//------------------------------//
// Incognito Cow 
// Story: The Secret Side Of Discord 
// by Lemon Pegasus 
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	It was the morning after Discord found Starswirl. Luckily, Starswirl seemed to have a taste for apples. Discord had some apple slices in a mortar, mashing it up with a pestle. This is how Discord made his little baby food recipe. After mixing up 3 apples and placing them in a cup, Discord added some water to make it more like a liquid.

After stirring it, Discord brought the food into the living room for Starswirl, who was lying upside down, hooves up in the air. Discord crouched beside Starswirl and handed out the cup so Starswirl could drink from it. He righted himself and started sipping. After drinking, Discord noticed Starswirl looked rather full... but also kind of sick! Then Discord realised what he had to do. He grabbed Starswirl and gently patted his back. After a few pats, Starswirl burped and immediately looked better.

The baby food was working just fine for Starswirl, but soon enough Discord would need to find a cow for the young filly, that way he could get some milk for him. Maybe Starswirl would learn to talk quicker if he had a good supply of calcium, honestly Discord was slightly worried for him, 3 years old and not a single peck of speech, not even a mumble.

Discord again did a sweep of the house to make sure Starswirl would be safe by himself. After being certain he would be fine, he left and locked the door behind him. Sweet Apple Acres didn't have any cows at the time, but there was some in nearby field. 

He took off and flew towards the field. He only had to fly for 30 seconds or so, it was local. Discord landed in a field. There were, sure enough, cows everywhere, maybe 20 in this herd. There was a large pile of hay at one side of the field, a large cart beside it. There were no farmers about, so Discord hoped he could get away with one little cow theft.

Discord made sure to pick out a  cow and not a bull, and once he found a nice large one, he pondered as to how to get it home. Then Discord remembered the cart! Discord flew over to it. It looked large enough to hold a cow. But what if Discord was seen pulling a cow away to his house? Discord heard voices and looked up. There seemed to be a large herd of ponies approaching, probably hikers. Discord had to act fast and secretive. Then, he had an idea: if the cow was lying down in the cart, he could just cover it up with hay! Yeah sure, Discord would still look kind of weird pulling a large cart of hay, but it would at least be less suspicious than carrying a cart with a cow in it.

Discord grabbed the cart and dragged it over to the cow. He let go and signalled to the cow to try and get it on the cart, but it just stood there eating grass. Discord let out a quiet growl of anger, but he remained focused. He pulled some grass from the floor and held it out for the cow. It looked up and followed Discord’s hand. Discord slowly led the it into the cart repeating “yes, yes, good cow” in a quiet voice. Finally, the cow was in position! Discord dropped the grass and closed the cart shut. Now, how would Discord make it lie down?

The hikers were getting closer. Discord just patted the back of the cow’s legs, hoping it would work. Discord gave a “yes” of joy as he succeeded in getting the cow to lie down. He grabbed some hay and started to bury the cow. The cow rustled around before poking out his head. Great, a pile of hay with a cow head, not suspicious at all!

Discord continued to try and bury the head of the cow, but to no success. Discord looked back over the horizon. Thankfully the hikers had stopped to rest for a bit. He needed a new idea. Then, Discord remembered his invisibility spell! He had used on himself many times before, but could it be used on something else?

Discord clicked his fingers to activate the spell then he threw his hands towards the cow. It just made Discord invisible, not the cow. He tried again, and again it failed. So, Discord decided to try something else. He clicked both his fingers above the cow. Again, it didn’t work. So, this time clicked his finger while holding onto the cow, and... It worked!

Discord and the cow were now invisible. He clicked his fingers to make himself visible again, thankfully the cow remained as nothing more than a ghost. Discord dropped some hay over where the cow should be, and it floated there for a second before it shook around for a bit and then fell to the ground. The cow was definitely still there!

So, Discord grabbed the cart and started pulling it back to his house. It was extra heavy with the weight of the cow, but Discord was just managing to walk at a steady base. Then, he passed the hikers. They all looked confusedly at Discord with their sweaty faces. Discord may be a dad now, but he was still the Loki of My Little Pony. So Discord being his normal way, he said with a smug voice: “draw a picture, it’ll last longer!” before walking again. The hikers clearly felt awkward to hear this and just got up to continue their hiking.

The walk home was a long and tiring one, but finally, Discord had reached his house and stopped outside his garden. He dropped the cart and started panting, finally able to rest his arms! He unlocked the door and walked in. Starswirl was on the floor, looking rather anxious. Noticing Discord, he immediately got up and sprinted towards him, stopping a few feet away. “What’s wrong?” Discord asked, holding out a hand.

Starswirl gritted his teeth and sat on his hind legs, covering his crotch with his front legs. “Oh...” Discord said worryingly. Starswirl clearly needed to “go”. Discord flew over to his bathroom and opened the door for Starswirl. Starswirl immediately ran inside and closed the door.
“Phew” Discord said to himself. For a second he thought Starswirl hadn’t been potty trained and he would have to buy some nappies for Starswirl. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. Starswirl knocked on the door and Discord opened it up so he could walk out. “Would you like to see our new pet?” Discord said to young Starswirl, crouching to him. Starswirl opened his mouth in excitement and started bouncing around! “All right all right” Discord said, calming Starswirl. Discord led Starswirl outside to show him the cow.