To Be Truly Happy

Chapters

Dreams and Detectives
Love is in Bloom
Little Eyes Watching
Painting the Stars
Dreams of Defeat
Double Trouble
Trapped
Celestia's Lament
Held Hostage
To Save or Not to Save?
Love Conquers All (Ending)
Standing Inches Away

Dreams and Detectives

The field was as far as the eye could see. The grass was made out of scrumptious licorice sticks. The tree trunks, the few of what little trees there were, had chocolate trunks stretching up into a green sticky peppermint oasis at the top.

Smiling lively, an earth pony by the name of Pinkamena Diane Pie, Pinkie for short, bounced across the field, giggling to herself at the spectacle that was before her cerulean blue eyes. She stopped short at a small spring to quench her thirst. She lay down next to the pool of chocolate milk and sipped it lightly, savoring every mouthful. When she was satisfied, she licked her lips and sat up.

“Pinkie…” her ears pricked up at the strange voice, it sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. She turned her head slightly and stood up.

“Um…hello?” she stared into the mist that hung over the land.

There came a soft reply, “Pinkie…”

She tilted her head and took a step forward, “Who are you? Do I know you?” the voice had a slight echo to it, almost a hypnotizing aura that made Pinkie curious.

“Come.” The voice said softly. Pinkie smiled.

“Is this a game? Oh, oh, Hide and Seek, maybe? Do I have to find you? And who are you, anyways?”

The voice chuckled, “Come and see for yourself. I’m waiting.” Pinkie immediately bounded foreword, racing over the licorice and expecting something up ahead. She noticed the blurry outline of something. Then, slowing her pace, she trotted towards it.

She got tingles when she saw who it was, “Dis…Discord…? But how…how did…what!?”

He gave her a mischievous smile, “That doesn’t matter. All that matters is…I’m back! And this time…” he winked at her, “I’m here to stay.”

Pinkie grinned, “You are!? YES! I missed you so much!” she leapt into his outstretched arms and hugged him tightly.
There was no reply. After a few moments, she began to feel awkward, then she opened her eyes and looked around.

Nopony was in sight. She began to feel lonely. She called out, “Hello? Dissy?” her ears drooped and she sank onto the ground. The licorice began to slowly melt away and the ground was now pitch black. Pinkie sighed and rested her head on the colorless land. She slowly faded away…

*Thump*
“AH!” Pinkie Pie jumped awake, she was tangled up in her covers and she kicked them off. Backing up on the wooden flooring, she bumped into her night table, making it shake. She gasped and quickly grabbed the lamp to prevent it from falling. She sighed and put it back in its former position.

Pinkie slowly turned around to see if she had woken Gummy, her toothless baby alligator. He was curled up in his bed sleeping soundly. The pink pony sighed and crawled back into bed. She pulled the covers over her head and looked around under the sheets. “Another dream about Dissy…” she thought to herself. “And this time it was a nightmare, too…” Pinkie pulled the covers down off her head and stared at the pastel pink ceiling, thinking about all the times she and her draconiques friend had spent together. She could almost remember that doughnut that she had the day before he left.
Pinkie’s ears drooped and she turned her head to the window where she heard crickets chirping Ponyville a soothing lullaby. She sat up and looked at the twinkling stars outside her bedroom. The faint patterns of constellations made her feel a little better. Twilight, her Unicorn friend had told her that the stars made patterns in the sky and it was fun to spot them.
Suddenly, a shooting star darted across the sky and Pinkie walked over to her open window to make a wish. “Um…Mr. Star?” she said aloud. “I don’t know if it’s really true that you grant wishes, let alone even hear them. But this is my one last hope.” She let out a long sigh and looked around her sleeping hometown. Nopony was out at the moment, for it was half-past two AM. All was very quiet and still. She turned back to the sky,
“If you could have time to spare just for me. Because, I know lots of ponies make wishes on you. So, um…about six months ago I said goodbye to a friend…and…I was just hoping that maybe I could see him…maybe one last time. You see, I keep having…” she let out a yawn, “These dreams…and no matter how much I hope they’d leave me alone, they won’t. So, if you could, just, please grant my wish. I’d give up all the sugar cookies in the world just to see Dissy again. So, um…I’m signing off now. Er…g’night, Mr. Star.” Pinkie smiled and turned back to her bed. She walked over to it and then an idea popped into her head, she grinned widely. She turned to Gummy, trotted over to him and sat down.
“Gummy?” she tapped him and he stirred. “I have a plan.” Gummy opened his purple eyes and gazed up at her, yawning. Pinkie giggled, “Go back to sleep, little guy. Tomorrow’s gonna be our day.” She kissed him on the cheek, “Tomorrow, we’re gonna get a friend back!” Gummy blinked and rolled over. Pinkie giggled and climbed back into her own bed, humming to herself. She pulled up the covers and closed her eyes. “Tomorrow, I’m gonna book us a trip to Canterlot.” She sighed and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

*The Next Morning*

Opening her eyes the next morning, Pinkie sat straight up in bed and looked over at Gummy. “Gums, time to wake up!” she pushed the covers down and climbed out of bed and got her slippers on. They were pink piggies that made ‘oink, oink’ sounds when you walked on them, they always cheered Pinkie up. Pinkie walked over to Gummy and tapped him, “Are you ready, Gummy?” she asked him, grinning. He blinked up at her and got out of his bed. Pinkie squatted down and the alligator latched onto her mane, she trotted out of the room and downstairs.

“Hello, Pinkie! Have a good sleep?” said Mrs. Cake, Pinkie’s employer and good friend. Pinkie nodded and looked at Gummy.

“We both did! I have to go out of town, today, though.”

Mrs. Cake paused, “Oh? Is something wrong, dear?” Pinkie bristled and stuttered a bit trying to think of what her excuse should be for not being there. In almost all of her time at Sugarcube Corner she had never taken the day off, except weekends.

“Oh, no, no, no! Nothing like that at all! I just wanted to see a friend.” Mrs. Cake smiled. Suddenly, the door opened and the bell made a jingling sound. Pinkie turned to see three small fillies at the door. “Hey, it’s the CMC! What are ya up to today, girls!?”

A cream colored earth pony with orange eyes and a bow in her red mane smiled at Pinkie, “Applejack said we could get sweets for later!” Apple Bloom was this filly’s name and her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked up to the counter.

“Hi, Mrs. Cake! How are you?” said Sweetie Belle, a Unicorn filly who was the younger sister of Pinkie’s friend, Rarity. Mrs. Cake smiled,

“I’m just fine, girls! How are you all?”

Scootaloo, an orange Pegasus with a purple mane piped up, “We’re good! Got any sweet treats for us today?”

Mrs. Cake smiled, “Sure do! What would you like today, Crusaders?”

Scootaloo jumped up and down, “Blueberry muffin, please!”

Sweetie Belle licked her lips at the long line of sweets placed before her, “Hm…I guess the uh…the white frosted doughnut!” she pointed to it and Mrs. Cake got it for her.

“Apple fritter, please!” Apple Bloom said. Pinkie smiled when she said that because she Apple Bloom always picked the fritter. Pinkie thought they were delish, too! Mrs. Cake gave them each a bag with their sweets in them.

“Enjoy!” Mrs. Cake and Pinkie said in unison. The Cutie Mark Crusaders nodded and ran over to a table. “Now, Pinkie.” Mrs. Cake turned to her, “Have a good time with your friend!” Pinkie nodded.

“I sure will, thanks!” she smiled and trotted out the door. The CMC looked after her and Scootaloo took a bite of her muffin.

“Wonder where she’s going.” She said with her mouth full. The other two shrugged. “Hey, I know! Cutie Mark Crusader Spies!” Apple Bloom choked on her fritter.

“Us? Spies? We could get our cutie marks in spyin’?” she coughed. Sweetie Belle brightened and her green eyes glittered.

“I think it’s an awesome idea! I’d like to see who Pinkie’s meeting with, too!” she nodded. “Nice thinking, Scootaloo!” Scootaloo smiled.

“Now, if she’s not gonna be back today, I wonder…” Scoots tapped her chin in thought, “Hm, well, she must be going out of town.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged, “Should we follow her to the train station?” Scootaloo quickly finished off her muffin and nodded.

“Yep! Let’s go there now! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SPIES, YAY!”

Mrs. Cake peeked into the room, “What was that, girls?” the CMC gave her nervous smiles. Scootaloo bumped Apple Bloom on the shoulder.

“Uh…we were just…um…These treats are SOOO good! We had to say somethin’ about em’!” the cream earth pony smiled anxiously.

Mrs. Cake smiled at them and giggled, “I’m really glad you like them! But, could you be a little quieter, please?” the Crusaders nodded and turned back to Scootaloo, they hoof bumped her and then they were off.

Pinkie passed through the town, with one thing on her mind. She nodded nicely to everypony she saw, with The Cutie Mark Crusaders following close behind. Pinkie walked up to a booth and smiled at the clerk in front of her. “Hi!” she said, happily, “May I have two tickets to Canterlot, please?” she asked. The clerk, a gray earth pony with a black mane and freckles smiled at Pinkie and nodded.

“Two tickets for you! And…who else are you taking?” the pony looked around nosily. Pinkie giggled and turned around, Gummy was contently riding on her back. The clerk smiled. “Aw, what a cute lizard!”

Pinkie corrected her, “Alligator. Is name is Gummy! He has no teeth!” the clerk looked mildly disturbed and she gulped.

“Ahahaha…he’s um…cute.” She gave Pinkie a quick smile and looked at a piece of paper. “The train will be leaving in about three minutes, miss.” She turned to Pinkie and gave her the tickets. Pinkie, in turn, gave her ten bits. “Have a nice trip!” the clerk said, smiling. Pinkie nodded and walked over to a bench and took a seat.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were watching her from behind a decorative plant, frowned. They had no idea how they were going to get on the train and they didn’t have any bits, either. Apple Bloom grimaced, “Ah don’t see how we’re gonna do this! Even if we do somehow get on the train, Pinkie’ll see us, no doubt about it!” she shook her head. Scootaloo clicked her tongue.

“I don’t see either…maybe we could ride in storage?” the orange suggested, glancing at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie grinned.

“I think that’s a great idea! Yeah, let’s do it! Let’s sneak into the freight car!” she turned around and snuck along the back of the bench, trying to stay out of sight of Pinkie. Scootaloo gasped and pulled her back.

“Are you crazy? We need a disguise first, silly!” she looked at Apple Bloom, who shrugged. Sweetie tapped her chin with her hoof in thought.

“Well, I’m sure Rarity would have something…”

“But,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “by the time we get there the train will have left!” the other two nodded and sighed.

Sweetie looked at the ponies passing by and her ears drooped. “I guess it won’t work…” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sighed and then they heard a shout.

“All aboard that’s coming aboard!” said the conductor. Pinkie looked up from her deep thoughts and grabbed her ticket. She walked over and hoofed it to the conductor he looked it over and smiled. “Have a nice trip, Ms. Pie!” Pinkie giggled and said thanks and skipped on the train. The CMC sighed and walked out of their hiding place. Scootaloo sat down on the same bench Pinkie was on and bit her lip.

“That was a total bust…” the other two nodded and sat down Sweetie Belle stopped short.

“Wait!” she grabbed something, “Pinkie forgot Gummy’s ticket! That means we can go!” Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, ONE of us can go. What’s the point in goin’ if we can’t all go together?” Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked around the room. She spied a box marked ‘lost and found’ in black printing and she skipped over to it.

“There must be something we can use in here…” she fiddled through it. “AHA! A jacket!” she pulled out a big black jacket with spiffy gray buttons and it even had a hat to match! Scootaloo and Apple Bloom smiled and came running up. “Isn’t this great? Put it on!” she said to the girls. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

“We all suppost to wear that?” Apple Bloom studied it closely. Sweetie Belle nodded and stepped into it. Scootaloo shrugged and did too.
Moments later, the girls were all standing on top of each other. Sweetie at the bottom, Scootaloo middle and Apple Bloom at the top with the hat pulled down over her face. They stumbled over to the bench and Apple Bloom grabbed the ticket and walked up to the conductor. He had a confused look on his face.

“Erm…hello.” He said, looking at the strange “pony” that stood before him. Apple Bloom tried to think of something to say.

“Ah’d like to…uh…” she cleared her throat and deepened her voice, “I’d like to come aboard.” She said through clenched teeth. The conductor studied her for a moment then cleared his throat.

“Come right ahead…” he said, stepping aside, allowing the Cutie Mark Crusaders to pass. Sweetie Belle stumbled forward, carrying her two friends on her back, it sure wasn’t easy. The conductor made a face at Apple Bloom, but she stumbled in the train without flinching. Pinkie Pie, who was looking out the window didn’t seem to notice the CMC enter, Apple Bloom quietly tip-toed past her and took a seat.

Pinkie stared at the vast expanse of the plains beyond the train depot. She sighed and looked down briefly at the floor. She blinked as she had she had an illusion of Twilight giving her a glare. She quickly shook her head and stared over at Gummy, who was sitting next to her. “Hey, Gummy.” She said. “How are we gonna make this work? I mean, I have no idea how we’re gonna break Discord out. And I certainly don’t know what to do after that.”
Gummy didn’t answer.
Pinkie smiled slightly at what she called Gummy’s “enthusiasm” Twilight liked to call it “Silence”. Pinkie turned back to the window and then the train started to move slightly. She turned, expecting to see the conductor come by to punch the tickets. He did, with a hole puncher. The first time she’d gone on a train, Pinkie had thought he would come by wearing wrestling gloves and literally punch the ticket. Whenever she thought about how silly that was, she would laugh.
Presently, Pinkie giggled and looked out the window again. The cool winter air made whooshing noises as the train picked up speed. The mare blinked and smiled as it started to snow, not much, just flurries. She suddenly had a strong desire for them to be turned into peppermints falling from the sky. “Maybe when Discord gets back, I’ll ask him!” she said aloud.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders gasped. “DISCORD?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, receiving a “SHHH!!!” from Scootaloo. Pinkie blinked and rubbed her ear. She could swear she heard Sweetie Belle shout something…oh, well. She turned back to the window.

Scootaloo groaned softly. Sweetie Belle gave her a look from under their chair. She girls had ultimately taken off the costume and put it on the seat, they would rather hide under the chair than wear a stinky costume all day, at least while they followed Pinkie. Scootaloo glared at Sweetie Belle, “You almost blew our cover!” she whispered sharply.

Sweetie glared back, “Sorry! But aren’t you surprised, too!? I mean, DISCORD!” she practically shouted the last word and her friends shushed her again.

“Ah actually am surprised. What would Pinkie want with Discord?” Apple Bloom gave her friends a quizzical shrug.

Scootaloo nodded, “That dude’s trouble! He made everypony go berserk!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie nodded. “And to boot, he’s been gone for over two years! Why does she suddenly care about him now?”

Sweetie’s eyes sparkled like diamonds, “Maybe she’s in love!” the girls gasped.

Apple Bloom scooted away from Sweetie Belle, “Are you outta your thinker!?” Scootaloo scowled. Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked up at the ‘roof’ the train seat made above the CMC, who were nestled under the chair.

“I’m not crazy! I think this must be it! Think about it, they’re like secret lovers who want to be together, but they’re flames of love and adoration for each other are diminished by the other ponies who hate Discord! It’s just like one of those sappy romance novels Twilight told me about!” Sweetie Belle explained, making the others scoot farther away from her.

Scootaloo grimaced. “Love? But their so different! And Discord’s trapped in stone for Celestia’s sake! How exactly do you know Pinkie is going for him?”

“Who else would she be going for!?”

“I dunno!”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, “Scootaloo, she SAID Discord! What, is Discord suddenly the most popular colt name nowadays?”

Scootaloo blinked “Er…um…”

“Exactly.” Sweetie continued, “And that’s why-”

“We should stick ‘round and find out!” Apple Bloom finished for her, smiling. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

“Uh, fine…but you know I’m not much for romance, even if that ONE time I made up a love potion with you guys.”

“Love POISON.” The girls corrected her simultaneously. Scootaloo sighed and nodded.

“Right.” Scootaloo sighed. “We’re not doing the same with these two, right?”

“NO!!” the two screamed, making Pinkie turn around and look over the back of her seat. The girls crawled backwards, and once Pinkie Pie was out of earshot, they said again, this time quieter. “No.” Scootaloo wiped the sweat from her face and put on the best fake smile she could.

“That’s good. Now, we’ll just follow Pinkie.”

The other two brohoofed her and smiled, and together they whispered, “Cutie Mark Crusader Undercover Detectives! YAY!”

Apple Bloom smirked, “Commence operation: Easy as Pie!”

Love is in Bloom

Pinkie took one step forward, two, three, four. She smiled up at the statue that stood before her. “Hello.” She began, “I’m here…” there came no reply, but, Pinkie knew he could hear her. She giggled, “I’ve come to see you.” Her eyes shifted around to see if anypony was watching her. But, unbeknownst to Pinkie, the CMC were sitting right behind her, huddled up in a bush and peering out. They didn’t say a word, but gaped in astonishment. Sweetie Belle was smirking in triumph and had an ‘I told you so!’ look on her face. Pinkie blinked and turned back to her immobile friend. “Dissy?” she began, “Remember the time where we took that fly together?” Pinkie became nostalgic; “R-remember how I hugged you so tight you couldn’t breathe?” she laughed a little, “Remember how we went cloud gazing? That was fun. I’d like to do that again.” She grinned, “Wouldn’t you?”

Nothing came in response.

Suddenly, a horrible thought came to Pinkie’s mind. She didn’t know how in Equestria she would break Discord out, and certainly didn’t know how she’d keep him secret. But Pinkie was a take-chances kind of pony, she rubbed her teary eyes with her hooves and continued in a shaky voice, “I-I know you would. You’re so much fun, Discord.” She let out a melodious giggle, “And as…d-delightfully random as I am! Randomness, it’s a business we both are awesome at.” Pinkie nuzzled the statue, “But I can’t do it without you. I promise, no, PINKIE Promise that I will get you outta there! And I’ll do it today!”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo watched in amazement. Scoots shook her head and bit her lip. Apple Bloom sighed softly in disbelief. And Sweetie Belle, well, Sweetie Belle still had a triumphant smirk on her face.

Pinkie turned to Gummy, who was wandering around the vicinity aimlessly. Pinkie trotted over, scooped him up, and trotted back over to Discord. “Dissy, I think I’ve got a plan.” She sat down. “Now, when you were released the last time, apparently it was because of an argument. Now, let’s see if the same type of thing can get ya outta there this time around!” she cleared her throat and started to prance in circles around Gummy.

“Gummy, you-you’re so…BAD!” Pinkie couldn’t bring herself to say anything beyond bad, she continued, “You’ve chewed up my slippers! My favorite piggy slippers! How you even do it without teeth is a question I will never know the answer to!” Pinkie put on a fake grimace, “What else? Let’s see… wrecked my cakes, uh, uh…made messes all over my favorite rug!” she held up a rug that seemed to appear from nowhere, “See? And you’ve even ripped up my favorite teddy bear!” she then held up a teddy with holes everywhere in it. “I thought I could trust you! TRUST YOU!” she said dramatically, imitating Rarity’s drama queen personality. And Pinkie continued with a Trottinghamian accent, “Gummy, I thought you were my…er…old chap! But this friendship is pointless! POINTLESS, I SAY!” she thrust her head back in sorrow and pretended to facehoof.

*Crack*
Pinkie wanted to squeal, but she continued. Much to the dismay of herself, and even the CMC. Apple Bloom wiped her eyes with a leaf and sniffed. Scoots rolled her eyes. “And, Gummy. You have thoroughly disappointed me! I dislike…”
*Crack*
Pinkie tried to keep from grinning, “I despise...”
*Crack*
“I loathe…”
She suddenly heard a low chuckle and forced herself to retain from grinning wildly. The CMC’s eyes darted all around and they suddenly became petrified.

Sweetie bit her lip, “Think we should get outta here?” she whispered to her fellow Crusaders. They shook their heads.

Scoots smirked, “Now way, scared-y pony! The suspense is killing me!”

Pinkie stomped her hoof on the ground and let out a fake yelp. “See, Gummy!? That’s what I want to do every time I see your…”

*Crack*

“Sorry…”

*Crack*

“Pathetic…”

*Crack*

“SELF!”

*BOOM!*

Shards of stone flew everywhere; Pinkie covered her eyes and grinned. This was it, the time was finally here! The CMC covered their eyes and tried to keep from yelping as stone flew everywhere and left the labyrinth in a haze. A creature emerged from the haze with a long snake-like body. Sweetie squeaked in horror at the ghastly figure. Her friends covered her mouth.

The creature yawned and took in a big breath of air. Chuckling, he looked around. “Memo to Discord,” he said, smirking “Find that little rascal, Pinkie Pie and give her all the chocolate milk she wants…with a side order of hugs, of course” he suddenly felt something on his back and then everything became black. He heard a familiar noise, it was music to his ears and he beamed.

Pinkie was standing on his shoulders covering his eyes with her front hooves. Her heart was pounding and her insides were churning with happiness. She giggled with that musical laughter and stood on the top of his head, looking at his covered eyes. She lifted her hooves off them and shouted, “GUESS WHO!?” Discord smirked at her and took her in his arms, laughing.

“Why, Pinkie!” he said, pretending to be surprised, “It seems like EONS, darling!” he said, acting like Rarity. Pinkie snorted with laughter. He chuckled and held her close to him. “Say something, I just want to hear you talk…” Pinkie gave a loud whoop and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek.

“DISSY! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH AND I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU EVERY DAY AND I HOPE YOU MISSED ME AND I WANNA JUMP UP IN THE AIR AND SCREAM BECAUSE YOU’RE FINALLY BACK AND NOW YOU CAN STAY FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER!!!”

Discord blinked and gave her a tight hug. “I missed you too, my dear. So, so much…” he sighed in bliss and nuzzled her. Then he chuckled and gave her a serious expression, “Do you still love me as much as I love you?” a small smirk spread across his face. Pinkie squealed in delight and hugged him cozily.

“YES, OH, YES!!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, “With all my heart!! Do you know what?”

“What?”

Pinkie’s eyes welled up with tears, “I missed you more than I’ve ever missed anypony. Ever.” She nuzzled him softly, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Pinkie. I love you, too.”

((A/N: Think it’s over? Think again, party poopers. THE STORY SHALL CONTINUE! I hope you like it so far!! Thanks to all for reading!))

Little Eyes Watching

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo stay huddled in the bush. Scootaloo had the wackiest look on her face, Apple Bloom was so shocked…well, she just stared at Discord and Pinkie, who were still hugging. Sweetie Belle was beaming, she knew she’d be right! “Told you so!” she whispered to her two friends, who glared at her.

“We get it, Sweetie…we get it.” Scootaloo reminded her for the fifteenth time. Apple Bloom stared at the two love birds. She sighed. Scoots turned to her, “You think this is cute? This is serious! If anypony finds out, it’s bye-bye Discord and Pinkie Pie!”

Apple Bloom seemed to consider this, she paused. “Whaddia reckon we should do about it, gals? Ah mean if Applejack were to find out…” she seemed momentarily dazed, then shook her head. “We can’t let that happen.” AB whispered.

Scootaloo raised her eyebrows, “You think they should stay TOGETHER? Are you two nuts!?” Sweetie shook her head.

“Not at all! What, you don’t think the same?” Sweetie and AB stared at Scootaloo as if she was crazy. Scoots scoffed.

“DISCORD IS DISCORD.” She said just above a whisper, “Seriously, you two! You TRUST that this will work out?” she glanced out the bush and then back to her friends, “I mean, what the hay?”

Apple Bloom smirked, “Scootaloo, come on!” Scoots blew a raspberry and Sweetie Belle gasped. “What’s wrong, Sweetie Belle?”

“I just had a great idea!” Sweetie announced, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Apple Bloom motioned for her to continue. “Cutie Mark Crusader Security Guards!” Apple Bloom and Scoots gave her a puzzled look. “Listen,” Sweetie began, “We could watch over them and make sure nopony interferes with their relationship!”

Scoots rolled her eyes, “We’re suppost to earn our cutie marks doing WHAT now? Seriously, Sweetie…” Sweetie frowned.

“We don’t have to earn our cutie marks doin’ it!” Apple Bloom stated, “It’d just be a nice thing to do. And they wouldn’t even have to know about it! Until later on, maybe, that is.”

Scoots buried her head into a pile of leafs and said in a muffled voice, “Fine, let’s give it a shot.”

Sweetie and Apple Bloom brohoofed leaving a very bewildered Scootaloo to gaze out and Discord and Pinkie. Scoots smiled slightly as she watched them hugging. “They are kinda cute together, I guess…” she concluded, resting her head on her hooves.

Meanwhile, Discord chose this moment to break the hug. Pinkie smiled up at him and he grinned back at her. She giggled, “Hey, Dissy?”

“Yes, Pinkie?”

Pinkie’s expression became serious, “Dissy, there’s a slight problem.” He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. “What if…” she took a deep breath, “What if my friends come looking for me and they find you and they see you here with me and they get all mad and angry and make you go away…” she paused briefly and continued in a quiet voice, “What if we can’t stop them?”

Discord bit his lip in thought, “I…hm, I don’t know, Pinkie. But until that moment comes, I’ll be by your side.” He hugged her briefly. “Do you know what?”

Pinkie smiled softly and hugged back, “What, Dissy?” she said tenderly, closing her eyes for a spell. He nuzzled her.

“You know that, every time I looked towards Ponyville.” He tilted his head south and Pinkie looked, too. “Every time I looked towards Ponyville, Pinkie, I thought of you.” he smiled sadly and hugged her again, “I’m so glad you’re back.”

Pinkie burst out laughing, “I wasn’t trapped in stone, silly! You were!” she hugged him back, “I’m happier!”

Discord frowned and nicked her on the nose, making her giggle. “I don’t think so, missy. Au contraire, I am much happier!” Pinkie scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “Don’t you defy me, Miss Pie! I have been wasting away to NOTHING,NOTHING, I SAY! In that wretched stone…” as if by magic, a blue light appeared on Discord and Pinkie frowned.

“I know, Dissy. I’m sorry you were so alone…” she snuggled deep into his fur. “But I’m still happier, Dissy.” She teased.

Discord beeped her nose and Pinkie grinned, this was the Discord she loved, fun, happy, and as positively random as she was herself. “Hey, I bet you didn’t talk on and on about me like I did about you!” Pinkie brightened and her tail wagged.

“You did? You honestly did?” she paused with a confused expression on her face, “But you couldn’t talk…” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Discord laughed and patted her head. She snuggled right up to his paw and even…purred? “I could talk, but no one could hear me. Do you know how bored it was in there?” he let out a long sigh, “But now…I’m here, here with you.” He blushed lightly and Pinkie did, too.

Sweetie suddenly had a little sniffle in her nose. She needed to sneeze, bad. Her eyes darted around looking for something, anything to sneeze in. Scoots soon noticed her franticness and nudged Apple Bloom on the shoulder. Apple Bloom looked at her. “Huh? What’s wrong?” Scootaloo pointed to Sweetie, who was covering her mouth with her front hooves. Apple Bloom made a face, “Somethin’ wrong, Sweetie Belle?” Sweetie tried to answer but as soon as she removed her hooves from her mouth.
She sneezed.

Discord’s ears shot straight up, “Did you hear that?” he asked nopony in particular. Pinkie nodded and leaped down from his arms and walked towards where she heard the noise. She stood stock-still for a moment and the CMC didn’t dare move a muscle.
Pinkie poked her head into the bush and the CMC screamed. Pinkie gasped in astonishment and then the girls shot out of the bush, tripping over each other. Discord, who was utterly confused, didn’t say a word, he only tilted his head. Apple Bloom smiled shyly up at him.

“Um…howdy, partner…” she said slowly. Pinkie rushed over to her and the girls.

“Girls…WHAT in the WORLD are you DOING here!?” she squeaked, “Who’s here with you? Applejack? Twilight? Rarity? F-Fluttershy? R-Rainbow?” her teeth chattered and she looked horrified. Apple Bloom didn’t answer, nor did Scootaloo. Sweetie stood up.

“We were following you because we thought we could get our cutie marks in spying.” Pinkie winced and Sweetie continued, “We heard you mention Discord on the train and we were very much…uh…intrigued.” She said with a tiny smile, “We followed you here and told the guards we were your bodyguards and they let us in…so, then we watched all of what just happened…” she glanced at Discord, who stared at her a partial angry, and partial captivated expression at what she was saying. Sweetie gulped, “And we devised a plan to become your REAL bodyguards.” She nudged Scoots on the shoulder and she then stood up.

“We thought if we could keep you two together…” Scoots scrunched up her nose, “That maybe nopony would find out about…” she couldn’t bring herself to say ‘Discord’ so she pointed at the draconiques and continued, “Him…and you…being together.” She said, breaking into the tiniest of smiles.

Apple Bloom continued with her trademark accent, “Eeyup, so, we’re sorry if we scared ya’ll…uh…guess we shoulda stayed home…” the bow on the top of her head drooped. Pinkie giggled.

“Maybe you should have stayed home, maybe it was a good thing that you came along! I dunno, but, I do know one thing.” She smiled at the girls, “I have an idea. If my friends come looking for us, hold them at bay. Come up with some wacky excuse for why I can’t be there! You probably couldn’t earn your cutie marks, but, it’d just be the-”

Sweetie finished for her, “The nice thing to do!” Pinkie giggled and nodded.

“Yes!”

Scootaloo smiled, “You two can’t stay in Canterlot, though. This place is bursting at the seams with guards.”

Discord spoke up, “We know, we’ll find someplace closer to Ponyville. But not TOO close.” He chuckled and Pinkie grinned.

“Yeah. But I can’t stay with you forever…” she frowned, “I still have my job and picnics on Saturday and I foalsit the twins, too.” Discord nodded knowingly.

“I know. I’ll just hang out and wait. Then we could take one of those special flies again.” He winked at her and she winked back. The CMC were clueless.

“Special flies? Huh…” Scoots mumbled. Discord smiled over at her.

“Would you like to come along sometime, girls?” he asked, the girls gasped and nodded.

“We’d love to!” they all said at once. Pinkie giggled, she was starting to think this just might work out after all!

“Hm…it appears Discord is back…” said a dark figure. “With that little imp he calls a friend…” the figure studied Pinkie, who was giggling in her usual silly manner. “Well, I see where I could possibly fit in…” it chuckled softly, “They’re safe for now. But once I find a perfect ambush spot, they’ll be a not-so-happy couple…hahaha.” He then eyed the Crusaders, “And I’ll get them out of the way first…”

Painting the Stars

Apple Bloom stood up and backed away slowly. “You two have been apart for a long time! Why don’t ya’ll catch up with each other?” Sweetie took the point and followed Apple Bloom. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, stayed and stared and Discord and Pinkie. AB and Sweetie walked over, grabbed her tail, and pulled her off with them. Much to the dismay of Scoots, who groaned. Pinkie had a small giggle fit after this. Discord eyed her and smiled.

“Watch this.” He said. Pinkie looked over at him with obvious curiosity. He smiled and took her hoof, then all of a sudden, she felt wind in her face and everything went white. She was surrounded by white, enclosed by it. She looked around for Discord and the labyrinth but they were nowhere to be seen, she suddenly felt something underneath herself, she looked down.

“A bubble?” she stuttered out between giggles, yes, it was indeed a bubble, and it was under her. She took a step forward…huh? She tried to go forward but went backwards instead, this was too weird. She tried to go backward but went forward. She giggled, she actually liked this! “Hey!” she called out into the blankness, “I’m in opposite world!”

A voice answered her, she immediately recognized it as Discord’s, “But, of course!” the bubble suddenly turned green and it had a smiley face on it. Pinkie winced in fear and backed up a little.

“Please don’t laugh at me! I don’t wanna-”

The bubble, who was now a balloon, cut her off, “Pinkie, it’s ok.” The balloon morphed back into Discord, “It’s only me! Why would I ever go through that wretched balloon garden scene with you AGAIN? No, my dear, that’s past Discord.” He made a face, “But now, I’m nice! Ah, ah, ah! But don’t think I’m too nice, if I were then I’d be just plain…” he slumped his shoulders, “BORING! And what fun is there in that? I can still be chaotic without having to be mean!”

Pinkie wanted to leap around him, but instead of doing so, she backed up and ducked. “Oops!” she giggled “This is OPPOSITE! I’m suppost to try to do this, and then end up-”

“Jumping up and down? Yes, it’s hard at first, but once you get the hang of it…” Discord flew towards her and scooped her up, “It’s as easy as pie!” he then threw her up in the air and she whooped with joy. She stopped in midair.

“Uh…Dissy? I think it’s broken.”

“What’s broken?”

Pinkie looked around, “Opposite world.” And then she giggled, “The walls are so boring…they need color!” she then dropped back down and Discord caught her.

“Color, eh? You know this is basically the sky.” He floated around, “You can’t paint the sky.”

“Could you MAKE it walls?” Pinkie asked, “Pretty please?” she tilted her head and gave him her signature puppy dog eyes.

He laughed, “Why, of course!” he threw her up in the air and she stopped. “Wait there.” Discord turned around and motioned to the sky with his claw to come forward it seemed to shift and morph into something solid. Pinkie cocked her head and watched intently, tilting her head up to make it go down, and vice-versa. The draconiques soon flew up to her, “It’s ready!” he said chuckling, “Sorry to… leave you hanging!” Pinkie got the joke and laughed along. She then tried to go down…but went up.

“WOAH!” she quickly stopped herself, “D-Dissy? Is this such a great idea?” Discord flew up to her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I think you c-can handle this better than I can…” she smiled nervously.

“Hm, I thought you might say that.” He gave her a serious look that made her flinch. Was he mad at her? “Ah, no problem, then!” he clapped his paws and Pinkie could fly down when she wanted to actually GO down.

“This is much better! Thanks a bunch!” she said floating around. He chuckled and took her hoof, guiding her to the wall. She smiled and then frowned, “How are we going to paint without…you know, paint?” Pinkie asked him, tilting her head.
*Snap* All of a sudden paint buckets of every shade of every color lined up before the two. Reds, oranges, pinks, greens, grays and every other color in-between! Pinkie gasped at the wide aura of colors and she flew up to a shade of sunny yellow. “Ooh, I love hoof-painting! But we’ll need water to wash off when we’re done with a color.”

Discord shook his head, “No, we don’t! Dip your hoof in that and paint a little hoof-shaped dot. Pinkie did as she was told and as soon as she pulled away from the wall, her hoof became clean. She gasped and looked over at him beaming.

“This is so cool!”

Discord smiled with pride, “Thank you! I can do all this and more!” he said flying circles around her. She giggled and jumped into a paint bucket, the bright pink stained her hooves and she stood on her hind legs and put her hooves onto the wall, making pink swirls everywhere! Discord watched her with a dreamy look in his eyes, Pinkie turned her head slightly toward him and he pretended to look away.

“Dissy!” Pinkie teased. He looked back at her, “Come on! Don’t you wanna paint with me?” Discord beamed and flew up to a shade of green a little ways from his little artist.

“Let’s do it!” he stomped his paw into a neon green and made a paw print on the wall. Pinkie smiled and jumped up and down.

“Great job! Great job! Now watch this!” she dug her hoof into a yellow and flew up a little ways on the wall. “WHEE!” she suddenly darted along the wall, her hoof still on the wall, making a bright yellow streak go on and on. She turned around. “Isn’t this great!? See, see?” he nodded in approval and stomped his hoof into some blue paint and dragged his claw down the wall. Pinkie frowned when he reached her. “Uh, Dissy? I think you ripped the wall.” She pointed to the wall they had left behind and suddenly they both started laughing, the wall had indeed torn open. There were three big cuts running down the length of the wall. “The wall was paper?” Pinkie asked, clueless.

Discord shrugged, “I make random things! I pay no attention to the material I put in them, unless it’s food of course. Pinkie giggled and flew up to one of the cuts and stuck her head in it. “NO, WAIT!” Discord flew up to her but she zoomed off into the cut. He groaned and darted after her. “Wow…” he looked up at the vast expanse of black and navy blue sky, stars were dotted everywhere. They were flying in space! He looked around for Pinkie. She floated frantically in the sky, trying to get to him. Her face was frantic and she tried to speak but covered her mouth. Discord cocked his head. “Huh?” he flew up to her and she pointed to her mouth. “AIR!” he facepawed, “Of course! There’s zero oxygen up here!” he tapped her head and she sprung back to life.

“There’s no air up here…” she said.

Discord laughed, “I just gave you the ability to breathe where nopony else can!” Pinkie’s smile jumped back onto her face.

“Ooh, neat! So we can stay here awhile?” her blue twinkling eyes darted around, “It’s beautiful!”

“Sure we can!” he patted her on the head, smiling. “For as long as you like!” Pinkie jumped onto him with a hug.

“YAY! Thank you! This is the best day ever!!” she twittered, making Dissy beam.

“We’re only getting started!” he took her hoof and started to fly off to something. Pinkie couldn’t quite get what it was. Was it a white ball of some sort? Was it a planet? She got closer with every guess and was about to ask what it was when they reached it’s soil. She made hoof-contact, but not for long, she soon floated right back up in the air. Discord smirked and took her hoof. “Welcome to the moon, my dear!”

“OOOOOOOOH! So, it’s the moon, huh?” he nodded.

“The one and only! The one the princess raises every evening!” he turned in a different direction. “Look, there!” he said pointing to a planet. Pinkie didn’t know what it was at first but then it hit her.

“Home! HOME! Is that earth?” she asked, he nodded.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Pinkie tried flew up to it, the distance was unreal, it was farther away than it looked. Discord rolled his eyes and flew up to her, taking her hoof. “Hold on tight.” Pinkie nodded and held on with both hooves. They were suddenly there. Close to home. Pinkie gasped at the size of the earth. They were very close! Twilight had told Pinkie about something called an “atmosphere” that surrounded the earth and made the air breathable. Pinkie didn’t see anything abnormal. But, on the other hoof, she wasn’t looking for anything irregular either.

“It’s lovely!” she finally exclaimed, hugging Discord. He laughed and hugged her back. Pinkie looked over at the moon. All of a sudden it was surrounded by a navy blue aura and moved across the sky. The pink pony cocked her head and Discord looked over at it, too.

“Hm, must be night time somewhere in the world.” He mumbled. As soon as the word “Night” was out, Pinkie yawned. He chuckled and wrapped her in his arms, smiling. “Shall we go back to where we started?”

“Paint World or Equestria?” Pinkie asked sleepily. Discord shrugged. “Hm…” Pinkie seemed to consider where they should go. “Paint World, I guess. We’ll go back home in the morning.” Discord nodded and they both teleported back into the world of painted walls. The draconiques set Pinkie down on…the air and looked around for a place to sleep.

“Where would you like to sleep? More importantly, what would you like to sleep on?” Pinkie looked around and noticed the rip in the wall; she scanned that over and then remembered that she could sleep on anything she liked, wherever she liked.

“Right here!” she curled up right where she was and yawned, “I’ve never slept on a water bed before!” Discord smirked and made one appear right under her.

“I’ll be over here.” He announced, making a cotton candy cloud appear. Pinkie giggled.

“That’s predictable! Ooh, and I love this bed!” she tapped it with her hoof and it wiggled.

“I knew you would, it’s one of my favorites.” He made some shades appear and put them on, “Have a nice sleep!” Pinkie nodded drowsily.

“Will do…” she rested her head on the silky bed of water and drifted off to sleep.

Her beautiful navy blue wings graced the sky as she moved her glorious moon over Equestria, the land in which she lived. She sighed at the beautiful night and came to rest on a cloud. “Very good, Luna.” Exclaimed her elder sister, Celestia. Luna smiled gratefully and nodded.

“We saw something up there when we raised the moon.” Said the night princess. The elder smiled.

“What? A falling star?” asked Celestia, giggling softly. Luna’s expression became cross.

“Hasn’t thou noticed something seems missing? From the statue garden?” asked Luna, “We have.”

Celestia turned to her with a slightly alarmed expression, “What would that be, little sister?” Luna flinched, “Is something wrong?”

Luna was about to speak when something deep within her mind told her to remain silent. She indeed knew it was Discord, why wouldn’t she want to alert her elder sister? She remembered the day precisely six months ago when she had gone to bed feeling guilty for having betrayed a good friend of hers. Pinkie had helped her a great deal one Nightmare Night. But, how was Luna to repay her? By setting her best friend in the world back to stone? She couldn’t bear to dismay her friend again. So, Luna smiled nervously at her sister. “One of the statues, sister. One of them needs to be repaired. Stone is chipping off of…er…Victory…yes, Victory.” Celestia’s expression softened.

“Ah, I see. We will have that one repaired tomorrow.” She let out a small yawn and proceeded to excuse herself. “Well, I am tired for now, are you not, either, Luna?”

Luna nodded, “It has been a busy day, hath it not? We shall turn in soon.” Celestia nodded her head and spread her wide wings. “Good night, Celestia. We shall see you in the morn.” Celestia nodded and flew over to the balcony, winking at her little sister and walking behind the silk curtains of her bedroom suite. Luna smiled and winked back, turning her attention downward.

“We are most sincerely sorry to the stone mason…but I must do what has to be done.” Her horn glowed a beautiful navy blue and she shot the statue of Victory, knocking it off it’s pedestal and chipping it. She looked up at the sky. “Ah, Discord. You shall owe me for this.” She laughed and then flew off to her bedroom to get some shut eye.

Dreams of Defeat

Pinkie’s eyes fluttered open and she sniffled. Rubbing her nose because of an itch, she looked up into Discord’s eyes. “Good morning, sleepy head!” he said chuckling. Pinkie smiled and stretched.

“M-morning…Dissy…” she let out a yawn and looked around, beaming. Then gasped, “So, it wasn’t a dream!?” she said, excitement building up inside her. Discord laughed and floated around, he then pointed to the painting they had done the previous evening.

“Nope! See, we’re still here!” Pinkie smiled and nodded.

“Yupper dupper! And-” they both heard a low grumbling sound and Pinkie lowered her ears. “What’s that?” Discord didn’t answer, only looked around. Pinks flinched and then heard it again.

Discord stared at her with a confused expression.

Pinkie blinked as the noise ceased. Then it came into her head, “Haha, it’s my tummy! It’s my tummy! I’m hungry, got anything to eat?” she giggled.

Dissy nodded and laughed, “Well, we can’t let the lovely lady go hungry, now! What would you like, Pinkie?” he said with a small grin. “Anything you could ever want for breakfast I can get for you in less than a millisecond!” a chef’s hat appeared on his head and a frying pan in his paw. “Cheri, just say the word!” he bowed dramatically, making Pinkie snort with laughter.

“Hm…I think I’ll go for pancakes! Pancakes stuffed with chocolate chips and brownies! Ooh, ooh, and some chocolate milk! That makes everything better, Dissy!” he chuckled at her enthusiasm and a plate appeared before Pinkie. Every food she wanted zapped onto the plate and Pinkie licked her lips. “HOLY MOLY! THIS IS AWESOME!” she darted into the food, not bothering to savor anything. Some foods are too good to be savored, after all! Discord made his own breakfast, steak with honey mustard and chocolate syrup on top. Boy, was it delicious!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were back in Ponyville, doing their usual Crusading. Today, they decided to explore a cave outside of Ponyville. Nopony had asked where Pinkie was, not even any of her best friends. But, the three fillies didn’t worry.
As they walked down the barely dark cave, Sweetie Belle had second thoughts about coming in. “Uh, girls?” she asked her friends and they turned to her. “Are you sure that this is the best place to go exploring?” she asked. Scoots gave her a teasing smile and laughed.

“Well, you have any other place in mind? The Everfree Forest, maybe?” Both Sweetie and AB shook their heads wildly to say no. Scootaloo snickered and continued down the cave. “Didn’t think so. Besides, this is fun!” she said. Apple Bloom nodded and followed after her.

“Besides, we could get our cutie marks for bein’ brave ponies! Brave enough to go down this here cave!” Apple Bloom comforted Sweetie, “Ah don’t think it’s scary!”

“B-but…” Sweetie ran to catch up with her two confident friends, “What if there are bats? Or spiders? O-or what…WHAT IF THE CAVE CAVES IN!?” she gasped and curled up in a ball. “I wanna go home, girls!” she squeaked sorrowfully. Scoots scoffed.

“Does this mucky cave look like it’s gonna cave in to you?” Sweetie looked up for her but she didn’t wait for an answer, “Exactly! Come on, this will be fun!”

Apple Bloom tapped her chin in thought, “Yeah, Ah think we should continue on our way! Ya never know what you can find in a cave like this one, see?” she pointed to a salamander scurrying out of the cave, in which the light was slowly dimming. Sweetie noticed it quickly than the other two, thanks to her present paranoia. Her green eyes darted around and she squealed.

“WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as a snake pushed by them, also heading towards the exit. Apple Bloom seemed to notice the light dimming as well, and she tapped Scootaloo in anxiety. Scoots rolled her eyes.

“Aw, the suns probably just going down, that’s all!”

“IT’S NOON!” the other two girls shouted. Scoots just shrugged.

“Maybe the sun moved just a little bit? Eh, who cares? Let’s go!” suddenly a gust of wind blew toward them from the inside of the cave and they heard a loud moaning sound, it echoed creepily. Sweetie stood up and yelped as she saw two bright blue eyes peering at her from the depths of the cave.

“I knew you’d come here.” The girls found themselves being levitated by a dark blue magic aura. They all screamed and tried to free themselves, but they just made little paddling motions in midair. The aura pulled them in deeper and the cave became darker until only the magic illuminated the cave. Sweetie Belle was hyperventilating and Scoots was shivering like crazy and Apple Bloom…well, Apple Bloom said nothing, only whimpered softly as they found themselves dragged into a small opening in the cave wall. The magic released them and they landed in a heap on top of each other on the cold cave flooring. A menacing figure stared at them from across the room, he was a black Unicorn with a short black mane and piercing blue eyes. He stepped towards the CMC and they gasped. “Tell me, you little runts.” He began, closing off the wall behind them so they wouldn’t escape. “Where can I find them?” the girls were perplexed by his question and Scootaloo dared to answer him.

“Find who?” she asked, puzzled. The frightened girls stared at her and shivered. Scoots, who was just a little scared, looked to them, then back to the mysterious black stallion. She rounded her friends and marched up to him. “And who are you?” the stallion grunted and pounded his hoof on the ground. Scoots cowered slightly, and he stared at her with his blue eyes.

“You’re useless. But I’ll tell you my name anyway, it’s Tyranny.” He said, turning back to the direction in which he came. Sweetie shuddered and Apple Bloom stood up straight.

“Whaddia want with us? Do ya live here?” she said. He turned back to her with an infuriated expression.

“The second question is none of your business. I will gladly answer your first one, though. I am looking for a draconiques named Discord, alright? I saw you three with him and some pink bouncy mare the other day. I believe she is an Element of Harmony, correct?”

Scootaloo stamped her hoof on the ground, “Why do you wanna know, huh? What do you want with either of them?” Tyranny gave her an icy glare.

“Maybe you’ll talk when you see this.” His horn glowed and nothing happened. Well, nothing happened to him, AB, or Sweetie Belle. But Scootaloo’s eyes became a shiny dark blue like his and she saw a vision. It was of her and Rainbow Dash, they were sitting in a field talking when Rainbow suddenly was grabbed by Tyranny. Rainbow shouted in agony and Scootaloo ran to catch her, but, instead Rainbow vanished and Tyranny grabbed Scootaloo and did the exact thing with his dark magic. Sweetie and Apple Bloom were puzzled by Scoot’s horrified expression and they backed up a little bit. Scootaloo stood straight up in attention and said in a slightly deeper voice than her usual Rainbow Dash-like high and raspy voice.

“Pinkie Pie is an Element of Harmony, sir.” Sweetie and Apple Bloom gave each other frightful looks and then looked at Tyranny, who chuckled.

“I thought so. Now, tell me where I can find them.” Sweetie and Apple Bloom pounced on Scootaloo and held her mouth shut.

“We’ll never tell! Never!” Apple Bloom shouted. Tyranny’s expression was stunned for a few moments before he smirked.

“Ah, would you like to see your fortune as well, Apple Doom?”

Apple Bloom flushed with embarrassment, “It’s Apple Bloom!” she corrected him. Sweetie held back the urge to giggle. Tyranny’s horn glowed blue and Apple Bloom saw a vision of her, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Winona all sitting together in a field having a picnic. Granny Smith vanished, followed by Mac, and Winona. Applejack gazed at her sister and it suddenly began to rain. Applejack stared at Apple Bloom with an angry expression and stood up.

“Go.” She said, turning away and galloping off, she vanished into the fog. Leaving a confused and sad Apple Bloom, then she heard Applejack’s voice again. It was the worst thing a sister could say to another. “Ah never loved you, anyways.” Apple Bloom’s orange eyes fogged up with tears and she started to cry. The once sunny day became a dull, black wasteland.

Sweetie tapped a crying Apple Bloom on the shoulder and rubbed her back comfortingly, “Apple Bloom? Are you ok?” Apple Bloom looked up at her with blue eyes and growled. Sweetie backed away in shock, “Apple Bloom!? What’s going on?”

Tyranny smirked and turned to Apple Bloom, “Now, my dear, would you care to tell me where they are?” he asked with a snicker.

Apple Bloom looked at him with a void expression and spoke. “They’re coming to Ponyville later today.” Tyranny smiled and patted AB on the head.

“Thank you, darling.” He looked to Sweetie Belle. “It has been nice, Sweetie Belle. But we can’t have you going out and spilling the beans, now, can we? You must not be a Sweetie Tell…” he chuckled and the wall in which the CMC had came, closed off completely. Sweetie gulped and her teeth chattered. “Stay here, girls while I go see if I can find Discord and Miss…oh, great and powerful Element of Harmony.” He rolled his eyes and floated out of the wall, leaving Sweetie with her friends and she walked up to them, they were staring at the blank space where Tyranny had once been.

“Girls?” she asked, waving her hoof in their faces, neither one moved. Sweetie sighed, “I should have just listened to myself…” her eyes welled up with tears and she sank to the cold cave floor, crying softly.

Double Trouble

Pinkie had finished her breakfast and Discord had finished his Pinkie looked over at him, “So, what’s we gonna do today, Dissy?” she asked with a grin. He grinned back and flew over to her, landing beside her on the water bed.

“The Crusaders should be waiting for us in Ponyville. Wouldn’t they like to come here?” Pinkie nodded and Discord continued “So, we’ll go back to Ponyville, find them, and take them here!” Pinkie giggled.

“This is gonna be so fun! I can’t wait! So, when do we leave?” they suddenly disappeared and re-appeared just outside of Ponyville. Pinkie looked around but didn’t see Discord; all she saw was some brown Alicorn next to her. “Um, excuse me, did you happen to see-”

“Ah, Pinkie!” he said with a laugh, “It’s me! You don’t remember this disguise?” he asked, making her blush.

“Oh, I guess I do! Nice to see ya again, Discount! But I can still call you Dissy, right?” Discord nodded.

“Yep, so, shall we look for the Crusaders, then?” Pinkie asked.

Discord nodded, “Let’s!”

Luna stood beside her sister looking out the window of the throne room into the statue gardens. “Aha, that looks much better, doesn’t it?” Celestia asked her little sister, pointing to the statue of Victory that had been fixed moments ago. Luna nodded in agreement. “Should you like to take a walk with me today, in the gardens, sister?” Celestia’s purple eyes sparkled and Luna smiled.

“Should we?” the night princess giggled, “We’d love to, Tia.” The elder of the two smiled and escorted her little sister out of the front hall of the castle, pausing to inhale the frosty winter air. Luna blinked and looked around the gardens, which were far to the right. One statue was missing, Luna already knew. But the previous night, she could have easily made a copy of it so her sister wouldn’t notice. Luna would have to remember a hard spell that even Unicorns as advanced as Twilight had a hard time doing. And how could she get a chance when she was suppost to be walking beside Celestia for the whole time? Luna gulped, knowing they would come to Discord’s former position some time, Celestia would notice, that was for sure.

“Is everything alright, Luna?” Tia asked her little sister, who was sweating a little. Luna jumped a little at the question but slowly turned back to her sister.

“Ahahaha, yes. We are feeling…j-just fine!” Luna said with a twitch of her eye. Celestia could see through that fake smile but decided to ignore it.

“Alright, then…” Celestia started walking towards the labyrinth, thinking Luna was tagging along. But Luna stayed behind for a few moments. Once her older sister was out of earshot, Luna let out a relieved sigh and darted after her sister, who was already walking in the entrance. Celestia turned to her and Luna slowed her pace, acting like nothing had ever happened. She put on a fake smile and Celestia grinned at her and continued to walk. Luna was starting to get a headache from all of her thinking of what she should do, but she still must act as Luna-y as possible in front of her sister. She puffed her chest out and pretended to survey the vicinity; Celestia gave her a quizzical look and Luna replied with a nervous giggle. Celestia stopped walking and stared at her little sister with her eyebrow raised. “Are you alright, Luna? Is something wrong?” Luna blushed and took a few steps forward.

“Er…n-no, nothing is wrong…nothing at all!” Luna said, picking up her pace a little. “Why would you think that?” Celestia’s horn glowed and she teleported in front of her sister.

“You aren’t acting right, Luna. What’s going on? You can tell me.” Celestia smiled fondly. Luna bit her lip and trotted past her sister, trying to find the spot where Discord’s statue used to be.

“Nothing is wrong! It’s j-just the statue of Victory…uh…i-it doesn’t look the same!” Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“We haven‘t even seen it up close yet…” Luna ignored her remark and went from a trot to a canter. Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes, Luna had never acted like this… as the younger of the princesses swerved around numerous bends and turns, she came to the opening where the statue garden started. Victory, Friendship…her eyes scanned the statues. It was not until she turned a bend when she spied Discord’s empty pedestal. She smiled and tried to remember what the original statue had looked like, then her horn glowed a pretty navy blue and the statue began to reappear. Celestia came to the entrance of the garden and noticed Luna using her magic. “Luna? What are you doing?” she trotted up to her frantic sister. Sweat dripped down the night princess’s face but she kept up her magic, the statue became more and more visible. Luna glanced at Celestia, who was only about four yards away. Three, two, one… Luna was just about to finish off the statue when Celestia peeked around the corner. Luna almost fainted and waited to see what her sister’s reaction would be.
“Luna…?! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” her sister shouted in the royal Canterlot voice, making Luna’s magic fail. Her sister almost never used her shouting voice, but when she did, she was usually mad. Very mad.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville. Pinkie darted around the town in search of the CMC. Alicorn Discord kept his distance and searched the perimeter instead. Pinkie trotted up to him, shaking her head. “Nopony’s seen them for hours. They said they were going to explore an abandoned cave.” Discord frowned.

“Hm, do you know which cave?” he asked. Pinkie was dumbfounded by this question and then she shook her head.

“I’ll go ask.” She darted away and came back in milliseconds, “It’s about a mile from here. Everypony’s too afraid to go in so the cave doesn’t even have a name.” Pinkie grinned slyly and trotted past Discord. “I’m not! Come on, let’s go!” Discord nodded and flew after her.

“Why are they afraid to explore it? Is something in there that could hurt you?” Pinkie just shook her head and then frowned.

“Uh, well, everypony says there’s this really weird gust of wind that comes from somewhere in the cave. Really, I don’t see what’s so scary about that. When I was a filly, my parents were rock farmers and we went in caves like that all the time.” Discord smirked.

“A rock farmer?” he laughed, “What in the world is that?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes, “Everypony I’ve ever told asks me the same question!” she said with a sigh. “It’s basically a job where you collect rocks and age them until they’re ready to be sold. Some of the most famous statues in the Canterlot gardens are made from my family’s rocks.” She smiled fondly. “I have two sisters, you know?”

Discord looked a little surprised, “No, I didn’t know! What are their names? No, no! Let me guess!” he tapped his head with a hoof, “Tammy and Angel?” Pinkie giggled and shook her head, “Uh…Delia and Sapphire?” Pinkie smiled and shook her head.

“Give up?”

“Me? Never! Um, Dot and Fiona?”

“Nopey dopey! Give up now?”

Discord let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes, then smiled at Pinkie. “Yeah, I guess so.” Pinkie smiled and bounced along beside him.

“Blinkie!” she said in-between a bounce, “And Inkie! They rhyme with my name! Our parents were smart to name us that, huh?” she said with a giggle. Discord smiled and spread his wide wings.

“Very!” he chuckled and flapped his wings, flying up to the height that Pinkie was bouncing. She giggled and stopped in mid-air, making him look around to see how the hay she was doing that. “How do you do that?” he asked her. Pinkie just shrugged and continued hopping. He rolled his eyes at her randomness, but then again, he was just as cocky as she was. That’s why they were so perfect together. Pinkie looked up at him and smiled with that same cute smile she’d had when they first met. He blushed as he recalled the moment where he admitted that Pinkie was his personal favorite. Pinkie stopped bouncing.

“Why are you blushing?” she asked with a grin. Discord decided they were far enough away from Ponyville so he transformed into a draconiques again and flew up beside her.

“Uh, well…” he scratched his head and thought for a moment but Pinkie seemed to read his thoughts and nuzzled him

“Aw, you’re so cute!” he blushed even more and Pinkie snickered. “I knew it! You were thinking about how cute I was, weren’t you?” Dissy deadpanned and looked her in the eyes, making her laugh. “Right?”

He smirked and scooped her up in his arms, making her grin wildly, she loved hugs and he knew it. “I sure was, you’re clever, how’d you know that?” Pinkie gave him a mischievous grin and shook her head.

“I have no idea! Well, actually I do have one…” she stared deep into his eyes, “You get that look whenever you think about something pink and fluffy.” He blushed and suddenly realized how fluffy her mane was, fluffier than any mane he had ever seen, no doubt. “See? There’s that look again!” Pinkie said, throwing her head back in laughter. Dissy laughed a little, too and enclosed her in a tight hug.

“You know, Pinkie, I meant it when I said you are my favorite pony.” He smirked and nuzzled her. She nuzzled him back and snuggled into his fur.

“I know.” She nodded, “You’re my favorite stallion.” Discord gave her a quizzical look and Pinkie blushed, “Heh, oops, species difference, right.” Dissy gave her a peck on the cheek and smiled.

“That doesn’t matter, Pinkie. All that matters is that we love each other, who cares about the species difference when I’m sure you’re the most fantastic mare around.” Pinkie giggled and lowered her eyebrows in a sly smirk and a chill ran up Discord’s spine.

“Maybe I am…I don’t even know. But what I do know, is that you’re the most perfect stall- er, draconiques I’ve ever met! Uh, the only one I’ve ever met, actually.” She said with a tiny giggle. Discord nuzzled her again and then looked up, his wings stopped and he landed on the ground. Pinkie leaped down and grinned back up at him. “I guess this is it.” She said staring at the cave in front of her. Discord nodded and sniffed the air, something didn’t feel right. Pinkie looked up at him, “You ok?”

Discord glanced at her then back at the cave, “I’m fine…but I think we should be careful, let’s hurry and find the girls.” Pinkie cocked her head and nodded.

“Okey dokey lokey…” she said with a hint of suspicion in her voice. She trotted into the cave and Discord studied her every move, she looked back at him. “You coming?” Dissy lowered his eyebrows and nodded, he followed after her. All of a sudden, the cave seemed to get a little darker and Pinkie looked around. “Uh, what’s going on?” they both heard a low chuckle and who but Tyranny stepped out of the shadows. Discord lowered his ears and growled, he leaped in front of Pinkie and she looked from him to Tyranny and back again.

Tyranny chuckled and took a step towards Discord, “It’s been eons, Discord. Tell me, how have you been?” he started to encircle Discord with a smirk on his face. Pinkie shuddered in fear and sat down. Discord didn’t answer, only stood on his hind legs and glared at Tyranny.

“What do you want?” he asked the black Unicorn. Tyranny smiled and eyed Pinkie.

“None of your beeswax. Who’s this cute little mare you’ve brought with you?” he walked up to Pinkie and she smiled slightly. Discord blushed.

“Knock it off, Tyranny!”

Tyranny clicked his tongue and studied Pinkie, “Hm, I should like to have you here with me.” He said, to Pinkie’s infinite embarrassment, she blushed wildly and looked at Discord.

“Back off! We only came here to look for three fillies named Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. I don’t suppose you’ve seen them.” Tyranny shrugged.

“Ah, perhaps I have. Oh, yes, I’ve seen them…” he said, turning to Discord with a smirk and swatting his tail in Pinkie’s face, which made her scoot away from him. “And I am assuming this little friend of yours is titled ‘Pinkie Pie’, correct?” Pinkie didn’t answer but Discord nodded once.

“We came here looking for them.” He growled, “And if you’ve done anything to hurt them…” he took a step towards Tyranny, who smirked and looked over at Pinkie, who glared at him.

“Hm, well, I’m not telling you where they are.” He said with a smirk.

“You tell us right now or else!” Pinkie shouted. Tyranny laughed.

“Hm, feisty. That’s the way I like em’! But you should really calm yourself, you’ll be seeing them very soon.” He then fired up his horn and Pinkie was surrounded with a blue magic aura, she squealed and paddled her hooves frantically in an effort to free herself. Discord didn’t know whether it was protective instinct over Pinkie, or just some reflex, but he pounced forward and pinned Tyranny to the ground. Tyranny laughed evilly and Pinkie disappeared. Discord was shocked.

“Where is she!?” Dissy demanded. Tyranny smirked and teleported out from under the draconiques.

“Haha, fine, I’ll tell you but I’ll only tell you my way…” Discord immediately recognized the words as his own and grimaced. “A weighty choice is yours to make, the right selection or a big mistake, if the wrong choice you choose to chase, there will be many consequences you will have to face.”

Trapped

Pinkie landed on the hard rock flooring of the cave and looked up to see Sweetie Belle curled up in a corner of the musty room. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were staring at some blank space and their eyes were curiously a dark blue. Sweetie looked up at Pinkie and gasped. “What are you DOING here!?” she rushed over to a shaky Pinkie and helped her stand up. Pinkie opened her mouth to speak but her teeth only chattered. Sweetie frowned and looked around. “He got you, too, huh?” Pinkie nodded and gulped.

“Y-yes…where’s D-Dissy?” Pinkie said in a shaky voice. Sweetie gasped and looked back up at her.

“You mean he came WITH you? Uh-oh…” Sweetie shook her head and Pinkie shuddered.

“What’s gonna happen!? What’s Tyranny gonna do!?” Pinkie shouted frantically, “How do we get out of here!?” she rammed against the rock trying to break out and Sweetie whimpered.

“There’s no way out. All we can do is hope that Discord gets out ok, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom weren’t so fortunate…” she glanced over at her friends and Pinkie whimpered.

“W-what happened to them?”

“They were hypnotized by Tyranny’s dark magic…No matter how I try to wake them up all they do is just…” she made a face and wiped her eye with her hoof, “S-sit there…” Pinkie walked over to Scoots and AB and waved her hoof in front of their faces. “I’ve tried that.” Sweetie pointed out, “Nothing works, they just keep staring at that wall…Tyranny’s the only one who can get them back to normal, I’m sure of it.” Pinkie bit her lip.

“If only Twilight were here, I’m sure she could fix this.”

“What’s your offer?” said Discord to Tyranny, who had a smug grin on his face. Tyranny pranced around Discord and smirked. Dissy twiddled his thumbs. “You know, I could just teleport to Pinkie and the Crusaders and then teleport out of here!” he threatened. Tyranny chuckled and gave him a zap with his horn, Discord flinched and shook a little. “You want to fight, eh?”

“No.” answered Tyranny with a snicker, “And you’ll never be able to find Pinkie and those other little twerps. The farther you go down this cave, the weaker you become. I’ve hid them at the end, which means by the time you get there your power will be completely zapped.” Dissy grimaced and Tyranny continued, “So, you have three choices.”

Discord rolled his eyes and stared at Tyranny, “What are they?”

Tyranny smiled. “One. You stay here with me and Pinkie and the Crusaders also stay.” Tyranny continued, “Two. I’ll let you go and release the Crusaders, but I get to keep Pinkie and make her my queen when I become king of Equestria!” Discord growled.

“You wouldn’t dare! Pinkie hates you!”

Tyranny smiled, “Ah, well, I’ve taken this advice from you! I shall hypnotize Pinkie and make her like me! Three. The last, but certainly not least offer that I have for you is this: If you give up all of your power to me and promise to stay here forever. I will let the others go.” Discord gaped. “You don’t have long to decide, Discord. The clock is ticking and I will give you only three minutes to make up your mind.” An hourglass appeared and sand ran down it’s edges. “Choose wisely.” Discord flinched and thought.

“I’d rather be imprisoned like the old days than to see Pinkie suffer…” Discord thought aloud. After about thirty seconds, Discord looked up. “I’ve decided.”

“What? Already?” the hourglass disappeared and Tyranny smirked, “So, what have you decided?”

“I will stay here if you let Pinkie and the girls go.” Tyranny cackled and his horn turned blue with magic. Discord suddenly felt lightheaded and groaned in pain. His power was draining and Tyranny was sucking it up.

“Hm, how did you enjoy that?” Tyranny said with a chuckle. Discord felt very queasy but said nothing. “Ha, thought so.” Discord disappeared and wound up dropping in the same dungeon the four mares were in. Pinkie looked up and beamed, she rushed over to him and pounced on him in a tight hug. Sweetie smiled.

“I missed you so much!! Did you get Tyranny to go away? Are we safe now?” Pinkie cried with joy. Discord frowned and blinked back tears.

“No, Pinkie. But you are safe.” He glanced at Sweetie, “You are, too, girls.” Sweetie grinned and then frowned.

“But what about you? Aren’t you gonna come with us?” asked the filly with a confused expression on her face. Discord sighed and shook his head, he leaned up against the cave wall Pinkie giggled.

“Aw, Dissy! Your f-funny! Why are you joking around like this? Stop being silly!” Pinkie laughed and poked him on the nose. He stared at her and smiled.

“No, Pinkie. For one of the first times in my life, I’m serious. You and the girls will go back to Ponyville and I’ll stay here…” he sighed and Pinkie gasped in astonishment, she opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words. “It’ll be ok. J-just like the last time, remember? You…should have never tried to bring me back. I’m sorry I got you into all this trouble…” he pulled her into a tight hug and suddenly Scootaloo and Apple Bloom became normal again, they looked around and Sweetie pounced on them in a tight hug. They both smiled.

“Sweetie Belle!” they said in unison. Sweetie smiled and laughed.

“Are you two ok?”

“We’re fine.” answered Scootaloo, “But I just had the worst nightmare…” her ears drooped, “We were trapped in this cave and this guy named Tyranny-”

“Ah don’t think it was a dream, Scoots.” said Apple Bloom, frowning. Scoots looked around and shivered. “Eenope.”

Discord smiled and nuzzled Pinkie, the CMC looked over at them. Sweetie frowned and whispered what had just happened to her friends, they looked shocked. “What? You mean he’s not coming back with us?” Scoots exclaimed. Discord shook his head and then a dark figure stepped through the stones, it was Tyranny. He looked around the room and smiled.

“You three may go.” He said to the Crusaders, making a small hole in the wall that led outside. Discord narrowed his eyebrows at Tyranny.

“And Pinkie?”

“Pinkie shall stay here with me.” Answered Tyranny with a smirk. Discord growled and stood up.

“You said she could leave! We had a deal!”

“Deals are made to be broken.”

“I’m not leaving!” Pinkie stomped her hoof on the ground with teary eyes. “I’d rather spend my whole life here than never get to see Dissy again.” She smiled sadly and Discord wrinkled his nose.

“Pinkie, you have to go! You won’t be happy here!”

“Yes, I will be. As long as I’m with you my life is complete.” She closed her eyes for a moment and then they fluttered open, leaving tears staining her cheeks. “Girls,” she turned to the CMC. “Be good. Keep up those smiles.” She smiled.

Scootaloo bit her lip and glanced from the opening in the wall, to Pinkie, to Discord, and back again. “But what do we tell your friends?”

Pinkie looked at the ground, “Tell them I love them and I’m…on a trip. Tell them I’m going back to the rock farm.”

“Won’t they think that’s suspicious?” asked Sweetie Belle, “We could get them to rescue-”

“There is a barrier around this cave. Nopony can get in unless I permit it.” Tyranny said firmly. “Even Celestia’s magic cannot break this barrier. Now, go! I have no use for you three!” he then lifted the Crusaders with his magic and they looked to Pinkie with tearful eyes. “Any last words?” Tyranny asked them.

“Bye, Pinkie. Thanks for everything.” They said at once. Pinkie smiled sadly and sniffled.

“You’re welcome. Goodbye, girls.”

Discord smiled and Tyranny’s horn glowed, the CMC disappeared. Pinkie whimpered and sniffled. Tyranny cackled. “Oh, how sad!” he said mockingly, “Hm, well, I’ll let you two get settled. Au revoir!” he zapped away leaving a very depressed Pinkie and Discord. Dissy gazed over at Pinkie.

“Why would you want to stay here? Your friends are more important than I am…and I can’t give you chocolate milk anymore, so what’s the point?”

Pinkie giggled and looked up at him, “I don’t like you just for your chocolate milk or those awesome realities you make. Although, that’s why I liked you at first…but now I’ve realized, you’re so funny and hilarious and loving and sweet! I’ve never met anypony like you before, Discord. You’re my best friend.”

Discord smiled at her and sighed, “Your mine, too. You’ve always been my favorite, and we’ll find a way out of here.” Pinkie nodded.

“I sure hope so.”

The three fillies landed on top of one another outside the cave. Scootaloo shook her head and sighed. “So, it wasn’t a dream, huh?” she said softly. Sweetie Belle sniffed briefly and Apple Bloom’s lip trembled.

“Ah…Ah guess not, Scootaloo. Ugh, this is the worst day ever!” AB buried her face in her hooves and sobbed quietly.

Sweetie Belle patted her back and forced a smile, “I-it’s ok…um, we could go get Twilight!” Scootaloo glared at her.

“Did you pay attention to what Tyranny said? There’s no way in! Why bother?” Scoots shook her head.

“There has to be a way in!” said the persistent Sweetie Belle, “We’ve got to find a way!” she stood up and took a good look at the cave, “I bet I could run right through this wall! If there even is one!” Apple Bloom sniffled and looked up at Sweetie. Scootaloo flinched and shook her head.

“Have ya lost your marbles? Tyranny said there’s no way in!” Apple Bloom stated. Scootaloo nodded.

“Maybe he just said that to get us to think that! Come on, even if there is a wall, Twilight would break through it easily! Tyranny’s a wimp and you girls know it!” Sweetie stomped her hoof on the ground. “I’m going in!” she ran towards the cave. Suddenly, two blue lights appeared on the ground and they started to grow rapidly, they morphed themselves into two huge dragons and they roared. Sweetie stopped dead in her tracks and squeaked, they blew blue fire her way and she ran back to her formal spot screaming. She tripped over a rock and the dragons stopped attacking, they roared quietly and vanished. Scoots walked up to Sweetie, who was trembling in fright.

“Are you ok? I think that was what he meant by a wall…” she helped Sweetie to her hooves and Apple Bloom scampered up.

“Maybe we should go get Twilight?” she suggested to the girls. They glanced at each other and nodded. Sweetie looked into the cave once more and sighed.

“I guess it’s for the best. Let’s hurry!” the girls ran towards Ponyville.

Fluttershy sat with Angel Bunny in a field, sipping tea and speaking to him softly. “Now, Angel, I know you were just trying to satisfy…um…your hunger…” She smiled and he folded his arms. “But, uh, you really shouldn’t be mean to the beavers that way.” She took a delicate sip of tea and patted him on the head. “I give you plenty of carrots every day, and, um, since you have those…you really don’t have to take the beavers.” Angel glared at her with his shiny black eyes and grimaced. “Don’t look at me like that, mister! You should be much more like-”

“FLUTTERSHY!!!” the yellow Pegasus squealed and dropped her tea cup, spilling it all over Angel and making him flinch, he made frantic little squeaks as he ran in circles, trying to get the heat that had just hit him to cool down. Fluttershy gasped and pulled him close to her.

“O-oh no! I-I-I’m s-so sorry, Angel! I didn’t mean to-”

“FLUTTERSHY!” shouted the same voice as before. Fluttershy whirled around and looked over to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders running up to her.

“Oh, thank goodness it’s only you girls! You gave me an awful fright! And Angel Bunny, too!” she glanced at Angel and the three skidded to a halt in front of her and started shouting all of what had happened. “Wait, slow down, please!” Fluttershy calmly held her hoof up. “Um, do you think you could all talk one at a time, please?” she smiled kindly and the girls gasped trying to catch their breath.

“Pinkie…T-Tyranny…d-dragons…” Scootaloo gasped out. Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she pulled back slightly.

“D-D-Dragons…? W-what about t-t-them?”

“Pinkie and Dis-” Sweetie started. Apple Bloom nudged her and gave her an icy glare.

“Dis…who’s Dis?” Fluttershy cocked her head and the girls smiled nervously.

“Uh, I mean the DRAGONS, of course!” Sweetie cleared her throat. “Uh…they took Pinkie and…gave her…to…uh…Tyranny.” She said, trying to sound innocent. Fluttershy gasped.

“Who’s Tyranny? Pinkie’s been captured? Oh, dear! We must tell s-somepony!”

“Yeah, and Discord got-” Scootaloo held her hoof up to her mouth. Fluttershy wrinkled her nose and stood up straight.

“Did you say…?”

“NOTHING!” the girls all said in unison.

Fluttershy lowered her eyebrows and said nothing for a moment, “Girls, can you tell me the whole story from the beginning, please?”

After fifteen minutes of explaining the whole story to Fluttershy. The Crusaders hung their heads. “But, ya see, Pinkie has this thing for Discord…they’re inseparable! And we need to get em’ both free so they can live…” Apple Bloom smiled cutely and giggled, “Happily ever after.” Fluttershy blinked and said not a word. Angel sniffed the air.

“Girls,” Fluttershy began, “You were very brave and I’m proud of you…but, I don’t know what to do…” she paused and the trio of fillies looked up at her with questioning eyes.

“Help Pinkie, right?” Sweetie asked, stiffening.

“Of course, but, I don’t know why you came to ME instead of Twilight or Rainbow Dash…” she shrugged. “I think we should ask Twilight what’s the best option…um…you know?”

The girls nodded. “Ok, let’s do it!” Apple Bloom smiled and started to run towards Ponyville. “Wait.” She skidded to a halt. “Can ya NOT tell Twilight about Discord?”

Fluttershy thought for a moment, “Ok, but won’t she find out if she rescues Pinkie AND Discord?”

Apple Bloom scratched her mane in thought, “Well…yeah. I guess ya could tell her…but we told ya how nice he is now…”

“Yes…I’m not sure what to think…I guess Discord has changed…he certainly didn’t do anything to Pinkie six months ago. I believe that he’s really changed, I guess.”

Grins spread across the girls’ faces. Scootaloo fluttered her wings with happiness and stomped her hooves on the ground in excitement. “Yeah, so, let’s go!”

“Right!” they all answered her.

Luna stiffened and bit her lip. She backed up until her rear touched the hedge, her sister glared at her and snarled. “EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON!? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE STATUE!?” Luna stuttered out a few random words and smiled uneasily.

“We…we have moved it to the other part of t-the gardens, Celestia. H-have no worry, m-my sister…”

Celestia’s expression became cross. “Do you not recall a few thousand years ago when I told you not to touch the statues in this garden? They are only to be moved when needed. Why did you decide today was the day? And why did you pick THIS statue to move?” Luna flinched. “And where have you moved it to?” Celestia spread her wings and flew upward. Luna knew there was nothing she could do now, she stared at the ground and waited. “I do not see it anywhere, Luna.” Said her older sister moments later. She landed on the ground and gave Luna a glare. “What have you done with it?”

Luna sighed and then told her sister the feelings she had six months ago, she couldn’t even sleep right knowing Pinkie was upset, she’s just lost her best friend. Tia listened intently and didn’t say a word while Luna then told her about the previous night when she had purposely ruined the statue of Victory…when Luna was finished Celestia blushed. Her younger sister stared at her with a quizzical expression. “Why doest thou blush, Tia?” Celestia blinked and sighed.

“You remember the day that happened…when the Elements were gathered and Discord was turned into stone? We were there watching…and I…” she paused and Luna listened. “I knew the Elements would not work on Discord then…he had truly changed and the Elements do not work on good creatures. But I, foolishly, ever so foolishly… I…I used my own magic to turn Discord into stone. The Elements of Harmony had nothing to do with it.” Luna widened her blue eyes and opened her mouth to speak; she then closed it as her sister continued. “I’ve been hiding this guilt…this agony that I’ve been going through for so many months, now. Knowing that one of my faithful student’s friends is suffering like this for so long.” Celestia lowered her head and chuckled softly. “Now, it is I who has learned the lesson instead of Twilight, for a change.”

Luna smiled and walked up to her big sister. “We understand, sister. But…well,” Luna paused and let out an exasperated breath. Celestia opened her eyes and looked at her.

“Can Discord be free? He’s been locked up for eons and…we never thought he’d be so…kind, so caring. Especially towards Pinkie. He loves her, Tia. And she, in return, loves him.” Luna smiled fondly and closed her eyes. Celestia raised her head high and grinned.

“Of course, Luna. He shall be free…now, tell me, where is he?” Luna opened her sparkling eyes and smiled up at her sister.

“We shall check.” Her horn glowed and she shut her eyes tightly, this was her sensory spell. “In…a cave?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “A cave? Why? What would he be doing there?”

“There is a stallion incircling him…black as the night, yellow eyes with sparkling blue irises…” Celestia gasped softly, Luna opened her eyes and her horn ceased glowing. “What is it?”

“Is the stallion a Unicorn?” Celestia demanded. Luna raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. “Oh, no…”

“Is something wrong, Tia?” Luna asked.

Celestia shook her head rapidly. “What is happening now, we must know!” she closed her eyes and Luna blinked, she shrugged and did, also. The sisters saw a vision of Discord sitting on the cold stone floor, he was talking to Tyranny. Tyranny suddenly cackled and his horn glowed blue. Celestia and Luna both gasped, Discord shook a little and Tyranny’s magic seemed to drain energy from him. Then, the dark stallion made Discord vanish and he smirked. The princesses opened their eyes and looked at each other. “Do you not remember Tyranny, Luna?

“We are afraid not, sister.” She shook her head.

“Tyranny was around when we were young, you hadn’t even a cutie mark when he ruled the land, I was just a plain Alicorn, we were more common in those days. Anyway, Tyranny made life a burden for everypony throughout the land, he ruled like Discord once did all those eons ago. Everypony was afraid of this tyrant, nopony would dare to question his authority, and certainly nopony would dare to stand up to him. But, I, I, Luna, was different. One day…” Celestia paused, “One day, when I was a little filly. Hadn’t my cutie mark yet, either, I went to his castle in what is now Canterlot. We had a brave fight, fortunately, I don’t know how, strength, or luck…I won. The ponies all around were so proud of me…they made me princess of Equestria and Tyranny was banished to the caves beneath Canterlot…he didn’t stay long, though. He eventually escaped two years later and I then banished him to Flaming Caves…the caves we just saw. I sent two great dragons to guard the cave and keep everypony out, and keep Tyranny in. Sometimes, unfortunately, the dragons are not alerted when ponies come in…and that is how, I think Discord got in the cave.” Luna nodded.

“We agree with you, sister. But what did he just do to Discord?”

“Tyranny has the power to drain energy, any kind of energy, animal, or plant. That was his power that we have just witnessed.”

“What shall we do, then?”

“We shall stop him. Let’s go.”

“Right!”

Celestia's Lament

Pinkie poked at the ground with her hoof, humming a random tune. She paused and sighed, looking at the walls of the cave. Some of the ceiling leaked and little drops of water fell from time to time. Discord lay curled up in a dark corner, he said nothing, just stared at the wall, afraid to make eye-contact with Pinkie. She noticed him and smiled sadly. The silence was broken by a question. “Dissy? Are you ok?” he turned his head slightly but didn’t look her in the eye. There came no answer, so, Pinkie walked over to him slowly. “Discord?” she tapped him and his eyes finally met hers.

“What?” he said in a small voice, just above a whisper. Pinkie sniffed and lowered her head.

“Wh-why’d you have to do that? Come on, you could have just left me here…wouldn’t you like to be free for the rest of your life?” she giggled softly, “You have forever ahead of you.”

Discord’s expression became serious and he lifted Pinkie’s head to meet his eyes, “I do, but you have shorter time than I do. I’m immortal, you’re not. Besides, I thought Tyranny would let you go…” he stifled a growl, “That pathetic excuse for a Unicorn, he should be locked up in Tartarus.” Pinkie nodded her head slowly.

“You think somepony will rescue us?” she said with her sad blue eyes gazing up at him, “I miss my friends…” Discord turned his head away, unwilling to answer. Pinkie pouted and turned it back. “Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t say I’d rather be there than with you!” she bit her lip, “I meant that I wanted you there with me, and for all of my friends to think you’re a good draconiques. Not a bad one.” Discord lowered his eyebrows in sympathy. Pinkie lowered hers in seriousness, she normally didn’t wear a frown, but it was almost essential now.

Discord blinked and closed his eyes, “I don’t know if we’ll get out of here. Tyranny’s got my magic and…I’m not strong enough without it. Besides, there’s a wall around here. How do we break that?”

“I dunno, Dissy.” Pinkie hugged his muzzle, “Maybe the girls will find a really powerful Unicorn to get us out.”

“Maybe…” he nuzzled her, “Maybe.”

One book, two books, three books, four. The books were being sorted by a purple Unicorn and a dragon of the same color. “History, history, history. Fable, fable, fable.” The Unicorn sorted the books into piles with her hot pink magic aura. Her dragon was a much slower sorter, but she could use the help.

“Hey, Twilight. What pile does this book go in?” Spike held up a book with a black cover and blue lettering on the front. “I can’t even read the title.” Twilight squinted at the book and then levitated it, bringing it closer to her face. She deadpanned.

“I don’t know…” a cloth floated over to her and she used it to wipe the dust that had collected on the cover away. “Explorations of Southern Ponyville, Volume One.” She read aloud, “A Hiker’s Guide to the Perfect Sightseeing Spots.” Twilight giggled, “Huh, guess we’ll have to make a ‘Geography’ pile for this book. Thanks for telling me, Spike!” She set it down next to the other piles.

Spike smiled and continued sorting, “It looks really old. Like, it’s been here for years and years.”

Twilight nodded absentmindedly. “Uh-huh.”

Spike flashed a tiny stare at her, “Isn’t it weird, though? The pages…” he stood up and walked over to the book, opening it. “The pages are made from…paper, but a kind I’ve never seen.”

Twilight laughed and then smirked, “Since when are you a paper expert?”

Spike slumped his shoulders, “I dunno, it just seems intriguing to me, that’s all.” He tossed the book back on the floor and forgot all about it. A few minutes later, there was a frantic knocking at the door. Twilight gazed over at the wooden door and then looked at Spike.

“Could you get that, Spike?”

“Of course!” he stood up and ran over to the door, leaping over book piles to show off a little. He opened the door to see a panting Fluttershy with the CMC crowded around her. “Uh, hey, Fluttershy. Hi, girls.” The girls nodded briefly and Fluttershy stared at Spike with frantic eyes, it was almost creepy. Spike recoiled. “Uh, come on in.” he stepped aside and allowed Fluttershy to enter, followed by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.

Twilight looked up and smiled, “Hello, Fluttershy! Hello, girls!”

Fluttershy trembled slightly at such a warm greeting, but spoke. “T-Twilight? We need your help.”

Spike laughed and smirked at the four of them. “Did Scootaloo get her scooter stuck in a tree again?”

Scoots flushed bright red, “Why, I oughta-” Sweetie nudged her and Scoots sighed and looked at Twilight, then she spilled out the whole story. Twilight listened intently but when Scootaloo came to the part about Discord and Pinkie being trapped in a cave, Twilight’s face melted into a frown and she stood up.

“We have to get her out of there!”

“Don’t you mean ‘them’?” Spike asked. Twilight glared at him.

“No, I mean her.”

Fluttershy nodded, “Yes, but ho-”

“Sounds like Tyranny’s a pretty powerful Unicorn. Where did you say the cave was?” Twilight searched through her books, trying to find a spell book.

Apple Bloom spoke up, “In the south somewhere, Ah think.” Twilight gasped and looked at her. “What?”

Twilight whistled and Spike darted up to her, “Yes, milady?” he saluted her. Twilight looked around searching for something.

“Find that book you had earlier! About southern Ponyville!” she commanded. Spike saluted again and dove into a pile of books, “Hurry! We haven’t got much time!” Spike nodded.

“I’m lookin’!” books flew everywhere and Fluttershy flew a little ways up in the air to avoid getting hit, the Crusaders watched anxiously. Spike poked his hand out of a pile followed by his head. “Found it!” Twilight rushed over and grabbed the book, opening it to the index.

“Caves…caves…” she looked through the C’s, “AHA! Page one-twenty-six through thirty!” she flipped through the pages with her magic and stopped at one-twenty six. “Now, can you describe the cave for me?”

“Dark!” Scootaloo described.

“Scary!” Apple Bloom stuck her hooves in the air.

“Windy!” Sweetie said. The girls gave her frustrated looks. “What?”

“She said describe the cave, not the weather!” Scoots groaned. Sweetie smiled nervously.

“Oops, I mean…LOOOOOOOONG!” she said in a hollow voice. Fluttershy squeaked and held Angel close to her. Twilight smiled.

“Thanks!” she searched through the pages slowly and came to page twenty-eight. “Here it is! Flaming Caves!” she showed the girls a picture. “Is this it?” the girls grinned and nodded, Fluttershy shook with terror and Angel rolled his eyes. Spike posed and then hopped around on his tail like a pogo stick.

“Let’s go! But first, why do they call it ‘Flaming Caves’?” he asked. Twilight paused.

“Uh…” she read a bit of the book. “Flaming Caves is a dangerous place, guarded by two dragons and is the dungeon of dark creatures…” she read aloud.

“Like Tyranny is!” Sweetie pointed out, making everyone but Twilight and Spike nodded.

Fluttershy flinched, “S-should I stay here?”

Twilight shrugged, “If you want, but we have to go, now.” Angel Bunny sighed sympathetically, he liked danger and suspense. “We have to have a lot of Unicorns, who can we get?”

“Rarity!?” Sweetie nodded. “She isn’t that powerful at magic, but she’ll help, won’t she?”

Twilight nodded, “She will, we could use her. Who else is powerful?”

“Trixie?” Fluttershy suggested softly. Twilight shook her head.

“She’s not even here. Who else?”

“The Princesses?” Spike asked. A light bulb came on in Twilight’s head.

“Of course!” she ran upstairs but was suddenly stopped by a glowing white light that was blinding. She put her hoof over her eyes.

“Twilight?” after a few moments, she opened her eyes, re-adjusting her focus on two figures who stood in front of her. She gasped and bowed.

Spike gaped, “Wow, that was fast!” Celestia and Luna exchanged worried glances.

“Was thou looking for us, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked. Twilight nodded.

“We needed to find you because Pinkie Pie is trapped in a-”

“A cave. We know.” Celestia spread her wings. “Twilight, you must listen to me carefully.”

Twilight blinked, “Yes, Princess?” she looked into her teacher’s smiling purple eyes.

“Did you know Discord is there, too?” Twilight nodded.

“I do, but how did he escape?”

Luna spoke up, “The power of love cannot be broken forever. Sometimes you must do what must be done. Pinkie released him, Twilight.” The purple Unicorn sighed.

“Figures…”

Celestia shot her a glare, “Listen, Twilight. Discord isn’t the creature you think he is anymore. He wasn’t like that when we were children…” she smiled at the memory.

Twilight blinked, “You knew him when you were children?”

“We both did.” Celestia gazed at Luna and smiled, Luna smiled back.

“We played together every day, believe it or not.”

“When did that stop?” asked Scootaloo.

“One day,” Celestia began. “It all changed. Discord started loving his abilities more than he did to play. To him, play was a foolish thing and he started to gain powers and cause chaos. He said it was the new ‘fun’ but I hated it. Everypony but him hated it. After so many complaints from my subjects, Luna and I rose up against him…you know what happened next.” Celestia closed her eyes. Luna nuzzled her sadly and Twilight bit her lip. Tia forced herself to continue, “When he came back the second time, Luna and I were no longer connected to the Elements, so he got out. Pinkie took a liking to his chaos and over time, she took a liking to him. When he was put back, I could see past her joyous smile on the day of the celebration.”
“I only felt somewhat guilty, however. Discord cannot be broken out by a simple argument between friends, the friends have to argue so much, saying nasty things to one another, for the spell to work.” Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle gave each other embarrassed looks and giggled nervously. “When he came back…again.” Celestia looked at Luna, and Luna nodded with a smile. “It wasn’t the Elements of Harmony that turned him back again. It was me.” Twilight gasped.

“It was…you? How did you-?”

“I turned him back, Twilight. It wasn’t you. I was just so afraid that he would go back to being…Discord that I used my own power for his punishment that he didn’t deserve one bit.” Twilight closed her gaping mouth and cleared her throat. Luna smiled at her sister and winked. “But now I see,” the Sun Princess continued, “That he deserves a second chance. He deserves to be free…” a warm smile spread across her face like sunshine on a field. “He deserves to be with Pinkie Pie.”

The Crusaders whooped and cheered, and danced around the room. Fluttershy grinned and Twilight sat partially in shock and partially in awe and happiness for Pinkie. “Wait! Shouldn’t we rescue them?”

Luna laughed, “But of course! Let us go now! To Flaming Caves!”

Author's Note

Huh, they finally remodeled this site! Put an Author's Notes section! Whoopdedoo! Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter! My RP's with a very good friend of mine helped me a LOT with this (*wink, wink*).

Anyway, sorry I took so long! I cannot tell you how busy I've been with school and stuff, but I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP, okey dokey lokey? Hope you liked this one! Bye-bye for now!

Held Hostage

Tyranny danced around the cave, a smug smile of victory on his face. “Now, with Discord’s power I can take over Ponyville…and those weakling little princesses won’t be able to stop me. Cadence?” he stepped into the wall and gazed down at a pink Alicorn who lay in a corner, she glared at him. He walked over to her and snickered. “Don’t you agree?”

“Give it a rest, Tyranny.” She growled. “Let me go. Please, just release me.” She begged. Tyranny cackled and smirked at her.

“I’m not the softy you think I am, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” He pretended to bow. Cadence bit her lip and looked away from him. “In fact, I’m wondering if I have any use for you at this moment. I’ve already drained your power when you were in that cute little crystal palace of yours…and I brought you here.” Cadence sniffed at him and scowled.

“If I still had my powers, so help me…” she said in an angry voice. Tyranny rolled his eyes.

“What would you do? Turn me into a butterfly with pretty little wings?” he chuckled. “Your powers could not vanquish Sombra, it was the Crystal Heart, not you. Now, I’m wondering if I should toss you into the ‘flaming’ part in this ‘Flaming Caves’…”

Cadence jumped to her hooves and shook her head rapidly, “Just leave me alone! And who else have you captured and made miserable?”

“Oh, only a devious little draconiques.” Tyranny chuckled. Cadence’s eyes widened.

“Discord? How did you do that? He’s been trapped a year, now.”

“Gee, you need to get out more! Sitting on that throne all day can really lower a pony’s IQ level, don’t you agree?” he flicked his blue tail in her face and she sighed. “He was again released six months ago. Then after he was put back, he was released again just a few days ago by a cute little mare named Pinkie Pie.”

“Pinkie Pie!?” Cadence snapped, “She’s Twilight’s friend!”

“No kidding.”

“B-but you’ve got to let her go!”

Tyranny cackled and pounded his hoof to the ground, making the rock chip. “Let her GO? No way, she’s fine with the one whom she calls ‘Dissy’!” he pretended to be in love with the name.

“I don’t understand…” Cadence said, shaking her head.

Tyranny scoffed, “For a love Princess, you certainly are dense.” He glared at her, and then smiled. “She’s in love with that chaotic thing.” He turned his head away and waited for Cadence to respond. A smile lit up her face.

“I knew it all along. Aunt Celestia told me that Pinkie had taken a strong liking to Discord a year ago. Now, I see she was right. And who would have thought…” she giggled and smiled fondly.

“Oh, cut with the diagnosis, Miss ‘Love Doctor’! I don’t need your unnecessary shenanigans now.” Cadence frowned. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must decide what to do with this power of yours…did I mention Discord’s, also?”

“You took his power?” Cadence’s eyes widened, “That’s impossible!”

“Well, at least he didn’t turn me into a rubber duck…” Tyranny chuckled, “Now, off to use this power of mine in the best way…” he walked through the wall, leaving Cadence alone. She sighed and looked around.

“I hope that Unicorn doesn’t destroy Equestria. Discord’s power is too strong to try to harness. It will backfire and that will result in…consequences.” She bit her lip. “I hope everything ends well.” She lay her head down on the ground and closed her eyes.

Tyranny smirked and walked through yet another wall into a flaming pit of lava. “Cadence is too good to waste.” He said, bending over the lava and sniffing it. “Ah, just the right temperature. Now’s the time.” He tapped the burning pit of flames with his hoof and flinched, ripples spread across the lava and it glowed curiously. Tyranny smiled and took his hoof out, placing the other in. The lava did the same thing, Tyranny sat down and put both front hooves into the lava, he smiled. The pain was unbearable, but it was necessary to his plan. The lava suddenly turned white, it glowed and started to make air currents here and there. Tyranny called out,
“Great pit of flames! I command you to grant me the power of darkness! I want to rule Equestria! And defeat Luna and Celestia. Please, give me that power!” the lava churned and seemed to make an echoing roar. Tyranny smirked and his dark blue eyes became a nasty bright red. He cackled. “Now is the time for rightful king of Equestria to rule!” he took his hooves out of the lava and smiled, they dripped with the white liquid but Tyranny felt no more pain. He stood up and exited the room, leaving the lava pit to make constant roaring noises.

Pinkie awakened from a deep sleep, she yawned and gazed around. “Dissy?” she tapped him softly and his yellow eyes opened, he peered down at her. “Hey, sleepy head.” She said with a cocky smile. He smiled back at her and then they both heard a loud noise. “What was that!?” Pinkie looked around and hugged Discord tighter.

“I don’t know.” He answered her. “It sounded like a Manticore…”

Pinkie giggled nervously, “W-why would there be a Manticore in here? Silly filly!” she pretended to smile but sweat dripped down her face. “Is it getting hot in here or is that just me?” she rubbed her forehead with her hoof. Discord sniffed the air.

“Now that you mention it…” he looked around and grimaced. “Something’s fishy…” Pinkie nodded her head in agreement and stood up, her legs shook.

“Uh…what’s going on?” she shook a little more and Discord pricked up his ears.

“Are you ok?” he asked her, she shook her head. He leaned back against the wall, it was trembling. He sat straight up and looked at the roof of the cave. A rock tumbled down across the room. Pinkie screamed and backed up against the draconiques, shaking with fear.

“Dissy! We’ve got to get out of here!” she breathed quickly and then looked around for a way to escape.

He nodded and stood up on his back legs, then got on all fours. “Stay low,” he instructed her, “This could get ugly.” She nodded and bent down, then snuck around the cave. She stood on top of the rock that had fallen moments ago and then leaped off it, sniffing along the floor. She smiled and stood on her hind legs. Discord looked at her quizzically, “What are you doing?” Pinkie shrugged.

“Dashie read me a Daring Doo book one day, and it said that there might just be a button to press on a wall that opens a door! Maybe we can find one that’s an exit!” Discord shrugged.

“Ok, we’ll try.” He searched along the walls, and so did Pinkie.

Twilight darted out of the library followed by Luna, who carried the Crusaders on her back. She spread her wings and flew next to Twilight. Random ponies stared at the two ponies, some blinked in astonishment, some whispered to one another. The two ignored them and Celestia, who was directly behind them, flew next to Fluttershy, who was clinging tightly to Angel. She could fly fast when she wanted to. Scoots smiled and giggled. “Hey, this is fun!”

Luna turned her head slightly and looked Scootaloo in the eye. “It is not supposed to be. We are on a mission, remember!” she turned back and Scootaloo nodded slowly. Sweetie Belle clung tight to Apple Bloom and whimpered. AB rolled her eyes and hung on to Scootaloo.

Twilight ran as fast as she could to keep up with Luna. Spike rode on her back and occasionally shouted “HIYA!” Twilight rolled her eyes and held back a smile. Celestia flew up above Luna and looked at the sky, it was cloudy and thunder could be heard.

“It may just rain.” She shouted to everypony. Luna groaned.

“We do not remember rain being on the schedule. Why did the Pegasai have to pick today for a surprise downpour?” she sighed and looked to Twilight, who was panting heavily and had slowed down a bit. “Need a lift?” she asked with a smile.

Twilight looked up at her, “I…I could sure use it!” she smiled and Spike grimaced.

“Some noble rescue steed you make.” He crossed his arms and Twilight rolled her eyes. Luna smiled and her horn glowed blue, Twilight and Spike lifted off the ground and flew a little ways above the ground. “Much better! I like flying!” Spike grinned and looked around. “This is so cool!”

Luna giggled and flew on, Sweetie gulped and looked at the rushing ground beneath her. She suddenly didn’t feel so well. “Sweetie Belle? Are you ok?” Apple Bloom turned her head to look at her,

Sweetie gulped, “Y-yeah, can we just get there soon?” she smiled nervously and shuddered. Fluttershy flew right next to Twilight.

Luna smiled at her, “Fluttershy, your wings must be getting tired.” She said.

Fluttershy laughed nervously, “Heh, heh, h-how’d you guess?” Luna’s magic aura grew brighter and she levitated Fluttershy along next to Twilight, the girls smiled at each other and flew on.

Pinkie slumped against the wall and sighed shakily. They’d searched everywhere but couldn’t find an exit. Discord walked around, seemingly in circles, but he was still looking. Pinkie bit her lip and frowned, “Dissy?” he looked up at her with his faded golden eyes. Pinkie gasped. “Dissy!? Are you ok?” she rushed over to him.

“Yes, why? Is there something wrong?” he looked all over himself for any abnormalities. Pinkie nodded and looked into his eyes.

“You don’t look good at all! You…” she scowled, “You look almost different…”

“I do?” his voice was more frantic now, but then he softened. “I think you’re just worried. Don’t be…” he nuzzled her and forced a smile but she pulled away, leaving him slightly stunned. Pinkie stood up straight, glaring at him as if he had just got on her last nerve. Discord was slightly perplexed by her expression.

“Worried? Me? No!” she suddenly seemed a bit darker in her expression, “Why would I be worried about a silly little thing like this?” she suddenly smiled creepily and snickered. “I like this, actually.”

Discord gaped in astonishment, “You LIKE it? What do you-?”

“Why are you surprised, Dissy? I thought you LOVED darkness…chaos…dismay…I thought it was your thing.” Discord blinked and turned around momentarily only to see the pink mare standing right in front of him, still grinning weirdly.

“Pinkie? Do you feel alright?”

“PERFECT!” her eyes suddenly flashed red and her voice became a little mutilated. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m enjoying myself…” she smirked. Discord stared at her and lowered his eyebrows.

“Tyranny. Stop this.” He stared right into Pinkie’s eyes.

“Aw, but, Dissy! You just spoiled my fun!” Pinkie’s eyes became normal in an instant and she gasped, leaning against the wall.

“D-Dissy? What happened!?” she looked dizzy and stumbled a little. Discord blinked and reached out and took her hoof in his paw.

“It’s ok.” He lowered his eyebrows, “It’s just Tyranny being…Tyranny.” Pinkie looked worried momentarily but then looked to her right, Discord looked, too. A burst of red came and then faded, Tyranny stood smirking at the two with dark crimson eyes. Pinkie scowled.

“You need to see an eye doctor…that doesn’t look healthy.” Discord smiled slightly and held back a laugh. He then became serious and looked at Tyranny, who brushed off Pinkie’s remark like a flea. He grinned and pranced around, a smug look of triumph on his face. Discord rolled his eyes.

“Tyranny, you better not do that to Pinkie again. What do you want?” Tyranny frowned over at him and then scoffed.

“How rude! Ok, I’ll tell you, anyway!” he smirked and looked at Pinkie. “You, come with me.” With a quick motion of his head he had levitated Pinkie and she looked quite shocked. Discord gasped and then glared at Tyranny.

“What do you want with her?”

“I want her to come see something. But you must stay!” he winked, “It’s a surprise!” Discord wanted to swipe him with his paw, but he would just be restrained, anyway. There was no use in wasting the energy. But he had to get Pinkie free somehow, whatever she was saying. Or, it looked like she was practically screaming at this point, was cut off. Tyranny had a force field so strong that not even words could escape it.

Discord nodded at Pinkie with sad eyes, signaling her to remain calm. She immediately ceased her silent crying and tried to put on a brave face. Tyranny smirked, “Aw, you’re cute when you’re sad!” Pinkie seemed to growl and she glared at him. Apparently she could hear from inside, but her words wouldn’t make it outside. She glanced at Discord and he looked to the left, then nodded, then looked back to her. Tyranny was confused momentarily and he just stared blankly. Discord laughed and leaped up on the force field, making Tyranny flinch. Pinkie held on tightly as Discord returned her to the ground.
“Hey, no fair!” the black Unicorn levitated Discord, this time and smiled. “Maybe I should show you the surprise instead…” he said with a smirk. “Come with me.” He pranced through the wall, and Dissy floated after him. Pinkie, who was still dizzy, squeaked and ran after them.

“NO! DON’T TAKE DISSY!” she cried. Discord mouthed a few comforting words and smiled. To her, it looked like.
“Be back soon.”
Pinkie sniffed and gulped, “Mmm, ok…” she said without a trace of a smile at first. Then she grinned softly and curled up on the floor and sniffled. Discord floated through the wall. Then another, then another. Until he saw Tyranny standing next to the white lava, grinning widely.

“Ok, I’ll let you go.” He then dropped Discord with his magic and smiled. “See this?” he motioned to the lava.

“Clear as day.” Discord then looked at Tyranny. “Why is it white?”

“You may have heard those explosions earlier, did you not?”

“We did.”

“Ah, alright. Are you wondering something?”

Discord shook his head, “Just what the hay you did. I know you did something.” He stepped closer to Tyranny and stared at him, “Didn’t you?” Tyranny just smiled innocently and held his hoof to his chest.

“Who? Moi?” he batted his eyes and then snickered. “Lighten up, Discord. Or I’ll have to make you…” he smiled.

Discord glowered, “If I had my powers, you’d be to the moon already, and turned into an eternal smore.” Tyranny let out a laugh.

“Oh, I doubt that. So, I’m just going to enlighten you myself.” He smirked and his horn glowed a scarlet red, Discord took a step back. He knew he wouldn’t be himself anymore, just a weapon of war.
But all of a sudden, from behind Tyranny, came a loud shout and he was picked up by a turquoise magic aura and suddenly sweet music played. He smiled and rocked his head to the beat, and soon began snoring. Discord smiled and looked to see who had been responsible. Light purple eyes smiled at him.

“Who are you?” he asked the pink Alicorn.

“First, I must ask, are you Discord?” said the mare in a melodic voice. Discord nodded. “Aha, I thought so.” She looked at Tyranny and shook her head, then turned back to Discord. “My name is Princess Cadence.”

“Wait, Celestia’s niece?”

“Yes, that’s me!” she winked and giggled.

“Oh, wow, uh. I never met you before…”

“I never met you! But, who cares! Let’s just go get Pinkie and get outta here!” she smiled weakly and Discord nodded and the two ran down the halls of the cave, “I was trapped in here just like you. But my powers were restored by…” she whistled and out of the shadows appeared Luna and Celestia. They smiled and flew along next to the two. Discord’s eyes widened when he saw them.

“Do not worry! All is forgiven, we shall explain later.” Luna smiled and flew on.

“Tyranny told me that the farther you go down this cave, the weaker you become.” Cadence smirked. “I know a spell that counters that effect.” Discord smiled and ran on. Cadence sighed and she seemed to slow down a little.

“Now we can rescue Pinkie!” They suddenly stopped and Discord pointed to the wall. “In there.” He said. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence nodded and the wall suddenly disappeared. “But the spell should run out…now” as soon as she said it, Celestia and Luna landed on the ground and they glanced at each other. Discord looked at Pinkie, who sat curled up in the middle of the floor, she didn’t seem to notice that she could escape now. Discord smiled sadly and walked up to her. The Princesses watched.
“Pinkie.” He said. Pinkie sniffed and then lifted her head, she turned around slowly. Her mind seemed to process what she was seeing, before she grinned.

“Are you sure this isn’t a dream? I’m not imagining you and the Princesses standing here?”

Discord chuckled, “No, it’s quite real, Pinkie.”

Pinkie squealed and glomped him with a big hug. “I’M SO HAPPY! NOW WE CAN GET OUTTA HERE!!!” Cadence smiled and Discord turned to her.

“Thank you, Cadence. Celestia, Luna. I owe you one.” He winked.

“This isn’t the time for celebrating quite yet, you two.” Celestia said with a frown. “These walls will soon collapse from the force of the lava. We have to get out of here now. And we can’t escape through the walls, so we’ll have to run. Run fast.”

Author's Note

Phew, this took FOR-EV-ER to write. I can't believe I added Cadence in! I guess Shining Armor DID have a place in that 2nd chapter (or whatever chapter he was in) Heh, he'll be back soon.
I hope you liked it, everypony! Still more to some!

To Save or Not to Save?

“Hold onto me.” Said Discord as Pinkie leaped onto his back. She nodded and looked into the gloom of the cave that stretched out before them. Cadence darted forward next to Celestia. Discord and Pinkie followed closely after them. Luna took up the rear, looking for any signs of danger on the way out. “What about Tyranny?”

Luna blinked, “Tyranny…shall probably be trapped in this cavern for all of eternity when it caves in.” Discord smiled and looked at Pinkie.

She was almost asleep, eyes only slightly open to keep watch. But she nodded. “Good. Now we can be free.” She suddenly felt a cold whoosh of wind run across her and her eyes widened. Discord stopped and so did the princesses.

“What in the world?” Cadence looked at her aunt Celestia, who shrugged and looked to Discord, Pinkie, and Luna. “Did you all feel that?” asked Cadence. Everypony nodded.

“W-what was it?” Pinkie asked as she gripped Discord’s fur with her hooves. Discord pricked his ears and sniffed the air. A single rock fell from the ceiling and Celestia jumped out of the way. “I think…we better…RUN!!!” Pinkie shouted. Everyone commenced running, until they saw the light at the end of the cave. Discord and Pinkie smiled.

“I think we’ll make it!” he said. Pinkie nodded and giggled.

“I hope so!” another rock fell from the ceiling. It was easily dodged, though. Celestia spread her wings and tried to fly again, she lifted above the ground, but barely. Luna and Cadence copied her, but the same results occurred. In a few moments, they had reached the exit. Luna leaped in front of Discord and sprinted out of the cave. Pinkie laughed out loud and Discord took a jump in the air. But their victory was short-lived.

“Gotcha!” a red beam of light surrounded Discord and Pinkie gasped.

“Tyranny! Let us go!” they both turned to see the black Unicorn standing behind them with a victorious smile. Cadence gasped and rushed back into the cave, but a rock crashed down from the ceiling and she backed up. The cave was almost blocked off.

“Tia! We must do something!” Luna’s horn glowed, but only barely. She still hadn’t regained her powers yet. “Oh, no! What do we do!?”

“Not what you’ll do!” said a voice from behind. “But what we’ll do!” Twilight darted up to them, smiling.

“Twilight! Ah, impeccable timing, my student.” Celestia praised her. Twilight nodded.

“Are you ready then?”

“As we’ll ever be!” pronounced Cadence. Twilight gaped in surprise, the pony she least expected to see now was her old foalsitter, but here she was. “I’ll explain later, Twilight. We have to save Discord and Pinkie!” Twilight lowered her eyebrows in a glare, somewhere deep inside her, she had ignored her teacher and she still held a grudge against Discord. But she had to save Pinkie. Her horn glowed a shiny deep pink and Cadence’s blue. Luna’s sparkled a bright navy, and Celestia’s, a shiny golden yellow. “Do this for Pinkie...” Her mind whispered to her, she felt herself whisper back, something she felt a neutral reaction to.

“For nopony else. For Pinkie.”

“Looks like my two little chickens almost flew the coop!” Tyranny snickered and the two flew back down the cave, until they were directly in front of him. Pinkie’s face grew bright red and Discord growled. “Ah, well, no punishments for now. How did those Princesses get in without my dragons defending the place? Ah, well, they must need a little scolding. But for now…” he set Discord and Pinkie down and she whimpered and hugged him tight.

“Tyranny, just…” Discord shook his head. “Why are you doing this?” Tyranny’s eyes widened and he stomped his hoof on the ground, sending out a crack that chipped the stone. Pinkie whimpered again, but this time more quietly.

“Why? WHY!? Because Celestia took all I had! My kingdom, everything!”

“I already learned that lesson the hard way.” Said the draconequus in a calm voice. Pinkie bit her lip.

“I know that. I’m not a dimwit, unlike you.” Tyranny rolled his eyes. “Once I regain control of Equestria, I will not turn it into a playground like you did. I will turn it into a place where I can get revenge, when Celestia’s debt is repaid to me, I will turn it into a glorious empire, with me as the eternal ruler, Celestia and Luna will be forever gone! And I shall be King Tyranny!”
Discord pretended to snore, Pinkie giggled. “DID YOU EVEN HEAR WHAT I SAID!?”

Discord pretended to yawn and opened his eyes. “Somewhat… I lost you at ‘Hello, I’m Tyranny’.” Pinkie covered her mouth with her hoof and laughed. Tyranny’s eyes flamed bright red and he reared up, and then stomped down, the floor cracked, which made a medium sized crevasse. Pinkie squeaked and hugged Discord tighter.

“Now, my little pink princess…” Tyranny eyed Pinkie. She looked quite shocked for a minute, then scoffed and turned away. Discord flinched.

“Don’t call me that.” Pinkie muttered under her breath. Tyranny picked her up with his magic and she floated over to him.

“Fine. How about Pokey Pinkie Pie?” he said with a snicker. She growled. “Puny, Prudent Pony?” Pinkie stood up and stuck her nose in his face.

“DO NOT CALL ME ANY OF THOSE EVER AGAIN! GOT IT?” she shouted at the top of her lungs. Tyranny seemed to cringe momentarily, but then smirked.

“Sure, Sugarplum.”

Both Discord and Pinkie grew bright red. “ONLY DISSY CAN CALL ME THAT! NOW JUST STOP!” Pinkie shrieked.

“Mmm, okay.” Tyranny said in a relaxed voice. “But, let’s see how you like this.” He stood up and his horn glowed crimson. Pinkie was just about to ask what he was up to when she suddenly felt different. She tried to stay conscious but then everything went black, within a few seconds, she jumped awake.
“Do you like it, Pinkie?”

“Hm…I LOVE it…” she smirked and swished her tail from side to side. Discord gasped.

“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT AGAIN!” he shouted.

“Did I promise? No. I only said yes.” He cackled and circled Pinkie. “So, tell me, how do you like those nicknames I gave you earlier now?”

“They’re…perfect…” she said, batting her eyes. Discord felt enraged, jealous, fearful, mad, and just plain foolish all at the same time.

“I’m glad you’ve realized it…now, what do you think of…” Tyranny smiled. “What do you think of me?”

Pinkie lowered her eyebrows and smiled. “You’re perfect…”

“And Discord?”

Pinkie frowned and looked at Discord, showing no hint of happiness or love. Her eyes shined scarlet. Discord knew this was not really her, and she was in there somewhere, but she said what he feared. “I hate him. He’s an insult to the universe.” Discord felt sad all of a sudden, not fearful, sad. No, not sad, crushed. Pinkie, the one who he truly loved and trusted, had just called him a pathetic excuse for a draconequus. It hurt, even though this wasn’t really her.

“T-Tyranny, stop…” he said in a shaky voice. Tyranny smiled and another rock crashed down from the ceiling.

“Why? I’m having fun, aren’t you?” he said with a chuckle.

“Where am I?” Pinkie floated around, in a universe far away from her own. It was nothing she’d ever thought to imagine, so she probably wasn’t asleep. “Discord? Helloooooo?” she paddled her legs across the wide, open expanse of a foreign land, everything was dark red or black. A single white object caught Pinkie’s eyes from far off. “Hello?” she paddled faster until she reached the white, she put her hoof on it, she saw a little hoof print appear, she could see through it, though. It was like a foggy window in the middle of winter. She put both hooves on the wall and rubbed all over, it cleared and she could see what was happening in Flaming Caves. She could hear and see everything. she realized she was seeing this in her own eyes. She could tell, but she wasn’t controlling what she said or did. She watched in utter silence for a moment, listening to the questions that Tyranny gave her.
“I hate those nicknames…” she said, even though she had a strong feeling they couldn’t hear her. She listened to herself answer that she thought they were “perfect”. Then Tyranny asked what she thought of him. “WHERE DO I START!? I DETEST YOU!” she then listened to herself say she thought he was “perfect”.
“NO! I DO NOT THINK THAT! EWW!!” She gagged.

“And Discord?”

“Ooh…” Pinkie smiled, “This question is more my style~! He’s sweet, cute, HILARIOUS! Uh, romantic…” she giggled, “Hm, silly, and he’s a total goof ball!” she laughed and smiled, she did feel a little better, and kind of wished he had heard that. She eagerly awaited “her own” answer.
Five seconds later, her mane was deflated. “W-wh-what? N-no…I…” she sniffed and wiped her nose. “Please don’t listen to her, Discord…I don’t hate you…No…”

Now, the boulder was almost removed, so one pony could squeeze in. I’d have to be a small pony, though. The Cutie Mark Crusaders all volunteered. But Luna shook her head. “No, you three could get hurt! It must be I!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, Princess. If you get hurt…who knows what will happen. I’m goin’ in. I can fit.”

“No, Twilight! Lemmie go instead!” protested Spike, who was hugging her back leg. Twilight shook her head.

“No, I’ll go. Stay here, and be careful!” she ran up to the cave and squeezed in through the small hole.

“Good luck, Twilight!” called everypony. She smiled and tried out an invisibility spell, it worked, but it was weak. She let out a sigh and walked down the cave, she felt herself become visible, than invisible, back and forth, until it wore off. She rolled her eyes and ever-so-quietly walked down the hall, until she reached an open space, she looked around, puzzled.

“I thought they’d be in this room…” she suddenly felt like she was being watched, she turned around to see Pinkie grinning at her, from down the cave. “Pinkie Pie!” she ran up to her. “I was so worried, thank goodness!” Pinkie giggled and rushed down another hall. “Huh?” Twilight skidded to a halt and watch Pinkie dart off into the darkness. “Uh, Pinkie?” she trotted after her, but then picked up the pace.

“Come and catch me, Twilight!” said Pinkie, it was only then that Twilight noticed Pinkie’s scarlet red eyes, the exact opposite of her normally sky blue irises. She skidded to a halt.

“Pinkie…?”

“PINKIE! YEAH! That’s my name…and who are you?”

Twilight gasped, “PINKIE, LET’S GO!”

“Go? Why? I’m having soooo much fun with my new friend!”

“Who’s that?”

“Well, DUH! Tyranny!”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “Pinkie, what has he done to you?”

“HE’S TRAPPED ME IN HERE!”

“Huh? Nothing! I just love, love, love my new best friend~!”

“Pinkie! Snap out of it!” Twilight’s horn glowed a bright pink and she used all of her remaining powers for this moment. Pinkie’s eyes instantly became blue again.

“TWILIGHT!” she ran up to her and pounced on her with a big hug. “OMIGOSH, YOU’RE HERE!!!”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Yes, but we have to get out of here!”

“Uh, yeah! But just Lemmie go get Discord! We’ll have to be very careful--”

“No, Pinkie! We don’t have time!” said Twilight as another rock fell from the ceiling. “Let’s go now!” she started to run back the way she came.

Pinkie stood where she was. “Twilight…uh, I’m not leaving without him.”

Twilight groaned and stopped, facehoofing herself. “Gee, Pinkie! We don’t need him! He’s immortal anyways! He’ll make it out ok--”

“He’s not immortal anymore because of Tyranny! AND I’M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HIM! I’ll be right back!” she ran down the hall in the opposite direction. Finally reaching Tyranny’s chamber where Discord was being held.

“Did you take care of the unwanted visitor, Pinkie?”

Pinkie looked at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with Tyranny. “Uh, yes, sir.” She walked up to Discord and looked up at him with, a first serious expression, which he countered her with a poker face. Then her eyes teared up and she winked at him, making a tear slide down her face. Her mane was one again curly. Discord grinned and winked back at her, obviously on the brink of tears himself.
Just then, Twilight burst in the room and looked at Tyranny, who was staring at her.

“And you are?”

“Twilight Sparkle. Here to save Pinkie.”

Tyranny growled at her and leaped in front of her. “I don’t need you now, leave at once or be crushed by the cave itself.”

“No, because we’re leaving. Pinkie, come on!” Twilight pinned Tyranny to the ground. “Go! I’ll be there in a minute!”

Pinkie nodded and Discord did, too. She leaped up on his back and he ran off down the cave. Tyranny gaped. “WHAT!? NO! NO! NOOOO!” he looked at Twilight, who was smiling at him.

“We win~!” she said in a musical voice, then got off him and sprinted down the hall. More rocks fell and she eventually caught up with Discord and Pinkie. She brushed off Discord. “Are you ok, Pinkie?”

“I’m fine. Let’s just get outta here!” Discord at once sped up and Twilight took the lead, the rock she’d used to get in was now moved a little more. Twilight leaped through the opening and Pinkie jumped off of Discord, then jumped out of the hole just as another rock crashed down from the ceiling. Discord tried to squeeze through the hole but wouldn’t fit. Twilight took a deep breath and at once felt her powers return to her, she turned around, panting.
“Discord!?” Pinkie skidded to a halt. “Hurry up!” Discord pushed harder and harder, and Celestia tried to help him out, but her magic was still charging, along with Cadence’s and Luna’s.

“Twilight, thou must help him out!” Luna shouted. Twilight stood motionless, thinking it over. Discord was her arch enemy, should she help him? Would he just bring chaos back to Equestria? Or did he really change like Celestia had told her. Pinkie heard a few more crashes inside and Discord yelped.

“OW, OW!”

“What is it!?” Pinkie asked with a frantic look on her face.

“My tail! It’s stuck under a rock!!” he struggled and batted his wings

Pinkie gasped and turned to Twilight, “TWILIGHT, HURRY!”

Celestia looked at Twilight with a stunned expression, “Are your powers not back yet?”

“They are…” Twilight blinked, still in the exact same spot, having a war with her mind.

Pinkie couldn’t help herself, “TWILIGHT, DO IT NOW! DO IT FOR MEEEE!”

Author's Note

CLIFFHANGER! XD, Again~! More to come! I worked hard on this one!

Love Conquers All (Ending)

“Please, Twilight!” Pinkie pleaded once more, grabbing onto Discord’s paws and pulling with all her strength. She somehow managed to lose grip and fall backwards on her back. Twilight gazed down at her and Pinkie, in turn gave her a frantic look. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. Discord was still struggling and Pinkie shook her head. All time seemed to slow as Twilight decided, regretfully that…

She had to do it. Her horn lighted up and Discord was enveloped in a pink cloud, that being Twilight’s magic aura. He stopped struggling and looked at Twilight, who shut her eyes in strain. Luna smiled and nodded at Celestia and Cadence, who nodded back. Twilight stepped back a little and Discord zoomed through the hole, he crashed into Pinkie and they both fell to the ground. Twilight groaned and opened her eyes, then sat down. Sweat dripped down her face but she turned around to see the princesses smiling at her approvingly. She smiled back and Spike ran up and hugged her. She smiled and put her hoof around him. Then she heard a crash inside the cave. The deed was done.

Discord opened his eyes and groaned, rubbing his head with his hoof. Pinkie coughed and opened her eyes, her vision was a bit blurry, but it cleared up and she smiled. “Is this a dream? Tell me.” She said with a bite of her lip. Discord opened his eyes and looked at her. He didn’t realize, of course, he was pinning her to the ground. He blushed briefly and smirked.

“Pinch me. I think you could only exist in the most wonderful dream.” Discord chuckled and Pinkie grinned, sitting up straight and kissing him. He blushed and returned the favor. Twilight looked over at them. She rolled her eyes and looked at the ground. Spike looked up at her.

“Twilight? Are you ok?”

Twilight peered down at him and shook her head. “I don’t know anymore.” She suddenly felt something on her back and she turned around to see Celestia smiling at her.

“You have done well, my student.” She smiled, “Thank you.” Twilight smiled slightly and nodded.

“You’re welcome…”

“Is there something wrong, Twilight?” asked Cadence. Twilight froze and bit her lip.

Luna smiled and giggled. “Ah, we see you do not fully trust Discord yet. Correct, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight nodded shamefully. Celestia smiled warmly.

“Go talk to him. I’m sure you’ll think he’s changed for good.” Instructed Celestia. Twilight reluctantly stood up and nodded, she then turned to Discord and Pinkie. They were hugging each other tightly. Pinkie’s tail was wagging and she had the most blissful smile on her face. It was so peaceful to see them just…hugging. Twilight felt warm and fuzzy inside, but she cleared her throat and the feeling left. Pinkie opened her eyes and so did Discord.

“Uh…” Pinkie blushed and sat up. She smiled nervously. “Thank you, Twilight. For everything.”

“You--” Twilight was stopped by Pinkie hugging her.

“I mean it. I know this was hard for you; to save somepony you thought was evil.” Pinkie smiled and broke the hug. Twilight deadpanned and stared at Pinkie. “I owe you one.” She winked.

Twilight broke into a smile and looked up at Discord. He looked away, but glanced back at her. “Discord.” Twilight began. Discord looked at her with a blank expression and Pinkie walked up to him and nuzzled his paw.

“It’s ok. She believes that you’re good now.” Pinkie said above a whisper. Discord smiled at her and then looked back to Twilight.

“Discord, I…” Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry…for not saving you as soon as possible like I should have…If Pinkie loves you. If you’ve really changed…” she smiled warmly. “I should have realized it sooner. Sooner being six months ago. I’m so sorry about all this.” She closed her eyes. Discord smiled and hugged her. She bit her lip and blinked in astonishment. Pinkie smiled and hugged Twilight, too, giggling. The purple Unicorn smiled and laughed. “Oh, what the hay!?” she hugged them both and giggled.

Celestia walked up to the hugging trio and smiled. “I believe I have an apology to make as well.” Discord opened his eyes and glanced at her. “It…it was me who turned you into stone the last time. I’m so sorry. As a princess and a teacher, I should have noticed my student’s feelings toward this. My students being Twilight and her friends.” She smiled at Twilight, who smiled back.
“And Pinkie Pie,” Tia looked at Pinkie, who gave her an emotionless stare. “I’m sorry for not taking into account that, if you love him, he must be good.” Pinkie smiled.

“It’s ok, Princess Celestia.” Pinkie said

“All is forgiven.” Discord winked at her and she smiled.

Twilight pricked her ears and looked to the cave. She could see a black hoof reach out of the tiny opening and she gasped. “Oh no!” Tyranny pulled himself out of the hole, he looked musty and his eyes were now normal blue. He gasped and collapsed to the ground. Scootaloo growled and fluttered her wings. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom screamed and hugged each other. Everypony looked at Tyranny, who lay on the ground. He groaned. Pinkie sat straight up, leaped off of Discord and pranced over to Tyranny. “Wait, Pinkie!” Twilight walked after her. Pinkie growled and restrained Tyranny on the ground; he looked up at her and recoiled.

“LISTEN, MISTER! YOU TRAPPED ME IN A CAVE! YOU TRAPPED DISSY IN THE SAME CAVE! YOU TORTURED US! MADE US MISERABLE! YOU MADE ME EVIL! YOU MADE THE PRINCESSES LOSE THEIR POWERS! YOU TRAPPED THREE INNOCENT FILLIES IN A DUNGEON, WHEN THEY DID NOTHING TO HURT YOU!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. She took a deep breath and went on, “ON TOP OF ALL THAT, YOU EMBARASSED ME! YOU CALLED ME NAMES THAT ONLY MY DISCORD, MY DISCORD IS SUPPOST TO CALL ME!!!” Tyranny flinched.

“All in a day’s work--”

"THOU MUST BE PUNISHED SEVERELY FOR THE CRIME THOU HAST COMMITED!!!" Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Yeah, what she said!” Pinkie pouted. Cadence frowned.

“And you trapped ME in there, too! You’re horrible! You should be banished to Tartarus!”

Pinkie smirked. “And that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

---The Gates of Tartarus---

“For what you’ve done, I sentence you to a lifetime of eternal pain.” Celestia closed the gates with her magic and Tyranny looked shocked.

“WHAT? NO!”

Celestia laughed and glimpsed at Discord and Pinkie, who were standing behind her. “That wasn’t it. I only closed the gates…” her horn lighted up and a golden-yellow blast went through the gates and the ground beneath Tyranny turned red.

“YOU CAN’T--” suddenly, fire burst out of the ground and he screamed in pain.

“Gee,” Pinkie tapped her chin. “That looks painful. Dissy, I don’t think he deserves quite THAT much.” She looked up at him. He nodded.

“You’re right. I’ll take it from here, Celestia.” He smiled at her and she nodded.

“Be my guest.”

Discord cracked his knuckles and snapped his fingers. The fire turned into something that looked like…lava. Pinkie gaped. “Uh, Dissy. I said to make it LESS painful. What’s with the lava?”

He looked at her and burst out laughing, “Why, my dear, it’s marinara sauce! Not lava!” Pinkie poker-faced and then cracked a smile.

“On second thought…” she giggled, “I LIKE IT!” she rolled onto her back, laughing. Tyranny shouted and glared at Discord and Pinkie.

“I’LL GET REVENGE! I SWEAR!”

Discord blew a raspberry. “I’d like to see you try~!” he said in a sing-song voice. Pinkie snorted with laughter and Celestia smiled.

“Alright, you two silly fillies. You must be getting to Ponyville! Cadence has left for the Crystal Empire, and Luna and I have some business to attend to.”

Pinkie wiped a tear from her eye and giggled more quietly. “O-ok! Let’s go!”

---Sweet Apple Acres---

“You’re absolutely sure? Are ya serious?” Applejack asked her little sister.

“Yeah! Ah sure am! Come on! Hurry up!” Apple Bloom ran down the dirt path and Applejack sprinted after her.

---Cloudsdale---

“RAINBOW!” shouted Scootaloo from Rainbow’s window, she sank back to the ground and returned a few seconds later. “DASH!”

Rainbow looked up from her Daring Doo book and walked over to her window and opened it. Scootaloo had springs on the bottom of her hooves and she was bouncing up and down to reach Rainbow Dash’s cloud home since she couldn’t fly. “Whoa, uh, hey, Scoots.” She said.

“Come to Ponyville right away! There’s something I need to show you!”

Rainbow smiled and flew out her window. “On it!”

---Carousel Boutique---

“Rarity!”

Rarity groaned and set the purple fabric on the floor. “Sweetie Belle, I’m very, very busy!”

“I know, but there’s something I NEED to show you! Right now!” Sweetie Belle pestered. Rarity sighed.

“Oh, all right, but it better not take too much of my time!”

---Sugarcube Corner---

“Dissy! Get behind the curtain!” commanded Pinkie.

“Right NOW?” Discord looked at her. The twins were hugging him and trying to play with him.

“Dwiscowd!” chirped Pumpkin Cake. Pound smiled and giggled. Pinkie sighed.

“Ok, you two, I know it’s been a long time since you’ve seen Discord…but we can play later!” the twins frowned and got off Discord.

Pinkie heard the bell on the front door jingle, then hoof steps. “Uh, Pinkie?” Apple Bloom scampered into the room. “Applejack’s on her way!” Pinkie smiled at Discord.

“Ok, you know what to do!” he nodded and got behind a canvas curtain. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle darted into the room together.

“Rainbow Dash is on her way!”

“So is Rarity!”

Pinkie smiled and turned to Twilight, who was standing behind her with Spike. “Ready, Twilight?”

“Yup!” she trotted out into the front room and the door opened again. This time it was Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack all piling in at once. “Hello, girls! Follow me.” Twilight smiled and escorted the girls into the back room. Pinkie stood behind the curtain next to Discord and they winked at each other. The twins sat in their high-chairs, giggling.
Twilight got up on a soapbox and spoke into the microphone in front of her. “Mares and gentlecolts, it is my great honor to present, the fabulous Discord and Pinkie Pie!” The curtain parted and Pinkie stood with a fake pig nose attached to her real one. Discord had since turned himself into an actual pig.
Rainbow gaped at the word “Discord” and Applejack looked confused, if not slightly afraid. Rarity tilted her head and bit her lip.

Pinkie stood near the right of the “stage” and took a deep breath. “First, ya wiggle your tail!”

“Oink, oink, oink!” Discord chanted.

“Then ya wiggle your snout!”

“Oink, oink, oink!”

“Then ya wiggle your rump!”

“Oink, oink, oink!”

“And shout it out!”

“Oink, oink, oink!”

“First, ya wiggle your tail!” continued Pinkie with a smile on her face.

“Oink, oink, oink!” Discord sang along.

“Then ya wiggle your snout!” Pinkie wiggled her fake pig nose and Discord crinkled his real one.

“Oink, oink, oink!”

“Then ya wiggle your rump!” they both shook their flanks and giggled at the same time.

“Oink, oink, oink!”

“And shout it out!”

“Oink, oink, oink!” at the last “oink” a burst of fireworks blasted on the stage, courtesy of Twilight’s magic. Discord snapped back to his draconequus form and took a bow. Pinkie copied him. The twins giggled and cheered. Spike clapped and Twilight laughed. Fluttershy flew out onto center stage and shouted,

“Yay!”

Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity stood shocked. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF APPLES TO BITS IS GOIN’ ON HERE!?” shouted AJ. Apple Bloom shook her head.

“Aw, sis! Ah’ll let everypony explain.”

---Thirty Minutes Later---

Applejack pulled Apple Bloom close to her. “Wow, you sure had yourself a day, missy!”

Rarity stroked Sweetie Belle’s mane and hugged her. “I can’t believe it! Oh, my darling Sweetie Belle!” she hugged her sister tighter.

Rainbow smiled slightly at Scoots. “Gee, you sure are brave, kiddo.”

Scoots smiled. “Heh…thanks.”

Rainbow snickered. “But if I was there, I woulda knocked the bits outta Tyranny!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course you would have.” Everypony laughed.

“Uh, Discord?” Applejack walked up to the stage, where Discord hovered just above Pinkie.

“Yes, Applejack?”

“Ah’m a might sorry for, uh, not believin’ ya…” she took off her hat and placed it over her chest. “Can ya forgive me?”

Discord nodded. “Of course. And I’m sorry for everything I did to hurt you.” He glanced at Rainbow and Rarity. “And you two, as well.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it.”

“Yes, it’s quite alright, darling.”

Pinkie giggled and hugged Discord. “I’m glad they like you now. LET’S PAAAAAAR-TAY!” the rest of the day was spent partying and just having a good time. In two hours, everypony left.

“Discord, uh…” Twilight turned back to him on her way out. “I…I’m sorry, but, would you…like to…become friends?” she smiled nervously and stuck out her hoof. Discord smiled and shook it.

“Of course, Twilight. All is forgiven.” She grinned and nodded.

“Thank you. Spike! We gotta go, come on!” she looked at Spike, who was eating a muffin.

“Aw, ok…” he ran up to her and jumped on her back. “Uh, see you two!” he said to Discord and Pinkie in-between bites.

Discord nodded. “Bye. Hm, where is Pinkie?” he looked around. “I’ll find her…”

Twilight nodded and giggled, “Ok. She usually likes to play hide-and-seek, so I’d suggest looking EVERYWHERE.” She giggled again. “G’night!”

Discord nodded and Twilight pulled the door shut with her magic. The draconequus smiled and flew around, looking for Pinkie. He stopped and smirked, then flew upstairs to check in the attic. No Pinkie. He returned back downstairs and looked under a table.

“You found me~!” said Pinkie in a sing-song voice. She leapt out from under the table and pounced on Discord.

“Hm.” He chuckled. “I’ve really got to work on my defense. You get me every time!” Pinkie giggled and snorted, and Discord kissed her, making her blush and go red in the face. He softly pulled away and Pinkie looked a little dazed. He chuckled again. “What?” Pinkie shook her head and smirked.

“Nothing…I just liked it, is all.” She kissed him again, but briefly, before snuggling into his fur and smiling warmly. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Pinkie. You don’t know how much.” He nuzzled her and for the first time in six months, he felt truly happy. He knew, now, the way to be truly happy.

THE END

Author's Note

I finished it? I finished it. I FINISHED IT!

Why do good things come to an end? I dunno. Maybe they're be a threequel? Hm, but I have to finish up some of my other fics first. But maybe they're be a 3rd one. They made a 3rd Chipmunk movie, didn't they? Yup. So, I'mma gonna think about it. Don't beg me or anything. Unless you REALLY want it...

Anyway, I hope you all liked it! Off to see if they made some fanart yet! (Nope, XD)

Your Faithful Writer,

~Kiara

Standing Inches Away

Pinkie’s heart was pounding as she looked out the window. “Five minutes until Canterlot.” She said, inhaling an excited breath. “About ten until my dreams come true.” She closed her eyes tight and grinned widely. “You ready for this, Gummy?” she asked her silent companion. He blinked and didn’t respond. Pinkie giggled and sat back in her seat, closing her eyes tightly and picturing the hug she would get once her mission was accomplished. It was a warm hug, and Pinkie loved hugs, especially warm ones! What would hugs be if they were hot or cold, or cool, exactly? Sweaty, Ice cube-y? “Oh, well, that doesn’t matter.” Pinkie thought, “All that matters is I get my hug. And get to see…” she shivered and opened her sparkling eyes.
The whole world seemed to brighten around her at the thought, “Get to see…Dissy…just to SEE him would be enough! And he’ll stay forever and ever this time! And we can help at the bakery and foalsit the twins and take long walks on weekends and sit in the shade of a candy cane looking up at the cotton candy clouds!” She sighed blissfully and hummed to herself.

“Attention, passengers.” came an announcement over the radio. Pinkie perked her ears up and listened closely. “We are now entering Canterlot. We will be at the station in precisely one minute.” Pinkie’s heart beat faster. “Have an excellent day!” the radio cut off and Pinkie inhaled deep breaths of excitement and thrill. “We’re almost there!” she said in a musical tone.

Farther back in the train, the CMC sat under the chair twiddling their…well, hooves. Apple Bloom waited anxiously to get off the train, “We ever gonna get there?” she complained.

Sweetie nodded, “In one minute!”

“Even less than a minute, now. See?” Scoots poked her head from under the chair and out the window, they were entering the gates. The girls smiled. “See, we’re almost there!” the train came to the station and halted.

Pinkie stood up and grabbed Gummy, putting him gently on her back. “Ready? GO!” she marched out of the train as it opened and darted along the sidewalk, the CMC followed in hot pursuit.

“Now, we’ll just stay outta sight of everypony! We gotta follow Pinkie but don’t get too close!” Scoots instructed. Sweetie and Apple Bloom followed and they came to a halting stop when they reached a corner. “Ok, let’s move!” they trotted across the street. None of the other ponies seemed to notice. Pinkie swerved around a corner.

“OUCH!” squealed Pinkie, as she ran into somepony.

“Ah…I’m sorry, miss I didn’t-” he looked up, “Pinkie Pie?” he said, laughing. “What are you doing here?” Pinkie winced, normally she’d be happy to see an old friend, but as formal captain of the royal guard and Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor might suspect something. He was a shiny white Unicorn with a blue mane and tail, he was now prince of the Crystal Empire and had given his previous job in Canterlot to another guard he knew.

“Uh…hiya, Shining Armor! I’m, er…s-shopping! What are y-you d-doing in Canterlot?” Pinkie stuttered, sweat dripping down her face. Shining smiled.

“Shopping, eh? Well, you’ve come to the right place for that.” He chuckled.

Pinkie gulped, wanting to change the conversation, “Yeah, so, uh, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just came to check up on mom and dad. And to say hi to some of my old buddies.” He replied, “Small world, huh?”

Pinkie nodded slowly. “Well, I guess I’d better be-”

“How’s Twilie doin’?” he asked, his eyes brightening. Pinkie grinned and nodded.

“Come on, he’s not gonna suspect anything, Pinkie. Just be yourself!” Pinkie thought. “She’s awesome! As Twilight-y as Twilight could be!” she forgot all her worries in those words. “How’s Cadence?”

Shining smiled, “She’s much better, now. Finally got some sleep, now she can truly be a ruler.” He winked at Pinkie, “I gotta go, tell Twilie and the others I say hi!” and with that, he walked across the street.

“I will!” Pinkie nodded and trotted off down the street towards the castle. Suddenly, a familiar scent filled her nose. “Funnel cakes…” she grinned and followed the smell, sniffing along the ground like a bloodhound. Now paying attention to where she was going, Pinkie ran headfirst into a brick wall. She grinned and jumped up, looking over it. On the other side, ponies were having lunches. The pink pony looked around. “Funnel cakes…” she eyed the delicious deserts that were at ponies’ tables.
Pinkie’s stomach growled and she groaned, “No, I have to do what I need to-” her tummy grumbled again. She sighed, “Maybe I better have something, I didn’t have breakfast after all…” she leapt over the wall, which made ponies look up from their meals.

One of them scoffed and mumbled something about having a gate and how rude it was to jump over the wall. Pinkie ignored him and sat down at a vacant table, putting Gummy onto the seat across from her. A white Unicorn with a stylish black mane walked over, “May I help you, miss?” he said, scribbling something on a note pad.

Pinkie smiled and nodded, tossing him four bits. “I’ll take one of those scrumptious funnel cakes, please!” she said, resting her head on her hoof. The Unicorn nodded and levitated the cake with a black magic aura and placed it before her. Pinkie drooled and dove right into it.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were slyly looking over the brick wall, whimpered in craving for the delicious funnel cakes and other delectable food items that ponies were munching on. Sweetie Belle licked her lips, “I wish we could have one of those sweet treats!” Apple Bloom nodded.

“Yeah, but we’re here to spy, not eat.” she gulped, “Even if those do look…yummy.” Scootaloo sat beside them with her head resting on her hoof.

“I’m not even hungry, but they sure look good anyways.” She said. “This day would go so much better if we had brought some bits. We’ll be hungry later.” She said.

Apple Bloom lowered her ears, “Gosh darn it, we forgot, didn’t we?” the two girls nodded. “Dang, Ah sure would like to have one a’ them pastries!” Scoots bumped her on the shoulder.

“Geez, Apple Bloom, we’re here to spy, like what Sweetie just said. We can’t think about food now!” Apple Bloom nodded sadly.

“Guess your right…” the girls turned back to Pinkie, who was now picking up Gummy and turned toward the CMC. The girls let go of the wall and huddled against it. Pinkie jumped right over and didn’t notice them at all. Apple Bloom snickered and followed quietly after her, her two friends tailing her.

Pinkie took a long, deep breath. Before her stood two of the biggest gates in Equestria. She smiled at them and waited patiently for them to open. “Who goes there, where are you coming from, and what’s your purpose?” called a guard from above. Pinkie bit her lip, she didn’t know they were gonna ask her that! What would she say?

A typical Pinkie Pie answer, of course! “My name’s Pinkie Pie and I come from a rock farm! My purpose is to throw parties and make everypony smile!”

The guard blinked, “Ah, the Element of Laughter herself. Step right in, Miss Pie!” the gates opened slowly.

“Well, that was easy!” Pinkie bounced in singing to herself. The CMC charged after her.

“Now, let’s just-”

“Halt! Who goes there?” the guard glared at the three. Scootaloo mouthed ‘nuts’. Apple Bloom smiled shyly at the guard.

“Uh, howdy!” AB started, “We’re Miss Pie’s escorts! With the business of bein’ an Element and all that, she’d need security, right? Heh.” The guard seemed to consider this. He had the best poker face of anypony in Equestria, even better than Rainbow’s, and almost Nopony could top Rainbow Dash’s poker face.

“Fine…you may pass.” The guard said, allowing the Crusaders to enter. Apple Bloom nodded in thanks and the three scurried through the gate.

Pinkie was on the verge of hyperventilating. She walked, more like ran through the labyrinth with lightning speed. She ran right passed the opening to the statue garden. “Oops!” she realized it and backed up. “Ok, let’s do this.” She trotted into the garden, her heart beating faster with every step. “Let’s…GO!” she sprinted forward, around the next bend and came to a halt. Every dream she had had in six months rested in what stood before her, she only had to take a few more steps.

((A/N: Muhahaha, so I leave you all with a cliffhanger *le trollface* it was too good to pass up, but as Zecora would say:

"Don't worry, I will hurry" Haha, so I hope you liked it! Until next chapter!