//------------------------------// // Apples Ahoy! // Story: Discord's Family Vacation // by DraconequusMaximus //------------------------------// Morning came & Spike awoke to an empty bed. It seems he had slept in, his suspicions were confirmed when he looked at the alarm clock. He stretched as he rose from the comfy bed though he almost wished he could stay longer. Spike & Discord hadn't slept in anytime in recent memory, what with all the work & parenting. Spike left the bed behind & walked out into the hallway, he could hear Discord singing some strange song that Spike had never heard before. Spike made his way down the stairs to see Discord cooking as he sang. Akutchi & Draco seemed confused but were enjoying the silly fast paced song. Fluttershy & Zecora were also at the table looking a little weirded out. As the song came to a close Discord spun in place so fast he became a blur & plates of scrambled eggs, hay bacon, & toast flew out miraculously landing in front of everypony present & Spikes empty seat. Everyone applauded Discord's antics as Spike took his seat opposite Discord's empty chair. "Who's Charlie?" Spike asked when he was seated. Discord finished spinning & brought a talon up to his chin in thought. "I have no idea, it just popped into my head. I'm not responsible for what goes on up there." Discord said knocking on his head with his lion's paw producing a sound that made Spike think of something hitting an empty oil drum. Spike merely rolled his eyes with a small smile while the children giggled. Everyone ate their breakfast & said their goodbyes with Draco being a little more than reluctant to leave his cousin. After some reassurances of future play dates & many hugs the trio left the cottage for their next destination: Sweet Apple Acres. Meanwhile, at the aforementioned farm an orange mare wearing a stetson was tending to the trees that were her pride & joy. It was a hot summer day but she truly enjoyed her work. As she was about to turn & trot to another section of trees she saw something red out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see an apple, this would not be unusual given the location if this apple weren't half the size of the barn. Applejack was speechless at the majesty of this gargantuan fruit. She cautiously approached the fruit & poked it with her hoof. As soon as she did so a loud hiss of steam could be heard & a large door shaped seam appeared before her in the surface of the apple. The door slid apart revealing a bright light that caused Applejack to shield her eyes with a hoof before they adjusted. She saw three silhouettes standing before her. She immediately remembered what day it was upon seeing them & adopted a face of annoyance. "Discord, ah know ya like makin an entrance but this is a bit much don't ya think?" She said obviously less than amused. At that instant the light went out revealing the royal family of the Chimera Kingdom wearing ridiculous space suits that looked ripped from a bad movie. Discord snapped his fingers & everything disappeared. "You still have no sense of humor, but it is good to see you Applejack." Discord said disappointed that his extravagant show-boating went unappreciated. "I wanted to just walk over here but I was outvoted." Spike said looking at his son & then to his husband. "Ah don't mind none Spike, so long as he puts everything to rights without bein told." Applejack said trotting up to Draco & pulling him into a hug. "Boy howdy, this little fella sure is growin ain't he?" She said releasing Draco who began circling the group in the air. "Well that's new, how long's he been flying round like that?" Applejack asked genuinely surprised. "Yesterday, & apparently he has gills too." Spike said glancing up at the airborne toddler. Applejack didn't question it since it came from Spike not Discord. The group interrupted by the sound of the farmhouse door opening, out trotted two foalss about Draco's size but a couple years older. To the left was Mary (Maraschino) a bright red filly with a cream colored mane with crimson streaks & to the right was Golden Gala a filly with a rich gold coat & a mane identical to her twin sister's but had a green streak running through it. These were the children of Big Macintosh & Cherry Jubilee. Their parents were away on business in dodge junction as Cherry still maintained her cherry plantation. The girls skidded to a halt barely a foot in front of the group. "Uncle Spike! Draco! Uncle Discord! We saw the big apple through the window!" The filly's yelled in unison reminding Spike of the CMC's uproarious cries of old. Spike ignored the ringing in his ears & knelt down to hug them. He scooped them up in one quick motion & lifted them up in his arms. "Auntie AJ! We're taller than you now!" The twins said through giggles. To which everyone but Draco smiled, he merely rolled his eyes at his adoptive cousins. The adults & children split soon after as Discord & Spike had been drafted into helping tend trees. Discord was less then happy when Applejack forbade him from using magic but reluctantly went along. Draco was left alone with the twins, he loved them just as much as any other family he had but they made his ears ring all to often. "So, what do you girls wanna do?" Draco said as he lowered himself closer to the ground. "Hmm how about hide & seek?" Mary asked the other toddlers. They consented but Draco was disappointed when they told him he had to stay grounded since they couldn't fly. "Fine, but I call not it!" Draco said in a huff as he crossed his stubby arms. "Me too!" Shouted Maraschino as she trotted over to stand beside Draco. "Aw, come on!" Shouted Gala who gave her sister the evilest adorable glare she could muster. Draco & Mary looked at one another & blew raspberries at Gala before sprinting off in opposite directions. "The barn is base!" Mary shouted from somewhere unseen while Golden Gala stood there fuming. Eventually she relented & closed her eyes counting to one hundred. Draco wasn't very agile on the ground & had difficulty climbing trees which were everywhere on the property. He resolved to find a large tree & hide behind it as he couldn't find anything else. He leaned against a particularly big tree & listened for his pursuer. In the distance he heard something that sounded suspiciously like *Gotcha!* followed by a strand of pseudo-curse words. He began panicking internally. Please don't let her find me, please don't let her find me, ran through his mind several times. This was merely a game of hide & seek but to the five year old this was life or death, he had inherited Discord's love of games & flare for being over dramatic. He froze as he heard hoofsteps coming down a nearby compacted dirt path. Please don't see me. Ran through his head as they drew, nearer he was tingling with anxiety. After a moment Golden Gala came into view & began looking around scanning the area for her little cousin. She turned in his direction & began walking toward him he didn't move at all he felt like every cell in his body had halted to prevent him from moving. She was now only a few feet from him but somehow didn't see him. She looked around again before trotting right past him! "how did she not see me?" Draco said aloud before clamping his mouth shut with his tiny hands. When she didn't return at the noise he let himself relax a bit wiping sweat from his brow & letting out a breath. Seeing his hand his panic returned in spades. His skin was the same wood grained pattern brown as the apple tree he was hiding against. He did the only sensible thing he could think of & begun to run around screaming. "Somebody help! I'm turning into wood! Daddy! Papa!" He yelled as he ran in circles. Golden Gala & Maraschino reached him at the same time. They were equally frightened & let out a simultaneous scream that was so loud several nearby apples exploded. Draco's cries were too quiet to be heard from the other end of the orchard but the twins' shriek reached the ears of the adults. "That's the girls!" AJ cried in recognition. Without a word Discord wrapped his tail around her & spike & poofed them to the source of the noise. Applejack rushed over to the girls while Spike shot like a bullet to Draco with Discord not far behind. Spike froze when he saw the state his son was in. Aside from the odd pigmentation change he was sitting there blubbering looking to his parents. "Daddy! I don't wanna be a tree!" He said looking at his stubby digits. Spike immediately scooped him up & realized that Draco's skin had the same extremely smooth scaled texture as before but it was just a different color, even the pale scales of his underbelly. Discord met up with them seconds later & touched Draco's underbelly with his lion paw. Discord looked Draco over from every angle & poked him in the belly again, Draco giggled a bit & began to calm down but he was still a bit worried. "Papa, what's happening to me?" He asked Discord with worry evident in his adorable eyes. "I'm going to find out sweetie, just hang on." Discord said before snapping his fingers making Fluttershy & family appear before them. They were visibly disoriented but Fluttershy saw the look of dread in Discord's eyes. "Discord? Why are we at Sweet Apple Acres?" Fluttershy asked with a look of confusion & worry in her eyes. Discord stepped aside giving her a view of Draco who was held by a very nervous Spike. She rushed over to them & Spike lowered Draco to Fluttershy who held him delicately while checking for abnormalities aside from the obvious. She sighed in relief after a moment. "Draco Sweetie, what were you doing when this happened?" She asked in her most soothing tone. "We were playing hide hide & seek & I was hiding behind that tree, Gala was about to find me but she just walked right past me." Draco said pointing to the tree. Applejack trotted up to the tree & tapped it with a hoof but nothing happened. Fluttershy smiled at Draco for a second before looking up at his parents. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong, I think it's just a camouflage response. Draco, you just need to think about going back to normal & it should happen." She said looking back down to her adoptive nephew. Who began focusing with eyes closed & after a moment shivered before his normal colors returned to him. "Tingly." He said as he opened his eyes to survey his scales in their original hue. He shot up into the air & floated to Fluttershy hugging her as hard as he could with his tiny arms. She merely giggled & returned the hug. "You can probably learn to do that if you try, it seems like you have chameleon camouflage." Fluttershy said as she placed Draco back on the ground. Draco focused himself again & shivered before turning a plaid made of several shades of blue & green. "Whoa." All three of the present children said in unison. "I'll be the best hide & seeker of all time!" Draco said standing on his cloven hoofed rear legs in a familiar position as he returned to his original pigment. Spike looked over to Discord who had the largest prideful grin he could muster. The group shared a laugh at this, excluding the children who were unfamiliar with the stance. The Fluttershy family departed as the rest of the group made their way back to the farmhouse. Dinner was, as expected comprised mostly of apple products. Although they were surprised to see a cherry pie for dessert. Draco was heard but not seen as he wouldn't stop blending into everything around him. Spike eventually had to threaten to cancel the pool plan for him to return to a visible state. Draco pouted but the girls merely laughed at his misfortune & received a scolding from Applejack. The night went just as it had at Fluttershy's & the children were sent to bed. Cider was passed around & before the Royals wandered off to bed they gave Applejack a very nice bolo tie with an emerald shaped like an apple as the centerpiece. Applejack thanked them for it & insisted they take a bottle of the drink she shared a name with that she had bottled herself. They accepted & set off for the barn, because the Apple household didn't have a spare room. Discord modified it into a replica of their bedroom back home, aside from the large doors on the far wall. Spike gave Discord a hearty kiss for the taste of home without the work. The two exchanged "I love you's" & left the unexpected scare off the day behind them. They would need their rest for tomorrow was going to be very trying on their nerves.