The Four Alicorns

by KidatHeart5

Ponyville

While the train was cutting across plains and fields, Flurry Heart looked out the window in amazement. She had only seen what lied over the horizon from the view the high tower had to offer, but right now, she was seeing everything beyond the Crystal Empire for the very first time. She had never left her castle home or the Empire until now. To be honest, she didn’t know what to feel. She felt awed, joyous, nervous, scared, and thrilled all at the same time. All she could do at the moment was stare out the window and watch every patch of green fly by.

“Flurry Heart?” a voice cut through her trance.

“Huh?” She looked to her left to see Sprinkles seated next to her.

“I just asked you a question: why are you going to Discord’s castle? And in time for the Jubilee, too.”

“Well, I thought it would seem fitting if I went to his castle as an honored guest. My father sent the emperor a message telling him that I wished to help by drawing more guests to the celebration.”

Sprinkles chuckled, “Yeah. At any rate, almost nopony would want to attend the Jubilee willingly.”

“That’s what Discord said in his message. He practically agreed to have me come a week before so I can encourage attendance.”

“So…the way you were looking out the window, I take it you’ve never been outside the Crystal Empire before?”

Flurry shook her head, “Nope. Never.” She had prepared a story for if anypony asked about her background. She told Sprinkles, “I was found as a baby and taken to the orphanage. I left the orphanage when I was a preteen and lived on the streets.”

“Why didn’t you leave when you had the chance?”

“One, no money, and two, the Empire was just so beautiful that I couldn’t bear to leave. A couple of years ago, King Sombra and Queen Radiant Hope found me and saw that I had the potential to become a princess. They adopted me into the royal family and I’ve lived happily in the palace until now.”

“What made you want to go see Emperor Discord in the first place?”

“I know what he’s doing to Equestria.” As she said this, the plains rolling past her window became pink with a checkered pattern. Floating trees and multi-colored waterfalls flowing in reverse whizzed by the train. The sky then began to change from blue to pink. She continued despite being surprised by the views before her, “It can’t go on like this forever.”

“Well, if you’re the spirit of chaos, you make sure it stays this way.”

“And what’s going to happen when he rules for 100 years? All hope of restoring Equestria to the country it was before will be lost. Trust me, this is not the Equestria I was born in.”

Sprinkles asked in confusion, “What?”

Flurry realized her slip and said nervously, “Oh! What I mean to say is that Equestria should be a country we’re proud of, not trapped under a mad king’s rule.”

“Ditto.”

Flurry Heart was worried that she just hinted at her big secret, but luckily, Sprinkles didn’t seem to catch on. She changed the subject by saying, “So, how did you become a party pony?”

He answered, “Being a party pony has been in the family for a few generations. I want to uphold the code of my great-grandparents and spread joy to ponies who are despaired by the chaos.”

“Your great-grandmother wouldn’t happen to be Pinkie Pie, would it?”

“The bearer of the Element of Laughter? Yep, that’s the one.”

“No wonder your mane is so much like hers.”

He said as he patted his mane, “And a bit of my father and great-grandfather.”

“It sure must be a big responsibility to carry on the tradition of party-throwing.”

“Well, haven’t you felt the same way about being a princess?”

“More times than you think.”

Both chuckled until the conductor shouted, “Ponyville! Next stop, Ponyville!”

Sprinkles said as he rose from the bench, “This is where we get off.” He asked Flurry, “You coming, Flurry?” When he saw that she was just sitting on the bench with her eyes wide open, he asked in concern, “Flurry? Flurry Heart? Flurry, can you hear me?”

The conductor then shouted again, “Ponyville! All passengers getting off for Ponyville!”

That snapped Flurry Heart out of her trance and she shook her head. “What? Oh.” She apologized as she stood up, “Sorry about that. Let’s go.”

When they got off the train, Sprinkles asked, “Hey, Flurry. Are you okay? You were acting kind of weird on the train. What’s going on?”

She sighed, “It’s just that I’m nervous meeting Discord for the first time.” Actually, it was because she was seeing him again after more than 20 years and she was worried that there was a chance he might recognize her. She knew a few members of his family who would know who she was right away. She only hoped that they would keep their first meeting a secret from Discord.

Sprinkles said, “I’m with you, sis. Ever since I’ve been ordered by His Majesty, I’ve been pretty antsy about making the jubilee exactly what he wants. I have your birthday party to thank, really.”

She asked, “Oh? And why’s that?”

“Well, planning for your birthday bash helped me take my mind off the jubilee…mostly. It helped me relax and remember just why I throw parties like yours. I look forward to seeing the happy grins on ponies’ faces and making sure they have a great time. I want Discord and pretty much everypony else who attends the jubilee to have that, too.”

“Wait a minute. You actually want Discord to be happy?”

“Well, yeah. Shouldn’t even the Lord of Chaos deserve a happy smile on his face?”

“You may be right about that, but most other ponies would want to see him suffer for his crimes.”

“Okay, let me tell you something. Nopony should ever suffer really badly, even for all the bad things they’ve done. Unless you were a total bad guy, then you should suffer really badly.”

“Well, I know for a fact that Discord has a family, so he must care for them in some way.”

“I feel you, Flurry. Family is important to me, too.”

“Yeah, but is it important to Discord? That’s what I want to know.”

At that moment, they reached Sugar Cube Corner. Sprinkles said, “Well, here we are. Home sweet home.”

“You actually live here?”

“Of course! My family has been helping the Cake family for generations. Come on. I want you to meet somepony.” When they entered the bakery, Sprinkles called out, “Confetti! Confetti, where are you? Ollie-ollie-oxen free!”

Flurry giggled a bit at the last part.

Just then, the door to the kitchen flew open and a white unicorn mare with light sea green mane with dark crimson streaks stepped out carrying a cake with her moderate amber magic.

She grunted, “Yeah, yeah, I’m right here. No need to shout ‘Ollie-ollie-oxen-‘”

Her eyes widened when she saw Flurry Heart. When she let out a gasp, the cake dropped, but luckily Flurry caught it with her magic.
Confetti bowed as she said, “Your Highness!” When she stood up again, she took the cake from Flurry as she sheepishly said, “Oh, you don’t need to carry that, princess! I’ll do the heavy-lifting.”

Flurry said as the unicorn placed the cake on the counter, “Oh, I don’t mind. In fact, I love to help.”

Sprinkles said, “I don’t think you girls were properly introduced. Flurry Heart, meet Confetti Cake. Confetti Cake, Flurry Heart.”

Confetti leaned over the counter and said in a faux annoyed tone, “You were so lucky to plan Flurry’s birthday party.”

“It was just the break I needed from planning the Polka Dot Jubilee.”

“Well, don’t plan a party for hundreds of guests. Aside from the royals who are attending out of obligation, not many ponies will want to be around Emperor Discord.”

Flurry asked, “What were his last few jubilees like?”

Sprinkles said, “Last time, ponies were tricked into thinking the Plaid Jubilee wasn’t going to happen and that there would be a private celebration for all ponies to attend. You can imagine how shocked and sorely ticked the guests were when they found out it was the jubilee all along.”

Confetti said, “On his Diamond Jubilee, Discord got dirt on every pony and blackmailed them into coming to his party.”

The mention of the Diamond Jubilee ached Flurry’s heart, for it was the day her father died. To change the subject, she asked, “What about his Golden Jubilee?”

Sprinkles remarked, “You really haven’t read that much about Discord’s rule, have you?”

She shook her head, “Not really. King Sombra doesn’t care for it all that much. He just wants his subjects and family to be happy without being troubled by Discord’s mischief-making as much as possible.”

Confetti said, “The Crystal ponies must feel lucky when Discord’s not visiting during the Crystal Faire. The way he makes everything his way is just sick! Look what he’s done to Ponyville!”

Just then, flying pigs flew by the window as if backing up Confetti’s point.

Sprinkles said, “When we were born, those kinds of things became routine for us, with the occasional surprise now and then.”

Confetti said, “You must’ve been pretty lucky to live in the Crystal Empire and not in any of Discord’s chaotic playgrounds.”

Flurry thought, And that’s not all of it.

Ding!

Confetti muttered, “Oh, shoot! The Chocolate Bonanza cookies are done!”

As the unicorn rushed into the kitchen, Flurry asked, “Are you guys making any progress with planning the Polka Dot Jubilee?”

Sprinkles answered, “Well, we’re just taking food samples to the castle today. We have to see what Discord and his family think of the catering.”

Confetti emerged from the door as she said, “It’s not easy, I tell you.”

“Yeah. The last time we planned something for the emperor’s family, it was his daughter Rhythm’s birthday party. Discord told us to improve the catering, but he was so impressed by the way his kid’s party turned out, he wanted us to do his Polka Dot Jubilee.”

“So that’s how we got the job. The long, nerve-wracking, unpredictable job.”

Flurry said, “I take it you aren’t too thrilled with this, huh?”

Confetti said, “As if we’re over-the-moon about it! We’re not thrilled at all to plan this jubilee for Discord!”

“Ooh, he must be a tough customer.”

Sprinkles shrugged, “He’s the emperor. We have to do what he says or else he’ll turn us into cottage cheese puddings.”

Flurry asked in concern, “Does he do that?”

“No, but the worst he’s done to anypony was when he made a couple of ponies look a lot like him.”

The disguised alicorn cringed at that.

Confetti added, “And to think, they were former Miss Equestrias.”

Flurry Heart took offense of that and asked in an irritated voice, “Was it just because they were better-looking than him?”

The unicorn clarified, “No, it was because they hurt Rhythm’s feelings, only they didn’t know she was a princess. And Discord’s daughter, to boot.”

Flurry was relieved to hear that and said, “Well, then he was being a protective dad. You can’t really blame him, can you?”

“Well, no, but it’s hard to see some good in a guy like Discord. After all, he locked the princesses away and plunged Equestria in unending chaos. Hard to win approval ratings that way.”

Sprinkles said, “That’s why he married Teardrop: respect, crowd obedience, and heirs to the throne. The whole package.”

Flurry asked, “But do you suppose that, hypothetically, Discord was in love with Teardrop?”

A voice then said, “That’s not the way I heard it when I was young.”

The trio turned to see an elderly pony walk down the stairs. Confetti said, “Grandma, this is Princess Flurry Heart. Flurry Heart, meet my grandma Pumpkin Cake.”

Pumpkin nodded and said to Flurry, “Pleasure.”

“She came all the way from the Crystal Empire to help with the Polka Dot Jubilee.”

The old pony scoffed, “Ha! That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Ponies are usually forced to plan these jubilees for His Royal Nuttiness.”

Flurry asked, “So what was it about when you were younger?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah! When I was a little filly, my folks told my brother and me that Discord only married Teardrop for power and reputation. Didn’t care a whit about her feelings.”

“That might be true, but when he visited the Crystal Faire recently, I thought I noticed something about the way he looked at his wife. It was as if he really did care for her.”

“Well, if he does now, I doubt he did during those first few years of marriage.”

Confetti asked Flurry Heart in curiosity, “Do you really think he loves Teardrop?”

Flurry answered, “I’m not entirely sure, but I hope so.”

Sprinkles said, “Well, let’s see if he loves the food samples we take to the castle.”

Pumpkin asked, “Did you bake the cheese dumplings?”

Sprinkles and Confetti said as they nodded, “Yes.”

“The Chocolate Bonanza cookies?”

“Yes.”

“What about the raspberry cream truffles?”

Both of them gave a shocked expression.

Pumpkin deadpanned, “You forgot, didn’t you?”

Confetti said to Sprinkles, “I thought you were going to get the raspberries!”

He sputtered, “Well, I got distracted when I met Flurry Heart.”

Flurry offered, “If you want, I’ll get the raspberries while you make the truffles.”

Pumpkin smiled, “That’s very helpful, princess. Thank you!” She gave her the list and said, “Here’s what you need to get at the market. Hopefully, this won’t be too much trouble for you.”

“Of course not. The only time I’ve ever really helped out was at the palace and when my friend’s life was in danger.”

Confetti said in fascination, “Ooh! Tell us about saving your friend’s life when you get back!”

Flurry said uneasily as she took a basket, “All right, I will.” When she exited the bakery, she thought, How am I going to tell them that story?

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

7375217 I loved that show!