A/N: Sorry that these chapters are a little slow and not entirely focused on Fluttershy and Discord, but I needed something to build up into what happens here.
Pinkie Pie hummed as she gathered up the rest of the streamers on the floor. Another successful birthday party. Suddenly, a smell hit her nose. She sniffed the air, then put her snout to the ground. Like a bloodhound on the hunt, she followed that smell to her kitchen. She peeked over the door and saw the most wonderful sight ever.
"CHEESE!"
An orange stallion with brown crazy hair, turned away from the stove, and smiled. "Hey Pinkie, I-"
The pink pony crashed into Cheese Sandwich, her husband, and gave him a bear hug.
"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Happy tears came out of Pinkie's eyes. Cheese had been gone for over a year. 389 days, 16 hours, and 48 minutes, but who's counting?
Cheese wrapped his hooves around Pinkie and held her close. "I missed you even more."
"Boneless was lonely."
"As was Boneless 2."
The two looked at each other, and their faces moved closer.
"Pinkie, I need your-" Rarity burst in the door with an envelope. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"
"No!"
"Yes!"
Rarity smiled slightly. "Well, I guess I can come back later. Good to see you, Cheese Sandwich, and Pinkie, don't do anything I wouldn't do." The look that Rarity gave Pinkie was the Behave Look, a look that Pinkie ignored as often as she could.
She turned back to Cheese. "Where wermmmm..."
Outside, Rarity looked at the envelope in her hooves. The paper was shaking slightly. It was a letter from Canterlot. Rarity prayed that it was from the pony she hoped it was. Maybe it was bad news. Maybe the announcement didn't go well! Rarity furrowed her eyebrows and started walking back to the shop. She was still staring at the letter when she bumped into somepony.
"I am so sor-"
"Rarity, I see you got my letter." Fancypants smiled at the blushing unicorn. "I do hope that it wasn't a surprise to you. Did you understand my . . . proposition?"
Rarity bit her lip and picked up the unopened letter. "I just got your letter today, Fancypants. I was away for a few days for a client, and just returned to Ponyville today, and I haven't had a chance to read it yet."
Facnypants looked at her astonished. "Oh, well then." He cleared his throat. "I suggest that you read it," he said, but made no notion to move. Rarity carefully opened the letter and scanned the contents.
She dropped the letter, and stared at the stallion in front of her.
"What do you mean that your family doesn't approve of our engagement?"
"It is exactly that, but did you read to the end?"
The fuming unicorn retrieved the letter and continued reading. Her hoof went to her mouth as she read further. When she had finished, Rarity looked at Fancypants with tear-filled eyes.
"Do you accept my proposition?"
Rarity nodded.
"Good, then meet me at the library in one hour."
"An hour?! That is all you are giving me?! I have to get ready and tell my-"
"I have already informed them. They will be there. Princess Twilight even agreed to perform the ceremony, and I had that gown you were in love with sent to your house."
Rarity threw her hooves around him. "I love you so much!"
Fancypants smiled. "I love you too."
Applejack reached up to fix Spike's tie, as Rainbow Dash sped into the room making papers and stacks of books fall over.
"Am I late?"
"No," Twilight said, picking up books. "We aren't starting for another ten minutes."
"Where's Soarin'?" Spike asked.
"He offered to stay home with Shockwave and Hailstorm so that I could be here. Hailstorm is a good kid, but Shockwave is a troublemaker, so I should get back there within an hour, or I might not have a house to go back to."
Pinkie Pie bounced in with a big grin on her face, Cheese Sandwich right behind her. Applejack, Spike, Twilight, and Rainbow all were happy about Cheese's return. Just then Fluttershy came in with Tina in tow, and Fancypants, in a nice suit, came in right after her.
"Is Sweetie Belle coming?" Twilight asked.
"No," Fancyponts shook his head, "she couldn't get time off of rehearsals, but she was sure to send a long letter to Rarity congratulating her, and to say that she might have found her special somepony. An amateur songwriter and singer."
Tina ran to the window and smiled. "She's coming!" Fluttershy looked around. No Discord. Good, she wasn't in the mood for talking with him today.
Fancypants walked to the door and opened it to reveal Rarity. If the unicorn could be even more radiant than ever, today was that day. The gown that she wore was not one that she made herself, but it was just as extravagant. The ruffles and ribbons went perfectly with the white satin of the full figured dress. Rarity had pinned up her hair and put small satin flowers in it, and applied soft, shimmery make up that made her eyes glow even more.
Fancypants smiled and walked with her to Twilight. "The train for our boat to the Galloppines leaves in two hours, you might want to pack for a few weeks," he whispered in her ear.
Rarity beamed. Twilight smiled at her friend. "Two weddings in two months. I hope we don't make a habit of these last minute weddings." She glanced over to Fluttershy, who was fussing over Tina's mane.
Turning back to the couple, she put on a serious face. "Make sure that you sign the registry before you leave. Now, Rarity, do you take Fancypants to-"
"I do. I do. I do. I do!"
Everypony laughed. "Alright. Fancypants, do you take Rarity to be your wife to love and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"Then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you stallion and wife."
Fancypants and Rarity kissed and everypony cheered. It wasn't the big Canterlot wedding that Rarity had been hoping for. This was better than that.
Fluttershy looked at the happy couple. An image of her wedding came to mind. Her groom flashed back and forth between Discord and Jack. She shook her head and focused back on the happy couple.
Everypony was waving good-bye to the newly wedded couple, who waved out of the first class car of the train.
"I'll send you postcards!" Rarity shouted over the train noise and cheering.
Discord watched from a hilltop nearby, smiling. Event though he had missed the wedding to help the Princesses with a cloudquake in Cloudsdale, even he thought that was weird, he got to see Rarity and Fancypants off on their honeymoon.
Where would he have taken Fluttershy for their honeymoon? Discord thought back to the limited wedding plans that tFluttershy and him had made ten years back. The honeymoon wasn't one of the things they had talked about. Maybe they would have travelled all over? Discord could go almost anywhere, but knowing Fluttershy, she would have wanted to stay home and just spent time together. Discord smiled sadly, and looked back at the town.
He searched the crowd until he found Fluttershy and Tina leaving at the back. He teleported down to where they were. He was about to shout a greeting when Jack came out from around a corner. He had traveling bags on his back.
"Jack!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I thought you weren't going to be back for another week."
"The tour finished early, and I couldn't wait to see you." Jack leaned in to kiss Fluttershy's forehead, then suddenly disappeared. Discord jumped in surprise. Had his powers gone out of control again? He thought they had until he saw Tina standing next to Fluttershy, a determined look on her face.
"Tina, bring-"
"No, not until you explain what is wrong between you and Daddy."
"Your father?"
"Uncle Dissy, Discord, whatever you wanted me to know him as."
Discord was just as surprised as Fluttershy was. "How did-" Fluttershy stammered.
"I'm not stupid. He looks just like his statue in the Garden of Heroes, and he came around the same time you got that letter from Auntie Twilight saying he was back, which you left lying on the table. Did you really think that I wouldn't notice?"
Fluttershy looked ashamed. "I was hoping you wouldn't."
"Why?" Tina was about to cry now. "Why would you keep that from me? I waited my entire life to meet my daddy, and when he finally came, you lied to me about who he was!"
"I didn't know how to tell you, and Jack-"
"Jack, Jack, Jack! That's all you ever talk about lately! When Daddy came back, you looked more happy than I have ever seen you. Then that first day he walked me to school, something changed. You started acting all cold to him, avoiding him, ignoring him when he tried to talk to you, and glaring at him fro across the room. Like he meant nothing to you!"
"BECAUSE HE DOESN'T!" Fluttershy burst. Tina took a half a step back, startled by her mother's outburst. Tina saw darkness swirl in Fluttershy's eyes for the first time.
"Discord went and fought an enemy he knew very well might kill him, with no thought to what his death would do to me! He went off and left me. ALONE! The only thing that kept me from killing myself was you, Tina! You gave me the reason to live that . . . that creature took from me! But even then, where was he when your fever wasn't going down?! Where was he when I needed help putting food on the table?! We were getting along just fine without him! Jack has been good to us! You should be thankful!"
Discord, still hidden, pressed his paw to his chest to stop the hurting. He had no idea that he had hurt Fluttershy like that and that she hated him for it that much. No, he shook his head, whatever is wrong with her is making her say those things.
Fluttershy looked down at her daughter and saw the tears. Tina shook her head, and ran away. Discord disappeared to follow the hurting filly.
Fluttershy realized what she had just done, and ran after her daughter, but Tina teleported away. Fluttershy collapsed to the ground.
"What have I done?"
Tina ran and ran, unsure of where she was going. She ran until she couldn't breath anymore. A pair of arms stopped her, picked her up and held her as she cried.
"She didn't mean any of that, Tina."
The filly looked up and sniffed. "I know deep down she doesn't, but something is convincing her that it is." She buried her face into her father's chest. "Can't you do anything about it?"
Discord shook his head. "I have been trying for weeks to figure out what it is, but I haven't a clue what it is or what it is doing to her. It hurts me just as much as you to see her like this."
Tina sniffed. "Maybe a kiss of true love with fix it?"
"Rarely in my over a thousand years of experience has that worked, unless we were fighting a Changling army."
"Maybe it will work this time." Tina pushed away from Discord and looked him in the eye. "Something is keeping her heart from remembering what you both had, and a kiss may push it away enough for her to remember and fight it."
Discord leaned down and kissed Tina's forehead. "Maybe. You are a clever filly, Tina."
"Of course, I got it from you."
"And equally from your mother."
The two stood up and started walking back towards town. Tina stopped. "Can I go to Aunt Applejack's? I don't want to see Momma right now."
Discord nodded in understanding, and teleported them both to Sweet Apple Acres. Cheerilee and Applejack were playing Patty Cake with little Cheery Bloom in the front yard while Apple Bloom sat with her month-old colt, Frosted Apple, in the porch rocker. Applejack got to her feet and walked over to Discord and Tina.
"Where's Fluttershy?"
"I am about to go and talk to her. Can Tina stay with you until Fluttershy and I come and get her?"
"Sure thing, Discord. Is somethin' wrong?"
"Yes, but hopefully I can fix it." He leaned down and hugged Tina. "Be good, Squirt."
"I will, Daddy."
Discord turned to walk back to town, to look for Fluttershy. He was passing the Everfree Forest when a stallion came walking out of the trees.
"Hello, Discord."
"Hello, Jack."
A/N: Ponyville is going to implode! The two rivals have finally met!
The Dash twins names are courtesy of my best gal-pal, who graciously let me borrow them from her book-in-progress.
I decided to give Tina some more credit. She is clearly a smart filly and would have figured it out on her own, and I think her answer to the problem is just plain cute.