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Chaos Competition Chapter 3

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Gala Night Gone Wrong

Night arrived into Equestria and covered Canterlot in the beautiful, starry environment to add natural enhancement to the event. With the perfect night started the regal festivities of the prestigious and greatly attended Grand Galloping Gala.

Discord stood beneath the moonlight as he admired the sky. He was desperately tempted to cast a few spells, if only to calm himself down, but instead he looked at his feet and sighed. He felt very confused about everything that went on around him, everything that had happened in the last couple of days

It felt very odd and uncomfortable to have those heavy thoughts, it felt wrong. He usually wasn’t like that. But... After one thousand years, Discord had forgotten what was the balance between Chaos and Fun.

It had been nearly impossible to get him out of under Fluttershy’s cottage, he recalled with embarrassment. The colossal attempt had required Fluttershy’s ever-so-constant coaxing, Pinkie Pie’s ability to play ten instruments at a time, thirty stormy clouds gathered in ten seconds flat, the blinding gleam of never-failing fabulosity, and in the end, Twilight and Spike disrespecting the name and glory of cotton candy and chocolate milk so much that Discord had nearly forgotten his reformation and turned them both into arts and crafts utensils (they had miraculously escaped the sticky and sharp fate).

But by then, just when he was about to snap his fingers at the Element of Magic and the faithful baby dragon assistant of the dutiful librarian, Applejack had already roped Discord like a barn animal and before he knew it, Fluttershy was sweet-talking him, with that voice she had, into attending the party to which he was already invited (with no chaotic shenanigans, of course. Those were to stay behind at her cottage). Honestly, the humiliation he now subjected himself with those ponies... All for Fluttershy’s sake.

He had promised Fluttershy, Celestia, and the others that he would be reformed from being volatile. He couldn’t succumb to temptation now, he had committed himself. Whether he liked it, or was comfortable, or not. He had to go through with it because... Because he had to.

He looked back into his memories and sat in shame as he realized, again, what he had lost more than a thousand years ago. He felt shattered, like a weight had been dropped on him. “Ohh...”

What made it all worse that, as he had noted before, his memory never failed him. He recalled every single detail of his betrayal and actions against the princesses with clarity. He saw everything that they had all suffered and gone through play back in his mind.

Fluttershy looked around and smiled when she spotted Discord not far from the Canterlot gates that would open the way to the palace grounds. "Discord! Oh, how wonderful that you could make it" She greeted him with her quiet voice as she stepped away from the other five to get to him.

Discord sighed and gave her a small smile. “Is it really that surprising?”

“W-Well--”

Discord’s smile faded as he gave her an unamused look. “After all, your persuasive methods are quite effective, I must say. Your friend hogtied me and you talked to me for half an hour straight before I accepted to come. Honestly, dear, you talk quite a lot.”

Fluttershy blushed a bit before she again. "I was telling everypony that it would be--" She looked up at him and tilted her head to the side as she saw the burdened expression on his face. She frowned with worry. "O-Oh... What's wrong? Is it still too early for you out here?"

Twilight looked over at Discord and gave him a resentful look. "Hmm." She looked away with a bit of annoyance. She was the only one who completely knew what had happened more than a thousand years ago, after all. Not to mention that some hours earlier an infuriated Discord nearly turned her and Spike into glue and scissors, all for trying to help him.

Fluttershy stepped closer to him. "Discord, I understand if you don't feel at ease around here. I just wanted you to present yourself out of courtesy to the princess, after she invited you here herself. One must be polite, after all.” She smiled a little. “But if you want, we can go back to Ponyville and do something on our own. I completely understand."

"Fluttershy, you're not serious! After the work I went through on your dress?!" Rarity gave Applejack a frustrated look as her friend nudged her to be quiet.

Applejack pointed over to the palace with her hoof. She tried to distract her unicorn friend with the many upper class ponies that continued to arrive in their elegant carriages. "Eh, Rarity, I think we should just go over an' see what kinda fancy ponyfolk there is to talk to tonight."

Rarity gasped and smiled as her eyes glittered with the sight of so many opportunities to mingle in high-class society. "Oh! Of course, I really, really hope Hoity Toity made it tonight!" She rushed off, leaving Applejack to shake her head and roll her eyes.

Discord sighed and looked at Fluttershy with an uncertain expression. "Oh, I'm not sure about this, Fluttershy. The things I've done to Celestia haven’t been exactly... friendly, you know.”

Fluttershy blinked. “Well, I understand that trying to plunge the kingdom in chaos several times is not the best idea--”

“Exactly, right? But... Well, It's not my fault she has no sense of humor." He whispered that to Fluttershy, fearing that somepony else might hear them and throw a tantrum about his opinion.

Just as Fluttershy was about to say something else, he sighed and shook his head before he continued speaking with a heavy tone. "How will I fit in with them...? Celestia doesn’t even want to see me!"

Fluttershy frowned worriedly as she watched him not only tremble in fear, but also turn his whole body into ice cubes. “Discord--”

"I... I-I think I'm getting stage fright."

Applejack sighed as she walked over to Discord’s icy lower claw and hoof. “Or cold feet, rather.” She pointed at his lower body parts.

Fluttershy smiled at him encouragingly. “Well, you’ll never know unless you try. Discord. Everypony at the gala will never know how good and friendly you can be unless they give you a chance.”

“But--”

Fluttershy held his paw. “You were invited here already, so the least everypony can do is give you a chance to have fun with them. Besides, Discord... If it makes you feel any better, you will come here as my company. All you have to worry about is what I think, if you want, and I think that you’re already doing great by even giving this a chance.”

He sighed and smiled at her again. “V-Very... Very well. Then we’ll just worry about each other.” Once she nodded at him with approval, he followed her as she led the way to the doors.

As they headed closer to the door, she gave him a confused look. “But, I still don’t understand, Discord. Why do you care so much about what Princess Celestia thinks? It’s not like you will have to directly speak to her, actually. So you can relax, at least with that, can’t you?”

Twilight sighed as she walked past them. “Yeah, I really wonder why the cold feet, too. I mean, surely he didn’t do anything wrong to upset the princesses. On a, you know, personal level.” She gave Discord a knowing look. “Right, Discord?”

Discord shifted uncomfortably as Twilight looked away, towards Fluttershy.

“Well, Twilight, I’m sure that if anything happened, it can all be forgiven. After all, we’re giving Discord a chance, aren’t we? We can’t do that without letting him fit in where we live, just like everypony else.”

Twilight sighed as she gave her friend a small worried frown. “The princess has no trouble with him fitting in, Fluttershy, I’m sure of that. If she did have such trouble, she wouldn’t have thought of his reformation in the first place.”

Fluttershy nodded in understanding.

“It’s something else that she would rather keep to herself. This ‘something else’ is the reason why she would refuse to see him. If he ever even wanted to see her. And this reason doesn’t interfere at all with his fitting in with anypony else, you see? It’s...” Twilight glanced at Discord again. “It’s a bit closer than that.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof to her mouth as she tried to understand the hidden subject of the conversation. “This is getting a bit confusing...”

She decided to leave it alone, as it was meant to be, and turned to her new friend instead. “Let’s just do our best, Discord. Like I always say, ‘stay where you feel the most comfortable until you are absolutely sure about taking the leap’. And just know that whether you decide to stay or leave, I will support you.”

Twilight shook her head slightly and gave Fluttershy a small smile. “Well, I’m going inside now if you don’t mind, Fluttershy. Will that be alright?”

“Of course, Twilight! You go right ahead, we’ll most likely be with you in a moment. I’m sure we just need to get our courage back. Isn’t that right?” She smiled up at Discord.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she flew ahead to catch up with the others. “You know, Fluttershy, the whole ‘courage’ thing is weird coming from you.”

Fluttershy smiled a bit at her friend’s comment and watched her and the others finally enter the palace.

Discord sighed as he glanced around the dark area. "Oh, Fluttershy... Ehm...” He shook his head and looked back down at the awaiting pegasus. “Fine... I'll try my best" He stated weakly as he walked next to her. “I’ll try, really.”

“Oh, wonderful, then. I’m really glad for you.” She took his paw gently and walked forward at an easy pace. As they followed the other guests, she was sure to keep a nice round of conversation with Discord to try to keep his mind off the many worries that seemed to torment him.

~~~

The crowds of hundreds of ponies entered the palace as the night sky glowed beautifully with the shimmer of the stars. They were spread out all over, talking to one another, sharing different stories and gifts, participating in all kinds of activities that the gala night offered.

Discord walked in, already wearing his ‘fancy’ outfit to complement Fluttershy’s formal gown. When he entered, the large crowd of high-class Canterlot guests stared at him with odd expressions, then turned away in disgust or dislike. He smiled weakly as he tried to fit in, but mostly kept his sight down as he and Fluttershy made their way through the large room.

He felt out of place to say the least, and not only kept himself from using his powers out of caution, but... He was unsure how and when he should use them altogether, and he was too nervous to ask.

Fluttershy nodded at him as they walked by the crowd of ponies that had turned away from them to continue their conversation in their socialite group. “You are doing very well, Discord.”

Discord looked at her as she tried to reassure him.

“Go ahead and just be yourself whenever you feel more comfortable.” She patted his paw. “Just make sure not to hurt anypony, you know.”

“Myself... Well... Fluttershy, I’m not sure I can even use my magic right now!” Discord muttered, finally letting out his nerves.

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, don’t be silly. You don’t have to use your magic to have fun. Sometimes, when I’m feeling very shy and insecure, I just stare and watch what everypony is doing. Then I try to imitate them when I feel up to it. But that can be later, you know.”

She ordered two cups with drinks and looked at Discord again. “How about we just have a sit and enjoy a drink for a while? I understand this is difficult, so I don’t want to force you into anything. My friends will understand that I stay with you for the night. Everypony has difficulty fitting in at some time.”

Discord took the cup but did not drink from it. Instead, he simply transformed it into a small liquid fish and made it swim around in the air. He smiled weakly again and tried to think of ways to pass the time.

As time passed and Discord did not seem to relax, Fluttershy wondered just how she could help him gain some confidence. She then looked out at the game corner and smiled. It was outside, in the gardens close to the palace, there wasn’t much of a crowd, and games were the main attraction. What could be better?

She stood up and smiled encouragingly at Discord. “On second thought, I think I have a better idea. Come along.” She pointed at her hoof as she started to walk towards the door.

“Fluttershy, where are we going? Aren’t we supposed to be at the party?” Discord looked around as he spoke to her.

“Oh, we’ll still be at the party, Discord, we’re not going to leave the palace. But it’ll be something fun, just trust me and come along.”

“But where?”

“You’ll see. And you’ll like it, too.”

Discord sighed impatiently, but nonetheless followed her as she asked.

~~~

She led him outside, to the corner where ponies had fun as they threw rings around poles, darts at the target circles, and played many and just about any type of games, including games of chance.

Sure, there were mostly young ponies in the area, but she didn’t think that would make much of a difference. At the contrary. Young ones would surely Discord’s fun company, once they got past his looks. And, Discord was very funny-looking to begin with.

Just as Pipsqueak had taken a liking to Princess Luna during Nightmare Night, the little ones were bound to like Discord and love his antics.

The younger ponies looked at him with questioning looks as Fluttershy tried to coax them into playing with Discord. “It’ll be alright, now. We just want to play a good game, like all of you here. It’ll be nice if we all have fun together and help each other out, won’t it? Yes, I know it will. So let’s go at it, okay?”

The colts and fillies looked at one another and started playing normally, as the adult ponies stared at them with slightly anxious, questioning looks that Fluttershy disregarded.

“Discord, how about a game?” She was determined to try her best to keep things under control if he got carried away (though she was sure that would not happen while she used her gentle touch).

She looked at the ponies that stopped playing some of their games to look at them. “I’m sure nopony will mind! We’re here to play and have fun as much as they are.”

She would have been surprised and shocked with herself if she had realized how much confidence and leadership she was displaying that moment. Then again, Fluttershy always did seem to have unwavering, strong resolution and trust in anything that regarded her friends.

Discord smiled a bit as he looked around. “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all.” As he joined a few ponies in throwing rings, he used his magic to turn the pole into a playful worm. He made the game more challenging, but still fun.

He enjoyed the games that he took part in, always making sure not to 'exceed it'.

Fluttershy smiled at him as she watched him relax at last. “Very good!” She looked at the other ponies, glad to see that they appeared to enjoy Discord’s company rather well. “Oh, good, it’s going so well...”

~~~

Trumpets sounded amongst the castle. Upon the entrance stood a tall unicorn stallion. His coat was light cyan, his eyes a moderate mulberry. His back and flank were obscured by his dark cape, which extended slightly at the lower parts. Dark persian blue plates with silver stars and characters adorned his hooves and his chest, matching the dark blue crown that sat over his light azure-gray mane.

The announcer cleared his throat and presented the guest of honor with a loud, booming voice. "His Excellency from the Western Kingdom, Prince Modest, has arrived."

The high-class ponies clopped their hooves on the marble floor as they watched the new arrival make his way through the long carpeted hall to meet the princesses.

The prince wore a black suit under his cape. His mane was combed back, with a few bangs covering his left side slightly. He gave a smile and a pose that represented his name.

Celestia and Luna both looked at him as they awaited by their thrones. Celestia smiled a little when he approached them, while Luna remained serious and poised.

Rarity gasped as she and her friends watched the prince as he walked by. “Oh, but he is simply DASHING! And look at that vest, too! I must meet his designer!” She whispered eagerly to the others as she marveled at the clothes, which had a high style selected and fitting for royalty.

Pinkie Pie smiled as she whispered back, though loudly. “I wonder what it’s like in the West Kingdom? I’ve never been there! Maybe we should ask him about it later! I’m sure it must be fun, too! We should make a trip to the Western Lands! Think he’d be willing to take us along?”

“Well, Pinkie Pie, with that--”

Applejack looked at them. “You two shush or everypony here will hear ya. Don’t wanna grab that kind of attention now, do you?” She gestured them to be quiet with her hoof.

Rainbow Dash smiled a little as she stretched. “So it’s another royal, big deal. Though I gotta admit, it’s pretty cool that it’s a prince ruler. Must be a strong unicorn.”

“Leave alone dashing!” Rarity stepped forward just a bit to get a better view. “And you know what? He doesn’t look a thing like that royal pain, Prince Blueblood!”

At that, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but laugh.

Applejack smiled at her. “You mean that ‘Prince Charming’ of yours, Rarity?”

“Some catch you ended up having!”

Rarity frowned a little. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, don’t get me started!”

Pinkie Pie bounced a bit to look over the crowd’s heads. “He really doesn’t look related to the princesses. I wonder how many outside royalty there are?”

Twilight spotted her friends and walked over to them to try to calm them down. “Girls, settle down, you don’t want to upset the new arrival--no, I don’t know him personally, by the way.” She shook her head and raised an eyebrow as she saw that Rarity had sighed with disappointment. What, do they expect me to know every royal pony there is around the kingdoms?

~~~

Fluttershy peeked inside once everypony had gone in to get a look at the royal guest. “Goodness, I wonder who just arrived...” She had been too caught up with the games, glad that Discord was getting himself back together, to hear the loud announcement.

Discord stood up and looked at the door. "He seems important, I'm curious about him too. How about we check it out?"

He looked back at the young ponies that enjoyed his tricks for a bit longer before going off to their parents. “Everypony else is doing it, anyway. We shouldn’t get left out of the loop.”

Fluttershy nodded. She looked at him as they walked closer to the door, behind the crowd. “Okay. But first, do you feel better now?”

"I... I'm feeling better, yes, Fluttershy. In fact, I think my issues with Celestia have just about left my head! All thanks to you. You sure know how to mend something."

“Oh, good! I’m really glad.” Fluttershy felt genuinely happy upon seeing that so far everything was going well that night.

She still did not understand why the ‘issues’ with Princess Celestia troubled Discord so, but she was not about to pressure him about them and remind him.

She believed that if he had a problem, she would wait until he was comfortable enough to share it. While she was curious about it, Fluttershy had no doubt that, as friends, Discord would trust her when he was ready to do so.

~~~

The prince bowed his head to Celestia and Luna as he stood before them. "Your Sun and Moon Graces, you have honored me with the cordial invitation to your galant ball. I am delighted to announce you at this exquisite event of yours that you will have my kingdom's entire respect and admiration, as well as my own."

The princesses smiled and returned the formal gesture.

“It is our greatest honor to have you here as well, Prince Modest. Please feel free to ask for our assistance in case you need anything, my sister and I will be very happy to help.” She looked at the ball that went on before them. “We hope that the event will be to your liking.”

As Celestia spoke with the prince, Luna lifted her gaze to see him, but quickly looked away.

Prince Modest nodded. "I'm sure it will be. Canterlot has yet to disappoint my visits. If it's not an inconvenience, Your Highnesses, I would like to meet the heroines whom rumors of victory over a draconequus have spread like wildfire in my kingdom's council." He spoke attentively as he directed himself to Celestia, then smiled at Luna every once in awhile.

“Oh, but of course. I would be more than happy to introduce them to you.” Celestia looked around at the crowd. She smiled as the crowd grew a bit excited upon the mention of the Elements of Harmony and some of their anecdotes. “Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Please come on over, the prince wishes to meet you.”

Rarity squealed and nearly fainted at the Princess’ call. She had to be supported by Applejack as they made their way to meet the royalty.

Applejack bowed to the three royal ponies. She stood up to speak to the prince. “Yeah. Same here, Prince. We’re all glad to meet ya too. Applejack’s the name, sir.”

Rarity smiled as well as she did an elegant curtsey. “My name is Rarity, Your Highness. It is quite a pleasure and an honor to have you in our kingdom, sir.”

Twilight bowed her head. “Yes, thank you for visiting us, Prince Modest. I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s student. I will be happy to--”

Rainbow Dash quickly few before the prince. “They said it. Name’s Rainbow Dash, Prince. You won’t be sorry to meet me and my friends, we’ll be sure to live up to everything you’ve heard!”

Modest smiled. “Is that so? I’m glad. I’ve heard so much about you that--”

“Hello, Prince Modest! I’m Pinkie Pie! Hopefully you’ll be staying in Equestria for a while, it’s a great kingdom! Ever been to Ponyville? Oooh, you gotta come to Ponyville, it’s great over there! We all live there and do a bunch of fun stuff! I live with the Cakes--”

Applejack patted the pink pony to calm her down. “Alright, that’s enough, sugarcube, you don’t wanna tire the prince when he’s just got here.”

~~~

Fluttershy yelped a bit as Celestia called her and the others forth. She immediately leaned closer to Discord as she tried to hide. “I-I’m not here! I’m not here, I didn’t make it, I couldn’t attend to the gala. I’ll introduce myself to him later, when he’s... by himself. Once everything is over. With, nopony watching me!”

Discord said nothing as his pegasus friend hid behind him with fright. He patted her head and looked at the crowd, which had begun to glance at their direction. "Alright, Fluttershy, let's go back outside."

He showed a strange sense of protection towards her, ever since they became friends. He wouldn’t usually be so quick to show that side of his, but it was different with her, as she had a way of drawing that side out of anyone.

He looked back at the awaiting Elements and royals. He tried to avoid Celestia's sight but could hardly manage to do so as she and the others spotted them.

~~~

Modest chuckled as he finally found a chance to speak to the five ponies. "The pleasure is mine, Heroines of Harmony. Your task of converting a draconequus to stone has become a fashionable tale amongst all in my castle. But we all grow curious, what fate lies with this creature?" He glanced aside as his eye caught a glimpse of a pink-haired mare pegasus that shied away from the crowd.

Twilight smiled as she gladly explained their most recent accomplishment. “He was reformed, Your Highness. By none other than our friend Flutter--” She stopped when she noticed that Fluttershy was not there with them. She sighed with annoyance. “Ugh, not right now... Our friend Fluttershy, sir.”

Rarity turned to glare at Fluttershy impatiently as the others looked at her as well. “Fluttershy! Get over here, darling! We’re all waiting for you!”

“Oh, dear.” Fluttershy muttered to herself as she jumped right behind Discord.

Celestia smiled a little and looked back at Modest. “You’ll have to excuse her, she’s a little shy.” She glanced at Fluttershy again. “But you can come meet Prince Modest at any moment, Fluttershy.”

She looked up at Discord, whom she inevitably had to look at, since Fluttershy was hiding behind him. “...As can your new friend, of course.”

Fluttershy peeked from behind Discord as she figured that she was basically embarrassing herself (and now Discord, most likely) more by making the princess openly call out to her.

“Oh, I probably should have gone there from the very beginning...” She muttered as she hesitantly stepped away from him.

Her eyes fixed downwards as she tried to avoid the crowd that looked at them and opened the path for them to cross. “Hmm...”

Discord sighed. So much for a memorable, good night. He patted Fluttershy’s head as they approached the princesses, the prince, and Fluttershy’s five friends.

Prince Modest took Fluttershy’s hoof for a short moment and kissed it gently. "It's a pleasure, Miss Fluttershy.” He finished his greeting with a gentle smile.

Discord avoided the princesses’ sight as they watched the greetings. He smiled nonetheless as he awaited to be acknowledged by the prince.

Fluttershy swallowed a bit and nodded quickly as she briefly glanced at Discord, then pointed at him with her hoof. “Th-This... This is... ThisismyfriendDiscord.

The remaining Mane Five sighed. Rarity smacked her forehead in frustration.

Celestia smiled a little. She stepped forward to take over and fix the awkward introduction, glad that Fluttershy didn’t mind at all. “Prince Modest, allow me to introduce Discord, the Master of Chaos. He was reformed by Fluttershy and is currently working on great progress, I hear. So far, Fluttershy is considered to be the one friend he ever had...”

Discord cringed a bit, uncomfortable at the almost visible meaning that her last little comment had. Physical, rather. He could feel once again the weight of boulders crushing him, all from the guilt.

Once again she had to bring up what he had said to Fluttershy, in a way that only he would know what she really meant... Blast himself for ever uttering some foolishness like that.

Of all the dumb things I’ve said and done, THAT had to be what stuck the most, hadn’t it? He swallowed nervously as he fidgeted with his tail. Among... other things that stuck, of course...

He was quite glad when Celestia continued her speech less than a second later, as her emphasis actually went undetected by the rest, except for Twilight and Luna.

She remained completely calm as she finished introducing Discord. “But everypony will work on changing that, once things become a bit more amicable. Within time, the rest of our subjects will be ready to offer his friendship to him as well, if he will equally offer his.”

"I never met a draconequus before. I must say, this is a fine tale to tell back home. Your kingdom continues to amaze me, Princess Celestia.” Modest looked at Discord curiously with a small smile on his face. "And what are your abilities, exactly? If I may know."

"Power over time and space, of limitless capacity.” Discord stretched his claw and negated the effects of gravity around the palace.

All the guests gasped and screamed in surprise as they all began to float, except for Discord himself. He laughed and looked around at the many different reactions that his trick caused.

Fluttershy smiled a little, while the other five seemed rather uncomfortable. “This is new, Discord. I like it.”

“Well, it’s not very different from when I was spinning your cottage in the air, Fluttershy, except that now the objects and everypony else float!” Discord smiled as he looked at a floating tray with appetizers.

Celestia glanced at Discord with a warning gaze, then closed her eyes once he wordlessly returned gravity back to normal. She looked back at Modest and smiled. "Thank you for the compliment, prince. My sister and I surely appreciate it.”

The prince fixed his mane with his hoof and let out a laugh. "Well, I'm glad to hear so. I’m glad to have met you, heroine ponies.” He looked at the Mane Six and nodded his head in acknowledgement. “My subjects will welcome any of you warmly, should you decide to visit the Kingdom of the West."

Music started playing again in the ballroom once the formal introduction was deemed over.

Discord stood next to Fluttershy with a satisfied smile. “Well...?”

Fluttershy gave him a small smile in return. "That... wasn't so bad.” She looked at her friends as they gathered together once again to make a conversation.

Rarity glanced at Prince Modest, then looked back at her friends. "Oh, I MUST go to the Western Kingdom and see what everything in there is like. It sounds fabulous! I’m sure there will be plenty of elite social ponies to get to know... Oh, and I know Sweetie Belle will love going on a trip with me, as she always does! My parents would be delighted with the idea, too...”

Applejack nodded and smiled. "Speakin’ of work, and families... Ah should get in touch with the Apples over there, see how they're all doin'. Been awhile since we all talked..."

“Bet everypony there won’t talk about anything else that isn’t us, girls! Especially when I show them my stuff. Oh, they’ll love my rainbow tricks! Bet they’ve never seen a Sonic Rainboom before! Though that’s getting a little old...” Rainbow Dash looked up as she thought about her list of tricks. “Maybe I should tag along with the Wonderbolts for a real awesome demonstration...”

"And let’s not forget the fun! The parties! I bet it’ll be amazing when we drop by over there, just think of the welcome gathering we’re going to have! The Prince will tell everypony all about us, so they’ll be eager to meet us!” Pinkie Pie practically bounced as she imagined a huge crowd of ponies welcoming her and her friends quite happily.

She looked aside at the dance floor and smiled. “Ooh, everypony's started to dance! I'll be right back!" She then dashed away before anypony else could say another word to her.

Twilight sighed and smiled as she took a cup of punch. “It’ll be very nice to go see Prince Modest’s kingdom. I bet it must be very extensive as well. I personally can’t wait to see notes on the kingdom’s resources and what they have to offer when it comes to knowledge.”

Fluttershy watched them talk and joined in the conversation every so often. She also turned to Discord and included him in the talk whenever she could. When it was not possible, she simply started a new conversation with him, and nopony paid that any mind.

~~~

The princesses had gone back to their seats. They talked with one another as the music's rhythm slowed down just a bit.

Luna blinked and nervously looked ahead, then back at Celestia. "U-Um... Sister..." She muttered as she pointed behind Celestia with her hoof.

Celestia turned around to find Modest awaiting her. "Oh. Hello, Prince Modest."

The prince smiled at her as he started his proposal. "My apologies, Princess, for intruding. I was wondering if perhaps you would like to join me in dancing this piece?" He stretched out his hoof to her.

Discord joined Fluttershy in the dance, as she was his only company.

Celestia smiled at the prince and took his hoof so he would lead her. "I would be glad to."

Fluttershy smiled apologetically at the draconequus. "I-I’m sorry... I don't dance much, Discord." She moved a bit self-consciously at the tempo of the music as she tried hard to keep up with it.

"Usually I sit down and pass on pieces like this. But, you know, besides being uncomfortable about everypony being doubtful about you... I'd say you're pretty familiar with this environment." She smiled as she watched him dance with total ease, as though he went to balls like those of the Grand Galloping Gala all the time and every night.

She then gasped and stepped back before she accidentally stomped her hoof on Discord for the third time. She blushed a bit. "Um, surely you didn't attend a gala before, right? I-I mean, well... They weren’t around that, um... The time..."

Discord raised an eyebrow as she stammered. Already he felt a bit nostalgic. “W-Well, you’d, um... You’d be surprised, dear. I-I mean, I was here in Equestria about a thousand years ago, after all.”

He looked at the dancing ponies around them. “I... I did get to see a thing or other like this, while I was... ‘passing by’. It was, actually, quite entertaining...” He muttered as he glanced aside.

He remembered his first ball at the Canterlot palace, all those years ago. It was his first and last ball in quite some time, until this one. He found that the satisfaction and comfort of this night hardly even compared to that which he had felt on that memorable night. Not by far.

Prince Modest led the princess to the center of the ballroom. All the ponies gathered in a circle around them, their eyes charmed as they watched the royal pair.

They were all happy to see that the princess was enjoying herself. In the back of their minds they also hoped that, at long last, Equestria would have a prince once again... Perhaps even a king, with time. All who saw the pair as they danced thought of the possibility.

As Discord danced with Fluttershy, and rubbed his sore foot, he turned around to see Celestia and Modest dancing together. His mouth fell open, he became speechless. His eyes could look nowhere else.

Celestia smiled and chuckled slightly as she acknowledged the ponies' interest, but said nothing about it.

Fluttershy smiled as she watched the prince and the princess during their dance. "They look good dancing together. Oh, I bet they’d make a cute couple, too."

Rarity nearly swooned with adoration towards the dancing royals. “An adorable couple indeed. Oh, I can already see it... Them together, as rulers of one kingdom or other, it’d be amazing! Oh, so sweet, they could rule Equestria together while their descendants ruled the Western Lands! It would be a dashing prince, or a lovely princess, too~” She went on with her rant about Prince Modest and Princess Celestia, which was turning into a rant of Queen Celestia and King Modest...

It obviously did not help Discord’s shock and his new surge of uncontainable nerves.

It was Twilight who glanced over at Discord and saw his state. As soon as she saw him, she got a pretty clear idea of what was going on. She raised an eyebrow as she turned away cautiously. I have a feeling this is not going to end well.

Fluttershy looked at Discord and patted his claw. "Discord, is something wrong? You seem so..."

Discord's frustration made him lose control of his powers momentarily. A slight earthquake shook the entire palace, albeit not extremely violent. As everypony trembled and shook, they lost their attention on Discord and focused on getting to safety, or panicking uselessly.

He didn’t pay attention to the frightened crowd anyway. Not even at the six ponies around him, or at the prince and princesses. He simply vanished through the walls and left for the Everfree Forest. As he left the earthquake, ceased almost immediately.

Prince Modest stood up and ran over to the princesses. He helped Luna up, then he turned to Celestia. "Princess Celestia, are you alright?!"

Celestia nodded and quickly looked around the room. "I'm fine. What about you?"

“I’m alright, don’t worry.”

Luna made sure that all the guests were alright. She tried her best to calm them down, but did not manage. She quickly gave Celestia a desperate look. “Sister, I can’t handle this--”

Celestia stepped forward. “Don’t worry. I’ll take it from here. You go outside and find Discord, Luna.”

“Discord?” Luna seemed a bit surprised to find that Discord was missing.

“Yes. I want to make sure that he’s fine as well. Don’t let him do anything with his magic.”

“Yes!” Luna flew out of the doors and searched around the palace grounds for the draconequus.

~~~

Fluttershy was also searching. She looked up and spotted the Princess of the Night. “Oh, Princess Luna!”

“I’m looking for Discord. Have you seen him anywhere, Fluttershy?”

“He was with me before everything started... He just disappeared, princess, I can’t find him anywhere!”

“Don’t worry. If we search together, I’m sure we’ll find him quickly. Don’t panic and just pay attention, he could be hiding anywhere. As soon as you see him you must tell me. We don’t know what he’s up to if he disappeared like that.”

“He seemed quite upset, princess--”

“Then we’ll do our best to calm him down before he hurts anypony. It’ll be fine, please don’t worry.”

They searched all around the gardens, eventually discarding them when they confirmed that Discord was nowhere around the palace. So they searched further.

“Let’s move on to the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy. We never know--”

“But, I-I don’t think he’d go in there, princess, I mean--”

“It can’t hurt to just see. I’ll make sure nothing happens. We need to move, everypony could grow suspicious of Discord the longer we take!” Luna urged Fluttershy along as they neared the forest.

However, as soon as they remotely approached it, they were repelled by a force so strong that it physically hurt them. It shocked them and then threw them hard upon the ground.

Luna grunted and pushed herself up after she recovered from the hit. "What... What is this?!”

Fluttershy looked up at her. “Princess, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Fluttershy.” She walked up to the forest and cried out again as the force rejected her again. “It’s... It’s got to be a barrier, but I’ve never seen power like this before?”

“Can you break it?”

“I already am trying to do so... It’s just too strong, I won’t do anything to it on my own. We’ll have to call the others, Fluttershy. Wait here, do not go any further!” With that, Luna opened her wings once again and took flight towards the palace.

Fluttershy looked up at the dark forest before her. She walked just around the area that was not blocked by the invisible force. "Discord? Discord, where are you?!"

She flew into the air to see if she would be able to spot him from above the ground. That effort was meaningless too. Discord simply was nowhere to be found. “Oh, no, this really isn’t good... Discord, why did you run off...?!”

She continued to call out to him as Luna called for backup. Her attempts were futile, for Discord did not appear anywhere, even when she raised her voice a bit higher to call him.

Everything had gone relatively well at the gala, or so she had believed. She just couldn’t explain why Discord grew so upset all of a sudden... To the point where he lost it and unleashed his powers... And ran away without telling even her where he was going...

And now that magical barrier thing... It really worried her and she couldn’t stop thinking about it or calling out to Discord. “Please don’t let anything bad happen to him... Please Discord, come back soon... I really don’t want you to get in trouble, we were doing so well... Please let us find you..."
I really liked Discord's memory of how the Mane Six had to pull him out of Fluttershy's cottage to attend the gala. I was tempted to put details on it, like a flashback, but I decided it'd be better and much more hilarious to leave it to the fans' imagination.

Wow, talk about tense and awkward here. I feel bad for Discord. But honestly, I think he seriously misunderstood things. Though, if you think about it... Things were already tense between him and Celestia.

Then... Poor Prince Modest (yay, another OC! Hopefully I develop him well) had to make a friendly visit and make anything worse... Seems like the Princess isn’t the only one who can’t read into things, Discord. Or perhaps you read too much. I mean, it was just a dance... And there he goes, getting all jealous.

I feel bad for Fluttershy, too. The poor thing’s gonna be worried sick about him. And he was doing so good... I think Fluttershy did very well with Discord, until he lost it.

How was my play on the other characters, like the Mane Six? I want to make sure they don't look like they were just thrown in there to fill.

Once again... I kinda feel this chapter was a bit... lacking... I don't know why, it looks pretty much fine... It's not like all chapters can be as intense as the ones I've made before...

Previous: [link]

Next: [link]

IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU READ THESE SERIES FIRST, IT'S THE FIRST PART OF CHAOS COMPETITION, IT WILL MAKE MUCH MORE SENSE --> Chaos Origin (first chapter): [link]
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GUILLE832's avatar
Gran capítulo. Me encanta la manera en la que Discord ha perdido los nervios y como se ha largado. A decir verdad es una reacción comprensible. Espero ávido ver quien es el causante del campo de fuerza :D