Keep Calm and Flutter On. The Rewrite!
A/N: Hello, world and welcome back to MLP! Yup, this is a new rewrite of one of my stories. Onward!
Disclaimer: The following is a rewrite of Dede42's original version of "Keep Calm and Flutter On". Why is this being rewritten? Well, for those who don't know this yet, the original "Keep Calm and Flutter On" was okay, but unfortunately, it suffered a LOT of problems after the first chapter. At first, I was promised there would be more changes to the story that would fit more to my liking, but once the next few chapters were posted, I was pretty disappointed with what I got. Discord still gets unfair treatment from everypony once he's set free, Sunrise Blossom acts no different from the rest of them despite the various disclaimers that claim she's "pretending", nothing else funny or different happens like I was promised, Timon and Pumbaa are completely absent throughout the rest of the whole thing, and to add insult to injury, this was actually written WAY before our other AUs where Dr. Hooves and Derpy know about Discord and how Sunrise, Timon and Pumbaa befriended him, so that means they're behaviour towards Discord is just as bad as everyone else's! How bad exactly? Bad enough to have the Doc actually AGREE with Rainbow Dash when she mentions something about a backup plan! That's how bad it was! Now, Dede42 did eventually try to fix some of the problems starting from Chapter 6 and onwards, but did that REALLY make up for all the disappointment in those previous chapters? Not even a little bit. So, here's a version of this story that'll hopefully fix all those problems and try to be as funnier and more tolerable as possible. Please remember that like all our other projects, this is just written for fun and is not meant to be taken too seriously. Remember to keep all reviews positive as again, constructive criticism sadly isn't for everyone. And remember, if you don't like what we write, that's perfectly fine, but don't waste your time getting angry about it in the review page. Seriously, I can't stress that last rule enough no matter how many times it was said before in the past. Again, we don't own anything from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa. Read, review (again, nice reviews only if you please) and enjoy!
Keep Calm and Flutter On (AU): Chapter 1: Prologue/It's Time!
It was a bright sunny day in Ponyville and over at the Apothecary, Sunrise Blossom was in the back room, working on some firework potions for some clients, who happen to be Dr. Hooves and Derpy Hooves and they were waiting out front, when she sensed a magical buildup going on upstairs. Putting down the ingredients that she was about to use, she left the room to investigate.
Dr. Hooves: Sunrise, is the potions ready?
Sunrise Blossom: (shakes her head) Uh, no, there's something I need to check up on upstairs. I'll get the potions ready soon.
Dr. Hooves: Oh, of course.
Derpy: Right!
Sunrise Blossom nods and heads up the stairs to check out the magical buildup.
Sunrise Blossom searched the upstairs rooms until she found the source in her own bedroom. "Huh?" She searched the room until she saw that a small box was glowing, and when she opened it with her own magic, she found a glowing paper inside. "Oh my…" She quickly took the paper out and read the contents.
Sunrise Blossom,
Snowflake here to inform you that I just learned that Princess Celestia is going to come to Ponyville so that you, Twilight Sparkle, and your friends can use the Elements of Harmony to release Discord from his stone prison. Apparently, somepony has been dropping hints by way of unsigned letters that his magic can be used for good, if he can be reformed.
I don't know who could convince the Princess that someone that evil can be reformed to use his chaotic magic for good instead of evil, but this particular pony, whoever that is, convinced her that this is possible. I just wanted to give you a heads up, and whether you decide this is a good thing or a bad thing, I'll leave that up to you.
Your friend,
Snowflake.
Sunrise Blossom reread the letter before storing it away. She knew it was time to get Discord back to the castle, but before she went, she hurried back downstairs first.
Dr. Hooves and Derpy both looked up when Sunrise Blossom hurried back down the stairs.
"Is everything ok, Sunrise?" he inquired.
"What's up, Sunny?" Derpy asked.
Sunrise Blossom took a breath to calm herself and she explained to them that her plan to convince everypony that Discord can be reformed is moving forward, that Princess Celestia is going to bring the Discord statue to Ponyville to have him freed, and she's heading to the jungle to retrieve Discord and get him back into statute mode so that no pony would know that he'd been freed this whole time.
"Hmm, yes," said Dr. Hooves, "I recall you telling me this before. I do hope that your plan will work."
"Of course it'll work!" Derpy exclaimed, grinning. "Discord has been behaving with Timon and Pumbaa! He'll prove to everypony that he's a great guy!"
Sunrise Blossom grinned. "Thanks, Derpy. Gotta go! Catch up with you all at the meeting place!" And she ran back up the stairs.
Sunrise Blossom ran back up to her bedroom. 'It's time,' she thought, going to her jewelry box to retrieve a certain amulet. 'It's finally time, and I need to let a certain spirit of chaos know right away.' She magically put the amulet around her neck and concentrated on it.
Moments later, there was a flash of light, and the orange unicorn disappeared.
In a certain jungle of Africa, there was a flash of light and Sunrise Blossom appeared in a clearing. Taking a moment to get her bearings, she then looked around for three certain friends, not finding any sign of them.
"Timon? Pumbaa? Discord?" the orange unicorn called out as she began searching for the trio and it wasn't long before she reached the area where the virtual safari vehicles were kept, and she saw that the boat was missing. "Uh oh."
Just then, there was a rumbling noise that was growing louder rather quickly, and Sunrise Blossom immediately yelped and put up a magical shield as a flood of water came out of the river, swirling around her for several seconds before retreating and leaving behind the boat with the stunned and limp forms of Timon and Pumbaa in it.
Dropping the shield, Sunrise Blossom hurried over to the boat and magically removed her friends, helping them pull themselves back together. "Guys! What were you doing on the virtual boat ride?"
"Testing it out," Timon answered while hitting the side of his head to get the water out of his ears. "Discord said he could fix the rides… I guess even his magic can't remove the glitches."
"I could've told you that, Timon," Pumbaa grumbled while snorting to get the water out of his nose.
"Speaking of Discord, where is he?" the orange unicorn asked, looking around for the chaotic creature. "I got some news for him."
With a loud cracking noise that made Sunrise Blossom, Timon, and Pumbaa all jump and yelp, Discord appeared behind them. "Someone say my name?"
"Ack! What're you trying to do?!" Timon demanded from where he was hiding inside the orange unicorn's mane. "Give us all heart attacks? What'd I tell you about suddenly popping up like that?"
"Sorry, I was in the middle of fixing us all lunch when I heard Sunny Bunny here ask for me," Discord responded, grabbing her and gave her noogie while Timon dropped to the ground. "You've got some news for me, sweetie?" he asked, putting her back on the ground.
Sunrise Blossom nodded while magically fixing her mane. "I do," she confirmed. "Remember how I said I would be sending letters to Princess Celestia about how your magic can be used for good and you can be reformed without her knowing that it's me?" And when all three nodded, she continued. "Well, my friend Snowflake just sent word to me that the Princess is going to have Twilight and the others free you with the Elements of Harmony in order to start you on the path to be reformed."
"Oh how marvelously!" Discord exclaimed, using his magic to set off fireworks in the sky and then he realized something, and the fireworks stopped. "Oh dear. But that means that Celestia is going to be bringing me to Ponyville in order for that to happen, and I'm no longer a statue!"
"I know, which is why we need to get you back to Canterlot to get you back in your statue state so that Celestia won't know the difference," the orange unicorn agreed. "And both you and I are going to have to pretend that you haven't been reformed yet, and that I won't be happy with having to release you," she added. "Basically, you and I are going to be putting on the performance of the year to pull this off without anypony figuring out the truth."
Both Timon and Pumbaa were disappointed to hear that Discord would be leaving them. "Aw, no fair."
"Oh, don't worry you two," said Discord, scooping all three into his arms to hug them. "After I do the whole working on being reformed thingy, I'll be able to visit whenever I want. Right, Sunny Bunny?"
"Absolutely," Sunrise Blossom agreed. "So, we better get going."
The spirit of chaos nodded, put them down, magically produced two plates filled with bugs for Timon and Pumbaa, and then snapped his fingers so that they were off back to Canterlot to make the switch.
Pumbaa was about to eat the bugs, but stopped when he saw Timon was frowning. "What is it, Timon? Not Hungry?"
Timon shook his head. "No, I'm just worried about Sunrise Blossom's plan not working. I think we should go after them to make sure everything works out."
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Timon," said Pumbaa.
"Don't be silly, Pumbaa," said Timon, getting out their amulets, "it's a great idea. Let's go!" He and Pumbaa, quickly ate the bugs on the plates, and then used the amulets to teleport away.
A/N: Woo! I've updated and Happy New Year! Hugs for days! Bye for now! R&R everyone!