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Pregnant?! 2,575 words
Father Discord2,221 words
Payback Time2,087 words
A Brilliant Idea2,214 words
The New Discord2,190 words
Mischievous Luna 2,377 words
Discord, Out of Control 2,814 words
Draconequus Hunting2,256 words
Denial2,846 words
Anger2,608 words
Even More Anger2,537 words
Bargaining 2,561 words
Depression 2,381 words
Betrayed3,653 words
Searching3,449 words
Revelation4,222 words
Retribution4,256 words
Punishment 3,305 words
Birth6,110 words

Denial

“Hmm, this is rather peculiar… It’s not like Twilight to be late…” Rarity commented after taking a glance at the clock tower in the distance. She turned away from the city and looked at her friends, who were all simply lying on the lush green grass of the royal gardens.

“Well, Ah’m sure she’ll be along anytime now. The Princess is probably just tellin’ her somethin’ important, that’s all!”Applejack assured as she took a peak from under her Stetson hat that she had been napping under.

“Yeah, Rarity, what kind of trouble could Twilight get in to in Canterlot? I’m sure she’s just fine.” Fluttershy said as she watched a nearby squirrel run up a tree. She frowned. For some reason, the animals had been running just at the sight of her. She thought that perhaps they still remembered that one night were she had gotten just a little too excited with them.

“Oh, I’m sure she’s quite fine, I’m just surprised that she’s off of that schedule of hers!” Rarity said, baffled by the fact that Twilight had been late for once. “Still, I hope she gets back soon. I can’t wait for this dinner!”

“Pssh, what’s so great about some fancy dinner? Sure, they’ll probably have some killer food but it’ll be boring. I came here to see Canterlot, not eat!” Rainbow Dash butted in as she once again descended from the sky. She had been practicing her tricks since they had arrived at the gardens, as she was eager to show them to the Wonderbolts when she finally got her day with them.

“You must be joking! We’re having dinner with the royal sisters! Do you realize how prestigious this is?” Rarity snapped as she frowned at the pegasus. “Even some of the most famous celebrities like Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores never get a chance like this!”

“Well, I don’t see what’s so great about it… I’d much rather meet the Wonderbolts!”

“Of course you would…” Rarity remarked while rolling her eyes.

“Hey, what was that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, rushing over to the white unicorn.

“Would you two kindly be quiet? Some of us are trying to sleep, ya know…” Applejack mumbled, annoyed by their constant bickering.

Before they could say anything to respond, two ponies appeared out of thin air. They smiled upon the sight of Twilight and Pinkie Pie, and instantly forgot about their feud.

“Oh, I’m so sorry for being late, girls!” Twilight quickly apologized, genuinely sorry for being off schedule. “The Princess had me do something for her, and let’s just say it got a little out of control…”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad!” Pinkie Pie giggled in a happy tone, almost as if she had forgotten that she had tried to burn down the castle.

“Can we just go already, Darling?! I can hardly wait for this dinner!” Rarity quickly cut in, her impatience clearly audibly.

“Oh, right! We don’t want to be any later then we are, so let’s get going!” Twilight nodded before leading the group down the gardens and towards the Castle.

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“I don’t know how, but we actually did it! Everything’s actually ready, and I still can’t believe that Discord’s back to normal! I’ll definitely have to thank Twilight and her friend again…” Celestia sighed in relaxation as she finally put away her mess of papers that had been plaguing her study. Luna stood a few feet away, watching her sister with genuine boredom.

“Oh yes, it’s just so great that the spirit of chaos is back to his old, annoying self…” Luna mumbled whilst rolling her eyes.

“Oh, come on, Luna! When will you two stop fighting? It’s been almost four months since we’ve gotten married and you two are still at each other’s throats!” Celestia snapped, finally fed up with their eternal rivalry. “Start acting more like a princess, and less like a little bratty filly!”

Luna stood dumbfounded with her mouth ajar, completely surprised at her sister’s sudden outburst. “W-w-well…” She stuttered, still at a loss for words. After a moment of thought she wiped the surprised expression from her face and continued. “He’s the one who always starts everything! Believe me, sister, I would love to stop this, but he just won’t let it end!”

Her sister’s words only served to infuriate Celestia even more and she began lecturing her in a very stern, mother-like tone. “How about you be the bigger mare here and just ignore him! Don’t forget that you were at least partially responsible for what happened to him all those years ago! He’s forgiven you for that, so why can’t you forgive him for the petty pranks he’s pulled?”

Luna thought about her sister’s words for a moment, then frowned. She had forgotten about that, as that event had been completely overshadowed by her later transformation into Nightmare Moon. She’s… She’s right… Discord’s never once brought up what I did to him, nor has he held any resentment towards me… Maybe it is time for us to end this feud…

Lune looked up from the elegant carpet she had been starting at, and smiled at her sister. “Alright. I’ll stop bothering him, but I want you to talk to him if he pranks me again!”

Celestia smiled back, finally glad that her sister had seen her point. “Fine, now should we head off to dinner?”
Luna nodded in response and the two royal sisters left the study, happy with each other for the first time in a long while.

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“Oh! Oh! What do you think we’ll be eating? Something fancy and expensive no doubt, but I wonder what it will be? When you lived here, what did you eat, Twilight? Did you eat with the Princess? Oh, that must have been so amazing…” Rarity continued to ramble on as they waited.

“Rarity,” Twilight said, stopping the unicorn’s endless chain of questions, “Could you stop with the questions and just wait? You’re giving me a headache…”

Rarity blushed a deep red and quickly apologized. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear… I’m just excited, that’s all! It’s not every day we get to dine with the Princesses…”

The group of them stood outside the dining hall, waiting patiently for the Princesses to arrive. Rainbow Dash was propped against a wall, half asleep. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around admiring the art along the walls, with Applejack in tow trying to stop her from touching said priceless art. Fluttershy was simply standing there patiently as she always did, and Spike was beside Twilight, gazing at Rarity.

Hmm… The Princess usually isn’t this late… did something go wrong? Twilight thought to herself after another few minutes of waiting. Just when she was about to go check on her teacher, she spotted her coming down the hallway. The rest of her friends stopped whatever they were doing and waited patiently as Celestia and her sister made their way over to them.

“It’s great to see all of you here!” Celestia greeted with a heartwarming smile. “I apologize for how late we are, but it took me awhile to finish arranging the dinner.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, Princess!” Twilight beamed, stepping in front of her friends.

“You haven’t been waiting that long, have you?”

“Only about an hour. It’s alright though; it didn’t mess up my schedule too much…”

After a moment of looking over all of her student’s friends, Celestia smiled then pushed open the large doors of the dining room. “Well, let’s not waste anymore time, then!”

Everypony’s jaw dropped aside from Twilight and Spike’s, as they had already seen the grand dining hall several dozen times. For the other ponies, however, it was truly a sight to behold. It was far bigger than any other room they had ever seen, as it looked like it could easily fit a thousand ponies. Three massive windows sat at the end of the room, offering a spectacular view of the city and castle grounds below. Not only that, but decorations covered practically every inch of the room, and in the center sat a huge table that stretched across the room.

“Obviously, we only use this for parties and such, as it’s much too big to normally eat in.” Celestia stated as she lead the way forward. Seats were already set at one part of the table, and dozens of servants were scurrying around with plates of food. The seven of them sat at their assigned seats, and then the Princesses took their spots. Twilight grinned as she noticed she was right beside her teacher, and on her other side was Spike.

Princess Celestia glanced around the room a few times, a confused expression on her face. “Hmm… where’s Discord? I thought you said he was coming to dinner?” She asked, turning to her sister.

“I have no idea, he said he’d come!” Luna said with an innocent look.

A loud pop echoed through the room, and they all looked over to see that the Draconequus had appeared. He slumped into his spot across from Luna and sighed.

“Ah, Discord!” Celestia grinned, “We were just talking about you!” He replied with a simple grunt, which she found odd, but quickly ignored it. “Anyway, I’m sure you’re all starved, let’s eat!”

At that, the servants lifted up the many trays along the table, revealing all sorts of delicious food. Rainbow Dash’s mouth immediately began to water, and she quickly began to shovel food onto her plate. The others soon followed, and then the room was filled with the sounds of clinking silverware and chewing.

“So Applejack, Twilight’s told me your family just finished your Cider season. From what I’ve heard, it’s quite amazing. Is there anything special you do?” Celestia asked as she chewed on a bland piece of lettuce. Much to her annoyance the doctor told her she had been eating just a bit too much and that it’d be better if she cut down on her consumption. This also meant getting rid of the junk food she loved so much.

“Aw, nothin’ but plenty of love and care, Princess! Our apple cider’s the best in Equestria, because we don’t rush it!” Applejack replied as she looked at her silverware with an unsure frown. There was at least a dozen forks, and she had absolutely no idea where to start.

“Well, I’ll simply have to try it some time! maybe I could come down next cider season? As long as you have enough, that is.”
Applejack let out chuckle, “That’s no problem, Princess! It’d be an honor if you came down. We’ll save an extra barrel just for you!”

At the end of the table sat Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and the unicorn kept shooting the pegasus glares because of her ghastly table manners. It reached a breaking point, however, when she began drinking out of a bowl beside.

“That’s for washing your hooves, not drinking, you uncouth animal!” Rarity snapped, causing the entire table to look at them.

“Well, sorry that I don’t know all this stupid junk! It’s just water, what does it matter?!” Rainbow Dash replied with a scowl.

“It’s disgusting and uncivilized, that’s what! I can’t believe you would embarrass me like this in front of the Princesses…” Rarity slumped back into her seat with a blush.

Much too ever pony’s surprise, Celestia laughed. “Oh, its fine! She is right, after all. It is just water.” She stated before taking a sip out of her own bowl. They all broke into laughter except for Rarity, who was now blushing even more profoundly.

Shortly after that, several discussions broke out along the table between whoever was sitting closest. Twilight and the Princess were discussing something, Pinkie Pie was trying to explain to Luna what muffins were but she simply couldn’t grasp the concept as they hadn’t existed a thousand years ago, and Applejack was constantly asking Rarity which piece of silverware she should use next. The only one who wasn’t talking was Discord, who, much to Celestia’s surprise, hadn’t said a word.

“So, pray tell, what does one put in these ‘muffins’?” Luna asked with a confused expression.

“Oh, you can put pretty much everything in them! You can put chocolate chips, strawberries, blueberries…” Pinkie began listing every sort of fruit, and the Princess silently wished she hadn’t asked the question. These conversations continued until every pony had eaten, and just before they brought out desert, Celestia spoke up.

“I’d just like to thank all of you for coming. I’ve had a great time seeing my favorite student and all her friends!” Celestia beamed as she looked over all of them. “I have an announcement to make that a few of you already know…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Twilight and her sister.

“You see… I’m pregnant.”

Applejack spat water all over the table as she choked on her drink. After swallowing, she looked up at her. “What?!”
Rarity, also incredibly surprised, looked at the Princess with a dumbfounded expression. “Yo-you’re pregnant?! Bu-but…”

Fluttershy smiled meekly, “Congratulations Princess! I’m so glad for the two of you!”

“Eh, I’ve heard better surprises.” Rainbow Dash stated coolly.

“Now, I know this might be a big surprise for some of you, but know that we have everything under control. Isn’t that right, dear?” Celestia asked turning towards Discord for the first time.

He sat up from his seat, as he had been slumped down, bored the whole time.

“Huh? Pregnant? I have no idea what you’re talking about, Celly…” He stated simply, causing her to give him a very odd look.

“What are you talking about? We found out I was pregnant a few weeks ago! That’s why you had that midlife crisis!”

“Ha! Me a father? No way, I’m far too young for that! It’s just you getting fat, that’s all.”

Celestia looked at him with her mouth ajar, hardly believing that her husband was denying all of this. “D-d-discord, what are you talking about?!”

“I should be asking you that! To think that I would have a child. I’ll die before that happens!” Discord crossed his arms and frowned, appearing completely serious about the whole matter. None of them could detect his usually joking tone.

After a few moments of complete silence, Discord stretched out his arms and yawned. “Well, I think I’ll head off to bed. It was nice seeing you all. We should really do it again.” He said in a boring voice before snapping his talons and vanishing.
The Princess continued to sit there, her jaw still hanging low.

“Uh… P-Princess? If I could offer some advice…” Twilight finally broke the silence. “I think Discord may be going through the Kübler-Ross model, or otherwise known as the Five Stages of Grief.”

“What?” Celestia broke out of her trance and looked down at her student.

“The Five Stages of Grief.” Twilight repeated as if she were reading it from a book. “A theory that is believed every pony goes through after a very traumatic event, usually death. However, it can happen in situations like this…”

“So, what does this fancy model mean?” Applejack asked.

“Well, as the name suggests, there’s five stages. The first stage is denial, as you just saw…” Twilight stated, pointing a hoof towards Discord’s empty seat. “The next stage is anger, then bargaining, then depression, and then acceptance! So it should all work out in the end!”

Celestia swallowed hard. “But how long will these stages take? I don’t think I can take another mental breakdown…”

Twilight gave her a weak smile, “Well, it varies… Some could be days, maybe weeks or even months! Sometimes a pony can get stuck in one stage for an awfully long time… But I don’t think that will happen!”

Celestia buried her face in her hooves; this was the very last thing she needed. Discord could be stuck in a mental breakdown for months or even years, and she’d be left alone trying to raise her child. Why life, why me?!

Twilight laid a reassuring hoof on her teacher’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Princess. I’ll help you! In fact, I’m sure every pony here will help too, right?”

All of her friends nodded, which at least somewhat eased Celestia’s pressure. “T-thank you Twilight… Now, how about dessert? We can try to sort this all out after…”

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