Remind Me Why We're Here Again?
A/N: This part of the story takes place prior to the season 7 premiere
“Ooga-chaka. Ooga-chaka. Ooga-chaka. OOREV!”
Princess Luna, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, and Trixie Lulamoon repeated this phrase (in very monotone voices) as they sat in the living room of Discord’s chaos cottage. They had dull looks in their eyes, stripes of neon green paint on their faces, and wore black cloaks with OOREV printed in bright yellow letters on the back.
Luna, seated on a large pink and blue plaid easy chair, sighed and looked to their club president as their final round of chanting ended. “Discord, we’ve been at this for twenty minutes: I feel ridiculous. Why must we begin with a complicated and nonsensical opening ceremony for every single meeting? I embrace formality thoroughly, yet even I think you go too far with such pointless rituals.”
Sunset Shimmer (in her pony form and sitting alone on a loveseat) grinned at the chaos master. “I don’t mind the chanting, but why did we need all the gear this time?” She wriggled out of her cloak.
Trixie rolled her eyes as she wiped off her face paint with the corner of her cloak. “Please, we’re probably lucky he didn’t insist we walk over hot coals or erect him an ironic statue on top of it all.”
Starlight, seated next to her on the sofa, chuckled. She looked to Discord now too as she magically made her and Trixie’s OOREV ceremonial items disappear. “I think the opening ceremonies can be sort of fun, but, uh…” she raised an eyebrow and pointed at him, “…why do you get to be on a floating throne with a big hat made of flowers and pineapples and a banner behind you that says, ‘All Hail Discord, El Presidente Supremo!’? And…why are you holding that gold cane with Twilight’s head on it?”
Indeed, Discord towered over the girls at the moment, looking quite the spectacle. He shrugged at the question. “Because I’m the president, Starlight. And because this opening ceremony is a special one, and so is this meeting. And also because it serves as a friendly reminder that we’re in my house which I continue to offer so graciously as a meeting space for our club.” He snapped to gently lower his throne to the floor at their level. “Though I suppose for now I can rejoin your ranks. I wouldn’t want our guests to be too intimidated.”
“Hey,” Sunset held up a hoof as she finished making her OOREV gear disappear, “no matter where you sit or what kind of jokes we make, you know I appreciate getting to meet in your cottage, Discord. Being here let’s me actually come to the meetings without technically having to go back to Equestria and possibly get in trouble with Princess Celestia.” She smiled.
Starlight nodded. “And Twilight or one of the girls would find us if we tried to use her castle.”
“And I can’t help it if my caravan is too small for more than one guest.” Trixie shrugged. “Personally this dimension creeps me out a little, but you are lending us your home, so thanks, I guess.”
Luna sent away her own ceremonial items and smiled at Discord. “I think you just like having guests over to show off your cottage, Discord. But yes, I too appreciate you letting us use this space as well. I’m afraid my sister has grown rather suspicious of my secret friendship activities; she would certainly find us out if we met in our castle.” She grinned a little at Discord and added, “Though the risk of seeing her would certainly be interesting, don’t you think, Discord?”
Discord pouted at her but then cleared his throat and held his head high. “Anyway, my point is, it’s good to hear you’re all still well aware of how generous I’m being. Now then, onto the meeting. Shall we start with snack time?” He snapped his coffee table full of apples, cookies, cider, chocolate milk, and daisy sandwiches.
Sunset smiled but raised an eyebrow. “Uh, the spread looks great, Discord, but how about we start with letting our guests into the meeting? You’ve had them blindfolded and sitting in random rooms of this house for twenty minutes now. And I don’t know about the rest of you, but mine’s a little sensitive and she’s probably freaking out.”
“Er…” Luna swallowed, “but all of us had to put in some significant preparation for this meeting and travel far. Perhaps a brief snack break first would be best before we commenced the meeting.” She shrugged.
Starlight tilted her head at the princess. “I think Sunset’s right though—the sooner we get to introductions, the sooner we can include our guests in what’s going on in the club. And we can always eat some snacks while the introductions are happening.” She smiled gently. “Princess Luna, if you’re nervous about introducing your guest, you can go last.”
Luna cleared her throat, looking down a little. “Yes, well…thank you. I think I shall.” She put back on a smile and magically floated an apple to herself (though she didn’t take a bite). “I suppose I’m just a little flustered. This type of meeting is a first for us, after all.”
“Ooo, can Starlight and I go first?” Trixie shouted at once as she raised up her hoof with a bright smile.
“Of course…right after me, that is.” Discord grinned. “President’s first, you know. Plus my guest is a real show stopper.” He chuckled.
Trixie sighed but rolled her eyes as she replied, “Fine, just get it over with quickly. And prepare to be blown out of the water when you see who we’ve got.” Starlight and Trixie grinned at each other and gave a hoof bump.
Discord smirked at the ladies. “That’s what you think.” He snapped to make a snare drum appear, which started playing a drum roll. “We’re officially starting out with introductions of our new OOREV members: specifically my guest for the evening! He’s a one-of-a-kind magical creature (not unlike yours truly) whose talents once went toward evil shenanigans, creating rather ‘sticky’ situations for ponies, I’m afraid. He’s the strong, silent type, he’s a fan of riches—not spending them so much as eating them, he made quite the splash at the formerly boring Grand Galloping Gala, and he knows how to spread goodness around—literally. May I present, the one, the only—THE SMOOZE!”
Discord snapped: the snare drum disappeared, a spotlight appeared overhead, and with a magical flash there stood the green blob known as the Smooze wearing an OOREV baseball hat and smiling in his wobbly way.
“Wow! The Smooze!” Starlight’s eyes brightened. “He’s in Twilight’s history books!”
“Ew!” Trixie cringed and pulled back from the slimy blob. But as Starlight nudged her she put on a sheepish smile and gave a wave. “I mean, uh…hi! Nice to meet you. Heh…”
“Oh, this is cool!” Sunset grinned. “I thought he was just an old pony’s tale.”
Luna smiled at Smooze and nodded to him. “Smooze, it’s a pleasure to see you again, of course. We’re glad to have you.”
“Smooze, buddy!” Discord snapped and made a large, floating hammock appear beside him. “Take a seat, take a seat!” The Smooze high-fived with Discord, and as the green blob then climbed into the hammock the chaos master turned to the ladies with a smirk. “So, yes, my guest for today’s meeting is a famous figure in Equestria’s history. And he’s a guy.” His grin picked up on one side. “I figured it was time we added a little more masculinity to this group. Right, Smooze?”
Smooze gurgled at Discord with a wobbly smile.
Discord gestured out toward the center of the room. “Well, then, don’t be shy, good buddy. Make yourself at home! Talk about the past, show us what you’re made of, have a bite to eat! Oh, but where are my manners—we need some special snacks for my special friend!” He snapped to make a bowl of jewels appear beside the Smooze in his hammock.
The Smooze, however, just gurgled as he gave the ladies a polite bow and then took a single jewel to munch on.
Discord raised an eyebrow. “You feeling okay, Smooze?”
Smooze looked at him with a wobbly smile and gave a nod and a few gurgles.
Discord nodded in return and shrugged. “Well, if you’re sure. I’ve never been one for pacing myself, but to each his own. And we do have all evening, I suppose.” He looked to the ladies and crossed his arms with a smug grin. “Smooze clearly needs a little time to get used to how utterly fantastic our club is. But in the meantime, absolutely feel free to bask in the glory of the exclusive guest I’ve brought into our ranks. And if no one can top him, don’t feel bad.” He shrugged, and his eyes went to two specific mares. “Speaking of which, Trixie, Starlight, you’re up. Are you both going at once, or…”
“We’re presenting the same guest,” Starlight explained. “In our defense, it really did take both of us to convince him to come. He’s a little shy.”
“And he’s so great and powerful that he can definitely count as both of our guests,” Trixie added with a smirk.
“He?” Discord tilted his head, his smile brightening. “You mean yet another guy to join our ranks? Why didn’t you say so! Bring him on down!” He rubbed his paw and claw together. “Now when we vote on new snacks, corn chips and cola might actually win out over cucumber sandwiches and cider.”
Starlight laughed and rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. “Well, uh…our guest is a guy, but his diet is a little…unique.” She cleared her throat and looked to her friend. She and Trixie made their horns glow.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Starlight and Trixie said at once, “may we present…King Thorax of the Changelings!”
In a burst of magic, Thorax appeared, blinking a few times. “Whoa, um…wha…oh!” His eyes darted around, and he backed up a few steps but then blinked and finally smiled. “Oh, uh…hi, everyone! Heh…”
“King Thorax?” Discord blinked then pouted. “Oh shoot, why didn’t I think of him?” As Smooze gurgled beside him, Discord glanced over and smiled again. “Oh, sorry, Smooze, I didn’t mean it like that. Besides, you’re still a great Equestrian historical figure like me—this guy’s barely out of magical kindergarten no matter how tall and imposing he looks these days.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait…wait…” Sunset shook her head then looked at Thorax with wide eyes, “this is how the Changelings look now? And this guy is the king?” Her eyes brightened. “Sweet Celestia, I have so many questions!” She leaned in close to him. “What did it feel like to change permanent forms like that? Was it warm and full of light and also kind of tingly? That’s how it felt the last time I randomly changed into a creature of goodness. I wonder if there’s a connection…” She brought a hoof to her chin.
“Uh…” Thorax gulped.
“Are you still maintaining a hive structure? Do all the changelings look just like you or are the design patterns different? Can you use your powers to ‘change’ back into your old form? Can you eat regular food at all now or is your diet still love-based?” Sunset went on eagerly.
“Well, um…” Thorax glanced down and shifted on his hooves.
Sunset continued beaming as her eyes examined his wings and horns. “Wow, when Twilight sent me a journal entry about Chrysalis being toppled I had no idea that this much was different! Hey, I wonder what you would change into if you went through the mirror to the human world?”
“Er, Sunset,” Luna suddenly held up a hoof and addressed the eager mare, “I understand you’re excited, but King Thorax has been through a lot lately. Perhaps we should let him settle into the meeting before you ask too many more questions.”
Sunset smiled sheepishly and looked from Luna back to Thorax. “Right, right. Sorry.” She shrugged and sat back on her loveseat again. “I just get so few chances to study Equestrian magic these days, and I never got to meet a Changeling in person until now.” She cleared her throat and gave a bow of her head with a smile. “King Thorax, it’s a pleasure to have you.”
Thorax smiled a little. “Oh, just Thorax is fine. And thank you. And it’s all right, really.” Then he hesitantly turned to the large blue mare who had come to his aid. “Um, thank you Princess Luna,” he said softly with his head bowed almost to the floor.
Luna raised an eyebrow at the gesture but smiled and gave a slight bow of her head in return. “Of course, Thorax.”
Thorax cleared his throat, then quickly raised his head and turned to Trixie and Starlight. “Trixie, Starlight, um, is it okay if I sit between you?”
Starlight nodded. “Of course, Thorax, whatever makes you comfortable.”
“Sure thing.” Trixie patted the place between them on the sofa (all the while smirking in Discord’s direction).
Discord rolled his eyes and smiled at the changeling king. “Thorax, long time no see. How’s it going trying to fill Chrysalis’s big, whole-y, horse shoes?”
Thorax shrugged as he took his seat. “Oh, it’s been okay. I’m just doing my best.” He managed to smile again. “The changelings seem happier now, so I’m glad about that. But it’s nice to visit with other friends and to make new friends too.” He waved as he looked to the faces in the room. “Hi everypony.” But when his eyes came to Luna again, he blinked and glanced away quickly with a swallow.
Luna tilted her head as she observed the small reaction.
Sunset cleared her throat now and addressed the room. “Okay, since Princess Luna wants to go last, I guess I’m next for presenting my guest.” She smiled sheepishly. “All right, so, the member I brought…she’s not from around here: as in she’s from the human world. She’s a pony here though, and will probably look really familiar to you guys—well, sort of familiar. You’ll see what I mean. But being a pony for the first time is a lot for her to handle, being in a new dimension is a lot for her to handle, and seeing a whole bunch of new creatures in a chaos cottage definitely isn’t going to help, especially since she’s a little shy. So I’m going to make her appear with her blindfold still on, and we’ll give her some time before we take it off.” She cleared her throat and powered up her horn. “Ladies and guys, may I present…well…Twilight Sparkle. Heh…”
Everyone’s eyes widened in interest—and Discord’s jaw dropped—as a familiar purple pony (but lacking wings and wearing blindfolded glasses and a skirt and blouse with her mane pulled back in a pony tail) suddenly appeared in their midst.
“Um…hello?” came her timid voice. “Sunset, are you there?”
“Yeah, Twilight, I’m here. Don’t worry.” Sunset put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.
Twilight twitched. “This, uh…this hooves thing is weird, heh…” She swallowed. “Um, who else is here…?”
“Just a few people,” Sunset continued, “I’ll introduce you to everyone slowly, and then we’ll take off the—”
“Oh this is too good!” Discord suddenly interrupted. “I can’t resist!” He snapped—Twilight’s blindfold instantly disappeared.
The purple pony’s eyes went wide at the sight of three unicorns, a sentient green blob, a colorful reindeer robot, a what-in-the-name-of-magic dragon/snake thing floating in the air while laughing his head off, and a huge blue horse that looked suspiciously like her vice principal...and then, of course, this circus of visions before her was completed as her eyes found the funhouse mirror over Discord’s mantel which showed Twilight her own pony appearance.
The panicking began.
“Oh my gosh!” Twilight tried to run to one side, but tripped over her four legs. She got up, backed into Smooze’s hammock, jumped, then tumbled over the coffee table into Thorax, yipped, raced toward Sunset but freaked out again at the sight of her friend as a pony and finally just buried her head under the rug, trembling.
“Ha ha!” Discord kept contorting himself in the air with laughter. “This is the greatest day of my life! The composed and powerful and high and mighty Twilight Sparkle reduced to a klutzy schoolfilly having a freak-out in my living room!”
“Discord!” Sunset glared at him. “Put a cork in it!” She zapped a huge cork in his mouth then added in a mumble as she turned back to her friend, “Seriously, sometimes I don’t get why Celestia used to find you so funny…”
Discord scowled at her then glanced around at the others for help, but finally settled for Smooze pulling out the cork (causing Discord to end up with his head slightly covered in green slime in the process).
Meanwhile, Sunset lifted up the rug and kneeled down. “Twilight,” she smiled, “it’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about. I know seeing all these new species…and being a new species yourself…is a lot to take in. Actually, if anybody in this room knows that better than you, it’s probably me.” She laughed softly. “And I’m sorry Discord took off the blindfold like that. He’s…sort of the prankster of our group. But I promise everyone here is really nice and no one will hurt you—they just want to be your friends. And I’ll be here the whole time, all right. So please come out?”
The lump under the rug stopped trembling. Then slowly Twilight emerged. “Okay.” She kept close to Sunset though as she took a deep breath and looked at everyone again. She managed a smile and a small wave. “Um, hi.” She almost stumbled at being on three legs but quickly got her balance back when she put her hoof back down. “I’m Twilight. Um…I know you already have a Twilight here, of course—I mean not in the club, but in Equestria. So I hope this won’t be confusing.” She kept up a pleasant smile for another second but then finally couldn’t help asking in wide-eyed wonder, “I-I’m sorry, but…what are you…?” She pointed to Thorax. “And what are you?” She pointed to Smooze. “And what in the world is he?” She pointed to Discord. “And…is that you, Vice Principal Luna?” She turned to Luna.
Luna’s look went dry. “I’m still not a fan of the 'vice principal' thing from your world, Sunset.”
Sunset smiled sheepishly and looked to her friend. “Uh, Twilight, why don’t we take a seat. We have one more guest to bring out, and then we can all be properly introduced, okay?”
“Okay. Sorry.” Twilight blushed and smiled sheepishly. “It’s very nice to meet all of you.” She followed after Sunset but paused at the snack table and tried to pick up a sandwich with her hoof. She failed, however, and sighed. “How do you do anything with these hooves?”
“It takes some practice—I felt the same way about hands at first,” Sunset explained as she took a seat on one end of the loveseat. “Have you tried using your horn yet?”
Twilight blushed. “Um…just once…to try and make a glass of water appear for myself in that room I was in. I, uh…think I sort of blew a hole in the ceiling. Sorry.”
Sunset frowned and looked to the chaos master. “Sorry, Discord.”
Discord just waved her off. “Oh please, I put holes in this place all the time just for fun. All is forgiven, new little Twilight.” He floated close to her. “And sorry, I suppose, about the blindfold thing, however much it was comedy gold.”
“Oh, um, it’s okay.” Twilight adjusted her glasses and smiled up at him (though she also swallowed and looked from the floor to him and back again a few times at the sight of this strange creature actually defying the laws of gravity).
“You’re probably just having trouble handling your magic because this world’s Twilight is a very powerful pony,” Sunset explained as she used her magic to float (a now wide-eyed) Twilight over to the loveseat then magically made a sandwich appear in her friend’s hoof. “We’ll hold off on spells for now. Here’s a sandwich, and if you need anything else, just let me know.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Twilight went to take a bite but then paused and eyed the sandwich. “Um, what kind is this, anyway?”
“Daisy.” Sunset grinned.
Twilight frowned and lowered the sandwich. “Um, I think I’ll just stick with—oh!” With a warm smile, Sunset used her magic to make the sandwich disappear and a cookie take its place. Twilight smiled back at her. “Thanks, Sunset.”
Sunset winked.
Discord grinned at the group as he flew back to his throne. “All right, all right, pretty good so far for our first ‘buddy’ meeting—I’ve got a famous historical figure, Starlight and Trixie got a King, Sunset got goofy alternate Twilight.” He glanced to the moon princess. “Luna, you’re up! Who have you got for our grand finale?”
“Er…” Luna blinked then put on a smile, “Now, now, not so fast… This new Twilight does seem a little overwhelmed, and Sunset had so many questions for Thorax, and hardly anyone here knows Smooze well, and none of our guests know all of us. Why don’t we take a moment now for the introductions, and especially to let ‘New Twilight’ get settled in?”
“But Princess Luna?” Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. “Then won’t we all have to introduce ourselves over again when your guest comes out?”
Luna shook her head. “Nay, my guest will require no introductions to the others here.” She cleared her throat and quickly turned to Twilight (leaving Starlight scratching her head and Discord raising an eyebrow with an intrigued look).
“Well…I guess.” Sunset shrugged. “But, first, I think calling her ‘New Twilight’ is kind of a mouthful. How about we just call her Twi?” She glanced at Twilight. “Is that okay, Twilight?”
Twilight smiled a little and nodded. “Yes, I think that could work.”
“Well, then,” Discord grinned and sat up tall on his throne, “to start introductions, I’m Discord, the Chaos Master. I’m a draconequus, for those of you not from this dimension, and I have the best sense of humor of anyone in or out of Equestria. And, since he’s the strong, silent type, I’ll also introduce my good buddy Smooze.” Discord gestured to Smooze with his arms outstretched. “He’s a fun loving, free-form guy who likes to spread magic—and of course slime—everywhere he goes. Don’t be shy, Smooze; feel free to shake some hooves dive right into the snack table if real food is more your speed today than jewels.”
The Smooze, however, only gurgled to the group with a smile and gave a small wave, remaining in his hammock beside Discord.
Twilight and Thorax gave him sheepish waves.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mister, uh…Smooze.” Twilight blinked a few times and tried not to stare.
“A pleasure, Smooze.” Thorax nodded to him.
Trixie cleared her throat. “And I’m Trixie, as though anyone here but Twi wouldn’t have heard of the Great and Powerful me.” She held her head high with a smirk. “By the way, Twi I hear you’ve already got a fabulous version of me in your world.”
“Oh, yes.” Twi nodded. “I’ve seen Trixie around school sometimes. She’s got a lot of, uh…style.”
“Of course she does.” Trixie adjusted her hat at with a smug grin.
“And I’m Starlight, a student of magic.” Starlight waved a hoof to the group then looked to Twi. “It’s especially nice to meet you, Twi. In this world, we’re really good friends and you’re kind of my mentor, so I hope you and I can be really good friends too.”
“I’m a mentor here?” Twilight’s cheeks blushed red. “I-I mean, um…I’d like to be friends too. Heh…” She managed a smile again.
“I’m Sunset, everyone,” Sunset started, “a former magical student of Princess Celestia and now a resident of the human world. Nice to meet all of you.” She looked to Thorax. “And sorry again about all the questions before, Thorax.”
Thorax shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ve got a lot of questions for you too now actually. Changelings have never managed interdimensional travel yet, after all.” He cleared his throat and looked to the crowd. “I’m Thorax, the new leader of the changelings.” He looked to Twi. “Changelings are species that can change form. Like this.” He changed to look like Twi, outfit and all. She gasped as he changed back to his regular self. “Heh, sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Twi smiled sheepishly and then took a very large bite of her cookie.
“And I am Princess Luna, of course.” Luna looked to everyone. Her smile softened as her gaze fell to Twi. “Tis a pleasure to meet you, Twi.”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Princess…Princess?” She blinked then bowed her head so low that she tumbled off of the loveseat. “Whoa!” With Sunset’s help she managed to get herself up and sitting again.
While Discord chuckled, Luna just smiled gently to the little purple pony. “Tis all right, Twi. And you do not need to bow to me—we are all equals in the club…except for Discord, of course, who is president.” She cut Discord off just as he was about to open his mouth and clearly make that announcement.
Twilight nodded. “Thanks. And, um…hi everyone.” She waved. “I’m Twilight Spar—er, Twi, from the human world. I’m a student there at the same school as Sunset.”
Trixie’s eyes brightened. “Hey, since you’re from the human world, you must know all of the great gossip like Sunset does!”
“Ooo, yeah!” Starlight added, leaning toward Twi. “Anything new happening! I’ve been dying to ask.”
Discord instantly sighed and rubbed his temple, sinking down on his throne in clear annoyance. “Oh, not this again…”
“Uh…?” Thorax raised an eyebrow.
The Smooze just gurgled (and finally moved on to lightly munching a second gem).
Meanwhile, the ladies all leaned in close toward Twi and Sunset.
“Well, um…I don’t know,” Twi started. “I mean, there’s been some magical stuff with that trip we took to Camp Everfree, but otherwise…”
“Oh Twi,” Sunset waved her off with a smile, “they get tons of magic here already. They’d rather hear about other stuff. Speaking of which,” she looked to the group, “Rainbow Dash and Spitfire finally had an all out soccer match to decide once and for all who gets to be school team captain, and you’ll never guess who won…”
“Who?” Starlight, Trixie, and Luna asked at once.
“Snails!” Sunset laughed. He was just running across the field chasing after Snips and kicked aside every shot of theirs right into the goal! It was amazing! That guy has some kind of weird Zen power with balls.
They all laughed.
Sunset continued. “Oh, and you’ll never guess what we caught Principal Celestia doing…”
“Putting up posters of human Discord?” Starlight couldn’t help herself.
The ladies shared a small giggled (while scowled over at them and blushed a little in the background).
Sunset went on. “No, what she was doing was a lot more unexpected actually…”
“Ooo, what, pray tell?” Luna grinned.
Sunset smirked. “Well, Twi and I walked by her office door early one morning, and it was open, and inside we saw her looking at the rising sun and holding her palms out like she was trying to raise it.”
Twi nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah, I think all this magic stuff is starting to get to her.”
Starlight chuckled. “Aw, poor human, Celestia.”
“Ooo, but tell us the real scoop!” Trixie’s smile grew. “Who’s dating who? Starlight said Twilight said your Everfree Camp trip was interesting.” Her eyes hazed.
Twi instantly blushed while Sunset cleared her throat and quickly replied, “Well, some interesting stuff happened, but there wasn’t much time for romance with all the magic. And none of the girls are seeing anyone right now, except, well…” She glanced around then looked to them again, “Okay, if I tell you, you guys have to promise not to say this to anyone else.”
Starlight, Trixie, and Luna nodded.
Sunset grinned. “Well…Bulk Biceps asked out Fluttershy…and she said yes!”
“No. Way!” Trixie grinned.
“Really?” Luna raised an eyebrow with a smile.
“Wow…” Starlight beamed. “I wonder if that means our Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy might—”
“Okay, that’s it!” Discord flew between the girls to break them up with a pout. “I think we’ve all had enough girly gossip hour for one get-together, right, fellas?” He glanced to the guys.
Smooze gave Discord a small gurgle and sunk down a little.
Thorax blinked. “Um…well…”
Discord just sighed and looked to the girls again. “Really, if you ladies want to talk about human Fluttershy it’s one thing, but leave my—er, our Fluttershy out of it. These meetings get weird enough, thank you. And we are indeed here for an official meeting of some sort last time I checked.” He flew back over to his throne and landed with his arms crossed.
“Discord’s Fluttershy?” Twi raised an eyebrow and looked back to the other girls.
Starlight smirked a little. “Discord’s a little sensitive about Fluttershy because in this world they’re best friends. You should have seen him fighting to free her on our last adventure. It was really nice.”
Trixie smirked. “Yeah, he acts like a big tough guy around everyone else, but around her—total klutzy draconequus putty.”
Discord pouted at them.
“Discord,” Thorax managed softly with a smile, “I think it’s nice you like Fluttershy.”
“Agreed.” Luna nodded, smiling too. “Tis a very sweet part of your personality.” She remained looking at Discord until she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and glanced over to see Thorax looking at her. He quickly blinked and looked down shyly again. Luna raised an eyebrow once more then pouted.
Discord sighed dramatically. “Look, my point is, we need to stop the sentimental gabbing. We’ve gotten introductions out of the way, so lets move on to Luna’s guest and then we can finally get something done in this club besides trying to imagine the pony good enough for Fluttershy.” He finally uncrossed his arms and set his eyes on Luna. “Princess, what have you got?”
Luna’s eyes snapped to Discord and went very wide. “I…well, erm…” She took a breath and composed herself as she addressed the group. “I’m afraid I didn’t expect all of you would bring new members. When Discord said we were to add to the group, I did not see this as a member drive so much as a chance to introduce freshly defeated demons. So, erm…may I present my ‘guest’ for the evening…” Her horn glowed and then there was a burst of magic. “My Tantabus…”
The smoke cleared to reveal a pale blue glittery pony-like figure floating in the air and surrounded by a purple circle of magic aura. Luna looked down. “The Tantabus a personal monster of my dreams that I have learned to control, so now it only exists in my memory, as a fragment from my dreams.” She looked up with a sheepish smile and gave a small shrug. “I apologize if I misunderstood the meeting instructions. And you see now why my ‘guest’ requires no introductions, heh.”
The rest of the room just looked at Luna with wide eyes for a moment.
But then finally Starlight cleared her throat and smiled. “Twilight told me all about your problem with the Tantabus, Princess Luna. Even if it’s not a new member, I still think it’s an interesting guest.”
“But it’s definitely confined in that bubble right?” Trixie leaned a little away and pointed a hoof at the creature. “I, uh…I heard about what that did to Ponyville.”
Luna nodded. “Yes, it’s no more than a contained illusion.”
Smooze gurgled with a little smile at the sight, and Luna nodded to him with a small smile. Then she raised as eyebrow at the sight of Thorax still kept his eyes away from her, though he did mumble, “Thank you for sharing, Princess…”
Discord finally sighed with a dry look. “Oh Luna, really, here I was all psyched up for some grand reveal of a new buddy, and you bring a memory.” He smiled and shrugged. “But, oh well, it’s close enough. And who am I to be one complaining about following the rules, right?” He chuckled and addressed the room again. “So then we’re all here, and it’s time to begin this official meeting of OOREV!” He leaned back in his throne with a casual grin. “I suppose we should start with some new business. Guess we could always talk about Chrysalis’s defeat and all that drama—bad guys taking on other bad guys, fighting the evil in all of us, having to save the day for the first time all on our own. I mean, if all of you really insist.” He shrugged. “After all, it has been a few weeks since we’ve managed some real ‘recovering ex-villain’ talking like that, but for the sake of the new members I’m willing to submit to some order about the whole thing. Who wants to go first sharing their feelings?”
Discord looked around the room...but the other members were suddenly silent and looking to each other or looking down or biting their lips.
The chaos master pouted a little and turned to the Smooze, but his friend just remained still lightly munching on a single gem.
“Uh…” Sunset cleared her throat and smiled, “you know, Princess Luna made a good point earlier—preparing for this meeting and getting here takes a lot out of you. And interdimensional travel is extra draining. I think I’ll chow down a little before we get into things.” She magically took a plate and filled it then brought it toward herself, licking her lips. “Human food is okay, but I miss Equestrian stuff so much! And I don’t have the magic to make anything over there.” She took a bite of a daisy sandwich. “Plus,” she went on, her mouth still full, “daisy’s don’t taste as good when you’re a human. Go figure, right?” She swallowed.
The atmosphere of the room seemed to relax a little as smiles returned to the features of the others (except for Discord, of course).
“Ugh, I almost know what you mean.” Starlight took some cookies. “I had to eat bland food for years in my old village as part of my equality scheme Ever since I moved to Ponyville, I’ve been eating whatever good food I can get my hooves on. Having Pinkie Pie as a friend helps though.” She laughed.
Discord sighed slumped back over one arm of his throne. “Ladies, first you went for gossip and now you’re onto food? Really? You’ve been getting our conversations stuck on the most boring things for weeks now. You do know we only have a limited amount of time for these meetings, right?”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “Some chaos master—keeping us to a set schedule. We’re just having a little fun.”
Discord scowled and pouted. “I didn’t realize fun was all that had been on your mind lately.”
Trixie blinked a couple times then glanced away awkwardly as she cleared her throat and finally looked to Twi again with a grin. “ Anyway, um…speaking of the human world, Twi, tell me more about human me. Ooo or better yet, what do you think of the pony me in comparison?” She tilted her hat with a smirk. “Pretty great and powerful, right?”
“Oh, um…” Twilight stopped attempting to hold a cider bottle in her hooves and pushed up her glasses again. “Well, I think you’re great and I’m sure you’re powerful. You and everyone else here. I mean, all of you can use magic whenever you want to! And…I guess now I can use magic if I want to because I’m a unicorn…” She brought a hoof to her forehead, wobbling a little. “Heh, I’m a unicorn in a house with a bunch of magical creatures.” She gave a big smile and a nervous laugh. “Not a problem. Ask me about human Trixie or anything else, Trixie!”
Trixie raised an eyebrow, still smiling, then pointed to Twilight’s outfit and asked, “Okay, then, just out of curiosity, why are you wearing that get-up? Aren’t you hot? It’s summertime.”
Twi blushed, her eyes wide. “Um…well…humans don’t really, um…heh…” She made herself smile again. “Uh, do you have any other questions?”
Trixie nodded. “Sure? What did you do that made Sunset decide to bring you here as her guest?” She raised an eyebrow. “It’s just hard to imagine a version of Twilight getting caught up in something even close to being evil—unless you count relentlessly boring people with friendship speeches.” She smirked a little. “I think you’re a big improvement on her already, and anything else you could share to prove Miss Perfect’s ability to be imperfect would be great to hear.”
Twi instantly blushed darkly and shuffled her hooves (as best she could). “Um…you know, on second thought, we could just talk more about the clothes, heh…”
“Ugh,” Discord rubbed his temple, “Now we’re onto fashion—again? Ladies, didn’t you hear what I just said? Honestly…” He glanced at Smooze. “Smooze, you want to get out there and bring this silliness to a screeching halt in your own unique way? I’m sure getting suspended in green slime would definitely put a damper on their conversation.”
The Smooze stopped lightly nibbling his gem then just sunk down in his hammock more.
Discord sighed and looked to Thorax. “Thorax, you had to deal with the most talkative, ranting female being on the planet as your queen until recently. Any ideas for reigning in this little female love fest? “
Thorax swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, Discord, I don’t really think it’s my place to… I mean, I’m just a new member…”
“Yes, and you’re the president, Discord,” Luna suddenly added to Discord with a grin. “If you want things to work differently, I’m afraid it’s on you.”
Discord opened his mouth to reply but then closed it with a pout.
Luna chuckled and turned to Thorax. “It’s all right, King Thorax, please don’t feel pressured. I understand the notion of such a club can be a little overwhelming to newcomers. But we are happy to have you and any opinions you wish to bring. Though I almost wonder if you qualify for membership—from what Spike has said, you were born trying to resist the evil ways of the changelings.” Luna shrugged. “You are probably the best among us.”
Thorax barely managed to look in her direction. “I…uhh….Yes! Heh…” He quickly looked up with a sheepish grin, rubbed the back of his neck, then blinked, blushed and turned to look straight forward with wide eyes.
Luna’s eyes were pretty wide too now. She was about to open her mouth for a question when she caught sight of her Tantabus in its bubble. She glanced from it to Thorax then back to the Tantabus and finally sighed, looking down.
Thorax meanwhile, looked to Discord again, his tone desperate. “Discord! Um…what were you saying before?”
Discord just scowled as she sunk all the way down on his throne. “Never mind.”
Meanwhile, Sunset finished a few more snacks and addressed Starlight again. “So how’s getting taught by Twilight going? She’s gotta be the best teacher.”
“Oh definitely.” Starlight nodded. “She’s great! I’m so happy to learn from her.”
Sunset nodded. “So how does being her private student work exactly? Is it like just being a regular student at the unicorn academy—a set number of years and then you graduate with a specialty? Or are you her student the way Twilight was Celestia’s? Like she’s preparing you to be a leader of some kind?” Something a little sad came to her smile. “It’s been a long time since I was a pony magic student. I wouldn’t mind hearing more about it.”
Starlight blinked. “I…I, um…well, I’m not really sure what my studies with Twilight count as exactly.” She cleared her throat. “And I’d love to tell you more, but, uh, hey, didn’t you have a ton of questions for Thorax before? Now that we’ve all been introduced, you should try asking him some of them again. And I know he’ll want to ask you questions about the human world and what it’s like and your life there and how it is getting used to being away from home.”
Sunset smiled at first, but then blinked a couple of times. “Well, um…” she shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe Luna was right and I shouldn’t overwhelm him with so much at once.” She cleared her throat and smiled normally again. “Hey, you know, I shared some human gossip, but no one here’s told me any pony gossip.”
“I’d like to know more about ponies,” Twi added humbly with a smile. “And about your Celestia now that I’ve met your Luna.”
“Discord’s probably the best one to talk about Celestia…” Trixie added with a smirk as Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And as for me, I could tell you so many embarrassing stories about our Twilight Sparkle.” She chuckled to herself.
“I suppose I could tell some stories about changelings too…” Thorax added with a humble shrug.
“Tantabus and I would prefer just to listen…” Luna kept her gaze low (and distinctly away from Thorax).
Thorax blinked and glanced at her. When he saw her looking away, he opened his mouth but then hesitated and glanced down shyly again.
“Sunburst says Princess Cadance has to deal with a lot of love drama in the Crystal Empire. I could share some of that.” Starlight shrugged.
“Princess Cadance?” Twi brought a hoof to her forehead, her eyes wide.
Thorax managed a smile again. “I didn’t realize the meetings would be quite like this. It’s sort of like a party. We’ve started having some in the hive for special occasions.”
Starlight nodded. “Yeah, this is kind of what the meetings are now. Reminds me of hanging out with Twilight and the rest of our friends in the castle.”
“Or hanging out with the great and fabulous me—your best friend.” Trixie grinned and put a hoof over Starlight’s shoulder.
“Yes, tis an interesting meeting,” Luna added (still avoiding Thorax’s direction).
The Smooze gurgled with a smile (though he still remained in his hammock and away from the others as he finally took a third small gem to nibble on).
“I could go for a cold cider and a hay dog right now,” Sunset announced as she finished chowing down on her daisy sandwich. “Hey, one day we should take in a hoofball game together! That could be another theme meeting, what do you say?”
“I say if you all have nothing better to do, then why not?!”
Everyone’s heads turned in the direction of the chaos master’s sudden yell. They just caught sight of him soaring upstairs and away from the gathering. Then there was the loud slam of a door.
The room became quiet and everyone’s smiles slowly fell. They looked to each other.
“Wow,” Sunset frowned, “I’ve never heard Discord sound upset before.”
“You’re right.” Trixie furrowed her brow. “That wasn’t just annoyed, that was genuinely unhappy.”
“Oh dear…” Thorax brought a hoof to his cheek. “I wonder what the problem is.”
Smooze gurgled and sunk down into his hammock.
“I think someone should go talk to him,” Twi offered softly.
“Maybe we should get Fluttershy?” Starlight shrugged with an uneasy look. “I know it’s an OOREV meeting, but if this is an emergency…”
“No need to worry Fluttershy.” Luna stood, her tone serious. “If all of you don’t mind, I think I shall go talk to him. I’ve known him the longest.” She smiled a little. “Everyone, please wait down here and enjoy yourselves with the refreshments until we return.” She gave nods to each of them as they gave nods to her, (but as she and her Tantabus reached Thorax, her smile fell. He noticed, blinked, then frowned and lowered his head deeply).
Upstairs, Discord floated above his bed in his room and looked up at his ceiling, enchanted to look like a swirling colorful cosmic landscape. Normally the chaos made him smile but now he just gazed at it listlessly.
KNOCK KNOCK
Someone rapped on his bedroom door. “Discord, it’s Luna…and Tantabus. I’d like to come in.”
The chaos master pouted a little. “I’m afraid you have the wrong room. The party’s downstairs, Moon Princess.”
Luna sighed. “Discord, if anyone knows about stubbornly keeping others at bay when you actually need them the most, it’s me. Now just let me in please. I’m not leaving until you do,” she finished simply.
Discord sighed in frustration. “Oh whatever…relentless princesses.” He snapped his fingers, and a portal appeared in the door.
Luna blinked but then stepped through the portal (the Tantabus bubble still following her). “Thank you.” As the portal disappeared behind her, she approached Discord, her gaze stern. “Now then, tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.” He turned on his side in the air.
Luna rolled her eyes. “Discord, Fluttershy, my sister, and Twilight may all have the patience to endure your stubbornness. But I do not. So it will save us both a lot of time if you tell me the truth.” She sat on the edge of his bed then tapped the place beside her with her hoof.
Discord hesitated but finally floated down to sit beside her, though he kept looking away with a stubborn scowl. “Things were getting a little off topic down there—as usual lately—so I decided to take a break.”
Luna considered. “Yes, I’ve noticed that as the last few meetings have become more like small social parties you’ve seemed a little less playful and a little more frustrated at times. But I’ve never seen you bothered enough to leave. I suppose the others and I would just assume that a being of chaos wouldn’t mind the change in tone—”
“Yes, I’m a being of chaos!” Discord threw his arms in the air and suddenly exclaimed. “But sometimes even I need a break from it just like you and everyone else need breaks from order! I love a good party, but these meetings weren’t just meant to be ‘good parties’! They were meant to help us! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve got a carefree public reputation to maintain, so I don’t have anywhere else to go! I NEED a private place to talk about my doubts! That’s why I set up this club, and all you sentimental ponies were supposed to keep us on track talking about feelings and fears and guilt, but now you’d rather just gossip and joke! And how am I supposed to stop you? I don’t know how to be the sensitive and vulnerable one, I don’t know how to be the constructive one, I don’t know how to ask for help with my feelings, okay?!”
He collapsed backward onto his bed and closed his eyes. “Unless of course everyone else is just suddenly ‘better’ about having been a villain and I’m the only one still hung up on it.” After a few deep breaths, he almost smiled and finished in a mumble, “I was horrible at ruling Equestria and now I’m horrible at ruling this stupid club. Figures. Sometimes I feel like the thing I’m best at is just being alone.”
There was silence at first as Luna looked to Discord with a deep frown. She glanced to the Tantabus then finally cleared her throat. “Discord,” she started softly, “I must tell you something.”
He sighed. “You think you’re so different from the other princesses and even Fluttershy? Prove it: don’t give me some sentimental speech now about how I’m special and just need to keep doing my best. Even if it’s true, I’m not in the mood right now.”
“No.” Luna shook her head. “This is about me.” She moved the Tantabus forward. “I didn’t misunderstand your instructions about the meeting. I knew the intent was for each of us to bring a newly reformed friend to be a member. But I brought a reformed piece of myself in the form of the Tantabus because…I, um…had no friend to bring…but I was too embarrassed to say so.”
Discord opened his eyes and sat up as Luna looked down, blushing lightly. She went on. “I’m not a very social pony. Some creatures have sought me out for friendship, and I’ve gotten close to them thanks to their efforts: Twilight Sparkle, her court, my sister, Cadance…and then you and the others in our group. But this meeting made me realize I haven’t sought out any new friends myself or helped anyone become good. I’m afraid I’m rather a failure at spreading reform and friendship. In which case, I’d probably benefit from a more serious meeting now that you mention it.” She almost smiled a little as she looked to the Tantabus and added, “You know, I’ve been more nervous about this meeting than I was even about my first Nightmare Night after my return. I was afraid you wouldn’t believe my excuse about the Tantabus, and then everyone would know of my failure.”
“Yikes,” Discord finally said softly, “I really am a horrible president then, aren’t I? I created all this stress for you without even realizing it.”
Luna shook her head though as her gaze returned to him. “No, Discord, that’s not true. You’re the one who brought us all together for the group in the first place—it’s a good thing. And my point now is you’re right: we’re supposed to come together for support and to share things we do not feel comfortable sharing with others. But if we keep secrets and avoid our troubles in favor of the ease of frivolity, no one can be helped…yourself included. And I suspect the others would agree with me.”
“How can you tell?” Discord raised an eyebrow.
Luna shrugged. “Because all creatures naturally seek relief from pain, Discord, even if they need someone to help guide them to that relief…like a president.”
Discord blushed a little and swallowed.
Luna went on. “And because I am good at sensing emotions. I’ve observed small mannerisms of hesitation with them lately just as I’ve seen with you, and especially today with our new recruits. Haven’t you noticed how Smooze refuses to leave your side, how near hysterics the new Twilight is about us yet how hesitant she is to bring the conversation to herself, how adamant Sunset, Trixie, Starlight…and even I can about sticking with lighthearted conversation…how Thorax can’t say one word to me—I suspect because of the Tantabus and my legacy?” Her look went flat.
“Well, I suppose…” Discord twirled his beard. Then he blinked. “Wait you don’t really think Thorax is…”
“I don’t know.” Luna sighed. “But he is most on edge around me. And I’ve been around enough ponies who fear me to know when it’s happening.”
Discord tilted his head. “Hey, come on, I’m sure there’s a good explanation…”
“Well,” she smiled a little up at him, “the only way to know for sure is for all of us to talk and let our true feelings be heard. I’m willing if you are.” She held out her hoof. “We need our president, Discord.”
Discord looked down at it then finally reached out and shook. “Well, okay…but only on the condition that you don’t tell anyone about all the mushiness that went on up here just now.” He chuckled.
Luna chuckled as well. “Agreed.” They released and she stood. “Come, Discord. The others were very worried about you when I came to get you.”
“Really?” He perked up a little as she stood.
Luna nodded.
He grinned. “Well…all right then, let’s go. I don’t want to deny my public their president \.” He laughed as he snapped open the door.
The two friends headed out into the hall.
“Discord…” Luna started softly after a moment, “Speaking of misunderstandings and ponies being worried…I think you’ve been hurting Celestia’s feelings lately.”
Discord’s eyes went a little wide. “Erm…really? How so?”
“By avoiding her invitations, by neglecting to visit Canterlot, and strangely by not playing practical jokes on her.” Luna shrugged. “She puts on a smile, but sometimes she’s asked me if you’re mad at her. I’m never sure what to say.”
He swallowed. “If I tell you something, will it stay between you and me?”
Luna nodded. “You have my word.”
He took a breath. “I’ve felt pretty awkward ever since Sunset brought up the idea of Celestia thinking I’m, um…you know, cute.” He blushed. “And it doesn’t help that you ladies rub it in all the time. I know you’re just joking, but…I…I’m very self-conscious about your sister now. And I never felt like that around her before. I’m worried about acting strangely around her—I mean strange in a way she’s not used to and completely embarrassing myself.”
“Discord,” Luna frowned, “I had no idea our jokes were bothering you that much. I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well, you know… I don’t like being teased about that kind of mushy stuff. It’s a tender subject for me.” He crossed his arms. “And your sister’s never been an easy subject for me to begin with.”
Luna nodded. “I’ll try to bring the girls off the subject when it comes up in the future. I hope you know they never meant to hurt you. And I hope you know that when you’re ready my sister would like to see you, even if you just popped in to say hi and throw a pie in her face. That might actually make her day come to think of it.” She laughed softly.
Discord had to smirk. “Well, that’s a tempting offer. I’m sure I won’t be able to resist it for too long.”
The two friends laughed together as they headed down the hall.
Meanwhile, downstairs, the rest of OOREV had been sitting with uncomfortable frowns, each member silently contemplating what had just happened and what they might have done to cause it.
But then there was a creak on the stairs and now Discord and Luna descended back into the living room.
“Discord, you’re back!” Sunset beamed.
“We were worried about you,” Starlight added.
“Yeah,” Trixie nodded, “even I was kind of concerned.”
Thorax sighed. “I’m sorry, Discord, I hope we didn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“And if we did, please let us know,” Twi added.
The Smooze gurgled with a big frown.
Discord just blinked and looked at them all with his head tilted but a small smile forming.
The moon princess cleared her throat. “I think the best thing is for us to continue with our meeting.” Luna returned to her seat and glanced to the chaos master. “Discord, would you like to say something to start us off?”
Discord swallowed, blushing slightly, but nodded. “Yes, I think I would.” He flew to his throne, turned to the crowd, and took a deep breath. “First, um…sorry for storming out. President’s probably shouldn’t throw tantrums like that.” He shifted in his throne. “And second…” he sighed, “look, ladies, I know you’re all excited when you get to see each other and that you’re excited about the new members now too, but…I think lately we’ve been losing sight of the point of OOREV.” He shrugged. “Gossiping and joking and catching up are all great but, uh…well…we don’t seem to ever talk about anything serious anymore. And I don’t seem very good at hinting that we should. So I’m just saying it outright. We should talk about more serious things, the things it’s hard for us to talk about outside of here, the things that hurt us the most. We’ve all been through a lot after all.” He let out a deep breath. “And that’s all the direct sentiment I can muster on my own, take it or leave it.”
The members all looked at each other and then back at him.
Finally Trixie spoke. “Discord…has something seriously been bothering you that much?”
Discord pouted. “Yes. Why, want to make a crack about it?”
“No.” Trixie pouted in return. “Actually I wanted to say you should have told us because we’d be happy to help you…you big jerk.”
Discord blinked.
“Yeah.” Starlight nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. “And, well, now that you mention it, maybe some of us really have been avoiding the more difficult issues lately.” She shrugged. “But I know there are things I’d only be okay talking about here.”
“Discord, I’m sorry we’ve let things get so off track, and especially with the new members here today,” Sunset added. “We probably gave them the wrong impression about meetings without even realizing it.” She looked to their new members. “Sorry, everyone.”
“Oh no, Sunset, don’t apologize.” Twi smiled shyly.
“Yeah, it’s okay, everyone.” Thorax smiled too.
The Smooze gurgled, his frown gone.
The moon princess cleared her throat. “Then perhaps we should begin to discuss more serious matters.” She smiled gently and looked to the chaos master. “Discord, I think you should go first. And as your faithful club members, we’re all here for you while you set the example for us.”
Everyone smiled and nodded.
Discord blinked, hesitated, then sighed with a small smile and looked to Luna. “Very clever, using my presidency against me.” He cleared his throat and addressed the group, twiddling his paw and claw. “Well, um…I suppose our whole recent adventure against Chrysalis sort of threw me for a loop. It concerned me a lot, not being able to help my friends—especially Fluttershy. And that much worry was a new feeling for me to process. And I guess maybe all of this got me thinking of how much I must have hurt other people when I was evil and how much I might have been just like crazy, cruel, kooky Chrysalis back then. So if anyone wants to assure me I don’t deserve to wallow in a pool of guilt, I’d appreciate it,” he finished dryly.
“Discord, I understand exactly how you feel.” Starlight smiled. “When Trixie and I went to visit my village before Chrysalis’s attack, all I could think about was the pain I caused those ponies and how bad I felt and how bad I’d been. And I was pretty worried too. You’re not alone.”
Trixie looked down. “Ever since we saved Equestria, ponies treat me like a hero. And, don’t get me wrong, it’s great and comes with a lot of perks. But sometimes…I guess I worry I can’t live up to how people see me now. I mean, Twilight and her friends always seem so confident when they save the day. But I didn’t feel confident at all for most of what we went through with Chrysalis. And now what if the next time something bad happens, ponies except me to save them and I can’t?” She looked up again, biting her lip.
“I know the feeling.” Sunset shrugged, glancing to the side with a swallow. “The kids at my school have finally started being more comfortable than terrified when they see me. But I worry about something magical coming along that I can’t protect them from, especially since I can’t use magic all the time. And now, Twi and I and our friends have these geode things that are like the Elements of Harmony, but I have no idea what we’re supposed to do with them…but I do know we’re supposed to use them somehow. Princess Twilight’s helped us a lot in the past with magical problems, but she has her own responsibilities in Equestria and we can’t rely on her forever.”
“Yeah…we can’t rely on Twilight forever.” Starlight’s eyes went wide. “She’s done so much for me, and I feel like I have a place with her, but I really am just a student. And if that does mean I’ll graduate someday, I’m not sure what’ll happen to me. I know now I can be a leader if I have to, but I’m still not sure that’s what I want to be! But what if that’s what she wants me to be or what she knows I should be even if I haven’t realized it yet?” She frowned. “I spent so much time obsessing over the past that I’m not sure if I know how to figure out my future.”
Trixie touched her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. One guarantee about the future—I’ll always be here for you. And if worse comes to worse, I could always use a good magical assistant to help me with my act.” As Starlight smiled a little, Trixie smiled too but then sighed with a sympathetic frown as she lowered her hoof. “Sometimes I worry that whatever you end up doing, it’ll be something I can’t be part of. You’re so talented at magic, after all, Starlight. And I worry that no matter how many tricks I do and no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be a truly great and powerful unicorn like you…or, you know, like Twilight Sparkle.” Her look went dry as she quickly glanced to the others. “But nobody tell the princess I said that—ever.”
“Oh Trixie…” Starlight instantly hugged her friend and smiled with a sniffle, “I’d never let anything I do in my life come between our friendship. And no matter what happens with your magic, you’ll always be great and powerful to me.”
Trixie had to smile a little. “Starlight, yikes…you’re getting so sappy.” Yet she patted her friend on the shoulder and shared a warm laugh as they pulled back.
Sunset swallowed. “Sometimes I worry that I’ll want to go back to Equestria one day, but then the human world won’t have anyone to save it. And I’m not sure what the right thing is to do.” She glanced at Twi. “And I’d miss my friends there so much…”
Twi looked back at her with wide eyes. Then she looked down. “I’d miss you too, Sunset. I’ve just learned the magic of making friends. I can’t imagine saying goodbye…” She looked up to Sunset again, “But if you did want to go, I know we’d all be happy for you.”
Sunset wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and gave a wobbly smile. “Thanks, Twi.”
Twi nodded.
Discord had just been looking on in awe at the girls’ confessions. Finally he blinked a few times and spoke himself. “So…you’re all still just as much of a mess inside as I am? Really?”
Starlight, Trixie, and Sunset gave sheepish smiles and nodded.
“And I suppose I am too.” Luna blushed then magically moved the Tantabus forward. “As I explained to Discord upstairs, I did not misunderstand the ‘buddy’ theme of our meeting. I brought my Tantabus because I did not have a new friend to bring but I was too embarrassed to simply come alone.” She smiled a little. “I worried that it was a poor reflection on my reform. But all of you have become such good friends to me that I don’t feel so bad about my shortcoming anymore.”
Everyone smiled supportively.
Suddenly the Smooze gurgled to Discord.
The chaos master glanced to his friend then raised an eyebrow. “Really? Is that why you haven’t been parading around the room leaving slime trails and making everyone green?” As Smooze gurgled again, Discord shook his head with a grin and looked to the others. “Smooze says he understands how you feel, Luna. He hasn’t been very good at making friends himself.” He cleared his throat. “Ponies used to use spells to control his powers for evil, and he’d all but given up on making friends until I invited him to the Gala. And he had a good time even if I was having some issues most of the night.” Discord rolled his eyes with a small smile and went on. “Smooze also says he’s sorry for not being more social, but he knows he made a bad first impression at the gala and he was worried about making another big mess. He really wants all of you to like him because he really likes all of you.” Discord grinned at his friend. “You’re such a sap, Smooze.”
Smooze just gurgled with a smile and gave a little shrug of his slime.
“Smooze, you should feel free to be however you feel like being,” Starlight assured. “Believe me, I know the importance now of everyone being an individual.
“Yeah, even I’d like to see you in action,” Trixie added with a wink as Sunset nodded.
Smooze smiled more and then suddenly ate his entire bowl of gems in one gulp, grew to twice his size, nearly spilling out of his hammock, and gave a loud gurgle followed by a huge belch that sent laughter throughout the room.
As the laughter subsided, Luna smiled at Smooze. “Thank you for opening up, Smooze. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in my feelings.” But then she caught sight of Thorax out of the corner of her eye and added, in a distinctly drier tone, “And you’re right about another thing: tis very upsetting to be feared.”
Thorax blinked as he caught sight of her gaze, glanced around nervously, then hesitantly looked back to her stern cerulean eyes which continued to bear down upon him.
Luna went on. “King Thorax, why have you been so hesitant to acknowledge my presence this evening?” She frowned. “If you fear me, I would prefer you just told me. You would not be the first pony.”
Thorax blinked. “Princess Luna—fear you? Of course not! I just…I…” He bit his lip then sighed with a deep blush. “I’m sorry, Princess Luna, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He cringed. “It’s…sort of a long story.”
“I’m listening…” Luna added dryly.
“Well, I guess anything’s better than you thinking I’m afraid of you.” Thorax took a deep breath, his crystal features burning red as rubies. “So, um…I’ve been researching changeling history, and it turns out the hive has never been without a queen. And I think that means it’s my duty as King to find one for myself and for my people. And the best queen is probably someone who already knows how to be a ruler, and especially the ruler of a land the hive wants to have closer ties with. And the only rulers I know happen to be Equestria’s four princesses. But Cadance is married, and Twilight’s too close to my friend Spike—it would feel weird. And Princess Celestia, well…um…” he shrugged, “Starlight and Trixie mentioned something about her and Discord…”
Discord blinked then glared darkly at the two girls who grinned sheepishly as they held back some giggles.
Luna quickly held up her hoof at the girls. “Um, Thorax, that is just a club joke, not truth. But if you have already discounted Celestia, then what are you trying to say…?” Her eyes were a little wide by now.
Thorax quickly held his head high, though his hooves were shaking on the ground. “I’m trying to say that there’s you, Princess Luna. You’re a ruler, you’re from Equestria, you’re dark and mysterious and excellent at shape-shifting, I hear.” He cringed and finally blurted out, “I think by diplomatic tradition, I’m supposed to attempt to court you! And I am determined to try for the good of the hive! But frankly I’m a nervous wreck of exoskeleton just thinking about it! I’m really not good with girls!” He was practically hyperventilating by now.
“Thorax!” Luna blinked several times, blushing darkly.
The ladies (and Smooze) all tilted their heads, eagerly eyeing the confession.
“In the interest of our conversation upstairs, Luna,” Discord started calmly, holding back a grin, “I’m not going to say anything. But my, my, what an interesting state of affairs.” He tapped his paw and claw fingers together.
“I am thoroughly prepared to initiate the courtship ritual!” Thorax made himself yell, his breaths shallow. “Shall we begin to share love?” Thorax’s shaking horns started to glow.
“THORAX, CEASE! PLEASE!”
Thorax blinked and his horns instantly stopped glowing as Discord’s living room shook a little from the sound of Luna’s Canterlot voice.
Luna quickly returned her voice to its normal level and sputtered more words. “Thorax, tradition is important but not at the expense of your heart’s happiness!” She managed an awkward smile. “Believe me, I have learned much about modern ways ever since my return. Unless you truly care for me, there is no need to pursue me—our lands will unite just fine in the bonds of friendship. And you will rule just fine on your own. Please, look upon me as a good friend and nothing more.” Luna held out her hoof.
Thorax looked at her hoof and suddenly let out a big sigh. “Oh thank you, Luna! I’ve been so nervous!” A few giddy chuckles of relief escaped him as she shook her hoof, but then he blinked and frowned as he added, “So then you don’t think it’s selfish of me not to seek out a queen right away?” He looked down. “It’s not just tradition. I…I don’t know how to lead. So if I had a queen who knew how to lead, maybe I could help the changelings be happier more quickly…”
“Thorax, I don’t think it would be selfish even if you never sought out a queen.” Luna smiled warmly as they separated. “After all, my sister and I have ruled without romantic partners for centuries just fine. Yet Cadance chose to rule with her husband Shining Armor right from the start. Everypony has something different that works for them. But if you’re not ready for courtship, don’t pressure yourself. There are far more important qualities in a good leader that I’m sure your subjects will appreciate.” Her gaze warmed. “And all new rulers have doubts—even Twilight did at the start of her reign. But your concern for the changelings’ welfare shows me that you shall make a fine leader no matter what course you take regarding a queen.”
“Yeah, Thorax,” Starlight added. “You take some time to get used to being a leader on your own. And then if the right person comes along to help you, you’ll know.”
“Besides,” Trixie smirked, “there’s gotta be lots of cute girl changelings in your hive who could fit the bill.”
Thorax blushed again and shuffled on his hooves. “Maybe a few… But I really am kind of shy around girls. B-But they keep, um…staring at me ever since we all changed forms. And I’m not sure what to do.” His crystal cheeks blushed ruby red again.
Sunset’s eyes hazed and her grin grew. “Hmm, now that’s definitely an interesting Changeling change.” She laughed softly. “But don’t worry, Thorax, you just keep being a nice guy to everyone in the hive. And in the meantime, you can practice talking to me and the other mares here if it’ll make you more comfortable.”
Thorax smiled a little again and nodded. “I’d like that. I think it would help.”
“Wow…” Twi finally spoke up from the safety of her place beside Sunset, “You’re all so…so…nice to each other.”
“Don’t rub it in.” Discord smirked.
“Discord,” Luna rolled her eyes and glanced to Twi. “Yes, we try to support and care for each other as good friends—that’s what OOREV is all about. Even if we have differences, we’re still bonded by our experiences and by friendship.”
“See, I told you they’d be nice and like having you as a friend.” Sunset smiled warmly at her friend.
Twi smiled back at her. Then she glanced to Princess Luna again. “Um, Princess Luna? Could I ask you something?”
“Of course.” Luna nodded.
Twi swallowed. “You said you’ve had trouble finding friends on your own, and, um…you must be a member of this club because you made a mistake once. Back home, I don’t really have anyone to talk to who’s made a big mistake…except for Sunset, of course. But since our world and the pony world are similar, and it makes me think maybe our Luna did something wrong once. So maybe I could talk to her and become friends with her too.”
Luna smiled a little. “I think that’s a lovely thought, Twi, and I’m certain your Luna would be happy to be friends.”
“Thanks.” Twi nodded but then swallowed as she went on, “But before I ask our Luna about being friends, first I think it would help me to know…what did you do that was bad? And what’s your Tantabus for exactly?”
Luna’s eyes widened.
Sunset spoke up, her tone gentle. “Princess Luna, I think what you might have to say would help Twi a lot…as long as you’re comfortable.”
Luna looked to Twi again and nodded. “I shall explain, Twi. But afterwards I think it would be best if all of us explained our errors so that the new members might understand them better.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Luna cleared her throat, her head down, and began. “Once in the past, I grew jealous of my sister and embraced dark magic. I turned into the evil mare Nightmare Moon, and tried to destroy her. I was banished for my crime. And now that I have returned, my guilt made me create the Tantabus to remind me of my evil ways. But I lost control once, and its evil power nearly spread all over Equestria. So now I simply try to be the best princess I can be and move forward with my life. I…” Luna paused at the sight of Twi suddenly standing before her, looking up, large tears present in her eyes behind the lenses of her glasses.
“Twi?” She tilted her head.
Twi dove at her in a tight hug.
Luna blinked several times and then put a foreleg around her and patted her shoulder. “Er…there, there, Twi…are you all right? What’s wrong?”
“I changed from dark magic too…. And the nightmares… Sometimes I think she’s still inside of me… the Midnight…” she choked out.
Everyone looked on with sympathetic frowns and slowly came closer as Luna gently patted Twi’s mane. “Shh…there, there… You know, I manage the realm of dreams here. If you ever want to be certain of a good night’s sleep, just spend the night here and I’ll see to it. And I’m sure if your ‘me’ could do the same for you, she would, Twi.” She smiled a little. “And I’m not sure what’s bothering you so much, but feel free to share it with all of us. OOREV is a safe place, young Twi.”
Sniffling, Twi pulled back and smiled up at her, her eyes still teary.
“And…smile everyone!”
Everyone blinked and turned as a flash suddenly went off. They realized there was a camera aimed at them now and that Discord, floating above them all, had set it off with a snap of his fingers.
“Oh yes!” The chaos master grinned. “An updated club photo! Lovely. I’ll be sure to send you all prints.” He snapped the camera away.
Twi smiled back and wiped the tears from beneath her glasses. “Thank you, everyone. I’d I’m glad to have all of you to share with.”
As the others smiled returned to their seats, Discord flew back to his throne. “See, that’s all I wanted—the chance for some breakthroughs. Excellent one, by the way, Twi.” He winked at her then glanced to the others. “But I suppose in between breakthroughs we could work in a little fun party gossip too since you ladies really don’t get a chance to get together a lot—we can’t let this club become too emotional after all.”
“You know,” Sunset put a hoof to her chin, “chatting is fun, but maybe what we should start doing is having some informal meetings in between the formal meetings. We could do an activity together for the informal meetings, something fun to bond!”
The other members all nodded and smiled.
“Activities? Ooo the girls do that together all the time.” Discord grinned.
Sunset considered. “We'd have to be pretty low key to keep the club a secret, of course.” She smiled again and shrugged. “We could sneak into my world and catch a movie.”
Twi nodded. “It’d be nice to show all of you around. And maybe afterwards we could go back to Sunset’s apartment and I could cook us a nice dinner.”
Starlight considered. “We could…oh, we could go hiking in the Crystal Mountains up north. Sunburst says no one lives out there and that the views are beautiful.”
“Or we could all go to Horseshoe Bay,” Trixie added with a grin. “This time of year is still the off season, and there are a lot of private beaches there.”
“You could all come to the changeling hive.” Thorax smiled. “They’ve already seen me with Discord and Starlight and Trixie, so I could just tell them the rest of you are more friends. They won’t suspect about the club.”
Smooze gurgled something to Discord.
“Hmm,” Discord grinned and translated, “Smooze says we could go out jewel-hunting in the outlands. No one out there but diamond dogs underground.”
Luna cleared her throat with a small smile. “And I have always wanted to go camping in the Everfree forest—we could try that.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “Camping? Really, Princess?”
She smiled more. “I may be a princess, but I’m also the princess who handles all of the terrifying threats of the night. I spend many an evening soaring through the forest keeping its threats contained. But I’ve never lingered there, and especially not with friends. It might be nice: like a sleepover outdoors.”
Twi smiled. “After everything Sunset and I went through camping in our world, I’d actually be really excited to camp in yours.”
Luna’s smile grew. “I’m glad to hear you would be so excited, Twi.”
“And of course,” Discord began, “I could take all of you on tours of my chaos dimension. And maybe one or two of us could pop through portals sometimes into Equestria to play pranks.” He grinned. “For example, I would love to drop Twi into Ponyville for an hour and watch the confusion spread.”
The group shared a laugh.
Discord finished chuckling and clapped his paw and claw together. “Well then, what an interesting direction our little group has taken. I’ll get started planning our extra meetings as soon as possible. But for now, let’s get back to stuffing our faces and mushy talking.” He snapped to add a few chaotic desserts to the table, including some floating pink clouds filled with chocolate milk and bearing straws sticking out of the top. He made a small one float in front of Twi. “Here, Twi—I’ve turned into a pony before, and I’ve lost my magic before. I can’t imagine what it must be like getting used to both things at once. This is a completely hooves-free snack.
“Wow, thanks, Discord.” Twilight went to sip but paused. “Um…nothing inside is daisy flavored, is it?”
Discord grinned. “Only the best chocolate milk is in there, actually.”
Her smile brightened and she took a big sip. “Mmm, delicious! What a great idea—cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk.” She laughed as she bit off some of the cotton candy and swallowed. “Sunset was right, you really are creative. No wonder you’re president.”
Discord beamed.
Luna just sighed and brought a hoof to her forehead with a smile. “Well, that does it; his ego will now officially know no bounds.”
Trixie just chuckled. “Wow, Discord, you’re much nicer to human Twilight than to regular Twilight.”
“Well,” he shrugged, reclining back in his throne, “human Twilight is far more amusing. And I’m feeling generous today—surrounded by good friends and everything, you know.”
Luna magically took some cookies for herself then spoke up again. “If it’s all right, before others discuss their back stories in greater detail, I’d like to also discuss some personal issues. I’ve been transitioning even more into the lives of Equestria’s subjects, but without the Tantabus to help check my guilt, it’s been difficult.”
“Of course, moon princess.” Discord nodded with a sip from his own cotton candy cloud. “Do go on.”
The others settled in with snacks and eager grins. Luna smiled even more.
And thus the OOREV meeting went on late into the evening, full of laughter, talking, confessions, and friendship bonding galore.
Late that night, by the Everfree forest, a large pony in a cloak walked past the edge of the trees, glancing around. Finally she sighed and lowered her hood to peer up at the moon. “Sister…” Celestia whispered to herself, “where are you? I haven’t heard from you all evening.” She frowned. “I know you like your privacy for whatever it is you’ve been doing in secret these last few months, but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you.” She sighed as she finally came to a particular tree on the edge of the forest. “Here’s where Discord’s mailbox usually appears. Maybe if he senses I’m here, he’ll come.” She frowned and looked down. “Or maybe I should just try to summon him on my own. Wherever Luna is, she’s too far for me to sense her magic, but Discord might be able to. Certainly he’d at least do that for me no matter what.”
Just as she was about to power up her horn though, the air a few feet from her glowed, a portal appeared, and suddenly two figures stepped out, smiling and talking: Discord and Luna (no longer with the Tantabus by her side).
The chaos master grinned. “Well, that was fun. But I guess we went pretty late this time. Hope you’re not too behind on your nightly duties, princess.”
“Nay.” Luna shook her head. “I woke up early to take care of as many matters as I could, and even now I should have just enough time to finish up my final tasks. I just hope you didn’t mind such late company.”
“Oh please.” He waved her off. “Like I have a bed time. It was fun. I can’t wait to do it again.”
They shared a small laugh, and then looked forward. Their smiles fell and their eyes widened at the sight of a wide-eyed Celestia standing before them.
The three creatures remained in silence for a moment.
Then finally Luna cleared her throat. “Sister, erm…what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing out of bed so late?”
“I…” Celestia blinked a couple of times, her gaze transfixed on Luna and Discord, “I, um…couldn’t sleep and realized you hadn’t come home yet, so I just…um…” Her gaze became particularly focused on Discord now (who blinked and blushed faintly and suddenly didn’t know what to do with his arms).
Luna noticed, bit her lip, then prompted softly, “Sister?”
Suddenly Celestia cleared her throat, blinked a few times, and resumed a strangely normal smile and tone as she looked to Luna again. “Sorry, sister, I guess I’m a little sleepy. Anyway, I just thought a walk would help me sleep and I also wanted to make sure you were back from your outing. But I couldn’t sense your magic anywhere nearby, so I came out here where Discord’s mailbox sometimes appears because I thought maybe he could sense where you were for me. But now I’ve found you, so I suppose there’s nothing left for me to do here.” She cleared her throat and turned her head in Discord’s direction (though her eyes didn’t come up to look at him). “Thank you anyway, Discord. You can go back to sleep or whatever you were doing.”
She looked to her sister again. “And you can return to your nightly duties Luna. And I’ll just head home.” She powered up her horn. “Goodnight everypony.” She waved, still smiling.
Luna blinked. “Celestia—” She held out a hoof.
But in a burst of magic, Celestia teleported away.
Luna lowered her hoof and frowned.
Discord just let out a huge sigh of relief. “Whew! Glad we didn’t say anything about the club before we realized she was there. Dodged a bullet with that one, huh? Hoof bump?” Discord raised up his hoofed foot with a smile.
Luna, however, remained looked forward with a frown. “Discord, be serious. This is not a good situation.”
“What?” He shrugged as he lowered his hoof. “We didn’t ruin the secret of the club, she’s not worried about you anymore, and she’s safe at home. No problems.”
“Discord, she practically ran off! And such a bright smile is the happy face she puts on when she’s hurt or upset.” Luna shook her head and glanced at him with her brow furrowed. “Don’t you realize what just happened? She’s been curious about my secret outings and possibly feeling a little left out of them, and she’s been feeling neglected by you, and she knows I know she’s been feeling neglected by you. But now she just caught us spending time together secretly without her!”
Discord frowned now and tilted his head. “Luna, I get what you’re saying, but I also think you need to give Celestia a little more credit than that. She’s the poised, understanding, always-at-ease sun princess—if anything I’m sure she’s just happy to see us being friendly or something.”
“She is not just the poised and understanding and always-at-ease sun princess.” Luna’s frown grew. “She has her doubts too, Discord, just like anypony—just like everyone in our club. And just like you.” She sighed and looked down. “This will not be an easy situation to fix. I shall have to give her some personal space first and think about it very carefully.” She turned and spread her wings to take off.
“Luna? Wait…”
Luna paused and glanced to the chaos master.
He was frowning now himself. “You really think we hurt her?”
Luna nodded. “I know we did. The thing that makes my sister saddest is feeling lonely.”
Discord frowned more. But then he sighed and nodded. “Okay. Then maybe I should talk to her. But I’ll need a few days. I have to figure out the best way to do this…even if it means breaking code and resigning my presidency to tell her the truth about the club.”
Luna blinked. “Discord…”
“I’ll fix things, Luna, don’t worry.” He flew up and put on a slight smile again. “And, by the way, thanks for cutting off Starlight and Trixie at the pass earlier and telling Thorax there’s nothing actually between Celestia and I. I appreciate it. And also you’re welcome for me resisting the urge to make endless comments on you and your changeling suitor.” He gave her a little wave. “Have a good night, princess, and don’t worry. The chaos master, ironically, has everything under control.” The chaos master winked as he stepped back through the portal and it disappeared.
Luna watched him go then gave a small smile herself. She finally turned and ascended toward the sky, her heart a little lighter and a little more full of hope.
And there we go, the main part of the story is up! I hope you all enjoyed it 
Writing this many characters playing off of each other was a little hard, but I hope you like how it turned out. And thank you all for reading and for your support 
There will be a small epilogue posted as soon as I can manage to write it. It takes place after the season 7 premier and focuses on Discord fixing things with Celestia (and I might do a little cameo of the other club members too). I hope you guys enjoy it :)
(And to clarify regarding Sunset and Twilight's pony forms...I didn't want to make a claim either way about their forms (unicorn or alicorn) in Equestria, so I figured setting things Discord's chaos dimension instead of Equestria proper left the possibilities open.)
Happy Reading!
~Azure129
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... DisLuna for life loved this fic! Well done
As with all your stories, that was fabulous! Pretty sure I said this before but I absolutely love your writing. I'd say that was the perfect way to spend my hour, thank you.
Also the first time you referred Sunburst as 'Starburst', hehe.
8104284 Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed it
And thanks for the correction! (Clearly I was subconsciously shipping them when I wrote that lol).
8104357 haha
Love the chapter and boy it was long!
Though I was bothered that timber wasn't mentioned since in the movie he and Twi are perfectly awesome together. And also it seems that Flash and Sunset are getting back together which would make an interesting character development for Sunset since she tries to be better girlfriend for Flash, which you can write an awesome topic for the club for her of messing up in a relationship again. But, that might be for the Princess of Love area though.
I loved the ex-villains you pick and each one was awesome. I laugh my heart out when Throax was about to do the mating ritual!
Wow, I didn't even see that coming at all. It was to awesome
I love to see them go out and do funny activities and should also have a day were they try to be a villain again by doing what the other member tried to do like...
Trixie tries to be NightMare Moon by keeping the Moon for a full day without the sun coming up.
Or
Smooze tries to take over a town by entertaining them by his magic show.
There is a lot you can do with that!
Thank you for the chapter!
8104589 When reading the chapter I keep thinking your shipping Twi and Discord. Would be funny but I see CelestiaDiscord in there as well.
I like how it was fun and silly for most of the chapter, but things got real between Discord and Luna. Of course, the most exciting development is Celestia getting totally jelly!
I felt sorry for lonely Luna, I really hope she does become the next Changling Queen!
Also,
Someone needs to see what happens when they call this Luna "Vice Princess."
Thankyou for writing this story. I feels really good. It's written better then some of the show ' stories. I really hope they do something in the show based on your story.
That was even more amusing than the first story. Great work!
I found a few typos though:
There shouldn't be an apostrophe there.
That should be "expect".
That should be "if worst comes to worst".
More. This is great.
8309903
Thanks! I'm working on the epilogue right now, and I'll try to have it posted soon :)