The Secret Side Of Discord

by Lemon Pegasus

1v1 me bro!

"Maybe this is a bad idea..." Discord thought to himself. Teaching a foal to use defensive spells in the back garden wasn't exactly on Discord's to do list. But hey, Starswirl can perform this spell now, he should at least know hot to perform it well, right? Then he can be safe if he ever needs to use it. The cow was lying behind Discord and a eager to get going Starswirl, that way it wouldn't get hurt.

Discord flew to the end of his garden and set up some make shift targets made of wood and paper dart boards. The garden wasn't exactly neat: the remains of a shed, random beer bottles from past tragedies and no attempts at decoration like flower pots or water features. Large enough to house a single cow, but certainly no billionaire playboy lawn! It would have to be cleaned up sooner or later, until then it would be what your mother would call "a bomb site."

"Now," Discord explained "try and set fire to these targets, okay Starswirl?" the foal nodded, and concentrated hard on the targets. His horn started glowing, and... a fireball shot out! It hit the center target, though it wasn't reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash like with that bowl earlier, the burn mark only covered around half the board and small flames arose from it.

Discord walked over to the next target, and gave his little pony some motivation. "Starswirl, this board called me an idiot!" Discord stood back, Starswirl looked enraged, he didn't focus like last time, he immediately flicked his horn, a great orange glow flashing for a second before there was a mighty BOOM, and once Discord had managed to get up from the shock of the moment, he noticed the board... was gone. Along with a large patch of grass. Discord just stood in awe, what would this pony's talent be like in future years?

"Well, that went well!" So, Starswirl's magic was varied by his emotions, he could use this for now before he could teach him to use it on command. Speaking of Starswirl, the foal looked quite proud of his achievement, eyes closed, grinning. There was one more target.

"Now this target, the top half called me an idiot, the bottom half said I'm smart!" Well, it would have to do for now. If it taught Starswirl how to control his magic in a less direct way, it would damn well do! Discord took a few steps back as Starswirl geared up for a final shot, and... the wood splintered in two in a flaming wisp, the top half sizzling from the bottom up, while the bottom half -which remained in the dirt- only had a small bit of charring at the top.

"Very well done, Starswirl!" Discord clapped for the foal, who jumped in excitement. "Now, how about a challenge?" Starswirl stopped bouncing and looked confusingly at the draconequus (what Discord is), who was now approaching him.

"I'm going to see how fast I can destroy 3 targets, then, you have to try and beat my time!" Starswirl and Discord locked eyes, before Starswirl nodded slowly, grinning as if victory was guaranteed. Maybe some competition would help Starswirl motivate himself? That's what Discord thought. It would have to come later though, Discord didn't want to overwork his "star pupil."

"We'll do this later, for now, I hope you don't mind waiting." Starswirl walked inside, his tail giving off some kind of "swag walk" effect, as if he was... almost being smug!

Discord walked inside to see Starswirl jogging on the spot, looking as if he was in a Rocky montage. Though the pony was enthusiastic, it would be a shame to exhaust him.

"Starswirl, I know you really want to win, but how about you rest?" Starswirl exhaled with attitude and... held out his hoof! Despite his sudden competitive flair shining through, he clearly was going to be a good sport about this! Discord held his hand, and they shook. Starswirl walked into the living room and jumped onto the sofa, when... there was a knock at the door!

This may be an ordinary things for most ponies, but... who would visit Discord? Should he answer the door? What if Starswirl answers? What if somepony saw them practicing magic outside? "Oh Celestia..."

Discord crept over to the door and peeped through the... is it called a... peepy whole, or... I dunno, well he looked through it. There was a stallion in a suit, grey fur, blue mane. Discord though best not to answer. The pony knocked again. Wow, he was persistent. Discord locked the door just in case the pony tried to open it, just seconds after, the pony DID try to open the door!

"Is anypony there?" he called, in a stern voice. Discord walked away, hoping the mysterious door knocker would leave. Starswirl looked confused as to why Discord wasn't answering the door, well, that's why Discord thought he was confused. Either that or he was looking at something behind him. Hold on? Discord twisted around, the pony was looking through the window! He immediately sprinted away when Discord saw him! Well, shit!

Discord didn't know what to do! Should he chase him? No, that would only get him into more trouble. Hide? He would have to! And Starswirl, the pony wouldn't know what was going on! Either way, two things were certain: 1: After Discord's history, he would surely be tracked down! 2: Starswirl would be taken away! Oh no, none of those things were going to happen!

Immediately, he sprinted into the living room and swept up his map, which he WAS going to use to find a route to Canterlot, yeah, like that was gonna happen any time soon, now this has happened! There was a forest to the north east, and a small town. Him and Starswirl wouldn't be able to live in the town due to the whole "draconequus" business (this is really racist, like, wow) though they could set up a make shift home in the forest, and maybe steel supplies from the town until they could sustain life independently.

Wasting no time at all, Discord scooped up Starswirl in his big hand, and withing seconds he was outside in the sky! The air was cold up in the air, so Discord held his child close to his chest to keep him warm. He wished he knew what Starswirl was thinking, but if he looked down at him, he might lose concentration and spin out of control mid-flight.

"Terribly sorry, Starswirl, but we have an emergency! I hope you like road trips!"