What about Discord?
Pony's Log Number 522: Leave it a cooky draconequus to make the old question nag our minds: DID I MISS SOMETHING?!
Message from Mario Star: "Any attempt to replicate Discord behavior would be ill advised!"
One day, Twilight and Mario were inside the main library room. All the books in the room had been placed into three very tall piles. It was then Diamond Tiara had entered the room with her saddle bags and her pillow. With permission from her parents (especially her mother who seemed a little too willing to get her out of the mansion), the filly was going to be spending the long weekend with Mario and Twilight. She was a little stunned to see all the books piled up.
"What's going on in here?" she asked curiously. Spike just sighed as he looked at all the books.
"Didn't we just shelve all the books in the library a few months ago?" Spike asked.
"Yes, but that was because we needed to!" Twilight replied as she took a book with her magic, "This time is just because I want to! I can it my "book-sort-cation"!"
"Book-sort-cation?" Diamond Tiara asked skeptically as Mario entered the room.
"Three uninterrupted days of reorganizing books," said Twilight excitedly, "Can you think of anything more relaxing?"
"Well, claw massages, back rubs, bubble baths..." Spike listed.
"A treat at sugarcube corner, playing catch with friends, watching ducks swimming at the pond..." Diamond Tiara added before the two noticed that Twilight wasn't listening.
"You weren't really looking for an answer, were you?" Spike remarked as he slumped forward.
"She seems to do that alot when she's into something," Diamond Tiara remarked.
"Yeah, it's kind of a habit of hers," said Mario with an eye roll.
"I take it she tunes you out as well, master," Diamond Tiara asked the alicorn prince.
"Eeyup," said Mario, unintentionally sounding just like Big Mac.
"I even devised a better system for organizing them," Twilight continued, showing she hadn't been listening to the conversation, "It decreases the amount of time it takes to find a book you're looking for by nearly three-quarters of a second!"
"Whoa," said Spike flatly, "That much?" Spike was then picked up by Twilight's magic and she squeezed him tightly.
"Look at them all," said Twilight happily as she looked at all the piles of books, "Why, there must be at least twenty thousand books to organize!"
"Hoo!" Owlowiscious hooted impressively as he sat on a shelf and looked at those reading this story.
"Actually, you have 32,576 books," Mario replied and Diamond Tiara's jaw hit the floor.
"You actually counted them all, master?!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed in shock.
"That's nothing, my sweetie once counted all the books in the Canterlot Library to impress me," said Twilight and giggled to herself, "This is gonna be the best long weekend ever!" Diamond Tiara just had a long face.
"I gave up my weekend at the mansion for this?!" Diamond Tiara groaned.
"Would you rather be stuck alone with your mother?" Mario asked and added, "and you did say that you couldn't afford to fail that exam next week?" Diamond Tiara winced and then zipped up to Twilight.
"How can I help, Twilight?" Diamond Tiara asked with a wide smile on her face, "I could use your help studying for that big test!" Twilight just chuckled to herself for the extra help as Spike just rolled his eyes and looked rather uninterested in the idea.
"I'm sure we can make some time for a claw message and a back rub too," said Twilight, "Maybe a spa treatment and treat as Sugarcube Corner for Mario's faithful student."
"Yes! Best long weekend ever!" Spike and Diamond Tiara shouted excitedly. Twilight and Mario just smiled and rolled their eyes, but were grateful that they were able to lift up Spike and Diamond Tiara's spirits.
(Main theme)
Three days later, Twilight walked out of her castle, took a deep breath and headed on her way. Spike was the next to walk out with Diamond Tiara right behind him.
"Whoa! That strange yellow orb in the sky!" Spike remarked dramatically, "What is that?"
"It's so bright!" Diamond Tiara added in the same fashion, "I...I can't see. I'm going blind!"
"And so...so...warm..." Spike said in horror as Mario walked out.
"I'm melting! I'm melting!" Mario said in a high-pitched as he sank to the ground, "Oh agony...agony..." Twilight was most annoyed as the three snickered to each other.
"Alright, alright, so it's been a little while since we've seen the sun," said Twilight.
"A little while?" Spike retorted, "We've been in that library for three straight days!"
"Yes, but they were three very productive days," said Twilight and then noticed Diamond Tiara was still with them, "Diamond, don't you have an exam to get to?" Diamond Tiara gasped.
"See ya after school!" Diamond Tiara said quickly before zoomed away to avoid being late for school.
"As I said before, they were productive days," said Twilight, "Even if Diamond Tiara had that three hour spa treatment and slice of cake and you did take that two-hour claw message break."
"Hey, you promised Di that spa treatment and treat and me a claw massage," said Spike, "I'm getting a claw message."
"Wait...did you call Diamond Tiara, Di?" Twilight asked.
"It's her new nickname," said Spike, "it's just my way of saying she's my friend now and she did say you can call her that too if you want."
"Oh good," said Twilight as Mario stared walking beside her, "Now come on. It's not like we missed anything."
"Famous last words," Mario remarked.
"Very funny," said Twilight but then she noticed Mario was looking up at the sky, "what's up dear?" Twilight then looked up as well and noticed two comets, one red and one rainbow colored.
"It's like they're coming right at us," said Mario and then realized that they were!
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Mario yelped as he, Twilight, and Spike as the two comets streaked past them and crashed behind the group. Once they had recovered, they turned around to see Rainbow and Discord standing before them on all fours with big smiles on their faces.
"Hello, Twilight! Hello, Mario! Hi, Spike!" Rainbow and Discord said in sync as they waved their right fore-legs and then their left and then their right a second time.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight as she and Mario walked up to them, "Good to see you, Discord."
"Did you rehearse before you found us?" Spike asked as he walked up to them next.
"You asking about the synchronized greeting or their attempt to take our heads off?" Mario asked the little dragon.
"What makes you think we practiced?" Discord and Rainbow asked together and smiled.
"Come on, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight as she walked up to the blue Pegasus, "What's going on here?" Rainbow laughed.
"Sorry," said Rainbow as she wrapped a fore-leg around Discord's neck, "Me and Discord are just messin' around. Like we do." Rainbow gave the draconequus a playful nudge.
"Wuh?!" Mario exclaimed in shock.
"Since when?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Oh, Twilight and Mario," said Discord, "We simply had a momentous time together these past three days. You could say it was..." Discord then turned himself into a rattle snake and hissed, "Hiss-terical"!" Rainbow burst out laughing as Discord chuckled.
"Sneaky snake!" Rainbow laughed.
"Just snaking around!" Discord remarked as he shed his snake skin and tossed it away.
"Good one, Discord!" Rainbow replied, still laughing as they shared a high hoof together. Twilight, Mario, and Spike just stared.
"It is?" Twilight and Mario said in confusion.
"Kind of an inside joke from this weekend," Rainbow remarked as she hovered before the alicorn couple, "You wouldn't really get it unless you were there."
"Oh, okay," said Twilight in a dejected tone.
"If you say so," said Mario, feeling the same as his wife.
"Cool," said Rainbow, "Well, uh, catch you later, Twilight!" Rainbow then zoomed away.
"Catch you later," Discord laughed, "Twilight and Mario." He gave them both a rather devious smirk before he revved his hind legs in place, kicking dirt all over Spike, and teleported away. Spike surfaced from the mound of dirt shortly after Discord had disappeared as the three friends just shared worried looks with each other. They soon headed into town as Twilight pondered over what had happened.
"That was strange, right?" said Twilight, "Since when have Rainbow Dash and Discord have inside jokes?"
"Since sometime in the last three days," said Spike. Twilight suddenly stopped moving and Spike crashed into her tail.
"Watch it, Spike," said Mario as he held his wife's tail with one fore-hoof and brushed it a bit with the other, "I spent six hours brushing her tail this weekend!"
"Hey!" Twilight said sternly, making Mario let go of her tail, "Nopony made you join me on my book-sort-cation."
"I'm jokin', I'm jokin'!" Spike replied in an effort to do damage control.
"Like we had the chance to say no to it," Mario muttered but then bit his lip with Twilight was glaring daggers at him.
"I never forced you to stay," said Twilight angrily, "And I've told you countless times to speak up if you didn't want do something I wanted to do." Mario glared but then softened in defeat.
"I know," said Mario as he looked away, "It's not your fault I'm so used to just going along with what you wanna do all the time. I don't want to you to feel sad if I decided to do something else...or make you feel like I abandoned you..." Twilight's anger softened within seconds as a soft smile appeared on her face. She gave him a quick kiss in understanding.
"I'll admit that I did want you with me for my book-sort-cation," said Twilight, "But next time, if you don't feel up to it, just speak up. I want you to be happy to. Okay?" Mario nodded and gave his wife a brief hug before they and Spike headed to the Carousel Boutique.
"Rarity?" Twilight called out as she, Mario, and Spike walked inside. Rarity was wearing her work glasses and was busy working on a design when she turned around to see the alicorn couple and Spike and she gasped.
"Twilight! Mario!" said Rarity as she removed her glasses and walked up to them, "You've returned from your book sorting sabbatical! All that organizing has done wonders for your complexion!" Mario smirked and pondered.
"Your beauty does look like it increased alot more than usual these past three days," Mario added before Twilight smirked and playfully used her magic to pull his beret over his eyes.
"Thanks!" said Twilight as Mario chuckled quietly and fixed his beret, "It was very relaxing," Spike didn't resist rolling his eyes.
"And we were able to clear a shelf for those old-fashioned books you wanted to donate," said Twilight.
"Oh, pfft, they're not old, darling," said Rarity, "They're vintage, and they're over there!" Rarity pointed over toward a saddle bag filled with books, "I've even included my favorites by former Canterlot designer to the stars Rococo Froufrou!"
"Oh, I love her!" said Spike as Rarity shot him a jealous and annoyed look.
"Him," said Rarity bluntly as she handed Spike the book bag.
"Both," said Spike as he laughed nervously. Mario just rolled his eyes at the little dragon.
"Twilight! Mario!" said Discord as he appeared at the entrance of the Boutique with Fluttershy and Shenran, "This makes twice I'm seeing you both in one day! Aren't I lucky?" Mario and Twilight were looking a bit stunned.
"Weren't you just with-" Twilight tried to ask.
"Hi, Twilight! Hi, Spike! Hi, Mario!" said Fluttershy as she wanted up to them, "How was your book-sort-cation?"
"It was good!" said Twilight.
"Was it lots of fun being surrounded by just each other and books for three days?" Shenran asked in a slightly teasing tone. Mario snorted.
"Shenran," said Mario annoyingly, "Diamond Tiara was there too and so was Spike. Twilight and I had to keep them entertained the whole weekend too." Shenran just bit his lip and smiled as he looked at his wife. Fluttershy giggled.
"Orange you glad you did it?" Fluttershy asked, causing Shenran, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Discord to break out laughing. And this left Twilight, Spike, and Mario with puzzled look on their faces.
""Orange you glad"!" Rarity chuckled, "Oh, Fluttershy, you're a card!"
"My wife is quite the comedian," Shenran added.
"Oh, please. You'll make me blush," said Fluttershy.
"You do seem to be turning into a shade of..." Discord then gasped as he turned Fluttershy into a giant orange, "...orange!" Fluttershy, Shenran, and Rarity laughed. Discord then pulled the stem, making the orange spilt apart and returning Fluttershy to normal.
"Orange is a nice color on you, Fluttershy," said Discord.
"I heard from reliable sources that orange is the new black this season," said Shenran, trying to sound like a fashion pony.
"Oh, that is so true," said Discord, trying to sound like Steven Magnet. The two boys smirked and then burst out laughing. Mario was baffled as Twilight and Spike shared funny looks with each other and had blank looks on their faces.
"Did you two just crack a joke together?" Mario asked slowly.
"Oh that's nothing!" said Discord, "Ready, buddy?"
"You bet, buddy," said Shenran. Then the two began doing various claw/hoof shakes with each other and then shook tails and then hip bumped each other as Shenran stood on his hind legs. Mario's jaw dropped and his eyes shrunk.
"He told me it would be a beautiful day in Tartarus before he ever did a secret hoofshake with Discord!" said Mario in a dumbfounded tone.
"Well, orange you glad their such good friends now?" Fluttershy asked as she, Rarity, Shenran, and Discord burst into laughter once more, leaving Twilight, Mario, and Spike with puzzled looks on their faces.
"I don't get it," Mario said bluntly.
"Oh, sorry darling," said Rarity to the alicorn couple and Spike, "You see, we were at Sweet Apple Acres and, uh, ooh, how to explain..."
"Well, let me try and paint her a picture, dearest," said Discord.
""Dearest"?" Spike asked, clearly jealous and offended, but was ignored as Discord dressed up and imitated Bob Ross. This included wearing a brown afro wig and artist smock shirt.
"You see," said Discord darkly as he painted, "we were all at Sweet Apple Acres, and I ended up turning the trees into the most-" Discord then cut the scene and bumped his painting easel out of the way, "Oh, who am I kidding? I simply can't do it justice. You really had to be there."
"We would've invited you to come along too," said Fluttershy to Twilight and Mario, "but we didn't want to interrupt your organizing and possible couple bonding."
"Which was little to nothing," Mario muttered under his breath regarding the couple bonding, getting himself a jab from Twilight's fore-leg.
"We know how important those things are to the both of you," said Fluttershy.
"Especially the alone time with your special somepony," Shenran added as he gave Fluttershy a cheek kiss, making the yellow Pegasus giggle happily.
"And I'm sure it was much more important than the fun that we had," said Discord as he slithered between Rarity and Fluttershy and wrapped a fore leg around each of them but also made sure Shenran was part of the fore-leg around Fluttershy.
"I appreciate that..." said Twilight slowly as she looked at Spike and then her husband, "Speaking of books, I should get these on the shelves. Come on, honey." Mario nodded in agreement when they saw Discord juggling some apples that turned into oranges and back into apples as they circled around. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Shenran were laughing happily as the group of three shared puzzled looks with each other and left the Boutique.
"Hmm," Twilight pondered as she, Mario, and Spike continued walking about town, "Rainbow Dash bonding with Discord, he and Shenran acting like BFFs, Rarity finding something he did funny...Must've been some weekend."
"You can say that again," Mario added bitterly.
"Somepony sorry they missed it?" Spike asked slyly.
"Of course not!" Twilight snapped as they walked past Sugarcube Corner and she looked at Mario, "Right honey?" Mario just looked at his wife and said nothing. Twilight took offense.
"What? Didn't have fun being with me this weekend?" Twilight snapped. Mario sighed loudly.
"And you wonder why I don't speak up about wanting to do something else," Mario remarked. Twilight did need long to realize her husband's point and groaned.
"Sorry honey," said Twilight, "I just saying..."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
The group was then startled when they heard some loud laughter from inside Sugarcube Corner. The group of three peeked inside and found Pinkie and Applejack on their backs, laughing themselves silly.
"What's got you two in hysterics?" Twilight asked.
"Did Pound or Pumpkin get their head stuck on the glass candy jar again?" Mario asked. It was then Discord appeared from behind the counter and was eating a cupcake.
"Oh, we were just reminiscing about the best weekend ever!" Discord replied.
"So we've heard," Mario remarked annoyingly.
"He's everywhere today, isn't he?" Twilight said in hushed tone to Spike and Mario.
"You can say that again," Mario replied back in a hush tone of his own.
"Oh, now where was I?" Discord pondered as he leaned against the counter as Pinkie and Applejack stood before him and Twilight, Mario, and Spike walked up, "Ah, yes, we had just finished our soup, and then Applejack said," He then did his impression of Applejack by changing his face to match the orange pony's face, ""Peanut butter hoof? Yuck, not even with jelly"!" Applejack and Pinkie laughed as Twilight, Mario, and Spike just looked confused.
"Eh, I don't get it," said Twilight.
"I don't see what's so funny," said Mario, "All I ever got when cracking a peanut butter joke was just glares."
"It was hilarious!" said Pinkie as she walked up to them, "I wish we'd taken a picture for you!"
"Oh, well, this should do!" Discord replied as he started dancing with jars of peanut butter stuck to his hind hooves, making Pinkie and Applejack laugh once again. Mario was unamused.
"Seriously?" Mario remarked.
"I guess that's funny?" Twilight added in a puzzled and slightly dejected tone.
"Well, seems this has become quite the...sticky situation!" Discord said as he looked down at his hooves and chuckled. Applejack and Pinkie just continued laughing.
"Sticky situation!" Pinkie laughed. Twilight, Spike, and Mario just shared looks with each other.
"Aw, shucks, Twilight and Mario," Applejack said as she walked up to the group, "We haven't even asked how your weekend went."
"It was fine!" Twilight and Mario said together, but shared annoyed looks at the fact they had spoken at the same time.
"And yet you two look so glum," said Discord as he got into their faces and hugged him, "Does somepony need a huggy-wuggy?" Discord then held both ponies with one fore-leg as he cooed baby noises and flicked their horns. Mario and Twilight were most indignant.
"I am not glum," said Twilight firmly as she and Mario pushed Discord off, "I'm glad! We're glad! We're glad you all had such a good time together. Having inside jokes can really create a lasting bond between friends. Right honey?" Mario, who had been feeling rather glum, quickly recomposed himself.
"Oh..uh...um...r-r-right, honey," said Mario, "very glad! Very glad..." Mario trailed off a bit and looked away.
"I'm just sorry that all this bonding happened while you were holed up in your castle," said Discord. Mario glared.
"You don't sound that apologetic, my friend," Mario muttered under his breath, but nopony heard home.
"Heh. Oh, don't you worry about Twilight," said Applejack, "Bet you were in hog heaven organizin' all them books. Again. Plus you had your Schmoopy to keep your company." Applejack, Pinkie, and Discord snickered.
"Sis, please never call me by my wife's pet name ever again," Mario said flatly.
"Never mind, Schmoopy," said Twilight, "We're sure we had just as much fun as the rest of you. Right dear?" Twilight then smiled and nudged Mario to do the same. Mario gave a squeaky smile on his own.
But by the time they were at the castle, both alicorns were sulking.
"I can't believe I missed out on all that bonding!" Twilight vented in frustration.
"If I'm being truly honest here," Mario added in his own irritated tone, "I usually don't have a problem missing out when it comes to you, Twilight Sparkle, but...this time...it really bugs me." Twilight went to speak when Mario put a fore-hoof to her mouth.
"Because," Mario answered before Twilight could say the question, "We both missed out on it! And it sounds like it was alot of fun too!"
"I knew it!" said Spike as he ate a red gem, "You're both jealous!"
"Spike, I'm the Princess of Friendship," said Twilight, "I don't get jealous."
"Pfft!" Mario remarked as Spike gave Twilight a skeptical look. Twilight shot Mario a death glare.
"Honey, I've known you for many years," said Mario, "and whenever you feel like somepony is keeping you out of the loop, you get jealous. In fact, I can think of countless times you've gotten jealous over me when you think I connecting with somepony more than you!"
"And the fact Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie having crushes on you?" Twilight remarked bitterly, "You obviously did something to make them attracted to you."
"Just be a compassionate friend," said Mario, "And giving them an ear to speak their minds and a shoulder to cry on. I mean...it's not like I'm some super good looking and attractive stallion or anything..." Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, but then was stunned to see Mario looking rather insecure.
"Wait...are you saying...you don't think you're good looking or attractive?" Twilight asked.
"Not...really..." said Mario, "I'm no egotistical pony...not anymore..." Twilight giggled.
"You're such a humble pony and I love that about you," said Twilight, "And as much as I would love to tell you just how good looking and attractive you are, my point is that I'm sorry that we misssed out because sharing that experience would've helped me with our Prince and Princess of Friendship duties!"
"Huh?" said Mario puzzled.
"Come again?" Spike asked with his mouth full as he went to stuff another gem into his mouth.
"I'm back!" said Diamond Tiara as she walked into the room, "And let me just say Twilight, that you're study technique, while tedious, really works! I got a perfect score on my exam! Cheerilee was so proud of me!"
"That's great, Di," said Twilight in a rather dismissive tone before getting back on the current conversation, "Listen, honey. If our friends could enjoy three full days with Discord that much, it must have something to do with the specific things they did together! If we could find out what those things were, it could be a real breakthrough in the science of friendship!"
"Maybe..." Mario said slowly.
"Hm, I guess so," said Spike.
"I know so," said Twilight as she teleported next to Spike and put the red gem he was about to eat back in the bowl, "You all thought our book-sort-cation was fun? This is gonna be even better!" Diamond Tiara just had a blunt look on her face.
"What did I walk into this time?" she complained. It wasn't long before they were at the park area. Twilight had asked Discord and the rest of the Mane eight to meet them there.
"So...let me get this straight, master," Diamond Tiara said to Mario as Spike examined his notepad, "While I was studying and you three were doing Twilight's books...whatever, Discord and the rest of your friends were apparently having the time of their lives and now have inside jokes with him that they can't stop laughing about?"
"Eeyup," said Mario.
"And now Twilight wants to use science to prove why they had so much fun?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Eeyup," said Mario.
"Do you have to talk like Big Mac?" Diamond Tiara asked annoyingly.
"Sorry, those "eeyups" are part of me," said Mario, "I am an Apple after all." Diamond Tiara just giggled to herself.
"I didn't think you could...what's that science word Cheerilee said about makes something have a...def-ini...tive value..." Diamond Tiara pondered.
"Quantify?" Mario suggested.
"Yeah, that's it!" said Diamond Tiara, "I thought you couldn't quantify the value of friendship."
"You can't," said Mario, "but that doesn't stop my wife from trying." Diamond Tiara just rolled her eyes but still chuckled.
"As much as her nerdy side annoys me, master," said Diamond Tiara, "She still very kind to me. I kind of think of her like a second mom." Mario smiled.
"Does that make me like a second father?" Mario asked curiously.
"Maybe..." Diamond Tiara teased as Mario stuck his tongue out at her and she returned the gesture. It was then Spike and Twilight stood on top of a nearby picnic table to address the group.
"Thank you for coming," said Twilight, "I wouldn't have asked you here if it wasn't important."
"I love important!" said Pinkie Pie.
"I want to know how these funny moments you shared came to pass," said Twilight, "I can use this data to help advance friendships all over Equestria."
"Well, I like the sound of that!" said Applejack.
"Anything to help you and Mario out," Shenran added as the rest of the group minus Discord gave other comments of general agreement.
"Perfect," said Twilight, "Let's start with the snake." Rainbow and Discord started snickering and then burst out laughing again.
"I don't know if I can get it out!" Rainbow chuckled as Discord made exaggerated faces beside her, "It's too funny!" Diamond Tiara and Mario looked unamused.
"Is that one of the inside jokes, master?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Pretty much," said Mario, "when asked what was so funny beforehand, they just gave us the old..."You had to have been there"."
"Ouch..." said Diamond Tiara sadly.
"Oh, but we must!" said Discord as he held Rainbow, "It's for the greater good! It started when we were helping Granny Smith with her garden..." Some flashback music was heard but then was interrupted when Applejack decided to speak.
"Uh, I reckon you mean my sister Apple Bloom," Applejack corrected.
"Eh...All you Apples look the same," said Discord, "and act the same."
"We do not!" said Applejack and Mario together as they placed their left hooves behind their right and stuck their noses in the air. Then they blinked when they realized what they had done.
"Hey! Why'd you copy me?" Applejack and Mario said to each other, "Stop repeating everything I say! I'm not! You're are! UGH!" They both mirrored each other as they threw their heads back and stomped away from each other with the same long face. Discord chuckled.
"I rest my case," he remarked, "Getting back on to previous conversation, we were helping Apple Bloom in the garden. And then Rainbow Dash saw a snake!"
"I think it was a garden hose," said Fluttershy.
"A leaky garden hose," Shenran added.
"It was a leaky hose snake," said Rainbow, "Super deadly."
"I reckon it bein' a large stick that look like a hose that, in turn, did in fact resemble a snake," said Applejack, "the leak Shenran was talking about was the water flowing around it."
"So this snake, or hose...or stick...was in a stream?" Mario asked.
"Well it was quite a scream," said Shenran, and everypony except for Mario, Twilight, Spike, and Diamond Tiara laughed. Spike just looked blankly with his quill pen in his mouth and started writing things down.
"A scream! Good one, buddy!" said Discord as they shared a high-hoof.
"Point is, we galloped away," said Pinkie as she walked up to Twilight and Spike.
"And it chased after us!" Rainbow added as she knocked Pinkie down and then flew upward.
"Wait!" said Mario confused.
"What?" Diamond Tiara added with a puzzled look on her face.
"The hose? A snake? A stick?" Twilight asked, feeling just as perplexed.
"A snake!" Rainbow said.
"A hose!" Fluttershy said.
"That leaked!" Shenran added.
"A stick!" Applejack said as she stood in front of the three Pegasi.
"We literally trotted for our lives," said Discord, "Isn't that hilarious?"
"I guess you had to be there," said Fluttershy. Mario's ears dropped and he looked most upset. Diamond Tiara took notice.
"Master..." she said gently.
"I'm fine," said Mario bravely as he recomposed himself, but Diamond Tiara still felt a little worried.
"I do need to be there," said Twilight and then looked at her husband, "Or...we do need to be there."
"But you weren't!" said Rarity, "And it's already happened! Ooh, are you suggesting..."
"Time travel?!" Pinkie proposed wearing a red fishing vest, shades, and a fore-leg watch as the theme to Back to the Future played in the background.
"Absolutely not!" Twilight said sternly, "Time travel is not something to be messed with."
"I'll say," said Mario, "The last time you tried it nearly drove the both of us insane."
"And it was all over what Twilight's future birthday present was," Pinkie added.
"Pinkie, for the last time," said Mario through his teeth, "It wasn't about the birthday present!"
"But you did think you could uncover a special time travel spell by banging your head on the edge of a sink and getting struck by exactly 1.21 gigawatts of lightning," Pinkie added. Mario blushed deep red in embarrassment. Twilight rolled her eyes. The others just snickered.
"But one good thing came out of that incident, master," said Diamond Tiara, "Twilight realized she was falling in love with you." Twilight was now blushing.
"True, sweetie," said Twilight to the little filly as the color of her cheeks returned to normal, "but we're getting off topic here. We simply need to recreate everything that led to these jokes."
"Oh, what a brilliant idea!" said Discord as he got into Twilight's face, "Shall we begin with the lunch date that kicked off the glorious weekend you two missed out on?" Twilight just smiled bravely, but Mario was looking upset again.
"Master, are you alright?" Diamond Tiara asked with concern.
"I'll be okay, my faithful student," said Mario, "Shall we get started honey?"
"Of course," said Twilight with a smile as they headed back into town. But Diamond Tiara just kept giving Mario a skeptical look. She could tell Mario was not okay.
It wasn't long before the group was gathered at an outdoor cafe and sitting at a table with a white table cloth.
"Are you sure it was this table?" Twilight asked the group.
"Uh, does it really matter?" Rainbow groaned.
"When it comes to science, everything matters," said Twilight, "One change in the equation could ruin the experiment."
"Ugh...I feel like I never left school right now," Diamond Tiara groaned.
"Well, this just means you'll be an expert with science projects," said Mario. Diamond Tiara just grinned. Discord was just humming to himself when he remembered something and teleported to another table.
"Ohhhhhh...it was this table here," said Discord. The group walked over to take a seat. Mario took notice that Discord pulled out a seat for Fluttershy and scooted her in like a gentlecolt. He also noticed that Shenran smiled at the gesture.
"You're not jealous he did that," Mario asked the Pegasus stallion. Shenran chuckled.
"Not anymore," said Shenran, "he's only looking out for her after all."
"Right," Mario said discreetly with an eye roll. As everypony else took their seat, Pinkie grabbed a menu and began to look at it.
"Alright, so you sat down at the table," said Twilight as Mario took a seat next to her, "and then what happened?"
"Oh, well, first I expressed my displeasure with the design of the menu," Rarity explained as she held the menu with her magic, "It-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Discord interjected before Rarity could finish, "But I just noticed something."
"Yes?" Twilight answered.
"What might that be?" Mario asked.
"The tablecloth," said Discord, "It isn't the same color as the one the restaurant used on the day in question."
"...Really?" Twilight and Mario asked.
"He's right!" said Rarity, "The tablecloth was red! I remember because it clashed with the font of the menus." Mario looked at the menu himself.
"She would be right about that," said Mario, "Red would be atrocious with this type of print." Diamond Tiara blinked.
"Never pegged you as a decor expert, master," said Diamond Tiara with a slightly snarky tone.
"It's a hidden talent of mine," Mario remarked.
"I don't suppose that means we're gonna need to get a new table cloth, does it?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, most definitely," said Discord.
"I can make a new one in seconds flat," said Mario, "Rares, just give me the design, tone, and pattern..."
"No need," said Discord as he tapped the table cloth, turning it red instantly.
"Ooh," said Fluttershy.
"Very cool," said Shenran.
"Wowee!" said Pinkie as all but Twilight and Diamond Tiara shared remarks of being very impressed. Mario pouted.
"Show off," Mario muttered jealously and kept pouting to himself.
"One change to the equation could ruin the experiment," said Discord, "Twilight said so herself." Discord couldn't help but make a horn, wings, and mane that resembled Twilight's appear on himself as he said that. Mario and Diamond Tiara were most disturbed.
"Is it wrong for me to say his impersonation of Twilight is creepy, master?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Not at all," said Mario, still feeling rather disturbed. Then Discord walked in the foreground now dressed up like Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
"Anything standing out as being different? Anything at all?" Discord asked the group.
"Um, I've noticed a couple of things," said Fluttershy as she raised a fore-hoof in the air.
"Me too!" said Pinkie.
"Same here," Shenran added.
"Excellent," said Discord as he reappeared in the background. He then handed Twilight a notepad and quill, which Twilight accepted with a smile on her face. Mario and Diamond Tiara had unamused looks on their faces.
"This is gonna be a long day," said Mario bluntly.
"Eeyup," said Diamond Tiara in the same tone. It wasn't long before Rainbow was adjusting some clouds in the sky.
"A little to the left! No, my left! said Discord, now dressed as a flight traffic patrol creature and using some glow sticks to guide the clouds into place, "A little bit more...Oh, no, no, no, no, no, a little more right!" Twilight just stood nearby taking notes and had gotten Mario to do the same. Diamond Tiara was just sitting on his back with a bored look on her face. Pinkie was sitting nearby as she rubbed her chin.
"The cloud over our table looked like an ice cream sundae!" said Pinkie. Rainbow then flew down as Discord used his claw to stretch the cloud into a sundae.
"Perfect!" said Pinkie as she looked at his hungrily. Twilight just continued to take her notes when she heard a loud growl close by. She and Mario turned to see that Diamond Tiara was blushing since the growling was coming from her stomach.
"Sorry..." said Diamond Tiara bashfully.
"No worries," said Pinkie, "here!" Pinkie then gave the little filly an ice cream sundae.
"Thanks," said Diamond Tiara as she took a sloppy bite and hummed contently as the frozen treat filled her empty stomach. Mario just smiled as his little student ate her snack and Discord put a thermometer into a cup of coffee. He watched as the temperature rose and fell within seconds.
"No-no-no-no-no, this is barely room temperature!" said Discord, "Garcon! Garcon, over here!" Twilight and Mario watched as Discord appeared wearing a waiter's outfit. Mario just rolled his eyes as his wife smiled and wrote down more notes. It wasn't long before everypony minus Spike, Twilight, Mario, and now Diamond Tiara were laughing as Discord danced on the table with the jars of peanut butter on his hind hooves again. Twilight just kept writing her notes while Diamond Tiara yawned from boredom.
"I don't get what's so funny," said Diamond Tiara to Mario.
"That's why Twilight is doing this whole experiment in the first place," said Mario, "but even I'm declaring this experiment conclusion...inconclusive." Discord then leaned in toward Twilight.
"No? Nothing?" Discord asked.
"Are you sure there's not something you've missed?" Twilight asked as she took a few steps away from the group, "Some other detail about your lunch together that you're forgetting?"
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," said Discord, "but I feel we've been pretty exhaustive in our attempts to recreate every single detail of our previous encounter." The others agreed.
"Oh come on everypony!" said Mario annoyingly.
"Yeah, Twilight, Mario!" said Rainbow as she hovered over to the alicorn couple, "If you don't get it by now, I don't think you're ever gonna get it."
"Who would want to?" Diamond Tiara remarked to herself with an eye roll.
"But it is really important that we figure this out," said Twilight, "It's for the good of all Equestria!"
"Isn't that exaggerating things a bit, dear?" Mario asked but only got a glare from his wife. Discord then was seen next to a ticker tape machine as it produced a long strip of paper into his claws. Discord was wearing a brown vest and glasses as he examined the paper.
"Well, perhaps we should have another look at the data we've collected," said Discord and then gasped, "Of course! There is one last variable that we haven't accounted for."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"What is it?" Mario asked as well.
"You two!" said Discord.
"Me?" said Twilight.
"Us?" Mario added.
"You both weren't there observing us," Discord explained, "No matter how hard we try, we can't possibly recreate our weekend of fun exactly as it happened because you'll always be watching, and you weren't there."
"Hmm," said everypony else at once.
"For a chaotic creature," said Diamond Tiara, "That makes total sense."
"He makes a good point," Pinkie added.
"It has only served to prove that moments of levity and bonding between friends simply cannot be recreated so that others might share in the experience," Discord concluded.
"He makes another good point!" said Pinkie.
"In other words," said Mario in a soft tone, "We can't share in the memories because we weren't there."
"Precisely, Mario," said Discord.
"Oh, don't worry, darlings," said Rarity to Twilight and Mario, "I'm sure there'll be plenty of other chances you two to share in the kind of..." Rarity started giggling, "...frivolity we had with Discord while you both were away."
"Yeah," said Rainbow, "and I'll bet they'll be just as hissssss-terical!" Rainbow laughed, as did Discord and the rest of the Mane Eight. Twilight and Diamond Tiara were most annoyed as the others walked away.
"Absolutely," said Fluttershy as she laughed.
"Positively," Shenran chuckled. Now Twilight was looking rather hurt. She then turned to see Mario look very upset and his eyes were watering a little.
"Hey, we're not giving up yet!" said Twilight gently to her husband, "Now come on." Twilight then headed back to the castle. Mario followed slowly behind.
"That's not why I'm upset," Mario said quietly. Diamond Tiara heard him and started to ponder to herself. She was getting very worried about Mario.
Back at the castle, Spike was back to eating his bowl of gems. Diamond Tiara and Mario were just watching Twilight pace about the room.
"I'm not buying it," said Twilight, "Not for a second. There is definitely something else going on here, you guys!"
"Or maybe there isn't," said Spike as he ate another gem, "and you should just drop this whole thing and admit that you're a little jealous! Mario already has."
"What?!" Twilight exclaimed, "Mario!"
"Hey, I'm just being honest with myself," said Mario firmly as he crossed his fore-arms, "Maybe it's time you did the same!"
"No! I am being honest with myself," Twilight snapped, "Even if you and me are not able to laugh at what happened, at least one of us should be able to figure out why they find it funny. Why they think they had this amazing and hilarious time together. But I can't figure it out. It doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't make sense to me or my faithful student either, honey," said Mario.
"Some things just can't be explained," said Spike as he juggled a few gems.
"Thus speaks the Great Spike the Wise," said Diamond Tiara sarcastically.
"Oh ha-ha," said Spike annoyingly.
"Our friends think something great happened to them while we were away," Twilight continued in a rather dramatic fashion, "but no. It was something awful! If we don't break the spell they're under, who knows what terrible things could happen?!" Diamond Tiara and Spike just looked at Twilight in disbelief and Mario face-hoofed himself.
"You can't be serious!" Mario interjected.
"Spell?" Spike remarked in a bored tone.
"Come on, Spike!" said Twilight as she grabbed the dragon with her magic, "There's no time to lose!"
"Honey, there's no sign of our friends under some sort of spell," Mario retorted, "Their coloring isn't faded or distorted, their eyes aren't shrunk or pupils enlarged, or is their speech just monotone or blank. Plus when they laughed it would sound robotic...WAH!"
"EEP!"
Mario was then cut off as Twilight used her magic to pull both Mario and Diamond Tiara with her, making it clear she wasn't listening.
It didn't take long before the group had been dragged by Twilight all the way to Zecora's. While Diamond Tiara knew Zecora wasn't dangerous, she still couldn't help but feel a little nervous being at the zebra's home in the Everfree Forest. But once they had been properly introduced, Diamond Tiara found she could relax and enjoy one of Zecora's homemade teas. She just quietly sipped her cup as Twilight spoke to the zebra about her "concerns".
"Zecora what do you think?" Twilight asked as she looked at her reflection inside a pot filled with some sort of brew, "Can you undo Discord's magic?" Zecora then put some powder into the pot Twilight was looking at, making the brew bubble.
"In what way can you tell that they are indeed under a spell?" Zecora asked.
"Yes dear," said Mario, "what proof do you have regarding your worst fear?"
"Oh quit acting like Zecora!" Twilight snapped annoyingly. Mario just stuck his tongue out at her while Twilight did the same. Zecora chuckled.
"They're having fun with Discord, that's why!" said Twilight, "and need I remind a certain husband that he and Shenran were doing a special hoofshake routine?" Mario winced.
"That was disturbing to watch," said Mario wearily.
"Ah. A friendship with Discord is truly a shock," Zecora replied, "But who says it is something we must block?"
"Trust me," said Twilight before Mario could answer, "they would never laugh like that unless something magical was involved."
"No duh, Twilight," said Mario, "I mean their jokes involved snakes made out of hoses and sticks, apples being oranges, and dancing with peanut butter jar shoes!"
"I meant they wouldn't laugh at jokes like that unless they were under a spell," said Twilight, "It's not that funny. I know funny."
"No, you don't," said Diamond Tiara, Mario, and Spike together with eye rolls and annoyed faces. Twilight just glared at each of them. Zecora simply headed over to her shelf and presented Twilight with one of her bottles.
"Alright," said Zecora as she gave Twilight the bottle, "This potion will break the spell, then you will be able to tell."
"Wait," said Spike as he looked at the pot brewing, "If that's the potion, then what's brewing in your cauldron?"
"It ties the room together and emits a warm glow," Zecora explained, "But if I am to be honest, it's just for show."
"Cool...I guess," said Diamond Tiara timidly as she handed Zecora her empty tea cup. Twilight took the bottle and left. Spike followed. Mario then walked over to Zecora.
"That's just a pseudo isn't it?" Mario asked and Zecora just gave him a wink. Mario chuckled as he put Diamond Tiara onto his back.
"What's a pus-seed-io?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Pseudo," Mario corrected, "It just a fancy word for a fake potion or cure. It's Zecora way of saying Twilight will learn that she's off the mark on her own. And probably embarrass herself doing so."
"Not to sound mean, but..." Diamond Tiara said slowly.
"I'll come pick you up so you can watch what happens," Mario replied with an eye roll, "assuming Twilight tries giving them the cure before or after school." Diamond Tiara nodded and inwardly hopped she wouldn't miss out.
To her luck, Twilight didn't set up her plan during school, but the filly didn't like the idea that Mario had come to pick her up before the sun had come up. The rest of the Mane eight looked just as groggy as all but the alicorn couple sat on their thrones.
"I wonder why Twilight asked us here so bright and early," Applejack yawned.
"Another map adventure, perhaps?" Rarity suggested. Pinkie then looked at her cutie mark, and then checked, Fluttershy and Rainbow's flanks, which got glares from Applejack and Rarity.
"Nope, no glowing tushies here!" said Pinkie as she sat back with an apologetic look on her face.
"Probably for the best," said Shenran, "I can't go with you guys on map adventures..." Shenran looked at his unmarked throne sadly as Fluttershy nuzzled his cheek.
"Someday," said Fluttershy, "Maybe the map will find you worthy and we'll have an adventure together." Shenran smiled as they shared a loving nose nuzzle.
"Or maybe it's more of a non-adventure," said Fluttershy, "Maybe she wants to tell us how last night's slumber went?" Before anypony could reply, Twilight and Mario entered the room.
"Hey gang!" said Twilight to everypony else with a big smile on her face. Diamond Tiara was half-asleep on Mario's back as he went to sit on his throne and gently put his faithful student on her own smaller throne. This make the filly snort and wake up.
"Huh? Wuh? Did I miss it?" Diamond Tiara asked with a start.
"Nope, you're just in time, Di," said Mario as Diamond Tiara rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.
"Ooh, you look excited!" said Pinkie to Twilight.
"I am excited," said Twilight, "We're gonna have fun today!"
"Yes!" said Pinkie as she did a hoof-pump.
"Do you know what this is about, Big Brother?" Applejack asked quietly.
"Vaguely," said Mario, "My wife kept most of the details from me."
"Just one, tiny, minuscule, microscopic thing before fun times," said Twilight.
"Here we go," said Mario with an eye roll as Diamond Tiara looked at him curiously.
"I need everypony to sip this potion to break Discord's spell on you!" said Twilight with a wide smile on her face and held the bottle with her magic. The others just gave Twilight stunned and skeptical looks. Mario and Diamond Tiara just had blunt looking faces.
"Master?" Diamond Tiara asked in flat tone.
"Yes, my faithful student?" Mario replied in the same tone.
"Did I look that pathetic when I tattled on myself way back when?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Why yes, yes you did," Mario replied. Diamond Tiara looked at him sadly.
"I'm so sorry I put you through that," said Diamond Tiara in a very empathetic tone.
"No biggie," said Mario gently, "We all do dumb things."
"But paying too much for car insurance doesn't have to be one of them!" said Pinkie with a squee. Diamond Tiara and Mario gave her funny looks.
"What's a car?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Oh something the ponies reading this story will understand," said Pinkie and disappeared under the table. Diamond Tiara and Mario just shared perplexed looks with each other. Back with the rest of the group, Applejack was the first to recover from her shock.
"A what now?" Applejack asked.
"Don't be embarrassed," said Twilight as she walked behind Pinkie and Rarity, the latter looking rather indignant, "So what if Discord casts a spell on you so you thought you had a great time, and now you have all these inside jokes that you seem to be constantly laughing at? Don't worry! You didn't have your defenses up. I get it." Now Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Shenran looked most indignant. Twilight then stopped walking behind the other ponies' thrones and started to serve the cups with the "cure" potion in it.
"You're kidding," said Rainbow as Twilight set a cup before her.
"Twilight, darling, we simply had a nice time with Discord," said Rarity as Twilight served her a cup of the potion, "As I recall, we spent much of yesterday afternoon reenacting it for you." Rarity then discarded the potion behind her throne.
"Uh-huh," said Twilight as she refilled Rarity's cup, "Or you reenacted what you thought was fun but really wasn't because you were under a spell that made you think what happened was fun!" Twilight was so busy talking that the cup she made Spike hold was how overflowing and spilling the potion on the floor.
"This is sad," said Diamond Tiara bluntly.
"Not to mention totally embarrassing," Mario added.
"Then why don't you stop her!" Applejack asked irritably.
"If I can't keep you from acting like a stubborn mule," said Mario indignantly, "what makes you think I can stop Twilight from doing something dumb?"
"Ugh," Applejack groaned as Twilight set a cup for the orange pony, "Fair 'nough. But seriously, what kind of fertilizer have you had your nose in, Twilight?"
"Be honest," Twilight continued as Spike gave her a glare that went unnoticed, "The only reason you won't drink that potion is because, deep down in your hearts, you know there's a chance that Discord has you under his power!"
"Twilight," Fluttershy snapped as she put her fore-hooves on the table, "how could you say such a thing? I know Discord still makes mistakes sometimes, but you're accusing him of being downright evil!"
"I know I used to be very skeptical about Discord myself," Shenran added with his fore-hooves on the table, "I didn't exactly trust him, but spending time with him has certainly changed my opinion about the guy. He might be mischievous at times, but he's proven himself to be somepony I can proudly call a lifelong friend!"
"Yeah!" Rainbow added angrily as she stood on the table as well and knocking her cup over, "And to top it off, you're accusing us of not being able to tell he was up to something! What do you take us for?"
"Yeah!" said Pinkie, taking drinks of the potion, as she got into the purple pony's face, "What do you...take us for?!" The others just stared at Pinkie for taking the potion, but Pinkie just played clueless.
"Dee-licious!" said Pinkie, "got any more, Twilight?" It was then Discord appeared wearing a fisherpony's outfit.
"Hi, Twilight and Mario!" said Discord, "The gang mentioned we'd all be hanging out together today!"
""The gang"?" Twilight asked as Mario handed Pinkie the potion bottle and she started drinking it.
"Yeah!" said Discord, "The peanut-butter-hoof gang!" He then started tap dancing with the jars of peanut butter on his hind hooves again, making the "gang" laugh.
"It's still funny!" Pinkie laughed as the others got up to leave. Mario just stood beside his wife and Diamond Tiara stood beside him.
"So much for that whole "spell" theory," said Applejack in a hushed tone as the others continued laughing. Twilight and Mario were feeling very annoyed as the rest of their friends continued to laugh together.
"Ugh! I just don't get it!" Mario snapped angrily.
"Ugh. But it's not funny!" Twilight added irritably as she face-hoofed herself.
"It's funny if you were there," said Rainbow and they continued laughing. Mario growled and soon felt his temper his its limit.
"STOP!" Mario screamed loudly, but before he could say anything else, he burst into tears and began to cry. The other ponies stopped laughing and left rather stunned.
"Mario...why are you crying?" Shenran asked curiously.
"I think I know why," said Diamond Tiara as she hugged her now sobbing teacher of friendship, "We get that you guys had a great time with Discord and all, but you've been rubbing it in his and Twilight's faces for the last two days! The fact you keep laughing at these jokes we don't understand is making them both feel shut out and excluded! And that hurting their feelings! I would know. I...used to do that to other ponies when...I was a...bully..."
"Di is right," said Twilight sternly as Mario buried his face in his fore-hooves and kept crying, "We weren't there! We weren't included! Maybe it's our own fault for staying in and having a book-sort-cation when we could have been making jokes and memories and having a great time with our friends! But we didn't do that, did we?! You all did! You were all there, but-" Twilight could feel tears surfacing from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and gave her husband a gentle hug.
"Calm down sweetie, it's okay," she said sweetly as Mario tried to settle down but his tears hadn't stopped flowing. Diamond Tiara tried to wipe Mario's tears away herself and even kissed his cheek to help him feel better. Mario did give her a teary smile for the gesture and held her close for comfort.
"We weren't there," Twilight continued as the others listened with concerned faces, except Discord, who looking rather annoyed, "We missed out. And seeing you having all these jokes we weren't part of and couldn't understand made us..."
"Jealous?" Spike proposed.
"No," said Twilight, "The Princess of Friendship can't get jealous..."
"Twilight!" Mario and Diamond Tiara said annoyingly.
"Sure you can, Twilight," said Applejack, "and none of us begrudge you or Mario for it."
"We're sorry if we made you feel left out," said Fluttershy as she walked up to Mario and gave him a warm hug.
"Yeah, we certainly never meant to make you feel shut out," Shenran added as he stood beside his wife.
"You didn't do anything wrong," said Twilight.
"Yeah, it's not your fault I'm such a crybaby," Mario added sadly.
"You're not a crybaby dear," said Twilight, "We all know that feeling excluded upsets you. But at the end of the day, they are allowed to share things that don't include either of us."
"And both of you are allowed to feel a little jealous about it," said Rarity, "You just have to be able to admit to it that that's what you're feeling so you can let it go." Applejack nodded in agreement.
"And, you know, not try to make us recreate everything that happened when you two weren't around," added Rainbow.
"And Mario, you need to let us know when something we're doing is hurting you," said Fluttershy, "just like you told me, stuffing it down was only making you hurt more and that's why you broke down crying."
"I know," Mario sniffled, "But it just felt so...childish...saying I was jealous and feeling shut out." He then noticed Diamond Tiara sitting next to him.
"Sorry you had to see me break down like this," said Mario sadly.
"Don't be, master," said Diamond Tiara as she nuzzled his fore-leg, "If there is one thing I love about being your student, it's that you never claim to be an expert or master of friendship. You're learning just as much as I am. I like that you're not afraid to cry. I feel like I can come to you about anything and you'll understand how I feel." Mario smiled and pulled her into a tender hug.
"Thank you for being my friend, Di," said Mario gently.
"You're welcome, master," said Diamond Tiara. Rarity and Fluttershy couldn't help but awe at the touching moment between teacher and student. Then the moment was ruined when Discord appeared with his own throne wearing a crowd over his head.
"Of course none of this would've happened if I hadn't encouraged everypony not to invite you both this weekend," said Discord. Mario was shocked and now deeply hurt.
"They wanted us to be there?" Twilight snapped angrily, "and you convinced them to not invite us?"
"I can't believe you encouraged our friends to exclude us?!" Mario croaked as he started crying again, "You know I hate feeling like an outsider! That's not cool dude...not cool at all..." Twilight wrapped a fore-leg around her husband as he continued shed tears.
"Well, I didn't think that they should interrupt you," said Discord simply, "But now I see that we should have. Oh, I feel just horrible." Anypony could tell by the look on his face that Discord wasn't feeling that bad about what he had done.
"You don't look like you feel terrible," said Pinkie skeptically as she glared at him. Discord then literally turned his mouth upside down.
"Better?" Discord asked.
"Wait a minute," said Applejack as the others glared at him, "You didn't suggest not inviting Twilight and Mario because you wanted to make them feel left out, did you? You know that my Big Brother is very sensitive to feeling shut out on purpose!"
"Of course not," Discord replied as he went back to his Bob Ross outfit and had a painting of Twilight and Mario on his easel, "That whole jealousy thing was just a happy accident." He then used his magic to paint the picture to make Twilight look angry and Mario crying.
"You call making my master cry is a happy accident?" Diamond Tiara snapped as Mario just looked depressed.
"Nice to know ponies still enjoy making me the flank end of their jokes," Mario said sadly.
"Mario, making you cry was never my intention," said Discord as he stood on the table, "I'm just trying to give you both a lesson. Certainly we can all agree that Princess Twilight and Prince Mario learned a valuable lesson here."
"That you don't care about my feelings or my wife's feelings?" Mario proposed bitterly.
"No," said Discord, "That even the two of you can have feelings of jealousy, that you both should recognize said feelings rather than, in Twilight's case, trying to pretend that she doesn't have them, and for Mario, trying not to stuff those feelings down until his heart aches so badly he can't help but bawl like a little foal." Mario and Twilight both glared, even Diamond Tiara was giving the draconequus the stink eye.
"Mm-hmm," Discord continued, "Did I get the tiniest bit of glee out of watching Twilight try and recreate our weekend of fun in the name of science? Oh, most definitely. Did I take pleasure in seeing Mario fall apart in tears? Not really, even I felt a little blue watching him cry." Discord turns his body color dark blue to prove his point and then returned back to his normal shade of distorted colors.
"But what's important here is that it was never my intent to make Twilight and Mario feel jealous," said Discord, "That's something that the old me would have tried to do." Discord then made a copy of himself looking rather evil and dastardly and then shoved the copy away.
"Orange you glad I've changed?" Discord asked the group as he made it rain oranges. This time however, not a single pony laughed and just glared at him.
"I said, Orange you glad I've changed?" Discord repeated and made it rain oranges once again. The others just kept glaring and Pinkie coughed into her fore-hoof.
"Orange!" said Discord as he made the oranges stop falling, "Like the ones at the Applejack farm! I-I mean, from this weekend!" There was no reaction.
"No? Nothing?" Discord replied, "Really? I thought you'd find this hisss-terical!" Discord then turned his tail into that of a rattlesnake and shook his tail at Rarity's face.
"...Yes, no, Discord," said Rarity, "I think these jokes have run their course."
"Only way we'd find them funny now is if you put us all under some sort kind of spell," said Pinkie.
"Come on, you'd have to be a complete crazy pony to think he'd do something like that!" said Twilight, "What are you gonna say next, Pinkie? That we all have to drink some weird potion to break the spell?" Mario then grabbed the bottle and pretended to take a long drink.
"Taste just like candy!" said Mario with a goofy expression on his face. Everypony broke out laughing. Discord just looked puzzled.
"W-W-What's so funny?" Discord asked puzzled.
"Come on, Discord," said Rainbow, "do we really have to spell it out for you?" The others laughed again.
"We can't help it if we're feeling rather enchanted," said Diamond Tiara. The others laughed louder.
"Good one, Di!" Mario chuckled. Discord just looked confused and also a bit uneasy.
"I-I-I don't get it," said Discord, "Somepony want to tell me what's so hilarious? Anypony? Hello?!" The others just kept on laughing. Discord even tried knocking on Pinkie's head, but was ignored.
"I'm talking to you!" said Discord, "You! And-and you and you! W-W-What's funny about spells? Or being enchanted? I mean, I really don't get it, I feel left out and I feel really bad about that..." Discord then shrunk down in size and looked rather sad. Spike then walked up to him.
"Sorry, buddy," said Spike, "Guess you had to be there."
"Maybe next time you'll think twice before making one of your friends feel excluded from all the fun," said Shenran. It was then an orange magically appeared. Discord looked at the fruit and noticed Twilight and Mario just smirking at him. Discord then returned to normal size and grabbed everypony in his fore-legs for a large group hug as they all laughed themselves silly. It could be assumed Discord had learned his lesson.
But this is Discord we're talking about...who can truly tell?
Later that night, Twilight and Mario had returned to the castle after a long day of fun as well as taking Diamond Tiara home.
"Well, that was a busy day," said Twilight.
"Yeah...it was..." said Mario quietly as he took a seat on their bed and sighed. Twilight could tell that Mario still looked rather troubled.
"Honey, are you alright?" Twilight asked gently. Mario just looked at her with a sad look on his face.
"I hope you know that I didn't mean to make you feel like I regretted being with you this weekend," said Mario. Twilight just smiled.
"I know that, sweetie," said Twilight as she took a seat beside him, "You were just hurt because all their inside jokes made you feel excluded. Plus...I have to admit...maybe spending three straight days cooped up together obviously made us feel like we couldn't stand being near each other."
"Yeah," said Mario, "I'm sorry. Despite feeling that way, I really do love being with you. I do love being married to you."
"Same here, dear," said Twilight, "and I'm sorry too. But...I can't help but feel like everything isn't settled with you." Mario sighed.
"Guess what Discord did just really hurt me alot," said Mario, "and I know for a fact he wasn't exactly sorry either!"
"Well, I know Discord can be a major pain," said Twilight, "But he is a true friend and he has alot to learn about being considerate about other pony's feelings, especially with these little schemes of his."
"I also don't like how he seems to take advantage of our flaws," said Mario, "He knows I don't like feeling excluded. And he certainly seems to like taking advantage of the fact that if you don't understand something, you'll run yourself ragged trying to figure it out. And make some silly decisions while ignoring my efforts to get you back into reality." Twilight just sighed.
"True," said Twilight, "but just know that Discord is simply immature and that he wasn't trying to be cruel. Don't let it get to you, alright." Mario just sighed as he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Okay," said Mario, "I don't mean to carry a grudge, but I just remember a time when all I ever wanted was to be part of the fun with my own group of friends. And others would go out of their way to say how much fun they had with their friends and that I would never be part of it."
"Well, that's not the case anymore," said Twilight, "We have our own group of best friends that we can have fun and share wonderful memories with. And even when we do miss out, there's always next time." Mario smiled and felt better.
"Thanks Twilight," he replied as he gave her a hug and a kiss, "I love you."
"I love you, too," said Twilight, "You gonna be okay now?" Mario nodded as Twilight headed back to her book. Mario then headed toward an open window and gazed upon it. He didn't want Twilight to know that he was still feeling rather troubled.
Twilight's right, Mario thought, I've got lots of friends, a wife, and even a student. They all love and care about me. The others never meant to hurt my feelings and apologized. They've always said they'll be there for me.
Then...
...why do I still feel like I'm all alone?
Mario's only reply was a single tear sliding down his left cheek.
Colds stink! They make it hard to write and have caused me to slow down on writing these chapters, but I'm still chugging along despite feeling sick for almost two months. I'm sorry these chapter uploads have been so slow and if I worried you guys. I am getting better now.
The alternate ending is basically hinting at something that Mario will be facing at the end of the season. Big Hint: Mario showed signs of this inner struggle during the Cutie Map arc.
Alot of you fans seemed to like the idea of Mario having Diamond Tiara as his student. I hope her inclusion in this chapter not only helped give her some character development but also showed Mario's teaching style. You could say he and Twilight will definitely clash when it comes to being a teacher whenever Twilight gets her own student!
Kudos if you caught Mario's Wizard of Oz joke. And the disclaimer is a call out to the English Dub intro of season one of the Yokai Watch anime. If you think future Discord episodes should have this disclaimer, I can post it from now on.
Next time: Mario, Twilight, and Fluttershy are getting ready for action as they play...the FAMILY FEUD!
Peace Pony Fans!