Discord casually strolled down the pathway laid out ahead of him, which lead towards Sugarcube Corner. He had done so with both of his eyes closed, as if he were a stuck-up Canterlot pony. Once he could tell that he was only a few feet away from the sweet shop, he blinked open an eye and reached out his lion paw towards the door handle. However, before he could grip it, something bumped into him, tripping him up.
Luckily for him, he could stop himself from slamming onto the floor by hovering in the air. When he looked behind him, however, he saw that whom he had tripped over hadn’t been so lucky.
A familiar baby dragon lay on the ground, flat on his belly, surrounded by scattered boxes and materials.
“Oopsies. Sorry Spike, didn’t see you there!” The draconequus gave a toothy grin, then snapped his fingers, commanding all the scattered objects to jump back into their place. Spike stood up, rubbing his head. He then turned to look at Discord.
“Eh… that’s okay,” he replied, gathering up all the boxes around him, “I should’ve seen you ahead of me. You’re not that hard to miss.”
“Why, I’m flattered by the comment, little dragon!” He conjured up a fan in his avian talon, then flapped it in front of his face, also fluttering his now-overgrown lashes.
“Uh… yeah.” The reptile blinked, unsure how to respond.
“So, what’s with all these materials?” Discord tapped a finger on one of the piles Spike held in his claws. “Things you’ll use to help Rarity, I suppose?”
“Err… yes and no,” he began, “this time it’s actually Rarity who’s helping me.”
Discord widened his eyes overdramatically. “It’s opposite day? Why did nopony tell me? I would’ve swapped bodies with Celestia if I knew!”
Spike tilted his head. “She would let you do that?”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry. It’s not actually opposite day.” Spike raised a brow. “Rarity just offered to help me with something I’m making for mother’s day.”
The chaos embodiment’s interest perked. As the dragon began to walk in the opposite direction, Discord disappeared from one place in a flash, and reappeared in front of Spike in another.
“Mother’s day?” He echoed. Spike looked up at him with surprise.
“Yeah! Didn’t anypony tell you that was this weekend?”
“I don’t even know what it is.”
Spike gave a disbelieving stare. “I think the title gives enough away.”
“Does everyone become a mother on that day? If so, then I think I might have to arrange something a little different than the usual-”
“Wha-? No!” The dragon stumbled back a bit, almost dropping his piles of materials in the process. Fortunately, he managed to get a grip on them before they could topple over and fall to the ground. “It’s just a day dedicated to mothers.”
Discord’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. Well, okay then.” He floated over Spike and back towards the door to Sugarcube Corner. Spike followed the draconequus over his shoulder, then paused once he had caught his attention again. Discord blinked at him.
“What?”
The young reptile turned his whole body around to meet him. “Aren’t you gonna do something for this weekend?”
“Why should I? I don’t even have a mother.” Discord stated, edging towards the door as he did so.
“Neither do I,” Spike said.
“I know,” the chaos embodiment replied curiously, “which raises the question - why are you carrying them?” He pointed a talon to the boxes he still held.
The dragon glanced at them, before looking back at the draconequus. “I can still make a gift for someone. Well, it’s two ponies in my case, but still.”
Discord’s wings began to flap again, allowing him to lay in mid-air on his belly. He crossed his arms in front of him, then lay his head lazily over them. “And just who would those two ponies be?”
“Twilight and Princess Celestia.” Spike grinned. When Discord gave a confused look, he continued, “you see, Discord, Twilight released me from my egg when she was still ten years old, so she couldn’t exactly raise me then. It was Princess Celestia who raised me properly, before she hoofed me over to Twilight when she was fifteen years old.”
Discord’s eyes widened a little. “So for five years, you and Twilight weren’t actually close?”
“Huh? Oh, no. Twilight and I were together a lot while she studied for the first five years, and we she got the change, Princess Celestia taught her the important stuff about taking care of me.” Spike then gazed to the side a little. “While I feel I’ve always been closer to Twilight, I’m still grateful to Celestia as well.”
“How sweet,” Discord gagged. “I might as well let you get on with your gifts, then. Can’t keep a dragon waiting now, can I?”
“So… you’re not doing anything?” Spike asked as the draconequus spun around towards the door once again.
“What do expect I should do?” He muttered, beginning to open the door.
“There’s no one you could get a gift for?”
“Nope.”
“Nopony at all?”
“Nada.”
“Well… alright then.”
Discord raised a brow, then swung his head around, seeing that the dragon was already heading off.
“Did you happen to have someone in mind?”
Spike paused. “Err… I dunno. I was thinking perhaps Fluttershy. She kinda ‘took you in’ when no one else would.”
For a few moments, Discord had no idea what to say. Then,
“Ha! Yeah, I could really picture myself calling Fluttershy ‘mom’. Haha, good one, Spike.”
“...I wasn’t joking,” the reptile said flatly. “And do you honestly think that I call Twilight ‘mom’?”
“When no one’s around, probably.”
His eyes widened. “Hey! I do not!” His pupils then trailed to the floor. “...Once! It was once! And in the middle of the night!”
“Uhuh.” Discord gave a chuckle, then stepped in the sweet shop and shut the door behind him. His two odd lower limbs carried him across the hard floor towards the counter. When he got there, however, he found no one.
He then picked up the bell on the table with his lion paw, and began to wring it repeatedly. Only a few seconds had passed when a pink shape came rushing in the room.
“OhheyDiscordsorrycan’ttalkrightnowI’llgetyoutheawesomecupcakeIpromisedI’dcookforyounow~” The mare then dashed in the kitchen for half a heartbeat, before appearing right in front of him again.
“Geez, Pinkie Pie, how much sugar have you eaten today?”
“Not much!” She replied quickly, followed by her disappearing into the kitchen again for a few more moments, then returning in the blink of an eye. “Only to test all the yummy sugary foods I’ve been making!” She licked her lips hungrily.
“Today doesn’t seem like a busy day.” Discord leaned his elbow on the counter and lay his head on his paw.
“For me it is!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Mother’s day is literally in two days, and sooooo many orders have been made this week!” She then lifted her hoof to her mouth began nibbling the edge of it. “I just hope that I can get them all done in time. There may be three ponies in this shop, but it’s still a lot of work for us all!” The pink mare dashed back into the kitchen and out again. “Ugh… I still have to get my own goodies done for this weekend, as well as the fifteen other orders I have!”
Pinkie then dropped a cupcake in front of the draconequus, who immediately picked it up and carried it to his mouth.
“Oh, is that why you needed me to conjure up all that cake ingredients the other day?” He took a bite of the treat. Icing was the first thing that met his taste buds, followed by the soft, warm sponge it once sat on, before getting grinded up by his teeth.
“Yup!” She nodded. “Sorry it’s not the best I could make. Like I said; pretty busy!”
“Oh, totally fine. Still tastes good as ever,” Discord complimented with his mouth full of cupcake. “Everyone’s so hyped up for this… ‘Mother’s Day’. What’s the big deal?”
Pinkie glanced up at him, then opened her mouth to answer, though not before she repeated her disappearing-and-reappearing-from-the-kitchen action.
“It’s a super-duper-luper awesome day where we can appreciate the one who’s cared for us all our lives!” She grinned. “Of course, not everypony has a mother, but that doesn’t mean we can’t ever find someone to appreciate. Like, for example, I just saw Spike. He bought some awesome edible decorations for a cake he’ll be baking for Princess Celestia this week. He’s actually making two gifts. One for-”
“-Twilight, and one for Celestia. Yes, I know. He just told me.”
“Oh! Goodie.” She smiled. “So, you gonna appreciate anyone on this super-duper-luper-wuper holiday?”
Discord shrugged casually. “Meh… there’s no one really to…” His ears flattened as he bit off the word ‘appreciate’.
Though, it didn’t matter that he did so, for Pinkie still knew what he would have said. She gave a gasp.
“No one to appreciate? There has to be someone, right?” She pouted.
Discord stuffed the last of the cupcake in his mouth so that he could lift his hands in front of him defensively. “I didn’t mean it like that! Of course there are ponies I appreciate. You’re definitely one of them - but I can’t imagine myself giving you a Mother’s Day gift.” Crums of the cupcake scattered onto the table as he finished his muffled speech.
“I know. But is there nopony who-” she disappeared and reappeared again, “-cares for you in a family-like way?”
“Well… Spike suggested Fluttershy, but-”
“Ohmygoshohmygosh yes! You should toootally do something for Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie leaped onto the counter with excitement. “I know you’ve never addressed her as ‘mom’ or anything, but Twilight has never addressed Princess Celestia as ‘mom’ either. And if you ask me, their relationship could only be closer to a mother and daughter relationship if they were related!” She wrapped a hoof around Discord’s neck, pulling him closer to her. “Now, if you need any suggestions for a gift to give her, then I could think up a few. I mean, it’s obvious that she absolutely loooves animals, so maybe you should-”
Discord pulled away from her grip. “Hey, I don’t even know if I even want to do anything for Mother’s Day yet!”
Pinkie Pie’s bright beam turned into a lowly frown. “Oh… okay,” her tone calmed, “I just thought it would be a cool idea… I mean… she has taken care of you for the past nine-and-a-half months…”
The draconequus gave a guilty look at the saddened mare. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate her, because I do. Very much!” He twiddled his thumbs. “It’s just that… I don’t know if I’d be able to do anything good enough for Mother’s Day.”
Pinkie tilted her head, then hopped off the counter in front of him. “Well, I can always bake a-” Before she could finish, a zip appeared on her mouth.
“Nope, sorry, can’t do that to you. You’ve got your hooves full already.”
Pinkie unzipped her mouth and tried to speak again, only for it to be re-zipped.
“I said no. I can just make one myself with a simple snap of my fingers!” He raised his avian hand, then snapped his fingers like so. A cake then appeared next to him, floating in midair. “Ta-da!”
The pink mare unzipped her mouth again, then shook her head. “Nononono,” she shook her head, “a gift for Fluttershy needs to come from here-” her hoof seemed to stretch beyond its actual length so that it could reach up to his chest. Discord’s gaze followed her’s, leaving him confused at first.
“Oh. The heart. Yeah, yeah…” He removed the pink hoof from his chest. “I suppose you’re right.” He sighed, taking hold of the cake and throwing it out of the window. A crash was then heard from the distance. Pinkie Pie cringed.
“I’m sure everything’s fine…” Discord snorted, only to be answered by a yell, and another crash.
“Uhh…” Pinkie glanced at Discord, then at the open window. “Maybe I should go and… check on them…”
However, she wasn’t about to abandon her baking. She quickly went back into the kitchen, staying in there for a few moments, then rushed back out again and out the door, leaving Discord alone. He was about to teleport away, before Pinkie poked her head around the corner of the doorframe again.
“Remember, Discord! It has to be from the heart. If it isn’t, it’ll be worth nothing!”
She then disappeared again, leaving the draconequus thinking to himself. He gave a sigh, before teleporting off somewhere.
The cloud wasn’t as comfortable as it could be. Discord twisted and turned on its surface, under its surface, even beside its surface, but nothing would work. He was thinking far too much about a matter that actually had some importance - doing something special for Fluttershy.
But what? Like Pinkie Pie had said; it didn’t matter if it didn’t come from the ‘heart’. It would be worthless, otherwise.
So how would he make it show? How would he know if it really did come from the heart? What was he even gonna do?
He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a scratchy voice say his name.
“Sup, Discord.” A blue pegasus said as she flew past him. Discord sat up on his cloud in surprise.
“Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash,” he replied rather flatly, which seemed to catch her attention. She stopped flying forwards and looked back over her shoulder.
“Something up?” She landed on the opposite end of the cloud that he sat on, giving him a curious look.
“Yes. We are.” The draconequus forced himself to give a slight chuckle, though none of it convinced the mare.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Haha, very funny.” Her wings carried her off of the cloud’s surface again, and eventually found herself hovering just above him. “Seriously though. I can tell when something is up with you.”
Discord gave a snort, then crossed his arms behind his head so that he could use them as a pillow.
“It’s nothing, really. You should just get back to flying or.... whatever you were doing.”
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Rainbow replied, “I’m actually trying to develop a friendship with you, so just tell me what’s wrong.”
“Ugh… if you must…” Discord groaned, knowing she wasn’t going to leave. “I’m just wondering if I should get Fluttershy something for Mother’s Day.”
For a few seconds, Rainbow Dash didn’t react with anything but a dead-panned expression. She then raised her two front hooves to her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing. Still, it wasn’t enough to stop the snickers from escaping her mouth. Discord narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Laugh away.” He gestured his paw for her to keep going. Rainbow shook her head so that she could swallow down her giggling.
“Eheh… sorry,” she gave a final snort before continuing, “so… you want to get Fluttershy something?” A slight smirk appeared on her lips.
“Maybe. Not sure.”
“Well, you’ll have to decide; and decide quickly. Her and I are both leaving to Cloudsdale to meet our mothers. We’ll be gone from morning onwards on Sunday.”
“You’re kidding me.” Discord slapped his talon on his face.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” She landed on the fluffy platform so she could sit next to him. “And, even though it’s pretty funny to see you want to give her a gift… I’ll admit, it’s kinda sweet.” Those last few words were choked out.
“Thanks so much,” his tone was thick with sarcasm. The mare scrunched up her muzzle in response.
“So,” she raised a brow, “what do you think you’re gonna get her?”
Discord shrugged his shoulders. “Something animal related, I guess.”
The blue pegasus tapped her chin. “Hmm…”
The draconequus picked up an ear, awaiting her to say something.
“I’ve known her since Flight Camp. I’m just trying to think of what she would like, but she hasn’t already got.”
Discord gave a saturated sigh. “This is my first Mother’s Day. I don’t have a clue what can be counted as a good present.” He then turned his head to Rainbow. “What did you get for your mother?”
She blinked, then grinned. “Oh, just a super awesome shot of me doing a sonic rainboom!” She lay a hoof on her chest with pride. Discord gave an uncertain look.
“But… isn’t that more about you, and not her?”
“Yeah, quite a few ponies have said that.,” she sighed, “but she’s always wanted to see me do a sonic rainboom, but she’s never got the chance.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well… she couldn’t come to the Young Flyer’s competition or the Royal Wedding because she can’t really… leave the house.” She scratched the back of her neck nervously. “She was in a flying accident and… err… I just don’t like to talk about it.” Her attitude then lightened up. “To be fair though, that’s what inspired me to become a Wonderbolt in the first place. Parents can inspire you in the weirdest ways!” A chuckle escaped her. Discord felt the corners of his mouth pick up.
“Yeah… they really can.”
“Which is why,” she him a friendly punch with her hoof, “Fluttershy deserves an awesome present. No pressure.”
“Uhuh.” He slouched a bit.
“Oh come on, Discord. I’m sure you can find something to give her in that chaotic mind of yours.” The pegasus spun around and spread out her wings. “Tell you what - go and see what the others are doing for their mothers. It might give you some sort of idea.” With that, she dashed off.
Discord slowly opened the door to Twilight’s room. First, he peeked his head in to check if she was there. Once he spotted a familiar lavender shape, he pushed the door to make enough room for him to step in. He heard it creek, which caught the attention of the alicorn.
She gasped, then swung her head around, only calming down once she saw him.
“Er… hi, Discord. Sorry, I can’t speak right now, I’m really busy.” She turned back to her table, and continued to construct something that Discord couldn’t see.
“I only came to see what you’re making for Mother’s Day.” He grunted, floating over so he could look over her shoulder.
“Really? Why’s that?” She asked, not even looking up from her craft.
“I… uhh… I need to think of something to give to Fluttershy…”
The sound of scraping metals paused. Twilight looked up at him in surprise. “Fluttershy?” She echoed.
“Yeah. You know, the shy, yellow one with the pink mane.”
“I know who Fluttershy is,” she muttered, “I’m just quite surprised. You want to give Fluttershy something for Mother’s Day?”
“Is there something wrong with that?” Discord narrowed his eyes.”
“Of course there isn’t! I think that’s a great idea, actually.” Her attention was then drawn back to her unfinished project.
“What’s that?” The draconequus leaned his head forward in curiosity.
“My present for Princess Celestia.”
“Uhh… didn’t you make a cake for her or something?”
“...My other present for Princess Celestia.” She squinted her eyes. “How do you even know about that?”
“Pinkie Pie told me.”
“Oh.” The young princess levitated a piece of string off of the table, then focused on a familiar sun-shaped figure. Discord managed to make out a small hole in the yellow metal cut-out, and watched as Twilight threaded the string through it. She tied a knot at the end of it, then set it gently on the counter again.
“What exactly are you making?” The draconequus tilted his head.
“It’s a lucky charm,” Twilight explained, “so she can hang it up on her wall.” Her horn then lit up again, carrying a long piece of paper from the other end of the table. A quill was also picked up along with it, and held just above the list in front of her.
“Thread the string through the charm. Check!” She ticked off the words written down on the paper with the quill, before setting them both down next to her.
“So, what do you think you’re gonna give Fluttershy?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I came here.” Discord began to hover above the ground, crossing his legs. “...I need some inspiration.”
Twilight looked quite shocked at his confession. “You? The Spirit of Chaos?” She scoffed disbelievingly. “I can hardly imagine such a thing to happen.”
“Well… it’s just that… I’m so used to snapping up anything I want!” On cue, he snapped his fingers, conjuring up a cup of lemonade next to him. He took hold of it in his talon, then drew a straw from behind him and dropped it into the drink. He took a sip before saying any more. “Simply conjuring a present up for Fluttershy is far too easy, dare I say inconsiderate. I… I truly want to show her how much I care and appreciate her, and what she’s done for me.”
Twilight bit her lip. “Do you have a basis to what you want to give her?”
“Something related to what she likes.”
The mare pulled out a fresh piece of paper, and pulled her quill over. She began writing down, Discord could only guess, what he was saying.
“Okay, so that’s the first step. Do you have any ideas beyond that?” She looked up from her list.
“Nope.”
“Hmm…” The alicorn tapped her chin. “I can’t think of anything on the spot… I’m sure you can though. Tell you what,” he found her placing the list in his paw, “go to Rarity’s. I’m sure you can find some inspiration from her.”
Discord appeared with a white flash in front of Rarity’s boutique. He opened up the door, then floated in, ignoring the bell that rang as the top of the door knocked it as it swung inwards. The draconequus glanced around the room for the unicorn, however not finding her. Instead, he found a purple dragon gathering up various materials from a cardboard box. The sound of the bell ringing made him turn his head.
“Oh, hey Discord,” he greeted, “what are you doing here?”
“Well, Spike,” the chaos embodiment paused in front of the dragon, “I decided to follow your advice and get a gift for dear Fluttershy.”
“Really?” He blinked in surprise. “That’s awesome. But, er… why are you here?”
“I need an idea for an ideal gift.” Discord’s arms flopped to his side. “Twilight suggested I come here for some ‘inspiration’.”
“Oh,” Spike grunted. He then picked up the fabrics off of the ground and tucked them under his arm. “I’m sure Rarity will be able to help you!” He suggested, already trekking towards the stairs. Discord followed on after him.
The two of them travelled up the stairs, at first in complete silence. Then Spike spoke up,
“...I’m glad you’re doing this for Fluttershy, by the way.”
Discord raised a brow. “Err… thanks?”
“I mean, it’s just because… I’m glad I’m not the only one who can appreciate an unlikely candidate on Mother’s Day.”
“Unlikely candidate?” He echoed the dragon.
“Well… we both know that we would never call Twilight or Fluttershy ‘mom’. But… they still took us in, despite being a little different.”
Discord blinked, his gaze moving towards the floor. “It’s a bit weirder for me, though, considering I’m way older than her. By, what… over a thousand years?”
“No you’re not. Not mentally.” Spike scoffed, before pausing in front of a door. He reached up his claw and grabbed hold of the handle, but didn’t open it straight away. “That’s not really a bad thing though, right? Fluttershy introduced you to friendship, after so long of not having it. She gave you a new start, and that’s all she needs to do to be your motherly figure.” With that said, the baby dragon opened the door.
Rarity was standing next to a desk, and from what Discord could tell, she was most likely designing something by drawing it on paper.
“Rarity! I got the fabrics you wanted!” Spike announced, prompting Rarity to glance over her shoulder.
“Oh! Thank you Spikey-Wi-” She paused as she spotted the newcomer in the room. “Oh! Discord… what a surprise.”
“Good day to you too,” the draconequus grunted.
“Sorry, dear. I have my hooves full today. Whatever it is, you’ll have to make it quick.” She levitated the fabrics from Spike’s claws and onto the table so that she could organize them properly.
Discord took a deep breath. “What do you suppose I could get for Fluttershy for Mother’s Day?”
Rarity’s marker dropped from her telekinesis. She stared back at him, unsure how to respond.
“Oh, don’t act so shocked. It’s no different from Spike making a present for Twilight.” He rolled his red pupils with annoyance.
The unicorn pouted, then gave a sigh. “I suppose you’re right,” she admitted. “What exactly do you plan to give her?”
“Something she likes.”
Rarity thought for a moment, not a word escaping her. A groan escaped from Discord.
“So… you don’t have any suggestions?”
The white mare bit her lip. “Well, darling, that’s the thing. It’s not me making the gift, it’s you. And that’s what it should be about. Not just Fluttershy, but the two of you. The present should be just another way to say ‘thank you for what you’ve done for me’,” she paused, “tell me, Discord, what’s the key word in that sentence?”
Discord dead-panned. “Uhh… ‘thank you’?”
“That’s two words, and is also incorrect. No, Discord, the keyword is ‘me’.” She then turned towards her desk and levitated her sheet of paper with her horn. The draconequus bent down to get a closer look at the diagram, and saw it was a brief idea for a dress.
“For my mother, I’m designing a dress, as you can see. Now, my parents have very different interests to me, so they’re not that much into fashion. However, I’m still making something fashion-related. This is because it’s what I like to do. I want my mother to be able to look at this dress and say ‘oh, Rarity made me that. I know, because she loves making dresses’.”
The spirit still didn’t speak, which came as a sign for Rarity to keep going.
“You don’t just want to make it about Fluttershy. You need to add your own spin to it, so that whenever she looks at it, she’ll think of you. Does that make any sense?”
Discord folded his arms. “I… yes. It does.” His ears then drooped. “But I still don’t have any idea what I’m going to do…”
His gaze then drifted over to Spike, who was now lying down on the floor on his belly, in front a large sheet of paper of his own. For the sake of curiosity, Discord stalked over to the dragon so that he could get a clear view of the drawing.
Spike was fully aware of his presence, and tilted his head upwards.
“Is that your gift for Twilight?” Discord could only assume.
The dragon nodded. “You know the picture that Twilight once had on her wall? You know, before her library…”
“Yeah, I know.”
“...Yeah. Well, she couldn’t save that before she could escape, so her most treasured photo got destroyed, along with most of her books. I can’t replace the first ever photo of her and her friends in a group shot, but I can create something different.”
Discord stared at him, then at what he had created so far. It wasn’t a photo, at least, not a singular one. The background of the picture was three settings all clipped together. The first one was Canterlot, which had cropped photos of Twilight, Spike and Celestia all together in one shot, stuck down on the familiar setting. The next one was a photo of the library, before it got destroyed. This time, Twilight and her five friends, along with Spike, were all placed in front of the library, all together. The final one was the new castle. It was similar to the second one, except here, Twilight had wings. Discord looked to the side of Spike, and spotted the other characters he was going to stick onto the background. Her five friends, her assistant, the princesses, and…
Himself.
Discord picked up the cropped photo of him, unsure how to react.
“You don’t mind if I include you too, right?”
The spirit shook his head, handing over the picture back to the baby dragon.
“I’m making this because, even though me and Twilight need to move on from what we lost, Applejack told me the other day that, ‘it’s good to remind ourselves what we’ve already been through, and how far we’ve come’. That gave me the idea to make some sort of timeline to remind us both that we’ve come a long way, so we shouldn’t stay in the past, instead just take it with us into the future.”
“Hmm…” Discord tapped his chin. “You know what, Spike? You’ve just given me an idea.”
With that, he disappeared from the room.
The Spirit of Chaos sat outside on the dry grass, a paintbrush gripped firmly in his talon. He was careful with each detail that he painted onto the white base, actually making sure that he didn’t mess up the colours or the lineart. As much as he wanted to splatter all the colours that he could onto the sheet, but he knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. This was about both him and Fluttershy.
The only sound he could hear was the chirping of birds, until the clopping of hooves getting louder caught his attention. He broke out of his concentration and turned his head, only to see a familiar farm pony trotting towards him.
“Heya, Discord,” she said, “what are y’all doin’ out here? And what exactly are ya doin’?”
“Good afternoon to you too, Applejack,” he replied, “I’m just working on my present for Fluttershy.”
“Present?” The orange mare repeated. “Present for what, exactly?”
“Mother’s Day.” He simply replied, going back to his painting.
“You’re gettin’ a Mother’s Day gift for Flutters?” She sat beside him, tilting her head to the side a bit. “I must admit, that’s a might’ sweet of ya.”
“Eugh… I don’t know how I’m going to recover from all the sappiness I’ve been through today…” He muttered, causing Applejack to snicker.
“Hey, even the Spirit of Chaos needs to soften up a bit once and a while,” she stated.
“Wait, what are you doing out here, anyway?” Discord raised a brow at her.
“Oh, I just needed a lil’ break from apple buckin’ today. Not to mention that me and my siblings are working on Granny Smith’s present as well.”
“Ah, I was wondering what you three were going to do for Mother’s Day.”
The mare’s smile faded, replaced with a slightly angry glare. “Uhuh?”
The spirit realized he had offended her. “Oops… er… I didn’t mean it like… ugh, just… sorry.”
She held her gaze for a while longer, before letting out a sigh.
“It’s… it’s fine, I guess. You still ain’t used to this friendship stuff, I get that.”
The two sat in silence for a while longer, until Applejack spoke up again.
“So, you consider Fluttershy a motherly figure?”
“Yeah, I guess. Kinda like Spike and Twilight, if you will.”
She chuckled. “Apart from the age. The age is a little bit different.”
Discord smirked. “Not mentally, I’m not.” He repeated Spike’s words.
“That’s a good point.” The farm pony agreed, observing what he was creating with his paintbrush. “Huh, nice style. Kinda has the soft feeling of Fluttershy’s personality.”
“That’s what I’m aiming for,” he pointed out.
When his brush ran out of paint, he dipped it back into the liquid to get the bristles covered in colour again. He continued to stroke the page gently as Applejack kept on speaking.
“I never really took you for an artist. Like, I do, but not this kind. It’s far too… calm, for your style.”
“Well, this isn’t fully about me, is it?” Discord said, his eyes still glued onto the unfinished picture.
“Fully?” She echoed, though she didn’t sound like she was scolding. She was genuinely curious.
The chaos embodiment gave a casual snort. “I suppose I have to give Rarity some credit for this one. She suggested that I make it about Fluttershy, but add my own little twist to it, so it’s not just about her, or just about me. It needs to be about both of us.”
A laugh escaped the mare. “Looks like she learned from that lesson I taught her about family…”
“Huh?”
“Nothin’...” She shook her head, still smiling. “But, Discord?”
“Yup?”
“You do mean it, don’t you?”
The brush stopped moving for a heartbeat. “What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is… do you really see her as,” she bit her lip, “family?”
Discord lowered the brush from the painting. “Well… yeah,” he answered, “I mean… she took me in and showed me the magic of friendship, despite what I’ve done in the past. She was willing to give me a chance, and has stuck by my side ever since.” He gazed off into the distance. “That’s what a mother is, right? Someone who’s always there for you, no matter who you are? It doesn’t matter that I’m way over a thousand years old, and not even her species. As long as there’s a bond between us, that’s all that matters...” he took a deep breath, “...as long as we love each other as if we truly are family, it means that we really are family.”
Applejack grinned, then stood up. “Exactly!” She exclaimed. “This just goes to show, Discord. You really have grown over the past few months. Not long ago, you wanted nothing but to spread chaos all over Equestria. But now? You ain’t even ashamed to admit how much you care for Flutters.” She began to canter away from him. “Now, I gotta get back to the farm. I’ll let you finish that painting. Make sure you get it done before nine in the morning on Sunday, though. She’ll be leaving to Cloudsdale by then!”
Discord watched as the farm pony galloped off until she was out of sight, before going back to work.
Ten minutes until she left. That should be enough time.
Discord knocked on her door, then stood (almost) patiently outside the cottage. When nopony opened the door, he knocked again, this time a little harder. He waited again for a few moments, and this time, the door opened. Fluttershy poked her head around the door, looking for who it was. It didn’t take her long to find out.
“Oh, Discord! I would love for you to come and visit, but I’m getting ready to leave-”
“I know. This will be really quick.” Without her saying, he stepped into the room. She held a worried expression on her face as he did so.
“Oh… well… you see… I’m heading off to Cloudsdale in ten minutes or so, and…”
“Like I said. This’ll be quick.” He turned around to face her. “I just wanted to give you something before you go…”
He held out his lion paw as a white light flashed beside him. Fluttershy watched, confused, as a large, almost flat object appeared in his paw.
Discord then lowered it down to her level so that she could take hold of it with her front hooves. So that she wouldn’t lose balance with only two hind hooves on the ground, she used her wings to float in the air, giving her a good angle to look at the mysterious wrapped up object.
“What…”
“Just open it,” he urged her. With no more hesitation, she carefully tore the wrapping paper off, until the actual object was visible. Her eyes widened at the sight of it.
“Did… did you make this?” She gasped in awe.
“Yeah…” The chaos embodiment twiddled his thumbs, hating how nervous he felt.
“Why… why, Discord, it’s… amazing!” A wide grin began to spread across her face. The painting showed an image of her, gracefully flying in a peaceful looking woods; at least, peaceful behind her. What was in front of her wasn’t visible, since the shot showed her head-on, however there was some grass in her pathway that she could see, which had a more dark and murky colour. In the foreground, there were also some trees that held no leaves - just broken branches. Fluttershy would’ve been confused, if it weren’t for the caption written under it.
If you can change me, you’re foolish to think that you can’t change the world.
The pegasus had to swallow the urge to cry at those words, but Discord wasn’t done yet. This time, he said nothing, just let her take hold of the much smaller piece of paper. This one wasn’t a picture, but a poem.
I know sometimes you’re scared,
I know sometimes you’re insecure.
I know that sometimes you feel worthless,
That you can’t do anything at all.
I know that you’ve had it rough,
I know you’ve been teased,
I know that you feel you can’t do it,
That your fears are like a disease.
I know, my dear Fluttershy,
But please remember this for me,
You’ve changed my life,
And for that, I’m grateful for eternity.
Her aqua eyes scanned the paper, once, twice, three times, until she couldn’t see it anymore. Her vision became blurred through the tears welling up in her eyes. She flew down to her couch and set both the beautiful framed painting and the tear-jerking poem there gently, before throwing herself on the draconequus, choking back her sobs.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” Despite her cries, she couldn’t stop the smile appearing on her face. Discord had no idea what to do but just stand there stiffly. After what seemed like ages, Fluttershy finally loosened her grip on him, but still kept her hooves on his shoulders.
“You know that I love you, don’t you?” She whispered.
“You’ve kinda made it clear.” He smirked, which stole a giggle from the mare. She then gave a motherly nuzzle on the cheek, before turning back to her two gifts.
“Now… I do need to leave soon, but this is far too important to leave on the couch…” She picked them both up with her hooves, then flew towards the stairs, up to her room. Discord smiled after her, only to be interrupted by the sight of Angel Bunny glaring at him. Discord gave an unamused frown.
“What are you looking at?” The draconequus muttered. Angel just gave a gag, before hopping up the stairs after his owner. Once he was gone, Discord relaxed again.
“...Love you too, Fluttershy.”
“So, did Fluttershy like your present?” Twilight asked, only just returning from her trip to Canterlot. Discord leaned against her outside castle wall, a confident grin spread across his face.
“As if she wouldn’t.” He announced proudly. Twilight gave a roll of her eyes, before opening her castle doors so that she could make her way inside. Discord was about to make his exit, when the alicorn called him back.
“Hey, Discord,” she began, “...would you mind if you… maybe… write a journal entry about this?”
The spirit blinked in surprise. Then he smiled. “Why, I’d be honored, Twilight Sparkle! My first journal entry!” He then followed her on towards her room.