Chapter 3: This is the Problem and the Problem is this!
Chapter Three is here everypony and we have lift-off! The really takes off here and I'm excited to continue sharing The Silver Lining with everypony! Chapter Three picks up right where Chapter Two left off, with a certain lover of Chaos here to crash the birthday party of out favorite Princess of Friendship!
Special shout-out this week to ctran03931 for the review AND Follow! I hope you continue to read and enjoy The Silver Lining! Yes, Steve's adventures have only JUST begun, with so much more to see and experience- he's totally going to need a hoof or two xD
Discord took a few steps into Twilight's home and smiled down at all of the ponies inside. Everypony at the party was staring up at Discord with a look of shocked horror on their faces except for the Mane Six, who were glaring at him. Discord looked around and realized that the party had stopped.
He smiled smugly and took off his sunglasses. "Oh come now everypony! Don't just stop the partying because I'm here. I'm just here to celebrate the birthday of my beloved friend Twilight Sparkle!"
"Wait just a minute!" Pinkie Pie shouted, leaping off of Cheese Sandwich's head and stepping up to confront Discord. "YOU are not on the guests list! Which means you're here uninvited, which means you can't be at one of my superduperpartiesbecauseyou'renotontheguestslist!"
Discord looked a little shocked, then smiled smugly again and picked Pinkie Pie up, coddled her in his arms. Despite her struggling, Discord held her in his arms and began to pet her like a cat.
"Oh Pinkie Pie," he began, "Surely you don't think I would just show up to a party uninvited, bring tons and tons of HILARIOUS chaos, and then just leave the giant mess for Princess Twilight Sparkle to clean up, do you?" He held Pinkie in from of his face and batted his eyelashes at her.
Suddenly Pinkie's body became enveloped in a pinkish-red as she was preyed away from Discord's grip by Twilight's magic. Twilight walked over to Discord, still glaring at him, and set Pinkie Pie down next to her. Discord smiled at Twilight in his usual smug way, then snapped his fingers and a rocking chair appeared behind him as he sat down in it. He continued smiling at Twilight.
"Actually Discord," Twilight said to the draconequus angrily, "I think that's exactly what you planned on doing! Seeing as how you tried so very hard to ruin me and Cadence's visit. That's not even mentioning all the other troubles you give us every time you show up!"
Rainbow Dash zoomed over next to Twilight. "Yeah!" she chimed in. "Not to mention all of Equestria was a wasteland because YOU helped Tirek take all of our magic!"
Twilight used her magic to open her door, and, also using her magic, made the chair Discord was sitting on disappear. "Now please leave." Twilight said sternly, still glaring at Discord. Discord frowned, then he crossed his arms and pouted. Twilight felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Fluttershy smiling shyly at her.
Twilight raised an eyebrow as Fluttershy began to speak, "Umm, actually Twilight, umm, Discord can't just leave because umm, well, I invited him here." She smiled shyly at Twilight, who returned her smile with a look of shock and anger.
"You did WHAT!?" Twilight cried out. She turned back to Discord, who was about to open another bag of Plunder Seeds, with an evil smile on his face, but when he saw Twilight staring over at him, he quickly put the seeds away and started eating a plate of Macaroni and Cheese that he had stolen from the pony next to him, who was glaring up at him.
"Fluttershy," Twilight said in an irritated voice, "what in all of Equestria were you thinking when you decided to invite Discord! Have you forgotten everything he's done to us?"
Fluttershy cowered a bit at the angry Twilight, then she flapped her wings and flew over to Discord, who was balancing two or three full plates of macaroni and cheese on a brown pony, immobilized by his magic. Once Discord saw that the attention was back on him, he snapped his fingers, freeing the pony. He leaned against a bookcase, sipping a glass of chocolate milk. Fluttershy hovered next to Discord and gave him a hug. The sudden hug surprised Discord, but he returned her hug with a half-hug of his own, shooting Twilight a smug expression.
Fluttershy turned to Twilight and said, "Discord is our friend. And as a true friend he deserves to be invited to all parties, especially an important one like your birthday!"
Twilight rubbed her forehead with her hoof, opened her mouth to rebuttal, but was interrupted by Princess Celestia saying, "Fluttershy's right, Twilight."
Twilight's look of anger turned suddenly to shock as she turned around to see the majestic princess behind her. "But Princess Celest-"
"Twilight," Celestia interrupted, "Discord is indeed your friend, as well as the friend of Fluttershy. As a princess, and the Princess of Friendship, it is your responsibility to show the citizens of Ponyville true examples of what friendship is. I am rather disappointed in how you have held grudges for Discord due to his past mistakes. You, being the Princess of Friendship should practice forgiveness when forgiveness is needed." Twilight frowned and looked down, slightly embarrassed to have disappointed the princess.
Out of nowhere, Discord appeared next to her and put his arm around her. "Oh Twilight Sparkle, I accept your apology."
"But I didn't even apolo-"
Discord pinched her lips shut and continued, "But you should know that I am." He cleared his throat and clapped his hands. A present appeared in front of him, and he handed it to Twilight. "Reformed!" The present unwrapped itself to reveal a framed picture of Discord and Twilight happily skipping in a field of flowers. Twilight held the picture in her hooves, still upset about Princess Celestia having been so disappointed in her.
"Now hold on just a second!" Rainbow Dash shouted and zoomed over to face Discord. Rainbow dash balled up her hoof and waved it at Discord threateningly. "I don't trust you one bit, Discord! If you do anything to ruin Twilight's birthday, you'll be answering to ME!" Discord's face looked a tad hurt, but then he smiled at Rainbow Dash.
Twilight sighed and set down the picture Discord had given her, then looked up at Rainbow Dash. "It's okay Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped as Discord's grin grew.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted in disbelief, "Are you crazy? This is DISCORD we're talking about here!" Twilight held up her hoof, signaling Rainbow Dash to silence herself.
Twilight turned to Discord and swallowed hard, saying, "Discord, welcome to the party. You are welcome to stay as long as you would like."
Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead with her hoof as Discord jumped into the air. "Hooray!" Discord shouted and began dancing around happily. He clapped his hands twice and four empty glasses appeared on a table in front of him. Discord waved his hand over the glasses and they were instantly filled with chocolate milk. Discord smiled and then snapped his fingers again. The glasses of chocolate milk suddenly grew arms and legs, turned to one another and shook hands, and then began tap dancing across the table.
Upon hearing Twilight's decree, the rest of the ponies continued their socializing, partying, and many more games of pin the tail o0n the pony continued to commence. Shining Armor and Cadence were dancing happily together in a group of ponies that consisted of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich. Everypony seemed to be having a grand time; even Discord was dancing with the party crowd and his chocolate milk dancing troupe. Everypony was enjoying themselves, except the birthday mare: Twilight. Twilight sat angrily at a table sipping more cider and glaring at Discord.
Discord just doesn't show up to a party for any reason other than to cause trouble and Twilight knew it was a matter of time before he started that trouble. Spike, who had spent most of the party following Rarity, walked over to the table Twilight was sitting at and sat down next to her.
"What's going on Twi? Why aren't you up dancing and having a good time like everypony else?" Spike asked, though he suspected he knew the reason why.
Twilight looked more annoyed than ever.
"Because," she started hotly, "everything was going great until Discord showed up, probably scheming to ruin some part of this party and cause more trouble with me and Cadence, and Princess Celestia, and all of my other friends! Not to mention that he made me look totally rude and inconsiderate in front of Princess Celestia!"
Spike chucked at the angry Twilight. "Twilight," he began, "Discord is just one pony, errr draconequus, here at the party. You should be focusing more on the people who came here just for you and having a good time with them! Don't let Discord get to you. This is YOUR special day!" He smiled at Twilight and her face softened and she smiled back. She reached over and gave Spike a huge hug.
"Thanks Spike," she said happily and the two held each other for a few more moments. They soon let go and Twilight stood up. "You know what Spike? I'm just going to have some fun for the rest of the night and not worry about anything or anypony else!"
Spike smiled and put his party hat back on. "That's the spirit Twilight!"
Twilight smiled and headed towards the dancing group with her head held high and with a happy look on her face. "Besides," she said to Spike as they approached their group of friends, "If Discord is here, at least that means that there's nothing else in all of Equestria that could wrong tonight!"
Just then, the door to Twilight's home swung open with a huge boom that shook the house, and every pony inside stopped what they were doing and stared at the dark figure at the door. The figure was a somewhat larger pony, and was extremely dark blue, with a dark blue mane that matched the night sky. Indeed, Princess Luna stood in the doorway of Twilight's home. Every pony inside stared at Luna in shock, not sure why she had shown up, and why her entrance was so sudden and unannounced. Even Discord stopped and his troupe of chocolate milk sat down and stared up at Luna with their faceless selves. Princess Luna bowed to the royalty that was at the party before speaking in her usual dark, mysterious tone.
"Sister, Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight, and I must leave this party immediately and go to the Crystal Empire. There's an emergency that must be attended to."
Celestia stood up and faced her sister, their eyes met and Celestia knew Luna was very concerned, but Celestia knew that this party was important to Twilight and her friends, and didn't want to leave earlier than she had to. "Sister," she replied to Luna, "is that an absolute emergency, or—"
Luna stomped her hoof down and looked at her sister boldly. She then paused, lowering her head a tad as her face softened, saying three simple words:
"It's the mirror."
Celestia's eyes widened and she stood up immediately. Celestia turned to Cadence and Twilight, a much more serious look now on her face. "Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight," she said boldly, trying to hide the fear in her shaking voice. "You must come with Princess Luna and myself immediately."
Cadence and Twilight looked at one another, confused and slightly afraid looks on their faces. Celestia began walking forward to leave the party, then stopped and turned to Shining Armor.
"Shining Armor, you are in charge of escorting all guests out of Princess Twilight's house. Afterwards, you must come quickly back to the Crystal Empire with the rest of Twilight's friends. Do you understand?" Shining Armor was very confused but stood up and nodded at the mighty princess. Celestia and Luna began to exit the house, Cadence following behind with her head down and a frown on her face. Twilight was still stunned and a bit afraid. She had never seen Princess Celestia so worried, and she knew something serious was going on, because Celestia would never leave a party in Twilight's honor.
Applejack came over to Twilight and looked her worriedly. "Twi, is everythin' okay?" She asked softly. Twilight looked down and frowned, very sad that her party came to an end, and afraid of what might be happening in The Crystal Empire.
Discord perked up from the beach chair he had been sitting on this whole time. He lowered his sunglasses a tad and listened intently on what Twilight was about to say.
"I don't know Applejack. I've never seen Princess Celestia so upset or worried before…" Twilight walked over to Pinkie Pie, who was sitting down with a very sad look on her face.
"Pinkie Pie…" she said towards the party pony. "I'm sorry but I must go now. Apparently Equestria needs me for the millionth time," she tried to joke, but she could only laugh weakly to her own words.
Pinkie looked up at Twilight. "But…but this was the bestest most super party ever…" her usually loud and cheerful voice was saddened and dull.
Twilight gave a small, saddened smile. "Yes, it sure was. I don't know what Princess Celestia needs me for, but I need to go to the Crystal Empire." Upon hearing this, Pinkie's frown grew even larger, even Cheese Sandwich frowned at this, saddened to see the party end so abruptly.
"But we can continue this party when I come back, I promise I'll be back as soon as I can!" Twilight said as she tried to cheer everypony up a bit. She wasn't sure she could keep that promise though. This emergency could take a while to resolve.
Pinkie perked back up and hugged Twilight tightly. "Okie dokie! I can't wait til you come back though! We're going to continue the mostsuperdupermostawesomeestpartyever!"
Twilight smiled at Pinkie's happy nature now and was about to turn to the rest of her friends when Celestia's voice rang into the room, "Princess Twilight! I need you to come with me at once!"
Twilight flinched a bit at the Princess' frustrated voice. She then turned around and replied to Celestia, "Yes princess, I'm coming." Twilight gave her friends one last saddened, worried look, and they all returned her look with a sad and worried ones of their own. Twilight trotted out of her home and regrouped with the three other princesses.
Luna nodded as Twilight rejoined the princesses, acknowledging her presence in the group, and then spoke, "There is something very wrong with the mirror we keep stored in the Crystal Empire." Twilight's eyes widened only slightly, but was just enough for Luna to notice. "Yes, Princess Twilight, the same one that you used to travel to the other dimension to retrieve your Element of Harmony."
"Sister, is it Sunset Shimmer? Has she come back?" Celestia asked anxiously.
"No my sister," Luna shook her head, "Sunset Shimmer is a pony I can handle. She does not threaten our kingdom." Twilight couldn't tell if Celestia was relieved or disappointed at this news. "However," Luna began, "Somepony has found his or her way into Equestria. And I know not where they came from, why they are here, or how they found another portal to Equestria."
All three princesses listened intently. Luna turned to Celestia and said, "Sister, I need you to use your magic to teleport us to the Chrystal Empire, as I used much of mine getting here myself."
Princess Celestia nodded silently, and her horn began to grow gold. Twilight had so many questions and so many things to ask Celestia, but knew now was not the time. All four ponies started to glow gold and a tad blue from Luna's magic. Within seconds, all of them vanished from sight.
Back inside Twilight's house, Shining Armor had instructed every pony, minus the remaining members of the Mane Six, to exit Twilight's house and to go home. Every pony inside lined up and began leaving Twilight's house, grumbling about how much fun they were having and why they had to leave so soon. As Cheese Sandwich left, every pony had left the party except Shining Armor, the remaining Mane Six, and Discord. The remaining Mane Six gathered and looked at one another, half-confused and half-scared. Shining Armor had just finished escorting the last pony out of Twilight home as the Six began to talk amongst themselves.
"What'd ya reckon was so urgent that Princess Celestia just had to take Twilight away and cancel the rest of the party?" Applejack asked the group. Everyone looked at one another for answers.
"I don't know dear," Rarity replied, "but it must be bad. I know Princess Luna is classier than to just barge into a party so rudely and take Twilight away!"
Fluttershy added her two cents by saying, "I agree… I don't know what caused Princess Celestia to be so upset, but it must be really, really bad..."
"LIKE A DRAGON!?" Pinkie Pie blurted out and hid behind Applejack, shaking in terror.
"Actually," Rainbow Dash said, her eyes narrowing in on Discord, "I think I know who might know something about all of this." Quick as a flash, she zoomed over to face Discord, who was relaxing in a hammock he made himself and sipping on some punch.
"Talk Discord! I know you know something about why Princess Luna came and took Twilight and Cadence and Celestia!" Discord set down his cup of punch and snapped his fingers, to which the cup then grew arms and legs, took out a briefcase and a top hat, tipped its hat to Discord, and walked out of the house. Discord yawned and stretched, causing a few books on a nearby shelf to applaud him, and patted Rainbow Dash on the head.
"Oh Rainbow Dash, are you always the one who accuses innocent friends of such terrible things?" Discord gave Rainbow Dash the most innocent look he could possibly muster, which was only met by Rainbow Dash glaring at him angrily. "How could I, The Reformed Discord," Discord got out of his hammock and took out a dozen roses, which he handed to Rainbow Dash, "have anything to do with anything that 'Princess' Twilight Sparkle was needed for? I was here the whole time!"
Discord held out his arm, revealing a watch that stated in print: Here the whole time.
Fluttershy flew over to rainbow Dash and hovered in between her and Discord. "Discord's right Rainbow Dash, he was here the whole time and did nothing but enjoy the party." Rainbow Dash's face grew even angrier as she flapped her wings out of frustration.
"Fluttershy! When are you going to stop being such a gullible pony! Discord isn't reformed! He never was and never will be!" At this point, Rainbow Dash was practically yelling at Fluttershy, flying above her slightly and shouting down to her intimidatingly. "Everywhere he goes he just wants to start trouble! I know he's behind all of this! He just has to be! Everything was going so well until he showed up!"
Applejack was about to say something when Shining Armor stepped forward and faced Discord. "Discord," he started, to which Discord was suddenly standing up straight as an arrow, wearing an army uniform and saluting Shining Armor. "Whether you're behind this or not, it's impossible to tell." Discord's face remained stern, holding his salute and nodded at Shining Armor. Shining Armor turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, we will deal with Discord later. Right now, Twilight needs you all there for her. We need to get to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible. By now I'm sure Luna has already sent for a chariot for all of us."
Rainbow dash landed on the ground, still glaring at Discord. Discord saw this and winked at Rainbow Dash slyly before returning to his army-stance. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth but remained silent per Shining Armor's request. Shining Armor turned back to Discord and stated, "I'm going to need to ask you to leave. We need to go to The Crystal Empire, and Twilight's house must be vacant so Spike can clean the mess from the party." Discord's serious look remained as he saluted Shining Armor and then smiled at the Mane Six.
"Oh alright, I'll go on home now and let you all deal with whatever it is that Princess Celestia is all worked up about. Oh Fluttershy, would you be a dear and write me as to how everything goes?" Fluttershy nodded and smiled at Discord as Rainbow Dash continued to glare at him. "Splendid!" Discord bellowed happily, then snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving behind four very confused and lost dancing glasses of chocolate milk. Everypony waited a bit before they all let out a sigh of relief that they didn't know they were holding in. Discord was exhausting to be around.
Shining Armor looked much more relieved to see Discord gone. "Alright ladies, let's get going. The sooner we get to the Crystal Empire, the sooner we can figure out what's going on, and the sooner we can help in any way we can." The mares all nodded and followed Shining Armor outside where indeed two chariots for them to take to the Crystal Empire. All six of the ponies got into the chariots, and began heading towards the Crystal Empire.
Pinkie Pie turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I have a feeling that whatever is going on is going to be really, REALLY scary…"
Applejack leaned over and put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "It'll be alright Sugarcube. We've been through the thick and the thin before and always came out on top! This time'll be no different!"
Unexpectedly, Applejack felt a shiver course through her body, as if someone had just run her through a very quick ice bath. Applejack sensed something that she had never sensed before. Something terrible was among them, though she could not see it; something evil, something extremely dangerous.
She didn't know exactly what it was but what she did know was that she was suddenly very doubtful of her last statement.