My Little Pony: Harmony is Magic

by BoeingtheDraconequus

Rating: teen
Tags: Fluttershy, Main 6, Radiant Hope, Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, My Little Pony Comic, Romance, Drama, Original Character
Length: 48511

The Mane 6 stop a mysterious unicorn from stealing the crystal heart, but they soon find themselves going on a dangerous mission to save Equestria while a certain Draconequus developes feelings for his closest and best friend

When a mysterious unicorn mare attempts to steal the crystal heart and immediately gets defeated, the Mane 6 learns about her mysterious past and her surprising friendship with King Sombra, but what happens when evil beings threaten to ruin the balance and harmony in Equestria and Discord develops feelings for his closest and best friend?

Inspired by the Siege of the Crystal Empire arc in the MLP comics

Cancelled due to a lack of ideas and planning out a clopfic and a possible reboot of this. I will let you know in the future if there are any more future updates.

Published 2024-12-31 19:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2025-01-21 02:09:00 UTC

Chapter 1: A Very Chaotic Hearth's Warming

My Little Pony: Harmony is Magic

Chapter 1: A Very Chaotic Hearth's Warming

Discord summoned a glass of chocolate milk. He drank the glass surrounding the milk and threw the solidified chocolate from the former glass into his mouth as he swallowed it whole. He let out a satisfied sigh and rubbed his back against the couch of his living room as he turned the newspaper page. He frowned, feeling that something wasn't quite right as he snapped his lion fingers, summoning an upside-down fireplace on the wall before him. Regaining his satisfaction, he returned to his newspaper with a content smile.

It had been several months since he reluctantly joined forces with Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax to help rescue everyone from Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings. Despite being outsmarted and overpowered, they were successful in convincing all of them to reform from their evil ways and gain a new ruler. Not only that, but they received heart-shaped medals for their heroic actions and praise in the process, something that he still remembers even to this day.

Discord couldn’t help the proud smile that grew on his face. He knew he helped save all of Equestria, but the most important thing that mattered to him was that he had saved his best friend, Fluttershy. He knew it wasn’t only her that was in danger of being an emotionally delicious meal to a bunch of evil bug-like creatures, but it was only her that mattered to him the most out of everything other than his chaos. He cast a glance over at the wall where the fireplace was that hung his medal of honor and a framed newspaper with him, Trixie, Starlight, and Thorax on the main headline, both of whom were encased in everything-proof glass for safety reasons, as he felt a sense of pride well up inside him.

Thinking about his awards made him want to go out and do something other than mess with ponies and spread harmless chaos, not to mention reading a newspaper while lounging on his couch was extremely boring.

“Perhaps Fluttershy would like a surprise visit,” he said to himself as he sat up and made his entertainment disappear in a flash of light.

He reappeared in the air in Ponyville and upon reaching his destination, his smile fell as he looked around the peaceful town with a distasteful look. There were colorful decorations on every single building and singing was filling the air, which only meant one thing.

It was Hearth’s Warming Eve.

“Ugh. Of all the times for this to happen it had to be now.” Discord grumbled with annoyance as he flew straight towards Fluttershy’s cottage, trying desperately not to so much as glance down at the wonderful winter wonderland below.

Out of all the pet peeves he had, Hearth’s Warming was his top 5 most hated things. In his opinion, it was a lame excuse for ponies to make their towns look pretty for only a short amount of time and make up a stallion by the name of ‘Santa Hooves’, who delivers toys to foals all around the world in one single night. Discord respected pony traditions now that he was reformed, but there were times when they would make him roll his eyes and inwardly criticize them. Coincidentally, Hearth’s Warming just so happened to be one of them.

Thankfully, the voyage didn’t last long as his destination came into view, but he stopped mid-descent when he saw Hearth’s Warming decorations all over the exterior. Shock and annoyance etched his facial features as he debated whether or not to go back home and wait until all this annoying holiday nonsense ended. Despite not at all being a fan of such a holiday, he still wanted to see his favorite friend and chat the day away.

Making up his mind with a slap to his face in annoyance followed by a sigh, the Draconequus teleported in front of the front door to Fluttershy’s cottage and knocked on it, rather than just teleporting inside uninvited. He could’ve done just that, but after being recognized as a hero, he decided to put aside some of his usual antics for the sake of the bearer of the Element of Kindness. If it meant making her satisfied, he was perfectly fine with it.

The sound of the doorknob twisting rewarded his ears as the front door swung open, revealing none other than Fluttershy as she smiled up at him.

“Discord! It’s so good to see you,” she said as she flew up and wrapped her forelegs around his chest.

“Hello, Fluttershy. It’s good to see you too,” said Discord as he wrapped his arms around her body. He particularly loved it when they shared hugs, something he never thought he’d find himself enjoying in his entire life.

They soon broke the embrace as Fluttershy landed back on the ground and opened the front door further. “Please, come in. You must be really cold after standing outside in the snow.”

“Not in the slightest.”

He floated inside the cottage and layed down on the couch, his favorite spot out of everywhere else in the entire world in his opinion, as his pegasus friend closed the door and went towards the kitchen.

“So what brings you here?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, I just thought I’d drop by and we can have some tea together,” replied Discord as he summoned a tea set and placed it on the table next to the couch. “I know it’s been three days since our last Tuesday Tea party, but I just couldn’t wait to hang out with my best friend.”

Her smile fell as she glanced to her side. “Oh, um, sorry, Discord, but I promised Twilight that I’d help her decorate her castle for the Hearth’s Warming banquet tomorrow.”

Unsurprisingly, her chaotic friend’s smile fell as he scowled and took one of the tea cups into his lion paw, taking a sip of some of the tea that was currently existing in the cup. “Oh, I understand. It’s perfectly fine that you have to help out your friends, especially during Hearth’s Warming.”

“I’m really sorry.” Fluttershy gave him an apologetic look before she suddenly perked up. “Oh! Maybe you can come with me and help out, and then we can spend the rest of the day together.”

Discord’s eyes widened as he spat out his tea. “Wait, what?”

“Why not? You’ve never celebrated Hearth’s Warming before, and I think it’s time we finally changed that.” the yellow pegasus smiled at him. “So what do you say? Will you give the holidays a chance?”

The Draconequus feigned an amused chuckle. “I’m not sure you realized it, but there’s a reason why I’ve never celebrated Hearth’s Warming.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“It’s because of the lack of concentration on what it’s about,” Discord replied with distaste. “Hearth’s Warming is about celebrating the founding of Equestria and the first time all three pony races put aside their differences and joined forces together in harmony, not about a make-believe figure called ‘Santa Hooves’ and asking him for toys.”

Fluttershy nodded in understanding. “While it’s true that presents aren’t what Hearth’s Warming is all about, giving and receiving them can be nice. How would you feel if I got you a present?”

Her chaotic friend took a sip of his tea before thinking for a second. “Well, I can summon anything I want whenever I want, but no one has ever given me anything before.” a small smile tugged at his lips. “I guess it sounds a little nice when you put it that way.”

“Does that mean you’ll celebrate Hearth’s Warming?” Fluttershy asked with hope.

“Well…I don’t know.”

“Please?”

“Well…”

“Please?”

Discord was about to reply, but he found his voice being robbed away as his pegasus friend smiled at him almost pleadingly with large, sparkly eyes. It was as if he was being hypnotized, and usually, he was the one who did the hypnotizing. This wasn’t at all like ‘The Stare’, but it was by far something he’d never seen her do before in her entire life, not to mention hypnotizing.

Shaking out of his trance, he heaved a defeated sigh. “Oh, fine. I’ll give Hearth’s Warming a chance, but only this one time.”

Fluttershy beamed with satisfaction. “That sounds fair. Do you want to come with me and help decorate Twilight’s castle?”

“I’ll catch up in a bit, but I have to decorate my house for the holidays,” Discord replied. “So I apologize for making this sudden, but I must be off. I’ll see you later, alligator.”

“In a while, crocodile.” the yellow pegasus giggled as her chaotic friend disappeared in a flash of light. Once he was gone she went over to her coat hook and slipped on her winter’s coat, boots, and ear muffs as she stepped outside her cottage and flew towards the Castle of Friendship.

Once he returned to his dimension, Discord snapped his fingers as a massive barrage of Hearth’s Warming decorations and lights materialized both on the inside and outside of his house. Once that was done, his thinking tree sprouted out of the ground on his front lawn as he hung on one of the branches by his snake tail. Returning home to decorate was only part of his reason for departure and helping her decorate Twilight’s castle was on the top of his to-do list, but a predicament popped up in his mind that caused him to delay his departure.

He had to get Fluttershy a Hearth’s Warming present.

“But what can I get her?” he asked aloud to himself. “I can’t just get her something lame like a card or an ugly sweater, I have to find something more…her.”

He shook his head. “Why am I so worried about something so simple? I just have to march into the first store I find and purchase whatever seems good enough for Fluttershy. Easy as a snap.”

A poof came from his right as he saw a clone of himself wearing glasses. “But what if she doesn’t like the present you get her?”

Despite feeling confident in his plan, he knew that a present as bad as a simple toy would cause his pegasus friend to feel disappointed.

“I’ll just have to get her something that’s targeted towards her interests. That is what friends do after all.” the original Discord deducted as a blank piece of paper and quill appeared in front of him. “Let’s see. Fluttershy likes animals, nature, and spending time with her friends.”

Each item listed aloud caused the quill to scribble them down on the paper before it wrote an important point below

Animals + nature + friendship = ?

“All I have to do is buy something that’s the combination of all three of these things, wrap it up, and give it to Fluttershy tomorrow. Simple as that.” he nodded to himself.

“Ah, but it’s not that simple, my friend.” said his clone. “It’s winter time, not spring time.”

“I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes to get Fluttershy her well deserved Hearth’s Warming present even if I get stoned trying.”

Discord summoned a vacuum cleaner and turned it on as he sucked his clone into it before making them both disappear and teleporting into Ponyville.

He marched through the cold, snowy weather in search of any kind of local store that appealed to him. So far, however, he only saw the botanist shop (which was closed for the season until the spring), the quill and sofa store, Mr. Breezy’s electric fan shop, Carousel Boutique, and Filthy Rich’s Barnyard Bargains shop.

He glanced over at it and stopped his stride when he saw a sign that read something that caught his attention.

Last minute Hearth’s Warming shopping? 50% off sale!

“It’s not like I’m desperate.” the Draconequus said to himself as he marched over to the store and literally through the door. He reached up and rang the doorbell as the sound of hoofsteps filled the air.

“Welcome to Rich’s Barnyard Bargains!” said none other than Filthy Rich as he stepped out from the back of the store and went over to the door. “What can I do to help make your Hearth’s W-”

His speech was cut off as he gasped up at the customer who entered the shop. “Discord?!”

“The one and only!” the Lord of Chaos grinned at him. “Now, I know what you’re probably trying to ask: why am I, the Lord of all things Chaos, here in your store? Well, Mr. Moneybags, I’m shopping for a Hearth’s Warming gift for Fluttershy. Do you happen to have anything naturey and something to do with friendship?”

Filthy Rich stared at him for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Well, aside from Hearth’s Warming wreaths, I don’t think I have anything more to your requirements. Would you at least like to see the wreaths, at least?”

Discord let out a sigh. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

They went over to a section of the store that consisted of an impressive amount of Hearth’s Warming wreaths as the Draconequus gazed at them. While a good majority of them were very festive and colorful, not a single one of them appealed to Fluttershy’s tastes.

“See anything you like?” asked Filthy Rich. “These are our best wreaths, and for a reasonable price too.”

“I see. However, it seems you lack the type of Hearth’s Warming decoration that’s a little, oh I don’t know, springtime-like.” Discord said. “Got any of those?”

“Uh, no. It’s currently winter, not spring.”

“Ah, it seems that you’re right, Mr. Moneybags.”

The chaos lord looked away from the wreaths and looked around the store from his location, mentally noting the stupidity at the lack of anything other than Hearth’s Warming decorations. “You know what, I can’t seem to find anything that I need.”

“Well I’m sorry, Discord, but Barnyard Bargains isn’t an all-you-can-find emporium,” said Filthy Rich. “You might have better luck if you have a look elsewhere.”

Discord looked at him with a serious expression. “Really? Well, I certainly hope so. Fluttershy isn’t the type of pony that accepts anything you find for a present.”

A crocodile suddenly shot up from directly underneath him and swallowed him whole as it sank back into the ground; the wooden floor was fixed in the process afterward.

Filthy Rich was startled by the sudden and yet frightening disappearance as he placed a hoof to his beating heart. He let out a shaky sigh as he went over to the checkout desk and stood in front of the cash register, trying to get over the disturbing disappearance of the spirit of disharmony.

Fluttershy arrived at the Castle of Friendship and landed in front of the front doors as she knocked on them. As she waited, she glanced up at the magnificent Hearth’s Warming decorations that adorned the tall, crystalline exterior. It was already well-lit with lots of lights and sparkly with the tinsel, something that she found to be beautiful.

The front doors opened as Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, smiled at her friend. “Hey Fluttershy! You’re just in time.”

“Oh thank goodness. I thought I was running a little late.” Fluttershy smiled back as she stepped inside, letting out a sigh from the rush of warm air that rushed over her in the process. She saw the rest of her friends hanging up specific amounts of decorations in the foyer as she gave them all smiles. “Hi girls.”

“Hi Fluttershy!” said Pinkie Pie as she zipped over and grinned at her. “Are you ready to make this year’s Hearth’s Warming banquet the best Hearth’s Warming banquet in the history of Hearth’s Warming banquets? Because I sure am!”

“Me too, Pinkie.” the Element of Kindness smiled back as she took off her coat, earmuffs, and boots.

“I’ll say. This may be a typical celebration amongst us ponies, but we’re gonna have one heck of a guest list tomorrow,” said Applejack as she used her lasso to throw a small wreath up onto a high-up hook on the wall she was at.

“Indeed. It was nice of Twilight to invite Thorax and Ember to our Hearth’s Warming celebration.” said Rarity as she used her magic to levitate a red ribbon onto one of the torches.

“Well, now that the Changelings and the dragons are allies with us, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to further welcome them to Equestria.” Twilight smiled before it turned into one of eagerness and excitement. “Not to mention I’ll have the best opportunity to ask Thorax and Ember some questions about dragon and Changeling culture.”

She looked up towards the balcony above the front doors at her faithful number 1 assistant. “How’s the light hanging coming along, Spike?”

“A-okay, Twilight.” Spike saluted down to her from his position in the air before he suddenly lost his stability and began to falter, nearly falling towards the ground as he corrected himself and chuckled sheepishly. “Like I said. A-okay.”

The Princess of Friendship giggled. Her baby dragon was officially no longer a ‘baby.’ He had undergone a growth spurt a month ago and was now the same height as her and her friends, now lean with some added muscles and even a pair of wings. Despite being able to fly, he still struggled with stability and received flying tips and training.

“Spike, you really must be more careful, darling. One wrong move and you could get seriously hurt.” said Rarity as she frowned at him with worry.

“I will, and I’m all done up here.”

He flew back down to the ground smoothly at first, but he soon lost his control and fell out of the air, unable to correct himself as he crashed into the floor. “Owww.” he groaned as he rubbed his head.

Rarity hurried over to his side and helped him up as she looked at him with concern. “Oh goodness! Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll live.” he replied with a small smile. “I guess doing something new has its challenges, huh?”

“You can say that again.” Twilight chuckled as she flapped her wings.

“Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you all.” said Fluttershy as the others gathered around. “I convinced Discord to give Hearth’s Warming a chance, and he’s going to come over and help us decorate for the banquet tomorrow.”

“Really? You convinced him to celebrate Hearth’s Warming?” Rainbow Dash asked with genuine surprise. “Shouldn’t he be here by now?”

“He said he had to decorate his house, but he promised that he’d be here later.”

“Yippee!” Pinkie cheered. “With Discord helping out, this year’s Hearth’s Warming banquet is sure to be even better and more fun than any other party ever thrown! Not only that, but this could also be our very first triple alliance party between creatures we’ve never hung out with before!”

“I can’t wait until tomorrow, but I’m not sure having both Thorax and Ember here is a good idea,” said Spike.

“Why not, sugar cube? Isn’t it nice that we’re expanding our boundaries to other creatures?” asked Applejack.

“It is, but Ember’s tough, self-assured, and intimidating. Thorax on the other hoof is none of those things. I’m just worried that they won’t get along when they meet each other.”

“Come on, Spike. So they’re total strangers to each other. We can still get them to get over whatever differences they have and become friends.” said Rainbow as she flew down and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Besides, what could go wrong?”

“A whole lot of things!” he replied. “If Ember and Thorax end up deciding that they don’t like the idea of being allies together with Equestria, they could end up hating each other and the dragons and the Changelings could all go to war that could very well destroy Equestria and kill all of pony kind.”

The very thought of something like that ever happening caused him to gulp. “I don’t want two of my best friends to hate each other.”

“Spike, I’m more than certain something like that won’t happen, especially on our watch,” said Twilight with a confident smile. “I’d better go and check in on how Starlight’s doing in the ballroom.”

She went towards the corridor and turned to go down one of the hallways but bumped into something that caused her to fall backwards.

“We really need to stop bumping into each other.” a familiar voice chuckled as Twilight looked up to see none other than pegasus guard Flash Sentry.

He was given to her from her sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, two months ago to be her royal bodyguard and to protect her and the castle in case of a problem. Twilight was of course grateful for the extra company, but was secretly a little excited as well. She had last seen him in the Crystal Empire when everypony there was hiding due to Thorax being nearby, but was unable to speak even a few words to him. This was the perfect opportunity to continue to get to know him and maybe become more than just friends.

Ever since Twilight had traveled to the mirror world with Spike to retrieve her crown from Sunset Shimmer, she unexpectedly developed feelings for the Flash Sentry of that world and couldn’t stop thinking about him. She sometimes thought if they would work out as a couple, but realized that she was a princess in Equestria and he was a high school student, not to mention the issue with the balance between both worlds that needed to be maintained. Despite feeling disappointed at that and missing him, she was glad that the Flash of Equestria was here in her castle and could at least converse with him.

A blush coated her cheeks as Twilight quickly rose to her hooves. “Flash! Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going again.”

“It’s alright, your highness. It was an accident.” Flash smiled at her. “I take it you’re on your way to check up on the ballroom?”

She nodded. “Yup. Well, see ya!”

The purple alicorn zipped past him and galloped down the hallway. Once she could no longer see him, she slowed to a walk and caught her breath before she let out a sigh.

Despite Flash being here for only two months, Twilight always got flustered and awkward around him, causing her to be unable to strike up a good conversation. She hated herself for this and secretly wished Cadence would come over and meddle just a little bit.

She arrived at the doors to the ballroom as she opened them and entered it, looking around in amazement at the massive amount of Hearth’s Warming decorations and perfectly set up tables as she spotted her former pupil, Starlight Glimmer, setting up one of the last tables in the room over by the stage.

“Wow, Starlight. The ballroom looks amazing!” said Twilight as she went over to her.

“Thanks. Pinkie handled the decorations, but I took on the role of neatly preparing all the tables.” said Starlight with a smile. “I can’t believe that this is my second Hearth’s Warming with you and the girls here in Ponyville, and it was really nice of you to invite Thorax and Ember to our party tomorrow.”

“I know, and not only that, but Discord is supposed to stop by and help us decorate, and Fluttershy even invited him to the party.”

“Really? I thought he didn’t celebrate Hearth’s Warming.”

“He doesn’t, but Fluttershy convinced him to give this year a chance.”

“Well, I’m glad that he is, and I hope that Sunburst comes over tomorrow.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s right. This is your first Hearth’s Warming together since you were foals.”

“I know, and I hope he likes the book I got him.” said Starlight with a sigh. “It’s been so long since we last spent the holidays together and I want my gift to him to be perfect.”

The Princess of Friendship placed a foreleg around her. “Buying Sunburst the first edition of Magical Mysteries and Historical Prophecies was a great idea. As for the banquet, everything’s going to be fine. Let's go and get some hot cocoa. You deserve a break.”

Her former pupil smiled at her. “Thanks, Twilight. I could use a break.”

And with that, they lit up their horns and teleported to the castle kitchen.

Discord returned to his home with an annoyed look. He sat down and made a pillow materialize in his hands as he slammed his face into it with a frustrated groan.

He had been to every store in all the major cities in Equestria but had no luck in finding anything for Fluttershy. They didn’t have a single thing that had the slightest bit of springtime style nor anything with butterflies in them. This was making his plan to give her a Hearth’s Warming present a lot harder than originally anticipated. He made a mental note to write Celestia a complaint for the incompetence in the market economy, but that would have to occur later.

The Draconequus lifted his head from his pillow and made it disappear as an idea struck him. “I’ll just have to create a present for Fluttershy by hand.”

Normally he would’ve snapped something up using his magic, but something inside him made him deviate from his normal antics for something else.

A large chalkboard appeared in front of him as a chalk stick began scribbling down a series of pictures. One of them was a replica of Fluttershy’s cutie mark, another one was of a small flower garden, and another was of her friends (himself included). Discord eyed all three sketches with a deep thinking look as he rubbed his chin in thought.

“Hmm. Well, I suppose I’ll just have to work my way with all three of these things.” he muttered to himself as the chalk stick sketched an image of a snow globe with the Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, and himself in it. “Not bad, but a little too complicated.”

An eraser erased the picture as the chalk stick drew an image of a small bag of flower seeds a sparkly flower that looked exactly like the butterfly on Fluttershy’s cutie mark. “That is something she’d like, but too spring-like. It has to be something that will last all year round.”

The eraser erased that image as the chalk stick drew an image of a bracelet with a butterfly gemstone in the center of it, causing Discord to blow a raspberry. “Too expensive. I need something that has the combination of nature and friendship and can be with Fluttershy all year round.”

Once again, the image was erased as the already small chalk stick drew an image of a bracelet that was crafted with green vines and had flowers on it in a yellow and pink pattern. Discord looked at it for a moment and nodded to himself, finding the design to be rather convincing, not to mention a perfect combination of friendship and nature, despite excluding any form of animals.

“Alright, this little trinket will have to do.” said the Draconequus as he made the other pictures disappear, excluding the one he approved. He didn’t really care if Fluttershy liked it, but if she found it to be decent enough, he’d feel satisfied enough.

He teleported with the chalkboard into a room that was filled to the brim with drawers that consisted of many different types of arts and crafts supplies and a large, floating office desk in the center. He teleported into the floating office chair at it as he cracked his knuckles.

“Alright, let the creating begin!”

A drawer opened as a series of grassy green vines floated out of it and onto the table followed by a pair of scissors from another drawer closer to the ground and a hot glue gun from the drawer next to it. Yellow, pink, and other colored papers flew out of another drawer and onto the table as Discord immediately got to work.

He snapped his fingers and made a ponyquin appear next to the table as he cut off a sample of vine and wrapped it around the right front hoof before tying it into a gentle knot. He knew that if it was tied too tightly, it wouldn't fit around Fluttershy’s hoof and squeeze it too tightly, something he wouldn’t allow to happen. He then cut off another sample of the vine and coiled it around the currently existing vine sample up until he reached back to where he began as he tied it into a gentle knot and used a tiny drop of hot glue on it.

Discord made two quills appear as they sketched tiny flower pistils and flowers with 5 petals each on the yellow paper and the pink one all the way from one end to the other all the way down to the bottom. Once that was finished, the quills disappeared in a flash of light as Discord observed them before nodding in approval and began to cut out one of the flowers from the yellow paper.

Unfortunately for him, he overestimated his physical capabilities.

He accidentally cut into the center of the flower he was cutting and ruined whatever chances he had at saving it as he moved onto the next one, only to accidentally cut off a small sample of his lion finger. He suddenly recoiled and looked to see a tiny bit of blood leaking slowly out of the wound as he used his magic to heal himself, one of the many magical talents he was capable of.

‘Too bad you lack physical capabilities.’ a voice mocked him in his head.

Discord shook his head with determination. “No. I have to get this right. Fluttershy deserves this gift more than ever.”

He continued to cut out the flower he paused from as he later successfully cut it out without any faults in it, causing him to smile with a little bit of pride before continuing.

The Draconequus struggled with most of the flowers and the pistils but succeeded in cutting out some of them. As for hot gluing the pistils onto the complete flowers and them onto the bracelet, he sometimes burned his fingers pressing them onto it. He felt like he was punishing himself for ever agreeing to take part in Hearth's Warming, something he thought he’d never do. Yet despite that, he knew that it would make Fluttershy happy and hopefully even happier at his present for her.

Not too long later, Discord had managed to put six yellow flowers with pink pistils and six pink flowers with yellow pistils onto the vine bracelet evenly in a repeated pink/yellow pattern all around it. He used his magic to make the hot glue dry in an instant as he pulled the bracelet off of the ponyquin hoof and admired his oh-so-hard piece of art, frowning in disappointment.

The bracelet part of it was perfect, but the flowers weren’t at an even height. A few were level but others were either pointing up or down, slightly or diagonally.

“There’s no way Fluttershy will ever like this,” he said as he used his magic to make all the flowers level and turned them and the vines into soft fabric, causing a tiny yet doubtful smile tugged at his lips as he nodded slightly. “But it’ll have to do for this year.”

He snapped his fingers as a box with yellow wrapping paper that had Fluttershy’s cutie mark on it all over the place in an even pattern materialized in front of him. He placed the bracelet inside of the box and placed the lid on top of it as he teleported it to Fluttershy’s cottage underneath her Hearth’s Warming tree.

Discord wiped the sweat from his forehead with a sigh of exhaustion as he made all the supplies he used fly back into the drawers that they came from and made the ponyquin disappear in a flash of light before teleporting out of the room, feeling hope that his pegasus friend would like her present.

“Thanks for helping out with the decorations, girls. I couldn't have done it without you.” said Twilight as she and her friends went towards the front doors to the castle. They had spent a good portion of the late morning and early afternoon decorating and had just finished.

“It was no problem, darling. With the big Hearth’s Warming banquet happening tomorrow, it was perfectly understandable that you summoned us for our assistance.” said Rarity as she put on her winter clothes. “It was also worth it to make your castle look a little more fabulous.”

“I’ll say.” agreed Rainbow Dash. “Too bad Discord didn’t show up. He would’ve gotten all of this done in a snap, that way we’d all be hanging out together a whole lot sooner.”

“Yeah.” nodded Starlight. “Fluttershy, are you sure Discord said he’d come?”

“He did,” Fluttershy replied as she frowned in concern, beginning to feel worried for her friend. “I hope nothing bad happened to him.”

“If anything bad did happen to me, I’d handle it without incident.” echoed a familiar male voice as everyone looked up to see none other than Discord riding a sled with a large sack of presents behind him wearing a Santa Hooves outfit complete with the coat, beard, and hat. “Ho ho ho! Happy Hearth’s Warming, my little ponies.”

“Hi, Discord.” said Twilight politely as she frowned at him. “You know perfectly well that you’re extremely tardy, right?”

“I’m fully aware of that, Twilight, but I have my reasons.” he replied as he landed the sled on the ground and teleported next to Fluttershy, making his costume and sled disappear in the process. “You see, since it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, I had to go and buy Fluttershy a present. Despite the complete idiocy at the markets all across Equestria lacking anything that’s…well her, I successfully found something and placed her present underneath her Hearth’s Warming tree.”

“You were late because you were trying to find me a present?” Fluttershy asked as her chaotic friend nodded in affirmation, causing her to smile at him. “Discord, you didn’t have to get me anything. You giving Hearth’s warming a chance is good enough.”

“I know, but I wanted to show you a token of my appreciation for our friendship,” Discord smiled at her. “And trust me when I say this, my dear, you’ll…well, in all honesty, you’ll find your present to be a little lame.”

“It can’t be that bad, and I don’t care how bad it might be. If you gave it to me out of sheer thoughtfulness, I’ll like my present no matter what.”

Rainbow Dash interrupted them with a throat clearing. “Uh, sorry to interrupt, but we kinda gotta get going.”

“Get going? Where on Earth could you possibly be going?” asked Discord with curiosity. “Off to visit relatives, perhaps?”

“We sure as sugar pine sap we are,” responded Applejack. “Pinkie Pie’s folks invited my family to their rock farm for Hearth’s Warming, but Applebloom sprained her hoof real badly the other day and Granny Smith isn’t feelin’ well, so Big Mac is stayin’ behind to take care of ‘em and I invited Rainbow here to come along with me.”

Rainbow smiled as she hoof bumped the orange earth pony. “Heck yeah! Can’t wait until we get to Pinkie’s rock farm and get the holidays started.”

“Exactly! We’re gonna have so much fun I can hardly stand the wait!” Pinkie cheered. “In fact, I’m so excited, I don’t even realize that we’re gonna miss our train!”

She suddenly gasped and sprung into the air. “Oh no! Applejack, Rainbow Dash, we’re gonna be late for our train!”

She sped out of the castle through the front doors at a speed Rainbow found to be impressive as the others looked out towards the direction in which their pink friend went.

Discord couldn’t help the look of pure confusion on his face. “I thought earth ponies couldn’t run that fast. How did she do that?”

“Don’t question it. Pinkie does all sorts of strange things, and it’s better not to question them.” said Fluttershy.

He still wasn’t convinced. “There has to be some form of explanation, my dear. No one except me can do extraordinary feets without some kind of magical source.” he rubbed his chin in thought. “Perhaps Pinkie has some kind of chaos magic inside her.”

“Maybe.”

“Anyway, Rainbow and I’d better get on movin’.” said Applejack as she put on her winter clothes. “We’ll see y’all tomorrow!”

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve!” said Rainbow as they exited the Castle of Friendship.

“I must return home as well. My parents are coming over for dinner and I must go and prepare.” said Rarity as she put on her winter clothes. “Spike, would you like to accompany me?”

“Do I ever!” Spike replied excitedly and eagerly before clearing his throat. “I-I mean, anything for you, Rarity. I can help out with the cooking. Is it alright with you, Twilight?”

The Princess of Friendship chuckled. “You can go, Spike, but you have to wear your coat and boots, and be back in time for dinner.”

Her number 1 assistant saluted swiftly before he went off to grab his winter clothes. “You got it!”

“So, Fluttershy, now that all the hard work has been finished, would you like to have a little fun in the snow?” said Discord as he summoned a snow globe with miniature versions of themselves playing together outside in the snow. “We never did one of those before, and since we’re spending Hearth’s Warming together, I don’t see any reason otherwise.”

“I don’t either.” said Fluttershy as she smiled at him. “Oh, why not? A little time out in the snow won’t hurt.”

Her chaotic friend grinned as he made his snow globe disappear. “Huzzah! Oh, we’re going to have the best snow day of all time, my dear. Just you wait.”

She couldn’t help but giggle slightly. Not too long ago the Draconequus was scrooging over Hearth’s Warming, but now he was eager to get some time alone together and have lots of fun.

Discord teleported over to the front doors as he opened them, allowing the rush of the cold winter’s air to rush over him in a woosh. “Ahhh, that’s more like it. Now come on, Fluttershy. The fun is about to begin.”

“Okay.” she said as she went over and hugged Twilight and Rarity. “See you girls tomorrow.”

“Have fun with Discord, and make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble,” said Twilight. “Who knows what sort of hijinks he has in store for you both.”

“Indeed.” agreed Rarity. “While I’m happy that the both of you are spending Hearth’s Warming Eve together, that doesn’t mean I completely trust that he won’t stir up trouble.”

The Lord of Chaos gasped in fake offense and placed his eagle claw over his chest. “What? Me? Cause trouble for my best friend of all time? Why, I’d never do such naughty things, otherwise I’d get a bag of coal!”

Twilight and Rarity rolled their eyes as Fluttershy giggled and flew over to his side. She waved at her friends before she and her chaotic friend exited the Castle of Friendship and began the not-so-long flight back to her cottage.

“So, Fluttershy,” said Discord as he broke the brief silence. “What exactly are you doing this Hearth’s Warming? I know you and your friends are going to spend time together tomorrow, but what about your family?”

“Well, since you asked, my parents either invite me to their house or I invite them over to my cottage for Hearth’s Warming Eve dinner and we exchange presents afterwards.” she replied, smiling at the memories that filled her mind. “This year, they invited me over to their home for dinner, and I can’t wait for you to meet my family.”

The Draconequus looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You want me to come with you to spend time with you and your family? I thought I was just hanging out with you and your friends.”

“And you will, but it’ll be even nicer if you spent this evening with me and my family. That is…if you want to. I know celebrating the holidays isn’t one of your favorite things to do, and I can understand if you’re too nervous.”

He scoffed. “Me? The master of all things impossible? Scared? I’m not scared of anything.”

‘Except for losing you.’ he said in his head, not daring to say it out loud.

“If that’s the case, then you’ll like my parents and younger brother.” Fluttershy smiled at him. “They’re really nice, and I’m sure once they get to know you, they’ll like you just like I do.”

Discord gave her a reluctant smile. “Yes, well, I may as well give them a chance like I did to Spike and Big Mac, even if they’re a little apprehensive around my unpredictability.”

They arrived at her cottage and landed in her yard a few minutes later as he scooped up a sample of the snow currently existing on the ground and ate it whole, letting out a shivery but satisfied sigh. “Ahhh, now that’s snow.”

“Um, Discord? Don’t you need a coat? It’s cold outside and I don’t want you to freeze.” said Fluttershy.

“Pssh, nah. I’ve dealt with blizzards thousands of times worse than this mealy little snow shower.” he replied nonchalantly. “Besides, I’ll be perfectly fine without even a scarf.”

“Are you sure? I know that you have your magic to protect you, but you’ll still get hypothermia if you don’t bundle up.”

Despite knowing full well that she was right, he couldn’t help but smile a little at her concern. ‘No one has ever been worried over my own well being before.’

“Rest assured, my dear. I’ll be perfectly fine without a coat, but to ease your worries, I’ll pop one right up if I catch a chill.” he reassured her. “Now come on. The fun isn’t going to start itself, you know.”

Despite hesitating for a moment, she sighed defeatedly and gave him a smile. “Okay. What do you want to do first?”

“How about we go sledding?” suggested Discord eagerly. “I’ve always wanted to enjoy the thrill of speeding down a slippery hill and feeling the cold wind rushing against me.”

“That sounds like a great idea. As long as you promise that we don’t go too fast, I don’t see any other reason why we can’t.”

The Draconequus did a motion over his chest. “Cross my heart, and I know just the location to go sledding.”

He teleported them to the top of the tall hills in Sweet Apple Acres as he used his magic to move the apple trees out of the way and create a long, steep, and smooth slide that went all the way down to the bottom, up the hill in front of it, and down to the bottom of that one as well.

Fluttershy looked down from where they stood as she took a step back with anxiety. “On second thought, I changed my mind. Can we go ice skating?”

“Oh come on, Fluttershy. You can’t chicken out without even trying, not to mention that would be something you’d tell me.” Discord condemned. “But to ease your worries, I’ll catch you if you fall.”

He held out his lion paw as his pegasus friend stared at it hesitantly. She knew that he would keep his word and maintain her safety, but she was still developing negative thoughts about what could happen if they went sledding down the hill.

She looked up into Discord’s eyes and was surprised to find that they had softened to a more comforting gaze. She had never seen her usually chaotic friend look at her like that, and yet it still brought about an easy, less worrying feeling for her.

“Fluttershy, I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” he spoke in a soft and comforting tone, taking her by full surprise. “If you don’t want to try sledding just this one time we can do something else. I only ask that you give this a chance.”

Fluttershy looked at him for a moment before she smiled at him. “Okay. How did you learn to talk like that?”

“Yeah well, when you’re friends with the embodiment of kindness, you tend to get a certain amount of influence.” Discord said matter-of-factly before he shuddered. “Wow. I never thought I’d ‘kind-talk’ you into something before. Remind me to never do that ever again.”

The yellow pegasus giggled as her chaotic friend snapped his fingers and made a sled large enough for them both materialize in front of the snow slide. He helped her onto the front as he took his position behind her and made goggles materialize over their foreheads.

“Alright, my dear, are you ready?” Discord asked as he lowered his goggles over his eyes.

“Um…just let me do a quick countdown.” Fluttershy replied with a nervous gulp as she lowered her goggles over her eyes. “10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…ready…set…go!”

Her chaotic friend used his snake tail to push their sled as it slowly moved on the slippery snow slide before speeding down the hill. She screamed and clutched onto his body as he hooped and hollered in delight.

“Wahoo! Oh, I haven't gone this fast in centuries!” Discord cheered.

“It’s too fast!” Fluttershy whimpered as she clutched onto him tighter.

He hadn't even realized that she was tightly hugging him until he looked down and saw her fearful figure. “You can look, Fluttershy. We’re not in danger of crashing.”

“Are we almost at the bottom?”

“We’re only halfway down the hill, and like I said before, I’ll catch you if you fall.” Discord said as he wrapped his lion arm around her before wincing. “But please loosen your grip. It actually hurts.”

His pegasus friend thankfully made her hug more gentle as she pulled her head away and turned to look in front of the sled. As she looked on, she felt herself beginning to feel less scared of the rushing wind and the speeding sled. A smile graced her features as she began to laugh merrily with delight.

“Ah ha, now that’s more like it!” Discord grinned.

They laughed and cheered together all the way down the snowy slide until they soon reached the bottom as they got off their sled before it disappeared in a flash of light along with their goggles.

“That was so much fun!” Fluttershy grinned. “I don’t know why I was so worried in the first place.”

“Me neither.” her chaotic friend agreed. “So what would you like to do next? We can take turns in deciding on what to do, and since I chose first, it’s now your turn, my dear.”

“That sounds fair.” she nodded as she placed a hoof to her chin in thought. Just as she was about to say something, a small gust of wind blew in her face, causing her to shiver. “Actually, would it be okay if we went inside and warmed up? It’s getting really cold outside.”

“It’s not that bad.” Discord said dismissively. “Besides, we just got out here. Can’t you spare at least another hour out here?”

A gust of wind blown into his face caused him to shiver ever so slightly, but he ignored it. “Like I said before, a little time out in the cold won’t hurt you.”

Unfortunately for him, Fluttershy didn’t miss it. “Discord, I think going back to my cottage to warm up sounds like a much better idea. You’re getting cold and I don’t want you to get hyperthermia.”

“I’ve never suffered in the cold, Fluttershy. While I appreciate your concern, I’ll let you know that I’m tougher than you give me credit for.”

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. While she believed his word, she still didn’t want him to freeze. Despite that, she knew her chaotic friend was often too stubborn to listen.

She shook her head and let out a sigh. “Discord, you can stay out here and play all you want, but I’m going to go home and warm up. Can you at least promise me that you’ll come back if you ever get too cold?”

“I promise,” he nodded. “Now run along and get warm, my dear. I don’t want a single icicle to form on you.”

She gave him a smile and flew off towards her cottage as Discord looked off into her direction. While he felt disappointed that he was now alone, he was still eager to get started on a long afternoon of fun in the snow.

The Draconequus teleported back to the top of the hill with his sled and rode the snow slide all the way down the hill as he did this a good five times before he decided to make a snow portrait of himself, to which he found to be very very handsome before he decided to have a snowball fight with a clone he created. Surprisingly, he lost to him and gave his clone the punishment of being sucked into a small black hole before quickly making it disappear. He soon decided to do all sorts of chaotic feet with the snow like changing its color and making it form into snow ponies as he smiled to himself.

‘Best snow day ever.’ he thought to himself.

2 hours later…

Something was wrong. It was obvious that something was wrong, yet he couldn’t quite deny the truth of it. He was shaking, he could barely move, his body temperature was below average, and he was almost completely numb.

Discord was freezing.

He had spent a good deal of the afternoon playing all sorts of snow games and coming up with new ones using his magic, but as time went on, he gradually became colder and colder. He knew he should’ve listened to Fluttershy and went to her cottage to warm up or at least his own home, but he was too confident in himself to give it any heed.

‘You have to get to Fluttershy’s cottage and warm up,’ he said in his head.

While he knew he needed to (very badly), he also knew that his pegasus friend would be very upset at him for disobeying her wishes and putting his health at risk. The possibility of not being able to see her for at least a week sounded bad enough as well as other consequences, but he knew that there would be no way around it no matter what.

Discord turned his tail tuft into a hand and snapped its fingers as he teleported into Fluttershy’s cottage and shook off all the snow that stuck to his fur, letting out a shaky sigh at the warm air that touched him. He heard hoofsteps coming from the stairs as he turned to see Fluttershy descending them.

“Discord!” she gasped as she rushed over to him with a worried look and touched his eagle claw. “Oh my goodness, you're freezing!”

“W-w-well that’s a-an understatement.” said the Draconequus

“Come on. I prepared a hot bath for you upstairs. I’ll get you all warmed up in no time..”

Not waiting for a response, she grabbed his lion paw and practically pulled him up the stairs as fast as she could and into the bathroom as she helped her chaotic friend into the hot water.

Discord sank into the water with a long sigh as he shivered with relief. “T-that’s more l-like it.”

“Why were you out there for so long?” asked Fluttershy. “Were you really trying to prove that you could handle the cold temperatures without any protection?”

“Well, I was fine at first and was having a grand time, even though I missed you, but I began to shiver and move less. In a word: yes. I was trying to prove that I could handle anything, but apparently winter time isn’t one of those.”

“Discord, I understand that you were trying to be brave, but you were being really stubborn. If I say something about you that concerns your well-being again, I’m just looking out for your safety and want what’s best for you. That’s what friends do.”

Discord looked down with guilt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you this much.”

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy smiled at him forgivingly. “Would you like to have some tea together after you’re done? We still have time before we have to go to Cloudsdale.”

Her chaotic friend nodded and gave her a smile. “Of course, my dear.”

She turned and left the bathroom as he sank deeper into the warm water with a sigh. Who knew washing up while warming up from frostbite was so relaxing, because he sure didn’t. It wasn't as if he didn’t like the warm bath that was prepared for him, yet he still felt a little bad that he made his best friend worry over him so much to the point of a potential search for him. No one had ever thought of him like the way she did before and it touched him in ways he couldn’t understand, but he knew that this was another part of friendship.

Almost a half hour later, Discord got out of the tub and made a giant hair dryer appear as it turned on and blew his entire body dry before disappearing in a flash of light. He stretched his limbs and pulled out a robe big enough for his size from out of nowhere as he put it on and teleported downstairs, sitting on the couch and making himself comfortable.

“Feeling better?” asked Fluttershy from her chair as she smiled at him.

“Very. thank you for the bath, my dear.” Discord smiled back as he levitated a tea cup filled with warm tea over from the tray on the table in between the couch and the chair. “I hope I wasn’t keeping you waiting for too long.”

“Oh, I didn’t mind. You had to warm up, so I gave you all the time that you needed.”

“How did you know that a warm bath would make me feel better? I know that you’re good with your animals, but are you some kind of a doctor?”

Fluttershy giggled. “No. Whenever it gets really cold outside, I take hot baths to stay warm. It also comes in handy if I ever stay outside for too long. I also knew that a really hot bath was what you needed in order to get warmed up, so I went ahead and made one for you.”

“And I’m grateful for that.” Discord smiled at her and sipped his tea as he looked over at her Hearth’s Warming tree and saw not only his present to her, but three other ones. “I assume those are for your family?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Fluttershy nodded. “I got my mom some flower seeds I think she’d love to add to her flower garden in the spring, I found some interesting cloud samples from the weather factory a few months ago that my dad is really going to like, and I got Zephyr Breeze a haircut kit.”

“What about that other present?” he pointed to a box that had snowy wrapping paper on it. “Do you have some cousin that I don’t know?”

“Well, it’s not for any of my cousins, but…um… it’s for you.”

Discord perked up with interest. “Ooh! A present? For moi?”

Fluttershy nodded. “It is Hearth’s Warming, so it’s only natural that I gave you something just like you did for me.”

“Can we open our presents before we go?”

She giggled. “No, silly. You know that you're supposed to open your presents on Hearth’s Warming day.”

“But I don’t want to wait.” the Draconequus complained. “I want to open mine right now, and I know for a fact you want to open yours too.”

“I do, but I’m being patient and so should you. No peeking or I’ll have to take away your present.” Fluttershy said firmly.

Discord let out an annoyed groan. “Fine, but that goes for you too, missy.”

She giggled. “I promise.”

After sharing tea together and exchanging funny stories for a good three hours, Fluttershy and Discord concluded their little tea party and prepared to go to her childhood home all the way up in Cloudsdale. The sun had long since set over the horizon and the snow fall had become heavier as well as the wind. Discord showed his concern for their planned flight path, but his pink-haired friend assured him that it wouldn’t be bad enough to cancel their visit.

“Are you ready to go, Discord?” asked Fluttershy as she slipped on her coat, ear muffs, and boots.

“Of course I am.” he replied as he made a large assortment of winter clothing materialize on his body. “See?”

“Um, I don’t think you’ll need all of that. It is really cold outside, but it’s not that cold.”

The Draconequus snapped his fingers and made his Santa Hooves costume replace his winter clothes. “Ho ho ho! Better?”

Fluttershy giggled. “A little, but can you make your coat a little thicker please?”

He did so as it inflated slightly. “Ooh, I nearly forgot.”

Discord pulled out a Hearth’s Warming hat that was the same color as her mane as he put it gently on her head. “There. Now we’re ready.”

“Thank you.” The yellow pegasus smiled at him as she took a bag that consisted of her family’s presents into her hooves and opened the front door, only to stop in surprise at the sight of a Santa Hooves sleigh with sparkly Hearth’s Warming lights decorating it.

“Like it? This is our ride to and from Cloudsdale.” said Discord as he snickered. “Now only that, but any foals that see us will think it’s actually Santa Hooves.”

“It’s so beautiful.” said Fluttershy as she stepped outside and shielded her face from the snow that blew into her face. “I hope the wind doesn’t cause us to crash.”

Her chaotic friend scoffed. “Oh don’t worry, my dear, not a single disaster will strike us out of the air above. Besides, I thought I said that the wind was going to be a concern yet you somehow managed to ease my worries.”

She nodded. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Mmm-hmm. Now hop aboard and let’s mush!” Discord grinned as he helped her onto the front seat of the sleigh and put her sack behind them. “Alright, my dear, are you ready?”

“Ready.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Alright then. Up, up and away we go!”

Discord took the steering ropes into his hands as the sleigh magically lifted up into the air and flew off at a safe and preferable speed. Fluttershy of course guided him with directions to Cloudsdale to which he obeyed as he followed them without any trouble at all.

The grand city in the sky soon came into view as the Lord of Chaos flew the sleigh into its airspace. As expected, many young foals saw him and immediately got excited.

Discord couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, this is amusing! They actually think that I’m Santa Hooves.”

“It is a little funny.” Fluttershy giggled slightly. “So what do you think of Cloudsdale so far?”

“Not bad. It’s no cotton candy cloud empire but I approve.” he suddenly perked up at an idea. “Hmm, now how interesting would it be if this place was made out of cotton candy clouds? Now that’s not a bad idea actually.”

“Discord.”

“Not that I want to anyway.” he cleared his throat. “Now then, which way is your parent’s home?”

“It’s over in the upper suburbs.” Fluttershy pointed. “I can steer us over if you want.”

“Gladly. Just think about where you want our sleigh to go and it’ll obey.”

Fluttershy took the steering ropes into her hooves and made the sleigh fly over to the upper suburbs of Cloudsdale as her childhood house came into view. She made them land safely on the front lawn as she took the sack and got out of the sleigh.

She made her way towards the front door but stopped when she noticed that her chaotic friend wasn’t with her. “Discord, aren’t you coming?”

“Just a moment, Fluttershy. I need to lock the sleigh.” replied the Draconequus as he summoned car keys and pressed a button, causing the lights on the sleigh to flash followed by a horn toot. “There. All set.”

“Are you nervous?”

Discord scoffed with an amused chuckle. “Of course not. Do you even know who you’re even talking to?”

“Then come on. It’s getting even colder and I’m getting hungry.”

“Right.”

He teleported next to her as he shrank himself and flew inside her present sack. “Just let me surprise your family. You know how much I love surprising ponies.”

Fluttershy sighed as she opened it up and pulled him out. “Discord, it’s going to be okay. My parents are really nice and I’ve been telling them all about you.”

“I’m sure you have, and I find myself to be a very good subject to chat about.” Discord smiled proudly. “I am one of a kind after all, not to mention really really brave.”

“Then you shouldn’t be nervous. If they say anything bad about you, let me handle it. Just be on your best behavior and be yourself.”

“Well…I’ll try, but only for you, Fluttershy.”

She smiled at him. “Good, now let’s get inside.”

Her chaotic friend flew off her hoof and grew back to his normal size as they went up to the front door. She knocked on it before taking a step back as she placed a hoof on his eagle claw and gave him a comforting smile. Discord smiled reluctantly back at her, now displaying a look of complete nervousness as he took her hoof into his claw.

Despite indeed feeling nervous, he knew he couldn’t be a coward and abandon his best friend. The Lord of Chaos wasn’t to cower at a casual holiday gathering, especially around the parents and brother of his best friend. He had to toughen up and get ‘er done.

The front door swung open, revealing none other than Fluttershy’s mother as he quickly let go of her hoof and stood up straight, ignoring the fact that he was beginning to sweat.

“Hi, mom. Happy Hearth’s Warming.” said Fluttershy as she embraced her mother.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Fluttershy. It’s so good to see you again.” said Mrs. Shy as she hugged her back with a smile. They soon broke the embrace a second later as she looked up at Discord with a surprised expression. “O-oh. I see that you brought a friend.”

“Ho ho ho! Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve.” said the Draconequus in his usual manner, successfully stuffing away his nerves as he shook her hoof. “The name’s Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony, mastermind of mischief, and the best prankster in the history of Equestria.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Fluttershy’s mother.” Mrs. Shy smiled politely despite feeling intimidated by the presence of the legendary Lord of Chaos as she opened the front door further. “Please, come in and make yourselves comfortable. Dinner will be ready shortly.”

Fluttershy and Discord entered the house and were immediately greeted by the warm air inside as they took off their winter clothes and went towards the family room.

“How was that?” he asked as he made his long beard shrink back to normal. “Was I too…well, me?”

“No. You were perfect.” she smiled at him. “Just continue to be yourself and you’ll be fine.”

“A natural talent of mine, obviously.”

They entered the family room and saw Mr. Shy hanging an ornament on one of the highest branches of the Hearth’s Warming tree. He turned when he heard them enter as he landed in front of her and embraced her.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Fluttershy. It’s really great to see you.”

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, dad.” Fluttershy smiled and hugged him back before breaking the embrace. “I brought Discord along with me. He’s spending Hearth’s Warming with me and I thought it’d be nice if he came here with me.”

Mr. Shy looked up at the Lord of Chaos and became visibly nervous, not that Discord minded anyway. It was perfectly understandable that most ponies in Equestria were still weary around his presence, but it was understandable.

“You must be Fluttershy’s father. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Discord grinned and shook his hoof. “I hear that you used to work in the Cloudsdale weather factory and collect cloud samples. Well then, my friend, I have just the cloud for you.”

He snapped his fingers and made his signature cotton candy cloud materialize in front of him as it flew down in front of the green pegasus.

“Um, thanks. It’ll fit just perfectly in my cloud collection.” Mr. Shy reluctantly took it into his hooves.

“Oh relax. It won’t strike you with lightning or rain cotton candy. I think…”

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “So, where’s Zephyr? Shouldn’t he be here?”

“He’s running late. He said he had some things to take care of at the hair salon.” Mrs. Shy replied as she came into the living room from the kitchen.

“Hair salon? What would he be doing there?” Discord asked with curiosity as he laid down on the couch, smiling at how comfy it felt.

“Zephyr Breeze works at a hair salon not too far away from here, and he’s been doing a really good job there. He’s improved from before when all he did was slit around and do nothing, and we're all really proud of him.”

“Me too.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

“Guess who’s home!”

Everyone present looked over towards the front door as no one other than Zephyr Breeze, who had a couple bags with him. He quickly took off his winter coat and hung it up on the coat hook as he zipped over and embraced his older sister in a tight hug.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, sis! I know for a fact that you're glad to see your little baby brother again.” he noogied her playfully.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Zephyr.” Fluttershy soothed out her mane. “I brought my friend Discord with me. He’s spending the holidays with me and I convinced him to come over here for dinner.”

Zephyr turned to look at the Lord of Chaos and visibly became intimidated. “O-oh. Uh, that’s great. Really really great.”

“I know. There’s nothing I like better than spending time with my best friend in the entire world.” Discord boasted proudly as he pulled Fluttershy over. “I will admit that I wasn’t at all fond of Hearth’s Warming, but thanks to Fluttershy here I finally got out of my cave up on the mountains.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said Mrs. Shy. “Why don't we all go and sit at the table? Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Good idea.” Fluttershy nodded as everyone made their way towards the kitchen.

Discord was already way ahead of them by teleporting into an empty seat, causing everyone except Fluttershy to jump in surprise. They anyway took their seats at the table with the Element of Kindness sitting next to her friend and the others at the remaining chairs present.

Present at the table were bowls of green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and cranberry sauce. There was also a pan of pumpkin pie and even a plate of figgy pudding.

“My my, that looks positively delicious, not to mention much better smelling than a bowl of paper.” said Discord.

“Um…thanks, I guess.” Mrs. Shy responded. “Anyway, let’s dig in.”

Everyone served their plates and began to eat. For the first few moments, no one said a thing. The only thing that could be heard was the scrapping of utensils against the plates and the roar of the fireplace. Awkward tension began to build up as Discord looked over at Fluttershy’s family, who avoided eye contact with him as he looked down at her with a confused look that said, “Is your family like this all the time?”

She took the hint and cleared her throat, ending the silence. “So Zephyr, how have things been going at the hair salon?”

“I thought you’d never ask, big sis.’” her younger brother smiled with pride. “Life has been so much better for me ever since you convinced me to give things a try, and I’ve been making one heck of a living. I've become the best barber at the hair salon that my fellow employees say that I just might become the next celebrity stylist of Sapphire Shores herself.”

“That’s so wonderful. I’m happy that you’ve finally gotten a job.”

“Yes. Achieving the possible is perhaps one of the best things in anypony’s life.” Discord added somewhat nonchalantly. “Speaking of which, do either of you want to hear how I helped save Equestria?”

“Why not? Fluttershy did mention that the last time she visited us, but it’d be even nicer if we heard it from your perspective.” Mr. Shy replied.

“With pleasure.”

The Draconequus explained everything that happened that day, from when he teamed up with Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax, them infiltrating the Changeling hive to find everyone who was kidnapped, and Starlight offering Queen Chrysalis a chance at friendship after she was defeated and all the Changelings changed from their evil ways, only to reject it bitterly and threaten an unimaginable revenge on her before flying away.

Everyone listened to him and were impressed by his tale, especially Fluttershy who couldn’t help but smile proudly at her chaotic friend.

“Wow. that must’ve been really dangerous. I hope you and the others didn’t get hurt.” said Mrs. Shy. “I mean, I know you can handle yourself, considering that you’re the Lord of Chaos, but accidents can still happen.”

“It was, but despite being without my magic, I was quite the helpful companion.” Discord smiled. “Besides, I’d do anything for Fluttershy.”

Zephyr Breeze rose a brow with confusion and suspicion. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

“Anyway, let’s go ahead and continue to eat. We still got our presents to unwrap.” Mr. Shy said as the others agreed and continued to eat their meal.

After finishing dinner and having dessert, they went into the living room and gathered around the Hearth’s Warming tree for presents. Discord and Fluttershy took their seats next to each other (naturally) as her family took their spots respectively.

“Guess who’s present this is for?” Zephyr Breeze sing-songed as he handed Fluttershy a flat, square-shaped present wrapped in black wrapping paper with sparkly Hearth’s Warming trees on it.

She tore off the wrapping paper and gasped. “Are these..?”

“...the new Skull Crushers album? If you guess it, you’re right!” Zephyr grinned. “When I was at the store, I just so happened to see them in the music section, and since I know how much you love Skull Crushers, I just had to get you that. Do you like it?”

“I love it! Oh thank you, Zephyr. You’re the best little brother I could ever have.” Fluttershy smiled at him as they shared a hug for a moment before breaking the embrace.

“You like Skull Crushers, Fluttershy?” Discord asked with surprise.

“Mmm-hmm.” she admitted shyly. “I hope you don’t think I’m a weirdo.”

“Of course I don’t. I just never expected a pony like you to be into something so…rocking.”

“It’s a guilty pleasure.”

She handed Zephyr Breeze her present to him as he gasped in fake-surprise.

“A present for me?”

He immediately tore off the wrapping paper and was greeted at the sight of a haircut kit.

“I know how good you are at mane therapy and styling, so I thought this would help you.” explained Fluttershy. “Do you like it?”

“And what a fine addition to my career it is.” Zephyr Breeze pulled her into another hug. “Thanks, sis.’”

Discord watched the gift exchange and couldn’t help but smile at the thoughtfulness being shown. It felt nice seeing how happy Fluttershy was at receiving gifts from her parents and younger brother and giving them in return, yet he couldn't help but let it fall into a frown. All the gifts that she was receiving in addition to her Skull Crushers album were much better compared to the crummy bracelet he handmade her. The yellow pegasus received a special brand of animal whistles from her mother and a birdhouse creation kit from her father, all of which she was extremely grateful for.

He could already imagine how disappointed Fluttershy would be at the Hearth’s Warming he’d made her, which caused him to frown self-consciously. He’d never given anypony anything before in all the years he’s existed, and the fact that he was a rookie at this didn’t help at all. It honestly made him want to go back to his house and create something new, something that was much better than some childish bracelet.

“Discord?”

The Draconequus snapped out of his thoughts and looked to see everyone looking at him, especially Fluttershy who’s look had concern. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You look like you're upset about something.”

“Upset. Oh no no no no no, I’m fine.” Discord grinned as the sound of a high-pitch beep came from his wrist. He looked down to see a watch on his eagle wrist and gasped. “Oh goodness, look at the time! I just remembered that I have something really important to do, and I apparently forgot about it.”

“What sort of really important thing?” asked Zephyr Breeze with a raised brow.

“I’m afraid that’s private, m’boy, and I really must be going.”

“Discord, wait.” Fluttershy pleaded as she placed a hoof on his lion paw. “If there’s something wrong, you can tell us. I promise we won’t judge you.”

“I appreciate it, my dear, but I’m perfectly fine and I really do need to get going.” he reassured as he rose to his mismatched feet. “You can use the sleigh outside to get back to your cottage, but anyway, happy Hearth’s Warming, my little ponies!”

Before she could say another word, the Draconequus disappeared in a flash of light.

“Oh. Bye.” she frowned in disappointment and confusion.

“What was that all about?” asked Mr. Shy.

“I don’t know. We were having such a lovely time together when he looked a little upset about something. I hope nothing’s wrong.”

“Eh, I’m sure he’ll be fine, sis.’” said Zephyr Breeze as he wrapped a foreleg around her. “Now come on. We still got presents to give and unwrap.”

The yellow pegasus frowned, still feeling concerned for her chaotic friend but knew that she was holding up the evening. “Well…okay.”

Discord teleported into his house and made the bracelet he handmade for Fluttershy materialize in his hands. He gazed at it with a dissatisfied frown, inwardly cursing at his lack of selflessness for others as images of the presents his best friend had given and received from her family. Compared to them, his bracelet was nothing but a little chew toy for a puppy dog.

“Stupid bracelet.” he muttered as he threw it in the fireplace and watched it burn. His thinking tree sprouted from out from underneath the floor and up through the ceiling and roof. He laid down on one of the branches and gazed back at the burning bracelet as he thought about the whole experience he’d shared with her as a friend since his release from stone.

He’d never really cared for anyone other than himself before, which he’d never at all care about. All he had was his chaos and good tastes in entertainment and torture of other ponies, not to mention his little games in order to get things his way. He knew that his actions in the past were wrong, but he couldn’t really blame himself. A Draconequus has to do what a Draconequus has to do, even if the necessities were selfish and ill-brining.

Discord would’ve been perfectly fine with his life had it not been for those two medling princesses who were his total opposite to order. Celestia and Luna just had to turn him into stone and leave him in the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens for a milenia, make him the best looking garden scarecrow in the history of Equestria, and leave him for the birds to make countless nests in his stuck open mouth over the course of ten centuries. Celestia just had to release him after his second imprisonment and allow him to freely walk all across the cosmos in exchange for his chaotic talents to be used for good purposes and not evil, and she just had to make Fluttershy of all ponies reform him.

She just had to be his friend.

The Draconequus made a photo album appear in his hands as he opened it and looked at the seemingly endless pictures of him and Fluttershy together throughout the course of their entire friendship. Despite his previous reservations and judgements, he came to enjoy their friendship together and found her to be really a nice pony. Sure, she was autistically shy and never at all had the same amount of mischievousness as himself, but she was still a nice mare.

Discord stopped at a familiar picture that caused him to smile a little. It was taken when he’d taken her and the Cutie Mark Crusaders back in time with his time machine and met all sorts of dangerous and interesting creatures of all sizes. His favorite part that day was when they’d reached the time of the dinosaurs and came face to face with a real butterdragon. He remembered how excited Fluttershy was at the sight of it and eager to make friends with it, something he thought was adorable. If he could, he could bring one back from millions of years ago and give it to her as a pet.

“Wait a minute.”

He rubbed his chin in thought as a plan began to brough. The very image of brining a butterdragon back from the past and giving it to her for Hearth’s Warming made him want to do just that, but he knew that it would be a bad idea and costly to not only the past and the present but also the future, not to mention butterdragons, like all insects, can’t survive in the cold and could easily make easy prey for rocs and other large predators that could easily invade Fluttershy’s home and harm her severely. A more harmless solution was needed.

A lit lightbulb materialized above his head as he teleported into his creating room and sat down in his office chair. Newly found determination filled his mind and etched his facial features as he made large amounts of golden yellow and pink fabrics and stuffed animal materials fly out of several drawers and onto his desk. Sewing machines and stuffing (the non-edible brand) also appeared on his desk as he got to work on making his new present for Fluttershy, and this one was going to be the best one yet.

Discord used his magic to make the golden yellow fabric into a long and narrow body and filled it up with stuffing before stitching six sturdy butterdragon wings onto it as he got to work crafting out the wings. He made them butterfly shaped and even added Fluttershy’s cutie mark on each wing before filling them up with stuffing and stitching them to the body.

It took a good three hours to make the stuffed butterdragon all by hand, but the Lord of Chaos successfully managed to make it perfectly without messing up. While he did prick himself in the fingers a few times during the stitching process, he made a beautiful stuffed butterdragon.

Now all that’s left was to sneak into Fluttershy’s cottage and stuff it in her box.

“Easy.” Discord said aloud with confidence as he teleported out of his creating room.

He slithered into the living room and hid behind the couch as he peaked out from underneath and spotted her Hearth’s Warming tree, and more specifically, the present box that used to contain the bracelet he terribly made by hand.

The Draconequus slithered from underneath the couth to the tree as he took off the lid of the box and shoved the stuffed flutterdragon into it, only for it to not fully fit due to the size difference of both of them. He used his magic to make the box a more preferable size, allowing the stuffed insect to fit perfectly as he placed the lid back on the box and stood up.

He wiped sweat from his head and smiled proudly, but his celebration was cut short when he heard the front door open. Panic and adrenaline filled him as he teleported under the couch and curled up, making sure that all of his body parts were tucked in and not loosely sticking out from his hiding spot. He held his breath and watched Fluttershy step inside with a few bags and close the door as she took off her coat and earmuffs and hung them on the coat hook before sighing exhaustedly.

“Oh my, what an evening.”

She went into the kitchen and later emerged with a cup of hot chocolate as she took a sip of it before letting out a satisfied sigh and went towards the couch. Discord held his breath and prayed that she wouldn’t feel anything unusual about her beloved couch as he saw her turn around and sit down.

Fluttershy looked down at the couch with confusion as she adjusted her position, only to find no improvement in comfort. “That’s strange. What’s going on?”

‘Oh no.’ Discord thought as he watched her get up and turned around. She bent down and spotted him as she yelped in surprise, nearly dropping her hot chocolate.

“Discord, what are you doing underneath the couch?” the yellow pegasus asked with a raised brow.

“O-oh! Hi, Fluttershy.” he smiled at her as he teleported from underneath it and onto it in a sitting position. “Fancy seeing you back here so soon. I thought you were hanging out with your parents.”

“I was, but it was getting late and I was getting tired, but don’t avoid the question. Why were you hiding underneath the couch?”

“Who, me? I was just returning from my very important deed that I so very importantly needed to do and knew that I’d find you here, so here I am. How was your evening?”

“It was lovely. I had such a wonderful time with my family and received such thoughtful gifts.” Fluttershy replied before yawning. “Oh my, I guess I’m pretty exhausted. I’d better get washed up and settle down for the night. Are you going to go home?”

“Actually, I was hoping that we could have a little sleepover.” Discord proposed. “Think about it: we’ve only been friends for more than a year or so and we’ve never done anything other than having weekly tea parties, so why don’t we do something extra, especially for the holidays?”

She placed a hoof to her chin in thought. “I haven’t thought of that before. Oh, why not? You’re already here, and I’ve always wanted to have a sleepover with you.”

“Sweet!”

“But I’m a little too tired to do anything adventurous. Can we at least tell scary stories?”

“But of course, my dear.” Discord said with a thumbs up as a tent decorated with cotton candy and colorful Hearth’s Warming lights materialized in the middle of the living room. “Now let’s get the storytelling started!”

The door zipped open as he flew inside before sticking his head out and taking a bite out of the tent door. “My my, you can even eat this tasty shelter.”

Fluttershy went over to it and hesitantly licked it. “This tastes just like cotton candy.”

“Of course it does. This tent is basically a tasty treat you can eat, and it can fix itself if any sized chunk is eaten.” Discord explained matter-of-factly. “But it’s nothing compared to the inside. Come on in.”

She went inside the tent and gasped. The interior looked like the combination of the interior of Canterlot Castle and the Castle of Friendship. The ceiling was almost as tall as both structures themselves with Hearth’s Warming decorations and light on every single wall and piece of cotton candy furniture. A roaring fireplace with a tall Hearth’s Warming tree stood at the far wall with fake presents and a toy train underneath it with a small table that consisted of a glass of chocolate milk and a cone of cotton candy on it.

Two sleeping bags with fluffy pillows on them resided on the large, fluffy carpet in front of the fireplace. The first one was long and pink with cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk while the other one was smaller and yellow with pink butterflies on it.

Discord teleported into the large sleeping bag and placed the pillow behind him before laying down. He looked over at his pegasus friend and patted the sleeping bag next to him as Fluttershy went over to it and placed the pillow in front of the entrance to it as she got underneath it and laid down on her back.

“So, Fluttershy, how would you like to hear a good ol’ Hearth’s Warming tale?” Discord asked. “I’ll try not to make it too scary, but I love to have fun.”

“I don’t see why not, but don’t make it too scary. I don’t want to have any nightmares.” said Fluttershy.

“I promise. Now then, how would you like to hear about how I ran into Santa Hooves and helped him deliver toys to all the foals across the world?”

She looked at him with surprise. “You helped Santa Hooves?”

“I most certainly did. Well, unintentionally that is.”

The Draconequus used his magic to manipulate the veiling into a little theater stage as he made the curtains pull open.

“Not long after I was reformed, I decided to get into a little mischief and mess around with some of the ponies of Equestria, but while I was having a grand time spreading my glorious chaos (in the most harmless of ways), I saw a fat stallion with a beard that resembled the one Starswirl had staring at the toys at a toy shop in Fillydelphia. I already had a large assortment of ideas for him.”

“What did you do to him?” asked Fluttershy.

“Nothing dangerous, but I made my own army of toys and had them mess around with the stallion, but then I noticed something strange about him. He didn’t react in fear but rather curiosity and delight at the sight of my toys. Not only that, but he said how interesting and creative they looked before mentioning that his little helpers could make them. He looked around for whoever created them and that’s when I decided to introduce myself.”

“When the stallion saw me, he looked rather disappointed in me and said that I was on his ‘naughty list’. I mean sure, I know of all of my past misdeeds, but what kind of a pony places me of all beings on a list? When I asked him that, he revealed that he was none other than Santa Hooves. As you would expect, I thought it was a joke and just laughed at him. I will admit, it was really amusing to see an impersonator of a make believe entity. However, as it would turn out, the stallion proved that he was Santa Hooves by showing me his sled and all eight of his reindeer hidden away in an alley next to the toy shop. He took me all the way up to the north pole to a large mansion with a large warehouse next to it that was busy with elf ponies hard at work creating all sorts of toys. That’s when I believed that he was Santa Hooves.”

“I thought you said that he wasn’t real.”

“Well, he was, but has long since retired. Anyway, he brought me to his workshop and told me that he was having trouble coming up with ideas for toys to give to the children of the world. They were apparently growing bored with all the usual ideas he had and wanted something new, so I gladly gave him all of my best ideas for the most chaotic toys in the history of all of ponykind in exchange for an early Hearth’s Warming present. Unfortunately for me, Santa gave me an enormous sack of coal for my sins, but I didn’t mind and I was hungry. I ate all of the coal in one gulp and went on my merry way and lived happily ever after. The end.”

Fluttershy applauded. “That was an amazing story. I’m sorry you didn’t get any presents.”

“Eh, I don't mind. Besides, Santa isn’t the only one who can make anything.” Discord shrugged. “Now then, how would you like to hear how I pranked the leprecolts?”

As the Draconequus immediately went into his long story, Fluttershy felt her eyes beginning to grow heavy. She let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes as she shook her head and inwardly told herself to stay awake. It would be very rude to just doze off while her best friend was telling a silly story about one of his adventures. She loved hearing all about them and never at all found them to be getting old, even if some of the things he did in them weren’t really nice.

‘Stay awake, Fluttershy. Stay awake.’ she told herself in her head as she shook her head firmly. She shifted her position and reached over to grab her cup of hot chocolate as she took a sip of it, only to find it to make her even more tired. ‘Oh dear.’

“...and then when I stole all of the four-leaf clovers from their kingdom, the leprecolts went into what was the funniest panic I’ve ever seen! Oh, you should’ve seen the look on their faces when I made the three-leaf clovers come to life and scare them. It was so amusing!” Discord paused his monologue to laugh with amusement as he wiped a tear from his eye. “They were so dramatic, even more than Rarity combined, but rest assured, Fluttershy. I restored everything back to normal…although I got banned from coming within a mile of Ireland for life, so yeah. Everything worked out well despite that.”

His ears perked up at the sound of soft breathing coming from his side as he turned to see Fluttershy sleeping peacefully.

“My my. Who knew a mare like her would look adorable when sleeping.” Discord whispered as he pulled her sleeping bag up to her neck, causing her to snuggle deeper into it with a moan. “Good night, Fluttershy. I hope you dream of gumdrops and sweets.”

He sank into his own sleeping bag and rested his head on his pillow as he closed his eyes, letting the dream world take him into his own adventures.

Fluttershy smelled something delicious. It caused her to stir out of her slumber and open her eyes slightly as she looked to see a tray of pancakes and a rather familiar Draconequus right in front of her.

“Good morning my dearest and bestest pal in the world. Happy Hearth’s Warming day!” Discord sing-songed cheerfully.

“Good morning, Discord.” Fluttershy yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Are those for me?”

“Of course they are. I’d thought I’d be an amazing friend and make you a little something to get the best day of the year started. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Thank you.” she smiled at him as she sat up and took a bite out of the pancakes. “Oh my, this is so delicious.”

Discord puffed out his chest with a prideful chuckle. “Well, I do have endless talents after all, and cooking is one of them. I already had my nutritious breakfast a couple hours ago, so I’m all fueled up and ready to go.”

“You ate a couple hours ago? That’s pretty early, don’t you think?”

“Well technically it is, but it’s currently ten o’clock. You apparently were more tired than usual and slept in, but I woke up at around seven and had a bowl of cotton candy with coal in it. I also did the duty of feeding your so-called ‘Angel Bunny’.”

“I guess I was pretty tired, but thank you for feeding Angel. He can be really picky with his meals.”

‘You can say that again.’ Discord thought bluntly.

Not too long later, Fluttershy finished her meal as he took her hoof into his paw and teleported them out of the tent. He made it disappear as they went over to her Hearth’s Warming tree.

“Oh yeah, it’s unwrapping time!” The Draconequus cheered as a ringing alarm clock materialized in his eagle claw before eating it whole. “Go on and open your present, my dear.”

She obliged and took off the lid on the yellow box before gasping. She lifted out a stuffed butterdragon and gazed at it. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Surprise! I made you a stuffed butterdragon all by hand.” Discord smiled.

Fluttershy gawked at him. “You…you made it…without your magic?”

“I most certainly did, although it was rather hard. It took great effort to make the amount of stuffing even all throughout the body, wings, and legs, and I even poked myself in the fingers a few times.”

“You did? I hope you weren’t bleeding.”

“Thankfully I didn’t, and it’s nothing I can’t handle. I originally hand made you a friendship bracelet, but I realized how dumb and childish it looked so I thought something a lot better was needed. I remember how excited and happy you were during our time travel trip when we came face to face with a real live butter dragon, so I thought you’d like a stuffed replica. Do you like it?”

“Like it?” Fluttershy uttered almost quietly.

Discord felt his smile falter as he watched her stare at her new toy without a single emotion. He’d worked so hard on it and was beginning to have doubts about whether or not this was a brilliant idea. Hand making things wasn’t one of his strong suits compared to chaos, and he’d rather do that than fail miserably at the strength of his own paw and claw.

“I love it!”

He was suddenly tackled into a tight hug as he landed on the ground on his back. “Oof!”

“Thank you thank you thank you! This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I love it so much!” Fluttershy said happily.

“Fluttershy…can’t…breathe.” Discord gasped as she released him, allowing him to take in the air around him and sit up. “Do you really mean it? You love the stuffed butterdragon?”

“I do, and it’s so cute. Oh Discord, I don’t know anyone more talented than you.” she grinned at him as she hugged her new stuffed butterdragon, enjoying how soft it felt against her skin.

“Anyway, why don’t I open my reward for the year.”

He reached over and grabbed it from underneath the tree as he tore off the wrapping paper and took off the lid, humming in intrigue at what was hidden underneath. Inside the box was a small medal that had the words #1 chaotic friend etched into the gold circle.

“I thought a medal might suit you, so I went to a company in Manehattan a few months ago and asked them to make a medal for you.” Fluttershy explained. “You’ve improved so much since you were reformed, and while you still make a lot of mistakes, you helped out a lot and are a really great friend.”

“Are you saying that you spent your hard earned money on this medal for me?” Discord asked. “Are you really that proud of me?”

“I am. You’re one of the best friends I could ever have, and you’re such a sweetheart. I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend more thoughtful and fun to be around than my friends, and I’m happy that we’re friends.”

She embraced him in a warm hug as he stared down at her with mixed emotions. Her words for some odd reason touched him, which wasn’t anything new, but it filled his old beating heart with warmth.

“Fluttershy, this is the best thing I’ve ever received. Thank you.” Discord smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.” Fluttershy smiled as she nuzzled into his chest.

Angel watched them from a distance and stuck out his tongue in disgust, finding their little moment to be extremely sappy and overly emotional.

“I’m going to put on my new medal right now.” Discord suddenly said as he broke the embrace and snapped his tail tuft, causing the medal to materialize around his neck. “How do I look?”

His pegasus friend giggled. “You look handsome.”

“Why thank you. Now then, why don’t we have a little fun in the snow before the party at Twilight’s castle? The day is still young after all.”

“Sure.”

Discord snapped his fingers and made their winger clothes materialize on them as they disappeared out of the cottage, happy that he made his best friend smile.

Spike paced at the front door of the Castle of Friendship with a worried look. Thorax was scheduled to arrive any minute now and he was reasonably nervous. He was still concerned that once Ember arrived later on that day, she and Thorax wouldn’t get along and end up hating each other, something that caused him to not sleep well all last night.

“Spike, you have to relax. Thorax and Ember won’t hate each other.” said Starlight Glimmer as she and Twilight went over to him.

“Easy for you to say. You’re still new at friendship yet you managed to get all the Changelings to change.” Spike said nervously. “I still can’t believe Thorax and Ember are still coming here.”

“I know. This could be the most important meeting in the history of our entire world!” Twilight said excitedly as her number one assistant stopped his pace with an even more nervous look, causing her to chuckle sheepishly. “And provide us an opportunity to help them become friends.”

“But still; how will we get them to get along? Dragons aren’t the friendly type and the Changelings only recently got reformed. Who knows whether or not they had a history together and were enemies in the past. Ember could mistreat Thorax and distrust him.” Spike explained.

Knocking came from the door as he perked up and froze. “It’s him.”

“I’ll answer it.” Twilight said as she went over to the front doors.

The purple dragon chuckled nervously. “I-I just remembered that I forgot to sweep the floors in the ballroom, so…I’ll be right back!”

He ran off at a faster speed than what he used to run as he was suddenly enveloped in a light blue aura.

“Don’t even think about running away, Spike.” said Starlight as she placed him next to her. “You’re going to be a proper host and you are going to start that right now.”

“Right. Yeah. Although, I’d better go and check up on the food. Shouldn’t you guys be cooking it?”

“Pinkie has everything under control.” said Twilight as she lit up her horn and enveloped the doorknobs.

“Oh. Okay.”

Sweat started to form and fall down his forehead as Spike wiped it. He tip-toed ever so slowly away from Starlight before making a run for it.

“Spike, wait!” the light purple unicorn called out to him before sighing and looking at her former teacher. “I’ll go after him.”

“After we greet whoever is waiting for us.” Twilight added with a nod as knocking came from the doors again. She opened it with her magic and gasped in delight at the sight of her sister-in-law, older brother, and niece. “Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart!”

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Twily.” said Shining Armor as they shared a group hug. They soon broke it as the Princess of Friendship and the Princess of Love did their favorite chant.

“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake.”

They shared a giggle as Cadence levitated Flurry Heart’s carriage up to her.

“And how’s my favorite niece in Equestria doing on her second ever Hearth’s Warming?” Twilight cooed at the baby alicorn and blew air into her belly, causing her to giggle before reaching up to her.

“Hey, where’s Spike? I thought he’d be here.” said Shining Armor.

“We invited Thorax and Ember to the banquet today, and Spike is scared that they might end up hating each other.” explained Twilight. “He thought it was either one of them at the door instead of you three and ran off. Speaking of which, where’s Sunburst? I thought he was coming.”

A knock came from the door as she lit up her horns and opened them, revealing the yellow unicorn stallion in question. “Sorry I’m late. Ponyville looks really beautiful with all of its Hearth’s Warming decorations up and I thought I’d look at them for a little bit, but I guess I got distracted.”

“It’s alright, Sunburst.” Cadence smiled at him. “Let’s all go to the living room and unwrap presents.”

“Great idea, Cadence.” Twilight nodded as she led everyone down the hallways of the Castle of Friendship towards the castle living room. As they were making their way down the hallway, Flash Sentry marched up in the opposite direction towards them.

“Greetings, everypony, and happy Hearth’s Warming.” he bowed politely as he became intimidated by the stern look from Shining Armor.

“How have things been going here, Flash?” he asked.

“Everything has been nice and peaceful, sir.” the pegasus guard replied honestly and bravely.

“Have you been regularly patrolling the entire castle like you’re supposed to?”

“Yes sir.”

“Have you been periodically checking in on Twilight, Spike, and Starlight?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.” Shining Armor nodded in satisfaction. “Do you want to join us for presents?”

“Yes.” Flash replied as he walked with everyone to the castle living room.

Twilight and Cadence couldn’t help but roll their eyes at the somewhat rude treatment. Ever since Flash transferred from the Crystal Castle to the Castle of Friendship, Shining Armor made it one of his top priorities to make sure that the pegasus guard was doing everything he was required and trained to do. The girls knew that he meant well and wanted to make sure that Twilight had one of the best means of protection, but at the same time knew that he didn’t want Flash to get too close to her.

Twilight didn’t like the way her BBBFF treated him and secretly wished that he would stop it, but felt like Shining Armor knew what was best considering that he used to be the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and manages the Crystal Empire Royal Guard. She only hoped that one day he could accept that Flash was doing his job and be nicer to him.

Elsewhere in the castle, Spike sat in an empty room as he breathed as quietly as he could, taming into great caution to not make a single sound that would reveal where he was. Either Ember or Thorax were here, and he wasn’t ready to face either one of them.

“Spike? Spike!”

The sound of Starlight’s voice calling out for him was heard outside as he heard galloping coming up towards his hiding spot. His heart rate began to speed up as he held his breath and froze his body, listening carefully as he heard Starlight run past the room.

‘Whew, that was close.’ Spike thought with a silent sigh of relief as he slowly and silently stood up and tip-toed towards the doors. He slowly opened them and peeked out as he looked in both directions of the hallway as he stepped out of the room and slowly closed the doors before spreading his wings and taking flight.

Unfortunately for him, he lost control and ended up crashing into a vase on the side, but he didn’t receive any bloody cuts due to his thick scales.

“Spike?”

“Oh no.” the purple dragon said with fear and worry as he got up and made a run for it. Normally he’d take responsibility and clean up any mess he made, but today was an exception. He ran down the hall as he heard galloping from far behind him. “Run run run run run.”

He was suddenly enveloped in a light blue aura and levitated in the air as Starlight trotted up to him. “Gotcha! No more hiding, Spike. You’re going to go back and greet Ember and Thorax, or I’ll tell Twilight how you snuck into the kitchen last night and ate all the chocolate chip cookies.”

Spike’s eyes widened as he let out a defeated groan. “Fine, I’ll go and greet them, but can you put me down please?”

Starlight’s horn extinguished as he landed on his stomach. He stood back up onto his feet as she teleported them back to the foyer, only to find it empty.

“I guess they’re in the ballroom already.” said Spike as they teleported to it, but found the same results. “Twilight? Ember? Thorax?”

“Maybe we should check the living room.” suggested Starlight as she lit her horn and teleported them.

They reappeared in the castle living room as Twilight, her family, and Sunburst turned to look at them.

“There you are, Spike. Turns out neither Ember nor Thorax showed up yet.” said Twilight. “But now that you and Starlight are here, you can now join us for presents.”

“I already know that.” said Spike as he sat next to her.

“It’s great to see you both again. Especially you, Oh Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious.” said Cadence as she giggled at his modest blush. “How are your wings treating you?”

“They’re still a struggle, but I’m getting the hang of it.”

“Speaking of which, here’s our present to you.” said Shining Armor as he levitated a box with purple wrapping paper and a green ribbon on top over to him.

Spike took it into his hands and tore off the wrapping paper as he took off the lid, revealing a small crystal statue of himself. He carefully lifted it out of the box and admired it with amazement. “Wow. This is beautiful.”

“We know. There’s a shop in the Crystal Empire that sells crystal statues of all the famous figures in Equestria’s history, and since you're the hottest celebrity there, there was a discount on one of a kind Spike statues.” said Cadence. “Do you like it?”

“I love it! Wow, I always knew that I was popular in the Crystal Empire, but I never thought the crystal ponies would get my good looks.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Don’t they always.”

“Here’s your gift, Twily.” Shining Armor lit up his horn and levitated a present over to his younger sister as she used her magic to take off all the wrapping paper.

“Is this what I think it is?” she gasped.

“The rare addition of the history of Starswirl the Bearded. You’d be right if you guessed.”

“How did you..?”

“Get this? Well, the library in the Crystal Castle was freeing up shelving space, and it so happened that the librarians were going to donate this to the Canterlot Castle library, so I thought I’d convince them to let me have it so I could give it to you.” the white stallion explained. “Pretty cool, right?”

“It is! Oh thank you, BBBFF!” Twilight said as they got up and shared a hug.

“BBBFF? What does that mean?” asked Sunburst.

“It stands for Big Brother Best Friend Forever.” Shining Armor explained. “And Twilight is my LSBFF, which is Little Sister Best Friend Forever.”

“Ah.”

“Here, Sunburst. I hope you like your present.” said Starlight as she levitated her gift to him into his hooves. “It’s been a pretty long time since we last did this, so I thought a little something would make up for lost time.”

“Thanks, Starlight, and it has been years since we last spent the holidays together.” Sunburst smiled at her as he used his magic to take off the wrapping paper before gasping at what was hidden underneath. “Is this the first edition of Magical Mysteries and Historical Prophecies?”

“It sure is. I remember how you wanted one of these but because of how rare they are you couldn’t find one, so Twilight took me to the library in Canterlot Castle a couple months ago and I found that in the history section.”

“Amazing. I knew that you were close to Twilight and her friends, but I never thought you'd be close enough to the rulers of Equestria, let alone trustworthy enough to be given this book. This is really nice of you, Starlight.”

“What are friends for?” The light purple unicorn smiled as they shared an embrace.

“Speaking of which, here’s your present, Twilight,” said Cadence as she levitated a small box over to her sister-in-law.

Twilight lifted open the lid and levitated out earrings that were in the shape of her cutie mark. “These are so beautiful, Cadence. I can wear these at the next gala, which reminds me of something...”

She levitated a slightly bigger box over to her former foalsitter as Cadence took off the box and levitated a crystal necklace out of it. “Wow. This is so beautiful.”

“Now we both have accessories for the next gala.” Twilight smiled as they shared a giggle.

“Hey Flash, did you get Twilight anything?” asked Spike.

“As a matter of fact I did,” Flash replied as he went over to the Hearth’s Warming tree and brought over a rectangular present over to the Princess of Friendship.

“Flash, you didn’t have to get me anything,” said Twilight. “You celebrating Hearth’s Warming with us is good enough.”

“I know, but I wanted to anyway. Go ahead and open it.”

She used her magic to tear off the wrapping paper and lift the lid of the box as she levitated a stuffed version of herself out of it. “Is this me?”

“It sure is. I came across it at a toy shop in Canterlot last month that happened to have stuffed versions of you and your friends. I know you’re too old to play with toys and stuffed animals and you’re a princess, but I thought a little stuffed version of yourself could keep you company whenever you’re alone in the castle. I hope I didn’t do anything wrong.”

He was suddenly pulled into a hug as Twilight wrapped her forelegs around him without thinking. “You didn’t, Flash. Thank you so much for giving me this. She’s so cute, and I already love her so much.”

“You’re welcome.” he said with slight discomfort, noticing how everyone was looking at them, especially Cadence with a knowing smile.

She soon realized what she did as she broke the embrace and cleared her throat, blushing a deep scarlet on her cheeks.

Distant knocking could be heard from outside the room as Spike stood up. “I’ll go get it.”

He left the living room and flew towards the front doors to the castle as he landed in front of them and took a deep breath, bracing himself for whoever would be showing up to the castle just hours before the banquet.

He opened the doors and froze at who was standing there.

“Hey Spike! Happy Hearth’s Warming!”

“Oh, heh heh, Hi Thorax.” Spike forced a smile upon his lips. ‘At least Ember isn’t here yet.’

Discord leapt into the air and twirled around before landing on the ice at the lake as he ice skated gracefully, wearing a figure skating outfit complete with a set of figure skates. He screeched to a halt and looked over to the side to see Fluttershy sitting there with her figure skates on.

“Come on, Fluttershy. The ice is great!” he called over to her.

“I don’t think I can do this. I’ve never even ice skated before.” she called back. “You can go ahead and keep skating. I’ll just watch from the sidelines.”

Discord teleported over to her. “Oh that simply won’t do. Since this is your first time on the ice, I shall teach you.”

“Really?”

“Why not? I’ve been around for thousands of years, and I learned how to ice skate all on my own despite struggling several times. Besides, what are friends for?”

Fluttershy looked away. “I still don’t know. What if I slip and fall, or what if I break the ice in the process and fall into the water and can’t get out because of my skates?”

“Then you’ll have me to save you, so why don’t you put the worrying aside and let your teacher teach you the highlights of ice skating?”

She was still unsure. The very thought of falling through the ice caused her to shudder with discomfort, not to mention the injuries that she could suffer if she were to fall. Then again, she knew that Discord was right and that he could save and/or heal her should the worst happen.

Letting out a defeated yet anxious sigh, she looked up at her chaotic friend. “Alright. I’ll allow you to teach me how to ice skate.”

Discord collapsed his hands together. “Wonderful! But before we begin, you need a more suitable attire for our activity.”

He snapped his fingers as a purple sparkly figure skating dress replaced her coat with her mane done up in a bun. “There. That’s better.”

“This dress is pretty, but how will it help me skate?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh it won’t, but you do look graceful wearing it.” he replied. “Anyway, the key to moving in ice is to think about L’s and V’s.”

“L’s and V’s?”

“Exactly. Push your left hooves and right hooves in a pattern to move and line them up parallelly to glide. To stop, point your front hooves together diagonally like the letter V, like this.”

Discord zipped across the lake while doing all the explained motions as he returned to his best friend and used the V motion to stop. “See? It’s simple, now you try.”

“Um…Okay.” Fluttershy hesitantly stood up and pushed her left hooves and right hooves as she slowly began to move before slipping and falling. She got up and tried it again but soon fell back on her rump once again. “Oh, this is impossible.”

“No it’s not. You just need some help and encouragement, and soon you’ll be one of the best ice skaters out there. For today, let’s just stick with baby steps, or rather baby skates.”

Discord placed his hands around her midriff and slowly began to move across the ice. “Now then, move your left and right hooves two at a time.”

“Left, right, left, right.” Flutttershy repeated to herself as she pushed with her left and right hooves. “I think I got it.”

“Great! Now I’m going to let go and see if you can do it all on your own.”

“What? No, please don’t let go. I’ll fall.”

“No you won’t. You’re already getting the hang of ice skating, and I just want to see if I train my protegee well.” said Discord with an encouraging smile. “Are you ready?”

“Um…y-yes.” Fluttershy hesitantly replied. “Don’t let go so quickly.”

“I promise. Alright…now!”

The Draconequus let her go gently and skidded to a stop as he watched her skate.

“Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right.” The Element of Kindness soon found herself caking perfectly as she turned around and smiled at her chaotic friend. “Discord, I can skate!”

“Wonderful!” Discord cheered. “Now let’s try skating together.”

He sped past her and did a twirl in the air as he steered around and went back to her before holding out his paw. She placed her hoof in it and held on as they did a series of impressive figure skating tricks all while laughing together.

“Ice skating is so much fun. I don’t even know why I never wanted to try this before.” said Fluttershy with a happy giggle.

“Me neither, but that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you tried something new and now you love it!” said Discord. “Want to see something cool?”

He let go of her hooves and skated off at a fast speed as he leapt into the air and did a backflip before spinning around and doing a triple twirl in the air. He skated backwards to the other side of the lake and did another twirl before doing a front flip and returning to his best friend.

“That was so amazing, Discord. You’re really great at ice skating.” she applauded.

“Thank you, thank you. I’m here all day.” Discord bowed as a bouquet of roses materialized in his hands.

Suddenly, the ice underneath them began to crack as they looked around at it in surprise. Fluttershy got closer to him and gulped

“Oh dear, the ice is getting too thin for us to ice skate. We should probably get off the lake before we fall into the cold water.”

“Agreed.” her chaotic friend nodded as he raised his eagle claw, but before he could snap his talons, the ice underneath them broke as the yellow pegasus fell into the freezing cold water while he floated in mid-air.

“Discord! Help! I can’t swim with these ice skates on my hooves!” Fluttershy cried as she reached up with her hoof to the ice, only for it to break as she struggled to stay afloat.

“Fluttershy!” Discord immediately pulled her out of the water and teleported them to the edge of the lake as more chunks of ice broke off. “Are you alright?”

“Y-y-yes. I’m just c-cold from the f-f-freezing w-water.” she replied as she shivered from the cold temperature.

“No worries. I’ll have you warmed up in no time.”

He teleported them back to her cottage as he made their ice skates and figure skating outfits disappear before making a giant hair dryer materialize in his hands. He turned it on to full blast and blew hot air straight at her as she shielded her eyes from the fast moving warm air and felt herself warming and drying up surprisingly quickly.

Once she was warm and dry, Discord made the giant hair dryer disappear as he dusted his hands. “There we go, all done. How do you feel, my dear?”

“I feel so much better, and thank you for saving me.” Fluttershy smiled gratefully at him. “Would it be okay if we shared tea together? I don’t want either one of us to get cold again.”

A tray that consisted of a teapot and two teacups materialized on the table in between the couch and the chair as her chaotic friend teleported onto the couch. “But of course. A Hearth’s Warming Day tea party never sounded bad, right?”

She went over to the Hearth’s Warming tree and grabbed her stuffed butterdragon as she went over to her chair and sat down. “So Discord, did you go on any other amazing adventures?”

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked, Fluttershy, because I have quite the story to tell.” he bragged as he immediately launched into one of his endlessly amazing and funny stories.

“Wow, Twilight’s castle looks so beautiful.” said Thorax as he admired the Hearth’s Warming decorations that glamored the hallways.

“Thanks. I helped her and the others decorate the entire castle for the holidays, and it’s always rewarding to see the place all lit up.” said Spike. “But anyway, how have things been going as the new ruler of the Changelings?”

The Changeling king sighed. “To be honest, being their ruler is really hard. They’re still groups of Changelings that feed off of love and don’t want to change, but no matter how hard I try to reason with them, they don’t listen to me. Despite that, everything else is going really well.”

“I’m glad to hear it, but aren’t you firm and stern when you order the Changelings around? That’s how Twilight and the other princesses manage things here in Equestria.”

Thorax sighed. “I’ve never had the courage to be assertive, even before I changed. It was always too hard for me.”

“Well, maybe me and Twilight can help you. After all, she’s a princess and struggled with it at first before getting the hang of it, not to mansion you and I are friends.” Spike suggested.

“I’d appreciate it if you both helped me.” Thorax smiled. “Speaking of which, where is she, and where’s Starlight?”

“They’re both in the living room Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, Sunburst, and Flash Sentry; They’re all unwrapping presents.”

“Presents?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah. Don’t you know about how Hearth’s Warming works and how it got started?”

“I did a few times back at the hive, but not the entire story.” Thorax replied. “Changelings used to hate everything about ponies, especially the holidays. All they did was mock them and made them seem cruel.”

“Well, I can tell you what Hearth’s Warming is all about.” Spike said as he launched into the long detailed story of how Equestria was founded. After finishing, his Changeling friend had a better understanding.

“So that’s why you and the ponies of Equestria celebrate Hearth’s Warming,” said Thorax. “And sorry for not bringing you and the others any gifts.”

“Aw, don't worry about it. You didn’t even know.” Spike shrugged forgivingly. “But now that you're here, you can at least hang out with us and celebrate.”

He led him to the castle living room and opened the doors as they both entered it, causing everyone to pause their gift giving and unwrapping.

“Hi Thorax. It’s nice to see you here, and happy Hearth’s Warming.” said Cadence as she smiled at him.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming everyone. Sorry I didn’t bring any presents.” said Thorax as he and Spike took their seats.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Twilight smiled at him. “It’s understandable that you and the Changelings haven’t celebrated any pony holidays together, especially E-”

Her speech was cut off as Spike quickly placed his hand over her mouth. “Especially everyone else who hasn't.” he said quickly. “Because there are certainly a lot of other creatures and ponies out there who don’t celebrate Hearth’s Warming. Right, Twilight?”

She knew that he did that because he didn’t want Thorax to know about Ember, but found it was easier for her number 1 assistant to just go with it. “Um, y-yeah.”

“Oh. Well, alright.” Thorax smiled as he turned to look at the pegasus guard present. “And who are you?”

“I’m Flash Sentry. I’m Princess Twilight’s royal bodyguard and have been here for two months and will continue to do my duty for as long as possible.” Flash introduced himself with a salute.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Thorax. I’m sure you’ve heard a little about me, right?”

“I have. Is it true that Spike befriended you and you helped save Equestria?”

“Yup, and I also became the new ruler of the Changelings.”

“Then it’s an honor to be in your presence, your majesty.” Flash bowed respectively.

“Oh, no need for bowing. I’m not used to formalities yet.” Thorax smiled politely.

Spike soon found himself beginning to relax as he watched everyone in attendance chat and enjoy each other’s company. He found himself slowly beginning to let go of his worries as he joined in on the chatter and explained some recent things that occurred in Ponyville during the months of peace from when they were all kidnapped by the Changelings. He was still worried about Thorax and Ember not getting along when she came, but that could wait. The party wasn’t for a long while anyway.

Thorax’s nose wrinkled in disgust as he placed a hoof over it. “Ugh, what’s that smell?”

“I guess somepony needs a diaper change.” said Cadence as she looked down at her daughter.

“I got this one, honey.” said Shining Armor as he stood up and took Flurry Heart into his magical grasp before exiting the room with her and a bag of diapers. As they went into the room directly across from the living room, the sound of thumping could be heard as he stopped in confusion. “What was that?”

He placed Flurry Heart down on a table and got to work changing her diaper as the chomping sound could be heard again. It was coming from outside the castle, but who would be eating outside in the cold, and what are they even eating anyway?

Shining Armor finished changing his daughter’s diaper and returned to the living room as he levitated Flurry Heart into the arms of her mother. “Is it me or do any of you hear something?”

“I don’t hear anything.” said Twilight with a confused look. “Why do you ask?”

“While I was changing Flurry’s diaper, I heard chomping noises coming from outside the castle.” he explained.

“Chomping?” Spike furrowed a brow in confusion before widening his eyes. “Um, I’ll go and check it out. You guys stay here.”

“I can come too, Spike.” volunteered Thorax.

“I appreciate it, Thorax, but I got this.”

The purple dragon rose to his feet and sprinted out of the room as he ran down the hallways. ‘Please don’t be Ember, please don’t be Ember, please don’t be Ember.’

Spike reached the front doors and opened them as he peaked out and looked in both directions. The chomping sound was coming to his left as he stepped outside and slowly approached whoever or whatever was causing the noise. He soon froze at who was the cause.

There, eating a small chunk of the wall, was Dragon Lord Ember.

She ate a small chunk of the wall before noticing him as she gulped down the sample. “Oh, hey Spike. Can you believe this Castle? It’s built completely out of gems.”

“I know, but this is where me and Twilight live, and I don’t think she’d like it if she found out you ate part of our castle.” said Spike.

“Oh. My bad.” Ember said as she dusted off the chunks of gemstones from her claws.

“But it’s great to see you either way.”

He wrapped his arms around her as she awkwardly patted him on the head. “Uh, right. Hugs are what friends do, aren’t they? Hey, where’s Twilight? I thought she’d be the first one to find me.” Ember said with curiosity as they broke the embrace.

“Oh uh…she’s inside with her family and Starlight.” Spike replied as he collapsed his hands over his mouth, realizing his mistake.

“Really? Well, Let’s go inside.”

The dragon lord flew towards the front doors to the Castle of Friendship as Spike suddenly blacked her way. “No you can’t!”

“Why not?” Ember raised a brow at him.

“Because, uh, well…in addition to being too early for the banquet, I need your help with my flying skills,” he answered. “I mean, I’ve only had my wings for a little while and I’m still having trouble with them, so do you think you can help me?”

This seemed to dissipate her confusion as the dragon lord nodded. “Sure, but we’ll have to find a wide open area.”

“How does the air above Ponyville sound?”

“Sounds good enough to me, now let’s go.”

They both took flight to the area above town as Ember looked down at all the decorations with curiosity and amazement. “Wow, your town is so colorful. Back at the Dragonlands it’s just the same colored rocks for miles.”

“Yeah well, the ponies of Equestria do love their colors and decorations.” said Spike. “Anyway, how do you maintain balance when flying?”

“Oh, that’s easy. All you have to do is flap both of your wings evenly without doing anything extraneous. If you apply too much strength to one of them or both, you’ll lose control.” Ember explained.

“Oh, I see.” he nodded as he evened out his wing flapping and found himself flying more smoothly. “Hey, I’m doing it! I’m flying more properly. Thanks for the tips, Ember.”

“It takes more than just one flying lesson to be 100%, but yeah, you’re starting to overcome your struggles.”

She looked down to the ground and spotted three ponies leaving the Ponyville train station with curiosity. “Hey, who are those three leaving that thing over there?”

Spike turned to where she was pointing. “Oh, those are my friends. I can introduce them to you if you want.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” Ember shrugged as they descended towards them.

“Hoo-eee! It feels good to be back, y’all.” said Applejack as they entered town.

“I’ll say. Hanging out with your family for Hearth’s Warming was great, Pinkie, hiding your presents? A scavenger hunt for the Hearth’s Warming flag? Don’t even get me started on the rock soup. My teeth are still killing me.” Rainbow Dash groaned as she rubbed her cheek. “Sorry for being rude, but your family is more weird than Discord.”

“I know me and my family are different from everypony else, but we love the things we do, especially me!” said Pinkie Pie as she looked up into the air. “Hey, what’s Ember doing here so early with Spike?”

“Huh?”

Applejack and Rainbow looked up to where their pink friend was pointing and saw Spike and Dragon Lord Ember flying towards them as they landed in front of them, causing the trio to stop their stride.

“Hey Spike, and it’s an honor to finally meet you, Ember.” said applejack as she held out her hoof. “Welcome to Ponyville.”

“Um, thanks. It’s an honor to be here.” Ember shook her hoof. “I guess Spike has told you a little about me, huh?”

“Heck yeah. Did you really stand up to Garble and win the Gauntlet of Fire? That was so awesome!” said Rainbow Dash as she did a loop in the air.

“Yeah! And now that you’re friends with Spike, you’re automatically friends with all of us.” said Pinkie with a grin.

“Thanks. I always thought that dragons don’t do friendship, but it isn’t so bad once you get used to it.”

“Yup.” nodded Spike in agreement. “There’s nothing wrong with a friend or two.”

“Anyway, we’d better head on home,” said Applejack. “With the party at Twilight’s castle occurrin’ in a few hours, we’d best drop off our stuff and relax for a little while before then, but it was nice to finally meet ya, Ember.”

“Same here.” Ember smiled.

“See you leather, alligator!” Pinkie waved as she and her friends walked past the two dragons and went on their way.

The dragon lord raised a brow in confusion. “Wait what? I’m a dragon, not an alligator.”

“It’s a figure of speech,” said Spike. “So what do you want to do now?”

“I want to go to the castle and warm up. I’m all for doing things in the snow and other things, but even I have my limits.” she replied. “Plus I’m getting hungry after eating part of it.”

His eyes widened. “Um, w-wouldn’t you want to do something else out here? We don’t have to go to the castle so soon.”

“Sorry Spike, but I’m not changing my mind. Besides, Twilight mentioned in one of her letters that she wanted to ask me about dragon culture. You can stay out here, but I'm going.”

Ember turned and flew towards the castle as Spike began to panic. ‘Oh no no no no no! She’s heading to the castle, and if she discovers about Thorax, it’ll be a disaster! I have to prevent them from meeting each other.’

He flew off and caught up with her. “Actually, heading back to the castle sounds pretty good. I’ve got a small hoard of gems in the kitchen I’d be willing to share with you, and if you want, I can show you some other things.”

“Really? Well let’s go.” said the dragon lord as they landed in front of the front doors to the Castle of Friendship and went inside.

Meanwhile in the map room, Thorax sat boredly in Twilight’s throne as he listened to Starlight conclude her seemingly endless lecture on how the friendship map works.

“And that is how the map summons those for friendship missions.” she concluded. “Any questions?”

“Where’s Spike?” the Changeling king asked as he stood up and stretched. “I thought he’d be back by now.”

“Oh he’ll be back, but we should go ahead and return to the living room. We’ve been keeping the others waiting for too long.” said Starlight as they left the map room and went down the hallway. They later returned to the living room as she lit up her horn and opened the doors for him. “After you.”

He gave her a grateful smile and entered the room as she followed behind before stopping, hearing the sound of distant chatter coming from down the hallway. “I’ll be back in a little. I think I heard something.”

She stepped back out into the hallway and closed the door as she teleported to the source of the sound, finding Spike and Ember walking together in conversation as they stopped their chatter when they noticed her and went towards her.

“Hey Starlight.” said Spike as they came to a stop in front of her. “Ember, this my friend Starlight Glimmer. Starlight, this is Ember the dragon lord.”

“Pleased to meet you, Ember.” said Starlight as she held out her hoof and shook her claw. “Twilight told me all about the Gauntlet of Fire, and it was really impressive what you did.”

“Thanks. I think she mentioned you in one of her letters.” Ember shook her hoof. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same here.”

“Anyway, we’re heading to the kitchen to get some gems to eat. We’ll see you and Twilight later.” said Spike as he walked past the light purple unicorn. “Come on, Ember. Gems are on me.”

The two dragons went to the end of the hallway and turned left as he quickly rushed back to Starlight. “Ember’s here!”

“I know. I hope you’re not going crazy over the fact that both she and Thorax are here.” she whispered.

“Well, I am a little, but they can’t meet each other. I can’t risk them both hating each other and going to war. Can you, Twilight, and the others help me?”

“Sorry Spike, but you’re on your own.” replied Starlight. “You have to let them meet each other and have faith that they won’t do anything negative to each other. Besides, what could go wrong?”

Suddenly, Spike’s spikes began to glow mysteriously as he yelled out in fear and confusion. “W-what’s happening? Why are my spikes glowing?”

“I think the map is summoning you. We’d better go and check it out.”

They ran down the hallways and entered the map room as sure enough, a small replica of his head hovered over Ponyville on the map.

“This is amazing. I never thought the friendship map would call upon a dragon such as yourself to solve a friendship problem. Think about what Twilight would think once she learns about this.” said Starlight as she noticed her dragon friend fretting with worry. “Oh. Wrong timing.”

“Oh no. Oh no no no no no. this is quickly turning into the worst Hearth’s Warming ever. In addition to keeping Ember and Thorax from meeting each other, I have to solve a friendship problem.” Spike said as he pulled out a paper bag and hyperventilated in it. “Why didn’t I tell Twilight to invite either one of them before?”

“Spike, you have to stop being such a worrywart.”

“But I can’t. I just can’t stop worrying. I need some kind of an idea that would prevent them from ever-”

Spike’s sentence was cut short as he perked up suddenly. “Ah-ha! I’ve an idea.”

“And what is your idea?” asked Starlight, not liking where this was going.

“Don’t worry, Starlight. All you, Twilight, and the others have to do is keep Thorax and Ember occupied while I go out to Ponyville and look for some kind of a friendship problem. If we keep this up long enough until the end of the Hearth’s Warming party, they won’t meet each other and Equestria will be saved from a potential dragon vs. Changeling war. It’s the perfect plan!”

“Woah woah woah. You want us to distract them while you run off like a coward? That’s never going to happen.” the light purple unicorn glared at him.

“Well not now obviously. I promised Ember I’d show her my gem stash in the kitchen and have lunch with her, so you and the others will come in later.” Spike clarified.

“Not a chance, Spike. We’re not going to get dragged into this because of your fears.” Starlight refused firmly.

“Please, Starlight? We’re friends.”

“WE are, but it feels wrong to do this.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“No!”

She felt him clutch her hooves as she looked down to see Spike giving her the puppy dog eyes. “Pretty pretty pretty please?”

She let out an annoyed sigh. “Okay, I’ll do it! But you owe us all for this.”

“Yes!” Spike jumped up with a cheer as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Oh thank you, Starlight!”

“You’re…welcome.” she gasped as he let her go and allowed her to give him a warning look. “But if anything bad happens, it’s all going to be your fault. Got that?”

“Yes ma’am.” Spike saluted as he opened the doors. “Anyway, I’d better go and find Ember; you go back to the others and Thorax, and you have to Pinkie Promise never to tell anyone other than Twilight and the others about this.”

Starlight let out a sigh and did the motions. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Great. Thanks again!”

He sped down the hallways to look for the dragon lord as Starlight stepped out of the map room and closed the doors with an annoyed look. “Coward.”

Looking for a friendship problem and worrying about Ember and Thorax crossing paths with each other was harder than he thought.

Spike had spent the entire afternoon looking for friendship problems, to which he did find some, but they apparently weren’t good enough to make his spikes glow. He periodically peaked in on Twilight and Starlight to make sure that they were following through with his plan, to which they were, but that didn’t completely ease his worries. He was exhausted, worried, and just wanted the day to end.

Thankfully, it was time for the party as he walked down the path tiredly back to the Castle of Friendship. Ponyville residents were already making their way towards it and going inside, which was the least of his concerns. Well, not that much of a small concern, considering the fact that they could easily point Thorax and Ember out and make them notice each other. That was one other thing he had to do today and while he was exhausted, he still had determination to ensure that they would never see each other.

“Hello, Spike.”

He stopped his stride and turned around to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna landing gracefully in front of him as they each gave him smiles.

“Oh, hi Princess Celestia. You too, Princess Luna.” he said as their smiles fell.

“Is everything alright, young drake? You look rather exhausted on this beautiful Hearth’s Warming day.” said Luna.

“Oh, i-it’s nothing. I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.” Spike fibbed as he faked a yawn. “That is a common occurrence during this time of the year after all, right? Heh heh.”

The royal sisters were not convinced. “Are you sure you’re alright?” asked Celestia. “You look like you’re worried about something and spent the whole day trying to prevent it from happening. Would you like to tell us?”

Spike looked at their concerned looks. He knew that they were the most understanding and motherly princesses in Equestria and that they could be trusted with a secret. Letting out a defeated sigh, he nodded his head. “Yes. Something’s been on my mind since yesterday, but can we talk somewhere private? I don’t want anyone to eavesdrop.”

“Of course.” Celestia nodded as she and Luna let up their horns and teleported them both and the exhausted dragon to an empty room in the Castle of Friendship. “Now can you explain what is going on?”

Spike took a few deep breaths before explaining the dilemma he was facing, from how worried he was about Thorax and Ember both being here and the possibility of them not getting along and hating each other up to the point of a massive war between the dragons and the Changelings to the friendship map summoned him for a friendship mission and that he’d spent the entire day looking for friendship problems only for the map to not signal a job well done.

Once he finished Celestia and Luna shared a look before returning their gaze to him. “It sounds to us that you’re worried that Thorax and Ember’s differences will cause them to develop resentment and disharmony amongst them. Is that what you are worried about, Spike?” said Celestia.

Spike nodded as he looked downward. “Twilight and the girls said that I shouldn’t worry about it, but I just don’t know how to deal with it. I’m the official friendship ambassador to the dragons and want them to befriend the ponies peacefully, but I guess I’m being a hypocrite by not allowing them to befriend the Changelings, aren’t I?”

He felt his chin being raised up as he saw the princesses giving him understanding looks. “What you are doing is indeed wrong, but it’s not too late to do something about it before something goes wrong,” said Luna.

“But what if Ember and Thorax hate me?” Spike asked with sadness and dread.

“They’re your friends, Spike. We’re more than certain that while they will be upset at you at first, they will understand your intentions and forgive you.”

He looked at both of them and knew perfectly well that they were wise with every word that they had spoken. Guilt plagued his heart as he nodded in understanding. “You’re right. I’d better go and find Ember and Thorax.”

Celestia smiled. “Allow us.”

She and her younger sister lit up their horns and teleported themselves and Spike to the foyer, startling some of the ponies and Changelings entering the castle by their sudden appearance. He saw Twilight and Starlight standing by the front doors greeting everyone as he flew over to her and landed right next to her.

“There you are, Spike. I’ve been looking for you.” she said. “Where have you been?”

“Oh. I was just chatting with the princesses.” he replied as he pointed over to them, to which they waved at the Princess of Friendship as she waved back at them. “Hey, where are Ember and Thorax? I need to talk to them.”

A sudden flash of light caused Twilight to halt off her speech as she and the others looked with wide eyes to see a very fat looking Discord all dressed up in his Santa Hooves costume with Fluttershy right next to him.

“Ho ho ho! Happy Hearth’s Warming to one and all!” he called out proudly.

“Discord, why are you so…fat?” Twilight asked with a mixture of bewilderment and disturbance.

“What? Can’t a Lord of Chaos dress up for the occasion?” Discord said innocently as an angel’s halloween appeared above his head. “Besides, since it’s the best day of the year, I figured I could look a lot more festive. Like what I did to myself?”

“I don’t know whether to laugh or throw up.” said Starlight honestly.

“I tried to talk him out of making himself really fat, but he wouldn’t listen to me.” said Fluttershy as she placed a hoof over her mouth and stifled a snicker. “But I will admit, it was a really funny idea.”

“Exactly my point, my dear. Now then, let’s go on and grab a seat, because we all know that they won’t grab us unless I make that happen.”

Discord turned and went towards the ballroom with a laugh, making his belly bounce.

“I’d better go and catch up with him. See you guys in the ballroom.” said Fluttershy as she flew off into his direction.

Twilight, Starlight, and Spike all looked in the direction the Draconequus had gone down before looking at each other for a few moments before bursting into laughter.

“I will admit. Discord looks really funny like that.” said Spike as they calmed down. “But anyway, are you sure that neither of you have seen Ember and Thorax?”

“I haven’t seen any of them for a while, considering that someone wanted me to take extreme measures to ensure that they wouldn’t meet each other.” replied Twilight.

“Including me,” said Starlight in agreement.

Spike let out a sigh. “I know. After talking about this to the princesses, I learned the error of my ways and want to make things right.”

The girls smiled at him. “I’m glad that you learned your lesson, Spike.” said Twilight.

“Yeah, me too.” he nodded as he turned to go and find Ember and Thorax, only to stop when he saw the dragon lord heading over towards them with a bowl of gems in her hands.

“Hey Spike. Thanks for the gems.” said Ember as she shoved a sample of gems into her mouth. “Who knew the first dragon to associate with dragons would be one heck of a gem hoarder?”

“You’re welcome, Ember.” he smiled in spite of his guilt. “I got some more gems for you if you want some more.”

“Sweet. I hope you’ve got some fire rubies, because they’re one of the top gemstones dragons love more than any-”

The dragon lord stopped talking when she noticed Twilight and Starlight standing next to each other as she gulped down the gems in her mouth. “Um, I’m sorry, but you both look exactly the same.”

“What?” Twilight and Starlight said in unison with confusion.

“It’s true. You’re both purple ponies with purple hair and tails and sparkles on your butts. Can’t get any more similar than that.”

“Well technically, I’m an alicorn and Starlight is a unicorn. My cutie mark is a sparkle while her’s is more of a glimmer.” said Twilight, feeling a little offended.

“Even so, you have to admit that you look a little similar. I mean I’m right, right?”

“Um, Ember? I think you may have offended Twilight and Starlight a little.” said Spike nervously. “Part of being friends is to not point out certain things about others, which is considered to be rude.”

“But I’m right. Besides, I haven’t seen you all day. I feel like you’re avoiding me.” Ember said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“W-what? No, I haven’t been avoiding you. I was just-”

“ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?!”

Her angry shout caused not only for him to fall backwards but for everyone to silence their conversations and look over at them. To make matters worse, Thorax came from down the left hallway and stopped when he saw her yell at his friend as he glared at her.

“Hey! No one yells at my friend!”

He transformed into a manticore and roared at the dragon lord as ponies and Changelings screamed and began to run out of the castle.

“Stay back, Spike! I won’t let that manticore kill you.” Ember said as she stood in front of him and stood her ground, letting out a roar that produced a purple flame.

“Ember, calm down.” said Twilight as she teleported in front of her. “That manticore is really Thorax. He’s a Changeling and is really nice.”

“Not anymore!” Thorax pawed the ground as he let out a roar and charged straight towards Ember, who immediately spread her wings and flew straight at him.

Spike watched with horror at the sight of two of his best friends speeding straight towards each other, no doubt thinking about harming each other severely and going to war with all the other dragons and Changelings.

‘No! I have to stop this! I have to be brave!’

He sped in between Thorax and Ember and held out his hands at them. “STOP!”

They stopped their charge and looked at him in confusion as more and more guests came into the foyer.

“Spike, what are you doing? That manticore is going to harm you.” said Ember.

“Harm him? Why would I do that?” asked Thorax as he changed back into his normal form. “I thought you were bullying him.”

“Why would I do that? He's my friend.”

“He’s also my friend.”

“Really? What are you? I’ve never seen a creature like you before.”

“I’m a Changeling. My name is Thorax and I have the ability to transform into any creature and pony I want.” Thorax explained as he transformed into an exact replica of her before returning to his original form. “I’m also the ruler of the Changelings.”

“You are? Well I’m Ember and the lord of all dragons.” Ember said with amazement. “I guess it’s safe to say that it’s an honor to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Ember. Sorry about the whole manticore thing.”

“I’m sorry too, Thorax. Do you want to be friends?”

Thorax smiled and held out his hoof. “I’d like that.”

The dragon lord held out her hand and shook his hoof as Spike watched them with disbelief. “You two are friends now?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” asked Ember.

“Well, uh…the thing is…” Spike let out a sigh. “When I found out that you both were coming here for the Hearth’s Warming party, I got worried that you both wouldn’t like each other and I came up with an idea to prevent you both from seeing each other. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you both all day.”

“But why would you think that? It’s not because of how competitive and unfriendly dragons are, right? That isn’t the reason, right Spike?”

“Well…it is. I should’ve had faith that you both wouldn’t intentionally assume the worst out of each other and allowed you to converse on your own terms. I’m really sorry for being a bad friend, and I can’t blame you if you’re mad and don’t want to be my friend anymore.”

Ember and thorax shared a look before smiling at Spike. “Are you kidding? Of course we’re still friends.”

“You are?” the purple dragon asked.

“Yeah.” Thorax nodded. “We are a little upset at you, but we don’t hate nor blame you for what you did.”

A small smile crept onto his lips as Spike smiled at his friends. He suddenly felt something on his back and looked to see his spikes glowing, signaling a job well done. “Aw yeah! I did it!”

He pulled Ember and Thorax into a group hug as Ember struggled in the grasp awkwardly. “Okay, you solved a problem involving me and Thorax. You can let go now; this is getting a little too sappy.”

“Oh, sorry.” Spike smiled sheepishly. “Now come on, guys. Let’s go and get a free table together.”

“Yeah!” Thorax nodded as he and the dragon lord followed their purple dragon companion towards the ballroom.

Twilight and Starlight watched them go off together with smiles as Celestia and Luna went over to them and looked off into the direction the trio went.

“I have to admit, Twilight. I’m proud of Spike for managing to get over his fears and be honest with Ember and Thorax.” said the sun princess. “Although, I must ask: did the thought of a potential dragon/Changeling war ever cross your mind these past few days.”

“Well, I can’t say that the possibility didn’t cross my mind as of yesterday, but I guess I was too excited about them coming here together to give it any thought.” the Princess of Friendship replied. “But I’m glad that Ember and Thorax are friends now, and I’m also glad that Spike got over his fears.”

“Yes.” Luna nodded. “Now then, If you’ll excuse us, we must get to our seats in the ballroom before it gets too crowded. We will see you both and your friends later.”

“See you later.” Twilight waved at them as they went towards the ballroom. “Now then, I’d better go and find all the guests who got frightened from all the commotion.”

“I’m sure they didn’t go too far, but if you want, I can help.” Starlight volunteered.

“Thanks, Starlight. I’d appreciate it if you did.”

Pinkie pointed a hoof at Discord and giggled and snorted at him as he placed his hands over his fat tummy and laughed like Santa Hooves. “You’re so funny, Discord.”

“Ho ho ho! Why thank you, my little pony.” The Draconequus smiled at her as he pulled out a pink and brown candy cane from out of his ear. “Here. have a candy cane.”

He tossed it at her as she snatched it and pulled off the protecting paper before licking it. “Mmm! Cotton candy and chocolate! Why didn’t I think of this before?”

She suddenly gasped. “I know what I wanna make when I get back to Sugar Cube Corner!”

“Pinkie Pie, do calm yourself, darling. The party is about to start.” said Rarity, who was wearing a beautiful white dress with a blue satin sash. “I do hope I didn’t overdo my dress. I wanted to look extra special for today's occasion.”

“Your dress is fine, Rarity, but how long is it until the banquet starts? I'm so bored.” Rainbow Dash complained with an annoyed groan.

“It won’t be long, Rainbow. Twilight and Starlight are just greetin’ the rest of the guests.” said Applejack.

“But I wish they’d hurry up.”

“You know, if you want something to do, I can always provide entertainment,” said Discord. “Considering the fact that I’m quite the comedian.”

“That’s nice of you, Discord, but it won't be long before Starlight and Twilight finish greeting the guests.” said Fluttershy as she spotted Spike, Ember, and Thorax chatting together. “Oh look. Ember and thorax are getting along with each other.”

Everyone at the table looked over at the trio. “Yippee! Not only do we no longer have to worry about Ember and Thorax hating each other and going to war with the other dragons and Changelings, but we get to celebrate their leaders becoming friends and celebrating one of our favorite holidays together as friends! You know what this calls for; A-”

“We’re already having a party, Pinkie, so you should also consider this a Welcome-To-Ponyville, New-Alliance, and Two-Different-Species-Becoming-Friends-For-The-First-Time-In-History party.” interrupted Rainbow Dash as her pink party planning friend gasped in realization.

“You’re right! Why didn’t I ever think of that?”

“We can talk about that later. Twilight and Starlight finished lettin’ all the guests in the castle.” whispered Applejack as they watched the two enter the ballroom with the last invited guests. Starlight went over to their table and sat down as The Princess of Friendship went up onto the stage and tapped onto the microphone, causing the music to turn down to low volume and the chatter to hush.

“Ahem. ladies and gentlecolts, creatures of all kinds. Welcome to this year’s Hearth’s Warming celebration in Ponyville. It pleases me immensely to see not only ponies here, but Changelings and dragons for the first time in Equestria’s history. This holiday was put into place to celebrate not only the founding of our beloved country, but the beginning of love, friendship, and harmony all throughout ponykind. While there were times when we had to deal with tyranny and chaos-”

“Hey! If I’d known that you ponies didn’t like chocolate, I would’ve made it rain purple rain instead!” Discord interrupted as most of the guests laughed, including Fluttershy.

Twilight chuckled. “Yes, well, while we had to deal with hard times, it was our friendships that helped us keep going and accomplish many things throughout our history. We have proven that no matter what the difference or the issue, we can find it in our hearts to open up to everyone around us and live in peace and harmony. Speaking of which, we have two very special guests that are with us today. I would like for us all to give a very warm welcome to Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax!”

Everyone erupted into cheers and looked over at them as Thorax shyly waved while Ember simply raised her fist mightily. Twilight ushered them onto the stage as they stood up and went onto it.

“Hello. I am Ember; Winner of the Gauntlet of Fire, Daughter of Torch, and lord of all dragons!” said Ember as she unleashed a mighty roar that produced purple flame, causing some of the guests to yell out in surprise.

“And I’m Thorax. It’s nice to be here with all of you and celebrate this amazing holiday.” Thorax added. “I know some of you are a little uncomfortable with our presence and I can’t fully blame you for that, but Twilight does make a valid point. If we open our hearts to those around us and share the love that we have for each other, we can all get along and live in harmony together.”

“Well said, Thorax.”

They hoof bumped each other as everyone applauded with cheers. Twilight stepped back in front of the microphone as they went back to their seats. “Thank you, Ember and Thorax for. Anyway, without further ado, let’s all have fun and have the best Hearth’s Warming celebration ever!”

Everyone erupted with more cheers as she stepped off the stage and allowed their music to resume; Chatter continued where it left off all around the rooms as well.

“So Ember, how did you become the dragon lord anyway?” asked Thorax.

“It’s quite simple.” Ember replied as she explained what happened that day. From when Spike tried to leave, to when they teamed up to prevent Garble from retrieving the bloodstone ceptor. “I always thought it was every dragon for themselves, but I was wrong. Teaming up and working together with others isn’t bad at all. What about you.. Thorax? How did you become the new ruler of the Changelings? Wasn’t Queen Chrysalis in power?”

“She was, until several months ago.”

He explained to her how all the Changelings kidnapped Equestria's most important ponies, him teaming up with Starlight, Trixie and Discord, and how they successfully managed to get not only him but all the Changelings to change into their good forms and dethrone Chrysalis. “She's still on the loose and we can’t find her anywhere, but we’ve moved on and adjusted to our new lives. Although, I will admit that I’m struggling with my new role as king.”

“Really? How come?” asked Ember.

“I’m having trouble convincing the Changelings that still feed on love to stop and change, and it’s because I’m not assertive like I should be. I know I can’t go on like this forever, but I don’t anyone who can help me and-”

“Shh. Stop talking.”

Thorax froze his sentence and looked at her.

“Like that. That’s how you have to talk to those around you whenever you feel like they're doing something wrong, and I gotta admit. The way you defended Spike like that was really impressive.” Ember smiled.

“Thanks, and I’ll be sure to keep your advice in mind whenever I need it. What about you? Are you struggling with anything?”

“Nothing in terms of being the dragon lord, but I’ve been told somewhere that being friends with those around you means you have to tell them how you feel. I’m not good at that, and I never had to do that before I met Spike and his friends.”

“Oh, that’s easy. Just explain what you’re feeling about something and why you feel it.” Thorax smiled. “For example, how do you feel about this party?”

“Well…I…feel…happy.” the dragon lord said with difficulty.

“And?”

“Being invited to this party…was…nice.”

“And?”

“And I’m also glad that we met each other and became friends despite misunderstanding each other.”

“There you go.” Thorax smiled. “It doesn’t take that much practice and you don’t always have to do that, but it does help.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Ember nodded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0

Spike perked up. “Ooh, I love this song! I’m gonna go and dance.”

“Hey Ember, wanna go and dance?” asked Thorax.

“Dance? I don’t know how.” she replied honestly. “Do you know how to dance?”

“Yup. I watched it from afar and learned how to do it on my own before I became good at it. I can teach you if you want.”

“Well…I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try it out just this once, but I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

“You won’t, now come on and let’s dance.”

Thorax stood up and helped her out of her seat as they went over to the dance floor. “The key to dancing is to listen to the music and move to it. Like this.”

He began to dance to the music with ease and perfection as Ember observed with curiosity and slight amusement, finding it to be both fun and a little funny. “Now you try!”

She hesitated for a moment before slowly beginning to dance to the music. It started out a little clumsy and awkward before she began to get the hang of it. “Hey, I’m doing it!”

“Way to go, Ember!” Spike cheered.

“Look, girls! Ember’s dancing!” Pinkie said excitedly as she pointed at her. “I’m gonna go and get my dance on! Anypony care to join me?”

“Count us in!” Rainbow agreed.

“While I’d love to get into the party spirit, I must pass on this offer. I don’t want to get my dress drenched in sweat.” said Rarity.

“Come on, Rarity. One little dance won’t hurt.” said Applejack.

“Well…alright, but if my dress gets ruined, it’ll be your fault for making me agree to this.”

She stood up and went with her friends towards the dance floor as Discord stood up and made his Santa Hooves costume disappear and returned his stomach to normal. “Well, Fluttershy, shall we get our boogie on?”

“Of course.” she smiled at him and allowed him to help her out of her seat as he teleported them onto the dance floor.

“So Celestia, want to see if I’m a better dancer than you?” asked Luna as she smiled playfully at her older sister.

“Only in your dreams, sister.” Celestia smiled back as they went over to the dance floor.

“What do you say, honey? Wanna have fun like old times?” asked Shining Armor as he stood up and held out his hoof to his wife.

Cadence giggled. “I’d love to.”

Twilight watched more and more guests get onto the dance floor and dance to the upbeat music as she turned and saw Flash Sentry walking up to her. “Oh. Hi, Flash. Are you enjoying the party so far?”

“I am, and it was really nice of you to host it.” He smiled at her. “So…are you a good dancer?”

“W-well, not really.” she admitted. “I can dance, but not that well.”

“I can teach you if you want.”

She looked at him with slight surprise. “You’d teach me how to dance?”

“Why not? That is what friends do, right?”

The Princess of Friendship felt a little disappointed at the word friends, but she smiled at him nevertheless with a small blush. “I’d like it if you did.”

“That sounds fair.”

They went onto the dance floor and danced to the music as more and more guests stood up and began to dance. They all laughed and had fun together, showing the true meaning of Hearth’s Warming.

The party lasted the rest of the afternoon and into the late evening hours. Everyone in attendance had a good time, and they even cheered for not only the princesses, but Ember and Thorax when they had a dance competition. In the end, the two won the competition together and the dragon lord was more than just energized from the dancing, she had the best amount of fun she ever had in her entire life.

The Mane 6 along with Spike stood next to the front doors to the Castle of Friendship as they bidded the guests farewell.

“Whoo-ee! That was more fun than a rodeo during zap apple season, but I’m pretty tuckered out.” said Applejack as she wiped sweat from her forehead. “I’d better mosey on out and hit the sack.”

“Same here. I’m beat.” said Rainbow Dash as she let out a yawn. “This was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to.”

“I know, and I didn’t even do all the work!” agreed Pinkie as she bounced up and down. “I hope Ember and Thorax feel right at home together, because we welcomed them right into society in the most perfect of ways!”

“You did, and thanks again for inviting us, everyone.” said Thorax as he and Ember went over to the front doors. “We’ll see you next time, Spike!”

“See you guys later!” Spike waved at them as they exited the castle and flew back to their respective homelands.

“It is.” said Cadence as she, Shining Armor, and Sunburst went over to them. “We’d better head back to the Crystal Empire. Someone is all knocked out from all the partying.”

She pointed to the sleeping alicorn baby in the carriage being carried in her magical grasp as the girls quietly gushed over how cute she looked in her sleep.

“Do you want us to walk you to the train station?” whispered Twilight.

“We appreciate your offer Twily, but we can teleport home from here.” replied Shining Armoras he looked over at his wife and crystaller. “Are you both ready to go?”

“I’ve got our presents.” said Sunburst with a nod as he pointed back to the gifts they received that were in his magical grasp. “I’m ready when you are, your highnesses.”

“Wait.” Twilight said as she embraced her sister-in-law and older brother. “I hope we’ll see you both again soon.”

“We’ll see you soon, Twilight, and happy Hearth’s Warming.” Cadence smiled as they broke the embrace. She and her husband used their magic to teleport back to the Crystal Castle.

Sunburst delayed his departure as he embraced Starlight. “Thanks again for the present, Starlight. I’ll be sure to read it first thing tomorrow morning.”

“You’re welcome, Sunburst.” she smiled and hugged him back as they broke the embrace. “See you next time.”

“See you next time.”

He used his magic to teleport himself and the presents he, Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Heart received as Discord teleport next to Fluttershy.

“Allow me to be your escort back home, my dear. Wouldn’t want you to slip in the ice and break your head.”

She smiled at him with a giggle. “Okay. I’ll see you girls later.”

“Bye, Fluttershy. Happy Hearth’s Warming!” Pinkie said as she hugged her firefly before letting go. “And make sure that you play with all your new toys!”

“I will.”

She and her chaotic friend disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared inside her cottage. “Thank you for celebrating Hearth’s Warming with us, Discord. I hope you liked it.”

“I do, and it was a very pleasant experience to give you a gift and receive one in return.” Discord said with a smile. “I hope you still like your little butterdragon and make it feel right at home.”

“I do, and thank you again for making it for me. I love it so much.”

Fluttershy surprised him with a kiss on the cheek as he froze in surprise. She landed back on the ground and took her stuffed butterdragon into her gasp as she went over to the stairs. “Goodnight.”

The Draconequus shook out of his trance. “Goodnight, Fluttershy. Don’t let the bed bug bite.”

He teleported back to his chaotic domain as he reappeared inside his bathroom in his house and flew up to his bathtub (which was on the ceiling due to his chaotic nature) and turned on the hot water as he got in it and let out a sigh, taking the time to enjoy the feeling of the hot water raining down on him from the shower head.

“Best Hearth’s Warming ever.”

‘And why’s that? Was it because of that little kiss?’ a voice echoed in his head.

To be continued…

Author's Note

And with that, our story begins! What do you think of it so far? I know the first chapter is extremely long (Sorry!) and you probably don’t want to read a 28k word chapter, but I wanted to cram in all the slice-of-life drama into it to challenge myself so that we can immediately launch into the action in the next chapter.

I don't own Uptown Funk and I know it isn’t a Christmas song nor a Hearth’s Warming song, but I didn’t feel like finding one that was more festive, but Uptown Funk is really cool and you can’t deny that you'd want to dance to it during the holidays.

For those of you who are wondering what a butterdragon is, it’s basically a butterfly that’s the size of a dragon, and I’m sure a lot of you recognize them from the comic where Discord takes Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders on a time travelling trip. I also want to tell you that the reason why I didn’t include Trixie was because I didn’t feel like it, but we can all assume she went back to her parent’s home and celebrated Hearth’s Warming with her family.

Speaking of which, I was originally going to post this chapter before Christmas Eve, but delays and life played into this delay and I apologize for it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to posting more again in the future. 😀

Important Announcement

Hello everypony and everybrony. BoeingtheDraconequus here with two very important announcements.

Announcement #1: I'm canceling My Little Pony: Harmony is Magic.

I know a lot of you are questioning why, so I'll get straight to the point: I suddenly and significantly lost passion for MLP: HiM due to the lack of excitement for the plot. I mean, I was "copying" the plot from the Siege of the Crystal Empire comic arc in the MLP comics, and I didn't feel all that well making all that happen. I LOVED writing the first chapter of this story, which was my favorite part out of everything else, but the rest started to eat my self-esteem and passion. My younger sister by 9 months had helped with a tiny bit of the editing for Chapter 1, but she left me with mutual thoughts due to a lack of curiosity and passion for MLP fanfiction, which is understandable in my view. However, given the circumstances, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to cancel Harmony is Magic. I'm sorry, but it was the right thing to do. As for what I'll do in terms of making a fanfiction that involves the rest of the Mane 6 being turned into alicorns, I found a fic that has something I'm strongly looking for. I'm going to try again and make something new and improved, and hopefully, you all will like it.

Announcement #2: I will be turning 18 this upcoming Sunday.

You heard that right. I will be turning 18 on the 26th of January! :twilightsmile::yay: This also means I'll be of the age to read and write clopfics. Speaking of which, I'm proud to announce that I'll be writing a clopfic drama for all of you to read, and it's called We're Just Friends. I can't wait to get started on it, and it's because I can finally share with all of you my favorite sexual fantasies involving MLP. Not only that, but it will be an anthro story involving humanized characters (excluding Discord who will remain his normal Draconequus self). NOT humans, humanized ponies.

I hope that this provides you with an update, and I look forward to entertaining you all again soon! 😁

Author's Note

Like I said before; I'm sorry. EXTEMELY sorry. :fluttercry:

Have no fear, a new fanfic will eventually be here. Stay tuned! 👍

Chapter 2: The Crystal Heart Criminal

My Little Pony: Harmony is magic

Chapter 2: The Crystal Heart Criminal

It was the middle of the night in the Crystal Empire. No pony or animal was out and about in the moderate-temperature city, not even a mouse. All the citizens were nestled in their beds in their homes sleeping peacefully dreaming lovely dreams after enjoying each other’s company for Hearth’s Warming; receiving amazing presents of several sizes, even the size of an engagement ring. It was the perfect mood to end the holidays and return to normal once the sun came up hours later, and what could possibly go wrong?

The entire empire would soon get its answer.

A cloaked pony with a satchel walked past the entrance crystals and entered the crystal city as it silently walked down the main street towards the crystal Castle, barely making a sound that startled even the smallest of insects that still roamed around at night. Not a single pony heard it, not even a sleeping foal. The figure held a suspicious and mysterious presence. Who was this pony? What is a he or her? Why is he/she arriving here in the Crystal Empire so late in the night? What were they even doing in the empire that couldn’t wait until morning?

The cloaked pony walked down the crystal street and arrived at the Crystal Castle as it stopped in front of the crystal heart. After many moments of patiently waiting, a turquoise aura illuminated from underneath the hood as it engulfed the crystal heart, causing it to get pulled out from its much-needed location. The apparent unicorn placed it safely inside its satchel and hurried quickly towards the doors that led inside the castle; she used her magic to slowly open the doors and step inside before closing them, being careful to not make them creak or make a loud sound.

The pony slowly walked through the hallway and went to the upstairs level as it hid behind the corner to hide a flashlight beam being shined in its direction by a patrolling castle guard. Using great care, It lit up its horn and soundlessly teleported to another part of that hallway as it turned right at the corridor and walked quietly and slowly down another hallway. Whoever was trespassing in the Crystal Castle had the same precision and skill as Sunset Shimmer when she stole Twilight’s crown, but even she was caught but not apprehended. This pony on the other hand was more quiet and smart with his or her moves and seemed to know wherever she or he was going without getting lost in the seemingly numerous hallways.

It silently strided through the hallways and approached the door that led to the throne room as it hid behind a crystal pillar and peeked out from behind it, spotting two castle guards standing at their posts on both sides of the doors. The pony pulled its head back behind the crystal pillar and lit up its horn, causing it to become completely invisible. It stepped out from its hiding spot and went up to the doors as it lit up its horn and walked straight through the doors, not at all alerting the guards. It walked up to the crystal throne and lit up its horn, causing the aura to turn dark purple and green as the same colored beam shot out from underneath the hood it hit the crystal above the throne, causing a black shadowy beam to reflect back onto the floor as the pony stood out the way and allowed a black crystalline staircase to form in the floor with a wooden door at the bottom.

The pony descended down the staircase and reached the bottom as it lit its horn and pulled open the door as it stepped inside an abandoned study room with a bookshelf containing many books on ancient history and dark magic, a podium desk covered in cobwebs that contained a used candlestick, a small head statue of King Sombra, a globe, a quill restring in an ink cup, and an old journal.

“Wow. After all these years, I still wasn’t ready to see this place.” the cloaked pony said in a female voice as it entered the room. “You can come out, I know that you are here. There’s no need to hide from me…Sombra.”

She met with silence as she went onto the purple rug. “Fine. you may not recognize my voice, but you won’t have forgotten my face.”

She took off her cloak and revealed her true form. She was a dark purple crystal unicorn with a turquoise mane and tail with a caduceus for a cutie mark. “Look at me, Sombra. Do you recognize me? What’s my name?”

“Search the Castle! The thief mustn't have gotten too far!”

The unicorn mare felt her heart rate accelerate. “Come on, Sombra. I know that you’re here. Please, show yourself. I want to help you and your race be free again, but not unless you show yourself and allow me to heal you.”

More silence.

She let out an annoyed sigh and narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Be that way, but be thankful I bothered to step hoof down here.”

She got up, left the room, closed the door, and ran up the stairs. She reached the top and looked around, thankful that there weren’t any castle guards in the throne room. She used her magic to close up the staircase before running towards the doors as they suddenly began to open, causing her to gasp and hide behind one of them as three castle guards rushed inside.

“Search high and low! The crystal heart thief must still be inside the castle.” said one of them as they searched all around for her.

“I need to get out of here.” the mare whispered as she lit up her horn and soundlessly teleported outside the castle. Cold air was already blowing in the air and snow was beginning to cover the buildings and streets with icicles forming on the roofs of all the buildings. It wouldn’t be long before the Crystal Empire was lost to the frozen north, and she needed to hurry.

She ran down the main street and into the blizzard ahead, seemingly disappearing into the blowing snow. “Don’t worry, Sombra. I will restore your kind to the way it was long ago.”

It was black. Pure, colorless black. There wasn’t a single light to be seen, not even a tiny twinkle of a star. Hardly a single sound was being emitted, not even a small gust of wind. It was haunting, pure fear being shown, as if everything in existence simply vanished from the face of the universe. There was absolutely nothing.

Except for a pair of glaring glowing white eyes and a smiling glowing white mouth.

Evil laughter echoed in the darkness in the most haunting of voices. It was neither male nor female, sounding like the wheezy sigh of an old stallion releasing his last breath. “Oh, the joys of fear and despair, of darkness so pure and filled with depressing nightmares. The many laughs of seeing a pony release an anguished cry and an angry roar, really makes my powers soar. The many things that I will do to take away balance and light from you, and replace it with destruction and violence, something I take with great value.”

The blackness illuminated a bird's eye view of Equestria, showing black creatures destroying towns and leaving them up in flames as they captured innocent ponies and tormented them.

“Equestria will soon belong to me and my entire kind, pleasing us greatly as we will show the entire world our power. It will be heartwarming to see your cries of anguish and despair, complaining that we aren’t at all fair. We won’t care about your problems no matter how small the conundrum, so look out Equestria. Here comes the Umbrum.”

The voice erupted into haunting evil laughter as everything ignited into flames before returning to blackness.

Twilight awoke with a gasp as she sat up and placed her hoof over her quickly beating heart. She took in her surroundings and was relieved to find that she was in her bedroom safe and sound, causing her to let out a sigh of relief as she laid back down. “It was just a dream.”

‘But why did I have it?’

She couldn’t help but ponder over the question. It was a scary but confusing dream, something that heightened her curiosity and caused her to dwell on it. It didn't feel like a normal dream, but an image warning of a potentially dangerous event happening in the future. Whoever was in it was unlike anything she’d ever seen or heard before, sounding like a ghost and a zombie at the same time with promising intentions to destroy Equestria, but who was it? The only thing she remembered was the word Umbrum being spoken, but what does it mean? What or who is the Umbrum, and why it or would they be seen as a threatening creature?

“Maybe Princess Luna could figure this out.” she yawned as she pulled her covers back over her and closed her eyes as she began to drift back into her slumber.

“Twilight!”

She jolted with surprise and fell out of her bed as she scrambled to her hooves and threw her covers off her head. “Spike? What’s going on?”

“I just got this letter from Candece just a second ago, and it’s urgent.” he said as he held out his right hand, which contained a scroll in it.

Twilight immediately lit up her horn as she levitated it out of his hands and unrolled it before reading it aloud.

“Dear Twilight,

The crystal heart has gone missing. We have searched the entire Crystal Castle and parts of the Crystal Empire, but found no traces of where it went. Celestia and Luna have already been informed of the impending problem and are currently here assisting in the search, but we need you and your friends to join in as soon as you can.

Hurry as fast as you can.

From, Cadence.”

The Princess of Friendship lowered the letter with a worried expression before switching it to one of seriousness. “I have to get to the Crystal Empire.”

“Do you want me to wake Starlight?” asked Spike. “I can come along too if you want.”

Twilight nodded her head. “That’s a good idea, but I think it’s best if you stayed here and went back to sleep.”

“Really? But I can help.”

“I know, but it’s late and I can tell that you’re really tired.”

“Tired? Oh come on, Twilight, I’m not…yawn…tired.” Spike yawned as he shook his head as he flexed his biceps. “See I’m strong and energized and ready to…yawn…help out. After all, I am Spike the Brave and glorious.”

Twilight lit up her horn and teleported to his room as she placed him on his king-sized bed and pulled the covers over him. Due to his size, he outgrew his basket bed and needed something a little bit bigger. “Sorry, Spike, but no means no.”

Her number 1 assistant let out another yawn. “Aw man. Now I’ll never save the…the…”

He fell fast asleep as Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little at him before quickly and soundlessly teleporting to the doors to Starlight Glimmer’s bedroom and knocking on the doors. “Starlight, wake up. We’ve got a problem.”

A few moments later, the doors creaked open slightly as Starlight looked at her with tired eyes. “Twilight, what’s going on? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Sorry for waking you, Starlight, but we have a big problem.” said Twilight with urgency. “I just got a letter from Cadence saying that the crystal heart is missing.”

Starlight gasped. “What? Where did it go?”

“I don’t know, and neither does Cadence. Celestia and Luna are already in the Crystal Empire assisting in the search, but we have to hurry and get the others.”

Her former pupil nodded her head as they lit up their horns and teleported out of the castle and to Fluttershy’s cottage as she pounded on the front door, never bothering to acknowledge the fact that she forgot her coat and boots.

A light could be seen from a window as the front door opened, revealing the sleepy Element of Kindness as she looked at her friend tiredly with concern. “Twilight? Starlight? What's going on? It’s past one in the morning.”

“Sorry for waking you, Fluttershy, but we’ve got a problem. I just got a letter from Cadence saying that the crystal heart has gone missing.” Twilight explained.

Fluttershy gasped. “What? Oh no, that’s terrible.”

“She wrote saying that she needs us and the others as soon as possible, so I need you and Starlight to go and round them and meet me with them in the center of town.”

“I’m on it.”

“Same here.” Starlight nodded.

They rushed down the path back to Ponyville and spreaded out to the homes of their friends. They explained the urgent situation that required their presence in the Crystal Empire, causing them to understand the dire situation as they went towards the center of town.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s go and find the crystal heart so that we can return to our beauty sleep posthaste.” said Rarity, who had on a stylish winter’s coat, hat, scarf, and sparkly pink snow boots.

“Rarity, You know you didn’t have to put that on, right?” said Rainbow Dash. “We’re going to find where the crystal heart is, not attend a fashion show in Manehattan.

“Just because we’re going on a mission to save the Crystal Empire, that doesn’t mean I can’t warm up and look fabulous at the same time.”

The cyan pegasus rolled her eyes. “Well excuse me for being upset at having to be woken up in the middle of the night.”

“Let’s go ahead and get going.” said Twilight as she lit up her horn and teleported them to the throne room of the Crystal Castle.

The Mane 6 along with Starlight arrived at their destination and saw Cadence, Celestia, and Luna waiting for them as they rushed over to them. “We came as fast as we could, Cadence.” said Twilight.

“Thank you all for coming.” said Celestia. “I’m sure all of you are tired from having to wake up so late into the night, but it eases our search already seeing you here.”

“It’s no problem, yer highness. Just tell us where we can start searchin’ for the crystal heart and we’ll get straight to it.” said Applejack.

“That’s the problem. We don’t know where it is or if anyone has stolen it.” said Cadence. “Shining Armor and all the guards are already doing a mass search of the entire empire, but I’m worried that we may be too late in finding it.”

“Don’t worry, Cadence. Me and my friends will do whatever it takes to find the crystal heart and restore the Crystal Empire back to its proper glory.” said Twilight with determination as her companions made sounds of agreement.

Despite the serious situation, Celestia smiled, feeling happy that her former student and her friends were always available to help Equestria. “With the Crystal Empire Guard searching the entire city, I believe it is best if we search the castle for any clues that could lead to where the crystal heart is. There may be something that has been overlooked.”

Pinkie pulled out a Sherlock Hooves hat and bubble pipe as she blew into it. “This sounds like a job for Detective Pinkie Pie.” she said in a British accent.

“I’ll help Pinkie with the search,” said Fluttershy. “She might need my help.”

“Jolly good, Fluttershy However, you need to look more like a detective's assistant.”

The pink earth pony pulled out a detective's assistant hat from out of nowhere and placed it on the Element of Kindness’s head. “There we are. Much better.”

“I’ll search the library.” Twilight volunteered.

“I will as well.” said Starlight.

“Big whoop.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I’ll look in the sports stadium.”

“I’ll check in on the kitchen.” said Applejack.

“Meanwhile I’ll see if there are any thieves in the guest rooms.” said Rarity.

“Good luck, and be careful,” said Luna. “We don’t have a moment to lose.”

“We won't let you down.” said Twilight as she and her friends ran out of the throne room to their chosen areas of search.

Fluttershy and Pinkie went to a random hallway and began to search for clues as the pink earth pony pulled out a magnifying glass and skimmed the ground. “Keep your eye out for anything suspicious, Fluttershy. Even the tiniest of chips in the walls can be a lead.”

“Um, Pinkie? I don’t see anything.” said Fluttershy as she looked around. “There isn’t anything out of the ordinary.”

“On the contrary. There’s always something suspicious no matter what it is. However, if you’re having trouble looking for anything more closely, then you need one of my finest magnifying glasses.”

Pinkie pulled out a pair of circular glasses with magnifying glass lenses as she put them on her pegasus friend’s head. “There you go. Now you can see things more closely with both of your eyes.”

“This isn’t what I had in mind, but thanks anyway.” Fluttershy smiled slightly as she looked around. “Oh my, everything looks so close.”

Her pink friend pulled out a pair of magnifying glasses of her own and put them on. “I know, and now I can see up closely with both eyes!”

They looked around the hallway for anything that could help them find wherever the crystal heart had gone or if anyone had stolen it, but they hadn’t found anything so far. They went to other parts of the castle and searched in those hallways and corridors, even going to the foyer to see if they could find anything, but to no avail.

Fluttershy let out a sigh and took off her magnifying glasses. “Pinkie, we’ve searched almost every hallway in the castle, but we still haven’t found anything.”

“Don’t give up, my trustworthy assistant. We just need to ask the right ponies for information.” Pinkie said as she blew bubbles out of her bubble pipe before pointing at a castle guard marching down the hallway at the edge of the one they were in. “Like him! We must trott on and interrogate the protector.”

She ran after him with her assistant following close behind as they caught up to him and stopped their stride. “Excuse us, good sir, but can we ask you some very important questions? My assistant Fluttershy and I are skimming the hallways for clues and have yet to find anything. We were wondering if you’ve seen anything on this peaceful night before the crystal heart went missing.”

“That is…if you’re okay with that.” Fluttershy added nervously.

“I can tell you what I can, but even my knowledge is limited.” the guard replied. “I was doing my normal overnight patrol of the hallways to make sure that there wasn’t anypony trespassing in the castle when I walked past a window and saw snow blowing. I immediately ran outside to where the crystal heart was usually located and saw that it had gone missing before reporting this to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor and searching with my fellow guards for it.”

“Did you hear anything before you noticed the snow?” asked Pinkie as she pulled out a notebook and quill.

“Not at first, but I heard the sound of soft hoofsteps coming from the hallway that led straight to the throne room, but when I went to investigate, I didn’t see anyone. I thought it was one of the other guards patrolling the hallways and went back to my patrol.”

“Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmmm. Mmm-hmmm.” she nodded as she wrote down everything he’d said. “Is there anything else you’d want to share?”

“No. I have no further information regarding where the crystal heart went.” the guard replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must return to my patrol of the hallways.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy smiled at him as he nodded before marching down the hallway.

“So according to that guard, he heard silent hoofsteps in the hallway heading towards the throne room and thought it was nothing before later seeing snow outside and went to investigate, only to find the crystal heart missing from its location. He then went to tell Shining Armor and Cadence and was ordered to rally up all the guards here to look for it.” Pinkie summarized. “So it sounds like the crystal heart was stolen.”

“But who would steal it? And why would they do such a thing to the Crystal Empire?” asked Fluttershy.

“I have no idea, and we still haven’t found a single clue. Unless…how do we know you didn’t take it?”

The yellow was taken aback. “What? Why would I do something like that?”

“The deviant mind is often difficult to understand.” Pinkie stated matter-of-factly as she blew bubbles out of her bubble pipe.

“Said the mare with the detective's hat and bubble pipe.” Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at her with annoyance.

“Touchee, my faithful assistant. Now come, we must go to the scene of the crime and look for any clues as to what or who happened to the crystal heart.”

Pinkie bounced off down the hallway as Fluttershy let out a sigh and flew after her. They went outside the castle and over to the crystals that usually held the crystal heart in place as the pink earth pony pulled out her magnifying glass and scanned the ground for any clues. “Ah-ha! I found a clue!”

“You did?” Fluttershy asked as she looked around. “But…I don’t see anything.”

“That’s because Twilight enchanted my magnifying glass by accident a few months ago, but it turns out it came in handy when some of the cupcakes at Sugar Cube Corner went missing the following week. It turns out there were hoofprints with frosting on them and they were mine all along and I slept-ate the cupcakes for three nights in a row.”

Pinkie returned her attention to the hidden hoofprints. “Fluttershy, take a note.”

“But I don’t have a notebook and quill.”

“Oh. That's because I put it in your hat.”

The yellow pegasus took off her hat and pulled out a notebook and quill with surprise and confusion. “How did you-?”

“Get them in there? I always keep them in that hat, just in case of not only mystery solving situations for not taking emergencies.” Pinkie explained. “Anyway, I need you to write down everything I say while we follow the hoofprints. Think you can do that?”

Fluttershy nodded and took the quill into her mouth and the notebook into her hooves. “Ready.”

“Great! Now then, the pony that we are looking for came here into the Crystal Empire while everypony else was asleep and took the crystal heart out of its much needed place. He or she walked or ran with it inside the castle and went up the stairs here and hid behind this crystal pillar here. He or she then walked out from his or her hiding place and went straight towards the throne room. They must’ve been a unicorn because who would just be allowed entrance into the throne room in the middle of the night other than Candece and the royal guards?”

“That is a good point.” Fluttershy mumbled as she scribbled down everything her pink friend said. “Anything else?”

“Yes.” Pinkie nodded as they went inside the throne room, which was empty. “The thief went up to the throne here and stopped before hearing the guards calling out the blowing snow and the missing crystal heart. Knowing that he or she had to get out of here, the thief ran towards the doors and hid behind them when guards entered to begin their investigation. He or she then ran out the doors with the guards in probable pursuit behind him or her as the thief ran back the way he or she came from, out the castle, and into the streets of the Crystal Empire.”

“But where did they go?”

“I unfortunately don’t know, but lucky for us, the hoofprints will tell us where the thief went.”

“So all we have to do is follow them and we’ll find the thief?”

“Elementary, my dear Fluttershy.” Pinkie replied as she blew bubbles out of her bubble pipe. “Now then, let’s trott on!”

They followed the hoofprints and went down a series of streets and alleyways, determined to find the thief and return the crystal heart back to where it belongs.

“If I were the crystal heart, where would I be?” Rainbow Dash asked herself as she sped over the bleachers in the stadium and skimmed the now snow-covered field. “Furthermore, did anyone steal it?”

The possibility was high, considering the fact that the crystal heart obviously can’t grow legs and run away, nor disappear into thin air. Shatter from a loud sound, yes, but none of the other possibilities other than grand theft. The thief would have decided to hide in the second largest building in the Crystal Empire to avoid being captured by the royal guards, which, in Rainbow's opinion, was a little smart of a move but cowardly, not to mention an easier way to be captured.

The cyan pegasus flew down the entrance tunnel to the field as she went inside the locker rooms and searched them for any signs of the crystal heart, only to find none. She then flew to the training rooms and sports equipment storage rooms for anything that could help out in the search, but found the same results. She then flew to the VIP booth and rechecked all of the bleachers, but to no avail in terms of any clues.

Rainbow let out an annoyed sigh. “What’s the use? Why would a thief hide in here anyway?”

She flew out of the stadium and struggled in the cold air and wind as she spotted a mysterious figure wearing a cloak running down one of the streets on the far end of the Crystal Empire. “Huh?”

Rainbow sped over to the street and turned right where her possible thief went as she spotted it running away from her. “Ah-ha! You can’t get away from me.” she grinned as she flew full speed ahead at the figure, causing it to turn its head around before it disappeared in a turquoise flash of light.

“What the..?” Rainbow skidded to a halt as she looked around for the thief. “Hey! where’d you go?”

She sped down the street and looked for the thief, unaware that it had teleported into an alleyway not too far away along another street and hid in it. The cloaked pony stayed perfectly still and quiet as it saw his or her chaser speed past the alley before stepping out of his or her hiding spot. It ran in the opposite direction and made a right as it ran straight towards the exit to the Crystal Empire, only for it to be tackled hard to the ground.

“Ha! I’ve got you now.” Rainbow said triumphantly. “Now to see who you really are.”

She pulled off the hood, revealing a crystal pony she had never seen before. She was a unicorn mare, and all crystal ponies were normally earth ponies. Nevertheless, the cyan pegasus caught the thief and needed to bring her to justice.

Rainbow noticed a satchel being worn around the unicorn mare as she narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. “Do you mind explaining why you were running around here in the middle of the night? And what’s in your bag here?”

“Wait, let me explain!” the unicorn mare pleaded.

“Explain what?”

The Element of Loyalty opened the satchel and was surprised to find the crystal heart hiding safely inside it. She glared at the thief and pulled it out of the bag. “And what do you call this?”

“I’m sorry for taking the crystal heart, but I had to. My friends need my help.” the unicorn mare explained as she lit up her horn and teleported from underneath her. “You must let me explain.”

“Oh, I’ll let you explain alright. After I get you back to the princesses and let them decide what to do with you, and who are your friends anyway? Are you working with a bad guy?”

“No. My friends aren’t evil, and you must let me bring the crystal heart to them.”

“And why would I do that? The Crystal Empire needs it for protection against the harsh winter conditions, and I’m not going to let someone like you take it no matter what excuse you have, so here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna knock you out and bring you back to the castle so the princesses can decide what to do with you. Are we cool with that?”

Not waiting for an answer, she tackled the unicorn mare before she could use her magic and knocked her unconscious with one swift punch before placing the crystal heart back inside the satchel. She scooped her up inside her forelegs and flew back to the crystal castle as she entered it and flew to the throne room, immediately being granted access by the guards who were standing post as she flew up to the steps to the throne and placed the mare down.

“I caught the thief!” Rainbow proudly called out. “I repeat, I caught the thief!”

Cadence along with Celestia and Luna were the first ones to respond to the call as all three of them teleported into the throne room.

“That was really fast of you, Rainbow Dash, but thank you.” said Cadence.

“No need to thank me, your highness, but that’s not the best part.” The cyan pegasus smiled proudly as she pulled out the crystal heart from the unicorn mare’s satchel. “Bam!”

Twilight and Starlight teleported in the throne room. “The crystal heart was stolen?” asked the Princess of Friendship.

“It sure was, but thanks to me, we can all go back to sleep.”

“Well done, Rainbow Dash. We must put the crystal heart back where it belongs before the entire empire is lost to the frozen north.” said Celestia as she lit up her horn and took it into her magical grasp before teleporting to the holding crystals. She placed the crystal heart in between them as it began to spin rapidly before releasing a large energy wave that not only blew back the cold air and snow, but turned everyone into their crystalline forms.

Meanwhile, in one of the many guest rooms, Rarity was suddenly turned into her crystal pony form as she looked down at herself in surprise and squealed with happiness. “Ooh, it feels so good to be sparkly!”

She and the rest of the Mane 6 stopped their search for the crystal heart when this happened, knowing full well that it was found and put back where it needed to be as they ended their searches and went to the throne room, returning back to normal moments later.

“Guess who caught the thief and retrieved the crystal heart?” Rainbow Dash smiled proudly. “This pony!”

“You did!” Pinkie smiled as she took off her detective costume. “🎵Rainbow caught the thief, Rainbow caught the thief!🎵”

“What’s going on?” Shining Armor peeked his head in as he entered the throne room.

“Rainbow Dash has captured the pony who apparently stole the crystal heart,” said Luna as she smiled at Twilight and her friends. “Despite that, we thank you five for assisting in the search.”

“It was no trouble, princess.” said Rarity with a bow. “Now we can all go home and return to our beds. I for one am positively exhausted.”

“Me too.” Rainbow nodded as she let out a yawn. “All of that flying did wake me up, but now I’m beat.”

Celestia leaned down and observed the unconscious unicorn mare. “Luna, does this pony look familiar to you?”

The Princess of the Night rose a brow as she lit up her horn and took off the cloak, gasping in familiarization at the mare’s cutie mark. “It can’t be.”

“But she is.”

“Your highnesses, what’s going on? Do you recognize this mare?” asked Starlight.

The sun princess and her younger sister shared a look before they nodded. “We do. This is Radiant Hope.”

“Radiant Hope?” Cadence raised a brow before getting a closer look at her. “Wait a minute, I’ve read about her in King Sombra’s journal. Wasn’t she supposed to be a princess?”

“Her? A princess?” Rainbow asked with bewilderment. “And you know her?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded. “You see, my little ponies, she was the one who alerted us about King Sombra’s attack on the Crystal Empire over one thousand years ago.”

Twilight was surprised by this. “A thousand years ago? But that’s impossible. Only alicorns can live that long. How is she still alive?”

“Not only that, but she’s a crystal unicorn. I thought the crystal ponies were only earth ponies.” added Rarity.

“Yeah. How did that work out?” Applejack asked in agreement.

Before a reply could be spoken, the unicorn known as Radiant Hope let out a groan and stirred back into consciousness as she slowly opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her sore head in the process. “Ugh…where am I?”

She looked around at the unfamiliar ponies surrounding her as she turned to look at the regal rulers of Equestria. “Celestia? Luna? Is that you?”

“Radiant Hope. It has been over one thousand years since we last saw you.” said Celestia as she helped the unicorn to her hooves. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sore in the head, but I’ll be alright.” Radiant replied as she looked around at Cadence. “And who are you? You look a lot like Princes Amore. Are you her descendent?”

“No. I’m an orphan like you, but my full name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but everyone calls me Cadence.” said the Princess of Love. “I’ve read about you in King Sombra’s journal. It’s nice to meet you.”

Radiant bowed respectfully. “It’s an honor to meet you, your highness, and I’m terribly sorry for stealing the crystal heart.” she looked over at the other ponies present. “And who are all of you?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said with a welcoming smile. “These are my friends: Starlight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and my older brother Shining Armor.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I guess.” said Fluttershy with a slight smile. She knew that this was the pony who stole the crystal heart and nearly froze the entire Crystal Empire, but the least thing she could do was be a little friendly.

“It’s nice to meet you too, everypony. Including you, Princess Twilight.” Radiant said with a bow. “Sorry about stealing the crystal heart.”

Rainbow scoffed. “Do you really think you can worm yourself out of this with an apology?”

“I’m truly sorry for what I did, but believe me when I say that my actions were done in order to save my friends.”

“What friends?” asked Pinkie.

“The Umbrum.”

Celestia, Luna, and Cadence gasped. “You’re friends with the Umbrum?” the Princess of Love said incredulously with disbelief as she glared at her. “But they’re evil.”

“They’re not. They’re decent. They’re nice even.” Radiant reasoned.

“You don't know that. You've never met them.”

“But I have! That’s where I was all of these years. Living with them.”

“That doesn’t explain why you stole the crystal heart.” Rainbow glared at her.

“Wait a minute, I heard that name before,” said Twilight. “Before Spike woke me up and told me that the crystal heart went missing, I had a nightmare about a scary voice saying how it wanted Equestria all to itself and that it belonged to something called the Umbrum.”

She noticed that her friends were gaping at her. “What?”

“I had a dream just like that.” said Fluttershy.

“Me too! What are the odds?” said Pinkie.

“I don’t know why, but I had one just like that too.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Are you saying that all six of you had the exact same dream?” inquired Luna as the six ponies nodded. “It sounds to me like you six had a vision.”

“I didn’t have that dream,” said Starlight.

“Why would all of us, excluding Starlight, dream about something so haunting?” asked Rarity. “It’s not like a threat is being made against Equestria…right?”

“And what exactly is the Umbrum, your highnesses?” added Applejack. “I’ve never even heard of them before.”

The Princess of the Night shared a look with Celestia and Cadence before addressing everyone present. “I think it’s best if we all get some rest and talk about this in the morning. There is a lot of explaining that needs to be done and we can’t all do this without maximum energy and rest.”

“That sounds fair.” Twilight nodded as she let out a yawn. “I’m pretty tired.”

“Not me!” Pinkie said as she bounced up and down. “I’m so full of energy I could run around the entire castle while eating a trayful of cupcakes and-”

She suddenly fell asleep and collapsed onto the ground as she snored softly.

“I’m ready to get back to bed. I’m more tired than…yawn…a herd of stampeding cows.” yawned Applejack.

“I’ll take you to your rooms.” said Cadence as she led the Mane 6 out of the throne room.

“As for you, Radiant Hope, I have no choice but to lock you up in a cell in the underground dungeons. Stealing the crystal heart is a serious crime, and you will face charges for your actions.” said Shining Armor as he lit up his horn and placed a magic blocking spell on her horn.

Radiant lowered her head with guilt. “I know.”

“What you did was wrong and I have no idea what the Umbrum were doing to you, but I know for a fact that you wouldn’t do anything to intentionally harm anypony.” Celestia smiled as she and Luna walked past her. “I know you’re spending the night in a dungeon cell, but we hope that you have a pleasant night’s rest.”

They left the throne room as Shining Armor led Radiant Hope through the hallways of the Crystal Castle and down the staircases to the underground chambers. They entered the dungeon hallway and came to a stop in front of an empty cell as he opened the barred door for her. She went inside the cell and sat down on the wooden bed against the wall as he closed the door and left the dungeon.

“Don’t worry, my friends. I will help free you all if it’s the last thing I do.” she whispered to herself as she laid down and prepared for what was going to be a long night ahead of her.

Morning sunshine shone down on the Crystal Empire as Radiant Hope sat on the wooden cot in her dungeon cell with tired eyes. She hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night, which was mostly her fault due to her criminal activity with the crystal heart and the uncomfortable sleeping contraction that was present in her area of punishment, but that was the least of her problems. What she was really worried about were her friends.

She was so close to helping them, but Princess Twilight and her friends stopped her from achieving her goal. Now because of her foolishness and unpreparedness, her friends would never be free and it would be all her fault.

Radiant’s ears perked up at the door to the dungeon open as hoofsteps came down the hallway. She looked up to see Shining Armor coming to a stop in front of her cell as he looked at her with a neutral expression.

“Good morning, Radiant Hope. Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence would like to speak to you in the dining room.” he said as he used his magic to open the barred door.

“They do? What about?” she asked as they left the cell.

“I think you already know.”

He was right. The princesses wanted to interrogate her motive and her recent actions since she disappeared. “I do.” she nodded.

They left the dungeon and ascended the spiral staircase as they reached the main level of the Crystal Castle and went to the dining room. They entered it as Radiant saw the three alicorn princesses.

“Good morning, Radiant Hope. How did you sleep?” said Celestia as the unicorn mare sat next to her.

“Not bad.” Radiant replied. “I did sleep in a dungeon cell, so not well at all to be honest.”

The doors opened as Twilight and her friends entered the dining room, now fully rested and feeling much better after gaining back their hours of sleep.

“Good morning, girls. How did you sleep last night?” said Cadence.

“We slept really really well! Thanks for letting us stay overnight.” said Pinkie as she bounced over to an empty seat. “Hi, Radiant Hope! Did you sleep well?”

“More or less.”

“Now that you’re all here, we can discuss what we were unable to do last night,” said Celestia. “I’m sure a lot of you are questioning the strange nightmare you had and what the Umbrum is.”

“What exactly is the Umbrum?” asked Starlight.

“To put it simply, the Umbrum is a colony of shadow ponies.” answered Luna.

“Shadow ponies? But aren’t they just spooky stories?” Fluttershy asked, not liking where this was going.

“Unfortunately they aren’t. The Umbrum are cruel and unfeeling beings of pure darkness and nightmares that target and create negative emotions to strengthen their powers. Before Celestia and I teamed up with the empire's former leader, Princess Amore, they attacked the Crystal Empire and burned the homes of the crystal ponies. They poisoned their hearts with pure negative emotions and despair, strengthening their dark powers and making them unstoppable.”

“Were you able to defeat them?” Twilight asked.

“We were, but they were too powerful to be eradicated from existence,” said Celestia. “We sealed the Umbrum inside of enchanted crystals in the frozen wastelands, never to escape and harm anypony ever again. However, it seems that they weren't completely locked away from Equestria and likely used Radiant Hope to escape.”

“They haven't.” Radiant argued. “They’re not the creatures of evil you speak of them to be. The Umbrum are friendly, playful, and didn’t once show me any strife or take me for granted.”

“How did you meet the Umbrum?” asked Rainbow Dash.

The crystal unicorn hesitated for a moment. “Before I begin, I want to ask you all something: do you know who King Sombra is?”

“How could we not? When the Crystal Empire returned, he returned with it and tried to take over.” said Shining Armor. “Why do you ask?”

“To put it simply…he and I used to be friends.”

“WHAT!?” everyone exclaimed in surprise.

“Yeah right. King Sombra is evil!” argued Rainbow Dash. “How in Equestria were you friends with that monster?”

“He wasn’t a monster when we were kids.” Radiant replied. “I had lost my parents in a house fire and wound up in the Crystal Empire orphanage. The other foals didn’t want to be my friends or talk to me because of my love for shadows and pixies and everything else no one could see, but I didn’t mind at that point because I was free to do as I wished and had all the imaginary friends I wanted. I then met Sombra and invited him to play with me, and we’ve been inseparable friends ever since.”

“One day, I told Sombra about the crystal heart and he wanted to go and see it, so I took him to it. There’s an old legend that says that if you look at the surface of the crystal heart long enough, you can see yourself in the future. I saw myself as an alicorn princess, but Sombra saw something far different. He saw himself as a monster of pure evil and darkness, an image that would give him horrifying nightmares and wake him from his slumber almost every night. He decided that in order to rid himself of the horrible image he would attend the crystal fair and let its magic heal him, but on the day of the fair, he became seriously ill. He writhed in pain while the crystal ponies celebrated, except me as I chose to stay by his side and heal him, but the same thing happened every year. Sombra’s condition grew worse and I knew I had to do something to heal him, and so I did, and I earned my cutie mark in the process.”

“I received a letter from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna one day saying that she wanted to train me. I saw that my vision was beginning to come true, but Sombra ran away for reasons I don’t know. When he later returned, he had vengeful anger and new powers of pure darkness. He turned Princess Amore into crystals and scattered them all across Equestria, but why he did this I don’t know. I knew I had to stop Sombra from his evil actions, so I hurriedly reported this to the princesses and they were able to defeat him and banish him to the frozen north, but not before the Crystal Empire disappeared into thin air. After he was defeated, I returned with the princesses to study magic and fulfill my destiny, but my distraction due to me losing the only friend I ever had and the home I loved kept me from focusing, so I abandoned my studies and ran away.”

“When I returned to where the Crystal Empire once was to find out what happened to Sombra, I found these red crystals that knew my name and said that inside them are creatures called the Umbrum. They explained to me by saying that they were Sombra’s kind and that he’d told them all about me, especially how I healed him with my magic. They also told me that he was sent by them to free them and asked me about his whereabouts, but I told him of his fate with the princesses and that it was all my fault. The Umbrum told me to come into their world and learn more about them so that I could understand more about Sombra and save him, so I entered the crystals and that’s where I’ve been ever since.”

Everyone waited for a few moments, taking the time to eat their pancakes before Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

“So let me get this straight. You and the King Sombra were childhood friends, but when you both went to see the crystal heart, it showed him an image of him being an evil monster while you would become a princess. When you healed him when you both were adults, you earned your cutie make, got a letter from the princesses, and he ran away, only to return and turn the current ruler of the empire into crystals and shatter her before scattering the remains all across Equestria, and after Sombra took full control, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated him and the entire empire disappeared and you went back with them to become a princess, but your guilt for your friend made you abandon your studies and when you returned, you discovered some crystals that claim to be the Umbrum and that Sombra was one of them, and to top it all off, you’ve been spending time with them for over a thousand years. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.” Radiant Hope nodded. “I understand if none of you believe me, but everything that I’m saying is true. If you don’t believe me, I can take you all to the crystals and introduce you to the Umbrum.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea, Radiant,” said Cadence. “Even if the Umbrum were nice to you for all of these centuries, they likely used your influence to recharge their abilities and find a new way to escape their prison.”

“They didn’t. Please, Let me bring you all to them, and you’ll see that I’m right. If it turns out that the Umbrum did use me for their selfish needs, I'll take full responsibility and accept any punishment you think is fair.”

“Not that I’m on anyone’s side, but I think you should trust Radiant Hope with her claims.” said Starlight. “I know what she’s saying sounds really risky, but if the Umbrum really did change, wouldn’t it be a good idea to befriend them and make a possible alliance?”

“Absolutely not!” Rainbow Dash refused as she slammed her hoof against the table. “I can’t believe you’re actually agreeing to this, Starlight.”

“But Rainbow, what if the Umbrum really did change? What if they realized the error in their ways and want to make amends? Wouldn’t it be worth it if they did and we talked to them?”

“Or, what if they’re lying and manipulating Radiant and using her to gain information about not only the Crystal Empire, but all of Equestria?”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. While both of them provided good arguments, she couldn’t help but take Radiant Hope’s side a little. Sure, she did steal the crystal heart and spend the last millenia with possible evil creatures, but she sounded so sure about the Umbrum being nice creatures and not the ones of pure evil that they were long ago. The possibility of her being tricked was highly possible, but once upon a time, she learned a valuable lesson in listening to others and showing them the benefit of the doubt no matter what their motive really is.

She cleared her throat and got everyone’s attention. “I think it would be best if we trust Radiant Hope with her claims and visit the Umbrum.”

“What? Twilight, you can't be serious!” Rainbow complained.

“Hear me out, Rainbow. Radiant Hope did steal the crystal heart and lived with creatures of pure darkness for over a thousand years, but maybe while she was there, her influence on them may have changed them for good.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“I’m having my doubts too, Rainbow, but I think we should listen to Twilight.” said Applejack.

“Applejack, not you too!”

“I’m in!” Pinkie said as she gulped down a pancake whole. “Whether the Umbrum is or are evil or not, it’ll be really cool to explore where they live and make new friends.”

“Pinkie!”

“My boots will be extremely dirty from this, but I too shall take part of this,” said Rarity. “Not to mention I could use some ideas for my next line of dresses.”

“Oh my, I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this, but I have to be brave. I’ll go with everyone to the Umbrum crystals.” added Fluttershy.

“Me too.” nodded Starlight.

Rainbow Dash looked at her friends in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that they were all agreeing to go with the crystal heart criminal to the prison of potentially pure evil creatures. This could very well be a trap that could not only prevent them from protecting Equestria, but the Umbrum could escape and plunge it into eternal darkness and suffering. She didn’t want to go, but knew that she had to stay loyal to her friends.

She let out an irritated grown. “Fine, I’ll go, but I’m not gonna like it.”

“Before you six go with Radiant Hope, I highly recommend that you bring the Elements of Harmony with you.” said Celestia. “They may come in handy if the worst happens.”

“The Elements? But we had to give them up to save the Tree of Harmony.” Twilight said. “Even if we brought them, I don’t know if they would work in a crystal prison.”

“They should. The Elements of Harmony have restored the Tree of Harmony to its full power, which means you can use them once again.”

“Wait, what’s the Tree of Harmony?” asked Radiant Hope. “I’ve never even heard of it.”

“We can show you! Now that you’re our friend despite being a convicted criminal, we can show you where we keep the most powerful magical artifacts!” said Pinkie as she gulped down another pancake.

Rainbow groaned as she continued to eat her breakfast. This was quickly turning out to be the worst day of her life.

After finishing their breakfast, Twilight and her friends along with Radiant Hope left the Crystal Castle for Ponyville. They reached the train station and hopped aboard the next train back to their hometown.

Hours later, they arrived at the Ponyville train station and deboarded their train as they went towards the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash kept her eye on Radiant hope the entire time, feeling nothing but distrust and suspicion towards her. She was unhappy that she and her friends were actually going along with this plan, and that they were listening to this mare. She just stole the crystal heart for crying out loud and seemingly made her reasons legit, but of course Rainbow knew what was going on.

Radiant Hope was likely trying to lead them into a trap so that the Umbrum, who she strongly thought didn’t change, could do Celestia knows what to them and escape their prison.

They descended the staircase that led to the ravine near the Castle of the Two Sisters as they went to the cave that hid the Tree of Harmony. Once they got there, Radiant looked at it in amazement.

“Wow. The Tree of Harmony is so beautiful. This is where the Elements of Harmony were stored?”

“It is.” Twilight nodded. “Me and my friends have never heard of it before, but I'm glad that we did. Without it, balance in Equestria would be disrupted.”

“Are you still up with bringing the Elements, Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash as she gave Radiant Hope a look. “I’m not sure we can trust that she won’t steal them.”

“I don’t have any use for them, so you don’t have to be so untrusting towards me, Rainbow Dash.” said the crystal unicorn mare. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll wait outside the cave until you have the Elements of Harmony ready to go.”

“It’s okay, Radiant. This’ll only take a second.” said Twilight as she and the bearers walked up to the Tree of Harmony. She lit up her horn and engulfed the Elements of Harmony in her magical grasp as they levitated out from their individual spots on the Tree and down to the correct bearers, turning into their necklace forms while hers turned into her crown as they put them on.

“Aw yeah, it feels good to have this baby back.” said Rainbow Dash.

“I for one have missed my beloved Element and necklace.” added Rarity in agreement.

“Me too.” Fluttershy nodded. “I feel braver already.”

“Let’s hurry back to the Crystal Empire, girls. We’ve got a long mission ahead of us.” said Twilight as she lit up her horn and teleported everyone back to the Crystal Empire. They reappeared in front of the entrance where Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were all waiting for them.

“That was really quick of you all.” said Celestia. “Alright, Radiant Hope. Lead us to the crystals where the Umbrum are located.”

“Yes, Princess Celestia.” Radiant nodded as she led everyone out of the protected barrier and into the blizzard. They trekked through the snow and gusty winds for a few miles before she spotted something in the distance. “Over there!”

They went up to a set of red crystals completely untouched by the winter weather conditions as they observed them with curiosity. “This is where the Umbrum lives?” asked Cadence.

“Yes, and you’ll all see that they aren’t the creatures of darkness you say that they are.” said Radiant.

“We may as well be going on the ultimate adventure of our lives.” said Rainbow Dash as she went over to her. “But let me go ahead and warn you. If it turns out that your so-called friends aren’t who you think they are and if they mess up Equestria, you'd better hope the princesses will punish you before I do. You got that?”

Radiant gulped, knowing full well that she wasn’t completely off the hook as she nodded her head. “Yes.”

“Good, now let’s go.”

“Be careful, everypony. You and your friends may have the Elements of Harmony, but you may find that the magic of friendship has limitations.” said Celestia.

“We will.” nodded Twilight as she hugged her sister-in-law. “Alright. Girls. Ready?”

“Ready.” her friends nodded with confident hoof stomp.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

She went up to the red crystal and tried to touch it as she found her hoof slipping through it. She took a deep breath before trotting inside as the others followed in suit. Fluttershy was the last to enter as she hesitantly approached it with anxiety. She took a deep breath and whispered encouraging words to herself before running straight inside.

“Are you sure letting Twilight and the others go inside the crystals was a good idea, Aunt Celestia?” asked Cadence. “They could be leading themselves into a trap.”

“I am having second thoughts, Cadence, but I have full faith that everything will be alright.” said the sun princess. “In the meantime, we must perform our royal duties and prepare for the worst if it happens.”

“Celestia is right. Twilight and her friends have been through tough challenges and always succeed in the end, but we must play our part in ensuring Equestria’s safety is priority number one.” said Luna in agreement.

The three alicorn princesses spread their wings and flew back to their respected castles and they lit up their horns and teleported to them, having faith that everything will be alright.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Surprise! Didn't expect Chapter 2 to come out so soon, right?

We now have Radiant Hope in the story. She’ll play a bigger role in this story as it progresses, and NO I’m not copying the MLP comics. This is just an alternate storyline from Issues 34 through 37 (correct me if I’m wrong) with my own added pizzazz. If you're wondering if King Sombra will make an appearance, the answer is no. He won't be in this story. For those of you who are wondering, the detective scene with Pinkie and Fluttershy was inspired by Big Nate, where Nate dresses up like Sherlock Holmes and helps his friend Francis find his money after it was misplaced.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this significantly shorter chapter, and I look forward to posting again in the future. :twilightsmile:

Chapter 3: The Shadow Prison

My Little Pony: Harmony is Magic

Chapter 3: The Shadow Prison

Twilight, her friends, and Radiant Hope entered the crystals that trapped the evil creatures of darkness known as the Umbrum. Upon stepping hoof inside, they were met with pitch-black darkness.

“Be careful where you step,” said Radiant as she was the last one to enter. “It’s very dark.”

“Not anymore.” said Twilight as she, Starlight, and Rarity lit up their horns and illuminated the surroundings. The Princess of Friendship spotted a set of stairs over by the edge of what appeared to be a cliff as she pointed over to them. “Let’s go down these stairs and see what we can find.”

They all went over to the staircase and descended down them as they looked around at their surroundings. They saw nothing but dried up trees and grass that looked dead, and rocks beyond galore that expanded out into the darkness. Thankfully, The further they descended, the more light illuminated their surroundings.

“This place is positively dreadful.” said Rarity. “It looks like the total opposite of our beautiful and welcoming home on the surface.”

“Well, you can’t judge everything by its appearance,” said Radiant.

The white unicorn wrinkled her nose in disgust. “What about the smell? It stinks like a fart.”

“I don’t mind. This place looks like a really fun place for Nightmare Night!” said Pinkie Pie. “Imagine if we made Ponyville look just like this!”

“Like it’s the end of the world? No way.” said Rainbow Dash. “Are we almost at the bottom? We’ve been going down these stairs for a long time.”

“I hope we get out of here soon. It looks really scary already.” said Fluttershy as she yelped at a scary looking tree.

“We’re almost at the bottom, and then you can meet my friends,” said Radiant Hope.

“We’d better get down there soon.” Rainbow grumbled to herself.

Thankfully for her, they reached the bottom of the long staircase as they looked around to see more dead-like trees, grass, and pretty much nothing else.

“Rabia! Rabia, it’s me, Hope!” Radiant Hope called out into the darkness. “I brought guests that want to meet the Umbrum and learn more about it.”

“Who are you talking to?” asked Starlight.

“My friend, Rabia. She and the others live down here.”

Everyone waited patiently for the said being to show up, only for no one to make an appearance after waiting a few minutes.

Rainbow Dash face-hooved herself. “We don’t have all day.”

“There she is!” Radiant exclaimed as she pointed over to a creature flying up to them, whom neither Twilight and her friends have ever seen before.

She was a gray pony-like creature that was half their body height with a pair of transparent butterfly-like wings, a flowy mane and tail, and white fire-like mist rising upward from her eyes.

“Friend Hope! You have returned!” the creature spoke in a ghostly female voice as she flew over to the crystal unicorn with an ecstatic smile. “Is it time? Are we free?”

“Almost, Rabia.” replied Radiant Hope. “I brought some new friends. This is Princess Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Starlight. They wanted to meet you and the others.”

“Oh! A princess? Here?”

“Hi, Rabia.” Twilight smiled at her. “Radiant Hope has told me about your kind and how you were unjustly imprisoned.”

“Even though you deserved it.” Rainbow added under her breath.

“Yes, it’s a painful memory for us all.” said Rabia with a thoughtful expression as she observed the Princess of Friendship. “Hmmm…a princess in the prison of shadows? That’s unheard of.”

Rabia, please-” Radiant began to speak only to be ignored.

“You know it was a princess who locked us down here over a thousand years ago, right? What if she tries to hurt my friends? I need all seven of you to promise not to use your magical capabilities for anything while you’re here, no matter how small it is.”

“I promise you, Rabia, that neither me nor my friends will use our magic,” said Twilight. “Right, girls?”

“Woah woah woah. You don’t want us to use our magic?” Rainbow said incredulously. “What if it’s an emergency?”

“You can leave it to me and my friends, but you can’t use your magic. Ever.” said Rabia. “Can you promise me that you’ll keep to your word?”

The cyan pegasus sighed with annoyance. “Fine, we promise not to use our powers.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” said Pinkie with a grin.

“Good, and what are those little pieces of jewelry you and your friends have?”

“These are the Elements of Harmony. We used to use them to defend Equestria from all kinds of mean meanies, but we had to give them up in the beginning of Season 4 to fix the Tree of Harmony.” answered Pinkie. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“They are, but you can’t use them down here in addition to your magic. They look like they can not only harm myself, but my friends.” said Rabia. “Anyway, without further ado...”

She led the group to a tunnel as she lit up her eyes and illuminated it. They went through it and emerged on the other side as they arrived in a cave with multi-level prison cells carved into the walls and Umbrum flying around. “Welcome to the Shadow Prison.”

“This place is impressive. I’ve never seen homes carved into cave walls before.” said Fluttershy as she looked up at a trio of Umbrum flying overhead. They waved down at her as she waved up to them with a smile. “And everyone is really friendly.”

“Yes. Us Umbrum have created many things in our time down here, and these cells are only one of many things.” said Rabia. “Follow me and I’ll give you a full tour.”

She led Twilight and the others up a spiral staircase as they went past the cells. “As you can already tell, this is the prison area where convicted criminals are punished, but they get released after they’ve learned their lesson.”

“Hello, Hope! So glad you’re back!” waved a passing Umbrum.

“Hello, Princess. You sure are beautiful.” said another one as he smiled at Twilight.

“This way please, everyone. I want to show you our sporting cave.” said Rabia as she led everyone past the prison cells and up another spiral staircase.

They entered a large indoor stadium that was packed with Umbrum as they cheered on two teams playing what appeared to be buckball, much to Rainbow’s surprise. One of the teams scored a point as the audience erupted with cheers.

“Okay, that’s new.” the cyan pegasus said aloud.

“Are they playing buckball?” Applejack asked with surprise.

“Buckball? We don’t know the name. Down here we call it thrust hoop.” said Rabia. “Doesn’t it look fun?”

“Of course it is! Whatever you call it, buckball is super duper fun!” said Pinkie.

“I’m glad you think so. Now then, onward with the tour.”

They descended back down the staircase and back past the prison cells as they went down to the main level and went over to a large grassy field with dried up flowers and trees similar to the ones they saw when they entered the realm. Lots of Umbrum families were having picnics and playing with each other, all having a good time together and having fun.

“This is Family Park, the most beautiful park in the entire shadow realm. This is where families come for picnics and other gatherings, for basically fun things of lots of kinds.” explained Rabia.

“This is where I come to play with the other Umbrum and read my books.” added Radiant Hope. “Isn’t it nice?”

“It is.” nodded Fluttershy politely, secretly finding the park a little lifeless compared to the meadows and gardens she was used to in Equestria.

‘Not even a little.’ Rainbow thought bluntly with an eye roll.

“I’m glad you like our park, but it’s nothing compared to our grand city.”

“You guys live in a city down here?” asked Twilight while trying to hide her surprise.

“But of course. We may have lived down here for over a thousand years, but we made ourselves quite at home.”

“I’ve been there, and it’s really big,” said Radiant.

“I can’t be that big.” muttered Rainbow with boredom as Rabia led the group through the park and up a tall hill. Once they reached the top, Twilight and her friends, including the cyan pegasus, gawked.

“Welcome to Umbrumtopia!” Rabia proudly proclaimed.

Down below them was the biggest city they had ever seen. There were countless skyscrapers as far as the eye could see as well as lots of streets and homes, but that wasn’t the main thing that separated it from all the cities in Equestria. What did was the tall castle that stood in front of it. It was taller than the currently existing castles in Equestria combined with lots of tall towers and windows, something far beyond anything that was ever built on the surface.

“Sweet Celestia, this city is as big as Equestria, including that castle.” said Rarity with amazement. “It makes Equestria look like a scale island.”

“Yes. Umbrumtopia is home to our best businesses and homes, which is where us Umbrum really live. I for one find the peaceful bustle of the everyday rushour to be really relaxing to listen to in the morning and the evening, but it’s the friendly respect that we show one another no matter what problems we face.”

“It sounds like a lovely place,” said Fluttershy.

“It is.” Radiant nodded. “I live here in Umbrumtopia.”

“Really? Do you both think you can show us some of the best sights and attractions?” asked Starlight.

“Of course we can.” nodded Rabia. “Now follow us and we can continue the tour.”

They both led Twilight and her friends down the hill and into the city as they were led down many streets and saw many amazing things.

“To your left is Heartbreak Hotel, a resort for female and male Umbrum who suffer broken hearts from their relationships. It’s also the tallest hotel and one of the tallest buildings in Umbrumtopia.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie said with wonder.

“To your right is the Performance Center, the biggest musical theater in the city housing five hundred thousand six hundred twenty one seats.”

“Impressive.” said Rarity.

“Down below is our transit system. It can take you to any location all throughout the city in a short amount of time without delay.”

“How short of time?” asked Starlight.

“In less than twenty seconds.” replied Rabia. “Anyway, up ahead is the Castle of the Umbrum, where our beloved queen rules over us. She’s the nicest ruler we’ve ever had and puts our well-being into high priority. If you want, I can introduce her to you.”

“That would be lovely.” said Fluttershy with a smile.

“Great.”

Rabia led Twilight and her friends towards the Castle of the Umbrum as Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but scowl, watching every single Umbrum that they went past. Applejack noticed this and looked up at her with a raised brow.

“Everythin’ okay, sugar cube?” she asked. “You’ve barely said a word since we got here.”

“I don’t trust Rabia,” said Rainbow. “She’s clearly up to something. I mean come on. No magic? No Elements of Harmony? Aren’t you even a little suspicious?”

“I can’t say that I’m not, but I’m sure she has her reasons.”

“Like what? This is obviously a trap, and I’m not going to fall for it. I can’t believe we’re actually trusting Radiant Hope with this.”

“Why? Don’t you trust her?”

“Not a hundred percent. She stole the crystal heart and is friends with evil monsters. How do you expect me to treat her, Applejack? I mean, I get the importance of trusting others even if they don’t seem trustworthy, but even I have my limits on how I view others.”

“But is assumin’ the worst really the better thing to do?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t call it assuming the worst. I call it keeping your guard up.” replied Rainbow. “Besides, we’re in the Shadow Prison, so pretty much anything can happen while we’re here.”

“Like what?”

“The Umbrum might steal the Elements of Harmony and break them, they could infect us with their dark magic, they could turn us into monsters, and who knows what they could do to Equestria if they escaped their prison. You may not know this, Applejack, but even the nicest creatures aren’t what they seem, and I can think of plenty of reformed villains who were once like that.”

The Element of Honesty observed her friend for a moment before she let out a sigh. “If that’s your opinion, then I can’t change it. Just don’t do anythin’ that’ll make our situation harder.”

“No promises.” Rainbow said as they continued on with the tour.

“Are we there yet?” asked Pinkie.

“No. we’ll be there soon.” answered Radiant Hope.

“Okay. How about now?”

“No, Pinkie. As you can clearly see, we aren’t even close to being half way.” said Rabia with developing annoyance.

“Okay. How about now, how about now, how about now?”

She let out a sigh and flew over to Twilight. “Is your friend always this annoying?”

“Unfortunately yes, but it’s better than being sad and depressed.” replied the Princess of Friendship. “Do you think we can use the underground transit system to get there faster?”

“Why yes. There’s a staircase not too far away from here I can take you all to. There we shall get on board the underground transporter to the castle.”

“At least we’ll get there faster.” Rainbow uttered under her breath as Rabia led them down the streets towards the stairs to the underground transit system. “The sooner, the better.”

Fluttershy looked up at passing by Umbrum as she stopped and waved at them, causing them to wave back with friendly smiles. “The Umbrum are really friendly. I wish everypony in Equestria was as nice as them, right girls?”

She turned to where she thought she’d last seen them but frowned when she saw no one. “Girls?”

She galloped down the direction she thought they’d went, beginning to develop fear from being separated by her friends. If only she didn’t get distracted when they were talking, she would’ve listened to where they had gone.

She turned right and flew down that street as she looked all over for her friends. “Girls? Girls! Where are you?”

More fear began to overcome her as she looked around for the others, dreading the possibility of finding a way to the castle all on her own. As she looked around, she saw something up ahead zip to the right down the street up ahead as she sped up to catch up with it.

“Girls?”

Fluttershy made the right and saw something small and black running up the sidewalk before turning and running into an alleyway. She went up to it and entered it as she saw what appeared to be a black kitten running towards a small cardboard box with a small entrance cut into the side.

“Wait, I won’t hurt you.” said the yellow pegasus as she slowly approached the kitten, who turned to her and began to back away in fear towards the box. “It’s okay, little one. Don’t be scared.”

The kitten arched its back and pinned its ears against its head as it hissed at her, signaling that it was feeling threatened and wanted to be left alone. It began hissing at her before suddenly growing in size to the height of two ponies as it growled at her and showed its teeth.

Fluttershy froze dead in her tracks as she looked up at the giant black cat with fear in her eyes. “Um…nice kitty.”

It roared at her as she screamed and ran out of the alley, running away from it and the large cat as quickly as possible before looking behind her. When she didn’t see it following her, she slowed to a stop as she let out a relieved sigh. She was fairly used to aggressive animals back at her cottage, but that didn’t mean it didn’t scare her sometimes. What was scaring her now was the fact that she’d lost the group and couldn’t find them so far. It could take almost an entire day to find them.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but are you okay?”

She looked up to see a male Umbrum floating in front of her with a concerned look. It had a somewhat familiar voice, but it sounded too ghostly for further recognition. “Oh, I’m fine. I just got distracted by the other Umbrum flying past me and lost sight of where my friends went.”

“I can help you find them if you want.” the Umbrum suggested with a smile. “I mean, if you want me to, that is. I know my way all around Umbrumtopia.”

“Oh, I couldn't possibly accept an offer like that.” Fluttershy declined politely. “Besides, my friends couldn’t have gone too far.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look like you know your way around Umbrumtopia.”

“Well…I don’t.” she let out a sigh in defeat. “Okay, I’ll let you help me find my friends.”

“Great!” he smiled at her as he held out his hoof. “My name’s Smokey by the way.”

“Thank you, Smokey. I’m Fluttershy.” the yellow pegasus smiled and shook his hoof.

“Cute name, so do you remember where your friends said that they were going?”

“We were going to the underground transit system so that we could get to the castle.” Fluttershy replied, feeling a little flattered that someone found her name to be adorable. “Do you know where it is?”

“Yup. I know my entire way around Umbrumtopia and the location of all the underground transit system stations.” said Smokey. “The nearest one is three blocks northbound. Is that where your friends are going?”

“I guess so.”

“Great! Now let's get going.”

They went down the street towards the Castle of the Umbrum as the yellow pegasus waved at passing Umbrum, beginning to feel less scared knowing that she’ll be reunited with her friends. “Thanks again for helping me out, Smokey.” Fluttershy smiled gratefully at him. “You didn’t have to do this, you know.”

“I know, but it’s nice helping out others whenever they need it.” said Smokey as he smiled back. “So what brings a pony like you down here to the Shadow Prison? I’ve never known anyone like you to be down here before.”

“A pony named Radiant Hope tried to steal the crystal heart back in the Crystal Empire, one of the cities in Equestria. After she was stopped, she explained that she was trying to free the Umbrum that were wrongfully imprisoned down here.”

“Wait a minute. Did you say the Crystal Empire? As in the Crystal Empire? I thought it disappeared.”

“It did, but it returned and we had to defeat an evil unicorn named King Sombra.” said Fluttershy, shuddering at the memory of the unicorn king. Even though she knew of his origins, it didn’t completely change her view on him. “Anyway, Radiant Hope told us about you and we came down here to meet the Umbrum. Along the way, we met her friend Rabia and she’s giving us a full tour of the Shadow Prison and is even introducing us to the queen.”

“Rabia? I think I saw her a few times in the last millenia, but she’s introducing you and your friends to the queen?”

“Mmm-hmm. I hear that the queen is really nice, but I’m a little nervous to meet her.”

“Don’t be.” Smokey smiled at her. “The queen is a really kind and motherly ruler and she always puts our well being her first priority, and she’ll be especially nice to your friends and a pretty pony like you.”

“Pretty? Oh, I’m not pretty.” Fluttershy said modestly.

“Yes you are. You may be the second pony I’ve ever seen, but you’re a really nice looking girl. Has anyone ever told you that your mane makes you look really cute, or that your eyes seem to reflect the night sky, and don’t even get me started on how angelic your voice sounds. You’re one of a kind and you know it.”

She looked at him with surprise, finding those compliments to be strangely nice. “Do you really think I’m…beautiful?”

“I really do.” Smokey smiled at her as she looked away with a blush.

“Um, thanks…I guess. Are we almost at the underground transit station?”

“Yup. it’s just to the left around this corner.”

They turned left and went westbound along another street as they saw a sign that read ‘2nd West Ave Station’ as they went towards it, and much to Fluttershy’s relief, she saw her friends heading towards it. “Girls! There you are!” she exclaimed as she rushed over to them, forgetting to thank Smokey.”

“Hey, Fluttershy! I had no idea you were taking a faster way to get here, but what are the odds?” said Pinkie cheerfully.

“Where were you?” asked Twilight. “When we turned around we saw that you were gone.”

“Sorry, everypony. I got distracted and didn’t know where you all went.” said the yellow pegasus with a guilty smile. “But at least we’re all back together and we can all go to the castle.”

“Indeed.” Rabia nodded. “Now follow me and we’ll catch the next train to the castle.”

She led the group down the staircase and into an underground train station that was busy with hundreds of Umbrum entering and exiting it, getting to wherever they wanted or needed to go from the train that was waiting patiently at the platform.

“There’s the train. Let’s hurry up and hop aboard before it leaves.” said Radiant Hope as they went through the crowd and hopped aboard the train before the doors closed seconds later. The train slowly pulled out of the station and accelerated into the dark tunnel as the group took their seats and got comfortable.

As Twilight and the others talked amongst themselves, Fluttershy looked out the window and couldn’t help but think about Smokey. She forgot to thank him and felt guilty about it, but the main thing that she was thinking about him was the compliments he gave to her. It strangely felt a little nice to hear such things, and no one had ever complimented her before, not even her friends unless she was wearing a pretty dress.

She found herself beginning to miss him, even though they didn’t know each other that well, and only conversed for a little while. He seemed like a really friendly Umbrum and a good friend to be around. Too bad they didn’t decide to become friends while they were walking down the streets together and thank him for reuniting her with her friends, but she was still happy to talk to someone else and felt less scared about being alone in a large underground city she’d no idea how to get around. She hoped that she would cross paths with him in the future and talk more, but for now, she could enjoy the company of her current friends and await visiting the queen.

Not too long later, the underground transit train pulled into a station and came to a complete stop. “We’re here,” said Rabia. “Now come on, everyone. Let’s go to the castle and meet the queen.

Rainbow Dash jolted awake and let out a yawn as she stretched her legs and followed the group out of the train. “Already? Didn’t we leave the other station a few seconds ago?”

“I wasn’t joking when I said that the underground transit system transports you to anyplace in the city in a short amount of time, Rainbow Dash. Now come along, the queen cannot be kept waiting for too long.”

They arose from underground up onto a sidewalk as they went alongside a brick wall towards a set of two large wooden doors that had two Umbrum guards hovering in position on both sides of them. Once they saw Twilight and the others approach the gates, they flew in front of them to block their path.

“Halt. State your business.” demanded one of the Umbrum guards.

“They’re with me, sir.” said Rabia as she flew in front of the group. “They’re acquaintances of Radiant Hope and wish to meet her majesty, the queen.”

The guards looked at each other for a second before floating out of the way and opening the gates. “You may pass.”

“Thank you.”

She and Radiant Hope led the Mane 6 and Starlight up the long hill as they looked up at the large castle that was up ahead.

“Okay, that’s huge.” said Rainbow. “Very huge.”

“My castle isn’t nearly half that size.” said Twilight with amazement. “How many rooms are in that palace?”

“Hundreds, if not thousands.” said Radiant Hope. “I toured it when I first came here, and it’s seemingly endless on the inside.”

“You’ll soon see how endless once we get inside.” added Rabia as they went all the way up the hill to the front doors of the castle. The Umbrum guards standing post there opened the doors for them as they went inside and looked around in amazement.

The interior of the Castle of the Umbrum was extremely tall from the floor all the way up to the ceiling with tall banners displaying unique symbols hanging from the walls and a soft red carpet along the floors. The windows had colorful decorative patterns in them that lit up and illuminated the hallways in a projective way, making the interior more impressive. There were also display cases that had rock jewelry and other expensive looking accessories in them that were protected by miniature force field domes.

Rarity looked at it with impressment as she let out a dreamy sigh. “I was right. This castle isn’t at all like the ones back in Equestria. It’s far better than I could’ve ever imagined.”

“Bet you I can jump up to the ceiling!” said Pinkie as she bent her legs and bounced all the way up to the ceiling before landing gracefully on her hooves. “Ta-da!”

“How did you do that, Pinkie?” asked Rabia. “I’ve known Radiant Hope for over a thousand years, and I’ve never known a pony to jump that high in my entire life.”

“I have no idea.” she replied honestly.

“It’s better not to think about it. Pinkie does a lot of strange things that none of us can understand.” added Fluttershy.

The Umbrum looked at Pinkie with a raised eyebrow before rolling her eyes and leading the group down the hallways, up a wide spiral staircase. And straight towards a pair of large doors made out of rocks that had two Umbrum guards hovering in their posts.

“We are here to visit the queen, sirs.” said Radiant Hope as they opened the doors and allowed them entrance into the throne room, which resembles the one back in Canterlot Castle and had colorful stained glass windows but was bigger.

Sitting on a gray throne made out of the rocks of the Shadow Prison was a tall alicorn-like Umbrum with a gray flowing mane and tail, wearing a rock crown with purple jewels in them.

She watched the visitors approach her with a kind smile as they stopped in front of the throne. “Hello, Rabia and Radiant Hope. I see you both brought some visitors.” she said.

“We did, your highness.” replied Radiant Hope as she and Rabia bowed respectively. “Meet Princess Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer.”

“Welcome to the Shadow Prison, girls. I am Queen Melinoe.” said the Umbrum known as Queen Melinoe.

“It’s nice to meet you, your highness.” said Twilight as she and her friends respectively bowed. “I’m sure you’re wondering why we’re all down here.”

“I am.” Melinoe nodded. “It’s been over a thousand years since me and my people have last seen ponies.”

“We know, and we’ve heard of your…ahem…past transgressions in the Crystal Empire with Princess Amore.”

“And your deserved punishment.” Rainbow added quietly as Applejack nudged her in the side.

“But Radiant Hope has shown us all how friendly you and the Umbrum are, and it’s really nice to see that you’ve changed from your evil ways.”

“We have, and we deeply regret our actions against the Crystal Empire.” said Melinoe with guilt. “Why do you bring this up, my little pony?”

“Because we can free you from your wrongful imprisonment! With these!” said Pinkie as she pointed to her Element of Laughter.

“Are those the Elements of Harmony?”

“Indeed they are.” replied Rarity. “We used to use them to defend Equestria from all sorts of uncouth villains trying to put an end to Equestria, but we had to put them aside many months ago due to safety reasons but have long since reunited with them.”

“And you say that you can use them to free us from our prison?”

“We can if you want that.” said Fluttershy. “After all, we believe that everyone who’s learned the error of their ways deserves a second chance and-”

“I’m sorry for interrupting, but I need to have a quick chat with my friends.” interrupted Rainbow Dash as she pulled her friends (excluding Radiant Hope) into a huddle up position and glared at them. “Are you girls serious about freeing the Umbrum? We can’t do that.”

“Why not, Rainbow?” whispered Twilight.

“Because they’re obviously trying to trick us into breaking them free and returning to their evil ways. Why else would they play nice with not only us, but Radiant Hope?”

“But what if they did change?” suggested Starlight. “What if they genuinely feel guilty for all the suffering that they caused?”

“Yeah right. They’re just pretending so that we can release them without suspicion. That’s what any bad gut would do, especially Discord.”

“That’s true, but he realized the error in his ways, including Starlight.” said Fluttershy. “We should show the Umbrum the benefit of the doubt and trust that they won’t do anything evil.”

“Fluttershy’s right, Rainbow.” nodded Twilight. “So are you in or not?”

Everyone looked at her expectantly as she was struggling with what to do. She was strong with her opinion and suspicions on the Umbrum, but at the same time, she had to admit that her friends made valid points. The reformed villains in Equestria all realized the wrong-doing that they did and made up for them, which accepted them back into society without so much as a glare (despite certain ones not receiving the same consideration).

Letting a defeated and annoyed sigh out of her, Rainbow Dash addressed her friends. “Alright. I’ll help you all release the Umbrum, but if they go back on their claims of being reformed, it won’t be my fault.”

“Fair enough.” Twilight nodded as they all broke up and faced the queen. “Alright, Queen Melinoe. We have all decided to free all the Umbrum from the Shadow Prison.”

“You have?” the queen and Rabia all exclaimed in surprise.

“We have.”

Smiles spread across the Umbrum’s mouths as Melinoe rose to her hooves. “Thank you, my little ponies. You have no idea how much this means to all of us. This calls for a celebration.”

Pinkie gasped excitedly. “You mean a party?”

“Precisely, Pinkie Pie. Tonight in the castle ballroom, we shal host a gala in honor of our upcoming freedom and the ones who will bring it to us.”

“A gala? Now you’re talking!” Rarity beamed excitedly. “Oh, I can already imagine the beautiful dresses, dancing, hors d'oeuvres.”

“What’s an hors d’oeuvre?” asked Rabia with genuine confusion. “Because whatever that is, we don’t have them at our galas, including ‘dresses.’”

“Ya don’t?” asked Applejack before realizing why. When one is imprisoned underground for over a thousand years, you tend to not be involved in any modernization and new things that start up. “Oh. Nevermind.”

“Tonight, we shall host a gala in the castle ballroom and invite every single Umbrum in the Shadow Prison, and then immediately afterwards, you seven will release us back into Equestria. Is that understood?” said Melinoe.

“We understand, your highness.” Twilight said as her friends nodded their heads in agreement.

“Good. In the meantime, I’ll have my servants prepare guest rooms for you all so that you’ll have a place to sleep during the duration of your stay.”

“Really? Thanks!” Pinkie grinned at the Umbrum monarch.

“You’re welcome, little one.” Melinoe smiled back as she clapped her hooves twice, causing a servant to come flying into the throne room.

“Follow me, ladies, and I’ll lead you up to your guest rooms to get settled down.” said the Umbrum servant as Twilight and the others, excluding Radiant Hope, followed her out of the throne room and down the hallway.

They went up to a spiral staircase and ascended up two levels as they emerged from them and went down the hallway and made a right, coming to a stop in front of seven rooms that had their names on the doors.

“Here are your rooms, girls. Take as long as you need to get settled.” said the servant with a bow as she flew off back down the hallway.

Twilight and her friends entered their rooms and looked around them with amazement. They all had high-rise ceilings with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and queen-sized beds. There was a dresser and wardrobe in each room as well as a closet and a private bathroom.

“Oh my, this room is so nice.” said Fluttershy as she sat down on the guest bed. “And the bed is so soft. I don’t know how the Umbrum keeps them like this.”

Her ears perked up at the sound of tapping against the bedroom window as she looked over and saw Smokey waving at her. She got up and flew over to the wonder as she opened it. “Smokey? What are you doing here?”

“Hi, Fluttershy. I just thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.” said Smokey as he flew inside the room. “Wow. I never thought you;d get in the queen’s good graces so quickly and easily, but you did.”

“She was really nice to us, especially now that we've announced that we’re going to release the Umbrum from the Shadow Prison. In honor of it, she’s hosting a gala in the castle ballroom in our honor and is inviting the entire realm.”

“Really? That’s so awesome, my dear! You and your friends really deserve the attention.”

Fluttershy smiled modestly. “Thanks, I-” she suddenly stopped her sentence as she looked at Smokey in confusion. “What did you just call me?”

“Hm? Oh. I call you my dear.” he replied. “I hope I didn’t offend you in any way.”

“No, you didn’t. It’s just that only two of my closest friends have ever called me that.”

Now that she thought about it, there was something about Smokey that was strangely familiar. She recognized his voice and his selflessness towards her, not to mention the way he seemed really polite to her. Every single Umbrum was polite, but he seemed more polite than usual. In fact, he almost seemed a little similar to…

“Discord?”

“I guess there’s no fooling you, is there?” the Umbrum in disguise said as he transformed into the Lord of Chaos himself. “Surprised to see me down here, Fluttershy? Because I for one am beyond confused at you for being down here.”

“Discord, what are you doing in the Shadow Prison?” asked Fluttershy. “Doesn’t the magic of the crystals prevent evil creatures from escaping?”

“It does, but since I’m reformed and have the power to do just about everything, I can come and go as I please.” Discord replied as he floated over to her bed and sat down. “Now that’s all settled, why don’t you explain why you’re down in the Shadow Prison, and with your Element of Kindness. I thought you gave it up to stop my plunderseed vines, not to mention this is where the Umbrum are being locked away due to their little insurrection against the Crystal Empire over a thousand years ago.”

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story.”

She went over and sat next to him as she explained to him everything that had happened since last night. From how Radiant Hope stole and tried to get away with the crystal heart, to her explaining her reasons and her backstory with King Sombra and the Umbrum.

“So if I heard you right, a crystal unicorn by the name of Radiant Hope, who used to be childhood friends with the King Sombra and was destined to be an alicorn princess, but after a series of events, she abandoned her studies and returned to where the Crystal Empire used to be and found red crystals that claimed to be Sombra’s kind and convinced her to come down here to learn more on how she could free him and his other kind. Is that what you’re saying, Fluttershy?” Discord summarized.

“It is.” Fluttershy nodded.

“And if I’m not mistaken, I see that you and your friends are making a grave mistake by releasing the Umbrum back into Equestria.”

“Why? They’re very adorable and friendly, and they seem to have changed from their evil ways.”

“They may seem like that, but I know an act when I see it.” said Discord. “Need I remind you of how I used to act?”

“Well, you were quite difficult to manage; you still are, but you realize the error in your ways whenever you make a mistake and change from the better as a result from them.” Fluttershy explained. “That’s how Princess Luna, Starlight, Trixie, and the Changelings are who they are today. We should release the Umbrum back into Equestria and welcome them with open hooves and claws. We did the same to you and the other reformed villains, so why can’t we do the same to them as well?”

He looked at her for a moment before summoning a white flag and waving it. “Alright, I surrender. Perhaps the Umbrum did change, but it never hurts to be a little suspicious.”

“That sounds fair.”

Fluttershy’s smile fell as she looked away, suddenly becoming embarrassed. “Um, Discord? Back when we were going down the street to find my friends, you said that I was…pretty. Did you mean that?”

“I said that?” Discord said with genuine confusion before perking up in realization . “Ah yes, I did say that, didn’t I? Well, I can’t say that I was lying. You are a really pretty mare, Fluttershy. I should’ve told you this months ago.”

His voice became low as he gave her a flirtatious look. “Besides, who could ever resist those beautiful eyes of yours, or that lovely voice?”

Her cheeks turned pink as she hid behind her mane. “U-um. Well…I…”

“But now that it’s been said, we can move on as if it never happened!” He returned to his usual demeanor. “Now then, since we have a better understanding of each other, I believe now is a better time than later for me to get going.”

“Wait. you’re leaving already?” asked Fluttershy with surprise and what seemed like a tiny hint of hurt.

“Afraid so, my dear. I still have to blend in with the other Umbrum and reduce the amount of suspicion. I’ll still see you at the gala tonight.”

“Oh. Okay.” she smiled at him as she hugged him. “See you later, Discord.”

“Until next time, Flutterbuddy, and until we’re back in Equestria, my name is Smokey.”

He teleported from the bed to the window as he transformed into his Umbrum disguise as he flew through the window and down into Umbrumtopia. Fluttershy got up and went to the window as she watched her disguised friend descend away with a smile, happy that she could see him given the current circumstances.

Knocking from the door caused her to jump slightly as she flew over and opened it, revealing Pinkie Pie as she grinned at her. “Oh. what’s going on, Pinkie?”

“Hey Fluttershy! The servant from earlier said that it’s lunch time!” said the Element of Laughter. “Come on and let’s go and get some grub!”

A stomach growl from the yellow pegasus caused her to blush with a sheepish smile. “Some lunch does sound pretty good.”

They went down the hallway together as they went to the castle dining room (despite getting lost and asking a passing servant Umbrum for directions) to get something to eat.

Twilight and her friends have spent the rest of the day being treated like they were special. They were treated to a three hour spa-like body therapy session, toured all of Umbrumtopia and were met with friendly greetings and smiles, and even went to a talent show at the Performance Center near the edge of the city. During the entire afternoon, Fluttershy was distracted with her thoughts about Discord.

Throughout their entire time as friends, he’d never complimented her looks before, and he never flirted with her so smoothly like that. It was strange yet it had a strange effect on her heart. It was as if he did that because he found her attractive. The very thought caused her to shake her head. She and Discord were just friends, and he’d never toy with her emotions like that if it was otherwise; not to mention he didn’t ever mention being interested in a romantic relationship, especially with her. Whatever the reason was, she was sure that he was just trying to be funny like he always does.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on her thoughts like that, considering the fact that it was evening and the entire Umbrum population was flocking into the Castle of the Umbrum and going to the ballroom for the gala.

Fluttershy and her friends along with Radiant Hope were seated at a table on the stage with eight chairs and a larger one in the middle of them, which was likely for the queen. The castle ballroom was, unsurprisingly, large with a high rise ceiling that had multiple chandeliers hanging from it and illuminating the room. There were hundreds of tables that had twenty chairs each and plates with neatly set up silverware and plates, including cups of water and napkins that were folded into triangles.

“Wow. I didn’t think the entire Shadow Prison would come to the castle.” said Starlight as she watched the many Umbrum flood into the ballroom and to their seats at the tables.

“Me neither.” Twilight nodded in agreement. “But tonight’s their last time down here before we set them free, so it’s natural for everyone to show up and worship us.”

“I’m still having second thoughts, but good thing we have these things on our side.” said Rainbow Dash as she patted her Element of Loyalty.

“And the sooner we release the Umbrum, the sooner we get to go home and live in peace.” added Rarity. “I for one miss Equestria quite terribly. Even though Umbrumtopia and the Shadow Prison are really lovely places to live, I don’t think I can stay down here for much longer.”

“You can say that again.”

Queen Melinoe entered the ballroom and flew over to the stage as she sat down in her seat and smiled at the girls. “How are you girls doing?”

“We’re doing fine, your highness.” said Twilight with a smile of her own. “Is the gala going to start soon?”

“Almost. The guards are nearing the end of welcoming all the guests, and once they give me the signal, we’ll start the festivities.”

As if on cue, the last bit of the guests entered the ballroom and went to the tables as the guards flew in and closed the door as they gave their queen a firm salute, signaling that they finished letting everyone in. she nodded and rose to her hooves as she cleared her throat and spoke in a loud voice.

“Umbrum of the Shadow Prison, welcome to tonight’s gala. I thank you all for coming here on this amazing night. Tonight, we are all in for an extremely special occasion, because Princess Twilight and her friends will release us back into Equestria, where we’ll all live with the ponies in peace and harmony.”

The ballroom erupted into loud cheers as the queen rose her hoof, silencing everyone.

“Long ago we were once creatures of darkness and destruction, but since our imprisonment, we have learned the error of our ways and changed from evil to good, and I’m sure that the princesses of Equestria would want us to live life just like the ponies.” Melinoe continued. “Speaking of which, I would like Princess Twilight and her friends to speak to you all regarding our release. Girls? If you wouldn’t mind?”

The Mane 6 stood up and moved in front of the table as Twilight cleared her throat. “Thank you, Queen Melinoe. First of all, I would like to thank all the Umbrum in attendance for being very welcoming and friendly with us throughout our entire visit here. It pleases us greatly how you’ve changed from the creatures you once were and how you’ve realized the error in your ways.”

“Twilight’s right.” Starlight added in agreement. “I too have done things I regret to this day, but thanks to Twilight and her friends, I’m who I am today, and I know that you all want to make amends with not only the Crystal Empire and the crystal ponies, but all of Equestria.”

“And before you know it, we’ll all be the best of friends and have an amazing time together!” added Pinkie happily.

“It was really nice to meet and get to know you all, and I can’t wait until we all become the best of friends.” said Fluttershy as she saw one Umbrum wave at her, knowing full well who that was.

“Thank you, girls.” Melinoe smiled at them. “Anyway, without further ado, let’s all venture up to the portal and go back into Equestria!”

The Umbrum erupted into loud cheers as Rainbow raised a brow in confusion. “Already? The gala just started.”

“I apologize for cutting the gala short, Rainbow, but we’re ever so excited to gain our freedom back.” said the queen as she flew down from the stage and over to the ballroom doors. “Come along, everyone. To the entrance!”

The Umbrum got up from their seats and followed their queen out of the castle as Twilight and the others stayed behind.

“Are you girls having second thoughts about this?” asked Rainbow. “The gala didn’t even go for fifteen minutes, and they want to get out of the Shadow Prison now?”

“It is a little strange, but I’m sure the Umbrum are just really excited to be free.” said Twilight as they followed them out of the castle.

“That’s right.” Radiant Hope nodded in agreement. “The Umbrum have been trapped down here for over a thousand years, so it’s only natural for them to rush along the process to get their freedom back.”

“But shouldn’t we be the first ones to the portal? You know, just to make sure there’s no trouble?” suggested the cyan pegasus.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash! I’m sure the Umbrum won’t go back on their word and do something to us like destroy the Elements of Harmony.” said Pinkie.

“I certainly hope so.”

They went through Umbrumtopia, passed through Family Park, the prison cell area, through the tunnel, and over to the stairs. Waiting for them there on both sides were the Umbrum as they chanted ‘freedom’ over and over again. Twilight and her companions ascended the staircase as they were met by Queen Melinoe and two Umbrum guards.

“I don’t know if you ponies are used to this kind of attention, but our freedom means a lot to us.” she said. “Are you ready?”

The Princess of Friendship and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony took their preposition in front of the entrance gateway. “Ready.” they said in unison.

“Good, and take as much time as you need.”

Twilight closed her eyes and lit up her horn as her Element of Magic illuminated, causing the other Elements of Harmony to glow as well. The Mane 6 levitated up into the air as rainbow beams shot out from them and met as one before colliding with the entrance, causing it to open widely as the power died down and the six ponies landed back on the ground.

The Umbrum erupted into cheers as Queen Melinoe flew over to them with a smile. “Thank you, my little ponies. Your deed has made us all very happy.”

“It was no trouble, your highness.” said Rarity with a bow. “Now we can all go home and live together in peace.”

“Yes, but before we leave, there’s something I want to do.”

The queen levitated the Elements of Harmony off of the Mane 6 as her eyes lit up and turned them black, causing them to shatter right before their eyes.

“What the..? Hey!” Rainbow Glared at her. “Why did you do that?”

“Did you ponies honestly think we wanted to live with you ponies in harmony?” Malinoe said with a sinister tone as she physically transformed into an appearance that was more scary and ugly. “You ponies are such fools for believing us.”

Radiant Hope tried to intervene. “Your highness, what’s-”

“Oh, be quiet, you numbskull! You had one job, which was to resurrect Sombra and set us free. But instead, you bring a princess and a bunch of ponies into our doorstep!” the queen turned and glared at the Mane 6. “And you! I thought Rabia made it clear not to use any kind of magic while in here, but you bring in the magic from those repulsive Elements of Harmony in here! It’s one of the only things that can reveal our true forms! We can’t stand them, especially magic!”

“Well I’m glad that we did use them!” said Twilight as she stood protectively in front of her friends with her wings spread out. “You took advantage of Hope.”

Melinoe laughed. “I just gave her what she wanted. She wanted Sombra not to be what we are. She wanted me to tell her that Sombra was not a monster.”

“He’s not!” Radiant Hope glared at her as Twilight held her back. “Sombra’s good on the inside! I know he is!”

“You fool! Sombra’s just as much an Umbrum as all of us. When he was just a colt, we came up with a plan. Our powers kept us from crossing through the crystal, so we had to lock away the darkness inside of him. We had to make him look and seem like an ordinary pony so he could pass through, and when the crystal ponies took him in, they wouldn’t know what he really was. It was hidden even from him until he was finally strong enough, but you kept him from releasing us then! We’ve waited for over a thousand years, and we won’t let any of you stop us.”

“Think again, Melinoe!” Twilight stomped her hoof defiantly as her friends stood beside her. “We may have foolishly freed you from your prison, but we can lock you back here.”

“Yeah!” her friends yelled in agreement.

The Umbrum queen erupted into laughter. “And what can you ponies do to stop us? Without your beautiful Elements of Harmony, you can’t do anything to stop us.”

“Not if I have something to say about it.” said a voice from out of nowhere as Discord teleported in front of the girls with crossed arms as he glared at the queen. “Melinoe. It’s an honor to be in your presence, your highness.”

“Discord! What are you doing here?” Melinoe demanded. “I thought you were turned to stone a thousand years ago.”

“I was, but Twilight and her friends released me on condition that I use my chaos for good instead of evil, and I can’t allow you to plunge Equestria into eternal destruction and darkness.” the Lord of Chaos replied. “So unless you want to be turned into tar, I highly suggest you call off your invasion.”

“Ha! Do you really think we’re going to stop our plans to the likes of you?”

She lit up her eyes and fired a beam at him as he got struck and sent flying back.

“Discord!” Fluttershy gasped as she rushed over to him with worry. “Are you okay?”

“A little hit on the ground never hurt anyone, my dear.” Discord replied as he stood back up. “But that queen is going to look even more ugly once I’m through with her.”

He snapped his fingers and widened his eyes in confusion when nothing happened. “What the..? Why isn’t my chaos working?”

Melinoe laughed at him mockingly. “Did you honestly think our powers didn’t get stronger during our imprisonment? I’m equally as surprised as you are, Lord of Chaos, that my powers blocked yours, but the less threats to our plans, the better chances we have at survival.”

“You may have taken away Discord’s ability to use his magic, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a weak opponent!” said Starlight as she stood in front of everyone and lit up her horn.

The Umbrum queen let out a sigh. “Really?”

She blasted a beam at her horn and blocked her magic as she glared threateningly at the others present. “Who’s next?”

Not wanting to put her companions in danger, Twilight lit up her horn and teleported them and the shattered remains of the Elements of Harmony out of the Shadow Prison as Melinoe growled in anger at their cowardly escape before chuckling darkly. “Those pathetic cowards.”

“Shouldn’t we go and find them, my queen?” asked Rabia as she flew over to her. “You may have weakened their ability to defeat us, but there’s still a high risk of us being discovered and apprehended.”

“You’re right, Rabia. We must go into hiding and contemplate our next plan. Escaping was part of it, but there’s still a lot more that we have to fully think through. For one thing, where the Elements of Harmony came from. They are no longer of any use to the ponies, but there’s a chance that another powerful source is in Equestria. Once we fully contemplate our next move, we will stop everything that stands in our way and rule Equestria.”

“That’s a good plan, your highness.”

“Thank you, but we must go and tell the Umbrum of our change of plans before they make our presence known too early.”

And with that, they flew out of the Shadow Prison and caught up with the other Umbrum and told them of the new plan. Despite feeling upset at having their momentary freedom being taken away, they understood their queen’s actions once she explained to them the next phase in their plan.

Twilight and the others appeared inside of the throne room of Canterlot Castle as they rushed over to the thrones. “Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! We have a problem!”

“Twilight? What is it, and what are those shattered crystals?” Celestia said with concern as she and Luna rose from their thrones and flew down to them.

“The Umbrum. They destroyed the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight replied as they gasped.

“How is this possible?” Luna demanded. “Tell us everything that happened while you were gone.”

“The Umbrum were really friendly with us when we stepped into the shadow Prison and there was one Umbrum named Rabia who was Radiant Hope’s friend and greeted us and even gave us a full tour of not only where they were imprisoned, but their city Umbrumtopia. She even introduced us to Queen Melinoe, who’s the Queen of the Umbrum, and when we told her of our decision to free them, she hosted a gala in her castle that was only a few minutes and we went up to the entrance to use the Elements of Harmony so that we could free them. Once we freed them, they turned evil and attacked us and destroyed the Elements and then Discord showed up but Melinoe used her magic to block his and Starlight’s powers, so here we are.” Pinkie explained in a single breath at a high rate of speed as she gasped for air.

“Unfortunately Pinkie’s right.” Discord nodded in agreement as he snapped his fingers. “Melinoe blocked my magic, so it doesn’t work.”

“Same here.” Starlight nodded as she tried to light her horn, only for no magical aura to form.

Celestia observed the shattered remains of the Elements of Harmony as a serious expression washed over her features, showing her readiness to take action. “Guard!”

A castle guard rushed into the throne room and came to a top in front of her and bowed. “What is it, your highness?”

“Write a letter to Cadence and Shining Armor and warn them about the Umbrum. They have returned.”

“Yes, your highness!” he saluted as he galloped out of the throne room.

“As for the rest of you, you must return to Ponyville and prepare for an attack should one happen.” said Luna. “We cannot take any chances. Without our most powerful means of defense, the risk of Equestria being taken over by the Umbrum is much higher than the last time.”

“I’ll do everything I can do to find something that can stop the Umbrum.” said Twilight as she lit up her horn and teleported her companions to Ponyville.

Once they were gone, Celestia let out a sigh and lowered her head. “I should have never agreed to letting them go to the Shadow Prison.”

“Your guilt is understandable, sister, but now isn’t the time to dwell on that,” said Luna. “We must prepare the royal guard for what could be a violent war with the Umbrum.”

The sun princess nodded. “You're right, Luna.”

And with that, they walked out of the throne room with determined looks, determined to not let the return of the Umbrum end all of Equestria forever.

To be continued…

Author's Note

I’ve had more time to make this chapter due to the snow days I’ve been having here in Loudoun County, Virginia, which has boosted my passion for my determination for making this story. What do you think of this chapter so far? As all of you know, the sports stadium, park, and city were not in MLP comic issue number 36, but I thought it would be nice to make it seem like the Umbrum made themselves at home in the Shadow Prison. My OC for this story, Queen Melinoe has now been introduced to the series. She’ll be a pretty evil foe to deal with, but it’s nothing the Mane 6 can’t handle.

I hope you liked this chapter, and I look forward to making more in the future! :twilightsmile: