Chapter 5: In Which A Birthday Girl Finds Hope
After they’d paid their bill, Twilight and Discord left the restaurant and made their way back to the apartment on hoof. Up above, the darkened sky twinkled with thousands of stars and when Twilight took a moment to watch them, Discord plucked her off the sidewalk and set her high up on his shoulders.
She laughed. “I’m not too old for piggyback rides?”
Discord held onto her legs so she wouldn’t slip off. “Ponyback rides. And, no, you’re not too old for anything. I’m the one that should be too old for things. If we were to truly compare the age difference between us, I’d actually look like some kind of monster—considering I could’ve watched your conception and the conception of both your parents and their parents and their parents and—”
“I get it.”
“Just making sure.”
They walked in silence for a time, Twilight stargazing while Discord casually strolled up the street. By that time in the evening, most people were either in their homes or on the street in their cars, so that left the pair more or less to themselves. The solitude gave Twilight time to think—time to think back on everything that had happened to them in the last couple of years.
“I spoke with that buspony earlier,” Twilight said. “I asked him how he was liking it here.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said it was hard, but that he didn’t mind it too much—that things usually get better in time.”
“Sounds like quite the hopeful chap.”
Twilight rested her head on top of Discord’s, mindful of the horns. “Yeah.” She thought about the next thing she wanted to say; like something she could feel building up inside of her the entire night. “I think I’ve been making excuses to hate this place,” she admitted quietly.
“The apartment?”
“Earth. I think I’ve been going out of my way so I’d never feel comfortable here. I lock myself inside and say that humans are the reason I won’t go out. I tell myself it’s the stares and finger-pointing that makes me want to disconnect from everything, but is that really it?”
Discord didn’t answer her, only waited for her to continue.
Twilight sighed. “I miss Shining Armor and Cadence and Princess Celestia and Luna and Spike and all of them just as much as I ever have. But do you think this is how they’d want to see me? Moping around all day, ignoring everything around me when I could be doing something more? Something positive?”
“I’d be careful there, Twilight,” Discord warned her, “you’re almost starting to sound like your former self.”
“I could always try to make this place feel more like home.”
“You do understand that home is just a word, don’t you? Anything could become a home with the right ingredients. What did Equestria have that let you call it home? Friends? Family? Things that made you happy?” He paused. “Even if they’re not in the city anymore, Twilight, your friends are still there for you. I’m there for you. And if we were to wed one day, then that would make us a family as well. And if we were to have kids—”
“I still don’t have an answer to that, Discord.”
He chuckled. “And you could always create your own type of happiness here. If teaching others makes you happy, then that’s something you should do. Helping others? I’m sure loads of ponies could use your help right now, adjusting to their new surroundings. You always spoke about traveling to our original Equestria without damaging the barriers between worlds. I’m sure more than a few scientists on this rock would want in on that type of discovery.”
Twilight smiled faintly, then kissed the top of his head.
“Thanks for tonight. I… I think I needed it. It was a nice birthday. A weird one, sure, but a nice one.”
Discord snapped a birthday hat onto her head. “But who says it’s over?”
***
“SURPRISE!”
The moment they opened the door to their apartment, Twilight was shoved back out into the hall as five mares collapsed on top of her for a hug. The one in the lead was Pinkie Pie with a birthday hat of her own. At the back of the pack was Fluttershy, who might’ve just let herself get pushed out of the way by the others. Regardless, she still latched onto Rarity’s back and gave it a tight squeeze.
“I had the oddest feeling I’d see you girls tonight,” Twilight said, once they detached from her and re-entered the apartment.
Applejack grinned. “Shucks, Twilight. You think we wouldn’t be around for your birthday? It’s not like getting here’s a big deal or anything—not when that boyfriend of yours can just snap us here just like that.”
“Twilight!” Apple Bloom yelled, trotting towards her.
“Hey! How come we weren’t included in the group hug?” Sweetie Belle joined her friend along with Scootaloo, hugging both of Twilight’s forelegs.
Twilight ruffled each of their manes. “Sorry, girls. I think it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. But I’m happy to see you three.”
As everyone made their way to the set of couches Discord had created in the middle of the apartment, Twilight took the time to view all the streamers and decorations adorning the room. If she had to guess, it looked like an even split between team Pinkie Pie and team Rarity—somehow both elegant while brimming with good cheer.
Piled high on the table in the kitchen were several plates of snacks and desserts. Against the wall was a tall tower of wrapped gifts, each topped with shiny bows. Twilight had to take a breath and bite the tip of her tongue when she felt her eyes start to water.
When she finally joined the rest of them in the living room, Sweetie Belle jumped at the opportunity to fill her in on what she’d missed. Turned out, school wasn’t going as bad as she thought it might’ve.
“And the principal was really nice and let all three of us in most of the same classes. What’s not nice is that our teachers won’t let us be in the same group every time, so we’re forced to pair up with other kids in class.”
“And are the other kids nice to you three?” Twilight asked, sipping from the glass of punch Discord had given to her from the kitchen.
Sweetie Belle gave an exaggerated nod. “The kids in class are nice—almost too nice. Whenever we’re supposed to pick teams in gym or recess or stuff like that, it’s always us three that are picked first. And, sometimes, kids get mad when one of us isn’t on their teams.”
“It’s like kids just love ponies or something!” Scootaloo added.
“And the best part is that not a single one of the kids have cutie marks of their own! So it’s like we’re all Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Sweetie Belle grimaced. “Well, or maybe it just means kids on Earth never find out if they’re good at anything or not.”
Rarity told her sister, “I thought I told you before that humans don’t get cutie marks, Sweetie Belle. You must still be thinking of tattoos—which are sort of like cutie marks in their own right, but don’t necessarily need to explain what that person’s talent is.”
“Not everyone can be a lepidopterist,” Discord quipped. When everyone looked at him confused, he grumbled, “It means the study of butterflies for goodness sake! Go read a book, why don’t you?”
Applejack and Apple Bloom went next, explaining where they’d settled down and about the insane enthusiasm over the new Sweet Apple Acres. As it turned out, the moment her and her family set up a new farm and orchard, public interest and overall demand for their pony-created product went through the roof and soon investors were literally pounding on their door to get their business.
After explaining the story, Applejack huffed out a breath. “I mean, having so many people wanting our family’s apples, applesauce, and cider is great and all, but there’s just no way of keeping up with demand! Big Mac tried to keep up for two days straight and it nearly killed him. There’s this one company that wants us to sign with them and go the big machine route—no more bucking trees or making jam from scratch. ‘Machines will do all the work for you,’ they said. ‘It’ll taste the same and no one will notice.’ Sounds nice and all, but Granny Smith and I agree that that’s just not the way the Apple family works.”
“They even want us in commercials,” Apple Bloom said, sitting next to Applejack on the couch, “like the whole family. And they want our pictures on the front of applesauce jars and whatever else they can stick ‘em on. They said that the ‘traditional family image’ is really important to people that buy things. They also said anything with ponies on it nowadays tends to sell.”
Rainbow Dash returned from the kitchen with a plate of cheese fondue. “So you ever make a deal with them, AJ?”
Applejack shook her head. “Not yet. Not until we straighten out some details, and not until the whole family can agree to them. More business would be nice, but at the moment, we’re still making more than we ever had back at the old Sweet Apple Acres.” She eyed up Rainbow Dash’s snack. “That looks good. Fluttershy, why don’t you tell Twilight what you’ve been up to?”
Fluttershy brought a hoof to her mouth. “Oh, right. Well, it’s really nothing special. I mean… I work at a veterinarian clinic now. I’m what they call a ‘specialist.’ Whenever they get an animal that’s behaving a little bad, I come in and try to sooth them—sometimes with a song or by talking to them. It’s amazing how gentle Earth creatures can be once you listen to what they have to say. Such a shame humans here can’t do that with them.”
With a mouth full of cheese, Rainbow Dash asked, “Didn’t you get in trouble just a short while ago?”
Fluttershy blushed and tried to hide behind her mane. “I… might have. I mean… at one time, I kept on bringing animals from work home with me to look after, not realizing their owners might not like that too much. Or my apartment’s supervisor. I truly can’t believe they won’t allow pets there. That’s why I’m trying to save up for a house, so I can have lots and lots of animal friends again.”
As the night wore on, Rainbow Dash explained to Twilight her continued plans for a full-blown Pony Olympics, including all the sponsors that already wanted in on the deal. Rarity and Sweetie Belle had created a higher-end garment store in downtown Philadelphia. At first, they only catered to the small number of ponies in the city, before expanding to accommodate humans as well. Living in the same city and attending the same school as her friends, Scootaloo lived with either the Apple family at their farm, or with Rarity in her shop. Scootaloo said the travel distance between her two homes had done wonders on strengthening her wings. Once in a blue moon, she’d even crash with Rainbow Dash when she had a few days free.
The only friend of Twilight’s that she wasn’t completely sure of was Pinkie Pie, who said she’d gotten a job somewhere in the government sector. When pressed on the subject, Pinkie Pie only gave her a smile and a nod, then said it was secret. A deep secret. Twilight decided to let it go.
To no one’s real surprise, thirteen out of the fourteen gifts labeled for Twilight ended up being books—half about human culture and the other half including some of humanities’ more well-known novels. Twilight had to admit the popular series about a boy wizard attending wizarding school sounded like her type of story, especially when she thought that humans had no horn to speak of.
Then again, Twilight thought, flipping through the first hardback in the set, I never fully understood how that spell book of Steve’s worked, either.
After Twilight had finished unwrapping all of her gifts (including a secondary one from the Apple family that had a “friendship coupon” inside, inviting her to stay with them for a week, bed and breakfast style), Discord snapped together a multicolored bookshelf to stand in the corner. When the bookshelf attempted to nibble on the first book she set inside of it, Twilight zapped it away with her horn and told Discord they’d buy a real one from Ikea when they could.
“I’m almost surprised Steve didn’t come,” Twilight said absently, organizing her books in a neat little stack by the side of the couch.
The abrupt silence in the room made her laugh. Not once that evening had a single one of them made mention of Steve or Sombra or Equestria at all. Discord must’ve asked them not to—or told them not to, as was his usual way with requests.
Twilight waved a hoof. “If you want to talk about Steve, that’s fine. It’s not that sore a subject, anyways.”
“Well, truthfully,” Rarity began, “I couldn’t care less what Steve’s been up to. We all came here to see you, Twilight. So what have you been doing all this time? Have you been working on something? Knowing you, I’m sure it must be big.”
Twilight brought her cup of punch up to her face to hide her burning cheeks. “I… uh… actually, you see—”
“Twilight’s going to be teaching at the university next semester,” Discord answered smoothly, wrapping an arm around her.
She glared at him. “Oh?”
He smirked. “Oh, yes.”
Fluttershy clapped her hooves together. “That just sounds wonderful, Twilight. You’ve always been such a good teacher. What subjects would you do?”
Discord continued for her, “Equestrian history, perhaps, the basics of magic, chemistry—”
“—and lessons in friendship,” Twilight finished.
Discord raised a brow. “Oh? That’s a new one. Hard to say how many humans would attend.”
Twilight thought about what she’d just said—the idea that had wormed its way into her head before exiting from her mouth in such a speedy fashion. “To me, it doesn’t matter who attends. It’s something I think is important. Princess Celestia taught me about the true power of friendship, and you all did, too. It would… it would be a shame to let that knowledge go to waste.”
In a blur of light blue, Rainbow Dash flew over to her. “You know, Twilight, if you ever wanted a guest speaker or something, I could probably find some time in my schedule. Remember that time I punched that dragon in the face? I’m sure everyone would love to hear that story. It was awesome!”
Twilight sighed. “Actually, I do remember, Rainbow Dash, and that wasn’t—”
With the snap of his fingers, Discord froze everyone in the apartment besides the pair.
He whispered into her ear, “Let’s get some air, honey bear.”
So they did.
***
“—the correct way of handling things,” Twilight finished inside the apartment, seated next to Discord.
Twilight watched herself and her friends through the apartment’s outside window, standing on a balcony that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
She watched her other self say something else inside and turned to Discord. “Duplicates? I hope you don’t make me say something stupid while I’m out here.”
Discord chuckled. “I’ve been using duplicates for a while now, Twilight, and so far even you haven’t taken notice. Your friends won’t know a thing—plus, they talk too much and were starting to annoy me. If they wanted to talk so much, couldn’t they talk about me?”
Twilight left the scene inside the apartment and approached the railing on the other end, resting her hooves on it. Discord stood next to her and viewed the horizon—black sky up above, thousands of tiny homes and towering skyscrapers far into the distance. In just that single view, Twilight was again reminded of how far away from home she was. But she found this time it didn’t hurt as much as it had.
“Thanks for covering for me in there,” she said.
“About the job thing?”
“Yeah.”
“What would’ve been the alternative? Explain to them the scholarly pastime known as channel surfing?”
Twilight steeled herself, before explaining, “I think that’s what I want to do. I do want to teach, but only if I can teach about what I think matters.”
Timidly, Discord turned to her. “Truthfully?”
She smiled a bit. “Yes. Explaining it to Fluttershy and the rest of them felt nice, even if it wasn’t exactly the truth. When you mentioned it, I could even see myself in front of a room full of eager students—desks full of parchment and quills.”
Discord ran a hand down his face. “Laptops, Twilight. Humans have laptops.”
“Either way, it’s… it sounds like a nice idea. Or at least something to think about.”
On the railing, Discord moved his hand to hold Twilight’s hoof. “You know what this means, don’t you? If you get a job, then I’ll need to get a job. That sucks. I can’t even remember my last job. What do you think I’d be good at? Actor? I’d be a real shoo-in for the next Bond villain. Or maybe I could be a sports mascot. The Denver Draconequuses! Rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”
Twilight laughed, resting her head on his side. “Maybe you could be the stay at home boyfriend.”
He cocked a brow. “You mean staying home and looking after the kids?”
“I mean staying home and making sure you don’t accidentally end the world—this is kind of our home, at least for now, and there’s only the one of them.”
Discord held his breath for a moment. “You called this place home just now. Did you really mean that, Twilight?”
“I think so. In time, I think I could. Tonight was a good way of showing me that it’s possible. The moment I got here, I trapped myself in a bubble … it just took some time for someone to pop it and let me actually experience this place for myself.”
Discord eyed his free hand. “My claws are awfully good at popping things. But enough seriousness for one night—that Arthur business was grim enough as it was.”
“Arthur business?”
He chuckled. “You misheard me, Twilight. I said armoire bee’s nest.”
“That still doesn’t—”
Discord pressed a finger to her lips. “Tut-tut! No more words. Close your eyes.”
“Wealy?” she asked through mashed lips.
“Yep.”
With a sigh, Twilight climbed off the railing and shut her eyes. A moment later, she heard Discord snap something out of the air.
“All right. Open up.”
Kneeling before her, Discord held a small black box with a silver ring inside—about a half-sized larger than the wedding rings most humans wore.
He smiled playfully. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, will you do me the honor of marrying me? Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and all around amazing guy?”
Twilight wrapped a leg around his middle and buried her face into his chest. “Of course I will. You’ve always known that I would. But don’t you remember—”
He pulled a slip of paper from behind his back and unfurled it. “Ponies marrying draconequuses? That little hiccup? Finally made law a little over a week ago. And since there’s not all that many of me here on Earth, they sent it to us directly.”
“I can’t see them doing that.”
Discord frowned. “Fine. I stole it. Whatever. It just looks so much better this way.”
Twilight sighed and decided to let it go, wrapping her other leg around Discord’s middle. It was nice how warm he was in the cool night air.
“We’re going to be all right, aren’t we?” she said to his stomach.
“Was there ever any doubt? You and I, Twilight, if we put our minds to it, could rule this world!”
“Or maybe we could first try being happy and content here.”
“Fine. Have it your way.” He ran a hand along her back. “I’ll put global takeover on the back burner, then.”
“Thanks.”
“So… if you don’t have any plans for tomorrow—time for a wedding?”
“Ask me again in three months.”
Finally prying herself from him, Twilight levitated the ring from the box and slid it onto her horn, settling it down near her mane. “Look all right?”
Discord tipped her a wink. “Looks exactly like twelve thousand dollars worth of Steve’s money.”
She gave him a dirty look and he gulped.
“I mean, it looks lovely, Twilight. Now let’s go make Rarity jealous with it.”
Twilight hugged him once more. “Not too jealous, though. And, again, thanks for tonight. This was a really nice birthday. And I know you worked hard on it, and I appreciate that.”
“You know I’d do anything for you.”
“I do. And that’s why I love you.”
With a hand behind her head, he kissed her. “I love you, too, Twilight.”
Twilight turned back to the apartment and gasped. All eight of her friends and even the Twilight and Discord duplicates had found a spot by the window in which to watch them from. In Pinkie Pie’s lap was a box of popcorn that she ate from happily.
Discord coughed into a fist. “Time to go back in?”
Twilight agreed.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- naturalbornderpy · 17k words · 249 7 · 4.7k views
- Kenny · 26k words · 556 views
- Super Trampoline · 1.3k words · 67 2 · 1.7k views
- naturalbornderpy · 2.2k words · 227 1 · 4.4k views
- TheOneAJ · 1.8k words · 34 7 · 2.2k views
- Smoker · 3.4k words · 35 2 · 1.5k views
- Jade the YoniPony · 4.8k words · 33 6 · 2.1k views
- TimeRarity64 · 1k words · 27 0 · 1.4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.205 seconds
Total duration
1,044 users online
1,838,965 hits today, 2,205,040 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I have to say that I liked this story. I liked it very much.
I was a bit hesitant at first, thinking it would be comedic whimsy, like the previous one. But I was pleasantly surprised at the more serious tone. Keep up the great work!
That ending was sweet.
now i am curious about pinkie job
This was a great story, and I really appreciate it filling in the gaps before the epilogue of Unmotivated. But I was really creeped out by the last chapter (in a good way.) Discord checking that everyone is nice to the CMC, his routine use of duplicates, almost everyone being so nice to ponies and fast-tracking Discord's personal marriage laws... Arthur isn't the first, is he, not by a long shot?
6511074 Thanks for saying so!
But I don't think Discord did anything to help the CMCs. I think any kid in school would be like, "Talking pony!? I'm gonna befriend that so hard!"
6510369 Something in the FBI. That seems to make the least sense.
6509646 Thanks!
6509640 I didn't want to repeat myself, so I went for a more serious feel. Although there are still plenty of odd, goofy parts, anyways. Thanks for reading!
6512940
Or in the CIA.
Nicely done! A great follow up and really good character piece.
6513908 Thank you!
Glad you came back for a little more.
As always, an excellent story.
But I will confess, throughout the whole thing I kept waiting... waiting for Discord to reveal himself as never having been in love with Twilight at all, but just fooling her, along with every other being.
This expectation kept me from fully enjoying the story as I was meant to the first read through.
Hey, don't blame me... I read "Strings" first... you wrote it... lol
However, freed from this expectation, I reread it and found it to be pretty darned good. And, as with everything else you've written, you've left me wanting to beg for more.
On another note, any interest in writing an alternate earth/pony story, with Sweetie Belle as Prime Minister of Canada? One can't help noticing just how close the Canadian flag is to Sweetie Belle's new cutie mark...
6516985 Nah. Discord from "Strings" is very different from this one. This one's still mean... but you'll live to see another day. It would be interesting to know when Earth nominates its first pony politician, though. And how many of the original four million migrated to Canada after arriving.
I gotta admit, a Tim Hortons run by ponies sounds damn cute.
Pinkie Pie as a government agent? Maud could join her and be the straight guy, the good cop, while Pinkie is the insane bad cop.
6519181 With only 4 million ponies compared to Earth's 7 billion humans (and however many hundreds of Changelings, zebras and griffins), there'll probably end up being some sort of 'go forth and multiply'-esque directives so the population difference isn't quite as big. Just imagine Twilight with twelve foals
6547672 Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie? I could see some X-Files type thing going on with them. Pinkie Pie believes all the weird things, while Maud constantly tries to downplay them.
When Pinkie Pie leaves the show during the last two season, Cheese Sandwich fills in for her. Ratings drop instantly.
Huh, how come this story didn't appear to me until now?
A great read, loved it all. What a way to turn a person's point of view - just put them into the skin of what they hate so much
And that ending... awwww, so much fluff and cuteness and overall good feel. Lovely story
6714818 Thank you!
Why did it take you so long to find? 
Don't trust my other work, good sir? Only kidding. Glad you gave it a read.
6716239 I don't know!
Maybe I'm just slow. Probably that. Definitely that 
Finally read this and enjoyed it. I had wondered what the girls got up too. Discord mooching off Steve is hilarious and Twilight's problems adjusting is exactly what I would expect. The other girls though all bounced nicely into new lives and adjusted well.
I'm looking for a sequel to this one; about 150 years have passed, and the guy that's been taking care of Sombra had just died, and his heirs were put in charge of him. Any idea where that one might be?
Edit: Nevermind, it was a continuation of this one, put on hiatus:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/248584/sombra-the-highly-unmotivated
Sad that it may not finish v_v
DELET THIS. REEEEEE
Fuck this Discord. He deserves to be trapped by the elements again for what he did.
It's amazing 🤩, it's wonderful story 🥰, awesome story 😄🤗😎😺😸I LOVE IT❤️
I will want to read it again and again it's a great story.My opinion is one of the best stories twicord stories, I'm amazed 🤩🤯😲good job. I would like to see 😏such similar scenes in other twicord stories😊🥺😁