The Diary of Discord Wimp

by ThePianoMan

Mr. Blue Sky

“I stand upon my desk…”
-John/DPS

sixteen years later...

And then, the world awoke from its slumber.

The radio clock on the pine green nightstand sparked to life as the minute hand reached the thirty mark. “Good morning, today's forecast calls for blue skies!” The radio station always started that way with the forecast, and then the host’s list of the latest hits began without so much as an introduction or commercial. That's probably why it was one of the last few successful radio stations in Equestria. Ponies didn't want too much commentary or information about anti-itch flank creme. No, Good Morning Equestria got straight to what was wanted: music. The privately owned station could afford not to advertise, and the only break was around twelve thirty when the host would thank the listeners and run over a quick list of news items.

The morning song stirred the sleeping draconequus to life as his ears told him to get up. He yawned and stretched out his longer body, to his surprise, on a rough surface. His eyes popped open when he realized he was sleeping on the ceiling. “Not again!” He yelled before falling, bouncing off his bed, and landing on the floor. Tugging at the magic training collar on his neck, he grumbled. “Stupid thing can't even do its job.”

At that moment his door was flung open by a panicked mare. “Discord! Are you alright?”

Discord mumbled as he stood up. “I'm fine, mom.”

His mother, a mare by the name of Redheart, frantically looked over him to check for any damage. “Oh, sweetheart, did you sleep on the ceiling again?”

“Yeah. It's no problem, really.” He lied. It was the fifth time this week. If it got any worse, he'd have to tie himself to the bed.

Redheart wasn't sure she believed that her adopted son was alright, but she could tell he didn't want her to fuss over it. “Big day today. New school, new opportunities, new friends, and maybe a filly friend.”

“Mom,” Discord grumbled as he pulled his sheets taught again on his bed.

“Or dragoness, if you're into that sort of thing.” Redheart laughed.

“Mom,” Discord held up his arms in protest, “stop talking.”

Redheart’s eyes welled up as she looked up at her son. “I'm sorry. It just seems like only yesterday that you were my little one.” She lunged at him with a hug. “I just hope everything goes alright this time. I know freshcolt year back in our old town wasn't so good.” That was an understatement. It was borderline disaster as students picked on him to the point where the town’s sheriff got involved. They ripped of his magic training collar which made him lose control of his powers. With the extensive property damage and injuries, Discord would have been arrested if it hadn't been for the teacher who apprehended the bullies truly responsible for everything.

Discord remembered the horrifying experience for both him and his mother. He ended up being home schooled for the rest of the year. At least under the controlled conditions of home, he excelled at his work and was able to skip sophomore year and enter straight into his junior year this semester. “You said it yourself. Ponyville is a more tolerant city, right?”

Redheart cringed at the word tolerant. Tolerance was cruelly short of acceptance. “I know, but there are still ponies and others that aren't as accepting as they should be.”

Discord put on the bravest smile he could muster. “I won't let them get me down, mom.”

Redheart smiled back, still nervous. “I know. Just remember though, don't engage in trouble. Have the courage to walk away as well as to stand up for yourself. There's gonna be those few who still say and do bad stuff. You can just ignore them. They're idiots, but we can't tell them that. Understand?”

Discord nodded as he hugged his mom. “I love you mom.”

Redheart fought the waterworks as she returned her son’s hug. “And, I love you too. Now come to the kitchen, I got a stack of waffles and a glass of chocolate milk with your name on it.”

*****

Discord stared back at his mother as he waited at the curb for the bus. As she waved at him from the porch, he weakly waved back. He straightened the diagonal strap on his book bag and sighed as he eyed the neighborhood. Every house was built the same with the exception of the few that had been added on to or painted different colors. It was one of the boomer neighborhoods that had been erected some twenty years ago during the small town’s conversion to becoming a city. It wasn't the richest side of town; that was Whinnyton.

The red bus came rolling down the double wide cobblestone road. Steam escaped from the tailpipe that stuck up and out the back. The smokestack let out a rainbow smoke that smelled like a cupcake had up chucked. The face of a smiling blonde filly was plastered on the engine cover with the slogan, smarter fuel for a brighter future. “Horse apples,” Discord whispered to himself.

The bus door swung open to reveal a weighty griffon driver in a bright orange vest and shades. The driver stared at discord as he took a sip of coffee. “School?”

Discord eyed the gold name tag. “Yes Mister Orrin.”

The griffon grumbled as he motioned for Discord to board the bus. “I don't know you.”

Discord nodded as he stumbled forward up on the first step. In two more steps he was on the bus. Then he froze as the whole bus went quiet. They were staring at him. His heart began to beat uncontrollably before the bus driver coughed.

“Hey, kid. Take your seat.”

Discord cautiously made his way down the center aisle, looking for a seat. There must have been a good twelve spots open, but they were quickly filled by the bags of frowning ponies, dragons, and griffons alike. Eventually Discord just sighed as he sat all by himself in the back. The onslaught of whispers began as the bus door shut. They were moving and Discord felt trapped. If he looked up, he would just be met by those pesky stares. So, he elected to look out the window.

That was an okay decision. It was better than avoiding stares head on. This way he could at least look like his attention was turned away at something. It was mostly just houses that passed by. There was a park Discord thought was pretty neat. It wasn't too far from his house either. He smiled as he pictured himself studying under the willow tree that was sort of up on a hill in the center of the park. He imagined that he'd probably do a lot of studying in that park.

The passengers of the bus lurched forward a bit as it came to an abrupt stop. Discord looked up from the window to see what was up. The bus door swung open again. Just another student, Discord thought. He saw a flash of purple and green before a loud scream set the stage for the new passenger that was now face first on the aisle. Everyone was laughing at the dragon who had undoubtedly been tripped.

“I'm okay! I'm okay!” The purple dragon brushed himself off and straightened his green spines as he rushed to get up.

Discord could see two other dragons snickering nearby. They must have been the idiots Redheart had warned him about. As the purple dragon looked desperately for a seat, Discord haphazardly waved to him. A smile paired with glistening green eyes lit up the purple dragon’s face as he came rushing to the back seat.

Seeing another snickering dragon, Discord could tell what was going to happen next. He lowered his lion paw out of sight and snapped his digits. The purple dragon made it through without incident as a hushed hey cursed at the invisible force field Discord had put up to stop another trip.

“Hey there.” The purple dragon threw his book bag on the ground as he sat next to Discord. “New in town?”

“Yeah.” Discord could tell the little dragon was younger than him, but the fact didn’t matter. He couldn’t ignore the sense of familiarity and understanding he had with him. “My name is Discord.”

“Nice to meet you Discord, I’m Spike.”

Discord smiled as he exchanged an arm shake with Spike. “You alright? You took a pretty hard fall there.”

Spike shrugged off the incident with a smile. “Eh, I’m fine.” Discord admired Spike’s spirit in the face of adversity. “They’ll get what’s coming to ‘em eventually.”

“Why did those dragons trip you? Aren’t you one of them?”

Spike couldn’t bring himself to smile at the innocent ignorance of Discord. Even so, Spike felt some sense of hope in someone like that. “Don’t worry about it. Even with the tolerance in this day and age, there’s still guys like that who say and do bad stuff.”

Discord leaned over as he whispered to Spike. “They’re just idiots, but we can’t tell them that.”

The two laughed for a moment.

“So,” Spike began awkwardly, “what exactly are you? Are you uh, mixed?”

Discord didn’t mind the question. He was well used to it by now. “Sort of. I’m a draconequus.”

Spike blinked up a storm as he wrapped his head around the word. “What?”

Discord remembered when his mother first explained what he was. He remembered how his reaction was similar to Spike’s as the ancient word had been spelled out for him. The books he had looked up on the matter were haunting to say the least with what there was to say about his kind. The rarity of his species would have caused a black pit of loneliness in his mind, but that was quickly remedied by his mother who took him in as her son. Redheart never discouraged him from looking into his existence. And even though they were not the same, Discord knew that she would always be his mother. She helped in his path to control the uncanny powers he had been gifted with. She found the professor who made the collar that Discord still wore to prevent chaotic disaster.

Discord tugged at the collar and the dark thoughts in the back of his brain. He buried them for now. “A dra-con-e-quus. There aren’t really many of my kind here. As far as I know, I’m the only one that exists in Equestria.”

“Heh, sounds like you’re one of a kind,” Spike mused.

Discord couldn’t hold back the smile growing on his face. “You too, Spike.”

Spike rubbed at the back of his neck as he bashfully looked away. “Ah shucks, that’s nice of you to say. To be honest I thought you wouldn’t like being around a freshcolt.”

“Wait,” Discord was surprised, “you’re only a freshcolt?”

Spike shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah. Why?”

“You seem more,” Discord looked for the word, “mature.”

“Ha! Tell that to my would be step mom.” Spike laughed. “What about you? You look like a senior.” He gestured to Discord’s height.

“Junior, actually.” Discord explained, “Technically I should be a sophomore.”

“Ah,” Spike caught on, “skipped a grade, huh?”

Seeing that no one paid them any attention at this point, Discord explained his incident as a freshcolt and his stint with homeschooling.

“Geez, sounds rough.” Spike suddenly found it hard to look at Discord and even harder not to look at the magic training collar. “So, you don’t have too many friends then, huh?”

Discord nudged the dragon in the side. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Spike caught wind of what Discord was suggesting. “Wait, really? You don’t mind hanging around with a freshcolt?”

“Not if you don’t mind hanging around with a junior, friend.” Spike was right about him not really having any friends. And from the whole tripping incident, it didn’t seem like Spike had too many friends either. Seeing that neither of them would ever be incredibly popular, it was probably for the best that they stuck together. And, Discord really wanted a friend.

*****

Ponyville High School was one of two high schools within the city limits of Ponyville. It was in fact, the oldest. Built nearly seventy years ago, it still stood with some minor additions that had been built on around and above the original structure. It was a considerably large campus given that the original blueprints had accidentally been swapped with the blueprints of a college. This gave the school a full size buckball field and track, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, and an auditorium theater. All of this connected in one large structure with interior halls.

The construction was already completed before anyone realized the mix up. The college, Canterlot University, was built with the same blueprints, and it jokingly became known as the sister campus. Ponyville High eventually received benefits from the university and even shared the same mascot.

Discord looked on in wonder at the three story structure. It’s title as Ponyville High was displayed with great purple letters that sat below the image of a horse pony with a braided beard wielding a spear. The tritone image was made up of purple, black, and white.

“Sure is impressive, huh?” Spike joined Discord in observing the spectacle.

At the front entrance a little kiosk with a big welcome sign was armed with a teacher passing out flyers. “Welcome, to all new Wild Stallions. I’m Miss Cheerilee.” Discord and Spike joined the gathering crowd around the kiosk. “As with all new students, you will be assigned a first day senior buddy to help you find your classrooms and any other areas you need to know about like the cafeteria, the club houses, the library, and recreation areas.” The dark fuschia mare adjusted some papers in front of her. “There was a bit of a mix up with paperwork, so we’ll be calling students as we find your names. If we don’t call your name, be patient and we’ll settle it as efficiently as possible.”

Discord froze as he spotted another freshcolt—she looked young enough—in the crowd. He couldn’t tell if she was staring directly at him or not. Tipping left to right, he saw her eyes weren’t following him. He looked down and suddenly realized who she was really staring at. “Psst. Spike.” Discord looked head on as he whispered to his friend.

Spike furrowed his brow in confusion. “Why are you whispering?”

Discord looked briefly, she was still there. “White filly, purple mane, three o’clock. She’s been staring at you.”

Spike rolled his eyes as he turned his head. His eyes went wide as they locked with the filly’s. Spike and Discord both fell into a fit of hushed snickering as the filly snapped her head away in embarrassment. Spike recovered swiftly from the hilarity of the moment and waited for the filly to look at him again. She actually did, to his surprise. Spike smiled kindly and gave a gentle wave. He felt a little sorry for laughing at her.

The filly’s blue eyes sparkled a bit as she weakly waved back.

“Rarity! Is there a Rarity here?” Cheerilee called out. Spike watched as the white filly, known as Rarity, pranced up to the front. “Hello there. Rarity, your senior buddy will be Fluttershy. Fluttershy-”

Discord was still smirking at Spike whose mind was elsewhere in a cloud shaped like a certain white filly with a curled mane. “Spike. Spike.” Discord waved his griffon claws in front of Spike’s face.

“Hey, quit it will ya?” Spike swatted away the limb that brought him back to reality.

Discord ceased this action as he caught a glimpse of a light pink tail that lead the alleged Rarity into the school. A strange feeling of familiarity washed through Discord’s soul before he dismissed the experience as déjà vu.

“Spike, is Spike here?” Cheerilee called out.

Spike beamed as he tightened his grip on his book bag. “That’s me! See you at lunch, okay?”

Discord watched as Spike was lead inside by a rather talkative grey griffon. It made him uncomfortable to stand by himself. Without Spike by his side, he felt alone. Exposed. The eyes rested upon him now. The whispers came and dredged up echoes for the draconequus. He could see it now, his old school.

“Octavia!”

The cries of Cheerilee over the crowd did nothing to calm the growing torrent of rumor. None approached the draconequus, though. It was either fear or the tolerance Discord had heard about.

“Um...Discord?”

Discord scooted through the crowd which now seemed to get louder as those who could not already see him were shocked by his sudden presence.

“Oh my!” Cheerilee’s exclamation startled Discord, but he realized it was not an exclamation of fear. It was excitement. “Our first draconequus!”

Discord nervously smiled as intrigued students clumsily attempted to pronounce what he was. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Ah!” Cheerilee danced a bit in excitement. “Let’s see here, ah, yes. Macintosh will be your senior buddy.”

*****

“So,” Discord nervously followed close to the red stallion in the lettercolt jacket. “There any clubs here?” The two walked down a long hallway lined with purple lockers. Some had been decorated, others had posters on them, and others had been graffitied on.

The red stallion nodded. “E-yup.”

A few other stallions in lettercolt jackets rushed on by, all chanting the red stallion’s name. “Hey! Big Mac! What’s up? See you at buckball practice!”

Discord grabbed onto his book bag a little tighter. “So, they call you Big Mac?”

The red stallion nodded. “E-yup.”

The draconequus chuckled. “Don’t talk much do you?”

“Hm-nope.” Big Mac stopped walking and gestured to room 2A-42.

Discord looked at his schedule. “Home room?”

“E-yup.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll see you after this.” Discord watched as the stallion nodded and disappeared down the hall. He was on his own now.

Entering the classroom was like walking into a zoo. Discord remembered that the school from the old town had been milder. That being said; it was a smaller town. This was a city high school. Pegasai were flying around, fillies were gossiping loudly, griffons were arm wrestling dragons, and a few select students were actually sitting calmly, seemingly as confused as Discord was.

Somehow, the first step Discord took into the class was the loudest because everyone stopped to stare at him. The draconequus froze as he painfully raised his lion’s paw to wave. “Uh, hi there.”

Everyone looked past Discord and reacted sharply to who was behind him. Everyone sat at a desk and started to settle down. Looking behind him, Discord saw an older chestnut pegasus stallion with blue hair walk right past him up to the front of the room. The stallion’s head bounced around as music blasted through headphones from a portable radio. “Ba! Da-da. Da-d-da. Dunderchee!” The stallion sat at the front desk and turned off hi radio. Now that the stallion’s head wasn’t bouncing, Discord could see a slim streak of grey in his mane. “Mornin’ class.”

“Good morning.” Some of the students mumbled.

The stallion at the front smiled. “It’s a monday, kids. That’s why I said Mornin’ not good morning.” The class laughed at that. It was obvious that he was the teacher in charge of the home room. He was the teacher—who stared down Discord. “Young lad, are you having trouble finding a seat, or do you just like standing there?”

Discord realised his position and quickly took a seat near the back.

“Okay then.” The teacher surveyed the room. “To those of you who don’t know me, you could have made more of an effort, seriously I have like no friends.” Discord laughed along with the class. “Anyways. I’m Pathfinder, you teacher and counselor to students A through E. I’m here to take attendance and chew bubblegum. Well, I’m all out of bubblegum. So, I don’t do much in this class and I’ll basically let you do what you need to do. You can do homework you were too lazy to finish the previous night, or just kick back and relax. I will be playing GME in the background because I’d rather hear music than listen to the latest gossip. A few basic ground rules. Don’t kill each other. If you’re a dragon, no fire.” Pathfinder pointed to a white dragon near the front. “I’m looking at you, Cliff. I had your brother as a student, and no–despite what he would have you believe–snot fire is not funny.”

Discord felt a little relieved that the teacher was so calm and laid back. He didn’t even seem to care what he was. He believed in that moment, he had found his favorite teacher already.

Pathfinder was already going down his attendance list. “Daisy, Daisy Pusher?”

“Here!”

“Dana?”

“Here.”

Pathfinder sighed as he continued. “Let’s see. Discord?”

Discord cautiously raised his paw. “Uh, here.” The other students all turned to look at him. Some weren’t all that interested, some whispered, and some looked upset.

The teacher just marked off the box with a check mark. “Yes, the lad who likes to stand. Okay. Ditsy?”

Discord took the time to examine the surroundings of the classroom. It would probably be his last chance to do so undisturbed while everyone was preoccupied listening for their names. The Classroom was very different than what he knew from his last school. Instead of popcorn encrusted ceilings of a small town highschool, the ceiling was made of panels that must have popped open for quick access to pipes and electrical work. Posters of book covers, movies, and even album covers were taped up and down the walls. Discord scrutinized Pathfinder’s desk. There was a wood and brass plaque that read, “I don’t Care,” and a number of knick knacks—some possibly made by students.

“And last but not least, Mister Valient. Okay, anything else?” Pathfinder looked at a paper tucked under the attendance on his clipboard. His eyes darted straight up at Discord.

Discord felt his heart stop. This happened the last time he was in a classroom. For whatever reason, school districts felt inclined to hand out an introductory sheet, just for him on the account of being the last of his kind and all. It was a nice gesture in kindergarten, and then in intermediate school it became a problem. Discord knew that this was it. In the blink of an eye, any chance of him fitting in was going to tartarus in the form of a district approved social suicide note.

Pathfinder crumpled the paper up with his wing and tossed it into the wastebasket by his desk.

Discord felt as his heart almost skipped a beat at the miracle that he had just witnessed. There was hope.

Setting the clipboard down Pathfinder looked up at the clock. “So, because I have to do some sort of teacherly thing for this class, there is one thing I will be asking from you. Those of you who have taken my Ponish class and Equestrian Literature class, you know what that is.” A groan echoed from a few of the students up front. “Hey,” Pathfinder stomped his hoof, “if you have me for another class, you only have to do this once and it counts as credit for both classes. The assignment is a journal project. Now listen, it’s an easy project. You can put one entry in and you’ll pass. You’ll get your C grade and be done. But even if there’s just one entry, I expect quality. For this journal assignment, take the time to extrapolate your feelings and thoughts—doesn’t have to be personal, and keep it PG. Don’t worry about buying a notebook, one of the seniors should be coming around with a stack of notebooks.”

Discord could hear the squeaking cart in the hall before the knock came at the door. Though he was taller than most of the other students, he wasn’t tall enough to see past all their manes and spines. He felt a strange life crawl up the back of his neck.

The impossibility of being struck by lightning is not so unfathomable as many are led to believe. It’s even said that one has more chances of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. The curiosity of such a claim is informative in and of itself. It’s perhaps one in over a million to win the lottery. The ground is struck every time there is lightning—every time. The lightning has to pass into the ground—even if it’s through a tree, a home, or an unsuspecting soul. Some never survive such an ordeal, and some are never quite the same. Sometimes it’s a passing experience that fades away long after you’ve moved on. Then sometimes—not always but it happens—lightning will strike twice.

Discord fought his urge to stare at the pony who pushed along the cart of fresh notebooks to hand out. It wasn’t the color of her mane or fur that made him want to crawl in a hole, it was the thin line of momentary eye contact. He felt embarrassed. He saw nothing good from her end. Whoever she was, Discord read the same look he’d seen on everyone’s face that he looked at. He was used to receiving fear filled looks, especially from ponies. Discord couldn’t wait till lunch so he could find Spike.

“Hello.”

Discord almost flinched at the still voice that addressed him. He was staring at a ghost, or an angel, he couldn’t quite tell.

“Hey.”

Discord managed to force out a response. “Hi.”

“Are you okay? You look worried.”

Discord recoiled a bit at the even quieter voice. He almost didn’t recognize the look on another person. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t disgust. The draconequus had seen this face on his mother when she found him hiding after the incident. He’d seen it on the professor as he made sure the magic training collar wasn’t too tight. It was surreal to see that look on anyone else’s face. “Oh, I’m fine.”

“Why are you lying?”

Discord had no response to that. It was like she read his mind. But, she was a pegasus. Only unicorns could do magic like that. Somehow she read him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

The ever quieting voice turned over Discord’s stomach. “No, it’s fine. I’m sorry.”

Pathfinder raised his voice over the class. “Fluttershy, I got your senior service sheet signed. You finished passing those notebooks out?”

“Almost.” She glanced over the pile of notebooks and picked one out. “Here.”

“Fluttershy.” Discord accepted the red and black marble composition book that was different from the rest. “I’m Discord.”

Fluttershy didn’t miss a beat as she continued to pass out the notebooks.

Discord watched through paper airplanes and chatty students as Fluttershy disappeared through the door with the empty cart. No one else bothered him as he sat there with his empty composition book. The sounds around him swallowed themselves as he scribbled his name onto the cover. Opening it up to the first page, he began to write.

*****

The bell yanked Discord out of his journal. He supposed his first entry was weak, and that’s why he’d been staring at it for so long. Stuffing his journal in his book bag, he headed for the door where the rest of the students had already left.

“Mister Discord.” Pathfinder’s voice spilled over the edge of a Daring Do book. “You got a second?”

Discord did an about face and shuffled over to Pathfinder’s desk. He glanced at the cover of the book the pegasus was reading. “The Spear of the Windigos. That’s a good one.”

“Mister Discord. I read your file, and I know how poorly you were received in the past. But if you have any problems, come straight to me. It would seem that I’m your counselor, and I can tell you that in the last twenty years, the faculty hasn’t exactly been the wiser since I attended this school. If anyone, a student, a teacher, gives you trouble—tell me—and I’ll call down the Princess if I have to.” Pathfinder set down his book. “Understand?”

“Yes sir.” Discord smiled. “Thank you.”

Exiting into the hall, Discord was met by a sea of students—all of them dragons, griffons, ponies, unicorns, pegasi, zebras, hippogryphs, and some yaks. Standing by the door was Big Mac, who was waiting to take him to his next class. Along the way to the next classroom, Discord kept an eye out for both Spike and Fluttershy.

Author's Note: