• Published 25th Jan 2015
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A New Beginning in a New Land - REDACTED99999



'Through worlds and sadness and loneliness, we found each other, and if we can be happy together, then maybe it will all have been worth it somehow.' - A man in love.

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Chapter 64

Jax didn’t know it could be so much fun to prank someone. Celestia’s comeback was completely unexpected, and that made it all the more fun. Discord was looking at them a bit sullen, so maybe they should stop laughing. His stomach was starting to hurt anyway.
And yet it felt so amazing. The happiness he felt was something sharp and overwhelming, and he wanted it to stay like that. He hadn’t touched alcohol since that day at his welcome party, something he decided after seeing Rainbow scream because of him, but he still somehow felt tipsy, and it felt heavenly. He allowed himself to drown in the feeling as he gained control of his laughter.
“Alright, alright, it wasn’t that funny.” Discord informed them. “And you can’t really blame her for being interested in all of this.” Damn, he had been so close to stopping his laughter, but when Discord indicated his body as ‘all of this’, a new bout of laughter took over and he rolled a bit more on the ground.
“Oh, I think it’s great.” Fluttershy, who had barely been laughing, laid a hoof on his hip. “You both deserve somepony special.”
Discord hesitated for a bit, enough for Jax and the others to compose themselves a bit. “Yes… well…” he looked thoughtful, “it was nice of her to free me and give me a chance instead of letting me stay as a stone statue… and she does have a huge…” he made a round motion with his paw and claw, “…tract of land.”
Jax lost it again. “A Monty Python reference?! Here of all places?” He tried to get up but it was just too much. “Oh God I need to pee.”
“And I need to raise the moon. My sister is already lowering the sun.” Luna looked more composed than he was. She hadn’t been rolling on the ground like him, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie either, though she had laughed pretty hard herself.
He noticed that ponies were giving them weird looks. Alright, he could do this. Breathe in. Breathe out. Okay. He couldn’t get his smile off his face, but at least he wasn’t dying of laughter.
“Let’s set up a meeting point….” A few more pearls of laughter escaped him. “So that you can go to court, and in case we want to do different things. Where exactly is this changeling band playing?” He asked Vinyl.
She took out some parchment and her new pen out of her saddlebags, and wrote with a big smile: ‘Down in Club Hoofleton, in the southern part of Canterlot. We can just meet at the central fountain, it’s not too far.’
At everyone’s agreement, those who needed to relieve themselves used the castle’s facilities. After that, Luna and Moondancer left for work, while the rest of them went to see what they could use the time on in Canterlot.
***
After assuring her guards that she was quite alright, Celestia made her way to her room to relax for the rest of the evening. Raven fell into step with her halfway there, not saying a word but looking like she really wanted to.
“So… A date with Discord, Your Majesty? Should I clear the schedule tomorrow?” She finally asked.
Celestia smiled down at her, albeit a bit amazed. “It’s barely been five minutes, Raven, and I don’t think I saw you down there… how fast did this rumour spread exactly?”
“It’s not a rumour if it’s true, Your Highness.” Raven gave her witty smile. “The information spread like wildfire, Princess. For the first time in recorded history, our beloved Princess has a date… and with the Lord of Chaos, no less. I would be surprised if the entirety of Canterlot didn’t know within the hour.”
Celestia didn’t know how to feel about that, though she would admit she should have foreseen it. This would no doubt sprout several rumours… on the bright side, everypony would finally stop talking about Jax and Luna. She nodded to herself. That would be good.
“My date is at eight, so just make sure that I am clear at about seven so I can be ready. I am afraid there is a real chance that he won’t show, so nothing too special, I think. I don’t want to feel like it was time and energy wasted.”
“… Why wouldn’t he show?” Raven asked in confusion. Celestia was about to note that she finally dropped the decorum, when she seemed to catch herself. “Your Highness?”
“Because, he might have thought it was a joke… but I think he’ll show. Hmm, I think he might even wear a suit, so I should probably prepare a gown… you don’t think he’ll take me anywhere fancy, do you?” She asked her assistant.
Raven looked at her for a couple of seconds. “Your highness, I would be surprised if he could get a reservation at such short notice, but then again I was surprised when my house suddenly turned into a plant because of him.” She seemed to think for a second before she continued. “It might not be my place to ask... but out of all the ponies, griffons, and minotaurs in the world… why him? All he’s ever done is give you more paperwork to fill.”
Celestia smiled as they arrived at her chambers. “Oh little Raven, that’s not all he’s ever done. He’s also made me very angry on numerous occasions.” Raven just looked at her in confusion. “Ah, I apologise, the incident really left me with a desire to joke around. Let me answer your question then." She took a breath to compose herself. "The Discord that reigned Equestria more than a thousand years ago is not the Discord that exists today. The Discord that escaped the statue and took over Equestria again not so long ago isn’t even the same as the one I saw today. Because the Discord I saw today showed that he could restrain his powers, that he could be thoughtful of others. Look at this hallway.” Raven looked around, seemingly not understanding. “You wouldn’t know that it was overrun with bubbles just a few minutes ago. Every painting, vase, and other decoration is perfectly fine, all that seems to have happened is that everything looks cleaner. The Discord I knew, would not have gone to such lengths to make sure that nopony was hurt. But the Discord I saw today, showed that he could have fun with others, even without anypony getting frustrated.” She paused, considering whether she should continue, but decided that she might as well. “And between you and me… I had fun today. And honestly… after all these years… I think I deserve to have a little fun. I had almost forgotten how good it felt.”
She left Raven thinking about that as she entered her chambers. She actually found herself looking forward to her date, and would be a little… well, disappointed if Discord decided not to show.
She was fairly certain he would though, if nothing else than to sate his curiosity. For now, she should decide which dress to wear. She walked over to her closet and opened it, looking at the large selection of dresses and gowns she owned… this could take a while.

But she had a little time. In fact… if she hurried… maybe she could have some more fun.
***
Jax was walking down the streets, feeling quite invincible. Nothing could stand in his way, nothing could ruin this night, and nothing could tear his smile away. Everything was just too perfect. He wanted to hug the entire world, making sure it knows just how perfect it is.
Before he knew it, he had Pinkie in his arms, matching his smile with one of her own. She had probably sensed his need to hug something and volunteered herself.
“So, who needs to do what? Where can we get Discord a suit?” He asked the ponies around him, keeping his laughter in check somehow. He wasn’t sure why he still wanted to laugh, but it felt nice. Everything was brighter and there really wasn’t any reason not to laugh.
Was this how Pinkie felt all the time?
Before anybody could answer, Discord coughed and snapped his claw, and suddenly he was wearing a well-fitting orange suit with a top hat and bowtie.
Jax burst out laughing, and so did Pinkie after a moment.
“Nah-ah.” Rainbow of all ponies said. “We are going to get one fitted for you, specifically for this.” She punched Discord on the shoulder. “Come on, it’ll be my treat.”
Rainbow Dash was actually a romantic. Who would have thought? It just made him and Pinkie laugh harder.
“Really?” Discord sounded surprised. “I didn’t think… well I didn’t think you liked me all that much.”
Rainbow scratched her foreleg and looked away. “Well… I didn’t. Especially after what happened with Tirek. But I’ve made enough mistakes to know that nopony is perfect, and… well Fluttershy likes you, and I promised Jax I would give you a chance so…” she stuck out a hoof towards him. “Friends?”
Jax and Pinkie both stopped laughing instantly, and looked at them. This seemed to mean more to Discord than words could really describe. He had a sort of honest look of… humbleness? Like he couldn’t quite believe this was happening and didn’t really believe he deserved it. He slowly extended his paw forward and shook Rainbow’s hoof with it.
There was a moment of understanding as they looked in each other’s eyes, ruined when Jax sprang on Rainbow and Pinkie on Discord.
“Oh my God Rainbow, you’re so cute!”
“Oh my gosh Di I want to be your friend as well!”
Discord laughed joyously, while Rainbow acted offended. “Am not! I’m awesome and cool.” She shoved him off.
“Yeah, awesomely cute.” He laughed as she huffed and turned away from him.
Rarity would be proud. Too bad she wasn’t there. She could fix Discord’s suit as well. As it was, they needed to find a seamstress.
“So anyone know where we can find a tailor?” He asked the group still with a smile on his face. Rainbow Dash, apparently not as offended as she had let on, just shrugged along with Pinkie, and Fluttershy shook her head gently. Of course, they got all their clothes from Rarity.
He looked at Vinyl who shrugged and just started walking. Guess they would just have to walk around until they found something… ‘it’s pretty late though and we only have a couple of hours.’ The thought disappeared almost as fast as it came, as confidence took over. He was sure everything was going to be A-okay.
***
Three closed stores later and he still kept that attitude with the smile still present. Normally it would probably be painful to smile for that long, but now it was just natural. Even when he got a lot of stares in the Canterlot streets, he just smiled at them and continued on. Not that there were that many ponies on the streets anymore. Most had already gone home, they only met stragglers and-
“OH MY GOSH!” Something small and feathery impacted with his chest, making him step back even as he caught it. He was just happy Rainbow Dash didn’t stand behind him. “Oh my gosh, mom it’s really him!”
He looked down at the gryphon child… foal… chick? Who was looking up at him with wonder in her eyes.
Now, human children can be cute at times, on a good day where the stars align and they behave just right. They don’t hold a candle to the average pony though, and they in turn paled compared to pony foals, so tiny and cute you could barely look them in their giant eyes. But this little gryphon was neck and neck with them, if not a tiny bit cuter.
She had a tiny beak, with huge eyes, looking at him like she had found the greatest treasure in the world. Her tiny claws were holding onto him, but weren’t sharp enough to even go through his clothes. Her cute little wings were black, same as the rest of her feathers, while her fur (and paws!) was white, in a cool contrast.
He looked up at the adult gryphon that was coming over with a worried look. “Can I keep her?” He asked before he could think.
She (at least he assumed it was a she, he had never met a gryphon before) looked shocked, before taking on a more aggressive stance for some reason.
“Whoa! Whoa!” Rainbow Dash flew in between them, facing the gryphon. “Sorry, sorry, he’s never met a gryphon before. He doesn’t know how protective they can be of their own.” She quickly explained.
The gryphon in front of them relaxed her stance slowly, before breathing out a heavy sigh. “I apologize.” She said in a tired, female voice. “Instinct took over there for a second.” She ran the four claws of her right foreleg through her black plume of her head, which matched her daughter’s. The biggest difference between them was that her fur was a brownish sort of red. “I’m sorry about her… Cenia, come here.”
The small gryphon in his arms let out a disappointed whine, before jumping down. His chest felt cold without her there, but that was an afterthought.
“Cenia…?” Where had he heard that before? A small cute gryphon in a country of ponies… Cenia… weird name… not afraid of him… Oh! “Cenia! You’re the gryphon who sent me that letter!” He laughed in joy. “Ohh man, that was a nice letter to receive! I know I already said this in my reply, but thank you again for sending it.”
Cenia froze next to her mom, then whispered excitedly, loud enough for all to hear. “Mom… he remembers me.”
Her mom just rolled her eyes good-naturedly, with a smile on her beak however that worked. “I know little one. Now come here, it’s late and I’m sure these nice, uhm… beings want to move on.” She used her beak to pull up her daughter by the neck, much like a cat would with her kitten, and put her on her back.
“Hey we’ve got time, don’t worry about it. All the tailors we’ve been at seem to be closed anyway.” Rainbow laid back in the air, however that worked. She was still beating her wings so she should fly down- ah whatever.
“You need a tailor?!” Cenia burst out. “My mom’s a tailor! And she’s been talking about how she needs more-“ two claws closed her beak before she could tell them what more was needed.
“Oh my gosh! You’re a tailor! And we need a tailor! Isn’t this great?!” Pinkie burst out like this was the greatest thing ever.
Which it totally was! Jax burst out laughing as well.
“I’m sorry, but I’m closed for today. You can come by tomorrow if-“ She had started to turn around, but found herself face to face with Rainbow Dash, who smiled cockily.
“I’ll give you 200 bits for a suit for that guy over there.” She said airily, pointing at Discord.
“On second thought, is it ever too late to create fashion? Working the night away is almost a must for a seamstress, isn’t it?” She started walking again and they followed. “So I take it there is some kind of fashion emergency since you need it so fast?” She continued. Jax found himself wishing she was more like Rarity, who would have said it with just the right amount of drama. This gryphon sounded like she knew the right words, but her heart wasn’t really in it. “Ah, allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Freja, and this little troublemaker is Cenia, as you heard.” Her eyes lit up when she looked Cenia. Cenia smiled at them as she waved. Jax couldn’t get over how cute she was, he wanted to pick her up and snuggle her…
So he did. She giggled at his antics, enough to make her mother at ease again. “I’m Jax.” Was all he said before he started playing with Cenia in his arms, poking her different places to make her giggle.
The rest of them introduced themselves, except Vinyl who had her headphones on and looked like she was miles away from whatever was going on.
“And we need the suit for tomorrow, though it isn’t any sort of emergency.” Discord explained. “For some reason Rainbow Dash just thinks I should get a new one made instead of using the one I already have.”
“… Is it for your date with Celestia?” She asked casually. At Discord’s raised eyebrow, she explained. “Rumors spread quickly in Canterlot. I didn’t quite believe it until now, but seeing as you’re here for a suit, I guess it wasn’t as unbelievable as I thought….”
“Well, yes it is for my… date. What are they saying exactly?” Discord looked interested.
“Oh, standard stuff. That Celestia deserves better, that you tricked her, that you don’t deserve her, that you’re evil again, that it’s just a prank to you and you’ll stand her up… the rumors are endless. Well it’s better than hearing another one about Princess Luna at least. Now there’s something that’s been going on for too long.”
“Well I never!” Discord looked downright insulted. “I wasn’t even the one who asked her on a date! In fact I didn’t even agree to go, yet I’ll still be there tomorrow at eight, ready to make a fool of myself.” He huffed proudly.
“Aww, the lengths you’re willing to go to see her smile is awesomrific!” Pinkie established while squishing Discord’s cheeks.
“Dat’s nut wut I ment.” Discord said from between her hooves, picking her up and setting her down beside him. “I mean I have no idea how to date anybody. I’ve never been on a date before. I normally ruin dates with a well-aimed pie.” He smiled proudly before deflating a bit. “I can be a real charming snake when I want to, no doubt about that… but this is Celestia! She’s dealt with… well everything. She’s been around for a long time.”
“Oh, don’t worry Discord.” Fluttershy patted him on the lower back, as high as she could reach. “I’m sure that Celestia likes you already, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked you on a date in such an… interesting fashion. And we’ll help you if you need anything.”
That seemed to perk Discord up. “Information from an experienced source! Of course. So tell me Fluttershy, what do you expect from the stallion when you go on dates?”
“Oh…” Fluttershy bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make the impression that I’ve been on a date before… uhm… I’d want him… or her… to be nice though.”
Rainbow Dash seemed to be interested in this information. “What else?” She asked. It raised some eyebrows. “What? We need to help Discord! And it’s not like any of us have any experience. Do we?” She looked at Pinkie, who shrugged and shook her head.
“Not as far as I know. Jax is the one dating Princess Luna, not me.”
Most eyes focused on him, sharply enough that he paused his little game with the cutie bundle in his arms. He could do nothing but shrug though. “I don’t think it would count as dates, since we couldn’t really separate for a long time. The last time we were together was at our favourite pizza place, but I don’t think that’s first date material.” He thought for a moment. “I guess my best advice is to make her laugh… but don’t try to force it. Everybody loves to laugh, but if you try too hard you’ll ruin it.” With that piece of wisdom he went back to playing with Cenia.
Pinkie nodded, giving her consent as the present expert on laughter. “Yep, that’s true!”
“What about you, my new feathery friend? You must have been on some dates… right?” Discord asked Freja, seemingly out of desperation. It would seem that Vinyl was either forgotten or he just assumed she had as much experience as the rest of them.
Freja looked at him oddly though. “Gryphons don’t date the same way ponies do. I doubt Princess Celestia would appreciate you bringing your latest kill when picking her up.”
“Oh… no, that’s not really her style. Maybe some flowers though… what kind does she like?”
“You can ask Luna when we meet up with her! She probably knows!” Pinkie pointed out. “And I guess while she’s here you can ask her all sorts of stuff about Celestia that only she knows.”
Discord considered it for a fraction of a second before lighting up, quite literally, as if he had become a lightbulb.
Jax noticed that Freja was looking at him periodically as they made their way towards wherever she was leading them, probably to see his radiant smile. Or to make sure Cenia was alright? Nah, why would he ever hurt this bundle of joy. She was a lot like a cat, actually. Scratching or poking her stomach was risky business, but when he stroked her, she leaned into his hand, and if he did that for a little while… she started to purr.
By the Gods… that sealed it. She was cuter than pony foals. The matter was settled.
He looked up when he noticed they had stopped. Freja looked at him in surprise.
“Oh hey!” Rainbow flew up to him. “You got her to purr. I tried to get Gilda to do it after she told me about it, but I never could.”
“We only do it when we feel completely safe and satisfied.” Freja explained. She sighed and ran her claw through her plume again. “Cenia is more trusting than most gryphons… I guess it’s my fault for raising her among ponies.” She sounded tired. He briefly wondered how it was like as a gryphon amongst ponies, working as a tailor, trying your best to make ends meet. Then his thoughts went to happier things, like the barely audible snores he heard from his arms.
“Oh my God… she fell asleep… so cute….” He somehow managed to fight off the urge to poke her stomach until she woke up. Then the thought of putting her on his head and using her as a hat popped into his mind, and he shook with barely contained laughter.
I’m laughing a lot though, what was up with that?’ He thought in a moment of clarity. Then the drunk feeling of happiness overwhelmed him again and…

He felt jubilant. Alive in the best kind of way, with no worries to weigh him down. What had he even been worried about, when this felt so great?
Yeah… Everything is going to be alright….’ He thought to himself.
Sombra tried to say something in a weirdly begging voice, but just then they arrived at Freja’s shop, which seemed to double as a home, and he was drowned out as Jax had other things to focus on.
***
The shop was a simple affair. Unlike Rarity, Freja seemed to be successful in keeping everything in order, giving each cloth its own space. Other than that, it was fairly small, and there wasn’t much in the name of decoration lying around.
While Discord was measured, and cloth for his suit chosen, Jax scratched Cenia’s stomach, gently as not to wake her. She purred every time she breathed out. Jax was completely enthralled.
If he someday decided he was ready to be a father, and he couldn’t get one with Luna… maybe they could adopt a gryphon. A tiny gryphon to take care of that they could scratch until he or she started to purr, and would grow up to be the coolest gryphon around.
Yeah… that would be awesome.
“You can put her to bed if you want.”
He looked up to find himself face to beak with Freja. The measurement seemed to have been taken, and cloth chosen. “Up the stairs, the room to the right. If she wakes up, tell her I’ll be working the rest of the night on this.” She indicated the different fabric she had gathered in her working area.
He nodded and went up to tuck the small gryphon into bed. It was a surprisingly tender moment when he put the blanket over her, and for one brief instant he felt….
Well, one day he would be ready.
Not now though. Now he was going out to have fun.
***
The bouncer looked at them with mouth agape, from Jax, to Luna, past Moondancer to the three elements of harmony, to Discord, and finally stopped at Vinyl.
Jax looked around while the stallion was wrapping his head around the oddity that had gathered in front of Club Hoofleton. It was located in… well, it looked like it was the poor side of town. Or actually ‘side’ was a bit grandiose, it seemed more like a corner.
There weren’t any grand mansions here, or even individual houses, it looked like it was run over with apartments that had been cramped close together, looking like nopony had cleaned them in ages. There were some alleyways that looked so dark and foreboding, he wouldn’t be surprised if muggers were just waiting for some fool to take a shortcut through them.
Then again, did pony muggers even exist?
… Whatever.
He focuses on the brawny bouncer again, who finally seems to have wrapped his head around what is going on, at least enough to talk. “Hey Vinyl… good to see you….” He starts with trepidation. Vinyl nodded carelessly in greeting, in a sort of ‘get on with it’ way. She handed him the three tickets she had and then proceeded inside, leaving the stunned stallion behind.
The poor earth pony just looked from the tickets, to them standing patiently, waiting to be let in, looking like he didn’t want to say that three tickets weren’t enough.
Luckily Luna - sweet, beautiful, generous, and kind Luna - stepped in to help him. “We apologize, my good sir, but we seem to be a couple of tickets short. I have been led to believe that we could buy some at the gate?”
The stallion, upon realizing he is in the presence of royalty, hurriedly bowed. “Y-yes of course, your highness!” He sounded somewhat awkward and unsure of himself. He probably wasn't used to anyone important stepping into the club. “I-I must ask though… do any of you have anything against changelings?” Jax wasn’t sure exactly what the stallion would do if any of them answered yes. He probably hoped to heaven and hell that they didn’t.
“Why would we come to see the show if we did?” Rainbow Dash asked for them. “I mean, sure, I sometimes have these awesome dreams where I completely destroy any changeling that comes near me, so if any of them try to mess with us, I might knock them out before-“
Luna put her hoof in Rainbow’s mouth before she could inform us, well probably how fast she was going to destroy changelings. “What miss Dash is trying to say is no, we are here for the music and to enjoy ourselves.” Ahh Luna… such a saviour of bouncers who are unsure whether he should - or even could - stop us from entering. Jax guessed that having both royalty and the Lord of Chaos on their side really put the bouncer out of his element. “I believe we are in need of… five tickets?”
“Of course ma’am. That will be-“
“I think this should cover it.” Luna handed - magicked?- him a pouch of money. Did ponies have several pouches laying around for when they gave away the whole pouch?
The stallion didn’t even check the contest of the pouch, he just gave her a thin smile and handed - hoofed - them tickets with stamps on them. “Enjoy the show, and remember that the Hoofleton establishment has promised these changelings that no harm would come to them so… uhm… please don’t harm them.” What started as a standard and well-rehearsed speech ended in a hopeful plea. He was probably used to throwing ponies out if they caused trouble, but what could you really do against three heroes, a princess, a being that could bend reality to his will, and a newly uncovered being who was covered in rumours mostly displaying him as evil, but who might also be dating mentioned princess. The only one he probably felt comfortable throwing out was Moondancer, and even she could be risky for him when looking at her company.
“Go ahead and enjoy yourselves and… uhm… yeah.” He stepped aside in a hurry, letting them through.
Jax stopped and kneeled before the stallion to look him in the eye, giving him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure nobody gets hurt.” He promised. His spirit soared when the bouncer relaxed a bit in relief, and gave him a more genuine smile and a nod. Jax continued in after his friends after that.
The club was… dark. There was muted light here and there, probably to have a dark and mysterious atmosphere or something. The ponies that were already gathered were the same, a contrast to the usually colourful species. These ones had a palette of black, dark brown, dark red… and so on. Pinkie and Rainbow stood out like peaches on Applejacks farm.
“This place looks peachy!” Pinkie looked around in excitement. “It has ‘dark and mysterious’ down to a science!”
“Oh my gosh! It’s Princess Luna!” A mare from the small crowd hurried over, drawing everypony’s attention over to them. She bowed before she stopped fully, sliding the rest of the way in front of Luna. “We are so honoured that you have decided to join us on this beautiful night, Princess!”
Luna looked at her in confusion, seemingly at an impasse on what to say. She was saved when the rest of the ponies ran over to show their appreciation of their Princess of the Night. It would seem that Luna wasn’t as unpopular as she thought.
“You really are as beautiful as they say!”
“Can I touch your mane? I mean, just for a second… please?”
“I’ve always loved the night! I wouldn’t even mind if it lasted forever.”
“Remember me? I once came to your night court!”
Luna blushed slightly at all the attention, but Jax doubted anybody but himself noticed in the darkness of the place. Silence fell when she coughed into a hoof.
“Thank you all. Me and my compatriots are just here to enjoy ourselves, so please, don’t mind us too much.” She looked around at the expectant faces in front of her and seemed to relent a bit when a smile graced her muzzle. “You may all touch my mane if you do it one at a time.”
You would think she just gave Rarity permission to make dresses for the entirety of the royal family. Several of the ponies fainted, several more looked too stunned for words, and the rest started crying of joy.
So this was where the Luna fan club resides’ He mused with a smile. The other half probably consisted of astronomers… if they even had that here. He was fairly certain Twilight had a telescope somewhere in that castle, so probably.
One by one, the ponies stepped forward to touch Luna’s mane with a look of awe and joy on their muzzles.
“And I do remember you.” Luna suddenly said as a stallion stepped forward. “I hope your insomnia has stayed cured.”
And the crowd went wild again. It started raining praises from all around, the stallion looking ready to faint.
“Yes, yes.” Discord finally snapped. “We get it, you like Luna. Now can we move on?”
Jax could understand why he was annoyed. Personally, he was happy that Luna was getting the attention she deserved, but it quickly became too much. Luna seemed to enjoy it nonetheless, even if she wanted to look like it didn’t affect her. It probably meant more to her than he could ever understand.
They finally managed to move to the stage, first row, where Vinyl was waiting for them. She gave them a ‘what took you so long’ nod, to which Jax just smiled, shrugged, and nodded back. Vinyl was good at expressing herself without saying a word. He could imagine that it was easier than writing everything down.
It didn’t take long for the first changeling to come forth on the stage, walking with determination over to the mic. “Alright everypony, I hope you’re ready to-“ He finally looked properly at the audience, his gaze instantly being drawn to Rainbow Dash, before spreading to all of them. He stood completely speechless and frozen on the stage, until a bottle was thrown from backstage hitting him right in the head. That finally woke him up.
“I… uhm….“ alright maybe not entirely.
“Get on with it!” Rainbow Dash finally had enough.
“I’m sure he will when he’s ready, Rainbow. Give him some time.” Fluttershy softly chided her.
“You can do it, changeling!” Pinkie cheered. Discord snapped his claw to give her pon-pons, while he himself… also had pon-pons. “We believe in you!” They cheered together.
“Please…” Luna saw her opportunity when the changeling relaxed a little. “We are only here to enjoy ourselves. Don’t mind us.”
He finally relented and took the microphone again. He coughed into a holed hoof, before green fire overtook his form and a dark brown pony stood in his place when it was gone. “Alright ladies and gentleponies… and other beings.” He started with a smooth voice, the kind that could melt all and any tension with but a whisper. “We are here tonight to have fun and spread the love. Some of you have tried this before, but for those of you who are here for the first time, it’s pretty simple. We will perform for you, and while we do we will feed on your love for us, even if it is just for the performance. Should anypony volunteer for active feeding, I will remind you that this happens after the show.” His brown eyes once again swept over the group in front. “And let me make sure that everypony understand that we don’t want anypony to get hurt here, so let’s all just have fun tonight, alright?” He nervously looked at them again. “I mean, we are all peaceful beings-“
“Get on wi-“ Rainbow stopped mid-sentence at the disappointed look Fluttershy gave her. “I mean… would you please continue?” Fluttershy nodded appreciatively.
“A-Alright! Let me introduce the band. Steady Beat on the drums.” A changeling, eerily similar to the first one before he changed, came on stage and took his place by the drums. Maybe his holes were a bit different but it was hard to tell. “On guitar we have Epic Riff!” Another changeling came on stage with an electronic guitar… which made sense actually, since there was a dj right next to him. He didn’t even know why he was surprised. “On bass we have Background Beat, and I am the vocals - any and all we need - Any Note.” The last changeling came in, and the ponies stomped the floor in anticipation. “And no, those aren’t our changeling names, but don’t you worry about having to pronounce that mess. For now, let us take the form… of a song. This is an original song by us, Change Our Way, with the song… Leave it all Behind. Let’s rock!” He finished with a swirl of green fire that changed him back to a changeling. His voice became… rougher, which fit perfectly with the song.

Suffocate everything
They complicate everything
They seal your fate everyday but you can't believe it
Take yourself far away from nothingness
A million miles from emptiness

A sense of anticipation spread about the room as the song started instantly with perfect coordination. Jax was already nodding his head to the beat, his smile turning into a wide grin as he realized how much he had missed music. He needed to figure out how they played music electronically when this was over. After all... didn't Vinyl walk around with headphones?
But for now… there was nothing to do but to lose himself in the bliss.

Author's Note:

Finally here ^^ I hope you enjoyed it :b We cover a lot here, I'll try to be more focused next chapter... but we'll see ^^ Anyway, there's that changeling band I promised *yay* XD
I must admit, the idea that gryphons could purr came from House of the Rising Sun, I dunno it's from other places as well, but I thought the idea was absolutely adorable XD There's a lot of sex in that one, so read at own risk. It's like porn with a story ^^

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