Tired of Discord and his pranks, Celestia decided it was time that he learns to have new friends.
Tired of Discord and his pranks. Celestia decided it was time he learns to have new friends and who to help him then his friend, Fluttershy? Will the Spirit of Chaos succeed in having new friends?.....properly not. *based after Tirek's defeat. My Editors: Leapingriver HoneyGlen
It has been a month after Tirek's defeat and Discord being reformed. If she can call it that, but that was far from the truth. She watched three pegasus guards being juggled in the air, their bodies shrunked to the size of balls. While their discomfort was apparent, Discord countinued to circle his finger in the air controlling the guards above him. He then realize Celestia was standing in the middle of his doorway of his bedchambers,when he let out a laugh.
"Look Tia!" he exclaims, his back against the cushions of his floating couch. "I finally learned to juggle, isn't it wonderful?" Celestia felt the side of her firm lip begun to twitch. She had to remind herself constantly to remain calm.
"Discord, please put them down" she said with authority. "I need to speak with you in the throne room" Discord let out a groan, dramatically placing his paw over his forehead.
"If I must...." He moves his finger downward making the pegasus balls bounce before turning them back to normal. The guards wasted no time becoming scarce not wanting to turn into a baseball next by the chaos master. Celestia let out a small sigh of relief, but it was short-lived.
"Really Celly, ruining my juggling routine? and just when I was having fun" he frowns walking up to her, crossing his arms at her like a spoiled foal.
"We will talk about this later but right now we are going to have a little talk" she said, making him roll his eyes at her before following her to the throne room.
"Is this about how I flooded little Woona's bed chambers with soapy water?" Discord starts, throwing his claws in the air. "I already apologize, what more do you want from me?"
"No Discord, this isn't about that"
"Well, Is it because I flooded your bedchambers with cake?...I thought you enjoyed that"
"No Discord, that isn't it either" Celestia sighs, feeling a headache coming on. He twirls his beard in between his claws in thought.
"hmm....is it about how I turned the moon into cheese?"
"No Discord!" she whirls, making Discord snicker behind his paws, hiding his grin. He loves pushing her buttons. She quickly collects herself by placing a hoof over her chest and letting her frustrations go. "I am here to discuss friendship with you" He lowers his eyes at her and cross his arms.
"You know my answer, I am never going to accept your friendship, not after you kept me in stone for a thousand years" he said sternly.
"I know, and I understand but I am not here to discuss that"
"Oh?...then what is it?" he asks, not sure to be interested or concern.
"Had you made any new friends?" she asks. Discord let out a smile.
"Of course I had, Fluttershy of course!" he replies enthusiastically.
"Yes, I know Fluttershy is your friend, but had you made any more?" she press.
"More?" he scratches the top of his head and shrugs "Why do I need more? Fluttershy is enough, she's all the friends I need"
"You do realize that she can't be your only friend?"
"What are saying?" He said with a low voice.
"All I am saying is that, you feel lonely" She mentions slowly. Discord let out a scoff waving a discerning paw at her.
"Please I am not lonely, I have no reason to be" he reputes. Celestia shook her head and walks up to a stain glass window making Discord follow.They both stare up at a familiar stain-glass picture of Discord causing chaos in Equestia, tormenting Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasus. Discord let out a smile.
"Ah, those were the days...." he said blissfully remembering a fond memory.
"Yes, I'm sure you were very happy using the ponies as puppets for your amusement" She said dryly, walking to the next window.
"My, my....is that sarcasm I hear, Tia?" His grin vanish seeing the next picture, of the two sisters turning him into stone. He grimace by the sight of it.
"I know its a harsh memory to remember" Celestia said with a frown.
"Harsh is saying it lightly" he mutters, he let out small shudder feeling the coldness from the stone and being unable to move. He had sore neck after he was freed. He followed Celestia down the row the windows to stop in front of a picture second to Twilight's coronation. His ears dropped down letting out a small smile, seeing a yellow pegasus holding his paw.
"From all that had happened to you, which was the best memory?"
"Between conquering Equestria and being friends with Fluttershy?......hmm, its a hard decision" he ponders.
"I'll be sure to send a letter to her about your difficult decision" Celestia said making a scroll and quill appear.
"No!" he shouts making Celestia let out a small smirk. Discord clears his throat awkwardly. "of course.... Fluttershy is more important than conquering all of Equestria....no matter how much I want to" he mutters under his breath. Celestia made the scroll and quill disappear and face him.
"Discord, I know you agreed to use your powers for good but, the way you been acting in the castle-"
"So it is the pranks I pulled on you and your sister!"
"not only that!" she said stomping her hoof at him. "You won't let any other pony be your friend, you push them away by turning them into your play things, like what you did with the guards......you know, they were there to keep you company but now I fear they will be too afraid to come back"
"Are you going somewhere with this?" he said with boredom, letting out a yawn.
"You need to know how to make friends"
"What? you must be getting a sense of humor Celly" he chuckles patting her head slightly, she pulls away from him in annoyance.
"I am serious Discord"
"So I'll be learning how to make "friends" like "Princess" Twilight Floppel?" he said putting up air quotations. "And I'm sure you want me to write you nauseating "Dear Princess Celestia" letters"
"Yes" she said turning her back to him as she walks up to her throne. Discord growls slightly becoming annoyed and snaps his fingers, appearing in front of the Princess.
"And what if I refuse?".
"It's true, I cannot make you" She replies calmly, stopping in her tracks.
"you're figuring this out now?"
"But!" she said loudly, she takes a breath before continuing. "I know somepony who you can't say no to"
"And who in Equestria will make The Lord of Chaos....change his mind?" he grins triumphantly, he turns away from her ready to teleport back into his room before a voice made him stop in his tracks.
"Discord?"
Walking in was the same wimpy pegasus that he first saw in the maze. Her teal-colored eyes lite up with joy seeing the draconqui, making her trot faster up to him. He was dumbfounded by the fact that he got to see his friend again, Celestia did 'it gave him the chance to visit her considering that she kept him busy from trying not make everypony his slave.
"Oh, it's so good to see you again, Discord....as soon as I got your letter I came as fast as I can" she smiles sweetly flying up to him wrapping her hooves around his long neck.
"M-my letter?" he mutters, he did'it sent any letter. Fluttershy pulls away going back onto the floor.
"oh yes, its in my bag" she said, digging into her pink saddle bag. She pulls out the scroll with her mouth placing it into Discord's paw. He opens the scroll reading it over in sheer disbelief. It wasn't even written in his favorite ink. Invisible ink.
My Dearest Fluttershy, It has come to my attention that you are my only friend in all the land, and it made me extremely lonely. Chaos is not enough to keep me happy, and I need your help to help me learn how to make friends. yours truly, Discord.
"It was very sweet of you to think of me to help you make some new friends, although I'm not very good in making friends either....but I'll help you anyway I can" she said with confidence. Discord crumple the scroll in his paw casting a glare towards Celestia who sat at her throne with a small smile across her face. He turns back to Fluttershy.
"Yes, well I'm afraid that Cel-!"
"I can't wait to spend more time with you Discord" she interrupts happily. "I mean...if its okay with you?" she said dragging her hoof in front of her shyly.
"wait...m-more time? with me? really?"
"Why of course, I did enjoy your company when you stayed in my cottage" she said sincerely. "I even set the guest bedroom for you"
"Well I....you see, my dear..." Discord starts rubbing his paws together nervously. She looks up at him, her teal eyes piercing as it strikes into his soul. Her stare could'ent control him but the innocent look she had in her eyes made it impossible for him to fight against. He bit his lower lip unsure of what to do, but he did not want Celestia to win. "I will not be going-!" Fluttershy eyes widen slightly, her eyes becoming glossy. He refused to give in, he wanted to win, he will not let the princess beat him. But, it was the whimper that caused his demise. He let out painful smile.
"I will be..... delighted to learn what I can about...f-friendship" he said, his eye slightly twitching. Fluttershy let out a smile that gleamed.
"Then it is decided" Celestia said ignoring Discord's glare. "Discord, you will learn about friendship in Ponyville and I will be expecting letters of your progress and Fluttershy as well"
"Yes Princess, I will write every day" Fluttershy smiles, bowing her head. Discord responded by sticking out his forked tongue in disgust. Celestia nods her head accordingly.
"I will be waiting patiently" she said. Discord hits himself on his forehead for falling into Celestia's hooves. He did 'it know what was worse, being trapped in stone or learning about friendship. He was dragged out of his thoughts by a gentle nudge on his side.
"Let's go" Fluttershy smiles. Discord let out a sigh.
"Yes...let us go, oh and Princess?" he grins seeing Celestia's head shoot up. "A parting gift" he snaps his fingers and in a flash he disappears with Fluttershy. Celestia felt the castle began to rumble following with a cry, the doors of the throne room bursts open with Luna running through with fear. Following behind her was a large wave of chocolate milk. Celestia let out a yell before being submerge.
Discord and Fluttershy both appeared inside the cottage, the animals inside quickly sent out cries of distress in having The Lord of Chaos into their home once again. Discord ignores them taking his place on the couch as Fluttershy tried to calm her small friends.
"Now, now, he's our guest, it's rude to act this way when somepony visits, even if its Discord" Fluttershy scolds at them. Angel thump his foot in defiance up at her and began to chatter a list of complaints to her. "Yes Angel, he is going to stay in the guest bedroom until he learns how to make new friends" Angel shook his head at her, continuing his chatter pointing intensily at Discord and at her, making Fluttershy gasp.
"Angel, I'm surprised that you would think that! you know Discord is not evil and I trust him completely, you should learn to get along with him" The small bunny's cheeks turned red in frustration before letting out a huff, hopping out of the room. Fluttershy let out a sigh as she watch her animals go outside silently.
"Well that was dramatic" Discord said with his claws set behind his head.
"Oh, don't worry about him, he will get used to you someday" Fluttershy replies. "We should get you settled in"
"No need" he snaps his fingers. "Already taken care of my dear"
"oh good, well since I'm going to teach you how to make new friends-!"
"oh yes, me making friends...how wonderful" he said with sarcasm which Fluttershy never caught as she continued.
"The first lesson is Trust"
"Trust?....ugh, I hear that alot from the princesses" He said making his arms go limp.
"Really?" Fluttershy said with excitement.
"Yes, but its not the type you are thinking...I believe their phrases are "I don't trust you using the kitchen" " he said, using his claw as a puppet making every word that comes out the voice of Princess Celestia. "Or...." he brings up his lion paw making every word sound like Princess Luna. "Begone you beast! I do not trust you no matter what my sister says!"
"Oh....my" Fluttershy mutters under her breath, her ears dropping. "I'm sorry they don't trust you yet Discord"
"hmm? oh no, my dear they are absolutely right, they said that after I turned their kitchen into bounce house and Luna's bedchambers a hangout for a group of teenage dragons" He let out a laugh snapping his knee "The look on their faces!" Fluttershy shook her head in disbelief, it seems this is going to be harder than she had hoped.
The next morning, Fluttershy had a few ideas planned for Discord to help him make some new friends. He needs to learn what it means to be a friend, and the first thing he has to learn is trust. She trots up to his bedroom door giving it a couple of knocks.
"Discord?....are you awake?" She calls, pressing her ear to the door, only to hear loud snoring in response. She knocks on the door again, calling out his name and continued to hear his loud snores. She let out a sigh and decided to open the door.
Inside, she found him sleeping in his bed. On the ceiling. The room was in chaotic disarray. The walls were spinning, the floor was checkered, and the furniture was floating. Fluttershy shook her head trying to keep her eyes from spinning and flies up to Discord, who was wearing a pink night cap and gown. A sight which made her giggle silently. She gently nudges him on his arm.
"Discord, it's time to get up, I have breakfast waiting downstairs" she gently says trying to persuade him with a hot meal. He let out a small groan turning to his side away from her. The timid pony let out a sigh flying to the other side of the bed. She nudges him again.
"Discord, wake up, we have a long day ahead of us and you can't sleep in" she says putting her hooves to her sides. He opens one eye at her.
"Really Fluttershy...." he said groggily, still half-asleep. "Must we do this today? I do need my beauty sleep"
"Now, now I am fully committed to help you and part of that is getting you up in the morning" she smiles. He let out a yawn before sitting up.
"What time is it?" he snaps his fingers making a alarm clock appear in his paw, answering his own question. "six o'clock!" he shouts, throwing the clock aside. "You must be joking my dear!"
"But that's the time I usually get up to start my day" she flies across from him landing at the door. Discord floats down to the floor, his pajamas already gone.
"Apple-buck, must be proud considering this is properly the time she gets up" Discord mutters rubbing his eyes trying to stay awake. He follows Fluttershy into her kitchen. He set himself down on a chair in front of the dining table. "Where is breakfast?"
"Oh....I did'it make it" Fluttershy admits taking out a bag of feed. "We don't eat until the animals do"
"What? you lied to me?......I not sure wether to congratulate you or to be slightly irritated" He replies,the pit in his stomach starting to feel empty. Fluttershy suddenly place the large bag of feed into his arms. Discord let out a breath of air finding it very heavy. How can a little filly like her carry this with ease?
"What am I suppose to do....with this?" he said his voice straining.
"Can you feed the birds for me? but only half of the bag, if you give them the whole thing they will have bad stomuch aches"
"And why?...I'm-I-doing-this?" Fluttershy eyes lower at him, feeling the hurt of his words. The sight of her sadden eyes made him become had a feeling that he never had until the day he turns Applejack's lake into a ice rink. Guilty.
"Oh...I'm sorry, I just thought with someone finally here to help me, I will have more time for myself" she let out a long sigh making Discord frown. "You know, Its not just the birds I have to take care of but, the squirrels, the bunnies, the mice, and even a bear. It usually takes me about three hours before i get to them all, and by that time I need to get started on lunch"
Discord ears lower, letting out a sigh.
"All right, I will help you" he said giving in. Fluttershy lite up giving him a smile as she pushes him towards the front door.
"Oh! you will?...oh you are so sweet, the birdies are outside just place the feed on the grass and later give the pigs some slop, there's a bucket beside their pen and the squirrels needs acorns so pluck them from the trees, got it? okay, good luck! I really do appreciate it!" she slams the door behind him, making Discord to face a hoard of hungry birds perched in front of him, like vultures.
His grip tighten as he slowly made his way to a patch of grass. He tilts the bag to drop half of the feed before it reach the ground, the birds were upon him. They attacked him in a swarm trying to get the bag and eat every single seed.
"Get off me!" he yells, trying to swat them away. Their beaks peaking at his body as if they had a vendetta against him. He despretly dumped half of the seed and the birds quickly began to devour the food. Discord took the chance to run as far away as possible, away from the birds. He toss the bag aside against Fluttershy's cottage. "Now I understand why she needed help" he mutters to himself looking over his shoulder."Those things are relentless!"
He made his way to the pig pen at the backyard. He put out his forked-tongue in disgust, seeing the three pigs lazily wallowing in the mud. He quickly located the bucket of slop which made him reel back, having the scent of rotten garbage. He snaps his fingers conjuring a clothes' pin, clipping it over his snout as he pours the slop into the food trough. The pigs press their faces into the slop with contentment.
Discord threw the bucket over his shoulder, moving on. He pluck acorns and nuts from the trees giving them to the squirrels who waited below. He notice that some of the squirrels and critters had broken bones, either on their arms or legs.
He strokes his beard in awe, knowing that Fluttershy must had mended their small and fragile bones. How could a pony do something so delicate with their hooves? He goes back inside the cottage to have the smell of pancakes hit his nose. He made his way to the kitchen to have a stack of flapjacks waiting for him.
"Oh Discord, there you are" Fluttershy smiles, placing a bottle of syrup down on the table. "That took a while"
"Well yes, I was doing all the things you wanted me to do" He replies with a frown. "Your animals are very hard to keep satisfied"
"Well.....I thought you would use your powers" She said setting herself down on her seat. A slap rang through the kitchen, along with a red mark across Discord's forehead.
"How could I forgotten?"he growls through his teeth. Fluttershy let out a giggle motioning him to sit down.
"Well, I'm proud of you Discord.....and this is part of the lesson of trust" she starts. Discord blinks at her having his mouth stuff with pancake. "Do you trust me?" she asks genuinely. He swallows.
"Of course" he replies with ease. "There is nothing you ever done to sway that"
"Why do you trust me?" She press.
"let's see....you have no malicious intentions against me, you accepted me for the chaotic spirit I am.....and, you have a very sweet heart" he said gently, making her smile and blush lightly. "Which is why I like you more than others, there will be no other pony like you in all of Equestria! or beyond the years to come!" he exclaimes, before taking another bite of pancake.
"Do you trust my friends?" she asks.
"No" he muffles, his mouth full. She had a feeling he was going to say that. He swallows. "They're just waiting to put me back into stone"
"Well, I'm going to change your mind....come on!" she said cheerfully flying out of the kitchen. Discord let out a groan.
"This ought to be fun...." he said, dilegently following her outside.Fluttershy position herself on top of the cottage as Discord waited below. It wasn't long until the mane five showed up. Their reactions was exactly what Discord imagined.
"Oh no!" Rarity exclaims a hoof over her forehead. "Not him!"
"Oh great, what's Discord doing here?" Rainbow Dash said with suspicion as she flys up to him.
"Causing more black weeds to show up, I reckon" Applejack mentions, remembering the blunder seeds that Discord planted a thousand moons ago, causing the plants to kidnap the princesses and almost destroy ponyville. Discord let out a scoff, quickly going beside her.
"Please, I helped cleaned up remember?." he said conjuring up a feather duster and slapping it on her muzzle. Applejack slaps the duster away, glaring at him."...my goodness, you never let the past be past now, can you?" He said, shoving her hat over her face. Applejack let out a growl placing her hat back to it's original place.
"Now everypony calm down" Fluttershy interfers going in between them. "Discord is here to learn more about friendship" Rainbow Dash let out a loud fit of laughter, slapping her knee.
"D-Discord?hahaha a-and f-f-friendship! oh that's rich! stop, I'm busting a gut here!" She said clutching her stomuch. Discord was tempted to turn her into an orange, something he would have done until Fluttershy flew up to her.
"Yes" she said sternly. "He's trying really hard and I expect you to try just as hard to get along with him"
"Then why are we here?" Rainbow Dash said with a scowl. "Discord isn't exactly a "good" friend"
"Which is why I'm going to give you all a little test" Fluttershy said, flying back on the roof.
"All right Fluttershy, We'll do your test" Twilight smiles, becoming ready to face any test with ease. Discord rolls his eyes at the new princess.
"We are going to do a trust fall" Fluttershy said.
"A trust fall?" Rainbow repeated. "What the hay is that?"
"Here I'll show you....Discord, would you please take a step forward?"
"Sure thing" he perks,suddenly his hoof disconnects from his body taking a step foreward. Fluttershy raise a brow.
"Umm...I mean the rest of you?" Discord chuckles to himself. He attaches himself back to his cloven hoof and looks up.
"What exactly do you plan of doing?" He asks.Fluttershy folds her wings, and crouch.
"Trust fall!" she jumps, turning herself on her back and fell. Discord's eyes bulged and instictivly put out his arms, and caught her. Fluttershy claps her hoofs together, making her friends let out a sigh of relief.
"Have you gone mad!" Discord shouts. "Not using your wings, are you trying to hurt yourself? if you are, we really need to get you some help as soon as possible" He snaps his fingers, conjuring himself sitting on a leather chair and Fluttershy laying down on a red couch. Discord clicks the top of a pen he was holding, ready to write on his clipboard. "Now...." he starts with a british accent, moving a set of round glasses up to his eyes. "let's start with your childhood"
"No Discord, that was a trust fall" Fluttershy smiles gently as she lifts herself off of the couch. "I trusted that you were going to catch me....now, for you to gain some trust and trust for my friends, you are all going to do a trust fall with each other...won't that be nice?"
"I don't know about this" Applejack whispers nervously to the girls.
They had their front hooves out ready to catch Discord; who stood on the roof with his back towards them. Sharing the same nervousness as Applejack
"I don't either, Applejack," Twilight whispers, keeping a wary eye on him, "but this is for Fluttershy, and it's not a bad idea to at least try to trust Discord."
"But what if he uses his magic to turn himself exceptionally heavy?" Rarity questions, "I won't be able to keep my delicate arms up if he does." she whimpers.
"Yeah, Rarity’s right! He can do anything" Rainbow Dash argues, "What if he does trick us? I'm saying its too risky...."
"Wait!" Pinkie interjects, scratching her mane, "What are we doing again?"
Fluttershy smiles, trotting up behind them, "Alright everypony, are you all ready?"
"Ready," groan the mane five.
Fluttershy looks up at Discord, "Discord?" she calls.
He turns to her with his paw over his heart, "Am I really suppose to "trust" these ponies with my life?" he questions, "What if they drop me, or not catch me at all?” With a flash of white light he’s donning a white tunic and yellow halo with a matching pair of white wings; an angelic choir singing in the background, “I might get seriously injured, my dear." he says with a sweep of his paw.
The others roll their eyes, while Rarity mutters under her breath, “What a drama queen…”
Fluttershy raises her eyebrow as she flies up to him, "I promise the girls will catch you, you do trust me right?" she asks, placing her hoof on his paw reassuringly. His ears lower at her action giving her a small smile. A rarity for the other ponies to see.
"Of course," he says gently, before shrugging and pointing back to her friends, "but them? I doubt it"
"We'll see" She winks before flying back down. He let out a smirk to his kind friend and put his paws over his chest. He let out a breath, and takes in a breath of fresh air. How can she have so much faith in him? He couldn't put his finger on it. How can she even believe that her friends will catch him? He realize that she had faith that he would catch her when she fell. She trusted him. From his chaotic pranks and persona, she place her own life to his hands just from a single, invisible feeling. He leans back, with nothing to lose.
"Trust fall~" he sings and falls. The mane five prepared themselves for whatever Discord will conjured, their imaginations running wild with fear but instead, caught him easily with no tricks whatsoever. They all let out a sigh of relief, laughing nervously, looking over themselves to find any change to their bodies or the world.
"Well, this is comfortable" Discord grins putting his paws behind his head. "I could get use to being carried around Equestria"
"As if!" Rainbow Dash snaps and pulls away her hoof, which was holding Discord's head, making his head fall to the ground. He disappears in a flash to appear facing Rainbow Dash glaring at her with annoyance. So this is what trust gives him, an injured skull?
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy scolds, flying up between them. "That’s a fast way to lose somepony's trust! Especially if its Discord"
"Well said, my dear" Discord praise, placing an arm around Fluttershy. "You could learn a few things from her, Rainbow-"klutz" he sneers. Fluttershy pushes herself away from him pointing a hoof near his snout.
"You too, mister" She starts making him shrunk in size by her scolding. Even if her stare was ineffective against him, he could never argue with her when she is being assertive.
"You have to get along with my friends, if we're going to be friends" she said with determination, crossing her arms at the miniature Discord. He flashes back to normal size, letting out a scowl.
"Fine" he agrees with a huff.
"Okay than....Twilight would you like to go first on the trust fall?" She asks her royal friend.
"Of course, Fluttershy" Twilight smiles, she teleports herself on top of her roof. Discord moves in place underneath where he predicted Twilight will fall. Twilight glance at Discord who had a bored look on his face, he let out a yawn and looks at his lion paw finding his fingernails more important than preparing himself into catching her. She let out a low growl turning her back to him. Praying to all things in Equestria that he would catch her.
"Trust fall!" she shouts and jumps backwards. She opens one of her eyes to find herself in Discord's arms, she cocks her head at him in surprise.
"What? you expected me to drop you? Never!" he remarks shaking his head. "If I did, I would have an earful from Fluttershy" he said with a low voice making sure Fluttershy couldn’t hear. One by one came Applejack, Pinkie pie, and Rarity. All he caught with ease, the last one left was Rainbow Dash.
"I hate to say it, but Discord is actually doing well." Twilight smiles to Fluttershy as they stood side by side.
"I know, isn't it wonderful? I think I'm actually getting to him" Fluttershy inquires clapping her hooves excitedly. Rainbow Dash stood on the roof, her back towards Discord, hesitant on jumping into the arms of a chaotic being.
"Come on Rainbow Dash!" Applejack yells "you do hafta jump, you know!"
"I'm jumping, I'm jumping,....yesh!" Rainbow shouts and leans back. Discord took his chance. He let out a small smirk and snaps his talons. Suddenly, Angel Bunny was launched out of Fluttershy's cottage. He flew overhead gaining the attention of Fluttershy and the other mane four to the screaming bunny. As they were preoccupied, a black cloud appears over the unexpected Rainbow Dash. Discord rubs his claws together with glee and a bolt of lightning shoots out to her following with a loud boom.
She let out a scream losing her balance. Discord shoots out his paw catching Rainbow Dash by her tail, her muzzle an inch above the ground.
"Goodness, you really are a klutz" he snickers, letting her go making her fall on her face. "You're lucky I caught you in time"
"Hey that cloud came out of nowhere!" she snorts, rubbing her sore face.
"What cloud?" he asks, innocently batting his eyes. Rainbow Dash whirls around and looks up at the roof to find… nothing. Not a cloud up in the sky. Before she could question it, the others had returned with Angel Bunny, who was chattering angrily on Fluttershy’s back.
"Angel, calm down sweetie. I can't understand you when you’re upset." she hushes him gently.
"He might be doing it for attention" Applejack inquires, "from you helping Discord so much."
"That… makes sense" she replies slowly, Angel thumps his foot against her and continues to cry and rant to her. Pinkie quickly spots Rainbow Dash, shooting towards her Rainbow colored friend with excitement.
"Rainbow Dash, did Discord caught you?" bounce Pinkie Pie, hopping in place. "Did he? Did he? Did he?"
"Of course I did!" Discord interrupts before Rainbow Dash could respond.
"Wow! you surprised me!" She let out a gasp. "Wow! hardly any pony could surprise me!"
"Well I'll be, that son of an apple core actually caught Rainbow Dash. I'm sorry I ever doubted him" Applejack said, elbowing Rarity.
"Yes...."Rarity starts rubbing her arm at Applejack. "I couldn't imagine someone as uncouth as Discord would be able accomplish such a feat"
"Oh that's wonderful, Discord" Fluttershy praise strolling up to him "I'm so "proud" of you"
Discord smirk slowly disappears, her tone made him feel slightly nervous. He forces a smirk on his face, trying to keep his cool. There was no way in all of Equestria that she could possibly know. She turns back to her friends giving them her gratitude, "Oh thank you all for coming, I really do appreciate you all coming down to help Discord"
"Anytime Fluttershy" Twilight smiles taking her leave. The others follow suit, taking their separate paths back home. Fluttershy silently walks back inside her cottage with Discord trailing behind her. Once he shuts the door, Fluttershy calmly edges Angel out of the living room and turns to face Discord. She points to the couch, "Sit. Down." Her stern voice makes Discord flash to the couch in an instant; sitting with his head low and hands clasped together. Fluttershy calmly went up to him flying to his head, talking to him eye to eye. Her calmness was excruciatingly unbearable.
"Do you want to tell me something?" she asks crossing her arms at him, her eyes piercing through him. He felt sweat running down his face like a leaky faucet.
"Noooo?....." he chuckles nervously, "Nothing at all my dear, lovely, kind, precious, and forgiiiving friend?" She cocked her eyebrow, "You wouldn't lie to me… would you?"
"W- well, I- I- My! Have you done something new with your mane? It looks so sleek and shiny"
"Discord"
"No? Well, uh, your eyes are shining like emeralds this day-"
"Discord…"
"You look so lovely today, my dear, so radiant! Why, I swear I noticed Dull-ity eyeing you, she must have been jealous. Not that I blame her." he winks with a low voice. Fluttershy taps her back hoof against the air, becoming impatatient. Discord let out a sigh, giving in.
"Alright! You caught me red-handed!" he exclaims dramatically, conjuring a pair of cuffs attach to his wrists, and a striped prison outfit. "I confess! I did it! I threw your ungrateful vermin bunny out of the house to distract you and your friends so I could get back at that egotistic self centered rainbow one. So, exact your punishment! Would you prefer flogging?" He presents a flat paddle board in his eagle claw while covering his eyes with his paw. He had expected her to start nagging him about friendship and apologies and other boring things, not her wrapping her hooves around his neck. He blinks, wondering if she was trying to strangle him. His eyes shift from left to right in confusion.
"Okay… um..." he starts carefully, not wanting to suddenly invoke a rage fit. “not what I was expecting,” he licks his lips nervously, “uh Fluttershy..." She finally lets go of him and sits down beside him, "Thank you for telling the truth, Discord, even if you were scared"
"Scared isn’t the word I would use" he retorts, pinching her cheek playfully. Fluttershy gently pushes him away, giving him a small laugh. "When me and the girls went to find Angel I knew it was you; I thought you would let Rainbow fall… I'm glad you still decided to catch her" she said.
"Well in that case I- Ow!" Fluttershy had taken his ear between her teeth and pulled down severely, she wasn’t quite done with him yet.
"Don't think I’m going to let you off so easy mister; you are still going to be punished! You won't be having any dessert for this entire week, and I trust that you won’t use your powers to sneak any sweets past me…” She pauses to think if this was enough of a punishment before deciding that, for now, a sweetless week would suffice. Seeing him trying to slide away she grabbed his other ear and gave it a small yank, “and the first thing you will do is march right up those stairs and write to Princess Celestia about today."
"Ow! All right, all right! I’m going, I’m going!" Discord rubs his sore ear and scowls, so what if he didn’t get any sweets for an entire week, that wasn’t going to stop him from having his fun. Fluttershy lets him go and watches him grumble under his breath as he walks up the stairs. Once he disappears from sight Fluttershy shakes her head. Giggling lightly, she walks to the kitchen, it was nearly lunch time for her animals. Upstairs, Discord slams the door to his bedroom shut, stomps over to his nightstand, pulls out a scroll and quill, and reluctantly scribbles down what he had learned.
Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned about trust. My trust was lacking in my dear friend Fluttershy's friends. But I learned that I can too, learn to trust them as well as I trust Fluttershy. Except maybe the klutzy rainbow one. Though, who can trust the person in charge of the weather?
Your reformed draquaniquos, Discord
P.S. You should really restrict yourself from eating all the cake in the castle. I believe your flank might be expanding. Eat some bananas.
With a snicker and a laugh, he adds a few doodles to the bottom of his letter before rolling it up and snapping his fingers; making the scroll teleport to its desired destination. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celestia sits on her throne watching as the castle maids continued to clean up all of the last of the chocolate. Her brow wrinkles in annoyance as she thinks of all the trouble his farewell ‘gift’ caused. She’s brought out of her thoughts as a scroll appears in front of her. She gives the scroll a wary look, taking note of the insignia of Discord sticking his tongue out at her. She lets out a long sigh and opens it with caution. Confetti shoots out from the scroll; hitting her face and getting into her mane. She blows a piece of confetti off her nose and begins to read the contents of the scroll. She can’t help but smile at Discord's accomplishment, no matter how small the lesson, he was learning. She knew she had made a wise choice choosing Fluttershy to be his mentor instead of herself. Even if she couldn't change who he was, a creature of chaos, Fluttershy could at least change his perspective on friendship. She continues to read, but when she reaches his postscript she felt her cheeks flare up with anger and embarrassment. She can’t help but look behind her to see if there was any validity behind his biting remarks.
The next day, after being condemned to his room, Discord wakes up early, an hour before Celestia could bring up the sun. Getting out of his pajamas he tip-toes silently out of his room, not wanting to stir up Fluttershy as he does a little snooping. Someone as sweet and kind as Fluttershy must have some secrets.
He makes his way to her bedroom door and places his clawed hand over the doorknob. He turns it carefully only to find it locked. He lets out a small growl and snaps with his other hand magically making the door prop open. He hits the back of his head popping out one of his eyeballs into his lion paw and peers inside.
He saw Fluttershy sleeping silently underneath her thick covers. Her head facing the door. He place his eye back into his socket and enters. He slithers across the floor going to her dresser beside her bed, with an eye glued on her he opens the top dresser. Inside he was taken by surprise and at first he thought maybe the filly wasn't a filly at all, a thought that made him shudder in horror, but he was swiftly proven wrong. He takes out what appears to be Fluttershy's tail. Curiosity gets the better of him; using his magic he gently lifts the blanket off of Fluttershy and finds out that she had a very short tail, 1/3 the length. She was using tail extensions! He quickly drops the blanket over her and puts her "tail" back in the drawer.
Why Fluttershy was using tail extensions, he'd never know. Lifting a portion of the blanket to look at her tail again, he thought her short tail was kind of cute. He opens the second drawer to find some socks and winter clothes. He moves down to the third to discover a book, titled "My Diary" in golden letters. He immediately seized the leather bound book and opens it flipping to the latest entry.
Dear Diary,
I worry about Discord making new friends. He has potential to become a friend, like he has to me, in his own way. Other ponies might be wary of him but I'm glad I'm not that way. Even though he does things that make me cringe, he is sweet when he wants to be. I noticed how sweetly he was treating the squirrels when he was feeding them the other day. He really is a gentle draconiqui.
He looks over to Fluttershy, sleeping peacefully with her mane in a tangle mess. He felt his cheeks flush and shook his head at her entry. He must be losing his touch, if she thinks he was gentle! but… he never been happier. He hits himself on the forehead, he really was losing it. He flips to another section in the middle of her diary.
Dear Diary,
I can't take it anymore! I don't want to be a model for Photo Finish, it's just too much! I wish I could just tell Rarity how I feel about all of this, but I promised her that I would do it to her. I must. I must. I must!
"A model?" he mouths, intrigued. Fluttershy a model? Thinking back to how graceful she was, and how daintily she carried herself, he believed it. Anypony with looks like her was born to be a model. He turns to see Fluttershy beginning to stir, in the blink of an eye he shoves the diary back into its drawer and shoves it closed. Fluttershy starts to rub her eyes and stretch her wings, ready to starts her day. With no time to run, Discord snaps his fingers. Fluttershy yawns and blearily opens her eyes just in time to see a tray with a plate of eggs, hash browns on the side, orange juice, and even a small vase with a rose, appear in front of her.
"What in the world?" she mutters, rubbing her eyes wondering if she was still dreaming.
"Good morning, Fluttershy!" chimes Discord, nearly startling her into knocking over her tray.
"Discord! Wh-what are you doing in my room?" she says as she pulls her bedcovers up to her chin.
"I wanted you to have breakfast in bed, my dear, before we could start our day together" he smiles.
"Oh that's so nice of you.... but, I can't eat before my critter friends, I have to make sure-" Discord snaps his fingers, making sure every animals had their specific food.
"All done!"
"R-really… its much better feeding by hand with no magic, but… I'll let it go for today, you have to learn to not use your magic all the time, Discord"
"Must you be like that? You work with those animals mostly all the time, when do you even have time to relax and be yourself?" he pouts, constricting himself around her like a snake would to its prey. Fluttershy smiles patiently and pets the top of his head.
"You have to understand that I have responsibilities, I can't do things on my own when I want to, one day you'll understand… besides, I don't mind, I love my animals"
"I suppose…" he mutters as he unwinds himself from her, "It just seems a lot of the same old thing"
"Thank you for the breakfast, Discord."
Discord waves his paw at her dismissively, "Think nothing of it."
"Since this is a new day, and I have a new topic about friendship to teach you."
He rolls his eyes at the word, "Oh how droll, very well proceed with this new topic"
"Today I am going to teach you about Honesty." He suddenly felt a lump in his throat.
"Honesty is very simple, all you have to do is tell the truth when somepony needs it."
"That's it?" he asks as Fluttershy begins to eat her breakfast. She nods,
"Yes, that's it." She says, taking another bite of her eggs. Discord pulls at his beard in thought.
"Just tell the truth...." he repeats, a smirk slowly growing on his face. "I think I understand: just tell the truth that someponies need to hear!" he exclaims, smacking his fist in his palm. With a snap of his tail, he disappears from the cottage.
Discord appears in the middle of Ponyville, he immediately starts looking for way he could "spread the truth". He quickly finds two ponies sitting outside at the Clover Cafe having, what appears to him as, a private conversation. He teleports onto the restaurant’s canopy, situated right above the two mares.
"I don't know how to tell him how I feel about him, Carrot Top " the grey wall-eye pony says to her orange friend.
"You should tell him how you feel, he might like you too," Carrot Top smirks. "I see how he looks at you..."
"O-oh n-n-no" stammers the grey mare turning a bright shade of red. "Its better if we’re just friends, I don't want to risk our friendship!"
"Oh Derpy, you have to have confidence in yourself," her friend smiles. Suddenly her eyes gleam as she catches a glimpse of Derpy's crush. A young chestnut stallion with a hourglass cutie mark. Discord raise a brow as Carrot Top nudges her friend.
"Speak of the dragon, there he is!" she said excitingly shaking the gray mare’s shoulder.
"What?!" Derpy shrieks, turning in her seat she sees him walking right towards them. She quickly lifts up her menu; hiding her red face. "Don't say anything; just act normal! Act like we weren’t talkin-"
"Hello Derpy!" chimes the brown stallion. Derpy smiles forcefully as slams the menu down awkwardly, causing the silverware to clatter loudly.
"D-doctor! Uhm, h-h-hello! I'm just here having lunch with Carrot Top!"
"Oh, well isn't that lovely? Well I won't bother you two girls long, I was just on my way to get a new hourglass for my collection"
"Oh, wow," she smiles widely, staring dreamily at him, “that’s, nice...” she says with a nervous giggle.
Discord lets out a huge grin. It was time for him to spread the truth. In a flash he appears next to the brown stallion, and puts his claws around his shoulder. The Doctor yelps in surprise.
"Hello everypony!" he drawls, "Don't mind me, I couldn’t help but overhear your dilemma, and I'm here to tell you the truth.”
The brown stallion gives Discord a confused look, “Dilem- what on earth are you talk-”
Discord silences him with his tail, “Let me finish. The truth of the matter is that you and that grey mare there, see her right there,” he says pointing to Derpy, who quickly turning red, “should really go on a date!"
"W-what?" the brown stallion stutters, blushing slightly. "We-we’re just friends," he says turning to Derpy, "R-right?"
"'W-w-well-" Derpy stutters, her face turning an even brighter shade of red, before Discord intervenes.
"Of course not, my lucky chap!" he grins toothily, elbowing him in the ribs, "She was just talking about you. In fact, she really likes you! and I don't mean as a friend, I mean more as a coooltfriend!"
"R-really?" the brown stallion asks, but before he could say anything to Derpy, she takes off. Flying into the sky in sheer embarrassment; hot tears streaming down her face. The stallion pulls away from Discord and chases after her, "W-wait, Derpy! Come back!" Carrot Top stares blankly at the Doctor and Derpy’s receding figures. She is at a complete loss for words, not even acknowledging the waiter as he drops of the check.
“Good stallion, but don’t do all the work, make he meet you halfway!”
Discord dusts his hands in satisfaction, "Well, that went well! Let's see who else needs the truth around here?" He snickers as a mischievous smile dances across his mouth. Throughout the afternoon he spied, listened to private conversations, read secret diaries, and told anypony related to the untold truths. Surprisingly, he found out that he could cause a lot more chaos by telling the truth. Everywhere he looked he saw ponies avoiding each other, either because of embarrassment or hatred, or arguing with each other.
"Why didn't you tell me you didn't like the gift I gave you?!" One mare yelled at her special somepony.
"I did- I-I do like it! I like whatever you give me!" the flustered stallion replied.
"I don't believe you!" she cries as she ran off.
He strolled nonchalantly down the town square, carrying a bag of popcorn, the whole town was a spectacle to behold. If he knew telling the truth caused so much chaos he would have forced others to tell the truth about each others eons ago. Chuckling, he conjured a megaphone and placed it over his mouth and began to shout,
"Listen to this every pony! Princess Celestia has an eating problem, she can't stop eating cake! Princess Luna goes into your dreams without your permission!” He bursts out laughing at the looks of horror on the ponies faces, and begins singing a little tune, “She knows when you are sleeping~ she knows when you’re awake~" he sings, letting out a laugh he makes the megaphone disappear and throws a piece of popcorn in the air, making it land neatly onto his forked tongue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy was feeding her animals their lunch when she heard somepony frantically knocking on her door. She flies over to the door and opens it to find Twilight and Spike.
“Fluttershy! We need your help!” Twilight said in between gasps, “It’s Discord! He’s completely out of control!”
“What?” Fluttershy gasps. “Oh my, what is he doing?”
“He keeps telling the truth!” Spike replies.
“Oh… but isn’t that a good thing?” Fluttershy asks softly.
“No, it isn’t” Twilight retorts, “He’s telling other ponies secrets, and talking about their private conversations. Everypony is arguing or avoiding each other!"
“Oh no!” she gasps, “This is all my fault. I told Discord that he should tell the truth and not lie, but I meant about him, not other ponies secrets!” Fluttershy covers her face with her hooves in shame, “I wasn’t specific enough with him. Oh, I was so foalish! I should have known he would’ve taken things so literally.”
Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike run into the middle of the ponyville, to find it under a dark cloud. Everypony is avoiding each other either out of hate or out of embarrassment. Everypony has their houses shut and businesses closed, barricaded by ponies who don’t want to have their secrets spilled.
“Yeesh,” Spike starts, “I never seen Ponyville like this before.”
“Ugh! And it’s all Discord’s fault!” Twilight hisses.
“No it’s not,” Fluttershy argues, gently. “I taught him; he just doesn't know any better. He’s innocent.”
Twilight faced hoofs. “Fluttershy, he is not a foal, he knows exactly what he is doing- he loves this stuff and now no pony’s secrets are safe.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t have any secrets.” Spike smiles smugly, crossing his arms. He suddenly lets out a gasp. “Wait! my secret crush on Rarity!” He let out another gasp, covering his mouth. “Oh no, what if he heard me?! You don’t think he heard me right? … I-I… Everypony for themselves!”
He takes off, running back to Twilight’s castle, much to his friends disapproval. Twilight puts out her hoof at him in a desperate attempt to being him back.
“Spike! Spike! Come back!” She sighs heavily, brow scrunching in annoyance, “I guess it’s just you and me Fluttershy.” Twilight looked around at all the unhappy townsponies. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, call him or something? He listens to you.”
“Oh, well, I can try,” she said uncertainly. She clears her throat, putting her hoof beside her lips. “D-Discord? C-can you come here a moment?” she says in a small whisper.
Twilight rubs her hoof against her temple. “Fluttershy, I don’t think he’ll hear you if you say it like-”
In a flash of light, Discord appears in front of them with a bag of popcorn in his right paw, munching a pawful of them in his mouth.
“You hmm… call, my dear?” he mutters chewing through the kernels.
“Discord! How can you be eating?!” Twilight yells. “Just look at this mess you made!”
“Whatever do you mean?... I don’t see a mess, Ponyville is nothing but tidy.” he scoffs, taking another pawful of popcorn, before tossing the empty bag over his shoulder.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Twilight says, her eye twitching. “Everypony hates each other, they are avoiding each other, and it is because you keep telling their secret conversations!”
“Oh, why all the secrecy? Is there a cult I don’t know about? Maybe some of those Celuminnati ponies?”
“Discord, this isn’t a joke.” She says with a deadpanned look on her face.
“Honestly, I thought I was helping… Fluttershy tells me to tell the truth so I have, and here you are reprimanding me- I have never been so offended! If somepony does a good thing around here they get put on the stake and set on fire!”
“We don’t do that!” she shouts.
“You're right… you just turn them into stone.” he hisses.
“Alright that’s enough!” Fluttershy intervenes between the two. “Twilight, can you let me and Discord have some privacy, please?”
Twilight lets out a small grumble of protest, but Fluttershy stares her down. Giving her one of her famous stares. Twilight takes a step back and lets out a sigh.
“Okay, I’ll be in my castle if you need me.” she says before flying off.
Fluttershy turns back to Discord who had his back towards her with his arms crossed. She flies up beside him, finding a scowl across his face, like a foal who had his candy taken away by their mother. She gently sits down next to him in silence. A breeze goes by as she stares at the empty streets, a sight that she hasn't seen since Zecora came around. It was a bit frightful, but peaceful.
“Well?” Discord starts, the silence unnerving him. “Are you going to say something to me?”
“Yes,” She begins. Discord puts his paw next to his ear, ready to hear her scolding. “…I’m sorry.”
“You're sorry?” He reels back in surprise as if slapped. “My dear, you are beginning to have delusions- what do you have to apologize for?”
“I didn’t explain Honesty enough; when I told you to tell the truth, I didn’t mean telling the truth about other ponies conversations. Those are private, and they would tell their friends or loved ones the truth in the future when it’s the right time.”
“You mean like how you told Rarity you hated being a model?” he muses.
“How do you know that?!” She whirls around. Discord presses his lips together. Oops. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.
“I might have heard it… or read it in a certain book?” He says slowly, tapping his fingers together.
“In a book?” She tilts her head at him. Ah, forget it, she would find out sooner or later; better to fess up now and tell the truth.
“Perhaps… your diary?" He smiles painfully.
“M-my diary! You read my diary!?... Is that why you were in my room?!” she asks, mortified, her face becoming redder than a rose.
“At the time I thought it was a good read.” He grins slightly.
“Discord, no! That is private!... What else did you read?”
“Well…” He puts up his lion paw, showing her a certain pink tail. She whirls to find her tail one third its length. She lets out a gasp and sits down, trying to hide it as her face turns bright red.
“Put it back! Put it back! Put it back!” she cries, covering her face with her wings. Discord lets out a laugh.
“Why?… It’s adorable that you have such a stumpy tail!”
“S-stumpy?!”
“Nothing wrong with being a bit stumpy.” He snaps his fingers, attaching her tail back, much to her relief.
“You weren’t supposed to know that, and you weren't suppose to peek in my diary!”
“Didn’t you just say that it was all right to tell ponies secrets when the time comes?” He chides.
“Yes, but sometimes you have to have some secrets as long as it doesn’t hurt yourself or others, or keeping something private between friends and family. Sometimes, if a pony eavesdrops like what you did, they spill the truth to others but it’s sometimes a double-edged sword… because you end up hurting the pony at the end of the conversation. That is called Gossip.”
“Gossip?”
“Yes, I know it’s a hard concept, but… if I tell you something private, I don’t want you to tell everypony in all of Equestria, like… my tail, not everpony knows about it because I am too embarrassed… Will you tell other ponies about it, knowing that it will embarrass me?”
“Of course not, I would never do anything to hurt you,” he says sincerely. “I made a promise to myself after that… ‘Tirek debacle’.” he says painfully. He always regretted that day. “That I will never, ever, in all of my life, make you shed those tears for me again.” She lets out a smile, blushing slightly at his words.
“And what about other ponies?”
“Oh, them,” He rolls his eyes. “I don’t care what happens to them,” he says, waving it off.
“But what if they were me?”
“But they are not, and they are not my problem.” he says flatly.
“And what if somepony starts spreading your secrets?” Fluttershy presses. He lets out a scoff.
“What secrets? I have none.”
“What about those sweet letters you sent me?” She says, nudging him gently. Discord let out a small blush and shrugs his shoulders.
“Your friends already know that, so ha!”
“But not what you wrote in them, and I happen to have memorized one particular letter.” She smirks. He turns to her in disbelief and in curiosity of what letter she had memorized. He had begun sending them since she first reformed him, which he believes ranged in the hundreds.
“Which letter is that?” He asks, his nose in the air acting as if he did not care. Fluttershy let out a small giggle.
“My dearest Fluttershy-” She starts. He rolls his eyes; that is how he always addressed her. “I fear that I am experiencing nightmares…” His ears perk. “I have a recurring nightmare about you disappearing, needless to say it has given me a fright. Your voice soothes me, so…” she says a little loudly. Discord begins to notice ponies slowly opening their doors and windows to listen to her. He lets out a gulp as a cold sweat runs down his face.
“I was hoping you would sing to me my favorite song.” She lets out another giggle as she finishes. “And I know which song you love more than anything…”
He was beginning to bite his nails nervously as more and more ponies peer outside as Fluttershy takes a breath of air.
“Soft kitty, warm kitty~ little ball of fu-” Suddenly she was silence by Discord putting a claw over her mouth.
“All right! I understand now!” He slowly removes his claw from her mouth, wondering if she would continue singing it, but thankfully she knew that it was enough.
“Being Honest also means not lying, or keeping secrets… it also means being honest to yourself,” she says gently. “Always be yourself, and I don’t mean your chaotic evil self, but the Discord I know now, as a gentle, funny, sometimes a bit mean, prankster Draconique.”
“My dear, sometimes you aggravate me with all this mushy friendship talk.” He frowns, blushing lightly from her words.
“And the next thing you are going to do is apologize to every single pony you eavesdropped on,” she says assertively. He lets out a groan.
“All of them?!”
“Yes, all of them, mister… now you better get started, and you better give a sincere apology.” She flew up above him. “I will see you back home with dinner ready.” She flaps her wings, flying back to her cottage.
“Wait!” he calls. “Can’t you do it for me?!” He let out a series of grumbles, seeing her continue to fly off. He ran his paw down his face, stretching it slightly. “That pony, expecting me to apologize… hmph!” He stomps off, trying to find any pony he could see, and saw the grey mare with the wonky eyes and the brown stallion with the hourglass as a cutie mark, smiling at eachother as they walk into the middle of ponyville.
He snaps his fingers, appearing in front of them.
“Hello there!” He says bubbly to the surprised couple. “Let’s make this quick shall we?” Discord says, rubbing his hands together. “I’m sorry for… um… “eavesdropping” on your conversation, and yadda yadda yadda, I feel bad, and I’m pretty sure if I don’t apologize Fluttershy won’t feed me… so I “sincerely” apologize with all of my… ugh, “heart” and I hope you forgive me, but if you don’t that’s fine, I don’t really care either way.” He says bluntly, finding more interest in his nails.
“Oh you don’t have to apologize,” the grey mare says with a smile. “If you hadn’t said anything, well… me and the Doctor wouldn't have… you know.” She lets out a blush. “Gone… out?”
“Oh… well how wonderful,” he says, sticking his tongue out in nausea. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a hundred more ponies to apologize to.” He snaps his fingers, disappearing in a flash.
Throughout the next three hours, he went up to any ponies and knocked on their doors, some even refused to open the door to him in fear and in retaliation. Needless to say, it peeved him off and he had to teleport inside their own home, where he had to face their shouts and cries while he tried to apologize for his eavesdropping and, unfortunately, breaking into their homes.
He found himself back in the middle of Ponyville, finding the citizens finally coming out of their homes to quietly apologize to others. Even if Discord had spilled secrets, hateful comments were told and after he apologized, he must have made the ponies realize their own mistakes. He watches as some awkwardly apologize, some with tears running down their faces, and even some that didn't need words to say that they were sorry.
Discord suddenly felt relief.
He blinks, his paw going to his chest. He feels a calming sensation from the pit of his stomach that reached to the middle of his chest. Was he happy for them?
He shakes his head and snaps his fingers. A long scroll appears in his claw. He looked over his checklist of ponies who he told the secrets to, and he marks the last box with a quill making the scroll roll back up and blow up in a pile of confetti.
“There! My epic quest is finally finished!” he says triumphantly. He clicks his tongue. “Wait, I believe I forgot Princess Twilight.” He snaps his fingers, appearing in front of her castle.
He looks up at the towering behemoth of a tree house, and he invites himself inside, going through the long empty corridors. He thought that she would at least have some guards by now. He enters inside the library with three stories of books, which had been much to Twilight’s delight because of how her books had been when her tree house was destroyed. He finds her where she always is, her muzzle deep in another one of her books.
Hearing him step inside, she looks up and closes her book.
“Discord, what are you doing here? Did you talk to Fluttershy?” she asks as Discord makes his way to her.
“Of course, she told me to apologize to everypony I told their secrets to, and I am here to apologize to you.”
“To me?... I don’t think you told anypony any of my secrets.”
“You're right.” He nods. “I didn’t tell anypony your secrets- I am here to apologize for my behavior.”
“Oh!... well that’s… strange of you to do,” she questions. “Very unlike you.”
“Twilight, you must know by now that everything I do is unlike me… but I suppose in this sense, yes… it’s very unlike me- but I do “value” our friendship,” he says with seriousness in his voice. She blinks at him. “I will never forget what you did for me, forgiving me of my past transgressions, regarding me as one of your friends and… I do appreciate it, not every pony can be patient as my sweet Fluttershy.”
“Discord…” She trails off and lets out a smile. “I can see that you are trying your best, and I accept your apology, can you accept mine?”
“Finally!” he exclaims. “I thought you were becoming prideful if you didn't apologize too! I thought finally having your own castle might had made you a tyrant like Celestia,” he says poking her crown. He proceeds to show her with a large banner falling from the ceiling, depicting Celestia with a disapproving scowl upon her face as she stared down. Above her in black bolded letters that read, “THE SUN IS ALWAYS WATCHING.”
Twilight frowns at him.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t you have to go back to Fluttershy’s?!” she says, pulling away from him as she straightens her crown.
“Yes, thank you for reminding me. Toodle loo, Princess Twilight!” He waves before disappearing in a flash along with the banner. Twilight massages her temple, letting out a sigh and looks to her right.
“You can come out Spike! He’s gone!” she calls. Her small dragon peers out from one of the bookcases, his teeth chattering.
“Are you sure? You don’t think he told Rarity, did he?” he asks with paranoia as he slowly walks up to her, looking over his shoulder for the chimera.
“No Spike, he would have tried to apologize to you if he did.”
“Oh, whew…” he sighs in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I thought I was in trouble there.”
Discord manages to get himself out of Fluttershy's cottage before she woke up to feed the animals. He decides to take a walk in the Everfree forest to stir up some chaos- his fingers had been aching to snap up some fun. He did not want to bother his sweet friend with his chaotic ways, and making her cottage into a bounce house would not bode well with her.
He walks down the dirt trail, the rays of the sun slowly peaking over the mountains. Once he found himself in personal solitude, he entwined his fingers together, stretching them outward, and hearing a satisfying crack.
"Now," stroking his beard in thought. "What shall I do today? So many things to do… Ah! I know!" He snaps his fingers, making the trees around him turn into bright-colored polka dots. He snaps his fingers again, making the trail turn into chocolate sauce. He fashions himself a pair of smooth slippers and began skating down the road, jumping and twirling, landing swiftly with his arms dramatically set above his head like a professional dancer. Sounds of whistles and cheers coming from nowhere and everywhere erupt for him as he bows.
"Thank you! Thank you! You are all so very kind!"
The cheers are interrupted by the sound of wailing in the distance. He turns towards the trail heading deeper into the forest, hearing the sound of continuous shrieks and wails. The sound made him clutch at his ears in an attempt to drown out the horrible noise.
He decides to follow the sound and put a stop to it immediately. He walks down the trail, the noise becoming louder and louder as he made his way closer to the source. He grinds his teeth- even conjuring corkscrews in his ears did not deafen the noise.
He finds the source coming from a wooden basket covered by a blue blanket, with a small form squirming underneath it.
Using his powers, he pulls back the blanket, making the source of the horrible screams reveal itself.
Fluttershy was downstairs in the kitchen. She looks at the clock worriedly. She has not seen Discord in a couple of hours, which was strange because he is usually waiting for her to eat breakfast. She already looked in his room to not find him there. She wonders if she did something to upset him and make him go away. The thought makes her eyes begin to gloss over.
Knock.knock.knock.
Her ears perk up and she flies to the door hurriedly, and throws open the door.
"Disco-?!" She is interrupted by a sound of a foal wailing and flailing in Discord's arms.
"Fluttershy! You must help me, I can't make it stop!" he cries, trying to keep struggling foal in his arms. He walks inside as Fluttershy shuts the door and flies up to him.
"Discord! Where did you get that foal!" she demands loudly, trying to get her voice over the screaming infant.
"I found it in the Everfree forest in a basket!"
"Ouiii! Ouiii!" The foal cries, it's face fully red, wet tears staining it's cheeks. Fluttershy quickly snatches the foal out of Discord's arms. She bounces the foal gently, and slowly the foal's cries become quiet. Discord breathes a sigh of relief, collapsing on the couch in exhaustion.
"You have no idea how much I wanted that monstrosity to stop."
"Discord!" Fluttershy scolds. "Don't say that about this foal; he is just a baby and crying is what they do."
"Forgive me if I don't have the same understanding as you." He sees that the foal begins to fuss in her arms, ready to unleash another crying fit.
"I think he’s hungry, Discord, can you give me some milk?
"I am not exactly lactating."
"Discord, I meant a bottle. With some warm milk, maybe?"
"Ah… of course, I knew that," he chuckles. He snaps his fingers, making a bottle appear in front of her. She takes it graciously and places the nipple in the foal's mouth. The foal's flushed face quickly went back to his normal white coat, revealing a little tuff of a black mane. It suckles hungrily, making Fluttershy lift its head slightly.
"Slow down, or else you'll get a tummy ache." She smiles gently. Discord finds himself captivated by her mothering. The way she sweetly looks at the child as if it is her own. The way she gently holds its small frame in her own delicate hooves. It felt natural to look at. He saw her own beauty increased ten-fold.
She glances back at Discord, finding him staring at her. She looks back down instinctively to the foal, her mane falling down over her eye shyly. She found that his eyes pierce her- she usually feels so comfortable around him, but the way he is looking at her now. She starts to feel butterflies in her stomach.
Once the foal finishes, Fluttershy makes her way to the couch, placing the foal down on it's back, taking the blue blanket that bundled him off.
The little colt is white with black spots, like a dairy cow, wearing a white diaper.His eyes was a piercing blue color- it was like staring into a pool of ice water. She gleams at him.
"Why aren't you a cute, whittle thing?" she coos, rubbing her muzzle against his, making the foal start giggling, its small hooves grabbing her mane. She pulls away, only for the foal to tug at her mane, making her pull her mane forcefully, but gently, out of his hooves.
She turns back to Discord, who was looking at the foal as if it is something new to him. Something so alien; it intrigues him. He never really acknowledged foals; this was his first time seeing one so close.
"You found him in the Everfree forest?" she asks, interrupting his thoughts. "All by himself?"
"Unfortunately... thanks to his screams becoming so unbearable, I was only able to look so far before bringing him to you."
"Poor little thing." She frowns at the foal. He blinks at them and lets out a soft yawn. She places the blanket on him as he slowly falls asleep. She lets out a sigh.
"I’ll have to take him to Twilight. She can find his parents but..." Her eyes water as her voice hitches. Discord’s ears drooped; he had always hated seeing her upset.
"What is it?" he asks sincerely.
"Sometimes... ponies just abandoned their foals," she says with a twinge of pain in her voice.
"Barbaric," Discord responds with a growl. He had no parents of his own, (he doesn’t even know where he came from), but he knew the bitter feeling of loneliness. The feeling that plagues him whenever he sees other ponies with loving mothers and fathers. Something that he would never be able to experience; the love and care of a parent. And now the foal beside him would never be able to either. He’d go through the pain he endured, all because his parents never wanted him.
"What will happen to him?" he asks.
Fluttershy gives a small sigh, “If Twilight can’t find his parents, he’ll be sent to the Ponyville orphanage. Hopefully he’ll be adopted by a loving family."
"Orphanage?! Nonsense! Being placed in a building full of rowdy, screaming foals; with not enough nursemaids to take care of them all?! He would hate it… I know I certainly would."
"B-but I’m sure his parents will come back for him.” She smiles slightly, with a small amount of optimism, “Maybe it was just an accident and there’s nothing to worry about." Fluttershy looks down at the sleeping baby, “But until they come back, the orphanage is going to have to take care of him for a while…"
"But we can take care of him," he says quickly.
"We?" Did she hear him right? "B-but I don't know how to take care of a foal. They’re a big responsibility. Don't get me wrong, I’ve babysat a few before, but that was only for a few hours. I could never take care of one for a whole day, I-"
"But you handled that foal just fine a moment ago. What's a few days? Come on, I’ll assist you; it’ll be fun!" he pleads.
"Oh, I don't know. Baby animals I can do, but a foal?"
"Please, you already have the mothering instinct, and I have-” Discord stops short as he tries to think of the right thing to say, “Well, I have my uh, my…” He suddenly snaps his finger as it hits him, “My personality!” Grabbing Fluttershy in a tight hug he waves his claw out in front of him, “Together we can do anything. With the two of us working together, I believe we can take care of this foal!"
"Well... okay. If it's only for a few days," she concedes.
“Yes!” He loudly shouts as he fist pumps in the air,confetti and string falling above them.
“Shhh,” she whispers as the foal stirs, before laying peacefully once again. It’s a miracle that Discord’s antics hadn’t roused him. She’d rarely seen this happy before; not since the first time she invited him over for tea. She couldn’t help but smile.
“I need to tell Twilight about finding him in the forest, though. Will you be alright taking care of him by yourself?" she asks as she gently tucks the corners of the baby blue blanket under the foal. Before Discord says anything she adds, "And I mean really take care him. Don't take your eyes off of him, not even for a second. And if he starts crying just bounce him gently, and if that doesn't work give him a bottle of milk.” She starts heading to the door but stops short, “Oh and if he starts to smell, change his diaper. And if that doesn't work just-”
“Yes, yes, yes,” he says, pushing her towards the door, “I'm sure I can take care of the infant for a measly hour until you return."
“W-well," she stammers. Discord clasps his claws together and lifts them up to his right cheek, giving her the best puppy dog eyes he can create. He even makes sure to bat them a few times. She lets out a small smile. "Okay then, Discord. Take care now, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Bye,” Discord gives a small wave as she flies down the path to Ponyville. When he no longer sees her he steps back and closes the door behind him. Hearing a whimper Discord looks down at the foal staring wide eyed at door. His brow furrows and his white cheeks begin to turn pink as he holds his hooves out. Discord holds out his index finger, lifting the child with his magic, making him float up to him at eye level.
"She won't be long," he sternly tells the foal. The foal lets out another whimper, this time reaching towards Discord. He raised a brow at this gesture. "What? You already ate; you can't be hungry already. What do you want?"
The foal continued to desperately reach Discord, his whimpers slowly becoming small sobs, making Discord cringe.
"Oh, now don't you do that! Don't you dare do that!" he warns, but the foal continues to cry. Soon to become screaming and wailing again. He puts out his paw and grabs the foal under his forearms; holding him closer. The foal lets out a sniff, his cries slowing down to a small hiccup as he rested his head on Discord's furry chest. He brought his hoof to his mouth and began sucking it, letting out a small coos as he nuzzled deeper into Discord’s fur.
Discord couldn’t help but scoff.
"So this is all you needed? Somepony to hold you?" he asks with a chuckle. The foal looks up at him and blinks. He slowly smiles, revealing his pink gums and small saliva covered hoof. Despite the rivulets of drool cascading down Discord's paw, he found himself smiling back. With his claw, he gently caresses the foal's cheek.
"Hmm... I find it very hard to believe that your mother abandoned you... or your father... depends, but right now that is a harsh concept." He says with a shrug. The foal looks back up at Discord and sticks his hoof back into his mouth, sucking on it as he would a pacifier .
"I don't believe I know your name," he says, changing the subject, not for the foal but for his own benefit. "Perhaps you need a collar." He snaps his fingers, conjuring a blue collar with a small bell hanging off of it around the foal’s neck. “If only more parents put collars on their small ones; perhaps they wouldn’t get lost as often.” Discord peers at the name inscribed on the round metal plate hanging off the collar: Little Whiner.
Discord chuckles as he watches the foal play with the bell. "Yes, I believe Little Whiner is a suitable name for you."
After a moment, Little Whiner stops playing with the bell. His face turns a shade of pink as his face contorts. Discord raises a brow, and places his paw over the youngin’s forehead. "What is it? A fever?" He did feel a little hot.
The foal’s face goes from light pink to a darker shade of red as his face twists into a grimace. Discord searches him all over, finding nothing wrong with him; only a look of intense concentration. Little Whiner holds this expression for another minute before sighing in relief; his cheeks returning to their normal white. Discord scratches his cheek, wondering what he had just witnessed, blissfully unaware of what exactly Little Whiner did. That is until an overwhelming smell reaches his nostrils. He recoils and clamps his paw over his snout, “Eyech! What in the world is that horrible smell?!"
As he bounces the foal up and down he notices he feels a lot heavier. His eyes move down to the foal's bulging diaper. Discord's eyes begin to water from the horrid stench, he places the foal on the couch, if only to get the smell farther away from him.
No longer having someone willing to hold him, Little Whiner voices his displeasure. By shrieking and wailing.
Discord’s paws move from his nose to his ears, as Little Whiner continues his protest. With his tail he conjures a clothespin for his nose, which now stung from the foal's “business”.
"What do you want me to do?!" he pleads with the foal. More screams were his only answer. "I don't know anything about changing an infant's diaper!"
Discord desperately looks to the front door, praying, to anything that would listen, that Fluttershy would walk in and help him. When no such miracle happens, Discord sighs in defeat.
One flash of light later he dons an apron, and a red hoofkerchief over his head. With a snap of his fingers all the essentials he needs to change a foal’s diaper are laid out before him: a fresh diaper, foal powder, wipes, foal oil, and a freshly pressed blanket. Time to take matters in his own paw/claws. He remembers Pinkie Pie once regaling him with the tale of how she tried to change Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s two foals’ diaper. Only now did he wish he had payed attention, to know what not to do.
"Ouiii! Ouii!" Little Whiner’s shrieking only intensifies.
Discord’s ears shrink against themselves. He needs to change Little Whiner's diaper. Now!
He places the writhing foal on the blanket, conjuring some rubber gloves, he removes the disgusting pile and discards the diaper into the waste basket.
"All right, what do I do next, what do I do next?” Beads of sweat begin to slide down the side of Discord’s face. “Is it powder, wipes, then oil? Or is it wipes, oil, and then powder?” He holds the two containers in front of him, eyes darting back in forth between the labels, “Do I even really need the oil? I’m not cooking him, what is foals oil even made of?” After a moment of silence Discord’s jaw drops and he hurls the foals oil out the window in horror. “What is wrong with these ponies!?”
Turning back to the squealing baby he shouts, “This is impossible!" With a heavy sigh he falls back into a stool he conjured. He covers his face with his hands and pulls it down with a loud groan. "Come on, Discord ol' boy. You conquered Equestria once, how difficult can it be to change a foals diaper?!"
The chaotic misadventures of discord Responsibility part 2
Fluttershy trudged along the path of her home in a pitiful walk, her thoughts filled with the small foal who was possibly abandoned. She was returning back home after a talk with Twilight, expecting there might have been good news that might expel her thoughts on the foal's abandonment, but she was horribly in the wrong.
"I'm sorry Fluttershy," Twilight muttered sadly, putting down the letter that she had received from Princess Celestia. Spike stood behind her with his head low as Twilight delivered the bad news. "But no pony had filed a missing foal report..."
"T-that can't be right!" Fluttershy cried, shaking her head feverishly. "There must be a mistake...maybe, maybe they just haven't written one yet, that must be the reason!" She refused to believe it, she couldn't believe that anypony would leave a helpless foal in the Everfree Forest, exposed to the elements and the countless numbers of predators. She refused to believe that any couple would be so heartless.
"You might be right..." Twilight stated softly, placing her hoof on her shoulder in reassurance. "You said Discord found him early this morning, so it might be possible that they just haven't gotten around to writing the report....but..." Twilight let out a small frown as she turned away, her eyes heading towards Spike in almost a pained look. "He might have been abandoned, we have to consider that possibility."
Fluttershy let out a sniff from the memory fighting back tears. No, she had to stay positive. She had to remain optimistic about the situation, it only been a few hours and it was almost noon. Perhaps soon the parents would be looking for their foal until they filed the report or came into Ponyville. She and Discord would take good care of the foal. With a deep breath, she lifted her head up and sprung into a small gallop, rushing towards home. It was lunch time for the foal.
Discord slumped down against the couch, finally being able to change Little Whiner's diaper. Little Whiner sat on top of Discord's chest, sucking at his own hoof again. Discord rolled his eyes at him.
"Keep sucking that hoof and I will change your name to 'Little Sucker'," he threatened half-heartedly. He was sapped of energy from changing Little Whiner's diaper and spending the next hour trying to calm him down of his cries. He was thankful that he was listening to Fluttershy when she mentioned that he should bounce him when he started fussing, but the effects were not as quick as he would have liked.
Little Whiner finally separated his mouth from his hoof and let out a long yawn, his eyes fluttering, struggling to stay open, but it was clear that the foal was losing his fight against the urge to nap. The foal stretched fully on Discord's chest, laying down flat on his stomach as his eyes stared half-open towards his foal-sitter. Discord let out a small smile and stroked the small tuft of hair the foal had.
"Maybe Little Sleeper is a efficient name for you.." he joked softly, not wanting to interrupt his nap. Little Whiner let out one last yawn before closing his eyes. Discord brushed the foal's mane gently watching him sleep. From all of his crying and acting like a little brat, he looked peaceful when he slept. The front door opened as Fluttershy walked inside, greeted by Discord laying on the couch looking just as exhausted as the foal. She closed the door gently before walking up to them.
"Oh Discord, how was he?" she whispered with a small smile.
"He was...fine, Fluttershy." he answered with a soft voice. "Nothing I can't handle."
She let out a small giggle seeing the foal sprawled out on Discord's chest. "Looks like he likes you."
"Of course he does- who wouldn't?" he smirked confidently. "But never mind that- what did Twilight say, have you located Little Whiner's parents?"
"Discord- did you name that darling little cute foal that?" she questioned with a small scowl, noticing the collar.
"I think its a perfect name." he huffed childishly. Fluttershy let out a long sigh, her mane falling down over her right eye. Discord eyed her, he knows that look, and it was never something good. "What is it, my dear?"
She sat down on her flank as she looked back at the foal, hurt apparent in her eyes that it hit Discord internally. He felt his chest tighten it was if he was struck with a pile of bricks, or a rainbow beam shot right at him.
"T-Twilight said...that it was highly possible that...that he was a-abandoned, Discord." She said her voice breaking but she held back her tears. Discord placed a paw over the foal's small body, almost protectively. He felt his shoulder shaking in anger, anger towards the ponies who had left the defenseless foal by himself. He had never felt so much of this intense emotion before even when he was turned to stone, twice. He had never felt so angry or hateful.
"Then they're cowards-" he hissed. Fluttershy stared up at him in shock hearing the disdain in his voice. She had never seen him so angry before. "This foal does not need parents like them. He could have so much better...."
"I know," Fluttershy replied placing a hoof over his paw that held Little Whiner. From her touch, he immediately calmed down giving her a small smirk. "But-Twilight also said that maybe the parents haven't gotten the chance to report him missing yet..."
Discord pressed his lips together, not sharing in the small hope that Fluttershy was desperately clinging onto.
"I have an idea-" he began. "Why won't we take care of him?
