Sympathy Series Side Stories

by Ckat_Myla

Super Old Post-aPS Stuff

Author's Note:

Some random drabbles that I wrote for fun during the time between posting Pony's Sympathy and writing Deja Discord. As of right now, certain ideas are making their way into Dealing in Harmony, although the actual content here is not. The only canon part would probably be the bit with Zecora.

Also it's worth noting that I never actually implied any other non-canon love connection in my stories besides Twi/Discord on purpose. I wanted y'all to be able to read whatever ship you like besides TwiCord into it if you wanted. I just picked Big Mac for Flutters' groom because I needed one here.

Cut Alt.scene for aPS

The force of the trap that Twilight had so willingly stepped into had propelled her forward and inside the confinement of the dome Discord had constructed, and the other five ponies had been blown back. It was a clear message: he only wanted her.

Rainbow Dash was in the air before Applejack could stop her, slamming herself repeatedly into the side of the barrier, trying to find a weak point. AJ took a few tries at bucking it, seeing Twilight trying the same thing from the other side. She watched as the fear in her purple friend’s eyes turned to anger as she rounded on Discord.

AJ pressed her ear close to the side, which felt very odd – strong yet at the same time somehow she felt…movement if that was possible. It was as if the dome were made of wind made solid.

Though she strained her ear, she couldn’t hear anything they were saying, all Applejack heard was a faint, muffled hum.

“I…I can’t hear nuttin’ they’re sayin,” the earth pony mumbled to the group, she then heard another barrage of conks coming from above, and felt the vibrations of each time Rainbow Dash head-butted the surface. “Rainbow, give it a rest, I’m tryin’ to hear!”

Rainbow scowled down as her, but ceased her ramming. “Hey, at least I’m doing something to try and get her out!”

“I know,” AJ told her winged friend as the others grouped around them. “But from the looks of it I don’t think she’s in too much trouble. We said we trust her, an’ we’re still here at least.”

“We should all have our elements ready at the very least,” Rarity said as she pulled them magically from her saddlebag. The others donned them in silence, all too stricken with worry for Twilight, who – it seemed – had stopped her conversing with Discord for the moment to come back to them.

The unicorn looked unsure at first, and Fluttershy lifted a hoof to somehow convey that they were still there for her, even if they were separated for the moment. They saw Twilight return the gesture, placing a hoof to match Fluttershy’s, and AJ nodded to her in solidarity.

Their friend then turned from them again and walked back towards the spirit of chaos.

AJ heard the yellow pegasus whimper as Twilight spun out of Discord’s grasp as he tried to put an arm around her.

“It’s ok ‘Shy, Twilight knows what she’s doin’,” she reassured her. “Least I hope so.”

The only thing the rest of them could do was watch, and they did for a good while. It was hard to gauge only from gestures and body language what the two were discussing.

“Rarity, can you make out what they’re talkin’ about?” Applejack asked after a few minutes.

Rarity squinted, observing their lips moving and trying to possibly read them.

“It’s hard to tell,” she slowly conferred after a few moments of trying to lip-read. “At first things seemed a bit cold between them, very tense. Now though, things are getting more heated…like they’re debating.”

Indeed, the tension that had begun the conversation seemed to have left both of them. Their words seeming to come easier, faster, and with more passion, and this was especially evident in Twilight’s gestures. Whatever she was saying, she was trying to make it convincing.

Rarity and Applejack continued to watch the two inside the dome. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were still quite worried – of course – but their attention spans were not as lengthy as their friends’. Pinkie had begun tracing circles in the sand, and Rainbow was pacing around the parameter of the barrier, still trying to find a weak point from the ground.

Fluttershy stayed close to the white and orange ponies, slightly more comforted when in close proximity to the two who had taken charge in Twilight’s absence.

Discord had been playing with the pony scarecrow, making it nod along to agree with whatever he was saying, his expression changed abruptly though in reaction to something Twilight said. Her head facing away from them though, they couldn’t try and read what it was. Whatever she’d said, it seemed to have surprised him, and pleasantly. He floated into the air and drifted back towards her, now looking like her words were slightly amusing. He spoke as he floated, possibly posing her a question, to which her head lowered.

They watched as Twilight spoke again, and Discord interrupted, Twilight’s shoulders slumped and she shifted her weight from hoof to hoof awkwardly. Evidently this caused Discord immense satisfaction, for whatever she had said made him look as if he wanted to laugh.

Suddenly, Rarity gasped and all eyes were back on Twilight, as her horn glowed and a magical bubble of her own formed around her.

“Yes, she’s got her magic back.” Rainbow practically cheered, and Pinkie did cheer.

While most every pony was reveling in this happy fact, Applejack and Rarity were a bit more wary, though for different reasons. Both ponies had begun to have sneaking suspicions as they observed the interactions between their friend and Discord, and both were coming to different conclusions.

Rarity analyzed Discord’s expression with the eye for detail that she was known for. The same attention to the subtleties of color and shape in a design could sometimes carry over into a talent for reading facial cues. At the start things between the unicorn and draconequus had seemed more distant, more cordial. Now – to Rarity at least – it seemed that things had very much taken a turn for the personal.

Though she couldn’t see all of Twilight’s face, she did notice that her friend was moving her head avoiding Discord’s gaze, and that his gaze had changed to something quite interesting indeed. He always had that air of assumed-superiority about him, as if he were more clever than every pony in the room, and on the surface that looked as if that were still the case…though upon further inspection, Rarity thought she saw something else in those mismatched eyes that seemed to never stray far from their confined friend.

Something in his smile as well…it unsettled her to realize how close that look he was giving her resembled the one Rarity always tried to instill in a stallion she was attempting to impress with her various wiles.

It was an intimate gaze, and though she could not see Twilight’s reactions to it, Rarity still felt embarrassed for her…and for herself as well. If the tension she had sensed at the start had morphed into some other form of tension…then this was really something not meant for their eyes. Rarity tried to banish the thoughts from her mind. Surely he didn’t trap her where we couldn’t hear for something like what I’m assuming… she thought.

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`

Applejack had noticed the strange shift in demeanor as well, and when Twilight got her magic back she felt relieved for a moment, but she also couldn’t help but notice Discord’s expression. She assumed that Twi regaining her magic would cause Discord some sort of stress, or at the very least to become a bit more defensive. The way he looked after Twilight created her own protective dome though, it didn’t look nervous at all. If anything he looked…glad.

Whatever they were talking about now, he just looked more pleased and pleased. AJ noted that that even when it appeared that Discord was losing interest again. There had been a suspiciously weird amount of eye contact for a good few minutes there, which sent little red flags all up around the orange pony’s mind. She didn’t catch any funky colors in Discord’s gaze, but his amiable nature – and Twilight’s too come to think of it – were enough to cause Applejack to ponder some more suspicious and nefarious goings-on that they couldn’t quite recognize for certain.

If her gut was telling her right – and it hardly ever lied – than Twilight had walked into a bigger trap than even they knew….poor, naïve Twi.

---

Bits for a planned oneshot involving Zecora

There were times when cheese actually was helpful in potion-making, this however was not one of those times. The gooey orange tree grew much too close to her own home, and Zecora could find no way of keeping it from dripping its leaves into her yard or even onto her own beloved tree house.

Now even her own form of magic was to be infiltrated, as somehow a few cheddar-colored leaf globs managed to somehow find their way into her cauldron. What was at one time intended to be a draft to cure aching joints was now no more than a few potatoes short of a chowder.

Zecora sighed and shook her head at the bubbling mess, then turning her gaze upward to follow the offending tree to its top branches. Several squirrels were congregated, some munching away at the goop, while some appeared halfway stuck in it.

“You've gobbled up every other edible tree,” she called up to them and the creatures of the forest at large. “but you can't even finish this one for me?”

Over a fortnight ago the young Twilight Sparkle had come to inform her that the spirit of chaos was setting up residence in the same forest in which she lived, but Zecora had not needed much proof. In the past few days the zebra had seen not only runny flora comprised of dairy product, but rabbits with deer legs, birds that sang pretty melodies that got stuck in ones head and would never leave, and more doxies than she could shake her staff at.

When first confronted with this news, Zecora fought the urge to pack up and leave right then and there. Though she had not been in Equestria when Discord had escaped his prison the first time, the myths surrounding the Chaos Bringer had reached her homeland. These tales of manipulation remembered from her past were infamous enough to grow and flower a strong sense of dread in the zebra.

She had taken these strange goings-on as omens of things to come, drawing her curtains and locking herself away to become even more of a recluse than was ordinary. She even donned an Eye of Sef, a trinket she'd found when visiting relatives that was supposed to ward off chaotic influences.

Though as the days passed, Zecora did not witness the oncoming storm of evil that she had been anticipating. While a wave of something swept over these woods, this wave was proving less harmful and more of a nuisance.

Going inside for a ladle and a bowl to make this potion-turned-soup salvageable, the zebra did concur with herself that it could always have been worse.

“No horrible things have befallen me, even if I wish I could be rid of that tree.”

She enjoyed her impromptu meal inside of her home and safe from the drop zone of the goo. She had intended to bottle that brew and sell to the townsponies, planning on the creation of the tonic taking all day. Not wanting to waste the time, she gulped down her soup and decided to set off through the forest to search for the ingredients to re-make the draft, as well as make something else ponies could use.

-`-`-`-`-

One thing was quite certain, even if the changes were not meant to hurt any pony, there sure were a number of new additions to the forest popping up. Plants and trees that never would be seen together all growing and thriving in great bunches. Jungle flowers next to desert cacti, cherry trees seeming to cross-pollinate with white pines. At times Zecora could have sworn she was in a rainforest, or even a thick brush similar to her old home. This also provided the zebra with more opportunities to stumble across many new magical plants, although both ones for the good and the ill. Finding fresh silverweed was nearly not worth the risk of disturbing the venomous tentacula that neighbored it.

A couple of doxies and a billywig zoomed past, ignoring her for the moment. Many more creatures seemed to be coming out of the woodwork too, magical creatures with a penchant for mischief that she had never encountered before on her walks.

It seemed merely the presence of Discord in this forest was causing it to become even more strange and mysterious than it once was. Zecora kept her pendant on during her search despite her cautious optimism. The benefits she was finding could not shake the vague, foreboding sense the zebra got every time she noticed something else that just wasn't quite right.

[STAR GRASS SALVE]

“To call him evil and throw a fit, those thing might make me a hypocrite.” That was true, it was not so long ago when the ponies of Ponyville were calling her evil, all hiding whenever she came to the town. She had not done anything to them to warrant that, and Discord had so far not done anything to warrant hatred from her... at least not directly.

---

Scene cut from DD, used some of the ending in actual story

Twilight wasn’t sure she knew what Applejack had meant, but she chose to trust that her friend knew what she was talking about.

Maybe it was that Rarity had more experience dealing with relations between different types of creatures, be they pony or otherwise. But if that were the case, then Pinkie would’ve been the pony to see, seeing as she was the friendliest pony Twilight knew.

The way AJ had said it though…it sounded to Twilight like something else, like when she talked about how much Rarity new about fashion or styling. It was a tone that told Twilight the earth pony didn’t know much about it and considered it not important enough to devote much time to.

Maybe she had been too vague with her, Twilight thought. She considered again what exactly she had asked of Applejack, and resolved to be more upfront with Rarity when asking for advice.

…If that’s even what she was asking. Twilight honestly wasn’t sure what she wanted from her friends. She didn’t know what they could do, or even what she should do.

Inside Rarity’s boutique Twilight saw the white unicorn ensconced in her work, her red glasses perched on her nose as bolts of fabric flew around for her inspection.

Twilight made her way carefully up to Rarity, not wanting to break her concentration, when she apparently caught sight of Twilight in her peripheral vision.

“Hello Twilight, I’ll be right with you,” Rarity called over her shoulder, gesturing to her friend to show acknowledgement.

“Oh, that’s fine. Take your time. No hurry,” Twilight said slightly apologetic. Letting Rarity be in her zone for a while was fine by her, it would give her time to sort out her thoughts, come up with a more concise way of getting out her words.

She watched as Rarity continued her work, and tried to put them together as easily as her friend was putting together her creations. She had no idea why it was so hard for her. She was a thinker and a speaker…but lately when it came to talking – or even thinking – about her time spent with Discord, things seemed to get jumbled up.

He had kept his promise; even without the magical means of keeping him away he had been staying clear of any populated place in Equestria. He’d also kept his promise to meet her in the forest every week for a ‘progress report’ of sorts.

Discord had redecorated the ruins of the old castle, and made it quite homey by his standards. The first few times when Twilight met him there, they hadn’t talked about much, and she had tried sticking to only what was needed. Where had he been, was he still being true to his word, and other things that would be expected for some pony in charge of keeping track of him.

As time went on though, the topics began to change, and eventually Twilight found herself looking forward to these visits. Discord was an enigma. Certain times she could see his point, but he kept bringing up these hypothetical situations of when chaos would be something beneficial. He seemed to relish baiting her into arguing with him about this, and as much as it frustrated her, she could tell he meant it all in good fun.

Fun seemed to be what he was all about. He could be frustrating, confusing, and most of the time far too interested in entertaining himself…but he was fun.

Then when they weren’t discussing the whole order-vs.-chaos thing, he pulled her in with books. He had a liking for whimsical, lyrical, and sometimes dark poetry, which he was trying to get her to appreciate no matter how hard she resisted.

She saw Rarity lower her sewing scissors and begin to put the rest of her items away.

“Sorry I wasn’t more accommodating when you came in, but this order needs to be done by tomorrow and I can’t be putting this off any longer,” Rarity apologized. “But what can I do for you?”

“Well, I was talking to Applejack earlier, I suppose to get some advice about something, but she said you’d probably be better to talk to about it. She called it one of your ‘areas of expertise’?” Twilight pulled her sentence up at the end, turning her statement into a question.

“Mm-hmm,” Rarity nodded, putting her glasses away. “And what might that be?”

Again- as she had done with Applejack – Twilight felt awkward talking about it. Not just because it was concerning Discord, because she knew that almost none of her friends trusted him yet, but because of what all this could mean. It was again that hesitance to let any pony know how she was feeling before she’d figured it out herself.

She had to be more concise though, if she really wanted help. Although maybe leaving out actually mentioning Discord by name would be fine.

“I’m not sure, really. But…say you spend a good amount of time with some pony, and at first he bothers you and frustrates you and you could never really see yourself becoming friends, but then you take the time to listen to him, and have debates that can actually get pretty heated. You find him exhausting, but at the same time strangely fascinating, you want to know what he’ll do next. So you find yourself looking forward to seeing him again, just to see.”

As Twilight rambled, Rarity turned to face her. At first she looked puzzled, but a smile of understanding began to grow on her face as she listened. By the time Twi was finished Rarity looked almost giddy.

Twilight paused when she noticed this very odd expression on her friend’s face. “…what?” she finally asked.

“Twilight, are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?” Rarity asked her own question.

“Um, just what do you think I’m asking?”

“Are you asking me for advice about stallions?” Rarity could not hold the surprise back from her voice..

Twilight’s ears lowered, starting to feel embarrassed now, “No, well…not really” she tried to say, but Rarity apparently was not buying it.

“Oh, Twilight. Our dear little Twilight, a special some pony has finally caught your attention!”

“What? No, you see-“she tried again, but it didn’t seem to be doing any good, no matter how she protested. Rarity had this knowing smirk on her face, and she spoke in the same way she did whenever she saw something completely adorable.

“Of course that is an area of expertise for me! Well, more so than Applejack anyway. I don’t know why you would go to her with this first. I admire her work ethic and all of that, but really the only colts I ever see her around are her male relatives. Oh, I’m sorry to say, I almost thought this day would never come!”

Twilight continued to try and regain Rarity’s attention, but now it seemed she was off on her own little tangent.

“Not that I thought you would never find some pony, just that you are always so wrapped up in your studies and royal duties that I didn’t think you’d ever find the time. But now that you have, you must tell me everything! Who is it?”

Twilight opened her mouth, but Rarity started again. “Nonono, don’t tell me! I’ll let you tell all of us when you’re good and ready, but Oh, he must be something to get your nose out of those books.”

“Now listen, I think you’ve-“she tried again, but it was clear that her friend would not be finished any time soon.

“Oh, of course. That’s probably one of the things you do together, right? Read your books, you would be attracted to the bookish type.”

“Rarity!” Twilight finally had enough. This was definitely not a conversation that she wanted to have, especially about Discord. If she only knew who Twilight had been referring to, there’s no way Rarity would be saying these things, or thinking she wanted romantic advice. It left her flustered, but she still couldn’t bring herself to explain further.

“I don’t think that’s what this is. I just- I don’t know what it is, but I know it can’t be that.”

The other unicorn only giggled and dismissed her words with a hoof. “Twilight dear, I have seen enough of what you’ve described – I’ve even been involved in some of it – and all the best romance novels I’ve read have a similar plot. You have what you might call a ‘textbook infatuation’.”

“No, I would not call it that,” Twilight grumbled defensively. Why wasn’t she listening? “Because romance novels are not textbooks, and I do not have an infatuation!”

“The sooner you admit your feelings, the sooner I can help you with them, and with him,” Rarity stated as if it were obvious.

--`-`-``-`

Twilight felt bad about dismissing Rarity so quickly, because she had honestly wanted to talk to some pony about what she thought she was feeling, and Rarity did want to help…

But that still didn’t change the fact that Rarity had to be wrong, Twilight was almost completely sure that she was *not* infatuated with Discord. Really, how could she be? The idea was absurd. Twilight had never even so much as had a crush on any pony, she wasn’t about to start now, especially not with him.

Now however, she regretted letting Rarity get into her head like that, because as she sat with Discord for their latest rendezvous, she was finding it difficult to think about anything else. She only hoped that Discord wouldn’t notice.

Which – of course – he did.

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” he remarked as he took a pause from his reading aloud another of his favorites from that strange book of poems. “Normally you don’t let me read this much without telling me that we should get back to ‘more important matters’.”

It was true; Twilight had barely even spoken since she arrived. She couldn’t shake Rarity’s words from her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if it was their influence that was causing her words to lock up when she tried to speak to him, and she was trying so hard not to entertain the idea that they might be true.

“Are you finally getting tired of our little meetings?”

She shook herself. “No, that’s not it. I guess I’m just not feeling well today. Plus you know I don’t mind hearing you read.”

Not only did Discord seem to notice that something was up, but he also seemed to be trying to regain her attention even though Twilight was avoiding his gaze.

“Is it some sort of problem with one of your friends, or are you just late for a report to Celestia again?” He asked flippantly, but still closing the book and moving into her sight.

“Because I’ll admit, I do tend to keep you from your official business, but you just admitted you enjoy my little distractions, plus you so often over-think things. That’s just not healthy of any pony.”

“Since when do you care about my health?” she asked, not being able to resist looking at him, he was trying to keep that offhand air, but Twilight could tell it was a front.

“Mental health shouldn’t be neglected, especially by one so intelligent. I’ve seen how collected you can be in a real crisis, but you seem to have such trouble with the more everyday worries. Whatever is going on can’t be worth the stress.”

“Says the one who thrives on other ponies’ stress, but never seems to experience it himself,” Twilight said, ignoring the fact that he seemed to actually be trying to make her feel better.

“Oh, I have my own stresses. Stress is a form of chaos, and so it’s not always so unenjoyable for me. But I can always find the funny slant, the irony in having my own messes.” Discord’s usual smirk was returning, evidently pleased that he’d pulled her back into a debate. “Incidentally, I don’t thrive on your stress.”

---

Super Old Thing About Twi's Thoughts on Her Future With Discord

The wedding was a week away, and Twilight found herself sitting with the others at Rarity’s boutique far too early for anyone but Rarity’s liking.

For Rarity seemed to be the only one of the bridesmaids that wasn’t bleary eyed or tousel-maned, this made no matter to the white unicorn however, she insisted on an early final fitting for the bride, and so scheduled the final fittings for the mares of the bridal party accordingly.

“Rarity, can we hurry up an’ git this over with?” Applejack grumbled as she attempted to rub the sleep from her eyes. “If I have ta be up this early, I should git a head start on some of that work that’s waiting for me at the farm. Especially since ya’ll will have Mac here probably all afternoon, I’ll have ta do his share today too.”

“Then why couldn’t we switch schedules with the guys? Make them have to get up early for a change,’ Rainbow yawned as Rarity was busy still setting up the changing screens.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry girls….but I chose this time,” Fluttershy piped up hesitantly. “I thought it would be quieter and less busy, so there’d be fewer ponies to might accidentally see me. I don’t want any pony to see me in my dress until the wedding, except you girls I mean. Also my little animals are still sleeping, and I want to have time to get their breakfasts ready. I –I didn’t mean to be an inconvenience.””

The two cranky mares ceased their complaining immediately. It was a completely different thing if Fluttershy had chosen this time.

“Ah, it’s fine Fluttershy,” Rainbow backtracked.

“Yeah, we’re just a might tired is all,” Applejack said. “We can’t wait ta see ya in your dress, Sugarcube.”

Fluttershy smiled her tiny smile before Rarity shooed her behind a changing screen.

“Yes, yes, and she’s going to look stunning, but we must get a move on!” she said as four more changing screens closed around the other girls.

Twilight hadn’t said anything as yet – she had been trying to wake up the same as the others – but the chit-chat halted for the moment as the dresses were delivered simultaneously to each of them behind a screen.

Twilight felt the smoothness of the silk as she practically slid into it. It was a soft blue, modestly-cut, with a green diamond-shaped gem at the bodice. She placed the small circlet strung with small pearl-like things atop her head, then waited for Rarity to move back the screen.

Rarity - it seemed – was the only one not trying on her dress today, and with a flourish the four bridesmaids changing screens folded away, and the girls could get a better look at each other and themselves in the gilded mirror.

As the purple-maned designer flitted between each of them, Twilight admired the other three who were dressed similarly.

Pinkie Pie was in a dress exactly the same as her own, with AJ and Rainbow were in a dress similarly cut, only in a light spring green. Applejack had removed her hat, and the circlet on her head was more ornate, Twilight assumed to indicate her status as Mare of Honor.

“Oh, you all look lovely,” Rarity said quickly as she adjusted Pinkie’s hem, then zipped over to help Rainbow with a strap. “Just let me go and help Fluttershy, than I promise we’ll be done.”

It must have been harder to get Fluttershy into her dress, because Twilight and her friends could watch as the sun began to peek over the horizon through the window.

Finally, Rarity emerged and drew away the screen, revealing the vision that was Fluttershy.

Everyone oohed and awed, which caused Fluttershy to blush and hide behind her hair. Rarity gestured for her to stand back up straight, which she only did reluctantly.

She gave a short click of her tongue in disapproval. “Honestly darling, you’re going to have ponies paying a whole lot more attention to you at the wedding, so you ought to get used to it now.”

“Oh, ok,” the yellow pegasus gave in, and stood to let her friends see her better. “It just reminds me of that time I was a model…” she gave a little shudder at the memory.

“Not to worry, you’re amongst friends, and you will be in a week’s time too.” Rarity reassured her. She opened up the floor for the others to give their compliments as well.

“Doesn’t Fluttershy look lovely, every pony?”

For a moment all were silent, as they took in their friend in her dress, then the flood of words began to pour out from each of them, toppling over each other so it was hard to tell what exactly was being said, but it made Fluttershy smile.

Her dress had a jewel at the bodice to match her bridesmaids, and the flowers in her mane were the same shades of blue and green as their dresses, but that was where the similarities ceased.

Her dress was a tad more layered than theirs, white with pastel green accents. Her gem rested on a white butterfly that held the straps in place. The accents were mean to mimic leaves, showing her love of nature, with the hem slightly fluffed up to indicate a trim of clouds, possibly a nod to her birthplace of Cloudsdale.

“Well shoot Fluttershy, ya’ll look way too good to me marrying someone like mah brother,” AJ joked as the excitement died down.

“Omigosh Fluttershy! You just look so beautiful!’ Pinkie bounced as she attempted to glomp the bride, but was swiftly stopped by Rarity’s magic.

“You certainly do look wonderful; Fluttershy,” Twilight added “And I love my dress, thank you for letting us be a part of the wedding.”

There were agreeing nods as Fluttershy seemed to continue to try and enjoy all the attention.

“Oh, you’re welcome. I mean, who else would I choose? You’re all my very best friends.”

Then she blushed again, but when she spoke Twilight could tell it wasn’t because of the attention this time.

“And, um, I don’t know if any of you were thinking about this, but…um…Rarity thought is would be a good idea to tell you that if you wanted…y-you could invite some pony to come with you to the wedding. I mean, if you wanted to.”

“As you all know Fluttershy doesn’t want a big crowd,” Rarity said as she replaced the screen to allow the shy pony to change. “She’s already quite nervous about all the new relatives she’ll have to meet, but I suggested that a few extra ponies wouldn’t be too bad if any of you were thinking of bringing dates.”

“Uh, dates?” Applejack asked confusedly, most of the others were looking at each other a bit awkwardly.

“Yes, I know none of us except Fluttershy have any romantic prospects at the moment, but it is only a suggestion,” Rarity said a little wistfully. “One would think it might be easier for certain ponies to round up a suitable stallion for the occasion, but-“she gave a sigh as she stopped herself from going into a mini-rant.

“I was jus’ about ta say, none of us really has a coltfriend or anything,” AJ said. “Shoot, I wouldn’t even have the time. Too much work to be done on the farm.”

“Yeah, that’s your excuse,” Rainbow teased, making the earth pony leer at her. “I’ll bet you couldn’t find a date if you tried.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what about you? Ya’ll act more like a guy than any of us, what stallion’s gonna go to a wedding with you?” Applejack gave her own retort.

“Hey, some guys would rather have a girl they can just hang and do cool stuff with,” rainbow Dash leered right back at AJ, the two now almost nose to nose.

“Oh yeah, challenging them to a spittin’ contest is real attractive.”

“Hey, I won that! You really think you’re more feminine than me miss wears-pants-to-a-gala?”

“Alright fine, I challenge you to a contest of feminine wiles! Whoever can’t get a date to the wedding will have to endure a humiliation of the winner’s own choosin’.”

“Challenge accepted,” Rainbow said smirk. “and no cousins this time!”

“I keep tellin’ ya, he wasn’t mah cousin!” Applejack shouted while Rainbow just rolled her eyes. “Jus’ because a feller has an apple on his flank doesn’t mean he’s mah kin, that there’s discrimination!”

“Pfft, whatever. See you at the wedding, alone,” Rainbow called as she flew out of her dress and out of the store. AJ had much more difficulty scrambling out of her dress without ripping it, but she was soon storming out as well.

After a brief awkward silence, the others began to change out of their dresses as well. It was Pinkie Pie who ended up breaking the awkward silence, but trust her to get them out of an awkward situation by causing another one.

“I have a coltfriend,” she said matter-of-factly. This caused the friends still assembled to blink at the pink pony, Rarity’s mouth agape.

“You do?” she asked, not even attempting to hide the unflattering tone. “Since when?”

“A few months ago, I’ve been pen pals with the Cakes’ nephew. I’ll just ask him to the wedding,” Pinkie answered. When Rarity continued to stare she added. “What, you don’t know everything about my life.”

She then hopped up with a giggle and skipped out of the boutique, leaving Rarity still in her stance of unflattering disbelief.

“Well, that is just-but…and how…it’s just not fair,” Twilight could hear Rarity grumble the barely-concealed jealous rant she was about to give her cat in the other room.

This left Fluttershy and Twilight alone in the main part of the store.

“Well um, thanks for coming Twilight,” Fluttershy said to break the tension.

Twilight smiled back at her. “You’re welcome, I wouldn’t have missed it. I do have to be going now though, Spike’ll be up in a little while and we have a particularly large checklist today.”

“Oh ok. Just remember that you can bring some pony too, f you want,” she reminded the unicorn. “You know…some pony who isn’t Spike, cause he’s invited anyway.”

The momentary awkward feeling Twilight had felt when Fluttershy had first mentioned ‘dates’ had since settled into a pit in her stomach. She tried her best to nod and smile, and to definitely not blush at all. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The feeling in her stomach only intensified as she exited the boutique, shuffling down the street much slower than she probably should have been.

Dating, it was something that Twilight had never really thought about. She’d never really had time for anything like that at school, and when she came to Ponyville she had been busy with her research on friendship. Sure she’d been asked out by stallions, but it was only after she had politely declined and they were long gone that she realized that’s what they were asking her for in the first place. Flirting was almost like a foreign language; Rarity once compared it to an intricate dance…one that Twilight didn’t think she could learn all the steps to.

Why was this even causing her so much pause? It wasn’t like she actually had any pony in mind that she’d want to go with, or any pony that she felt that particular way about…

She sighed, that was only a half-truth. He wasn’t exactly a pony after all.

It had been quite a while since the whole Chrysalis incident, and Twilight hadn’t mentioned to her friends at all what she had learned about Discord that day, about how he felt about her.

The unicorn still hadn’t found the right way to breech the subject to them that she actually returned those feelings, and that she had completely surprised both the draconequus and herself when she had thanked him for saving her by returning that kiss he had given her such a long time ago.

Everything between them was so mixed up and confusing, she couldn’t even figure things out on her own, so there was no way that she could share any of it with her friends.

Twilight felt most secure when she had things planned out; when she had a checklist to tick off everything she had to do. When life was planned and scheduled, she felt some sense of control. At times this illusion of control was the only thing that kept her from going crazy.

It was an illusion though, and Twilight knew it. She hadn’t planned to be sent to Ponyville, or to find her very best friends. She hadn’t planned to become one of the saviors of Equestria so many times over, and Discord…absolutely nothing that he had done since she first met him did she - or could she - plan for.

She battled with it internally almost every day. It was crazy to even consider, the idea of she and him in any traditional romantic way. Her friends were only now beginning to accept her friendship with the spirit of chaos, and some still grudgingly at that.

Twilight imagined bringing him to the wedding, and for one millisecond she felt like laughing. She pictured him in a suit or a bow tie or something, among all the ponies in their fancy clothes, ponies that still feared and hated him.

That was only one small example of it. She couldn’t take him anywhere, not without him causing a scene, either by scaring every pony (whether intentionally or not) or without causing him to experience the pain of the punishment spell. And forget about dating…

If she chose to open that door – to surrender to the feelings that so compelled her – it was a future that she couldn’t plan, one she just couldn’t see.

What type of life would they have…could they have? It wasn’t like they could end up married or…anything. Her cheeks felt warm as her mind drifted to that thought. She remembered Fluttershy just a few moments ago in that beautiful dress, so filled with joy at the prospect of marrying the one pony she loved more than any other, and Twilight felt this strange ache.

It was an option that Fluttershy had – that all ponies had – but something that she would not…not if she chose to be with Discord in that way.

She pictured in her mind a wedding like her brother’s, grand and full of every pony she loved, the Princess beaming at her along with everyone else as she came down the aisle, in a dress like Cadance’s. It was strange even in her mind’s eye to see Discord there at the end waiting for her, with no pony cowering in fear or shooting him contemptuous glances. It made her smile for the briefest moment… before she brushed away the whole picture from her imagination.

Since she had never given dating much thought, the thought of marriage had almost never entered her mind, and it may never have if this hadn’t happened. Being with him closed that door for her, and wanting to be with him probably bolted it shut, which left her with a vague pang of longing.

The whole cornerstone of marriage was to commit to being with one pony for as long as one lived, and in an ideal situation it would be a pony you couldn’t live the rest of your life without anyway.

Another thing Twilight rarely ever pondered was the concept of her own mortality. She wondered why she hadn’t, given that she spent so much time around beings with far longer life spans. She knew that the princesses were over a thousand years old, and it was very surreal to think that – maybe another thousand years from now – they might still be here, looking exactly the same as they did now.

The purple unicorn though – for all her magical skill – was a mortal pony, that was the way of it. Even Spike would someday outlive her; in the back of her mind she knew that. Discord though; he was even older than the princesses…

No matter how long Twilight lived - she could spend the rest of her life with him, but he couldn’t spend the rest of his with her.

Comments

[Xion_Stellar]

Hmmm I like it so far and it's a better alternative than you simply trowing away these ideas but I will read the rest of the chapters later.

[Ckat_Myla]

8511752
It's fine. I didn't intend them to be read all at once. Think of this story as a special feature on a dvd. It's got deleted scenes and commentary

[FanficReader920]

Is it possible for us to get some side stories about the Childhoods of Ismaat and Melody? I'd love to see that.

[23 KM To Nerdiness]

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