//------------------------------// // Make new friends, but keep Discord // Story: The Little Pony Legend: A Kingdom of Friendship // by MaggiesHeartLove //------------------------------// *(~)* 1 John 1:9~ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. *(~)* Make new friends, but keep Discord "Hey, pass it over here! I'm open!" Discord called out, waving his chicken and lion arms in the air as the human alicorn princess tossed him the ball. The spirit of chaos was having a fun time with his friends, Princess Avatar Korra, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the newly reformed P'Li. Ever since the incident with Tirek, Discord had completely changed, even found a kindred spirit in the combustion woman, who was so kind to him. It was a bright tuesday afternoon and he was playing a game of one on one with the three girls. Fluttershy wasn't always the most sporty of her friends, but after mastering airbending and going on so many adventures with her friends, she soon grew a liking to a few sports, mainly basketball. As long as it wasn't a serious competition and only a friendly game. Discord caught the ball and zipped across the court he had created, only to have the ball snatched up by Fluttershy and slam dunk it! The girls cheered and Discord only shrugged. "Nice one, Fluttershy! Looks like all of those workouts with Korra finally payed off." Fluttershy simply smiled as she spun the ball on her finger. After the game, the friends went inside the temple to drink some tea and have some snacks. They sat in the dinning hall, listening to another of Discord's stories. "Ohoho, but that's not all! When I went to look for them again, they were on the ceiling!" The four girls laughed at the story. Fluttershy wiped away a single tear from her laughter, "Oh, Discord, I've never known anybody as funny as you!" Rainbow had to agree, "I love that story about the time you tried to train your right paw…*giggle* ...to fetch your left leg!" "That was a good one!" Korra said in between laughed as she levitated a cup of tea for P'Li, who was sitting next to her. "I really enjoy our Tuesday teas." said Fluttershy before taking a sip, "And it was wonderful to share them with the rest of our friends." "Thank you so much for inviting me." said P'Li, and Korra placed a wing on her shoulder. "Anytime, P'Li. You're one of us now." "Who knew hanging out with the spirit of chaos would be so much fun." said Rainbow Dash before taking a bite out of her teacake. Fluttershy's pony ears perked up, "Oh, and I can't wait for you all to meet my friend Tree Hugger. She's going to love you too." The minute she said the name, Discord felt a bit…uneasy. "Tree Hugger?" he laughed. "I met her on a trip to see the Breezies. She's a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures." "How nice for you." he said, with a hint of scorn, before actually chewing on the teacup. His eyes snapped open wide when the rest of his friends spoke. "I would love to meet her." said P'Li "Me too." said Korra, smiling. "We're all gonna have so much fun together at the Grand Galloping Gala!" It was the very first Gala to be held in the new age. Humans, ponies and spirits were invited. Queen Hou-Ting was attending, so was the president and his wife, Suyin and her family, Kuvira, the airbenders, everyone. It would sure to be a night to remember. Each of the girls had their own tickets, minus Korra who was automatically invited, being a princess and all. Discord tossed away his tea at the mention of the event. "Oh, I was wondering when you were going to ask me. I'd love to." he smiled at the anthro pegasus, waging his tail like an excitable dog, and Fluttershy looked down in dismay. "Oh. Oh, no. Um, I'm afraid I've already asked Tree Hugger." she confessed. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy about that. "Well, no matter. I'm sure either one of you three would be more than happy to go with me!" he smiled hopefully at Korra, P'Li and Rainbow Dash. All three looked at each other with worry. Both P'Li and Rainbow looked at Korra, waiting for her to say something. She promised she would get back at them latter for this. "Well, actually I'm already--" Knowing what she was going to say, Discord interrupted her, "Oh, I see. Right, of course. I should have known you'd be going with your boyfriend." "Actually, no. I'm meeting Mako there but, I was thinking on taking P'Li as my plus one." "And I promised Scootaloo I'd take her." said Rainbow. Now Discord was even more disappointed. All of his friends were going to the gala…without him. Or even thinking upon inviting him. "I'm sorry, Discord." Flutteshy said sincerely as the creature got up and got his coat, "We assumed you'd have your own ticket since you and Princess Celestia are friends now. Were you not invited?" "Who, me? It probably got lost in the mail. No biggie, as the foals say. Well, gotta go!" "But we haven't had any of our Tuesday teacakes." she lifted the plate up and Discord stashed them all into his coat. "Well, I guess we're just going to have to exclude them from our party this time. Oh, did I say that out loud? I mean, ta-ta." In a flash of light, he disappeared, leaving the four girls to finish the rest of the tea and treats. But they were still concerned for their friend. (~) After three days, the Gala was only a day away. Kai was asleep in his own room at the temple. He was a rather messy house keeper, with the blankets nearly reaching the floor. His brown hair was a mess as he snored, drool falling onto his pillow. The young boy was awoken when the spirit of chaos himself appeared from his blanket. "Gah!" "Where's Korra?" he asked, almost menacingly. "Uh, she's in Canterlot with Twilight, helping the alicorns with the Gala!" with that, Discord disappeared, leaving poor young Kai to cover himself with the blanket, scared out of his wits end. (~) At the Sato estate, Rarity was giving Mako's grandmother a makeover for the gala. While she was fixing the woman's hair, making it curly and elegant, she was adding the finishing touches on Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's gowns. Right now, they were in pony form. "Oh, your first Grand Galloping Gala!" the unicorn said excitedly, "The excitement, the anticipation! I wouldn't miss this for all the jewels in Equestria!" Once she was done adding the light green bow, the two fillies changed into their anthro forms, their gowns still remained on them once they did. Sweetie's was a pale light blue with a light green bow and gem stone on the chest with long lace that exposed her shoulders. She wore a blue tulip on her hair. Scootaloo wore a light purple gown with a dragon-fly like decoration on her hair. They held each other's hands and began jumping around like the children they were, singsonging, "We're going to the Gala! We're going to the Gala! We're going to the Gala!" Applejack, Bolin, Flash and Tu were playing cards nearby, sitting on the floor. Applejack placed the cards down and Tu tried to sneak a peek. "Alright, y'all, keep it down." said the country pony, "It ain't like it's a life-changin' experience or nothiiiiing…" A.J. was at a lost for words when her little sister walked out, wearing a peach colored dress with a flower hair clip, adorning her big pink bow. The country pony started to tear up at the sight. "My little sister's all grown up!" she then blew her nose into Flash's tail, much to his disgust. "Hey!" he yanked it away from her. Mako, who was leaning against the wall, rolled his eyes. "Get a hold of yourself, A.J. What is it with girls getting so emotional over a dreeee…." Now it was his turn to be speechless, when his three spirit lizard children came out, wearing their gala outfits. The boy, San, was wearing a top hat and a bow-tie, while the two girls, Ali and Mika, were wearing stunning aquamarine and ruby red dresses with sapphire and emerald gemstones on their heads. Now it was Mako's turn to get all emotional. "Look at my two baby girls! Oh, mommy's going to love this, you look so beautiful!" his smile faded when he noticed all of the weird looks he received. "When you have kids of your own, you'll understand!" he said defensively. Bolin couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, bro! You're such a sissiiiii…." Bolin's eyes widened and his jaw practically hit the floor when Asami walked out, wearing a stunning dark magenta asian-styled gown with silver outlines in the collar and short sleeves, added with long over the elbow gloves and a shawl around her shoulders. Her hair was styled into a high, loose bun with chopsticks and lotus flowers holding it in place. Bolin stood up and walked over to her. "Somebody call heaven, because they're missing an angel." Asami giggled at the compliment, already feeling the blush creep up on her face. "You charmer." The Cutie Mark Crusaders giggled with glee, "This is gonna be the best night ever!" They then noticed the lamp on the ceiling suddenly stretch out like a serpent, and the lightbulb had a red dot on it. The girls screamed in terror before running away. The lamp was none other than Discord who manifested himself in front of everyone. Grandma Yin quickly grabbed a broomstick and began smacking the spirit in the head. "Ow! Ow! Hey!" "Bad creature! Scarring theses sweet little ponies like that!" she readied to hit him again until Mako stopped her and took the broom. "Wait, grandma! That's Discord. He's a friend…sort of. Kinda. Mostly." Discord rubbed his head before getting back to business, speaking to Applejack, while Apple Bloom hid behind her. "I don't suppose that, uh, these adorable little cutie pies have their own tickets to the Gross Gruesome Gala, do they?" He tickled Apple Bloom's chin, but she slapped his paw away and blew a raspberry. Rarity cleared her throat, "Ahem! To answer your rather rude question, they're going as our dates, our plus-ones." she smiled as she hugged her little sister, who began to singsong again. "We're plus-ones!" The rest of the Crusaders joined in, "We're plus ones! We're plus-ones!" Discord removed his horns and plucked them into his ears to cancel out the sound. "Yes, yes, yes, I believe I got that!" he disappeared then reappeared alongside Mako, Flash, Bolin and Asami. "How about you four? Got any extra tickets? Well, I'm assuming you two lovebirds are going together." he said to Bolin and Asami. "Actually," Asami began, "Bolin and I each got our own tickets and--" Discord smiled with glee before zapping a tuxedo onto himself and linked his arm with Asami's. "I knew you wouldn't let me down! You always were my favorite out of the bunch." "You didn't let me finish. We each got our own tickets but I gave mine to Tu, so now I'm Bo's plus one." "Too bad, buddy." said the earthbender. Discord scorned and changed back before smiling at Mako and Flash. "And what about you too?" "Sorry," said Flash, "I'm going with Twilight." "And I'm bringing my grandma." said Mako. The three spirits squeaked at Discord and he suddenly exclaimed in shock, "What?! Even the flying lizards got tickets?! What am I, last season's merchandise?!" In another flash, he disappeared. Tu then began asking his younger cousin a question. Rather nervously, "So, Bolin, uh, is that ex- girlfriend of yours going to the party too?" "Opal? Yeah, she's going. Why you ask?" he arched an eyebrow and smiled knowingly. "Uh, no reason just asking!" But Asami and Bolin could already see the blush on his face. This was most certainly going to be an interesting evening. (~) "Have a wonderful, special, fantastic day!" Pinkie Pie had just finished another oder at Sugar Cube Corner when she walked pass a box, "Oh, hi, Discord. Want some cake?" He got out, surprised that even she knew he was there. "I can give you a list of all the flavors we have in order of most delicious to incredibly, unbelievably delicious!" "Actually, Pinkie Pie, who are you taking to... I mean, do you…" he couldn't get himself to swallow his pride long enough to ask, he scratched the wall a bit with his claws before saying, "ugh, oh, you know what? I am famished. I'll take all the cakes." Pinkie Pie's eyes widened, "All of them?!" she looked directly into the camera and began shaking it, "He wants all of the cakes!" she speeded into the kitchen and got to work in getting him his order. "Well, I'll need all my energy when I'm dancing at the Gala, if I decide to go that is. Oh, by the way, are you bringing anypony?" "Oh, of course!" Apparently, lady luck was not on Discord's side today. Pinkie Pie kept chatting as she packed the cakes into the boxes. "I was gonna ask my mom, because she's, you know, my mom, but it turned out she didn't want to go, so I started asking around and around and around..." As she kept on talking, Discord spotted Fluttershy walking into town with another pony. A green colored earth mare with wavy, kind of messy orange hair and a very relaxed expression, along with a flower imprinted bandana on her head. His jealousy grew, how dare Fluttershy take another pony to the gala instead of him. He probably would have understood the others a bit, but her? "…and I couldn't think of anypony, and I was about to just go by myself, and I realized, of course! Who loves fancy exciting affairs more than anypony else? My sister Maud!" "You know what? Cancel my order." he disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Pinkie Pie alone with a large assortment of boxes around the shop. "You want none of the cakes now?!" (~) Fluttershy and her walked together, the yellow pegasus was laughing, "Oh, my, you are funny!" "I guess every being in Equestria is funny today." Discord appeared in between the two and stood before them with his back to them. "Oh, how rude of me. Tree Hugger, this is Discord. Discord, Tree Hugger." The new pony greeted the spirit, speaking a very mellow and somewhat hippie-like tone. "Radical to meet you. Really digging your vibe." Discord turned to face her, his eyes glowing red, "My vibe?" "It's a compliment." said Fluttershy. "Oh, well, I'm sure it is. Well, I must be off." he snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving the two ponies to wonder why he was in such a rush, until he reappeared. "It has nothing to do with seeing you or not seeing you. You can rest assured of that." he disappeared again, only to reappear again. "Have fun at the Gala!" this time, he really did disappear for good. "Righteous!" said Tree Hugger. Almost nothing could startle her. (~) Discord retired to his home. It was most certainly the kind of place for the lord of chaos. Everything was floating in a large empty vacuum of dark and blue waves, with strange and abnormal creatures floating around, along with several random objects, trees, and other various things that made no sense of them being there. Even his house made no sense. The stairs were upside down, the doors were on the ceiling, everything was completely mismatched and misplaced. And he liked it that way. He zapped himself into his hope, mimicking Fluttershy's voice. "Oh, Tree Hugger. You're such a great friend. So much funnier than unfunny old Discord!" the door slammed and a vase broke. He zapped on some cleaning attire and began 'cleaning' the place. More like, making it filthier. He added more dust bunnies under the couch, placed soap and water onto the windows instead of cleaning them off and 'washed' the clean dishes, making the dirty and placing them into the pile. All the while mimicking his friend's voices. "No, no, here. Take my plus-one. I insist. Before somepony else thinks he's my friend and expects to be asked instead. What's that? You're worried Discord might be upset?" Not a problem! I can make more new friends anytime I want." he angrily sat on the couch, "It's not as if any of this actually mattered! I don't even want to go to the Gala anyway!" He heard yelling forming from outside and opened the door to investigate. He saw a parcel pony floating in the endless dimension, screaming in terror. He finally caught him. "Are you perhaps looking for me?" The pony took out a letter from his pocket, "Are you "Discord or current resident"? I can't find any street numbers in this place." Discord took the letter and used his magic to open it, revealing a golden ticket. He smiled with glee, "My ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala! I was invited after all!" he hugged the pony so tightly he almost couldn't breath. He then glared at him in anger, making him quake in fear. "Why is this so late?" he asked grimly. "Well, I got a little lost after I escaped the flying badgers... Can you point me in the direction of the bottomless pit? I think I can make my way back from there." "Oh, over there. Somewhere. Just go over there." Discord released the poor pony, sadly letting him to wander again in the vortex. "Looks like I'll see you all at the Gala after all. But I can't show up alone. Who could I bring on such short notice?" He pondered for a moment when he finally thought of the perfect 'friend' to come with him. He giggled mischievously. (~) The Grand Galloping Gala had finally arrived. Humans, ponies and spirits attended, and there was even a jazz band providing the music, giving it a more upbeat fell. It has been so long since Leilani had attended one. Tonight was the very first one with her as queen once more. And more importantly, she could spend it with her daughters. It was sad her husband White couldn't be here, but she knew he was there in spirit. She stood on top of the stairs, alongside her two daughters, Princess Twilight and Princess Korra. Leilani wore a stunning blue gown, sparkling with diamonds around the sash that had a broach styled like her cutie mark. Her crown rested elegantly on her head. Luna and Celestia wore matching styled gown, each with a long lass around their necks, adorned with moon and sun broaches. Celestia's was pink with peach colors while Luna's was aquamarine and light magenta mixed with cyan. Twilight wore a blue cyan gown, with the sleeves ripped off and clear blue horseshoes. Her flame-like scar was bare and her dress was long with floral-like stones at the bottom, along with around her collar. She had a simple ribbon tied to the side of her waist and her hair was styled into a loose bun, her bangs wrapped up elegantly in a widows peak with strands of them coming from both sides of her face, curled to perfection. Korra wore a long blue gown, the same color as the ocean, with a long coat-like half over the dress, which was open in the front, exposing the long skirt, adorned with fur lining and around her collar. She wore arm warmers, with pearls on them as well as pearl earrings and necklace. Her hair was styled to the side with a water tribe broach holding it in place at the back. She didn't wear her hair ties, but rather strands of hair behind her ears were placed elegantly around her shoulders, showing off her earrings and cutie mark perfectly. All of their friends and family were there. Korra was especially happy to see her good friend Kuvira on the dance floor. She send her a happy wave, for which she returned. "I must say, it's been very nice having you take over some of the planning responsibilities for this year's Gala." said the alicorn queen. "Anything we can do to make it easier on you." said Twilight. "Thank you, girls. I am quite looking forward to just enjoying the Gala for once. With my daughters." "It's been a long time since we've been together here." said Luna, with a saddened expression. "I wish father could have been here to see this." "I know dear. But I'm here now, and I know your father would be very proud of the princesses you have both become." At the snack table, Spike, Tu and Bolin was already stuffing their faces when Asami tapped him on the shoulder, "Bolin, there's Opal. Hey, Opal!" The earthbender quickly swallowed what he was eating and greeted the airbender who walked towards them. "Asami! Bolin! Great to see you." "Hey, Ops! How's our favorite airbender?" Tu, on the other hand, was paralyzed when the girl stood before him. It especially didn't help that he still had some left over pastry in his mouth. The young airbender smiled at the young man. "You remember my cousin, Tu. Tu, Opal. Opal, Tu." "Nice to see you again, Tu." He swallowed the pastry and tried to compose himself. "Uh, hey, how's it going?" he laughed nervously but Opal only continued to smile, while shyly placing her hair behind her ear. Bolin and Asami could already tell these two were going to hit it off just fine. Fanfare sounded off and the announcer pony began calling the guests' names. "Announcing, Sir Iknik Blackstone Varrick of the Southern Water Tribe, Master of the High Seas and his guest, Lady Zhu Li Moon." The eccentric billionaire didn't waste any time in spreading his arms wide, emphasizing his arrival. "Hello Grand Galloping Gala! Varrick is here! Zhu Li, see if you can get me one of those tater tarts. I love those things!" Korra and Twilight only giggled, things were certainly looking up to be interesting tonight. However, there was one more guest who also just arrived. "Announcing the spirit of chaos, Discord, and his guest, the, uh…" Discord whispered unintelligibly into his ear. "The Smooze!" The entire ballroom gasped in horror at the sight of the creature! It was this big pony-sized pile of green blob that was oozing disgusting slime wherever it went! It had no eyes but a mouth and it wore a red tie and blue top hat. "Oh, my!" said grandma Yin as Mako held her closely for protection of whatever the heck that was. Raiko's wife nearly passed out and Lin felt she would puke, even her sister shared the same feeling. But Discord was as cool as a cucumber, wearing his flashy orange tuxedo and matching top hat. "Good evening, everybody! What a glorious affair!" The Smooze's mouth somehow stretched out and took one of the announcers's horn. "He does have a yen for shiny things, the rascal." Discord patted the Smooze's head, only to have his paw covered in goop, which he wiped off on the announcer's jacket. Korra and Twilight had never seen anything more disgusting before. Whatever it was Discord was doing, it couldn't be good. The two friends smiled at the alicorns. "We'll take care of this." said the Avatar before she and Twilight zipped down and casually dragged Discord back to the entrance. Twilight asked in a hushed tone, "What are you doing here with... that?!" she pointed to the creature, for which various guests were avoiding. Korra face palmed herself, "Discord, we talked about this: Sneezing and making your boogers come to life isn't funny. It's gross!" Discord wagged his finger at her, "Now, now, now. The Smooze may be an "it", but it's an it with a heart of, well, blob." Korra arched an eyebrow, "This wouldn't have anything to do with us not inviting you to the gala, would it?" "What? No, of course not!" he lied but played it cool, "I should be thanking you, then I wouldn't have brought old Smoozy here." he then leaned in, eyeing her, "Why? Does it upset you?" Korra didn't want to have to do this but she had no other choice. It was time for some tough love. She grabbed Discord by the beard and narrowed her eyes sternly at him. "Look, this night is extremely important to us and the alicorns." she and Twilight send them a wave, smiling in reassurance. Twilight then spoke through gritted teeth, "In other words: Keep it under control!" Discord managed to get Korra to release him and gently shoved Twilight away with his staff, "Yes, yes, yes, of course. Tell me, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere?" he walked away looking for his other friend, leaving the two princesses to share worried looks. Applejack and Rarity smiled at the Crusader's enthusiasm to being at the biggest social event of the year. "We're here! We're here! We made it to the Gala!" Discord took out a large diamond and fed it to the Smooze. Once he ate it, it grew a few inches. Discord spotted Fluttershy near a table, happily chatting with Tree Huger and even P'Li. The pony wore a beautiful peacock inspired gown eight a feather in her hair. P'Li wore a a long red gown with a sweetheart neckline and a golden chocker, from which came transparent lace that wrapped elegantly around her shoulders. Her hair was styled into a loose long over the shoulder braid with long strands of her hair styled to the side. The two laughed and giggled as Tree Huger told them her story. "The aura coming off the waterfall was so alive! So, like, magic manifestation." "Wow." Fluttershy was so entertained with the story she didn't notice Discord 'accidentally' bump into her. "Oh, Fluttershy, P'Li. I didn't see you there." but much to his dismay, they both ignored him. "How did you even know to look for an aura on a waterfall?" Fluttershy asked. Discord then tried clearing his throat, irritably hacking and coughing to get their attention, which he finally did. "Discord!" "We thought you weren't coming!" said the combustion bender. "No. I actually never said that. But funny how you remembered it that way. Anyway, good to see you. Tree Friend, is it? Your name is slipping my mind right now. How strange." But the green pony remained perfectly mellow and friendly, "Nice to meet you. I'm Tree Hugger. Blessings." "You have met me before, actually!" Discord replied irritably before snorting, steam coming out of his nostrils like a bull. "Cool! Like, in another life, maybe?" "You've gotta be kidding. You don't remember me?" he removed his hat to show off his mismatched horns, hoping to jog her memory. Tree Huger only laughed. "I meet a lot of different creatures, each one of them perfect and unique." There just had to be something wrong with this pony. But, Discord was not about to let her ruin his planes. "Yes, well, as I was saying, it's just great to be here with my oldest, bestest friend." he said as he wrapped his arms around Fluttershy and P'Li. "Are we really your oldest, bestest friends?" Fluttershy asked with a smile. Discord laughed, "You? Of course not! You think I don't have other friends? I'm centuries old! I was talking about the Smooze!" he introduced his guest to the others, "Smoozeface, the Smoozinator – well, I mean that's what we called him back in college." he then placed the gigantic blood on the table, startling the ponies and woman. "Smooze! I would like you to meet Fluttershy, P'Li and, um, hmm... Tree... how'd you say it... Tree Embrace?" He was 'forgetting' her name on purpose, in hopes of sending her a hint. Which she did not get. "Oh, I like that! It's so in rhythm with my life force! Maybe I'll change it!" The Smooze started reaching for Tree Huger's shinny yellow necklace, but Discord slapped him before he could. P'Li crinkled her nose at the sight of the thing but remained polite. "Nice to meet you… um, Smooze." the creature smiled at her in a kind manner, making her start to think he probably wasn't all bad after all. Who was she to judge a strange creature anyway? Fluttershy giggled, being amused by the creature. "I can't believe I've never heard you speak of the Smooze before. Sounds like you two are so close." Discord crossed his arms in a pouty fashion, "Well, I'm glad you got that, because that's what is true. We are." he disappeared and then reappeared, hugging the Smooze, who had just left the table. "Very close." "That's wonderful! The five of us should go out to dinner sometime!" Discord reacted by accidentally squeezing the Smooze toot tightly, causing it to fall apart only to reconnect itself again and slither away. "We should all go out to dinner sometime?! Have you no heart?" he heard a couple of elderly ponies screaming in terror, "Oh, oh! It looks like somepony wants to mingle. We'll be back in a bit." "Oh, okay. P'Li, Treezie and I would love to talk to you more later!" Discord only became more annoyed, "Treezie? Really? Sort of a juvenile nickname, don't you think?" the sound of smashing glass and pony screaming caught his attention. "Smoozie! Wait up!" Needless to say, this was not going as he had hoped. None of his friends seemed the slightest bit upset about not inviting him to the gala. He had to think of some other way to get the message across. (~) Korra's twin cousins, Eska and Desna, stood by the punch bowl, blankly looking at the guests. The female twin spoke first, "I thought this was suppose to be the biggest event of the year." she said blankly, "But I have yet to find anything amusing about it." "Indeed." her brother replied, "Perhaps our expectations were far too high." "We did not have any." "Precisely." They were greeted by a familiar pink pony, who was accompanied by a grey colored female pony in a blew dress with white stones. "Hey, Eska and Desna! I would like you to meet my sister Maud! Maud, this is Prince Desna and Princess Eska, Korra's cousins! They're a little quiet, but they're not so bad!" The two twins looked at the female pony, who looked at them back with the same blank, emotionless expressions. All they did was blink at each other, while Pinkie only smiled the whole time. "Nice to meet you both." Maud finally said. The twins nodded their heads before looking at one another and then back at the two sisters. "Excuse us," said Eska, "we must seek more refreshments." they walked away from the two and Maud continued to stare at them with her blank expression. "They're really boring." she said in a dull tone. With the twins, "She was far too cheerful." said Eska. "Indeed." her brother agreed. "I could not stand another second with her." (~) Discord led the Smooze to the doors that lead to the garden outside. "Now, listen, Smooze. I need to make this a party of one for a little while. Just stay out here until I come for you." he pushed the poor creature outs into the garden and locked the door. He heard laughing and saw Apple Bloom, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Tree Hugger, Bolin and Asami laughing. Discord appeared and began laughing loudly, making the situation awkward. "What's so funny?" Tree Hugger asked. "Exactly!" Feeling awkward, Rainbow, Scootaloo and the two Apple sisters backed way slowly, "Uhh… I think we're gonna go hit the dance floor." said Rainbow Dash. Even Bolin came up with an excuse, "Uh… Oh, there's Varrick, let's go talk with him, Asami." "Totally!" The two casually left the scene, lying about seeing Varrick. They just wanted to get away. Discord wrapped his arm around the yellow pony, "Fluttershy, tell the Hugs here about the time that we went to the store and came back with two cakes instead of one, because that's how crazy we are when we're together." "Um, we went to the store and bought two cakes." Fluttershy said, feeling slightly awkward and having no idea why he wanted her to tell it. "Oh. Then, what about when me and P'Li had that riveting Pai Shodown, remember that?" The combustion woman too felt a tad awkward at the moment, "Uh, yeah. Good times." Discord arched an eyebrow, "Well, you kind of left out all the fun and frivolity there. But I'm sure you got it, Tree Hugger." "I got that you really like cake and board games." she said with a smile, which only infuriated him. "We like each other. That was the point! I'm actually pretty lukewarm about cake." "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH" All of the guests were startled at the sound of a very loud female scream. One from which could only belong to Rarity herself. She had gone out to the garden for some air and she was now banging hard on the doors. "Let me in!" she shouted. Mako, who was the closest to the door, rushed over and unlocked it, letting the poor unicorn enter. She crawled on the floor, her beautiful purple and blue ball down covered in green ooze, spiting the repulsive substance from her mouth, gasping for air. "That creature took my jewels!" From outside, the Smooze was eating the headpiece of one of the party guests, frightening her before she ran off screaming. Twilight and Korra turned to the spirit of chaos, narrowing their eyes disappointingly at him. The creature appeared to grow even more. "Discord! I thought we told you to keep your friend under control!" Twilight exclaimed in anger. "Oh, please. I have better things to do than to watch that thing all night." he quickly caught what he had just said when he noticed the looks from Fluttershy, P'Li and tree Hugger. He laughed nervously, "What I mean to say is, that thing is a dear, dear friend, and I'll make sure that the ooze, uh, that he can't help but secrete doesn't get on anybody else." He appeared before Rarity and used a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the ooze out of her…including her dress. The unicorn felt so embarrassed to be seen without her dress and tried to cover herself, feeling violated. Varrick whispered to Zhu Li, "What's she so embarrassed about? She's always naked!" Feeling sympathy, with a wave of her hand Korra returned her friend's gown once more, much to her relief. "Thank you." Korra then addressed to the party guests, "It's alright, everybody. Let's just get back to enjoying this magical evening!" (~) Discord pulled the Smooze with a leach. This giant green mess was making things more complicated than he had hoped. " You are making me look like a fool in front of everyone." he led the creature to a closet and shoved him inside before closing the door, "I'll be back when the Gala is over." The poor little Smooze felt so sad to be locked away in a closet. And he was having so much fun before. However, he quickly changed his attitude once he got a load of all the delicious treasures in the closet! Good thing he brought his appetite. (~) Tu couldn't get his eyes off of the beautiful airbender who was laughing with the Crusaders. She was so sweet, and beautiful, and smart. If only he wasn't so shy. His cousin Bolin surprised him with a pat on the back. "Hey, cousin! Still drooling over Opal, eh?" Tu immediately blushed and stepped aside, "Me?! No, no, no, no way! I don't droll." Bolin tapped his chin, "You got a little right there." The earthbender wiped the saliva from from his mouth and crossed his arms, pouting. "Just go over there and talk to her." his cousin encouraged. "But what if she don't like me?" "What's not to like? You're smart, you're fun, not to mention you have the gift!" "What gift?" "The gift of luck, my friend! If I can score a gorgeous CEO and Mako can get an Alicorn Avatar Princess, then you're bound to get that airbender heiress to like you too. You got this." He heard her giggle again, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds. His mind was made up. "Okay, I'm gonna do it!" he sucked in his gut, fixed his hair and made his way towards the girl. He was going to make his move. Discord appeared on the chandelier, looking down at the ballroom. He heard laughing and spotted Fluttershy with Tree Hugger. "Oh, Tree Hugger, I've never known anypony as funny as you!" At that point, Discord's anger and jealousy had hit its boiling point. In a batch of green flames he disappeared. If it was comedy they wanted, it was comedy they were going to get! Tu's chances of speaking to Opal were put on hold when the lights went dim and a spotlight appeared on a stage Discord had just made. He tapped on the microphone, "Check, check, check. Is this thing on? Good evening, fillies and germs! I just flew into Canterlot, and wow, are my interspecies parts tired!" Only the sound of crickets was heard. Nobody laughed and only looked at Discord with confused and unamused looks. He then decided to try a different approach. He pulled down his hat, appearing from the other end and tried another joke. "I've only got these tiny mismatched wings, and even I can fly better than Twilight Sparkle! Am I right? Pchoo!" "Hey!" Twilight exclaimed in annoyance, but Korra, Flash and Celestia giggled a bit. Flash stopped when he took one look at his girlfriend's disapproving glare. Discord laughed nervously, this wasn't working at all. "Uh, well, perhaps you're into more observational humor." He zapped himself away and only his head appeared, making it look like he was sticking his head out of an invisible ball before walking out with a new outfit, a blue jacket with a white shirt and red tie. "Did you ever notice how you always materialize out of thin air? Why not thick air? What's the deal there?" Still no laughter, just glares, arched eyebrows and coughs. Discord pulled on his collar, his eyes bulging in a comical manner. "Tough crowd." he said in a Rodney Dangerfield impression. "What is he doing?!" Korra asked, feeling sympathy for her friend. "I think they're... jokes?" said Rainbow Dash unsurely. Pinkie Pie smiled with glee, "Maud! Jokes!" "My favorite." she said blankly, without even smiling. "Oh, I do love a good joke!" said grandma Yin, clapping her hands with enthusiasm. "You're going to be disappointed, grandma." said her eldest grandson while Discord said another joke. "You might be a Ponyville pony when an ordinary night on the town ends in a lesson about friendship!" Bolin the bursted out laughing, but it wasn't genuine, it was a fake laugh. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, good one!" he then whispered to his girlfriend, "It's not funny, I just feel sorry for him." While Discord continued his crazy jokes, Meelo noticed something from behind the door where the Smooze was being kept in. The inside began to glow and the young boy was already growing concerned. Discord was now wearing a carrot-top inspired outfit, using a watermelon on a stool. "Knock knock!" But nobody said anything. No giggle or even a light chuckle. "You're supposed to say "Who's there?"! This is the most basic of jokes!" Discord took out a wooden mallet and smashed the watermelon, causing the seeds and bits of the pink liquid to splatter all over the place. "You're the most basic of jokes." Maud replied bluntly. Pinkie laughed, "Good one, Maud!" Most of the party guests started to laugh, much to Discord's embarrassment and anger. But an angry draconiquis was the least of their worries. Meelo witnessed the glow behind the door suddenly fade and open, allowing a waterfall of slow moving green goop to fall. He screamed and ran to his parents. Tenzin's eyes widened in horror. "What is that?!" The door flung open and a tsunami of green ooze flooded the ballroom! Ponies and humans ran in all directions, screaming in terror from the horrible Smooz monster. Many of the guests found themselves stuck to the floor, unable to break free. Rainbow Dash tried to fly but to no avail, now even her wings were covered in slime. Bolin and Mako led Yin away from the Smooz, but there was no escaping it. Everyone was stuck to the floor, covered in the disgusting good. Waterbenders tried to control it but it didn't work at all. Varrick was on the floor, his arms frantically splashing in the goop. "Zhu Li, help! I'm sinking!" "You're not sinking, sir. You're just stuck." she replied calmly while remaining perfectly still, regardless of the slime on her hair and cloths. "Let me rephrase that: Help! I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" Mako tried to firebend at the horrible substance, but nothing could effect it. His flames diminished once it made contact, causing zero damage. The airbenders tried to break free as well with their air blasts, but even that wasn't powerful enough. Some couldn't even move their arms because of it. Tenzin struggled to use his airbending. "Bending doesn't work on this ooze!" Mako stated to the air nomad. Twilight and Korra were zapping away, but nothing happened. "Neither does our magic!" said the alicorn before she turned to the other royals, also covered in green slime. "Can you stop it?" Leilani tried to activate her magi, but the tip of her horn was covered in the ooze, even her daughters' magic didn't appear to have any effect. Luna had tripped and her horn was now stuck to the ground while Celestia's horn was even more covered in ooze than even her mother's. "I'm afraid not!" "Discord, how could you bring him here?!" Korra yelled angrily at the draconiquis, who appeared to be enjoying this. "Oh, he's not that bad!" Rarity rose up her hooves, "Oh, my shoes will be ruined forever!" Applejack rolled her eyes, "That's what you're worried about? Really?" Pinkie Pie rode on Maud like a boat as she rowed across the green river. Eska and Desna remained completely unfazed while Raiko's wife was horrified at the goop in her hair and dress. "This is an outrage!" yelled her husband. Fluttershy, P'Li and Tree Hugger were splattered on the wall, stuck because of the ooze. Tree Hugger was upside down. "This is kind of a bummer." she said. Discord appeared before them, "Isn't it, though? And to think, it would never have happened had I come to the Gala as somebody else's plus-one." he eyed Fluttershy and P'Li, but it was clear they were still not getting the message. "Seems like something might have harshed his flow, you know? Like, his senses are agitated." said the hippie pony. "You don't know anything about rare creatures. I've known Smoozeface for ages. He's not agitated. He's partying down! Whoo!" Lin tried to remove the slime from her hair, only to get it stuck to her head. "So, this is how it ends. Being swallowed alive in a river of snot from another dimension." "Why must the good die young!" Bolin exclaimed dramatically. "All he needs is some, like, calming auditory therapy." said Tree Hugger, "I know I always feel really at peace when I'm being bathed in positive vibes. Maybe he'll calm down with some sonic bliss." Discord scoffed, "Do you even know what you just said?" But the hippie pony started to meditate, making calming noises with her mouth. "Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee! Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!" Amazingly for everyone, the Smooze slowly stopped moving around. He smiled as he began to rise up, soaking all of the ooze that held Fluttershy, P'Li and Tree Hugger against the wall. "Let go, Smooze! Bliss out! Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!" All of the green snow that was one everyone started to come right off, being soaked up by the Smooze, cleaning them all from top to bottom. Their cloths were as good as new again. Soon the Smooze became whole again, and was now gigantic, but smiling happily thanks to Tree Hugger's great thinking and 'positive vibes'. For a moment, Lin was speechless. "It worked? The hippie dippy pony actually did it." Everyone cheered happily now that the Smooze was under control. "Way to go, Tree Hugger!" Rainbow said happily while flapping. Fluttershy was so proud of her friend she hugged her tightly, "That was the most magical thing I've ever seen done with animals!" "That truly was impressive!" P'Li said. Discord began grinding his teeth in anger. "Oh, thanks, everypony. It makes perfect karmic sense why magic or bending doesn't work on him. He only responds to vibrations that peace out his energy fields." "Stop it! Stop it!" Discord was finished with this game. He was finished with this pony in general. "That's it! I'm done with you, Tree Hugger!" "Oh, man. You're really bumming me out. Can you just, like, lower your voice a slosh?" "A skosh? A skosh?!" with his chicken claw, he literally tore open a portal into thin air and levitated Tree Hugger upwards. The earth pony's eyes widened in horror at the sight before her. It was so horrendous that no pony or human alive would be able to describe how terrifying it truly was! Nobody! "Whoa, dude! What is that?!" "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm simply going to send you to another dimension. I can't have you interfering in my relationship with my friends anymore!" Fluttershy flew up to face the draconiquis, "Discord, stop!" she demanded. "I will, just as soon as she's gone! Then we can have a good laugh about this whole affair over our regular Tuesday tea." he zapped a floating table and sipped in the tea. The Avatar flew upwards as well, crossing her arms sternly at him, "Discord! This has gone far enough! Let Tree Hugger go right now!" The Smooze then tried to eat her earrings and necklace. Korra sternly slapped his extended goop away. "No, down boy! To the corner with you!" The green creature whimpered sadly but complied. This human meant business. Discord then wrapped his arm around her and Fluttershy. "I'm doing you all a favor! It's a lovely dimension! White sand beaches, attentive wait staff... I mean, okay, the humidity isn't great, but where isn't that the case these days?" "I don't understand why you're doing this!" said the yellow pegasus, "We were all getting along so well!" "As well as we could, considering you've already stomped all over our friendship by inviting her to the biggest night of the year! And none of you guys even thought about inviting me either, as if I didn't matter at all!" "Did you really think I'd abandon you just because I have a new friend?!" Fluttershy exclaimed sternly. "Yes, because that's what you did! That's what you all did!" Korra stepped in between the two, "Hold on! If you really felt this way why didn't you say so in the first place?" "I think the better question is why didn't you figure it out?" "Because you didn't say anything! I even tried to talk to you about it before but you just shrugged it off." "Because I was embraced! I thought you didn't want me around since you each brought your own pals to the gala! Abandoning me!" "No, Discord! Nobody abandoned you! We never told you not to come, we were actually looking froward to you being here. It's not our fault you got your invitation late." Discord had to admit that Korra did make a good point, "Yes well, Fluttershy and P'Li didn't ask me, and after all the times we've spent together. Fluttershy was the first pony to ever give me true friendship, and P'Li was the first person I could really relate to." "And did you like one of us more than the other?" P'Li asked, also crossing her arms. "Well, no, not really." "And what if you had a friend that you could discuss chaos-based magic with?" Fluttershy asked, "Would that mean we weren't friends anymore?" "Uh…No, I suppose not. It would just mean that I'd have different friends for different things…" the realization finally hit him, "Oh, oh, dear, it looks like I've perhaps overreacted just a skosh." "More like a lot of skoshes!" Fluttershy exclaimed before addressing to her floating friend, "Tree Hugger, could you give us a minute?" The pony nodded her head in yes. She was perfectly fine with these friends having a moment. The three landed on the ground, next to P'Li, all still looking at Discord with disappointment. The draconiquis hung his head in shame. "I'm just so new at this whole friendship thing. It's so much more complicated than it looks." "Do you think maybe you owe somepony an apology?" said Fluttershy. Discord made three flowers appear on his paw and handed them to the girls. But Fluttershy swatted them away, "Not us!" "Oh! Oh. Yes, right." he snapped his fingers and the portal disappeared. Tree Hugger landed safely onto the floor and Fluttershy hugged her, relieved that she was all right. Korra cleared her throat, "Ahem!" she pointed her thumb to the Smooze, who was still trying to eat anything shinny. Discord appeared next to him, stuck his hand in and removed all of the royal jewels he had eaten, causing the Smooze to shrink downer to size. Once the jewels were back in the closet safely, Discord approached the green pony and apologized for his behavior. "Er, Tree Hugger, I'm sorry that you got caught in the middle of my... er, you know... wrath." "Oh, it's all groovy." she smiled. Feeling relieved, Discord embraced her in a loving hug. But the pony gently removed herself, "Um, I need like a few minutes to clear out my chakras before I can hug you from a place of authenticity." Discord laughed, "Oh, your chakras. Fair enough." P'Li placed a hand on his shoulder, "You know, Discord, you can always tell us whenever you feel this way. We won't judge you." "And maybe we should have been a bit more sensitive." said Korra. "No, you're all right. I should have been more honest and not let my jealousy get the better of me. I don't know if you've noticed but, it really makes things turn ugly." Korra, Mako, Asami and Bolin couldn't agree more, "Don't we know it!" (~) The party was going much more smoothly, now that most of the drama was gone and any misunderstandings were cleared up. The friends all relaxed on the stage, while Discord was apologizing to his plus-one. "I owe you an apology, Smooze. I spent the whole evening thinking about my own feelings and never thinking about yours." But, much like Tree Hugger, the Smooze was very forgiving as he kissed Discord's cheek. "Well, friends! I think I may actually grow to like this being honest with your feelings and multiple-friend thing." "I like it too." Maud said, still as stone faced as ever. Eska and Desna, who stood beside her and Pinkie Pie, scoffed in disgust. "Enough. Your sunny disposition is annoyingly blinding." said Desna in a bored tone. "You guys are no picnic either." Maud replied in the exact same bored face as him. Bolin, Asami, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all shared the exact same 'what is wrong with them' expressions. There was really no understanding either of the three. "Hey, it's not a party until somepony spreads magic-resistant ooze uncontrollably over the ballroom!" Pinkie squee'd before hugging the green blood, "Come on, Smoozinator! Let's dance!" Varrick snapped his fingers and pointed at the band, "Fellas, do the thing!" The band played upbeat jazz music that got everybody to dance happily. The alicorns, Korra, Twilight and Mako all looked on at the scene, but Twilight felt really upset. "I'm sorry, everybody." said the alicorn, "I know how much you were all looking forward to tonight, but everything just went completely crazy." "You have nothing to apologize for." said Leilani with a beaming smile, "This has been the most fun Gala in years!" "I know, it was a—What?!" "Absolutely!" Luna agreed. "Without a doubt!" Celestia exclaimed with a smile. Twilight was literally jaw-dropped, "But there was ooze all over the place! And one of the guests threatened to send somepony to another dimension!" "I know!" said Celestia with glee, "Can you imagine how dull it would have been if we hadn't invited Discord?" "But--but--but--Mako! Your grandmother was nearly swallowed up by that thing!" "And amazingly, she loved it!" he pointed to the dance floor, "Look at her!" Twilight's eyes widened when she saw grandma Yin dancing and waving her arms like she was forty-years-old again with Varrick and the Earth Queen. "I've never seen her this energetic! Not to mention, nearly getting swallowed by that glob really broke the ice for Tu and Opal." he gestured to the two dancing happily together and getting along wonderfully. "And the kids are really starting to like Smooze." Korra pointed to where the kids were now jumping up and down on the Smooze like a trampoline. Luna giggled, "Father would be laughing his head off if he saw any of this!" she then galloped her front legs, "Last one to the dance floor is a rotten dragon egg!" The two princesses giggled as they galloped ahead like little fillies with their mother behind them. Twilight was still at a loss for word, "But--it--hu?!" Korra laughed as she pushed her friend to the dance floor, "Chill out, Twilight. Come on! Whoo!" Korra and Mako hit the dance floor and Flash Sentry walked up to Twilight, who was still stunned. "You okay?" The princess finally shook her head and decided, perhaps a little bit of chaos wasn't so bad after all. "You know what, yeah. Let's dance, pretty boy!" she dragged her boyfriend to the center of the ball room and began doing their awkward, yet adorable, dance. Meanwhile, from high above the room, two transparent beings with butterfly wings watched over everyone. The black and red man spirit smiled, "See Raava? Even a little bit of chaos isn't so terrible." "True, Vaatu." said the woman with a knowing smile, "But, if they didn't have joy and peace to begin with, they wouldn't have been able to make the best out of this situation." "You always have to suck the fun out of everything, don't you?" "Lighten up. The night is still young!" the spirits transformed back into butterflies and flew around the ball room, not interfering, simply having a good time. For tonight, they had a truce. (~) Pinkie Pie: "Hey! We can't have an ending without an ending song. Hit it!" Korra too the mic as she and the Mane Six took center stage with the band playing upbeat pop music. (Me and you by Laura Marano) Korra: Never known anyone like you before Someone who can make me smile when I'm fallen down on the floor Fluttershy: Never laughed so hard till I met you Rarity: Somehow you get me when nobody else has a clue Twilight: It's okay to be me next to you It fells good to be one of the two Korra and Twilight: Just like glue Together: Me and you Oo, oo, So glad I got a friend like you Me and you Oo, oo Always got each other's back we do 'Cause everything's a little better When you and I stick together Stuck on you, me and you Oo, oo One the dance floor, Discord danced with P'Li while Yin danced with the Smooze and Mako. Bolin twirled Asami and Tu was having a great time getting to know Opal. She truly was amazing. Even Lin found the rhythm and danced with her sister and nephews. Raiko and his wife happily danced along with Tenzin and Pema while Varrick was dancing mainly by himself, with Zhu Li standing there. He eventually asked her to dance and, amazingly, he was very happy to do so. Almost, too happy. Applejack: You always got a friend Always got a friend Always got a friend in me Mane Six: Ah, ah, ah, ah Korra: I always got a friend Always got a friend Always got a friend in you too Together: You always got a friend Always got a friend Always got a friend in me I always got a friend Always got a friend That's the way it's gonna be! Using her magic, Korra created a beautiful disco ball, which illuminated the ball room in its shimmering rainbow lights. Me and you Oo, oo, So glad I got a friend like you Me and you Oo, oo Always got each other's back we do 'Cause everything's a little better When you and I stick together Stuck on you, me and you Oo, oo (Me and you) Oo, oo (You always got a friend, always got a friend) Always got a friend in me (Me and you) Always got a friend Always got a friend Always got a friend in you 'Cause everything's a little bit better When you and I stick together Stuck on you, me and you Youuuuu…. Discord: Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu "Oh, that felt so good! Cathartic!…what?" (~)