Trouble on Hearts and Hooves Day: Celestial Discordance

by Silver Arctic Wolf

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Fluttershy, Comedy, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 9964

Tensions run high when Fluttershy and Twilight find out Celestia and Discord are dating.

Fluttershy is eager to spend Hearts and Hooves Day with her special friend Discord. There's only one problem: Discord tells her he's got a date with Celestia! When the crestfallen Fluttershy reports this news to Twilight, the two become very jealous. Meanwhile, why is Rainbow Dash is tailing Twilight and Fluttershy?

Published 2019-10-26 16:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-10-26 16:00:01 UTC

Celestial Discordance

Trouble on Hearts and Hooves Day: Celestial Discordance

It was Hearts and Hooves Day across Equestria. In Ponyville, festive decorations were strung in the streets and love was blooming all around. And a storm of trouble was brewing.

Up in the clouds, after waking up from a nap, Rainbow Dash dashed through the sky and dove right into some aerobatics, doing three loop-de-loups and throwing in some rolls and dives. Looking below at Ponyville, she noted all the heart-shaped decorations, as well as her friend Rarity, who seemed ecstatic as she stood in the middle of a street while beaming expectantly at everyone who passed by her.

Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue. “Hearts and Hooves Day? Bleh!” After checking her left and right to make sure nopony was watching, a grin popped onto her face, and she plopped down on the cloud she’d been napping on. From inside the cloud, she drew out a hidden Hearts and Hooves card and held it close to her chest. Rolling her head, she said, “Well, I guess Fluttershy’ll probably be lonely today. She doesn’t’ have a special somepony after all. I guess I’ll give her some chocolate to cheer her up.” Rainbow Dash’s cheeks brightened a little. As though she thought somepony was listening, she cast suspicious glances about, and said, “I mean, it’s not like I like her or anything. We’re just friends. Maybe best friends. But I should probably hang out with her today so she doesn’t feel bad.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo unexpectantly popped up from inside the cloud, nearly giving Rainbow Dash a heart attack.

“Ahhh-aaahhh!” Rainbow Dash shrieked and shot through the air. Recovering from the shock, and seeing Scootaloo’s big grin, her heart calmed down a little.

“I’ll hang out with you!” Scootaloo clapped her hooves together and begged. “Please, please, please! It would be so awesome to spend Hearts and Hooves day with you!”

Anxious to get away and apprehensive about what the filly might have heard, Rainbow Dash hid the card behind her back and hurriedly said, “Sorry, Scoots. Fluttershy, gotta go!” She zipped away at high speed.

“Ahhh…” Scootaloo moaned, her head drooping and her lip pouting, feeling depressed both from the crushing rejection and from the realization that she didn’t have a way to get back down to the ground. Fortunately, Tank came along to keep her company.

Rainbow Dash zoomed to the outskirts of Ponyville, to Fluttershy’s cottage, but just as she was about to knock on the door, she froze up. She looked down at her hand-drawn card. “Calm down. Nothing sappy written on it, just my awesome drawings of Daring Do. Come on, Rainbow Dash, you can do this.” She took a deep breath, slowly raised her hoof to the door, and knocked. As she waited, her heart beat a little faster, and her legs felt a little wobbly.

The door swung open, and Fluttershy appeared with a merry look. “Why, hello, Rainbow Dash!”

“Uh, hey…” Rainbow Dash frowned and rubbed the back of her head. Hurriedly, she said, “I got you a card and chocolate since it’s Hearts and Hooves Day, or whatever.”

“That’s very sweet of you.” Fluttershy beamed at Rainbow Dash as she took the proffered card and chocolate piece. She studied the card for a moment, then chuckled. “Daring Do, huh? It’s very well-drawn, and I love it, especially all these rainbow-colored hearts you drew around the border of the card. Oh, and also how you wrote, ‘Twenty percent cooler when I’m with you’. That’s so adorable.”

“Um… Sure…” That seemed so much sappier now that she’d heard it out loud. Feeling deep regret and like she was about thirty percent less cool, Rainbow Dash’s face reddened. Timidly, she said, “It’s just a card.”

Fluttershy’s beaming face was radiating positivity as she nodded and said, “It was so nice of you to think of me.”

“Oh, uhm, yeah.” Rainbow Dash donned a sheepish look. “So, uh, wanna hang out? If you don’t have plans, I mean.”

With an apologetic smile, Fluttershy said, “I’m sorry. But I actually do have plans. I told Discord to come over for tea.”

Rainbow Dash felt her heart sink. She tried to shrug it off. “Oh no. It’s cool.” She waved her front leg dismissively. “I’ll just, uh, go ask Applejack.”

Fluttershy beamed again. “That’s great! I bet you two will have lots of fun together.”

Sheepishly, Rainbow Dash scratched her head. “Well, right… I guess I’ll go do that… Now… Um… Bye…”

“Bye! Great seeing you!”

Fluttershy slowly closed the door, and Rainbow Dash just as slowly edged away from the cottage. Once the door was shut, Rainbow Dash hissed, “Discord?! What’s he coming over for on Hearts and Hooves Day? They couldn’t be… Could they?” She shook her head. “No, no, no! He’s like, really old, and he’s not even a pony! Yeah, there’s no way. Definitely nothing to worry about. Fluttershy probably just invited him over because she thought he’d be lonely.” With a confident grin, Rainbow Dash took to the skies. But as she soared over the clouds, her grin faltered. “Maybe I’d better check on her and make sure she’s alright.”

***

Soft humming filled her cottage as Fluttershy tidied up, wearing a cheery smile all the while. Angel, on the other hand, had an irritated look, and tapped his foot impatiently. Fluttershy took notice, and beamed at the rabbit.

“Why, yes, Angel, it is Hearts and Hooves Day. I’m straightening up because we’re going to have a guest today. I invited Discord, and I even made him a special card to tell him just how special he is to me!” Fluttershy was glowing as she took a heart-shaped card from her vanity and showed it to the rabbit.

Angel gaped a moment, then slapped his paw against his forehead, before furiously thumping his foot against the ground.

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh, no. It’s not like that, really. I mean, we’re just friends. But I figured, since he doesn’t have a special somepony, and I don’t have a special somepony, and since we’re so close, we should just spend the day together. That’s not weird at all, right? And I mean, if I were to have a special somepony…” Her voice trailed off into muttering as she hugged her heart-shaped card to her chest, with the top covering her muzzle.

Angel pursed his lips and squinted at her.

“Everything will be fine, Angel. Let’s just see what happens. Discord is sure to keep things interesting, right? So it won’t be a boring day. I know how much you hate those.”

Angel sighed and shook his head. He got a fright when a knock came at the door and, knowing things wouldn’t end well, he scampered away to hide under Fluttershy’s bed.

“He’s here!”

Fluttershy hurried to the door to open it, and sure enough, a draconequus with a slightly mischievous grin was found waiting there. “Hello, Discord!” Fluttershy said in a mellifluous tone.

“Hello, Fluttershy,” Discord replied cordially.

“Ready to have a wonderful tea party, just the two of us?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, about that. Seems I’m going to have to cancel.”

“Oh no. That’s too bad.” Fluttershy’s cheery demeanor fell into a concerned look. “Why? Are you sick?”

“Oh no. It’s just that I have a date with Princess Celestia. It is Hearts and Hooves Day, after all.” As Discord said this, he made a snazzy suit and top hat appear with a poof, and straightened out a purple polka dotted bowtie.

Fluttershy raised her brow and her mouth formed a circle. Confused, she said, “A date?”

“Yes. You see, Princess Celestia is my special somepony. It’s sort of a recent development. I was going to tell you, but never got the chance. Until now, that is.”

Upon hearing this, Fluttershy hid her card behind her back. “Th-that’s great… But I… sort of thought… we had something special…”

Discord chuckled. “What, like you and me, special someponies? I mean, sure, you’re a very special friend. But I need somepony wiser, more mature. Somepony who’s been around a long time, like I have. And that somepony is definitely Princess Celestia. She really gets me, and my humor.”

“I get your humor,” Fluttershy insisted.

“Yes, but you should have seen how happy Celestia was when I livened up the Grand Galloping Gala. Just jumping for joy! The princess really needs a little more laughter in her life.”

“Well, but don’t we have something special? I mean, I was the first pony to believe in you.”

“No, no no! You were my first friend, but if you’ll recall, Celestia was the first one to believe I could be reformed, and it was only by her suggestion that I was freed from the stone prison you and your friends put me in.”

“Y-Yeah, but… but I was the one who…”

“Why, Fluttershy…” Discord leaned in with a big, mischievous grin on his face. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you really wanted to be my special somepony, and that you’re jealous of Princess Celestia.”

Fluttershy turned red. “N-No, of course not. I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought, since we had something special and neither of had a special somepony, that we could spend the day together… I guess I’m just a little disappointed.”

Discord frowned and rubbed his claw against his lip. “Yes, but now I do have a special somepony. So custom dictates that I spend the day with her, yes?”

“Uhm… Yes.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Hmm… What’s that you’ve got there?” Discord pointed to the card Fluttershy was hiding.

A jolt went through Fluttershy. “Wh-what? This? It’s nothing!” If he was going on a date with Celestia, then she absolutely couldn’t show him the card!

Discord put on his scrutinizing glasses and squinted. He shifted his neck to get a look at the card, but Fluttershy, a nervous grin on her lips, shifted on her feet to keep the card hidden. “It doesn’t look like nothing,” Discord noted. “It looks like you’re hiding something.”

“Oh, ha ha, you got me.” Fluttershy crammed the card into her mouth, then proffered the chocolate that was inside. Mouth full, she said, “Hwe you gwo. It’s some chocolate for Hearts and Hooves Day.”

“Why, thank you.” Discord took the chocolate piece and, without removing the wrapper, popped it into his mouth. Petting Fluttershy’s head, he said, “You are such a good friend. I don’t deserve you.” He pulled the chocolate wrapper from behind Fluttershy’s ear, then proceeded to eat it again.

Fluttershy swallowed the card. Turning her head in askance, she said, “Yep. Great friend. Don’t deserve me.”

“Well, I have to be going now. Ta ta!” With a poof, Discord vanished into thick air.

“Um, well… Goodbye, then.” Closing the door, Fluttershy retreated inside and lay on her sofa. She took a sip of the tea she’d prepared and glanced at the cucumber sandwiches. Something about those sandwiches made her break down. Her eyes grew teary and her lip quivered. Angel hopped out of his hiding place. A sympathetic look on his face, he hopped up onto the couch and patted Fluttershy’s back.

As she sniveled, Fluttershy pulled the bunny into a hug and squeezed him. “Thanks, Angel.” She released Angel and gave him a smile. “But I’m okay, really. I’m happy for Discord. I mean, in the beginning it was nice that we were so close and I was pretty much the only friend he really cared about.” Fluttershy took a deep breath. “But it’s good for him to talk to other ponies, and I do not have a monopoly on his friendship, nor should I expect to!”

After giving this speech, Fluttershy’s lips quivered and she let out a few sobs. Rubbing away the tears, she saw Angel giving her a dubious look and stomping his foot impatiently. “Well, alright. Maybe I am a little upset. I thought we had something special, but maybe what he has with Princess Celestia is more special.” Fluttershy sighed, then perked up a little. “But this is nothing a quiet day at home won’t fix. I know! Why don’t we read No Matter How I Look at it, it’s that Pony’s Fault I was Late to School together? Would you be a dear and fetch the next volume?”

Angel rolled his eyes, but hopped away to carry out the request. After leaping up and grabbing the comic book off the bookshelf, he was on his way back to Fluttershy when there was a knock at the door.

“Oh my. More visitors? How strange.” Fluttershy cast an apprehensive look at the book Angel proffered. She worried what somepony would think if they saw her reading it. “Never mind, Angel. Hurry and put it back.” With an annoyed look and a series of furious squeaks, the bunny hopped back to the shelf, as Fluttershy went to the door. Outside, she found gathered her friends Twilight, Spike, Applejack, and a beaming Pinkie Pie ready to burst.

“Oh my gosh, Fluttershy, you’ll never guess what happened!” Pinkie bellowed. “So I was telling the Yaks about Hearts and Hooves day, and it turns out they don’t have anything like it! The Yaks were all like, ‘Yaks learn about pony holiday’, so I was like-” Pinke gasped with a giant grin across her face. “And then the yaks were like, ‘Pink Pony teach about Hearts and Hooves Day.’ And I was like, ‘This is going to be awesome!’”

Fluttershy gaped at Pinkie Pie as she babbled on at an incessant rate.

Finally, Twilight clamped her hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, silencing her. Twilight let out an exasperated sigh, then explained, “What she’s trying to say is that she’s throwing a Hearts and Hooves Party for the yaks and wanted to invite you.”

Pinkie pushed Twilight’s leg away from her mouth, then said, “Um, duh! That’s what I said!”

Fluttershy frowned and creased her brow. “A party? Um…”

Applejack leaned in to whisper, “You might not want to come. The yaks are real rowdy and all, and they’re, uh, sort of breaking everything they can get their hooves on…” She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “Like they always do.”

“That does sound kind of awful,” Fluttershy said.

“So, so?” Pinkie hopped up and down. “You want to come? Or do you have plans?”

Spike scoffed. “Fluttershy with plans for Hearts and Hooves Day? Yeah right.”

“Spike!” Twilight shot the dragon a warning look.

Spike yelped and shrank. “Alright, I’m sorry! But, I mean, come on! This is Fluttershy we’re talking about! She’s too shy to have a special somepony!”

“Maybe so, but it’s very rude to say stuff like that, Spike! And anyway, it’s not like you have a special somepony, so you have no room to criticize!”

Spike poked his claws together. “Well, I was going to give chocolate to-” The name he muttered was so garbled as to be indecipherable, but the pony in question wasn’t a mystery to anyone present. “I spent all night baking the most delicious, delectable chocolates. But then I sneezed and accidentally sent them to Princess Celestia…”

“Oh, Spike…” Twilight chuckled. “At least you brightened up the princess’s Hearts and Hooves Day.”

“I don’t think she needed it brightened up, considering she’s got a date with Discord,” Fluttershy said. But she spoke so quietly that nobody heard her.

“It’s not funny, Twilight! I had to send her a letter so she didn’t get the wrong idea! But I didn’t want to ask for the chocolates back because that would have been embarrassing, so I told her they were from you!”

“Oh, you did? Well, that’s alright, I guess. I was thinking of sending her some anyway, so you saved me the trouble… Though honesty is usually the best policy.”

“Darn tooting,” Applejack agreed.

“Would you all be quiet?!” Pinkie cried out. “Fluttershy is trying to tell me whether she’s coming to my party, and I can’t hear her!”

“Sorry…” Twilight whispered.

“I’m telling you, she doesn’t have plans,” Spike said.

All eyes fell on Fluttershy.

Fluttershy spoke up. “Um, actually, I did have plans…”

“You do?!” everypony exclaimed at once.

“Um, well, yes. I mean no. I mean, I did have plans, but now I don’t. I was going to have tea with Discord, but he had to cancel because he had a date with Princess Celestia.”

“Discord?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight froze with a smile on her face, but soon her left eye began twitching, and next her teeth stuck out and her mien morphed into a full-blown freak-out.

Pinkie gasped. “Discord and Celestia are dating?”

“Well, yes,” Fluttershy said. “That’s what Discord said. Though it does seem a little strange. Discord never mentioned anything to me before, and we’re really close.”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Pinkie bounced up and down as she spoke. “Do you think there’ll be another royal wedding in the near future? This is so exciting!”

“Um… I don’t know,” Fluttershy replied.

“No!” Twilight boomed, startling all her friends. “There will not be a wedding! I agree with Fluttershy: This is a disaster! It has to be one of Discord’s evil schemes! He has to have brainwashed Celestia! There’s no other explanation for why she would go on a date with him! Discord probably wants to become the ruler of Equestria again and rule however he wants! If we don’t stop him, there’ll be nothing but chaos and misery!”

Fluttershy raised her hoof. “Um… I don’t think I said that…”

“Now, calm down, Sugar Cube,” Applejack said as she slowly moved her front legs to coax Twilight out of her craziness.

“Calm down? I am calm!” Twilight’s eye twitched like crazy. “There’s no time to waste! We have to go find them and put an end to this!”

Fluttershy’s eyes brightened after she considered Twilight’s suggestion. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check out the situation.”

“See? Fluttershy gets it! Come on, let’s go, Fluttershy!”

Twilight grabbed Fluttershy’s front leg and then dashed away at high speed, taking the frightened Fluttershy with her, and leaving Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike standing at the entrance to the cottage with confused looks.

“Sooo…” Pinkie Pie began, “They’re coming to the party later, or…?”

Applejack gave Pinkie an irritated scowl.

Twilight cantered along, dragging Fluttershy behind her, until she caught sight of Apple Bloom standing around in town, gawking at all the decorations that were up. Grabbing the filly, Twilight shook her and screamed, “Where are they?!”

“Wah! What are ya talkin’ ‘bout, Twilight?!”

“Um, Twilight…” Fluttershy glanced from Apple Bloom to Twilight, a worried look on her face. “Maybe you should be a little nicer? And also, why would Apple Bloom know where Celestia and Discord are?”

Apple Bloom grinned. “Ohhh! Princess Celestia! Why didn’t ya say so? I saw her at that there venue.” She nodded at an outdoor restaurant, where couples were sitting at tables set up with umbrellas. “Oh!” Chuckling in a self-deprecating way, Apple Bloom added, “But she asked me not to tell anyone, so keep it on the down low.”

Forking over this intel earned Apple Bloom a fall to the ground; Twilight dropped her, then trotted a few steps towards the indicated establishment, never giving the filly another thought. Fluttershy apologized to Apple Bloom, then hurried after Twilight.

From where they stood some distance away, the two surveyed the venue. It was an outdoor eating place, with tables with umbrellas set up, and there were streamers run between the umbrellas with heart-shaped decorations hanging. Of concern, the customers seemed to all be lovey-dovey couples smiling and gazing into each other’s eyes, aside from Bon Bon and Lyra, each of whom kept sliding the bill back to the other with increasingly agitated looks.

Squinting at the customers, Twilight scanned for Celestia and Discord, until she picked out two large figures: one mare with her flowing mane partially hidden under a bonnet, and one droconiquis wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses. Even incognito, the two were quite conspicuous.

“Ah-ha! There they are!”

Twilight was about to dash over, but Fluttershy jumped in her way.

“Um… I don’t think you should just go over there. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to get caught spying?”

“Hmm…” Twilight thought about it for a moment. “Good point.”

But as Twilight and Fluttershy galloped to Rarity’s Boutique to borrow wide-brimmed hats, a certain blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane was watching their every move. Ever since catching a glimpse of Twilight drag Fluttershy away from her cottage at high speed, Rainbow Dash, perched on a nap-sized cloud, had been following the two.

“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash had said upon catching that blur of movement. Seeing Twilight and Fluttershy in such a hurry, Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “I don’t get it. Why would Fluttershy lie to me about having tea with Discord, then meet up with Twilight instead?” Rainbow Dash grew even more anxious and suspicious when the two disappeared inside Rarity’s Boutique. “What are they doing in there? Is this some kind of secret meeting?” When the two at last emerged, garbed in frilly dresses and fancy hats, Rainbow Dash felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, but it wasn’t until they galloped off to a fancy outdoor couples restaurant that Rainbow Dash came to believe her worst suspicion was true.

“Dressing up? Having lunch together? Alone? On Hearts and Hooves Day?” Rainbow Dash grimaced and put her hooves to her head and began hyperventilating. “Is this a date?! Oh no, no, no! This cannot be happening!”

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “Okay, calm down. It’s probably not what it looks like. I mean, when would those two have gotten so close? I guess they did go on a few adventurers together… But I’ve known Fluttershy since we were foals! We’re way closer!” Rainbow Dash paused a moment, a look of uncertainty etched on her face. “I’d better watch them to see what’s up. Wouldn’t want to jump to any conclusions.”

So she did watch. Positioning her cloud at some distance so she could see under their table’s umbrella, she watched Fluttershy and Twilight. But things didn’t seem too interesting. In fact, it was pretty boring. As time dragged on, Rainbow Dash was having a hard time staying awake. Twilight and Fluttershy ordered some water, then they just sat there side-by-side, whispering. Rainbow Dash wished she could hear what they were saying. There did seem to be a strange air between the two though. Twilight kept glancing over her shoulder. Was she being bashful?

Then, the unthinkable happened: Twilight took a sip of water- out of Fluttershy’s glass. “An indirect kiss?!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, her pupils dilating. She fell into a panic. But in a moment, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief: Fluttershy grinned nervously and pushed the cup away, clearly not eager to share in Twilight’s germs. The absent-minded Twilight, looking over the back of her chair again, reached behind her and this time grabbed her own glass of water.

Rainbow Dash wiped the sweat from her brow. “Whew! Crisis averted!”

But upon looking back at the scene below, Rainbow Dash got an even greater shock: Twilight was leaning in towards Fluttershy, their muzzles close together, and- Well, Rainbow Dash couldn’t really see because of the umbrella and their hats, but it was obvious what was going on. There was only one explanation.

“No, no, no! This can’t be happening! Are they really… kissing?!” Rainbow Dash zipped back and forth around in the sky, pacing and panicking. “So they really are secretly dating?! I can’t believe this! Waaaahhaaa!” She let out a despondent groan as she was consumed by the betrayal of her friends. “Didn’t they ever consider how the rest of us would feel?! Wait, is that why they met in secret? Arh! How am I supposed to feel about this?! Somepony tell me!”

Down on the ground, under the umbrella, Twilight was leaning over Fluttershy’s seat, twisting her neck to get a good view of the table where Princess Celestia and Discord were chatting and laughing.

“Alright, is it still obvious that I’m spying on them?”

“Um…” Fluttershy looked a tad discomforted from Twilight climbing over her and invading her personal space, but she gave an honest answer. “Yes. Kind of. Well, I’m not really sure, but everypony is looking over here, so...”

“Oh, I give up!” Growling, Twilight turned her seat one-hundred and sixty degrees and pulled out a pair of binoculars (which were quite unnecessary, given that Celestia’s table was less than a stone’s throw away).

“Um, Twilight…”

“What?”

“Now it’s obvious.”

“Urrh!” Twilight threw the binoculars onto the ground, rotated her chair back and slumped down into it, and crossed her front legs in front of her chest.

“Hey!”

The sudden appearance of their waitress sent bolts of electricity through both Twilight and Fluttershy. Twilight gasped and Fluttershy ducked under the table. The waitress, a green-maned mare, rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. “You two going to order something besides water, or are you just here to gawk at the princess?”

“Uhm…” Twilight forced a smile. “Two daisy sandwiches for me and my friend, please. And some more water, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Thank you,” the waitress said in an irritated manner.

Once the pesky waitress was gone, Twilight exhaled her held breath, and Fluttershy came out from under the table. Looking about at the other ponies around, Twilight saw they were all casting glances at the table with a princess, a draconequus, and three royal guards. “Wait a minute, everypony here is staring at them! We don’t need to worry about being discreet.”

“I guess…” was Fluttershy’s uncertain reply.

So the two of them got back to spying. Celestia used her magic to raise her sandwich to her mouth, and took a bite. Discord was a little more creative, making his sandwich sprout wings which carried it up into the sky.

“What are they doing over there?” Twilight asked as she leaned over her chair.

“Well, it looks like they’re having lunch,” Fluttershy replied.

“Yeah right! I’ll bet Discord’s doing something evil right now! Aha! You see that?!”

When they looked back, Discord was using his magic to juggle the three guard ponies in the air. They slowly spun in circles, displeased and slightly nauseous looks on their faces. The guards didn’t look happy, but Princess Celestia smiled widely and laughed at the show.

Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together, a sheepish look on her face. “Well, um… He’s not really hurting anypony, is he?”

“Really?!” Furious, Twilight motioned at the guards, who were now flailing their legs as Discord rotated them upside down. “Incapacitating royal guards isn’t bad enough for you? What if he did that to every guard? Equestria would be defenseless! We need to free Celestia and stop Discord before he does something really bad!”

“Maybe we should just watch a little longer,” Fluttershy suggested.

Twilight groaned. “Alright, if that’s what it takes to convince you!”

Twilight’s ears pricked up when she heard Celestia’s voice. “Wait, what are they saying now?” She and Fluttershy tilted their heads and leaned closer to hear.

“I don’t know, Discord. Are you sure about having our date in Ponyville?” Celestia asked.

“Of course I’m sure,” Discord replied. “The ponies here are the best, most friendly lot in all of Equestria, and there’s so much fun to be had here. Plus, it holds special memories for both of us. Not too far from here is the spot where you had me freed so that I could be reformed. Remember that?”

“I do.” Celestia smiled. “But still, it would be a little embarrassing to run into somepony we know. You know how she freaks out about every little thing.”

Twilight gasped. “How could Celestia not want to see me? Now I know something’s wrong! If she were herself, she would never say that!”

“Well, um…” Fluttershy looked uncertain. “Maybe she wasn’t talking about you?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at her.

Fluttershy smiled apologetically. “Right, right, she said somepony prone to freaking out, didn’t she? But, um, maybe she didn’t mean it in a bad way? Like, you know how sometimes you don’t want to see me when you’re reading?”

“That is not-”

“Oh, don’t worry!” Discord’s voice rang out. “Princess Twilight and her friends will be too busy keeping the yaks from wrecking the town to come here. Speaking of which, where is that sweet destruction? I’d planned for that to be our entertainment…” Discord poofed up a pair of viewing binoculars and looked around, but alas, no yaks. He shrugged. “Oh well. They must be doing a better job than I thought they would. What a pity.”

Hearing this, Celestia, unable to help herself, sputtered out into laughter. But Twilight wasn’t laughing.

“Discord!” Twilight hissed. She grit her teeth and growled, before declaring, “That’s it! We’ve got to wreck their date!”

Fluttershy shrunk. “Um, well, that sounds really mean, so I think I’ll just go…”

Fluttershy tried to slink away, but Twilight caught her and dragged her back. Twilight held Fluttershy by her shoulders and gave her a meaningful look. “We have to break them up, Fluttershy! It’ll be chaos if Discord succeeds with this mad scheme! This is for the good of Equestria!”

“Well, if it’s for the good of Equestria, I guess… But, um, what exactly are you going to do to ruin their date?”

“It’s simple, really. I just need you to ask your bear friend to go over there and attack Discord. All the bleeding he does is sure to make Celestia realize what a disgusting, manipulative jerk he is.” Twilight clomped her hooved together and laughed evilly.

Fluttershy was aghast. “Gosh, no! I can’t ask Harry to do that! He has a kind, gentle spirit, and he’d never hurt anypony. Besides, he doesn’t stand a chance against Discord. He might get hurt.”

“Really? Well, I guess you have a point… Um… Then can you ask bees to sting Discord?”

Fluttershy put her front legs on her hips and cast a reproachful look. “Why do all your plans involve me asking my cute little animal friends to hurt Discord?”

“So that’s a no?” Laughing nervously, Twilight shrunk under Fluttershy’s glare. She looked around, trying to think of something. Her gaze fell over the two glasses of water on the table. “Uhh… What about this? We throw our water at them. That’ll ruin their dinner, and after a catastrophe like that, Celestia will never go on another date with Discord again!”

“Gosh, that sounds really mean… And won’t that make Celestia mad at us, not Discord?” Fluttershy asked.

“Come on, Fluttershy! You are not okay with this, are you?”

With an anxious look at Discord and Celestia, Fluttershy replied, “Well, no, not really.”

“Then help me!”

Fluttershy bit her lip. “Um… Alright. I guess it might work if we dropped the water from the air...”

“Yes, yes! But how to deal with the umbrella? Hmm…” Twilight closed her eyes and rubbed her chin. “I could use my magic to-”

“What are you two whispering about?” Without making a noise, Discord appeared out of nowhere, and leaned in over Twilight and Fluttershy’s table.

“Ahh! Don’t do that!” Twilight yelled.

“Oh, hey Discord…” Fluttershy said in a small voice, as she once again lowered herself under the table, trying to disappear.

Discord chuckled. “Oh, sorry. It’s just that I couldn’t help but notice you two spying on us, so I thought I’d pop in. By the way, the date’s going great, don’t you think? Celestia and I are really hitting it off. We’ve got so much in common, and so many shared hobbies. Like tormenting a certain alicorn princess with perplexing puzzles and challenges of character.”

“Whatever you’ve done to Celestia, we’re going to fix it!” Twilight declared.

Discord chuckled as he flicked Twilight’s nose. “Done to her? Why, I haven’t done a thing. Poor Twilight. You just can’t stand seeing your mentor paying attention to somepony other than you. Jealousy is an ugly color on you.” With a snap of his fingers, Twilight turned dark green.

“Jealous? I am not jealous!” growled Twilight. “I just know that you’re up to something, and I don’t want to see Princess Celestia hurt!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, I suppose I expected this of you, Twilight. But I expected better of you, Fluttershy. I thought we were besties.”

“Oh, um… I was just curious about how your date was going…” Fluttershy forced the corners of her lip up into a shaky smile.

“Hmm…” Discord squinted at her a moment. Then he smiled. “Well, I’m going to suggest a change of venue. Celestia specifically asked not to see you, Twilight.” With a mocking smile, Discord flicked Twilight’s nose again, and she returned to her normal shade of purple. With a wave and an “Adieu”, Discord poofed back to Celestia, who’d been watching, and whispered into her ear.

“Back to Canterlot?” said Celestia.

Discord nodded. “I think a stroll through Canterlot’s streets would be just the thing. Gotta work off all those sandwiches with some exercise.”

“I suppose so. Alright then.”

With a wink at Twilight and Fluttershy, and a snap of his fingers, Discord teleported himself and Celestia, leaving the three baffled guards to canter around, wondering what they were to do.

“Grrr! Discord!” Twilight grit her teeth.

“Gosh, what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked.

“We follow them, of course! They were going to Canterlot! Come on!”

But as the two were about to dash off to Canterlot, their waitress appeared with an “Ahem!”

With an apologetic look, Twilight looked to Fluttershy. “Do you have fourteen bits? I left all my money with Spike.”

A tad irritated, Fluttershy replied, “You dragged me out here without giving me a chance to get my saddlebag.”

“Well?” asked their impatient server.

Twilight chuckled nervously. “One moment please!” She huddled up with Fluttershy. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know! Why are you asking me?” Breathing growing erratic, Fluttershy fell into panic mode. “Oh no! Oh no! This is a major faux pas!”

Seeing Fluttershy would be no help, Twilight glanced around, and she smiled upon spotting the magic solution to their problem, just standing there in the middle of the street. “Look, it’s our very generous friend, Rarity! I’ll bet she can lend us some bits! Be right back.”

Fluttershy smiled nervously at the waitress.

The waitress’s glare bore into Fluttershy. “She better be right back, or else.”

Fluttershy gulped. “Please hurry…” she whispered.

Twilight ran as fast as she could to her stationary friend. “Rarity!” she called out.

A big smile lit up Rarity’s face. She held her arm out as though expecting to receive something, but Twilight didn’t seem to notice. When Twilight asked to borrow some money, Rarity’s happy look transformed into one of disappointment. Silently, she handed over the bits. Twilight took them, said thanks, then dashed away. Rarity sighed, but she went on smiling at everyone who passed.

“What’cha doing just standing there, Sis?” A moment after Twilight had gone, Sweetie Belle appeared. Her words were muffled by the chocolate she chewed. She carried a saddlebag full of sweets.

Seeing all the chocolate her sister had, Rarity’s mouth slowly opened, then closed again, her eye twitching. Her smile faded.

“Sweetie Belle, did your classmates give you all those?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know, probably. They’re from secret admirers. It is Hearts and Hooves Day, after all. Didn’t you get any?”

Rarity’s face contorted into an ugly grimace, and her eye twitched more than ever. Barely able to contain her anger, she said, “How nice for you.”

Back at the restaurant, Twilight dropped the bits on the table, then grabbed Fluttershy and took off into the sky, towards Canterlot. The two flew right by Rainbow Dash, stirring her from her catatonic state.

“What the? Where are they going now?”

Rainbow Dash followed at a discreet distance. She grew agitated when Canterlot came into view. “Now it’s a romantic getaway in Canterlot?” Groaning, she said, “I don’t get it! What’s she see in Twilight? What’s she got that I don’t? Besides being an egghead. I’m so much better than her at flying. Seriously, Twilight can barely even get off the ground. Although… Fluttershy is kind of a weak flier too…” Rainbow Dash gasped. “Does Fluttershy have more in common with Twilight than she does with me?! Let’s see… They’re both caring and neat, and they like reading more than I do. What do I have in common with Fluttershy?” Drawing a blank, Rainbow Dash pouted her lips as her eyes shone glumly. “Twilight is so much better than me… She’s a princess, she’s good at magic and studying and being considerate to everypony’s feelings… And she’s better at planning, clearly, since she made a plan to steal Fluttershy’s heart…” Plopping down on a cloud hanging over the palace, Rainbow Dash buried her face in the cumulus nimbus to cry.

Back on the ground, Twilight and Fluttershy dashed through the streets of Canterlot. The city was extravagantly decorated with thousands of hearts for Hearts and Hooves day, and couples were gadding about in droves. They were exhausted from the flight over, so they stopped a moment at a fountain to catch their breath, and to scan the crowds for the princess and Discord. Fluttershy was a little worked up after the exertion.

“You know, Twilight, all that running made me realize something!” Fluttershy had a confident, slightly angry gleam in her eye. “I am not okay with this! Discord can’t just date Celestia! I thought we had something special! How could he do that to me?! So I’m ready to help you stop them!”

Laughing gleefully, Twilight gave Fluttershy a hug. “That’s my girl! Just stick to my plan to ruin their date, and they’ll be broken up in no time!”

“So what is the plan?”

“Well, we were talking about throwing water at them, right? That gave me an idea: what’s the worst thing that could happen on an afternoon stroll?”

“Bumping into somepony you don’t want to talk to?”

“No, it’s rain! Sheesh, pay attention!” Twilight let out a sigh of exasperation before continuing. “We don’t even need to find them first; we’ll just gather up some rainclouds, then make it rain on all of Canterlot! Romance couldn’t possibly bloom under such gloom! So, no more Celestia and Discord, and Equestria is saved from Discord’s reign of chaos. Heheheh!”

“Sounds like a plan!” Fluttershy said.

After their break, they flew back up into the sky and set about gathering rainclouds. It took a while, but eventually they gathered up enough to create a big gray cloud that cast a shadow over all of Canterlot. In the city, there were already murmurs as couples cast concerned gazes upward.

“Aright!” Twilight said happily as she wiped sweat off her brow. “Now, will you please do the honors, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “Mm-hmm!”

Floating up to the cloud, Fluttershy prepped her hind legs, then gave the raincloud a good buck and-

Nothing happened. Fluttershy’s kick had been too wimpy to unleash a torrential downpour. After a moment, a light drizzle came from the cloud.

“What was that?!” Scowling, Twilight waved her front legs at Fluttershy.

“Heh heh…” Cheeks flushing red, Fluttershy gave a nervous smile and shrugged. “Weather clouds are really more Rainbow Dash’s thing.”

“She really makes it look easy… Well, there’s got to be something we can do!” Twilight punched the cloud a few times. “Come on, fall harder!” She continued her cumulus-assault until she exhausted herself, but found the downpour not much better than before. “W-Whatever. At least it’s raining… Did we ruin Celestia and Discord’s date?”

Fluttershy squinted at the ground, and saw ponies still cantering about in spite of the rain. “It doesn’t look like we ruined anyone’s date…” She continued searching until she saw Celestia and Discord amongst the crowd. “Hey, there they are!”

Discord and Celestia were both smiling at each other as they took their stroll under the rain.

“I was worried when I saw that cloud up in the sky, but it’s rather pleasant, isn’t it?” Celestia queried.

“Oh, yes,” agreed Discord. “The only thing that would make it more pleasant is if it were chocolate milk!” At this, Discord raised his claw and prepped his fingers to snap.

“Discord!” Celestia shot a warning look.

Discord furrowed his brow and frowned. “Oh, right right, I remember: No wanton chaos because I’m reformed now.”

Celestia beamed. “Good.”

Twilight was furious. “How can they still be happy in this rain?!”

Fluttershy put her hoof under the cloud and let a few drops hit her. “Um, Twilight… You can’t really call this raining… More like, sprinkling or dripping… It’s barely noticeable.”

“Ugh! We’ll just have to try something else!”

“You have another plan?”

“Of course!” Twilight laughed as she rubbed her hooves together. “I have tons! And a backup plan for each one, and a backup for each backup!”

A proceeding of schemes to ruin Celestia and Discord’s date followed, each faithfully executed by Twilight and Fluttershy. However, try as they might, they couldn’t seem to put a damper on the princess and Discord’s spirits. When they wrecked a stolen stall-cart on the path Celestia and Discord were following, the two merely walked around it. When they tried dropping tomatoes on Discord and Celestia’s heads, Celestia teleported out of the way, and Discord snapped his fingers, giving the tomatoes wings and sending them right back. And when Twilight and Fluttershy tried creating a tornado to blow Discord and Celestia away, only partially succeeding with a mild tailwind, Discord merely shrugged off the blow, and with a snap of his fingers, transformed the wind into a five-headed snake that ran amok, tearing up the decorations that had been set out and heckling guards by licking their faces. Celestia got a laugh out of that.

“Who’s a cute little hydra?” Fluttershy asked as she stroked the chins of the snake creature. In a babying voice, she said, “You don’t really want to wreck all these buildings. You’re just confused because you were just born.” The beast seemed pleased by the pampering, and calmed down considerably.

“What are you doing?!” Twilight roared. “We don’t have time for that! We’re going to lose Princess Celestia and Discord!” Twilight hopped up into the sky and scanned around until she saw the two towering over the crowd. “Oh, what?! They’re heading back to the palace now?! We’ve got to hurry!”

“Well, it is getting pretty late, so their date is probably almost over,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh no! We’ve got to hurry! We cannot let this day end with Celestia and Discord happy! That would be awful!”

Fluttershy’s mouth formed a circle as she thought about that confusing statement.

“Don’t worry, we just have to follow my plan! Nothing can go wrong if we follow my plan!” Twilight grabbed Fluttershy and headed toward the palace.

Up above on a cloud, a frantic Rainbow Dash chewed her hoof. “Did they just kiss again?! They did, didn’t they?! Seriously?! No, no, no! Waaaah!” She buried her face in her hooves and sobbed.

She rubbed away her tears. “Alright, calm down… I just have to accept this. I have to accept that Twilight and Fluttershy are… well, um, you know… Don’t make me say it, please...” She closed her eyes and grimaced. “Anyway, I’m their friend, so I have to support them, no matter how much it hurts…”

“Nooo!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “I can’t accept this! Why, why, why would she choose Twilight over me?! We haven’t even known Twilight that long, but I’ve known Fluttershy since, like, forever!”

Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash, a pony in guard armor flew up to her cloud and approached her from behind. Rainbow Dash got a jolt, followed by goosebumps, when he put his arm around her neck.

“Rainbow Dash! I thought I saw you up here!”

Rainbow Dash gaped, a look of disgust and horror frozen on her face, when she saw Zephyr Breeze grinning smugly at her.

“I know you’re crazy about me, but you don’t have to spy on me to get my attention. All you had to do was ask.” Zephyr raised his eyebrows a few times.

Rainbow Dash swallowed. “B-But I wasn’t-”

“Hey look, there’s your future sister-in-law!” Zephyr Breeze pointed to Fluttershy, who was currently being dragged toward the palace by Twilight. “Were you spying on her too? To find out where I was?” Zephyr patted Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. He shook his head. “You’ve got it bad for me, huh?”

“Ugh!” Feeling like she wanted to puke, Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue.

“Say, why don’t we go somewhere romantic for a bite, just the two of us?” Zephyr Breeze suggested. Closing his eyes and still wearing his smug grin, he added, “Your treat, of course. I’m broke.”

Rainbow Dash tried to shove Zephyr Breeze away, but he clung to her like a lost child. In a whisper, Rainbow Dash cried out, “Ughhh! Somebody help me! Get this jerk away from me!”

“Oh, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

Upon Fluttershy and Twilight’s arrival at the palace, they were greeted by three royal guards, all lined up, all with nervous blushes. “Um, we’d be honored if you’d accept our…” They extended their hooves, proffering some Hearts and Hooves Day cards and some chocolate.

“Yeah, thanks, whatever!” Twilight slapped the guards cards away and rushed by with Fluttershy in tow, leaving the guards crestfallen. Once inside, Twilight looked around. “Alright, now on to my plan…”

“Um, Twilight, I didn’t want to say anything, but…” Fluttershy clomped her hooves together and chewed her lower lip. “…your plans don’t seem to be… working…”

“What?!” A manic look in her eyes, Twilight squeezed Fluttershy’s cheeks between her hooves and pressed her muzzle against hers. “Stick-to-the- plan!”

Irritated, Fluttershy pushed Twilight away. “Twilight, I think I have a plan.”

“Really?” Twilight looked surprised. “What is it?”

With no reply, Fluttershy grabbed Twilight around the waist, then carried her through the air.

“Urf! Where are you taking me?” Twilight asked.

“To Princess Celestia and Discord. I just thought of the best way to ruin their date.”

“And what is that?” Twilight raised an eyebrow and shrugged

“Well, um… It’s you.”

“Huh?!”

Fluttershy found Celestia and Discord in the dining hall, sipping tea, so she dropped Twilight right on their table, then beat a hasty retreat and hid herself. Celestia gaped, wide-eyed at Twilight, while Discord narrowed his eyes and put his hand to his chin, looking curious and inquisitive. Twilight only sat there in confusion for a moment, before turning a tearful look to Celestia. Sobbing, she took her mentor by the shoulders and shook her.

“Princess, how could you do this?! How could you go behind my back to date Discord?! I thought you trusted me! So why wouldn’t you just tell me? And why would you want to spend time with Discord instead of me, anyway?! He’s clearly just using you! He’s not as reformed as you think! He’s still evil”

“Oh, come now, Twilight! No need to get so worked up. Let me explain…” With an uncomfortable look, Celestia patted Twilight’s shoulder, but it didn’t seem to help. The mare was sobbing so much, Celestia wasn’t even sure her words were getting through. “Just calm down, Twilight.”

“Calm down?! How can I stay calm when you’re dating Discord! It just isn’t right!”

“Ho ho! Classic Twilight meltdown.” Discord chuckled.

“Don’t laugh! Help me!” hissed Celestia.

Twilight shot a furious look Discord’s way. “How dare you! You don’t deserve the princess’s affections! You only care about yourself! Celestia deserves somepony who really cares about her!”

“And would that somepony happen to be you?” Discord said, a knowing smirk on his lips.

“Me?” Nervously, Twilight clomped her hooves together. “Well, I mean, no, but… It’s definitely not you! You’re just manipulating her so you can rule over Equestria! You don’t care about her!”

“I really do care about her,” Discord insisted.

“Liar! If you really did, you wouldn’t have said that in such a derisive, sarcastic manner!”

“What?” Discord looked surprised. “I did not. This is just how I speak.” He pinched his nose and sighed, but bounced back with a smile.

“You can’t seriously trust him more than me, can you? I’ve been your apprentice for years! He’s only been reformed for a short time, and before that he was one of the greatest threats to Equestria!”

“Well, um…” Celestia clenched her teeth and averted her gaze. Looking very uncomfortable with the situation, it took her a moment to think of what to say. “Look, Twilight, just because I trust Discord now, doesn’t mean I don’t trust you.”

“Oh yeah? If you trust me, then why’d you say you didn’t want me to find out about this?!”

Celestia’s eyes flitted about. “H-How’d you know about that?!”

“Oh, she’s been following us all day,” Discord said, waving his hand as though bored. “I would have told you, but I didn’t want to ruin things for you. Or them.”

“What?! Is this true, Twilight?!”

“Yes! But I only did it because you have to be protected from Discord! He’s evil, and he’s controlling you with some kind of magic! That’s the only explanation!”

“Wha-?” Celestia was utterly baffled.

Discord looked to Celestia. “I think I know what’s going on here. Let me handle it.”

“Well, alright… If you’re sure.” Celestia looked relieved.

With a snap of his fingers, Discord teleported himself and Twilight into the next room. “You too!”

“Yeep!”

With another snap, Fluttershy was brought out from her hiding place. Trembling, she put her hooves over her head and hid her face as Discord cast a scolding look upon her and Twilight.

With a wry smile, Discord leaned over and pinched Twilight’s cheek. “Look, I know what’s going on here. You’re upset that I’m taking up all of your beloved mentor’s time. And you’re jealous that she might like me more than you.”

“Twat’s nwat twue!” Twilight said, before breaking Discord’s grip on her cheek. “We were just trying to stop you from throwing Equestria into chaos!”

Discord shrugged. “Seems to me, you two have created quite a bit of chaos yourselves. What with that rain, your windstorm, and all that other stuff.”

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hooves. “Y-You knew about all of that?”

“Oh yes.” Giving a theatrical sigh and putting his claws over his eyes, Discord said, “I didn’t want to believe it. How could you two try to ruin our date? I’m shocked! Well, not at you, Twilight. This was to be expected. But I thought you trusted me, Fluttershy! I can’t believe you would get so jealous that you would do all those horrible things! That doesn’t seem very kind of you.”

“You’re right…” Tears forming in her eyes, Fluttershy looked to Twilight. “We were just awful… I don’t know what came over us…”

When Twilight met Fluttershy’s gaze, her own mien softened. She bowed her head. “I do. We were both jealous. And we let that jealousy get the best of us.”

“Ooooh! I sense a friendship lesson!” Discord clapped his hands together. “Here, why don’t you write down a letter to send to the princess?” Some paper and a quill appeared.

Twilight smiled. “Thanks, Discord.”

“Well, have fun with that. Oh, and don’t worry about all the catastrophe’s you caused. I’ll take care of those. You just focus on that friendship lesson. Got to get back to my date, so ta-ta!” Discord vanished with a poof.

“A letter to Celestia about friendship, huh?” Twilight said. “That makes me nostalgic. I guess we’d better put an apology in too.”

Twilight put the quill to the paper, but Fluttershy stopped her. “Why don’t we get out of Discord and Celestia’s hair before we start writing this?”

Twilight chuckled. “Good idea.”

With the paper and quill in hand, the two departed Canterlot and flew back to Fluttershy’s cottage. The quiet flight gave them time to collect their thoughts, so when they arrived, they were ready to write their letter.

“I’m kind of nervous about this one…” Fluttershy said. “Make sure you write how very sorry we are for all the trouble.”

“Don’t worry! I’ve got this!” Twilight said.

Before Twilight could even write out the greeting, there was a startling bang, and the door to the cottage was thrown open. There in the entryway was Rainbow Dash, a panicked look on her mien. She turned her tearful eyes upon Fluttershy. In the next moment, she rushed inside, and began shaking Fluttershy by her shoulders while delivering frenzied speech.

“Alright, just tell me the truth! Why’d you spend Hearts and Hooves Day with her and not me? What is going on between you two? Are you dating? What’s she got that I don’t?”

As Rainbow Dash waited for her answer, Fluttershy, mouth agape, stared back in confusion. “Um, I’m sorry. You were talking so fast that I didn’t quite get all of that.”

“What are you talking about, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, equally confused. “We’ve been spying on Discord and Celestia all day… And now we’re writing a friendship lesson about jealousy.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash let go of Fluttershy. “But what about all the kissing?”

“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Uh… Never mind.”

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked. “It kind of seems like you had as bad a day as we did.”

“Everything’s cool…” Rainbow Dash chewed her lip a moment. “W-Well, maybe it isn’t cool…I guess I should have told you that I really wanted to hang out with you today.” Rainbow Dash gasped. “Er, I mean somepony. Not you specifically. I just didn’t have anything to do.”

“Didn’t you get invited to Pinkie’s party for the Yaks?” Twilight asked. Nobody seemed to hear her.

Fluttershy got choked up. Sobbing, she gave Rainbow Dash a big hug. “Oh, I had no idea! I’m so sorry for ignoring you, Rainbow Dash! I just assumed you would be alright, but you weren’t! I should have paid attention and been more sensitive to your feelings!”

“It’s alright, really. No big deal,” Rainbow Dash said. A red blush crossed her face, but she smiled as she hugged Fluttershy back. After a moment, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight and said, “Hey, put something in that letter for me. I learned some stuff about jealousy too. Also, mention that Zephyr Breeze is the most annoying pony in all of Equestria.”

“Will do!” Twilight answered.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today we learned that sometimes you can get jealous when your friends start spending time with their special someponies instead of you, like how Fluttershy and I got jealous when you and Discord went on your date today. You’re very special to me, and Discord is to Fluttershy, but that doesn’t mean it was right for us to get so angry that we tried to ruin your date. It’s normal to get jealous, but we have to learn to let go of that. And it would have been better to talk it out with you, instead of engaging in all that destructive behavior. Fluttershy and I are very very sorry for everything we did today!

We also learned that you should pay more attention to your friend’s feelings. Rainbow Dash got jealous of how Fluttershy and I were spending so much time together today. It turns out that she wanted to hang out with her. If we had been more sensitive to her feelings, maybe none of us would have had such awful Hearts and Hooves Days! And that’s why, after we finish writing this letter, we’re going to go give cards to our friend Rarity, because she’s been waiting for one all day, and we should have realized it sooner.

Dealing with jealousy can be tough, because when somepony finds their special somepony, they’ll want to spend lots of time with them instead of you. But I’m certain that true friends will always find time for you, no matter what.

Your Student,

Twilight Sparkle

***

It was late, so early the next morning, Twilight had Spike send the letter. When the plume of dragon fire arrived before Celestia, the princess took the letter inside with great anticipation. As she read, the corners of her lips turned up in a smile. But there was something bothering her after she got to the end. Rereading the beginning, a certain sentence caught her eye, and her smile turned into a frown. Rife with suspicion, she narrowed her eyes, and a name escaped her lips: “Fluttershy.”

Shirking her royal duties, Celestia sauntered through the halls of the castle. The letter was about jealousy and it mentioned Discord being special to Fluttershy. It wasn’t difficult for Celestia to put two and two together. Discord was her special somepony, so she wasn’t going to let Fluttershy interfere. Celestia stopped at the door of her sister, Princess Luna.

“It’s too early!” Luna, dark circles under her eyes, moaned as she answered the door. “What do you want?”

“Oh, well…”

“Don’t you know how difficult it is gaining the love of the children of Equestria by protecting them from their nightmares?! I had to get up in the middle of the night to rescue a poor filly who’d gotten herself stuck on a cloud with no company all day save for a flying tortoise! Now, hurry and be out with it so I can go back to sleep!”

After casting glances to her left and right to make sure nopony was listening, Celestia leaned in and asked, “Do you know anypony who can make ponies disappear?”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Have you tried the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Uh… That’s not exactly what I meant…”

“Oh, I get it.” Luna donned an indignant look. “What, since I’m the Princess of the Night, you assume I know shady ponies? The nerve of you!”

“Uhm… Never mind…”

Celestia turned to go, but Luna blocked her path and in one fell swoop snatched the letter away from her.

“What have we here?” Luna’s eyes ran over the words. “Ah, yes, I see. So this is what has you so worked up? You’re jealous because of Discord and Fluttershy’s relationship?” Luna waved her hoof in a scolding manner. “I can’t believe you! Jealous! Over Discord, of all things! I thought you were just doing this to keep a tighter leash on him, to control his powers. Don’t tell me you actually like him now? Come on, he’s literally the incarnation of chaos!”

“Well…”

“And another thing, you can’t get rid of Fluttershy! She’s the only pony around who shares my interest in the Sailor Pony Luna comics.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to do anything too-”

Luna slapped the letter a few times, then hit Celestia in the face with it. “And you know, it seems to me you need to take this lesson your pupil’s written up to heart. It’s just ridiculous, you getting jealous like this! Learn from Twilight and Fluttershy about how destructive jealousy is!”

“You’re one to talk,” Celestia said. “I seem to recall that you were jealous of me.”

Luna smiled. “Indeed I was. But that only further proves that I know what I’m talking about, and you should listen to me.”

The two sisters both laughed.

“Alright, alright. You’re right, little sister. I could really learn a thing or two from Twilight and Fluttershy about jealousy.”

“Indeed you could, Sister. Indeed you could.”