//------------------------------// // Child Needs // Story: The Secret Side Of Discord // by Lemon Pegasus //------------------------------// Discord sat on his chair, wondering what to do about his new job as a parent. He had finally managed to get Starswirl to his house, a long way from where Starswirl was found. It’s not like this was going to be an easy job; Discord has had 0 experience as a parent in his lifetime, and there was no way he was going to ask someone else, they would want to take the child off to an orphanage, afraid Discord was going to wrongly bring up the child. “So, Starswirl, what do you want to do today?” Discord awkwardly said, doing his best to sound enthusiastic. Starswirl didn’t reply, he just looked at Discord blankly. “Yoo-hoo, speak! Hellooooo!” Discord looked confusingly at Starswirl, but then he realised: he couldn’t talk yet! “Oh wow” Discord thought to himself. Raising a kid alone would be tough, but having to teach him to talk as well would just be a mammoth task. For a second, Discord just thought about taking the baby away and leaving it with someone else, but then he saw a dove land outside his home. This gave Discord hope. It reminded him of the moment Discord watched Starswirl’s mother be crushed under 2 tons of debris. In a way, Discord felt responsible. If it wasn't for him starting this whole war, Starswirl’s mother would never have been killed. Discord was getting desperate for a plan here, so he decided on the traditional go to game for a dad! “Where’s daddy? Here I am!” Discord said repeatedly while occasionally hiding behind the doorway to his kitchen. Discord felt embarrassed at first, but he soon came across a burst of joy when Starswirl started to playfully giggle. Discord couldn't keep this up all day; he needed to find some toys for Starswirl, or a place for him to play. “Hmm” Discord said out loud while thinking of an idea. Then, he had one! Starswirl may not be able to talk yet, but surely he knew what he wanted! Discord grabbed a pencil and paper and drew three separate items. He then took the sheet to Starswirl. “Now, just point to what you would like” Discord said in a soft voice. He had drawn a swing set, a rocking dragon and building blocks. Starswirl gave an excited giggle, and pulled the sheet from Discord’s hand. He then leaped up in a little bundle of joy and took the pencil from Discord’s other hand. Discord looked a little confused when he saw Starswirl wasn't choosing a toy, he was just drawing! “Well that’s a relief” Discord said to himself. It was a good thing all Starswirl wanted to do was draw, or else he would have to build something for Starswirl. After all, it’s not like a part dragon, part lion, part eagle, part goat creature can just walk into a store and buy an infant’s toy! When Discord thought about it, there was a spare room upstairs which currently wasn't being used. Discord was about to fly upstairs to convert it into a child’s room, but then he thought leaving Starswirl on his own probably wasn't the best idea. Meh, what’s the worst that could happen! Discord started to walk to the stairs, when he heard hove-steps behind him. He turned around to see Starswirl had been following him, pencil and paper carrying around in his tiny mouth! Discord kept his eyes on the young pony and started walking forward again. Sure enough, Starswirl walked with him. Discord stopped and started walking backwards. And again, Starswirl followed his every footstep. “Ok, you, stay here!” Discord firmly said, pointing to the floor. Starswirl just looked at Discord. “You, here!” Discord said again. Starswirl continued to just look at Discord. Discord started walking again. He heard hove-steps again! Discord swiftly turned around and just saw Starswirl stood completely still. Again, Discord walked towards the steps. The hove-steps were heard again. Discord smiled and turned around quick as a flash! Discord just saw Starswirl stood still again. Starswirl gave a short small on his tiny, blue face. Discord was about to groan, but then he realised; Starswirl was only playing. He gave a mild laugh and patted Starswirl on the head. Despite a slight annoyance Discord had, it was a pretty comedic moment. When Discord reached the room, he slowly opened the door. Starswirl rushed in and immediately started sneezing. Wow, this room was dusty! Discord hadn’t been in this room for years, not even to clean it! Then Discord realised, Starswirl had dropped his drawing in his fit of sneezing! Discord went over to the drawing to pick it up for Starswirl, what he saw made him skip a heartbeat. Starswirl had drawn a picture of Discord sliding down a slide, Starswirl in his arms! Discord looked down at Starswirl, just like earlier, looked back and smiled. Discord was lost in thought when he heard a small rumbling. It took him a few seconds to realise it was Starswirl’s stomach! Discord hadn’t even thought about what he was going to feed little Starswirl! Truly, this was going to be the biggest task of Discord’s life; raising a child. He was overwhelmed for a second when he felt Starswirl cuddle his leg. “No, this was going to be fine” Discord thought to himself, holding Starswirl in one arm. So, how was Discord going to feed Starswirl? One big problem was that Discord did not know how old Starswirl was, so should he be fed baby food or regular food? Really there was only one way of Discord figuring this out. “Starswirl, how old are you?” Discord asked in a clear voice, making sure Starswirl understood every word. Starswirl didn’t answer; he just tapped the floor 3 times. “How old are you?” Discord asked again. Just like before, Starswirl knocked the floor 3 times. Then Discord realised, Starswirl was 3 years old! He could not talk yet, so he just tapped the floor 3 times to say he was 3 years old. Starswirl must have been rather clever to find a way of communicating without an ability to speak. “So, Starswirl must have to eat soft and milk,” Discord thought to himself. But then raised the question, where was Discord supposed to get this stuff? Again, it’s not like he could just walk into a shop and buy some, seeing as he was not a pony, but some bizarre abomination of a creature. Then Discord had an idea! If Discord had his own cow, he would have a renewable source of milk! And if he got a fruit tree of some sort, he could always make his own version of some baby food. Starswirl’s stomach rumbled again. Discord was going to have to find some food fast. Then, a light bulb popped up above his head; his home was not so far from Sweet Apple Acres! He could get some apples! “Now you, stay here!” Discord said to little Starswirl, who just looked at him like always. Discord thought it would be a smart idea to lock the doors and close the windows if he was going to have to leave Starswirl on his own temporarily. Discord grabbed his keys and locked the back door to the house. He took a quick sweep of the house to make sure no windows were open and that all dangerous or pointy objects were out of Starswirl’s reach. After being 100% sure Starswirl would be fine, Discord left through the front door, locking it behind him. “Now, I must be quick!” Discord said to himself, and he took off over to Sweet Apple Acres. The wind blew in Discord’s mane aggressively as Discord flew full pelt to the farm. At this stage, Sweet Apple Acres was only small, maybe 10 acres. Discord swooped down with ease when the farm came into sight. Discord had not figured out how to perform teleportation spells yet, so he was very talented in flight, seeing as that was his mane use of transport. Discord looked around before landing in front of a small apple tree, making sure not to be seen. “Oh no” Discord said to himself when he realised his problem. Discord was going to need maybe 7 or 8 apples, but how was he going to get them home? He hadn’t brought any form of bag or bucket! And having to carry them in his arms would certainly slow down his flight. At that moment, Discord heard faint, southern sounding voices beyond the trees. He peeked through the leaves to see two earth ponies. Both were wearing farm labour gear and both were male, but one was clearly larger than the other. “Okay Lennie, you take these apples off to the barn and leave them outside the door, okay?” the smaller one said to the other. “Sure George, I can do that” the larger one replied. The larger pony took a large cart of apples and started walking away. The smaller one trotted off to do some apple bucking. The coast was clear, so Discord silently flew over to where the two were standing to see if there was some kind of saddlebag. The two had been talking by a cart which had now been taken away, but all that was left now was a garden fork. Then, discord noticed the barn the smaller pony had been talking about. He immediately flew over to it, hopping a saddlebag would be in there. Discord hid behind a water mill about 20 feet from the barn. He saw the larger pony leave and at that moment Discord swooped in the barn. The barn was divided into three parts, a long path down the middle, storage for equipment on the right and farm animals on the left. Discord opened his mouth in glee and gave a short “yes” of joy as he noticed a large sack by some of the equipment. Discord grabbed the sack and gave a short dance of happiness after accomplishing his goal. Discord quickly snapped out of his small moment of craziness and focused. He looked outside the barn door to check there was no pony around. The two ponies he saw earlier were nowhere to be seen. Confident that he wouldn’t be spotted, he flew out swiftly and landed by an apple tree. He began picking apples and filled his sack with around 16 of them. He picked one for himself, took a bite and then left, dropping his snack on the floor. You know, just cause. Carrying the sack made flight a little harder, but he still got home in time to see Starswirl... was missing! Discord started panicking, where was that pony? Could he be in trouble? Was he pony knapped? Discord started frantically looking around the living room, under the chairs, behind the door, but Starswirl was nowhere. "Starswirl! Starswirl!" He was not about to lose a child no more than a day after finding him! Then, Starswirl walked through the doorway. He looked curious as to why Discord was carrying a sack, either that or he was confused as to why Discord was trying to regain his breath after having a mini-heart attack.