//------------------------------// // She's what? // Story: Your Mother? // by Dr Atlas //------------------------------// “Um...Discord, I...uh...think you’re doing it wrong.” Discord put down the plant, water, soil, and pot and looked up at Fluttershy who was flying overhead. “How am I doing it wrong,” He asked. “I’m watering the plants, right?” “Well, yes; you are, but not in the right way.” Fluttershy flew over the pile of dirt mixed in with a plan spilled over the floor, right next to a pot filled with water. “First, You need to have the dirt in the pot. “Oh...Then what?” Fluttershy took a nearby bucket and poured the water from the pot in it, “You’re also using too much water, and the plant can’t take too much or it will drown.” “I see, then what?” Fluttershy sighed, knowing this was the fifth time she taught him how to water the plants; he never really dealt with this kind of thing, and every time he tried it involved making a mess, at least it wasn’t a fire this time. “You put the plant back in with the soil,” She did so and made sure the plan was sticking upright. “And then you pour just enough for it to drink.” "Mmhmm, mmhhmm." Discord took notes the entire time she was explaining this, which was nothing but a drawing of the plant getting a wave of water right on it. Fluttershy saw this and snatched the notepad away. “Discord, what did I tell you.” “Tell me what?” Discord tried to look innocent, but the way she was looking at him made him know it wouldn’t work. So he sighed and crossed his arms. “You told me not to snap things out of thin air.” “And…” Fluttershy motioned her hoof to make him continue. Discord groaned. “And not use my powers for my own and only use it for others.” Fluttershy booped him on the nose. “See, you still got it; now, do you remember how to water the plants?” Fluttershy grabbed another plant and held it up to him Discord rubbed his nose, it didn’t hurt, but it was still a bit embarrassing. “I think so.” He looked over at the plant and studied it closely. “Let’s see...uh…” He turned to a pail of water and took hold of it, feeling. “You take this..” Fluttershy nodded. “Uh hu.” “And you pour it, just enough.” He slightly tilted it, pouring only a tiny amount. “That’s it.” “And then you...put the bucket on it.” “Yeah, you, wait...what?” Before Fluttershy could correct herself, Discord splashed the rest of the water, and bucket, right on top of the plant, soaking it, and the floor. Fluttershy then dropped the plant in the process, shattering the pot on the floor...again. Discord smiled. “Did I do it right?” Fluttershy sighed. “Sorta, you...were really doing good, but, you forgot about how plants can only take so much water, and they need to be out in the open for the sun, not have a bucket on it.” Discord rubbed his chin. “Ah, I see, shall we try again?” Fluttershy sighed, this was about the fifth attempt, and she was starting to run out of potted plants, so she shook her head. “Let’s just, take a break for now, okay?” Discord shrugged. “Okay, Do you want me to help clean up or-” “NO!” Fluttershy yelled before realizing it. “Uh..No, I-I can do it, just...uh...why don’t you-” *KNOCK KNOCK* Both of them turned around and heard the knocking in the living room, then Fluttershy thought of something. “I know, why don’t you go answer the door.” “Well, that’s easy, I just open the door and close it.” “No.” Fluttershy said slowly. “You open the door and see who’s there, then you make sure you know who it is, and if you don’t, just call me over. Okay?” Discord though about it, he’s opened tons of door, and in a lot of ways, all he needed to do was keep it open for longer than before. “Okay.” Discord flew over to the next room and stood right in front of the closed door, “Perhaps I should at least look presentable, don’t want to scare them. Alright, here it goes.” With a bright, good, clean, shiny face, Discord grabbed the handle, closed his eyes, and opened the door. “Good day, and how may I help…” The second he opened his eyes he froze; he held his breath; he went wide eyed; he even stopped breathing; he did everything anyone would do at a moment like this. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He didn’t want to believe it, he shan't believe it, he won't believe it. Yet there it was, starting right back at him. He didn’t want to look, but it’s eyes were locked with his as if they were starting into his soul. He continued standing still as the creature right in front of him smiled. a smile that sent shivers down his spine. It was as if he was looking into the dark side of a mirror. He wanted to look away; he wanted to snap himself out of here, but he knew that wouldn't help; he wanted to be anywhere but here, right now, staring at...it. He’d rather be trapped in stone again, he’d rather be banished straight to the moon, or even the sun, he’d rather face a lifetime of being chained to a wall and never be seen or heard from again, but no, he wasn’t; he was standing right here, looking right at that...thing. After several seconds, which felt like hours to him, the creature in front of him broke the silence and said in a voice he hasn’t heard in a long time. “Hi Dissy, long time no see, uh?” Discord shook and trembled. He looked over the beast in front of him, it was a draconicuus with all the same features as him, with a paw, a claw, legs, wings, horns, even a sharp tooth, but this monster was shorter, slimmer, and had something he would never have; hair. Sure, he had big eyebrows, but not enough to be considered. Its hair was white as snow, and long enough to cover its right eye, which looked just like his eyes, and the most important feature that it had was that it was...a female. Discord tightened his grip on the door handle and slowly started making a smile, he only wished his head would stop sweating. “Uh...u-u-uh...uh...um...uhhh” Discord tried to say something, but he was far too afraid to even say a word, let alone a sentence. The draconicuus rolled her eyes and continued smiling. “Come on, Dissy say something, I’m sure you’re very happy to see your…” Discord didn’t want to hear...that word, that very word he wished he wouldn’t bring up a while ago, but no, she was going to said it, but he wouldn’t let her. “M-m-mo...mother?” The draconicuus put a claw on her hip. “Dissy, you’re old enough, you don’t have to call me a mom anymore, just call me by my real name.” Discord remembered, he knew what it was, but saying it was harder than thinking it. “E-E...Er...ris?” Discord wanted to sound out the name to make sure he heard it right. Eris laughed and extended her arms. “But that doesn’t mean you’re old enough to stop giving your mom a hug.” Before Discord could react, he felt his arms and torso squeeze as Eris hugged him. His body went tense and he let go of the door handle, seeing it was now slightly bent due to his grip on it. “Mom...E-E-Eris….w-w-what i-i-in your name…” Eris continued holding his shoulders and looked up at him. “Glad to see you still haven’t forgotten my name, Dissy, and to think after being gone for this long you still remember me, makes me prouder than I already am.” She then pulled back into the hug, making Discord cringe even more. “A-a-already?” Discord found out that saying things were getting harder and harder with every moment he was standing here. “Well, of course.” She finally pulled away from the hug and looked up at her son. “I’m sure you’re still causing enough mischief and destruction across this land, right?” Discord bit his bottom lip, knowing this was the moment where he would have to lie “I-I can’t just tell her now.” He gulped and thought of something on the top of his head. “I-I’m actually...t-t-taking a break...yeah.” He smiled, hoping Eris would buy it. Eris frowned. “So, you’re not being chaotic and disorderly?” “NO! nononononoooohohoho. I still am, I’m just...doing what I said: taking a break. Y-you know how tiring it gets when you’re causing chaos across the land all the time, sometimes you need to catch a breath...here and there. You know.” He continued smiling and sweating. Eris shrugged. “I guess, I mean, I never took breaks from my evil doings, but I guess draconicuus’s need to take a breather when their young, but I must ask...why here?” Discord wiped the smile off his face and realized he should be in a castle of sorts, sitting on a throne. “Um...I-I’m staying somewhere else while my castle gets...fixed.” “Your castle got destroyed?” Discord started sweating harder. “Uh..W-well...y-you know...uh...subjects being subjects are always-” “You mean slaves.” Eris corrected. “Um...yes...slaves, t-they are always a pain...y-you know.” Eris shook her head. “Come on, Dissy, you need to make sure you are in control of them, that they fear you the second they see you, and even after, and the moment one acts out of line,” Eris stepped closer, looming over Discord, and put on a face so menacing it was making him quiver in fear. “You make sure they suffer.” She then stepped back and returned to her happy smile. “Understand?” Discord’s jaw hung open for a few seconds before his claw helped it up. He coughed and said, “Y-yes, right...Uh...t-that’s why I’m here, to wait until everything is perfect in my home, and don't worry, t-the ponies responsible got what they deserved...heheheh…” He tried laughing evilly, but it went out very weak and scared. Eris looked up and inspected the home. “Why is this your alternate house, seems a bit damp and ugly.” Discord was starting to run out of lies. “Beecaussse it’s...right next to the forest...yes! And you know what monsters lurk in the woods, and the second I catch one, I’ll...uh...I’ll…” “You’ll what, end it’s pathetic life for-” “What? No! I’ll...I’ll capture it and...use them for...the ponies, t-the most ravenous creature I find will feed on anypony who dares disobey me.” Discord knew that was probably the worst excuse he could make; he only hoped that his mother wouldn't laugh. On the contrary, Eris was rather impressed. “Ooooh~ How horrible. You are very creative Dissy, I would of never thought of that.” Discord finally felt relief, happy to know his mother bought it. “Yes, very evil. Now; Why don’t I-” “Let me in?” Eris finished. “What?” Eris crossed her arms. “Come on, Dissy, I haven’t seen you in over four thousand years, the least you could do is let me in your temporary home.” Discord gritted his teeth, knowing this was the part where everything goes to a disaster. “Uh, sorry, mother, b-but I don’t think you would want to. It’s very...messy, a-and dirty, and-” “Who’s at the door, Discord?” Discord gasped and realized the owner of the house was still here. Eris raised an eye and tried looking past him. “Who’s that?” “Uh...n-no one...j-just some...random noise is all.” Discord smiled again, but knew stalling won't help him in this situation. “Come on Dissy.” Eris tapped her foot. “Who is it? And why do you keep blocking.” “Blocking? W-Who’s blocking? I’m not blocking.” Discord trembled in fear as Eris started down at him. “Alright then, I’ll go in my own way.” Without warning, Eris snapped her finger, flashing her away from Discord’s sight. He knew exactly where she went, so he quickly turned only his head around and gasped. “Discord, what’d I tell you abo...ah..a-abo...w-wha…” Fluttershy dropped a dust pan filled with broken pieces of a pot and soil once she looked at Eris. Eris dropped her jaw. “What in the name of everything chaotic and disorderly.” Discord snapped his finger and flashed in between Fluttershy and Eris. “Uh..N-now Eris, I-I can explain.” Fluttershy stepped forward. “Discord, who...who is this, and why did you-” Discord quickly wrapped his paw on the back of Fluttershy’s head and his claw around her mouth, laughing nervously the entire time. “Whahehehe she meant to say was T-That...w-well...oh, who cares what she said, she’s just a...sl...a...er...vant…” Eris raised an eye. “A what?” “Mhhhmh?” Fluttershy muttered. Discord held her up in the air while still keeping her mouth shut. “You know...a Sler...vant; a...a slave who’s also my servant.” “Mhhhmhh!?” Fluttershy mumbled. Trying to tear off the claw covering her mouth. Eris turned her head while still keeping an eye on her son. “So, she’s a slave, and she’s also your servant.” She smiled, and Discord nervously smiled back. “Very nice.” “Yep, Slervant, heheh, um..can you excuse me for a moment, I need to...Tell my servant how to...uh...behave...in front of a guest. Yes.” Discord slowly made his way to the kitchen. “Okay Dissy, hurry back.” Eris chuckled and looked around the room. “Shesh, this place is a dump...I like it.” Once they weren’t in the line of sight; Discord put Fluttershy down and let go of her. She immediately gasped and coughed. “Discord! What in Celestia’s na-” Discord leaned down and pulled her in with his tail until their faces were inches away from each other. “SSSHHH. You want her to hear us.” Fluttershy glared at him. “Who is she? And why did you call me a sler...vant, or whatever you-” “I had to.” Discord said through his teeth. “If I just said you were some random pony, she’d ask why, and before any of us know it, she would want me to ‘Take care’ of an unwanted pony in this house.” Fluttershy backed away. “W-what do you mean?” She quivered. Discord put his claw over his eyes and dragged it down to his beard. “What I mean is that the only ponies that should be around masters of chaos and disorder should be slaves, servants, or…well…” “Well what?” Fluttershy asked. Discord started fidgeting. “Well, you know; ponies that don’t...move, or talk, or…" He gulped. “Breath.” Fluttershy gasped. “Y-you mean she wants me-” Discord shook his head. “NOnonononono, don’t think that, she just wanted to know who you are, and I gave a good enough excuse to not let her think I’m currently in your home and that you are somewhat important to me.” The question was still bothering the pegasus. “But who is she?” Discord knew he would have to answer this question, so, he took a deep breath and sighed. “She’s...she’s...my mother.” “W-w-what!?” Fluttershy whispered. Discord nodded. “Yes, it’s true, I mean, It’s not like I was just brought here outta thin air...right?” Fluttershy looked away, unsure as to how to take this in. “So, if she’s your mom, then, how is she...still here?” Discord knew what she was talking about. Discord was about a thousand or so years old, and with Eris being his mother, she was probably much older than him. “We draconicuus’s; or is it draconicuusi? Whatever, we can live for a very long time, but that’s only if we want to.” “Only if you want to?” Fluttershy tilted her head. “I don’t understand.” Discord patted her head. “It’s complicated, but all you need to know is that she” He pointed around the corner. “Is still here and not...not…” “Not dead?” “Yes, excact….ly.” Discord turned around to see Eris peaking around the corner. He yelped and grabbed Fluttershy by her mouth again. “OH! Uh...H-hi...m-mom...How long were you-” “Long enough to hear you talking about how I’m still here.” Eris looked down and sighed. “I know you thought I was gone, but I’m not, I’m still here, young as ever.” Discord rolled his eyes. “Eris, you’re over six thousand years old.” “Mhhhmmhmhh?” Fluttershy tried to ask. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.” Eris said sternly, making Discord tighten his grip on Fluttershy. “And I can look as young as I want, Dissy. I thought you would look the same.” Discord looked over himself and sighed. “I just want to look older is all.” Eris giggled. “So you want to look older than him, is that it?” Fluttershy tried to get Discord’s attention on how it was getting very hard to breath right now, but he didn’t seem to notice, so she started pulling the claws wrapped around her mouth her by hoof. “Who are you talking about?” Discord asked. Eris crossed her arms. “You know who. I’m talking about Chaos.” “What about it, I cause it...every day, right slervent...slervent?” Discord turned to Fluttershy to see her face starting to turn blue, he gasped and quickly let go of her, making her fall to the floor and suck in as much air as possible before landing on her belly and pant loudly. Eris merely laughed. “Keep that up and you’ll need another one, Dissy.” Discord grumbled and stood up. “Look, Eris, why are you here, and furthermore, how are you here, last time I saw you, you were cast away by-” Eris flew up to Discord and rested her claws on his shoulders. “I know, I know, you thought I was gone for good and that I told you that you could handle everything on your own right before it all happened, but I just wanted to make sure everything is going chaotic and disorderly, and knowing you. I'm pretty sure it is.” Eris then pulled him in for another hug. Discord groaned and look down to see Fluttershy getting up and looking at them. “Mom, you’re embarrassing me in front of the slave.” He said while grinding his teeth. Fluttershy tried to hide the slight giggles by covering her face with her hair, but Discord could still hear them. Eris noticed and pulled away from the hug. “Well, you can just punish her later if it makes you feel better.” Discord went wide eyed. “Punish?” Fluttershy stopped giggling and put on a face of horror. “P-Punish?” Eris glared at her. “Hey! You speak when spoken to Slave.” She rolled her eyes and looked back at Discord. “Surprised you haven’t off-ed her yet.” Discord flew over Eris. “I would never do that! She’s special to me.” He clamped his mouth shut with his claws and hoped he didn’t say that out loud. Eris backed up and raised an eye. “Special? How is this pathetic, worthless, stupid, poor excuse for a creature, special?” Discord flinched at his mother’s harsh words. He would try to back Fluttershy up, but he knew that would lead to a horrible end. “Uh...Well, she’s currently...the...looooongest running pony to be my servant” He said slowly before scratching the back of his head. “Y-yeah...a-and I don’t want to break the record yet, nope, not at all.” Eris put her claws to her hips and thought about it. “I guess that’s enough to have her ‘not’ be useless.” She turned around and made her way out of the kitchen. “Well, come on Dissy, we have a lot to talk about.” “O-Okay, be right there.” Discord waited until the coast was clear and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “That was too close. Alright, now, Fluttershy, listen, we need to...Fluttershy?” Once Discord turned around, he looked into the face of a teared up yellow pegasus that was on the verge of going into tears. “S-s-she r-r-r-really t-th-think that I-I...I’m…” Fluttershy stared down and rubbed her hooves across her eyes, trying to get some of the tears off of them. Discord cringed at the sight. He never really saw her cry like this. Then again, he never saw anyone call her worthless, or pathetic, or a poor excuse for a pony. He picked her up and brought her to eye level. “Come on now, Shy, I’m sure she didn’t mean...well, she probably did, but that’s beside the point. Look, what I’m trying to say is that Eris...well, usually thinks that’s what ponies are.” Fluttershy looked up and sniffed. “W-w-why?” Discord sighed. “Well, that’s...just the way she is, she looks down at everyone who has less power than her to be...well, what she called you.” “Like you were?” Discord couldn’t look at Fluttershy after she said that. It was no surprise that he still remembered what he did. “Yes...Like...like I was…” Fluttershy wiped the rest of her tears away and frowned, realizing she just brought back old memories. “Oh...I...I didn’t mean it like that, Discord...I-I was-” “It’s fine, Flutters.” Discord set her down. He knew remembering his past was the last thing he should worry about. “Listen, for my sake, just roll with whatever I, or whatever she, says.” He leaned down and tilted his head so that he was upside down in Fluttershy’s perspective. “I promise to repay you once this is over.” Fluttershy started realizing that this wasn’t right at all. Keeping a secret is one thing, but lying to your mother... “Discord, you...you need to tell her.” Discord loomed over her. “Tell her? What do you mean?” “Tell her the truth.” “Tell her the truth!?” Discord whispered. “Oh, so you want me to say that I’m a failure, that I let her down, that I am no longer interested in causing chaos and have decided to make friends instead, and that I am no longer using my powers.” He thought about that statement. “Well, I still do, but I don’t use it for evil.” “It’s better than lying to her.” “Don’t think of it as lying, it’s...it’s just a little fib, something to make her happy and not...have her be...so...so disappointed.” Fluttershy flew up and hugged him. “I’m sure, no matter what you tell her, She’ll still love you.” Discord sighed and hugged back. “I hope you’re right, Fluttershy, but please, not yet. I don’t want her to find out now, but I promise I will, in the future. Okay?” Fluttershy pulled away and looked at him, she could see him begging in his eyes. She didn’t know how to feel about this, but she did know telling someone the truth about what you have done could either be very good, or very bad. “Okay, Discord.” she looked back up at him and smiled. “I’ll play along.” Discord smiled back, hoping everything would go right during all of this. “Discord!” His ear flinched, hearing his mother in the distance. “What’s taking so long?” Discord rubbed his chin.”Uh...J-just making...uh...the servant whip us up a snack,” He turned to Fluttershy. “right?” Fluttershy opened her mouth to object, but she saw the pleading in his eyes again. So, she sighed and said, “Right away, uh...master?” Discord smiled and nodded. “Good, good, now...uh...just make something, anything.” “Anything?” “Anything!” Discord yelled, making Fluttershy yelp and dive into the fridge; he turned around and grabbed the corner of the wall, knowing the second he went in, there was no going back. “Okay Discord...time to make her proud.”