Wednesday, 10am – Discord's Hotel Room, (kind of) at the Four Stallions
Fluttershy was sitting out on the terrace.
Ordinarily the rooms at the Four Stallions only had a balcony, not a huge terrace like this one, but at some point during the previous evening Discord must have decided that wasn't good enough. As with most of the Draconequus's creations, it was slightly odd in that it was built on nothing, floating impossibly in mid-air.
They had got the hotel to send up breakfast. Usually he could have conjured that up too, but not this morning.
"What would you like my dear?" He'd asked "I don't know about you, but I can't face the outside world without some sort of sustenance."
"A fruit salad, please? Oh, and maybe a regular salad too. I'm so hungry!"
"Coming right up," He snapped his claws and one of the pillows turned into strawberry jelly.
"Strange…" He tried it again and then again, producing a rain of iguanas and a flock of flying oranges before Fluttershy hurriedly grabbed his claw in her hooves.
"Discord is… is everything ok?"
"I can't believe that I'm saying this on what is effectively the first day of my honeymoon," He said staring at his talons "But I find myself incapable. My magic seems to be on the fritz. I'm sorry my dear, this has never happened to me before!"
"It's ok," She said sympathetically "Maybe we could just wait a little bit and then you can try again?"
He gave her a suspicious look "If I didn't know you better I'd swear you were making fun of me."
"Of course not," She gazed up at him with an expression of wide-eyed innocence "I just mean I don't mind waiting for breakfast. Are you alright?"
"Well, the magic thing doesn't hurt, but my head…ouch-wowchy!" He winced "Even creatures of Chaos are not immune to the ravages of over-indulgence, you know."
So they had ordered room service and now they were eating breakfast in the sunshine, Discord stealing glances at Fluttershy when he thought she wasn't looking. She had changed out of the sparkly, white number though he noticed she had not, as yet, removed her sparkly wedding ring.
Point of fact; neither had he "Well I just haven't got round to it…" He told himself.
More intriguingly, she had also not mentioned going to find the rest of their party. It was most unlike her. He wondered about that.
"Nevertheless, she does seem to be taking this extremely well," He thought as he watched her calmly eating her salad "I mean, here we are, suddenly married, and she doesn't seem to be angry or upset with me – in fact, we're getting on really rather splendidly! And after what was quite possibly a night of unbridled passion. Probably… maybe… …oh, curse this memory loss!"
"Woohoo! Go Discord!" Yelled a voice.
He looked past Fluttershy at the faux rococo façade of the hotel, covered in imitation antique frescos depicting various heroic scenes from history. Amongst them was a classical statue of him wearing a laurel wreath, doing a victory dance and chanting "Go Discord! You're the greatest! Go Discord! You're amazing!"
"You are not helping!" He mouthed as his headache intensified a notch, but the phantasm didn't vanish.
"Oh come on! Tell me you're not exalting in this just a tiny bit?" Victorious Discord scoffed "It's me who's made out of stone, not you… unless the Princess of Friendship forgot to change some part of you back!"
"Shut up!"
"But you should be celebrating!" The other him leered "You wanted her all to yourself, now she's all yours! That miniature shackle around her neck says so. And what about last night, you sly devil? Oh-la-la!"
"Shut up you moron!" He growled under his breath, the pain in his temples was now like someone had a drill against his head.
Fluttershy looked up "Pardon?" Victorious Discord had gone.
"Oh nothing, just talking to myself." He grinned at her over his enormous chocolate dessert "How's your salad Honeybunch?"
"Honeybunch?"
"How about Sweetiepie?" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at him "Sugarplum? Snuggle-Bunny? Oh come on! What am I supposed to call you now we're married?"
She set down her juice glass "Discord, doesn't it bother you that we don't even know how we came to be married?"
"Well I assumed the alcohol had something to do with it."
"Yes but there still has to have been a reason," Her blue -green eyes, usually so clear, were cloudy. It was most disconcerting "Something must have happened last night to make us both want to do this. One of us must have said something or done something … I just wish I knew what it was!"
As soon as she said it, he wished it too. Until this moment it hadn't occurred to him that this whole affair had been anything but a mix-up caused by too many shooters.
"Well…of course, if I had my magic I could show you," He flexed his claws irritably, trying to ignore the searing pain in his head. Then half to himself he added "I guess we could always ask if the others remember any more than we do…"
He shut his mouth, cursing himself. He didn't want to burst the cosy little bubble that seemed to have sprung up around the two of them, keeping everypony else out.
"No." Fluttershy said decisively, surprising him again "I'd rather they didn't know… not yet. This is between you and me. I just don't want them getting in the way of us … of us figuring out what to do I mean."
Then, she picked up a shiny, red cherry from her fruit salad and took a bite of it.
Discord's eyelid twitched.
Seeing her put the cherry in her mouth triggered something; his eyes began to spin like slot machines and suddenly he felt extremely unwell.
Fluttershy started forward in alarm "Discord!? Whatever's wrong?"
"Not… sure!" He gasped, claws digging into the table.
"Discord!" She leapt up and rushed over, grabbing him by the shoulder. As she did so, he made a choking noise and coughed up a sphere of yellow light, like a cat hacking up a hairball. Both of them stared as it bounced once, rolled to a stop and then sat there glowing softly.
"Urggh!" He made a face "I'm terribly sorry my dear, it seems I was more affected by last night's excesses than I thought."
"What is it?" She reached out her hoof towards it.
"How embarrassing in front of one's new bride!" He muttered, then he realised what she was about to do "Wait! Don't touch it!"
There was a blinding flash as the sphere exploded.
Tuesday, 10.30pm – The Skyhorse Bar
Fluttershy and Discord appeared in a flash of light at the side of the table, Fluttershy pink in the face and laughing fit to bust a rib "Oh, that's so funny! I've never seen anypony actually break their arms and legs off while breakdancing before – Oh! why are we back at the table?"
The Draconequus set her down on the seat and squeezed in beside her, grinning maniacally "Because even I need a 'break' occasionally."
"Stop it Discord!" She started laughing again.
"Woohoo! This is great!" Pinkie cried as the rest of the group flung themselves down into their seats, hot and sweaty from the dance floor.
"Such a cool place!" Rainbow agreed happily "I think I even saw some of the Cloudsdale Wingers over at the bar."
"The Cloudsdale Wingers?" The Earth Pony frowned.
"Duh! The Pegasus air hockey team," Rainbow told her "They're the only ones that have ever come close to beating the Wonderbolts own team! I'm gonna go introduce myself!"
"Whatsamatter Rainbow?" Twilight teased her "Are you skipping out on us? Too much for you, huh?!"
"You wish! I was trying to giving you a sporting chance!"
"Oh stop stalling and get ready for round five!" Twilight waved frantically at the serving mare "Seven more Mare-quila Sunrises with slammer chasers please!" She hollered, having to shout to be heard over the music.
Applejack had been watching her friends with mounting concern. On one side of the table, her usually serious-minded friend was ordering drinks like they were going out of fashion; on the other side of the table, her usually shy and retiring friend was guzzling cocktails and almost breathless laughing at something being said in her ear by the Draconequus, the only one of the three not acting out of character – if anything, he seemed to be showing off even more than usual.
"Now just what is he sayin' that's so all-fired hilarious?" The farm pony frowned "Nothin's that funny!"
But something must have been, because the Pegasus had tears rolling down her face. She only stopped when a tray of drinks arrived at the table, snatching up one of the glasses and taking a large gulp "Oh thank you," She said "I can't remember when I've been so thirsty!"
"Twilight," Applejack nudged the purple alicorn "Don't you think it might be time for us to slow down now? You ain't got nuthin' to prove,"
"The hoof I don't!" Twilight yelled "I've still gotta drink these wimps under the table!" She raised her glass at Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Discord, all of whom raised their glasses in an ironic toast. Spike watched them glumly, nursing his third milkshake.
"Who's ready for more?" The Princess of Friendship put her hooves in the air.
"Aw shucks!" Applejack sighed, taking a large gulp of her own cocktail "Ah guess if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
Twilight's head whipped round "It's my favourite song, let's go dance!" She leapt up from her seat and began to push her way through the crowd, Rainbow and Rarity following, Pinkie hauling Applejack along with her.
Fluttershy stayed sitting where she was next to Discord, watching her friends enjoy themselves. He snaked his long neck down so that he could speak to her without bellowing "Having fun, Flitterflutter?"
"Oh yes!" She gave him an enthusiastic smile "I'm having a wonderful time. I always do when we're together!"
He felt his stupid grin get even wider "She's having a wonderful time, because she's with me!"
Absent-mindedly, she picked up the red cherry out of her Mare-quila Sunrise and put it to her lips, biting into it.
Discord's eyelid twitched. As he gazed down at her, he felt a little light-headed. He was sure he could hear birdsong again, even over the music "Is it the booze?" He thought "We've had enough to sink a ship!"
"Don't you want to dance?" He asked.
"No… not that dancing isn't great, but I was… well," She hiccupped and then flushed adorably, turning those vivid eyes on him again "I was hoping we'd have more chance to talk,"
He was starting to feel a bit flustered himself at the intense look on her face "But my dear, tonight is supposed to be all about fun and frivolity!" He tried to lighten the mood and found that suddenly his throat had gone all dry. He took a gulp of his cocktail.
She swayed towards him "But Discord, I wanted to tell you something,"
Whatever it was, he found he was leaning forward eagerly to hear it, like an iron filing pulled to a magnet "You can tell me anything, Fluttershy!"
At that moment Rarity leapt in between them "Come on darling, we need you!" She grabbed Fluttershy's hooves, yanking her out of the seat.
He was left gazing after her in perplexity "Now, what was that all about?"
Suddenly he felt Spike's claw on his arm "Discord?"
He turned. The little dragon looked utterly miserable.
The Chaos God shook his head as if to clear it, then raised an eyebrow "Let me guess: you're feeling upset about something and you want to unburden yourself to me?"
"Well not upset exactly –"
"And now that we're friends, you expect me to commiserate with you about your trivial problem?"
"It's not trivial! It's –"
"And in your hour of need, you're seeking my sage worldly wisdom and advice?"
Spike grimaced "Normally you're the last friend I would ever ask for advice but you're my only friend here who's a guy!"
"And you want a male confederate against the massed forces of femininity?"
"I guess,"
Discord grinned "Not a chance!"
"Well I – what?! But I thought we were friends!"
"Oh, we are! And ordinarily I might oblige you – if I could stave off the nausea such a prolonged bout of sappiness would induce – but this evening I'm busy enjoying myself, so I'm afraid you'll just have to make do with liquid consolation."
He snapped his fingers and a large Mare-quila Sunrise appeared in Spikes claws.
"Discord!"
"No need to thank me," The Draconequus said magnanimously "Just don't squeal to Twilight. Now drink up like a good Dragon and let's see where the girls have got to."
Wednesday, 10.30am – Discord's Room, The Four Stallions. Mostly.
Fluttershy blinked rapidly as the after-images faded away and she found herself back on the terrace of Discord's hotel room. The glowing sphere was gone.
"Oh my goodness! That was so… so strange, did you just see – "
"A live action rerun of what happened last night?" Discord put his lion paw on his chest and coughed "Yes, I saw."
"It was like I was reliving it; I can remember it now!"
"Me too."
"But what was that thing?"
"A time sphere." She looked at him in utter incomprehension "Last night we misplaced a large amount of time, right? Almost an entire evening! Somehow, I must've absorbed all that time we can't remember. That must be what's making me sick and causing my magic to go wrong – the temporal energy surges are disagreeing with me. What we just experienced must be some of the time we lost."
"Discord, that isn't how it works!" Fluttershy protested "We don't remember last night because we drank too many cocktails, not because of you absorbing time! It doesn't make any… sense…" She trailed off at his raised eyebrow.
"Discord, Master of Chaos. Have we met?" He bowed in ironic introduction "Oh, wait a minute! Yes we have, because last night we got married!"
"But the flashback didn't explain that either!"
"Sorry, but I'm not in control of it. Although we did seem pretty... ahem... friendly, you must admit."
She looked at the floor "D-do you have any idea what caused it? The time sphere I mean?" She said.
"It was when I saw you eat a cherry, I suddenly got a feeling of – oh I don't know – really intense déjà vu. You did the same thing with the cherry from your drink when we were talking last night..." His eyes narrowed "What were you going to tell me anyway, back there at the table?"
She blushed and mumbled something inaudible.
"Oh come now, FlitterFlutter," He coaxed "I meant it when I said you can tell me anything."
She took a deep breath "Well…"
At that moment there was a loud knocking at the door and they heard shouting "Discord! Fluttershy?!"
Both their heads snapped round towards the noise and Fluttershy moved her hoof automatically to cover the tell-tale diamond hanging around her neck.
"Discord please," She whispered as the knocking intensified to hammering "Let's keep the whole marriage thing just between us until we can work out what happened? Please?"
He stared at her. For some silly reason he didn't like it that she wanted to keep this a secret. Didn't like it at all.
"But that's ridiculous," He told himself "Why should I mind? It's not as if I actually – "
"Come on Discord!" There was more shouting, louder this time "Open this door for pony's sake!"
Fluttershy was looking at him in mute appeal and he realised she was waiting for an answer.
"Of course! Anything for you, Snookums." He bared his teeth at her in a facsimile of a smile as he went to get the door.
The five other Elements and the dragon were waiting outside, all looking red-eyed, dishevelled and tired.
"Ladies, Spike," He beamed at them genially, keeping his wedding ring hidden behind his back "How lovely to see you this fine morning. I trust you all slept well?"
"Discord – you were in there," Twilight squinted up at him "Didn't you hear us pounding?"
"Where's Fluttershy? Have you seen her?!" Demanded Rainbow.
"But of course," He said, as innocently as he could manage "She's here with me. Do come in."
His last words were redundant, as Rainbow had already barged past him. When she got inside she skidded to a halt. The others piled into the back of her as, one by one, they all pulled up short and gaped.
"And Ah thought ma room was fancy!" Gulped Applejack.
"Hmmm yes," Discord said behind them "I have improved it somewhat."
"But where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow howled.
"Oh, she's eating breakfast out on the terrace."
"Hello?" Came a soft voice and the blue Pegasus sped towards the sound.
"Terrace? I didn't get a terrace!" Rarity complained as they all trotted outside, to find Dash clasping Fluttershy in a bone-crushing hug. "I'm alright Rainbow!" She gasped as the blue Pegasus all but squeezed the breath out of her "Really I am!"
As Dash finally let go, Fluttershy surreptitiously rearranged her long hair to conceal the ring hanging around her neck.
"In fact we were just having breakfast." She added; ignoring the death stare from Discord "You'd all be welcome to join us."