Chapter 6: Make New Friends But Keep Discord
One day at Fluttershy's cottage, she was hosting a small tea party with Discord. As baffling as it sounded, it had become a regular routine for the two friends. Actually, make it three friends. Sokka was there as well. He was enjoying Discord's company. The chaos was friendly and Discord was actually rather funny, especially for Fluttershy, who was laughing herself silly.
"Ohoho, but that's not all!" said Discord as he reclined comfortably on the sofa, "When I went to look for them again, they were on the ceiling!" Fluttershy and Sokka laughed.
"Oh Discord, I've never known anypony as funny as you!" said Fluttershy as she and Sokka held their saucers and their tea cups with a fore-hoof.
"Yeah, I haven't laughed so hard in my life!" Sokka added.
"Well, Sokka, when you start to learn comedy from the Chaos Master, you start to enjoy it." Discord boasted.
"That is true." Sokka agreed as Fluttershy giggled.
"I'm so glad that you two are getting along pretty well." Fluttershy said as Sokka blushed and chuckled to himself as Fluttershy continued speaking to the draconequus, "Getting back our earlier conversation, Discord. I love the story about the time you tried to train your right paw..." Fluttershy giggled, "...to fetch your left leg!" Fluttershy giggled again.
"Though I'd prefer keep all four of my legs connected to my body, thank you," said Sokka.
"Sure you wouldn't want to try disconnecting them at least once?" Discord offered.
"Noooo thank you," said Sokka as Fluttershy giggled again.
"Oh, I do love our Tuesday teas," said Fluttershy, "and I can't wait for you to meet our friend Tree Hugger. She's going to love you too."
"She sure will." Sokka agreed.
Discord blinked in surprise at hearing about another friend from Fluttershy.
"Tree Hugger?" Discord remarked and then laughed.
"Sokka and I met her on our honeymoon to see the Breezies," Fluttershy explained, "She's a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures."
"How nice for you both," said Discord rather bitterly as he chewed on his teacup.
"Something up, D?" Sokka asked, curiously.
Discord glared but then noticed that Sokka had a concerned look on his face.
"Nothing," Discord muttered sternly.
"We're all gonna have so much fun together at the Grand Galloping Gala!" said Fluttershy excitedly.
"Oh," said Discord as he made the table float upward, scooted over toward Fluttershy and Sokka. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me. I'd love to!"
"Oh. Oh, no," Fluttershy stuttered and looked sadly away, "Um, I'm afraid I've already asked Tree Hugger." Discord was stunned and also rather indignant, until something clicked.
"Wait a minute here!" said Discord, "you invited Tree Hugger over your own husband?! Hahaha! I don't feel as bad hearing that!"
"Actually Discord, I volunteered to help with security for the Gala," said Sokka, "But I was allowed to invite a guest.
"Oh hohoho!" said Discord excitedly as he wrapped an arm around Sokka's shoulder, "We should totally make it a guy's night out!"
"I already invited, Muffins," said Sokka firmly. Discord blinked and went back to feeling angry and indignant.
"I'm sorry, Discord," said Fluttershy as Discord stomped off a bit, "I assumed you'd have your own ticket since you and Princess Celestia are friends now. Were you not invited?"
Discord said nothing.
"Who, me?" said Discord as he made a ragged suit jacket appear on himself and trying and failing miserably to hide the anger in his voice, "It probably got lost in the mail. No biggie, as the foals say. Well, gotta go!" He then turned to leave.
"But we haven't had any of our Tuesday teacakes," said Fluttershy as she held a plate of the delicious treats on it, "Sokka's worked so hard perfecting the recipe and these are his best batch yet!"
"Well, I guess we're just going to have to exclude them from our party this time," said Discord as he grabbed the teacakes and dumped them inside of his jacket, "Oh, did I say that out loud? I mean, ta-ta."
Fluttershy and Sokka were left stunned by Discord's sudden leave when the floating table and tea pot landed back on the ground with a thud. Fortunately neither item broke upon impact as Sokka put the teapot back on the table.
"Well, that's one way to make it clear he's upset about not being invited," said Sokka.
"Oh, I'm sure there was just a misunderstanding," said Fluttershy, "The Gala would be alot more fun if he was there!"
"He would certainly add some excitement to the event," said Sokka.
"By the way, why did you invite, Muffins?" Fluttershy asked curiously.
"She's done alot for Chase and she always wanted to go to the Gala," said Sokka, "Plus Chase couldn't invite her himself because he and Twilight were inviting some special ponies as their plus ones."
"Who?" Fluttershy asked.
"Don't know," said Sokka, "They wouldn't tell me. But Chase has decided to join Twilight at the Grand Galloping Gala after last time when he had to save the orphanage."
"I see," said Fluttershy, wondering just who Chase and Twilight had invited to the Gala.
(Scene changes)
*Main theme*
Early one morning, Spike was sound asleep inside his little bed basket.
"Gemstones..." Spike snored to himself. Then Discord decided to make himself known by peeking out from inside Spike's blanket.
"GAH!" Spike yelped in fright as the draconequus gave the little dragon a death glare.
"Where's Twilight?" Discord asked in a low, threatening tone.
"Uh, she and Nyx are in Canterlot," Spike answered quickly, "helping Princess Celestia with the Gala!"
"And Chase?" Discord asked in the same tone.
"He had to go take a trip but didn't say where exactly," Spike replied, "just something about picking up his and Twilight's plus ones for the Gala."
Discord then disappeared without another word. Spike sat up from his basket and wrapped the blanket around himself while making nervous noises. He was clearly shaken up, possibly dramatized.
(Scene changes)
Inside the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was finishing the final touches to some Gala dresses that belonged to three very special guests.
"Oh, your first Grand Galloping Gala!" said Rarity excitedly as she held several materials in the air with her magic, "The excitement, the anticipation! I wouldn't miss this for all the jewels in Equestria!"
Rarity then grabbed some ribbon and tied it into a pretty bow and stuck it on the back of Sweetie Belle's Gala dress. Sweetie Belle's outfit was a sleeveless teal blue and mint green dress that had an emerald broach in the chest with a handcrafted tulip barrette clip. Scootaloo's dress was similar but in shades of pastel purple, an amethyst broach, no ribbon on the back of the dress, and a feathery dragonfly barrette hair clip.
"We're going to the Gala! We're going to the Gala! We're going to the Gala!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sang as they hopped up and down excitedly while walking on the modeling platform.
Applejack, Clay, and Rainbow were in the boutique as well, playing cards with each other. The two mares became annoyed at the fillies' singing and excitement.
"Alright, y'all, keep it down," said Applejack bluntly, "It ain't like it's a life-changing experience or nothiiiiiiinnnnggggg..."
Applejack soon ate her words as her jaw slackened once she saw Apple Bloom come out of a changing booth. The little filly smiled as she posed for her older sister, wearing a flowery cherry red and soft creamy pink dress with a floral broach and matching barrette clip as well as her big pink bow. Applejack couldn't help but smile and started crying when she saw her little sister.
"My little sister's all grown up," said Applejack all choked up as she sniffled and blew her nose on Rainbow's tail.
"Hey!" Rainbow protested annoyingly as she pulled her tail away.
"Easy, honey." Clay said gently to Applejack as he held his wife lovingly as she held onto him.
"This is gonna be the best night ever!" giggled the three fillies as they bounced on their hooves excitedly.
It was then one of the mirrors turned into a big, giant yellow eyeball and it was watching them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" the three fillies screamed when they saw the giant eyeball as Discord made his presence known.
"I don't suppose that, uh, those adorable little cutie pies have their own tickets to the Gross Gruesome Gala do they?" Discord asked as he rubbed a finger against the bottom of Apple Bloom's chin and Applejack glared at him.
Apple Bloom then swatted Discord's claw away and blew a raspberry at him, which Applejack and Clay smirked in approval as Discord glared back at the two sisters.
"Ahem!" said Rarity, with Sweetie Belle hiding behind her, "To answer your rather rude question, they're going as our dates, our plus-ones." Sweetie Belle came forward as Rarity hugged her and smiled cutely.
"We're plus-ones!" Sweetie Belle sang. Then Scootaloo and Apple Bloom zipped over to her.
"We're plus-ones! We're plus-ones!" all three fillies sang loudly.
"And I'll be fine with my handsome stallion right beside me." Applejack added as she held Clay protectively.
Discord literally pulled his antlers off and stuffed them inside his ears.
"Yes, yes, yes, I believe I got that!" said Discord irritably as he hovered into the air and disappeared.
"Yeah!" said Rainbow as she slapped a card into the deck sitting on a small stool, knocking the other cards all over the floor. The others just stared for a moment.
"Um...do you think Chase will be able to dance with us at the Gala?" Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.
"Oh, the night would be perfect if we could share a dance with the Prince/Master in a fancy ballroom," Sweetie Belle answered as she and Scootaloo giggled to themselves.
Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Clay gave them looks of amusement as they rolled their eyes in response.
(Scene changes)
At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie just finished giving a hovering Pegasus a delicious cupcake.
"Have a wonderful, special, fantastic day!" said Pinkie as the Pegasus flew off and then passed a strange box laying on the floor.
"Oh, hi, Discord," said Pinkie casually as she passed the box, already knowing it who was inside it, "Want some cake?" A red exclamation point appeared above the box as it opened and the draconequus crawled out of it. He barely had time to stand up when Pinkie zipped up to him.
"I can give you a list of all the flavors we have in order of most delicious to incredibly, unbelievably delicious!" Pinkie told him so excitedly that she managed to pin Discord against the wall.
"Actually, Pinkie Pie, who are you taking to...I mean do you...eugh..." Discord then stopped his train of thought, clawed the side column next to himself, and changed the subject, "...oh, you know what? I am famished. I'll take all the cakes." Pinkie was stunned.
"All of them?!" Pinkie exclaimed. "He wants all the cakes!"
"Well, I'll need all my energy when I'm dancing at the Gala," said Discord as Pinkie zoomed past him and grabbed a box and shuffled about, "if I decide to go that is. Oh, by the way, are you bringing anypony?"
Pinkie then zoomed past again in the background and shuffled about some more and then zoomed back to the counter from the foreground.
"Oh of course!" said Pinkie as she packed a cake with light green icing into a box, "I was gonna ask my mom, because she's, you know, my mom, but it turned out she didn't want to go, so I started asking around and around and around, and I couldn't think of anypony, and I was about to just go by myself, and I realized, of course! Who loves fancy exciting affairs more than anypony else? My sister Maud!"
As Pinkie was talking, Discord tuned her out and looked outside when his jaw suddenly dropped. He spotted Fluttershy with another pony, but it wasn't Sokka. Instead it was a green colored pony with a pastel red and orange dreadlock mane and tail with a handkerchief on her head. His view suddenly went into scope vision as the outer edges flicked red over the green pony. Discord was later seen using a periscope to spy on them and lifted the device as he seethed with jealousy. It was then as Pinkie mentioned that she had invited Maud that Discord had heard enough from the pink pony.
"You know what?" Discord snapped with his back against Pinkie and raised a claw to her face, "Cancel my order." Discord then disappeared, leaving Pinkie stunned as she had now covered the main room in packaged cakes.
"You want none of the cakes now?!" Pinkie shouted, but was left completely unheard.
(Scene changes)
Back outside, Fluttershy and the green pony were chatting with each other when Fluttershy suddenly laughed.
"Oh, my, you are funny!" Fluttershy chuckled.
"I guess every being in Equestria is funny today," said Discord bluntly as he stuck his head between the two ponies as he gave the green pony the stink eye. He then slithered in front of the two ponies.
"Oh, how rude of me," said Fluttershy, "Tree Hugger, this is Discord."
"Radical to meet you," said Tree Hugger in a hippie style tone, "Really digging your vibe."
"My vibe?" Discord remarked rather defensively.
"It's a complement," said Fluttershy.
"Oh, well, I'm sure it is," said Discord dismissively, "Well, I must be off." He then disappeared.
"It has nothing to do with seeing you or not seeing you," said Discord as he reappeared, "You can rest assured of that." Discord then laughed and disappeared again.
"Have fun at the Gala!" Discord said as he reappeared a third time and disappeared and didn't come back this time. Fluttershy was rather stunned over what had happened while Tree Hugger just smiled.
"Righteous!" was all Tree Hugger could say as Fluttershy just smiled.
(Scene changes)
Somewhere in the realm where everything was strange, topsy-turvy, and made no sense. This was the homeland of Discord as a strange creature flew across the foreground. Discord had just arrived at his house, which on the outside looked rather normal. However the inside was different story. There were stairs that lead to nowhere, another opening to a room was upside down, had a bust of a tree branch on a wall, and mismatched walls in the living room.
""Oh, Tree Hugger. You're such a great friend. So much funnier then unfunny old Discord"!" Discord said bitterly as he slammed his front door so hard that a nearby glass vase fell off his donut table and shattered. He then put on a handkerchief on his head and used his magic to summon some cleaning equipment.
""No, no, here. Take my plus-one"," Discord continued to rant as he lifted his sofa where a literal dust bunny was sitting and added one more, ""I insist. Before somepony else thinks he's my friend and expects to be asked instead"."
He then crossed his arms indignantly as he looked out his window and stared wiping the windows, making the suds appear rather than removing them.
""What's that"?" Discord ranted further as he started washing the dishes and making them dirty again, ""You're worried Discord might be upset?" Not a problem! I can make more friends new friends anytime I want. It's not as if any of this actually mattered! I don't even want to go the Gala anyway!"
Any pony could have easily refuted him at this point, but before Discord could continue further. He heard some screaming outside. He then found the mailpony, named Parcel Post, floating and spinning about outside in the great limbo. Discord quickly grabbed Parcel Post.
"Are you perhaps looking for me?" Discord asked innocently.
"Are you "Discord or current resident"?!" Parcel Post asked, "I can't find any street numbers in this place." Discord ignored the mail pony's comment and opened the letter to find a gold ticket inside.
"My ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!" Discord exclaimed happily, "I was invited after all!" He quickly hugged Parcel Post before giving the pony a death glare.
"Why is this so late?" Discord asked in a dark and grim tone. Making the mailpony cower fearfully.
"Well, I got a little lost after I escaped the flying badgers..." Parcel Post explained, "Can you point me in the direction of the bottomless pit? I think I can make my way back from there."
"Oh, over there. Somewhere," said Discord dismissively as he walked away and the Parcel Post was sent floating off into the limbo, "Just go over there."
"Looks like I'll see you at the Gala after all, Fluttershy," said Discord to himself as Parcel Post was grabbed by a flying creature and carried off in the background, "But I can't show up alone. She'll think that she's my only friend. Who could I bring on such short notice?"
Discord then snapped his fingers as he snickered deviously to himself.
(Scene changes)
Soon it was the night of the Grand Galloping Gala and lots of ponies were arriving to what was still considered to be the biggest and fanciest party of the year. Both Celestia and Twilight stood halfway up the staircase in the main lobby.
Celestia was wearing a two-toned lilac dress with a fashionable scarf around her neck while the back of her skirt had some spiral sun patterns on it. She also had some flower clips on the dress as well as a star flower clip on the scarf with her regular royal gold shoes and crown.
Twilight had on a cyan blue dress with blue sunflowers along the bottom of the skirt and a giant yellow-orange bow on the back as well as a blue sunflower beaded necklace around her neck. Her bangs had been styled while her mane had been done in a rather loose hair bun.
"I must say, it's been very nice having you and my son take over some of the planning responsibilities for this year's Gala," said Celestia.
"Anything we can do to make it easier on you," said Twilight.
"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia replied, "I am quite looking forward to just enjoying the Gala for once."
"Same here, Celestia." Chase said as he appeared with his and Twilight's plus ones.
As mentioned earlier, he had gone to pick them up early this morning. It took most of the morning because their plus one was the White Lotus Clan leaders Pakku Shisho, Iroh Shang, and Bumi Ozark.
They were right behind Chase as he led them over to Twilight and Celestia from the top of the staircase. Chase was wearing a nice tuxedo. Pakku, Bumi, and Iroh were each wearing blue and white traditional robes for the occasion.
"It's a wonderful night to see you here, Celestia." Pakku greeted Princess Celestia with a bow along with his fellow leaders. "Since this is another time at the gala."
Princess Celestia giggled in response.
"Glad to see you and your fellow clan members, Master Pakku." Celestia replied back with a smile. "I hope you two are enjoying your stay here in Canterlot since last I saw you."
"Yes, your majesty." Bumi said with a chuckle. "We can't thank you enough for letting us stay at the castle."
The White Lotus leaders left the three alone as Jade, Sunray, Jewel, and Santos came up to join Chase. The eldest son of Jewel and Santos looked at his family with a smile.
"Wow, guys." Chase said in amazement and awe as he noticed that they each wore traditional martial arts robes with a color of their own that matched their bandanas. Purple for Jade, red for Sunray, brown for Jewel, and whitish gray for Santos. "You look amazing."
"Thanks, son. The same goes for you too." Santos replied back to his eldest son with a smile.
"It must be wonderful to be with your lovely wife for the gala." Jewel added sweetly before she said with rolling her eyes a bit. "Besides some of the horrible commotion we don't get to be here."
Princess Celestia chuckled.
"Now, Jewel." Princess Celestia said gently. "No need for that. Just be glad that things will go smoothly for you and your family."
"As long as I am with my beautiful mare, I'm not complaining." Chase said as he gazed at Twilight with a smile as she giggled at her husband.
"Oh, honey." Twilight said as they shared a loving nuzzle.
Then they heard the sound of some trumpet fanfare.
"Announcing the spirit of chaos, Discord," said the Announcer, "and his guest, uh..." The Announcers stumbled until Discord leaned forward and whispered something to him.
"The Smooze!" said the Announcer.
It was then a green blob of green ooze wearing a bow tie and light blue top hat slithered inside. Discord stood next to him wearing a bright orange tuxedo, matching top hat, and carrying a black cane. The Smooze smiled at everypony as they gasped at the blob of ooze.
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised that Discord would be jealous since Fluttershy had asked Tree Hugger for the gala." Chase remarked with a deadpan look.
"Agreed." Jade, Sunray, Jewel, and Santos agreed with deadpan looks of their own as Twilight and Celestia looked stunned.
"Good evening, everypony!" said Discord, "What a glorious affair!" It was then the Smooze extended his lips and ate the Announcer's Trumpet.
"He does have a yen for shiny things, the rascal," Discord added, patting the Smooze's back and getting ooze all over his claw. He quickly wiped his claw clean on the Announcer's uniform.
Twilight, Chase, Jade, Sunray, Jewel, Santos, and Celestia exchanged looks with each other.
"I'll take care of this," said Twilight to Celestia as she zoomed off quickly.
"Honey?" Chase asked, wanting to offer his wife help, but was left unheard.
As Discord and the Smooze walked side by side and the latter belched, Twilight rushed up to Discord and pushed him back with a nervous smile on her face until she had Discord at the edge of the room.
"What are you doing here with...that?!" Twilight exclaimed in a hushed tone.
"Now, now, now," said Discord, "The Smooze may be an "it", but it's an it with a heart of, well, blob."
The Smooze then slithered over to a pair of ponies, who ran for the lives as Chase and his family watched with looks of bluntness.
Twilight just watched everything and gave Discord a glare.
"This night is extremely important to me, Discord," said Twilight, waving at Celestia, and turned back to Discord while adding sternly through gritted teeth, "Keep it under control."
"Yes, yes, yes, of course," said Discord as he waved his cane to push Twilight aside, "Tell me, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere?" Twilight just looked at him blankly as Chase hovered over to her
"I guess I was right when he has been looking for her of all ponies," said Chase, "Hopefully once protocol is finished, Sokka can come and join us. He said Muffins was wandering around somewhere, but I haven't seen her yet...or heard anypony complain that she bumped into something..."
Chase then noticed that Twilight wasn't listening.
"Honey, what's on your mind?" Chase asked his wife.
Twilight blinked and shook her head as she looked at her husband.
"Oh, um, sorry dear," said Twilight, "Guess I'm just worried. With Discord here and that...that giant blob of ooze...(sigh) I just wanted to give Celestia a nice relaxing Gala."
"Don't worry so much sweetie," said Chase, "Those two will add some fun to this event. Though I do agree, I do hope they don't do anything too destructive. But my biggest worry is us."
"Us?" Twilight asked as Chase gave her a sad sigh.
"I'm really looking forward to making some new memories with you since this is my time with you at the Gala, which I hate, but I want to be with you." said Chase, "Discord is gonna pay dearly if he keeps me from having a romantic moment with my girl!"
Twilight giggled.
"Yeah, I would like a romantic moment with you at this Gala," said Twilight and the two shared a quick kiss with each other.
Just a few feet away, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had arrived with Applejack, Clay, Nyx, and Rarity. Applejack had on a green dress with a mare's top hat that had an apple decal on it. Her mane was done in an updo. Clay had a nice tuxedo on with a neat bow tie. Nyx wore a red sleeveless dress with a gem for a necklace. Rarity had on a grape colored dress with sky blue accents along the skirt, sleeves, and neckline. Her mane was done in a curly updo with a small sky blue bat with feathers and gems on it.
"We're here! We're here! We made it to the Gala!" the three fillies chanted excitedly.
Applejack and Rarity just looked rather annoyed from all their chanting, but they still exchanged some smirks with each other. Nyx and Clay looked at them with amusement.
"Calm down, kids." Clay said with a chuckle. "There ain't no need to get hyper like Pinkie Pie."
"Just try to tone down your energy." Nyx added. "The last thing I need is for Mom and Dad to have a talk with Celestia."
"I still can't believe that you were adopted by Twilight and Chase." Scootaloo said. "They even let you call them mom and dad."
"Well, I was an orphan since the Quinkan took my family. Remember?" Nyx reminded Scootaloo. "So now I have a bigger family."
Behind the six mares and Clay, Discord and the Smooze entered the room. The draconequus had just fed the Smooze a giant diamond, which made the glob of ooze increase in size slightly.
Discord looked around until he noticed a pair of very familiar mares at a table chatting with each other.
Fluttershy was wearing a dress inspired by a blue and green peacock with a feathery hairpin. Her mane had been done into a pair of spiral hair buns with her front bangs down. Tree Hugger had on a simple long sleeved lilac dress with a flower crown and wearing a gold necklace. He couldn't hear the conversation but noticed that Fluttershy was giggling.
"Really?" said Fluttershy as she giggled again at something funny.
Discord then smiled with glee and went to approach the table.
"The aura coming off the waterfall was so alive!" Tree Hugger told Fluttershy, "So, like, magic manifestation."
"Wow," said Fluttershy, amazed when Discord approached by purposely bumping into her by walking backwards.
"Oh, Fluttershy, I didn't see you there," said Discord innocently.
"How did you even know to look for an aura on a waterfall?" Fluttershy asked Tree Hugger, not hearing Discord at all or noticing that he bumped into her.
Discord then glared at the yellow Pegasus before clearing his throat to get her attention, but it didn't work. Discord tried again but was ignored a second time. He then leaned closer to Fluttershy gave a loud coughing hack. That got the yellow Pegasus's attention.
"Discord!" Fluttershy exclaimed happily, "I thought you weren't coming!"
"No, I actually never said that," said Discord simply, "But funny how you remembered it that way." He then turned to Tree Hugger, "Anyway, good to see you. Tree Friend, is it? Your name is slipping my mind right now. How strange."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tree Hugger," she replied, playing clueless to Discord's sarcasm, "Blessings."
"You have met me before actually!" Discord snorted.
"Cool!" Tree Hugger replied, "Like, in another life, maybe?"
"You've gotta be kidding," said Discord, "You don't remember me?" He then lifted his top hat to show the mare his antlers. Tree Hugger laughed.
"I meet a lot of different creatures," Tree Hugger explained, "each one of them perfect and unique."
"Yes, well, as I was saying," said Discord as he wrapped an arm around Fluttershy, "it's just great to be here with my oldest, bestest friend."
Fluttershy was rather touched, even if Discord was being a little sarcastic.
"Am I really your oldest, bestest friend?" Fluttershy asked.
"You?" Discord replied as he laughed, "Of course not! You think I don't have other friends? I'm centuries old!"
Fluttershy and Tree Hugger were watching him, the former looking rather puzzled.
"Anyway, I was talking about the Smooze!" said Discord as he hovered to the foreground and showed Fluttershy the glob of ooze, "Smooze Face, the Smoozinator - well, I mean that's what we called him back in college. Smooze! I would like you to meet Fluttershy and, um, hmm...Tree...how'd you say it...Tree Embrace?"
"Oh, I like that!" said Tree Hugger, "It's so in rhythm with my life force!" She then gasped, "Maybe I'll change it!"
Discord just glared at Tree Hugger's apparent failure to identify sarcasm when he noticed the Smooze try to steal her necklace. He quickly swatted the Smooze's tentacle away.
"I can't believe I've never heard you speak of the Smooze before," Fluttershy giggled, "Sounds like you two are so close." The Smooze just slithered off the table.
"Well, I'm glad you got that," said Discord indignantly before teleporting over to the Smooze and hugged it, "because that's what is true. We are very close."
"That's wonderful!" said Fluttershy, "The four of us should go out to dinner sometimes!"
Discord was then so shocked that he literally squeezed the Smooze's head off. But since the Smooze was just a blob of green ooze, it had no problem repairing itself.
"We should all go out to dinner sometimes?!" Discord exclaimed as he got into Fluttershy's face, "Have you no heart?"
Suddenly a pony off screen screamed before Fluttershy could answer. They turned to see the Smooze slithering over to an elderly couple.
"Oh, oh! It looks like somepony wants to mingle," said Discord in a forced polite tone, "We'll be back in a bit."
"Oh, okay," said Fluttershy, "Treezie and I would love to talk to you more later! Not to mention my Sokka too once he's done with security."
"Treezie? Really?" Discord retorted, "Sort of a juvenile nickname, don't you think?" It was then that a drink glass shattered and another pony screamed.
"Smoozie! Wait up!" said Discord as he went after the blob of ooze. It wasn't long before Discord had pushed the Smooze through a pair of doors.
"Now, listen, Smooze," said Discord, "I need to make this party of one for a little while. Just stay out here until I come for you." The Smooze looked stunned as Discord slammed the doors and locked them.
Then he found Fluttershy and Tree Hugger with Apple Bloom, Applejack, Clay, Rainbow, and Scootaloo. They were just laughing together when Discord made his presence known. He then started laughing with them...until he noticed he was the only one laughing.
Rainbow was wearing a dark purple and soft orange dress with pastel yellow along the shoulder straps and bottom of the skirt. Her mane had been styled with a lose curl to make it look shorter.
"What's so funny?" Tree Hugger asked.
"Exactly!" Discord replied. The others just shared puzzled and worried looks with each other.
"Uhh...I think we're gonna go hit the dance floor," said Rainbow, "I know Scoot here is waiting for her big dance with Chase."
"Oh right!" said Scootaloo excitedly as all but Fluttershy and Tree Hugger walked off. Discord then wrapped an arm around Fluttershy and shoved Tree Hugger away.
"Fluttershy," said Discord, "tell the Hugs here about the time that we went to the store and came back with two cakes instead of one, because that's how crazy we are when we're together." Discord couldn't help but make his eyes swirl about when he said crazy.
"Um," said Fluttershy hesitantly, "we went to the store and bought two cakes.
"Oh," said Discord, "Well, you kind of left out all the fun and frivolity there." He then leaned toward Tree Hugger, "But I'm sure you got it, Tree Hugger."
"I got that you really like cake," Tree Hugger replied. Discord froze for a moment.
"We like each other," Discord retorted irritably as he turned his back against Tree Hugger, "That was the point! I'm actually pretty lukewarm about cake!"
"LET ME IN!" Rarity screamed, her voice muffled since she was on the other side of the locked doors and was banging on them.
"Somepony please open the door!" another voice shouted. Fluttershy perked up immediately when she heard it.
"Sokka?" said Fluttershy in surprise.
Chase, his family, Twilight, and Celestia winced as the former rushed toward the door and unlocked it. Rarity and Sokka burst through the doors and plopped into their stomachs. Sokka was wearing royal guard attire. They were both covered in green ooze.
"That creature took my jewels!" Rarity cried out, gasping for breath.
"And when I went to rescue Rarity," Sokka added as he rose to his hooves, "That blob of goo ate my machete!"
It was then Twilight noticed that the Smooze as it "kissed" a mare's ear and ate her earring. The stallion she was with, winced and ran off, leaving the mare indignant. But then the mare saw the Smooze as it hummed and increased a bit in size before running off.
"Discord!" Twilight said angrily as she glared at the draconequus, "I thought I told you to keep your friend under control!
"Oh, please, I have better things to do than to watch that thing all night," Discord retorted when he turned to see Fluttershy and Tree Hugger looking at him. He laughed nervously.
"What I meant to say is," Discord said as he corrected himself, "that thing is a dear, dear friend, and I'll make sure that the ooze, uh, that he can't help but secrete doesn't get on anypony else."
"You idiot." Chase's voice was heard from behind him and…
POW!
"OW!" Discord yelped when Chase bonked him at the back of his head.
The alicorn stallion shook his head at Discord in disapproval. Discord growled at him until he noticed Twilight was glaring at him too. Rarity and Sokka both tried to get the ooze off themselves when Discord appeared with a vacuum.
"Run Rarity!" Sokka called as he bolted out of the ballroom to find a place to wash the ooze off his way.
Rarity was too late to move as Discord's vacuum not only removed the ooze from Rarity, but also removed her dress. While it is a known fact that ponies normally don't wear clothes, the fact that Rarity had been unintentionally undressed in public was still very embarrassing. She smiled sheepishly as she wrapped her fore-legs around herself and side stepped away.
"Thank you," said Twilight, hoping the situation had now been settled and turned to the others, "It's alright, everypony. Let's just get back to enjoying this magical evening!"
"Uh, Mom, Dad." Nyx asked her adoptive parents. "Shouldn't somepony help Rarity find a replacement dress and make sure she's okay?"
Twilight and Chase smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll wash her dress soon enough." Chase assured his daughter gently before he turned to his wife. "And how about a dance that we'd promise we'd do, honey?"
Twilight giggled in response.
"Sure, sweetie." Twilight replied back.
(Scene changes)
As for Discord, he had tied Smooze to a leash and dragged him away.
"You're are making me look like a fool in front of Fluttershy," Discord scolded to the Smooze and shoved him inside a small room, "I'll be back when the Gala is over."
Discord then slammed the door, but the draconequus was in a hurry and was being rather careless. He had failed to notice that he had locked the Smooze inside a room filled with loads of shiny objects. The Smooze licked his lips hungrily.
(Scene changes)
Back in the main room, things had finally settled down and the rather large group of friends were now all in the ballroom. Chase had just finished washing Rarity's dress and gave it back to her as she was back in the main ballroom.
Chase had finally found Muffins, who had worn a pastel orange and yellow dress with a gemmed muffin hairpin in her mane, which was styled in an wavy ponytail. She was now hanging out with Chase, his family, Twilight, and Celestia. Sokka had changed from his ooze coated royal guard uniform and into a grey suit with a black shirt and grey bowtie as well as a trilby hat on his head. He was currently hanging out with Fluttershy and Tree Hugger. They were also laughing. Discord was watching the group with Fluttershy from above one of the giant chandeliers.
"Oh, Tree Hugger," Fluttershy laughed, "I've never known anypony as funny as you."
"You are certainly a barrel of laughs," Sokka added.
Fluttershy then put a fore-hoof on Tree Hugger's shoulder, which seem to set off Discord in a fit as his eyes gave off green flames of envy. He quickly teleported away. It wasn't much longer before the entire room turned dark, making several ponies gasp with worry. It was then that a spotlight appeared as well as a makeshift stage with a brick wall backdrop and tall mic stand.
"Check, check, check," said Discord as he tapped the mic, "Is this thing on? Good evening, fillies and germs! I just flew into Canterlot, and wow, are my interspecies parts tired!"
All the ponies could do was stare or glare at the draconequus. Discord smiled nervously before pulling is orange hat down so he changed into wearing a red open-zipped sweat jacket, a gold medallion necklace, and a belt with no pants.
"I've only got these mismatched wings," said Discord, "and even I fly better then Twilight Sparkle! Am I right? Pchoo!" Discord did a fore-finger point to make his point.
"Hey!" Twilight snapped.
"Easy, honey." Chase said gently. "You fly very well. Let's not get Discord so rash on you."
Celestia just giggled quietly. She had actually found the joke funny. Discord just laughed nervously.
"Uh, well, perhaps you're into more observational humor," Discord remarked as he disappeared. He then made his head peak out from behind...complete limbo.
"Did you ever notice how you always materialize out of thin air?" Discord asked the crowd before he made his full body appear wearing a blue comedians outfit, "Why not thick air? What's the deal there?"
The ponies just stared as one pony named Masquerade coughed uncomfortably.
"Tough crowd," said Discord as he adjusted his tie.
"What is he doing?!" Twilight asked.
"Making a fool of himself," Chase replied, "Like that's anything new."
Muffins, Jade, and Jewel giggled. Santos and Sunray chuckled as well in amusement.
"Good one, Chase." Muffins replied.
"I think they're...jokes?" said Rainbow with an uncertain tone.
"Maud! Jokes!" Pinkie said excitedly.
"My favorite," said Maud in her traditional tone.
Meanwhile, nopony but a single little pony took notice that the room the Smooze was locked up in was starting to glow.
"You might be a Ponyville pony when an ordinary night on the town ends in a lesson about friendship!" said Discord in a muffled tone as he made a watermelon appear on a stool.
"Knock Knock!" said Discord as he drummed a claw against the watermelon but nopony answered.
"You're supposed to say "Who's there?"!" Discord snapped, "This is the most basic of jokes!" Discord then hammered the watermelon.
"Hey!" Nyx yelped as she moved as the mashed up watermelon splattered over Maud.
"You're the most basic of jokes," said Maud. That got ponies to laugh.
"Good one, Maud!" Pinkie chuckled.
Discord just stared, his eye twitching, and was now furious. Meanwhile that little pony was quivering fearfully as the door stopped glowing and then opened to reveal the Smooze or in this case Perfect Smooze.
"What is that?!" Twilight asked as she turned around when she heard the slithering. Chase then turned around next.
"Well, it looks like Discord has been trying and failing to keep his 'friend' under control." Chase remarked in annoyance as Muffins held one of his fore-legs fearfully.
"Agreed." Jade, Sunray, Jewel, Santos, and Nyx agreed.
Even Discord looked rather worried as he saw the Smooze literally flooded the ballroom. Everypony panicked as they amok across the floor now covered in ooze. Rainbow tried to back away, but the ooze made moving difficult. So she tried to fly, but her hooves were stuck in the ooze. When she stopped pulling, the ooze splashed all over her. Discord just stayed on the stage when he saw the Smooze's hat and bow tie floating in the ooze. Then a magic blast was fired, but it barely made a dent in the ooze and was quickly filled up.
"None of my magic works on this ooze!" said Twilight and turned to Celestia, "Can you stop it?" Princess Celestia then tried to make her horn glow, but some ooze on the tip of her horn made her unable to use any magic what-so-ever.
"I'm afraid not!" said Celestia.
"Discord, how could you bring him here?!" Twilight yelled as the draconequus hovered up to her.
"Oh, he's not that bad!" said Discord.
"Oh, my shoes will be ruined forever!" Rarity complained as she tried to life her fore-hooves out of the ooze.
"That's what you're worried about? Really?" Applejack retorted as Apple Bloom and Clay stood beside her, submerged up to her mouth in the ooze. Twilight then looked around to see Chase struggling to get himself out of the ooze.
"Honey!" Twilight called out, "Have you got any tricks up your sleeve to help us out?"
"Sorry, honey." Chase replied back. "This blob is just not the type."
Fluttershy, Sokka, and Tree Hugger were watching everything.
"All he needs is some, like, calming auditory therapy," said Tree Hugger, "I know I've always feel really at peace when I'm being bathed in positive vibes. Maybe he'll calm down with some sonic bliss." Discord was stunned as some hippie style music began to play.
"Do you even know what you just said?" Discord asked irritably as he got into her face and growled at her.
"Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee! Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!" Tree Hugger chanted, which caused the Smooze to start bubbling and the surrounding ooze rippled about like small waves.
"Let go, Smooze!" said Tree Hugger, "Bliss out! Ommmm. Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee!"
The Smooze then smiled and slowly started to reform itself. This caused the ooze to recede from the floor, walls, and ceiling, which freed the other ponies from the ooze prisons and cleaned their Gala attires as well. Tree Hugger continued her chanting until the Smooze was now back to being a blob of ooze, but was still rather huge in size. He then smiled at the group to show that he was feeling better.
"It worked!" Sweetie Belle shouted as everypony cheered.
"Way to go, Tree Hugger!" Rainbow shouted.
"Nice work!" Chase added as he stood next to her.
"That was the most magical thing I've ever seen done with an animal!" said Fluttershy as she gave her friend a hug.
"That was certainly impressive," Sokka added as he hugged the green pony as well. Discord was now behind the Smooze gritting his teeth angrily.
"She's amazing," said Nyx.
"What she did was pretty cool," Jade added.
"Very cool indeed," said Muffins.
"Oh, thanks, everypony," Tree Hugger replied, "It makes perfect karmic sense why magic or water didn't work on him. He only responds to vibrations that peace out his energy fields."
"That's really deep, Tree Hugger," said Santos, clearly impressed. It was then Discord finally felt his temper hit its boiling point.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Discord yelled as he got into Tree Huggers face, "That's it! I'm done with you, Tree Hugger!"
"Oh, man. You're really bumming me out," said Tree Hugger, "Can you just, like, lower your voice a skosh?"
"A skosh? A skosh?!" Discord repeated in rage.
"What's your problem?" Nyx yelled, "Why are you ruining the moment just because you're the one who's acting like a brat and throwing a tantrum?"
"Problem? Problem?!" Discord spluttered furiously. "I don't have a problem!"
Then he used his magic to pull Tree Hugger toward him.
"Whoa, dude! What is that?!" Tree Hugger exclaimed when she saw a real life sock puppet dancing in front of a backdrop that had been drawn with crayons.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," said Discord to the mare. "I'm simply going to send you to another dimension, Tree Hugger. I can't have you interfering in my relationship with Fluttershy anymore!"
"Discord, stop!" said Fluttershy as she hovered up to the draconequus.
"Leave them alone, Discord!" Sokka added as he hovered beside his wife.
"I will," Discord answered, "just as soon as these two are gone! Then we can have a good laugh about this whole affair over our regular Tuesday tea."
Discord then made a table appear in the air before them and sips a teacup. Fluttershy and Sokka both glared at him.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy and Sokka!" said Twilight as she, the rest of the Mane eight, minus Chase and his family, stood on defense, "We'll stop him!"
"Wait a minute!" Chase said, sternly. "This is what it's all about?! A tea party when Fluttershy mentioned she chose Tree Hugger over you?!"
"Yes!" Discord said, angrily. "So stay out of this, Chase."
"WAH!" the seven ponies screamed as Smooze slithered right over them, trapping them into the side of its body.
Chase was now beyond mad before he used his magic to get the others out of Smooze.
"I'm doing Tree Hugger a favor, Fluttershy!" Discord protested and started promoting the place holding a mic and wearing his orange tuxedo, "It's a lovely dimension! White sand beaches, attentive wait staff...I mean, okay, the humidity isn't great, but where isn't that the case these days?" It was then an image of a desert and a picture of a farmer husband and wife was shown, with the former holding a pitchfork.
"I don't understand why you're doing this!" Fluttershy said sternly, "We were getting along so well!"
"I was actually starting to enjoy your company!" Sokka added in the same tone.
"As well as we could," Discord yelled, "considering you both already stomped all over our friendship by inviting her to the biggest night of the year as if I didn't matter at all!"
"Then why isn't Muffins up here to?" Nyx asked, "No offense."
"None taken," said Muffins casually.
"Because it's not me he's upset with, but Fluttershy," Sokka answered, "but that still doesn't excuse his behavior tonight!"
"Sokka is right," Fluttershy said as she glared at Discord, "Did you really think I'd abandon you just because I have a new friend?! You stop it!"
"Why?" Discord retorted, "To answer your question: Yes, because that's exactly what you did! And with three ponies instead of just Tree Hugger!"
"No Discord!" Fluttershy shot back, "I invited a friend to a party! I didn't abandon you! What if you had a friend that you could discuss chaos-based magic with? Would that mean we weren't friends anymore?!"
"Uh..." Discord stuttered as he scratched his chin, "No, I suppose not. It would just mean that I'd have different friends for different things..."
It was then Discord understood.
"Oh...oh, dear, it looks like I've perhaps overreacted just a skosh," Discord admitted.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sokka snapped angrily.
"More like a lot of skoshes!" Fluttershy yelled and raised her fore-hooves into the air, "Tree Hugger, could you give the three of us a minute?"
Tree Hugger nodded.
"Discord, it doesn't take a genius to realize that us choosing a plus-one to the Gala other than you was upsetting," said Sokka sternly, "My wife and I could see it, but you could have just told us instead of beating around the bush and causing a mess! And before you say anything about being a creature of chaos! This isn't about what you are, it's about being honest with your friends instead of just stuffing your feelings down and throwing a tantrum like a two year old!"
"Sokka's right!" Fluttershy agreed.
"Point taken," said Discord, "I'm just so new at this whole friendship thing. It's so much more complicated than it looks."
"Do you think maybe you owe somepony an apology?" Fluttershy asked with her fore-hooves crossed and in a motherly tone.
Discord just looked at her sheepishly and offered the yellow Pegasus a flower, but Fluttershy sternly slapped the flower out of his hand. Sokka had to use a fore-hoof to avoid snickering. He had enjoyed seeing Fluttershy do that more than he should have.
"Not me!" Fluttershy snapped.
"Oh! Oh," Discord stuttered as he cleared his throat, "Yes, right."
He then snapped his fingers, which closed the rip and released Tree Hugger. Discord made sure she landed softly on a large pillow before removing the landing pad. Fluttershy and Sokka gave Tree Hugger a hug. Then Discord saw that the Smooze, with the other trapped six ponies trapped in it, was charging at Princess Celestia and the rest of the guests.
Discord then appeared behind the Smooze, reached into the ooze body and pulled out all the shiny objects the Smooze had eaten. This released the six ponies and reduced the Smooze to his normal size. Discord then magically put the shiny objects back to their rightful places, except for Sokka's machete. Discord gave it to Sokka personally.
"Er, Tree Hugger." said Discord sheepishly, "I'm sorry that you got caught in the middle of my...er, you know...wrath."
"Oh, it's all groovy," said Tree Hugger when Discord hugged her, "Um, I need like a few minutes to clear out my chakras before I can hug you from a place of authenticity."
"Oh, your chakras," said Discord with a nervous laugh, "Fair enough."
(Scene changes)
Later on, the group of friends, minus Twilight, Chase, and Celestia were all gathered around the comedy stage with Discord and the Smooze.
"I owe you an apology, Smooze," said Discord, "I spent the whole evening thinking about my own feelings and never thinking about yours." The Smooze replied by kissing Discord on the cheek, getting it covered in ooze. Discord smiled.
"Well, friends!" said Discord to the group, "I think I may actually grow to like this multiple friend thing."
"I like it too," said Maud.
"You can say that again," Muffins added.
"Hey, it's not a party until somepony spreads magic-resistant ooze uncontrollably over the ballroom!" said Pinkie excitedly with a squee. "Come on, Smoozinator!"
The Smooze slithered after Pinkie as they danced together. he others just watched from the stage while Twilight, Chase, his family, Pakku, Bumi, Iroh, and Celestia watched from the other side of the ballroom. The White Lotus members were informed by what Discord had done and they told Celestia that they had taken refuge away from the party so they could do some meditation somewhere else for the time being.
"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia," said Twilight to the sun alicorn, "I thought my husband and I could give you a break tonight, but it turns out we are in over our head."
"That's true," said Chase, "As much as I hoped Discord would livin' things up, I should've known he would overdo at a certain point."
"You both have nothing to apologize for," said Celestia, "This has been the most fun Gala in years!"
"I know, it was a-What?!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise, "But there was ooze all over the place! And one of the guests threatened to send a pony to another dimension!"
"Yeah, this almost has been a trash heap!" Chase added.
"I know!" said Celestia excitedly, "Can you imagine how dull it would have been if I hadn't invited Discord?"
Twilight and Chase were left speechless as the rest of Chase's family, except for the White Lotus Clan leaders as they smirked at Celestia's childish behavior.
"Now come on! Whoo!" said Celestia as she pushed the still stunned couple to the middle of the dance floor, "The night is still young!"
Twilight and Chase said nothing, but once they recovered, they finally did get to share that special dance with each other.
(Scene changes)
Late that night as the Gala started to settle down, Fluttershy was making her way into the Canterlot gardens. She had sneaked away when the group was listening to Maud do a comedy routine without telling anypony. She felt this was something that she needed to deal with alone. She had barely entered the area where the animals lived when they all scampered away and hid. Fluttershy just snorted and sighed sadly to herself.
"Guess they do remember me," said Fluttershy sadly to himself.
"But it's nothing saying your sorry can't fix," said a voice. Fluttershy turned around to see Sokka quietly hovering over to his wife.
"How did you find me?" Fluttershy asked softly, "I...I didn't want anypony to know I was coming here..."
"I remembered what you told me the last time you were here," said Sokka, "Are you here to try again?"
"I dunno," said Fluttershy, "This was the first time I really started seeing that all my negative feelings about being rejected and unaccepted started coming to a boil. I hated feeling that way. Then I got so angry that I exploded into pure rage. I had nightmares for years afterward."
"I hope not anymore," Sokka asked with concern.
"No, but it's still disheartening to see the animals still run away from me," said Fluttershy, "I'm not the same mare I was when I first came here. I've learned to be more assertive, thanks to you and all my friends. I know that's all I need to feel accepted. I just wish..."
Fluttershy felt a small tear escape her eyes as Sokka used a fore-hoof to wipe it away and kissed her.
"Sit with me, my love," said Sokka as he guided his wife to sit next him on the grass, "Now don't speak."
Fluttershy just nodded and gave her husband a nuzzle as they remained silent and just gazed at each other lovingly. After about a minute of quiet, a single squirrel came out to see the two Pegasi, then a couple of bunnies, as well as a few other critters. They just observed the couple as the two Pegasi shared a soft kiss with each other. They had barely pulled away when they saw all the animals surrounding them. Fluttershy could see how timid they were and thought carefully about what to do.
"Hi," said Fluttershy in a very soft voice and looked away. It was then a little bunny bounced up to her and sniffled her fore-hoof. Fluttershy raised it a bit, but saw the bunny flinch and lowered it down.
"I won't hurt you," said Fluttershy softly, "I'm so sorry for scaring and chasing you around so much the last time I was here. I love animals and I was really excited to see you. But I went about it the wrong way, got really upset, and started chasing you all. I hope you can forgive me and be my friend."
Fluttershy then lowered her head as she began to cry softly to herself. She then heard some chattering and looked up to see the bunnies smiling at her. Soon the yellow Pegasus found that the animals were coming toward her. She smiled through teary eyes as she lifted a fore-hoof and the toucan landed on it and chirped to her.
"It is very nice to meet you, too," said Fluttershy with a giggle, "My name is Fluttershy. I hope we can be friends." The animals all chirped happily as Fluttershy just smiled and cried happy tears. Sokka then walked up to her as he used his fore-hoof to wipe her falling tears.
"Thank you, Sokka," Fluttershy sobbed, "You helped me change a painful memory into something wonderful! I love you so much my prince." Now it was Sokka's turn to shed tears of happiness.
"Anything for you my Flutters," said Sokka sweetly, "I love you so much too my princess." They shed their happy tears together as they nuzzled noses, and held each other lovingly as the animal played around them.
(Scene changes)
Elsewhere in the gardens, Chase had gently guided Twilight over to the rose garden where a majestic water fountain was located.
"Wow," said Twilight softly as she looked around the garden, "This is where you you go for your studies. It's beautiful."
"Yeah," said Chase, "It seemed like the perfect place for me to tell you how I feel about you."
"You are quite the romantic," Twilight teased, making Chase blush.
"Well, my biggest dream at the Gala was asking to train you." Chase said. "Then we started to become closer than ever."
"Quite a big dream there," said Twilight.
"Yeah," said Chase, "But...once I had gotten over my crush on you long ago, I knew you weren't ready to be good enough for me."
Twilight just looked at him with a calm but serious look on her face.
"So tell me then," said Twilight, "At the time you had no idea how I felt about you correct?" Chase nodded.
"All I had was just the fact you said you liked me, even if it was just a friend, and that you thought it was funny that I had a crush on you when I was a colt and got over it as I was maturing so much." said Chase.
"I see," said Twilight, "based on that evidence, I'm not seeing a good reason for you to confess to me your feelings."
"That's where you're wrong, Twilight," Chase answered, "I always had a good reason to tell you."
"I don't understand," said Twilight, giving him a puzzled look.
"Maybe I didn't have enough evidence to show that if I confessed my feelings that there was even a chance that you would return them," said Chase, "But we've been friends long enough that you had a right to know how I feel. I mean...we've known each other for so many years, Twilight. Even as friends, we could say "I love you" to each other."
"I never thought about it that way," said Twilight. "Ugh, if I had just asked how much you meant for me, I would've listened instead of catching up on my studies."
"Just tell me Twilight," said Chase, deciding that trying to refute her previous remark would just lead to trouble, "If you could go back and do it over, what would you have said to me after I said that I love you?" Twilight walked up to him.
"Thank you," said Twilight, "Thank you so for caring about me so much. It means alot to me that you love me. You've been such a good friend over the years, but I don't understand. Why would you love me of all ponies? I haven't exactly appreciated you or given you any hints that I love you back."
Chase took a deep breath before answering.
"I couldn't help myself," said Chase as he spoke from the heart, "the first time I laid eyes on you when I was a colt, you captured my heart. I would like to see if we could be more than friends, but it's up to you. I can't force you to return my feelings or to open the door for dating. Just know that whatever you decide, I'll always love you." Twilight was crying. Chase looked worried.
"Sweetie?" Chase asked gently, "Please don't cry."
"I can't help it," Twilight croaked, "you're always so sweet and sincere! You have this way with words that touches my heart that I can't hold back my tears..."
Chase chuckled as he hugged her and then they quickly pulled away.
"Okay, sorry, I know I need to answer," Twilight said once she recomposed herself and wiped her eyes, "So you see, Chase...the truth is...I love you too."
"Really?" said Chase in surprise.
"Yeah, I've been in love with you for a long time," said Twilight, "I was just afraid because I didn't think I deserved you and I didn't think at the time...that we could be together since we were studying with the Princess."
"I see," said Chase, "but...did you ever stop to think that maybe, being together wouldn't have made our studies more difficult, but it just meant that our destinies are intertwined with each other?" Twilight looked stunned for a moment but then smiled excitedly.
"You're right, Chase," said Twilight, "I mean look at us! Together, we both got our wings and became Prince/Alicorn Master and Princess! We got married and we're now the Royal couple of friendship!"
"Um-hmm," said Chase with a nod.
"And you know what?" Twilight asked.
"What?" Chase replied.
"I'm so happy we get to spend the rest of our lives together," said Twilight, "And getting to our redo: I would be more than happy to date you. In fact, I have a question to ask you."
"What is it?" Chase asked. Twilight then gave him a two second kiss on the lips.
"Will you be my special somepony?" Twilight asked sweetly as Chase smiled at her lovingly.
"I would be honored to be your special somepony," said Chase, "and I want you to always remember something, Twilight."
"Yes?" Twilight asked curiously with a smile.
"You never needed wings to be a princess," Chase said simply, "You were already mine."
Twilight giggled happily.
He then picked a red rose, trimmed the thorns with his magic and placed it behind Twilight's ear. Twilight eyes sparkled in the moonlight as she grabbed a red rose of her own, trimmed it, and placed it into the pocket of Chase's tuxedo. Then they shared another kiss and hug, with Twilight giggling as they held each other.
"You're very precious to me, Twilight Sparkle," said Chase once they pulled away, "I love you and thank you for being my wife."
"You're welcome and thank you for being my perfect stallion, Chase Young," Twilight replied, "I love you too." The two alicorns just held each other close as they gazed at the stars that were dancing across the sky.