Apple Bloom was left in an orphanage by her parents promising to come back to get her. Discord needs to improve his image with the pony folk. So he invites Applebloom to stay at his house for Hearth's Warming. He didn't realize the dramatic
Apple Bloom was left in an orphanage by her parents promising to come back to get her. Discord needs to improve his image with the pony folk. So he invites Apple Bloom to stay at his house for Hearth's Warming. He didn't realize the dramatic change the little filly would have on his heart
This got featured!? Holy crap, thank you everyone!!! Featured: 7/9/2016
“It’s snowing! It’s snowing!!!” Sweetie Belle screamed as she raced towards the window, swinging it open to get a better look. Her white coat blended in with the snow as the little unicorn buried her face in the cold, wet fluffiness that landed on the window sill, covering her white and purple hair. Racing in after her was a little orange pegasus with purple pixie cut hair.
“Alright!!! Finally we can have some fun around here!!” she screamed as she also buried her face in the snow.
“Hey Apple Bloom! Come here and look at the snow!!” Scootaloo called. Sitting on one of the bunk beds was a yellow earth pony with red hair and a big pink bow.
“Comin!” she called with a thick southern accent. Placing a piece of paper under her pillow, she raced towards the window to join her friends as they looked at the fresh snow that was covering the town.
Ponyville was busy this season. Hearth’s Warming was coming soon and everyone was bustling about putting up decorations, buying presents and trees, and playing around in the fresh snow. The three little filly’s hearts sped and warmed up at the thought of Hearth’s Warming, but sank as they looked back in their room. Every year, they forget for one moment that they were here.
The orphanage where they were was falling apart. Inside was dull and gray as they took in there worn bunk beds and gray walls. They only reason they knew the snow was coming was because of the lack of heat. All three fillies sighed as the realization hit them.
“Maybe Mrs. Chrysalis will get us a tree this year.” Sweetie Belle offered unconvincingly.
“Yeah, and pigs will fly.” Scootaloo retorted back.
Apple Bloom sunk her head and went back to her bed and pulled out the note that was under her pillow. “Maybe this year, my parents will come and get me.” She said hopefully.
“Like that will ever happen.” Said a snide remark from across the room.
Applebloom groaned as she turned towards the fillies coming toward her. The one who made the comment was a pink earth pony with purple and white hair and a tiara on her head to match her cutie mark. She was accompanied by a gray earth pony with light blue glasses, white hair in a braid over her shoulder and a silver spoon cutie mark.
“Of course it’ll happen!” Apple Bloom replied angrily. “My parents promised me in this note that they’d come back ferr me.”
“And yet here you are. Face it Apple Bloom, you’re an orphan just like the rest of us. Your parents didn’t want you and they threw you away.” Diamond Tiara retorted.
“Yeah, and who would want to adopt a blank flank anyway.” Silver Spoon taunted.
“Hey, leave her alone!” Shouted a filly across the room. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stopped laughing as they looked toward the little earth pony coming toward them. She stomped over to them and stood firmly in front of Apple Bloom protectively. The two took in the light brown filly with short red hair, coming down slightly over her eye that she had to blow away. They cringed as the filly towered over them; her freckles making her glare even more intimidating. The little earth fillies screamed as they ran from the room.
Apple Bloom came around her and nudged her shoulder in thank. “Thanks Babs.”
“Hey, don’t mention it.” Babs Seed replied in her heavy Manehattan accent. “Those two always get on my nerves. It’s good to have and excuse intimidating them.” She replied with a side grin.
Apple Bloom smiled with her, but then frowned again as she looked at the letter. What if they were right? This was written when she was only a baby. She’s 10 now and they still haven’t come to take her away from this horrible place. What if they really did just abandon her and only wrote this outta guilt? What if they forgot her? What if…..?
Sensing her distress, Sweetie Belle and Scootloo walked over to they’re friend. “Hey Apple Bloom, can you read us your letter again?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yea, your letter always makes me feel happy when I hear it.” Sweetie Belle put in.
Apple Bloom smiled at her friends, being grateful that they wanted to cheer her up. Just that thought alone made her feel better. The three fillies along with Babs went over to the bunk beds and gathered around Apple Bloom as she read her letter that she knew by heart.
‘Please take care of our little darling. Her name is Apple Bloom. We will be back to get her soon. We have left half of a silver locket around her neck and kept the other half, so that when we come back to get her, you will know that she is our baby.’
As she read it, Apple Bloom clutched the silver locket around her neck. She hasn’t taken it off once and never will.
“Feel better?” Babs Seed asked.
Apple Bloom nodded her head with a smile painted on her face, knowing she was lucky to had best friends like she has.
“What do you think they’re like?” Scootaloo asked excitedly.
“I don’t know. Maybe on a nice mornin, he pours her a nice cup of coffee while she straightins his tie, right before he goes to work.” Apple Bloom thought with a content sigh.
“Oooh! I bet your parents are young and artistic, like, they play piano or collect art!” Sweetie Belle chimed in; getting excited just thinking about it.
“Well, whatever they’re like, I bet they’re wonderful.” Babs inquired with conviction.
Apple Bloom looked at the clocked as it struck 9 o’clock. “Uh-oh, we best be gettn asleep. Mrs. Chrysalis will have us scrubbin the whole house with our toothbrushes if we don’t get to bed.” At that thought alone, they scrambled into they’re beds. Apple Bloom gave her letter one last look before she tucked it lovingly under her pillow. Resting her head of the pillow, the little earth pony drifted off to sleep as she gazed at the falling snow outside.
Over in Canterlot stood a big white mansion. Lights lit up the household as sun set. All was quiet, except for a yellow pegasus flying around the mansion in search for the owner of the household.
“Oh, where could he have gone off to?” She whispered to herself worriedly; her long pink hair swishing back and forth as she searched the place frantically. She flew around the house, searching every room, leaving no stone unturned until she found who she was looking for.
She almost went by a closed door when she heard a crash coming from behind the door. She looked at it questioningly. This wasn’t here before. She opened the door hesitantly and peered inside. She squeaked in surprise as she surveyed the room before her. She felt like she was outside as she flew into the room and onto the indoor baseball field. It didn’t make sense, but for the Lord of Chaos, anything was possible. Speaking of which, the little pegasus squeaked in fright as she heard another whack. She looked toward the source as she saw the Lord of Chaos himself hitting a ball. The creature looked like nothing you’ve ever seen. With the head of a horse-like pony, a deer antler on the right, a goat horn of the left, one long fang, different sized pupils, a snake tongue, a horse mane, and a goat beard. The rest of his body consists of the right paw of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, the left hoof of a goat, the right wing of a bat, the left wing of a pegasus, and a dragon-like snake tail with a white tail tuft. To anyone who didn’t know him, he would’ve scared anypony from the room, but the little pegasus didn’t even flinch.
“Discord! We need to talk!” she barked as she flew over to the draconequus.
Discord lit up as the pegasus flew over to him. “Flutteryshy! You’re just in time. I just hit my second home run and I’m about to hit my third.” He explained as he prepared for another swing. Throwing the pitch was another Discord. Throwing the ball, Discord hit his third homerun. Fluttershy squeaked in terror as she dodged the home run. As she gained her composure, she glared at Discord.
“Oops.” He cringed. “Sorry.” Snapping his fingers, the equipment disappeared along with the second Discord. Fluttershy flew down to him.
“Discord, I thought we agreed no more play rooms. You have enough, and your making more work for the housekeepers to clean up.” She lectured.
“Oh lighten up Fluttershy. It’s they’re job. They get paid to clean up messes. Now come on and play a round with me. You can be my cheerleader.” he explained absent mindlessly.
Fluttershy blushed at the thought. “Oh, I could never be a cheerleader….” She whispered in embarrassment.
“Nonsense! You’d be the cutest cheerleader. Now come on, one more round?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“No, I came to talk to you. We have a serious matter to discuss. The newspaper caught you pranking someone again!” She stated disapprovingly.
“Oh, is this about the tomatoes I made rain down in the park?” he asked annoyingly.
“No.”
“The time I turned ponies hair into cotton candy?”
“No.”
“The ice sculptures I made into pudding?”
“No….?”
“Turning sunscreen into sugar water so ponies are invaded by ants?”
“How many pranks have you pulled?”
“Or how about….”
“DISCORD!!!” Fluttershy screamed, interrupting his next sentence.
“Oh relax, it’ll all blow over in no time.” He explained, waving it off.
“Discord, you have to stop pranking ponies. If this continues, Princess Celestia will notice and turn you back into stone. You have to clean up your act or no pony will ever come to you for help.”
Discord groaned in annoyance. Ever since he was released from his stone prison, he made a deal with Princess Celestia that he would only use his chaos for good. Helping ponies in need. But as his pranking continued, ponies stopped showing up less and less for help, and it was starting to show. But who cares, the only reason he did this was to make sure he didn’t get imprisoned in stone again.
He glanced over at the yellow pegasus hovering over his, her bright teal eyes glaring at him. That, and the company that he has. Fluttershy was the first to befriend him and promised Princess Celestia that she would keep watch over him. She was the only reason that he didn’t go overboard with his chaos, at least not as over the top as a normal draconequus could make.
Groaning in defeat, he turned to Fluttershy. “Fine, I’ll tone down my pranking.” He promised through his teeth.
“Tone down?” she questioned.
“No promises.” He retorted back.
“That’s not going to be enough. You need to do something to make the ponies see that you are reformed and that they can come to you.” She explained, mentally thinking of plan.
“So what should I do, then?”
She pondered for a bit before she came up with an idea. “Fillies! Everypony loves fillies. We can go to an orphanage and have all the children spend Hearth’s Warming here. That would definitely show them how kind you really are.” She explained.
“Oh no! I’m not going to spend my Hearth’s Warming with a bunch of little brats swarming my house!” he argued back.
“Ok…..then how about one? Just one should be enough.”
He looked away in defiance, but Fluttershy would have none of that.
“Discord…..” she warned.
Sweet Celestia, if only she wasn’t so enticing when she was angry. Fluttershy was the only one he would bow his head to. Discord threw his arms up in defeat. “Alright fine!!! But after the holiday, that little urchin is going back to where it came from!!”
The bright sun beat down on Apple Bloom as she ran through the grassy fields of Ponyville. As she kept running, she stumbles upon on a hill. Determination coursed through her as she sped up her speed to reach the top without stopping. Reaching the top, almost out of breath, she looked down at the cozy little cottage hidden behind it. In front stood two pale yellow earth ponies, sadly though, she could not see they’re faces. They lifted they’re hooves toward Apple Bloom, calling her down.
Those were her parents calling her down. She knew it. She bolted down the hill, determined to get to them so she could look upon their faces as she gives them a warm embrace. She started drawing closer and closer to them, but the edges of her reality started to blur. So were the cottage and the two earth ponies in front of it. She knew what was coming, but she kept going, determined to get to them. Just as she was about to reach them, she heard the normal wake up call.
“WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE URCHANS!!!” the voice boomed.
Apple Bloom woke up with a start at the booming voice, a heavy weight settling on her chest. She’s had that same dream, ever since she could remember. It feels like she draws closer and closer every time she has it, but in the end, she never reaches them. She looks towards the voice that disturbed her wonderful dream. Standing in the doorway was a pony with an appearance of an alicorn, but instead has a black body, green-blue mane, sharp fangs, and holes all over her legs and wings. She was a truly a scary sight, and they had the unfortunate luck to have her as there caretaker. Mrs. Chrysalis was the owner of the orphanage, but she was anything but caring. She tortured them. They always cleaned, barely ate, and she bullied them until they were adopted by some pony.
See, Mrs. Chrysalis was a changeling, and changelings fed off of love. When ponies come in here to adopt, all kinds of love come off of them. That’s basically the only reason she has an orphanage. And I can tell you right now, it stinks.
“But it’s 4 in the morning.” Scootaloo whined as she sat up from her bed.
“Like I care. Inspectors are coming later today to come and check up here and I’m going to make sure that they walk out of here with no problems whatsoever, so you orphans are going to clean this dump until it shines like the Canterlot Castle.” She roared.
Everyone in the room groaned as she started walking out of the room. Turning her head, she yells, “NOW!!”
Cringing, the fillies jump out of their bed, responding to a simple “Yes, Mrs. Chrysalis.” Satisfied that it was going to get done, she walks out of the room.
Giving another, but silent groan, the fillies hopped to work, pulling out the mandatory buckets that they kept under their beds. Filled with soap and water, everyone started getting to work on cleaning the building
Groaning in frustration, Scootaloo throws her scrub brush in her bucket. “This stinks! Why do we have to live through this torture?!” She complains.
“Because we have nowhere to go and we’d end up starving on the streets?” Sweetie Belle answers’s matter-of-factly.
“Even so, we shouldn’t have to live through this! Instead of getting kisses and hugs, we get kicked in the rump. We go hungry instead of having full bellies, and everything around here is so cheap!! I mean, look at this.” Scootaloo heads on over to the beds. “Our blankets are cotton instead of wool. Doesn’t she realize how cold it gets here and that we’re gonna catch our deaths?”
“Like she cares. And it’s not like we can do anything. It’s better to just go along with it instead of fighting her on it. She’s just gonna make our lives more miserable if we do.” Diamond Tiara included in.
“Well, the starving streets are looking a lot better than here. We’re already cold and hungry here; the only difference is that on the streets we wouldn’t have to go follow any rules.” Babs Seed concluded.
Apple Bloom stayed silent in the corner. She still couldn’t help but still feel depressed over her dream. How long are her parents going to make her wait and live through this torture?
Hours passed before the orphanage looked presentable. They scrubbed down every single bit of the place till they were determined that Mrs. Chrysalis will give it a pass and finally feed them some breakfast. After giving the house a close inspection, making sure that every single speck of dust was taken care of, only then did she allow the little orphans something to eat, although it wasn’t much of a breakfast, only containing a hoof full of stale oats, but the fillies ate it without complaint, knowing that they weren’t going to have anything more to eat for a while.
Chewing down the last of the stale breakfast, Mrs. Chrysalis ordered them to gather they’re sheets and pillow cases and swap them out for clean ones, having a laundry pony come to take away their dirty sheets.
As Apple Bloom started clearing away the sheets, she got a wonderful idea.
“That’s it!” she yelled.
“What’s it?” Sweetie Belle called over.
“I’ll escape through the dirty clothes when the laundry pony comes!” She yells, excitement filling her voice.
The room groaned in unison.
“Oh Celestia.” Diamond Tiara moaned.
“Not again.” Silver Spoon joined in.
“Apple Bloom, we wanna get out of here just as much as you do, but every time you have one of your escape plans, it always fails.” Scootaloo replied hesitantly.
“And besides, whenever Mrs. Chrysalis catches you, she punishes all of us.” Babs Seed put in.
“But it’s gonna work this time. I know it! Besides, I got my parents out there, and I’m gonna find them! I can’t wait any longer!” Apple Bloom stomped her hoof in emphasis.
The fillies eyed each other, but kept didn’t say anything more on the issue. Apple Bloom had a reputation of always trying to escape. Heck, they all did at one time or another. But they gave up after a while. But seeing as Apple Bloom was determined to be reunited with her family, she never gave up. The others got used to her escape plans and just waited until she either succeeds, or Mrs. Chrysalis dragged her back and punished the rest of them along with her.
Putting the sheets and pillow cases in the hamper, a light blue unicorn stallion with brown hair and a hamper cutie mark walked in. “Good morning kids!” he greeted cheerily.
“Good morning, Mr. Bundle!” the kids replied happily. Receiving kindness from very few ponies, Mr. Bundle was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. He always greeted the girls with a smile on his face.
Using a levitation spell, he brings in new sets of sheets and pillow cases for the children. Excited for clean sheets, the fillies surrounded Mr. Bundle to get their new sheets, grabbing and snatching them excitingly, running away to put them on their beds. A little disheveled from the rampaging children, Mr. Bundles latches the cart to him and prepares himself to depart.
Seeing this as her chance, Apple Bloom sneaks up to the cart and hops up, trying to get her in the hamper. Just as she was about to give up, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, come up behind her and give her a lift up. As Applebloom lands on the dirty sheets, she looks down at her friends in question.
“When you find your parents, don’t forget to come back for us.” Sweetie Belle whispered, tears swelling up in her eyes. Also tearing up, Applebloom reaches down her hooves to her two best friends, touching them in turn.
“I promise, once I find them, I’ll get them to adopt all of us. I won’t leave ya. Promise.” She whispers back as Mr. Bundle starts walking away. As the hamper started rolling, Apple Blooms gives the filly’s one last smile before she hides herself under the sheets.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo give her friend one last wave. Even though Apple Bloom got caught every time she tried to escape, they always hoped on every escape, she didn’t come back. Because if she did, they hoped she would come back to come get them all and be taken away from this awful place. Watching their best friend disappear down the street through their window, the girls finished putting the finishing touches onto their beds; Mrs. Chrysalis comes into the room to inspect their beds. Seeing nothing wrong, she turns to the children. But before she gets a word out, she notices the lack of a big pink bow.
“Where is Apple Bloom?” She asked with a hard edge in her voice.
The fillies were quiet, looking at anything but Mrs. Chrysalis.
Hiding beneath a bunch of dirty laundry wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It smelled bad and the fact that she got this far without being caught was making her even more anxious than ever to jump out, but she stayed still. She wanted to make sure she was as far away from that horrible place as possible.
When she was sure she was far enough away, she peeked through the dirty laundry to look around. Seeing the coast clear, she hopped out and ran for the nearest hiding place she could find; a shrub. She looked at Mr. Bundles when she noticed the cart stop. He looked at the cart, wondering why it seemed lighter all of a sudden. When it looked like nothing changed, he shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at her surroundings. It…..it was amazing.
It was so colorful here. The straw roofed houses had purple shutters and surrounded with flowers. From what it looked like, she was in the middle of town square. She craned her neck to look at the top of the tower in the middle of the square. It looked like it was falling apart, but other than that; it was more amazing than anything else she has seen in her lifetime. She looked at all of the ponies surrounding her. They all just looked so happy, like there was nothing that could dampen their day.
There was definitely nothing that could dampen his day; Discord thought has he gazed down at Ponyville on his cotton candy cloud. He decided to come to Ponyville because he was grabbing such a bad reputation in Canterlot that he wanted to do his pranking in a new place. Someplace where he can play around with ponies that wouldn’t have a clue they were being pranked by him. Plus, it was far enough away where Fluttershy won’t know that he was doing it. Besides, she was too busy with her animals to pay attention he thought sourly.
Shaking his head to clear away thoughts, he looked down at the ponies below to look for a target. Scanning the crowd of ponies, he spotted his victim. Making his hands into a pair of binoculars, he gave himself a close-up into the window of a cottage and saw a pale yellow earth pony with dark blue and pink curls watering her flowers.
“Oooo! Perfect!” he exclaimed excitedly to himself. With a mischievous grin, he snaps his claw. As the earth pony continued to water her plants, one of them shrunk down into the dirt. Dropping the water pail she was using, she stared at the potted plant, wondering, what just happened. Picking up the pail hesitantly, she continued to water the plants. But now, all of the plants shrank down into the soil. She gasped in surprised as she once again dropped the pail. Hesitantly, she peered into the soil when all of a sudden the flower popped right back out of the soil. Opening their petals, the flowers then squirted water right into the pony’s face, making her run from her house screaming.
Putting down his hand made binoculars, Discord landed on his back on his cotton candy cloud, bawling with laughter. Oh how he loved pranking new victims. He always had to find some new place every couple of pranks or it’d definitely get too boring. After his fit of laughter, Discord wiped tears from his eyes as he looked down on Ponyville for more victims.
As the hours went by, his pranking became more elaborate and more obvious. Discord started to get bored as he realized that the ponies are getting harder and harder to prank. Groaning in annoyance, he looked around for a new source of entertainment. Near the edge of Ponyville was a sign with the warning ‘Danger’ pointing toward the forest.
“Psh, please. Like there’s anything in there that could scare me.” He commented to himself. Finding his new source of entertainment, Discord flew down into the Everfree Forest.
“Now where should I start?” Apple Bloom wondered to herself. She was out and was excited, but she was so focused on getting out of that orphanage and finding her parents, that she never realized what she was going to do for food and shelter. As her mood started to damper, she shook her head. No. She can’t start thinking that. She’s finally out of that terrible orphanage and can start finding her parents. She can think about the other stuff later, right now she needs to start finding her family. As she thought of this, her stomach started to rumble.
She’ll start, after she finds something to eat.
Looking around, she tried to find somewhere to eat. But as she went to each store, she looked at the prices and just felt more depressed. Even though it was futile, she kept trying to find somewhere to eat. As her bow kept drooping and drooping as her mood dropped, she spotted a small stand outside of a cute little store called Sugar Cube Corner. But that isn’t what caught her eye and made her bow straightened. Written under the sign, it read ‘Free Samples’. Hopping up and down it excitement, she ran over to the stand, being first in line.
Behind the stand was a pink earth pony with poufy dark pink hair. As she was about to ask for a mini cupcake, the pony beat her to the punch.
“Hi there! Welcome to the Sugar Cube Corner Free Sample Stand. Just choose any sample! We have all kinds of cupcakes here. We have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, red velvet, pumpkin, cherry, blueberry, apple, coconut, banana but I think you should try the chocolate. OOOO!!! No, try the banana! Wait! No no! Try the chocolate! Or both! Have you tried both flavors at once? It’s delicious! Oh! I think you should try…..”
“APPLE!!!” Apple Bloom screamed before the earth pony could speak again.
Clearing her throat, Apple Bloom repeated, “Apple please.”
Nodding her head in enthusiasm, the pink earth pony handed her the apple cupcake. As she held the cupcake in her hoof, she gazed at it like it was the most glorious piece of food in all of Equestria. As she was about to take a bite, she gets bumped in the back, making her drop her cupcake on the ground. She stared at the destroyed cupcake in horror as her eyes started to tear up and just as she was about to cry, she got mad instead.
“Ya made me drop ma’ cupcake!” she yelled as she jerked her body around to stare at the pony that made her drop her cupcake. Except when she turned around, it wasn’t a pony she was looking at, but a purple and green dragon. And a baby one at that!
He was lying on the ground clutching his head in pain. He was a small dragon, probably Apple Bloom’s height, with a green belly and scales. At her voice, the dragon looked up at Apple Bloom with his emerald eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before a voice behind them shouted.
“Stop that dragon! He’s a thief! Stop him!” the voice yelled.
Cringing at the voice behind him, the baby dragon quickly got up, grabbed Apple Bloom’s hoof and dragged her behind him.
“Come on!” he yelled as he started to run.
“Wai-!” Apple Bloom started, but before she could protest, she was dragged along with the small dragon.
The pink earth pony watched them run off towards the direction of the Everfree Forest.
“I can’t believe it! How could this have happened! I didn’t think it could happen! I just can’t believe it!” the teary eyed earth pony whined as she knelt to the ground.
“She dropped a perfectly good cupcake!!!!” she screamed to air.
Finally stopping after they realized they lost they’re pursuer, Apple Bloom and the unknown dragon stopped to catch they’re breath. But all that running didn’t stop her from yelling at the stranger.
“Now why did ya do that!? Now everypony is gonna think I’m a thief too! And on top of that, ya made me drop ma cupcake! Who are you and why did ya drag me along!?” Apple Bloom raged.
The dragon shuffled in place. “I’m sorry, it was a reflex. I didn’t mean to drag you along with me. I’ll get you another cupcake to make it up to you though!” he offered.
“I don’t want a stolen cupcake!” she replied angrily.
“I’m not a thief! This was all a misunderstanding!” he shot back at her.
“Oh ya? Then what’s your tail hold’n?” she asked as she pointed to the dragon’s tail. The dragon turned around to look at the apple his tail was clutching.
“I didn’t mean to steal it!” he whined as he took the apple from his tail. “Look, dragons have….a grabby nature. It wasn’t me. My tail did it. I’ve been trying to keep myself from grabbing things, but sometimes my tail has other ideas. I was just looking at the stall when that pony called me a thief. Next thing I know, I’m running away.” He explained sincerely. Turning to Applebloom, he stared hard at her. “I know it’s in a dragon’s nature to hoard, but I’m trying not to. That’s not me. I am not a thief!” he cried angrily.
Apple Bloom wanted to role her eyes and not believe him, but the seriousness in his explanation made her keep it too herself. Plus, she doesn’t even know much about dragons in the first place. How was she to know if he was telling the truth or not. Spitting out a sigh of defeat, she held out her hoof to him. “Well, what’s done is done. Can’t do nothing bout it now. I’m Apple Bloom.” She introduced.
The dragon looked at her hoof wearily, but took her hoof in his claw. “I’m Spike.”
“Now that I think bout it, what’s a dragon doin in Ponyville?” she inquired.
“I’m just running a few errands for somepony.” He answered. She waited for him to elaborate, but it was clear he wasn’t. About to ask for more, she was interrupted by the growling of her stomach.
Hearing her stomach and watching her embarrassment, Spike held out the stolen apple. “You can have the apple if you like.”
She didn’t want to take something that was stolen, but she was so hungry she didn’t think she could hold out much longer. Misreading her hesitation, Spike just stated, “I prefer gems.”
Raising her eyebrow in question, she took the apple from his outstretched claw. Hesitating for only a moment, she bit into the apple. Apple Bloom groaned in pleasure. Oh Celestia, nothing tasted so good. Enjoying her apple, she looked at Spike. “Gems?”
“Oh yea, dragons eat gems. They’re really delicious. Each gem has its own flavor. My favorite is rubies. We can eat pony food too, but I prefer gems.” He explained.
“Doesn’t it upset yer stomach?” she asked as she swallowed the rest of the apple.
“Nope. Dragon’s stomachs are tough. We can eat anything really. Plus we-“stopping short, Spike looked around at his surroundings, only to gasp in horror.
Apple Bloom mirrored his face as she also noticed where they were. Even though it was sunny out, the surrounding trees around them made it seem like it was dark. No noise was being made, which made the forest feel even creepier. Without noticing, they both huddled together.
“I can’t believe I dragged us into the Everfree Forest.” Spike voiced in terror.
“The Everfree Forest?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“It’s dark and scary, and it’s inhabited by fearsome creatures. Timberwolves, Manticores, Cocatrices-“
“Stop! I don’t wanna hear no more!” Apple Bloom screamed in terror.
But they didn’t have to. Something moved in the bushes near them. They stared at it in horror as they’re imaginations ran wild of what was going to come out of there.
But what popped out was the head of a chicken. Seeing the chicken, Apple Bloom burst out in laughter. “And here I was scared fer nuthin. It’s just a chicken that wandered here.” Walking forward to get closer to it, she was stopped dead by Spike’s claw. “Don’t-“but he didn’t have to say anymore. Stepping out all together from among the bushes wasn’t a chicken, but a Cocatrice. With a head of a chicken and the body of a snake with wings, it took everything Apple Bloom had not to scream………almost everything.
“HHHEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!”
“Well it would serve them right for wandering here.” Commented the draconequus hanging on his cotton candy cloud. He came to the Everfree Forest for some entertainment, but the place is chaotic already, he didn’t need to do anything. After seeing the filly and the purple dragon run into the forest, he followed out of sheer boredom. He didn’t think he’d get the excitement of watching them become stone.
“You’re really not going to let those children get turned to stone, are you?” a soft voice asked. Discord looked over on his shoulder to see a little Fluttershy shoulder angel in a toga with a halo on top of her head.
“Oh let them be.” the new voice suggested. Discord looked at his other shoulder and saw a little red version of himself. “It’s their own fault for coming into this forest in the first place. Plus, once they turn to stone, we can mark they’re faces.” Little Discord snickered, liking that that idea a lot.
“But you’ve come such a long way from being reformed. You’re supposed to show everypony that you’ve changed.” The Fluttershy angel pleaded.
“Oh it’s just a tiny harmless prank.” Discord devil argued. “Besides, you can always change them back after you’ve had your fun. You have your fun and they get to go back home after. Everypony wins.”
Before Discord could think more, he heard a sniffling coming from the Fluttershy angel. Looking down, he saw her tearing up. “I…..I thought you changed….” She whispered.
That did it. “Oh, for Celestia’s sake, I can’t win against you can I!?” he cried out. Shaking them both away, Discord leaps off his cloud and lands in the middle of the kids and the Cocatrice.
“Here’s a taste of your own medicine.” And with a snap of his claw, the Cocatrice’s head became stone. It tried to level itself out, but with the weight of the new stone head, it just couldn’t do it. Failing to keep its head level, it ended up landing in the ground, with its body trying and failing to get its head out. Letting out a good chuckle, Discord watched the scene in front of him with glee. Even though he couldn’t do his original prank, this one turned out just as hilarious.
Apple Bloom gave the creature a once over. He didn’t look like a pony. He looked like he had the head of a pony and the rest of his body meshed with other animals. And his magic! He made the head of the cocatrice turn to stone with just the snap of his….claw! Maybe he’s a nice creature. I mean…he did just save our lives. She went up to thank the creature when Spike’s claw once again stopped her.
“Don’t go near him. He’s dangerous!” he whispered loudly.
“But he just saved our lives.” She whispered back.
“Don’t you know who that is!?” he questioned. Apple Bloom shook her head no at the question.
When he realized that she was serious, Spike sighed with impatience. “That’s Discord, the spirit of chaos himself! He once tried to take over Equestria centuries ago, but the princesses stopped him with the Elements of Harmony encasing him in stone. He escaped and tried again, but was defeated by the bearers of harmony and encased in stone. He was released because the princesses wanted him reformed. He says he is but he keeps playing pranks and causing trouble for everypony. Know pony thinks he’s really reformed.”
“As nice as it was to stroll down memory lane, need I remind you that I can hear you?” Said a voice below. Spike and Apple Bloom looked down to see the creature miniaturized between them sitting in a red recliner with a bag of popcorn. Yelping in surprised, they both jumped away from him.
“That was a nice story, but didn’t any pony tell you it’s impolite to gossip behind their back?” he lectured as he grew back to normal size, the chair and popcorn disappearing.
“It’s not gossip, it’s the truth!” Spike replied back before Apple Bloom could reply. “You make every pony’s life miserable with your pranks.”
“It’s not my fault that they can’t take a little joke.” He countered with boredom as he examined his claw. “And I have yet to receive a thank you.”
Spike kept his mouth shut, but Apple Bloom knew better. “Thank you ferr sav’n us. We both appreciate it.” She said sincerely, nudging Spike with her hoof. Spike just turned his head away.
“Oh don’t mention it. Ever.” He replied with deadpan seriousness. “Besides, what are you two doing in the Everyfree Forest anyway?”
“Well……we werr runn’n from a pony cuz Spike accidently stole an apple….and I wuz runn’n away so we both kinda ran here without realizn.” Apple Bloom explained sheepishly.
“So I saved a thief and a runaway. Don’t I feel like hero of the day?” Discord commented while holding a gold plaque with an inscription saying ‘Hero of the Day’ with a picture of him waving. With a grunt, he shredded the plaque like it was paper and threw it into his mouth with a satisfied gulp.
“I’m not a thief!” Spike exclaimed!
“And I only ran away cuz I wuz miserable!” Apple Bloom added.
“Oh yes, I definitely believe a dragon ‘accidently’ stealing an apple.” Discord replied sarcastically making air quotes with his claw and paw. “And I never played a prank on anypony in my entire lifespan.” He added, his snout growing long at the obvious lie.
“But—“Spike tried to argue, but with the snap of his claw, Spike’s mouth disappeared, silencing the tiny dragon.
“And now that I look closer” Discord examined, pushing his snout back in place “you’re the little assistant of that know-it-all princess; sending you on an errand only for you to do some little errands of your own. Oh, the princess would be so ashamed.” Discord explained in mock sadness, wiping away a dry tear. “As a good friend of the princess, I simply cannot let you wander around stealing without informing her royal highness.” And with the snap of his paw, Discord returned Spike’s mouth, but now he was tied up with a piece of paper attached saying ‘I stole. Please teach me the ways of friendship properly’ with a cartoon picture of Discord holding up a piece sign. “Ta-Ta!!” and with another snap of his paw, Spike disappeared.
Apple Bloom was speechless. She just witness outstanding amounts of magic that not even a unicorn could perform, and this creature was doing it like it was nothing!
Discord turned to Apple Bloom with one eyebrow raised. “Now as for you.” He started.
Apple Bloom took a big gulp. After everything he just did with Spike, she didn’t want to know what he was going to do with her.
“Why did you run away?” he asked.
“Wait, what happened to Spike?” She asked hesitantly.
“Answer the question.”
“But I—“
“Answer.”
“But—“
“The.”
“I just—“
“Question.”
“But what about--!” before she could say another word, Discord snapped his claw and took away her mouth. “You know, I despise children who don’t do what their elders request of them.” And to the side “I loathe children no matter what they do….” Looking back at Apple Bloom he finished, “Now answer the question when I give you your mouth back.” He ordered, giving Apple Bloom her mouth.
“I heard that!” she pointed out.
“Oh? Did you?” he asked innocently with a halo appearing over his head, yet not denying it.
Ignoring him, Apple Bloom answered his question. “My life is miserable there. I’m always clean’n, I don’t get enough ta eat, and I can’t take it anymore!” Apple Bloom wailed.
“You’re just going through a phase. Ever filly does. No sense running away from home because of it. I bet your parents are having a field day looking for you.” He lectured.
Her pink bow lowered with her head. Kicking the ground with her hoof Apple Bloom whispered, “I live in an orphanage…..” He barely registered what she said before she picked herself up again and declared, “but ma parents left me with a note sayn they’ll come back ferr me. So I’m gonna save them the trouble and go find them myself.”
“And I suppose you know where they live?” he questioned.
“No!”
“What they’re names are?”
“No.”
“What they look like?”
“……No…” Apple Bloom replied, head shrinking with every no she gave.
“Well then I suggest give up, be a good filly, and behave so some desperate family can adopt a little brat such as yourself. And now my dear child, I bid you farewell and go away.” And with a snap of his claw, Apple Bloom disappeared.
“Well, I did my good deeds of the day. Fluttershy will be so proud.” He exclaimed giddily. And with a smile on his face, Discord teleported back home.
Chrysalis was at her desk reading through some adoption candidates when a flash appeared in the room. When she looked up, there was Apple Bloom sitting in the chair opposite of Chrysalis, tied up with a piece of paper attached saying ‘I’m sorry I ran away. Please discipline me’.
“Welcome back.” Chrysalis greeted with a raised eyebrow.
“Bu-….wha-…how?” Apple Bloom shuddered as she looked around the room frantically. When her eyes landed on Chrysalis, she deflated.
Fluttershy headed to Ponyville with her head down in uncertainty. It was one thing to suggest a child to come live with them, it was another to actually go and do it. She knew from experience that taking care of a child was a lot different and harder than taking care of her animals. And what about what happened when she brought the child to the house with Discord? How was she going to get them to get along? As her head went lower and lower with each though, she thought of Discord being turned back into stone.
With that thought, her head snapped up in determination. No. She wasn’t going to let that happen. She wasn’t going to let her dear friend get turned into stone. Sure he was chaotic and difficult, but she that Discord had a kind heart if only ponies took the time to know them.
She smiled as she thought of her last birthday when Discord made the inside of the whole mansion to look like a beautiful forest full of different kinds of creatures. It meant even more to her when she knew that Discord didn’t get along with her creatures, so for him to go through all that trouble…
She blushed at the thought. Shaking her head to make the thoughts go away, she concurred that he was just trying to be a good friend. Just like he was supposed to. And she knew that everything would work out with the little orphan. She knew it.
Taking out a map out of her green scarf, she looked for the directions to the orphanage. Chrysalis Nest Orphanage was the only orphanage in Ponyville. She was going to go to one in Canterlot, but when she thought more on it, she thought best to get an orphan who probably wouldn’t be aware of Discords…….hobbies. She rounded the corner till she stood right in front of it.
She surveyed the building with a look of concern. The building looked like it was falling apart. ‘Well…..maybe they are doing some remodeling. I’m sure the children are fine.’ Fluttershy convinced herself. Taking a deep breathe, she walked into the building.
“Make sure every inch of this place is scrubbed down thoroughly with this.” Chrysalis commanded as she handed Apple Bloom a red toothbrush. Taking it, Apple Bloom inspected it and let out a small gasp.
“But….this is ma toothbrush….” She complained weakly.
Letting out an amused grin, Chrysalis answered “I know. That is your punishment for escaping. I hope that after this you will finally learn to stay content here until an unlucky couple comes to get you. But until then, you will make this place spotless. Don’t expect dinner until you’re done. Do I make myself clear?”
Heaving out a sigh, Apple Bloom replied “Yes, Mrs. Chrysalis.” And with that, she got to work.
“Don’t forget the cleaning supplies.” She barked. “You should know this by now!”
Fearing her wrath, Apple Bloom ran into the closet behind Chrysalis’s desk to grab the cleaning supplies.
Chrysalis sighed in defeat. She was getting tired of Apple Bloom’s escape attempts. If it weren’t against the law she’d have that child chained to her bed every night. But if she did, she’d have damaged merchandise and the cops would start snooping.
About to yell at her to hurry up, she hears a whisper, barely audible if she didn’t have good hearing.
“Um…excuse me….” Whispered the voice.
Chrysalis looked towards the door to her office and sees a yellow pegasus with light pink hair covering half of her face. She lowers her head when she realized she’s been spotted but speaks anyway.
“May I come in please? If you’re not too busy…” she whispers again.
Putting on her best customer smile, Chrysalis motions to the pegasus. “Come in, my dear. Welcome to our orphanage. Won’t you please come in and have a seat?”
Feeling a lot more relaxed, Fluttershy timidly came in and sat down in front of the desk with Chrysalis seated behind it.
“My name is Mrs. Chrysalis. I’m the caretaker of the children here. Now what can I do for you, my dear?” Chrysalis inquires to Fluttershy. She always had to lay it on thick if she was ever going to get rid of a child, even if it made her want to puke.
Fluttershy fidgeted in her seat under the stare of the caretaker. She didn’t know how to make the request to her. How was she going to ask that she wanted to borrow a child to stay with Discord for Hearth’s Warming?
Chrysalis was feeling the discomfort coming off of the pony. How was she going to work this? She hasn’t fed in a while. She needed to make this pony fall in love with a child and soon. As she kept staring at her, she realized that she knows this pegasus….and the creature she works for.
“If I remember correctly, you’re the little errand pony for Discord, am I correct?” she inquired.
Fluttershy looked up from behind her mane. “His friend, actually….” She whispered.
“Of course you are, my dear. I didn’t realize that you and Discord would be willing to take the next step into your relationship and adopt a child. How sweet.” She mockingly jested.
Blushing deep red, Fluttershy shook her hooves in front of her. “Oh n-n-no. Me a-and Discord are just….friends….” she stammered.
“Oh, it’s alright, my dear. I’m just honored that the great and powerful Lord of Chaos himself would come here. I’m honored. So he’s interested in children. He doesn’t strike me as the fatherly type.” She inquired raising her brow.
“Actually, we’re not interested in adopting…” she started.
Chrysalis raised her other brow. “Really?”
“Yes. Discord has been in the Hearth’s Warming Spirit lately (not a lie) and he’s wanted to spread the Hearth’s Warming spirit to others (not entirely a lie) and was thinking maybe we could bring Hearth’s Warming to an orphan this year…..if it’s not too much trouble…” she finished.
“I see…..Well of course Discord may borrow an orphan for Hearth’s Warming.” Chrysalis replied happily.
Fluttershy wasn’t expecting this. If anything, she thought she would have to convince her just to borrow and orphan, not adopt. “Really?”
“But of course. It would be an honor to let the Lord of Chaos borrow an orphan. Think of the publicity it would give this orphanage.” She happily countered. “Now let me go upstairs and bring the girls down.” She stood up and prepared to get the children, unaware of the fact that Apple Bloom never came out of the closet behind her.
Apple Bloom was jumping giddily in the closet. She didn’t hear some of it, but she did get the gist. Someone wanted to borrow an orphan for Hearth’s Warming! This was her chance! Not only would she get to spend Hearth’s Warming with a family, she could use that time to find her parents. She risked a peak through the door and looked at the mare that came in. She was a light yellow pegasus with long flowing pink mane and tail with three pink butterflies as a cutie mark. She looked so kind and gentle, she was sure that she could convince her to take her with her.
Being a bit bolder, she tried to get the kind mare’s attention, and happily it worked.
Fluttershy’s attention got pulled toward the door behind Chrysalis’s desk. When she looked fully at the door, she saw a little earth pony waving at her. Using her best puppy eyes that she could muster, Apple Bloom pointed to herself and nodded her head.
It worked. Fluttershy looked down on the little filly and couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Fluttershy quickly stood up and addressed Chrysalis. “T-that won’t be necessary, Mrs. Chrysalis. I think this little filly would be perfect.” Looking towards Apple Bloom, Fluttershy warmly indicated for her to come out. Not waiting for a second invitation, Apple Bloom ran out of the closet and came to step next to Fluttershy. Getting a closer look at the pegasus, she smiled at her knowing she was right. Somepony this warm and kind would take her somewhere warm and loving.
But Chrysalis was not pleased. “No.” she said simply.
Fluttershy was taken back. “No? I don’t understand.”
“Exactly what I meant. No. Apple Bloom here is a troubled child and doesn’t deserve to be rewarded for all the heartache she causes around here. I have plenty of children you can choose from that deserve it, but not her. She has chores she needs to get done.” She explained, sending Apple Bloom a warning glare to keep her mouth shut.
Apple Bloom couldn’t believe it. She didn’t even get a chance. Of course. As long as Chrysalis was her charge, she would never get out of here.
Fluttershy looked down at the little filly, seeing her bow lower as a look of defeat developed on her face. He heart broke. This filly wasn’t trouble. If anything, this filly just needed somepony to love and care for her, and she was determined to give it to her. Fluttershy turned to Chrysalis. “Actually, a troubled filly is exactly what is needed. If anything, it would be helping you out. When we return her, she will be the nicest and most well behaved filly you have ever had.” She persuaded.
“The answer is still no.” Chrysalis replied with a deadpan expression.
But Fluttershy wasn’t going to give up. “Mrs. Chrysalis, with all do respect, I don’t understand why you are insistent on refusing to let me take little Apple Bloom here away for Hearth’s Warming. But since you are, I’m assuming it’s something so serious that the Princess should be informed, don’t you agree?”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened at the mare. Did she just threaten her? If it weren’t for the fact that she could go to the Princesses directly, she wouldn’t even take it seriously….but since she could….
Fluttershy didn’t break eye contact. She was determined to get her way, but inside she was shaking from head to hoof and her heart was beating frantically. She’s gotten better at being assertive ever since she took that seminar, but it still scared her.
They continued to hold eye contact, until Chrysalis sighed in defeat.
“Very well. Apple Bloom, go get your belongings while we take care of the paperwork. Now.” She ordered. Again, not waiting for a second warning, Apple Bloom bolted up the stairs to get her letter and belongings.
“Ah promise I’ll bring everyone gifts! I’ll see ya after Hearth’s Warming!!?” Apple Bloom yelled out the taxi window. Waving a last goodbye to everyone, she was off.
“My name is Fluttershy. I hope you you’ll enjoy being with us for Hearth’s Warming.” Fluttershy’s voice brought Apple Bloom back inside the vehicle. “Well, in case ya didn’t know before, I’m Apple Bloom. Thank ya kindly for takin’ me away from there.”
“Of course.” Fluttershy replied, happy to see that Apple Bloom was excited. She was expecting her to be more talkative, but Apple Bloom threw her head out the window and looked at the surroundings she was passing, never being outside of Ponyville before. It was ok though, Fluttershy was content to sit there in silence and enjoy the excited filly’s company.
Where is she?! Discord thought, pacing the hallway. Fluttershy left a note saying she would be back before dark, but it was already eight o’clock and Luna already raised the moon for the night.
She should’ve been back by now. She’s always been punctual. But a thought stopped him. What if she’s hurt? What if she got lost? What if what if what if…..and it kept trailing till Discord summoned a paper bag and started hyperventilating into it. Making it disappear, he calmed himself down. She just went out for a bit. It’s not the first nor the last time she’s gone out. Stop worrying………..
Yea right.
Just as he was about to go out and search, he heard the door open. When he saw that pink flowing mane, he tackled her to the ground.
“Where have you been?! You said you’d be back before dark, and clearly you weren’t! What happened?” Not waiting for an answer, he summoned a stretcher and was examining her head to hoof in a nurses uniform. “You’re not hurt are you? Did you get lost? How many claws am I holding up?” he asked in one breath holding up his claw.
Giggling at the display, Fluttershy put her hoof on his claw and lowered it. “I’m fine Discord. I’m sorry for worrying you, but we missed the train and had to wait for the next one.” She explained, blushing at all the attention Discord was giving her.
“We?” he inquired, making the equipment and outfit disappear.
“Yes. Remember, we decided to take in an orphan for Hearth’s Warming? She’s right outside.”
“Oh why of course I do.” He replied with an obvious fake smile. “I can’t wait to meet the little brat, I mean, adorable child you brought.”
Fluttershy ignored the obvious slip up and indicated to the door. “Come on in sweetie.” She called in.
What came in the door was not who Discord, and it definitely wasn’t who Apple Bloom was expecting either.
“Send it back!” Discord ordered, pointing out the door.
“Discord!” Fluttershy gasped.
“Go ahead! Ah don’t wanna spend time with this jerk anyway!” Apple Bloom yelled.
“Who are you calling a jerk? As far as I can tell, I helped you out! An obvious mistake, I might add.” Discord commented, giving Apple Bloom the cold shoulder.
“Ah told ya ah ran away from that place and whad’ya do?! Ya poof me right back, tied up with a note sayn’ ‘Please discipline me’!”
“You tied her up?” Fluttershy asked with disappointment.
“She ran away from home. How else was I to make sure she stayed put? I thought you’d be happy that I helped a little brat out?” Discord asked, clearly not seeing that he did anything wrong.
“Discord, I’m glad that you were trying to help, but maybe you went a little too far…..” Fluttershy stated delicately, not wanting to hurt Discord’s feelings.
“Moi? Go too far? Now when do I ever to that?” Discord exclaimed with an exaggerated response.
Fluttershy wanted to respond, but realizing the long list that was growing in her head, she opted to let the subject go, and apparently so did Discord.
“’Gone too far’, ‘didn’t do enough’, none of that matters because I don’t want this little brat to set another hoof in my house.” And to prove his point, Discord snapped up a red marker and drew a line on the floor in front of Apple Bloom, all the while glaring at her, daring her to take another step into his home.
“Fine! Ah don’t wanna be in this stupid mansion anyway! I’d rather be back at the orphanage workin an’starvin to death than stay here for another second!” Apple Bloom yelled.
“Then go!” he taunted.
“Ah will!” she countered.
“Good!”
“I’m goin!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
With each counter remark, their faces kept getting closer and closer until they were practically touching. Fluttershy could see the annoyance in Discord’s eyes and saw his tail starting to make a snapping motion, and she knew she had to stop it.
“ENOUGH! No pony is going anywhere!” Fluttershy yelled, getting herself between the arguing duo. Both Discord and Apple Bloom turned to Fluttershy in shock, surprised by the sudden outburst of the timid pegasus. Realizing that they were staring, Fluttershy automatically hid behind her mane, and whispered a small “Please…..”
Neither wanted to upset her, so with a final glare at each other, they pulled away and pouted. Seeing that she got their attention, Fluttershy took a deep breath and continued.
“Discord, you need to apologize.”
“WHAT!?” Discord yelled in disbelief.
“I don’t exactly know what happened between you two, but you went too far when it came to tying her up. And she is not an ‘it’ or a ‘brat’. Her name is Apple Bloom and you need to start addressing her as such.” Fluttershy lectured.
“But she called me a jerk!” Discord whined in his defense.
Fluttershy continued to stare at Discord, not taking her eyes off of him until he apologized. Discord did everything in his power not to succumb to the stare, but in the end, he just couldn’t keep himself from looking into those beautiful teal eyes and surrendering.
With great reluctance, Discord muttered a quick “I’m sorry.” Obviously not meaning it, but knowing that she wasn’t going to be getting anymore from him, Fluttershy gave Discord a warm smile.
“Thank you, Discord.”
Discord looked away with a disgusted grunt, but couldn’t hide the blush creeping onto his face.
Fluttershy then turned towards Apple Bloom, noticing the smug look on the little filly’s face, and gave a frown of disapproval.
“Now Apple Bloom, Discord isn’t all to blame. It is not nice to be calling somepony horrible names. Especially somepony that is offering up their home for Hearth’s Warming.” She lectured.
“But you heard’im! He kept calling me names too and tied me up!” Apple Bloom whined back.
“And he is sorry for that-”
“Obviously.” Apple Bloom commented. “-and is going to be punished, but you need to be the better pony and not insult him either. Now apologize.” Fluttershy ordered.
Apple Bloom wasn’t going to crumble as easily as Discord was and turned away with a hard humph, but Fluttershy wasn’t going to have it. Flying into Apple Bloom’s line of sight, she looked down on her and gave her The Stare.
At first it did nothing, but as the seconds ticked by, Fluttershy’s stare became more and more intense and had Apple Bloom shaking in her hoofs. She didn’t know what it was, but it was like her stare was looking right into her soul, making her feel more and more guilty that she had to get away from her stare of disapproval.
“I’m sorry!” Apple Bloom yelled quickly at Discord, wanting nothing more than for Fluttershy to stop staring at her. Discord couldn’t help but let out a satisfied smirk; secretly relieved to know he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stand up to the famous stare.
Fluttershy let out a satisfied smile, glad that everything was settled. “Good. Now, why don’t we have a tour of the house.” She suggested.
“Have fun with that.” Discord grunted, as he began to walk away.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Fluttershy warned, stepping on Discord’s tail.
“Hey!” Discord complained, grabbing his tail affectionately.
“You’re coming with us. This is your house Discord and you need to be a good host.” She stated.
“You basically live here too! You know this house as well as I do! If this is my house, I can do whatever I want!” Discord smugly countered.
Apple Bloom watched curiously as the two bantered back and forth. Apple Bloom found herself remembering the time Babs Seed had a crush on a neighboring colt. She would often tease him mercilessly because she was too shy to treat him otherwise.
“Are you two dating?” she found herself asking aloud.
They both stopped in their banter and stared wide-eyed at the little filly.
“W-what?” Fluttershy stuttered.
“What makes you say that?” Discord questioned nervously.
“Ya kinda look like y’all have a thing for each other.” Apple Bloom stated bluntly.
“And you would know that how?” Discord asked raising an eyebrow.
“L-let’s start that tour, shall we?” Fluttershy stuttered, her mane hiding her face as she started walking down the hall. Apple Bloom started to follow suit, but got stopped by an invisible wall. Shaking her head, Apple Bloom tried to go over the red line, but she continued to get stopped by the invisible force field. She glared at Discord who was snickering at her failed attempts to get past the line, but with a cough from Fluttershy, Discord rolled his eyes, licked the thumb of his paw and erased the red line. With a final glare at Discord, Apple Bloom followed Fluttershy through the hallway. Discord hesitated. Fluttershy’s reaction to Apple Bloom’s question intrigued him. Letting the thought settle in his mind, he slowly followed Fluttershy and the little filly.
Apple Bloom looked in awe at the multicolored mansion. Nothing was normal when it came to the interior decor. As she looked around, she saw that nothing was on the floor except for maybe a few tables and flowers hovering a couple of inches above the ground. Apple Bloom looked upwards and gasped as she gazed at the ceiling……that wasn’t there.
Pink clouds decorated the sky. Yes. Sky. Instead of a ceiling, an endless blue sky floated over her filled with floating furniture and decorations.
“I know it’s a lot to take in at first, but you’ll get used to it.” She heard Fluttershy explain to Apple Bloom as they continued along with the tour.
“She won’t be here long enough to get used to it.” Discord muttered to himself.
“What was that?” Fluttershy asked over her shoulder.
“Oh nothing, my dear. I was just thinking that maybe I’d move some of the rooms up to the ceiling. It’s incredibly dull to have them all in a row.” He answered quickly, saying the first excuse that came to mind.
“What ceiling?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“I may have made my ceiling a sky, but it’s still a ceiling.” Discord countered.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Said Apple Bloom.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” Discord answered back.
“Discord, we agreed to have the doors aligned because most of the cleaning ponies are earth ponies and unicorns. It’s easier for them to clean up. Besides, when you put the doors in the air, they float away and get lost.” Fluttershy lectured.
“Why should I care? This is my mansion and I should have it anyway I want!” Discord whined.
“Are you prepared to clean up after yourself?” Fluttershy questioned.
“Again, why should I?”
“Then we keep the cleaner ponies. Besides, it helps ponies have jobs, so you’re actually being very helpful Discord.” Fluttershy explained, smiling back at Discord.
“Oh of course, give up comfort in MY mansion for the sake of cleaner ponies. I feel SO helpful.” Discord replied with heavy sarcasm while rolling his eyes.
“Cleaner ponies?” Ya mean ah don’t hafta do any chores!?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“Of course not!” Fluttershy exclaimed, surprised by Apple Bloom’s question. “You’re our guest. You don’t have to lift a hoof.”
A wide grin appeared on Apple Bloom’s face. She wasn’t going to do any chores? And she was going to be staying in a place that had cleaner ponies? Apple Bloom found herself shuffling her hooves in excitement.
“I hope you don’t mind, I’ve asked some of my friends to come down and help prepare some things. Rarity designs the best outfits, I’m sure she can make some nice coats for you. And Applejack makes the most delicious goodies; I’m sure you both can get together and discuss your diet. Rainbow Dash loves to stay active; she can help find activities for you to do. Oh! I’m sure Pinkie Pie would love to throw you a welcome party. I think even Twilight will stop by. She’s been a little busy since she’s become a princess, but she always makes time for us.” Fluttershy explained.
Apple Bloom’s eyes kept getting wider and wider with each pony Fluttershy mentioned. Not only was she gonna be kept from doing chores, she was going to get new outfits, get food other than old wheat, she was going to have her very own party, and get visited by a princess!?
“Ah think I’m gonna like it here.” Apple Bloom murmured to herself. All of a sudden, she felt a sting on her back. “OUCH!” Apple Bloom looked behind her and found Discord holding a voodoo doll of herself with a pin in the back. Seeing that he was caught, Discord quickly put the doll behind his back and a halo appeared above his head.
Apple Bloom’s head started to grow warm as the first rays of sunlight streamed through the windows in her new room. Rabidly blinking her eyes to the morning sun, Apple Bloom groggily lifted her head from her pillow and gazed around her new room.
Fluttershy thought it would be best to be put in a room that was as normal as possible, and she couldn’t agree more. It was meant to be a simple room, but compared the quarters that Apple Bloom was used to, this room was paradise. Light tan walls painted the four walls, two massive windows to her left with dark red curtains; a nicely detailed fireplace was across from the queen sized bed that Apple Bloom was currently occupying.
Apple Bloom has never rested on a more comfortable bed in all her life than she did last night. It was like lying on a cloud while being surrounded by fluffy sheep. It was heaven and she didn’t want to leave her cloud bed any time soon. It was the first time in her life that she didn’t have to get up before Celestia raised the sun and she wanted to enjoy it.
Sadly, that didn’t last. One moment she was laying in her cloud bed, and the next, she was falling in a pool of ice cold water. With a loud yelp, Apple Bloom jumped out of the bed of water and onto the solid ground. Soaking wet and ice cold, Apple Bloom snuggled close to the dying fire in her room. After a few minutes of heating herself, she looked back at her bed to see that it was back to normal. Groaning to herself for being forcibly thrown from her bed, she looked back to the dying firing to see that the flames shaped into a message. Looking closer, the flames read “Breakfast time, brat!” and with that, the flames returned to normal.
Yelling in frustration, Apple Bloom stomped over to the closet to grab a towel to dry her off. Discord was not going to make her stay easy. Well, Discord, two can play at that game; and with an evil smile growing on her face, countless plans for the day formulated in her head.
“Discord……this was not what I meant by waking her up.” Fluttershy scolded as she ran a brush through Apple Bloom’s stubborn red hair. Fluttershy, Apple Bloom and Discord were all gathered in the living room; Fluttershy sitting on the couch with Apple Bloom sitting on the floor in front of her, brushing her hair. Discord was draped upside down over an armchair, sipping his morning tea; tea staying in his cup even though he was upside down.
“Oh relax, Flutter-buddy, it’s not like a little splash of water ever hurt anypony.” He chuckled; getting a brow-raise from Fluttershy and Apple Bloom. “Besides, she’s up, isn’t she?”
“That’s not the point Discord. It’s rude to wake somepony up like that. What if she got hurt?” Fluttershy inquired, finally applying Apple Bloom’s pink ribbon in her hair.
“It’s alright, Fluttershy. Nothin’ wrong with a harmless prank now and then.” Apple Bloom answered with a smile. Turning to Discord, Apple Bloom held out her hoof. “That wuz a good prank, Discord.”
“See Fluttershy? SOMEOPONY knows how to be a good sport about this.” Discord went and grabbed onto Apple Bloom’s hoof only to feel and electric current run through his arm.
“GAH!!” He screamed, pulling his arm away. Shaking and holding his paw, he looked down at Apple Bloom to see her rolling on the floor laughing.
“That’s for dropping me in water!” she barked, getting more laughs out. Lifting her hoof, she showed Discord an empty hoof. A second later, a joy buzzer appeared onto her hoof.
“What the-?”
“It’s a camouflage joy buzzer! My friend Scootaloo got it from the joke shop and gave it to me. I thought it would come in handy to put somepony in his place.” Apple Bloom smirked at the baffled draconequus.
Discord stared hard at the filly in front of him. As much as he hated to admit, the little brat got him. “Well played…..” he stated after a moment of staring at each other. He heard a giggle and turned his head to look at Fluttershy who was trying but failing to suppress her laughter.
“I’m sorry Discord, but it’s rare to see a pony get the best of you.”
“Why do I always get in trouble when I prank somepony, but you laugh when she pranks me!? Honestly Flutters, I think you’re playing favorites.” Discord pouted, crossing his arms.
“Because when you prank, you take it too far.” Fluttershy answered bluntly.
“Well now you’re just splitting hairs.”
Fluttershy shook her head, knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Discord. Deciding to change the subject, she turned to Apple Bloom. “I was thinking that I could introduce you to my friends. They arrived after you went to bed, so I was hoping you would like to meet.”
“That sounds great!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She couldn’t wait to do so many things. All she ever did was work, work and work some more. Now she could finally do something different.
Smiling at the excited Apple Bloom, Fluttershy the turns to Discord. “Discord, I think you need to go through your pony request letters. You skipped most of them yesterday.”
“Request letters?” Apple Bloom inquires.
“Oh yes. You see, ponies come to see Discord to ask him for help in solving problems. Ponies come in, tell him their problems, and Discord helps them. But sometimes ponies can’t travel far, so they send him letters. Sometimes he doesn’t have to use his chaotic magic, but other times, ponies bring him problems that only his magic can solve.”
“Ugh….but it’s so boring!!!” Discord whined, slithering around Fluttershy until he was practically laying on her. “All I ever hear and read is whining, whining and more whining!”
“Discord, we’ve been over this and….”
“Yea yea, we need to help ponies, show them that I’m a changed stallion, blah, blah, blah. I get it.” And with a snap, Discord was sitting on the floor, facing away from Fluttershy and Apple Bloom pouting.
Fluttershy hated to see him upset, but this was for his own good in the end. If only there was a way to motivate him….
An idea popped into Fluttershy’s head. “Discord, if you can go through all those letters by the end of the day, we’ll do whatever you want to do tomorrow.”
Discord’s ears stood up and he turned to Fluttershy. “Anything?”
“Within reason, yes.” Fluttershy replied, making it clear that she didn’t mean literally anything.
“So I just have to get them all done by the end of today?”
“Yes. And I mean properly Discord, not rushing through them like last time. Saying yes or no to every single one of them isn’t going to work. And don’t think I won’t check.”
“Fine, fine. But remember, you said anything.” Discord cooed.
Fluttershy’s ears went down. She knew she was going to regret her promise one way or another, but she was hoping with a little motivation, Discord would actually get his work done the right way. And who knows, maybe Discord will actually ask for something within reason…….maybe.
Discord’s ears flopped in excitement. His ideas are always getting shot down by her, and now she’s giving him a pass to ask for whatever he wants? Sure, he could do that anyway, but he always tried to not cause so much trouble because he didn’t want to upset her, but now, he’s getting a freebee!! Discord ran through his mind what to ask for. He could ask to play some more pranks, but he does that anyway. Maybe he could ask if they could give that devil Angel rabbit of hers a color change, maybe even put a little dress on him that he has to where for a month. As much as he would like that, he didn’t think Fluttershy would that much.
He stared at Fluttershy as he contemplated what to ask of her. He noticed that her ears were down and her eyes were filled with worry. Well, he couldn’t blame her for worrying. Fluttershy knew him too well. She probably already has guessed a couple of his ideas. He couldn’t help but smile. He liked the fact the she knew him so well. No other creature has ever understood him and accepted him as much as she has.
His eyes widen in realization when he figured out what he wanted. He grinned as he turned to Fluttershy.
“Alright, Flutterbuddy. I’ve decided what I wanted to tomorrow.”
Fluttershy braced herself for his answer. “Y-yes?”
“Tomorrow I want to spend the whole day together.”
Fluttershy stared at Discord. She wasn’t really expecting that. “What?”
“I want to spend the day together. Honestly, Fluttershy, I think you need to get your hearing checked.” He answered, grabbing her ears and extending and peering into them.
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. I just wasn’t expecting that, that’s all.” Fluttershy stammered out.
“Well, my dear Fluttershy. It occurred to me that with you spending all your time with your animals and me, having such a huge heart, helping so many ponies in need, that we don’t spend time together any more. And as best friends, it’s only natural that we spend some time together. That is, of course, you have other plans?” Discord inquired, lifting up an eyebrow.
“Oh, no. I don’t have anything planned. I would love to spend the day with you.” Fluttershy beamed.
Fluttershy’s smile was so wide and she looked so excited that Discord had to turn away to hide the blush that was creeping up. “Now then!!! I better start on those letters.” He barks out, flashing on a mail-pony uniform and having a huge sack of letters over his shoulder three times his size. “Don’t want to keep all those desperate ponies waiting!” and with a flash, Discord disappears.
Fluttershy was still beaming when Discord left. She could feel a small blush rising to her cheeks. Out of all the things that Discord could ask for, he asked to spend the day with her. It was so sweet that he wanted to spend some time with her. She was pretty sure he was going to ask to do something humiliating to Angel bunny. And it wasn’t like it was just Discord who wanted to spend time together. She was also starting to notice that they barely saw each other, and she couldn’t wait to catch up with him.
Apple Bloom watched the whole thing silently in the corner. Sure, she knew Discord was reformed, but she didn’t know that he actually helped other ponies with his magic. I mean, it was clear that he couldn’t care less, but at least he was doing it anyway. It was also apparent that Discord really liked Fluttershy, and apparently, given the face on Fluttershy’s face, she liked him too. To what extent, she wasn’t sure, but she was going to find out.
Apple Bloom waited a few seconds before she realized that Fluttershy was in a different world. Rolling her eyes, Apple Bloom gave a loud cough to get her attention. Snapping out of her day dream, Fluttershy turned to Apple Bloom; realizing that she was still here.
“W-well, now that that’s taken care of, why don’t we head down to the kitchen? I guess because of your unexpected wake up call, you didn’t get any breakfast.” Fluttershy explained, changing the subject.
Apple Bloom’s stomach rumbled with the thought of food. “Now that ah think about it, ah am a little hungry.” She answered, hiding her embarrassment.
“Well, Apple Jack should still be down there cleaning up some of her apple scones that she baked. Maybe she’ll have some more for us. Shall we?”
With a firm nod from Apple Bloom, Fluttershy led the way to the kitchens to give her some breakfast, Apple Bloom following close behind.
Discord was sitting in his ‘office’ which was basically a blue and yellow polka dotted desk that floated in the middle of the room, with stacks and stacks of piled high letters from today and the one’s he neglected to do yesterday.
He groaned in frustration. This would be so much easier if he just said yes or no to every single one of them and he’d be done in a jiffy. But Fluttershy was going to check, and that meant it would most likely take him the whole day to get this done. Discord let out another frustrated groan.
“OH, this is so boring. I can’t do this for a whole day! I’d go insane!” Discord paused. “Scratch that, I’d go sane with all this work.” Discord stared at the stacks and stacks of letters, each one adding lead to his stomach. How was he supposed to get this done without going sane?
Discord pondered until a light bulb appeared above his head. “Bingo!” Grabbing the light above his head, he conjured up a lamp version of himself and added the lightbulb. Snapping his claws, Discord popped out another Discord.
“Well hello handsome.” Discord 1 greeted.
“Not too bad yourself.” Discord 2 answered.
“So I need you to get this work done for me while I go have some fun.” Discord 1 stated bluntly.
“WHAT!? Why do I have to stay and work? How bout I go have fun and YOU do the work?” Discord 2 questioned.
“Because I’m the original. Besides, once we merge back, I’ll remember ever single letter and still be able to let out my chaos out so I don’t go sane!”
“That…….actually makes sense…” Discord 2 slowly says. A slight shudder runs through his body.
“Oh, I know. The thought of actually making sense doesn’t sit well with me either; but, if this works, I get to have my fun, get my work done, and have my date with Fluttershy tomorrow.” Discord 1 answer gleefully.
“Date?” Discord 2 asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I-I-I mean play-date. You know, because we’re friends, so we go out to have a play date. Oh, why am I explaining myself to me. Just get the work done! I’ll be back before dinner.” Discord 1 turns around and slithers to the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a certain brat I have to get back at.” And with that, Discord disappears.
Discord 2 stares after the original Discord then at the piles of letters in his office.
“I think I’d rather have fun instead.” With a snap of his talons, Discord 2 makes another copy of himself and turns to him. “Hello handsome, I need you to get some work done for me.”
“These apple scones are delicious!!” Apple Bloom beamed, savoring the sweet flavor.
“Ah’m glad you enjoy it, sugar cube.” The orange earth pony commented, glad that somepony else was enjoying her cooking other than her family and friends. Grabbing the pan off the counter, she walked over to the sink and started washing the dishes.
“Thank you again for making a few last minute scones, Applejack. We had a little bit of a rough morning.” Fluttershy said regretfully.
“Discord?”
Fluttershy looked away.
“It’s okay Fluttershy, we all know about Discord’s antics. It’s nothin’ new.” Applejack put in, not wanting Fluttershy to feel bad for Discord’s behavior. She then peered at Apple Bloom. “If anythin’, i’m hopin Discord wuzn’t too hard on ya this mornin’.”
Apple Bloom swallowed her mouthful of scone before she answered. “It wuz nothin’. Discord may have gottn’ me this mornin, but ah got’im back.” Holding back a snicker, she took another bite out of her scone, unaware of a serpin-like creature slithering on the sealing above them.
Applejack full-out laughed at Apple Bloom’s comment. “Well I’ll be. Ah don’t think anypony has gottin’ Discord yet! Don’t tell Rainbow Dash though. She’s been tryin to get the jump on Discord since he’s been reformed.”
“Well, ah don’t think he’ll mess with me fer a while now.” Apple Bloom huffed, biting into her apple scone. As she continued to chew, she found that the sweet taste of apple’s turned bitter. Scrunching up her face, Apple Bloom spit the remaining scone out of her mouth and inspected the scone, only to find pieces of green beans inside. She turned to Applejack and Fluttershy who were busy chatting with each other, then back to the scone in her hand. But when she took a look, she found the green beans gone.
“What the-“ Apple Bloom started, only to catch a white tufted tail slithering out of the door out of the corner of her eye. Seeing what happened, she glared after the slithering draconequuss.
“Oh, it is on!”
“She did WHAT!?” The cyan pegasus screamed at Fluttershy, who flinched slightly at her outburst.
“Ah got back Discord fer dunkin me this mornin’…..” Apple Bloom answered hesitantly.
“I’ve been trying to get Discord back for forever and you get him on your first try!?” The pegasus squinted her eye’s at Apple Bloom, gazed her over and mumbled a quick, “You got lucky,” under her breath.
Coughing into her hoof, Fluttershy spoke up, “Rainbow Dash, I was hoping you’d be able to show Apple Bloom some fun activities to do while she’s here. Something that would keep her entertained when Discord and I are busy.”
Perking up at the thought of rigorous activity, Rainbow Dash went into coach mode.
“Heh, so long as she’s with me, there’s no way she won’t have an awesome time!” Rainbow Dash boasted, turning towards Apple Bloom. “What kind of games are you good at?”
Apple Bloom rubbed her chin in thought. When she really thought about it, she didn’t really play much. Other than beating our cleaning record and having scavenger hunts with our cleaning supplies they didn’t really have time to play anything. As Apple Bloom thought more on it, she suddenly remembered a real game that they played. On Scootaloo’s birthday, they gave her a soccer ball that they found in the fields out back. It was a little deflated but not deflated enough where they couldn’t play some soccer.
“Ah kinda know how ta play soccer.” Apple Bloom replied.
“Soccer eh? No sweat. I ace at soccer!” With a quick swoop, Rainbow Dash disappears and reappears with a soccer ball. Tossing it on the ground in front of Apple Bloom, she stops it with her hoof and tests it’s durability. She’s never seen a ball that wasn’t damaged in some way, or a new one for that matter. Apple Bloom felt a light flutter in her chest. It felt nice to appreciate something as simple as a nice soccer ball.
“So, wanna play a round?” Rainbow Dash questioned, wanting nothing more than to have a little competition. Wanting to stretch her legs herself, Apple Bloom agreed. With a determined grin, Rainbow Dash indicates Apple Bloom to follow. Apple Bloom followed her onto the huge soccer field in the back of Discord’s mansion. Meeting in the middle, Rainbow Dash tossed the soccer ball in between them. “You know the rules kid?”
“Kick the ball into the other’s net. Got it.” Apple Bloom answered.
“Nothing to it. Now,” Rainbow Dash crouched down, “are you ready?”
Apple Bloom copied Rainbow Dash’s stance. “Ah wuz born ready. And by the way, only a jerk doesn’t let a filly win.”
Rainbow Dash smirked at her comment. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on ya…but not by much.” Looking toward Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash tosses the whistle that was around her neck making Fluttershy catch it clumsily. Fluttershy met Rainbow Dashes gaze. “Blow the whistle on three Flutters!”
Fluttershy hesitated, but then started counting down. “One…”
Rainbow Dash crouched down again.
“Two…”
Apple Bloom dug her hooves in the ground.
Fluttershy blew hard on the whistle, sending the two ponies towards the ball.
Rainbow Dash grabbed the ball first and started heading towards Apple Blooms net. Slightly growling at the failed attempt to get the ball, Apple Bloom runs after the blue pegasus.
Fluttershy told Apple Bloom about Rainbow Dash’s speed on the way to meet her, and she was not wrong. Rainbow Dash was indeed fast, but she could also tell that she was holding back. She wasn’t using her wings and she wasn’t running at full speed. She tried to keep up as much as she could, but the mare was just too fast for her.
As Rainbow Dash got closer to the net, she levitated into the air and back-flipped the ball into her net, earning her a point. Hoof-bumping the air, Rainbow Dash kicks the ball over to Apple Bloom.
“I’ll give you a chance to get yourself a point, kid. Let’s see what you got.”
Apple Bloom took the opportunity to make a point and headed towards Rainbow Dash’s net. She could hear Rainbow Dash coming up behind her and tried to speed up. When she was about to make her shot, her hoof slips and was sent tumbling forward. On her back, she sees Rainbow Dash steal the ball and head toward her net; scoring herself another goal But that wasn’t all she saw. She only saw it for a moment, but she could have sworn she saw a banana peel on the field before it winked out of existence.
She honestly wouldn’t have believed it if she didn’t know of a certain draconequuss that has been messing with her all day. Growling in irritation, she runs at full speed toward that ball. In one swift moment, she stole the ball from Rainbow Dash and starts heading towards the goal. Hearing Rainbow Dash coming up behind her, Apple Bloom ducks and weaves the ball away from Rainbow Dash. Seeing the goal only a couple of hooves away, she sees her chance to make a goal, only to see the tail of a certain draconequuss hanging from the tree behind.
She could see the goal and taste the victory of scoring a goal….although….
Hesitating for just one moment, Apple Bloom kicks the ball toward to goal…only for it to fly over it and into the tree behind. With a large smack and a large thud, Apple Bloom saw Discord get hit with the ball, fall off the tree and land in the shrubs below.
Hiding her laugh behind her hoof, she watched as Discord teleported away from them.
Coming up behind her, Rainbow Dash stops next to her.
“That was some kick, kid. But now the ball is gone.”
“Ah’m sorry. Ah’ll go find it ferr ya though.”
“Eh, no worries. I got what I wanted.” Rainbow Dash smirked and looked down at Apple Bloom. “I know what your made of now. I think you’d like obstacle courses more.”
Smiling at her statement, she looked at her other side and saw Fluttershy land softly next to her.
“I hate to intrude, but I promised Rarity that I’d have her in for a fitting.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Fiiiine. But make sure Rarity gets some sport’s gear in there. She’s gonna need it.” She added with a wink at Apple Bloom.
“Oh don’t worry. Rarity is going to love the projects.” With a giggle, Fluttershy turns towards Apple Bloom. “C’mon Apple Bloom. You’re going to love Rarity.” And with that, Fluttershy starts heading toward the mansion with Apple Bloom in tow; with a pair of mismatched eyes following their every move.
“How long do ah hafta stand still?” Apple Bloom asked as she stood tall on stage.
Fluttershy ended up leading her to a studio located near the back of the mansion. Upon walking in, she was surrounded by a rainbow of beautiful clothes and fabrics. Despite the fact that it looked like a hurricane went through the room and trashed it. She admired the multiple dresses and outfits that decorated the marequins surrounding the room.
She wanted a closer inspection, but was suddenly wrapped in a blue aura and placed on a small little stage with surrounding mirrors. A little confused at what happened, she was approached by a white unicorn with a curly purple mane and 3 blue diamonds as a cutie mark. When she let her magic go from Apple Bloom, she then proceeded to get her measurements, which was a pain in the butt.
“Just a little longer, darling. It’s getting a little colder and I want to make sure you have proper winter clothing.” She continued to spread her limbs and take her measurements.
Fluttershy hesitantly took a step forward when she noticed Apple Bloom’s discomfort. “Um…Rarity, don’t you think you have enough measurements for her clothes…?”
“Oh, pfft. You can never have too many measurements. You never know what I’ll come up with.” Rarity responded with certainty.
Fluttershy wanted to say more, but opted against it, knowing that Rarity knew what she was doing. Apple Bloom stood as still as she could, but honestly all she wanted to do was move.
“There you go, sweetie. All done. And I’ve already compiled a few outfits for you if you’d like to see.” Breathing a sigh of relief, Apple Bloom stepped down from the small stage, only to slip and kiss the floor. Groaning from the pain, Apple Bloom lifted her head and found a small puddle of ice where she stepped down only to see it evaporate in the air before anypony could see.
“Oh my goodness, are you alright Apple Bloom?” Fluttershy asked hovering over her, ready to help her up. Apple Bloom was about to answer when she saw the tail of a certain creature disappear through the door. Apple Bloom was suddenly filled with frustration, the fact that she has been pranked all day and the fact that no matter where she went, she was always mistreated in one way or another. She was tired of it.
“ That’s IT!!” Apple Bloom yelled. Suddenly she was on her hooves and chasing after Discord leaving a very dumbfounded Rarity and Fluttershy behind.
Apple Bloom raced down the hallways, hot on Discord’s trail. She thought she missed him a few times, but then ends up finding him down a different hallway. Her frustration only grew as it seemed like she was going in circles. It was like he was everywhere, only barely catching him as she rounded a corner. She almost caught up with him until a piece of rope was pulled out in front her, successfully tripping her and stopping her progress.
She didn’t hesitate in getting up this time. With a roar of frustration, she was on her hooves and racing once again towards her enemy. As she rounded yet another corner she stopped dead, not by the sight of her enemy, but by the sight of over a hundred of them.
The sight in front of her was definitely not something she was expecting to see. Discords were everywhere. Up on the ceiling, through the furniture, pieces of him scattered all over the room. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. How was it that there were so many Discords? She was about to say something until she felt somepony behind her.
Fluttershy stood behind her, panting, trying to catch up with Apple Bloom. Behind her were Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, panting alongside her. Seeing their friend running frantically down the halls made them worry and chase after her.
Fluttershy stared at the catastrophe in front her, eyes wide at all the chaos rampaging around her. Her face slowly contorts into one of fury at Discord slacking off instead of getting his work done. Sucking in a lungful of air, Fluttershy’s voice rang above all the chaos before her.
“DIIIIISSSSSCCCCCOOOORRRRDDDD!!!!!!!”
And just like that, every single Discord in the room froze and turned to the pegasus in the doorway. Realizing that they were caught, they uttered out an exaggerated, “Oh, crap…” in unison.
Fluttershy was silent for a moment, staring at all the Discords in front of her. Apple Bloom silently moved behind her and stood beside Applejack, knowing that whatever was going to happen, she didn’t want to be in between it.
Taking another deep breath, Fluttershy uttered out. “Which one is the original?”
In unison, all the Discord’s responded, “That one!” and each one pointed to a different Discord.
Fluttershy’s aggravation grew with the realization that he wasn’t going to make this easy. Head held high, Fluttershy walked into the room. She kept her face forward as she passed multiple Discords. As she reached Discord’s desk, she walked around it till she was behind it and staring at the Discord that was hiding under it.
Discord looked up at the hard stare of the pegasus before him, amazed that she knew exactly which one was the original. Giving a nervous chuckle, Discord gave Fluttershy a small wave.
“Heeeyyy Flutters….come to check up on me?”
Fluttershy didn’t respond and continued to stare hard at him. Discord knew what she wanted, but was scared to move. In a quiet voice Fluttershy whispered, “Get rid of the other Discords. Now.”
Usually he would tease her when she got angry and keep pushing her buttons until he saw a new expression she’s never made before. But now, staring at her hard eyes on him he couldn’t find it in himself to make any jokes. With a snap of his talons, all the other Discords disappeared, leaving just him, Fluttershy and the girls near the doorway.
Coming out from under the desk, he stood up at full height and stared at the small pegasus in front of him, squirming under her hard stare.
Taking a big gulp, he quickly stutters, “Flutters, I can explain…”
“Sit down.”
Without hesitating, Discord plopped down in the chair in front of the desk.
Apple Bloom watched the whole scene unfold before her, surprise written all over her face. Around her she could hear Fluttershy’s friends whisper among them.
“Oh my…”
“Well he’s dead.”
“Last time ah saw Fluttershy like that, Angel bunny wuz forcin’ the critters around him to move so he could have more space. She wuz not happy ‘bout that.”
Apple Bloom gulped at the terrifying stare of Fluttershy. She wanted to look away, and yet, she REALLY wanted Discord to get it.
Fluttershy calmly went around the desk until she was sitting in the chair opposite of him, the desk separating them. Breathing in one last time, Fluttershy said, “You will finish your job. I’m going to sit here until you do. We will not speak, you will not stare, no distractions, no breaks, no squirming out of your duties. You WILL get this done and I will sit here until you do. Is that clear?”
Discord once again gulped nervously at Fluttershy’s tone. He’s only seen this side of Fluttershy once when it was directed at Angel bunny, and he did not want to see that again.
“C-can I at lea—“
“No.”
“What if—“
“No.”
“Can I—“
“NO!”
“Alright! Alright already! I’ll get it done.” Discord grumbled, focusing on the papers in front of him.
Fluttershy turned around in her seat and addressed the girls with a soft smile. “I’m going to be a little busy today girls, do you mind if you can bring Apple Bloom to meet Twilight? I think she’d like to meet her.”
Stepping up and putting her arm around Apple Bloom, Applejack responded. “Of course, sugar cube. We’ll get it all taken care of.” She then looked down at Apple Bloom. “C’mon, hunn. It’s time to meet yourself a princess.” And with that, they all turned around and headed out.
Apple Bloom followed suit and started walking out. Before she was out of view, she turns around one more time to stare at the scene in front of her. Fluttershy staring intently at Discord and Discord was staring at the papers in front of him. For one second, Discord looked up from his work and took a quick look at the door where Apple Bloom stood.
They stared at each other for second before Apple Bloom smirked smugly at him then continued to walk out. Discord’s hackles stood on end and he stood up in frustration, only for an annoyed Fluttershy to stare him back in his seat. Grumbling under his breath, Discord continued his work under the abusive monarchy that was Fluttershy.
“So ah’m actually gonna meet a real princess?” Apple Bloom asked, trying but failing to keep her excitement under control.
After the Discord incident, Apple Bloom was now under the care of Flutershy’s friends. And apparently one of there friends was an actual princess!
“You got it, sugarcube.” Applejack answered. “Twilight may be a princess, but she’s just a regular pony just like the rest of us so don’t be act’n nervous.”
“Yea, Twilight’s just your run of the mill egg-head in the end.” Rainbow Dash commented as she glided above them.
“Where is Twilight anyway? I haven’t seen her since last night.” Rarity questioned.
“Ah think she mentioned go’in ta visit Discord’s library.” Applejack answered.
“Discord has a library?” Rarity asked with great shock. “I wouldn’t think he would have something as sophisticated and orderly as a library.”
Apple Bloom looked up when she heard Rainbow Dash snickering, covering her mouth with her hooves to keep herself from laughing too hard. “Should we tell her?”
“Ah reckon she’ll find out sooner or later. Let’s not spoil the surprise.” Applejack replied mischievously.
“Tell’er what?” Apple Bloom asked, wanting to be in on the secret.
“You’ll see kid. You’ll see.” And with that, Rainbow Dash flew ahead of them leaving the group behind.
Apple Bloom’s head kept swinging back and forth as she continued to explore the mansion. Every single piece of furniture was suspended in midair in all kinds of positions. There were even objects that didn’t even make sense to be in a mansion! He had a couple of floating island with waterfalls that disappeared mid-fall, weird yellow sponges with purple polka-dots, there were even a couple of flying fish with sharp teeth trying to take a couple bites out of her tail.
But what got her enamored with the place were the doors. There seemed to be endless amounts of doors scattered all over the place; in all shapes and sizes. Plain colored, patterned, large, small, wooden, steel, and so much more. She didn’t know what someone would do with all those rooms.
“Ah see you check’n out them doors.” Applejack observed, bringing Apple Bloom out of her thoughts. “Discord hates ta be bored, so he created these here doors ta keep himself occupied.” Applejack frowned with a sudden thought. “Although it doesn’t help since he still out there terrorizing poor ponies with his pranks…”
“I’m one to laugh at a good prank every once in a while, but Discord has a horrible habit of taking his too far.” Rarity comment, giving a light ‘hmph’ at the end.
“That’s why somepony needs to put him in his place!” Rainbow Dash butted-in, seeming to get bored of waiting for the others to catch up.
“Like Apple Bloom already did?” Rarity inquired smugly.
“She got lucky! And besides, it was only with a buzzer. When I get him, he’ll be so surprised he won’t prank anypony for weeks!” Rainbow Dash boasted.
“Ah’m sure you’ll get’im, Rainbow. Ya know what they say, fifty-ith times the charm.” Applejack chuckled, earning a laugh from the rest of the group.
“Just you wait! Discord won’t know what hit him!” and with that, Rainbow Dash once again zoomed on ahead of the group.
Apple Bloom continued to laugh at Applejack’s comment when she heard noise’s coming from one of the door’s she just passed. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Apple Bloom slowly approached the door. She opened the door with a small creak and peaked inside. She was astounded as everything in the room was made out of rubber. Rubber balls of all colors bounced around the room at an alarming rate. As the balls bounced off the walls, she realized that they were also made out of rubber; along with the floor.
Wanting to go in and explore, she opens the door wider only to realize that the group was getting farther and farther away. Promising to come back, she quickly closed it and ran to catch up to the others. Of course, that didn’t stop her from taking a peak at the other doors she and the girls pass. As she continued, she found a room completely underwater, a room made completely out of candy, a cave that she thought was empty until she heard the roar of a dragon warning her away, and another one that seemed like she was on top of a skyscraper with these weird, hairless, monkey like creatures in clothes walking below. She didn’t think she could ever get bored in this place!
As the group continued to walk down the different corridors, they finally got to the door they were looking for, Rainbow Dash waiting outside tapping her hoof vigorously.
“It’s about time!” she bellowed whipping right over to them. “What took you guys so long?”
“Oh, Rainbow Dash, we’re not exactly in a hurry.” Rarity scoffed.
“Yea. It’s not like ya had ta wait ferr us.” Applejack added, rolling her eyes. “Ya coulda just gone in.”
“I could of, but I wanted everypony to be here when it finally happens.” She responded, earning herself a chuckle from herself and Applejack.
“Now really, what is this all about?” Rarity questioned, getting irritated from being out of the loop.
“You’ll see.” Rainbow Dash gave one last giggle before she opened the door to the library.
Walking on in, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but let out one big ‘wow’ as she stared at all the books. It seemed like there were hundreds of bookshelves with thousands of books on them. There didn’t seem to be any stairs or a different level, it just looked like the walls themselves were bookshelves. And in the middle of the room was a lavender alicorn with straight dark purple hair and a single pink strand. Around her surrounded in a purple aura were dozens of books floating about. She seemed to be reading the titles and putting them back on the shelves in different places.
Books were flying on and off the shelves at incredible speeds all around her. She even had to duck out of the way with some of them. Of course she couldn’t dodge all of them and ended up pumping into somepony.
“Oh! Ah’m sorry ‘bout that.” Apple Bloom apologized.
“It’s alright, it’s pretty busy around here.” Said the voice she bumped into. When she looked up, she was surprised who she saw.
Both surprised to see each other, they engulfed each other in a tight hug; glad to see the other was alright. After the disappearing act, they were both secretly worried about what happened to the other. Releasing each other, they started asking questions.
“What happened ta ya?” Apple Bloom asked first.
“Discord tied me up and delivered me to Twilight with a sign saying she needed to teach me friendship better. What about you? What happened after I disappeared?” He asked back.
“Same thing. Only mine said ah needed ta be better disciplined.”
“Wait…what are you doing here anyway?” Spike inquired.
“Oh, ah’m stayn’ at Discord’s fer Hearth’s Warming.” She answered excitedly.
Looking at her like she just grew three heads, he couldn’t help but asked skeptically, “Why?”
“Oh, ah’m sure it’s just a publicity stunt. Ta make himself look good fer other ponies. There’s no way he would take me in willingly. Ah think it wuz Fluttershy’s idea anyway.” She explained. “But who cares why it happened. Ah’m gonna take advantage of this.”
“Good. Milk it as much as you can. He deserves it after the way he treated us.” He scoffed.
“Ya’ll know each other?” Applejack asked, coming up beside them.
“We ran into each other awhile back. We didn’t talk much, but we both had a run-in with Discord.”
“So you work wit’ a Princess!? That’s amazing!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
Spike’s chest puffed out. “That’s right. I’m her number one personal assistant. Although…” he hesitated, looking back at the frustrated Twilight as she pulled books out in her violet aura and some of them flying back on their own to different places on the bookshelves, “she’s a little bit distracted at the moment…” he grumbly finished.
“What exactly iz she doin?” Apple Bloom asked as she and Spike ducked out of the way as a flying book whipped over them.
Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash came up behind them, doing everything they could to not break down laughing while Rarity looked around in confusion.
“Discord here made this library fer the sole purpose of irritatin’ Twilight.” Apple Jack explained.
“Ah don’t git it..” Apple Bloom responded.
“Ooohhh I see.” Rarity put in, her face shifting from confusion to clarity. “Twilight is trying to organize the library but the books keep going back on the shelves in random places.” She explained, trying to keep her own snicker under control. Sadly, not all of them could hold it in.
Not lasting long at all, Rainbow Dash finally burst. Laughing so hard, she could no longer keep herself upright and went down on the floor to continue. Spreading to the rest, Apple Jack and Rarity finally let out their laughter, although it wasn’t as full blown as Rainbow Dash’s. Even Apple Bloom couldn’t help but snicker at the sight, but Spike wasn’t amused.
“It was funny at first, but now it’s getting ridiculous. Because of Twilight’s need to organize, she can’t stop trying to organize this place. She’s even tried a few spells to cancel out Discord’s magic, but they end of just attacking her every time she tries.” He sighed as he continued to watch Twilight fail to organize the books.
Apple Jack, seeming to have calmed down from the scene in front of her, walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Alright Sugarcube, ah think it’s about time ya gave up on this. Ah don’t think this library is gonna let you organize it.”
“Discord doesn’t even like to read!” Twilight grunted in frustration, still trying to organize the books. “He eats the paper for Celestia’s sake!”
“I think he only ate paper that one so he could irritate you Twilight.” Rainbow Dash commented, floating up beside them.
“Ah see you finished?” Apple Jack asked.
“For now.” Rainbow Dash answered seriously.
“Twilight,” Apple Jack started again, turning her attention back to the princess, “remember why we’re here in the first place? Ta check on uh certain filly Discord decided ta have fer Hearth’s Warming?”
With sudden realization, all the books in Twilight’s magic fell to the floor, only for them to return randomly to the bookshelves. Turning around, she looked to where Apple Bloom now stood. She couldn’t believe it! There was an actual princess right here in front of her! She started to shuffle nervously as Twilight grinned wide and walked over to her.
“I-it’s an honor t-ta meet ya, Y-yer Highness…” Apple Bloom stuttered as she bowed her head.
“Please, call me Twilight. There’s no need for formalities.” Twilight explained as she stopped in front of her. “Apple Bloom, right?”
Apple Bloom nodded in confirmation, still too nervous to speak.
“I’m friends with Fluttershy and Discord. Fluttershy wrote to me what was going on and I had to come and meet you. How has your stay been so far?”
“It’s been great!” she piped up, forgetting her earlier nervousness. “Ah got ta play soccer wit Rainbow Dash with a fully aired ball, Apple Jack made me a home cooked meal, I got clothes from Rarity, and the bed had a REAL mattress on it!”
“Oh! That’s…great…” Twilight responded, worry etched in her face. But nopony noticed as Apple Jack put in her two cents.
“And that’s not evn’ the best part. Apple Bloom here pulled ah fast one on Discord.”
Worry forgotten, Twilight’s eyes went wide and her wings flapped out. “She did what!?”
“Yea! Wit ah joke buzzer!” Apple Bloom answered excitedly.
“It was a lucky shot. I doubt she could do it again.” Rainbow Dash grumbled, still butt hurt that she played a prank on Discord before her.
“Wow, I’m impressed! Speaking of which…” Twilight started as she looked behind the group, “where is Discord and Fluttershy? I would think they would be doing the tour with you guys.”
“Discord got into trouble, so Fluttershy is keeping an eye on him while he does his work.” Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“Do I even want to know?” Twilight asked.
“Yes.” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.
“Well you can tell me in a second. Spike, you and Apple Bloom go on ahead and look at a few of Discord’s doors. We’ll catch up in a bit.”
Spike looked at Twilight in confusion but eventually just shrugged his shoulders.
“C’mon Apple Bloom. Discord has a room that brings the Ogres and Oubliettes game to life! It’s really cool!” Spike said excitedly, leading Apple Bloom out of the library.
“What are Ogres and Oubliettes?” Apple Bloom inquired.
“You’ve never heard of Ogres and Oubliettes!?” Spike asked, earning a head shake from Apple Bloom. “Oh Celestia, you’re missing out. Well, Ogres and Oubliettes takes place…” Spike stared to explain as they disappeared around the corner.
The girls turned to Twilight, seeing her earlier worried expression come back.
“Whatever is the matter, Twilight? You look a little worried.” Rarity inquired.
“A fully aired ball…a home cooked meal…a REAL MATTRESS? Doesn’t that sound a little strange to you?” Twilight asked.
“It sounds like simple things to me.” Rainbow Dash put in lazily.
“Well…yea. But she was saying it like it was unusual to have those things. Like those aren’t normal parts of her life.”
“Now that you mention it, dear, she was overly excited about such simple things.” Rarity added absentmindedly, rubbing her chin in thought.
“Are you sayn she ain’t bein treated right at the orphanage where she wuz at?” Apple Jack asked in bewilderment and anger.
“We can’t make assumptions. But I think I should check it out just to be sure. There’s no point raising the alarm without evidence to support it.” Twilight explained, promising herself to check out the orphanage before Apple Bloom gets sent back.
So….much…..whining…. Discord thought as he stared at what seemed like the thousandth letter. Actually it’s only the three hundred and fifty sixth letter I’ve read, but who’s counting?
Discord looked above the rim of his letter at the yellow pegasus watching him from the other side of the desk. When Fluttershy caught him staring, her eyes narrowed. Discord quickly went back to the letter in front of him. Apparently this farmer on the outskirts of Canterlot was having trouble with the soil. It’s not giving his plants enough nutrients to his vegetables and keeping them from growing healthy or even at all. He wanted to know if Discord could use his powers to make his soil healthy.
With a sigh in annoyance, Discord snapped his talon, granting the farmers wish. Nag nag nag, whine whine whine, that’s all he’s been reading since he’s started this little job of Celestia’s. And they were all such easy fixes that didn’t need his help at all. If the soil was bad, plant somewhere else or find better soil. If a pony didn’t like the noise the next door neighbor was making, tell’em to stop or get some headphones. If there is a tree in your yard that’s dropping too much debris in your pool then cut down the branches or better yet, cut the whole tree down! Most of these letters were simple do it yourselves problems from ponies who were too lazy to fix it themselves. Granted, he hated hard work more than anypony, but he had chaos magic; he didn’t have to work hard. There were a few that asked him to take revenge of some kind on somepony else, which he would have gladly done if little miss Element of Kindness wasn’t watching him. Sure, she can’t see what the paper said, but somehow she always knew when Discord got that kind of letter and gave him necessary warnings if he attempted to grant that pony’s request.
Making the letter disappear with another snap of his claw, Discord dared to look up again at his warden, only to see her eyes closed.
Discord continued to stare at her, waiting to see if she would wake up at all. When it seemed that she was fast asleep, Discord grinned. Look who got himself a little break.
Stretching his limbs above his antlers, Discord leaned back in his chair and put his legs up on the desk with him leaning his chair back; a sigh of relaxation leaving his body.
He might as well take it easy for a bit. Now that she’s not watching, he can just say yes to all the letters with the snap of his paw. Raising it to make it so, he froze when he heard Fluttershy shift in her seat. Afraid to wake her, he stayed frozen in place; making as little noise as possible. Settling in her new position on the chair, Fluttershy gave a sigh in content and continued to sleep.
Discord continued to watch her sleep, not seeming to be able to look away. Studying her face, he noticed the twitch of her ears every few minutes, the way her eyes underneath her eyelids moved as she dreamed, the way her soft mane shaped her face as she slept. She looked like an angel in her sleep and awake.
Fluttershy shifted in her sleep once again, finding a better position to sleep in. Paw still in snapping position, instead of making his letters complete, he conjured a light green love seat where Fluttershy slept along with a pillow underneath and a blanket covering her. Not being disturbed by the change in furniture, Fluttershy sighed in content in her new comfortable bedding.
Discord continued to watch Fluttershy sleep for a few more minutes before he sighed in defeat. Grabbing the next letter from the pile, he settled down and resigned to finishing his job the right way.
“So, which one was the rubber room?” Spike asked as they walked down the many hallways of Discord’s mansion. Wanting to find the room she first opened, Apple Bloom was left wandering aimlessly trying to find it, but as it turns out, there were too many doors and too many hallways. There was no way in Celestia they were going to find it.
“I don’t remember…maybe it’s that one?” She pointed to a random door that caught her eye first. Shrugging his shoulders, Spike went to open the door and was greeted by a bright light. Next was the smoldering heat that followed soon after, making them both take an involuntary step back. When they could finally open their eyes, they were met with a rocky terrain. As they took a step inside, Apple Bloom realized how warm the earth felt. Not enough to be hot and hurt her hooves, but enough to notice how abnormal it was. Looking around some more, she was greeted by nothing but rocks and lava…
Wait what?
She was on a volcano!?
She could distinctly see a huge mountain in front of her with molten hot lava pouring out slowly through the top. She could hardly believe it. She turned to Spike, wanting to know what she thought of it only to be greeted by what looked like a thoughtful look as he surveyed his new surroundings.
“Huh. Maybe I should visit Ember while I’m here…” he trailed off.
“You’ve been here before!?” Apple Bloom asked, completely caught off guard.
Seeming to forget she was there, Spike turned to her with an off guard look which turned to one of nonchalance. “This is the Land of the Dragons. Been here a few times before. My friend Ember is the Dragon Lord here. I guess since we’re here, we should say hi.” He finished happily.
“Is that Sparkle!?” a gruff voice interrupted before Apple Bloom could reply.
She followed the voice and was greeted by a tall red dragon with orange spikes that ended at the top of his wings. He looked over at them with a bewildered expression before it turned into a sneer as he started walking towards them. “You got a lot of nerve showing up here after that last stunt you pulled, Sparkle!”
Before she even realized what was happening, she was being shoved back through the door with a big ‘Nope!’ coming from Spike. The next thing she knew, the door was being shut right in her face. Spike held the door knob and was pulling on it like he had to make sure it stayed shut. Still wondering what happened, she stayed quiet as she stared at Spike while he stared expectantly at the door. When it seemed like it was going to stay shut, he let out a sigh of relief and let go of the door knob.
“Um…wanna tell me what that was…?” Apple Bloom asked, breaking the silence.
“Garble. Just some jerk I don’t feel like dealing with right now.” With a sigh of disappointment, he turned to Apple Bloom with a disappointed smile. “Guess I’ll have to introduce you to Ember some other time.” And with that, he started heading off down the hallway.
Apple Bloom continued to stare at the door for a few more seconds before she just shrugged her shoulders and followed after Spike, not concerned in the least with what happened and eager to explore other doors.
After a bit more wandering, Apple Bloom stopped and turned to Spike. “Alright, it’s your turn to pick.”
“Oh! So that’s what we’re doing?” he asked, eyebrow raised.
“Yea. Ah know ah’m not gonna find the rubber door unless it’s by chance. So let’s just see what’s behind the other ones. So, it’s yerr turn.”
Um…” he hesitate, head swinging around to look at his choices. Picking at random, he pointed to a sky blue door. “That one!” Nodding her head in confirmation, they both head to the door. Grasping the doorknob in his claw, Spike swung it open, like ripping off a bandaid. What lay in front of them was a huge expanse of balloons. They were doing nothing but floating up into the never ending sky. When she looked below, all she could see was the top of those balloons as they continued to travel up.
Spike and Apple Bloom just stared forward as they tried to make sense of what they were looking at. All Apple Bloom could come up with to say was just a confused, “Why?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Spike answered, “It’s Discord. I gave up trying to understand a good long while ago.” And with that, he closed the door.
As they continued to wander the halls in search of their next door, Spike decided to voice his concerns.
“Some of these are dangerous. Who knows what’s behind the other doors? Maybe we should stop…” Spike voiced.
“Awe, c’mon. Let’s just try one more door.” Apple Bloom begged, not wanting to end the adventure they were having and not wanting to do it alone.
With and eye-roll, Spike conceded and waved his arm in front of him, giving the okay to choose another door. Apple Bloom scanned her eyes down the side of the hallway as she looked at each door on ground level. Landing on a light blue door, Apple Bloom indicated to it with her head to Spike and they both headed towards it.
Steeling herself to whatever could be on the other side; Apple Bloom opened the door and was greeted with a slap of cold air. Taking a sharp breath at the sudden drop in temperature, Apple Bloom took a step forward to further take in her surroundings.
All she could see was white. Nothing but white snow spread before her like fresh linen. It was so white; she was almost blinded by the reflection it gave off from the sun as it disappeared beyond the horizon. She hesitantly took a step forward and looked at the expansive sheet of snow. She was used to the dirty snow of Ponyville mixed with dirt, grit, and the hoofprints of a bunch of other ponies throughout the day. I mean, there were things to be desired in used snow, snow angels, snowponies, and mountains of snowballs, but this was untouched and smooth…she’s never seen something so beautiful.
She wanted to run through it.
And she did.
With a loud ‘whoo’ she ran straight ahead, leaping through fresh untouched snow. The snow came all the way up to here knees, making it so she had no choice but to hop through it instead of walking. Looking back, she noticed that Spike was taking a nearby rock and placing it in-between the door and the door frame to keep in from closing all the way. When he was sure it was nice and secure, he joined in, screaming with joy and laughter as he jumped into the deep snow.
The sun was almost gone but Apple Bloom didn’t care. She’s never had the chance to go out and play fully into the snow. Mrs. Chrysalis would usually only give them half an hour to play and even then, there wasn’t usually enough snow to work with, or it would be too dirty to play with. But right now, there weren’t any limits. She could do what she wanted. And that’s exactly what she did.
Forming a snowball in her hoof, she ended up chucking it at an unsuspecting Spike, who was busy starting on building a snowdragon. Hitting its mark on the back of his head, Spike whipped around to find a whistling Apple Bloom who was walking away like nothing happened.
Well, if that’s how she wanted to play…
Grabbing a snowball of his own, he whipped it at her in retaliation and got a direct hit on her rump. With a slight ‘oomph’, Apple Bloom turned around and glared at Spike. They stood there, eyeing each other until all of a sudden; an all-out war broke out.
They both ended up getting some good shots in, but was sad to say that Spike was winning. Most of the snowballs that Apple Bloom chucked were instantly melted by Spikes dragon fire. But even so, Apple Bloom couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so hard and for so long. She didn’t even notice that they were no longer alone.
“Oh my word! Apple Bloom, darling, you’re going to catch yourself a cold if you continue to be out here without proper winter gear!”
All of sudden, Apple Bloom found herself warmer than she was a few moments ago, though she was having too much fun to even notice. Looking down she noticed that she was wrapped in a dark green scarf and snow boots. The resistance to her ear movement showed that she was now wearing a winter hat as well.
When she turned to the side where the door was stationed, she saw Twilight Sparkle, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all coming through the door with their own winter gear on. With a glow of her horn, Twilight also gave Spike some winter gear himself. A dark blue scarf with a matching hat.
“Who’s winning the fight?” Rainbow Dash asks as she lands beside them.
“Spike. But that’s because he keeps usin’ his fire and meltin’ mah snowballs.” Apple Bloom answers, with a playful glare at Spike. She wasn’t really that mad about it. She was having too much fun to care.
“Hey, gotta use whatever tools you have to win a war.” He shrugged. An equal teasing smile on his face.
“Well, you’re going to have to put it on hold. It’s getting dark in this dimension. You won’t be able to see anything for long.” Twilight informed, turning towards the setting sun.
Twilight was right of course, but Apple Bloom couldn’t help but feel the disappointment that settled in her chest. She was having so much fun; she didn’t want it to end at all.
Twilight looked at the disappointed filly and the equally disappointed frown on Spike. It was clear that neither of them wanted to stop, but it was getting dark. They wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway.
Bringing her hoof up to her chin, Twilight flipped through her brain to think of a way to keep them out a little longer. A grin formed on her face as she thought of the perfect spell.
With another glow of her horn, a lot brighter than her previous spell, she conjured up another spell that forced the ponies and dragon around her to shut their eyes. When the light behind her eye lids lessoned, Apple Bloom opened her eyes and was greeted by nothing but golden light. Balls of small golden lights surrounded the area. It covered the whole valley and lighted everything around them. She thought the view of the fresh untouched snow was something else, but this…
“This spell will only last about fifteen minutes. We’ll go after that.” Twilight informed with a soft grin.
Giving a whoop of joy, she tackled a shocked princess onto the snow, causing her to giggle along with her. Rarity couldn’t help but smile at their antics until she noticed a blob of snow that was next to Spike.
“Spike, what were you working on over there?” she asked.
Seeming to forget the project he started on, he turned to where her hoof was pointed and looked back at her. “Oh that? I was going to build a snowdragon. But then I got a little….distracted.”
“Oh! Well then let me help.” She offered as she started walking towards the blob.
“Really?”
“Of course. Anypony can build a snowpony. It takes a delicate touch to try to make a snowdragon.” Agreeing with her explanation, Spike joined her to finish his creation.
Not too far off was Apple Jack, walking around and admiring the view that Twilight created for them, weaving in and out of the trees until she was suddenly covered head to hoof in snow. Shaking it off the best she could, she looked up and found Rainbow Dash gliding around the trees as she glanced at Apple Jack. Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Apple Jack sneaked off and waited until Rainbow Dash was positioned under a certain branch. The moment she was under it, Apple Jack raised her hind legs and kicked the tree as hard as she could. Any snow that was hanging on the branches toppled toward Rainbow Dash and buried her under all that snow; Apple Jack being smart enough to dodge it all before it could land on her.
Popping out of all that snow, Rainbow Dash whipped her head around till she found Apple Jack and growled, “Oh, it is on!” and with that declaration of war, Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash picked up where Spike and Apple Bloom left off.
Letting the fit of giggling from toppling Twilight Sparkle wear off, Apple Bloom looked around at all of the ponies and dragon that occupied the area; Spike and Rarity putting the finishing touches on their completed snowdragon, Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack competing for the best snowball fighter, and Twilight Sparkle shaking herself off from their small wrestling match. A new smile formed onto Apple Blooms face; cheeks hurting from the never ending smiles that plagued her face today. The winter gear must have been enchanted, because she could have sworn she has never felt that warm in all of her life.
“You agreed that if I got all those stupid requests done the right way we could spend the day together.”
“I did say that.”
“So why is the orphan brat with us? OW!!!” He shrieked has he lifted himself out of hooves reach from anymore of Apple Bloom’s punches.
“Discord, be nice.” Fluttershy countered, not bothering to look back at the two creatures walking behind her.
“She hits me and you’re telling ME to be nice!? OW! KNOCK IT OFF!”
“Alright Apple Bloom, he’s had enough. No more hitting.” Fluttershy lightly scolded.
“ANYWAY,” Discord emphasized, floating back down to the ground, “why is the brat with us?”
“Can you please stop referring to me as “the brat”? Apple Bloom added, putting her own frustration to the mix.
Once again ignoring the banter behind her, Fluttershy returned to Discord. “You’re right, you finished your work the right way and I really appreciate it. But we can’t just leave Apple Bloom by herself. And besides, you didn’t actually do your work until I had to sit down in front of you and watch you do it. So, I think this is a good compromise, don’t you?” she looked back at Discord, smiling a not so innocent smile.
He couldn’t help but grimace, finding the truth in those words (as much as he really doesn’t want to). He couldn’t help but add a small petty, ‘It wasn’t part of the agreement…’
Fluttershy decided to ignore it for now, turning to Apple Bloom. “What would you like to do today?” she asked.
Before she could respond, Discord interrupted.
“Ah ah ah. Today is still MY day. You may be coming along but part of the deal I made with Fluttershy was “I” get to decide what to do.” He huffed, crossing his arms, clearly not budging on this.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Discords comment. “Wasn’t the deal to spend the day together? It wasn’t agreed that we would only do what YOU would like.”
Discord raised his hand in objection, only to drop in. He snapped his fingers and a small static screen appeared in front of them. Taking a remote out of nowhere, he pressed the rewind button; this morning and the previous day going in reverse. After a few seconds he pressed play on a scene with him and Fluttershy face to face, Apple Bloom watching from the corner of the room. While Fluttershy didn’t look fazed by Discord bringing up a recording of their actions, Apple Bloom sure as heck didn’t.
“Alright, Flutterbuddy. I’ve decided what I wanted to tomorrow.”
“Y-yes?”
“Tomorrow I want to spend the whole day together.”
Discord couldn’t help but grunt at the screen. He summoned a small basket of tomatoes and started chucking them at the screen, only for the tomatoes to go through the screen and hit the past Discord in the face; past Fluttershy and Apple Bloom looking up in surprise.
“Hey! What’s the big idea!? Knock it off!” Past Discord yelled through the screen at present Discord.
“Be quiet! I’m only in this position because of you!” Present Discord yelled as he continued to throw tomatoes through the screen. At some point the past Discord ended up summoning his own tomato ammo and started chucking them at present Discord, starting a full on tomato war.
Sometime during the exchange, Fluttershy had proceeded to grab the remote that Discord discarded and pressed the power button, making the screen disappear along with past Discord.
“I wasn’t done!” Discord pouted.
“Yes you are.” Continuing like nothing happened, Fluttershy grabbed a flyer from under her wing and showed it to Discord. “Besides, I already figure out something we could do together!” Fluttershy smiled, face a little shy as she handed the flyer to Discord, hoping he would like the idea.
Noticing Fluttershy fidget as she handed him the paper, he took the flyer from her wing and read it over, eyes going wide as he continued to read.
“Ogres & Oubliettes LARP-ing at Rainbow Falls?” Discord questions, peaking over the paper at Fluttershy who was fidgeting more under Discords questioning gaze.
Apple Bloom came back up to the small group, momentarily put off to the side to avoid any wayward tomatoes. “What’s Ogres & Oubliettes?”
Discords eyes get wide again as he looked at Apple Bloom. “You’ve never heard of Ogres & Oubliettes!?”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but look at Discord quizzically. “Discord, you only found out about that game only a few moons ago.”
“That’s hardly the point, Fluttershy. The point is, I’ve heard of it.” Discord gave factually, turning back to Apple Bloom. “Ogres & Oubliettes is an amazing adventure game where you can be anything and anypony you want and get to kick some squid tentacle butts!” In a snap, he was in a completely different outfit, along with a new hair style. He had a long actively flowing blonde mane and bushier eyebrows; his clothes consisted of a forest green tunic with bows and arrows strapped to his back. Apple Bloom was too surprised by the transformation too even make fun of it.
“And apparently they are having a week long Ogres & Oubliettes live action roleplaying being hosted at Rainbow Falls! But-“he stopped his explanation and turned back to Fluttershy. “You’ve never really seemed interested in something like this.”
“I’ve never played it before, so I really can’t know if I like it or not. But I also know you love that game, Discord. I thought it would be something fun to do together.” She explained, adding a small smile accompanied by a blush.
Discord couldn’t help be giddy inside with the thought that Fluttershy was thinking about him. He smiled in response. “Then let’s be on our way, shall we?” he raised his fingers to snap them there.
But Fluttershy stopped him with a hoof on his arm, making Discord stop what he was doing. She turned to Apple Bloom.
“Apple Bloom, would this be something you’d be interested in trying. The event is going on for a week, so if you’re not interested and want to do something else, that’s okay. Discord and I can go another time.” She explained gently. She didn’t want Apple Bloom to feel left out. Besides, this was HER Christmas get a way. Apple Bloom should enjoy herself as much as she can. She could feel Discord about to disagree with her, but a gentle squeeze of her hoof on his arm kept him silent.
Apple Bloom rubbed her chin in thought. She’s honestly never heard of this game, or even played anything like it. She wasn’t sure if it was something she’d be interested, but the thought of being anything or anypony she wants appealed to her more than anything.
“Let’s do it!” She agreed happily.
Finally able to get going, Discord didn’t hesitate to snap his fingers, bring them straight into the middle of the event.
Apple Bloom looked around in awe at all the stands and tents surrounding them; all selling their own specialty goods; weapons, food, knick knacks, and even an alchemy tent. In the distance she could see ponies and other creatures fighting each other with weapons. At first she was surprised, but when she noticed that they weren’t in any danger, she took another look and realized they were fighting fake enemies with fake weapons. And the most notable thing was everyone was dressed up. She was surrounded by people dressed in different style clothing befitting their own avatars and matched the setting for the game. She couldn’t help but fidget. She was not dressed for the occasion.
“It’s not right.”
Fluttershy and Apple Bloom looked at Discord, who was eyeing the setting with a critical gaze.
“What do you mean, Discord?” Fluttershy asked, confused. “I thought you would be more excited?”
“But look at all these ponies! Fake potions!? Fake weapons!? Fake fighting!? None of this is believable!” he exclaimed, deflating a bit in disappointment.
Apple Bloom was confused. “Uhm….wuzn’t it all fake the whole time…?”
Discord didn’t reply. Instead he perked up, eyes filling with a realization, followed by a mischievous grin. “It doesn’t have to be.” He answers slowly. Hopeful expectant eyes turned to Fluttershy. Nothing but confusion filled Fluttershy’s face, until it slowly sinked in what Discord was asking.
“Oh no, Discord. You tried this before and it ended badly. Last time you did this you sent three ponies to the hospital.” She chastised.
“C’mon Flutterbuddy! I learned from last time. I promise that this time no pony with get hurt. This way everypony will leave today experiencing the best LARP-ing experience of their lives!” he pouted, getting on his knees in front of Fluttershy. “Please.”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but cave at the ‘please’. Discord never says please. Only when it’s something he really, really, REALLY wants. She heaved a sigh. “If anypony gets hurt Discord, I swear to Celestia…”
“Don’t worry! I got this.” he bounded up and started cracking his fingers…..literally. Before shaking them to put them back to normal.
Apple Bloom was completely lost. “Fluttershy, whutz goin on?”
All Fluttershy did was give her a reassuring smile. Despite her warnings to Discord, Apple Bloom could see an excited glint in Fluttershy’s eyes that suggested she was also excited for what Discord was about to do. Fluttershy turned back to Discord.
“At least give every pony some warning, please.”
He gave her a dead stare. “Well that’s not fun.”
Fluttershy gave a dead stare of her own.
Sighing in resignation, Discord summoned a blow horn. Coughing a few times to clear his throat, he proceeded to talk into the blow horn.
“Every pony and creature at Rainbow Falls, may I please have your attention?”
Eveypony turned around at Discords loud voice, waiting for him to finish addressing them and seeing what he wanted.
A giddy grin filled his face as he lifted his hand, waiting to snap.
“Things are about to get real.”
And with a snap of his fingers, they were enveloped in a white light.
