asked by the boys they liked to dance with them and the ballroom was filled with dancing ponies.