//------------------------------// // Flutter Family // Story: Discord's Family Vacation // by DraconequusMaximus //------------------------------// The four decided to fly or levitate to Fluttershy's cottage to placate Draco's incessant whining on the subject. He was disappointed however that it took far less time than he had wanted it to. Spike couldn't help but notice that he hadn't seen Draco land for more than a few minutes since he had discovered his new found talent. "Draco? Doesn't that get tiring after awhile?" Spike asked unsure that his son wasn't over exerting himself. "No way! This is way less tiring than walking around!" Draco said doing a loop de loop as the others landed. Spike shrugged it off & they walked up to the cottage. The living house had obviously been expanded upon as it was nearly twice as large as before. Discord knocked on the door which was answer by Zecora who offered them a sincere smile as she ushered them in. "Always good to see you, my chimerical crew. My wife will be down soon, she is in the powder room." She said in her typical lyrical fashion. "Zecora!" Fluttershy yelled both angry & embarrassed from somewhere upstairs. While she was yelling hoofsteps could be heard, soon a young zebra came into view. His eyes lit up & he trotted down the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. "Uncle Spike! Uncle Discord! Draco! I haven't seen you in forever!" He said hugging each of them individually. Draco hugged back with great enthusiasm. "Akutchi! You grew! You got your mark!" Draco pointed to the colt's flank. Sure enough there was a grayish outline heart with a cross in it. "It means Akutchi has a future in medicine." A familiar angelic voice stated from the top of the stairs. Discord immediately teleported to the top of the stairs & pulled her into a hug. "Oh Fluttershy, how have you been? Have the critters been minding you well?" Discord asked happily while Fluttershy merely giggled. "Oh yes, the animals have been wonderful, they have much more space to run around in than before thanks to Zecora using a growth potion on the tree." Fluttershy stated with a smile aimed at her wife. As Discord placed Fluttershy back down he was pelted in the back of the head with a carrot. He turned to see a familiar white rabbit on the banister behind him. "Angelica! We've been over this, guests get treated just like anyone else." Fluttershy stated with a motherly but annoyed voice. Discord's ears perked at this. "Angelica? I thought his name was Angel?" Discord said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, it was. Bunnies don't live too long, Angelica is Angel's daughter. She's only two." Fluttershy said slightly mournfully but motioned for Angelica to come to her. Angelica darted toward her & took a place on Fluttershy's head. Discord sighed & accepted the fact that his bunny war was ongoing. The draconequus & pegasus walked down the stairs rejoining their respective families. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" Spike asked Fluttershy & Zecora. "We thought maybe we could all have a picnic at the saltwater pond I made for my exotic fish." Fluttershy said motioning to a wicker picnic basket on an adjacent table. "Sounds delightful, but are you sure we have enough? Spike can really chow down & Discord has three stomachs." Twilight said motioning to the tall nearly serpentine figures behind her. "Don't worry about it Twilight. I've got us covered." Discord said snapping his fingers producing several duplicate baskets which he looped his tail into the handles of. Draco & Akutchi clapped to which Discord bowed absorbing the attention. Spike & Twilight merely rolled their eyes but said nothing. The group soon departed for the spot Fluttershy had picked. True to her word the large pond was surrounded by sand & the water was clear & bright just like the ocean. As the adults set up the picnic Akutchi & Draco splashed around in the shallows. "Do you know how to swim?" Akutchi asked Draco out of curiosity. "I've never tried, we don't have a pool back home." Draco said staring at the saltwater pond before jumping in headfirst. Akutchi was also unable to swim so he immediately panicked. He ran off to the adults as fast as possible. Everyone turned to see the ten year old panting before them. Draco *huff* pond *huff* can't swim *huff*. Discord, was already at the pond as soon as Akutchi had uttered the word pond. Everyone looked over to him but he was just staring at the pond with a look of pride on his face. Spike looked at his husband in confusion. "What? Is he alright? Is he swimming? Mom, camera!" Spike said as he ran over to Discord. Twilight summoned a camera and trotted right behind him. The others ran over as well, Zecora with Akutchi on her back. Everyone gasped as they saw what was before them. Draco was snaking through the water at astonishing speeds that would easily give any fish a run for it's money. Spike was speechless, he himself wasn't a very adept swimmer & Discord was pretty bad at it due to his mismatched body. Draco was apparently a natural however. Twilight was snapping photos left & right trying to get a good shot of the speeding toddler. Spike was worried when Draco dove deeper & was lost to his sight. Several moments had passed since he had been visible. "That's it, I'm going in!" Spike shouted as he put his clawed hands into diving position. Before he could jump in three unmistakable head fins breached the water followed by the rest of their son. "Daddy! Papa! I found a thing!" Draco stated floating above the water. He seemed to be holding a misshapen multi-branched... thing that Spike couldn't identify. "Draco, put that down! You don't know where that's been." Spike shouted mustering his parental authority. "Yeah I do, it was at the bottom of the pond! & it smells sooo good! I had to go get some!" Draco stated before munching happily on some of it. "Oh my, that's a piece of coral. It's mostly harmless but I've never seen anypony eat it before." Fluttershy stated with her patented tone of concern. "Draco, you said you smelled it? Underwater?" Discord stated grabbing his son as he walked across the surface of the pond. He inspected Draco for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "It seems the stripes across Draco's nose are gills, our boy seems to be amphibious Sweetie." Discord said as he pointed to the aforementioned markings with his talons. Spike was a bit surprised at this but was more relieved that Draco was alright. "You, gave us quite a scare son. Please let us know next time you're going to do something like that." Spike said wagging a finger at his son. "Yes daddy." Draco said rolling his eyes. Before a thought crossed his mind. "Papa can we have a pool like this at home?" He said turning to Discord & giving him his best puppy dog eyes. Discord turned to Spike doing the same as did Draco. Spike merely sighed before giving in. "Fine, but this counts as a birthday present." Spike said crossing his arms trying to avoid his family's piercing stares. Discord & Draco looked at each other & fist pumped in the air, causing everyone present to laugh loudly. After the excitement wore down the group returned to their picnic spot to find an impatient Angelica pointing to a basket. They all settled into their respective spots & munched away happily on various types of sandwiches. Spike, Discord, & Draco had special sandwiches containing meat clearly marked to avoid mishaps. Fluttershy was surprisingly alright with this, she reasoned that different creatures had different dietary needs. She even on occasion caught fish for some of the injured predatory animals who couldn't hunt. She didn't stick around to watch them eat during those instances however. But she seemed fine with the processed deli meats as there was no blood. After everyone was finished Discord magicked a cooler into existence. "Who wants dessert? I have all sorts of ice cream & more!" He said opening the cooler. "Does Draco really need it? We hardly ever get him to sleep as is." Spike asked, arms crossed. "I have strawberry with gem dust topping." Discord said levitating a bowl of the treat in front of his lover. "You are the most evil being in existence. Never change." Spike said taking the treat & shoveling a spoonful into his mouth. With that everyone got their own treat. Twilight got blackberry cobbler Ala mode, Draco had mint chip ice cream with coral bits instead of chocolate upon request, Akutchi had a slice of zap-apple pie which was out of season, Fluttershy opted for a vanilla milkshake, Zecora had a cherry chip cake slice, & Angelica a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Discord, being himself had a bowl of raspberry sherbet with chocolate sauce & red pepper flakes. After everyone was bloated to satisfaction they rested a moment before returning to the cottage. After several hours of catching up the children were put to bed in Akutchi's bedroom. Draco had to be tucked in extra snuggly as he seemed to float upward when asleep. "We really need to do something about that." Spike said to Discord who merely shrugged. "He's got dragon & chimera magic immunity so there isn't much I can do about it other than glue pillows to the ceiling." Discord said after thinking for a moment. Spike gave Discord a look that told him that that was not an option. They eventually walked back downstairs to rejoin the others. Discord magicked their suitcase to him & motioned everypony closer. "Now I know we don't get to see everypony very often but we thought that we'd bring you some souvenirs from the Chimera Kingdom." Spike said opening the case. "Zecora, these are alchemical reagents from different cultures that call the kingdom home." Spike said as he handed Zecora many little labeled pouches. "These are updated books about the biology & cultures of various sentient races that live back home." Discord said levitating identical stacks of books to Twilight & Fluttershy. Everypony thanked them for their gifts & in return was thanked for their hospitality. Not long later everyone went to their various rooms. Discord & Spike were sharing the guest room which Discord altered the bed of to fit them. Twilight teleported back to Canterlot but promised to see them all again before they returned home. The kings settled into their temporary bed holding one another. "Discord, what'll we do if Draco gets too powerful for us to handle?" Spike asked as he snuggled his mismatched mate. "Spike, I only turned out like I did because I didn't have any positive influences. Draco is surrounded by loved ones & an adoring public almost constantly. I know he's growing up pretty fast but we would never let him go down the same road I did." Discord said craning his neck to look Spike in the eyes. Spike knew from the look in Discord's eyes that he was right. Spike pulled him into a kiss lasting at least a minute. "I love you" Spike said holding Discord tightly. "I love you too Spike." He answered sincerely. With that the two drifted off not long after awaiting the next day of their family vacation.