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// What a... Welcome? 
// Story: A Terrible, Wonderful, Living Dream 
// by pikammd 
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	“Psssshhhhhrrrrrt.” Mid-afternoon quiet pony bustle was interrupted by wheels coming to a halt with a screech and a sigh as the brightly colored train came rolling to a stop at the station. Steam rose into the clear afternoon air as a shrill whistle alerted all to its arrival, right on time at three PM like it did every day. Soon, there were smiling ponies of every color stepping off and on to the Ponyville Station's main platform. From there, many gathered their suitcases and headed off with bright smiles and homey dreams to spend their day with friends, meet with the princesses, do some shopping, or just enjoy some time in the quaint little town many called home. 
One such pony, however, stepped off the train without a smile. Her slightly too-wide, bright gold eyes took in everything around her, as if searching for something or someone. Though she tried to keep a calm demeanor, her searching and constant flicking of her light azure ears showed her nerves. From under her much darker, midnight blue mane with a white streak going from her forehead and radiating out to cover the tips of her loosely curled, spit bangs and down until it curled around the tips of her shoulder-length, curled, split mane, and several small strands of gold sprinkled about so it looked like a tail left behind after a comet flew through a night sky, the celestial blue of her coat could be seen, showing that middle blue that came right after the brilliant pinks and golds of a sunset sky and before the darker blue that allowed the stars of the night sky to shine through. Her ear tips and muzzle showed a slightly more faded blue though, making for a bit of a strange, but cute look. From under her mane spilled the bright pink traveling cloak she wore, which came with the princess's emblem on the flank and came down to cover her own flank and cutie mark, though not so much as to cover her hooves and slightly lighter colored feathering. 
That feathering and cloak stirred up then and a startled yelp escaped the newest pony to Ponyville as, all of a sudden, a bright orange pegasus with a storm cloud cutie mark came flying by the train station and met up with a bright yellow unicorn, the two of them squealing in delight as they met up in a giant hug, both of them nearly falling over at seeing each other again after who knows how long. The blue earth pony watched as the two of them hugged like nothing in the world was wrong and like nothing could be better than seeing each other's faces, though the one the pegasus had startled knew better. She had seen what happens when careless ponies got caught in something they never should have been a part of and knew what it was like to believe there was honestly nothing better out there other than what little sunlight came in through a sheltered cell of a home. She quickly shook her head then, telling herself there was better out there, and she was about to discover it, thanks to a charitable offering, symbolized by cloak she was wearing.
She then turned to look around the crowd once more when she suddenly gave a startled yelp and jumped back as she ran into one of the uniformed train service unicorns, who turned to her and smiled before saying, “Hello miss. Do you want me to take your bags?” 
The blue earth pony looked down to the other's green uniform, as if afraid to meet his teal eyes. Her higher pitched voice came much quieter than his as she responded with a shy, “N-no thanks. I don't have any. My things were brought here last week.”
“Is there anything else I can help with then?” he asked, her shy demeanor not bothering him in the least. 
She thought for a minute before saying, “I uh, am looking for someone. She's-” 
“Darling! THERE you are!” came a very bright but mature voice. “Celestia was right, you are easy to spot with that bright cloak of hers, though I can tell you right now that is SO not your color! Perhaps a more pale lavender would complement your coat better...” The luminescent white unicorn with purple mane and tail and triple blue diamond cutie mark trailed off in thought for a moment before coming back and added, “I'm Rarity, by the way. I was asked by the princess herself to show you to town square to meet her! Imagine that, Celestia herself! Asked me a favor!” The unicorn, now named Rarity, cleared her throat and blushed a little. “Anyway, I'm not sure who you are, but if she asked for you then you must be important. What's your name, anyway?” 
The starlight blue earth pony sighed and gave off a small but real smile, her worries melting away, along with the service pony that had exited while Rarity was speaking. “My name's Little Star, but please call me Estrella. And I'm really not that special. I'm just amazed how nice Celestia is being, letting me-”
“Up-bup-bup! Celestia is incredibly kind to every pony she meets! There's no reason to be incredulous, but I suppose you'll figure that out more once you get to know her a little. Come now! We must go meet her right away! Can't keep the princess waiting, now can we?” Rarity giggled and flipped her hair before she turned and started prancing off the train's platform, leaving Estrella a little behind before she caught up, her hoofsteps much less bouncy than Rarity's. 
The two ponies left the train station, but only a few steps into town, they heard a scream rise up. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks, ears pricked, bodies stiff, and eyes wide. A moment later, a deeper, male pony's voice rose up from closer to the edge. “DISCORD! Discord's turned to evil again! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” 
Estrella remained rigid, one eye twitching a little at the thought of something trying to destroy Ponyville, her one escape from everything she knew, but in front of her, Rarity gave a loud sigh of contempt. “Oh no, not again! I just got the marshmallow out of my hair from last time! Ugh Celestia, sometimes you're TOO nice, letting him have even just an hour to be all... chaotic.” With her whining over with, she turned to Estrella and said, “Don't worry, my friends and I will have this cleaned up in a jiffy. Sounds like it's mostly on the west side of town, so stay away from that part of town until it's cleaned up. Head straight on in and you'll find town square. I'll meet you there after we get Discord to settle down.” Rarity rolled her eyes and turned without even waiting for Estrella's reply, charged into town, mane and tail flying behind her like a beautiful painting in a museum, or magazine. 
Within moments, she vanished, leaving a stock-still Estrella standing there, still frozen in fear. A terrible laughter sounded from inside town and Estrella shivered at the sound of it, malicious and joyful all at the same time. That shiver, however, was enough to unfreeze her. With tentative steps and a million images of absolute destruction crossing her mind's eye at an unbearable pace, Estrella started to make her way into town. She looked around at the normal-seeming little town, unsure quite what she'd find though she headed strait like she was told. All the little brick houses seemed perfectly normal and quaint, even cute looking. One had smoke rising from a chimney and a sign out front that said fresh bread, and a wonderful smell was coming from it. Estrella took a moment to look inside, but the little shop appeared deserted. Estrella tilted her head a little before she continued on her way. She walked a bit faster until she slipped into a trot. Every house and little business she passed by seemed abandoned and the more and more she saw this, the more nervous she became. 
Just as she was about to turn back and return to the train station to wait for someone to find her and lead her back to either Rarity or town square, she found her hoof slipping on a slab of the sidewalk. With a choked scream of surprise, she found herself sliding across the path to the other side, landing on her face on the cement walkway. For a moment, she stayed there, stunned. At least until her tail fell into her face and she blew it off with an annoyed snort. Estrella righted herself back onto her hooves then and turned to examine the sidewalk, not noticing as her cloak fell off and onto the path beside her. The piece of sidewalk looked normal to her, but when she tested it with her hoof, she found it slippery and even a little squishy, like soap. She gave it a strange look of confusion, then curiously sniffed it. She immediately got a whiff of lavender bubbles and shook her head at the misplaced scent. 
“What in Celestia's name...” she muttered as she tried it again, still not quite comprehending what she was seeing. The part she had slipped on broke into a T- shaped intersection, the strait path being the one with solid, normal cement on either side. Estrella then looked down the other available path, seeing a bright orange color on the other side of the curved alleyway, but the curve made her window of view very small. Estrella swallowed hard and closed her eyes, muttering, “This is not real, I shouldn't do this.” A moment later, she peeked out, seeing the orange again. Estrella sighed then and carefully started walking down the slippery sidewalk, trying her best to keep her balance as she went on to discover whatever was around the bend. Back behind her, the princess's emblem on the bright pink cloak faded in the growing distance, leaving a reminder of where Estrella should have gone rather than where she was going. 
At some point, Estrella started watching her hooves as she tried not to slip on the slippery sidewalk, though she was fighting a losing battle. She had managed to almost get to the bend in the road when somepony else screamed and Estrella's head snapped up. In that same instant, her hooves slid from underneath her and after a moment of comical flying hooves, she fell on her rear and screamed as she slid down the soapy sidewalk. Practically flying and leaving a trail of suds and bubbles behind her, Estrella rocketed down many unnatural twists and turns, going around an upside-down floating ice cream cone the size of a skyscraper and eyeballs with wings and many other suspicious, unpleasant nightmare-inducing things while she herself rode the wild roller coaster of a sidewalk, she finally came to a stop, though it wasn't quite the stop she wanted. At some point, she had closed her eyes, but when she felt herself stop she clenched her teeth and tentatively peeked out...
...only to scream again as she found herself several feet above what looked like a boiling lava pit. In that instant, she never wished more for wings as she plummeted down to the frothy surface of the pit. She fell through one of the bigger bubbles, popping it as she fell through. Her scream now silenced as she hit the lava. Estrella cringed, waiting for the pain and utter end she knew was coming, but when it didn't come and she only felt the rush of a pleasant warmth, she once more tentatively looked out into the red lake she had fallen into. All around, she saw nothing, but from below, bubbles were rising from what looked like little bamboo spouts that were bouncing to some unheard music. 
With a confused look, Estrella watched as one swelled and then let loose a huge bubble right below her. It quickly rose and lifted her up to the surface, rising her high enough that she could see all of the fantastical scene around her. Many houses had been replaced with strange things like giant flower pots and strange statues that looked like a mix between an alien spider and a candy corn. What houses still were houses were warped and twisted into looking like scrap metal with the windows and doors bent into crooked faces, some smiling, some not, and some not of this world. The trees seemed normal enough, though most of their leaves had turned into rainbow disks that looked a little like... 
Seashells? Estrella's jaw practically dropped into the lake as the leaves opened up, revealing rainbow-colored clams with what looked like star fragments inside instead of pearls. Some took flight then as if their shells were wings, creating little rainbows in the light as they passed by a real rainbow in the sky, though it was twisted and bent like it was a drunk rainbow. Those little star fragments fell and turned into snow, some of it landing in Estrella's open mouth. She quickly closed it and gave a startled look as she tasted not water, but cotton candy. “What the-” she started, but the moment she spoke, the bubble she was laying on shuddered and popped, dumping her back into the red lake. 
This time, she remembered to swim up and as she caught a breath of air, she looked around the lake once more. She took a small sip of the liquid and her confused look turned to shock. “Punch? A lava fruit punch lake? WHAT?” she spoke louder and her voice hit a new high pitch as she swished her legs in the pond, making little bubbles of her own as she stayed afloat. Estrella spun fast in the lake, once more looking around at the fluffy pink and tangerine clouds in the sky and the strange homes all around, only then noticing the duck boat with green feathers swimming on its own and what looked like a dog with the back half of an elk running after a blue and pink tiger and many other strange, unexplainable things. Estrella took it all in, her brain running on overdrive until it seemed she just couldn't make sense of any of it. 
So she didn't. A small grin spread across her face, then a wider one, and then a sharp, carefree laugh that grew and grew. Soon, she jumped up and splashed back down in the fruit punch lake and started swimming on her back, realizing that all this chaos wasn't such a bad thing after all. In fact, it went against everything she knew and also, against everything she was trying to get away from. She whooped and laughed as she played in the lake, not even noticing as a blue pegasus with rainbow mane and tail flew by overhead, kicking away the clouds and yelling angrily at the rainbow, “Go home, Rainbow! You're drunk!” before flying on at incredible speeds back the way she'd come. 


~ ~ ~ 


Far on the other side of the affected area, six friends were showing down with one overly excited draconequus, who was resting perfectly comfortably on his upside-down silver throne as if he ruled everything. Which, for the moment, he did. In this area, at least. 
“Discord, you need to stop this! Return everything to normal, now!” A lavender unicorn with a purple and pink mane and six-starred cutie mark piped up, a death glare in her eyes as she watched Discord floating above in his throne. 
Discord rolled his eyes and gave a few tsks of disapproval before snapping his fingers and making a margarita appear in his paw. He swallowed down the glass like it was water, leaving the actual drink to disappear in smoke but not before he ate the olive on top, which actually looked more like an eyeball. His own, to be precise, as when he looked back at the group, one eye was just an empty socket. “Now Twilight, why would I do that? I still have forty more minutes of utter beautiful chaos!” He laughed that manic laugh of his again and just to prove his point, he snapped his fingers again and turned Twilight's horn into a watermelon. 
She looked up at it with shock evident in her eyes for a moment before the weight started to pull her over. She flailed her back legs and fear flashed across her face as she slowly tipped, then fell flat on the ground, the watermelon too big for her to hold up on her small neck. She then glared up at Discord from where she lay and said, “Because you're not suppose to be playing your games inside Ponyville!” 
Discord rolled his eyes, both of which were back now, and crossed his arms while he said, “Celestia never said where, only that I have an hour free to myself! I kept it to a small area, at least.” 
“She never said 'cause you left before she could say anyth'n!” Another, western-accented voice piped up, this time from a candy apple orange earth pony with darker orange mane and tail and a cowboy hat sitting slanted on her head, who looked strong from her years working on the farm. She had the same glare as her friend Twilight as she helped her friend up. 
“Thanks Applejack.” Twilight said as the two of them balanced her horn on their heads. 
“Yeah! It's not fair to not let someone finish speaking!” A more shrill voice came from a pink pony with a triple balloon cutie mark and extremely flamboyant mane and tail. 
“Pinkie's right.” Rarity said, keeping her composure though she stayed as far away from the chaos as she could. “And after all, I have yet to find one choice in this mess that actually looks good.” 
“Not even the checkerboard tile statues?!” Pinkie called, her shrill voice becoming even higher pitched. 
“Er, no hun, I don't even like those... hideous creations.”
Discord looked at them all like they were idiots, especially Pinkie. He snapped his fingers and a zipper appeared over her mouth, which quickly zipped shut, effectively stopping the unnecessary conversation. He then gave an over-exaggerated huff/groan and threw his arms wildly in the air as he returned with, “Well like I knew! I'm not exactly 'good' at this whole “friendship” stuff and when Celestia said I could have some time to be myself then I thought she meant it!” 
“Maybe she did, but after this mess, I doubt she will again!” Yet another voice spoke up, this time coming from a tart and very annoyed blue pegasus with a lightning bolt cutie mark and striking rainbow mane and tail, who had returned from shouting at the drunken rainbow. 
“She can't resist a plea for help, Dashie my dear. She wants to make everyone happy, and this is how she made me happy! C'mon now, it's fair! Give me my time to myself! Please?” 
Everyone in the group simply glared at him as if he was insane for asking such a thing, all except one. Discord then turned to that one, a pale yellow pegasus with a flowing pink mane and tail and triple butterfly cutie mark. “What do you think, Fluttershy? Surely you see my part of it.” 
Said pegasus, Fluttershy, gave a little 'meep' as she was put on the spot. She immediately hid behind her friends Twilight and Applejack, peeking out only enough to see Discord a little as she whispered, “Well, I um... I think you have a point, but um... so do we.” 
Discord gave her a disappointed look and said, “Are you seriously saying my one hour after months of no chaos should be cut short? “
“N-no! Of course not, you've been good and earned it. Just... maybe next time you could do it somewhere else? Or, or give the ponies of this area a warning before you start? That way, they have time to stay or leave if they so choose and you get your time either way.” 
“But Fluttershy, I can't warn them! That takes the surprise out of them when I come through and bring my chaos to every aspect of their lives!” Discord whined. 
“But you're scaring your friends.” Fluttershy countered, her tiny voice speaking louder to Discord than anyone else's. He looked at her, his glare faltering as he saw her big eyes, bright with near-tears. His resolve quickly wavered and a few moments later he groaned, defeated. “Fine. Only because it's you, Fluttershy. How about this. I've hidden something in my chaos that doesn't quite belong. If one of you can find it, I'll revert everything back to normal and move my chaos to the outskirts of town.” 
“And?” Twilight prompted. 
Discord growled, then huffed and relented. “And... listen more closely to Celestia when asking for my time.” 
“And?” Rainbow Dash said, still glaring at Discord. 
“And I'll... do something to make it up to the ponies caught so helplessly in my chaos.” 
“And?” Rarity said as she looked towards Pinkie Pie, trying to convey her message. 
“Oh come on, at least give me some peace from her shrill voice!” Discord whined. 
“Discord.” Fluttershy piped up, then squeaked and hid again as he groaned again. 
“Fine!” Discord called as he snapped his fingers, opening Pinkie's mouth again and returning Twilight's horn to normal. “There, now go. I want to enjoy what little chaos I have left.” With that, he snapped his fingers again, this time vanishing, along with his throne, and leaving the six friends alone in the courtyard. They all looked at each other and, without even speaking, all ran off in different directions to see what Discord had hidden that didn't fit and could stop his hour of chaos early. 


~ ~ ~


Well above everything, Discord sat in his throne once more, grumbling about his rotten turn of luck while he fed himself grapes from the vine that appeared at his command. “Why must those ponies get in the way of everything? And why does Fluttershy have such an affect on me like that? Are friends always like this? I mean, granted they are nice, most of the time, but still! One hour's all I asked! Ugh, what a sour day.” He looked down on his beautiful chaos then, enjoying it while he could. He couldn't help the grin that spread over his face as he watched it all and laughed at the ponies who tried and failed at their meager attempts to escape. One even got him rolling in laughter as he was caught in a web of luscious pink bubble gum with a giant spider with his own face to tease the trapped stallion. Discord watched the torture session with glee, knowing that nothing terrible would actually befall the stallion, other than possibly some serious mental scars. Nevertheless, Discord eventually released the poor boy and let him run off, only then to get trapped on his soapy sidewalks. Meanwhile, Discord was just absolutely rolling in the sky then at the poor unfortunate soul. 
Eventually, he floated off, wings barely even moving as he looked around for another pony to tease and laugh at. Soon, he came across Estrella, who was still swimming in the lake with a big smile. For some reason, this infuriated Discord, who growled at her though she couldn't hear. “Well then, I'll give you something to smile about.” he muttered before he snapped his clawed fingers. Within moments, the little bamboo shoots at the bottom of the lake went into overdrive. They all started swelling up like the one did before and then all as one, released their giant bubbles. Then, all the large bubbles coagulated and came together as one absolutely massive bubble. It rose rapidly and then broke the surface of the lake, lifting Estrella up. She gained a confused look for a moment as she looked down and found herself sitting on a giant bubble, though a moment later that look was replaced with shock and then joy as the bubble popped and launched her high into the air. 
She passed by Discord, who watched as she soared up until her form passed before the sun, eyes closed and a beautiful, blissful laugh escaped her small chest with vigor. The light from the sun glistened through her mane and tail, all the little single golden hairs lighting up like some sort of intricate dance nobody would ever really understand, but were blessed to see just once in their lives. Discord couldn't help it as his jaw dropped and he listened to her joyful laughter even as she started to fall once more, the sun leaving her mane and tail but now showing her cutie mark, being a strange, dim, glossless yellow pony with a straight white mane and tail falling with a hoof over its faceless head with no mark of any sort on its body and white speed lines showing under it in a V pattern, showing its descent, much like Estrella's. An instant before she hit the punch, which would literally feel like a punch from the height she was falling from, Discord snapped out of it and then snapped his fingers, instantly transporting the duck boat underneath Estrella. It let out a loud quack as she hit it, but it did its job and softened her descent. 
Estrella let out an "Oof!” as she hit the duck boat, but once she lifted her wet bangs out of her eyes, she laughed again and rubbed the duck's head as if apologizing for landing on it, though her bright grin said she had enjoyed every second of it. 
Up above, Discord simply watched her, his face twisted in confusion and awe. “She liked it. No, she loved it! Who is this pony? What-” His muttering was interrupted as he got a signal that Twilight and her friends had found the item he had left that didn't belong and he groaned. “Found it already? That was quicker than I expected.” With that, he snapped his fingers and appeared behind the group, who were staring up at a giant statue of Celestia, though that wasn't the out of place thing so much since it did have changeling wings, a lion tail, and a grin even a mother couldn't love. 
What was the thing he mentioned was at the bottom of the statue, where Fluttershy was sitting, looking at the small picture frame of her and Discord together back when they had first become friends. Discord sighed and said, “Well, you found it. Guess I'm done for today.” With that, he snapped his clawed fingers one more time, reverting everything in town back to its normal self, no harm done. 
The group looked at him then, a little surprised at everything going back to normal so quickly. 
Twilight was the first to speak up. “Thank you, Discord. We'll be sure to tell Celestia you moved to the edge of town.” 
“No need. I'm done for now.” Discord said, shocking everybody. 
It took a moment, but eventually, Rainbow spoke up. “Woah woah woah, the lord of chaos is, is ... giving up? Just like that?”
“I've had my fill, Dashie dear.” Discord said, an irate note in his voice as he regarded her. 
“Really?” Applejack asked, skepticism heavy in her voice. 
“Yes, really! I am done. Is that so horrible? Or would you prefer me to finish my remaining half hour?” 
“No!” They all cried at once, making Discord give them all an angry glare. 
Meanwhile, Fluttershy had picked up the picture frame and fluttered over. She then handed it off to Discord with a small smile. “I think what they mean is it's a good thing to know when you're done. We appreciate you stopping. And thanks.” 
Discord took the picture with a smaller grumble, unable to stay mad at Fluttershy. “Thanks for what?”
“For this.” Fluttershy said, motioning to the picture. “You really can be a great friend.” 
Discord hesitated a moment, the rubbed the back of his neck as he fought a small blush. “W-well I uh... Yes, of course I am, dearest Fluttershy! And... Thanks for reminding me.” He finished with a small smile, which grew as Fluttershy gave him a hug. 
“HUGS!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she joined in the hug, earning a small glare from Discord, but then the others laughed and started joining in until they had a giant group hug going. Soon, they were all smiling and laughing. Eventually, they all pulled away. 
Once more, Twilight was the first to speak. “I should report back to Celestia and tell her what's happened.” 
“I should start on apologizing to the other ponies.” Discord said, earning himself a surprised look from most everyone, especially Rainbow Dash. She started to say something, which would probably be crude and anger inducing, but then Applejack put a hoof out and stopped her from saying what was on her mind. Rainbow Dash huffed and crossed her front legs, but kept her yap shut. 
“Well, thank you all dears, but I have important business to attend to.” Rarity said suddenly and very quickly, a bit of nerves coloring her voice. “Ta-ta everyone! See you all as soon as I can!” With that surprising speed of hers, she was off, leaving everyone wondering exactly what she was doing, but they didn't question it, knowing it was difficult to get a coherent thought out of Rarity when she got like this. 


~ ~ ~ 


Back at the middle of Discord's chaos, Estrella had been enjoying herself more than she ever had before when the duck boat beneath her suddenly disappeared and she was dunked in icy water. She gasped and quickly climbed out of the freezing fountain in one of the squares and simply sat there for a moment, the fountain and duck swimming in it making even less sense than the soap sidewalk and fruit punch lava lake. In an instant, it felt like reality had simply crashed down on her and all the joy she experience vanished as if it never happened, other than that memory she would forever keep. 
After the shock of the sudden change wore off, she shook her entire body so she would dry and, without letting herself think about what just happened, she started wandering the now normal streets, trying to find her way to the castle. Somehow, she ended up back on the street where she had left her cloak and her wonderful adventure begun, but now it only stood as a sad reminder that it was over. Turning the corner and seeing it there, she tilted her head a little and looked at her own flank in confusion. “Now when did I lose that?” she muttered before she trotted over and put it back on, securely strapping it on. 
Only a moment later, Rarity burst from the corner as well. Even though it looked like she had been running for some time, not a single hair was out of place. She cleared her throat and controlled her breathing before trotting up to Estrella's side and saying, “Sorry that took so long. I hope you didn't get too lost.”
Estrella smiled a little and said, “I'm fine, you weren't gone that long.” 
“Oh good, I'd hate to ruin your first day here in the first ten, er, fifteen minutes, give or take?” Rarity then gave a too-wide grin, making Estrella laugh softly. 
“If anything, you've made it better.” 
This seemed to be just what Rarity wanted to hear and she gave a sigh of relief. “Good. Now, let's get you to that meeting.” 
Rarity started off at a trot and this time, Estrella had no trouble keeping up. The two headed through town, occasionally stopping as Rarity said hello to a friend or pointed out an interesting shop to Estrella. She even managed to get Estrella to laugh a little on their way and tell Rarity a little of her first impressions of Ponyville, though she made sure to skip the time she spent on the soap sidewalk and in the pool, which had turned out to be a fountain. Sometime during their travels, Rarity also promised to give a full tour to Estrella someday soon after she had settled in a bit and there wasn't a princess expecting their arrival, to which Estrella thanked her greatly for.