Discord screamed.

He screamed in anger, in fear, in terror, and even in custard. He was chaos personified after all. He was acutely familiar with petrification, he had experienced it for a very long time, and at the hooves of Princess Celestia no less. This was a little different. Last time he had been aware, awake, fully within his head. Everything is just so fuzzy.

It might have been minutes, years, seconds, but he finally stopped screaming. He would have panted if a statue could. There was something outside, something… drinking from him. Events needed reviewing.

A little Discord walked out onto a set in Discord's head, carrying a projector, a laptop, and a screen. Setting the gear up, the little Discord poked at the track-pad with a paw. "If you see here, just as you cracked this, if I may say so, brilliant joke, we can just see Fluttershy as what we turned her into." The image froze, then started zooming in on the big cockatrice. "Wait, this is getting pixilated, let's switch to digital!"

The image became sharper, more in focus, giving more and more detail as it zoomed in on Fluttershy's eyes. I hurt her...

"Sure did, buck-o. Look at that, I have never seen a pony so angry and crying, all at the same time." The Discord at the computer brought up the text-editing tool and started working the image into a meme almost right away. "I can glue this here you know, so you can remember how angry she was just as she did it?"

Discord himself shrank from the thought, but couldn't stop the little tech from making the "YOU HURT ME" or the "FRIENDS DON'T HURT" text on the image, nor could he stop when the inner-self plastered the image directly behind his eyes. Sometimes, being me sucks.

He tried to get a deck of cards to form up in his head, but all Discord could see when he looked was Fluttershy, angry and sad, hurt and scared. I'm sorry, Fluttershy... They were words Discord had very rarely said to anypony, chaos didn't apologize… but he hoped that she would let him out… just so he could say them.

Staring deep into those eyes, Discord passed the centuries he was sure was passing. I'm sorry. He imagined nothing in his head, unlike last time he had been petrified. I'm sorry. There was no more custard, no cream pies to throw at targets made from Celestia's head. I'm sorry. There was nothing except him and Fluttershy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry...

"I'm sorry!" Discord blinked. Had he spoken? What was happening?

"That is a start." Twilight Sparkle, queen changeling, glared at the suddenly animate four-headed Cerberus.

"I'm sorry Discord." Fluttershy's voice sounded broken and pained. Discord quickly fractured and was free of the multi-headed canine. "I really didn't mean to do that, you just made me-" Fluttershy stopped, Discord was standing before her, staring into her eyes.

"No, it was my fault." Discord couldn't stop looking into those eyes, seeing reflections of the terrible meme that had been his only companion. "I should have asked first, but it just seemed like there wasn't enough… chaos, around here."

"Discord." A white alicorn stood above Discord, to the side. "Now is the time to turn everypony back." Celestia brooked no opposition. Despite the reason for coming, she couldn't deny that it had been a good stay. To her side, Luna stood, proud, focused on her own demons.

"Was it at least a little fun?" Discord started swinging a single claw around in circles before pointing straight up. Every pony in town felt the touch of Discord's magic, who had felt it before.

"We're free!" Spike was the first to yell, leaping into the air and quickly joined by two pegasi. Then a roar of happiness rose up.

Celestia looked to her sister. "Lulu Turn," it was nice to say—with their nicknames, of course they couldn't use their full names—even just between them, "welcome home, Sister." Celestia was suddenly caught up in a hug as Luna pulled her into an embrace that was being mirrored by nearly every couple in Ponyville.

"Tia Turn." Luna nibbled at her sister's jaw playfully. "I still can't get over you being trim again. Speaking of, we should go and rescue Twisty."

Bubbling happiness swelled in Celestia as she turned, with her beloved sister at her side. "Let's," she poured out power and, in a puff of white, appeared back at the castle, "cheat." Celestia flicked her wings and trotted toward the open doors. Inside a changeling queen had a little filly, bundled up with the bare minimum of swaddling, snuggled against her.

An earth pony. Celestia didn't care, there was not a single word she could use to describe the love and devotion she felt to the little filly. "And there is your mommy now." Twisty nuzzled the little cheek of the filly.

"She is all our daughter." Celestia had no use for propriety or manners, not with Golden Dawn. "Aren't you, Goldie?" The filly lifted both forehooves up to poke at her mother. "Lulu Turn?"

Luna almost melted at the words, her name, the name of her mate. One. "I can relax now, Nightmare Moon is gone." The dark alicorn flopped down with her lovers and their foal. "Golden Dawn." Luna leaned in and pressed her nose to the little filly. Celestia and Twisty could both see the stress of dealing with her darkest self slip and slough from Luna.

"We should go back." Twisty nuzzled Celestia, letting Luna have some time to bond with the foal. "I dread to think how those two handled Equestria for almost a full month."

Noise approached, happy noise from happy ponies. "We should go…" Celestia spread a wing around Twisty and Luna, leaned down to nuzzle their foal.

"No you shouldn't!" Starry trotted down from the stairs toward the little family. "If you think for one second that this isn't going to be the biggest party you have ever seen, you don't know Ponyville very well, and if you also think you aren't going to be guests of honor, then you don't know Princess Sparkle."

"There you are!" Twilight's voice, minus the fangs she had talked through for nearly a month, was once again her own. Starry had done her duty to her Princess well, she had faced off against Princess Celestia and kept her busy for those vital moments. "We were just about to have the biggest party in—" Twilight yelped in surprise as a mass of black swamped over her, not stopping until only her head was free. Blushing and laughing, Twilight gave Celestia a look the older alicorn had never taken from her student, only given. "You surely aren't going to leave?"

Ponies were flooding around the little meeting of princesses. It seemed mostly just happy and a little short of the spark needed to go completely "party mode".

"Hey, everypony." Vinyl turned the gain up on her mic as she looked out over the crowd. A cord trailed from her back into the "party hall". Silence hung heavy. "Now that we are all ourselves again, let's…"

Vinyl only got out the first half of the word "party" before the crowd screamed it back at her, louder even than her speakers could handle.

Lyra gave one last thrust into his Bonny and unloaded again. He bucked and ground, driving himself hard into the mare, when there was a flash of magic and the mare was just a mare again. "Oh buck, I was getting to like that." Lyra dropped a forehoof down, rubbing Sweetie between the legs. "Never let it be said, Bonny, that I didn't act like a gentlecolt."

Sweetie fell sideways, tilting her head to look up at her lover. "Ly-ly!" Lyra was quickly crushed in earth pony strength. "Ly, this is going to be so great, cast it again!" Sweetie Drops rolled onto her back, hefting her wife so they were belly-to-belly.

"How often am I going to have to cast this thing?" Lyra was only mock grumbling as she let herself be pulled along. She kissed Sweetie's snout, loving the feel of being "the right size" again. It had been a simple spell, one any mare could cast. She worked the magic in her horn, surprised at first when she channeled black magic.

"Hey, stop that, you don't need to-" A black gag descended on Sweetie's snout and grabbed on firmly. "Mfmffm!" She was smiling behind it.

"Being Sombra has taught me a lot of new tricks." Lyra's eyes flickered with green and red highlights. She fastened the magic-gag firmly and switched to her normal gold magic. She worked the spell properly this time and a floating panel appeared above Sweetie's body. It hovered above Lyra too, by dint of the unicorn being in the way. When the face appeared in it, it was no longer Sombra's features, it was Lyra's soft smile.

"Mfmffmfm!" Sweetie squirmed and reached a hoof up to the gag, poking and trying to pull it free. It took barely a thought from Lyra to dismiss it. "Ly!" Sweetie wrapped both forelegs around her wife and pulled her down into a tight and passionate kiss. They lingered, neither wanting the moment to end, but of course a knock came at the door.

"If that is Princess Celestia again, I am going to strap her down and stuff her with toys." Lyra got up from her wife, trailing kisses down Bon Bon's body. "I'll get it. COMING!"

Lyra felt in no way diminished, there was certainly something lingering. Then it hit her, just as she was about to open the door. Sombra was powerful because he was smart and powerful, what if I kept some of the former? She opened the door to forestall any further self-examination.

Rainbow Dash was grinning at the unicorn from the other side of the door. "Huh, figured you would be here. Shop has been closed so much these last few weeks." Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"We were busy." Lyra giggled. "What's up, Dash?"

"It looks like the whole town is heading up to the castle to celebrate, didn't want my ol' dungeon-buddy missing out." Rainbow ruffled her wings, letting some lightning play over them.

"Well let me think." Lyra lifted a hoof up to her chin. "I could go with you and party, or stay here and keep banging the hottest earth pony mare in Equestria."

Sweetie Drops, spotted by Rainbow, stomped heavily up behind Lyra. "You get a pass on the 'banging' part only because you told the truth." She had a towel over her back-half. "We will be there shortly, Rainbow. Thank you."

Dash could take a guess as to what they would be doing that would be "shortly". She barked a laugh, spreading her wings and lifting an inch off the ground. "Just get your plots up there, tonight is going to be awesome!"

Applejack was back to her normal, earth pony, self. Celestia had blinked away magically just a moment before and she couldn't help but give a sigh.

"What's the matter?" Muffins inhaled and tasted just what was the matter. "You liked being an alicorn?"

"No!" Applejack spoke too fast to be believed. "Ah just… Ah was important like that." She was small even compared to Muffins, which had been another thing she liked about being an alicorn. "Yes."

Muffins giggled loudly and reached over to the orange pony at her side. Pressing her hoof to one of Applejack's, she pressed something to AJ. "Now it is your choice. Don't let anypony tell you what you can't be, Applejack Pattern, not even fate." The flood of mixed emotions hit Muffins, made her giggle and then gently sip at the more positive ones.

Watching the strange alicorn walk away, all Applejack could do was mutter, "Applejack Pattern," under her breath. A glance down at her hoof revealed Muffins had put a simple little amulet there. Squinting, Applejack could make out a word engraved on it, highlighted in green, "Dreams".

"Applejack!" The high-pitched voice of the contemplative earth pony tore through the crowd and a moment later a yellow filly, almost a mare, bolted up and hugged Applejack tightly. "We are back to normal!"

AJ's sister had been an alicorn too. "We are, ain't we?" Applejack tucked the amulet back in her bag and hefted her sister up for a proper hug. "How does it feel?" It was tough for AJ to say, she was asking her little sister for advice on something the filly shouldn't have to ever deal with.

"It was great and all, but I like being me!" Apple Bloom looked up at her sister, noticing something was a little odd about her expression. "Good as it was to be able to do all those amazing things, I still just want to grow up…"

Applejack noticed her sister trail off and blush. "Grow up and?"

"Grow up and find out why colts seem nice." Bloom tried to hide her head but all she got was a giggle and a nuzzle from her sister. "What? I do!"

Applejack caught sight of Tender Taps, running up to his own family and bonding with them. "Ah bet you do, sugarcube. Ah think Ah might be thinkin' a little silly myself."

"Oh?" The revelation that her big sister was deep in thought about something that possibly wasn't an apple was almost alarming to Apple Bloom.

"I liked being an alicorn." Applejack pulled out the amulet again.

Author's Note

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