The Diary of Discord Wimp

by ThePianoMan

The Way Life's Meant To Be

“...better than walking alone…”
-Helen

“Okay class, each of you remember to get your syllabus signed. And remember, Econ is Magic!”

Discord wasn’t surprised by the lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the class. The economics teacher was trying a little too hard to be cool and hip. And, her business card was a bit over the top. She was also a little preachy about how nothing was free. Discord was at least grateful that she wasn’t as intense as the gym teacher, Iron Will. He was sure that the minotaur was out to kill his students with pacers and mile runs. It was too bad Redheart never included physical fitness in his homeschooling. “Lunch, finally.” There was the second consolation. Right after the reasonable economics class, it was lunchtime.

Big Mac was right outside the classroom, waiting.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” Discord could feel his stomach rumbling. He imagined his stomach growing its own set of jaws and growling. A strange feeling itched at his neck. His body was trying to dispel magic, but the magic training collar was doing its job. Discord dismissed the sensation. He’d gotten used to it.

Big Mac lead the way to the cafeteria. “Eeyup.”

Following his senior buddy, it was increasingly apparent to Discord that Ponyville High was indeed built with college blueprints. The hallways were tall and wide, and they all connected to the cafeteria which was sort of a central hub for the school. The university sized cafeteria had two levels to it. The lower level utilized the whole floor space while the upper level was a wrap around balcony.

Discord imagined it’s what mall food courts would look like if he ever made it to one.

The lower level kitchens were the only ones used for the district approved school lunches. The upper kitchens were converted into home economics classrooms closed of by glass windows lined with food and drink dispensers. The lower level was filled with bench tables as one might expect to find at a school, but the upper levers were different. Discord figured the upper level kitchens were meant for higher end cuizine, because along the balcony edge was multiple booths that students were packed into. Most of them wore high end clothes and lettercolt jackets.

To Discord, it was a little uncomfortable. The obvious difference between the types of students in the upper and lower levels was like seeing a caste system he’d read about. The kings and queens were safe in the booths above while the peasants carried on with their normal lives below.

“Discord!”

Discord was relieved to find Spike waving to him as his griffon senior buddy departed with a group of her friends. “Hey!” He saw Big Mac take off in a different direction once Spike came along. “How were your classes so far?”

“Not so bad. Algebra looks like it might be murder. Gym was uh-.” Spike winced at the thought.

“Iron Will?” Discord asked.

Spike nodded. “Yeah, but that’s behind me. I want food. I hope this cafeteria has gems.”

The process was simpler that Discord thought. He carried his food release form with him, but he didn’t need it. The yak serving lunch just asked for his name and checked it off of a clipboard on the wall. Taking a metal tray, Discord went down the line as other cafeteria workers scooped up various foods and filled up his tray. Eventually the conveyor belt-like line ended with silverware and cartons of milk. Discord smiled as he grabbed a chocolate milk.

“Ah rats, no gems.” Spike shrugged. “You can’t win every day.”

Discord followed Spike to one of the few vacant spots remaining. “I’d say today was a win. Iron Will seems to be my only crazy teacher. And, nobody’s threatened me.”

Spike hummed at that. “You expecting people to? That’s not how its supposed to be in Ponyville. Well, like I said, supposed to be.”

“Are you not from around here?” Discord dug into his food. The corn was fairly sweet, but the cheese and mashed potatoes were the best. The protein substitute patty was questionable. “You seem to know more than I do.”

“I’ve been here a couple of months. But, we moved down here from the Fillydelphia area after my mom was - well, gone. We weren’t exactly well received there anyways.” Spike played with his food. “My dad says Ponyville is the most progressive place in Equestria.”

Discord felt differently about that statement as he had been observing the other students. Most sat with their own kind. A lot of zebras sat with zebras, and a lot of griffons sat with griffons. There were also smaller cliques too between the athletic and booksmart. That was the lower level. Down below everyone kept to themselves. Up above it looked different. Different creatures sat amongst the upper level groups. But, there was a level of deception. It was like a show that went on. You’re cool up here if you tolerate others. It was a strange sight. Discord continued with his food. “Maybe the city is, but there’s nothing progressive about highschool.” Just idiots, he thought.

“Eh,” Spike dug into his bag, “I’m not much for politics.” The dragon pulled out a stack of comics and his wings lifted him off his seat a little as he excitedly looked them over. “Who needs politics when you have comics? Do you read comics?”

Discord shrugged. “Aside from the funnies in my mom’s newspaper, never got into them really. You reading anything good?”

“Oh yeah!” Spike held up a clean new print showing six mares in spandex costumes. “Got the latest issue of Power Ponies. I also have Rock-Hoof and the Masters of the Multiverse, Defenders of Equestria, and I got this new comic The New Adventures of Flash Magnus. Anything catch your interest?”

Discord looked between the comics Spike held fanned out in front of him. “Can I look at the Power Ponies and Flash Magnus?”

“Sure!” Spike handed over the comic books. “You can borrow them for as long as you like. I’ve already read the Power Ponies like twice. Let me know how the Flash Magnus comic is.”

As Spike buried his face into Defenders of Equestria, Discord scanned the cover of the Power Ponies comic. “Huh, that’s interesting.”

“What is it?” Spike lowered his comic to see Discord gesturing to one of the characters on the cover. “Saddle Rager, what about her?”

Discord could see her. Aside from the mane and fur color, it looked like her. “She kinda looks like Fluttershy, this pony I met in home room.”

Spike wagged his brows. “Got a crush on this filly?”

“I don’t know.” Discord flicked through the comic until he landed on a page with a smiling Saddle Rager.

“What?” Spike threw down his comic. “How do you not know? That’s like basic cognitive function to know whether or not you like someone.”

“I don’t really know her.” Discord shrugged. “She seemed kind of shy. And, I wasn’t sure if she was scared of me or not. I- I just don’t know.” Discord stuck his head up a little higher. He began scanning the cafeteria for Fluttershy.

“Wait a minute.” Spike thought on it. “Wasn’t that the senior buddy that helped that freshcolt unicorn that was staring at me?”

Discord felt like his neck was gonna get stuck eventually with how fast he turned his own head. It paid off though as he caught sight of her. She was walking along the upper level. “There.” Discord poked Spike and directed his gaze to where Fluttershy was. “That’s, her.”

Spike focused his eyes. “The yellow one with the pink mane?”

“Yeah.” Discord watched her as she went to one of the vending machines with an organic label. Where she ended up next shook him. “Oh.” He watched as she sat in one of the booths. One of the ponies in a lettercolt jacket held her close with his hoof. Discord looked back to the comic book.

Spike sighed. “Sorry, Discord. I guess she’s not coming down from there.”

“What are you sorry for?” It was puzzling to Discord as to why anyone would apologise for situations or happenings that were beyond the control of, in a way to put it, lowly mortals such as they. “It’s not like you were doing anything to cause it.”

Spike said nothing for a hot moment as he looked for a response. “I guess, it’s an easier way of letting someone know you understand, or at least feel with them.”

Discord understood that. “Oh well. I guess there’s no use crying over spilt chocolate milk. At least there’s hope for you.”

Spike’s eyes went a little wide. “Wha-a-wait! What is that supposed to mean?”

Discord laughed. “That unicorn filly that was gawking at you, she seemed pretty friendly. She’s your age too, at least. What was her name?”

“Rarity.” Spike rested his chin on his palm. “She was pretty, wasn’t she?”

“Ah!” Discord smirked down at Spike. “You remembered her name? Then call it. Call it! Oh Rarity! Wherefore art thou Rarity!”

“Shut up!” Spike erupted into laughter as he reached across the table to restrain Discord as he began to pose, theatrically. “You goofball!”

Discord ceased his antics. “Seriously though, you should say hi to her. What’s the worst that could happen?” Discord rethought that as Spike grumbled. “Scratch that, what’s the best that could happen?”

Spike began to play with his food again. “We end up being perfect for each other, we become world famous, and we get married on the Hearts and Hooves Boat. That’s just one idea. Or! We could get captured by changeling agents, we break loose, expose them, save the world, and then fall deeply in love. Or-.”

“That’s enough.” Discord cut him off. “If that’s best case scenario, maybe the most likely outcome is that she’ll sit down and have lunch with you.”

Spike hummed. “Or that.”

As their conversion sputtered out, they each dug into their food and got lost in their comics. The Flash Magnus comic had Discord hooked from the beginning as he read about the titular hero and how the pegasus was frozen in ice until he woke up centuries later in the distant future where he battled an evil alien empress who sought to take over Equestria with her armies of shape shifting robots. Between the laser battles and the airship swashbuckling, Discord found it harder to come back to reality. He was transported beyond his worries, his anxieties, and his doubts. There was no school of uncertainty, just the experience of Flash Magnus who was navigating his own new strange world, finding love, and battling evil. Discord found a beautiful distraction along with Spike, at least until the next bell would ring for them to come back.

*****

Discord felt good as he slipped into a chair at the back of his last class for the day. It was an advanced literature class. Once settled, an epiphany came too as he realized what classroom he was in. “Room 2A-42.” He looked at the posters and the “I don’t Care” placard on the desk. Discord had Pathfinder again as his teacher for literature.

Gradually the classroom filled up. The front desks were the first to go, and everyone was buzzing about something. Discord was too busy to hear what it was about as he snuck in more pages of Flash Magnus. He did notice that the seats next to him were empty, and he liked that. It meant no one would make him the middle man for note passing, it would be quiet, and he could focus. Speaking of focus, Discord tucked his Flash Magnus comic away as the pegasus of the hour trotted in.

“...hm always get mm mm hm mm…” Pathfinder was plugged into his portable radio. “Hm...try real hard, ya mi- hm...ba da- get what ya ne-.” He removed his headphones. “Enough of that. Evening class. Glad to see you survived your first day, and now you just have the rest of this semester. Oh, and second semester.”

Pathfinder continued on to take attendance and explained the journal assignment. For Discord it was his second time hearing it, but he listened again to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Receiving yet another syllabus, Discord figured it would be uneventful for the next fifty minutes of class. Then, a familiar sound came from outside. He watched a cart roll in through the door with fresh notebooks. Pushing the cart was Fluttershy.

Pathfinder met Fluttershy and checked the notebooks to make sure there was enough. “Ah, Fluttershy. Good to see you again. Let me sign that service paper one more time. How’s the freshcolt you’re showing around.”

Fluttershy handed over the paper. “Rarity’s doing wonderful. She really seems to like her fashion class.”

Discord couldn’t help but watch. He smacked himself a bit for it, reassuring to himself that it was creepy. Really, he didn’t want to freak Fluttershy out. He thought she was already beginning to think he was a stalker. Aggravation swelled up in Discord’s mind as he felt his magic training collar begin to burn his neck. None of this matters, he kept telling himself, it’s all just chaos and chance that’s pointless in the end. That’s what he kept telling himself, but it did nothing to relieve the escalating pain from the collar. It’s all just constructs of social conformity, I owe nothing and am owed nothing! A voice cut through all his thoughts.

“Are you having a hard day?”

Discord felt the collar ease up. Everything suddenly came to a focus. He noticed the empty cart in the front corner of the room, by itself. “What?” He whispered to the direction of the voice that had grounded his mind. Wrenching his stiff neck to the side, he nearly jumped as much as his chest once he saw that Fluttershy had taken the seat next to him.

Her eyes were not afraid, but rather trapped in a worrisome awe. “Has it been a rough first day of school?”

“I’m nervous,” that wasn’t a complete lie on Discord’s part, “about certain stuff.”

“Stuff?” Fluttershy probed.

Discord could see it. He could actually see that she knew he was struggling in that moment. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy’s face disappeared behind some of her mane as she scribbled her name across the cover of a green notebook. “I’m sorry about rushing off earlier. I had to get to my other class after finishing my senior service hours.”

Discord mumbled internally as she spoke. Her voice was insanely soft and hard not to listen too. He was afraid to even speak no. Discord imagined opening his fat mouth to her would be like yelling at a puppy. “I’m such a dork.”

Fluttershy turned to Discord. “What?”

“Nothing.” Discord squeezed his head. “I’m,” he looked right into her eyes, “I’m sorry for making you worried.”

“What are you sorry for?” Fluttershy’s face lit up again with concern.

Discord took a deep breath as he remembered what Spike had said about how, she’s not coming down from there. He then thought about how she was sitting right there next to him. She’d been nothing but kind. At least, that’s how Discord had perceived it. Only kind people go out of their way to see if someone is alright. “I say I’m sorry because it’s the best way I can say thank you, and that I understand.”

Fluttershy smiled and seemingly hid behind her mane.

Pathfinder finished outlining the class curriculum on the chalkboard. “Alright class. We’ll be covering several areas including the romances, the classics, and post war literature. But over all, we’re going to cover extensive works of poetry alongside texts and novel excerpts we read. One of the main goals—that I hope to accomplish with you—is to expand your analytic skills. I don’t want you to just read. I want you to listen, look, and hunt for the words between the lines—the words the author doesn’t show you in writing.” Pathfinder began to walk between the rows of desks. “Don’t just see a story. Don’t just read sentences. Pick them apart. Investigate! Find the life in the lines and know that these were living beings who crafted these poems and works. As for our first part of understanding literature and poetry, we have to ask the million bit question. Does anyone know that question?”

A red dragon up front cautiously raised his claws into the air. “Uh, why do we write poetry?”

Pathfinder flew up a little and tapped his hooves together. “Precisely, mister Garble! Why do we write poetry? Well? What do you all think? Come on, don’t be shy. There’s no wrong answers.”

Silence hung in the air until a brave soul raised his hoof up high. “To pick up chicks?”

Discord found it a little hard not to laugh with the rest of the guys in the class.

Pathfinder too was nodding with a giddy old grin on his face. “Yes, to make lovers swoon. A very valid answer. Love is, after all, a central theme in most poetry. Come on! Another reason. Yes, miss Sugarbelle.”

The pony lowered her hoof once she was called on. “To record history.”

Pathfinder hummed as he pounded his chest. “Many ballads have there been written of warriors and the heroic deeds of those fighting for freedom and life itself. Anyone else?”

Discord had an idea. He wasn’t sure about it, but Pathfinder said there was no wrong answers. He raised his lion paw. “To make sense of the world?”

“An excellent thought, Discord.” Pathfinder flew upside down and walked along the ceiling. “Exploring perspective and using art to understand life in a form of poetry and literature that’s not as common. We most often see this in fantasies, fables, and parables. Sometimes the supernatural has more to say to us than the natural around us.” Pathfinder gently floated back to the ground. “Yes, miss Fluttershy?”

Discord turned to Fluttershy. As the whole classroom stared at her she visibly shrunk. Doing his best, Discord gave her the best supportive smile he could muster as he did a small thumbs up out of view. Warmth filled him as she smiled back as sat up a little taller.

Fluttershy looked to the class and took a deep breath. “Poetry can be a way to express yourself, and share your voice when others can’t hear it.”

Pathfinder flew back to the front of the classroom. “In the words of Tearless the Mute, Oh that I could hear my voice, To know what it might of sounded like, That sooner your favor I might have gained, And speak love furthermore with choice. Students, these are the purposes I want you to open up to. So for our first project, I would like all of you to write a poem. You’ll have two weeks, and you’ll recite them on the day they’re due. Don’t worry about length. Focus on what you want to say, rather, what you want out of your poem. Once you can understand your own wantings from poetry; you can begin to understand the greats who came before you.”

Discord’s mind had entered wonderbolt levels of thought process. Ideas flooded in. Thoughts crept around. With the words of Pathfinder, he suddenly had touched bases with a means of what seemed like limitless possibilities. Everything came to a grinding halt though, as he searched for the why. Why? He didn’t really have a reason. For the rest of class he would tap his pencil on the edge of his desk, wondering what his why was. Every now and then, he’d catch a glimpse at Fluttershy as she smiled or read something that caught her attention. Sometimes she caught him looking. Everytime he hid too to make it look like he was stretching his neck. The last time she caught him, he didn’t hide. Fluttershy laughed, and for the last few minutes of class, Discord stopped tapping his pencil on his desk.

*****

“You’re kidding me,” Spike chuckled at what Discord told him as they rode the bus, “she sat right next to you?”

Discord shrugged. “There were only two seats left. And, they were on either side of me.”

“Hm.” Spike made his hands dance in a sort of made up ritual. “Spike the Wise has read the patterns of the stars, and they are aligning!”

Discord cowered in his seat as others on the bus started to stare back at them. “Stop, what are you doing?”

Spike began to hum out tacky mystical sounds. “Observing your destiny, m’Lord Discord.”

Discord felt his neck burn a little. “Lord?” That word, it burned like his training collar.

Spike sighed, giving up the act. “Dude, I’m just messing around.” As he settled down, he could see something was wrong. “What is it?”

“I don’t know.” Discord shook his head. “It’s probably nothing. Just felt a little sick.”

Spike gestured to the window. “Want the window seat?”

The bus hissed as it came to a steady halt. The bus driver Orrin, the same griffon from the morning, squawked as he cranked the door open, “3912 Sunny River Drive.”

The moment the bus door opened, sound from one of the houses flooded in upon the students. Two voices met in a battle of volume and magnitude. Everyone on the bus remained silent. Some recognized the shouting, similar to shouting they’d heard in their own homes. Everyone, at one point or another, in their lives have heard this sad and unfortunate sound. It fills the soul with guilt. It terrifies and hurts children who hide under their covers at night as they pretend as though they were asleep and everything was okay. But those in the know, know it’s not okay. Fighting never is. Physical or verbal, it’s a poison to life and the home.

“He’s ‘your’ son!”
“What happened to ‘our son’?”
“You don’t care about me, only him just because he’s all that’s left of HER!”
“Don’t you dare bring her into this!”
“You don’t love me! You’ve always loved her more!”
“I said don’t-”

Discord could see Spike frozen stiff in his seat. The dragon’s whole face shook as he stared at the floor of the bus, on the verge of tears. “He’s getting off at the next stop!” Discord stood up and hovered nearly to the roof as he stared down the driver and the other students.

The griffon shrugged. “Whatever.”

Soon the bus was moving again and Discord floated back down to his seat. His collar was buzzing in his ear as he took deep breaths to steady his heart rate. It was just like the Professor had taught him. Magic is in the mind, so Discord calmed it. He looked to Spike who was breathing too, only in a different manner. “You can come to my house, until you’re ready.”

Spike rubbed out his tears from his eyes. “Really? You’re parents won’t mind?”

Discord held Spike’s shoulder and nodded. “I don’t think my mom would mind at all.”

*****

“Mom?” Discord opened the door and motioned for Spike to follow him in. “Mom, you there?”

Redheart came trotting out of the kitchen. “Welcome home dear. Oh, and who is this?”

Spike rubbed his arm as he stepped forward. “I’m Spike.”

“He lives down the street from us.” Discord discreetly explained what had happened. “So, I was hoping he could stay for a little while.”

Redheart smiled kindly to Spike. “It’s alright with me, but I want to check in with his parents first. Spike, would you mind giving me your address so I can place a call?”

Spike gave Redheart his address as she fed it through the tellaponee to the operator working the switchboard. The speaker on the wall mounted device wasn’t the quietest. Discord could hear the switch disconnect from the other side before making it’s next connection and setting off the tone that would ring until the phone on the other side answered. Discord had seen newer tellaponees that had dials, which he was used to, and the newer tellaponees had buttons that directly dialed up the phone you wanted to reach, as long as you had the tellaponee’s six digit address code of course.

Redheart cleared her throat as the tellaponee at the other end picked up. “Hello? Is this Spike’s father? Oh, no. He’s not in trouble. I just wanted to let you know he’s here with my son. Is that alright? Okay. I just wanted to make sure you knew. Yes, no problem at all. I have to leave for work later, but my brother will be here before I go. Do you want him to walk your son home? You’ll pick him up? Alright. Really it’s no trouble at all. Yes, up the street. 91819. Hope l see you later then. Okay, good bye.” As Redheart hung up, she hummed. “Your father says it’s alright if you stay a while. But, I want both of you to do some homework before you get up to any mischief. Got it?”

Spike nodded with delight. “Thank’s Discord’s mom.”

Redheart hummed a short laugh. “Call me Redheart. Alright boys, homework. Get to it.” And with that, Redheart walked off down the hallway.

Spike hoisted an algebra book from his bag and shook his head. “I’m pretty sure the weight of this book is a violation of health and equine decency.” Digging deeper, he pulled out a binder and a fistfull of pencils. “So, you’re…”

“...adopted? Yes.” Discord pulled out his own smaller binder. “Noticed did you?”

Spike shrugged. “I once met a griffon who didn’t even know he was adopted, even though his parents were pegesai. I was mostly curious if you noticed.”

“I know.” Discord pulled out his journal with its short entry. “She’s never hid it from me. But that’s alright, because I know she loves me just the same as much as I love her.”

Spike laughed.

Discord clicked his pen, ready to write down more. “What’s so funny.”

“Just thinking. Most of the school would probably beat you up for talking like that. But, I think if that Fluttershy could hear you talk like that, she’d probably fall for you.” Spike groaned as he opened his algebra book. “Can you believe it? The math teacher gave us homework on the first day.”

“Review?” Discord asked.

“Yeah.” Spike’s eyes began to tackle the numbers on the page. “What about you?”

“Mostly just a syllabus for each class.” Discord went through the list. “Homeroom, Gym, Woodshop, Economics, Magic Sciences, History, and Advanced Literature.” He looked at the red and black marble notebook that Fluttershy had given him. Going over his first entry in it, the thought crossed his mind to tear out the page and start over. Discord just moved down writing, addendum...

Author's Note:

Comments

[SpikeDark]

I am loving this story so far! And Discord is just too cute!