Chapters Twilight had received an invitation from Discord saying he wanted them over for a dinner party which they all accepted as a gesture of their growing friendship with the draconequus. On the day of the party, a portal opened for them to transport them to his living area.
They saw a cottage before them that seemed to resemble Fluttershy's cottage which caused the pegasus to be touched. There was also cotton candy clouds above them, which caused Pinkie to drool. A voice said, "Now, Pinkie Pie, I don't want you spoiling your appetite not when I have a dessert table for afterwards." Discord appears at the door, "Welcome my friends! Let me give you a tour of the place first before we have dinner."
"That sounds lovely, Discord…" Fluttershy smiled.
"I knew you would be please…" he caressed her face.
When he moved away, she turned her head to blush.
When the tour was over, he wore his butler attire again and escorted them to the dining hall. Once he had them seated with Fluttershy and Twilight close to his seat, he had the dancing candles coming out to entertain them, with a snap they're were gone, and he announced, "Dinner is served!" another snap, silver covered dishes were placed on the table.
"Oh my, Discord," said Rarity, "this is simply divine! I'm impressed!"
With his magic he revealed the entrees, "All the food that ponies can eat! Dig in!"
And naturally, Pinkie took that literally and pig in. Once the food was demolished, Pinkie asked Discord where the dessert table was that he promised, and he pointed it was in the next room over and a pink blur zipped past him.
After the successful dinner, Applejack volunteered to help clean up while the others went to where Pinkie was and had noticed that Discord was giving Fluttershy glances.
"So, how long have you had this crush on Fluttershy?" she asked with a smirk.
His eyes widen and quickly said, "What makes you say that?! I don't have a crush on Fluttershy!" he avoided her gaze.
"Yer lyin'… You won't look me in the eye because you do!"
"Oh? And how would you know?! You don't know anything about crushes!"
She bit her lip, "Actually…" she turns away from him, "I do…"
This intrigued him, "Really? You have a crush on some pony?"
"No! I mean… yes, but, he's not a pony…" she looked down.
His eyebrow rose in confusion, then look back to the room where the others are, suddenly Spike came in view and it hit him, could it be… some dragon? With a grin, he thought, How marvelously delicious… And he says to her, "Is it… Spike?"
She dared not to look at him and stood quiet.
"I'll take that as a yes." he gave a small smile and touched her shoulders, "So, how long has that been going on?"
She moved out of his grip, "Whoa there, partner! I ain't saying anything until you tell me about your crush."
"Hm, very well, but you must pinkie-promise not to tell any pony or a certain special pony about this."
She glared, "And you have to pinkie-promise not to tell either."
"Fine. Shall we do it together?"
She nodded and they both said, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Discord used a real cupcake for the last part causing AJ to shake her head.
While they were talking, Spike and Fluttershy were having their own conversation.
"So do you think you can help me with Angel while I'm with Rarity at the spa tomorrow?"
"Uh, sure, I guess I can do that."
"Thank you!" then she look over to where Discord was in the kitchen it made her smile that two of her dearest friends were having a good talk then a thought occur to her, and went to back to ask Spike, "Um, Spike?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, I don't know how to say this but… you know what it feels to have a crush so…"
"Wait…?" he look on in disbelief, "You have a crush on some pony?"
"Well, um… he's not really a pony… but he's good as any…" she sighed lovingly.
He look at her with confusion, but then got what she was getting at, and started to say out loud in shock, "Dis-" but he was grabbed and his mouth was cover by Fluttershy's hoof, making sure no one else heard that, luckily the others were still preoccupied by Discord's choice of décor. So she quickly moved to the hall, and uncovered his mouth where he took a breath and whisper, "Discord? He's the one you have a crush on?"
"You have a crush on Rarity, it's the same thing."
"Uh…" he blushed, "to be honest, Rarity hasn't really crossed my mind in a long time now. Instead, I want to impress-" he stiffed before he said another word and covered his own mouth.
Fluttershy did a sly grin going, "Oh…? If it's not Rarity you want then who is?"
"Nah-ah! You ain't getting nothing out of me!"
"Then I'll just have to guess, is it… Rainbow Dash?"
"She's cool and all but not my type."
"Pinkie Pie?"
"Always fun to be around, but it's hard to keep up with her, so no."
"Twilight?"
"Gross! No! She's like my big sister!"
"Oh, right… Me?"
"Now if I had a crush on you wouldn't I be feeling heartbroken over your newfound feelings to Discord?"
"I suppose you're right. Then it has to be…" she gasps with wide eyes, "Applejack…?"
He looked away so she wouldn't see his deep blush.
"Oh, my… How long?"
He sighed, "Since the Timberwolf incident… It's just… even when I was still pursuing Rarity a part of me had wondered what it would be like to be with Applejack… So with Rarity not showing me any interest no matter how hard I tried to get her love I started thinking maybe it was time to focus on someone else and well Applejack… she's so amazing, you know? The way she's so strong both physically and emotionally… The way her emerald eyes sparkle whenever she talks about her family or work… Or how her mane blows against the wind whenever she runs… Uh, I mean…" he began to blush again, but felt a playful nudge.
"I'm so happy for you! You love her! You really love her!"
"Okay-okay!" he waved his arms to keep her voice down, "Now are you going to tell me what you find Discord so attractive? I mean no offense, Fluttershy, but he's not exactly… the best looking… if you know what I mean."
"Oh, Spike, despise his outward appearance, Discord is very handsome… He's sweet, lovable, funny, and he sets out to please me, that I think I've fallen for him…"
"Wow… you feel that strongly for him?"
"I do…" she beamed, then an idea occur to her, "Spike… can you help me of how to express my feelings to him?"
"Sure! As long as you can help me get to Applejack."
"Deal!" they shook on it, "When you come by my house tomorrow, that's when we can help each other."
"But don't you need to go to the spa with Rarity?"
"Once I tell her it's for a noble cause she won't mind."
Panic spread over his face, "You're not going to tell her about my new crush on Applejack, are you?"
"Of course not, I won't say anything, and you won't tell our friends about my feelings to Discord, right?"
"You got it!"
"Pinkie-promise?"
"Pinkie-promise." and they both did the gesture.
Back in the kitchen, Discord was amazed by the information AJ just gave him of her liking Spike since after he saved her from a giant Timberwolf, and Applejack was equally amaze by Discord's declaration of him crushing on Fluttershy since after being reform. A light bulb then appears above his head and told her.
"Say AJ?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking, maybe we can help each other out!"
"How?"
"You want Spike, right? And I would do anything to have Fluttershy!" he moved around her.
"So your point is…?"
"You teach me how to win her heart and I, in turn will help you earn Spike's heart. It's a two for two deal!"
"It does seem good…" she pondered and daydreams of having Spike right beside her when she would buck for apples and he hold out a bucket for them to fall in, and after they were done for the day they would look into each other's eyes and kiss… Wait what? Where did that come from? She looks up to Discord giving her a sly grin.
"So…?" he took out his paw to shake.
"Alright, fine!" she took the paw, "Be at my place tomorrow mornin'! I'll show you how to win a mare's heart!"
"Oh, goody!"
Once Discord put up another portal for them to get home, they said their good-byes or thanks for the meal, one by one they went though with Fluttershy having a prolonging to leave and gave him a quick hug before she went. He blushed by her touch and his heart pounded. He wanted to so badly tell her how much she meant to him. But he had no idea of how to do that, so with the help of his new friend he'll finally be able to.
Fluttershy walked slowly to her cottage wishing she could tell Discord how she felt about him, and how much she wanted him. She didn't want to go from him and instead wanted to stay to embrace him forever. With a face full of determination she vowed she would tell him soon, with Spike's help, she will do just that.
Spike crawled into his bed and gave out a sigh, his head filled with the still same Applejack images he had every night, every once and awhile before the Timberwolf rescue his head occasionally filled with images of Rarity but now he can't stop thinking about Applejack and his heart filled with hope that Fluttershy was going to help him admit his true feelings to the mare he really loves.
Applejack looked out the window of her bedroom, overseeing the orchard knowing she'd had to get up extra early to finish her chores before Discord comes by for his lessons on courtship. It made her excited that Discord was returning the favor with helping her on her own unrequited feelings for a certain dragon. But could he do it? Could he actually help her get his attention away from a mare who takes him for granted to a mare who loves him unconditionally? She crawled into her bed, having to wait and see…
Author's Note
With Valentine's Day coming up, I've been in a romantic mood, and I actually started this fanfic three years ago but I got stuck in the beginning so it had to be put on the backburner until now when inspiration had struck me. I hope you'll enjoy this, and please review. Reviewing gives me extra writing mojo and I don't mean just asking for updates, because while it's flattering you're asking for more chapters it just adds extra pressure that writers don't need.
Celestia raised the sun high into the air. Applejack woke up on cue and finished her chores and stood waiting in the apple orchard. She tapped her hoof and thought, Any minute now… Suddenly she felt something hard hit her head to see it was an apple, she looked up to see Discord fiddling with the branches.
"Discord! Get down here and leave those apples alone! They're not ready to be bucked!"
"Oh, very well." he popped down to her side, "So how we going to this?"
"Well, um… I guess we just take turns talking, do you want go first?"
"Perhaps you should."
"Fine, the first thing you do is admit to the mare you like how much you really like her."
"Just like that? That's too easy! What's the catch?"
"But it takes muster to go through with it and you need to do something to profess your love."
"How would I do that?"
"Well, you could do something Fluttershy likes to do."
"Like… singing?"
"Yeah! Something like that, can you sing?"
"A little… But it doesn't match her angelic voice…" he sighs.
"It don't have to be the same pitch as her voice, just use your own. Then you sing a song of how you feel about her…"
"You… you think that could work?"
"I think it would."
He smiled but then frowned, "But… what if she just wants to remain friends? I dared to hope that she would be my special some pony ever since we came back from the Changeling Hive and if she doesn't…"
"Hey now, I don't believe that for one second. Fluttershy thinks very highly of you, somehow I don't think she wants to be just friends."
"You think so?!" his heart starts to flutter.
"You bet, but you'll never know until you make that first move. Mares love it when a guy makes the first move."
"Hmmm, I'll keep that in mind. Now, enough about my sorry love life let's work on yours…" he rubbed his hands giving a school girl giggle.
She gulped, "Oh, boy…"
Spike knocked on the cottage door, with Angel Bunny answering it and letting him in, he saw Fluttershy was hard at work feeding her animals, she look behind to see him, "Have a seat Spike, I'll just be but a moment."
"No problem." he went and sat on the couch.
Once she was done feeding Harry the bear, she flew over and sat next to him.
"So, um," Spike rubbed his neck, "How are we going to help each other out?"
"Oh, well… I guess we talk it over and give each other advice."
"I suppose that's right, do you want to go first?"
"I think you should."
"Okay… the way I see it you want to tell him you like him, actually, more than like him, right?"
"Uh-ah." she nodded, blushing.
"So the first thing you got to do is show him, do something he wants to do, that you care about him."
"You mean… like using his powers more?" knowing that Discord has been limited to use his magic at full power around ponies.
"Whatever you think is necessary to win his heart, guys like it when a mare gives them a hint of being liked."
"Alright… thanks. Now we do you!" she giggled.
Sweat rolled down his face.
Meanwhile, back at Sweet Apple Acres. Discord was floating while acting like a psychologist and writing down notes, as Applejack was ranting back and fore.
"…And then she goes and takes advantage of him!"
"Hm-mm, I see…" he was actually doodling but listening just the same.
"So here I am hopelessly crushing on the guy while she doesn't give a hoot about his affections! I swear, I'm caught up in a tangle of a love triangle! I like him, but he likes her, and she doesn't give a da-"
"Alright! I get the point!" he put a finger to her mouth, "So your problem is you need to eliminate the competition…"
"Discord…" her eyes widen, "As prissy as she is, I could never hurt one of my best friends or Spike over a pointless love triangle we're in."
"No-no-no, you'll not touch a hair on Rarity! Not that you should… Rarity can be pretty dangerous when it comes to some pony messing with her mane-"
"Discord, the point?" she said in aggravation.
"Right, you need to out pretty-ive Rarity!"
"Say what now?"
"Well, Spike did fall for Rarity's beauty when he first met her, did he not?"
"Well… yeah… he did…" she draws out.
"And I've seen pictures of you in your Apple Jewel dress; Spike was pretty impress then, wasn't he?"
"He… was." she slowly admitted.
"There you go! Sooo… Makeover!" he said in a sing-song tone and clapped his hands.
"Uh-oh…" she said before they teleported away.
Spike was rambling on as Fluttershy gave off a look of concern.
"…So, how can I show AJ that she's mean more to me then Rarity did? How can I prove to her that she's not a second choice but the only girl for me…?"
"Oh, my… that's a very good point. What can you do to show her…?" she ponders. "I think… it should be something that you haven't done for Rarity before. What haven't you done for Rarity?"
"Well, I, um… I never had a kiss from her."
"But she kissed your cheek, didn't she?"
"I mean a real kiss, I was always fantasying about sharing one with her like the time she was taken by the Diamond Dogs, but I realized I was about to kiss…" then with a twinge, he uttered, "with Applejack…"
"That's right! I remember that! And you were so close, too!"
"But don't you think a kiss would be awkward at this moment?"
"You're right… A kiss like that must be share when two ponies or in our case, two creatures are deeply in love with each other…"
"So what else can I do?"
"Hmm, didn't you give Rarity a fire ruby?"
"Uh-ah." he nodded.
"Well, maybe you should do something like that for Applejack, a gift that would mean so much to her…"
"But what? AJ's not interested in jewels."
"It doesn't have to be a jewel, but something equal to a jewel, like gold or silver-"
"Gold! That's it!"
"Oh, are you going to find gold coins for her to spend on the farm?"
"Even better!" he jumps off the couch, "I going to get her a gold apple!" he started running out of the cottage all excited now.
"Oh…" she said before she could wrap her head around it, "What?!" and ran after him as he said.
"Princess Celestia has a tree with golden apples! I know! I've seen it in Canterlot!"
"Oh, goodness! That's incredible! But will Celestia let you take one of them?"
"Once I tell her it's a gift for a special pony, she will!"
"The next train for Canterlot leaves in ten minutes! Can we make it?"
He then jumped on her back, "If you fly us there!"
Fluttershy spread her wings as she concentrated on how it important it was for her friend to find happiness with the mare he desired. She went at a speed that would rival Rainbow Dash as she zipped past Twilight's castle where the princess and her student, Starlight Glimmer was reading on her balcony and when a yellow blur zoomed past them causing a wind to flip their pages, making them both gawk.
"Was that…?" Twilight started to ask Starlight before brushing it off, "Nah, not likely…" she went back to her book.
Pinkie was skipping and humming along in town when her Pinkie sense went off and she quickly ducked. A yellow blur zoomed past and Pinkie looked up in surprise.
"Wow, don't see that every day. Must be something important for Fluttershy to go that fast like some pony trying to confess their deepest feelings to someone they really like." she took out her wallet full of pictures and found the one of Cheese Sandwich while sighing lovingly, "Like me with Cheese…" she ended up glancing at the picture for awhile.
Rarity was busy hanging her laundry when a blur caused her clothes to fall and she gapped at where the blur went.
"That wasn't… that couldn't be…" she shook her head figuring she was just seeing things.
Rainbow was resting on a cloud when something zoomed past her and caused her to wake up with a startle as she held her head, stating, "Whoa, what a crazy dream. Fluttershy was flying as fast as me!" she wiped her brow, "Good thing it was all a dream…" and she went back to sleep.
Applejack was in the barn while Discord was waiting outside, telling her, "Come on, AJ, come out and show me your new look!"
"No!" her voice went through the door.
"Now, Applejack… How am I supposed to help you impress Spike if you won't come out of there?!"
There was a sigh before the barn door slowly opened. The cowgirl that usually wore a Stetson hat walked out wearing long purple silk gloves on her hooves to go with her red glittering sequin dress while her mane was combed over her right eye and she had make-up on her face with bright red lipstick colored on her lips.
"This is ridiculous!" she proclaimed, "Not even Rarity would wear something like this or put this much gunk on her face!"
"All the more reason you'll be able to impress him! It'll show you are not like Rarity but are still gorgeous!"
"This is not me in the slightest! I don't like dressing up that much! He'll know I'm not being myself!"
Suddenly a blur passed them by causing the pony and spirit to gape.
"Discord… was that…?"
"It most certainly was…" was all he could utter before his heart fluttered and he floated up feeling giddy, "Fluttershy, my dearest, you never cease to amaze me!"
"All aboard!" the train conductor called out, "For Canterlot!"
Fluttershy managed to zip right into the car just as the train started moving. She landed on the floor with a thump causing Spike to land on a seat.
He exclaimed, "Wow, Fluttershy! I didn't know you can go that fast!"
She gave a weak smile, "Well, when watching Rainbow practicing her flying, you pick up a few things."
"Then why…?"
"Haven't I done it before? Well… for one it's exhausting and I don't like going fast anyway. But this time, I knew I how much you wanted to get a golden apple for Applejack, I couldn't just let you be sad if we didn't make the train in time."
Spike smiled, "You're an awesome friend, Fluttershy, all I can say is, I hope Discord treats you right when you become his very special some pony."
She sighed, "If I ever do become his special some pony…"
The dragon patted her back in comfort, "I'm sure you will."
She smiled back, "And I'm sure Applejack will be your special some pony when we get back."
"Once we get that apple, she will. At least… I hope she will…" he looked out the window in worry.
Discord and Applejack- who was still all dressed up-made their way toward the Castle of Friendship. But AJ was dragging along because she was too scared to face Spike looking like this. Discord had to use a magical pull on her to make sure she didn't run for the hills as they made it to the castle doors and went in.
He called out, "Yoo-hoo! Any pony home?!"
Twilight and Starlight showed up on the stairway balcony and gawked at the sight that was Applejack. Twilight flew down to her friend.
"Applejack! What are in the world are you wearing?"
The mare muttered, "Wasn't my idea." and glared at Discord.
"And I keep telling you, you'll thank me for this!" he insisted before turning to the princess and her student, "Now, have any of you ladies seen Mr. Spike the Dragon?"
Twilight raised her brow, "Spike? Why do you need Spike for?"
The draconequus glanced at the cowpony who glowered at him, and was saying with her eyes, Don't. You. Dare. Tell. Them.
Discord gave a slight cheesy grin as he replied, "I was going to ask him what he thought of this outfit that Applejack volunteered to put on as something for our next guys' night. I'm planning on taking him and Big Mac to Las Pegasus, figured I would need to expose both of them to certain ponies we would encounter there…"
Twilight frowned before saying, "I'm not sure I like the idea of you taking a baby dragon to one of Equestria's more excitable places…"
Applejack spoke up, "He's not a baby dragon, Twilight! He may look like one but he certainly doesn't act like it! Why most of the time he's more mature then the rest of us!"
Twilight, Starlight, and even Discord gave surprised glances of how passionate Applejack was to speak about Spike like that.
The draconequus thought with a smirk, Well, well, I knew she had it bad but my goodness, that was practically a declaration of love right there…
Twilight gave her friend a confused look as to why she would speak up like that and was starting to feel suspicious of how her honest friend felt about her number one assistant.
Starlight broke her thoughts when she addressed both Discord and Applejack, "Well, I know Spike isn't here right now, he told me he had to go to Fluttershy's this morning to help her out."
Discord raised a brow, "Fluttershy? Why would he be with Fluttershy?"
Suddenly, Pinkie came through the doors delivering a package of cupcakes to Twilight.
"If you're looking for Fluttershy, she flew down the train station, who knew she could fly so fast?! Am I right? Anyway, I didn't realize until now that she was carrying Spike on her back, guess they were flying so fast you couldn't see him."
Applejack questioned, "Spike was with her?!"
The pink mare nodded, "Uh-ah. They were in a real rush, too. I wonder why."
Discord and AJ exchanged looks, this was very strange for both their crushes to be hanging out like this and the fact they both left Ponyville together made them feel concern.
Pinkie then said, "Hey, I just noticed!" and pointed to the cowpony, "You're wearing a dress!"
Twilight and Starlight just sighed in exasperation.
Spike and Fluttershy made it to Canterlot and went straight to the castle where Celestia was doing paperwork when she noticed her visitors. She smiled and put aside her work.
"Hello, my friends, what brings you to Canterlot?"
Spike went up to the princess, "Celestia, I need your help."
Worry grew on the alicorn's face, "Has something happen to Twilight and the Elements? Or is Ponyville under threat?"
Spike waved his claws, "No-no-no! Nothing like that!"
Celestia sighed in relief before smiling again, "Then why the urgency, dear Spike?"
The dragon blushed as he twiddled his claws, "Well, um… I, um… I need a golden apple for… some pony I like…"
"Ah…" the princess uttered in understanding, "A gift for Applejack no less…"
His eyes widen, "How did you…?"
The alicorn smirked, "There's only one pony I know who loves apples very much in the fruit and family sense… And I have put it upon myself to memorized all the Elements' birthdays and since Applejack's is still a few months off, I can only assume you are doing this for her for a personal reason…" she winked.
This made the dragon blush further.
Celestia noticed Fluttershy was staring at the glass stain windows particularly the windows where Discord was defeated twice and she could see the pegasus having a look of guilt on her face. She went to comfort her.
The princess stated, "Before, these windows showed important moments of events that have happened, but as I look at them again, I can feel pain. It is surprising of how much we have come to know the spirit known as Discord. At first it was important to stop him from spreading complete chaos, but leaving him in stone wasn't the answer.
"I will admit at the time, I thought having Discord around for his magic and to use it for good was all I cared about. I didn't consider his feelings into it, mainly because I thought he didn't have feelings... I was just using him for my own purposes. Regrettably, I realize now I was using you too, to get him to cooperate. But you don't know how happy I am to see how far you came as friends…"
Fluttershy felt herself blushing, and stammered, "Princess… I… I don't want him as a friend anymore…"
"Oh?" the alicorn looked on in concern, "Has something happen between you two?"
"Yes… something did."
"Oh, I'm sorry, my dear, do you want me to tell him to keep away from you from now on?"
"What? No! Oh, Princess Celestia, I couldn't bear for that to happen! I need him!"
This time Celestia was shocked, "Need… him…?" then when seeing the pegasus' pleading eyes, she uttered, "Can it be…? Have you…?"
Fluttershy simply nodded, and whispered, "Please don't tell him or the girls, I just… I want to tell him myself…"
Celestia looked over to where Spike was and he was slightly smiling to Fluttershy. She realized that only Spike knew of Fluttershy's secret crush and in turn she knew his while the rest of their friends had no idea. They must be helping each other in this delicate moment of telling the one they like how much they liked them. The alicorn smiled at such a wonderful friendship that had happen since she sent Twilight to Ponyville all those years ago. Indeed her pupil turned princess has come so far and has done so much such as making friends and encouraging friendship on others.
She turned back the mare, "You have my vow. In fact, what is that promise that Pinkie Pie does?"
Spike said, "The Pinkie Promise and it goes something like this: Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Ah, yes. In that case, I cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye that I will not reveal your love for Discord or Applejack." she winked.
Spike and Fluttershy beamed at her words.
Then she remembers why they were here and addressed, "Now, you came here looking for a golden apple, correct?"
"Right!" Spike exclaimed.
The princess slightly frowned, "Alas, I do not have my golden apple tree here anymore."
The dragon was disappointed, "Why not?"
"It became too risky to keep the tree in my personal garden. Ponies had heard of it and tried to steal from it."
"That's awful!" Fluttershy proclaimed.
Celestia nodded, "It certainly was, so I asked a friend of mine to guard the tree at her place." she summoned a map of Equestria and pointed to the mountain ranges south of Appleloosa. "Her name is Concordia, much like how Discord is a wielder of Chaos; she is a wielder of Order. In fact, it was her mother Harmonia who created the Tree of Harmony."
The dragon and mare gaped at this information.
Celestia chuckled, "Yes, Concordia was created especially to fulfill her mother's legacy of bringing harmony to the land by bringing order. I knew the tree would be safe with her so it was brought there and she kept close to it ever since."
"What do I have to do to get there?" Spike asked.
Celestia raised her brow, "I know you are an adventurer, Spike, but even you must realize what kind of a journey you're undertaking."
"I don't care. I need that apple. You don't know how hard it was doing things for Rarity only for nothing to be returned. Maybe with AJ, I got a shot of having those feelings being returned, but I need to prove to her that I care only for her… That apple is my only chance of doing that."
Celestia was astounded, this is more than a school crush, Spike wasn't hopelessly fawning over Applejack as he done for Rarity, instead he wanted to go the extra mile for her of how much she meant to him. Celestia could remember feeling that way toward Good King Sombra back when she visited the mirror world so she knew all too well of what the dragon was feeling.
I will not have their love be doomed… she silently thought, I could not be with the one I loved, but that doesn't mean Spike and Fluttershy should share that same fate with their loves…
She told the dragon, "Very well, Spike, but I advise you to be careful, I will not be there to guide you like last time." recalling his and her adventure of finding the telescope lens for Twilight's birthday gift.
"I'll be with him, Princess Celestia." Fluttershy said.
"I know, but I want you to be careful, too. Danger lurks everywhere in those hills so watch out for each other, somehow I don't think Applejack and Discord and all your friends want to find you battered and hurt."
The two gave determined nods with them saying, "Understood."
Author's Note
I got lucky with the updating but don't expect it to happen again this soon. Reviews are welcome.
Author's Note
Okay, apparently I'm on a roll, not sure how long it's going to last though, in the meantime enjoy this new chapter and please tell me what you think of it.
Chapter 4
"Canterlot?" Applejack questioned to the station master, she was back to herself once they realized Spike and Fluttershy weren't in Ponyville and decided to question the station master on where the train took them.
"That's right, that train left thirty minutes ago but the next one should be here within the next hour."
Discord dismissively waved his paw, "No need for that." he grabbed Applejack and teleported them to Canterlot's garden.
He said, "Now where do you suppose the objects of our affections are at?"
Applejack pointed, "Fluttershy and Spike are good friends but what would cause them to come to Canterlot?"
He shrugged not sure how to answer that, because as much as Discord tends to know things before his friends do he was absolutely clueless in this case. Why would Fluttershy and the dragon take a trip together?
A thought crossed his mind that made him uneasy, "You don't think that… Spike and Fluttershy are actually… in love , do you?"
Her eyes widen and shook her head trying to dismiss the thought in her head, "No, they can't… I mean, Spike likes Rarity, right? And Fluttershy and Rarity are best friends; maybe he's just getting advice from her that would help him out."
"But why go to Canterlot? What would be the point of her giving advice if they had to come here?"
"Maybe… he's looking for a gift to give Rarity, we all know how much she loves visiting Canterlot and she has her own Boutique here, maybe he's… finding a souvenir of some kind…" it pained her to said that but it seemed very likely. It was all the more reason she needed help in impressing the dragon, suddenly wearing that get-up Discord put her in seemed enticing if it meant getting Spike in the end.
Discord pondered, "Hmm… then we best look in every store in Canterlot until we find them." with a snap he transformed himself into a grey unicorn. "Incognito, of course."
"Whoa." she uttered seeing Discord in pony form.
"Oh, you like?" he struck a pose.
She shook her head while being flustered, "Sheesh, you know I'm not attracted to you."
"Right, almost forgot, your taste is more toward dragon ." he smirked.
She felt her cheeks going red from both embarrassment and anger.
Spike and Fluttershy found themselves on the edge of a cliff.
"Sure was nice of Celestia to teleport us to the mountain." said Spike.
Fluttershy gulped while looking down, "But did she have to teleport us so high up? Couldn't she have teleported us directly to the tree?"
He pointed out, "I'm not sure how alicorn magic works, Twilight told me how hard it was keeping all of the princesses' magic within her and she had a hard time teleporting, so…" he shrugged not sure of the answer, and figured that Celestia she must have a reason for him and Fluttershy to be climbing a mountain to the tree. "Besides, Twilight also told me how hard it was climbing that mountain to stop that dragon from causing that smoke over Ponyville and you had a really tough time getting up there before you told the dragon off."
"Well… yes, that was a hard climb…" she sighed, "Okay, but maybe we should set camp here before we continue on."
"Good idea! I was getting hungry anyway, good thing I packed us a lunch before Celestia teleported us." he took off his pack and gave Fluttershy a sandwich and he had one too.
After eating for a bit, Spike asked, "Fluttershy… do you think AJ will love me?"
"I see no reason why not, after all, you did save her from a vicious Timberwolf and I remember how impressed she was afterwards." she made a slight giggle, "You know, the way you're getting this apple for her reminds me of penguins finding an engagement pebble for their future mate."
Spike blushed at that but the more he thought about it, isn't that what he's aiming for? He wanted Applejack to love him, so why not have her as his mate in the future? That got him asking.
"Would you want Discord as your husband?"
Fluttershy had wide eyes at his question and ended up flushing, she tilted her head away before replying, "Honestly… I can't imagine my life without him… if he ever asked, I wouldn't say no."
"Wow…" he slightly grinned, "Think I can be the ring bearer at your wedding like I was for Cadence and Shining Armor?"
She giggled, "I can't think of anyone more right for the job then you."
"I would ask you to be my Best Mare but Twilight already has that title."
"As she should! Twilight and you have been together for so long it's only natural."
"Would you at least supply the bird choir?"
"I certainly would!"
They stare at each other for a bit before bursting into laughter.
Spike pointed, "Just listen to us! We haven't even confessed to the ones we want and already we thinking wedding plans!"
She giggled loudly before it slowly died down and gave a sad sigh.
"It's wishful thinking on our parts… We're that desperate for them to love us…"
They sighed deeply knowing how true that was.
"Ugh! Over twenty stores in this place and not a pegasus and dragon in them!" the disguised draconequus yelled.
"I don't see how we could have missed them; we should have come across them at this point." Applejack said.
Suddenly they heard cheering that caused them to investigate and saw a large crowd waving off a young couple that just got married and went into the carriage to share a kiss.
With a smirk Discord asked, "Ever thought of your wedding to Spike?"
AJ twinge at the notion and found herself blushing which Discord noticed.
"Ooh! You do!"
She bit her hoof, she didn't want to admit it but at the same time she couldn't lie. An idea struck her then and gestured, "Discord, spell me."
He raised his brow, "Spell you?"
"Make me a liar again!"
"Oh!" then with a mischievous grin; he powered up his horn and touched her forehead causing her to go all gray.
She then started blabbing out, "No, I do not think of Spike and me getting married! No, I don't think of us having a life together! And I don't see our children having his adorable face!"
Discord then released her from the spell and Applejack gave a sigh of relief.
"My, my, Applejack, you certainly take the Element of Honesty seriously. You can't lie on your own freewill?"
"I used to lie as a filly; I know how hurtful lies can be. Remember Tirek?"
Discord scowled, "I rather not bring that up ."
"Too bad, because I have to make my point across. Tirek lied to you about being an ally. He promised you that you would overtake Equestria together but in the end he was just using you and took your magic. That's one of the reasons I was able to forgive you later, you were lied to. And you got hurt by that lie."
"Huh…" Discord pondered on that and frankly, he felt touched.
"More importantly, you learned your lesson and now understand friendship a little better, granted there are still some bumps in the road, but you're getting there. Your feelings toward Fluttershy have certainly proven you've come far." then with a grin, she asked, "Ever thought of marrying her?"
Discord felt himself stiffening, as a creature of chaos he never thought of himself as the marrying type, but ever since his friendship with Fluttershy, he suddenly could picture her going down the aisle in a white gown smiling happily at him as they exchanged vows.
He merely stated, "Maybe."
But Applejack wasn't fooled when seeing the dreamy look on his face. She told him, "You have to promise that you'll take good care of her, I don't want one of my best friends getting hurt."
"Honestly, Applejack! Don't you think I know that?! During the Tirek incident I didn't think things through and ended up hurting her feelings, but I've been regretting it ever since! I'm worried that I'll do something stupid again and end up losing her forever!"
Her mouth gaped at his statement before slowly smiling.
"You really love her, don't you?"
"More than chocolate milk." he smiled, "And that's saying something."
"It certainly does."
"So what do we do now? They were nowhere in sight in any building of Canterlot."
"Well, I guess we could ask Princess Celestia if she knows anything, maybe she can help us find Fluttershy and Spike. With her being a powerful alicorn ruler and all, she's bound to know something about their whereabouts."
He sighed, "If we must, we must."
Fluttershy and Spike carefully climbed the mountain ridges so that they wouldn't fall. Even though Fluttershy had wings, she didn't like the idea of flying so high only to end up losing her nerve to make her wings shut together making her fall. That happen once before and she did not want to repeat the experience.
She noticed the sun was lowering and told Spike, "Celestia has almost lowered the sun and Luna will soon raise the moon, maybe we should stop for the night."
Spike agreed, "Yeah, you're right. I don't know if it would be safe for us to keep climbing in the dark." He spotted a cave nearby and grinned, "There! We can stay in that cave until Celestia raises the sun tomorrow!"
Once they entered the cave, they settled in it with Spike building a campfire, with Fluttershy finding kindle so Spike can blow on it. Thanks to the dim light, Fluttershy realized they were not alone and pointed.
"Oh, look Spike, cute little bats are hanging above us!"
"Cute?! Bats are not cute!" then remembering Fluttershy's transformation of Flutterbat, he nervously chuckled, "I mean… no offense, Fluttershy, but they can be creepy-looking especially since that whole incident with the vampire fruit bats happened…"
She sighed, "I know… creatures like bats, rats, spiders, and lizards that look strange in a pony's eye are misjudged by their place in the animal kingdom. Much like how Discord was misjudged by his appearance and actions…" a tiny smile crept on her face.
Spike's eyes widen realizing how true that was. He sighed, "Yeah… I misjudged Discord, too… At first I just thought of him as villainous and later annoying, but once you actually come to some sort understanding with him, he's actually really fun to be around. Our first guys' night out didn't start out good but once we reached a middle ground what Big Mac and I felt comfortable with and for Discord to be able to use his magic, it was awesome!"
"So I remember." she smiled bright before asking, "What else do you find attractive about Applejack?"
The dragon's eyes went all dreamy, "Where to start? I mean it's crazy but I never realized how much we had in common until I started falling for her. For starters, we're both without parents and we had to be raised by others, with me it was Twilight and her family, with AJ it's her grandmother and brother. Then when she's running Sweet Apple Acres, she's so organized and has a certain way of doing things, reminds me a bit of Twilight so that makes feel natural to be around her like that. And let's not forget her noble heart, it's always putting her family and friends before herself."
"My goodness, I never realized that until you said that, you two do have a noble heart that always puts others first. That's so beautiful."
He smiled while blushing.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Spike slept on the cave floor with a grin on his face and moved his head. At the same time, Fluttershy was sleeping close by and she was also smiling and was moving her head, as she did their noses touched, which caused them to wake up with wide eyes, they screamed and moved away from each other.
"I thought you were Applejack!"
"I thought you were Discord!"
Once they calmed down, they realized that only their noses touched and Spike asked.
"So I take it you had a good dream?"
She replied, "Not good. Great! And was yours the same way?"
"Better!" he said with a smirk, "I was bigger and stronger! And Applejack…" he sighed dreamily, "She actually told me she loved me… That she's always loved me since the Timberwolves…"
"What a wonderful dream!"
"I take it yours was just as wonderful?"
She blushed with her mane covering the side of her mane, "Something like that…"
Spike touched his chin in thought, "You know… it's strange but I could have sworn that Applejack was actually there in my dream…"
"You too?" she questioned recalling how Discord held her in his arms and it felt so real.
"Maybe it's our wishful thinking again." he shrugged.
"Could be… so, do you know where we have to go next?"
"Um…" sweat started rolling down his brow. "Maybe we can ask for directions?"
Fluttershy then looked up and saw the bats still hanging upside down. She went up to the nearest and gently tapped it to get its attention.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Bat… I don't mean to disturb your rest but could you tell us the quickest way to get to Concordia and the golden apple tree?"
The bat squeaked.
She nodded as it kept squeaking, "Uh-huh… I see… Is that right or left?" he squeaked in response to which Fluttershy replied, "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she fluttered back down to the cave floor and pointed to the tunnels nearby, "We have to go in there…"
Spike looked at the network of tunnels and did a gulp.
Discord had a wide smile on his face as he made it to the breakfast table, "Good morning, everypony!"
Applejack smirked, "Someone's in a chipper mood."
"Naturally! I just had the most wonderful dream in the world!" he floated up and did a spin.
"You too, uh?" Applejack smiled as she recalled her amazing dream.
Celestia smiled at them, happy that her sister came through for her. As soon as Luna came back from performing her dream spell, naturally she had questions of what she had given to the lovers but Celestia made her Pinkie-promise to never reveal anything.
Discord faced the alicorn, "Now, if you give me the coordinates to where you sent Fluttershy and Spike, I can easily teleport me and Applejack to where they are."
"I will tell you, after breakfast."
He made a grumbling sound and sat down as he conjured up his own meal to eat and began to eat it at a fast pace. Applejack hurried with her meal too, while Celestia was trying her hardest not to laugh. After all, she could remember times when she was anxious to go through the mirror to see her beloved Sombra.
Once they all had finished eating, Celestia told Discord where she teleported Fluttershy and Spike at and the draconequus wasted no time in disappearing with the country mare. The alicorn shook her head in amusement, knowing now it would only be a matter of time when the lovers become united.
Spike commented as he and Fluttershy went down the tunnel.
"This reminds me when Ember and I were looking for the Bloodstone Scepter, there were so many tunnels to go through."
"Rarity and Twilight told me about that, I can't believe we almost lost you just so you could save us from dragons that wanted to harm us!"
"I didn't want to leave but at the time I knew how important it was to defend my home and family."
"I'm so glad you think so, because if you had left, it wouldn't have been the same without you…"
Spike patted her back, "Thanks, Fluttershy. That means a lot."
"Of course, we all would have missed you terribly. Rainbow also told me how you came close to living with the dragons when you went on your big quest to join the migration."
"Yeah… I was seriously considering it because well… I am the only dragon living among ponies and well… I just wanted to know who I was… in a sense I still do because I want to know where I came from because my egg was just found and taken to Canterlot where I met Twilight. But I know I belong in Ponyville with all of you. I meant to be Twilight's number one assistant and as for my future… I hope that Applejack will be my wife, because life without her seems wrong…"
Fluttershy smiled at his words until she saw something bright ahead.
"What's that?" she questioned as they got closer to it.
Discord and Applejack looked around their surroundings of being on a mountain ridge.
Discord scoffed with amusement, "Concordia really secluded herself from the rest of Equestria…"
"Weren't you technically secluded when you were turned to stone?" then she slightly winced at mentioning his stony imprisonment.
But Discord didn't seemed bother by the comment and instead just waved his paw dismissively and said, "No, I wasn't secluded in stone, as I was displayed right in the Canterlot Gardens so over the decades I was able to hear and witness changes happening in Equestria. I must say I was surprised that even without my magic; ponies were able to loosen up a little. There become fewer restrictions on how things should be done. It was all quite impressive actually."
Applejack looked ahead, "Do you think they went this way?"
"One way to find out." he summoned up something like a metal detector only it was giant nose as it began sniffing the ground and started beeping. "It's got their scent! We go forward!"
Applejack was still staring strangely at the object in Discord's paw but as he was the spirit of chaos and wasn't suppose to make sense, she let it go.
Fluttershy and Spike came out of the cave and gasped in awe of the beautiful garden surrounding them. All sorts of wild life were next to the plants gathering pollen to spread around in an orderly fashion.
Fluttershy called to them, "Hello, little friends!"
The animals stopped with their pollinating to stare at the visitors.
"Can you help lead us to the golden apple tree?" the yellow pegasus asked.
A squirrel squeaked and gestured for them to follow. As they walked on they saw more of the spacious garden looking lovelier by the minute, then they came across a sight that made Spike's mouth watered. Next to the garden was a wall covered in jewels! The gems were in straight horizontal lines. That made them gleam in the sunlight.
"Sweet Celestia!" Spike exclaimed, "This… this… this is-"
"Paradise…" Fluttershy finished for him.
"Exactly!" he lingered a bit toward the jewels before following after the squirrel that kept on leading.
They gasped when they saw a tree in the middle of the entire garden where the golden apples hung from its branches.
Spike's eyes widen as he uttered, "There they are…" at last he was going to get a golden apple for the one he loved. To prove to her she was indeed the apple of his eye…
He took a step forward when suddenly in a flash of bright light a tall alicorn-like creature appeared with her shimmering Breezie wings that went with her pure white coat and sliver silky mane. She also had gray eyes as she stared down at her unknown visitors.
"Who seeks the golden apples of Princess Celestia of Canterlot?" she asked with authority.
Fluttershy did a slight gulp and nudged Spike to speak up but he was also tongue-tied and started to sweat a little. Fluttershy nudged him again and he spoke up with a quake.
"We- I- Um, I'm Spike the Dragon, and this is Fluttershy. We both live in Ponyville and we have traveled far to find a golden apple, when Princess Celestia said they weren't in Canterlot, she teleported us-"
"Stop." she commanded with the raise of her hoof which made Spike shut his mouth in a second. Concordia continued, "You are acquaintances to the Sun Princess?"
They nodded their heads not daring to say a word.
"And she gave you permission to take a golden apple?"
They nodded again.
Suddenly, she gave a smile as she exclaimed, "Wonderful!"
Fluttershy and Spike exchanged confused looks before saying, "Huh?!"
Concordia did a slight giggle, "I was merely testing your worth being here. For you see, only the royal sisters know where I am so you had to been sent by Celestia to get here, I was making sure your claims were true so you would be worthy of having a golden apple. So, without further do, you may proceed to pick one." she motioned toward the tree.
Spike let out a bright smile and Fluttershy followed suit as he climbed on her back and she flew them to the top of the tree where he picked a fairly large apple that gleamed when the sunlight had hit it.
"Applejack is going to love this one!" he excitedly said as he touched apple to his cheek as he could picture the country mare gawking at the fruit before wrapping her arms around him in happiness.
Concordia frowned and inquired, "Odd, I never heard of a dragon with such name as that."
Spike explained, "That's because she isn't a dragon, she's a pony."
Fluttershy nodded in agreement as she set the dragon down.
Concordia's eyes widen in shock. Her thoughts whirled around the idea. A pony and a dragon ? It was unheard of! It went against the very order of nature! Dragons were supposed to mate with dragons and Ponies are supposed to be with ponies! No! She would not let this happen! Order must be restored!
Fluttershy and Spike saw the strange look that Concordia was giving off and were feeling uncertain of what was happening.
Finally, Concordia stated, "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave."
They gapped and shouted, "Why?!"
"A dragon and pony should not be together. It goes against the very order of life."
Spike's eyes welled with tears, "But… but I love her! How can you say we can't be together?!"
Suddenly storm clouds gathered and lightening crashed giving Concordia an eerie air. Her eyes were glowing bright yellow as she rose up to the stormy clouds. The animals in the garden ran for cover and Fluttershy took that as a bad sign and whimpered when Concordia shouted.
"YOU DARE QUESTION THE NATRUAL OF ORDER OF THINGS! A PONY AND DRAGON CANNOT LOVE EACH OTHER! THEY MUST STAY WITH THEIR OWN SPECIES!"
"Now whoever said that is full of malarkey!" a shout came.
Spike and Fluttershy gasped when they saw their crushes standing behind the orderly being.
Applejack and Discord scowled toward Concordia, as AJ shouted again.
"So what if it is against the natural order?! When you love someone, really love someone, it don't matter!"
Spike gapped when seeing how passionate she said that and she was even looking straight at him with pleading eyes. Could it be…? Did she…?
But before he could dwell on it further, Concordia screeched.
"Discord! What are you doing out of your stone prison?!"
Discord gave a smug look, "I got out, thanks to Celestia, and…" he popped to Fluttershy's side and held her shoulders, "This exquisite mare right here! She helped reformed me."
Fluttershy blushed when he called her, 'exquisite'. It made her fall deeper in love with him.
Concordia's gawked when she saw their eyes exchanging lovingly looks causing her to shout out, "YOU TOO?! What in the world of Equestria is going on?! Interspecies relationships are not supposed to happen!"
Discord chuckled, "Oh, Concordia, a lot of things have change in Equestria… Remember how the three pony tribes never married out of their race?"
She furrowed a brow, "Yes, it supposed to keep the tribes going so they can exceed in numbers of their own race. Why…?"
"Well, nowadays, ponies marry whatever race they want." he gave a slight snicker.
Concordia blinked in bewilderment.
Discord continued, "Not only that, but they can marry whatever gender they want!"
Concordia stiffened.
Applejack added, "It's true, Bon-Bon and Lyra say their best friends but everyone knows much in love they are in. They maybe both mares but hey, everyone deserves love in their life."
Spike and Fluttershy agreed.
"ENOUGH! THIS IS NOT HOW EQUESTRIA SHOULD BE!" she panted while all four gave off worried looks toward her reaction and she said in a serious tone with anger in her eyes, "Celestia has fallen far from her rule… She had forced me away from the ponies so I cannot give them the natural order of their lives… Oh, how my mother would be ashamed… Celestia is not worthy of wielding the Elements of Harmony anymore… Therefore I must now wield the Elements myself to restore harmony…"
Spike spoke up, "But you can't! The Elements belong to the bearers now! Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness and Applejack is the Element of Honesty! The rest of our friends hold the Elements as well!"
Concordia eyed the ponies present and slowly said, "Is that so…? You are the new Elements of Harmony?"
Applejack stood her ground, "That's right, and we've been spreading Harmony now for a long time so whatever you think is Harmony is not…"
Fluttershy pointed, "The Tree of Harmony gave Twilight a castle and a map that allows us to go to places that have a friendship problem and we help mend those friendships."
Concordia gasped and sputtered, "But-but-but how is that possible?! The Tree was only supposed to store the Elements!"
Discord shrugged, "Beats me. I'm still not sure how that tree gave a chest full of Rainbow Power that had to be unlocked by six keys that used to be personal items in the first place." he quickly said, "Of course, that never would have happen if my plunder seeds hadn't deplete the Tree and needed the Elements to replenish it."
"Then it is your fault that the Elements of Harmony were force to rely on other beings to have magic that should not be theirs!" she told the mares, "You are not worthy to carry my mother's harmony magic!"
Discord, not liking the sound of that, scowled, "Now wait-a-minute, Concordi-aaaaaa!" he yelped when he felt Concordia's magic binding him and Spike was bind too as they were stuck to the gem wall.
The girls tried to rush to them but were stopped when Concordia pointed her horn at them and suddenly they felt their harmony magic being drained from them making them feel weak.
The guys shouted, "NO!"
Spike struggled and demanded to Discord, "Can't you get us out of this?!"
Discord growled, "I wish. But Concordia is the opposite to my chaos, I can't override it!"
Fluttershy and Applejack felt weaker by the second until finally Concordia stopped and they dropped to the ground. Discord and Spike had watched in horror and again struggled with their bonds. Concordia permitted them free as they went to their fair maidens' side.
Spike held Applejack's head and caressed her cheek. AJ looked at him with weary eyes and managed a small smile as she touched his cheek.
He softly said, "I know we made a promise to avoid situations that required saving each other's lives… but I would have gladly broken that promise for the sake of your well-being…"
Applejack gave out a tiny laugh, "It's a good thing then we didn't make that a Pinkie-Promise…"
He smiled.
Discord held Fluttershy in his arms with near tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
"It's not your fault…" she weakly said.
"Oh, but it is, Fluttershy… Had I told you about Concordia ahead of time, you would have been more careful in dealing with her. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this but I was almost betrothed to her, but I never loved her that I swear."
"So… you were almost force to an arranged marriage?"
"That's right."
"How awful… I could never force you to marry someone you don't love…"
"I certainly hope not… Not when I rather have you for a wife…"
She gasped.
He sighed, "I know, I know, I don't deserve someone like you but I couldn't help myself… I was going to confess to you in a whole different way, I was going to sing to you like the way you sing but… I guess it's pointless now…"
"Oh, Discord… do you mean it…? Every word…?"
He smiled, "Every word. I love you, Fluttershy."
She smiled back, "I love you too, Discord."
His heart pounded like crazy when he heard those sweet words.
Spike sighed, "I guess you heard me telling Concordia that l love you, uh?"
Applejack said, "Maybe a little… but… I would love to hear you say it to me…" she smiled.
He gave a loving glance as he said, "I love you, Applejack. I have for awhile now… That's why I came here, I was going to give you a golden apple as proof that I no longer hold an interest for Rarity as you are and will always be the apple of my eye."
Tears of joy welled in her eyes, "I love you too, Spike. But I couldn't tell you sooner without making sure you moved on but at the same time all I wanted was your happiness…"
Spike felt his heart bursting with pure delight, after years of pursuing Rarity hoping she would love him in return, but when it never came he went on to someone better who in fact loved him this whole time! It was an amazing feeling of having love returned to you and he promise to himself he would always treasure this feeling.
Concordia had watched the scene with mixed feelings. She admired what the lovers were saying to each other but at the same time she couldn't invest in their romances due to their different species. Then when it looked like the lovers were about to kiss, she quickly stepped in and stated.
"I still do not approve of your relationships. But I am willing to make a bargain with you."
Discord and Spike glance at each other before scowling at Concordia.
"What kind of bargain?" Discord stipulated.
"I will give the mares their harmony magic back and let them go home if you and the dragon stay here."
The boys had wide eyes before Spike asked, "And if we do stay?"
"I will have you guarding my jewel collection while Discord marries me to keep the balance in Equestria just as my mother intended."
"No!" both the girls weakly protested.
Fluttershy begged, "Don't do it, Discord!"
AJ clutched Spike's claw, "Spike, I refuse to be a bargaining chip that causes your unhappiness."
The boys looked at each other and wordlessly, they shared a mutual agreement. Their minds were made up long before Concordia made the deal.
Discord spoke up, "We accept your bargain."
The girls gasped.
Spike whispers while touching his forehead to AJ's, "No matter what happens… I will always love you…"
Discord kissed Fluttershy's forehead, "Always remember that you were the only one I will ever love in my life…"
The girls were speechless when they suddenly felt their magic returning but before they regained their full strength they were suddenly teleported by Concordia before having a chance to say goodbye to their loves.
Applejack and Fluttershy suddenly found themselves back in Ponyville just outside Twilight's castle. The doors opened revealing Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie just about to walk out.
Twilight exclaimed, "Thank goodness! We were just about to get you!"
Rainbow pointed, "Yeah! All of a sudden I was feeling weak in the legs, the next, completely energized!"
Rarity said, "Yes, it was the strangest thing, for a moment there I felt a cold chill and was very weary but now I feel fine!"
Pinkie bounced, "Yeah! I almost didn't make it to the castle because I was so exhausted that I almost fell asleep on the way over! Then suddenly like a bolt of electricity running through me I was back to my old self!"
Twilight mentioned, "I don't know what happen, I was all fine then for a brief time I was drained, then just few minutes ago I was suddenly refreshed! And-" she finally saw the looks on their faces and frowned, "Is everything alright?"
Fluttershy suddenly burst into tears while Applejack held her for support and told their friends, "I think I know what happen and… there's something you need to know…"
They gave confused looks.
Later, after they had gathered in the throne room, including Starlight, Applejack explained the situation of Concordia draining her and Fluttershy's harmony magic. Twilight deduced that since they were all connected through the Elements it made sense that they would felt weak too just not as much as Applejack and Fluttershy had.
Twilight then pointed out, "Now, the biggest question is, why were you there in the first place?"
AJ and Fluttershy exchanged a look and sighed, they knew they had to say it. When they did, all their friends gasped.
Rainbow pointed, "You and Discord?!"
Rarity motioned, "You and Spike?! But Spikey's always had a crush on me!"
Applejack eyed the fashionista, "Don't tell me you're interest in him now that I've fallen in love with him!"
Rarity stammered, "O-of course not! I'm just taken aback, that's all! You know how long his affections toward me have been."
"Don't remind me. Now that he's finally moved on and he has returned my love…"
Pinkie gasped in excitement, "OH MY GOSH! HE HAS?! YAY! THIS CALLS FOR A 'I found my true love' PARTY!"
AJ frowned, "You're going to have to hold off the party planning, Pinkie, because… because…" her emotions finally got the better of her as she started choking back tears and was trying so hard to keep them in, but it was pointless.
Rainbow and Pinkie gasped knowing that AJ rarely ever cried so hard.
Fluttershy's own tears started up again as she blubbered out, "Discord and Spike made a deal with Concordia to get our magic back and now they're force to stay there with her!"
Twilight screeched, "WHAT?!"
Applejack nodded and kept on crying.
Discord eyed Concordia with his arms crossed as he said, "You know, for someone who despises interspecies relationships you're that willing to marry me for an arranged marriage?"
"As much as we are different species, we are still forces of nature and that makes us the same."
"You are such a hypocrite! Admit it!"
"You know, you should be thanking me. You and the dragon would have lived on for the next thousands of years but your mares… Tell me, Discord, are they immortal?"
The draconequus gaped and smacked his forehead. How did he not realize…? Fluttershy was a pony with an ordinary lifespan. He could live forever but she would… He could not think it. He looked over to where Spike was, standing next to the gem wall and wondered if he should bring up the matter. Not only would the young drake lose his love but his sister and all their friends…
Concordia kept speaking, "I thought not. Ponies don't live as long as alicorns and other creatures do. At least I am offering you a chance to be away from the pain of loss…"
He glared darkly and bitterly said, "As if you know anything about loss…"
Her eyes widen at that statement before yelling in anguish, "I have lost my mother to a tree! I had several friends among the ponies who have perished over time! I had a crush on you only you decided to be stone and later ended up falling for a pegasus!"
After hearing that last sentence he cock his brow and asked, "What was that?" He could see her panting from her rants.
"You honestly thought… that I would agree to mother's arranged marriage if I didn't have feelings for you!"
"Whoa-whoa! You mean to tell me that you actually had a thing for me?"
Concordia said in a firm tone, "Yes."
Discord was utterly speechlessly before frowning, "You know you could have just told me that yourself instead of just hiding behind mommy all the time."
"It would not have mattered since we were to wed."
"Would not have mattered?! Would not have mattered?! It matters a great deal Concordia! I know you're for the rules and everything, but for Cay-Cay's sake, why don't let you ever decide things for yourself!"
"I just did. I made sure that the natural order was kept."
"No. You were still following rules… You believed the natural order was upset but have it ever occurred to you that change is part of the natural order?"
She raised a brow. Discord kept quiet so she could mull over his words.
She then declared, "I still stand with my beliefs." she said that with finality and added, "I will have Celestia wed us first thing tomorrow."
"And didn't you just say that Celestia was unfit to rule Equestria?"
"She is. But given how I made a deal with you and the dragon of the mares having their magic, it would be unwise to go against my old friend." she took her leave.
Discord went to Spike and sat down.
"You couldn't change her mind, could you?" the dragon asked.
He scoffed, "When one is all order it's hard to change their minds. I guess that's a good thing about chaos you're free to change." then his face went sullen as he faced his comrade, "Tell me, Spike, what were you going to do when…" wording it carefully, "Twilight moved on from this life?"
"Huh?"
"You know… ponies and dragons do age differently. Dragons can live thousands of years but ponies…" he watched how Spike's widen as the words sunk in his tiny dragon mind.
Spike covered his mouth in realization, "Twilight… the girls… Applejack… all of our friends…" he covered his eyes as the tears came, "How did I not see it before?!"
"It didn't occur to me either until Concordia mention it to me." he sighed, "I thought I would have Fluttershy forever, you know? But her lifespan won't allow that…"
Spike stop with his sobs and uttered, "Suddenly… the deal doesn't seem so bad now…"
Discord touched his chin, "Yes… so it seems…"
Celestia was shaking her head. How could Concordia do such a thing to love? Once Twilight had sent her letter through the postal service she rushed over to the Castle of Friendship where she saw the pain in the mares that had been through so much.
She told them, "I am so sorry… Had I known… I never would have sent you…"
Applejack said, "We believe you, Princess."
Fluttershy nodded.
Twilight asked her former mentor, "What do we do? How do we get them back?"
"Leave it to me, I shall have a serious talk with Concordia, it seems isolating her from the Equestria had been a mistake."
Applejack warned, "Be careful, she wasn't exactly thrilled when she found out how you were running things now."
Celestia smiled at the cowgirl, "I thank you for your concern but I will be fine."
The rest of the mares wished her luck as she teleported away.
Author's Note
You know, Celestia was actually suppose to be a minor character when I started this but it is amazing of how that changed when I realized just how much she was able to understand the lovers' feelings.
Discord and Spike sat around the wall lazily when suddenly they saw a bright flash above them and Celestia appeared to them with a radiant brilliance before it slowly dimmed.
"Discord! Spike!" she called out as she lowered herself to the ground, "Are you alright?"
Spike replied, "As we can be…" he sighed.
"So are you here to perform the wedding ceremony a day earlier?" Discord sarcastically said.
"Wedding ceremony?" she questioned.
"Concordia wants to fulfill our arranged marriage, and was going to get you to officiate but if you're not here about that… Why are you here?"
"I've come to talk some sense into Concordia and to bring you two back to the ones that love you…"
Spike gave a tiny smile before he frowned, "Thanks Celestia, but maybe it's better this way…"
The alicorn raised a brow at the dragon then saw Discord giving a somber look while nodding.
"What's wrong? Applejack and Fluttershy are beside themselves with grief without you there, I thought you would jump at the chance of returning to them."
Discord bluntly pointed out, "Not if it means we'll lose them eventually to time!"
Celestia's eyes widen and realized their point. Discord and Spike would age over the eons but Fluttershy, Applejack, and even her former student, Twilight Sparkle would pass on when the time would come. It was a hard truth but one must be force to accept these things. She herself had many friends over the years as they had aged and moved on from this world. But at least she now had her sister back to help her through for when Cadence and Twilight would have to leave for the afterlife.
But what would it mean for Spike and Discord if they did return to their loves only to lose them later in life…? Luckily, for Celestia she had the ability to see in the future. Looking at them she concentrated all her focus on them and her eyes began to glow which made Discord's body twitch, making him sense that Celestia was pulling off some major magic.
Spike had noticed her glowing her eyes and asked with a quiver, "W-what's happening to her?!"
Discord answered, "Apparently she's looking into the future for some reason…"
Celestia could see their future selves. They were in a castle that seemed to resemble her and her sister's old castle before it was destroyed. Spike was about between the size of a teenage dragon and an adult dragon. Discord was still the same even though he was wearing his reading glasses, making him look wiser. They were in front of a fireplace sitting in comfy chairs while looking up to a mantle where numerous of photos sat on top.
The first few had them with their friends in Ponyville, the next were them getting married to Applejack and Fluttershy respectfully. Then the pictures that followed showed their families of how many kids the couples had. Then the pictures afterwards were of the children having children, and those children having children, and so on.
Suddenly a group of foals with some having features of either draconequus or dragon entered into the room with some of them climbing onto their laps. Discord and Spike just chuckled as they enjoyed their great-great-great (and many more greats) grandchildren's visit.
With her eyes still glowing, it made Celestia smiled when seeing that heartwarming image. The glow slowly died as she faced the present Spike and Discord looking at her in confusion.
"I have just seen your future… and while it is true that Applejack and Fluttershy won't be around to share it, your descendents will share it with you…"
The dragon and draconequus gaped at this information, finding it hard to believe.
Celestia continued, "Apparently you decided to keep each other company to fill the void of losing your mates…"
Spike blurted out, "We're going to be roommates?!"
Discord glared at him, "You say that like it's a bad thing…"
"Sorry, it's just hard to imagine living in the same place with you since we both have separate living areas."
"Uh, FYI, we're now living in the same place since Concordia made that deal with us!"
Celestia just kept smiling, "You have plenty time to worry about that later. It'll be years before you become actual roommates. Unless of course, you would like to change your future by staying here?"
The guys exchanged a brief look and stated to her, "We'll go with you."
"I thought you might." she smirked before turning away with a frown and shouted, "Concordia! We need to talk!"
The alicorn with Breezie wings appeared before them.
"Hello, old friend…" Concordia said with bitterest in her tone.
"What's this I hear about you forcing true loves to part from each other?"
"True loves?! How can they be true loves if they aren't the same species?!"
"And yet Discord is a different species from you…"
"As I told him, we are force of natures, so that makes us the same."
Celestia sighed sadly, "Concordia… what have I done to you? I forced you away from Equestria and you have missed so much…"
"Actually, you did me a favor! I thank you for keeping me away from such an imperfect society… But I am so disappointed in you, Tia… I thought you were for order too…" She glared.
"I am." Celestia stated, "But I do not like the kind of order you're suggesting… I thought you cared about the order the nature and how it should never be tampered with but I find you like certain things to happen that you believe is the correct way. You're extremely narrow-minded and refuse to listen to other's opinions. In order for there to be balance we need both sides to meet in the middle…
"Discord's chaos cannot be too much nor can your order… We need both. Just as Equestria needs my sun and Luna's moon. Everything has an opposite and it's important to accept that opposite no matter how different it is… Such as the colors red and blue. So different yet together they can create a whole different color…"
Concordia's face softened when listening to Celestia's speech and asked, "But why is it that you care so much that they go back to those mares?"
"Because I understand their feelings…" Celestia softly replied.
Concordia's eyes widen.
Celestia hung her head, "I never told you… I didn't tell Luna either until she found out one day… but I should have told you the moment it had all ended… Are you aware of how the world seemed to merge with a different world?"
"Yes… but I had no idea of why that was…"
"It's because of what I did…"
"What?"
Celestia nodded, "I was the reason that happened. Star Swirl created a mirror that allowed us to explore other worlds and in one of these worlds… I fell in love."
The other alicorn covered her mouth in shock.
Celestia continued, "He was a good version to the evil Sombra of our world… He was a wise and good king to his ponies… that we met every chance I went through the mirror but I was causing a rift… We tried to be careful but we were so deeply in love that it was so hard to part from each other… Star Swirl found out about us and he had to seal up the mirror without giving me a chance to say goodbye… I refused to let that last meeting be our last and I got to open the portal again. I went behind my friend's back just so I could be with the stallion I loved…"
Someone honked and they turned to see Discord handing Spike tissues as he cried and blew into the tissues.
Discord waved his paw dismissively, "Don't mind us… continue with the story."
Celestia gave a sad smile before turning back to Concordia, "What I did was wrong but I couldn't stop being with Sombra… I often questioned why we were brought together if only to be worlds apart… but now… I am proud to say I know… so I can understand lovers and how they feel when someone forces them apart… I cannot be with Sombra but I can at least help others be with their loves no matter how strange the pairing…"
She turned back to Discord and Spike as they looked on hopefully then back to Concordia who seemed to be deep in thought. Celestia prayed her words were enough.
Two mares, one earth pony and one pegasus sat on an apple and butterfly patterned picnic blanket with their very special some creatures, a dragon and draconequus as they celebrated Celestia's success of getting Concordia to let Spike and Discord go and agreed to go with Celestia to Canterlot to see firsthoof of how Equestria changed in thousands of years.
Concordia admitted to Fluttershy that she had felt jealousy toward her and that she was lucky to have the chaotic being's affections and told her to take care of him. Which Fluttershy happily agreed to. The alicorn knew she had a long way to go to free herself from her biases and Discord told her that the same thing happened to him when he began to reform and that she would get there. That gave her some encouragement.
The couples exchanged cucumber sandwiches and tea and had an apple pie for dessert. But the girls couldn't help notice the boys looking at them somberly sometimes.
Applejack addressed it, "Okay, something is going on with you two, what's wrong?"
Discord nervously chuckled, "Wrong? Nothing's wrong, we're just enjoying this wonderful looking picnic, you girls prepared!" but one look at Fluttershy's 'not buying it' expression, he sighed, "The truth is… Concordia pointed out how we would live on much longer then you two and well…"
Spike spoke dismally; "We can't bear the thought of the day that will happen…" he looked down in sadness.
The girls exchanged stunned looks before sadly smiling and went to the creature they loved and had them face them.
Fluttershy told Discord, "I may not live forever but I want to spend the rest of my life with you… I want to make every moment count before it ever comes to that… I love you, Discord and after my death I will keep on loving you…"
Applejack said to Spike, "And so will I… but right now we have plenty of time to worry about that later. What matters is the time we have now and how we spent it. I would be lyin' if I said I wish I could have long lifespan like yours but I do love you, Spike and I don't want you to wallow in misery after I have gone… I want you to keep being happy no matter what."
Spike slowly smiled as they embraced. Fluttershy and Discord did the same. When they let go Spike said, "Yeah, at least we'll have our descendants keeping us company."
"WHAT?!" the girls gasped out.
Discord smirked, "Oh, we forgot to mention this, but Celestia looked into our future and it turns out we will have dozens of descendants running around."
The girls gapped in astonishment while the boys chuckled. Slowly smirks went on the girls' faces causing the guys to stop as they looked on in concern as to what they were thinking.
Applejack exclaimed, "Gosh that sounds incredible! Makes me want to start planning how much kin I want, wouldn't you agree, Flutters?"
"Oh, absolutely!"
Discord and Spike exchanged worried looks, they weren't liking the sound of this…
Fluttershy continued, "I would want four, no, eight, no… fourteen foals!"
Discord sputtered, "F-f-fourteen?!"
Applejack then declared, "And I think maybe six, no, twelve, aw, what the heck maybe I'll even have twenty foals!"
Spike stammered, "T-t-twenty…?" then he fainted.
Discord wrapped his arms around his marefriend and uneasily said, "Now, sweetheart let's think about this…"
Fluttershy questioned with an innocent look, "Don't you want children?"
"Well of course! But not that many! You know how much we would be paying for groceries and braces?!"
The girls giggled indicating they were just messing with them.
Applejack helped Spike up and said, "Don't worry, sugar cube, I was only kiddin'…"
Spike wiped his brow, "Thank goodness…"
"Besides, we have to wait until you reach your prime before we get there…"
Spike sighed, "I guess that means we can't kiss the way we did in that dream…"
AJ sadly shook her head, "'Fraid not, but that's okay, I can wait. Between running the farm and taking care of Apple Bloom it's better that way."
"But we can still have dates, right?"
"'Course. I wouldn't have it either way." she winked causing him to him to blush.
Fluttershy fluttered up to Discord to tell him, "I'm not ready for that either, I still am getting used to the idea of being in love for the first time…"
Discord smiled, "Then we're even, it's my first time falling in love as well…"
They leaned in closer to have that first kiss. Applejack and Spike watched on with happiness and wrapped their arms around each other. Hoping their first kiss will be just as a special as their friends'…
Author's Note
And that's it. Yes, maybe Concordia putting aside her biases are a bit rushed. But Concordia was never a true villain just a gray area that seemed a shade too dark. She will be more tolerant in the future even if she's still hesitant about some things but she won't do anything to hurt anyone. I feel Concordia is relatable character as we all have our own way of thinking, it's just a matter of how we go about it. It's important to respect other people's opinions even if you don't agree. Someone may hurt you but it's important that you don't hurt them in return.
