Ten Years Later...
Bliiiiiiing! Discord's eyes flew open and he slapped his bird claw down on the wind-up alarm clock, stopping its ritualistic cacophony as he stretched himself cat-like on the meager aluminum cot he called a bed. He carefully and meticulously folded his quilt blanket and set it on the foot of the cot, his fingertips rubbing at the fabric as if to commit it to memory. Like all "doorstop donations" as they were known as, he longed to know who his parents were and where he came from. Miss Violet only knew that he was a chimera and that his treasured quilt was the only possession he had with him. Discord sighed and put the question in the back of his mind in order to prepare for the day ahead. His room was at one point a broom closet, which explained its small size and smell of soap. Since he was, well, different from the other orphans, Miss Violet cleaned out the closet and gave it to him so that he could have privacy. Its tight quarters didn't bother him one bit; he had his own room after all! How many orphans can say that?
Since it was still early in the morning, Discord tip-toed through the hallways, being careful to make as little noise as possible before he arrived at Miss Violet's room and gently tapped his knuckles against the door. Ever since he was seven, he made sure to wake up early before the other kids so he could help Miss Violet prepare the orphanage for the day. This included helping Miss Dawn prepare breakfast, scrubbing the floors, ironing and folding the laundry, cleaning the fireplace, replacing the firewood and anything else Miss Violet needed of him. After all, she took him in when he had no home and was the only one at the orphanage that was nice to him. Oh, Miss Dawn was polite enough but it felt like she was only putting on a show for Miss Violet's benefit and Discord honestly didn't like the way the pink unicorn stared anxiously at him when she thought he wasn't looking. As for the other children...they could be cordial but only for societal niceties rather than the desire to be kind.
"Come in!" A soft voice replied and Discord opened and shut the door as gently as possible, finding his most favorite person in the world hard at work knitting a new scarf. Miss Violet's purple eyes shined through her half-moon glasses and she set her creation aside to greet her most-frequent visitor. "Good morning, Discord! Did you sleep well?"
Discord nodded, "Good morning to you and I sure did, Miss Violet! What shall I do today?"
Violet smiled, "Well, I need to run a couple of errands in town and I was hoping that you could make Hazel Chestnut a new knit cap. She seems to have misplaced her old one. Could you do this for me?"
Miss Violet wants me to knit something for one of the other orphans? Under the unicorn's instruction, Discord had become a competent knitter but she never asked him to make anything and he usually knitted something for himself. He raised his lion paw and saluted. "Yes, Ma'am! I'll have it ready ASAP!"
He lightly giggled when a hoof rubbed the mop of white hair on his head, messing it up and making it stick out in all directions. "That's what I like to hear! I'll be back soon so make sure Miss Dawn doesn't burn the place down."
"You've got it! The house will still be standing by the time you get back."
After replacing her glasses and donning a sweater Discord had made her for Hooves and Hearts Day, Violet kissed Discord on the head and grinned, "Thanks Discord," before heading out. Once she was gone, Discord went hard at work to get the hat ready, making sure that he worked at a steady pace but also to get every last detail right. He remembered that Hazel's last hat had a little poof ball on the top so he dug through Miss Violet's crafts box until he found one. Despite it being bigger and a more darker shade of red, he managed to make it work and stood back to appreciate his handiwork. I hope she likes it. Maybe then we could have an actual conversation!
Discord mad his way to the kitchen, where Miss Dawn was already in the process of setting wads of pancake mix on the stove. "Good morning, Miss Dawn! Miss Violet asked me to help you!"
Eyeing the chimera wearily, Dawn replied, "Is that right? Well, you can start by cutting up the fruit. With the knife this time." She went back to her work, ensuring that she didn't accidently burn herself while keeping a close watch on Discord, who went about humming merrily as he separated the strawberries and bananas before cutting them. When he was two years old, Discord was playing in the backyard when it suddenly began to rain chocolate milk. It didn't take long for either Dawn or Violet to figure out how that happened. This was followed by the walls turning into peanut brittle, the trees into candy canes and a swarm of bubbles to appear out of the blue. Everything turned back to normal but since then, they had to work extra hard to make certain that Discord didn't use his "unique" brand of magic.
After cutting the fruit, Discord helped Dawn whip up a batch of pancakes and set up the table, all the while the unicorn closely observing her little helper. True, it'd been four years since Discord last used his powers and had been on his best behavior but Dawn still watched him like a hawk. She didn't think he was a bad kid, just that he was too cheerful for her liking and those powers of his spooked her out.
"Alright Junior, I can take it from here."
"Really? Are you sure there's nothing else I can do to help you...-?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Take some pancakes to your room."
Discord knew better than to argue with Miss Dawn so he did as he was told. After eating breakfast alone, which he was used to doing, he washed his dishes and went to find Hazel Chestnut. He found her chatting with a couple of other fillies and waved to her, seemingly failing to notice her hesitance at seeing him. She was coffee-brown with a head of light brown hair that she kept in a pair of pigtails and had a face dotted with freckles.
"Hi Hazel! How're you doing?"
"Fine. Can I help you?"
Keeping his composure, Discord held the hat out to her. "Miss Violet said you lost your hat so she asked me to make you a new one. Sorry if it's not exact. I tried my best to make it look like your old one."
Hazel's two friends backed away and started whispering and laughing to themselves. Hazel looked uncertainly at them and then back at Discord. "Thanks. I have to go now." She left without another word and rejoined her friends, who were now discreetly pointing at Discord and chatting excitedly. It didn't take a detective to figure out that they were mocking him but he did what he always did: lock his sadness inside and wear a happy face.
STUPID LITTLE FILLIES. WHAT RIGHT DO THEY HAVE TO LAUGH AT YOU?
"Huh?" It had been years since Discord last heard The Voice, which seemed to happen the first time he discovered having powers. He didn't hear it so much as feel it. It was genderless and appeared to echo through his bones rather than enter his ears. It was something he didn't share with anypony, not even Miss Violet, since he was afraid that it would scare her off and leave him all by himself. It was in a pony's nature to fear the abnormal.
"Hey Freak! Are you bothering these girls?"
Discord gulped at the sound of the voice. Four colts suddenly appeared in front of him, led by a silver-gray temperamental unicorn called Lance Bright. He was flanked by two Pegasi, one dark green and one dark blue and an overgrown earth pony with orange fur and a red mane. The girls, seeing the quintet, backed away slowly to give them room but still stayed to watch, curious with what they were going to do to the helpless chimera.
"N-nothing Lance. Just...talking."
"'N-nothing Lance. Just...talking," the dark blue Pegasus parroted, earning him a high-hoof from the green one.
"Nice one, Dash!"
"Thanks Speedy!"
Lance ignored their banter and pointed a hoof at Discord. "You'd better watch your step, Freak. You know that your kind doesn't mix with ours. Do we need to teach you another lesson?"
Discord felt like a foal being scolded. "No Lance but I wasn't doing anything. Miss Violet asked me to...-"
The big earth pony, aptly named Bulky, snorted, "Yeah, well, Miss Violet ain't here now, is she?"
"Just back off, Bulky. You're being too obtuse. You should...-"
A swift hind leg kick to the cheek sent Discord colliding into a wall, his mind playing catch up with his body as stars danced across his line of sight. He could make out his assailant as Lance approached him, a wicked sneer on his face.
"Do you hear that? The Freak's got quite a mouth, doesn't he? Let's fix that."
All at once, they all pounced on him, a seemingly endless barrage of punches and kicks nailing his body all over, the worst of which were aimed at his back and stomach. Through the hazy cloud of pain, Discord looked pleadingly to the three fillies that stood nearby, his eyes welling up with tears as he silently begged them to help him. The first two promptly left, with Hazel taking a moment to grimace at the brutal display before her. She locked eyes with the unfortunate chimera and then, with severe regret in her eyes, ran away and refused to look back.
Everything hurt. After the beat down, Discord dragged himself to the kitchen and made himself a few ice packs, scowling at the aching sting as cold met screaming muscles. Once that was taken care of, he slowly and carefully found his favorite perch on the roof and buried his face in his hands. The air didn't matter neither did the freezing rain. He merely sat there, hating the bullies for hurting him, hating the fillies for doing nothing but most of all, hating himself. Noting the ugliness of his mismatched hands, Discord finally uncorked the bottle and bitterly wept.