If Spitfire could have a worse day, she didn't know of how it would go. Discord could ruin anypony's day. And by ruining her couch, he had ruined her day. Not cool, simply not cool. Between the three of them, they were able to use their Pegasus Magic to retrieve the office items from the ceiling, but they had not been able to fix the additional problem, the sofa itself.
Spitfire glared at Soarin, her goofy teammate who had provoked the scheming troll into destroying her beloved couch. "How do you expect to fix this one?" she growled.
Soarin cocked his head to the side. "I have no idea. But it-" He took a deep breath, blinking a couple of times. "You know, since I was a young colt, I've always wondered what it would look like for a couch—or other things—to be turned inside out. It's quite interesting."
"SOARIN!" Spitfire yelled. "That was MY couch, MY sofa, MINE!"
Soarin chuckled, "I know, but boy that is awesome!" Soarin glanced between his two fellow mares, then started coughing. "I mean," he choked, "What an awful thing to happen. What in Equestria are we going to do?"
"Not buying it Soar," Fleet said crossly. "You are amused and we know it. And you are going to fix it!"
"Wait, what?" Soarin stumbled.
"That's not a bad idea Fleet. He wanted to see how it is done, so he can figure out how to fix it," Spitfire smirked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa- I can't do this!"
"I know," Spitfire smirked.
"Hold on a minuet Spitty," Soarin said, noting the narrowing of his captain's eyes. Did it suddenly get hot in the room? Or was it just him? He gulped. "We are talking about Discord here. He is manipulative, he's crazy, but he has a destination he wants us to reach. Did either one of you-" His voice grew high pitched, squeaking out as both mares locked their glares upon him. "...notice a pattern?"
"No," Spitfire snapped, still glowering at the now trembling stallion.
Soarin swallowed several times, fighting the urge to play with his flight suit. "Well- I think he wanted something."
Fleetfoot started laughing, as if Soarin had just said the funniest thing that could ever be uttered. "Really?" she gasped. "How did you figure that one out?"
Spitfire rolled her eyes, still very much miffed. "Yeah Soar, did his past events clue you in? Discord is not to be trusted, he never was, and he never will be. If the princesses were smart, they'd toss him back where he belongs, right with that four-legged bull friend of his," she fumed.
Soarin took a deep breath to calm his racing nerves. "Listen, I know we have nothing to go by. If we were to judge on his past actions, I'd go with tossing him in the river as well," he said, trying to calm the nerves of the highly erratic mares he worked with. "But I don't think so. Something has changed in his demeanor."
"Oh really?" Fleet said cockily. "Did that tooth go away? Last time I checked, he was still an evil, manipulative goat that should be done away with without any more to be said. I mean, look what he did here! See what he did to Equestria! Which, by the way, in case you forgot, you vowed to protect!"
Soarin nodded. "I did in fact see all those things," he replied, keeping his tone as calm as he could while trying not to faint. "However, I also know he is sending us to the elements of Harmony-"
"Elements?" Spitfire pried, "Or Dash?"
Soarin didn't know how to answer. "Uh- Well, you see..."
"Gotcha!" Spitfire barked, laughing at her accomplishment. "Soarin, we are not going! Do you-"
Soaring bit his lip, closing his eyes for a moment, before stepping up to match Spitfire's gaze head on. "Captain, if we don't go to the Elements, there isn't a way in the world we'll be able to fix that couch. The only one who can do that is Discord. The only way it's going to happen is if we ask him to do it. And the only one who can force him to do it is Miss Fluttershy."
Captain and Commander went nose to nose. Both ponies had their wings fully extended and their jaws locked. Both were determined to have their own way, and neither one was going to budge.
"Spitty, your honor can't afford an inside out couch." Soarin smirked, playing the same card that she had used but moments before: the sofa.
Spitfire smirked. "Oh really?" she giggled. It wasn't a happy giggle, but a high strung one. He had her on her toes now. His heart immediately sank again. This was not what he wanted, but he had to work with it. Spitfire was on a warpath. He had to bring it now or die trying.
-----------------------------
"Rarity!" Cheerilee exclaimed. "Are you- are you alright? Have you-"
Rarity held up a hoof to halt the progression of words. She rubbed her muzzle and nose where it had run into the front of the very strong, very large Big Macintosh. "I should ask the same of you Big Mac! How clumsy of me to run into you like that!" Rarity giggled nervously.
"Eeyup!" he replied simply.
"I mean, I should have been watching where I was going!" she stumbled.
"Eeyup," he said again.
"And-"
He offered a hoof out to her. Reluctantly, she took it. As flat faced as ever, he helped her to her hooves. "Sorry, ah should have been watching' where ah was goin' Miss Rarity. Will ya forgive me?"
Rarity almost sat down again. "Big- uh-"
"If ya don't want ta, ah understand, it's fine. Ah-" he began.
Quickly Rarity backtracked, "No, no no! it's not that way at all!" She let out a burst of high pitched giggles. "It's just- I didn't expect you there and- you seldom speak, though I know you can! You do for the Ponytones... but-" She paused to catch her breath. "Yes, yes Big Mac, I forgive you. It's as much my fault as it is yours. I was so preoccupied-" Here she stopped, uncertain if she should tell them.
"Eeyup," Big Mac said.
Cheerilee smiled. "It's fine dear, it truly is. With everything that has been happening!"
Rarity sighed. "Four days? Don't I know it! It feels like it's been at least a hundred moons!"
Cheerilee wrapped her forehooves around her longtime schoolmate and friend. "I know, Rarity," she said softly. "But do you know where the fillies are?"
Rarity nodded. "Last time I saw them, they were on their way to the castle with Pinkie-"
Big Mac suddenly looked... angry? Scared? Or maybe it was annoyed. With that stallion, it was hard to tell, and despite working with him in music, Rarity still struggled when it came to fully reading him. How did Applejack do it?
She smiled a forced smile. “I’m certain they are alright, I mea-”
“Rarity dear, are you sure you are alright?” Cheerilee asked, noting Rarity’s nervous behaviour.
“Me?” Rarity giggled. “Not alright? In all seriousness, I am perfectly alright, marvelous actually. I just need to contact the customer... and I’ll be finished with my current orders.”
Cheerilee smiled. “That is really great news! When did the order come in, and when is it due?”
Rarity bit her lip. Cheerilee, noticing, cocked her head to the side. “Big Mac, will you go ahead and run along? I think we mares need some mare time.”
Big Mac raised both eyebrows, but nodded obediently and meandered on.
Cheerilee steered Rarity back into Rarity’s home and sat her down in a chair. “Ms. Rarity, I don’t mean to pry, but is something bothering you?”
Rarity giggled, “NO! Really Cheers, nothing-”
Cheerilee was a teacher and had known Rarity too long to believe it. Tipping her chin slightly down, she gave Rarity the look.
Rarity giggled nervously once more before sighing and sitting down. “I’m not sure if you can do anything about it. I mean, you’re already doing so much at the farm.”
Cheerilee sighed, absentmindedly rubbing a sore shoulder. “I will say, I’m not used to hard farm labor, unlike when I was as a filly.”
Rarity nodded, fondly remembering those days well.
Cheerilee sighed, “Rarity, we’ve know one another since school. I can tell when something is bothering you.”
Rarity bit her lip, then stood, walking over to the outfits displayed. “Discord helped,” she said simply.
Ms. Cheerilee shot Rarity a look of extreme surprise. “Discord? Those? They are-”
“-simply divine,” Rarity finished. “It’s the fabric. How did he do it?”
Cheerilee felt it. “It reminds me of the hissing vines in the Everfree Forest,” she said. “Almost the same texture as the leaves of the plant.”
Rarity drooped.
“Rarity?” Cheerilee inquired. “Is everything alright?”
Rarity shrugged. “I was hoping you wouldn't say that,” she said sadly. “Discord hinted it came from the plant... I’m terribly afraid they’ll expect me to make some more fabric, for I won’t deny it, it’s simply divine!”
Cheerilee nodded thoughtfully. “I see. So, how are things at the castle?” she pressed.
Rarity shook her head. “I’d rather not think about it.”
“That bad?”
Rarity nodded. “They seem to be doing better, then it’s right back at stage one again.”
Cheerilee nodded. “That is to be expected. It’s only been a few days, Rarity, you can’t expect everything to just solve itself. Some things take time.”
“That is what I keep telling myself. So how are things at the farm?”
This time, it was Cheerilee’s turn to sigh. “I’m getting back into it. Granny’s burnt a few meals because I’m not on an early morning schedule—not as early as the Apples, at least.”
Rarity chuckled sadly. “The Apple Family is known for its early mornings. They have to get the chores done before school starts, you know.”
Cheerilee nodded. “I have a bit of work to do, but I tend to only be up thirty minutes in advance, doing most of my work before bed.”
“Sometimes not even going to bed,” Rarity stated knowingly.
“That is sometimes the case,” the teacher sighed cheerfully. She turned back to the fabric. “You know, I could do a bit of study into this. Maybe we can figure out how Discord made it.”
“But how to get samples of the plant! Last time,” Rarity shuddered, “we almost lost Twilight.”
“That is a problem,” Cheerilee stated.
“A big one,” Rarity affirmed.
-------------
"ZAP!" Lilly exclaimed, landing on top of the snow- and soot-dusted cliff and galloping into the smoke-filled cave. "ZAP!" Her eyes dashed left and right, searching for the fire-engine-red colt. With her wings, she fanned the smoke towards the entrance as her eyes scanned for cave for her much younger brother. "ZAP! Where are you!"
"Captain!" Arrow's voice came from the entrance.
"Arrow, stay out!" Lilly commanded, her voice surprisingly firm as she barked the order. She didn't bother to glance behind her to see if the filly was obeying; she prayed that she would, but she was far too concerned with the welfare of her brother, Zapin' Power, to bother checking.
"ZAP!" she yelled.
"Here!" a voice finally shouted. Lilly ran to the back of the cave, skidding to a stop in front of a neatly made force field surrounding a soot-covered unicorn colt. "I did it!" he said happily.
Lilly, still half panicking, "ZAP! Are you alright?"
Zap chuckled, shaking himself. Billows of eye-burning soot clouded up from his maroon colored coat. "I'm energized," he stated proudly.
"ZAP!" she continued to panic. "Lower. This. Field. Now!"
"Lower it sister? Do you really want to handle the energy that is inside this thing?" he asked, as his yellow aura of magic surrounding his horn flickered. "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"PONY FEATHERS!" she ranted. "You will lower it now! I'm a Pegasus, the rulers of the elements."
"Including Bottled Lightning?" Zap smirked, turning back to his work desk, which was cluttered with papers, models, and multiple colored wires. The floor around him was charred and cluttered with broken glass.
"ZAP!" Lilly growled. “I'm your big sister, and I have the authority to-"
Zap only giggled harder. "Really sis? I'd like to see you get through that field," he said, swishing his dingy orange stubbed tail.
"ZAP!" she growled back. "You will lower this field, and you will let me in to check on you."
"I'm energized! Now, if you don't mind-"
"I do mind you thrill seeking, idiot brother of mine!" she ranted.
“Captain!” Steady shouted from the entrance. "Is he alright?"
Lilly rolled her eyes. "No, he's being an idiot," she snapped.
Lilly could hear Arrow giggling. "I'd like to see him not!"
"I'd like to see you not!" Zap fired back at Arrow.
"Ouch!" Arrow winced.
"ZAP!" Lilly growled. "You aren't just going to avoid this. Mom is probably on her way up here-"
With that, a yellow unicorn mare with an orange mane, dark-rimmed glasses, and a cutie mark of a book with a magnifying glass appeared within the boundary. "ZAP!" Lilly smiled as her brother panicked. "Are you alright?" their mother, Grace Research, exclaimed.
Zap, acting all cool, leaned against his work desk, almost looking his mother in the eye. "I've just got an electric poniality," he stated.
"Then why are you black?" Grace said, placing a wetted hoof upon his horn, lowering the force field.
Zap's grey eyes locked with his mother's blue ones. "Uh-" he stuttered. "Because it's a hot job?" he fished.
The moment the field was down, Lilly thundered across the floor, pulling her brother into a hug. The saddle bags slipped from her withers as she started dusting the colt off with her wings, checking him carefully for electrical scars. "Sister!" Zap complained.
"I don't want to hear it Po," she said. "Thank goodness Mom!" She cried, trembling from head to hoof. "Zap! You have got to be more careful!"
Zap could only roll his eyes as his sister held him in an almost crushing embrace with four of her six limbs. “Sister, I was being careful!” he groaned.
“YOU BLEW UP THE MOUNTAIN!” she exclaimed, still half panicking.
“I did a controlled explosion,” he responded in the same cool quiet tone.
“WHA-”
“Lilly, no yelling,” her mother scolded. “We are all right here.”
Lilly took a deep breath. “Zap!” she said, only somewhat quieter. “There is no such thi-”
Zap, having escaped, walked over to his work table, pulling his notebook and pencil out from under a couple other tools. “Yes sister, there is. It’s called a forcefield. Lilly, look around you!”
“I am looking!” Lilly exclaimed still trembling.
Zap rolled his eyes. “No, you are not. Yes, there is smoke, but no landslides, no rock slides, no de-”
“ZAP!”
“LILLY!” her mother scolded once more. “Get ahold of yourself, your brother knows his craft. You can't baby him forever."
"Thank you Mom," Zap sighed.
"As for you, young man," the two's mother looked Zap clean in the eye with a look that sent shivers down both of their spines, "What in Equestria did you do?"
Zap sighed, "I'm trying to tell you!" He took a deep breath. "You see, I keep getting told that this type of crystal has huge possibilities for holding electrical charges, so I charged them up-"
"And set them off," Lilly finished.
"No," Zap sighed, shaking his head. "I dropped it."
Only Grace Research’s magic kept the excited elder sister from completely losing it. "ZAP!" Lilly proclaimed.
Zap raised an eyebrow. "I think you said that already. So Mom, what's for dinner? I'm starved. Nothing like a spark to ignite the appetite."
"Water Jewel is cooking carrot stew indoors."
Lilly just about lost whatever sanity she had left. "MOM! Water Jewel-"
"-is older than you were when I started trying to teach you," her mother finished.
"Yeah, and all I had to do was look at the stove and the kitchen burned down!" Lilly panicked. "She'll kill herself!"
"Catstitch is in there helping. She's fine."
"That was my next question," Lilly stated. "We need to go Mom... And Gertrude got out again, and Arrow followed, and Steady thinks he's going to, and the Flying Arrow was a success, and Comet is refusing to allow me to do the harness work. Doesn't trust my hoof yet after landing wrong on it a month ago-"
The poor middle aged unicorn mare placed a hoof to her head. "First, Gertrude got out... That's your aunt's problem, not mine. Arrow followed, what in the world am I supposed to do about that? She's your problem. Steady, same thing. Congratulations on the Flying Arrow... I think. And Captain Comet knows more about hooves than anypony I know. If he doesn't want you doing hard work yet, then don't come crying to me. He has his reasons. maybe he just wants you to talk to him about it. And, Cat told me you two have a mission." She glared at her daughter. "Don't let me keep you."
Lilly huffed, then turned to leave.
"Lilly dear," her mother called once more. "You forgot something." She lowered the saddle bags back onto her daughter's back. "You'd go insane if you lost those," she said, smiling knowingly.
Lilly sighed, then flashed her mom a half smile. "Thanks Mom," she said gratefully.
-------------
Fluttershy watched sadly as Scootaloo sat beside Rainbow Dash’s bed, staring up into her honorary big sister’s sleeping face. The look on the young orange pegasus’s face was pained to say the least. “Scootaloo?” Fluttershy asked concernedly, wrapping a wing about her.
Scootaloo looked up, then sighed, not matching Fluttershy’s gaze.
“You doing alright?”
Scootaloo looked back down, giving a half-hearted shrug. She tried her hardest not to let on just how displaced she felt. “I guess,” she replied softly.
Fluttershy studied the younger pegasus for a moment, then looked back up at Dash. “She’s going to be alright, she really is.”
Scootaloo glanced up at Fluttershy, only half believing the words. “I- She- strong!” she stumbled.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash is strong, very strong.” She sighed, drooping her own head.
Scootaloo glanced up at the other pegasus. “What is it?” she asked.
Fluttershy’s ears perked up. “Nothing, nothing you need to worry about.”
Rainbow Dash stirred. Scootaloo stood up, her ears perked forward as she anticipated her ‘big sister’ to wake up. Dash however, just rolled slightly and started snoring.
Scootaloo’s demeanor dropped. Fluttershy cringed and nudged her snoring friend. “Um, Rainbow?” she said softly.
With a mighty honk, Rainbow Dash weakly batted Fluttershy’s hoof away with her own, but she did roll over and quit making quite so much noise.
Fluttershy sighed. “I’m sorry Scootaloo,” she said.
Scootaloo took a slow breath. “It’s alright Fluttershy,” she said, her voice slightly trembling.
Thump, Thump, Thump, BANG.
All heads turned towards the door as a crystal hamster ball holding Angel Bunny rolled through the door.
Fluttershy let out a cry of despair as she left Scootaloo’s side to rush to her beloved pet. “ANGEL!” she cried. “How did you get in there?”
Angel thumped a couple of times, then went into a long series of motions, almost too quick for even Fluttershy to follow.
“Please Angel, slow down,” Fluttershy said softly.
Angel thumped a couple more times, then started running in circles. Just then, Spike and a very disgruntled Flash Sentry entered.
“SPIKE!” Twilight exclaimed. “What happened?”
Spike stopped, and looked around. “Well, you see-”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “What happened?” she said simply.
Angel, Flash, and Spike all three started talking at once.
“You see-” Flash started.
“He did-” Spike said.
Angel thumped and started squeaking at the top of his lungs.
“ENOUGH!” Twilight bellowed.
Rainbow Dash woke with a start. “What? Who?” she said, almost vaulting herself out of bed.
Scootaloo reached up, patting Rainbow Dash’s hoof. Rainbow looked down at Scootaloo. “What in the hay is going on?”
“That’s what we’re tryin’ ta figure out sugarcube,” Applejack sighed.
“But-”
“Flash, what happened?” Twilight said, cutting Rainbow Dash off.
Flash came to attention. “We were stalled, your Highness.”
“Twilight,” Twilight corrected. “By whom?”
Flash looked uncomfortable. “Discord,” he finally answered, almost spitting the word out as if it were foul to keep in his mouth any longer.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy muttered.
“Great,” Applejack groaned.
“AGAIN?” Dash exclaimed.
Twilight sighed. Glancing about at the three, now very worried fillies, she turned back to the Dragon, the Stallion, and the bunny. “Alright, how?”
Spike looked uncomfortable. “Well, Flash and I were talking, and then suddenly Discord came out of nowhere, plopped me on his.... Wooden pony creature, and it went downhill from there.”
Twilight groaned, “Where is he now?”
Spike looked at Flash, and Flash looked at Spike. “We have no idea,” Spike said, scratching the back of his head.
Twilight groaned, “Great!”
“He probably went home for a nap,” Fluttershy suggested.
Angel crossed his arms, glaring at Fluttershy.
“Or not,” Fluttershy stated.
“Last time we saw him,” Sweetie squeaked, “He was- being Rarity’s hair brush.” She cringed.
All eyes turned to Sweetie Belle and the other two fillies. “Apple Bloom, is this true?” Applejack asked.
Apple Bloom blushed and nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty awkward.”
“Poor Rarity,” Fluttershy sighed.
Angel thumped and started making hasty gesture and squeaks.
“I know you want out Angel, but I don’t see how. It looks pretty solid,” Fluttershy said, examining the crystal prison.
Angel sat down and pouted.
Fluttershy sighed, “I’m sorry Angel, there is nothing I can do. Twilight?”
Twilight picked up the ball in her magic and rolled it over a few times, much to Angel’s annoyance. “I don’t see a way to get you out either, not unless you want to get hurt on the glass. It looks like we are just going to have to wait until Discord comes to free you,” she concluded.
“Not even teleportation?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight gulped. “It has a built in magic shield to it. I don’t know how, I think Discord is the only one who can get the thing to work at all.”
Fluttershy facehoofed. “He was doing so well!” she sighed.
Rainbow Dash guffawed. “Really? Then explain to me why I hurt so bad.”
“Ya hurt cuz ya got inta a fight with ‘im,” Applejack stated.
Dash glared. “Alright, so Discord is on the loose, and has gone nuts. What’s new?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Actually, nothing much.”
“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked shyly.
“What is it Squirt?”
“Are you alright?”
Rainbow Dash sighed, “I will be. Though I’d rather be flying.”
Scootaloo chuckled. Rainbow scooted over a bit and patted the bed. “Hey Twi, could ya bring us a game?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but hovered one of the board games over to Dash and Scootaloo as the latter leapt up onto the bed, remembering at the last moment to be gentle.
Twilight then turned back to Flash. “Soldier, is there anything else?”
“No, your Highness,” Flash said, snapping to attention.
Twilight nodded. “Then you are dismissed.”
Spike glanced at Sweetie, who had now found a book and was reading it. “Twilight,” he said, “I think I’m going to go play in my room for a while. If you need me-”
Twilight nodded. “Alright Spike, but be sure to inform me if you leave again.”
Spike nodded and slowly made his way to the door. Pausing, he turned and looked back over his shoulder. “Twilight?”
Twilight glanced up. “Yes Spike?”
“Do you know who the Mountain Mares are?”
Twilight blinked. “The who?”
“The Mountain Mares. Flash told me of them. It’s rumored about the guard that they have the ability to make it snow during summer! From regular clouds!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, have any of them ever seen it happen?”
Spike shook his head. “Not that Flash knows. But he woke up in a snow bank in the middle of summer!”
Twilight groaned. “A snow bank? Really Spike, don’t believe everything you hear.”
Spike sighed. “Alright Twilight,” he mumbled. Turning, he left the girls room in the direction of his room.
Scootaloo looked up at Dash. “Can that really happen?” she asked.
Dash laughed. “Snow! From a regular cloud! That only happens in the Everfree,” she reassured Scootaloo.
Scootaloo turned to Fluttershy. The butter-colored mare shrugged. “Guards have some pretty tall tales. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t... but I won’t say it is true either.”
“Spike,” Applejack stated, “Was tellin’ the truth, but- Sweet Celestia, a mare who can make it snow in summer! That just breaks a whole lot of rules!”
“Ah don’t know sis,” Apple Bloom giggled. “That sounds cool! We can have a snowball fight, then go swimming!”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “And pray tell me why ya’d want ta do that. After yer done playin’ in the snow, yer gunna be too cold to go swimmin’.”
Apple Bloom shrugged. “Ah don’t know, sis. Maybe it could be a super special cutie mark mission!”
Applejack leaned back against the headboard. “Oh Celestia help us!” she muttered under her breath.