Discord searched day after day, but with no luck. He eventually came to a semi-dry plain, which to him seemed to be befitting of his mood.
Discord finally pooped out. He’d reached the end of his rope. Where do you go when there is no more hope?
He took out Quincy’s water sphere and tapped lightly on it. Q was barely hanging in there because he had been cooped up for so long. Discord pitied the poor fish and wished that he could do something to help him. After all, he felt the same thing when he was trapped in stone.
He stifled a whimper and a lump in his throat. “Chin up, now. Pip pip,” he recited by rote.
This seemed to cheer Discord up a bit…before he saw his own reflection on the surface of the orb. At that moment, it reminded him of all the times he and the CMC played ‘Hide-and-Surprise”. Sure, they would find other games to play on land or air, but he felt that swimming was one of his most favorite things to do. He wanted to have the chance to do that again, but how could he if he didn’t find a new place for the girls to swim? When he thought of the looks on their faces if he failed, that did it for him.
His heart split in two and an aching sensation overwhelmed him. This time, he couldn’t hold it back. He tried to think of the quip used to control his emotions, but all he thought was, Chin up, indeed. He sniffled and whimpered as tears flooded his eyes. He was so caught up in his sorrow that a huge tear left his eye and plopped onto Q’s water orb.
What began as a trickle soon turned to a shower. Discord cried and he cried, he cried by the hour. He cried cups and pitchers and bottles and buckets. He cried tubs and barrels, quintets and quintuplets. For hours, Discord cried, no, for days on it went. Till one day, he sniffed…his tears finally spent.
Discord was exhausted from all the endless crying he had done. He was so weary and depressed that he didn’t see Q swim up to him. Q wagged his tail on his owner’s face to attract his attention. Discord looked up from the ground and saw Q in front of him. He asked, “Q, what are you doing out of your…orb?”
He trailed off as he realized that Q was actually swimming. He looked up to see water on either side of his fish. He jumped up and excitedly raced up a huge rock formation to get a better view.
It was a lake! A great lake! Discord gasped in delight! Sure ‘twas paradise with no golf tee in sight!
Discord cried, “I found a lake! No, wait…I made a lake! I take that back…I cried a lake!” He was so excited that he jumped down into the water below. He swam up to his fish as he exclaimed, “Q, we did it! We made a new swimming hole!”
He flashed himself back to Ponyville and announced, “Ponies, I’ve found the perfect swimming pool for you!”
Twilight awkwardly said, “You did? Well, that’s great…except…”
Sweetie Belle uneasily said, “We kind of got our old swimming pool back.”
Discord was surprised and almost dismayed to hear that. He asked, “You did? How?”
Applejack explained, “Well, see, a while after ya left, we found out that the golf course was rigged. We called the Flim Flam Brothers out and they skedaddled out of town like there’s no tomorrow.”
Discord wilted, “So I went on my search…” His eyes then glistened as he continued, “…for nothing?”
Scootaloo said, “No, no! I’m glad you found a swimming pool for us. Could we see what’s it like?”
A smile spread across Discord’s face and he said, “I thought you’d never ask.” He grabbed the ponies and said, “Let’s go!”
In one moment, they appeared before a vast lake. But this time, it was different. There was now strange vegetation growing around the lake. Even Discord himself was astonished.
Scootaloo exclaimed, “Holy cow! This place is awesome!”
The other girls agreed, “Yeah!” They then ran into the water.
Twilight asked, “But how did you find a place like this?”
Discord smirked, “Where do you think?” He pointed to his eyes and said, “I cried the lake.”
The alicorn asked in astonishment, “You cried this place?”
“Well, if I didn’t tell myself not to cry, then the lake wouldn’t have been this huge when I did burst into tears.”
Apple Bloom suggested, “We should come here every day!”
Applejack said, “Ah, ah. I think every other Saturday will do.”
Discord admonished the Earth pony, “Oh, you’re no fun, Appleshack.” He then flashed in swimwear and shouted, “Cannonball!” He jumped into the lake and had fun with the CMC.
Discord learned himself a lesson on that bright and happy day. And it bears worth repeating, no matter what folks may say. Do not be afraid to cry, it really is OK. Sometimes it’s through our tears we find a better way.