Discord opened his eyes, the rising sun blinding him.
He grumbled. "You did that on purpose Celestia."
"Breakfast!"
He looked down from his indoor cloud to see Twilight levitating a plate of pancakes. One finger snap later the pancakes were up on the cloud.
"Thank you!"
"You're...you're welcome."
Discord allowed a smile to cross his face. Never once had he legitimately given thanks to Twilight. He liked catching the alicorn off guard like that.
"Can you guess what's on the agenda today?"
Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she thought. "Umm...more chaos exercises?"
"We finished those two days ago."
"How about something fun?"
"Oh? Do you have a suggestion?"
"Well...you could try participating in her special talent!"
Discord smiled. Of course! Derpy had mentioned she didn't know what her cutie mark meant. What better way to bond than to help her rediscover her special talent?
"Brilliant! That's exactly what we'll do!"
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "You didn't have anything planned, did you?"
A sheepish grin was all she got in return.
---------------------------------
Back in his pony visage, Discord knocked on an apartment door. He looked over his shoulder, admiring the view. Derpy had a room facing the center of Cloudsdale.
The door opened to reveal Derpy. She smiled. "Hey!"
Discord returned his gaze to his daughter. "Are you ready for an exciting day?"
"Yeah!"
The pegasus closed the door behind her and stretched her wings. Discord dove into the sky, leading the way towards the earth below. Derpy matched his speed and they sped up.
Discord smiled. "Chicken?"
She smiled back. "You'll lose."
They continued falling towards the ground, their bodies picking up speed. Discord glanced at Derpy. She was totally focused, but he knew it was pointless.
The ground approached rapidly. When there was only ten feet to go, Derpy pulled up. Her belly skimmed the grass blades and she pulled into a stop.
"Yes! Top that!"
She turned around, but her father was nowhere to be seen. And then a head appeared in the grass. "I think I did."
Derpy watched as the draconequus rose out of the ground, his body back to its original form. She looked at the spot he was standing on. It was solid earth.
She narrowed her eyes and smiled, looking up at Discord. "You cheated."
"You never said I couldn't."
Derpy began to giggle and soon they were both laughing.
---------------------------------
"Let's see here. Your cutie mark seems to consist of... Bubbles."
Discord straightened up, a magnifying glass in hand. "Now what could that mean?"
Derpy shook her head. "I don't know. And nothing I try works."
"Perhaps you weren't trying the right things. Hmm.... Bubbles. Bubbles.....Ah!"
He snapped his fingers and a sink appeared in mid-air. Another finger snap brought a pile of dirty dishes.
"Have you ever tried dishwashing?"
Derpy went dross-eyed momentarily as she thought. She shook her head in the end. Discord prodded her towards the sink.
The pegasus looked up at him. "Are you sure about this?"
"No. But that's what makes it fun!"
She looked at the dishes and slowly picked one up. "I don't know..."
Discord smiled reassuringly. "It's alright. Just give it a try. If it doesn't work well... We'll keep trying. And we won't stop until you've found your special talent."
His daughter smiled up at him. "Okay."
She turned the faucet on and stuck the dish under the water...
---------------------------------
Twilight walked towards the meadows outside of Ponyville. She enjoyed walking through the town again. She didn't get to do it often. It was nice seeing familiar faces.
'CRACK'
She paused and looked down. She had stepped on... Was that part of a plate? And then her gaze took in the scene before her. Broken dishes littered the meadow.
"What in Equestria happened here?"
Her eyes fell on Discord and Derpy standing over a sink. Discord gave her a weak smile and waved.
Twilight shook her head. "Is this your idea of finding her special talent?"
"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time."
---------------------------------
The three sat under a tree, the dishwashing failure cleaned up. Discord pondered what to try next. And then it hit him.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of this before?"
Twilight glanced at the draconequus. "What?"
"Derpy's already found her special talent once. She just needs to remember!"
Derpy looked between the two. "How do I do that?"
"I'll jog your memory."
"Discord, you can't!"
Discord and Derpy looked at the princess, disappointment in their eyes.
Derpy looked hurt. "Why can't he?"
Twilight sighed. "Derpy... Your mind was already injured once by chaos magic. It's too much of a risk to try restoring memories.
"What if I don't care?"
"You could lose your mind!"
"I already lost it!"
That shut Twilight up. She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
Discord put an arm around Twilight. "She wants to so this."
"Okay. But only if you're careful. Both of you."
Discord smiled. "We will be. And I think I have a safer idea on how to do this."
---------------------------------
If anypony had been looking at the outskirts of the village, they would have seen three ponies pop into existence. But it was early in the morning. Nopony had woken up yet.
---------------------------------
"Are you crazy? How is this safer? You can't just bring us back in time like this!"
"Calm down Twilight. Nopony will ever see us."
"It doesn't matter! We can't be here!"
"Where are we?"
Twilight and Discord paused in their argument to look at Derpy.
She was staring at the village. "Is this... Is this where I grew up?"
Discord nodded. "It is. It's also the day that you got your cutie mark."
Twilight looked skeptical. "How could you know that?"
"Honestly I don't know. I just knew."
"But how?"
"Because chaos stuff, that's how. Now hush or you'll wake the village."
He led the way towards the center of town, Derpy skipping along and Twilight nervously glancing at every window and door.
"It also helps that we're invisible to everypony except each other."
Twilight froze, gritting her teeth. "You couldn't have said that earlier!"
Discord chuckled to himself. Where was the fun in keeping the princess calm? He was about to respond to her when he froze in front of a building. Derpy bumped into him from behind him, followed closely by Twilight. They looked up at the building from behind the draconequus.
"I never thought I'd see this place again."
Twilight gasped. "Is this...her home?"
Derpy beamed. "My home!"
The sunrise hit the house as it rose above the nearby hills. Discord closed his eyes and sighed. Yes. It was home. It had almost been his home. His and-
'Creak'
The front door opened and a small filly ran out.
"Sweetie, come back!"
Startail!
The mare stepped outside, calling after the young Derpy. "You're going to wake everyone running around like that."
Discord couldn't take his eyes off of her. He barely noticed that Derpy was staring as well.
"She looks just like me."
Discord felt a smile creep onto his face. "Yes. You didn't think you got your good looks from me, did you?"
Startail ran after her daughter, catching her after a few seconds, the two of them laughing in the main square as the village began to wake. Ponies emerged from their homes and went about their morning routines. The three time travelers watched as the village came to life. More fillies appeared and the young Derpy ran off to join them.
Startail shook her head and smiled. "Come back in half an hour. You haven't had breakfast yet."
Discord watched her disappear into the house, but found his attention brought back to the fillies as he heard-
"Look at what my Mom made for me!"
He turned to see one of the fillies holding up a cup of liquid.
"What is it?"
"What's so exciting about that?"
The filly set the cup down and held up a stick. It had a hollow circle on one end. "Watch!"
He dipped the stick into the cup and then held it up to his mouth. He blew through the circle and a bubble appeared.
"Woah!"
"It made a bubble!"
"Can I try?"
"Me too!"
"Me first!"
The fillies began taking turns blowing bubbles, giggling the whole time.
The older Derpy laughed. "That looks fun!"
Twilight leaned closer to Discord. "Is this it?"
He nodded. "Something special is about to happen."
Startail walked past him, catching him off guard. "Breakfast is ready dear."
The young Derpy looked at her mother. "But Momma, I didn't get a turn!"
Startail smiled. "Okay, I'll wait."
The filly was given the stick. She dipped into the cup, the last of the soapy mix gathering together. She put the stick to her mouth and blew.
A square bubble appeared.
The fillies gasped.
"How did you do that?"
"That's so cool!"
"Do it again!"
Young Derpy blew into the stick again and a triangle formed.
"Another!"
A butterfly.
"Wow!"
The older Derpy watched, her eyes filled with wonder. "How did I do that?"
Discord smiled. "Your chaos magic. It had to escape somehow. It decided to ruin, or rather improve, the bubbles."
He looked at Twilight to see a similar look on her face. "It's a wonderful talent."
As if that were the cue, there was a small flash of light next to the young Derpy's flank.
Startail beamed. "Honey, look!"
The filly looked down to find a no-longer-blank flank.
"My cutie mark!"
Every nearby pony gathered around to congratulate her.
Discord put his arms around Derpy and Twilight. "I believe our journey is over." He snapped his fingers and the two ponies disappeared. He knew Twilight wouldn't approve of this, but he was going to anyway.
---------------------------------
Startail was leading her daughter back home. She was so proud of her, getting her cutie mark.
Startail.
She paused. That voice... It couldn't be! She looked down at her filly. "Go inside, I'll be right there."
She watched her daughter disappear into the house.
Startail.
She looked around the street. "You're...you're supposed to be in Canterlot. You're stone! How can you be here?"
I'm not. Not entirely at least. I just wanted to see you one last time.
"Then you saw her too?"
Our daughter? Yes. She's beautiful. And I couldn't be more proud of her.
A single tear rolled down Startail's cheek. "I miss you, my love."
I miss you too, but we'll never see each other again. Know that I will always love you.
"I know."
Live a long and happy life my dear. And take good care of that filly.
"Goodbye Discord."
She felt the slightest touch. Like a breeze had blown right passed her lips. She smiled. It was a kiss she would treasure for the rest of her days.