"WHAT IS THAT?!" King Cosmos roared when Celestia arrived with Discord at her side.

"Daddy, don't hurt him!", the alicorn shrieked. "He's my friend!"

Discord looked at her with confusion, but also hope lit his eyes. "Friend?"

Before Celestia got a chance to reply, Queen Galaxia lit her horn in fury and shot a beam of pure power and rage at the poor creature.

"NO!" Tia yelled, shoving the draconequus aside and lighting her own horn, collecting the power bolt.

Both powerful alicorns started talking at once.

"Danger to Equestria"

"Unpredictable"

"Not worth the risk"

"Surprised he survived"

"Glad we caused that avalanche"

Both Discord and Celestia shot up suddenly at the last part.

"YOU CAUSED THAT AVALANCHE?!"

The king and queen stepped back as both adolescents started shouting furiously.

"MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!"

"HE'S BEEN MISERABLE!"

"MY ENTIRE FAMILY RIPPED AWAY!"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE?!"

After the shouting died down, King Cosmos trotted forward.

"We had to, or the draconequus tribe would have destroyed Equestria!"

Discord was still in tears, which, thanks to his unpredictable chaos magic, caused a flood that was rising up to their hooves.

"DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK ABOUT ANYPONY ELSE?!" he sobbed, his voice shuddering with every word.

Queen Galaxia turned to her husband.

"Cosmos, just LOOK at him."

The king's regal head snapped forward.

"I'm looking at him", he grumbled through clenched teeth.

"Have you stopped ONCE through your hatred for their kind and thought about THIS poor creature?!" the queen yelled. "We're literally DROWNING in his TEARS because YOU can't show a SHRED of sympathy for the very creature whose parents were RIPPED AWAY FROM HIM because of YOU!"

"THEY KILLED MY FAMILY TOO, GALAXIA!" the king roared. "I COULDN'T LOSE YOU TOO!"

He hung his head, his starry mane drooping.

"I couldn't lose Celestia…."

After an awkward moment of silence, King Cosmos lifted his head, gave a long, hard stare at Discord, and spoke.

"He may reside in the garden until we find somewhere else for him"

Celestia threw her hooves and wings around her father and mother"

"Thank you", she whispered.

As the alicorn and the draconequus walked side by side towards the garden, Discord spoke up.

"Did you really mean it? Am I your….friend?

"Of course", Tia replied. "After all, you're the only one who's ever understood me…" her voice trailed off. "Unless, of course, you changed your mind after the whole "parent blowout" situation", she finally said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Of course not…." Discord reassured her, putting his eagle claw on her shoulder. "Even though your dad is PRETTY scary with the whole "killing my family" part".

He smiled, but Celestia could sense his pain.

She smiled back, then spoke up. "By the way, I never got the chance to try your cotton candy cloud thing, with the brown rain, and…"

The draconequus beamed at her and snapped his fingers, summoning a glass and a pink cloud.

But the cloud floating above the crystalline object drooped as he acknowledged her dejected expression.

"I-is something wrong?"

The alicorn winced. "It's not you, it's my family"

"Hey, it's ok", Discord said softly.

Celestia curved her lips in a half smile and put her hoof in his lion paw.

Discord flinched, but relaxed his arm and blushed.

They stayed like that for a minute, and didn't notice King Cosmos glaring out the window.