//------------------------------// // First Encounter // Story: Discord's Daughter // by Speedy Quill //------------------------------// Discord and Twilight popped into existence inside the Ponyville library. Twilight immediately went about tidying things up. "I'll have to have a word with whoever the new librarian is. This place is getting messy." Discord looked around. From what he could tell it actually looked clean. Normally he would have chosen to put all the books on the floor, but he decided he'd better not annoy Twilight. He had seen her when something was out of place. It was not a pretty sight. Not even he wanted to see that sort of chaotic mess again. He decided to sit over in the corner and wait for Twilight to finish up. Besides, he didn't want to get started right away. He was still dealing with everything that had happened so far today. It was normal to freak out about finding out you had a child, right? Honestly he didn't know. He went around causing chaos. He had never had anything chaotic happen to him personally! He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Alright. You have a daughter. Her name is Derpy. She looks like Startail, but doesn't remember anything about her. She doesn't remember her past at all. She doesn't know a thing about you except that you're the Spirit of Chaos. And now you're going to tell her that you're her father. Discord's eyes snapped open. He stood up. "I can't do this." Twilight looked at him over her shoulder. "Why not?" Discord rolled his eyes. "I'm happy for the support and all, but I can't handle being a parent." Twilight smiled. "I doubt anypony is ever ready to be a parent." A frown formed on Discord's face and his brow furrowed. "Do you really think that I'm cut out to change diapers, make bottles, and babble like an idiot?" Twilight's answer came in the form of a groan and rolling eyes. "I'd say you've got that last one down pretty well. Besides, you're not raising a baby! You're meeting your adult daughter. She's close to my age for Celestia's sake!" Discord began to pace. "Alright. Point taken. So what do I do first? Restore her memory?" Twilight spun around on the spot. "No!!" Discord was so surprised by the shout that he shot into the air, grabbing onto the ceiling. "Don't scare me like that! And why shouldn't I?" Concern danced across Twilight's eyes as she looked up at him. "If you try to restore her memory, you could cause even more damage to her already broken mind. She has to remember herself if she can." Discord let go of the ceiling and lowered himself to the floor. "And if she doesn't?" "Then she doesn't." He let out a sigh. "So what do I do first?" Twilight looked around at the bookshelves. "I'd suggest looking at some books on parenting. None of the baby books of course. Maybe something along the lines of raising teenagers or something. Those ones usually help parents to relate to their children." "A reading assignment? Really?" Discord looked at the books and hen back at Twilight. "Why can't I just go and introduce myself?" Twilight nodded towards the shelf. Discord rolled his eyes and walked over. He looked at the various titles until he found one that he thought might help. "So Your Filly's A Teen?. That should do." He pulled the book off the shelf. "Should do for what?" Discord was back on the ceiling. He looked down to see Pinkie Pie peeking out from the space where the book had been. Twilight beamed. "Pinkie!" The pink pony jumped out of the bookcase. "Twilight! Or is it Princess? Princess Twilight? Twilight Princess? Your Highness? Your Twilightness?" Twilight hugged her. "You know you can always call me Twilight. What are you doing here?" "I work here!" "You what?!" Pinkie motioned around the room. "I'm the librarian silly! I decided to take over after your coronation!" By this time Discord had gotten his heart to slow down and was lowering himself back to the floor again. He looked at Twilight, pointing at Pinkie. "Are we sure it's not her by chance? She seems to have a talent for popping out of nowhere." Twilight rolled her eyes an hook her head. Pinkie looked up at Discord. "So what are you doing here? You were looking at a parenting book." She froze as she processed what she had just said. Her jaw dropped and she gasped. "Omygosh! Discord's a parent! He's a dad! We need to have a 'Hooray For Discord Becoming A Daddy' party!!" She threw some streamers in the air. Discord was getting more nervous by the second. He didn't want a party! He didn't want any attention at all! In fact, he sort of wished he were a statue again. "I'm leaving!" His path was blocked as Twilight stepped in front of him. "Please don't! Pinkie's just being Pinkie. She won't do anything if you don't want her to." She looked back at Pinkie. "Right?" Pinkie looked shocked. "Of course not! If it would make Discord feel weird, I wouldn't do anything until he wanted to!" Twilight smiled and looked back at Discord. "See?" "I still need some fresh air." He reached for the door, pausing as he saw his lion paw. "Perhaps I should slip into something a little less...me." He snapped his fingers and transformed into his pony disguise. The same look he had worn the day he met Startail. He hadn't used it since he left her. It felt....odd. He stretched his hooves for a moment before turning to Twilight. "How do I look?" Twilight looked him over. "Not bad actually. Kind of....handsome." He winked. "Watch yourself. You may be royalty, but that doesn't mean I'll automatically date you." "Ugh! Just go." ------------------------------- Discord slowly walked down the street. He liked being able to walk around without anypony staring or screaming. He stopped and looked at shop windows and fruit stands. He smiled when he spotted Applejack selling apples. He trotted over to her stand. Applejack waved to her approaching customer. "Well howdy there! You new to town?" He chuckled. "I guess you could say that. How much for an apple?" The orange mare narrowed her eyes. "You sound mighty familiar. Have we met before?" Discord winked. "I guess you could say that too Applejack." He stomped his hoof against the ground and two bits appeared in the air. They fell into Applejack's apron with the rest of her bits. Her jaw dropped. "You...but... How did you do that without using your horn?" Discord put on his best look of shock. "Well! I thought I'd made a better impression when I was here to be reformed!" Applejack's eyes bugged out. "You!!" Discord put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm here with Twilight. If you don't believe me, go to the library when you're done for the day. She's waiting there." He picked up an apple and bit into it. "Mmmm! These really are the best in Equestria." Without another word he walked away. He spent another hour walking the streets of Ponyville. He was just turning away from the window of Sugarcube Corner when- WHAM!!! The door slammed into his face before he could jump away. It slowly swung closed and Discord grabbed his snout. "Ow." "Oh! I'm sorry." Discord opened his eyes and nearly fainted. At first he thought he was seeing a ghost. After a second he realized it was....Derpy! Derpy tipped her head to the side. "Are you okay?" He stood frozen to the spot. "Umm...yes! Yes, I'm fine. No harm done." He removed his hoof from his snout. "See?" There was a late bump forming. Derpy winced. "Ouch." Discord looked down at the bump. "Oh... It's alright." The gray pony looked down. At least that's what Discord thought she was doing. Her eyes never seemed to be focused on the same place. A side effect from the accident perhaps. Derpy sighed. "I'm really sorry." He put a hoof under Derpy's chin and lifted her head. "It's okay my dear. I think it's an improvement." That got her smiling. "You're silly! Gotta go!" And with that she took off into the sky. She paused for a moment and looked around before remembering which way to go. She didn't get far before crashing through the roof of a nearby building. Discord chuckled to himself. "Destroying property. Perhaps we're related after all."