The Mane 6, Spike, and Discord had all gathered around a small table as Fluttershy poured them all some tea.
"I'm sorry Angel tried to hit you with those dishes," said Fluttershy to Discord. "He's just not being very nice."
"Oh, it's quite alright, my dear," said Discord. "But what I can't figure out are your friends. Do you ever wonder some days what gets into them?" This apparently made Rainbow Dash furious.
"Arrrrgh!" she screamed. "We're wasting our time! We need to put Equestria right again!"
"Calm down, Dashie," demanded Fluttershy. "I think it's bad enough you all decided to point hooves at Discord without any proof."
"Proof?" said Applejack. "What proof? The sun tried to rise, it suddenly hit the peak of the sky, and then vanished! It's not day, it's not night, it's... ah dunno what it is. But it ain't right!"
"And you just happened to decide that I, the master of chaos, was responsible for this series of unfortunate events... because?" asked Discord.
"Because we don't know who else to turn to for bein' the cause of all this!" replied Applejack.
"You know," grumbled Discord. "I'm not the one whose job it is to raise the sun every day. You could ask your princess, like your dear friend Fluttershy suggested."
"Oh," said a surprised Fluttershy. "But... um... I did tell them... but... I don't think they heard me. But... how did you know?"
"It's all part of being a good friend!" said Discord with delight, giving Fluttershy a squeeze.
"Aw, that's sweet of you, Discord," said Fluttershy, blushing.
"Enough of the mushy stuff," said Rainbow. "If you're not the perpetrator, prove it!"
"I beg your pardon?"
"She said 'prove it'," repeated Applejack. "We know you have magic. Why don't you use it to bring back the sun? We all know you toyed around with the time of day when we faced off with you that one time."
"Oh, that sure does bring back memories," said Discord with glee. "We were all just getting to know each other."
"Knock it off, Discord!" snapped Twilight. "Just get out there and bring back the sun! We know you're capable of doing it!"
"Well, for a Princess of Friendship, you don't sound like you're doing a good job. It's bad enough you have to come and wake me up and throw accusations against me, but giving me nothing but angry looks goes to show me that maybe you're all just trying to keep a leash on me so that I don't turn Equestria upside-down instead of actually trying to be a genuine friend. At least dear Fluttershy here is on my side." This made Fluttershy's friends all start talking at once.
"GIRLS!" Fluttershy shouted. "I'll handle this." She then spoke to Discord. "Discord, would you be so kind as to bring back the sun for all of Equestria? We would very much appreciate having at least some temporary daytime until we can figure this out."
"It would be my pleasure, dear Fluttershy," said Discord, taking a graceful bow. "But for you, anything. Them, I'm not so sure." The others just looked at him angrily. "Fine, fine, I'll do it."
Everyone stood outside Fluttershy's cottage looking up at the twilight sky. Aside from Fluttershy, they seemed to be looking at Discord expectantly.
"Here comes the sun!" declared Discord, snapping his fingers. The sun instantly sprang into the sky as if it were high noon. "There we are. No harm d--" But in mere seconds, the sun went back down in the same direction, followed by a crashing sound and the squawking of a chicken. Discord was utterly surprised. "Well, well... That's never happened before."
"What did you do?!" shouted Rainbow Dash angrily, but this made Discord just as mad. With a click of his fingers, Rainbow's mouth disappeared. She was shocked, but constantly made muffling noises to get attention.
"Now see here," said Discord. "Even you of all ponies shouldn't be so hostile and irrational, even towards a feller like me." Applejack sighed.
"Discord, just give Rainbow back her mouth," she said, sounding exasperated.
"Oh, as you wish." Discord clicked his fingers and Rainbow's mouth came back.
"What in Equestria was that about?!" she bellowed.
"You asked for it," retorted Discord. "Now, I suggest you all go and talk with Twilight's favorite princess."
"She's...!" Twilight started to snap but sighed. "Forget it."
"Come on, y'all," said Applejack. "Let's just take the next train to Canterlot."
"A wise choice," said Discord. "That's right, you all go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later!" Applejack looked at Discord and raised an eyebrow, but he was not amused. "Your Princess is waiting."
The Mane 6 and Spike were on a train bound for Canterlot and discussing Equestria's predicament.
"I'm still convinced Discord is lying," said Rainbow flatly. "This whole thing has hard evidence against him."
"And I'm convinced that Discord is not behind this," said Fluttershy.
"Oh yeah? Just what in your right mind makes you think that?"
"Because we have yet to check up on the Princess, which is probably something we should have done first."
"Maybe Fluttershy's right," said Applejack. "Now that ah think about it, maybe Discord made a valid point about us usin' him like that. Maybe we shoulda started bein' nicer to him after Fluttershy won him over."
"Oh, fat chance!" said Rainbow. "Like we should ever trust that guy!"
"If that was true, the Princess would never have asked us to try to reform him in the first place," insisted Fluttershy.
"The Princess herself wasn't so sure," said Twilight. "That's why she entrusted me with the Elements of Harmony before we had to give them up. If anything, I'll bet Discord is trying to test our friendships. And... maybe I haven't been doing a good job."
"Now darling, don't start putting yourself down," said Rarity. "We all make mistakes and we've all done things we've regretted and wished we could take back. Even our friendship isn't perfect. No friendship is. But that is why we keep trying and by coming back and never giving up on each other, it makes our friendship even stronger."
"Rarity's right, hon," said Applejack. "We all have our disagreements, but ah think we can agree on at least one thing."
"That Discord's a liar?" said Rainbow, which earned her an angry stare from Fluttershy.
"We can all agree," Applejack resumed. "That we couldn't ask fer better friends."
"That's forever," agreed Fluttershy, as all seven got in a group hug.