• Published 21st May 2015
  • 5,866 Views, 382 Comments

The Equestrian Edda - Grey Ghost



The continuing saga of Jason Hughes as he moves into parenthood.

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The Most Important Night Of The Year

"Oh, thank you so much, Tree Hugger!" Fluttershy said, watching the earth pony in awe.

"It's nothing," the laid back pony said, gently setting a now calm Eris down in her crib. She had a bright green coat, and her reddish mane and tail were done up in dreadlocks.

"You just have to tell me your secret, Eris is so fussy," Fluttershy smiled. There was soft pop as Discord popped into existence. He hummed to himself, putting his hat on the hat rack,loosening his tie.

"Flutters dear, I'm home! Sorry for being late, Celly kept me a bit... longer..." He blinked, staring at Tree Hugger for a few seconds before giving her a smile, "Forgive my manners, I didn't know we were having company today. I'm Discord, it’s a pleasure too meet you miss...?" he asked, holding his talon out.

"It's like, totally nice to meet you," she said, taking his talon and giving it a shake. "I'm Tree Hugger."

"Tree Hugger is a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures!" Fluttershy started, "We met on one of my trips to see the Breezies."

"It's always nice to meet a friend of Fluttershy's," Discord said with a smile. He nuzzled Fluttershy before laying down on the couch. "So where's Moony? Sleeping like always?"

"Now Dissy, you know Moony is nocturnal," Fluttershy said, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Your family is like, totally radical," Tree said, looking at them with a small smile. "I'm really digging your off beat aura."

"Oh, thank you," Discord said with a smile, putting his talon and paw behind his head and his hoof and foot up on the table.

"Oh Dissy, Tree is going to be my plus one for the gala," Fluttershy said, passing them both a cup of tea.

"That's nice," he said, sipping his tea. "Has Moony picked her plus one yet?"

"I think she's going with Sonata. Have you decided who you're going to take to the gala?"

"Not yet," Discord said before sitting up abruptly. "Wait... the gala is tonight, isn't it?"

"Um... yes..." Fluttershy nodded, frowning a little.

"My ticket still hasn't arrived!" he nearly shouted as he grabbed his head, his eyes wide in realization.

"Well, it didn't arrive here..." Fluttershy said, tapping her chin. "Maybe they sent it to your old home?"

That caused a light bulb to appear between Discord's horns. "Why didn't I think of that? Well, I'm off, Flutters my dear. I'll see you ladies at the gala!" he sing-songed, kissing Fluttershy and Eris on the head before bursting into confetti.

"That dude is so totally righteous. You’re lucky to be mated to him."

"Oh um... thank you," Fluttershy said, hiding behind her mane.


"Do I really have to wear this?" Jason asked with a sigh, watching as Rarity put the finishing touches on his suit. "Can't I just wear my armor?"

"Of course not," she said, rolling her eyes. "The gala is the most important event of the year. You have to look your best."

"I look my best in armor," he tried to argue, frowning at her.

"I highly disagree, now just stand still so I can put on the finishing touches," she snapped, causing the jotun to grumble and stand as still as possible. Rarity just smiled, humming to herself as she worked.

"Best not to argue, Jay," Dash said, having thankfully already gotten her dress on. "You know how Rarity gets."

"It was sorta cool she made this for me," Gilda said, looking over the tuxedo Rarity had made for her. Rarity had offered to make her a dress but Gilda had refused on the grounds that she wasn't going to 'look like a dweeb'.

"Hay yeah, you look so hot," Dash said, kissing her cheek, chuckling at the face Scootaloo made. "Hey, you aren't upset I'm taking Gilda as my plus one are you?"

"Nah!" the young pegasus said, giving her a smile, "I'm going as Spike's plus one!"

"It's going to be great!" Sweetie Belle piped up, the Crusaders all cuddled together smirking.

"We're going to the gala!" they chanted, jumping up and down, making the adults groan and roll their eyes at them.

"How are the four of us gettin' along?" Applejack asked, looking at the three fillies.

"We're doin' great AJ! This night is gonna be perfect!" Apple Bloom smiled, her excitement rather infectious.

"Now ya'll just calm down, sugarcube," Applejack said, "It ain't like it's a life-changin' experience or nothiiiiing..." Her lip quivered and she started to tear up. "My little sister's all grown up!"

"Oh here we go," Dash said, rolling her eyes at Applejack's dramatics,"Are you done yet Rarity?"

The fashionista took a step back, rubbing her chin, and examined her work before breaking into a smile. "There! You look simply divine, darling!"

"The things I do for love," he muttered with a roll of his eyes, though despite himself, he couldn't hold back a smile. "Whatever makes you happy, love." He looked around at the gathered group. "Are we all set?"

"Yup," Applejack said, wiping at her eyes. "We're jus' wait'n on Megan, Chrysalis and Trixie." As if on cue, the aforementioned three walked into the room. Megan wore a rather nice looking red dress, done up with gems and frills, as per Rarity's normal style. Trixie wore a similar dress, styled after her cape, with a matching hat. Chrysalis was in human form, wearing her own dress, which was her usual colors of black and various shades of green.

"Must I do this?" Trixie asked with a sigh and a frown, as she adjusted her hat.

"You need to get out more," Jason said, shaking his head. "OK, if we're all ready, the carriages are waiting for us." He moved over, locking arms with Chrysalis. Rarity took her place at his other side, the trio leading the group out of the castle and into their awaiting transports.


Despite Canterlot's rather sorry looking state, the turnout for the gala was as large as ever. Jason sighed, glad his fear of crowds had lessened into a mere dislike of them.

"Just relax and try to have some fun," Chrysalis said, kissing his cheek. The others had spread out around the room, mingling happily, though there was no sign of Discord yet.

"I'm with Chrysalis on this, Jason," Megan said, brushing some hair out of her face. "Just think of it like a more important prom night!"

"I didn't go to prom," Jason replied with a flat look.

Megan opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the announcers blowing their trumpets. "Announcing the spirit of chaos, Discord, and his guest, the, uh..." He paused as Discord leaned over to whisper in his ear. "The Smooze!"

Megan's eyes widened and she turned around, trembling at the mere mention of the name. Her eyes locked onto the green ooze that slithered up next to Discord. She let out a shriek of terror and in the blink of an eye, she had run up the main flight of stairs and jumped on Celestia's back, holding on for dear life.

"Megan dear..." Celestia started, looking at the human with a slight frown. "Are you alright?"

"The Smooze!" Megan shouted, pointing at the blob. "Jason! Do something before it smothers us all!"

Jason just blinked, looking between the Smooze and his mother, not sure what was going on.

"Megan, why don't we go somewhere quiet and you can tell me all about it, hmm?" Celestia asked, moving down the stairs and out toward the balconies while Megan babbled on about the horrible singing Smooze.

"Any idea what that was about?" Jason asked, looking at Discord. The spirit of chaos shrugged, adjusting his top hat. He wore a rather nice, orange tuxedo top with matching hat and a cane.

"I honestly have no idea. To be frank, I don't really know Smooze here, but all our other friends were already coming so I figured, what better way to make a new friend than to take them to a party!"

"So, wait," Jason said, not taking his eyes off the Smooze, "You brought a creature you don't know to a party because no one else could come with you? That's insane."

"Oh you're just overreacting," Discord said, rolling his eyes at Jason. The two then watched as the Smooze slithered by, eating the jewels off of a passing pony. Discord frowned, seeing the unamused look on Jason's face. "Okay, okay, I'll keep an eye on him, no need to worry."

Jason just rolled his eyes as he approached close enough to the Smooze to get a scan off of it. "Chrysalis, I'm going to check on my mom, you and Rarity just have fun, alright?"

"Of course," she said, nodding. She grabbed Rarity, dragging her away from Fancy Pants and his entourage, and into the ballroom. Jason just chuckled as he went out onto the balconies. Megan was sitting at one of the tables with Celestia, shakily drinking a cup of tea.

"You okay, mom?" he asked, taking a seat at the table.

"Y-yeah I'm okay..." she said, taking a sip from her tea. "J-just me overreacting..."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"B-back when I was a little girl... Ponyland was almost destroyed by a singing ooze called the Smooze... it almost took over until the flutterponies saved us..."

"Was that the same Smooze that Discord just brought with him?" Jason asked, deciding he was better off not asking what the hell a flutterpony was.

"I-I don't think so. This one is a different color... and it's not... singing..." she said, shuddering as The Smooze's song replayed in her head, bringing back terrible memories of the formless horror.

"Well, if you're feeling better, I'm going to go join the party." Jason got up, placed a kiss on Megan's cheek, and proceeded into the ballroom. He stood in the door, gazing out across the room. Spike was at a table with the Crusaders, the four of them seemed to be having a good time. Trixie was off with Twilight, probably arguing about magic. He spied Chrysalis by the refreshment table, so he headed over to her.

"Hey," she said, and the two shared a kiss. "How's your mom?"

"She's a little out of it, but otherwise she's cool." He took another look around. "Where's Rares?"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "That blob thing Discord brought with him ate her dress and she snuck out. Mumbled something about her 'secret stash.'"

Jason sighed, running his hand down his face. "You wanna dance?"

"Sure." Chrysalis finished up her drink, taking his hand. "We need some music first, you know."

"Good thing Twi put me in charge of the music tonight." He walked over to the music setup, where his MP3 player sat, hooked up to a sound system. He flipped through the song list before deciding on the Bee Gees and hit play. As the first notes filled the air, Jason and Chrysalis took to the dance floor. The ponies, having never heard disco before, weren't too sure at first, but once Pinkie and the Smooze hit the dance floor, the rest of them joined in the fun.


The hours passed rather quickly with everyone enjoying themselves, Jason's choices in music were a hit with the ponies, and he and Rarity, who had somehow gotten a new dress, were just coming off the dance floor when Chrysalis bolted out of her seat, her eyes wide. She reverted to her original form, not seeming to care if it ruined her dress.

"Chrysalis dear, are you alright?" Rarity asked with a frown, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Eggs!" the stressed out empress shouted. "The eggs are hatching!"

"Oh shit! I'll get-"

"No time!" Chrysalis shouted, her horn glowing. A circle of flame appeared around the three of them and in a moment they sunk into the floor, vanishing. They reappeared in a heap at the hive, Chrysalis immediately pulling herself to her feet, tearing ass to their room.

"This is not how I imagined tonight going..." Jason grumbled, getting to his feet, brushing himself off.

"Hurry your asses up!" Chrysalis screamed back at them.

"You go ahead, Jason," Rarity said, getting to her hooves, brushing her dress off. "I'll catch up." Jason nodded, running down the hall. He found Chrysalis in front of the nest, a soft chittering sound filling the air.

Chrysalis turned to look at him, a serene smile gracing her muzzle. "Come look at them, they're beautiful." He moved over, taking a seat next to her. He let out a small gasp as he looked down at the hatchlings – his children.

The first one that caught his eyes was a little girl, if the lack of a scorpion tail was anything to go by. She was humanoid, with a mostly human body structure, though her legs still ended in hooves. She gazed up at him with curious red eyes. The other two, while not humanoid, were still different from any changeling Jason had ever seen.

The only male in the group had a reddish tint to his body, which had more gaps in the carapace than usual, said gaps giving off a yellow glow, which matched his eyes. The other little girl was a deep blue color, and her tiny wings were rather moth-like.

"Why don't you name them?" Chrysalis suggested, smiling at him.

Jason thought for a moment before smiling back. "I got it. Freya," he looked at the little humanoid nymph, "Sif," he looked at the other girl, "and Heimdal," he said, looking at the little boy. The two of them snuggled together, tears silently running down his face. Today certainly was the most important day of the year.