A New Hero

by Alex The Lone Wolf

Make New Friends but Keep Discord

"I'm glad you could make the time to come see me. It feels like it's been a while since we've been able to be together like this."

Fluttershy and I sat side by side on her couch near the window. She had set the small table in front of us along with a couple cups of tea. She lightly rested and nestled her head on me, ignoring her cup of tea in the meantime as she closed her eyes.

"I know…" I lifted up my hoof and brushed her mane tenderly. "I feel bad because of it."

"You shouldn't feel bad at all." She calmly assured. "It must not be easy being a Prince of Equestria. You and Twilight have so many responsibilities that are much more important than us regular ponies."

"Speaking of Twilight…" I was reminded of the… "incident" between us. "We were going through this weird…semi-lucid dream together this one time. At one point…you were in it. We sort of started doing some…embarrassing stuff. Unfortunately, when I woke up, I realized I was kissing the wrong pony…um…Twilight."

I felt my heart practically pounding as I was silently fearful of what her reaction would be.

She opened her eyes but did not remove her head from my body. "Oh dear. Was she upset?" She asked, her eyes worriedly lifting up towards me.

I was shocked by her unexpected reaction that I couldn't speak for a second or two.

"O-oh no. Not at all. She was pretty embarrassed about it though."

"I see." She closed her eyes once again and continued speaking. "Sometimes I dream about you, thinking it's real, only to wake up and realize that you're not there with me."

"Sorry…" I apologized.

"Don't be. I'm not mad. In fact, I'm pleased we are spending time together right now." She suddenly lifted her head away from me and shot her eyes wide-open. "Oh! That reminds me!"

"What?" I asked, leaning forward in concern.

"Did you get your Grand Galloping Gala ticket?"

"Yeah, I did. I almost forgot the Grand Galloping Gala was around the corner."

"Since we both have our individual tickets, I was wondering if you'd mind if I used my plus one for a friend of mine. Tree Hugger." She mentioned the name with an eager smile.

"Tree Hugger?" I repeated, never having heard of this pony before. It only showed how much time I needed to catch up with Fluttershy on many things.

"We met on the trip to see the Breezies. She's a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures." She explained.

"Ah. Well, she sounds interesting." I didn't know what else to say. "I don't mind at all. In fact, I was considering bringing a few ponies I'd really like to see at the Gala."

"Really?" Fluttershy inquired about with interest.

"Yeah. Three actually." I began to list them out. "Starlight, My old sister. Coco Pommel, the shy but friendly pony we met back in Manehattan. And Spirit, my spirit of course. Technically, Spirit wouldn't need my 'plus one' since she can just literally pop out during the Gala, but I considered it would be nice to have her feel a little more…you know… alive."

"I see, but…" Fluttershy's head tilted slightly to the right as her ear flopped down along with her movement. "Wouldn't you need two more plus ones?"

"About that…" I proceeded to explain. "I was hoping to speak with Twilight and Spike to see if they wouldn't mind using their plus ones for them. After all, everypony else seems to already have their plus ones chosen. Pinkie is bringing her sister Maud. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are bringing the Cutie Mark Crusaders. You're bringing Tree Hugger. I think Octavia got invited too since she plays there and is bringing Vinyl. Twilight and Spike are the only ones I haven't heard having any plans for using their plus ones."

"Well, you're really thoughtful for wanting to bring some more ponies to the Gala." She praised with a sweet soft smile of hers. "If they've never been to the Gala before, I'm sure they'll love to go!"

"Yeah…" I bashfully rubbed the back of my head with my hoof. "It's kind of the reason why I want them to go."

"How is Spirit anyhow?" Fluttershy asked. "I figured she'd be here with you."

"She decided to see what Pinkie Pie was up to. Probably baking something. I was a little surprised she volunteered herself, but I'm a little proud anyway. I wanted her to get to know the others, including you, her own way, you know?"

"She does seem very sweet." She admitted. "I haven't spoken with her much, but I would definitely like to get to know her more."

"Yeah." I nodded my head in agreement. "She's really great once you get to know her. Oh." My eyes caught sight of the clock nearby. "We were going to take the train towards Canterlot so we can meet up with Twilight."

"Oh!" Fluttershy appeared to understand my reason for leaving. "Don't let me keep you waiting. I wouldn't want you to miss your train."

"Well…" I felt the need to keep myself from leaving in order to grow physically closer to Fluttershy. "I could always just fly there."

Fluttershy noticed my advances and began to blush prominently. She giggled lightly before reacting. "As long as it's okay with you…I…I don't mind…"

Before I could start anything serious, we were rudely interrupted with the sound of the door slamming open.

"I'm here, Fluttershy!"

"Oh, Discord…!" Fluttershy responded in complete surprise. We both immediately sat appropriately. "I almost forgot our Tuesday Tea!" She turned to me with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Alex…"

"It's okay." I assured her with a smile. "I guess I should get going anyway."

"That's right. Go on. Shoo." Discord emphasized with a shake of his disfigured paw/claws. "It's precious time that I spend with my best friend."

I returned an irritated look back at Discord as I passed by him.

"Yeah, whatever."

The only reason I practically accepted the idea of Discord still remaining friends with Fluttershy was the company he gave her. Fluttershy was able to hold her own and not let Discord get away with any mischief. As long as I didn't have to be around him, it wasn't that much of a big deal to me.

"I'll see you real soon, Flutter Bu—" I tried to say once last thing to her beaming face as she waved back at me, but apparently Discord shut the door on me, leaving me to stand outside in a great pause. "…tter…"

Honestly, how can she even stand him?!

---

I stopped by Sugarcube Corner to pick up Spirit so we could head on our way to Canterlot. Realizing how we'd take a small adventure today by ourselves made me sure that she would enjoy the trips. I opened the door to the bakery and found the area pretty absent except for the faint sound of giggling and laughter from the kitchen.

"Hello?" I called and began walking towards the kitchen. I could hear the sound of utensils and other objects being picked up and messed around with. I poked my head through the door and found two mares seeming to be having the times of their lives. I think…

On Spirit's flank, there seemed to be what looked like a cupcake pancake drizzled with frosting. There also seemed to be patches of flour on both of them, as if they had some kind of flour fight. I had no idea what had happened during my absence, and I didn't really think I was interested in finding out. Nevertheless, I was pretty happy to find them getting along.

"Uh…having fun?" I asked a bit awkwardly.

Spirit turned quickly towards my way, appearing to be surprised of my sudden appearance. I could see another splotch of white on the tip of her nose.

"Are we ever!" Pinkie Pie giggled heartedly, sneaking in a few snorts here and there. "We were able to get so many cakes done! Oooh! We can have some after the Gala! I'm sooo excited!"

Spirit looked like she was embarrassed from having me see her in the current state she was in. She wiped off the flour from her nose and shook her mane. "Heheh…yeah…"

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to borrow Spirit, Pinkie. We're going to take a trip over to Canterlot." I mentioned.

"Why? The Gala isn't until tonight…right?" She seemed to be unsure of her own implanted schedule.

"Right." I pointed out. "But I wanted to ask Twilight and Spike about their tickets to the Gala. I'll be back in time so we can all go together."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie finished by taking a bite from one of the cakes they must have made together.

Spirit attempted to wipe herself clean before we boarded the train and traveled over to Canterlot. Twilight was helping Celestia with the Gala, so it was most likely that they were at the Castle where the Gala always took place, of course.

At the time, Twilight appeared to have been alone as she arranged several items around the ballroom. I caught her in the middle of her work as she was turning her head around the room to direct her magic. When her eyes caught sight of Spirit and me, she almost dropped the item she was carrying.

"Hey…! What are you two doing here?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk about you and Spike's Gala ticket. By the way, where is he?" I briefly searched the room for him.

"I let him sleep in." Twilight responded, continuing on with her work. "We'll probably be staying up late after all with tonight and whatnot." She turned her head towards me and gave me a teasing smirk. "Don't tell me you're trying to butter me up for my plus one, are you?"

Oh man… How long ago was that?

"Technically, I guess you could say that." I admitted. "But it's not me that's trying to be your plus one. There are a couple of ponies I was hoping to bring. I wasn't sure if you or Spike had anyone in mind for your plus ones, but if you didn't, I was wondering if I could use them for a few other friends?"

"Oh?" Twilight turned her body around in my direction, her interest appearing to peak. "Might I know of these friends that are coming?"

"Starlight and Coco Pommel."

"Starlight." Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment. "You'd think a pony like her could get in without a ticket."

"She's not the type to attend 'fancy' get-togethers. But since we'd be there, I figured, you know."

"Well, sure. I don't mind using my plus one. I don't think Spike is using his, but you should probably ask him just to make sure."

"Right…" I remembered. "He's probably still sleeping in the castle."

"You owe me a dance." Twilight unexpectedly mentioned, causing me to slightly jump.

"Huh?" I questioned.

She chuckled in return. "Just kidding. I'll probably be too busy helping the princess than to focus on the festivities. We'll see."

"Sure…We will see."

"Catch you tonight!" She waved before she continued her complete focus on the work.

"Come on, Spirit." I called over, who seemed to have been distracting herself with unfinished decorations and furnishes during the time I spent speaking with Twilight.

---

I believed Spirit had been expecting for us to return back to Ponyville, but we obviously had to visit one more place before we could return back home.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she looked out the window of the train as it passed by not too familiar sightings.

"Manehattan." I answered.

"Manehattan?" She brought back her head inside to look at me. "Why?"

"For Coco Pommel, of course."

"Coco?!" Spirit immediately rushed close towards me. "We're going to see Coco?!"

"…you seem awfully happy about that." I was surprised about her reaction. She had never officially met Coco before, yet it seemed that she had knew her for ages.

"Coco's just the sweetest…" Spirit held her hooves together and closed her eyes as if she was envisioning something.

"But you two never even met before."

Spirit immediately shot her eyes open in alarm to answer this. "T-through you! Remember?"

I still couldn't understand this pony, but I didn't really try to anymore. It was too hard. "I guess…"

Once we arrived and exited the train station, Spirit was practically skipping all along the way. Strange how out of every pony, Coco was the only one she was really excited to see. It was a good thing in a way, I guess.

"I think this is the place." I pointed out the huge red apartment at the corner of the block. It seemed to match the details of the area after having taken the directions from the train station she had given me in one of the letters from her. She wasn't expecting my visit at all, but I figured I'd make it a surprise since she's been wanting to see me.

"It's huge!" Spirit observed the size of the building.

"Yeah…well…everything is huge here compared back to Ponyville. Then again, the most populated part of Fillydelphia isn't so much different." I compared.

"Yeah…" Spirit rubbed her foreleg lightly. "I guess I'm kind of glad we lived in the smaller part of Filly."

"We?"

"By we I mean you, of course! Heh heh." It appeared as if she applied more pressure to her calm rubbing.

Nevertheless, I didn't really think of it as a big deal, so I lead the two of us inside the apartment complex and searched for her room number. Once I spotted it, I remained standing in front of what was supposed to be her door. At the moment, my heart began to beat faster, and I began feeling a little nervous. However, I couldn't understand why. I hadn't seen her since the Equestria Games, and I wondered if that was the case. I managed to lift my hoof up and knock a couple of times.

After a brief moment, we heard some noises on the other side of the door and the door itself before it began to open. A delicate head poked out to silently greet us. It seemed to take her some time to process who I was in her head before she realized I was actually standing before her.

"A-A-Alex!" She stuttered. "I didn't know you were coming here today!"

"Hi." I raised a hoof with an embarrassed smile. "I hope it isn't a bad time. I thought it would be nice to drop in for a surprise."

"C-come in!" She almost threw open the door but managed to catch it before it could hit against the wall. "I'm so sorry about the mess." She mentioned as she closed the door behind us. "If I would have known, I would have cleaned up the place. Oh… I don't even have any tea or cookies to offer you. Ughhh. I'm so sorry."

"Hey…" I turned and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "It's really all okay. You don't need to apologize, I promise. I kind of feel bad for not telling you ahead of time, but I thought it'd be nice."

With a soft blush enveloping within her cheeks, she slightly looked away. "It is nice to see you after all this time." She softly embraced me for a moment before pulling away.

"Coco!" Spirit practically tackled Coco. I had never seen her give so much affection to a pony other than me. "It's so great to see you!"

"I-I'm sorry." Coco appeared to be partially in shock from the sudden action. "Do I know you?"

"Right…" I prepared introductions. "Coco, this is a Spirit. She's a…good friend of mine. You could say she knows you through me…" Literally?

"Oh, I see…" Coco returned a sort of awkward smile as she lightly patted Spirit back. "It's nice to meet you, Spirit…"

When Spirit eventually released Coco from her seemingly deathly tight grip, we all sat down to discuss the reason I had come here in the first place.

"If you don't mind me asking…" Coco began, hanging her forelegs between her hind legs as she sat with us. "What brings you two here?"

"Have you ever been to the Grand Galloping Gala, Coco?" I asked.

"No, I haven't… I've heard of it, of course, but I've never been there myself. I do wonder how it is. Every time I hear about it from some pony, it always sounds like a big deal."

"How would you like to come then?" I finally presented.

"Huh?!" Coco's eyes widened and she remained still as if dumbfounded for a brief moment. "You're…inviting me to the Gala? Seriously?"

"It's tonight." I mentioned. "I hope that isn't too short notice for you, but things weren't exactly cut and dry."

"Well…" Coco shuffled in her seat as her face looked slightly flushed. "I don't know if there's any other pony you want to take instead; I don't want to be a bother…"

"Don't worry about it!" I reassured. "It's sort of complicated, but I'm using my other friend's plus one to bring you. You see… I'm bringing Spirit here as my plus one, but I also wanted to invite you. That is, if you're willing to go."

"Oh. Is she you're…?"

"No!" Spirit exclaimed.

"She's…a close friend." I managed to explain, keeping my eyes on Spirit from her unnecessary outburst.

"I see." Coco adverted her eyes and placed a hoof to her chin. "I've been keeping on schedule with my work…and I don't have anything important planned right now…" She turned towards me. "I would be delighted. It sure sounds like it'll be a fun experience."

"Yes!" Spirit shouted.

"That's great." I expressed warmly. "Did you want to head back to Ponyville with us? Rarity could get a dress up for you, actually…"

"I'd love to, but I think I should stay here. I do make dresses myself after all…" Coco looked away bashfully, as if she felt she was being too boastful.

"But we'll see you in Canterlot, right?"

She nodded tenderly. "You will."

"Yay!" Spirit almost jumped from the couch we were on and threw her hoof upwards in cheer.

Coco giggled. It didn't seem she minded Spirit's unusual close liking to her.

"We'd love to stay, but we've got to head back to Ponyville. There are a few things we need to do and we also have to get ready for the Gala."

"Well, I'm glad I'll be seeing you at the Grand Galloping Gala. Truly…" She stood on her hooves along with me and approached me to hug me warmly. "I never thought you'd be inviting me along to such an occasion. I really appreciate it."

"For all the work you've done, I think you deserve a great night." I mentioned as she lingered on. Let's just hope it isn't as bad as last time…

---

There was one more place we had to go before actually seeing Starlight. It was a good thing she still resided in the same town, so we wouldn't have to jump on a train again…at least not until the Gala. Spirit and I dropped by the castle and looked for Spike. We found him unusually shivering in his bed as if he was paranoid about something.

"Spike?" I called.

"Gahh!" He screamed as he turned towards me.

"Aah!" Spirit yelped in reaction. "What's wrong?!"

"I-It's just you…" He released a sigh of relief. "Discord freaked me out not too long ago. He popped up underneath my blanket and wanted to know where Twilight was. Then he left and I couldn't sleep since!"

"Ew. Discord." Spirit seemed to share my disgust of Discord, and she wasn't afraid to speak it out loud.

"Any reason why?" I asked, finding that pretty odd.

"No. No idea at all!"

Hm… Wasn't he supposed to be having his "Tuesday Tea" with Fluttershy…?

"Anyway…" I disregarded the current subject and referred back to what we came here for. "Spike, were you planning on using your plus one for the Gala?"

"No, not really. Rarity already has her own ticket after all."

Spirit and I exchanged short "insider" glances at each other for a few seconds.

"You mind if you use it for some pony I've been interested in bringing?" I asked.

"Huh?" Spike stood up from underneath his blankets. "Who?"

"Starlight." I stated plain and simple.

"Starlight?" Spike questioned with both shock and a little cringe. "Really?"

"Yes, really. So, might I?"

"I guess…" He sounded hesitant and unwilling, which wasn't unexpected. "I don't have to be around with her, do I?"

"No, just to bring her in."

"Sure, whatever."

"Thanks." I expressed.

I supposed Spirit felt the need to show him some gratitude, so she patted him over the head and offered him a bright grin.

Alright… Just need to ask her if she's interested then…

"You're going to see Starlight, right?" Spirit inquired about on our walk there.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I think I'll just…head over to Rarity's…" She brought up, pointing her head over to the boutique we passed.

"Oh, right!" I remember. "We got to get you fitted for a dress too!"

"Heh, dress, sure." She chuckled. "Catch you later!"

She split up and trotted her way over to Rarity's. That was alright. That's probably the next place I'm heading after I'm finished talking with Starlight.

I knocked a few times on the door and waited for a response. However, I didn't get any, leading me to wonder if she was out. I decided to slip in, especially since it was still technically my place after all.

"Starlight?" I called softly.

Still no answer.

Checking upstairs.

I gave a brief look around, readying my voice to call out her name again before I spotted a somewhat large mass on the bed and sighed lightly. She was still passed out on the bed.

I approached the bed and tapped her a little. She released her mumble and grumbles, soon lifting up the upper portion of her body holding her bed hair.

"You awake?" I clarified.

"…why you gotta be waking me up…?"

She mumbled some more and looked as if she didn't even recognize me yet. It was pretty obvious that she was still half-asleep.

"I've got something for you." I mentioned as she rubbed her eyes roughly.

"What?" She looked at me with half-lidded eyes. Now she looked like herself.

"Are you interested in the Grand Galloping Gala?" I asked.

"Not really." She didn't spend any time thinking about it.

"You should at least try it once, don't you think?"

"I stopped by one time. Didn't like it. Too high-class and prissy."

"I know what you mean, but I'm thinking things are gonna be a little different now."

"Okay? And?"

I felt my head droop down from exhaustion. "Oh, come on. Just go, why don't you?"

"Why are you trying to pressure me into going so much?" She asked, raising her eyebrow and lowering one of her eyelids.

"Because me and some other nice ponies will be there." I answered.

"You mean your friends?"

"Yeah…" It was starting to feel too difficult in trying to keeping a stable conversation with her. "Point is; the Gala shouldn't be as 'high-class' as it might usually be. You might like it, and I thought it'd be nice to bring you along."

She sighed and wiped a hoof across her face. "When is it?"

"Tonight." All of a sudden, she stared at me in an uncomfortable silence. "What?"

"You're inviting me to something that's tonight?"

"Y-yeah…?"

"I have to get my mane and dress done by tonight!" It was pretty obvious she was growing a bit furious.

"I figured you wouldn't worry too much over your regular mane and that you'd already have a dress…" I replied honestly.

She sighed heavily once more as she got out of bed. I could tell that it was a sigh of immense frustration and disappointment. "If I go the way I usually go out, ponies are going to look at me funny because I'm not 'hoity-toity' like them."

"I thought you were used to be the center of attention", is what I wanted to say, but that most likely just called for an argument. A very loud and bad one at that.

"Hey, it's no problem." I attempted to reassure. "My friend, Rarity, is getting everyone's dresses and manes styled for tonight. She lives for such work. She can work with you."

Starlight kept quiet for a moment, which I assumed she spent thinking. "If she snips and makes a mess of my mane, I swear I'll get you both."

"Fine, fine." I lifted my hooves up as a sign of surrender, even though I wasn't really surrendering to anything.

"I guess I should shower then." She stated as she faced the bathroom doorway. "Let her know I'll be coming over then."

"Sure."

Afterwards, she entered and shut the door after her.

I sighed myself and felt an exhausted drop of sweat slide on the side of my face.

That's the end of that. I guess I can't blame Spirit for not sticking around when it comes to her…

---

Honestly, I was starting to feel a little exhausted, and that was because we hadn't even gotten to the big part of the night. However, making all those trips and talks did bring the day closer to an end. I found everyone gathered inside the boutique, except for those whom I had just spoken with, of course. Realizing that, I thought about Twilight. Where was she going to get herself dressed up for the Gala? Maybe along with Princess Celestia? That would be a delightful treat for her.

Inside the boutique laid a pretty funny surprise. I never saw Rarity so jubilant on working on a pony like I did now. Spirit seemed to lay at her complete mercy as Rarity energetically jumped over from her mane to her dress, to her dress from her mane. Noticing me come in, Spirit sent me a pleading look through her face as she stood still.

"Yes! Yes! I can see it all coming together!" Rarity cried out in joy. "Oh my, you are so adorable! Oh, this color matches your eyes so vividly!"

Through her embarrassed and somewhat fragile state, I could see the massive changes made for her formal appearance for the Gala. Spirit mane was brushed, pulled to the left side, and ultimately held up to form a ponytail. The front area of her mane was still fairly the same. It already looked like Rarity was putting the final touches on her dress, but I, in no way, had the vocabulary she did in order to accurately describe the dress. Nevertheless, it was really cute. It seemed Rarity sort of had the "childish" and "innocent" look in mind.

"Ooooh!" Rarity expressed pressing her hooves tightly together by her awe-stricken face. "So fabulous!"

"Wow..." I silently observed the sight. "I knew you were quick, but I didn't think you were this quick, Rarity?"

"Are you joking, darling?" Rarity returned. "I had each and every design ready for you all. All that was really left to do was correctly fix them to your measurements. Which reminds me. I need to take yours!"

As she grabbed my hoof and led me to an area where she could do so, I thought it would be best to tell her about Starlight now. "You remember Starlight, right?"

"Which Starlight, darling?" Rarity asked, focusing her glasses and getting a good angle with her measuring tape.

"Starlight, my sister."

"Ah…yes…"

I couldn't tell if she became disgusted at the topic of her or if she was just too focused on her work.

"She's going to the Gala tonight, so she was going to stop by here to, y'know, get herself done."

"What?!" Rarity almost dropped her tools of trade. "She's going to gala?! And she's coming here?! For what reason?!"

"I invited her…" I nearly mumbled out.

"Pff. Kch. Ts!" Rarity grew upset. "You want to ruin a night of perfection?"

"Hey, come on. I know you don't exactly like her, but she's changed. You don't have to be friends with her, but just give her a chance, you know?" I lightly pleaded.

"So you say, but I am not so willing to believe that." She finished up her measuring and turned away to focus on something else.

I thought of what I could say to change her way of thinking. I didn't want Rarity to screw things up with Starlight and in turn rip things apart with me. I honestly wasn't looking for Rarity to befriend her, I just really wanted Rarity to do me a favor. Then again, I never really thought I'd be pushing through for Starlight. Sigh.

Maybe "talking" isn't what I really needed to do. What was that thing that Rarity was so good at? Working her "charm" towards other ponies when she wants a favor to be done? I know nothing of the skill, but maybe I don't need to when it comes to Rarity…

"Please, Rarity?" I asked, joining by her side and softly embracing her.

I could feel warmth arise at her cheeks, and her movements seemed to still.

"After all, I invited her to your boutique because you are a talented and beautiful mare who knows her stuff on fashion and style."

She began giggling a little nervously, but it was obvious she was completely flattered. "I am, aren't I?"

"So, would you please do me a favor and see what you could do for Starlight?"

"Alright, alright." She placed a hoof to my chest. "I'll do what I can."

"Thanks!" I expressed, giving her a tight squeeze before I roamed off.

---

Rarity seemed to behave well when Starlight came over. I wondered, though, if there were things she wanted to say but kept them shut beyond her mouth. Of course, Rarity didn't have anything special or unique for Starlight, especially since she was kind of a last minute thing, but it wasn't much of a problem since she had already other pre-made dresses for her to wear. I wasn't sure if Starlight was exactly picky, but since it was an event she didn't care for much in the first place, it didn't seem to be a problem. Nevertheless, it was a surprise to the majority of us when Starlight complimented Rarity on her work. Although, I could imagine Rarity taking it with a grain of salt.

The night everypony had been waiting for arrived. Since Spirit was my plus one, I decided to escort her in. However, she wasn't so bubbly at our arrival of this event. She'd been uneasily turning her head and roaming her eyes around the place.

"I feel like everypony's looking at me…" She mentioned.

"No, they're not." I tried to ease her through. "Even if they were, I'm sure it's because you look amazing tonight."

Instead of taking the compliment well, she turned her eyes to the dress Rarity made for her and groaned. "Ugh… I look so stupid in this dress. I am not the type of pony to be wearing something like this."

"You look fine." I assured. "Trust me. Rarity knows her stuff."

Spirit returned only a sigh.

"Alex!" I heard a soft voice nearby. I turned to see the lovely and kind Coco Pommel approaching us. She immediately greeted me with an embrace. "Thanks for bringing me here. Everything seems lovely so far!"

"You should really thank Twilight." I pointed out. "She did use her plus one for you after all."

"Oh yes." She lightly messed with her hair. "I did, but right now she's with the princess." She sighed. "It must be so wonderful to be of royalty and standing right next to the mighty princess herself."

"Well…" I shrugged. I suppose I didn't think too much of it.

"Hi, Coco!" Spirit exclaimed out unexpectedly.

"Hi, Spiri—Aagh!" Spirit threw her hooves around Coco before she could finish and looked like she was trying to suffocate her.

"Alright, alright…" I lightly patted and pushed away Spirit before she could do any harm. "You don't want to send her to the hospital and miss the Gala, do you?"

"N-no…" Spirit embarrassingly agreed. "I'm sorry, Coco. Do you…want to go find a table and talk or something…?"

"O-oh, sure." Coco was slightly still recovering from that tackle. "Are you coming, Alex?"

"Actually…" I remembered that there were several things I wanted to do, one of them is finding Fluttershy and spending time with her. She was supposed to be with her friend Tree Hugger, but she did want me to meet her after all. "There's something I have to do. Why don't you two go ahead? I'll come by later."

"Sure." Coco smiled warmly.

"Got it!" Spirit excitedly waved. "Come on, Coco!"

As I observed Coco being practically pulled away by the suddenly energetic Spirit, I couldn't help but wonder. Spirit is such a strange pony.

I spotted Fluttershy in the main ballroom sitting across another mare. By the looks of this mare, it was pretty obvious that this was Tree Hugger. I sort of prepped myself up for an introduction to a new friendly face. However, I had to admit that the face of this new friend was a little…unusual.

"Hey, Flutter." I greeted by her side.

"Hi, sweetie!" Fluttershy responded with eagerness as she hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm so glad you could stop by!" She turned across the table to introduce her new friend.

"Alex, this is Tree Hugger. Tree Hugger, this is Alex. My special somepony." Fluttershy blushed at the sound of her last comment.

"Righteous." She responded in a very slow and kind of soothing way. It was…different but welcoming. "Going steady, Fluttershy. The aura between you two blends and manifests into ecstasy. It's like being one with nature…"

Fluttershy looked like she had no problem interpreting that statement, but I for one was pretty confused.

"Uh…what?" I tried smiling so I wouldn't cause any awkwardness.

"She's saying that we're perfect together!" Fluttershy beamed in happiness.

Well, I'm glad you two can understand each other…

"Pleased to meet you." Tree Hugger sustained as she approached me. She unexpectedly then embraced me while continuing her unique way of speaking. "Spread the love."

"Same here…" I returned the same motions, but I wasn't exactly sure how to respond or react with her character. I don't think I had ever met a pony like her. Nevertheless, it all seemed completely normal for Fluttershy. In fact, she looked like she was pleased that we were getting along so well. Don't get me wrong, Tree Hugger seems like a really nice pony. I just wish I could understand her a little more like Fluttershy does.

I decided to spend some more time getting to know her and sticking around with Fluttershy. Flutters was technically my date after all, but she seemed content to be with Tree Hugger. I still had other ponies I needed to see for the night, so I felt a little more relieved that she'd have somepony relatable with her to keep her company.

Despite not fully understanding Tree Hugger, I could immediately say without hesitation that I'd rather much prefer Fluttershy hanging around with her instead of Discord by a landslide.

I didn't do much talking, but it was fine since I didn't want to really intrude in Fluttershy's and Tree Hugger's conversation. After all, the topic of the matter was really only something the two of them could understand.

"The aura coming off the waterfall was so alive! So, like, magic manifestation."

I could tell Tree Hugger spoke with passion and love, despite her very calm and unhurried voice.

"Wow." Fluttershy reacted with awe as she placed a hoof to her chest.

"Oh, Fluttershy. I didn't see you there." I heard a different and unexpected voice come from behind Fluttershy and me.

"How did you even know to look for an aura on a waterfall?" Fluttershy responded to Tree Hugger as I glanced back to see an unwelcome sight.

"What are you doing here? Go away." I tried to shoo Discord off.

Fluttershy must have heard me as she turned around to see what had been going on. She noticed Discord and proceeded to recognize him with surprise. "Discord! I thought you weren't coming!"

He didn't look as mischievous as he usually did. Instead, he looked pretty agitated.

"No. I actually never said that. But funny how you remembered it that way. Anyway, good to see you. Tree Friend, is it?" He focused his attention towards Tree Hugger. "Your name is slipping my mind right now. How strange."

Despite Discord's obviously rude behavior, I couldn't help but appreciate Tree Hugger's unbothered reaction to it. Her tranquil smile remained unfazed and there was no sign of change in her facial expression whatsoever.

"Nice to meet you." Tree Hugger greeted. "I'm Tree Hugger. Blessings."

"You have met me before actually!" Discord snorted bitterly.

"Cool!" She reacted jubilantly. "Like, in another life, maybe?"

"You've gotta be kidding. You don't remember me?" Discord removed his hat and pointed towards his mismatched horns.

Tree Hugger laughed. "I meet a lot of different creatures, each one of them perfect and unique." She spoke with heartfelt honesty.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, it's just great to be here with my oldest, bestest friend." Discord placed his paw around Fluttershy, resuming his unusual yet stirring behavior.

"Am I really your oldest, bestest friend?" Fluttershy asked, her hopes appearing to climb with delight.

"You?" He laughed blatantly. "Of course not! You think I don't have other friends? I'm centuries old! I was talking about the Smooze!" He pointed towards…a blob. A blob?! How did a blob get in here!? "Smooze Face, the Smoozinator – well, I mean that's what we called him back in college. Smooze!" He planted him smack dab on top of the table, knocking off the drinks that Tree Hugger and Fluttershy had been enjoying. "I would like you to meet Fluttershy and, um, hmm... Tree... how'd you say it... Tree Embrace?" He skipped me on purpose, of course.

"Oh, I like that! It's so in rhythm with my life force!" Tree Hugger responded and then gasped. "Maybe I'll change it!"

Well, I'm glad she was taking Discord pretty well…

Fluttershy giggled and patted this "Smooze" as it dripped down towards the floor like a gooey mess. "I can't believe I've never heard you speak of the Smooze before. Sounds like you two are so close."

Remnants of its goo remained stuck on Fluttershy's hoof, so I grabbed a nearby napkin and attempted to delicately wipe it off for her.

"Well, I'm glad you got that, because that's what is true. We are." He disappeared and reappeared near the Smooze, holding it closely. "Very close."

"That's wonderful! We should all go out to dinner sometime!" Fluttershy encouraged.

Ehhh… I might pass on that.

"We should all go out to dinner sometime?!" Discord reacted strangely emotional, as if he had been expecting a completely different answer. "Have you no heart?"

"What is wrong with you?" I finally blurted out from annoyance.

Before he could respond, a pony from some distance away screamed out. We noticed his buddy was advancing towards another group, so they must have been frightened by the sight of it.

"Oh, oh! It looks like somepony wants to mingle. We'll be back in a bit."

Please don't.

"Oh, okay. Treezie and I would love to talk to you more later!" Fluttershy invited.

"Treezie? Really?" Discord returned angrily. "Sort of a juvenile nickname, don't you think?"

Some more disturbing noises.

"Smoozie! Wait up!" He called out before he finally left.

I had a feeling he'd be back, so I decided I could take off now.

"Hey, Flutters, I'm going to look for a few other ponies. Let me know if you need anything, okay?" I said.

"Okay, sweetie." She requested a small kiss to which I immediately gave.

"It was nice meeting you, Tree Hugger." I waved.

"Peace." She slowly gestured her head with a nod.

I'm glad those two can tolerate Discord. I don't think I'll be able to if I stay…

---

I had noticed Octavia with her cello and stopped by to offer a smile and a wave of my hoof. With a light blush, she waved back. Vinyl and Derpy seemed to have been having fun despite the Gala not being their exact tastes. Still, it was great to see a friendship blooming through thick and thin.

I eventually came across Starlight, whom seemed to be taking her appearance quite well. In fact, I myself never thought I would see her looking so…well…formal and sophisticated.

"How's the Gala, Starlight?" I asked as she roamed her eyes across the food.

"It's alright, I guess." She responded. "I admit it beats being indoors all day." She chuckled and returned her eyes to the groups of ponies occupying the large room. "Can you believe it? I've played here in Canterlot before, and nopony seems to know who I really am. I don't think they recognize me at all."

"From what they've last seen of you…" I analyzed her from top to bottom. "I don't blame them."

"Knowing ponies appreciate you for your music is great…but…at times…it's sort of cool being a normal pony."

"I'd think it's all a matter of preference really…" I mentioned. "I know I wouldn't like to be the center of attention. It'd put too much pressure on me to be my best every time."

"Says the all-mighty Alicorn of Equestria?" She replied in a cheeky manner.

"Yeah, whatever." I brushed off. "Most of the time, I forget I'm considered one anyway. I'm not exactly sure that's a good thing either…"

"So why'd you decide to be all 'royal' then?"

I thought back for a moment. "It felt…like the right thing to do. With Twilight. She was becoming a princess…and I guess I didn't want her to go through that alone. After all, she's been the closest friend I've ever had. She's been there for me most of the time, and—"

"Alright, alright." Starlight interrupted as if she's had enough of my 'mushy' talk. "I get it." There were no words between us, and only the ambience of the blurred conversations from every other pony were audible. Finally, Starlight began speaking once again. "You know…you might have to…"

She paused, leading me to ask her to finish her sentence. "What?"

She didn't answer right away.

"Nah. Never mind…"

I stayed there pondering over what was on her mind before we heard a sudden muffled yet sharp scream.

"Let me in!" A voice cried out through loud thumps from the closed garden doors.

Twilight rushed over to doors to unlock them, and a mare immediately threw herself into the room, gasping for air as she crawled with a bunch of green sticky goo on her.

"Rarity?!" I realized once I had a good look and immediately galloped over to tend to her.

"That creature took my jewels!" She pointed outside.

It was none other than the blob Discord had brought along with him, and he was hungrily eating any other shiny objects he somehow found without having eyes.

"Discord! I thought I told you to keep your friend under control!" Twilight scolded, approaching Discord, whom was in the company of Tree Hugger and Fluttershy.

"Oh, please. I have better things to do than to watch that thing all night." Discord replied bitterly frank before he took a glance over at Fluttershy's way. After a brisk nervous laugh, he proceeded to follow up on his statement. "What I mean to say is, that thing is a dear, dear friend, and I'll make sure that the ooze, uh, that he can't help but secrete doesn't get on anypony else."

As I was trying to help get the sticky icky goo off of Rarity, which only seemed to cling onto my own hooves instead, Discord appeared near us with a vacuum cleaner. Switching it on, he hovered the vacuum directly above Rarity, completely sucking the dirty dress off of her. Once she realized the state of her appearance, her face immediately grew flustered out of embarrassment and she quickly hid behind me.

"Get me out of here! Now!"

"What? Why are you so—"

"Alex!" She pressured.

"Okay, okay!" I surrendered, ridiculously walking by her as she used me as cover from the eyes of anypony else.

"Thank you." I heard Twilight express nevertheless. "It's alright, everypony. Let's just get back to enjoying this magical evening!"

I had to stick by Rarity the entire time until she was out of sight and able to recover another one of her backup dresses she brought along for apparently good measure.

"Did you really need me to bring you all the way over here like that?" I asked as she focused on putting on and aligning the dress perfectly like it was before. "You do know that we don't normally wear clothes."

"But everypony wears clothes at the Gala! Do you know how much of an embarrassment it is to be stripped completely at such a high-class important event?!" She expressed her high-strung humiliation about it.

"Eh…" I merely shrugged my shoulders, but knowing Rarity, I was able to somewhat understand.

By the time I escorted Rarity back to the ballroom, we noticed the lights were off, and everypony else seemed to be struck with confusion.

"Check, check, check. Is this thing on? Good evening, fillies and germs! I just flew into Canterlot, and wow, are my interspecies parts tired!"

There was a rimshot, something only Pinkie Pie would do, only there wasn't any laughter. Even though I knew it was practically impossible for Pinkie Pie to not even make a single pony laugh, Rarity and I joined the crowd that gathered together at this stage that seemed to have had appeared out of nowhere.

"I've only got these tiny mismatched wings, and even I can fly better than Twilight Sparkle! Am I right? Pchoo!"

We found Discord apparently doing stand-up comedy in front of all the participants of the Gala for some odd reason. Was he just trying to ruin the Gala like everything else?

Nevertheless, he wasn't funny, and even Twilight Sparkle attested to this when she returned an unamused reaction. "Hey!"

Although, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was shocked when Princess Celestia actually giggled at this "joke".

After laughing pretty nervously, he seemed to switch his deck of cards. "Uh, well, perhaps you're into more observational humor." With a magic poof, he proceeded to pop his head out of a brick wall. "Did you ever notice how you always materialize out of thin air? Why not thick air? What's the deal there?"

Another reactionless rimshot sounded.

"Get off the stage!" I heard a familiar mare's voice yell from the crowd.

"What is he doing?!" Twilight asked almost frantically, as if things were going terribly wrong.

"I think they're... jokes?" Rainbow guessed.

"Maud! Jokes!" Pinkie Pie shook her sister excitedly beside her.

"My favorite." Maud responded in her usual deadpan tone, which would sound entirely sarcastic to the average pony.

"You might be a Ponyville pony when an ordinary night on the town ends in a lesson about friendship!" Discord continued, his performance really beginning to feel like a waste of time. He summoned a watermelon on a stool and knocked his paw onto the object. "Knock, knock." No one bothered playing along. After several seconds of silence, Discord actually grew frustrated. "You're supposed to say "Who's there?"! This is the most basic of jokes!" He took a mallet and smashed the watermelon into pieces, sending the remnants over everypony in the crowd.

Maud, with no change to her facial expression whatsoever, stared Discord right into the eye and responded. "You're the most basic of jokes."

Despite how little effort it may have been to say that out loud, it made much more sense than any of Discord's jokes. In fact, I found myself laughing along with the crowd because it was actually funny.

"Good one, Maud!" Pinkie Pie congratulated, leaning on her from giggling.

I had a feeling Maud would do pretty well if she ever took up comedy.

"What is that?!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, pointing backwards behind us.

Before I knew, a tsunami of green goo burst through from a door behind us and began swallowing everything in sight. Being reminded of the nightmare with Spirit, I immediately jumped into flight while the others unfortunately seemed too shocked to do anything. Most ponies panicked and run amuck, others' hooves were covered and seemed glued to the floor.

"AaaaaAAh!" I heard a cry and spotted Spirit frantically attempting to pull her hooves free from the sticky goo. Coco Pommel stood next to her attempting to do whatever she could herself. Nevertheless, out of the two of them, Spirit was the one that seemed to have lost her nerve.

I raced over to them and began to immediately question out of concern. "Are you two alright?!"

Spirit sounded like she was hyperventilating. "G-get me out of t-this!"

"Calm down! It's okay!" I attempted to soothe, pressing my hooves against her.

With my touch, her breathing slowed slightly, but she was still unnerved.

"What's going on?" Coco Pommel asked worriedly.

"I don't know." I looked all over the ballroom. "This just happened all of a sudden." I remembered one thing at that point though. Discord had brought in some kind of green goo thing, and the whole area was covered with goo. Even though I couldn't figure out what had exactly happened, I knew Discord was at fault and he was the only one who had to explain himself.

"I'll be back!"

Before I could leave, Spirit called out. "D-don't go!"

"You want to get out of this mess, don't you?" I asked. "I'm going to try to do something about this!" I turned to Coco. "Coco, can you please take care of her for me?"

Coco lifted a hoof, revealing the goo gluing her hoof to the floor. "I'll try."

"I'll try to be back as soon as I can." I attempted to reassure before I left to go find Discord.

It definitely didn't take me long until I came across two ponies glued to the ballroom windows. Fluttershy and Tree Hugger.

"Oh no." I expressed at the sight. However, they didn't look too agitated at the situation. "How'd you two end up here?"

"Indeed. How did they end up here?" Discord had appeared by my side, laying on a scaffold like a deviant.

"Hey!" I immediately pointed out. "You made this mess! Clean it up!"

"Me?" He asked with feign innocence. "I did no such thing."

"This is kind of a bummer." Tree Hugger said with a small frown.

"Isn't it, though?" Discord continued, ignoring my direct order. "And to think, it would never have happened had I come to the Gala as somepony else's plus-one." He emphasized beside Fluttershy.

"What are you talking about?!" I responded tensely, ready to snap.

"Seems like something might have harshed his flow, you know? Like, his senses are agitated." Tree Hugger conjectured.

"You don't know anything about rare creatures." Discord argued. "I've known Smooze Face for ages. He's not agitated. He's partying down! Whoo!" He danced.

"All he needs is some, like, calming auditory therapy." Tree Hugger suggested as if she was experienced with such kind of actions. "I know I always feel really at peace when I'm being bathed in positive vibes. Maybe he'll calm down with some sonic bliss."

"Do you even know what you just said?" Discord asked, which honestly wasn't that much of a ridiculous question.

"Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!" She began repeating consistently, causing the goo below to unexpectedly move in wavy motions. "Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!" Like magic, every part of the goo, despite being like glue, smoothly grew apart anything it was stuck onto. "Let go, Smooze! Bliss out! Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!"

She continued this until this giant "ooze" was all put back together like one big jigsaw puzzle. Aside from the big blob, everything seemed to be returned just to the way it exactly was.

There was then an immediately plethora of cheer all just for Tree Hugger and her magical act. And that's because she wasn't even a unicorn. Just a simple earth pony with a knack for "unique creatures" apparently.

"That was the most magical thing I've ever seen done with animals!" Fluttershy hugged and congratulated Tree Hugger. Coming from the one professional animal expert, that had to be a major honor.

"Oh, thanks, everypony." Tree Hugger welcomed humbly. "It makes perfect karmic sense why magic doesn't work on him. He only responds to vibrations that peace out his energy fields." She explained knowledgeably, even though we may still have not understood it afterwards.

"Stop it! Stop it!" A voice suddenly threw an outburst. "That's it! I'm done with you, Tree Hugger!" Discord confronted Tree Hugger angrily.

What was wrong with him? I've never seen him so angry before, much less at a simple earth pony!

"What's your deal?!" I intervened between the both of them, protecting Tree Hugger from his apparently uncontrollable anger. "All she did was just fix the mess you made. Are you just mad that you couldn't have the kind of chaotic fun you love so much?"

Usually, he'd just try to come up with some witty remark or something towards me, but all he did this time was grab ahold of me with his magic and toss me over to his enormous squishy friend, and before I knew it, I was engulfed in this green goo myself. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to move by how messy it felt.

"What'd you do that for?!" I heard Twilight scold from where I once used to be.

On the other hoof, a couple of ponies, Spirit and Coco came running towards me.

Spirit reached out her hoof towards me and tried to grab my hoof. When she did, even with the help of Coco, the goo was too sticky and tight for any chance of freedom. This really sucked.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Coco asked anxiously.

"I guess so…" I returned, observing the uncomfortable state I was in, but when I caught my eyes back on the scene between Discord and Tree Hugger, I realized the true danger bubbling in the ballroom. It looked like Discord had created some portal and he was ready to throw Tree Hugger into the depths of it.

"Whoa, dude! What is that?!" Tree Hugger's voice was now seemingly frightened, no longer soothing and calming as it had been the entire time.

"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you." Discord assured. "I'm simply going to send you to another dimension. I can't have you interfering in my relationship with Fluttershy anymore!"

Interfering? Who do you think you are?!

"Discord, stop!" Fluttershy ordered, confronting him in flight.

"I will, just as soon as she's gone!" Discord reacted as if Tree Hugger was simply some trash meant to be easily thrown away. "Then we can have a good laugh about this whole affair over our regular Tuesday tea."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy! We'll stop him!" Twilight assured before Discord merely resorted to trapping them inside his friend with me by throwing a giant disco ball their way, which the goo chased after.

"I'm doing her a favor, Fluttershy!" Discord continued to persist that what he was doing was a good thing. "It's a lovely dimension! White sand beaches, attentive wait staff... I mean, okay, the humidity isn't great, but where isn't that the case these days?"

"I don't understand why you're doing this! We were all getting along so well!"

"As well as we could, considering you've already stomped all over our friendship by inviting her to the biggest night of the year as if I didn't matter at all!"

"Did you really think I'd abandon you just because I have a new friend?!"

"Yes, because that's what you did!"

"No, Discord! I invited a friend to a party! I didn't abandon you! What if you had a friend that you could discuss chaos-based magic with? Would that mean we weren't friends anymore?!"

"Uh... "He stuttered. "No, I suppose not. It would just mean that I'd have different friends for different things... Oh, oh, dear, it looks like I've perhaps overreacted just a skosh."

You think?

"More like a lot of skoshes!" She leaned over towards Tree Hugger. "Tree Hugger, could you give us a minute?"

Tree Hugger simply nodded her head.

"I'm just so new at this whole friendship thing. It's so much more complicated than it looks." Discord excused.

"Do you think maybe you owe somepony an apology?" Fluttershy hinted, causing Discord to grow a single flower for Fluttershy before she slapped it away and corrected him. "Not me!"

"Oh! Oh." He cleared his throat. "Yes, right."

He finally snapped his fingers, removing the portal to another dimension and allowing Tree Hugger to land safely on a big cushion. He grabbed and rid of everything his friend of goo apparently ate, shrinking him from his abnormal size and freeing us.

"Er, Tree Hugger, I'm sorry that you got caught in the middle of my... er, you know... wrath." He approached Tree Hugger and attempted to work an apology out of himself.

"Oh, it's all groovy." Tree Hugger quite simply forgave. Nevertheless, she seemed to deny the hug Discord had given afterwards. "Um, I need like a few minutes to clear out my chakras before I can hug you from a place of authenticity."

"Oh, your chakras." Discord laughed nervously, accepting this even though he probably still didn't understand what she was talking about. "Fair enough."

After Fluttershy dashed over to me to make sure the others and I were okay, Discord began apologizing to his plus one.

"I owe you an apology, Smooze. I spent the whole evening thinking about my own feelings and never thinking about yours." He rather surprisingly sincerely stated.

"Smooze" only kissed him on the cheek as a sigh of forgiveness.

"Well, friends! I think I may actually grow to like this multiple-friend thing."

"I like it too." Maud added.

"Hey, it's not a party until somepony spreads magic-resistant ooze uncontrollably over the ballroom!" Pinkie Pie excitedly encouraged the one and only. "Come on, Smoozinator! Let's dance!" She dragged him onto the dance floor.

On the other hoof, Twilight apologized for the scene that occurred tonight.

"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia. I thought I could give you a break tonight, but it turns out I was in over my head."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Celestia countered. "This has been the most fun Gala in years!"

Wait a minute…didn't something like this happen at the last Gala too?

"I know, it was a—What?!" Twilight was completely caught off guard by her upbeat reaction. "But there was ooze all over the place! And one of the guests threatened to send somepony to another dimension!"

"I know! Can you imagine how dull it would have been if I hadn't invited Discord? Come on! Whoo! The night is still young!" She pushed Twilight towards the dancing floor.

Are you sure you haven't had too much cider, Tia…?

Nevertheless, I was approached by Spirit and Coco.

"Hey, Coco…" I rubbed my head a little embarrassingly, realizing that what occurred tonight wasn't how I really wanted her to experience the Gala. "Sorry, about what happened tonight. That was…pretty unexpected."

"It's okay." She returned with an uplifting small smile. "It was…interesting." She had roamed her eyes backwards to search for the right word to use. "Maybe we could do something again sometime…but probably with just us…"

"Yes!" Spirit enthusiastically agreed.

"Yeah, of course." I decided. The Gala wasn't exactly the best place to be with friends, in my opinion.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a pretty unenthused face on the contrary.

"Can you explain what just happened?" Starlight silently demanded.

"Hey, don't blame me." I quickly defended. "Go blame the spirit of chaos for all I care please."

She roughly bumped my chest with her hoof. "You're lucky none of that green stuff stayed in my mane. Otherwise, I don't think I'd ever take you up on any kind of invitation again." She paused to share a yawn. "I'm going home."

"Okay…" I softly responded as I watched her leave.

"Sorry for Discord's behavior." Fluttershy now apologized to me. "I didn't know he would get so cranky because of me."

"Geez, he's like a child. I don't know how you put up with him." I mentioned honestly.

Fluttershy giggled. "Is it alright if we have a dance?" She lowered her head as she looked up at me with her beautiful teal eyes.

"How could I refuse?" I responded before escorting her to the dance floor to make use of whatever rest of the night we still had left.

Comments

[Truthseeker]

7365652 How so? I left a comment with my opinion.

[Gorgeous Freeman]

di-did alex ever get out of the smooze or did i miss something?

[GamerBrony95]

Love this story man, keep up the good work I started reading this a few months back, can't wait for the Slice of Life episode.

[mtf0330]

It's been a while since I checked my unread chapters but I love that you had decided to update the story!! I can't wait until THE HUNDREDTH EPISODE!!

[Bronydude23]

Wowzua I can't believe Celestia did the same thing she did when she invited Twilight, Alex and the mane five to the Gala. AWESOME!