"So what's King Discord doing in the meantime?" Spike said, before taking a bite out of his slice of jewel cake.
"Talking with Lady Chrysalis and Uncles Flim and Flam," Shining Armor said.
"Ugh, why would anypony want talk to Chrysalis?" Twilight jaded. Although it had been a year since the Canterlot Wedding, Twilight still struggled recovering from the torture that the evil changeling put her and Cadance through. The purple alicorn was too scared to think how awful Chrysalis was in the book. She turned the page and started on a new chapter.
The living room in Lady Chrysalis' castle looks dark and gloomy. The King was sitting by an ugly table in a cold and dark room. There was light green lantern dangling from the ceiling, the walls were shiny black, and the floor was concrete. There was also a line of small statues of creepy gargoyles on the left side of the room. Discord did not mind the look, since he was used to dark interiors. He was not alone, he was accompanied by two stallions and a changeling. The female changeling long teal hair, green oval eyes and battered translucent wings. Her outfit was a long dark green dress that came down to her hooves. The other two characters were yellow ponies with red hair and top blue and white hats. One of them had a red mustache. Discord swirled his tea inside his teacup with his talon.
"I'm glad to have you over for luncheon, Discord," Chrysalis spoke, with an ostentatious tone. "I was afraid you weren't going to come at all due to your ahem, problems at your castle." Her words made Discord's fur crawl. He only continued to swirl his tea, trying to hide his disgusted look from her.
"What kind trouble did the fillies get into this time?" Flim laughed. "What, let me guess! They blew up their nanny and sent her flying into the sky!" His brother, Flam, joined in the laughter.
"That would be so funny if they did that, haha!"
Discord scowled at the two brothers' laughs. As troublesome as the children could be, he did not appreciate them talking about his children like that. It's bad enough that the girls were the talk of his village for driving former nannies away! Town gossip always made Sweetie Belle burst into waterfall tears, Screwball unleash angry chaos, and the rest just furious. He did not want them to look bad in the eyes of their uncles and their soon-to-be-mother. That is why he did not feel the need to tell them about how his children sent the palace pets to bite Mrs. Harshwinny's flank.
"Yes, well, everything is well in Draconia," he cleared his throat, taking a sip of his tea. He thought of a way to change the subject. "Chrysalis, I can't help but notice that you did not want to drink my tea which I had made for you. Why is that?" Chrysalis and the Flim-Flam brothers all burst out laughing their heads off loudly. Discord crossed his arms, not knowing what was so funny about his question.
"Oh Discord!" Chrysalis chuckled, wiping her tears away. "You know that my diet does not contain regular food or liquids!"
"What do you eat then?" Discord asked, scratching his head. He was confused about her diet and why Chrysalis was slowly scooting over to him. She put her hoof on this chest and slowly stroked it, with heat in her eyes. Discord was aware of what Chrysalis was trying to do to him and it was starting to scare him.
"What I eat is something...more...delicious...than your tea," Chrysalis purred. "I absorb it..like a sponge absorbs water...love," she whispered the last word in his ear. "This morning, I snuck into Canterlot looking for meals. There was this brown stallion who was infatuated with a gray pegasus. I took the form of the gray pegasus and...flirt with the brown stallion. I sucked...the love..from him and left before his marefriend could see me! Hahaha, ponies are so easy to fool! Love is...very...delicious..don't you think?" Discord cringed at feeling too close to comfort with Chrysalis.
"I-I-I don't know what you are talking about!!" Discord stumbled. "And could you please give me some space? You know I am claustrophobic!" He wasn't really claustrophobic, but he had to say something to get her off him. Thankfully, Chrysalis moved away from him and sat back in her chair.
"Oh I'm just teasing you, I like you so much!" Chrysalis laughed, haughtily. Discord only gave a weak chuckle. He turned toward the Flim-Flam brothers. They had been laying back and enjoying Discord's discomfort.
"What's your excuse for not having my tea?"
"Oh we have come with our own tea product!" Flam said, showing Discord his own tea. It was a package that showed a teacup with yellow liquid with Flim and Flam's faces. "It's called the Flim-Flam tea! Our tea is made with pure tea leaves! It's gluten-free and has no preservatives at all!"
"We are going to sell them at your kingdom and once we do, your subjects will see that our tea is better than yours!" Flim added. The two brothers smirked and gave each other a bro hoof. Discord rolled his eyes.
"First of all, you two are not going to scam my subjects off with your tea! Second of all, my tea is better than yours!" On an impulse, Discord levitated his teacup in the air, above the Flim-Flam brothers, and splashed it on thier heads.
"Touché," Flam mumbled. Just then, a changeling maid flew over to the table, carrying what looked like an envelope.
"Excuse me your majesty, but there is a letter here for you."
"Oh, who wrote to me?"
"It's from Lieutenant Rainbow Dash. She says it's urgent!"
Discord quickly excused himself from the table, and took the letter from the maid. He needed to read his letter in a private room away from his nosy acquaintances. Once Discord was out of the living room, Flim and Flam wiped the dripping tea off their hats with napkins, and turned to Chrysalis.
"Well, Chrysalis, have you made Discord's mind up yet?" Flam asked.
"Is he going to marry you?" Flim pressed on, eagerly.
"Yes," Chrysalis smiled confidently. Her smile went away two seconds later. "However, he hasn't asked me. Something seems to be standing in the way." There was a growl hidden in her voice. Flim and Flam brothers shared concerns with each other. Why hasn't Discord proposed to her yet? They were the ones who had introduced Chrysalis to Discord some time ago. Despite spending a lot of time together, Chrysalis had not felt any love from Discord. The brothers brainstormed a theory for the wedding bells not ringing yet.
"We know what it is!" Flim shouted. "It's money!" Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at the two brothers.
"Money?" Her voice filled with skepticism. She was sure that Discord had a dark secret from her like fear of commitment or a secret girlfriend.
"Of course!" Flam beamed. "You're rich and he's rich! That's why you two still haven't felt any sparks yet!"
"Oh no!" Chrysalis chuckled sarcastically. "No wonder!"
"YOU DID WHAT!?" Flash yelled at Rainbow Dash. The captain could not believe that the Lieutenant wrote to Discord to come back.
"Hey, I had to do something!" Rainbow Dash argued. "Right after I came back from my bathroom break, I totally freaked out when I saw Miss Fluttershy taking the kids around the town!"
"AAA, WE'RE DEAD, WE'RE DEAD!" Pinkie screamed, running around in circles. Flash and Rainbow tried to calm her down but she kept running around! Thankfully, Sunset came over and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie. The pink pony took deep breaths and stopped hyperventilating. Applejack and Rarity galloped over to see what the fuss was all about.
"Calm down, y'all! What's the problem?" Applejack inquired Rainbow Dash and Flash.
Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Flash told Applejack and Sunset how Rainbow Dash wrote a letter to Discord to come back after Miss Fluttershy broke another rule.
"All I wrote is 'Dear King Discord, Please come home right away! There's trouble at home and I need you to fix it now! Signed, Lieutenant Rainbow Dash,' That's all!" Rainbow Dash revealed. Sunset sighed a bit in relief.
"Does any pony know if the kids used chaotic powers or magic?" Applejack asked everypony. Flash and the girls grunted and shrugged their shoulders.
"It's not that bad, darling," Rarity said, gently. "What's so bad about them going outside? Or using their magic?"
"Rarity, you know why!"
"Don't worry, we are going to ask Miss Fluttershy if the kids used any powers or performed any spells. Then, we'll tell her why the King keeps the kids from spreading chaos or magic," Sunset added, which the others nodded. "Hopefully she'll understand."
"Right!" Everybody chorused.
"So where is Miss Fluttershy now?" Applejack wondered. Right on cue, Fluttershy and the little princesses came skipping merrily in the hallway. They were smiling and giggling like crazy! It took a while for the servants to catch Fluttershy's attention.
"Miss Fluttershy may we have a word with you?" Sunset requested.
"Sure, Miss Sunset Shimmer," Fluttershy replied, kindly. "But please let me take the children to the nursery first."
"I'll do it, Miss Fluttershy," Screwball volunteered. "I know the way to the nursery!"
"Thank you, Screwball," Fluttershy smiled. Then the staff and the little royals parted ways.
Flash and the mares led Fluttershy to their servants dorm which was downstairs, next to the kitchen. They sat inside a bedroom that was shared by Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. They sat on the three beds, facing each other.
"Firstly, we want to thank you so much for helping with the children," Sunset began. "Out of all the nannies we had, you were the best!" Fluttershy blushed at the compliment. "But I am concerned that you broke some of the Royal traditions."
"What traditions did I break?" Fluttershy asked, suddenly feeling timid again. She did not know exactly what she did, but whatever it was, she did not meant any harm!
"Well...," Sunset trailed off, thinking of how to word her sentences so she won't hurt Fluttershy's feelings. "You took the children on a field trip-"
"Away from the palace!" Rainbow blurted out. "What were you thinking!?"
Fluttershy winced at Rainbow's shrill voice and hid her face behind her mane.
"I'm sorry, I was just-just-trying-to give them a fun education," Fluttershy stammered.
"So how's a trip to the town educational?" Rainbow scoffed. "What did they learn? How to buy scones!?"
"Rainbow quit it!" Applejack scolded, watching Fluttershy shrinking from Rainbow's anger. "You're scaring her!"
Flash Sentry cleared his throat.
"What my lieutenant was trying to say is that traditionally, royals, especially royal children, are not allowed outside of the palace walls under any circumstances. This was also done for safety reasons in case somepony tries to kidnap the royals and use them against their father. Tell me, did any pony recognize the princesses?" Fluttershy was alarmed.
"No, no one did because of their playclothes!"
Flash and the girls released thier breaths that they had been holding. But this new discovery of why the children could not go out, made Fluttershy more apprehensive than ever!
"Oh, I am so so sorry! I didn't mean to put the children at risk! I just want them to have a good time in the town!" Fluttershy cried. Even though she had been here for two days, Fluttershy had already grown to love the children. What was she thinking? What if somepony tried to attack them? She did not know what to do, if they become a target for somepony!
"That's all right, Fluttershy," Applejack said, wrapping her foreleg around Fluttershy. "We know you did not mean to do that."
"And their play clothes kept their identities a secret!'' Rarity winked. "I was exhilarated when you asked me to help you make play clothes! You gave me a chance to put my fashion talents to good use! Really, I haven't made anything for the children or the King in such a long, long time!"
"Rarity, stay on topic," Applejack reprimanded her.
"We ask you one thing Miss Fluttershy," Flash began. "Please stop breaking the rules or else we'll be punished by the King!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie piped up. "He might fire us! Or throw us in jail. Or execute us! Or send us to the 'Ghost of the Goose Island-"
"Quiet, Pinkie!" Applejack hushed the pink pony by placing her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. Fluttershy could see how really unfair the King's rules were. No playtime, no outings, no games, no fun at all! Her fear was replaced by curiosity and concern for the children.
"I don't understand, why must the rules be done that way? Don't you find them strange?"
"Whatever the King says, goes, Darling " Rarity added, in a apologetic tone.
"It seems to me that the King is cold and unfair!" Fluttershy cried. "Does he always treat his children this way?"
Silence filled the room. It was so dead quiet that Fluttershy panicked again.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be mean to your King!"
"That's all right, Miss Fluttershy," Applejack murmured. "However, you must understand. King Discord wasn't always like this. He used to be a good father-funny, charismatic, boisterous, mischievous, loving, caring, brave, and intelligent!"
"He and the princesses used to play practical jokes and pranks on unsuspecting ponies!" Pinkie Pie chimed in.
"The King also used to be on the Navy!" Flash mentioned. "He fought hard to protect his country from King Charlatan during the early! When King Charlatan froze Equestria (except the Changeling's kingdom), it was Discord who helped Queen Celestia and Queen Luna unfreeze Equestria. He also threw Charlatan in jail. He sailed on the seas to catch Charlatan and threw him in prison!"
"He was also a good husband who cherished his late wife, the Queen (may she rest in peace)," Sunset added. "He and his wife also used to perform magic together. He would perform chaotic tricks and she woukd create spells. There was a time where Discord created chocolate rain and his wife used a spell to turn chocolate rain into chocolate snow! In fact, the Queen casted her Patronus Charm to guide King Discord to hiding places from Charlatan's army-that's how he survived the war!"
"Don't forget Sunset," Rarity mentioned. "King Discord and the Queen also taught the children thier magic!
"How did they do?" Fluttershy pressed on.
"The lessons proved to be...difficult," Rarity sighed. "Screwball was the only princess that mastered her tricks and spells. The others were not so lucky. Apple Bloom and Babs Seed had trouble bringing out thier magic for some reason. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were weak at doing charms or spells!"
Fluttershy let all the stories processed through her mind. This grumpy king was the same stallion that saved countless lives form the war and was a good father and husband? She felt guilty for thinking lowly of King Discord! Who was she that she had the nerve to say that he was "unfair" or "cold?" But from her defense, Fluttershy did not know that Discord used to be different. She also felt sorry for the princesses who could mot perform magic so well. As a pegasus who could not fly very well, Fluttershy could relate to thier struggles. If the King used to be a happy draconeques, then why was he so cold and distant now?
"Then what happened to Discord that made him change?" She uttered. The staff took a deep breath.
"Well, one day the Queen died," Applejack started. "We don't know what happened exactly. All we know is that the Queen was having a drink with Lady Chrysalis when she fell ill!"
At this point, Pinkie and Rarity were watering up. Rainbow Dash began to sniffle.
"We..couldn't save..her. King Discord was so heartbroken by her death that he tried to forget about everything that reminded him of her. For instance, he no longer enjoyed chaos, because just thinking about the times he made chaotic magic with her, made him very depressed.
He also shut out other things-music, pranks, laughter, playtime-anything that made him remember his wife-even the children!"
Fluttershy sniffled at Applejack's story. She wiped her tears with her foreleg. Oh no wonder why the King was so cold! He lost a loved one that he cherished so much!
"I'm so sorry!" She cried.
"It's okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie Pie replied. "You did not know!"
"Still, it's not fair!" Fluttershy added. "All due with respect to the King, but you can't shut fillies out like that!"
"Ah well, what could you do?" Rarity shrugged. She and other staff did not approve of Discord shutting out the children for reminding him of his wife. Whenever they spoke about this to the King, he would threaten to fire them!
"Guys, is there anything I can do to help the King and the children?"
"Well Miss Fluttershy, I suppose the best thing you can do is to support the King and be there for him," Applejack responded. "Same for the children. They need somepony that would give them love and affection."
"If only the King would do that without being so afraid to look at them!" Rainbow grumbled. Fluttershy did not hear Rainbow Dash. This new revelation about the King made her realize that the King needed help. She planned to fix things between the King and the princesses. How would Fluttershy do it, she did not know, but she would find a way!